Chromatober 2023

Day 16 - Below

Series: Rainbow Quest

--- Miner Orange Steve P.O.V. ---

"Ooooo diamonds!"  I quickly glanced over at the sound of Loud's voice, just to see a hunk of dark blue ore.

"Loud, that's lapis."  I corrected, picking it up anyway.  "Don't you ever go mining?"

"I do!  It was just dark!"  Loud defended.  I cringed at the echoes bouncing back to us.  Why had I agreed to let him be my mining buddy?

"You're going to attract the mobs."  I said quietly, glancing around to make sure that none were sneaking up on us.  "I haven't lit this place up yet, alright?"

"I can fight off any mob!"  Loud brushed me off easily.  "Don't worry about it."

I was very, very worried.

"Let's just focus on getting as much cobblestone as we can."  I muttered.  "The Orange Leader wants a lot so he can expand the new village."  Loud gave a mock-salute and started picking at the wall of one cavern, starting to collect.  I did the same, and started to relax as I got into a steady rhythm.  That was, until my pick swung through empty space.

"OH!  You found a cavern!"  Loud noticed.  I nodded, holding a lantern up to the hole so I could see how deep it was.  It was about ten blocks off the ground.  The steep incline was patched with an eerie, pulsing substance.  I stared at the dark teal stuff with horror, my gaze quickly darting back to Loud.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?"  he exclaimed, pointing down at the skulk.  I cringed.

"Loud, keep your voice down."  I ordered in a frantic whisper.  Two of the sculk sensors lit up, detecting the echoes.

"BUT WHAT ARE THEY DOING, MINER?  ARE THEY ALIVE?"  The third lit up, and I bit back a shriek of alarm as the ground started to rumble beneath us.

"Shhhh!"  I hushed quickly, already preparing my shield.  I had only had one encounter with a warden, and it hadn't gone too well.  I would be lucky if I made it out alive this time.  Loud would be ten times as lucky if he also survived.

Massive paws thudded onto the ground as the warden dug its way out, its creepy face swinging toward us.  Loud screamed, his voice painfully obvious.

The problem, of course, was that it was chasing us toward the sculk.

Praying silently to Origin, I dragged Loud down behind me, trying to forcefully cover his mouth.  It wasn't helping much.

Sculk sensors lit up like little alarms, illuminating the warden chasing us.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"  Loud screamed, echoing my mental thoughts.

We kept running, narrowly dodging a blow that could have killed us.

Further down, I could see an ancient city.  Loud and I kept slipping toward it, trying not to trip on the way down the steep cave.  It was a shame.  I always wanted to loot one of these.  Now, I might never get the chance.

I ducked a blow from the warden, and my feet swung out from under me, sliding on the loose gravel.  I let go of Loud's hand as I fell, plummeting several blocks down before I landed on a ledge below.  I stifled a groan.  Ouch.

"MINER!"  Loud screamed, looking frantic.  The Warden reared back at the volume.  Privately, I agreed.  I covered my ears as the echoes bounced back.  This ancient city apparently had great acoustics.

I popped back up, waving quietly to get Loud's attention.  I gave him a quick thumbs-up to show I was okay, then put my hand angrily on my lips.  If he could just shut up, we might survive this mess.

I glanced uneasily behind him to see the warden stumbling around in confusion.  I frowned.  What?

"Did you hit it?"  I asked as quietly as I could, trying not to catch the creature's attention.

"No."  he said in the closest to a whisper I had ever heard him use.  "It just freaked out at all the echoes.  I sounded pretty scary, huh?"

I thought about that for a second.  Had the echoes confused the warden?  I guess with a voice as loud as well, Loud's, it might be disorienting.  It hadn't even been able to tell where Loud was.  My eyes trailed back to the ancient city.

I wanted to loot it so, so badly.  I glanced back up at Loud, already regretting my next words.

"Hey Loud?"  I whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I have an idea."

"Go on."

"I need you to shout as loudly as you can for as long as you can, to confuse the warden."  His orange eyes lit up like I just told him Christmas was coming early.

"Really?"

"...yes."

"No one's ever let me do that before!"  He was practically bouncing up and down.  "When do I start?"

"Now."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Taking a piece of wool out of my inventory, I quickly crafted a pair of earplugs, which somewhat muffled the noise.  As the warden lumbered around in confusion, I quickly snuck my way toward the ancient city.  I opened one of the chests, pulling out a strange disk piece and a handful of echo shards.  They glittered in my hands as I quickly pushed them into my inventory.  I glanced back, only to see that Loud wouldn't run out of air any time soon.

I smiled.

The Orange Leader was going to be so happy with us!

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Word Count: 848