Chapter Text
“BigB, don’t go out without a fight.” Grian called across the still, dark water, a hint of a smile could be heard in his voice.
As both him and Scar approached from across the lake, he heard the third of the only recently established ally-ship speaking to the man they had hunted across the whole server to find.
“Okay, he said it’s important.” Bdubs spoke for the man standing on a small mound at the water’s edge. BigB had nothing, not even a shield in his hand as he watched the 3 men approach.
“It’s very important.” The latter said. None of the men noticed his hand move towards the glistening diamond hilt of his sword which had been sheathed at his belt since he had first gotten out onto the water.
Exchanging cautious looks, all three of them decided to move in closer, knowing that BigB was completely outnumbered if he wanted to try anything.
Scar suddenly voiced, “Hold on, Bdubs, go in the boat for a second.”
Grian, having approached up the opposite side of the mound, stopped for a second to watch his team mates. A second was all that BigB needed.
He drew his sword from his side and lunged towards Grian. The blond haired man let out a shriek as he was shoved backwards, down the slope which he had just climbed, and into the side of two cacti which were deep rooted in the sand. Desperately, he attempted to move between the cacti back out into the water - at least if he managed that he’d be able to draw his bow and shoot at his attacker - but the arms were too thick and the spikes had snagged his clothing. He was stuck.
Despite having the stronger sword, the height of BigB’s vantage point made it so that Grian was helpless.
“Dude! No! No, no, no!” He yelled as he swung his sword madly, trying to land any hit on the other man.
He was backed into a corner, no way out, the other’s shining blue blade now glistening with his blood. He could hear his teammates yelling behind them, Bdub’s anxious shouts and Scar’s frantic attempt to calm the situation, but nothing would stop BigB from a shot at winning.
An arrow implanted itself in BigB’s side, causing him to double over and giving Grian just enough time to scramble up the mound and back to his companions. Scar moved in front of him, sword bared.
“Everybody,” He glanced back at Grian. “Everybody, let’s settle down.”
However, as quickly as the fight had started, it was over. A whistle passed Grian’s ear and another arrow shot into BigB, this time directly into his neck. He collapsed to the floor, no noise escaping him. He was still. For a moment, it was silent.
“BigB?!” Grian yelled, running over to the man’s now lifeless body. He had seen many people die already, but with only 3 of them left, the reality of the situation was starting to hit.
“Okay!” It was Bdubs. Grian turned to see him backing away from him and Scar who remained firmly at his side. He was shaking. He seemed to have realised what Grian had just come to understand. With one hand clutching to the crossbow that had just been used to kill their final enemy, and the other still gripping onto the golden clock that Scar had gifted him not half an hour before, he continued to move away from the pair. “Now… Now what? Now what?!”
Grian was not listening, however, he knew that whatever events were about to unfold, it would not end well for anybody. “He… He tried to kill me.” He muttered.
Scar gave him a worried look. “Geez. He was a wild card.”
Grian stared down BigB. His eyes were still open, not quite staring at the man above him, not quite staring at the sky behind him, perhaps looking at the spirits of those who had already passed. By the time he had regained any ounce of rationality and was ready to face the situation presented to them, Scar had managed to talk Bdubs into standing with him, and the two of them were looking over at Grian.
He took a step forward to join them but then stopped. They were looking at him.
“I-” He raised his shield and, reluctantly, his sword. He had no issue killing Bdubs when it came down to it, but he did not want to hurt Scar, not after everything they had already endured together. “No.”
They took a step forward. He took a step back.
Suddenly, Bdubs smiled. A wide smile, showing his blindingly white teeth, big, glistening eyes staring deep into Grian’s. “You gave me the clock, d’you want me to do it?” He half faced Scar as he spoke, more intent on watching Grian like a predator watches its prey.
“L-Listen, boys.” Grian laughed. Why did he laugh? He knew that he should fight, kill the both of them whilst they weren’t expecting an attack, but the part of him that was still him, the part of him that no matter what he witnessed in this game would always be there, was too loud. He was staring into the face of death and he was still deciding to voice his stubborn humour. “We can just arrange for me to win the series, right?”
They all laughed together and for just a moment, it felt like everything was okay, that they could all make it out alive. Scar moved towards him whilst Bdubs stayed in his spot, as if waiting for instructions from the taller man. Scar gave Grian a look of reassurance, although Grian did not know how this could end in any reassuring way.
“Scar?” Grian murmured, so that only he could hear.
Scar took a breath. “Okay, I-”
“And fire!” Bdubs yelled, shooting an arrow into Grian’s arm.
He yelped. “Scar! What do we do?!”
He just managed to raise his shield and block from a second attack before Scar stepped between the two men. “Okay, okay. I got a solution to this. I have a solution. I have a solution.” His voice was eerily calm but Grian trusted him, just as he had trusted him the entire time they had been together.
Bdubs groaned but lowered his crossbow, staring daggers at the man in front of him. “What?! I’m bloodthirsty! I got… two kills!”
Despite the obvious threat on his partner’s life, Scar smirked. Grian knew that smirk. Scar had a plan.
“Okay, Bdubs?”
“What?!”
“You stand…” Scar moved further into the forest. “You stand right here.”
“Okay!”
Grian stared across the water, not knowing if he were to ever see this world again. The pyramids of lava made it seem like it was day, cutting through the piercing inky nothingness of the night. He didn’t like the night. He was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He jumped away. Scar stared into his eyes and he could tell that he was trying to communicate that everything would be alright.
“What is…”
“Grian, stand right here.” Scar gestured to a spot away from the forest’s edge, directly opposite Bdubs.
Grian moved slowly. “What’s the solution?”
“I’ve got no traps, it’s just… Stand right here.”
Scar moved away from Grian. Grian was half tempted to reach out his hand, grab his arm and ask him to stay. He was tempted to lunge forwards and slay Bdubs while he had the chance. But he knew that Scar would never intentionally hurt him and so he let him go, staying put.
He let out a long, drawn out sigh. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped for a moment. Grian could tell he wanted to say something else, but he knew better of it and so before any other words could spill out his mouth, he said loudly and clearly, “Whoever gets the no kill pass, I don’t kill.”
A scrap of paper was dropped on the ground in the middle of the two men. Scar and his stupid papers, his fancy tricks. Every time that Grian thought that Scar’s plans were stupid and could never work, he was proven wrong. He thought that a monopoly on the desert would never work and yet they had defeated Dogwarts together. He thought that a clock was a stupid thing to offer someone in exchange for their life and yet there it hung from Bdub’s hand, splattered with his previous ally’s blood. He thought that pieces of paper meant nothing to anyone, and yet here they were, fighting over the final scrap in a literal life or death situation.
They both shouted incomprehensibly as they lunged towards the note on the ground. Grian felt his hands on it for just a moment before Bdubs had shoved him to the side. He was winded, on the ground at Scar’s feet. He threw himself forwards in an attempt to grab it but it was too late, a moment of weakness was all that Bdubs had needed to snatch up the paper for himself.
“I got it! I got it!” He cried, moving away from Grian’s weak body. He had come to realise how much it ached. He could feel wounds stinging from where he had been shoved into the cactus, scratches and cuts from where BigB’s blade had come into contact with his skin.
He then felt Scar’s sword come down on him.
“No! Dude! No! No!” He shouted. He tried to get away but Bdubs closed in on him. Scar let out a noise that was somewhere between a cry and a laugh as he continued to hit his friend, his partner, into the ground.
“I got it! I’ll get him!” He heard Bdubs from next to him.
Grian gave up fighting. “You turn on me after all we’ve been through?” He muttered, exasperated and exhausted.
Another whistle through the air, then there was silence, and there was black.