Most people don't realize that fairy tales are warnings. Sure, they have happy endings, usually. But not before there's a lot of suffering. And whether or not the endings are worth it in the end is up to interpretation. Foolish mistakes, ones that the main characters made in the beginning, often caused some bigger problems in the future. The deeper you went into the woods, the worse things got.

A sentient jungle seemed like something out of a fairy tale. But in reality, Doc and Bdubs remembered the jungle all too well. At first, it had all seemed okay. Just the four members of the NHO, building their civilization last season. The other hermits tended to avoid the area, sensing a darkness in the way the branches seemed to move without needing any wind.

But the NHO members, in hindsight, were quite foolish. They didn't listen, as they wanted to keep to themselves that season. And everything was okay. Bdubs and Beef made wonderful structures. Doc and Etho created incredible contraptions. The four men settled into a relatively peaceful existence.

It was six months later that Doc realized that there was something wrong. Something about how the wind whistled through the trees, whispering to him in long-forgotten tongues and voices that belonged to no hermit. How the shadows seemed to dance on the floor, not matching the canopy above.

Paths that the group had forged disappeared in the middle of the night, having been grown over by foliage. Sleep was interrupted by feral sounding growls of unknown creatures. Belongings that were left unattended vanished without a trace.

It wasn't until Bdubs started growing vines that they started to fear for their lives and sanity. He claimed that they didn't hurt him, but all the others could see were strangulating ropes around his limbs, as though the jungle itself was trying to claim their friend.

Soon afterward, it grew too risky to leave the main part of the community they had built. The trees were closing in on the previously made paths, and the foliage was too thick to cut easily. The NHO contemplated burning a way through, but feared they would burn to death in the process.

Beef was the first one to disappear one night vanishing without a trace. After he had gone, the creatures became more intense. If you got too close to the trees, you would be clawed at by something, but you could never tell what it was. If you were quick enough, maybe you could see the movement of whatever it was out of the corner of your eye, but never enough to truly be able to tell where it was.

Etho, Doc, and Bdubs went out to look for their friend, gathering the materials they thought they would need to travel safely. But the jungle had already erased all traces that he was ever there. It was as if the jungle had claimed him as a prize.

While they were searching, Etho got separated from the others. A shout of fear came from a few hundred feet away, separated by thick trunks of wood. Doc and Bdubs hurried as fast as they could to the source, and were greeted by the sight of their friend being dragged off by something. They, of course, chased after him, but the jungle slowed them with roots at their feet pulling up from the ground and vines trying to drag them into the branches above. The growls from other monsters came from all around them, reverberating in their skulls.

Either a sign of their friends or a sign of an exit would have been a welcome sight. The thick jungle couldn't last forever, could it? But it seemed endless, infinite, as though the entire world was now just jungle.

Eventually, the jungle got the two survivors to split up again, and Doc was running blind. But fear gave into anger, and he refused to be hunted down like some sort of prey. He had a flint and steel in his pocket, and he intended to use it. Maybe if he fought back, the jungle would focus on him rather than his friends.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he was striking the flint and steel together, and the first few vines started to burn. The jungle quickly tried to put out the flames, but Doc was quicker. A crazy thought, sure, but at this point, it was time for crazy thinking. A sword to his arm, a quick slice, and some blood fell on the flame. Now, for most people, this would be a useless task. But Doc was part creeper, and had gunpowder in his blood. The drops were heated up quickly, and soon little explosions sent sparks onto wood and leaves all around him.

The jungle seemed to screech in pain, and the world seemed to twist around him. He couldn't tell if it was from blood loss, exhaustion, smoke, or just the malicious magic of the trees they found themselves in. But Doc continued to run around spreading his blood-fueled flames, not caring about the heat. He ran until he could see a bright light around him, and the trees spit him out like a bad piece of food.

Xisuma, upon finding Doc in his condition, went to check the NHO Jungle. But he found nothing but charcoal pillars left over from the fire. It was as if all traces of the NHO had vanished. Odder still, the jungle that was burned and the jungle that was there at the start of this madness were different in size, but the unburned section was gone, as though it had never existed.

It wasn't too long later that Xisuma changed the season, getting the hermits away from the now obviously corrupted server. There was no reason to believe that Beef, Etho, and Bdubs were alive at this point. But Doc made an oath to himself before going through the portal to Season 6. He would defend his friends or die trying. If something like this ever happened again, he would take action instantly.

Of course, a few generations from now, many many seasons in the future, the story of the destruction of the NHO would probably be considered nothing more than a fairy tale, teaching people about the dangers of ignoring problems. But for Doc, it was all too real, and he had definitely learned his lesson.

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So yeah, the exact status of the other two NHO members is unknown. But Doc doesn't really like jungles now, and the jungle turned Bdubs into a dryad.

Sorry for the intense angst, I've wanted to put down my NHO headcanon for a while now, and I wanted to do something dark for the prompt, so yeah, this happened.

Poor Doc and Bdubs... I'm going to hug them now. Hope you enjoyed.

Sea you later!

-Aqua