Freeze or Fall

Chapter 18: Complications

"Guys, we have an issue." Iskall's voice was tense and worried, a hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "Scar found us."

Xisuma glanced over the edge of the build to where Iskall was looking.

Wizard Scar was standing on the ground glancing up at them. He had a staff at his side, white crystals swirling in the core. But that wasn't what stuck out to Xisuma. 

Scar looked worried.

But it wasn't a "this is a big build how do I climb it" worry, it was something different.

The look on his face...

Xisuma had only caught a glance of ET's face when he'd abducted Jrumbot, but the expression had been the same. A mix of guilt, anger, worry, and hope of all things.

He frowned, remembering his time when he was abducted by ET. The guy had acted very differently then, but it was possible that that this ET just felt bad about kidnapping a child. Everyone always has some kind of moral compass after all.

But Xisuma couldn't shake the feeling. It was almost as if-

His thoughts were interrupted by rapid beeping from his communicator.

"Guys, Bdubs' stuck in a death loop, looks like Doc's gonna try to help him." Xisuma winced. "That might be Hels, he has an affinity for lava and pit traps."

"At least we know his whereabouts. Ren's still nowhere to be found." Iskall moved away from the edge, a nervous tone making it's way into his voice. "Scar's started climbing the vines."

"What? Oh of course, a terraformer obviously has expertise with that kind of thing." Xisuma put his communicator away. "We need to find another place, and quick."

He glanced over to Grumbot who was comforting Mumbo. He couldn't imagine what Mumbo felt, losing his son. It was too soon for him to lose another person close to him. He couldn't imagine the feelings grief Mumbo was thrown back into.

Xisuma walked over, and put a hand on Mumbo's shoulder. "We have to leave, this place has been compromised."

"I'm gonna slice off these vines here, that should buy us some time." Iskall quickly did a few expert slices, and an irritated "oof" was heard from below. "What place should we go. There isn't many tall bases around here, aside form my tree. But my tree's already been compromised."

"IF WE CUT THROUGH THE NETHER, ME MIGHT BE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO TANGO'S." Grumbot suggested.

"It's worth a shot, and if we don't make it, False and Zed are both next door." Xisuma nodded.

"We better hurry then." Mumbo rubbed the tears out of his eyes. "To Tango's it is."

__________________________________

"Okay, so we have two options. Go into Hermitcraft unprepared and risk getting infected ourselves, or interrogate Sam." Ex said, addressing the three players around him.

Taurtis and Grian shared looks. Grian laughed nervously. "Hard choice for me and Taurtis."

"Let me guess, you two and bunny boy have a history."

"Yep."

Ex sighed. "Unfortunately, that's our best bet. If we charge into Hermitcraft now, we won't know what we're up against. Sam might have some useful information."

"Yeah, but Sam also has Admin powers and a nasty grudge against me specifically." Grian answered.

Npg glanced up from where he was tending to some flowers. "Exy has a point, you've got a better bet with this Sam guy."

Taurtis sighed. "Yeah, I have to agree with Npg and Ex. Sam might be a bit crazy, but I might be able to talk to him."

"Not you, Sam still thinks you're dead. And if you're 'dead', we have to do Plan B." Grian said bluntly.

"And what would be Plan B?" Ex asked.

A few thorny vines popped up around Grian's feet. "I dress up as Taurtis, and let Sam kidnap me again."

__________________

Since I know the Murder Squad are readying their baseball bats, I'll make this short.

I am feeling much better now, I've been sick all week which caused a lot of delays in a lot of stuff. FoF is back on schedule (hopefully) so no worries! I've finally gotten a sense of what the chain of events will be for the book, so writing from here should be smooth sailing.

And again, I won't be hurting Jrumbot for now. I do have plans for his character, but I can assure you he will be fine. For now, he'll chill in that end city with ET, feel free to give him blankets and stuff.

Lastly, from here the chapters may get a little shorter, because High School is picking up the pace when it comes to work. That and the fact that Writetober is a priority right now (not a priority over school, don't worry. just a priority)

Stay safe my fellow Seekers!

~Luna