Writing Championships #5

Pink Procrastinators

Seeing someone flying with Elytra on Hermitcraft was a rare sight. Especially when the Hermits themselves could propel themselves on the air just by using their own magic. Anything was possible with the magic they had--flying on your own, digging out massive perimeters, you name it.

However, there was one person who still flew using the traditional wings.

Cleo was flying around the general area while spying on people's bases from her birds-eye view in the sky. Most of her fellow Hermits weren't too busy either. Some were away from their bases entirely--collecting resources for builds and projects or chatting with others, so she'd usually swoop in to visit and have a chat if they were around.

She saw False standing on one of her platforms near her base. From where Cleo was she couldn't see what was happening, so she decided to pester the goggled hermit for a bit.

As she touched down on the hexagonal pad, she saw the girl swaying slightly and magic flickering in and out all around her. Cleo yelped in surprise and landed quickly next to her.

She immediately steadied her friend, holding her shoulders steadily and looking her dead in the eyes. "Oh, come on now," she muttered. "You're overworking yourself, False. I can tell."

"I'm fine," False muttered, though her head tilted to one side listlessly. Her eyes were unfocused, and she had to lean on Cleo completely to steady herself.

"No, you're not. You need to stop before you burn out and face the consequences of pushing your magic too far."

"You don't really use your magic often though, Cleo. I don't think you know what it's like to get close to burning out. I know how it feels, and I'll stop myself before then. I'll be fine," False snapped, attempting to explain.

"False, I have a question for you," Cleo began. "How do you think I died?"

She traced the stitches on her arm as False searched for a response.

"You never really talked about it and it seemed like an uncomfortable subject to you, so I never really thought about it. It's something to do with overusing magic though, isn't it..." False looked down at the ground.

"Yes, it is. I was working on a mega-project like you are right now. This was a while ago, so the details were fuzzy, but I think the plan was to make a dragon attacking a castle, with a bunch of knights trying to fight it off or something. Doesn't matter.

"What does matter is that I was extremely focused on this project. Days went by with no water, no food, no sleep. Sound familiar?"

She smiled sadly when False reluctantly nodded. 

"I barely noticed the fact that I was running out of energy. Out of life.

"Then it happened. I died.

"For me it felt like a minute of darkness at most. However, when I woke up, I was told that I had been out for weeks, and they had begun to lose hope that I would make it.

"In the end, I pushed too hard, and even though they managed to bring me back, it wasn't without its consequences..."

She trailed off. "Well, look at me now."

"...I'm sorry," False muttered after a moment of silence. "That probably doesn't mean a lot to you, but..."

"No, no, it's alright," Cleo reassured her. And she did feel okay, which surprised her a bit. After recounting her story, she thought she would be lost in thought--like she always was.

She smiled a bit, hoping it would comfort False. "Well, just don't push yourself too hard, okay? You don't want to end up like me."

"Yeah. Yeah, I will." Still, False's eyes wandered over to her perimeter, which was still unfinished for the most part. "Looks like I'm gonna put this project on hold for now, huh?"

Cleo's eyes brightened as an idea hit her. "Hey, I have an idea," she offered. "Instead of doing everything with magic, why don't I help you do it manually?"

False grimaced at the idea of that task at first, then slowly started to smile. She took out a pick and hefted it over her shoulder. "Sure, grab a pick and have some food spare. We're gonna be digging for a long time."

"Well...time flies when you're with friends," Cleo replied. False laughed at that, and the two got to work.

Turns out Cleo was true to her word, and soon it was sundown. The girls had made a decent amount of progress, to both of their surprise. They would've made much more if they had used magic, but at least they didn't have a large chance of dying this way.

"Well, I'm off." Cleo donned her Elytra, preferring to fly with the wings despite her ability to lift herself off the ground with her magic. "It was fun helping you, False. I gotta head back to my base, but tomorrow maybe we can chip away at this again."

"Yaaay, more digging," False said halfheartedly. "Looking forward to it," she added with more sincerity.

"That's the spirit!"

As Cleo turned to fly off, False called after her.

"Cleo, before you go. I just have to say...thanks for helping me. Again."

Cleo just smiled in response. "Anything for a friend. Just remember to take breaks next time. No dying on my watch, okay?"

False nodded, and both of them smiled at each other before Cleo lit a rocket and flew off into the sunset.

Score: 9.5