Fun Fact: In the world of Minecraftia, the Wither Effect is similar to a disease that can quickly kill the carrier if not cured immediately. It is not contagious and can only be inflicted onto a person from a Wither, a Wither skeleton, or a Wither rose.
Once everyone had returned to the village, people were filled with paranoia, fearful of that monster returning. My mom had soon found my dad in his full suit of armor in the midst of the panic.
"What in the heavens happened!?" she interrogated my dad. He shook his head.
"I don't know! Somehow, a Wither had appeared and attacked the village! A Wither!" he stammered.
"I know, I saw the beast. What I wanna know is where did it come from?! Hell, how does that thing even exist!?"
"I have no idea!" Dad cried. My eyesight was starting to go blurry and everything was beginning to fade in and out of my vision. All the energy was leaving my body. I coughed and called out in pain as I started to fall over, and Dad noticed me.
"Oh my lord, David, what happened to you!? You're gray all over!" he stammered as he ran over and scooped me in his arms. Mom gasped when she saw the state I was in.
"Dad... it hurts..." I moaned as I felt my body flash red. I could see his face filled with pain before it changed to realization. He turned to look at Mom.
"He has the Withering, and he needs milk immediately." he said to her as he brought me to my mom's arms. "Keep him calm and steady, I will be right back!" Then, Dad took off and it was the fastest I had seen him run in a while.
"Where are my friends..." I murmured, closing my eyes. "I wanna see them..."
"They're safe, David." Mom assured me with a voice that I was having a hard time listening to. "I'm not sure where either are, but they're okay."
After a couple moments, I heard my dad return, speaking to my mom, but the words were gibberish and I couldn't understand them. Then, I felt my mom's hand opening my mouth and felt the cold metal surface of a bucket touching the edges of my mouth. A liquid that I soon recognized as milk entered my body and within moments, the pain went away. I opened my eyes and felt strength returning to me. I could heard the mumbling of worried people in the background, and I could see the now-relieved looks on the faces of my parents as they saw me moving around.
"Thank heavens..." Dad sighed as he took away the bucket and put it into his pockets. "That was way too close..." he said as he gave me a huge hug. When he was done, I insisted that my mom let me stand, so she let me down and I stood, with a bit of difficulty, on my feet. I managed to tough it out though and saw Mr. Trent, the village mayor, walk over to the center of town in front of the fountain and place down a block, then jump onto it and stand over everyone. He looked over the panicking village people and shouted.
"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!" he boomed, his voice projecting through the entire village. It took a moment, but everyone soon stopped and stared at him.
"Now, as you all know, a horrible attack on our young children has just unfolded-an attack from a beast from the Nether that we all thought had been killed off many years ago during the war. And coincidentally, the annual Pig Festival is coming up." the mayor spoke in an authoritative voice, "Needless to say, we are trying to find out everything that led up to this attack."
The Pig Festival was an event that happened once a year. The tradition was first started after a legendary hero of Minecraftia had saved the world from a white-eyed madman. Supposedly, the legendary hero had a pig companion that helped him along the way, and he created the festival to honor it, though I didn't know how there could even be a connection between the festival and the Wither attack.
"What are we going to do!?" a woman in the crowd cried.
"We will be sending a messenger directly to Diamond City, one of the leading cities of the Overworld." He replied. I heard many gasps of surprise in the crowd. Diamond City was one of the biggest cities. Many of the city's citizens were said to be descendants of great heroes. It was even rumored that a real hero lived there!
"Once word gets out of this, I expect that they'll be willing to provide us with the essentials. However, we have not yet decided who will be the messenger." he said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "And if anyone would like to volunteer, that'd be great."
"David..." Emma's voice shouted in a whispery tone. I looked to the side and saw her walk up next to me. Her aunt followed close behind to keep an eye on her.
"David, we have to volunteer!" she quietly said. I looked at her, shock in my eyes.
"What? No! Why should we?" I stammered.
"Because this is what we're supposed to do! I just know it!" she answered. I wondered if she was going crazy.
"Emma, do you remember those mobs last night!? We'll be attacked by even more, over and over!" I pointed out. She ignored me and set her backpack down, then stood on it to be visible.
"We'll go!" she shouted. I saw many people in the crowd shaking their heads with disapproval.
"Certainly not! This job will be very dangerous, and only an adult can do it!" the mayor explained.
"But we have to go! You see, for the past several days, I've been having weird dreams-" she began to recount, and her aunt grunted with frustration. She quickly grabbed Emma and pulled her off her bag, quietly speaking to her.
"Quiet, Amelia." she scolded, "No one has time to hear about your dreams now." Emma began to argue, but her aunt's scowling face stopped her.
"So, if anyone is willing to volunteer to head to Diamond City, now's the time to-"
"WAIT!" a weak voice wailed somewhere behind us. Everyone turned around and I noticed a man on the ground on the far side of the village. He looked scraggly. His clothes were torn up, like he'd been attacked by mobs many times over. He looked horribly exhausted, as if he'd been running for days without rest. "There's a monster…" he panted, "and its coming this way…"
"We were just attacked by a Wither." Mr. Trent said, "Might that be what you mean?"
"What!? And you fought it off?" the man wheezed, then sank to his knees.
"Someone get him something to eat!" the leader shouted. I watched one of my neighbors, Ms. Beth, rush to the man and bring out a bottle of water, handing it to him along with a steak. The man took both and took a long drink. He finished the entire bottle before continuing.
"My name… is Bill…" he panted, "I lived in the village of Teran. Until my village had been destroyed by the Wither." Several gasps erupted from the crowd. I heard murmuring among the crowd.
"Teran Village… destroyed?" one voice muttered.
"They were our neighbors…" another mouthed.
"What's going on?" a third whispered nervously.
"Yes, my home was attacked on a peaceful day just like this one. The beast just appeared out of nowhere, and took out our iron golem. Then, it flew around the village, letting loose its black mist of death as it fired its heads. Then, it began to ram into the others, bursting through our cobblestone houses as if they were made of glass. I ran away fast enough to avoid getting killed by it, but the other villagers… weren't so lucky…" he explained, then began to sniffle. "My wife was left behind, and it's because of my one moment of cowardice that she's dead. But I came here to warn you of its attack, so that what became of my home wouldn't happen again."
"It's okay." Ms. Beth comforted him, "We'll get help for your village." Everyone all around me began to mutter anxiously among themselves before Mom spoke up.
"Well, isn't it obvious?!" she angrily shouted, "These events can't be mere coincidences! Something is going on-something big!" Dad tried to stop her, but Mom was on a role.
"And what makes you think that?" the village blacksmith, Mr. Mason, questioned suspiciously.
"Don't you see? There have been strange occurrences happening a lot lately: Mobs attacking more frequently, we've been losing contact with other villages, and the fact that the Wither-a monster that was supposedly killed in the last war-just attacked us!" She pointed up at the still dark and cloudy sky, "Not to mention that the sun has not come out. It's daytime, and when it's this cloudy, there's always a storm. But it has not rained at all-almost as though something is keeping the clouds here! As we speak, mobs can be spawning around our home! This is not normal!" she yelled.
"Then, tell us what you think is going on?" another villager questioned accusingly. My mom seemed to be clueless, so my Dad stepped up.
"I don't know what is going on, but I agree with the leader that Diamond City must be notified at once!" he said, "And that's why I would like to go there myself." The village leader looked relieved while a shocked look covered Mom's face.
"Excellent! In that case, you should spend the rest of today getting resources that you'll need. Then, you'll head out first thing in the morning." At this, I saw Mom shake her head in disbelief. The leader continued to talk, but I listened in on my parents' conversation.
"Joseph, you are not going." she quietly argued.
"Maria, I am going. I have to." Dad argued back.
"We have to talk about this! You can't just volunteer to go on a journey that could take who knows how long. Especially with all the danger!"
"Maria, I have a theory about what's going on. I think..." he paused for a moment before continuing, "I think it might be him..." Dad muttered. I had no idea who this him was, but he said it like this person was the scourge of the world.
"Well, even if it could be, you're a father! You can't just leave your family like that!" Mom reminded.
"I'm not going to talk about it now. We can discuss this at the house." I heard Mom try to protest, but Dad left the crowd.
Mom turned me around so I could look at her and told me to stay with Emma and her aunt. Then, she headed off through the crowd in pursuit, disappearing almost immediately. I continued to listen to what Mr. Trent was saying. Something about preparing fortifications for the village.
