The Crossover (A Hermitcraft Story)

Part 10

The flowing sand stopped abruptly beneath the rocky cliffside, the cold wind picking up the yellow pellets and depositing them elsewhere. The moon shined above with all its glory, craters enveloped in dark, a sense of foreboding latching onto the brilliant glamourous light side of earth's natural satellite. Gravel paving the red carpet from the beach to the stone arch situated in the terraformed hill above, small lights protruded themselves from inside the cave, floating, shimmering spheres of light, shrouded by the darkness of the midwinter night. Pebbles swiveled, drunkenly bobbing up the surface of the waves, before sinking down low, never to be recognized again. Their smooth, pristine surfaces shimmering like dots, lamenting and wavering in the moonlight.

GoodTimesWithScar emerged from his base, his diamond armour glinting in the faint moonlight. Sweat in his brow, he ridded of the junk in his hands, bones and rotten flesh galore. After finding a cave, he just could not resist the temptation of the juicy riches that lay undetected in the underground realm. Though he knew venturing, especially alone, at night was a task easier said than done, Scar was certain that his armour could do most of the defending for him and his sword the offense. He culminated only a few scars along the journey, but the rewards were, in his opinion, definitely worth it.

It's eleven. The sun is down. In a few minutes, he would take flight and welcome a new world. 30 had come and gone, but like all the others... he was sure that this was going to be his best yet.

Strapping on his elytra, he travelled slowly towards the place of ceremony. A year exactly has it been since it was last used, cake icing still staining the grey glass panes and red food colouring faintly draping the floor. Scar chuckled whilst he flew, reminiscing the trouble Xisuma and Doc had to go through to clean after Grian and Iskall's mess. It was almost amusing, if it had not sparked off the civil war (Scar always insisted that it was as harmless as the average high-school argument, to the dismay of the participants). Memories. Memories...

Erratically gliding towards the brick building, he haphazardly pulled into a laning next to the path. Stowing away his fireworks and unstrapping his elytra, he ventured towards the main building, gravel crunching under his feet.

The wooden doors creaked in protest as Scar journeyed in. The place was preserved incredibly well, it was almost an exact replica to its former self one year ago... that bottle of champagne, that couch, that fireplace, that balcony overlooking the beach... Memories, memories...

11:30. Surely, they would not be late? Xisuma was usually never late... nor was Cub... nor was anyone, for that matter, except sometimes maybe Grian, who always liked to turn up last minute... Especially that time during thanksgiving, in which he turned up only slightly after everyone left, and that was already quite an improvement.

11:45. Panic now overtook him slightly. Why would any of them be late, and now everyone was gone? Scar grumbled in frustration, determined to question them fiercely should they ever turn up.

The clock struck midnight. No one was coming. Scar had forgotten his phone like a complete idiot, and now he was stuck in a withering brick complex, alone, on a day in which he should have enjoyed. Did something go wrong? Was the event planned in another place, and the hermits just... didn't have the heart to tell him? Or... was it something else?

Scar didn't think much about it. Disappointed? Yes. Confused? Very. But scared? No. He had seen the admin in battle, and it was not an event you would want to get yourself into. Satisfied that the rest of the server was just either pranking him or sleeping, Scar slowly readjusted his elytra to strap onto his back, pulling his rockets and firing them, his body slowly disappearing into the night sky.

For minutes, the only sounds present were of the roaming mobs in the surrounding area.

However, as time went on, rockets could be heard - though faintly - in the distance. It seemed as if it was heading to the direction of the complex, its explosions ricocheting off the black blanket of the starry night skies...

Then, without warning, it stopped.

A slightly sweating Scar then emerged from the forest onlooking the complex, elytra mangled and legs tired from running. He seemed to be slowly moving towards the complex again, however this time not airborne.

Soon, his face could be seen from the balcony overlooking the beach, and Scar had built a quick carpet-wood seat for him to rest. In his hand were several honey bottles, a new addicting drink Ren had found during his slightly - drunk - endeavor. 

Scar popped open the bottle and discarded of the cap. Taking his armour off and placing his handload onto the floor beside him, he swung up his leg sand rested them on the wooden fence barricading the balcony. Well, if they want to have their New Year without me, he thought aloud, Why should I care for them either?  Scar sighed and took another swig from the bottle, the creamy yellow liquid slowly decreasing as Scar consumed it.

Under the night sky, he eyed the flowing ocean, the pellets of sand, the semi-transparent luminous clouds, the star emerging from behind the multiple layers of fog and cloud, new and young and brilliant. Standing, alone amidst  the torrent of nothingness. Just like this new year.

Scar just couldn't seem to feel a bit... lonely.

"Happy New Year, Scar." He muttered to himself, setting down his drink in the armrest of his chair. His eyes slowly fluttered shut as tiredness overtook him, his arms slumping across the armrest and his legs slipping off the balcony fence. Only a tiny gap was left in his eyelids, just as a comet streaked by, its tail dazzling white, the head a mixture of vermilion and cyan, arching across the sky with no care in the world. Scar smiled. Beautiful.

"If... if only Cub was here to see this."

"Oh, but I am."

Hello! This is AFKWriter. Recently, this book has reached a stack of likes - yet another goal reached, done and dusted! Thank you so much for voting! Yet another milestone out of the way!

Peace,

The author.