Minecraft - Questing for Hope - Book One

Chapter 13

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Darcy's POV
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It was so strange, looking out from a jungle and into a desert. 'Just the wonky rules of Minecraft I guess!' My wonderful, adventurous thoughts were soon replaced with cruel ones though. About Jane. Whenever she was near me, I felt like I was being watched by an evil presence that would soon jump out and devour me. But I was stupid and I let the feelings take over my mind, driving me half mad.

I slowed down my pace so that it was the same as Jane's. Then I taunted her. I teased her and called her a wimp because she didn't tell me all that I wanted to know earlier. I made her feel bad about herself. I made her uncomfortable. And then I left. I sped up my pace again and left her behind. Then of course, my head cleared and made me feel horrible about what I'd done. But I knew that if I tried to apologise, those terrible words would come out of my mouth instead.

Sighing, I focused on trying to ignore the heat. It was better then it would've been at midday, but it was only a few hours after. We hadn't made very good progress today. We still had to cross the desert, the deadland, then go into the snowy mountains and find a hidden valley in two days! Suddenly, I thought of an idea.

"Caitlin! Stop here for a bit," I said.

"Um...okay," she said.

"I have an idea. What if we sleep here until the sun starts setting. Then we can trek at night in the cold rather than the heat! And maybe we could stop at midnight or something to rest, then head out again. If we're lucky then we should be able to get across the desert by midday, and the Deadland is the smallest biome so that would only take up the first bit of the night! The next morning we can find the hidden valley and kill the Ender Dragon!"

"That's a very big 'if' Darcy. But I guess I'm willing to try it out..." Caitlin said slowly, clearly thinking. "Okay. Well rest. I'll keep watch for when the sun sets."

"No, Caitlin. You need sleep! I'll do it," I objected. Caitlin looked at me and was about to say something when Jane interrupted.

"Wait!" Jane exclaimed. "Why can't we travel in the day? The heats not that bad is it?"

Jane looked at the ground as she realised she was going against her leaders words. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Caitlin gave her one of those thoughtful stares again before nodding curtly and setting her bag on the sand. "Fine, Darcy. Thank you."

Jane moved away slightly as we set up our tents. She sat down on the cracked ground next to a cactus. 'How is she not burning?' I wondered. Dismissing it because of her already weird behaviour, I turned and began setting up my tent again. She was an odd little lady.

Jane's POV

I sat down, facing a cactus. I didn't have a tent to rest in, but I'd rather sleep under the sky anyways. And besides, I needed water. The only way to get water in the desert is cacti! It was a trick my dad used to use before he'd...before he'd left. One day he had shown me and I'd never forgotten.

I rummaged around in my rucksack for my knife. Being extra careful when I took it out, I made sure the blade was sharp before I began. I put the tip of knife agains the middle of the square cactus and then shoved it in. Then, sawing my way through, I cut off the whole top half of the spiky plant. Just as I'd thought, there was water pooled in the bottom of it.

Smiling, I retrieved a bowl from my bag and dipped it into the water. I'd always found that cactus water tasted like hail in a way. As soon as you sipped it, coldness spread through your body and refreshed you completely. It was probably just me though...

"Jane? What in the nether are you doing?" Abi asked jokingly.

"Nothing much," I replied, drinking the strange water from my bowl.