THE INFECTION

By WonderWriter2000

Chapter 1 – The Defensive

    Gameknight999 paced frantically back and forth. The sun beat down around him, illuminating the village center he was standing in with rays of warm yellow light. When the update had arrived, a gurgling fountain with a bell had suddenly appeared in the middle of the night. The occupants of the village had quickly accepted it as part of their community and it was now a meeting place. 

Not that it would be a village much longer.

That, and many other things, was cluttering up all the space in Gameknight’s brain that usually was filled with ideas. 

For now the collection of wooden and stone buildings was inhabited. Even as he moved back and forth, his mind whirling, villagers moved quickly past him. They didn’t stop to talk or mingle- war was looming. One carried raw iron (courtesy to the Caves and Cliffs update) to the new blacksmith and shop, where it could be smelted into iron ingots. The two normal furnaces were no longer enough and five blast furnaces had to be added inside. Anyone who wasn’t on duty up on the watchtower, the wall, the roof of Gameknights castle, and even on the mountains or working in the crafting chamber was down in the mines, where a cavern the size of zombie-town and just as deep was quickly being constructed. A cave system had been discovered, and had been quickly scraped clean like a piece of fruit getting attacked by ants. The miners were looking for everything- iron, coal, diamonds, gold, emeralds, and red stone. Anything that could be made into armor, weapons, minecarts, fuel, and basically anything that could be useful. The village storeroom was quickly overflowing and new chests were being added. 

    A woman ran past with her arms full of torches and cobblestone. The items would be put to good use. Torches could light a battlefield, and the villagers needed stone to help thicken the walls and heighten the archer towers. A little girl named Tiller walked past with a hoe over her shoulder, heading for a plot of land being turned into a farm. They had sent riders out to other villages to tell them to be ready, and they were preparing for reinforcements. Teams of NPCs were in the forest, chopping down trees for wood and apples. Every Planter, Farmer, and everyone who worked the fields tended to their plants with renewed vigor. That is, except one. Harvester, the Far Lands girl who had come back with Gameknight was brewing hundreds of potions with Morgana in the basement of Gameknights castle. 

    The entire village was bracing themselves and, sadly, they knew what to do. They ran back and forth all day, doing their tasks constantly. Only two people stayed put, both of them staring intensely at Gameknight. And they were definitely not villagers. 

    There was a young woman and a girl. The girl stayed close to her older companion, looking warily at the sky and keeping her hand on the hilt of her sword. She shivered, despite the warmth of the day. Fear was plastered on her face and she seemed to be searching for something. 

    The woman was just annoyed. She stared at Gameknight, arms crossed. “Are you done yet?” She asked wearily. Gameknight didn’t seem to hear. “Oí!” She yelled. “Snap out of it!” She turned towards the girl. “One thing you should know about Gameknight here is that when he gets in a certain mood, there is no way to break his concentration.” 

   “Huh?” Sky said, obviously paying no attention whatsoever to the people around her. Gameknight paused and looked at her. The girl had barely taken a day to recover after Herobrine had left her body, and ever since she had been following the User-that-is-not-a-user around like a puppy. A jumpy, terrified puppy. Sky met his gaze, and her eyes nervously started swirling with all the colors of the rainbow. 

Wonder threw her hands up in the air. “I give up!” She shouted. “You’re never going to listen! Why am I still trying?” She started to stalk off. 

   “Gameknight!” Digger boomed, weaving through the crowd. Gameknight sighed. Why can’t anyone leave me alone? He thought angrily. “Yes?” He replied. Wonder spun around, her mouth gaping. “Seriously?” She shrieked. “I try to get your attention for twenty minutes, and as soon as Digger says something you- oh, never mind!” Digger ignored her and continued to walk toward Gameknight. “We need to talk,” He said, lowering his voice slightly. “Things are happening, and all the village elders are getting worried.” Dread kneaded Gameknight’s soul. This was exactly what he was afraid of. 

 Wonder seemed to understand their need for privacy. “Come on, Sky,” She said, gently tugging on the girl’s arm. “Let’s go.” Sky pulled her arm away. “No! I want to stay,” She whimpered. Wonder sighed, exasperated. “What are you so scared of?” She asked. Sky froze, her eyes darting around. “Him,” The girl whispered. “Him?” Digger asked. “As in your… ah…” 

   Sky glared at him, her eyes magenta with splashes of green. “Herobrine,” She corrected. “Why are you so scared of him?” Gameknight questioned. “If he wanted you, don’t you think that he would have taken you in the cave?” Sky shook her head. “You don’t understand,” She said miserably. “He won’t just let me go.” She shuddered. Gameknight felt chills run down his spine. “But what does that have to do with me?” He asked. Sky sighed. “I guess, since your sort of the only one Herobrine is kind of intimidated by, maybe… maybe I would be safer by you.”

  Wonder offered the girl her hand. “Will you be okay if I stay near you?” She asked gently. “I promise, we can go find Rakier and I’ll be with you the entire time.” Sky eyed her, then seemed to deflate. She nodded, and they walked off. Wonder looked back and gave Gameknight a worried look. He understood. Sky obviously was terrified, but that wasn’t their priority. Turning back to Digger, he took a deep breath. “Let’s go somewhere else,” He said. Digger nodded and led him down the busy street. Intoxicating smells wafted down the narrow path, the east-to-west wind pulling the scent throughout the village. Even Butcher and Baker had gotten into the frenzy, and they had been working overtime. Butcher had an arsenal of smokers, and Baker was hoarding enough wheat to feed the entire village stables. Digger opened the door to Tailor’s empty shop, and they moved inside. Now that they were alone, the User-that-is-not-a-user thought it safe to speak up. “So what do we need to talk about?” Gameknight said with fake casualty. His pulse was going a hundred miles an hour; he knew exactly what this was about.  “We have issues,” Digger said. Gameknight chuckled. “Tell me about it.” Digger groaned. “Yeah, funny. Gameknight, the rest of the village elders are upset, like I mentioned earlier, and the Council of Crafters is going completely wild.” Gameknight was quiet as Digger locked eyes with him. “In the few moments Crafter… was himself, he obviously didn’t have time to transfer his crafting powers to me, or anyone else. So we don’t have a crafter, and pretty soon that will be a problem. Gameknight, you know that when crafter dies before the village has a new one, it-“

   “He is not dead!” Gameknight yelled. “I refuse to believe it! He’s still in there, just… trapped. But he can get out, just like Void, or Sky, or whatever her name is!” Digger sighed and rubbed his temples. “Gameknight, I want to believe that as much as you do. And who knows? Maybe we will save him. But maybe isn’t an answer that the Council will take. Technically, we’re all Lost right now.” Digger shivered. “It’s been two days. That means we have five days until we have to leave the village and try to find a new one. It’s one of the few laws we villagers have. If we don’t have a crafter by then, we will be forced to leave and strike out across the Overworld.” 

   “But that’s not fair!” Gameknight complained. “It used to be different,” Digger explained. “Villages were allowed to try sticking together. But bad things happened; riots broke out and people fought for leadership. Trust me, it’s better this way.” He held up a hand to stop his friend from speaking. “Tonight we’re having a meeting in the crafting chamber about the matter. Until then, I don’t want to hear about it. Now, I have things to do just like you should.” Digger’s voice was angry. He left the shop, slamming the door behind him. A flowerpot containing a small red poppy rattled on the windowsill. Gameknight glared at the offending plant. I wish I was a flower, he thought. Their lives must be much simpler.

         For the rest of the day Gameknight threw himself at his tasks. And there was definitely plenty to do. Gameknight had guard duty, watch duty, mining duty, farming duty, crafting duty, and even a time of day when he just carried supplies back and forth. The only people who didn’t work from dawn to dusk in this way were Morgana and Harvester, who were brewing hundreds of potions in their lab. In fact, Gameknight had only seen Harvester once. She had been stained with dozens of colors from the potions like a human kaleidoscope and had bags under her eyes. The other person was Sky, who was too busy anyway constantly searching for any sign of her father. 

 The villagers still didn’t trust her for what she did as Void, although Gameknight and his friends knew that almost all of her actions were because of Herobrines increasing control over her. Gameknight wouldn’t want to switch places with any of them. 

With the entire village working hard, the sun quickly made its way across the sky. Most of the village knew about the meeting, and those that had not heard of it were quickly told. Gameknight reluctantly shuffled towards the watchtower, afraid, no, terrified, of what would be decided in the chamber below. “Hey,” Wonder said from behind him, having run to catch up. Gameknight jumped. “Don’t scare me!” He snapped. Wonder shrugged. “Sorry. Are you ok?” Gameknight huffed. “Yes. I am completely fine.” Wonder rolled her eyes. “Suuure.” She was quiet for a moment. “It’s all pretty useless, isn’t it?” Wonder gestured at the village. “What do you mean?” Gameknight asked. “All we’re doing is stocking up on supplies,” She reminded him. “The way this is going, in one more day we will just be piling up on things we don’t need.” Gameknight scowled. “We need it!” She nodded. “I know we do. But riddle me this- what stopped the spider army in the jungle?” Gameknight looked at her, confused. “Well, we had a wall, and TNT cannons, and-“ 

  “No!” She snapped. “Think about it! How was that wall created? Who fired those cannons?” Gameknight was confused. “Uhh, well, I, um,” Wonder threw her hands in the air. “The people, Gameknight! The villagers! You can have as many weapons as you want, but armor won’t win the war. You could have a hundred bows, but with no archers what’s the point? Having a thousand diamond swords with no warriors is like a bucket of water in the Nether- useless. We can continue crafting like we are, but when Herobrine appears at our walls, what will matter more? The tools we use to fight, or the villagers who are willing to fight?” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Herobrine is loose out there, and it’s time we put him back where he belongs.” She stopped walking and looked him right in the eyes. “But we can’t do that if we never actually leave the village and do something. It’s for us to leave the defensive behind and become the offensive.” She took a step back. “And remember this too,” Wonder said. “Who fought Xa-Tul? Who was willing to climb an End pillar and jump through a waterfall and face the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse with almost no one by your side? Who spawned a wither to distract a monster army and faced Herobrine himself multiple times?” Gameknight looked up at her. “I did,” He said quietly. Wonder beamed. “Exactly! You are the heart of this village, Gameknight, because these villagers know that you will do anything for them no matter what it is. That’s why they love you! When you think you can do it, and that you will win, they have hope and strength. But when you feel scared and go hide, they do the same thing.  They will continue to hide and wait for Herobrine until you step up and lead them. For us to succeed, you have to choose to switch to the offensive.” Gameknight was silent. Wonder sighed. “Just think about it.” She sprinted forward, the setting sun lighting up her reddish hair. She disappeared into the watchtower, quickly leaping out of sight into the tunnel downward. Gameknight sighed. He really wanted to be brave and step up like she had said, but he was so afraid. Terror gripped his soul and all he could think about was those glowing eyes burning into him. Herobrine was even more terrifying than he could have imagined, now that he had left Sky’s body and was within his own. Not just his own. 

   He was even more powerful than before, and Gameknight had never been more terrified. Sure, he had faced much bigger and stronger foes, but Herobrine was smart and much worse than all of them. He just wanted to run away and hide. Let someone else deal with all the problems. Sighing, he went through the open door of the watchtower and started down the long ladder, sinking into the darkness below.