Chapter Text
Parrot weaved through the jungle floor, brushing past bushes as Pesto followed close by. They were heading to a trading outpost in hopes of getting a deal as they have a villager. If Parrot wants to save the server from Cindercrest, he will need the materials for it.
He expects the trip will be six hours long. They’ve traveled for about half an hour now, he knows because he has been counting the minutes.
“Soo, six hours” Pesto drawled out.
Parrot hummed “Yep, I hope you packed water” Pesto replied by chugging his bottle. Parrot snorted and kept forward. If Theo was here, he would fret over saving resources, but then chug the water because he forgot about saving water. Parrot felt a pang of… something, longing? He doesn’t know if Theo is dead, and Reina. He could only hope that they’re both alive.
Another ten minutes flew by, Pesto was going on about spaghetti. Parrot added by saying he doesn’t like spaghetti, to which Pesto then scolded him. Ranting about the delicacy of spaghetti.
A broken branch made Parrot’s breath hitch. Pesto was still talking, animatedly moving his hands around.
Parrot stopped in his tracks, and Pesto nearly toppled into him “sorry” he murmured. Parrot didn’t say anything. There was rusting ahead of them, and Parrot could hear a voice. Maybe it was Cindercrest, or bandits. Parrot isn’t sure, but he would rather not be captured. Or killed.
“There’s someone ahead,” Parrot sharply whispered, and moved to a nearby tree. Dragging Pesto along.
The voice was weak and clearly disoriented. Parrot had to strain his ears to even notice there was someone there, but it was the rustling that really caught his attention. Another thing is why would anyone come out this far? To search for a certain villager maybe..
More rustling made Parrot draw his blade, Pesto tensed beside him “Parrot what’s going on?” He asked, an axe held tight in his grasp. Parrot narrowed his eyes, muscles tightening “I think someone is here to ban us”
The player was coming closer, their breathing labored and movement loud and sluggish. They must be only eight feet away, if Parrot could-
“Is anyone there?..” A familiar, aching, voice said. Barely a whisper truly “I thought I heard someone…” TheoBaldTheBird, Theo, sighed.
He coughed, and Parrot heard a loud thud hit the forest ground. His heart dropped. Theo is here? He’s alive-
The avian immediately threw his sword down and turned to where the noise was, and Theo laid there. His skin was slick with sweat and flaked with blood. Arrows sat in his skin. Strands of hair stuck to his forehead and his shades were nowhere to be found. His hand was pressed against his side while blood freely flowed down. His entire side was stained by red. Red red red everywhere, and Theo blinked up at him, eyes glazed and there was barely any light in them. His lips twitched in a shaky smile, and crooked broken teeth stared at Parrot. Blood dripped from his gums onto his lips. Coating everything in a bright sickening red. He tried to say something, but nothing came out.
What has happened to him? Who did this, and is he dying? He has to be- he’s oozing blood everywhere. Will Theo just become proof of his inability to save his friends?
No, Parrot will not let that happen. Not again. Please.
“Theo!” Parrot exclaimed as he dashed forward to skid next to the cockatiel. His talons finding where blood clumped together. Keeping pressure on his wound “Oh Theo, I.. you…” he was at a loss of words, so he settled with the most logical one “Don’t die”
Theo’s glazed eyes examined his face, and slowly nodded after an awkward minute of Parrot finding other wounds. It was bad, Parrot thought. He has broken teeth, and a lot of them. The arrows were deep, and had to hit something important. His side had a gouge that Parrot didn’t know how big. His legs had burn marks (stupid Theo and his abrasive carting). His arms seemed fine thankfully. The arrows leaked crimson, and Parrot avoided touching those. Blood dripped from his mouth and there was bruising along his face.
Parrot sucked in a breath, thinking hard. His civilization isn’t far, but to walk there with Theo on the bridge of death? He doesn’t know if he’ll make it.
Pesto leveled himself beside Parrot, and the avian anxiously looked over “is he your friend?” Pesto asked.
Parrot nodded, wordless. His hands were wet, and Theo was gazing at the sky with glassy eyes. How long until those eyes show no light? Theo coughed and blood spattered everywhere, along with a tooth. Parrot winced.
“Pesto we need, do.. do you have any totems, anything?” Parrot stumbled over his words. Anxiety crawled into his gut, his chest felt heavy. He knew Pesto didn’t “no, I don’t” he looked guilty. Pitying almost.
Parrot snapped his attention back to his friend.“Theo, health pots? Do you have anything?” His tone was harsher than intended, but can you blame him? Theo furrowed his brows in concentration, and struggled as he dug through his inventory. After a few seconds he pulled out golden apples, but only eight. Nine if you count Parrot’s single one.
Parrot’s breath stilled, and shakily took them. Blood coated the shiny surface, which ran down his arm like a river. He couldn’t eat these, not with broken teeth. Curse the universe and his fucked up luck.
“Pesto apply pressure to Theo’s wound” he ordered. Pesto sputtered for a second, but had moved closer so his hands pressed against Theo’s side. He heard a whimper as Pesto’s hands were immediately covered in blood.
He held the golden apples in his grasp, unsure of what to do. He has nothing at all prepared for this situation “I’m sorry Theo, for not searching for you earlier” he paused. Theo looked at him, mouth slightly open “I have a civilization, and… and I think you’ll like it”
Theo stared, his eyes showing no registration that he heard what Parrot said.
“Parrot, we need water,” Pesto interrupted, his voice a pitch higher. Has he ever seen blood like this before? Smelled and tasted iron, fresh and intoxicating. Having it fill your lungs until it was impossible to breathe in fresh air? Seeing wounds that threaten life or death?
“Yeah, yeah I have a bucket” and Parrot handed Pesto a water bucket, and he immediately placed it beside him. Tugging his sleeve till it ripped off and dropping it into the liquid before applying it to the wound. Theo hissed at the contact, his legs dug into the dirt to squirm away.
Parrot held him down “Theo stop- Theo you need to lay down”
Theo shook his head, his hands reaching to push him away “dude, it hurts-” Parrot winced, but held on tightly. Pesto busied himself by washing the wounds, and Parrot watched with a worried frown. What if Pesto does something wrong? What if the wound opens up and his guts spill out?
Parrot slipped off his shawl. Ripping it so he could wrap it around Theo’s midsection. After carefully getting Theo to sit up, he secured it firmly.
“We need to move and head back to civilization” Parrot curtly said, standing up. Pesto nervously put the cloth into the bucket, storing it in his inventory “will he be able to walk that far?”
Parrot’s lips thinned “he needs to, even if we need to carry him”
And as they both hauled Theo up, who grunted as he tried to find balance on his legs, the walk was tedious. Not only did they have to avoid moving the arrows in his body, but had to stop because Theo was getting weaker. His chest heaving and blood dripping past his lip, and he coughed as teeth flew out.
Parrot wondered how long it took Theo to walk here. Did he sleep? Did he rest? He and Theo shared traits of stubbornness. So he must’ve pushed past his limits…
The cockatiel’s breaths were shallow, and laboured. His walk was slow, and he stumbled over his feet every five steps. Pesto sent him a worried look. Parrot sent him a determined one.
“Parrot, I don’t think we’ll get-”
“Pesto I don’t care, we are getting Theo back to my civilization and he’s going to be okay” Parrot snapped, tightening his hold around Theo. Pesto flinched. His eyes found his, and he flickered his gaze away. Parrot frowned, regret immediately filled his chest.
“I’m sorry, I’m just. I can’t let Theo die, not like this”
Theo wheezed, and his weight dropped as Parrot and Pesto had to immediately carry Theo’s entire body weight now. The cockatiel’s eyes were shut, and his face twisted in pain. Sweat clung to his forehead.
Pesto sighed softly, “I know, let's just get him back. He doesn’t look good” and Parrot agreed. So they spent the next half hour tugging Theo along, who seemed to get worse. He wished he brought a medkit (for a king, he was extremely poor). Pesto didn’t say anything else. Only moving in silence.
Until they made it near the civilization is when Pesto said he’ll get some people to come over to help, and Parrot nodded. He saw Pesto’s retreating back and the avian reverted his attention to Theo. He settled him down in a sitting position.
“Theo, how are you feeling?”
Theo didn’t respond, his eyes squeezed shut and his hand pressed against his side.
Parrot furrowed his brow “Theo” he said more firmly. The cockatiel blinked and his cloudy eyes met his, and he offered a shaky bloody smile.
“Hi” his voice was hoarse.
Parrot nodded, at least he’s talking “how long were you out there for?” He didn’t want to seem like he’s interrogating him, but then again he kinda is. Theo blinked hard “uhh, a week? A week and a half? I forgot to count the days”
Parrot hummed “Did you sleep?”
Theo pouted, his nose crinkling “you’re not my mom bro, leave me alone”
And that was a no to sleeping. What is he going to do with Theo?
Yells and shouts interrupted their conversation, and Parrot whipped his head towards the noise. Several players, each holding supplies. Rushed over. Theo stared at him, eyes shining.
“I missed you Parrot”
Parrot smiled “I missed you too Theo”
——
Theo was unfortunately, in retrospect, kinda stupid. He and Reina decided that they should search for Parrot, because he disappeared. As gossip suggests, after Saparata exiled the ‘tyrant king’ (stupid wording, Parrot was only helping the server!)Saps took control. But nothing changed. Players still starved, and the rich players were only getting more thicker.
Theo seethed, but he couldn’t do much. Saps ruled spawn. He has armies and Shoebilly. Flame, Wemmbu!
Reina sadly frowned, her head resting against the wall. Theo paced, his head feathers bristling as he tried to think where Parrot would be. They were hiding out in a shack, a few thousand blocks away from spawn.
“Where would he go?” Theo asked.
Reina grunted. Her hands balled into fists, and relaxed before repeating “somewhere faraway”
Theo took that into consideration. He isn't smart, no not like Parrot, but he can try. He’s worried, and he doesn’t know where Parrot is, and there is a chance that he’s dead, but Theo doesn’t want to think too deeply about that possibility. He has to be alive.
So, he and Reina took off in hopes of information. After some carting, and Reina’s threatening glare, they got…. Not a lot. Theo wanted to throw a fit, because why does no one care that their king was overthrown? Why is no one searching like they are?
Is Parrot searching for us too?
But, there was one comment that Theo was ecstatic to hear: “well, I heard he went a few thousand hundred blocks out. Someone saw his nametag disappear somewhere west from here”
So, Theo went west. Reina tried to persuade him out of it. Saying that travelling that far for someone who might not be there is a risky move, but Theo didn’t care. What if Parrot needed his help?
Reina sighed in indignation, saying that she’ll see if she can get any more information elsewhere. Also to keep an eye on Saparata’s progress. Theo nodded and headed out, keeping a close eye on his compass and the setting sun. The journey was long, and tedious. He saw some bandits, and Cindercrest soldiers. Theo thankfully took care of them, but he did get hit in the head pretty hard. Look, he wasn’t expecting the Cindercrest soldier to swing the back side of an axe to his head, ok?
After that, it didn’t seem too bad (or maybe he was dissociating more often?) because many thousands of blocks later. And avoiding sleep to continue walking. His body didn’t feel too bad, yes his ankle sometimes protested in pain. Or his heels whined in soreness.
Also the loneliness was very strong. As in it seemed like there was a void in his heart. Because Theo likes to socialize. He likes company, and the crickets, rabbits and birds don’t really like to converse. Could’ve been the language barrier too.
Until he ran into a group of, ahem, bandits? He thinks so anyway, but they looked western and had thick accents. Theo snorted because one of them said “Howdy ‘er, you better give us everythin’, ye idgit”. He was surprised because he was at least a few thousand hundred blocks out now.
But then these bandits packed a punch. He ducked from an axe blow to the head, but as he did. The bandit punched him in the mouth as strong as he could. Theo accidentally bit his tongue, and had tasted metal. Along with broken shards of teeth settling on his tongue. Eugh, that was not fun. He was also hit with arrows to the shoulder, chest and his calf, which he ripped the arrow out in unclear focus.
He somehow managed to scrape by, X-carting with the remainder of his resources. He popped them once, then twice until he heard the satisfaction of the death ban. The less satisfying part was how the world spinned around him. The colors lurching together, and sounds reverberated across his skull.
When he pressed a hand against his side, he saw slick red. Theo whined and ate a golden apple, well tried to- pain in his jaw made him drop the apple. Right, broken teeth. He lifted a finger to brush his mouth, and saw blood. Theo winced and had spit out the remaining shards in his mouth along with a clump of blood.
Without anything else to do, he continued forward. He’s too far to quit now. The arrows felt weird, the way they squished and dug into his paling skin. And the hole in his calf wasn’t helping, it seized in pain every single step.
He didn’t get to look at all his injuries really. He feels his thoughts die out half way through, which again is weird. How do you feel that?
The jungle ground made him fall and trip over himself. Theo heaved with exhaustion, his body was sweaty and it was shaking everywhere. That’s not normal is it?
Probably not, Parrot would know what to do now. He always knows what to do. Because he’s smart, and the biggest bird. He wants to say it now, to Parrot, because he might be dead. Maybe Theo is wasting his time, walking a dead man’s trail. But Theo is stubborn, and he refuses to believe his best friend is dead.
So he hauled himself up, coughing up blood as he walked. Walked and walked. His feet hurt, but he still continued forward.
A noise, a player’s voice, welcomed Theo’s ears. The cockatiel made a happy chirp and hobbled faster, but as he arrived to where the voice was, he saw no one.
He frowned, wanting to sob now “is anyone there?” He asked no one “I thought I heard someone” he exhaled, and all he could smell and taste was metal. His body was exhausted. Pain pulled him into half consciousness, and it was getting intoxicating.
His body gave out as he unceremoniously fell to the cold floor. Maybe he hallucinated the voice. Who would go all the way out here? Theo is going to die alone without knowing if his best friend was even alive. He’s going to die knowing Cindercrest won forever. He wanted to cry, he wanted to sob into the cold air. But he was just too exhausted to do anything but stare at the sky. Clouds drifting by, and he could see the sun move down towards the horizon.
Then, somehow, in the universe’s most beautiful luck, he saw Parrot. Parrot took up his entire vision. His teal and green feathers, his large dark eyes, which stared at him in horror. Theo now wanted to cry in joy. He wanted to say how much he missed him, his adventure getting here, what happened at spawn? But nothing came out.
There was another player, and both he and Parrot started to help him.
Theo sniffed. His chest swelled in warmth.
If he dies now , he’ll die a happy bird.