"Huh?"
Ivor was clutching Jesse by the arm, pulling her to a tree. He had told her he knew something about the flint and steel that would ignite the portal that would take them home, and Jesse had hoped he knew how to find it.
"So you know the flint and steel had been enchanted, right?" Ivor said, prompting a nod from Jesse.
"Well, when I was doing some research about the Eversource, I had read about it," he continued, stroking his beard. "The enchantment on the flint and steel should be found in an enchanted book. We could find it, and enchant any regular flint and steel with it,"
"Okay, so how do we find it?" Jesse inquired.
"I, uh, don't really know,"
"Oh, Notch," Jesse said, in frustration, throwing her hands up.
"We could check in the library," Ivor suggested.
What library?
"Uh, Ivor? There IS NO LIBRARY!" Jesse reminded him. It sounded harsher than it did in her head.
"Unless," Ivor squeaked, after a moment's pause, "we go back up to Sky City,"
"But it's infested," Jesse said, remembering how Aiden had flung scores of spawn eggs around.
It's worth the risk if you want to get home, a voice in her head chided her.
"We've got to do it if we have any chance of going home," Ivor said, as if he'd read her mind.
Jesse caught a glimpse of Aiden helping out with some building, guards close by. Suddenly, she had the urge to storm over and punch him. Her hand closed into a fist.
You've forgiven him, Jesse. He's clearly making an effort to redeem himself after yesterday's events.
Her fist relaxed, and Jesse sighed.
"Okay, Ivor. We need to start gathering supplies."
Dusk was nearing, and Isa, standing on a raised stone platform, was marvelling at the work that her citizens, and the outsiders, had done.
Wooden cabins lined the shore, torches lighting the area up. Some people were putting away supplies in chests, and others emerged from thickets, carrying food in their inventories, ready for cooking. Some even sat on makeshift docks, fishing rods in their hands.
Isa saw Aiden, helping out with the last of the building. She hadn't really forgiven him, no, but she had decided to give him another chance. She was glad to see that his current behaviour was in stark contrast to his behaviour back up in Sky City.
Isa and Milo were now on much better terms. Milo had even come up with a temporary name for their town: Terra City.
Isa wasn't very fond of it.
She saw the outsiders coming up to her, and stepped down from the stone platform.
"Thank yo—" she began, only to be interrupted by Jesse.
"Isa, we have to tell you something," she said, her uncharacteristically grim expression matching those of Lukas, Ivor, Petra, and Aiden.
Isa looked at Jesse like she'd gone crazy. She knew Jesse and her friends wouldn't survive among the hordes of mobs in Sky City.
Then again, she had been thinking about going up with some guards to retrieve resources.
The eager faces of the people before her looked at her hopefully.
"We gather supplies and weapons, first thing in the morning," Isa said, earning excited, and somewhat nervous, grins from the teenagers. Ivor pumped his fist and walked off, toward a cabin by one of the docks.
Aiden was to share a cabin with Lukas, Petra, and Jesse. Ivor was sharing with Milo and Reginald.
The cabin's coziness was punctuated by a few torches, a crafting table, a furnace and a chest. There were four white beds, and a blue carpet.
The chest contained sticks, some cobblestone, and some bread. They, each grabbed a piece, ate it, and began to claim their beds.
Aiden settled into one, and Jesse claimed the one next to him, snuggling under the covers. Petra and Lukas claimed the ones by the far wall, both hesitating before they climbed into the sheets.
Aiden lay down, but couldn't sleep. Thoughts swirled around his head. He looked at Jesse, already asleep in her bed, her dark hair stark against the white pillow.
Aiden was just beginning to see how pretty she was.
Not that it mattered to him. Their relationship was purely platonic.
He thought of Maya and Gill. They were to accompany them the next day, on their visit to the now-demolished Sky City.
The Blaze Rods had been separated "for security reasons", Isa had told him.
Well, great. The Founder doesn't trust my friends either.
Aiden decided he would apologize to them for getting them into this mess. They had simply been roped into this situation.
It was only Aiden that was at fault.
He heard a cough, and a shift, and got up to see Petra sitting up in her bed. "I-I thought you were asleep," she said, glaring at him suspiciously with her half-lidded eyes.
"Well, clearly, I'm not," Aiden said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "What, you couldn't sleep?"
"Uh, yeah," she said, failing to hide a yawn.
His eyes shifted to Lukas, whose eyes were open as well.
They don't trust me, he thought, feeling a pang in his chest. He turned to look at Jesse, who had begun snoring softly in her slumber.
Lukas seemed to understand what he was thinking, because he said, "That's just how she is, Aiden. She sees the good in people, even when it's extremely difficult. She trusts you; she's forgiven you."
He opened his mouth again, as if he wanted to add to what he said, but seemed to decide against it, and closed it.
Aiden knew what he was going to say. He fought to keep the tears from tumbling down his cheeks.
But we don't.
I hope you liked this chapter! It was a little short, and I have a mild case of writers freaking block.
But, hey, I'll get over it!
Also there's probably nobody reading this... but that's okay.
See ya next chapter,
~ a conflicted burger
