Chapter Text
It's silent. Frustratingly so. The only sounds you hear being your heartbeat and your heavy breaths as you calm down from the bloodlusted state you were in.
Your sword is dripping with blood as you yank it out of the back of the villager you just killed, the sun shining off of the metal that isn't soaked in blood.
However, the silence is confusing.
No longer is anyone in your area screaming with fear. And unlike usual, you don't hear any grunts or cheers of victory after the screams are all gone.
When the screams have stopped, that usually signals that the village is dead and your clan has won.
You've already killed quite a couple villagers, while screams and crackling sounds filled your ears in the background. That's normal. You raid and you kill and you destroy villages.
The absolute silence is not normal, and is what snaps you out of that state.
There is never silence in raids. There are always screams of fear from villagers, or cheers of victory from your clan, there is no in between.
Confused, you look around, trying to figure out what in wither is going on.
You freeze up as you scan the area, corpses everywhere.
That's not what spooks you. What spooks you is that the majority of the corpses aren't villager corpses.
No, your kin lays dead everywhere you look instead, the ravagers crumbled and broken instead of the buildings and the rest of your clan absolutely mauled and bludgeoned.
Gore doesn't affect you, you're so used to it. At least, not when it's villagers.
No, as you see your dead kin and clan members, bile pools in the back of your throat and you almost feel like you are going to throw up, your free hand pressing against your mouth as your eyes widen, before frantically whipping around.
Trying to find at least one of your kin. One alive other than you.
You don't succeed.
How did this happen? It hasn't even been half of an hour, and your entire clan is dead. Even when there are adventurers in a village, it doesn't take this short of an amount of time to take down an entire damn clan.
The village's golem couldn't possibly have done this either. There's a reason you have the ravagers, to kill the iron golems.
This…this isn't good, whatever happened while you were crazed and zoned out and hungry.
Your clan is one of the largest and strongest clans in the area. Until now there was only ever small little losses, the occasional death, which could easily be replaced. You've conquered countless villages, leaving every single person in a village dead on the ground.
But…but this time, your clan is what lays dead on the ground.
Your entire clan came for this, to conquer this large village. Word was caught that it covered an entire field and had loads of riches and resources. And of course, the mass amount of villagers. No one in your clan could refuse going to conquer it.
You all would've had food and jars of blood to last for many months more.
What could've possibly done all of this?
Unfortunately for you, your answer doesn't go without an answer for long as a massive shadow is cast over you.
Despite your fright and better judgement, you slowly and cautiously turn around to see what's behind you. You wish you just ran away as you turn and see what blocks out the sun, horror filling you as you find your answer.
Before you stand not one, not two, but three iron god damn golems. Unnaturally massive. It's normal for them to be larger than you, but these ones absolutely tower over you.
And do not look like the ones you usually see.
Despite the collective name being IRON golems, golems usually naturally grow themselves.
The first two are relatively normal looking. One seeming to be a flower variety and the other a moss variety. Well, all three do wear what seem to be small shawls across their upper bodies. Villagers really seem to like giving fabrics to their golems.
But they look like they are actually made of metal and are thinner than golems normally are, and far...creepier than nature than they normally seem.
However, the third one is far more different, not a single normal thing about it really, with a much darker shell and white vines, similar to the color of bones. This one doesn't have arm plates, the vines of its arms loose and wild.
And its shawl is…made out of different pillager uniform fabrics, long enough to mostly cover its torso, and a pair of ravager horns sit on its head.
But strange teal moss covers several parts of it, even where its eyes would be, and several things grow around its head, which look like the traps of a venus flytrap plant.
And the outer shells of all three, giving shape to the vines inside that are their actual bodies, are absolutely covered in blood.
The blood of your clan.
As you slowly look up, you find their eyes, the black pit holes in each head terrifying as only a simple glowing dot as a pupil sits in each, glaring down at you and burning holes into you, causing you to slowly and quietly gulp.
Oh.
You don't think you like this.
For once in your life, your grip is loose, and you drop your sword with a clattering thump.
All three seem to snap to look at the sword, a small slight distraction, before you take off running, eyes wide as you frantically attempt to run.
You hear a growl but you don't hear footsteps going to follow you, and you almost think they are letting you get away. Until you trip over the body of one of your own kin that you miss in your panic.
A yelpy shriek leaves you as you fall to the ground with a thump, and only after you fall do you hear the iron golems cross the very short distance between you and them.
You don't get up as you hear each of the three stop, one at your right, another at your left, and the third right behind you. Instead choosing to just lay there trembling, too scared to try and escape again as the three crouch down closer to you.
You flinch as you hear a chuff, before yelping slightly as you feel one of their large hands dig into the fabric of the back of your shirt and pull you up into a sitting position.
And clearly the one behind you is leaning over slightly because you are brought face to face with its annoyed expression, upside down from your current point of view. The traps that grow around its head way too close for comfort.
You are quiet for a bit before gulping, your ears lowering.
"Ahh sh-shit......."
You hear one snort and another growl, before yelping as the three stand back up, the one behind you still holding the back of your shirt, and you quickly find yourself in the air, frantically grasping at the hand over you - wait no the vine - the fabric of your shirt probably threatening to tear at least slightly.
Shit shit shit it just had to be the tallest of the three.
As you quickly and frantically cling to its arm, you hear a laugh leave it. However, you are quick to panic as you are brought in close proximity to its face, the traps flexing as if wanting to snap down around your face right now, a low growl leaving the vines of its throat, followed by a weird clicking sound.
“Hmph. I haven't seen a pest this small before. A shame that you're the last. I bet your bones would snap so nicely…~”
Your eyes somehow widen even more as it speaks, gasping softly, meanwhile its low, growled words send chills down your spine.
It can fucking talk?! Golems aren't supposed to be able to talk!
You are relieved as it pulls you away from its face once more, and you almost relax.
Almost.
You are quick to tense once more as the mossy golem leans in closer to your ear with a hum, face ever so slightly obscured by a veiled hat atop its head, making it so that you can only see the glow of its eyes.
“Now, here is how this is going to go. We will set you back down, and you will leave, a warning to what little else you have of your clan to never try us again.”
Oh my gods are all three of them able to talk-
Unfortunately you are pulled back higher towards the tallest golems face. This is definitely your least favorite of these damn golems.
“But if you ever come back, so much as take a step on our land..your time here won't be as nice as it is this time.”
The threat makes a shiver of dread go down your spine. However, you console yourself. You don't plan to anyway.
So quickly you nod, too frightened to speak but too frightened to not give a response.
And thankfully, you are finally set back down with nothing but a snort from the strangest of these golems.
You stumble slightly as your boots finally touch the ground once more, standing there silent for a few moments after you are let go, staring up at them.
“Run away, little pillager..”
Finally you bolt away, running as fast as you can and not even bothering to grab your sword. There's no need when there's plenty more weapons back home.
And you don't stop until you are finally back in the forest, in the trees, and you collapse on the ground, wheezing and gasping for breath.
What the FUCK.
Everything about those golems was strange. For starters, there's THREE. Sure, it's a large village, but usually golems are very territorial towards each other, so usually it's only one golem per village.
Usually, a golems shell doesn't grow to be that big! They grow bigger with their vines, but never larger than a certain point. Or at least, you thought they never did. It must be a rare thing, because this is the first time you've so much as heard about them being that big. Even with the…small amounts of memory you once had.
But the almost glowing mossy one that made its desires very very well known was massive, and while the smaller two were scary, that one seems like it came out of your worst damned nightmares.
Finally, you huff, pushing yourself back up and standing up, brushing your clothes off.
That does not matter.
Yes they are scary, yes you might get nightmares when you go to sleep, but you will never be coming back here, so they will not be a problem for you, and you will not dwell on them while conscious.
However you pause, the village still in view.
The villagers now leave their homes again, the threat gone and now they no longer need to hide while their guardians save them.
You shiver as you see the golems gathering some of the corpses and eating them, however leaving the small amount of dead villagers alone.
This is why you feared you were about to have your head bitten off. They eat whoever attacks their village.
But as the villagers exit their homes again, you…you see them start to gather the bodies as well, assisting the golems, a couple gently gathering the dead of their kin. You only just barely remember that they bury their kin out of respect. If someone of your kin dies, they are unworthy and are meant to rot where they died.
And as the villagers come back out into the open and help the strange golems, they..they seem to soften a bit. Movements less harsh and more calm, stepping carefully.
Villager children, no doubt used to the sight of death, happily start to laugh and play and follow the golems, and a giggle loud enough to reach where you are leaves the yellow golem.
You don't even know how long you stand there, for some reason stuck in place, as the bodies of your clan are seemingly stored away somewhere, and you see some of the villagers walk up to them with buckets of water and towels, and…start to clean them, some of the children running over and helping.
You don't think that's a normal thing for villages to do. You don't think you should be caring about that.
Your shoulders sag slightly and you feel your ears lower, your feet shifting slightly, a strange, confusing feeling filling you.
Why are you watching all of this? And why are you still here?
You abandoned a life anywhere near like this so long ago. Why are you so conflicted about this?
However, as soon as you make those small movements, you are snapped out of it as the largest golems head snaps to your direction several yards away, its body soft and relaxed to tense and focused in a second.
It doesn't have any eyes, but it feels as though it stares directly at you, making you tense with surprise, and for a good minute you feel as though you are in a stare down.
Before finally it tilts its head, lowering its mouth piece and revealing a grin full of sharp teeth. Definitely knowing you're still there in the tree line. No doubt trying to scare you off.
And it works, quickly taking off running as if it stood up to chase you. Which it didn't, and at no point do you hear heavy footsteps following you.
No, all you hear is your footsteps, and as it falls into night, the clanking sounds of skeletons, and the hisses of zombies, spiders, and creepers.
You are quick to grow tired, but you do not stop, you don't allow yourself to, adrenaline pushing your legs to keep going, deeper and deeper into the forest.
Before finally reaching the mansion that inhabited your clan.
Pushing the doors open, you slip inside and slam them closed behind yourself, collapsing on the carpet as you pant and gasp for breath.
Oww everything hurts..The journey to that village at least had been cut in half, as you all had stopped for a moment before continuing the way here. But you just ran all of the damn way back here, now struggling to breathe, your lungs heaving.
Shit shit shit you need to get to the food storages, you're gonna choke.
You don't have time to take a break, shakily forcing yourself back and wobbily hurrying to one of the closest food storages, slamming the door open and grabbing one of the stored jars of blood.
If you did this while everyone was still alive, eating without permission and straight out of the storages, you'd be in so much trouble.
Good thing they aren't here then.
Your fingers shake and slip as you struggle to get it open, sliding down onto the ground so your legs don't collapse underneath you. But, as soon as you get it open, you aggressively toss the lid and bring it to your mouth, chugging the whole jar down, some spilling down your chin and onto your shirt.
You are however too tired to care.
Blood now in your stomach, forcing more oxygen back into your system, you pant and wheeze softly, head hanging down forward and jar slammed onto the ground next to you as you recover.
Unlike villagers, you may have been able to run that far, but it sure has its consequences.
It's several minutes before you can regain your composure, maybe even half an hour, but you finally manage to stand up again, wiping the back of your hand across your mouth, leaving the empty jar on the ground as you shamble your way back out into the halls, however, you do swipe a few small bunches of hay.
It's too god damn silent. Before, there was at least always the background sound of noise from the rest of your clan, whether near or far in the distance. It was annoying at the time.
But now the silence is damning.
You're tired and just want to shut down. You can process your feelings later, for now you just head to where your sleeping chamber is. It's nothing much. But it's got your bed, and that's all that matters.
Oh, yes, and one other thing too.
As you shamble your way into the room, a heavy sigh leaves you as you close the door behind yourself with a click
And you don't even flinch as you hear a growly sound, simply yawning, sitting down on your bed, pulling your feet up and yanking your boots off.
And when you drop them back down, you are met with exactly what you expected. Or who.
Pebble.
In front of you, on the ground, a ravager calf sits, about the size of a three month old cow calf, staring intently up at you.
And your spoiled little man. The only joy in this life that you were forced into so long ago.
Technically, he isn't a baby, no, at a certain point he stopped maturing and for several years now he's been the same. Not a baby but definitely not an adult.
They were going to kill him. If he wasn't going to mature, there was no use for him. But you decided to sneak him into your room, and now here with you he has been for years.
And very much eyeing the bunches of hay in your hand.
Softly you chuckle, scratching the side of his face, skin nowhere near as rough and hardened as an adults, before holding them out for him to take.
“Here you go bud. Bet you're hungry after how long I was gone.”
An eager chittery sound leaves him, before you watch as he eagerly chomps on them, patting him on the head between his small horns.
Despite the villagers' knowledge, and the knowledge you once had, Ravagers are not carnivores. Not even omnivores. You'd hear rumors of them eating people, but they never did. No, they are meant to be large gentle herbivores.
You're happy he didn't mature, honestly. The treatment of the ravagers is cruel, forced to be even harder and aggressive than they are meant to be. Abused and starved and chained.
Softly you sigh, eagerly shedding and tossing away your outer layers and pulling yourself further onto the bed with a groan of exhaustion, Pebble quick to climb onto the bed and curl up next to you as you tuck yourself into the thin blankets you have, partially wrapping your arms around him once comfortable.
And it's not a surprise to you when he purrs loudly and endlessly, a little noisemaker for you who made it easier for you to sleep ever since you ‘adopted’ him.
Everything aches, even your heart. Your clan is dead and you are all alone in the mansion. They were all terrible, most pillagers are. But since you were shoved into this life, they've been the closest you've ever had to a family, other than Pebble.
But now it's just you and him. For a while you won't have to worry too much, there is food enough to last both of you for months. But, it will dwindle. And you don't plan on staying here for more than at most a couple of weeks. This place is too big to live with just one other person. So you will go to one of your clans outposts and live there, taking as much of the supplies as you can.
But as you calm and relax, exhaustion hits and it's not long before you go to sleep with thoughts about how you are going to push through, and thoughts about certain golems that are very quickly buried deep.