Hour of Mercy || Hermitcraft AU

~• Two •~

There's a sweet berry patch in the thicker part of the forest. Thorns prick Tango's fingertips as he harvests the succulents, but it's ignored. Instead, he treats the plants with love, careful not to pull too hard or do anything that would harm them. This patch was planted by him years ago, and he's not sure there's much these bushes could do to take away the surge of affection he has toward them.

"Thank you." He whispers to the small shrub as he turns to find the next one. The leaves seem to brighten at that, or maybe it was just in his imagination, he's unsure. All of his time is spent alone, so he's pretty much friends with anything he can lay his eyes on, bonus points if the thing in question is alive like this bush.

The berries are fresh and sweet, and he's happy with the progress. When he'd first started the garden, the fruit was always tasteless or bitter. Now there's a never ending supply. The harvesting sack is getting so heavy Tango wonders if the berries in the bottom have been crushed, so he decides to head back home. Hopefully the rest of the berries don't get overripe too quickly.

His home is a cabin, isolated in a thick dark oak forest. Tango hasn't seen anything outside the trees pretty much since he arrived in the overworld. It was far different from the blazing heat of the nether where he'd spent the first 16 years of his life. Far different in the amount of beings inhabiting the lands. In the nether, there are just a few different species, and the clan. The Nether Clan. The netherborn are cocksure, and there's a reason he left. Or, was cast out is a better term.

It's a distance to the cabin from the patch, the reason being the much richer soil further out, and honestly, if it keeps him out of that stuffy cabin for a few minutes longer, he's happy to walk the commute. The thought of sitting back in his small wooden chair, tinkering away with redstone for another twelve hours brings a feeling of nausea right along with it.

He walks out into a clearing, the tree leaves open just a bit and he's able to see the soft blue of the sky, the endless nothing above his head. He doesn't see it often. In the nether, there is no sky, and he's never quite gotten used to the thought of knowing there's truly nothing above him. And, he's still not sure if he loves it, or hates it.

It was one of the reasons he decided to live deep under a leafy canopy. Even if he did like it, he didn't like the idea of it always being there. Though, that wasn't the main reason. The main reason was to get away from the people. The humans and their human villages, and human kingdoms. Humans are afraid of differences, and they're hostile, and he found that out the hard way.

Tango still peers up at the sky, where puffs of white, clouds are soaring across, blocking the sunlight momentarily from filtering through the leaves, but it returns as quickly as it left.

In the far distance he can hear a steady thrum, and his ears home in on the sound. Alertness rushes over him, knocking all the mixed emotion about the sky to the back of his mind. It's far away, and he wonders if whatever it is will turn and go a different way, it's happened before. A herd of animals perhaps, or possibly a-

It gets louder, morphing into more of a pounding.

Footsteps.

And lots of them.

They're not turning, why aren't they turning? It's getting so loud now it nearly mirrors the panicked beating of his heart. He peers around, spotting some dense foliage at the edge of the clearing and hurries to block himself from view. He's not sure why he's hiding, he should run, or doing something other than cower behind some ivy and tall bushes, but he makes no move to leave because the pounds of feet is so loud now, if he left the safety of it, he may not be able to run before whatever or whoever could spot him.

He's thankful there isn't a path for them to follow back to the cabin. There's no path, because he makes it a priority to walk on different grass every time he comes. The risk someone would come into the forest on a whim, searching for some sort of adventure, then accidentally stumble into his quiet life was always too great.

Two people rush over a shrub into the clearing, whipping their heads around frantically and Tango holds his breath. One is slightly tall, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a black shirt and pants, decorated with vibrant yellow accents, the other was a whole head shorter, with wavy blonde hair and the most vivid indigo eyes he's ever seen on a person. he can see through a pocket in the leaves, and when he searches for anger, or confidence, or smugness like most people had, he finds nothing. What he does find is very unexpected. Both of their eyes are wide with terror.

"They won't let off!" The brunette says urgently, breathing hard.

Won't let off? Who? Then he realizes the pounding of feet still hasn't stopped. There are more, a lot more still rampaging in their direction.

"It was your idea to run into this void of a forest! Which way leads out?" The blonde panics, looking all around as if he's never realized just how repetitive trees could be.

"Let's focus on staying alive right now. Climb a tree, maybe that'll-"

"Good idea." They hurry out of the exposed clearing, leaving Tango's line of sight, but he hears the shuffle of branches as they seemingly climb upward. He finds himself hoping they'll be able to hide, because the pounding sounds as if it's on top of them. There's way more than two and they don't seem to mean well.

One of the two gasps, and he hears leaves shiver.

Followed by a hiss of breath. "Hold on, Zed!"

Tango shifts his weight as quietly as he could, finding another peek hole.

Six figures explode out into the clearing, Tango nearly has a mini heart attack. They were the weirdest people he's ever laid eyes on. They're each a tint of blue and he can see the outlines of the tree behind through their bodies. The semi translucent beings held intimidating weapons. Two with odd looking crossbows, two with thin swords. The other two held nothing, but had several corked bottles with unsettling looking liquids in them, all strapped neatly along belts.

They peer along the edges of the clearing, pointing their weapons in every direction.

They know. He's not sure how but somehow these very strange people can sense the tree goers, their ears acute to the rustle of leaves.

Then one of them falls out of the tree, landing on his back in some thick bushes. It's the blonde.

"Freeze." The translucent in front of the group shouts, as all attention flies to him and the brunette still within the branches.

Things seem to slow as Tango thinks fast. He could stay unnoticed if he does nothing. He could. But something felt wrong about letting these people be captured or killed or whatever would happen to them.

No, he knew what he had to do.

Quickly he brought his hands up, snapping his fingers to spark flame, but they're shaking with the severity of what he's just decided to do. But he doesn't hesitate.

As fire spark, he crouches and lets it climb off and he sends it out into the clearing.

Hopefully, he's not just made a terrible mistake.