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Pain. A sharp pain. An overwhelmingly sharp pain that pierced thoroughly through Tai's chest. He gasped, hacking on his own blood, and scrabbled for any sort of purchase to push himself off the huge rock jutting out his sternum. Tai could feel more bile and blood rising in his throat. In an attempt to force it back down, he breathed in deeply and squeezed his eyes shut. It made his head start reeling instead. When he slowly peeled his eyes back open, he could already see black dots encroaching his vision. The darkness came, quick and silent, taking him under.
Then, nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Something.
A small ache, somewhere.
Tai's eyes fluttered open, mind hazed, hand grasping at some kind of fabric. A bed?
He clutched his chest.
That small ache.
The small ache that suddenly wasn't so small anymore. That ache that turned into searing pain, like his chest was splitting open once more.
Clawing at his chest in a vain attempt to scratch the pain out, Tai lurched up from the bed, eyes snapping wide open. He couldn't stop shaking.
“What the-,” he rasped out, heaving uglily for lungs that never seemed to fully fill.
Oh, right. The stalagmites. The deal with Rejoice. Why the fuck did he even agree with death by stalagmites? Any death could have been better than stalagmites. (Except maybe lava, and drowning, and getting blown up, and… nevermind.) Rejoice could have asked for something more normal, like stabbing him with a sword or lopping his head off with an axe. At least he got used to those long ago. Tai groaned as the pain pounded in his head, and chest, and, well, everywhere. It was too much. All he could do was curl in on himself and slump back into the sheets, shivering, as the sun blazed on, high in the sky.
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After passing in and out of consciousness for god knew how many times, a faint voice faded into earshot.
“...ai……tai… Tai? Taaaii!” shouts echoed from across the hill, “Are you good?”
The voice was now above him.
“I'm…good, Rejoice…” Tai managed to strain a feeble smile and sit up after some struggle.
His poor attempt to hide his agony was quickly shattered when the pain in his chest pulsed through his body anew, forcing him to double over and collapse onto the bed again.
“Goddamn, was the stalagmite really that bad or are you just a wussy?”
“Genuinely, fuck you,” Tai managed to snap back between heaves.
“Damn, chill out man. I'm just saying,” Rejoice's eyes darted away when Tai glared at him, iconic smirk still plastered on his face, “So do you need me to princess carry you back to the base or something?”
“I'm not a baby Rejoice, I can handle a little bit of pain,” a hiss slipped through Tai's lips.
Rejoice rolled his eyes and chuckled, “Sure you can.”
Tai sluggishly propped himself up and shifted off the mattress weakly. His legs felt like slime blocks, but he couldn't possibly admit to Rejoice now that he was unable to walk by himself. He'd much rather jump back into the stalagmites than wave his white flag.
Bad fucking call. After taking a measly three steps, the pain shot through his body once more, causing him to seize up before collapsing pathetically onto the ground. Tai could feel his face burning up fast. Oh, how he wished he were deathbanned right there on those stalagmites. Rejoice was already snickering above him. Great.
A few moments passed before he heard Rejoice shifting around him. What Tai didn't expect was for Rejoice to sweep him off the ground and carry him… bridal style? (So he wasn't kidding about the princess carry.) The rough movement sent a wave of pain coursing through him.
Tai yelped. “Fuck man, you couldn't be more gentle?”
“Aww, so much for handling a little bit of pain,” Rejoice cooed mockingly.
Tai opened his mouth to retort, but decided he didn't have enough energy to argue with Rejoice. (It's not like he was wrong either.) Biting back his ego and words, he collapsed entirely in his arms. He could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him. It was going to be a few days before the weariness wore off, meaning they couldn't take any big fights again for a while. Rejoice was a lifesaver amidst his current predicament of having a huge bounty on his back, even if he didn't want to admit it. He definitely wouldn't have survived this long without him.
“What about the bed?” Tai muttered.
“Don't worry your pretty little head off and go to sleep.” Read: Rejoice already picked it up, and probably also had all the items that he dropped when he died.
Mildly satisfied with Rejoice's answer, and his head reeling from both fatigue and pain, Tai finally allowed himself to close his eyes and drift off into that nothingness once more. (Surrounded by the slight scent of sunflowers.)
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“Hey, wakey wakey sleepy head. We're already here,” a soft voice roused Tai from slumber.
He breathed in deeply and sighed, his mind still foggy from drowsiness. It's been forever since he had such a good rest, and he craved for more. Curse whatever voice woke him up from his beauty sleep. Whining softly, he buried his face into the soft fabric beside him… that smelled faintly of sunflowers. Sunflowers?? Wait a damn second.
“Hey. Hey! I didn't just carry you for an hour for you to fall back asleep! Am I really that good of a mattress? Go sleep on your bed or something, damn! And stop drooling on me!”
Ugh. Rejoice.
As Tai started recollecting what had happened a little while ago, he heard a door squeal open. Moments later, he's flumped onto an actual bed with little care. Cold from the sheets slowly seeped into his clothing, and eventually his skin, making the sudden lack of warmth damning. Tai wished the trip back home took longer. (He would never admit it.) At least the pain wasn't as severe now, having dissipated into a slightly duller aching. Most of the sharp pain in his chest was gone, making it way easier for him to breathe. He sprawled himself on the mattress, occasionally flipping onto his side when it became too uncomfortable to be on his back.
It wasn't long before Tai could feel the boredom taking over. His eyes scanned the room, tracing the grains in the wood planks, the cracks in the cobblestone, and eventually settled on Rejoice, moving in and out of the cottage. Tai could hear the faint clanking of empty bottles every time he walked by. The silence was starting to get awkward.
“What're you doing?” Tai already knew.
Rejoice paused for a second, slight confusion flashing across his face for a tick, then understanding.
He chose to humor Tai, “Potions. It's not like we fully recovered from that fight just now. I literally had to carry you home man.”
Now that Rejoice mentioned it, Tai couldn't help but notice the ugly blue and black on Rejoice's face and hands, and a small trickle of blood down his head, now dried and crusted. Tai could only assume there were more bruises and injuries hidden under his clothing. To be honest, his clothes didn't look any better either, stained with blood and dirt. And yet, he still carried him all the way back home? He couldn't have possibly asked for a better teammate. (He will also never admit this. At least, not right now.)
“Well, it's your fault you wanted to kill me right after the fight,” Tai countered back, “So impatient.”
Rejoice huffed. The two fell back into silence. Tai started feeling awkward again, the jitters crawling up his legs and arms. He flopped around on the bed helplessly before deciding to get up and actually make himself useful.
Tai dragged his feet over to where Rejoice was crouched, busy mixing ingredients into the brewing stands they had. Rejoice continued to stare at the liquids passing through the stands, ghast tears slowly dripping into the bottles, fizzing and mixing with the nether wart solution.
“Go rest man, you haven't fully recovered from death yet. Can't have my only teammate be compromised in battle now, can I?” Despite his quips, there was a tinge of displeasure in Rejoice's voice.
“I can say the same for you,” Tai had moved over to the chests, digging for any extra regeneration potions they prepared before, “Your wounds are still untreated.”
“Well, whatever you say, pretty boy. Knock yourself out.”
Tai managed to fish out a few half-used bottles of regeneration, along with a bucket of water. Some of the bottles had already cracked, the contents seeping out slowly and staining the bottom of the chest a faint pink. Rejoice must have haphazardly thrown them back in after treating his injuries some days ago. He popped a bottle open and chugged the potion, cringing at the bittersweet taste. (It was mostly bitter.) The potion took effect within a few ticks, aches petering into itches under his skin. Tai's death had already helped rid him of his physical injuries, so it was only Rejoice who needed attention now. Though, it would have been great if they had spare speed potions lying around. The fatigue was making it hard for Tai to focus, but they were dirt poor after the manhunt against them. They had to focus on recovery first.
“Take your clothes off Rejoice.”
Rejoice paused for a good moment before slowly turning to look at Tai with a look of befuddlement, “What??”
“What do you mean what??” And then it hit him.
"...oh my god bruh, not that way you freak!” Tai sighed with exasperation, “I mean take your fucking clothes off so I can help you treat your injuries!”
Rejoice decided to continue feigning ignorance, “At least take me out to dinner first, damn?”
Tai rolled his eyes so hard they could fall out of his sockets. (He wanted to make sure Rejoice could see it despite Tai's lack of pupils.) Rejoice scooched away from the brewing stands and towards the middle of the room, before carelessly flinging his upper clothing off. Stepping over the strewn clothes, Tai made his way over and sat himself down behind him. When he looked up, he was taken aback.
“What now?” Rejoice had taken notice of Tai’s abrupt silence.
“...When did you get-” Tai gestured to the huge scar on Rejoice's back, “-this?”
The scar was nothing short of impressive, its reddish hue covering Rejoice's shoulders and back, down to around his waistline. Parts of his skin were slightly raised, sheening weakly under the light.
“Oh, I don't know,” there was a hint of bitterness in Rejoice's words, “how about the time when you maced me, like, 47 times??”
Oh. Right. Of course. Tai was the reason why Rejoice had this huge ugly scar on his back. How could he have forgotten?
“Now I've got this thing on my back, and whose fault is that? Hm?”
Tai didn't catch the slight jest in Rejoice's voice, “...I'm sorry, I didn't think-”
Faint giggling, then a sigh.
“Lighten up man, I don't actually care about that. I think the scar's pretty cool, to be honest,” Rejoice paused thoughtfully, “It's not like people are gonna see it anyway. Well, other than you.”
Tai felt stupid now, ears drooping low. Time to treat Rejoice's injuries to escape his embarrassment. He scanned Rejoice's back, taking note of the wounds that needed more attention, while taking out the stuff he gathered, including makeshift bandages from torn-up banners. It was going to take a hot minute to clean and bandage every wound. Couldn't Rejoice fight less recklessly? (Who was he kidding? Of course not.)
Soaking a piece of cloth in water, Tai got to work on flushing out the grime stuck in the cuts and scrapes, making sure to wring more water over the larger gashes to fully rid of the filth. A small pool of water had begun to form between the two. Clearly, Tai wasn't the brightest of minds, and much to Rejoice's dismay, his pants had already been soaked from the water running down his back. For some mysterious reason, neither of them once thought to move to a more fitting spot. Oh well, it'll dry eventually.
After washing the wounds and picking away the remaining debris stuck inside, Tai patted them dry with a new piece of cloth. Rejoice occasionally winced when he used a little too much force.
“I'm gonna apply the potion now, don't smack me in the face or anything,” Tai warned.
It was an odd thing that regeneration potions stung as much as they did. Rejoice flinched and hissed when Tai smeared a good amount of liquid on his back. None of them could ever get used to the burning sensation despite practically using regeneration potions every other day. The wounds on Rejoice's back had started closing, just barely noticeable if you squinted close enough. It would probably take a day or two before they fully closed. Once the potion had settled itself nicely in the wounds, Tai handed Rejoice the cloth and the remaining regeneration potions.
“Why're you giving me this?”
“Treat your front dumbass. And your legs.”
“Why can't you help me?” Rejoice mocked a pitiful look.
“Do it yourself bro. Grown ass man.”
“Fine…”
Tai faces away from Rejoice. He hears him shuffle about. Five minutes passed.
“Okay, done!”
How the fuck. Tai looks over to see Rejoice standing in a new pair of (shorter) pants. He also discovers that Rejoice doesn't exactly know how to treat wounds properly. That, or he simply doesn't give enough of a shit to do so. Whatever, that's a problem for Rejoice to handle in the future. Tai shifts back over to help him bandage his wounds.
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The sun had started to set by the time they finished wrapping Rejoice's injuries, and he had already slipped back into his clothes. (Except for his original pair of pants, which were still drying outside.) Golden rays of light shone in from the windows, stealing across the wooden floor. God, Tai felt absolutely drained. It was so tempting to just lie down and go to sleep right where he sat. But they still had so much to do. What if someone found their base and ambushed them? They barely had supplies for another fight. They'd get overwhelmed. Tai scrambled clumsily to get up, but exhaustion settled so deeply in his bones that he almost immediately tripped on himself and fell onto Rejoice.
“Bro, what the hell,” Rejoice croaked, shaking Tai off of him, “What the fuck are you doing man?”
Tai didn't respond. He couldn't. He was way too tired to even get himself up and in bed, simply lying on the floor like a limp doll. The ceiling was spinning, and he felt like he was floating. Was he really going to pass out on the floor?
“Oh my god, you people can't do shit around here.”
Rejoice lifted Tai off the ground—supporting him by the shoulders—and slowly walked him over to his bed. (In all honesty, it was more like dragging.) Rejoice was about to leave to deal with their resource issue when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see Tai, head hanging low, trying his hardest to fight off his sleepiness and string together a somewhat coherent phrase.
“...s’ cold……stay…” his voice was barely a whisper.
Fine. Whatever. They had enough time to kill anyway, as long as they weren't found. Considering the thick canopy that they had hidden their base under, it wasn't an easy feat. The others would have to abandon their elytras in favour of travelling on foot if they wanted to find their base. Rejoice sat down and half-shoved Tai further to the other side of the bed so he could make more space for himself. The moment he settled into his spot, Tai rested his head on Rejoice's shoulder and blacked out. Rejoice huffed and settled on leaning his head against Tai's. It wasn't the worst position to fall asleep in. His body slowly relaxed, the aching still faint in his muscles, and let himself doze off into a peaceful slumber.
They could let their guards down, just for a day.