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The air was thick and stuffy as Sharpness continued to mine frantically. With his pickaxe, he mined stone instantly, and immediately placed the material he received behind him with swift hands. It wasn’t often that he had to dig as a method to flee from a fight. Although, with the way things turned out, his choice was to either die, or run with his tail tucked between his legs.
Sharpness wasn’t known for being a smart man, but it wouldn’t take a genius to understand that the second option was the most reasonable.
His body ached profusely and something in him throbbed with fierce pain. Sweat rolled off his skin like a dripping faucet and caused his underclothing to stick to his skin, but with danger so close it no longer matter to him. Break, place, break, place, repeat—one block at a time Sharpness kept going. The blond ignored his physical exhaustion, the muted pain of a wound begging for attention, and the lack of oxygen provided in the tunnel he currently dug. His own greedy lungs begged for the luxury of air that he couldn’t afford.
It had only been early dawn, the sun barely peaking over the horizon, when the shadow of a figure suddenly engulfed itself over his unknowing body. Sharp reflexes and experience was what had saved Sharpness from the mace that plummeted the ground where he once stood. The ground shook with the force of impact, dirt and dust exploding into the air before the perpetrator immediately swapped the weapon for a sword.
Fuck.
Innocent wandering at spawn immediately turned into a fight at full force, drawing his own sword and beginning to carefully dodge and place attacks. His head spun with how quickly he needed to act fast.
Not many were willing to jump the swordsman like this; out of the blue, off guard. He hadn’t earned a valuable reputation for nothing. But nonetheless, not a single person would start a fight with him unless they either had a death wish, or he owed them something. He supposed that after recognizing white eyes that lacked irises and pupils, he was getting jumped over stealing from Tai’s base.
“Okay, I see how it is,” he spat as he immediately began potting up.
When your things begin to go missing from your chests, it’s safe to assume that the thief was Sharpness himself. The man was notorious for truly lacking a work ethic and hardly ever caught grinding for mats—which made it all the more tempting to steal the hard work of others—so beefing with half of the server over stealing was a normal occurrence to Sharpness.
Tai struggled against the cobwebs by his feet, swinging his sword at Sharp but landing no hits. The blond managed to lower his health significantly before the other man freed himself with water. Sharpness panted with exertion and followed instinct more than logic as he continued to dance to a familiar rhythm. Attacking, running, healing, chasing. He knew he was winning the fight as Tai began to retreat more frequently, directing profanities towards Sharpness through muffled bites of a golden apple.
It hadn’t taken long before Sharpness plunged his sword into Tai’s back, the other man falling limp before vanishing and leaving behind his loot. He could hardly decipher what Tai had said before perishing, perhaps something along the lines of let’s talk or you’ll regret this. To Sharp’s foreign ear, the words could mean anything, syllables melting to sound like others. But still, it didn’t matter when his pride increased along with his strength. “Die bitch,” he said aloud.
_Tai was slain by conexion.
Recovery wouldn’t be instant, however, when he received a blow to his forearm, where protection was the most scarce. He was too slow to dodge the ambush but chose to ignore the pain in favor of bouncing back into action.
It was the sudden escalation of the conflict that caused his brain to falter with whiplash in an instance, making him one second or three too late to react. It was like at the snap of a wrist he was able to manage going from a full set of hearts to only two and a half. The upper ground was no longer his, but like the stubborn fool he was known to be, he hadn’t backed down yet.
Pure adrenaline and an additional health potion would do the trick; buying himself more time and rendering the sharp pain in his body gone. Tai may have gone down, but his teammate, Noob, wasn’t ready to let them lose. After all, Sharpness had technically stolen from him too.
The atmosphere was thick with the intensity of a fight breaking loose and the sound of swords colliding, potions splashing, and the crunch of golden apples. People who happened to pass by most likely diverted their direction from the heavy fight—which only intensified as a third party joined to take down Sharpness.
Dol9hin.
Sharpness launched himself into the air with a wind charge, buying himself time to weigh his options. He was confident that he could take on a 2v1, having done so many times before, but it wouldn’t be easy in this case scenario. From a distance, he could see Tai coming back to assist his teammate and ally; his figure highlighted by beams of sunshine. “Get him, Kill him, Kill him!” Shouted Noob. The words only further spurred on the other two.
It was clear that Sharpness was no longer confident that it was possible for him to win a 3v1 against Dol9hin, Tai, and Noob. Perhaps even a 2v1 was a stretch—he was a great fighter, yes, but he didn’t work miracles on the daily. It bruised his ego a little bit but he had to make a decision; lose strength and his loot, or make a run for it.
The decision was made when he was beginning to receive an excessive amount of knock back to three different swords. None of his hits where landing and he started dropping, choosing to furiously propel himself through the sunrise with wind charges and healing himself with golden apples. The hills were practically calling his name as he beelined for them. Behind him, the three bloodthirsty hounds shouted incoherently as they chased after him.
Some days it frustrated Sharpness that he couldn’t have good days everyday.
A sharp sense of danger blared like an annoying alarm clock, attempting to warn him about something tragic to come. It was a strong instinct forged by experience and tuition—a call that he chose to never ignore.
“Yo, what the fuck,” Sharpness said in horror as he narrowly dodged Dol9hin, who came flying through with a spear in one hand and a mace in another, narrowly sidestepping to the left as he anticipated the attack. His breath stuttered and momentum faltered as Dol9hin whizzed past like a bullet—damn her and her damn spear and damn mace.
Sharpness hadn’t expected to get attacked by all three of them so suddenly. His heart rate climbed higher as he swapped his chest plate for an elytra and began escaping with rockets—the ones he stole only a day ago—and kept burning through his supply. One of his assailants called out to him from behind: “Shit, he’s running with an elytra,” they shouted.
The sound of high pitched whistles from the firework rockets (either his own or the others) could be heard distantly when wind immediately rushed through his eardrums. The pressure threatened temporary damage to his hearing, but he was so familiar with flying at such speeds that he no longer worried about the effects.
The sun rose higher; shifting the atmosphere to a golden hue. It made the grass plains and hills look near ethereal—almost heaven sent. The tall grass miles below him swayed softly, peacefully, blissfully unaware of the nature of the world it was born into. Sharpness wished he could come to appreciate the beauty of nature if it weren’t for the fact that he is always on guard. Tense, rigid, and paranoid. Just as he is now, where he is currently running to save his ass from something that he technically started.
But who could blame him?
His eyes soon spotted a ravine inching closer from the horizon, promising safety and a ticket to escape. Calculating the correct angle, he dipped his faux wings to guide him into the split ground, smoothly wedging himself into the earth. The rockets in his hands were immediately replaced for a pickaxe, and Sharpness started mining right away; crawling through the narrow space he dug and hastily blocking off any signs of his presence.
Which is why, Sharpness, the man in shining armor, is somewhere underground mining stone to save his life. Hardly able to breathe, plunged in pitch black darkness, and sweating like a pig. He realistically knew that he was no longer under attack. Either they had lost sight of him in the air a long while ago, given up entirely, or hadn’t followed him to the ravine. But the remaining adrenaline in his system fought to convince his brain that he was still in danger—not safe, under attack, life on the line.
Sharpness let out a sound. Hic—a stutter in his already unstable breathing—when his forearm was blasted with a numb, tingling sensation upon the impact of mining more stone. The sudden realization that he was injured had caused everything to crash down on him at once. His gloved hands lost its grip on the handle of his pickaxe as his body sagged in defeat, his helmet hitting stone with a thunk and practically kissing the cool earth.
All remaining effects of potions and natural adrenaline flew out of his body with the wheeze-like sigh that the man let out. Pain shot up his arm with every inch that he dared to move, whether from breathing or unprecedented twitches. He wasn’t in danger, no. No one was waiting for him at the surface. No one was following his trail from behind.
It wasn’t over though, and that he knew. Some time later they would initiate another fight until they walked away with his strength and belongings. Perhaps maybe even another angry member would decide to join in to avenge their stolen items, or for other reason.
And Sharpness would welcome every person with open arms and a grin. It wasn’t like it was a lesson to be taught to him because even if there was ever a scenario where he’d lose, he would continue to repeat the same action again. That was the system he set up for himself and he that was what he preferred.
He felt more than he heard his own heartbeat, thumping madly against his chest and rushing blood throughout his body. The metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils and mouth, to which he willed his teeth to unclamp themselves from his cheek upon the realization that he’d unintentionally been biting down. Pain. That summed up what he felt.
Stubbornly, Sharpness willed himself to dig up rather than forward, creating a pocket tall enough to let him stand upright. He pushed his aching bones and sore muscles to cooperate after being in a crawl for so long. The effect was immediate as he instantly felt dizzy and drunk, tempted to fall over and pass out. It also didn’t quit help that he couldn’t see a thing. But alas, he persisted, forcing himself to continue. Digging up, and up, and up, until he broke through gravel, dirt, and grass.
A gasp was let out when he broke through the surface. Moments later, he realized that the sound came from his own dry mouth, a sound that rang through his ears and differed from the ones he’d repeatedly heard for… minutes? Hours? Regardless, his deprived lungs took literal lungfuls of air before exhaling it all out. He willed his body to fully breach the surface, placing the last block of dirt back into its place. Sharpness had survived to see another moment.
Content, Sharpness just laid on the dirt bed, staring at the faint glow emitted by moon and counting stars, recalling the names of those he knew. Huh, he’d thought to himself. Had he really been underground for hours? Long enough to forgo the entire day from sunrise to sunset?
The pine trees overhead blanketed the forest in dark shadows that moved along with the leaves in the quiet breeze. Everything hurt, and he was just so tired. The moon drifted amongst the stars ever so slowly, and the sound of nocturnal life was a welcomed song to his ears; wolves howling in the distance and crickets chirping about. It made the ringing in his ears that much easier to ignore.
Thinking, Sharpness thought that maybe he should use his communicator to phone a teammate for something, such as shelter or an alliance for backup, but it dawned on him that he really didn’t have anyone he could talk to. At least, not anyone who would do so without charging a fee. He thought to himself, it truly didn’t help that he was currently a little broke.
He brushed the realization off to instead plan his next move. But as he pondered, the thoughts only swirled around in his head and turned into a large batch of goop. He knew he wanted revenge, but how?
Abruptly, every sense honed onto one thing. In the corner of his eye, through his peripheral vision, Sharp thought he saw a flash of eyes. They shone like that of a cat’s, reflective and hard to miss. The swordsman immediately broke the headspace he found himself in and sat up. Heart beginning to beat rapidly.
He winced with the pain that shot through his body, stifling a whimper, before surveying his surroundings carefully. The eyes disappeared from where he saw them. The feeling of being watched from the opposite side suddenly made him tense, and he wondered just how long he had been stalked for before noticing.
He got on his feet immediately, regretting the decision as he felt dizzy with how he moved too quickly for his sluggish body to handle. The feeling was ignored however, and the man chose to draw his sword and square towards the direction where the feeling of being seen was strongest.
In the shadows, between trees, bright magenta eyes blinked up in his direction. They blinked almost dumbfoundedly, but there were sparks of concealed intelligence hidden beneath the façade of surprise.
Sharpness knew that the man watching wasn’t really surprised. If they didn’t want to get caught, then he wouldn’t have seen those two familiar pairs of bright magenta eyes in the first place. His heart started beating faster, pulse revealing his intense nerves, and all of a sudden the forest fell quiet.
“Jude,” He croaked out.
The man watching from the shadows stepped closer, revealing himself into the dim moonlight. A new predator emerges. Sharpness took a step back for every step that the rabbit took forwards, lips parted and mouth slightly agape in shock. He held his sword out in defense, body rigid but ready to fight at any given moment, but he knew that he didn’t have the energy to do much.
Yet, as he backed up one more step, snapping branches and leaves along his way, he began to feel the familiar sensation of fury. “Jude, what the fuck are you doing here?” He mumbled with ire evident in his tone.
Jude had only shrugged nonchalantly. “I could ask you the same thing, really. Do you know how long you were just lying there for?” he took another step closer, boots crunching the leaves on the forest floor as he boldly brushed his chest plate against the tip of Sharpness’s sword. The sharp tip of the weapon left a scratch mark against the surface of his armor.
Sharpness felt his eye twitch. “No, answer my question, or you die.”
“Hey, calm down, will you? Jesus, i’m not even tryna fight. I was just asking.” Jude replied, exasperated.
He lowered his sword, but didn’t put it away just yet. “Oh,” Sharpness said softly. Upon his one word response, Jude’s eyes crinkled just slightly; but while refusing to break eye contact, the blond didn’t dare check his lips for the ghost of a smile. Maybe it was some weird manipulation tactic, he thought to himself. Sharpness didn’t know what Jude was planning but he told himself that he was ready to evade any surprise attacks or traps.
The silence that fell between them was not really silent in the sense that there was sound around them. The forest had resumed thriving as if nothing had happened at all. Maybe it had never fallen silent in the first place, and Sharpness only imagined the eerie quietness of the woods.
Jude was the first to break it, though.
“I was just gathering berries for this trap that I wanted to try making.” Jude showed Sharpness just a handful of what he had gathered, as if to prove to him that he wasn’t lying. “You wanna tell me what’s up with you now?”
Sharpness decided to put away his sword, convinced that he wasn’t under any threat. “Oh, well I was getting jumped a few hours ago and decided to escape and dig. I don’t—I don’t know, I guess I was too tired to do anything but lay on the ground once I got out.”
He didn’t mention how he had no idea where he was, how he didn’t have anyone to call for help, or what would’ve happened to him if he simply forgot about the world around him until someone else broke the spell. Neither of them also mentioned how they shouldn’t be within close proximity with one another, how they should be at each other’s throats instead of gazing at one another.
“Yeah I can see that—you don’t look so good.” Jude hesitantly reached out to swipe a bold thumb over his cheekbone, and Sharpness wished he could feel angry over it. Explosive, like how he always is. He so badly wanted to push Jude away and shout, what the fuck is wrong with you?!, but an unspoken thing between them was said when Jude frowned at what he saw on Sharp’s face. And all of a sudden, Sharpness didn’t know how he could ever possibly be mad at Jude.
Perhaps just this night, they wouldn’t have to be sworn enemies. They could simply coexist as Jude and Sharp, Sharp and Jude. Just like how it was before.
He wished that he could fix what the rabbit was seeing on his face, despite how he didn’t know what was wrong or why it was affecting the other. He only knew that as he gazed down at Jude, he didn’t like the way frowning looked on his face. The look of his eyebrows knitted together and something akin to concern swirling in his bright eyes unsettled him in a way that he didn’t know was possible.
Jude then looked up and into Sharp’s intent stare, before immediately withdrawing as if he had been physically shocked or burnt. Sharpness mourned the loss almost instantly but shoved it down until he could safely forget about it.
“Sorry.” Jude wouldn’t meet his eyes anymore, a soft pink hue creeping up on his cheeks and nose, and Sharpness would probably find it enjoyable to watch if he wasn’t immediately plagued with the question, what did I do wrong?
They had to remind themselves that they were both enemies. That they were supposed to want each other dead. But as Sharpness said so to himself, it was getting increasingly harder to care.
“Who’d you fight?” Jude finally looked at him again, and everything felt all right for just a moment.
“Tai, Noob, and Dol9hin.”
Jude let out a soft snort, and it made Sharpness’s pulse thrum faster. “I stole more of their stuff. It was firework rockets,” he admitted.
“Dude, I literally have so many of those. I wouldn’t mind if you just took a few from me.”
Sharpness’s lips pressed into a thin smile, shyly bringing a hand up to cup the back of his neck. “Well, i’m not really allowed anywhere near your base anymore. Remember?”
“Right,” Jude muttered.
Silence fell over them once again, and only then did it truly feel weird standing in front of Jude. Just—talking and standing under the moonlight in the woods, touching one another and trading repressed looks full of possibility and hope. He dropped the hand, and the arm, and the everything that it costed to involuntarily execute the motion, and let it fall limp beside him just like earlier.
Jude turned around, and began walking away. Disturbing the forest floor in his wake. Sharpness’s hands twitched against his sides, aching to reach out, but he knew that wouldn’t be appropriate. Damn fool, idiot, bastard. He just had to mess things up again. His teeth anxiously chewed at his inner cheek, drawing blood again as he looked away from jude. The pain and exhaustion in his body returned once Jude’s attention on him left. He wished that he could reason with the man, that maybe they could talk or hear him out, but—
Jude turned around, and one of his long, purple rabbit ears twitched.
“Are you coming or not?”
He perked up at the invitation. Immediately, he caught up to Jude, and began walking at a brisk pace behind him. He didn’t know where they were headed, but when Jude started conducting a full search on Sharpness for soul sand and whither skeletons, he had a feeling he knew what privilege was being offered to him. And of course, who was he to decline?
He told himself that he just needed a place to sleep for the night. To lick his wounds and prepare for the next time he must fight. As he followed Jude through the forest and into the plains by foot, there was a mutual agreement that what happened tonight stayed there. That Sharpness is to leave by morning before they could run into one another again.
And if he climbed into bed with his sword tucked under the pillow, clean hair, and a belly full of berries? It would be a secret between him and his beating heart.