Chapter Text
"Wemmbu. Wemmbu, please listen. Just Listen. I can explain, just give me the mace and I can win. I can get Egg back; I will get him back."
Okay so maybe this wasn't the best was to get in touch with flame. Maybe selling out the best friend of his student wasn't great for their future relationship, let alone their trust in one another but Manepear really, truly, needed to speak with Flame. Even if that talk was in the form of a fight.
Looking back on his plan, he really should've expected Wemmbu's reaction. Everyone on the server knew he was protective of his friend, even if he refused to admit it. All you had to do was observe how they interacted for a few minutes and you'd know. And Prince Zam's betrayal was likely still fresh on his mind. It wasn't as if mane was planning on killing Egg though or leaving him to the mercy of the Mafia. He was always going to bring him back to the treehouse once he was done with Flame.
Wemmbu kept pacing up and down the outdoor stairwell. He clearly wasn't focusing on where he was walking considering how close he got to the edge. He wasn't even crouched. "Come on, Wemmbu, stop that. Just trust me. Just give me the mace." There was an unintentional edge of desperation in his voice, hopefully wemmbu wouldn't notice. Not that Mane thought he would considering how lost in his head he looked. Manepear had called out with the dual intention of getting his student away from the ledge and hopefully getting the mace at the same time.
Manepear knew it was unlikely, but he almost hoped that this one poor choice hadn't completely evaporated the fragile trust that had been building between them. That against all odds, wemmbu would relinquish his hold on the mace to Mane. If he didn't get the mace soon, he won't get to egg in time to save him.
While thinking, Mane noticed a slight change in Wemmbu's behaviour. He had stopped pacing and had placed down an ender chest, which was immediately opened as if he was trying to avoid looking at mane. He felt a slight tightening of his chest, what an inconvenient time to have heart problems. it was a strange sight, seeing someone he almost considered a friend, eating dinner, joking and laughing a few hours ago, now moving around frantically, like he was trying to search for a reason why mane had done what he did.
After Mane broke the Ender chest into an item once again, wemmbu equipped his elytra to fly to the top of their treehouse, where all their stolen loot was. He was likely trying to restock or look for items that may be useful soon. Why else would he go there. Manepear hung back a short while, deciding to give Wemmbu a small bit of time before he would follow. In the meantime, he tried to contact egg and get his coordinates so that he could complete his objective without trying and failing to decipher Flame's vague clues on where to meet up.
You Whisper to Eggchan: yo egg what are your coords
You Whisper to Eggchan: ill come get you
You Whisper to Eggchan: egg???
You Whisper to Eggchan: come on man
Egg not responding was a very bad sign. The only reason for this that Mane could think of was if the Diamond trim member had already killed egg. Usually, he would find Flame trustworthy, but it had been a while, and they left each other on a bad note. He had no idea what he would do to Egg if Mane was too late. Mane had actually enjoyed Egg's company and his relationship with Wemmbu would likely be permanently ruined if Egg died because of something Mane had done. If Egg died, he would lose three people. Wow. The longer he thought over this plan the more he realised that it was potentially a really bad idea. It was too late to back out of it though.
When Manepear finally made his was up to the top of the treehouse Wemmbu was still shuffling through the items in the Shulker boxes, opening and closing them almost frantically. "Wemmbu-" Before Mane could finish, Wemmbu abruptly stopped what he was doing and turned to face Manepear. Usually Wemmbu was an open book, always showing his heart on his sleeve. Now, however, Mane couldn't decipher a single emotion. For the first time since meeting Wemmbu, Mane could not read him. Not even when he looked into his eyes. They observed each other silently, each waiting for the other to move first.
Wemmbu must've seen something in his expression, something that had to have resembled some sort of strong emotion. Something that Wemmbu was looking for. Because otherwise Mane had not a single inkling of why what happened, happened. Not that he wasn't relieved about it.
"You know what? I'll give you the mace... On one condition of course." Manepears eyes narrowed at the ultimation. He didn't like getting his hand forced, even if it was for something he wanted. Even if it was for someone he could maybe, someday say he cared about. Wemmbu must have noticed the change in Mane because he gave off the vibes of someone who knew they had just won, at the expense of another person's comfort.
"I will be coming with you to save Egg. You can fight the diamond trim just like you wanted, and I will break Egg out." Mane opened his mouth to decline. To explain to Wemmbu how that was a stupid idea that would likely fail and end in death. But before he could even make a noise Wemmbu quickly shut down any of his feeble attempts at complaining. "I'm guessing that you don't even know where you would go to find them if I let you go alone. Right? You don't have any coords?" Of course. Eggs silence was because of wemmbu, if he had died, Mane would have seen in the public chat and his student would be much less amicable than he currently was. At this revelation Mane felt something akin to relief, there was most definitely annoyance in there as well for obvious reasons. These kids.
Ultimately the relief outweighed the annoyance, and he made sure that if he was ever willing to show an emotion at a specific time to someone, it was that emotion at that time to Wemmbu. He didn't want to hide his (almost) care for Eggchan if it got him the mace quicker. They were already losing time; they couldn't afford to waste anymore. Mane was sure that wemmbu knew that too.
"Obviously I don't have them, and you clearly have something to do with that. But I'm guessing you have the coords, right?" Mane finally relented, admitting that if he wanted to do anything, he would have to bring wemmbu along with him.
"Of course, I do. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't know where he was?" That statement felt strangely pointed. "I'll give you the mace now and you'll follow me to where Egg is being held. Deal?" Wemmbu stared straight into Manes eyes, like it was a staring competition, or like he was daring Mane to deny the plan and trick him or something. That was one dare that Mane would not take, could not take. Not with that unnatural glint in Wemmbu's eyes.
"i accept your terms."
"Perfect. Let's get going then."