Chapter Text
He was caught off guard and got overconfident. Sloppy, even. Not expecting the attack. Not from Lux, not from a friend.
Sure, she’d warned him. But only about a minute before the attack began. Unprepared and reeling from the betrayal, he’d gone down quickly. The softly glowing light of the cracked Lesser Divinity in Nox’ hand as he stood wrapped head to toe in golden chains, unable to even struggle , was the last thing he thought he’d ever see.
He was speaking, but he couldn’t tell what he was saying. Probably begging, pleading, maybe even a spiteful remark or two. It didn’t matter. He knew, deep down in a place he almost wants to call his soul, that Nox would kill him. No take backs, no second chances. This was it.
He waited, mind racing, yelling something out as the broken Lesser Divinity came swinging towards his face.
Maybe death would be peaceful, he thought. A place to heal and rest, away from all the drama and fights. What his self-proclaimed exile was supposed to be.
Perhaps it would be pain. Punishment for all the wrongs he’d done, a cruel existence, without a light at the end of the tunnel to hope for.
There might be nothing at all. Non-existence or something similar, maybe he wouldn’t even notice, he’d just be gone.
Or , he thought with a stunning jolt of clarity as the Lesser Divinity slammed into his face with a wet crunch, he wouldn’t die at all. His head spun a thousand different ways as he felt himself be catapulted through the air, moving so fast his eyes shut on instinct.
When he tried to open them, he found a nauseating mess of blurred colors as he was hurled through the sky at speeds he could barely comprehend. The wind bit against his skin, cold and sharp, and he couldn’t help but think-
PAIN
Stabbing, shrieking , agonizing pain . He let out a scream, still hurdling above the clouds, yet now feeling like his nerves were on fire. He writhed mid-air, curling up as though trying to shield himself from the electrifying torturous feeling ripping its way through his body. Hitting the ground with a harsh bang, he landed rolling, tumbling across the sparse grass.
Breathing was agony , moving was worse, but he was alive. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to stand up. He slipped. More than once. But he was alive . He’d live.
(He had to)
As he finally got to his feet, valiantly trying to avoid the pain coursing through his body, he realized he was hungry, ravenous . He felt starved, like he hadn't eaten in days. Flicking through his inventory, he pulled out some fried rice. Scarfing it down like a starved dog hadn’t felt right, like he should be getting full. Yet bowl after bowl felt like it was going to an empty void. After not long at all, he was out of food. He tried putting down his ender chest, but it wouldn’t place.
Slowly, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead, he flicked his wrist around to check his co-ords.
“-7777840.941 66.0 7777880.940”
A beat of silence. Two.
Almost eight million blocks away. Eight. Million . He was- he was outside the border, wasn’t he? That was why everything was lit up with agony. The code outside the border wasn’t built for passive mobs or players, in fact, it was actively corrosive. But that doesn't explain why he wasn’t dead.
He looked up at the sky, sliding through his hotbar and looking down at his hand and the trident clutched in it.
“What if I...” He muttered, rearing back his arm and flinging it upwards, nearly blacking out from the shock of pain it sent flooding through his system, launching himself with it. Crashing down to the ground with a harsh thud, he cackled, wheezing when the pain hit from moving. “I can’t die out here. Okay, that makes things a lot easier.”
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Eventually the pain faded into dull background noise. Sure, it was there, but he’d long gotten used to the (stinging, stabbing, squeezing) pain. It was becoming an afterthought, really. From then he just had a long, long trek ahead of him. He was glad he didn’t have to worry about overusing his trident, it made travel a lot easier. Especially since he still hadn’t even gone half a million blocks yet. It was a shame that passive mobs don’t spawn out here though, his hunger was really getting to him. (His stomach clenched at the thought of food).
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“It’s been...oh, I Dunno, two weeks maybe?” Rat hummed to himself, walking, his long blue hair swaying behind him. His pigtails had long fallen out and he hadn't bothered to put them back up. He was taking a break from using his trident, after throwing up from the constant use for a fifth time that day. “Getting pretty bored, not gonna lie.”
He swung his arms back and forth, the sting that it caused barely even registering. “I passed a village a little while ago. It was abandoned, obviously, but it was still pretty cool. Something to break up the monotony of it all.” Rat continued humming, a random tune on repeat, over and over and over again.
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“Whoa! That looks cool, holy heck!” Bouncing towards the huge towering temple, rat chirped out, a slightly manic look in his eyes. “Can I explore this? Is there an opening?” His hands were twitching, spasming randomly as he went around the base of the temple, looking for an entrance. A swirling gong noise rung out from the temple as he neared the top, and particle effects swirled around him.
“Yeah, yeah. Give me mining fatigue. Because I can totally break blocks anyways.” He giggled, reaching the top, peering down into the open pyramid. “Oooh!” Rat gasped, spinning around, his maid dress swishing around his legs, the ends tattered and torn. “This is so cool! Okay! This is the only form of entertainment I’ve had in the last, like, hundred thousand blocks.” He skipped over to the far wall to stare at the intricate carvings along the walls, the abandoned desert temple was much larger than any other he’d seen. It made him wonder how it got here, did the border used to be larger? Did it exist at all?
Rat wandered around for a few more minutes before heading out and continuing on, towards the border.
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His stomach ached . It burned; it clawed . It felt like it was burning him alive . He clutched at his belly fruitlessly, scratching at his dress until blood beaded at his fingertips. He stared at the bright, almost folly red on his hand. His blood.
...Hadn’t he read somewhere that Players were edible? It was from an old book he’d found while learning more about code to work better as an Admin. Old, horrific hardcore servers with cruel, sadistic Admins; where the Players tore through all the resources and ran out of food. (A drop of blood fell from his hand; his eyes tracked the movement all the way to the dirt.) The Players ended up eating each other, cannibalizing other Players just to survive.
He swallowed, throat dry, staring at his hand dripping with folly red ichor.
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Rat tripped, stumbling to the ground, giggling the whole way. His eyes were hazy and unfocused, gazing off into nothing. “This’ll make a fun video, huh?” He slurred, his head spinning. His arms looked shredded, scratched raw and bloody, dripping to the ground, hands spasming every so often.
“...Wonder if this is really what’s entertaining to you.” He said, already out cold by the time he finished speaking. The soft glow of the screen watching him seems to laugh at you.
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A splash and a gasp rang out as Rat swam through the ocean. “A coral reef! I can finally get sea urchins!” He swam closer to one, reaching out to pick it up. His hand spasmed as his face twitched when he tried to grab it, the manic look on his face growing harsher. “I can’t get sea urchins! I can’t get any of these!” He let out a short shriek, yanking hard on his hair.
His grip loosened on his hair suddenly and he kept swimming, calm as you please. “This is like tempting a kid at a candy store.” He pouted, getting nearer to shore. “Telling them that no we won't be getting you anything, but you can have a look around if you want.” He went on, trailing off as his feet hit land again.
“Yo! Another aban- abandoned village!” He stumbled over the word, nearly tripping over his own feet. “Ah- Wait, why is there smoke everywhere?” True to his word, the whole village was filled with an eerie blue smoke, seeming to originate from under the ground.
A low groan rang out from nearby, and when Rat turned around, he saw a pair of zombies burning in the early morning sun. He skipped toward them, grinning “Hello, please kill me.” The zombies lunged at him, but their claws seemed to slip right off and their teeth couldn't find purchase.
“No, you can’t do anything?” The undead gave no reply, simply continuing their futile efforts on his life. “Yeah, no, I’ve tried guys. It won’t work.” Rat said, ignoring the burning monsters in front of him.
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Every inch of you screams in exhaustion, you cannot rest.
You blink.
Your stomach has long given up hoping for food, yet still it screams its anger at you. Stabbing its hatred into your bones and your flesh.
You breathe.
Your legs prick with a hundred thousand needles. Your arms spasm randomly with shocks of pain. Your Vision swims, you cannot see straight. You can barely see at all.
You keep moving.
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At first, he thinks it’s a hallucination, an illusion. But he turns, launches his trident (ignores the lurch of his bones, the ache, the nausea. Has anyone ever looked into what long term constant trident use does to someone?)
The Border.
Finally, the border!
“YES! Yes , gods, please...” Rat gasped out, hope blooming in his chest. “Finally, finally!” He cheered out, his body falling limp in the sand.
And then he thought about it.
“Okay, okay. As- as soon as I pass through, I die.” Fear struck him. Did he even remember what a respawn felt like? It’d been, what? Months? Since he’d even been inside the border, let alone respawned . What if he didn’t respawn, what if the effects of the Lesser Divinity would kill him permanently as soon as he died again. What if-
A flash of bright color slid by in his peripheral vision, tropical fish. He gripped his trident tightly in his hand, eyes dilating. His brain screaming. Food. Food.
He lunged, throwing his trident and catching it with a fish speared on it, his mouth watered. Throwing it again, catching another one, and then a third. He crawled back up on the sand, sitting right next to the border, his prizes clutched tightly in his grasp. It didn't matter that they were raw, or that before he’d never even think of sparing them a second glance. The only thing running through his brain was the all-consuming hunger.
His teeth sank into the first one, slimy and wet, as it thrashed between his teeth. Chewing it as quickly as possible, he thought it was the best thing he’d ever tasted. Taking another bite, he tore into it in large messy bites, eating the small fish as quickly as possible. The fragile bones crunched easily under his teeth; all rationality lost, a ravenous beast in its wake. Another crunch, he’d started with the head on the second one. Tearing it off with a flick of his head that sent long, dirty blue hair flying into his face. The second was gone quicker than the first.
The thing in his skin that only hungered reached for the third when his stomach lurched, hunching over, he heaved. Acid and spit spilled from between his lips, half chewed raw fish chunks floating in the mess. His throat burned as he heaved, his eyes watered, his hands spasmed.
He coughed, taking large gulps of air as he sat crouched over, sweat sticking his hair to his forehead. Rat stared at the mess in front of him blankly, sitting up. He almost stood up to try and cross over when his stomach stabbed at him again. Curling over with a small whine, he clutched at his stomach.
...There was still that last fish left.
He reached across the sand to grab it, trying to eat slower and chew the bites, staring at the plains biome right behind the border. He glanced back at the pile of sick, almost contemplating it for a moment before harshly shaking his head sending a sharp bolt of pain through his head. He shakily stood up, taking a tumbling step forward.
Rat stepped across the border.