Soulbreak - A MCYT 3rd/Last/Double Life FanFiction

Chapter 17 - The Trade

[PoV - Scar, Grian]

The tall, muscled man was very proud of his tan... ooh that rhymed! The man chuckled to himself as he narrated along. His inner narrator was his only friend in the long, bleak days he'd been alone in Life. Except the one time he saw someone. They'd wordlessly traded punches and continued off in different directions.

"Aw, man!" The man had stubbed his toe, lost in his thoughts. "Aw man, oh man!" The stranger yelped as he bounced on one foot. "Oh," Something caught his eyes through the trees that made him forget the pain. "Oh my,"

It was the widest ravine the man had ever seen. And in the ravine...

The man's eyes widened and he began limping away as fast as he could.

. . .

Grian was beginning to have second thoughts. If Pearl's dead I will murder her myself. Grian thought fiercely. Every now and then he couldn't help glancing back and hoping she was (or wasn't, depending on whether or not he was dwelling on the past night) following him.

So far Grian had seen no one. To be fair, it had only been two nights and a day but Grian had thought he was bound to run into someone. Suddenly he heard voices. Grian immediately jumped behind a tree and began to creep forward, trying to pinpoint the voices while remaining unseen.

"...and I said to him, where on earth do you think you're going with that kind of target on your back? Thank Notch above I'm not soulbound to that buffoon..."

Grian wondered who the stranger was talking about.

"Where's he gone now?"

"North, I think. But who knows where he is? He could be all the way on the south side of the map by now. Man's a real wild card."

At that moment Grian ankle twisted painfully and he yelped and hopped, cursing his soulmate internally. Grian bit his lip to stop from making another noise. Thankfully the two men (Grian had deduced that the voices were male in nature) hadn't heard him.

"Never mind him. Have you heard from Joel?" The second man asked.

"No, and I don't care to. If he thinks he's starting some kind of grand resistance movement against Mojang he can take his ambitions elsewhere. I don't plan on being slowly tortured to death for a lost cause."

Joel's starting a resistance against Mojang? In their own experiment... he's either stupid or brilliant. We could all just band together and not kill each other... Grian entertained the thought for a minute before reality came crashing back on him. He's seen what happened to those who defied Mojang. They don't last longer than a day. We'll get more time since they'll want to give us a chance before they destroy their little experiment. But they'll send fire storms and plagues that'll wipe us all out eventually.

"Impulse and False will talk some sense into them, don't get your little head worked up."

Aha! Grian finally pinpointed the voice.

"You should really talk in a more discreet place, Tim." Grian grinned, stepping out into a tiny clearing in the birch forest.

"Ah! Grian! Don't you do that to me! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Jimmy gasped for breath. Grian laughed.

"What's going, lads?" Grian inquired.

"Impulse and Fa-"

"Whoah, are we sure we should be telling him anything?" Bdubs stopped Jimmy mid-sentence.

"You almost got me! You little trickster." Jimmy realized he probably shouldn't be telling his potential enemy valuable information.

"Relax, we can do a little trade. You tell me what you know and I'll tell you what I know. As far as I'm aware you have no idea what's going on in the south and I haven't caught wind of what's going down in the east yet. It's a fair exchange."

"He's right." Jimmy nodded and Bdubs glared, pinching Jimmy's arm and then wincing himself.

"So you guys are soulmates?" Grian whistled.

"See! This is exactly what we don't want him to know!" Bdubs threw hands.

"What are you talking about!? You were the one who pinched me!" Jimmy gaped. "Mad - absolutely mad," Jimmy muttered under his breath.

"I'm getting bored. Do you want to know who's in the South and what they're doing or not?" Of course, Grian didn't intend to tell them everything but he had to know what he'd walked into. He wanted to avoid Joel if possible.

"Why should we trust you?" Bdubs asked finally.

"You shouldn't. But I'm the only source of information you're going to get."

"And why's that?"

"You'll know if you agree to trade with me."

"...Fine." Bdubs conceded at last.

"Now who put you in charge!?" Jimmy shrieked in outrage. Bdubs elbowed him again.

"You first." Grian gestured to the opposing party. Bdubs looked like he was about to argue but Jimmy got talking and Bdubs couldn't be bothered to say another word.

"Joel's starting a resistance against Mojang. I think he's planning on destroying the arena somehow. False and Impulse are soulbound. They're the most sensible ones, they're working with animals right now - stockpiling cows and trying to get a monopoly on leather.

Mumbo, Ren, and Skizz have all banded together. We're placing bets on which of them are soulbound to each other. I'm betting on Mumbo and Ren - you can place your bets with Impulse. I think he's making a competition of it. They're living in the hill directly west of here. Oh and Mumbo and Ren's tower is a straight shot nor-"

"You've told him far too much, Jimmy!" Bdubs cut in. "Are you trying to get our allies killed?" Before Jimmy could respond Bdubs rounded on Grian. "Your turn."

Grian couldn't help but notice Bdubs' hand drift to a sharp object barely concealed in his pocket. Grian gulped.

"Gem, Shubble, Pearl, Martyn, Scott, and Cleo are back in the south I think."

"You think?"

"I was living with Gem, Scott, and Cleo. Cleo and Scott up and left a couple of weeks ago - I have no idea whether or not they've left the area. I never saw Shubble myself but she was reported to be somewhere close the last time I heard of her. Probably just due southwest."

"But you've seen Pearl and Gem."

"Correct." Grian kept the details of everyone's locations and going-on as vague as possible.

"And where are they located?"

"I have no idea where Pearl is now. But Gem's in the mountains."

"Are any of them soulbound." Bdubs kept his questioning going. Grian didn't respond.

"I'd recommend for your own well-being you answer," Jimmy warned, glancing at his soulbound.

"...No." Grian wasn't going to give anything away that might put Pearl in danger.

"You're lying." Bdubs' eyes narrowed.

"Cleo and Scott are probably soulbound, why else would they leave the main group together? He's trying to protect his bestie." Jimmy spoke up.

"Is that true?" Bdubs raised an eyebrow.

"I can neither confirm nor deny." Grian's heart beat so loudly he was surprised if the others couldn't hear him.

"In other words, definitely." Jimmy translated. Bdubs scoffed but didn't continue his line of questioning.

"That was a lousy trade," Bdubs growled.

Grian sensed the immediate danger was over. He began to relax before he heard leaves rustling behind him and the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the crunching forest floor.