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Minecraft- Chapter 11: It's a Long Story...

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  With Slenda in the clutches of what appeared to be a well-dressed pumpkin, the four of us; LV, San, TF, and I darted from the jungle clearing and into the thick brush, bounding over whatever leafy blocks were in our way. TF, the only one with knowledge of our destination, took the lead. Behind him were LV and I, and at the back was the always enthusiastic and energetic San, her body shaky and tired.

  I looked ahead to see TF, who was leaping forward off the top of a small tree and LV close behind, pulling himself up the tangle of vines draped across it. Then I looked back to San, panting heavily and about to collapse, simply in an attempt to keep up with me.

  Grabbing the vines of the tree, I waited for San, who was able to quickly catch up.
San looked at me, a confused look on her face, “Wh- *pant* why did you stop?” She questioned as her sweaty hand grabbed for a vine, “We’ve got-- *pant, pant* somewhere to be!”

  San struggled to hoist herself onto the vine, seemingly needing to exert all of her energy simply to hold up her own weight.

  “You know, we could go around it..” I suggested, not wanting to watch any more of San overexerting herself, which before now, didn't really seem possible.

  San was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh and dropping off of the tree.
 
  “Sorry..” She said disheartedly, “I’m not exactly at my hundred-percent today…”

  “Frankly, I hadn’t noticed.” I said with a smile, receiving a friendly punch in the arm from San.

  San stood there for a moment, wiping the sweat from her face with the sleeve of her hoodie before taking a deep breath.

  “Either way..” She began, her face a subtle mix of confidence and apprehension, “We have to keep moving; You may be willing to wait for me, but I don’t think that Jack'll be as generous.”

  I contemplated my options for a moment, hoping to find some kind of compromise, some way that we could get San, in her current state, to our destination in a timely manner without letting her overwork herself to death. Then I had an idea.

  “San,” I said with the upmost assuredness, “Get on my back.”

  San chuckled. “You sure you can hold me?” She asked, tilting her head suspiciously.

  “I’m sure.” I said sternly as I turned my back to her, crouching.

  “Alright,” San said as I could hear her readying a jump, “You asked for it!”

  San quickly leaped onto my back and I linked my arms with her legs, holding her in place.

  I was a bit wobbly at first, but I quickly straightened myself out. Noticing that I was sturdy, she shifted around until she was comfortable, which involved lazily draping her arms over my shoulders and resting her face in my back.

  “You holdin’ up alright?” She asked, practically speaking into my shoulder blade. I nodded in response.

  “Not too heavy..?” She asked, sounding a bit wary.

  “Nah, you’re really light.” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Are you sure you can handle it?” She asked again, “TF said Slenda was five hundred-something blocks away…”

  “I got it.” I said, starting my legs into a walk.

  After quickly getting to the other side of the tree, I was met with LV who had an irritated expression on his face; an expression which quickly changed to an adoring smile when he saw San riding on my back.

  “Aww..” he cooed, covering his mouth with his hands, “You two are so friggin’ adorable~!!”

  I was about to respond with something, but before I could, he quickly straightened out his posture and made his expression firm.

  “But we have a long way to go, including a desert to cover, so I suggest we get moving.”

  “Desert..?” I questioned as we once again began walking through the lush, humid jungle, “..where?”

  “Well, I’m not exactly sure where it begins, but it is somewhere close.” LV answered.

  “How close?” I questioned further.

  “Eh, close enough.”

  “Well, how close is close enough?”

“Closer than not-so close, but not quite really close.”

  I let out an aggravated sigh as I started becoming tired of his shenanigans.

  “BLOCKS. Can you tell me how many BLOCKS away you think the desert is?” I said, my irritation beginning to surface in my voice.

  “Hmm…” He stopped where he stood, pondering the question.

  “Weeeell, less than three million blocks away.. but more than zero blocks awa--”

  “POINT. JUST POINT TO WHERE IT IS AND I WILL FIND IT MYSELF.” I snapped, feeling rather done with the large boy and his tomfoolery.

  With a shrug, he did as I said and pointed his finger. With a relieved sigh, I looked towards where he was pointing… which was a massive opening in the wall of jungle brush and trees that expanded outwardly into vast, seemingly endless hills of sand, cacti and dead plants peppered throughout the landscape.

  I looked back to the boy, who had his arms folded and a wide, smug grin on his face, which, at that time, I would’ve very much liked to cave in with my fist.

  San snickered as she attempted to hide her laughter by burying her face in my back, (though, I don't know how she expected it to work).

  “Ah, quit it.” I said, jostling her around with a quick movement, “You didn’t see it either.”

  “No, I did.” San assured me, “I just thought it’d be funnier if I let it play out.”

  “Much obliged.” LV commended with a hearty tone, tipping an invisible hat. I think San gave him a salute.

  I was just about to inquire to San how the leaves on the ground felt when dropped upon, when we heard a short, sharp sound rip through the air.

  We all looked to TF, gun arm poised towards the sky, stood in the desert sand a good distance ahead of us. His head was tilted down, casting a shadow over his featureless 'face' and leaving his lone green eye to give off an eerie glow.

  “Pardon me for interrupting your joviality and monkeyshines, but if I recall correctly, there is a certain black-haired female who is currently held captive by a creature who has a pumpkin for a head, and it’s about time we weren’t here.” The purple robot said unwaveringly as he turned back towards the desert.

  We hastily followed, entering my first Desert Biome.

  It seemed that between the two biomes was a very clearly discernible border; on one side there were thick green bushes, and on the other there was simply a floor of dry, grainy sand, which was thoroughly difficult to get traction in, (and I’m honestly not sure if San helped or hurt in that regard).

  Oh, and as soon as we stepped into it, we were met with a hot, dry, dusty wind that blew in our faces. That was great. And by great, I mean it was terrible.

  Through all though, TF seemed willing to persist, his stride unflinching as the desert wind threatened to either knock over or blind the rest of us.

  “Hey, TF,” LV began as he pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose to shield them from the sand, “Two questions;  Question One: Why are you suddenly so enthusiastic about saving Slenda?"

  TF let out a groan littered with mechanical interference, one that I had become used to hearing.

  “First of all, I am not ‘enthusiastic’ about anything. But saving the black-haired female is a logical action.”

  “Why~?” LV asked curiously.

  “Because it appears she is the only human in the current group that lacks the quality of constant pointless commentary, and I see it as beneficial to relieve her from her captivity rather than leaving her in the clutches of a pumpkin-headed being who will most likely grant her a world of pain before sending her to her painful, screaming demise...”

  The three of us fell silent, the hot desert wind blowing over us once more.

  "Oooh.. okay, I thought you maybe had a whimsical robot crush."

  TF looked back at him, his voice unamused, "No. That doesn't happen."

  "Imma still ship it." LV said to himself, "I'll ship it almost as hard as I ship Creeper Girl and Commander Ignacious."

  “..What was your other question?” TF asked.

  “Oh yeah.. did you say ‘Monkeyshines’, and can I quote you on that?”

  TF let out another mechanical groan.

  “Just 421 blocks East and 22 blocks South left to go..” TF muttered under his breath. Well, you could tell he was trying, but he didn’t seem to have a function that changed his volume, so we still managed to hear him over the desert wind.

  “Egh..” LV… uh.. somethinged under his breath, “We still seem to have around four-hundred blocks left… anyone have any stories to pass the time..?”

  San practically jumped, (which wasn’t fun for me..) as she eagerly shot her hand into the air.

  “Ooh, ooh!! I’ve got tons of ‘em!” San proudly exclaimed, “What kinda story do you wanna hear?”

  LV seemed as if he wanted to stop and think about it, but TF answered for him.

  “Do you have any ‘stories’ about the pumpkin-headed antagonist that is most likely waiting for us at our destination?”

  “Hm..” San paused for a moment, “One or two.. but it’s mostly just what I’ve heard from Slenda… They’re really her stories to tell.”

  “And while that is a devastating tragedy,” TF said, his voice unchanging, “ I think we should do no less than learn all we can about this new foe before we can formulate a plan of attack.”

  San began to shift around, moving herself higher on my back until I could feel her soft.. chest on the back of my neck.

  “You comfortable?” San asked, stretching out her arms over her head.

  “Quite.” I responded, once again ignoring the weight of the other person that was weighing heavily on my lower back and causing me to sweat.

  “Alright.” She said as she laced her fingers together, which soon let out a no doubt satisfying crack.

  “A looong time ago... you know, a year, maybe less, in a cold, lonesome tundra biome, a girl spawned. Just as most who’ve spawned, she was confused and scared. Not helped by the numbing air that pricked her skin like frozen needles…”

  “Wow.. didn’t expect her to sound so.. pretentious...” LV commented before a small, red TNT block was chucked at his head.

  “Ahem.” San gruffly cleared her throat. “May I continue~?” She asked, quickly switching to a sweet voice.

  “Uh.. go right ahead, madam… I will not be so rude again.” LV grumbled, rubbing the spot on his head where he had been hit with the block.

  “Alright then, where were..”

  “Air like frozen needles.” LV suggested.

  I could feel San glaring at him.

  “Wha—I thought I did good that time!”

  “I was merely doing that for transitional purposes, next time; I go for your legs.”

  “But, I--”

  “You would do best to listen to the blue-haired female,” TF interrupted, “Less she teach you a short, sharp lesson in respect.”

  San respectfully nodded to TF, the block of TNT ready in her hand.

  “A-HEM… The girl could not see as well as most, and this was not helped by the unrelenting blizzard that had ensued, punishing her with an endless wall of hail and wind. She sought shelter under the thick cover of one of the many tall spruce trees of the tundra. However, many of the tree’s branches were very low, and the leaves were less the round, flat leaves of normal trees, and more akin to small spines that pricked her small body as she attempted to wedge herself under them. However uncomfortable it may have been, the cold ground under the tree was protected from the vicious flurry, and she slept there for the night.”

  “Please excuse me if I should sound impatient,” TF interrupted, San scowling downwards at him, “But what chance do we have of finishing the story before reaching our destination? We are nearing the halfway point of our trek, and I would find the telling of the story more prudent if you were to provide us with any useful details on Jack before we get there.”

  For a few seconds, there was a silence, the rustling of the hot afternoon wind and the sounds of our feet sifting up and down in the sand providing sound.

  “Do we have to wait for you to throw the block or can we move o-” *DINK*

  The block deflected off of TF’s metal body and onto the hot sand.

  Another silence.

  “Is this ove--” *DONK*

  ...

  "Are you quite finis-- *PANG*

  San scowled at him once more.

  "I think you'd do best not to anger a hungry female who's just about to get to the 'pumpkin-headed antagonist'." San growled, TF reluctantly nodding for her to continue.
 
  “As the sun rose, warming her face as it shone on her through a pane of glass, her eyes began to flutter open, revealing to her four walls of dark spruce wood, furnished with a furnace, crafting table, and the bed that she found she was laying in. She gazed all around her, her curious yet frightful eyes scanning every inch of the room.. She heard a crunching in the snow outside; footsteps that were becoming louder. Instinctively, she pulled the velvet blanket of her new bed over her face. The door to the house opened, and the crunching snow became heavy steps on the wood floor.

  “You may pull off the blanket.” A rough, raspy voice said, attempting to reassure her.     “I’m the one who brought you here; may I at least see your cute face while it’s awake..?”

  She remained under the blanket for some time, quivering both fearfully and anxiously, but eventually, the blanket reluctantly came down, revealing to the girl the man’s face; a pumpkin, appearing to rest on the shoulders of a man. The blanket did not come back up. In fact, the girl, with big, curious eyes, reached for him and wrapped her arms around his body in a firm embrace. She thanked him for saving her.

  The pumpkin man gave her a name, and he made glasses so that her weak eyes could see as well as anyone else’s.

  Over time, the two formed what felt to the girl as an unbreakable bond, and she thought he would always keep her safe. Whenever he ventured into the dense, snowy forests, she was at his side, watching with the upmost wonder as the monsters that clung to the dark ground fled from him, never coming within ten blocks of the pumpkin man, or his long, mystic cane which held a round pearl at its end.”

  “Clung to the ground..?” I wondered aloud, questioning the all-powerful storyteller who quickly went to flick the side of my head.

  “Shhh.” She quieted, “Please hold all critiques until the end of the chapter.”

  “As I was saying,” she continued, “One day, the pumpkin man asked something of the girl; “I know that you are small, and the monsters of the world can seem very frightening… So I was thinking, how would you like it if I were to make it so you could protect yourself? Make it so that you couldn’t be hurt by the nasty mobs that stalk the night. You would be just like me."

  "The girl was thrilled, eagerly accepting, to which he merely responded; “In the morning.” Filled with excitement, the girl struggled to bring herself to sleep, but her eyelids did fall, and she drifted off into a long, deep slumber.

  "The morning sun on the girl’s face brought her to lucidity; stinging, throbbing lucidity. Her chest felt heavy, and she struggled to breathe, and there was a sharp, stubborn pain in her chest. She tried to sit up, but the pumpkin man was close by, and he told her to stay on her back, that it wouldn’t be good for her if she moved; for the wounds were still fresh. Frightened, she frantically searched under the bed with her hand until she found her glasses, which she hastily placed on her face. Her eyes widened. Her body froze. There was a line of cleanly cut flesh, a seam, running down the middle of her chest.

  "The pumpkin man had placed a pearl, just like the one on the end of his cane, inside of her, and she could feel it brushing against her heart and lungs as she took in a breath.
 
  "But the girl's turmoil did not end there, however much she would have wished for it; he had yet to see if the procedure was successful.

  "As the forests grew dark and the Sun fell from its domain in the sky, the pumpkin man took the girl, disheveled by his mere presence, by her arm; the time for testing had come. Her heels made long trails in the snow as he dragged the frail girl into the blackening woods, going darker and deeper until the girl no longer knew where she was. Bellowing undead moans, the rattling of malicious bones, and the hiss of behemoth spiders could be heard echoing throughout the forest, surrounding the girl. She tried to cling to the pumpkin man, knowing the beasts would not dare harm him.

  "Now, now," the pumpkin man cooed smugly, "You wouldn't want to ruin the experiment, would you?"

  "The pumpkin man batted the girl away with his cane, knocking her into the uncaring snow.

  "If you don't face the mobs, then I'll never know if I was successful or not, and I'll have to waste a few more weeks finding a new test subject!" The girl laid there, sobbing, as the shadowy creatures of the night threw themselves upon her."

  “But then..!” San attempted to continue, before being cut off by TF, putting his arm out in front of us.

  "B-but, I was just getting to the part where I--"

  TF said nothing as he swept his arm, gesturing towards our destination.

  TF had guided us to the top of a small hill, just outside of a village. The buildings of the houses were made from dusty stone, stone that showed the same color as the sand surrounding it. Most noticeably, however, was the massive fissure that split the village in half, its depths seemingly swallowing all light that attempted to creep over its edges.

  Clear at the other end of the ravine, a good distance from us, was a familiar white and red-suited pumpkin man, his candle-lit eyes glowing just as the torch-lit homes surrounding him, looking down into the ravine with his own eerie, crooked grin.
I could feel San reaching into her pocket for her sword.

  “Put me down.” She said “Before good ol’ Jack can even realize what’s happening, we’ll rush him, and I’ll carve ‘em a new mouth on every inch of his body.”

  “No.” TF interrupted immediately, somehow hearing San, “While fighting and dying does sound as if a glamorous demise, we cannot, and will not go in without a plan.

  San seemed a bit befuddled.

  “That.. was my plan…” She murmured.

  TF turned his glowing eye towards the village. “Given how focused Jack is on the ravine, I think it’s a good chance that she’s down there; LV and I will descend into it and work on retrieving Slenda. While we are doing this, I expect San, and her beast of burden, to proceed to...” His gaze searched the village before resting upon what seemed to be rows of crops, encircled by sandy stone. “There. Get down there, get San some food, and--”

  “Get Jack?” San said with a smirk.

  TF glared at her.

  “I believe this when I throw a block at your head for interrupting me.”

  “Sorry...” San apologized, hiding her face behind my shoulder, “Won’t happen again.”

  “You’re right.” TF said as he readied his gun, his arm ready to cock it, “Because it’s time we--”

  “Weren’t here?” San squeaked, still hiding behind my shoulder.

  “No… in fact, better. It's time we ended Jack and this whole farce;” He declared proudly, a *Chick, Chick* sounding off from his gun arm, “ TIME WE MADE A STAND.”

 

  Once our team had split into two groups, and ours had reached the bottom of the hill, it was a simple matter of going around a few houses before reaching our destination; rows and rows of crops, split by clear water, all freshly grown (possibly even the water; it was sexy). I could feel San’s drool on my shoulder.

  “C- Can I have it now~?” San said, her voice quivering with delight.

  With a smile, I began lowering her to the ground, until that is, she decided to just skip the ground part all together and just jump off of my back... my tired, sore, sweaty back, knocking me to the ground

  After getting back up from what I was sure was a critical back injury, my eyes met a pleasant sight; San, entranced by the mere concept of actually having food, she dove into the crops, tearing up any foolish potatoes or carrots that naively hoped that they could hide from the gaze of a hungry San.

  The only thing that seemed somewhat out of place in the short rows of crops was a pumpkin, slowly rising from the water-filled trench beside her. I stood there, frozen for a second, watching as Jack’s white-suit clad body sprung out of the water, his bony, orange fingers reaching for her neck.

  “SAN!!!” I cried out, hoping to change the outcome of the event.

  But then, without warning, she let out a single phrase; “NOT NOW, I’M EATIN’!!” and, quite casually, pulled out her sword and swiftly buried it in his face, without even looking, (Yes, she did it from behind.) his limp body falling backwards into the water, allowing San to carry on with her meal, (which she soon finished).

  Meanwhile, I was standing a few blocks away, still trying to figure out what exactly in the name of all that was holy, (whatever that may be in this world) had just occurred. San came up to me, a satisfied look on her face and leftovers in her pockets.

  “Alright. I’m ready; LET’S GO GET JACK!”

  As one would imagine, I was speechless.

  “Uh.. hello? Obscurous Pilkington, King of Swing?” She asked, (Also; no, not going with that name. It doesn’t fit me, however admittedly ridiculous and beautiful it may be.)

  “..You alright…?” San asked, sounding legitimately concerned.

  “I- I’m fine, it’s just…”

  “What?” She asked, tilting her head.

  “You kinda just... um.. ended Jack.”

  She looked over her shoulder at the devastation once known as a patch of crops, and at Jack’s body, which was now functioning as a sheath for her iron sword.

  “Huh. Guess I did.” San remarked, a smirk appearing on her face.

  I stared at her for a moment, searching her expression for signs of falsehood. It seemed legit.

  “So, uh.. I’m gonna go loot a few of these houses; see if they’ve got any food or stuff like that. Can you go check on the Slenda retrieval crew for me?”

  There was a clear pause wherein it was so quiet, you could hear the crackling of the flames of the nearby torches.

  “..Are you even a human..?” I asked.

  San simply shrugged.


  I soon made my way towards the ravine, stopping at the edge.

  Scanning the walls of the great fissure, I expected to see LV and TF climbing out, Slenda either close behind them or being carried by one of them.. But they weren’t on the walls. It wasn’t until my eyes prodded further, into the very lowest point of the forsaken crevice that I was able to see TF’s glowing green eye, chaotically darting and bouncing about.
 
  Grabbing a torch off of one of the nearby houses, I began hastily descending into the darkness, however terrible of an idea it may have been.

  A few slips and bouts of fall damage later, I managed to make it to the bottom, where I saw TF’s green eye once more, now bouncing towards me. He was running.

  I placed the torch on the ground in front of me, and was ready to congratulate them on the great job they had done and tell them about what San had done, but they did not slow, only increasing in speed as they neared. Before I could even think about asking them what was happening, they darted past me, LV giving me the passing recommendation of, and I quote, “Run like your everything is on fire.” He was, of course, screaming it, but I believe the message gets across either way.

  Before I even had time to think, an arrow flew by my head, embedding itself in the rock wall just behind me. The situation felt familiar, but certainly not nostalgic, so I turned to run, just as I heard another arrow fire. The second arrow, though, seemed to be fired by a significantly better marksman, as it found its way into the back of my right leg.

  Unable to handle the sudden pain suddenly surging through my leg, I collapsed onto the floor.

  As I lay there, still shaking with pain, shots landing all around me, I watched as my attackers came into the light of my newly-placed torch; Not only were there the skeletons who were shooting at me, but there was also a multitude of zombies, and way too many spiders than any normal person would be comfortable with climbing the walls, (To all of those with arachnophobia, I would like to issue my sincerest apologies. I understand.).

  Just then, something came down from the top of the ravine and into the center of the swarm of death, something with an iron sword. In an instant, undead began flying over my head en masse, spiders were tossed against walls, and creepers… well, I didn’t see any creepers, but I’m sure if they were there, there would have been some nice fireworks.

  Sometime after the undead carnage subsided, out of the darkness, extending a hand towards me was San, (as I'm sure 95% of you have already guessed) pulling her hood off, shaking out her hair.

  “Do you just have some kind of sense that tells you when someone’s being attacked by an army of hostile mobs..?” I asked as I reached for her hand.

  She pulled me to my feet.

  “No, I just listen for the sound of feminine shrieking.” She said, cracking a smirk.

  “C’mon, I didn’t shriek… did I?” I wondered aloud.

  “Yep.” She responded, “Just like a feminine.”

  Though I didn’t explicitly remember it, I shrugged it off… what I couldn’t shrug off though, was a distinct pain in the back of my right leg, which I instantly remembered as the head of the arrow began scraping against me. Not particularly wanting the arrow inside of me any longer, I asked San as calmly as I possibly could at that moment to ‘RIP IT OUT, RIP IT OUT, RIP IT OUT!!!’ which she did in an instant, causing me to let out a girlish shriek before collapsing to the ground.

  “Just like a f e m i n i... San’s voice trailed off as my vision faded, my body falling numb.


  When I woke up, I found myself draped over San’s shoulder as we were walking back towards the village, the moon still high in the sky.

  “H.. how long was I out..?” I asked San.

  “Um.. minute, maybe two.” She responded.

  Lifting up my head, I looked at the ravine, puzzled.

  “You carried me. Out of a ravine. How did it only take you two minutes?”

  “Oh, LV made a ladder when him and TF first went down there… I take it you didn’t see it.”

  I shook my head.

  “Ah, whatever, were back at the village now… you can get off if you want.” She offered.

  “I have the option of staying on..?” I asked, seeking some well-needed catharsis.

  “Well, it is fair, but we’re probably going to be heading inside to regroup with everyone else, and I’m not really used to carrying people indoors, so I'll probably end up banging your head on a few things… or, maybe most things.. probably most things.”

  I didn't stay on for long.

  Noticing the other two and an unconscious Slenda within one of the houses, we hastily made our way over.


  San quickly dashed in the door before me, obviously very eager to see Slenda after our long(ish) quest to rescue her.

  You could tell just from a glance that she had been down in the ravine; her sleeves were slashed and torn, her arms were littered with bite marks of all kinds, and her legs seemed to have experienced something similar, and her glasses were cracked and bent, but strangely, her head and chest weren't touched.

  San sat at the end of Slenda’s bed, looking down on her with a worried expression.

  “Slenda..?”

  Almost immediately, Slenda’s eyes began to flicker open. You could tell just by the way she flinched with every movement that she was sore and aching. But then she saw San, sitting at the end of her bed, and her eyes instantly lit up.

  “San..?”

  "Hey Slen, you can still move your arms, right..?"

  Slenda looked over her arms, moving them around.

  "Yeah.. why do you--" Before Slenda even had time to finish, San had wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her as tight as it seemed she possibly could.

  The two held each other for what felt like minutes. I missed you's, I worried about you's, and joyful tears were rampant. I believe I saw LV tearing up.

  “I’m sorry, San... whatever you had to go through to save me from that freak, I’m so sorry…”

  San chuckled.

  “Ah, it was nothin’; I’d do anything to get you back… Besides, I don’t think we’ll be hearing from Jack for a while.”

  Slenda pulled away, an astonished, hopeful look in her eyes.

  “You mean.. You got him in the heart?!” Slenda questioned.

  San froze.

  “H e a r t…? Uh.. There’s a sword stuck in his face, does that count?”

  Slenda let out a deep sigh, a discouraged and frustrated look in her eyes, lowering her head.

  "No.. There's a Nether Star in his chest that gives him life. You'd have to destroy it to actually kill him..."

  “Sooo, he's not dead." LV thought aloud, scratching his head, "Guess that explains that…”

  Slenda's eyes immediately pointed themselves at LV. "Explains what?" She asked, her voice spiked with urgency.

  "Well, on the way into the ravine, I popped some meat into one of the furnaces in the blacksmith's house." LV began, "When we got you out, I went to check on the meat and noticed that someone not only placed a rather foreboding Nether portal inside of the blacksmith's house, but they had also absconded with my cooked porkchops. Sounds to me like it was Jack who did it."

  “How fresh was it?” Slenda questioned.

  “Newly cut, I didn't even have it in my inventory for that l--"

  "THE PORTAL." Slenda stated, seemingly already irritated and desperately seeking to get to the point, (something that LV never seemed very fond of).

  "Oh, looked like someone just crafted it." LV answered quickly, not wishing to anger her further..

  "We goin' to the Nether~?" San asked, her voice alight with anticipation.

  Slenda nodded. "If that's were Jack is, then yeah."

  San jumped up from her place on the bed, giving her hand to Slenda, who pulled herself up to San's level.

  "Can we go now?!" San asked, nearly jumping, "I looove the Nether~!!"

  Slenda put her hand on San's shoulder. "Let's."

  With a fire in her eyes I hadn't seen before, Slenda raced out the door, an ever-willing San right behind her.

  I was just about to follow, when I noticed LV and TF not following.

  "You guys coming?" I asked.

  LV stood there, awkwardly scratching his head.

  "As good as it sounds.. you probably shouldn't wait up for us..."

  "You're not coming..?" I asked.

  "Well, I didn't say we weren't coming, but we're going to see if we can get some resources before joining you." LV reassured. He turned to TF, smiling and giving him a hefty pat on the back, "Ready for an extended mining expedition of unknown length~?"

  "All the dirty jobs..." TF let out an annoyed groan. "Very well, a good many swords were broken in an attempt to reclaim the girl."

  LV thrust a newly produced steel pickaxe into the air, thoroughly pumped. "Alrighty then, let's get moving!!"

  With that, LV leapt off from the house's doorway, swinging his pickaxe over his head, towards the ravine, TF following behind.

  After a quick search through the village, I found a large stone building with an outstretched roof that acted as a canopy, all looming over what I could instantly tell, just by looking at it, was the Nether portal. Resting atop a platform of stone, sitting under the building's canopy, was a ring of strange, purplish-black stone, its center completely filled in with.. stuff. I couldn't really tell what the 'stuff' inside of the Nether portal was, but it was a swirly, wavy, fluctuating wall of matter, particles of which would occasionally stray from its gravity and float off into the air. That's how I could tell it was the alleged Nether portal.. and because of the fact that San was leaning against it, greeting me with a smile.

  "Took you long enough." She taunted.

  "You're the one who decided to wait for me." I said, shrugging.

  "Eh, you waited for me when I was struggling to keep up, figured it was only right I did the same..."

  "So, when're you going to carry me on your back through a desert?" I asked, crossing my arms judgingly.

  "I carried you up the ladder and out of the ravine, didn't I?" She asked.

  "I wouldn't say that makes us even."

  "You ever carry someone up a ladder?"

  I have not. I shook my head.

  "At least I'm not that heavy.. right?" I asked, my mind starting to wander.

  "Ooh.." She paused for a moment, seeming a bit uneasy, "You keep telling yourself that, chief." Seeming as if she wanted to offend me.

  "WELL YOU'RE NO--" I stopped for a second, not clever enough to think of anything.

  "Not clever enough to think of anything?" San asked, raising an playfully suspicious eyebrow.

  "No.." I told her, "I just.. decided it wasn't wise to poke fun at a woman's weight."

  San chuckled. "Eh, I don't really care, I was never that womanly anyway..." She looked into the portal. "So, you gonna go in anytime this year?"

  "Yeah, yeah.." I said, stepping up to the portal.

  I stopped. The wall of purple stuff, (that's what I'm calling it; If you don't like it, than it's not my problem) stood before me dauntingly. The swirling pool of undulating stuff was neither a solid or a gas, but somewhere inbetween; something that I felt if I walked through, would simply let me pass through, leading nowhere but the other side of the black ring. I lifted up a hand, one finger lifted, and began steadily pushing it towards the portal.

  "You know, we're in a bit of a hurry." San noted.

  "Sorry if I take a little while, I'm just struggling to comprehend the portal which seems to bend the laws of time and space at will." I replied.

  "Ah, it's not that complicated," San assured, "It's like a door! Just shove your face in there and see what happens!"

  "Yeah, riiight..." I sighed, "I mean, it's not like it's some other-worldly portal that seems to playfully tweak the fabric of reality, or anything. Not intimidating at all..."

  "Aw, come on," San urged as she playfully socked me in the shoulder, "Just jump in!"

  Wanting to take it a bit slow, (to San's obvious dismay) I breached the portal with my fingertip, San letting out an audible sigh. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but suddenly, my finger began to fluctuate and shift, giving way to the same fluid, chaotic soup of the Nether portal. I instantly pulled my finger out, the experience leaving me fearful of what would happen if my whole body were to push through. It was then that I felt two hands on my back, and an entire body of force behind them.

   Thanks to San, next thing I knew, I was on my way to the Nether.

 

                                   --To Be Continued--
[Alternate title- Cody Has Fun with Words]

With Slenda in the clutches of a well-dressed Halloween decoration, our heroes venture towards his location in the desert. Hijinks ensue.



I'm sorry it took me a month to sit down and write this. I am a procrastinating bitch. BUT NO MORE. I swear to you on my dead Uncle Rex's blanket.
It's pretty cool, it's got tigers n' shit.

Also, this is the longest story I've written. Ever. I've had no sleep so I'm gonna go die now 'kay thanks, bye.

*Edit*-- 7/27, I decided to reread this with a friend, (:icontffan1:) and we found A LOT of things I didn't like. Because of this, I have corrected any errors, grammatical, spelling-wise, or plot-related. If you've already read the story, I'd recommend that you'd at least skim it once more. I've added quite a few scenes, (mostly from the middle to the end, but there are little bits everywhere) and I would appreciate if you would read it again in it's new and improved form. I love you people, thanks for everything.
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Princessofdark0's avatar
How are those tigers on dat blanket?? XD