Chapter Text
Scott opened his eyes as he sat up in his bed. The sun sunk down past the bamboo, dipping behind the stalks and filtering through the fronds, leaving streaks across the blanket and the floor. His brow furrowed. Shouldn’t it have been barely morning when he respawned? Maybe he spent longer in the limbo state between life and respawn than usual. Much longer, he thought as he threw back the blanket.
His feet hit the planking. The planking. Scott froze. He shouldn’t have respawned above ground at all; they had moved the bed underground. There shouldn’t have even been an immediate way out, it should have been blocked by andesite, with the thrum of the nether portal on the other side of the wall. And it was only one bed, a red bed. Not two beds shoved together with a hastily stitched white blanket.
Something was wrong. The wrong time, the wrong place, the wrong energy- The hair on his neck prickled. He slowly raised his head to look behind him. There should have been a bright blue tint over the world behind the isle, radiating a slight pulse to push players away and keep them within bounds. Within the eyes of the Watchers.
But all he saw was the darkness of night beginning to wash over the sky, stars twinkling and the ocean stretching out into the horizon, blending with the encroaching inky blackness.
Scott let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. It didn’t even matter whether he kept holding it; it was more just a reflex, good practice to keep for non-verbal communication. He was familiar with afterlives, knew what to expect. He hadn’t had to wait for anyone before, but Jimmy had told him what it was like.
He swiped the air in front of him, pulling up the player list. Only one was there.
So he would wait. He knew others had already run out of time, so it had to just be the Mean Gills here, like the first time this had happened. Just the two of them.
He would wait.
And he would make it perfect for them.
He couldn’t wait to show Martyn.