Chapter 7

Steve and Alex

"My name is Alex."

"Alex, I like it." Jesse said

Alex smiled brightly, "Thank you, I'm rather fond of it myself." She stood, "But before we get anymore acquainted Jesse, I'd like to finish tending your wound. If you're comfortable with that?"

He ran his fingers gingerly over the exposed flesh, "I guess we should huh?"

"Yes it's probably best."

Jesse leaned against the headboard as Alex fetched wrappings from her cabinet.

"Do you have everything in there?" he asked with a weak chuckle as she sat down on the bed.

"Everything but the kitchen sink," was her witty reply, then, "I am a doctor Jesse."

"But you do it here - I mean, treat your patients- in your house?"

"Where else would I do it?"

"I don't know," he suggested, "Maybe a hospital?"

Alex stopped peeling back the ruined bandages from his body and stared, "Pardon?"

"Oh never mind," Jesse replied quickly. It was probably best not to talk about other worldly things with a stranger he decided.

She finished pulled the bloody rags off and set to work spreading a slick substance on his wound. Jesse hissed as a sharp pain cut through the numbing agent.

"Disinfectant," Alex said before he could ask.

"Do you not have healing potions?" he asked slowly.

"Used to,"

He took a mental note on her answer, "Don't you have a brewing stand then?"

"I did," she frowned, "But my dear husband crushed it by accident three months ago."

"They are made of metal, how did he manage that?"

"He was building a golem for the village and it hit the wrong target during its test run. He hasn't fixed it yet, even though I keep reminding him." she placed a clean pad on the broken skin, before beginning to wrap the bandages around his ribs, "I would have used a healing potion for you sweetheart. But our village suffered a bad mudslide in the lower range. I used the last I had on the locals."

Just my luck, Jesse thought, then aloud, "Well it's not like you knew I'd be hurt." he looked out around, "It's pretty quiet here for being a village..."

"We're not in town. My husband and I live on the outskirts. We prefer our privacy."

"Ah."

Alex was silent for the rest of her tending, occasionally muttering reminders to herself about medical treatment, when, "Are you hungry?" she asked, finishing her wrapping.

Jesse felt his stomach twist, "I'm not sure that's a good idea. I don't think my innards are very agreeable right now."

"I thought that might be the case." Alex tilted her head, "I have a stew in the cauldron right now. I made it in case you're stomach was queasy. It has some special herbs in it, they should help ease the discomfort. But I won't force you to have any."

"Herbs?"

"Nothing to drug you with, I swear on my grave."

Jesse thought about it, his nose catching a whiff of the stew in the other room. "Maybe...just a small bowl?"

"Small bowl coming up." she got up, patting him gently on the shoulder, then left the bedroom. Jesse watched her leave, noticing her rubbing her nose.

"Alex?"

"What kiddo?"

Jesse felt his face flush,"Sorry if I hurt you anywhere with the letter opener. I was kinda going crazy back there."

She laughed from the other room, "Nothing but a scratch on the nose sweetheart."

"I'm sorry!"

"Its fine, it will heal in a day or two. Besides," she replied, "I've had worse." she returned to the bedroom carrying two steaming wooden blows. She handed one to Jesse, "My husband has done far worse than you - careful it's hot."

"Thanks," Jesse gratefully took the bowl. It smelled heavenly up close, and looked delicious. It was a nice change after three months of a limited diet. He lifted a spoonful blowing slowly on it, "What did he do?"

Alex sat down once more in the recliner, "He was poisoned by a witch once. It sent him into a hallucinogenic state. I was trying to patch him up," she laughed, "And he stabbed me in the thigh with that same letter opener. It was almost ironic when you armed yourself with it. I really should put that thing elsewhere."

He nearly dropped his stew, "Seriously?! What did you do when he stabbed you?"

"Oh I wrestled him down; it didn't take too long,"

Jesse glanced at the letter opener, and then back at the ginger, happily eating her meal, "Something tells me you wouldn't have had an issue disabling me."

"Oh it would have been a piece of cake. I've had lots of practice." Alex blew on her stew, "But I decided I didn't want to make you distrust me anymore than you already were. Bad first impression and all that jazz."

"I appreciate the thought."

"No problem."

They ate in silence for awhile. Alex had been correct on her hunch. Her cooking was delicious, and whatever herb she had mixed in eased his stomach greatly. That alone put him more at ease.

"So," Alex chirped up, "Want to tell me why I had to pry an arrow out of your ribcage."

"I was out in the woods when I was hit by an archer."

"Of course, arrows and archers are usually a pair." Her tone wasn't mocking, merely cheerful. She was doing her best to ease what little tension remained.

"They're usually not a problem," Jesse said, embarrassed, "I mean, I'm not an exceptional fighter, but I can at least dodge. This skeleton, he was a good shot, better then I've seen on an skeleton archer. That, and he rode a spider. I've heard of them doing that, but I've never actually seen one."

"We call them Spider Jockeys," Alex said, "Pain in the ass if you ask me. They're pretty common here. I'm surprised you haven't seen one sooner."

She was curious, trying to figure out where he was from Jesse could tell. It probably didn't help he had mentioned a hospital earlier. He wasn't bothered by her prying for some odd reason, but he dodged the statement for safety reasons. Last place they had been called him and his friends insane and tried to have them locked away. "Yeah well, he hit me," Jesse continued. "Then more spawns showed up, it's harder to remember what happened after I was shot, but my friends-"

Alex raised an eyebrow when he stopped, "Jesse?"

"Oh my Notch! Petra and Lukas!" Jesse quickly set his bowl down, "I've got to find them!"

"Don't tear your stitches!"

"They are still out there," Jesse argued, "Who knows how long they've been looking! They might be hurt!"

Alex firmly pushed him down into the bed, "We'll find them Jesse,"

"But you don't know where they are," He countered.

Alex remained stoic, arms gently pushing him down, "Jesse I found you in the river. You're friends are probably upstream,"

"The river?"

"Yes, that's why the rest of your body is so damaged; you took a tumble through the rapids. You probably fell in after you were poisoned." she explained, "Now I'm no detective, but if your friends are smart they'll follow that river downstream, hoping to find you washed up somewhere."

"That could have been days ago,"

"I found you the middle of last night Jesse, it's only late afternoon now, they haven't even been lost a whole day."

Jesse shifted uncomfortably, "I still need to get to them."

Alex smiled, tugging at a glinting charm necklace around her throat, "Don't worry, my husband is out there right now. He headed up the river a day ago. As long as your friends stayed close to the water, he'll probably run into them."

Jesse leaned back uneasily, "I hope so..."

He watched Alex look out the window, staring with great discomfort towards a large set of rolling hills covered in trees. "I hope so too..."

Lukas groaned as another branch slapped him in the face, "Gah! If Jesse isn't dead when we find him, I'm gonna kill him for wandering off."

"I'll let him know how upset you were after we lost him, I'm sure he'll be flattered."

"Shut it Petra."

It had been a long night and even though Lukas and Petra were still worried to death about Jesse; the lack of sleep and the constant fear for their own safety hovering over their heads make it difficult to be in a agreeable mood.

Petra let out a humored grunt and hacked away another tree branch, "Man when Brine said the trees grew close, he didn't say they grew that close."

"I can't even see the river," Lukas frowned.

Brine had been correct, the river cut right through the thick forests and the hill on which they were mounted. But he might have understated how thick the trees really were. The trees weren't particularly tall, but they were thick and branchy and didn't even produce leaves. Their roots grew right up the riverbank, even spreading across and tangling with other trees on the opposite side. Lukas desperately hoped Jesse wasn't tangled in those roots somewhere...submerged under the water...

"It's okay Lukas," Petra said, as if sensing his worry, "We'll find him,"

"I know..." he quietly replied.

There was a thick fog as well, and Petra and Lukas had lost sight of the river some time ago, going solely off of sound. They didn't have to worry about wandering to far however, the river cut through the forest like a thin knife, leaving tall rocky cliffs on either side. They knew when they hit rock face they had wandered too far.

Petra slapped a bundle of wispy white out of her face, "Sure are a lot of cobwebs around here."

She was right, the more they traversed the thicker the webs became, to the point where fog and cobweb were hard to tell apart.

A particular branch snagged Lukas's short hair just so and his head lurched back, "Ow! I'm starting to think going the long way -ouch- would have been faster."

"We can't back out now, it will take to long." Petra said, "Just don't -damn tree -wander too far okay? I can barely see my hand much less you."

"I won't, trust me. So far no good has come from wandering off around here."

"I think I see the river," Petra pointed, she stepped ahead of him, "Follow me."

Lukas only made it a few feet when his foot snagged on a branch, he landed on the tangled roots with a heavy thump. The jarring motion sent his wounded shoulder screaming in pain. Lukas reached back onto his shoulder blade. With all that running from spawns and meeting Brine, he had completely forgotten to take the arrowhead out. He felt rather stupid for leaving it in so long. He quickly pulled it out, gritting his teeth in pain and threw the blasted piece of flint into the fog.

There was a hiss.

"Um Petra?" he froze, "Did you hear that?"

Petra didn't respond.

Lukas stood, "Petra?" he called.

Nothing.

Fighting down panic he tried again, "PETRA!"

"Lukas? Where are you?"

He let out a sigh of relief, "I fell, I think I'm somewhere behind you? Where are you?"

"I'm by the river!" she called back.

Lukas stepped forward, struggling to make his way through the thick forest. He couldn't hear the river over the cracking of branches and bark. No matter how slow he tried to traverse something always made a noise.

"I can't hear the river! Keep shouting so I can get my bearings!"

"Marco!" she replied wittily .

He couldn't help but smile and adjusted his direction to the sound, "Keep going!"

"Okay! Polo!"

Another hiss.

Lukas froze, "Petra?"

"What?"

"I think there is something here..."

"Not funny Lukas."

He moved forward, "No I'm serious. I keep hearing things."

"Just keep following my voice!"

"I'm trying I just- WOAH!"

Lukas cursed as he tumbled from the weak ledge. In the fog he had failed to see the path had ended. He fell down, rock and gravel following after as he landed hard on a messy pile of webs and branches, keeping him suspended a few feet off the ground. The thicker cables of the web twanged and vibrated with every rock and twig that hit them.

Panic set in immediately, and Lukas struggled to get out of the sticky substance. But more and more of it seemed to appear as he moved.

Petra was calling out, "Lukas?! Lukas what happened? Answer me!"

He was trying, but the webs where in face. He thrashed about as violently as he could. But the sticky substance was everywhere, his mouth, his eyes-

"Lukas where are you?!"

There was another sharp hiss and branches cracked up above him, sending small pieces of wood and bark sprinkling all around him. The entire tree bent down slightly. Tearing off the webs from his face, Lukas managed to turn around looking sharply up. The only thing he could see above him was eight beady red eyes, and dripping fangs.

The monster hissed, venomous saliva dropping down and splattered onto his cheek.

"PETRA!"

"Lukas?!"

The spider screeched, and leapt down, fangs wide open for a deadly bite. Screaming his lungs off more or less, Lukas managed to lurch his body sideways. The creature landed heavily on top, but its jaws missed his throat. It bit down, not yet realizing it had missed its intended target. The sharp fangs cut through one of the webs support cables, sending the whole trap tilting.

With the combined weight of Lukas and the spider and with one support no longer in place. The pair tumbled out of the tree falling the last few feet to the ground in a tangled mess. The arachnid landed on its back, Lukas on its underbelly.

"Lukas!"

"Spiders!" Was all he managed to cry out as the beast screeched in rage. It started snapping at him, trying to get turned over.

Lukas managed to get off the lethal mess of eight legs and scrambled away; darting across a small clearing as he drew his sword.

There was a wet sticky sound and Lukas's foot was yanked out from under him. He fell forward, chin slamming first into the hard cold ground. His sword clattered away, landing a few feet to his left.

Lukas looked down at his foot. The spider had righted itself, shooting great lengths of spring from its spinner. His legs were quickly bound together in thick tangle of wet web. "NO! NO! NO!"

Content that its prey would not be getting away, the monster charged leaping high in the air.

"PETRA HURRY!" Lukas turned forward again and lunged for his sword, fingers grabbing hold of the hilt. He twisted round, blade up.

The spider landed meekly at his feet, whimpering.

He froze, eyeing the blade the then the spider.

Was it afraid of it?

"Get back!" he yelled, swinging the iron blade.

The spider hissed, almost like in defiance.

"I said get-"

A deep guttural roar echoed the forest from somewhere behind him.

Lukas and the spider went stiff the later backing away quickly into the woods, and disappearing into the trees. Still stuck on his back, Lukas slowly tilted his head back.

Behind him, from what he could make out in his upside down perspective was a deep dark cave. One long thick black tree was protruding out from the depths.

The tree moved.

Lukas paled.

One after the other more 'trees' exited the cave, followed by a round massive body.

So it wasn't the sword the spider was afraid of.

It was the bigger spider.

The beast hissed, clicking it's pinchers together as it stepped out into the opening. It eyed Lukas, tilting it's head back in forth with curiosity. Then it crouched and with a snarl quickly scurried forward.

"Petra!"

There was a swish of a sword and Lukas's legs broke free. He looked forward, "Petra watch out for the-"

It wasn't Petra.

A much older male, with brunette hair and a matching beard leaned over him, diamond sword in hand. Before Lukas could utter a single word, the man shoved him hard, "Move!"

Lukas rolled from the force of the push, the stranger diving after him just as the monstrous spider brought it's stinger down into the dirt. It screeched in fury, not pleased to have its prey released.

"Up! Up!"

The man yanked Lukas up, but didn't move out from underneath the eight legged beast. "We have to stay under it, it can't get us as well under here."

The spider was furious; fully aware that the pair was below it's under belly. It moved every direction possible, jabbing its stinger various times. But the stranger moved about underneath like it was dance. He kept a firm grip on Lukas's arm, making sure he stayed out of the way.

Suddenly, "Keep your friend back," the brunette practically threw Lukas out from underneath the belly of the beast. He stumbled crashing into Petra just as she entered the clearing, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"Lukas! What is - What the holy heck?"Petra gaped at the massive beast.

Lukas yanked her up, "Spider."

"I know it's a spider but why the hell is it so big?!"

"I don't know it-"

The spider screeched, once more gaining their attention. The creature had spotted the strangers cloak, tucked into the trees. It leapt, flying across the clearing and bit down onto the man.

"No!" Lukas cried, running to help.

He slid to a stop however as the spider pulled away from the smashed trees, cloak in its jaws. There was no person attached.

He's gone? Lukas thought.

The spider turned around, unable to spit out the cape, the cloth stuck between its mandibles. It looked this way and that, aware that it didn't catch it's prey but unable to locate him. It spotted Lukas, and lowered itself to the ground, not wanting him to run under the belly. The spider slowly crept forward, careful in it's advance.

"Lukas..." Petra said slowly.

Lukas backed away, "Petra, ru-"

"Hyaahh!"

Leaping down from the rock face above, the stranger flew down, diamond blade glinting against the white fog. He landed on the spider, locking his legs around the beast's head. The spider roared and went into a frenzy; slamming into trees, rocks, anything to get the human off its back. But the man held on with relative ease, he raised his sword high, and then slammed it all the way down into the spider's skull. The creature froze, and then stumbled to the ground twitching. The male jumping off gracefully before it hit the dirt.

He calmly put his sword away, ignoring Lukas's and Petra's wide eyed stares. He dusted off his hands, "Well that was fun." he patted the corpse, "Serves you right big guy."

"What- how did-" Lukas started.

Paying Lukas no mind, the man turned away and reached into the mouth of the dead behemoth, and unhooked his cloak, "Hmmm," he frowned at the tears, "Gonna have to fix that."

"How did you-"

He moved around the spider, making his way to a wrapped up corpse of something unknown. He stuck his arm in, making a face as he pulled out a destroyed fishing pole, "That was my best one!"

"Are you even listening?!" Lukas frowned.

"Hmm?" He looked over surprised, "Oh you're still here? Weird, people usually run by this point."

"You saved my life. Besides you could have needed help."

"You're welcome, but I can handle myself."

Lukas walked forwards, "How did you even manage to trick it like that? I didn't even see-"

"It's not hard. Just be faster than the spider." the other explained, "Now for the real question. What are two kids like you doing here? You should know better." He had a stern expression on his face, like a father lecturing his youth. Lukas found himself to be rather uncomfortable by it.

"Well, we um," Lukas looked nervously at Petra.

"We were following the river," Petra said.

"Take the path next time," the man replied, "It comes out there other side. No need to walk into the biggest spider's nest this side of Mt. Incendia."

"We didn't know-" Lukas explained.

"How could you not? Are you not from around here?"

"No," Petra replied slowly.

"Then where?"

"Oh, there other side of the mountain range" Petra said even slower.

The stranger raised an eyebrow, suspicious, "Everyone knows this place is a deathtrap-"

"We lost our friend in the river," Lukas blurted. "He's hurt, and we couldn't find him and -"

"Wait hold up. What?"

"He's poisoned he could be dying! He fell in the rapids up river."

The stranger paused, processing this new information, "Why didn't you say so?"

"You didn't give us the chance," Petra snapped.

He crossed his arms, "Well in that case, your friend is probably up in the watering hole."

"But he could be stuck here-"

"He won't be," the male cut in, "The rapids temporarily break off from the bulk of the river, they cut through a cave system. No way your friend could have missed that, those currents could push a golem if they wanted. He'll definitely wash up in the watering hole. I'll show you where it's at-"

"Hold up!" Petra held up her hands, "Look, I know you saved Lukas here. But we don't even know you!" Obviously Petra was pissed, considering the last stranger had given then lethal directions.

That didn't seem to bother the stranger, he briefly bowed, and "My name is Steve. There now we're acquainted. Now we need to hurry, the water hole is a hot spot for predators, don't want them to munch on your pal do we?"

Lukas crossed his arms, "Wait -"

"Hate to interrupt you kid, but we need to move now, before the big one shows up." Steve quickly put on his cloak.

"That wasn't the big one?!" Petra asked alarmed.

"Pfft," he rolled his eyes, "No, Mom's way bigger."

As if on cue the cave vibrated with an ear splitting roar.

Lukas quickly looked to Steve, "Lead the way."

Steve took the lead, jogging only slightly, like he knew already about Petra's limp, "I don't believe I caught your names?"

"You didn't give us a chance for that," Lukas replied. "But I'm Lukas, and this is Petra."

"You really like to ask a lot of questions don't you?" Petra asked

Steve laughed, a merry look in his eyes despite the hazardous situation, "What can I say, I was born full of wonder."

Then he led them ahead, into the white fog, and into unknown.

Next time on Minecraft Story Mode Immortal's Child:

Chapter 8:

"We're from the other side of the mountains," Petra said.

" Interesting. What brings you over here?" Steve finished his work and leaned back on his heels.

"Um," Petra hesitated.

"Adventure," Lukas cut in, his excuse was better than what Petra was thinking, "To explore the unknown."

Steve let out a soft smile, "I guess I can't blame you there."