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Rat held her totem and held her shield as Nufuli's body formed in her room. The place shook, potions and books flying off shelves and the dragon egg rattled in its confinement. An angelic ring filled the air as her totem popped.
Nufuli dropped to the ground as Rat peered closely at her old friend.
Would he remember?
“Wha-what? Rat?” Nufuli rubbed his head and jumped to his feet. “Rat, where-what happened? Last time I saw you was when—“
“Nufuli? You remember me?” Rat whispered, her guard still up. She knew how strong Nufuli was at fighting, she probably better than anyone.
Maybe that dam snowman would, but she had known him longer.
Nufuli stumbled back onto the dragon egg, still woozy from being revived for the first time. His stomach's fluids swirled unnaturally.
Rat stayed motionless, studying Nufuli’s movements
“Yeah-of course I remember you. Weren’t you off somewhere doing a bounty for some-rando?” Nufuli groaned.” He scratched the back of his head.
It worked. The revival had cost Nufuli his memories, all except the ones when they used to be bounty buddies…
She lowered her shield.
“Yeah, yeah I did. I killed him a while ago Nuf. You’ve been out for some time,” She explained, relaxing her arms tattered in iridescent scales that sparkled in the sun’s golden beams.
Nufuli shielded his eyes, holding up his hand to block the glare. How did he get here? His head throbbed and everything ached. His body felt as if it wasn't his and he was just learning to move in it. A nice stretch sounded heavenly right now.
“Wh-What? Rat you aren’t making any sen—“
“Have you heard-remember the name Slushly by chance?” Rat inquired, taking a step towards Nuf.
“What?” Nufuli looked around, uneasy and unsure of where he was. Rat seemed to know though, so it must be safe.
Right?
The walls were made of stone with glimpses of aqua peering through the cracks. The-Dragon egg? Rat killed the dragon without him?
Rat threw down a healing potion at Nufuli’s feet, the comforting aroma filling the air. Nuf breathed in, his thoughts coagulated. The aching didn't go away but the nausea seemed to fade from his system.
“Slushly? Dimofy? HD—Hondewmelom? Doopter? Loo-“
“What-What are you saying? Are these people? Are they bounties-am I supposed to know…them?” Nufuli stuttered, confused as to why Rat was treating him so weirdly. He gripped his belly, still somewhat uneasy.
Rat breathed a sigh of relief, this would be much easier now. She put rested her shield on the side of the wall and sat down on a chest at the foot of her bed, motioning for Nuf to join her.
“You-want me to-?” Nufuli mumbled, slowly walking up to the siren and sitting next to her. He held his head as he sat down, his ears ringing.
“Nufuli…I wont lie to you, you’ve been out for…let’s just say a long time. A lot of things happened…” Rat trailed, her voice as light as a feather and her movements fluid.
“Wait-What do you mean ‘out’?” Nufuli asked, snapping his gaze to meet Rat’s neutral face.
“You…died…it was during a bounty and…these three people attacked you…” Rat answered, sorrow painting her voice.
“I…died?” Nufuli held his left hand over his right eye, a weird pain steaming from it.
“Yeah…you…died”
“Wait-wait-wait hold on. If I died, how am I alive? Like, you have to be lying right? There’s no way I could have actually died…” Mania laced his voice.
“Yeah, you did. You were on the way to make a deal with another bounty hunter. Nidify? I think it was? Him and his two teammates…they trapped and killed you,” She choked out, tears falling from her facade.
Nufuli didn't remember anything about ‘making a deal’, usually it’s Rat that does all the fancy talk…
Nufuli curled in on himself as his lungs forced him to cough. Rat fiddled with her hands, thinking of what to add to the story.
“Wait-again, If I got killed, how am I alive?” Nufuli questioned. He looked at Rat, looking for answers.
“I revived you silly!” She punched Nuf in the shoulder, knocking him off the chest.
“Wha-how? What?” He rubbed his shoulder.
“There are these things called revival eyes and I…revived you!” She cheered.
“Re-vival…eyes?” Nuf questioned.
“Yeah! Revival eyes, see what you do is you put someone’s object in one and then you throw it on the ground, reviving the player of whose item you used,” Rat explained, raising to her feet.
“O….kay…then, wait—what item did you use for me?” He asked, his head still somewhat thumping.
Rat’s turned towards a small barrel on the other side of the room, tucked behind a painting. She reached inside and took out a small leather journal and threw it to Nuf. As he examined the pages Nufuli realized, these were all names. These were all the names of people they were paid to kill, their bounty list.
“That’s mine, I used yours to revive you,” she said calmly.
Nufuli scoured through the pages, a little more than half way through the book, the names stopped. Rat offered her hand to Nufuli and he returned the journal in her palm.
“Wait-how long did you say I was gone for?” Nufuli muttered, he eyed the dragon egg in her room.
“Almost a year now…” Rat chuckled. Nufuli had been dead, one way or another. Dead to her for probably a lot longer than that.
“W-WHAT?!” Nufuli shouted, taken aback by the revelation. A lot can happen in a year.
A lot can happen in a year.
“I-I MUST HAVE MISSED SO MUCH! WHAT! WAIT RAT DID I MISS ANYONE IMPORTANT? DID I-I-I” Nufuli screamed in terror as the realization of how long a year was hit him.
“Hey-hey-hey-hey HEY! It’s okay I’ll explain…everything.” Rat replied, hushing him and motioning him to sit once more.
Nuf’s heart sunk to his stomach, his mind fluttering with thoughts and possibilities of what could have happened while he was…out. And he died so easily…so weakly…so…cowardly. He had won hundreds of outnumbered fights and now he DIED to some nobody and their two friends? It was embarrassing. He felt like an embarrassment, especially in front of Rat. They liked to joke about how they were unkillable, only a god or some godly weapon having the possibility of taking them down.
But no.
He died to a pathetic nobody.
Nuf's blood boiled as he entertained the thought. His frustration festered in his mind.
“Go on…” he said slowly.
Rat told him what she wanted him to hear. She told him how after his death, she scoured the world for a revival shrine and how that led her to the end. How she founded Vanguard in his absence. Who she recruited and why, how command block items riddled the world. She told him that she couldn’t revive him until they weren’t being attacked by others, most notably Evpark and Slushly. How Slushly killed Stormz in cold blood just for his command block items and how Evpark stole one of the most valuable ones being the restrictor.
Nufuli listened intently, the information flooding and swirling into his mind. He listened as she told him everything that happened in the server after his death, how she revived the server and maintained order. He almost felt…bad about missing all of this. Almost…jealous.
Rat noticed the tense look on Nufuli’s features, his slitted eyes and his nails dug into his skin.
It was working.
They sat in a moment of silence together, Rat letting Nufuli process the information. She grinned on the inside, proud of her work.
After a minute she said, “Hey! I know something you could do to take your mind off things. Remember the Slushly guy I told you about? The one that killed Stormz?”
“Ye-Yeah?” He replied, still thinking about the events she had told him.
“What if, you go and find him and kill him?” Rat proposed in a comforting voice. This would be a good way to kill two birds with one stone. This would be the ultimate test to see if Nufuli was truly back to his old self, his better self, and it would make sure Slushly would never be a problem again.
“Uh-Okay, yeah I can do that. Wait-Doesn't he have two command block items?” Nuf asked, rising to his feet. This Slushly guy, to his knowledge had Dialation which used to be Stormz’s command block item; and a fishing rod named Division that could swap places with people on command.
“Actually he has three, well—technically he gave Dilation away, or so I’ve heard. But he does have one of the most dangerous items called the Book of Knowledge. I don't think you’ll have any difficulty dealing with him though,” she blandly stated.
“Uh, okay. If you say so…” Nufuli trusted Rat, she knew him better than pretty much anyone.
“Here, I’ll get you gear,” Rat moved to the corner of the room, opening a blue shulker and handing it to Nufuli.
Nuf looked through the contents of the shulker, slipping on black-trimmed armor and off-handing a black shield. The armor fit like a glove. He rummaged a bit more and found a mace. Bland, and no enchantments inscribed into the handle. He looked up at Rat, what was he supposed to do with this?
“Oh, you won't be using that,” She smiled, unloading Tide into Nuf’s other hand.
“Was boutta say!” Nuf cheered, twirling the mace and caressing the ancient symbols etched into the core.
“You’re welcome,” Rat chuckled. Man, how she missed this.
“Hey where is this, Slushly guy anyway?” He yawned, stretching his arms.
“Remember that bunker you made?”
Slushly’s arms trembled as the elevator lowered. The hardcover, purple book weighed heavy in his grasp despite only having 7 pages. It had a strange pull, almost magnetic. His armor, sword, hell even his elytra felt drawn to the book, as if the book were trying to consume the items.
It was a feeling Nufuli must have gotten used to.
He hated the feel, he hated what it meant. He tapped his foot in anticipation, he needed Nufuli back. He needed him back, right? Nufuli showed Slushly that people like him could change, change for…well, what he wanted to say was for the better. Nufuli showed Slushly that Slush was too caught up in his own problems and feelings, that he never stopped to think about what other people could be going through. He revealed to Slushly that his way of thinking was, putting it bluntly, selfish.
But, that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was getting him back. It was, the least he could do.
Slushly sped out of the elevator before remembering the warden in the other room. He crept along the carpeted paths that lined the floors.
He peeled away the false floorboard to reveal the latch to a barrel. Something in his stomach twisted. He unlatched the barrel and reached for the golden eye. It was warm, almost pulsing against his hand. Its thumping started to synchronize with his own heartbeat.
His eyes were pulled from the glass-like eye to an ender chest to his right. Slushly’s body mechanically opened the chest, dusting off a worn leather journal. It was small, a leather cord wrapping around itself to keep closed. The spine was tattered with wrinkles and creases from Slushly’s opening and closing of it. He liked to read it when things got hard. Thinking of her smile and the way she laughed…the way she cared about him. It grounded him.
Lately he hadn't been reading it much. It started when he killed Stormz. He would be embarrassed to admit it but he was afraid to, afraid of having made the wrong decision.
Did he make the right decision? Was he making the right decision?
Slushly crouched down, placing the two books in front of him. The wailing cries of the warden faded. He buried his face in his hands, groaning. Why was this so hard? This shouldn't be this hard!
No, what was he thinking? He was going to revive Nufuli…he deserved to be rev–
“Diiii---d he though? Does he REALLY deserve to be revived?”
Slushly looked up to see himself surrounded by a familiar black void. The back of a green figure caught his attention. His blood ran cold.
The figure turned his head, a manic smile across the Host’s face.
“No-no-no-no-no not you! Not now!” Slushly cried.
“It’s not that easy to kill your conscience Slushly,” the phantom taunted.
He had to be lying, he IS lying. Slushly had killed Pootoot, the lighting officiating it.
“No. I killed you. You’re not real!” Slush laughed, his voice trembling. Great! Just great! Now of all times is the time for him to start losing his mind.
“I mean, maybe you did but-we both know he didn’t TRULY die,” he said in his usual cocky tone. Slushly stared at the hallucination with tired eyes.
“What, Do you mean? I know what I did. What I saw when I punched you off that building,” Slushly growled in a low voice. Why was he thinking of this? He SHOULD be thinking about reviving Nufuli.
Slush stood, trying to ignore the hallucination. The eye rested uncomfortably in his palm, nagging to be used.
“Sure you killed the, ‘real’ me. But again Slushly, being ‘real’ can mean many things,” The voice responded.
Slushly scoffed at Poot’s psychological bullshit that he didn’t want to think about. Not that he was afraid to, he just couldn’t care less.
“Yeah, alright. You know, why am I even talking to you, you’re not real,” Slush snapped back.
He picked up the purple book. It was a shame there wasn’t more Slush could have saved from the explosion. An item so powerful–maybe it was better that it would be erased from the server, it was worth it anyway.
“What makes the fish so deserving of a second chance at life? You said it himself, he killed you. If he didn’t leave you, she might still be alive. You might have been able to have that life you oh so want so much. Living somewhere far away with her, somewhere away from him,’ The noise muttered.
Slushly almost felt–No. He WAS annoyed by the hallucination's insolence.
“Times have changed, Pootoot. Say, I don’t know how you don’t know that, considering you are my ‘conscience’, but things have changed, I've changed,” Slushly growled.
“Oh, really now? News to me. Last time I checked, YOU were responsible for oh so many deaths. Not to mention manipulating all those people on some, crazed suicide mission to fight Vangaurd. What? Did you really think some netherite gear is all you need and then you’re qualified to fight against the best players on the server? Nemevo? Really?”
“Well really, if they didn’t want to come they didn’t have to. They all knew what they were getting into and knew the risks of it. I never forced any of them to come with me.”
“Like how I didn’t ‘force’ you to pull that lever?”
So he's gonna go there. Hm. What more did Slush expect of him. Of course he’d bring up that just to get under Slushly’s skin.
“Whoops, did I trigger you? Poor Slushly. Poor, innocent Slushly,” The figure appeared to his right. Slush would have tried to punch the figure, but he knew it was just in his head. He wouldn't make a fool of himself, not here. He has better things to do.
Slushly held the book and eye next to each other. They almost repelled one another, like two magnets being pushed together on the wrong ends.
“I wonder what she would say. What she would do in this position. If she would say ‘Oh yes Slushly, don't worry about me! Go and revive your new friend and forget about me!” The mosquito buzzed. Slushly’s blood boiled in resentment. Something like him doesn’t deserve to speak of Aspen.
After a moment Slushly breathed, “I don’t know…what she would say. But I know for sure, she would make the right decision.”
She would. Right?
“Maybe you should revive her and ask her yourself,” Poot giggled.
Slushly froze. He could. He could revive her. She..
But letting Nufuli… Nufuli…what was he thinking? Why was he letting this…monster, who isn’t even real, manipulate him like this? Why was he doubting himself?
“C’monnn! You know you want to! Why hesitate! Revive her. Revive her and let her see the monster you’ve become!" He laughed. Oh how Slush had grown to resent that laugh. It was worse than hearing nails on a chalkboard.
The small leather journal had found its way into his hand, the purple book nowhere to be seen. Slushly ignored the replacement, gripping the eye tighter.
“You have no right to be calling ME a monster,” Slush growled back with a hint of laughter.
“I mean, I am your conscience. Takes one to know one I guess! Or would this be more like looking into a mirror…? I don’t know, you tell me,” he chuckled.
“Whatever man, I don’t even know why I'm talking to you,” Slushly groaned, tired of the bickering. Slushy turned away, the wailing of the warden once again filling his ears. The warm lights of the bunker greeted his eyes. He walked towards the elevator, getting away from the imaginary Poot. Slushly sighed, a cold chill running down his spine.
He held the journal to the eye, just testing. The eye seemed to welcome the journal, unlike the ethereal book of which it seemed to dislike in a way. The eye glowed brighter as Slush held the journal closer, he didn’t know if he would be able to reverse the fusion if he accidentally combined the two. Maybe he wouldn't be mad if he accidentally did.
Slush hastefully patted himself down, looking for the missing book. He spun around, finding it on the floor underneath the doorway to the command block item room. He leaned over, picking it up by the spine.
Slushy shouted as something grabbed his arms pulling them backward and twisting his shoulders. Someone tightly pulled his arms and the items together, Slushly started to writhe. He tried to wriggle out of his attacker’s grasp, catching a glimpse of royal purple in front of him.
What? He was just holding it?
“JUST DO IT SLUSHLY! DO IT ALREADY YOU COWARD!” Poot yelled, pulling Aspen’s journal and the gleaming eye closer, distorting Slushly’s arms even more. Slush shouted in pain and realized what Poot was doing, his world going black once more. Slushly shouted in a harmony of pain and anger, twisting and thrashing.
“WHAT? TOO SCARED OF WHAT SHE’LL SAY WHEN SHE SEES YOU? WHEN SEES HOW YOU’VE CHANGED? WHEN SHE REALIZES YOU'RE NO LONGER THE HERO YOU USED TO BE?” His voice dug deep into Slushly’s mind. The words clawed at his mind.
“JUST SHUT UP! YOU DON’T GET TO TALK ABOUT HER OR WHAT SHE WOULD SAY!” Slush cried back, twisting out of the host’s grasp. He fell forward, the journal flying from his hand and thumping against the carpet a few feet in front of him. Slushy pulled himself up, staggering as he turned to punch the lunatic. Slushly’s hand phased through the figure as it evaporated from his sight, the world going back to normal.
It…was just in his head.
He breathed heavily, each gust of air feeling like a burden. He was afraid. Pootoot was right, as much as he hated to admit it. He didn’t know how Aspen would react to him and hearing about what he’e done. Despite it all, she would forgive him though. Right? She would understand, she herself said she’s done some bad things in the past. He’s changed once, he can change again…
“I think, you were put on this server to help people, to be a hero.”
Aspen’s voice fluttered in his mind. No, reviving her isn’t what she would want. Reviving her would be…selfish in a way. She would want him to save other people, to save Nufuli. She would be okay. She would understand.
She would understand.
Besides! Maybe when he revives Nufuli, Nuf could show Slush where he got the revival eye! And if not…then he would be okay. At least he would be able to save one of his friends. At least one.
Slushly quietly laughed, tears running down his face. He wiped his nose, sniffing.
“It’s okay, I’ll be okay,” Aspen’s voice whispered.
“I know you will be,” Slush whispered back.
Slushly slowly walked towards the Book of Knowledge, crouching down and picking it up. He caressed the cover, the ethereal purple and the golden spine glowed in the light. He pushed the eye and Book together, the eye hesitantly devoured the book and dropped to the floor.
“Oh wow, it was just that easy okay,” Slush muttered. He grabbed the eye, now having swirls of purple and green swirling within it.
“Let’s hope this works,” he prayed, smashing the eye on the ground.
The pieces levitated, accumulating in the air. Each piece attached to another, every time a loud ringing coming from them, a brilliant golden glow came from the cracks. Slushly held a totem. Wisps of indescribable colors circled the eye, illuminating the whole room in a flash of light. In an instant a vacuum filled the room, Slushly’s eyes went wide. His head pounded, feeling as if someone was pulling on his entire body, pulling him into another world. He felt as if his insides were being pulled out towards the eye.
BOOM
An angelic ringing echoed throughout the bunker, his totem popping in unison and absorbing into Slushly’s skin, healing him.
Slushly blinked, his eyes adjusting to the normal light. He looked up, excited to see his friend.
“Nufuli?”
There was nothing.
Grey shards of the glass eye were littered across the floor. The book quietly lay in the middle.
“N-Nufuli?”
He dropped to his knees and cried. Calling out for his last friend.
Nufuli landed on the edge of the entrance to the bunker. He used his teeth to pry open the cork cap of the invisibility potion, Rat insisted that he used one. He didn’t know exactly why but he wouldn’t doubt them.
He peered over the edge, spotting a small yellow glint. That must be the book. She described the book as super dangerous and whoever had it was dangerous and must be stopped.
There was a player bent down on their knees, they seemed like they were…crying? They were shouting and crying, he couldn’t make out what they were saying through their cries. They looked like a hot mess.
He drank the potion, the cold liquid refreshed him. He threw the potion bottle on the ground as he let the potion take effect.
The person was in a perfect position for a mace hit, if he was seeing things right they were on one life as well. He gripped tide, ready to jump.
Slushly sobbed.
Nufuli leaped, macing the person’s arm. He felt somewhat bad for jumping them while they were crying, so he would give them somewhat of a chance. Made things more fun for him anyway.
Slushly screamed, holding his deformed arm and holding back his own tears. His mind was racing, unwanted thoughts flooded and festered deep into his psyche. He could feel Pootoot’s laughter and how it dug into his head, how it clawed and lacerated his very being, “Try being a hero and look where it gets ya, am I right?”
Slushly needs to focus. He can’t be distracted while fighting. Slushly groaned as he drank a healing potion, trying to stop the life leaking from his arm. He glared at his attacker, vanguard trims and a pure black shield. Of course vanguard would be after him but, how did they find him? He was, to his knowledge, the only one who knew where Nufuli’s bunker was. Maybe they had another compass, it IS vanguard so it wouldn’t be that far fetched.
Slushly pulled himself off the ground, smashing a collection of potions on the floor and breathing in the fumes. Lighting flared around his arms, his adrenaline pumping.
He was ready.
Finally this random was ready to fight, Nufuli was getting impatient. Nuf stretched his body being revived was not pleasant. He wanted to crack his back a hundred times over. After a yawn, Nuf charged in.
Slushly blocked the vanguard’s sword, floundering as they pushed against him. Whoever this guard was, they were strong. Really strong.
Nuf smiled, stepping back. Okay, maybe this person wasn’t going to be a quick drop.
Slushly leaped forward, bearing his axe only to be blocked by the dark shield. He then threw a gust of wind beneath himself, pulling out his own mace.
Nufuli dodged the oncoming attack, this person also had a mace. This would be fun. He windcharged as well, attempting to go for a hit.
Slushly whipped out division, casting and hooking onto the invisible guard. He swapped and knocked the guard back into the wall.
Nufuli, shocked, jumped back up. Rat had told him about division but he didn't think this mess of a person would be the holder of it. No way this, disheveled, saddened, weak-looking bum held THREE command block items. Crazy.
Slushly didn't let the guard breathe, charging at them with his spear.
Nufuli sidestepped the spear, letting it be thrust into the wall. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Slushly, throwing him against the ground.
Slushly winced in pain as glass-like shards pierced and cut through his skin, remnants of the eye, some lodged themselves into Slush’s cheek. He flicked his wrist and swapped places with the guard, pressing their face even harder into the ground as streams of blood trickled down his jaw.
Nufuli could tell this was going to be annoying. He rolled over, kicking Slushly in the gut before pinning him to the ground on his back. Nufuli’s hands grasped around Slushly’s neck, attempting to end things quickly.
Slushly struggled, his head throbbed at the loss of oxygen. That’s when he saw a glimpse of purple in his fading peripheral. He flailed his arm, tearing open the pages. He read the first one he saw, “R-AND-DOMI-SER!”
Nufuli arched his brow in confusion. He yelped in surprise as Slushly took his arms and threw him across the room. Nufuli steadied himself, annoyed by whatever Slushly did to double-hell even triple his strength. He lifted his chin as he saw Slushly with the knowledge book, frantically flipping through it’s pages.
Slushly never actually got to use the Book’s knowledge besides Kynaura Rupture. He didn’t know what the rest of these pages were or what they did. He guessed that the randomizer page gave him a random potion effect, which just so happened to be strength. The first page had names of Mobs on it. The warden is what stuck out. So this must have been how Nufuli was spawning them. Slushly smiled as he said,
“Maybe I’ll pull a page out of Nuf’s book and let some other people do the heavy lifting for once,” he breathed.
Slushly begun chanting the incantations, the ground started to tremble as Wardens materialized from the earth.
‘WHAT THE HELL? THIS GUY CAN JUST SPAWN WARDENS? That’s so bullshit’ Nufuli yelled internally. Rat told him not to talk on this mission which he thought was weird, but he’s trusted her since forever, why stop now? It was insanely annoying though, trying not to shout and yell. Nufuli braced himself, ready to take on a shriek from one of the beasts.
Nothing came. No shrieks, no screams, none of the warden-y things wardens normally do.
Slushly swapped with the guard, throwing them in between the two monsters.
“HA-BET YOU-like…that…”Slushly’s heart dropped as the wardens did nothing to the guard. He blankly stared questions swarming in his head once more. Wardens didn’t attack him because Slush was the one who summoned him but the guard…
Nufuli froze as he looked to his sides, if the wardens started to attack him, he was done for.
“Why aren’t the wardens attacking you…?” Slushly mumbled in despair. No. No, it-it couldn’t be.
Nufuli stared at Slushly like he was crazy, who starts talking near wardens? WARDENS! The moans and pangs of anguish surrounding Nuf started to fade as the wardens begun to walk away.
“The plot thickens!” Poot’s phantom teased behind the guard.
“No. No. No. Not you. It’s-it’s not you, no, not again,” Slushly murmured, visions of Galaxy crept up his spine.
‘What was this guy talking about?’ Nufuli wondered. He stopped tracking the warden’s movements as he soon came to realize the wardens didn’t care for him.
“No. You have to be joking, this is probably some, something-something else, Vanguard must have another command block that does this or something, No...” Slushy’s eyes flickered between the guard and the sparkling pieces of the eye on the ground. His ears started to ring at the thought, no he needed to stay focused! He needed to stay focused and fight this person, whom he DOESN’T know an-nd is fighting for vanguard.
Holy shit this guy looks like he’s about to cry, Nuf shifted awkwardly feeling as if he’s interrupted something.
“Ohhhh does that mean, what I think it means? You missed your one chance didn’t you?” Poot questioned, his laughter echoing in Slush’s mind.
Slushly started to pant, “Shut up…shutp up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” He threw his axe at the ghost.
Nuf eyed the terrible Axe throw, missed him by two blocks. Is this guy okay in the head? Who was he yelling at?
Slushly couldn’t speak, his mouth went dry, his thoughts swirling too fast for his brain to process. He almost dropped the Book of Knowledge from his hands shaking too much. His gut churned and twisted in ways he couldn’t describe.
“Nufuli?” He cried. He didn’t want the guard to answer, he’d rather the guard take a million years to answer, maybe then he would have enough time to process everything. He’d rather grow old in the spot in which he stood in, than hear a response. He'd rather have the elements slowly tear at him then hear the guard's voice. He'd rather have the guard kill him before the guard spoke.
Nuf looked down at his opaque skin, the potion was running out. It wasn’t too big of a deal, if he killed Slushly, Rat would never find out he was seen. However, something…wouldn’t let Nuf lead in for the kill. Something in his gut told him that it wasn’t time. It wasn’t time to end the hunt. It wasn't time to end Slushly’s life. He could wait. He could wait a million years to attack, maybe by then the feeling in his gut would disappear.
Slushly’s eyes went wide as his fears manifested in front of him. Everything he doubted, everything he didn’t want to believe, was standing in front of him. Hunting him. Beating him. Tricking him and torturing him. Everything he longed for, everything he hated, everything he was and wanted to be. It all stood in front of him, judging him.
Nufuli’s invisibility wore out and his gaze met Slushly’s watery eyes. The man looked at Nufuli as if meeting a long time friend for the first time in years. Nufuli was put off by Slushly’s stare. Slushly’s face told a million other stories with each crease in his skin showing a different emotion, emotions that were seemingly random to Nufuli. Nufuli held no recollection of the man in front of him, he only returned an empty, uncomfortable, stare as he asked,
“Who are you?”