The Battle: Hearts or Friendship?

Chapter 3: The Players of Death

!TW! Description of wounds, mention of death

(Clown's POV)

Branzy and I just stood in my living room, staring at each other for what seemed like forever. No one wanting to break the awkward tension. Out of nowhere, I started feeling lightheaded and sluggish. When I looked down, I noticed my injury on my arm had started bleeding badly again, must've been from me moving it around so much. The large cut across my shoulder and into my chestplate seemed better than before, but it still felt as if it was an open wound. I must've started to lose too much blood which caused me to feel nauseous. Branzy must've noticed it too, because he then said,
               "You okay Clown? Your wound... it's bleeding... here let's get you patched up, you got a bandaid kit somewhere, or any wraps?"
               "Yeah, it's over there in the kitchen, I'll go get-" I started to say, but was cut off by a painful stabbing sensation in my arm.
               "Here, I'll just go get it," Branzy said, nervously laughing. Moments later, he came back with the kit, and propped my back up on some pillows, while he tended to my arm. Branzy then reached around me to undo the straps of leather holding my armor. He grabbed a cloth and wiped the excess blood off my arm and my neck, from which there seemed to be a small cut that I didn't notice. Branzy wrapped my arm tightly, but not too tight. He also applied an ointment to the scar across my shoulder. "That should be... everything," Branzy said, giving me a concerned look. "It should be better soon anyway, no need to worry about me." I said, smirking when he looked me up and down. As soon as his gaze saw my face, Branzy turned away, blushing and turning red. I laughed at this, knowing I embarrassed him.
We sat in the living room for a while, just the two of us, while we discussed our days before we met each other, laughing at our replies every once in a while. All of a sudden, both of our communicators got a notification as it dinged. Branzy and I exchanged a confused look as I checked my communicator.

[Spepticle was shot by Vitalasy]
[Parrot: Vitalasy?]
[ItsSubz: You good, pal? You wanna meet up?]
[Spokeishere: Wow, second player death already?!]
[ItsSubz: ...we don't talk about that.]
[Leow0ok: There was a death already? Who died?]
[Spokeishere: Clown killed Subz earlier]
[Clownpierce: He deserved it, he was trying to kill me anyways >:) ]

As I was about to put my communicator away, it dinged again. "What could it be now?!" I shouted, not meaning to scare Branzy, who was quite close to me.

[Mapicc was impaled on a stalagmite]
[Parrot: Why is everyone dying all of a sudden]
[Spokeishere: How did you die to a stalagmite? There's no way you just fell on one by accident]
[Mapicc: Well, I didn't mean to fall on a stalagmite, it just happened to be where I fell.]
[Vitalasy: But why were you falling in the first place?]
[Mapicc: Maybe because there was a certain Ashswagg chasing me and trying to kill me?]
[Ashswagg: ...]

             "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I said to Branzy, who seemed frightened. "You-you just seemed-so-so angry... I though you were going t-t-to..." He stuttered. "Kill you?" I laughed. "Nooooooo, I wouldn't do that! Not to you, at least..." I said, smirking at him. I finally went to comfort him, patting him on the back, although I wanted to hug him... but that would be weird. I knew then, I had to protect Branzy with my life, at no cost. He would be too fragile without help. I also had to find out why everyone was so intent on killing each other in the first days of Lifesteal. Deaths from objects such as stalagmites were occasional, because someone wouldn't be careful. But to have people after you and getting killed by them already? It wasn't normal. But maybe this was a mark of the new season. Maybe this season would be different.
             "Hello? Clown? You there?" Branzy said as I snapped out of my thoughts.
             "Wha-? Oh yeah, I'm okay, just thinking about some things..." I trailed off.
             "Are you sure you're okay? I know you still lost a bit of blood from traveling from spawn to here already... maybe you should rest. I can go if you want to." Branzy offered.
              "NO! I mean-uh- don't go! You can stay here still! I was just-uhm-confused about why people are already going after others so much. It's not normal compared to the other seasons..." I said quickly.
"Oh, uhm-okay. I guess I'll stay for a bit more then," Branzy said as he sat back down. "Clown?"
"Yeah, Branzy? Did you need something?"
"Uhm...could you-maybe...walk with me...back to spawn? I don't want to get killed on the way back..." Branzy said quietly.
"Of course I'll walk you back, lo-" I stopped myself before I could embarrass myself anymore, although I could feel my face turning a crimson red. Luckily I could hide it behind my mask. "Sorry about that...But yes, of course I'll walk you back." I said, trying not to sound embarrassed.

(Branzy's POV)

As Clown and I walked back toward spawn, I told him a bit more about myself. I figured that I could trust him a little more by now, since he didn't try to kill me.
"Well, I'm pretty decent at redstone contraptions, so if you ever need help with something that has redstone, feel free to ask me!" I told Clown.
"Yeah, I might ask you about that in the future perhaps, and you know I'm that deadliest player here in Lifesteal. Although Vitalasy, Leo, and Spoke come pretty close, but not enough. So, anytime you need help with PvP fights, just...ask me." Clown told me.
Having Clown as an ally would help greatly, why? Because I am absolutely horrible at PvP! That's probably my biggest fear around Lifesteal, that I'd be alone, with no one to help me, as I stand helplessly as someone takes my life. So at this point I decided to trust Clown because we would help each other, and definitely not because he was a hot, handsome, killing clown. It was just because he would be a really good person to get help from! I keep telling myself to let these love thoughts go, but I refuse to. What if he secretly loves me back? A small chance, yes, but possible? Maybe. As I came out of my thoughts, I noticed we'd been walking for so long that the night must've fallen for the second day. These days go by quite fast. As I looked around, I noticed that mobs had started to spawn.
"Hurry, we gotta get back to spawn before you get killed." Clown jokingly said.
"Hey! I'm not that bad! I can fight mobs, I'm just horrible at fighting people," I said, lightly pushing him.
We continued our trip back to spawn, but the trip was soon over. As we got closer, I could see faint halos of light emitted from torches placed around spawn, lighting up the inky, black sky. I had Clown drop me off to a path that led to my base nearby. I didn't want Clown to see my base yet because I hadn't fully trusted him. When Clown was about to leave, he paused, looking at something behind me.
"What are yo-" I said, or tried to as Clown covered my mouth and quietly turned me around to see what he was looking at.
It was Vitalasy and Subz.
They seemed to be looking around for something, but they couldn't seem to find it. I turned around to ask Clown if he knew what they were looking for, but when I turned around, he was gone. I hid around a tree and pulled out my communicator to ask him.

[You whisper to Clownpierce: Where'd you go??]
...
...
[Clownpierce whispers to you: I can't say much right now, I can tell you later though.]
[You whisper to Clownpierce: Do you know what Vitalasy and Subz were looking for?]
[Clownpierce whispers to you: I'm not completely sure, but I'm pretty sure they're looking for me. That's why I left.]
[You whisper to Clownpierce: Why would they be looking for you?]
[Clownpierce whispers to you: Don't go near them.]
[You whisper to Clownpierce: Okay, but why would they be looking for you?]
...
...
...
[Clownpierce whispers to you: Because I think they're trying to kill me.]

Hello there! Sorry for not posting for so long! I've just been busy with some stuff, but I'm hoping I'll be able to post more often to keep this story up! Thanks for everyone who's read this so far!

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