The Turf War Twisted

Or Maybe Too Good

The twang of the bow string, that was the only thing that seemed to be moving in that moment. Everything from his eyes, his squinted, beady eyes, it was all in slow-motion. There wasn't much time for a reaction, not from any of them.

Still seeming to go slower than time would usually allow, Grian's body could only react naturally. His body spiralled, his shoulder getting thrown to the left as his arms flopped around like wet noodles. His head drooped behind him limply as his eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. With his right arm, the only thing Grian felt he could control, he reached out towards the window that Scar had flown in. Even with his desperate, feeble reach, there was nothing left to do besides deploying his elytra.

Everything was a blur of colour, and before he knew it, Grian just fell. He fell down, down, down, almost waiting for the ground. Everything went blank in his mind, not a single thought seemed to be able to form. Through the silence of his empty mind, one voice broke out, distorted, but clear enough.

"Hold on, I've got you."

There was still a twinge of pain that Grian could feel in his shoulder, but through the throbbing of his shoulder and fast beating of his heart, he slowly opened up his eyes. In his weak squint, the blur in his eyes started to become clear. Holding him bridal style, Scar, elytra deployed and zipped the two of them back down to the ground. Grian wanted to say something, anything, but he was too out of it to get any words out.

Once the two of them reached the ground, Scar rested Grian down, leaning his body against one of the diamond trees. With wider eyes now, Grian looked over at his left shoulder, seeing the arrow protruding from it. His body tensed up at the sight of it, looking up at Scar who was frantic in front of him.

"Weird question, but uhhh, do you know if the arrow hit any of your bones at all?" Scar asked, his voice uncontrollably shaky with every word. His physical appearance reflected that, his hands shaking and legs shaking as well as he paced slightly around Grian.

For some reason, Grian still felt like he couldn't say anything. Even when he peeled his mouth open, wanting any words to come out, it was pointless. Maybe it was the shock of it all. It seemed to just turn off his brain, make him forget how to function. Realising he couldn't speak at the moment, he just shook his head. Scar nodded, his breathing heavy as he kept talking with Grian, despite it being clear to him now that Grian couldn't speak. Scar bit his lip nervously, looking Grian in the eyes.

"Okay, good news, you're probably right, because the arrow doesn't look too deep." There was a small pause where Grian just blinked, a sort of silent way to say 'go on' without actually talking. "Bad news, I'm definitely gonna be the one that has to pull it out." With his last sentence, Scar gulped deeply, looking at the arrow in Grian's shoulder with disgust. He sighed, pushing his hands down by his sides as if bracing himself. "Okay, I'll try my best to be gentle." Scar kneeled down to Grian's level. He gripped the point of the arrow tightly with one hand, the other holding the cresting. "Three." Grian braced himself, trying not to tense up too much in case that would affect anything. "Two." Scar exhaled deeply, watching Grian shut his eyes. "One!"

With a firm, upwards force, Scar pulled the point out of Grian's shoulder. Grian winced with pain and Scar threw the arrow aside. Distraught, Scar quickly pulled off his blazer, lifting up Grian's arm and wrapping it around the wound. He tied the sleeves of the blazer to keep it in place, tight enough to apply pressure, but loose enough to not make things worse.

"Are you doing okay?" Scar asked, trying not to look too hard at Grian's bleeding. He knew what he was saying was more of a rhetorical question, but he did want to know if pulling the arrow out had made things worse.

It was obvious Grian wasn't too fond of seeing the blood either with his eyes still shut. Grian nodded his head hesitantly, mostly lying about being okay. Though, he'd faced worse injuries before.

"How painfully predictable."

Both were taken aback by the voice above them, but Scar especially. With wide eyes, Scar looked up to the branches of the tree, a terrifying confusion taking over him.

Bdubs sat on one of the tree branches, his left foot was set on the branch with his leg pulled up to his side. His other leg hung off the side of the branch, swaying back and forth. An arrow was casually held in his left hand, resting on his leg. He looked down coldly at Grian and Scar.

"Bdubs? Bdubs, what're you doing here?" Scar asked with a small stutter, barely able to process everything that was happening.

Without warning, Bdubs flew down from the branch, landing softly in front of Scar. Grian opened up his eyes, turning his head to see Bdubs there. He looked at Bdubs sceptically, squinting his eyes. Suddenly, Bdubs had a huge grin spread across his face, spreading out his arms as if to give Scar a hug.

"Oh, Scar," Bdubs said in a sadistic tone. He kept approaching Scar, suddenly pulling back his left arm and swinging it. "You're such an idiot." Bdubs' swift punch hit Scar right in the cheekbone, giving him more backlash than he expected. It threw Scar off his balance, making him step back and nearly trip on Grian's legs.

"Oh my god! What was that for?" Scar exclaimed, pressing on the left side of his face where it'd been hit.

"I can't believe you! I come out here, I see a Resistance member fluttering about the Shopping District like it's nothing... and look who's helping him!" It was almost like sparks set off in Bdubs eyes, staring at Scar with a burning rage. "I knew it! I knew something was up when you signed up for that stupid game of Tag!"

"What are you talking about?!" Scar was nearly fuming right back at him, confused but matching his anger. "Did you just want me to leave Grian like this? And what in the world does this have to do with Tag 2: Electric Boogaloo?"

"Xisuma told me that you and Grian had been stuck some tunnel system together. And that you were both acting suspicious afterwards. How dumb do you think I am to not put the pieces together?" Bdubs threw his arms up with disappointment, shaking his head. "I've been with you since the beginning! And this is how it's gonna be? After all the time of me being by your side, being loyal!" He stepped up closer to Scar driving an angry finger at his chest. "You're a traitor, but I love you. I always have. And it's awful."

Memories popped into Scar's head, faster than he knew they could.

His constant encouraging words...

"You'll do great."

The gifts...

It's time for you to get a watch. Oh wait, you have one now ;)

All the times Bdubs went to check on him at Town Hall...

"Hey? Mr. Goodtimes?"

Scar inhaled sharply, his eyes almost unfocusing trying to understand everything. "You wha-?"

"No point now," Bdubs said, glaring up at Scar. "I'm not interested in turncoats."

(word count: 1239 words)