Chapter Text
Wemmbu had gotten quieter since joining the spiders.
It was not immediate or quick—that would’ve been too apparent—but gradual. When first forced to join, Wemmbu was constantly on edge, desperate to find Egg and leave with Jaden.
Maybe this time, rather than being so out in the open, he would dream, thinking about how they would live post-Arachnid and his kingdom.
His mind would reached places like the Great Sea or Parrot's Kingdom. Wemmbu found himself snickering at the thought of them once again making their own civilization, but he immediately shut it down, remembering what happened back then.
“Ok??? Well, you still owe me Lomedy's mace,” Flame argued, getting out of his chair. His voice pulled Wemmbu back to reality, bringing focus to the bickering duo at the table.
“Y’know, outside of the gear Yungy gave us,” Jaden began, drawing attention to his armor, “I have like nothing else on me.”
“So? That doesn’t void the fact you also betrayed ME.”
“How did we go from Lomedy's mace to me betraying you????”
The three of them were seated in the tavern, along with quite a few other soldiers on Arachnid's orders. The place was extremely crowded, with soldiers from both Cindercrest and the Kingdom of the Caves gathered in one spot. It was fortunate that Jaden and Wemmbu had scored a table, especially at the back of the room. What wasn’t as fortunate was that Flame had seen them—unaccompanied by Lomedy, surprisingly—and decided to sit with them.
“Must you two do this every time we meet?” Wemmbu sighed, staring at Flame. “Bro, you lowk gotta chill—like, we’re on the same side here, bruh.”
“Oh, I don't want to hear that from you!”
Wemmbu laughed, then asked, “Also, when the hell have you been with Cindercrest? Do you just join any civilization you HAPPEN to come across?”
“Uh, no. Lomedy wanted to join them, and he’s really like Saps, so yeah,” the netherflame claimed, returning to his seat. “Besides, I haven't joined every civ I’ve come across.”
“Prinze Zam Empire, the mafia—” Wemmbu began listing, counting each name off on his hands.
“Okay! I get it,” Flame cut him off. “That wasn’t even just me either; that was Manepear too.”
Manepear.
Hearing the name threw Wemmbu for a loop; he hadn’t heard the name of his former mentor in years. Immediately, he wanted to ask if Flame knew anything about him—or at least how he was doing. But Wemmbu stopped himself, surprised that even after being abandoned, he still wanted to know anything about Manepear.
“Wemmbu?” Jaden asked, brows furrowed in concern. “You alright?”
Wemmbu realized he’d stopped talking in the middle of the conversation.
“Oh, yeah.” He laughed dryly, attempting to backtrack the conversation.
“The moment's gone, dude,” Flame stopped him, crossing his arms. “But you sure you're good?”
“Yeah, I swear,” Wemmbu confirmed. “I’ve lowk js been a bit on edge.”
“We’ve all been on edge, bro.”
“D’alright man.”
“Yo guys,” Yungy's voice cut through, “Arachnid wants everyone in the meeting room, including you, Flame.”
The proud commander sounded more and more exhausted since Wemmbu became his superior, yet he was still doing as he was ordered, unlike the demon.
“Yessir, we’ll be right behind you,” Wemmbu responded, grabbing his things.
“This is between us and Cindercrest, right?” Jaden asked, moving to stand.
“Yeah, General Saparata and Arachnid have been planning since the early morning.”
“Another battle already?” the netherborn sighed.
“For a combat master, you sure sound like you hate combat,” the purple demon said. “I thought you weren’t like other pvpers.”
“Bro, shut up! There is no way you're talking.”
“Save your strength for the fight, oh my god.” Jaden stepped between them.
Both sides conceded to the pirate, the trio eventually following in Yungy's suit. Wemmbu had been feeling extremely tired lately, and a little hollow. When he moved, it felt as though something else was controlling his body. Or someone. Everything seemed to be farther away than it really was—Flame and Jaden's arguing, negotiations through the markets, the crinkle of armor as they moved—all of it seemed to fade into a blur, falling into the background of his mind.
He did not know when they had reached the meeting room, nor how he ended up sitting at the same table as Saparata and Arachnid.
“Our best bet is attacking High Water, the server's main water supply.”
“Considering its importance, it would be best if we ambushed the city and took it over from the inside.”
Right, they were called to discuss the next moves in the war.
“Dawg, that would take wayy too long.”
Immediately, Wemmbu recognized that voice.
“Mane, I get that speed is your whole thing, but we shouldn’t be too hasty,” Arachnid said.
“I get that, but remember you hired me for extra manpower,” the lion said, putting his feet up on the table. “With me, this war can end in less than 3 days.”
“I agree,” Flame chimed in. “Not on whatever Mane said, but that an ambush would take far too long.”
Wemmbu's body froze on the spot, trying to process the situation. His old mentor, the lion who taught him to bare his fangs, had entered his life once more. After years of radio silence, without a single clue of where he was, here the man was, casually sitting before the demon as if nothing had ever happened between them.
“So what?” the man countered. “If we ambush and take High Water from the inside, then we could have control of a crucial point in the kingdom undamaged. Meaning we would be able to use it for ourselves.”
His words were met with deafening silence, Jaden looking at him in complete shock.
“Genuinely,” Jaden began, “I did not think you were able to think like that.”
“Well, I’m not stupid.”
The lion's ears perked up, turning toward Wemmbu. Although Manepear himself did not turn around completely, it told the purple soldier that he realized he was there.
“I stand by my manpower point, though,” Manepear reiterated, remaining relaxed. “Listen man, if you want to win this war, I can do that for you.” He shrugged. “A win is a win, you feel me?”
“We are going to stick to a direct encounter, thank you,” Saparata confirmed. “I want to look that bird dead in the eyes when we take High Water.”
“Everyone is dismissed then. I’ll see you all in 2 days.”
Wemmbu left the meeting hall a little after everyone else, being forced to lag behind on Arachnid's orders. The spider said that only Wemmbu was to join the Cindercrest army in this battle and assist Saps. Initially, the demon was reluctant. However, Arachnid dangled the life of Eggchan over his head, reminding him of his current situation.
“You were in there for a while, Wem,” Jaden said, waiting for him at the meeting entrance. “Here, I have an e-chest.”
“Thanks, man,” he responded. “Also, what the hell are you doing aurafarming against a wall like that?”
“STOP. I was so tuff.”
“Sure sure, whatever you say, bro,” Wemmbu laughed as he knelt to re-gear, grabbing all he had before entering that meeting hall.
“You seem to be all buddy-buddy with Arachnid now,” Jaden teased.
“Don’t start with that, Jaden,” the demon threatened, his mood turning sour.
“My bad, won’t happen again.”
“Wemmbu!” a voice came from behind. “The hell was that in there?”
“Oh, Flame,” he responded, glancing over. “What's up?”
“Are you seriously working with Arachnid or sum?” the netherflame asked again. "Seemed like you were back there."
"I have nothing but the same to say to you, Flame," Wemmbu's voice soured, returning to gather his things. "Working with Cindercrest? Really?"
"Oh, so you really are working for Arachnid, huh?!" Heat started to radiate from the man.
"Bro, calm down," a yellow tail caught the corner of his eye. "Be zen, oh my goodness."
Manepear walked up toward the two, wrapping his arm around Flamefrag's shoulder. His voice sent shivers down the demon's spine, who refused to acknowledge his presence.
"How can I be zen when this guy hasn't given me a single straight answer since we got here?!"
"You just breathe, lil bro," the lion sighed, kneeling next to Wemmbu, who was still going through his e-chest. "Oh nah, this dude still keeps sentimental stuff in his e-chest."
Wemmbu's ears perked up, hearing his old mentor's voice next to him. Inside, rage began to boil. It had been forever since the two of them parted on horrible terms, and this guy had the nerve to come back and immediately insult him for keeping "sentimental stuff" in his inventory. He certainly hadn't changed, nor did it seem like he even regretted what he said to him.
Lost cause.
Those were the final words Manepear left to him before leaving the treehouse for good. Two words, written on a sign placed on some random branch Wemmbu needed an elytra to see. If it weren't for that, the demon would have waited, expecting Mane to return—even if that would take weeks.
Wemmbu quickly collected his things and stood up, leaving the blindfolded brother behind, staring at him.
"Dude, we weren't done talking!" Flame called out, but Wemmbu was already too far gone.
"You good, man?” Jaden rushed to his side, following in Wemmbu's steps. “You seemed pretty tense back there.”
“We’re all on edge, man,” he almost snapped, but remembered that it was Jaden he was talking to—the pirate who had done nothing to him.
“I hate to bring this up now, but do you know that guy, bro? That Manepear, I mean,” the pirate inquired.
“I did at one point. Hadn’t seen him in—like—years, though.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Thanks to him, I got good.”
“Imagine needing someone to teach you how to mace. Just how bad were you, bro?”
“Uh, I was always good???”
“Sure, man, sure.”
“Bro, let's just get this whole High Water battle thing out of the way and get Egg. Enough with the questions, man,” the demon gave a hollow laugh, walking faster as if trying to get away from the whole thing.