Archive of Our Own

(Rough Timeline: Around the end of “Escaping Prison on the Unstable SMP” and start of “I Got Hunted By the Minecraft LAW”)

Everything hurt. At this point the only thing Wemmbu knew was pain. Being in the LAW’s prison was possibly the worst thing he had ever experienced. Probably even worse than whenever he lost to Flamefrags in a fight, even worse than when he had fought in the 2v1000.

The orange jumpsuit he was forced to wear was partly tattered, showing the white shirt underneath. Though it was partly dyed a red-black color, from a deep cut on Wemmbu’s side. But his clothing was the least of Wemmbu’s worries. His wings were all messed up, purple feathers tattered with some missing, and his body was littered with brand new scars (mostly thanks to Loppezzz).

The worst part though, was the fact that one of his horns was now broken. It was almost like having an arm cut off; considering his horns still had nerves inside, they were just mostly made of cartilage mixed with bone and barely any muscle. Thankfully it wasn’t bleeding anymore, but it was still technically an open wound.

So yeah, that was definitely the worst of his new injuries. Now after Wemmbu’s fifth time escaping from the LAW’s prison, he was trying to make his way to the End Portal. He was hoping to meet up with Eggchan, and if he was lucky MinuteTech could be back as well.

Wemmbu continued trekking across the mesa he was in, when he realized something. Flamefrag’s base was near- and as of now, he and Flame were on neutral terms, after Wemmbu had forfeited the title of “The Strongest.” Was there a chance Flame could help him?

No, that would put Flame at risk. Besides, there was a good chance Flame had left his base, seeing how close it was to LAW’s current city. And a third thing to add to it, the LAW would probably check Flame’s base to see if Wemmbu was hiding there.

Void, he was going to have to walk so far to get to the End Portal. He just wanted to go home.. Wherever that was. (But he knew where his home was. And that was with Egg, and Minute. And they were in the End. So right now, he just had to make it to the End Portal, so he could get home).

It was taking Wemmbu far too long, flying would be so much faster. Yet he couldn’t fly, because his wings were all messed up, and it would take far too much energy to even try to lift off the ground.

He gave out a sigh, which just led to a pained grunt. He was tired, hungry, and in so much pain. The worst wound he had gotten because of his escape, besides his broken horn, was one on his side. It wasn’t very big, but it was deep and bleeding heavily. Now he had to worry about his blood leaving a trail, damn it!

Wemmbu grumbled as he walked, trying to ignore the pain. Was his vision getting blurry-? Void, now his eyes were acting up, wonderful. The trees and ground and sky all blurred together, making him feel dizzy. The demonic avian was barely paying attention to his surroundings, consumed by how disoriented he was getting.

The only thing he did pay attention to, was when someone called out, “Wemmbu?”

Immediately he went into fight or flight. Though instead of his usual fighting instincts, he booked it away from the voice. “Wemmbu, wait-!” The person shouted in surprise. Footsteps sounded behind him, and Wemmbu started to panic.

There wasn’t anywhere he could go, and there was no way he could outrun this person right now, but he knew he had a better chance at getting away than fighting.

Except for when he made a stupid mistake and tripped over his own feet. His tail failed to balance him out, so he fell with a pained gasp. Damn it, he had briefly forgotten about the wound on his side (despite his hand being covered in his own blood and the wound stinging like hell).

Quickly, Wemmbu turned around to face whoever was after him. He wasn’t going back to LAW. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t allow that to happen. Not again. He barely even registered that he had started crying until everything became blurry again, though this time because of the tears in his eyes.

Void, he was pathetic. Crying when he was likely about to be killed, or worse, taken back to the LAW’s prison. And yes, he did say that going back to prison was worse than being killed. There were things worse than death, and Wemmbu had learned that the hard way.

“Woah, Wemmbu, dude, calm down,” The person said, “it’s just me, Flame. I’m not going to hurt you.”

It still took Wemmbu a moment, but eventually his vision cleared enough, and yeah, it was Flame. Void, this was even worse! He was crying and injured in front of his (former?) rival! But that wasn’t the main problem right now, he had to focus. He took a shaky breath, enough for him to finally calm down and stop crying stupidly.

“Bro.. what happened?” Flame asked hesitantly. The demon-lion hybrid was probably finally getting a good look at Wemmbu’s physical state. And yeah, Wemmbu could admit, it was not pretty.

“I just-” Wemmbu stuttered, “I- I can’t go back to the prison, Flame- I can’t.”

Flame was silent for a few moments, before pulling out bandages. Before the demonic avian knew it, Flame was kneeled down to his level, a soft look on his face. “Where are you injured?”

Wemmbu was quiet for a few moments. Then he numbly removed his hand from the wound on his side, revealing the deep cut. “Ouch, dude,” Flame grimaced. “Can you shuffle a bit for me?”

The demonic avian did so, making it so Flame could bandage the wound. He winced slightly through the whole process, barely noticing how he clenched his fists in an attempt to distract himself. Then Flame seemed to notice Wemmbu’s broken horn. Wemmbu couldn’t fully see his expression because of the blindfold, but it was obvious it was a look of utter horror and concern.

Flame was one of the few who could possibly understand what it takes to break a horn and how much that could hurt, seeing how he was part demon hybrid himself. “Wemmbu, who-?” He muttered. His voice was thick with worry, and his hand lightly touched where Wemmbu’s horn was now broken. Wemmbu flinched at the contact, so Flame pulled his hand away.

There was still a little of Wemmbu’s black blood on the edges, and you could see a bit of bone if you looked in the right spots. “Loppezzz..” Wemmbu murmured, his voice barely audible. He hated Loppezzz. And he never thought that he fully could. He could remember when he tolerated her during the skyblock civilization, and maybe even could consider her a friend when they were in the abandoned civ.

All of those possible thoughts of being friendly with Loppezzz died the moment he saw how loyal she was to LAW. How brutal she was with him or other prisoners if they made even the slightest mistake or showed the smallest resistance.

Wemmbu didn’t even notice that he had zoned out and been stuck in a spiral of thoughts until Flame lightly shook him. “-bu!” Flame was saying. Wemmbu made a quiet murmur, letting Flame know that he was back to the present again.

The demonic lion let out a small breath of relief, “Okay, good. Don’t zone out on me like that again, bro. Worried me there,” And it did. Flame had never seen Wemmbu in such a condition before, it kind of scared him.

Wemmbu processed what Flame had said a few seconds after. Flame was worried about him? Why? Wemmbu didn’t deserve Flame’s concern or care, after all those times where they fought each other. After all those times where Wemmbu maced him, or popped Flame’s totems, or made Flame waste his resources, or simply annoyed him by calling out his name or demanding that Flame help him. He didn’t deserve any of it.

He felt like he was spiraling all over again, memories replaying in his mind at x2 speed. Between times when he was peacefully with Egg and Minute, between times when he mercilessly blew up people and areas with his orbital strike cannons, between times where he was brought to the brink of death, between times when he was yelled at for doing something wrong, between times when he was training and becoming better, between times when he was overflowing with feelings or emotionally numbed.

“Hey!” Flame hissed once more, “Quit doing that, will you?”

Wemmbu glanced at the demonic lion, whose face was still that weird mix of being irritated and concerned. “Quit doing what?” Wemmubu mumbled, still lightly confused. Void, he missed when he was alone and just walking. At least then he could remember that his goal was to get to the End.

Flame sighed, “Quit zoning out. You look like you’re about to fall over unconscious whenever you do.”

“Sorry..” Wemmbu murmured, barely audible. He wasn’t sure if Flame had heard his apology, because the demonic lion didn’t react to it at all.

“Alright. Now, what are you doing?” Flame asked.

That snapped Wemmbu straight back into reality. He had something he had to be doing. He had to make it to the End and find Egg and Minute, only then could he possibly be safe, even if it was just for a few minutes.

“I need to get to the End,” Wemmbu responded.

The warrior groaned, “Alright, of course, fine. Of course you need to get to the End, where else would you be going.”

Flame glanced at the sky, Wemmbu doing the same. There was probably two or so hours before the sun would begin to set and dip down. “Can you manage to get up and walk?” Flame queried.

“Uh.. I think so,” Wemmbu said softly. He started to get up, and to his surprise he could. He was able to stand mostly fine, the only thing bothering him being a minor headache and the cut on his side, though that was already patched up thanks to Flame.

Once they were both sure Wemmbu could walk and stand without falling over, the two started walking. The demonic avian would have preferred to pick up the pace, but Flame wouldn’t let him.

“You’ll just fall over and get tired quicker. That would hinder more than help,” Flame had said while they were walking.

Wemmbu had grumbled, but went along with it. Eventually, after walking nonstop for a little over two hours, Flame finally grabbed Wemmbu’s wrist to lightly pull him to a stop.

“It’s almost night, we should rest for a bit.” Flame suggested, though it sounded more like an order.

“I can still keep going, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Wemmbu said, voice rather flat and lacking his normal humor.

“Sure you can,” Flame sassed, “but we can cover more ground if we’re more rested. Besides, your wounds will heal faster if you sleep, and the bandages need to be changed.”

“Why don’t we just stop for a few minutes to change the bandages and then keep going?” Wemmbu argued.

“Bro, your body still needs rest. We’ve been walking for hours with no breaks, unless you count the times we had to hide from LAW-men.”

Wemmbu flinched at the mention of the LAW, as if just hearing about them would make them appear and attack again. “But what if they invade the End and Egg is in danger?” Wemmbu said. He didn’t want Eggchan to get hurt. He couldn’t let his best friend be hurt anymore.

“Minute can hold them off,” Flame retorted. “And even if he can’t, he’d make sure Egg was safely hidden.”

“What if there is no safe place to hide?” Wemmbu said, worry crept into his voice. “What if Egg gets hurt, and no one can help him, because I’m wasting my time resting instead of continuing to make my way to him?” Wemmbu started pacing to and fro, his worry changing into panic, “What if he gets separated from Minute and gets taken hostage by LAW? What if-”

“Wemmbu. Take a breath and shut up,” Flame interrupted. “No more ‘what ifs’, there’s no guarantee that they will happen.”

“But what if Egg gets killed? Or worse thrown into that stupid prison?” Wemmbu argued. Flame was about to respond when Wemmbu cut him off, “I can’t let that happen, Flame. I can’t. I can’t let Egg die thinking I’m not there- I can’t let him be thrown into prison. You don’t know what they’ll do to him in there, Flame.” The demonic avian was tearing up again, his voice cracking.

Flame looked at Wemmbu. His stance calm and prepared, face seemingly neutral. “None of that will happen, Wemmbu.” Flame started, “Not if you or I can help it. I promise.” 

Making promises was a risky thing. If you broke it, intentionally or not, it could seriously hurt the other person. But Flame didn’t know what else he could do to help the panicking Wemmbu in front of him. He was hoping the promise could be some kind of anchor.

“You promise?” Wemmbu murmured.

“I promise,” Flame smiled lightly.

“Swear it?”

“Swear it.” Flame confirmed for the second time. “Now, just rest, okay? You can’t help Egg if you pass out on the way there.”

Wemmbu looked at Flame, the demonic avian’s face tired and broken. Tears still threatened to well up, he could feel the lump in his throat forming. “Okay,” Wemmbu managed to choke out.

With that settled, Flame quickly found a cave and sealed him and Wemmbu inside. He made sure there was still enough space, seeing how being enclosed could just make Wemmbu panic all over again. After double checking that there was no one nearby, and that the cave was well hidden, Flame finally sat down.

Looking to the side, Wemmbu was curled up against a wall. His eyes still looked puffy and filled with worry and confusion. Void, he was starting to look like he’d pass out again. And from what Flame could tell so far, that look meant he was overthinking.

“Get some sleep, Wemmbu,” Flame said in a stern, yet gentle tone. Wemmbu looked up to the demonic lion, and gave a tiny nod. Then Wemmbu closed his eyes. It surprised both of them with how quickly Wemmbu fell asleep only a minute or two later.

His breath was deep, chest rising and falling slowly in that way only people who were sleeping had. “Probably should have changed the bandages first,” Flame chuckled quietly to himself. He would worry about that in the morning, though. For now, he was content knowing Wemmbu was at least resting.

~~~

Wemmbu was back in his cell. Sitting on his bed, waiting to be let out for the small amount of food he would get as breakfast. His tail swished boredly, occasionally hitting the edge of his bed. He quietly messed around with the sleeves of his jumpsuit. Void, he hated how short the sleeves were, that, and with the Curse of Binding armor. It was so uncomfortable.

He looked up when he heard the sound of keys rustling. Loppezzz was flipping through keys, searching for the one to Wemmbu’s cell door. Once she found it the lock clicked, and Wemmbu walked out of his cell.

“You know the drill,” she said. She pulled out the handcuffs that were attached to her belt. Wemmbu offered his wrists, already used to the routine.

After his third failed attempt at escaping, he was ordered to wear handcuffs whenever out of his cell. Chores were no exception, unless he actually couldn’t work with them on.

The handcuffs clicked and were now stuck on him. Forcing him to keep his hands together, or at least close. He hated it so much, but when he had first tried to argue all he got was a slap and being yelled at. Sometimes he could still feel the light sting on his cheek.

Him, Baablu, Fantst, and PrinceZam lined up like normal. Loppezzz leading them to the cafeteria, with two more guards behind, watching carefully. Once there Loppezzz put in the key-card and pressed the button, waiting until the door opened.

“Hurry it up,” she ordered. So the four did, sparing no time. The sound of the door closing behind them was heard once they were all through. Wemmbu gave a small glance behind him.

They went up to whoever the chef was like every day, and received food that wouldn’t fully fill their saturation. Then they went to the table in the far corner to chat about whatever they could.

“I’m so tired of bread and beetroots," Fantst sighed, humor in his tone. Joking around was probably the only thing keeping the four of them sane in any way.

“Agreed,” Baablu murmured.

Fantst, Baablu, and Zam chatted for a while. Wemmbu stayed silent, zoning out and looking at the table. Apparently Baablu had noticed, because he asked, “Wemmbu, you good?”

Wemmbu stayed staring at the table, still not paying much attention. He could still feel the new scars and bruises as if they were open wounds. Almost all came from Loppezzz because of previous escape attempts, whether from her netherite sword or the wooden knockback sword that acted more like a beating stick.

Zam and Fantst were quiet now, sharing nervous glances. Eventually Zam had reached out a hand and lightly tapped Wemmbu’s arm. The demonic avian flinched, but was snapped back to reality. “What-?”

“You okay?” Baablu repeated his question. “Zoning out quite a bit there.”

“I’m fine,” Wemmbu said simply.

“Are you sure?” Zam asked. For some reason the former emperor had grown more and more worried for Wemmbu as they stayed in prison. He was very different from when he was an active King of the PrinceZam Empire.

Wemmbu noted how Zam was looking at the scars and bruises on his arms. “Yeah, I’m good,” he repeated, then lightly joked, “mostly tired of these handcuffs.”

“Feel you there,” Baablu smiled. The demon hybrid had been stuck in handcuffs as well for a bit, mostly because he helped with the escape the most. “How much longer until you get them off?”

“Pft, I doubt I’m getting them off at all.”

“Surely you will at some point, right?” Zam quired.

“If Lettuce is feeling nice, maybe,” Wemmbu scoffed.

-~-~-

The fourth escape attempt had failed, unfortunately. They were all caught and brought to Lettuce’s office, and were immediately yelled at and scolded. Forced to repair the stupid Curse of Binding copper armor by punching skeletons with their bare hands.

And they were all sentenced with Solitary Confinement. Which was just what Wemmbu had wanted. He didn’t want to give in to Spoke’s offer, but the demonic avian was seriously done with being in this prison. It was an insult to his pride and power, and it was causing him far too much physical and mental harm.

But Loppezzz didn’t leave right away. Instead she sent the guard meant for Wemmbu and Zam toward Fantst and Baablu. Then she pulled the lever and entered Wemmbu’s cell, before closing and locking the door behind her.

Wemmbu’s guard was up as soon as she opened his door. The cat hybrid pulled out her netherite sword and started to walk toward Wemmbu. “What, you going to perform your minor torture tactics on me again?” The demonic avian mocked. 

Deep down, though, his chest tightened. He never liked whenever he was alone with Loppezzz, because Lettuce had given her permission to do whatever she wanted as long as Wemmbu didn’t die. And she had abused that power as much as she could.

Normally she would tug at his wings, pulling out feathers, or stomp on his tail. Other times she would slash at open skin using her netherite sword, or hit him with the wooden knockback sword. It hurt, but he wouldn’t let Loppezzz see that if he could help it.

“Minor?” Loppezzz laughed. “Oh, no. This is your fourth escape attempt, Wemmbu. I’m not going easy this time.”

“What is that meant to mean?” Wemmbu asked, hiding his hesitance. He was a little nervous, honestly. Instinctively he had closed his wings more and wrapped his tail around his leg.

Then Loppezzz started to approach him, her netherite sword glinted in the artificial light from above. Wemmbu wanted to stand his ground, to take whatever was coming.

Yet the air felt different. It felt heavy, threatening. It felt straight up wrong. And that worried Wemmbu more than the sharp sword making its way toward him. Soon enough the sword connected with his arm, and the sound of blood hitting the floor could be heard. The cut was deeper than what Loppezzz would usually do.

Wemmbu could barely react before Loppezzz swung again, hitting a bit lower than the previous attack. Luckily it wasn’t as deep, but it still stung. The cat hybrid got one more slash in on his other arm before switching to the wooden knockback sword.

Using that she just hit him onto the ground and into a corner. Wemmbu was used to being a bit beat up, whether it was because someone got a hit sync on him or was just faster than him. But with how dull the wooden sword was it almost made it hurt more, though toward his pride rather than his physical body.

At some point Zam had noticed what Loppezzz was doing, and started shouting from his own cell, begging her to stop on Wemmbu’s behalf. It only worked for a second, when she turned her head toward the ex-emperor. 

“This is none of your business, Zam.” She hissed.

“It is when you’re only a cell away from me!” Zam retorted. His face was full of subtle anger, though his eyes were full of worry and had a pleading look in them.

The lights finally dimmed, making everything dark. Guess it was night time, now. “Do I get a break from being beaten to sleep, or nah?” Wemmbu asked. He already knew the answer was no, but getting on Loppezzz’s nerves was also a bit entertaining. Even if he ended up paying for it later.

“Shut up, Wemmbu!” Loppezzz hissed, quickly turning to look at him again. Her eyes were narrowed, yet her pupils had dilated so she could see in the dark better.

A few murmurs came from farther down the hall, where Fantst and Baablu were being held. They must have heard the shouting coming from Zam and Loppezzz. Wemmbu, unfortunately, couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Loppezzz clearly did though, as she yelled, “Hey, guards who are down there! Make those two shut up and sleep!” It was funny how easily Loppezzz’s temper burst.

Wemmbu’s amusement died immediately as Loppezzz hit his arm (the one with only one cut) with the wooden sword again. He grunted in pain, and knew there would be a bruise by morning.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Wemmbu hissed, arms raised to protect his face.

His arms didn’t protect or reach his head and horns, however. Loppezzz swapped to her netherite sword quicker than Wemmbu could say ‘Egg.’ Swiftly the cat hybrid raised her weapon, and swung it. It connected with Wemmbu’s left horn, roughly taking the top half off, falling to the ground.

Wemmbu’s shriek of pain echoed throughout the entire prison. Lettuce, who was two levels above, could even hear it as if it were only a few halls down from his office. The guards in the walls, especially the ones near Solitary Confinement, heard it clear as day. Baablu and Fantst, if they were asleep, were most definitely awake now. Zam and Loppezzz both cupped their hands over their ears, as they were closest.

Tears welled up and fell from Wemmbu’s eyes, and he didn’t even feel embarrassed about it. Everything hurt. It felt like he had just had a limb cut off. And really, he had. A demon’s horns were connected to their head and skull; they had cartilage and bone, the slightest bit of muscle and blood, and a whole lot of nerves.

The demonic avian choked on his own sobs, curling in on himself and crumbling onto the ground. He barely heard Zam’s concerned shouting, or the drip of blood coming from his horn. His ears were ringing. Wemmbu couldn’t even manage to think clearly, say anything clearly.

Apparently Loppezzz thought she had done too much, as she stood shaking slightly. Quickly she left Wemmbu’s cell, running down the halls. The only hope Wemmbu had was that she was getting some kind of doctor, though deep down he still doubted it.

He ever so slightly opened his eyes, squinting harshly, vision blurred with black spots and tears. The blood on the floor was completely black, no hints of red to be found. It wasn’t too much, but it still stained the floor. Then Wemmbu saw it.

His broken horn, on the ground. Surrounded in a small pool of his black blood.

A fresh sob retched itself from his throat at the sight of it. He wanted to grab it, to try and put it back as if that would magically fix it. He wanted to throw up and cry until he physically couldn’t anymore.

-~?~-

Spoke was quietly whistling, making his way to LAW’s prison, where Wemmbu was being held. He snuck in like normal and organized his inventory in preparation to get Wemmbu out. Then he heard it.

A screech of utter agony broke out, followed by shouting and loud sobs. What in Void’s name just happened? He couldn’t even recognize who had screamed. He knew it wasn’t Zam, he was shouting with rage and concern at someone.

Looking around, Spoke knew it wasn’t a guard or Baablu or Fantst. They were on the other end of solitary confinement. Soon enough he heard hurried footsteps; someone running away.

Then what confirmed his growing suspicions, Spoke heard it. PrinceZam called out, worried, to Wemmbu.

“Wemmbu! Wemmbu, are you okay!?”

Didn’t that mean Wemmbu was the one who screamed? Wemmbu? Spoke hurried up and ate a chorus fruit until it finally teleported him somewhere. That somewhere was directly in Wemmbu’s cell.

Now, this was originally the hope. He would quickly pop in, say “hi,” confirm that Wemmbu was taking the deal, and then break him out of his cell. Probably get the others out too, if he could. Would mean they could kill the guards easier and cause further panic and distraction.

But his plan faltered when he saw Wemmbu. The demonic avian was crumbled on the floor, small and curled in on himself. He was crying, bleeding from his arms and horns- his horn!?

Spoke’s shiny white eyes widened when he fully took in what he was looking at. Wemmbu’s left horn was broken, bleeding pitch black blood. On the ground was the broken half, surrounded in a small pool of the same shade of blood. The horn was almost hard to see if it didn’t have that purple shade to it.

The voidling abandoned his humorous mood and persona, shock and worry taking over. Quickly he dashed to Wemmbu’s side, not knowing exactly what to do. Obviously he had to comfort Wemmbu somehow. Spoke wasn’t entirely sure how much pain Wemmbu was in, or what would make it worse or better. Clearly having a horn break off hurt, though, if the scream was anything to go by.

Eventually Spoke settled on trying to give verbal comfort, “Hey, hey, you’ll be okay, I’m here to get you out. I’ll uh- get you out of here and you’ll have medical attention, don’t worry.” Void, he sucked at this. It was so much easier to be humorous, but even he knew not to joke around in this kind of situation.

Wemmbu continued to sob, and Spoke could see how much he was shaking. The demonic avian didn’t even seem to notice Spoke was there. He didn’t seem to notice anything going on around him, actually. “Void, who did this?” Spoke murmured. Apparently loud enough for Zam to hear.

“Loppezzz.” PrinceZam said, voice full of venom, “She did it.”

Spoke nodded at the information, then turned his attention back to Wemmbu. The poor guy was still crying with labored breathing. It almost looked like he was having an anxiety attack or something.

The voidling hybrid moved closer to Wemmbu and awkwardly sat down next to him. Spoke whispered calm words, though it seemed they fell on deaf ears. Void, what was he going to do?

~~~

Wemmbu woke up with a harsh jolt, panic filling his mind. Looking around all he saw was stone, and his thoughts went straight back to the LAW’s prison. He wasn’t back there, was he? No, no, no. He wasn’t. Right?

He couldn’t think clearly, and his head pounded. Void, everything was starting to spin and he was feeling dizzy. Deep breaths did nothing, as it quickly turned into short, panicked gasps. He wasn’t back in prison. He couldn’t be. He had felt every wound when he was escaping, he had felt Spoke guiding him through the hallways as Zam tried to calm him down. He had heard the alarms letting everyone know a prison break was happening, he had heard the shouts of fighting as the prisoners rebelled, he had heard people’s breathing stop as he numbly hit them with his mace. He knew for a fact he had made it out, and he refused to believe that he was already back in there. He wasn’t letting a fifth escape attempt go to waste, even if it went wrong the moment his horn broke off.

Before Wemmbu knew it Flame was in front of him, talking softly. Had Wemmbu’s ears been ringing? How long had Flame been there? When did Flame get there? This was a good thing, wasn’t it? It meant he was out?

At some point Wemmbu had started and stopped crying again, whether it was during his spiralling or during Flame’s attempts at calming him down. Wemmbu didn’t know, and was barely paying attention to anything anymore. Void, he was losing his mind!

“Wemmbu. You’re safe. You’re out of prison. I’m here for you, dude.” Flame’s solid, calm voice was like an anchor. And Wemmbu desperately needed it. Apparently Flame had realized that, too, as he continued to talk. “You’ll be okay, everything will be fine. We’ll get you to MinuteTech and Eggchan, and they’re safe as well.”

It continued like that for a while until Wemmbu had finally calmed down. Quiet, simple words from Flame, that kept the demonic avian grounded. There was a minute or two of silence before Flame spoke again. “We’ll get going after I change your bandages. Does that sound good, Wemmbu?”

The demonic avian nodded, reminded of his current goal. He had to get to Egg and Minute as soon as he could. Apparently that included wasting time on replacing his bandages, but he could tolerate it as long as it got him closer to the End, closer to his friends.

Wemmbu winced when Flame unwrapped the bandages around his side. Thankfully the wound wasn’t infected or anything, it was surprisingly clean. Though the bandages were thoroughly soaked with Wemmbu’s red-black blood. He had to look away as soon as he saw the sticky liquid. It just reminded him of when he lost his horn, and the moments before and after.

“Damn, I never realized how deep this was,” Flame murmured.

“We can stitch it up later,” Wemmbu grumbled. “Egg and Minute first.”

“Wemmbu, you can’t just ignore this-”

“Egg and Minute first.”

“Bro,”

“You promised.”

That shut Flame up. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, before finally sighing. “I did,” he sighed. “Fine. I’ll patch you up as quickly as I can.” Thus began the quick, and yet painfully slow, re-bandaging. Wemmbu hissed in pain a few times during it, but he was fine for the most part. Flame almost thought Wemmbu was finally getting back to his normal self.

“Done,” Flame said, putting whatever gauze was left in his inventory.

Wemmbu immediately got up, wanting to get out of this stupid cave already. He had rested long enough in his opinion. Long enough for a whole nightmare about his horn… No! No. He was not going to think about that anymore. Hell no.

Flame dug them out of the cave, using a pickaxe to move cobblestone and dirt away. Eventually when there was a large enough hole he went out, telling Wemmbu to stay until he was sure it was safe. Once the demon-lion hybrid came back he confirmed that no one was nearby, and the two started walking again.

They walked without stopping for a long time. It was no problem for them, as they had walked far distances without breaks plenty of times. The only issue they ran into was that the closer they made it to the End Portal, the more LAW-men seemed to appear. They had to hide more often, as Wemmbu still wasn’t in the best condition to fight. “Why don’t you just kill them?” He hissed quietly one time.

“That will alert them to our position.” Flame whispered, “Plus, we could get separated, and I’m not risking that right now.”

“Fine..” Wemmbu murmured. He went back to sitting on the ground, hidden by a small hill and tall grass. His tail would occasionally thump on the ground boredly as they waited. Yet there was still this tenseness to his body that Flame noticed. Whenever there was a small noise his eyes would immediately dart to it, and he looked prepared to run or fight the second something came to attack him.

Meanwhile, Wemmbu was busy drowning in his own thoughts. He hated whenever they had to hide in silence. It let him think too much, which then led him to zone out and not pay attention. And that was rather dangerous with how many LAW-men seemed to be around. Speaking of the LAW-men, Wemmbu always tried to not look at them.

He just got reminded of the prison, which reminded him of the torture and his horn, which then made him shaky and a little panicked. Void, when did he get so sensitive? What was wrong with him? He was Wemmbu! One of the strongest players on Unstable, and now he was reduced to some terrified kid who couldn’t do anything himself except overthink.

It’s not like he could talk to Flame about what happened in the prison either. They didn’t have time for talking, and Wemmbu really didn’t want to verbally say what the LAW did to him. He had thought of telling Flame once or twice, but it just made a lump in throat and caused his eyes to get watery. Gosh, he was spiraling again, wasn’t he? His ears had started slightly ringing, and he could feel his breath shorten. That wasn’t good. That was not good, at all. If he panicked too much he would make noise and give away where they were hiding. If that happened they would be found, and the LAW would try to take them both. But Wemmbu couldn’t fight very well right now, so there would be a good chance he got caught or had to run for it. Then that meant he would have to be separated from Flame, and left on his own. Which wasn’t the worst thing, but Wemmbu realized that he kind of relied on Flame to keep him calm. 

Suddenly Wemmbu’s nails were digging into his skin, as he tried to find some way to silently calm himself down and make him focus. At least the minor pain made him think of something besides his thoughts. Though it certainly wasn’t the best coping mechanism, it would have to work for now. Flame thought overwise, as when he noticed he immediately perked up with worry.

The demonic lion rested a hand over one of Wemmbu’s. The one that was digging into bare skin rather than a sleeve. Wemmbu looked up, and quietly stared at Flame’s face. His blindfold was still on, but the demonic avian had learned how to read Flame’s expressions rather well after their time together. Flame was worried. Which seemed to become a very regular thing during these particular days.

Since Wemmbu was still rather stressed and picking at his skin, Flame shifted his hand so he was holding Wemmbu’s. That way Wemmbu wouldn’t end up hurting himself, and so he got some extra comfort. As far as Flame was aware, Wemmbu normally calmed with physical contact. It wasn’t Flame’s favorite thing at all, but he could ignore himself for a while. Until Wemmbu was in safe hands, anyway.

Wemmbu and Flame stayed like that until Flame finally whispered, “It’s safe to get going now.”

The demonic avian was finally calm and stable again, so Flame stopped holding his hand and continued to lead them toward the End Portal. At this point all they knew was walking. Through the mesa, beach, multiple forests, and sometimes taking a boat across a river, the only thing they did was walk. Flame would try to keep up some light chatter, but it died out rather quickly. It's pretty hard to have a conversation if the other person isn’t responding.

Thankfully Wemmbu was able to get some of his normal humor and attitude back sometimes. “Are we there yet?”

“Nope.”

And twenty minutes later: “Are we there yet?”

“No.”

Another ten minutes passed.

“Are we there yet?”

Flame took a deep breath, looked at Wemmbu (who was trying to hide a smirk), and said, “No, we are not there yet. Stop asking every ten minutes, bro.”

Then five minutes later, “Are we there yet?”

It took all of Flame’s self control to not yell at Wemmbu. He knew that him being annoyed was a good thing, because it meant the demonic avian was recovering his old self. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t annoying at hell.

“You will know when we get there, when you can see the cobblestone holes leading to the stronghold!”

“Mhm,” Wemmbu hummed lightly, “So we aren’t there yet?”

“I swear on Void’s name-”

“What? I didn’t ask in ten minutes, I asked in five.”

“Oh my Void..” Flame pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re a pain, you know that?”

“I very much know,” Wemmbu grinned.

Wemmbu poking fun and getting on Flame’s nerves lasted for about an hour or so. It was on and off, and happened unpredictably, which just pissed Flame off even more. He wouldn’t be able to guess when it was coming; Wemmbu would just randomly throw out a comment here and there.

~~~

Everything went to shit about three hours later.

It was a little after mid-day, around 12:30-1PMish. They had briefly stopped so Flame could check if he had any actual food on him (because eating golden apples got boring quickly and wouldn’t help any more than they already had). Looking at his shulkers and inventory, he had a few pieces of cooked pork. He split it about half-way, giving some to himself and Wemmbu (though Wemmbu got an extra because it couldn’t split evenly, and the poor dude still looked malnutritioned).

They both finished their food (with Flame having to tell Wemmbu to slow down multiple times) and started to walk once more. It was a boring routine, but it was all they could do. Void, why did it feel like the End Portal was so far away? Flame guessed that it was, but seriously. They had been walking for almost three days by now, why was this taking so long? Was it just because they had been taking so many breaks, or was it just time feeling slower?

Suddenly Wemmbu stopped. His elf-ish ears perked up slightly, and his whole body tensed. Even his tail stopped. His amethyst eyes started darting around, looking for something. Had he heard someone? It seemed like he had, as he kept looking in one specific direction.

Flame was on alert as soon as he noticed Wemmbu freeze and heard the same rustle shortly after. Flame had already pulled out his sword and prepared potions in case a fight was about to happen. And the demonic lion was glad he did, as a LAW-man jumped out from behind a bush.

His quick reflexes helped him parry a surprise attack. Behind him he heard a clang from a sword being stopped by a shield. It seemed there were at least two. Then again, LAW-men normally traveled in three or more, so he doubted these two were the only ones.

The demonic lion was proven right when he saw another member of LAW in his peripheral vision. They were targeting Wemmbu, from what Flame could tell. Most likely because they needed him back into LAW custody for whatever LettuceK’s plan was.

Hopefully Wemmbu could hold out until Flame got rid of the soldier he was already fighting. It was rather easy, considering LAW didn’t have very skilled people. The only good thing they did have was numbers, which just made it a little overwhelming as the noobs would swing randomly.

That fact was proven correctly as five or so other LAW-men appeared. Someone must have used a communicator to signal for backup, damn it!

Wemmbu couldn’t fight properly, since he was still physically weakened. He was able to hold out against two perfectly fine, but then four others came. The demonic avian knew it was going to be a losing battle for him eventually. He was able to pot up with Flame, but he wasn’t well enough to give it his all.

Doing a 1v6 when Wemmbu was already tired and not in peak-performance was not going well. He had been given small cuts already because of poor-aimed attacks from the soldiers, and too slow blocks from himself. At this point he was thinking of making a run for it. He didn’t want to go back to prison, he would certainly rather die than be there again. Who knows what they would do to him if they got him back in their custody?

Flame seemed to notice Wemmbu’s struggles, as he quickly doubled-back to fight side by side. It made it easier, as Wemmbu didn’t have to worry as much about what wasn’t in front of him. He could bring up his shield or swing his sword better. Void, he wanted to use his mace! But [Gambit] was low on durability and his wings were still ruined. He hadn’t gotten around to asking Flame to preen them quite yet. Both because he felt like he didn’t have time, and he didn’t know if Flame knew how to preen wings.

A loud cling brought Wemmbu back to fully focusing. Thank Void for his instincts, because he realized that he had put up his shield and blocked another swing. How bad were these LAW-men that Wemmbu could block and defeat them in his current state? He was fully aware that he was very weakened right now, physically and mentally, yet he was still good at battle. It wasn’t just the practice, reflexes, and instincts, though, was it? Sure, they had been drilled into him a couple years ago, but damn.

“Does Lettuce just hire anyone regardless of experience?” Flame scoffed. The only reason he was ever so slightly struggling was because it was a 2v10 with his partner not in the best shape. Eventually three people had died, and it was just Flame and Wemmbu against seven LAW-men.

Suddenly Wemmbu yelped, as someone managed to get a lucky hit near the wound on his side. How did he let that happen? You know what, he blamed his condition and the four or so people crowding around him. They swung blindly, which made them unpredictable and occasionally lucky.

But hitting so close to a wound that was still near the beginning of its healing process did more damage than expected. He had to favor the side where the wound was, protecting it and trying not to move too much. That put him at even more of a disadvantage. He could practically feel the blood starting to gather in and around the bandages.

Ugh, it made everything uncomfortable. And he was starting to get dizzy again. That certainly wasn’t good. Worse since he was in an active fight. Flame could only help him so much, seeing how they were fighting back-to-back at this point.

The sound of blood starting to drip onto the ground made Flame and Wemmbu both freeze for a third of a second. Flame continued to fight, trying to push the LAW-man on him so he could see what was happening. He knew that he wasn’t bleeding, but if Wemmbu’s previous wound was cut again that would just make everything worse.

Wemmbu on the other hand knew that he was screwed. And if he wasn’t already, then he would be soon. Someone managed to get a hit on him before they dropped dead, and it reached the wound he already had. The cut was deep originally, and it was made worse. Now it was lightly bleeding. But with how he was moving, it would probably start bleeding heavily instead soon enough.

Just as the LAW-men were finally thinning, cut down from ten to four, another three popped up. They probably heard the commotion while patrolling, checked it out, saw it was the fugitive and wanted criminal, and joined in. Unfortunately these LAW-men were more experienced fighters, ones who could actually aim and think rather than swing a sword around uselessly.

“Flame-!” Wemmbu shouted at some point. One of the fresh soldiers had directly hit his old wound, and red-black blood was starting to be visible to anyone who was looking. More dripped onto the ground, dots of varying sizes, some being smudged because of fighting. The only advantage that bleeding out gave Wemmbu was that it made his opponents more careful of where they were stepping. Downside was that the same was true for Wemmbu and Flame.

“Wemmbu how are you holding?” Flame asked as he slashed at a LAW-man.

“Decently,” Wemmbu said, gritting his teeth. His breathing was becoming a little more labored, and he was beginning to bleed more. Ignoring that and his shaky limbs, he was doing okay. Would probably fall within twenty minutes, but the battle should hopefully be over by then.

“Seperate them!” One of the LAW-men suddenly commanded. Wemmbu’s eyes widened and Flame’s face fell slightly as he tensed up. Them getting separated was probably one of the worst things that could happen at that moment.

Yet the LAW-men tried to manage it, attacking at angles that forced Wemmbu and Flame to grow further away from one another. More people were surrounding Flame, as he was stronger at the moment. Wemmbu wouldn’t be able to get close to Flame even if he tried, seeing how he didn’t want to risk moving that much.

To Wemmbu and Flame’s horror, they were slowly being drawn away from each other. The distance between them grew so much that it was like two entirely different fights were going on instead of one. Thankfully Wemmbu was able to kill two of the soldiers on him, while the last one ran away. But now when he looked around, he could only see Flame as a speck in the distance.

Damn it.

Flame had to start running away, that way the soldiers on him wouldn’t notice how Wemmbu was in the open and utterly exhausted. Void, how useless was he? By now the demonic avian was kneeled on the ground, bleeding out. His head hung low, and his side burned with pain. Black spots threatened to fill his vision, and everything was spinning like it was the day of his escape.

Maybe Mane was right. Wemmbu collapsed on the ground, bleeding, because he couldn’t bother to take care of himself. Allies were a weakness, supposedly. And all Wemmbu’s loyalty and wanting to get to Egg and Minute had landed him being injured all over again, as he didn’t take the time to properly heal. But that wasn’t their fault, and Wemmbu still needed to get to them. He would always cherish his best friend, Eggchan, and (as much as he denied it) father-figure, MinuteTech. Yet he was still tired and alone at this moment.

By now Flame was out of sight, along with the soldiers he was fighting. That should have been a good thing. It was, really. But that meant Wemmbu was all alone again. Left to his own devices, his own thoughts, and his own actions that could no longer be stopped by demanding, concerning words or gentle, stern hands. He wouldn’t be able to rely on the demonic lion to keep him from spiralling, or to give him comfort he so desperately needed yet refused.

And, as Wemmbu laid on the green, lush grass that was slowly being drenched in a red-black pool of blood, he felt like he wanted to cry. Memories started to flood back. Slowly, at first. The occasional slap or jab of a wooden knockback sword. The snarky comments from Fantst or Baablu whenever Loppezzz’s temper started to boil over. And then quicker, sharper memories. The plucking of feathers from sensitive wings, the swings of a netherite sword, the cheery and worried words of PrinceZam, then being shoved into a wall, or thrown off his bed while having a broken leg. 

Why was this all coming back? Why now? Why, when he was already bleeding and likely to pass out? Gosh, his breathing was starting to pick up. Why in Void’s name was he beginning to panic? It was all in the past, what was up with him!?

He didn’t want to think about any of this. Didn’t want to be reminded. He didn’t want to think about Loppezzz, and how brutal and mean and cruel she was. He didn’t want her in his memories. That stupid cat hybrid didn’t deserve to plague his mind. Neither did a certain red and white caracal cat hybrid by the name of  LettuceK. He was a waste of time, a waste of oxygen and effort. He was the same as Loppezzz, except instead of being a pawn he was the one playing this messed up game.

Wemmbu was suddenly consumed by the thought of just getting rid of both of them. They had hurt him, had planned to hurt his friends, had targeted his allies, and ruined everything. They made him into the confused and panicked and weak mess he was at the moment. They both deserved to die a painful, slow death. They deserved to feel the same pain he had felt when they tortured him, when they broke his horn. How would they like it if an ear or tail had been cut off? How would they like it if they were laughed at and mocked while having a broken limb? How would they like it if they were treated like some kind of rabid creature, where their death was already being discussed and planned out?

How would they like it to overthink, and question, and hope and wish and cry and feel indescribable pain and suffering? He had a feeling they wouldn’t enjoy the freezing cold of the Underworld, or the burning heat of being shoved into fire or lava before they could splash themselves with a fire resistance potion.

..Wemmbu just wanted to go back home.

Void, when did he start crying? Where even was he? He was in a cave now- when did he move? Had he subconsciously hid when he felt a lump in his throat and started seeing everything as blurry? Gosh, he hated everything.

The demonic avian hated how his tail squeezed around his own leg, how his wings closed in around him as if to block out the outside world. He hated how quick his breathing was and how he was struggling to get air or calm down. He hated the tears falling from his eyes and how much he was shaking. He hated how he had to gasp so he didn’t start suffocating because of his own panic.

He hated the LAW, he hated Lettuce and Loppezzz, he hated being hurt, he hated feeling weak, he hated how he was alone, he hated how he was separated from Flame, he hated how he kept spiralling from his own thoughts, he hated how he was being plagued by memories, he hated being in this stupid cave, he hated crying, and he hated how he wasn’t home and safe with Egg and Minute.

Wemmbu just wanted to leave, hide from the LAW and the server for a good few weeks, and be with Eggchan and MinuteTech. He wanted to feel comfortable and safe for once in his damned life!

~~~

The demonic avian felt like he had blacked out for the next few days. He had crossed so many forests that the biomes started to smudge together. The sun and clouds and sky and moon and stars didn’t seem real anymore. Everything felt like a day dream, or an illusion.

He was only clear about one thing. And that was his goal to get to the End Portal, into the End, and be with Egg and Minute. After that, he could relax and try to think clearly.

At some point he had fixed himself up. He was able to find enough supplies where he could properly patch his wounds with sturdy bandages, so he wasn’t bleeding anymore. Though the amount of blood he had lost during that time was probably enough to almost pop a totem. He could deal with that later, though.

Then he found it. He left the cool temperatured forest he was in, and was suddenly standing on a small, familiar beach. The sand underneath him was hot, sunlight having glared down at it for days. But that wasn’t what he was focusing on.

Wemmbu nearly cried from relief as soon as he saw the cobblestone in the water. He ran toward it, and sure enough, looking down it was the vertical tunnels that led to the Stronghold. He practically collapsed onto the ground, causing water to splash around him. But he didn’t care about the water. It was refreshing, but it wasn’t important. What was important, was that he was finally here. After at least a week (which had felt like a month, if Wemmbu was being honest), he had finally made it. He could finally get to Egg and Minute. He could finally reach the safety he had been craving ever since he fought in that 2v1000.

The demonic avian wasted no time in getting a water bucket, and jumping down into the hole. Wind rushed all around him in that way it always did, and soon enough he had landed. He started toward where the End Portal was, but stopped.

LAW-men would probably be around here. Whether they were trying to take over the End, or fight MinuteTech. Wemmbu had to be prepared to fight. So he put on what armor he had, and shakily held his sword. Void, why was he shaking? He had fought hundreds upon hundreds of people, a thousand LAW-men, he had trained with Manepear and won in a duel against Flamefrags. He should not be this worried over what probably wouldn’t be more than three inexperienced soldiers from the LAW.

He took a deep breath, and carefully continued his way. The only sound he could hear was the crackle of lit torches and the echo of his footsteps. Otherwise, he didn’t hear anyone. Until he finally did.

Two voices, talking about how they were bored and didn’t want to be watching the End Portal. Apparently Lettuce had a feeling that Wemmbu would try to go to the End, and stationed guards. Which was stupid, because the End and the portal to it didn’t belong to anyone. The closest someone was to owning the End was probably Minute, but he said it himself that he was only guarding it so nothing bad would happen.

Already on the move, Wemmbu splashed a strength and speed potion onto himself. They were the shortest ones he had, mostly because he didn’t want to waste his good potions on two LAW-men. The battle barely even lasted more than five minutes. As soon as the first soldier had been killed the other one tried to run, though he was quickly stabbed through the back and dropped. Wemmbu spent only a few seconds grabbing whatever useful things the soldiers had, before walking to the portal.

Small purple particles occasionally rose, and the portal looked like a galaxy of water. It ever so slightly moved, as if it was disturbed by the air and mere presence of the player. Wemmbu didn’t dare wait around for more than two minutes before he jumped in.

That sickly feeling surrounded him, the way it always did to anyone crossing into a different dimension. Unfortunately it was just worse this time. It made him feel light-headed and a little dizzy, and he could already feel a headache coming. But his condition didn’t matter.

What mattered was that he was now in the End. There were no LAW-men near. No sightings of any possible players. Minute must have been on his break, because Wemmbu didn’t see him either. The demonic avian broke out of the box, replacing the blocks behind him.

He couldn’t wait anymore. He was injured, tired, and just wanted to lay down. The obsidian pillars that used to hold end crystals were untouched. The black starless sky glistened with an occasional light violet shine. The yellow endstone beneath him made his footsteps loud, that way he or anyone else wouldn’t go unnoticed.

Void, he felt like just falling over and waiting for Minute to come back. But he couldn’t- he had to find the demonic voidling and Egg. Wemmbu didn’t want them to find him in this state, he wanted to find them first.

So, he walked onto the deepslate road, and started down stairs that would lead to Egg’s little study area. And thankfully, Eggchan was there. Sat in his dark oak chair, lazily reading a book on his desk. It must have either been boring or one he had already read, based on how he was acting.

The demonic avian almost didn’t want to ruin it. But he also needed the comfort and feeling of being safe with his best friend, sooner rather than later. “Egg?” Wemmbu said. His voice was quiet, tired and dry from disuse. But in the silence that was only filled with pages being flipped, Egg heard it loud and clear.

The wings behind the angel’s ears perked up, and he turned his head around. As soon as he saw Wemmbu, he got out of his chair. What happened next was swift, could have happened within the blink of an eye.

Wemmbu gave up on holding back. He ran the short distance, faster than he had been able to run the entire time since he got out of the prison, and lightly tackled Egg with a hug.

It wasn’t often that Wemmbu initiated physical contact when he needed comfort. So it easily startled Egg; his wings slightly puffing out and his sky blue eyes widening. Something was wrong, he knew it. With how fast Wemmbu had run and how tight his grip was in the hug. Not only his actions, but Egg had noticed his best friend’s appearance. Clothes slightly tattered, bandages wrapped around his waist and dotting other places. The amount of new scars that branded the demonic avian, mostly covering his arms.

But what really sent Egg almost into a panic of his own was when he saw Wemmbu’s horn. The left horn was broken. It had dry, pure black colored blood around the edges, and the part that broke off was nowhere to be seen. Yet before Egg could ask questions, he noticed how much Wemmbu was shaking.

And as soon as Egg wrapped his arms around Wemmbu in return, that’s when the dam shattered. The tears Wemmbu had been holding back for days, hours, minutes, seconds, finally fell. And as soon as he started crying his legs finally buckled, causing Egg to carefully lower himself and his friend to the ground.

Wemmbu held the angel tightly, as if letting go would make him disappear. He buried his face into Egg’s shoulder, and openly weeped. It was messy and rare, yet somehow didn’t feel embarrassing. To Wemmbu, it felt like he could finally be safe. He didn’t need his mind to be full of burning pain or hot anger or utter defeat or devastating memories. He could finally just feel comfortable and content and safe.

They stayed like that for what felt like a lifetime. Wemmbu sobbing as Egg carefully held him in the hug. The two were collapsed on the floor, just staying in one another’s warm embrace. No words were said, as right now actions were the only thing keeping Wemmbu anchored.

At some point Egg carefully moved a hand so it was resting in Wemmbu’s hair, keeping the demonic avian close. Otherwise the angel rubbed circles into his friend’s back. Egg had seen Wemmbu cry before. It was one of the few things that confirmed how much he trusted Egg. But that was normally if Wemmbu was hurt and the pain got a little too much, or Egg was in a lot of danger. He had never seen Wemmbu cry like this before, though. It didn’t come from physical pain or discomfort. It didn’t come from Egg’s safety being at serious risk. It came from someone who had suffered alone for far too long and was finally able to be with trusted loved ones again.

And that almost made Egg want to cry as well. He hadn’t seen his best friend, someone he saw as his brother, in almost two months. And that was what worried him the most at the time. Because even though Wemmbu had been the "Invisible Knight,” he still visited when he got the chance. So then two months of silence and not showing up? Very concerning.

This just made that worse. Sure, Egg was relieved that Wemmbu was alive and finally here, but he had shown up not invisible, heavily injured, malnutritioned, and on the edge of crying. And now the demonic avian was sobbing into his shoulder, body tense yet limbs weak.

Void, what had happened? A lot could happen in two months, Egg knew that. But something really bad must’ve occurred for Wemmbu to look like this. It also took a moment, but Egg noticed that the demonic avian’s hair was matted and his violet-indigo wings were an utter mess. A few feathers were missing, but not in a natural way.

Egg’s legs were starting to cramp from the weird position he was in, but he didn’t dare move. Wemmbu needed his full attention right now. Egg could shift when Minute got here, or something. For now, the angel stayed, holding his crying friend.

~~~

Minute was flying through the inky sky of the End. He had made a short trip, because someone had managed to sneak by him. Unfortunately they fell into the Void, though, as they refused to go back. LAW-men were stupid, honestly. He just hoped that there wouldn’t be back up any time soon.

Eventually the main island came into sight. Obsidian pillars tall and stable, redstone torches lining the deepslate walkway were untouched. So Minute slowly landed, and unequipped his elytra. He put it and the firework rockets into his inventory. Then he switched focus.

He had a break soon, in about three or so minutes. No one seemed to have come by, as the box surrounding where players would spawn was undisturbed. Nothing about the scenery or area screamed that something was wrong. But then Minute heard something.

It was coming from Egg’s study, which set off alarm bells. Was Egg hurt somehow? Did someone sneak past? But, as Minute properly listened and started to make his way to the stairs, he realized that the sound was someone crying. And it didn’t sound like Eggchan.

So now Minute was more confused rather than worried. Who was crying, and why were they with Egg? He made his way down the steps, his footsteps lighting echoing as he went down. And then his face fell.

Egg was on the ground, tightly hugging and comforting the person who was crying. And that person was Wemmbu. Panic immediately set in, but Minute took a deep breath to mask it and slowly made his way toward the two.

He took in the scene properly, looking the two over. Egg was perfectly fine from the looks of it, beside his calm and worried eyes that stayed on his best friend. Wemmbu, on the other hand. His long, purple hair was matted, and there were bandages wrapped around him. Minute could see where he was injured, as the area ever so slightly gave the bandages a black-red tint. His wings, which were normally well taken care of and in bright condition, seemed to be duller in color and messed up.

And Void, Minute’s heart broke when Egg got Wemmbu’s attention. The angel had murmured something barely audible, but clearly Wemmbu heard it. Minute assumed it was Egg informing the demonic avian that he was here, as Wemmbu turned to look at him.

Now Minute was really worried. He didn’t even bare to hide the devastating look when he saw Wemmbu’s face and horn. His eyes were puffy, as tears continued to fall down. And his horn was broken, with black blood still tracing the edges.

“Oh, kid, what happened?” Minute murmured. He had kneeled down, now sitting next to Wemmbu and Egg. The demonic avian didn’t verbally respond. But his body seemed to tense up even more, and his amethyst colored eyes started to cloud, as if he was remembering something he didn’t want to think about.

Wemmbu numbly moved, now letting go of Egg. Instead, he avoided eye contact as he hugged Minute instead. Void, the kid was shaking bad. Minute carefully wrapped his arms around the demonic avian, holding him close.

By now Wemmbu had mostly stopped crying. A few tears still welled up, but otherwise he was just silent. The only noise coming from him were quiet gasps as he tried to control his breathing.

Once Wemmbu was mostly calmed down, Minute slowly started asking questions. Simple ones, such as “Where have you been?” and “Where are you hurt?” So then Egg and Minute found out that Wemmbu’s secret identity had been discovered by ParrotX2 and Flamefrags, and he was then taken by LAW. He skipped over what happened in prison, merely mumbling that he escaped and walked all the way back to the End Portal.

It was a little odd- he seemed to tense and shut down whenever more questions about the prison came up. All they got out of him was that there were other prisoners, that it was not a fun time, and that he had gotten injured while being there. That was also when they found out that Wemmbu was currently a runaway fugitive, who was meant to be executed if LettuceK became king.

That information made even Egg’s blood boil. His best friend was forced to reveal his identity, then was taken and suffered in a prison while waiting to be executed!? Egg was going to shoot an arrow right into this Lettuce guy’s face! Minute on the other hand was beginning to think that he could ignore his no-banning rule for just one person.

At one point Egg left to get medical supplies. “How long were you walking?” Minute asked. By now they were sitting up against a wall, Wemmbu next to them and resting his head on Minute’s shoulder.

“I think.. About a week?” Wemmbu said, his voice small.

“And you were alone for that whole time?”

“No..”

“So someone was with you?” Minute was a little worried. Depending on who was with Wemmbu, they may try to use this against him.

Wemmbu murmured something inaudible. Minute was about to ask him to repeat when he noticed that the demonic avian’s eyes were starting to cloud up again. From what Minute could tell that meant that Wemmbu was overthinking or zoning out. Neither really the best at the moment.

Once Egg got back, a bundle of medical supplies in his hands, they guided Wemmbu to sit on the couch. He got up numbly, face tired of everything. Tired of crying, tired of questions, tired of what happened to him. It hurt Egg and Minute to see their friend in such a condition.

The demonic avian sat on the leather couch, hand clutched tightly on one of Minute’s sleeves. It reminded Minute of a child who didn’t want to be left alone by their parents for even a second. Void, he really didn’t want to leave Wemmbu alone. Well, not alone per se, since Egg would be with him.

Eggchan carefully unwrapped the bandages around Wemmbu’s waist, revealing the deep wounds. Well, one wound was deep. It looked older, too. Other wounds were around the injury, one of them must have reopened it. “Brother,” Egg grimaced.

It was most definitely painful. Both to feel and see. Red-black blood covered the discarded bandages, and the wound was probably deeper than its length considering it was from a sword. 

Egg was careful to clean the wound, seeing how sensitive it would be. Wemmbu lightly flinched at the start, as Egg dabbed a rag of warm and soapy water against the cut. Once that was clean, Egg wrapped fresh, sturdy bandages around. Soon enough all of Wemmbu’s wounds were cleaned and patched up, except for his horn.

“This is going to hurt a lot,” Egg warned, “since horns are extremely sensitive.”

Wemmbu shakily nodded. He knew how much it would hurt. Probably less than the horn being roughly cut off, but it would still hurt. As soon as Egg started to clean around it, Wemmbu had already flinched away in reflex. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay,” Minute said calmly. “Egg and I are here, we’re not leaving.” 

The demonic avian was still tense, but eventually was able to hold out enough for Egg to clean the horn. Small bits flaked off during it, making Wemmbu wince once he noticed. By the time Egg was starting to wrap the horn in gauze, Wemmbu was tightly squeezing Minute’s hand. He could feel tears start to prick up in his eyes, and he didn’t like it.

When they were done with all the wounds, their next concern was Wemmbu’s wings and hair. His hair wasn’t too bad, Egg could fix it within fifteen minutes, but his wings were very much concerning. Feathers were messy, and there was definitely dirt or other plumage between them.

Normally Wemmbu’s wings were violet in color, some feathers drifting into a dark indigo and gray. It was what you would expect of a violet-backed starling avian hybrid. Yet now, the feathers seemed duller. Some were even missing, and not naturally. It was like someone had been pulling feathers forcefully.

“Egg,” Minute looked at the angel.

“Yeah, I know. You go, I’ll keep Wemmbu safe,” Egg said. Minute nodded, and turned his attention back to Wemmbu. The demonic avian was zoning out again, yet his body still held tension as if he was worried someone would come and attack.

Minute lightly squeezed Wemmbu’s hand, getting his attention. “I need to go for a bit, kid. Egg will stay with you, and I’ll come back during my break, alright?”

“..Okay,” Wemmbu murmured. That would be okay. Wemmbu would rather that Minute stayed, but he knew that Minute going back to watch over the End would be good. It meant that Wemmbu didn’t need to worry about someone randomly coming in and seeing how vulnerable he was. Besides, Egg would still be there. His best friend would still stay.

~~~

With that Minute left, looking back before he was finally out of sight. “Do you want to move to your bed?” Egg asked, “Would probably be more comfortable for wing preening.”

Wemmbu nodded, and got up. Thankfully he was able to stand and walk fine on his own, so they went to the bedroom. It was like any bedroom they would have. Half of it was Wemmbu’s, the other half was Egg’s. In their normal color schemes, purple and pale blue, filled with items that would either scream Wemmbu or Egg, fighting equipment or books.

Soon enough Wemmbu sat down on his bed, shuffling and hugging his knees close to his chest. His tail hung off from the edge of the bed, occasionally swaying to and fro. Egg climbed to be behind him, that way the preening could be easier.

Wemmbu let his wings go a little limp after fluffing and shaking them out a bit. Right away Egg started to go through and get rid of any plumage. Any dirt or sand, or bits of dried blood. When that was done, Egg started to straighten out the feathers. Many weren’t very neat, instead being messy. So the angel ran his hands carefully through his friend’s wings.

Egg expected Wemmbu to start purring at some point. He had done so every time Egg or Minute preened his wings. It always was slow and quiet for awhile, but by the time they were preening the other wing they could normally hear gentle purrs. Yet this time Wemmbu wasn’t purring. Hell, he didn’t even seem to be as relaxed as he normally would be.

And that worried him. There were only two things that made Wemmbu relax so much that he purred like a cat. Horn scratches and his wings being preened. Egg considered gently scratching around his horns, but the broken one would be extra sensitive and probably wouldn’t be safe to touch. So now the fact that his best friend wasn’t comfortable with something instinctively calming concerned him.

“Wemmbu?” Egg said at some point. He had started to preen the other wing, and there was still no noise. Wemmbu didn’t respond. 

“Wemmbu?” Egg repeated, lightly grabbing and shaking his friend’s arm.

“Hm?” Wemmbu finally stirred.

“You good?”

“Uh.. I’m fine.”

Egg quietly sighed for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Wemmbu hummed. He sounded exhausted, like he was about to fall asleep.

“Tired?”

“Mhm,”

Egg softly chuckled, continuing to gently run his fingers along Wemmbu’s feathers. He would pluck out more bits of dirt sometimes, though sand seemed to be more common. Egg guessed Wemmbu had fallen while on the small beach when he was getting to the entrance to the Stronghold.

Once he was done with both wings, Egg checked them over. They were still dull, and would probably need soapy water or oil to bring them back to their natural, vibrant color. “I’ll be right back,” Egg said, slowly getting up.

Egg was already about to stand up when Wemmbu spoke and lightly grabbed his wrist, “Where?”

“Just to the bathroom, calm down,” Egg soothed. “I just need to get some water and oil to properly clean your wings.”

Wemmbu was quiet for a few moments. Egg didn’t move, letting the demonic avian think. “Okay,” he finally murmured, letting his hand fall.

The angel came back with a few towels, soapy water, and a small bottle of chamomile scented oil. Wemmbu had always relaxed when it came to chamomile. Whether it was chamomile tea or the scent of it, it normally made him calmer.

Egg climbed back into the bed, making sure he and Wemmbu were comfortable. He put a towel underneath the first wing, and carefully dripped some of the water onto it. Wemmbu seemed to stir at the contact, probably because the water was warm. Egg could admit that he was naturally a bit cold. Angels were like that, he didn’t fully know how to explain it.

So the warm water was probably very welcome. Egg being careful and cleaning every singular feather helped, from what he could guess. Eventually Egg had finished with the water bit, and he changed to the oil. As soon as he did that, the tension finally drained from Wemmbu. The demonic avian rested his head on his knees, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Eventually a rumble finally formed in Wemmbu’s throat. Egg almost sighed in relief himself. His best friend was finally, finally, relaxed and comfortable. The rumble turned into purrs once Egg started with the warm water on the other wing. Once Egg was finally done with both preening and washing off both of Wemmbu’s wings, he paused. He could hear it in the demonic avian’s breathing that he was now asleep.

The scent of chamomile still lingered in the air, making Egg calm down as well. After a few moments he carefully got up. He grabbed all the towels and the small bucket of water and removed them. Walking back into the bedroom, Egg saw how tranquil his best friend was.

Asleep and lightly curled in on himself, just resting on his bed. He looked so much healthier after being properly bandaged and his wings being cleaned. It didn’t even seem odd to Egg. He had seen his best friend with a confident smirk or a strained smile, with a proud stance or tatter appearance. He had seen Wemmbu in almost every condition imaginable. Happy, annoyed, prideful, upset, calm, stressed, untouchable, injured, everything.

Yet, Egg couldn’t think of a single time he had seen Wemmbu so serene. Sure, he had been crying about an hour or so ago and was heavily injured, but right now, in that moment, he just seemed at peace.

Soon enough Minute entered the room. He went quieter when he saw that Wemmmbu was sleeping, but he and Egg sat and began talking.

“So, what have we gathered so far?” Minute sighed.

Egg began listing off what he could remember, “His identity as the ‘Invisible Knight’ was blown, he and Flame fought in a big battle, then Wemmbu was taken by whatever LAW is, apparently prison sucked a lot, and then he made his way here after escaping.”

“And at some point someone was helping him,” Minute added.

“Right..” Egg murmured, “I don’t know who would be willing or able to help him, though.”

“Jaden?” Minute suggested.

“No, he’s all the way in the Great Sea,”

“A random player?”

“Doubt it with his reputation.” Egg sighed, “Flame?”

“I can’t see Flame helping Wemmbu at all,”

“Eh, he’s helped Wemmbu before..”

“He has?”

“Yeah,” Egg said, “one time when Wemmbu was sick Flame found him and took care of him for like two days. He sent me a message about it when it happened,”

“Intresting.”

“I still can’t think of anything that would make him react like how he’s been, though,” Egg murmured. “I mean- he’s been flinching a lot, and has been avoiding talking about whatever happened in jail,”

“I see what you mean.” Minute said, “there were times where it was like his eyes were clouding over, too.”

“That normally happens when he starts thinking too much,” Egg said. He had caught that look in Wemmbu’s face multiple times. Normally when there was something stupid they were trying to figure out and he was just tired of putting the effort in.

Minute and Egg both sighed. They were tired and worried about their friend, and were lacking information. “Well, I have one last shift. Get some sleep, Egg,” Minute said.

“Yep,” Egg yawned. Void, he didn’t realize how tired he had gotten. For most of the day he had just been reading and doing any miscellaneous thing he could do. Before Wemmbu had shown up, he was re-reading a book for the third time. Was he glad he had something to do? Sure, yeah. Was he glad it was because his best friend had appeared and was very injured? Absolutely not. But, Wemmbu was safe and asleep. So Egg could rest now.

~~~

Wemmbu woke up with a start. He didn’t remember what he had dreamed of. He just knew that he was awful, and probably one of those nightmares you forget about as soon as you wake up. What was worse, was that whatever nightmare he had was enough to make him stressed enough to want to cry.

The room was dark, and he had to blink a few times to adjust what he was seeing. The scent of chamomile was very faint now, not enough to calm him down, but enough to not make him go into a full blown panic.

Void, why was he so weak now? What happened when he wouldn’t even bat an eye whenever he got threatened? Apparently that Wemmbu was just gone, or buried deep down with everything that had been going on. Damn it, he was already tearing up.

By now he was shaking, a few tears gathering and falling from his eyes. He was sat up-right in his bed, his light purple blanket still partly draped on him. Wemmbu rested his head on his knees, softly digging his nails into his arm. Maybe he should have worn a hoodie to bed instead of a white t-shirt.

He hated this. Sure, he was glad that he was finally with Egg and Minute. He was glad that he could at least be crying in his bed rather than in a cave. He was glad that he was away from the LAW. But he also hated how these past two or so months kept coming back to haunt him. Whether memories or flashbacks or mere reminders from words or an item or a building. He hated how it seemed to plague his life and how it wasn’t going away.

Suddenly a hand rested on his shoulder. Wemmbu flinched, quickly looking up. What he saw was his best friend, Egg, looking at him with a gentle stare. The two stayed quiet and still for a while, merely content in one another’s presence.

“Hug?” Egg asked softly.

“..Mhm,” Wemmbu hummed quietly. Egg sat down on Wemmbu’s bed, and carefully hugged him. The demonic avian hugged the angel back, and rested his head on Egg’s shoulder. It was a simple interaction, but it gave Wemmbu comfort.

They stayed like that for a while, at least ten or so minutes. At some point Wemmbu just quietly cried, and Egg rubbed circles into his back. Void, he didn’t deserve Egg. The angel was too kind to him.

“Stop doing that,” Egg murmured gently.

“Doing what?” Wemmbu questioned, his voice cracking slightly.

“Overthinking.” Egg said simply, “I can already tell, don’t try to deny it.”

Wemmbu stayed quiet, preferring to not say anything. Egg took that as his friend needing more comfort. So he gave quiet reassurances and continued to keep Wemmbu in the hug. The demonic avian finally calmed down, becoming drowsy once more.

Egg started to finally pull away, being tired himself. But as soon as he tried to move away Wemmbu quietly whined in protest. “Brother, I’m literally going to be on the other side of the room,” Egg chuckled quietly.

The demonic avian grumbled. Now, Egg knew that he was tired and hurt, which normally made him clingy. It was still a little funny, though. Eventually Egg gave in to the pleading amethyst eyes, and sat back down. He was quickly back in a hug, as Wemmbu clung to him. “You are very clingy,” Egg commented.

“Meh,” Wemmbu hummed. He didn’t really care. Right now, it was just him and Egg. He wasn’t in prison, he wasn’t being chased, he wasn’t in a fight. He was in bed, he was hugging his best friend, he was safe. He was also really tired. But he also wanted to stay next to Egg.

“You look like you’re going to pass out,” Egg said. He had carefully moved so he could get good luck at Wemmbu in the darkness. That did mean that Wemmbu wasn’t able to hug him anymore, but simply holding his hand seemed to be enough.

“Void, do I really look that tired?” Wemmbu murmured, holding back a yawn.

“Yes. But I also know you take forever to fall asleep when alone,”

“Huh.. I guess I do.” Wemmbu had never really realized that. But looking back, he had always fallen asleep faster when he was with someone he felt safe with. Normally that was with Egg, but it happened with MinuteTech a few times, once or twice with Boosfer. …It had also happened when he was traveling with Flamefrags. And when he was training with Manepear. That realization made him question his own brain for a few moments.

“Dude, stop thinking so much. You’re just going to make yourself feel even more awake,” Egg sighed.

“Why do you always know these things?” Wemmbu asked tiredly.

“I see all,” Egg smirked playfully.

“Uh-huh,” Wemmbu rolled his eyes. By now the demonic avian was leaning against Egg, head resting on his shoulder.

“You’re never going to sleep, are you?” Egg sighed.

“Probably not,” Wemmbu yawned. He was certainly tired, but he doubted he could properly fall asleep.

They both stayed quiet. Wemmbu merely let his mind buzz with silence, as Egg thought of a way to make his friend fall asleep. An idea popped up in his head. Something he hadn’t done since the destruction of their colony in the PrinceZam Empire. “Lay down,” Egg said.

“Why..?” Wemmbu asked. He still did, since he was tired, but he was wondering why.

“Well you gotta sleep, and you won’t unless I stay,” Egg explained. Once Wemmbu was comfortable, the angel shuffled so that he could lay down by his friend.

Wemmbu’s eyes ever so slightly widened, and his ears perked up as he finally figured out what Egg was doing. He was actually a little glad that Egg had decided to do this. Eventually they were both comfortable, and Wemmbu cuddled up to Egg.

The demonic avian’s wings lightly drooped off the bed as Egg’s softly tried to wrap around Wemmbu. Their breath mixed with how close they were. Wemmbu gently kept his head under Egg’s chin, for once feeling the safest he had ever been. Egg’s arms stayed wrapped around his best friend, his brother, in an almost protective way.

There weren’t many times where Egg was the one protecting Wemmbu. Normally it was the other way around. But whenever Egg did get the chance, he took it. It was just another way of him returning the favor to someone he saw as a brother. But for now, they just stayed quiet, stayed close and comfortable with one another. Held one another as they both drifted off to sleep.

~~~

By the morning Minute was up early. He didn’t know why, but he had this odd feeling that something was going to happen. So he got ready, ate a little food, and started his patrol. The sky was still a black inky void, no stars in sight. The only light it gave was the occasional pale purple shine. It reminded Minute of Wemmbu, funnily enough.

Thinking of Wemmbu, Minute was still wondering exactly what happened. A horn breaking was not an easy thing to happen. It would take about the same amount of effort as if you were trying to break someone’s bone. Yet Wemmbu didn’t want to say a word about it, so Minute didn’t ask. Maybe when the kid was better, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Then he would be ready to answer.

Patrol in the morning was boring, as usual. Not many people thought of going to the End this early, but you never know. Minute was strategic in when he started patrolling and when he took breaks. There was a routine, though to someone else it would seem like he just chose random times.

So when Minute heard the sound of someone appearing in the box, he was on-guard. There had been a lot of LAW-men showing up recently, and he now knew why as soon as Wemmbu had said it. But, looking carefully, Minute knew this wasn’t a LAW-man.

“Yo, Minute,” Flamefrags called.

“Flame,” Minute addressed politely. He flicked the lever that opened the box, and the demonic lion stepped out. Oddly enough, he seemed a little nervous. He was good at hiding it, as Minute barely even noticed it. But Minute still didn’t trust it. He hadn’t heard from Flame in a decent amount of time, and he barely came to the End unless it benefited him. Then again, when did anyone go to the End if it didn’t give them something? Whether for a good cause or a bad one.

“What do you need?” Minute asked. Maybe it would be simple. Maybe Flame was just looking for something, or took a small job to get something for someone.

What Minute didn’t expect Flame to ask was, “Have you seen Wemmbu?”

The demonic voidling took a moment to reply. On the one hand, Minute could lie. Wemmbu was still injured and not in the best state to fight, plus he was sleeping. On the other hand, Minute could vaguely tell the truth- or something similar to it.

“I have,” Minute said. “Why?”

“Recently? Within this week?” Flame said, trying to get clarification. The warrior was starting to seem a little fidgety.

“Yes..” Minute said slowly. “Again, why do you need to know?”

“It’s not for a rematch or fight, or anything like that,” Flame started.

“Really? That seems to be the only reason you looked for Wemmbu.”

“Well, normally it kind of is..” Flame murmured. “But not this time.”

“Hurry it up, then. Do you need him for something?”

“Kind of?”

“What does ‘kind of’ mean?” Minute deadpanned.

Flame gave a long sigh, “I just need to know if he’s okay.”

Minute paused. Flame asking if Wemmbu was okay? “He’s fine.. Why are you asking-?”

“Has he told you about what happened? With like- escaping the LAW’s prison?”

“Partly,”

“..What did he leave out?” Flame sighed.

“Why are you asking?” Minute questioned. Seriously, Minute was getting suspicious. Why was Flame asking so many questions about Wemmbu? What did he get out of this?

“Bro, I’m not plotting anything,” Flame huffed, sensing Minute’s distrust. “I just need to make sure he didn’t- like- spiral again, or something.”

“Spiral?” Minute narrowed his eyes, “How do you know of any of this?”

“Because I had to stay with the idiot for three or something days so he didn’t get caught again,” Flame said. Minute had a feeling he was rolling his eyes under the blindfold.

Silence followed. Minute was still confused, and Flame was getting annoyed. “You.. helped him?”

“Yes.”

“For three days?”

“Yes,” Flame scoffed. Seriously, how hard was it to believe he had helped Wemmbu? Sure they were rivals, but he didn’t want the guy dead because of whatever the LAW did. “So is he here?” Flame finally asked.

“He is,” Minute finally said.

“Okay… okay,” Flame quietly sighed. That was good. That was all he needed to know. If Wemmbu was here, that meant he was going to be safe and fine. “That’s all I needed.”

“Really?” Minute’s shiny white eyes widened. “That’s it?”

“Uh- yeah. What were you expecting?”

“Well you helped your enemy for multiple days, I would assume you wanted some kind of favor,”

Flame choked out a laugh at that. A favor? Absolutely not. “Yeah, maybe I would want a favor if it were different circumstances, bro. But with whatever the hell he went through? No way.”

Minute ever so slightly tensed at that. Did that mean Flame knew more about what happened? Wemmbu had practically not said a word about it, just mentioned he was brought to prison, that PrinceZam, Fantst, and Baablu were also there, and that they got out.

“Did he tell you anything?” Minute eventually asked.

“What, has he not told you anything?” Flame deadpanned.

“He’s been.. Very brief, about whatever happened. Especially when he was in prison.”

Flame stayed quiet this time, thinking. “All I’ve gathered is that it was bad.” He murmured. “He was injured when he escaped, had new scars, and I’m sure you know about his horn.”

The one thing that Flame and Minute could agree on, was that the broken horn was the worst part of it. They were both part demon, so they knew quite well the effort and pain breaking a horn must’ve been. “Well, seeing how we’re both not very informed on the prison part, I say we like.. compare notes, or something,”

“Sure,” Minute shrugged. With that they both spent at least half an hour going over what they had learned. So far what they got was that Wemmbu had been having trouble concentrating and sleeping, seemed to have nightmares, was extra panicked and on-guard, and didn’t want to talk about it.

However, they still couldn’t figure out what had actually happened when he was in LAW’s custody. Clearly they got physical at some point, but otherwise they didn’t know the full extent of it. “How much has he been eating?” Flame asked at one point.

“Not much,” Minute sighed, “Egg and I have tried to get him to eat but he just doesn’t seem to have the appetite."

Flame nodded slowly, “He seemed pretty malnutritioned when I found him.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to control their saturation and energy,” Minute murmured.

“At this point we just gotta ask him, bro,” Flame groaned.

“Everytime Egg or I try he shuts down,” Minute said.

“He has to talk at some point,” Flame said, probably rolling his eyes underneath his blindfold. “Can’t help him if you don’t know what actually happened.”

Minute gave out a long sigh, thinking. He knew that he needed Wemmbu to explain, otherwise little to no actual healing could happen (mentally and emotionally, at least). But he also didn’t want to make the demonic avian fully refuse to speak about it, or push him into more panic. Eventually Minute gave in. He wanted his son to feel better, and who knows- maybe getting it off his chest would help.

“Alright, come with me,” Minute said. With that settled they went down the stairs and into the living room. Two bookshelves lined each wall, full of books (that Egg had already read), and a dark brown leather couch was set in the middle. A table in front of it and two dark oak chairs sat on the other side of the table.

It was rather serene, with the only noise being quiet crackles from lit torches and the echo of footsteps. “I’ll get Wemmbu and Egg,” Minute said.

Flame merely nodded, still looking around. Eventually he sat down on one of the dark oak chairs. Wemmbu would probably feel better on the couch with Egg or Minute, or something.

The demonic lion sat quietly, lightly leaning against the back of the chair, his arms crossed and leg ever so slightly bouncing. His mind was busy and he was getting annoyed at this point. He couldn’t piece anything together properly, too many spots were left open. If Wemmbu could finally say something then everything could run smoothly, rather than a big snowball of questions and guesses.

Minute came back a minute or so later, Egg and Wemmbu following. The good part was that Flame noticed how Wemmbu looked healthier. He had bandages on any and all wounds, he didn’t look as skinny as he was a week ago, he looked decently well rested, and his wings were clean and less dull. Unfortunately he still had that numb expression and cloudy look in his eyes. Egg was also holding his hand and leading him toward the couch.

For the first few seconds it was quiet. Flame and Minute were on the dark oak chairs, while Wemmbu and Egg went to the couch. The air seemed heavy and uncomfortable with the silence. The awkwardness made sense in all honesty- how do you start a conversation asking someone what happened when they were imprisoned?

So they started off slow with the questions. Minute mostly took the lead, carefully double checking information so they could ease into it. “How long were you in there?” He started.

“Uhh…” Wemmbu murmured, “Almost two months, I think?”

“You think?” Flame said flatly.

“Bro, I don’t know, it’s not like they had a calendar," Wemmbu rolled his eyes, “The only sense of time I got was being reminded of my execution by Lettuce or Loppezzz.”

“Loppezzz?” Egg asked. “Why was she there?”

“She’s a guard,” Wemmbu lightly hissed, utter hatred filled his eyes. “Or was. Someone said that she would get fired if we escaped,”

“Good chance she was fired, then,” Minute said, seeing how Wemmbu was very much free.

“Serves her right..” Wemmbu muttered. It was quiet, meant to be a small comment to himself, but with how silent the room was it was heard loud and clear.

“What did she do to make you hate her so much?” Flame questioned.

Wemmbu stayed quiet and avoided eye contact with that question. And that made Flame, Minute, and Egg concerned. “Wemmbu,” Egg said slowly, “what did Loppezzz do?”

The demonic avian’s gaze kept flicking around the room, before eventually landing on the scars covering his arms. Minute noticed it immediately and something in his mind clicked. “Is she the reason you have so many new scars?” Egg’s eyes widened at the accusation, and Flame sat up a bit more.

Wemmbu numbly nodded, subconsciously starting to dig his nails into his arms. Egg quickly stopped him by holding his hand and giving it a light squeeze. Flame took a deep breath, thinking of what he wanted to ask. He had to be very, very, careful with the question. “You don’t have to answer this one, but,” Flame started. “Was Loppezzz the one who.. Broke your horn?”

He froze up immediately. The silence was heavy for what felt like an eternity, which gave away the answer. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Wemmbu whispered, looking down at the floor. His tail was tightly wrapped around his leg like a vine, his wings seemed to want to close around him.

“Void, what did they do to you?” Egg murmured, shuffling so he could give Wemmbu a hug.

“..You don’t want to know.”

“But we do, Wemmbu.” Minute said softly, “We can’t help if you don’t give us anything to work with.”

“I can’t- I don’t.. I don’t wanna explain it,” Wemmbu’s voice was quiet, broken. And Void, it even hurt Flame deep down. He had never seen Wemmbu this vulnerable, not even when he was sick.

“What if we just like- ask you yes or no questions?” Flame suggested, “You don’t have to even say anything, just a simple nod or head shake.” Surprisingly, doing that method got them the most information they had gathered in days.

“Did they limit food?”

Wemmbu nodded.

“Did they control your items?”

Wemmbu nodded.

“Did they make you do things, chores or tasks?”

Wemmbu nodded.

“Did they hurt you?”

Wemmbu nodded.

“Did they hurt the other prisoners?”

Wemmbu made a so-so motion with his hand.

There was practically not a single question where Wemmbu shook his head no. For most of the questions, he would look down and numbly nod a yes or use his hand to say ‘kind of.’

Slowly, the questions reached more dangerous territory. Sometimes Wemmbu wouldn’t move at all, or tears would gather in his eyes, or he would have that clouded gaze that meant he was remembering something he didn’t want to think about. After about an hour they took a break. By that point the demonic avian had started to stop responding, and he curled in on himself, avoiding any and all eye contact. Minute and Flame left the room to talk, Egg occasionally joining them before going back to comfort his best friend.

The new information they had was spine-chilling, and made Minute feel a little sick. They had learned that Wemmbu had been forced to do chores, had tried to escape and failed four other times, and each time the punishment was worse. Whether it was solitary confinement, having to wear handcuffs whenever he was out of his cell, or getting physical repercussions.

Apparently, one time when they were about forty minutes in, Wemmbu had briefly mentioned a time where he had broken his leg and the only help he got was someone coming in to set it so it wouldn’t heal wrong. Otherwise, he was forced to continue working on a broken leg and sprained ankle. The good news was that Zam, Fantst, and Baablu had tried their best to help. But otherwise, this LettuceK guy had done nothing to properly help.

But the worst part they found out, the main reason they called for a break, was when they found out that Wemmbu had basically been beaten and tortured everyday. Loppezzz or Lettuce would go into his cell, slash him with a netherite sword (the reason why he had so many scars now), or hit him with a wooden knockback sword that would give him bruises and make him feel sore. Loppezzz had also been the reason for his wings being messed up, and his horn being broken.

Suddenly all the times where he refused to speak about it, or had that cloudy zoned out look in his eyes, made so much sense. It broke Minute and Egg’s heart, and once all the talking was done Egg stayed by Wemmbu’s side for the entire day.

“Is there anything else we need to know, Wemmbu?” Minute asked softly.

“I don’t think so..” Wemmbu murmured. Void, he looked tired and like a child who had been hurt too many times.

“Okay,” Minute said. “You rest now, kid,”

Wemmbu nodded numbly, and Minute could see the tears starting to well up in his eyes. Egg had gone to ask Flame something, so Minute stayed with Wemmbu for a while. Minute couldn’t see his expression, as Wemmbu had curled up again and kept his face hidden. But Minute could see the subtle shaking and heard quiet hiccups as Wemmbu tried not to cry.

Carefully, oh so carefully, Minute wrapped Wemmbu in a hug. It was tight, comforting, and enough to let Wemmbu be vulnerable without any judgement. The demonic avian softly sobbed, and his tail instinctively wrapped around one of Minute’s arms.

Flame and Egg came back about five or so minutes later, and by then Wemmbu was mostly just quietly mumbling incoherently through tears. Normally Flame felt really awkward whenever Wemmbu was crying; but right now he pushed that feeling away. This whole week had been weird for Flame, Wemmbu crying was just another thing that made him rethink how he saw the demonic avian.

“I’ll leave you all be,” Flame murmured.

“Thanks,” Egg said. “If you wouldn’t mind- could you get us some more medical supplies?”

“Yeah, sure,” Flame lightly shrugged.

With that Flame left, still thinking. Now what he didn’t expect to see when he was leaving was Boosfer waiting in the box everyone showed up in when they entered the End.

“Oh, Flame!” Boosfer called, “I didn’t expect to see you here!”

“I could say the same to you,” Flame snorted. He begrudgingly flipped the lever that opened the netherite container, letting Boosfer to hop out. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to ask Minute where Wemmbu was,” Boosfer said simply, “I heard he got out of prison or something.”

Red flags appeared in Flame’s mind immediately. Why did Boosfer care about Wemmbu? Weren’t they on bad terms? “Why do you care?”

“None of your business,” Boosfer awkwardly smiled.

“Sure.” Flame narrowed his eyes underneath his blindfold, looking Boosfer up and down. Nothing was suspicious, he had what he always had. Yet somehow Flame didn’t feel like anything was off. The vibes he was getting was just someone curious on where their opponent was, wanting to see how they were.

“Is Minute here?” Boosfer asked.

“He is,” Flame said flatly. “Just.. don’t be caught too off-guard when you go looking for him.”

“Uuhhh, okay-?” Boosfer lightly laughed in confusion, “What does that mean?”

Flame said nothing, instead walking toward the End portal and jumping in. Leaving Boosfer very confused, and a little worried. Caught off guard? By what? Suddenly the alien hybrid had a bad feeling.

Quickly, Boosfer started to walk down staircases, looking around hallways for Minute or Eggchan. The second set of stairs he went down, he found what he was looking for. Well- that and something that he didn’t expect.

Boosfer had planned to go into the End, simply bother Minute about if he had seen Wemmbu, and if he saw Wemmbu he would go find Wemmbu. If he hadn’t seen Wemmbu, Boosfer would shrug and go looking anyway. But the alien hybrid went on alert as soon as he heard quiet sobbing.

Who in the Void’s name would be crying? Yet, as he listened and picked up his pace, his face fell ever so slightly. His humorous mood was put on hold and worried brother instincts filled him. He could hear someone talking through tears, and he recognized that voice.

“I don’t- I don’t want to think about it anymore,” Wemmbu cried softly.

Seeing Wemmbu and Minute sitting on a dark brown leather couch, Wemmbu crying as Minute tightly hugged him, was not what Boosfer expected or wanted to see. He didn’t want to see his little brother sobbing, new scars littering his arms and bandages on his side, face, and horn.

His left horn was broken! Who in the world-? Who did that, why did they do it, and how dare someone hurt Wemmbu in that way?! Anger started to boil in Boosfer's blood, and he wanted to punch someone. Who dared to hurt his little brother?

If Boosfer was already warm, his body temperature had just turned hot in how upset he was. But, Wemmbu needed to feel safe. And while he would probably appreciate the sentiment, right now, he would probably just want comfort. And Boosfer would happily give his brother comfort!

Eventually Minute noticed Boosfer, and narrowed his eyes. “Why are you here?” The demonic voidling asked.

“Originally to look for Wemmbu,” Boosfer said truthfully. “But now I found him, so change of plans,”

It took Wemmbu a moment to recognize the other person speaking. But once he realized it was Boosfer, he perked up. It wasn’t very noticeable, since he was still shaking and tears continued to fall from his eyes. However, Minute seemed to notice.

And Minute was slightly confused. Why would Wemmbu perk up- not in the way where he heard an enemy approaching, or something piqued his interest- but in the way where he recognized a friend? Didn’t Wemmbu want Boosfer dead because he knew his identity as the Invisible Knight, or did that not matter anymore since his identity was revealed when he was in prison?

Soon enough Wemmbu was carefully moving away, and Minute released the demonic avian from the hug. Wemmbu numbly started to head toward Boosfer, though the alien hybrid was quicker. “Nope, you stay on the couch, Wemm,” he ordered softly. What happened next surprised Minute.

Boosfer sat down on the couch, right next to Wemmbu, and the demonic avian rested his head on Boosfer’s shoulder. It was oddly domestic for two people who Minute thought were against each other. Wemmbu wasn’t really crying anymore by this point either, and Boosfer carefully wiped away tears that were still on Wemmbu’s face.

“I thought Wemmbu was still trying to kill you?” Minute queried.

“Nah, that was months ago,” Boosfer said. He had carefully reached up and started scratching around Wemmbu’s horns. At first Wemmbu had flinched at the touch, especially around his broken left horn; but eventually he melted into it. “He’s my little brother now.”

“I still don’t think you’d be older,” Wemmbu yawned. The horn scratches were starting to make him sleepy. And the warmth from Boosfer wasn’t helping, either. But Wemmbu was also exhausted, so he didn’t really mind.

“I am older than you, Wemm,” Boosfer pointed out. Which was true.

“This is certainly a change,” Eggchan commented as he entered the room. Originally he was going to give Wemmbu more hugs, but it seemed Boosfer had beaten him to it. Egg was slightly updated on Boosfer and Wemmbu’s brotherly relationship, as Wemmbu had complained about it when he got out of the Underworld. Though it was mostly just him saying he would be the older brother, rather than denying that they were brothers now.

“When-?” Minute started.

“Don’t worry about it,” Boosfer smiled playfully. “Just know that me and Wemm are chill now,’

“Mhm..” Wemmbu quietly hummed in agreement. He looked rather tranquil despite how he was crying a few minutes before. But that was a good thing, and it relieved Minute and Egg. They were glad Wemmbu was finally able to rest without struggle.

Eventually Minute, Egg, and Boosfer started to lightly chat. It was quiet and brief, but it was also simple and calm. Friendly, even. Thankfully the quiet chatter, gentle horn scratches, and the heat coming off of Boosfer was enough to lull Wemmbu into sleep. It was probably the quickest and calmest sleep he had gotten in awhile. No nightmares came up, no memories plagued him. He was just able to sleep peacefully.

~~~

A few days later, everything was mostly back to normal. Although a new unspoken rule had formed: do not mention the LAW’s prison around Wemmbu. Mostly because if he was reminded of it, whether through words or an item or anything else, he would freeze up.

His wounds were all healed, though the amount of scars would be concerning to anyone who saw them. The only remaining issue was his horn. It had healed by now, but they couldn’t leave it open. Egg and Wemmbu did a few light tests, to see just how sensitive it was. They quickly learned that a mere drop of water being dripped onto the broken top would make the demonic avian hiss.

“Yeah, we’re gonna have to get you a horn replacement, or something,” Egg observed.

“That’s a thing?” Wemmbu queried.

“Yep,”

“Who.. how?” Wemmbu asked, confused. “How do you like- do that-??”

“Bro I don’t know,” Egg shrugged. “Boosfer just mentioned it one day or something,”

“When?”

“You were asleep,”

“Of course,” Wemmbu said with a light sigh. “You think I could get a gold one?”

“Maybe,” Egg chuckled.

“Or would that be too much gold? Cause my tiara is already gold,”

“You could get multiple, you know.”

“Depends on how expensive they are,”

“If you could have multiple, what would you get?” Egg asked.

Wemmbu thought for a moment, slightly pacing before saying, “Probably a gold one and one that matches the actual horn color.”

“Makes sense,” Egg said.

“Bro how much do you think I could annoy people using those?”

“Uh.. I don’t know,”

“Like- one day they see the golden one, and then when they’re about to ask ‘bout it, I switch to have the normal one on,”

“Pft, okay that’d be kind of funny.”

With that they both laughed for a moment. It was nice. No mention of the LAW, no fighting, no flashbacks, no nightmares (well, Wemmbu still had those sometimes). Wemmbu had managed to calm down a bit more, though he still kept his guard up. Which isn’t too concerning, considering he fights a lot, but it was still up more than usual.

Thankfully he wasn’t malnourished anymore, either, and he could go back to joking around. He had also done some sparring with Minute when he was fit enough, saying that he didn’t want to get rusty. Overall Wemmbu had mostly recovered.

“I’mma grab food, brb,” Wemmbu said, heading toward the kitchen.

“Alrighty,” Egg replied. As soon as Wemmbu was out of sight he pulled out his communicator.

You whisper to Boosfer: Yo, Wemmbu said gold and then one that matches his actual horn color.

Boosfer whispers to you: on it!

You whisper to Boosfer: Is Flame helping you get it, or no?

Boosfer whispers to you: nah, he just like threw me a few pieces of netherite and some diamonds then left

You whisper to Boosfer: Weird.

Boosfer whispers to you: eh, at least i don’t have to pay

You whisper to Boosfer: Wemmbu is coming back, gtg

Boosfer whispers to you: tell him i say hi!!

With that Egg put his communicator away again, just as Wemmbu came back into the room. “Who were you texting?” He asked.

“Boosfer. He says hi, by the way,” Egg replied.

Wemmbu simply nodded with a small hum, plopping back down on the couch. “I’m bored,”

“You’re always bored.”

“Not always,” Wemmbu argued.

“If you’re not bored then you’re either asleep or fighting someone,” Egg raised a brow.

“I wanna do something,” Wemmbu whined, slightly changing the topic.

“Bro, just wait like ten minutes and I bet something entertaining is going to happen for you,” Egg deadpanned. “At least it normally works like that.”

“Ten minutes is too long,” Wemmbu complained.

Egg sighed, “Here, I got an idea.”

“Eh-?”

“Stretch out your wings,” Egg said.

“Minute preened them two days ago,” Wemmbu rolled his eyes.

“And technically speaking they should be getting preened once a day,” Egg shot back.

“Ugh, fine.” Wemmbu gave in, opened and let his wings rest so Egg could preen them. “You’re just trying to make me tired, aren’t you?”

“Mayhaps,”

“You go through one traumatic event and suddenly everyone is worried,” Wemmbu mocked.

“Duh,” Egg said, a hint of concern audible in his voice.

“You all worry too much about me.”

“I think we don’t worry enough, actually,”

“I’m perfectly fine,”

“You are now,” Egg said. “Weren’t less than a week ago.”

“Meanie.”

“Bro, you had Flamefrags worried about you, that says it all.”

“Mimimi,” Wemmbu grumbled.

Egg sighed, “Other wing.”

“I didn’t even realize you finished the first one,” Wemmbu gaped.

“Cause you keep yapping,” Egg rolled his eyes, “now shush and enjoy the wing preening.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Wemmbu said. But he stayed quiet afterward, feeling every feather being cleaned out with careful hands. It really was calming, he could admit. Egg was always very gentle with Wemmbu’s wings, regardless if he was feeling annoyed with him. “When was the last time you had your wings preened?” Wemmbu asked tiredly.

“Last night,” Egg said. “I normally preen them before going to bed,”

“Hm,” Wemmbu hummed. “Can I preen them tonight?”

“Sure,” Egg shrugged lightly.

“Yay,” Wemmbu tiredly cheered. He was already starting to feel drowsy. By the time Egg finished with his wings he was almost asleep. But just before he could, he heard the ping from a communicator.

Egg grabbed his communicator, already having a feeling what the ping was.

Boosfer whispers to you: i got them!!!

You whisper to Boosfer: Alright. How long do you think you’ll take to get here?

Boosfer whispers to you: only like 20 mins or smt

You whisper to Boosfer: Okay, I’ll try to stall.

Boosfer whispers to you: i’ll be quick!! you can let him know i’m coming if you need to (:

“Boosfer’s coming to visit in a bit,” Egg said casually.

“Neat,” Wemmbu yawned.

“Do you want to take a nap?” Egg asked.

“Kinda,” Wemmbu murmured.

“Alright, you sleep,” Egg chuckled.

“Wake me like five mins before Boos gets here,” Wemmbu said softly. He was already half-asleep.

“Got it,” Egg smiled.

~~~

“Wemmbu,” Egg said. “Wake up, Boosfer is gonna be here soon.”

The demonic avian was still asleep, so Egg resorted to lightly poking his arm. “Bro, you said to wake you up before Boosfer got here.”

Wemmbu stayed asleep. “Oh my Void,” Egg sighed. Carefully, Egg tapped his right horn and called out, “Wemmbu!”

“Hmph?” Wemmbu groaned, finally awake.

“Boosfer is gonna be here in like four minutes, wake up, bro.”

“Mkay..” Wemmbu murmured, closing his eyes again.

“You are just not listening to me right now, are you?” Egg sighed.

“Not really,” Wemmbu yawned.

Egg sighed playfully, then put his hands on each side of Wemmbu’s head so he didn’t look away, “Boosfer is going to be here in like- three minutes,” he repeated.

Wemmblu blinked once, twice, then it seemed to finally click in his tired brain. “Oh shit-”

“Yeah, so wake up,” Egg chuckled.

“D’alright,” He murmured, slowly getting up. He was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when Boosfer bounced down the stairs and announced his arrival.

“I have arrived!” He grinned, hiding an arm behind his back.

“Hello, Boosfer,” Egg greeted.

“Hi Boos,” Wemmbu yawned.

“Dude, did you just wake up?” Boosfer laughed.

“Yep,” Wemmbu lightly chuckled.

“Anywho, I have a surprise for you!” Boosfer smiled.

“A.. surprise? From you?” Wemmbu raised a brow.

“Egg helped,” Boosfer admitted.

“I very much did,” Egg commented. “Now hurry up and show him,”

“Yeah, yeah,” Boosfer mocked playfully. Then he moved his arm, and what he was hiding was a small, clean black box. He carefully shoved the box toward Wemmbu, “Open it up, Wemm!”

“Well aren’t you two demanding,” Wemmbu rolled his eyes, a small, confused smile on his face. But he took the box and opened it. “You didn’t,” He gaped.

“We did,” Egg smiled. Boosfer quietly bounced with joy, putting his elbows on the edge of the couch.

Inside the small box were two horn replacements, one gold, and one a dark purple, specially made to fit Wemmbu’s broken left horn. They were carefully crafted, and if Wemmbu didn’t know for sure that the part of his horn that broke off was long gone, he would have thought that the purple one was the broken piece. “How- when-?” Wemmbu stuttered, utterly amazed.

“A lot of interesting people come to the End,” Egg shrugged. “Minute takes small notes on all of them in case they come back, and to make sure they aren’t doing anything shifty. One person happened to be good at making replacements and prosthetics for limbs and stuff,”

“So then Minute gave me the info and I commissioned them to make you horn replacements!” Boosfer grinned. “Oh yeah, Flame like paid for it too,”

“You all really pitched in, huh,” Wemmbu smiled.

“Well, we all wanted to help,” Egg said honestly.

“You’re too nice to me,” Wemmbu chuckled.

“Maybe,” Boosfer shrugged, “but you’re stuck with it.”

“Now uh.. How do I put it on?” Wemmbu asked.

“Uuuhhhh…” Boosfer and Egg hummed.

“Hey Minute!” Boosfer turned and ran to get Minute.

“Yeah, he’d probably know,” Egg said.

Wemmbu laughed briefly, carefully holding the box still. Gently, Wemmbu picked up the golden one, looking at it. “How did they get it to be the right shape?”

Egg stayed quiet, looking at the ground, “Don’t think about it.”

“Did you measure my horns while I was asleep or something?” Wemmbu accused playfully.

“Maybe,” Egg whistled.

“Pft, ‘course you did.”

Eventually Boosfer came back down the stairs, Minute following. “Alright, what did you need?”

“Well we got the horn replacements, we just don’t know how to actually attach them,” Egg explained.

“Hm, I see,” Minute hummed. The demonic voidling walked over, seeing Wemmbu admiring the replacements. “May I?”

“Yeah,” Wemmbu said, carefully giving Minute the golden fake horn.

“Hold still,” Minute said. Wemmbu did so, and Minute carefully tried to attach it. It was surprisingly simple, as the base of the replacement was ever so slightly smaller than Wemmbu’s actual horn. Since it was like that, the fake horn was able to easily slide in and not fall off. “Comfortable?” Minute asked.

“Yes?” Wemmbu said, his answer was more of a question. “Having a fake horn is weird,”

Egg chuckled lightly, “Yeah, it probably is.”

“It looks really cool!” Boosfer said, having come around to the other side of the couch so he could properly look.

“The gold was a good choice,” Minute commented.

“There’s one that matches his horn color, too,” Egg added. “Give me a sec, I’ll get you a mirror.”

Wemmbu nodded, his hand carefully poking at the fake horn. “Bro, this is so weird,” He said. “I like- can’t feel it unless I poke closer to the actual horn.”

“That sounds like it’d feel weird,” Boosfer hummed. “Welp, I unfortunately gotta go,”

“Where?” Wemmbu queried.

“Gotta do Boosfer stuff,” He smirked.

“Tch- yeah, yeah. Bye Boos,” Wemmbu rolled his eyes.

“Bye Wemm,” Boosfer smiled. “See ya another time, MinuteTech,”

“Better not be you causing havoc,” Minute said.

“We’ll see,” Boosfer giggled. “Bye-bye!”

And with that Boosfer bounced back up the stairs, and presumably left. Minute left for a few seconds to double check, and yep, Boosfer had jumped into the portal to get back to the Overworld. When the demonic voidling came back, Wemmbu now had a mirror in his hand, Egg sat next to him.

“Yo, it looks sick,” Wemmbu grinned.

“Do you want to try the other one?” Egg asked.

“Hhmmm..” Wemmbu hummed, “Nah, I’ll switch to it before I leave.”

“Speaking of leaving,” Minute cut in, “are you planning to head out soon?”

“Yeah,” Wemmbu sighed. “Probably tomorrow morning. I still have a few loose ends to tie up.”

“Visit soon,” Egg said.

“I’m not leaving yet,” Wemmbu laughed.

“And?” Egg said, lightly laughing as well.

With that Wemmbu spent the rest of the day hanging out with Egg; Minute joined them when he was on break. It was nice, and Wemmbu almost didn’t want to leave. But he still had things to deal with. And a certain caracal cat hybrid to kill. He also needed to figure out how to get Egg out of the End, too.

By the time it was night (though the black sky never changed in the End), Wemmbu and Egg settled on Egg’s light blue bed. The demonic avian carefully preening the angel’s wings.

“I forget how fluffy your wings are sometimes,” Wemmbu said, running a hand through the soft baby blue, almost white, feathers.

“It’s what happens when you preen them regularly,” Egg said calmly. He had his eyes closed, a gentle smile on his face.

“Surely avian feathers aren’t this soft,” Wemmbu raised a brow, but continued to clean out Egg’s wing.

“Ask Parrot or Theo,” Egg lightly shrugged. “I’m sure they preen their feathers properly,”

“Kind of doubting that.” Wemmbu said, “Also I don’t know where they are, and we aren’t on the best terms as far as I know.”

“Oh well,” Egg yawned.

Then they sat in content silence. Wemmbu carefully preening Egg’s wings as the angel started to drift off to sleep. Once Wemmbu was done, Egg was breathing slowly, peacefully asleep. The demonic avian carefully laid his friend on his bed, then walked across the room. Wemmbu climbed into his own bed, and went to sleep.

~~~

“Visit soon!” Egg demanded, giving Wemmbu one more hug.

“I will,” Wemmbu laughed.

By now it was morning. Minute had shown Wemmbu how to put on the horn replacements, so now Wemmbu had the dark purple prosthetic on. Him, Egg, and Minute stood by the End Portal, Wemmbu getting ready to leave.

“See you soon, kid,” Minute smiled.

“Yep,” Wemmbu returned the smile. “I'll come back again this week. If not, then uh- something happened, I guess?”

“That’s not reassuring,” Egg said flatly.

Wemmbu playfully shrugged. After double checking that he had everything, he gave Egg and Minute one more hug before falling into the End Portal. And then he quickly appeared in the chaos that was Spawn. He got out quickly, flying away from the withers and people.

As he flew, looking around for.. Something, he grabbed his communicator from his pocket.

You whisper to Flamefrags: Thanks for uh watching over me and stuff

You whisper to Flamefrags: also for paying for the horn replacements theyre cool

After that Wemmbu shoved his communicator back in his pocket. It felt awkward sending the message, waiting to see if Flame would reply felt even weirder. For now he focused on flying and getting to wherever he was going.

While soaring in the sky, wind passing by fast, he thought about the past few weeks. From the horrible times in the prison, his horn being broken, then being broken out by Spoke, and starting to travel through the mesa. Then Flame stumbling upon him and staying with and taking care of him for three or so days. When he finally got to the End, and was finally safe and taken care of with his best friends (his brother and father, really). Between Flame visiting again, being forced to finally explain, and then Boosfer coming to offer comfort. And then finally feeling better, and being surprised with two horn replacements.

These two weeks have been a lot. And he let that set in, really processing and thinking about it. But for now, he was finally free from the LAW, and could start his plan to get rid of it.