Virus (A Minecraft Story)

Chapter 37

Hercule's POV

I sneezed loudly, then immediately covered my face with a meaty paw and an apologetic glance. "Sorry."

Lyta looked over in interest. "I never knew zombie pigmen could sneeze."
I looked over at her uncomfortably. "Allergies, I guess... and my sinuses, unlike my fellow pigmen, have not been torn off my head."

She cringed, and I went to pat her on the shoulder, but then decided against it. I didn't want more pieces falling off me.

I'd accepted being a zombie pigman long ago, but this worn-out body still needed manoeuvering. In my old body, a playful hit, a gentle poke, or even a pat wouldn't have had to been thought out carefully, each one a planned-out operation. Occasionally, in that fiery prison, I'd thrown a punch to defend myself, keep away an angry guard or hostile blaze.

And they would fly backwards, hit a wall, vital parts breaking apart on impact. Or, in the case of a Wither Guard, they would snap and disintegrate from the force, jaw tearing off, skull shattering.
Then it was back to the cells, more torture and pain for my disobedience.

Roran glared at her. "Did I not just tell you two to be quiet?"
Lyta sighed. "Sorry, Roran. But we are standing in the middle of a snow pile. We're making noise, no matter what."

As if to prove her point, Dax tripped over and fell face-first into the snow. Tash grabbed his wrist and went to haul him up, but Dax was busy doing some weird thing with his hands and his legs, so the ensuing struggle looked like a very bizarre tug-of-war with a flailing fish. I had to press my lips together to stop myself from laughing out loud, Lyta snickered quietly, and even Roran gave a grudging smile.

The moment the Bat Mage had heard the Wolf Mage's distress call, we'd gotten up and moved as fast as we could. For a moment, Amber's horse had been a problem; she was refusing to leave her four-legged friend behind, and the ensuing speed we were going at would've killed him.

Then Tash said she had a way to get her horse back safely, took the horse by the reins, and walked away, into the mouth of the mountain entrance. When she'd come back, the horse was gone, and despite a few uneasy looks, we'd gone on our way. Now, with her newfound speed, Amber was the second fastest of our group; even the Bat Mage, with his massive wings to speed him ahead, had trouble keeping up with her.

Amazingly, it only took us a couple of minutes to find our designated biome, one covered in trees and snow. The Bat Mage had no idea his backyard neighbour was an old friend, hiding out just like him.

So now we were hiding under the trees, and waiting for the 'scouts' to come back and report.
When Dax finally got up, his black hair now mixed with white, there was an imprint of a person with wings in the snow.

"What is that?" Tash demanded. He grinned sheepishly. "It's called a snow bat. Picked it up when I was a kid." His face briefly flashed with pain as he recalled his destroyed village, then shook it off quickly.

Roran came over to inspect the shape. "Snow angel, actually." Everyone turned to look at him questioningly. "It's a thing that Earth people do," he explained. "Normally at a certain time of year, where they put lights on trees and sing songs about a holy man with a beard."

Blank stares. Then Tash said, "They're not singing about you, are they?"
Roran's eyes twinkled. "I'm not three thousand years old, and my beard is grey, thank you very much."

The Bat Mage, who was perched on a tree, using his unbelievably sharp eyesight to look for our scouts, glanced down. "And you didn't die on a cross, either. And can you walk over water?"

Roran raised his head to glare at his leathery-winged friend. "Did I ask for your opinion?"
As the Bat Mage opened his mouth to reply, there was an explosion of snow in the distance, which then travelled towards us at an alarming speed, like an ocelot's claw ripping through a pile of leaves.