"Ladies and gentleman," the woman from the entrance announced, directing everyone's attention to her, "welcome to this year's Endercon Building Competition!" She was greeted with a round of cheering from everyone present. "The winners of this year's competition will have their build featured at Endercon. The winners will also meet, in person, Gabriel the Warrior!"
More cheering. Olivia threw her hands into the air, while Axel pumped his fist and Jesse did a little happy sort of dance-jump-thing. Then a chorus of "Ocelots!" rang out, and the four of them (including Reuben) turned to see the Ocelots doing some sort of elaborate handshake.
Olivia's eyes widened. "Wow... a handshake? We don't have a handshake!"
Jesse paused, lifting her hand. "We'll just... make one up." The other two followed their lead, curling their hands into fists as Jesse did the same. "We'll call it the..." Annnnnd now she was blanking out again. "... uhhhhhh..." Think, Jesse, think-
"The... Warrior Whip!"
She held out her fist, and the other two bumped it, before their expressions changed to one of slight awkwardness as they didn't really know what to do next. Jesse hesitantly put up her other hand, before letting it fall back to her side a moment later when neither of her friends did anything.
Well... they tried, right?
Olivia sighed. "Aaaaand just like that, I'm nervous again."
Jesse scowled playfully at her friend. "Don't talk like that!" she gently scolded, "we can do this. Just stick to the plan, and everything will be fine. This year, the Dead Enders can't lose." The green-eyed girl's eyes lit up, and she stuck her hand into the center again. Axel, Olivia, and Reuben picked up on what she was doing instantly and joined her, all of them grinning at each other with determination.
Well, she could only assume with Reuben. His head was covered by the Ender Dragon mask.
"Let's do it," Axel spoke, grinning.
"Building-" Olivia braced herself, eyes hardening as her face went from a worried smile to a blank determination, "-starts-" Axel reached towards the blocks in his pocket, brow furrowing as he narrowed his eyes. "-now!" Jesse reached down and rubbed Reuben on the head... mask... same thing, before the three of them rushed towards the center of their booth.
It felt like only a matter of minutes as they all worked together, setting blocks and redstone and dispensers down, before they were standing on top of their finished fireworks dispenser.
"Oh no! A fireworks dispenser?" Aiden shouted mockingly from where he was still working on the rainbow beacon. Lukas glanced down from where he was above the other boy, expression growing slightly irritated at Aiden. "I'm so scared!"
Jesse glared at Aiden. "Make like a beanstalk and grow up, would you?!" she snapped at him, and was slightly surprised to see-
-well, she might've been wrong. They WERE a good distance from him. But she could've sworn that his eyes had widened and his face had actually blanched.
Weird.
Deciding it was nothing- time was running out right now- Jesse leaped down from the top of the fireworks dispenser, the others leaping down as well and landing without much issue, before Jesse pulled out several black wool blocks and started stacking them in the shape of an Enderman. Axel surprised her with two large pieces of stained glass, which they popped into the Enderman's face as the eyes.
Finally, despite how it only felt like mere minutes, Jesse looked up to see the sun touching the horizon as it started to set as the last bit of redstone was finally hooked up.
Stepping carefully over to the edge of the Enderman's head- which was much taller than she'd anticipated it being- she peered out over the rest of the building competition.
The only build she could recognize as what it was was the rainbow beacon. Another build seemed to be made of birch wood and fences and didn't look like it really did much of anything, while another one was covered in torches, had a stone floor, spruce wood, and gray stained glass... another one had a small pool of lava (chills shot up Jesse's spine, she did NOT want to get near that), and was surrounded with so much redstone that Jesse was surprised the redstone wasn't catching on fire.
A moment later, Axel clambered up onto the Enderman head alongside Jesse. Since it only went one block back, it wasn't a lot of room, but happily Jesse was very small. As if they could read each other's minds, Jesse and Axel turned in perfect unison to Olivia, who nodded and moved towards the lever perched on the edge of the head, which was to her right.
"And now..." Jesse took a deep breath. Hopefully the fireworks wouldn't make her catch on fire. "The moment of truth."
Olivia regarded the lever without enthusiasm. "Here goes nothing." With that, she reached out and pulled the lever.
Instantly, fireworks shot into the sky above them and exploded into colorful bursts of sparkles and sparks. Jesse had to fight the urge to hide behind Axel the moment it started, and managed to relax a moment later when none of the sparks came close to hitting her.
"Oh man, that looks so cool!" Olivia exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "We'll win this for sure."
Axel looked around, before a grudging smile came over his face. "I gotta admit, this Enderman is sweet." He grinned over at his much-shorter friend, who beamed back at him. "Good call, Jesse!"
Jesse grinned before looking down at a few exclamations, seeing a crowd starting to look up at the build and form around their booth, pointing and shouting in excitement. "Guys," she told the others in a light singsong, "people are looking at us."
"Good build, man!" one of the crowd members shouted. Jesse was pretty sure it was the guy who'd called her team losers earlier.
Jesse grinned and gave them a little wave- which she was pretty sure they couldn't see, from how high up she currently was- before a terrified squealing cut through the cheering, and her head looked around-
Her heart leaped into her throat at the sight of lava spilling out from the build that held the little pool of lava, creeping steadily towards their booth. That wasn't what worried Jesse, though- no, what had her heart pounding away violently in her throat was the sight of Reuben running around with a terrified squeal, his costume steadily catching on fire, before the little pig bolted towards the woods.
"Oh no- Reuben's on fire!" Jesse yelled, feeling the blood drain from her face a little. "Reuben, no! Come back!" she yelled after her little pink pig, to no avail.
"It was Aiden!" Axel practically snarled, expression darkening angrily, "that punk!"
"The lava's getting closer!" Olivia pointed out, watching the lava inch closer and closer towards the vulnerable woolen Enderman.
"It'll ruin the build!"
"Reuben's going to get lost!" Olivia protested as Jesse's mind fumbled for a coherent thought, because she was frozen at the sight of lava and the fire licking at Reuben's costume's wings and her little pig running into the woods and that was fire right down there she could burn to death any second now-
"We gotta do something!"
"But our build is about to go up in flames!"
Save Reuben.
Jesse looked over her shoulder at the other two. "You guys stay here and save the build!" she ordered, before leaping down from the build. Landing on her feet, she leveled herself into a roll- banging into someone and knocking them over- she didn't have time to apologize she had to save Reuben because she was not going to let her little pig get toasted- and raced after the little pig into the woods.
"We got it, Jesse!" Olivia's voice floated through the air in Jesse's direction. "We'll meet up with you at Endercon!"
Jesse lifted her arm to indicate that she'd heard her friend, before her fists tightened and she ran after her little pig into the woods as the shadows lengthened.
"Reuben?!" Jesse shouted, looking around, "where are you?"
No responding oink from the little pig. The worry that had been festering in the pit of her stomach ever since she'd spotted him with his costume on fire grew into a tight knot. "Just... just give me an oink, if you can hear me!" she added.
She slowed from a jog to a walk, looking around the steadily-darkening forest- before spotting something deeper in the trees.
A thin column of smoke rising into the air.
"Reuben?" she called again, moving deeper into the woods past a small body of water. Moments later, she came to a screeching halt at the sight of flames licking at a tree, consuming the leaves and bark hungrily.
Jesse swallowed nervously. If the fire spread, and she was stuck in the woods when it happened...
Calm down. Deep breath. Just because you're near a fire doesn't mean you're going to catch on fire.
If she'd told herself this before the incident last year, it would've actually worked. Now, though... she wasn't sure she believed it anymore.
Jesse forced herself to take a deep, calming breath. It didn't actually calm her down too well, but she at least didn't feel like panicking anymore. Taking a closer look at the tree, she noticed that it was sort of in the middle of a clear area, and a relieved sigh made her tense shoulders relax again. "It doesn't look like the fire will spread..." She paused, lips pressing together a bit. "I'll bet Reuben started this."
Moving deeper into the woods, she proceeded to immediately run into a herd of pigs. Pig hoofprints littered the ground, making it difficult to tell if Reuben had passed by.
Jesse let out a slightly annoyed sigh. "Stupid pigs..." Now if Reuben had passed through here, there was no way to tell. "Reuben?" she called out.
Immediately, all of the pigs started oinking.
"No, not you gu- pigs! All pigs but Reuben please shut up!" she ordered, the oinking dying down to snuffling. Well, Reuben hadn't responded or come over, so he presumably wasn't here...
Continuing forward, she came to a small, three-block cliff and a more open area. Hopping down, Jesse's head swivelled from side to side as she looked around. "Reuben? It's getting scary out here!" And indeed, the sun was so low that the sky was painted purple with tinges of pink. It would've been beautiful if Jesse was safely in a building... but right now, she was in the middle of the forest, with no light source to help her find her way.
I mean, she could've made a torch... but the idea of fire sent frightened shivers up her spine. The risk of accidentally starting a fire, or of accidentally catching herself on fire...
She wondered when she'd become such a sissy.
"Reuben?" she called out again, before her head turned-
And her heart dropped to her stomach at the sight of Reuben's Ender Dragon costume, emitting huge clouds of smoke from where it was lying on some dirt. "Reuben? Reuben?!" Her voice rose into a panicked squeak, and she sprinted towards the costume. "Oh no! You in there, buddy?"
There was no response.
Jesse swallowed nervously. The costume appeared to be only smoking, but still... there could be an ember or spark still alive in there...
No! Now was not the time to be worried about catching herself on fire. Reuben could be... could be...
Jesse couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence. "Oh, jeez... please don't be toasted, Reuben." Reaching out with a trembling hand, she took ahold of a smoldering wing, gently shifting it aside as puffs of smoke continued rising, revealing...
... that the costume was abandoned, and that Reuben was nowhere to be seen.
Jesse let out a loud, relieved sigh. Standing back up, she carefully stomped out the smoke, eliminating the thin wisps that had been steadily rising into the sky. Turning back around, she kept walking along, before coming to a stream. "Reuben?" she called out, softly, carefully lowering herself into the stream and letting out a startled gasp- the stream was freezing! Wasn't it the middle of summer right now? "You there, buddy?"
Continuing through the water, feeling both relieved that there was no way she was going to randomly catch on fire and worried that she was going to catch a cold, she waded through the stream, occasionally calling for Reuben without receiving an answer.
Reaching the other side of the stream, Jesse struggled out of it, clothes feeling heavy and wet from her little trip through the water, walking through the area to reach what appeared to be a small field-
Some tall grass rustled.
Jesse blinked, before carefully approaching the tall grass, just in case...
And feeling relief flood her chest at the sight of a shaking, wide-eyed Reuben trembling in the grass and causing the long grass to rustle with his movements. "Reuben!" she almost shouted, relief practically saturating her voice, "there you are!"
Reuben emerged from the grass a moment later, letting out small oinks and a little whine. Jesse beamed and fell to her knees, reaching out and rubbing his head furiously. "Oh, I am so happy to see you!" she exclaimed.
The pig grinned at her.
"C'mon. Let's hurry back to town before-"
Reuben's grin changed to terror, and he let out a terrified oink. Jesse spun back to where she'd emerged from to see zombies lurching towards them, groaning with hunger. It wasn't a lot right now, only two... but Reuben was only a pig, and Jesse didn't have any weapons except for her wooden practice sword.
"Reuben, run!" And Jesse launched herself back into a sort of standing position, staggering and landing flat on her front. In this case, though, fear acted as a boost, hands and knees scrabbling desperately before propelling Jesse into a run after the galloping Reuben, tall grass whipping at Jesse's legs and arms, before coming to a stop who knows how far away. "I," she gasped for breath, giving Reuben a slightly relieved smile, "I think we're good."
A hiss. Not the sort of hiss that Axel had used this morning to fool them, but the real, bonafide thing.
Jesse's head snapped around, eyes landing on an approaching creeper. "GAH!" Jesse yelled, bolting again. Reuben was a fast runner despite being small and a little pig, and they soon managed to reach a small hill, although Jesse nearly tripped straight over a mound of dirt. She'd barely reached the area when an arrow split the air in front of her, VERY nearly hitting her face, which made Jesse scream and jerk back as the arrow slammed into the hill just beyond that area.
Jesse twisted to her left to see a skeleton regard Jesse blankly, eyesockets empty, before preparing another arrow-
Jesse's instincts screamed RUN! She immediately followed her instincts and leaped forward, an arrow hissing past her elbow and almost nicking it, but there was no more chance of getting hit by an arrow because Jesse was now sprinting full-out, running for safety-
And skidding to a halt at the sight of a large cliff blocking the way. Reuben let out a worried oink as Jesse turned around, looking around to see a horde of zombies starting to crowd around her. The little pig let out a little whine and shrank back, making Jesse glance back at him, glass heart thudding away so fast that she was worried that it was going to break from how hard and fast it was beating.
Seeing no other choice, she drew her sword and slammed it into the closest zombie, knocking it back. "Back!" she barked, even though it couldn't understand her, "get back!" Edging backwards slightly, Jesse didn't take her eyes off the zombie, but addressed Reuben. "Stay behind me, Reuben. I've got you."
Reuben obediently edged backwards so that he was behind Jesse, though a safe distance away so she couldn't just trip over him.
Jesse's hand tightened on the wooden hilt, and she took a lunging step forward and drove the wooden sword into the zombie's chest. If this had been a normal person, the sword would've only bruised at the best, but the zombie's chest was rotting, and the sword punched straight into the rotting flesh with almost no issue. Jesse thrashed downwards with the sword, knocking the zombie to the ground, before plunging the wooden blade into its head and making it explode in a puff of dust and smoke.
Yanking the sword out of the smoke and sending a small trail of it in the air after the sword, she charged to the closest zombie and smacked it away from her, before whirling to the next nearest zombie and swinging the blade as hard as she could, aiming for the zombie's neck.
The sword sliced through the rotting flesh with almost no issue, sending the rotting head in a twirl into the air- before both body and head vaporized into a column of smoke and dust, like the first zombie.
"C'mon, c'mon," Jesse muttered, biting her lip, before turning to the next zombie and raising the sword above her head and bringing it down with a heavy overhand stroke-
Only for the blade to snap, doing a slow, lazy 360 in the air before skittering across the ground, several meters away. The zombie happily vaporized into a column of smoke, but mere seconds later, what remained of her wooden sword followed suit. "Stupid wooden swords!" she complained, although she knew full well that it was not the sword's fault, before she began to back away, Reuben following suit as she retreated one step, two steps-
Her back hit the cliff wall.
"I know it's bad," Jesse whispered to Reuben, as a spider jumped down from a nearby tree where it must've been perched. Oddly enough, she did not feel any fear right now- not about the prospect of dying, not while the specter of death was practically hanging over her head and waiting.
Perhaps it was because a death at the hands of zombies and mobs was quicker than one in a blazing fire.
"I'll think of something," she whispered down to the little pig. She only hesitated a moment, before glancing down at her little pig. "You're going to have to make a run for it, okay?"
She didn't mind dying- not like this. But she was not going to allow Reuben to die this way. Not if she could help it.
Reuben let out a whine, shaking his head in protest. "I'll meet you back in town, I promise!" Jesse coaxed gently, feeling a little lump of guilt form in her stomach as she lied to her little pig.
She didn't think she was going to be able to meet Reuben back in town.
Jesse hesitated only a second longer, before her voice grew sharper. "Get outta here! NOW!"
Bolstered by the shout and the promise, the little pig bolted through the monsters, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a zombie, and fled, squealing in terror the whole way. Jesse watched him disappear from sight, feeling a little pang of guilt in her stomach. Well, at least he wasn't going to die.
Jesse paid for her moment of not paying attention the mob in front of her when something slammed into her chest, knocking her to the ground with a yelp. When she focused her attention again, she saw a spider creeping towards her with a deadly hiss- before it sprang into the air and landed on her chest, pincers clawing at her face, long hairy legs poking her.
"Get off me!" Jesse snapped at the spider, one hand shooting up and holding the spider at bay as its legs poked at her face. "Ugh, this is absolutely- EW!" While she'd been trying to yell at the spider, one of its legs accidentally strayed into her mouth. Recoiling, Jesse's other arm reflexively shot up and slapped the spider off of her, knocking it back as she spit desperately, trying to get the foul taste out of her mouth.
The spider did a flip from where it had landed on its back, landing back on its feet. Jesse gasped a little, still gagging and trying to get the taste of the spider's legs out of her mouth. It was disgusting.
I wish Petra was here.
The thought came to Jesse's mind suddenly. If Petra was here... well, she could probably handle herself a little better if there was someone else who knew how to fight more with her.
Too bad Petra wasn't there.
The spider's legs tensed- it sprang at her-
A pickaxe slammed it out of the air and off to the side before it could hit her. A moment later, Petra appeared and started slamming her pickaxe into the spider furiously, eyes blazing with anger as she furiously stabbed it. Three angry hits later, the spider exploded into smoke, dust, and some string.
"Petra?" Jesse gasped, doing her best to scramble to her feet.
The redhead turned to look at her with a hard expression, making Jesse shrink back in slight surprise, but all she said was, "C'mon. Let's get out of the open."
Jesse nodded in agreement, Petra stabbing a zombie and killing it in a single stroke as Jesse raced after her, scooping up some of the string that the spider had dropped when it had died. Without any further ado, Jesse raced after Petra, feeling relief spread through her chest.
Well, at least she could fulfill her promise to Reuben.
A/N: Wow, that was convenient. Jesse wishes Petra's there, Petra appears. xD
But yeah, I'm really excited for stuff to actually start happening. Like, Witherstorm stuff. That's fun. xD
Replies to reviews!
homeworkoverload: That's good! / Ahahaha xD / Oh, that's good! / Yay! I don't know anything about hockey, but cool!
CamronXTheXGamer: I think you mean 'could'. Or was that 'should'? xD
NovaAurora10: Maybe! We'll have to see. xD
Toni42: That's awesome, Toni-kun! Glad to see you're putting some pieces of the puzzle together x3
Mooncake: I dunno, does he? 0-0
TheAmberShadow: Haha, yeah, that's funny. That's also one of my favorites, although the 'No-Names' is also kind of funny. xD / HAHAHA OMG xD / Yeah, true, but simply using the same insults doesn't mean he's not good at getting people riled up. xD / Yeah, Maya's also nicer when Aiden's not around. (Not NICE per se, but nicER.) xD / Hehe xD / Jesse likes Lukas? 0-0
AquaK13: Hm, maybe? / Haha, yeah. Keep in mind people who have the Fairytale Curse don't broadcast the fact at all.
ShiningHopeBeast: I dunno...! / (shrugs)
NoItsBecky: Haha, something like that.
x.X. A.L. X.x
