Archive of Our Own

After traveling quite the distance from the shore, they dug into the nearest hill to make a temporary hide out. A place where they could fix themselves up and restock.

Finally, a moment to breathe after everything that's happened. They set up some water in the corner, echests, a mess of shulkers and a bunch of other stuff.

Average pvp-er base of operation, really. You could call it a base of desperation too, I suppose.

Quickly they set up some potions to brew, just the regular kind, mostly strength. Currently they didn't have much they could brew— they were a little bit broke. While setting up a batch of strength Flame made a mental note to go to merchant city later.

Neither of them had anything to make regen or healing, but it didn't matter, they didn't use those often anyway. They can deal with their wounds without those.

And deal with their wounds they did

Both of them were minding their own buisness, patching their own wounds. When Wemmbu turned to their companion— quick check in, just in case, when they spotted giants scars spread across his back. One of the wardens must've scratched him, three parallel, jagged lines stretching almost all the way from his shoulder to his waist.

Did this idiot really not notice?? Or is he just getting to it?? Eitherway, they decided to mention those, they for sure would need to help with them.

"Hey dude" They called out, one of Flame's ears turning to them, listening while he wrapped up his arm "Your backs pretty fucked up. Need help with that?"

He paused tending to the other wound, to reach behind himself and run his hand across his back. Seemed like something he regretted instantly, wincing as he dragged his fingers across the bloody scar.

"It's whatever, I can take care of it myself." Flame scoffed

Wemmbu raised an eyebrow, looking at the scars and then back at him "I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you"

"Well, you're not me." Still, he was playing the stubborn route.

Hes a capable person, he doesn't need people to care for him or pity him. He's not a child anymore, besides, even when he was he could take care of himself.

The invisible player was once again being ridiculous. And he hated how stubborn they were about this, because they shouldn't be so adamant about helping him.

They sighed "Just stay still and let me do this"

"I dont need‐"

His protest were cut short, as the invisible player waved him off "Yeah, yeah I know you don't. We've been here before, haven't we?"

Flames shoulders tensed, it didn't matter that they've done this before, it still felt the same. He didn't want help, he didn't need it. It wasn't like he hasn't dealt with worse on his own.

He took a deep breath. Theres more important things he could use his time for than arguing

"..Fine, whatever." Giving in once again, his response barely audible

Wemmbu went on to wash their hands off of their own blood before stepping behind their ally, hot cloth already in hand.

The wound looked bad, like bad-bad. Their choice to ignore their wounds until they get out of those ruins was a terrible idea.

It didn't look infected, not yet, but it might be. In this moment they almost started praying to the Void that it isn't.

Being caked with blood, grime, scraps of fabric and sculk was definitely not good for the probability it won't get infected. Exactly what they needed right now! Sitting at a random hole in the wall, unable to make any progress, one of them sick and the other not knowing how to take care of someone sick.

Great. Amazing, even.

"Flame this looks shit. I'm gonna be so honest with you, it might be infected." The other halted their current task of tending to their other arm "Not showing any signs of actually being infected, but it's not showing any good signs either."

They sighed "Fuck bro, thats just my luck isnt it. It's whatever, it'll be fine" As always, fate always wished the worst for him.

"You sure? Maybe we should‐"

"Yes I'm sure. Just- do your job, bro. If you're just gonna stand here worrying it will get infected" He snarled. He didnt want them to do this at all, the least they could do is hurry it up.

"Fine, fine. Damn" Usually, they would've pressed further, but they didnt have the energy for that right now, so they let it go.

Wemmbu carefully cleaned the claw marks, making sure not to disturb them too much, and to get rid of everything that could make it worse. The cuts went deeper than they initially thought, though they were unsure whether to stitch them or wait to see if they actually are infected. It would be an awful mistake to stitch up an infected wound.

Flames muscles and shoulders tensed with every touch, it looked like it hurt, and if it was then Wemmbu could barely tell. He wasn't making it known, definitely on purpose. She knew him enough to know.

Her final decision was to not stitch it, just in case, if it starts leaking puss it'd be bad if it got stuck in the wound. It'd just make it ten times worse and they really could not deal with that.

After carefully wrapping the wound, without a word she stepped away and they both continued on doing their own things.

Wiping away the final droplets of blood from the floor, the pair could finally rest. Throwing out anything they didn't need anymore and any bloody rags laying around.

Deciding they've been surviving off of golden carrots and gaps for too long, Flame sets up a furnace to make them something actually nutritious. Because unlike Wemmbu, hes actually got good eating habits and didnt chow down on golden carrots like theyre his lifeline.

They didn't have much, so he wasn't going to make anything special, just some simple pork, since thats what they picked up on their way here. The invisible player sat somewhere in the background, far away but not far away enough to not be able to see over his shoulder to see what hes up to.

Eventually they got bored of being nosy and played some game on their communicator, he picked that up by hearing a very distinct intro tune, one he recognized well.

Finishing the food didnt take too long, it was just seasoning and cooking meat on a stove. He placed the cuts on some wooden plates he took out of his e-chest, handing one of them to their companion.

"Do you always carry around wooden plates with you?" Wemmbu examines the plate, turning it in all sorts of directions as if she cant believe its actually there

Flame scoffs and sits down on one of the mattreses on the ground "Not even gonna say 'thank you' for feeding you?"

"Doesnt answer my question" He takes a seat on the other one across the room, facing his ally.

"I mean- I guess? Does that matter?"

"Yes bro it does. Why do you have the strangest of habits?"

Mindlessly tapping on the side of their own plate, they took a second to reply. "Its not that weird" Maybe theyre a little embarrassed. Just maybe.

"Okay but who does that?? Can you name a single other person that does that?"

And technically, they could. But that didnt matter too much, so they just stayed silent

"Exactlyyy" Wemmbu drew out, proudly winning this exchange.

"Whatever bro just eat. Or starve if you want, I dont think I care." He grumbled, starting to cut through the meat on his plate, anything to look away from the player staring at him

"Youre saying I'm the rude one, and youre wishing death upon me" They wipe away a fake tear before putting up their visor and digging into the meal

Their comment making their companion pause and look back up at them "Wh- I literally never said that-" His attempt at a defense rudely interrupted

"Damn this is good what the hell" They exclaimed, still chewing. They didnt even bother cutting off a piece, just straight up staking the whole thing on their fork.

"Uh.. Thanks..?" He stares at the player in disbelief "Why are you like this?" He laughs at the other, though it lacks any weight behind it

"I dunno" They shrug, answering with food still in their mouth "Why are you so good at cooking?"

"I-" Again, before Flame could reply in any way, she cuts them off

"When you said you liked to do it I didn't actually expect you to be good at it" The invisible player laughed

"Bro??"

She put her hands up defensively "My bad"

"..Whatever just- shut up" Not exactly knowing what to say, Flame goes for the short simple response instead.

"Anything for you" She laughs again, and continues eating without any further comments. That reply gets her a raised eyebrow but Flame doesn't comment on it either, also finishing their meal in silence.

After the pair ate, Wemmbu insisted on taking the plates and cleaning them up, resulting in another argument. She thought about how they tend to have a lot of those. Though they stopped being actually serious, out of hatred and lacked any malice behind them.

Only because she wasn't herself. But it was still nice.

In the end Flame let it go and chucked his armor away in a corner of the stone room, flopping down on the mattress. This whole place was so empty, stone covering every wall and a single other matress across from him. Sure they had a furnace and an e-chest here somewhere, but it looked empty anyway. It felt weird having this kind of camp out base with another player.

The thought of him being able to get used to this got swept away as quickly as it came, and he chucked it up to exhaustion. Because he didn't want to live with anybody, hes had his fair share of annoying roommates.

Choosing to ignore those thoughts, Flame swiftly passed out before Wemmbu even finished cleaning up.

Walking into their shared room, she giggled at the sight of her ally sprawled out basically on the ground. A twinge of worry gnawed at the back of her head, and she hoped that her previous infection speculations wouldn't turn out to be true.

She quietly got rid of most of her armour, repotting one last time before getting on the other mattress and burrying herself under a thin blanket. They were both so incredibly exhausted after their little ancient city escapade. All her worry faded into the background as sleep overtook her.

The next morning when Flame woke up, he could barely open his eyes. His body felt like it was being crushed under a boulder, despite nothing being on top of him. He struggled to sit up, having to force his limbs to move. His arms barely holding him up.

A wonderful sign, truly. That wound of his might actually have gotten infected, and hes suffering the consequences of that. But he can't afford to be sick. Not right now.

Thinking that maybe a breath of fresh air would help him feel better, he shakily got up from the mattress on the ground. Which proved to not be the greatest idea, getting hit with nausea as soon as he straightened up. Making him have to lean on the wall for support. It felt like the world was spinning around him, every stone wall blending together into one big grey mess.

Flame sighed, he was gonna have to get over this one way or another. If his body doesn't want to cooperate hes going to force it to cooperate.

And they really needed it to cooperate. While making their way to the sealed off exit, they thought about maybe not just sitting outside and doing nothing. Really, they could try and go to merchant city or to see if some other market place is around here, like they wanted to originally. Anything to do something useful.

He slowly but surely made his way to the spot where they dug in from, digging out the sealed entryway and stepping outside.

The sunlight almost blinding him, really the worst part about mornings.

When making the choice of going out, he didn't expect to mine out and see that someone had placed a chest right infront of the exact spot he'd dig out from.

He turned back, contemplating whether he should wake up his currently sleeping companion. It was still incredibly early and he doubts that they were the one that left this here.

Ultimately deciding that he can tell them about this later, he went on to open the mysterious gift. Inside the chest was a book.

So, not a trap. Maybe not a trap, he thought to himself.

He examined the book before opening it, on the pages there were some coordinates scribbled in black ink, as if the person writing was in a hurry. Underneath them, this time in neat handwriting not matching the other one, was written—

—a corny fucking rhyme.

The words blurred together making Flame have to squint to be able to read them, and he did all of that just for a stupid little rhyme.

There was no signature, but he didn't need one to know who the book was from. Fucking Boosfer, taunting them with riddles. Talking about a "prize"

They really could not be dealing with this. What they thought would be a nice stroll outside to ease their headache, just made it ten times worse. Wonderful, truly. Fate really was on their side always.

Flame groaned before breaking the chest and dropping the book off somewhere in the corner, that can wait.

Giving up on his ruined plans, he stepped back inside. Currently the least he could do is at least try and get some energy from a meal, if he won't be doing anything else. And might as well feed the other player too, once they wake up.

He spent the next hour or so– Flame really couldn't tell how long it's been, dangerously dazed, but he presisted obviously –in silence by himself, eating the breakfasr he prepared and trying his best to stay awake once he was done. Which was quite the challenge, given how much his body was fighting him on that. But hes no quitter.

After the invisible player woke up, Flame explained to them what he found while they ate, then the two got ready to set off on yet another little adventure. Because what else were they supposed to do?

Like lambs to the slaughter, they went to the coords given to them. Whether it's actually going to be something, or just an empty wasteland to waste their time, or maybe another trap, they were going to find out. Ready for whatever awaits them.

It was quite a long way from where they were set up, but off in the distance the two actually noticed something. Starting exactly where they were headed.

From far away it didnt look too noticeable, you could almost miss it, really. But the closer they got, the more the ground began to change.

It was strange how almost perfectly vanilla everything looked, there were only such minor changes that a regular player probably would've missed it.

But they weren't any regular players, they've been here long enough to realize this wasn't naturally generated, so it must've been what they were looking for.

More-so the beginning of what they were looking for. The pair traversed the plains, the farther they went the more forested the area became.

The terrain looked off puttingly man-made, trees that didnt look quite right, unnatural ground, boulders and bushes spread throughout the forest. And there off in the distance stood a figure, a player— "Parrot?!" the pair whisper-yelled in unison

What the fuck was this guy doing here?

"Bro i should've known this was some ParrotX2 shenanigans" Sighed Wemmbu

"You know him?" Asked Flame, somehow more surprised by that, rather than the fact that he was standing there right in front of them.

"Oh uh, yeah I've run into him in the past," They reminisced about their time at the Great Sea, laughing at the coincidence "I was looking for Boosfer that time aswell"

The avian seemed to spot the two players, turning towards them. They looked at him, at each other, and back at the bird– who was now walking their direction with furrowed brows. Not a good sign, but probably not a big issue either

"Funny seeing you here, Invisible Knight. And hello Flame"

The pair exchanged confused glances

"Invisible Knight? What the hell kind of corny name is that" Wemmbu asked, perplexed about the name

"I dunno, it's what the Capital City citizens have started calling you" Definitely the Capital City citizens, and Parrot definitely didn't look embarrassed.

"That's so stupid"

The other just shrugged.

He turned to look at Flame, narrowing his eyes "This is quite the unusual pairing, huh?"

"Bro, what?" Flame raised an eyebrow at the bird

Parrot had a strange glint in his eyes, one hes never seen him have before. It made him uneasy. "Nothing just.. Never expected to see you two working together"

"What are you being weird for?"

Parrot scoffed "Can a guy not be surprised?" Before he let them answer, he added "Besides, what are you two doing here?" He asked, very visibly irritated

"Shouldnt concern you why we're here, the better question is what youre doign here" Flame crossed his arms.

The invisible player turned to look at him and giggled "Dudes probably on another treasure hunt"

"What? No- I'm not." A very obvious lie, not because Parrot couldn't lie, they just knew him too well.

"Okay buddy, sure." They laughed "We're not here to like steal your stuff or whatever"

"That's not what I'm worried about and you know that" Parrot crossed his arms and furrowed his brows.

He thought they were here to kill more people. And technically he was right, but still, rude assumption.

"Right. So have you seen Boosfer anywhere?" Deciding they dont wanna bother with Parrots bullshit, they tactically switch the topic. Absentmindedly tapping on a bottle of invis.

"No? Why the hell would Boosfer be here?" Parrot questioned, then laughed shortly after, as if realizing something— he turned to Flame and mocked "Ohh I see, did he finally get bored of you? Or did you realize that you were as wrong about him as I said you were?"

"Bro I had like- Nothing else to go off of-" Flame immediately jumped to defend himself "This is none of your buisness anyway" He scowled

"Kinda feels like it is since youre making your grief everybody's problem." The bird argued back casually, as if it meant nothing "You robbed my shop because Boosfer told you to"

"Grief?" Flame almost yelled out "He's not dead I'm not grieving him, what the hell are you on about." Grief is the furthest thing he feels right now.

"So you're just gonna gloss over the fact that you robbed me" Parrot sighed, glaring at them. "I never took you for the blindly following orders kind, you cannot be this desperate"

"Bruh-" Before Flame could say anything to that, Parrot interrupted him

"This deep in denial too, its a bad look for you" He kept boring his eyes into theirs. Flame clenched their fists, claws threatening to break skin.

This was so stupid.

"He's right you kinda are in denial" The player next to him muttered

"What the hell?? Don't agree with him"

Parrot shot Wemmbu a dirty look before turning back to Flame "Im just right, what can I say?"

"You can say nothing and shut the hell up"

"Yeah? And what are you gonna do to make me"

The hound potted up and unsheathed his sword, getting ready to lunge at the avian, before the invisible player grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Bro now whats your deal? Let me beat his ass!" He tried thrashing around to get out of their grip, the wound on his back stinging and pulsing as he disturbed it even more. Significantly lacking the strength and energy to actually get away.

"Dude we have something more important to do than fighting Parrot X2, not worth it" Maybe they stopped him because they didn't want Parrot to get hurt, or maybe they really did just want to get going. Who's to say which one of these is tru

Parrot scoffed at the pair

"Always resulting to violence, is that really all you've got?"

Before Flame could respond, the invisible player budded in "You should back off too. You are gonna get your ass beat"

Parrot opened his mouth to say something, paused and closed it again. Before sighing and muttering "Whatever bro" He turned and got ready to walk away "Ive got better things to do aswell"

"Oh so suddenly this isnt worth your time, you were talking big before. What happened?" They sneered "Scared?"

"Sorry that youre stupid and I dont wanna waste my time on pointless arguing" Parrot snapped, turning back to look at Flame "You know, I pity you sometimes. If only you realized the answer youre looking for is closer than you think" And to that Flame didn't say anything, Parrot turned on his heel and walked away to where he was previously heading.

"This weirdo bro" They muttered "Lets just find that stupid chest" The invisible players grip loosened and letting them go.

They too walked away, picking a random direction to stick to and search for whatever it is theyre searching for.

Deeper into the forest they went, not knowing whats waiting for them out there.

Somewhere, not too far out from where they started, while walking they saw a bunch of player made structures, with just empty chests inside or nothing inside of them at all.

Most of them looked ransacked, which was strange.

This whole place was offputting, everything seemed like it was untouched in months, maybe years. The forest itself seemed like it hiding something within it.

Neither of the two would share their unease.

"Boosfer definitely didn't build all of this bro theres no way" Flame looked around a completely destroyed monument

"Thats what I was thinking, but why would he make us go here?"  Questioned their ally

They thought for a second before scoffing "Hopefully not to waste our time"

"I would be so pissed bro oh my god" The player stopped their circling around some debris

"What even is this place?" Flame said, as they looked towards some burnt down houses

Wemmbu walked up to their side to look in the same direction "Wish I knew. Maybe there's actual treasure here, I mean, why else would Parrot be here"

"Yeah, maybe.." The mention of Parrot still stung. As much as they shouldnt care, just hearing his name felt weird.

The 'Invisible Knight' as he called him, went towards the house they were previously looking at. Leaving them to stand by themself. Feeling like theyre unable to follow them.

Parrots words stuck in their head. Them, grieving Wemmbu? Ridiculous. Wemmbu wasnt dead and they knew that. Their Rival wouldn't just die like that . Hes stupid, reckless, and trash but he wouldnt die.

Wemmbu had so much gear and somehow always managed to escape with his life, theres was no possible way he could die. And if he died via something stupid everyone would know, but everyone that said he died always had a different story.

And Parrot isnt stupid enough to believe that. Just the sheer thought of that made their head hurt.

Besides, they wouldnt mourn Wemmbu if he really was dead. Not to say they wanted him dead, they just. Wouldn't care if he was.

Rivals don't grieve each other. And she wouldnt grieve them either.

And Flame wouldn't mourn anybody, because they dont miss people or mourn people. There's just simply not a reason for them to do so.

And he should really focus on something else, because he's getting lightheaded and his bones feel one bad step away from snapping in half.

His companions already searching through a different house.

About time he starts moving again.

And so he goes in through a charred doorway, into some little hut in the outskirts of whatever this— village? outpost? was.

Obviously, for their amazing luck, nothing was in there. Only ash and dust, irritating his lungs and making his skin crawl. Inhaling these things was definitely not doing his health better. Nor his sanity.

Eventually they moved on further into the forest, leaving the burnt ruins behind. And the question of what that place was lingered in Flames head.

The two continued walking through the modified terrain, searching for anything resembling what they read in the book.

This whole place was just trees, trees and even more trees. Though not everything about it was all that bad. It was quiet, only the sounds of leaves rustling in the wind could be heard, and that in a way was nice.

But the lack of wildlife overshadowed that, ridding of any semblance of peace. No birds, no rustling bushes, no animal tracks. Absolutely nothing.

Flame walked alongside the invisible player, who was currently saying something to them, though they weren't really paying attention to what was said. If they recalled correctly they were having a conversation moments ago, which spiraled into the player yapping about something and them zoning out.

Which they didn't mean to do, really. It was just difficult keeping track of everything. Placing their feet correctly on the ground, keeping their posture straight, listening out for any abnormal sounds incase they get ambushed, the list goes on.

Speaking of, they weren't really listening out for anything anymore, so they tried to. Their attempt failed, because that made them stop focusing on their walking, and they tripped over their own feet.

Thankfully they made a quick recovery and didnt face plant into the wet grass, but that made their ally stop talking and turn towards them.

"Yo, you good?" They asked, concerned about their companion

"Uh- Yeah- Just.."  Flame blurted. Trying and failing to come up with an excuse to save face. Tripping over his own feet was embarrassing

"Are you sure? You seem a little.. off" Wemmbu squinted her eyes at the other. Hes definitely been acting strange that day, and shes been worried.

"What? No bro, are you serious?" In an attempt to seem inconspicuous, he went on the offensive

"Riiight.." She dragged out, doubtful of his words "Maybe we should stop for a second?"

"I- No it's fine, we need to find whatever the hell Boosfer has for us first. I just want to get this over with"

"I'm gonna be honest, that doesn't seem like a good idea." Which it didnt, they were definitely way less prepared for this than they should've been. "Actually wait-" Hit with a realization, she stopped in her tracks

Flame followed suit "Hm?"

"Have you checked your wound today?" Maybe his odd behavior was caused by the injury, but a better question was if he'd admit to it.

"Oh, yeah." He definitely did not, altough he made the connection that the wound was the cause for how he felt, he completely forgot to actually check it. Let alone change out his bandages "Sometime after waking up, its fine." It was not fine, he was so cooked

"Thats.. good." Wemmbu still felt skeptical "We should probably check again, it's been-"

Before she could finish, Flame interrupted her. He really didn't want to get sidetracked "No, we don't, lets just keep going" And kept going he did, walking ahead of his ally

"Wh- Okay?" Taken aback, it took her a second to follow him

Something was definitely up, but if he was gonna be stubborn about it then so be it. They can be stubborn too.

"We're gonna have to stop eventually, you know that, right?"

She turned to look at him

"Yeah well, eventually isn't right now."

As he continued to avoid her gaze, looking ahead of them

"I know. Just know we're gonna have to change your bandages sooner or later, an infection would slow us down"

She pressed on

"I know"

But Flame wouldnt let up

Wemmbu sighed, and decided they can annoy him about this later. Finding whatever stupid thing Boosfer left for them shouldn't be take them too long anyway. And if it does, they'll just take a rest at some point.

As easy as that. He wont be able to avoid it.

What they had to focus on right now was getting ahead through the upcoming shrubbery. As if walking through here couldnt get worse— they just had to find a wildly overgrown section

Pulling out their swords, the pair began cutting through the obstacles.

This place really must've not been visited in a crazy amount of time judging by how bad it was. And that pointed to even further evidence about the lack of animals, because if there were some walking through here it wouldve been at least a little less bad.

No light shined through the leaves and branches, so the two had to move in darkness. On their way through Flame almost clashed his sword into the invisible player on multiple occasions.

Which would be less than ideal, he really didnt want them to get even more suspicious of something being wrong. Not to say he didn't save the situation with his incredibly convincing denial— which he totally did.

The silence of the forest was defeaning. And Flame was glad he could hear the other beside him, because that was better than just hearing himself.

Always craving silence, when finally met with no sign of life, Flame for a second thought that maybe noise wasnt so bad. But then his ally started yapping again and he changed his mind rather quickly.

Making it out of the worse section of the shrubs, after an agonizing amount of time and getting hit in the face by branches, the two could sheathe their swords and continue on normally.

Walking through the trees, they suddenly heard some commotion nearby.

Exchanging glances and coming to a silent understanding, they quietly made their way over to the source of the noise.

In the distance, next to a peculiarly big tree, stood a group of people, and amidst them two players

"Are those.." Flame whispered

"Parrot and Theo? I think so" The invisible playered looked back and forth, from their partner to the birds

Flame turned to face them "Should we like, do anything about this?"

Wemmbu hummed, they weren't sure they were ready for combat. Or that their teammate would even want to help those two after their little encounter

"Do you want to?"

Flame himself wasn't sure what he wanted to do. A part of him wanted to see Parrots death message, and he wasn't in any condition to fight.

"I mean, they could be useful-"

But before he could finish his sentence, someone's axe clashed with the back of his chestplate, causing him to stumble forward.

Guess they didnt have a choice now.

The clash of the metals reverberated in his ribs, as he struggled to keep his balance. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the invisible player clashing with another bandit, which meant theres multiple.

Just in time before his opponents axe could crash down on him, he blocked it with his shield and ducked out of the way of their sword. Nausea washing over him as he tried to asses the situation.

He could hear the bandits communicating with each other, but couldnt make out what they were saying. Though it seemed like his ally did, since they ran straight towards him to pull him out of the way of something —  when a loud explosion rang out in their ears.

So the bandits are using carts. Exactly what they needed in this moment.

Flame felt like the ground underneath him disappeared, lightheaded and dazed, his ears ringing even further blurring the noises around him. Everything around him was blurred, not just the sound but also his surroundings.

The only thing he felt was an arm around his waist and a person standing behind him. He was about to start thrashing around before he realized said person was the invisible player.

Their presence somewhat grounding amongst the chaos. Cold diamond pressing up against his netherite armor thats already heating up. Was he heating up too? He couldnt exactly tell.

All je could tell is that he definitely felt warmer, probably because of the adrenaline of a fight starting without them being prepared for it.

Thinking about it, he's never noticed how much taller than him the invisible player is. And maybe, maybe he shouldn't be thinking about that right now because the two were running off towards some mysterious direction. This— whatever he had, would really be the death of him.

The two stopped, his companion pressing him closer and throwing down a couple pots before letting go and running off to fight again, leaving Flame to stand there contemplating what the fuck just happened.

He shook his head and unsheathed his sword, not at all ready to join back to the fight but he'll manage. Now is not the time to give into sickness, and he's not one to run away from fights.

On his way towards one of the stray bandits, he noticed Theo off in the distance also carting, taking on a 2v1. This fucking guy

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, despite them taking on an outnumbered fight. Flame wasn't exactly surprised, he's taken on worse fights all by himself, this was close to nothing.

Yet he still found himself almost stumbling over a couple times, missing swings and taking hits he normally wouldnt have taken.

Bumping into trees a couple times when dodging or backing up, almost fully knocking a bandit over not even by trying to, just nearly collapsing on them. Hes gotten himself a few more scratches than he'd like.

And Void did he hope nobody took notice of that other than the already dead-on-the-ground bandits.

The smell of iron, death and wet grass was heavy in the air, it made his head hurt.

Placing the finishing hit to what he hoped was the last bandit, he noticed a flash of color in his peripheral. Blood gushed out of the bandit, they couldnt really tell where from, making them step back a bit.

Fully expecting the bird to nag him about what theyre still doing here, it was a surprise hearing a soft "Yo.. you good?" Coming from somewhere beside him

For a couple seconds Flame didn't know how to respond or what to do, just stood staring down at the bandit in the grass.

"Flame?"

They finally turned to look at the concerned parrot

"Uh- Yeah." He stammered "I'm good." and put Fragger back in its holster. "And you?" After a moment of silence he asked, not turning to look at the other again, focusing on snapping the straps on the holster back together.

"..Yeah. I wasn't really fighting."

To that they just hummed. Parrot shifted his weight around, staring at the player infront of him, avoiding looking at the dead bandit.

Off in the distance they could hear someone calling out for them, turning around to see what the noise was they saw their ally and Theo walking towards them. Parrot went to meet them in the middle, Flame stood back.

"There you are!" He exclaimed as he looked his companion up and down "Bro I got worried, are you okay?"

Whatever Theo's response was, Flame didnt hear it, slipping back into that dazed state. The adrenaline mustve worn off.

A gentle tap on the shoulder brought them back, once again. They turned towards the figure next to them.

"Alive and well I see"

They breathed out a laugh

"Seems like it" He quickly looked them up and down, searching for blood that seemed like theirs "I see you are aswell?" though he didnt find any, probably a good sign.

"Just wonderfully" The player laughed before turning towards the other pair "So like, what the hell was that all about?" they asked, wiping blood off their helmet

"Just some more treassure hunters trying to find the treassure" Theo responded, before freezing up for a second, as if he said something confidential. "Is that why you two are here too..?"

"Nah, we got better stuff to do." Wemmbu responded, altough some gear could be useful, its not their main priority right now.

"Hm. Alright"

Parrot squinted at her, still unsure of if what she's saying is true. But seemingly not planning on doing anything about it.

It was awkward first having an argument with Parrot, just to switch to fighting alongisde him— or well, his friend. Flame tapped the handle of Fragger.

And maybe their ally noticed "We should lowkey head off now, good fight" She said, before grabbing Flame's wrist and dragging him off after her.

The two players they left behind just stared at them dumbfounded, while Flame tried to get out of her grasp. Weird, he'd never struggle to do so. Except for that other time today.

Maybe she's really gotten stronger.

Or somethings actually up.

"We should take a stop" She casually said

Flame looked at her with concern "Why? You get injured?"

"Not majorly, but it's best if we rest for a bit" Being the voice of reason felt strange. They've always been the one to push forward no matter what, disregarding all advice.

But.. they weren't Wemmbu right now. So they could show at least a bit of interest in their ally's wellbeing.

Flame, still avoiding resting as if it was lingering poison, suggested they split up instead— which Wemmbu immediately shut down.

"Bro we can always group up later" He insisted

"Void," They pinched their nose bridge in annoyance "why so you have to be so damn difficult" and grabbed Flame by the shoulders to push him down onto a nearby rock

"What the hell- Let go of me" He swatted at their arms as they continued holding him, making sure he doesn't immediately stand up

"Promise me you'll take this rest stop and won't just run the second I step back"

He tried to get them to let go in silence for a moment longer before ultimately accepting defeat. Sighing loudly to make it clear just how displeased he was with the idea

"Fine.. I'll stay" He crossed his arms and looked up at the other

"Good." Doing as promised, they stepped back a bit  "Wasnt that hard now, was it?"

"I genuinely hate you still" He pouted

And it was a hilarious thing to see the 'Immortal Demon' pouring, but she kept that thought to herself

"Well you're gonna be stuck with me for a while, so deal with it" Her smirk evident in her voice

"Whatever bro" Flame muttered

She sat down next to them, getting out some gaps from her inventory to shove them into the hounds hands. Then taking out a water bottle to drink as her companion healed up.

"Did you get any injuries?" She turns to look at them

"Uh... not any major ones" They're not actually sure how badly they got injured, everything hurts the same, just more than previously. And they still feel nauseous and dizzy, the golden apple not helping whatsoever.

"That's good." She nodded "Maybe I should look you over-" Though her idea gets shut down immediately

"Bro there's no need to, I'm fine" They insisted. They took help from the invisible player before, they didn't wanna do it again. Just the thought of appearing even weaker and inferior than before made them sick.

Even more so than before.

Whether it was pride or something else, it seemed like they'd let themselves die before they accept any sort of help.

Wemmbu sighed loudly "Take your chestplate off"

"What-" They tried to protest, but the invis player wouldn't let them

"Lock in, we don't have time for you to be so damn stubborn" He crossed his arms and glared at the hound, despite them not being able to see. Honestly right now Flame looked more like a sad puppy rather than a hound. It was almost endearing, if it wasn't for them being so difficult.

Flame groaned before ultimately clipping their chestplate off, and setting the pieces aside.

And just like Wemmbu expected, there was a gash on his side, actively staining his jacket and shirt. "Nothing major my ass" He said, annoyed. And took out some gauze.

Wrapping up the wound , he also took note of other cuts on their arms and wrapped those up aswell.

"You really didn't have to-" Flame started, but she cut him off again

"I did" Flame just stared at her as she packed up the rest of the gauze, and stood up from the rock. Turning to check if he's following. "You wanna stay here a bit longer?" She asked, with genuine concern

The other shook his head and put on his chestplate. And the two started walking again

Silence filled the air around them. And Flame still felt like something was going to happen. Because it was Boosfer theyre dealing with, obviously something was going to happen.

Maybe he would've been less on edge if it wasnt for the fact that he felt like he was going to collapse if a slight gust of wind blew through the trees. Because the invis player seems to be doing just fine.

Though Wemmbu was also very on edge, it just didn't show. Maybe it was the animosity that made them more confident, or appear more confident. They couldn't exactly tell.

With every minute that passed it felt like they were going in circles, or that this place stretched on impossibly far. It made the fact that it looked like nobody walked through here in years even weirder.

Maybe from above it looked like a regular forest, still people walk through forests at least a couple times a month. Even if the server was as big as it was.

The fact they were about a 100k from spawn and it was this empty was unsettling.

This whole area was strange. Everything about it was wrong, from the emptiness to the vastness to the silence. Patches of trees that didnt make sense, either too light or too dense. Too dark or too bright.

And they've only stumbled across Parrot twice in the span of however long they were here. So how big exactly was this?

Perhaps the two had found the treasure they were looking for and dipped as soon as they did, or maybe they got lost somewhere. Or mistakenly fell into a trap Boosfer made, instead of them falling into it like he intended.

Whatever the reason was, they probably shouldn't worry about it now, and focus on making sure their companions all good. Not like they care or anything, just in case.

There was most definitely something wrong with him today.

They shot him a couple glances, though he was behaving normally— at the moment, at least. In the end they decided to focus on their surroundings, not bothering to start a chat this time.

Eventually they stumbled upon a lighter patch of trees. And somewhere amongst it the pair noticed the ground starting to elevate.

"Yo, didnt the book say something about a hill?" Wemmbu turned to their companion

Flame, who was zoning out, snapped back to reality "Uh- yeah, I think so"

"Thats a good sign then!" They exclaimed, and grabbed him by the wrist "Come on"

The further they got, the denser the forest became. At this point they couldn't even see the sky through the leaves.

It was also significantly harder to traverse, Flame might've almost tripped a couple times and Wemmbu might've pretended not to notice.

Far, far into the area, at some point the terrain evened out, and the two spotted something in the treeline. A stonebrick wall. More specifically a crumbled stone brick wall.

The two began walking even faster, the invis player walking ahead.

Getting closer they noticed the wall revealing itself to be part of a bigger structure, connected to a big gate with even more trees behind it. Wemmbu pulled at the metal bars and they gave off easily, must've been pretty old.

Quietly they stepped through the newly made hole and walked forward, behind the gate was a gravel path, overgrown but not completely.

It looked as if someones been here recently, and they wondered whether Parrot and Theo also found this place.

The contrast of the entire area they walked around having no sign of anybody or anything being around there, and this path being the opposite, really put them off. But the pair persisted.

Footsteps scattered around, leading further down the path towards an entryway.

Towards an even bigger stone brick structure, with even more crumbling walls.

It looked like a castle, standing incredibly tall but not above the trees, hidden under the leaves. Nobody wouldve seen it even from above. Flame wondered whether that was on purpose, it probably was.

The doors were practically ripped down, wood splintered across the ground, completely covered in dirt and seemingly mold. They mustve been laying there for quite a while.

"Dude how old is this place" The invisible player spoke up, the buzz of their stupid voicechanger startling Flame. They kicked at the wood, making it break away more.

Flame turned his gaze from the ground to peek inside the castle. "Old as shit thats for sure" The two laughed, trying to push away their bad feelings. Maybe they shouldn't be here.

This definitely seemed like a trap.

They stepped over the rotten wood and into the castle, inside it was even darker than on the outside. Every inch of space around was covered with trees and every inch of space above was covered by branches and leaves. No light shined through the holes of the floors above, or the holes in the walls, or through the entirely crumbled walls.

If a trap or an ambush doesnt kill them, a piece of something falling on them definitely will.

The floor underneath them crunched and creaked, pieces of debris bunched up in every corner, scattered around the whole structure. The floor itself was rotting and ripped apart, some parts leading straight to the dirt underneath, some parts being holes to some sort of basement.

They were lucky they could navigate around the darkness, and Wemmbu was thankful she could see in the dark. If it werent for that, they wouldve immediately ended up falling into a hole or tripping over something.

Defeaning, lifeless silence followed them into this place, there was absolutely nothing here.

Well, there were somethings.

Destroyed furniture, entryways to other rooms off to the side, a grand double staircase wrapping around the main room leading further up with another huge entryway into what seemed like a throne room. Everything was crumbling down and smelled of mold, mildew and stale air.

Flame sneezed, and it reverberated in the emptiness of the castle, making them both halt.

The invisible player let out a distorted giggle "Bless you bro"

"Thanks" He muttered back, in case somebody would hear them

They both looked around the place, splitting up to go into different rooms, speeding up their search. They weren't sure whether this was the place Boosfer was talking about, but there ought to be something in here, it seemed too significant.

Usually, Flames steps were always silent, no matter the ground he was walking on. In here, however, every step he took was another crunch of the broken down floorboards.

Every step made him more uneasy, and even more on high alert. He genuinely couldn't tell how he managed it, with the state he was in but maybe this was just the right amount of adrenaline to make his symptoms slightly weaker.

Still, he felt like he was boiling alive.

Stepping through a broken down door, that wasnt broken to the point of it being a horrible idea to step through, he entered a side room that looked like a storage area.

Chests on the walls and on shelves, a whole pile of them laid in the middle of the room. A shelf must've collapsed knocking everything over.

Or somebody knocked it over, because there wasnt any dust build up on the top of them. Flame frantically looked around the room, eyes searching for a figure or even a slight semblance of it— which proved to be a bad idea, his brain turning every shadow, every web and every crack into a person.

Giving up on the search for a person, he stepped further into the room. Poking at debris with Fragger, as to not touch it himself.

The one and only time he's been thankful for the servers mobcap, because he's sure this place would've been filled to the brim with them.

While he was searching through the room to see if there was anything in any of those chests, Wemmbu was done with looking through her one and walked back out. Yelling out to him "NOTHING IN THAT ONE" the screech of the voice changer and the suddne loudness of them screaming almost made Flame jump out of his skin.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SCREAM FOR, I DONT CARE JUST MOVE ON" He yelled back, annoyed at the other.

His heartbeat raced as he also began to step out from where he was, to move onto another room.

To his surprise, the invis player was standing right outside the broken door, and he almost walked into them. With their veil they kind of looked like a ghost.

"Hello bro" They said, their tone made them sound like they're grinning

Flame tilted his head "Can I help you?"

"Do you think there's gonna be something in the basement?"

Right.

This place had a basement. And in every corny horror movie theres always something in the basement.

Judging it was Boosfer that sent them here, there was definitely something down there. And he didn't like the sound of that whatsoever.

"Probably, question is— is it even safe to go down there?"

"Well, we won't find out if we don't look" They shrugged "Unless you're scared" Even though he wasnt able to see their face, he knew they were smirking

"Why the hell would I be scared?" He scoffed "I just dont want the staircase to break or for the floor to fall down on us"

The other just giggled "Sure buddy, sure."

Flame just sighed. This banter of theirs seemed all too familair, but he blamed it on his delirious state.

"We should still check the rest of the other rooms first before we try to figure out how to get down to the basement" He stopped the invisible player right before they started already heading some random direction "There could still be something there" And there could be, and he definitely wasn't prolonging their descent down under. In both senses of the word.

The player huffed "Fine. Definitely not cause you dont wanna go down there." they giggled "Lets check together, splitting up is like the number one horror mistake"

"I tried telling you that earlier" The two walked over to another room "Something change?"

"Yeah, I realized you're scared" They teased and poked him on the arm

"I'm not," He swatted at their hand "you're just weird"

They entered another room through a crumbling hole in the wall. Filled with some stoves and even more dust. Probably a kitchen. This time there were tiles on the floor— or rather the remenants of them.

It was mostly cracks of porcelain with stone peaking from underneath.

"Okay buddy," They continued to giggle, their voicechanger warping the noise "as if"

Flame pinned back his ears "Bro your voicechangers ass" As he looked through some cabinets

"Why are you changing the topic, Flamey?" They said with a sickly sweet tone, it couldve been nice if it wasnt for the context

They too were searching from some cabinets on the other side of the room. Flame moved onto the drawers next to an old rusted sink.

"Because-" He paused, taken aback by the nickname "What-" turning to the other before deciding to not pay further attention to it "Because you're annoying and you have shit taste, like why this one? Theres better ones out there" and continued complaining

They thought it was cute how quickly that derailed him and hiw quickly he turned back. Making them giggle even more, the noise scraping at his ears, bringing back the stabbing pain in the back of his skull "I think it's great"

"Of course you do" He grumbled "Can you shut the hell up, youre actually giving me a headache"

"Awe, that's mean" They pouted underneath their helmet "Whatever you say I guess" and threw down a pot of invis

Flame turned his head back again, so quickly he could've snapped his neck, before realizing they're not potting up on him and resuming his search.

Cabinet after cabinet, drawer after drawer all of them were full of mold and dust. This place was a biohazard.

They went onto search through the other rooms, there werent actually that many on this floor, before moving onto the throne room under the stairs

Its a room even larger than the one they just came from, having a ceiling thats also somehow higher, with a large hole in the middle.

There were scraps of gold and shattered glass, or maybe amethyst, scattered around the middle of the room. Probably from a chandelier that fell and later got picked off by bandits. More clear footsteps in the dust and debris leading all around it.

A long rug laid from the throne almost all the way to the entrance, its color unrecognizable from the amount of dust and whatever else piled on top of it. Probably even more mold.

Stains were visible in mutiple places, some of them seemingly fresh, some of them probably years old. All of them looked like blood.

"What the fuck happened in here.." Flame muttered under his breath

"Boosfer's so fucking weird" The invisible player commeneted, quietly, as if only now getting the severity of this.

Hearing Boosfer's name again was also strange, neither of them mentioned him since probably before they even got here. It just made everything more real. Or fake. Flame didn't know how he felt, other than the 'not good' part.

They both moved to stand on the side of the rug, not wanting to step on whatever was on it. It's probably safer that way anyway.

Off to the sides of the room, right up against the side walls, there were two long dining tables with candle holders and plates still on them. Some of the plates still on them, one of the table's legs rotted and snapped in half, tilting the whole thing. Next to it laid some shattered porcelain. A clear story.

The place looked like it hosted lots of people, maybe regularly. There used to be players here.

Something that was already here, based on the villages, lone huts, farms and other structures. But seeing this just made something click.

Walking further in the two looked around, holes in the walls, shattered murals, bent bars, thrown over chairs and vines growing inside from a couple windows. Still no light shined through.

Wemmbu from time to time turned towards the other, they didn't know why but something told them to just do it, to check if he's still there.

As if he'd just disappear into thin air if she turned away for long enough. Occasionally it feels like he does the same.

Above the throne room seems to be another room, though its not visible what kind of room it could be.

Not to note how weirdly long this room is, maybe it's also used as a ball area? They couldn't tell, they're no expert on this kind of thing.

Silence stretched and stretched with every step, to Flame it looked like the back wall kept getting further the closer they got. But that's probably their brain messinf with them, or the mold they've been inhaling.

Maybe both. Probably both.

They really, really wanted to get out of here. Every second spent longer on this fucked up little hunt is making them feel worse, they can barely see properly, everythign blurring together, walls both closer and farther than theyre supposed to be.

And suddenly their ally speaks up again "Yo there's something behind the throne, a hatch" Snapping them out of their haze.

She's standing more off to the side and pointing towards something they can't see, they join her side and look towards a small little hatch in the floor.

"Where do you think this leads?" They turn to her

She shrugs "Down, bro" making them snort

"Well, youre going down first. You wanted to go down and now you've got your chance" They push her forward and she stumbles.

She crouched down to try and open it, but the thing wouldn't budge.

"Didn't know you were this weak" Flame teased, from off to the side

So she just pulls out and axe and slams it into the wood, breaking the thing in half. Picking up the pieces and chucking them aside.

That was unexpected. But fair.

Under where the hatch previously was, were some stairs. Wemmbu looked back to her partner one last time before descending down into the even more darker and ominous space.

It took a moment for Flame to follow, every part of him screamed this was a terrible idea. Every part of him ached and the cracks of the floor really started to sound like the cracks of bones.

The descent down was even worse, the passive dizziness he felt all throughout decided to worsen and he had no choice but to hold onto the wall, as an attempt to stabilize himself and not eat shit. Now that would've been embarrassing, way more than him tripping over his own feet.

Once they got down he almost signed from relief, almost. The place looked like some sort of dungeon with corridors, bars, cells and even more rooms. This place was a nightmare, a sick joke and Boosfer was actually the most horrid player on this server.

"Okay. So this is crazy" Wemmbu commented, "Who the fuck even needs a whole dungeon for this kind of place" perplexed by the thought

There are roots growing through cracks in the ceiling and the walls, scrapes and scratches all over the floor. Broken metal strewn around.

Blood smeared on the walls and the ground, leading further in, some smears leading behind the two. Fungus and mold growing in every corner of the place.

Truly the only living things in this castle.

Besides them. And whoever else is here, if there is anybody.

Flame has never felt like he was in a horror movie until now, a really shitty horror movie. Boosfers going to be here somewhere with his pack of chungies and he's gonna have to fight alongside somebody who cant kill or else their precious little identity gets leaked.

Great, this was great. Fate really had it for him and he briefly wondered whether any of this was worth it, but the stubborn, or devoted, side of him wanted to keep going.

The two stepped deeper into the dungeon walking alongside each other. Entering empty room after empty room.

"We're not gonna get lost, right?" He turned towards the invis player

"Nah, I'm goated at this, trust" She was lying, she was not infact goated at this. But she'd rather opt to lie to Flame, and herself really.

The hound just hummed as they continued making their way through this place.

Coming across a pretty badly destroyed room, they stopped for a second for a 'quick break' as the player said. The whole thing was fallen apart, brick piling ontop of itself, with a hole to some place above them, probably the main room.

Bored out of his mind, Flame decided to look over it from the distance, doubting he'd see anything. As the player dug through some shulkers and repotted their invis.

Amongst the rubble, he spotted a chest and immediately bolted for it, despite everything in his body screaming at him to take it easy.

Almost breaking the wooden lid he opened the chest to see its contents– a book laid under bunch of junk. This must've been what the two were looking for.

The 'Invisible Knight' followed suit, and stood behind him, looking over his shoulder. They practically leaning on him, as he opened the book. In there, in the same messy handwriting as the coordinates, was written—

—was another rhyme, that, wasn't really fully a rhyme. Neither was it good, just sad. Boosfers not very good at these, theyve noticed.

This time instead of coords he left them a cipher. Which wasn't entirely ideal, with Flames current state of barely able to comprehend what was written and Wemmbu.. being Wemmbu. Solving the code would take them a while, if they even managed to solve it.

"So..." The player leaning on him started "What now" their voicechanger booming right into his ear

"Well obviously we have to solve this somehow."  He turned his head towards them as much as he could, not fully looking at them still

They scoffed "I knew that much, was just wondering if you knew what this was."

"Bro do I look like a cipher nerd to you" He raised an eyebrow

"Are we cooked be honest" The player stepped back, letting him fully turn towards them

"No- we'll figure this out somehow. Its fine"

They hummed "Question is, how?"

The pair sat in silence for a while, trying to come up wtih either how to decipher the code, or what else they could do. And suddenly, Flame got an idea.

"Technically, we dont have to solve this." He started

"Oh?" Intrigued, Wmemmbu raised an eyebrow

"Do you think Parrot's still here?" Though he himself kinda doubted that, it might be worth a try.

"OH! Wait that's a goated idea, we need to find him" Wemmbu grabbed Flame by the wrist and dragged them alongside her.

They wanted to protest, but they were too glad to be getting out of here to find it in them to do so.

And Wemmbu actually managed to lead them out with only minor issues, like taking a few wrong turns here and there. But they got out nontheless.

Deciding to take it slower and walk instead of run once they reached the outside.

Finding Parrot proved to not be that difficult, as the player was conviniently only a hundred or so blocks away, and whining about something to his companion.

Flame took the lead this time, quietly approaching the other two, making his way through the trees without making any noise

"Yo, why are we sneaking?" The invisble player whispered

"Hm? Oh- Uh.." He hadn't even realized he was sneaking "I dunno" they shrugged

"Wanna scare them?" She grinned, though they couldnt see it.

"Would they still translate this for us?" They asked, unsure

"Well they're going to whether they want to or not" The player responded, giggling and shrugging as they quietly started to make their way towards the two parrots

Flame scoffed out a laugh and followed suit

Their victims were currently discussing something about not being able to find another clue, clearly very frustrated, seemed like their problem. Maybe something they could make fun of them for later on.

Theo had his back turned to them while Parrot paced, complaining about some distractions and how its probably why they havent been able to find anything.

Wemmbu noticed Flame stopping abruptly, just inches behind Theo. She thought they'd be jumping out at them, and she tilted her head at ther ally, questioning.

They just grinned at her and signaled for her to stay quiet, so she did. Taking a couple steps back as to not stand too close.

Parrot finished his rant and went on to show Theo some book, stopping infront of him, and opening it for him to read. He took just one quick glance into the treeline before squawking and dropping the book, his wings puffing out.

In response Theo took out his sword and turned around, just to be met with the two standing behind him.

The treassure hunting duo stayed silent as Flame and Wemmbu laughed at poor Parrots reaction, their laughter eventually subsiding to giggles

"What the hell is wrong with you two?!" he scolded

"What-" Wemmbu tried getting out a reply, his giggling making his voicechanger distort his words "We were just standjng there! What do you mean?" They were doubled over, practically shaking with laughter

"How long were you standing there?" Theo questioned, putting away his sword.

"Not that long! Well, long enough to make this way funnier than it should be" Wemmbu somehow got out, continuing to laugh, while Flame smirked at the two.

Parrot pinched the bridge if his nose "Oh my Aether.. You two are insufferable"

Subsiding her laughter, Wemmbu changed the topic "Anyways... we might have a little bit of a favor to ask from you"

"I am not doing anything for you bro, are you serious?" Parrot scowled

"What do you mean? We literally helped you fight those bandits, you could at least repay us in some way" She whined

"Theo could've handled that himself, you know." He scoffed. Really tired of dealing with their bullshit for today, or just literally any bullshit. "Besides, if you only did it to get paid back is, whithout us even agreeing to it, then I dont think I should be paying you back"

"Well, at the time we didnt know we would want you to do something for us" She kept on insisting. Flame never realized just how stubborn their companion could be.

"Right, well, I don't care I'm not going to-"

"Bro you dont even know what we want" Flame interjected

Making Parrot sigh disappointedly "Okay, so what do you want?"

Flame pulled out the book with the cipher and showed it to him "Theres like- some code in here, you could probably figure it out"

"Oh?" And that actually intrigued him "Can I see?"

"Are you going to translate it for us or no?" They held the book closer to himself, waiting for his answer

Reluctantly, Parrot agreed and took the book from Flame.

He glanced over it for a moment and spoke up "This is just a ceaser cipher, the only thing different from how its usually written is that it's a five letter shift instead of a seven letter one."

Flame blinked at the player infront of him, shocked by the speed of his realization "Genuinely how did you get that from looking at this for two fucking seconds"

"Bro are we fried" The invisible player turned to their ally to ask

"I'm just good at codes, I wouldn't expect anyone not interested in these to even know what it is, let alone the fact that this is a different shift than normal." Parrot explained monotonously "I wonder why he did that, probably to throw you off" and muttered something, mostly to himself

"Honestly I don't even think he thought we'd solve it" The player infront of him mused

"You wouldnt have" He remarked, before either of the insulted players could respond he added "By the way, this is a date, time and location. He wants you to meet him there, dunno for what though." examining the book further "He says that in a week, at the break of dawn to meet him at a lake a thousand blocks from Merchant City. Didn't say which direction, and told you to be prepared."

"So its either gonna be another trap or we're gonna be fighting him." Flame concluded

"All of this just for him to make us wait a whole week" The invis player whined

"What a shame" Parrot scoffed "Where did you even find this?"

"And who the hell left you this?" Theo added

"Oh uh, we found it in some destroyed castle, Boosfer left us some stupid riddle for us to find this" Flame looked off in some direction, vaguely gesturing towards more trees

Parrot almost dropped the book in disbelief "Wait a minute. A castle?!"

"Yeah?"

"Bro you're joking, right? Do you- Do you still have that book Boosfer left?" He went to shove the cipher back into Flame's hands, looking at him expectantly with eyes so wide they that looked like they were bulging out of skull

"I do" Flame took the book from the other, putting it in his inventory, raising an eyebrow towards Parrot.

"Can I see it?" He said hurriedly

"Uh, sure I guess?" They grabbed the other one from their inventory and held it out to the bird, who took it in such speeds he might've broken the sound barrier if he was doing anything else

Parrot skimmed over the riddle, his face twisted into the most miserable expression either of them have seen him have

"Bro, Theo. This, This was the last clue" He turned to face his companion, whos face also dropped. If it weren't for the glass the other three would probably see him have a thousand yard stare

"Oh Aether are you serious" Theos hands flew up to his head at the realization that they'd just spent hours searching for a treassure long ago taken from them

"Yes I'm serious!" The other snapped, why would he not be? He shoved the book into Theos hands dor him to read

Which he himself also skimmed over. If one thought his expression couldn't have dropped further, they were so, so weong. "So you're telling me we've been searching for absolutely nothing this whole time?"

Awkwardly standing to the side, the invis player and Flame both give each other glances before Fpame pipes up "Sounds like you two are having some issues.."

"Yeahh, maybe we should head out, you have fun though" The invisible player took a few steps back

"What? Youre gonna leave just like that-" And before Parrot could do anything else, or say anything else, the two were already gone.

Returning back to base proved to be far easier than their adventure to this place, which Flame was thankful for, he felt like he was about to pass out.

After getting into their mountain hole and blocking it back up, the very first thing he did was go to their sleeping area and collapse right onto the thin mattress. Maybe not a good idea, but that was a tomorrow-Flame problem, right now all he cared about was going to sleep. Wemmbu decided not to question him further on that and just let him rest.

They're gonna have some preparing to do.