The Other Survivor 2

A Taiga Village (Yee the 1.14 feels)

We exited through a Nether Portal, conveniently located right outside the fortress. True, we had to kill a few nether mobs to get through, but it still seemed too easy.

And of course it's too easy. This portal leads out of nowhere.

Sure we can go back to the original portal, the one we came through. But we caught quite the attention of the mobs back at that lava trap room, and Naeus was one of the mobs that chased us. Not wanting to lead them to the portal and wasting strength on running from pursuit to the portal that is "conveniently" located far far away, we ran in the first portal we saw.

We ended up in a forest. A Taiga Forest.

If our landing was planned to land here, whoever did that have a horrible sense of humor. Seriously? A Taiga? When I lived in one?

"Seriously? A Taiga?" I shouted into the sky. Nothing replied. Luckily.

"Let's focus on getting out of here," Rain suggested.

"What is wrong with my luck? First, we get lost in the Nether, now in my home turf?" I growled, "Are you serious? What is wrong with my luck?"

"Hey... Let's not get mad," Rain suggested, "Let's just go north, since that's where all the snow is, and the Frostbourne literally lives in the snowy tundra." I kicked away some fallen leaves.

I realized I'm not normally this mad, but I'm so tired of the way the world just loves to make me suffer. Making me watch as my home, and nearly everybody I know and love, gone. What is worse is that I know I killed some of them during the numerous battles I have against the undead. I don't even want to know if I killed my family.

And now the world insists on making me lost in my home turf. My anger multiplied tenfold. And lying awake in the middle of the night, mind broken, did not help.

"Hey, it's gonna turn out fine," Rain said, a hand on my shoulder. With a jolt, I realized my eyes were brimmed with tears and my breath are hitched.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I said, voice cracking, "Just thinking of some... stuff."

Thankfully, he left me in my silence. This continued for some time before we eventually saw smoke.

"Smoke most likely means village," I said, "Maybe they can give us directions?"

"Hopefully," Rain said, "Then we can get back. I just hope this village isn't one that Herobrine conquered." I winced. That was a possibility.

We risked it and luckily, we saw signs of uninfected people. The first one was a girl with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. She wore a reddish-orange aviator jacket (I tried to recreate it on Skindex and failed), a teal shirt underneath, dark blue jeans and brown boots. She jogged over when she saw us, a paper with something scribbled on it in hand.

"Oh hi there," she said, "We don't get much visitors around here. We're just a group of people who found an abandoned village and decided to live in it. I came later, but that's because I'm working on a project."

The girl smiled apologetically as she remembered she forgot to mention her name.

"Oh and I'm Evelyn, by the way. I'm an Architect and I basically build things," she said, "I'm here to expand this village to meet the requirements of its growing population."

"Er... okay..." I said, "We need directions...?"

Evelyn nodded, "I can probably help, but Joe is much more likely. He's the cartographer." A cartographer would definitely help.

As we walked in the village, a boy around our age jogged over. He wore a brown hat with a feather strung through it. Tufts of light brown hair escaped the hat and he held an arrow in his hand.

"Oh hey Ev," the boy said, "Who're these people?"

"They're just wanderers passing by," Evelyn said, "I'm taking them to Joe, they need directions."

I noted the arrow in his hand, "You're a fletcher?"

"Yeah," the boy said, "And apparently that's my name too. Don't call me Fletcher the fletcher." I inspected my near-empty quiver.

"I can use a refill," I said, "Rain, can we split up? I would feel better with a full quiver while travelling."

He shrugged, "Sure. Let's meet.... where?"

"Maybe by the Town Bell," Evelyn suggested, "It's the center to everything here. We'll get you there easy enough."

"Alright then," I agreed, "Let's meet at the Town Bell." We went off in our seperate ways.

"Where did you come from?" Fletcher asked, curious.

"Well let's see," I said, "It's a little complicated. And it's a long story."

"Well, I have time," Fletcher said.

"Fine then," I said, and I told him my story. I left out the disturbing details.

"I'm lucky," Fletcher said, "Herobrine ignored my village. It isn't even a village, more like a settlement. Our size is too small for Herobrine, I think."

"Good for you," I muttered. Fletcher seemed to have heard me and realized what happened.

"Sorry," he said, "I don't mean it that way." I sighed shakily and stuffed my hands in my pockets. They were trembling from anger. Herobrine is the source of my problems. If not for Herobrine, my family would be alive. My friends would be alive. Callum would be alive. Abigail would still be alive.

"Er... we're here now..." Fletcher said, unlocking a door.

It was simple. Birch shelves lined the walls and are filled with feathers, sticks, string and everything you'll possibly need to make bows and arrows.

Fletcher grabbed a bunch of arrows and handed them to me. I stuffed them in my quiver before I remembered I didn't bring any money.

"Uh......" I said, "I didn't bring any money."

Fletcher shrugged, but before he can answer, a loud blare of a horn rang through the village.

"What's that about?" I asked, and I have a feeling it's nothing good.

Fletcher gulped, "I-it's a raid. We're not expecting one until next week!" A raid is definitely something bad and nothing good.