The Lion Sleeps Tonight - A Hermitcraft Fanfic

Rage

"What, are you calling me a monster!?" Keralis joked, elbowing BDubs lightheartedly.

"No, I'm just saying that the monsters," BDubs gestured to the Jungle around them, "Seem scared of you."

"Yeah, well, they should! Grr!" Keralis chuckled, pretending to fight with a nearby vine.

"NO DON'T TOUCH THAT!" BDubs yelled, pulling Keralis away. "That vine is... dangerous."

"Hm?" Keralis asked.

"It's like poison oak, but it makes you angry instead of giving you a rash." BDubs explained.

"Ah. I see." Keralis nodded, understanding, and made a few steps to put some distance between the vines and himself.

"Wait Keralis, look out-!" BDubs yelled, reaching out. He'd spotted a stone, which was right in Keralis' backing-up trajectory. But his warning was ever so slightly too late.

"Wha-" Keralis began, before suddenly falling. Keralis had tripped on the stone, and went tumbling into a ditch full of the vines. He let out a squawk, and began to struggle, constantly getting brushed by the vines. Keralis roughly pulled himself out, ending up a bit disheveled. He pulled a branch of the stuff out of his hair, smoothing it down, before uncomfortably rubbing his left arm.

"What, no help?" He asked, his tone somewhere between joking and genuine annoyance.

"I didn't want to get it myself. Two people affected by the stuff could destroy each other, and/or everyone else." Bdubs cautiously explained, trying to not set Keralis off. This attempt failed.

"So you were just willing to let me get hurt!?" Keralis yelled, getting up in BDubs' face. There was a stale crackle in the air, like some sort of energy was building up. "What kind of friend does that!?" The wind picked up, swirling the leaves around. A blue nimbus appeared around Keralis' feet, lifting him up slightly off the ground. Bolts of magic danced around the pair, creating a kind of cage. His eyes began to glow brightly, and his voice picked up an echo. "Well, tell me! What kind of friend does that!?"

BDubs gulped slightly, and took a step back, with the expression of a deer caught in headlights. He'd never seen Keralis like this before. Keralis pursued, continuing his tirade to the point of being practically unintelligible. Gently, ever so gently, BDubs reached out and put a hand on Keralis' shoulder. Keralis yelled, and let loose a blast of pure, unadulterated arcane power.

BDub's face burned; the blast had cut right across his cheek. He stumbled backwards from the sheer force of the thing, letting out a cry. From the stumble, he lost his balance and fell to the ground, clutching where the spell had made its impact. Slowly, he began to sob, the pain overwhelming him and every tear running across the wound making it burn more.

Seeing BDubs like this caused something to click in Keralis. The storm died down as he lightly fell to the ground, horrified at what he'd done. He took a gentle step towards BDubs, before catching the fear in his friend's eye. He halted, shocked. He'd done that. After all of his effort to protect him, he'd be the one who'd hurt Bubbles. He was a monster.

"Sorry." He gasped, backing up. "I'm so, so sorry." And with that, he turned on his heel and fled deeper into the Jungle.

What was it I said about Keralis being scary?

I've been Entropy, peace out from the present!