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Chapter Text

The sun was high in the sky over the beautiful blocky land known as Minecraftia. Villagers would be busy in the streets talking with friends and the like and Humans would be trekking the land and caves for ore and materials for their lives and various monsters were deep in the caves sleeping until nightfall when they would be free to roam the land.

Most mobs would tend to stay away from the villages because of the Iron Golems protecting them. They mostly kept to themselves, not interacting much with others. Skeletons would challenge each other in a test of their archery skills. Creepers would make small talk and occasionally scare others with their hissing. Spiders were the most solitary mobs outside of their mating rituals, occasionally one of their own volunteering to become the mount for a Skeleton. Zombies were definitely not the brightest, being treated more along the lines of lowly pawns in any raid. They would still wander into the villages to get at any nearby civilians despite the threat of the Golems.

Endermen, however, seemed to think on a higher level than the others. It was almost like they could be considered as another humanoid race if it weren't for the fact they attacked any humans upon eye contact. Instead, they took to the caves during the day like all the other hostile mobs. One such group was currently huddled within a small cave within a mountain range until nightfall. There had been a small lava flow partially blocking the entrance which they were sure would deter anything from wandering in before they were ready to continue their journey. Where they were headed, they didn't know. All they could do is hope they reach a desert soon before the rains come again. It wasn't a very large haunting of Endermen, just a family of four.

One of them, a young teen named Neila, was up near the entrance of the cave instead of sleeping with the others. She watched a flock of sheep grazing in the distance and idly wondering if the pacifistic mobs ever worried about anything. Even if they wandered into a forested biome these sheep never seemed to acknowledge anything until the moment a wolf bit into them. She would have to ask her father about it later. She glanced around and judging by the shadows it was about midday. Neila sighed and quietly headed back down into the darkness to get some sleep before having to head out again, also taking care to stay clear of the lavafall.

Unfortunately, her absence didn't go unnoticed. Standing there a good distance in front of her younger siblings was her father, and he was none too happy about her wandering off. "And where have you been young lady?"

His voice wasn't very loud so he wouldn't disturb the others but still she winced. "Umm, nearby.. I was exploring the cave and was thinking maybe we could make our home here. It's big enough for all of us."

Her father shook his head. "Neila, don't lie to me. There's only this room and the tunnel back to the entrance, there's nothing to explore. What were you really doing?"

Neila shifted her weight. "..I was watching the sheep, and thinking about how they manage to survive with no worries or defenses."

Her father shook slightly but calmed himself. "What did I tell you about wandering in the sunlight? What if a human saw you!? If I lost you to those barbarians I'd kill every last one of them to save your pearl!"

"I was careful to stay in the shadows."

"Sometimes that isn't enough. Those humans like to explore unlit caves and claim everything as their own. We're lucky they haven't found this one yet."

Neila lowered her head in both shame and sorrow. "Well, sorry for potentially exposing us. But do you think there are friendly humans like Mom used to say?"

"After seeing them kill her and selfishly take her pearl, I find it hard to believe. That and the way they stare at our kind so tauntingly. There is no way for us to live peacefully with humans."

"Oh.." Neila said softly before walking the rest of the way to the room alongside her father for some sleep. "Can't we just settle in this cave? The mountain views are nice."

"Not exactly. We have to keep moving, else some human discovers the cave and we lose more of us before we finish him off. Besides, this mountain land has little food and won't hold us for very long. Now get to sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover tonight."

"Okay..." She was already dozing off as soon as she found a comfortable spot and slept in peace until nightfall.

-----

The moon was already well on its way across the darkened, cloudy sky. Neila and the others were on the move again. They stayed in a generally western direction and zigzagged through mountain passes in search of available food. The family hoped to find something soon since their rations ran out the previous night.

Just then, Neila spotted something not too far off. It had come in her sight for a moment. Curious, she walked to where she thought she saw it. Standing near her feet was a chicken, with other chickens nearby. This was good news for her family, for now. She can just stay nearby and collect any eggs they lay until early dawn. It'll be small meals for all but it'll hold, she thought. She heard the familiar quiet plop from one of the chickens and readily collected the egg. She glanced up to make sure the others were still nearby and then went back to the egg collecting.

Suddenly the sky lit up like daytime and seemed to crash down on the world. Before she could make it back to the others, it began to rain heavily. Of course being Endermen, it caused a great deal of pain to everyone and they all scrambled to find any sort of shelter, her father trying their best to protect her panicked, screaming siblings. Neila herself was in a state of near-panic herself. She ended up dropping her egg and soon lost sight of it amidst all the blinking.

Even through the pain and fear, Neila had to find a shelter big enough to keep the rain off her and her kin. But with the constant blinking it made such a task very difficult. Then she noticed the rain stopped as quickly as it came. She glanced around and found the reason why was because she had made her way into a desert. Wasting no time, she called out to any of her kin to teleport to her.

"Dad, over here! I found a desert! Maline! Tevan! Blink this way!"

The sky flashed brightly with lightning and the accompanying thunder made it feel like the sky split in two. She jumped back in fear, for both the lightning and for all the ones she knew.

"Everyone! I'm here! There's no water!!"

The rain continued on and she began to lose hope with each passing minute. "Please...!"

She paced back and forth along the edge of the desert hoping to find someone else who made it but with no luck. She continued to cry out for them through the night, grief soon joining her fears. She was alone. She didn't know how far away they blinked to escape the rain or, Jeb forbid, if they even made it at all. Neila still cried out to them, though by now she was practically kidding herself.

The pain and exhaustion were starting to catch up to her. She could feel the dawn approaching, but was too exhausted to find cover so she plopped down by a sand dune and ended up crying herself to sleep.

Chapter Text

It was a nightmare, it had to be. Neila had to go back in and save them even if it would kill her. She took a deep breath and blinked back into the rain. She didn't feel any pain from it, though her personal discomfort wasn't on her mind at the moment. It didn't mean the others weren't. They were still desperately searching for shelter of some sort, only they weren't blinking. They merely stood there writhing in the rain.

"Everyone, come this way! There's a desert right over the next hill!!" She cried out over the rain. They didn't hear her. She called out louder.

"HEEY!! IT'S DRY OVER THERE!! HURRY!!" Then something happened. One by one, they faded away into the shadows, leaving behind their pearls in the rain.

"No!! NOOOO!!!" She ran to get them, but they too faded into oblivion. Devastated, she fell to her knees and didn't notice the world turning black around her until it was just her and the rain. It just kept raining harsher and harder until she found she was going to drown. Still the rain kept getting louder. In fact, it suddenly didn't sound much like rain at all. More like...

"sssssSSSSS-"

"Eep!" Neila jumped awake and immediately blinked several meters away from the hissing Creeper. She was left hyperventilating when she heard it laughing out loud, a kind of a dopey sounding laugh.

"Ssorry Endergirlie, I just couldn't resissst!"

Neila glared at the Creeper. "Well I'm not in the mood for a laugh, so just go away.."

The Creeper stopped laughing at looked at her. Well maybe the ground on front of her. Or both? What is he looking at? Weird.. Neila thought to herself.

"Oh. I really wasn't gonna exssplode on you. I'm kind of afraid to do it.."

"That's nice. Now go on, I'd rather be alone..."

"Why? Did sssomething happen? Maybe I can help."

"Unless you're good at finding Endermen, I doubt it. Who knows where my family is now? What if they're.. they're... Gone!!" She sobbed loudly.

"Um..." The Creeper didn't know what to do. He had never seen an Enderman cry before, or even knew that they could. The noise made him apprehensive and he did a quick check of their surroundings before facing her again. "Pleassse sstop. There might be humansss."

"I'll never see them again!! Why, why didn't I go with them!? I'm such a coward!!"

"I'm sure they jusst forgot and they'll come back for you sssoon! Pleasse don't cry! They'll turn and come back!"

Neila stopped crying at least but went back to glaring at the Creeper. "Don't you get it!? The storm last night!? I got separated and now they're probably dead! You can't just 'turn and come back' from that!!"

"...Ohh, that gone..." The Creeper trailed off once it dawned on him what she meant. "I'm ssoo sssorry..."

Neila didn't say anything. She probably shouldn't have yelled at him like that. She was about to turn and blink away when he spoke up again. "But you don't know for sure if they're gone. I know a ssspot by a river not too far from here with a lot of sugar caness. We come for miles out of the desert for it. They might be there if we look."

Neila wasn't sure she could trust him. Her dad had always told her it wasn't right for different monsters to associate with each other, but she never figured out why. Now that she had been presented with the opportunity, she felt reluctant, almost afraid to do so. On the other hand, she hadn't eaten for two days and that sugar cane was sounding really good right now. Neila glanced back at the Creeper who was still grinning at her. Well, as much as a Creeper could grin anyway. What did she have to lose?

"...Okay. I'll go. If they're not there... I'm probably on my own then. Until, like you said, I somehow find them again."

"On your own? You look a little young for that sstill. How old are you?"

Neila skipped a beat, not sure herself. "Thirteen, I think."

"I thought so. I can help if humanss try to bother you. They rarely come near us Creeperssss."

Neila smiled, albeit a small one. Maybe Creepers weren't as bad as her father made them out to be after all. So he wasn't all that bright. She could balance that out if they became friends. "I'm Neila by the way."

"That'ss kind of an interessting name. I'm... McCreeper."

Neila paused at the name but decided not to press it further. It sounded uncreative, but who was she to judge? Perhaps that was a common trend among Creepers. Maybe he thought her name was weird. Neila began to think, what if he was right? If her family was there and her father saw her travelling with a Creeper, he'd likely throw a fit and dispose of him, even though he was just helping.

"You know, it's kind of weird to sssee Endermen out during the day. It'ss usually us Creepersss that stay out late."

"Yeah... I kind of ended up out here because of the rain. I was looking for them and calling all night. By sunrise I guess I was too hurt and tired to find a cave.."

"There might be a few around here. The desert iss perfect for you Endermen. It never rainss." McCreeper then suddenly raced ahead of her. "Oh look, there'ss the sugar cane!"

Neile looked ahead. Just like he said, there was a riverbank surrounded by sugar cane. Her stomach grumbled loudly. She then decided to blink close to the sugar cane, startling the Creeper in the process.

"Gaah!!" He flinched at her sudden appearance and ended up tripping over his own feet into the sand.

Neila wasn't paying attention. She was busy looking for any sign of family. All she saw was a sheep munching on grass on the other side of the river. "Oh.. they're not here..." She plopped down onto the sand in defeat, not wanting the sugar cane anymore.

"...Maybe they're.. um... sstill looking?"

Neila shook her head. "If they really are alive somewhere, they're likely waiting out the day to look. I can't believe it's almost midday already..." Indeed, it was. She felt the air around her steadily getting hotter, only becoming uncomfortable in the past few minutes.

"Welp, I'm done. I know of a ssmall cave just over that dune over there. We can eat there." McCreeper walked off toward it carrying few stalks of cane with his mouth. Neila knew she needed shelter in this type of environment. She grabbed a couple of stalks for herself and followed behind.

Chapter Text

It had been two days now, and still couldn't find them. Neila had practically given up by now, and McCreeper had noticed the big change in her behavior. She hardly spoke to him on their first night together and now she doesn't even seem to want to eat anything. McCreeper was getting worried. He glanced over to her corner for the nth time that evening wondering what could possibly cheer her up even just a little. He knew how hard it must feel for her to suddenly be without a family at such a young age.

McCreeper thought for a minute. What did he do to feel better when he was miserable? He liked hissing and pretending he would explode and seeing the look on peoples' faces as they ran in terror, but he realized Endermen can't exactly do what a Creeper can. But maybe she can do something else with them. Something about eyes, he had heard other mobs say about Endermen. That's what he'd do! He'll bring some sort of animal for her to scare out of its wits! "Hey Neila, I'm gonna go out for a while! I'll be back with a surprisse!" And with that he climbed up out of the entrance and into the night.

Neila didn't really care what he was up to. She wasn't even in the mood to humor him, whatever it was. She rolled over to face the wall opposite of the entrance and tried to fall asleep again. No such luck, her mind was still racing. How could she sleep knowing her family was gone, even little Maline... Couldn't the Mojangels at least have spared her? She had just mastered blinking not that long ago. Oh how she missed seeing her and Tevan zip across open fields trying to see how much ground they can cross in an instant. Neila sighed and stared at the stone wall in front of her. Maybe if she'd surround herself with stone she'd be left alone to die, McCreeper would forget her, and maybe even see her family again.

-----

"Neila."

Neila stirred awake. She had fallen asleep? How much time had it been? Meh, whatever, she thought to herself and tried going back to sleep.

"Neilaaa."

Okay, she was more awake now. She could try ignoring the Creeper and he'd eventually leave her alone. He'd give up soon anyway.

"Neila. Neila. Neila." So much for quiet. She tried drowning him out with her thoughts but to no avail. "NeilaNeilaNeilaNeilaNeilaNeila-"

"WHA-" She got up to yell at him and immediately had her face planted into her stone coffin. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she opened a hole and poked her head out, glaring at the Creeper. "What do you want now?"

"I got you a pressent!" He stepped to the side to reveal a slightly worried pig. Its eyes darted between the two, wondering what was going to happen to it. "I thought maybe you can ssscare it and feel better!"

Neila looked at the pig. The pig looked back at her with fear in it eyes. She briefly considered scaring it off to get McCreeper to leave her be, but then what? She'd still be here and the pig would be left wandering the hot desert for its family too. "I... can't."

McCreeper tilted his head in confusion. "But I thought Endermen would get all 'RAWWR' and sstuff when sssomething looks at them."

Neila shook her head. "No, that's only for the humans and villagers. At least, that's what my dad used to say.."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments in that little cave, until it was broken by a light snort from the pig. "...Ssso, you're not going to sscare it?"

Neila just shook her head and turned back to the wall. "I don't see the point in it.." She tried falling asleep again, even though she probably wouldn't be able to by now.

The pig tilted its head trying to figure out what was going on between these two. McCreeper sighed and headed to a corner to get a little rest after his hike. It was now late into the morning and he'd have to go out again for food soon. They were nearly out of sugar cane. The taste was starting to get stale with him. Maybe they could try cactus, even though it hurts to eat it if one wasn't careful. He saw a cactus growing on a distant sand hill to the east so he'd go there. As for the pig, he didn't know what to do with it now. He may have to find food for it too now, unless it decided to leave. But what do pigs like to eat? Do they like cactus, or would he have to find some grass on the other side of the river? He hoped he wouldn't have to travel too far; he'd hate to get lost out there.

McCreeper thought about maybe asking another monster about pigs. Not a Creeper though. His kind usually acted before thinking, something he too was guilty of at times. Zombies are a worse option. Their rotting brains made them difficult to talk with. Spiders? Nah, they don't care what their potential prey ate. Endermen, or even Skeletons would be better to ask, though it might be risky sometimes. Especially the Skeletons. They always liked to shoot at anything that happens to move. Including him, which he hated. So an Enderman it is, even though they were often hard to find. Now that he thought about it, hadn't seen very many monsters around the sugar canes in recent months. Not even on the other side of the river. He wondered why that was. Maybe there was another food source somewhere, with all different sorts of food? McCreeper smiled at the thought of an apple. Or some chicken eggs. He'd think about it later. For now, he'd have to settle with more cacti. Maybe he can figure out how to carve off all the spines this time.

Chapter Text

"Neila! Neila! Wake up!"

Neila grumbled as she was again woken up. Was he ever going to leave her in peace? "Neila you won't believe what I found!"

He sure seemed excited. She suddenly heard the pig squeal in delight over it, then- "No! This one'sss for Neila!! Eat that one!"

Neila had to admit she was sort of curious about it now. It had to be pretty great if even the pig got excited over it. She was about to get up and see, then stopped. She almost forgot to remove the stone again.

"What's making the pig so happy all of a sudden? Oh, wheat." She turned away then did a double take. "Wait, where'd you get that!?"

"From a town-place. I didn't even know there was one around here."

Neila paled. To her, towns meant humans. Humans meant mob hunters. Mob hunters meant brutal death. This was the perfect opportunity! Only one problem; McCreeper. She wouldn't mind it so much if it weren't for him hanging around. He didn't need this kind of trouble, even if he did steal from them. Nevertheless, she had an idea.

"Oh McCreeper, how could you??" McCreeper jumped back in surprise at her outburst. "Stealing from humans! Don't you know they're gonna miss it? They'll come finding this cave for sure!"

"Um... I'll jusst go give it back."

No! They already know your face! They'll kill you for sure if you go back! I'll go...since I can blink in and out, no problem." She smiled awkwardly hoping he'd buy it.

He tilted his head in contemplation for a second. Well if she says so... "Okay, you can go give it back if you're sure. I guess we'll have cactuss inssstead."

Nailed it. "Good! Save me some." She gathered the wheat, much to the pig's protest, and hurried out into the desert. She glanced up at the sky. The moon was setting, and the eastern horizon was just starting to glow a faint red. They'd be up in a hour or so by the looks of it. Now to just find the place. The next half hour was spent blinking around in a sort of outward spiral for any sign of human buildings before stopping on top of a sand dune. She cursed herself for not getting any directions from the Creeper. She could always go back and get them real quick. She paused for a moment. She could see some buildings not too far off toward the east. Assuming that was the town he mentioned, she grinned and blinked towards it and stopped right on the edge of town to spy from behind a couple sand blocks.

"Okay Neila, this is it. Just stir 'em up a little and you'll see your family again in no time. It's foolproof!" She giggled to herself which built up to a near hysterical laugh.

"Oh hey, you found it!" She yelped in surprise at the voice and tumbled forward. She immediately shifted into a defensive stance, then calmed down when she saw his face and that he was riding atop the pig.

"What the Nether are you doing here!?" She whispered loudly.

"I forgot to tell you how to get there, but you did fine on your own. Ssso, how much longer will they ssstay assleep?"

Neila looked up again. The sun was already rising over the horizon. "You gotta go, now!"

"But Neila, what if they sssee you?"

"I'll be fine, now go!" She pushed him back toward the direction of the cave and started creeping toward the nearest building.

McCreeper began to panic, his voice no longer a whisper. "Neila, come back! It'ss too dangerousssss!!"

"Shhhush!! Just go away!! I got this!!" She yelled back.

Suddenly, she heard something click nearby. Both she and McCreeper tensed up, not sure what made the sound. Suddenly the wall opened up next to her and out came a bald, pudgy human with the funniest looking bulbous nose she'd ever seen. He stopped in his tracks once he spotted her legs. He almost looked up at her face but stopped midway before it was too late. "O-Oh dear..." The two watched him slowly back up into his house and closed up the door.

Neila turned and glared at the Creeper before her. If looks could kill... "It's just Villagers!?"

"It iss? I thought they all were humansss."

"The villagers are different. They don't kill us, they just run away and hide in their homes! This was a waste of time!"

"Oh, sso it'ss all good then. We should head back anyway. I'm ssstarving." He turned back around and cantered back the way he came.

Neila growled in deep frustration. It was right then she knew the world wanted her to be miserable and alone. This realization of truth was enough for her to have a minor breakdown right there. She fell onto her knees and looked to the sky in despair. "Why do you do this to me? You took my mother, the only one I knew who actually wanted harmony between everyone. But that wasn't enough for you. You took away my father and siblings, and had that horrible rain so I wouldn't be able to rescue them. So now I'm left hiding out in a barren desert with an annoying Creeper! But you know what, Jeb? The joke's on you. I'm done wanting to die. I'm going to make it out here out of spite! I don't need my family to survive! I'm just going to march back to my cave and make it the best decision I'll ever make! Without your help, thank you very much!" And with that statement, she stormed off into the desert after her new Creeper roommate.

-----

"And are you sure that's what you saw?"

The figure glanced around as if looking for any sign of unwanted guests. Seeing none, he quickly turned back to his superior though still spoke in a harsh whisper. "Yes, though one stayed behind for a moment. It was making some sort of gurgling noise, possibly calling for more. What if there is a war upon us?"

His superior remained unfazed. "They wouldn't dare, not after we exercised so much effort to help them. Remember, we exist for one purpose. For unity. If they won't cooperate, then we have no choice. You're dismissed, there are preparations to be made."

"Yes, Superior." He left swiftly without another word.

A glimmer of joy was etched on his superior's face as a curtain was drawn back to peer out into the surrounding dunes. "An Enderman in the desert..." She gave a light chuckle. "Well, we'll see if this one will cooperate..."

Chapter Text

McCreeper never realized Endermen could eat so much. With them having such a thin frame, he wouldn't be the only one surprised. He remembered seeing Neila propped up against the wall of the cave rubbing her bloated stomach from eating so much cactus and wheat like she never even had wheat before. Despite how good it was, she insisted they save some for later. McCreeper didn't understand why, until two nights later he watched her try to stick it in the ground the way that village had it. She never got it to stick so she went out to find out what she's missing and promised she'll be back before sunrise.

McCreeper looked back towards the direction of the village. The sun would be up again soon and Neila still hadn't come back. What could be taking her? He glanced at the pig, which Neila decided to give him the name Ollie. She couldn't abandon him, and the pig now, could she? McCreeper was getting pretty worried now and even feeling a little depressed. He had to go make sure she was okay.

Of course, as soon as he stepped out Neila blinked right next to him and was now carrying a bag of some sort. "Well I think I found out why it wasn't working." She reached into the bag and pulled out a few dirt blocks and set them on the ground in a two by three area. "When I went back to the village it seemed to be more guarded than last time, which is weird... Anyway, I found out it needed to be on dirt, not sand. Also, they replaced the wheat we stole with new wheat, which made me realize we need to plant seeds, not the wheat itself. So I took some of them too." She then took out said seeds and carefully placed them into the dirt.

Neila looked up to make sure McCreeper got all that. He just stared at her. "Do I have to say all that again?"

"I thought Endermen only carried blockss like dirt and ssand. Not bagsss."

Neila's excitement over her discoveries all but vanished, but she knew had to be patient with him. "Well yes, because that's usually all there is to pick up without anyone noticing anything's changed too much. Also, I totally found this bag, I didn't steal it from a sleeping traveler!"

Now McCreeper was the one to shoot her a confused look. "Uh, I didn't ssay you ssstole it."

"No of course you didn't. That'd be silly!" She nervously laughed it off and took a seat next to the cave entrance. Ollie climbed up out of the cave to sit with her.

McCreeper looked back and forth between them and the wheat. Now that she set up her own wheat farm, he figured they weren't going anywhere soon. He kind of missed the forest.

"Hey I got an idea. Maybe while we wait for it to grow I can at least show you the mountains I was staying at before we met. It'll take a few days for the wheat to grow anyway. What do you say?"

McCreeper's face brightened up. "Yesss! Let'ss go!"

Neila smiled at the sight of him hopping in place. She got up and turned towards the direction she believed was the right direction. "Come on then, before it starts getting hot."

The two of them plus the pig marched across the sand towards the spot she believed was where she found haven from the rain then stopped. McCreeper nearly bumped into her. "What'ssss wrong?"

"...Nothing. It's just after almost a week alone, I'm finally heading back home. Well, more of a temporary shelter. It's weird to me, my family always traveled around and never once looked back. Those mountains in the distance didn't have much food to pick from. If they had survived, I wonder if they would've stayed around here until we were reunited or kept moving on while searching. This kind of thing never happened to us before. Maybe they were waiting here the whole time, ha ha.."

McCreeper shook his head. "If I were them, I'd have kept sssearching night and day until I found everyone in my family."

"Right. They would have. Let's go." She started walking again, while keeping an eye out for any familiar natural formations. Nothing yet. She suddenly noticed how light the sky was and she turned anxious. "We should find a cave."

"What? Why? I don't think any humanssss are out here."

"You never know. They travel all over looking for open caves and ripping apart the land."

"Remember me? Humanssss are too afraid of me to come close. We'll be fine." He just walked on confidently. Neila was blown away by his confidence. Was what he said true? Or was he just too crazy to care? Ollie was following him at a slower pace, though he was stopping every couple steps to try and get her to follow. She didn't have much a choice at the moment.

"Okay I'll stay outside. Let me lead, I'm the one trying to find it." She looked around every couple minutes to see anything she recognized. There were plenty of sheep around, not that it really helped her. Suddenly, she caught something red in the distance. Could it be?

"Hey I think I found it!" She blinked toward it to make sure. Sure enough, there was a small lavafall that was partially obscuring the cave entrance next to it. "Yes, this really is it!"

She waited for McCreeper and Orville to catch up before walking the rest of the way. "It's bigger than the cave in the desert, so we can actually stretch and move around while we wait for the night. I'm not sure if there's any food around, so we might have to travel to a nearby swamp for mushrooms."

"Oh yay. Mushroomsss..." It's not that they tasted bad, but they can be a little weird at times. Especially the ones found deep in caves.

"Yeah, I hate it over there. The ground feels so moist and squishy. Every step has to be very careful or else I could fall into water. Even then my feet start to feel blistered after a while. Though since you're not an Enderman, you can go get them. It should be to the northwest of here, just around that big mountain over there." She pointed to the one whose snow capped peak stretched high into the clouds.

"Okay Neila. I'll check around for better thingsss too. Jusst in case." He left quickly, not wanting to waste any time.

Neila however, took the opportunity to hop back underground. She didn't care what he said. She felt safer in the darkness of the cave. Ollie remained outside and decided to make a friend out of a nearby sheep. Neila watched them, though no longer out of curiosity but with slight worry a human would come along. What would he do with animals, she wondered. Perhaps coming back here wasn't the best idea.

Chapter Text

"I'm not sure how much further I have to go. Neila wouldn't lie about a sswamp that'sss for sure. That's the fourth sheep I've sseen out here. And it'ssss brown." McCreeper was about to go inspect the odd colored sheep, then paused. "Oh yeah, Neila wanted mushroomsss." He decided to keep going a couple more minutes, if it wasn't there, they would have to settle for a few flowers he passed a while back, unfilling as they were. Personally he'd rather not share them.

Much to his delight, it was there through an archway of dirt and stone that he finally spied the biome in question. Grinning now he quickened his pace. He soon found it was not so easy to find them, as if someone had already come along and plucked them all. Maybe he would have to share the flowers after all. Wait, is that? McCreeper had to focus a little harder. Yes, there was a patch of mushrooms hidden behind some vines not too far away! He wasn't sure how much to take, so he just took all six of them and put them in the pack. Now to get back to that cave.

Something moved in the shadows. McCreeper wasn't sure if he was seeing things or if someone was watching him. He wasn't even sure if he was even looking in the right direction. A few seconds pass and he thought it best to dismiss it, whatever it was. Probably another sheep, or a cow. That wouldn't surprise him.

There it was again, clearer now. In fact, he was certain everything was fine. "Neila? Iss that you over there?" The thing scuttled further into the shadows. McCreeper inched closer. It tried scooting back further, but failed. "I got the mushroomsss you wanted."

It hissed at him. McCreeper jumped back in alarm. It couldn't be, could it? McCreeper peered closer. It was then he noticed green eyes staring back at him. It hissed at him again.

Panicking now, he fled back the way he came. "Neila!! There'ss a cat!! It wantssss my ssoul!!" He stopped and turned back to retrieve the pack of mushrooms before running out of there. He kept running until he was quite a distance back in the mountains. He stopped to catch his breath and looked behind him. It didn't look like it was following him. Good, now he can go on his way in peace.

-----

Neila was sitting on the grass outside of the cave next to Ollie and the sheep. The sun was going to set soon, and McCreeper still wasn't back. She wasn't all that worried, but was thinking maybe she should've went to help find food even if the marsh hurt.

"Shall we go get him Ollie? He's been gone since morning." The pig just glanced at her before going back to his nap. "...I'll take that as a no."

"Neilaaaa!!!" Neila looked down the path and found McCreeper running full tilt towards her in a state of panic. This wasn't good. She sprang to her feet. Whatever had scared him had to be big. Not even a well-armed human was able to send a Creeper running, but she couldn't think of anything worse. Unless there was a group of them maybe. Neila tensed up. There was no way the two of them could fight off a whole gang of humans by themselves. It looked to be the end for them both if they don't flee.

"Neila!! There'ss a cat after me!!" Neila stopped. Did she hear that right? "It'ss been following me ssince I got the mushroomsss! I thought I was sssafe when I left the sssswamp but it'ss following me!!" He was nearly in tears by the time he reached her.

"A...cat?"

"Yesss!! It has horrible green eyess that sssstare into your sssoul! And it jusst watchesss from the shadowssss!! Make it go away!!"

Neila just stood there in silence for a minute then tried to stifle a giggle and failing. McCreeper noticed and was a little annoyed by it. "Don't laugh! You would be sscared too if a cat followed you waiting for you to turn your back then attack!"

"Uh, no not really. I kind of like cats."

"Neila?" Came a small voice. McCreeper jumped up in a panic and was about to take off running then remembered cats can't speak. Neila on the other hand stood there stunned. She knew that voice anywhere. She turned to look behind McCreeper and was completey shocked by who it was.

"Neila!? You're alive!" Neila couldn't believe this at all. There was her little sister standing before her. She looked fairly wounded and a little lethargic, which left Neila wondering if she had been that way since the rain. She didn't exactly know how to fix herself properly.

"M-Maline!? How did you? I thought you were dead!" Her eyes began to tear up in happiness. The two ran to each other and hugged each other to make sure it was all real.

"I missed you so much, Sis!" Maline weakly cried out, tears of joy now running down her face.

"I'm so glad you're okay.." Neila couldn't be more relieved. Thank Jeb her sister was okay.

Speaking of Jeb... She remembered she had told him off a couple days back about her family and that she didn't need them just to null whatever punishment he was giving. And now right in front of her was her sister. It felt like a miracle, yes, but the timing was too much of a coincidence. It had to be... What if Jeb changed his tactics to match what she had said? Maybe this wasn't what it seemed. What if Jeb had given her a doppelganger or something? If she fell for this, who knows what would befall her later on. Maybe 'Maline' would expose them to a human? Or maybe a repeat of last week? Would she be able to handle that pain again? No, she wouldn't, she couldn't! She refused to go through it again! Her very presence would surely bring them grief. She had to get away!

"NO!" Neila shouted out and pulled away from her sister.

Maline was shocked, as was McCreeper who up until that point thought this was all a perfect touching family moment.

"What?" Maline's shattered look nearly made Neila regret what she just did.

"I can't do this. This is too good to be true. It can't be true.. You have to leave."

"Neila no! We just met again!! I don't wanna be alone!!" Maline cried out.

That look of devastation, it was tearing her up inside. "Sorry Maline, but it'd be better this way... Let's go McCreeper. We can eat when we reach the desert..." She picked up her pig and walked away from her crying sister, trying hard not to break down herself. She can't fall for it. This was for the best after all.

"Neila wait!" McCreeper ran up and stopped in front of her. "You can't leave her alone! She'ss your sisster! You're supposssed to care about her!"

"I do.. But I feel this isn't really her. Just some cruel trick from the gods to watch me suffer. I can't go through more of this. I just can't..."

McCreeper stood his ground, never taking his gaze off Neila.. "Lissten to yourssself. A minute ago you were so happy to ssee her, now you treat her like she'ss disseased! She needssss you. And I'm sure you need her too after everything that happened."

"If you want to, you can stay with her. I'm not gonna risk her life or mine, or yours, whatever god behind this wants to try something again." Neila blinked off for the desert before McCreeper had a chance to say anything else.

Shaking his head and heavily disappointed in Neila, he turned back towards the heartbroken Endergirl. "Why... Why does she hate me...? I didn't do anything bad..."

"Of coursssse you didn't." He saw she was still pretty shy around him but nonetheless he was going to bring them together again, whether Neila liked it or not. "Come with me, I know exactly where she went, and we're gonna talk ssome sensse into her."

Maline still shied away from him. "Papa said I shouldn't trust Creepers 'cause they're mean..."

This was going to be a little harder than he thought. "What if I told you I'm besst friendss with your sisster? Hi, I'm McCreeper." He gave her a smile for extra friendliness. Maybe now she'd warm up a little.

"Heh.. I'm Maline..."

Success! "Good! Now that we know each other, how about we cheer up and go talk to Neila? I bet she'd feel real sssilly leaving you here!"

Maline smiled back and wiped her tears away. "Okay. Then we can eat, right?"

McCreeper laughed and nodded. "Sure. Mushroomss and cactussss for everyone!" He led a march through the mountains, not caring whatever Spider or Zombie was watching in confusion.

Chapter Text

Neila wasn't sure what to make of the sight before her. She knew she only placed down the dirt and seeds, but someone came along and added a row of water next to it. Not only that, but there was light coming from within the cave. It had to be a human. She knew they would coming back up eventually but she wanted to get rid of it now, but how? Should she try to reason with it like her mother would? Or simply try to fight it off? Either way, she had to fix this before McCreeper caught up to her, if he even followed her.

"Stay here Ollie. I'm going in." She whispered out and quietly made her way to the entrance. She peeked around the corner. The human wasn't there, but there was a narrow tunnel leading down, also lit up. She ducked her head a little to fit through the unnatural tunnel while also avoiding the fire from the torches. It didn't go that far down until she came to a cave system, with the torch trail continuing to her right. Nearby were the remains of a spider with its web sack harvested for string, she supposed. Poor thing.

Neila could hear whistling coming from further down the lit path along with the clinking sound of tools. Neila wanted to go back the way she came and block him off, but then he'd likely just tunnel through again and discover her. She had to get this over with, hopefully without a fight. She slowly walked towards the sounds while being as quiet as possible. As she got closer, it became clear there were more than one.

"I almost can't believe there's so much ore down here. Definitely worth marking on the map." She heard one of them say in an eerily calm voice.

"Yeah well, it's useful at least. With all this iron, we can make some good weapons for once. Maybe I can finally replace that useless old cauldron back home." Said another, this one sounding grumpier than the first.

"No, the Superior wouldn't allow it. They'll have to go to the railway. It's just a few more days until we can spread our message." Came a third voice, this one sounding female.

"There better be some left over, at least for a pickaxe. These stone ones are about to break."

A railway? And a message? Neila wasn't sure what they were going on about, but it didn't sound like they were all that dangerous. Something about this 'superior' of theirs, however, didn't sound too good with her. These humans aren't just here to dig around, they were planning something. But what exactly?

"Brian, there's an Enderman behind you!" The sudden shout snapped her out of her thoughts and she panicked. She was spotted, though it looked like they haven't given her any direct eye contact. She took the opportunity to flee. Maybe she could lose them. Behind her, she could hear them give chase.

"Is it the one the Superior told us about? The one stealing our wheat?" The female asked worriedly.

"It has to be! There's hardly any monsters out here!"

She bit her lip. They knew she was there. Neila came back to the stairway back up. It was a long way up and she felt she'd be spotted if she went for it. Instead, she decided to hide out in the dark half of the cave in front of her.

"Where did it go now?" One of them asked with an agitated tone.

"I don't know." Came the female. There was a pause. "Leonard and I will head up to check around for it."

"Since Brian's the one with the torches, he can go look over there." She assumed 'over there' meant the dark half of the cave, the half she fled into. If she was lucky, she could sneak her way past them. There was no way she'll continue living in this cave.

She kept quiet while the human made his way through the darkness. She moved deeper into the cave whenever he placed a new torch. There's got to be a loop or fork somewhere in this cave so she could make her way past him. There were forks at least, but it was almost like that human knew which path she was taking. Could he see her? Was he that close behind her? She soon came to a dead end, and she mentally cursed. The light came closer with each passing second. She'd blink, but she didn't know her way through the cave very well. She would rather not end up submerged in lava or something.

Another torch was placed, this one just barely leaving her in the dark. She can now see the human hunting her. He wasn't very old at all. If she guessed right, he had to be a couple years older than she was. He was practically still a kid. He had some sort of leathery armor on so she couldn't see much detail aside from his face. His complexion seemed darker than what her father said about humans, though it could just be bad lighting. She watched him grip his sword nervously looking for her. It didn't take long for him to spot her in such a narrow cave. "Huh, I thought you'd be taller than that."

Neila wasted no time taking a defensive stance. "Keep your distance, human!" Child or not, he would be wise to keep his distance.

"I'm not getting close, not until my friends return." Neila did a double take. Did he understand her just now? She was sure humans couldn't understand them because they were too stupid and barbaric, her father would always say. Yet this one had answered her. It may have been a fluke. She could test it.

"Oh hey, a Creeper." She said in a casual tone. The human panicked, turned around and wildly slashed at empty air. The sight was enough to make her laugh loudly.

"Enough games, Enderman! You'll learn your place soon enough!" He angrily yelled out. He almost seemed ready to glare right at her but stopped himself.

"Calm down, human. I was just making sure you heard what I was saying. Are all of you so jumpy?"

He growled in annoyance. "No, and I'm not jumpy! If it weren't for them needing you, I would just kill you right now!"

Neila raised an eyebrow. "Need me? Why would I even want to go with you? You humans came at me like you wanted to kill me! In fact, why don't I just blink around you right now?"

"Blink?" He paused for only a moment. "I wouldn't try to escape if I were you!" He said with a grin. "We weren't down here just for the iron. We've been looking for you for days now. I've flooded the way back with water so you wouldn't be able to teleport without severely hurting yourself. It wouldn't do you good to be soaking yourself to death."

Neila cringed. So much for for escaping. She'd have to use her wits to get out of this one, not that it was very successful in the past. "I've been wondering; you can understand me, what about other mobs?"

"Of course, unfortunately. I'm not sure why you monsters even need to speak. Not like it does you lot any good when you try to kill us anyway. You monsters sure like to pretend you're innocent when you're the ones about to die instead."

"Would you be pretending if your life was about to end?" She asked, her voice dripping with venom. "You humans truly have no idea how many lives you destroy besides the ones you take! You never once stop to think that yes we do mourn the loss of our friends and family! And you just turn a deaf ear to it! For a species with your abilities, you sure are wasting them!" She could feel herself slipping into aggression mode, and the boy could tell.

"Hey, what gives? I haven't even looked at you!" He lowered his eyes to the floor while raising his sword in a defensive manner.

Neila tried to calm herself. Losing it here wouldn't get her out. "Keep it together Neila... You can talk your way out of this... It's just one human... "

The human stopped cringing when he started to hear her talking to herself. "You monsters name yourselves?"

Neila rolled her eyes. "No, my mother gave me my name. And yes, I loved her dearly, until your kind killed her for her pearl." She growled at him. "Can you at least tell me why you humans want me? You're not after my pearl, else you would have killed me by now."

"Hey Brian, did you find the Enderman?" Came a distant voice from the path they came from.

Brian turned back to Neila still taking care not to lock eyes with her. She looked quite fearful of her fate, but it could be a trick. He knew it was important to capture her for their goal, but she looked so small compared to what Endermen had always been depicted as. He found it possible she could be a child separated from her group. If so, was it right to take one so young?

Without a word, he took out some gravel blocks and threw them down to conceal her, much to her surprise. Neila could still hear them from behind the gravel. "Sorry, I lost track of it. There's just gravel over here."

"Quick, let's try a different path." She then heard them running away. With any luck, they would take the water with them. She waited another moment before making her way out. They took some of the torches with them. Good, it made it easier for her to sneak around them to freedom. She found the stairs back to the surface without any incident. Wasting no time, she raced to the top. What if Ollie was scared off?

"Ollie, are you still out here?" She called out. His head popped out from behind a sand block and he ran to her. At least he was okay. "Come on, it's time to go look for a new home.." Ollie snorted and started trotting back towards the mountains. "No, how about a forest home? It'd be pretty secretive." Ollie kept walking. "...Fine, but just to warn McCreeper about the cave." She glanced back to the cave behind her before starting her brisk pace after her pig. Perhaps her mother was onto something about good humans after all.

Chapter Text

"...And she'ss been all ssad for three dayss after that. That was when I went out to cheer her up by bringing that pig to her. I thought it would make her happy. It didn't work, not at firssst anyway. I think." McCreeper was still leading Maline along and trying to keep her entertained. Unlucky for them, they were lost. McCreeper knew it, but he didn't want Maline to know it. Currently, he was telling her what had happened in the past few days.

"-Ssso then we found a town full of Villagerss, which is where we got wheat from. Neila took sssome and tried to grow it hersself."

Maline giggled. "Yeah, she's always wanting to try things herself when she see something interesting. I remember one time when she found a whole flock of chickens and she wanted our family to keep them in our home at the time because it meant having eggs for life."

"Ssso did you?"

Maline shook her head. "No. We traveled a lot and we couldn't keep them all. We did keep one for awhile, but when we tried passing through a jungle an ocelot came up when we were sleeping and killed it."

McCreeper shuddered at the name. "Let'ss not mention Ocelotsss. How about a sstory?"

Maline smiled. "Um, okay. I wanna hear one about the first Enders that came here."

"I don't really know any." He thought for a moment for one she might be interested in. "Okay I got one I know."

"It started many yearss ago, probably before you were born. A large group of Creeperss lived in harmony in a ssnowy foresst. They didn't know much about humanss or anything outsside of their little forest home and were a fairly peaceful group. But that ssoon changed one night as it was ssssnowing. All the little Creeperlingss thought it wasss a wonderful thing and played in it but didn't ssee the evil that was watching them until ssuddenly one of the Creeperlingsss fell dead, an arrow pierced right through them. They all fled from the area, with their attackerss on the chassse."

"Were they humans?" Maline asked.

"Nope, Sskeletons. The adult Creeperss fought back to protect their home and it lasted all night. But in the end, the Sskeletons had won. All that remained of the group were a few of the Creeperlingsss. They had to pick a new leader among them, a dark green Creeperling named Nuka. He alwayssss had a plan for what to do about the Sskeletons. They watched and waited for one to be alone, then ambushed them. Mossst scratched and bit at them, sssome using ssticksss. If it got real bad, which it did often, they would retreat. Until one night while they sslept the Ssskeletons came up to their new nessst and attacked. They were ssscattered in the confusion and panic. Ssome could have easily helped the ones who were cornered, but no one came to help. No one knowss if they all got out ok, but there is at least one sssurvivor."

Maline was wide-eyed as she listened the story. The look on her face practically begged for more. "So did Nuka find everyone again?"

McCreeper shook his head. "No. I haven't ssseen him sssince that night."

Maline suddenly went quiet as she now understood it was more than a story. McCreeper noticed. "But I did learn sssomething that night asss I ran away. I could have helped the others, but I didn't and now they're probably dead. But I'm not going to make that misstake again. Ssso I'll help you and Neila work thisss out no matter what."

McCreeper looked around again. Mountains still surrounded them and he was sure they passed that tree twice already. McCreeper took a deep breath and tried not to stress out over it. They couldn't have been that far off track.

"We're lost, aren't we?"

"What? No, don't be sssilly..! I know exactly where we are..." McCreeper looked away not wanting to show his worry. As he did, he came upon a strange sight. He wasn't sure what to make of it. She sure looked like a human, but his instincts were saying otherwise. Whichever she was, he had Maline to think about.

"Sstay behind me Maline." He said quietly. Curious, Maline looked past him to see what made him quiet all of a sudden. She froze stiff at the sight of the strange girl. It didn't look like she spotted them yet.

McCreeper took initiative and silently made his way toward her. As he got closer he could get a better picture of her. She wasn't very tall, about 1.5 meters he would guess. Her hair made him think of the ripe wheat he ate but strangest of all was her skin. It wasn't dirty at all; instead the black was her skin, very similar to Endermen. She suddenly turned to his direction and he froze. Her eyes, they were two different colors which seemed to mesmerize him... He had completely forgot what he was going to do, so he settled for a shy little "uhh...hi?"

"Hmm?" She seemed to be snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the lazy-eyed Creeper before her. "Oh, hello. Did you need something?"

"Uh, no.." He shook his head to snap himself out of his daze. "I mean yess. Would you know the way to the nearest desssert? I need to find a friend there."

She smiled but shook her head. "No I don't, sorry. I'm sort of lost too. I heard there was a village there and was hoping to do some trading with the Villagers."

"I ssssee." He glanced back at Maline who was still standing off to the side not sure whether to hide or say hello.

"Oh is that your friend over there?"

McCreeper nodded. "Yep. That'ss Maline. I'm wanting to bring her back to her sssister Neila out in the dessssert. I'm McCreeper by the way..."

"Can we go now? She's kinda scary looking." Maline piped up.

"Maline, that's not nice! We should help her. Um..." He face the girl again. "What wasss your name again?"

"I'm Ashennight but you can call me Ashen." She gave them a warm smile. Maline dropped the defensive act a little once she realized she wasn't hostile. McCreeper however smiled back at her.

"Ashen... It'ssss lovely." If one looked close enough they would see a small blush forming on his face. "Uh, right. Let'ssss get a move on. Onward!" He continued his lead for the desert, even more determined now that he had someone else to help out.

"But we tried that way already." Maline called out behind him.

"...I knew that." He turned around and headed for the opposite direction. The two girls followed behind, Maline now starting to get a little impatient with all the walking. It would be morning soon and she didn't feel any closer to her sister.

-----

Speaking of Neila, she didn't find McCreeper or Maline anywhere on the path back to the mountain cave. So now she worried a little, mainly for McCreeper's sake. She doubted he could be dead now, it was too soon.

"Don't worry Ollie, we'll find him." She leaned up against the wall of the cave in deep thought while still keeping a casual eye on a wandering zombie. If she knew Maline, she'd want to follow her back to the desert. McCreeper likely was the type to help anyone out so would probably lead the way, but why wouldn't they be anywhere between the two places? Could they have gotten lost? It seemed unlikely, it wasn't that hard of a trail to memorize. So they had to have gone elsewhere. The only other place she could think of was the swamp where he got the mushrooms. It'll be hard to live there, mushrooms were hardly anything to live off of for very long. Or maybe McCreeper got them lost...

She felt them being lost was a better explanation. McCreeper did have those weird eyes so maybe he followed the wrong eye.. She really had no idea which direction they could have taken once she left. The only way she could find them before sunrise and warn them was through blinking. But Ollie could only endure so much of it. This posed a big problem.

"...Maybe they'll give up finding the desert..." She told herself. "Yeah... They'll just find a nice forest somewhere with lots of chicken eggs and apples..."

Neila sighed and shook her head. Who was she trying to fool anyway? She could try waiting for them at the desert border until they showed up. "We can still catch them. Come on Ollie, to the desert!" She picked him up and ran for the desert while blinking on occasion to gain extra ground. Besides, she still had those mushrooms to snack on.

Chapter Text

Neila had been waiting there on the edge of the mountain biome waiting for that Creeper to show up but he still hasn't. She had eaten several of her mushrooms now and now felt less hungry, and for some reason, a little sick. She hadn't gotten sick from mushrooms before, then again she never tried this red variety. She had sat down on the sand thinking it'll quickly pass. Every few minutes she'd look behind her for any humans searching about. None so far. She glanced at Ollie who picked a spot by a sand block to get some sleep.

Something caught Neila's attention. The sand around her began to sparkle and shimmer almost as if there were tiny gemstones between the endless grain. It was pretty, watching the sparkles intensify and rise up out of the ground to gather around her. She tried grabbing them but stopped. Her hands, rather, her arms were rippling like waves in the breeze and she could feel it too. She had every right to freak out now that her arms were basically made out of water. She needed help and fast. She clumsily got up and staggered about, her condition getting worse. The sand was pulsing beneath her which was why she had trouble keeping her balance.

"Somebody! Help..!" Even her voice was affected. The pitch was higher now and more drawn out. Every move she made left behind a multicolored, phosphorous effect that only served to obscure her vision of her natural surroundings. Then an explosion of color hit her face knocking her back. The whole world was being sent to a rainbow wonderland. Normally this would terrify her, yet the vision was breathtaking. The clouds pastel colored and flowing down like honey wrapping her in their silky softness and lifting her into the sky. She looked at her body again as her skin was suddenly bubbling out dozens of tiny pastel winged Enders, each one giggling and pulling on her to get her to follow them. Neila didn't really want to, but if they could help her she wouldn't complain.

Suddenly she found herself floating out in space. At least that was the best description she could come up with. All of reality seemed to spiral around her like some kind of vortex. The mini Enders were still present though now they were flying after her. Was she flying too?

"Yes you are, Mama!" She was taken aback by the answer. So they can read her mind too. She just went with it, not really caring about anything except her flight through the tunnel. She barely even registered she was no longer herself anymore but a large wolflike dragon soaring her way through the cosmos. She was the queen of the stars now, and they were all her children.

-----

At the edge of the village, Brian leaned against the walls of the local church. Because of him, his team now had to face discipline because they lost that Enderman, Nayla or whatever its, or her name was. He had to remember that now. Dawn was approaching and Leonard and Megan will soon be busy scooping cow manure while he would be scrubbing the bathrooms. To make matters worse, the Superior's daughter Cadence, his fiancee was walking up to him right now with a bag of her 'famous Superior-brand cookies'. He didn't even like her, yet he and Cadence were arranged to be wed when they both turn 18 in a couple years, to protect her when she became the next Superior.

"Brian darling, there you are!" She happily greeted him.

Brian scowled. He quietly thought maybe a zombie would suddenly burst out of the ground for him to attack if it meant her leaving him in peace. No such luck.

"I heard about what happened in that new mine. That terrible Enderman had the nerve to show its face then got away! I'm sorry my mother was harsh towards you so I made some cookies for you!" She handed him the bag, still smiling at him.

"...Thanks, but I don't need any. I've got my own snacks for the day." He was lying, but whatever lunch he'd get would be better than her baking.

She wasn't going to be deterred so easily. "No really, I insist! They're specially made for you! To show our love for each other!"

Brian glared at her. "I. Don't Wan't. Them." He growled.

She just shrugged. "Well okay.." She started to fidget with one of her pigtails. "Maybe you want some cake instead? I think I have just enough to make one."

"Go home, Cadence! I'm fine! I don't want your food!" He snapped at her.

She recoiled. Hurt by his statement she turned away. "Fine.. I just wanted to make you happy is all..."

Great, now this will probably lengthen his punishment but he'll be damned before he'll get violently ill again. He loved mining too much to miss it for a week. He sighed and faced the desert again when something caught his eye. It looked like someone stumbling around in the desert with arms outstretched as if trying to keep their balance. Were they hurt? He focused on them, then regretted it. That was no person.

"Cadence, go home. Now!" he pulled out his stone sword and took the defensive.

"What are you doing- oh..." She spotted the Enderman stumbling about in confusion. She immediately shielded her eyes and quickly jogged home. "We clearly can't save that one. Just kill it and bring me the Pearl. It'll make a lovely wedding necklace." She sneered, the hint of venom her sweet tone going unnoticed.

Brian ignored her. He was now fully focused on the clumsy Ender in front of him.

-----

Neila's world was twisting before her, and not in the good way like before. The stars around her were turning black and sucking the life out of the sky around her. The screams from her flying friends was almost deafening she had to cover her ears even though it didn't do much to quiet the noise. She looked at them and they were no longer the cute fairy Enders they once were, but twisted, hulking horrific shadows of their former appearance. It frightened her. She felt her own body twisting into a gargoyle beast herself. She felt the body fluids leaking from her eyes and out of fresh wounds all over her. She had no idea how this could have happened and it terrified her.

She found herself staring at a tall dark demon of sorts with hellish red eyes hungry for blood. Its hands wielded two long sharp scythes. More like its hands were the scythes. They were ready to taste her blood. The demon craved her flesh. She was terrified beyond any reasoning, then something else from within joined in. It rose up inside her like lava coming out of a volcano. The demon was making her furious. He was merely watching her, but she had to end it now! She blindly attacked it out of defense. She hit it and it stumbled back. Maybe defeating it will end this nightmare.

-----

Brian wasn't sure what to make of what he was seeing. It was that Endergirl from before, it had to be. But why was she acting this way? She was clutching her head and screaming in agony like she was being attacked. He hadn't hit her yet, he was still too far to strike. She was also screaming madness he couldn't understand even if he tried.

"My friends!! W-What's become of my dear children!?" She screamed as she grabbed at the air around her. "Oh Notch there's blood everywhere!!" Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she looked at him with absolute fear in her eyes. Though still keeping his eyes on hers revealed hers to be heavily dilated. Perhaps she was sick.

"N-No!! No!!! H-Have mercy on me!!!" She backed away, tears now streaming down her face. Brian had no idea what was wrong with her, and it was scaring him. He thought it best to go back to get some help with putting her down.

Suddenly she lunged at him with a mean left hook. He stumbled back but regained his balance. He put up his sword. She was in her aggro state, he had to do this alone now. It was his life or hers. He ran at her ready to slice her in two when she stumbled forward tripping over her own feet. He ended up tripping over her and got a mouth full of sand. She was first to get back up and let out a deranged laugh over him. Once he was up again he watched her perform some sort of twisted dance around him though still stumbling about. He had enough. He swung at her but didn't expect her to gracefully spin around avoiding his blade completely. She immediately followed up with a swift roundhouse kick, cracking two of his ribs and sending him sprawling back onto the ground.

That one knocked the wind out of him. Even in this mad state she was proving herself a formidable opponent. "You ready for more, demon?" She growled. "Or are you gonna crawl back to the Nether where you belong?"

"*cough* Demon...?" He sputtered out in pain. "What the hell... are you *cough* on...?"

He was met with another kick to his thigh, her nails digging into his flesh. "Aaurgh, stop!!" he coughed out. He raised his sword as a meager attempt to shield himself. He was gonna die out here. He was hoping Cadence made herself useful and informed the others. He looked towards the horizon. He could see something in the distance but he couldn't quite make out what it was through the pain.

"Get up and fight!!" He was grabbed by his shirt and forcefully brought to his feet. The shifted weight onto his injuries made him stagger and cry out in agony. He was about to crumble back to the ground but the Endergirl held him up. He tried to lift his sword to strike. He wondered why it was so light, then found he left it back down on the ground. He was screwed for sure. He closed his eyes to prepare for the final blows. Then he heard an unknown voice call out.

"What are you doing? Put him down!" Brian opened his eyes and tried to find the source of the voice. It had to be behind him since the Endergirl was looking past him.

Neila believed she was looking at some sort of majestic but angry red headed cow-god in a flowing gown accompanied by a small, green-eyed, shadowy Ghast riding atop a large green sheep-reptile hybrid. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but spare her attacker?

"I can't do that." She said, somewhat calming down. "This demon must be sent back to the Nether!"

"Neila, what are you talking about? That'ss jusst a human." That hissing noise... Oh gods, there was a Creeper behind him! His death was imminent and Brian braced himself in this Endergirl's grasp.

"Talking sheep! Can you teach Ollie to do that?" She dropped Brian on the ground and he answered with an audible yelp of pain. She ran over to inspect the 'sheep' though now everyone present was standing in confusion.

"I'm not a sheep. You know that.." McCreeper said uneasily as he backed away from Neila's prodding fingers.

"What's wrong with her?" Maline asked, gripping McCreeper tighter.

"She must have drugged herself." Everyone turned to face the girl. "See her eyes? How big they are? And the delusions? Looks like she had gotten into some red mushrooms."

McCreeper suddenly knew he caused this. He knew they had to be different from the usual brown ones, but he thought nothing of them except their pretty color at the time.

"I'm not crazy! Don't you see the monster there? I have to destroy it!" Neila turned back to finish her job, but was suddenly grabbed by the arm.

"No Neila! Don't do it! I don't wanna lose you too!!" Maline cried out onto her arm. The momentary distraction was enough for Ashen to act quickly and help the boy to his feet.

"It's okay. I'm here to help." Ashen said softly to him. The village wasn't too far away. "Can you walk?"

"M-My ribs..." He coughed. "Can't breathe... hurts..." It was more serious than she thought. She had to step carefully for her to not cause further damage. She can trust the other two to handle the crazed Endergirl and keep her out of trouble. She glanced back at them. It looked like they were leading her away while softly comforting her as the madness slowly wore off. Good, the further away she gets from the village the better. She silently hoped there wouldn't be further trouble later on in the form of revenge.

Chapter Text

Neila's head was pounding as she stirred awake. She groggily opened her eyes, then snapped awake when she found she was back in the desert cave. "Wha... How...?" Was all she said to herself as she held her head to lessen the pain. Neila tried to remember what happened last night but it was all a blur.

"Oh good, you're awake!" She looked to the entrance to find McCreeper standing there with a grin on his face. "You were acting really weird lasst night but you look better now. And the wheat isss done growing. Sssomeone put water next to it sssso you have to be careful if you want to get any."

"Yeah I noticed it last night... But what are we doing here? Those humans could come back anytime now." She hurried to her feet then stopped because it worsened her headache somewhat. She spotted Maline sitting by the hole leading further down into the new mine. She almost looked ashamed to be there. "And you brought Maline to this place too!?" She raised her voice again.

McCreeper immediately went serious. "Neila, I couldn't leave her out there. I had to do ssomething, and thiss iss the only place I have for now. Jussst talk to her. What could she posssibly do to make our lives worssse?"

Neila really didn't have an answer for that, she had nearly forgotten about her paranoid outburst yesterday. "...I wasn't talking about that right now. But none of us are safe here. There's humans roaming in the desert looking for me and I'm pretty sure they're from that village. They already found this cave and could come walking back in anytime now. I say we collect the wheat and see if there's another entrance to the cave. We'll be safer travelling underground."

McCreeper thought for a moment and nodded. "Okay soundsss good. But why isss that human after you?"

"I don't think its me specifically, it could be any Enders. Which means Maline isn't safe either."

"Any Endersss?" McCreeper paled. He remembered Ashen went off their way with that human hours ago. "Oh no. Oh no! Ashen!!" He suddenly darted out of the cave much to Neila's confusion and shock.

"Hey wait! You can't just go! We don't even know what they're planning to do to us!" Neila shouted out as she got up and chased after him.

"But they have Ashen! She needsss our help now!"

"I don't even know who that is, but we need a plan instead of charging in. Now we know they're hunting Enders. Why, we don't know. I overheard them talking about iron and a rail to 'spread their message'. So I'm thinking they're going to be bringing in more hunters to slay us all unless we use sabotage."

McCreeper tilted his head. "Ssso how are we gonna do that?"

Neila smiled. "It's easy. We'll have to take the iron. One of us will have to distract them while the other two sneak in, take the iron and rescue this Ashen, then get the Nether out of this desert for good and not look back. Now how to create the distraction...?" Neila subtly glanced around their cave. There wasn't anything useful they had on hand at the moment.

"I'll do it." McCreeper piped up and snapping Neila out of her thoughts.

"Are you sure? It's dangerous."

"Danger is what I live for. I'll jusst chassse them around while you two save Ashen."

Neila, though slightly anxious, nodded. "Okay it's settled. Maline and I will teleport to the far side of town while you corral them in one spot. That should buy us a few minutes at best to do our job. Good luck, and please be careful."

"You too." He marched out of the cave with the two sisters right behind. Once the village was in sight, Maline and Neila blinked around the outskirts until they were on the other side. They glanced up to make sure they haven't been seen. It looked good so far.

Once they were off, McCreeper headed straight for the town. He headed straight for the first human he saw, a girl with pigtails. He took delight in hearing her scream and run away sending anyone nearby in a panic. He made sure to give off a warning hiss when he got close enough to them. He had to admit, this was the most fun he had in a while. Then came a snag in their plan. He was busy corralling a trio of women and wasn't paying attention when he felt a shooting pain in his side. It nearly made him trip over his own feet to counterbalance the hurt leg. He turned around and faced a human wielding a bow and he was preparing a second shot. "Aw sssssnap..."

Once they witnessed the chaos, the two girls made their way onto a nearby roof and split up to begin their search. Maline kept to the roofs to look for Ashen since she knew who to look for, while Neila jumped down to search for the iron stash from the shadows. It was relatively quiet from this part of town which was good. She tried the nearest door on her right. It was locked. She swiftly moved on to another, this one opening up to a large stone tower of a building. There was no one inside so she went in for a quick peek. Even at a glance she could tell this place was to worship the Mojangels, but it didn't leave any clues for finding iron or this Ashen girl. She left to try another building.

She came across a small wooden shed of a building, probably built recently. There was no door but inside was a single chest with a wolf sitting guard. It growled the moment it spotted her walking up to the shed. "Uh, nice doggo?" She grinned. The wolf lunged and Neila blinked back to the stone building. The wolf gave chase. She did another teleport to the chest. She had a few seconds before the wolf came back, not enough to check what was actually inside. She picked up the chest and blinked back to the rooftops to join Maline still scanning the streets below.

"Did you find Ashen?" Maline glanced back and shook her head.

"No, but McCreeper is in trouble!" Neila looked down at the poor Creeper running for his life from a human shooting arrows at him. A couple were already embedded into his hide.

"Don't lose this." She set the chest down next to Maline and jumped down startling the human. Neila slowly met his gaze and glared venomously at him. "You stop this. Right now!" She snarled at him, dangerously close to entering a rage. The human averted his gaze and stepped off. He almost looked afraid even one wrong step could set her off further. McCreeper took the opportunity to run back for the cave. Neila looked back to Maline and gestured her to follow him home.

"I can't leave you here!" She whispered. "You'll get killed!"

"I'll be fine. Just go." Neila blinked out of sight to continue the search for Ashen.

Maline sat there and pouted. "You probably don't even know what she looks like..." She got up and jumped onto another roof to help look, already forgetting about the chest. She spied a familiar head of red hair from behind and jumped down to meet her. "Oh Ashen, there you are! Let's get out of this crazy village!" She said with a grin. Ashen turned around. That girl wasn't Ashen.

"Enderman! By the library!" She screamed out. Like magic, Maline suddenly found herself surrounded by several unfriendly humans, and a Villager?

"No!! Neila, helpmmphmm!!" Was all she could get out before she was bound and gagged and brought to the cathedral, too panicked to think clearly and get away.

"...Maline?" Neila thought she heard screaming. She turned back around jumping from roof to roof frantically searching for her sister but she wasn't anywhere to be found. She found the unguarded chest easily enough. "Please tell me they didn't capture her..."

She was about ready to break down in tears. She was angry now, but mostly at herself. She knew something would happen if Maline was around but she ignored it to keep McCreeper happy. And now here she was, alone on a rooftop with her sister now gone and failing to rescue a mystery girl. She didn't want to risk getting caught herself, then their mission would be a total failure. She grabbed the chest and reluctantly went to go meet up with McCreeper back at their base and tell the news.

Chapter Text

McCreeper paced himself slowly as he made his way back to the cave to lick his wounds. He had already tried pulling the arrows out but he ended up breaking one. It was still stuck in his hind leg and left him limping across the desert. He heard the familiar 'vworp' behind him signalling one of the Endergirls were now with him.

"We have to go back. They got Maline."

McCreeper stopped in his tracks and looked back at Neila. "Pleasse tell me you're joking. Because it'ssss not funny.."

She shook her head. "No I'm not... I'm not sure if I can take on a whole village alone to save her... I don't know what they're gonna do to her...." A quiet sob hung on her breath as she lowered her head. He could hear her sobbing onto the chest she was holding. "I told her to go back with you but I just... I don't know how it happened..."

McCreeper limped up to her and leaned against her as a sort of hug. "Don't worry. We'll sssave her. But I can't jusst yet. I need to ressst.." He gestured to his hurt leg and the stump of an arrow. "Jussst until night maybe.."

"Here. I'll just pull this out." Neila reached over to grab the arrow but McCreeper pulled away.

"Don't touch it! It hurtssss!" Neila just rolled her eyes.

"It won't do you any good if it stays there. Now let me get it."

"No!!" He backed away, still limping. "It will get better on itsss own!"

"Fine, have it your way... But you would need all your legs to save Ashen too."

"Save me from what?"

The voice caught them both off guard. McCreeper spun around and Ashen was standing there in front of them. McCreeper's face lit up as soon as he saw her. "Ashen! You're okay!" He exclaimed as he hobbled over to her.

"Wait, that's Ashen!?" Neila gave her a slight look of distrust. McCreeper wanted to rescue a human of all things? An odd sort of Ender-human, but a human all the same. She kept a sharp eye on her as she stepped forward to stay beside McCreeper should anything happen. "McCreeper and I was just on our way back to our cave. I'm sure your friends are waiting for you back home too."

The tension was rising on the sand and even McCreeper could feel it. "Oh don't mind Neila, she's alwayss a bit sstandoffish around newcomerss, even me. We got wheat back at the cave if you're hungry..."

Ashen smiled at the offer. "That'd be nice. And Neila, no. I don't have a home to go to right now."

"Oh, so you're not from that village?"

Ashen shook her head. "I thought these people here would be willing to help or let me stay for a couple days after I brought that boy Brian back, but they treated me horribly calling me impure, monstrous, and said I was being 'lost to the Dark One and must be purified' or some bullshit like that. I would have gone off on them but that whole village turned on me so fast. Even the few Villagers among them acted so cold about it, which isn't like them at all. I don't know what's happening there, but whatever it is it's evil. I could even feel it in the air it seems like. I certainly wouldn't go back there."

"Well they have my sister. And I can't go back alone so if you have any ideas-"

"They have Maline? Oh no... if they thought I was 'impure'... Three of us isn't going to cut it if we are going to rescue her. But I did happen upon someone a few days back, another Endergirl around your age with wicked fighting skills and a bad temper to match. If anyone can break in and out of there with no problem, she can."

Hope was brought back to Neila's face. "Really? Who? Would she really help?"

"She goes by Nyssa, and I can't think of a reason why she wouldn't, for the challenge if nothing else. If we're lucky we can find others to join in too. It's about a day and a half's journey to her usual hangout, maybe a single day if we really step on it. And that's without stopping."

Neila pondered about taking such a long journey while the village was doing gods know what with her little sister. Waiting around thinking of a plan herself certainly won't change the situation. She was determined to save Maline now, even if she had to wait a couple days for an actual rescue. She prayed to Jeb to keep her hopeful until she was back in Neila's arms. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go get this Nyssa!"

"Is there any food in that chesst?"

Neila shrugged and opened it. Inside was indeed the iron she hoped she stole, along with gold, coal, wooden planks, a diamond, a couple music disks, redstone dust and several pieces of... "Just some rotten flesh..." She said while making a face.

"Don't worry about that. I managed to nab some bread and chicken before I left the town."

"You can eat chickens?"

"What issss bread?" The two mobs asked.

"Oh you two are gonna love it. Come on, we better get moving. Time's a wasting. Oh, and I almost forgot." Without any warning, Ashen swiftly bent down to McCreeper's leg and yanked the stub of an arrow out.

"Mother of Agnes!! Why would you do that!?" He cried out and cradled his leg to ease the pain. He then realized he could put weight on that leg again and quietly thanked her despite his angry outburst.

-----

Maline slowly opened her eyes. She had no idea where she was or how long she was out of it. Everything was blurry but she could hear voices. She shook her head to regain her focus on the dark world around her. She could tell she was in some sort of stone room much like the dungeons found deep in caves but larger, the only light coming from a few torches on the wall. What made it worse was the fact she couldn't move, the reason being she was firmly chained to the floor. She had been forced onto her knees by the tight shackles, arms bound behind her by a couple more by feeling around, and a fifth one locked around her neck attached to two thick chains which the main reason she was weighted down.

What made it even worse was the fact she wasn't alone in the room. She could lift her head to see who was with her. Two humans and the green clad Villager from before were there with her. One human was guarding the only way out of the room, the Villager standing by some sort of stick jutting out of the wall, and the third was standing right in front of her and was shooting her a disapproving look.

"Oh, you're finally awake." The rough voice startled her thought she was unable to crawl away from it. "I've seen plenty of your kind come in and out of these rooms and I've had my pities for them at one time, and my heart has been hardened by it. But now that the Dark One is recruiting mere children..."

"W-What do you want with me..?" Maline softly cried out, almost too afraid to look at him.

"My dear child, we are not here to hurt you. We only wish to help you." He spoke out. Maline didn't buy it. He lifted his arms and faced his two comrades "We all wish to join our Lord Jeb someday in the Aether. It is our righteous duty to follow in his path and reach the Holy Plane lest we face his wrath and be cast into the fiery pit. So we must strive for peace, for unity!"

"For unity!" The other two chimed in. Maline was becoming very afraid.

"Please let me go.. I promise I won't bother you ever again..!" She could feel tears start to form but fought them back. She refused to cry in front of them right now.

The human faced her again. "How thoughtful of you child. However, we simply cannot allow you to continue down this dark and corrupted path you have been led down. Repent now."

Maline had no idea what he meant by that. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! I just wanna go home!"

The human shook his head. "Then we must begin the purification process. I am sorry." Now Maline was beginning to panic. If they were going to punish her, she hoped it would be quick and she'd get out of here. "Turn it on, Joel."

The Villager shot Maline a sympathetic look and flipped the lever on the wall. Pressure released somewhere behind her and suddenly Maline felt an intense pain over her entire back and sides and let out a horrible scream in response. They were spraying her, they were going to kill her by showering her! She desperately tried to blink away to the last surface spot she remembered but something was preventing her from doing so. She continued her screams for what seemed like hours before the mist was shut off. Already her skin felt like it was melting away from the brief contact, large blisters and boils slowly worsening by second.

"No please!! Don't burn me anymore!! I wanna go home!!" She wailed out, tears streaming down her face. "I want my sister!!"

"Do you repent your sins?"

"Yes!! Just please let me go!!" She pleaded, desperately wishing Neila or anyone bursting through the doorway and saving her any moment.

There was a pause, except for Maline's loud sobbing. Moments later the lead human grew impatient. "Well?"

"Well what..!?" Maline choked out between sobs.

"Are you going to release this corruption upon you?"

"M-My wha...!?" Maline was suddenly horrified by what could happen next if she didn't comply. "Y-Yes! I'll do anything! I reject corruption! Uh, praise Jeb- Lord Jeb!!"

Several more seconds of Maline's quiet sobbing go by. "I see you choose to mock us by holding on to the darkness. Turn it on again."

Maline was already screaming before the switch was flipped.

Chapter Text

The three had been racing to their destination all afternoon and well into the night, and Neila sure was feeling the burn. McCreeper really started to fall behind a couple hours into the run due to his wounds so she had to carry him on her back and transferred everything in the chest, including the chest itself into her satchel. She didn't really mind it. What she did mind a little was the fact she and Ashen couldn't just blink across the distance to save even more time. Turns out Ashen could only blink so far, six or so blocks at a time was her reach, and could only use it a limited number of times before she exhausted herself.

They were currently racing through a thick jungle and doing their best to stick close together. McCreeper naturally was warily looking around for any sign of ocelots, Neila could feel him jump a little every time he spotted something moving nearby. It was starting to annoy her.

"Will you quit jerking around? You almost made me miss that jump just now!" She told him somewhat harshly.

"Sssorry.. I wanna make sure the ocelotss aren't coming after ussss."

Neila rolled her eyes and continued after Ashen occasionally blinking toward her general direction whenever she got too out of sight.

-----

He stirred awake for the first time since that brutal attack. He wasn't sure how long he was out, but one thing for sure he was safe now. His torso was covered in bandages and had a patch over his right eye. He likely had a nasty black eye if they put so much on it. "Damn that stupid Enderman..." He weakly croaked out to no one in particular. This would take days until he could go out again. "See if I help her again..."

Brian turned his head to the counter beside him. Cadence had been by. He could tell by the note written with that usual pink marker. He frowned at the obnoxious neon color. He decided to read it to ease some of the boredom.

'To my dear Bri-Bri', He hated that name she gave him.

'I feel so bad you had been attacked by that horrid sick Enderman! You get better quick love, the other members have caught it and are fixing it good as I write this. I wouldn't want you to miss it. I didn't think it would be so short, but an Enderman is still an Enderman. I'll bring some cake for you tomorrow so save some room!

XOXOXO, Cadence'

Brian sighed and put the card back. So they were torturing that Nayla girl now. Even after what happened, it didn't seem right after that talk in the cave. It couldn't be right. She seemed so scared about being found and now...

He brushed the thought aside. She obviously tricked him so he'd be more trusting when they met again. Well good, they caught her. He may not heal in time to see her succumb to her wounds but maybe they would "accidentally" flip the switch on too long. The thought made him smile a little and he decided to read the other cards on the little table to ease his boredom.

-----

They stopped. They finally stopped. Maline was all alone in her prison. Sure there was a guard right outside the door, but she was alone for the night. Her back and shoulders were nearly covered in second degree burns from the water torture which the pain left her breathing with some difficulty, and her wrists were starting to go raw from her pulling against the shackles so much. She had gotten water burns before, but this? They don't even let her move to soothe some of the pain. She didn't even bother to cry anymore, her eyes had gone dry what seemed like ages ago.

"Neila... please come back..." She whimpered to herself. She had to be coming for her right now. She had to be tearing her way down here, any minute now she'd hear the guard outside being torn to shreds and Neila would step in to free her. She had to! She wouldn't leave her in this hell to die!

Her stomach growled loudly. She realized she hadn't eaten for two days now. She doubted these humans would give her any food. Neila would surely bring her some when she came in at any minute. She thought maybe it would be some roses, but anything would do right now. Maline kept watching the door listening for any indication of a scuffle. Any minute now...

-----

They were high in the trees now, so every jump they made had to be much more careful. Everything was relatively quiet between the three since all were focused on the quest to recruit more helpers and rescue Maline. Neila promised herself once it was over they all were moving so far away from the village they wont even think about it anymore. She remembered hearing a story or two a couple years ago about a town full of mobs and with no humans in sight. Maybe they can try to find it.

Suddenly McCreeper let out a piercing scream. "Ocelooot!!" Which of course woke up the peacefully sleeping wildcat. He suddenly tried to jump off of Neila to get away but since she held a tight grip on him she ended up tumbling down with him. The two fell off the platform of leaves and onto another far below. Neila ended up tumbling right into the trunk of the tree while McCreeper had a somewhat softer landing onto another Creeper. All three were stunned by the impact.

Ashen was still high above them looking down for them. "Are you two alright?"

"Y-Yeah, jussst fine..!" McCreeper yelled back. He turned to check up on Neila and the other Creeper. Neila was starting to come to, and the other Creeper didn't look terribly hurt either. "There'ssss another Creeper down here!"

"Keep it down! You want that psssycho girl to find usss?" The second Creeper hissed out.

McCreeper stared at him now that he got a good look at him. He had a feeling he knew him. Those red eyes, that very deep shade of green.. "Wait... Nuka?"

"Oh you've heard of me?" Nuka exclaimed striking a heroic pose. "It's no sssurprisse, I have been through ssome pretty amazing battles. I alwayssss come out on top!"

McCreeper was grinning widely. "Do you remember me? We ussed to live together until those Ssskeletons attacked! You usually put me on recon missionsss!"

Nuka narrowed his eyes in thought. "Hmm... Oh, you mean the derpy one? You're-"

"McCreeper, yess. Thisss is my friend Neila. And Ashen isss up there waiting." He pointed to both as he introduced them. "We have another Endergirlie named Maline in a village who needsss our help, but we can't do it with only three. We're going to get sssomeone whos really good at fighting. You ssaid you do battles, ssso your help would be nice too. You want to join?"

There was silence for a moment as Nuka took all this in. "...Okay. I wouldn't leave a brother hanging. We'll go get thisss other fighter. I'll get us out of the jungle firssst. There'ssss sssome crazy white Endergirl going around. She was killing Zombiesss earlier, but I don't want to know if she'll go after Creepersss too."

"White? Are you sure it was an Ender?" Neila spoke up once she regained her senses.

"Yesss she was. I would have almossst thought she was a Sssskeleton herself if it weren't for her sssword and gold pantsss. She'ssss so ssscrawny but pretty ssscary." Nuka did a quick look around to check for her.

"I'll deal with her if she comes at us. But we better keep moving. Maline's counting on us."

Nuka gave a quick nod. "Follow me. Oh, didn't you ssssay there were three of you?" As he finished his sentence, Ashen came jumping in from a nearby tree.

"Sorry I took so long." Nuka jumped up at the sudden appearance, then glared at her.

"Ah crap!! sssSSS-"

"No don't!!"

"She'ssss with ussss!!" The two other mobs cried out, all three travelers backing away.

Nuka stopped hissing. He couldn't concentrate with them screaming in his ears. It also gave him time to realize she wasn't going to attack. "...Okay, there'sss a human on the team... Heh, okay I can work with that.. Everyone, sssstay quiet and follow me.." He said with a chuckle.

Nuka walked over to the edge and jumped down onto a bush then to the grass below. He did a quick scan to make sure it was safe then motioned them down. "Okay the nearessst way out of the jungle isssn't that far off. If we sstay near the ground and in the shadowsss we should have little problem." He was met with quiet affirmation so he led them down the darkest path towards the exit.

Unbeknownst to him, the group had already been found mere moments ago by a pair of green eyes, and she was going to have a little 'fun' to test their true worth.

Chapter Text

Maline had been waiting for a long time it seemed. She had no idea how much nighttime she had left, or if it was even nighttime at all. The burns were now scarring over, but she still bled from several areas and was trying to stay awake. She was afraid if she fell asleep she might succumb to the wounds. Her head perked up when she heard the door opening. A smile had spread across her face despite the pain she was in, her sister had finally come to rescue her.

"Make it quick, Mage. And no funny business." Came a deep voice from the other side of the door.

'Or maybe Ashen is a mage...' Maline thought to herself.

She was wrong again. Another human walked in, this one being female. She was a little more plump than the others she remembered from earlier and her eyes didn't really focus which made her think of McCreeper's eyes. The door was closed behind her but not locked. Maline's smile had disappeared completely but she kept a sharp eye on the human coming towards her. She gave a small growl when she came within arm's distance.

"It's okay, I'm here to help." Maline heard her whisper. Maline left her guard up, that's what the last humans had said to her. She growled louder when the human reached into her pocket.

"I mean real help. You're hurt." She pulled out an apple, but this one was golden, which made Maline curious but was still wary. "It's okay, just eat."

Maline hesitated then looked at the fruit again. It could be poisoned for all she knew, or inedible. It was gold after all. Even then, maybe a little metal wouldn't hurt all that bad. She tentatively leaned forward as much as she was allowed and nibbled off a piece. No, it was a real apple after all, and a little tastier than an ordinary one. She then greedily took another bite out of it, which caught the human by surprise and she nearly dropped it.

"Wow you were pretty hungry. You almost took my fingers." Maline didn't care. In fact, she started to feel relief washing over her. It made her even more eager to finish off the fruit.

"I wish I could get you out of here but I'm not very good at picking locks. Maybe I can convince them to let you go." The girl whispered. She got up and started to head for the door.

"Why are you helping me?" The human stopped but didn't turn around. "All the others just want to torture and kill me."

There was silence for a few moments. "You won't die in this room. There are things you have yet to gain. When that day comes, this town, Donahvin, will be restored to what it once was before all this. War is upon us all, a war no mortal will look forward to. How it plays out will depend on the path you choose, Maline." She quietly left out the opened door and out of sight. Maline was once again alone, her thoughts lingering on the final words the girl had said.

"A war... depending on me?" She was furiously wondering how it came to this but got nothing. Why her? She was only ten years old. She then blinked when she realized something. "...How did she know my name?"

-----

"Jusst a quick trip through thisss tunnel and we're out of here." Nuka hissed to the others and led them in. McCreeper couldn't be more relieved. He'd be away from those ocelots and now a psycho Enderman. They were hardly inside when he ended up bumping into Nuka. He had stopped when he noticed a light coming from further down. It might have been a new lava spill through the wall, or maybe from a torch which meant miners. Either way it wasn't good.

"Okay, new plan. McCreeper and I will go invesstigate. It might be lava sspill we have to be careful around, or if itssss a miner we'll have to try another way." Nuka was frantically hoping it was just a small lava spill.

Neila nodded at the two. "Be careful. I don't need to be losing you too."

"Don't worry. If it'ssss a miner we can jussst flush 'em out!" McCreeper hissed with a smile before following Nuka into the cave. He didn't look at all phased by the chance of running into a human despite his earlier mishap with that one with the bow.

Nuka wasn't as enthusiastic but he wasn't going to let the others know, especially McCreeper. Come to think of it, he couldn't really remember a McCreeper in his old troop back then. Perhaps he was one of the ones left with the mundane tasks. He had to be, those eyes would have surely hindered him if he were put on the more dangerous duties. He probably would have been killed easily if he were an ambusher or something...

"Nuka wait!!" McCreeper hissed out loudly. Nuka snapped out of his thoughts to find he was standing in the middle of a lit room. There was a connected tunnel leading further down, also lit up.

"It doesssn't look like he'ssss around. Go get the otherssss." Nuka ordered.

"Oh good. I wasss afraid he wasss here." He turned and quickly ran the way they had come leaving Nuka alone. He glanced down the other tunnel again. Turns out he wasn't entirely right. There was someone further down working away on a crafting table, or was that something? He had never seen anything like it. The closest thing he could think of was some sort of animal, maybe a wolf or a cat, but it was standing upright, and had horns. It was covered in grey fur with a white neck ruff. He wasn't sure what it could be. There was a small black dragon sitting near the creature, a baby Enderdragon by the looks of it. Perhaps he should inform the others, if the thing wanted to help with their cause.

"All here now! Let'ss go!" McCreeper skipped past him but was stopped by Nuka's claws.

"Hold on. That'ssss no human down there. I don't know what it is but you sssay you need whatever help you find then maybe that thing can offer sssomething too." The three looked on down the cave at what he was gesturing towards. They too became puzzled by what they were looking at. It hadn't noticed them yet apparently, it was just busy zipping between a small chest and working on whatever it put on that crafting table.

"I'll go talk to it. It doesssn't look all that mean." McCreeper quietly wandered down towards it and keeping a friendly face on should it turn around. It didn't but the small Enderdragon nearby certainly did. At least he was pretty sure that's what it was, the spots of blue fur threw him off. It chirped at McCreeper and he found himself suddenly in possession of half a stack of cookies. The commotion got the furry beast's attention and it, he turned around and became nervous when it spotted McCreeper coming up to him, his tail drooping and wrapping around his legs.

"Oh um.." The thing started to fidget all of a sudden while the dragon was now happily sitting in front of the Creeper.

McCreeper noted his shyness so he went on to look as friendly as possible. "Hi, I'm McCreeper! My friend ssaw you down here by yourssself and thought maybe you could help uss. I'm not sure if you're the one we're looking for but we could use all the help right now. Sssee there's a village we're going to fight againsssst-"

"Um, I'm nots big on fightings." McCreeper's eyes narrowed very slightly. Was this thing making fun of the way he talked or was it something he did too? "Buts I do knows someone verys good at it. She's somewhere arounds here I thinks."

"Okay then, but you don't have to be a fighter. We're going to rescue a little Endergirlie from that village, they took her hossstage. We'll take anything right now, spiesss, magic usersss, healersss..." He looks past him at the crafting table. There was some sort of contraption sitting on top of it he had seen once before. He knew it involved redstone, but he didn't understand any of it. All he knew is it was used to make some pretty cool and useful stuff. "Sssso you can make redstone thingsss?"

The creature nodded. "Yes, just little things for funs. This one is a noteblocks."

"Hmm, can redstone make weaponssss?" McCreeper asked as he tilted his head at it.

The creature nodded slowly. "Yes, but I don'ts make weapons. My friends would be better helps. But ifs you want you can takes this." he pulled something out of a bag. It looked like a block of stone with a wooden slab attached to the top. There was some slime slathered on top of the wood. McCreeper just stared at it. "It's a sticky pistons. You cans use it to grabs things."

"Oh! I ssee now! Thankssss!" McCreeper smiled, then it diminished slightly. "Uh, you can jussst put it on my head." Once placed, he faltered a little. It was heavier than he expected. He turned to leave when the creature called out again.

"My friend Nyssa is not easys to talks to. Tell hers Kenzo sent yous. She'll listens, I hope."

"Got it." McCreeper grunted out as he rejoined the others. Somehow the warning made him very uneasy about this Nyssa character.

Chapter Text

"So he's not going to join us then?" Neila glanced back at Kenzo still working on things, though now at a slower, more awkward pace. "Hm, that's okay. At least he offered something useful.."

"We can sssstill find that Nyssa around here in the jungle." McCreeper said as he glanced back the way they came.

"Oh, then we don't have to go all the way to that forest after all. Come on!" Ashen hurried back to the jungle with Neila and McCreeper close behind.

Nuka was hesitant. He had a feeling this Nyssa was the very person he was so eager to avoid. He was about to call to the others to come back but a shout from ahead cut him off. His nerves were telling him to run, but he instead crept towards them. He had to at least try to get the remaining party members away. Once he got there, there was no injuries, not even a fight going on. "What happened?"

"Ssssomeone threw a cocoa nut at me, but I can't sssee who." McCreeper was busy trying to tend to a spot on his head where it hit him while Neila and Ashen were focused on the trees above.

"I ssssay we should ssstay closse together. It could be that crazy fighter." Nuka backed up into the cave in case she came leaping out at him.

"Hey did you forget we're team? It's four against one now. If you want I can hold them off while you all get somewhere safe." Neila said with a grin. Her statement didn't go unheard. Green eyes were watching them with great interest, and the owner was stifling a chuckle. That Endergirl may prove to be a challenge after all.

"I don't see anyone up there. Maybe it just came loose." Ashen wasn't as sure as Neila was, but nuts coming loose wasn't an impossibility.

There was a rustling coming from a nearby bush. Neila immediately took a defensive stance and McCreeper took a step back. Then there was nothing. Neila wasn't turning back around. She slowly edged closer to the bush ready to fight off whatever was behind it. Once close enough she tore through it but just ended up slashing at air. Slightly embarrassed now she turned back to her friends with a big grin. "Heh, guess it was just nothing..."

Neila heard a light whoosh coming up behind her. Wasting no time to think she immediately blinked a few blocks to the right. She caught a glimpse of white and gold rushing by where she stood a split second ago and land in the middle of the group. She turned her head and gave Neila a devilish smirk out of the corner of her eye.

"It'sss her! She's the fighter!" Nuka called out to Neila as he backed away from the attacker.

Neila hesitated, the Endergirl before her looked so sickly and frail. That was a big mistake. She charged Neila again at an alarming speed and kicking her square in the jaw and sending her flying back. Before she even hit the ground, her assailant came up with unsheathed claws and sliced her across the chest and she then slammed into a tree.

Anyone who watched what had just happened stared on in shock, especially Nuka. "No..." He felt it was best for them to retreat for now and come up with a better strategy.

Neila got up, a little shaken, but was now shooting a serious glare at her opponent. "Okay, you wanna dance? Let's dance." She growled out.

"Fine, show me what you got!" She retorted as she cracked her knuckles.

"Neila dont!" Ashen called out, but was ignored. Neila blinked above her opponent and wasted no time bringing her leg down hard into her shoulder. Or she would have, if she hadn't jumped out of the way. She still managed to catch her down the arm. She reached around and grabbed her while by the same arm as she was still pulling away. Before she could even try to get free, Neila had pulled her into a dizzying twirl then finished it by kicking her hard enough to stun her for only a moment.

"Neila stop! That's Nyssa! We need her able to help us!" Neila paused again once it dawned on her.

"That'sss the one you were looking for!?" Nuka's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe if they were for real or not.

"Hmph, so you've heard of me!" Nyssa stood back up as if nothing happened, which had Neila slightly unnerved by it.

"Er, Kenzo sssent usss." McCreeper timidly said out loud.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't realize you'd be so scrawny.." She was met with an icy stare from Nyssa. She gave Nyssa a sheepish grin thinking maybe she can get on her good side. "Not that it's a bad thing. That crazy village might think you're a Skeleton and leave you alone.."

Nyssa raised an eyebrow. "There's Villagers that fight off mobs on their own, without a Golem? That's a first."

"Well, no. They're humans in some sort of evil group and they kidnapped my little sister. The three of us, Ashen, McCreeper and I, we can't rescue her by ourselves with so many enemies so we came out here to look for you. So will you please help us?" Neila felt she was going to tear up just thinking about what they could be putting her sister through.

Nyssa crossed her arms and thought about it which made Neila anxious. "We can pay you if that's what you want." Neila opened her satchel, wondering how it didn't get damaged at all during the fight. "Let's see. There's plenty of iron and gold. There's a diamond-"

"There's no need. I could use them to try some new moves on anyway." Nyssa had on another mischievous grin and drew out a diamond sword for emphasis.

Neila breathed a sigh of relief. Don't worry Maline, we're getting you out of there, she thought silently. "I can't thank you enough! With five of us we can come up with a plan to get her out without fail!"

"I ssay you two should get healed up firssst. Those hitsss looked like they hurt." Nuka said aloud now that he realized they weren't going to die.

Nyssa just shrugged it off. "Meh, I've been through much worse than that. Your friend here would have to try a lot harder than that to keep me down."

"So we are ready to ressscue her now? We're wasting time ssstanding here." Nuka pointed out now getting a little impatient.

"Yes, we're going now. It's past the other side of the jungle and out in the desert." Neila started back for the village with both Creepers eagerly following.

"Hey, we're not going to make it back there by daybreak. We'll have to strike tomorrow night, since Nyssa-"

"Ashen, there's no time to wait. They could be torturing Maline for all we know, and I can't have her waiting another day!"

"But Nyssa can't be in that blazing sun for very long since she's albino and all. She'll fry up in no time. Besides, I'm sure we're all tired from travelling all day and night. I know I am, I hardly even got a wink of sleep last night." She then let out a yawn once she realized just how long she had been awake.

"What issss that, albino? Isss that the reassson why Zombiesss and Ssskeletonsss burn in the daytime?" McCreeper asked and tilted his head.

Ashen shook her head."Uh, no. I think it explains why she's so white. I do remember seeing a white zombie once.."

"I'm standing right here, ya know! Like I can't explain it myself!" Nyssa growled out. Nuka winced in response almost expecting for her to lunge at them again.

"Anyway, can we please get some rest? It won't do us any good if we're not in peak condition for this." Ashen yawned again, and now had McCreeper yawning too.

"...Fine. But just for a couple of hours." Neila reluctantly agreed with her. She was exhausted too, but the thought of Maline kept her awake. She sat down on under a large tree to watch the moon set behind the trees. Ashen had taken a couple blocks out and made a sort of half-house to sleep in. McCreeper and Nuka found some ferns to snuggle into, both deciding to take a small nap himself.

Now that all was quiet, save for the natural noises of the night, she looked back to Nyssa, only she was no longer with them. Instead, she was found sitting atop a small cliff munching on some sort of meat. She couldn't tell what kind at first, until she spotted the unmistakable rotting bits covering it. Neila's jaw dropped. "..Are you really eating that crap?"

Nyssa shot her a nasty glare. "Why are you surprised? You eat it too, I caught a whiff of it in your bag when you were digging through it." She grunted out.

"I don't eat it! I wouldn't eat it! Seriously, anything is better than that!" Neila had to look away as Nyssa took another bite out of the foul meat. She suddenly didn't want to eat anything herself now.

"Whatever. By the way, we never finished our fight. If you're not a coward I know a clearing we can fight at!" She put away her remaining meal and jumped off towards the clearing and out of sight.

She sat there blinking and trying to take in this wild first impression. She got up making sure not to disturb the others further and went after her. "She's younger than me, how hard can it be?"

Chapter Text

"What do you mean it's all gone!?" The messenger flinched before her Superior.

"That's the thing. We have no idea what happened to the iron, or the whole chest for that matter! We asked everyone in town for any clues but there wasn't much. I think it had something to do with that little Enderman we caught yesterday. There was a Creeper causing havoc alongside her so I think they have it."

"Mother, I say we execute that Enderman for its crimes! It's bad enough it lives such a blasphemous life but thievery and mass panic is just too much!"

"Compose yourself." Cadence calmed down even though she silently wanted to be rid of that Enderman already. "We will first get her to tell us where it is. Give her until nightfall and if she doesn't tell tell us then we arrange her execution. You are free to go."

"Yes, Superior." The messenger bowed her head and left as quickly as she came.

Cadence went back to her yelling. "It better talk! It would take another three months to mine that much iron again!"

"I know dear, but have faith. The prisoner looks like she'll be easy to break." Cadence wasn't too thrilled. "If you want, I'll let you deal with her afterwards."

"You would? You're not joking this time? Oh thank you!" She hugged her mother, then let go. "Oh, sorry. I got carried away. I'm going to pay Brian a visit. I just finished brewing a healing potion for him!"

The Superior raised an eyebrow. "You're not making a trade out of potion making, are you?"

"I only care to learn how to make healing potions. I still would like to be a priestess someday. I better go. I want to be there before the crowd."

-----

Neila had lost sight of the weird Endergirl. She was certain she turned down this way, wondering how she can race through this maze of trees so quickly. She found the fresh remains of a zombie so she felt she was still on the right path. She kept going, jumping over a grass block..

..And fell over a small cliff. The drop caught her off guard and she nearly lost her footing. "That was close.." She laughed to herself.

Neila looked around the area. It was a clearing alright, a large one. She spotted Nyssa sitting on a stone ledge next to a small black dragon similar to what that furry character had, only this one looked to be made out of slime. It reminded her of Ollie back in the desert. She began to wonder if her was okay on his own back at the cave. Neila flashed them a smile once Nyssa glanced over at her. "Nice dragon."

"Thanks, but we're not here because of him." She gently ushered the little dragon to move aside, which he did. "Now, are you ready to lose?" She cracked her knuckles for added effect.

Neila smirked at her. "You sure are confident. I'll have to knock you down a peg or two." She took off her satchel and casually tossed it aside. No reason for it to get torn apart in a sparring match.

"Hah, I doubt that!" Nyssa let out a rough laugh. She held up something small and threw it at Neila's head at full force.

Neila barely ducked then turned to see it had just been a cocoa seed. "Why would you..." She suddenly snapped her attention back to Nyssa though it was too late. She was met with a double punch which nearly sent her off balance. She hardly got into a fighting stance when Nyssa suddenly crouched down and kicked her legs out from under her. Neila fell onto her her back. Nyssa was fast, faster than she had anticipated.

Neila knew Nyssa was going to strike again immediately. She then ducked out of the way of a hard punch to the face and twirled behind Nyssa as she pounded to stone ground. Neila then did a back flip to deliver a powerful kick of her own. She hit this time, her nails leaving a deep scratch down the side of Nyssa's torso.

"Aaarghh!" Nyssa cried out as she put a hand over it.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry!" Neila paused when she saw the bleeding wound on her back. She didn't mean to inflict that kind of damage at all. Nyssa would be no good if she was all cut up. "I might have something for that."

Neila was not expecting what happened next. Nyssa suddenly sprang up and delivered a roundhouse kick right in the ribs, knocking the wind out of her. She crumbled to the ground trying to catch her breath again. "Don't ever show mercy." Her opponent growled out.

'Got it...', Neila thought to herself. She struggled to her feet to continue their brawl. Nyssa was coming up with another punch. Neila side stepped the attack and managed to slug her right in the eye. There was a small cry from the baby dragon and Nyssa herself when she nearly slipped up from the force of that punch.

"Not what I was aiming for but it works." Neila remarked while rubbing her sore knuckles. She faced Nyssa again only to receive another flying kick, this one near her neck area. She again fell back and landed hard and hitting her head against the stone floor. She laid there too stunned to move.

"What was that about 'knocking me down a peg or two'?" Nyssa asked with a huge smirk on her face. Neila just let out a groan and a cough for an answer. She hadn't had a fight this rough outside of sparring matches with her father and certainly didn't expect it from an Enderling.

"Looks like you're done. And here I thought you'd put up more of a fight." Neila didn't hear her, she slipped into unconsciousness moments ago. Nyssa motioned her dragon to follow her. She might as well leave him with Kenzo while she prepared for this upcoming battle...

-----

"Neila..."

Neila stirred in her sleep. She didn't want to be woken up, especially with this dull soreness plaguing her upper body. She wanted to tell them off but that was too much energy.

"Neila, the ssun is ssstarting to go down.." Why was that important? She knew there was an urgent reason but it was eluding her at the moment.

"We have to get moving. Maline's waiting for us!" Maline... Right, she was a big priority. Something about villagers...

"Move over, I got this." That voice wasn't as familiar as the others. Wait, that sounded like Nyssa.

"You're not gonna put that sstuff near her are?... Okay you are..." She heard McCreeper now. She was now vaguely unsure what was going to happen. Suddenly she had caught a whiff of something horrible, like something died. Her eyes fluttered open to check what was causing this offense to her senses. Not a foot away from her face was a big heaping slab of rotten meat, and it was closing in on her mouth.

"GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!!" Neila screamed out and scrambled to get away from it. The sight was too much for the Endergirl holding it. Nyssa doubled over in laughter, along with chuckles from McCreeper and Nuka.

"Oh man, that hurt..." Neila rubbed the back of her neck to ease the pain. Then she remembered what she needed to do. "Maline! What time is it!? Why was I sleeping!? We gotta go!!"

"It's okay, we can leave now. It should be almost night by the time we reach the desert." Ashen stated. Neila glanced around the group. Ashen was now wielding an iron sword, both creepers were donning iron helmets and McCreeper must've insisted on extra armor around his body.

"We got you sssome armor too! But we only had enough for a ssword and pantsss." McCreeper pulled out said iron goods and tossed them to Neila.

"It'll do fine." Neila quickly put on the pants and put the sword in her satchel for now. The armor would take some getting used to but there was plenty of time on the way back to the village. This time, she was sure they all would get out without fail.

Chapter Text

"I checked everywhere sir. It's not up there." Came a timid voice from the woman who just came in. Maline merely glanced at her, she was the one she mistook for Ashen...

"I suspected as much. Turn it on." Once again, the mist came down onto Maline. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming but it did no good. She let out another cry, though each session had been slowly shifting into more out of fear than physical agony. Her entire back had scarred and blistered horribly to the point of destroying all sense of pain entirely. She felt she was going to go crazy from being their prisoner. She again felt her world was going white.

The water was shut off again. The guards present continued their disapproving glares even though they themselves wished this to end. "No more lies. I'll ask you again Enderman, where is our iron!?"

"I'm not lying!! I left it on the roof, I swear!!" Maline was in tears again, and not just from the pain. These humans demanded so much from her yet they don't listen to a word she said. "Why don't you believe me!?"

The man standing before her shook his head. "If you just tell us where you hid it then we might go easier on you. Can't say the same for that Creeper friend of yours when we find it."

"No don't hurt him! Please don't!!" Maline cried out. "It wasn't his fault.."

"Will you leave her alone already!? I can't take thisss anymore!!" Called a sudden voice from outside of the room. Maline, startled by the outburst, quieted down. So she wasn't the only one being kept down here it sounded like.

"Go take care of that one, will you Richard?" Their leader commanded. She hardly noticed one of them had left with a stone sword in hand. Shortly afterward came a quick yelp followed by a loud hiss and she could hear Richard saying something quietly with a deep rage before returning with a bloodied sword.

"It was that pink one again, sir. She won't be defying us again."

"That Creeper... We'd finish our track sooner and get her out of here if someone would just tell us where our iron is!" He glared at Maline again, who was no longer paying attention to them.

She didn't want to give them attention. It didn't matter how much she cried and begged them to let her go, they were going to keep doing this until she can't take the torture anymore. Did Neila even hear her screams before she was taken here? It dawned on Maline, maybe Neila wasn't coming. It was an entire village she and McCreeper would be up against. Even her father probably couldn't get through to save her if he were still alive. She wondered if Neila still thought she was alive. Maybe Neila had been captured too or worse, killed. She was on her own for good this time, primed to face death like the rest of her family.

The unexpected searing pain had forced her out of her thoughts. She let out another scream and tried breaking free again to no avail. It was over as soon as it started. "Now that I have your attention. Where. Is. Our. Iron?"

Maline shot him a defiant glare. "I already told you where I left it! If it's not there go find it yourself and LEAVE ME ALONE!!" All three of the humans were taken aback by the sudden change in her demeanor. Maline herself went quiet now, stewing in her own frustration and mentally projecting her own rage onto them. She no longer cared if they would spray her down again. They didn't.

"Maybe she's telling the truth. She really doesn't know where it is." The female turned the other way when her commander glanced at her. He looked back at the surrendered Maline thoughtfully and nodded.

"Go inform the Superior. The child has no information." The woman bowed her head before leaving, the one called Richard leaving after her.

"However, you are still charged as a thief." The human said once they were alone. "And let's not forget your stubborn refusal to follow the path of Notch. It's the same with every Enderman that comes through here. All we want is to save your souls yet you remain so disturbingly loyal to your dark master. Your fate will come at sundown. Either abandon your ways or face execution." He left, slamming the door behind him before locking it. Maline never felt so defeated in her short life. She simply hung her head back down and sobbed.

-----

Chunks away in the desert, the group of Mobs were racing toward the village, with Nyssa and Neila constantly racing for lead position. Nuka felt it didn't matter who reached the village first as long as they can get their mission done quickly and effectively. McCreeper was bringing up the rear, mainly due to not looking forward to being shot at again.

"Hey McCreeper, you're gonna have to keep up if you're wanting to help!" Nuka yelled back to him.

"Oh, I'm jussst making sure no one attacksss from behind!" Nuka rolled his eyes. The guy was probably scared of running into humans, not that he himself was.

"There in the distance! That's the village!" Neila pointed out once she reached the top of a sand dune. There was one problem she could see, those humans were patrolling the entire area. "They're expecting us.."

"Then we'll strike them down first." Nyssa growled while pulling out a bow and some arrows. She aimed upwards, which had Neila raising an eyebrow, and fired. Several seconds later one human suddenly fell over clutching their thigh.

"Wow, a hit on the firssst arrow!" McCreeper yelled out before being hushed by Neila. Nyssa fired more arrows while slowly making her way to the town. They didn't all hit, but it was enough to send most of them leaving the immediate area. Nyssa took the opportunity to charge. Neila and Ashen wasted no time following behind with their swords drawn. A whooshing sound filled the air as several arrows came flying down on them. They were able to dodge for the most part, however the shower of arrows prevented Ashen and the Creepers from closing in. Neila took the initiative to blink to their locations to take them out while Nyssa ran at them with her sword aiming to kill. The arrows were soon not firing upon their allies but on each other now trying to take out their attackers. Safe to say, their efforts were useless, especially since Neila would just blink out of the way. Once the archers were taken care of, Neila slumped against a wall in exhaustion.

Nyssa rolled her eyes. "What, tired already?"

"I didn't expect to have to blink so much.. But I'm not stopping for anything." She forced herself up again. She can rest later once Maline was safe again.

"There's some more hiding over there. The cowards.." Nyssa growled and sprinted off to the western part of the village, with Ashen soon joining her lead. Neila was somewhat bewildered by her energy but followed anyway.

McCreeper was about to go after them as well until he felt a tug on his armor. "How about we let the Endergirlsss handle the humanss? We can ssneak by and find that Maline of yoursss." Nuka hissed out.

McCreeper was skeptical. "What if they get trapped or hurt?"

"I'm no newbie on the battlefield. I sseen them fighting earlier, they're pretty sskilled fightersss, probably better than I am. And sssomeone hasss to find your Maline." Nuka flashed a smile of reassurance for McCreeper. "Besidess, Enderss can teleport away when there'sss trouble."

"Well... okay. Let'ssss try over there." McCreeper pointed to one of the smaller buildings nearby. Nuka nodded and the two quietly slinked off to the shadows to search on their own. McCreeper took a peek through a window to see if Maline was there. There wasn't much aside from a bed and a ladder leading to the roof.

"I don't think she'sss in here." McCreeper whispered.

"How about that one over there?" Nuka pointed to the large stone church near the center of the village.

McCreeper faltered when he looked at the guarded entrance. "I don't think we can make it, Nuka..."

Nuka noticed a shadow coming around the corner toward them. "We gotta move!" He hissed out. He runs past McCreeper, nearly making him trip over his own feet.

"Nuka wait! My legsss got tangled up!" Too late, Nuka was already running out of his sight and the shadow turned out to belong to Neila.

"What are you doing over here? We really should stick together."

McCreeper looked back in the direction Nuka ran off to then shook his head. "Nuka did sssay we can find Maline while you fight the humansss. I told him to wait but I guesss he didn't hear me. Wait, I thought you were fighting."

"I was, but I can hardly keep up after all that blinking around. Then I noticed you two were gone so I came looking for you. Nyssa took care of most of those humans so it's a little safer to look around now."

McCreeper took another look at the church. The guards were gone now. "Oh, is she in there?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. We should hurry insside, before the guardsss come back."

"Right." Neila and McCreeper made a run for it and making sure to stay in the shadows when they could. Neila opened the door as quietly as she could and peeked inside. "Looks like no one's inside." The two entered but not two steps in did they hear a faint scream.

"Could it be?" Neila nodded.

"It has to be, but where is it coming from?"

The two searched throughout the room, then McCreeper discovered a staircase hidden from view behind the altar. "I bet she'sss down there!" He hissed out and descended down into the darkness.

"Don't worry Maline, we're coming for you!" Neila said to herself and started down the stairs, her sword ready for a fight.

Chapter Text

Nuka had been sprinting toward the stone church in hopes of not getting caught. He had to get rid of the guards, and quickly too. The shadows led him practically right next to the entrance, but getting over there left them exposed in the moonlight. They just had to time their run at just the right moment. The guards were now laughing at their own joke, perfect! "Come on!" He whispered and ran for it.

"Okay, I know jusst how to disstract them. You jusst wait for ... McCreeper?" Nuka stopped when he finally noticed he was alone. "McCreeper!" He hissed out while trying to stay quiet.

An arrow flew by right in front of his face, catching him by surprise. "Dammit, I missed!" One of the guards snarled. Looks like he was the distraction now. He ran off in the other direction now that he was being shot at. He hoped McCreeper would take advantage of the unguarded building. Several arrows shot past him, one even hitting the back of his helmet causing him to yelp in surprise. He had to find the others to help, but where were they now? Nuka turned the corner and was met with a dead end.

"No..." Nuka nearly fell to his knees in horror. He turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. As he expected the three humans had him cornered and their arrows aiming directly at him.

"The Superior knew you'd come back." The one in the middle stated. "But I don't remember her saying you're one of the special ones we're looking for."

"...What are you talking about? What sspecial Creepersss?" Nuka kept his guard up and backed up against the wall.

"Fetch one of the cats. We got this one cornered." One of them left without hesitation.

Nuka's eyes went wide with horror the moment he heard 'cat'. How could this have happened over something as small as being separated from his comrade? He was the one who has been through village raids before without getting a single scratch on him, yet here he was trapped and about to die at the paws of some cat in the middle of some village. No, it can't happen. He won't let it happen!

"W-Wait!" Nuka stammered, raising a paw for emphasis. He didn't have a plan for what he was about to do, he just hoped it would work.

-----

"What iss thiss place?" McCreeper asked as he looked around warily. They were in some sort of cave, thought it felt a lot more like an underground prison. There were heavy iron doors along the walls but neither could see inside.

Neila tried a door to their left. The knob wouldn't turn at all. "They're locked."

"Hello?" Came a small, strained voice from the other side, catching the two off guard.

"Are you okay in there Maline? We'll try to get you out!" McCreeper shouted back at whoever was in there.

"Who's there?" A stern voice echoed through the hall. Further down they can see someone coming toward them with their sword drawn.

"Oh great, another one." Neila readied her own sword and lunged at him. Their swords clashed as they swung at each other. Neila swung again. Her opponent tried to block but the force of Neila's blow had caused his stone blade to shatter.

"Oh come on!" He didn't have enough time to grab his spare before Neila slammed his head against the wall, knocking him out cold. She was about to walk on past him when she noticed something shining on his belt in the dim torch light.

"Hey what's this?" She carefully picked it off him. It was a metal ring with several keys attached. "I bet these will be useful."

"Like getting Maline out from that room?" McCreeper asked.

"Exactly." She noted the small hole on the knob. "Here, I bet I can open it." She tried a few keys though none worked until she tried the last one. "Of course it'd be the last one."

She opened the door and hurried inside, and stopped when she realized Maline wasn't in the room. It wasn't even an Ender she was looking at but a Creeper, an oddly colored Creeper but it was surely a Creeper. He was chained to the wall and in the room with him was a fuzzy little tabby cat.

"Oh thank you for resscuing me! Now that that horrid beassst away from me!!" He cried out. The cat just sat there purring innocently at Neila.

"Go away." Neila shooed the cat out of the room, then watched it run up the stairs out of sight. McCreeper then stepped in once he felt it was safe.

"A cookie Creeper? Why would they keep a cookie Creeper down here with a cat?"

The cookie Creeper rolled his eyes. "What elssse? They don't like usss mobsss. They've been capturing usss for monthsss now. They usually jusst torture uss before killing usss and the Endermen get the worssst of it from what I hear. I've been ssstuck down here for three weeksss, sso I wanna know why I'm ssstill here."

"Endermen, get the worst..." Neila stood there stunned before grabbing the Creeper. "What have they been doing to Maline, my little sister!?"

"Hey, take it easssy girl!" The Creeper's eyes widened. "Little ssissster? Wow, you're what, twelve? Thirteen? I knew those screamsss ssounded younger than usual, but coming from a little kid..."

"McCreeper, we have to get her out of here! Take these, I'll go on ahead and find her!" She handed the keys to McCreeper and blinked further down the dimly lit tunnel.

-----

Maline didn't even care to look up at the human in front of her. She looked so sweet with that smile of hers but her words felt so vile. There were two guards this time so this human had to be that Superior they talked about, or very close to it.

Suddenly the girl's hand shot out and tightly grabbed her chin and pulled her face up. "Now you look at me. Child or not, no one will live another day after they hurt my Brian. I'll make sure of it." She purred.

"Mmph, don't know a Brian..." Maline growled through her quiet despair.

"No more lies! I'll stop this, once I have your pearl on a string!" She raised her voice as she dug her nails into Maline's face. Maline pulled away from her hand though she didn't have much space to pull away. She just laughed at her attempts to free herself, then punched her square in the face. Maline let out another cry, much to the girl's delight.

"Oh let's see." She pulled out a glass bottle filled with... something Maline never seen before. "I wonder what would happen if I splash this on you..." She said with a playful tone. Maline's eyes widened. She was sure she couldn't take anymore water damage than she had already.

"No, please don't..." Maline choked out on top of a renewal of fear. It was useless. The girl took a few steps back, she didn't want any of the liquid to splatter on her too.

"Maline?" A voice rang out from outside. The guards instantly went on the defense and looked outside the room to deal with the intruder.

"Stop right there, Enderman!" One of them yelled out. Immediately his words were replaced with the sounds of a scuffle, then suddenly a 'vworp' into the doorway...

"Neila..?" Maline weakly called out, not fully sure if it was real. The human girl panicked and threw her bottle at Neila.

She jumped out of the way, letting it shatter on the wall behind her. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain all over her back, despite very little of it splattering onto her her. She gripped the side of the doorway to keep her balance. She looked over at Maline, chained up, burned, and beaten, and shot a horrible glare at the girl. "You..."

"Guards! Seize this Enderman!!" She backed up against the wall as Neila stepped in and started charging at her.

"You monster!!" Neila roared out and pinned her against the wall. "I ought to kill you myself!!"

"N-No don't hurt me!! I have a condition!!" She cried out. "Guards!!"

"Freeze, shadow beast!" Neila turned around at the bruised guard blocking the doorway. She thought she knocked them both out.

"Just kill it!!" The girl cried out before Neila covered her mouth to shut her up. She could easily break her neck right now...

"I said freeze!!" The guard came up and swung at Neila, slashing her in the back. Neila snarled at the pain and let the girl go, her full attention now on the guard. Neila slashed at his face wanting to rip his eyes out. He held his face trying to stop the heavy bleeding but still attempted to focus on Neila. Neila came up again and grabbed him by the shoulders. She then positioned herself and suplexed him up over her head to drive his head into the stone floor. There was a loud crack that filled the room once he made contact with the stone floor and he fell limp. All three still in the room were silent for several moments.

"You... you killed him..."

"Is it really you, Neila...?"

Neila kept staring at the corpse in front of her. "Yeah... I'm here." Then it was as if she suddenly remembered why she was there. "Maline, we're getting you out of here! Just as soon as McCreeper catches up." Neila hardly noticed the human girl had already fled the room out of sight.

Chapter Text

"Orkay, ffree doorshh awready and shhtill no Marine." McCreeper muttered currently having the keys in his mouth. He figured it might be better to have it out of his mouth if he wanted to say something. He glanced back at the growing group of mobs following him. The cookie Creeper, Chipper, was still there, mainly due to him not wanting to get captured again while he was alone. The second door housed a spider who called himself Ivan, though the humans here had removed all his eyes so now the poor fellow was left completely blind. He was still very lively and wanting to get to know everyone. The final one was another Creeper, a fire one. He refused to give his name, even after Ivan asked him three times. He didn't seem to believe any of this rescue mission was really happening, but McCreeper and Ivan were determined to make sure all of them would again see the sun and taste freedom.

"I bet they put her at the very end of the tunnel, skee!" Ivan chirped. McCreeper nodded and led them down the hall towards the end.

"Hello? Who'sss out there?" A female voice rang out from behind another door to their right.

"Wait, we should get her out too." Chipper said as he motioned over to the door. He hated having to face another cat lurking behind the door. Still, McCreeper hopped over and fiddled with the keys until one worked and he opened the door.

"Okay missss, we're here to free.. you..." McCreeper stood stunned at the sight before him. "It can't be..."

He knew the Creeper girl instantly. Her bright pink color stood out from the dreary room around her. The darker pink mark in the general shape of a heart was still visible on her front side but it was more faded than he remembered. Why he knew it was the female he knew was because she still wore that red collar lined with gold her miner had put on her, though heavily worn. She was chained to the wall like the other Creepers were, only there was no cat in the room.

"You know her?" Chipper asked.

"Yeah, that'ss Larilyn. We usssed to hang out together a few ssummers back. I wasss ready to make her my girl before her miner chasssed me off with a diamond sssword."

"Oh you're that weird loser, McCreeper. I think you forgot, I helped her chassse you off."

Chipper let out a small chuckle. "The sassy type, eh? That'sss how I like 'em too!"

McCreeper ignored his comment. "How did you get here? What happened to you miner?"

Larilyn narrowed her eyes, "You're asssking that now? How about you get all of usss out of here firssst, then I'll talk."

"Oh, right." McCreeper hopped over and unlocked the shackles on her. She licked at the spots where they held her for so long before getting up off the floor.

"Thanksss. Now you really should get that little Endergirl out of here." She remarked as she walked on past McCreeper and joined the others outside the room. He followed her out and continued further down. He could see an open door near the end so Maline had to be in that one.

"Sssorry for taking ssso long, Neila. We got sssome more helpersss now!" McCreeper proudly exclaimed as he barged into the room. His joy deflated once he got a good look at the imprisoned Endergirl. "Oh, Maline..."

"Damn thosse humansss... I'm amazed she's ssstill alive." The fire Creeper stated. "By the way, I grabbed the keysss you left behind." He twirled them around on his claw before tossing them to McCreeper.

"Thanksss." He wasted no time unlocking the chains around Maline. Maline slumped down on the floor too weak to get up on her own, Neila rushed to her side to help her up.

"Ssomething isssn't right.. If they hate mobss so much, then why keep ssso many Creepersss? We were hardly treated horribly like other mobs, if that at all." Chipper pondered out loud.

Neila's eyes flashed briefly for a second. "I haven't a clue, but I know someone who can tell us what's going on, with proper persuasion of course."

-----

Nyssa was growing increasingly bored with the villagers here. They weren't providing enough of a challenge despite them running to defend the town. She was quick to notice only one of those following her lead were still with her. Ashen was keeping her distance from Nyssa's wide swings and was subduing another villager with a wooden sword. "I hope they found that friend of yours by now. I'm ready to just burn the place to the ground if they don't show themselves."

Ashen tensed up. She had to think of something quick before Nyssa did something too destructive, but what? "Give them a few more minutes you two."

Both members turned to the direction of the voice. Standing by the well was a dark haired woman probably in her mid 20's. Naturally the two took a defensive stance when they saw her, Nyssa looked like she would slice her to pieces at any moment. "And who are you to tell us what to do?" Nyssa snarled, her blade ready.

The woman flinched slightly at the harsh tone. "Please, I don't mean you any harm. My name is Hilda, I'm a friend." She spoke calmly in hopes of getting them to relax.

"Prove it." Nyssa snapped at her.

"Your friends are rescuing little Maline as we speak. If it weren't for me she would likely not have made it through today." Hilda pulled out a golden apple for emphasis. "I would have gotten her out myself if it weren't so heavily guarded."

Nyssa snorted. "I don't see the big deal. These fakers aren't even putting up much of a fight."

"Well you are the only one who does this sort of stuff on a regular basis. Nuka too, or so I heard." Ashen piped up.

"That reminds me, if he's such a great warrior in battle then why haven't I heard of him? I don't trust him."

Ashen's brows furrowed. "What does it matter if you heard of him or not? His willing to help is was matters now."

Nyssa rolled her eyes. "Maybe..." She wasn't convinced. She may not have said anything, but she noted Nuka looked ready to run when she showed up despite the others being with him. She turned back toward Hilda. "...How did she leave? I didn't even hear her."

Ashen shrugged and sheathed her sword. "Hey don't put that away yet. We can have a little match before they show up!" Nyssa said with a devilish grin causing Ashen to tense up.

"Er, no thanks. I'll go find a quick exit for everyone." She said before briskly walking off.

"Pffft, wuss." Nyssa snarled before going off to find the others herself. Mainly Nuka, she had a feeling he wasn't with the others.

-----

Nuka had settled near one of the small shacks to gather his thoughts about what had happened in the last few minutes. He got those humans off him, though they had mistook him for a Darkness Creeper for some reason. He'd play along for now since it meant they wouldn't hurt him. He lifted his head when he heard someone approaching. He relaxed slightly realizing it was Nyssa closing in fast. Only she didn't look pleased to see him. Before he could get up to get out of the way, she had him cornered against the wall.

"I know what you're trying to do." Nuka's eyes widened at the statement. "You might have the others fooled but not me. If you're such a great warrior the prove it to me, right now. Show me what you really do in these 'battles'."

Nuka calmed down slightly. "O-Oh sure! But I never ssaid I wass a warrior. I'm more of a strategissst. My plansss never fail! Even if they did I alwaysss think of a plan B on the ssspot!"

Nyssa backed down herself now that she got an answer from him. "Okay, so where are the other two?"

"McCreeper went into the church to find that girl after I lured the guardsss away. Wait, two? I thought everyone elssse wasss with you!"

"Well I guess you're not as good as you thought." Nyssa growled before running off toward the church.

Nuka got up and ran after her. "Hey wait up! If we're going in, we need a plan!"

Nyssa didn't slow her pace. "We go in, find your friends, and kill anyone who tries to stop us. Is that enough planning for you?" She snapped. Nuka didn't say anything for fear he'd make her angrier. Despite all these Endergirls running everywhere, he can improvise. But between Nyssa's attitude and McCreeper's clumsiness this mission would be tougher than most. Nyssa especially was a tough one to crack. He wasn't deterred. He can still win this.

He had to.

Chapter Text

Chipper and the fire Creeper were leading the way back up the stairs in case an ambush was waiting for them at the top. Neila followed after carrying Maline on her back. The girl was still fighting to stay conscious despite her wounds. McCreeper stayed behind them in case Maline slipped off, even though Neila already told him she had a secure grip on her. Larilyn and Ivan trailed behind, Larilyn riding atop the Spider to direct him where to go. Chipper reached the top first and stopped causing the fire Creeper to bump into him.

"Uh hey, there'ss a Ssskeleton coming through the door. Wait... that'ssss an Ender." He exclaimed as he did a double take.

"No way, she'sss white not black. She'ss probably sssome weird human." the Creeper next to him pointed out, a low hiss rising in his throat.

Nyssa was about ready to give them a piece of her mind until she spotted Neila coming up behind them. "Relax, she's on our side." She noted Nuka slinking in behind Nyssa but a certain someone was missing. "Where's Ashen?"

"She went to wait at the edge of the village. I can go get her." Nuka turned to leave only to held back by Nyssa's sword.

"Let her wait. Let's show these weaklings what real warriors can do!" Nyssa grinned sadistically.

"I still need to drop Maline off with her. She's too hurt to stay here."  Neila kept walking toward the door. Nyssa would let her pass, she better. Nyssa looked like she wouldn't let her pass, then she and Nuka stepped aside.

"But Neila, I wanna help fight..." Maline protested trying to break free. Neila kept her grip.

"No, Maline. You're badly injured, how can you even think about fighting right now? You're going back home right now to rest. In fact, you wouldn't even be like this right now if you had just listened the first time when I told you to go home! We could have left this crazy desert days ago! This time listen and stay with Ashen, please. She can take you out of here."

"But we can't leave yet..! We have to stop them for good before they do this to any more Enders.. Who knows how many they killed already..." Maline wheezed out.

"Yes, that's exactly why I'm sending you home. If you were hit by their swords I'm not sure if you would live through it." Maline didn't say anything. Neila had a point there, she should have just went back with McCreeper instead of risking being caught like she had. "I think I see Ashen now." Ashen spotted them right away and motioned them over. Neila wasted no time blinking over to her.

"Oh my... what did they do to her!?" Ashen cried out in horror once she looked at Maline. Neila set her down and guided her over to Ashen.

"I'm not exactly sure, but she can't stay here. Make sure she doesn't run off while I go find some answers. If you have anything to heal her I'd be so thankful." Neila turned to leave before Ashen spoke up.

"Wait, you're still going back in there? I'm pretty sure whatever it is isn't worth it."

"I know someone who knows what's going on and I'm pretty sure I can get him to tell. Besides, I found others where they kept her so I know I'll be fine. I promise I'll come back, Maline." Neila teleported out of there before Maline could say anything to distract her.

"It's not fair..." Ashen rolled her eyes without even glancing at Maline. "I wanna see those bad humans get what they deserve.."

"It's for the best. I don't have anything on me that will help with you injuries. But..." Ashen pulled out her sword while glancing out into the desert. "Maybe some pork will."

"Huh?" Maline looked to where she was staring. There was a lone pig wandering about and sniffing at the ground as if it were looking for something. It did look familiar. It dawned on her once Ashen crept up to it ready to slice it to bits. "Wait Ashen, I think that's Neila's pig!" She yelled out before going into a coughing fit.

The sudden shout threw her aim off and she nearly tripped into the sand. The pig saw its chance to run on past her and nuzzle against Maline's leg. She calmed down her cough in time to smile at the pig and pat it on the head. "Hi piggy."

Ashen sheathed her sword. So the pig wasn't an option. She supposed the injuries could heal on their own over time but the girl would be left with some serious physical scars. Seeing such horrible wounds on someone so young, it made her sick. She had to do something. "Hey Maline. If you promise to stay out of sight I'll go find something to heal you."

"You're gonna go too..? How come I can't.."

"Don't start! Just..." She looked around for something to conceal Maline with. She sighed and started digging. "Just stay here in this hole and keep quiet. I'll be back before you know it." She carefully placed Maline down. Ashen glanced around to make sure no one was watching them then took off into the night.

-----

Neila had found the one she was looking for quicker than she had thought. He was headed for the church with a sword in hand, until she jumped out in front of him, he defensively shielded his eyes. "Okay you," She forcibly shoved him against a wall snarling in his face. "I thought it was me you assholes wanted. Why take Maline? Why torture my sister!?" She kept a piercing stare on the boy to scare him into talking.

"S-Sister? I thought it was you they had down there!"

"Give me an answer! Why did you drag my sister down there and torture her for two days? She hadn't done anything to any of you!!" She roared out. Her nails were digging into his shoulders and started to see the blood stain his clothes but she didn't let up. Not yet.

"Why should I tell you anything, after the thrashing you gave me! You Endermen sure have a funny way of repaying someone who spared your life!" He let out a yelp when Neila gripped him harder.

"Gah, fine I'll tell you! Not like it matters for long.." Neila loosened her grip just slightly. "We tried to help guide her back on the path of light Jeb had for her. It pained us to see a kid that young be led so astray. Like the rest she didn't want to repent apparently.."

"What the Nether are you talking about? Last time I checked she was perfectly fine!" Neila snarled out. He flinched at the sudden response.

"T-The darkness.. It had a hold on her so they tried the holy cleansing.." Neila still glared at him though the confusion on her face was clear. "Uh, they sprayed her with water to try to loosen its grip on her-" He didn't get the chance to finish as Neila gripped him again and slammed him against the wall.

"You... How dare you!! How is spraying water on her helping anything!!? All it did was nearly kill her! She's out there half-starved, beaten, and coughing her lungs out! She's gonna be scarred for life because of you!!" A tear ran down her cheek from the rage and hurt she felt, not that she noticed.

"I'm not the one who went down there and did it to her! I don't even like the thought of harming a kid! Just put me down!" Neila snapped out of her near-rage mode and realized she indeed had him half a block off the ground and set him down. "In fact, since that time in the cave, I'm starting to see maybe you're more than the shadowed souls they made you out to be."

The statement calmed her down considerably. She slowly let go of his shoulders and stepped back. "If you're telling the truth, I'll give you one chance to prove it. Just one."

"I will," He shown her a broad smile. "I'll help you get your sister far away from here. At the north end of the desert is a large forest you mobs can hide in. Actually if you go beyond it you'll be out of our range for sure."

Neila raised an eyebrow. "You sure you want to go that far? If your town finds out-"

"Even if they do I don't care. I'll... I'll join your little gang. I'd rather do that than be forced to marry some spoiled bitch against my will." He chuckled as he tried to soothe his shoulders. "I'm Brian by the way."

"...Neila." She still didn't feel he could be fully trusted but she did give him the full chance to run off just now and he didn't. "Let's get the group out of here." She led the way back to the church. Unbeknownst to both of them,  Cadence had heard the whole conversation and was seething at his words. Now she had to run back home to tell the Superior everything.

Chapter Text

The minutes passed. Maline was growing bored very quickly, not to mention the position she took to stay hidden wasn't helping to soothe her pain at all. Ashen would come back, but what then? They wouldn't let her help them. She wasn't a good fighter like Neila or knew how to heal others like Ashen, but they could at least let her try. It all suddenly felt quiet. She no longer heard the soft snorts from the pig which left her feeling anxious. Maybe he wandered off. She wanted to check but then someone might see her...

"It only sleeps, young Ender." The voice cut through the silence and she tensed up for an attack, but it didn't come. She slowly raised her read to peek over the sand. She found a hooded figure standing over the sleeping pig. Suddenly he raised his head to her and she ducked back down, like it would do anything. Somehow from that brief glance she could tell he wasn't like the other humans. Still, she wanted someone to come by and make him leave.

She heard him let out a soft chuckle. "I see you fear them, the ones who harmed you so cruelly."

She gritted her teeth. Of course she was scared of them but was it that obvious? "Just go away..."

"But I am not like them. No, I too find their actions despicable. Nothing but disgusting self-serving cowards." His words felt so cold and ruthless yet for some reason it comforted her. Maline poked her head out again. He wasn't next to the pig anymore. But she didn't hear him walk away at all. She crawled out further wondering where the stranger had gone.

"You think the same." The voice sounded like it was right next to her. At that moment she felt something poke her in the back of her neck. Naturally, she yelped, more out of being startled than the small pain and scrambled back into her hole. "I can feel it."

She rubbed her neck eyeing him skeptically, surprised how he knew exactly how she felt. "Who are you?"

"I have heard several names in my time, but you can simply know me as Mr. H. I will tell you, you can get revenge on those who thought of you as a harmless child 'needing to be saved' as they put it. Surely you tire of hearing it."

Maline gave him a soft nod. "Yeah... But I won't hurt Neila and my friends even though they say it too..."

"Oh of course not. I am talking about the humans. The ones who took you away, locked you up. They beat you, called you horrible things, planted terror in your heart with their claims of going to the Nether, burned you with their water.."

"Stop it..! Stop...!" Maline covered her ears to drown out his words. She fell onto her knees as the memories filled her head again, tears streaming down her face. "No more..."

She felt arms gently wrap around her, comforting her. "You poor child. No one should have to go through such things. But I can give you a gift, the gift to see their own weaknesses, their own fears. You can make them feel that pain and fear they put onto you. Drag them into their worst nightmares then strike them down!"

Maline wiped her tears away. "Y-Yes... I'll take it... I wanna make them pay. They'll all pay."

She didn't see the smug grin grow on the stranger's face. "Good girl. How about you give me your name, right here?" He held out a written page with strange symbols written all over it that she couldn't read. At the bottom was a blank line where she assumed she would signed it, whatever it was. In his other hand he had a feather dipped in ink.

She hesitated. This situation felt familiar but she couldn't remember where she had heard it. Without realizing it, she took the feather and paper and signed her name. Instead of black ink like she expected, the ink was a deep red, which kind of reminded her of blood. Her eyes widened. That wasn't ink, it was indeed blood. Her blood, from when she felt that prick. Her father had warned her this was the type of trick that demon Herobrine would play upon humans and mobs. Before she could say anything, she felt a pain inside her head. She grabbed her head as the pain increased, almost feeling like something inserting itself into her mind.

"The real fighters will be returning from the caves soon. This gift will knock them down easily. Be sure to get them all for me, or I will have to take back that little gift, and you with it." Herobrine threatened and shot her a devious smirk before departing from the Endergirl.

Maline felt the pain disappear. She opened her eyes to find herself alone again. She stood up then noticed something else. Her back didn't hurt anymore. She twisted herself to see it had been fully healed, save for some leftover scars covering her back. Maline shuddered, how was she going to explain this to Neila? She'll surely throw a fit if she even mentioned Herobrine. Maybe she would never find out.

"Maline, what are you doing out of your hole!? Someone could have seen you!" Maline jumped up in shock then remembered Ashen. She stood there holding a golden apple out in front of her.

"Oh, sorry. I was...making sure the pig was still here. Heh." She flashed a smile at her friend.

Ashen raised an eyebrow. "You're suddenly all full of energy. What happened? And how did your back heal in the past ten minutes?"

"Uh, a mage did it." Ashen didn't believe her but decided not to press it. "Hey does that mean you'll let me help now?"

"Sorry, but you heard Neila. She doesn't want you getting in trouble again then risk her own life trying to save you."

"I won't get caught this time, honest! I even have my own plan to get rid of these humans! We can make them pay for everything they did!" Ashen sighed. This kid really wanted to fight these people. But should she say yes? She could tell Maline had potential, even if Neila didn't seem to see it. She put away the apple for now and motioned her over.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Let's go talk to Neila."

-----

"And you believed him?"

"What were you thinking?"

"He'sss going to turn on usss!"

Neila knew some of them wouldn't take to the news so well. "I did mention I gave him the chance to prove he was telling the truth. If he ran I wouldn't have let him live for long." Nyssa, Larilyn and that fire Creeper still kept their glaring eyes on Brian, who just quietly leaned against the corner of the church tending to a fresh wound on his arm courtesy of Nyssa.

A tense silence hung in the air, until McCreeper stepped forward and took a spot next to Neila. "Well if Neila can trusst him, ssso can we."

"Are you seriousss? How do you even know he isssn't pretending to join usss?" Larilyn snapped, throwing an especially nasty glance at Brian.

Brian took notice of it and shot one back at her. He had heard enough of the nasty comments. "If you're supposed to be a mind reader, you're horrible at it! I wasn't raised to be some lying scumbag, I mean what I say! I mean, it's not my first choice having to team up with some random group of mobs with no real plan to get out of this town!" He paused when he noticed everyone sans Neila and McCreeper were glaring at him for his sudden outburst.

"I killed most of your guards already, we can easily leave whenever we want." Nyssa snorted.

"I noticed.. But that was only half the town. The others will be back from the caves soon and they're used to fighting off you mobs. I see some of you already have weapons and armor, but the rest..." He looked around at the unarmed mobs. Chipper's and Larilyn's explosions wouldn't cause much damage to anyone, and that Spider wouldn't stand a chance on his own.

"I can be Ivan's eyesss. I'm not looking to leave cookiesss everywhere for the enemy." Chipper piped in and hopped up on top of Ivan. The poor Spider wasn't expecting the sudden weight and nearly lost his balance. He let out a small hiss of annoyance. "Guesss I should have warned you, ssssorry."

"I may have been told to use a sword, but I'm more of an archer than a swordsman." Brian quipped. "I think there's still time to get my things before the others arrive."

Satisfied with the answers, Nuka marched toward the door. "I ssay we wait for thossse minersss. We can ambush them from the shadowssss and ssslay them!" He motioned for the others to follow him, which none seemed to disagree with his idea as they headed out. None except for Brian.

"Really? Just kill off everyone I know? They're still the same people I grew up with you know, and my father is one of them. Look, I'll get my things and we make a beeline for the forest." Nuka shook his head.

"The moment they ssee you fighting for us, they're not going to ssee you as a friend anymore. Maybe you might convince sssome to let us go but mosst of them are going to try and kill usss. It'ss going to be them or usss. You want out of here alive, you do what you have to." Nuka walked out to join the rest, leaving a distraught Brian. He wasn't so sure if joining them was such a good idea anymore. Perhaps if he stayed out of sight he wouldn't have to stain his hands with their blood. He might as well give it a shot.

Chapter Text

"Superior! Superior!" Cadence listened for an answer but received none. "Superior!!" Still there was no answer. Growing impatient, Cadence dropped the formalities. "Mother, the Enderman has escaped with another one of its heathens, and they killed almost everyone!!" She whined out. "And now they're brainwashing my Bri-Bri!!"

"Hush, Cadence!" Came her answer, rage barely concealed beneath it, as the Superior stepped into view. She had ditched the formal robes she usually wore in favor of an iron chestplate and pants for an upcoming battle. The sight made Cadence slightly narrow her eyes in envy, everyone else was left with leather armor. "If they want a battle, they'll get one! The miners will be returning any minute. They'll deal with those barbarians soon enough! Come, we shall round up any survivors we can find, we'll be needing everyone's help to slay the enemy!" She marched out the door, with a diamond sword in hand.

"But wait, we'll be killing my Brian with them?" Cadence cried out in shock.

The Superior turned back around almost as if stunned by such a question. She came up to her daughter and offered a small hug of comfort. "Oh don't you worry dear. His defection won't last. Our little mole will help hand over their heads on a silver plate. Brian will be unharmed and reeducated."

Feeling satisfied with the answer, Cadence lifted her head, a big smile plastered on her face. "Oh thank Jeb! I was afraid of losing him forever!"

The Superior was thankful her daughter was that easy to please. Still, they had to work fast. "Go round up those Villagers. Their peaceful ways will only hinder us. Wait by the rail, the miners should be bringing enough materials to complete it."

"Even that Verne one? I know he's got that gold sword up for trade but he should help too, the bumbling coward." Cadence frowned upon mere mention of the villager.

"I'll think about it. Just go!" She watched her mother leave swiftly and she herself took off to round up what few villagers they had.

-----

Maline suddenly stopped, which had Ashen somewhat curious. "Are they leaving already?"

Having no clue what she meant, Ashen peered on ahead and spotted Neila and the others hurrying towards the two, along with some new friends it seemed. Several of them were Creepers but with varying colors. Probably those elemental Creepers she heard about once or twice. The last was a Spider who she assumed was blind, given the fact one Creeper was riding him whilst giving him directions on where to go.

"Wow Maline, you healed up pretty quick. Thanks so much Ashen! I'll have to repay you someday!" Neila patted the Enderhuman on the shoulder, a gratuitous smile on her face.

"Actually, I didn't get to do anything. I didn't have any supplies so I hid her while I went to get something that might help. I came back and she was already fully healed. I'm not sure how."

Neila raised an eyebrow. "That is strange.. Anyway, Maline needs to get out of town now. We just heard about a second wave of these humans will be showing up and there's no way I'm letting her be harmed again."

Ashen's eyes widened. "You know? But how did-?" Before she could finish, Maline suddenly let out a small hiss and fiercly narrowed her eyes. Neila was curious for a moment, Maline's eyes almost looked like they had a flash of a different color for a moment, but maybe she was imagining it. Ashen and Neila looked in the direction she was facing, then Ashen drew out her sword.

"Wait you two, he'sss on our sside! Sort of." Nuka called out as he stepped out in front of the boy. "But Neila iss right, you have to go."

"He's the one who has to go!" Maline hissed out while glaring menacingly at Brian. She extended her claws ready to fight. "He's probably leading us all into a trap!"

"He wouldn't dare, not with me around. You hear me? I still got my eye on you!" Nyssa was still keeping a sharp eye on Brian, and boy was it getting on his nerves fast. Still he wisely kept his mouth shut.

"I say we kill him to make sure!" Maline huffed out. She took a step toward Brian a smile slowly spreading. "Or maybe your human friends will do the job for us. You're just another Mob in their eyes now!" She took another step to the boy, who was certainly looking not so confident anymore. "Yes, be afraid! They'll make an example out of you! They'll drag you down into the dungeon themselves to fix you, no matter how much to scream and fight back! They'll beat you horribly then leave you down there with no hope of escape, not even from that girlfriend of yours! Then they'll have to slay you once you rotted away into a mindless Zombie. They won't care for you at all, you died the moment you joined us!" A psychotic grin began to show on her face, thoroughly unnerving the young human who just looked away to avoid her gaze. If she looked around she would have noticed a few other party members had grown fairly uncomfortable hearing her words. Nyssa however, had to keep from laughing out loud once she got a good look at Brian's face.

"Maline, that is enough!" The tone in Neila's voice snapped Maline out of it. "How can you even say something like that? It's not like you at all!"

"How can you even think about letting him join you? He's one of them! He's just part of their plan to capture you all so they can torture you for days until you're too weak to keep on fighting, then they'll just throw you all into a lake to drown!"

Neila stood there absolutely stunned by her sister's words. Ashen decided now was the time to step in. "This clearly isn't going to help any of us, so I'll just get Maline out of here. It's the least I can do."

Maline whipped around in disbelief. "Wait Ashen, I wanted to help them!"

"Not if you're going to be all creepy like that. That outburst got me all nervous now, like we're not going to win." Ivan hissed out.

"Oh pleasse, there'ss like a dozen of usss. We kill a few and they'll be too ssscared to hold their ground." Larilyn huffed out, petting Ivan on the head to calm him down.

"We can win for sure if you let me help! I can tell you how to beat them! Just give me a chance!" Maline cried out.

Chipper lifted up his neck to see past the group. His eyes widened and he took a step forward. "Hey guyss, I think that's the minersss coming toward usss now!" Once he said it, most everyone put on their war faces and started taking their positions in the shadows. Neila had panicked and grabbed Maline by her shoulders.

"Listen Maline, I'm not going to lose you again to these freaks. You're going to stay low and keep quiet, understand?"

"But Neila-"

"Understand!?" Maline was trying her best not to tear up. Not a single one in their team seemingly wanted her help besides Ashen.

"...Okay." Neila was satisfied enough with the answer. She bent down and started moving a few sand blocks to make a small hiding place under one of the small huts. Maline assumed she was to be kept hidden in there. She planned on jumping into the battle anyway once Neila turned her back. She watched as Neila and Ashen put the sand back in place and she was now hidden away. She pouted in the darkness of the hole, it would be a lot harder to judge the moment they're not looking. She could still hear them so she leaned in to hear what they were saying.

"Neila, I sstill think we all can jusst leave right now. You already sssaved her, why wait to be captured again? And she'sss already been through enough."

"Tch, and never find out how tough these new villagers are? This sword has plenty of swings left in it!"

"You look like you've been through enough asss well. You're practically ssskin and bone."

"So what? I'm just getting started." The conversation was cut off by a loud whistling noise, a few yelps were let out by some of the mobs. Curious, Maline pulled off the topmost sand block and seeing everyone staring up at the sky. She heard a loud bang overhead and she too looked upwards. She watched the bright green lights expand in a star shape, light up the sky overhead then disappear. She could hear the Spider mumbling and wondering what just happened.

"What the Nether was that about!? I knew you would give us away!" Maline watched Nyssa snarl at Brian and grab him by his shirt and she looked ready to bite his head off.

"No, it wasn't me! I swear!!" Brian struggled to push her off to no avail.

"You liar! I'll tear you apart myself!!" Brian panicked and forcefully threw her off. His arrows would do no good so he hoped he can either escape or have someone believe him and back him up.

"Hey Nuka, where are you going?" McCreeper spotted the dark Creeper slinking off and started running after him. "We have a fight to win!"

"McCreeper, ssstay there! I'll return!!" Nuka sounded pretty urgent for some reason. McCreeper wasn't about to let him go and neither was Neila.

"Where are you going? You can't just leave everyone! We can win this!" Neila grabbed him by the head to stop him but he shook her off.

"No you can't.."

McCreeper stepped toward him. If anyone can offer encouragement, he knew he can. "Sure we can! You're the leader! You alwayssss had a plan, even for when thingsss messs up!"

Nuka couldn't take it anymore. He turned around ready to blow up in his face. "Can't you jussst listen to me now? What'sss with you, McCreeper? Ever sssince we reached thisss town you jussst have to do your own thing without thinking about what you're commanded to do! Everything isss then ssscrewed up and I have to change everything around, having to sssacrifice one thing or another! You're beginning to sssound a lot like-" Nuka paused right there, realization dawning on his face. "That'sss not your real name, isss it?"

"W-Wha?" McCreeper's eyes widened greatly. "Of courssse it isss.."

"It makesss perfect ssenssse now. No wonder I couldn't remember you well, you gave me a fake name."

"Nuka, forget about that! Let'ss jussst go back and battle!"

"You lied about your name? Why?" McCreeper winced. Why did Neila have to come along with him?

"I, uh.."

"And you have everyone fooled. None of them know the real you. You're not McCreeper!"

"Nuka, ssstop right there or I'll-"

"Or you'll what? Explode? What a joke. We both know you can't." He pushed McCreeper back, nearly making him fall over.

Neila stepped in between the two and shot a nasty glare at Nuka who just glared right back. It put her off so she turned to her friend. "McCreeper, what does he mean you can't?"

"He can't explode." The three turned to Larilyn who had been listening to their conversation. "He tried to on my owner but he alwayssss fizzled out. That'ss why I chassed him off. I couldn't be with a Creeper that can't explode to defend the one he lovess."

"But I can fight for you..."

"Point isss, you're not fit to be here! You'll only get in the way! You alwaysss have, Ssstupid!" The moment he said it, McCreeper let out a scream and buried his head in his paws.

Neila growled at Nuka, her rage mode beginning to show. "Hey, that's uncalled for! He's impulsive sure, but insulting him is going too far!"

"I didn't inssult him, that'sss his name! The one hiss mother gave him!"

"And I hate it! There'sss nothing good about that name! But I guess she knew it wasss the right name. I alwayss get losst, I alwayss messs thingsss up, I can't even explode! And I hate all of thossse thingsss, that'sss why I wanted to change everything! But even that wasss all torn down! I can't be sssomeone elsse, I'm jussst Ssss.. Sssss..." The poor Creeper couldn't hold his tears back any longer and he let them pour down his face. Neila had no clue what so say to him, nor did she want to tell him almost everyone had joined them. She didn't know how much they heard, nor did she care. She just stared coldly at Nuka for saying such a nasty thing, McCreeper only wanted to help everyone.

"I see you're getting a head start, Creeper." The new voice had grabbed their attention, and immediately they all went on the defensive.

Chapter Text

"Crap, we're sssurrounded." Chipper hissed out, his nerves ready to ignite. Ashen eyed the dozen miners aiming their weapons at their group, her weapon drawn out too.

"Hey, McCreeper, get up! We need to defend ourselves!" Neila nudged at the Creeper. He didn't budge from his crouching position, not even to glance in her general direction.

"Don't hurt the Creepers, men! Especially not the dark one. He's one of us." Another human called out to the new group, still clutching his badly wounded shoulder. Immediately all eyes fell onto Nuka, some filled with betrayal, others rage, now that they realized he was the one who gave away their position.

The Fire Creeper was seething with rage. "You damned traitor!!" A low hiss rose up from his throat as he charged at Nuka. Nuka was already backing away then bolted off into the distance.

"Forget him, we have these guys to deal with now." Ashen glared at the enemies surrounding them and prepared to slice them in two if they tried hurting any of them. Neila was keeping her gaze on them in case they took as swing at her while still trying to get McCreeper back on his feet. He wasn't paying her attention, just sitting there mumbling to himself how useless he was. It was depressing.

Something large suddenly came down on one of the miners with a bow, catching everyone by surprise. Blood instantly came spraying out of the new stab wound in his shoulder before he slumped to the ground in agony. In all the tension in the air, Neila hadn't even noticed some of their allies hadn't been cornered alongside them. Nyssa didn't even skip a beat as she went to plunge her sword into the next miner. He was prepared now and brought up his own sword to shake her off.

"By Agnes, what is this trick?" Asked one of the miners once he got a look at the attacker. He wouldn't get an answer, as now everyone was pouring into the fight. Ashen and Nyssa were locking blades with two of the miners now. Larilyn was doing a good job helping Ivan subduing a couple of archers with his web. Chipper and the Fire Creeper had teamed up to keep from being recaptured by threatening to explode. Brian had stayed behind with Maline and he had good shots of his own from the sidelines. Neila herself was using her sword to shake off a particular large miner with a diamond axe though she still preferred to use her own strength to try and kill him off, all while pleading to McCreeper to get up and help them.

McCreeper finally looked up only to give her a look of disbelief. "Why? You're doing good, not like me. I'm jusst usselesss.."

"Damnit McCreeper, screw what Nuka said! At least try to helpaagh!!" She had been struck hard by the side of the axe hitting her in the head and it left her stunned. Her opponent saw his opportunity and struck her hard in the collarbone and sending her crippling to the ground.

"Not so tough now are ya? Shadowy vermin." He raised his axe with the intent of chopping her skull in two. The sight had McCreeper in shock. Stupid or not, no one was going to kill Neila, his best friend, while he was still alive. Of course, Neila beat him to it. She glanced up at the miner and swiftly brought up her sword hoping she can block in time. The result wasn't what she intended but it worked all the same. The axe dropped at her feet, the miner's hand still clutching it. He roared out in pain and clutched his bloodied wrist. Neila's arm dropped back to her side from the pain. She grabbed the axe with her other hand and tried getting up to finish him off. Instead, an arrow had been shot into the side of his torso and causing him to fall to the ground. She glanced in the direction it had come from, and found Brian giving her a short wave before taking off when one miner found he was the one shooting arrows at them.

-----

With Brian out of her sight, Maline blinked herself out of the hole and on top of a roof. She could look at every single human left in this fight to read their weaknesses, but from the looks of it they wouldn't live for very long anyway. She turned to jump onto another roof and found one of the females from before, Cadence or whatever, sneaking around with potions in her hands and one of the Creepers, Nuka, following behind. It was the perfect chance to get her revenge so Maline crouched down and peeked into her, thinking Nuka might have had the same idea. A cruel grin spread on her face. She jumped down in front of her, claws unsheathed and ready to tear her to pieces. She nearly laughed out loud seeing her flinch away with a squeal.

"You..." She growled out and threw one of her potions at Maline. She instantly sidestepped and heard it smash on the ground behind her. "Hold still!"

"No." She ran up and grabbed her firmly by the neck, trying not to laugh as the girl emitted a squeak. She pressed the tips of her claws against her skin and the girl whimpered. "What, afraid to bleed?"

"N-uka you jerkass, do someth-ack!" She was cut off when the claws pressed harder. The Creeper just stared at the sight before him. Sure he could easily subdue the Enderling no problem. Then again, this human apparently had some blood condition and can't really fight, which made her practically useless. He figured he could take out both and call it an accident, so he ran in igniting his gunpowder. Surprised Maline let go and jumped back to avoid his explosion, Cadence running off to take cover. Disappointed, Nuka had to stop himself if he couldn't do much damage.

"What was that, you asshole!? You're supposed to just get rid of that thing!!" Cadence yelled and pointing a accusatory finger at Maline.

Maline now knew Nuka's intent, and refused to go near him. She blinked to Cadence with the intent of cutting her open. The girl screamed and tried running away but wasn't fast enough. Maline grabbed the back of her tunic and pulled her back toward her. "No! No don't hurt me!!" She cried out.

"Maline stop!" A voice rang out, catching all three off guard. Maline recognized her at the human that helped her before in the dungeon. She almost wanted to greet her, then remembered her quest and glared at her. "You're free now. You don't have to stay here."

"No I do have to! They have to pay for what they did to me!" Maline snarled out. She raised her hand and made a deep red cut down Cadence's arm before letting go. Cadence screamed out in horror and covered it to try and stop the bleeding.

"You little monster!! Oh gods!!" She screamed at her before running off.

"How does it feel, huh!? To know your life will end in minutes!? Only you got no hope!!" Maline yelled out.

"So you have already chosen. It's tragic for one so young as you to throw your salvation away just to sink to their level." The other woman sighed shaking her head in disappointment.

"If I can show them my pain, it wouldn't be a waste. Now get away from me before I have to hurt you too!" She snapped at her and narrowing her eyes at her.

The woman gazed on with a solemn look before briskly walking off. She only paused for a moment to say, "There is only one way to free yourself from his grasp." She was gone before Maline could ask what she had meant. She brushed it aside for now, she had humans to slay.

Chapter Text

A lone figure wandered through the forest, enjoying the cool breeze blowing from the west. He wasn't the typical wanderer either, he was dressed like a pirate for one thing despite the fact there was no ocean around for many miles. The other noticeable thing was the unmistakable stench of rotting flesh that followed him, for he was actually a member of the undead. He wasn't normally alone, his ghostly companion had gone off to spend time in her own dimension. He was still new to the knowledge of other worlds himself but he did know she would return soon.

The wanderer had reached the edge of a vast desert. He didn't think much of it at first, save for the sudden absence of other Mobs as he was nearing the end of the forest biome. No one had told him anything as he walked into the apparent 'dead zone'. He passed it off as nothing and continued on. Maybe there was a village he could show up at and drive off some Mobs for the heck of it. The moon was still high so he had time to have a little fun before running back under the safety of the forest.

In the distance, something caught his eye. An explosion of green appeared in the sky accompanied by a muffled boom several seconds later. It was either a celebration or a flare for help. He assumed it was the latter when no other fireworks showed up. It looked like a lot of distance between him and the source, he could barely make out sand colored buildings between the dunes. He put on his game face ready for a showdown, and surprisingly sprinted off into the desert.

-----

Neila was wounded, and looking around McCreeper could see several others having a hard time killing off these humans. Chipper was reluctant to explode into cookies but he wasn't much of a fighter himself. Larilyn and Ivan learned pretty quick they weren't as coordinated in a fight and Ivan was losing blood fast. One of them pointed her arrow right at Larilyn. "Either surrender or get an arrow through your skull!"

That did it for McCreeper. In a flash McCreeper leapt at the human and savagely tore through the side of her torso before turning around and bucking her toward Nyssa for her to finish off. "No one, and I mean NO ONE, pointsss an arrow at her! Not while I'm alive!" He yelled out threatening any non-allies that dared come near them. One such individual came running out from the side of a hut and he went for her.

McCreeper wasn't prepared for what happened next. As she ran out, she immediately threw some sort of bottled liquid and it smashed all over his face. He recoiled back and tried cleaning off the glass shards and foul smelling liquid. He felt himself growing sick.

"How dare you.." He tried running at her. He stopped short to catch his breath, only to realize he couldn't. He needed to sit down, nausea rising along with a chill creeping up on him.

"What's the matter, Creeper? Is the poison too much for you?"

"Miss Cadence, your arm!!" Someone pointed out in horror.

"I know, now someone help me out of here..!" She screamed at them, her voice becoming weaker. One wounded archer was at her side in an instant and quickly led her away from the chaos. McCreeper tried getting up after them but the poison was sucking the energy right out of him.

"McCreeper, are you okay?" Larilyn asked as she walked up and tried helping him back up.

"I'll be fine. What about Ivan?" Larilyn gasped and was at the spider's side in an instant and letting McCreeper slump back to the ground.

"Hey Ivan, don't quit on usss now. We're fighting them off." Ivan weakly turned his head up to face her before letting it fall back to the ground.

"M'sorry Lar... I can't move..." He wheezed out. "I wann... go home..." Larilyn tried swallowing the lump forming in her throat. She knew right there he wasn't going to make it through this battle. She looked back to McCreeper still lying on the sand threatening to explode whenever anyone tried coming near him. They kept their distance, but for how long? Someone will catch on to his bluff eventually.

"Neila.. Sssomeone, help him!" Larilyn called out. She wondered if anyone thought to bring anything to cure wounds.

"I'm on it!" Nuka came running in and was at McCreeper's side in a flash.

"Nuka? Why'd you come back, after what you ssssaid... with everyone around..." McCreeper glared at the dark Creeper. His breath had become terribly short by now.

"I know, I ssscrewed up. I'm here to make it up to you. I got a way to make the poison dissappear in an inssstant." He pulled out another bottle of dark liquid. "Jussst one sssplash should do the trick."

McCreeper's face lit up. "You... You mean it.. thisss time?"

"Of courssse I do, brother. It will all be over." Nuka grinned. He raised the bottle ready to smash it against McCreeper's head. McCreeper was more than thrilled and held his head still for whatever cure it was.

"NO!!" A voing voice screamed out. The bottle shattered in Nuka's paw when an arrow shot through it. The liquid splattered all over him and he doubled over in agony. McCreeper, Larilyn, and even Nuka through his blinding pain looked toward the source of the shouts. Brian stood there ready with another arrow pointing at Nuka and Maline standing next to him. "He's the one you can't trust!"

Neila finally turned to see Maline out of her hiding spot. She wasn't sure what to be more concerned about, her sister getting involved or the fact Nuka could have killed McCreeper without them interfering. "Maline? How did you..?"

"Nuka can't be trusted by any of us! Maline here caught him teamed up with Cadence. He must have thought being around her would keep him safe because of her potions."

"Potions?" Neila had a feeling Cadence was the same girl who she found torturing Maline down in the dungeons. "Oh, her.." She growled.

"Yeah, he could have helped me kill her, but he just tried exploding on me to help her instead!" Maline turned to Nuka crawling off to increase the distance between them.

"You all won't lassst long. The ssspider's already dead and Sstupid will join him sssoon anyway. You heard him anyway, he wanted me to end hisss misery. Not my fault he wantsss to give up."

"You won't live either!!" Neila sprang up and blinked to go for Nuka's throat. "Coward!!"

Nuka expected it. He let out the trademark hiss and Neila had to pull back to avoid damage. He stopped once she was back at McCreeper's side. "Oh, who'sss the coward now?" He sneered at her and let out a cruel laugh. "I'll sssee the village killsss off every lassst one of you. Essspecially that Nysssa, thinking I'm not good enough! I'll win thisss like I alwaysss do!"

He stopped talking, the smile wiped clean from his face and replaced it with a look of horror. During his ranting, he had failed to see Brian ready another arrow and shoot it right at the back of his head. It pierced right through his head and stopped when the tip poked just out of the corner of an eye. Nuka took a clumsy step forward before falling to the ground dead.

Brian cautiously walked up to the body as if unsure he was still alive. He took out his stone sword and carved open the Creeper's chest to harvest the gunpowder within, much to Larilyn and McCreeper's disgust. He grabbed some sand and pocketed both into his bag. Brian turned to the Mobs still with him and smiled. "Hey guys, I know just how to end this battle!"

Chapter Text

"Neil.. Neila... I ssss... can't breathe.." McCreeper wheezed out after Neila. Neila noted her friend still huddled against the side of the building sweating heavily. His condition was indeed worsening, even breathing seemed to be agonizing for him by now. She rushed back to his side in an instant.

"Whatever you got planned Brian, you'll have to do it without me. I have to find a cure for McCreeper and fast by the looks of it!" She carefully lifted the Creeper onto her back, which was more difficult this time with him being mostly dead weight.

"Just try to find it fast, or it might not be here for much longer either." Brian darted into a small shack, pulled out a crafting table and hastily began working on his secret weapon.

Neila has no idea what it was he was making but his warning rang clear in her mind. "Maline, try getting everyone out. I'll be back before... whatever Brian is gonna do. And please don't try to fight, just run. Promise me!"

Maline shot an uncomfortable glance between Neila and Brian, still unsure if he truly was on their side. "...Okay. Just please save McCreeper.." She answered back with her voice wavering. She then departed to round up everyone before thing really got destructive.

Neila felt satisfied enough for the time being and went off for anything to quell the poison. She remembered milk usually did the trick with poisons, which meant she would have to search inside these houses. "Hang on tight." She warned her friend, then two seconds later blinked her way into the nearest building to begin her search. Lucky for her it was currently devoid of humans, and contained a small chest. She leaned forward mostly to keep McCreeper on her back as she rummaged through the chest. It was mostly food which she ended up pocketing for later, but no buckets of milk. Hearing McCreeper start to quiet down left her panicking and she blinked into the neighboring house without warning.

"Hold on, you're not dying on me!" She practically dove for the chest as soon as she saw it and frantically searched through it. Tracks, wood, gunpowder, even a soft porous yellow block she had never seen before, but no milk. Wait, her hand just submerged into a liquid. She jerked back out of reflex but didn't burn, so it couldn't have been water. She hastily pushed everything inside and could have heard the Mojangels sing when she looked down at the bucket of milk. She carefully set McCreeper down onto the floor and pulled out the bucket.

"I got it! Just need you to drink it!" She brought it to the unconscious Creeper's mouth and helped him drink it down. It wasn't going down. "Come on, just try..." She tilted his head further back and it did the trick. It wasn't long before the bucket ran empty. She tossed it aside and set McCreeper against a wall. He still wasn't waking and Neila was growing distressed.

"It has to work, that was the only milk I found!" She pleaded, her voice obviously cracking. McCreeper still refused to awaken. She dropped down onto the chest and openly sobbed. "Damnit... Damnit, I should have been faster! Me and my dumb ideas, we never should have come to this village at all! It's my fault everyone is getting hurt and now look what's happened to you!! I'm sorry I left Maline in this village! I'm sorry I let that traitor Nuka into our team! I'm sorry I couldn't save you! I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!!" Overcome with grief, Neila no longer cared how loudly she cried out. She soon turned her screams into quiet sobs. She didn't even know him for that long but she already considered him her best friend after everything so far.

Neila had to leave soon and join the others. She didn't feel like leaving McCreeper behind but there was nothing more she could do. She got back up and walked outside and immediately a sword was pointed at her face. "I thought an Enderman was lurking around here." The owner of the sword drawled out. "You and your minions have done enough to this town, now perish!" The sword came slashing at her face but she barely ducked down to deliver a swift low kick to knock him off balance. She didn't expect him to jump up and bring his sword down onto her. She was struck right in her injured shoulder and she couldn't contain her screaming.

Through her fresh tears she could barely make out her attacker again raising his sword to finish the job. She closed her eyes waiting for her end when he cried out in shock and agony and dropped his sword. Neila glanced behind him at the young Enderling jabbing a sword further into his back. "Nobody hurts my sister and gets away with it!" The two watched the swordsman drop down the the sand, presumably dead.

Neila wiped the tears out of her eyes not believing what had just happened. "Ma-Maline? I thought you were rounding up everyone!"

"I was, but Nyssa didn't want to quit yet, and the brown Creeper is having trouble moving. I wasn't sure what to do so I looked for you and saw you being hurt so I killed him." Neila didn't have much of an answer about Nyssa, but as for Chipper... "Wait, where's McCreeper?"

Neila felt overcome with a deep sadness again. "Maline..." She looked away, she didn't want to answer anything right now. She only glanced at the house behind her.

"Is he in there? Is he okay?" Maline grew impatient and ran over to peek inside.

"He's not okay... I wasn't fast enough..." Neila merely whimpered. "I couldn't do it..."

"What do you mean? He looks okay to me." Neila was caught off guard by the answer. She scrambled to her feet, being careful not to injure herself further and peered inside. Amazingly McCreeper wasn't dead. He still looked pretty groggy and he was glancing around trying to register where he was.

"It worked! It worked!!" Neila yelled out then clutched her shoulder remembering the pain she was in. "Can you grab him for me? I can't carry him with my shoulder like this." Maline blinked in without hesitation. Neila however walked off to find someone who knew how to fix her new wound, and to get the remaining fighters out of here.

-----

Larilyn was at a loss when she came up to her assistant. Ivan lay dead in front of her with deep slashes covering his head and thorax. Chipper was slumped onto the ground nearby and losing life fast. She knew it was unlikely he'd live to see sunrise. She wasn't sure whether to leave him here or to try saving him, slim as the chances are. She caught that fiery Creeper finishing off an axe wielder with his own burning gunpowder. "Hey, Fire! Chipper needss help! We need to get him out of here!"

He stopped to inspect the damage of their fallen ally. He shook his head at him. "He'sss not even going to be here in a few minutesss. We shouldn't wasste time." He turned away to hide his own grief. "We need to leave, the Brian iss going to blow up the town."

Larilyn's eyes widened. "By himssself? Surely we can help out with that!"

"Good idea. I can go fetch McCreeper and we will-"

Larilyn was already shaking her head. "No, not McCreeper. Jusssst the two of usss. I sssay we attack their church!" She motioned toward the horrible building for emphasis.

He grinned with mischeif at her plan. The two made a dash for their target past human corpses and dodging the stray attacks aimed at them. "I'm Sssinge by the way."

"Hm? I though you wouldn't ssssay until we got out of thisss alive." She recalled as she leapt over a dead archer.

"We practically out of it already. Might asss well talk."

She smiled and continued on their way, and slamming into Brian himself knocking him to the ground. He nearly went off on them before hearing their clever plan. He thought it over rather quickly and let them go do their thing. He had a certain house to take care of.

Chapter Text

The village was much closer now after that quick sprint. The wandering traveler could now see a large fight had been going on during this night. Many corpses were lying about, most of them human by the looks of it. This village wouldn't survive the night if he didn't do something quick. He had spotted a small Endergirl darting about as she gathered up what Mobs she could and concluded her group had to be the cause of all this destruction. Perhaps he could reason with them, at least for a little while.

Catching her would be tricky. He would spot her then lose her in an instant. He quickly turned to a group nearby consisting of a guardsman and a young lady, and bleeding to death by the looks of it. She was propped up against the side of a house clutching her arm while the male was frantically searching through her bag and his own for anything to heal her with. He didn't have any instant healing items on him but if he could help stop the bleeding then he would be one step closer to saving this town. He just had to try.

"Excuse me you two, but perhaps I can help with that nasty gash." One look at him sent her into a screaming panic, which he expected would happen. He felt perhaps he could show he could help they would calm down. He reaches into his tattered coat to find what he needed to pull out.

"Back away you foul cur! You're not going to harm the Mistress while I'm around!" The man had jumped in between them, sword drawn and pointed it straight at his face causing the nomad to jump back. The man still came at him making jabbing motions at the Zombie.

"Take it easy, I'm just going to-" The swordsman thrust forward in a panic. He did his best to doge but was still grazed by the blade. He was annoyed now, and unsheathed his own sword of iron. "Put your sword away, there's no need to fight."

He wasn't listening. He thrust at the Zombie a second time and was immediately parried and disarmed. His opponent now held both swords at him and he backed down. The Zombie smiled. "Now if you listen I know how to heal her."

Shaking, he glanced at the girl whose eyes darted toward the Zombie as if signaling something. Without warning he kicked at the hand holding his own sword making him drop it. A potion fell out of his cloak onto the sand. The man scrambled for his sword now ready to fight off the undead intruder. Before it could even start however, the Enderling he saw teleporting around had appeared next to him.

"No time to fight, come on!"

"Wha-" Before he could finish, he had been whisked away by the green-eyed Endergirl. The man was left sitting there perplexed by why they suddenly fled but that didn't matter to him.

"The.. potion.." He turned to her then glanced down at the potion the Zombie had dropped. "It heals..." She coughed out as she made a weak grasp for the bottle. He grabbed it for her, tore off the cork and  
brought it to her mouth. As he looked around he realized their village wasn't going to make it to sunrise at the rate of casualties. They needed to get out of here, and fast.

"My Mistress, climb on my back. We need to flee the village else we will not last." He said with urgency as she finished the potion.

"Leave? The rail is nowhere near complete."

He nodded as he started hoisting her up. "I know, but I am willing to make the journey to the city on foot. We can try gathering reinforcements there."

As she got settled she smiled. "What are you waiting for? We leave!" She barked at him.

-----

Just outside the village behind a sand dune, Maline blinked into view along with a Zombie in what looked like a pirate costume. Several of her allies had already gathered near the dune; McCreeper, Ashen, Hilda, even two Villagers she had previously seen on their enemies side. "Er, what are they doing here?" She asked.

"Erm, please don't attack. We don't want to be a part of this fighting. It's not something we're cut out for.." The younger of them spoke.

"They brought a Zombie to us now. We're done for anyway." The second, grumpier one sighed, clearly given up.

"Lighten up, I just ate." The Zombie replied with a chuckle.

Maline narrowed her eyes at the first one who spoke. "Hey wait a minute. Weren't you the one who kept turning on the water?" She growled out. He fidgeted, now afraid to look at her. "Yeah, you are! You're not getting off easy you coward!" She started making her way toward him with claws extended before suddenly being blocked by Ashen.

"Take it easy Maline, Hilda was the one who asked them to come with us." Maline's gaze instantly shifted toward Hilda.

"And whose side are you on anyway? You're giving away our hiding spot, human!" Maline snarled at her.

"Listen here, kid." The second villager stated as his patience was already wearing thin from her hostility. Maline glared back at him with a growl. "You and your friends weren't the only ones captive in this miserable village. We too had to endure that wrinkled old hag and her bratty daughter's law for years. We would have liked to get up out of here like our friends have over the years but someone had to go and steal all the iron. Those mine tracks were our only hope out of here for good!"

"Take it easy Verne, I don't want to know what they'll do if they find us out here.." The first villager replied and patted his shoulder. It seemed to calm him down enough.

"Fine, but the kid better not act up again and give us away." Verne replies giving Maline a stern glance.

Maline was still keeping a sharp eye on them, one traitor was awful enough for their group. Ashen glanced around to make sure everyone was present. Their group felt worryingly small. "Where's Larilyn and those other Creepers? I thought you told everyone to come over here."

"The spider is dead I'm afraid, and I think Neila went to go help the brown Creeper since he can't move on his own. Larilyn and the other one, I'm not sure where they are. I told them to meet us over here. Maybe I should go get them." Maline got up ready to blink only to be grabbed by the arm by Ashen.

"No Maline, it's too dangerous to go back. Not just for you, but all of us. Brian's plan will end this fight for sure, but its best if we stay out of the village if we want to keep our lives. His weapon could go off any minute. I'm sure Larilyn and the rest will know to stay out of range."

She wasn't too sure if the others were even aware of the danger of staying around the village. The one she was worried about the most was Neila. "Do you think Neila will come back in time? I don't want her getting hurt anymore.." She whimpered as she looked on at the village.

"If I can just say something." The Zombie spoke up. "I'm not sure what's going on here, but isn't that massacre enough damage to the village already? Why blow it up?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Maline snapped at him as she turned around. "These humans have been doing terrible things to us Mobs, especially Enders! All I wanted was to find my new friends, but they decided I should die in the most painful way! I even promised them I'll leave if they stopped. I begged them to stop..." She had quieted down to a tremble as her sentence trailed off. Suddenly her eyes flashed with fury as she glared hatefully back at the town. "They have to be punished, and I'll make sure none of them survives this night! So don't try to stop us!" Her outburst had reignited the harsh glare from Verne but she paid him no mind.

McCreeper had been oddly quiet during this whole conversation. This whole night had felt like an eerie echo of that night years ago, that final fight with the Skeleton raiders. He had lost everyone he had grown fond of that snowy night, including his own sister. He had always wondered if she was still alive somewhere, and if she wondered about him too. He looked back at Maline still shaking with anger. It wasn't right, her having to be dragged into a battle like this, after such a rotten week. He would have to bring Neila back, mostly to keep Maline calm.

"I know it'sss dangerouss, but I'm going back for Neila." He got up and started back for the village, much to Ashen's dismay.

"Hey wait, you could be killed!" Ashen cried out. She tried grabbing him back but he was already running out of her reach.

"I promisse I'll bring her back ssafe and ssound!" He cried out. Ashen was ready to run after him she felt a gentle pull on her tunic. She looked down at Hilda who despite her lack of eyesight had the look of hope on her face. Ashen understood, though was still deeply worried about the missing party members. She had to put her faith in McCreeper to round up the rest of them to safety.

-----

Neila had indeed found Nyssa still looting whatever she found useful off the dead villagers and sporting a nasty bruise along her ribs. After a quick argument and a short scuffle she had managed to convince Nyssa it was best to just leave. She had also come across Chipper but she found his body start to grow cold. The night wasn't meant to turn to this at all. She would have to mourn later. She felt that eveyone had already ran for cover, and Brian's weapon would go off any moment. She was out of energy to blink so she would have to run for cover, any cover.

"Wretched demon!" The scream caught Neila by surprise and she just barely dodged a swipe from an iron sword. "Look what you've done to my village! My guards!"

Neila gazed upon the female human who attacked her. She was much older than the others she had fought during the night and dressed in a torn, majestic tunic laced with gold fabric. She was likely the 'Superior' of these horrible people. There was a patch of blood soaking through her sleeve but it didn't stop her from trying to cut Neila's head off. "You kind will never steal our loved ones again!"

Neila calculated her swing then charged at the old hag, full of rage. "Steal yours?" She grabbed her by the arm and digging her claws in, making her drop the sword. "Why would I want such heartless monsters?" Blood was now dripping from her arm. "After what your people did to my little sister? Did you think I wouldn't find out!?"

"Unhand me, foul demon! I do the work of Jeb, and your kind have no place in this world!" Neila noticed she brought something out of her pocket but couldn't tell what it was, until she started splashing it on her and splattering drops of burning water onto her. She dropped her and jumped away from the woman and found herself cornered. "I cast ye back into the Nether!"

"I thought you all were about 'helping' us! Now you're suddenly condemning us to the Nether?" She screeched out at her.

"Of course I condemn you! It's what I've been doing all along, and these fools actually believed the dungeons were designed to help the demons! No, all they do is hold your sick kind down while the water banishes you to where you truly belong! All I had to do was lead them to believe it will cleanse the human souls of their casts! Of course that method won't work and you shadow beasts would either give up and die or be executed in public. Once the word spread of my 'true teachings', we'd soon have every city and town in Minecraftia rushing to build the machines then we'll drive your entire demon army back to where it crawled from! Ah!" She knew the Endermiss would try coming after her again once the truth came out. "Don't even think about it! I still have plenty of water on me!" She held up the bottle still holding most of its contents. She used the opportunity to inch back toward her sword.

Neila stood back, utter horror etched on her face. "Why... Why would you do this? We're not demons!"

"Silence!" She screamed out and splashed more water at Neila, burning her some more. She hissed and stumbled down onto the sand. "Of course you are! Why else would you take my father from me so long ago? He was a good man, but you removed the walls of our home and let the undead claim him!"

"W-Well I'm sorry about your father. But that's no reason to kill all of us-" She was splattered again with the water and she screeched out from the intense pain.

"Enough! I no longer desire your kind polluting this perfect world! Begone!" More splattering, more screaming. Neila cut it short once she saw the blade pointing right at her. "Once I'm done with you, I'll gather new followers who are better trained to subdue your kind, maybe even finish what my dear Cadence failed to do. It's a shame her potions didn't kill that stupid Creeper minion of yours!"

That was enough for Neila. She sprang up prepared to wrestle the sword out of her hands. "You're not going near any of them, you hear me!? I'll make sure you'll never hurt anyone else again even if it kills me!' She roared out at her. She was going full hostile mode now, no longer registering any pain.

"Get back! Back I say!" She pushed the Ender off and came at her with a vertical swing. Neila simply pivoted and came back in to rip her to pieces. She caught the woman down the side of her torso and warm blood was now spilling out. It wasn't enough to stop the mad woman. She brought the hilt of her sword down onto her skull and she could almost hear it crack.

Neila wasn't ready to quit. She immediately grabber her opponent by the wrist and gave it a sharp twist and completely snapping it in two. The following scream filled her with delight. She brought up her other hand and went straight for her neck. Unfortunately her victim quickly caught on to what she was thinking and knocked her claws away and was now trying to kick her off again. Neila wasn't having it. She jumped up to do some kicking of her own. She kicked and slashed at her thighs which forced her down to the sand.

The Superior in a state of panic started punching Neila in the face trying to blind her. Neila jumped back not wanting to lose her sight, still snarling at her. The woman was showing fatigue. Neila knew this was going to end for sure and ran at her again. The woman raised her sword with her good hand trying to guard.

An explosion was heard. The two immediately stopped their fight in shock and terror. Another followed immediately after, closer this time. Neila knew the time was up and sprinted in the opposite direction while the Superior ran after her. "No, you're not escaping this one!!"

Neila ignored her. The third and fourth explosion she could actually see, the entire entrance on the church ahead collapsed in a fiery explosion which had the Superior wailing in horror. The fourth was nearly on top of them. The force of the explosion had knocked Neila off her feet and she hit the ground hard. Suddenly the screaming behind her had cut short as the entire roof came down. She couldn't hear it, everything had become silent save for the ringing in her ears. She could no longer register the village exploding around her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

Neila wasn't sure how she was still present. Everything had been shrouded in a dense fog though she could tell the battle had ended. She slowly got up to check the state of the village around her. Just as she thought, it had been obliterated in the explosions. That was when she noted something odd. The many bodies lying about were nowhere in sight. Surely that had to be some remains that survived the blast. Her friends, had they come back for her when she never showed up? She had to find them.

Neila ran for the sand dune they had planned to wait behind. "Hey guys? Did that blast destroy all the bodies?" She asked as spotted the sand dune in the fog. She received no answer. "McCreeper? Maline? Are you there?" She peeked into the area only to find it was completely empty. "They left without me.." She said, her voice starting to tremble.

Suddenly she snapped her head up when she thought she heard something. She listened closely in case it happened again. There it was again, almost like static, and rising. "Hello?" She called out as she turned around. "I-Is anyone there?" She asked as she looked around for the source of the noise. Everything grew silent, which felt unsettling. She hated silence.

Neila felt a presence behind her. She whipped around preparing for another fight then froze. No, it couldn't be. It wasn't possible! "M-Mom!?" Neila asked in total disbelief, her sight becoming clouded by new tears. "But... T-They..-"

"Shhhh," Her mother hushed in her soothing voice as she embraced the stunned Endergirl. Her violet eyes were just as warm and loving as she remembered a couple years ago. "There's no need to cry dear. You don't have to be afraid anymore." She felt herself tear up at their reunion. "My sweet Neila is growing up so fast!"

Neila tried to catch her breath between her sobs. "How did you come back? Those miners took your pearl away.." She asked as she looked up at her.

Her warm smile faltered a little now mixed with remorse. "I haven't come back, nor will I ever be able to. I am happy to just see you again."

"You're still gone.." Neila felt her happiness leaving her again. "Wait, how can I see you though? I thought living Humans and Mobs couldn't see spirits. Unless..." Realization started to hit her and the tears started to fall. "Oh no, I'm dead.. I-I'm dead..! Maline!" She cried out. Her sister was all alone now.

"Not quite. Your body was severely injured by the blast and you're still not awakened yet. Your friends found you carried you back to the cave to heal your wounds. You're going to be fine." Neila started to calm down upon hearing the news. Maline wasn't going to be sisterless after all.

"I'm so sorry about messing with this village in the first place, and for dragging Maline into it. She didn't deserve what they did to her."

The look in her mother's eyes had clouded. "It is upsetting you left her there for two days. But without help you might never have been able to stop them from hurting many others. As for little Tourmaline..." She suddenly became despondent. "I can't reveal what she had done."

Neila suddenly tensed up. "Maline? What did she do now? Is she okay? Tell me!" She asked starting to panic.

"Calm down, Neila. She's fine, among your friends. But her actions during the night, I'm afraid she isn't quite right anymore. The week's event had taken its toll on her and she had done something that could jeopardize her future. Only she can undo what she has done now, but it will take some time."

A breeze started to pick up around them. "Oh. It's time." Her mother stated as the winds became stronger. "Please, take care of Tourmaline. She needs you more than ever." She pleaded as Neila felt herself being pried out her mother's arms and being sucked back as the world pulled away from her.

"Wait, what am I supposed to do? What will happen to Maline? And what about Dad and Tevan?" Neila called out as she fell back trying to fight the forces to get more answers.

"I trust you Neila. Just keep her safe." Her mother shouted back as she disappeared from sight. Neila couldn't fight it anymore and she felt herself pushed back and falling into the dark abyss behind her.

-----

Pain. Everything was pain. Neila didn't remember having half of the aches she was feeling as she was coming to. A small groan escaped her lips as her eyes fluttered open to look at the sandstone ceiling above her. She noticed the cave had been lit up by a single torch on the wall next to her. Great, she was probably a captive now. She looked down at her body to find it covered in various bandages and casts, though she didn't remember dressing herself. That wasn't something any of the humans would think to do now.

A dark figure moved in the corner of her eye. She turned her head sideways to notice Maline sitting down next to her and a large smile spread on her face. Suddenly she jumps up excitedly and she could see her mouth moving but what puzzled Neila was the lack of any coherent noise. She could hear her yes, but it sounded very muffled like she was trying to speak to her from the other side of a stone wall. Maline turned and ran to the entrance of the cave, for whatever reason Neila didn't know.

Just outside the cave sat a group of Mobs sitting around a campfire under the moon. Singe was doing most of the talking as a way to keep their worries at bay. The others mostly listened as he went on about the stars in the sky and the corresponding astrological signs of those present. He was currently going on about the best paired signs when Maline came running out of the cave.

"Hey McCreeper! Ashen, everyone! Neila's finally waking up!!" She cried out in joy and nearly tripping over herself. All at once every got up wanting to check for themselves.

"I can't believe it!"

"Oh thank Jeb!"

"I wasss afraid we were too late!"

Everyone was going on at once which nearly overwhelmed Maline. She was the first back into the cave with everyone rushing in to check Neila. "Neila I'm ssso glad you're okay!" McCreeper exclaimed as he pushed his way to the front. "Why didn't you teleport when the TNT went off?"

"It'sss a miracle you're even alive right now!" Larilyn shouted out.

"Wh..What are..." Neila mumbled out before being thrown more comments.

"You've been in a coma for two days now." Ashen replied as she came up to Neila as she still tried making sense of everything around her. "You lost a lot of blood back there, and we weren't sure if you would even make it back to this cave. It took a lot of healing potions from Joe here to get you stable again." She said as she pointed at the Zombie next to her who gave a quick wave at Neila, and she waved back apprehensively.

"I'm so glad you're not dead!" Maline cried out as she pulled her sister into a big hug.

"Ow, ow, ow! Maline, I'm still hurting!" Neila yelped at the sudden hugging which made her even more aware of her wounds. Maline immediately let go though was still hopping in place.

"Ssso iss she going to be fine now?" McCreeper asked.

Joe nodded. "It's probably best if we let her rest some more. She still has some healing to do." He then noticed the distressed look on Neila's face now that she was fully awake.

"McCreeper, I can't.. hear you. Any of you..." She asked. A dead silence fell over the room once they heard her speak.

"I was afraid of this." Ashen was the first to say something albeit slowly for Neila to half understand her. "All the explosions must have damaged your hearing, likely permanently since its been two days now."

It took a few seconds to register in Neila's head. She was left stunned and started hyperventilating to keep from crying. "No... This can't happen! I need to hear you guys!"

"Neila calm down! Your panicking isn't helping your injuries!" Ashen shouted as she tried to keep the Endergirl still. Neila quickly got a grip on herself though remained silent as she glanced solemnly at Maline who was now writing something in the sand. Neila stared at it trying to read what she had written.

If it makes you feel any better, we won. Now it's just Brian, Hilda, and the Villagers.

Despite her tears, Neila smiled at the news. She let out a small chuckle. "Aww, c'mere Maline." She said with her arm out ready to hug her sister again. Maline teared up and ran for Neila hugging more gently this time. "I never got the chance to apologize for leaving you in that village. Can you forgive me?"

Maline nodded. "Of course I do! You didn't know they were so evil, right? But they're never gonna hurt us again. I even went back and killed any that were still alive!" She said with glee. She wasn't sure if Neila knew what she was saying at that moment but neither of them had to worry anymore. Maline would have her back too from now on.

"Well now that your friend isss okay, I better get going." Single called out from the back, much to Larilyn's dismay. "I got businesss to get back to."

"You're leaving now? Neila ssstill issn't healed yet." She said glancing at the two Enderkids. "Pleassse, jusst sstay one more day." Larilyn requested as she placed a paw of his foreleg only for him to pull away.

"Sssorry Lar. It'sss been monthsss and I can't put it off any longer. I promisssed to sstay until she awoke or the potionsss didn't work." He replied as he headed back outside.

"Then... I'm going with you!" Larilyn firmly said which now had McCreeper stunned.

"No! It'sss too dangerousss for you to be around me! Besssidess, thesse kidss need you more than I do." Singe glanced around the room, his eyes on McCreeper slightly longer and noting the jealously burning dully in his eyes. "You'll sssee me again sssomeday. Don't ever forget me." He said as he stepped out of the light of the fire and soon disappearing over the sandy hills.

"I should get back home too." Joe said as he stood up. "What Neila needs is some food to help with the healing. She'll be able to be on her feet again in a couple weeks. As for the hearing loss.." He paused for a moment. "I don't have anything to fix that. There are a few ways to work around it. I know signing is one way."

"Signing? What's that?" Maline asked.

"It's a special language, but its spoken with your hands instead." Ashen answered. "Perhaps Joe and the others can help teach you."

"What about you?" Maline asked, but Ashen shook her head.

"I don't know any of it, I'm afraid. Also, I'm only staying until Neila gets better. There is something I'm still searching for, and I haven't found any clues in this area." Maline lowered her head, then nodded. They had only two weeks left together tops, she might as well make it memorable.

"Well let's give it a shot anyway! At least writing things down, maybe even make it a game! Neila will like that!"

Ashen couldn't help but giggle at the silly Endergirl. She seemed so different than the Maline during the village battle. Neila had been looking betwwen the two trying to decipher what they were saying. Whatever it was it was bringing warm smiles to their faces. "Okay, that I can do. I think I may have some empty sheets to help get us started. Larilyn, McCreeper, do you want to join in too?" The two Creepers nodded and trotted over to join the party. Soon it had Neila smiling as well once she realized what they were trying to do and after awhile, she didn't worry so much about her hearing loss anymore.

END