Author's Notes
Right. Time to get back to work...
I don't think I have anything to apologize for since nobody complained about my not uploading anything, but I will anyways. I'm sorry I was busy getting my ass kicked on Ark. For two days straight.
So! Here we go again!
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Sarah's POV
The last couple of days had been very busy. Our little plot farmland was almost ready to harvest, it's leaves turning a crisp golden color. The trees we planted had started to grow, the saplings now almost as tall as me. It had been almost a month since I had met Thomas, and the realization hit me out of the blue.
A month. A month away from home, a month not knowing if my father is alright, a month with the best person on the planet. A month with Thomas. A month with 'the gang', as Simon calls us. A month. Time really does fly...
Valory and Lila were making new clothes for Iza, and everyone else but me was helping replace the walls of the house. Jack, Simon and Thomas had their hearts and minds set on the idea of having it with it multiple stories, and having a sort of basement where they could, in Simon's words, 'perform diabolical experiments'.
The problem with this was that if the base or foundation wasn't strong enough, they would never be able to build neither up, nor down. So, they are replacing the crude walls with strong plank ones. I took a walk, as I feel rather uncomfortable with building. It's just not my forté.
I wandered about, picking flowers along the way. Thomas likes them, so I plan on giving him some. In my wandering, I ended up back at the clearing where I'd planted the tulip, the clearing where I acknowledged my mother's birthday. I stood there, numbly watching the plant in the sunlight. It filtered through the petals, giving them a washed-out look, and staining the grass with color.
Then, I heard a twig snap behind me.
I swiftly turned around and aimed my bow in the direction of the sound, but saw nothing. Suddenly, the shadows shifted, and two dark grey eyes stared back at mine. I heard the familiar *shing* of a sword being drawn, and I fired. The shadow deflected the arrow, sending it into the ground. It walked towards me, and emerged into the clearing.
It was a skeleton, a wither skeleton. We rarely see them in the city, but most of them become renouned warriors and generals. He was taller than me, maybe even taller than Thomas. His massive broadsword looked to be made of pure obsidian, and the hilt of tough stone.
I fired as fast as I could, but he kept deflecting the shots. "I have come for the young prince Jack, and the warrior named Sarah. They are deserters, and the king has sent me to bring them in." I scowled at him. "You will do no such thing."
Then, picking an arrow I thought I would never have the courage to use, I fired towards the house. "That was a terrible shot." I flashed him an angry and cold smile. "That depends on your perspective of life."
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Thomas' POV
We were in the middle of swapping one of the half-log walls for planks when a red-tipped and colorful arrow pierced the soft material inches from my head. I let out a surprised yelp and jumped back. Instantly, everyone turned to look at me, even the spiders.
Jack gasped and jumped from the roof, landing deftly on the ground like a cat. He pulled the arrow from the wall and examined it. "Sarah needs help." The thought gave me chills. She never asked for help, with anything. "What? How do you know? Where is she?"
Jack kept his cool even under my barrage of questions. Pointing to the direction the arrow came from, he spoke. "Over there. This arrow is usually used as a call for help, or a beacon if lit on fire. A flare. The few times I talked with Sarah she told me that she would never need help, and would have no use for it."
This made me anxious. "Well, let's go help her! Come on!" I started running without waiting for a reply. Simon dashed by my side, easily catching up to me. "Here", he handed me one of his swords. "It would be stupid of you to try helping without a weapon." I nodded and muttered my thanks, but didn't stop.
The sword's hilt was covered in thick soft leather, the blade itself had two edges, and was not entirely flat. It was sort of like a rhombus if you looked at the very tip. A really flat rhombus. I could tell the blade was very sharp, definitely sharper than Sarah's hunting knife.
I turned back once and saw that everyone but Eba and Iza were following. Eba had a concerned fear in her eyes, and Iza was trying to comfort her by rubbing her hand along Eba's arm. We raced through the forest and started hearing metallic sounds, like clinks of blades on blades.
We broke through the forest and into a clearing, where Sarah was looked with a very big dude. He had black tinted iron armor, and a large broadsword that glittered in the light. Sarah was dodging and dashing about, occasionally swinging at him with her knife or shooting with her bow.
The warrior noticed us and he narrowed his dark eyes. Then, he swung his sword towards us, tripping Sarah in the process. She landed with a thud against the ground, groaning from the fall. His sword made a clean cut through a tree, and he almost chopped he in half.
Simon didn't miss a beat, dropping to his knees and sliding towards our opponent. He had a stick of dynamite in his hands, and lit the fuse as he placed it on our opponent's hip, in a small crevice between his iron leggings and chest plate. The large warrior softly knocked it away, and it exploded mid-air, stunning him.
I dashed forwards and brought my sword down, just as everyone else started attacking. Valory had her spear, Lila her knives, jack was firing his bow, and Simon was poking and swinging at him with his sword. Somehow, the warrior managed to block most of our attacks, although a few cuts and arrows were poking out of him.
I jumped back to avoid a blow and saw Sarah trying to stand up. I ran to her and knelt down, helping her up. "Are you Okay?" She smiled bitterly. "Never... better..." I helped her to her feet and I heard a yelp of pain. Turning to look at the mass of fighting bodies, I saw that the warrior had knocked Jack to the ground.
"He's... come for us... Jack and I... the king... sent him..." Sarah was breathing heavily, but I didn't find any wounds on her except for a few scrapes on her knees. Jack stood back up just as the warrior pushed Simon away, making him stumble and fall. I propped Sarah against a tree. "Stay here, Alright? Don't get in the fight. You're too weak and tired."
I dashed back into the fight before she could argue. The warrior looked tired, but I noticed hat my friends had cuts all over them. Most of the cuts were small, as if they had managed to dodge part of the blow, but Simon and Lila had large cuts on their arms. I swung at the warrior sideways and hit him behind the knee.
His legs buckled, and he fell. I didn't pierce his flesh because of the armor protecting him, but I managed to bring him down. Before he could retaliate, Jack kicked his sword away and I put my own against his throat. Everyone was panting, but they didn't let their guard down for one second.
I felt the hatred in my own eyes, and saw it reflected on the warrior's. "Who are you? Why did you attack us?" The hatred in his eyes vanished and was replaced with respect. "You are good fighters, especially the creeper. I am Adrian, and I was sent by the king to hunt down and capture the young prince Jack and the warrior Sarah."
He took off his helmet and I let him stand up. "I cannot return to the king empty-handed. He will kill me and my family without a second thought." I narrowed my eyes and thought for a second. Well... we could use a brawler like him. "What if you stay with us?"
I heard gasps behind me as I rough my sword down and away from Adrian. His eyes widened a little in surprise. "You would allow an enemy warrior into your home after such a battle?" I smiled. "Why not? As long as you no longer harm or threaten us, you are welcome to stay."
He seemed to consider this as he swept our group with his gaze. He was a good two inches taller than me and had no trouble. His eyes lingered on Sarah and he spoke. "You are a brave warrior. Not many of our kind would call for help, too stubborn to admit they couldn't handle an enemy."
She narrowed her eyes a him. "I know when I'm outmatched." Adrian nodded. "Yes, and that makes you a great fighter." He turned to me. "I accept your offer. I shall not intentionally harm or threaten any of you for as long as I live under your roof." He turned to Jack, who had picked up Adrian's sword.
Adrian extended his hand out to him, and Jack gave me a confused look. I nodded and he handed the sword to the large skeleton. "Thank you." He turned towards the house and started walking. But before he disappeared under the brush and leaves, he turned around.
"I enjoyed our little scuffle. Perhaps we can do it again someday." Then he turned back and wandered into the forest towards home.
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Simon's POV
As soon as the wither skeleton was out of earshot, everyone started hounding at Thomas. "Why did you do that?" "How could you think we can trust him?" "He almost killed Sarah!" "How can you be so stupid?" On and on, they attacked him. I stood by his side and took my sword back without a word. Then I pulled one of my explosives out of my hoodie and lit the fuse.
Everyone went quiet immediately and I turned it off before it could explode. "Right. Now that I have your attention, I'd like to point out that Thomas is a great guy. Even though you -" I turned to the spider sisters. "- attacked him and I, he still invited you to come home.
He stood up for you -" I turned to Jack. "- when Sarah tried to slit your throat. What did you think he was going to do? He is a good guy at heart, and as such he invited our ex-enemy to stay with us. Besides, a warrior Ike him aught to keep his promises, right?" Reluctantly, everyone muttered agreement.
"Good. Now let's go home. We need to check up on Eba and Iza." I turned around and walked home without waiting for the rest of the gang. After a few minutes we emerged into the plains and could see the house from here. Eba was trying to hide behind Iza who was standing in a tense battle pose apparently yelling at Adrian to go away.
I smiled and called for them. "Hey! He's okay! Thomas let him stay, everything is fine!" The three of them turned towards me. Iza gasped and ran to my side, immediately pulling string bandages from her jean pockets. She placed one hand on my chest and used the other to push away my hoodie sleeve.
It stung and I realized that there was a throbbing pain on my forearm. Iza bandaged the long cut on my arm and then ran her hand along it's length. She proceeded to check the rest of me, blushing slightly as she passed through my chest and legs. "You have a few bruises, and a few cuts. How is everything fine?"
I smiled sheepishly. "Nobody got seriously hurt..." her expression was that of fear and surprise. "Seriously hurt? How can you be the judge of that?" My smile widened and I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Everyone can walk, nobody is bleeding heavily, and they are all pissed at Thomas"
She sighed and looked down with half-lidded eyes, but I noticed the small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. I felt that stirring in my heart again, this time greater. She looked back up at me and saw something in my eyes, something that made her blush.
We stood that way until Jack slapped me in the shoulder. "Get a room, you two. Unless you feel like helping out?" Iza's blush deepened and she dashed away to treat the other's wounds. I smirked at Jack and returned the blow, but with more force. "She's going to help you last, you know."
Jack smiled. "Yeah, but hey. Small price to pay for a little entertainment." Then he turned away and wandered over to talk to Lila. I I stood there and put my hands in my pockets, where my fingers brushed against the smooth metal of an old proyect. I smiled and looked at the sky.
Soon, it will be finished, and I can finally put an old wound to rest.
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Unknown POV
I grinned in satisfaction as I drew my sword from the deceased pigman warrior, it's void-dark blade glittering with blood. I continued wandering the nether caverns, in the direction of the throne room. More warriors dashed at me, and I swiftly took their heads off with a single blow. My sword, cast from black flames, extended and shape-shifted whenever I wanted.
There was a large netherrack door in my way, and I brought it down with a massive fireball, spreading bits of rock everywhere. Four elite pigmen warriors drew their broadswords but stood their ground. At the far end of the room stood the throne, and it's king upon it. The king snapped his fingers, and the warriors put their swords down.
The king stood and spoke with a booming voice. "Who are you? Why are you here?" I smirked. "I am Darkness, and I have come for your head." The king, a brave warrior, showed no emotion. But I could smell his fear, like fresh blood from an open wound.
Then, he drew his own sword, and the five pigmen ran at me, expecting a fair fight. I was going to give them no such thing. I forged a second blade and swung them both in an outwards arc, starting from the center. As I swung, the blades extended, neatly slicing them all in half.
Sheathing my original sword and dropping the second, I walked up to the throne. And demolished it with my bare hands.
One down, three to go.
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Happy Author's Notes
Yay, I finally managed to finish the twenty-first chapter!
How is it going so far? If anyone has concerns or complaints or suggestions or an urge to tell me anything, then send me a review! Please? :D
Anywho, this one took a while to push out because I was in the middle of sulking again. Because ark is hard. :( Also, I have school, so that too.
Anyways, thank you for your time and support, and have a great day!
~ LeMafiaKreb
P.S, I'll try to upload the next one in half the time, 'Kay?