Soulbound - A Double Life Story

- Demise -

Jimmy

   I gasp, the air in my lungs fresh and harsh. My eyes fly open and immediately close to the sun. My arm flies to my face and my chest. How am I alive? I fell from the top of a mountain. I gently stretch my legs and arms. How are they not broken? I slowly sit up and I rub my eyes, trying again to open them. I look down at my clothing to find my white shirt stained with red. So they weren't lying, we do have multiple lives.

   "Hey, friend..." My eyes whip around to lock on a tall man covered in soot. His clothes are largely burned and his soft blue eyes look almost guilty. My mouth drops open a bit before I rub my hand over my face. He extends a hand towards me and I cautiously take it, letting him pull me to my feet.

   "Hi," I stick out my hand, "The name's Jimmy and I think you have something to explain to me, hm?" His face turns back to guilt as he carefully shakes my hand. He pushes his sooty hair out of his eyes and looks at me.

   "Yeah, um." He hesitates and I cross my arms. Whatever happened that killed us, it hurt like hell and I want to know why. "There may have been a whole hoard of zombies that were chasing me down a cave and, well, I was so focused on the mob attacking me from one side that I didn't look behind me, and this weird green creepy thing came up and exploded in my face."

   I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. His eyes met mine and we stood there a moment, looking at each other. He was really quite handsome. His hair was bright orange, shimmering in the sun like fire. His eyes were like deep pools of dark chocolate pulling me into their gaze. I was drawn to him and his dirty, sporadic nature. Though covered in soot, I could see the scars of the explosion. Supposedly having happened no less than a minute previous they were already white and taught against his skin. I must have the same on my own body. He was about my height, his hand found its way to my forehead where he pulled a strand of hair out of my eyes.

   "You're really beautiful" Warmth crawled up my face at his statement and his face turned toward the ground.

___________________________________________

Joel

   "Woah..." I lower my torch as light pours from the cave in front of me. Were people living down here? Etho's hand tightens around mine as we walk slowly towards the opening. There is a faint argument echoing along the rock walls, was it another pair?

   The cave we enter towers over our heads. Pillars of rough stone reach the dim roof where the torchlight doesn't reach, stalactites hanging down, their points sharp and threatening. There is a small group of people standing on one side of the cave, huddled around a pair of furnaces and debating a topic yet known to myself and Etho.
   "Have we met these people?" Etho says, leaning over and adjusting his mask higher on his face.
   "I don't think so, they still look familiar though so they must have been at the Clearing" Etho nods, grunting as we approach, the murmuring becoming louder.
   There are four people. One specifically catches my eye. He is shorter than the rest, his brown hair ragged and his bare arms covered in scars. He is coated in dust and a shining metal pickaxe rests on his shoulder. He laughs showing off a gap in his teeth. However the thing that really catches my eye is none of these traits. The sides of his head are flat where his ears should be and two furry ears sat on top of his head, twitching as he listened to the conversation.
   This man is the first to notice us, his ear twitching and his head turning in our direction. Etho steps back a bit and I step in front of him, protecting him in case they are in fact hostile. Finally we are within earshot and we can begin to hear their conversation.
   "Hey!" The gap-toothed man smiles, waving his arms over his head. The others turn to look at us and I can feel Etho shrink behind me. A woman with ginger hair resting against her back spoke first.
   "My name is Cleo," She smiled and pushed her hair behind her shoulder, her pale skin was warm and lively, flowers woven through the strands of her hair and stuffed into the pockets of the knapsack that sat against her knees. "This is my best friend Scott, —" She gestured to a taller man, a kind smile on his face and bright cyan hair. A flower sat behind his ear, seemingly out there by this Cleo. He seemed nice though he seemed to be staring oddly between Etho and myself.
   "I'm Ren," The man with the gap-tooth grin spoke, his ears twitching with a twinkle in his eye. I feel Etho slip his hand into mine as we reach the cluster and stop walking. "... and this is Mr. Benjamin Sleng." The man he gestures to has darker skin and dark brown eyes, almost black. His hair is cropped short to his head and he wears what looks like a hand knit blue sweater.
   "Just B is fine; or Big B" He chimes in, a kind smile on his face. As I turn my gaze to him, I notice that he too has ear atop his head, furry and black, drooping down the sides of his head.
   "Uh, cool." I say smiling a bit. "My name is Joel." I squeeze Etho's hand. "This is Etho."
   "Nice to meet you Joel and Etho." Cleo says, her smile widening. Scott suddenly snapped out of whatever trance he seemed to have been in.
"Are you two soulbound?" He asked. Cleo turned to him and back to us.
"We've been asking everyone we see, can't seem to find our soulbounds." As I open my mouth to answer I feel Etho squeeze my hand.
"Yeah we are." Etho speaks, his voice low and quiet. Ren seems surprised and smiles.
"He speaks!"
"What about you all?" I ask, taking a step closer to the conversation.
"Nope." Big B states, crossing his arms. "Ren's been caving for weeks and I just joined him to make sure he was still alive." Ren smirked.
"Cleo and I came down for more iron." Scott pipes up, though he still stares oddly at the group, as if calculating. "Have you two actually tested if you're soulbound?" He says, aiming his question at B and Ren.
"Not really, but we've been caving together for a bit I would be surprised if we were." States B.
"Yeah he's annoying as hell, but perhaps—"
Ren grinned and wound up his arm like something out of a comic book before punching B directly in the arm and wincing.
"No way in hell..."

"Bye guys!" I yell as Etho practically drags me away from the cave. "Come visit the Ship sometime!"
"Will do!" Cleo yells back. Scott gives a kind smile and a wave. Ren waves from behind B whose shoulders he is hugging. B smiles, his hands clasping Ren's.
With that, Etho and I duck into a cave and continue on our way, having stocked up on Ren's homemade bread and herbs from Cleo, we were set for a couple of days at least.
   Our journey home was relatively uneventful. We stopped to check in on Impulse and Bdubs but nothing had really changed there. They were still just as in love as before, though with a house this time.
   As we approached the large shipwreck we called home, a strange sight caught my eye. An odd entity stood in the shadows of a tree, its black skin stretched taught on its bones and its eyes shining purple in the dying sunlight.
   "Etho?" I stopped walking, turning to my companion.
   "Yeah?"
   "What is that?" I pointed to the man-like beast. Etho looked confused and a bit curious, his eyes wide and his head tilted slightly. As I stared at the creature, it turned to meet my gaze. Before I could react, it was in front of me. Its jaw unhinged and a bloodcurdling scream erupting from within. My blood chilled and I felt Etho drag me into a desperate run for home.
   It appeared in front of us, still screaming, its abnormally long arms reaching for us and its shadowy teeth bared. We skidded into a turn towards a small lifeboat that I had been trying to build, hiding behind the wooden planks.
   The creature advanced, its arms extended and its eyes angry. It stepped up to reach us over the boat and suddenly stopped. It was unable to move. I slowly stood, pulling Etho along with me.
   "What is that thing?" I leaned forward only to jump back as it swung an arm at me. "It has to be at least eight feet tall. I've never seen anything like it."
   "I have." My gaze locks with the terrified eyes of my partner as he stares at the creature. "But only in storybooks." I raise an eyebrow, turning back to the creature in question. It struggles to wriggle its way free from the boat but its feet seem to be stuck firmly.
   "What is it called?"
   "An Enderman."

___________________________________________

   "An Enderman."
   A smile, this was it. The second death. The fans were going to love that chase scene. Mumbo smiled, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the console.
Joel began to poke at the Enderman, its face getting angrier and angrier. Etho stood back, his face white as a sheet.
"Now."
Joel tripped on a small piece of earth, placed my none other than Mumbo himself. He fell onto the boat causing the flimsy carpentry to collapse. The Enderman stood to his full height and lunged at Joel.
Etho tried to jump to his rescue but it was too late. The Enderman's fingers locked around Joel's neck.
Once an Enderman had its fingers locked, there was no escape. Etho knew this but as his own airflow was cut off, he crawled to Joel's side, interlocking their fingers as he gasped for breath.
"See you soon.... Joel." He passed out as Joel continued to struggle a moment. His eyes rolled back and he went limp. The monster squeezed its hand, snapping Joel's neck. It stood, its mouth closing before its form blew away like smoke and it was gone.
I smiled, standing and approaching my office door. They had no idea what was to come.