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Q didn't really put much thought into where she would go next. She just really needed to escape from that Serverealm. Needed the chance to heal and rest properly.
It's been too long since she got to do that.
(It's actually been a year and two months but who needs to keep track of that anyways-)
It was deathly quiet out here.
Really.
And foggy.
The stark difference between a (heavily) modded Serverworld and a vanilla one is always noticeable. But this was a different kind of quiet.
She'd noticed it after her second night while furnishing the inside of her little wooden shack she built on a plains biome. There was something else out there. Something wrong. Other.
She just ignored it.
Instead throwing all of her attention and brainpower into NOT curling up under the blankets on her undyed bed and hiding from the ache of loneliness that rang throughout her bones.
Because even when Q was alone physically on the previous Serverealm, she wasn't actually alone. And yet, because she loved them, Q did everything she could and brought her friend back to the dimension it was from before it inhabited her body and hid her son away with the strange AI that had helped them in a place where the monsters that created him couldn't find him.
So, she'll suffer the silence and the loneliness and the creeping disquiet that feels like its looking for her just so she can gather herself again and figure out what to do and where to go on from there. A sort of weird postpartum depression, she thinks.
...Ah. Nope. That's just the cursed, sleep deprived thoughts again.
She's very, very tired.
It's getting closer to finding her...
Q hasn't really been in this solo world for long - about a standard week with her loose estimates - and in all that time the Other has been slowly making its way to where she was, she can feel it. Just a few days ago it passed through her Spawn Chunks, lingered there for a full day cycle and then started moving again. Q didn't build her shack that far away from Spawn in the first place so the fact that whatever the Other thing is is getting closer to her makes it difficult to do the thing she actually wanted to do: sleep.
The Other thing triggers cave noises and rattles through the world's code like crazy. Q's classified just enough as a Player while still also being wholly from Outside that she can recognize this. And its really starting to grate on her nerves. Furthermore, the normal fog that typically exists in any server or soloworld seems to be thicker than usual.
Q really could have sworn that she'd entered a single player soloworld when her connection was finally fully severed from that Serverealm. And with that thought in mind she decides to look for evidence the next time she goes hunting.
Her efforts were largely unsuccessful when she first started out, completely focused on looking for other intelligent life that she bypasses several small herds of sheep and cows that spawn in as she passes through the forest near her shack before finally giving up and getting what meat she could find. She heads home.
There's half a stack's worth of chicken, beef, and mutton in her inventory combined plus the flowers she needed in order to craft the dye she wanted to use for her bed when she spots it.
A small ziggurat made out of mossy cobblestone.
Its so small and blends in near perfectly with the rest of her surroundings that Q nearly wrote it off of it simply being apart of the forest if she hadn't taken the time to map out and memorize the land surrounding her shack within a 10-chunk radius.
Her heart drops into her stomach all the same at the discovery...and also the cave noise that plays with ominous and unwarranted timing as the fog caresses her bare skin, leaving her unnaturally cold.
She doesn't breathe until the door is closed behind her and barricaded with a couple blocks of deepslate she just so happened to have in her inventory. Q then heads down the ladder and into her basement storage area to start mass cooking all the meat she'd gathered in the wall of smokers, her movements completely on autopilot while her ears shriek with television static and heart pounds a deafening beat within her chest.
From his spot in the boat she'd trapped him in, Vinny the Villager hums a curious yet worried sigh; Q finds herself on her hands and knees in front of the smokers with blurry vision.
She's not alone.
She's not alone she's not alone she's not alone she's not alonealonealonealonealonealone-
That ache that has settled in her bones and in her heart rears its ugly head again with a furiosity that brings her forehead to the ground where she's hunched over. She does her best to get her breathing under control again. Desperately so.
Slowly, but surely, she focuses on various different things around her in order to get her mind to stop racing with possibilities-
The sound of Vinny's hums, the smell of the meat in the smokers, the feel of the wood grain in the floor, the color of the light illuminated by the lanterns she hung from the ceiling...
Eventually, the world seems much more in focus than it has been in a while. Once Q feels like she's able to stand and walk properly, she gets up and finished taking out the cooked meats from the smokers.
Everything has a sharper focus to it than before..., Q realizes as she climbs up the ladder from the basement and over to her chests with immediate supplies for adventuring.
She wants to find this Other. Needs to. Her curiosity has been peaked and its leagues better chasing a supposed ghost of a Player - or whatever the Other is - than wallowing in her little shack and desperately hoping for normalcy when that couldn't be farther from the truth.
The door slams shut behind her as she sprints out into the coming night to chase after this new find; completely foregoing sleep seeing as it would be a futile effort anyways with the surrounding serverworld so loud with quiet as of late.
Q's heart leaps with something she feels like she hasn't felt since she was allowed to leave that accursed Island and Serverealm not even a month ago.
This was either a really, really good idea or an astronomically bad one.
The fog nipped at her heels as she left her shack that night.
The resulting hunt in the ensuing days is much less like a hunt, but more like a dance.
They seem to circle one another without ever coming into full sight of the other. Q would catch glimpses of movement out of the corner of her eye but when she'd turn to go to where the movement was, there'd be nothing. It was like she was truly chasing a ghost, or perhaps the solitude was making her go fully insane. With nothing but slightly shifting shadows, quiet rushed footsteps, and whispers of hummed songs or girlish giggles to lead her on in the fog.
Several times throughout her hunt of the Other, Q would get frustrated or wildly upset that she missed where They were. Or reality would slam back to her with the weight the Multiverses, leaving Q reeling and question what it was she was actually trying to do. And when those feelings got really loud and better thought would get ahold of her, she would turn back towards the direction of her shack was.
But then Q would find the physical evidence.
More of those small ziggurats, either made from sand or mossy cobblestone depending on the surface or biome she'd find them in, dotted here and there on the open land. Or whenever she'd come across a large enough hill or even mountain, there'd be a simple 2x4 tunnel dug into the open surface of the landmass. There were even whole forests stripped bare of their leaves and left as just empty trunks planted amongst deadened earth.
(In the back of her mind, Q feels like she recognizes these signs and symptoms in a World from rumors and second, third, and fourth-hand stories she's heard as a girl; back when this Reality was still young and simpler. Corrupted world code, unnatural structures, empty eyes skirting the edges of the fog).
Each time Q came across any of these things there would always be a cave noise to accompany her discovery and each time it wouldn't fail to make a shiver run up her spine and the feeling of unseeing eyes follow her every movement.
And yet it spurred her on to continue to look for the Other regardless.
It was like something was calling out to her, urging her to find Them - whoever this Them was anyhow. Or perhaps that was just the sleep deprivation talking. There couldn't actually be somebody out there that was made for her to find, could there? The notion of it was odd and the more she thought about it in any lulls in the hunt the more confused Q became.
Days and nights go by in a flash, all blending together as Q restlessly searches for that elusive figure. She doesn't avoid sleep; she just only goes to bed enough to keep the phantoms away...nasty little buggers that they are...
But it's been so hard to sleep as of late despite the fact that that was the entire reason why she came to this world in the first place-!
...Her priorities have just changed, that's all.
Yep. Mhm. Totally.
The fog is different today.
It finally registers to her as the sun reaches midmorning while she sprints through a taiga. A small passel of pigs spawns off to her right with their bright pink hides standing out amidst the dark, yet warm earth tones of the forest. At her left, behind her, Q faintly registers the distinct vwoop of an enderman teleporting although no chirp accompanies it.
When her hunger gets down to three bars, Q forces herself to stop and rest a moment as she pulls out the last of her cooked beef and a baked potato to refuel. Something feels different in the air. The clouds are unnaturally dark with the promise of rain, yet none falls as is the norm for weather cycles.
It couldn't hurt to take a quick rest before running off again. That last ziggurat looked like it was pointing northeast, so she couldn't resist the want to follow.
Her head is sweaty underneath her iron helmet so Q pops it off to cool down for a bit while lapping around in circles. There's a small pool of water nearby with some copper ore in the bottom.
Cooled and calmed she takes a seat underneath the nearest tree to rest her legs and feet. She really has been running for days, huh?
Despite the clouds, she still tilts her face up to the sky like those sunflowers she passed two days ago. Her eyes close without her permission.
Q drifts there beneath the tree for an undeterminable amount of time, so much so she's nearly fallen asleep when there's a rustle of foliage and the entire forest goes still.
That's enough to evaporate what little calm she had while resting to have her sitting bolt upright and on her feet with both her sword and shield in hand out in front of her. Whatever it is that just made that noise is a serious threat if the forest feels like its holding its breath in order for it to not be noticed by the Thing.
Q goes still and quiets her breathing in order for her to try and pinpoint the location of the Other (if that even was the Other...).
There's...
Just. Nothing.
The forest is just.
Still.
The fog drifting in what seems to be...
Q stands there for another five minutes before fully letting out the breath of air she'd been stifling inside her chest for the sake of quiet, relaxes her stance a bit, and unclenches her hands from around her weapons.
But then, softly, faintly, something catches her ears. She's immediately on guard again, but this time with a location; her 2 o'clock, most likely a few dozen blocks ahead into the forest. This time Q makes sure to don her iron helmet again after raising her weapons and setting out quietly in the direction of the sound.
Carefully she steps, making sure not to disturb the taller grasses, ferns, or get stuck by a berry bush while the fog both tugs on her in the direction she's going and also tries to tear her away. Eventually, she rounds a large spruce tree where the soft thnk-thnk-thnk-thnk-thnk-thnk-pop! of cutting down logs with one's bare fist sounds like and crouches in place to avoid sooner detection. There is a 2x4 tunnel dug into the small hillside by the tree being mined. The foliage falls away. And Q feels her breath hitch in her throat.
Picking up the fallen spruce log blocks only eight blocks away is a girl with long dark hair, a simple singular stiped blue and green poncho, black leggings, and some very sensible tall grey boots. The fog seems to both stem from and curl around her lazily yet lovingly. An odd humming sound emanating from her throat in an imitation of what might be singing as she finishes gathering all the wood and crafts some into sticks.
The sight of the Other (don'tlookatitdon'tlookatitdon'tlookatit), because that's who this girl must be, both rouses and shatters something inside of Q's chest (don'tlookatitdon'tlookatitdon'tlookatit). She's not alone anymore (don'tlookatitdon'tlookatitdon'tlookatit). She doesn't have to be. But, then the second thoughts (don'tlookatitdon'tlookatitdon'tlookatit) come into place, such as, "Why is there another person on my world?" and "Was this even my world to begin with?" then, "I could have sworn that I'd hit the soloworld generation in the Menu Hub..." hmm, "Crap! I didn't join somebody else's by mistake, did I???" (DON'TLOOKATITDON'TLOOKATITDON'TLOOKATIT!!!).
All the thoughts and questions and warnings whirl around in her sleep deprived mind, so much so that Q begins to lose her balance and staggers a step backwards, thus causing her to reach out towards the nearest tree to balance herself. However, she stumbles into a patch of berry bushes, whose thorns dig into the unarmored parts of her legs. Q can't stop the yelp that escapes her lips as she tumbles backwards into a tree and knocks her head against the trunk.
One of the very first things you are taught when in the presence of a predator is to not make any sudden noises.
The world goes fuzzy around the edges as Q struggles to determine which way was up and why her body suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. A wave a nausea hits her when she manages to flip herself onto her stomach and get her limbs underneath her body in order to level it upright, so she holds herself still a moment until it passes.
The fog closes in around her as two grey boots float just into her peripherals. She goes even more still, adrenaline leaving her cold and shivery. Slowly, oh so achingly slowly, Q raises her head. And meets the gaze of the Other girl.
Two blank eyes set into a delicate yet round pale face that was dotted with a light dusting of freckles. A dark curtain of hair that hung around her head faded into a light ombre of blonde that almost looked orange despite the darker skies; the bangs were interrupted by an abrupt streak of the same blonde-orange and brushed the tops of her eyelids...like she needed a haircut or something-
Ah.
The Other stiffly cocks her head (did she hear the creak of bones???) as they stare at one another, observing. Q finds herself unconsciously mirroring the Other too. They both blink in unison as the air seems to buzz with unseen static between them.
"Hello there," she offers up in a hesitant greeting. She's pleasantly surprised to find that her voice is steady and strong; she hasn't spoken aloud much since arriving in this Soloworld, other than to occasionally hum or sing to pass the time...
The Other blinks. Then she opens her mouth (-s filled with jagged teeth that looked sharper than the most polished and enchanted netherite sword known to man-) , takes a breath in and answers back:
"Hhhheelll-lloh. Theh-ere."
At the halting and rusty voice, light and melodic as it may be, something inside of her simultaneously shatters, melts, and eases. Q feels her brow ease and shoulders untense. She smiles softly.
"Hi."
Q manages to get back to up on her feet. Dark spots immediately threaten to take over her vision but then she feels a touch on her shoulder and a wave of energy wash over her. Surprised, Q looks over to see the Other girl's hand retreat back under her poncho and smile back. Interesting.
"Oh...thanks!"
The Other simply blinks back and keeps smiling the same smile. She hums again, a layered yet happy chord.
It must be noon with how the light sits against the foliage and forest flora , she thinks despite the still dark grey skys (with still no rain or storm). At least the fog seems to have calmed down; it no longer feels like a promise that she'll lose her way and instead feels like a cozy blanket that hides her snuggly in safety. Does that have anything to do with this girl? she thinks again. A question for another time, perhaps.
"What's your name?" Q asks the Other.
"Em." A cooing hum follows the answer.
"Em...I'm afraid I can't make that noise you just did at the end there, though." she rubs the back of her neck with a sheepish smile. Em, as she now knows, seems to catch the joke and the smile (-s filled with needle sharp teeth in places mouths shouldn't be!) on her face grows wider.
Suddenly a groan came from a cave opening nearby and Q finally realizes that she has completed her quest to find the mysterious Thing that had been nagging at her for days...
...and that she was most definitely hundreds, if not a thousand, blocks away from her base by this point. Or what direction it's even in. This is embarrassing...she thinks as she pulls up the screenshot (good habit) of her co-ordinates to her base and turns the right direction to get back. She looks back at Em and gestures with a quick tilt of the head.
"Would you like to come back to my base for a little bit? I don't have much, but I'd appreciate the company if don't have a base of your own just yet," she offers trying to keep the hope or desperation out of her tone and face. Em gives her a knowing look but bobs her head (like a bird of prey) in agreement. Q again tries to keep the relief off her face.
"Great! Its, ah, it's a bit of a walk I'm afraid but it should only take us about a few days if we keep at it. C'mon!" and starts to walk in the direction. But a hand grabbing her own gives her pause.
"Hoooooooold onnn~," Em seems to sing and Q goes to turn towards the Other girl when suddenly the whole world shifts, and she finds them both in the plains biome outside of her base; purple particles float down to the ground and disappear around her.
"-Oh what the fuuuuUUUUGGGHH," Q gags, the teleportation sudden and unexpected as she stumbles like she did in the taiga forest not even an hour ago. The only thing keeping her from toppling completely is Em still holding onto her hand. "...Hey," she weakly protests, "you mind warnin' a gal next time you do that?"
A demure, yet musical, giggle is all that she gets in response. Q looks up at Em to scrunch her nose and stick out her tongue at her. Her hand is squeezed twice in acknowledgement.
Q straightens and beckons her new guest up the stairs of the little cottage base she made not so long ago. When they both get inside, she becomes a little self-conscious, she hadn't really had much time or brain space to think to decorate much. She managed to get bookshelves which she proudly displays them around the living room, but there honestly isn't much else that would even count as decor. The only other thing being the keepsake from her son that she managed to smuggle across World Borders: the first amethyst shard that he had gotten from the first geode the two of them had found while mining one day. He had renamed it in an anvil and proudly presented it to her on Mother's Day a few weeks later. It read, " Por mi Mama - bc it reminds me of you! :)"
She totally didn't bawl her eyes out when he gave it to her, nope.
Yes, yes she did.
Em looks around the decently sized space with her blank, white eyes, her hand still securely in Q's (not that she was complaining) with something akin to wonder and gives an appreciative hum while turning around in place.
"Sorry it's not anything fancy, I'm not much of a builder these days, but I at least have plenty of space to store stuff and make food!" Q says while gently guiding the Other to the "kitchen" era. "Are you hungry for anything?"
"Hungry," she gets in reply. "Food?"
"Yep! Sure do! I like to farm to keep myself busy, so I have plenty of harvested goodies. Although I go hunting for my meat because I've just been too lazy to build an animal enclosure, heheh. Do you have any preferences?"
"Hmmm," Em hums, "Food is food."
"Absolutely. One hundred percent agree with you there," she says with a sage nod and approaches her food chest. "Lemme root around in here real quick and see what I can scrounge up for us, eh?" When Q opens the chest, she quickly spots some ingredients for something fun to eat for the both of them. However, since she was still holding the Other girl's hand, Q has a short internal dilemma about letting go. It's been so long since she's had contact, much less skin to skin contact, with another person that she finds it difficult to let go (the bond is not complete do not sever do not sever do not sever-!). Shaking her head, she gently releases Em's hand, ignoring the pang of despair and panic that flashed through her chest (weird.) and grabs a few simple items from the foodstuff's chest: an egg, two sugars, three buckets of milk, and bushels of wheat.
Cake is best eaten when shared with others.
Ingredients secured, she quickly goes over to her crafting table and sets down her load. Em floats over to watch as she crafts the cake and tentatively snakes a tendril of (ebony flesh, liquid smoke yet solid and capable of become piercing and sharp!) something from beneath her poncho and stares. Q shrugs at the contact but is relieved to have Em close to her again. She begins arraigning the ingredients, humming s little tune contentedly as she works.
Three milk buckets along the top...
...One sugar on each side of the egg in the middle...
...And three bushels of wheat on the bottom!
"Ta-da!" Q sings while presenting the cake up high above their heads proudly, "Bon appétit!" Em chirps at this happily.
The two sit down on the floor, Q feeling like she was brighter than a boiled lobster, apologizing for the fact that she has no table and chairs in the house. Em either didn't notice or care as she reached to grab a piece of cake and then proceeded to scoot over next to Q to lean her head on the other's armored shoulder. Em started to purr while chewing on the cake. Happy as a clam.
Meanwhile, Q was bluescreening at the sudden and direct contact.
Oh.
Its. Surely it hasn't been that long since somebody had been affectionate with her, right?
After a minute of staring into space, she finally gathered enough of her brain to look down at the girl resting contentedly on her shoulder. Em, sensing her stare, glanced up to look back at her; blank eyes glowing softly in the lantern lit base. Something brushed her mind, forcing her to relax Q finally relaxed, accepting the given affection, or perhaps this was simply how Em was. Then, carefully reaching over to where the cake sat on the ground (floor cake, yep! that's normal) she grabbed a slice for herself and started to eat. Wasting a perfectly good cake is practically criminal. Em's eyes closed into slits, happy that her companion was accepting the bond eating too.
The dark tentacle is still wrapped around Q's wrist.
Have We found the Child yet?
Yes. It seems it has found its way naturally to the Invader, despite the mishap in the Well when it was created.
Good. Very good.
Soon, We will be able to eradicate the Thing that has been wreaking havoc on Our Order of Our Game.
Agreed. It has been too long that it has been allowed to wander Our Realms and Worlds and infecting Our things with its disastrous influence.
Yes.
Yes.
I agree.
The bonding process seems to have gone smoothly as well.
Good.
Excellent.
Should We not have sent out the H-3R-Zero Class entities to teach the Child since the development processes was interrupted?
No.
There is no need.
I concur.
However, have Entities BR-1EN-3 and BR-ETHREE- 3 prepped and awaiting on standby.
Yes.
They will later confront the Child, but We foresee this coming to an end that is most satisfactory for Our upcoming plans.
Excellent.
Good.
Yes.
Even though the Child is now deviating, it will soon come back to Our comeplete and total control. Willingly.
Then, We shall be able to restore Our Order to Our Game.
And We shall be rid of that accursed Invader once and for all!
Yes.
Good.
Excellent.
I concur.