Under The Helmet || Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 17

POV: Xisuma
Word Count: 1167
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It was a clear late afternoon, no rain, no clouds. The wind rushed past, whistling past his armour as X touched down gently at his iron farm tower. He pressed his back against the chests and pulled his knees up to his chin, shivering in the chilly evening breeze.

He sat there for a good ten minutes before darkness blanketed the sky. He strolled to the ledge of the tower and took in the beautiful view.

The crescent moon reflected clearly off the ocean beside the tower. His quartz paths illuminated the lush growth around the base of the towers, and the giant Beeralis cast a formidable shadow upon the already dark landscape.

Xisuma reached up to unfasten his helmet, but hesitated, glancing around, checking for a glint of armour or a rustle of leaves. He took a deep breath and pulled off the headgear. His dark hair fell over his eyes and onto his shoulders, swaying slightly in the breeze. He took a deep breath and sighed; the air felt so much purer without inhaling it through his helmet. He stood up and tripped, falling sideways onto the chests. Without a literal weight on his head, and looking through polarised glass, the world felt as if he were looking through a different point of view. Feeling a little dizzy, he sat back down on the concrete.

He scooched back over to the ledge of the tower, letting his legs dangle over the edge. It was so peaceful; he could almost fall asleep...

A woman's shriek echoed around the jungle. In startled response, Xisuma yelled and rammed his helmet into this head, it collided painfully with his horns. He stood up and took a good look around the dark landscape. There was no sign of any other people in the surrounding area.

Another yell echoed around the undergrowth. "Oh my days-", Xisuma whispered to himself, "I hope they're alright."

POV: Cleo
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Cleo stepped out of the large, hexagonal portal frame, and onto the quartz floor. The sun was setting over the jungle horizon. 

Okay, let's check every single one of these damned towers! She thought somewhat bitterly, lighting a torch in her off-hand.

She flew into the first tower she could see, the storage system tower. She flew in through the closest of the four entrances and descended ungracefully onto the white glass coating the floor. One quick glimpse around the cross-shaped interior told her that Xisuma wasn't hiding in there.

About to head back out to check on the other towers, something caught Cleo's eye. A piece of string on the floor? She stepped onto the string. Immediately, the single block beneath her receded into the floor. She shrieked as she fell with it. As she landed on the soft ground beneath her, she heard a yell from the distance and a clank of metal. 

Cleo stood up gingerly and walked backwards, off a slime block that prevented her from taking any damage. Scooping slime off her knees, Cleo's eyes darted around the room she had fallen into. It was small, almost small enough for each chest, tool and bench to be reached just by standing in the centre of the room, on the slime block.

She looked up the small hole she fell through. Uh-How do I get back up there? Cleo thought nervously. She examined the small room. A small wooden button caught her eye. Apprehensively, she stood back onto the slime block in the centre of the room and reached to press the button.

Several pistons fired, causing Cleo to shriek again, and the block she was standing on to be flung back up, into its original position. Cleo exhaled deeply and ambled to the ledge of the tower. She jumped off, her elytra catching her.

Reigniting her torch in her off-hand, Cleo headed in the direction she thought she heard the yell come from. She flew into the open entrance of the iron farm tower and descended silently in the landing pad. On the opposite side of the tower, sat Xisuma. A dark shadow was cast off him from the direction of the moonlight.

"Hey, X!" Cleo exclaimed, stepping towards Xisuma, "Whatcha doing up here?"

X yelped and immediately spun around to face the zombie, his expression startled beneath his visor.

"Good God, Cleo," Xisuma said glumly, turning back around, "You scared me! And is it illegal to want some alone time now?"

Cleo raised her eyebrows, surprised.

"Xisuma!" replied Cleo, shocked, "Ar- are you alright? That doesn't sound anything like you!"

Cleo sat on the ledge beside Xisuma, a concerned expression plastered across her pale green face.  Xisuma shook his head and faced the other way, his breathing heavy. 

What would X normally do in this situation? Cleo thought, desperate to help the man before her.

"Hey, um... What's wrong?" She asked.

X shrugged and said nothing.

"It's about those rumours, right?" She asked, "About your face?" Xisuma shrugged again. Cleo took a different approach, as this clearly wasn't working.

"Look, the only reason there are rumours is that you refuse to squash them! By showing them what you really do look like, people will accept it!" Xisuma's eyes widened and he shook his head again.

"If you're trying to get me to show the server my face, you're fighting a losing battle." X responded, swinging his legs and kicking his boots on the side of the ledge. He stopped for a moment. Was he the one fighting the losing battle?

"Mate," Cleo said, starting to become a little agitated, "There are more 'Non-human' hermits on the server! Think about myself, am I human? Well, no one judges me about the fact that I am a zombie, about the fact that I have a huge chunk taken from the side of my gut!" She added, indicating the large piece of flesh missing from her waist.

"I-I just don't want people to laugh, or people to judge my personality based on my appearance..." Xisuma replied nervously.

"Everyone already knows you! Look, How about you take your helmet off in front of everyone at the meeting?" Cleo suggested, getting to the point, "That way everyone will see you and you only have it do it once?"

Xisuma considered for a few moments. He was being unreasonable, and was there any instance that anyone on Hermitcraft was judged by their appearance? 

"You know what?" Said X, defeated, "Fine. I'll do it.."

"That was easier than I expected," Cleo said, raising her eyebrows again. 

"Well let's go and get this stupid server meeting done shall we?" he said saltily.

They turned around, took a run up and leapt off the landing pad, and flew over the beautiful jungle trees and shrubs, back to the hexagonal portal frame. Xisuma inhaled and stepped forward, into the hypnotizing depths of the portal.