Chapter 1

The air in the Outlands is heavy and silent with the bitter taste of loss and defeat. Behind them, the jagged silhouette of the Tomb of the Fallen looms like a monument, a testament to their failure. They have no totem. They have no plan. And now, Exiled is realising, they are losing time.

Cuski is standing a step up in front, his voice an animated blur as he tries to fill the suffocating silence. "Dude, oh my god... that was so close... I can't believe Epic betrayed us like that... I can’t lie, I didn’t see that coming…"

Exiled doesn't respond. The words are swimming around in his head, his eyes fixed on the ground, his knuckles white where his hands are balled into fists. Every time he closed his eyes, he hears it: the pearl and the wind charge colliding, the sound of Cuski’s gasp as he finds himself above the void, and the agonising split-second decision Exiled was forced to make. He traded the fate of the server for Cuski’s life. And the weight of that trade is crushing him.

"Just be quiet for a second," Exiled mutters under his breath, his voice dangerously low. "Just... be quiet."

Cuski stops immediately, looking up with a confused expression written across his face. He looks around brazenly, his eyes scanning the horizon. "Why? What's going on? Is it Vanguard? We can't afford to fight them again, I'm drained..."

Exiled finally looks at Cuski. The anger in his chest isn't just hot; it’s suffocating, born from a place of pure, unadulterated frustration and fear.

"No, it's not..." Exiled says, his voice as steady as he can make it as he stands completely still. "It's just... you almost died."

Cuski sighs as he attempts to shrug it off. He edges closer, reaching out a hand as if to comfort his friend. "But I didn't, it's all good dude. Now we know the true extent of his skills, we can be better prepared next time."

"Dude!" Exiled snaps, flinching away from the touch, the coiled up anger and hurt in his throat finally letting loose. "Don't you get it? We lost it! For good this time. I don't even know if we have a chance to find it now."

Cuski blinks, the easygoing facade shattering.

"And it's all because of you," Exiled says, the words tasting like poison, but he can't stop them from tumbling out. "Time and time again, I had to save you because you wind up stuck and I'm forced to choose. I thought you were supposed to be good at fighting."

The words hit Cuski like a physical blow. He steps back, his eyes wide, searching Exiled's face for a punchline, a smirk. Anything to show this is but the truth. "What? This is a joke, right?"

"No," Exiled whispers, exhaustion laced with misplaced irritation seeping into his tone. "I'm tired of having to worry about you then compromising the entire mission."

"I... I don't understand?" Cuski’s voice cracking, an echoing sound in the quiet of The Outlands. He takes another step back, looking smaller than he ever had. "I thought we were friends?"

The ‘I thought our friendship meant more than this’ went unsaid, Cuski’s eyes glazing over saying more than words could express.

"We are," Exiled confirms, "but I can’t go on trying to fix everything if you keep getting in my way. Every. Damn. Time... you have to do something stupid, risk your life and ruin everything! Don't you actually get it?"

Exiled steps forward, his throat burning with unspoken phrases, desperate to make Cuski understand the horror of almost watching him fall into the void, but it didn’t come out as intended. It came out as a finality.

"It's over, dude. We lost the totem. And now I have to figure out what to do next. All because you can’t protect yourself!"

The silence that follows is absolute, a turning point. The moment where a branch in time occurs, a decision already made and set in stone. An air of chilling peace settles on the world.

Cuski stares at him, the pain in his eyes hardening into a cold, devastating clarity. The friend who always had a witty comeback or a reckless plan, gone and reduced to staring like a stranger. He looks at Exiled for one last, long second, absorbing the finality of his words.

"Well then," Cuski says, his voice entirely devoid of its usual warmth. "I guess I'll get out of your way." He turns.

"Wait, Cuski!" Exiled’s voice breaks. The anger vanishes in an instant, replaced by sudden panic. He reaches out, his hand grasping at nothing but empty air. "Cuski!"

But Cuski doesn’t look back. Before Exiled can even take a step to chase after him, Cuski throws an ender pearl into the distance.

A flash of purple particles, and he’s gone.

Exiled stands entirely alone in the dust, his hand still stretched out towards the empty space next to him where his best friend once stood.