[Jesse's POV]
(The pond wasn't really big, and we weren't in the mood for swimming.)
(so we just sat around it and splashed the water from time to time with our legs as a method of cooling down.)
Lukas: "The landscape sure looks amazing, doesn't it?"
(Lukas, who's sitting right next to me, is attempting to strike up a conversation.)
(Honestly, I wanted to talk about things with him too, but secretly I'm glad that I don't have to be the one to start it.)
Jesse: "Not a nature fanatic, but I guess?"
Lukas: "Hm? You don't go out much?"
Jesse: "Not really, despite someone..."
(quick glance at Olivia, who's sitting on the other side of the pond.)
Jesse: "...who really wants us to."
Lukas: "Why not?"
Jesse: "Well, Axel doesn't like seeing people. You can understand why if you think about people like Aiden."
Lukas: "Oh... well, I'm sorry."
Jesse: "Eh? For what?"
(Lukas gazes at the jungle on the horizon.)
Lukas: "You know this whole rivalry between my group and yours?"
Jesse: "Oh yeah, right. I kinda forgot about that whole thing."
Lukas: "I was really hoping I could make things better with you guys and end that whole rivalry thing entirely, but I never got the chance to."
Jesse: "You're the ocelots' leader, aren't you? Surely you, of all people, would've been the one who could've done that, right?"
Lukas: "Well, yeah, but I didn't want to disappoint Aiden and Maya. I should tell you this, but Aiden really doesn't like Axel for some reason. And if I went against his opinion, he would always get angry at me. I just wanted to be a good friend and make sure everyone stayed happy. I was too scared to do the wrong thing, so all I could do was watch. I was stuck on what to do."
Jesse: "Well, then, you need to-"
(I wanted to say to get better friends, but quickly realized how wrong that would come out and stopped mid-sentence.)
Lukas: "Do what? What do I need to do, Jesse?"
(Lukas looks at me, perplexed.)
Jesse: "Nevermind that..."
(For the time being, I avoided making eye contact.)
(Beside the point, who knew that Aiden of all people had so much power in that group? This whole rivalry happening because of him and his hatred for Axel.)
(I wonder if he was the one who manipulated Maya and Gill into thinking his way as well.)
(I can't blame Lukas.)
Jesse: "Well, whatever happens! If it makes you feel better, let's end this rivalry after everything is over, okay? Once we return to our hometown, we'll live as friends rather than foes. I don't care what Aiden thinks; we'll make it work out, okay?!"
(For a brief moment, Lukas appears surprised.)
(I realized that I had raised my voice a bit.)
(I nervously looked down cause of that.)
Jesse: "Oops, did I say that too loud?"
(Lukas suddenly chuckles.)
Lukas: "No, no, I just thought you never sounded that determined about something. I like that idea. I think we might be able to pull it off."
Jesse: "Well, it was just a suggestion..."
(Lukas pats my back with a reassuring look.)
Lukas: "C'mon, why are you looking down like that? Cheer up! It wasn't that noticeable?"
Jesse: "Eh... I guess you're right."
(I awkwardly turn my head back up.)
Lukas: "So then, what about you? You didn't get bullied by Aiden too, right?"
Jesse: "Nah, but he's still very annoying at times."
Lukas: "Eh, don't blame Aiden; he just doesn't think straight sometimes."
Jesse: "Eh, I'll try not to."
(That was a lie, but don't tell him that.)
Lukas: "Well, what do you do all day inside?"
Jesse: "I dunno, take care of Reuben, daydream, pace around, read books?"
Lukas: "I also read books! Guess we have something in common. Right, you said you read mystery novels; am I correct?"
Jesse: "Well, yeah, but not many. I guess a few?"
Lukas: "What's your favorite one?"
Jesse: "Well, uh, this is a little embarrassing to share since no one in my friend group reads stuff like that. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but... Umineko?"
Lukas: "Hmm, never heard of it."
Jesse: "Well, it's not really well known, but the premise is similar to the book 'And then there were none."
Lukas: "How long is it?"
Jesse: "Oh, only around 1 million words."
Lukas: "Wait... what?!"
Jesse: "Don't let the word count scare you! Yes, it's VERY long, and some people don't like slow-moving stories, but if you like the premise, trust me, it's good."
Lukas: "Ok, can you tell me more about the plot of the story?"
Jesse: "Actually, I think it's better to go in blindly."
Lukas: "Oh, I see. I guess I'll check it out sometime if I find it."
Jesse: "Oh, you can just come to my place if you want to; I already have the whole collection."
Lukas: "Well, I'm happy to! You can invite me over anytime you like if that's fine with you."
Jesse: "Okay... I'll remember that."
(Pretty sure I would be too afraid to do that and never ask, but okay.)
Jesse: "Then, what kind of genres do you read?"
Lukas: "Well, umm... uh..."
(Lukas was having a hard time coming up with an answer.)
Lukas: "Nevermind that..."
Jesse: "Um... okay, then what else makes you interested in books."
Lukas: "Well, don't tell anyone, but I'm trying to become a writer myself..."
Jesse: "Really? Can you show me some of your works?"
Lukas: "No! At least, not yet. It's embarrassing..."
(Lukas sounded unsure for the first time, so it was kinda surprising.)
Jesse: "Well, if you want to publish your works, it wouldn't be unreasonable to have someone else test read them, you know?"
Lukas: "They're not finished yet!"
Jesse: "Ok, ok, I get it! But if you decide to finish them, can I read them? I won't judge you or anything like that! I'm sure they can turn into great stories if you really put your mind to it."
(Lukas looks at me with an astonished face.)
Lukas: "Yeah, I like that. Sure, when the time comes, maybe I'll show them to you."
Jesse: "Yeah! And in case I ever become an author, we can share each other's stories!"
Lukas: "Hehe, you sound rather confident."
Jesse: "C'mon! Isn't it a good idea?"
(Lukas laughs.)
Lukas: "You know what? I am glad we met. Now that I've gotten to know you better, you're a really cool guy."
(Lukas wraps his arm over my shoulder.)
(I know it's a common thing for friends to do, but I can't help but blush.)
Ivor: "Hey blondie and red face, you coming or what?"
Lukas: "We're leaving already?"
Soren: "Was the break not long enough for you?"
Lukas: "Uh, I guess not, yeah, we're coming."
(Lukas unwraps his arm and gets up.)
(*sigh*I couldn't bring up the topic I wanted to.)
(Or maybe that would've been too embarrassing to bring up now.)
(In a way, I'm in the same position as Lukas is with the rivalry.)
(Will it rub him the wrong way if I just tell him now that I like him more than just a friend?)
(This is exactly why I'm secretly hoping he's not completely oblivious about this.)
(Argh, I can't decide what to do other than delay this decision...)
Ivor: "Is everyone ready?"
(Olivia and Gabriel let out a tired 'yeah~')
Soren: "Easy for you to say, Ivor, you actually slept last night."
Ivor: "Shut up; I don't want to hear your complaints right now."
(Everyone gets on their respective horses.)
(As Lukas was about to jump in the driver's seat, I stopped him.)
Jesse: "It's my turn, Lukas. I don't want you to tire yourself out like that."
Lukas: "But Jesse-"
Jesse: "Lukas, I can see your worn-out eyes."
(Lukas wanted to say something but then stopped himself.)
(Before Lukas responds, I've already hopped in the front seat to confirm my decision.)
(Reuben hops in front of me as well.)
(I gestured for Lukas to get on as well.)
(He reluctantly gets on, his sleepy eyes
already making it clear that he's exhausted.)
Jesse: "You can just hold on to me like I did to you."
Lukas: "I know, you don't have to worry about me..."
(I silently nodded.)
(He grabs my waist in the same way I did the night before.)
(Don't think about it too much, Jesse; just focus on going forward; there's still a Wither Storm to defeat.)
(Soon, in no time, everything will be back to normal.)
(I can feel the determination inside me. Yeah, I can feel the energy inside me.)
(I'm not tired anymore! We'll go and grab that 'failsafe' and defeat that Wither Storm and there won't be anything in our way!)
[Several Days Later]
(Nurrghh... How long have we been going already?)
(At that point, everyone was tired from all this horse riding, except for Ivor for some reason... and questions like 'Are we there yet?')
(have been asked more often than ever.)
(Not even the landscape looked interesting anymore, and we've already switched seats countless times.)
(It was morning, but it didn't feel like anyone was ready to start another day.)
(Reuben suddenly nudges my armor, asking for better food.)
Jesse: "I'm sorry, Reuben, these deformed carrots are all I have now."
(Yesterday, Reuben got very picky with food, but now that he's already so hungry, he couldn't resist anymore and chewed the carrot down.)
Olivia: "We've been going for almost a week already...Are we... there... yet?"
(Olivia inquires, her voice tired.)
(Ivor suddenly stops his horse.)
Ivor: "We're here."
Soren: "Haha, nice joke; you've already said that countless times..."
Ivor: "No, this time I'm being serious; we've reached our destination."
Gabriel: "Ivor, this isn't the time to make jokes; can you please move along?"
Ivor: "FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, WE'VE ARRIVED."
(Everyone is surprised by his sudden voice change.)
Jesse: "What do you mean, 'we've arrived'??? We're in the middle of nowhere!"
Ivor: "How tired are you people?! Look in front of you!"
(We rub our eyes and try to focus on what's ahead of us.)
(It was a small, ugly shack, camouflaged into the forest.)
Lukas: "Ivor, we were supposed to go to the Farlands, not your house."
Ivor: "Just move inside already."
(We left the horses in a nearby stable, which Ivor had prepared, and went inside.)
(where there was only one thing: a
nether portal.)
Olivia: "Please don't tell me we have to go into the nether again; I've already seen enough of that place."
Ivor: "Too bad, so sad, now go in."
(The journey through the nether portal normally would feel very surreal and disorienting.)
(but we were all so tired that day that the moment we noticed, we were already on the other side.)
Ivor: "And here's my first shortcut, an 'Ice Highway!"
(A transportation device with that name would normally sound very exciting when first heard, but everyone was too tired for that...)
Lukas: "Sure... let's just get this over with..."
(Lukas mumbles while putting on his jacket.)
(Ivor initially expressed disappointment when no one praised his work, but eventually he just gave up and went along with it.)
(Everyone hopped onto these wooden boats in groups of 2 and started going down the Ice Highway.)
(While we drove further down, every now and then, a ghast nearby would make a sound, but no one paid attention.)
(We were already too fast for any threat to catch us, so it didn't matter anyway.)
(Not long after, we reached the end of the Ice Highway.)
(After deboarding, the only thing at the end of this highway was another nether portal.)
Gabriel: "That means, after going through that portal, the Farlands will be right there, right?"
(With slightly more cheerful looks, we dash through the portal, only to be met with disappointment.)
Soren: "I'm telling you, we CANNOT go to the Farlands! They're not just the edge of our world, but the limits of our comprehension!"
Ivor: "Oh, please... the Farlands are a happy accident. Nature's way of keeping life interesting."
Soren: "No, no, no! They are perilous and unpredictable! The Farlands lie at the very edge of all things, where logic gives way to chaos. They're a dangerous place to visit... and a ridiculous place to construct a laboratory!"
Ivor: "Just wait until you see it..."
Olivia: "Do those two never stop arguing!?"
Gabriel: "I don't know; at this point, I'm too tired to care..."
Jesse: "Hurgh, we already went this far; we can't turn back now; just tell us, Ivor, where we need to go next."
Ivor: "Well, there's another shortcut we need to take, and it's these~!"
(In front of us was a weird-looking Redstone device.)
Soren: "Is that an Enderpearl Cannon?"
Ivor: "Why yes! At least someone has grown fond of my devices this time-"
Soren: "Oh, so another thing you stole from the Order. Why can't you be more original?"
(Steam flows out of Ivor's nose, but he quickly decides to calm down before anything bad can happen.)
Olivia: "Why couldn't you just extend your Ice Highway all the way to the Farlands instead of building another tedious contraption?"
Ivor: "Well, I wanted to, but just like the Overworld, the Nether will start to turn more glitchy and corrupt the farther away we go, and eventually it became too tiresome to attempt to build the Highway any further."
Gabriel: "Urgh... it feels like this journey is never going to end...."
Ivor: "Anyway... This thing is really easy to use; just stand under the machine and throw a pearl up the tube, and the cannon will do its thing. Before you realize it, you land on a landing pad 18,000 blocks away from here!"
Olivia: "Where did you get all these enderpearls?"
(Olivia searches the chest labeled 'Enderpearls,' which is neatly placed next to the machine.)
Ivor: "Oh, I had a big Enderman farm back in the day."
Soren: "Oh, so another thing you stole from the-"
Ivor: "Shut."
Gabriel: "How did you manage to build all of this?"
Ivor: "Oh, I just used the command block."
Soren: "Oh, so another thing."
Ivor: "Soren; shut your smelly ass mouth before I step on your esophagus."
(Ivor says calmly.)
Jesse: "Urgh, let's just get this over with."
(I grab an enderpearl and throw it through the machine.)
(The machine then proceeds to make a bunch of piston noises and other weird machinery that cannot be truly accurately described with just my knowledge of Redstone.)
Jesse: "Um, guys? Nothing's happening-"
(Suddenly, before I even finished my sentence.)
(my body is suddenly lifted into the air while everything around me starts to distort heavily, like I'm on drugs.)
(Before I could even react, my body was catapulted at such high speeds that I couldn't even make out my surroundings as I was thrown through the air.)
(And barely a split second later, I crash-land on the landing pad Ivor was talking about.)
(Everything happened so fast that it took me a while to process everything.)
(So this is how it feels to use enderpearls? When I finally stood up, I could make out my surroundings.)
(I was in a completely new location.)
(Aside from a few bruises from my crash landing, that actually felt like a cool experience.)
(At least it was able to bury my tiredness for a while.)
(Suddenly, Ivor appears beside me, having also crash-landed on the landing pad.)
Jesse: "Wow, that felt weird, but it was kind of fun! With your device, we'll be there in no time!"
(Ivor stood up with a disoriented face.)
Ivor: "Oh, you'll get used to it. Oh, and did I say just this one would bring you all the way? There are still 694 more Enderpearl Cannons to clear."
Jesse: "...Wait... what did you say?"
Ivor: "Yes, you heard me; in case you couldn't tell, the landing pad we're on is right next to the next cannon we need to take. There's a chain of them we need to take in order to fully reach the Farlands. And don't worry if you thought this mechanism only worked one way. We're going to use this to get back as well."
Jesse: "...aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
[694 tedious Enderpearl Cannons and several more days later...]
(I don't know how long I've been sleeping, but when I woke up, my stomach was crying for help.)
(When I looked around, I noticed that I'd somehow fallen asleep on the grass a few blocks away from one of the Enderpearl Cannons.)
(Looking around, everyone else except for Ivor had also collapsed and had been sleeping near me.)
(Just how long were we here???)
Ivor: "About time one of you woke up..."
(Ivor, the only other person currently awake, is leaning on a nearby tree.)
Jesse: "What's going on?! How did we end up here???"
Ivor: "You should tell me, after we reached the last Enderpearl Cannon, all of you just suddenly collapsed onto the floor and didn't wake up until now. If you were so inexperienced with these long adventures, you shouldn't have come in the first place!"
Jesse: "Hey! No one knew it would take so damn long to get here! And we really needed some rest after what we've been through; also, how are you still fine after that?!"
Ivor: "First of all, I remember specifically telling you how long it would take, and secondly, I just got used to using this method of transport."
Jesse: "Well, that explains why your eyes always look like panda eyes..."
Ivor: "Silence... Fool..."
(Around that moment, we could hear the groans of everyone else steadily waking up.)
Olivia: "Uurgh, I feel like I haven't eaten in days..."
Gabriel: "My rear end is profoundly core..."
Lukas: "Yeah, I'm starving..."
Olivia: "We all are..."
(Reuben agrees with a grunt.)
(Soren searches his inventory for something to eat.)
Soren: "I'm sorry, but my supply has run out."
Jesse: "Me too. We consumed all of the food we took from Soren's fortress already..."
Ivor: "Don't start complaining now; we only need to go through a single swamp biome, and then we're there. And we could've done it in the day if it hadn't been for you, who slept until it was night!"
Gabriel: "But it feels like I'm going to starve to death if I don't find something to eat now..."
(I sigh.)
Jesse: "Fine, you guys take a break here; I'll try to find some food in this swamp."
(I went in and searched the surrounding area.)
(Eventually, I managed to find a small pond where a few potatoes were growing.)
(Who was growing them in a place like this? At that point, I was too hungry to care.)
(I grabbed all of them.)
(I counted them.)
(Only 5?! That's not even enough for everyone! Ehh, my hunger couldn't hold it in, so I selfishly ate one of them.)
(It was raw, so it wasn't very appetizing, but I just wanted something in my stomach right now.)
(Then, at that moment, I smelled something.)
(It was the sweet taste of a sweet cake.)
(Am I hallucinating? I followed the smell to confirm its existence.)
(And then something unexpected came into view.)
(I saw the cake, but it was sitting on the window of a building - one I've never seen with my own eyes.)
(A Witch's Hut.)
[To be continued...]