Split Ends
Not even a second after they finished halfway of constructing their greatest building yet, Aiden just had to taunt them at the time Jessica was struggling to stay upright on the high blocks without falling.
"Oh no! A fireworks dispenser, I'm so scared!" Aiden faked a reaction so bad.
Jessica scrambled onto one of the logs she's standing on and curled her tail around her legs, "I will come over there and knock you off of that stupid beacon tower-"
"You worry about your build and we'll worry about ours," Jesse narrowed his eyes, at the same time signaling his sister to back off. He will not have this year be overshadowed by conflict. Not again.
Jessica wasn't able to get down along with the others from such a high place, but there was no time to waste. Thanks to her extra amount of blocks, they were able to have enough to cover over in front of the firework function to create a colossal replica of a creeper.
Jesse reached onto the top of the creeper's head, "Now, the moment of truth,"
Olivia didn't seem all that enthusiastic, probably doubting their chances on winning no matter how tall the structure was, "Here goes nothing," The lever was pulled.
Immediately, a multitude of colors rose to the sky with each exploding into flashing lights and sparks. Jesse had to cover his head with his wings to prevent the soundwaves hitting him from above. Jessica did the same, but she wasn't as close to the dispensers since she was perching at once of the edges of the build.
The sound of explosions caused an audience to form below, Jessica peeked through her wings as she noticed at the ground level, "Guys, people are looking at us."
A few of the people were the judges seemingly in awe of the design.
The booth beside the Dead Enders might have been a second thought as Aiden was in disbelief, "What? No way...It's just a bunch of dyed wool!"
But then, he got an idea. A horrible idea.
Reuben was left standing among the crowd by himself, with such execution, Aiden punched the stone block that once barricaded a small hole of lava. "Whoops..." It was not an accident.
It touched one of the wings of Reuben's costume, but he felt the heat immediately and began to panic.
Jessica heard the cries of the pig and her feathers stood on ends as she looked over, "Oh no! Reuben's on fire!"
Squealing and dashing out of the booths and into the forest, the smoke trailing behind the pig as his whining faded into the distance.
"Reuben, no! Come back!" Jesse called out through the constant fireworks being shot out.
Axel looked over to connect the dots quickly, Aiden was slowly backing away from the lava that slowly began to spread across the booths. It was a hazard for everyone in the arena, "It was Aiden, that punk!"
"The lava is getting closer!" Olivia pointed out.
"It's gonna ruin the build!" Axel exclaimed.
"Reuben!" Jessica took the leap, not out of courage but in desperation to chance after her little pig before he was lost in the forest with a burning costume strapped to him. She pushed past Aiden with such force and swiftness, making him fall over.
Jesse looked over from where Jessica once perched, "Jess! I told you not to run off! Hey! I told you to stick with us!" He leaped down from the wooled creeper to pursue after his sister before tripping over someone already lying on the ground and tumbled.
"What the heck!? Watch where you're stepping," Aiden yelled, shoving a hand against Jesse's wings. There was a scorching feeling to the touch, without even considering his burnt feathers or the blazeborn's power, Jesse only barked back.
"You're an idiot! You're putting lives in danger for this!?" Jesse shoved Aiden further.
Lukas was already hopping down from his own build and ran over to the two, "Both of you cut it out! Arguing isn't going to help the builds-"
"It's on fire!" Olivia yelped, they weren't building fast enough as lava seemed to touch the bottom of the wooled creeper structure...setting it all ablaze.
"Where's my sister!?" Jesse looked around, his own wings puffed from agitation and fear. "Jessica!"
"Reuben, where are you? Just give me an oink if you can hear me?" Jessica called out into the wilderness.
It was already early evening by the time she reached what could be in the middle of the forest, looking through the clearing in hopes to find her lost pig. Further through the trees could be rising smoke above the treetops, not too visible but Jessica was able to see it. The first thought were a worst case scenario when she finally arrived to that location...if only she could fly over to see what it was. On foot it is, she followed a few pig tracks on the grass around a few hills and tall trees. Being out in the dark by herself wasn't something she was new to, she had quite a history wandering off by herself and letting her brother fuss and worry about where she was in another place.
Her mind was occupied with such fragments and memories as she kept following hoof prints on the grass. Then it returned to the thought of her brother calling out to her, Jessica didn't really intend of running off without a word. But Reuben was on the risk of being burned alive, there was no time to tell him. Hopefully, he understood that Jessica only did it to help reach Reuben before something bad happened to him. That's why she's in the forest alone, she can handle herself...at times.
Delving further into the forest, near other animals, other pigs but none of them were Reuben...she did find his costume left behind in a corner somewhere, it was all charcoal but no living pig left to be found near the scene.
Jessica was worried, and ever more cautious as the moon started to loom over her from above. Being out this long at night, something dangerous was bound to approach.
Suddenly, the tall grass nearby was shifting. Something hiding within as very faint whimpers could be heard. Jessica was cautious as she drew closer to the sound, peeking through the tall blades were glimpses of a small familiar little pig trembling violently in the grass for protection.
"Reuben! There you are!"
Recognizing Jessica's voice, the little pig slowly made its way out of the grass, looking a little guilty for running off.
There were a lot of emotions swirling in Jessica's mind as she only sighed, "Oh, I am so happy to see you." To emphasize on her relief, her wings lowered as she draped them over Reuben, checking for injures. Luckily he was unscathed, at least the search was over.
The groaning sound made the little pig jump from Jessica's hold, quickly turning around to spot zombies emerging from the dark caves and slowly stalking towards them. With a nudge of Jessica's feathered tail, she urged Reuben to run with her as they both turned and ran. Jessica was much faster on her own so she took it upon herself to get Reuben and herself out of the forest fast, picking up the pig and carrying him in her arms as she took off further in the forest.
A hissing sound came up ahead as Jessica ran headfirst into a creeper that slowly began its countdown to explosion by the noise it was making, Jessica picked herself up and scooped Reuben back into her arms to flee. Everything was targeting her, a skeleton standing up on one of the hills aimed its arrows and fired against Jessica's wings, piercing one of them as she let out a yelp of pain. Reuben squealed in shock.
Jessica couldn't fly at this point, not that she even knew how or if she ever could. It wasn't an option anymore. The adrenaline was still up and kicking for Jessica shrugging off the pain, but it was bound to stop some time.
Both of them eventually reached a wall of stone, while every other open area was now filled with spiders, skeletons, creepers, and more zombies cornering them. Jessica lowered Reuben back onto the grass, coiling her feathered tail around the pig and nudging him close by her legs, "I know it's bad, but I'll think of something."
The looked down at Reuben, hiding beneath her tailfeathers...feathers, just as her brother came to mind. Perhaps Jesse was waiting back at Endercon, or possibly out looking for her. He could be able to get Reuben to safety. Jessica's mind was set, her priorities were not for her own safety as the first thought, but for Reuben's.
"You're going to have to make a run for it, okay?" Jessica lowered herself down slightly to Reuben, "I'll be alright, find my brother when you're out of the forest. I'll meet you back in town, I promise."
With that, Jessica lifted her tail and nudged the pig away from her, "Run! Go!"
Reuben took off quickly avoiding all the mobs as he got further away from the mob infested land.
Jessica watched the pig leave, without noticing a spider pouncing from the side. She landed on where her wing was pierced by an arrow, plunging the stick further through as she wrestled the spider off her body until someone yanked the spider off and stabbed it repeatedly with an iron pickaxe. Turns out Petra had found her, Jessica slowly got to her feet.
"Come on, lets get out of the open," Petra urged Jessica to follow as they got away from the pursuit of slow monsters.
Petra and Jessica made their way into a cave opening, there were wood fences to secure the entrance from anything other than mindless mobs to get into.
"I want to show you something," Petra walked further into the cave as Jessica quickly followed, clutching her shoulder where her pierced wing was dragging behind.
"Not that this isn't a cool, dimly lit tunnel, but how far away is this thing you want to show me?" Jessica looked around cautiously.
"I thought only your brother was scared of small spaces..." Petra mused, for it was true that Jesse was more avoidance of caves or narrow tunnels. Excusing his own reasons for his wings not being able to fit, or on rare occasions he admits not being comfortable in cramped rooms or under low ceilings.
"This isn't my first time in a cave, Petra." Jessica sighed.
"Yeah, but have you ever seen a wither skull?" as Petra spoke, she pulled out a head of a wither skeleton. It wasn't a mask, it was a legit skull from the Nether. Jessica noticed the small cracks and the ashy spots on some parts of the skull, the smell of embers was left lingering on it. All those little details not even a skilled craftsman could replicate.
"You risked your life for that dusty old skull?" Jessica tilted her head, impressed but almost confused.
"No, I risked my life the thing I'm going to EXCHANGE for that dusty old skull." Petra placed it back into her inventory and continued to walk through the cave with Jessica following beside her as she continued, "There's this guy I'm meeting up with at Endercon, he's going to trade me a diamond for it. Being the resident go-getter pays off every once in a while. Literally."
Jessica's tail lifted off the ground as she continued walking, "Why couldn't get just get the skull himself?"
Petra thought for a moment, "He's not the kind of guy who has time to do something like that."
"What kind of guy is he, then?" Jessica narrowed her eyes.
"The kind of guy who understands the value of hard work." Petra responded.
Jessica blinked, "Wow."
"'Wow', what?" Petra stopped to face Jessica.
"In a single day, you went to the Nether and killed a wither skeleton. I mean, I helped build a super cool statue, took an arrow to the wing...!" Jessica flaunted her limp wing with blood staining her feathers, "But still...it's pretty sweet being you..."
Petra looked over to Jessica's injured wing before responding, "You know...you could come with me. I mean, I get you're too nervous, I totally get it. But, I wouldn't mind a little backup."
"Jesse doesn't let me go out by myself, by how many times I've wandered off and nearly fell into the river or fell into a cave in the ground...! But I did find my way out every single time. So I think I can sneak my way to help you out with anything...!" Jessica beamed.
Petra lifted a brow, "You can just tell him what you want to do, he isn't the boss of you. Sure, he may be your brother, and I might not know what it's like to have a sibling. But don't you ever feel the need to just...live a little...without him telling you around? I see you're always standing by him, did he let you into the competition this year?"
"Yep! Then I had to find Reuben after his costume caught on fire, and I managed to get him out of the forest safely while taking in a hit-" Jessica suddenly groaned when the adrenaline stopped, or maybe the weight of her wing agitated the arrow still lodged into her wing.
Petra was concerned as she gently lowered Jessica onto the ground to sit. Both of them were already near a crafting table and a single chest stationed right next to it.
"Alright, no more pulling your own weight for now." Petra went over to the chest and looked through it to find something.
Jessica watched Petra and leaned her head against a stone block, "Is all that stuff yours?"
"No, we're just stealing from whoever was dumb enough to leave this here. Of course, it's mine." Petra stopped for a moment, glancing as Jessica.
"Just making sure," Jessica casually shrugged, trying to hide the pain even moving her shoulders caused.
"Alright, just hold still, I don't want you making anything worse." Petra went back over and knelt down beside Jessica to work on her wing.
Petra's touch was surprisingly gentle, but when gripping onto the arrow, there was a jolt of pain that made Jessica have to bite back a yell as she strained, "Jeez, didn't take you for someone who's skilled with medical attention..."
"I do know one trick," Petra focused onto the arrow, still holding onto one of the ends, "How's your flying lessons going?"
"Well, it's-" Jessica's sentence was cut off as Petra yanked the arrow right out.
Petra had to turn her head away to try and at least distance herself from the loud scream that just came from Jessica as her wing began to bleed heavily. Petra applied pressure against the open wound before wrapping a bit of cobweb and wool to secure the limb.
"There we go, just don't touch it...or move it around so much until the hole closes up." Petra stood up, offering a hand to Jessica as she shakily reaches to help her be pulled back up to stand.
"...Thanks..." Jessica was still riding through the lingering pain.
The other side of the cave was an opening to a railway across a deep water below, a wide bridge that connected across the gap as Petra and Jessica slowly made their way out. The view of Endercon from afar was revealed, a colorful beacon stood out illuminating the sight for all to see.
"Look at that, Endercon is all lit up." Petra looked over at the view.
Jessica seemed disappointed, no fireworks meant her team wasn't chosen.
"Aw man...looks like Lukas and his 'Ocelots' won again." Jessica shook her head.
"Sorry, Jess," Petra set a hand on Jessica's shoulder, "But you gotta admit, that beacon does look pretty sweet."
"Yeah, I know," Jessica's tail coiled around her legs as she looked down, "I just wanted this to be the year we finally beat that jerk. I thought with my help, it would work."
Petra's expression softened as Jessica's confession, "You know, Lukas may seem kind of arrogant, but he has come through for me in tricky situations. You might want to get to know him, just in case."
"It's not Lukas I'm talking about...okay, maybe him, but Aiden is the one I want to flick my feathers at the most." Jessica blinked as she looked back at the beacon shining from within the convention walls.
"Oh, him? You never got over it?" Petra chuckled, "I'm not saying you should, but that grudge is about 3 years ago at this point."
"For nearly burning my brother?" Jessica's brows furrowed as she turned to Petra.
"Sheesh, nobody told me that part..." Petra ceased her light teasing and cleared her throat, Jessica simply walked past her crossing the bridge.
"Remember what Endercon was like before it was cool?" Petra asked, walking beside Jessica.
"Remember what we were like before we were cool?" Jessica nudged Petra beside her.
"Some of us will never be cool," Petra looked away.
"Haha..." Jessica rolled her eyes.
Suddenly there was a hissing sound from one side of the bridge in front of them, creepers from the forest. The cave behind them began to spawn zombies that slowly made their way onto the bridge on the other end.
Jessica looked down to the water, it might be a long fall. "Is it possible to jump?"
"Just don't think about flying, your wing hasn't healed yet!" Petra turned to Jessica.
"How could I not? I have wings!" Jessica opened her wings, her bandaged limb strained from the movement as her strength gave out trying to raise them both in the air.
"Dive, Jess!" Petra called out, there was a creeper about to ignite right behind Jessica. She ran over and pushed herself off pulling Jessica down with her off the bridge right before the creeper exploded.