Afterlife (a DreamSMP and Hermitcraft story)

Redemption

PearlescentMoon POV

I glide and land right in front of Gem's base, or as she calls it, her Woodland Palace. It really was a work of art, the birch planks contrasting the spruce planks and moss wonderfully. The giant wooden deer helped it stand out too, I suppose.

I run up hurriedly and knock on the door. I try to get my quiet sobs under control, and have a bit of success. I put a little smile on my face as Gem opened the door. She looked surprised to see me, but nonetheless greeted me with a warm smile.

"Hey Pearl!" she said happily, stepping down to greet me. "How are you doing? To what do I owe this pleasure?" Her green eyes shined like emeralds. I could see the naive trust in them, just like I had when I had met Wilbur... She really didn't know what she was getting into.

I took a step forward with a deep breath, and enveloped her in a bear hug, squeezing tightly and finally letting the tears fall. She embraced my hug, letting me rest my head on her shoulder. "It's okay Pearl," she said soothingly. "I'm here now, you're here now, it's all okay. Tell me Pearl, what's wrong?"

I gently removed myself from the hug, closing my eyes and taking one more deep breath. This was where it all went downhill. Even with the deep breath a sob still came out. "Someone came to Boatem, Gem," I said truthfully. I was going to tell her everything, if I needed to. "He came from another world..."

Gem stared at me in shock, her mouth agape. "Woah Pearl!" she said finally. "I-I have so many questions! What's his world like? Is it similar to ours? Is he the only one? How did he get here? What happened with him?"

"I'm happy to answer all the questions I can, Gem," I replied. "But he... did things. I did things." I sigh. "Things haven't been going so well for me lately, honestly."

She put her hand on my shoulder reliably, walking me into the house. "Come sit down Pearl, let's talk."

Wilbur Soot POV

Now I'm gliding off, out of Boatem and into the unknown. Well... it's not exactly the unknown, I have a map, I've just never been there myself. I'm so far away from Boatem now that all of the mega bases look like tiny little specks.

After flying for a bit I realized how big this island must be, but it's so different from going on foot that it's worth it. Now I realize I kind of have no idea which way I'm going... shit.

Randomly, I see another figure flying in the sky. They were pretty far away, and much higher up than me, so I couldn't tell who it was. It was probably not someone I knew, but you never know. They waved to me, flying towards me with a graceful dive.

It definitely wasn't anyone I knew, he had big eyes, they were open extremely wide, and his mouth was open agape, like he was breathing in the fresh air, for some reason. I probably could figure out who he was from the book, but I was literally flying in the air.

He landed on the ground, waving me down to join him. When I landed he looked at me, confused. "Hey," he called to me. "Who are you? I've never seen you before."

Shit, now I was at the inevitable awkward conversation I have had many times before. It had to be at least the 5th time now, right? "Hi," I said nervously with a little wave, stumbling a bit. "Yeah, I'm new here, it's a long story..."

He looked at me, still confused but also empathetic. "I bet you've had to explain that a lot of times, am I right?"

I chuckled. "You would be right. Nice to meet you, I'm Wilbur." I stuck out a hand for a shake. Important to make good first impressions.

He smiled. "Nice to meet you Wilbur, I'm Keralis," he said, taking my hand. "Come with me to my house." He started walking, gesturing me along. "So you're new, where are you staying?" He asked.