Discoveries: Chapter 4
By TitaniumBlossom
(Writing minecraft fanfiction at 11:00 in the morning during Spring Break. I'm so messed up. :( I really should find more hobbies other than playing Minecraft and writing Minecraft stories.)
When Miner came to, the air around them was hot and arid. Almost surely, there was a lot of lava in the area. The land beneath their feet was red like blood. She could only see a small area near her, because there was almost no light, except for the dim kind that was cast by the still-tumultuous portal. Next to her, Archer was looking around warily, his sharp features outlined in the poor light. He stood taller than her by just a bit, a few fingers or so, but that was all that she needed to feel safe near him.
His long fingers were poised artfully on his bow, and his quiver was uncapped, just in case he had to draw an arrow and fire.
Miner took her pickaxe and broke right through a ridge below her in one hit. It was a big mistake, because there was nothing below it and she had nothing between her and a long drop into lava. She intermediately lodged her pick into the stone next to the hole she had made.
"Help!", she wailed, but it was too late, because Archer was already there, his face furrowed with worry and a hand extended.
He stayed quiet, but his hand was there. She raised her hand and grasped his. Surprisingly, his small build belied a strength required to lift herself and her loaded pack up.
It dawned upon her that this was the first time that he had touched her consciously. She would have liked to say something like it gave her a zap or a jolt or some other cliché, but really, his hand grasping hers really gave her nothing but a sense of relief as she ascended from the hole.
When she was finally up and over, Archer slumped down, utterly spent. Miner couldn't help but feel warm inside at the sight of his curled up form. He had a certain animalistic warmth about him that made it far too easy to feel something whenever she looked upon him doing something. She could keep it under control. The world was far too dangerous to think about things like that. Especially when in this world, where she had a near death experience within 20 seconds of arriving.
And just as she thought about danger, a flaming ball crashed from the sky and exploded a patch where she would have been sitting, had she not rolled when she saw it coming. Following the projectile was something that she could best describe as a ghast. A strange monster, yelling and screaming like some unspeakable horror. The entire world down here, this entire Nether, was filled with the screams and groans of monsters.
The Ghast had dangling tentacles coming off of it, and it floated through the air like some deranged octopus, spitting exploding fireballs and screaming. Suddenly, five arrows shot up from next to her, and each added another puncture to the bloated gas sack that was known as the Ghast. It blew up one final time, leaving a heat wave.
"Damn.", Miner remarked. "It seems this world is more dangerous than the one we just left. Let's go"
She left, picking up the fragments dropped when entire blocks had been destroyed during the battle. She decided she would call the red stone Netherrack. It had a certain quality to it that bespoke of the strange nature of this land.
Miner walked out west from the portal, looking around very warily. This place was like an entirely new place, covered in shadow, blood red, with only the distant glow of lava below and the shimmer of something up high.
Soon, they were scaling up a hillside to get a closer look at a sparkle up high. She was running up the hillside so fast she didn't notice a strange hunched form in front of her. In fact, it wasn't until she almost tripped over it that she saw it, because the area was so dark.
The thing made strange groaning noises, and as it stood up straight, Miner saw that the thing had a golden sword, as well as a few compatriots nearby. It looked like a pig and a man combined, but its flesh was decayed and it shuffled about aimlessly like a zombie.
To her surprise, it didn't attack her, instead, it stood there.
"Don't kill it! It's harmless.", She announced at the sound of Archer's quiver clinking as he pulled an arrow."
"If you say so.", He replied, arrow still notched on his bow. She felt warm again. His voice delighted her. It was beautifully melodic, and she definitely could not get enough of it, probably because he didn't talk much. Even on the minecart, when she had attempted to get him to say something, he had said nothing, with her back pressed snugly into his front.
Still, Miner reflected as they continued past the zombie pigman, I like the strong silent type. And in reality, what else do I have? The only person I've met in a long time happens to be someone that I truly am attracted to. When this is over, I'll try something, unless I'm tired. In which case, I'll sleep, then wake up, and then sleep again, and then try something, and then go back to sleep. Or something like that.
She closed the gap between the final few feet between her and the source of the sparkle, a nasty crystalized substance like the exoskeleton of a spider, that was strangely cold for something so bright.
Immediately, she smashed the blocks with powerful strikes from her pick, leaving nothing but dust. She threw down a torch and picked up the dust, which did not glow nearly as brightly as the block did. In her pack, she had filled about 9 cupfuls, and closed them within the cups, but her pack was nearly full with the Netherrack she had gotten before, and the rest of the Glowstone was far away, so she was guessing that they would have to go back soon, if not because of lack of space, then because of the danger here.
And just as she thought about danger, Archer yelled, "GHAST!"
Miner had had enough of this crap. She brought her fishing pole out and found the Ghast. It was far away, but she was mad as hell, and she wasn't going to take it anymore.
The bloated white flying bastard was coming in low, and she could see it charging up a gaseous fireball. It fired, but Miner used her fishing pole like a bat and knocked the ball back at the Ghast, then cast her pole so that it hooked in its leathery skin. She yanked hard, and the creature slammed into the floor, letting her rush in and stab the thing with her sword while it was being pelted with arrows. She jumped off and ran after one stab, diving when she heard the explosion behind her.
She looked at Archer, who was smiling sheepishly.
"What?", She asked.
"Your pants.", He replied, pointing.
She looked down.
"What?", she asked, not understanding.
"On the back...", he murmured. "Let's go back. You're far too exposed."
Horrified, but not wanting to appear desperate, she casually reached her hand to her rear, usually denim covered, but to her horror, she found nothing but her slightly ripped panties and bare skin. She felt her hand s around a bit more while walking, and discovered that the rip was fairly large and covered both sides of her pants, and that the missing piece had been truly ripped off.
When they finally got to the portal, she was really feeling the tiredness of the long day. She lazily closed the iron door and staggered out, to the pool and the waterfall that led up to her home.
Archer was behind her, which struck as more than a little suspicious, but she really could care less because each muscle in her body was more tired than the last, and her clothes were ripped for the umpteenth time. She had spares, but these were made only a week ago, and they usually lasted that long. Archer had her living so fast that her weeks were now worth two days of clothing.
She submerged under the water for a second, letting the ash and dirt slough off of her when she stood up.
Then she ascended the waterfall, and slumped down into her bed. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep, but was surprised by the sudden weight on her bed of Archer flopping down next to her, curling around her outside. She fell back to sleep though, thoroughly tired but sanguine, with the only other person in the world holding her in his arms.