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"Okay Joel, this is it. You're going to go and give a little present to Bdubs, okay. You're going to make a good season impression and show Bdubs how kind and thoughtful and handsome and smart you are and he'll be your friend."
Joel walked along the small path forming between actbases as they began to pop up, the scattered blocks barely a blueprint for what would eventually be there. It was hardly the first week in to the season so it was no surprise to see it in it's current state. Honestly, the fact that Gem had gone around encouraging people to get them planted in the first place was something in and of itself.
The hermit had been walking along them for a bit, not having an elytra yet, and just hoped he was remembering where Bdubs said he was building this season. "What's with all these bloomin' trees! Can't see anything!" He mumbled to himself, Somebody better get a rocket shop up soon. He had too many big plans to spend all this time walking! Not to mention hanging out with each Hermit was literally one of his goals. While they were all still close to each other, the deep ravines and high cliffs that required so many bridges to connect everyone made traversing on ground a bit more difficult.
By the time he finally reached Bdubs' base, the man of the hour was no longer home. Joel had checked before he left and Bdubs had been seen over here working on his build, but Joel had wanted to surprise him with a visit.
'Now this whole thing has turned out just bloody perfect, hasn't it?' He thought bitterly, rolling his eyes at the circumstances. Now that he pinned down where the man lived, Joel would be able to find his way faster, but still. It felt silly to come all this way and leave without doing anything.
Joel strode confidently into the small homestead, admiring the building and seeing classic Bdubs skills already shining through the work. It was small compared to the grand masterpieces they had left behind in Season 10 but who was Joel to talk when he himself didn't even have a base setup yet?
He wanted to place a barrel down for his gift and make sure it stood out so Bdubs wouldn't miss it. Again the thought came to him that, had he just waited a bit longer into the season for this little excursion, he could have made this much easier on himself. Joel could have just placed it in a colorful shulker box to help it stand out. It would have matched the contents just perfectly as well; a colorful assortment of blocks, glass, dyes, terracotta, etc. Maybe simple enough to get on their own, but a touch of each one could be a nice little surprise. Check them against pallets, see how they'd look, honestly even just as a simple reminder the bloody blocks existed. There were so many ways to build that some of the more esoteric blocks get forgotten.
The home wasn't too big though, so Joel eventually found his way to the basement area, a central pillar acting as a support that drew the eye in nicely enough. As Joel got ready to set down the gift, he caught sight of small writing on each side of the pillar; simple goals for the start of the season.
Had they just been simple start of the season goal posts, Joel wouldn't have paid it any mind, but there was more.
There was his name.
GOAL #5 HATE JOEL NOT MATTER WHAT
It felt like the world froze for a moment, his hands clutching the gift he'd wanted to give.
Another tick passed and Joel moved, rushing up the stairs and out of the home. He stomped away, feeling petty enough to leave the door behind him open. It's not like there were pets or villagers in there that needed to be corraled. At most, Bbubs would return to find a mob or two if he was away for the night. Joel didn't care. He didn't care at all at the minor inconvenience leaving it open to elements would cause. Why should he? He was Bdub's enemy, apparently.
He slowed his pace by a hair, the bitter feeling at seeing the sign not lessening even as he tried to distance himself from it. He had wanted to reach out to the other Hermit, make things right from their squabble from last season, but it seemed it would be harder than he thought.
Had Bdubs seen his own meager post with his goals? Was he mocking Joel? Creating the board so similar to Joel's own, thrusting it in Joel's face how they would never be allies?
Maybe he should have seen it coming. How long did rivalries last, that Bdubs would hold it over from one season to the next? Had Joel lost his chance at becoming a better friend?
A sound caught his ear, a sound that haunted him and brought screams and jeers and outraged cries. His head shot to the left, eyes blown wide as they landed on a horse, the wild steed gently walking the fields between bases.
Joel froze as it whinnied again, trotting closer to him as though excited to see a friendly face. It's hooves kicked up small stones and dirt, vibrating the ground. Joel felt like he couldn't get enough breath, each step the creature taking making him shake even more.
He looked hard, trying to see if there was a hidden lead or nameplate on the mob, but there was nothing. It was a untamed.
His fingers itched to grab his ax, to strike first before it got closer, but he couldn't get his body to cooperate… or maybe it was the other way around. His body wanted to move, to strike it down and get away, to do something, but Joel's mind kept his still. The flash of Bdub's face, yelling and shouting at Joel for killing them, that blasted sign sitting in his base claiming them enemies, Joel's own little goal of just trying to make a friend…
He was frozen as it moved closer.
Sounds seemed to fade away leaving only his pounding heart. His was gasping as it drew closer, sniffing him. It's head nudged him, nibbling at his hair and catching his ear.
He jerked away, blood gushing from the wound as the creature snapped at him, trying to stike again. His head now ached from the bite and Joel's eyes grew wide at the sight of his own hair and skin trapped between the teeth of the beast. He tripped over a lump on the ground, the very thing he'd tried to get the horse away from in the first place. The horse had been happy to ignore him, but Joel had had to stop it… he couldn't let the sight before him continue.
Mangled corpses littered the ground, blood and gore covering the streets. It felt like there wasn't a soul alive in the town.
Some people think every living thing has a soul; every animal from dogs to horses to the smallest of bugs, all of them. Joel wanted to see if they'd say the same thing about these creatures after seeing this.
He didn't know what happened.
Joel quickly brought out a sword and swung to kill the horse in front of him, it's mouth still covered in the blood of the woman at his feet, bites marks and torn flesh making it impossible to tell who it was.
The creature let out a deathly cry as Joel finally struck it down, it's corpse falling the street. The river of blood forming from the people that littered the ground grew as its own seeped out of it.
Joel felt sick, arms shaking and barely holding the sword up. He couldn't stop, he c-couldnt- he had to see if anyone else lived, if there was anyone left.
The only sounds he could hear though were those of scavenging beasts, hooves walking across the pavement, neighs and whinnies as the creatures faught over food.
He tried to step forward to walk through the city a bit more and find others, surely there were people still. He wasn't alone on the server, there had to be others, he just had to find them but his legs wouldn't cooperate. After that first step, after hearing the squelch of blood and body under his foot, he couldn't move.
He stayed there, staring at the horse he killed, at the blood that now covered him. The screaming cry it had made echoing through his head as it warped into an approximation of the woman at his feet, her screams of pain and death as she was eaten alive.
All he could hear was it's screams.
Hands eventually grabbed him, gently pulling the sword out of his grip and leading him somewhere else, away from the sight, away from the sound.
He couldn't focus as they checked him over, spoke to him and tried to get him to answer. He couldn't speak as they wrapped his head, cleaning the blood and removing bits of… things from his hair where he'd been bitten. It was all so hazy.
Admins and Devs cleared the World, grabbing the survivors. Thats when Joel realized it had been isolated to that small town. The bloody corpses of Players grabbed and healed properly. No one was permantly affected… not physically at least. Once they got off world, they respawned as usual, if not a bit traumatized. A total of less than 50 Players had been affected.
Joel had just been at the heart of the attack.
An attack… it makes it sound like it was purposeful, like there was a target or goal in mind.
It had merely been a glitch, a bug in the world.
Something had gone wrong in the horses' code that caused them to be more crazed in their behavior, blood thirsty and hungry for people. If they were tamed, it couldn't take hold, they were clean and normal, but Wild Horses had no such protections. They could glitch out at any time.
The city had been a haven for wild horses, fields and farms bringing in hoards of them. It had been a quiet place, simple and small.
Now all Joel could hear were screams.
There was no sign of the glitch spreading or leaving the current server and no reports of it happening elsewhere, so the Admins declared the bug contained, the world Locked, and the matter settled.
Joel couldn't accept that.
It's not like he didn't try. He wanted to move on from it all and he thought he was doing a pretty good job of it. He could ride horses again, he was fine seeing his friends catch and breed endless amounts for that perfect stallion… but the moment a Wild Horse spawned, Joel couldn't help but feel uneasy. He needed it dead, he needed to stop the screams and the scent of blood that filled the air.
It needed to die.
Joel blinked as the sound stopped, finally freeing him from it's cries. Blood splattered on his face and he look down to see his sword stained red, the horse's corpse lingering for a moment longer before despawning.
"WHAT THE HECK!?"
He turned, barely catching his balance at the sudden appearance of Bdubs, the man dismounting his own horse as he returned to his base from who knows where. "OH, REALLY NOW!? You'd kill a horse right in front of my base? Rub it in my face why don't you!!" The shorter man rushed forwards, glaring at Joel as he just stared, trying to get his bearings back.
Everything is fine, everything is normal.
He was on Hermitcraft.
He was trying to play nice with BDubs.
He was making a mess of it all.
There was a moment of pause from Bdubs as he must have noticed Joel's expression, but Joel quickly blinked it away, giving a manic smirk more commonly found on his face. He swung his blade around, flicking it to remove the last traces of blood his memory plastered onto it and put it away. "Hey, I have a quota to fill. Have to get started early." He said taking a couple steps towards his friend.
And they were friends in a sense, no hate actually between them, but that close commraderie was missing. With how this day ended up going, it seemed it wasn't going to be growing any time soon, even as he had wanted to try this season.
Bdub's love for horses was too strong against Joel's own fears. That was fine, Joel was just fine with that.
A part of him thought that maybe he should explain it all. From what he can tell, the whole thing became almost urban legend, a friend of a friend kind of tale to share around the campfire of the time peaceful mobs went crazy and attacked Players. He could share the truth of it and maybe wouldn't get so much flack from everyone for killing the beasts…
He hadn't realized how big a deal horses were to the Hermits. Had he known, maybe he would have brought it up to Xisuma during his initial meeting with the admin before Season 10 even started. It hadnt been a huge secret before, with Fwhip knowing about it, as his current admin at the time, as well as Lizzie, his lovely wife. Joel would never hide it from her. As the days had gone on though, as more distance grew between the event, Joel thought he'd be fine with it all. He thought it wouldn't be too big a deal and could just deal with it on his own.
Now though, a whole season later, it felt weird to try and bring it up to the other Hermits. It had been too long! And it's not like they could do anything about it. Joel knew on some level that the glitch wouldn't happen in Hermitcraft. 'Even if they had never found the source,' a small thought reminded him, which he so graciously shoved away. Hermitcraft horses are safe.
That doesn't stop his heart from racing though. It doesn't stop the trauma response.
So what if he told them now? What would it do, make them paranoid about the beasts as well?
Looking at Bdubs now, his face scrunched in anger while his hands continuously pet his own steed, Joel hesitated. Bdubs loved horses. Could Joel really taint that with his own fears?
A flash of Bdubs appeared, hand outstretched but shaking as the man attempted to find his newest steed. Another image of him, nerves shot and jumpy as the mob gently walked across his lands, perfectly made for such beautiful creatures.
Joel's own fears thrust on to Bdubs, taking so much away from him with just a few simple words.
What would a horseless Bdubs look like? It felt wrong to even try to picture it. No matter their circumstances, the man was always with his steed, always so gentle and kind. Joel would take the hate any day over tainting the love Bdubs so freely gave.
He was getting better, he was. He just needed a little more time and then this could all be brushed away. No one else needed to know, no one else needed that fear.
Giving one last smirk towards Bdubs, giving some nonsense excuse of gathering resources or something, Joel left his friend and headed back to his own place.
It was fine, he was fine.
His hands shook and he was constantly aware of his surroundings, not wanting to be caught off guard again. Joel was too tense to deal with another horse, to hear those screams again. He was also too worked up and jumpy to deal with any Hermits.
He just needed to go and build his base and not think about anything for a bit. Everything is fine.