The Lion Sleeps Tonight - A Hermitcraft Fanfic

Duel

Entry Number

I almost lost an eye today! Fun!

I was attacked by a couple of these weird birds, they chased me all over the Jungle. Eventually one cornered me, and... I'll spare you the details. Let's just say that healing potions are miracle workers, and this Jungle will never run out of interesting ways to horrify me.

Long live the Jungle,

BDoubleO100

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

Startled by Cub stomping on his foot, Scar let Cub go. Cub instantly made a break for it, putting some distance between himself and Fluffy. Fluffy seemed to prepare to charge at Cub, until the crackle of dangerous, weaponised magic began to crackle around Cub's hand. Fluffy backed down, growling, and gestured with its head towards Cub. Scar seemed to understand this, and prepared to cast his own spell.

Cub and Scar stared each other down, Cub desperately looking for some sign of his friend, Scar scanning Cub for a moment of weakness. Cub didn't find what he was looking for, but Scar did. An inhuman grin appeared on his face again, and Scar let the spell loose, blasting Cub with a terrifying onslaught of magic. If it hadn't been the kind of magic that already had taken residence in Cub's veins, Cub would have been killed.

As things were, Cub was blasted across the clearing, severely burned but alive. He landed against a tree, hearing a sickening crack. He hoped that it didn't mean anything important had been damaged. Scar crossed the clearing, coming towards Cub, and he began to try and get back up on his feet. However, every little movement that Cub made burned, so he had to give up once he'd propped himself up a bit more.

Scar summoned up the same spell again, and Cub knew that if that spell were to go off, he wouldn't be able to survive this time around. He swallowed nervously, bringing up a weak, flickering shield that he knew would not be able to withstand the onslaught. Still, the illusion of safety was enough to prevent him from losing his composure.

"Scar..." He weakly called out. Scar made to release the energy, but something held him back from dealing the final blow. "Scar, please." A tear ran down Cub's face, stinging the burn wounds it ran over. "Don't hurt me."

Scar shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts that plagued his head, all of the good memories of Cub. He succeeded in dismissing them, and brought back the spell, since it had ebbed away in his moment of weakness. Part of him screamed out: why was he doing this? He wasn't in control. He needed to break... he needed to... he needed to get rid of these pesky thoughts, these wrong thoughts.

Cub saw Scar's expression flicker, for the slightest moment, to one of kindness, the smile that he knew belonged to Scar, and he felt slightly more reassured. His spirits didn't stay high, however, because Scar brought the spell up, stronger than ever, and got ready to fire. Cub pushed all of his power into the shield, desperately trying to survive the blast.

And Scar let the spell loose. The blast struck Cub's shield, and it instantly began to falter. But it bought Cub time. His injuries protesting, Cub dove to the side, out of the way of the blast, just before the shield came crashing down, incinerating the spot where he had been mere moments before.

Scar growled, not bothering to use magic because he knew Cub would escape again. He drew his sword, raising it above his head. Cub's thought ran at the speed of light, trying to figure out a way out of this. He needed to shake Scar's psyche, get Scar to snap out of it. But he didn't know how. He watched, helpless, as Scar brought the sword down. Out of fear or desperation or something, an idea struck Cub: a last resort.

"Scarel! Perim!" He called out, his voice shifting to the more lilting tone it took on whenever he spoke the language of the Vex. He figured it probably hadn't worked, but oh well. It didn't hurt to try. He braced himself for the end.

An end that didn't come.

Cub carefully opened one eye, and saw the sword balanced precariously over his face, held in Scar's trembling hand. Cub met Scar's eyes, and saw a spark of green trying to emerge from their blank grey.

"Scarel, tinam ve." He continued, gently. "Rash obtesh xit i'acod. Izquoly min toshe jar i'stagedy." He took a deep, gasping breath, and looked Scar dead in the eye. "Nathim ter rash."

Slowly, Scar moved his sword away from Cub's face.

"V... ve min w-willet jar liora iva." He stammered out, his voice trembling, as if every syllable was a battle.

"Abet ve tot roit?" Cub asked, sitting up.

"I-iva hap tom roit." Scar admitted. With that, the usual green blossomed in his eyes, a serious expression crossing his face. Still shaking, fighting for every movement, he turned on Fluffy. "You-you've been controlling me all season, haven't you!?" He yelled at the monster, his sword glowing with an aura of pure, untainted, chaotic magic. "How dare you."

And with that, he charged. He struck blow after blow on Fluffy, screaming in rage, until the beast dropped to the ground, barely alive. It growled pathetically at him, but Scar just looked it dead in the eye.

"I should have done this when Cub first asked me." Scar growled, before delivering the final blow.

With Fluffy's dying breath, it was as if a weight had been lifted from Scar's shoulders. He stopped shaking, his breathing evened out, and he visibly relaxed. He let go of the sword, trying to process what had just happened. He turned towards Cub,  took a few staggered steps, then dropped to his knees, the adrenaline rushing out of his system.

Cub dragged himself to his feet, and limped the rest of the way towards Scar, every inch of his skin protesting from the pain. He sat down by Scar's side, and gently draped an arm over his friend's shoulder. Scar leaned over to Cub, tears falling down his face faster than he could wipe them away. Gasping for breath between sobs, Scar managed to get out two words that he didn't even need to say:

"I'm sorry."

Oops long chapter alert.

So yeah. This was what I originally imagined as the end of the action... until I needed an explanation for what on Earth happened to Iskall (and Tomato Yoshi), hence how long this chapter is.

But! There's more! And because of that, and the fact that I want to finish this BEFORE the summer hols, I'm gonna update this story every day next week. Except weekends, for the same reason I wanna finish soon.

Also, general housekeeping: please don't reply to the Vex translations. Thanks!

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