Hi

There is kitty by me right now. Very chonk and very soft

Prolly mitsakes

K bye

★   ☆   ★   ☆   ★

Kat

I had no dreams as I slept. It was actually the most relaxing sleep I had in a long time.

Which I hated.

When I woke up I still had my eyes closed for a little bit because I wanted to stay relaxed. Eventually, though, the realization of what had happened finally overpowered my urge to sleep longer.

I opened my eyes, and looked around. I could see that I was in a regular-looking room, and not a torture dungeon. There was no immediate danger.

I could also feel that I was laying on a bed. And a very comfortable one, too. But it was also very warm.

As I sat up, I got a better view of the room. It was a red and black bedroom. The floor and ceiling were coal blocks, and the wall was netherbricks that had some paintings on them. Lights were in the walls on one side, and there was a chandelier in the middle. The furniture in the room, such as two tables and the bed, were red netherbricks. There were some chests in a couple areas for storage, and a mirror next to an armor stand. Bookshelves were against the back wall next to a crafting table and a loom. Double doors to my right were next to a clock on the wall, which read that it was a little bit before noon.

I wasn't sure where I was, but I knew that I had to get out. General Enderman took me to this place, and I had to escape and find my friends. Before Herobrine found me.

The first thing I did was check my inventory. Nothing was in there. Of course.

The bed was elevated, and I still felt tired, so I got down slowly. I walked over to the nearest chests, and opened them. My entire inventory was in one other than my tools. Of course they'd take away any weapons.

I pocketed everything, and walked to the doors. They were dark oak, so I couldn't see through from the design. Whatever was on the other side, I was going to have to surprise first.

Just to be on the safe side, I grabbed some cobblestone from my inventory. I could build a wall, or climb up somewhere, or chuck one at someone's face.

I took a deep breath. I had to get out of there no matter what it took to accomplish that.

I kicked open the door. I ran forward immediately, but had to skid to a stop.

It was a hallway that branched from left to right. And Lieutenant Skeleton was right outside the door leaning against the other wall.

He jerked his head up as soon as he saw me. We both stared at each other for a second, mouths opened. 

Before he did anything else, I threw a piece of cobblestone that hit him in the face. When he recoiled, I ran to the left.

"Hey!" He shouted, and I heard heavy footsteps as he ran after me. "General!"

I continued running, unsure of what he was talking about. The walls and ceiling were netherbrick, but the floor was coal. The hallway had more doors on either side, and the far end was a 'T' intersection. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I just had to get away.

I sprinted as fast as I could, but I was feeling winded. The sleep really altered my mind and body-- I felt weaker.

Glancing behind, I saw that the mutant skeleton was slowly catching up.

Then, I ran into a wall.

I fell back and hit the ground, staring up at a familiar ceiling. I lifted my head and saw I was in the bedroom I woke up in. The doors were to my right, now opened from my epic kick.

"What the..." I groaned, and got up.

"Good morning." General Enderman was sitting on the worktable that had no chairs around it, reading a book.

I stared at him. Then, I ran out of the room.

This time, I turned to the right so I wouldn't run into Lieutenant Skeleton. The right side of the hallway was shorter, and ended in a balcony overlooking a view. I couldn't see what it was, but I did see red.

Then, I saw the wall of the bedroom.

This time, I didn't slam into it, and instead extended my arms out and slowed my run so I didn't hit it as hard. I hit my fists against the wall in anger, resting my forehead against it and catching my breath.

"A good try," The General nonchalantly said. He was sitting casually on the table again, seemingly engrossed by the book he was reading.

I growled. If I tried again, he was just going to teleport me back.

"Are you sure you don't want to continue trying?" He asked, flipping a page. "I honestly think you may get it next time if you run faster."

"What..." I exhaled, trying to calm my breathing and my temper. "Where am I?"

"The Nether. More specifically, Lord Herobrine's castle."

I had a feeling that was the case, but it still made my stomach drop. I thumped my head against the wall in frustration. "Son of a creeper..."

"Watch your tongue."

"You watch your face." I gritted my teeth with anger. I had evaded Herobrine for so long, but then I got caught because I was an idiot. Now I was trapped. And he could do whatever he wanted to me. I was alone, and vulnerable.

"You know, if you were more respectful, you could gain some respect in return."

I turned around and glared at him. "I don't care about your opinion."

"That's awfully rude. I'm just the babysitter." A page flip.

I wanted to retort back, but I resisted. I was getting nowhere with insulting him. Instead, I walked over to the other table, and sat down in a chair. I propped my elbows up and covered my face.

So many negative emotions were running through my head. Frustration with myself, fear for my future, anger toward Herobrine, annoyance with General Enderman. I was mostly scared, though. I knew Herobrine didn't want me killed, but I didn't know why. Was he going to torture me? Would I be so miserable that I would wish he had killed me?

My head started hurting from thinking so much and feeling so frustrated. The heat didn't help either. The last time I was in the Nether was worse, but this was still mildly uncomfortable.

"Do you know what he wants to do with me?" I whispered through my hands. It was a clear moment of weakness asking the mutant enderman such a vulnerable question.

"Lord Herobrine will be here shortly. I cannot answer anything for you now."

I didn't say anything else. I didn't want to. I just wanted to wake up from the nightmare I was living in.

"I assume you picked up your items?"

Why on Minecraft was he still talking to me?

"Yes." I bluntly answered, slamming my hands on the table. "Yes, I did. Thanks for caring."

"You know, you could possibly afford to be a little more well-mannered."

Another page flip.

"Why would I be respectful?" I asked. "You've done nothing to earn it."

"I did no harm to you last night." He pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone. "I gave you a rather pleasant sleep, did I not?"

"Wow. Thank you so much for not being as evil as you could've been," I sarcastically said.

"You're welcome," He replied as if it were sincere.

"Am I interrupting?"

That voice. It instantly gave me chills and made me freeze, yet also made me heat up from anger and hatred. I was having an internal struggle between wrath and cowardice... and so far I was feeling pretty scared.

Immediately, General Enderman stood up and straightened his posture. He put the book on the table. "No, Lord Herobrine."

"Good."

I didn't want to turn around fully, because I didn't want to see his face, but I'd sooner wrestle a creeper than keep my back turned to the enemy.

When I did rotate toward him, I saw Herobrine smiling at me right by the doors. He stood casually, his arms by his side, like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Hello, Katherine." He greeted me like we were old friends. "I'm so glad you're here."

★   ☆   ★   ☆   ★

Infinity

For the first time, I don't need to start off by calling anyone an idiot.

The mood was a little lower, so no one was doing anything stupid. Even Gordon was quiet. It made me a little sad, to be honest. I couldn't tell if it was because we were separated from our friends, or if we all knew we were going to a place no one has ever seen before. We could be heading toward our deaths.

So for hours we simply rode across the plains. Eventually, it turned into the flat ice plains. The sun was shining and making the snow too bright to look at for a while, so I sat and looked at everyone else around me. They were also not looking at the view, and instead were staring at the Chariot floor or keeping themselves occupied in other boring ways like fiddling with their weapons or tapping a beat.

I huffed. It was too depressing to look at. And it made me think of depressing stuff as well. Which I couldn't do.

We were up against a snow-covered hill, riding on the side of it. There was a group of blocks jutting out, and so I grabbed a shovel, and quickly mined the snow before it went past. Then, I put the shovel away and formed a snowball.

I searched for my next target, and picked the obvious choice. I launched the snowball, and hit Gordon on the side of his head.

"Ow!" He fell over sideways, rubbing where I hit him.

I started laughing, earning a chuckle from Glitch and Ash.

"What was that for?" Gordon asked as he sat up, looking annoyed.

I blinked. He genuinely looked upset with me. He wasn't in a joking mood.

I sat down next to him, attempting to recover. "Remember when we were on our way to Notch City from the army base, and started a snowball fight? That was fun."

"Yeah." He looked away.

I was unsatisfied. "You know, I didn't make the first throw. Abby did."

He turned toward me. "Seriously?"

"Under my command, of course, but yeah. We had a fun time. We should take a break and do that again."

He examined the landscape, as if imagining a great battle of snow commencing. Then, he pressed his lips together and shook his head. "We gotta get to the End. The sooner we get there, the sooner we do whatever we're supposed to do, and the sooner we can return."

I hate to admit it, but it hurt me to hear him be so serious and responsible. I relied on him to be ridiculous so I could then either insult or hurt him; it had been our thing for years.

I didn't have enough strength to keep pressing him, though. Instead of sulking with him, I climbed to the second deck and laid there, staring at the sky and daydreaming about anything other than what was happening.

Eventually, we crossed into a taiga that had bigger trees and random cobblestone on the ground. Yuri didn't like the biome at all, because we couldn't go over it due to the spread of the treetops, but it was also tricky to go through. However, we tossed multiple pearls to prove that we had to go in, and we slowly made our way into it.

It was quite annoying. Occasionally he would have to make sudden jerks to the side or even back up to avoid trees. We were going too slow for my taste.

"Is there, like," Scarlet asked out of the blue, "a way to know how far the portal is?"

"Abby didn't say anything about that, so it probably doesn't exist." Skye shrugged.

"Well, Abby doesn't know everything."

Gordon jerked his head up. "She knows more than you."

"Whoop-de-do."

I quietly groaned. I didn't know why Scarlet had to always have an attitude. Sure, it saved that group at the zoo, but we were all supposed to be friends. I honestly didn't care if the two of us were friends, but she still joined our group, so she needed to respect all of us. There was a difference between bullying people for fun and bullying people to be mean.

So there we all sat, with bad and sad attitudes.

It made me think that if the others were with us, we wouldn't have been so moody. If it was all of us together, we would be joking around and predicting what was in the End. We definitely would've had the snowball fight.

I sighed. I missed Kat. And Abby. And all of the others.

I missed Jake.

It was easier to not think about him when I was busy thinking about the quest, but nothing was happening now, so my mind was basically welcoming a reflection of his comatose state. We wouldn't even know what was happening with him until after the quest was over, and who knows how long that'll take. In that timespan... anything could happen to him.

Crap. I needed to think of something else.

'How about Shade?' My mind asked me.

'How about you shut up?' I retorted back.

That traitor wasn't worth thinking about.

SPLASH!

"Whoooa!"

"Waaait!"

"Whaaat's haaappeniiiing!"

I jerked up at the sound of my friends, whose speech patterns had sounded slower. Then, I noticed we were heading right for a tree.

"Yuri!" I shouted, looking down. Everyone was moving slowly, including our driver.

I could tell he tried to turn the Chariot, but it was too late. We hit the tree, and everyone lurched forward, either falling onto the floor or crashing into each other. No one fell out, though, and since we weren't flying fast in the first place, it wasn't too bad a crash. Nothing seemed damaged from where I was.

Yuri raised his hands and started slamming them down in frustration. "Whaaat the fuu-"

A high-pitched cackle cut him off. I got out my bow and notched an arrow, pointing in the direction where it came from.

"I wouldn't do that, sweetie!"

I turned around toward the new voice, and got hit in the back with a potion. I fell down, my bow falling out of my grasp.

"Nooo..." I groaned slowly as particles appeared around me.

There was a thump as someone landed on the platform behind me. They wrapped their arms around my waist, and while I slowly moved to push away, they heaved me over the block railing and dropped me to the Chariot floor below.

I fell on my stomach with an "Ooooof". As I slowly brought myself up to my knees, I felt someone helping me. Gordon.

We all turned toward the top deck to the person that tossed me off. They were a witch; an actual witch, with purple robes and a pointy black hat covering black hair in a bun. Her nose was as big as a villager's with a wart placed on it, and she had a thick unibrow. I had seen pictures of witches, but this one had a unique sash of potions of various colors across her torso. She had one foot casually on the elevated block, inspecting us with a smug grin. Green particles were swirling around her.

"Well, would you look at this!" She cackled again, and jumped off the platform. The green particles must've meant a leaping potion, because her verticality was higher than normal. She landed in front of us in a kneeling superhero pose, then straightened and put her hands on her hips in a wide and proud stance. "This is a fun surprise! Right, sisters?"

Each with a thump, more witches with extra leaps landed on the block railing of the Chariot. Some landed on the glass, and some on the top deck. Witches dropped from the trees and landed on the ground. They were all unique in some way. Some had no sash of potions at all, others had belts. There were ones that had actual swords or bows, and even some crossbows (which was definitely new). Hairstyles were different, clothing colors were different. Some of them weren't even actual witches, but just mean-looking minecraftian women in robes.

We weren't sure what to do. We couldn't fight them, and we all seemed to know that, because no one drew their weapons. We just huddled closer to each other, making sure we covered all directions.

"I gotta say..." The one that appeared to be the leader walked around us, glancing at each of us. "This looks like an interesting group. And what a way of transportation!" She made it over to Yuri and the control panel. "Did you come up with all of this yourself, handsome?"

Yuri slowly raised his eyebrows. "Aaas a maaatter of faaaact..."

"Whaaat do youuu waaaant?" I interrupted him before he started.

"Okay," The leading witch said in a flat tone, "I'm tired of the slow speech. Clover, do the honors?"

One of the witches, a light blue-robed one, pulled out a gray potion, and splashed it on all of us.

"Better?" The leader asked with a big smile.

"Testing, testing." Gordon said, his voice no longer slowed.

"Hooray, now we can give clever comebacks in our normal voices," Ash noted.

"What do you want?" I asked her again with a glare.

"Who are you?" J asked as well.

"Now that's what a proud witch such as myself wants to hear!" She exclaimed, patting J on the shoulder. "I am Nimue, first of her name, leader of the coven Haventale, and first follower of the mother witch, Clio!"

The other witches around us whooped and cackled, cheering.

"Clio?" Yuri asked. "The first potion-maker?"

"Handsome and smart." Nimue commented, making us gag and cringe. She winked at Yuri. "Right you are, eyebrows."

Yuri slowly frowned. He didn't have any eyebrows, so I'm sure no one could tell if it was a compliment or insult.

"Wait." Glitch furrowed his brows. "Wasn't that, like, two hundred-something years ago?"

"Aww." She cooed, turning to her followers. "They're so clueless. Aren't they adorable?" She cackled again. "Yes, it was. Can anyone tell me what else Lady Clio was famous for?"

"Did you pull us over just to quiz us?" Scarlet rolled her eyes.

"Please don't ruin my good mood." The witch's smile faded slightly, becoming more strained. "You don't want to see my ugly side."

"I'm pretty sure we alrea-"

"She attempted to create an immortality potion, right?" Glitch interrupted Scarlet to avoid a worse situation. "But it didn't work, and she was shunned for not only her failure but also the unethicality of it."

Nimue pressed her lips together in annoyance at the recollection. "Yes, that's right. She was going to give the world a gift, and attempted the impossible. When she sought out the accomplishment, it was frowned upon, yet the worlds' eyes were on her, expecting it to happen. And when it didn't they laughed in her face and turned their backs on her!" Nimue was getting visibly angry. "There were few of her followers that still stayed by her side, and I was one of them."

"But..." Skye looked confused. "That means you're..."

"Two hundred years old?" She went back to grinning. "I look good for my age, right?"

No one said anything.

"Alright, fine." She brushed off her shoulder. "I'm assuming your silence means you're speechless. Well, allow me to explain. She wasn't able to make an immortality potion, no, but she did make a potion that made aging awfully overrated."

"You age slowly?" Yuri asked, unable to hide some of his excitement. "Was it a one-time potion, or do you need to continuously reapply? Are there different strengths of the potion? Could you recreate it? Do you know how to make it in the first pla-"

"Calm down." Nimue raised a hand to tell him to stop. "Sheesh, you get excited quickly. Unfortunately, she died before she could reveal the recipe. I'm assuming she didn't use it on herself because she was so old already, so she handed it to her youthful right-hand woman." She smiled proudly. 

"Okay, cool." I said sarcastically, despite thinking that it was actually cool. "So we got a history lesson and learned about your personal life. Is that it?"

"You children are nasty!" She scrunched up her face in disgust, then laughed again. "I love it. And my 'history lesson' is a story I decided to tell because I like to hear the sound of my voice." She rested an elbow on Gordon's shoulder, despite him being taller than her. "So tell me, what's your story, blondy?"

Gordon raised his eyebrows. "We're on a quest. Which we should get back to."

"Okay, Mr. Serious!" She huffed with a grin. "What kinda quest, huh? Gonna go do something to defeat Lord Herobrine, or something?"

"'Lord'?" Most of us asked at once.

"Oops." She covered her mouth sarcastically. "I spoiled the surprise."

Her followers started laughing. I forgot they were there, to be honest. Their particles had disappeared, but our slowness ones were still active. I needed to start thinking of a way out.

"Yes, we are his followers. Even though I'm older than him." She snickered. "I love saying that. Anyway, Herobrine came to us long ago asking for our allegiance and for us to come to him in his time of need. I declined at first, of course, because I'm stubborn, but eventually he persuaded us with lavish treasures and titles." She squeezed Gordon's shoulder again. "So anyway, you're going to do something that'll wreck his plans, right?"

"I mean, yeah." Scarlet nonchalantly revealed.

"Scar!" Ash whispered.

"What?" She raised her hands slowly. "It's not like we can lie about it. I mean, what are we supposed to say? That we're out for errands?"

The witches all laughed at that, which made Scarlet narrow her eyes slowly.

"I like this one a lot. She's annoying, but in a charming way." Nimue patted Scarlet's head. "Anyway, here's why we're here. We can't let you go any further. So, we're either gonna kill you, enslave you, or allow the females to join us."

"That's sexist." Ash grumbled.

Nimue shrugged. "Those are the rules. Women are naturally better at everything."

"Okay, Cluck."

"It's your choice." She ignored him and spread her arms.

I searched my brain for a way out of the situation. Option One: We could pretend to join, but I wasn't sure if she would trust us right off the bat. Option Two: Begging for mercy, which should be removed as an option. Option Three: We could fight our way out, but we were slowed and outnumbered; we'd be killed easily. Which brings us to Option Four: Die.

I really wanted to lean toward option two, but I was absolutely stumped. I couldn't figure out how to escape. We were stuck.

But apparently, Scarlet wanted option one.

"Okay." She shrugged. "I dunno about the others, but I'll join."

"Really?" Nimue asked, both excited and surprised. "How come?"

"Seriously? This whole time I've been having to trail behind the shadow of a clueless demigod who doesn't deserve this dramatic destiny she was given. Plus, her friends are annoying and immature. I wish they never joined the Rebels."

Part of me believed she was just saying all of that to gain Nimue's trust. But the tone in her voice suggested some of it came from truth.

"And what about..." Nimue swept her eyes around us. "Your friends?"

Scarlet looked at Ash and Yuri, who were staring back intently.

"They're better off without me," she muttered.

I could see hurt in their eyes. Either they believed her, or were excellent actors.

"Hm..." Nimue moved her away from the group and circled her, examining her. "Hmmm..." Then, she pulled out a potion, and tossed it on Scarlet.

We all gasped, but nothing happened. However, when Scarlet moved her arms, she was back to normal speed.

"I can see you're different." Nimue rested her hands on Scarlet's shoulders. "You are very mature for your age. You also hold much negativity in your heart. Hatred, annoyance, disgust... You can turn that into power and strength. Our group will welcome you with open arms."

The witches whooped and hollered and clapped. Scarlet let a small smile come to her lips.

I stared at her with anger. "Immature? Annoying? We're not the ones who had a bad attitude about literally everything. I swear, all you did was complain! It's like nothing makes you happy." I remember what J told me. "Just because you're edgy doesn't make you better than us."

Nobody spoke.

Scarlet looked at me, one eyebrow slightly raised. "You done yet?"

"OoOoo." The witches commented.

"No." I said in a matter-of-fact tone. I didn't care if her performance was real or not. I was feeling angry, and I was going to let it out. "You should go with them, actually. Because you know what you are?"

"What am I?" She crossed her arms.

"Don't say it..." Skye whispered.

"You're a witch."

The witches booed.

"That must be one of the annoying ones." Nimue laughed, then nudged Scarlet. "You should do something about it."

"Hm." Scarlet tilted her head, her face unamused and flat. Then, she uncrossed her arms. "Okay."

In a flash of speed, Scarlet lunged down and swung her leg around. She kicked under Nimue's knees, and the witch fell to the ground. In the same swift movement, Scarlet took out her scythe and swung it downward, hitting the ground right next to Nimue's head.

At the same time, I heard a potion splash on us, and panicked at first. However, the potion made our slowness disappear. Ash and Yuri were the first to take out their weapons, the rest of us following suit. I pulled out my backup diamond sword.

The witches got out their potions and brandished their weapons. The light blue-robed one, Clover, stepped off the railing and closer to us.

"Back off!" Scarlet shouted, moving the tip of her scythe closer to Nimue's neck. "Unless you have a potion that puts someone's head back on."

"Stand down!" Nimue screamed. "Lower your weapons!" She was flat on her stomach, so it was difficult to see her facial expression. However, she did not seem happy.

They all put their weapons and potions away, fidgeting around and looking nervous.

"I don't know what just happened." Gordon said, holding out his sword. "But I'm very glad it did happen."

Me too.

"What happened was me being edgy." Scarlet knelt down next to Nimue and spoke to her. "Tell your witches to get off the Chariot."

"That's what you call this?" Nimue asked. When Scarlet moved her blade even closer, Nimue said, "Okay! Okay! Calm down. Haventale, back up!"

The witches all looked at each other with nervous expressions, but did as she said.

"Have them all line up on one side." Scarlet continued.

"Witches, line up!"

Her followers did as they were told. Shoulder to shoulder, they stared up at us from about ten blocks away.

I was amazed to see a normal person like Scarlet outsmart a two-hundred year old witch. To see her come out on top made me admire her a little more, but also made me fear her more too.

"Ash." Scarlet called out. Ash moved forward as Scarlet grabbed the back of Nimue's robes and pulled her up. He threatened her closely with one of his knives until Scarlet was stable enough to then jut her scythe blade under Nimue's neck. Ash backed away.

"Tell them to put their potions on the ground, and back up." Scarlet told her. When Nimue called out the order, Scarlet said to Yuri, "Start up the Chariot."

"With pleasure, comrade." Yuri put away his weapon and walked over to the controls.

I walked over to where my bow was dropped on the floor, and collected it. Then, I climbed to the top deck and notched an arrow, ready to shoot anyone who did anything suspicious.

Meanwhile, the witches were dumping their potions. And there were a lot. They also dropped their swords, bows, crossbows, arrows, even some axes.

"You are worse than a witch." Nimue snarled. "You don't deserve to even be compared to the title!"

"Mhm, keep talking." Scarlet was hardly paying attention to her.

"You won't get away with messing with us. With me," Nimue continued, her eyes filled with fury and her face twisted in anger. "I will find you. You will regret rejecting me."

Scarlet gave her famous unamused look. "Okay, boomer."

Nimue growled. Any confidence or charm she had before was all gone. Now she only looked like who she was on the inside-- a savage, arrogant, show-off. A witch.

"I think they're done." Skye said, looking over the side.

I peered over and saw that the witches had all of their potions in a pile along with their weapons. It was a massive pile. They were backed up about ten more blocks.

"Cool." Scarlet smiled proudly at Nimue. "Ash?"

Ash walked forward and cut Nimue's sash, taking it from her. Nimue knew what to do next, and began emptying her inventory before she started being threatened. I aimed at her. She could definitely throw something that hit the entire group, but I was further away, so I was the assurance that she would not live if she made a wrong move.

"Ms. Scarlet, may we raid their pile?" Skye raised his hand.

"You may."

Skye, Glitch, J, and Gordon hopped off the Chariot and to the massive pile of loot. They started grabbing whatever they could carry in their inventories, with Yuri calling out which colors to grab.

After a little bit, the four came back on with inventories and hands filled with new loot, and big smiles on their faces. Gordon then set his stuff down, hopped off, and placed a piece of TNT in the smaller pile. He lit it and ran, making the witches shot in protest and back away.

BOOM!

"Nice touch." I called out to him as we all admired the crater in the ground.

Gordon bowed, and smiled at me as he made his way back. He seemed in a better mood. Which was understandable.

"Filthy, uneducated brats." Nimue was breathing heavily. "You, Scarlet, are right about one thing. Your friends are better off without you. You are all pathetic, but you are the worst. You think you're so much better than me? I am centuries old. I was practicing magic while your gods were in diapers! You are nothing compared to me. You are just an insolent, flawed, negative little girl."

Scarlet stared at her for a few seconds, then spoke, "You know, this was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be." She gave a mischievous smile. "I expected some big battle. But I guess we overestimated you."

She growled again.

"I think we're all good." J informed Scarlet.

Scarlet nodded, and turned toward the witch. "Yeah, so my flaw is negativity. I get that. I'm cool with it. It just makes me edgy and tiresome to others.  However, yours is hubris. Cocky, annoying hubris. And it has destroyed you. Goodbye, Nimue."

She raised her scythe.

"Whoa!" Skye exclaimed, backing up.

"Wait!" Gordon called.

I widened my eyes, took aim, and shot.

The arrow sailed through the air just as Scarlet's scythe made its downward swing. It hit the blade just before it pierced Nimue, and the weapon was knocked out of her hands.

Nimue attempted to get the weapon while Scarlet was momentarily shocked, but Glitch ran forward and grabbed it, brandishing his sword and making the witch halt.

"What in the Nether was that?" Scarlet screamed up at me.

I jumped down, which actually hurt a little bit, but still looked cool probably. "We already got their items. They're helpless now."

"They help Herobrine." She retorted.

"We slowed them down! But we aren't going to kill anyone." I snapped as I got closer to her face. "That would make us worse than them."

The death glare she gave me nearly made a chill run down my spine, but I still held my ground. I didn't care. I refused to take part in what she wanted to do.

"Scar." Ash put his hand on her shoulder, and she whipped her head toward him. He, too, risked looking her in the eye. "Let's just go."

She looked at him, then Yuri, then Nimue. Then, she stomped into the interior cabin area of the Chariot and out of sight.

I sighed, then went over to Skye, and whispered to him. He handed me two potions, and I walked over to Nimue, holding out the drinkable bottle. She stared at it, narrowing her eyes, then took it. She drank it all, and gray particles appeared around her, slowing her.

"Revenge." I put my bow away, pushed her over to the edge, and heaved her over.

She fell on the ground with an "Ooooof". Her followers started inching forward. Clover sprinted forward and helped her leader up.

"It's been great meeting you all." I waved to them as the Chariot backed up away from the tree we hit. Then, Yuri turned it away from them, and we started drifting away.

I climbed to the top deck again, and tossed the second potion at their group. It hit most of them, and the same gray particles swirled around their group, making some of them groan very slowly. I grinned at my accomplishment and watched them until they finally disappeared from view.

I climbed back down, and noticed the others were either looking at each other or admiring the pile of potions and weapons.

"Did we just raid the people who tried to ambush us?" Glitch summed up our interaction in a question.

"I guess so?" Skye shrugged.

"Whatcha get?" Gordon asked J, and the four sat down and started comparing potions.

I turned to the cabin, where Scarlet was sulking in the dark. As I started walking that direction, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't." Ash told me, then gestured toward an area further away. We walked there together, and he whispered to me, "Scar gets a little intense, but she's still a good person."

"She tried to kill someone." I argued. "And called us annoying and immature, and said that she wished we never met you guys."

"Nimue hit some nerves that Scarlet didn't like. You probably would've felt the same if she insulted you the same way. As for calling you annoying, yeah, her patience is thinner and she acts more mature, but she doesn't hate you guys. You are her friends, and she knows it." He leaned forward and whispered, "In a way, she's jealous."

I leaned back in surprise, then pressed my lips together. "I have a hard time believing that, but... whatever."

"Not whatever." Ash grabbed my arm when I turned to leave. I was shocked with how stern he was. "Scarlet is a great person. She hasn't shown you guys yet because she has no idea how to feel about what's happening. She's not good at coping with the idea of dying, and she's choosing to try and not feel or get attached. I understand it's hard to deal with, but she will break through her whole act eventually. So please, be patient with her, and she'll show respect in return soon enough."

At first I was annoyed with how he was treating me like a little kid, but that eventually melted. I knew he was just defending his friend. I would do the same in his shoes. Still... it was frustrating.

"How long have you and Scarlet known each other?" I asked.

"Only a few years." He looked at the trees slowly passing by. "She was a part of the Rebels for a little bit before I joined. Even though we're the same age, she was better at responsibilities than I could, and I knew I could rely on her instantly. We became close, and when Jazz joined, the three of us were like siblings. We're family."

I remembered when Jazz wanted to join the End trip, but Ash and Scarlet told him no. They did want to protect him. She did care about them.

"Hey," Skye said to no one in particular. "What even happened? How did we lose the slowness?"

Yuri chuckled. "I always keep spare anti-effect potions. Washes everything away, and is certainly faster than milk. Scarlet and Ash knew I needed a distraction, so our favorite scythe-swinger took the lead."

"She put on quite the show." Gordon laughed.

The rest of them chuckled, and I smiled. The Rebels definitely had a good relationship with each other. If those guys really liked being around Scarlet, then I needed to wait her out and see for myself who she could be.

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★

Yeah, this is a few days late. So whAt

I don't know what to put here

This is late but I will still try to publish on Saturday as well. I will have more opportunities to write and the next part will be more fun to write about :D

Bye everyone

¸,ؤº°'°º¤Ø,¸¸,ؤº°                 

ⓡⓞⓒⓚ   ⓞⓝ,   ⓜⓨ              

ⓛⓘⓣⓣⓛⓔ   ⓡⓔⓑⓔⓛⓢ                   

°º¤Ø,¸¸,ؤº°'°º¤Ø,¸