jalo-parker

[jalo-parker]

Do you have any full body designs for your estrial OCs? (I hope you're OK with this sorta-doodle request ask)

Anon I love you /p I hope you flourish in life

I have never made so many refs so quickly but I had to.... When someone asks for the oc content I must deliver

(everything below cut I promise it's not that much I just don't want to bother people 😭)

Ok so here's the main group! (The ones I just finished)

And then here's my sonas Estrial form

As far as the rest, you can find Sodo and Ex on my profile (conveniently linked just for you) and here's Bigb and Jimmy.

They aren't my ocs but there they are just in case!

Ryder doesnt actually canonically have an estrial form so I dont have one for him (I drew him in my Estrial post just for funsies and cause he is half Estrial so he technically belongs there) (also I had to edit this to add the links and bigb and jimmy cause i forgot i hadn't posted bigb + jimmy and you cant save ask posts as drafts for some terrible reason..)

[jalo-parker]

Do you have any full body designs for your estrial OCs? (I hope you're OK with this sorta-doodle request ask)

Anon I love you /p I hope you flourish in life

I have never made so many refs so quickly but I had to.... When someone asks for the oc content I must deliver

(everything below cut I promise it's not that much I just don't want to bother people 😭)

Ok so here's the main group! (The ones I just finished)

And then here's my sonas Estrial form

As far as the rest, you can find Sodo and Ex on my profile (conveniently linked just for you) and here's Bigb and Jimmy.

They aren't my ocs but there they are just in case!

Ryder doesnt actually canonically have an estrial form so I dont have one for him (I drew him in my Estrial post just for funsies and cause he is half Estrial so he technically belongs there) (also I had to edit this to add the links and bigb and jimmy cause i forgot i hadn't posted bigb + jimmy and you cant save ask posts as drafts for some terrible reason..)

#art #artists on tumblr #jaloparker art #oc art #estrial species #I LOVE MY OCS #thank you anon even though you might just be my friend moss #idc if you are i still hope you flourish i love oc content #if you arent moss then omg hiiiiiiii you're my friend now :D

[jalo-parker]

Sad and tired hels (for no reason I just made him sad and tired) (also post a few mins late cause scheduling it didn't work for some reason..)

#art #artists on tumblr #hermitcraft fanart #hermitblr #hermitcraft #helsknight fanart #helsknight #gotta love when your service is so bad that scheduling a post doesnt work 💪💪 #this is in my house too like bro it flooded AND the service is bad why am i not allowed to have nice things #jaloparker art

[jalo-parker]

Eepy deepy

Had a dream I had a sleepover with etho. I added hels cause why not (I am madly in love with my helsknight design)

[jalo-parker]

Traditional sketch of magical girl tango that's a bit scuffed

I honestly really don't care that it's a bit messed up, my house flooded bro.. (small rant about that below cut, didnt want to put a wall of text on anyones dash :') ) (spoiler alert: I'm ok and still living in my house, just a little distraught. My pets are all ok too!)

It's been over a week since it happened (pipe broke on april 6th(I think.. I wasnt there, my mom was) (shes ok too btw) and I'm scheduling this on the 16th) and man am I glad I've been drawing my weekly art post a week ahead of time cause I wouldn't have had anything to post last week otherwise 😭

I could've drawn something else for this week but I didn't really feel like it.. especially since I wanted to draw next week's post too :') I lost so many books.. luckily most of my other stuff was off the floor so it's all ok. I just moved in to this place a couple months ago too man what the hell..

At least I'm getting new flooring out of it... A few other things are getting replaced too, like the lower cabinets and some of the interior doors. I'm probably even going to get a new box spring since that was on the floor too. I'm hoping they'll replace some of the books, I really liked some of those :(

my bedroom floor is deadass just a concrete slab rn btw 💀

[jalo-parker]

Traditional sketch of magical girl tango that's a bit scuffed

I honestly really don't care that it's a bit messed up, my house flooded bro.. (small rant about that below cut, didnt want to put a wall of text on anyones dash :') ) (spoiler alert: I'm ok and still living in my house, just a little distraught. My pets are all ok too!)

It's been over a week since it happened (pipe broke on april 6th(I think.. I wasnt there, my mom was) (shes ok too btw) and I'm scheduling this on the 16th) and man am I glad I've been drawing my weekly art post a week ahead of time cause I wouldn't have had anything to post last week otherwise 😭

I could've drawn something else for this week but I didn't really feel like it.. especially since I wanted to draw next week's post too :') I lost so many books.. luckily most of my other stuff was off the floor so it's all ok. I just moved in to this place a couple months ago too man what the hell..

At least I'm getting new flooring out of it... A few other things are getting replaced too, like the lower cabinets and some of the interior doors. I'm probably even going to get a new box spring since that was on the floor too. I'm hoping they'll replace some of the books, I really liked some of those :(

my bedroom floor is deadass just a concrete slab rn btw 💀

#art #artists on tumblr #jaloparker art #hermitblr #hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanart #tangotek #tangotek fanart #tango fanart #tango hermitcraft #magical girl tango #magical girl #ignore the hands #mention how wonky they are and you're homophobic >:( #I'll probably make a better drawing of magical girl tango eventually #I might even include etho in that drawing too #magical girl firefox #(firefox is the duo name i came up with in moss' dms btw. moss helped with that one a little too so go hype them up)

[jalo-parker]

ummm.... guys 😨....... you're gonna wanna see this 😰

(it's ouppy)

#DOGGIE !!!!!!!!!!!!

[jalo-parker]

Rensune Miku

Alt version (specifically the "let's take ibuprofen together" meme) + some words below cut. @mossfeathers also drew Rensune Miku go check that out !! Follow him too while you're there they are really cool and awesome and epic

It was too perfect.. I had to do it..

Also the pose was referenced from an official drawing of Hatsune Miku by zain (zain7 on deviantart) (literally the only social media account I could find.. they're credited for the drawing I referenced on the fandom wiki for miku so I hope that's accurate..)

#me and moss really cooked with these ngl #my magnum opus......

[jalo-parker]

My friend and I were chatting and decided to both draw our take on Ren-sune Miku! If you want to see another drawing of him, go look at @jalo-parker's blog to see his rendition (no pun intended)

#still love rensune miku #i think rensune miku should be a trend #everyone draw rensune miku

[jalo-parker]

Ghost fans I swear I haven't forgotten about you.. the hermitcraft fixation just came back with a vengeance 😭

I'm still very much a fan of the band! It's just hard to draw all of my fixations at once, especially since I only post one drawing per week (I would post more but I want my posting to be consistent and if I drew more it definitely wouldn't be💀)

Zero (the one with tiny white horns and brown hair) is my ghoulsona :D

#art #artists on tumblr #jaloparker art #oc art #nameless ghouls #nameless ghoul fanart #ghost bc fanart #ghost band #phantom ghost #the band ghost #ghost bc #phantom ghoul #ghoulsona #zero is a multighoul like swiss #my version of swiss and my ghoul both have all elements btw #each ghouls tail shows signs of their element #the spikes on zero are actually a fish fin without the membrane #he has feathers for air #more fur for earth (i didnt know what else to add 💀) #fire ghouls dont really have anything #and quint ghouls have different spines on their tails and typically have a double spade like phantom #if you want to know more feel free to send an ask or something id be very glad to answer questions about my ghoul hcs :D

[jalo-parker]

Timothy

#moss i hope you see this #ITS TIM #MOSS ITS TIM #LOOK TIM

[jalo-parker]

random thought, but i had a vivid image of, if helsknight and welsknight ever saw each other without armor (or just helsknight out of his armor tbh), helsknight showing welsknight the scar tanguish gave him and saying "this was intended for you."

i don't know how in character that is, but tbh it's haunting me. maybe it's part of helsknight's revenge against welsknight or something, calling out his unknightly behavior and unhonorable conduct.

"You didn't answer my summons."

Helsknight froze. It was a quick, momentary startle, a short-circuit of normality. The moment he did it, every instinct told him to keep moving. That old command [Do something.] blared loud in the quiet surprise of his mind. So he moved his hand to pick up the brush on his table, and pretended to be unconcerned.

"I'm not a dog. You can't call me to heel," Helsknight said simply. He smirked and growled, "Though if you feel like losing some limbs, feel free to try."

Behind him, Wels shifted uncomfortably. Helsknight liked making Wels uncomfortable, he didn't handle it well. He was a creature used to comfort and ease. Inconvenience often galled him more than a sword to the throat. Different tactics for different battlefields, and this battlefield was a delicate one.

Helsknight was cleaning his arms and armor, which was one of several reasons why he hasn't leaped for a fight when Welsknight had called him to one. He was only in a tunic and breeches. It was luck he even had his boots on. He had offered to run errands with Tanguish, but Tanguish had said he was visiting his church and wanted to go on rooftops. So Helsknight stayed home, and he left his boots on. That was the other reason Helsknight hadn't answered the call: Tanguish wouldn't know where he was, and he knew Tanguish got paranoid about being left behind. Besides, Helsknight had chores he could do at home [like cleaning his arms and armor] so he stayed. Cleaning the chainmail was almost a formality. Hels was hot and dry, and he wore it often enough that the rings clattering together cleaned themselves. But sometimes he just liked putting an extra shine on things, so he took out his brush and oil and started brushing it down for any miniscule specks of rust or broken links he could find.

Wels, always keen on the times he wasn't wanted, decided now was the perfect time to show up in his living room. He stood awkwardly, waiting on Helsknight to make some aggressive movement. When none came, he cautiously stalked further into the tiny living space. His emotions were loud and uncomfortable without the distance between their respective worlds to dampen them, and they clung like smoke against Helsknight's skin. Caution at an unfamiliar space. Disgruntlement at being ignored.

[Guilt, like ash on a burn.]

"Is this... Yours?" Wels asked, glancing around.

"No, I'm just squatting in a random house. Sounded like a fun way to spend a Tuesday."

Helsknight felt the ant-bite sting of vicarious agitation and smirked. He was already getting on Wels's nerves.

[Good.]

"Couldn't build something nicer?" Wels snapped impatiently.

"I'm a fighter."

Helsknight found a place on his chainmail to brush down and got to work. The rough, grating twinge of the coarse bristles on chain made Wels wince. Helsknight always found the noise pleasant. Like scratching an itch.

"So?"

"I have better things to do than spend hours building the perfect house."

Wels scoffed and looked around the room with renewed disdain. "Where's your little devil?"

It took Helsknight a moment to place what he was asking. He sneered, a quiet bearing of teeth, and caught the flicker of red in the reflective shine of his chainmail. Wels looked pointedly away from him.

[Like ash on a burn.]

"Not feeling remorse... are we, crusader?" Helsknight asked, finding a new place to polish. The coin-drop clatter of chain, and the shrill scrape of bristles filled the silence like an accusation.

"Of course not," Wels sniffed disdainfully, still refusing to meet Helsknight's eye.

"Careful." Helsknight murmured, that red flash reflecting off his chainmail again, anger simmering. "Lying's a sin."

"Why would I feel remorse for protecting my home?"

"A crusade well fought I'm sure."

"It's not a crusade!" Wels snapped, his own anger a living thing raising hackles. "A crusader invades! A crusader fights a holy war just for the principle."

"Right. And you're fighting because--"

"Because I'm protecting Tango."

"-because it's for his own good?"

Wels didn't exactly wince, but he did still, as though he'd heard someone draw a blade from its scabbard. Helsknight might as well have unseated his sword. He had stopped scrubbing, all pretense of work falling. The need to pace, to circle, to corner, rose up in Helsknight like a waking beast.

"Interesting choice of words. Protecting." Helsknight said, his voice low, his hands still. "I was under the impression they were friends. Do you often protect Tango from the people he's begging you to spare?"

"That doesn't matter." Wels said so firmly it was almost convincing. Almost. "People are convinced they need an abusive relationship. That doesn't change the fact it's bad for them."

"So many interesting words today," Helsknight hissed. He stood like a dark tower rising, all embered fury slowly stoking. Wels didn't bother turning to face him. He could feel his intent like thunder. "Abuse. Brings to mind the image of power. I do have a question."

"I didn't come here for your stupid questions."

"No, you came here looking for a fight."

"I didn't."

"You really do need to tame that lying tongue."

"I didn't come here for a fight."

"Did it feel powerful?" Helsknight demanded, pacing a step, and loathing the tiny room for denying him the space to circle. "The voice. The command. How did it feel."

"Shut up."

"To have someone begging you not to hurt them," Helsknight continued relentlessly. "Not your stupid play fighting on your stupid little server. True, shaking, terror. Did it feel good, crusader? Just?"

"I told you to shut up!" Wels shouted, taking a threatening step forward only to find Helsknight had closed the space between them and stood looming like a rook on a tombstone.

Fear, a caged thing howling, battered against Helsknight's anger. It made Helsknight feel almost giddy, the crash of malicious schadenfreude and self-righteousness against Wels; a flickering thing of brittle will. They made a terrible ouroboros together, fear feeding anger feeding elation feeding fear. They were always like this. No matter how calm either of them tried to be, once anger kindled in one, their emotions burned until there was nothing left but fury and loathing. Helsknight had been made to cut Wels down to size.

"Do you know what that kind of fear does to people?" Helsknight demanded again, his voice so near a whisper it was smothering. They were so close together, but they made so little noise, all will and wide eyes. "What happened to mercy for the helpless, crusader?"

"He wasn't helpless," Welsknight said, trying very hard not to back down. "He stabbed me."

"And a drowning rat bites. I wouldn't call it an apex predator. Certainly I wouldn't call it a danger to you, with your full armor and sword." Helsknight bared his teeth at Wels, something like a bitter grin. "I wasn't wearing armor."

Wels looked down, where Helsknight had drawn up his tunic to reveal the new scar in his abdomen. Wels looked like he'd stopped breathing.

"This was intended for you," Helsknight said. "You should thank me."

"You're-- you're here telling me he's harmless," Wels laughed nervously. "But he almost killed you. You."

Something in Helsknight snapped, and in the moment it took him to reach for it with white knuckles and compose it again, he'd shoved Wels hard in the chest. It didn't knock his other half off his feet, but he stumbled back hard enough hit the opposite wall. Not hard enough to hurt, but certainly hard enough to warn.

"He did," Helsknight snarled, pacing forward slow steps. "That's what terror does to helpless people, crusader. It makes them bite. It makes them beg. It makes them clamor to live. You. Did. That. What did it feel like to abuse that kind of power Wels? To turn someone into a scared animal? To make someone so desperate they would almost kill a friend? Did you find your righteousness there crusader?"

Helsknight didn't know what he planned on doing. Violence was in his blood like a serpent, and he wanted it. And Wels knew he wanted it. There was the ring of drawn metal, and the silver-bright glint of an enchanted blade in a dark room. Helsknight's advance stopped at the top of Wels's sword, not close enough to hurt, but close enough to warn.

"Stop." Wels said. A command. A plea.

"I'm unarmed."

"That doesn't matter."

Helsknight smiled, and there was loathing and euphoria in it, and the wine-dark dread of Wels right on the other side of it. The knowledge of a line crossed, a battle he hadn't even realized he was fighting made forfeit.

"Fine." Helsknight said. "My blood's already been spilled once on your behalf. At least this time do it with your own sword, coward. I'll make it easy for you."

He took a step forward, and nudged the blade with a knuckle, resting the point against his scar. The metal was cold, even through his shirt, the enchantments alive and writhing so close to his skin.

"How cruel have you gotten while I wasn't there to keep you in check, crusader?"

There was a long breath of silence between them. Helsknight stood, precarious and predatory, daring Wels to kill him. And Wels stood there, and dared himself to as well. And the room was dark, lit only by red anger and blue dread, and the pale, languid flicker of enchanted steel. And neither of them breathed. And the universe watched.

A loud clatter sounded on the roof. Both knights looked up towards the ceiling, Wels in startlement, and Helsknight in resignation.

"And he stays my hand once again," Helsknight sighed.

"What--?" Wels didn't get his full question out before Helsknight moved. He knocked the sword aside and lunged forward to grab Wels's shirt. In a move that would've made Martyn proud, he dragged Wels forward into his knee, knocking the wind out of him. In the time it took Wels to collapse to the floor, Helsknight had taken his sword, and held the point beneath his other half's chin.

"Go home Wels," Helsknight said, "before I send you there the hard way."

Wels, breathless on the ground, let out half a strangled laugh. "Why don't you?"

"Because I was asked nicely not to go running off and killing you."

"Helsknight?" A loud knock sounded at the door. Tanguish's voice, a bright comfort even in spite of its concern, called to him. "Is everything okay? I thought I heard something fall."

Helsknight glared meaningfully down at Wels, who only hesitated long enough for Helsknight to draw back the sword before slipping back to his world. The moment he did, Helsknight felt his breath leave him, the great void of being left to his own thoughts and emotions. In the wake of everything that was Wels, he felt ridiculous.

[What in hels had he even been about to do? Die on someone's sword to prove a point? Idiot.]

"Helsknight? The door is locked."

"I'm coming," Helsknight called, pausing only long enough to hide Wels's sword beneath the couch, where Tanguish couldn't see it and inevitably worried about it. He checked his tunic to make sure he hadn't managed to actually stab himself [he hadn't] and went to let Tanguish inside.

#helsknight #i love helsknight #hes so #like yes omg get his ass #make wels writhe in his wrongdoings #op i want you to know that r&s has altered my brain chemistry #in a good way #but also it is very devastating i feel like crying every time i read it even if nothing bad actually happens #your writing is very good #also #moss i hope you see this #im also going to send you the link but here double see it #moss is my friend btw op #we read r&s together and both sit there in agony afterwards #why do the little guys have to be sad i want to scoop them up and tuck them in bed gently

[jalo-parker]

Eepy deepy

Had a dream I had a sleepover with etho. I added hels cause why not (I am madly in love with my helsknight design)

#art #artists on tumblr #jaloparker art #hermitblr #hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanart #helsknight #oc art #helsknight fanart #ethoslab fanart #etho fanart #ethoslab #etho #etho hermitcraft #hermitcraft etho #not /r #though i could see why you might think that #they're so eepy #so sleeby #brought back ethos :3 mask from the long bed drawing #i should've brought back his other mask too.. #it would've been funny #also little sylvester !! #i have that plush irl the pattern is by Piquipauparro on etsy #hes my sonas cat.. uhh we domt get into the lore it would be too long of a post

[jalo-parker]

Have you heard the metal cover of God Shattering Star by FamilyJules? Helsknight vibes!! EB playing the electric guitar as Helsknight sings!! Karaoke night!!

https://youtu.be/jXu9htg70P8?si=Uk-EQWgGfKC5TZ6x

Our cries will ride the wind with fury and with fervor

And carry warning to the ears of my usurper

If it is god you seek then you must look no further

The face of your liberation is here

I am come!!

What a kickass song! Karaoke night indeed!!

[jalo-parker]

do you love scavengers like i do

#tw blood #i do indeed love scavengers.. #i think the universe wanted me to see this epic awesome drawing #it just appeared on my dash #this looks so sick #vultures my beloved

[jalo-parker]

My laptop charger got accidentally left at my other parents house for the week so all I have is playboy bunny outfit helsknight.. 😁😁 I am so normal and sane i promise <- hes very clearly lying

I have no explanation for this.. hope you fellow helsknight fans enjoy..?

#cw suggestive #suggestive #art #artists on tumblr #jaloparker art #hermitblr #hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanart #helsknight #helsknight fanart #playboy bunny costume #draw your babygirl in this #helsknight is bbg #hes not very happy about this but its fine he did it for me #also new helsknight tattoo !! #the galactic says hels knight #unless i spelled something wrong.. #in which case it doesnt say that.. #but it should !! #i checked a few times while i was drawing it #sorry for this btw its all i had to post this week.. #otherwise it never would've seen the light of day (maybe) #helsknight 💞 #i want to hug him and hold his hands and tell him that i care about him #i dont want to make him less evil i just want him to know that hes loved #i want to have him in my arms as he drifts off to sleep #im so gay #filthy little boy kisser (me) #i mean look at him you have to give him a little kiss.. #hes so pretty

[jalo-parker]

Ooooo it was so hard picking just one prompt, but for the Situation Game- Could you do #48? Enemy caretaker fic with Tanguish and Wels? Tanguish finds Wels unconscious and (against his better judgement) takes care of him until he wakes up. (Alternatively, you could do Helsknight and Tango, if that first prompt doesn't click. I've been drawing those two interacting so they've been on my mind lol)

He hadn't expected to find him there, was the thing. Tango had asked him to go check through Decked Out while he was gone -- some meetup with Impulse and Zed, it sounded like it would take awhile. Tanguish had heard rockets and wisely hid, and then the rockets left. He assumed someone was dropping something off, or maybe had planned to see Tango only to realize Tango wasn't there. And maybe that was exactly what happened.

The important thing was: Tanguish didn't hear what direction the rockets went. He didn't hear the Warden caged downstairs growl or shriek. He didn't hear a crash, or a scream, or any other indication that an accident had happened. So when he stumbled on Welsknight on the lowest floor of Decked Out, unconscious, it had been... Well it had been a shock. He hadn't even known it was a person at first. He saw a bundle of something on the ground, and he placed down the shulker box he'd been carrying and went over to investigate. When the pile of elytra and armor resolved itself into Welsknight, Tanguish froze, heart racing.

(He should leave him here.)

It wasn't a kind thought, but Tanguish was, rightly, he thought, terrified of Welsknight. If their situations were switched, and it was Welsknight walking up on Tanguish crumpled and unconscious on the floor, he was sure the knight would kill him and he done with it. Just one less problem to deal with. Simple. And while Tanguish was far from able to kill in cold blood -- or killing in general -- leaving the knight here would serve a similar end. Not his problem. He would wake up, or he wouldn't. Tango would find him, or he wouldn't. Whatever happened, it didn't have to be Tanguish that dealt with it.

Except, standing over Welsknight, Tanguish was struck by how much he looked like Helsknight. Their differences were unmistakable up close. He was an inch or two shorter, his hair a sun-gilded auburn, and even bruised he looked gentler, like the world had been kind to him. Their resemblance was brotherly, something about the build and the set of the jaw. But it was enough that Tanguish imagined Helsknight crumpled on the ground somewhere, and how terrible it would be to leave him behind. So, lanced with guilt that made no sense, but compelled to act on it regardless, Tanguish set to work making sure the fool knight didn't die.

Tanguish didn't have much on his person to help with healing, and even if he knew where Tango kept potions, it would be a long climb back up to the Decked Out storage room. He did his best to check for broken bones, looking for odd angles or swelling or crooked joints and finding none. He had to take off the knight's helmet to check for a head injury, found a pretty decent welt, but nothing that suggested blood or breaking.

Tanguish glanced around. They weren't really in the safest place. Beneath the unfinished game, scaffolding blocks and incomplete redstone lines cast long shadows where creatures spawned and congregated, and it wouldn't do to get them both killed by a spider or a zombie down here. Tanguish tentatively explored around, and managed to find a suitably defensible crevasse (a hole in the wall really, probably dug out while Tango was measuring something or other to do with the game). He circled his arms around Welsknight's chest and, as gingerly as possible, tried to drag him in that direction. Then less gingerly, when the knight barely budged. And then Tanguish slumped to the ground because, gods and saints, were people always that heavy? He knew he wasn't the strongest, but he could carry his own weight up the side of a building. Surely he could drag a knight a couple dozen blocks?

Tanguish huffed out a sigh and stared down at Welsknight thoughtfully. "You're more trouble than you're worth, you know that?"

(That was mean. Even enemies were worth saving, so long as they didn't do something mean to make him regret it after.)

Tanguish took another pensive look around, and content nothing was about to attack him for his efforts, knelt and began taking the knight's armor off. He had a little knowledge of all the different buckles and bracers and how they worked (he'd seen Helsknight take them on and off a thousand times). It took some fumbling, especially around the chest plate, where he had to gently turn Welsknight over and prop him up, and support his head because flopping around on his neck like that couldn't be good for him, and, gods, this was stupid and awkward and terrible. He really, really should've just left. But then he was done, and when he slipped his arms around the knight to drag him again, he actually managed to move him a few steps without his back breaking, so he took that as his sign from the universe to keep going.

Tanguish wanted the universe to know he tried to be gentle. He wasn't big and strong like Helsknight (and probably Welsknight too). He couldn't casually pick up people and carry them around, or throw them over his shoulders. And if Welsknight were conscious enough for a piggy back ride, Tanguish was pretty sure he would just fall over if he tried to take a step. So dragging the knight two dozen blocks to a little hidey hole in the wall was the best, safest, and really only option at his disposal. Once inside, he scurried out to his shulker box, snatched it up, and dropped it in the entrance to the hiding place so anything that might want to come in would have a harder time. He wished there was something useful inside. He had planned on mob proofing while Tango was gone, stringing around glow lichen so his double would have a safer time working on his game. He had a few snacks, some water, and about a stack and a half of lichen left. That was all he'd bothered to bring with him. Now he wished he had brought something actually helpful.

Tanguish weighed his options, staring down at the still unconscious knight. Leaving sprung to his mind first -- Welsknight was reasonably safe now. The chances of something finding him was relatively small, and if he hung up some glow lichen before he left, the light might ward off anything that did notice him. He thought about maybe bringing the knight to hels, where he might find some help. But that help would probably be Helsknight, and he didn't know how much he trusted those two together. He was... Reasonably sure Helsknight wouldn't kill his double while he was unconscious, but he had no idea what he would do when Welsknight woke up. And Welsknight probably wouldn't take kindly to waking up in hels anyway. He could try to get help? Wander around the server just hoping he stumbled upon Tango, alone? No. No he wasn't going to do that.

Tanguish sighed, rolled his eyes at his own powerlessness. After a few more moments of deliberation, he pulled out his water and a few clumps of lichen. He had a half-remembered thought from somewhere that lichen could be medicinal. He had no idea if this lichen was, but he at least knew it was spongy and could hold a bit of water. He made himself a little ball with the stuff, soaked it, and gingerly placed it against the lump on Welsknight's head. He knew his hands would chill it, and frost crept around his fingertips the longer he held his makeshift compress. He pillowed the knight's head in his lap -- it seemed the most comfortable for both of them in the combined space -- and settled in to wait until Tango came back, or Welsknight awoke, and he hoped the knight would either be too incoherent or too grateful to kill him if the waking came first.

Outside his little hideaway, Tanguish listened to the sounds of monsters crawling to life. The tip-tap-skitter of spider legs. The moans and grumbles of the nearly sleepwalking dead. The occasional croaking mutter of an enderman. He didn't hear creepers (He didn't think anyone could hear creepers.) They crept around on quiet claws, a breath of fur and dark, glaring expressions. One snuck up to his hideaway and peered inside, gazing at him with bottomless black eyes. It hissed, smelling or sensing him and trying, vainly, to threaten him. It couldn't come through the wall, and it didn't give off its tell-tale flashing. Tanguish narrowed his eyes at the thing and hissed back, a keening noise that sent a shiver down his spine, and echoed off the walls of his little hideaway like a sculk shrieker. The creeper lurched backward (most natural things feared sculk on an instinctual level) and it scuttled away into the dark. Tanguish snorted in the general direction of the fleeing creature, and looked down at Welsknight. He gently moved his compress, and felt some satisfaction at seeing the swelling had gone down.

"You know, you knights really are strange sometimes," Tanguish informed the unconscious Welsknight, as though he could hear. "All the armor, and the oaths, and reckless danger -- and you're just as mortal as the rest of us." Tanguish leaned his head back against the wall behind him. "Do you have tenets like Helsknight does? Stuff you swore to do? You've got to, right? That's what makes you a knight, instead of just a guy with a sword."

Tanguish's tail twitched thoughtfully. "You and Helsknight feel the same way about technicalities, so you probably can't truly lie. You just dance around the truth a little, like he does. Let people come to their own conclusions... You shouldn't do that."

Tanguish readjusted his compress. "It makes people feel patronized, like you think they're too stupid to figure out what you're saying. And it makes us feel stupid for trusting you. Like on the aqueduct. I didn't really have a choice but... I really did believe I was safe. It was... Cruel... To take that back."

Tanguish felt nervousness reignite in his stomach, a turning and writhing at the danger he was in, implicitly.

"That would be like me waiting for you to wake up, just to hurt you," Tanguish said quietly, his free hand dipping down to the dagger on his hip. The cold metal, the waiting intention the weapon held, felt almost electric and alive against his fingertips. "All this trouble and effort to keep you safe, discarded over something as petty as who the universe likes best." He thought about Helsknight, and the importance he placed on time. "What a terrible waste of time."

Tanguish sighed and studied the ceiling, tracing the textures in the stone overhead with his eyes. He could see the pickaxe marks where Tango had tunneled this out, long gouges and sharp-edged chips.

"I think I understand why he feels the way he does about you. About all of you. You don't understand what you have." Tanguish looked down at the knight, who, despite what had surely been a terrible fall, merely looked like he slept. "It isn't just death that's a mild inconvenience. Everything is. Eternity is sitting in front of you. Even the largest problems, miseries that could span decades, will be nothing in the blink of an eye. There is no such thing as wasted time. There is no discomfort in doing something badly, or even passably. There's just... The endless possibility to try again. Even my saving you right now is, at best, a very odd, kind gesture, because you don't have a limited number of times to come back. There's no fear in the universe deciding this time it will just swallow you. What I'm doing is meaningless, so meaningless it might not even change your opinion of me, unless it's impressive to you that someone who shouldn't have bothered, did. Impressive, and not terribly stupid."

(He was starting to feel terribly stupid, all things considered.)

Movement caught Tanguish's eye, and he sat quietly as some monster or another passed their hiding place, shuffling off in the dark.

"There's no urgency for change." Tanguish whispered. "There's no pressure for legacy. It's like building sand castles in the desert, with no waves to knock them down. There's no reason to find them precious, no urgency to finish before the tide comes, no cherishing the seconds before they're weathered away. They'll just be there tomorrow, or the next time you get around to paying them attention. It's a beautiful gift, and you have no context to appreciate it. I understand why. You've never lived anything different to give you perspective... But I also understand why he hates you for it."

Tanguish blinked out at the world beyond his little keyhole, where danger stalked, undisturbed and wholly uninterested in him.

"No wonder the universe makes us," Tanguish said. "Why else would you have any reason to change?"

Tanguish looked down at Welsknight again. He studied the knight's face, all the things about him that stayed steadfast and unchanging, uncaring that his existence weathered Helsknight away everyday. That he was a wave, and Tanguish and Helsknight and everyone like them were just sand castles waiting.

"You probably won't," Tanguish murmured, "but I hope someday you figure out how to love him. Love the parts of yourself you hate so much right now. Helsknight is terrifying, and overbearing, and too strong for his own good. He walks through the world like he wishes he could bully it into being fair." Tanguish let out a breath. "But he tries so hard to be good, and any goodness I've learned, I think I learned from him. In spite of him. Because of him."

A sadness washed through him then, and Tanguish spoke soberly. "Someday it will be just you and Tango. A month from now. Or a year. Or whatever our lifetimes amount to. When that day comes, I hope you'll look at each other, and somewhere, me and Helsknight will glimpse each other again. I hope whatever the end looks like, it isn't lonely."

Tanguish fell silent, waiting with infinite patience for Welsknight to wake. He must have dozed off, because he roused to the sound of a groan, and Welsknight slowly rolling over to reach the sore spot on the back of his head. Tanguish held his breath. He probably should have figured out what he was going to do when Welsknight woke up. He had no plan, no idea-- hels he was trapped in a confined space with him! Wait -- his coin. Right.

Welsknight's eyes fluttered open. He frowned first in confusion, then recognition, and then Tanguish's coin was in his fist and he was gone.

In hels, Tanguish leaned against the front door of the house, eyes closed, trying to calm his breathing. It really shouldn't be a big deal. Welsknight hadn't even had the time to threaten him. It was just the residual terror of past bad experiences, the adrenaline rush of realizing he was trapped in a room with a tiger. But he was home now, and he shouldn't be afraid -- didn't have to be afraid.

"You're home early," Helsknight said, sounding concerned, and very close by. He must have been writing at the table. In the time Tanguish had been forcing himself to calm, Helsknight stood and cautiously crossed to him. "Did something happen?"

(Did Welsknight happen?)

"N-no," Tanguish said unconvincingly. And further discredited himself by stepping forward, and hugging Helsknight. He could feel Helsknight's concerned frown in his posture, in the slow way he hugged him back, offering confused comfort.

"Are you... sure?"

"Just glad you're still here," Tanguish said.

"Ah." Helsknight hummed, as though he understood. His hug deepened a bit. "Still here. Are you?"

"I think so."

"Good. I guess I'm glad too, then."