Words: Red, hope, trance

The day my red string showed was an amazing day. I would finally get to know who my soulmate would be! I would get to know who the person I would spend the rest of my life with would be.

I am now following the string, following as it twists and turns. I follow the string looking for my one true love. I really hope the person will be nice and accept me for who I am.

I think back to the things that have happened to me. How my own brother abandoned me and sent me to the void. I mean, I did destroy, like, half the server and try to kill him...but still.

So maybe my story wasn't really a sob story, but still. I wanted a second chance, but I was never given one. I apologized to them all and asked for a second chance, but never got one.

That doesn't matter now; right now all that matters is trying to find who my soulmate was. I hope that this would be the end of his suffering.

I hope...

I'm brought back out of my hopeful trance when I feel a tug on the string. The tug seemed to be coming from the right so I followed. Only now I realised where I actually was. My string had led me to a graveyard.

Strange...

I blinked, looking around. I could suddenly see a figure who was dressed in a red sweater and had blonde hair which framed his head. We were sitting in what looked to be the void, just a black world around us. I couldn't tell what was happening, but I could figure out that he must have been him, my soulmate.

I watched him look over towards me smiling. He was speaking, but I must have missed the first part of what he had said. "I'll be there for you, promise. I trust you, after all," was all I had heard from him.

The memories kept coming back to me. His name, Grian. He had trusted me and I wanted to be able to see him again.

I blinked once again and saw him standing in front of me. This time we were in a different place, one with many buildings and such but they were getting destroyed. The void was all around us, consuming the world, and him.

Was I the cause of this? I didn't have to think long about that question. Grian had answered me.

"I trusted you, Ex. Why didn't you do the same?"

Grian was crying, and glaring at me. I supposed I was the cause.

"Look what you've done! They're gone. All of them. Evo, Hermitcraft...there's no one I can trust anymore. There's no one here."

I couldn't say or do anything, just watch the scene playing in front of my eyes. I felt the guilt set in, how could I have done this. Would he remember all this? Would there be a way to make it up to him if he did?

"I guess there's no reason for me to stay here anymore." He had said, before I was forced to watch him fly into the void head first. I felt tears swell up in my eyes. I need to make it up to him. I need to find him and make sure I treat him better, with actually trusting him myself.

--

I felt a sudden tug on my string, and I felt a surge of hope rise up inside as I was brought back to the present. I was close now. I could tell.

I broke out into a run, following the string's trail at a faster pace than before. I could feel my heartbeat quicken, matching my hurrying footsteps as I turned multiple corners, feeling the insistent tug of the string now.

It might have been my imagination, but the red string almost seemed to glow a faint red now. Maybe that was what happened when you got close to your soulmate. But I couldn't help but notice it glowed less gently and more...urgent, I guess. Like an error sign, in a way.

I shook my head as I ran. No, that couldn't be it. He was close, after all. The string wouldn't let me down now.

No matter anymore. I was close now. I could finally meet Grian again, tell him how sorry I was. He didn't know it, but I had made some mistakes I intended to fix once I reunited with him. The thought of everything going back to normal made me hopeful once more.

He would trust me again.

I slowed as I approached the graveyard. I could see the old stone tomes sticking up from the ground, the whole place feeling dreary and sad. Just seeing it reminded me of what happened last time, but I quickly pushed the thoughts again, focusing on the hopeful bit.

The string was pulling me right into the graveyard. I frowned a bit in confusion--why would Grian be here? Maybe he was paying homage to a lost one? It seemed morbidly ironic that we would be meeting again in a graveyard, considering...you know.

I was tempted to stay back and wait until Grian came out. But my red string seemed to read my thoughts, as it was practically radiating dangerous red light now. It was like it was telling me, Look! He's right there! Now's your chance!

So I took that chance and followed the string inside the graveyard.

After weaving around different tombstones and searching the grounds for any sign of Grian, I stopped in front of a small, minimalistic tomb. It looked fairly new, but ivy was already starting to snake its way up the cracked stone. There was no name on it.

But my red string was wrapped around it tightly.

I felt a wave of emotions rush over me--disconcertion, confusion, then concern. Why did my string lead me here? What did this tomb have to do with Grian? Maybe the error-like glow of the string really had been true. Was there such a thing as a faulty string?

I stared at the tomb for a bit longer, still confused. And that's when I realized...the red string did lead me to my soulmate. My soulmate was right in front of me. But it was too late. I was too late to fix everything.

It had happened once before. How did I not know that it could happen a second time? There was no way I could get his trust back now. I couldn't.

Grian was dead. This was his tomb.

Score: 7