I May Fall-Chapter 3
Sunday, February 16th, 2014 03:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcrackloveHey, Guys! You probably forgot all about this thing it's been, what...almost three weeks?! Enough slacking. (Important links in the post note) So here it is: I May Fall Chapter 3- In Which Etho is Rude and Doesn’t Ask for Names:
A small knock woke Etho. He had been so exhausted that he had just fallen asleep, uncaring for the time, uncaring about the fact that he was sleeping in the bed he was used to sharing with Nebris. The sleep did him well, and his mind was now peaceful.
He could almost imagine that the previous day’s events had been a dream. He could almost pretend that Nebris still loved him and that he still had Team Canada on his side. And he tried very hard to hold on to that lighthearted dream as he groggily rose from the bed to answer the door. He was surprised to find Avidya standing on his doorstep holding a book and shifting, nervously, his weight from foot to foot. It was a rare sight to see calm, level-headed Avidya nervous.
“Greetings, Etho.”
“Oh. Hey, Avidya. They sent you to arrest me? I would have expected Anderz.” He absentmindedly rubbed the sleep from his eyes, forgetting for a moment that this had been his first civil interaction in more than twenty-four hours.
“They sent me here because they thought I’d be the least likely to kill you for some reason. And I’m not here to arrest you. I’m supposed to give you this,” Avidya replied, holding out the book.
“Ah, I see. Open and shut case. This must be my sentence then?” Etho took the book but made no motions that suggested he had any plans of reading it while Avidya was still there.
“Etho, this isn’t a sentence and there will be no trial! Read the book!” Avidya was running low on patience and just wanted to be back in the town hall with everyone else, where he was safe and not in the company of a murderer.
The outburst surprised Etho, and he nervously peaked at the cover of the book. Thinking he must have been mistaken, he read it again, and then again. He couldn’t believe the words he saw. There had to had been some sort of mistake. “This is a joke, right? It has to be a joke.”
“It’s not a joke, Etho.” Avidya replied solemnly. “This is serious. I don’t think you quite understand how upset everyone is.”
“No, I know it’s serious. I just didn’t think it was this bad. I mean, this hasn’t happened since -”
Avidya cut him off. “This hasn’t happened ever.”
Etho looked down at the document in his hand titled ‘Declaration of War’ and considered Avidya’s words. “What about the Prank Wars? Or the battles between Team Canada and Team America? The server has always been a warzone.”
“Yes, there have been numerous wars and battles, but nothing at this scale before.” Seeing Etho’s confusion, Avidya continued. “Open it up, then you’ll understand.”
Etho did as instructed and read the document out loud. “‘We, the members of Mindcrack, do officially declare war on Etho’s Lab. We have deemed his crimes against the server and its members as terroristic.’” Etho looked up from the page. “Terroristic? You guys think I’m a terrorist?”
Avidya didn’t reply but instead motioned for Etho to continue, which he did. “‘As is stated in the ‘Mindcrack Rules,’ acts of terror are punishable by death or exile with no trial. But with much pressure from outside sources, we have chosen to declare war instead, which falls within our right. Due to the strength and size of our army compared to that of Etho’s Lab, we expect that war to end quickly and hope that the accused allows this to happen.’”
Once again, Etho looked up, confused. “What do you mean, ‘size and strength?’ Even with a few of you working together, your armies can’t match mine.”
Avidya sighed, officially out of patience. “Read the names, Etho.”
So he did, and what he saw struck fear into his heart, as well as sadness. None of his friends had sided with him. There were twenty-four names signed on the document, everyone from Guude and Doc to Mhykol and thejims were against him. He was alone.
Etho looked up at Avidya, a look of horror on his face. “You can’t hide from this one. No amount of exiles or bans with prevent this war from occurring. Prepare your armies, Etho, because it is time to fight.” With that final word of advice, Avidya left, heading for the general direction of the Spawn Village.
“Etho? Etho, is that you over there?”
Etho heard his name being called and tensed momentarily before he recognized the voice and calmed down again. “Etho, what’re you doing up here?” He heard the familiar voice call out to him again but decided not to respond, knowing that the person wouldn’t mind. Instead, he continued to look over the chosen battle field. The owner of the voice, a teenage girl, walked over and stood next to him and saw what he saw. She understood.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said.
Etho nodded solemnly. Yes, it was an amazing sight.
“Too bad that it will be soon scarred by war,” she added sadly.
He glanced over at the girl, moving only his eyes for a moment before he looked back at the two large mountains that connected to form a deep, wide valley. She really did understand, and it was truly beautiful. It was a shame that the beauty would be doused by the aftermaths of battle in less than two days.
From his place, Etho could see the Mindcrackers’ camp, situated on the top of the other mountain opposite from his. They were in plain view, unafraid, and he could see their well-conditioned soldiers performing drills and training. He saw their makeshift buildings and tents clearly labeled by their army. He noticed a tall, well-built man exit from the medical tent and assumed that it was Jsano. He cringed slightly, imagining the man’s grim expression. Here was a man who had devoted his whole existence to helping others, but was now faced with preparing for war.
He looked away from their camp and down to the bottom of his mountain, the one he was currently standing on top of. He looked down to the unorganized mess of soldiers that were still filing into the base, some stragglers who were just being enlisted. Etho had chosen to go with a more secure location for his army, not quite as confident as his friends. He chose to spend a large portion of the last week alternating between hollowing out the mountain and training his soldiers as much as he could.
Many of them were curious why Etho didn’t just use TNT to make the hollowing process quicker. When this curiosity was expressed, Etho would just sigh, shake his head, and tell them, “TNT and redstone. That’s what got us into this mess.” And they would understand and not ask again.
His army, his war, his responsibility.
He sighed, playing through the last week in his head. From the day Avidya came to his door until the moment right then, when he was standing on the mountain, an army only blocks below his feet. He reminded himself that he never recruited any of these soldiers, that he never issued a draft, or that he never riled up the masses so they would fight alongside him.
In fact, he never mentioned the impending war to anyone. They found out through the other Mindcrackers and their armies, and then showed up at his doorstep telling him they were ready and willing to fight. The girl standing next to him was actually one of the first to enlist. She showed up at his door with three or four friends in tow and told him their story, even though he hadn’t asked.
She told him that their group was just a tiny fraction of a much larger organization that disbanded after arguing over whose side they should fight on. Many of them wanted to fight against Etho and his supposed “terroristic” activities. The majority wanted to stay out of the conflict completely. But this girl and the ones with her couldn’t stand back and just watch Etho’s Lab fall, and they most definitely could not take part in its destruction. So the only option was to enlist and hep Etho, and they really had no other choice in their minds.
Etho was of course grateful for everyone’s support, even if they were complete strangers. It was nice to know that not everyone hated him. Even so, he had no idea how to lead an army. He already had a constant war inside of him, torn as he was between blaming himself for his friend’s death and finding himself innocent, that it was only an accident and he couldn’t be held accountable.
That was where this girl stepped in. Her and her friends had seen how broken up Etho was and understood that he wasn’t in the best state of mind to lead so they helped him. They took over some of the more stressful jobs, such as organizing personnel and assigning duties, while they left Etho to do what he did best, strategize and train. Most of the time, they just left him to his own thoughts and allowed him to obsess over the design of the base.
“Etho, you should go in for the night. It’s getting late and the mobs will rise soon,” the girl advised him, waiting for a reply.
Yes, of course. We wouldn’t want those soulless creatures to get me before my friends get the chance to.” He gave her a sad smile, remembering the night in the woods, when he was coming home from Pause and Beef’s place, making a promise to himself. After a moment, he began walking down the mountain. The girl didn’t miss a beat and stayed right beside him.
Right before they were about to enter through one of the base’s hidden entrances, Etho turned and looked at the girl, realization glinting in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I just realized I never caught your name.”
She mirrored his sad smile from earlier and gave a small laugh, full of genuine humor and enjoyment. “You’re right, you didn’t.” She entered the base, and Etho tried to follow her to ask what she meant by her reply, but she had disappeared into the crowd. He was just stuck there, staring into the mob of soldiers, clueless as to what he needed to do.
Post-note: Thanks to my wonderful PR(beta) Aleks(apositi) for being wonderful! Thank you to you for reading this! If you have any question/comments/concerns/random-words/story-predictions (from you not in the know) I would love to hear them!
Links:
Song that inspired this story
Chapter one
Chapter two
A small knock woke Etho. He had been so exhausted that he had just fallen asleep, uncaring for the time, uncaring about the fact that he was sleeping in the bed he was used to sharing with Nebris. The sleep did him well, and his mind was now peaceful.
He could almost imagine that the previous day’s events had been a dream. He could almost pretend that Nebris still loved him and that he still had Team Canada on his side. And he tried very hard to hold on to that lighthearted dream as he groggily rose from the bed to answer the door. He was surprised to find Avidya standing on his doorstep holding a book and shifting, nervously, his weight from foot to foot. It was a rare sight to see calm, level-headed Avidya nervous.
“Greetings, Etho.”
“Oh. Hey, Avidya. They sent you to arrest me? I would have expected Anderz.” He absentmindedly rubbed the sleep from his eyes, forgetting for a moment that this had been his first civil interaction in more than twenty-four hours.
“They sent me here because they thought I’d be the least likely to kill you for some reason. And I’m not here to arrest you. I’m supposed to give you this,” Avidya replied, holding out the book.
“Ah, I see. Open and shut case. This must be my sentence then?” Etho took the book but made no motions that suggested he had any plans of reading it while Avidya was still there.
“Etho, this isn’t a sentence and there will be no trial! Read the book!” Avidya was running low on patience and just wanted to be back in the town hall with everyone else, where he was safe and not in the company of a murderer.
The outburst surprised Etho, and he nervously peaked at the cover of the book. Thinking he must have been mistaken, he read it again, and then again. He couldn’t believe the words he saw. There had to had been some sort of mistake. “This is a joke, right? It has to be a joke.”
“It’s not a joke, Etho.” Avidya replied solemnly. “This is serious. I don’t think you quite understand how upset everyone is.”
“No, I know it’s serious. I just didn’t think it was this bad. I mean, this hasn’t happened since -”
Avidya cut him off. “This hasn’t happened ever.”
Etho looked down at the document in his hand titled ‘Declaration of War’ and considered Avidya’s words. “What about the Prank Wars? Or the battles between Team Canada and Team America? The server has always been a warzone.”
“Yes, there have been numerous wars and battles, but nothing at this scale before.” Seeing Etho’s confusion, Avidya continued. “Open it up, then you’ll understand.”
Etho did as instructed and read the document out loud. “‘We, the members of Mindcrack, do officially declare war on Etho’s Lab. We have deemed his crimes against the server and its members as terroristic.’” Etho looked up from the page. “Terroristic? You guys think I’m a terrorist?”
Avidya didn’t reply but instead motioned for Etho to continue, which he did. “‘As is stated in the ‘Mindcrack Rules,’ acts of terror are punishable by death or exile with no trial. But with much pressure from outside sources, we have chosen to declare war instead, which falls within our right. Due to the strength and size of our army compared to that of Etho’s Lab, we expect that war to end quickly and hope that the accused allows this to happen.’”
Once again, Etho looked up, confused. “What do you mean, ‘size and strength?’ Even with a few of you working together, your armies can’t match mine.”
Avidya sighed, officially out of patience. “Read the names, Etho.”
So he did, and what he saw struck fear into his heart, as well as sadness. None of his friends had sided with him. There were twenty-four names signed on the document, everyone from Guude and Doc to Mhykol and thejims were against him. He was alone.
Etho looked up at Avidya, a look of horror on his face. “You can’t hide from this one. No amount of exiles or bans with prevent this war from occurring. Prepare your armies, Etho, because it is time to fight.” With that final word of advice, Avidya left, heading for the general direction of the Spawn Village.
“Etho? Etho, is that you over there?”
Etho heard his name being called and tensed momentarily before he recognized the voice and calmed down again. “Etho, what’re you doing up here?” He heard the familiar voice call out to him again but decided not to respond, knowing that the person wouldn’t mind. Instead, he continued to look over the chosen battle field. The owner of the voice, a teenage girl, walked over and stood next to him and saw what he saw. She understood.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said.
Etho nodded solemnly. Yes, it was an amazing sight.
“Too bad that it will be soon scarred by war,” she added sadly.
He glanced over at the girl, moving only his eyes for a moment before he looked back at the two large mountains that connected to form a deep, wide valley. She really did understand, and it was truly beautiful. It was a shame that the beauty would be doused by the aftermaths of battle in less than two days.
From his place, Etho could see the Mindcrackers’ camp, situated on the top of the other mountain opposite from his. They were in plain view, unafraid, and he could see their well-conditioned soldiers performing drills and training. He saw their makeshift buildings and tents clearly labeled by their army. He noticed a tall, well-built man exit from the medical tent and assumed that it was Jsano. He cringed slightly, imagining the man’s grim expression. Here was a man who had devoted his whole existence to helping others, but was now faced with preparing for war.
He looked away from their camp and down to the bottom of his mountain, the one he was currently standing on top of. He looked down to the unorganized mess of soldiers that were still filing into the base, some stragglers who were just being enlisted. Etho had chosen to go with a more secure location for his army, not quite as confident as his friends. He chose to spend a large portion of the last week alternating between hollowing out the mountain and training his soldiers as much as he could.
Many of them were curious why Etho didn’t just use TNT to make the hollowing process quicker. When this curiosity was expressed, Etho would just sigh, shake his head, and tell them, “TNT and redstone. That’s what got us into this mess.” And they would understand and not ask again.
His army, his war, his responsibility.
He sighed, playing through the last week in his head. From the day Avidya came to his door until the moment right then, when he was standing on the mountain, an army only blocks below his feet. He reminded himself that he never recruited any of these soldiers, that he never issued a draft, or that he never riled up the masses so they would fight alongside him.
In fact, he never mentioned the impending war to anyone. They found out through the other Mindcrackers and their armies, and then showed up at his doorstep telling him they were ready and willing to fight. The girl standing next to him was actually one of the first to enlist. She showed up at his door with three or four friends in tow and told him their story, even though he hadn’t asked.
She told him that their group was just a tiny fraction of a much larger organization that disbanded after arguing over whose side they should fight on. Many of them wanted to fight against Etho and his supposed “terroristic” activities. The majority wanted to stay out of the conflict completely. But this girl and the ones with her couldn’t stand back and just watch Etho’s Lab fall, and they most definitely could not take part in its destruction. So the only option was to enlist and hep Etho, and they really had no other choice in their minds.
Etho was of course grateful for everyone’s support, even if they were complete strangers. It was nice to know that not everyone hated him. Even so, he had no idea how to lead an army. He already had a constant war inside of him, torn as he was between blaming himself for his friend’s death and finding himself innocent, that it was only an accident and he couldn’t be held accountable.
That was where this girl stepped in. Her and her friends had seen how broken up Etho was and understood that he wasn’t in the best state of mind to lead so they helped him. They took over some of the more stressful jobs, such as organizing personnel and assigning duties, while they left Etho to do what he did best, strategize and train. Most of the time, they just left him to his own thoughts and allowed him to obsess over the design of the base.
“Etho, you should go in for the night. It’s getting late and the mobs will rise soon,” the girl advised him, waiting for a reply.
Yes, of course. We wouldn’t want those soulless creatures to get me before my friends get the chance to.” He gave her a sad smile, remembering the night in the woods, when he was coming home from Pause and Beef’s place, making a promise to himself. After a moment, he began walking down the mountain. The girl didn’t miss a beat and stayed right beside him.
Right before they were about to enter through one of the base’s hidden entrances, Etho turned and looked at the girl, realization glinting in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I just realized I never caught your name.”
She mirrored his sad smile from earlier and gave a small laugh, full of genuine humor and enjoyment. “You’re right, you didn’t.” She entered the base, and Etho tried to follow her to ask what she meant by her reply, but she had disappeared into the crowd. He was just stuck there, staring into the mob of soldiers, clueless as to what he needed to do.
Post-note: Thanks to my wonderful PR(beta) Aleks(apositi) for being wonderful! Thank you to you for reading this! If you have any question/comments/concerns/random-words/story-predictions (from you not in the know) I would love to hear them!
Links:
Song that inspired this story
Chapter one
Chapter two
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Date: Monday, February 17th, 2014 07:39 pm (UTC)Also: Find out who was killed in the last scene of the last chapter xD
(Guesses are more then welcome)
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Date: Monday, February 17th, 2014 08:45 pm (UTC)