Chapter 4: Players on the Rise

"C'mon, Jake, we've got to make sure she's going to be okay!" Flynt said, searching the treelines for the Enderman he had seen before.

"Bro, we've been out here for hours already. I doubt that she's just sitting somewhere while the Enderman is taking a snooze nearby. He's probably already finished her off." Flynt's friend, Jake, said.

"I'm telling you, we've gotta save her! It's only right!" Flynt said, picking a direction that he had been chased from earlier that night. "Besides, what do you think Steve would do?"

"I'm sure I don't know." Jake said, dodging the question. "He might do a million things. One of them being that he might just give up on trying to find a girl that he only saw once, who seemed like she was already well-equipped to defend herself!"

"Oh, shut up." Flynt said, ducking under a branch. "We've gotta find her. You said that you saw probably the same girl, teleported away by an Enderman? You even tried saving her? Why of all things would you try using your bow first?"

"Because then I thought the Enderman would teleport away, and leave her alone!" Jake said, sighing exasperatedly. "Then she could just walk away freely!"

"Well, the Endermen are persistent, when it comes to their targets." Flynt sighed back. Suddenly, the trees fell back a little bit, as a small hill came into view. A few trees were dotted around the hill, but that wasn't what Flynt was staring at.

The girl. The one from before. She was just… sitting there casually, staring at the sky, wearing an iron helmet. Her diamond sword glinted dangerously. From the peculiar way it was shining, Flynt could immediately tell that it had obviously never seen battle as of yet.

"You're alive!" Flynt said, emerging from the treeline. He was happily surprised to find her in such good shape, honestly.

The girl nearly fell over, startled by Flynt's sudden appearance. When she finally saw who was talking, her eyes widened.

"Cllnk!" she said, leaping to her feet. "Xtssk!"

Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, what did she say?" he asked, coming into view.

The girl's eyes widened even more, somehow, when she saw Jake. "Mhh Cllnk!"

"Uh, I don't think she knows our language, almost at all." Flynt whispered to Jake. "I don't know why. All that I heard her say is 'Carrot' and 'Stop'."

Jake shrugged and began to walk forward.

"So, we need to ask you some que—YIPE!" he said, suddenly finding himself stopped at swordpoint. The girl had a wild look in her eyes.

"Zcxhaa!" she screamed, much like an Enderman. "Hss! Xst!"

Jake fell backwards, and Flynt thought he saw a shadow of surprise over the girl's face. Then she turned the sword on both of them, as if daring either of them to come closer.

"We're not here to hurt you, whatever your name is…" Flynt began, somehow hoping that the girl would tell them her name, but no dice. "…We're simply here to help. We saw the Enderman take you away, and we thought…"

"Stop!" the girl said, still waving her sword at the two Players. She studied them both silently, before looking back into the cave. She looked back at them. Then she pointed with her head to move off to the right. Flynt and Jake both walked slowly to the right, and Flynt was happily surprised to see the girl begin to walk with them.

"Bro, we've got a small issue with a language barrier here." Jake noted, sarcastically. "I mean, what language is she even speaking?"

"I don't know! If I did, I'd probably be able to communicate more!" Flynt whispered back.

"Stop." The girl said again, indicating they had gone far enough. The girl kept watching the cave entrance, but didn't take her eyes off the two Players. She turned to Flynt.

"I-I am Deci." she said, as though trying very, very hard. "P-Player."

"Deci." Flynt said. "Nice name. I am FLYNT." he said, stressing the word. "He…" he said, pointing to Jake, "… is JAKE. Also Players."

Deci nodded. "Flynt. Jake."

Flynt smiled. Well, they were getting somewhere. Flynt realized that it would probably be a good idea to use some hand gestures as well. "Are… you… okay?" he said, pointing to her. The look in his eyes, mixed with his gestures, communicated clearly to Deci. She nodded.

Moment of truth.

"What… about… the… Enderman?" Flynt said slowly. At the word 'Enderman', he pulled out a stray Ender pearl from his inventory. When Deci's eyes fell on the pearl, she visibly relaxed a little.

"E-Enderman?" she asked, pointing to the pearl. Then she picked up a block of stone from nearby, holding it over her head. "Enderman?"

"Yeah, that guy." Flynt nodded. "What happened?"

His body posture was obviously getting through to Deci. Deci put down the stone, and placed a wary hand on her sword's hilt. "E-Enderman… is…"

"Is the Enderman dead? Dead?" Jake said, pulling out a sword to mimic killing the Enderman.

Deci's eyes widened, and she suddenly drew her own sword, brandishing it at Jake.

"Stop!" she screamed again, suddenly looking very, very fierce.

"Woah woah, it's okay. Jake, put your sword down, I think you're scaring her." Flynt said, lowering both swords. "It's alright, Deci. Jake doesn't mean anything by it."

Deci looked warily at Flynt, but eventually decided to trust him. She sheathed her own sword, slowly.

"Enderman is…" Deci said, looking for the right word. "… is… safe."

Flynt tilted his head in confusion. "Uh, safe? What does that mean?"

Deci obviously didn't understand, so he tried again.

"Deci, is Enderman… dead?" Flynt said, drawing a line across his neck. Despite evidently not knowing the Player language, this was a pretty universal gesture.

But immediately, Deci looked very offended. She drew her sword once more.

"Go!" she said. "Shaazxc!"

Flynt was now very, very confused. "Look, I didn't mean anything against you! We're trying to make sure you are safe!"

"I-I safe. Go!" Deci said, before glancing back at the cave. "Drzzz…!"

"Flynt, I betcha the Enderman is in that cave, whaddya think?" Jake whispered.

"Why do you think that?" Flynt asked, his attention focused on the sword point directed at his face.

"Why would she be lookin over her shoulder at it every two seconds!" Jake said, his eyes widening. "Maybe the Enderman is keeping a close eye on her?"

"I mean, maybe…" Flynt said, watching as Deci began backing up slowly to the cave. It was pretty dark in there. Definitely dark enough for an Enderman to hide in…

Jake and Flynt made eye contact. They nodded. They had to make sure that the girl was safe.

"Hang on to me!" Flynt said, grabbing the girl's sword-wrist suddenly. The girl began to tug on her arm, trying to let it loose from his grip, but she probably just didn't understand what he was doing.

Flynt pulled out his Ender Pearl, and threw it in the direction of his house. Deci's eyes widened, and she began thrashing harder.

"Bro, she's really freaked out right now." Jake said, grabbing onto Flynt's wrist.

"She'll be fine in just a sec. Hold on!"

The pearl shattered, neatly in front of Flynt's crudely-constructed house. Deci and Jake appeared right behind him, Flynt's grip on Deci's wrist still strong.

He led her inside, and helped her sit down in a chair. Deci didn't move hardly at all, but her eyes always followed Flynt, as he walked over to a chest and began rifling through it.

"Bro, what are you planning on doing? Let her live here with you for the rest of time? She doesn't seem to realize that we're just trying to help, and I have a feeling that that sword is going to get pointed at us soon."

Neither of the Players were watching Deci, who slowly began to back out of the chair, and back away towards the door.

"I know, but we can communicate a little. If I can just get her to relax long enough to tell her that she's not in danger, maybe she'll—" Flynt said, turning around. Deci was already halfway out the door, and Flynt began walking forward towards her. Deci held up a hand though.

"Stop!" she said, deadly serious. She sighed, and said, "I-I… will… boom."

Flynt cocked a head. She will… boom? What the Nether was she talking about?

"Deci, we're not trying to hurt you…" Flynt said, taking another step forward. Deci thrust out her hand again.

"STOP!" Deci said, followed by a rapid succession of her gibberish. "Flynt, no. I will boom."

"…we're just trying to help." Jake finished, beginning to walk towards Deci.

What happened next astounded both of the male Players.

Deci's hand darted to her mouth, and she quickly swallowed something that looked like glowing orange powder, and her skin suddenly began flashing. Flashing, and… expanding.

Wait a second.

"DUCK AND COVER!" Flynt said, dragging his friend backwards and diving behind a counter.

"WHAT TH—" Jake said, staring in shock at the glowing form of Deci.

Then she went boom.

The house shook on its foundations as the doorway, and much of the surrounding wall and entryway was taken up with it in the ensuing explosion.

Flynt sat still, his eyes wide with shock. Had that just been what he thought it had been? Did Deci really just explode like a Creeper?

What was going on with this strange girl?

Ender sat upright. Something was wrong. The 'End force' within him was howling that he should be careful. Something was nearby.

He looked over at Deci's bed, a particle of movement catching his eye.

Then more particles began to appear.

Dust and smoke began swirling around in a tight funnel, blowing in a miniature cyclone on Deci's bed.

Then the micro-storm subsided.

Deci was lying down on her bed, paler than ever.

Ender teleported over.

"Deci, what happened?" Ender asked, in a way that seemed frantic, compared to his usually stoic and steadfast character.

"Players. The ones from last night. They… they found the cave. I led them away, and they used an Ender pearl to take me to some strange cave they lived in. Made out of wood planks and torches. They… they seemed friendly at first, but then they asked me if they could kill you or something? It doesn't make much sense to me, but…" Deci said, out of breath. She didn't explode nearly as often as Aunt Crea did, so whenever Deci did, she was super drained of all her energy.

"Players don't give a second thought about something that could be seen as threatening. If they see something that can attack, they will strike first." Ender said. He laid a hand on Deci's forehead, and smiled, changing the subject. "Now get some rest. I will take the next shift."

Deci was too tired to fight back, or even nod. She pretty much immediately fell asleep. As soon as Ender was sure she was safe again, he stood and went to stand by the entrance to the cave. A thunderstorm would soon be approaching. That wasn't too good, but water never really managed to get into their cave anyway.

As he studied the quiet forest, he thought hard about the Players that were trying to evidently steal Deci away. What could they want her for? Did they know that Deci was affiliated with the mobs? Did they need to prepare for a battle?

Ender realized that if the Players were to bring reinforcements, then while the logical thing to do would be to call mob reinforcements of his own, Deci would then be caught in the crossfire. One misdirected Creeper and it was all over for her.

So then the next path would be… retreat? Yes, definitely. Retreat was the way to go, should more Players arrive than they could handle. But at the same time, Ender's pride wouldn't allow him to do this. Or to just give up the home that the four mobs had carved out of the hill themselves. It was unthinkable to give up such ground as this.

So the solution was undecided.

Ender leaned his lanky form against the mouth of the cave as he pondered over these things, watching the forest and the sun begin to dip low into the sky. What would he do? He eventually came to a conclusion that required him to make a little business trip. He began pondering over whether it would be a good idea to take it.

Evening came. The mobs yawned and stretched, and exactly on time, Ender stood.

"Everyone get ready. We're about to be called to attack another settlement." He said.

The mobs knew they only had a few more seconds to prepare. Zoe dashed over to the wall and grabbed her fresh iron sword that Deci had crafted for her, and donned her iron armor. Bones pulled off his bow from the wall, grabbed a spare iron helmet, and a quiver of arrows.

Crea and Ender simply waited for the other two. Deci sat in her corner of the cave, quietly making herself a little breakfast of carrots while she watched and waited. These attacks were coming more and more frequently it seemed.

The four mobs suddenly teleported out of the cave, and Deci sighed. They'd be back by morning at least, if it wasn't too far that they had gone. Deci would have the cave to herself for the time being. She flopped back on her bed and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Helllooooo?" a familiar voice suddenly called out, with horrible timing.

Deci's eyes shot open again. Nooo, it couldn't be…

She got up and rushed to the mouth of the cave. She looked down.

Sure enough, there was that Player again. Flynt. He was wearing full iron armor and a pumpkin, and carrying a sword and a shield.

"Deci?" he asked, shocked. He took off his pumpkin, as though somehow she couldn't recognize him without the pumpkin on his head. "You're still alive?"

"Flynt, darn you, I already told you not to follow me anymore!" Deci said, before remembering that Flynt didn't understand her language, nor did she really understand his. "Flynt… no more come to me."

Flynt seemed to mildly understand this, but didn't in fact seem to care.

"Deci, I'm just trying to help you out. You said that the Enderman…"

"No!" Deci said, infuriated. "No kill Enderman! You go!"

Finally. It seemed like her choice of words finally got through to Flynt's brain. He blinked.

"What?" he asked.

Deci waved her hands in the air, as though trying to pluck the words out of the air. "I…uh…gah!"

She threw up her hands, and frowned. "Follow." She said, grudgingly, motioning for Flynt to come further into the cave.

Flynt hesitantly did so, but before he could walk very far, Deci turned to him again.

"Stop." She said, walking over to him. Flynt wasn't sure what she was doing, until she reached for his sword.

"What are… hey!" he said, as she unhooked his sword from his belt, throwing it down.

"No kill." Deci said again, looking him into the eyes pointedly. Then she began leading him by the hand into the cave.

Flynt's eyes widened when he saw the torches, the beds, the chests, the decorations… all belonging to a theme. Each theme looked like a different mob. There was skeleton, obvious by the bows all over the wall. There was creeper, based on the banner patterns. There was definitely an Enderman's corner there. And over there…

A lone crafting table. Deci sat down on the bed in this room, patting it as if to tell Flynt to come sit with her.

"Uh, I'm not really sure I—" Flynt began, turning away.

"Flynt." Deci said firmly, pointing to the other end of the bed she sat on. She was serious.

"Ok, fine. Just swell." Flynt said, plopping down on the bed. "What?"

Deci reached under the bed, pulling out a very small chest.

"My… stuff." She said slowly, opening the chest, and holding it out for Flynt to look inside.

Inside was an odd assortment of things. Very small pieces of leather armor, some of which was dyed. Bits of string and other odd knickknacks. A few small pictures, as though drawn by a toddler, a tiny stuffed animal, resembling a wolf…

Wait a minute…

Flynt began piecing things together from his current surroundings. Everything seemed to be fitting together suddenly.

Deci put the chest back under her bed. "My… home." She said, motioning around her.

Flynt nodded, and though he tried to play it cool, he was sweating with the implications. Still, he had to make sure. "Cool, cool. Uh, who are your roommates?"

"Parents." Deci corrected.

"Uh, ok. Who are your parents?" Flynt asked, only half-way expecting what next came from Deci's mouth.

"E-Enderman, Creeper, Skeleton, Zombie." Deci said, rattling off mob names, and pointing to the four other rooms, corresponding with the mobs in question.

Yup. She was crazy.

"Deci…" Flynt began, but Deci beat him to the punch.

"Flynt. No. Parents." She said decisively. Before Flynt could respond, however, she stiffened. She let loose a string of gibberish, before suddenly grabbing Flynt's hand. She began rushing him to the edge of the cave, nearly throwing him out.

"Deci! What's going on?" Flynt asked, looking around him for any signs of danger.

"Parents. Parents come." Deci said, speaking quickly. She shoved him out of the cave entrance. "Go home. Now!"

Flynt began shuffling off towards the direction of his house, but he wasn't ready to leave Deci alone yet. He turned, scooping up his sword, and putting on his pumpkin just in case. Then he snuck around to the side of the cave's mouth, and waited. He waited for someone, or something to approach.

He didn't have to wait long.

It wasn't long at all before he suddenly heard a sound like a Player using an Ender pearl. The Enderman was back. He peeked into the cave.

Sure enough, a Creeper, a Zombie, a Skeleton, and an Enderman were standing in a circle in the center of the cave. The Zombie and the Skeleton began removing bits and pieces of armor, hanging them on the wall. Flynt watched, eyes wide with wonder, as the Creeper walked up to Deci and just… sat there, occasionally making hissing sounds. He was almost even more surprised when Deci began making similar sounds back to the Creeper.

Wait a second… was she actually telling the truth?!

Flynt suddenly realized that the Enderman had vanished. Where under the sun did it—

"Bzrplt." The Enderman suddenly said, appearing behind Flynt. Flynt gasped loudly, but did not remove his pumpkin. The Enderman stared down at Flynt. Flynt stared back up at the Enderman.

The Enderman frowned, and took Flynt by the arm.

"Wait, where are you—" Flynt began to say, but before he could finish the Enderman had teleported off with him.

Right into… the middle… of the cave.

Deci gave Flynt a glance, before her face suddenly contorted into an easily understandable expression of disbelief.

"CLLNK?!" she said.

The skeleton looked at her, and made a surprised series of clacking sounds. Deci began clacking back. The zombie moaned, and…

Wait. Deci was communicating with a frikkin Zombie, Skeleton, Enderman, and Creeper. She was legitimately speaking with the mobs as naturally as golems defended Villagers.

'What the Nether is going on here?' Flynt wondered, as he was surrounded by mobs on all sides.