Cycle of Vengeance//A Camp Minecraft AU

Chapter Three: New Beginnings

Author's Note: If y'all want to pretend I wrote that Sigils and Biffle hugged or something before Sigils left in the last chapter go right ahead because that was my plan, but when I went to write it I completely forgot. Also Sigils backstory yay! If you get confused about it just @ me and I'll gladly explain :)

CW: Blood

     Shouts echoed behind him, sharp and angry. Pounding footsteps sent needles of fear up his spine. He darted around a clump of berries, yelping as thorns snagged in his fur.
     He periodically switched between running on four legs and two. Four legs gave him more speed, but two legs let him see the path ahead.
     "Flank it!" A voice yelled. They were fools if they thought he didn't understand them. Then again, what human knew that endermen could understand any tongue?
     His claws dug into the earth, each stride sending clobs of dirt flying. The hunters were slowly gaining on him. They knew the terrain far better than he did.
Endermen were creatures of magic. They had abilities no other creature had, save the Titans. Who were the Titans? The Elder Guardian, the Wither, the Warden, and the Ender Dragon. Each had a tremendous amount of power, yet no matter what anyone did, humanity still grew.
     Humans stole. Humans destroyed. Humans killed. As humans got stronger, it seemed the Titans got weaker, until there was barely anything they could do to stop them.
     Magic helped endermen survive. The otherworldly species could dodge projectiles, sense things others could not, understand creatures other than their own, and teleport away from danger. Except him. He had never been able to teleport, having to rely on his speed and wits to escape danger instead.
     It was as strange as his green eyes- eyes that snared the attention of every human he met. After all, humans wanted unusual things. They wanted to take them apart and study them. And, more often than not, kill them.
     He wished the day would end. He could camouflage much more easily in darkness. Along with ebony fur, endermen had long, elven ears and sleek, cat-like tails. Even though his species could teleport, having a tail helped them balance in a land where falling meant you never landed.
     Sigils skidded to a stop mere inches from a river. The water lapped threateningly along the bank. It seemed to whisper to him, murmuring to wade in its acidic depths. He stared at it, panic building in his throat, before sharply turning and running alongside it.
     The hunters were closing in. He'd wasted precious moments. An arrow whizzed by his head. They knew it wouldn't hit him, which meant one thing. They were trying to herd him.
     He dared to glance behind him. Three hunters, all armored and carrying terrifying swords, were a few feet behind him. Their eyes were dark with malice.
He was only a whelp. He couldn't outrun them. He couldn't fight them, either. Gritting his teeth, he lunged at the nearest tree.
     His claws dug into the bark and he scrambled up it like a squirrel. Humans were poor climbers, he knew. He perched on a branch near the top, sides heaving. His tail wound around the bark.
     The hunters stared up at him, circling the tree like wolves.
     They couldn't climb up. He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He wasn't sure he could've gone much further. Previous hunters had caught him, their weapons biting into his skin with ferocity. He'd escaped, as he had these ones, but not without wounds to pay.
     A cut along his stomach hissed before a violet liquid seeped into his fur. It must have opened during his escape into the trees. He sighed. There was always something else to worry about.
     The tree shuddered. It nearly knocked him off his perch, so bad was the tremble. He looked down, scowling at the hunters below. One of them pulled their axe out of the tree. They reared back and struck a second time.
     He had to leave. Fast. Sigils glanced around, but the other trees were too far for him to jump. Typical. He'd chosen the one tree away from the others out of all the trees in the forest.
     The tree creaked as the hunters continued their onslaught, threatening to crash to the forest floor at any moment. Sigils half-climbed, half-fell down the backside of the trunk until he was halfway down from the tree.
     There was a shout from below. Panic sparked through his fur and the next thing he knew he was midair. He stretched his claws, ready to bolt into the undergrowth the second he touched the ground.
     There was a pain in his side, then a hard yank, and suddenly he was flying backwards. He twisted, trying to free himself, but only managed to get tangled in the fishing line. Sigils landed in a jumbled heap at the hunters' feet, trying to move in vain.
     "Keep the line tight," one of them said, drawing a sword. Her voice was gruff, allowing no disagreement from her fellow hunters or those she hunted. She knelt by the endermen, who was struggling against his binding. "I wonder what your pearl will do...."
     Ender pearls were the heart of an enderman's power. Literally. An enderman's heart, also called an ender pearl, allowed those who held it to teleport. There was only enough power for one use after its extraction.
     When being harvested, if the enderman died or the heart burst, then all was for not. Essentially, the pearl had to be carved out while the enderman was still alive.
Terror swelled in his chest, threatening to choke him. He strained, wincing as the line cut into his skin. The hunter's sword was against his chest, digging under his sternum. Pain flared and blood began to spill. The sword began to cut deeper-
     The line snapped.
     Sigils lashed out, striking the hunter in the face. His claws slashed her eyes and left gaping wounds across her skin. She gasped, clutching her wounds. The sword clattered to the ground.
     Scrambling out of the fishing line, he fled, aware of the several, shallow cuts from the fishing pole but not caring enough to pay attention to them. The other two hunters were hard on his heels. The third trailed behind, swearing revenge.
     Sigils swerved, dodging a tree and a line of berries. Birds shrieked overhead, following the chase from a safe distance. Wolves peered curiously from the undergrowth. They neither helped or impeded his progress.
     A familiar sight loomed before him like an oasis in the desert. A cave full of darkness and shadows yawned before him. Sigils ran for it.
     The cave forked not too far in. He banked right, a smile twitching on his lips as he heard the hunters' steps falter for a brief moment. Creatures like zombies, skeletons, and creepers all lurked in caves such as these. To him, they were allies. To humans... not so much.
     The hunters continued, but their hesitation gave him the time he needed. He turned the corner, still sprinting-
He crashed into something. Something living. The other creature let out a surprised gasp as both of them fell. Something in its grasp hit the ground.
Sigils spared a moment to see what he'd run into. The realization hit him like a truck.
     Before him, a human whelp was clambering to his feet. The whelp straightened a peculiar object that was covering his face. He seemed to notice the endermen for the first time now that his vision was unobstructed. He gasped, springing backwards.
     The two stared at each other for a long moment with identical expressions of panic and terror. Both were frozen in place, as if moving would send the other into a rabid fury.
     Thundering footsteps broke the staring contest. Sigils whirled, diving further into the tunnel. Yet not too far from his collision with the human, the tunnel stopped. It was a dead end. He pressed his palm against the rock, a whimper escaping him. This was it. He was going to die here.
     He hid behind a small protrusion of stone, squeezing his eyes shut to prevent them from seeing his glowing orbs. Sigils could hear the humans talking.
     "Hello, little one," the leader cooed. The shadows must have hidden her face, because the whelp didn't audibly react in the slightest. Her voice was as sweet as honey, a blatant contradiction to the intimidating persona she had earlier. "We have been chasing a young endermen, and it went into this cave. Have you seen it?"
Sigils buried his face in his hands. He knew how this would play out. The human whelp would lead the hunters to him, and they would carve out his heart. He was sure the hunters could practically hear his heart pounding.
     "Yes, I have."
     The leader nodded, starting to brush past him.
     "It went down the other tunnel."
     Time seemed to freeze. What? What is- is he trying to kill me himself?
     Before the hunters could question him, the whelp burst into a story. "I was walking to this mine and I saw it run into the caves. It looked insane, so I stayed away from it. I only have this pickaxe, so I knew I couldn't fight it. It only just passed, so if you hurry, you could very well catch up to it."
     "Er- thank you." The trio's fading footsteps echoed through the cave walls. There was an agonizingly long moment of silence. Sigils dared to peer around the corner, suspiciously inspecting the human, who had his back turned watching the tunnel entrance.
     "They're gone," The whelp said in a near-whisper. It was clear he was talking to himself, but Sigils slowly stepped out of his hiding place anyway.
     The figure was covered in shadows, but one part was obvious. He had something covering his face. It was green and looked like a... like a....
     The creature was wearing a skull. A creeper skull.
     Sigils leapt backwards, colliding into the wall. The breath was knocked from his lungs, but as soon as he could a startled shout rose in his throat.
     The human also fell backwards, extending his hands in a placating gesture. "No no no no! You're freaking out about this, right? I found it I promise! I didn't kill a creeper!" Panic made his tone shrill.
     The endermen stopped screaming, but still kept his distance.
     The human tilted his head. "Wait... did you understand that?"
     He really shouldn't let the human know... yet he did just save him. Sigils nodded.
     He gasped. "Really? That's so cool!" The human paused and glanced at his shoe. On the underside was a purple liquid.
     Some of his blood must have spilled on the ground when they hit. Which meant the human had covered it when the hunters showed up....
     "Ew... your blood is kind of gross."
     Sigils shot him a flat look. He couldn't see much of the whelp's face, but between strips of flesh that had torn away and the empty eye sockets, he could tell that the human was grinning.
     "I'm Clever. Who are you?"
     "Sigils."
     Clever blinked at him. "Yeah, I don't know what you're saying. That's stupid. It should work both ways, not just you understanding me."
     Despite the fact that his pain level was rising, he let out a soft chuckle.
     "Hey, you know what? I'm going on a journey. I want to explore and see mountains and lakes and forests and deserts. You could come with me. I can protect you from humans, and you could protect me from zombies and skeletons and whatnot." The whelp took a hopeful step forward. His eyes flashed with excitement.
     The enderman studied Clever. He seemed to be telling the truth, and he'd already saved him from hunters.... It would be a lot better than constantly being on the run. He gave a tiny nod.
     "Come on, then!" Clever led the way out of the cave. "We can get supplies for those wounds, too. It looks like they hurt."
     Sigils hesitated for a sparse moment, then began to follow his new friend.

•••

     Sigils groaned. Every bone in his body was on fire. He dreaded opening his eyes, but he could hear unfamiliar voices somewhere around him.
     Slowly, his eyelids fluttered open. Bright sunlight blinded him and made his migraine ten times worse. He squeezed his eyes shut for who knows how long, then tried again. It still hurt, but it wasn't the same.
     Trying to ignore the wounds that hissed and burned with fury, he sat up. His muscles shrieked in protest and he nearly gave up his efforts. However, something in his subconscious knew something was wrong. Something he couldn't quite remember....
     Around him, strewn about like ragdolls, were camp members. Some were still knocked out cold, while others were grumbling and trying to prop themselves up.
     Heat washed over him, and he noticed small fires all around the crash zone. Smoke billowed into the air in large clumps.
     But why were they here? Something had happened... something terrible-
     Henwy. The Ender Dragon. Ambrew. Biffle.
     Sigils' breath caught in his throat. A wave of emotions ranging from anger to grief flooded him. Before he could process them, however, the tip of a blade was pointed at his head.
     "Don't move, intruder," A voice growled. A man glared down at him, his eyes dark.
     "Zud, do you really think he can do anything right now?" A woman's voice called from above the crater. "He's half dead!"
     "I guess you're right," Zud grumbled, sheathing his sword. "But where did they come from?"
     Another man's voice cut through the conversation. This one was floating above the ground. His eyes were sharp yet merry, and much more welcoming than Zud. "I bet they could answer that question. I'm Frost, by the way. That's Kate-" he jerked a thumb over at the woman, who waved in return. "How about we take all of you to the medical center, and then you can tell us how you got here?"
     His voice sounded so welcoming, it made Sigils suspicious. Zud was right to be wary of a bunch of strangers crash landing in his land. Yet it was clear Frost knew they weren't a threat, whether by their ragged condition or because Frost was confident in his own power.
     He really had no other option, so he nodded.
     Frost smiled. "Wonderful! It looks like your friends are waking up. We'll have you patched up in no time."