Wither

Chapter 15-Recruits

I walked back to the castle, satisfied that Notch would be proud of my work today. Tomorrow I would set off to find Ms. Mabel and all of the other powerful non players.

I reached the castle and rapped on the drawbridge. It swung open and I walked in, taking off the cowl of my cloak. I walked up seven flights of stairs before I reached the throne room (which was by no means the top). The butler opened the door frightfully and let me in. "My lord," I bowed deeply to the rather robust bald man on the throne. He got up and straightened his crown, which tended to slip due to his slippery head.

He gestured for me to rise. I did, but kept my eyes a respectful distance down. "Master Johann," he said, with a slight edge of disrespect in his tone. I grit my teeth, but kept my head bowed.

"You did a remarkable job disposing of the young prince and princess. My men could find no trace of them," Notch said with a slight curl of his lip.

"Yes, m'lord, I will be traveling to do the same to Lady Mabel Onyx in the morn," I said quietly, forcing the contempt out of my tone.

"The morning? No, Johann, I want it done now!" Notch roared suddenly, incensed. My head snapped up and a dagger flew to my hands. I tucked it back into my sleeve and, sheepishly, resumed my position of utmost obedience.

"Yes, Majesty, I will see it done before dawn," I bowed to the king and walked out after being dismissed. In reality, I hated the king, but I was a mercenary and this was a job that payed extremely well. I pulled the cowl of my cloak back over my face and launched myself into the humid, raining, midnight air.

I swung through the trees and blended with the leaves, my black suit concealing me from preying mobs and angry humans. A burst of light hit flashed by and I gazed into the distance. I could see the rich young woman's estate in the distance, so huge it could be spotted from miles away. The thunder that followed was deafening, but I continued on, uncomplaining.

I reached the estate. I took out my thievery tools and quickly picked the lock. I carefully opened the door, which the maids had kept well oiled. I traveled up two flights of stairs, looking at the map of the house I had been given to by Notch...who knows where he got it. I approached the bedroom. The door swung open and I saw a russet haired figure in a huge bed. There was a red canopy hanging from the four poster and she was laden with white, fluffy sheets. I walked in and my steps seemed to echo frightfully loud.

I held the gag in my hands, steadily walking over to the girl. Her fair pale skin was devoid of freckles, and she had high cheekbones. Her lips were bright red and I couldn't help staring at them for a moment. Mabel was a perfect creature, until I grabbed her by her rusty hair. Her emerald green eyes opened and she saw me. She let out a shrill scream of terror, her voice hoarse from sleep. I stuffed the gag, which was little more than a rag coated in sleeping drugs, into her throat and she coughed it out. Her eyes rolled back into her head and I put her in my arms. I stole some clothes from her various drawers and jumped out the window with her. When we hit the ground, I hugged her close and dropped into a roll, absorbing the impact.

I started to walk to the Nether portal. I dug through my rain soaked backpack and pulled out a heavy block of obsidian. I heaved it into place and lit my flint and steel, lighting the portal on fire. I was about to push Mabel in when I felt a swift kick on the small of my back. I yelled in surprise, dropped Lady Onyx, and almost fell in myself. My fingers scraped the obsidian and found purchase. I looked out and saw a man with radiant white eyes. Herobrine. He kicked my fingers, breaking them, and ignoring my small cry of pain, broke the Nether portal. I fell into endless purple and passed out.

*Sora's POV*

I was on a solo mission looking for some materials that Seto needed. My now keen senses tingled as I sensed a nearby presence. A fencing sword, which Toboe had been teaching me about, and a razor sharp dagger appeared in my hands as I warily approached, following my instincts. I sensed something coming and ducked. An arrow whizzed precisely where my head had been. I looked up and saw a shape on a glowstone colony. It was drawing the string on a massive longbow and I flung my knife at where he was perched precariously. The unimaginably sharp tip pierced his foot and he yelped, dropping the bow. He fell off of the glowstone colony and dragged his bow down with him. He landed with a clumsy but efficient roll.

The boy's skin tone was a dark gray. He had long, shaggy, chin length hair with a single streak of silver. His cold eyes were light gray/silver and he wore black, ragged clothes that were well worn. To top off the look, he had a bone on a necklace. With an expert flourish of his hands, he restrung the bow (which had come undone in the fall) and drew an arrow. "Show yourself," I said quietly. Menacingly. I pointed my thin foil (which had been sharpened) at him. He glared at me and shot a series of arrows. I deflected them all and moved forward, pointing my sword at his neck. "Who are you?"

"Why should I tell you?" He snarled.

"Because otherwise I'll do this," I snapped and smashed the hilt of the sword onto the hybrid's-obviously-head. He groaned and crumpled to the ground. I grabbed him by the arms and grit my teeth, dragging him to the camp.

Along the way, I passed the broken Nether portal. It glowed purple for a second and spat out two unconscious bodies at me. I yelped in surprise as they almost landed on me. I couldn't drag the boy out of the way. I inspected the other two. The girl had a mass of bronze, well combed hair. Her skin was pale and unmarked and her lips were a brilliant ruby. I looked at the man. He was ruggedly handsome, with close cropped brown hair and a bit of stubble on his chin. He looked older than all of my companions-excepting Romani-, but was still probably in his twenties. I knew I couldn't drag all of them, so I let out a piercing whistle.

Within moments, I saw a white blur. Peterson zipped into view. I grinned at him and said, "We have some new recruits." Peterson smiled back. We piled all three onto his back. I got on in front of them and Peterson zipped off.

We came to the camp. Peterson dropped the load of people onto Jet, who yelled at him until he noticed the girl, then fell silent. "We have some new recruits," I repeated, grinning.