I smile as I gaze up at the huge trees in the jungle. Petra and Jesse probably don't care so much, they were here just last night. But man, I've never been in the jungle before. It really is incredible. Maybe I'll even see a wild ocelot.

My grin falls as I think of the blaze rods. Ocelots was still a cool name, we all liked it. Did they really have to get rid of it for that stupid name? Blaze rods are even useless until you turn them into a power.

Cold shivers run up my back as I quickly inhale. Why do I get the feeling something incredible bad is going to happen and why do I keep seeing Aiden flash through my mind.

"Hey Lukas," I shake my head and look at Jesse. "What's on your mind?"

I smile, but Petra cuts me off. "Well, he's now keeping an eye out around us. Right Lukas?"

Again, I'm about to say something before Jesse cuts me off. "Come on Petra, it's daylight. No need to keep our eyes peeled when we can just keep our ears open. Besides any-

Something rushes past my arm, and before I can even blink, digs itself into Jesse. He squawks and collapses right onto the ground, an arrow sticking out from his armpit.

I fall onto me knees and turn him on his side, Petra moving around and grabbing the shaft. Jesse mumbles, tripping over his words. It sounds like he's trying to say five things at once.

"Wait!" Ivor garbs Petra's arm. "If you do that then the head will be stuck inside him!"

Petra scowls and pushes him back. "We can't exactly pull it through! It would go right through his heart and kill him!"

I grab his arm and hold it out of the way. "Go careful Petra, don't just yank it out."

She nods and starts to slide it out, I hold Jesse still as he squirms and whimpers. But it sounds strange. He's twitching extraordinarily fast and he's talking at an incredibly high pitch and speed. His mumbles running into the next without even pause for breath.

"There, it's out. Thankfully it wasn't too far in." The arrowhead, it has definitely been messed with.  

"Petra," I snatch the arrow out of her hand. "Go and find Aiden right now. The crowds are hiding in the trees."

She looks confused for a second, until she draws her sword in fury and runs back. Scanning the trees with raged filled eyes. I know Aiden did this, no one else would know Jesse's here, no one else would try to kill him.

Kill... I shallow rapid breaths, my heart pounding. Jesse can't be killed! He killed three Wither Storms! No no no no NO! I gaze down at arrow, totally covered in blood. Jesse's blood... gushing out of him like a spring.

I shake my head and focus on Jesse again, he really will be dead if I do nothing. But what can I do? His lung was definitely punctured. Thankfully his heart wasn't, but that still doesn't give us a lot of time.

Jesse babbles out another rush of words. "Ivor, why is he reacting like that? Has he been poisoned?"

I hand him the arrow and he snatches it, sniffing it intensely. I push my hand over the hole, the blood trickling all over his armor. How long did it take us to get here? Maybe two hours at a relaxed pace?

Once Petra takes care of those vile corrupt murderers and gets back, they can start carrying Jesse back to town while I sprint back to get a horse and a lot of help. It's a little risky, we really don't have any other option.

"Definitely poisoned, I'm also picking up a potion of weakness. There seems to be another one, but I can't tell. Jesse's blood is making it difficult."

My heart drops, I can feel tears stinging my eyes. Jesse's strong, the strongest I know, but poisoned, weakened, and mortally injured? A miracle right about now would be really nice.

Jesse goes into a spasm, his limbs a blur as he twitches madly. Way too fast. Jesse's loosing way too much blood, and that's terrible. Because his mind should be slowing down, shutting off, not running at high speeds.

Speed... SPEED! This is bad, so very impossibly bad... "Ivor! Is that mystery potion a potion of swiftness?"

His face scrunches up and nods regretfully. I curse under my breath, Jesse does not have a lot of time and needs to be teleported to town, that would be life saving. But we can't wait for Petra anymore, one of us has to go to town.

"Ivor... if we were at Beacontown, would you be able to heal Jesse?"

Ivor panicked, looks down at Jesse, sweating nervously. "I could, but I would need time. Healing potions are incredibly delicate and-"

"Great, run to town as fast as freakin' possible, send help, preferably a horse, and start making that potion."

"But I-"

"RUN!"

He scrambles and breaks out into a sprint, kicking up a flurry of dust. Perhaps I should start dragging Jesse down the path? The faster he gets to town, the better, but I wouldn't want him to lose more blood.

A few screams fill the air, and I quickly look up. Only to shake it off and focus on how to move Jesse. Petra's scream of rage was probably what triggered the other ones.

So the arrow went down into his side, which means his diaphragm was definitely hit. Because the arrow didn't go in incredibly deep, thanks to the armor, I'm hoping that other internal organs didn't get hit.

Jesse groans again, but thankfully this time isn't incredibly high pitched or short. I press down harder on the wound, Jesse probably lost way too much blood from the potion of swiftness. He must have in so much pain! Every second for us was ten for him, plus the poison and weakness potions must have done so much damage in that amount of time.

I take a slow shuddering breath, not everything is lost. Jesse should pass out soon, which would slow his heartbeat and breathing. Not too mention when he's unconscious he wouldn't need as much oxygen, very important when there's a freakin' hole in one of his lungs!

But moving Jesse? How do I do that? He'll start bleeding profusely again if I move my hand, but he'll surely die by the time help would get here and then he would have to get back there and then nothing would have to happen to him to injure him even more! That's basically impossible!

Loud curses come from Aiden, definitely thrown at Petra, jolt me back into the real world. I take a second to look. Petra's tying them all upside with vines, anything in their inventories discarded on the ground.

Rage burns in my body as helpless tears drive themselves out of my eyes. Jesse has to live, he will. I... I refuse to just let him die. I need to get him to town. I can let myself be swallowed by emotions later, right now I need to make sure Jesse lives.

I look around, maybe there's something that could be used to bandage the wound. We would be able to carry him faster if one of us won't have to be pressing down on his side the entire time.

I don't know if I have anything, and I would have to remove my hand to grab it if I did. Would Petra have anything? Perhaps any cloth would do? And if that's the case, I'm sure we could take some from the demented, vile, murderous Blaze Rods.

"PETRA!" The warrior briefly glances at me, before continuing to gag the worthless jerks. "GRAB ONE OF THEIR JACKETS!"

I'm too far away to tell, but she probably just rolled her eyes. But I don't care if she finds it weird as long as she grabs it. I can't do much myself just trying to stop blood flow. That doesn't stop me from sweating furiously as worry and fear blow up inside me.

Petra kneels next to me, holding a jacket in her hands. I nod at the wound and lift Jesse up. Quickly, she wraps the arms around him, tying the ends together under Jesse's other armpit.

The black fabric becomes darker, blood seeping in between the weaves of the cloth as the blazes rods on the back becoming a menacing red. I'm beginning to worry that Jesse might die faster from blood loss than anything else.

"Okay, Ivor's on his way back to town. He'll be sending help and will have a healing potion ready when we get back. However..."

"That will take to long if we just sit here."

I nod, about to swipe the sweat off my forehead when I notice it's dripping with blood. My heart clenches, forcing to think about breathing again. Not now, I can freak out later just not now.

"Come on Lukas, Jesse's a fighter. He's not going down easily."

How does Petra remain so calm?! I'm shaking as I stare at Jesse's limp body but she seems harder than ever. I wanna scream and cry, I want to break something and break down. I want-

Petra slaps me, hard. "Pull yourself together or Jesse doesn't stand a chance! I'll take his feet, you grab his head."

I wheeze as I nod, extremely careful around Jesse's wound. "We have to turn him sideways, help reduce bleeding."

She nods and picks him up, I'm not in complete sync, but we're up now. We start walking, quick small steps to go fast without disturbing Jesse. It's tiring, but I really don't care right now.

We get closer to the horrid soulless individuals I used to call friends. They glare at me, hate consuming them. My heart pounds steadily, fury running throughout my veins as I glare back. I can hold back my fear for Jesse's life, but there is no detaining my wrath.

And as we past Aiden, I transfer a small part of that rage into the spit I send flying at his face. He wiggles in the vines as I glower at him. He better hope with everything he has that Jesse survives. Because if he doesn't, then Aiden will wish he was trapped in a Wither Storm.

"Wow Lukas..." Petra's lips tighten while a beads of sweat drip from her face. "I never knew you could be like that."

"It's a side of myself I only reserve for Aiden."

She nods and we before fall silent. Slightly picking up our pace every time Jesse simply twitches or groans. At the same time, my fear for Jesse's life only grows as thoughts of me or Petra tripping and waking him up or somehow increasing Jesse's bleeding or make his injury worse somehow.

Particularly after a hour in and my limbs start getting tired. It's weird, I don't feel any pain- I've come to the conclusion I'm in shock. But I do feel like Jesse's body is getting heavier. Although since I am in shock, I can push past it.

Then though my arms might collapse! Or what if I just become hopeless and the shock wears while depression rises!? Then I wouldn't even try to help Jesse and give up, letting my best friend die!

Hoof beats, so very faint, waft into my head. Petra locks eyes with me and we both smile, going a wee bit faster. Help is almost here! Once Jesse gets back to Beacontown Ivor can give him the potion and Jesse will live.

Two horses come into view, kicking up a storm of dust as their riders force them at a full gallop. Even from here though, I can see Axel's bulky figure and a dot of red that's Olivia.

Hope rises up, no where near to defeat my fear, but it's something. Jesse can pull through, he must. He never gives up, he can make it.

Right before they crash into us, they rear up as the riders slid off of them, scrambling to get to Jesse. Olivia gasps, clutching onto her heart while Axel's mouth drops to the ground, another wave of sweat breaking out.

"Okay Lukas," We all snap our heads to Petra. "You're taking Jesse with you back to town, we'll help situate him."

I nearly dropped Jesse as I gape at Petra. "M-me?"

"Yes you!" She obviously doesn't share my fears that I might stamp out any hope for Jesse's survival. "You're the best rider here! So get on that horse right now!"

Gently, I let go of Jesse when Axel supports his upper half. I get jump on the horse, and we all help put Jesse's limp body in front of me. I lean him to the right and wrap his left around my neck, which will hopefully help with the bleeding.

I take a deep breath and kick the horse's sides, not bothering to say anything to my friends. If I waited another moment I would get too nervous to be riding at a full gallop with my dying friend in front of me.

Generally when I ride, the pounding of hoof beats calms me down. Now they panic me to no end knowing that the little constant jolts isn't helping Jesse one bit, the opposite actually.

One little mishap, Jesse falls off the horse. Go a wee bit too slow, Jesse arrives dead. Unsettle Jesse just a bit, Jesse might bleed out. Everything has to be absolutely perfect, and Jesse might live.

The jungle morphs into forest, the trees blurring past me until I get to the plains. My heart now pounding faster than ever as I see the gates of Beacontown, only a few more minutes Jesse. Just hang on for a few more minutes.

I burst through the gates, not slowing down a little on the cobble path to Ivor's. When the horse sees I'm heading straight for some lava, it rears up. Knocking me and Jesse off.

I curse as I readjust Jesse, pressing my hand into his side again when blood is already gushing out. The horse is prancing about, getting way too close to landing on Jesse.

Cursing again, I stand up and calm it down. "IVOR! IS THAT POTION DONE YET?!"

The horse calms down and I leave it, returning to Jesse's side. He isn't bleeding as profusely anymore, but that's probably because of blood loss than anything else. He needs that potion now. I'm surprised, and grateful, he's held out this long.

Ivor jumps and I look up at him, he's holding the potion of healing in his hands right now. Jesse will live, few more moments and everything will be fine and I can exact my revenge on Aiden.

But as Ivor lands on the glass surrounding the lava, it cracks. Ivor quickly scrambles forward, but trips over his robes. The potion falling from his hand.

I feel stuck under a potion of swiftness and slowness. The bottle slowly flipping towards the ground, the shiny red liquid sloshing around. But my limbs just aren't moving fast enough to catch it, as if wading through mud.

The glass shatters against the cobble, the fragments digging into my heart. The precious contents inside the bottle seep out, useless all over the ground... already evaporating just like my hope.

I break and sob while tears pouring out of my eyes as I longingly stare at the bottle, the bottle that was about to save Jesse's life.

"No..."

****

So I tried to write Lukas in shock. That's why he goes from cold and calculating to overwhelmed. But... it seems kinda off now. I might need more practice on this before doing it in a story.

And SUPER early post! Wasn't planning on doing right as the day starts, but I stayed up past midnight and already had it done. So I was like 'Hey, I could post this and have something done before I even wake up! AWESOME!'

So I hope you liked this one too, there's only a few left as the end slowly draws closer. Next one up is Potion of-! Bye people!