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Etho can’t quite pinpoint what led him to this moment. ‘This moment’ being him sprinting through the forest with Hybrid Hunters hot on his heels. It must’ve been something between Xisuma asking him to come along to get something from the Hub, and Etho splitting off to inspect a new Redstone store. Not like it matters much, Etho thinks as another arrow whips past his head, just barely missing one of his ears.
An earlier one had hit its goal already, so his ear is torn at the base, blood sluggishly trailing down into his hair. He barely even feels it as he jumps over another log, his hybrid-qualities giving him an advantage over the Hunters. Still, with them outnumbering him 15 to 1, there’s no way they won’t eventually catch him. He curses himself for dropping his communicator when they first tried to grab him, making him unable to contact Xisuma. Or anyone who could help him, really.
It’s not like there’s even anyone else in this world; it’s a new server, still under construction, but it’s the first portal Etho saw when escaping one of the Hunter’s grip, so he just jumped in before giving it a second thought. He curses himself for that as well. He could’ve easily found a way to escape the Hunters up in the Hub, but his chances are a lot worse on this strange server.
Though, he can’t really blame himself. There’s a reason he never really leaves Hermitcraft, especially with the increase of reported Hunter sightings. Not that any of these thoughts are gonna save him now.
Etho jumps over a river, but his jacket gets caught on a twig and he splashes down into the water. Great, now he’s wet, his jacket is ripped and the Hunters are getting even closer. He rushes to get back up, but freezes when he sees two big eyes staring straight at him. Nobody else should be here. Yet, the eyes don’t belong to an animal, as far as Etho can tell.
It almost seems like they belong to a mound of moss and for a second, Etho thinks he’s losing his mind, but then a hand darts out from underneath the moss and hastily gestures for him to come closer. Etho does, scrambling as he gets up, and barely makes it to the moss…person in time for them to snatch Etho’s arm and pull him underneath the moss as the Hunters break through the trees.
There’s a small hand covering his mouth as he tries to even out his breaths. Even as a fox hybrid, his stamina isn’t endless, so his heart is beating fast in his chest and his breathing is heavy. Etho forces his eyes closed and focuses on breathing as the person stays close to him, their hand still on his mouth.
Eventually, they remove their hand, so Etho carefully blinks his eyes open. It’s quite all around them, as far as Etho’s sensitive ears can pick up, apart from the person breathing beside him. Etho carefully turns his head to look at them, and is met with a too-wide, unnatural smile. It’s a little unsettling, in a way, but Etho doesn’t mind it.
Before he can even say anything, the person - maybe ‘creature’ is a better term, now that he’s gotten a closer look - reaches out again and carefully reaches for Etho’s bleeding ear. Etho almost recoils, but just barely manages to keep still. They don’t seem like they want to harm him, and even though Etho doesn’t really like to be touched, he does his best to keep himself from moving. They saved his life after all. Though they must have sensed his discomfort and pull their hand back before it can make contact.
They pull the moss back and stand up, offering Etho a hand and helping him stand as well. Once they're both on their feet, Etho notices how small the other is, barely reaching up to his shoulders. The silence stretches until Etho clears his throat.
“Hello,” he says and then falls silent again, at a loss of what to say. Probably ‘thank you’, his brain hisses at him, but the other starts talking before he can get the words out.
“Hi! I’m Bdubs. It’s nice to meet you!” Their hand is outstretched again, for a handshake this time, Etho assumes, so he goes for it. The man - or creature? Etho really isn’t sure anymore - sounds very enthusiastic, despite the circumstances, so Etho gives a brief smile. “Etho.” He takes a look around. He has no idea where to go to get back to spawn. And even then, he doesn’t even know what he’d do at spawn. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, wincing when he accidentally hits his bleeding ear.
When Bdubs just watches, keeping their distance, Etho notes thankfully, he sighs again. “You don’t happen to have a communicator laying around somewhere, do you? I sorta got here accidentally and I lost mine in the Hub.” Etho just hopes Bdubs actually knows what he’s saying; maybe they’d never left the world and didn’t even know about the Hub and all that came with it. Thankfully, Bdubs just nods enthusiastically.
“I have my communicator at my base! Follow me!” With that, they turn around and begin marching off, away from the river. Etho follows closely behind, his long legs making it easy to keep up. He decides to watch Bdubs as they walk. They’re short, but quick and it takes Etho a few minutes to notice that there’s more moss than just the cape. There’s patches of it all over Bdubs’ skin and even some that seems to be growing in their hair. Additionally, it almost seems like the moss all over the forest floor is reaching out towards them.
Bdubs breaks the silence a few seconds later, casting a look at Etho and looking him up and down once. “What are your pronouns?” It’s a reasonable question, Etho supposes. Even if you were trying to assume, Etho’s current appearance didn’t make it easy. His hair is grown out, long enough that he could put it into a ponytail and his clothes hide most of his body shape. And his mask probably doesn’t help either.
“He/him,” he replies, his voice unintentionally gruff - others have told him it makes him seem rude, but try as he might, everything he says always comes out a little rougher than he means it to - but Bdubs doesn’t seem perturbed. “Mine too. Or they/them, I don’t really care,” he says in response, his voice light and a slight lisp to his words. Probably courtesy of the half broken tooth.
Etho just nods. He’s never been the best at small talk, but the Hermits have gotten used to it by now and he never usually talks with anyone else, so he doesn’t really see the point to try and practice it. Thankfully, Bdubs doesn’t seem to care either, and before long, they reach a little cave, the entrance hidden by moss and vines.
Bdubs sweeps them aside easily and waves Etho inside. Etho is hesitant - who knows what’ll expect him inside - but it’s surprisingly nice. The cave is cozy, moss and warm wood everywhere and even a bed is tucked away in a corner. Bdubs steps inside easily, immediately going over to a chest at the end of his bed. They drop down onto bed, communicator in hand.
“Now, who are you trying to get a hold of?” he asks, carefully taking off the moss cape and draping it over the bed. It reveals a white shirt, slightly torn in some places, but clean, and dark pants with a clock tied to the belt. Etho shifts slightly and forces himself to stop staring so openly. “My admin’s name is Xisuma. Void’s profile should be accessible with a password,” Ethos says, but he barely gets the words out before Bdubs is jumping up. Somehow, he’s smiling even wider than before.
“I know Xisuma! I was on a server with void, a long time ago,” he says, and Etho barely believes his ears. “Really?” He hears the incredulity in his own voice and is about to apologize - something he should do more, according to the other Hermits - but Bdubs just answers like he didn’t even notice. They nod their head so hard, Etho is almost afraid it’ll fall off.
“Yeah, I was on Hermitcraft with void years ago! I only stayed until the Hermits moved to a new world though, but I’ve been texting with Xisuma every now and then!” He immediately turns his communicator around to show Etho the chat, and Etho feels like he cannot believe his luck.
“Void’s the admin of the server now,” he says absentmindedly as he slowly scrolls through the texts. They’re not a lot, just short conversations here and there, but they seem to go back a while. When Etho leans back, Bdubs turns the communicator back to themselves. “Let me message void real quick so it knows you’re here.”
They don’t have to wait long for a reply. Bdubs barely manages to dig a healing potion out of a chest before their communicator pings with a reply. Etho barely manages to keep himself from standing still. As nice as Bdubs is, he would really like to go back home. After having barely left the Server over the past three years, this really was enough of an adventure for a lifetime.
Bdubs hums quietly while reading the message before grinning up at Etho. “Xisuma says void can get us back to the Hub right now, since I know the world data, come on.” They don’t even give Etho a chance to reply before grabbing his hand and typing back to Xisuma. “Prepare for teleportation!”
Etho closes his eyes tightly and focuses on the feeling of Bdubs hand in his. He hates the feeling of being teleported, but at this point he’d endure anything to get out of the world.
The Hub is buzzing with activity when they blink into existence, and Etho subconsciously squeezes Bdubs hand a little tighter. Etho sighs in relief when he immediately finds Xisuma, even in the crowd. He’s reluctant as he lets go of Bdubs hand and he almost feels lighter when Bdubs immediately steps up beside him as Xisuma starts worriedly patting Etho down.
He feels even lighter when Bdubs slots their hands together again as Xisuma begins guiding them back towards the other Hermits.