Days Since the Mob Invasion: 744
Rinoa stood atop of a grassy hill, looking along the horizon. This was, thankfully, the last hill for miles, and as such it gave her the opportunity to inspect the surrounding area for the next mile or two thanks to her superior viewpoint. She was currently on the edge of the northern hill lands, an area right before the Red Mountains where the hills stretched for miles. She had been walking for the past three days up and down these hills, and she felt like her legs were about to crumble under her weight at any moment. Whenever she'd look at her compass, though, she immediately felt a burst of energy spring forth from her core, further driving her along her quest. If Hunter was right in saying that one day's journey in the Nether was the equivalent to about an eight days' travel in the Overworld, and they traveled in the Nether for three days, then that means she had about twenty-one days until she got to where she was going. She looked at her compass again, the red line of redstone dust pointing incessantly in front of her towards her destination. She still had quite the way to go until she reached Hunter's Watch. Until then? More walking.
"For Sofie," she reminded herself, clenching the compass in her hand before stuffing it back into her backpack.
A light breeze blew over the hillsides and caught a few strands of perhaps Rinoa's most distinguishing feature: her hair. Though you mostly couldn't see it behind the hood from her cloak, Rinoa had bright, pink hair that normally reached her upper back except when it was pulled back for her to wear her hood. She had started dying it as a child, a ritual that she had carried over into her young adult life, even after the mob invasion. It was sort of her constant thing that she could rely on. The world might have ended, but her hair was the same. In Rinoa's eyes, her hair was just about the only thing that had stayed the same since the mobs showed up.
At the top of the hill, Rinoa smiled as she took a deep breath, allowing the crisp, northern air to fill her lungs. Suddenly, a gentle yet cool breeze blew past her, fluttering her cloak in the wind. She shuddered, clenching her cloak and drawing it to her closely.
"Another reason to get to Hunter's Watch as fast as I can," she spoke to herself. "The cold months are coming." Wiping away a drop of snot with her glove, she carried on walking down the hill.
Minecraftia was divided into two distinct geographical regions: North and South, with the Iron Mountains acting as a natural border between the two. The North, more mountainous and of a higher elevation, was noticeably cooler than its southern neighbor. However, winters in the North were nearly unbearable, and got even worse the closer you got to the Red Mountains, the utmost northern border of Minecraftia. The South, however, was much more temperate during the winter, but during the summer the humidity and heat were blistering. Multiple citizens prior to the mob invasion had homes on both sides of the Iron Mountains that they would travel to whenever the weather would be too extreme for their liking.
As for Rinoa, she was just happy to be alive.
Rinoa found herself looking up at the height of hundreds of pine trees. She was at the edge of a large, dark forest. A forest that she needed to walk through, judging by the compass. She turned to her left to see if there was any sort of way around. Nope, the treeline stretched for several miles at least. She turned to her right only to see the same thing. She sighed. She had never been this far up north before, the geography was completely new to her. She had never even heard of this forest before. Looking up towards the sky, Rinoa could see it was stained a light, yellowish orange. The sun would be setting soon, and she was exposed and in the open. She shook her head and kicked the dirt on the ground.
"I hate forests..." she muttered to herself. "Especially this one." The canopy of the trees was very thick, allowing for almost no light to pass through. Anything could be lurking in there, Rinoa thought. Unbinding her hatchet from her belt, she took a few steps forward, before stopping. She had an idea.
Taking a few steps back until she was several yards away from the treeline, she let out a loud yell, as loud as she possibly could, before stopping. She clenched her hatchet and waited, her eyes squinting to see any movement. Patiently, she waited for a minute until, finally, she saw something.
Slowly creeping out of the darkness and into the twilight, Rinoa counted five zombies and a skeleton emerge from the dark bowels of the forest as they let out those dreadful, dead moans. Rinoa smirked. She had drawn them out, and it didn't take long for the zombies' black, rotten eyes to spot Rinoa. A small chorus of angry wails rang out as they slowly started shuffling over to her. Rinoa spat on the ground, disgusted by their green, peeling skin and stench. Clutching the handle of her hatchet as hard as she could, she charged toward the zombies. Thankfully for her, they had formed in a near single-file line.
"Graauugh-"
THWAK!
The zombie's groan was cut off by Rinoa delivering a powerful blow right on the top of the zombie's skull, splitting it open down to the roof of his mouth and immediately dropping him.
One down, Rinoa grinned to herself, admiring the green, yellowish blood staining her hatchet.
The other zombies didn't seem too pleased by this, and lunged at her. Thinking quickly, Rinoa jumped backward, barely avoiding the zombies' reach. She then strafed to the left, clocking one of the zombies in the side of the head with full force, eliminating him as his limp body also fell.
Two.
Rinoa saw the rotten blood pouring out of its skull, the sight of it fueling her even more. She felt the rush of adrenaline reaching her lungs, every breath she took only seemed to be lighting her insides on fire. Rinoa laughed.
She liked it.
Twirling her hatchet around, she whacked another zombie over the head with the blunt side. The blow cracked open the zombie's skull and brought it to its knees, but it wasn't enough to kill it. Rinoa raised the hatchet high above her head and slammed it as hard as she could down onto the zombie's cracked skull, smashing it open as chunks of rotten flesh and glops of blood sprung forth to stain her cloak.
"Three!" Rinoa said, laughing in ecstasy. The other two zombies were side by side now and advancing towards her rapidly, with the skeleton lagging shortly behind them. Rinoa backed up, allowing her to maintain a safe distance from them. "Hahaha! What's wrong!?" She asked, laughing. "Never had to work for your meal before?!" Rinoa jeered. Suddenly she sprang forward in a sweeping motion, slicing at the leg of the zombie on the right. The hatchet hit its mark, burying deep into the green leg of the zombie and cracking through the decayed femur bone. The right zombie tried to take another step, but without its leg support he simply collapsed to the ground. The left zombie lunged at Rinoa with his arms outstretched only for her to jump backwards again.
"C'mon, you sorry sack of shit! You can do better than tha- OOF!"
Rinoa fell backwards, tripping over a root from a small tree in the ground. Landing hard on her back, she felt her neck jerk backwards before the back of her head smacked into the ground. Hard. Her vision got blurry for a second and her ears started ringing.
"Oh shit..." she muttered, unable hear her words even though they were coming out her mouth. Lifting her head off the ground, she could see the blurring image of the final zombie towering over her, about to lung on her. Instinctively, she kicked the knee of the zombie, cracking it and bending the knee backwards. The zombie fell, but not how she wanted him to. Hunching forward, the zombie's knee buckled under him and he slumped directly onto Rinoa's chest. Her vision restoring, she struggled to look down only to see the zombie starting to bite out a chunk of her leather cuirass. Panicking, Rinoa grabbed the zombie by his shoulders and lifted him up, trying to push her off of him. The zombie's deafening screams came in between his bites as he bit only inches away from Rinoa's face, his drool splattering on her cheek. In that instant, Rinoa also felt something start to tug at her right boot, and her eyes widened.
The other zombie!
In her struggle with the left zombie on top of her, she had completely forgotten about the right zombie that she had crippled but didn't kill.
Rinoa felt like this would be the end. If the ground zombie didn't bite her, then the one on top of her surely would. She tried again desperately to push the zombie atop her off, but he was clenching her cuirass too hard and he simply wouldn't let go. Just in that moment, however, Rinoa hear a wooshing sound. Like something was cutting through the air and coming straight toward them.
Thunk!
The zombie on top of her immediately went limp and, curiously enough, Rinoa noticed an arrow sticking out of the top of his head. With the zombie's grip now loose, she inpulsively pushed the zombie off of her, before picking up her hatchet and smashing it into the head of the zombie on the ground at her boot, right before it was about to bite. But her threat wasn't over. Standing up, but still dazed, Rinoa looked around for a second before spotting the skeleton slowly approaching her. Getting her axe ready, Rinoa bent her knees a little preparing to strike. Right before she could pounce, however, an arrow wooshed right by her face, narrowly missing her head, before the arrow finally made contact with the skull of the skeleton as it shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Dumbstruck, Rinoa looked around for a second, then quickly turned behind her to see where the arrow came from.
Earlier...
Zoe was panting as she made her way to the source of the scream, her chest filling up with the cool, autumn air. She had heard a yell, not too far from where she was. She knew she probably shouldn't be rushing into danger like this, but she couldn't help it.
"Dammit, Zoe," she said through gasps as she sprinted over the hill toward her destination. "You can do this, just stay calm." She felt like her legs were on fire, but she kept running until, finally, she got over the top of the hill.
Taking a few seconds to catch her breath, she looked down below for any sign of danger before she finally spotted the source of the scream she heard earlier. A lone woman dressed in white and black with only a single hatchet being attacked by about half a dozen zombies.
"Shit!" Zoe yelped, noticing the clear danger this woman was in. She quickly unslung her bow from her shoulder and fumbled to pull an arrow out of the quiver. Her hands shaking, she accidentally dropped the arrow and had to quickly bend down to pick it up before finally getting a firm grasp on it. Pulling the arrow back, she aimed only to stop. The woman had already killed 3 of the zombies by herself while she had been fumbling for arrows.
Holy shit, Zoe thought to herself, impressed.
Just then, the lady cackled maniacally. "What's wrong?!" she yelled. "Never had to work for your meal before!?" Zoe then saw the lady spring forward with her hatchet with the speed of a trained soldier. The woman swung her axe from the side and caught one of the remaining zombies in the leg right in the thigh. The hatchet cut deep, and Zoe was almost certain the lady was about to cut the zombie's whole leg off in just one swing. She pulled back, and allowed the zombie to fall to the ground in front of her from his leg wound.
"C'mon, you sorry sack of shit!" the woman taunted the remaining zombie after it failed to grab her. Zoe was beginning to get the idea that this lady didn't need her help at all, so she lowered her bow and put the arrow back in her quiver. The lady put her arms out, mockingly. "You can do better than tha-" and just like that, the lady in white tripped backwards over a small tree growing in the ground.
"Shit, shit shit!" Zoe said, realizing that the lady did, in fact, definitely need her help. Pulling the arrow out of her quiver once more, Rinoa began running down the hill to get closer to the lady to get a better shot at the zombie. At the base of the hill, Zoe realized that the lady was about to die if she didn't do something and fast. "I got to make the shot now, can't afford to waste anymore time," Zoe muttered, aiming down the arrow. The woman was holding the zombie out on top of her, but was unable to push her off due to the zombie's gnarled hand grabbing her by the cuirass. Zoe would probably only have one shot to get it right, so she aimed very carefully. Closing her left eye to better concentrate, she deeply inhaled before letting go of the bowstring.
The arrow went flying through the air before... Yes! A perfect hit, right on top of the zombie's head. Zoe let out a sigh of relief as she saw the woman throw the zombie off of her.
I hope she's not bitten, Zoe thought to herself. Jogging forward a few more steps, she took another arrow out of her quiver and aimed at the final mob, a single skeleton. Although the woman was back on her feet, Zoe decided it would be better to not take any chances and eliminate the skeleton from a distance. Inhaling sharply, she let go of her arrow and watched it fly into the skeleton's skull. She couldn't help but smirk to herself as she watched the skull shatter like a glass bowl. Still, she was relieved it was over. Letting out a sigh of relief, she slung her bow back over her shoulder and walked forward to meet the undoubtedly grateful woman whose life she had just saved.
The woman stared in disbelief at Zoe as she approached. Zoe smiled to herself. She had left many people in shock before with her superior archery skills, this is true. By this point, she was used to leaving people's jaws on the ground in amazement, much like she had for this woman. Finally within talking distance, Zoe gave her saved damsel in distress a nod and a smile.
"Hi! Man, I sure am glad I ran into you when I did! Few more seconds and you would have been zom-zom food, haha! My name's-" Zoe was promptly cut off by a hard jab to her face by the woman, as she stumbled backwards and landed on her butt. "OWWW!" she yelled, holding her nose. "What the hell was that-?" Zoe was, once again, cut off by Rinoa kicking her in the chest to get her to lay on her back before stepping on her chest, pinning her there with her foot.
"Who are you? Who are you with? Have you been following me?!" Rinoa demanded, her hatchet raised above her head. Zoe squirmed, trying to free herself, but to no avail. "ANSWER ME!" Rinoa demanded, applying more pressure to Zoe's chest. Whimpering, the girl opened her mouth but Rinoa couldn't quite make out the words. "Louder," she ordered. "So I can hear you."
"Y-you're... crushing... my lungs!" Zoe said in between strained breaths. Rinoa squinted her eyes for a moment examining the lady. She clearly wasn't even twenty years old yet. After a second of hesitating, Rinoa finally lifted her foot off of the girl, letting her breath in a deep gasp of breath. After holding her chest for a few seconds, Zoe looked over at the lady whose life she had just saved, tears of anger streaming down her cheeks. "What's your problem, lady?! I save your ass and this is how you repay me?" Rinoa stared plainly at her showing no emotion.
"What's your name?" She asked. Zoe just shook her head in disbelief before slowly raising herself up off the ground. She was wearing brown leather armor with iron plating attached to the chest and thigh areas. This provided extra protection compared to a pure leather armor set while allowing her more flexibility and speed than traditional iron plating. Zoe figured it was the best of both worlds. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail behind her head to allow her dark, brown eyes to aim better with her bow without having to worry about hair getting in the way.
"My name," Zoe said, dusting the dirt from her back, "is Zoe Winslet of the famous Winslet iron mines!" At this, Zoe placed her hands on her hips and struck a pose of victory. "'The Iron Princess!' of Monteian!" she exclaimed excitedly. Once she realizes who I am, Zoe thought, she'll be begging for my forgiveness after the stunt she just pulled! she snickered. She examined Rinoa's face for any signs of recognition, only to see her blink slowly.
"...'The Iron Princess'?" Rinoa repeated. "Never heard of her," Rinoa remarked straight-faced. Zoe laughed nervously, starting to sweat a little.
"Oh, c'mon... The Winslet family of Monteian? The owners of the largest iron mines in Minecraftia? I was the daughter of the Winslet patriarch. Heir to the family fortune? People called me the Iron Princess since I was the only daughter?" Zoe explained, once again looking for any familiarity with the name in Rinoa's eyes. Still nothing. "Shit," she muttered. Rinoa just stared at the girl in disbelief. Was this girl serious?
"I know where Monteian is, it's to the west of here. But who cares about what your family was before the invasion?" Rinoa asked, rubbing the bits of zombie brain off of her hatchet and cloak. Zoe flinched at this, seemingly hurt.
"I-... well, listen, the truth is... I'm not sure if you could tell but, uh... I haven't really been outside much," Zoe said, rubbing the back of her head. Once again, Rinoa looked at her like she was insane.
"You... 'haven't been outside much'?" Rinoa echoed.
Zoe's face looked defeated. She realized she should probably clarify.
"Well, after the outbreak my family and our miners kind of just hunkered down in Monteian and waited for the military to show up. They never did. So... we had the iron, we had the workers, we had the tools. We built a wall around the town and decided to stay." Zoe explained. "I... I just left the town about two weeks ago. I kind of assumed nobody else was alive out here. You're the first person I've met since then." Zoe finished, shrugging. Rinoa looked at her in shock.
"You... You've been behind a wall since all of this? In Monteian?" she asked. Zoe nodded. Rinoa rubbed her brow. No wonder this kid is clueless. "How old are you, kid?" she asked. Zoe straightened her back and spoke up firmly.
"Seventeen," she said confidently. Rinoa raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "Okay, okay... Sixteen, I think. I haven't really been keeping up with time since, well... you know."
"You were fourteen when all this started?" Rinoa asked, surprised. Zoe nodded again. "Damn..." Rinoa couldn't help but feel bad for attacking her earlier, especially considering the fact that she seemed to be relatively new to this and was just trying to help. She just exhaled, wondering if she should even ask her next question. "Why... did you leave the Moneteian?" she asked hesitantly. Zoe's eyes shot away from Rinoa's for a minute as she looked at the ground. Rinoa could tell she had struck a sore spot.
"What's your name?" Zoe asked, still looking at the ground. Rinoa decided it probably wasn't best to press the question, considering she already had an idea as to what could have happened to cause her to leave, with neither scenario being pretty.
"My name's Rinoa, Princess of Nothing. But, uh, you can call me 'Rin,' for short, " she responded with a small laugh. Zoe's demeanor perked up to how it had been before as she looked back up at Rin and extended her hand.
"Pleased to meet you, Rin! Glad to make a friend!" Rinoa flinched at the word 'friend'. Zoe's eyes were bright and full of a naivety that Rinoa hadn't seen in years. She was damaged, but unbroken. Rinoa believed her story about her being sheltered behind a wall, no other survivor would have came rushing to help another survivor fight off a group of mobs just because they wanted to help. Those survivors were usually the first to die. Rinoa frowned, realizing that without any real survival skills, Zoe would probably die within a few weeks. It was surprising she had even lasted this long. Besides, she didn't need somebody following her. Not where she was going.
"Look, Zoe," Rinoa started, her face lowered. "I don't think you wanna-" She stopped suddenly, hearing a rustling coming back from the treeline.
Another zombie?
Rinoa turned and readied her hatchet and Zoe readied her bow. Just then, a green creeper crawled out from the brushes of the treeline, hissing all along the way. Rinoa's eyes widened as she took a few steps back.
"Run..." she warned. Zoe looked at her, confused.
"What? Why? I can just-"
"Run!" Rinoa yelled quickly as she turned and began to run. She was a relatively decent fighter when it came to zombies, but creepers? No way. She had seen countless men blown to literal pieces by creepers before. There was no way to fight them up close without them combusting with the force and power of several sticks of TNT. The only way to fight them was with a bow and arrow.
Wait, Rinoa thought to herself. A bow and arrow!
Rinoa turned around from running just in time to see Zoe let go of her bowstring, sending an arrow flying directly into the creeper's head. The arrow pierced through the leafy skin of the creeper, taking out a huge chunk of the head as it passed through. A loud "hisssss" came out of the hole in the creeper's head as he collapsed sideways on the ground, its leafy body rustling as he fell, defeated. Finally, the leaves of the body began to blow away in the wind and scatter, leaving nothing behind except a fine powder on the ground. Zoe, clearly confused, turned to look at Rinoa.
"I was trying to tell you, I could just shoot it. What are you freaking out for?" Zoe asked. Rinoa looked on clearly astounded.
'Three headshots..." she muttered to herself almost in a daze. "Three...in a row...?"
"What? I can't hear you?" Zoe asked, cupping her hand to her ear to try and hear her friend's words. Rinoa walked back over to her, looked at where the creeper was shot, then to Zoe, then back to the creeper.
"Three headshots. In a row. The zombie, the skeleton, and the creeper... Why the hell does 'The Iron Princess' know how to shoot a bow that well?" Rinoa asked inquisitively. Zoe just shrugged.
"Been shooting since I was 6. Father said it would be good sport. I only ever shot targets, though. Mostly for competitions and contests. I never hunted until I left the wall... Uh, three headshots is a good thing, right?" Zoe asked nervously, rubbing her shoulder.
"Wow... Just, wow..." Rinoa shook her head in disbelief. This girl was full of surprises. Still, with archery skills like that, maybe she wasn't so hopeless after all. Rinoa looked up and stared into Zoe's eyes intently, catching Zoe off guard.
"Woah, h-hey, did I do something wrong?"
"Where were you planning on going?" Rinoa asked.
"W-what?"
"Where?!" Rinoa asked again, firmer this time. Zoe looked nervous and started to stammer.
"I-I was just walking around trying to find somebody. I wasn't really going anywhere, I just thought that I might run across a community or maybe another wall to hide behind or something. I wasn't going anywhere, I swear!" Zoe stumbled over her words rapidly. Rinoa stared into her eyes for a few more seconds and determined that she was telling the truth. Rinoa shook her head again for a second, not believing what she was about to do.
"Well then, Zoe. I got a proposition for you," she started, finally holstering her hatchet. Zoe cocked her head to the side, clearly intrigued. "Come with me," Rinoa said. "I'm going further south. We stick together, at least until you find a safe community to join up with, and we'll have a better chance of surviving. With your archery skills and my survival skills, we'll be able to take care of each other. I'll help you, you help me. That sound fair?" Rinoa held her hand out for a handshake, waiting for Zoe to seal the deal. Zoe looked awestruck for a second, almost as if she was unable to grasp fully was Rinoa was offering. Soon, though, her face brightened and she grabbed Rinoa's hand and shook enthusiastically.
"Yes! I hoped you might say that! It's been so lonely these past few weeks, it's nice to finally meet someone else! Even though you did, you know, clock me in the face just awhile ago. But still! Glad to be aboard for the trip, friend!" Zoe had spent the past two weeks alone. It was the longest she had ever gone without seeing anyone in her entire life. The odds that she would ever find anyone at all seemed slim to her. But finding someone that was willing to travel with her and help her out? Well, she felt like the luckiest gal alive.
As for Rinoa, well, she felt a little guilty. She felt as if she were almost using Zoe's archery skills to her advantage. But she meant what she said: She would help Zoe find a safe community in exchange for her help. And, in Rinoa's mind, that seemed like a fair deal. She could tell by Zoe's sudden confused expression, though, that she had a question.
"What is it?" Rinoa asked.
"I was just wondering... where are you going? Aren't you looking for a safe place too? Why would you be dropping me off and not staying with me?" Legitimate questions, Rinoa figured. Still, the less she knew, the better.
"I'm going south, like I said. Way south. It'll probably be another month before I make it to where I'm going. I'm trying to meet up with... well, let's just call them some 'old friends' and be done with it," Rinoa practically snarled out the word 'friends.' Still, Zoe seemed none the wiser at this, and smiled.
"Oh, well, it's always great to have friends, right?" she asked, clearly oblivious to Rinoa's anger. Rinoa, once again, just looked at her and blinked slowly while wondering just what exactly she had gotten herself into.
"Yeah... Friends are... nice?"
"So," Zoe said optimistically, turning on her heels to the forest. "We going through there?" Rinoa nodded, turning to the forest herself.
"You think you're up for it?" Rinoa smiled, looking over at her new traveling companion. Zoe let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of her head.
"Well... Uh... I hope so, heheh..." she giggled nervously without a hint of confidence to be found for miles. That wasn't exactly the answer Rinoa wanted to hear, her smile turning into a frown as she hung her head and sighed before unsheathing her hatchet again.
This girl is going to get herself killed, Rinoa thought to herself as she started her walk towards the forest. Her new friend ran to catch up with her, eagerness in her eyes, a bow on her shoulder, and a quiver of arrows on her back.
Next Chapter: Testificate