SHADOW KNIGHT'S REVENGE: A Minecraft Diaries Fan-Fiction

Chapter XIII: Journey to Scaleswind

It was high time that Arabella should meet up with the others. If she stayed alone for too long, they'd get worried, and her thoughts would kill her.

Arabella picked up her battle-axe that was lying on the grass. For the first time, she carefully inspected it. One edge of the blade was a soulless black, and the other was a demonic red, like Laurance's sword when he transformed into a complete Shadow Knight. It emitted some sort of uneasy glow--the same glow coming off of Shadow Knights--but you wouldn't notice it until you came up close to it. Other than that, the weapon seemed pretty normal.

Arabella slung it on her back and headed towards the direction the others ran off to. It was only a minute's walking before she reached a still lake, and a little way from that, she heard familiar voices.

The first thing she noticed was Aphmau talking to a bubbly redhead. The second thing she noticed was Laurance totally knocked out. She would've questioned it, but looking at the redhead, she knew exactly what had happened.

"Aha!" piped up the redhead. "Arabella's here, too!"

Arabella didn't think the girl knew that out of all the people who went to Irene's Dimension, she was the only one who actually died.

"Good to see you too, Nicole," said Arabella.

"Oh, my Irene," said Nicole jumpily, "this is so exciting! All of you are--wait, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Aphmau.

"Someone is watching us." Nicole readjusted the goggles on her head and proceeded to creep up towards the noise. Suddenly, a flash of blue hair sent Nicole to the ground.

"Katelyn!" shouted Aphmau disdainfully as the Firefist looked at the passed-out Nicole as if to say, Whoops, I messed up.

"Uh," she said sheepishly, "this is Nicole Von Ronsenburg..."

"Katelyn!" repeated Aphmau accusingly. "Why did you--first Laurance, and now--just--ugh!"

"Look, I thought it was a bandit who took out Laurance. Not my fault."

Aphmau groaned and started muttering something about taking Nicole to her own wagon. "Ugh, I'm just going to go sit down; take a drink of water, or something. Yeah. Good job, Katelyn. Thanks."

Katelyn shrugged and shot Aphmau a look that said it wasn't her fault.

Arabella couldn't help but crack a smile at this situation. "Come on, let's get these two to the wagon."

~•~

After the three conscious girls seated themselves at the wagon, all they had to do was wait as the chauffeur took them to Scaleswind.

Nicole was still unconscious, and Katelyn was fast asleep in her seat. Aphmau was intently gazing at the sights that they were crossing on their way to Scaleswind. Arabella sat at the back with a knocked-out Laurance that was constantly leaning on her.

Arabella was still thinking about what Laurance had said earlier. Arabella had died. That part, she was well aware of, but what hadn't known before was that the others actually confirmed her death. Moreover, it was Laurance of all people who had a little sliver of hope left that she was still breathing.

They weren't traitors, were they? All of them had stuck together through thick and thin. Sure, there would be some moments where one would despise the other, but in the end, they were all friends, and some even more than that.

Unfortunately, the pessimist side of Arabella's brain had to speak up. The second you come back to Phoenix Drop and discuss things with the other Shadow Knights, you'll need to start hating these people again.

Don't listen to that voice, replied the optimistic part, enjoy it while it lasts.

Or, keep thinking about it until it crushes you, suggested the pessimist.

Both of you, shut up. Arabella pushed both voices out of her head, but she took the optimist's advice. Just enjoy it while it lasts, Arabella.

"What are you doing?" asked Aphmau with a sly grin and a teasing voice. Arabella didn't understand what she meant by that, before she realised that all this time, she had been subconsciously brushing her hand through Laurance's messy hair.

"Nothing." Arabella quickly stopped her hand and pulled away from him, but she could already feel the blood rush in her cheeks.

"Right." Aphmau smirked, before looking back at the road ahead.

Arabella hadn't even noticed herself while she was amidst her own thoughts. Had she really been doing that all this time? Darn it, stupid hand. It also had to be Aphmau of all people to notice it. How embarrassing.

Arabella instead focused on the horizon which was slowly getting lighter. The golden sun was slowly rising into a new day, and just in time, too.

Arabella looked ahead to see large, well-built, stone walls surrounding a town. They finally arrived in Scaleswind.

~•~

It felt so good to be sleeping on a real bed after a long time.

Arabella had just woken up from her little nap in one of the guesthouses. Although she didn't sleep for long, she was well-rested. She left her bed and freshened up, wearing the new, clean clothes that Scaleswind had supplied her. It was a simple combination of a plain, grey top with a pair of black leggings.

Looking at the clock, it was apparent that she had missed breakfast. She did oversleep, then. Oh, well.

Arabella left her room and walked through the corridor to find anyone else. She decided to see Laurance first. After all, she'd been pretty rude to him the earlier night, and she wanted to apologise.

There was a thud. Arabella decided to follow that noise, only to discover Aphmau pushed to the floor by Laurance, who was lying right above her. Both of their cheeks were rosy red.

Bile rose up to Arabella's throat, but she pushed it back down. Suck it up, buttercup, she scolded herself.

Neither of them seemed to notice Arabella--again--so she cleared her throat. Laurance tilted his head towards her and quickly stood up straight. Aphmau did the same.

"So," started Laurance cheerily, "do you guys want to see if there's anything for lunch?"

Before Aphmau could respond, Nicole showed up into the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt this moment, but the leader of the Refugee Caravan wants to speak with Aphmau personally."

Nicole pulled Aphmau away to their own matters, so it was only Laurance and Arabella left.

"Hey, so, umm..." Arabella scratched her head. "I wanted to apologise for last night. I wasn't being myself."

"It's alright. Neither was I," replied Laurance. He looked down for a second, but his mood lifted immediately. "But, look, you're back! I've honestly missed you."

Arabella's heart fluttered at that last part. She smiled. "Yeah, I missed you too. All of you," she quickly added. "Say, we should go get lunch and catch up. I'm starving."

~•~

A/N: Hee, hee, there was a little bit of Laurabella fluff in this chapter that I think JfoJadeFan will certainly enjoy... meh, it was just one line of fluff. Probably less. Oh, well.

I put up a collage of some of the main characters in MCD at the moment along with Arabella, just to get a little visualisation of her. Yes, I know her eyes here have heterochromia (two different eye colours) when she was described to have grey eyes, but I'll change that later.

I also want to apologise in advance, because the next chapter will make you cry. Get the tissues ready, because you're about to go on an emotional rollercoaster...

-(Gr)ace