Portals (A Minecraft Storymode Story) {{REWRITE}}

Deversorium - Pt. 2

Jesse raced after the ticket-thief, their feet pounding on the cobblestone street. Ahead of them, the thief was weaving easily in and out of the crowd like a fish swimming through a current, while Jesse struggled to keep up. Ahead of them, the thief suddenly cut to the right, disappearing around a corner. Jesse sprang forward and skidded around after them, barging through a couple of people as they did. Ignoring the indignant shouts from the pair, Jesse paused for a moment and looked around. They were back in the main street again, which was still packed with people and animals, but there was no sign of the thief.

Until a flash of gold caught Jesse's eye in time to see someone disappear between two stalls. Their brow furrowing, Jesse took off again, startling a man and his chickens and sending feathers flying everywhere. They slid around the corner and jogged behind the stalls, looking up and down the line of empty space. Most of the stalls had solid wooden backs, and the sound of the fair was slightly muffled. Jesse frowned. There was no none but a single tabby cat, who paused and looked up, green eyes wide with surprise, before hurrying off between the stalls.

A hand grabbed Jesse's shoulder.

Jesse yelped and whirled around, instinctively raising their sword. 

Sophie squeaked and held up her hands. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" she whimpered. "I didn't mean to scare you!" 

"Oh, man," Jesse gasped, "Can you maybe NOT sneak up on people?"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Sophie babbled. At her feet, her wolf, Suzie, flattened her ears and whined.

Jesse sighed and shook their head. "Nevermind. I saw the thief go this way, so they went down here somewhere. Where are the others?"

"I think they split up or something," Sophie replied, eyes wide. 

Jesse nodded, thinking. "Okay. You go down that way, and I'll head this way." They looked Sophie over critically. "You... can fight right?"

"Of course I can fight!" Sophie exclaimed indignantly. "One of the best shots with a bow around, thank you very much!"

"Oof, just asking." Jesse began padding down to the right. "We'll meet up back at the stage, okay?"

"Okay!" Sophie headed off in the opposite direction.

Jesse followed the line of stalls, enjoying the peacefulness despite their desperate pursuit. As they went, the space between the stalls started to get blocked off with small cobblestone walls or piles of gravel or sand. It wasn't long before they rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a large cobblestone wall that marked the end of the stalls. Even though there was a trail of vines hanging down, Jesse figured that the chances of the theif actually climbing them was pretty low. If they knew the area (which Jesse assumed they did), then they wouldn't have turned down here in the first place knowing that there was a wall. With a sigh, Jesse turned to head back the way they'd come.

Then they suddenly paused, their foot raised, as a hushed voice reached their ear. Jesse stood there hesitating, one foot still in the air, and strained their ears. It sounded like there were several voices, and they were all coming from the other side of the wall. Jesse thought for a moment, but sheer curiosity got the better of them.

They tip-toed over to the wall and silently clawed their way up the vines. When they reached the top, they peered over just enough for their eyes to see the scene below. And what they saw made a flush of anger bubble inside their chest.

It was the same group of bullies as before, the ones who'd been picking on Cluck. The leader, a guy with brown hair and blue eyes, called 'Birch' as Cluck told Jesse, was beaming at his two friends, dressed in black. And in his hand was the Golden Ticket.