Portals (A Minecraft Storymode Story) {{REWRITE}}

Under Development - Pt.2

Lukas didn't see the arrow coming. 

The only warning he had was a sharp whistling sound that made him turn around. And see the pointed arrowhead soaring towards his face.

Before Lukas could even yell, someone tackled him around the middle, sending the pair of them tumbling into the dirt. The arrow sailed clean over the top of them and embedded itself in a tree behind them, quivering.

Cringing, Jesse rolled off Lukas and stood up. "You okay?" they asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Lukas replied breathlessly, sitting up. "That was close. Thanks Jesse."

As Jesse grinned at him and offered a hand to help him up, Petra glanced at the forest around them, her golden sword already drawn. "Where did that even come from?" she demanded furiously. "Did those guys follow us?"

Dannie suddenly raised her own voice. "ARROW!" she bellowed.

Everyone immediately ducked, but no arrows came flying out from the trees. After a moment's pause, Jesse and the others slowly got to their feet. Jesse glared at Dannie, but she was scowling off into the trees. She hadn't ducked, and Jesse realised now that her shout wasn't a warning; it was a call.

A man appeared through the sparse gathering of trees, a grin on his face. He was clad entirely in mottled greens that matched the forest around him, with a hood and brown sash. His eyes were dark blue, and he had a scruffy brown beard and relatively long hair. In his left hand, he carried an enchanted bow.

As he approached them, Jesse sensed movement in the trees around them and several people dropped down out of the leaves, landing almost silently. All of them were clad in green with hoods and all of them had enchanted bows nocked and aimed at the group. Jesse felt the others tense beside them.

The first man stopped in front of them and leaned on his bow casually, like someone would lean with a sword. "S'rry about yond," he said good-humoredly, "But t's kind of mine own duty to shooteth people who is't-"

"You can use Newspeak," Dannie cut in with an eyeroll. "These guys don't understand Oldspeak."

"Oh, thank Either..." The man groaned, throwing his head back dramatically. "I've been starting to get tongue-tied with Oldspeak."

"Oldspeak?" Jesse asked, eyeing the stone-faced men and woman around them.

"Yep." The man grinned at him. "The way everyone speaks, unless you're 'Necromancer' scum, like us fine folk. Or an Enchantress, like her," he added, jabbing his thumb at Dannie.

Dannie's scowl deepened. "Or idiots who wander around in forests shooting people with bows."

The man pretended to look afronted. "Moi? An idiot? Dannie, how could you say that?"

"Maybe because you almost impaled Lukas' head?" Petra piped up with a snarl.

"No, because he missed Lukas' head!" Dannie stormed over to him and he actually took a step back. "Arrow, how many times do I have to tell you? If you're going to shoot at someone, at least hit them, so that people know we never miss intruders. You should've hit his shoulder, or at least skewered his leg."

Lukas peered over Jesse's shoulder. "I am right here, you know?"

"Yes, yes, you can play the whole 'offended' thing later," Dannie snapped, waving her hand dismissively. "We've got bigger things to worry about. There's a group of Huntsmen on the East outskirts," she said, turning to the man, Arrow. "I need you and your Jolly 'Men to go and chase them out again."

"Merry 'Men, Dannie," said Arrow, pouting. "'Jolly' Men just doesn't have the same ring to it. You do that just to ruffle my feathers."

"Your powers of observation are just as acute as Stone's," Dannie replied coldly. "Get out there."