Hermitcraft Stories

Words That Must Be Spoken

Doc was feeling frustrated. His redstone project that had been working so smoothly earlier today was beginning to tear itself apart. Everything he did seemed to make everything much worse. Angrily, he stomped away.

Sitting on a chest, he started to weigh his options. Continuing his redstone project was off the table no doubt. He had promised Mumbo earlier that he would go check on Ren to see if he was having an issues with the Log Father, so he should probably do that. He wasn't particularly looking forward to that conversation, but what else could he do. Grumbling, he got off the chest and walked out the door.

Starting on the path leading to Ren's base, Doc couldn't help himself from feeling like this was a wild goose chase. He had suspected that the Log Father may be a cause for Xisuma's stress, but he doubted that Ren was experiencing anything as well. Ren seemed to have been barely effected by the Log Father. He had never shown any signs of residual mind control and he was able to put those events past himself. Iskall also said that Ren hadn't had any of the nightmares that so often plagued X's dreams.

He bent over to pick up Silver, who had been trailing alongside him. A friendly voice called out to him. "Howdy Doc!"

Looking towards the source of the sound, Doc saw the friendly figure of Joe walking down the path. "Hey Joe," he responded. Doc couldn't help but smile back at Joe's beaming face.

"Have you heard from Xisuma recently?" A dark cloud covered Doc.

"No." Joe flinched back at the harshness of Doc's voice and he instantly regretted lashing out at Joe. He was only worried about Xisuma.

"I tried to contact him today, but he hasn't responded. Did something happen?" Joe's voice was filled with concern.

"He doesn't want to talk to anyone right now. Mumbo's looking for him as we speak, but I doubt he will find anything."

"Are you alright?" These words surprised Doc.

"I'm fine," was all he said.

"I know that is a lie. I can tell how concerned you are," Joe said, not for a second fooled by his words.

"I went and talked to him, but he told me it was none of his business. I don't understand him. He is acting like an entirely different person." Doc thought back to X's angry reaction. His words still stung.

"What was none of your business?"

Doc sighed. "I went over to check on him because, you know, I suspected that he was overworking himself again. You know what he is like." Joe nodded. "I could tell he wasn't taking care of himself. He was wrapped up in code saying that there was an issue in the coding. He had even lost track of what day it was. How do you not notice full days passing by? Also, when I got there he was wearing a different suit and his regular one was torn up and bloody."

"Oh, his yellow suit?" Joe asked.

Doc paused, confused. "No, it was red."

"Hmm. Xisuma must have gotten a new suit," Joe said, absentmindedly. "What did he say?"

"Well, when I asked about it he told me it was none of my business. He wasn't listening to anything I was saying, so I took Silver and left."

Joe looked at Silver. "Why did you take her?"

"X wasn't taking care of her himself and she seemed terrified of him," Doc explained, running his hand through her fur. She let out a huge purr.

"Interesting," Joe muttered under his breath. "I'm going to go check on him," he said and began to trot off in the direction of X's base.

Doc stared off at him, confused. "Joe sure is special." He walked towards Ren's base. He hoped that Joe could get through to Xisuma.

~~~~~~~~~

This chapter is for Fluffy_Leech, who wanted to see some more of Joe. What Hermit will be next to join in this spiral of madness? Let me know in the comments. As always, thank you all so much for taking the time to read.

I love and appreciate y'all!

-J