Nightshade's POV
What seemed like hours later, we had finally made it out of that goddamn jungle. By now my trench coat looked rather worse for wear, to my annoyance. Even one of my gloves were slightly torn, irritatingly. Blood is difficult to get out of fabric, and trying to wash it out of silk was a nightmare, but rips meant I had to replace them. Luckily I had another few pairs of gloves on standby in case something like this were to happen. Malik was wiping soot off his waistcoat, out of breath.

His hair was slightly messed up, his clothes were dusted with ash, his bow tie was hanging around his neck loosely and his glowing lava-like eyes were dulling. I was no better. Not only were my clothes rather dilapidated, my headphones were crooked, my goggles were lopsided, I could tell my hair was also rather messed up as well, and the stiff collar of my trench coat was getting even more uncomfortable than usual. A moment later I found a small twig there, halfway down my back. Merde (crap), that's the LAST time trek through a jungle. I'd take desert any day.

We earned a few odd looks thrown at us as we moved rather awkwardly through the throngs of people, but mostly the civilians left us alone. I saw a sign nearby that had fallen slightly lopsided, moss and rust from age plaguing it. I made out the bold letters that spelled 'Kascnov'. At least it had wi-fi... But that was about the only thing it DID have. It was not a modern, nor particularly big village, but it seemed to be a glitch hotspot, for I noticed several hunters crowded around in the inn. The Rusty Pickaxe.That doesn't sound like a five-star hotel, but it will do. We walked in, and nobody paid us much attention, to my relief. I could see posters of myself and Malik on the wall opposite, and I smirked slightly in satisfaction despite the discomfort. However, I CAN'T be recognised like this. Someone like me, beaten up by a few trees and bushes!? I sighed, leaning against the counter. The innkeeper was ordering his servants around, who rushed to do their jobs and were getting quite red in the face.

"Huh?" I had waited impatiently for almost half a minute until he noticed me after I cleared my throat purposefully. "Ah, welcome the the Rusty Pickaxe, finest inn in northern Minecraftia!" He proclaimed, spreading his arms wide welcomingly as if about to grab me and lock me in a rib-crushing embrace. I shoved Malik in front instead, and the innkeeper seemed more reluctant to touch the magma cube hybrid. Instead he politely shook hands, winced as he experienced the intense heat and recoiled as if brushed against hot coals. His massive grin soon returned in favour of potentional customers, however.

"We'd like to book a room, please." I said politely, moving Malik aside again.

"Of course! I believe I have two or three have just become available!" He said enthusiastically.

"Great." I couldn't help sounding slightly sarcastic, but he didn't notice. "We'll only stay one night, and perhaps longer if our plans are altered."

"Fantastic!" He clapped his hands together, throwing a key with a card dangling from its keychain. I caught it with one fist, flicking my bangs out of my face irritably. Instead of curling over one eye neatly, they flopped loosely, obscuring most of my vision. It was tiring just standing there, and I could tell a bunch of hunters had paused in their intense game of cards to stare at us. I caught the glimpse of metallic glints as they began unsheathing their weapons. Instinctively, I fingered the grip of one of my revolvers, stroking the trigger. Self-consciously, I pulled it out of the holster and cocked it. No, I do NOT want to be attacked right now. Now sliding it back, I tried as best as I could to seem like your average teenager. Malik was polishing his razor-sharp black sickle and didn't seem to notice.

"Don't worry about them hunters. There is a strict no fighting rule here. Well, no killing anyway." The innkeeper reassured cheerfully. I smiled weakly.

"Uh, great. We'll just find our own way." I waved the servant coming towards me off and found the stairs leading upstairs to the rooms across the room. Unfortunately we had to pass by the vicious-looking hunters, but they had returned to their cards. I let out an inaudible breath of relief that I wasn't entirely aware I had been holding. I ascended the stairs with Malik following close behind, who wasn't as tense as me. He seemed pretty relaxed, despite the fact that he was do doubt feeling exhausted as well. I checked the card attached to the key, and found 12 imprinted there. I scanned the coridoor with doors all down it lining the walls, finding one with a golden plaque proudly displaying the number 12.

"FINALLY. Je suis complètement épuisé (I am completely exhausted)." I muttered, adjusting my crooked headphones.

"Didn't quite catch that, but I'll assume you're tired." He said.

"Pretty much." Glad to soon be having a well-earned break, I strode through the hallway confidently, inserting the key into the fancy brass lock. Before I could turn it, the door of Room 11 was flung open. Silouetted in the doorway was a girl with long, wavy sea green hair, startling blue eyes like freshly dug up lapis, a plaid green and white jacket, pastel blue shirt underneath, dark green shorts and plain black flats. There was a split-second of surprised silence before her eyes narrowed in dislike, and my hand tightened the grip on the key so hard that I began bending it slightly out of shape. Affirmative, I'm aware this is not normal. Either this key is made of really crappy materials, or maybe my powers have been activated again...

"You." Viridian said calmly.

"Oui, me." I said equally serenely. Malik had the sense to duck out of this little conflict. One of the only things he is scared of was when girls fight, weirdly enough.

"What are you doing here?"

"Business. And it's none of yours. You?" I asked with an edge of challenge.

"Oh, y'know, travelling. Just admiring the scenery around Minecraftia." She said offhandedly. She looked from me to him, a small, haughty smirk playing at her lips. Viridian and I had some history in the past, and let's just say we didn't exactly get along. "What happened to you two? You look like you've been run over by a stampeding herd of creepers." She said with a laugh. I blushed slightly, crossing my arms.

"Long story. I don't really wish to reminisce." I said curtly.

"Well, whatever you say." She shrugged, brushing past me and Malik, descending the stairs. She paused before she moved out of sight, and looked back. "Try not to burn down the building, Lavaboy. This is the only inn I could find. Might want to sort out your trench coat, Night. Looks more like a jacket."

"Don't call me that." I said, annoyed. She responded with a lighthearted smile before disappearing around the corner. "Imbécile (idiot)." I sighed, noticing the key in my hand was now horribly disfigured. A second or two of bending later, I shrugged and managed to shove it back in the lock and wrenched open the door. I stepped back, allowing Malik to enter first, before taking a glance myself. It wasn't the fanciest, but it would do. The wallpaper was a caramel and light brown sort of colour, giving a warm feeling throughout the room, especially with the windows allowing sunlight to filter through. However, the room began to dim as the sun set, and I turned in the glowstone lamp. There were two beds with their red covers neatly folded and pillows fluffed, and a double chest for storage.

"Not bad." He commented, looking around. "Not much wood as well. ALWAYS a good sign."

"Great..." I shoved both of the beds to one side of the room with apparent ease, still irritable over the run-in with Viridian. She foiled all hunters' plans, snd had done so in the past, snd also frankly, we simply detest one another. But at least we have a great place to shelter tonight... Calming down, I soon couldn't move both beds anymore, losing a lot of previous strength. Shifting them slowly, I pushed them to a corner. I looked up and saw stone rafters. Stone, impossible to burn. Before we could rest, we had to get ourselves... Presentable. The trench coat was beginning to fix its seams by itself; parts of a Minecraftian's default skin can fix itself over time. However, the gloves were an accessory, so I had to change them. Fortunately, I get blood stains on them so often, I always carry a few spare pairs with me. Pulling them on, I was about to grab a brush when my phone alerted me with an incoming call from my latest informant. I raised an eyebrow. This was the one that had told us to come here in the first place. All I can say is, his info better be accurate.

"Hello? Crimson speaking." I said lazily, picking up and running the hairbrush through my long hair. I took a seat on the now useless beds (neither Malik or I rest in beds).

"You're alive?" There was evidently surprise in his voice.

"Don't sound so disappointed." I said wryly.

"N-no. It's just that, that jungle is rumoured to be-"

"Dangerous, yeah."

"You didn't encounter any... Problems on your journey?"

"Not particularly." I wasn't about to mention the difficulties we experienced in the jungle.

"Uh, right. I apologise, but I MAY have gotten my facts wrong." He said tentatively, audibly cringing.

"Excuse me?" I asked, suddenly sounding cold. "What!?"

"Oh, don't worry!" He sounded flustered. "You're in the right place! Sorta..."

"Explanation please?"

"Well, turns out our target isn't IN the village, it's IN the jungle..." Three was a short silence. "But there's no problem!" He went on. "I mean you can simply go back again..."

"Affirmative, absolutely no problem!" I agreed cheerfully. "I'll talk to you later then!" I hung up before he could reply, and flopped over on the bed, swearing in French underneath my breath.

"Uh, should I even ask?" Malik said, tightening his bow tie so violently he almost choked.

"Our target is NOT in this village, it's in the jungle." He gaped at me for a second.

"Er, the jungle we came from?"

"Unfortunately, affirmative." I confirmed.

"You mean we have to go back!?"

"Oui, Monsieur Obvious." I said flatly.

"We went through all of that for nothing!?" He was fuming by now, his eyes sparking with indignation.

"In a way, oui. You are not helping." I said, irritable myself. "Non, I am not happy that we have to go through that absolute netherhole again, but sometimes, you just have to deal with it. No offence." I added.

"None taken. If it WERE a netherhole, then this journey would be much more enjoyable." He remarked.

"At least there isn't any vegetation in the nether." I said with another small sigh. "The things we do to kill a glitch."
~~~
Author's Note
Dun dun dun... Once again, I fail at being dramatic in this book. Wow, this chapter was surprisingly long, 1800+ words. That's a large amount for me. Shade and Viridian are so adorable, their rivalry is so cute! Yeah, I'm weird.
-iVesper