Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

Trust and distrust

           False ran into some hermits chatting and laughing with each other, but their happy expressions died when they caught sight of her. False rapidly glanced at each of them, remembering what she knew about them and calculating the danger level.

          Grian. That's Jimena's friend. I think I can trust him. He doesn't seem to be a problem. Joe Hills. Weird cryptid person who's just there and you never notice him until he speaks up. Don't know enough about him yet... That needs to be fixed. Pearl. Very good pvper, rivals the other False in skill. Mainly uses an ax. Get her weapon away from her first; strike her hand so she can't fight as well.

             "Uh, hi, False," Grian said awkwardly, waving. False nodded rather coldly back at him. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Pearl surreptitiously reach for her ax and made a mental note to get ready for a fight.

           There's the real you, she suddenly heard her other self say. "I'm just defending myself," False protested defensively, not realizing she looked and sounded crazy until after she'd spoken.

           You were always crazy. Everyone called you a crazy hermit behind your back. You just never noticed what you truly are because of how isolated you have always been. Until Jimena came along, of course. She kept us slightly saner whenever she was around.

           False absentmindedly nodded before she remembered where she was and quickly looked at Pearl. Her hand was more obviously holding her ax now, although her grip was slack and she wore a confused expression on her face. "Who are you talking to?" Pearl asked mildly.

          "Fine, I'm crazy, what are you going to do about it?" False challenged, her hand slipping to the handle of her sharp diamond sword. Grian seemed to catch her movement and cautiously backed away a bit. "Just calm down, False, were not going to hurt you," Grian said somewhat nervously.

           "Hurt me? Hurt me? You think you can hurt me?" False laughed, sounding a little hysterical. The hermits tensed visibly at the deranged sound. "No, you can't hurt me. I've been hurt way too many times for that." "Trust me, False, we really don't want a fight." Grian said, eying her hand, which False realized had been squeezing her sword handle so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.

           "I'm not in a mood for a fight!" False yelled, seemingly contradicting herself. She heard a chuckle in her head and growled in annoyance. "Well, I am," Pearl said, pulling her ax out and holding it with both hands, although False noted how her stance was defensive rather than offensive. She wants to play, but she doesn't want her friends to get hurt.

           "I wasn't talking to you." False snapped, her free hand reaching up to hit her head. Maybe she could knock some sense into her other personality. "You need a psychiatrist." Joe said unexpectedly, shocking everyone enough to make three heads swivel toward him to stare. He shrugged, glasses glinting moodily. "What? She does. And I've been to one before; it's pretty fun."

            "I don't trust you hermits." False muttered, and the focus was on her and her sword again. She slowly relaxed her grip on it. I don't want a fight. I don't want a fight. It's she who wants a fight and I don't quite trust her just yet. And besides, if I get into a fight, it doesn't do to hold a sword that hard. "And we don't trust you either." Pearl said evenly.

            Grian chuckled nervously, easing the tension somewhat. "Um, let's just go before anyone does something they don't want to happen." He said sagely. "Well, we can agree on that." False said, attempting to sound sane. She willed her fingers to fully release her sword but but they merely twitched uncomfortably.

           "Let go already!" She shouted, gritting her teeth. With a sudden swift movement, she ripped the blade from its scabbard and flung it through the air. It flew in a graceful round ard before impaling the ground.