Hermitcraft Randomness - S7 Oneshots

Dynasty - Alters, Arc 1

(WC: 2007
Category: Angst
Ship type: None
Warnings: Brief mentions of death, injuries/blood, and swearing

Realized this book has been heavy on the ship chapters recently, so here's a non-shippy chapter :D

This song is technically supposed to be about a romantic relationship, but it gave off Ex and X vibes so that's what this oneshot is about. This is a slowed down version of the original song because it suits the mood more.

I'd also recommend having this song on loop because, as you can tell from the word count, this is a long oneshot.

Enjoy!)

The End was normally a dark and dismal place. Nobody would choose to live there for the fear of falling to the void. The air was toxic to outsiders, and the monsters were lethal.

But there was one family who called the dimension their home.

"C'mon, Ex!"

Xisuma laughed as he ran across the pale yellow landscape, looking over his shoulder at his younger brother. Ex trailed behind, breathing heavily as he tried to catch up with him. "You...slow down!...I'm not that fast, y'know," he panted between breaths, leaning over.

X grabbed his hand and helped him up, then started running again.

"You're a jerk, you know that!?" Ex called after him, even though X could hear the grin in his voice.

"Hurry up, Exy! Last one to the tallest pillar is a rotten dragon's egg!"

Life in the End was pretty simple. You got your food from the chorus trees and tried to avoid being killed by the endermen. Ex raided end cities for the armor and the occasional wings. X stayed at home and helped his parents as best as he could.

The two brothers had been born in the End, but their parents were from another dimension called the Overworld. They didn't talk about it often, and the brothers didn't pry. They were happy right where they were, anyway.

X reached the towering obsidian pillar at the edge of the island and started climbing up the roughly carved-out steps. It had taken him ages to mine out all the obsidian, but it was worth it to get to the very top. The pillar was the tallest out of the 10 that were there and provided a good vantage point of the main End island.

It was also an excellent launchpad for when you had Elytra.

X clutched the gray wings tightly as he climbed up, faster and faster. He glanced down and saw Ex starting to stumble up the stairs, too. He grinned and called down to him. "First one up gets to use the wings first!"

"No fair! You had a head start!" Ex wheezed as he tried to catch up.

X reached the top of the pillar and took a deep breath, taking in the massive island in front of him. Their small hut was just a speck in the sea of endstone. The bedrock portal in the center, which their parents told them to never go near, stood out against the pale yellow of the island. The dark obsidian towers pointed high into the sky. He put on the Elytra he held and waited for Ex to join him.

Almost a minute later, Ex poked his head up from the last step, breathing heavily from the steep climb. X couldn't help but smile at his tired expression. "About time."

Ex just stuck his tongue out at him, too tired to speak.

"I'm gonna go and fly now if that's okay with you." X paused, then added almost as an afterthought: "You look like you need a break anyway."

Before Ex could say anything, X jumped off the side of the cliff and let the wind carry his wings as he glided off. Since he had nothing to boost himself up when needed, he just fell slowly down and landed with a small thud on the ground.