Gifted: A Hermitcraft AU [ON HIATUS]

4: Dead or Alive

Tango was surely dead. Of that, he was certain.

The moment he hit the river's surface, it was as if time had frozen. His heart skipped seven beats as he realized he was not making it out alive.

And when he opened his tight shut eyes...

Tango saw his worst nightmare, the surface of the water growing further and further away. He gasped by accident, sucking in water. His arms thrashed but it didn't feel like he was even a part of his own body anymore.

His mind was racing, panicking, full of nothing but 'why why why'

He was surrounded by his enemy, the water biting at his skin and flooding his lungs.

Tango was going to die. He might as well be dead already. But his life didn't flash before his eyes, he didn't think of everything he regretted or anything he loved. He just, panicked.

He let out a slew of bubbles, watching them rise to the surface, not hopelessly, but desperately. He swore that his entire body was trembling, even his eyes in their sockets.

Tango didn't want to go to sleep with a river for a grave.

He was out of breath, he was out of time, he felt a tightening pain in his chest. His arms went limp in the water, giving up in their weak splashing. Limbs grew numb and thoughts slowed.

Tango let out a small cry, inaudible and gurgly under the waves, as his vision tunneled and got dimmer.

And dimmer.

a n d   d i m m e r

Until there was nothing left, and all went black.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And then the unexpected happened.

Tango didn't die.

Or maybe he did.

But either way, he woke up.

He was coughing, gasping, spluttering. It was so, so bright, all around him, and there were noises too. Where was he? If it was the afterlife, it was a lot colder than he'd expected.

Tango coughed again, water coming up and out. His lungs felt like they'd been soaked in acid. He was lying flat on his back, and didn't feel like he had the energy to move himself.

His hand brushed grass, very real grass, and he knew that maybe he—

...wasn't dead after all?

Once his incessant gagging had stopped, Tango let out a small groan and blinked his eyes open.

Above him spread an all too familiar jungle canopy. And over him leaned an incredibly stressed Stress. Worry tainted her face, pulling her eyebrows up and the corners of her mouth down. But at the same time, she looked at least slightly relieved.

It took Tango a moment to realize she was talking to him, and he should probably answer.

"-kay, You're gonna be okay Tango... Can you hear me?"

He tried at a response, but just let out a small, embarrassing sounding squeak instead. At that, Stress flicked her head up and away from him, addressing someone else, voice concerned.

"Iskall, Grian, What in th' heck happened?"

And suddenly Tango felt a panicked energy return to him, eyes widening as he scrambled himself into a sitting position. Because if Stress has mentioned Iskall's name, that meant they were still here, and that meant—

Iskall was standing right there, mere feet away from him. And all he could think was 'Get that monster away from me'

"Woah, woah, Tango," Stress fretted, startled by his sudden movement. She started to place her hands on his shoulders, but Tango quickly shrugged them off, shuffling backwards. He kicked up dirt and dead leaves, moving quick as he could, until his back thunked into a tree behind him.

He was cornered he was cornered he was cornered he was cornered

"Is-Iskall don- don't please," Tango stuttered incoherently, feeling his breathing quicken. His trembling hands dug into the dirt beside him. Iskall backed away slightly, guilt and worry filling their face. They stayed silent.

"don' h-hurt me," Tango's voice was barely above a whisper now, his throat hoarse and his heart pounding. It was pathetic to admit, but he was too weak to get away. He may have survived the nightmare of the river, but if Iskall's heart was still set on murder, he wasn't getting out of this jungle alive.

"Tango... Iskall's not going to hurt you," Stress said slowly, she was at his side again, a steady hand on his shoulder. Oh but little did she know the murderous intent of the hermit behind her, what they'd done. It was almost funny, and so Tango laughed.

It was a weak and painful laugh, his voice cracking and almost insane sounding. Tango shook his head and shut his eyes tight, waiting for Iskall to make their move.

Maybe they'd throw him back into the river, Stress and Grian too. Or maybe Iskall would do something else, use their telekinesis to pull him limb from limb, or toss him high into the trees.

Maybe Grian and Stress would protect him from the monster his friend had become. Of course, they were in danger too though, as long as Iskall was still here.

He could hear the others talking, though it was mostly drowned out by his teeth chattering in his skull. If Iskall didn't off him now, Tango would surely freeze to death anyways.

But he couldn't accept the fact that he was as good as dead, because he didn't want to die.

"p-please," was all he had the energy to mumble through heavy breaths, a hopeless plea for life, even though Iskall didn't seem to be doing anything.

In a final act of bravery, Tango shot his terror filled eyes back open.

Stress was on her feet, arms spread out, and purposefully putting herself between Iskall and Tango. She was keeping them from him. Grian still stood off to the side, but was now glaring daggers into the Swede.

Tango waited and waited for them to strike, breathing getting faster with each second. The tension was everywhere, in the air, and in his very bones.

And he couldn't stand it anymore, he couldn't stand any of it. And so Tango squeezed his eyes shut again, and awaited his inevitable doom.

————
(A/N)

:I  hehehe panic

A song for this chapter is Head Above Water by Avril Lavigne. It's not the best, but I thought it fit, and an added bonus: if you replace the word 'god' with 'notch' in your head (because minecraft) it makes the song ten times funnier.

._.

My back hurts cause I have terrible posture. Anyways.

See u next time my guys, gals, non-binary pals, neo amigos, and genderfluid peeps. :o

<3 Soe Silver
Oh and Lily too