PAX the Enderbrine

[ Continuation from Page 3 ]

PAX shifted in his seat and looked at the offered hand with unease. The same hands that sent him into that dark place. But-- He had asked for that, didn't he? He moved and grabbed the hand to help pull himself up off the floor.

"Didn't know you could do that- AH!"

Fast as lightning, his claws shot out straight past Brine and pierced the souls that had been left floating freely. PAX gasped a quick, "Sorry!", not wanting to cause anymore harm to him.

Brine turned his head to see what had happened, and he had a hunch about what was going to happen. PAX was going to just eat the souls again, even if he said he didn't want to. He really needed to get his soul-stealing half checked out; it truly seemed to have a mind of its own.

However, as much as Brine wanted to simply whap PAX with a newspaper to prevent him from committing his petty crimes, he knew that wouldn't work. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Grabbing PAX's wrist to hold it firmly in place, Brine began to quickly suck the souls into himself, not stopping until the pearls PAX held were nothing more than husks, void of life.

PAX watched in fascination, never having seen someone else eat a soul before. The Enderbrine thought it quite elegant how Brine consumed the souls like a mist rather than devour them like some animal. He pulled his hand back, watching the empty souls fall and already start to shatter before they even hit the ground, before turning into dust and disappearing.

The ravenous greed dissipated when the souls were no longer right in front of him. They sat snugly inside the other's chest, but PAX didn't feel the need to try and take them back as strongly. He gave the man a tired look, hoping to convey his gratitude for Brine's help.

Brine offered a smile and a simple shrug to the other.

"No need to apologize. I think we're fairly even. But maybe now we can both go back to bed, yeah? We can see each other under better circumstances after some well earned sleep. You look like you need it." He gave a soft chuckle.

PAX didn't quite agree with this being a fair transaction. Brine had gotten a meal, but he also had gotten hurt. But the man looked... Okay? He didn't seem to be in pain, which helped ease PAX's guilt in the whole affair.

"Oh, okay," was all he could lamely reply with. The whole thing left him exhausted and shaken up. Brine was right. Hopefully there'd be no more bad dreams for now. "Thank you. Again. And-- Please feel free to come over whenever." PAX vowed to repay him somehow for everything he's done.

For now, he waved the man a good night and went back to his own dirt home closer to town.

[ Continuation from Page 3 ]

PAX shifted in his seat and looked at the offered hand with unease. The same hands that sent him into that dark place. But-- He had asked for that, didn't he? He moved and grabbed the hand to help pull himself up off the floor.

"Didn't know you could do that- AH!"

Fast as lightning, his claws shot out straight past Brine and pierced the souls that had been left floating freely. PAX gasped a quick, "Sorry!", not wanting to cause anymore harm to him.

Brine turned his head to see what had happened, and he had a hunch about what was going to happen. PAX was going to just eat the souls again, even if he said he didn't want to. He really needed to get his soul-stealing half checked out; it truly seemed to have a mind of its own.

However, as much as Brine wanted to simply whap PAX with a newspaper to prevent him from committing his petty crimes, he knew that wouldn't work. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Grabbing PAX's wrist to hold it firmly in place, Brine began to quickly suck the souls into himself, not stopping until the pearls PAX held were nothing more than husks, void of life.

PAX watched in fascination, never having seen someone else eat a soul before. The Enderbrine thought it quite elegant how Brine consumed the souls like a mist rather than devour them like some animal. He pulled his hand back, watching the empty souls fall and already start to shatter before they even hit the ground, before turning into dust and disappearing.

The ravenous greed dissipated when the souls were no longer right in front of him. They sat snugly inside the other's chest, but PAX didn't feel the need to try and take them back as strongly. He gave the man a tired look, hoping to convey his gratitude for Brine's help.

[ Continuation from Page 2 ]

PAX backpedaled until his back hit the other side of the small dirt hut. He held up his hand as if to keep the two of them apart.

"I-I'm sorry! Sorry-please! I-I want your help! I do! I can't--Control how I move sometimes. This doesn't happen a lot, I swear. Sssssomething is wrong."

Trying to explain himself left PAX in a stuttering, shaking mess. His body mustn't want any of the souls removed. Darn it! This wasn't supposed to go this way. He shifted where he stood, trying to hide his ender arm behind his back and pinning it between his body and the wall.

"I trust you. I do. I have to."

Brine hesitated, then nodded once. there was a way that he could do this, even with the current setback. It just would not be pleasant. He gave PAX an apologetic look.

"A thousand apologies."

Then, without any further warning, Brine plunged both of his hands into PAX's chest, grabbed the souls, and ripped them out of him in the span of no more than two or three seconds, backpedaling a few steps to avoid any possibly sudden claws.

With the mass of light in his hands, it was difficult for Brine to see PAX's body hit the floor like a rock, but that was likely for the best. Brine immediately set to work quickly separating the cluster of souls he held. The sooner PAX's soul was returned to him, the lower his chances of... complications.

Of the seven souls Brine worked through, three separated easily, while the other four remained firmly attached to one another. Even with a strong grip, they would not budge. The group of four appeared to resonate toward PAX more than the other three, so Brine assumed the cluster held PAX's original soul. Setting the three stray souls aside (left to float in the air), Brine took the cluster and--

He stared at PAX's corpse, which lay twitching and... glitching? That didn't look healthy. At all. Brine shook his head and, using one hand to attempt to hold the body somewhat still, he quickly shoved the souls back into PAX's chest. He could ask questions later, if PAX survived. This wasn't like anything Brine had seen before.

Once the souls were back where they belonged, Brine watched PAX's body settle back down to normal, and then he waited. When PAX didn't wake up immediately, Brine sighed and looked down at his scratched arm. He decided to tear a strip of material from his shirt and tied it around his wrist, then took the three free-floating souls out of the air and into his hands. He moved to one of the walls of the dirt hut and sat with his back against it, holding the souls and studying their energies while he waited for PAX to hopefully, eventually, wake up.

It had been a shocking attack that left PAX no time to defend himself, and in less than a handful of seconds, his body hit the dirt floor with a hollow thud. The husk twitched, shoulder or hand spasming, and particles popping off his prone form. With no soul, his body glitched into trying to respawn but not being able to.

Thankfully, once Brine pushed the cluster of souls back into his body, the tension eased and solidified his existence. PAX's brain onlined once more, but only gave way to deafening silence. The body shifted slowly in the dirt before hands dragged their way to the enderbrine's head and squeezed tightly. There was no sound, but it felt like an endless ringing in his head that threatened to crack his head open.

Growling static hissed out as he pushed his body to sit back against the wall, trying to shove the blaring echo away. It took too long but when it was finally over PAX slumped backwards and sniffled quietly. Mismatched eyes blinked back open, and suddenly he could hear again. The soft crackling of the torch. The quiet breathing of the man across from him. His own huffs of air. PAX would swear he could hear the grass moving outside as well.

PAX was surprised how long it took for him to notice the souls hovering in front of Brine. The aching hunger trying to make him move, but PAX felt too drained to even think about trying.

".... what... Are you doing?"

[ Continuation from Page 1 ]

PAX watched in awe before looking back to the other, showing he was paying attention. He huffed but nodded, body already tensing up at the thought of pain. He'd do his best to keep himself from teleporting off.

To his credit, Brine was taking all of this in stride, and PAX felt giddy that this might actually work! But as soon as he felt the fingers press-and press- and press into his chest without stopping, PAX jerked. It felt like icicles piercing his torso and digging in deep. He couldn't help making a pained static whine at the intrusion, but held still.

As Brine dug his hand into PAX's chest, he had to squint a bit. There seemed to be a total of seven souls in here, and they all appeared to be overlapping to varying degrees. A few seemed to be farther entwined than the rest, but it was difficult to make out the separate souls when they were as bright as they were.

Hmm...

He didn't want to spend too much time in PAX's chest, lest he suffer too much, but separating the souls was no easy task in this situation. Maybe... maybe he could simply take them all out, string them apart, and put back in the one that mattered: PAX's own. Sure, it would effectively kill PAX for a short period of time, but being dead sure beat being in agony. He wouldn't even know what happened, hopefully.

Brine grabbed onto the entire cluster of souls, but as he moved to pull the mass out, his arm was stopped fast by a set of sharp claws.

It was getting harder to breathe. It felt like the air in his lungs were slowly frosting over, making his teeth chatter and his shake. PAX grit his teeth and silently begged Brine to hurry up--when he felt a strong tug against his body. The ender arm shot out and grabbed Brine's wrist and gripped tightly.

The sound of shirt shifting and ripping again made his notice that his body was slowly growing defensive. Wide eyes snapped back to look at Brine then down at his claws. "Let Go!"

It was difficult to decipher if PAX was talking to himself or the Herobrine as he struggled to get his muscles to relax. But Brine's hand was still in his chest, making it almost impossible to catch his breath. "LET.... ..GO!!"

Brine didn't know why he didn't expect some kind of retaliation, but when it inevitably came in the form of panic and claws, he immediately let go of the souls, yanking his arm free of the other's grip to get his own hand out of his chest faster. While it was no struggle to wrench his arm free with brute strength, he wasn't left unscathed. Immortal or not, Brine could still bleed.

"Alright. I can't help you if you don't let me. Your souls are a mess, PAX. Fixing them will take... some effort." He didn't want to admit that he had to kill him to fix his problem, but he did want to help. Truly, he did.

"You have to trust me."

[ Continuation from Page 1 ]

PAX watched in awe before looking back to the other, showing he was paying attention. He huffed but nodded, body already tensing up at the thought of pain. He'd do his best to keep himself from teleporting off.

To his credit, Brine was taking all of this in stride, and PAX felt giddy that this might actually work! But as soon as he felt the fingers press-and press- and press into his chest without stopping, PAX jerked. It felt like icicles piercing his torso and digging in deep. He couldn't help making a pained static whine at the intrusion, but held still.

As Brine dug his hand into PAX's chest, he had to squint a bit. There seemed to be a total of seven souls in here, and they all appeared to be overlapping to varying degrees. A few seemed to be farther entwined than the rest, but it was difficult to make out the separate souls when they were as bright as they were.

Hmm...

He didn't want to spend too much time in PAX's chest, lest he suffer too much, but separating the souls was no easy task in this situation. Maybe... maybe he could simply take them all out, string them apart, and put back in the one that mattered: PAX's own. Sure, it would effectively kill PAX for a short period of time, but being dead sure beat being in agony. He wouldn't even know what happened, hopefully.

Brine grabbed onto the entire cluster of souls, but as he moved to pull the mass out, his arm was stopped fast by a set of sharp claws.

It was getting harder to breathe. It felt like the air in his lungs were slowly frosting over, making his teeth chatter and his shake. PAX grit his teeth and silently begged Brine to hurry up--when he felt a strong tug against his body. The ender arm shot out and grabbed Brine's wrist and gripped tightly.

The sound of shirt shifting and ripping again made his notice that his body was slowly growing defensive. Wide eyes snapped back to look at Brine then down at his claws. "Let Go!"

It was difficult to decipher if PAX was talking to himself or the Herobrine as he struggled to get his muscles to relax. But Brine's hand was still in his chest, making it almost impossible to catch his breath. "LET.... ..GO!!"