It was a few seconds after Shroud had closed the gap before he started to make his way back to the hideout. He didn't even look back as the Blazes and Wither skeletons started to bang loudly against the Nether rack in an attempt to break it down. Yet, Shroud still got a scare and ran faster, not because of the mobs but rather what he saw ahead of him.
The man wrapped in the dark cloak from before was standing besides the entrance with a diamond pick in his hands. He had already mined out one of the cobblestone blocks and was close to breaking the other.
Panic-ed, Shroud raced forward at his top speed and drew out Old Faithful, preparing to fight the man before him.
The cloaked man had finished mining out the last block when Shroud swung the iron sword at him. It never hit home though, for the man vanished as the sword's blade neared. He even waved with an sinister grin at Shroud before leaving suddenly.
Shroud went wide-eyed to pissed off at his foe and his antics as the blade sliced through air instead of flesh. Then, in Shroud's mind, he heard Voice start to chuckle before full-blown laughing started getting louder and louder as the seconds ticked by.
It was only for a few seconds though before the laughter faded, but it left Shroud shaking as well as other voice as far as Shroud could tell. He scanned the area quickly still on edge before making a move into the hideout.
What he saw inside caused Shroud to breath a sigh of relief for everything was still where it was before when he left a little bit ago. Even Aodh would still laid slumped and out cold near the crafting table.
Shroud walked over to Aodh and fished out the other ingredients needed from his ill ally's pocket. This included the cobblestone, the two glass bottles, and the tear he had placed there earlier.
As he began to move towards the crafting table, Shroud's injuries made themselves known causing him to stumble and accidentally drop one of the glass bottles which smashed into pieces on the ground.
Shroud huffed in anger before making sure he had a better grip on the other items as he forced his bad leg to keep going.
Once he got to the table did he pause in thought and confusion. Shroud realized then that he didn't know how to make a brewing stand or how to make a potion in general. And with Aodh out of it Shroud was going to have to figure it out himself.
Shroud decided to sort the items out first to decide which seemed the most likely to be used for the brewing stand. He knew the bottle was for later and keep it to the side out of the way. Shroud also figured that the cobblestone was used to make the brewing stand, but he didn't know in what order or how many to use.
The worst to sort out though was with the tear, the Nether wart, and the Blaze rod since they all looked like they could be ingredients yet one was to make the stand. So in the end, he tested with all three and made different combinations with them and the cobblestones.
Least to say, it took a long time and during it Shroud got more and more frustrated and nervous. Frustrated because there were so many different combinations and nervous because he was wasting time that could be used to get out of the area.
In-between his growing anger and nervousness, Shroud thought a lot. About the man who could somehow teleport and looked like the man from his vision during the rematch with the Pigman. And also about Aodh, Voice and the other voice.
His thoughts broke though when he finally managed to make the brewing stand. He nearly shouted out with untold joy, but his injuries protested against the idea so he settle with a big smirk plastered on his face.
Shroud plopped the stand down near the water-filled cauldron before taking out the glass bottle and filling it with water. It seemed obvious enough to Shroud that the potion would need water. He then placed the bottle onto the stand before yet again pausing.
This time Shroud didn't know which order to brew the two ingredients in. Nether wart first or the Ghast tear first. Shroud stood there uncertainly trying to guess which would be first. But his patience was running out quickly having spent it on making the stand. So on a whim, he decided he would brew the tear first then the Nether wart.
It was a 50-50 percent chance that it would work or it would fail and if it failed Shroud knew he would be fighting off thousands of pissed off Blazes which he would dread to do.
Shroud hesitated still unsure, but the delay turn out for the good because at that moment Aodh started to wake. His vision was a bit blurry so he didn't instantly recognize Shroud who was still by the stand, unaware that Aodh had awoke up.
So Aodh reached for his sword only to find it not where he usually put it, only to slap himself a few seconds later when he remembered he gave to Shroud.
Shroud heard the sound of the slap and spun around and saw Aodh with his hand on his head. Aodh gasped when he realized that the 'intruder' had seen him, but when his vision cleared he felt dumb when he saw the other person was Shroud.
Shroud stood where he was a little confused at Aodh, though he was relieved that his ally was moving again.
With Shroud staring at him, Aodh was trying to think of something to say when he noticed the brewing stand and the two items that Shroud held.
"You... got the items?," Aodh said slowly still trying to fully awake up, "Need any help making the potion Shroud?" Shroud smiled and pointed to the items he had in his hands.
"Yea I don't know how to make the potion." Shroud admitted quietly and was then guided by Aodh on how to make the potion. When he realized he had nearly messed up by adding the tear first, Shroud face-planted his head on the wall at his stupidity.
Soon the potion of healing was done and Shroud picked it up and practically skipped over to Aodh who was still sitting by the crafting table.
As Shroud came closer Aodh noticed that Shroud only had one bottle when he could have made two. Soon after this amusing Aodh looked to his left and saw scattered pieces of glass.
"well at least I know it broke..." Aodh turned back to face Shroud who was now sitting in front of him with the potion held out expectantly. Aodh was grateful to have met Shroud, but he felt bad that he had bothered Shroud to help him so much.
Aodh was about to take the potion when he finally came to see how badly damaged Shroud was. Cuts and bandages covered Shroud on nearly every part of him and when Aodh took a look at himself he noticed he had only one big crude bandage wrapped around his chest. He then remembered that strangely aggressive Pigman and realized Shroud must have taken the Pigman on and gotten hurt.
"Sorry Shroud, but... you deserve that potion more than me. you worked so hard for it and-" Aodh spoke, but was cut off from Shroud who pretty much shoved the potion into Aodh's hands. For Shroud, he didn't care how many cuts and bruises he had as long as he could walk. Since Aodh could not walk, Shroud wanted him to have it so that they could leave.
"Just drink it." Shroud growled at Aodh who still felt guilty. Aodh handled the bottle carefully looking downcast, but Shroud's glared told him not to argue and so he drank.
Even before Aodh was done, he felt the potion go to work as the wounds started to disappear and his usual energy came back. He grinned childishly after he finished and nodded his thanks to Shroud who had lost the tense in his posture.
Aodh had began to unwrap his bandages when he noticed Shroud had regained the tenseness and saw he was glancing nervously in all directions. Aodh was about to ask what was wrong, but Shroud spoke first.
"Can you walk? we need to leave this place..." Aodh gave Shroud a questioning look before attempting to stand for the first time in a while. He succeeded in standing up and took a few baby steps to test his stiff legs. The potion had done its job and Aodh was glad since he hadn't felt good for a few 'days'. Still he was worried by Shroud's nervousness.
"I can walk, but why are yer in such a hurry?" Aodh asked to which he received another glare from Shroud, but Shroud calmed down and gave a more gentle looked after a few moments.
"Dangerous man with white glowing eyes, he tried to get into the hideout." Shroud replied and looked down at the ground in disgust. When he didn't hear Aodh say anything he looked up again to see Aodh thinking.
"white glowing eyes? Did he... do anything strange or say he was from anywhere, Shroud?" Aodh mumbled the first bit as he got out of his thinking and stared curiously at Shroud. Shroud blinked for a moment in thought before answering.
"Yes he did. I saw him teleport away when I tried to attack him. He didn't say where he was from... but he mentioned a guy called 'Herobrine' and gave an army of a new type of mob to the Blazes." Shroud looked back to Aodh who had become shocked and nervous too.
"Herobrine..?! oh no... i see why you want to leave now. that man, if you can call him that, is nothing but bad news. And the man you saw was a Follower of Herobrine whom is equally as bad as the man himself." Aodh paused for a second, catching his breath before continuing on.
"The Follower you saw is just a puppet of a person just like all the other Followers. I know you meet a Follower since all Followers have white glowing eyes just like Herobrine himself. They call it a gift or a sacred mark of their lord, but it is really just Herobrine's way of controlling them and uses them to spy on different places at once." Aodh finished his monolog with Shroud looking rather surprised that Aodh knew all this.
"Can they... do other strange things besides teleporting and being spies?" Shroud asked curiously. He wanted to confirm one of his suspicions.
"Well they can do many things depending on what Herobrine gives them, but the most common are great speed, teleportation, ridiculous strength, distortion, and the ability to change people into mobs over time. I don't really know how they turn Minecraftians into mobs, but i heard some stories from some people who fought back the change and they said they had someone in their mind speaking to them, luring them away from-" Aodh continued talking, but Shroud had stopped listening.
His suspicions were correct; he couldn't believe it, but they were. Voice was the cloaked Follower.
VVVVV
A/N Happy new year to everyone reading this! Hope you guys enjoy my story so far :)
Also I have some special news; I will be accepting OCs for this story though for what i won't say. Just PM me your character's Name, age, likes/dislikes, personality and a short background story if possible.
And if you don't have an OC you can still help me by suggesting names.
see ya later viewers :D