There can only be one winner: Intro
Pandora rubbed the night from her eyes, almost vocalising her disapproval at the sun's untimely arrival in a less than polite manner, forcing herself out of her bed. She looked over to the other side of the room to see that Duncan's bed was empty and still freshly made. It was more than likely that Duncan had ignored the beckons of the night and had continued to work on whatever he was doing. Pandora shook her head, his projects would kill him one of these days and she'd be there to say "I told you so".
She quickly slipped into her riding boots and hunting jacket, grabbing a pouch of musket ammo and tying it to her belt for easy access. Then she grabbed the gun herself, Ol` Faithful, and swung it over her shoulder. Finally, she felt somewhat prepared and with a familiar chime, she activated her flying ring and soared out of the hole in the window. Pan had set up her stables just outside the castle. It seemed like years ago they'd made a bargain. Duncan would teach her the ways of science if she bred him a Nightmare like the one she already had. Her aim wasn't far off and she admitted that learning from Lalna the mad scientist was fun. The hardest part was trying to create the peace she wanted so badly.
It had been a terrible idea to set the nuke under Blackrock castle but it had already been done before Pan had even got there. The fire had been set before there was any means to stop it. Now, all Pan could do was try to repair what was broken. Rythian, the master of magic, and herself were friends. She went over to Blackrock whenever she could for a chat, a few magic lessons and a good old fashioned bitching session. Zoey often joined in too and seemed interested in Pan's horses. So much, in fact, her precious Nightmare was named after her. She new if anyone could fix this mess before the war began, it was wise-intentioned Zoey and herself. It was clear Rythian had feelings for his red-headed apprentice. He'd even told Pan as such on one occasion. If she stood between frightful Lalna and vengeful Rythian, he'd stop his mad vendetta and peace would be restored. Pandora was just there to help it along.
She set herself down lightly on the soft earth, checking every shadow for Creepers, Spiders or worse, Endermen. They were the one thing she struggled to fight. How were you meant to shoot something that disappeared whenever you aimed at it? The noise they made terrified her too. Her stables were far from elaborate. There was a little shack that the Horses could retreat too when it rained but otherwise her horses roamed free in a large paddock, enclosed by wooden fences. A few noticed her approach and raised their heads from the patch of grass they were currently nibbling on.
"Good morning, babies! How are you all?" she exclaimed, as she did every morning when she visited them. Pandora went about her morning tasks with mechanical ease. She refilled the water and made sure all of the horses were healthy. She muttered greetings and spoke to the horses as she worked. Duncan had once implied that she was certainly mad as none of the horses could talk back. Pan had confirmed this and said she didn't care.
Pandora had only bought one of her many horses from her Farmhouse, Shadowmere. It had been her first horse, with shimmering, midnight hair and eyes that could stare down Rythian if it so desired. She'd given her menacing gold armour that turned her from a gorgeous horse to a war horse. Nothing about Shadow was obvious and she liked the shadows behind the stables more than the sunlight of a bright day. Blood was her water and flesh was her sustenance. Pandora loved her more than any of the others but she'd never admit it.
"Good morning, Pan!" shouted a familiar voice from above her. A familiar blonde scientist in a dirtied lab coat leaned out of the first floor window that overlooked her pen. Pandora looked up and was instantly trapped by the endless pools that were his eyes. They always seemed so happy and carefree, like a summer's sky, no matter what burdens he carried. Whenever she met his eye-line, she was instantly lost, she could never hold a grudge against him no matter how hard she tried. Those eyes would just pull her in again.
"Ah, good to see you still have a concept of time! I often wonder if you can tell in that cave of yours!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms out wide to greet him. He broke out into a wide grin and shook his head.
"How's the horses?" he asked, breaking through yet another of his windows to greet her properly. Pandora was glad he asked, she had good news.
"Good. No health issues. Ry has stopped trying to kill Livid, Freckles is eating again; thank Notch; and Zippy Gonzales, or whatever you called your Zebra-"
"His name is Zippy." he interjected, landing in front of her and walking over to pet his Zebra. It had taken hours to find, riding around on Freckles the Cowhorse like madmen, apple in hand in the vain hope they would find one before nightfall. In the end, they found Zippy, who ran from Duncan so fast Pandora was desperate to call it Gonzales but it was his Zebra after all.
"Well, you'll actually find he's a she." she replied, smiling proudly, "and she's got a little one on the way. Do you know what that means?" she asked the scientist, who knew as much about Mo'Creatures horses as a blade of grass, as if she was speaking to a two year old. He shrugged , petting the mane of his prized Zebra as it chewed away at some feed.
"Nightmare?" he guessed, raising one of his eyebrows in question.
"Zorse." Pandora corrected, "Which I can turn into a Nightmare with an essence of fire, do you know what that means?" she asked again, raising an expectant eyebrow. Duncan stepped away from his pet and smiled.
"Nether trip?" he asked hopefully.
"Nether trip." Pan confirmed. Duncan couldn't hide his glee. He'd needed Ghast tears for ages but there was no point going unless both of them needed too. It saved two death-defying trips.
"I'll just finish up my research down in the Thaum-Cave then we'll head out. Sound good?" Duncan asked, his eyes gleaming like a small child asking to be driven to the sweet shop after school.
"So, tomorrow it is then! I've got some work.." she trailed off, spotting movement on the tree line. Normally, she'd dismiss this as a cat or some other friendly creature, but it was just far too tall. It looked awfully like...
"Pan? Is everything, ok?" he asked, trying to follow her eye-line. Clearly he saw what she did. A cloaked figure sat atop a horse on the tree line, as still as stagnant water. It was shrouded in darkness, mystery and intrigue.
"Friend of yours?" he managed to ask, not even noticing both of them were blatantly staring. He hadn't gone for his Red Matter katar simply because if Pan thought it was a threat, she'd have loaded and cocked her musket by now. Instead she seemed to be in an awestruck silence, her grey eyes staring at the figure as if it was doom itself brought before her.
"In a manner of speaking." she replied, her voice barely above a whisper, "Head down to the Thaum-Cave, I'll fetch you if anything becomes of this." She began to move forward but Duncan grabbed her arm,
"Pan..." he started to plead, wanting to go with her. His concern was touching but unnecessary. If this was what she thought it was, he should be worried for his own safety, not hers.
"Duncan, I'll be fine. It's an old friend." Still he didn't budge, "Duncan, go. I'll follow you down in a moment." He hesitated twice before flying away, and looked worriedly out of the window to see Pan approach the cloaked figure. He decided it was probably best if he obeyed her wishes and he disappeared through his portal.
Pandora swallowed as she reached the figure. She'd asked a favour of her old, mysterious friend months ago, fully wishing to never see them again. She just hoped they carried good news, not what she feared above all else. Notch forbid the gods of Minecraft get bored again. As she drew up next to the horse, she realized with a sense of envy that it was a Bat Horse. Much like Shadow but with wings. She'd tried for years to breed one but never succeeded but now was not the time for professional jealousy. The figure reached into the folds of their midnight cloak and pulled out a scroll. Pandora took it with trembling fingers, unwrapping the scroll nervously and scanned the text. She felt all of the blood rush to her head all at once and she felt like fainting. Any colour in her face had gone. She looked up to thank her friend for the warning but found they were gone. She hadn't even heard a sound but that wasn't exactly on top of her priority list.
Without any thought for the practicality of a flying ring, Pandora sprinted into the castle, through the mess of cobblestone corridors, and eventually she reached the sorting room. She threw herself through the portal, appearing out the other side. The hundreds of meters she'd travelled in under a second made her feel queasy.
"Duncan!" she exclaimed, resting her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. In one hand was a piece of paper. The one sent from an inside source she'd stationed long ago. "He's done it again!" The blonde scientist ran over to her, dropping whatever he was working on in the process and lifting the green goggles that covered his eyes onto his forehead.
"Pan! What happened? Who did what?" he asked, scrambling for answers. His gaze eventually rested on the paper in her hand.
"He's bored, Duncan, he built another one! Ridge is declaring another Survival Games!"