A/N: Ok guys, I'm back with another chapter! Again sorry for the long delay. I have no excuse except for me to say I either didn't have time to write or when I did no inspiration came to me. I think right now I'll just be updating whenever I can. I will try my best, but anyway. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
'~ CHAPTER 16 ~'
~~~North Side~~~
Darx's POV
I sprinted as fast as I could back to the north building, keeping my mind on what I had just recently saw: Deadlox. I couldn't believe it! There was now no doubt that it was him. Not that I had any in the beginning but whatever!
"Oh thank Notch, Ronan," I breathed out walking the rest of the way, "I got some big news." I say, barely scratching the surface of what I was about to tell him.
"Huh, to hear that coming out of your mouth must be something," I hear him mutter to himself but decided against questioning him about it, "So, what is it, Darx?"
"While I was doing…some things out in the marketplace, I had spotted Deadlox there with another Minecraftian. I'm just assuming he is like you and me."
"Well, did you approach him?" Ronan questions…oh for Notch's sake!
"No, I didn't," I blankly respond, "You really expected me to approach him?"
"Yeah, then why would I have asked?" Ronan shoots back, scoffing at the end. I guess Ronan got the point once he saw me rolling my eyes and continued talking, "So, you mentioned him and another Minecraftian…can you give me some description?"
"Well, for one thing, his clothing looked nothing like I have seen around here. Maybe a few times, but very uncommon," I start, as we unconsciously start walking back into the marketplace, "He had a long crimson red cape that stopped above his ankles with a soft purple creeper face in the front. He had light brunette hair and hazel eyes, leaning more towards the green side though."
"Hmm, I remember Annabel telling me about someone sort of meeting that description," Ronan thoughtfully says, taking his budder-outlined diamond shield and flicking off some dirt that had manage to stick since his last journey out. And they all sure won't forget that journey so soon, "But he certainly isn't someone I have met before. Do you think he's still at the marketplace?"
"With any luck he will be."
~~~East Side~~~
Twister's POV
"Twist…Twister…hello?" a vague voice sound through my ears, as I struggled to tune it out.
"Hope, if this is about your jeans that I borrowed last week, I don't have it anymore," I mumble just noticing afterwards that it was a male voice calling me.
"I'm not Hope," he softly chuckles, shaking me by the shoulder a few more times with a spaced-out timing, "I need to know where you keep your iron ingots; oh, and your string."
"The Nether…?" I mumble again finally rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes, "Oh Notch!"
"Shh! You don't want to wake the others," he hisses at me, as I let go of the breath I didn't even know I was holding.
"Sky," I sigh with the rest of the air I had left from the surprise, "…why do you need iron ingots and string?"
"Because I want to prepare everything before we go," Sky casually yet quietly responds, "Plus, I wanted to surprise all of you, but I guess you can't keep anything from everyone."
"That's…very nice of you, Sky," I softly smile, getting out of my warm bed, "I'll help you." Sky's smile widened, as he opened the room door for me and closed it, traveling down the stairs right after, "We actually keep our ingots and all other miscellaneous but needed items in here." I say, opening a door that stood under the stair case. We then took another set of stairs down into the dark room, which was soon brightened by window, as I pushed the curtains out of the way, "Here you go."
"Thanks, Twister," Sky genuinely smiles, accepting the ingots and string in front of him, "I was just going to craft some iron swords and bows for each of us; I already mined some flint and steel and bought some feathers earlier and made twenty arrows each."
"O-kay," I laugh in a decent volume, "Sky, I don't think we'll need that many weapons. A sword for each of us should be sufficient."
"If you say so…" Sky shrugs putting back before heading to the crafting table, which was conveniently placed next to the storage area, "But I will still make a bow for myself just in case. I am uh…pretty good with a bow." Sky proudly says, getting a good grip on the newly made bow and aiming at a target that was hung up on the wall for practice. Usually it was occupied by Aver, since he was and still is pro at handling a bow. Sky fires but misses, causing his face to flush red in embarrassment, as the arrow stuck to the floor in a downward angle.
"You'll get better at it, Sky," I shake my head but giggle at his attempt.
"My aiming or my flirting skills?" Sky jokingly asks back, as he tries his best not to crack a smile. I just keep making my way back upstairs while smiling to myself, "I'm kidding!" he yells from the basement once I had reached the kitchen area. I let out a breathless laugh, taking out some raw chicken and some coal and setting everything in its proper place.
"My Notch, Sky."
~~~Back in the Overworld…~~~
Third Person's POV
"So what?" Seto quietly yet carelessly asks Skar, "What would you need my potions for?"
"Why don't you take a guess?" Skar challenges, leaning back on the oak tree behind him.
"Why the Nether would I ask you then?" Seto smirks back at Skar. He was really trekking on dangerous grounds now, "Whatever you and your posse are planning will never come through." Skar just merely chuckled, as a smile tinted on his lips.
"Sounds a bit cliché doesn't it?" Skar says, looking down at his right hands, turning it every few seconds, "Herobrine has mentioned the history of our dimension to me many times on various occasions. And I get what he means…when he says that we will win this war this time. And you happen to be my key to that victory…"
Seto's breathing hitched for a moment hearing those words, but soon got out of the shock. Was it really his friendship with Husky, SSundee, Ryan, and Sparklez that dragged them into this mess? Seto had promised himself to not tie friendship bonds with anyone when he first moved into this part of the Overworld. But of course, with other people having that open friendly countenance, one couldn't help but approach the isolated Minecraftian, and Seto couldn't decline that. And because he couldn't…now Ryan and the others have to go through this unnecessary drama, ones they could have avoided had Seto changed his mind.
"Ryan," Seto softly gasped, seeing his acquaintance stirring in his sleep, "Wake up, Ryan." Ryan's eyes open right, as Seto's hand rested on his shoulder, and his body tensed for a second. Seto couldn't help but feel sorry for xRpMx13 for not only his injury but concerning his circumstances too.
"S-Seto? What happened?" Ryan groans, Seto quieting shortly after the sound escapes Ryan's lips.
"You're…fine, Ryan," Seto carefully chose his words…maybe he should have changed them, "Are you feeling any pain?"
"No, why?" Ryan whispers to Seto, worry filling his eyes…and he looked down.
"Here," Skar heavily breathes out, tossing a healing potion at the two. It was truly a surprise that no one had awakened upon hearing Skar's dramatic sigh. Spotting where the potion had stopped bouncing, Seto's eyes widened a bit. His light brown ones never left Skar, as he got up and stretched over to the potion bottle.
"Something wrong, Seto?" Skar innocently asks in somewhat of a sing-song voice, "Is there something else you need?"
"No…" Seto carefully responds, as curiosity begins to fill the sorcerer. Why was Skar suddenly acting more…hospitable? "Why would you care?" Seto's words slip his mouth. Skar didn't verbally reply but gave a look instead. Seto sighs in pleasure, thankful for the response he got. It was certainly way better than Skar snapping at him, even more so threatening him.
"Skar," BONJerome's wavered voice says, gaining the leader's attention, "when are we heading back to the Nether?" The army leader raises both of his eye brows at the random question. He hasn't thought about that since they bumped onto Seto and the group.
"I don't know, Jerome," Skar softly responds to him, "Maybe we should go today." Skar thoughtfully finishes, noticing that the other three assistants were waking up.
Seto places a questionable look on his face only hearing the word 'today', as he helps Ryan get in a more comfortable position after giving him the healing potion. He cursed mentally, wishing he had paid attention to them as he was a few moments earlier. Even though Seto heard only a few words here and there, he had an uneasy feeling of whatever they were going to do next.
~~~Town (center)~~~
Darx's POV
Ronan and I had just reached the marketplace, finding it to be a bit busier than usual.
"Great," I mutter, as Ronan and I excuse our way into the store that I saw Deadlox walk into with the other mystery Minecraftian.
"Strange…the marketplace isn't this busy this time of day," Ronan speaks my thoughts word for word. Even though I'm not the one to get the north side's supplies, I am still aware of the surroundings. The reason I'd go hunting is for the gold nuggets and other various ingots I get in return for bringing in the ink sacs, raw beef and chicken, and on occasion raw fish. It was so hard to catch those damn things it hads made me rage a few times.
"How my I help you?" a villager asks once we approach the set-off hut in the bottom left corner of the store.
"Um, my friend and I were wondering if you saw two Minecraftians today, one with dark brown...emo hair and another one with a red cape with him?" Ronan asks stuttering a bit.
"Yes, they were here a few minutes ago," the villager nods, smiling...as usual. It's kind of creepy when you think about it.
"Well, did they mention anything about where they were going or..."
"No, they didn't," the villager replies in the same cheery tone, "But they did buy three healing potions, three splash potions of poison, two iron chest plates, two pairs of iron boots, a sixty-four stack of torches and steaks." 'Damn, how do these things have that good of a memory with their IQ?'
"Ok, thanks for the help," I give the villager a small smile and nod, as it does the same.
"We may not be in a dead end yet..." Ronan's muttered statement catches my attention, "Do you remember which way Deadlox took or did you not stay long enough to see?"
"Well...he actually went down towards the South side," I casually say, then it hit me. 'They went towards the South side?!'
"Uh, did you just realize that?" Ronan half chuckles at me.
"Come on, Ronan," I huff, walking briskly in that direction, "They couldn't have gone too far."
~~~Southern Territory~~~
ServileSorcerer's POV
"Should we take half of the stack or all of it?" Deadlox asks, holding the stack of steak in his hands half in each hand.
"Just half," I shrug, turning back to my half of the items, "But we should definitely bring all of the torches. I have made enough mistakes to know that every time I go out I need them no matter how much doubt I have." Deadlox nodded inresponse, putting the half stack in the portable chest that we'll be bringing.
This scenario is very interesting to me for some reason. I am preparing to go on a journey or trip with someone I had saved almost two days ago. Was I really easily going to trust this guy? What if it was really Lavalox disguised as this new Deadlox person this whole time? Then again Lavalox knows how to handle nighttime mobs, Deadlox doesn't. And Lavalox's tactics would usually involve him leaving a literal impression wherever he fights.
"Ok, the chest is packed and ready," Deadlox grunts, getting up from his kneeling position, "I got the food, the extra swords, the torches, and the potions set inside."
"Perfect," I sigh, putting on my iron boots before dropping myself onto my bed in an upright position.
"You ok, Servile?" Deadlox's concerned voice asks me, as he walks over and sits to my left side.
"Yeah, guess I am just still afraid of running into Skar and the others again. If I do they'll kill me for sure."
"But this time, if we do run into them, you won't be alone," Deadlox tells me in an assuring tone. Also compared to Lavalox...their personalities are a whole lot different. Could this Deadlox Minecraftian really be that trust-worthy friend I've been looking for?
A/N: Oh! Thought I should add in. While waiting to get these chapters up, I figured I might upload a one-shot or two between these. I was just filled with multiple emotions re-reading "Off-tracks" many times on the couple minute breaks I get and I couldn't help but think of doing another horror one-shot...even though Halloween has passed. So be on the look-out for someting as equally or possibly more dEvIoUs than "Off-tracks" this time starring Jason (TrueMU), Ty (Deadlox), and...Adam (SkyDoesMC). SO HAVE A GOOD NIGHT'S REST or...I wish you good luck in school!