Tainted and Warped

TWO

Gameknight spent the rest of the afternoon with Herder, playing with the wolf pups and feeding the horses and laughing like nothing was wrong. Herder was growing up fast, Gameknight realized. Not as fast as he would have if the days in Minecraft were as long as the days on Earth (not fast enough that Gameknight would watch his friends die of old age and be left alone), but fast. He had an assistant now, Saddler, and he was beginning to showcase more and more of Crafter's wisdom every day.

Now, though, the sun was getting lower, which meant one thing for him: guard duty. I can't afford to let myself relax for even a second.

He climbed out the tower, still in iron armor instead of his usual diamond since everything was safe (right?).

"You're late." Hunter was already surveying the horizon, though not as intently as she would've if there was a threat.

"Hello to you, too, nice to see you." Gameknight grinned.

"Yeah, yeah." Hunter rolled her eyes, breaking contact with the forest to look at him. Then, her voice softened. "How have you been?"

I watched you die. "Good, yeah, just busy. What about you? Anything interesting happen lately?"

"Nah," she shook her head. "At least, nothing nearly as interesting as a monster army coming after us because of the User-that-is-not-a-user. You set the bar really high, you know? It's boring now."

Hunter stuck arrows into the ground and drew her bow, the dust in the air of the stronghold glistening in the enchantment's light.

"I think we're enacting something Gameknight told me about once– Custer's Last Stand."

"No, don't talk like that," Monkeypants argued, "When there is life, there is hope."

"Not this time." Hunter said grimly as the zombies crossed the corner, biting into her and destroying her and killing her and all was death.

Snap! Gameknight jumped.

"Hey! Heeeee-yyyy!" Hunter snapped in his face again.

"Oh... sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck. Hunter wasn't a zombie. Everything was good. "Just thinking."

"About what?" She raised an eyebrow. Did she look concerned? I can't let anyone know.

"Nothing much," he lied again. He was good at that now. "Just... how different everything is when there isn't a war going on."

Hunter grinned, satisfied with his answer. "Oh, it's so much nicer. I'll show you around later."

"That sounds fun," he agreed. If there is a later.

They stood there for a while, just watching the woods. Gameknight kept thinking he saw something that was going to hurt him, but he kept his mouth shut because even he knew it was probably nothing. Every time, he was right.

"Is your right leg okay?" Hunter asked out of the blue.

"Wha- yeah? Why wouldn't it be?" Gameknight grinned. She can tell, she can tell, she can tell. I can't let her know.

"You've been leaning left this whole time. You usually shift legs."

"Do I?" He quirked an eyebrow. "I had never noticed."

"Well..." Hunter seemed flustered. "Just let me know if you need any help."

**"I don't need help." His response was automatic, unintentional, so deeply ingrained within him that removing it felt like ripping out veins with a fork.

"Oh... kay then." Hunter patted him on the back. When's the last time I've been hugged before coming here? He couldn't help but lean into the touch.

They lingered like that for a while.

I could jump. The trees were rustling in the wind. He shivered. No, I don't want to. Stop that.

*"Hey guys!" A voice echoed from the ladder. Gameknight jumped, pain shooting through him as he landed on his right side. Hunter gave him a sharp look.

Stitcher's head popped up, a big smile on her face. "Gameknight!"

"Hey Stitcher!" Remember when you used a fishing pole to defeat a manticore? I do. "How's it been?"

"Soooo good, Gameknight! I can shoot better than Hunter now!"

"Really?" Gameknight looked over at Hunter with a smirk.

She scoffed. "You beat me once."

"Pfft, I could beat you again."

"Is that a challenge?"

"I'm going to test you with some challenges, to see if you're as good as people say. If not, then bye-bye villagers." Entity303's cackling voice rang out, leaving Gameknight standing with Hunter in front of the village, their friends in imminent danger once more.

He shook his head, casually glancing up. There was no lava above the village. Of course there wasn't.

"Where have you been, Gameknight?" Stitcher asked. "You've been gone for so long."
"I know, I'm sorry..." I don't want to be here. "School just got busy, that's all."

"Laaameeeee." That reminded Gameknight that Stitcher was only 12. 12-year-olds are children. I was only 12.

"I know." He shrugged. "But that's the way things go sometimes."

Sometimes you make horrific mistakes that lead to the death of everyone, and then you fix them, and then no one knows but you, and then you're forever stained by what you've done and what you've seen, and...

Hunter's hand rested on his shoulder. He looked up and saw her brown eyes, filled with confusion and concern. Stitcher had gotten awfully quiet. Like a statue.

"You should go to sleep, Gameknight," she said, turning him to the ladder. "You seem... tired."

He shook his head. "But I-"

"Gameknight." Hunter's voice almost seemed angry. "You don't need to run yourself ragged. There's no war. It's okay. Go to sleep."

I'm scared of what I'll find in my dreams.

He said goodnight to Stitcher and let Hunter lead him down the ladder. Now that she mentioned it, he was so very tired.

Hunter took him to the home she shared with Stitcher and Herder. Of course, he already knew where it was, but the company was nice so he wasn't alone in the dark.

"Thanks," he mumbled as Hunter brought a spare bed and sheets out to the living room/kitchen floor. There wasn't much use for guest rooms in villager homes.

"I told you to tell me if you needed help." She shrugged, brushing a piece of hair out of her face.

"I don't." I don't.

She sighed. "I didn't say you did. Just... you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know." No, I can't. Gameknight looked away as he slid into the bed. It felt so bad to lie to Hunter. When did she get so observant?

"Well..." She hovered in the doorway for a bit as if she had more to say, but thought better of it. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he called back.

He tried to sleep, he really did. But after tossing and turning and shaking and jolting himself awake from a nightmare that might come true too many times, he gave up (again), opting instead to sit at the kitchen table.

That wasn't a good idea either. It was dark outside. The torches made shadows. Shadows hurt. He sat completely still, rigid, hands clasping each other with enough force to draw blood, eyes flicking from one window to the next. Left, middle, right, middle, left, middle, right, middle, left...