Chapter 13 : Another assault ?
Hey guys, Agithos here, we just passed the 110 pages on Open Office. I never imagined writing this much for this story but I...no we did it. Oh and also, I am finally in holidays ^^ Also, I want to thank "Hw231" for letting me use his OC Hayden. That being said, hope you enjoy this chapter.
Meanwhile, Home, Mickaël POV
"Oh but you are not ! Come here ! Please, please, please, please !" Cupa said as she jumped around Andr vigorously.
"A-Alright then !" Andr gave up.
"I guess I have to make dinner since Ayumi is gone !" Vanessa sighed, seeing yet, another mouth to feed for now.
"Oh don't worry, I'll help you if you want !" I offered.
"Sure !" She responded with a small smile.
Vanessa and I looked around the kitchen to find some porkshops waiting to be cooked and some mushroom waiting to be changed into a stew. I passed the ingredients to Vanessa and, after putting them in different bowl, she put them into the furnace with a few pieces of coal. Then, she turned toward me :
"Now, we just have to wait until it's cooked !"
"Good job !" I chuckled as I passed my hand in her hair. I knew how mad she could get just by doing this.
"HEY !" She nearly shouted "How many time do I have to tell you to not mess with my hair !"
In the other room, I could hear Cupa and Andr talking about everything and nothing. Since we had finished with the dinner, I decided to rejoin them.
"So Cupa, for how long have you been living here ?" Andr asked.
"Maybe three weeks I would say !"
"I remember that, last time I saw you, you were wandering in the forest, trying to become friends with every human you saw. You were also bragging about your big project. So, tell me, how did it go ?"
Cupa put on a sheepish smile on her face and scratched her head. I could tell from miles away, she was quite embarassed.
"Well, let's just say things didn't go quite as planned. But that doesn't matter because I met Mickaël thanks to this failure !"
"Yeah...and you nearly blew my face off back there !" I chuckled.
"H-Hey !" Cupa said, blushing from embarrassement "I didn't mean to do it, there was a cat on my laps. I-I panicked !"
"I know, I know !" I said as I messed up her hair a little "I was just teasing you !"
I asked to Andr, without looking at her directly :
"So, how did you and Cupa became friends ?"
"Oh...umm. It's quite simple actually. My parents became friends with Cupa's when they emigrated to the overworld. It was before we were even born so we spent our childhood together. We are best friends.
"I see, well, while you two catch up, I'll be upstairs to try and make some new clothes. If you need me, I'll be in my room. Call me when it's dinner time !"
"We'll do !" Yaebi said, eating a piece of bread.
I separated myself from the group and went to our chests. I picked up some ressources like stings, wool, leather...basically anything that would make a good material for some clothes. Then I went upstairs. I really hoped I could craft a new T-shirt with my workbench. To tell the truth, I never really tried to make something that was not normally craftable in the first place.
"Might as well make the first try !" I thought.
I picked up some some strings and put them on the crafting table in the patten of a chestplate. I waited a few second. Nothing happened : no binding light, no white glow and certainly no new T-shirt on the workbench.
"Maybe strings are not enough to make a simple T-shirt, what would happen if I put wool instead ?
I replaced the string with wool, one by one to make the same pattern. Still nothing. I sighed.
"I guess I'll have to use leather to make a leather chestplate, not the most confortable material but it will do for now !"
I replaced the wool by leather. This time, it worked. A blinding light filled the room. When it ended, a leather chestplate was on the workbench. When I picked it up, I heard someone behind me.
"Wooow, duuuude, how did you do that ? That was so cool !"
I turned around to see Yaebi just in front of my door.
"Oh, it's you, Yaebi ! I didn't hear you enter !" I said.
"How did you do that ? Are you some kind of mage ?" He asked.
"No, I don't know how I do that, it just...happens !"
"Can I try ?"
"Ayumi and Cupa couldn't do it, but you can try if you want. Maybe if you are lucky !" I answered.
"Thanks !"
"Here, see if you can craft a leather helmet !"
I showed him where to place the material and while Yaebi was trying to craft the helmet, I was putting my leather chestplate...Yep, without any T-shirt, a leather armor is pretty uncomfortable. The material was very itchy and was almost scratching my skin.
"I really need to ask Ayumi to make me a new T-shirt !"
"Hey, Mickaël, I can't do it !" Yeabi called.
"Told you, it seems I am the only one able to do this !" I explain.
"Oh, I almost forgot ! Dinner is ready, the girls are waiting for us !"
"I am coming !"
We exited my room and we went downstairs where we were greeted by the glare of Vanessa, who was finishing her bowl. Next to her, Cupa and Andr were talking.
"Hey you two, what took you so long ?" Vanessa asked.
"We talked a little and I took some time to put on my armor !" I responded.
"Well, your meal is nearly tepid now !" She said.
"Doesn't matter, it's probably still good !"
Yeabi and I went to our seats and we began to eat our meal. Like Vanessa told us, it was almost cold , but as I tought, it was still good to eat. Cupa was talking about our adventure to Andr, especially our last one in the mine, where I met Yaebi and nearly killed two times. It was a really good day...aaahhh, sarcasm.
The dinner was calm, Cupa and Andr continued to talk, Vanessa already left the table to go to her room and Yaebi had his nose in his plate. Normally I would talk and joke with Ayumi but she wasn't there. After we finished, I had pretty much nothing to do, nothing to build, nothing to craft, nothing to cook...You get the point. I couldn't hunt either, the night was falling. I couldn't take the risk of meeting an aggressive mob. I already had enough for today. So I stayed in the kitchen, smashed by boredom. At a moment Andr came to me :
"Hum, excuse-me Mickaël, can I ask you a question ?" She asked with a quiet voice.
"Sure, go ahead !" I responded, not looking at her.
"If you don't mind, I wanted to ask : Why did you save Cupa ?"
I was surprised by this kind of question. I was waiting for something like "Where do you come from ?" or "What were you doing before leaving with mobs ?"
"Does she implies that I shouldn't have saved her ?" I thought.
"I mean...why did you want to save her ? Because you felt obliged to do so ? Or because you did that because you wanted to ?" Andr continued.
"That's a better formulation...I suppose !"
"I guess you could say I helped her because I consider you should be treated like everybody else, with respect !" I said.
I felt her eyes staring at me, it was really hard to not turn around and look at her in the eyes.
"Cupa is lucky to have you in her life, you mean a lot to her, you know ? She is constantly looking at the diamond you gave her !"
"Really ?"
"Yes, for you, it's probably nothing but for her..."
Before she could finish, a voice was heard from upstairs...Cupa's voice.
"HEY ANDR, COME HERE ! I WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING !"
Then Andr told me :
"I would better go, I learnt over the years, no one makes Cupa wait without a good reason !"
"Haha, yeah. I'll stay here if you need me !" I said with a small laugh.
"Okay !"
I saw Andr going upstairs and I returned to the meeting with boredom. But something was bugging me : It was getting really annoying to avoid Andr's gaze each time we talked to eachother. I needed a pumpkin so, like that, I could look at her without triggering her primal instinct which could lead to serious injuries. In twenty day of exploring the forest, I didn't find any pumpkin. Maybe Yaebi knows where I could find some. I went upstairs in front of Yaebi's room. I knocked on the door and Yaebi opened.
"Hey Mickaël, still have some love questions ?" He said with a laugh. I rolled my eyes.
"No, I just wanted to know if you knew where we could find pumpkins, it's getting annoying to talk to Andr without having the possibility to look at her !"
"I agree, but no, sorry, I don't know where we could find some. But I heard they grow in plains. If you can find a plain, you will find one !"
I sighed.
"Well...ok !"
"You might not need that, if you can gain her trust, you will be able to look at her in the eyes without any problem !"
"I prefer to have a plan B, if you don't mind !"
"Your choice !" He said.
I exited the room and returned downstairs to find Cupa and Andr. I picked up a piece of bread and went into the living room.
Suddenly, there was a violent and loud knock on the door. Andr spoke up.
"Oh, that must be your friends !"
Something was strange, first of all, Ayumi and Ari would not knock on the door, they would just enter like they would enter their bedroom. Second of all, Ayumi said she would not return before late at night and the night had just fallen on the forest. By reflex, I looked through the window, and what I saw frightened me : a dozen men were standing outide the house with bows, swords and axes.
"How...How did they find us ?"
I tried to stop Andr before she opens the door.
"ANDR, NO !"
Too late, Andr opened the door to find a guy in iron armor in front of her. After a second, the man punched her in her stomach. Andr let out a gasp of air and she fell on her knee.
"ANDR ! Are you alright ?" I heard Cupa scream next to me.
The endergirl was trying to regain the control of her breath but the swordsman in front of her took her by her neck and put his face in few inches in front of her's.
"What are you ?" He asked to Andr.
"Is he THAT stupid ? Or he doesn't know what an enderman is ?" I thought.
Andr opened her eyes to find her staring at the soldier's. The effect was immediate. She began to scream like crazy to the point where the soldier in front of her was terrified. In a blink of an eye, Andr took the man's face and snapped his neck with a clean movement of her arms. The other soldiers behind him saw what happened and began to attack Andr. The endergirl teleported behind one of them and smashed his face on the wall of the house, killing him instantly and leaving a trail of blood on the wall.
"Wow..." was all I was able to thought, seeing the power an enderman could hold.
Andr was teleporting nearly every seconds, it was impossible to know where she would pop out next. At one point, she teleported in front of a man, then she took his face before sticking her thumb in the man's eyes. I am pretty sure his cries of pain could be heard from the other side of the forest, then, after a few second, Andr cracked his skull in half...litteraly. Despite all this carnage happening outside the house, I heard a small voice coming from the stairs next to me :
"Mike, what is happening ?" Vanessa asked.
"We are under attack, go to your room and stay there until we tell you it's safe to go return, understood ?"
Vanessa nodded and returned upstairs.I looked at the fighting.
"What if she get hit ? She might not be able to defeat them all !" I thought to myself.
I decided to help Andr. I rushed to my room. I almost destroyed the door when I rammed into it but I couldn't care less at the moment. I picked up my sword and my pistol. I hid my pistol in my armor and I rushed downstairs. The battle was still raging outside between Andr and five men that were surprisingly still alive. When I tried to rejoin Andr, Yaebi stopped me.
"Are you crazy dude ? Stay here until she calms down. If you go now, she may mistake you for a enemy and kill you like the other !"
"If we don't go, she may get injured or worse !"
"Look, she already killed more than half of the group by herself, I am sure she will be able to kill the rest without us interfering !"
I sighed. As much as I hated it, he was right. Andr would probably kill me when she is in her berserk form. And she was holding well on her own. I looked outside to see Andr, still screaming to the top of her lungs, in hand to hand combat with a soldier while there were two archer behind the endergirl, aiming for her. There were also two swordsmans. The first one was shaking like crazy, probably too scared to do anything, but it was the other one who caught my eyes. He was...strangely calm and stayed where he was.
"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS WAITING FOR ? HELP ME !" The man yelled.
The archer obeyed and released the hold on their arrows. In a fraction of a second, Andr teleported, and switched side with the mercenary, leaving on the path of the arrows. The first arrow arrived in his back while the other went through his head. Andr picked up the arrow of the head and dropped the now-dead soldier. Then, she teleported in front of one of the archer and, with a swist movement of her arm, the endergirl stuck the arrow into the archer's neck, going through his jugular. The archer made a few gurgles with his blood and fell on the ground. The scared swordsman couldn't take it anymore, and fleed through the forest. Another one less to take care of
After she killed the archer, Andr saw the strange man staring at her. She teleported away and, for a few second, nothing happened. Andr didn't come back.
Suddenly, Andr teleported in front of the man with a huge rock about the size of my head in her hands. Just as she was about to smash it on the head of the man. Calmly, he put his hand on Andr's chest and, out of nowhere, light came out of his hand. Andr began to scream in agony, electricity surrounding her body. After a few second, the electricity seemed to fade and Andr fell on the ground, her body becoming limp and having a few spasms.
Cupa, Yaebi and I were shocked by this attack. This man beat Andr with just one move of his hand.
"What the hell was that ? There is some mages in Minecraftia ?"
"ANDR !" Cupa screamed.
I looked outside to see the man drawing out his sword and walking next to Andr. She needed help and this man seemed to be really powerful. I got up and began to walk outside. Yaebi tried to stop me.
"Wow Mikaël, what do you think you are doing ?"
"Trying to save someone life !" I said.
I rushed out of the house and saw the man holding his sword above Andr's neck. I runned toward him.
"I am sorry, young mob, but I need this money to live !" I heard him say.
Just as he was about to pierce the neck of the endergirl, I tackled the soldier to the ground. I found myself above him so I began to punch him repeatedly on his face.
"You. Don't. Hurt. My. FRIENDS !" I said.
I noticed the remaining archer taking an arrow from his quiver. Then he bent his bow and aimed at me. I got up from the swordsman and runned toward the archer. He shot his arrow but I managed to avoid the arrow by doing a roll underneath it. Then I took out Exbarelyburn and skewered the archer's chest.
"And I thought I wouldn't have to kill again...I am sorry but in these moments, it's kill or be killed !" I thought.
I heard someone walking behind. Thanks to my instinct of self-preservation and quick reflexes, I managed to block a bolt of lightning by projecting the archer's body in front of me, using it as a meatshield. His body went flying next to me. In front of me, the last swordsman was looking at me, his sword in one hand and a sort of bolt of lightning in the other.
"Who are you ?"
"My name is Hayden !"
"What do you gain by doing this ?"
"Gold. You have to do something for a living !"
"So, that's your only motive ? Money ?" I asked.
"No, I also want to avenge all the people you killed, like this archer back there. From what I heard you killed them in cold blood. You deserve to be put down !"
"Hey, I was only acting in self defense. You are the one who came here to kill us, even tough we just wanted to live peacefully !"
"Spare your breath !"
The soldier now known as Hayden pointed his arm foward and the bolt of lighting in his hand shot toward me. I managed to avoid it by ducking. The bolt passed a few centimeters above my head, making my hair electrified a little. Seeing that I managed to dodge his thunderbolt, he runned to me with his sword, prepared for a strike. When Hayden arrived in front of me, he tried to slash me with an vertical strike. I prepared Exbarely burn for a parry by putting in horizontaly above my head. I thought it would have been enough to block his sword...I was wrong : At the last moment, he spinned on himself and put his sword in a horizontal motion, aiming for the side of my chest.
In a fraction of a second, I jumped aside avoiding the massive injury this attack would have done to me. I landed on my back and made a backroll to quickly get on my feet. While my body was intact, the big dash in my armor showed that my armor wasn't so lucky.
"God damn, I just made it !" I thought, trying to ease the stress I was feeling right now.
Exbarelyburn in my hand. I got up and rushed toward Hayden to try an attack. To my surprise, he hold his ground and waited for me. When I arrived in front of me, I tried to slash him. One time, two times, three time : Hayden parried all my attack like it was nothing. He manipulated his sword like was manipulating a feather. All his movement were swift and fluid. I felt my energy being drained slowly
"This doesn't work, I have to do something else !"
I tried to slash Hayden one more time. With little surprise, he parried my sword, leaving his face opened for an attack. I clenched my fist and punched his face with all my might. Hayden gave a little grunt of pain and put his left hand over his face. Taking adventage of this, I tried one last slash to his neck. Unfortunatly, Hayden had already regain his focus and tried to block my sword. Exbarelyburn was pushed away and instead of his neck, it made a gash in his shoulder. Hayden kicked me away with his feet and looked at his wound. Seeing blood coming out of it. He looked at me and said :
"Alright, playtime is over !"
"Fine with me !" I responded.
Hayden rushed toward me with great speed, and prepared a strike. I tried to block with my sword but the strike was too strong. It makes me to put a step backward. Then, with a swift movement of his sword, he clashed with mine, making me loose my grip over Exbarelyburn. My sword went flying into the sky and landing a few meters behind Hayden.
"This fight is over !" He said to me, pointing his sword toward me.
I had only one weapon left, my pistol. I needed to buy some time while I reach it in my armor. I spoke up :
"You sure are a good swordsman !"
"When you have been trained all your youth by one of the best guard in the country. You can only follow his steps !" Hayden explained
"Are you also a mage ?" I asked.
"In some way, yes, but I wasn't born that way !"
"Really ?"
"Yes !"
That's all the time I needed, I took my pistol and, in a fraction of a second, I pointed the cannon toward his head. As I thought, he wasn't impressed by my weapon, mostly because he didn't know what it was. In a last attempt, I tried to dissuade him to fight.
"Listen, I don't want to kill you but if you continue, I..."
The mercenary just stared at me, put in finger in my direction and fired a small bolt of lighting. I didn't have the time to react and I felt a great pain in my right arm.
"ARG !"
The pain in my arm caused me to drop my pistol on the ground. I saw Hayden preparing another bolt of lightning. I was trapped, I had no weapon and...actually, I had one strategy.
"It's so crazy, it just might work !" I thought.
"I am sorry, it's nothing personal !" Hayden said as he fired electricity at me.
I quickly stepped aside and the bolt hit the tree behind me. I runned to a tree close to the house.
"Here goes nothing !"
I jumped on the wall of the house. Immediatly after that, I did a wall-jump and catched the trunk of the tree near the house. Then I did another wall-jump to arrive on the roof of the house. A bolt of lightning passed next to me. Not thinking another moment, I jumped from the roof and catched of the lowest branchs of the tree. I got up on the branch and disappeared behind the leaves of the tree I was on. Then I jumped from branchs to branchs of the trees around Hayden who was looking everywhere around him.
"Are you abandonning your friends to their doom ?" I heard him ask.
There was a moment of silence.
"Very well !"
From where I was, I saw Hayden getting closer to the house while looking behind him. In the house, I saw Cupa backing up from the window, visibly frightened. As for Yaebi, he was running toward the door to try to block Hayden outside. I couldn't let this mercenary bring harm to my friends.
"NO, YOU WON'T !" I yelled as I jumped from my branch. Hayden just had the time to turn around before I landed on him. He tried to prepare a bolt of lightning out of his hand but I blocked his hand with mine. I took his head and began to hit the ground with it, drawing blood from his nose and mouth. He grunted in pain each time the ground collided with his face.
"Do you have enough, or do we continue ?" I asked.
I heard someone calling me from behind :
"Mickaël ? Are you alright ?" It was Yaebi, standing outside in front of the front door.
"Yea, I think I got this !" I said between pants.
Suddenly, a distorded voice was heard behind me.
"Aemoh !"
I just had the time to turn around before a felt a fist colliding with my face. I found myself flying a meter above the ground for a few second before my back hit with force the wall of the house, near Yaebi.
"MICKAËL !" I heard him shout.
I groaned in pain. My head was throbbing. My vision was blurry and couldn't focus on anything. I tried to get up but no avail. When I regain focus, I saw Hayden approaching me. I turned to Yaebi and said
"Arg..." I groaned "Go back into the house, I-I'll handle it !"
"Are you sure ?"
"YES ! NOW GO INSIDE !"
I saw Yaebi quickly nodding and entering the house. A few second later, Hayden was in front of me. He took me by the neck and put his face close to mine before saying :
"It seems I was wrong about you. You want your friends to be safe. You were a great adversary !"
That being said, he throwed me a few meters away from the house. I saw him going to pick up his sword and come back to me. He put the sword next to my neck.
Present time, The house, Hayden POV
Finally, I beat the human wanted by everyone in the village. He was skilled, I'll give him that. I even had to call my special form to put him down. He also looked like he had some friends but they wouldn't pose any problem. I heard there was six of them and I only saw three. The endergirl, a zombie and him. Three of them were missing. I'll have to search for them, they were probably hiding in the house. But for now...
"Any last..." was all I was able to say before I felt something hit me in the back of my head.
"CUPA NO !" I heard the human shout.
I turned around and...I felt something in my chest. I heard my heart pounding inside me. My vision was met with the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. A gitl about 17 years old was standing in front of me. I was lost in her golden eyes and her golden hair were like floating into the night made her face looks really cute. She looked like she was about to cry, which made me feel almost sorry for what I have done. She held a bowl tightly in her hand.
"Don't you dare hurt my friend you big meanie !" The girl I guessed as Cupa said. Cupa, such a beautiful name for a creeper.
"A creeper..."
BONK
I came back to reality when Cupa hit me another time in the face with her bowl. When she tried to hit me another time, I blocked the bowl with a hand and took hit from her before thowing it away. This caused the girl to yelp and fall on her butt. Screw the mission, I couldn't kill this girl even if I couldn't explain why. I ducked to get on her level.
"Hum...listen, I won't hurt you !"
I received a slap.
"If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me first !"
I sighed. I was about to say something else when I something hit me on the side of the face. I fell on the ground as my vision became blurry.
Present time, The house, Mickaël POV
I was panting and every bone in my body hurt like hell. Thanks to the intervention of Cupa, I was able to retreive my sword and use it to knock Hayden out by using the flat side of the sword. I dropped my weapon on the ground.
"Done !" I panted.
"Mickaël ! Thank Notch, you are alright !" Cupa said as she hugged me tightly.
"Hey hey, I am fine don't worry !"
Then I heard Hayden regaining his senses. I quickly picked up my sword and put it right in front of his eyes. Then I said to Cupa :
"Go and see if Andr is alright. Tell Yaebi to help you and put her in a bed. She needs to be healed !"
"But what about you ?" She asked.
"I'll handle him. Go, I'll be fine !" I answered.
I saw Cupa going to Andr's body and checking if she was conscious. I turned to Hayden.
"Ug...What happened ?" He said with his eyes closed.
When Hayden opened his eyes, he was surprised to see me above him with the point of the sword a few contimeter in front of his eyes. He lifted his vision to look at me straight in his eyes.
"Looks like you won...What are you going to do now ? Kill me ?" He asked.
"No...I need you alive to tell David that, if he really want to kill me, let him come. I won't leave this place !" I said.
Hayden sighed :
"Alright. I'll tell him !"
"Good, now go !"
Hayden got up and disappeared though some bushes. I waited a minute to see if he would pop out from somewhere but he didn't. Then I rejoined Cupa and Yaebi who were picking up Andr to bring her in the house, but not before picking up my pistol, laying on the ground.
"Is she going to be alright ?" I asked, anxious.
"I think so !" Yaebi answered "She just need some rest !"
I sighed, relieved that Andr was going to be fine. I would hate to see Cupa depressed because she lost her best friend. Together we checked Andr injuries. Apart from some minor burn, she was fine. We put her in Cupa's bed and went to talk about what happened.
"Damn, who were these guys ?" Yaebi asked.
"I guess it was some mercenaries employed by the leader of the group I betrayed. He really want my head it seems !" I answered.
"Well I hope he got the lesson !" Cupa continued.
"I hope so too !" I sighed.
I looked outside to see at least ten dead bodies scattered in front of the house.
"Pfff, I'll clean that tomorrow. I am too tired to do it now !"
While the other went to sleep in their room, I sit on the stairs to watch for some enemies that could be outside. Eventually, tiredness got me and I fell asleep.
1 hour later, Home, Ayumi's POV
We runned like crazy for about an hour before arriving in front of the house. What we saw terryfied Ari and I. At least ten bodies were in front of the house. There was blood on the walls of the house. We expected the worse.
"Vanessa..." I heard Ari whispering.
"Mickaël..." I thought.
We both rushed toward the house to check the bodies. When we arrived near the bodies we noted that, every corpse was wearing an iron armor.
"They are not there !" Ari said to me.
"Let's check inside !" I suggested.
Because of the stress we were under, we almost destroyed the door when we rammed into it. I saw Mickaël, on the stairs. I was really anxious because I didn't know if he was dead or simply sleeping.
"Please Notch, don't let the worse comes true !" I thought.
I slowly approached Mickaël and gently shaked him. To my relief, his eyes began to move. He yawned and opened his eyes.
"Mickaël ! I am so glad you are safe. What happened ?"
"We were under attack. But we managed to kill them all !" He said.
Suddenly Ari took Mickaël by his neck and shaked him violently.
"Please, tell me Vanessa is alright !" She nearly yelled.
"Y-Yes she is, now stop shaking me !"
"Can you tell us what happened in detail ?"
"Maybe tommorow, this will be a long story. I think we all should go to bed and speak about all this tomorrow !"
After we say good night to one another, we all went to sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.
Meanwhile, The forest, Unknow POV
In the forest, a man was sleeping under a tree. His armor protecting him from the cold night. A bandage was covering his shoulder where a cut probably was. In his sleep, a name could be heard :
"Cupa..."
TO BE CONTINUED Well I guess we have another love interest in this story. This was already complicated with this love triangle but now it's a love quadrilateral. So as always PM or review to tell me what you think of the story : good or bad. See you next time ;-)
