Mushroom Boy

Intermission

Time passed. George kept his mouth shut and his armor on. DreamXD hadn't visited since the encounter on the cliff, and George was more than happy to keep it that way. But...

The mushrooms. His friends wondered why he didn't hang out with them, why he wore armor everywhere. And the armor! What had he really paid for that armor? It barely fit now, with all the mushrooms. And it was because of that armor that the mushrooms were there.

He had made a promise then. Full netherite, and all he needed to do was be DreamXD's friend. He wished he could go back, warn himself of just how hard that promise would be to keep. But he made that promise anyway, and to break it would be to break his own neck.

As he sat on the cliff, cursing his past, hating his present, dreading his future, Sapnap ran past, chasing a sheep that he had painted a smiley face on. George didn't even notice Sapnap, but seeing George, still in all his armor, Sapnap stopped, strange sheep forgotten.

What have I done? George thought to himself. I can't tell anyone about this. I'd laugh at me too. I can't believe I've been so - so STUPID!

With an angry grunt, George threw his helmet to the ground. Sapnap gasped, seeing the mushrooms for the first time. But without his helmet on, George could hear much better and jumped up with a gasp of his own. The two stood in shock for a beat before George's fight-or-flight response triggered, and he ran. Sapnap paused a second to pick up George's helmet before running after him.

George had a head start, but the weight of the armor and of his emotions slowed him down. Regret caught on tree branches, frustration tripped on riverbed stones, sadness and anger and pain clung to him like cobwebs, until he couldn't stand to run anymore. Falling to the ground, he broke into tears, what-ifs stuck in his head like the gravel dotting his scraped hands.

Sapnap followed the trail George had haphazardly carved through the forest, wondering exactly what had just happened. Was George okay? What were all those mushrooms? Was this why he had been avoiding his friends?

Soon Sapnap came to a clearing, beautiful wildflowers surrounding a sobbing GeorgeNotFound on his hands and knees. Sapnap approached him cautiously, kneeling down beside him and gently laying a hand on his back. George flinched, but didn't run.

"What's wrong?" Sapnap asked, trying to keep accusations out of his tone. "What happened?"

George sat up with a grimace, trying to control his rapid and unsteady breathing.

"I-" he started to speak, but a searing pain in his ankle stopped him. Sapnap noticed, and handed George a golden apple, which he devoured quickly. His breaths steadied, and his sobs turned to hiccups. While Sapnap bandaged George's foot, George explained what had happened. By the time George's story had ended, Sapnap was fuming.

George caught sight of Sapnap's furious face. "I'm sorry," George muttered, "I should have told you sooner."

Sapnap's expression softened. "No, George, I'm not mad at you!"

George hiccuped. "You're not?"

"Of course not!" Sapnap reassured him. "You didn't do anything wrong. But DreamXD," Sapnap growled, "He better leave you alone or I'll-"

"No!" George flinched at the mention of DreamXD. "Just... keep yourself safe. Stay out of his way. I don't want any of my friends to get hurt by that - that monster."

Sapnap nodded. "And I don't want you to get hurt either, okay? I can talk to him for you..."

"You would do that?"

"Of course." Sapnap stood up and dusted himself off. "What are friends for?"

George smiled and sighed in relief as Sapnap ran off to find his painted sheep, but he couldn't shake the feeling that a storm was brewing on the horizon...