(Author's Note: @HermittpadRecap created a prompt list this past week for the first week of April. And because I don't have enough WIPs already, and because this totally won't be pressuring myself more than necessary, I'm gonna do it.
Really though, I'm rather excited for this project. And these are more like short-stories than what I'd typically do for oneshots, so I think it'll be alright--for those of you who worry too much, I'll be fine.
And I could fit it into this AU nicely, and this series is a sort of stress reliever for me. It'll be a nice break from larger projects (that I work on over at AO3; again, shameless plug), and give me something to post for a few days. So I won't leave anybody hanging AND I'll be enjoying myself.
Hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!)
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Gem, sitting at her front porch, watched Stress run around what they called the "Enchanted Forest"—back when they were growing up from a prior death, Gem and Stress had played fairies, and tended to the land all around them. The idea that for just a few days Gem had seen her own creations as a painting or a fantastical world... well, younger Gem must have tons of imagination. While not bad, her place wasn't that good.
But Stress, managing to have died again–likely while gathering supplies for builds, though that was speculation–was still in awe of the beauty of the hand-made forest, insisting it was enchanted.
Thankfully Gem had spawn-proofed the place; there was little that could harm Stress (besides Cow or Stress' ability to trip over her feet). Gem let her mind wander, not worried for the girl. She probably would've dozed off, hadn't it been for the "GEM! GEM!" that Stress yelled in her ear. "Push me on the swing! Push! Push!"
Gem groaned, nearly wincing at the sound.
"Get up! I need you to push me."
Granted, Stress was only five, so she would need a little help on the swing set. So her pestering could be justified... to an extent.
"Ask nicely," Gem said, making Stress follow this "rule" of politeness just to push off getting up from her seat for another five seconds.
"Pwease!" Stress looked up at Gem with pleading eyes, and Gem laughed at the sight instinctively.
"Alright. Come on."
The two walked—rather, Stress ran and Gem walked—around the path to where the tree was. Even after all this time, the tree's trunk was carefully rooted in the ground and its branches were unbending. As Stress was waiting on Gem to make it over, she started messing with the spore blossoms that were mixed in the leaves.
"There's a flower! Gem there's a flower!" As Gem made her way over to the tree, she found Stress completely distracted. "Can you get the flower down for me?" Gem shot a quick look, a little reminding look with no frustration in it. "Please get the flower down?" Stress tried again.
To which Gem climbed up on the swing—advising Stress not to do the same—and grabbed the spore blossoms by the stem and yanked them out. She got the three out of the tree, and climbed around carefully, wary of the swing that could spin all around and knock her off. "Here you go." Gem poured the bunch of large flowers into Stress' arms.
"Thank you!" Stress tried to hug Gem, the flowers getting a bit squashed and wilted in the process. "Oh no... the flowers..." Stress frowned at them, trying her hardest to straighten out the petals. "They're all ruined."
Gem, very aware of the possible meltdown, took charge before the problem could escalate. "Stress, why don't we put these in a little jar. Make a little bouquet out of two, and maybe take the third one and do something crafty with it?"
And at that, Stress lightened up. "And we could give it to False when we finish!" Stress ran back to the house, wilted flowers in hand, now not worried any longer about the flowers.
From there the two figured a way to arrange the spore blossoms along with some dandelions and oxeye daisies in a pail. The process was taken very seriously, Stress taking her sweet time to meticulously pick through the many colors of ribbon to find the "perfectest one" as she said. And once they had their bouquet of flowers for False, the two went to plucking off petals from the last one, gluing them to pieces of paper, from there turning the creations into cards for any random hermit they might pass.
"It's very beautiful, Stress," Gem said, as they got all their creations together.
"Thank you!" Stress exclaimed, putting a flower in Gem's hair. "Now you're berry beautiful too! Now we gotta make False pretty!" (It seemed Stress's energy to do any and everything hadn't ended, as she still wanted to meet up with their fellow swamp gal.) "But first... we go on the swing!"
Aaaaand there she went again, booking it across the paths. It would be a miracle if Gem could keep up with her for another few days.
YOU ARE READING
Child's Play - A Hermitcraft 8 AU
Fanfiction*Cover created by me* Evil Ex-or Corex-has created a problem in Season 8. A respawn glitch-or something they've dubbed the Child's Curse. Each time a hermit dies or server hops back into Hermitcraft, they're placed between the ages of 4-8. This crea...
