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Tai sees things. Some he would rather not name, and some he chases as if he could grab at them and hold them in his palm.
Too bad none of them stay.
OR
Solar system trio in uu, but Tai is the only one left alive. And Egg visits.
It has been weeks.
Months since he saw either of them him.
As Tai wandered further out, he started to wonder. What happened to Rejoice, his only(?) friend on this hardcore server. Being it as you only had one life, Tai grew cautious.
Gone were the carefree deaths on the play servers and hypixel that he and Rejoice would play on together, replaced with a slight paranoia over the fear of death that could be taken from him at a moments notice.
His steps were the only thing grounding, the clank of Tai’s armour rhythmic as he moved further and further away from that.. Retched mining district.
Really, he couldn’t thank Parrot after buying him his freedom. But as he saw his fellow slavemates run for king, he knew that it now didn’t concern him. The voidling made up his mind:
Step one. Tai contemplates.
Find Rejoice.
Step Two.
Get the flip out of there before major civil war can rage and kill us all.
Simple, right? Yeah, well, a man can dream.
Maybe those dreams must have been a bit too unstable, or Tai just has incredibly bad eyesight. He doesn’t even have glasses, damn it! Absolutely no sign of that classic bright yellow hair anywhere.
Not near the sunflower fields, Tai being like a splotch of ink among the vibrant flowers.
No where near the couple civilizations they had visited in the past, nor was he there at that one where he was a guard for a while.
Anywhere Tai went, he just couldn’t seem to grasp that signature red and teal haori adorned with those among us guys.
Tai was walking along a path surrounded by endless fields of golden wheat as he remembered the ridiculous favoritism Rejoice had towards the childish game. He tossed up a golden apple, watching it spin in the air, glinting in the sunlight, before succumbing to the will of gravity.
Rejoice’s love for among us and valorant never failed to make Tai smile, or scream in frustration, depending on the day. It was one of the things that made life on the server bearable, after all the constant griefing and bandit attacks.
..
Huh, maybe Tai’s bloodthirsty companion would be somewhere fitting. Like, as a mercenary, perhaps? Or maybe, as a guard of a kingdom.
Perhaps he should have started checking those first?
“Wow, is this the first time lil Tai actually has an intelligent thought?!”
Get out of my head, Rejoice.
It’s as if everywhere Tai goes, Rejoice’s voice follows.
A mini Rejoice, floating around in his mind, saying stuff as if he were right next to Tai.
That never was the case though, Tai knew better. Rejoice was gone.
And Tai never knew where he went.
He had wandered around after being free of the mining district, resided in Capital City for a short while, then ran after the taxes got too high.
Now, he was traveling, searching.
Tai was able to see so many things he hadn’t seen before. Blown up monuments, bases, the occasional player.
But mostly, it was just the endless fields and Tai.
Sometimes, in the middle of the day, when the sun is at its highest and the air wavers out of heat,
Tai would see Rejoice’s figure in the distance.
On even rarer occasions, in the period of noon and after noon,
He would see N00b floating right next to him, frozen in time laughing with Rejoice.
These seemed to happen even more in sunflower fields.
There would be teal with a glowing red and an even combination of those two running in the distance, sometimes sparring, sometimes racing, sometimes..
Just..
Walking.
Enjoying the sun.
Laughing about trivial matters.
Something that happened last weekend and would be forgotten the very next.
It looks.. strange.
As if there was supposed to be something next to them.
Ah, right.
It looks incomplete.
There was something that was supposed to be right next to those two, something that would have added on and completed them.
Tai would have known. Those were his friends.
Rejoice would have teased him for not knowing.
N00b would have smacked Rejoice and add in another conspiracy theory to fuck up the whole thing.
They still would have told him what was missing, though.
Tall grass blades were crushed under Tai’s boots as he traveled through several wheat fields. Luckily, it seemed as no one had griefed this one yet. He would take some, but he already has enough food to last him a decade.
Something about magic duping exploits. The memory just surfaced in his mind one day, and Rejoice and him were set for the next millennia.
Rejoice and him.
Rejoice and Tai.
That was how it was for the past year. Tai refused to know about anything else before that. He had joined the server a year ago, and a year ago was when he and Rejoice became friends.
Was there anyone else with them?
Anyone else before the two of them got separated?
Tai, who couldn’t outrun his debt.
And Rejoice, who couldn’t find him?
Just like how Tai can’t seem to find him now?
Is that his karma?
Reduced to a wandering soul, traversing countless blocks and loads of biomes.
It seems as if a lonely life.
Great for him, then.
Tai brings himself out of his train of thoughts, glancing at the retreating and waving figures of Rejoice and
..someone else.
Who was that again?
He shakes his head, trying to get the thought of false memories out of his head.
Tai arrives at the end of the wheat fields, where it encases a fortress of walls. A wooden gate lies at the front, already open and inviting. The smell of freshly baked bread could be identified if he concentrated.
He stepped through the gates, into the bustling city. Houses sprung up everywhere, people came and went.
He stood there, looking at the dynamic and diverse crowd. Merchants were selling pots of gold and artisan pottery. Children were tossing a ball back and forth on the streets. Husbands and wives were leisurely strolling along the market.
Scanning through the crowd, wishing for that mop of bright yellow hair to appear, Tai crashed into someone.
“Yo.”
Tai looked up and saw who he had collided with. 2 pairs of angel wings towered above him, encasing the snow white hair that had a splotch of blue and black on it, mimicking an eye.
“Oh, Eggchan.” Tai sighed. He felt a twinge of disappointment that it wasn’t Rejoice, but nevertheless, better someone he knew than who he didn’t.
“What’s good, bro? Haven’t seen you in a while.” Egg said. He was carrying a bucket full of fish and a dark brown fishing rod. A stupidly purple bucket hat was perched on top of his head.
“Yeah, it has been a while. How have you been?” Tai asked.
“Pretty good bro.” Egg gestured behind him. “I’ve been fishing, you know? Wheat City needs some sort of protein.”
The bucket of fish sloshed in Egg’s hold. Tai flicked his tail at it, hitting one of the cod’s heads and effectively pushing it back into the bucket.
“Here, let’s walk and talk bro. I’m headed to the center, and I’m sure you are too.”
“Sounds good to me.” Tai shrugged.
The duo slowly made their way towards the center of the market. Banners displaying varying pictures of wheat adorned the walls of every house spotted. A couple vendors waved and shouted their greetings towards Egg, who gave them a small wave in return.
They discussed what Egg had been doing since they last saw each other, and brushed around Tai’s reluctant answers of what he had been doing in return.
Egg pointed out where he sold his fish, a warm colored diner where they fried all of the fish that he caught for them. He mentioned how their fish toasts were the best, and Tai agreed to try them when prompted.
As Egg talked with the vendor and passed off his goods, Tai took a look around.
It looked very cozy, with the warm lighting and wood accents.
Egg finished, turning towards Tai and tilted his head towards the awaiting worker. Tai placed his order down and they found a table near the corner.
As they waited, they fell into a comfortable silence.
Well, comfortable for Egg, he seemed nonchalant.
For Tai, he was fighting himself.
Should he tell Egg?
Yeah, screw it.
“Egg..?”
Egg looked up from his book. “Yeah? What’s up bro?”
Tai picked at the edge of the table.
“..Have you seen Rejoice?”
Tai sucked in his breath, eyes trained on the expression on Egg’s face. His mouth (that’s all Tai could see anyways) twitched in the way that meant oh, he’s not going to like this.
Tai braced for the inevitable news, that Rejoice was held hostage, or even worse, dead.
He isn’t dead, is he?
Suddenly, Egg started to chuckle. In that Eggchany way of his. Freaky.
“What’s so funny?” Tai said, slightly offended.
“Haha.. it’s just that,” Egg calmed himself. “I thought you would ask about N00b first.”
“N00b?”
“Yeah? Like, your shieldless friend? Unless somehow Rejoice went up the ranking but I swear the three of you were tight-knit together.”
“..that isn’t the matter right now.” Tai gritted out. “I don’t even know who this ‘N00b’ fellow even is.”
“So tell me Egg, where is Rejoice?”
Egg had the lorebook. Egg knows everything. He should know.
“Tai.”
“...Yeah?”
“Rejoice is dead.”
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
What?
All of that, for nothing? Tai didn’t believe it.
“..No he isn’t, right?”
Egg sighed and slid his glasses up further.
“Tai..he was killed by wardens. He was a guard for this underground civilization, and me and Wemmbu were there.”
“What about N00b?”
Egg raised his eyebrow. “Now you're asking?”
“Well, Tai.”
“He burnt out too.”
..
“..Burnt out?”
Egg’s gaze felt like a weight. His body felt heavy. His mind felt heavy. Everything seemed as if it was drained out of him.
He needed to get out of here.
“Thanks for the info, Egg.”
“Yeah, anytime man-” Egg’s voice faded out as Tai slapped a couple diamonds on the counter and rushed out, bumping into several incomers and almost losing his crown.
Rejoice would have laughed at that.
N00b would have shaken his head and sighed with a small smile on his face.
But now they can’t.
Because Tai will forget them. And everything that will be. Just like how Rejoice never found him or N00b, just like how N00b never found Rejoice or Tai.
Tai never found the sun and the star.
You know what they say.
The moon will never shine without the sun and the star