End

Chapter 4

"Wh-what do you mean?" Steph asked. Did End come to kill her? Certainly not, right?

"I can't explain here, we need to get moving! " End said, desperately, "Grab my hand, I need to teleport us to the place."

It was raining out, and thunder boomed in the distance.

"Won't you get hurt in the rain?"

"Gah! Forget about the rain! We need to move, NOW!"

Steph grabbed his hand, and End did not hesitate. As soon as she grabbed it, End was teleporting. Steph managed to keep her mouth closed this time, but she still went cross-eyed. Steph heard End gasp as they traveled across the rain in a matter of a second.

Steph stumbled as they stopped, and End put his hands on his knees, panting. They were in a desert, the skies still dark as the storm continued around the biome. End only wasted a few seconds before he stood upright and started running in a direction.

"Come...on!" He panted, and Steph followed.

"Can you explain to me now?" Steph yelled over the rain.

"Okay...." End said, still struggling for breath as he sprinted, long legs giving him an advantage, " I was born into a clan of Endermen, and that clan had around several hundred Endermen at the least. The Endermen kidnapped and trapped humans that joined this world, just keeping them on the verge of death, not letting them leave."

"I didn't like this at all. When I was younger, I used to slip the humans half of my meals after my parents went to bed. Once I got older I only got more and more risking, letting a few slip out at night and such. One day, a guard saw me, and called the royal king. Long story Short. They banished me."

Steph was shocked and disgusted at this. Why would they do this? That's horrible! I guess that is what End meant when he said "enslaved and tortured".

"Because all Endermen born into that clan are chipped with a tracker, they can see who and what I've been with. They are still herding humans today, and now," End stopped as he caught his breath and continued, " now,they are looking for you!"

Terror crawled over Steph like water trickling down her body. She could only imagine what it was like, being kept there on the verge of death and not being able to leave. 

"Where are we going? Why can't I mine a 2x1 tunnel so they can't reach me?"

"They can see the blocks you've placed and mined. It's happened to someone else before. I'm bringing you to their mine, they'll only see that the person before you has mined it, not you."

"Why do you get so tired when teleporting?"

"Each time an Enderman teleports, it takes away energy from them, and it feels like I've sprinted from your shelter to here, that's why I'm so tired. The longer the teleport, the more tired I am. If it's too long of a length, I'll pass out, go in a coma, or even die!" End said, still slightly out of breath as they ran through the desert.

They sprinted through the desert, and Steph started to get winded after awhile. How far is it?

They stopped abruptly as an Enderman teleported in front of them. He was larger than End, burly, and darker, his eyes pointed cruelly. Three more Endermen teleported around him. Two were large and burly like the first, but the last one was smaller, weaker, but darker and even meaner looking, if that was even possible 

"The king..." End said in an undertone, barely audible to Steph, even though he was right next to her.

End was normally dark and mysterious, even creepy if you didn't know him, but compared to these Endermen, he looked like the nice, caring person he actually is.

The smallest Enderman of the three, Steph assumed the king, and the rest were guards, began speaking in Ender, the Enderman language. Even though he was the same size as End, his voice was deeper, and much, much more accented. He spoke lazily, occasionally gesturing to Steph, but End seemed emotionless.

End said something in Ender, then the king began speaking in English to Steph.

His voice was so accented, she could barely understand it, "And you. Scum. Worthless. Barely do damage without the aid of a so called "weapon"" he chuckled, and anger began blossoming inside of Steph.

"Your friend, End, was stupid to help you. He knew we were going to find you. Why get himself attached? I am ashamed to call him kin." The king spat on the ground next to End's foot, and Steph's rage for herself and End boiled over, while End looked as calm as ever.

"You are the one who is disgusting! Capturing and torturing humans like this! How can you sleep at night?!" Steph yelled at the top of her lungs, and pointing at the king.

"Ah, so he told you about our ways? How pathetic." The king held up a hand, and the guards rushed toward Steph and End, knocking Steph across the sky.

She flew for about 15 blocks in length, and cried out as she smacked against the sand. Steph had rolled when she hit the earth, so she could see End's blurred shape, trying to fend off three guards. Endermen bones were much, much more stronger than human's, naturally so were their blows.

Steph's sight kept blurring in out of focus, her heartbeat thrummed in her ears, Help End... she willed herself, but barely managed to do anything other than lift herself to her knees.

While End was receiving nasty blows and bruises, he was also giving out pretty good hits. Steph crawled over to End, but she only got 6 blocks away when the king yelled something in Ender - for he was only watching them-, and a guard broke away from End, and over to Steph.

The Enderman punched Steph in the jaw, and she screamed as she heard it crack. End looked up from his fight, which caused him a few blows to the face. The Enderman who hit Steph picked up a cactus block, and rubbed it over her back, causing Steph to shriek in agony as the cactus tore through the skin.

"Steph!" End yelled in despair.

The guard kicked Steph in the gut and shins, when the king yelled out something in Ender, frantic.

"No!" End called out after he did, and he teleported away from the two guards, now standing over Steph, slapping the guard in front of her.

Steph's eyesight grew fuzzy, the sounds of the fight being muffled. The last thing she remembered was End's muffled yell in her ear, "Stay conscious!"

A pop, then nothing.