Chapter Text
They grasped each other tightly, feeling the slow burn of being consumed by the void. A surge of intense heat coursed through their bodies, fighting the deep cold that surrounded them. It should have stopped, the pain of losing oxygen rapidly, as temperatures collided and they became lifeless, even if it was just for a moment. It should have, but it didn’t, it was all consuming, the pain almost indescribable each time. Eventually, the lack of air took its toll, as the world before them blacked out.
……
“Eugh…”
What?
His hand gripped whatever was beneath him, digging his nails into the familiar sensation.
Dirt. It was dirt.
Pushing himself up, he took in his surroundings. Vista lay there, almost peacefully, passed out, not a care in the world. The hair the latter prided himself on, spread on the grass, as if to imitate the rays of sun. In some ways, maybe he was the sun. But Vista didn’t need to know that, not now anyway.
Tearing his eye away from the other, he looked around some more. They were settled in a grassy field, with barely any recollection of how they got there. The last thing Eye remembers was falling into the void with Vista, and then nothing.
This was not the Click SMP.
It was a hard and fast realisation, which seemed to jolt him back to reality. The hum of the birds nor the wisps of the wind were the same, that gentle buzz he’d come to enjoy was no longer present, it wasn’t home. Panicking, he pulled up the familiar holographic screen from his arm, yet what greeted him wasn't a blinding array of rainbow, but an almost unsettling colour orange. And where it was supposed to be written in big bold letters and a stupid font: ‘Click’, was instead ‘Unstable’.
Unstable. Unstable…
He’d heard of it before, in some distant conversation with Waffley or Delight. Eye doesn’t quite remember, and in all honesty, he can't be bothered to either. There were other things to worry about.
Bending down, he extended out his arm to poke Vista awake, but a pulsating pain caught him off guard. It felt like his arm was on fire, pain tearing through his nervous system. Stupid new place, stupid arm. Eye tugged at his sleeve, closely inspect the new addition to his body.
A tattoo of a totem had appeared on his arm, slowly engraving itself on his skin. No wonder, it felt like his arm was burning, the thing isn’t even finished etching itself onto his skin! ‘The handiwork itself isn’t too bad, just maybe, the timing could be, anytime BUT now,’ he thinks to himself, pushing through to poke Vista.
“Princess. Princess.. Wake up. C’mon. We got a new place to explore.”
Vista turned away from him, curling into himself.
“Go away and let me sleep.”
“Princess, c’mon, wake up.”
“No.”
“Vista-“
“AAIGHHDSHDJA”
Vista bounced up in annoyance, hair jostled in his evidently great nap. A pout settled onto his features as he fixed his hair. Soon he froze up too, the same realisation clearly settling in, as Eye just had earlier.
“We’re not in the click SMP”
“Nope”
“And we’re not dead.”
“Yup”
Vista looked at with a deadpan expression.
“This is your fault. Probably.”
“HEY!”
A hand is shoved into his face as the other continues to speaking, “Alright first things first, we need to set up a base, and we need to lay low.”
Pushing the hand away, he glares at Vista momentarily, before helping up.
“Do you know where we are?”
“..No…”
“Some place called Unstable-“
The moment those words left his mouth, Vista grabbed his hand and started sprinting towards the nearest forest.
“We need to take cover”
“What why-“
“The Unstable Universe is home to some of the deadliest and smartest people known, we cannot. I mean if, CANNOT go in there without a plan.”
“I’m pretty strong-“
“Not against some of them you aren’t.”
As they arrived in the forest, Vista immediately began gathering supplies as Eye stared at him curiously.
“Why aren’t you helping-“
“You know something.”
“What-“
“You know something, or you’re hiding something.”
“I’m finished the supplies anyways, let's go to a cave and set up there quickly.”
“Cmon Vista, we said no more secrets.”
Vista pauses, for just a moment, hesitation evident in his posture but he continues forward, trekking through the rocky terrain into a small opening of a cave.
“Here.”
The blonde threw an axe and a sword towards Eye, both freshly crafted.
“You’ll protect us, and I’ll set up base.”
Eye just nods along, following the former aimlessly as he tugs at his beanie, the tattoo on his arm throbbing painfully still. He wonders if Vista has it too.
As he begins to ask, a faint rustle catches his attention instead,
Why couldn't people just mind their own business for just this once?
The familiar blood lust filled his vision, as he summoned his sword and ran towards the faint particles bubbling about. The person clearly caught off guard, hastily tried to put on armour, and summon items, but alas Eye was far too quick and far too thirsty for blood.
Without a second thought, the poor person was no more.
[XXXXXXX was killed by EyeDunnoMan]
“You done?”
Vista looked at him, slightly concerned. Those eyes knowing far too much of him made him anxious, good or bad, he wasn't in a rush to decide.
“There’s more of them.”
“I knowz.”
Eye looked at Vista.
Vista looked at Eye.
Sighing, Vista shooed him with his hand,”Fine. Don't use your mace.”
Mace.
His mace?
He had been so wrapped up in getting used to this damn place, Eye had forgotten to check his actual inventory.
“..ok.”
And with no other thought, he leaped.
The fight wasn't too difficult. A crushed skull here, a body there, blood soaking the unfamiliar grass. It didn't make much difference to him, they'd probably come back, attack them for more stuff.
Eye glances slightly towards his panel, the SMP’s public chat open.
[XXXXXXX was killed by EyeDunnoMan]
[XXXXXXX was killed by EyeDunnoMan]
[XXXXXXX was killed by EyeDunnoMan]
[XXXXXXX was killed by EyeDunnoMan]
Following the death pings came several rounds ‘who is this?’ and ‘wtf’. So much for keeping a low profile.
“There’s none left.”
“..Eye.”
He turned quickly, his mood lightening immediately.
“Whats up?”
Vista’s eyes looked hazy, hesitant and almost sad.
“Death is permanent here.”
What?
“What?”
That means..
He killed- nonononononononono.
5 people dead by his hand, actually dead.
This wasn't meant to happen, they were meant to survive. He wasn't- he couldn't be. No.
“…Eye..”, Vista slowly placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him ever so slightly, “I need you breathe. You couldn't have known”
But-
“Stop overthinking it. There was no way you could have known.”
His face morphed, shifted into that of a human’s rather than his usual eye-head, and then he let the tears fall. He hadn’t worn a human face in years, not for fear, nor for grief. Vista hugged him throughout his breakdown, not letting go once. What he had with Vista, he thanked whatever god was out there.
Sniffling, he mumbled out a thanks to the other.
“Lets go in, I got some armour ready.”
The base was relatively well hidden, the stone entrance blending seamlessly with the surrounding cave.
“Hey Princess.”
“I told you to stop calling me that.”
“Never,”Eue said in a teasing tone, which slowly tuned into something fsr more serious, “how do you know about this place”
Vista froze once again. Ag question, but didn't avoid directly, “I hoped you forgot.”
“I’d never forget anything you say.”
Vista’s ears went rather red, but to save the former some dignity, Eye chose not to mention it.
“…An estranged relative is on the server.”
A lie.
An obvious one too, but he didn’t want to push. A footnote for later, maybe.
Eye lets his sight wander a little bit, noticing a wispy entity.
”Who are you?”
The entity tilts its head in confusion, pointing at itself.
”Yes you,” his sword is out now. It’s iron, and almost broken from the last match, but Eye was certain he could handle one more. With his arm burning once more, he began to walk towards it.
Vista, who was watching from afar, looked at him, concerned once again.
”Eye..”
”What?”
”There’s no one there.”
Huh.
He turns back around, the entity gone.
He blinks once, then twice. Eye knows what he saw, his eyesight never betrayed him before. But they weren’t in Click, they were who knows where.
”Fine, let’s just go.”
Eye ignored the lasting sting on his arm.
As they enter their base, a figure watches them from a distance. A familiar yin and yang, no longer visible to the ordinary.
’Interesting’, it says, disappearing once again.