Child's Play - A Hermitcraft 8 AU

I need a hero to save me now (pt. 2)

Summary: A little prank and death to a void is rough sometimes...

Well... it's not all bad when there's someone else there to pick you back up.

Warnings: Mentions of previous chapter retaining to eating disorders/eating issues. Pretty vague though, and shouldn't be anything triggering. 

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Pearl had been a life saver. When Zedaph finally reasoned through the fact that Mumbo needed someone else to talk to about the eating issues, Mumbo had picked Pearl to be his life line of sorts. She being the literal best, Pearl flew over to the lab. She spent her time there, talking through all Mumbo's concerns as they waited for the potion of death to kick in. She was there in his sleep as he recovered and picked him up as he was younger and stressed and scared.

To be fair though, it was ironic how often the hero needed to be saved.

In this case, it was Pearl flying Mumbo back to his place and hanging out for the next few days. She did have to leave for Empires after a few days, but as now a seven year-old, Mumbo trusted that he could take care of himself decently.

Decently is the key word.

Food had been a struggle. Remembering to eat—like not skipping breakfast every morning—was strangely hard. And not eating was such a habit now, that he felt as fat as a pig whenever he did take part in a meal. The times he ate, he ate alone, feeling messy and gross whenever he actually did get some nutrients. Considering that, other's would ask if he'd had anything to which he would always respond with a quick, and halfway annoyed "yes".

Of course, it was nice to know they cared, but it made him feel incredibly awkward. Why couldn't they just trust him for a few minutes to take care of himself? Why did all his friends suddenly get in his business when they knew something was wrong? Though it was getting better!

(Then again, looking back, he remembered that they had mentioned he should be eating more when all of this was in full swing. Maybe they did have a point.)

Even with these little annoyances and struggles, he was finding the energy within him to actually get up in the morning. That was the biggest bonus, as lately he hadn't been able to work on the human-launcher for their upcoming meeting. There was a lot of work he'd pushed off and now his list was full. (Of course, it wasn't recommended that a seven year old mess with redstone—in fact, Xisuma had said it was dangerous and they'd only be allowed to use it when they were twelve and up—but what was Mumbo supposed to do? Building? This was more important and he'd be really careful not to burn himself.)

The contraption was around the Boatem hole, meaning he'd have to be extra careful not to fall into the abyss—

...that was no longer there?

"Where's the void? Why's there bedrock there?" he asked with growing worry. "It should be bright blue down there right now! Not black! Grian! Impulse! Is there something wrong with the void today?" he called out. Where were his friends when he actually needed them?

"Well—I guess I'll have to check it out myself." He strapped on his elytra knowing full well everyone would tell him he was too little to be flying and that he could get hurt, but it wasn't like he'd lost any coordination! He gripped onto a full stack of rockets and glided down to the bedrock—

—that wasn't there.

"Ahhh!" he yelped before coming to his senses and firing off a rocket. "HELP! There's void down here still!" He boosted himself up to the bedrock that was real, resulting in a headache. "Oww," he said, before realizing that he was actually in danger and he was now falling again. He tried firing a rocket, this time going through the fake bedrock and getting a grip onto the actual stuff.

Despite the closeness to safety, his hands decided "nope, we're going to be extra sweaty so now you'll lose your grip" and he continued to fall.

After all this without any actual air, he felt himself start to suffocate, his lungs burning to an alarming degree. Shaking, he fired another rocket, before once more bumping his head against the bedrock. Too weak to be motivated to fight anymore, he fell to the void. At least he'd only loose a few years if any.

~~~

"Hey, Mumbo, sorry there little man." Tango stooped down in front of Mumbo's bed. "That was meant to get Impulse or Grian. Maybe Pearl if I was lucky."

Mumbo struggled to open his eyes. As he did, he found the room blindingly bright and pulled the covers over his head in an instant.

"Too bright?"

"Mhm," Mumbo answered.

"Lemme hit the lights then." The glow stone and shroom lights that lit the room before went out, leaving their only source of light to be what naturally shone through windows. "There you go. How's that?"

Mumbo tentatively poked his head out with his eyes squinted. "Bet-ta," he said, suddenly realizing that he was about three years younger than before.

"You tired from all that action?"

Mumbo nodded his head, curling up and facing away from Tango. After a few seconds of lying there, Tango started rubbing his back gently. (And it felt so nice to be cared for. The nearly touched-starved part of him loved to be taken care of like this.)

The blankets were soft—softer than usual strangely enough, and the bed sank so nicely even under his small weight that Mumbo was nearly asleep in a couple minutes.

"'night Mumbo. They'll be no more deadly pranks for you for a while," Tango said right before leaving the room. Mumbo was pretty much asleep by that time and didn't really comprehend the words or the fact that he was alone again.

Right now he was at peace, and everything around him like the stuffed animals and blankets and pillow were just so soft that it would take all his will to bring up any worry or sadness or energy or anxiety.

Peace.

It was weird to say he actually had some.