Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One day.

He asked for one day. One day only for himself, to enjoy the server. The same server that was currently covered in a layer of snow.

Wemmbu just walked, the snow crunched beneath him. He really enjoyed days like this, alone with his thoughts and the beautiful landscape. He was wearing a dark coat to help his body with the cold. He was a demon so he was more vulnerable to the low temperatures than most.

So he continued to walk, with no path in mind,other than avoiding places with players, obviously. Besides he preferred forest than open places, they felt a lot more safer.

This went for a long while until he found another player's foot steps on the snow. He got curious, and decided to follow the trail between the trees. Slowly as he walked, Wemmbu noticed small drops of a crimson liquid he knew all too well. As he continued walking the drops became more frequent and turned into splatters on the white layer that covered the ground.

The forest turned into a small secluded valley, an oasis of peace in the middle of this unstable server. The opening was magnificent, or would be. If it wasn't for the fact that his oldest brother was laying there against a tree, clutching his side, as he searched on his ender chest.Worry sprouted beneath his skin, he didn't show it much. Screw that, he didn't show he cared at all. He still did though. No need to panic, he would go right over and help his brother.

That was so much easier said than done though. Wemmbu's brother, well the one in front of him right now, was on the quest to hunt him down and get his revenge or whatever. Honestly he didn't hear a single thing Flame said last they met.

Deciding to not let his brother spot him but wanting to help anyways, Wemmbu schemed a master plan. He climbed the tree that his brother was laying against and grabbed one of his extra shulkers, shoving inside health potions and bandages, another coat ,as well as food, and of course a little note for his dearest stupid brother.

When he noticed Flame was distracted enough, he dropped the purple shulker on his head and stayed long enough to see Flame’s reaction to his gift.

“Ackk!-” Flame exclaimed, “Bro, what the hell.” The fiery demon looked for signs of someone near him. He was distracted and someone snuck up to him again, he wasn't as safe here as he thought he was.The voices in his head calmed down along with his nerves the second he opened the shulker and connected the color with the silly note inside: 'here's some help for Minecraft's most hunted player.Clearly this was the job of one of his brothers. And judging by the color and the little note, he could tell which one.

From where Wemmbu was watching, he could see his brother sighing softly and chuckling beneath his breath as he bandaged his wounds and put the coat on.

Wemmbu took that as his time to leave, equipping his elytra and flying away to another secluded place he and Egg found together

His communicator whirred, a message from Flame expressing his thanks he supposed. He was happy, so so so happy, his chest was warm. He really enjoyed helping the people close to him. Emotions got the best of him and he found himself wearing one of his rare genuine smiles. He would kill himself if any of his brothers found out.

He couldn't stop it for the whole day.

-----------------------

The next time he encountered one of his brothers was surprisingly in a jungle biome.He didn't particularly like to begin here but he was looking for a stash he and Egg made before the angel got stuck in the end.

Speaking of brothers, if he had a nickel every time he met one of his brothers in a forest, he would have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

Wemmbu moved through the terrain. Looking down at his communicator he was only so far away from the underground oasis egg suggested to make. As he arrived though, he almost crashed into Parrot. He could say the other was easily the smartest out of the 4 of them, maybe. Spoke was up there too, he supposed. One question invaded his mind. If Parrot was so smart, why was he here? In the middle of fucking nowhere with no armor, AND so concentrated on running that he didnt see a purple blob in the middle of the green jungle.

Leaving that aside. His brother looked terrified as he panted on the ground looking up at him. "Parrot? The fuck happened to you, bro?" Wemmbu questioned extending a hand to the bird hybrid, who in turn flinched and his wings puffed in warning. But when the other vision focused and calmed down, Parrot could finally see his brother staring at him softly and decided to grab to the hand. "Bro Wemmbu" parrot spoke in a rough voice. "Im so glad you're here bro"

Wemmbu pulled Parrot up into a hug. He knew better than to ask questions when he didn't want to know the answer. "You want some things? Like food or armour?"

Parrot visibly hesitated, face blushing in embarrassment "food, if you have any please" for a brief moment the jungle quieted down and the only sound was wemmbu looking through his ender chest and the little crickets. "If you have health pots, it would be good too"

"Yeah, the pots are in here." Wemmbu said putting down a purple shulker " dont take all of them"

"Yeah dont worry bro"

"Do you want steak or golden carrots?" Wemmbu asked, the choice seemed obvious for him.

"Uhhh, ill take the steaks" ok maybe not.

Wemmbu held out two stacks of steaks, which the parrot eagerly took and ate one of them. Clearly happy as his wings fluttered. An awkward silence enveloped the two of them. The jungle trees' leaves rustled.

"Do you want anything else, bro?"

A moment went by "Nah im good" Parrot replied.

"Then I wish you luck Parrot" Wemmbu replied almost instantly. He gave one last look at Parrot and started walking towards his original plan.

--------------------

The next time he met one of his brothers. Wemmbu was thousands of blocks out, just wandering and exploring the server. That's when he saw Spoke, another one of his brothers. Pacing outside of where he put his campfire. It was burned out so he didn't worry about that. He enjoyed forests; they were mostly safe and good for losing people on his trail. Oopss, he was getting out of topic.

Despite all the rivalry and conflict between the two of them. Wemmbu thought it was one of the main cores of his relationship. Their relationship was a bit complicated because they were constantly antagonizing each other.

On the bright side, Wemmbu liked what the two of them shared. Like how the both of them used traps to achieve their goals and abilities to get out of difficult situations. Oh! And how they strategised against the other. He also enjoyed how the both of them were always down to cause mischief and chaos.

With that said, it really freaked him out when he saw Spoke there. Almost as if he was waiting for him.

He narrowed his eyes as Spoke spotted him and came close. "Yo Wemmbu! What's up dude? How are you doing?" Spoke said with that fake cheerful tone that he used when he wanted something.

Wemmbu just sighed "what do you want Spoke? And what are you doing here?"

The voidling winced, he had been discovered. "Nothing dont worry, im just looking around your place" still he was not dropping the act.

" That's bullshit bro, and you know it" the purple demon said.

The trees covered them from the sun, making the rays that managed to pass through glint against Spokes' dark skin "I'm going to repeat myself, what do you want?" Spoke looked at everything beside Wemmbu.

"Can I stay for you for a while? " The exploiter pouted at the demon. Making the best puppy eyes, that due to his biology where just plain white "cmon bro please"

"What? Why? Are you okay" Wemmbu scoffed, those tricks didn't work on him, not anymore.

Spoke took a moment and stammered "Kind of? Yeah im good" to Wemmbu, spoke was clearly worrying about something "but come on bro please"

Wemmbu breathed out "Again tell me what's going on Spoke?" He repeated.

Spoke frowned. He finally dropped the act "I don't trust myself to be alone right now, and you were close enough" the voidling finally admitted "but if i cant.." he continued already expecting the rejection.

.
.
.

For a moment, none of the two antagonists said anything. The forest breathed with them. The sky was cloudy now, the clouds finally covered the sun that wemmbu yearned in the chill temperatures. He hoped it wouldn't rain. The wind picked up and the leaves rustled, echoing in the vast forest.

"Okay alright" Wemmbu finally decided " I'll take care of you little bro" the demon smirked.

Spoke smiled, happy to not be alone. A moment later the sentence dawned on him "Wha- little bro!? Nah bro, im older than you" spoke spluttered. Wemmbu hugged him a little too tight. Despite the strength of the hug, Spoke managed to melt in it. Wemmbu really knew him well.

"Nuh uh" Wemmbu contradicted.

"Uhhh yes i am" Spoke retorted.

Wemmbu let him go off the hug "I really don't think so" Wemmbu decided to stop ragebaiting and focus. "I was going to search for food and explore. Are you coming?" And he extended the offer. A chance to explore with him, even if they went back to begin enemies after.

"I am! I am!" Spoke exclaimed excitedly. Following after the younger one.

--------------------

This was it.

This was honestly it. His brothers had passed a line. He couldn't even believe to comprehend how his brothers thought he would be okay with them after this. He thought it was all just an elaborate prank, but he was starting to loose hope. All this just for him. After all he had done for them.

They do this.

They had been hunting him down for days. Draining his resources and as if that wasn't enough. They revealed his identity to the entire server, he couldn't trade with people now. The four of them went out of their way to expose his identity and showcase it to the server. He couldn't. He wouldn't be able to enjoy the server now. Everyone would be hunting him down, he couldn't just start again. He hurt so many innocent people.They made an entire chamber to trap him and force him to fight with flame.

They. His brothers. The people he was supposed to hold closest to him. And they go and do this. They thought they could trap him, he already had a plan. He just needed to wait.

That was when he fought flame, drained, exhausted and still fought with all of him. The lava caged them in their own little arena. He was doing good, well, as good as someone could do with the internal turmoil at the moment.

He needed to keep going, he needed to win and prove everyone wrong.

To prove him wrong. He was sure that the other two who weren't fighting could see him, and how heartbroken he was. Maybe in another universe they could all be together. How angry he was at them. His stomach bleed. Warm liquid spread on his lower body. He was sure once the adrenaline dissipated he would pass out. If he escaped he had to get to a strong hold in time. He was losing, he was losing and they would kill him.

If he gave up now, he would just prove mane right. And all he had done to this point would have been for nothing. Everything would have been for nothing.

Parrot and Spoke watched from afar. Wemmbus and Flames fight had been going on for a pretty long time, they thought it would end quicker. For all that Flame bragged he could beat Wemmbu easily in a fair fight, they sure were on the same level. Even when Wemmbu was spilling blood all over the platform.

The bird and the voidling were getting worried, if neither of the other two were going to stop, it would end badly for one of them. It was painfully clear which one.

Wemmbus and Flames swords clashed and collided, deflecting each other blows and slashes. Flame parried his attacks with what anyone could think was ease, while in reality he too was struggling in their fight.

While Wemmbu was fighting, his body was giving up. His movements slowed along with his strategic mind. His head wasn't in the fight at all, only thinking about what it could have been. About what ifs that were too far in the past to matter now. He was unconcentrated and he needed to fix that, fix his own mistakes, his failures.
He envied Flame, the demon was better than him in all that mattered. He was a better fighter, a better brother, a better allie, better than him in everything. Wemmbu thought, flame was a better demon even. While Wemmbu's wings were small, defective, and wrong. He spawned wrong. Flame was faster, stronger. His horns weren't chipped or had cracks that made every cell in his body scream in pain when touched. His wings actually worked.

Wemmbu gasped in pain. His chest screamed. The purple demon looked down at his own body. A sword was thrusted in his chest. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed. Flame put his hands on his shoulders dragging Wemmbu's eyes to him and pulled the sword out of his chest. Blood gushed out in the opening the sword left. Wemmbu screamed and keeled over, Flame let go of him to place his ender chest and grab a medikit shulker. A purple one actually. Wemmbu chuckled, the same shulker he had given Flame a while back. "You win Flame. Aren't you happy now?" Wemmbu smiled, teeth bloody.

He knows he may not sound it but faced with death he found himself a little afraid. Perhaps this is one thing both him and other players had in common. He hoped Egg enjoyed the time they spent together.

Flame shushed him, acting nonchalantly even when he was panicking. "Shut up bro, im trying to save you fuckin life" already grabbing health pots.

"Yeah, well whose fault is that?" Wemmbu replied. Parrot and Spoke landed on the platform and came up to them hurriedly. "Wemmbu bro" Parrot began. Spoke just thrusted a totem in Wemmbu's hands, which popped seconds later. "Fuck- Wemmbu dont fucking close your eyes!" Spoke was at his back holding him up, his body couldn't anymore. His vision darkened, body shutting down. Somebody was shacking him awake, honestly he didnt give a fuck anymore. Distant shouts graced his ears. All the exhaustion of the last few days piled up and crashed now.

It all fell

It all fell down

It all fell… down

----------------

Chapter Text

Wemmbu stirred, waking up feeling groggy and disoriented. His body hurt, like sharp pains all across his body.

He tries to concentrate on something else. His head was laying on something, it wasn't a pillow, maybe somebody's leg? No, that couldn't be.

When he fell asleep he was- , wait did he fall asleep? What happened?

Wemmbu bolted awake. His whole body stinged, he let out a loud hiss, hands flying to his stomach as he curled his body. Hands flew to grab him and he flinched back, opening his eyes to stare at his brothers, who were staring back at him with wide eyes. Wait brothers? Why were all of them here? Did something happen-.

Oh,OH.

Holy shit, he remembered now.

Despite the pain wemmbu moved backwards until his back hit the wall while he glared at his brothers. The same brothers that deceived him and used him to prove something stupid.

For a moment, none of the people in the room said anything. The silence weighed down their words. The purple demon was sure he was a pitiful sight, body covered in bandages, and now not even the strongest anymore. Just a feral animal waiting to be put down.

Spoke, the carefree spirit between the four of them started, "im sorry, Wemmbu. I should have stepped in sooner" Wemmbu just looked away, not responding or acknowledging the apology. So they were not going to kill him, good to know. While he felt relieved, he also felt anger burning down to his very own core. They had misled, deceived, defeated him and made unable to fight back. And now they wanted to talk. To apologise. For him to let go of the grudges he had on them for far too long.

Maybe it was his fault, maybe it was him unable to let go of the past that was screwing him now. Fucking shit, Egg always said he had trust issues, maybe he was right, maybe Wemmbu was realizing just now his difficulty to forgive and his overly self-protective personality.

"Wemmbu we-" Parrot began. This whole thing didn't go as he wanted at all. The guilt weighed down his already remorseful heart.

"Dont." Wemmbu interrumped, furious, "please ... don't you- not right now," he let out a shaky breath. They had to feel bad, they deserved that honestly, after what they did. Now don't get him wrong, Wemmbu didn't say he was innocent, but he wouldn't say deserved even half of that. His brother sucked, he knew that but he didn't think they were this much of assholes.

He got lost in thought for a moment before replying " if you do it, then you should know the consecuences." The bird hybrid winced at having his own words begin used against him.

The fiery demon signed, this was going nowhere. Maybe he needed to go easier on them, Wemmbu thought. They put up with him for this long, he could at least hear their apologies.

This time it was Flame who spoke, "Wemmbu bro, just hear this out alright? We are sorry, I am sorry. We didn't think you would keep fighting even when you had nothing, we- I thought you would accept defeat, you know bro?"

"I thought you would know me better by now."

"I thought i did," the strongest said, "im sorry bro. I'm sorry for not stopping once you were gravely wounded, I'm sorry for not realising how you were."

Wemmbu breathed out and looked away, cheeks flushing " I guess you all can sit down so we can continue talking," the other three went to the bed and settled next to their brother.

"I'm sorry Wemmbu, i really thought about what you said before the fight with flame.... and i realised that i had no problem with you other than sky of course, but you didn't even know it was me! I am sorry for revealing your identity and in sorry for forcing you to fight flame while still being drained of your resources because of me too. And I want you to know," the parrot gently grabbed Wemmbu's hands, looking at the purple demon in the eyes "that I will spend every day from now on trying to make it up to you. I am sorry, I really am." By now fresh tears streamed down Wemmbu's face, which Spoke tried to brush off with his hand but ultimately failed because they just kept coming.

The now visible knight buried his head on Parrot's chest, mindful of his horns of course. After a while he lifted his head to Parrot's shoulder instead, to see the other too, who looked at him with soft faces and emotions he really didn't want to name right now. His face was wet.
It wasn't often that wemmbu cried, the other three members of their found family got emotional too, eyes glazed over, smiles on their faces as wemmbu reached out to them.

The four brothers moved against the wall so wemmbu was in the middle now laying his head on Parrot's shoulder, Flame and Spoke to either side of them making a cozy group pile. Spoke decided to hum a tune from their early days, making the room even more homey.

"Im sorry too, Parrot."

"For what?" The hybrid asked even when he already knew where this was going.

"For killing skyy, I should have known better."

"Its- it will be okay bro" Parrot softly said.

Wemmbu was sniffling now, smiling at his brothers. The trust and their bond weren't that easily fixed now but would be with time and effort on both sides.

"I'm sorry for insulting you Flame, you seemed pretty shocked," wemmbu said, recalling the events from before.

"It's okay, I could tell I hit a nerve when I called you a lost cause.." Flame hugged his side tighter.

Wemmbu breathed out, if there was a moment to go out with the true it was now. "Its not you fault flame. I just- its just that-" wemmbu took a moment to clear his throat, even if he and flame where speaking, their other two brothers were listening. He was nervous of their reactions "Mane said it was a lost cause when he left. He didn't even say it to my face, he left it in a sign and disappeared."

"That makes so much sense now!" Spoke exclaimed.

"What why?" Wemmbu asked.

Seeing as Spoke was not about to explain what he did for their brothers, "because that's why you kept fighting Flame isn't it? Maybe even why you fought flame in the first place"

" uhhh yeah," wemmbu stammered, "i just wanted to prove that he was wrong.”
The purple demon frowned,"He also called Egg a weakness."

"Well he kind of is bro" Flame said.

"No he isn't! He literally sacrificed his ability to roam the overworld to move out of the way of a stay shot!"

"Damm." Spoke said, "is that why he isn't around anymore?"

"Yep, he's okay tho, I go to the end as often as I can and meet up with him."

They fell into a comfortable tranquility. The four brothers cuddled together sharing an intimate moment. Wemmbu felt at ease. This had to be one of the best things that could probably have happened in this situation.

Maybe with time it could all be fixed.

Everything was okay, as long as they were together and they all had each other.