Six Stone Souls (The Pack)

Chapter 7

Thank you Travis_The_Trash_123 for editing this chapter

Warnings: None

~Vikk's P.O.V.~

"A jungle you say? I might know where one is... What's it to you?"
"I'm uh... Looking for someone there..." I try, rubbing the nape of my neck.

The scruffy man squints and eyes me down. I shuffle my feet anxiously, feeling small under the mans stare.

"There's a jungle a few days on foot West of here. Can't tell ya if there's a jungle temple though. Now scram before one of those Endermen get suspicious." He grunts, shooing me away.
"Thank you sir."

I don't waste a second in turning on my heels and speed walking away. Jeez these people seem really reluctant to interact with me, or anyone in general really. Now... I just need to find Lachlan and we can get out of here. But where did he even go?

I stop walking with my back to a wall and glance around the plaza, trying to see if I can spot Lachlan. He said he was turning visible... I recall, confused as to why I haven't seen him yet. Suddenly something is brushing against my shoulder and I scream, jumping nearly two feet in the air. I whip around, already knowing who it is.

     "Lachlan!" I hiss under my breath to empty space in front of me. A few people send me suspicious glances. "Don't do that!"
     Even though he's invisible I can still sense the smirk on his face. "Sorry Vikk. Did you find out if there's a jungle nearby?"
     "Yeah but I'll fill you in better in a second. Let's get away from these people first... Talking to air probably isn't helping these people trust me."
     "Agreed."

     With that I lead Lachlan and I out of the town, and the instant I exit the dreary town, a weight is lifted off my shoulders. Lachlan phases back into view, which considering he's standing right beside me, is for some reason a bit unnerving. Thank goodness he's on my side.

     "Alright so most of the people there were complete plebs but I guess I can't really blame them. Luckily I managed to learn that there is a jungle a few days West of here. But I don't know if there's a temple there or not." I relay to Lachlan as we continue walking away from Waryville.
     "We should have got some food before we left. We barley have anything left." Lachlan frowns.
     I shrug. "Honestly we'll probably have a better chance of getting food out here. Something tells me that getting food in there probably isn't as simple as walking into a market and buying some."
     "Good point."

     As Lachlan and I continue talking, we begin our trek through the spruce forest surrounding the Western half of Waryville. But just as we enter the treeline, my skin starts to crawl and something urges me to stop and look back towards the town. Why do I feel like something is watching us...?

     "You comin Vikk?" Lachlan calls upon realizing I'm not beside him anymore.
     "What? Oh- yeah, sorry." I apologize, jogging up to catch up with him after one more quick glance over my shoulder.

     I could've sworn I saw an Enderman staring back.

~~~

     After a few days of traveling, having passed through quite a few forests and mountain biomes, the outline of a jungle finally climbs into view. The massive trees truly do stretch to the skies, some of them even breaking past the clouds.

     "Vikk, look! There it is!" Lachlan exclaims, pointing across the expansive plains before us.
"It's about time. I was starting to think we were mislead."

Lachlan opens his mouth to speak yet again, when suddenly a loud rumble is echoing through the sky.

"Oh no..." I groan, watching as suddenly big grey clouds roll over the sky, blocking out the sunlight.

Another clap of thunder accompanied by a flash of lighting is what begins the downpour, cold raindrops falling down in heavy sheets.

"Argh why the fudge do storms have to appear so quickly?!" Lachlan shouts over the downpour, throwing his hood over his head with a scowl.
"Quickly, we need to get under the shelter of the jungle trees before this storm gets any worse!" I yell, the wind picking up and flinging droplets into my face.

Lachlan and I toss our cloaks on in an attempt to shield ourselves partially from the rain. A blot of lightning strikes the ground dangerously close to us and we bolt across the plains without another thought. With wind and rain constantly battering us, and cracks of lighting being the only thing lighting the sky, by the time we reach the edge of the jungle we're drenched and shaking. And it's not long before we discover the leaves above do barely anything to protect us from the brine. Regardless we dash further into the brush, praying to stumble across some sort of cave or thick grove of trees, which is almost impossible since it's almost pitch black and our only light source is the random flashes of lightning.

A boom of thunder rings through the air, and a second later a large flash of lightning strikes a nearby tree, while simultaneously lighting up the area. The tree does catch fire as expected, but the pouring rain quickly snuffs it out. But that's not what I'm focused on. Up ahead there is a thick cluster of trees, vines covering the fronts of them and overall giving the area a dry look.

"Lachlan!" I shout over the howling wind and pouring rain.
"Yeah?!" Comes his voice from somewhere beside me, his figure only being briefly illuminated by lightning.
"There's a cluster of trees up ahead I think we can hide in! Follow me!" I yell, nearly tripping over a root.

I stumble forwards, and crash through the thick leaves in front of me. Only a second later and Lachlan is tumbling in beside me, another massive boom of thunder sounding above us.

"Oh thank goodness this place is dry!" Lachlan breathes, slumping down in the complete darkness.
"Yeah, gimme a sec... I think I might have a spare torch." I mumble, digging through my inventory.

I pull out the torch, the warm flames instantly giving light to the small grove we're situated in. Which actually isn't small at all. Now that the torchlight is illuminating the area it's clear that this 'small' grove is actually quite expansive, stretching a good way upwards and continuing on for a long ways.

"Much better." I state happily, placing down the flickering torch on the ground.

Lachlan's soaked cloak still clings to his body, the large hood shadowing his face, as with me. I reach up to pull back my hood when suddenly a diamond sword is being whipped out and held against my neck. My breath hitches and I notice Lachlan in the same position, a shadowed figure behind him wielding an iron axe against his throat. I move only an inch and the blade is pressing harder against my neck, threatening to break the skin.

"Don't move a muscle."

~~~

Question of the chapter:

Who was the first person you watched in the Pack?

My answer: Mitch. He was actually the second youtuber I ever watched, and I discovered him back even before Team Crafted was a thing.