An Old Friend //Grian&Mumbo\\ (Hermitcraft 6 & YHS Crossover)

9

Grian's Pov

I didn't know if I could run much further. Mumbo pulled me along as we ran, but my lungs were on fire. I stopped for a moment, which prompted him to stop to look at me. The sound of Sam's eerie singing had stopped, leaving Mumbo and I directionless in the seemingly never-ending maze. 

        "I can't run anymore. We have to stop, please." I said, in between labored breaths. He looked at me nervously but stopped anyway. I sighed in relief as I leaned against the wall and slid down it, sitting on the floor very out of breath. Mumbo began to pace back and forth while stroking his mustache, thinking very deeply.

        "We have to figure out a way out of here." He said, and I shrugged in response. I could barely breathe, my lungs still on fire but filling with extra air as I heaved on the ground. I closed my eyes for a moment in an attempt to calm my nerves when I heard an awful noise. It sounded half like a gasp, half like a grunt along with a horribly wet cough. My eyes shot open to see Mumbo, looking down at his stomach, watching as a large red stain seeped through his slightly dirty white button-up, turning it red. He made another awful grunt as whatever had stabbed him was pulled out, letting his body fall limp to the ground. Behind him, holding a freshly bloodied knife, stood Sam, smiling deliriously. I shot up from the ground as he began to laugh. 

        "Well, that worked out better than I expected!" He said between laughs. 

        "What the hell did you just do?!" I screamed, running over to Mumbo's prone body and kneeling next to him. He laid on his side, his hand over his wound and his breathing short and quick through his teeth. 

        "Oh, this is just the beginning. Don't worry, I won't let him die. I'm not done with him yet." Sam's voice, once again, changed from happy to very serious.

        "What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly, tearing my attention from Mumbo to look up at Sam.  

        "Trust me, there is much more to come. I'll let him bleed a bit more, just until he starts to lose consciousness. Then I'll patch him up and make him suffer more, all while I leave you to rot in your cell, just as you had done to me. Then, finally, I'll kill him, to make sure that I'm your friend again. Your only friend." He spoke so confidently, almost like he had already done these things. His descriptions shook me to my core, but I stood to face him anyway. 

        "What make's you think I won't stop you?" I said, trying to feign confidence. 

        "Oh, Grian..." He reached out to me with his free hand, resting it gently on my cheek. "We both know you have never been able to stand up to me." He said it softly and it deeply enraged me. I shoved him away from me and used all of my strength to swing my fist toward his face. It landed just below his jaw and he grabbed his face as he turned away from me. He began to laugh again, but more slowly.  "Huh, who knew you could throw a punch like that? I'm almost proud..." He turned quickly back toward me, throwing his fist into my cheek. I felt the impact hard and it caused me to take a few steps back. Sam's laughter picked up again, and my anger replaced the pain in my cheek. I lunged toward Sam, tackling him to the ground. He fell under me and I heard the clanging of the knife hitting the ground and sliding across the floor. I could feel Sam attempting to get out from under me but I held him with all of my strength. He lifted his leg to knee me in the gut and the momentary shock and pain from the sudden attack caused my grip to loosen, allowing him to flip my body over. Him being much taller than me, he easily overpowered me and pinned me to the ground. He wrapped his hands around my neck and began to squeeze, cutting off my air supply. I desperately reached my arm out, attempting to find purchase on the knife that had landed somewhere near us. I felt the handle, but it was just barely out of reach. 

        "I really didn't want to do this, but if I have to end your life now before your suffering, so be it," Sam said as I lost more and more of breath. I could feel my consciousness slipping as I gasped for air, but suddenly, the pressure around my necked ceased. I gasped for air as the black clouding my eyesight faded and I could see again. Sam, now bleeding from his nose, was now on top of Mumbo, furiously punching him in repetition. He must have hit him off of me. "Ugh, none of this is going to plan!" He yelled in between punches. "And it's all your fault! Everything that has happened to us or went wrong has been YOUR FAULT! YOU KILLED TUARTIS YOU BASTARD!" He screamed, clearly off the deep end, for he was yelling it to Mumbo, though meant it for me. I grabbed the knife and stood, making my presence known. 

        "Sam, stop!" I yelled, and Sam obeyed. He stopped punching and turned to look at me, confused. "You're wrong! This isn't my fault!" I walked toward him and he stood from Mumbo, whose face was now bloody and was definitely going to be bruised. "Nothing you ever did was my fault! The only thing I ever caused was the best decision I ever made, and it was to send you to jail for a long, long time. But it's clear that jail isn't good enough." I squeezed the knife in my hand. 

        "Are we really doing this again? I must admit, that punch did catch me off guard. But this is a bit much. You and I both know you can't kill me." He smiled.

        "Stop underestimating me! All the time I've known you, you've assumed I'm lesser than you! But I'm not! I never have been! If anything, I'm more than you! You are just an insane piece of shit I've had to deal with even after you went to jail! You've ruined my life for long enough!" I jumped at him with the knife. His smile widened as he jumped toward me at the same time. We met in the air, and I felt his attempt to punch me again, but his arm went limp as it made contact to my chest. We separated, and I realized I wasn't holding the knife anymore. Instead, it was lodged in Sam's chest. I was honestly surprised I had actually hit him. He coughed up a large amount of blood and I realized just where I had hit him, directly in the heart. He was holding his chest, quickly losing blood and breath. 

        "I... You... How..." I watched as he leaned against the wall and sunk to the floor in disbelief and pain. 

        "I told you... not to underestimate me," I said as I walked, trying to seem emotionless, but very shaken on the inside. I stepped over his gasping body to Mumbo, who laid barely conscious still on the ground. I helped him up and let him hold onto me, careful of his stab wound. "How do we get out of here?" I asked Sam without even looking at him, stone cold.

        "I failed..." He said, clearly defeated and in shock. He was looking down at his bleeding chest and back at me. 

        "How do we get out of here?" I asked, more agitated but still trying to be intimidating.

        "Two more rights and a left." He said plainly and dryly, his mind clearly far from here, before slowly closing his eyes. I didn't look back as Mumbo and I hobbled through the rest of the hallways until finally seeing the beginning of a staircase. I recognized it as the staircase I had walked down when I had first arrived here, however long ago that was. Now that I thought about it, I had no idea how long we were down there for. Had anyone else wondered where we were? We resurfaced and as the sunlight hit our faces, it was a warm wave of hope. We walked for a while until I suddenly felt Mumbo's weight get heavier, and I nervously looked over at him. He wasn't looking too good, his face pale, but still barely conscious.

        "How are you holding up?" I asked him, and it took him an extra-long second to respond.

        "I don't think I can walk much further." He admitted quietly. 

        "Alright. Look, here's what we're gonna do..." After a few minutes of trying and failing, I successfully got him onto my back in a comfortable position for both of us. I carried him all the way back to Hermitville where I finally collapsed of exhaustion right outside my house.

1666 words Jesus a big long boi of a chapter and only like 2 more chapters left! I'm planning on having the last chapter being an epilogue in Grian's pov but we gotta have a Mumbo chapter in between. Also, sorry for the kinda lame death of Sam and the even lamer escape. I knew I wanted Grian to overcome his problems with Sam, but I didn't really have more than that, so this is all I got. And can we pretend that it would be possible for A.) Mumbo to have survived that stab wound for as long as he did, and B.) that Grian would be able to carry him all the way back to Hermitville? Yeah? Cool? Cool. Anyway, I hope you liked this very long and messy chapter, I hope you have a good day/night, and you are lovely.