Welcome one and all to the next chapter of The Ones Left Behind! Congrats to IceAurora for winning the review contest again, but as she seems to be the only one answering all the questions, I might discontinue the contest. I dunno. I'll leave that up to you guys in the reviews. Review responses (I'm just going to start on the reviews for the last chapter since, uh, yeah)!
Orangebunny30: Patience. Jason and the flash to the End shall come later. OC form is at the end of the chapter, and about Seto?. . . Hehehehehe
IceAurora: About half that is right, and half is not. Thank you so much for guessing, though! And no, I have not read Mistborn.
Anyway, uh. . . Fluffiness is fluffy? Enjoy, mah peepsles!
Chapter 6
~Time is precious. You only have so long to live, so treasure it– some don't get the chance~
Mitch POV
I saw Shadin's face crumble as she heard the news. She walked away, saying, "I need a moment." I watched her disappear into the dense forest surrounding us. I waited a minute, then went after her. Sky and Jerome exchanged a glance behind me. I ignored it.
Walking into the forest, I had a hard time finding her. When that girl didn't want to be found, she was goddamn hard to find. After a few minutes of searching, I heard the faint sound of crying coming from somewhere above me. I looked up, and found Shadin curled up in the fork of two tree limbs twenty feet off the ground.
She saw me and started fidgeting uncomfortably. "Go away. No one needs to see me like this." She buried her face in her knees.
I hoisted myself up into the tree and found a perch beside her. I smiled a half smile and traced my finger absentmindedly over one of her pointed ears, but she shied away from my touch. "Shadin, you found me and took care of me when I was hurt and confused. Let me do the same for you." I cringed and cursed inwardly, realizing how strange I sounded.
She just sat there silently for a few seconds, then she sighed and scooted closer to me. She poked her head up a little, just enough so I could see her beautiful eyes, and asked innocently, "Why did you do it?"
I drew back, confused. "Do what?"
"Go back for my sister. I don't really get the feeling that you like her very much."
I scratched the back of my head. It wasn't really something I had given much thought to. After a long moment I said, "It's not that I don't like her, it's that ever since I found her, you've been different. You seem sadder, and almost guilty. I guess I felt that it was her presence that made you that way. Then, later, I saw how much she meant to you. I could see that if she died, it would be really hard on you. That's why I went back for her."
She looked so sad at that moment that I wanted to cry. "Not that it makes any difference, though," she whimpered, tears forming in her eyes.
I reached over and wiped the tiny crystalline droplets off of her cheeks. "I don't know anymore. Just two days ago I was so sure of myself. There was so much that I just thought I knew. Like how my sister was dead, or that things that went on outside our little forest wouldn't affect us, or that your memories were inaccessible. Now, I just..." Her voice trailed off, and my heart broke to see her like this. She looked at me, pain filling her eyes. I found her hand and took it in mine. It was warm . . . and sticky. I looked at it, and then back at her face, shock coloring my expression. Her hand was cut open across the palm, and it was oozing blood. "Shadin!" I said, concerned. "What happened?"
She looked at her hand, as if only now comprehending that it was torn open. "I- I think I blocked a strike with both hands, one on the handle and one on the blade."
I looked at it again. The cut was deep, down to the bone, and kinda dirty. It had been bleeding for over two hours. That couldn't be good. "We need to get that taken care of."
Shadin's face was paler than usual. "I don't think I can make it down the tree. I'm actually a bit scared of heights." That really surprised me. This was Shadin, who lives in a treehouse, who hunts and travels in the treetops, who fights like a crazy person, and she was scared of HEIGHTS?
"Why did you never tell me?"
She looked a bit sheepish. "I didn't want you to think any less of me."
"Shadin," I chided gently, "In my eyes, you will always be the most amazing girl ever."
She looked up at me, her face now fully visible. "Really?"
Instead of answering her, I leaned in and pressed my lips against hers. She seemed a bit surprised, then returned the kiss. Her lips were soft and sweet, and her good hand found its way to my head and buried itself in my hair. After a few moments, we were interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from above us. Shadin and I both pulled back, startled. My surprise turned to embarrassment as I looked at the source of the laughter and found Adam and Jerome. The bacca was grumbling good-naturedly as he handed Sky a golden ingot. Sky was the one laughing. "I told you so, Jerome! Mitch and Shadin sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Shadin and I both started blushing profusely.
Adam was still singing, so Jerome explained, "Man, if only you could see your faces right now. Adam and I had a bet. He bet that you would kiss her. I said she would slap you if you tried."
Shadin growled, "The only one about to get slapped is you."
He put up his hands in mock-defense. "Hey, I'm just a colorblind bacca. No need for slapsiedoodles."
Shadin sighed and hung her head. "Sorry, it's just that I'm a bit of a wreck right now."
Adam, who had stopped laughing and singing to listen, muttered something that sounded like, "Sure didn't look like it, the way you two were-" I cut him off with a glare.
Jerome elbowed Adam, then said to Shadin, "It's ok. That's not actually the real reason I came out here, but I can't speak for Adam. I have a little explaining to do. I wanted to let you guys know that I am so sorry about never coming to look for you after the spiders drove you off the cliff, Mitch. If I had known that you survived, I would have never stopped searching for you. As fate might have it, I wasn't ready to go back to Team Crafted after I thought that you died. I was wandering, and I found the bacca colony. I stayed with my kind and they became like family. I kinda figured that TC would be fine without me. I'm really sorry, guys. I have never been so wrong."
I said, "It's ok , biggums." The word rolled off my tongue easily. "You're here now, and that's what counts." He smiled a bit.
"We still need a sorcerer, though," said the bacca.
Adam said, "If only Seto were here. Then we wouldn't have this problem."
Jerome's head snapped up at that. "Guys, I have an idea." Then he was up and running across the trees towards the village.
Seto. Seto? Why was that name familiar? A face popped up from the fog of my mind. A brown haired, brown eyed guy wearing purple and grey robes. That's about all I could remember about him, though.
I sighed and stood up on the branch. "We should probably go after Jerome."
I looked up to see that Adam had already taken off, so I helped Shadin up and we ran across the trees to the village. When we got to the clearing, Jerome was in a shouting match with one of the older, black haired baccas.
"I need to see them though!" Jerome cried.
"For the last time, you do not have permission from the Bacca Council!" boomed out the other bacca.
"But it could save a life!"
"If one life is the price for our continued safety, then so be it!"
"But she has a sister!"
"The answer is the same!"
"But–"
The other bacca cut Jerome off. "Enough. You have already endangered us enough by bringing these humans into our midst." He spat the word "humans." " You may NOT see the records!" At that, the bacca spat on the ground and turned away from Jerome.
My bacca friend just stood there, crestfallen, until a voice came from behind me. "Let him see the records, Leonidas." I turned around. The grey furred healer was standing behind me. It was her who had spoken. "We baccas are not heartless. I cannot save the girl, but young Jerome here might be able to find someone who can."
The other bacca, Leonidas, was spluttering in anger, but he didn't argue with her. Instead he sullenly motioned for Jerome to follow him, but not before he glared at me, Adam, and Shadin.
The healer rolled her eyes at him, then spoke to Shadin and me. "Sorry about Leonidas. He is not very fond of your kind. He is one of our kind who blames all humans for Herobrine's deeds. However, that is not the reason that I came down here. I thought you might want to see the girl."
Shadin perked up immediately. "Can I?" she asked excitedly. The healer slowly nodded. She made to run up the pathway to the healer's hut, but the old bacca caught her arm.
"Your hand is hurt," stated the old healer, examining the wound, "I will bandage that when we get to my hut."
Shadin looked impatient. "Okay, now can we go?" The healer nodded, and Shadin shot up the ladders like an arrow from a bow.
Shadin POV
I rushed up to the healer's hut, ignoring the pain in my hand. When I got to the top of the ladders, I found the door locked. I shrugged and pulled a bobby pin from my pocket. I always kept a nice stash of them with me for cases like this. This lock looked pretty straightforward. It shouldn't be too much of a problem. Ten seconds later, the lock sprung open, allowing me access to my sister's room. I dashed inside.
I almost wished I hadn't.
My sister was in there, laying on a reed mat in the center of the room. Her torn up hoodie had been replaced with a black silken shift that revealed my sister's shoulders. She was shivering and sweating hard. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she was muttering unintelligibly in her sleep. Her ebony hair was matted and dull, and her face was ashen. I could see dark veins through her pale skin.
My gaze moved to her arm, and I winced just looking at it. The spot where the torch had grazed was deep and blackened, and some sort of salve had been pressed on it. Blood still oozed through, although it was no longer black and sizzling. The rest of her arm was terrible as well. It looked like someone had taken a fiery whip to her arm repeatedly. Angry red welts had erupted all up and down her arm like snakes, and I could see them through the cotton bandages that they had been wrapped in. Blood trickled from beneath the soiled bandages. All around the site of the wound, blood blisters had bloomed.
I slowly walked to my sister's unburnt side and knelt down beside her. I took her good hand in mine, and dropped it almost immediately. It was hot and feverish, and it felt like there was a malignant energy pulsing through her blood. There was something terribly wrong here.
I sat back on my heels and just knelt there, horrified, until I heard the voice of the bacca healer behind me. "You did not wait for me to unlock the door."
I shook my head slowly without looking at her.
She sighed. "I had hoped to soften your pain at seeing her, but oh well."
Another person knelt beside me. Mitch. His hand found my good one and held it comfortingly. A shadow covered the doorway. It was Adam, standing awkwardly in the background. I twisted towards the healer as she began to speak again in a low voice.
"The fire was of the demonfire family. It was a particularly nasty strain, and it should have killed her immediately. As fate might have it, she has survived by some sort of miracle. However! She still reaps the effects of the demonic aspect of the blaze. This version of demonfire came with a built-in poison, and it also had a few other add-ons. Her blood that bled from the original wound was turned to acid, which in turn burned her arms. Demonfire burns can only rarely be healed by normal methods, no matter how small the burn, and since this was a lethal strain, we need a sorcerer to repair the damage done. This particular fire also cursed the girl–"
"Lexia," I interrupted. "Her name is Lexia."
"Very well. This fire cursed Lexia. The burns on her arm are in the shape of runes of dark power. She is now linked to someone, I don't know who, and her life energy can be drained by that person. Even if she does recover from the poison and the wounds, those runes cannot be removed except by a very powerful sorcerer. I have no magical power to save her. I only know herblore, and I have done what I can to treat the infection, but I can do no more for her. I'm sorry."
The gray haired bacca hung her head.
I opened my mouth to say that it was ok, she did what she could, but before I could speak, Jerome barreled into the room clutching a book, bowling over Adam in the process. "Guys! You'll never guess what I found!" he said excitedly.
He opened the book without waiting for us to answer. "I know where Seto is!"
Adam sat up, looking dazed. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Mitch and I stood up, still holding hands.
"I'm sure you've told me, but who is Seto again?" I asked.
Sky answered, standing up again, "Seto was the resident sorcerer for Team Crafted. He was captured in an attack a while ago, along with Ian, Quinten, and Jason. And now Jerome says that he knows where he is."
Jerome looked proud. "We baccas keep a lot of records. We have files on almost every major person since, well, forever. I found Seto's current location in his file."
"So where is he?" Mitch asked.
Jerome grew a little fidgety at that. "That's the catch. He's in one of Herobrine's most secure facilities. The baccas refuse to send us any backup, and things could get a little hairy."
Sky nodded. "That's ok. A smaller group is better for this sort of thing."
"So, it will just be the four of us?" Mitch asked. Sky nodded, then Jerome. Everyone looked at me. I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't want to leave my sister, but we had to find this Seto guy. I looked at the healer, and she nodded as if to say, "it's ok, I'll take care of her while you are gone." I might be reading into that too deeply, but who cares?
I nodded at the guys.
Mitch held up his hand. "Hold on, your hand is still hurt."
Oh yeah. I had forgotten about it again. The healer moved closer to look at my wound. I cringed when she poured something on it to cleanse it, then she pulled out a clean linen bandage and wrapped it around my hand repeatedly. "Don't use this hand," she said sternly. I nodded obediently while thinking in my head that that would never happen. I use my hands a lot.
Mitch looked satisfied. I stood up, took one last look at my sister, and followed the others out the door, leaving Lexia with the healer.
Jerome led us to another tree hut on the far side of the clearing, presumably his. We walked inside, and the first thing I noticed was my sword lying on a table. Jerome walked over to it and brought it back to me. "I think you lost this during the fight."
I nodded and gratefully accepted my faithful sword, putting it in its over-the-shoulder scabbard. Mitch was looking around. "Nice place you got here, biggums."
It was kinda cramped with all of us in here, but I suspected it would be a nice, cozy place if it weren't so crowded. A bed sat tucked into a corner, and a table sat beside it. There was also a double chest beside a crafting bench. A single window looked out over the clearing.
"No time to waste: what's the plan?" I said.
"Uh, what plan?" said Jerome. We all stared at him for a second, then he quickly said, "Just kidding!" He placed the open book on the table. A picture of an iron complex was on one page, and there were blueprints on the other.
"Hey, I know that place," said Adam. "I passed by it in the city a couple times."
Jerome nodded. "This is the place. I've worked it all out..."
_-/~ Le Time Skip~\-_
We stood at the edge of the forest, looking out at the city. We had been over the plan so many times, I could say it in my sleep. It was simple in its essence. We would sneak in in pairs. Jerome had wanted to be with Mitch, but I wasn't familiar with either of the other two, so it was decided that I would go with Mitch and Adam would go with Jerome. Each group would enter through a different route: Mitch and I via the rooftops and the other two through the sewers. Mitch and I would disable the security systems while Adam and Jerome took care of the guards. Seto was being held in the maximum security section of the buildings. Unfortunately, none of the other members of Team Crafted were being held in this particular facility, but we needed Seto immediately.
"You guys ready?" I asked.
"Yeah, buddy!" said Jerome. The others nodded. "Lezzgo!" he shouted, only to be shushed by Adam.
Mitch and I took off for the city while Adam and Jerome left for a sewer access point. It felt good to be running through a field toward the city beside Mitch. I could almost forget that the land was being ruled by the white eyed demon that killed my family and that my twin sister lay possibly dying behind me. Again. Like I said: almost.
We reached the city gates in just a few minutes. The great iron gates were open, but there were three guards in iron armor bearing the crest of Herobrine, a bloody obsidian sword, standing in the opening. When we reached them, they barred our path with their arms.
"Halt!" cried the one in the middle.
Really? Could they get much more cliche than that?
"We are looking for a man by the name of Adam Dahlburg and a nameless young woman with jet black hair and strangely colored eyes. They are wanted by our lord Herobrine. Have you seen them?" said the one to our left. I immediately lowered my eyes and bowed my head, hoping that none of them had noticed my eye color.
Mitch answered, "I don't think I've heard of them."
The one from the middle said, "Very well, you may pass."
I sighed in relief and started to walk into the city, but I found another body blocking my path. This was the one from the right, the one who hadn't spoken this far, and he said suspiciously, "Wait a moment. Let me see your eyes again."
I took a deep breath. My head slowly rose, and I fixed the man with a deadly glare. His eyes narrowed and his hand moved to the hilt of his sword. "I'm afraid I must ask you to come with me."
I raised an eyebrow. "And if I say no?"
He drew his sword. "That's not really an option."
The other guards were looking at me. "Mitch, get out of here. Now," I said without taking my eyes off the guards. My tone left no room for argument. I bared my sword and readied my stance.
"Come at me, bros!" I shouted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mitch take off for a different entrance to the city. I slowly circled the trio of guards, who had all drawn their weapons. The righthand side guard was the only one who used a sword. The center guard had a mace, which he was swinging menacingly. The last guard wielded a wicked looking tomahawk. This would be interesting.
Hi again, peepsles! I wasn't sure whether to end it off here, but laziness wins out! Yay! Cliffhanger! Btdubs, Mitch and Shadin's shipping name is #Sitch! Spread the love! I am accepting OCs, so here is the form! You can either leave your OC in the reviews or pm me.
Note: I need both male and female OCs. You can also have them be antagonists if you wish. Pairings are unlikely, but if you ask, I will try. No guarantees that they will be with the exact person you request.
Name:
Nickname (optional):
Gender:
Age:
Personality:
Looks:
Outfit:
Weapon:
Backstory (If you don't give me enough, I will make up some of it to make your character fit):
Good/Bad:
Pairing (optional):
So there you have it! I guess I'll see you peepsles next chapter! Btw, do you guys have any information on why Husky, Deadlox, and Sky all left Team Crafted? Let me know in the reviews, please, if you do. It's been tearing me apart.
