Nether Worry

Part 6

Pairing: Agent Washington/Tucker, Caboose/Church, Grif/Simmons

Description: In which the Reds and Blues come across a lonely Creative Mode dweller, Sarge makes about ten times more Iron Golems than are strictly necessary, and where Tucker learns that Wash is indeed not a replacement for Church and that may or may not be a bad thing after all.

A/N: I ACTUALLY DID ON TIME FOR ONCE!

"Whelp, we're lost as fuck." York stated matter-of-factly, looking around the large and expansive forest carefully. "I can't find him anywhere."

"That 'cus he wouldn't be sleeping right in the open, fucknut." South explained, squinting into the brush with distaste. "I'm gonna kill the fucker who gave Wash the bright idea to turn his Creative off."

"Yeah… what a wanker…" Wyoming muttered, sweating nervously from the back of the group. "Can't think of who would do such a thing…"

"Alright guys, huddle up!" Carolina yelled from the top of a dirt tower she had made. "I got an important announcement to make."

"Did you find Wash, are we gonna beat the shit outta him with Wooden Swords?" Connie asked, looking eager to find her comrade. "I'm gonna kill that fucker whenever I find him…"

"Calm down there, champ," North instructed, rubbing Connie's back in soothing circles. "We're all upset with him, but we don't need to kill him."

Connie, along with everyone else, didn't seem to agree. "Alright, so I think I know where Wash might actually be." Carolina explained, yanking out her map, ignoring the unconvinced looks. "I got word from a villager that they know of a village way down south called Clayville," She tucked the map away, looking hopeful. "If we're lucky, he'll be there, if we're not… we'll just have to keep looking."

Maine growled something intangible to most, but Carolina was capable of getting the gist of it. "Hey, I get it, things are kinda sucky since we left Creative to find him-"

"-I died because North was being a donkey ass!" South interrupted.

"Yes, we know, South." Carolina said, shaking her head as she rubbed at her temple, internally counting to ten.

"We also know you didn't set your map coordinates." North added, earning a hard slap to the forehead via South, and a chuckle via York.

"Everybody, shut the fuck up!" Carolina ordered, growling as Maine seemed to grumble out a tiny chuckle-like reaction to her outburst. "Look, we got a lead, it's better than nothing, right?"

Connie nodded, smiling up at Carolina as she tossed one of her knives offhandedly to herself. "Right. And if we stay together, and work as a team, we'll find Wash in no time."

York grinned, nodding his own agreement. "Then we'll go home, turn back on our Creative, and pretend none of this shit ever happened."

"But… we'll get that Pigs Fly achievement first…" Carolina stated, staring at the ground, refusing eye-contact.

"Why the shit would we do that!? I'm pretty sure Wash's crappy reenactment of Dumbo taught us it was a shit idea." South explained, earning a few 'yeps' and nods as a result.

"Look, I'm not about to be outdone by Wash." Carolina explained, sighing as she walked towards where the villager had pointed earlier. "Come on, let's just go find that little dumbass before he gets himself killed off."

"Is this supposed to be a High Hills biome or whatever?"

"Yeah, Carolina. Pretty sure the giant fuck-off hills explain that."

"Shut up, South."

The Freelancers all walked through the hills biome carefully as night loomed awake, it's starry night rising at an explicable rate. All of them were worn out, even Carolina, who was barely keeping awake as it was. Maine was carrying a resting Connie on his back, York was being more or less dragged by the Dakota Twins, and Wyoming was trudging in the back by his lonesome. Seeing Wyoming acting so distant reminded Carolina loosely of when Florida was around, back when none of them had even heard of Survival Mode and had lived pretty decent lives, working with a man named The Director who had them play fun games he called 'Let's Plays'. They were all in good fun, but lately… Carolina would rather not think about it.

They had, however, all left without much warning after Washington got hurt, leaving a sign that simply read 'Be back soon, gotta regroup'. Carolina had hoped that the Director would think they were going after Florida, which was acceptable, after all, everyone was wondering where the old coot had hobbled off to, whether it be somewhere far away into the lands of Creative, into the darkened Nether, or even past the mountains to Survival. As Carolina finally led them over a second hill, a loud howl broke through the air, reminding the aqua armored leader that night was upon them and shelter was now more necessary than ever. She stopped, signaling for the rest of her team to follow her lead.

"We'll rest here tonight." Carolina announced, yawning as she plopped down on the ground, scrubbing the sweat off her forehead. "We'll keep it up in the morning…"

Everyone groaned both in relief at the rest stop and in agony at the thought of more traveling, but they knew it was necessary. "Got it, boss." Connie mumbled, waking up as Maine sat down, scooting away to stand up and stretch. "I'll get some food for us before Maine tries to eat anybody."

York gave Connie a worried look. "You sure, man?" He asked, silently wishing they'd brought their AI pets along. "It's the dead of night, and I'm not sure it's a good idea to split off."

Connie chuckled, patting York on the head as she walked off. "Don't worry, York. I can take plenty care of myself. I'm a big girl." As if to prove her point, she slashed one of the biome's rare oak trees in half with her axe, whistling as she disappeared into the night.

South whistled loudly. "Hot damn." She whispered, smirking at Connie's disappearing person.

"Keep it in your pants." North ordered, in a way only he as her brother could possibly get away with.

"Don't tell me what to do." South grumbled, punching North in the arm, earning a mild swat to the head via North.

"Play nice, children." Wyoming ordered, before things could get ugly and turn into a full on sibling fight; Notch only knew how badly that would end for them. "Just go on off to bed."

South rolled her eyes, but nonetheless laid down on the cool grassy ground, slashing any weeds nearby that dared to try and spread pollen or grass blades into her eyes. "Whatever, dad."

"Don't call me that. I'm not your pop." Wyoming muttered, but kept to himself, pulling out his bow, re-fastening the draw string over and over in a monotonous motion used to pass the time.

"Can you all hush while I try to actually start a damn fire?" Carolina asked, working with Maine to try and start the flame, improvising flint by slashing two swords against each other in quick, rushed motions. "This is hard enough as it is."

York chuckled, earning a mild glare from Carolina, to which he winked back at her. "Anything you need me to do, 'Lina?"

"Why don't you jump off a bridge and shut the fuck up?" South suggested, having secretly yet gently stolen a teddy bear from Wyoming's sleeping form, cuddling the teddy against her chest. "It would do us all some good."

Maine growled something at South, thankfully, though, it was lost to her ears, seeing as at that moment she'd passed out. "Ignore her, she's just tired." Carolina reminded him. "Just focus, we need fire or we're dead meat out here."

The two were both, in their own ways, elegant in the way they fought, though the hits were never meant for a target other than the other miner's sword. Where Maine was all brute force, sword swinging to do nothing more than damage and destroy, Carolina was more planned in her movements, all quick, sharp, and meant to effect the other. Sparks came quickly thanks to this, but, unfortunately, it was made clear that swords would not get the job done. With defeated sighs, Carolina put away her sword, along with Maine, both taking seats opposite each other around the failed campfire. Seeing his chance, York squeezed in beside Carolina, wrapping an arm around her.

"I think it was an awesome idea, 'Lina!" York assured her, rubbing the woman's back in a soothing motion. "Don't you worry, we'll get a fire started sooner or later."

"Monsters have spawned by now, York." Carolina reminded him, looking angry once more, mild fury apparent in her emerald eyes. "If we don't get a fire started soon, we'll have Creepers and Skeletons galore on our asses."

"Um… why isn't Connie back yet?" North finally asked after a few minutes, looking around with worry filled eyes. "Shouldn't she've come back by now?"

As if on cue, a loud screech broke through the air. "Connie!" South screamed, standing at the ready, sword drawn, awake without question. "I'm coming!"

The twin took off into the darkness, disappearing from sight. "South, stop!" North shouted, ready to go after his twin sister, but stopped, looking around desperately. "South?"

Said twin returned exactly three seconds later, Connie over one shoulder, a knocked out unidentified miner over the other. She gave them a wide eyed look, zooming right by them, yelling something intangible other than the phrase 'fuck' being used several times in her scrambled warning. The Freelancers froze, looking warily at each other as they attempted to deduce what exactly was going on. South was not one to run from a fight, they reasoned. So why would South of all people run from something that could possibly have injured Connie and some stranger?

They didn't have long to wonder.

"Shit!" York screamed, running like all Hell was loose away from the rampaging Spiders, boots clamping against the muddy, uneven earth.

North, unsurprisingly, was far faster than York, charging away from the twenty something Spiders. "Holy crap, run!" He advised, shooting arrows at any Spiders who got too close for comfort.

"Everyone, keep calm and try to outrun them! Try to make it to the next town!" Carolina ordered professionally, but even the others could see how scared she was. "Try to split up; they can't catch us all! Wyoming and York, you get climbing on those hills east of here. North, you catch up with South and Connie and try to make it to the next village. Maine, you're with me; we'll try to swim our way to an island west of here. We'll all meet up in the desert at daybreak. Go!"

"Aw, bullocks." Wyoming muttered, sadly following York as the brunette took off for the hills not too far off, barely keeping up with the younger man.

Maine grunted something before running towards Carolina, following her to a river nearby. As they hopped in, a few Spiders followed, just as a few had followed York and Wyoming, and tried to swim after them. Now, not many people knew this, but Carolina was, and still is, a pretty pathetic swimmer (Her mom is too though). The red head tried to keep up, really, she did, but she was rather short, and the moon being up made the tide that much worse. Without a word, Maine scooped Carolina clean out of the water, plopping her onto his back to shoot arrows at the incoming Spiders while he focused on swimming to the island. One after the other, Spiders died, but that in no way stopped Maine from continuing for the far off shoreline.

North, with a deep breath, started after South, his lungs burning like Hell fire as he followed. If there was one thing other than quick wittiness that South outdid North in, it was speed. She'd always been faster, not above leaving North in the dust, but this time, North felt no need to blame her. In this world, it's every man for himself, it was actually only recently that miners had begun sticking together, forming villages and groups to stray away from danger. Rumor had it that the death rates had dropped dramatically, whether from less children being unsupervised and wandering off to get eaten, or less miners getting ripped apart by monsters. No one knew which was more successful.

As the night grew longer, the Spiders disappeared, but the miners stayed put until daybreak.

"Maine, wake up."

The behemoth of a miner awoke with a muted growl, rolling over in an attempt to ignore Carolina and, for the millionth time, remind her he was not interested whatsoever in her morning training sessions. However, Carolina was persistent, and like she'd seen Connie do several times, she climbed on top of Maine, and with a deep breath, jumped as hard as she could on his stomach. The miner acted before he replied. Maine grabbed Carolina with an amount of skill that reminded Carolina that Maine had, according to Wash's explanation, grown up mostly on his own and was used to attacking before letting himself wake up. The red head was held roughly upside-down, the hold on her thin ankle hurting and aching as Maine glared at her, a loose grumble leaving his throat.

"I hope that's your stomach, buddy." Carolina replied, a loose smile on her charming face, pretending her life hadn't just flashed before her eyes when Maine had grabbed her. "How 'bout putting me down now, huh?"

Maine, with just a hint of remaining anger and adrenaline, set his leader down gently, ruffling her fiery hair with a soft huff. "Yeah, got it, I'll try to not do it again, bud. But hey, we really need to get going."

Maine, blinking, looked around the crudely made campsite with wide eyes, before he nodded, remembering the adventure more clearly now that he was more awake. "See? We gotta go before the guys start worrying themselves sick." Carolina explained further.

With a nod, Maine and Carolina started walking to the shore of the tiny island they had taken shelter on, looking over towards where the opposite continent lied. Not saying a thing, Maine hoisted Carolina onto his back, hopping into the water. The giant swam like an incoming shark, slick and skilled in it's practiced and majestic art. The red head on said giant's back huffed to herself before deciding Maine had done enough protecting of her person for one night, and hopped into the water herself, daring to swim to shore without Maine's aid. She could swim, not very well, but she was no damsel in distress, and she was determined to prove that to Maine. Maine rolled his sharp grey eyes, restraining the need to hoist Carolina right back onto his back, knowing full well how she'd just jump right back into the salty blue of the ocean.

"I'm fine, Maine. Stop giving me that look." Carolina ordered, more or less dog-paddling her through, dragging a tad behind her friend, but still staying above water, if only barely. "I said stop it."

"Hm." Maine managed to sound out, despite the damage on his vocal-cords, purposefully hanging back in-case Carolina might need his help.

"You're such a dad." Carolina muttered, a hard scowl on her face when Maine held out his arm to her, just as they reached shallower water. "I like the water, Maine. It's helping me wake up more, and I don't need any help."

Maine decided, in that moment, to quit trying to help the red head unless she desperately needed it. After all, she was an adult. She could take care of herself.

"Wake up."

"Mm."

"Wake up, York."

"Go away…"

"For the love of- wake up, you bloody wanker!"

York awoke with a loud yelp as Wyoming smacked his rear with an arrow, thankfully not the sharp flint tip, but only giving him a harsh smack to get him up and moving. Instead, the brunet twisted on the dirt ridden ground, briefly reacting on instinct and grabbing his sword, slashing outward. Wyoming dodged with a pristine expertise, sidestepping as York tucked into a roll, standing and swinging again, this time stronger and more planned. Wyoming, again, dodged, if only barely, drawing his bow and firing an arrow in front of York's feet. The lock-pick stopped dead in his tracks, breathing hard and fast as he blinked several times, regaining what was left of his fatigue and tossing it away, remembering where he was and why.

"Wyoming?" York asked, coughing as his throat burned with his body's revenge, punishing the man for his foolish reaction.

"The one and only, mate." Wyoming replied, a small smirk glued under his mustache. "That wake you up enough, or do I need to smack you again?"

York glared a bit at Wyoming, huffing as he turned away (Not completely, couldn't give the cracker another chance), putting his sword away and putting his blanket in his backpack. "Thanks alot, asshole. Ya know, most people just nudge somebody's shoulder to wake them up."

"I'm aware," Wyoming explained, rolling his dark eyes. "Not my fault you're such a deep sleeper, chap. Should get that checked out sooner or later."

"Shut up," York ordered, a bit of anger still remaining as a dull ache in his skull, either that or the wake up call had been more effecting than anyone would've liked. "Let's go, we need to meet up in that village before someone gets hurt."

Wyoming nodded in confirmation, throwing his satchel over his thin shoulder, taking a puff of his cigarette, tossing York's spare lighter at said brunet. "Come along then, while it's still daylight."

York took his lighter back with a very audible huff, making a very childish face at Wyoming once the Brit turned his back. When Wyoming swung around, a wide smirk on his face, York ceased his face-making. Instead, the brunet busted past Wyoming like a stray lightning bolt, blasting by and smacking the Brit upside the head, at the same time stealing the older man's cigarette, taking a deep puff of it and stomping it out before racing down the hill. With an almost primal growl, Wyoming was after York, black hair a bit of an unruly mess as he took off after the childish party animal. With that, the sun began to rise over the horizon, but it went unnoticed as a British man chased after what he considered to be an inappropriate American.

"You okay, Connie?"

The short woman yawned awake, blinking her eyes open at South curiously as the blonde stood tall over her, a rare and almost terrifying look of worry on her face, her brow creased with the emotion. Connie, on instinct, nodded at South, having registered the question after a few more seconds of being conscious. South sighed with relief, returning back to her cocky and sometimes inappropriate nature faster than a heartbeat to a newborn, smirking down at the girl. Looking around, Connie quickly realized she was in the middle of a desert, just as the sun was coming up. There were no monsters to be seen, only South, standing between Connie and a powerful, roaring fire.

The fire complimented South's nature like salt to water, the flame cursing and flaring like South's tongue on any day of the week, it's burning glow like South's strong and emotional personality, it's warmth hidden by it's dangerous licks, just like South's kindness, hidden behind walls and fortresses of anger and redemption. After a moment, Connie noticed another miner nearby, a young man without any armor whatsoever, and the memories rushed back like a wildfire, consuming and uncontrollable. Connie remembered meeting him, just a poor, failing village doctor named Frank, having been kicked out of his village for being such a terrible doctor, having lost seven of his nine patients after a wild horde of Zombie's had attacked the village.

He and Connie had crossed paths while Connie was out gathering food, and she had nearly killed the poor kid, but he had immediately fallen back to screeching whenever Connie had tried at stabbing him, thinking him to be a Zombie. After a somewhat awkward conversation, Connie had found out Frank's name, offering to take him back to her camp and help him out, but Spiders had attacked them out of nowhere, and she had been knocked out while trying to fight them back. After that, she had no clue what had happened, but she and Frank weren't dead, so she supposed that was a pretty good sign.

"What happened?" Connie figured she may as well ask South, after all, she looked to have been her savior.

"Long story short, a shitload of Spiders tried to more or less ram your rectum, so this nerd saved your sorry ass and dragged you both into a shitty tree. Would've died if I hadn't gone looking for ya, Connie." South explained loosely, waving Connie off whenever the brunet tried to thank her. "Don't worry 'bout it, kid. All in a day's work."

"Mm." Both South and Connie looked over, watching as Frank sat up, yawning loudly as he came to. At once, he froze, eyes wide as he stared at South. "Oh… oh no… w-who are y-you?" He begged, looking ready to scream.

Connie, thankfully, stepped in before South could quite possibly scare the poor medic with her rather blunt personality. People like South took getting used to after all. "This is South," She explained, smiling comfortingly at Frank. "She's a friend."

Frank looked thankful, taking deep breaths as he finally recovered, nodding with his eyes closed, trying to fully calm himself down. "Thank God… I thought we were goners for sure, after you got hurt. I'm not very strong, so, I tried to drag you into a tree… God, I'm so glad you're not dead. It seems like everyone I ever meet dies or runs away from me."

South stared at Connie, eyes wide, giving her an 'Explain this' look. "He's a doctor from an old village a few miles out from where I met him… well, used to be a doctor. He got kicked out."

"You suck that bad, Doc?" South asked, laughing a bit at Frank. "That's pretty fucking hard, man. You must've been the worst doctor ever."

"My name isn't Doc." Frank insisted, ignoring South's insult. It seemed to Connie like he was used to them by now. "It's Frank."

"Yeah, well, that name is for bitches and old dudes," South stated matter-of-factly, nodding at the man. "From this day onward, your name is Doc."

"Well…" Frank looked suspicious, but nonetheless, he didn't look willing to put up a fight about it. "Alright, but I don't think it'll stick."

[Frank "Doc" DuFresne - Not-Professional Medical Assistant]

"Oh, trust me, it'll stick." South promised, grinning like a bobcat before looking at Connie, that worry entering her electric eyes with a tiny spark, lasting long enough for a simple question. "You still doing okay, Connie?"

Connie nodded, allowing South to help her to her feet. "Alright, then," South muttered, complying with the look in Connie's own eyes to relax. "Come on, let's get outta here and find the gang."

Doc, for a moment, looked terrified out of his mind again. "Wait! Y-You're not just gonna leave me out here, are you!?" He asked, shaking as he held up his medical backpack. "I can perform medical procedures, and that's better than having nothing, right? Come on, please don't leave me out here alone!"

"Hm, I dunno…" South said, the smile on her face trying to tease, while on the inside Connie knew South was just dicking around. "Think we should keep him, Connie?"

"I'm not sure, South," Connie admitted, entering the game as well, her own teasing grin on her face. "Not sure how much he can really help us out…"

Doc, getting desperate, grabbed Connie by her shoulders, shaking her once. "You wouldn't leave me, right Connie? I mean, I think we bonded in those woods, and…" He suddenly looked way more confident, even smirking. "And you owe me! I saved your life, now you gotta return the favor!"

"I thought me saving your sorry ass was the favor," South said, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, if you want, I could always take you back…"

"Don't!" Doc begged, his confidence wilting away in mere minutes of forming. "I'll do anything, I swear! Um… I have a friend, a guy named Franklin- I know, similar name- but he lives in some canyon! He writes to me alot! Look, he's super nice! He'll help ya out, and you can just leave me with him!"

That seemed to interest Connie. "Really now?" A sudden thought entered the brunet's mind, and she paused, looking hopefully at Doc. "Hey… since this Franklin guy writes to you… has he told you about stuff he's seen? Like, any strange miners?"

Doc nodded, smiling as he seemed to have gotten South and Connie's protection. "Oh yeah," He exclaimed, waving his hand as he spoke, something both woman assumed he associated with his Franklin friend. "He talks all about the other guys he's with! There's Caboose, Tucker, Church, Sarge, Grif, Simmons, and Wash!"

South and Connie stopped, exchanging a look, which got Doc worried. "Wait! Did I offend you guys? I'm sorry, please don't- hey, where are we going?" Before he knew it, Doc was begging dragged towards an incoming group of Freelancers by Connie and South.

As the other Freelancers arrived, they all looked each other over, until all eyes landed on a disheveled North Dakota. The male of the twins was breathing hard, doubled over, hands pressed against his knees, having ran to catch up as soon as he'd seen everyone else coming on time. York and Wyoming still looked irritated at each other, but all seemed to be temporarily forgotten as York ran over to Carolina, hugging her close and kissing her temple, the two exchanging a few brief words before separating. Maine looked fine, his arms crossed as he gave Doc the stink eye, who gulped and hid behind Connie, making the giant chuckle lightly, amused by the newcomer's timidness.

"So, is everyone okay?" Carolina asked, and once everyone nodded, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Now th-"

"Carolina," It was South who spoke, voice hot like iron, just as strong to boot, her glare fixated on the red head with overwhelming intensity.

"What is it, South?" Carolina asked, noticing how excited Connie suddenly looked, her smile wide and apparent, bright like the morning sunshine over a salt ridden sea.

"We know where Wash is."

A/N: Alright alright alright! There we go, and I'll have the next chapter up next Friday, so look out! Please R&R, I'd super duper appreciate it!

~CabooseHeart.