[After several hours]
'Where in the world is Andr?' You got back from the nether around two hours ago. You were sitting on your couch in the living room, still prepared for the journey ahead. The blaze rods were still in your backpack, vibrating with energy and heat. You had placed Blazette's rod onto your cabinet of collectables – partly because you felt uncomfortable holding it. This shelf held some of you more prized collectables: your first iron sword – battered and scratched, your first diamond, a small pile of emeralds, your first invention, a skeleton skull and some other trinkets.
You were bored, but suddenly, you heard something strange. It sounded like thunder, but there was no rain. You walk to the door and step outside, this sound was echoing across the valley, and it seemed to be getting closer. You decided it was a better idea to pinpoint this sound from a higher position, so you head back inside, walk up the stairs and turn to your left.
There was another staircase that led to the roof. At the top, a horizontal door covered the exit, you open it and stepped into the cooler air. At the top of the house, you scan the horizon; there were the fields, forests, and even the far mountains to the north-east. Coincidently, the thundering sound was coming from those mountains. You looked for the source, the sound was coming from behind the nearby hills. After a moment, the sound revealed itself: a massive blur of... something, was moving down the hillside. It was a strange mixture of black and purple, and it was coming at full speed. Your eyes snapped open, at this rate, this mass would plough over your house.
'Damn it!' You ran downstairs to drive that thing away, but as it got closer, the sound began to clear. It changed from an amalgamation of noise into... voices, and if there were voices, there were people. You unequipped you armour but still held your sword at ready as you ran. You open the front door, made a break for the far perimeter wall and jump it. Outside of the safety of your home, all that stood between you and that mass was a thin layer of trees. The sounds were even closer, the voices were completely clear; there was cheering, singing and chatter.
It seemed that they were truly people, so you hide your sword away – fighting a group this size wouldn't be a very sane choice. Then, the most unexpected thing happened; the first person that came from the group was your female friend Andr. She looked the same as ever, but she was walking with an old man. He had silver hair, dull purple eyes and a crooked pose, so you assumed that he was an enderman elder.
'Ken!' Andr yelled out, waving. You were stunned, of all the people from that group, Andr was the first to appear. You couldn't help but smile as you waved back. You, her and that elderly man walked closer together, coming to arms reach.
'Hi Andr.' Although you wanted to chat, your attention was on the older looking man; his eyes were locked onto you, observing your every move. 'Sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I-'
'Kenzo, if I'm correct?' the old man says, his voice similar to the sound of gravel. You were taken aback but assumed that Andr had already introduced you to this man. 'I should be the one to apologise. My name is Johnathon, but please call me John.' He raises his hand; you take it and shake – he had a surprisingly strong grip. You then looked over John's shoulder, behind him was that massive group of people.
'Alright, first I have a question. Who are they?' Andr was about to answer, but John took her place.
'They are here to see you, 'O' Great Being' he said, bowing his head. You look forward again and quickly shake your head.
'Great being? What's this about?'
'Please, follow us. They are waiting.' John turned around and began to walk to the group. You quickly jog to Andr's side and lean into her ear.
'What's going on?' An awkward smile spread across her lips as she began to play with her fingers.
'Uh... th-this kind of just happened...' She slumped over and scratched her head. She was low enough, so you raise a hand a lightly pat her head.
'Well, whatever happens next doesn't matter, I'm just glad that you returned safely.' Since she was slumped over, you were at eye level with her. After hearing your words, feeling that touch upon her head, her ears turned bright red. Yet, when she looked at you, her eyes seemed to glisten with a strange calmness; they stole your attention, your gaze was locked onto those purple spheres.
'?' Although she didn't respond right away, she instantly noticed your gaze and started to feel flustered. You continued to look closer, there was something that you though you could see, something unknown to you, something that seemed to fluctuate the closer you looked. 'H-He y-yo-u...' She could feel her whole-body quiver as she instantly covered her face, breaking your focus.
'Oh, Andr, what's wrong? Are you sick? What's wrong?!' you say in a panic. Andr had fallen to her knees, trying her best to cover her whole face.
'P-p-p-pleasss, donn't look at mm-me...' You had a hand on her shoulder; although it didn't help her embarrassment, it made her feel better. 'I'm ok. It's n-nothing.' She shakes her head and tries to stand, yet her legs still felt weak; she fell. In a matter of seconds, your arms darted forward to catch her. You were successful, but with a that sudden weight change caused your back to buckle.
With Andr in your arms, you stand at full height – it never occurred to you that you were holding a girl who was about a foot taller then you. Andr instantly turned pink from ear to ear; her eyes looked up at your own.
'Uh... If you don't mind, everyone wishes to see you now.' John had walked back out from the thin trees. You, alongside Andr instantly flinched, did he see all of that? You gently let her down and silently began to follow the old man. Now there was a new feeling, a painful feeling in the lower part of your back, but once those trees cleared, and you forgot about it.
Endermen, every single person was an enderman. From what you could see, there were over two hundred of them, a good mix of men and women, some children running around, but many wore a mixture of clothing; some were in casual, others is working gear, but some even wore armour. You were standing above them; they were chatting amongst themselves until John yelled out.
'People, exiles, our Great Being has arrived!' Everyone turned to you and began to cheer; you were absolutely stunned. 'As the prophecy says, "This Being would be human. This human, unlike others, would have the ability to communicate with other creatures, like us." This one can speak as one of us. He is the one Great Being, the one who will end the reign of the dragon, Kenzo of the Void!' The crowd roared in cheers and excitement, you began to blurt out gibberish. Andr had noticed your reaction, but before she could ask, you scream out at the top of your lungs.
'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?' Thankfully, the crowd didn't hear you, only Andr and John did. They take you back to the trees and began to explain the prophecy and the situation.
* * *
'So, in this prophecy, I'm the one who slays the dragon and restores order to the End. Apart from that, Andr is the second component to the prophecy. Together, we travel to the End and I finish the prophecy, right?'
'Yes, that's how it was foreseen and foretold. Anything outside of these words are considered irrelevant compared to the prophecy itself' John says. You had calmed down since you first heard about this prophecy, but you were still thinking it over.
'I'll think this over in a little bit, currently I have an army of endermen at my doorstep.' You scratch the back of your head and turn to Andr. 'Andr, did you get the pearls like I requested?' Andr reached into her pocket and pulled out a leather sack and passed it to you.
'M-hm, yeah, fifty, as you wanted.' You looked down at the bag and back to Andr.
'How did you collect them?'
'Uh, endermen have the ability to remove their pearl from their bodies. But it comes with a cost...' You think for a moment and turn to John, he seemed to have some control over the army.
'The ones who gave their pearls, may I see them?'
'I don't see any reason not to.' Andr and John vanished, leaving you alone with your mind. Your thoughts were interrupted by a stabbing pain in your back. You remembered that when you caught Andr earlier, you had heard a click but never paid attention to it. You move your hand to your back out of impulse. Andr, John and a group of endermen that were practically carrying each other. You straighten yourself; that pain was getting unbearable, but you had to suck it up.
'These are the donators' John says, addressing the endermen. They looked up and waved to you, they looked no better than dead.
'Is this the effect of endermen without their pearls?' One of the men from the group spoke first, his voice was raspy.
'Tha-that's correct Sir. Ever since we detached our pearls, we've never felt so drained; we can't teleport or even think straight. B-but we're glad we did our part in the prophecy.' He raises a fist in triumph, only dropping it moments later, the others cheered very quietly. You thought hard on this and came up with a solution.
'Alright, I've made my decision. I'd like to speak to all of them, they should all hear my plan.' Everyone nods and turns away, heading back to the crowd. Although the pain was piercing, you quickly join the group of donators. 'Hey, I have a request: when I'm speaking, on my word, could one of you join me in front of everyone?' The group quietly spoke to each other than nodded to you.
The army of endermen had gone silent as you stood above them. To your left was Andr and John, to your right was the group of donators. You began to speak, but you knew that the reaction wasn't going to be pleasant.
'Men, women, children, I have heard your calls. I had attended this journey without any knowledge on this prophecy, it was on my own free will. You have my sword, and I swear to you,' you take you diamond blade from its sheath and raise it up high. 'I will not stop fighting until the dragon takes this blade to his grave!' The crowd cheered, you raised your hand for silence. 'But just because the prophecy can come today doesn't mean it can't come tomorrow.' Some confused looks spread across the crowd, include Andr and John. You nod to the donators, the one who spoke earlier stepped forward. He stood next to you; you then pull out the bag of pearls. 'Some of you may not know this, but one of the items that we needed to travel to the End was enderpearls. And this person here,' you say as place a hand on the man's shoulder 'is one of the fifty donators for these pearls.'
'But, as most of you would know, an enderman without its pearl is rather weak and even defenceless. So, I've decided that we'll not start this journey until the donators have fully recovered, in one week's time. I'd rather allow them to help with our travel instead of slowing it.' As you expected, the crowd started to roar with complaints, people were booing you, but it didn't anger you. Yet, what did was when you heard someone yell out:
"Why should we wait for them? We could just leave them here and leave now!" and others yell "They chose this, they wanted to do this, you don't need to wait for them." You could feel your face tighten and your teeth clench. You switch your sword with your pickaxe and held the blunt end. You were standing on a rock that seemed to hum, so with all your might, you slammed down the blunt end onto the rock, its sound was as loud as a lightning strike. Everyone around you instantly turned pale from that frightening sound.
Everyone could see the fire that burned behind your eyes, the one thing that you couldn't stand was when someone else gets shamed for their hard work. 'I think you lot should feel very appreciative for what these people have done for you. If I could guess, has anyone in this crowd ever willingly given away their pearl before?!' Your harsh voice echoed across the crowd; as expected, there was silence. 'I see, no one other than the donators have done this, which means that none of you have the right to say anything, nor do I!' Many in the crowd looked down at their feet, while others seemed to mumble amongst themselves. Your anger had cooled down, you looked back at the donators and smiled. Although they were stunned from you standing up for them, they smiled back.
You turned back to the crowd. 'I believe that we should thank them with a round of applause, if you could please?' you said, gesturing to the donators. They hobbled over; the crowd seemed to look at them more sympathetically now. You stepped to the side and began to clap; slowly, the army applauded as well. The donators joined hands and carefully bowed, making sure not to fall over. 'As I said, we'll be departing in a week. So, we'll need to set up your camp.' You look down at a group of endermen, standing in the front row.
'You ten, at the front.' They responded with a salute. 'We'll need to build enough beds and equipment for this army. Exactly how many soldiers are there?'
'We have about sixty-five soldiers, Sir!' a woman at the front said. You felt your eye twitch, her saying "Sir" reminded you of Blazette.
'Alright. I have most of the wool for the beds, but not enough wood, so we'll be leaving to fell some trees, understand?'
'Yes sir!' Again, you twitched.
'You can drop the "sir" thing, just call me Steve.'
'Alright, Sir Steve' they say again.
'Uh, close enough...' you mutter. You knew that endermen could take terrain without the need of tools, so they'd be good for this job. 'Alright, we have a couple of hours. Let's move.'
'Yes Sir!' They cheered. Before you left, you ordered that someone with high power in the army would play as the ambassador. After a short wait, a rather tall enderman came to you, he was the leader of the scout group for the soldiers. You ordered him to move everyone inside the walls of your home; you quietly tell him that there were two iron golems who guarded the entrance. He looked shocked, but then you passed him your diamond pickaxe.
'Show the golems this, they recognize it. They should let you pass. If they, for whatever reason, turn aggressive, teleport to me and take me to them.
'Aye Sir.' You gave up on asking them to call you anything that wasn't sir. You walk off with the group of endermen, and the scout leader walked in the direction that you said to go. You walked into the nearby forest and began to work, the endermen doing the same as you.
'My my, looks like we have a powerful commander' John says. Him and Andr had been listening to your every order. Strangly, Andr felt much more protected and comfier while you were speaking. 'He's smart, powerful, kind, stands for the weak, not afraid of getting his own hands dirty, like a warrior but has the charisma of a king. He's truly a Great Being.' John crosses his arms and starts to contemplate their next move, however, the only thing that was currently in Andr's mind was you.
'Uh, yeah... he is.'
[Hours later, the sun had begun to set]
You collapsed on the bed, your body sinking into the bedsheets. On the far side of your room was Andr, standing near the window; heavy rain was hitting the glass again.
'I only hoped I could have given them more...'
'What are you talking about? You saved them from the rain' she responds.
'I guess.' Before, your original plan was to build small houses for groups of endermen outside, but rainclouds could be seen on the horizon. You changed plans and moved everyone inside your house, most of the endermen were staying in the underground hallways and rooms like the library. People who were elderly or unwell slept in the living room, but there were only fifteen including John. The donators slept in the spare bedroom and storage, just nearby your room. You naturally stayed in your room, but...
Andr slept in there with you. She asked you of this because she was petrified the moment she saw the number of people that she needed to bunk with. You had split your bed into two smaller beds, they sat side by side. For everyone else, you had built as many beds as you could, layering them so that everyone could fit. Thankfully, those passageways under the house stretched far underground, so there was no worry about space.
'I was just hoping that they could have slept in something better than those stone passageways.'
'You shouldn't need to worry, most endermen sleep underground'
'Does that include yourself?'
'Well, before I met you, yes. Although, most of these endermen came from the settlement for creatures, deep inside the mountains to the north. It is like a village, but no houses, just rooms carved from the rock. So, we're used to bad conditions. Besides, I think many of them feel honoured for staying in the home of their saviour.'
'Saviour?'
'Yeah, you saved them from the rain. Especially the donators, they can't teleport still and their weak; they may have died without your help.' You smiled. She was right, if it wasn't for you, these people may have been badly hurt. However, you hadn't taken care of yourself.
'HURR!' you howled in pain. That pain that you experienced for the whole never got any better, it only got worse; now it was pure agony. Andr instantly came to your side to lend support, but it wasn't enough.
'He-Hey, Ken, w-what's wrong?!' You clamped you hand on your back, snapping your eyes shut.
'Back... pain. Hurts. Can't... move' you stutter. You settle yourself down onto your bed with Andr's help.
'Uh, where does it hurt?' With great effort, you point at the middle of your back; in response, Andr rolls you over onto your stomach and pulls up your shirt. 'Mmm...' she had never seen such a well-toned region before, so she couldn't help but turn red. Her hands shook as she felt it, the tough and strong muscles seemed to switch with her every movement, causing her face to burn. She started to move down to where you pointed, where your skin had turned a deeper red colour.
'GAHH!!' The pain started to bite again.
'SORRY!!!' You felt your teeth starting to grind, so you grab a stick from your inventory and jam it between your teeth. As Andr continued to feel for the damage, you continued to yelp and grown as quietly as you could, but you were glad that Andr was the one helping you. After a moment, she found a spot that was the darkest red and the most swollen – also the most painful to move.
'Grnnn.' This was agony.
'Is this the worst spot?' You replied with a small nod. 'Mm, a-alright, I hope this works.' Suddenly, with all her strength, Andr forces her palms down upon the damaged region.
It felt like being stabbed with white hot metal, you couldn't speak. Andr pushes again, then there was a sudden flash of green light and a cooling sensation that spread across your body, the pain was fading away. You roll over to thank Andr for her help, but what you saw wasn't what you expected. Andr seemed to be taken by a spell of exhaustion and began to sway, dark marks underlined her eyes rapidly formed, her eyes began to pale. Before you could ask, she lost her strength and fell forward, thankfully landing safely in your arms.
'Andr?! Andr?! What's wrong?' You lightly tapped the side of her face; her eyes gaze weakly at yours.
'Heh, so this is... what the donators went... through.'
'The donators? Why...' She looked like she was fighting to stay awake.
'I... I just infused my... p-pearl into you. I-It's a... trick that we can do. Th-the infusion heals all wounds... Sorry... I couldn't just sit there and... watch.' She smiled, although weak, it felt powerful.
'Why? Y-You didn't need to do that for me, if this is what you have to go through.' Slowly, she plants a weak hand upon your face, her eyes began to close as she muttered her next words.
'Because... your... special...' Her breathing slowed, her eyes shut, for she fell into a deep sleep.
'Ss-special?' For a moment, you could feel your heart throb, but it calmed down in a matter of moments. 'Well, come on, o-off to bed' Andr had curled herself in your arms as you lifted her, however, the strength that you could feel was rapidly draining away; it seemed that Andr's enderpearl infusion drained everything you had left.
You pull back the covers and lie her down; you had mistakenly touched her neck but was greeted with an icy chill, her skin was turning pale. There were extra blankets downstairs, only you head started to pound; exhaustion was spreading from your chest. You turned for the door, only to be pulled back; Andr was still holding you, but with her iron-grip. Such a force took you by surprise, and with you strength on it's last legs, you lost your footing. You turned in mid-air and landed face down, right underneath Andr's chin. Before you could try anything, her arms wrapped around you, locking you in place as she rolled over. With you head against such a smooth and soft surface reminded you of your pillow, it was too comfortable. Your consciousness had already fallen into a slumber, but your instincts were still at play. You felt the coldness from her skin upon your own, sending a shiver down your spine, urging you to pull up the bed sheets, which you did.
You felt Andr shift her arm, her left one was over your shoulder, the other one under your side, snuggling up against you. Your face – although was squished up against her chest – seemed to bury itself into the fabric. You had moved your hands around her back, pulled her into an embrace. You could feel her body resonating its internal heat; you had never felt so comfy before. She had also thrown her leg over your hip, pulling you in even closer. From all this comfort and from all that exhaustion, your muscles started to shut down, sending you into a deep sleep.