Hermitcraft Shots

Something's Not Right

Vintage Beef woke up to an unfamiliar scene. Instead of his humble shack, he sat up to find a large, unfamiliar bedroom. He stumbled out of the room to find the rest of the house, which was wood with a cute chimney in the front room.

"Where on Earth...?" He stepped out the front door onto a small porch, reeling from the strange scene.

He stood on a small plateau, and just below him in a shallow valley, countless colorful buildings blended together, filled with the din of loud, cheery voices.

"Heya Beef!" A man in knightly armor waved happily as he flew past Beef, gliding down into the bright valley. Beef waved slowly, unsure of who that man was.

Beef returned to the house briefly, finding some armor and elytra hanging by the door. Strapping the wings on, he soared down, landing on a concrete road. He wandered down the street, examining the assorted buildings with curiosity.

"Yo Beef, whatcha lookin for?" A young man in a red sweater bounded towards him.

"Ah, hello there! What's your name?" Beef reached out for a handshake.

The man cocked his head, blond hair falling into his face. "Is this a game? It's me, Grian!"

Beef flushed awkwardly. "Um, I'm not sure that we've met before. Where are we?"

"This is hermitcraft- Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Grian pressed his hands to Beef's cheeks, making him uncomfortable.

He stepped back, eyeing Grian. "Hermitcraft... Never heard of it."

Grian simply blinked. "Uh, I can't tell if this is a prank. I think Mumbo is- HEY MUMBY?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT IN THE SHOPPING DIST- Oh there you are! What's wrong?" A man, evidently named Mumbo, trotted around the corner, straightening his red tie. A cute smile poked out from behind his sleek black mustache as he greeted them. "Hey Gri, hey Beef! What's going on?"

"How do you all know my name?" Beef asked, exasperated.

Mumbo cocked his head, identical to Grian. "What are you talking about? We've been on the server together for nearly a year now, are you pranking us?"

"No! I've never met you two, and I've never been here! I fell asleep in my home in Mindcrack, and suddenly I'm here!" Beef gestured wildly around him. "I just want to go home!"

Mumbo and Grian were silent, and Mumbo's brow furrowed. "Mindcrack... I've heard that name somewhere..."

"Maybe X will know," Grian suggested.

Mumbo snapped. "Good idea, let's go!"

The pair, followed by a confused Beef, took off, flying across the so-called shopping district. Along the way they passed multiple other people, each waving happily. One person, however, Beef recognized. "Doc?"

Mumbo nearly fell out of the sky and Grian did a flip as Beef tearfully greeted Doc. They landed in the clearing below them, and Beef gave Doc an enormous hug.

"Dude, where have you been?We all thought you were dead!" Beef sniffled into Doc's shoulder.

"Bro, I was just in Hermitville this week, I wasn't gone that long!" He chuckled, patting Beef's back. "You always were a sensitive one."

"No! You've been missing from Mindcrack for nearly three years! Why didn't you tell us where you were going?"

Doc cocked his head, just like Grian and Mumbo- it must be a hermitcraft thing. "Mindcrack? I left, and you were the host of my farewell party! Besides, we just moved to hermitcraft, it wasn't a big deal... Are you feeling alright?"

Beef felt very small all of a sudden. "Why do none of you believe me? Am I losing my mind?"

Doc frowned thoughtfully- a familiar sight that almost made Beef cry from nostalgia. "This is very strange. We need to go see X immediately."

Beef followed the three, flying closely to Doc. It was all too strange. Just the other day he was building a cute house on stilts, and now he was here. Doc was here too- Beef hoped he could get home, simply so he could tell his friends that Doc wasn't dead.

"Here we are! X should be waiting for us down there." Mumbo spiraled down into the base slowly, while Grian opted to dive straight down. Doc kept an eye on Beef as they descended gently.

"Hello boys! What do you need today?" A man in full body armor greeted them cheerfully. He was intimidating, despite having a lilting voice.

"We're not entirely sure, honestly." Mumbo wrung his hands.

"Beef doesn't remember hermitcraft- at all." Doc glanced at Beef.

"But he does remember Doc, because they were on Mindcrack together," Grian pointed out.

"What's your name?" Beef asked.

X stood silent for a moment. It was impossible to tell his expression from behind the helmet. "Well. I'm... not sure. I'm sorry, everyone."

"What!?" Mumbo and Grian exclaimed in unison.

"But I thought you were an admin, with powers and stuff!" Grian cried.

X shook his head sadly. "This could be an issue of any number of things. Unfortunately, there's no safe way to find out. I suppose our best course of action is to help Beef become reaccustomed with hermitcraft until his memory hopefully returns."

"What? Why can't you send me back?" Beef began to tremble.

"I'm sorry Beef, but you're having delusions of some sort. We need to do some research until we can figure out what's going on."

"Im not delusional. No, no I can't stay here!" His vision blurred. "I can't! I have to get home! They need me, I have to go back! Please send me back, please!"

"Beef, calm down, we'll figure this out!" Grian set a hand on Beef's shoulder, but Beef whirled around, slapping him across the face with a crack.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! This is all a dream, you're not real! This isn't real, it isn't real!" He collapsed, his limbs going numb.

He didn't notice Mumbo and Doc approaching from behind until they had grabbed his arms, restraining him. He fought them violently, attempting to bite their arms as they dragged him away.

"No no NO I can't! I can't stay here! You have to let me go! Bdubs will find me! He'll find me and kill ALL of you! Bbuds where are you!? Help, someone HELP! Let go of me you demons! I have to leave! Let me GO!" He fell to the cold stone floor, convulsing as he sobbed.

"I'm sorry Beef, this is the only way." Mumbo whispered through tears. He shivered, watching his poor friend Beef writhe across the stone floor of the jail cell, unaware of his own actions. "I hope you feel better soon."

I love my nHo/Team Canada boys, and I wanna write them, but I have a feeling a lot of it will be angst 🤔

Love you, my little stars!
-RaeTheStar