pray for me yall i gotta survive 2 flights today
LPK9: she's a competent woman!
Lenticel: HA. That's what I get for posting two fics with similar casts at the same time. I also keep accidentally writing "Alexis" instead of "Alex" for this one.
Herobrine knelt down in the sand, ignoring the way it sucked at his boots as he scrutinized the trail of footprints with Alex beside him. Several feet away, Evangeline perched on a small bit of stone that poked out of the sand, thoroughly uncomfortable with the sensation of trying to stand in it.
"I can't tell what made these tracks," Herobrine finally said as he straightened up. "They don't seem to have been made by boots or hooves. I can only imagine that it must have been one of Sirben's skeletons."
"As I suspected," Evangeline muttered, tucking her bare arms to her chest and suppressing a shudder. Beyond the chill of the valley, the thought of those beasts being nearby set her on edge like little else.
It had taken the trio about two hours to reach the tracks that Evangeline had spotted from the air, a trek that was entirely uneventful. Evangeline had noticed as soon as they entered the valley, however, that both of her companions were far more sure-footed in the sand than she was. Which, considering their lives, made sense.
"It isn't clear how long ago it passed through here," Herobrine stated, adjusting his stance and dusting off his hands. "The soulsand holds its shape for a long time. We should follow it." Evangeline sighed quietly, but stepped off of the small platform, trailing behind them as he and Alex began to walk.
Evangeline had been a soldier for nearly her entire life, which meant she was accustomed to all manner of terrain. She had fought through deserts, snowy tundra, and swamps, but none of those could compare to the sensation of walking through soulsand.
She could swear that the sand had a mind of its own, gripping at her feet with icy fingers and trying to drag her down below with each step. Though she kept her eyes on Herobrine, her attention was focused fully on staying upright, moving her feet with quick, jerky motions to keep from getting stuck.
Despite her best efforts, however, one of her feet sank just a bit lower than the other and she stumbled, crashing down onto her hands and knees in the sand.
"Ugh-" She immediately tried to push off, get herself back to her feet, but the soulsand had already claimed her hands as greedily as it had her boots. She flapped her wings, a small spike of panic going through her when she wasn't able to break free of the frigid hold.
"Hold on." And then a pair of strong hands were hauling her upright, setting her back on her feet.
Evangeline's wings flared as she caught her balance, shooting Herobrine a grateful look as she did so. "Sorry," she apologized, looking ahead to where Alex had stopped to wait for them. I'm really not used to this terrain."
"It does take some getting used to," Herobrine told her. "Hold onto my arm." Evangeline nodded, and she didn't miss the way Alex looked at them as she took his arm and they started to walk again.
They continued on for a couple of hours in this manner, Herobrine steadying her whenever the sand threatened to pull her down again. Evangeline studied his feet as he walked, his broad, confident steps a sharp contrast to her own flighty ones. After they had traveled some miles she had begun to get the hang of it, but she didn't let go of Herobrine's arm. Just in case.
Eventually, the tracks led them out of the valley, and their company stopped as the trail disappeared between the stalks of crimson mushrooms.
"Of course they would be in there," Alex grumbled as they came to a stop. "What now?"
"I can still see the trail," Herobrine said. "But we'll have to be considerably more careful. The potential for an ambush will be much greater within the forest." Evangeline nodded readily. She was just happy to get out of the valley.
The three of them remained quiet as they picked their way through the woods, following Herobrine as he led them after their quarry. Evangeline could see some of the trail he was following - trampled mushrooms, disturbed nylium, and places where the plant life had begun to wither away. In other places she was completely lost, trusting Herobrine to guide them further into the forest.
Eventually, though, even Herobrine was forced to a halt. "I can't see anything further," he said, a note of frustration in his voice. "Perhaps those things can fly after all."
"I'll look around again?" Evangeline suggested. Herobrine frowned, but didn't argue.
"Let's find a clearing," he said instead. "So that it will be easier for you to find us again."
"Alright."
They eventually came upon a small hill with an especially tall mushroom growing at the top, which they decided to use as a landmark when Evangeline returned. Promising to be back within the hour, Evangeline made her way halfway down the hill, then took off.
Meryl knelt down on the nylium, frowning at the intended hoof-prints in the layer of cyan fungus.
"This seems to be where we were split up," she stated. She heard a grunt from behind her and immediately swiveled in alarm, only to find Tekno standing there with a wide grin on his face. "Really?"
"Sorry." He didn't look sorry. "Anyway, I think you're right," he went on. "There's the mushroom that Alex pointed out, see?" He pointed to one of the towering mushrooms. "Now we just need to figure out where they went from here."
The two of them had made their way from the castle to the warped forest in just a few hours, the trek that had taken them several days to travel on foot becoming a fraction of the length thanks to Meryl's wings. Unfortunately, the location offered them little in the way of clues - especially since several days had passed since the attack that had separated them.
"Well, they teleported," Meryl said slowly, turning in a circle to try and get her bearings. "I believe they were over here…" She pointed, then paused, glancing at Tekno again. "Which way did we come from?" In response, Tekno grabbed at a compass that hung from his knapsack, and balanced it in his hand until the needle stabilized.
"That way."
Compasses, Meryl had recently learned, did not ordinarily function in the Nether, due to the prevalence of natural magnets buried deep beneath the netherrack and lava lakes. This one, however, was enchanted, bound by magic to a monolith within the queen's castle. This ensured that they would not become lost themselves. When asked why they had not brought one along in the first place, the queen had sheepishly explained that with two guides she hadn't thought it was necessary.
"Right." Meryl reoriented herself to confirm their positioning. "We flew away- straight that way." She pointed forwards, recognizing the outcropping in the distance above the trees where they had met with Zenith and the queen. "And, considering that we did not come across them, it seems likely that they would have gone backwards," she pointed to her right. "Away from the danger."
"Worth a shot." Tekno tucked the compass away again. "Ladies first." He gestured to the woods, and Meryl nodded, stepping back into the undergrowth.
Evangeline wobbled slightly in the air as she hit an updraft, flapping lazily to regain her balance as she soared over the crimson forest. It hadn't been long since she left Alex and Herobrine on the hill, but she was already several miles away. She planned to go back and forth over the forest until her hour was up, cover as much ground as was possible within the time she had.
While her gold-rimmed eyes skimmed attentively over the forest below, her mind wandered to other matters. What they did when they found Sirben would depend on his forces and fortifications, but she couldn't help but turn potential plans over and over in her head regardless. They were so close.
She wondered where the queen was at this moment. Where Meryl was. Were they together? Perhaps they had gotten back to the capital already… or perhaps they were deep in the Nether, hopelessly lost. If they were, how on earth would they ever be found?
If they had come across a piglin settlement, like the one that Evangeline and her companions had, it seemed likely that they would be directed towards home. The thought gave her comfort, even though Herobrine had told her that not every tribe was allied with the greater government. In the meantime, between Meryl, Zenith, and Tekno, Evangeline was reasonably confident that they would be safe.
Something caught her eye, and she paused, wheeling around for a closer look.
Something dark laid in the center of a small clearing, and on her second pass she was able to identify it as a sword. That wasn't normal. After a moment's deliberation, she dropped into a spiral and landed lightly beside it.
The sword was no piglin weapon, that much was clear. It was large and a deep gray, almost the color of the basalt pillars that grew in clusters around the Nether. It… rather resembled the swords that those skeletons had been carrying.
Evangeline crouched down beside it, reaching out to grip the handle, only to jerk her hand back in shock at how cold it was. Compared to the heat of the Nether, the sword's hilt felt like touching ice. Definitely unnatural. Straightening up, she dusted her hand off on her trouser leg, looking up as she prepared to take off again.
Her only warning was a small crack from the forest around her before a rope flew over her head and yanked tight.
Evangeline gasped, staggering as the rope pinned her arms and wings close to her body. She jerked viciously against its hold, but another rope came from behind, then a third, and she was forced to stumble to her knees before she had even caught a glimpse of her assailants.
A round of raucous laughter sounded from the trees as she gritted her teeth, craning her neck in search of the attackers. A company of piglins began to emerge, drawing up the slack on their lines as they did so, and Evangeline shouted,
"Release me at once! I am here under the orders of-" only to cut herself off when she saw the crest on their dark clothing. The same as the one on the skeleton's banner.
"Under whose orders?" The voice coming from before her made her bristle, and she scowled as she turned to see Sirben saunter out of the trees. "We meet again, miss Morningstar."
"Sirben." She muttered. "Come to take another shot at turning me into one of your puppets?"
"Oh, no. Not yet, anyway." He leaned down to look her in the eye, a sly smile playing at his lips. "I have other plans for you first." Evangeline glowered at him, her heart racing in her ears. Herobrine and Alex would notice soon enough when she did not return- would they be able to find her?
"Ah, and you won't be needing this anymore." Sirben plucked her sword from its sheath, tossing it carelessly about ten feet away. Evangeline's gaze followed it, then flicked back to him in confusion before understanding dawned on her face. He wanted Herobrine to follow.
"On your feet, now." Sirben took a step back, but Evangeline didn't move until two of the piglins came close to haul her upright. "We've got a bit of a walk ahead of us."