Hermit Souls || A HermitCraft AU

Chapter One

Iskall was the first to wake up, not remembering what had happened. All he knew was that he was on dark, damp, soil next to his unconscious friends, Stress, Hypno, Etho, Tango, Impulse and Izuna. He looked at them, assessing injuries. The only one who looked relatively hurt was Izuna, whose forehead was very bloody, and her hand was in a strange and unnatural position. He looked around, and not knowing what to do, he shook Hypno awake. She was his girlfriend after all.

"Wh- huh? Where are we? Iskall?" Hypno asked, the bright white beam of sunshine from the sky shining into his eyes.

"I dont have the answer to that. Izuna is the only one with injuries," Iskall said. "I didn't know what to do, and figured you might."

Hypno sat up, looking at Izuna beside him. Her eyes were closed, and her hair and clothes were unscathed. She almost looked like she was taking a peaceful nap. He took his bandana off of his head and looked around for stuff that might help.

Stress woke up around that time, and she was next to a dead hollow. She let out a shriek, taking Hypno's and Iskall's attention.

Iskall rushed to her, and so did Hypno, for different reasons. The hollow had rags for clothes, and Hypno took one, washed it off in the nearby fountain, and used it to put pressure on Izuna's head wound. Iskall, however, tried to comfort Stress, who was obviously not handling things very well.

Hypno tended to Izuna's bleeding before the broken wrist. Once the bleeding stopped, he snapped the bone back into place and wrapped the bandana tightly around it.

Etho and Tango shot up at the same time, waking with a start. "What the hell??" Etho cried.

Tango just yawned and stretched. "Where are we?" He wondered aloud.

Iskall didn't answer, he was too busy whispering sweet nothings to calm Stress, who was hugging her knees to her chest and crying. Hollows themselves were quite scary, the shape of men but crippled, skin and bones, as if they had no internal organs. Their skin was so pale it was whiter than porcelain, and they had skrieks that sounded like an incoherent attempt to form words that had long since been forgotten.

Etho looked at the hollow and jumped. "Holy crap what's that?!"

"It looks like it's hollow...." Tango said, standing up.

"Lets just call it a hollow." Iskall said hastily, trying to help Stress stop crying.

Impulse was the next to wake up, scratching his messy brown hair and forming it back into place.

Etho started sweating, and Hypno felt warm as well. "Guys, it's really hot. We should get moving and find our way out of here." Etho said.

Tango nodded, a few drops of sweat falling from his forehead. "I agree."

Zedaph and Izuna were both still out, but Zed soon woke, his shirt torn at the shoulders. The sleeves were gone, and he didn't really mind. "What's going on?" He asked, moving towards Tango.

"We don't know." Etho, Iskall, and Tango answered in unison.

"Let's get moving, like now." Impulse said, growing impatient.

"But Izuna is still out. We can't just leave her here!" Hypno yelled.

"We can carry her until she wakes up." Zed said calmly.

Hypno hadn't thought of that, and nodded, picking Izuna up bridal style. "Let's get going, then."
The group started walking uphill, picking up various bits and bobs along the way until they encountered a pile of charcoals with a strange sword stuck in it.

Etho shrugged and lit it, wispy flames flying up. They sat beside the bonfire, and took inventory.
It appeared everyone had a flask labeled "Estus" and "Ashen Estus" filled with blue goop and orange liquid, both of which seemed to be available at the bonfire. Iskall tasted each of them, and it seemed to make him feel energized. No negative effects, so they decided to go with it. Hypno applied the orange liquid to Izuna's head, and it healed within a few minutes. He wondered if having her drink it would help her hand heal.