**二十七 (Chapter twenty-seven)
eng: A normal day, until...
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Wither
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"Skeleton, we're going the wrong way. We somehow ended up in a desert! Maybe I should just teleport us back home? I'll be fine!" Skeleton kept insisting that we were going the right way. What's up with him? I feel like he's intentionally going the wrong way... Though, Skeleton's usually very pragmatic. He isn't the type to play a practical joke on me.
I notice him starting to sweat. Even during the night, deserts were generally hot but not unbearable. Skeleton was a stray, a mob that is used to freezing cold weather. He was sweating bullets, his cloak not helping his situation either.
"Skeleton, you look like you're able to pass out from heatstroke," I comment, "Don't you miss the ac in our house?" I was trying to tempt him. He shakes his head stubbornly. "No way! A little hot weather isn't going to stop me!"
Persistent, I'll give him that. "Skeleton, at least take off that heavy cloak of yours. You aren't fooling anyone with how much you're sweating."
"I'm not taking it off, Wither. We're almost out of the desert!"
"..." I squint, trying to locate a different biome. "There's literally just miles of sand ahead of us."
"So? Maybe we'll find something interesting along the way!" I didn't understand the source of Skeleton's enthusiasm. At this point, Skeleton had to know we were going the wrong way. I study him for a moment, watching his movements closely.
"Skeleton, be real with me... You know we're lost, don't you?"
"Wither, quit complaining! If you're scared some mob is going to jump us, you have me to protect you!" He says cheekily. I scoff in response. "Oh, please. I'm the last mob that needs protection."
"I didn't mean it like that! You're more vulnerable than ever and I don't want you exhausting yourself!"There was genuine concern in his eyes. I felt my (nonexistent) heart skip a beat. I knew Skeleton cared in his own way about me but I didn't expect him to be so... So openly caring.
We continue walking through the desert in comfortable silence. Every once in a while I'd look fondly in his direction. His cloak completely covered most parts of his body. Only the bottom half of his legs were visible along with some parts of his face. The pale-blue hue of his bones glimmered beneath the moonlight. I could feel myself staring helplessly at him, unable to turn away.
"...Wither?"
I blink, snapping out of my little trance. Skeleton has stopped walking. I notice the terrain has changed and that we're back on the grassland.
"Uh... Yes?" What is happening to me? I've never felt such weird things for anyone!
He clears his throat, averting his gaze. "I said we're on the right track. We've successfully exited the desert."
"Skeleton, at this point you're just fooling around... Admit it, you don't have any destination in mind. You're just dragging me around for whatever reason... And seriously, stop changing topics every time I bring this up!" Truthfully, I wasn't frustrated with him. I was just incredibly confused.
"Alright, alright! You're right, I have no destination in mind..."
"Then what was the point of this?"
"..."
"...Skeleton, I swear to Notch."
"I just... I just wanted to hangout with you, okay? We've been friends for a while and I just feel like... We're either at each other's throats or doing our own things." A bit stunned by his confession, I do a double take.
"You... You, Skeleton, want to hangout with me? Who are you and what have you done with my roommate..."
"Shut up, you're making things awkward," he mutters in response. His cheeks were dusted with a light-pink blush.
"Did I make Skeleton blush~?"
"Ew, no! Just what are you implying?!" He crosses his arms, pouting. "Besides... Now I don't want to hangout with you anymore. Thanks for ruining the mood, Wither!" He couldn't fool me. Behind that little attitude of his he was flustered. And I knew full well that I was going to take advantage of that.
"Ouch, my feelings... A prince like me has a fragile heart, you know."
"Suck it up, your highness." And there it was. Skeleton was back to normal. I didn't want Skeleton worrying himself about me. Deep down, I knew that Skeleton didn't just drag me all the way here to hangout. He noticed how stressed I was and he was trying to find a way to distract me.
Skeleton cares about me. The thought brings a smile to my face.
"What are you smiling about?"
"Oh, nothing. I think I see a village up ahead, want to check it out?" He scoffs, his arms still crossed. "Whatever, I guess..."
"Sounds good!" In a quick movement I grasp his hand. I notice him jolt in response, his blush getting noticeably darker.
I feign innocence and pretend to be oblivious to his blushing cheekbones. We arrive at the village moments later.
"It seems abandoned...," He mumbles. There were cobwebs sticking to most of the buildings and walls. It seems like no one has been here for some time...
"It's better abandoned than not. Although most players are asleep at this time, some of them take late night walks. Some of them collect mob loot."
"How barbaric... If any player decides to mess with me it'll be their last mistake," Skeleton says with a huff.
"Hey, Skeleton, look at this..." Before us was an ender chest. It stood tall on a small pedestal of obsidian. The placing of it was quite odd and didn't make much sense. Why would this barren village have nothing more to offer than an ender chest? Did someone just misplace this and forget about it?
"Hmm... I've heard of these! These chests are cursed!" Skeleton exclaims. I glance at him questionably.
"It's just an ender chest, Skeleton. The items that one decides to place inside of it are exclusive to themselves."
"That's what it wants you to believe."
"...Skeleton, you read way too much folklore. There's nothing cursed about an ender chest. In fact, they're pretty useful at times. They're mostly used by players, though."
"If you open one of these, especially an abandoned one... Who knows what'll happen?" Skeleton continues blabbering on about the curse of the ender chest. I roll my eyes and approach the chest, flipping it open.
"...And apparently it'll awaken your inner demon! Maybe even make your worst nightmare come to life! And..."
...I scream dramatically.
"OH MY NOTCH WITHER YOU IDIOT! YOU JUST...!" He trails off when he hears me stifling in a laugh. He glares at me.
"Ugh! Why do I even bother with an idiot like you?!" He hisses. I walk over to him and pat his shoulder. "Oh, Skeleton. Don't worry... If there are any demons that attack you I will be sure to fend them off for you." I wink at him. He pulls himself away from me, crossing his arms and looking the other way.
Maybe I'm enjoying this a bit too much...
...Nah.
"That's it. We're returning home before sunup." Skeleton drags me by the arm in the direction we came.
"Oh c'mon, Skeleton! I thought you wanted to hangout with me!"
"That was before you started acting like a reckless idiot!"
"...I was always reckless, Skeleton. I thought we've known each other long enough by now... Apparently not." He scoffs and rolls his eyes.
"Wither, we have school tomorrow. We need to be awake by eight! And, well, just because-!" He stops mid-sentence. He takes a few steps back.
"Just because...?"
"...B-Behind you..."
"Haha. It's going to take a lot more than that to scare me, Skeleton." Skeleton's eyes were wide. "Wither, I'm serious! Unless you invited your entire wither skeleton family to our hangout..."
"I guess I'll humor you just this once." I turn around with an unconcerned smile. "How frightening, a whole army of wither skeletons..."
"..."
"...Oh shit."
A whole army of guards were surrounding us. Before I get the chance to mentally question how the fuck they managed to sneak up on us without warning, a way too familiar voice bellows my name.
"Oh, Ash. How silly of you to believe you've escaped my realm undetected."
The goddamn Lord. Of course.
"And you're accompanied by a stray. The very one marked for execution." Skeleton narrows his eyes. "For a so called all-mighty Lord you seem to be all talk. All I've seen so far are your minions doing the dirty work for you."
"Skeleton, you really shouldn't..."
"Snap out of it, Wither. He's in the Overworld now. Besides, that little protection charm of his won't save him. He's in our domain."
"Skeleton, you're underestimating...!"
"Oh? Quite the confident little stray we have here. Dozens of your kind have been killed by my hand. Lowly skeletons like yourself aren't nearly as powerful as us. Besides, I've brought my whole army with me. Let's see how well you fare against us, shall we? Guards, return the prince to the Nether and get rid of that stray by any means necessary." The guards charge at us, swords in hand. In a swift motion I teleport both Skeleton and myself back to our house.
"...Skeleton. Challenging the Lord is the stupidest thing you've done!"
"Oh, please. Wither, you're completely brainwashed by him. What are you so afraid of? You have your powers back. Sure, they're a bit weak at the moment, but so what? We can take him together!"
"Skeleton, you aren't understanding the gravity of this situation. The Lord was somehow able to pinpoint my location in the Overworld. I used to believe I was safe here and that he couldn't find me. But now, I..."
"Wither, get over it! He can't do anything to hurt you, especially not here! If you're so worried about it we can ask Herobrine to help us-!"
"Nice trick you performed, Ash. My turn." I stiffen, turning around with a horrified expression across my face.
What?! How did he?!-
"Teleportation? How juvenile. Return with me at once, Ash." I was completely frozen in terror. I knew that the Lord was powerful, but not this powerful...
"Stay away from him. He's not going anywhere with you." Skeleton draws his sword and steps in front of me defensively. His eyes blazed with determination as he glared defyingly at the Lord.
"What are you, Ash's guardian angel? A stray like yourself shouldn't be handling a sword." The Lord pulls out his infamous enchanted netherite sword with a malicious grin. Skeleton's iron sword would be nothing against a netherite sword, much less an enchanted one.
Unfazed, Skeleton remains in his defensive stance. The Lord starts his attack off with a stab aimed towards Skeleton's head. Skeleton easily blocks this attack by raising his sword up into the air and slashing away the Lord's sword. A whole sword fight breaks out in the middle of our house, and I'm left standing there looking like a fool.
"Not bad for a stray. Sadly, you won't last long against me."
"Wither, why are you just standing there?!" Skeleton continues blocking the Lord's attacks, remaining defensive but never landing a hit.
Skeleton is right. In order for me to truly be free, I must rid myself of the Lord once and for all... But what if I'm not powerful enough? The Lord managed to find me so quickly... I don't stand a chance...
I snap out of my own internal dilemma when I see Skeleton start to struggle. The Lord had him trapped against the wall, the only thing between them was Skeleton's almost broken sword.
"Ah, I love the looks on their faces when they realize they've been defeated. Not so confident now, are you, young stray?"
"Defeating me means you've killed me. You haven't even done that yet," Skeleton spat in response.
"Defiance and false bravery won't save you now." The Lord sweeps Skeleton's leg, resulting in Skeleton losing balance and dropping his sword.
Skeleton attempts to get back onto his feet, but the Lord was quicker. The tip of his enchanted netherite sword grazed Skeleton's neck. A surge of panic followed by determination flowed through me. I wasn't going to let my fear of the Lord hold me back from saving Skeleton. Picking up Skeleton's sword, I charge towards the Lord.
The Lord carelessly kicks Skeleton to the side, evading my attack. I swing the sword around without any real structure or stance. I was always terrible at using a sword, too reliant on my abilities.
The Lord cackles at my malperformance. "It seems you haven't changed one bit, Ash. All those years of training gone to waste." My grip tightens on the hilt, looking for a small opening or a weak point. I try to contain my fear of defeat, optimizing my abilities to up my strength. My attempts were seemingly futile against him, though. The Lord was just too powerful...
"Oh, Ash. Why so resistant? I thought you strived to follow after Amir's footsteps. (Quick refresher: Amir was the Lord's actual son.) How would he react if he knew how badly you messed up his legacy?" In a quick movement, his sword thrusts towards my chest. I try evading it, but he takes my moment of weakness to his advantage. I was too focused on avoiding being stabbed that my grip on my weapon loosened. The Lord knocks my sword away with a hard slash, and it goes flying to the other end of the room.
"How weak. You didn't even last over a minute. You should be ashamed of yourself, Ash." A tremor of fear flows through me. How could I be defeated so easily? I was in too weak of a mental state to use my powers. I felt pathetic and vulnerable, being too weak to protect both Skeleton and myself.
"Now... Where was I? Oh, right. You will be returning with me to where you belong. You'll never see the light of the Overworld again." I glance towards Skeleton— or, at least where he was— before nodding in defeat. Skeleton was nowhere in sight, though I didn't feel betrayed by him. One look at my swordsmanship probably told him everything he needed to know. How ridiculous of me to even think I could defeat the Lord.
"Come along, Ash. We have much to... Gah!"
Before I even have time to process what had happened, Skeleton had knocked the Lord off his feet. Skeleton was holding a sleek netherite sword— wait, where'd he get that— before plunging the sword right into the Lord's chest.
"You talk too much," Skeleton hisses, before repeatedly stabbing the Lord. "Wither is not going with you. Not now, not ever!"
The Lord's stats showed two health hearts left. He weakly puts his hands on the sides of Skeleton's sword, lifting it for a second. That second was all he needed before he disappeared with a subtle poof.
I stare at Skeleton, dumbfounded by his surprise attack on the Lord. His stealth was so undetectable that I didn't even notice his attack before he pounced. Skeleton huffs before sheathing his sword.
"Well, it seems he's gone, for now at least..."
"..."
"Oh my Notch, I totally forgot! Wither, are you hurt?! I know your powers aren't a hundred percent at the moment... W-Was I too late? It took me way longer than it should've to find an opening, I'm so sorry-!" I pull Skeleton into a hug, finally snapping out of my momentary shock. "Skeleton, thank you... I thought for a moment there that you left..." A few seconds later I feel him return the hug, whispering a quiet, "I'd never leave you..."
Our little moment was interrupted when our front door slams open. "Hey, Skeleton, do you by any chance have any wooden planks? Pigman accidentally-!..."
"..."
"...Damn, did I just interrupt something?"
Skeleton and I scramble away from each other, not expecting a sudden visitor. It seems that one of us forgot to lock the door again...
"Z-Zombie! You can't just barge into someone's house like that! I..." Skeleton was beyond embarrassed, glaring at his friend with a blush.
Zombie was unfazed, grinning profusely in response. "Oh? Shouldn't have given me the key to your house then, Skeleton." Wait, why didn't I know that Zombie has a key?-
"I said in case of emergencies!"
"This is an emergency!"
"Zombie, I'm going to kill you." Skeleton scoffs, handing Zombie a stack of wood. "Also, give me that key back."
Zombie chuckles and returns the key to Skeleton. "Alright, alright. I wouldn't want to accidentally interrupt another moment like that one. Okay, bye!" Zombie walks away, whistling. Skeleton stands there, unmoving for at least ten seconds.
Skeleton clears his throat. "Anyway, what's our next move? It seems you aren't the only wither skeleton that has the ability to teleport..."
Right. "I'm not sure, Skeleton... I think the best course of action is for me to leave this place."
"Wither, you aren't going anywhere!"
"I don't want to, Skeleton," I try assuring him. "But... If he so easily found me in the Overworld, he's bound to appear anytime. We got lucky this time... Next time we may not be."
"I don't care! We beat him once, we can do it again!" Skeleton looks more determined than ever. I admired Skeleton's bravery and prowess, though I couldn't risk him getting injured— or worse, killed.
"I know we can," I say softly, "But I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you." Skeleton goes silent, a small, almost unnoticeable blush on his face.
"Skeleton," I whisper, "I'm not saying that I'm leaving forever. I just want to keep you safe." Skeleton turns around, facing away from me.
"Skeleton, I promise you. I will be back as soon as I know the Lord's been defeated." In truth, I didn't know if it was possible to defeat the Lord.
Skeleton's back remained turned. He remains dead silent, so quiet that I was starting to get worried.
"Skeleton...?" Did I upset him? Is he angry at me? It's hard to read Skeleton sometimes... I start to slowly approach him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. That's when I notice him trembling ever so slightly.
"Please," he whispers, "Don't go..."
~
A/n: The romance is slowburn even I'm getting annoyed with my own writing... KISS ALREADY! >:(
Completed writing date: 10/2/23
Published on 10/29/23