Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

ZombieCleo woke up on a patch of grass, staring up at a sky that didn’t feel quite right. They had no memory of lying down. Leaves rustled in their curly red hair and under their fingers as they pushed upright. Their body felt sluggish and their head ached from what felt like a too sudden wake up. 

Looking around slowly, Cleo took everything in. They were in a normal forest filled with oak trees and bushes. There were no mobs or structures nearby. This could still be Hermitcraft, but they had a suspicion that it wasn't . 

“Okay,” Cleo muttered, brushing the remaining leaves off their shirt and out of their hair. “Where the bloody hell…?”

There was one quick way to check. Cleo dived into the inventory satchel that always stayed strapped around their waste and found it empty. Then they tapped the comm unit still on their wrist, bless the code, and when they tapped it, the tab list blinked to life.

Bigbst4tz. BdoubleO100. Etho. GoodtimewithScar. Grian. ImpulseIV. InTheLittleWood. Rendog. Tangotek. Skizzleman. Smajor1995. Smallishbeans. SoliaityGaming. ZombiCleo.

Some names clicked instantly while others tugged at unclear memories but some were completely unfamiliar.  

A crashing through the undergrowth distracted them. Cleo’s senses sharpened and the familiar scent of sweet berries came into focus. It was filled with distress and panic. “Bdubs?” A flash of maroon and brown burst through the trees, mouth open and eyes wide.

“ETHO? ETHO?! ETHOOOO!”

Cleo was on him in a heartbeat, grabbing his shoulders before he could dart past. “Whoa! hey, Bdubs, breathe!”

Bdubs impacted with Cleo’s arm so hard he nearly took them both down, legs scrambling as he struggled to stop himself. “Cleo?! CLEO?! Etho was right… he was right there! I turned around and he was… he’s gone! Where are we? what is this place?”

“I don’t know,” Cleo said gently. They moved in front of him to place their arms on both shoulders to steady the short omega. “I just woke up too. Look at me.” Bdubs chest was heaving and his panicked sent burned the back of Cleo’s throat making their Alpha instincts rear up. Pack was scared. Pack needed protection. Pack was in danger.  

When Bdubs eyes focused on Cleo they held up their comm. "Etho’s online,” they said, showing their tab list. “See? We’ll find him. But I need you to calm down, yeah?”

Bdubs blinked rapidly, his voice barely a whisper. “I don’t know where he is Cleo. He was with me and then suddenly I was here, and he was gone. I couldn’t even sense him or smell him….”

Cleo frowned. It was strange they had all three started out in different places. Not to mention that there were at least ten other people somewhere on this server. Normally there was a set spawn point where they would have all logged in. Had they been brought here unconscious and then taken to different places by someone? Or did they spawn into these locations?  “That is strange,” they murmured. It made Cleo wonder where they would end up during a respawn and resolve to be extra careful until they had more answers.

“I’ll message him.” Bdubs fumbled with his comm, swiping at the interface. His expression shifted back to fear and confusion and his scent spiked again.

“What?” Cleo asked.

“It’s locked. Chat’s down. Whispers too. It’s like… like someone muted the whole system.”

Cleo a felt a chill run down their spine. They had never been on a server where the entire chat was locked. That was more than just unusual. 

“…Okay,” they said slowly, “that’s not normal.”

Bdubs made a small, broken sound, and Cleo tugged him into a firm, anchoring hug. “We’ll find Etho. We’ll find the others too. It’s going to be okay.”

“What if he’s… ”

“No,” Cleo interrupted, voice suddenly sharp. “Not a chance. You know Etho. He’s the smartest player we know, especially when something is new. He’s fine.”

Bdubs nodded. He knew Cleo was right.

Cleo tried a smile. “Come on. You know how this works. What do we always do when we start on a new world?”

“Punch trees?” He asked.  

Punch trees,” they answered, still holding onto his shoulders.

***

Etho’s first thought when he woke was of Bdubs. Where was his mate?

The sharp scent of oak bark filled Etho’s nose as he inhaled, searching for the scent of sweet berries. He stirred on the ground as he slowly opened his eyes and felt the cool of dirt beneath his fingers. Filtered light played across his black masked face. For a moment he didn’t move. His body felt fine—no damage, no hunger, he wasn’t poisoned or weakened.

He pushed himself upright with a grunt and scanned the treetops. The forest was dense enough here that he couldn’t see anything beyond it. There were birds in the trees that he could hear singing. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves. Everything felt normal.

Etho’s eyes looked up at the sun where it broke through the canopy. It was climbing through the sky, East to West, just like normal. Then it stuttered. A flicker of movement, a single tick backwards that took less then half a second. Then it resumed its arc like nothing had happened.  Etho squinted at it, but there was a more immediate concern.

Bdubs. It wasn’t finding himself in an unfamiliar place that made his gut twist. It was the bond he shared with his mate. The connection, always there, usually as a comfort that rested in the back of his consciousness, was throbbing with the distress.  Bdubs was panicking wherever he was. Etho closed his eyes and focused on the bond. He tried to send a soothing thought back through to Bdubs, but he knew that whenever he worked himself up like this, it was harder for Bdubs to feel Etho, unless they were close.

“Where are you.” he whispered. Etho tried to keep himself calm. If he let himself get worked up, it would cause him to act recklessly and likely feed into Bdubs own emotions.  

He tapped his comm unit, bringing up the interface. He looked to see who else was online besides Bdubs and took note of both the familiar and unfamiliar names.  Then he tried to open the chat to send a whisper, but nothing pulled up. He double-tapped the selection. Swiped. Tried typing in one of the few commands he knew that he thought might work. It was locked.

“Oh Snappers.”

Etho began to move, brisk and silent. Step one was find him. But rushing around blindly wouldn’t help either of them. Not on this unknown server, with a sun that glitched and with a chat that was locked. Etho needed tools. A basic kit. Something to protect him, so he could protect both of them, but his instincts were starting to scream at him.

That’s when the panic dulled. It was still present, but something had eased it. Someone had found him. Etho’s jaw tightened, but he forced himself to breathe slowly. “Good. He’s not alone.”

He started to move through the trees. He didn’t run. Running only wasted energy, but his pace was swift. He still needed to find Bdubs and then he needed answers.

***

The underbrush cracked beneath Tango’s boots as he stalked through the trees, every sense honed sharp. It was peaceful here. Deceptively so, he was certain. He had woken up on a hill. He’d already circled that hill once finding nothing interesting. He'd tried accessing things with his Comm. Even /help only threw up errors. Nothing made sense and it was driving him crazy.

He pulled his gloves tighter and started to go around again. He wanted to scope out the area one more time before wandering to far from where he had apparently spawned in. 

There was a loud crack. Then Footsteps. Fast and sloppy. Whoever it was, they weren't thinking. Tango ducked behind a tree and pulled out the wooden sword he'd crafted when he first arrived. He hope's they're friendly, he's no good at this stuff.

“Oi! Who’s there?” The voice that shattered the quiet was loud and tinged with a cocky British accent. 

Tango cursed his strong smokey scent and stepped around the tree enough to see who it was. "Who's asking?"

The guy stepped into view seconds later holding a stone sword. He had Dark brown hair with a streak of green. He was tall and confident if the streight on stare he gave Tango was any indication. “You're armed?” he asked, tone all challenge.

Tango tilted his head, one eyebrow raised. “Yeah. So are you.”

“Obviously.”

Neither of them moved. 

Two alphas, who had never met, were instinctively reading each other to see if the other was a threat. The air was thick with potential violence and Tango’s pulse jumped in his throat. He could practically smell the challenge radiating off the guy. This alpha was the type who leaned into aggression to mask nerves. That alone made him unpredictable.

Tango subtly shifted his stance, grounding his feet. His fingers flexed around the haft of his sword. His shoulders stayed loose, but every muscle in his frame was ready. "What's your name?” Tango asked.

“Smallishbeans. And yours" 

“Tango.”

The alpha squinted slightly. “Don’t know you.”

“Obviously." Tango spat back. This was getting annoying. 

Another beat passed. The tension spiked. Tango could see Smallishbean’s knuckles tightening around the sword. He was preparing to strike first and figure things out later. Tango angled his sword inward towards his wrist and slowly raised both hands to chest height. It wasn't a full surrender, but he hoped it would be enough to start diffusing things. "I woke up here about ten minutes ago. I’m not looking for a fight, but I will if you are."

Smallishbean's didn’t relax. He barred his teeth, "I don’t trust you."

“Oh for the love..." Tango growled cutting himself off, "I don't trust you either, but I think we're in the same boat here. I don't think we should be fighting each other."

The wind shifted and Tango relented. He didn't show neck, but he put his weapon away into his inventory and stepped back. 

Smallishbean's lowered his sword and looked like he was finally seeing reason.  Some of the tension Tango was feeling lessened but he kept himself ready just in case.

“…two heads are better than one,” the other man muttered, "The names Joel." 

Tango gave a small nod. “Hello Joel."

Joel smirked at him "Well Tango. Shall we?"

They started moving through the trees side by side, a careful distance between them. Like two predators sharing the same hunting ground. Not friends. Not enemies. Just two people ready to fight  together if they faced a true threat. 

Joel was moving much slower and quieter now, then when he and Tango had first found each other. Something had him riled up and from the man's scent alone Tango was relieved that he had been able to calm Joel down. 

As they came across another approaching presence Tango hoped that it would be someone that one of them knew or that he could keep Joel and himself calm regardless. But, if it came down to it, Tango was ready to skedaddle.

Tango’s chest lifted with a quiet breath. He knew that presence. It was wound tight as a drawn bow right now, but at least it was someone who would have his back. 

Etho stepped into full view, likely knowing there was no hiding. His presence exuded from him like a leashed storm. The silver haired Alpha's shoulders were tense and while most of his face was covered by his mask Tango could read Etho's state of mind from his eyes alone. Etho was one of the more territorial Alpha's on Hermitcraft, but he only got this agitated when it came to matters involving Bdubs.  

Tango quickly shot a glance at Joel whose entire posture had changed. He really was ready for a fight now, all his weight shifting to the balls of his feet. Tango needed to do something or there was going to be a fight. Oh snappers he thought on Etho's behalf. 

“Etho!” he said with a laugh trying not to sound nervous. "I am so glad it's you!"

Etho drew back with a blink. "Who's he?" 

"This is my new friend Joel." 

Joel drew back slightly, but his eyes remained locked on Etho. “You know each other?”

"He's pack." Etho's response was simple, meant to warn. 

Joel took the statement as a challenge. Tango could see the way his chin tilted. The scent of tension was rising again even thicker.

“Joel, this is Etho,” Tango said quickly, voice cutting the air. Then he addressed Etho again. “Joel and I ran into each other a few minutes ago." He stopped speaking and gauged both of them again. All it would take was one wrong word. 

Tango eased a half step forward. Not blocking them from each other, but trying to gather more of their focus. “We don’t know what this place is,” he said firmly. “But I figured we’re better off pooling knowledge than throwing punches.”

The silence held for a long moment before Etho finally backed off, “Fine. So long as he keeps his teeth to himself.”

Joel gave a low laugh. “You're Charming.”

Etho’s voice was cold. “I’m not here to be charming.”

“Good. You’d be bad at it.”

Before things could get tense again Tango actually stepped between them, confident that it was okay to do so now.

“Alright. Pissing contests later. We’ve got bigger problems.”

Etho switched gears quickly and tapped his comm device with quick fingers. “Chat’s locked. No commands. Can't log off." 

Joel’s brow twitched in surprise and Tango wondered if he'd even tried to access the menus. 

“We aren't the only Hermit's here, but there are plenty of names I don't know." Etho glance down at the list on his comm then back up at Joel. "Do you know anyone? 

Joel shrugged and crossed his arms, blocking himself off while still trying to look confident. "Yeah. I know a few on the list. Smajor, SolidarityGaming, and Grian.”

Tango’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Wait, you know Grian?!"

Joel looked at them like he wanted to say obviously again. “Yeah. He’s friends with my packmate, Jimmy. SolidarityGaming. They're like brothers. They grew up together."

Tango felt the tension rise in him too now. Grian was one of theirs. He was a packmate and as far as Tango could remember he had never mentioned anyone named Jimmy. But, then again, Grian didn't talk about his past.

“Grian’s one of ours,” Etho said the thought aloud. "Pack.” Again the word was a challenge. 

Joel just shrugged again. "I'm just telling you what I know. Jimmy’s closer to Grian than I’ve ever seen him get with anyone. They're like family." Suddenly the challenge left Joel. Something about them knowing Grian had relaxed him and Tango relaxed as well. 

Etho drew back, though most of his tension remained and became focused elsewhere. Etho tore his gaze away from Joel and pinned Tango with a look. "You good alone with this guy?”

Tango gave him a flat unimpressed look, “I can handle myself.”

“Alright,” Etho said after a beat. “I’m going to keep looking for Bdubs."

Tango nodded, “You’ll find him.”

Etho turned and slipped back into the trees. He was still carrying enough pressure to crack the air behind him. The tension didn’t ease until the forest swallowed him whole.

Tango exhaled, slow and careful.

Joel stood beside him, arms still crossed, eyes narrowed. “That guy’s a treat. Who's Bdubs?" 

"BdoubleO," Tango offered, "his mate." 

Tango was surprised to see sympathy on Joel's face. "Ah, that's why he was so tense. I'll be honest, not knowing where my mate is isn't really helping me either." 

That was why they were both so high strung. "Are they are here?" 

"No." Joel answered, "I don't know where she is." 

Tango wasn't mated. He wasn't even close with anyone right now, but he understood how close mates were and why Etho and Joel were so stressed.  There was one other person on the server that he knew was mated. Tango wondered how Ren was doing. 

***

Rendog woke up to the chirping of birds while he lay in the shade of an oak tree. The air was hot, the nearby desert causing the temperature to rise. Ren blinked blearily, brushing a few leaves from his hair and beard. His dog ears twitched as listened carefully. He quickly scented the air. For a moment he thought he smelled the smokey scent of someone familiar. 

“Tango?” he called out, sitting up and sniffing at the air again. “Bro?” But the scent slipped away. Ren was alone. 

For a brief moment, panic rose in his throat but he shoved it down with a barked laugh. “No worries, no worries,” he muttered, slapping his hands against his thighs as he stood. “Alright, let's see what we’re dealing with.”

Ren looked at his comm and tried selecting the F3 menu, but found it locked. Confused he tried to open the chat to message Xisuma, but found that locked as well. This wasn't normal for Hermitcraft. Then it hit him. This was a different server. He opened the tab list and looked at the names that appeared there. Some were familiar and others new. A good number of Hermits were here with him. 

He scanned the list two times over, but there was no Doc77. Doc wasn't here. 

“Okay, okay, that's fine,” Ren said aloud, trying to keep the tightness out of his voice. “Maybe it's a good thing he's not here.” he tried to open a different menu.  "Alrighty, let’s just, uh… hop back out and...huh?" The Quit option wasn't selectable. 

Ren stared at the screen for a solid ten seconds, then lowered his arm with a growl. “Okay. Not awesome.”

What could he do but play the game?

He set to work like any veteran survival player: he punched a few trees into submission, crafted a wooden pickaxe, and dug himself some stone. Before long, he had a full stone kit and a small pile of porkchops cooking in a furnace near the forest edge.

The smell of cooking food made his tail twitch.

“Gonna need more food,” he muttered, already eyeing the desert beyond. His ears perked up as a rabbit darted past. “Ohoho! Bunny alert!”

Something ancient and canine lit up in his chest, and before he could stop himself, Ren was sprinting after the rabbits across the sand, "You little leggy demons! Where do you think you're going?!”

The rabbits zigzagged, kicking up sand into his face. But the dog hybrid knew his prey and at the right moment Ren lunged.

Pop.

A few pieces of raw rabbit and...“YES!” he shouted, punching the air. “Rabbit’s foot! Lucky drop, baby!” Ren did a little victory spin, holding the foot aloft. “Who’s the best rabbit hunter? I’m the best rabbit hunter!”

Ren cooked his rabbit and enjoyed the meat far more then the meat from the pigs he'd killed more conventionally. But as the sun dipped lower, the glow of triumph dimmed with it.

“Okay. Playtime’s over.”

Ren began digging into the dirt at the edge of the desert and moved underground. He brought the furnace and crafting table with him and lit up an area with torches. He would need to dig around for some coal to make more. 

The rabbit’s foot sat in his satchel as a good omen, but it wasn't helping his mood anymore. His nose twitched, but he couldn’t smell Doc anywhere. 

Still, Ren tried to smile to himself. “Alright, other Hermits are probably around. Just gotta find ‘em. Start this thing proper.” he started to mine and as he did he continued to talking to himself. “Find my pack. Find my Doc. Find a way out.”

Chapter Text

When Jimmy came to, the first thing he noticed was the heat. The sun bore down harsh and unrelenting. Sand stuck to his skin and feathers. He sat up with a groan, blinking as the desert shimmered in all directions.

“Where… where am I?” he whispered.

His voice sounded too loud surrounded by the silent sand and sky. His wings gave a nervous twitch. His feathers were already drying out in the heat. 

He glanced down at his comm briefly to see if there were any new messages from the other emperors, but he didn't see any notifications. 

Jimmy stood slowly and shaded his eyes, spinning in place. There really was nothing but sand. No builds. No players. He briefly wondered if he was even on empires, but that was impossible. This was just a prank. “Hello? Anyone?”

Nothing.

He reached for his inventory and found it empty. Had he died and dropped all his stuff? He didn't remember dying. 

“Oh come on,” Jimmy groaned, rubbing a hand through his sunny blond hair. “Who drops you in a desert with nothing? Not even a starter chest?” He kicked at the sand, which did nothing except puff it up into his face. Coughing, he fanned at the air. He swallowed hard and squared his shoulders, trying to remember all those survival guides people made fun of him for forgetting. Step one: don’t panic. Step two: punch a tree.

Except there weren’t any trees. Words came unbidden to his mind, the ribbing of his friends that he was no good at survival. Joking mostly. At first he thought it was because he was an omega, but then so was Grian. Then over the years Jimmy realized it was just him. 

“Okay, okay, don’t panic. Step one is don't panic," he muttered, pacing in a small circle. He spotted a dead bush not too far away and sprinted toward it excitedly. "Right! Sticks!" In his hurry Jimmy slipped on the sand. He quickly spread his wings to catch his fall, except they didn't unfold. Jimmy fell face first into the sand with a yelp. 

Jimmy pushed himself up and tried to unfold his wings and found that he couldn't move them properly. It was like they were bound close to his back, but there was nothing binding them. This was bad. This was very very bad. What was wrong with his wings? He quickly gathered the sticks to distract himself. Then he became truly distracted as he realized that the sticks wouldn't do him any good without proper wood to make a crafting bench. He really truly was a mess. 

“Okay,” he muttered. “Forget it. Start digging. Survive the first night."

He wandered to a rocky outcrop and started carving into it with his bare hands. A couple blocks in he stepped back and wiped his brow, already sweating in the desert heat. That's when he saw, a hole that led deeper. "Hey, there's something!" He rushed over to see where it led and then gently lowered himself down, mindful that his wings weren't working. He could work with this! He just wished he wasn't alone.

To fill the silence he started humming a silly little tune he had grown up with. Then he started to sing, making up the words. "Sun’s too high and my feathers are fryin’, but we’re still tryin’…” His light and sweet canary voice filled the small cave.

There was a soft fast series of whooshing sounds outside the cave. It sounded like someone was running through the sand and Jimmy immediately stopped singing and froze mid-action. Someone was out there. 

A familiar blue haired figure stepped into view, the sun lighting them up from behind and Jimmy's eyes widened in happy surprise. 

"Jimmy?"

“Scott!" 

The relief hit Jimmy like a wave and Scott, looking down from above, looked relieved too, which was surprising, since this was all just a prank...

“Thank the stars. I heard your voice. I'm so glad you're alright!" 

Jimmy practically ran at Scott as he lowered himself down into the hole with the Canary Hybrid. "I'm so glad you found me Scott! I've been tearing my feathers out trying to get set up out here." 

He didn't pull Scott, his kinda sort of boyfriend into a hug, he just placed his hands on the Beta's arms. He wasn't expecting it when Scott pulled him into a hug instead. "I'm so glad you're okay." 

"So" Jimmy said, carefully pulling away, "did you get pranked too? Who's behind this? Sausage? Joel?" 

Scott's brow furrowed, "Jimmy, you know we're not on empires right?" 

"I... Wait. What?! What are you taking about?" 

"Jimmy, this is a different server. We're somewhere else. Have you looked at your comm since you woke up?" 

Jimmy's feathers puffed up defensively, "yeah, I mean briefly." He pulled up his comm again and tried to pull up the general server information. He couldn't, it was locked, but what he could see showed that Scott was right. 

"Hey, it's okay." Scott reassured him pulling him back into a hug. "I found you." Jimmy needed that hug, because he had well and truly forgotten step number one. 

***

Scar woke up with his face in the grass and a scream half-lodged in his throat. “Hoo boy!” he gasped, shooting upright and reaching out to grip the trunk of the nearest tree. “Okay! okay, hoo boy, let’s not panic. Let’s just… breathe.” For an Alpha he was more prone to panicking then most. 

He didn’t recognize the trees around him. He didn’t remember walking out to a default forest. All the ones he lived near on hermitcraft he'd already terraformed. They looked amay-zin.

Scar checked his inventory. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and a looming sense of doom hanging over his head.

Scrambing to his feet, Scar brushed the dirt off his pants and spun in a slow circle. “No drill. No base. No friendly faces. Hoo boy.”

He looked at his comm and filtered through the lack of information and realized, like almost everyone else, that he couldn't communicate with anyone. This wasn't just scary. It was terrifying. He suddenly had the gnawing feeling in the back of his mind that he didn't want to die and risk a respawn. 

“Okay, okay,” he said to himself. “Dying would be bad. Let’s not die. We are not dying today.”

He kept talking to himself as he  punched a tree,  “Alright! Nothing to be scared of! You’re just-- just in a weird new world with no memory of how you got here and the strong sensation that something terrible is coming! Totally fine!”

As the tree fell apart into little pieces of blocky wood, Scar broke into a little ditty, “I’m not terrified of the night...." It helped a little.

He gathered more supplies, crafting a wooden pickaxe and then a stone one. The more he did, the more the sweat on his brow had to do with heat than fear. Scar tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it onto a low branch, hands on his hips as he looked down at his bare chest.

“Look at those alpha muscles!” he announced to no one at all. “You’re strong, Scar! You’re the picture of wilderness survival! Just you, your raw determination, and these glorious pecks!” He flexed dramatically. A squirrel stared at him from a tree branch. Scar gave it a smile.

His bravado lasted for about as long as the mid-day sun did.  When it began to disappear and the shadows stretched longer a little flutter of panic returned, but Scar stamped it down. He wasn’t going to be afraid of a little nighttime danger.

“Hoo boy,” he whispered, grabbing his gear. “That’s okay. That’s totally okay. I’m gonna go mining! I’m great at mining! Digging holes is what I do!” He set off for the nearest cave mouth.

“Totally not gonna scream if I hear a zombie, totally not gonna.... HOO BOY! Okay no, that was a cow. That was just a cow.

***

Impulse woke with the dull ache of confusion behind his eyes and a mouth full of leaves. He spat out a bit of twig and blinked groggily up at the forest canopy overhead. “Where?”

His hand automatically reached for his comm. His menu opened easily enough, but just like everyone else he was unable to access anything.  Chat? World info? The quit menu?  All locked down. He sat up slowly, scanning the trees. It looked like a standard overworld forest, sure, but something didn’t sit right in his chest.

Impulse began walking and gathering the basic necessities. That’s when he saw them. Tossed on the ground near a patch of ferns. A random pair of leather pants. Impulse frowned and picked them up.  “Okay… weird. I wonder who dropped these.”

He didn’t get far before he heard voices, familiar ones, and the tension in his shoulders evaporated. "Cleo! Bdubs!” he shouted, stumbling toward the sound.

A short jog later, he found them standing to the side of a shallow dirt hill, where they had dug out a hidey hole. Cleo had a stone shovel in her hands. Bdubs was making exaggerated gestures, something clearly bothering him. Both froze, then brightened at the sight of him.

“Impulse!” Cleo grinned, straightening.

“Dude!” Bdubs said with equal parts relief and exasperation. “Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!”

Impulse held up the pants. “Did one of you drop these?”

Bdubs huffed. “Do I look like I’d forget pants?”

Impulse walked towards them again with a shrug. "All i know is I'm not the one who dropped them. We don't know what this place is. Maybe it used to be a nudist colony?" 

Cleo laughed, "If that were true there would be no pants at all." 

"That's why I thought they might be one of yours. You sure you didn't loose..." Impulse's smile faded as Bdubs scent soured again and his Alpha instincts, much like Cleo's rose up in him to protect and comfort. 

“Hey, hey,” Cleo said gently, turning to Bdubs and placing a hand on his arm. "We'll stop joking about this place. You’re okay. Etho's okay.” Bdubs grumbled and then sighed as he pulled away from Cleo. "I've been trying to distract him for the past few hours, but it's been a bit rough." 

"Yeah, makes sense." 

“We need to set up a farm,” Cleo said decisively, turning her attention back to the hill. "The area around here will be good for wheat  crops and apple trees." 

“Better than this sad little mound,” Bdubs muttered, gesturing at the hill they were hollowing out. “We could’ve picked literally anywhere else. I hate it!”

Cleo raised an eyebrow. “I asked if you wanted to stay here,” they said, mock wounded. “You said yes.”

“I was PANICKING!”

“You still said yes.” Cleo dead panned.

After a moment of silence all three of them were laughing.The tension eased just a little.They kept digging.

The light shifted as the sun dipping low in the sky. Night was coming. Impulse looked up at the fading blue and felt the low hum of unease return. He opened up his tab list and looked at the name that belonged to his oldest friend. Skizzleman. Skizz. "I hope you're doing alright buddy." 

***

Skizz was ever so happy to see the blue sky stretching out above him when he opened his eyes. He was a little less happy about the sharp jabbing pebble that poked into his back.

“Ow! Okay! Alright, rude awakening!” he grumbled, rolling onto his side. He sat up slowly, eyes squinting against the sun, brain struggling to catch up. “Where the heck am I?” 

Skizz surveyed the first around him. He was thankful to not be in the nether. He'd had an untimely incident that had resulted in him getting lost inside the nether dimension recently. Luckily his friend Logic had found him. Thankful, but not necessarily happy to be here. 

He had gone to bed last night with the intention to continue working on his elytra course. That much he remembered. He stroked his face to find familiar stubble. Not a beard. At least he hasn't dreamed of getting out of the Nether and shaving the thing off. 

Skizz opened his tab list and confirmed for himself that he wasn't on Legacy anymore. He looked at the collection of usernames until one jumped out at him.

ImpulseSV.

“Whew. Okay. That’s one good sign,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe Impy knows what this place is.” But the rest of the names were question marks. A couple he kinda recognized from online buzz. Accept for Grian. Skizz frowned. “That guy… we met once, right?  He's part of Hermitcraft with Impulse.”

None of this told him where he was or why. And no matter how hard he tried to scroll through menus, he couldn't find a way to message his friend. 

Skizz clapped his hands once. “Okay. Could be a prank. Could be another ‘Naked and Afraid’ style game. I've done weirder.” He tried to laugh, but it came out a little too hollow.

Time passed quickly. Too quickly. He used a pickaxe, to hollow out a shallow cave just as the sky began to darken. And the unease he'd been ignoring all day? It flared up hard.

He sealed off the cave entrance with cobblestone and sat in the pitch dark with an empty stomach as he listened to the sound of distant zombie groans. “No food. No torches. No clue what’s going on,” he muttered, voice low and dry. “Impulse, buddy, wherever you are I hope you’re alright.”

Chapter Text

 Martyn felt cold and heavy, like he was swimming in a freezing lake. He was trying to surface, but the ice on top of the water above him was too solid. He pushed against it for what felt like the thousandth time and....it splintered apart into jagged pieces. But his thoughts didn't surface with him, they stayed behind like chains trying to drag him back down to something. To someone.

As he became more aware of his body he realized how wrong it felt. It was like he had been away from it for too long. His limbs were too heavy and his chest had a weight on it that made it feel almost impossible to breath. Like someone was holding him, a hand curled so tightly that it was grasping at the very code that made up his being. Then that hand was gone and he drew in a deep gasp like breath. Sunlight broke through to the back of his eyelids and his head moved like it had been hit by a hammer. His skin prickled as his body came back to life around him. Someone was touching him, their fingers curled around his shoulders. There were words too, but his mind couldn't quite decipher what his ears were hearing. 

No. No no no.

Martyn jerked violently as he gasped again, his fight or flight response taking over as he shot into wakefulness. His hands flew up reflexively and smacked the foreign grip off his shoulders. He pushed away from them, feet scrambling in the grass as he found himself pushing back against... Hay?

“Whoa! Whoa, Martyn! hey! Hey! It’s me!”

That voice was familiar and Martyn found himself trying to remember who it belonged to. His eyes opened and darted wildly as he took in all the colors and light. A man took Shape in front of him, hands raised to signify calm. Martyn's eyes landed on them and took in the dark blue shirt and bearded face. Steady brown eyes met his and Martyn tried to force his memories into place as he searched for a name. 

He licked his dry lips. “Bigb?” he rasped.

Bigb exhaled in relief. “Thank goodness, man. You had me worried there for a bit. I've been trying to wake you forever." 

Martyn let out a shaky breath and looked around. There were stone buildings with thatched roofs and an iron golem in the distance. They were in a village. “Where are we?”

“To tell you the truth, I don't know,” Bigb said. “I woke up about maybe half an hour ago and then 15 minutes after that I found you. You were completely out. You were scaring me. I have absolutely no clue how we got here.”

Martyn slowly pushed himself upright, still shaking off the fog he'd been in.  “Well, this is strange, but it's good to see your face Bigb."

Bigb smiled warmly,  “Yours too man, your too. It’s been forever, hasn’t it? Since EVO. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

Martyn frowned as his mind tried to grasp past the fog again, at the last few things he remembered. “What are you talking about? I just saw you yesterday."

Bigb raised an eyebrow, “No you didn’t. I was home yesterday and I think I'd remember if you showed up at my apartment."

“No,” Martyn said quickly, cutting off his own thoughts to stop himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Right, yeah, I must have been dreaming or something. How long has it even been?"

"I think it's been almost 3 years now. I haven't been on a....

Martyn tuned Bigb out. Something was wrong. Something was wrong inside his head, because it hadn't been years, that didn't match up with what he was remembering. EVO felt like yesterday. It was yesterday. And yet that couldn't be right if Bigb was telling him it had been years. Martyn swallowed his rising unease and decided not to say anything. Something was telling him to keep that particular thread of information to himself. Martyn stretched his arms overhead, the last of the fog melting from his limbs, but again not his mind. That remained tight and tangled as he continued to wrestle with his thoughts.

He didn't show this outwardly, letting Bigb think that everything fine as the two of them began looking around the village. They gathered what loot was available and then moved towards the iron golem. The near mindless villagers shuffled past, unconcerned, not even realizing that their protector was in danger. They killed the golem, took its iron drop and kept moving towards other houses. That's when Martyn hit the edge. 

"Oh, hey, Martyn!" Bigb tried to warn him, but Martyn walked straight into it. 

“Bloomin’...!" Martyn started to swear as he took a step back and looked up at the world border shimmering in front of him. It was mostly translucent, but that was no excuse for why he had walked so blatantly into the thing. Were his eyes still adjusting? It was ever so slightly blue, but with a strange hint of purple, and stretched so high that Martyn couldn't see the top of it. It pulsed as if it had a heartbeat. It flickered and crackled, like whatever was powering it was almost too much power. It cut cleanly across the landscape, disappearing beneath the dirt and stone and beyond it that landscape continued, everything cut clean like it had been sliced by a knife. 

Bigb moved up beside him. “I saw it when I first woke up. It's solid."  

Martyn narrowed his eyes, unease prickling at his neck. “This doesn’t make sense." he'd seen world boarders before, but this one was different. "Why's it so close?" 

Bigb didn't answer.

Martyn suddenly remember his comm on his wrist and brought up his arm so he could tap on it. The tab list blinked up in soft white glow. Fourteen names. He frowned, brow creasing deeper. “Who’s all this lot?” he asked with a glance at Bigb.

Bigb leaned over to look at it with him, “Only ones I know are Jimmy and Grian. You?”

Martyn hummed low in his throat. “That's all I know as well.”

Martyn continued to stare down at his comm as Bigb talked to him, going over everything else that was wrong with this world and its settings. He was only half listening, lost in his thoughts again as he tried to figure why he felt trapped. Something about the way everything had played out felt intentional and a thought pushed its way into his mind.

The Watchers. 

Martyn flinched before he could stop himself.  

"Hey um.... Bigb? Would you be alright for a bit if I went down and started mining while you stayed up here?" 

Bigb nodded slowly. “You wanna go off solo?”

“Just for a bit. I won't leave you or anything, but I need to take some time to think about some things. I'll get us some Iron. Diamonds, if we're lucky.”

Bigb raised his eyebrows, but didn’t ask any questions. “Alright. I’ll hold the fort up here. Give a shout if you need anything?"

"I'll probably be to deep for you to hear me, but if anything goes wrong, well if its bad enough you'll hear me scream like a girl." Martyn laughed at himself. 

His smile vanished as he turned away and started to dig down. He needed the quiet and the calm dark so that he could think. He needed to unpack the thoughts that were swirling about in his brain. Where had he been? Why was Bigb telling him it had been years? And most importantly he had a new thought to unpack that almost didn't seem to come from him. A thought that told him that Grian was important. That Grian was the key. 

***

Grian dreamed he was in bed. His blankets were warm and comfortable, covering him in a familiar weight. His pillow cradled his head just right.

He moved and the blankets shifted, falling away from his body and probably onto the floor. He reached out to pull them back, but they were too far away. The air grew cool around him then, the mattress beneath his body becoming firm and uneven and when he pushed down against it with his hand his fingers touched grass. Grass? Grian frowned in his dream and his eyes opened. His ceiling blurred above him like wet paint that was being smudged and green began to invade his peripheral vision as leaves took shape. Then the leaves were everywhere as the sun shone through them. Grian shielded his eyes and everything suddenly became real. 

The memory hit him like a command block to the chest. Right. The game. The Watchers.

Grian sat up slowly and tried not to vomit as he was filled with guilt. They’d made him do this. The watchers had come to him and demanded he make a game for them. They had made him think of a gimmick and made him choose the players from his friends. He'd tried to question and push back, but they showed him what would happen if he had said no. He was nothing more then a piece on their chess board. He hadn’t had a choice. Not really.

Grian exhaled and opened the comm on his wrist to  bring up the tab list. There they were. Fourteen green names. Everyone was here and no one had died yet. He swallowed hard and thumbed toward the chat window. He hadn't been allowed to warn them before it started, but maybe he could tell them now. A quick message to let them know that they needed to stay alive. The screen didn’t respond when he tried to type something in. The chat was locked. 

Grian stared at the blank chat box for a moment as rage flared and suddenly over took his guilt. Of course they’d disabled it. Of course they had. They were showing him how much control they had.  He wanted tear his comm off his wrist and throw it as far as he could, but then the guilt was back again to replace the anger. Maybe it was for the best that he couldn't contact anyone. If he told them what was happening then they'd know it was him that had brought them here. Had chosen them. And what then? What would they say? Would they even listen? Would they blame him? He didn’t want to find out.

Grian stood and fell into the routine of survival. It was easier than thinking. Easier than letting himself feel. But each breaking block felt like the tick of a timer counting down towards when he would have to face his friends and watch them become his enemies. Even if they didn't find out it was his fault, the game would turn them against him, against each other. 

They had three lives. And with each life lost they would get more and more erratic. The desire to kill growing strong as they hit their 3rd life. Their red life. Grian didn’t know what would happen when someone lost their third life. Would they respawn? Get ejected from the server? Or worse? Could this be permadeath? 

The Watchers hadn’t said. They just wanted to see what would happen. Wanted to be entertained. Grian didn't want to be their entertainment, but this was his game and he was already playing. 

Grian started walking. 

***

Grian had no right to be this lucky. He'd found a broken nether portal chest. Inside was a golden apple and an enchanted chest plate. For a brief moment he thought about putting them back for someone else to find, but he didn't want to die, so he took them. 

In the distance he could see a village just on the edge of the world boarder and with the hopes of finding more loot or food, Grian began to head towards it. 

He hated the world boarder. Another reminder of the power the Watchers yielded and what they wanted from them. The watchers didn’t want things to get boring. Didn't want them to run or flee instead of fighting. When things started to go wrong they would be trapped like rats in a maze.  

Grian was so fixated on the boarder as he approached that he didn't see Bigb until the beta called out. 

“Grian?” Bigb’s voice was surprised, but filled with happiness. “Whoa, dude, no way! It’s you!”

Grian was startled out of his spiraling thoughts. “Bigb?”

For a moment, the guilt lifted under the weight of genuine happiness. He ran the last few steps, wrapping Bigb in a quick hug before pulling away, grateful beyond words that Bigb couldn’t scent his nerves. “You’re here,” Grian said, managing a tight smile. “You’re okay.”

"Yeah, I'm fine! I mean, I woke up with no idea where I was, but hey, it’s good to see you. It has been ages!”

“Yeah,” Grian replied, suddenly choking on his guilt again. “It has.”

Bigb studied him. “You good? You seem kinda…”

“Tired,” Grian lied quickly. “I was up late last night working on a build."

Bigb gave him a look but let it go. “Man. You haven’t changed.”

Before Grian could say anything else, movement in the distance made both of them turn. Two figures stepped into view. Joel, who Grian had only met a few times and.... Tango. Grian kept his expression neutral, but his stomach twisted as he laid eyes on the first member of his pack that he'd seen since arriving. 

Tango’s gaze fell on him immediately. “Grian!” he shouted rushing over. 

“Tango!" Grian yelled back, forcing a smile. 

Joel approached more slowly, “Hey.”

Bigb leaned toward Grian. “You know them?”

Grian nodded at Tango. "Tango's from my pack on Hermitcraft." He answered. Grian had only spoken with Bigb a few times over the past few years, but he knew his friend would recognize the server name. 

“And the other guy?” Bigb murmured.

Tango spoke before Grian could answer, “You know Smallishbeans or Joel, right?”

Grian hesitated for just for a beat. I think so? You look familiar.”

Joel snorted. “Wow. Rude.”

“I mean...” Grian offered a half-shrug and pretended to think a little harder. “You’re friends with Jimmy, right?”

His act was a lie. Grian knew exactly who Joel was. Grian had picked him specifically because he didn't know him that well. He had tried to pick acquaintances at first over friends, but then the watchers had realized what he was doing and had made him start picking players from his own pack. Grian wasn’t going to let anyone sniff out how much he really knew. Not yet.

Joel eyed Grian’s armor and let out a low whistle. “Enchanted already?”

Grian glanced down. “Oh, yeah. Found it in a chest.”

Bigb gawked. “Dude, you found that?”

Grian pulled out his golden apple and almost didn't have to force a laugh at everyone's surprised expressions.

"And who's this?"Tango asked looking at Bigb. 

"This is Mr. Bigbst4tz!" Grian said. "He's an old friend of mine, believe it or not."

"Huh, weird." Tango muttered and Grian felt suddenly nervous. Tango studied Grian for a beat longer. Joel didn’t seem to notice. He was impressed with the armor on the surface, but something else was clearly bothering him. 

“We’re heading out to see what we can find,” Tango said. “See if we can find anyone else.”

“Got it,” Grian said. “Stay safe out there.”

Tango’s eyes lingered on him for another heartbeat, "You sure you don't want to come with?"

Grian shook his head, "If it's alright, I'd like to catch up with B. We'll be at the village."

Tango look like he wanted to argue, but then he turned and with a nod towards Joel the two Alpha's started to head out. "Take care of yourself alright?"  

Grian nodded and wished them well.

Bigb waited until they were gone before elbowing Grian. "So, you wanna go say hello to Martyn?"

"Wait, Martyn's here?" 

"Yeah, he went mining a little bit ago, so he shouldn't be too far from where he dug down. 

Grian's grin came sneaking back, "I'll bet you I could scare him." 

Bigb grinned. “you want to sneak up on him?”

The question sparked a flicker of further mischief in Grian’s chest. “Absolutely!”

They descended carefully down the rough winding path carved into the stone.  Grian crept forward with practiced silence, motioning for Bigb to stay back. He waited until he was close enough, just behind Martyn’s hunched figure and then Grian shouted at the top of his lungs. "Hi Martyn!!!"

Martyn yelled and flailed around frantically. He nearly smacked Grian with his pickaxe in his fright before he was able to turn around and see who it was that had  scared him. 

“Grian?!” he barked, glaring. “Oh my word! Don’t do that!"

Grian laughed uproariously, "You jumped so much!"

"I didn't! I'm a big boy!"

Grian turned to look back at Bigb behind him. "Worth it!"

Bigb was grinning behind him and Martyn's face shifted from scared surprise to a wide smile as well. "Well, I'll be. Grian." 

"It's good to see you Martyn." Grian told him genuinely. Grian hadn't seen or heard from Martyn since the end of EVO. When the watchers had chosen him for this game Grian couldn't help but hope for the chance to catch up with him and find out how he and Netty had been doing. "Martyn, where have you been?"

Martyn's smiled lessened a bit, "Y'know, here and there. How long has it been since we last saw each other? Has it been years or what?" 

Grian felt his own happiness diminishing, Martyn's questioning tone was bringing him back down, "At least three years." 

Martyn nodded, "Huh, it feels like barely any time has gone by." 

Bigb didn’t seem to notice the unspoken tension that came with what felt like unasked and unanswered questions. “Well, time’s weird sometimes," he said adding to the conversation.

Martyn shrugged, “Guess so.” He turned away and reached into his inventory. “I've got something for you two. I have just enough." He tossed them each two sparkling diamonds. "Enough for all of us to make a sword!" He exclaimed and laid the diamonds onto a crafting bench. He brandished his new shining weapon. “I hereby declare us the Blue Sword Boys!” 

Grian snorted and reached into his own inventory, pulling out the golden apple. He tossed it to Martyn. "Since your handing out diamond, I want you to have my most prized possession.”

Martyn caught it, eyes going wide. “Oooh, spicy! Thanks, man. Way to make Bigb feel like a third wheel though. Yikes!”

"Wow dude, wow..." Bigb responded, rolling his eyes.

They laughed and then fell into what should have been casual conversation. But Grian felt like every time he asked Martyn a question it was being deflected and Bigb was the one that ended up talking instead. He knew he was being careful enough with what he said right now. It was an uneasy conversation to say the least. Grian felt the pull to leave. The desire to get away  before they started asking questions that he didn't want to answer. Questions that he didn't feel like he could dodge.  He couldn't face the idea of them finding out what he had done. Not yet.

When Martyn and Bigb left matters of the past behind and instead began to discuss where to set up camp, Grian took the chance to slip away. Diamond sword in hand grian left his friends behind so they wouldn't discover the guilt that was burning a hole in his heart. 

Chapter Text

THOCK THOCK THOCK

Ren was freaking out. 

THOCK THOCK THOCK

He didn't want to admit that letting himself chase rabbits like a dog off it's leash was a coping mechanism. 

THOCK THOCK THOCK 

It was a coping mechanism.

THOCK THOCK THOCK 

He missed Doc so much and he worried he was starting to unravel.

Ren’s pickaxe broke through the final layer of stone with a satisfying THOCK, and suddenly he was in a cave filled with the delicious smell of cooked food. He wasn't all that hungry to be honest, but he was really hoping to find people. His nerves were practically shot wandering around on his own. He stumbled into the cave, “Hello fellow players!”

There were two players in the cave; a blond man with yellow wings sporting a Captain America uniform and a stylishly dressed fellow with blue hair. The feathered player’s reaction was instant as his feathers puffed up in alarm. "Scott! Someone just dug through!" 

Ren froze in place as the blue haired man, at least a half-elf from the looks of his pointed ears, turned to look at him. It wasn't a very warm welcome and Ren tried not to let the sting of being feared show in his demeanor.  He just needed to show them that he was cool. 

Scott stood up, brushing cave dust from his clothes, “It will be okay, Jimmy. It’s fine.”

Ren dusted himself off too, mindful of any rabbit fur still clinging to his shirt. He looked up again and tried to keep his eyes on the calm one, Scott,  and that's when Ren realized he recognized him. "Oh! Ohhh, I know you,” Ren said, pointing, face brightening. “You’re Smajor, right? The MCC guy!”

Scott smiled back, "That would be me! Scott Major. This is Jimmy. " There was a wariness to Scott still and Jimmy was puffed up in a panic. The scent of nervous omega started to make itself known. 

“Ren,” he offered, placing a hand dramatically over his chest, “Ren Diggity Dog of the interwebs. I smelled someone cooking. Thought I’d follow my nose and lo and behold, boom! tunnel friends!” He’d hoped it would lighten the mood, get a laugh. Scott chuckled, bless him, but Jimmy still looked ready to bolt.

“We’ve got a little bit of food. Pork mostly. You want some?” Scott asked, 

Ren waved it off, still smiling. Keep it cool. “Nah, I’ve got food. What I need is a trade.”

Even as Ren tried hard to not look like the big imposing alpha he knew he looked like to others, he noticed the way Jimmy shifted slightly behind Scott. Ren didn’t move closer. He’d learned that sometimes space was the best thing he could give. It still continued to sting. 

I'm not a threat. I just want to say hello.

He reached into his inventory and pulled out his recently acquired treasure. "Behold. My lucky rabbit foot. Dropped after an epic bunny chase. "Interested?”

Scott’s brows lifted. “Ooooo.”

Ren grinned. “You know it's rare. I’ll trade it for... say, three iron?”

Scott didn’t even pause. He pulled out a few ingots and passed them over. “Deal.”

Jimmy tossed in two more without being asked,  almost like he wanted the deal to be over quicker. Ren picked them up and tried to hand them back, "Three's plenty..." Jimmy backed away and waved him off fast, his feathers twitching.

Ren just nodded and pocketed the extra iron. “Pleasure doing business. May this lucky foot bring you fortune, fortune, and more fortune.”

Scott said something about Totems of Undying, but Ren kept looking at Jimmy over his shades. Jimmy’s nod was polite, but cold. Distant. Ren was realizing just how unwanted he was here.  He tilted his head, tried to figure it out. He wasn’t pushing. He was being careful. Friendly. Respectful. And still Jimmy wouldn’t meet his eyes. Wouldn’t trust him.

Ren let his grin soften, not quite able to hold it at full wattage anymore. “Right. Well. Sounds like I should let you two settle in. Got a lot of wandering to do. Stay safe out there.”

“See ya,” Scott said, offering a wave.

“Bye,” Jimmy added, quietly.

Ren turned and walked back the way he’d come. The sound of his own footsteps faded behind him leaving him with a weird ache stuck in his ribs. He didn’t blame Jimmy. Not really. But he wished… just once… that he wouldn’t be met with fear first.

I'm not just an alpha. Why can't they just see me? 

Ren was fine with other alpha's being aggressive and pushy, that was them. He loved Doc for being his own territorial self. But why did others expect him to be the same way? He felt an intrusive throught beginning to form in his mind and pushed it away.  He thought he'd work through this. He was happy with himself. He just needed to talk to Doc..... Docs not here. 

Ren didn't sleep that night. He just kept mining. 

***

The next morning the reaction Ren had gotten from Jimmy was still bothering him. Being apart from Doc was bothering him too, but he didn't want to think about that or who knew how he'd be handling things right now. 

He unblocked the entrance to the mine he'd made and began walking through the trees, stopping occasionally to gather wood as he went. 

Ren hadn't worried about how others perceived him as an alpha in a long time. Back on Hermitcraft, everyone knew him for who he was. He was Ren. But here? Here, he was just another Alpha who could be dangerous. At least that's what the omega had seen. 

He didn’t like the way that made him feel. Like he was wearing someone else’s skin. Like maybe no one here would ever see the real Ren if all they could....

Sssssss.

His ears snapped toward the sound before his brain caught up. Instinct took over. He dove forward, boots skidding across the grass just as the explosion ripped through the ground behind him. Ren hit the ground hard and rolled, heart hammering against his ribs. The ringing in his ears made him shake his head in an attempt to clear them. He needed to hear incase.....he saw the second one.

His throat tightened and his heart gave a lurch that was from more than just the shock of almost being blown up. Something inside Ren, already frayed and thin from too many days without Doc, snapped.

Ren charged the creeper with a feral snarl and tackled it to the ground before it could prime itself. Its legs kicked wildly and it pulsed once, but he slammed its head into the ground. It squealed and sparked, but Ren pulled his hand back and brought his sword out, striking the creeper with a killing blow. He growled one last time and then the creeper poofed out of existence in a small puff of ash.

Ren crouched over the empty grass, panting hard, fists clenched. He took a shuddering breath as his thoughts returned and he realized that he'd acted without thinking. He felt numb.

What did I just do?

He stumbled back, knees giving way until he sat hard in the dirt. He stared at his hands. His throat clenched tight and he squeezed his eyes shut. The ache was bigger now. He was fine with having killed the creeper, but doing it without thinking? Letting his instincts take over in a moment of violence was everything Ren never wanted to be. 

I need Doc. 

He finally stood up and brushed the dirt and soot off. He turned and looked at the crater where the other creeper had exploded. Creepers didn't shake him up like this normally. Not with Doc being a creeper hybrid, which came with all its own social stigmas. 

Ren continued moving, but he let his thoughts wander back to home. To the last time that he'd been blown up, which had been completely Docs fault.  Ren almost chuckled at the absurdity. 

***

Ren had been building a birch tree harvester. He would plant the birch trees on an obsidian platform and then let TNT rain down on the trees from above. It was a grindy process, but it worked. Mostly. He'd been happy when Doc had shown up to help. Ren had been confused by Doc's fancy suit outfit and by the fact that Doc was calling him sir, but he had decided not to question it. Especially if it meant he could finish his project sooner.  

Doc was above him on a platform where he had placed the TNT dispensers. Ren typed instructions into his comm so that Doc would know which buttons to press and when to press them. 

[Renthedog]

Press purple first. then orange. wait. repeat. 

He could see the creeper hybrid running back and forth between the buttons. Ren’s ears were met with sound of two things; the explosions and the occasional buzz when he would receive a message. 

[DocM77]

Purple now sir 

Orange sir

Another lovely detonation sir

Ren had blinked at the screen and snorted, typing back with a grin tugging at his mouth.

[Renthdog]

Why are you calling me sir?  

You okay up there? 

[DocM77]

Just serving with excellence sir

Ren rolled his eyes and laughed as he watched Doc continue to run back and forth on the platform. He watched the TNT arc through the air and blast another layer of birch trees. The logs and leaves dropped down onto the platform where they were collected by the mechanisms below.  

He sent another quick message to Doc, letting him know the new sequence of buttons to push. Ren activated his elytra and flew down to the collection platform and begin picking up the bits and pieces that were still laying about on top. 

When Ren heard the sound of the mechanism firing from above he took a step back to admire the arc of the TNT as it flew towards the few floating trees above his head. Except the TNT missed the trees and continued on down towards the platform. The platform where Ren was standing. 

Ren's shades slid down his nose a bit and he opened his mouth, "Oh, you've..." 

[Renthedog blew up]

Ren gasped as he respawned with a jolt. He leapt up and went to take off back towards the tree farm and grumbled when he realized his elytra was back where he had died. If it hadn't been blown up in blast. He started sprinting instead. 

Doc!” he barked upwards,  “get your circuits down here!”

Doc appeared moments later having descended with the perfect composure he had been carrying himself with all afternoon. “My sincerest apologies, sir,” Doc bowed slightly. “I believe I pushed the wrong button sequence." 

Ren paused his inventory collecting, "Dude! What is this? Why are you calling me sir?"  “

“Just doing my duty, sir.”

Ren stared at him, half a moment away from bursting into laughter, but still wanting an answer. “What are you doing, Doc?"

Doc's non-bionic eye glinted with amusement and he sighed, “It’s one of the Hermit challenges. I drew ‘Butler.’ I must serve until you are satisfied with my service.”

Ren gaped at him. " That's why you're calling me sir?"

Doc clasped his hands behind his back and smiled politely, "Indeed sir. Are you satisfied with my services?" 

"No, I'm not satisfied! You blew me up in my own machine!" 

Doc chuckled, "Then I suppose I should find another way that I can be of service." 

Ren's fond exasperation shifted as he heard the tone that Doc used when he was implying certain things. "Oh, you wanna polish my boots or something?" 

"Or something, sir." Doc said softly, his butler voice faltering. Ren moved closer, but Doc cut him off. "Oh, I think I should mention, since I chose you for the challenge, that means that you're next up to be the butler." 

“Wait, what? Hold up."

“You must serve as someone else’s Butler, until they are satisfied.”

Ren stared at him in mock horror. “Doc, If your going to be satisfying me the way I think you are, then I'm not gonna lie dude, being the butler after that is going to be a bit much."

“Rules are rules,” Doc said leaning down towards him, and whispering in his sensitive ears, “Good luck, sir.”

***

A sharp rustle snapped him back to the present.

Sssssss.

“No!” he yelped, vaulting backward as a second creeper approached him. This time Ren just ran. 

***

The truce between Tango and Joel was a Shakey one. They'd tried taking turns in the night, watching each other's back and keeping the mobs away, but Joel had hardly slept. How could he? When he missed Lizzy so much and the place where she rested in the back of his mind was so incredibly silent. She was still there, but so very distant that he couldn't get a sense of anything. 

He and Lizzy had known each other for years before they'd started courting. Keeping in contact as friends as they each traveled to different servers and did different things. Then they'd started traveling together until next thing both of them knew they had started building their bases near each other and making homes together. He and Lizzy had been married for two years now and mated for one.

They had only just settled down to join a pack on a server that had begun to feel like home. Fwhips Empires server where Joel was a king and Lizzy a queen. He had plans to propose to her again and have the lavish wedding that they hadn't been able to afford before. But right now, Joel didn't even know if she was okay. He only knew she was alive.

Joel glanced over at Tango, who was still keeping his distance as they walked through the forest again. Joel could tell Tango was still wary of him. Not in a hostile way, but in that careful, sideways glance kind of way. Like Tango was calculating the risk every time Joel spoke or moved. Joel didn’t blame him. Tango had every reason to keep him at arm’s length. Joel was keeping the blaze hybrid at arms length too and was starting to wonder if it would be better for him to go off on his own. 

Tango held up a hand suddenly, bringing them both to a halt. Just past a cluster of tall grass was a wolf. The white canine’s ears twitched as it stared back at them curiously. It was standing its ground. 

Joel’s breath caught and he almost let himself smile. He reached into his inventory without a word and pulled out a bundle of bones that he'd collected from skeletons the previous night. He stepped forward slowly, crouching low, one hand outstretched with a bone in hand. 

“C’mere, mate,” he murmured. “I’ve got something for you.”

The wolf hesitated sniffing the air. Then it padded forward, wary but not afraid. The wolf sniffed the bone and then gently took it. After a few moments of satisfied gnawing the wolf's stance shifted. It wagged its tail and titled its head at him. Joel put out his hand again, empty this time, and the wolf stepped forward and gave it a gentle bump.

Whuff. 

“Oh,” Joel said, “Guess that’s that, huh?” He reached down and ruffled the wolf’s ears, grinning now despite himself.

“Gerald,” he declared. “Your name’s Gerald now.”

Tango snorted. “Gerald?”

Joel shrugged.

Gerald gave another little whuff of agreement and leaned against Joel's shin.

Joel glanced up at Tango. “Hey… I think this is where we part ways.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Joel stood and took a step away, Gerald now trotting at his heels. He looked down at the wolf and back up. “I think I’m going lone wolf for a while.”

Tango nodded slowly. “Well… be careful.”

“You too,” Joel said.

They shared nods of quiet, mutual respect and turned to each go their own ways. Tango alone and Joel with his new friend, who he trusted far more then the other alpha. 

“C’mon, Gerald,” he murmured.

***

Ren’s pickaxe echoed rhythmically through the narrow tunnel. After the creeper incident his nerves were even more shot. His instincts were going crazy and his emotions.... he was trying not to think about how he felt about everything. Ren mined. He was an action-oriented guy and enjoyed keeping himself busy. The repetition of mining wasn't his favorite activity, but he didn't have the resources for anything else. It kept him occupied. 

He peered into his inventory at his decent haul of coal and iron. An idea had come to mind and he was on the lookout for lapis specifically. So far he hadn't found very much. 

Ren was working so hard to distract himself that he didn’t hear the footsteps or catch the scent on the air. Really, if he hadn’t been so stressed, he would have admitted that he deserved what was coming for him. 

“BOO!”

Ren let out a startled bark and turned with his ears pinned back and his hackles raised. He brought out his sword and...

Grian stood before him looking almost as startled as Ren felt. 

“Whoa! Ren! It's just me! It's Grian! Sorry! I didn’t think you’d... wow, you really jumped!”

Ren stood still trying to reboot his brain. “What the heck, dude!?”

Grian gave a sheepish grin, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I thought that you'd hear me, since your hearings so good. Is everything okay?”

Ren gave a nervous little laugh. “Yeah. I’m fine. Lost in thought.” Ren's senses, which he had been unconsciously reigning inward, suddenly took in Grian. The omega was looking a little rough, tired and a bit dirty. But that didn't bother Ren too much because he imagined that he was no better off. It was Grian's scent that had him suddenly concerned. There was something more distressing to it then what he had even scented on the wary omega from earlier and Ren suddenly wanted to protect and comfort his packmate. 

Grian cleared his throat and pulled some bread from his inventory. “I've got more food than I need. Can we do a trade? I could use some coal. I’m running low.”

Ren nodded and reached into his satchel. “Sure, dude. Take what you need.”

Ren stepped forward and placed the coal into Grian’s hands, but he didn’t step back right away. He studied Grian’s face and realized that Grian was trying to not look him in eyes.

“You alright, Grian?” Ren asked quietly, keeping his voice casual. “Have you been out there on your own, dude? ”

Grian’s shrug was half-hearted. “Yeah. Trying to figure things out.”

There was a heavy pause.

“You wanna stick with me for a while?” Ren offered, hopeful that he might have someone with him now, "You know. Safety in numbers.”

Grian’s flowery scent turned even more bitter and he turned away “No thanks,” he said, his words clipped.

Ren's could feel his expression fall. “You sure? You’re pack, dude. I’d feel better knowing you weren’t out there alone.”

Grian looked at Ren, cold obsidian eyes finally meeting his gaze. "I'll be fine on my own Ren." 

I don't need you to protect me.

Of course that wasn't what Grian said, but it's what Ren heard, he open and closed his mouth before he could get any words out again. "I don't mean it like...”

“I said no,” Grian snapped. “I just want to be alone, okay?” He turned and walked off before Ren could answer, shoulders tight and leaving only his bitter scent and the traded bread behind with Ren. 

And just like that Ren was alone again. 

He didn't want to be alone. 

***

In a cave, not too far away from them, Joel found himself alone again too.

“Gerald! No!”

Chapter Text

The cave echoed with the crunch of gravel and the occasional delighted shout from Bdubs as he dashed through, the light of his torch making the shadows bob up and down.  Bdubs whooped the whoop of the unhinged as another zombie lunged toward him from a dark corner. He slayed it quickly.

Impulse was just a few blocks behind, placing torches methodically and chuckling. “You’re gonna clear out this whole cave system on your own.”

“I'm a pro, thank you very much,” Bdubs grinned sprinting ahead again. “Mining? Caving? I’ve been doing this since before you were even born!”

“I’m older than you!” Impulse called after him, laughter in his voice.

“You sure don’t act like it,” Bdubs called back, ducking through a narrow crevice.

Cleo followed a bit more slowly, shaking her head with a grin as Impulse looked at her in confusion. "Isn't he the one acting immature right now?"

“He’s coping,” she said softly with a nod in Bdubs' general direction. 

Impulse hummed. “Yeah. I know.”

The crevice that Bdubs had gone through led into  a small square shaped room. "It's a spawner!" He announced excitedly. He made quick work of the mobs and then dropped down in front of the spawner chest, "Let’s see what we got!” He flung the lid open dramatically only to find a chest that was mostly junk, but then something caught his eye. He reached in and pulled it out, holding it up for Cleo and Impulse to see. “LOOK! Look, look, look! I got a disc!”

Cleo let out a surprised peal of laughter.

Impulse leaned over their shoulder, to peer down into the spawner room  “We're going to have to find Diamonds if we want to make a juke box.”

Cleo held their pickaxe at the ready. “let's start operation shiny.”

Bdubs agreed enthusiastically but then hung back for a moment as Impulse and Cleo pushed further into the cave. The torchlight flickered across the rough cave walls, throwing long shadows and hardening the soft edges of the dark. He let out a quiet breath and leaned against one of the walls. He held the music disc between his hands, tightly.

The adrenaline was fading now. The rush from fighting the mobs, from goofing off and shouting had worked to distract him, but now his heart was slowing, and he allowed for a moment of silence to creep back in between that laughter.

He missed Etho. They hadn’t been apart this long in... a long time. He wondered what was keeping his alpha from coming to him. 

He shook the thought off, putting the disc away into his inventory. Etho was fine. The feelings he received through their bond had calmed significantly. He shoved away from the wall with a little more force than needed and called out, “You guys better not find that diamond without me!"

Bdubs trotted after Cleo and Impulse, his boots clinking lightly against stone as he followed the curve of a narrow bend in the cave. He still smiled, of course he did, it was his default expression, but it didn’t stretch quite as wide. He let the others lead, happy to follow for a bit. 

Impulse was in the middle of regaling them with a funny story about him, Zed, and Tango when a sharp crack of stone echoed through the tunnel, followed by an unmistakable cheerful voice.

“Hello? Is this the fun cave? Because it sounds a-may-zin in here!”

All three of them turned to greet the new smiling face with smiles of their own.

“Scar?!”They all greeted him in an unrehearsed chorus of excited shouts.

From the fresh break in the wall, Scar emerged  shirtless and grinning. "Hey, it is you guys, I saw torches and heard yelling."

“You found us!” Impulse said excitedly, “Is anyone with you?”

Scar shook his head. “No, I’ve been alone.”

Cleo switched their sword out for her pick and  gave Scar the look. She reached towards his pants pocket and the shirt that was half stuffed into it. Without a word they tossed up towards his face.

Scar sputtered at her back as Cleo walked away. “Mom!” he mock complained but pulled the shirt on over his head anyway.

Bdubs snorted and slipped past Scar into the little tunnel he’d burst from. “Let’s see what secrets you’re hiding in here…” There wasn't anything to see. Bdubs hadn’t expected there to be, but he found himself searching to see if maybe someone else had followed Scar. Sniffing the air for a much-wanted familiar scent.

“Bdubs?” Cleo called, their voice echoing. “Where’d you go off to?”

Bdubs wriggled back out of the rocky gap with a smirk. “Just checking out the  hole.”

Cleo turned, raised a brow, then let her mouth twist into a teasing grin. “So, you’re coming out of Scar’s hole, then?”

Bdubs gasped, hand flying to his chest. "No, Scar came out of my hole!”

Cleo lost it, laughing as they parroted back, “Ohhh, I see. Scar came out of Bdubs' hole.”

Scar coughed into his hand, "That's what she said." 

"Should I be here for this conversation?" Impulse asked. 

Scar snapped his fingers as if he suddenly remembered something. “Oh! Bdubs, I have something for you.”

Bdubs turned toward him, eyes lighting up. “Yes. I’m ready to receive.”

Scar theatrically rummaged through his inventory before holding out the item with a flourish. “Ta-da!”

Bdubs blinked, then gasped as he snatched it. “A clock! Oh my! Yes! YES! This is life-changing!” He held it up for everyone to see. “Now I can tell time. I’ll know when it’s time to shreep!”

Impulse snorted, "shreep."

“You heard me!” Bdubs said loudly, cradling the clock. “It’s bedtime, but fancy.” He slid the clock into his inventory with a satisfied sigh, gaze softening for a second as the sight of the clock in his inventory stirred an old memory. The first time he was ever given one. Back when he and Etho were dating.

***

While his home was Hermitcraft, the pack was in its early stages of Xisuma’s leadership and the security surrounding when pack members could come and go wasn’t quite as strict as it would later become. Bdubs took the opportunity to spend time on the collaborative server Mindcrack. That was where he met Etho. 

He remembered meeting Etho and thinking the man was brilliant. They somehow found themselves drawn together, helping with each other's projects and sharing tips on how to grow taller trees. The professional demeanor changed to fond teasing and their early friendly banter slipped into flirtation. When Etho made his intentions known, Bdubs was thrilled. 

But while Bdubs could come and go whenever he pleased,  Hermitcraft didn’t have an open-door policy when it came to non-pack members. So, they found other places to spend time together. Public worlds and game lobbies at first. Then Etho revealed he had a private world and within a few months Bdub’s was whitelisted.

Around that same time, there were some things happening back on Hermitcraft that made Bdubs feel the need to spend more time there. His family needed his support and as much as he cared for Etho, it wasn't his place to share those troubles. He would still leave to visit Etho, but only for a few hours at a time and he of course had to leave at the same time every evening. 

It was usually a more sudden occurrence, because Bdubs would sometimes lose track of time around Etho. He didn't mean to be rude about it his departures, he just had a bedtime. And he stuck to it, because he liked the routine and late nights made him cranky. Etho hadn't seemed to mind and he didn’t complain, he would give Bdubs a kiss and tell him goodnight.  Bdubs didn't even realize anything was bothering his boyfriend. 

Turns out it was.

It was quiet night on Etho's single player world, a project that had Bdubs in awe of the man's skills when it came to building. Bdubs loved building, but he could stand to learn a lot from Etho. They sat on the edge of a Lilly pad covered pond, a fire crackling behind them and a bridge, lit with glow stone, above their heads. Bdubs was relaxed, lounging with his head angled back to look at the small visible patch of blue sky. He listened as Etho told him about his latest project. 

The moment lingered, easy and warm, and Bdubs let himself enjoy it. Etho’s mask caught the glow of the fire, half-shadowed and still somehow expressive. Bdubs liked that about him. His man was both mysterious and readable. An interesting juxtaposition of- 

Oh.

Bdubs glanced at the clock tucked into his hot bar. The little hand was just ticking past the familiar mark. His bedtime.

“Shoot,” he said, sitting up, “That’s my cue.”

Etho’s hand stilled on a stick he had been using to sketch something out in the dirt.  “Already?” he asked, voice light, but with an undertone that didn’t match.

“Same time as always,” Bdubs said cheerfully, slinging his satchel over one shoulder. “Gotta schedule, y’know?”

Etho didn’t respond right away, head down. He sat there, staying seated for just long enough to make Bdubs wonder if everything was alright. Finally, he rose to his feet.

“B?”

Two things made Bdubs pause, first the softness in Etho's voice and second the subtle unpleasant change in Etho's scent.  

Etho stood stiffly, he ran a hand over the back of his neck and didn't meet Bdub's eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Do you… still like spending time with me?”

Bdubs stared at Etho blankly, “What?”

“I mean,” Etho’s shoulders stiffened further, his tone uncertain, “you leave so early. And it's every night now. You're like clockwork. And I know we’re both busy, and you said there was some stuff going on, but I guess I… I just wanted to know if this still means something to you.”

Bdubs continued to stare. Everything else from the crackling fire to the sky making it's transition into dusk, slowed. “What are you talking about?” he asked, baffled. “Etho, where is this coming from?”

Etho shifted his weight and ran his hand over the back of his neck again and then up through his silver hair.  "I’m not trying to guilt you,” Etho said finally. “Really. I know Hermitcraft’s your pack, and I get that you’ve got your routines. But sometimes I...I guess I just wish we had more time? That I could be on your server, or you could stay just a little longer. You always look at the clock and go, like you’re about to turn into a pumpkin or something.” he looked at Bdubs almost hopeful, but sad.  “I’m not saying you don’t care, I just… If you do, still care, then why do you always leave so early?”

Bdubs’ mouth fell open, stunned. “Are you kidding me right now?” he said loudly.

Etho seemed taken aback.

“No, seriously, Etho, are you kidding me?” Bdubs stepped forward, pointing at his own chest. “You think I come all the way out here, schedule half my day around hanging out with you just because I have nothing else to do? You think I'm going to spend time sitting by your campfires and listen to you go on about stuff because I’m just trying to pass the time, until I gotta go to bed?”

Etho started to respond, but Bdubs steamrolled right over him, arms flailing.

“You are so lucky you’re cute, Etho, because that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! I’m leave because I have an important reason to be home right now! You know this! And you know I go to bed early! It’s literally one of the first things I told you when we started seeing each other! I need my shreep! Doesn’t mean I love you any less!”

Etho went very still. Bdubs, realizing he’d just shouted “I love you” without quite meaning to, inhaled sharply  and blushed. "I mean,” he muttered. “Of course I do. Obviously.”

Etho stepped forward, his voice lower now. “You do?”

Bdubs looked up at him, still blushing , "Yeah, you goof, I wouldn’t be out here if I didn’t.”

Etho exhaled like he’d been holding his breath, “Okay. Wow… That’s good. That’s… really great actually.”

They stood there quietly, Etho's eyes wandered down and looked at Bdubs hands, which sat at his sides. Bdubs reached out and closed the gap between them, by taking one of Etho's hands in his own. A gentle touch. Etho brought his other hand up to join.

“I can stay,” Bdubs said softly. “Ten more minutes.”

Etho looked at him. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Bdubs rolled his eyes fondly. “But only ten. Because if I don’t go to bed on time…” He leaned in with a grin. “You know how grumpy I get.”

Etho laughed, the rest of his tension slipping away and, oh, Bdubs, realized just how completely smitten he was with him. A hand reached up and touched the edge of Etho’s mask, just briefly.

They sat together for ten more minutes. And that had been the end of it. 

Bdubs had gone home right after, like always, logging out and making his way back to Hermitcraft. A new warmth in his chest at the full realization that he loved Etho and while the alpha hadn't said the words in return yet, he knew that Etho loved him back. It was a glorious feeling. Etho really was lucky and so was Bdubs. 

After a few more weeks, the personal matter on Hermitcraft felt less pressing and Bdubs decided that it was okay to spend a little less time back home supporting his pack. He turned his focus to his relationship with Etho instead. 

They were growing closer. 

So close in fact that Bdubs was heavily considering having Etho meet Xisuma and Keralis to see if they would consider letting him join the pack. Bdubs really didn't like leaving Etho alone. Sure the Alpha had his private server and if he really wanted to he could go stay at his base on Mindcrack, but Mindcrack wasn't a pack. Wasn't a family. 

Before Bdubs could bring it up however, Etho invited him to his private server with a romantic sounding note and a set of coordinates. For some reason the omega couldn't help but feel a little nervous, butterflies fluttering about in his stomach in the best way. 

He joined the server late in the afternoon, as requested, and followed a lit path to the area that the coordinates indicated. It was a beautiful, landscaped garden area surrounded by excellently cultivated dark oak trees. Pretty lanterns hung down from the branches, creating a contrasting brightness under the dark canopy that would have normally been dark enough for hostile mobs to spawn. 

Bdubs wasn't a romantic. He wasn't! (he was). But he was very much moved by the effort that Etho had put into this. 

After allowing Bdubs a moment to admire it, Etho stepped out from behind one of the large oak trees and joined him. "Etho! This is amazing! You're..." his words died in shock when he caught sight of Etho's maskless face. Sure, he'd seen it before, but usually only if they were going to make out or, well, more then make out. 

“Oh boy,” Bdubs muttered. “Am I in trouble?”

Etho laughed and shook his head. “Nah. I just wanted to show you this. And talk. If that's okay?”

“Well, now I’m curious.” Bdubs watched Etho sit on the ground in the middle of the canopy covered garden and then let the alpha take his hand to pull him down to sit next to him. He looked around again and then back at his boyfriend, taking in his full uncovered smiling face. "It really is beautiful. When did you make this?”

"Over the past few weeks. It's for you." 

"No, this isn't just for me. Is it?" 

Etho's smile vanished, "I wanted to apologize.”

“What for?”

“For the other week,” Etho said. “I made a bigger deal out of things than I should have. You weren't doing anything wrong. You weren’t. I just… I let my own fears get in the way. And I wanted to make sure you knew that. And I wanted to apologize.”

Bdubs expression softened further with fondness, “Etho…”

"I mean it," Etho looked at him. “You’re important to me. And I don’t ever want to make you feel like you have to change to make me happy. You’re perfect just the way you are, grumpy shreep-schedule and all.”

Bdubs flushed, “Now you’re just trying to flatter me.”

“Maybe.” The corners of Etho's eyes scrunched up and it was nice to see the handsome smirk, rather than just having to imagine it.  Etho reached into his inventory and pulled out a small box wrapped in dark wool and tied with a red string. “I got you something.”

Bdubs stared at the box. Then he looked up at Etho.  Then back down at the box. “What’s this?" He said, feeling a slight flutter of either excitement or panic. Or both. He wasn't sure. " Etho? Why is it so small? What are you doing?"

Etho’s brows lifted slightly, alarm flickering across his face. “What do you think it is?”

Bdubs’ gaze darted between the box and Etho’s face again. Surely it was too early to even think about. He hadn't even considered that Etho might be so traditional. He stopped looking back and forth and blushed severely as he met Etho's eyes.  “I don’t know! It’s a small box! We're in a beautiful location! And you're giving it to me after a Big Emotional Conversation!" 

Etho made a strangled sound. “It’s not-! No! Not that!”

Etho's entire face turned a bright crimson red. He shoved the box into Bdubs’ hands. “Just open it, you drama queen!”

“Oh-ho, drama queen, am I?” Bdubs grinned, delighted now, all nerves swept aside by Etho’s fluster.“

Etho groaned, "Please just open it."

Bdubs let out a short laugh, then gently tugged the red string free and opened the little wool-wrapped box.

Inside was a clock. Not the standard craftable clock that anyone could make with the right materials and a crafting bench. It was a special, lovingly made time piece, polished and etched with sun and moon designs and inlaid with small stones that shimmered when they caught the lantern light. It was the smallest most beautiful time piece Bdubs had ever seen.

Bdubs went very still.

“I…” Etho started, then paused, “It’s just... I know you check your time a lot, and… I guess I wanted you to know that I understand, y’know? I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about it. I’m not great at this, but I… I wanted to say I'm sorry.” He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “I said all that already, didn’t I.”

Bdubs looked up, eyes bright and warm. "Yeah,” he said quietly, “you did.” He surged forward and kissed Etho, glad that he didn't have to worry about the mask getting in their way. It was warm and soft and just a little crooked from how hard Bdubs was grinning, and Etho made a pleased, surprised noise as he kissed him back. The little clock stayed clutched in Bdubs’ fingers, ticking steadily between them.

***

Bdubs turned the clock over in his hands, fingers brushing the smooth edges like it was something precious. Because it was. Not this clock, maybe, this one was from Scar. But still, something about the weight of it in his palm pulled him under towards the memory like a hook pulling at a fish. He stared at the golden face, watching the hand tick forward.

He was known for clocks, now. Somewhere along the way, that had just... happened. People joked about it. “Bdubs Time” and ”time to shreep.” He was practically a walking sundial. He’d leaned into it. Started handing out clocks like candy to anyone who asked the time. It was a gimmick. A bit.

But it started with one.

That clock. His clock. The one Etho had given him all those years ago, becoming a representation of the precious time that they spent together.

He’d kept it in his inventory for ages. Never leaving home without it. Then Etho joined Hermitcraft and became his mate. He didn’t need to the carry the clock any more, because he had Etho with him now, always.

He still treasured it, but he decided that it was better to keep it somewhere safe and tucked away. Still, every clock since had reminded him. Every time someone joked about Bdubs and clocks and time and shreep. It reminded him of that night and his gift. His alpha. His love.

“Diamonds!” Scar’s triumphant shout echoed through the cave.

Bdubs startled, blinking hard as he came back to the present. “DIAMONDS?!” Bdubs whooped, spinning on his heels and sprinting toward the noise of the excited group. “Scar found diamonds! Cleo! Impulse! We can make a jukebox now!”

The cave echoed with laughter and cheers as he dashed around the bend, all warmth and excitement, a golden timepiece tucked safely in his inventory. Right where it belonged.

Chapter Text

It had been a few years since Bigb had played on a survival server. It wasn't a stretch to say that he felt out of his element. 

Back on his home server, everything was well established. It was one of the larger and older servers open to the general public. Large cities, multiple admins, and no mobs to worry about. Armor was a choice instead of a necessity and crafting was a novelty since you could get almost anything through purchase or trade. It was comfortable and safe. And he was realizing it had made him soft. 

Now he was deep underground, strip mining for resources and hoping he didn't run into anything he had to fight. He missed his safe little apartment decorated with potted plants and his freezer filled with frozen pizzas. 

Bigb looked behind him at the tunnel he'd carved out, lit only by his own scattered torches, instead of the street lanterns he was used to seeing. The quiet was also an unnerving thing for someone who had grown so used to city life and the hum of traffic, both vehicles and pedestrians. Every unexpected sound had him on edge, sometimes even the sound of his own pickaxe. 

He tried to let his thoughts wander away and turn into a form of escape. They kept going back to the last thing he wanted to think about. The events he'd been trying to forget.

EVO. 

He thought he had finished revisiting those memories. Remembering the events that happened during his last month on the Evolution server, between when Grian had disappeared and their eventual escape with the aid of Martyn's listeners, was stressful. 

When it had first begun, Grian’s server was nothing more than a fun experiment. A creative challenge and a fun trip through Minecraft history. No one had anticipated the watchers. They just were a group of powerful made-up pranksters, until they all realized they were real and not just a figment of Grian's imagination. They had lost Grian in The End when they went to fight the Enderdragon and then Martyn and Netty had disappeared after their escape. 

That had been three years ago and Bigb considered himself to be a pretty nonchalant guy. He hadn't really wanted to dwell on one of the most stressful moments of his life, so he'd left it all behind. He had settled somewhere safe and routine and left the others to find their own places. Hoping that Martyn and Netty would someday be found, but knowing there was little he could do to help.

He wasn't looking for trouble or adventure anymore. He'd left that all behind. So how did he end up in a world that screamed danger next to a friend that he'd tried not to think about for years? 

He had looked at Martyn's still, yet breathing form for what felt like ages, before finding the strength of will to move towards him. Trying to rouse Martyn and finding him unresponsive had been even more startling. Then he had pulled him up and tried to gently shake him awake only for Martyn to nearly attack him. 

He'd wanted to ask Martyn so many questions; what happened to you? Where have you been? Are you okay? 

But when he looked into Martyn's eyes and found something deep and haunting buried beneath his outward calm, he'd swallowed all of them. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know, so he'd fallen into a nonchalant casual conversation.

More surprising, even Grian hadn't asked Martyn any questions. He wondered if they had made the right decision. Perhaps they had both made the wrong one.  Maybe there was no way to know. 

Those unanswered questions seeped back into his thoughts now. Filling him with a cold dread that made him want to crawl out of his skin. Something had happened to Martyn. His friend wasn't dead, but he was different and he had a feeling that whatever had taken him, wasn’t done with them yet. Maybe it was the watchers. Maybe they were here! What if ....? 

He sighed and set his pick down. Reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He was down here to find diamonds. He just needed to refocus and keep mining for diamonds....

A low wet gurgling moan broke through his attempt to ground himself. He froze and listened. The Groan echoed off the stone somewhere in the dark behind him. It had to be a zombie, but it sounded wrong. Slowly, he wandered back through the tunnel toward the sound. There was a lower cave he had passed and while he hadn't seen a way for any mobs to climb up and get to him, the unnatural sounding zombie made him want to double check. 

He peered down into the darkness, lit only by a stray lava pool, searching for the mob making that unholy sound. He reached to switch his pickaxe out for his sword and allowed his eyes to follow the sound that came again. 

But there was no zombie, just Martyn, standing in the shadows behind a pillar of stone with both hands cupped around his mouth hiding a smug expression.

“Oh my gosh,” Bigb exhaled, planting a hand on his chest. “You! dude! You got me!”

Martyn’s laugh bounced around the cavern and Bigb rolled his eyes, “You’ve got too much time on your hands.”

“Oh, way too much, ” Martyn said, strolling over in his easy bouncing gait.  "I’ve been messing with my comm. I could totally mod it to do proper sound effects and jump scare people.”

Bigb smiled knowingly. “Please don’t.”

“Oh come on, imagine it...” Martyn grinned, already pretending to press a button. "Sssssssss and Boom! You’d be halfway to spawn if I pulled that one out on you."

“No, please don't.” Bigb said again, though he too was still smiling. “Okay, it’s a little funny. But seriously, your comm can do that?”

“Yeah,” Martyn shrugged, “Had it rigged for sound bites ages ago. Now maybe I can use it to play some pranks and ease some of the tension around here." He started messing with his unit. 

“Huh,” Bigb said, frowning at the mention of tension. “Hey… Martyn?” His fellow beta looked up from his comm unit. "You doing, okay?” Bigb asked. “You were out for a long time when I found you, and when I said it’d been years since we last saw each other, you… I dunno. You looked weirded out by that. You sure you’re alright?”

Martyn hesitated for a beat too long. Then he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

Bigb nodded along with him and decided he still didn't want to know.

***

Scott shifted the coal in the furnace with a practiced hand, then leaned back as it lit up to avoid singeing any of his beautiful blue hair. He set the first of his and Jimmy's Iron ingots in to the top part to begin melting them into bars. With two furnaces going their makeshift hideaway was going to get quite toasty. The nice heat would hopefully make it feel a little bit more homey.

For being tossed unceremoniously into a new world just twenty-four hours ago, they were actually doing pretty well. Better than most, if Scott had to take a guess. Scott wasn't too worried, at least not for himself. He casually glanced at the opposite wall of the cavern to where Jimmy was crouched, organizing his items into chests. Scott was maybe a bit more worried about him.

Jimmy had been jumpier than usual since Scott had found him. Flinching at every sound, checking the exits of their cavern. His wings twitched and fluffed up any time something spooked him, and his lighthearted joking nature was more reserved and seemed to come out as more of way to distract himself. It was really starting to bother Scott.

Scott looked up to see that Jimmy was now sprinting over in his direction. “Scott!” Jimmy grinned as he stopped and hovered over him, his hands were cupped around something as if it were fragile. “Look what I found.”

Jimmy opened his hands and revealed a single, bright-red poppy. “I have confessed my love.” Jimmy declared dramatically, cheeks tinging pink.

Scott raised both brows, and then broke into a grin. “Aw, we’re married now.”

Jimmy made a strangled noise and nearly dropped the poppy. “I- I- meant for poppies!”

“No,” Scott said smugly, standing and accepting the flower, “For me.”

Jimmy fumbled to press the flower into Scott's open hand and mumbled under his breath about how it was just a flower. Scott smiled softly at his flustered boyfriend and  tucked the poppy carefully behind his ear like a crown jewel.

“I’ll treasure it forever,” Scott told him, which caused Jimmy to blush harder, but there was a twitch of a smile on his lips too. They both let the warmth of the moment linger between them in the torchlit little cave.

Then something clicked in the back of Scott's mind. An intrusive throught that ruined the moment completely. He straightened and pulled away with a sudden seriousness. “Y'know, we should explore more. See what’s out there. Try to find others.”

Jimmy’s easy and embarrassed demeanor faded into something more guarded. “others?”

“I mean, it shouldn't be that hard to find someone. We might even be able to find Joel. We should be looking for him.”

Jimmy hesitated. “I… guess.” He glanced toward the cave exit, and his fingers tugged nervously at the edge of his tight super suit collar. “Do we have to, right now?”

“C’mon,” Scott said gently, “we’ll stick together. Just a look around.”

“Alright.” Jimmy nodded after a beat and turned to start packing up his things.

Scott watched him cross the room, his smile fading. His thoughts turned inward again, as he too started to gather what he needed into his inventory.

Scott had always been open with his words. Language came easily to him. Sweet things, teasing things, the occasional “I love you” tossed into a conversation with close friends. It was just how he was. But Jimmy wasn't like that. He was a little more guarded with his heart and definitely more shy when it came to open affection. That’s why Jimmy had backpedaled. Right? Because he hadn't really meant tell Scott that he loved him, those hadn’t even been the exact words. They must have just slipped out that way by accident. An unintentional confession.

Scott’s brows furrowed further and his heart felt full off concern and worry. He’d never dated an omega for this long before. He’d heard they could get clingier when they were stressed and attached themselves to someone that made them feel safe. Was Jimmy doing that now? They were stuck somewhere with no explanation. This was stressful.

Scott shook the thought off. Jimmy would sort through his feelings in his own time. Wherever they were, they'd be located and rescued before too long. Surely their pack was looking for them. And after that, Scott would let their relationship unfold naturally. He really liked Jimmy and he wasn't going let the man's instincts push him into something that his heart and mind weren't ready for. 

“Hey,” Jimmy called, stepping back toward him, clearly ready to go. “You coming?”

Scott quickly finished putting everything into his inventory and put on a smile as he joined him. "Yep, all set."

***

Skizz usually didn't mind having a quiet moment to himself. Getting to enjoy a quiet evening in nature was sometimes just what he needed, but after being alone for two days he was running out of personal pep talks to keep himself motivated. His stomach growled again. He was also hungry. The sweet berries he'd eaten earlier in the day hadn't helped much and he really wanted some food. On top of that night was falling and if he wasn't careful, He would end up being something else's food. A very unappealing thought.

With a sigh, Skizz kept walking and looked for a place to dig a hole. That's when he saw the orange flickering glow ahead of what must have been a campfire. He stopped for a moment and just stared at it, but then, realizing that there must be someone up on the hill where the light originated, he picked up his pace and headed towards it.

He only paused a moment more after that, realizing that he didn't know who it was and that it might be someone who didn't want company or who was dangerous.  He squared his shoulders. “C’mon, Skizz. You’re not gonna last another night by yourself,” he muttered. “Man up and say hi.”

He crept closer, cautiously at first, then a little faster as the hunger and brisk night air caught up to his feet. The fire came into clearer view, and then he saw them.

A figure sitting alone on a log. Shoulders hunched and head down, they were staring at the fire through dark sunglasses that caught the light and reflected it back. Their mane of brown hair caught the firelight too, and would have made it look almost red, but for the true red of their shirt.

Skizz took a deep breath and gently called out, “Hey. You okay there?”

The man's head snapped up and a low, warning growl rumbled from deep in his chest. Skizz stopped mid-step and was prepared to back away, but then the growl cut off. The man looked at him, surprised, maybe a little embarrassed, and carded a hand through his hair, in a motion that would have put it behind an ear if those weren't perched higher on his head.

“Sorry,” the man, an Alpha Skizz guessed, said. “Didn’t mean to scare you. You… you can come closer. It’s alright, dude.”

Skizz hesitated, but then shrugged and stepped into the firelight. “Thanks. Didn’t mean to startle you either. Just saw the fire and was hoping to find a friendly face.”

"Friendly face found. Name’s Ren.”

“Skizz.”

They nodded at each other. Skizz eased down onto a nearby stone, letting the fire’s warmth hit his bare arms. He glanced at Ren, then tilted his head, squinting ever so slightly.

“You okay?” he asked, trying to speak softly. “You're really tense…” He trailed off, stating the obvious was unnecessary. His Beta senses weren’t the sharpest, but even he could catch the edges of something on the air that told him this man was extremely upset or depressed.

Ren didn’t answer right away. He continued to gaze at the fire peering down over his shades and Skizz could see the light catching in the sad, tired eyes underneath. "I'm fine," he said at last. As smooth as the reply was, Skizz didn't believe him.

Ren moved forward, towards the fire and using a sturdy stick pulled a piece of cooked meat out of it. Skizz's stomach rumbled and Ren quickly passed the food over to him. "Here. I think you need it more than I do."

“Seriously? That’s... thank you.” He dug in quickly, not caring that it was still hot enough to almost burn him. He was so hungry. After a few bites he started to rummage through his inventory. "Is there something I could give you in return? You need anything? I have a lot of stone, wood, a bit of leather...."

No, no.... Wait. You got leather? I have an idea, and I might need some."

“Here, take it. I don't really need it, so if you could use it, then by all means."

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. Skizz leaned back and looked at the stars above their heads, before deciding to break it with the only subject he could think of. “So… you been here long?”

Ren shook his head. “Only a couple of days.”

“Yeah… same.” Skizz frowned, "I’ve been wandering around the whole time, but you’re the only person I've run into. Do you know anything about where we are?"

“Nope,” Ren said, poking the fire with a stick. “Just woke up in the middle of nowhere.”

Skizz chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, debating on whether or not he should ask again, “You sure you’re okay buddeh?”

Ren’s fingers tightened around the stick, “I said I’m fine.”

“You say that,” Skizz said gently, “but even a beta like me can tell something's off. I think I can even catch a bit of your scent.”

That got a more severe reaction. Ren stiffened, and he looked up at Skizz like someone who had been caught saying their thoughts out loud. A strange uneasy panicked look. 

Skizz spoke even softer, “Hey. I know you don't know me, but do you want a hug? No pressure or anything, but everyone says I give the best ones.”

Ren shook his head, his face twisted into sadness and tears began to slowly trail their way down his cheeks.  He let out a low shakey breath and then clenched his jaw tightly. 

"Hey, man," Skizz said, "It’s okay. You don’t have to keep it all inside. Maybe you should talk about it?"

“Oh, gods… I’ve been suppressing.”

Skizz's brows knit with concern. “Suppressing?”

Ren continued to stare at the fire, watching it burn.

“It’s Doc,” he said quietly. “My mate. I've been separated from him. I don't know where he is or if he's okay. I want to go find him, but I can't. He’s on a different server and we can't seem to leave. There's nothing I can do except try to keep myself from losing control of my instincts. But I'm not controlling them, I'm suppressing them. Void, I don't know why I'm telling you this. I just don't want to hurt anyone. I've already scared people." Ren clamped his mouth shut and shook his head.

Skizz continued to keep his voice and  expression calm. "For someone separated from their mate, you’re doing really well. Seriously. And you’re not scary. Okay, so you growled at me earlier, but you haven't hurt me. It's okay to let yourself feel your instincts, you just need to find a different outlet for them since.... it's Doc, right? Since Doc isn't here."

Ren nodded slightly and Skizz smiled. “You want that hug now?”

Ren gave another slow nod and Skizz got up and went around the fire. He sat down and wrapped strong arms around Ren. Skizz felt the alpha hug him back firmly and then for a brief moment the other man rested all his weight on him. He waited for Ren to relax his hold before pulling away.

Ren's eyes were clearer now. "Your friends are right,” Ren told him. “That was a good hug.” he paused and then opened his mouth again, "Would you like to stay here for the night? I could use the company."

"Would I?" Skizz asked, thrilled at the offer, "I don't think I even have it in me to head out tonight."

It was nice not being alone.

***

Martyn squinted as he stepped out into the sunlight, raising a hand to block it. He and Bigb had been underground for a while, and this was their first time coming back to the village in at least a day. It didn't take long to notice that the quiet village had changed.

“Do you hear sheep?" Bigb asked, coming up behind him.

Martyn scanned his surroundings and saw the sheep gathered together by a fence. "Huh. Yeah, someone's been busy." Martyn moved cautiously, if someone had come along and claimed this area, they might not be happy discovering strangers wandering about.

“I’ll get a better look,” Bigb said, heading for a nearby tall hill that would give him a good vantage point. 

“Right.” Martyn nodded and peeled off in the opposite direction, keeping to the edges of the buildings, while he looked for the people that had set up here. 

It didn’t take long to find them. The bright yellow fire-like hair of the first person he saw was very easy to spot. He also wore a lot of red. The second person wore more neutral colors with a black mask over the lower half of his face, but his hair was an equally shocking white.

Martyn moved closer, to see if he could hear what they were talking about. Something about the sheep....

His shoe caught on a loose stone and scraped  audibly against the side of the building  when he was thrown off balance. The two men went quiet, and Martyn saw the start of their heads snapping in his direction as he pulled back.

He knew he had been seen, so by the time they turned the corner Martyn was standing with his arms raised in a non-threatening stance. "Woah, hey! Not looking for a fight,” Martyn said quickly, "I didn’t know anyone else was around." The white haired man's eyes narrowed. He seemed to be wound tight. “I’m Martyn. Me and my friend, Bigb, woke up here in this village. We’ve been underground for a bit and didn’t realize anyone else had moved in topside.” He gestured toward the hill behind them and right on cue, Bigb waved.

The blond's face registered his recognition of the far away figure, “Bigb… oh.... Oh! Yeah, we've met.” he turned to his companion. "They're Grian’s friends.”

Martyn let out a slow breath as some of the tension visibly drained from the masked man's shoulders. Martyn took it as permission to let his hands fall. The three of them stood there for a moment  surrounded by the sounds of sheep bleating nearby.

“It’s good to see more people,” Martyn said with a wry smile. “I was starting to wonder where everyone was hiding.

The blond raised an eyebrow, Martyn noted the deep red of his eyes, "You're the ones who were underground. I'm Tango and this is Etho."

The conversation turned to that of gathering information to see if any of them knew more about their situation than the other. Martyn watched as Bigb started to make his way down the hill to head their way.

And that’s when inspiration struck.

Martyn's fingers brushed the side of his comm, feeling the button that he'd programmed earlier. He hadn’t had a chance to use it yet and this moment seemed perfect. He suppressed a grin. He pressed the button.

A loud, unmistakable Ssssssssss filled the air.

“Behind you!” Martyn shouted, eyes wide in mock panic.

The reaction was instant. Both Tango and Etho spun around, shouts caught in their throats as they dove back and away. Only there was nothing there. No creeper to cut down. No explosion to dodge.

Martyn wheezed with laughter, trying not to double over.

Etho was suddenly in front of him. His laughter died almost instantly.

"Wait, hey-” Martyn began.

Without a word Etho slammed Martyn backward and his spine collided with the wall of the cobblestone house. He didn't have time to register the pain of the impact. Etho’s hands were on his throat, tight and shaking, pressing until Martyn couldn’t breathe.

“Etho!” Tango’s voice snapped like a whip. “ETHO, STOP!”

Martyn struggled, his vision tunneling. He clawed at Etho’s wrists, trying to pry them off. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t see straight. All he could hear was Tango yelling in a voice that was sharp, angry, and desperate.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone.

Martyn collapsed to his knees, coughing and gasping as the air rushed back into his lungs. He glanced up at Etho, who had stumbled backward. The man's hands shook as he looked at them and not at Martyn.

Tango stepped between them, moving to push Etho further away, grabbing him carefully by the shoulders. “Hey. Hey, man. You okay? Look at me, Etho. Come on. It’s okay.”

Martyn's focus pulled inward and away from  Tango's efforts to calm Etho. He was too busy dragging breath after shaky breath into his lungs, willing the stars in his vision to fade. Slowly he pushed himself backward so that he was leaning against the cool cobblestone, a contrast to his now sweat-damp skin. His throat ached and his ears rang.

Over that ringing, he barely caught Etho's first venom-laced word.

“Jerk.”

Martyn wince, because… yeah. Fair enough.

Tango crouched down at his side a moment later, frowning. "You okay?”

Martyn coughed and gave a thumbs-up. “Yeah, yeah. Might have a wicked bruise, though.”

Tango sighed,“I’m really sorry about that. Etho’s not usually like this. He’s been... on edge.”

“Yeah, I picked that up.”

"We're looking for his Mate, Bdubs." Tango's voice was sad. "Something about this server is messing with his ability to locate him through their bond. You probably shouldn't have tried to prank us, but that reaction....”

Martyn felt a little bad. “Oh. That… yeah. That makes sense. I didn’t realize. I just thought... well, never mind what I thought.” He sat up straighter and waved a hand dismissively. “You can tell him I’m sorry, yeah? I’ll try to read the room better next time.”

Tango looked at him aghast, “Next time?”

Martyn shrugged and let out a hoarse chuckle, “What? I’m not giving up my prank career over one bad call.”

Tango groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“At least I’ll go out with style.”

Tango gave him a look that showed he was not amused. 

When Bigb reached the group, the four of them split into their respective twosomes. Martyn retreated back underground with his companion. He could tell he wasn’t particularly welcome in the village right now. The sun was setting and the bleating of the sheep was softening. No sense in letting real hostile mobs catch them unaware.