Chapter 8: The Adventure Begins…
Deci trudged behind Flynt as they walked through the town. She kept her head low, and her weapons concealed, mainly. She didn't want anyone to try and take them. As they walked, she fingered the silver necklace around her neck, and the smooth eye attached to it.
'May this amulet be such a guide and a guardian to yourself, when all hope is lost.'
Those were the words ringing through her ears as she stared at the ground. Hope didn't seem to be in stock at the moment. Fresh outta hope.
And yet she could still feel the End force flowing through her, and it comforted her to a degree. It reminded her of Ender, which in turn reminded her of many other happy memories of her family.
It was a nice distraction from their current predicament.
Flynt turned from his negotiations with the town cartographer. The traveling merchant hadn't seen any large gatherings of mobs, or any traveling bands of Endermen or anything of the like either. As Flynt turned and saw Deci, however, he could understand the hopeless expression on her face.
"Deci, I know." Flynt said, walking over to her. "I know it hurts, but we'll find them."
Deci looked up at him, and nodded.
She wasn't confident enough to speak Entitian around so many others; a small overlook of Adam's was that the armbands only let the two people who wore them communicate. It didn't include random passerbys. A Player randomly sounding like Creepers, Skeletons, Zombies and Endermen would surely start a panic from some of the Villagers. And besides, she didn't want to draw attention to herself.
"I'm going to go look for a place to spend the night tonight, okay? I'll be right back. Stay in this area if you can," Flynt said. Deci nodded again, and Flynt rushed off to make sure that he could find a place to sleep.
Deci wandered to the side a little. This town was rather small, and open. It only consisted of a few small buildings, but occasionally there rose a large stone church. She looked out over the plains.
They'd traveled quite a distance that day, but had no luck finding anyone who knew where her parents might be. As it turned out, though they weren't surprised, the Players didn't really care what happened to mobs during the day.
As she watched, she noted that the night was fast approaching, and the mobs were beginning to appear. She sat down between two buildings and watched the valley fill up with several mobs. She could almost imagine that somewhere out there were her parents, simply walking around. They'd be back in a few minutes, to say good night to her, and she'd go out and harvest a few more carrots from the nearby garden…
Flynt still wasn't back. It wasn't a large town, and this was taking longer than expected.
Deci kept watching the mobs, as several of them seemed to notice the village for the first time. Several of the zombies lift their noses into the air, smelling the scent of life on the wind. The nearest zombies turned and began shuffling towards the village.
Uh oh. Deci felt the ground shake, and looked over. The iron golem had noticed the approaching mobs, and he didn't look too happy. He stood there for a few moments, simply daring the zombies to come closer.
The zombies noticed the iron golem. They definitely didn't look happy about those massive iron arms, but the intoxicating scent on the wind was filling their minds with the singular lust for blood. They kept shuffling forward.
"No, no no no…" Deci whispered to herself, watching this confrontation. "They're gonna get slaughtered!"
One zombie scrambled ahead of the others. It was only a baby zombie, riding a chicken. It was charging straight for the iron golem, holding only a wooden sword in its hand, but the way it carried itself was like it was challenging the golem to face it.
Deci gasped, and began to rush forward, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around, seeing a figure cloaked in black.
"There's no need. The defenders can handle the zombies perfectly well on their own," The figure said. They pointed, and Deci turned to see.
Several Players had come to join the golem as well, along with two other iron golems. The zombies had only had miniscule numbers in the first place. There was no way that they would make it out of this confrontation in one piece. And that baby zombie was almost to those sharp diamond/iron swords glinting dangerously in the Players' hands…
"That's what I'm worried about," Deci said. She quickly ducked under the dark figure's arm behind her, and began rushing forward.
The baby zombie only noticed her at the last minute, before she scooped it up, chicken and all, and began rushing off. The Players who had seen her do this were obviously confused, but the Iron Golems labeled this mystery Player as a new threat. Two of the golems began thumping off after her, intent on seeing what she was doing with the baby zombie in her arms.
Deci was not doing quite as well, as the baby zombie kept trying to smack her with the wooden sword.
"It's alright! I'm just trying to…"
"Plaaaaayyyeeeeerrrr!" the baby zombie moaned, squirming as it tried to escape Deci's grip. "Heeeeeellllppppp!"
However, after a few moments, the baby zombie finally came to realize that Deci truly was not harming it. It was as confused as the Iron Golems, the Players, and even the shadowy figure in the alleyway behind them. Why wasn't the Player… attacking the zombie?
"Almost safe. Hang on!" Deci said, scrambling up a nearby tree. However, as she tossed the baby zombie into the safety of the branches, she heard a massive thumping sound to her left.
She turned in time to see the Iron golem from before swinging a massive fist at her. She yelped and ducked, the iron fist slamming into the tree trunk next to her. She turned to run, but the other iron golem was right behind her. Both iron golems circled her, and Deci did the only thing she could think of.
She drew her weapons.
This finalized the threat in the golems' minds. Moving in unison, they raised their arms high over their heads, and Deci braced for impact.
The golems brought their arms down.
Suddenly, the cloaked stranger flew into the fray out of nowhere, dual-wielding the curved knives of an assassin. He leapt on the first golem, striking so quickly that before the golem had hit the ground it had received thirty stab wounds.
The second golem smashed its fists deep into the earth, which sprayed up all around it. Deci breathed hard as she realized that the stranger had hooked his legs through hers and pulled her out of the way just in time. The second golem tugged, and the dirt concealing its hands exploded upwards.
The baby zombie chose that moment to fall out of the tree, striking the golem with its wooden sword from behind. In confusion, the golem turned to face the rotten infant, but Deci took the opportunity and drove both tridents through the back of the golem's skull and out the eyeholes.
The golem fell to its knees. Before it could fall face-first to the ground, Deci darted forward and scooped the baby zombie out from under the dead hunk of iron. It crashed forward, sending up a spray of loose dirt, and didn't move again.
The Players who had been watching this exchange finally regained their senses, and upon seeing two of their golems killed by two other Players, began charging forward, the remaining iron golem following close on their heels. The zombies behind the riled mob were forgotten, and they took the chance to charge forward into the village.
It was at this time that Flynt walked out of a nearby building, having been trapped in a lengthy discussion about prices at the inn. The innkeeper had insisted on payment in diamonds, but Flynt didn't have any on him, much less that he was willing to part with. When he saw the Players charging another, familiar-looking Player who was holding a baby zombie, he was sprinting as fast as he could from the other side. A zombie groaned, cutting him off from his escape route, but he drew his sword and sliced its head off in one motion. He came to the edge of the village, and spotted Deci again, preparing to fight the Players rushing at her.
"Deci!" he shouted, waving to get her attention.
Deci glanced over at him.
"This way, hurry!" Flynt said.
Flynt had hardly noticed before, but suddenly he saw a very dark figure grabbing Deci's arm, and dashing towards Flynt. He didn't care at the moment, and the three figures quickly darted out of the village, into the nearby spruce forest.
They didn't stop until they were well out of the village, and breathing hard. Flynt eyed the baby zombie in Deci's arms, but he didn't question it. She was holding it securely, and it didn't seem disposed to attack either of them yet.
The stranger however, had for some reason stuck around them. Whoever they were, they stood silently to the side, leaning against a tree as they watched Flynt and Deci catch their breath. Flynt got weird, creepy vibes off of that guy. It felt much like an Enderman's stare would, or just being around an Enderman.
"Hey, thanks for your help back there," Deci said, breathing hard. Then she remembered that so far as she knew, she was the only Player who spoke Entitian.
"Don't mention it," the hooded figure said, flipping their hood back. Long, midnight-black hair spilled out, falling down her shoulders. Her eyes were startlingly violet, too. They even reflected the moonlight perfectly, giving her an altogether otherworldly sort of look about her. Seeing Deci and Flynt's obvious surprise, the girl smirked. "Yes, I know you speak Entitian. I heard you using it when I came up behind you in the alleyway."
"You can speak Entitian?" Flynt asked, though he immediately felt that that had been pretty obvious.
"I… can," the stranger said, giving Flynt a strange look like, duh. She shook her head, and turned to Deci. "Although of the three of us, I get the feeling that the better questions lie with you. Let me just ask… why were you so insistent on saving the baby zombie?"
The zombie opened its eyes and jerked its head up in Deci's arms. After looking around and realizing that it was safe at last, it jumped down, landing on the ground with a small pop of its ankles. Though it didn't seem to want to rush off just yet, it did take a few bounds away from all three Players, eyeing them all cautiously.
"Well…" Deci said, twisting her hands together. "I-I… couldn't just let the Players kill a baby…"
"But… you don't have an issue that the zombie posed a threat to the Players?" the stranger asked, tilting her head in the moonlight. The baby zombie at Deci's feet groaned as if in protest, but couldn't exactly understand the stranger's words.
"Since when did the Players concern themselves over whether they were a threat to a family of mobs?!" Deci shouted, before covering her mouth. She had said that much too loudly, and there was still a party of Players hunting for them.
The stranger calmly nodded, surprising both Flynt and Deci. She hadn't even flinched when Deci had said that accusation. "I see…"
The stranger placed a hand on Deci's shoulder before continuing. Deci noticed, however, that the stranger would not look her directly in the eye.
"For as long as I can remember and further, this has been the way of the Player," the stranger said, altogether ignoring Flynt's prescence. "But you… you feel different from anyone I've ever met. There was only… a very select few who felt like you do. Who reminded me of someone in the same way."
Deci raised an eyebrow. She was confused. She 'felt' like somebody? Several "somebodies"? Who was this Player?
"My name is Deci. This is Flynt," Deci said, gesturing to the appropriate people. "What might your name be?"
The stranger looked between Flynt and Deci for a moment, before shaking her head.
"I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but I haven't known you long enough for me to trust you like that," she said, flipping her hood up again.
Deci huffed, and twisted her hands a little more.
"Fine. Then how about we get to know each other?" she said after a few moments.
The strange turned to look at Deci, but Deci grabbed her hand and sat down on the ground. The stranger sat down warily, criss-crossing her legs after a moment.
"I'm Deci. Early in my life, my village burned down, and…"
The stranger held up her hand, motioning Deci to stop. "Thank you for the effort, Deci, but that's not what I meant. I mean that my name and my information are my own."
Deci sighed and looked down at the baby zombie near her.
The stranger tilted her head, and mumbled something under her breath that sounded like so familiar.
The baby zombie cautiously walked forward until he was standing right next to Deci. After a moment's thought, he sheathed his wooden sword on his back.
"Y-you save Zach?" he asked in a confused tone. "From Smashers?"
Deci looked over at the baby zombie standing next to her for a moment, who was eye-level with her. The baby zombie took a deep breath, and sat down next to Deci, eyeing the diamond sword hanging from her belt.
"Zach thankful," he said, though he was obviously very wary of the strange Player.
The stranger regarded this strange encounter with evident curiosity.
"Deci…" the stranger began slowly, switching into fluent Entitian, "… I can't exactly help but notice that you seem to have a special relationship to mobs. One that most Players don't share."
"I should hope so. I find that not many Players were raised by mobs the way I was," Deci said, not breaking her gaze with the baby zombie.
That got the stranger's attention.
"What?!" she said in a sort of strangled voice. "You were raised by— mobs?!"
Deci nodded, looking away from Zach. Zach turned towards her and scooted a little closer as he grew bolder.
"You raised by… mmm—mm-aahh-bb-s?" he said, enunciating the word. He frowned. "What mahb?"
"You are a mob. Endermen are mobs, Creepers, Skeletons, Zombies, Pigmen… all mobs," Deci explained quickly.
Zach leaned forward and sniffed. "You no smell like rot-meat."
"That's because I'm a Player, like him," Deci said, pointing to Flynt. Flynt casually waved at the baby zombie, though he was still wary enough that he did not want to sit just yet. Then Deci turned to the stranger. "And yes, that's why we're out here. I was raised by a family of mobs. My family was captured by raiding parties of mobs, who I assume learned that I lived with them. We have no idea where they went, though, and nobody seems to have seen a large band of traveling mobs."
The stranger seemed to be prepared for anything at this point, and took this all in stride.
"And so your plan is to… what exactly?" she said after a moment's contemplation.
"Well, pretty much to keep doing what we're doing, until we maybe find someone who can tell us where my family might have gone," Deci said, for the first time beginning to realize just how futile her quest seemed now. From Flynt's expression, the thought was really just occurring to him as well.
The stranger paused a moment, then sighed. She flipped her hood back down, and gave Deci a questioning stare. "That's a lot of 'maybe's."
Deci shrugged. "That's what I got."
The stranger sighed, and hung her head for a moment.
"I really don't know why I'm even considering this, but it's painfully obvious that you are going to need help. Lots of it, too," she said, before shaking her hair over one shoulder. In the moonlight, the small motion made her hair look like a river of shadows, cascading down her shoulders. She stood, and her violet eyes pierced the darkness as she glanced around them. For a single moment, as she looked back at Deci, Deci saw the faintest glimmer of sympathy in her eyes. "But I will help you find your family."
"Thank you!" Deci said, nearly jumping up. Zach leapt back in surprise as she rushed to the stranger and clasped her hands. "Thank you so much!"
The stranger released Deci's hold, her startled eyes flashing with a sudden unexpected awkwardness. "It's fine, you don't have to start dancing just yet."
Deci took the hint and took a deep breath to calm her excitement, which was not an easy task. "Okay," she said, fighting to keep her expression neutral.
The stranger paused for a second, before sighing. "Okay, okay—You can call me… Crys."
Deci smiled again. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Crys said, before turning and walking off, further into the forest. "We should probably get going if we're going to find your parents before..." She stopped her sentence short. "We should probably get going," she amended.
"Before?" Deci asked while they walked, suddenly anxious. There was a deadline now? This was unexpected.
Crys didn't answer, but kept her eyes fixed on something or other in the forest as she continued walking.
"Before?" Deci insisted again.
Crys stopped, and sighed, hanging her head a little.
"Before the mobs execute them in four days," Crys spoke softly. "The penalty for involvement with Players is death."