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@shubbles-mailbox
˚˖𓍢 🍄✧˚. hello .ᐟ.ᐟ i'm shubble and welcome back to my channel mailbox .ᐟ.ᐟ ˚⋆𐙚｡ 𖦹.ᡣ𐭩˚
࣪ ִֶָ☾. helloo !! i'm the great witch shelby and i finally got one of these mailboxes ᓚ₍⑅^..^₎ ♡ feel free to interact
(unless you're the great witch academy, then you are very decidedly not welcome in the evermoore)
── .✦ here is the list of everyone affiliated ❤︎
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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HERMIT/LIFER SHORTKING CONTEST - QUARTER FINAL!
WHO IS SHORTER?
Shubble
Oli
@shubbles-mailbox
I WIN 🗣️🗣️🗣️
EXCUSE YOU — im actually super tall for a gnome [Shelby exclaimed defiantly]
[the sculk was getting worse. no matter how much he gets rid of it, it always grows back, overwhelming his hut. he burns it off his yard, finding it there again in the morning]
[it was slowly growing up his leg. it hurt a bit, but he was slowly getting used to it, walking with a bit of a limp. he normally skips the boots of his suit, but he wore them now to hide it- its fine, and nobody else needs to worry about it]
[he's working on one of the spaceships that had broken, the white outfit stained with oil, trying to get it back to functioning- its not used to fly often, but he wants it able to fly at any minute, something that wont happen if he leaves the engine destroyed by the space rats]
[S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ sat on top of one of the spaceships, her legs dangling from the edges. They were observing Ren quietly with their spyglass, trying to figure out why her sculk had brought her here; they didn't see any outward signs of sculk anywhere, besides S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ doubted the sculk would even survive in this terrain— it was a far cry from the dense and humid mangrove swamp where she resided in]
[They fumbled with her spyglass trying to zoom out, only to drop it from the spaceship where it rolled before hitting the ground] Seriously? [S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ asked herself, well she supposed they had no choice but to reveal themselves and say hello to Ren. Wiping the dust off her overalls, she climbed down the spaceship and walked towards Ren]
Hello! [S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ said jovially but her sculk-ridden eyes scanned over Ren, calculating. She didn't want to scare them away, she just wanted to know why the sculk brought her here]
[he jolts when he hears her speak, quickly standing up and whacking his head on part of the ship. He rubs the back of his head, wincing as he turns to face her, but even in his pain he has a smile on her face- and then he sees her. And more importantly, the sculk on her]
Oh- er- hello!
[he takes a few steps back, wincing everytime his infected foot touched the ground]
Hi! You’re from… yeah empires, yes. We met there..?
[his brow furrows as he thinks. That seems correct, yes. He couldn’t remember whether they had ever properly conversed, or simply just saw each other in passing. That was a while ago now.. though even after all that time, he is quite certain she didn’t have sculk on her like this]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ raises her eyebrow] Yeah! I'm from the Evermoore, we've met before! [They extended their arm in a handshake gesture, sculk dripping from her fingertips]
Say, do you think theres a reason my magic has compelled me here?
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ didn't want to waste their time, there was a chance this all was a fluke and the sculk had detected a false signal, it could very well just be Cub's sculk leaving background radiation but S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ still wanted to have a clear answer]
[the sculk was getting worse. no matter how much he gets rid of it, it always grows back, overwhelming his hut. he burns it off his yard, finding it there again in the morning]
[it was slowly growing up his leg. it hurt a bit, but he was slowly getting used to it, walking with a bit of a limp. he normally skips the boots of his suit, but he wore them now to hide it- its fine, and nobody else needs to worry about it]
[he's working on one of the spaceships that had broken, the white outfit stained with oil, trying to get it back to functioning- its not used to fly often, but he wants it able to fly at any minute, something that wont happen if he leaves the engine destroyed by the space rats]
[S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ sat on top of one of the spaceships, her legs dangling from the edges. They were observing Ren quietly with their spyglass, trying to figure out why her sculk had brought her here; they didn't see any outward signs of sculk anywhere, besides S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ doubted the sculk would even survive in this terrain— it was a far cry from the dense and humid mangrove swamp where she resided in]
[They fumbled with her spyglass trying to zoom out, only to drop it from the spaceship where it rolled before hitting the ground] Seriously? [S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ asked herself, well she supposed they had no choice but to reveal themselves and say hello to Ren. Wiping the dust off her overalls, she climbed down the spaceship and walked towards Ren]
Hello! [S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ said jovially but her sculk-ridden eyes scanned over Ren, calculating. She didn't want to scare them away, she just wanted to know why the sculk brought her here]
There was a letter in Shubble’s mailboxes, with strangely familiar gold ink and handwriting.
—
Dear Shubble, my good friend.
It feels like it’s been ages since we’ve last talked, hm? How have you been?
Sincerely, Scar.
—
It was recognisable but in a way you could not place.
@scars-mailbox
[S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ blinked in confusion as she saw the letter, She couldn't recall having talked to Scar ever, but she played along for the sake of it, after all, what did she even have to lose anymore. They examined the letter closely, and couldn't help but fear the familiarity that it radiated. The sculk glowed brightly, beating alongside the rhythm of her heart . . . something was not right.
They quickly dropped the letter on the mossy floor, hands shaking as though someone had just poured a bucket of lava onto them. The sculk climbed up, swirling patterns onto her arms, infesting, spreading, growing. S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝'s eyes shone blue as she scanned the forest, the voices entrapping her from every side, all of them screaming to destroy the letter, to burn it or engulf it with her sculk — S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ shook in fear as the voices came in closer, crowding her, pressuring her from every side, her eyes flicked over to the letter again . . . something was not right.
She couldn't destroy it, not only would it look bad, S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ still had her empire after all, she couldn't just abandon it by neglecting her responsibilities (she could, she had done so many times before), but she also feared that by not responding there was a chance that someone would be sent to check up on her (to see if her empire was safe of course, why would anyone want to check up on S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝) and she couldn't risk it, the fog was the only thing keeping her sane, she needed the fog like a fish needed water. S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ needed to respond to the letter, so she could be safe, she concluded even if the voices in her head screamed at her not to . . . something was not right.
The voices listened to her too, the fog cared about her opinion, so why did it feel like her veins were on fire as she picked up her quill to respond, sculk dripping from its ends. S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ supposed Scar will just have to deal with that.
Dear Scar, It truly has been a while since we had spoken, The Evermoore has been growing and expanding as an empire, I am quite pleased with its results. What about you? How has everything been going on at Hermitcraft, and has there been a reason for your letter? Kind regards, The Great Witch Shelby of the Evermoore
S̴̨̧͎̖͈̾͋ĥ̷͖͖̜è̴͕͍͙̞̦̗̬̝̲͎́̄̓̓̔͛̃͋̚l̴̺͙͛̚͝b̵̰̬̠̃̏̀̒͒̆̉͊͘͠y̵̨͖̩̞̠̬̗͆̓͠͝ scoffed slightly as she wrote the letter, the Evermoore had not been doing great lately and the only thing expanding the empire was her sculk, but she had to act as though everything was normal, so not to grow suspicion into what's really happening. She took one long glance at the letter before sending it in.
She hoped she hadn't just made a big mistake.]
A reply was sent surprisingly quick, with the same level of uncanny familiarity.
—
Dear Shubble, my good friend.
Hermitcraft has been great, thank you.
Well, I just wanted to catch up with my old friend after you mad
:)
Sincerely, Scar.
—
There are other various scribbles inbetween words.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ got up to walk away from her mailbox when she heard the familiar "You've got mail!" chime. They frowned as they opened their mailbox, seeing the response from Scar, surely her mailbox wasn't fast enough to server-travel, she doubted it had even gone to the nether since the time she had sent it in, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ was confused as to how on earth had she gotten a response from Scar already, but she chose not to question it. She didn't need more things on her mind . . .]
Dear Scar,
It has been great hearing from you this quickly, I had not known Hermitcraft had quicker postal service. I am pleased to see that Hermitcraft has been doing great as well, and I believe we haven't talked much when the hermits came onto Empires so it would be great to speak to you properly.
Kindest regards,
The Great Witch Shelby of the Evermoore
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ absolutely did not want to speak with anyone recently but she had no choice if she wanted to keep her empire standing.]
Speak to him properly? Well…
Within moments, Scar appeared behind Shelby in a burst of purple sparks.
“Shelby! It just so happened I was passing by.” He leant forwards on his cane, grinning crookedly.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ jumped as she turned around, sculk veins flaring from the ground below her, what was happeneing? why was Scar here? and since when could he teleport? S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had said she "wanted" to speak to him properly but she didnt mean in person!! They supposed she will just have to deal with it, schooling their expression into one more calm and composed of a ruler, she hoped Scar wouldn't notice the panic swirling in her eyes]
Scar! I didn't expect to see you so quickly, thats such a surprise! Sorry for the sculk, we've been trying to deal with it.
Scar stared at the sculk, lost in thought for a moment before he perked back up.
“No worries! I hope it all gets cleared up soon then, hm?” He nudged at it with his cane. “We’ve had quite a few sculk infections on hermitcraft, if you need any help managing it, give us a call.” He dipped into his front suit pocket and produced a business card with a doodle of Shelby on it, pressing it into her hand with a smirk.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ lightly smiled before nodding and pocketing the business card] wasn't the sculk on hermitcraft cross-contaminated from here? maybe there could be something in common between these infestations?
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew it was the exact same variant of sculk that had affected Hermitcraft and had killed her; the only difference this time was that the sculk had grown stronger and S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had stopped fighting the spread]
He’d take Shelby’s word for it.
“Could be! Good thinking,” Then he paused, watching her. “Are you truly okay?” Said in the same way Mira might’ve said it, inflection and all, just in Scar’s voice.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as she put on a large smile in an attempt to disguise the panic. There was something familiar in Scar's voice, and she was scared to acknowledge it]
Y-yep! Everything is under control! [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shifted around, adrenaline telling her to flee]
Scar sighed, picking up his cane and twirling it in his fingers, yet another nat 20 DEX check. He raised a brow disbelievingly, it’d be stupid to push it, but Scar’s never been known for his common sense.
“Are you sure?”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ took a step back, fear swirling in her eyes. Sculk slowly grew on the ground beneath her, trailing after her footsteps. S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pause before shakily nodding]
I- suppose that depends on what your definition of "okay" is . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ weakly chuckled, her inner voice telling her that her act wasnt convincing] I mean is anyone ever 100% okay right?
“No, you’re right but some people are less okay.” Scar’s eyes glanced at the sculk before looking back up at Shelby. “I think my question would be better phrased as, what’s wrong with you?” He gestured to the sculk with the tip of his cane.
there's nothing wrong with me!! thank you very much [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ scrunched her nose as her voice grew defensive, she didn't want to cause any harm but the voices told her to flee, to escape, to defend, sculk tendrils shot up from the ground behind her, almost forming a protective barrier between them]
the sculk is fine, im fine, everything is under control, i dont know why you care so much but everything is okay [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exhaled, breathing heavily as she tried to disguise the panic]
He blinked and took a small step back, just incase.
“No need to get defensive,” Scar laughed, masking the small bud of concern. “I suppose I shouldn’t pry too much, hm?” He flashed her a grin.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ slowly nodded, also stepping back] . . . . yeah, exactly. [Her sculk retreated, not yet calm but less alert than before] you shouldn't ask questions you don't want the answer to
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can i request a great witch shelby shubble :33
black out woke up with this on the screen
theyve been making me watch empires
AG YOUR SHELBY DESIGN IS SO CUTE!!!!! pls draw more empires shelby 💙
THANK U this was meant to be a small doodle but i liked it too much omg
Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
Hera froze. Now she felt horrible. She obviously didn’t want to leave Shelby, but she also didn’t want to be hurt similarly to her.
“If I stay.. can you promise not to hurt me..?”
she asked quietly, freezing in place.
i - i cant promise that . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ spoke, her voice defeated, she didn't want to be left alone again, she was tempted to lie but she's seen that that just leads to more problems later on. . . S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ curled in onto herself, her breath was shaky]
"I-I.. Is there any way I can help..-?"
she asked hesitantly. She had a clear shot back to the portal, but she felt truly sorry.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged helplessly] i wish there was a way, but i perma-died and then came back, but the sculk is still here . . .
"I..Uhm.. okay but- like.. can I weaken it?"
she asked.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stared at Hera as though she held the secrets of the universe] . . . how would you do that? its never been done before
"I-I dont know..? I lost all my books but like.. I could use my ice to protect me..? Maybe?"
she mumbled.
haha what books! ive never seen any books, what are books anyways [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously] . . . but do you really think that'll work?
”I don’t know!! You know more about sculk than me!”
she exclaimed, her tone more panicked than before. What was she thinking? She was just saying things now.
i thought i knew about sculk, that it needs a living host in order to survive but i died and the sculk is still here! [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ said, fidgeting with a some sculk on her arms]
”how about this..? I go home, get info, come back, help you?”
she hesitated, stepping back.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ nodded, her expression curious but hesitant] okay . . . but as soon as you get any information you come back to me okay?
”of course!! Always!!”
she replied, before turning and running back to the portal she came from.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ slightly as she watched Hera dissappear into the portal mist, leaving snowflakes where she stood]
Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
Hera froze. Now she felt horrible. She obviously didn’t want to leave Shelby, but she also didn’t want to be hurt similarly to her.
“If I stay.. can you promise not to hurt me..?”
she asked quietly, freezing in place.
i - i cant promise that . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ spoke, her voice defeated, she didn't want to be left alone again, she was tempted to lie but she's seen that that just leads to more problems later on. . . S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ curled in onto herself, her breath was shaky]
"I-I.. Is there any way I can help..-?"
she asked hesitantly. She had a clear shot back to the portal, but she felt truly sorry.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged helplessly] i wish there was a way, but i perma-died and then came back, but the sculk is still here . . .
"I..Uhm.. okay but- like.. can I weaken it?"
she asked.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stared at Hera as though she held the secrets of the universe] . . . how would you do that? its never been done before
"I-I dont know..? I lost all my books but like.. I could use my ice to protect me..? Maybe?"
she mumbled.
haha what books! ive never seen any books, what are books anyways [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously] . . . but do you really think that'll work?
”I don’t know!! You know more about sculk than me!”
she exclaimed, her tone more panicked than before. What was she thinking? She was just saying things now.
i thought i knew about sculk, that it needs a living host in order to survive but i died and the sculk is still here! [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ said, fidgeting with a some sculk on her arms]
”how about this..? I go home, get info, come back, help you?”
she hesitated, stepping back.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ nodded, her expression curious but hesitant] okay . . . but as soon as you get any information you come back to me okay?
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Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
Hera froze. Now she felt horrible. She obviously didn’t want to leave Shelby, but she also didn’t want to be hurt similarly to her.
“If I stay.. can you promise not to hurt me..?”
she asked quietly, freezing in place.
i - i cant promise that . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ spoke, her voice defeated, she didn't want to be left alone again, she was tempted to lie but she's seen that that just leads to more problems later on. . . S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ curled in onto herself, her breath was shaky]
"I-I.. Is there any way I can help..-?"
she asked hesitantly. She had a clear shot back to the portal, but she felt truly sorry.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged helplessly] i wish there was a way, but i perma-died and then came back, but the sculk is still here . . .
"I..Uhm.. okay but- like.. can I weaken it?"
she asked.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stared at Hera as though she held the secrets of the universe] . . . how would you do that? its never been done before
"I-I dont know..? I lost all my books but like.. I could use my ice to protect me..? Maybe?"
she mumbled.
haha what books! ive never seen any books, what are books anyways [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously] . . . but do you really think that'll work?
”I don’t know!! You know more about sculk than me!”
she exclaimed, her tone more panicked than before. What was she thinking? She was just saying things now.
i thought i knew about sculk, that it needs a living host in order to survive but i died and the sculk is still here! [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ said, fidgeting with a some sculk on her arms]
shubblefarer
@shelbygraces fanart 🤍
Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
Hera froze. Now she felt horrible. She obviously didn’t want to leave Shelby, but she also didn’t want to be hurt similarly to her.
“If I stay.. can you promise not to hurt me..?”
she asked quietly, freezing in place.
i - i cant promise that . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ spoke, her voice defeated, she didn't want to be left alone again, she was tempted to lie but she's seen that that just leads to more problems later on. . . S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ curled in onto herself, her breath was shaky]
"I-I.. Is there any way I can help..-?"
she asked hesitantly. She had a clear shot back to the portal, but she felt truly sorry.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged helplessly] i wish there was a way, but i perma-died and then came back, but the sculk is still here . . .
"I..Uhm.. okay but- like.. can I weaken it?"
she asked.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stared at Hera as though she held the secrets of the universe] . . . how would you do that? its never been done before
"I-I dont know..? I lost all my books but like.. I could use my ice to protect me..? Maybe?"
she mumbled.
haha what books! ive never seen any books, what are books anyways [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously] . . . but do you really think that'll work?
Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
Hera froze. Now she felt horrible. She obviously didn’t want to leave Shelby, but she also didn’t want to be hurt similarly to her.
“If I stay.. can you promise not to hurt me..?”
she asked quietly, freezing in place.
i - i cant promise that . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ spoke, her voice defeated, she didn't want to be left alone again, she was tempted to lie but she's seen that that just leads to more problems later on. . . S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ curled in onto herself, her breath was shaky]
"I-I.. Is there any way I can help..-?"
she asked hesitantly. She had a clear shot back to the portal, but she felt truly sorry.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged helplessly] i wish there was a way, but i perma-died and then came back, but the sculk is still here . . .
"I..Uhm.. okay but- like.. can I weaken it?"
she asked.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stared at Hera as though she held the secrets of the universe] . . . how would you do that? its never been done before
Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
Hera froze. Now she felt horrible. She obviously didn’t want to leave Shelby, but she also didn’t want to be hurt similarly to her.
“If I stay.. can you promise not to hurt me..?”
she asked quietly, freezing in place.
i - i cant promise that . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ spoke, her voice defeated, she didn't want to be left alone again, she was tempted to lie but she's seen that that just leads to more problems later on. . . S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ curled in onto herself, her breath was shaky]
"I-I.. Is there any way I can help..-?"
she asked hesitantly. She had a clear shot back to the portal, but she felt truly sorry.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged helplessly] i wish there was a way, but i perma-died and then came back, but the sculk is still here . . .
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Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
Hera froze. Now she felt horrible. She obviously didn’t want to leave Shelby, but she also didn’t want to be hurt similarly to her.
“If I stay.. can you promise not to hurt me..?”
she asked quietly, freezing in place.
i - i cant promise that . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ spoke, her voice defeated, she didn't want to be left alone again, she was tempted to lie but she's seen that that just leads to more problems later on. . . S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ curled in onto herself, her breath was shaky]
Hera was still recovering mentally. She had been moving in between pearl’s base and a secret home she was building. She was nervous every time she was outside, wondering if Shaz would appear and harm her. So maybe her other friends could help.
She used a new nether portal to teleport to Shelby’s, carefully climbing out and looking around. She has never been to Shelby’s swamp. It looks magical to her. The low hanging vines and murky waters combined with the dim glows of fireflies and sun reflecting off the water almost made her forget her problems. Almost.
“Shelby? It’s Hera!!”
she called out, carefully walking around.
@heras-mailbox
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ turned around from the depths of the swamp where she had been hiding walking by; S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had enchanted her mailbox to notify her if someone had travelled through it, she couldn't risk anyone sneaking up on her anymore. They slowly walked through the mangrove trees, her gnome traits helping her duck underneath the tall roots.]
Who's there? Didn't you see the sign?! [It was a 'get out of my swamp sign she had gotten from Joel back when she was learning magic from him, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ had kept it as a joke]
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ froze as she saw Hera's familiar silhouette between the branches and she hesitated to step forward; Hera still hadn't seen the sculk and they were worried, the sculk had been slowly spiraling around her limbs as time had went on and it had gotten significantly harder to hide it.]
”uh..no? Where are you?”
she called out, still looking around, her eyes locking onto a frog sitting on the stump of a tree. She smiled as she crouched down to it.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ crept up behind her, the sculk hiding her footsteps as it trailed after her] Careful, that frog might be a person, maybe, Lizzie said that witches can turn people to frogs and I may have started learning . . . [She whispered with a light giggle]
Hera perked up at the voice. Was Shelby hiding from her? She smiled. The little giggle made her think it was a game. She could play a game for a bit.
“So you can see me.. and hear me. C’mon, come out of hiding!”
she laughed, standing up and turning around.
and there it was.
some stray sculk, trailing off in the damp grass. Hera knew it wasn’t there before. In fact, she’s sure she’s never seen it before. Curious, she walks up to it.
“Is this also part of the swamp?”
she asked, crouching right in front of it.
something like that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ gently taps Hera's shoulder, facing her as she turned]
the swamp has had some uh changes since the last time we talked, a lot has happened [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ tilted her head, the voices hoping that Hera wouldn't be a threat to the swamp]
[They didn't notice but a patch of sculk had started growing around them in a circle, similar to a faerie ring/circle]
”Oh! Oh..”
she muttered, now realizing the situation. She couldn’t tell if Shelby being covered in sculk was good or not, sensitive even. But curiosity won as she carefully raised her hand.
“eh- what happened?”
she asked cautiously
not again [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered quietly under her breath before looking straight into Hera's eyes with her own sculk ridden ones] look, nothing happened- everything is fine
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ knew she sounded extremely defensive and she didn't want to lose another friend so she sighed and sat down on a sculk ridden rock] a lot happened Hera, a lot more than I know or can control, everything is shifting around and I don't know what to believe anymore . . .
”oh.. oh I’m so sorry to hear that..”
she mumbled, twirling her fingers absent-mindedly. She felt bad.
“I.. kinda get it? Did my previous letter reach you before my mailbox was destroyed or no?”
she asked
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ pulled out a slightly crumpled note from her pocket]
this one? yeah i got that one, but when i tried to send you a response the mail returned back to me, what happened?
”I.. uh.. got attacked..”
she mutters.
“Someone.. like.. watcher like? I think? Showed up and destroyed my village and tried to kill me. I made it out but like-.. everything.. including the mailbox- i-is gone.”
she explained, her face trying to hold back tears as she spoke.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stood horrified as she processed her words, slowly she walked up to Hera to give her a hug]
oh my stars, Hera, you shouldn't have had to deal with that [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered softly, patting the ground beside her, gesturing Hera to sit down next to her]
i know this is a stupid question but how are you feeling right now?
”..scared? I mean.. I want to think I’m safe now that I’m so far away but.. it was teleporting and everything was glitching and my home is gone and all my hard work-“
she goes on as she sits down, bringing her knees to her face.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ frowned, she wanted to help Hera, do something- anything but she wasn't sure what] Do you know why the watcher-being was targeting you? I doubt its anything you did but there has to be a reason :(
”I.. I don’t really know? It wouldn’t elaborated it just.. it would glitch everything out and chase me. It broke everything..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ sighed sadly, understanding flooding her eyes] i . . . understand how you feel honestly, did i tell you about my home dimension?
”no? I thought this was your home?”
Hera whispered quietly, lifting her eyes slightly off her head out of curiosity.
no, i haven't been here until about two years ago, my real home, where i spent 116 years at, was the gnome dimension . . .
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled weakly, lifting her giant hat to show Hera her gnome ears]
Her eyes widened at the gnome ears. It explained a bit.
“why… why’d you leave then?”
i . . was forced to, a demon called Xornoth had been exiled from the overworld, and he reigned terror upon the gnomelands, wiping out my entire species
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered, tears welling up in her eyes from remembering but she forced herself to be calm, Hera deserved to know]
I am the last remaining gnome, but even when I established the Undergrove here on the overworld, Xornoth still found a way to come back . . .
Hera didn’t exactly respond, but she rather just leaned towards Shubble, hugging her. Gently. Enough to say she understood, slightly. She cared.
“Aren’t you safe now? Or are you also.. hunted..”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shrugged, her eyes facing Hera] It's the same with whats going on with you, i don't know . . . [her sculk glowed slightly as she paused] i want you to know that despite everything, the Evermoore will help you, I will help you
”thank you Shelby.”
she muttered, not raising her head.
“if you ever.. y’know.. find yourself in trouble again from Xorno-.. Zor- no. Xoronot.. no no wait.. Xor.. noth. Xornoth! If you ever find yourself in trouble again from Xornoth, i promise to help!”
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ smiled softly, slowly wiping the tears away from her eyes] You have no idea how much that means to me, thank you Hera . . .
”anything for my friends!”
she smiled, slowly standing up again. She steeped on some sculk, and carefully picked it up.
you probably shouldn't do that . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ muttered as she got phantom-feelings from the sculk moving in Hera's hands] the sculk is . . . a strange story
”what harm could it possibly do?”
she asked innocently, playing with it as it tried moving up her arm.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes widened as the sculk shifted around climing up, glowing and echoing with the beat of her heart]
that sculk . . . is different. [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hesitated, she wasn't sure how to approach this]
"How? It doesn't look any different. It looks friendly! It's kinda cute-"
she smiled, holding it up to her face for inspection.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ stammered for a second before pausing then unpausing] the sculk is intrinsically tied to me, its almost as an extension of me . . . but the sculk has a mind of its own and i have to listen to the sculk [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s eyes were wide, hoping Hera would understand and get away from the sculk]
"So is it like.. independent? Co-dependent?"
she asked, her head turning back to Shelby and no longer full focusing on the sculk. She didn't lower it though.
more like a parasite ahaha [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ chuckled nervously, trying to ignore the warning signs blaring in her head to spread the sculk]
you should really put that down . . . [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered as the sculk veins kept on climbing, flaring with her emotions]
"It's a plant, it can't hurt me!"
she sang, turning back to the sculk and lifting it higher, trying to pick some pieces apart.
[the sculk glowed softly, growing stronger the closer Hera brought it, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ hadn't noticed it but her own sculk-ridden eyes were shining brighter too, almost as though it was absorbing energy from Hera and transferring it back] it's not just a plant, trust me, the sculk had perma-killed me . . .
"it what..?"
she said, her voice dropping as she lowered it from her face slightly as she turned back to Shelby.
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ felt a bolt of electricity strike her veins as Hera lowered the sculk it felt wrongwrongwrong thesculkneededenergy, S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ shook herself as her eyes shone bright sculk-blue]
i had. . . perma-died not too long ago- i mean i am here now but- i- [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ struggled to get the words out. the sculk was draining her own energy as it was further away from Hera]
"Shelby- are you alright..?"
Now Hera was growing nervous. She was nervous for her friend. Was it really this powerful?
YEP ! EVERYING IS FINE ITS UNDER CONTROL
[S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ exclaimed. spreadthesculkspreadthesculkspreadthesculk, the voice in her head chanted, her own energy was flowing into the sculk, persuading her to spread the sculk]
she jumped at her yell, dropping the sculk and moving slightly farther away.
"Sh-shelby?"
she stuttered, her own eyes growing wide with rising uncertainty and fear.
[that had been the wrong move, the sculk, now that Hera was no longer in contact with the sculk, it had decided to use S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘'s energy instead, the sculk had never done that before, it was a warning, a sign that she had failed, the voice in her head told]
e-everything is fine [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered quietly, exhaling as the sculk beneath them flared with newer veins, directed in Hera's direction]
"N-no its not! Somethings wrong- I don't- I- I- I should go- I-"
she muttered, getting up and beginning to back away, her hands raised.
nonono dont leave, not you too please [S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘ whispered shaken, panic took over her brain she didnt want to be left alone, she didnt want to lose another friend, not again. the worry must've been obvious as the sculk retraced, forming a protective barrier around S̴̢̜͇̜̹͕̀͑h̷̛̛̛̥̰͚̻͖̫͕̹́͋͑͋̈́́̕ͅȇ̴̬͔̤̤̱̠̼̲̐l̶̫̳̆̍̀̆̎̚b̶͍͈̱̼̦͔͎͙͇̃̓͠ͅÿ̴̨͙̗͖̩͉́̇͘͘] please . . .
