Chapter Text
“Oh my god, oh my god! Run! Run!”
Everyone was screaming—left, right, in front of him, behind him. Sharpness’ ears were pounding; it felt like his brain was melting. What happened?
“Mommy! Mommy!” a child screamed as Sharp finally found it in himself to open his eyes. They were watering, whatever was in the air burning his eyes and nose. He could even taste it in his mouth.
It smelled like gunpowder—he could taste it. Bitter and ashy, it hurt his nose, making his head pound along with his already-ringing ears. It was an influx of overwhelming sensations, too much hitting him all at once.
“Mommy! My leg! My leg!” a child cried. She was kneeling on the hard, polished diorite, tears and snot running down her face, just a few blocks away from Sharpness as dozens of people ran past him. Thankfully, he managed to dodge their feet as they passed, some nearly running their hands over him.
“Baby—shh, it’s okay. It’s okay.”
A woman ran past Sharp, kneeling down on the floor, her knees cracking as Sharp picked himself up. He was a little shell-shocked from the explosion, watching the child and the woman pick themselves up and run along with the crowd of screaming people fleeing from the falling TNT.
There were numerous craters around the city, buildings crumbling and falling, the earth continuing to quake, and for some reason, Sharpness couldn’t find it in himself to move.
Then, suddenly, a hand grasped his elbow, and he found himself being forcefully pulled up to his feet, his back straightening as his eyes met a pair of red rubies.
“Sharpness! Snap out of it!” Bunny ears perked out from beneath his purple hoodie as Sharpness blinked the haze away. The ringing finally stopped as he realized where he was—and what was happening.
There was an attack. The sirens were ringing, and the air was still filled with gunpowder, panic, and the screaming of people. It smelled like metal, too.
It’s blood, Sharpness realized slowly, like a calm panic slowly seeping in into his skin. His breath picks up a bit in realization.
“Sharpness!” Jude yelled, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him as Sharp gasped. “J-Jude?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
Was he screaming along with the other people? He wasn’t really sure. His throat hurt, his nose hurt, and his eyes burned. The gunpowder had probably gotten into his eyes. It was basically in the air now, drifting around listlessly. It almost looked like snow.
Snow…
“Sharp, you have to snap out of it. The city’s being evacuated. We have to move, Sharp—are you with me?” Sharpness felt gloved hands grabbing his face, and suddenly, he was looking down, away from the snow—gunpowder—that was drifting from the skies.
“Do you see me?” Jude asked, his ruby eyes wide as he stared straight into Sharp’s eyes. “Sharp—Sharpy, do you see me?” Jude asked again, this time much clearer than the slight, continuous ringing in Sharpness’ ears.
“I-I see you.” Sharp nodded. Terror slowly bled into his chest, into his heart and down to his stomach, creating a large pit that made him feel like he was about to lurch.
“Flow is just outside the walls. We can run and we’ll meet up with him, do you hear me, Sharp? Talk to me,” Jude continued.
Even with countless people still running past them, snow continuing to pour over their heads, and the continuous sound of explosions coming from the other side of the city, Sharpness’ eyes continued to sting.
It hurt. “Y-yeah,” Sharp whispered. Jude simply caressed his cheek, wiping something from Sharp’s eyes. His hand came away red. Was that his blood—? His thought was cut off when Jude wiped it on his own hoodie and smiled, his eyes crinkling softly.
“Good boy. Let’s go.”
He grabbed Sharp’s hand, holding it tightly as he ran. He ran like hell, and Sharp watched the back of his head, his ears bobbing up and down as he found himself running alongside Jude through the crowd of panicking people.
Looking around in a haze, men, women, children, elderly. They were all running… From what—?
“Look out!” Someone screamed, so loud that Jude’s ears perked up. Breathing heavily, his ruby eyes alight, he stopped along with countless others, all of them looking up.
Naturally, Sharpness did the same. His eyes widened as he saw a loud bang, TNT appearing just above their heads, lighting and hissing as a flash of purple hair and a glint of a gold crown flew through the dark sky with a whoosh.
More terror coursed through Sharpness’ veins as he lets out a shaky breath.
“Shit he’s here—we gotta go, Sharpness! Go! Go! Go!" Jude screamed, pushing people out of the way as he pulled Sharpness along. It was like a domino effect. It was quiet when the TNT suddenly appeared, but the moment Jude screamed, everyone started screaming too, watching as the TNT fell while they all scrambled to get out of harm’s way.
Sharpness felt someone hit him, and his hand slipped away from Jude’s. “Jude!” Sharp screamed, his voice barely heard over everyone else’s yelling.
Jude stopped, eyes widening. “Sharp! No—!” He was cut off as he was pushed away from Sharpness. “Sharp!” Jude cried out, his face falling as Sharp felt more people push him away from Jude.
He tried to fight against the crowd, but ultimately got pulled along. He watched as Jude pushed through them, barreling through everyone, but if Sharpness himself couldn’t fight through the crowd, what made him think Jude could?
What Jude needed to do was run away.
“Run! I’ll find you!” Sharp called.
Jude tried to reach out, and Sharp tried too, but their fingertips barely touched before Jude was pushed away again.
“Are you sure?!” Jude asked through the screaming.
Sharpness nodded. “I’m sure! Go!”
He motioned for Jude to go as Jude’s face turned hurt, worried, his eyes glistening. The TNT above them continued to descend. “Go!” Sharpness yelled again.
Jude’s face turned fearful for a moment—like he was afraid to lose Sharp. Then— “I’ll find you first!” he yelled back.
Jude turned tail and ran toward the east, past the crowd. Sharpness swallowed and ran west.
Him and Jude would find each other after this. Sharpness knew they would. The gunpowder filled the air, drifting down and looking like snow.
[...]
“So, what got you stuck here?” Jude asks, lying on his back as he stares up at Sharpness with those shining ruby-red eyes of his. Sharpness doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything as red as his eyes… He can’t help but compare them to blood. Like driving a sharp blade into your skin and watching beads of red slowly come out.
“Same as you I'll assume.” Sharpness shrugs, looking over at the moon and the stars, seeing how bright they are from up here. He doesn’t think he’s ever going to get tired of seeing the moon and stars like this. It feels like they’re within arm’s reach. “Wanted a fair journey, got stuck… What about you, Mr. JudeLow? Famous trapper of all time? Mind if you would spare me your backstory of all time?” Sharpness looks back down at the bunny hybrid as Jude smirks at him.
Cocking his head with that crooked smile, he raises a knee and throws a leg over it, placing his hands behind his head as he looks at Sharpness.
“So you know me, huh? Sir Sharpness, the ‘greatest swordmaster,’ the best out of the best?” Jude raises a brow as Sharp snorts, looking away to shake his head at the amusement of it all. Out of everyone he expected to randomly find out in the open, he actually didn’t expect to see anyone so far away from civilization, much less Jude himself.
“Is that all you can do? I called you the famous trapper of all time.” Sharp hums as Jude pats the space beside him. “Lay with me,” he says with a wink.
Sharp lets out a small snort at that, a smile creeping up on his face as he sits down beside Jude. “Usually, I’d expect a date first before that.”
Jude laughs at that, the sound coming from deep in his belly as he curls up.
“Oh, that’s hilarious. So you do know how to quip! I’ve heard you’re pretty slow when it comes to responding.” Jude says with a grin as Sharp rolls his eyes.
“I’m not,” he mutters, embarrassed and a little flustered as Jude grins, nudging him. “This is probably luck aligning for me right now,” he says.
Sharpness turns back toward him, interested. “Oh? And why’s that?” He tilts his head in question as Jude smiles. “I’m in dire need of a teammate I can trust for my journey.”
Sharp raises a brow at that. “And that is?” he asks with a faint smile. "For what exactly?"
Jude sits up, leaning on his palms as he grins toward Sharpness. “Finding a way out of this fuckass server.”
Sharp startles at that, flinching and leaning back in utter surprise. That’s not really new. He's heard those words many times that he can no longer count it with both hands and feet.
“Oh,” he says dryly. Jude leans back, mildly offended by his lackluster reaction. “Oh? Oh?! That’s all you can say?” he asks, a little offended, though he wears a small smirk as Sharp flushes a bit.
“Well, that’s very new—but not really original. What makes you think you’re different from everyone else?” Sharp raises a brow at Jude as Jude grins at him, showing those sharp teeth of his that aren’t exactly fitting for a bunny like him.
“I just know I am, princess.”
Sharp’s face folds at that, purely annoyed at the nickname. “Don’t call me that,” he deadpans as Jude smiles, snickering.
“What? Princess? Princess, princess, princess!” he says repeatedly as Sharp groans, rolling his eyes as he leans away, shaking his head. “Stop that, you’re such a kid and a jerk.”
Now that gets Jude to laugh. He giggles, his ears twitching madly as his shoulders shake. Sharpness huffs.
“Just so you know, you’re the one asking me to be your teammate, and you’re already bullying me. What makes you think I’ll say yes after this?” Sharp asks as Jude continues to giggle, though it slowly dies down.
“Oh, I know you’re interested. I mean, who isn’t?” Jude shrugs, making a funny face as Sharp sighs.
Well, the bunny is right. Finding a way to get out of this server? That’s a gold mine. Sure, it feels like a mindless, headless chase, but it’s a question that everyone’s been asking themselves and everyone they talk to.
Will they ever get out of this server?
“I’ll give you time to think. There’s a nearby village a thousand blocks to your northeast. I’m temporarily staying there,” Jude says as he finally moves to stand up. Sharp watches him, eyeing him curiously.
“Why me? And what do I get from this?” he asks as Jude stops, running his palms over the chest of his hoodie, patting out the dust clinging to the stone.
“Huh? Why you?” Jude asks, glancing at him as Sharp nods in response. Jude hums, placing a hand under his chin and rubbing at it in thought. “Well… You’re all I’ve got.”
He glances back at Sharpness, whose face falls at that, giving him a dry look. Jude laughs, folding over and slapping a palm against his knee.
“I was kidding, don’t take it so seriously, bro. You were already on my ‘potential teammates’ list. I heard a lot of good things about you from other people.” Jude nods at Sharp, whose face turns a little red.
He feels a little flushed—and it certainly wasn’t because of the cold air around them. Maybe it was because it came from a certain ruby-eyed bunny.
“Oh…” Sharp trails off. “Good things, huh?”
He sneaks a glance at Jude, who grins.
“Who’re the others? You said teammates, so it isn’t just me, then.” Sharpness nods at Jude again, who hums.
“It isn’t much, but I got Flowtives, Swight, Itz, then you,” Jude says.
“I’m last.” Sharp deadpans. "I'm basically last on line, might as well not include me in the damn list."
Jude shrugs. “It’s a pretty good tier list, man. Granted, Flow’s a good friend of mine, so that got him some itty-bitty brownie points. He goes first. Swight’s an assassin, Itz is some weirdo who’s pretty obsessed with being the best of the best… And you…”
He trails off.
“And me?” Sharp asks.
Jude meets his eyes with a small smile.
“You fit perfectly for the kind of teammate that I want.”
He says it without explaining further, making Sharp make a face. “Is that a good thing? Will you tell me what exact teammate you want?” He tilts his head, and Jude grins playfully at that, shaking his head. “No.”
“No?” Sharp asks. “Why?”
“Why should I tell you? Just think about my offer and meet me in the village. I’ll be around, princess. See you.”
Jude waves a hand, fitting in his elytra before flying off. Sharpness watches him, blinking slowly as he leans back on his palms and sighs, shaking his head.
What craziness did he step into willingly this time?
Sharpness rolls his eyes. Maybe Sword’s right. He really does get himself into countless piles of bullshit.
Sharpness sits there, trying to cook over the idea—the thought of trying to help someone who may or may not be on a wild goose chase. Finding a way to get out of the server? Jude’s not the first person to try to uncover the secrets of the server, and he definitely won’t be the last one.
Suddenly, white puffs fall down—snow.
Sharp looks up, seeing snow drifting slowly like fallen stars as he blinks, reaching out a hand, palm up, to catch a snowflake. He stares at it curiously before slowly closing his fist.
Maybe it’s high time to take another mission, if only for curiosity’s sake.
Hm… Yeah…
It is time to get out of his house and out of his hole to find a new adventure. Jude looks like he needs someone to watch his back and protect him. He certainly looks like he doesn’t do that job himself, after all.
One thing Jude learns about Strength is how you shouldn’t be surprised at anything that will or might happen to you the moment you step foot into the server. That means being forced to be really small—like, ant small—or being super fucking big, bigger than a fucking building. Getting killed by invisible ravagers, or accidentally eating his sword like a dumbass.
Fucking Leek and his backdooring bullshit—of course he’d pull this kind of bullcrap on everyone. He’s a cheating son of a bitch.
Anyways, he’s getting pretty fucking distracted because of this motherfucker. Anyways! Since being a Strength member means he’s gotta at least get used to the weirdness around this place. I mean, they literally have an admin who would powertrip on them, like, come on.
So why in the fuck is Jude looking at Sharpness right now when, as far as he’s concerned, the guy is like in another server to fuck with kids? What was it again? Wispy or something? Jude doesn’t fucking know shit about where he goes at all. It’s not like they’re best friends anyways.
But get this: the Sharpness that he’s looking at right now looks weird—well, fuck weird. He doesn’t look like Sharpness at all. His hair is short; there isn’t that blond-ish, almost healthy yellow hue in it. It looks dull and dry, cut short and slightly frizzy, like it’s dry and hasn’t been taken care of properly. His eyes are a dull green, almost piercing when he and Jude make eye contact.
He wears netherite armor with red glowing trims, the netherite slightly cracked along the edges. On his hip is a sheath, the black scabbard and handle of his sword looking like it went through hell. It also looked cool in a way that Jude would only see on modded servers, which was rare, because modded servers aren’t really that super famous with how heavy the mods are on certain servers and how hard it is to keep those said servers up.
Usually, those kinds of servers need at least five admins working on that specific modded server.
“Woah. What happened to you?”
Jude did not mean to say all of that—but how can you exactly react when someone you know looks like… this?
Sharpness’ eyes widened a bit. Earlier, they looked a little glazed over, but the moment Jude stepped closer, it was like life was injected back into him.
Suddenly, behind Sharpness appeared Tai, popping out with a nervous grin. “Jude! Oh my gosh—I didn’t expect you to… Uh—look, uh, I can explain.” Tai says nervously, fidgeting with his hands like a kid who just got found out with both their hands in the cookie jar by their mom.
“Explain what? Damn, bro, what the hell happened to you?” Jude laughs at Sharpness, whose eyes softened a bit. He doesn’t respond, his arm being grabbed by Tai as he’s pushed back as if Tai is worried something is about to happen, which Jude doesn’t even know because why would something even happen?
Him and Sharp are basically back to being buddies again. Sure, he kinda did a big betrayal two months ago, and Jude was kinda very, very pissed at him, but Sharpness does know how to say sorry and look like a kicked puppy that Jude had no choice but to forgive the damn fool.
They haven’t fought ever since. Even trapping had been kinda rare with Sharp—it was safe to say they were kinda very, very chill.
“Look, uhm—okay… I didn’t mean it, okay? It was a lapse of judgment. I was excited, very, very excited and stuff—” Tai stammers as Jude steps closer, confused, peering over Tai’s shoulder and looking at Sharpness, whose head is now lowered, eyes looking down at the ground as if he’s trying to avoid meeting Jude’s eyes.
Jude then glances at his hands, seeing the ripped gloves and how his hands are clenched into tight fists, shaking a bit.
“What the hell is going on?” Jude asks again, glaring at Tai—a little confused. Very worried, though, for Sharp most definitely.
Tai’s eyes look larger, widening almost a little comically as he continues to fidget. His mouth then opens to explain—
“Judey! “ Jude and Tai flinch at a familiar voice as Jude turns around, confused. What the hell? That was Sharp’s voice—but he’s right here.
Jude turns back towards Sharpness, who’s behind Tai, then turns back around to where the voice came from to see Sharpness—a normal-looking one, with his typical long-length hair, bright green eyes, mismatched trims on his netherite armor—skipping towards him, humming a loud tune that sounds painful to Jude’s ears.
“Judey, look what I go—what the hell?” Sharp skids to a stop, slamming into Jude as he sees himself just behind Tai, his eyes turning into circles as he gapes.
“What the fuck? You—HUH?!” Jude practically shrieks as he points at the Sharpness beside him, and the Sharpness behind Tai.
“Yo… YO?! WHAT THE FUCK?!” Sharpness shrieks, shocked, as he steps back. Tai just smiles nervously at them both. “Let me explain first…” he says shakily.
“Oh, you better fucking explain.” Sharpness growls angrily, crossing his arms over his chest like an angry chihuahua, and Jude copies him, ears flopping down in an angry manner as he glares at the voidling.
Behind him, the Sharpness lookalike only meets his eyes. Jude stops, faltering as he steps back a bit, staring back at the green, empty eyes.
Just who is this guy?