Messages From a Friend (Poofless)

25

~*Frags*~

My head is pounding as I sit up in a noisy, plastic-covered bed. As I do so, a sharp pain shoots through my side and up my chest. Wincing softly, I sit up fully and position myself so that I was leaning against the wall behind me before opening my eyes to look around. It was hard to open one of my eyes, but as I turned my head to look around the scenery became as clear as day. I was in the infirmary.

A small girl with dark, curly hair was sleeping in a bed on the other side of the room. She looked to be in terrible shape with a bandage wrapped tightly around her head. Mi'kai stood nearby her bed, his face bruised and his eyes burning with anger as he looked over at me. The tall teen spoke no words to me as he looked down at the girl before walking out of the infirmary. Confusion swirls in my mind as I watch him leave. What happened? Why is Mi'kai angry with me all of a sudden?

My train of thought was interrupted by Woof walking in the room. His face wasn't as bruised as Mi'kai's (although I could tell he had a black-eye), and both of his hands were wrapped up in bandages. Woof says something in his native language, leaning against the wall near the door. His usually warm brown gaze was serious and angry, but at the same time had concern sprinkled within it.

I choose to ignore whatever he said in his native tongue. "Woof, what happened? Last I remember I wasn't in this much pain and I-"

Before I could finish what I was saying, Woof runs over and wraps his arms around me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The older teen repeats himself over and over again as he holds onto me tightly, as if I was gone for a long period of time. "Please don't leave me again, Frags. I can't stand the thought of hurting you again." Hurting me again? Did he do this to me? Why?

"I don't understand," I murmur as Woof presses his face into my shoulder.

"You weren't yourself," Woofless whispers into the fabric of my newly-washed uniform. "You broke Mi'kai's arm, and nearly killed M'ayris in a rank challenge." My eyes widen in shock before I look back at the sleeping girl. Is that girl M'ayris? No, it can't be. M'ayris has never been sent to the infirmary in that bad of condition. She wouldn't have let herself.

"Rank challenge?" I ask, turning my attention back to Woof. "What's my rank now?"

"You're the top of the class, Frags." Woof's voice was filled with sadness as he spoke.

"What? No. You're joking! How would I have beaten you, Woofless Craft, the prodigy of combat and fighting?!"

"The emperor forced me to surrender my rank." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I, single-handedly, defeated both the twins and Woofless in one day without rest. It seemed too good to be true.

"What are your guy's ranks now?"

"Mi'kai's forth and M'ayris is second. Because I surrendered, my rank was moved down from first to third. It would've been worse if the emperor hadn't of forced it." Woof's thumb runs up and down the back of my neck, causing goose-bumps to rise along my arms.

"I'm sorry," I murmur, pressing a kiss against his head.

"No, I'm sorry for letting this happen to you. I should've taken the warning signs seriously."

"What warning signs?" Woof opens his mouth to respond, but before he could reply a large stream of royal guards flood into the room.

"Woofless Craft?" A familiar looking man calls out, looking at Woof and I with narrowed eyes. Didn't that guy hang out with Fvendal a lot?

"That's me," Woof states, moving away from me and standing at attention. What's going on?

"The emperor wishes for your audience."

"Tell him that I will be there momentarily. I need to finish a conversation." Woofless' voice was cool and professional as he spoke. He almost seemed like a different person.

"I suppose I didn't make myself clear enough. The emperor has asked for your immediate audience, Craft," the guard snaps, raising a baton to point at Woofless. "All of you Minecraftians are the same. Too stubborn and hard-headed to understand a simple order from your ruler."

"Emperor Wojcik is not my ruler," Woof states coolly. "But if you insist, I'll be of his audience." Confusion swarms through my mind as the guard grabs Woofless' arm and pulls him out of the room. The other guards follow close behind them. What is going on?

~*Woofless*~

The guard's tight grip on my arm didn't change as he lead me down the hall toward the emperor's throne room. Recruits of all ages watch as I pass with confusion in their eyes as a large patrol of guards trail behind me. Or, at least, what look like guards.

None of them but the one pulling me by the arm looked familiar. They never spoke, and merely followed the first man and I like ducklings to a mother duck. It was as if they didn't know there were alternative routes to the throne room they could've taken to make sure I don't escape. What's going on here?

Some guards waiting outside the throne room open the large doors in unison, and the guard pulling me stops before shoving me inside. Without saying any words, the other guards file into the room and over to the walls in a fashion unlike that of usual Imperial forces.

Fighting to a stand, I brush the dust off of my uniform before looking up at the throne in disgust. But instead of seeing Emperor Wojcik like I expected, a cinnamon-skinned woman with raven black hair sat incorrectly on the emperor's throne; her legs hanging over one of the arms of the golden throne. As soon as the large doors were closed behind me, the woman turns to look at me. Her blue eyes were shining with mischief.

"Glad you could make it, my prince. Please, take a seat beside me and get comfortable; we have a lot to discuss."