Hour of Mercy || Hermitcraft AU

~• Three •~

 "Hold on, Zed!" Impulse hissed through his teeth. He's got a grip on the scrunched fabric at the shoulders of Zedaph's brown sweater. Zed tries to reach for a thin branch, but it's too far away, then his eyes dart down, back into the clearing. The vexes.

They sprang out of the thick overgrowth glancing in their direction for a moment, before continuing onto the other trees. There are enough leaves that Zed is hidden from view, but the pursuers can sense that they're hiding. Impulse has the thought to tell Zed to vanish, but any noise would draw very unwanted attention to themselves.

Being silent shouldn't be hard, but holding up a whole other person whilst trying to balance in the branches of a tree would make it difficult. It did make it difficult.

Zed gazed up at him, then mouthed, "What now?"

He doesn't know. He came to get Zedaph out of this mess, but it seems as though he's just handed him straight in. Those traitorous vexes were going to get both of them. Why are they doing this? What purpose would be great enough to convince them to betray their own kind? The thought causes him to clench his teeth.

Then Zedaph falls.

He's shook, and hadn't realized his palms were sweaty until it was far too late. Zed plummets, shock ridden and hands outstretched, into the thick ivy bush below.

No, no, no, no. He'd just dropped his friend, possibly to his demise.

"Freeze!" One of the vex called, and as they started forward, Impulse prepared to leap into action, straight off the tree. But before he could, a flash of orange sparks from somewhere in thick foliage.

A few meters away, a small wad of flame came skidding out. It raced across the ground, gaining height, and the most shocking thing, It didn't leave a trail of fire behind it, just slightly burned grass. All attention followed the strange phenomenon. It expanded in front of vexes whose eyes were wild with dismay as the fiery barrier blocked them from reach. Impulse took the opportunity, hopping down from the tree, landing slightly clumsily beside the bush and taking Zedaph's arm.

"Stop your hybrid antics!" A vex called over the flames.

Impulse wanted to shout back 'It's not us, we're just as confused as you!' But thought better of it, instead, using the energy to help Zedaph. Zedaph's face was twisted with pain, and when he stood, he had to lean on Impulse's shoulder. But, they hurried into the cover of the trees. Impulse led Zedaph to behind a boulder.

"I'm alright, I'm fine!" Zed whisper-hissed.

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

But at a wail from the clearing, Impulse peeked out from behind the rock. He couldn't see anything, so, cautiously he advanced to the cover of a wide truck, and watched in amazement.

The fire had spread into a wonky circle around all six of their pursuers, trapping them in the margins. A few of them let out more shrill cries of terror, their eyes stretched wide, blaze reflecting in their depths.

Where did the fire come from, and how is this possible? His own eyes were unwilling to blink. The fire flickered higher and closer, earning more yelps from the vexes. Their bows fired, as if they'd decided to shoot at random, but they didn't hit anything. Standing back to back, sweat dripping from their foreheads, they shouted more threats, but they were shaking and not threatening in the slightest. Then the fire opened up. It was a gap in the direction they'd come from, and without sparing a second, all six of them fled, darting into the forest like scared prey.

Impulse dug his nails into the bark as he waited for them to return with their weapons poised, but after several long moments, there was nothing. The fire died down just as quickly as the sudden silence. The only sound was of leaves rustling in the soft breeze.

So many thoughts and so many questions.

"Impulse, how..." Zed's voice trailed off, and Impulse turned to see him leaning against the truck behind him, "-how did you do that?"

Impulse shook his head slowly, looking back at the deserted clearing, where grass was singed and still sizzling with heat, "I didn't." Then his eyebrows furrowed, "Someone did."

"Beyond question," Zed agreed, "That wasn't natural."

Impulse stepped out into the clearing, hoping it wasn't a mistake to announce his presence, but if the person did all that to rescue him and Zed, they must not be a threat. Right?

"Uhm- hello? Is someone there?" He called, not too loudly, into the trees. His eyes scanned over the edges of the space, but found nothing.

"Thank you for helping us, we appreciated- it..." He doesn't know what to say now that he's started speaking, and it feels unnatural. Especially since he doesn't know if anyone's even listening. There must be someone.

But there isn't. Nothing moves, no one answers, he's not sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't nothing. After what seemed like eternity, his eyes faltered.

"Impulse," Zed queried.

"You're right, we should go." He sighed, "Is your leg alright?"

He nods, "Not broken, just didn't fare well in the fall."

"Right." He still couldn't believe he let himself drop his friend, had it not been for that fire, things might've gone a completely different way. He followed Zed, sparing one last glance back.

Whatever it was, he was sure it would never let his busy mind rest until he knew the details. He hated being clueless.

~~~Tango~~~

Tango swore he made eye contact with the brunette for just a second, but it may have just been on his side, because his gaze continued on without acknowledgment, much to Tango's relief. His lungs nearly refused to work when he'd began asking who'd done that.

Maybe he'd helped a few people, but that didn't mean he was ready to expose his presence in this forest. Nope, not happening.

Now they'd left, and he was debating whether to leave now, or wait a little longer, just to be safe.

When he stepped out, remembering not to forget the bag of sweet berries, he noticed the marks, the black streaks his flame had caused in the grass, and for a second, he was almost in disbelief. He'd never done anything like that before. It was almost impressive.

Almost.

The 3 minutes to his cabin seemed like 20. He was trying to map out a redstone blueprint idea he'd come up with that morning, but his mind kept straying to the events in the clearing. To those people. When was the last time he'd seen another face? Four years? Everything had happened so fast.

Where were they now? Probably on their way out of the forest. Or maybe not. This forest in particular was always a scattering place. The trees are so repetitive and each turn brings with it a sense of deja vu. It took him nine years to master the art of finding his way around, for one who's never been- well, they'd find it a bit more difficult.

No, they'll be fine. All they have to do is go straight. If you trek in one direction for long enough, eventually you'll reach an edge.

They would find their way.