They just wouldnt stop following him. He had been running and running for miles on end but they just wouldnt stop. The stupid things only had stumps for legs, how did they manage to run this fast! The sky was dark, the sun had only just set and the loss of some of his sight left him hindered, but unlike the creepers, Ludwig knew where he was going. Sort of. He knew he was going to try and either build down and hide in a muddy hole over-night until the sun rose and hopefully the monsters had disappeared (and the creepers having grown bored, wandered away) or build up.

He had never been a fan of building up in the sky, the view was always nice but what would he do about farming? He did understand that the world he lived in defied gravity, blocks being able to float in the air without help, but surely that would be much more work than needed when you could just farm mud that was already on the ground? And there was also the fear of falling since a fall from that height would most certainly bring your life to a quick stop.

His thoughts came to a (very painful) halt as he was suddenly slammed into a thin, wooden tower. Putting a hand to his face, he groaned when there was blood on his palm and the sharp sting on his forehead was telling him he had wounded himself but now was not the time to pull out a plaster and some tissues. Ludwig looked up, searching for something that could help him be rid of these horrible, blowing-up-and-destroying-everything monsters.

Ludwig couldnt help but smile a smile of relief when he saw a ladder on the other side of the wooden tower, not hesitating to climb it quickly, and not caring where it would take him as long as it was far away from the mobs below.

The climb was slow and Ludwig could feel his arms starting to ache before there was suddenly no more ladder left to climb. Looking around, he saw that there was a whole other world that he had climbed to. There were tree's and grass and farmland off to his right, animals and chests to his left. The home had been built up so high, the clouds brushed against his ankles and surprisingly, it was a pretty nice feeling. Snapping out of his daze he saw something before him that he had been looking for since the sun had set.

A home.

Breaking down the door and making his way inside, Ludwig was startled when a pair of blue eyes met his own, the other person stopping whatever it was that they were doing before he had so rudely barged his way into the home. There was someone else in here (why had he not considered that before? This was clearly someone's home), it was a younger man, not too much younger than himself. He had blue eyes covered by a pair of glasses and blonde hair with one singular cowlick sitting in his parting. Their clothing only consisted of yellow shorts, a bear-like jumper and a blue backpack.

A sense of deja-vu filled his chest and so he stood for a few, quiet, moments before the realization of who it was came crashing down on him.

"You!"
"Me!"

It was the idiot he saw running across the landscape, away from some very angry zombies and skeletons. The idiot who had led the angry mobs to him and had taken his sword right from his hand and attempted to kill them before Ludwig abandoned the man and ran back home, not wanting to get himself killed in all the action.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ludwig was, to say the least, confused. He had seen this other person in the snowy biome's which was far, far away from here. Had he seriously trekked out that far?

"Well, uh," Gesturing to the area around him, the man smiled, "This is my home! You came up the ladder, yeah? Well- You dont look to great. You've kind of got blood dripping down your face.." This time, he gestured to his own face, a finger pointing to his forehead and dragging down.
"Was it the monsters?"

"I may have.. Run into your ladder."

"Oooh. Thats okay! Dont worry, i used to do that all the time. You stay right there and ill go get you some band-aids. Is that.. Is that what they call them in Germany? Or do you guys have a different name for 'em? Oh- Im Alfred by the way!"

Alfred's voice faded as he ventured off somewhere into his home, behind a wall and a few doors. The noise of things being opened and closed filled his ears and head as Ludwig took in his surroundings. The home was nice, well laid-out and he even had carpet.

He could faintly hear a voice in the back of his mind, asking how the guy knew he was German (though he just chalked it up to his accent) and was nagging at him, telling him to leave. For once, just this once, he decided not to trust his conscience. He had no where else to run and a fall from this height would most certainly kill him and spread his things about for the monsters, or even other players, to pick up and that would be the last thing he would ever want. The guy hadn't kicked him out and didn't even seem angry for Ludwig just breaking down his door so why not stay?

"'Ay-o, i got you a band-aid and a drink since you sound pretty out of breath there." Alfred placed both the glass bottle of water and the small band-aid on the table and pushed them towards Ludwig. Sitting himself down and looking up at the other, Alfred smiled.

"So what's your name, big guy? Probably something scary sounding like.. Michael."

"Michael?" Ludwig laughed and picked up the plaster, pealing off the thin plastic and carefully placing it over his wound as best he could without a mirror. Pulling out a chair and grasping the water bottle, he smiled back.

"Ludwig."

Alfred let out a hum of acknowledgment and leaned on his hands, his chin resting in his palms and his eyes looking out at the world behind his windows. From there he could see the monsters making their way over the squared hills, not caring for anything but to live and hunt.

"Its a pretty scary world down there, huh? Walkin' bones and shit.. Zombies too. And those big, green, blobby things. You know, they make those gross noises when they move? Limes, or something."

Ludwig could only agree. The world on the ground was scary, whereas there was nothing to worry about up in the sky as long as you had plenty light, then you're fine. He began liking the world in the sky much more than he had before.

"Do you mind if i stay the night?"

It had slipped out, honestly, he hadn't meant to say it aloud. He could feel a clench in his chest as embarrassment washed over him, he had never had to ask something like that before! He was wounded so he probably wouldn't make it far on his own and there seemed to be more monsters out there than usual but surely this stranger, no matter how nice he seemed to be (or how good looking he was), wouldn't let him stay. Right?

"Dude, you don't even have to ask! I have a spare room you can take over for the night. Speaking of taking over for the night," Alfred stood and stretched out his arms above his head, his shirt lifting and showing the smallest bit of skin, and announced that he would be going to bed. "Your room is the one that has a bed and inst locked so it shouldn't be that hard to find. G'night, dude." Patting the German on the shoulder he smiled once more and headed up the stairs that stood silently at the far left of his home.

Following shortly after, Ludwig found his bedroom and hadn't realised how much his muscles ached before he lay down on the bed and groaned up at the ceiling, feeling like he just came out of battle with aching bones and wounds (only one wound but god damn it stung). Sleep embraced him as did the duvet, the wool wrapping around him so comfortably that he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Sun shone in through the glass panes, casing beautiful patterns on the wooden floor. Looking out the window, Ludwig sighed as he saw that the sun had finally arrived, taking out the monsters one by one and leaving items behind in their dust. He lay there, quietly wondering where he was before remembering the night before, wanting to get out quickly and get home just as fast, hopefully before Alfred even woke. The blonde took his time to clean the room before making his way down stairs to the kitchen, making sure to leave the room just as spotless as it was before he had arrived.

He couldn't do anything else. He could thank him; thank him for letting him stay the night and giving him a drink, a plaster and shelter but it wouldn't be any good if he were to never see him again. Words were just words, and that was all they would be so there wouldn't be any point to it. But words written would stay forever (if the recipient took good care of the paper, that is).

Borrowing some coal from the furnace and a small piece of paper in a near-by chest, he began writing a Thank-You note to Alfred. The note had said all the things Ludwig could not bear to say himself and mentioned how he wouldn't mind meeting him again. Alfred was a nice guy, he would give him that, and it was rare that Ludwig found someone he would like to meet once more.

Once he had finished, slightly embarrassed that he had to do something like that, he sighed and placed the folded note on the table. It wouldn't be rude to just leave, it wasn't his home and he had agreed to only stay the night. And so that was the end of it, no more arguing with himself, he had to get back home.

With a sword in his hands and air in his lungs, he took off and remembered to close the door behind him, ignoring the sounds of footsteps on floor boards above him.