Warden (Homewreckers)

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by Rockythegreater

by Rockythegreater

Series: Double Life

Plot: Impulse and Bdubs are trying to sneak through the Deep Dark to find valuable loot, but Bdubs has some bad memories regarding the Warden...

TW: HEAVY ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACK

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"Okay, we ready?" Bdubs said, loading a small bag full of snowballs.

"Yeah, I think so. You want me to run by the plan again?" Impulse asked, making sure he had enough wool and torches on him.

"Yes please," Bdubs answered.

"So, first things first," Impulse started, "we know someone already made a staircase down, so we'll use that as our entrance. We make a small bridge across with a little bit of wool, but we gotta conserve it, so once we're a few blocks out, we'll start crouching to get around instead. Every now and then, we'll place down wool so we can put a torch on it and light up the area without setting off the sensors, and either once we get what we came for, if we run out of wool, or if we're getting chased, we'll go back out. Preferably we'll mine another exit out just to make any future trips safer, but if we get ourselves into a tough bind and we need to get out quick, we'll just book it to the staircase. Got that?"

Bdubs nodded, giving Impulse a determined smile. Though, on the inside, he couldn't be any more nervous. He never told his soulmate before this, but he was terrified of the Warden for more reasons than one. Even worse, he was just afraid of the dark in general, but he was willing to tough it out for his partner. Besides, they were being as careful as careful could get, what's the worst that could happen?

A little while later, the two had finally made their way to the deep dark. The sculk beneath their feet felt mushy and damp, and the atmosphere around them was unbelievably moist. Bdubs tried to take one last deep breath, but it was challenging to relax himself for even a second with the humidity in the air.

Impulse made the first step forward, placing down a couple blocks of wool for him and his partner to step on. The light from the staircase made it a few blocks ahead of them, at which the end of it got Impulse to start the torch placing. A few more wool blocks later, and the duo got to their crouching phase.

"Remember," Impulse whispered, "the shriekers need to be set off 3 times before a Warden spawns, and if we get separated, we'll go back to the entrance and we'll wait for each other. Don't try calling out for me, it's a lot of noise,"

"Got it," Bdubs whispered back. They finally made their way to a chest, setting off some sensors along the way but not any shriekers. That streak would quickly change when the chest they found was guarded by 2 shriekers.

Bdubs looked at Impulse with a "What do we do now?" expression, hoping his partner would get the memo without him having to speak. It seemed to have worked, because Impulse gave him a signal to wait where he was, and the taller stepped forward. He covered the chest on all ends but one in wool, hoping it would muffle the sound.

To the two in front of them it did, but both of them neglected to notice the one behind them. As soon as Impulse opened the box, the hidden shrieker set off, and that in turn immediately set off the two in front.

Not even one chest in, and the ground opened up to a Warden.

Impulse rushed to grab a single echo shard before being hit with blindness, preventing him from seeing much else. As the effect hit Bdubs as well, his reaction to call out for Impulse was, ironically, impulsive.

"Imp, I-!" Bdubs called, quickly slapping his hands over his mouth after remembering why that was a bad idea. Impulse made his way over, but by then it was too late. Its sculk covered antlers croaked and glowed, and not a second later, the Warden's hand came crushing down not 2 feet from where the duo stood. Impulse grabbed his partner's hand and made a break for the opposite side of the cave.

"Where are we gonna go?" Bdubs asked, trying not to speak loudly but having a hard time whispering as he ran.

"We just need to get some distance, then I can distract him with the snowballs, we'll be-" Impulse almost finished his sentence, but was cut off by a sonic blast crashing in between them. Their hands disconnected as Impulse went flying forward, while Bdubs tumbled backwards a few blocks. The collision made the cave shake, some of the deepslate from the ceiling falling apart and falling down. A group of particularly heavy ones landed on Bdubs's arm, pinning him to the ground and making him cry out in pain.

The time between his breaths got shorter and shorter as he tried to pull his definitely broken arm out from the rubble. He tried to call out for Impulse again, but it was like his body learned more than he did, because he couldn't get any sound out no matter how hard he tried. He heard the Warden's corroded noises behind him, and the feeling in his chest grew tighter until he realized he wasn't breathing at all anymore. Trying to breathe was like trying to forcibly shove air down his throat as if it weren't something he normally took in all the time.

His senses were rapidly disappearing. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear the Warden anymore. He tried to ground himself by grabbing onto the rocks with his free hand, but he couldn't focus on anything. Everything was happening, yet nothing was happening. His mind flashed to the last time he got caught in the middle of a Warden attack, but all he could remember was the running. Running was what kept him safe. Now he couldn't even move from his spot. He was about to pass out. No, he was about to die. He was dying.

Then he felt something. He heard a voice before the weight on his arm was lifted, even if it only got rid of a tiny bit of the pain. He was sitting up with his back against a wall now, a light pressure on his shoulder and chest, but not a tight and uncomfortable feeling. More like a calming alert, like something was keeping him safe there.

"Deep breaths honey, you're okay," he heard Impulse whisper. Bdubs complied, focusing on his partner's hands to keep himself grounded as his breath finally slowed down. He could feel streaks of tears that he didn't notice before running down his face, and they were noticeably in his eyes too as he opened them.

"I-... I-" Bdubs tried to speak, but Impulse quickly shushed him.

"You don't have to say anything," he said, "the Warden's dealt with, take your time,"

As happy as he was to see his soulmate again, Bdubs closed his eyes and held Impulse's hand close to himself. Impulse brought him into a hug, which they gladly shared for a long while.

"...Can we go back home?..." Bdubs asked softly.

"Of course," Impulse nodded, gently helping his partner up and mining out a new staircase to the surface.