(sips mocktail) (yes I'm old enough to drink, I just don't want to)
Phillip peered around the doorway at the top of the stairs, falling still for a long moment to listen before lifting a hand and beckoning his companion forward. The next thing he heard was the sharp click of hooves on brick, and he whirled around to glare.
"Shh!"
"You shh!" David hissed back, hurrying up the last few steps to join him at the top of the staircase. "I can't help it that I don't have soft feet like you."
"You can't be any quieter?" Phillip gritted out, looking both ways once more to ensure that they hadn't been detected. David shrugged.
"I didn't think when we started out that this was going to be a stealth mission." He looked around the corner, then started moving again, leaving Phillip behind. "Come on. You can chew me out when we get out of here." Phillip winced at his loud footsteps, but followed.
Upon realizing that they were not alone, the two of them had agreed that their best course of action was to get out of the fortress as quickly as possible and regroup in the mushroom forests that bordered the far side of the lake. David was fairly confident that he could take on whoever their unexpected guests were, but even he agreed that, without knowing exactly who or what they were up against, it would be wiser to step back for now and get themselves out of immediate danger.
Phillip followed David anxiously down one of the bridges, his ears pricked for any sign of danger until they had gotten what he deemed to be a sufficient distance from the staircase that they had emerged from. Then, waving David with him, he sprung up onto the railing and spread his wings, seizing David by the arms and taking off.
Neither of them spoke as they coasted over the lava, not until Phillip had spied an empty clearing in the midst of the giant mushrooms and descended to land in the middle of it.
"Alright," David began, straightening up as he dusted off the ash that clung to his loose uniform. "What do we know?"
"That the fortress formerly belonging to Null is still inhabited," Phillip began, casting a wary look around at their surroundings. "And that they're using it to grow netherwart."
"That, and we can assume that they had another way into the fortress," David added. "Since we sure didn't see them flying."
"Right." Phillip frowned. "How do you suppose they're doing it? Have they tunneled under the lava?"
"Maybe," David agreed. "Or maybe they have some sort of… boat, that can float on lava."
"If they do, we should be able to see it from here." Phillip leaned around one of the mushroom stalks, David following suit as they studied the pillars that kept the fortress suspended above the lava.
"True," he said at last. "Tunnel it is, then." Phillip nodded, and they lapsed back into silence, both musing over their findings.
After a minute, David spoke up again. "So what now?"
"Now…" Phillip sighed, running a hand through his blond hair. "We can't exactly come up with a plan without first getting some more information, so, I'm going to have to go back in there and take a look around."
"You're not going anywhere," David countered. "We can go back in."
"It'll be faster and safer if I go alone," Phillip argued. "I'm quieter and more mobile by myself, and I can get myself out of a pinch."
"If you do get into trouble, we'd have much more of a chance if we stick together," David fired back, and Phillip was surprised by the intensity in his voice. "If you want, leave me on the bridges while you go below, but I'm not staying here."
"David, please, I'll be fine."
"I am not dragging your charred and half-dead corpse through the Nether again!" David snapped, raising his voice. "Once in a lifetime is more than enough for me!" Phillip didn't answer for a moment, too stunned at his outburst to come up with a response.
"Dave," he finally began. "That's not going to happen again." David folded his arms, leveling a bitter look at him, and Phillip gave up. "Alright, fine. If it would make you happy." He turned away, back towards the fortress where it hung dark and imposing above the boiling lava. "I don't-"
"Phil, look out!" David all but tackled him from the right, throwing him to the ground and narrowly avoiding the jet-black claws that flashed through the air where his head had been a moment before.
David was scrambling to his feet, yanking his axe free from its scabbard as the enderman- enderman?! - lunged at its new target. David's hooves skidded in the slippery nylium as he ducked under a second strike, the golden blade flashing through the air in an attempt to keep his opponent at bay. The enderman's face was twisted into a hideous scowl, a grating, high-pitched whine emanating from its body as it struck at David again and again, claws sending sparks flying every time it made contact with his blade. Stumbling upright, Phillip yanked his sword free from its sheath and lunged in to assist.
The enderman's attention now divided, it jerked backwards to avoid a swing from David's golden axe before hurling itself forward again, and Phillip narrowly avoided being skewered on its razor sharp claws. David swung at it again, and this time the enderman seized his axe by the handle, ripping it from his grasp as effortlessly as if he had been a child before hurling it away to lodge itself in the trunk of a giant mushroom. David hesitated, only a moment, but that was long enough for the beast to backhand him across the face and send him sprawling across the nylium-carpeted rock.
"Dave!" Phillip shouted, and he attacked the enderman with renewed vigor. He struck at it once, then twice, and on the third swing his wrist was seized by the beast's huge hand and slammed down into the rock below him, the back of his head hitting solid ground with a crack as he was hurled down onto his back. Phillip flinched, helpless to defend himself as the enderman leaned over him, its purple eyes filled with malice and rage as it raised its free hand to finish him off.
A wet thud sounded from just above him, and the enderman crumpled, falling atop Phillip's body with a dagger sticking out of its shoulder.
The breath was forced from his lungs as the heavy corpse fell on him, and Phillip gasped, trying in vain to wiggle himself free. David, now completely disarmed with his dagger stuck in their assailant's corpse, hurried forward to help him.
"You alright?" he asked breathlessly, grabbing Phillip by the arm and dragging him free.
"Yeah," Phillip gritted out. He pushed himself up, wincing as he rubbed at the back of his head. No blood, at least. "You?" David reached up to prod at his cheek.
"I'll have a bruise or two."
"Right." Phillip looked down at the enderman again, now silent and still where it lay. "What was that?"
"Enderman," David began, but Phillip cut him off.
"No, I know what it was, but why did it attack us?" He flapped his wings, trying to free his pinched and bent feathers. "I thought that endermen only attacked you if you looked them in the eyes."
"Same here. You didn't look at it?"
"Not until it attacked me. Did you?"
"No." The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, each trying to work out what had happened before David broke his gaze and bent down to collect his knife. "Well, if neither of us looked, I guess it must have had some sort of vendetta." His fingers closed around the handle of the dagger. "Maybe it doesn't-"
The enderman convulsed as the knife was ripped from its body, a thin, grating shriek escaping it as both men startled and David threw an arm out in front of Phillip. The enderman surged upright, clamping a hand over the wound on its shoulder, and before Phillip could make any move to defend them it had turned and was crashing off into the forest on its three functioning limbs.
The two exchanged a glance, then, without a word, Phillip sheathed his sword and flared his wings.
"Hey-" David began, but Phillip took off before he could get the chance.
"Get your axe and follow!" He shouted down as he shot up through the mushrooms. "Something's wrong here." David glared after him, but obeyed, and Phillip turned his attention to the enderman where it crashed through the mushrooms and hanging vines that made up the warped forest.
It wasn't difficult to track it, not with the haphazardness of its gait as it fled. Phillip followed the enderman through the air, watching as it battled against the terrain and the limits of its injured body. They were already approaching a dead end, though Phillip wasn't sure if the enderman knew it yet- from the air, he could see the great cliff that stretched up before them. Sure enough, the enderman's pained gallop stuttered to a stop as it reached the rock wall, and Phillip circled it once before dropping down into the forest about fifteen feet away.
The enderman snarled at him as he landed, but this time made no attempt to attack, only splaying a large hand over its chest as if to shield it. Phillip took a step closer, and it hissed.
"Phil!" The shout preceded the sound of hooves crashing through the undergrowth, and moments later David was at his side. "Careful."
"It's alright," Phillip told him, careful not to make eye contact with the enderman as he watched it. "I think it's injured."
"Of course it's injured, I threw a knife at it."
"No, before that. Look at its chest." Phillip pointed, and David lowered his axe, leaning in slightly for a better look.
It was difficult to tell, given the dim light of the forest and the enderman's jet-black skin, but it was possible to make out what looked like a gaping hole in the center of its chest. Its ribs were gaunt and visible where they curled around where his heart should be, now nothing but an empty hollow.
"Dear Notch," David muttered. "Maybe that's why it attacked." Phillip gave a grim nod, then drew his sword again, reaching out as far as he could to his right before dropping the blade on the ground. "Hey." David gave him a wary look. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to show it that we don't mean any harm." Phillip took another step closer, earning another hiss.
"Those things are intelligent, Phil," David warned him. "It could be trying to bait you in."
"I know they're intelligent, which is why I'm hoping it'll understand." Phillip splayed a hand out in front of him, in a gesture that he hoped any civilized being would recognize as a sign of peace. "Put down your axe." David grumbled under his breath, but he reluctantly abandoned his weapon, holding up both hands to show that they were empty. Satisfied, Phillip turned back to the wounded enderman, beginning to advance once more.
"Here." A small bowl was pressed into Evangeline's hands, filled with thin, neat slices of golden apple. "Try to eat this, if you can," the doctor instructed. Silently, Evangeline did so, plucking one slice from the bowl and bringing it to her lips, but she convulsed in pain as the sensation of cool fingers on the bones of her withered wing sent pain shooting up through her shoulder.
"Careful," Herobrine gritted out, and his arm tightened around her waist.
"It's alright," Evangeline said quietly. "Let him work." Herobrine glowered, but went silent, and the doctor shot her a thankful look before returning to her wing.
It had been about half an hour now since Evangeline had woken, and ten minutes since Herobrine had brought her to the physician that serviced Notch and his castle. The doctor, Ashton, had listened to her symptoms and instructed Herobrine to try and warm her while he readied his instruments. This was how she had ended up here, sitting on a hard bench with a blanket half wrapped around her and her husband pressed up against her side.
"It's not contagious," Herobrine said, and Evangeline's eyes flickered up to find the doctor slipping on a pair of white gloves. "We would know by now if it was."
"It's only protocol. Besides, I don't want to risk causing it to flare up more." Doctor Ashton nodded to her. "Missus Morningstar, you sustained this injury about a year ago, correct?"
"About," Evangeline confirmed. "Nine… ten months."
"And you have never experienced something like this in the time since?"
"No." She shook her head. "Not since I was first hit."
"At the time you were healed by a golden apple." The doctor nodded to the bowl in her hands. "Correct?"
"Yes."
"Clearly it was not a permanent solution," Herobrine interjected.
"No," Ashton agreed. "But it was a temporary one. Please, eat." This time, Evangeline obeyed, sliding a piece of the tart apple into her mouth and swallowing.
She could feel the magic of the golden apple working through her as she bit down on another slice, easing her chill and quelling the bitter churning of her stomach. She could still taste the blood in her throat from when she had choked it up earlier, which had caused her to suspect a far more serious problem than one localized in her wing.
"Does that help?" the doctor prompted as she picked up a third slice.
"It does. I'm not so cold anymore."
"Good." The doctor rested a hand on her wing again, and Herobrine shifted so as to not smother her so much. Evangeline leaned on him as the doctor looked over her wing, eating the rest of the golden apple as she focused idly on the window on the far wall.
It was a minute before Ashton spoke again, taking a small step back. "The wither is almost certainly spreading from the initial point of contact," he told them. "I can see it beginning to spread through her veins, though it retreated when she began to eat the golden apple." He gestured to the base of her wing, and Herobrine shifted, craning his neck to get a better look. Evangeline stayed still as she felt Ashton's gloved hand shift the fabric of her top out of the way.
Whatever Herobrine had seen, he didn't like it, as there was a scowl on his face when he settled down beside her again. "So she has to keep eating golden apples?" he tried.
"I've had golden apples recently," Evangeline protested. "Shouldn't that have kept it at bay?"
"That leads me to the problem." Ashton sighed, removing his gloves. "I surmise that the wither inside of you has begun to grow resistant to the magic of a golden apple. Developed immunity, in a sense."
"What can we do, then?" Herobrine's tone was obviously tense, and Evangeline rested a hand on his arm.
"I don't know," Ashton began. "But-"
"Don't know?!" Herobrine snarled, cutting him off. "Is your only method of treatment to throw golden apples at your patients?! You were supposed to help her!"
"Herobrine," Evangeline cut in. "Let him finish." Herobrine fell silent, and Ashton cleared his throat.
"I don't know," he continued. "Because you, missus Morningstar, are the only known survivor of wither past the initial wound. But-" he looked pointedly at Herobrine. "There are a few methods of treatment that we can try."
"Such as?" Herobrine asked testily.
"Such as removing the affected wing." Ashton gestured to the blackened feathers. "Losing access to the source may stop the spread." Herobrine looked to Evangeline to gauge her reaction, and she tried to cover up a grimace. "Or perhaps a larger dose of golden apples' magic would force it back further," Ashton went on. "Or doses of strong potions. There are a number of treatments that we can try, and, given that the golden apple had a positive effect just now, I am confident that we have enough time to explore our options."
Evangeline looked up at her husband, feeling hollow. He hadn't said it aloud, but the doctor's meaning was clear- they had time to try and treat her, and if they failed, she died.
Herobrine's jaw was tight. "Potions have no effect on the wither. We saw a valkyrie die to it only minutes after being given a potion."
"Perhaps, given orally, it has no effect," Ashton allowed. "But perhaps if they were injected directly into the affected area it would have more of a benefit. Either way, I advise you to come back tomorrow morning, and we can discuss treatment options with Notch in attendance to counsel us." Ashton began to pack up his tools, folding them into their linen carrying case. "Until then, keep her warm, and have her eat a golden apple with every meal." Herobrine said nothing, but he nodded, taking Evangeline by the hand and guiding her to her feet.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "Evangeline." Evangeline squeezed his hand, and together they headed for the doorway, prepared to make the short walk back to their cottage for the rest of the night.