Virus (A Minecraft Story)

Chapter 19

Amber's POV

"Crap!" I yelled, as I fell to my death. I would've sworn at Roran for throwing me out the window, but the wind snatched my words away. I would've been smashed into a pancake, but Roran yelled something, and I shot forwards instead of falling and breaking my face. I shot into the grass and slid along the ground, eventually coming to a stop a mile away from the village. I spat dirt out of my mouth and turned my head to glare at the tower where Roran was standing. "We will have words about this!" He saluted, then turned on his heel and walked away. I clambered to my feet, wiping mud and grass off my t-shirt, and started trekking through the field. And I did meant through, not across; it was more like a battle instead of a walk. The grass came up to my head, wrapping around my legs and tripping me up, hiding puddles until I'd stepped in them, and it got up my nose about a million times. But finally, after falling in a pond and wrestling with a lily pad, I dragged myself out of the field, picking enough wheat seeds out of my hair to sustain the whole Overworld population, Users included. I sat down at the edge of the wild field, to wait for the Portal to appear. The sun bathed me in its golden rays, drying out my sodden clothes as it rose into the sky. I waited, munching a steak sandwich, but the Portal didn't appear. I began to get impatient, getting up and pacing as the sun began to sink. As I started to think I'd have to stay the night here, the ground rumbled. I stopped and looked at the ground, to make sure it was really happening. Sure enough, a section of the ground was turning black, bubbling like lava. It began to rise out of the ground, forming a black, liquid Portal frame. Then it solidified, and those eerie purple swirls formed inside, creepy sounds coming from it. I shivered. I hated the Nether; everything would either burn forever, or couldn't be set on fire. It took the fun out of things. I stood there, staring into the swirls. Then, as the sky became a beautiful orange, the swirls paused. I knew what that meant, and stepped back, expecting them to jump through, alive and well. Instead, I felt the tip of a knife being pressed into my back, ripping my shirt. I froze. "If you move, you die." A voice said, and I didn't bother nodding. "Take out your axes and drop them on the ground." The voice commanded, and I grabbed both habdles. As I took them out, I swung them, ignoring the cut that the knife made in my back and spinning to face my attacker. He dodged and rolled out of the way, spinning around to face me. I couldn't see him properly, because he was wrapped in a dark cloak,  the hood pulled over his head. He lunged at me, knife outstretched, but I rolled away. I lashed out with my axes, aiming at his head, but he spun in a circle and he was suddenly gone. I swore, wondering where he'd gone, then realised where he would go. I ducked, and his knife went sailing over my head. I threw myself at him, axes swinging, but he jumped out of the way, towards the Portal. I was about to chase him away from it, but then saw the Portal was getting brighter and brighter, about to spit out its passengers. And, knowing my friends, they were most likely to come out with weapons swinging. I slowed my pace, shuffling towards him. He reached under his cloak and drew out a sword. It was all diamond, gleaming harshly in the setting sun's light. And, flowing inside the blade itself, was lava. Just by looking at it, I knew it probably had something to do with burning people to death. Just then, the Portal gave a warning hum, and I quickly stepped aside. The man turned to look at the portal - only to get kicked in the face. Ana came hurtling out, along with a guy that I assumed was Dax. He leapt to his feet, black hair messed up and his orange eyes full of adrenaline. Then he looked down at the crumpled unmoving figure. "Oh, come on!" He complained, nudging the cloaked figure with his foot. "I wanted to fight stuff!" I raised an eyebrow. "You sound like Tash." Dax spun around, hands coming up. "You a friend of hers?" "Yup." Dax sighed with disappointment. "This sucks. I want to blow up the mobs who held me prisoner since I was nine, but then Tash blows them up. Then we come through, and there's a freaky evil assassin guy here, and Aba knocks him out before I've even recovered from Portal lag!" He looked down at Ana, probably about to step on her because she stole his glory, then paused. "Oh, that's not good." I ran over, and saw Ana was passed out on the grass. Symbols were running across her skin, constantly shifting and changing. I sucked in my breath. "She's Morphing." Dax nodded grimly. "We'll have to look after her. If the mobs see a defenceless Realmer, they'll kill them instantly - especially Ana." A worried silence spread over us, as we stared down at Ana's limp form. Then Tash ruined the mood by leaping out of the Portal screaming, "DIE, SCUM, DIE!" And shooting fire from her hands. Then she saw us, saw Ana's unconscious body, and froze in mid-strike. "Umm... bad timing?" I rolled my eyes and hugged her. "Naturally. We didn't expect anything less." Then the Portal spat out Lyta and Loca, who both had smoke curling off their arms, but were otherwise unharmed. Lyta breathed a sigh of relief. "You saved my butt there, Loca. I owe you." But Loca was kneeling by Ana's side, holding her hand. Tash came over and crouched by him. "There's nothing you can do, CM. You know that, and so do we." She gestured to Lyta and herself. They all gathered around, and a sudden sense of loss consumed me. When I'd joined the village, my friends hadn't left me; on the contrary, they'd built their house just a mile or two away from me, so we could see each other whenever we wanted to. Then the Change happened. They'd jumped into that Portal, ready to face the risks, and come back alive. But they were different; going to the End and the Nether, facing horrors and trials along the way that were unknown to me must've been Hell. Literally. But now, as I stood and watched them talk, I felt my loss like a physical wound; and, in some ways, it was. Dax leaned over to me and muttered, "What's CM stand for?" I smiled. "Chicken Man. Long story." Then the portal glowed, and immediately all three of them were on their feet, weapons drawn. Tash snatched up my would-be killer's sword. The Portal gave a violent shudder and deposited a figure onto the grass, before breaking apart and turning to dust. Tash pushed Lyta and Loca behind her. "Stay behind me." She ordered, looking at me a little longer than the others before sticking the sword out. "What are you?" She demanded of the figure, who definitely wasn't human. It raised its head slowly, and I noticed it was a zombie pigman. Tash tensed suddenly. "Its you. The prisoner with the weird eyes." Then she pressed the sword against its throat. "Why did you come here?" It shook its head slowly. Then it opened its mouth, and to my shock, I heard it speak. "I came here because I was trapped in the Nether. I wanted to see the sunshine, feel the wind on my face again." Loca glared at it. "Before you went back to taking innocent lives?" It looked at him, and, like Tash, he froze. "No. I am not really a foul monster. Why else would I be in Hell's Prison, a place for Realmers and the occasional stupid User? I am not a mob." It stood, and looked at me with gold-grey eyes, human eyes, that were full of intelligence; something that you never saw in a mob. Tash's hand began to tremble. "Are you saying..." He nodded at her. "Yes. I am not a monster - I am a Realmer."

This chapter is for my friends, the ones who seem to care about me. You guys have had a tough time, with many different things, and its been breaking up your friendships - and I don't mean just the main one, the one that was a war fought between Star and Fern. Guys - try and remember this. You all have your differences, your own lives, your own way. That has never broken you up. But now it has become a war between you; you might've laid down your arms, but I still see it being fought. It will take time to heal; I can see that quite clearly, but holding a grudge, neglecting each other whether on purpose or by accident, will only lengthen the gap between you. Try and patch things up, before the gap is too wide, like it is with me and my other friends. I just want you to remember this - Don't repeat my mistakes.
You'll regret it.
Tash