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I.
The first death was silly. Nothing too consequential, but nothing that couldn't have been avoided either. Her first mistake? Teasing Scar while on the Square Hole's ladder. Again, the death was silly. Pearl was climbing up, each hand securely wrapping around the next rung of the ladder and pulling her up torwards solid ground. It was the perfect demonstration for safely climbing ladders, the very thing Scar was lamenting about.
How fitting (and again, how silly!) it was that Scar chose to block her path and cause her death. Pearl had reached up to poke his rear, giggling about moving his "little Scar butt" when he moved in a swift manner. His legs swung around as he faced her, hitting her hands and causing her to lose her balance.
"Scar," Pearl began, panic seeping into her voice. He doesn't seem to hear her or notice her teetering off the ladder, more concerned with shifting into a more secure postion. He moves again, blocking Pearl's hands from grasping the rung she was aiming for. Pearl can only scream his name once more before she's hitting the ground hard with a dull crunch. She wills herself to respawn quickly, mildly annoyed and wanting to yell at scar before he leaves.
Pearl pops back to life in front of Scott, her name now the same shade as his (she ignores the imaginary green thread that stretches from her hand to his, worn and nearly snapped in the middle) and marches over to where Scar is climbing out of the Square Hole.
All in all, it's a silly death brought upon by silly circumstances. Pearl doesn't linger on it.
II.
Death number two doesn't happen for a long time. A very, very long while, that Pearl spends frivously with her teammates, not quite brushing with death but playing with it all the same. (after all, isn't that the point of the games?)
The wait is so long that Pearl grows used to living. She won't say she gets complacent, but it's a near thing. The failed siege on the Villies' lighthouse is over and there is work to be done. With a boogey on her team, Pearl is feeling pretty good! She feels even better as she places red concrete all over the lighthouse, mending the holes brought upon by the TNT. She's nearly tripping over herself in excitement as she runs outside to view her work in full.
Grian is muttering about the red concrete, causing a gleeful smirk to rise on Pearl's face.
"That's on me," She proudly announces, spinning with her arms outstretched in order to dramatize the reveal.
Funny, she thinks moments later, as her concessness barely holds on to the burnt and exploded bits of her body remaining, Scott did the same pose before he blew him me us up.
She respawns, leaving memories of a game won to her former body, and rushes out to go yell at her teammate.
III.
Pearl is on life four and still confidently strutting around. There isn't an opportunity for a boogey kill anymore, but that doesn't mean she can't sneak around bases. She's feeling restless, feeling a rustling under her skin that pushes her to poke and prod others until the feeling releases itself through the annoyance of others.
"It's about time we did something evil in here." She chats to herself as she walks, strolling through the woods on her way to Cabin Core's newly built tower. "It's been too peaceful."
She says hi to the animals she sees, unable to resist the apeal of the wildlife. She's glad that despite the ever changing world, the animals are unaffected, free to live their lives without any sort of games. The cursed word elicts a phantom response of whispers that feel like feathers, brushing over her ears. Pearl shakes her head, waving the eerie feeling away. "Eugh. Watchers, spooky!"
The tower is deserted as she approaches it, silent as the stone it's made out of. Pearl steps in, scanning all around for traps. It's getting late into the game now, people are bound to be protective of their bases. She finds nothing in the entrance and takes a step in. One singular bed is in the entryway and Pearl has to blink away the visions of dogs piling around it. "Jeez…"
She eyes the stairs, checking again for any sort of tripwire or pressure plate that can be triggered. Seeing nothing, she decides to take the stais at a run, unwilling to set off anything she might have missed.
Pearl only takes two strides before she's tripping into a small hole and falling. Her eyes widen as she notices the sharp, jagged rock rising up at her, impaling her stomach. Like previous times, she dies near instantly, with no time to prepare for the pain. Unlike previous times, she lingers for a bit, genuinelly shocked.
"Well," She murmurs, her voice echoy and faint in the realm between life and death. "That was a good trap."
Pearl respawns.
V.
Pearl can't help but giggle as Etho dies in the same way, people sharing her amusement in the comms. Scar nudges her as Joel's voice echoes from further away. "Now how did you die on a stalagmite?"
"I don't wanna talk about it!" Pearl is smiling but something foreboding is curling around her. She's died twice this session and is very annoyed with the way the game creators seem to be intent on running her lives down. Pair that with the visions of a game long done and dusted? Pearl is getting frustrated.
"Stupid watchers." She kicks a rock and climbs up the stairs to Cabin Core's tower, still intent on scoping out the place. "You can't stop me from doing what I want to do."
After all, she won. She won the game of soulmates so she should be free, they shouldn't be able to mess with her like this, so why are they forcing memories onto her-
It's the frustrated spiral of thinking that has Pearl literally running into another pit. The wind sweeps her hair up as she falls and Pearl hopes the whole server hears the frustrated yell that she lets out, hitting the ground for yet another grusome death at the bottom of a hole.
This time, Pearl lingers for a long while. Feathers brush against her ears and back, asking "have you given up? do you accept defeat?". Pearl grits her teeth and bats them away with a beat of her own wings. She may not have them during the games but here in limbo? She can take whatever form she wishes. Here, she is a goddess, a watcher, a player, and at the same time, none of those at all.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screams it into the void, flashing her powers bright and luminous as the moon she holds in her name. The purple feathers zoom away, along with a few eyes that dissapear so fast, Pearl almost thinks she imagined them. They'll be back, Pearl knows they will. Their whole duty is to Watch, after all.
She turns back to the remains of her body with a scowel painted on her face. The foreboding feeling is growing stronger, warning Pearl that she needs to be careful. But at this point, careful is muddled with frustration, melding into an unknown mix of cautious anger.
She respawns.
IV.
"RIP Villies who died like noobs…" Grian steps back from the sign, a confused look on his face. Pearl mimics his expression.
"We're pretty alive, thank you very much!"
The topic shifts over to Ren and his death, garnering compliments from the Rejects on how much of a force the Villies are. Pearl can't help but bow, soaking up the compliments and passing them on to her teammtes.
"You guys really are a force!" Skizz chuckled as he says it but there's a tinge of fear in his tone.
"Those two are." Pearl has more to say but her throat seems to close up as she gazes at her teammates. A warm feeling fills her as she acknowledges how lucky she got with her team. Grian and Gem, teaming with her to create a team with a truly destructive reputation.
Memories of previous games are few and far between, as is the case for anyone who didn't win. But Pearl won the 3rd game, granting her the unique hell of remembering more than she's supposed to past the game of soulmates. Add that to her (allegedly former) status as a watcher and Pearl can confidently say she remembers almost every season. It allows her to appreciate her teammates properly.
Grian, the first winner, a watcher, and Pearls psuedo-brother. She tries her best to steer clear of his way during the games, not wanting to fight a loved one if she can avoid it. Furthermore, she doesn't want to fight Grian if she can avoid it. For all the jokes and silly vibes he exudes, Grian is deadly. She knows it, the Watchers know it, and most importantly, the players know it.
(It's hard to admit, but seeing the message of his final death in the game she won made an echo of relief resound in her empty heart. She didn't want to be the one to take his life.)
Gem, her friend and betrayer. The death from the game of secrets still rings harshly, but Gem has apologized since. It wasn't obvious, but it was shown in the ways she always checked in on Pearl under the veil of teasing remarks. Slowly, through the span of a wildcard season and two tests, Pearl has accepted her role as a "wet, pathetic cat" in Gem's eyes.
(At the beginning of this game, Gem had claspsed Pearl's hand in both of her own, looked into her eyes and made Pearl sincerely promise to not be a pathetic cat. Pearl had gazed into deep green eyes and for the first time in years, thought herself more of a wolf. Loyal and ruthless, willing to do anything for it's own.)
Pearl thinks of all those things and more, happy to reminisce on a peaceful moment, just moments before it blows up. literally.
There isn't any time to react. One moment Pearl is gazing at her fellow Villies, reliving past moments, and the next she's screaming in pain and frustration as she's blown to bits once more. But this time, she has a clear view of her teammates bodies.
Grian is barely in her field of vision, His head mostly intact. one eye stares unseeingly in her direction, bloody and slightly more goopy than an eye should be. An arm-hers or his, Pearl doesn't know- lays a stones' throw away, burnt and bloody and burnt again. Smoke is still hissing from the arm, partially obscuring Gem's backside from Pearl's vision. Her clothes are tattered, with holes in them showing black burns on Gem's back.
Pearl stares at the destruction and continues staring as they blink out of exsistence, her teammates bodies being reformed as they respawn. She lingers, shock numbing every one of her senses and feelings.
No, that's not true.
At the center of her chest, something burns. It's a fire, a flame of insanity Pearl typically feels only once per season. The exception was when she was soulbound to Scott and left alone by him and the whole server. The flame burns just as bright as it did then, mixing with the apathy until Pearl is filled with a dangerous concotion of emotions.
She reaches into the void, feeling for a costume that will strike fear into everyone, so memorable as it was. She dons it, feeling a smile come to her lips, newly grown fangs poking over her lips. Pearl pulls the hood over her head, ears poking through the holes cut in the fabric. Her tail swishes underneath the cloak, tawny and fluffy and looking awfully clean with no bloodstains in it.
Scarlet Pearl exhales calmly and hits respawn.
IIV.
"Hey! Do you guys wanna die?"
She's snarling, she's howling, she's speaking, she's laughing. Pearl can't tell. It's all a muddle of feelings, of actions that need to be done. Voices whisper, curling around her as if to cradle her, to steer her hand and axe so she may slice down those who dare to oppose her and her kin.
Her kin! Her kin, where where where- She sees no parrot wings and no horns and anger rushes through her. She's drawing an arrow before she realizes it, aiming it at the splotches of people-shapes she sees through the red haze. She fires one arrow, a warning shot, before stepping back. The people-shapes outnumber her and survival comes before revenge. The whispers are back again, telling her to find her kin and then take revenge. Pearl listens and retreats.
Pearl's running lands her in water, giving her a chance to to gather herself, seperate her brain from her instincts. It's been a while since she let her werewolf traits show and the rapid shift is overwhelming. To calm herself, dhe focuses on the deatails of nature around her.
It's a wonderful day, she realizes, and says it aloud. Unconsciously, she's whispering it the whole walk back to the lighthouse. She doesn't stop until she finds her kin, their presence calming her.
"You're red, Pearl!" delight, adoration, joy, Gem wants to kill with me, Gem and I should kill, blood blood blood blood-
"We have 5-am Pearl out.." Fear, appreciation, joy is hidden, he is nervous and he should be, we are both threats-
Pearl basks in the mixed emotions she smells from her teammates, accepting fear and praise in equal measure. The words "full moon" break through once more and Pearl thinks of a blood moon, one where she and her kin are the only ones standing in a battlefield painted red.
They make the barebones of a plan, observing what seems to be the entire rest of the server gathering at skynet. Pearl feels a rush of bloodlust watching how they all precariously walk along the cobblestone pathways. With encouragement from her teammates, she lets some arrows fly, praying some land so she can feel a little calmer. They fall short and Pearl feels a rush of anger flow through her. She draws more as the flame inside her burns brighter, spreads through her, red taking over her vision, voices whispering kill, kill, kill them all-
"Don't use all your arrows!" Once again, Pearl is drawn back from the bloodlust threatening to consume her. She feels a hand on her cheek, turning her towards Gem's green eyes.
green eyes like green name like green life… turn it red must be red kill green lives kill green-
"Pearl?" It's the unsureity in Gem's voice that snaps Pearl out of the daze. She realizes she'd been growling slightly and steps back, a little scared of herself. Gem is kin, she thinks forcefully, wishing it into every part of her body. Grian is kin. Do not hurt kin.
The insanity crawling inside her seems to listen and calms.
Time passes quickly. It's filled with preparations and planning and arming herself with potions. The lighthouse is covered in lava, and then water by the rejects. Pearl feels another bolt of anger at the destruction of something she worked so hard to create. At the same time, she feels nothing. She is with Grian and Gem, and she can kill, so revenge for the lighthouse and more is all but due.
Gem and Grian both wish her luck, a brief ruffle of her hair from both of them. She drinks the invisibility potion, discarding her armour into her inventory so she is fully invisible. She looks at Grian and Gem one last time, searing the image of them into her head so she knows exactly what she's fighting for. For the first time since respawning, her mind feels clear, free from the red haze. Gem offers a smile, Grian a wave. Pearl nods back at them. Then, she bounds off into the night.
Jimmy and Joel aren't hard to find. All Pearl has to do is follow the trail of cobblestone in the sky, her bow already drawn and arrows aimed at the limbs not blocked by stone. She shoots once and misses. She feels nothing. Again, another miss. Goddamnit, where is her anger? Two more shots miss as Pearl shifts her stance. She feels withinn herself, searching for the flame of insanity that empowers her and every other red life, granting feats that typically cannot happen. She feels nothing-
No, she feels something. Pain. An arrow lands in her left shoulder, just above her chest.
No.
Pearl realizes then, that something is very wrong. She scrambles to the side, realizing that she needs to run, to hide-
She miss-fires, forgetting her bow was drawn. Her own arrow sinks into her foot and now Pearl is panicking.
"No no no no no-"
She's turning to look over her shoulder, spying only a flash of gold and purple before it's plunging through her chest, striking what feels like every vital organ. Pearl collapses instantly as lightning strikes, erasing her body from the world.
<Pearlescentmoon was shot by SolidarityGaming>
She was invisible. She was invisible and he shot and he killed her. Pearl can't muster up a single word for a long, long moment. Part of her is impressed, another part wholly frustrated. But at the same time… Pearl has a feeling that wasn't any ordinary red life feat of insanity.
"I thought… you hated him."
The purple eyes blink at her. "W̵̡͎͚̻̺̣͍̥͋ẽ̴̺ ̸̝̣͍̎̃͆͋̊̍̎̕d̸̛̩̖̹͗͋i̸͕̲̬̹͓͊ͅd̵̤͕̫͚̞͔͆͂̀̋̽̍̚̚.̴̣̻̦̫̪͐̆"
Pearl turns, her own golden brown wings (the purple has long since faded) brushing against nothing as she does. "Then why grant him a blessing now?"
"W̵̫̯̠̎é̵̝͖̚ ̶͙̙̣̓͗͝d̵̺̘̰̂̚ő̸̳̿n̴̬͊̔̉'̸̘̺͒t̴̘̰͚̑͝ ̸̼̊́ḷ̸̭̋͘i̶͕̊k̷͎͈̊͝e̷̡͎̤͋̇ ̶̰̞͕̉͘r̵̭̅̽ͅē̶̟p̴̥͑e̸͙̜̥̋̿a̵̛͓t̵̛̫̭̔̐ẽ̵̞̦̭d̶̹̺̑͆͝ ̵̝͂̽e̵̢̻̿̆̍v̶̞͖̉̔e̷̼͝n̸̨̍͌͘t̶͕̺̄̔͝s̷̱̥͐̎.̶̢̣̘̅̄̑," The eyes seem to shrug, in a weird, telepathic way. "A̸̫̝̗̅͛f̴̰̰̽ţ̵̈́̀̂e̶̗̱̙͌r̶̞͚̳͂͒̕ ̶̪͐̿͊a̵̯͔̅l̶̢̮͒͛̓l̵̡̖̞̿̕,̶̮̌̑ ̶̬̓̔a̸̙̮̰̓̚͠ ̴͎͕̓̐g̸̩͒̔̍à̶̰̮̻m̶̗̦̺͗e̵̱͒ ̵̮̓m̷͔̦̲̔ù̷̦̦̍̓s̸̗̰̃̈̈t̵̪̘̦͠ ̸̡͙̂b̸̜̃e̶̟̩͚̕ ̵̲͈͙̀̑̍ě̸̛̙͝n̸̰͓̹̑t̸̞̀̋͠e̶̖̱̋͜r̸̲̅̕t̸͔̘̚ả̶̧͍̕͝ḭ̴̡̿̇͊ͅň̷̨̛̰̅ǐ̵̩̹͒̈́ṉ̴̑g̵̙͙̟̔́.̴̖͊͆"
Pearl sighs wearily. The Watchers have always been strange in the making of the rules. She supposes she can't be too upset. It was about time Jimmy stopped losing so much.
She re-enters the world as a ghost and finds her Villies erecting a grave for her. Bdubs stops by and reccomends to make it a cresent moon, stating that Pearl would like it. She chuckles passively, touched by the action.
It's not a perfect grave, but it's more than she's gotten in other games, so Pearl loves it all the same. The funeral is a disatours affair, with more insults to her teammates than necessary. She laughs all the same, appreciatting that she was loved and missed.
Slowly, people leave, offering one last word to Pearl's grave. She floats down to sit in the curve of the cresent, staring softly at her Villies. Grian is watching everyone leave, only turning to look at the grave when there's no one but him and Gem. He takes her hand, whispering something into her ear softly. Pearl waits, already having an inkling of what Grian will pull.
Her feeling is proven right when a purple eye opens on Grians head, his wings fading to purple as he activates his Watcher powers. There's a purple haze in Gem's eyes as she gasps softly and stares right at Pearl. She waves slowly, eyes already filling with tears. A melancholic smile makes it's way to Pearls face as she glides over to Gem. She can't wipe the tears away but she tries to anyways, always hating to see Gem upset.
Grian grunts slightly, warning Pearl that he can't hold this for long. She nods and presses a kiss to Gem's forehead, then to his own.
"Live. For as long as you can, live."
Her Villies nod in unison. Pearl smiles one last time before floating back to her grave. She sits at the base of it and closes her eyes, allowing herself to fade from the world completely. Above, the full moon sets, never to rise again.