Gifted: A Hermitcraft AU [ON HIATUS]

9: In the Dark

Version 2, electric boogaloo.
————

"Stress, Tango... what in Notch's name happened?"

...pause for dramatic effect...

"That's not an easy question to answer..."

Stress breathed out a long sigh, and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. She took a couple steps, and plunked down next to Tango in his blanket nest. "...especially considering I only have half the story, less than half counting whatever happened to Grian."

Impulse would've rolled his eyes at her vagueness, but the situation felt too serious for that. He resorted to sitting down on the other side of Tango and waiting patiently for Stress to gather her thoughts. Tango wasn't paying attention to either of them, instead focusing on leaning as close to the fire as possible without tangling the blankets too much.

"Grian came to me panicked," Stress finally started, a far off look in her eyes. "He kept saying Iskall and Tango were in danger, so of course I followed him. He led me into the jungle, deep into the jungle, and there was this clearing by the river..."

She paused, and looked like she was blinking back tears. Impulse reached out and placed a hand on hers. The best he could do right now was be patient... and a little subtle emotion magic.

"When I got there, Iskall was pulling Tango out of the river, and I had to save him. He wasn't breathing Impulse." Stress continued. Impulses eyes widened and he stared at Tango, in a mix of shock, concern, and relief all at once. The pace of her voice picked up as she spoke. "And, Notch, I still don't know what happened between them, but it was all Iskall's fault. They did this, they hurt Tango and then ran off and hurt Grian when I wasn't there, but I don't know why."

Stress threw her hands up, and buried her face in them with a small, distressed squeak. After a second or two, she pulled her hands up like she was smoothing out her hair, but gripped tightly into it instead. "Tango wouldn't tell me what happened. And, and I thought maybe you'd know what to do... of course then Grian showed up, but now that he's okay..."

She trailed off, giving Impulse a hopeless sort of look. He, of course, was still trying to process everything. So Tango had been acting odd because he'd nearly drowned. So it had been a sword wound he'd seen on Grian. So it had been and emergency emergency.

"Tango?" Impulse finally started, tapping the shoulder of the blanket mass next to him. The netherborn in question whipped his head around, and pulled back the blankets a little bit. His eyes were wide and scared, and his eyebrows furrowed. It was clear that Tango was exceptionally distressed.

And, although Impulse didn't exactly understand the ways in which recent events had transpired, he would not stand by while his friends were being tormented by their inner and outer demons. He practically lunged at Tango, pulling him into a hug.

(AggREsSivE aFFecTiOn :>)

The netherborn didn't exactly return the hug, with his arms buried in blankets and all, but he leaned his head into Impulse's shoulder.

"You're safe, you're okay," Impulse mumbled out comforts. "But I'm confused and we need to know what happened between you and Iskall, okay?"

Tango sucked in a small breath and flinched a little, the topic clearly still sensitive on his mind. He took a moment before stuttering a response.

"It- It's hazy, kinda. I- I dunno... He— imeanthey, red. Red eyes, glitched."

Before Tango could be more incoherent, Impulse interrupted. "Hey, whoa whoa whoa. Deep breaths, take your time."