Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a normal day, a regular fucking day, but Jude should have know that normal wasn’t possible on the Strength SMP.
All Jude had wanted to do was tend to his inventions, a nice relaxing day full of redstone corrections and pure focus. All he had wanted was 24 hours to do what he did best— traps.
It was calming when all Jude had to worry about was the placement of pistons and the setting of a repeater. It helped his head from throbbing and thinking too deeply about recent events.
Events that involved a certain someone that Jude really did not want to think about. Not now— not ever again.
There were two men that decided to interrupt his plan of peace, _Tai, along with N00B of course.
Jude was lounging around spawn trying to rebuild griefed traps and check that they still functioned. When he heard the tell-tale sign that he was about to be jumped— potion splashing, followed by the eating of gaps. Jude had just built back up to the surface again after fixing a pizza trap someone had broken all the redstone in when the sound made him flinch.
Fuck. He thought while scrounging through his inventory, only to quickly realize he was severely undergeared and not at all prepared for this. Jude saw two full-netherite armored people coming straight for him; he looked up at their usernames, double fuck.
He heard Tai laugh loudly before he shouted,
“Ohh Judelow, guess who’s here!!!”
The netherite clad figures were approaching him rapidly, one with red trim, the other white. Jude barely had time to react before having to block a sword crit. All he had on him was his armor, sword, axe, and some gapples.
His resources wouldn’t really matter though if he could get them in a trap, after all they were in spawn, an area lined with his creations. Tai and N00B were foolish to jump him here. Even if he wasn’t exactly expecting it, it would be easy to catch them.
Tai swung at him again from the left, making Jude stumble slightly. N00B then barely nicked his side as he dodged his incoming attack from the right.
Fuck a 2v1 makes this a little harder.
Jude immediately swung in N00B’s direction to try and throw him off, but all N00B did was avoid him and counterattack again. He blocked it swiftly, swiping his sword in Tai’s direction, missing him barely.
Jude then had to block another of Tai’s assaults, who decided now was a great time to taunt him,
“Judeee, who’s gonna save you now? There’s no blonde who’s gonna appear at your beck and call anymore! Haha!” Tai laughed while attacking him again, cutting Jude’s face a bit as he tried to avoid the strike. He felt the burn of the cut on his cheek. Jude scrambled back a bit to create some distance between them, raising his shield to block N00B’s axe, and putting his sword up to defend against Tai’s.
“I don’t need him to rescue me.” Jude snarled, putting all the force he could muster into his next swing towards N00B.
Jude held back the urge to yell at Tai for even bringing Sharpness up. He wanted to throttle the guy for it, but he held his tongue. Jude had to focus if he wanted to survive this 2v1.
He blocked with his shield again and fell back slightly. He made sure to adjust his footing in order to block another strike from Tai. All Jude had to do was get one good pull on these guys. They knew he was a trapper and hopefully that meant they wouldn’t chase him when he starts running.
Which is exactly what he did next. Jude turned and started sprinting like his life depended on it. Well, he was part bunny after all, so maybe it was more of a natural instinct for him to sprint away from danger. Luckily, spawn was lots of flat ground that was easy to run on. This was his domain, with hundreds of his contraptions. So Jude tucked tail now, swallowing his pride, in order to get them to follow him into one.
“We know you’re just trying to bait us into one of your stupid traps!” Tai shouted out as N00B and he gave chase.
Sure you won’t.
Jude thought while a small smile graced his lips, cause all he had to do now is lead them to a trap and they would be done for. It would be easy as pie to pull a flat-ground on them. Jude could already imagine the satisfaction he’d get from Tai’s shrieks. However, before he even got the chance to run a hundred blocks and see his imaginations come true, Tai teleported right in front of him.
Stupid enderpearls! Jude grimaced while staring at the man before him.
“You thought we were just gonna let you run?” Tai started rushing towards him again while N00B came up from behind Jude.
The way they were blocking Jude in on both sides; they were trying to box him in and force him away from spawn.
Damn it! Their lame strategy was going to work too because the only direction he could go was away. So, he started running towards a forest nearby, there were still a couple traps here that he could make it to. He would have to search for them a bit though. With how underprepared Jude was, he wasn’t going to survive long in a direct fight against Tai and N00B.
He needed to hurry. It wouldn’t belong before they managed to get the drop on him, there were two of them afterall.
Jude was recklessly weaving through trees, running at full speed. He was being less cautious then he could have been, but that didn’t matter anymore. Jude could see the waypoint mark ahead for his nearest trap! He was maybe a good 300 blocks from it, he sped up, pushing himself forward as quickly as he could.
Good, he can make it! Only a little more!!
Andddd just as Jude got his hopes up— he tripped.
He fucking tripped.
You’ve gotta be kidding me.
He went face first into the grass of the forest, hitting the ground hard, and tumbling over himself a bit. The fall knocked the wind out of him, his head spinning. Jude got a mouth full of dirt as well. He tried to push himself up but the dizziness kept him there for just a second too long. It was difficult to get up after knocking yourself silly after tripping over air. By the time Jude felt he could stand again, he tried to push himself up, and was greeted with a sword directly pointed at his neck.
He met Tai’s eyes, staring up at him through the sword. Jude tried to muster an ounce of intimidation, to show Tai he wasn’t afraid of him. It was hard to do that though when he was on his ass spitting out dirt that was stuck on his tongue. It was even more arduous to do so when his head felt like it was about to fly off from dizziness.
“Ah ah ah! Look who we have here. Surrender now and I might give you your stuff back,” Tai smirked while adjusting the sword so the tip of it was now pressing into Jude’s neck.
“C’mon man all I want is your strength and a little bit of revenge, I pinky swear I won’t take your resources!” Tai said while mockingly holding his pinky up.
Shit. He couldn’t get out of this, he wanted someone— anyone to intervene. He needed some kind of distraction, a chance to escape, to run again. N00B was nowhere in sight, where the hell did that guy go? Jude needed to get off his ass, wait-
He realized that his answer was sitting right under him. Listen, the reason Jude tripped wasn’t because he’s bad at running or anything. It was due to the terrain he had stepped on. Which consisted of a softer, sand-type of dirt. The kind that was dusty and could easily be picked up.
Jude silently grabbed a large handful of the dirt making sure to conceal his motions behind his back. In one fluid action, he flung it into Tai’s face, causing the man to shout and flinch as the dirt hit his eyes. In a purely panicked state, Jude rolled backwards and got on his feet as quickly as possible.
This was his chance to run, to get the fuck out of here—
but Tai was faster. Jude’s dirt flinging obviously did not do much to the experienced fighter, to be fair, it was only dirt. As soon as Tai recovered, he swiped his sword down, leaving a deep slash in Jude’s calf.
“Mmfmgh!” He let out a noise of pain, but he didn’t let the cut stop him from running the opposite direction from Tai. Jude didn’t know where N00B had gone. Maybe he was still trying to catch up to Tai and him. All he could do was pray the blue shirted man wasn’t somehow in the way he started running in.
He needed to message someone, Parker maybe? Anyone who could distract them for a second so he could dig away or something.
Relying entirely on instinct, he pulled up his communicator. Clicking on a textbox Jude swore was between him and Parker, he sent a distressed string of messages. Jude needed Parker to know what he meant and get here as fast as humanly possible.
JudeLow whispers to conexion: PLESE
JudeLow whispers to conexion: COME HLP BEING JUMED
JudeLow whispers to conexion: -300, 152
JudeLow whispers to conexion: HURY 2V1 IM RUN
Jude continued to sprint through the forest, dodging trees while ignoring the waves of pain spreading from his injured calf. Every time he put pressure on it, he stumbled a bit, hot white light threatening to take over his vision. Jude could still hear Tai yelling behind him, but it was hard to hear his threats. It was challenging to focus on anything in the state he was in. Tai's voice sounded far and close all at once.. Jude knew he would not have enough time to eat a gapple. Even if he did, he would lose valuable distance, and he needed to get as far as possible. Tai could be ruthless, and with his injury, Jude felt himself slowing down.
He was fucked.
Absoultely utterly fucked.
Jude looked to the left and spotted a cave entrance, he ran toward it at full speed, ducking into the small opening. It was slightly hidden by trees and surrounding grass. Jude was only able to hear his own panicked breaths echoing in the cave as he slumped against the stone wall. No more shouting from Tai or footsteps or noise of any kind. The world had gone quiet, like it was on pause, waiting for someone to click resume. Jude sat down tenderly, attempting to put pressure on where Tai cut his calf to try and stop the bleeding. He barely touched it, and a searing pain burned through his whole body. Jude let out a hiss in response, biting his tongue a bit. He needed to be quiet. To hope that Tai and N00B would miss the cave entrance and run past him. Jude vision was starting to blur from the ache of his leg. He pulled out his communicator again and typed:
JudeLow whispers to conexion: -550, 302 in cavr
It was hard for Jude to see what he was writing with the pain clouding his entire field of view. He clutched his calf with one hand now, stopping pressure momentarily to dig in his inventory and pull out bandages. He gingerly wrapped it, wincing through the entire process. Jude knew that it had to be tight to be effective, so he bared his teeth and finished covering his lower leg. Which, wow, Jude should never pursue a career in medicine. He’s pretty sure a child could have wrapped his leg better. Jude gave himself some grace because the pain combined with the cold of the cave’s walls were making his head scream. Jude needed to be lucky, lucky enough that Tai or N00B wouldn't find him here.
Fuck.
He jinxed himself, as seconds later he heard Tai’s voice,
“I know you’re in here bunny boy!”
Jude should’ve known that he could never have that good of fortune.
He attempted to shrink himself into the stone to become one with it. Jude held his breath, but he was pretty sure Tai would be able to hear him anyway. He was sure Tai would find him because of his heartbeat, which was loudly beating in his ears. However, with the obvious purple blob that was Jude, he did not blend in with the gray filled cave, his shadow inking efforts futile.
“Here you are!” Tai smirked down at him while casually strolling into the area Jude was. He placed a torch down, flanked by N00B on his right. The torch was a welcomed warmth, but Jude could have done without the men that came with it.
“Stay at the cave entrance, I don’t want his slippery ass trying to escape again.” Tai told N00B who obeyed his command, turning to stand at the cave’s beginning.
“Oh Jude, it wasn’t very smart of you to run into a confined space like this, I mean what were you thinking? I guess you are part bunny— a prey animal. So it must have been your instincts to try and burrow underground. Haha! Too bad you couldn’t make it that far!” Tai let a bitter, enthusiastic sound escape his mouth .
“God! I am so excited Jude, I’ve been needing my revenge for the shit you pulled! You’re such a nuisance, what was with that dirt attack, huh?”
Tai leaned down over him menacingly, sword lazily at his side instead of directed at Jude. He had completely blocked Jude in with his body, effectively trapping every available exit he had. The cave ended slightly past them, so it’s not like Jude could run deeper and try to dig away. He was stuck, even if he got away from Tai, N00B’s blade waited for him at the entrance.
This sucks.
Both his head and sloppily bandaged calf were constantly aching, prodding at his mental sanity. Those little fun facts plus the various other small cuts he gained from earlier in the altercation stopped Jude from trying to escape. Tai was too fast. Jude would not be able to outrun him and avoid the addition of a sword in his back. Jude pressed himself up against the cave wall harder, tucking his knees up slightly.
“Don’t move!” Tai raised his sword to be under Jude’s chin again while he yelled down at him.
“This is the end of the line Jude, it was fun to chase you around spawn, say hi to your bed for me!” Tai laughed again before he raised his sword high above his head and swung.
“Wait wait wait—!” Jude tried to yell as he closed his eyes, putting his hands up defensively.
Jude waited for the strike, he knew it was coming. He anticipated the sting and emptiness he felt right before respawning.
But it never came.
Jude was shocked to hear a yell from the entrance of the cave and not out of his own mouth. Tai stopped mid swing, the sword inches away from Jude’s arms.
Tai turned his head in the direction of the scream, calling out,
“N00B! Was that you? Is everything okay out there?”
There was no response.
“What the fuck…?” Tai suddenly assumed a defensive position facing the direction of the entrance. Jude let out a sigh he didn’t realize he was still holding in and tried to scoot away.
His attacker suddenly turned back towards him, putting his sword in Jude’s face for the third time today.
“Don’t fucking move Jude I’m serious. If I hear any gap eating or blocks breaking I’ll cut right through you!” Tai’s voice was shaking slightly as he continued to yell,
“N00B! N00B!! This isn’t funny man, what the hell happened? Why did you yell like that?!?”
Still no response.
He pivoted once more to face the entrance, sword rattling in his hand, and that’s when Jude smelt it.
The unforgettable scent of death in the air.
It was one of the only signs that someone had just been killed— that and if there was a pile of stuff nearby. The stench was the main giveaway though, a sickly-sweet aroma of shit and sour milk that lingered on your skin. Jude put a hand up to his nose and tried not to gag. Sure, he had killed his fair share of people now and they always respawned, but god it was gross. Someone would have to have nostrils of steel to not scrunch your nose in disgust.
Why was he smelling it now though? Could Parker be here? Wait…he wouldn’t have been able to get the drop on N00B and kill him. This was bad, if it’s not Parker and it is someone who can make N00B yell like that. Ugh this meant more trouble for Jude, didn’t it?
“N00B!!!” Tai shouted once more, the panic was clear in his voice, which meant he smelt it too. “Whoever the fuck you are, come out now!” He shook with every word as he backed further away from the entrance to the area where they resided.
Jude took this distraction as a chance to slowly scoot away from Tai’s reach. Mid-scooch he heard the clanking of armor echoing in the cave, coming closer and closer.
No…that wasn’t who he thought it was…was it? Honestly, Jude is fucked if it is— in more ways than the most obvious one. If it was him, he’d murder Jude immediately, and leave him with more questions than answers.
Oh god. It’s him.
Sharpness comes rushing into the area of the cave where Tai is standing. He immediately swings his sword down hard onto Tai who squeaks in surprise. Tai tries to block but Sharpness starts brutally striking him. The glowing eyed man was barely keeping up with the blonde. Sharpness easily avoids a careless sword slash from Tai and he counters with a kick to the gut. Tai falls back onto the cave floor, ass first. His sword clattering away from him right next to where Jude sat.
The cave was dark, the only light being next to him where Tai had placed that singular torch– but Jude was suddenly and completely mesmerized.
Sharp seemed to dance when he was fighting, a determined fire in his eyes. He took such fluid movements. Every strike was precise and powerful. Sharpness’s braid flowed behind him effortlessly, tied in a bow with a simple black ribbon. Jude was entranced by the scene playing out in front of him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it. Sharpness looked so in his element, like he was meant to fight, meant to win. Jude could see the elation in his eyes. At that he couldn’t help but let a small smile creep in his face. Even if this did mean that he was next to meet the business end of Sharp’s sword, Jude didn’t care. It was satisfying enough to watch Tai die first.
Sharpness kicked Tai again, in the face this time, and sent the back of his head straight into the ground.
That’s gotta hurt.
Jude cringed at the cracking noise that echoed from Tai’s skull being introduced to the cave’s floor. He watched in a trance as Sharpness kept a foot on Tai’s chest just before raising his sword and piecing it. Tai poofed into a cloud and all his stuff scattered in his wake. Sharpness was taking deep breaths, his chest heaving. He wiped a bit of sweat on his forehead and turned toward Jude, flicking the blood off his sword as he did.
Jude’s eyes went wide, “Heyyy Sharpness…What are you doing here buddy?” A nervous chuckle escaped him, he swallowed down the panic reintroducing itself after its momentary absence. Jude had felt relief for a second when seeing Sharpness before the fact that they weren’t teamed anymore hit him like a train, fuck.
Sharpness said nothing to him, he just began silently walking towards him.
Jude put his hands up in front of him frantically,
“Hey! Hey! Hi, uh please, please don’t do this man. I-I mean they jumped me out of nowhere! I was trying to fix up some of my traps and they came and I don’t know how you found us but I’m so low please don’t kill me!”
Jude heard himself say the last words. They reminded him of when Sharp had first asked to work together. When he had caught Sharp killing his turtles and trapped him with dripstone. God, if only Jude had known then what mess he’d gotten himself into by agreeing to team.
That didn’t matter though, there were bigger fish to fry, mainly pertaining to the man right in front of him. Judelow looked up to meet green peridot eyes and he felt the breath leave his lungs at the sight. Sharp was looking at him with concern. It was difficult to tell sometimes, but Jude could read Sharpness’s micro expressions enough to know he was worried.
Why is he looking at me like that?
That’s when Jude realized it, he didn’t message Parker, he messaged Sharpness— on accident…on pure instinct? He hoped it was simply a mistake and not his stupid brain falling back into the enigma that was Sharpness.
While Jude was caught up staring and trying not to spiral, Sharpness had extended a hand down to him, not breaking eye contact.
Peridot eyes held garnet ones. It felt like green was the only color Jude ever wanted to stare at again. Everything could be a monochromatic shade of Sharpness’s eyes and he would die a happy man.
Wait— what the fuck?
Sharp cleared his throat, “Jude. Come on get up.” He extended his hand closer.
“Oh.”
Oh yeah, he’d just been staring at him like a freak this whole time, great!
Jude quickly takes Sharpness’s hand and is pulled up with relative ease.
“Thank you Sharp,” Jude coughed and looked away, a slight tint of red appearing on the tips of his rabbit ears.
“But, why are you even here?” He asked, glancing at Sharpness while leaning on the wall to try and take some pressure off his leg.
“What do you mean, ‘Why am I here?’, you messaged me.”
“I uh, I know I did and it was maybe sort of an accident, but I mean, why did you show up anyways? I’m not giving you your stuff back if that’s what you want.” Jude attempted to muster a harsh look. It fell flat when he leaned a little too hard on his bad leg and winced.
Wow, way to look strong Judelow. He thought while resisting the urge to roll his eyes at himself
Sharpness said nothing as he approached Jude and put an arm under his, on the side where his calf was injured. He started to help Jude out of the cave, arm wrapped gently around him.
“Wait! Dude, Sharp, I’m fine I can walk on my own!”
He tried to wiggle out of the man’s grip but Sharpness kept his arm firmly planted on his side. The proximity was making Jude’s body burn, they hadn’t been this close to each other since before the betrayal. It felt weird, to be so casual with a guy who stomped on his trust and tried to kill him in his own trap, but Jude supposes there are worse people on the server.
“How do you accidentally message someone?” Sharp asks while basically hauling him over a steeper part of the cave.
Jude’s eyes widen at the question as he ponders what excuse he could come up with.
Yeah, he was fighting for his life and super stressed but his eyes work, and ‘ParkerGameBrains’ is in no way similar to ‘conexion’. Jude could tell Sharpness he typed to him out of habit, but that would be stupid! Hmm maybe he could say he misclicked or something!
“I missclicked! Haha…” Judelow suddenly was looking anywhere else but Sharpness.
“You misclicked?” The doubt in his voice was palpable.
Stupid! Oh my god, that’s the worst excuse in the book. Sharpness is not nearly dumb enough to believe that bullshit—he’s definitely had his moments though.
“Yeah! Yeah! You know I was running for my life and stuff, so I misclicked!” Jude let out a small laugh as they reached the opening of the cave,
“God it feels great to get out of there, huh Sharpness?”
“Yeah.” He let go of Jude as soon as they exited the cave by a couple of blocks. The bunny found himself missing the contact immediately.
“Anyways, thanks for killing them for me in there, I could have handled it myself, but the assistance was appreciated.” Jude says jokingly while stretching his limbs. He is standing slightly bent due to his injury, but his smile drops as soon as he looks back at Sharpness.
The blonde man wasn't looking at Jude, his eyes were locked on the grass beneath him. Sharpness’s arms were crossed in front of him, and he seemed interested in being anywhere else. He didn’t respond to Jude’s tease, or tell him off, or refute the idea that Jude could have won alone. He just stood there. Motionless while staring off into space.
“Sharp?”
“I have to go Jude. Bye.”
Sharpness pivoted on his feet and started heading the opposite direction of Jude.
“Hey! Hey wait! You never answered my question!” He shouted while trying to hobble after Sharpness.
God damn it! Jude’s calf was becoming really annoying.
Sharpness turned his head back, peering at him over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes at him.
“Listen, you uh, you never answered why you decided to actually show up.” Jude felt nauseous. He couldn’t tell if it was because of an adrenaline crash or in anticipation of what Sharpness was going to say.
“It doesn’t matter why I did Judelow, I just did.” Sharpness turned his head forward again. Jude stared at the back of Sharpness’s head for a second, as if he could will the man to glance his way.
Why does he want Sharp to look at him so badly? Why does the guy keep turning away from Jude? It was starting to piss him off!
“That's not even a reason bro!” Jude huffed, crossing his arms and mirroring Sharpness’s stance. Well, he imagines he would be if Sharpness would just: turn. around. They were maybe ten blocks apart but it felt like there was a disconnect between them.
“Well, that's my reason, deal with it.” Sharpness started to walk away again.
“Sharp, dude, seriously! Just tell me why the hell you showed up?! You said you weren't here to get your stuff back or to kill me or anything of that sort!” Jude listed the reasons on his fingers as he spoke before throwing his hands up, “What is it then? It’s not like we are still teaming, you had no obligation to come!”
Jude could feel his frustration slowly building.
Why the hell was Sharp acting so strange? Why did he keep trying to walk away from him? What’s his deal?
Sharpness was the one who betrayed Jude, and he had known it was coming from the first second they agreed to team. So, why was Sharpness actually here? Why did he even care that the blonde showed up? Jude’s head was spinning, which could have been because of Sharpness or because of the pain, he didn’t know.
Sharpness stopped walking, spinning around to fully face Jude. Then, he stomped his way towards him leaving maybe a two block distance between them. Jude could see the frustration radiating off of Sharpness’s face.
“Youre such a little bitch Jude!” He huffed. “Can’t you just take what I did at its value instead of pushing for an answer that you want?!” Sharpness raised his voice a bit and shoved his shoulder.
Meanwhile, all Jude could think about was how adorable Sharpness’s slightly broken English is.
He paused, stumbling at the push, before shooting back, “I’m not pushing for a certain answer! I just want to know the truth! Why would the guy who betrayed me still show up if I message him I’m in trouble? That makes no sense and you didn’t even try to kill me too!
We’re back to being, I don’t know, enemies, yeah?”
Jude sighed, “Just…tell me why the hell you even came, Sharpness!?”
Jude felt his breath quicking, the anger lurking behind the words he said, and the hurt in his chest. A fire was simmering in his blood, like at any moment he was going to explode from the inside out. Jude made sure to shove Sharpness back a bit as he invaded the man’s personal space.
“I-I…” Sharpness paused, he seemed to be pondering his next words carefully, “I showed up because you asked me to, and it was me being stupid. It was dumb to think you’d ever message me for help again.”
Sharpness showed up…because he had asked him to?
Jude sputtered over his next words, “Y-yeah! I never would! ‘Cause you'd just betray me again, wouldn't you—?” He shot back. Just then, Sharpness roughly grabbed his shoulders and shoved him down into the ground, hard.
A burning flash of white filled his vision, Jude couldn't look up from the ground,he could barely breathe. His chest heaving up and down easily. However, as Sharp began to spoke, Jude met his eyes through the pain,
“I will never act this reckless again. Do not message me or I will kill you.”
He pulled out his sword, pressing it lightly into Jude’s neck, who felt a drop of blood start to run down it.
“I should simply kill you right now.” Sharpness pressed the sword a bit deeper.
Jude winced, squeezing his eyes shut and waiting for him to push it all the way through his throat— but he cracked his eyes to stare at the Sharpness through the sword. They made eye contact and Jude watched as the sword was pulled away.
Sharpness put it back into his inventory and started to leave, not another word leaving his lips, or gracing Judelow’s ears. He wanted to protest, to tell Sharpness that they weren’t done yet, but his voice wouldn’t work.
Jude observed Sharpness’s retreating figure, the way his braid flowed behind him beautifully. The way he walked with purpose. As the sun began to set, the lighting seemed to make him glow.
Jude watched him leave until Sharpness became an imperceptible blob of color. Only then did he stand up, and begin to make the long track back to his base, hobbling with every step. Jude was hundreds of blocks away and he probably wouldn’t actually reach his bed until late into the evening.
He couldn’t help but think back to his and Sharp’s conversation, he was sure he made a mistake somewhere. With how Sharpness had gone from worried to closed off. Should he have said something different? But what the hell was up with him anyways?
Judelow didn't know and honestly his mind and body were exhausted. So, no more thinking for him, thank you very much. He just had to make the long trek home and everything would be fine, wouldn’t it?
Sharpness’ words left him boiling as he limped home, but that wasn’t anything new, as he always could get under Jude's skin.