The Lost Ones

Chapter 14

Stampy pushed Jason ahead of him, keeping him separated from their pursuers.

Jason continued to run, tripping over his own feet. His vision was blurry and he could barely run straight.

Behind them the team began to transform into something demonic, overtaken by darkness until they were black silhouettes of themselves.

Stampy glanced back but kept making sure Jason was still going. He glanced around trying to find a way to lose them and only saw the dense forest ahead of them.

The shadows followed, but never fully caught up to the others. They only brushed pass, tugging on their clothes and hair. Muffled voices of the team could be heard, pleading for Jason to come back.

Stampy kept pushing onward, directing Jason to a small hidden area that he spotted through the trees and through the brush that hid it, hiding from the shadows.

Jason ran into the hiding area, his breaths quick and eyes watering. He nervously watched outside.

Stampy listened waiting for the shadows to pass and disappear, ready to defend Jason if they found him.

Time passed before the shadows came back into view. They looked around the area. One of the figures, appearing to be Jerome, made direct eye contact with Stampy. He squinted before disappearing into a cloud of smoke. The others shortly following.

Stampy released his held breath and his tense body relaxed. He felt like he was about to pass out but turned to Jason. "A-Are you... okay?" He asked.

Jason nodded, finding himself unable to speak. He sat on the ground, head in his hands.

Stampy slowly moved to sit in front of him. "J-Jase? I-I'm sorry about getting you hurt..." Stampy tried again, carefully.

Jason shook his head. "N-no... I-It's my f-fault." His voice was slightly hoarse and scratchy.

Stampy seemed surprised by that. "What? No, it's not. I started the fight with them. Not you."

"I didn't... believe you... It was so... obvious and I just played dumb..."

"It wasn't obvious to you. You were desperate for a familiar face. Someone you knew. Jason, the only reason I could tell is cause it wasn't aimed at me and I don't know them all that well." He tried to reassure him.

"No... I should've known that it was too good to be true. What are the odds that we'd bump into all of them at once? All of us have never been in the same room together for years now."

Stampy's ears lowered. "I'm sorry, Jason... But I don't blame you for this. If it had been my friends, my helpers, my fiancé... I would have wanted it to be real too."

Jason looked up at Stampy for the first time since the encounter, his face and neck still cut. Still clutching onto his bloody shirt Jason began to break down, erupting into a pile of sobs.

Stampy's eyes softened and moved to sit next to Jason, just placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Jason... We'll make it out of here. I promise."

Jason tensed up at Stampy's touch "I'm not sure anymore... who knows what else is gonna happen to us."

Stampy shook his head. "I don't know, neither of us do. But like you said, no matter what it may be, we'll face it together." He replied firmly.

Jason suddenly pulled Stampy into a hug. "I just wanna go home." He cried, his body and voice shaking. "I wanna get outta here."

Stampy was taken by surprise by the hug but returned it, pulling him close carefully. "I know... I do too..." He replied softly.

Jason kept crying, gripping tightly onto Stampy's jacket. "I'm... sorry..."

"Don't be, like I said, I don't blame you for what happened." He told him softly. "I'm just grateful we made it out of it intact..."

"Mm-hm." Jason slowly nodded. He laid and Stampy's arms for a while, his breathing beginning to calm down.

Stampy leaned back against a tree, perfectly fine with Jason staying put. If it helped him calm down then he was more than happy to let him stay.

Without thinking Jason's and moved up to the top of Stampy's head, petting his fluffy hair.

Stampy tensed but relaxed at the touch, a bit confused by what Jason was doing but not even fifteen minutes later, they had swapped positions and Stampy was lying his head in Jason's lap as he ran his hand through his hair and he was purring.

Jason was still petting Stampy's head when he fell asleep, tired and weak from the day's events.

Stampy noticed when he fell asleep, as he had stopped petting. He looked up at him, tiredly. He knew he should tend to his wounds but Jason had the shulker and he was sleeping...

He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep as well.