Fall of Hermitcraft

11

Pearl

I understood the fact that Hermitcraft had gone to shit, but I hadn't realized how far to shit it had gone.

Everything around the Perimeter for at least three miles (with the exception of Scarland) had been completely scorched. Trenches had popped up almost everywhere, especially in the Shopping District. The entire sky was choked with smoke and ashes.

Scarland's mood had completely changed, now serving as a refugee camp for the Hermits Doc had declared to be enemies and Goats who had defected or ran away from the war.  The Soup Group Valley had been completely shut off from the rest of the world, and Impulse had built a bunch of mortars and air defenses to keep people away.

The Deepfrost Citadel, now seemingly finished, was completely dark and silent, filling me with immediate concern for Tango and his family.

My home had been turned into a warzone.

"Holy... this is where you're from?" Zara asked. I nodded.

"Usually the weathers a bit better than this. More sunshine and less bullets." I said drily. She rolled her eyes, but her lip twitched up slightly. It was something, at least.

"Land somewhere else, pal. I have a new toy I'm itching to try." Scar's voice came over the radio as we came in to land, colder than I thought possible for him. I quickly keyed in.

"Scar, it's me. Clear an area in the main square." I said. Surprised silence followed.

"Jeez, Pearl... ok, go ahead. We have a lot to catch up on." Scar said after a moment. "Also, Jellie missed you."

I smiled at that.

As soon as the landing ramp dropped, Scar rushed up and embraced me tightly, in his full Hotguy gear. A ragged hood was draped over his head, and a massive, sleek black sniper rifle was strapped around his back. Jellie meowed excitedly, clambering up into my arms. I smiled, stroking behind her ears.

"Did you find Gri?" he asked. I shook my head.

"He's stuck on Karnvas. We'd need a miracle to get him out of there." I said. His shoulders sagged slightly.

"At least you're ok." he said. Then he backed up a step, reaching for his rifle at something behind me. Ivan growled, hammer over his shoulder.

"He's with me!" I yelped, raising a hand to stop Scar. Hesitantly, he pulled his hand back.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ivan Strongwinter. Where can an old Severnyy get a snack in this place?" Ivan said, stepping past. Scar jerked his head to the right.

"Snack bar, just down the street. Everything sweet is gone. Hope you like beans and potatoes." he said. Ivan's eyes lit up.

"And save some for the refugees." I added. He nodded, lumbering away and scaring the shit out of a few refugees along the way as the rest of the crew came down.

"What's our next move?" I asked Scar. He shrugged helplessly.

"Right now I'm just trying to make sure everyone gets to the next day. And right now that means fighting Doc off. For real." he said. He squeezed his eyes shut, a single tear running down his face.

For a moment, he looked just like the little boy Xisuma had brought back from the Vexlands all those years ago: terrified, confused, and wrapped in a thousand tons of trauma that he absolutely refused to share, whatever it was that had given him those scars. Even if I didn't know what, I knew that he had suffered more trauma in his seventeen years of life than he should've been able to handle. And yet here he was, still smiling through it all. I had always respected him for that.