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Hey all you readers out there! It's ButterHunter! And welcome to the official one year anniversary of One Block at a Time! You see why it took as long as it did to get out now?
Anyway, I'll shut up. Here's the new chapter! One year old, whoo!
Chapter 33: The S&S Corps
The next few months passed by rather fast.
Seriously, after Andr had confessed to me, several months went by, without anything major happening to us.
I do recall making many trips to and from Blockington, at least one or two every month. My sister, who was well, thank Notch, was glad to see me, and even if I could only bring Snowy along with me, that was alright with Susie and Andr.
During one of these visits, I uh… happened to walk into the bookstore again. And uh… I may or may not have seen a book titled, 'Raising Dogs: From Pup to Adult.'
Out of… sheer curiosity, I opened it up, and found a section called… um… 'Dealing with a Fast Maturing Dog.'
D-don't judge me! I was just… hoping that I would find out how to deal with Snowy's 'mood' swings, alright? Only that. Nothing else.
A-anyway, I did learn a few things from that book. Like how constant exercise can help work off the effects of heat. While it wasn't a perfect fix, it did make my life, and probably Snowy's as well, a whole lot easier.
And another thing: I also relocated the work area. Before, it was just a mess of a few furnaces and a crafting table near the front door, but now it had it's own room, with the walls full of space for plans and such, and almost the whole back wall was furnaces, ready for smelting duty.
Apart from dealing with Snowy's mood swings and building plans, another thing I had to take in mind was that rooms were already starting to fill up in our second floor. We had only one more room left, and now that winter was starting to clear up, patients seemed to be coming more often. If I thought that old skeleton was bad, there were plenty of worse cases.
Some were no trouble at all, like the occasional creeper that needed a bandage. As long as I hid in the back or upstairs for a while, things were okay. But some weren't that simple, like that skeleton who broke both his legs trying to ride a horse for whatever reason.
The worst patient that came in during these months was that zombie who somehow not only broke nearly every bone in his left hand, but also apparently had lost a rib and had an arrow in his knee. It took nearly five days for Susie to patch him up enough to get him back up to his feet, just so that he could get better help in his hometown.
When these patients leave, I'm not exactly in the best mood for having been cramped upstairs for days, waiting for Susie to finish. These are also the days that I'm kinda cranky, be it from boredom or simply because I'm starving. Susie always brings me food and water wherever I'm hiding, but even she knows that I'm not happy hiding up here.
So whenever I can finally return to living in my own home, the girls always treat me even more nicely than normal, all in an effort to make me glad that those patients are gone.
But then... one day came, around mid-July.
It was almost midday, and finally another problem patient had left. Susie came back upstairs to see me still lying in Snowy's bed, tired.
"Cameron, that creeper is gone now. Come downstairs for brunch." she said gently, knowing that I wasn't exactly peachy right now.
I mumbled something in response. I don't even know what I said, but I started to pull off the covers to Snowy's bed. Susie helped me up, and half carrying my semi-conscious body, we made our way downstairs.
The reason I was so tired? Remember that creeper Susie mentioned? Yeah, they were LOUD when they went to sleep in the sickbay. Guess they had really bad nightmares or something like that. I honestly don't know how the other girls could take it, especially Snowy. Thankfully, they only were here for three days, but still, it was the longest two nights of my life.
Anyway, once me and Susie made it downstairs, Snowy and Andr greeted me. Even though I was still a complete mess, I nodded to them gently, gratefully sitting down at the counter.
"Still really tired?" Andr asked, wearing her black hoodie but missing her hat. I only nodded, too tired to talk right now. As well as starving.
Snowy immediately cuddled up to me. "Look on the bright side, Master. At least he's gone now. I don't really like creepers to begin with, so I'm just glad that's over."
"Yeah… sure… if… you… say so…" I mutter sleepily.
Several pancakes, two glasses of milk, and hugs from Snowy slowly worked their magic in waking me up, though not completely. At least I could actually converse like a normal human being rather than just mumble.
Anyway, once breakfast was cleaned up, (I wanted to help, but Susie told me to sit down and rest for a while instead) I started to think about ways to get me fully back to normal.
Andr came over to me, a soft smile on her face as she knelt down to my level. "Hey. Feeling any better?"
"A little." I said, leaning back in my chair. "Still not all there. But… getting there."
"Mm. Good." Andr said, taking my hand. "Do you need anything?"
"No, not at the moment, really." I say. "Why?"
"Just… thought you'd want to be with me for a while." Andr said, blushing softly.
I smiled lightly. "Heh. I'd like that. That sounds nice."
And just as I finished saying that, Andr teleports me to her room again, for like the third time this week. At this point, teleporting doesn't even phase me, it's as normal as walking up some stairs
Anyway, Andr had teleported us to her bed, smiling softly as she gazed gently into my eyes. I did the same back at hers. They were so… mesmerizing. Whenever I started looking into them, I never wanted to stop.
Three seconds later and I can't help it anymore. I lean forward and kiss her gently, wrapping my arms around her thin frame. She blushed heavily, but that's nothing new. Eventually, she returns the kiss back to me, trying to bring me closer, closer, closer…
When we parted lips, we realized that Andr apparently pulled us so hard, she laid herself on her back. We blushed heavily from that, but… neither of us made any attempt to sit back up.
"A… Andr…" I said softly, cupping a hand around her cheek. She blushes even HARDER, but still makes no movement, save for her breathing.
We kiss again. And again. And again. Over and over. Wanting from the bottom of our hearts that we would always feel this free, this… happy.
By the time we finish, I'm out of breath, and lying down on my back. Andr seemed slightly better off, but not by much. She was leaning against the headboard of her bed, holding a hand to her chest, purple blush covering most of her face at this point.
We stayed like that for five minutes, until I could push myself up again. Andr seemed recovered as well, and watched me as I gently stretched and popped my back.
"Ohh that was a good one…" I said as a loud pop filled the air.
"That sounded almost painful…" Andr commented softly. "And really loud."
"So? Only you and me really heard it. No one els-" I started to say, but was interrupted by the sound of pounding footsteps in the hallway.
Then the door burst open, and Snowy practically came running in, looking worried. "Master! Who's hurting you?!"
I blinked a little bit, before responding, "Uhhh, Snowy? I was just popping my back. No one was hurting me."
Snowy blinked back at me, realizing what that noise was. "Ohh… my bad."
Andr giggled a little bit. "Someone is a bit overprotective."
Snowy pouted a little bit. "Hey, I care about my Master. Is that so wrong?"
Andr didn't answer, she just giggled a little bit more. Snowy came over and sat down between me and Andr, still pouting a little.
"Awww…" I said, thinking her pouting was adorable. "Someone wants a hug."
"I think so too." Andr said happily, joining me as we both sandwich Snowy between us. She looked a bit surprised, before relaxing and sighing softly, her huffy mood long gone.
Eventually, I try to part from Snowy, but she wasn't ready to let me go. She grabs my shoulder with her right hand and tries to pull me back to her, but fails due to Andr holding her other side.
Not easily deterred, she shakes out of Andr's grip and uses both hands to pull me back to her, this time being successful. Honestly, I wasn't really all that surprised. When Snowy wants to cuddle you, she'll cuddle you, no matter what it takes.
But what did surprise me, was when Andr decided to flip the roles around. She teleported behind me and rewrapped herself around me, so now, I was the one sandwiched in between these two.
After a brief second of confusion, I simply relax and slowly lean into their arms. My head comfortably rests on Andr's shoulder as I just stay quiet and enjoy the hug.
I felt so relaxed…
Third person POV…
It must have been at least five minutes after those three started hugging. Snowy and Andr were almost surprised when they realized that Cameron had fallen asleep in their arms, before they remembered how he was when they first saw him that morning.
"Maybe we should give him so space to sleep. He looks like he needs it." Andr suggested quietly.
Snowy almost agreed, when she remembered the last time she left her master alone when he fell asleep. "Well… you can go ahead. I'm kinda tired too…"
Andr simply shrugged. "Suit yourself." she said, leaving Snowy and a sleeping Cameron alone.
Snowy sat next to her master, and kept watch on him in case something, or someone, did something to him.
A minute passed. She watched his dreamy face, and yawned.
Two minutes. Snowy's eyes became droopy, and she curled up to Cameron's warm body.
Three minutes. Snowy gently closed her eyes, and almost instantly passed out.
Gentle snores came from the two, as they dreamt pleasant dreams…
…
Then…
It happened.
The window… creaked open.
…
Some time later…
Susie POV…
"Those two have been sleeping quite some time, huh?" I spoke to Andr as I made dinner.
"Well, you can't blame Cameron, can you?" Andr told me. "I mean, you remember what he was like this morning."
"As for Snowy's excuse?" I jokingly asked.
"I don't know. Maybe she was just tired too." Andr said, shrugging.
"Well, can you please go get them? Dinner's almost done." I asked, taking the steak out of the furnace. Andr nodded and headed upstairs.
I just finished baking the potatoes, when suddenly, Andr shouted. "Susie! Get up here!"
As quickly as I could, I turned off all the furnaces and ran upstairs. Andr was waiting just outside her room, her face pale.
"What happen-" I started, but stopped when I looked in Andr's room.
It was empty. No one was there…
But a piece of paper was on the bed.
I gently walked over and, with a shaking hand, picked up the paper.
Looking for someone? Sorry, but they're gone forever. Sorry not sorry. Signed, S&S Corps.
"W-what? D-did…" I started, my voice shaking.
"I… I already looked around." Andr said slowly. "Cameron and Snowy are gone."
Meanwhile, at an unknown location…
Snowy POV…
"Mmm…"
I sat up gently, stretching. "That was a good…"
Then I opened my eyes. "...nap."
I… was in a dark room. With a door made of bars, and a torn up bed in the corner. The walls were made of stone brick, with moss growing in some. I… I was in cell.
"W… what?"
Then, a low bark came from behind me. I turned quickly to see… a wolf.
In fact, I knew him. He was… my old pack leader. "W-what… what are you doing here? Where are we? Where's my master?!"
The old wolf barked at me again, making me quiet. He growled at me a bit, which I understood as, "Too many questions, not enough time."
I slowed down a little bit, and took a deep breath.
Just then, a voice called out from the bars. I turned to see a… spider? A spider was pushing two plates through a small opening at the bottom of said door. Half of a rather unappetizing looking porkchop was on each plate, with a small cup of what looked like water, but might not be…
The wolf with me ran over and quickly pulled his plate of 'food' over to the far wall and started eating like, well, a wolf.
The spider then hissed at me, and while I couldn't understand it, what it said probably wasn't very nice. It scuttled away, leaving me alone and confused.
'Wh-where am I? Why am I here? Where's my master?' I asked myself.
Meanwhile, in another room…
Cameron POV…
…
…
'Why… can't I see anything?'
'Wait… wasn't I sleeping at home? What am I doing in a chair?'
My thoughts are slow, as my brain slowly tries to wake up fully.
I can't see anything. My glasses are still on, but… I can't see anything.
Then, I hear a door opening in front of me.
"Is he secure?"
"Yes, he is. I made sure of it."
"Alright. Let's do this already."
Footsteps, coming closer to me…
A chair being pulled, and someone sitting down and scooting forward…
Scratch that, two chairs, with two people sitting down in them…
"Well, take that damn bag off of his head!"
And suddenly, my view was clear.
First thing I process: I'm tied to a chair, my bag and tool belt gone. Second: there's a light right in front of me, shining from… some weird, bright rock, it looks like. Third: I'm in a small, gray stone room, with a door on the far wall in front of me. And finally: the two people sitting down in front of me.
The one on the left is a small, lean woman, with bright red eyes, purple hair tied into a ponytail, and red hair clips which kinda looked like a spider eyes. Her clothes were all black in color. She looked coldly at me, as if having me here was an annoyance.
The one on the right was also a woman. She looked a bit more relaxed. Even though she didn't look very old, her long hair, which was in ponytails and slightly covered by a hat, was completely gray. But what stood out about this woman wasn't her hair, nor was it her gray eyes.
What stood out was her clothing. Or rather, a lack thereof.
Her 'shirt', and I say that loosely, covered her from the neck to just barely her chest. However, it was cut in a way that I could fairly see a rather impressive wrack, not to mention her lean, fit build. She did have a weapon on her, a bow by her chair, but I couldn't see a quiver of any kind.
I tried to move, but like I said, my hands were tied, literally. I wanted to yell at these two, but they spoke first.
"Stop moving. You aren't gonna be able to break those bonds." the purple haired girl said.
Panic was rising in my chest. "Wh-what's going on? Wh-where am I?!"
"Just relax for a minute." the gray haired one said.
"Kinda hard to relax when you're tied up!" I yelled.
The gray haired girl sighed, clearly expecting a response like that. "Look, the more you struggle, the worse this is gonna be. Look, I didn't want to tie you up, but Silk here forced me to."
"And if we didn't, Diana?" the purple haired girl, who I assumed was Silk, argued. "He would be all over us! He could fight!"
"Unlikely, considering we took his weapons for now." the gray haired woman, Diana, said. "Look, now he probably doesn't even WANT to trust us. We didn't give him the benefit of the doubt."
"Like hell I don't!" I said, still struggling even though I knew it was probably pointless. "Let me go!"
Silk sighed impatiently. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with."
"Wait a minute… where's Snowy?!" I shouted, struggling hard against my bonds. "She wouldn't have left me alone to be kidnapped! What did you do to her?!"
"Who, the wolf girl?" Silk asked, scoffing at me. "She's fine. But you aren't getting her right now."
"Oh come on. At least let's prove that his friend is okay." Diana said to Silk. Silk clearly didn't like it, but when she looked back at me, she sighed.
"Fine. I'll be back." she said, standing up and leaving. "Make sure he doesn't do anything."
Diana nodded, and Silk left the room, her footsteps echoing on the stone floor even audible from where I was.
Diana sighed, and looked at me again. She stood up, and walked over to me, kneeling to get on my level.
When she spoke, it was with a surprising amount of softness. "Look. I don't want to hurt you. And Silk doesn't either, if you believe that."
"Kinda hard to, considering my situation!" I half shouted, though not really due to how close this girl was to me.
"I know you're upset. I would be too, if I was you." Diana said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I wanted to bat it away, but I couldn't, so I tried to shake it off, but to no avail.
"*sigh*... why must we do this to you…?" she said, suddenly hugging me. I froze in surprise.
The strange thing was though… she felt… cold. Like, almost freezing cold. It should've been obvious, given how little she was wearing, but it still surprised me.
The way her arms wrapped around me, slowly getting tighter… it was like she was clinging to my warmth.
I squirmed uncontrollably at how cold she was. She seemed to realize that, and gratefully let go. "Er… sorry. I… I get cold easily."
"Gee, I wonder why…" I muttered, glancing at what she was wearing again. This caused me to be made uncomfortably aware of how close her chest was to me, but I kept my face neutral.
"Err…" Diana said, her hands still on my shoulders. "Just… if there's anything, anything at all I can do to make you… more trusting of us… talk to me, okay? I'll do anything in my power to-"
But she was interrupted when the door on the far wall started to open. Hastily, she moved over to the wall on my right and leaned against it, to make it look like she'd been there a long time.
When I looked back over at the door, I was surprised in a good way. Snowy actually walked through the door, being escorted by Silk. The moment she saw me, Snowy tried to break out of Silk's grasp, and succeeded.
"Master!" she yelled, practically leaping over the table in front of me and hugging me as much as she could.
I wished I could've hug her back, but struggling against my bonds still bore no fruit for me. Or at least, until suddenly the bonds disappeared, falling to the floor. When I tried to find out who it was, a voice whispered, "Don't try anything funny."
Silk's voice. She cut my bonds.
A moment of hesitation passed, before I fully realized my arms were free. Briefly, I considered grabbing Snowy and running for it, but decided it would be better to just hug her, at least for now.
"I'll get us out of here. I swear." I whispered to Snowy.
Snowy didn't respond. She only hugged me as much as she could.
We hugged for quite some time, until I got Snowy to let go. She didn't seem in any way ready for that. She wanted to never let me go. I understood why: she was alone, in an unfamiliar place. She wanted comfort from someone she trusted.
Even Silk, who had been all-business up to that point, seemed to have softer expression as she asked, "There. That make you feel better?"
I nodded. At least I knew she was okay. That was good.
"G-good…" Diana spoke to my right, a stutter in her voice. I glanced over to her, and I saw… her shaking, her eyes trained right at Snowy. "N-now we c-can…"
And then Snowy looked over. Diana stopped talking and shook, as Snowy simply…
Stared. But a little bit of her hair stuck up the longer she stared.
"Umm… Snowy?" I asked. She didn't respond. She only looked at Diana.
Now, at this point, I already guessed that Diana and Silk weren't entirely human, that much was obvious. And based at how Snowy was acting toward Diana, and the two's outfits, I'd have to say that the two, Diana and Silk, were part skeleton and spider, respectively.
Which reminded me too late about how a wolf sees skeletons.
"H-her eyes…" Diana said, slowly backing away to the door.
Indeed, Snowy's eyes were slowly turning crimson. If I didn't step in, I wasn't sure what was to happen.
"Snowy… relax." I said, gently pulling her gaze away from Diana. "She won't hurt you, and you won't hurt her, right?"
Diana nodded rapidly. She looked ready to start running at any second.
Snowy slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and when she open them again, they were back to the normal brown.
"Right." she said, looking back to Diana. "Of course."
"Good…" I breathed, tension in my shoulders loosening. "So… what were we talking about?"
Silk and Diana sat back down, a bit reluctantly in Diana's case. Since there was no other chairs, Snowy simply sat in my lap, which made us look the same height, oddly enough.
"So… I know we did kidnap you two." Diana said, still eyeing Snowy carefully. "But trust us, we did it for a reason."
"And we should trust a skeleton and a spider because…?" I asked honestly.
Silk looked a tiny bit surprised. "Smarter than he looks." I heard her murmur.
"Considering what I've seen, it wasn't all that hard to put two and two together…" I said softly, glancing over to Silk's weird spider eye hair pieces and Diana's arrowless bow.
"Well, whatever." Silk spoke suddenly. "We're out of time today."
Diana looked confused, until something clicked. "Oh… right."
"Wait, what do you mean, 'out of time'?" I asked.
"You stalled us too long." Silk replied. "So we have to try again some other time."
Without much else of an explanation, Silk stood up and stood by the door. "Wolf first."
"I have a name, you know!" Snowy almost yelled, angry. "And it's Snowy!"
"Fine." Silk huffed. "Snowy first."
"I'm not leaving my Master." Snowy said, holding onto my arm.
"Oh for the love of…" Silk moaned. "Look, the faster you come with me, the faster we can all forget this ever happened."
"I'm not leaving unless my Master comes with, and that's final!" Snowy said, lacing an arm around mine and crossing hers.
Silk looked at the end of her rope. "Fine! Both of you, come with me! Happy?"
"Much." Snowy replied coldly. She stood up, but not before hugging me tightly again.
"Just come with us. We'll explain tomorrow." Diana spoke to me, helping me to my feet.
"You do realize that I still don't trust you two in the slightest, right?" I asked.
"Duly noted." Silk said. "Now shake a leg already!"
Without much else of a choice, I followed Silk, who had an eye on Snowy, as we were taken down, deeper into this weird building.
I saw what looked like cells, most of which were empty. I did spy a bone or two in some of them, and something told me they weren't just decor.
Then, towards the end of the hallway, Diana stopped me for a second, and allowed Silk and Snowy to go further ahead.
"What are you-" I started, but was quickly silenced by Diana.
When Snowy and Silk disappeared around the corner, Diana let out a small sigh. "Good… I need a bit of space from her…"
"Who, Snowy?" I whispered huskily.
"Her, yes, but Silk also." Diana said. "We may be best friends, but I need my space every now and then."
"Some best friend…" I murmured.
"Oh, Silk isn't that bad." Diana said, but her voice seemed to falter for the briefest of seconds. "You just… have to be around her enough. She may seem cold, but that's just because she works hard. Maybe a bit too hard sometimes…"
"Whatever." I said, waiting for something bad to happen. "Why are we stopped?"
Diana paused for a brief moment. She looked like she was debating with herself over something.
"I…" she started, before pulling me off to the side quickly.
"I wish I could do more for you." she said. "I really do."
"..." I stayed silent.
"Look… I know things look bad." she said, glancing around. "But… I'm sure we can make this better. I know we will."
"..."
"So… just… you have to believe that I'm doing all that I can to help. It took a lot of bargaining just to keep your friend unharmed. I can, and will, work to getting you out safely."
I nodded slowly. Was she being serious? Or was it just an attempt to lure me into a false sense of security?
Either reason, she started walking again, like we never had even talked.
Finally, we reached our stop. Silk was there, and she looked pissed. "Diana! Where were you?! I spent the last two minutes keeping this one from running back to save him! What were you doing?!"
"Oh, just talking." Diana said casually.
"Talking?! You couldn't have walked and talked?!" Silk almost yelled.
Diana didn't respond, she simply lightly pushed me to the door. Silk angrily opened it, and, unable to do much else, I entered.
They shut it behind me, which was to be expected. Snowy was sitting on the floor, looking… scared.
"Now come on. Let's go." Silk said.
"Alright, alright." Diana said, walking away with her spider friend.
Soon, it was just me and Snowy. I went over and sat down next to Snowy, looking at the floor.
"M-Master…" she stuttered. "Wha-what's gonna happen to us?"
"*sigh*... I have absolutely no idea." I admitted. "But I promise I will get us out of here. Okay?"
"I… I believe you, of course." Snowy said, grabbing my arm. "But… I can't help but… feel… afraid."
I slightly chuckled. "I'd be scared if you weren't."
I took one of her small hands and laced my fingers between hers. "Just… try and relax for me, okay? It's okay now. We're okay, no one hurt us, everything is going as good as it can right now. Let's try to keep it that way until we can get out of here."
Snowy slowly nodded, still looking a bit worried. "You're right, but… I'm still afraid."
"Then I'm right here to comfort you." I said, before gently hugging her. I didn't realizing it until I hugged her, but… she was shaking a bit. Like a dog who just heard thunder in the distance and is freaking out.
Snowy practically smothered herself into me, trying to hug me as tightly as she could. Even if I wanted to pull away at this point, I couldn't do that to her. Despite how well she managed to hide it before, deep down, she was… scared.
"There there… I just know we can pull together." I said to her, slowly petting her smooth hair.
"Master…" Snowy replied suddenly, looking back into my eyes. "What about Mistress and Andr?"
I froze. I hadn't remembered about that. Susie and Andr must've been freaking out when they realized we were gone suddenly, without any sort of explanation.
"Well… we just have to hope that they will be alright for now." I said slowly. "And for now… we just have to work together. Alright?"
Snowy looked into my eyes. Obviously, I was scared, but I was trying to be brave for her sake. I'd bet ten to one that she must've seen how afraid I was when she looked into my eyes. That was something I really liked about her.
She must have wanted to comfort me back, like I was doing to her. "I… I know, Master." she said, resting her head on my chest.
We stayed like that for the longest time. Snowy pulled away, and simply watched me stare into her eyes.
I couldn't hold myself back. I leaned forward and gently kissed her. She followed my example, softly kissing me back, as our arms rewrapped around each other.
I even managed to forget about my troubles for a brief moment while I kissed her. I never wanted to stop. I want this kiss to last.
I didn't want to remember what was going on…
Some time later…
…
…
"Come on…"
We were out. Well, almost.
The exit was a few doors ahead of us. My stuff was back with me. We were gonna make it!
Snowy was panting besides me. We had been running for a long time now. Several close calls were made, one almost fatal. But now, the end was close, freedom was right there…!
"Come on! We're almost there, Snowy!" I said, before turning back to the exit. The last thing I ever wanted to see was there.
"So, out for a late night run, are we?" Silk said, smiling cruelly.
Diana was next to her, her bow drawn and ready to fire. "Please, just follow us back to the cell. We don't have to fight."
"Then just let us go already!" I yelled, pulling out my own bow and preparing to fire. "I know my way around a bow, you know!"
"Ugh… dammit! Just let us take you back already!" Silk said, getting mad. "Or else we will have to use force!"
And then Snowy couldn't take it anymore. She just wanted to be free.
"GET OUT OF OUR WAY!" she yelled, charging Silk and tackling her to the floor.
Diana looked like she wanted to help, but didn't want to get close to Snowy. She held up her bow, but I stepped in, bow already drawn.
"Don't even dare." I said, my tone deathly serious.
Snowy was going full on attack mode. She kept trying to scratch Silk, but the nimble spider lady managed to keep dodging every time. Silk tried to retaliate by biting Snowy, but Snowy was able to dodge her attempts as well.
I shot an arrow at Diana, but she rolled out of the way before it hit her. She fired back quickly, but I retaliated with my sword, knocking the arrow away safely. I charged forward and swung, but she dodged quickly, backing up.
Meanwhile, Snowy seemed to be winning her end of the fight. Silk was slowing down, and having a harder time getting a chance to try and hurt Snowy. Snowy finally got a lucky blow on Silk's leg, cutting her leg and forcing her back.
"Gah… D-damn it all…" Silk muttered painfully. Blood soaked her lower leg, and she looked even more pissed than before. "You just sealed your fate, mutt!"
She jumped forward suddenly, catching Snowy off guard. The two fought again, fist to fist.
Diana looked worried. "No… she's gonna kill herself with her leg like that! I… I have to!"
"What are you…" I started, before seeing a lone arrow fly past me.
Straight at Silk and Snowy.
Before I could even shout out, the arrow passed under Silk's arm…
And straight into Snowy's chest.
And suddenly, I lost all of my will to fight.
"N… NO!" I yelled, pushing Silk away and holding Snowy, who had fallen over. I knew instantly when I saw the arrow that it had pierced her heart, or at least a little bit of it.
"Snowy! Snowy!" I yelled, shaking her.
With difficulty, she managed to look up at me. Her eyes… they were cloudy.
"M… M… Master…" she said softly.
"Snowy! Stay with me Snowy!" I said, holding her tightly.
"Was… was I… a good protector…?" she asked me lightly.
"Snowy, no, stay with me! Stay with me…" I said, my voice cracking.
"Was I… a good dog…" she asked again, her eyes becoming less focused.
"N… no… Snowy… don't… don't leave me…" I pleaded, tears forming in my eyes.
"Was I…" she asked again.
I was silent for the count of five, before I feebly said, "Y-y-yes… y-you did good… S-Snowy…"
"*sigh*... I… I was…" she said, her eyes glazing over. "Your best puppy…"
"Y-yes… you absolutely w-were…" I said, tears falling on her limp body. "Please… don't g-go…"
"Good… girl…" she said, before her eyes gently closed.
And her body became limp in my arms.
…
…
…
…
"No… no… no… this can't be happening…"
"Master! Wake up!"
"No… please don't be dead… Snowy…"
"Master, please! Wake up!"
"Sno-... huh?"
My eyes slowly opened. I was on my back. Snowy was by my side. Looking at me worried. She… she was okay!
Then I remembered: once we parted, I decided that the best course of action would be to sleep and wait. Snowy took first watch, in case someone decided to 'visit' us.
The first thing I did was sit up and pull her into a hug. I couldn't help it. I swear that I just saw her die in front of me. But…
It was all just a sick nightmare.
"Snowy… Snowy… you're okay…!" I said, so joyful that tears were falling.
"M-Master!" she said, surprised at me. She wasn't expecting that from me, I guess. "Wh-what happened?"
"I-I-I had… the worst… n-nightmare… y-you died… in front of me…" I said, my voice shaking heavily.
Snowy must have been shocked. "I-I… I died? In your nightmare?"
"Y… yes…" I muttered. "Snowy… thank Notch… I really… thought… you were gone…"
She gently hugged me back tighter, saying something like, "I'm here, I'm here." and, "I'm fine, I'm okay."
I couldn't help but let tears fall. What else could I have done? I was so scared that I just lost someone I held dear to my heart… again.
But she was okay. We were okay. Even if we were in a cell.
"Snowy… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" I said, saying random gibberish at this point. I couldn't help it…
"Master…" she said, hugging me tightly and rubbing my back as I cried my eyes out.
My sobs of relief echoed through the halls of this prison. We stayed like that for… how long was it? Five minutes? More? I couldn't tell.
I… I wasn't sure if we could get out now. Not because we wouldn't be able to, but…
Would my fear let me? The fear of having dream become reality? I don't know… before, I would've thought that we would be invincible. That we could get out before you could even count to five, and be no worse for wear.
But now… now doubt was settling in. The idea that we could die… it suddenly stuck out to me.
A skeleton passed by our cell, probably attracted by the sound we were making. It smacked the bars of our cell, probably talking in whatever language it spoke in.
Snowy looked at it, a fire in her eyes. "Go away! Can't you see my Master is upset?!
The skeleton backed off quickly, realizing Snowy was a wolf. It speed walked away, clattering all the way.
Snowy instantly went back to comfort mode. "It's okay Master… I'm okay, you're okay… we're all okay."
"Yeah, for now." a familiar voice said. We looked up to see Silk looking at us through the bars. Diana wasn't in sight, but I imagined she was close by.
"What do you want now?" Snowy asked angrily, still hugging me as the last of my tears finally dried up.
"I'm taking you two back to the other room." Silk explained. "The deal is on."
"What… what deal?" I asked.
"That'll come when you come with me." Silk said, opening the door. "Get out here."
Snowy and I made no attempts to move. Maybe if I hadn't just woken up from that nightmare, I would've gone to get this over with, but now I was NOT going to leave with her.
"Well?" Silk asked, becoming impatient. "I'm not gonna hurt you, you know. I have my orders."
We still made no attempt to move.
"Oh really? Playing that card, huh?" Silk asked, quickly losing patience. "Alright then…"
Silk walked into the cell. Snowy growled and stood in front of me. "Stay. Away. From. My. Master."
"Yeah, sure. Now be a good dog and sit." Silk said.
"Like hell I will." Snowy replied, her eyes going red.
And out of nowhere, Silk threw something that hit Snowy dead on. I almost shouted, but realized that Silk just threw… spider silk.
Snowy instantly became tangled in the webs. She tried to get out, only to get even more stuck. "Let me go!"
"Yeah, I will. Once we get to where we're going." Silk said, her voice triumphant. She looked at me. "You want that too?"
I didn't say anything. I just looked at Snowy and tried to have a conversation with my eyes.
'Snowy, just calm down…'
'She's not nice at all!'
'I know that. Just… relax, and go with it for now.'
'Wha…?'
'I will get us out of here. But right now, you fighting back is not gonna help.'
'But…'
'Just follow my example.'
I stood up, and dusted off my pants, wiped my glasses, and spoke only once.
"Well… let's go."
"I knew you'd see reason." Silk said, tying my hands behind my back. But… she made it way looser than she did before. Maybe she DID have a heart.
"Come on Snowy." I said. "Let's go already. Sooner we go, sooner you get out."
Snowy clearly wasn't ready to give up, but I guess she decided that I at least had a plan. I didn't, but I did want to at least give us a CHANCE to get out of here.
And so, I followed in line behind Silk, Snowy close behind, still trying to shake the webs off her.
'What the hell do these people need from me?' I thought.
I would find out soon enough.
Soon enough.
Well that was dark.
Oh well! Enough darkness for now! It's time to talk!
So, first off, thank you all for reading the new chapter! I can't thank each and every one of you enough.
And second of all: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I can't believe that we made it! This story is, officially, one year old! YAY!
Of course, I know that I promised that this chapter wouldn't come out in two months. In all honesty, the chapter was pretty much done a while ago, just needed some tweaks here and there. I would've posted a lot earlier, but my logic was this: if I wait and post it now, there's no chance that I can miss the one year deadline.
So, once again: Happy Anniversary! And thank you all so much! This would only be possible because of you all. I never would've thought that my work could be liked by others, but you all showed me! I treasure each and every one of you awesome readers. Thank you all so much, for the support, the comments, the review, the favs, the follows… everything!
As always, if you guys want to play MC with me, PM me with your MC username, what server, and when. And of course, my server is still open. I possibly might be resetting it soon, in order to have a bit more play time with you guys. I haven't been on a whole lot, mostly because everyone seems stronger than me. If I reset, then we'd all be on the same level. Of course, I'd keep the world we already have, but I'll just start a new save file or something. Should I?
This is ButterHunter, and I wish you all happy days, love, life, and prosperity. Until next time guys, stay awesome!
