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

Dragon's Keep ~ Pt. 3

Why did their head hurt? Why did their arms and legs hurt? Why did everywhere hurt? 

Jesse's head was spinning, and their ears rang shrilly, making their headache even worse. Heat blazed down onto their face, searing their skin beneath their armor. It was bright - too bright. They couldn't open their eyes, they couldn't see! 

Jesse uttered a low moan and suddenly the light was gone and the heat from their face faded. They sensed someone bending over them, maybe talking. They strained their pulsating ears, trying to make out the words, but they only caught a few.

"I have... crush... on you..."

Jesse's brow furrowed. It sounded like Timber, but the words didn't make sense to Jesse. Their brain was foggy. What was she saying?

"Hear me... Jesse...?"

Jesse moaned again - a small noise through their mouth. They really wanted to shout What's going on? Why does my head hurt? What are you saying? Why can't I see? What happened? and a bunch of other things, but something told them there wasn't much chance of that happening right now.

Then someone hooked their hands under Jesse's armpits and hoisted them up so that they were sitting with their back against something like a wall. The sudden change in position made Jesse's head spin again, but they couldn't help cracking their eyes open slightly. Everything was blurry and bright, but they could make out a mix of colours, mainly earthy ones like red, yellow and brown. There were other colours too; blond and blue and grey and green, but the shapes were moving too fast for Jesse's sore eyes to follow. Someone was chattering non-stop, their words thick and foggy in Jesse's ears.

Something cold and hard was shoved between their lips and for a moment Jesse was startled. Then the first drop of potion touched their tongue and they sighed in relief. After a few mouthfuls, Jesse felt their strength returning. A pleasant coolness flowed through their body and their eyesight and hearing started getting better. They could make the shapes out now; Timber and Lukas, their faces hovering anxiously in front of Jesse's, eyes shining with worry and... was that guilt?

It didn't take Jesse long to finish the bottle, and afterwards they found enough strength to gently push the bottle away. "Th-thanks," they croaked with a cough. "I needed that. Nothing like a healing potion to perk up your day."

"I know." Timber's eyes were bright with worry. "I'm so sorry Jesse, Dustin told me to stay there and let Lukas help, but I couldn't stand to see you go over the edge and if I hadn't been there the weight probably wouldn't have made the sand collapse and-"

"Hey, it's okay." Jesse coughed again and offered a weak smile. "You just saved me with your potion, so you didn't do too badly. And I think the sand would've collapsed anyway, since the rest of it was going."

Lukas patted her shoulder, smiling. "They're right. I don't have anything on me that could've helped. Plus, Jesse broke both of our falls, so this isn't all on you."

"I-I did?" Jesse blinked. "Is that it feels like I was hit by a minecart?"

"We're not that heavy...!" Timber exclaimed in exasperation, before turning to Lukas doubtfully. "At least, I'm not."

Lukas scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm don't think I am either, but if I'm really honest with you, I'm surprised we even survived that. I guess the sand piled up so the fall wasn't as high as we thought. And, like I said, you kind of acted like a slimeblock, Jesse, and broke our fall."

"Is that what you were saying before?" Jesse asked Timber, suddenly curious. "Something about... crushing me?"

Timber looked away. "I said that I thought I had a potion, and I tried to tell you that I crushed you, but it would be alright because could use the potion on you..."