The Lion Sleeps Tonight - A Hermitcraft Fanfic

Julia

Entry number 22

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Entry number 23

I'll start with the bad news. So, in the morning, Doc and I woke up, and the base was oddly quiet. Usually, Etho and Beef would be up and about, or snoring up a storm. Today? They weren't. We looked around, and they weren't there. So we moved out further into the Jungle, but there was no sign of them. I think it got them.

And that brings me on to the worse news. Whilst we were looking for Etho and Beef, my sleeve shifted, and Doc saw one of the vines. He flipped out on me, accusing me of being a "traitor", and a "servant of the Jungle"... he all-out lost it on me. After that, he stormed off, and I haven't been able to find him since.

It's been a few days since then; I've only now recovered enough to get my thoughts coherently on paper. The loneliness is getting to me, though: I could've sworn one of the trees said hi.

Long live... I don't know anymore.

BDoubleO100

.......................

"Who said that!?" Cub yelled, hands suddenly crackling with a nimbus of vex magic. Ren drew his sword, baring his teeth, but Doc only seemed mildly surprised.

"Oh, sorry," the voice giggled. "I forgot that I'm kinda... unusual."

"What does that mean?" Ren yelled, dashing towards the direction it had come from, but all he found was a tree.

"It means that, for one, I'm right in front of you." The voice explained.

"So... you're invisible?" Ren guessed. Doc could barely stifle a chuckle.

"Nope! Try again!" The voice laughed in a lilting, natural tone.

"You're lying? A lying ventriloquist?" Cub tried, even more confused.

"What about you, Doc?" The voice asked. "What do you think?"

"You're the tree, aren't you... Julia, is it? Old Jim mentioned you a couple times."

"Correctamundo!" The voice - er - Julia laughed. "Speaking of him, how is he?" Doc was conspicuously silent. "Oh. That bad, huh?" Doc nodded sadly. A few leaves turned red and drifted down, one landing on Doc's shoulder like a comforting hand.

"Well, do you mind if we set up camp in this clearing?" Cub asked. "Our friend Scar is kinda sick, and-"

"Of course  you can stay here! I haven't had anyone to talk to in ages! Not since the other guy left!" Julia laughed. For all that the Jungle seemed bleak, she was a happy-go-lucky soul. That is, if trees have souls. Do trees have souls? How am I supposed to know?

As night began to fall, Cub set up some warding spells around the camp so that they wouldn't get attacked. Scar offered him what little magical aid could muster, being able to stand and walk about but still occasionally having incredible dizzy spells. Doc put up a makeshift tent, while Ren  gathered leaves to make what would serve as mattresses.

After that, the four - sorry, five - of them sat down together and talked, swapping stories about how they got here, and what their adventures in the Jungle had been like. Ren and Cub were especially interested in, and concerned by, the flowers, which Julia helpfully explained. What concerned Cub most, however, was the matter of Fluffy.

"You were supposed to kill it, Scar!" Cub groaned, facepalming.

"I couldn't! He was just... so... I couldn't bring myself to hurt 'im!" Scar protested, too dazed to think of words. A shadow flickered over his eyes fore the briefest moment as he did so

"That thing is what killed..." Doc trailed off, tears definitely not welling in his eye. "Do you think Iskall's okay?" He asked Cub, changing the topic. Another leaf landed on his shoulder.

The four hermits and the tree talked late into the night, until even Doc somehow got tired. One by one, the hermits fell asleep, until the only one who was awake was Scar, thanks to a splitting headache. He settled down and tried to get to sleep, but couldn't. Even if he could ignore the pain in his head, the Jungle seemed oddly loud. He kept on hearing movement, and twigs snapping. Eventually, however, he was able to shut it out, and get to sleep, not even thinking to wonder what had made those noises.

You know, the narrator is getting a bit out of hand. Might need to do something about that.

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