Steve, Jennifer, and Fristad followed the slope of the mountain downward. Where there were valleys, there were rivers... and where there were rivers, surely, there would be civilization. At least, that was what they hoped.
Jennifer led the way, with Steve close to her side. Fristad lagged in the rear, as usual.
The forest got colder as they walked further down the mountain, as the lower slopes were covered in shade from the glancing light of the morning sun. The three diamond-clad adventurers could now see clouds of steam coming out of their mouths as they breathed out.
Eventually, they reached the space of level ground where two mountains met. The trees down here were more closely spaced, but otherwise the forest was as monotonous as before.
"Fristad, do you think you could walk any faster?" said Steve. "You're slowing us down."
"This is about as fast as I can go," Fristad said between heavy breaths, "I'm sorry I don't have superhuman strength like you do."
"Maybe the people of your dimension just need to go outside more," suggested Steve.
"Maybe you should stop assuming everyone is like you!" snapped Fristad.
"Guys, stop arguing," said Jennifer, "It's not going to make finding civilization any faster."
With the tense argument set aside, at least temporarily, the three continued along the space between the mountains. Eventually, this former valley itself became the slope of a mountain, and sun began to shine on the adventurer's diamond-clad backs. The vista in front of them was opening up, revealing a land of temperate hills far below. The distant horizon was masked with bluish-grey fog, and just at the edge of the fog, one could see a blinding whiteness.
"See that shining in the distance?" suggested Steve, smiling as he pointed toward the light near the fog.
Jennifer smiled too. "Looks like water."
"Nice. One step closer to finding civilization," acknowledged Fristad with labored breath, as he finally caught up to the pair.
Steve squinted as he pondered Fristad's physical state. "Maybe we should take a break. We wouldn't want Fristad to collapse from exhaustion at some inconvenient moment."
"I could eat lunch right about now," said Jennifer.
"Thanks, guys. You're the best," said Fristad. He collapsed seat-first into the rocky slope right next to him, sighing with relief as he landed upon it.
Jennifer grabbed some cooked meat from her pocket and gave some to Steve and Fristad.
The three of them ate and rested for a while before continuing down towards the lowland hills. Fristad felt hardly any less tired than before, but the food in his stomach lifted his spirits and pushed him to continue on.
Conifers gave way to oaks and rocky ledges gave way to grassy hills. The afternoon heat seeped into the shade under the trees. Every once in a while a creeper or skeleton could be seen standing idly in the leaf-speckled shade. The three adventures avoided them; Steve and Jennifer already had infinity-enchanted bows and plenty of gunpowder. Fristad was simply glad he could save his energy for walking.
As the sun's angle in the sky became sharper, Steve suggested to Jennifer that they build a shelter. Jennifer agreed, and the Steve began pulling out logs from his ender chest and crafting them into planks.
The frame of the shack was mostly finished when Jennifer motioned for Steve's attention.
"People are coming," said Jennifer, "somewhere between four and ten."
"Are they armed?"
"I don't know," said Jennifer. "I think all three of us should take a look. I'll take the lead."
Steve and Fristad agreed and followed her, letting Jennifer scout ten meters ahead.
Soon after the voices of the unknown travelers became distinguishable to Steve and Fristad, Jennifer froze her position. Steve and Fristad did likewise.
"You two are a load of lying, penny-pinching turds who deserve to be taught a dangerous lesson," one of the travelers boldly proclaimed.
"They stopped moving," whispered Jennifer.
"I'll take their fire-headed attitude as an indication that they're armed…" noted Fristad.
"Yep, definitely armed," Steve said, smiling boldly.
Another, more level-headed stranger spoke. "You searched our bags and didn't find what you were looking for. What more do you want from us?"
"Your bags are lies!" the bold traveler accused. "You're hiding the lapis cases from us, and we're gonna find them even if it means beating them out of you!"
A thump and a cry echoed through the trees… and then another… and then two more.
Fristad cringed at the sound.
"Maybe we should do something…" Steve muttered.
"Or maybe we shouldn't," Fristad countered. "They're trafficking lapis for some reason, so they're probably both at fault."
"True," said Steve.
"Ready your weapons," ordered Jennifer suddenly.
Steve and Fristad jolted to alertness and held up their diamond swords.
"Hey!" a coarse woman in enchanted iron armor yelled, a diamond sword in her hand and four similarly-armed companions walking alongside her. "There's three non-prisoners over here! Very well-armed and very suspicious! You better take a look!"
"You haven't seen the last of us…" the bold traveler in the distance warned to his captives.
"There are eight of them in total," warned Jennifer.
Steve and Fristad walked to either side of Jennifer in preparation.
Soon the entire group of eight armed travelers converged some several meters away from Jennifer. A man in diamond armor, with curled hair hanging down to his unkempt beard, stood in the front.
"How convenient…" the messy-haired, diamond-clad man noted. "Your group has scattered like sheep, making your numbers that much more manageable. I'm guessing you aren't the ones with the lapis either?"
"We aren't involved in lapis trafficking, or whatever it is you people do," replied Steve. "We're just searching for the nearest city. Maybe you can help us find it?"
"You aren't involved in lapis trafficking, and yet you know about it? I find that all too suspicious."
"We overheard part of your interrogation," Jennifer clarified, rolling her eyes in response to the man's circular logic. "We don't know anything else. Besides, if we really wanted lapis that badly, we would mine it ourselves."
"More people in this dimension should learn how to use a pickaxe," Steve said.
"Congrats, wise guy. You've secured a spot for you and your friends in our prisoner caravan," the diamond-clad leader proclaimed, motioning to his crew to ready their weapons. "I could care less about your stupid 'lost traveler' story. No one messes with the Jackals. Surrender now and you'll get fewer gashes and bruises."
Jennifer and Steve did not hesitate to act. Steve shot an ender pearl forward, and an instant later Jennifer shot an arrow in the same direction. The pearl's teal glass shattered behind one of the iron-clad men. Steve appeared behind the man in a cloud of purple dust and slashed deftly at the man's knees, just as Jennifer's arrow pierced the head of another. The two victims fell in unison.
Three of the "Jackals" ran toward Jennifer and Fristad, including the shaggy, diamond-clad leader. The leader slashed at Jennifer, who jumped back, switched her bow for a sword, and retaliated against her attacker.
Fristad meanwhile was barely blocking his assailant's blows, breathing heavily as he did so. Then, an unanticipated second swordsman slashed at him just within the edge of his vision. He dodged the blade, but failed to anticipate the kick to his chest that knocked the wind out of him and pushed him to the ground.
Jennifer struck as hard as she could against her diamond attacker in order to buy time to assist Fristad, but her attacker was not ready to give up the fight just yet. Meanwhile, Steve had defeated one of his three attackers, but was still fending off the other two. Fristad was on his own.
Suddenly, Fristad's two attackers shrieked, and fell to the ground on top of Fristad.
The diamond-clad leader began to retreat, blocking Jennifer's blows as he did so.
"I've had it! I've had it!" the leader said. "Let's call a truce! No more fighting!"
Jennifer let the leader back away, but pulled out her bow for good measure. She aimed an arrow at Steve's two remaining assailants. "Tell them to stop attacking my friend," she ordered.
"Withdraw your swords!" the leader ordered once more. The two swordsmen disengaged from Steve. "We're getting the heck outta here!"
The leader caught a fearful glance of the dogpile where Fristad's body laid before the three remaining swordsman and a limping fourth survivor retreated between the trees.
Steve walked toward Fristad to survey the damage. Fristad was still conscious, but visibly drained. The faces of the iron-clad fighters on top of him were locked in a state of anguish.
"Yep, some magicking wizardry was definitely responsible for this," Steve noted.
Jennifer and Steve pulled the armored swordsmen off of Fristad and lifted Fristad by his shoulders. The three of them walked quietly back to the partially-finished shelter as the afternoon shadows began to grow longer.