the fear of death (follows from the fear of life)

Untitled Part 1

As days went, this was a pretty nice one. The sun was bright but not hot, he was hanging out with the Hermits and they weren't angry with him, and he was in no immediate danger. Stress had laid out some wool to serve as a picnic blanket, and they were all eating steak and chatting and watching Iskall and False practice their PVP skills on each other.

"Say, Ex, why don't you ever participate in PVP?" asked Wels. "Seems like it'd be your kind of thing."

Ex ignored the sudden nervous swooping feeling in his gut and shrugged his shoulders. "I just don't, I guess."

"Wanna give it a shot?" offered Iskall, leaning on his sword. "I think False is going to win if I keep fighting her, and my respawn is all the way back at my base."

False nudged his shoulder. "You admitting defeat?"

"Not at all! It's a tactical retreat."

"Mhm."

"No thanks," said Ex.

"Aw, come on, it's fun! Even Mumbo enjoys it, and he's the worst there is."

"I object to that statement," said Mumbo, but everybody ignored him.

Iskall exchanged his sword for his bow and notched an arrow. "Just for a few minutes?"

Without warning, he let the arrow fly, and it wedged itself into Ex's arm. Ex gasped and grabbed his arm, narrowing his eyes at Iskall, who only grinned and notched another arrow. Ex grabbed his sword and jumped behind a large rock just as Iskall shot the second arrow.

The other Hermits muttered excitedly, some even going so far as to whistle and clap.

Ex hunched down behind his rock, trying to strategize. He didn't have a long-ranged weapon, only his sword, so Iskall had the upper hand. He needed to gain an advantage. Higher ground? That would only work if Iskall lost his bow.

Ex peered cautiously out from behind his rock, hoping to pinpoint Iskall's location. Instead, he caught two arrows to the shoulder and ducked behind the rock again, cursing.

The cheers from the other Hermits made it a bit difficult to hear, but there were definitely footsteps coming his way.

Quick as a viper, Ex leapt out from behind the rock and struck a blow to Iskall's chest with his sword. Iskall stumbled backwards, but only for a moment. Before Ex could take cover behind the rock, Iskall swung his sword, forcing Ex to retreat into the center of the clearing.

There was no cover. All he could do was dodge and weave, but that wasn't enough: Iskall got one amazing hit on Ex's torso, then on his sword arm. Ex's sword fell uselessly to the ground. Ex himself wasn't far behind.

He was at two hearts. Above him, Iskall grinned victoriously, preparing to deliver the final blow. This was it for him - this was permadeath. Ex wasn't a real player, he was an accident, a void creature; there was no respawn for him.

Ex closed his eyes and rested his head against the dirt.

"Stop!"

Ex opened his eyes again to find Xisuma running toward them, helmet in hand and a horrified expression on his face.

"Xisuma?" said Iskall. "I thought you were doing admin stuff today?"

Xisuma completely ignored his question. "What are you doing?"

"Relax, dude, it's just some friendly PVP."

"He's almost dead!"

"I mean, his respawn point might be far from here, but otherwise, what's the worst that could hap-"