CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK!

The sound of iron piercing stone echoed through the shafts of a complex mine. Torches lit the cold, rock walls. Mine rails covered every inch of floor.

Two miners, North and Halsten, were digging a new shaft to expand the already large mine. North hoped to find something valuable. Very valuable.

He turned to his mining partner. The mid-aged miner may seem strange-looking at first glance, but his appearance was quite common. He was a Testificate. And like all Testificates, he had a large, bald head, green eyes, a unibrow, and a large nose. He wore a green robe, brown pants, and gray boots. A very generic look for a Testificate.

"What time is it?" asked North. He hoped they would still have more time to mine. The Testificate tapped into his inventory and glanced at his clock. It was almost dusk.

"Our shift's over," Halsten said with his deep, Testificate voice and Swedish accent. North tried his best to hide his disappointment. He placed his half-damaged, iron pickaxe in his inventory and head down the never-ending mine shafts to the break room.

The break room was more like a sleeping quarter for bachelor miners. To the right was a row of beds, with each one having a two block-long chest. To the left were some chests with supplies inside and cauldrons filled with water. Only two miners were in the room and both were fast asleep.

North went straight to one of the cauldrons and started washing the sweat from his face. He stared at his reflection. The face of a man in his twenties stared back at him. His shaggy, dark hair was formed into a mullet. As North looked closer, he saw faint, white streaks. This man's hair was literally turning white from stress. There was clearly a lot of it. His light, brown eyes looked tired…and sad…so sad…

North quickly turned away and went to his chest where he placed all of the items from mining. It was a pitiful find; he only found stone. It was the same thing yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. "What's wrong, North?" asked Halsten. His young friend looked upset. North turned to Halsten.

"Did anyone find anything today?" the young miner asked. "If someone did, we would of known about it," replied the Testificate. North started to act frustrated. He slammed the lid of his chest.

"This has been going on for more than a month, Halsten! We're not finding anything!"

"You know that's not true, North. Some of the miners have found coal."

"A two year old could find coal! This mine is running dry! It won't be long until we'll have to close down!"

Halsten could only stare at his friend. He had never seen him so worked up like this before. In fact, never. "North, are you sure you're alright?"

Was he alright.

North wanted to scream in Halsten's face saying "DO I LOOK ALRIGHT TO YOU?!". But in the end, he was too tired and sad to be frustrated anymore. North hung his head and sighed a tired sigh.

"No, Halsten," North said quietly. "I'm not. I haven't been myself in a while." The Testificate led the young miner to one of the empty beds and both sat down. Halsten didn't really have a family, so North to him was like the son he never had. He placed his arm around North's shoulder. The leather of his tunic was ruff and slightly worn. His leather pants and boots appeared the same way.

"What's going on, lad?"

North took a deep breath and explained everything. "You remember Autumn, right?"

"Of course I remember your wife. She's a kind, gentle woman. You choose wisely."

"Do you…remember me telling you how…I was a father now?"

"Who could forget? You were the happiest man in the Overworld."

"Well…Halsten he's…he's not…doing well…"

There was a moment of silence before North continued telling Halsten everything. "My son is very sick, Halsten. His grip is very weak. He faintly cries all the time. He's lost his eyesight…and there's nothing I can do about it. I don't have enough emeralds to have even the cheapest doctor cure him. I work from dawn to dusk to try to find something that might help me save him. But…"

North looked up at Halsten with tears in his eyes. "I'm scared, Halsten. He's only a few weeks old." The Testificate knew this was beyond any help he could give. He felt horrible inside. He embraced North and told him to stay strong. "Don't let your guard down," he told him.

North stood up, took the entire stack of cobblestone in his chest into his inventory, and headed home. As he was making his way out of the mine, he came to an oak wood bridge. Half way across, North stopped for a moment, and dumped the entire cobblestone stack down into a deep dark pit. Their uselessness only mad him angry.

North ran for his life. He was filled with terror. He should've just left the mine as soon as his shift was over. Or just stayed at the mines all together.

Nightfall draped over the woods North roamed in. And every person knows that night fall means monster hour. Hundreds of zombies, skeletons, spiders, and creepers were out in the forest, probably following North in secret.

Then, like a beacon of hope, North saw a faint, torch light in the distance. Home. Where his loving wife and poor infant son were. Ironically, home is also in the middle of a monster hot-spot. He dashed in the oak wood house, slamming the door behind him.

Autumn zipped around as the noise of the door startled her. Her light, brownish blonde hair was slightly uncombed and her indigo eyes had a look of surprise. Her outfit was just the same as North's, her tunic, pants, and boots made of leather. She was standing next to the crafting table with a piece of leather in her hands. She may not be the fairest woman in the Overworld, but in North's eyes she was an angel.

"North!" she exclaimed. "Good grief! You could've woken the baby!"

"A crying baby is the least of your problems when you're in the middle of a monster-infested forest," he joked. Autumn gave a look like it was not the time and place to kid around. "North," she said with a slight whine.

The couple went to their small table, sitting across from each other. Tension was in the air. Autumn had a look of determination. She clearly had something important to tell North. "What is it you want to tell me, Autumn?"

She looked hard at her husband. "It's too dangerous here, North! There're monsters all around us! And we're practically undefended!" North knew where this was going, but he allowed his wife to finish what she had to say.

"We're not safe here anymore! We must move to one of the villages! We'll be safer with more people! Iron golems guard day and night! We have to go!" North could only look at his wife. The answer he had for her will not make Autumn happy. He just knew it.

"Autumn, I know it's safer in the villages, but the closest one is too far away from the mines. That means less time mining, and less of a chance curing our son." Autumn looked as if she was betrayed. "I'm sorry my dear. I'm not taking the risk."

Autumn got up from the table and went to the window. She didn't know what to think. On one hand, she was livid with North. Their home wasn't safe. The villages were. They would be protected there. But North refused. They might as well run out there and let the beasts kill them.

But on another, she knew he was right. Sure, the villages might help them with their situation, but everything in this life came with a price. Autumn had to choose: Safety or Son. She couldn't have both.

Autumn quickly peered outside. It was too dark to see anything, she swore she saw a pair of eyes for just a moment. She turned to face North, who was standing now. Tears were in her eyes. "I understand North. It's just…I-I don't want our son to…t-to…"

The tears were now streaming down Autumns cheeks. North embraced her, and held her close. Her skin was soft like a newborn child and smelled of baked goods in an oven. She wrapped her arms around North's neck, quietly sobbing. Tears leaked form North's eyes and created streaks of pale skin form his dirty, miner's face. Her sorrow was breaking his heart.

The white, full moon was raised in the middle of the sky. Stars were scattered across the forbidden night. And a band of monsters were making their way to the house of North and Autumn.

The group was made up of zombies, skeletons, spiders, and creepers. They moaned, growled, rattled, and hissed their way by as they came to the house. All had seen this place about possible a million times before, and nothing ever happened there. A mystery that house was.

Two zombies had started a fight at one side of the human home. These fights weren't all that exciding; it was more like a cat fight if anything. But one had a torch in his hand, and accidently caught the house on fire while "aiming" for the other. The sight of orange and yellow flames and the sound of cracks and pops made the monsters flee and disappear in the darkness.

North was having a nightmare. He was surrounded by pitch black darkness. He couldn't see anything. Not even his own hands.

Everywhere he turned he saw glowing pairs of eyes. Some belonged to spiders, some belonged to something else. Something North had never seen before. They were chasing him, and no matter where he went, they followed. He was terrified.

At the end of the nightmare, all the eyes merged together to create only one pair. These eyes glowed white. And were human. The eyes came closer the cornered North, who tried to wake up but couldn't. They came so close, North could feel the creature's cold, dead breath.

"Wake up," it whispered.

And North woke up.

Immediately, North found his home engulfed in fire. Heat, smoke, and flames from the pits of heck filled the bedroom. Him and his small family had to get out. Now.

"AUTUMN!" he screamed, as he violently shook his wife. She awoke shortly and knew the deadly situation they were in. Autumn eyed the tiny crib that was in the other side of the room. The flames had almost blocked it. Autumn, as fast as lightning, jumped out of the bed and snatched the small, helpless, screaming child from the death trap. She held her ill son close to her chest.

North leaped from the bed. "COME ON!" he yelled. He grabbed his wife's arm, and ran out of the bedroom to the stairs. Time was the only thing between life and death for this small family.

North and Autumn had to act quickly. The exit was not that far away. They were so close. They were going to make it.

Then Autumn tripped.

The child flew from her hands and disappeared out of the only exit.

They never saw him again.

"NOOOOO!" Autumn cried out. She tried to reach her baby for only the flaming ceiling to block it. So close, yet so far. It was too late. Autumn fell into deep, unimaginable despair. She stood there, grabbing hold of her heart, as she sobbed loudly. North embraced her from behind. The heat was started to get to him.

"IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT, AUTUMN!" he said over the roaring fire. "AT LEAST WE TRIED!" The flames finally snatched the young, doom couple. They cried out a blood-curling scream as their flesh and blood burned until there was nothing left.

A lone creature strolled in the monster-infested forest. The creature looked human, but he was at least two times taller than the average man, and his skin was black as pure darkness. Her large, childlike eyes glowed purple and Ender particles swirled around him. A cape, as dark as he was with a purple hue, was draped over him and went down to the knees. His name was Alabur.

And he was an Enderman.

He wasn't just any ordinary Enderman either. But his wasn't in a good way. Alabur was a misfit among his own kind to put it simply. The reason? He just didn't fit in. His ideas and points of view were clearly different from everyone else. Being a misfit usually meant he would find himself alone, keep to himself, and not very self-confident. Alabur learned to get used to the idea being all by yourself. But his self-confidence needed a lot of work.

Alabur roamed through the trees, deep in his lonely thoughts, when he heard the sound of a large, crackling fire. His head turned toward the noise.

Now what could be causing that sound? He thought. The Enderman's born curiosity took over and he teleported to the source of the oversized bonfire. It was like the Nether invaded one little part of the Overworld. It didn't take Alabur long to notice movement nor far from the fire.

"Human," he said to himself with his low, distorted-sounding voice with a bit of static and British accent. Alabur teleported toward the movement to find…not what he was expected. He slowly went from hostile to confused.

This thing sure looked a lot like a human, but it was small. Extremely small. It was clearly terrified, but it wasn't attacking him, let alone running away. The thing just lied there crying its lungs out. But what confused Alabur the most was its eyes.

A human stare is so powerful to an Enderman, that it causes an unbearable pain in an Enderman's head if looked at from the torso up and up to sixty-four blocks away. This pain can turn an Enderman into a screaming psychopath in a matter of seconds. The only way for the pain to go away is to either teleport far enough away or to do the easier option: kill the human. After that, the Enderman returns to normal.

But…this human-thing…it was looking right at him…and his stare wasn't hurting him…its eyes reflected like glass…Alabur's heart melted. For the first time in his life, he pitied a human.

The oversized house fire was moving closer now. Alabur just couldn't let him die. He had to save him. He scooped up the extremely tiny child into his arms. It wasn't even half the size of his forearm.

Then Alabur heard growling.

He immediately turned to his left, his cape swooshed to the side, to see a pack of wolves. Hungry wolves. And they were eyeing the human. Alabur stood frozen, blankly staring at the wild animals. It wasn't until they pounced from the shadows and ran toward the Enderman that Alabur's mind screamed RUUUUUN!

Even though Alabur's legs allowed him to travel long distances in a few seconds, the wolves were fast, and there were at least twelve of them. They growled and howled behind Alabur as they slowly surrounded him, stopping at nothing to hunt down their prey. The Enderman had tried his best to run from them, looking behind to see how close they were and up ahead to see where he was going Then the worse thing possible at that moment happened.

Alabur tripped.

He was able to get back up on his feet quickly, but it was already too late. Blood read eyes circled the Enderman. A few were pulling an Alabur's cape. One had the nerve to bite the Enderman's left forearm. Pain rushed up the limb. Now was the time for desperate measures. He needed to teleport. Now.

Alabur concentrated hard and teleported away two, three times, hoping he was far enough away from the wolves. The one was still biting his arm. Alabur brutality wacked the creature against a tree until it released itself from unconscious.

The Enderman sat down, leaning against the same tree be beat the wolf against. Ender blood was trickling down Alabur's arm. The pain was almost unbearable, but nothing compared to a human's stare. Speaking of humans…

Alabur quickly turned to his right arm. Miraculously, the child was not harmed. But it was still crying. The human was still terrified and appeared to be cold. It was a bit chilly out. Alabur tightly swaddled the child in its dirt-stained blanket. While doing so, he quietly hushed it and begged it to stop crying. After holding it close to himself to help it warm up, the human finally fell asleep. Its tiny, rapid breaths startled the Enderman for a moment.

Alabur then looked what was around him. He was on top of a large hill in the middle of a huge forest. Trees of all kinds went as far as the Ender eye can see. It was then his train of thought was clear and he realized what just happened.

He is now in possession of a helpless human.

What have I done? He thought, horrified. Surely, I would be hated by every monster that ever existed! I might be banished, or worse, executed! But… Alabur glanced at the human again. …What about him? He obviously can't take care of himself. Oh, what am I going to do?

The tiny child snuggled itself closer to Alabur's chest. This action caught the Enderman completely off guard and made him feel uncomfortable for a few moments. He held the child closer to himself. There was only one option. He must call a meeting. Alabur teleported away, leaving the unconscious wolf as only witness of what happened there that night.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Suggestions on how to improve my writing is much appreciated. :)