Not My Pyre (A Pearl-Centric Double Life FanFic)

Chapter Six: The Ranch

I am open to better chapter titles.

Pearl wanted a horse, but she didn't want to have to find her own saddle.

Her solution was simple: go to the Ranch and steal one. Or if Jimmy and Tango were there, then she could also trade for one, that would work too. It'd be more fun to steal it, though.

She walked up to the Ranch gates. There was a sign next to them. Apparently Grian had been banned? That made sense. He was probably tormenting Jimmy too much.

She wasn't banned, though, so it was time to - hopefully - become a horse thief. She opened the gates and passed through. She quickly walked to the little stable with the horses and- Crap. No horse-thieving today, Jimmy was there.

"Hey, Jimmy!" She called.

He jumped. "Pearl! What are you doing here?"

"I want a horse. This seemed like the right place to come to."

"We aren't giving them away."

"How about trading them?" She smiled. "I've got stuff. What do you want?"

"We can't give our horses away - it wouldn't be much of a Ranch without our animals."

"Come on... You've got two horses..."

"Can't set a precedent." Jimmy smiled apologetically.

"Maybe I'm a special case. I'm lonely and have no friends since my soulmate abandoned me."

"Wait, really? I thought that was a rumour you were spreading to get some sort of advantage."

"Oh, no. Scott's mad at me for going into the Nether and decided he wanted nothing to do with me."

"He seems to do that a lot..." Jimmy glared at the wall.

"What do you mean?"

"He hasn't spoken to me since the beginning of Last Life."

"Wait, what? He stopped talking to you?" Pearl exclaimed. She remembered how Scott had spoken about Jimmy early on in Last Life. There had been a point where he had stopped, though...

"Yeah. I mean, maybe it was just a Third Life thing? I didn't think it was..." Jimmy looked so sad...

"From what I've heard about you two, it wasn't. I remember being told about you guys being together. It was one of the first things I was told, and when Scott and I partnered up, he asked me to help try and keep you alive."

"He did?" Jimmy looked surprised.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to either win himself, or have you win. He didn't ask Cleo to when she joined, though." Pearl had always been confused by that. Something had changed after the first week, and Scott had stopped talking about Jimmy.

"He cared, then. At least for a bit." Jimmy shook himself. "Anyways, if you want a horse, you're going to have to talk to Tango. I need time to process this new information."

"Where is he?"

"Our mines, I think. Do you need directions?"

"No, I've scouted the place before. Wanted to steal your horses." Before Jimmy could protest, Pearl ran off to look for Tango.

~*~

Pearl's search of the mines went much deeper than she expected - Deep Dark deep. Why the Ranchers had access to the Ancient City in their mines and hadn't closed it off, she didn't know, but she would.

She crept through the broken city, shoes brushing almost silently against the strange blue moss that was sculk.

Something farther out moved, then there was a series of warbling clicks, and an echoing, layered scream. Pearl's vision flashed dark, and she heard a growl and something pulling itself out of the ground.

Who was down here? What were they doing, waking the Warden? It was going to kill someone!

Pearl wanted answers, and she would get them. She crept forward as fast as she could without disturbing the sensors. Pulling herself up to look over a battlement, she finally caught a glimpse of who was waking the Warden.

It was Tango, and he was leading the Warden to a water stream. He was scrambling along the deepslate rim, throwing snowballs to keep its attention. It stumbled and fell into the water stream, immediately beginning to be carried down the tunnel.

Pearl padded silently along the skulk and deepslate, sneaking up behind the second Rancher, who was distracted by watching the Warden vanish down the tunnel.

"What are you doing?" Pearl asked.

Tango jumped. "Pearl! Wh- Where did you come from? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. Why are you sending a Warden name tagged Rancher's Revenge down a water stream?"

"It's an experiment. I want to see what happens to a Warden on the surface. I also want to cause a little bit of chaos for the others... So don't tell them! Please?" Tango looked desperate.

"Hmm. Why are you curious about the Warden? Don't you think it's better left alone? Working with it is insanely dangerous, and Jimmy won't be happy if you lose another life."

"I'm always curious. Jimmy knows that I came here for a safe experimenting environment, and neither of us are really all that desperate for the reward money. The chance to experiment is way more important." Tango explained.

"It's going to kill people. Don't you feel bad about that?" Pearl asked.

"Not really. No one perma-dies here." Tango shrugged.

"Really? You just... Don't care?"

"It's part of the experiment... But I do feel bad when it completely ends someone's chance at the grand prize, or if they die painfully. I wish... I wish I could have access to respawn technology for experiments, but it's so expensive... I love my experiments, but having to take something from someone else for it... Sometimes I don't want to do them. I kinda hate the Games, but I think everyone does."

"Yeah, they do," Pearl agreed

"This probably isn't why you were looking for me, though."

"No, I came to ask for a horse. Jimmy told me to ask you. I can trade."

"The Ranch keeps its horses. You can't have one."

"Darn it. I'm leaving then. The Ancient City is dangerous, and I don't want to be here any longer than necessary."

"Bye!"

"Bye!"