The Horror Saga - Infection

Chapter 2

Ryan pulls a pot from a low cupboard, before turning the heat on for the stove and filling the pot with water. Void had followed him into the room, Rainbow staying back to keep watch over Lucas.

As he leaves the pot of water to boil, Ryan retrieves a chopping board and a knife, before glancing over at Void. He stares for a few moments, thinking to himself, before mumbling,

"I reckon it'd be like beetroot," he places the board and knife on the bench, before retrieving a beetroot from the fridge. He begins to chop it, as Void watches in curiosity.

"What is that?" He questions.

"Beetroot," Ryan answers. "I know it's not usually in a health potion, but we don't have Nether wart in this world, so I thought that this stuff would, you know, be the closest thing we have. It looks... kinda the same, it grows kinda the same, and people use it in food quite a bit."

"Ah, okay. What's your substitute for a glistering melon?" Ryan pauses, before scooping up the chopped vegetable into his hands and dropping it into the boiling water. "And why's that water bubbling?"

"Well, you use blaze powder to, I assume, make the water hot in the brewing stand," he answers, turning again to the fridge and pulling out a few pieces of already cut up watermelon. "I don't know how to make melon glisten in this world... apart from... oh what makes thing glisten?"

Again Ryan looks at Void, as if the Steve had answers written on his face. Ryan thought of Minecraft, and the things that healed players when they were poisoned or low on hearts and hunger. He listed them in his mind, crossing off things that either didn't have an equivalent or that wouldn't work, when he finds one.

"Honey," he states, before turning toward another cupboard. "Honey heals you in Minecraft right?"

"It does," Void confirms, realisation hitting him. "It can also be used as a substitute for milk to rid poison! Ryan you're a genius!"

"Oh, why thank you," Ryan replies, feeling a sense of pride. He pulls out a bottle of honey, readying to add the ingredients to the pot. He adds the watermelon in, along with a large squirt of honey. He then grabs a wooden spoon to mix the lot together. "I'm not too much of a chef, I will admit, nor am I the best at making Minecraft potions, but I'll wait until this is all boiled together then cooled, so we can feed it to Lucas and, fingers crossed, it heals him like a potion would."

"Thank you for your help, Ryan," Void says, before his thoughts turn. "I mean, it's not like you're doing this for us. You're just helping Lucas out."

"Hey, any friend of Lucas's is a friend of mine," Ryan responds, turning off the stove to allow the water to cool. "And, you seem cool and smart, plus you're from Minecraft! Like, that's pretty sick in my opinion."

Before Void could respond, the pair hear a strange thump from the next room, accompanied by Rainbow shouting. The two run in, seeing a tanned male with striking yellow hair lying next to the wall. Void runs over to stand in front of Rainbow, and Ryan stalks further into the room but keeps his distance.

"Who are you and how did you get into my house?" He questions, as the figure slowly recomposes himself.

"He-he just appeared! Out of nowhere!" Rainbow explains.

"He must've come from our world," Void tries to reason, before turning to Ryan. "Is that Sabre?"

"No, it's not," he replies, and the stranger gets to his feet, not taking his eyes off Ryan. "Who are you?"

"Answer him!" Void snaps, after a moment of silence. The man turns to Void, staring at him and Rainbow for a second, before laughing gently.

"Is that any way of talking to a king, Void?"

"Nightmare!" Rainbow explains, running from Void's shield and into the newcomer's arms. "Oh my gosh, you're still alive!"

"Of course I'm still alive," Nightmare says, hugging Rainbow tight. "You didn't really think I'd let a chicken kill me?"

"Knew you'd find the bottle." Void states with a slight smile, gaining one in response from the king.

"Is this another Steve?" Ryan questions, as Rainbow finally releases from the hug. Void introduces the two to each other, and Ryan nods in understanding.

"Pleasure to meet you Ryan," Nightmare tells him.

"Same to you."

"Did Lucas make it back with the two of you?" Nightmare turns to Void and Rainbow.

"He did, but... not unscathed." Void shows Nightmare to where Lucas lays, showing him the scratch. "Sabre did this as we left, it got infected by him and he's been unconscious pretty much since we arrived."

"What have you done to it?" Nightmare questions curiously.

"We put some bacitracin on it," Ryan explains. "Which is a sort of medicine from this world to help injuries from infecting. I've also made what I hope is a health potion... but without the exact ingredients that you guys have, it's just the closest I could get. Speaking of which, it should be cool by now, I'll go put it in a cup."

As Ryan exits the room, Nightmare turns to the other two Steves. He glances at their new looks; the strange skin tone, the hair that was similar yet different to their actual looks... he then glances to Lucas, the only thing different about his looks being his outfit.

"This world is strange," he mumbles, as Ryan returns, holding a glass of what looks and smells like beetroot water. "What is that?"

"Hopefully a health potion," Ryan replies, pushing past and pushing Lucas into a slightly elevated position.

"There aren't beetroots in health potions,"

"They don't have Netherwart in this world, apparently," Void informs, and Nightmare gives a nod. They watch as Ryan gently pours the potion into Lucas' slightly open mouth, only pouring a little as to not drown him.

"Now we wait," Void states.