HELLO

thathermitweirdo HAS A CONTEST

SO GO READ ONESHOT #1 BEFORE YOU READ THIS

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, LET ME REPEAT.

OKAY LET'S GO

Warnings for character death and all the themes featured in Weirdo's segment!

WC: ~1000

Enjoy!

Twenty-four hours.

The words were a chorus, repeating over and over again in his mind.

Twenty-four hours before Xisuma would be gone forever.

He had twenty-four hours to fix everything.

Scar swallowed and laid down another spellbook on the table. The fear of losing Xisuma was daunting enough, but the added risk of the entire server?

All he could do was shake away the thoughts and continue reading.

But if the last hour came...

He'd have no choice but to kill Xisuma.

Twelve hours.

Scar was frantically brewing.

He hadn't slept- how could he? How could he waste eight hours of time when every second was precious?

Scar grit his teeth, opening another book. Why couldn't he be clever like Grian or Joe or Xisuma, like anyone else on the server?

He would've gotten the first two involved, but he couldn't bear the responsibility of telling the Hermits what had happened. They'd all blame him and his recklessness, and rightfully so.

The server may just dissolve into pure chaos, Scar's brain worried. And it'd be all your fault.

Wiping tears from his eyes, he continued reading. Attacking himself wasn't going to get him anywhere.

But it was hard.

He wanted to cave in. He wanted to stop. He didn't want to keep going, didn't want to face the consequences of his actions, didn't want to deal with the fact that the entire server sat on his shoulders.

But for Xisuma, for the rest of the Hermits, he persisted.

Scar would persist indefinitely for the Hermits.

Tango stared at the sleeping Admin, anxiety building in his stomach. He was never the kind of person to be nervous, never the kind to be afraid.

Obviously, his signature attitude and demeanor went out the window with certain situations.

Tango glanced at Keralis, who's expression mirrored his thoughts. Neither of them were used to being solemn, neither used to seeing the dark side of situations.

"I hope Scar finds a cure," Keralis finally whispered. "I don't want Shashwammy to be a bee!"

"Neither do I," Tango mumbled. Xisuma stirred in his sleep, turning to reveal a small antenna poking out of his hair, which was plastered to his forehead with sweat. Keralis sucked in a breath.

Xisuma blinked his eyes open, groaning softly. Keralis stood up and knelt in front of Xisuma, wiping his hair out of his face.

"Mmmngh," he mumbled. "What's going on-" his words were cut off by a hacking cough, and honey splattered out onto Keralis, who flinched.

"Ah- I'm so sorry-" Xisuma's voice was sluggish. "Didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," Keralis mumbled.

Tango knew he couldn't care less about the honey itself, but rather what the honey signified was bringing his distress.

"Can- can you get Scar?" Keralis asked. Tango stood up from his seat and nodded, turning to leave.

Opening the door, all he could do was hope that Scar was ready for him.

Tango equipped his elytra and rocketed off.

What could've been hours, but was probably only half an hour later, Scar heard the door open behind him. He ignored it.

"Sca-ar?" Tango's voice was concerned. "How's it going?" The wizard didn't answer.

He couldn't tell Tango how badly it was going.

Dead ends, everything was a dead end and a waste of time.

"How's Xisuma?" Scar asked instead.

"He's... he's coughing up honey and starting to grow antennae, Scar," Tango mumbled, his voice strained. "We have less time than we thought."

"What?" Scar cried, whipping around. "No- but- I don't have a cure!"

Tango merely stared at his feet, curling in on himself slightly.

Scar turned around and glanced at a page on the book.

Wait...

Scar picked it up, speed reading the entry.

Maybe, maybe,

"I have an idea," Tango's head snapped up at Scar's words. "Get Keralis out of the room. I'll be there in five minutes."

"You... think we can save him?" Tango's voice was hopeful.

"Him, and the server with it," Scar breathed.

He had a plan.

But when Tango dashed out of the room, Scar sighed, staring at the spellbook.

This wouldn't be easy.

Scar walked in, clutching a small box in his hands.

Xisuma could hardly think, feeling exhausted and dizzy, like his brain was nothing but fuzz, similar to that of what was soon to cover his entire body. His throat burned after all the coughing, and he was practically itching for pollen and flowers.

"Scar?" his voice was tired and unfamiliar.

"It's me," Scar whispered. He pressed something into Xisuma's palm, and the Admin held it, although unsure of what it was.

"I'm going to fix this," Scar said firmly. He held something similar in his own hand, held tightly.

"How?" Xisuma asked, the word dull and muddled.

Scar smiled, but it wasn't a true smile.

What was wrong with that smile?

"You'll see," he promised. He crushed what was in his hand, and Xisuma realized that it was a crystal. The powder fell at his feet and started to glow.

A tear fell down and onto the powder.

"Scar?" Xisuma asked again. "What are you-"

"Xisuma, I'm sorry,"

A feeling washed over Xisuma, like an ocean wave.

The Admin gasped, clutching his head. Everything, the pollen, the honey, the antenna, all of it washed away and was replaced with his normal mind.

"Oh my days," Xisuma breathed. "It worked! Scar, it worked!"

Scar didn't reply.

And Xisuma looked up, and Scar had crumbled to the ground.

And Xisuma stood up, and he might've run, he might've screamed, but the world was silent and in slow-motion, and all he could see was Scar's body surrounded by white fuzz. There was a distant sound, a piercing sound that shot through his senses like a bullet.

"Scar..." Xisuma whispered, and there were tears, coming from somewhere and dripping down.

They only kept coming as Xisuma fell to his knees, curling in on himself as his vision blurred before going black as he closed his eyes.

Scar gave his life for him and the rest of the server.

The hive never began. The server was safe.

And yet Xisuma still felt as if they'd all failed.

hahaha look at this angst

-Storm