Chapter 3: Code
I can feel a rough tongue licking my cheek, although when I try to bat it away, I notice that I can't move. My whole body seems unresponsive, and the most I can manage out is a soft moan, nearly inaudible.
There is a reprieve from the tongue, and a loud bark could be heard. I flinch at the sound and slowly open my eyes. I'm in a small room with no windows made of intermixed stone and dirt, lit by only two torches. A wooden door separates it from the hall. I lay in a modest red bed. An Ender chest could be seen in the corner, under another Redstone torch.
A tamed wolf is sitting on the end of the bed, wagging his tail excitedly. He lets out two more barks and the door clicks open. A storm of wolves, all tamed, rush in and crowd around the bed, staring up at me. I can only guess they are relieved to see me. But why me? They're not my wolves . . . whoever owns them must want me alive.
Footsteps sound and a tall, blond-haired man walks into the room, his light blue eyes reflecting off the torchlight around. He's wearing a long grey hoodie and black jeans, with black and white convers. I note the fact that he has apricot-y colored skin, and looks like he should belong in California and not Minecraft, considering that he—like me—is not a square.
I—very slowly—push myself up against the headboard, gritting my teeth as sharp spikes of pain shoot up my back. My clothes are also stuck to my body, maybe from the sweat I worked up from last night's fight with the zombies. I feel gross.
"Who . . . are you?" I whisper, my voice cracking. My whole body hurts all over, telling me I'm still a bit sore and that this is definitely not on peaceful mode.
He turns to look at me and seems to recoil a bit, but covers it up by stuffing his hands into his hoodie pockets. I notice two white wolf ears peaking from the folds of his hair, and my inner girly side starts squealing about how adorable he is. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he counters, and I flinch away at how loud his voice is. It sounds gruff, definitely like a large dog's. "Considering this is my house."
"Then why am I . . . in it?" I reply, letting out a slight, involuntary cough. The wolf at the foot of the bed seems to glare at me slightly and I fall silent.
He gives a loud sigh. "Because I saved you," he explains. I blink incomprehensively, and then remember the wolves from last night. "Why . . .?"
"You were bleeding pretty badly . . ." he scratched his head nervously. "I couldn't just leave you. And plus, I want to know why all those zombies attacked you all at once."
I tilt my head slightly. "Zombies are a . . . hostile mob," I remind him. He shoots a glare at me and replies, "That only spawn in groups from two to six. There were anywhere from twenty to thirty in that group."
"So you were the one . . . who was watching me?" I ask, almost silently.
"Watching you?" he echoes, and then immediately barks at several of his wolves. They all rush out at a lightning-fast speed, and ten seconds later, several howls sound all throughout the structure. He curses under his breath and dashes out the door, the rest of the wolves trailing behind him. I am immediately curious and force myself out of the bed, finding out I am wearing a white sundress and there is a layer of white gauze wrapped around my torso. My bare feet tread the stone floor and I head for the Ender chest, opening it up. Surprisingly, my pack is in it, and when I grab it, a familiar face pops out and nuzzles my cheek with an approving oink. My pig! I smile at him and heft my pack over my good shoulder, heading out the room and down the hallway after the sounds of growls.
I get lost several times, but eventually make my way out onto what looks like the battlements of a castle. The sky is currently sinking down into evening, and lots of wolves are gathered around here. The wind blows the hem of my dress out behind me. I see the guy from earlier leaning over the battlements, a bow out with an arrow notched loosely, hanging down slightly at his side. His ears are pinned down to his head and he seems aggravated, and all the wolves do too, as they're all staring out intently, growling slightly. I slip through the shadows and come up behind Wolf boy, tapping him on the shoulder. "What's going on?" I whisper. He jumps up slightly and his eyes shift over to me. "What are you doing out here?!" he half-whispers, half-snarls at me. I give him a pointed look. "Answer my question."
He tilts his head out towards the pathway leading to the castle. My eyes follow in the direction. There are trees around the edges, and a stone pathway in the middle. At the far end of the pathway is a small, Asian-looking girl with short-cut black hair that falls just past her chin and pale skin in the ever-fading sunlight. She's wearing a long black kimono with a grey sash. She looks real. I can't see her eyes.
"Who is she?" I ask.
"That's what I'm about to find out." He shifts his gaze back to the girl and leans out over the battlements again. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he calls, loud enough to be heard from down below.
The girl looks up at us from under her hair, and I notice that she has one black eye. The other is just plain white, no pupil, no iris. It seems to be glowing slightly.
"Do not worry," she answers in a small voice, and although it's quiet, it could be heard clearly to my ears, as if she was speaking into my mind. "I am merely here for the girl."
I gasp, and my breath is snatched away by the fierce wind. "What do you want with me?!" I shout, dropping my bag behind me and leaning forward, gripping the stone edge so tightly my knuckles are turning white. Wolf boy has his arrow drawn back and aimed at her forehead.
"I am not authorized to disclose that information," came her reply.
"Then no. You can't have her," Wolf boy concludes, releasing his arrow. All of the wolves within sight also let out a war howl and bolt towards her.
The next part happens so fast. She caught the arrow in midair and snapped it in half, leaving me already speechless, jumping into the flurry of wolves. Next thing I know, all of the wolves that attacked have despawned and she calmly brushes herself off. "I'll ask one last time," she stresses, and her voice becomes layered. A ghost-like image of a man with glowing white eyes appears in the distance and I focus on it intently. "Give me the girl."
"Never!" I shout. Wolf boy just stands frozen, seemingly horrified.
She narrows her eyes and then leaps forward towards us, almost flying as she clears the battlements and raises her fist. My left arm shoots up and time seems to slow down as it becomes translucent, white digital numbers and letters rushing through it so fast my eyes can't keep up with it. Suddenly, the numbers and letters seem to click and a white blast of energy shoots out from my hand, blasting the girl back. She lets out a loud scream and floats off into the air. Her body dissolves in fading numbers and letters until it's gone completely. My arm drops as I whirl back around and dash off into the castle and ignore the blinding pain in my back as the adrenalin of the moment courses through me, winding my way through the halls until I come out the entrance on ground level, running down the path towards the man that was watching us the whole time. Wolf boy gives a shout behind me, but I keep on going, my damaged sword appearing in my hand.
"You will PAY for sending me here!" I yell, raising my sword as I near him. "Herobrine!"
I swing my sword down to cut his forehead in half, but he catches it in midair and wrenches it from my hands, smacking me away with the hilt. I skid along the ground backwards, finally slowing down and breaking into a run for him again. He raises his hand.
"No!" someone shouts, and Wolf boy suddenly flashes out of nowhere, standing in front of me with his arms spread apart. Herobrine's backhand smacks him straight on the face. Time slows again, and a several lines of coding run down the place where Wolf boy is hit and break apart all at the same time before it returns to normal. He flies across the path and bounces along the ground before slamming into a tree, falling face-first into the dirt, lying motionless. I stare at him, horrified. I vaguely notice Herobrine watching from beside me.
Touching, a voice sounds in my head, and my attention jerks back to my enemy, who is now looking down at me. Very touching.
Is it my imagination, or do I see a small smirk on his face?
He turns around and starts walking off into the darkness. "Wait!" I call. "You come to our castle in the middle of the night, go off and nearly kill my friend, and then turn around and leave?! What about me?! Wasn't I your original target?! Why just leave now?!"
He stops and he looks over his shoulder at me. I was never one to finish a fight, came his reply, before he disappears into the shadows. I stare, dumbfounded, after him, until I suddenly remember Wolf boy.
I give a small shout and whirl around, breaking into a small sprint and skidding down beside him, shaking him wildly. "Wake up, please, wake up!"
He moans quietly and rolls over slightly, looking up at me with half-glazed eyes. The whole right side of his face seems to be slowly deteriorating into bright white pixels. "Hey . . . did we . . . win?"
"You're dying right now and that's the first thing you ask?!" I yell. He gives a small chuckle and leans back slightly, staring up at the sky. "I couldn't defend . . . my pack . . . but knowing I could at least . . . protect a friend . . . that brings a . . . smile to my face." His eyes close and he drifts off. I let out a scream and shake him again, but he won't wake up.
"Someone!" I call, raising my voice to the sky. "Someone, anyone out there, help!"
My shouts get weaker as the adrenalin leaves my system, leaving me weak and light-headed. The pain in my back also comes full-force, but I try to ignore it. Eventually, I can't take it anymore, and collapse on top of him, fading down into unconsciousness.
A small cluster of purple pixels start to gather in one spot near the two, and a young Enderman carrying a small block of dirt appears in its wake, surveying the area. Its eyes rest on the boy and the girl lying in the dirt, and after a few short strides it is up close to the two. It heard the girl's cries for help just a few minutes earlier. Bending down, it grabs the hand of both the boy and the girl as the cube it was holding disappears and teleports with them in another trail of purple pixels.
Yeap. This is it.
Dubstep, don't nag me if I totally got his personality wrong. I don't know him irl.
R&R please! *decodes*
:S:
