The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 45

There were about forty southern soldiers with half of them pointing crossbows at the Miter Knights. They talked amongst themselves, barely glancing over at Marcus and Franz.

"Do you see anymore?"

"The north seems clear!"

"Keep checking the perimeter!"

"Don't let any of those knights out of your sight!"

Notch ran to Marcus and Franz after his kill and asked, "Are you okay."

"Yeah," Marcus coughed, "Just a bit banged up. Where the hell did they come from?"

"They arrived right after you were knocked into the water," Franz explained, "and then they shot the pigmen."

"Why are they pointing crossbows at us?" Marcus asked.

"I think we know why," Franz bluntly answered.

"Hey listen," Notch said while pulling his hoodie further down, "Don't tell them I'm Notch."

Marcus was astonished by the request, "What? Why?"

"I just…would rather they not know," Notch sheepishly answered.

"Wha…what kind of bullshit answer was that?" Marcus chastised, "We've been at war with these guys for years, they may just execute us on the spot. If we tell them you're here, we may have a better chance at warning them. Maybe they'll even let us help."

"Listen," Notch said firmly, "If we let news get out that I'm in or even near Redwater, Herobrine might hasten his attack. We may not even have until the end of the day to prepare. Just don't tell them, alright?"

Marcus understood the reasoning, but he still wasn't sure if it was the right move. Having Notch with us was our trump card. He thought. It was the only way we could get an audience with them without being killed on the spot. Would they ever believe us about Herobrine without him? Are they even aware of the pigmen's existence or was this their first encounter? Shit, what am I supposed to te-

"You there!" A voice yelled from the soldiers, "Put your hands up and walk over to us slowly!"

Marcus, Franz, and Notch all sheathed their swords and slowly walked towards the voice. The voice was coming from a large old man. He had a gray handlebar mustache and seemingly no hair under his iron helmet. He was pointing his crossbow at them and Marcus could see he was ready to squeeze the trigger. From his attire, he could tell this man was the lieutenant of this squad of soldiers.

"What the hell are you Notch cultists doing here?" The man asked.

Shit, what do I tell him? Marcus thought. Would they believe me if I just told them outright? And if I lied, they'd never believe me after that. Maybe I should tell them we have Notch with us, but, what if he stops helping us afterward? Shit. Shit. Shit…..Let's just tell them and see where it goes from there.

"My name is Marcus, I am a soldier of the Miter Knights. We were recently attacked at Fort Deepslate by two mutant creatures created by Herobrine. In the attack, Fort Deepslate was completely destroyed and over nine-hundred soldiers were lost. We also lost all of our leadership, including General Ausmin. I overheard some pigmen who guided the mutants that their next target would be Redwater. We've come to warn you of the attack and potentially seek aid in killing Herobrine." Marcus paused and observed the soldiers' reactions. None of them seemed to believe a word he was saying. "I know my story sounds far-fetched, but I'm telling the truth. We're here to discuss and truce. We could even take you to Fort Deepslate ourselves and show you, but I'm afraid we don't have time for that." The lieutenant seemed to be getting angry and he could see him squeezing harder on the trigger. "I understand we don't have a good history together, but if we fight amongst ourselves, Herobrine will destroy everyone. I ask if you could at least hear us out?"

The lieutenant stared at them with a cold expression, "If you think I believe a word of what you're saying, you are sorely mistaken. Nine hundred soldiers and all your leadership killed in one attack in the most fortified base in the world?" He scoffed, "Yeah, what a bunch of horseshit." He looked back to his men. "Aim!"

The soldiers in the back aimed their crossbows at the knights. Many began to beg and some started claiming Notch was with them. However, none of the soldiers believed them.

"Wait! I swear we're telling the truth!" Marcus yelled.

"On my mark!" The lieutenant yelled while closing his eye to aim at Marcus.

"Wait, listen to him!" Franz yelled.

"I have something to say!" Notch yelled, but to no avail.

It was no use. The soldiers didn't believe them and were ready to fire.

"We're southerners!" A voice yelled. "Don't shoot, we're from the south!" Marcus looked to find Thomas and Zacharius hobbling in front of the soldiers' crossbows. "Please, we're southerners! Everything they're saying is true! Please, you have to listen to us!"

This caught the lieutenant's attention, "You're from the south? Are you carrier slaves?"

"Yes, we are, or at least we were," Thomas answered, "What they say is completely true, we witnessed it with our own eyes."

"Yeah, a giant creeper came and blew up the base," said Zacharius.

"We barely made it out," Another southerner said.

"They're not lying," said another.

The lieutenant pondered what they were saying for a moment and then gave his answer, "We'll interrogate the southerners; find out how much of this is real. Keep an eye on them until we get back."

Relief flooded through Marcus. In his weakened state, he began to fall to his knees. He was caught by Franz and Notch. Soon, tears began to well up in his eyes.

Maybe this will work out after all.