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It was a peaceful day in the farm, Lomedy was harvesting the crops like always and Flame was taking care of the animals because he was afraid (not that he will ever admit it) of burning the crops that Lomedy spent so much time taking care of.
He was currently trying to bribe the chickens into not biting him when he took their eggs. He was failing.
Last he heard of Lomedy was when they separated after breakfast, each one taking care of their duties in -mostly- silence.
So when he heard his friend scream from the other side of the farm, he obviously sprinted as hard as he could with his sword ready to slay whoever dared to try to harm Lomedy.
Imagine his surprise when, instead of a bandit or a chungie, he saw Spoke, the same Spoke who helped defeat the Law and reunited Wemmbu, parrot together to fight. The exploiter and manipulator who tried to kill him in massive traps and leader of armies which consisted of a 100 players or more. That very person who looked broken and with tears tracks down his face.
Flame stopped reluctantly and went to stand beside Lomedy, who stood there in a shock after seeing the state of who he thought was a down-on-their-luck thief by their dark clothing and crestfallen posture.
“Uhm Spoke bro, like. What are you doing here bro?”
The voidling remained silent, looking at the ground. It looked like he didn't recognize Flame or where he was right now. The pair looked at each other in confusion, Flame stepped closer to the boy in front of them while Lomedy went inside his house to make some tea to hopefully bring some comfort to the voidling.
“Hey? Spoke? Are you even listening bro?” Flame was starting to get irritated at the lack of response, so he decided to just slap Spoke out of his trance.
A slap resounded across the farm, Spoke gasped as if woken up from a nightmare and turned his head slightly to see one of the best fighters he has met standing there with his arms crossed and eyes burrowed beneath his dark blindfold.
“Oww… Why did you do that bro? that hurt…” he cradled his bruised cheek as he was talking,rubbing away at the tears that were still in his eyes quickly.
Once he succeeded in that, he started trying to subtly look at their surroundings without the combat master noticing, said person obviously noticed but disregarded it as the voidling searching for an escape route.
“Bro whatever. Just like, tell me why you are in Lomedys farm and i wont hit you again bro”
“Haha funny story actually my good friend!”
“We’re not friends”
“Yeah yeah whatever” the voidling shrugged off the snappy response of the demon-tiger hybrid aside.
“As I was saying, Flame, what would you say if there's a group of players with black skins and unintelligible names currently chasing me right now that I can't kill because every time I try they just teleport away?” he was smiling as he spilled what has been his life since a few days ago.
“... What. You are being chased and decided to come here of all places?! Bro what is wrong with you!” he frantically looked behind the voidling with his sword, that had been sheathed, in his hands again and glowing dangerously while fire licked at its owners hands.
“Ok- listen bro! I need help and Parrot has kinda refused… Please bro, they have Mappic and Jumper doesn't want to help me anymore after her spies got killed. And- and uhm they have been kidnapping, like, thousands of players too!” Spoke rambled while trying to back away from the ominous and scary image that was the pvper in front of him.
A deep sigh escaped Flame as he tried to calm down from his outburst, using some breathing exercises he was taught by Swight while mentoring under him.
“Bro. How do you always get into these situations, I swear to Technoblade bro this has to be the most absurd talent ever.”
Spoke giggled awkwardly, he guesses it WAS somewhat absurd the amount of groups that seemed like their whole goal was to kill him or cause him physical and mental harm.
“Sooo… Will you help me? I mean.. If you don’t then i will have to find Wemmbu” Flame perked up at the mention of the end demon hybrid, then frowns after realizing what was said.
“Bro, fine whatever, i will help you” Spoke grinned at the man and he finally broke his defeated posture that he had been holding the entire time they’ve been talking. “But only if you promise that Lomedy won’t get involved.”
“I promise! just leave it to me!” Flame looked unconvinced but decided to trust Spoke for the sake of Lomedy’s safety.
The duo went to the house and told Lomedy about the group and Spoke gave him some coords for a secret base that was a few thousands blocks away that had all the necessities and defenses to keep him safe while his friend dealt with the problem.
The next day arrived, and after seeing the bunny hybrid walk off, the pair (mostly Flame) decided to move far away from the cozy farm.
“Flameeee… I'm tired… Can we take a break? please?”
“Spoke bro, we still have like 4 hours of walking bro” Flame looked back and watched as the voidling stumbled around with his eyes barely staying open.
Flame glanced at the sky, sun still high up in the air, seeing as they didn’t have time to rest and still get to the designated place in time Flame decided to take pity in the voidling and did something he might regret later.
“Flame… bro why are you crouching?” he tilted his head lazily while squinting against the harsh sunlight.
“Bro just get on, we still have a long way to go.”
Flame huffed as Spoke still didn't move so he got up again and just picked up the voidling in a bridal carry. Spoke yelped at the sudden movement and held on tightly to the other hybrid, the strength quickly faded away and was replaced by bone deep exhaustion.
Flame looked down as he felt Spoke’s grip falter and his body slump forward toward his chest. He looked… Oddly peaceful, he hasn't ever seen Spoke this relaxed like ever in all the time he's known him, he doesn't know how to feel about that so he just shrugs it off.
He quickly looked away and resumed walking.
.
.
.
Spoke was right, an army of players with skin darker than the void and names that looked like something that belonged to an arg.
The duo was prepared though, they had spent the past few days gathering resources, making traps and training.
Flame slayed down another null soldier, watching as the totem took effect and teleported away the player (Were they players actually? He might have to ask Spoke that later).
The tiger-demon hybrid was serving as a distraction so Spoke could aim the machine at the leader of the group
He suddenly heard Spoke yell, he glanced over and saw the voidling being jumped by three players at the same time. He rushed over just in time to block an attack that would've broken part of Spoke's armor.
“Ugh… Spoke! Now! Do It now bro! “
“R-right!” He quickly stumbled far enough to safely activate the complex mechanism.
He threw the windcharge at the hill nearby.
And it hit its target.
The rest of the soldiers quickly escaped through a nether portal that appeared soon after the leader's death.
Flame rushed over to the corpse along with Spoke, and while he stole the supplies the former leader carried, the voidling found a book and rummaged through it, finding names of hundred players, all missing with no apparent reason.
“Flame bro, look at this” He passed the book to him.
“Ok? Just some chungies bro”
Spoke looked unconvinced and was about to argue but then his injuries caught up to him, causing him to clench his teeth and crumble suddenly to the ground.
Flame flinched in shock before carefully inching closer to the trapper. Multiple small wounds covering his body spilling small but steadily amounts of white glowing blood, Spoke's blood
“Ok bro, we have to take care of these wounds now. You can search for these players or whatever later bro” He wrapped his arm around the smaller boy's body, lifting him up gently. (as gently as Flame can manage to be)
The two (mostly Flame carrying Spoke) managed to walk over to the temporary base they had set up nearby, Spoke was struggling to stay awake as he was laid down in his bed.
The tiger hybrid focused on cleaning the debris out of the injuries, cleaning them, and then finally, bandaging the voidling.
Flame was exhausted after the fight and caring for Spoke, in his sleep-addled state he climbed to the bed the trapper was resting in and cuddled close to the voidling. Spoke turned around and burrowed himself into his chest while Flame curled protectively around him.
.
.
.
We walk tall throughout the world, but even a mighty branch can break. This is when we seek out a caring person, who can be our supporting frame. Someone who will stand by us when all the others have gone, our support in time of need.
-David Harris.