(A/N) I'm sorry about the long wait! I had writer's block and very little internet access for time to type! I pieced this together from notes I had written on my ipod, what I had written in notebooks, some stuff from my phone that I was trying out to see how my friends liked it, and and what I had written during school work time (when I was done with my homework, of course) on google drive. Anyways, at long last, here is the next chapter of Hardly Human! Hopefully I will be able to update this story fairly regularly. This chapter is extra-long due to my long abscence, about three and a half pages on google drive. So, here ya go!
I was startled awake when I heard a crash that sounded like metal falling, probably some kind of pots and pans. I was on my guard for a few seconds before I remembered that we were in a safe place, Ty trusted Seto. At that thought, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, walking over to the window. It must be midmorning, because the sun was not too far up in the sky. I quickly walked over to the door and opened it, sniffing the air by habit, but there was only the smells that should be there. I could smell both Ty and Seto, the potion smell, the dusty scent of old books and herbs, and what smelled like eggs and bacon cooking, with the lingering scent of last night's steak. Licking my lips, I walked into the kitchen, and was not surprised to indeed see Seto cooking and Ty sitting at the wooden table nearby, talking about something. I heard a bit about the compound, but they stopped as soon as I walked in. "Oh, hi Krystal. I thought you'd never wake up" Ty teased as I sat down next to him, I frowned, "Ty, the last time we slept was in the End, and who knows if time passes differently there? And then after that, we had a little scuffle with silverfish and flew about a hundred chunks, maybe more" "Krystal, how long ago was it when we left them, Sky and the others?" I thought for a moment, "Well, the night we were attacked and brought to the End by those endermen, the time we spent passed out by the interdimensional travel, the night we spent there, the time after that, I have no idea exactly how long portal travel takes, and most of yesterday was flying. So I'd say at least three or four days" "Seto, what day is it today?" Ty asked, turning to Seto just as the sorcerer placed a mountain of scramble eggs and about ten pieces of bacon in front of me, at least he knew how much we hybrids can eat. Seto thought, then muttered "The twenty fourth of May" Then I tried to remember "I think it was the eighteenth when we left, so we've been missing for nearly six days…" "Sky… Ian… your friends… the recruits… They probably all think that we're dead…" Ty muttered as I dug in to my breakfast, I looked up at him, and said between mouthfuls "Yeah… So what were you talking about before, something about the compound?" "I was asking Seto if he knew if the compound was anywhere near here. Seto, tell her what you told me earlier" Seto nodded "A few days ago, some people came here" That caught my attention "Some people!?" "Yes. They said that they were looking for something, an escaped experiment. They said that they were from a company called HIE" My brother looked over at me, his gaze sharp "Krystal, they were from the compound, and they were looking for you" I gave him a tight grin "Well, we knew that they would be. Did you ask Seto if he knew about where it is?" "Yes" "I've never heard about there being a laboratory near here, but I do know where the nearest one is, which could be your compound. It's in the middle of the forest" Seto said, just as I finished eating. "We'll probably be back soon, to investigate. But first..." Ty said, and before he could finish, Seto interrupted "I know. You're going to find your friends. I'll see if I can dig up any more information about this HIE, maybe I can find out what it stands for, too. I can get you some potions that'll help keep your strength up, so you can fly longer" "Thank you, Seto. Make sure you don't attract their attention, you don't want them targeting you!" I said, my dark violet-scaled tail twitching with concern for my brother's old friend. It had taken me a while to get used to having humans as allies instead of enemies, as I had known at the compound, but it was turning out to be very rewarding, and… nice… Add that to my current freedom, and I was in bliss. When I wasn't worrying about recapture, that was. When Ty went outside to check and see if he could catch the scents of the men who had come from the compound, I took a chance. I mentioned my newfound and slightly uncontrollable power to breath fire to Seto. He seemed surprised, though not too much. After all, how odd is it for a dragon, albeit a hybrid, to breath fire? "If, by the next time we meet, you haven't figured out how to control it, I promise I'll see if I can help. That's dangerous if you suddenly become some kind of hybrid flamethrower, especially if you're near anyone, except probably Ty" The sorcerer said, then added after a moment of consideration, "Maybe it's because you two were created together, and maybe because you two have been apart for so long, but it seems to me that you two have great potential, possibly magical, that hasn't been tapped yet, hence the sudden new abilities, because you've been so far apart. Maybe you two haven't developed to your full potential because of that. Ty's always had a strong aura, but you… you emanate power. And from what I know about dragons in the older days, some of them could practice magic if they had a human form. Between your aura and the new power you have, I'd say that your abilities could point to combat magic" "Combat magic? I thought sorcery was just about healing and making potions, and passive stuff like that" Was my response. He just shook his head, "Krystal, there are so many different kinds of magic… Most mages specialize in some sort or another. I don't really focus on one kind, but I generally don't use combat magic. That's the type of magic used for fighting, that can be used to harm others. I know you told me you don't want to hurt anyone, but if the gods really are after you, then there's not much you can do but fight or surrender. And from my reading of you, I don't think you're the kind to give up" "No, there's no chance I'm going to give in to those jerks. Notch and Herobrine are in for a fight if they keep this up" I growled. Seto flinched a little and I felt his flash of fear at my use of the name of the Nether god. Even these days when He was little more than myth, He still struck fear into the heart of Minecraftia. But before we could resume our conversation, I heard the door open in the next room, heralding my brother's return. "No scent. They've been gone too long and the herbs mask most other smells" He reported. We left moments later, each carrying a small shoulder bag with a few potions inside. Ty and I took to the skies again, our dragons wings beating the air in unison as we hovered, taking one last look at Seto waving at us from his porch, then we turned and vanished into the clouds.
(Time skip)
My brother led the way, he knew the direction and distance from his sorcerer friend's house to the Plains Village. But first, we found the field where our battle had been fought and we had been separated from our friends by the endermen. From the skies, the grassy meadow looked serene, a clearing that filled the space between a birch and an oak forest. But as we landed, I caught sight of the harsh glare of the sun glinting off of metal. Looking closer, I saw that it was fragments of discarded armor and weapons, mostly iron, but intermixed with quite a bit of gold and even the smallest glitter of diamond. But was it from the mobs or the recruits? Mobs sometimes spawned with armor, though rarely. I glanced over my shoulder at Ty, who was prying an iron helmet out of the dirt. He looked up, feeling my eyes on him, then we both turned away. I stood there a moment longer, glancing around, then launched myself into the sky, my huge webbed wings catching the air easily for a short flight. Scanning the green field again, I finally saw what I had been looking for. I landed beside it. Barely sticking above the tall grass, was a slab of smooth stone, covering what was sure to be a horrific sight. I crouched beside it, feeling guilty. If we had been here… we might have been able to save her. It was our fault that we had even been attacked, Herobrine's forces were after us. Even if I didn't even know her. My brother had followed me, silent in respect. I fumbled around in my bag, and pulled out a string of small pinkish-white flowers. -Heather flowers, from Seto's garden…- I muttered telepathically to my brother, answering his unspoken question. He nodded, then thought to me 'I wish there was some way we could tell where Sky and Ian went' -They most likely continued on their way to the village. But who knows exactly where they went?- 'Is there anything around here? Something they've left for us?' -Let's look- For some reason, I felt that it would be wrong to speak aloud in this field. Maybe some of His forces were still watching us here. But Mother Had promised to send some endermen to keep those mobs away from us, or at least do the best they could. Ty must have picked up on my feelings, since he wasn't talking either. We combed the area around the grave, which was in the exact place where we had made camp that night, but I couldn't find anything. All scents had been washed away, possibly by rain, and I couldn't even smell the blood that must have been abundant. Then I heard Ty call out, 'Krystal! There's something over here!' My head shot up, and it took me a moment to locate my brother, who was standing next to what was left of our tent, that had been left behind and covered by grass. He was holding the cloak I had worn that night and cast aside, along with my shades. -They managed to find these?- I asked when he handed me the items. Their condition surprised me. The cloak was dirty with blood and debris, but wasn't torn. The shades were in similar condition, and the lenses were scratched a bit, but they weren't broken. 'I guess so' -Yeah, I guess these will be useful for when we find the other guys, but why'd they…- I trailed off when I heard a crinkle when I swung the black garment over my shoulders. Pausing for a heartbeat, I slipped my hand into the pocket on the side, and found a note. I pulled the piece of paper out of my pocket and read to my brother, -Ty and Krystal, if you're alive, I guess you're reading this. We traveled to the Plains Village, we couldn't wait any longer. We buried Heather, she… died in the mob battle, when you two… disappeared. Just… come find us. You guys can't be dead- I looked up at Ty, -It's signed by Sky, Ian, Tommy, Eli, and Savannah. All the people in the group who know what we are- 'They don't know where we went, it's perfectly reasonable…' He muttered, violet eyes blank. I nodded in agreement. -Let's go- I said, lifting my wings. He followed suit, looking more concerned for his friends than he had been recently, but it was more because they were worried about him. They didn't know we were safe, but we knew they were. So I followed him, our wings beating at slightly different tempos. His wings were broader and longer than mine, so it was easier for him to soar. Meanwhile, my wings were a little shorter and quite a bit skinnier, making it easier for me to be fast and agile. In other words, he had to beat his wings less than I had to.
(Time skip)
The sun was setting when my brother finally slowed. -What's up?- I asked, confused as to why we were stopping. 'We're here, see for yourself' Was his response. And he was right. We were hovering over a roofed forest, right beyond which was a plains biome and the village we had meant to arrive at nearly a week ago with all our friends. -Oh. So, how are we gonna do this?- 'I don't think it would be good if we just strolled in. Here's an idea...' He indicated for me to land in the canopy of the roofed forest, then pulled Sky's letter out of his pocket. Ty scratched a rough T and K into the back of the paper. 'One of us can fly over the village, high enough so no one else sees us, and drop this on whichever one of our friends we see first. Make sure they see us, and then they can follow us back here, and we can tell them what is going on' -Sounds good- Ty decided that he would be the one to fly over, so I decided to follow him with DreamSight. Enderlox knew I was there immediately. His voice in my telepathy sounded just like Ty's, but with a darker tone, 'Hello, dear sister. Have you come to speak with me?' -I'm making sure Ty is safe, and I guess that includes you too- 'You wound me, dear Krystal' -Oh, come on. You know I'm being sarcastic- 'I know. That's what makes this funny' -Yeah, sure- By then, Ty was over the village, scanning below him for one of the five people we could trust. It took a moment, but it was Enderlox who spotted the first 'Ty, there's Eli' My brother nodded, thanking that the dark side had been helpful for once. Luckily, my friend had been near the edge of the village when the paper fell in front of him. He turned it over in his hands for a second, then looked up and spotted the dark shadow that was Ty. Eli's brown eyes widened, then I decided to make sure he knew. -Eli, it's me, Krystal. That's Ty up there. Follow him into the forest. That's where I'm waiting- I couldn't help but grin when he tried to look up and into the forest at the same time. Now that I was no longer needed, I returned to my body just as Ty landed in the tree beside me. "He's coming" He said aloud. I didn't really want to tell him about my DreamSight quite yet, so I chose to go the other route "I know. I spoke to him with my telepathy, so he wouldn't freak out" It was a minute later when I saw my friend again. "Krystal!" Eli called up to me, and I dropped down to the ground, grinning. To my surprise, the first thing he did was run up and tackle me with a hug. "Umm, Eli?" I muttered, voice muffled by his shoulder. "Sorry, I was scared for you" He said. Don't worry, we're fine" At that moment, Ty joined us on the ground. My friend released me at the appearance of my brother, who he knew mostly as a highly presteiged general, "General Deadlox!" "Oh, come on! Just call me Ty. You're Krystal's friend and mine too" "Thank you, Ty!" "Dudes, stop it. Eli, we need you to go find Tommy and Savannah and Sky and Ian, tell them we're here and bring them out here, make sure no one else knows" I ordered. "Krystal, I'm glaf you're okay. Notch must be watching over the two of you" "I kinda hope he isn't" I muttered, making Eli confused "What?" Shaking my head, I added "Never mind. We'll explain once everyone's here" My friend nodded, then walked away, giving us one last smile before he left the woods. I turned to Ty and grinned, "Now, we wait"