Chapter Text
At first Theo didn't pay any mind to the death sound. He was focused on getting to Parrot. The hybrid had passed by him earlier, Purpled hot on his tail.. Theo hadn't seen the familiar colorful feathers, which meant that Parrot was likely invisible. That guy sure loved his invisibility pots.
He dodged a lawman, still running after Purpled. His foot caught some unstable rubble and the rocks rolled away under his weight, making him stumble. Purpled slammed into him, or he slammed into him, it didn't matter. His former leader was mumbling something as he backed away from where Lettuce was standing. Theo’s eyes flitted from him to the head of the Law. There was an annoying crack in his sunglasses that blocked Purpled’s expression from him, but he could see Lettuce’s clearly.
The caracal was looking down, wide open eyes jumping left and right. His chest rose and fell rapidly in shaky pants. Under his hat, his ears were folded back, pressed tightly against his skull.
Theo grimaced. A sense of dread was building up at the bottom of his stomach, heavy and nauseous. He felt like he didn't want to look down, like he should extend this moment to last forever, the moment of before.
Behind him his wings trembled, retreating near his back as his head moved down.
There, lying with his eyes closed, looking more peaceful than Theo had ever seen him, was Parrot.
For a moment all he could hear was his own stuttered breathing and all he could see was his best friend lying in his own blood with Lettuce’s boots pressing on his stomach.
Then Parrot’s form flickered once, twice and disappeared, leaving behind his items and some exp.
The fight didn’t stop, there was nothing dramatic like that. On the contrary, the lawmen got even more vicious. Theo heard Jaden curse somewhere and Zam ran by screaming their head off. Theo couldn’t hear his breathing anymore.
But that was alright. He couldn’t feel his heartbeat anymore either.
His eyes stayed fixed on where Parrot’s body once was. He saw Lettuce kneeling, shifting through Parrot’s items with unnatural slowness before he stood back up.
Theo followed his movements.
Lettuce was staring at nothing, unfocused eyes lost somewhere in his own thoughts. He was hunched over slightly, mace in one hand and-
-and Parrot's spyglass in the other.
Parrot's spyglass?
How dared he?
He killed Parrot and now he thought he could just take his spyglass? The one thing Parrot had always wanted to keep, fighting tooth and nails just to not part with it?
No, not as long as Theo lived.
“Theo-” Lettuce started, tone somber as he kept staring at nothing, eyes still blank. But it was too late. It was too late for Parrot too.
Parrot was all about peace, hope and second chances. Theo knew that if Lettuce had given up, surrendered, Parrot would’ve let him live. But here’s the thing not everyone knew about Theo’s best friend. Should Lettuce die in battle, holding strong onto his own morals and fight ‘till his last breath for his beliefs, Parrot wouldn’t mind. Good thing that Theo knew that stubborn bird as well as he did.
He would simply have to kill Lettuce before he could even consider surrendering. It was a nice little workaround for his guilt for the dead.
Lettuce gasped as his totem popped to a cart.
“I never wanted this, Parrot.” His voice was but a murmur, eyes still lost as he looked around.
Theo was having none of it. “He can’t hear you.”
Without giving even himself time to breathe, he placed another rail between him and Lettuce.
Time seemed to slow down. This was it. Lettuce was still too disoriented to pull out another totem, or maybe he just didn’t have one. The lawmen all around them were too preoccupied with Flame and Spoke, who had come like twin tornados, to save their leader.
But now Theo had a choice to make in the few seconds before Lettuce could come back to himself. He was close enough to the minecart that it would kill Theo too. He could go, follow his best friend like he had done time and time again. Parrot wouldn’t have wanted him to do that, but Parrot left, so he didn’t have any say in it.
All Theo had to do was unequip his totem and shoot.
| LettuceK was blown up by TheobaldTheBird
| LettuceK left the game
He still had Purpled to kill.
Theo exhaled shakily. He stumbled over Lettuce’s items, snatching the spyglass as if it could despawn at any moment. He saw Minute coming over from the corner of his eyes, but he ignored it. It didn’t matter anyway.
Since everyone around him was too busy with Flame, Spoke and now Jaden to target Theo, he placed down his enderchest and safely stored the spyglass.
There.
…
His breath hitched.
He felt like crying. He felt like hiding away and crying his heart out. But he was in an active warzone and he didn’t have that luxury. He would do that later, while building the grave for his best friend.
“Where’s Purpled?” His hands were trembling, unsteady as he charged his crossbow.
Someone answered, could’ve been Horace, or Egg. Theo couldn’t bring himself to focus enough to distinguish the voice, only the words. “Wemmbu’s after him.”
Theo gritted his teeth. Purpled was his. He had waited long enough to ban him.
The world didn’t stop after Parrot’s death, no matter how much Theo felt like it did.