Chapter Text
Parrot's nose digs into the mud as he slides across the wet jungle floor, warm rain ruthlessly pelting his exposed skin like shards of glass. His legs gave out a long time ago, going completely numb from all the fall damage he's taken, yet his mind screams at him to move, even if by an inch. There isn't anyone following Parrot — their footsteps went quiet even before he left the Spawn, leaving only the triumphant laughter behind — but adrenaline coursing through his body has yet to fade.
With his vision blurred and plagued by Saparata's wicked expression on top of Parrot's castle, wearing Parrot's crown, commanding Parrot's people, Parrot doesn't think he's capable of stopping, driven by pure spite and hurt — the latter so deep he can almost feel it in his teeth. They ache unpleasantly, sending waves of pain in his skull, but that pain is enough to force him awake for even a moment more, an inch further. His skin burns from the friction, dirt settles under his cuts and wounds, definitely causing infection that Parrot has half a mind to treat. Still, he doesn't stop.
None of the pain is relevant to Parrot, though. His mind races in hopes of pushing away Saparata's laughter, but it only rings louder, accompanied by the sound of raindrops hitting skin. And there's no one around to help Parrot up. He's completely alone in the middle of the jungle no one ever visits, unable to care for himself.
Now that Parrot is truly on his own, without a friend to share his sorrow with — not like he's ever done that, but, Ender, he wishes he had — Leo's voice echoes in his head, combining with Saparata's. It's important to have allies, Leo told Parrot once, and Parrot didn't care enough to listen, but now that he's crawling across the jungle floor, with mud filling up his nostrils, he wishes he had. Parrot wishes he had shown that he cared more.
Ender, Parrot misses Theo. The thought is so shocking in its randomness, it stuns him into stillness. He slowly turns his head to the side, letting his cheek rest against the soil for a second. He exhales sharply to remove the dirt from his nose and takes a blissful breath now that it's somewhat free. Adrenaline fades gradually as Parrot lies there peacefully, being replaced by bone-deep exhaustion.
His wings stretch out slightly and curl around his shoulders, mimicking Theo's affection. It's easy to pretend that the warm rain is his best friend's when there's nothing else to delude himself with. Despite Theo not being the sharpest tool in the shed, he's always known what to say, what to do to comfort Parrot. Such a shame Parrot could never fully appreciate it. He closes his eyes and tries to replace Saparata and Leo with Theo, but it barely works, Theo's hurt face and words, their arguments floating around him as Parrot gives up and succumbs to exhaustion.
Whatever it takes not to feel or remember.
***
When Parrot finally wakes up, he feels worse than he did before falling asleep. Maybe it's because of all the rainforest bugs clinging to his soil-covered skin. Parrot can only pray that nothing crawled inside his ear during his sleep — his last remaining brain cell will fail miserably if he has to deal with an insect in his ear on top of the other stuff he's going through. Actually, sleeping in the middle of the random jungle where anyone could attack him, not just insects, was not his greatest idea, Parrot thinks with a wince and tries to push himself up.
His entire body aches. Parrot looks down and lifts one of his hands to scrub dirt off his skin, only to hiss at the burn. Still, he pushes, revealing a clear sign of infection beneath all the grime and dirt right on his forearm. Parrot finds that, surprisingly, his bad arm is still movable, meaning that he still has a chance of treating and saving it. Getting his kingdom back without an arm is definitely a challenge he doesn't want to partake in.
After a long moment spent collecting himself, Parrot forces himself onto his knees, then slowly pushes himself to his feet. Something pulls at his abdomen and he mentally notes to check it later.
Parrot looks around only to find nothing but greenery surrounding him. Tall trees throw shade on him, preventing him from the scorching sun; parrots' chips can be heard from everywhere alongside the sound of a rushing river. There are no houses or civilizations — no one could live in the humid air of a jungle for too long without developing health issues. So, not having much of a choice, Parrot decides to follow the sound of the river. It's better to somewhat wash up and examine his injuries in a river full of potential snakes than let his infection fester even more.
The walk is quiet; Parrot is leaning against every tree as his hips burn from all the running he's done the day before. Eventually, he does reach the river and collapses right on the shore. Parrot carefully looks over the water, making sure there aren't any snakes around, before dipping his hands in the water. The process of cleaning is slow and meticulous. Parrot doesn't think he can handle the sensation of something crawling down his spine a second longer.
Other than the terrible infection on his forearm that has already adopted a sickly yellow color and small cuts here and there, Parrot has a somewhat bad wound on his abdomen. Judging by the white skin forming in the gap, it was in the process of healing by a golden apple, before being interrupted by another hit. Parrot lets out a tired sigh at the revelation. He would really love to have a golden apple right now. Not only to heal, but because of the sounds his stomach is making.
Parrot looks around in hopes of finding a watermelon or at least some coco beans, but finds… a huge crater on the opposite shore. Despite the unstable nature of this server, craters don't spawn naturally like this. Immediately, Parrot is on guard. He jumps to his feet even as he winces at the overextension. His ears are strained, searching for any sound other than the sound of the forest, yet he finds nothing.
The river is shallow enough for Parrot to cross it without any issues and, despite his better judgment, he does just that — even if it does take immense effort to not slip on rocks and smash his head open. Finally, Parrot reaches the opposite shore and examines the crater. It looks like something left by an explosion — an old one, if the moss growing in between rocks is any indicator.
Lifting his gaze, Parrot finds even more craters, left in a broken line, as if someone was chased down here. But each one is aged, with greenery finding its way through the cracks and flowerbeds growing in them.
Curiosity piqued, Parrot follows the trail, the state of his body momentarily forgotten. The way nature grew around the destruction is beautiful, Parrot can't help but stare at the flowerbed full of bright colors as he walks by. He's mesmerized at how some craters became ponds — fishes swim in them and lily pads cover the surface. One of the craters has spiderweb covering every inch of it with spiders crawling all around. Some have animals sleeping soundly.
"Wow," Parrot breathes out at the picture of an ocelot family cuddled up together in a crater.
Parrot walks past it carefully as the mother hisses at him, protecting her litter with her paw. Parrot explores further, until he reaches an opening. The sun hits him in the face and Parrot lifts his hand to shield himself from it. He separates his fingers to look through the gaps between them and gasps when he sees what's in front of him.
It's a half-blown up house. A very familiar half-blown up house. By the riverbed, with a fishing dock at the entrance that half collapsed under its own weight into the water. The house itself is overgrown with vines and branches that cover the gaps left by explosions, as if protecting it from collapsing fully.
Oh, Parrot thinks, his heart dropping into his already upset stomach. There aren't many jungles this close to the Spawn, are there? What are the chances he would end up here of all places? Somewhere where Parrot has failed to run away once, bringing destruction to once beautiful land. And he came here to do the exact same thing again.
This is the cabin Parrot has built all those years ago, when he was still being hunted by the most elite assassin. Back when he had a team he could trust fully and a best friend who wouldn't leave him alone for the life of him, but Parrot was too arrogant to accept their help. If Parrot tries hard enough, he can almost see them all standing in front of him, smiling and waving him over, before a huge bomb lands on them, leaving nothing but ruins of a house that shouldn't exist behind.
Something in Parrot screams at him to turn around, to not bring any more damnation to this land, yet his legs move on their own. He stands in front of the front door that barely hangs on its hinges. When Parrot extends his arm and touches the rotting wood gently, it falls over, hitting the ground with a loud bang. He winces at the sound and steps over the door, entering the house.
Inside is somehow worse than the outside — a huge beehive is sitting in the furthest corner, buzzing with life; the floor is covered with mossy stones and rubble, forming a small mound; the broken wooden furniture rots, leaving behind a musty smell. But as a saving grace, right under the beehive stands an Ender Chest. It glows slowly, its particles scaring bees into hiding.
"Jackpot," Parrot whispers, his lips stretching into a triumphant smile. He walks inside slowly, mindful of sharp edges of the stones, making his way to the Ender Chest.
Upon finally reaching it, Parrot looks up at the beehive, then back at the chest. Before opening it, he moves his hands into a praying motion, whispering, "Oh, Ender," but he catches himself and shakes his head. "You know what? Nevermind."
Parrot opens the Ender Chest and quickly grabs his bundles. One of them should have a healing potion or at least a regeneration one. He spots some golden apples and immediately starts chewing on one. The effect is instant. The wound on his abdomen burns unpleasantly, making him cringe. However, there isn't much golden apples can do against infection, so Parrot keeps digging. Eventually, Parrot finds one half-empty healing potion and almost considers thanking his past self for being frugal and cheap when it comes to his health.
He sits down on one of the stones and pours the potion over his wound, watching it drip down his arm and onto the stone beneath him. The wound already looks so much better, but it definitely needs more rest and care.
Parrot exhales; an empty potion bottle slips through his fingers and lands on the stone with a loud noise. Surprisingly, bees don't react to the sound, making Parrot less tense, but he still reaches out to collect the shards of glass. If he plans on temporarily living here, he shouldn't trash this place even more.
While Parrot collects the shards, his hand brushes against a patch of moss. It slips off the stone, as though it didn't grow on it, but rather was placed on top. Parrot squints his eyes and lowers his face to see what the moss was hiding under it and finds two initials carved into the stone. He brushes his hand against them, confused, before ripping the rest of the moss off the stone, revealing the full sentence.
Here lies our greatest creation
- K & W
"Huh," Parrot says, fingers leaving the stone. "Interesting."
Parrot stands and looks down at the mound he's been sitting on. Now that he thinks about it, it really resembles a grave, of all things. But there's no smell of a rotting body in the house, Parrot would recognize it instantly. Driven by curiosity, Parrot slowly crouches on the furthest stone and starts removing them one by one with his good arm. It's hard, but Parrot manages the best he can.
Eventually, the top layer is gone, stored safely in Parrot's inventory, and Parrot raises a little and looks between the gaps of the stone. He expects to see anything — starting with a redstone machine and ending with a random jukebox — but all he sees is some fabric, barely distinguishable through all the dust covering it. Parrot reaches out and wipes the dust off, his hand immediately stilling in the air.
Without the dust's coverage, Parrot can see the distinct symbol that he still wears on his clothes. The 'yin' part of the circle stares at him, waiting for his next actions, but Parrot can't move. Every inch of his body is frozen as he stares down at a familiar symbol. His hand slips in the gap once again and hooks under one edge, lifting the stone slightly, revealing the 'yang' part. He drops the stone immediately and practically jumps to his feet, taking huge steps back until his back hits the wall.
Two different sets of emotion swell in his chest, begging to be let out.
A part of him is terrified at the revelation, afraid to know what's hidden beneath the rest of the stone. Something flashes before his eyes — twisted images of a person who no longer exists — and Parrot can feel it burn into his eyelids as he blinks. The other, the more fragile part of him, wants to do nothing but stay frozen forever, so he doesn't have to face the hurricane swirling in his chest.
A face floats before him, but this time it's soft, kind, and bright. He sees a smile, the shine of the eyes, and can practically feel the radiating warmth.
Parrot reaches out for that image, his fingers going through it. The face dissipates in the air, but Parrot doesn't stop moving. He reaches the heaviest stone and lifts it as though it weighs nothing, ignoring the sharp pain in his forearm. When it lands on the ground with a heavy thud, Parrot can barely hear it, the roaring in his ears overshadowing every sound. The only sensations he can feel are the sweat dripping down his temple and the bitter saliva forming in his mouth that he can't swallow.
There, under the rubble, stone and dust, lies someone who shouldn't be there. Someone who has been dead for years, and someone Parrot pushed out of his memory so harshly he has almost forgotten their existence.
"No," Parrot pushes out, his voice raspy, barely audible to his own ears. "No."
After all those years, his long-dead best friend lies peacefully, as if he's just sleeping. Wifies is lying as if he's just sleeping.
Parrot shuts his eyes and shakes his head aggressively, trying to erase the image out of his head, but once he opens them again, he sees Wifies' resting face. Desperation fills every fiber of his being when Parrot reaches out and touches the familiar face that's too cold to the touch. Parrot doesn't know why he keeps touching him. Maybe he is desperate to prove to himself that this is not real, that it's just his tired brain playing tricks on him again. But the more he squeezes, the more he pulls, the more he understands that Wifies is real — real under Parrot's touch.
"But you're dead," Parrot whispers gently as he fixes Wifies' hair. "You're not supposed to be here."
The memory of staring at Wifies' hard expression floats back to the surface after being submerged under water for so long. But Parrot tries to remember how it bled into desperation, how his voice shook as he was talking to Parrot. The sound of the explosion rings in Parrot's head and he turns his head around, unable to look Wifies in the eyes, even closed ones.
"I'm sorry," he says, but the apology just exists in the space between them uselessly.
His fingers pinch Wifies' cheek softly and Parrot frowns, looking back at him. He pinches again and pulls, the skin stretching slightly. Huh. Wifies' skin is… weird. More like silicone than actual human skin. His hand moves lower, as he keeps pulling at Wifies' skin before he feels something sharp under his fingertips.
Parrot lowers his gaze and sees a piece of metal sticking out of Wifies' arm. The skin near that region is ripped, revealing a metallic plate instead of human flesh. There's no dried blood on the surface either, just metal, silicone skin and redstone glowing in a person.
"What?" Parrot asks in disbelief. He swears he sees Wifies' eyes flutter at the question, but when he looks back, it's not there.
***
It's been a while since Parrot has collected resources himself. Not from the market either, but from nature directly. Spending hours upon hours in the cave has never been something he has enjoyed, but given his current situation, it's not like he had any other choice. His arm has been healing steadily, though sometimes it hurts to squeeze his fist, but Parrot manages. It's hardly his priority nowadays, with how busy Parrot is with… fixing his dead best friend who turned out to be a robot?
When Parrot first saw Wifies under all that rubble, he has felt nothing but a crushing sadness in his chest. It felt like a punishment — seeing him unmoving and dead for the first time ever. After all, Parrot had never stuck around to see Wifies actually die. And now, especially after losing his kingdom, Parrot thought that Ender was mocking him by sending Wifies back to him.
But after inspecting Wifies body carefully, Parrot came to the conclusion that Wifies was not dead. Well, he was, but not in a human way, because Wifies was not… well, a human. Never in years they'd spent together has Wifies mentioned being a robot, of all things, and Parrot can't help the bitterness at his best friend's secrecy. However, with the way Parrot had been obsessing lately about fixing Wifies' robotic body, he can't really blame him.
Resurfacing after hours in a mine feels like heaven. Parrot tilts his head backwards, letting the sunlight hit his face. The heat of the jungle is so much more pleasant than the suffocating air of the caves, despite both being scenarios where he struggles to breathe. Parrot shakes his head at the annoying thought and walks to his new house.
It's not fixed — Parrot has no time, energy or resources to rebuild it. The best he could do was patch up the holes in the roof and walls, remove stones and the beehive from the main room. Nothing else could be done in the current situation, especially with his hand still shaking on a good day.
Regardless, Parrot wouldn't be focusing on repairing the house even if he could, when he has something more important to repair.
Wifies is sitting on a makeshift couch, his head propped against the wall. Like this, he almost looks like he's sleeping, and Parrot, in whatever crazed state he's fallen into, talks to him from time to time. Most of the time Parrot talks about his kingdom or his old treasure hunts, mentioning that Wifies would have loved experiencing those with him. Wifies never responds, but Parrot imagines his answers nonetheless.
"So!" Parrot says, excitedly. He drops the materials he's gathered next to Wifies on the couch, while he sits on the floor in front of Wifies. "I'll be patching you up today!"
Wifies, as per usual, doesn't respond, so Parrot reaches out and tilts Wifies' head to the side. He tries to recreate his best friend's favorite motion, but his head rolls limply, unable to hold itself up.
"It's fine," Parrot smiles gently, fixing Wifies' head into the previous position. "You're going to be as good as new in no time."
His iron and gold are smelt, redstone contraptions are built and ready to be used. The only thing Parrot has failed to acquire is silicone skin. He doesn't want to upset his friend by using the wrong one, so it has to wait for some time before Wifies is awake.
It's not like Wifies has a lot of damages, at least not internal. His face has a huge crack on the left side, as though his skin had dried out and cracked in the most painful way ever. Some parts of his endoskeleton are exposed, revealing his mechanism, which Parrot has studied carefully. According to everything Parrot has learned, there shouldn't be any damages to his system. Maybe the moisture could have messed some redstone up and the generator is too weak to support a robot as complicated as Wifies. Nevertheless, there isn't anything Parrot can't accomplish now.
Parrot starts by using flint and steel to melt iron and direct the drops toward the cracks in Wifies' skin. The process is slow, considering how much external damage he has received, but Parrot is nothing but patient. His fingers move expertly, mindful of the redstone mechanism and patching up the parts that look wrong. Parrot wouldn't say that he's a redstone master, but he knows the basics. Enough to fix Wifies, that is.
When Parrot is done with the external repair, he carefully lifts Wifies' hoodie and his undershirt, inspecting his core. It's pulsing weakly, clearly in a working condition. The chest compartment can be opened, so Parrot does just that. His breath gets stuck in his throat at the sight in front of him. Wifies' core is a deep purple shade, its pulse sending weak signals towards the rest of his body. Small artificial veins are visible under his fake skin — they almost look like minuscule wires, intertwining with each other and creating a beautiful picture.
It's fascinating. Parrot would have never thought that a machine would have a heart this beautiful and beating. He has always assumed that machines were just that… machines. But looking at Wifies' core now, Parrot realizes how mistaken he's been this entire time.
Parrot can't help it; his hand reaches out and touches the vibrant core gently. Suddenly, it pulses harder under his fingertips, growing brighter and brighter, until Parrot is forced to look away from it. The core heats up to the point Parrot can't touch it properly. He can only hesitantly hover his palm above it, unwilling to move it away entirely.
Then, in a quiet house in a jungle, against the broken walls, echoes an equally broken gasp. It doesn't come from Parrot, he's sure of it, so that means…
"Wifies," Parrot whispers and raises his head slowly only to find Wifies already staring at him.
Wifies' eyes are dazed, as though he can't keep them open properly. His face is sickly pale, no sweat or flush adorning it. Parrot immediately shuts the chest compartment and jumps to his feet, looking down at Wifies.
"Hey," he says breathlessly. He reaches out and fixes Wifies hair, watching intently as Wifies chases his palm with a small whine. "You're back."
However, Wifies doesn't respond, even as he blinks and looks up at Parrot with his glistening wide eyes. He looks sad, almost as sad as the day Parrot lost him, and he can't have that.
"How are you feeling?" Parrot presses, placing his hand on top of Wifies' head and ruffling his hair. "Does anywhere hurt?"
Silence. Wifies keeps staring at him.
Parrot frowns, bending a little to inspect Wifies' throat. His vocal cords — or a speech box, whatever — are supposed to be in working condition, so why isn't he talking?
"Can you talk?" he asks gently, removing his palm from Wifies' head to place it on his throat. "Is the box not working?"
Instead of answering, Wifies tilts his head to the side, eyes growing panicked at every question Parrot asks. Not wanting to cause a breakdown, Parrot changes the subject immediately to something safer.
"Do you want to take a walk?" he proposes, smiling at the curiosity slowly growing on Wifies' face. "Surely lying in one spot for years couldn't have been comfortable?"
The joke doesn't land; neither does Wifies answer him. However, judging by the way his eyes go from sad to something more vulnerable, he is not opposed to Parrot's idea.
So Parrot smiles even wider, reaching out to grasp Wifies' hands and pushing him up to his feet. Immediately, Wifies stumbles, crashing into Parrot. His hands fly up to hold onto Parrot's shoulders, fingers digging into Parrot's skin painfully, but neither acknowledges it. Instead, Parrot steadies him, making sure he doesn't fall over.
"Here," he says, taking Wifies' hands in his own and taking a step back, motioning Wifies to follow him.
First steps are careful and unsure, like a child learning how to walk. Wifies is unstable on his feet, a bit shaky and very tense. He grips Parrot's hands tightly; each step precise and calculated. He makes sure that his foot touches the ground fully before moving to another one. The progress is small, but it's progress nonetheless.
Eventually, they manage to leave the house fully, with Wifies growing more and more comfortable. Yet, his tight hold on Parrot's hand doesn't loosen. If anything, it tightens when his feet touch uneven ground.
In that moment, with Wifies learning how to walk, alive and somewhat well, with a house in a jungle behind him, Parrot can feel the heavy boulder shattering on his shoulders. It doesn't matter that he's still a criminal and on the run, or that he has to start looking for Theo eventually. He was happy to exist in the same space as his old best friend, who was nothing like an older, crueler version of him.
Wifies now is a clean slate — vulnerable and excited to see the world, unable to speak or function without someone leading him — and Parrot will try his damn best to not let Wifies become as unstable as he was before his death.