Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She couldn’t stop the bleeding.

She hadn’t been ready for this, she doesn’t have the materials let alone the knowledge required to do this! She’d never studied healing magic as much as she’d reviewed her defensive or offensive spells! Her heart was beating a million miles a minute and she couldn’t think straight. Her staff was broken so she shouldn’t do anything even if she wanted to! Her brother was dying   in front of her and she doesn’t even know an adequate healing spell to make sure he’d survive   and-

“Stop overthinkin’ it…” Fwhip slurred “I know you got it..”

How could he say that? I mean she had used magic to put him under a high dose of anesthesia, but not enough to be fully knocked out, just delirious.

“How’d you know that?” She sniffled

“You got that look in yer eye… and I can feels it..” he responded

“I don’t,” she shivered “I don’t know any healing spells. I don’t know how to help.”

“I’ll be okay, it isn’t that bad..” Fwhip smiled at her, dazed and unknowing

That almost made her fully break down. He wasn’t   fine. He wasn’t okay . It’s messed up, her brother, her twin, is looking at her with such trust. He has full confidence that he’s fine and that she can fix whatever’s wrong with a little magic here, but how do you fix a man that’s practically crumbling in your hands?

When she’d seen him, she thought he was just covered in smog and ash, not to mention Jimmy was barely damaged and he was also right by the reactor, but when the adrenaline faded she’d realized the gravity of her situation.

His limbs were barely hanging on.

Shrapnel from the blast had sliced through and gotten stuck in his right arm and leg, gone through his bones. The right side of his head was burnt so badly she could barely make out where his ear was, if it was even still there. Not to mention running around certainly made it worse than it already was. The man before her, who’d grown up with her, a matching face, was so broken beneath her.

Behind her the flapping of wings made themselves known, slightly grounding her from her panic, she turns and sees Violet. Violet was the dragon hatched from the Ender Dragon Egg. The poor thing was covered in ash and dust, you could barely see the purple spines on her back, this was most certainly not healthy for such a young creature. Violet walked towards Fwhip, sniffing him before nudging the side of his face that wasn’t roasted.

“Heyyy Vi!” He smiled “whatcha looking so sad for? I’ll be fine!”

Gem couldn’t hold it back anymore.

Her body began to shake as she sobbed, holding a hand over her mouth trying (and failing) to muffle herself. She bowed her head to the ground, it was too much. Too much. Her kingdom lays in ruin, her books and tomes  reduced to ash, her people dead, her world was literally crumbling around her. What could she do? Why can she do? Not to even mention her staff was broken, she might not even be able to do  any magic.

Magic.

Magic!

She can do magic!

She coughed up her last few sobs, trying to wipe away her tears and grabbed the remains of her staff. She hoped it might have just enough strength left to do this last spell for her, she knew they couldn’t stay, not with how everything was turning out. She might be too far to hear what was happening to other kingdoms but she could feel the magic in the land straining to survive in these drastic conditions. So with her staff she called upon her other three dragons, Amethyst; Lilac; and Lavander. The spell would bring them to her, no matter how far away they might be.

She began the incantation with a shaky voice, but ending it with a fierce conviction.

ᓵ𝙹ᒲᒷ  ℸ ̣ 𝙹  ᒲᒷ  ᒲ||  ↸∷ᔑ⊣𝙹リᓭ  ℸ ̣ ⍑∷ᒷᒷ,

ℸ ̣ ⍑∷𝙹⚍⊣⍑  ∴╎リ↸,  ᓭℸ ̣ 𝙹∷ᒲ,  ⎓╎∷ᒷ,  𝙹∷  ᓭᒷᔑ,

ℸ ̣ ⍑∷𝙹⚍⊣⍑  ʖꖎ𝙹𝙹↸  ᔑリ↸  ∴ᔑ∷

ℸ ̣ ⍑∷𝙹⚍⊣⍑  ℸ ̣ ⍑⚍リ↸ᒷ∷╎リ⊣  ᓭꖌ╎ᒷᓭ

𝙹⍑  !¡ꖎᒷᔑᓭᒷ  ᓵ𝙹ᒲᒷ  ⍑𝙹ᒲᒷ,  ᓵ𝙹ᒲᒷ  ⍑𝙹ᒲᒷ  ℸ ̣ 𝙹  ᒲᒷ

𝙹⍑  ᓵ𝙹ᒲᒷ  ℸ ̣ 𝙹  ᒲᒷ  ᒲ||  ↸∷ᔑ⊣𝙹リᓭ  ℸ ̣ ⍑∷ᒷᒷ

The crystal in her staff began to glow, before cracks appeared in it and the wood fell away. The crystal landed into her lap, it was cracked, completely unfit for use. It was worth it though because soon enough three gigantic white dragons with purple wings, spines, and horns; each dramatically bigger than little Violet. They all turned their attention to her, waiting for her next order.

“We’re leaving. I’m going to place Fwhip your back Lavender, be still sweetheart.” She carefully picked him up as Lavender leaned down, she ripped the ribbon on her hat and tied his hands around her neck before hopping on her as well.

“Be careful with him darling,” she looked down at her brother once again “Let’s go.”

They shot up into the air, the other three following quickly behind. Soon they broke through the thick smog and above the whole world.

Gem knew the directions of each kingdom, knew them by heart, and she also knew that they weren’t the only Empires in the world. She knew they were across the sea, Pix had gone to visit one of them fairly recently. So she flew that way, over every Empire, over every calamity, over every death, over ocean, over bloodshed. She was going to these other Empires and save her brother, they couldn’t have been affected by the reactor explosion.

So off they flew, she didn’t look down even once, she couldn’t. If she did she’d surely fall off because her eyes would be blinded by tears.

She leaned down to her brother “It’s going to be okay, you’ll be okay, I promise Fwhip.”

She wasn’t going to break her promise.

Chapter Text

Dark. So dark.

That’s the first thing Fwhip could comprehend. An all consuming void surrounded him, cold and unforgiving. What had happened? At first, he couldn’t remember anything, then slowly, drifting clouds of memories came rolling in. There had been a reactor, and mixing salmon and cod. Then, a sound so loud, louder than anything he had ever heard. A cacophony of fire and pain and noise like nothing he had ever felt before. Slowly, the darkness began to lift. That’s when he finally felt the pain. Mostly it was on the left side of his body, but it was an aching pain that never ceased. Not excruciating, but enough to make him wish he was still asleep.

As he woke up more and more he began to realize other things. His right ear was ringing, his throat was dry, the reason the ache wasn’t all over was because the right side of his body felt numb and by the gods he felt stiff. How long had he been lying down for? He was so tired and everything was blurry, but he could make out soft lantern light shining inside of.. wherever he was. The last thing he could remember was the mad dash out of fire, Jimmy pulling him along, and then.. running to Gem..

Shit, Gem!

Fwhip woke up a little more after realizing he had no clue where Gem was. He needed to make sure she was okay, was she okay? Gods his head hurt, but Gem was more important. He could barely feel his limbs, especially those on his right side. He could barely even move, barely move his body, but he needed to see her. With everything that happened he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if his stupid fucking decisions got her severely hurt, or worse.. no, he couldn’t even entertain that idea. She was okay, she had to be. So with as much strength as he could muster he began to use his arm that wasn’t numb to push up into a sitting position and now that he was able to see more (though still a bit blurry) he noted the appearance and state of the room.

It looked to be late at night, the comfortable lantern light filling the room more than he’d originally thought, it was clean and the walls were a nice cream color. Spruce nightstands adorned the side of his beds as well has a counter with a sink and medical tools on it, above it was locked cabinets.

‘So I’m in some kind of medics center? I mean that makes sense.’ He thought, the fact somewhat calmed him

He looked to his right side and saw a glass of water on the night stand. His throat was dry and a little water couldn’t hurt, so he moved his arm to reach, but he couldn’t grab it, I mean his arm was still kind of numb and it was a little blurry, so Fwhip looked down and-

Where the fuck is my arm.

Where the FUCK is my arm!?

Instead of his arm which SHOULD be attached to his upper arm he found a tightly bandaged nub in its place. It had burn scars still ingrained into his pale skin that peeked from under the bandages. Fwhip’s mind stopped, his train of thought stopping so fast that the train could’ve been derailed with it. His arm was fucking gone. Is-was..? He- when did this happen? Fwhip’s heart rate began to thump faster and his breathing got faster because he didn’t have his godsdamn fucking arm, and! He has no fucking clue where it went

He felt his heart beat grew to an alarming speed; so much that it pounded in his ears, he could feel his body trembling but all he could recognize was that his arm wasn’t there and that it should be shaking with the rest of him. He decided in his panicked mind he needed to leave, so with shaking legs he stared to turn to the left and set his foot on the floor and stood; still unable to feel the other, putting most of his weight on his nightstand for stability because he still couldn’t see or think straight. He tried to walk one step, but the room spun and he fell with a loud thud, slamming his nose into the floor and most likely breaking it if the blood now pooling onto the floor meant anything.

’This isn’t real.’ He thought ‘It- I, this can’t be real it can’t be..’

His head was pounding and he was on the brink of crying and it wasn’t because of the broken nose, or the missing arm, the unknown location, it was because he knew. He was an inventor, it was his job to think and get to the answer to make the right assumptions and context clues all pointed at the obvious.

His leg was gone too.

He didn’t even want to look. He didn’t want to accept it yet, so he just laid there in the best fetal position he could manage. He’d just woken up and missing two limbs, his skin is slick with sweat, the pain of his broken nose, and the ringing in his ear (which he’d previously ignored) now came back full force as he lay on the ground  shaking; all of this built up against him like a weight was placed on his chest and he just sobbed. It was ugly and painful and all the things you’d except from it. He hid his face in his hand, only making him cry harder.

Suddenly, hands were all over him, trying to pull him up, trying to look at him. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and thrashed around. They kept trying to move him around, not listening to his non-verbal pleas to just leave him alone, he wanted his sister. He just wanted his sister. People tried to talk to him, but he couldn’t hear them cause his ear was still ringing, he couldn’t hear anything but muffled voices all sounding too much too him. He heard a door slam, the rustling of clothes, everything, he was hearing everything around him. He was sat up against the bedside table by gentle hands that made him feel so much calmer, he didn’t realize why.

“It’s okay. Breathe with me. Just follow my lead. Okay?” A familiar voice cut through the fog, putting his good hand on their chest and exaggerating their breathing so that he could try to follow, and he did, because whoever this was cut through his panic.

They praised him for his breathing, despite how bad it actually was, but it didn’t matter to them. As they kept talking he began to recognize the voice and the person more and more.

“Can you open your eyes for me Fwhip? Please?” The voice, now recognized as a feminine voice, asked gently

He was still reeling from his panic, but he blinked his eyes open. They were still blurry, but after blinking through it, he saw his sister staring back at him.

“Hey, you with me?” She looked so tired

Her long hair was draped down her back, it was tangly and greasy. She looked like she’d not slept in days, her eye bags had eye bags. She was wearing a loose long sleeved cotton shirt and gray sweatpants.

“You look like hell.” Fwhip croaked out

She chuckled “Yeah, yeah I know.”

They sat in silence for a moment, and she smiled sadly at him “C’mon, let me get you back into your bed.”

“Okay.”

Carefully she picked him up, setting him back onto the bed, situating him so that he’d he under the covers and his back leaned up against the pillow. She sat on the right edge of the bed. Fwhip looked up and saw two nurses and a doctor, all three observing the duo.

Gem turned to them “Get me a cloth and a bandage for his nose please.”

“Of course your-“ the nurse started

“Just Gem, Please.” She sighed

“Of course Gem.” The nurse went over to the counter and grabbed them

Gem took them and gently began cleaning up and bandaging his nose. She noted it didn’t seem broken, but she took precautions in case it really was broken. When she finished she dropped the bloody napkin in the trash, and she turned towards the staff.

“Hey, could I have a moment with him for a sec? Just to explain?” She asked

“Of course, call us back in when you need us.” The doctor said, leading both nurses out of the room

“Okay. Time for the explanation,” She sighed “What can you remember from… you know.”

“I remember the explosion, I remember it hurt, and I remember going to find you to make sure you were okay before I passed out.”

“Okay,” she looked down “When you passed out, I flew you on the back of Lavender and I flew us far, far away from our home; and before you ask the dragons are okay; but I got us away. After I think what was an about an hour I landed here, in this elvish kingdom, and they treated you.”

Fwhip was silent, before asking “Was there any chance we could’ve saved my leg? Or my arm?”

Gem was quiet before whispering a soft “no” into the silence.

He ignored that “Is my ear okay? I can’t hear well out of it.”

“You’re almost practically deaf in that one now, your ear and the space under it was burnt badly.” She explains

“Ah, is it gonna get worse?”

“Maybe, I don’t know. We aren’t sure yet.”

“How long was I asleep?” He asked

“A week and three days.” She said clearly

The room lapsed into silence. For the first time in their lives, they didn’t know what to say. Usually, conversations between the two flowed with such ease that they wouldn’t stop talking for hours, but now? Nothing was coming out. It was strange.

“What’s going to happen to me Gem?” Fwhip’s left hand was shaking

Gem reached over and grabbed it gently, stabilizing his shaking. “I’ll be here with you throughout everything, I’ll be here throughout every single moment and throughout the whole recovery process.”

“Promise?” he mumbled

She leaned in close whispering into his left ear. Fwhip hugged her tight, and she hugged him back just as hard and powerful as Fwhip did to her.

“I’ll be there. I’m never leaving you alone again, I promise.” She mumbled

Fwhip buried his face into his neck, and he silently cried. She was right there, and she’s not going to leave.

“C’mon, let’s go to bed Fwhip.” She suggested

“Okay, you got it.” She pushed him down so his head was laying down only a pillow and tucked him in

“I’ll get you some water. Goodnight Fwhip” she whispered

“Good night Gemmi.” He sighed sleepily

She blew out the latent light so that the moon’s soft silver light was the only thing lighting up the room, and he quickly succumbed to the pull of sleep.

Chapter Text

Warm, so so warm…

Warmth practically flooded through his body, such a shocking contrast to the night before. Everything felt hazy and soft and he never wanted to get up, it’s like waking up early before you remember that it’s a weekend and going back to sleep in. The sensations around him were still foggy, but kind. Slowly he blinked opened his eyes to see the golden sun on his face and Gem’s fingers running through his hair. The bed was cozy, and comforting. Without the panic the world was nicer, and his nose only had a slight throb! He could finally think straight, speaking of thinking straight! Now that he could actually register his surroundings he felt it was much more comfortable, well, as much as a medic center could be. He looked over to his right and saw his sister above him with a content, but tired look on her face. Her hair was still messy, but it was braided this time. He couldn’t hear too well on the right side, but he heard a soft hum from Gem. It was a song they used to sing as children while they explored the fields surrounding what would become the Grimlands.

What was once the Grimlands.

Fwhip would never forgive himself for that day. He’d never forget the screams, the sound of the explosions, the crumbling, the fear in Jimmy’s eyes. All of those things would be perfectly ingrained in his mind until the day he died.

“Stop thinking about what happened. It’s not helping.” Gem said suddenly

“How’d you know I was thinking about that?” He asked

“We’re twins aren’t we? I’m supposed to know what’s going on in that thick head of yours.” She tapped his head with her hand and went back to running her hands through his hair

He looked up at her and noticed she look even more tired than the night before “Did you sleep last night?”

She stopped for a second “No,” she sighed “I couldn’t. After I left your room I couldn’t just go back to bed..”

“Did you sit outside the door all night?” He gasped

“Not all night! You woke up at around three and it’s uh,” she looked at a clock on the wall “Ten in the afternoon.”

“Gem that’s seven hours.” He deadpanned

“Oh please! You’ve done worse hours!” She scoffed

“Do as I say not as I do.” She scoffed in return

“You’re impossible.”

“Actually I’m Fwhip.”

This got her to laugh, Fwhip soon joining in. For a moment it felt normal, like nothing was wrong. He wanted to stay in this moment forever, it was so familiar yet so new. He hoped there was more moments like this and it wasn’t all ‘panic’ and ‘fear.’

“So Gemmi, what’s on the agenda for today?” He asked

“Well, today we’re gonna just talk to Dr. Smalls, he was the doctor from last night, and he’s going to explain the recovery process so that we can start it tomorrow.” She explained

“Sounds exciting.” he says sarcastically

“I know it’s not very fun, but it’s important. After we can do something you want!” She smiled

“I don’t think what I’d want to do is available for me to do,” he sighs “I just wanna tinker, feel metal and redstone under my hands- hand. Under my hand.”

Gem winced at his correction “You’ll still be able to tinker once we get your prosthesis sorted out, and then you’ll be able to build and invent all you want.”

“I can’t wait for that.” He sighs

“Then let’s get to it then! We can’t leave Dr. Smalls waiting any longer, I’ve let you sleep in for way too long.” She grinned

“Fine fine! Make the amputee get up! That’s cruel Gem, real cruel.” He sighed dramatically, barely holding back laughter

Gem rolled her eyes, looking exasperated, before standing up and grabbing a metal wheelchair, it looked tough! Looked like it would hold up a good amount of weight, maybe different metals though.. or-

“I can tell you wanna mess with it, but let’s wait for that.”

Fwhip laughed and moved to try and get up on his own, but could barely use his arm to push himself up.

“Let me help you-“

“No!” He cut her off “I’m fine Gem, just-“

“No let me-“

Fwhip moved to get off the bed “Im not immobile Gem!”

She grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to sit “You literally are. Stop and let me help.”

Fwhip sighed and accepted his fate. She locked the wheelchair and then slowly and carefully Gem sat Fwhip in the chair. Strapping him in and making sure he was comfortable.

“Alright, you okay?” She asked

“It’s fine” he replied

“Are you okay-“

“Can we just get over there?” He cut her off

She sighed “yeah, yeah of course.”

She unlocked the wheels and wheeled him out of the room and down the hallway. Fwhip felt strange, he didn’t feel panicked anymore, but he just felt strange. It was weird to look down and see a singular leg, and then turning to his right and seeing empty space. He hated it. He looked at Gem out of the corner of his eye and saw her melancholy expression, he hated that too.

Soon enough Gem was opening a door and he saw a younger looking man with horns and goat ears sitting at a desk. The office was similar in design to his own room, minus the bed, but there was a desk and lots and lots of plants in hanging pots and in the corners and the windowsills, a lot. The man himself had dark hair, and coffee colored skin.

“Ah! Fwhip! Gem! It’s good to see you this morning, I hope everything’s going well.” Dr. Smalls smiled

“Better than last night that’s for sure.” Fwhip replies

“Definitely better.” Gem agrees

“Wonderful!” The Doctor stood up and walked over to a shelf on the right side of the room, revealing himself to be a Satyr “So I know this has been more then stressful, and I wanted to let you know I’m here to answer any question; complaint; or need you have. I’m here to support you in every way.”

“Okay, okay..” Fwhip said

He smiled softly at Fwhip “This is a change, a big one, in many ways,” he begins “My staff and I are right here to help you in every way possible. This won’t be easy, but it’s our job to help and so we will. I can assure you it’s going to be okay.”

Fwhip looked over at Gem, she looked back almost at the exact same time. She put her hand on his shoulder. She didn’t speak but gave a reassuring smile, mentally saying ‘I’ve got you, I’m right here.’

“Are you ready?” He asked

Fwhip took a big deep breath in, “yeah, yeah. Lay it on me.”

—————————

{One Week Later}

“Fuckkkkk…” Fwhip groaned

“You good?” Gem looked up from the book she was reading

“Yeah, just.. it hurts.” He winced

One thing that Fwhip wasn’t fully prepared for was phantom pains, gods they were excruciating. He’d been bedridden for the whole day (other than physical therapy) because of pain.

“Are you having phantom pains?” Gem asked

“No….” He lied

“Dude!” She gasped “I told you to tell me!” She stood up and went out of the room “if you’re not feeling well I can help!”

Fwhip groaned “But I’ll be fine!”

“Let me make it clear,” she stepped back inside with a square mirror and glared “if you’re not feeling well I will help.”

Fwhip’s sighed “Okay Gem, do what you gotta do.”

“Thank you.” She huffed

She went over to Fwhip and held the mirror on the bed in a way that would reflect Fwhip’s left leg.

“You know the drill, flex your leg.” Gem ordered

He flexed his good leg, moving it around, rolling his ankle, doing all the stuff Dr. Smalls had explained to do when the pain got too bad. The pain began to ebb away in his stump and for a second he felt okay, now it was time for his arm. He repeated the same process, the pain fading faster, he let his shoulder slump as he relaxed into the soft sheets of the bed.

“There, feeling better?” She asked

“Yeah… thanks Gem.” He smiled up at her

“Of course,” she set the mirror down “so you need anything else?”

He thought for a moment “could you uh,” he looked away in embarrassment “could you read something to me?”

“What are you a baby?” Gem joked

“Hey!”

“Yeah yeah,” she laughed “Shut up I’ll read you something.”

When she sat back down with her book “This is the one I was reading earlier, it’s mind numbing for you cause it’s all about magic stuff, but it’s interesting.”

“Read away then” Fwhip said

“Get comfortable!”

——————

{Two Weeks Later}

“Fwhip? Where are you?” She called, her voice echoing throughout the house

Despite her current predicament, the fact she was looking around a house for Fwhip was insanely comforting. The duo had finally gotten a house in this kingdom because Fwhip had finally gotten good moving on his new iron prosthetics! Because he was clear for leaving Gem though this house might be a nice change of scenery. However, he’d been walking around so much Gem couldn’t always keep track of him!

“Goodness,” she sighed happily “at least you’re walking.” She muttered

She walked up the stairs to the second floor, the house was still mostly empty but she made sure to buy stuff to make at least the upstairs look homey. There was a reading nook, some plants, a couch, and a couple of doors branching into different rooms. One was her room, the other Fwhip’s, and his workshop right next door. It was probably only temporary though, just until he was more used to his new leg. Speaking of his workshop! Gem had bought him a bunch of small mechanical devices and some redstone for him to tinker with and make better. He was probably in there!

She opened the door “Hey Fwhip I wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner-“

She was stopped by the sight of Fwhip hunched over his desk, assumingely focused on one of the machines she’d bought. She smiled, it was nice to see him working again, she was about to ask him what he wanted for dinner again when-

“GodsDAMNIT!” Fwhip hit the table with his good hand, the machine jumping up and hitting the table hard

He ran his hands through his hair, or tried to, he was struggling to maneuver his prosthetic iron arm into doing what he wanted, frustrating him more than he already seemed to be.

“Damnit!” He spat “stupid fucking arm- I swear to the GODS I’ll-“ he twists the arm off and throws it at the wall with two loud bangs

Gem stared, stunned, she hasn’t seen Fwhip freak out in a minute “Fwhip?”

He turns around quickly “Uh- hey,” he pauses “did you… see all that?”

“Yeah,” she says, “are you okay?”

“Yup!” He says “fine- fineeee, totally fine I’m just frustrated!”

Gem furrows her brow and walks over to him “dude, you just threw your arm at the wall. You don’t seriously think I’ll believe that?”

Fwhip was silent

“Do you?”

“No…”

She sighed “Okay, then tell me what’s wrong.” She pulled up a chair

“It’s stupid.” He said “I’ll deal with it just-“

“You don’t have to say anything,” she interrupted “do you need anything?”

“I don’t know.” He said

“Want me to just stay here?” She asked

“I don’t know I just-!” He stopped “I’ll be okay, just go okay?”

“Please don’t keep anything from me,” she put her hand on his shoulder “I’m your sister! I’m meant to help you please tell me what’s wrong, or at least let me sit here.”

“I hate this.”

She sat silently, urging him to continue. He took a deep breath in, and started:

“I hate this. I can’t do anything, I can’t work my stupid arm right to do anything! The fingers won’t move the way I want them too, the elbow is stuck, these joints are sticking, it’s just- I can’t! I can’t build! The redstone falls out of my hands! I can’t get my fingers in the grooves or the switches or anything! I can’t do it! It’s like they’re actively working against me!” He yelled, more and more frantic as he kept talking “I hate this. I want to feel normal again, I want to build, I want to create, I want all of this! But I can’t, I can’t because… because…”

“It’s okay Fwhip,” she said “I’m right here, just let it out.”

He broke down, tears falling fast, trying to wipe them away with his hand. Gem pulled him close, one hand in his hair and the other around his back. Fwhip buried his head in her shoulder, sobs echoing throughout the room. It broke Gem’s heart, her brother is the only family she has and seeing him so low was ripping her apart. Fwhip rarely cried, he usually either got his frustration out by journaling or tinkering, he wasn’t one to rant, but without his right hand feeling normal he couldn’t really do either. Gods, Gem wished she could just wish it all away with magic, that’s what she was good at, but she can’t this time.

When Fwhip calmed down mostly, he leaned back to look at Gem “I’m sorry, I’m not usually all… Eugh.”

“Don’t apologize,” she said sternly “you’ve done nothing wrong. I’m glad you got that out.”

“Thanks… god I feel pathetic.” He sighs

“You aren’t, this is completely normal.” She insists

“Okay.. okay.” He breathes in deep

“Here,” she stood up and went over to grab the arm “wanna try again?”

He stared at it “Yeah, yeah let’s try again” he sniffed

Gem sat back down and reattached the arm, turning the two of them back towards the table. She picked up the machine and held it out to him.

“You ready?”

“Yeah.”

He looked down at it, turning it around in his hand “woah, look at this!” He pressed a button and the machine changed shape, becoming longer “woah… it’s changing shape!”

“How’d it do that?” She asked

“No clue, let’s look!” He said, eyes lighting up “I could use this to- god I don’t even know!”

Gem smiled softly, this was more her speed, watching her brother laugh and smile while tinkering. She might not have a single damn clue what he’s on about, but that’s won’t stop her from trying, and she’ll keep trying. Over and over again, she’ll keep trying for him. Always.

——————

{6 Months Later}

The wind blew slightly, making Gem shiver. It was a wonderfully chilly day, autumn was coming fast and the world around them was covered in orange and brown. It was nice. Gem was honestly glad she’d decided to walk Fwhip to his therapy appointment today instead of letting him go by himself, she used to when he was still in his wheelchair, but now that he could get around himself she’d stopped coming. Trusting that he could get himself around. Maybe she should come more often?

“Hey Gem!”

‘Speak of the devil’ Gem thought

“I’m out.”

“How’d it go today?” She asks

“It went alright, same old same old,” He sighs “we talked about how I’m feeling, how the prosthetic’s making me feel, the usual.”

“And how is it making you feel?”

Fwhip looked over at her and raised his eyebrows “I just got out of a session, don’t need another.”

“Okay okay!” Gem laughed “Sue me for worrying about you.”

Fwhip chuckled “Yeah Gem, stop being such a good sister.”

She rolled her eyes fondly “C’mon, let’s get home before we freeze.”

Fwhip had a big smile on his face before responding “Yeah, let’s go.”

Gem trotted down the street with Fwhip seemingly skipping behind her, the both of them enjoying the gentle autumn breeze. This kingdom was honestly beautiful during this time of year. It was surrounded by mountains and informs of those mountains forests, but to the south there was a huge green plains that stretched for miles and miles that grew the most burdens and beautiful flowers they had the privilege of seeing. Right now however the flowers weren’t in bloom, but the trees had the most beautiful arrangement of colors and the streets were covered in them. The golden sun through a cloudy sky just made it all perfect. It made Gem happy, just enjoying t  he quiet, well she would have if she didn’t hear Fwhip’s feet tapping against the ground. She turned to him to see that same big smile, looking like he was contemplating something.

“Okay, what’s gotten you so happy?” She smirked

He whipped his head around to her “Okay so I was thinking this morning and I got an idea!” He said

“Alright, spill.”

“Okay so you know how most technology we have relies less on redstone and more on stuff like coal and fire and how I used to rely mostly on redstone?” Gem nodded “I was thinking about how if redstone became the industry norm for farms, golems, etc. then it would make everything so much easier! Like most stuff is manual or just needs constant refueling but with redstone it needs to be replaced what, every 12 years or so? It would make so many processes so much more easier like for example my arm!”

“Your arm?” She asked, a little taken aback

“Yeah!” He grinned “My arm uses pistons to do certain actions and they can be clunky and get stuck, but with redstone it would make it a lot smoother and not to mention it’d open the door for so many different possibilities on what I could do with them! I mean they’re literally endless!” He rambled

Gem didn’t understand a lot, but she did understand what he was getting at “I see, I could do something similar with our methods of magic as well… I mean it wouldn’t be easy, but what could your arm do with redstone?”

“So much,” he said “it could expand and extend like that little machine you got me a while ago! I’ve been studying it and theoretically if I used it in some kind of prosthesis my arm could like, extend a lot.”

“Dude, that could revolutionize how we view stuff like prosthetics and machines as a whole…” Gem muttered

“Holy shit, I mean you’re right, I didn’t think about that.” He realized, stopping “do you, do you think I could do it?”

She stopped two and smiled “If there is anybody in this whole world that could do it, it’s you. Wanna get home and start?”

Fwhip’s eyes lit up “Oh Nether yes!”

He grabbed her hand, and they took off down the street.

———