The sun was high in the sky over the beautiful blocky land known as Minecraftia. Testificates would be busy in the streets talking with friends and the like and Humans would be trekking the land and caves for ore and materials for their lives and various monsters were deep in the caves sleeping until nightfall when they would be free to roam the land.

Most tended to stay away from the villages because of the Iron Golems protecting them. The mobs mostly kept to themselves, not interacting much with others. Skeletons would challenge each other in a test of their archery skills. Creepers would make small talk and occasionally scare others with their hissing. Spiders were the most solitary mobs outside of their mating rituals, occasionally one becoming a mount for a Skeleton. Zombies were definitely not the brightest, being treated mone along the lines of drones. They would still wander into the villages to get at any nearby civilians despite the golems.

Endermen however, seemed to think on a higher level than the others. It was almost like they could be considered as another humanoid race if it weren't for the fact they attacked any humans on sight. Instead, they took to the caves during the day like all the other hostile mobs. One such group was huddling within a small cave on the side of a cliff in a mountain region until nightfall where they would continue their journey. Where they were headed, they didn't know. All they could do is hope they reach a desert soon before the rains come again. It wasn't a very large group of Endermen, just a family of four.

One of them, a young female named Neila, was up near the entrance of the cave instead of sleeping with the others. She watched a flock of sheep grazing in the distance and started to question why they didn't hide from the sunlight like her own kind did. She would have to ask her father about it later. She glanced around and judging by the shadows it was about midday. Neila sighed and quietly headed back down into the darkness to get some sleep before having to head out again, also taking care to stay clear of a nearby lavafall.

Unfortunately, her absence didn't go unnoticed. Standing there a good distance in front of her siblings was her father, and he was none too happy about her wandering off. "And where have you been young lady?"

His voice wasn't very loud so he wouldn't disturb the others but still she winced. "Umm, nearby.. I was exploring the cave and was thinking maybe we could make our home here. It's big enough for all of us."

Her father shook his head. "Neila, don't lie to me. There's only this room and the tunnel back to the entrance, there's nothing to explore. What were you really doing?"

Neila shifted her weight. "..I saw some sheep. And was wondering why they stay out..."

Her father shook slightly but calmed himself. "What did I tell you about wandering in the sunlight? What if a human saw you!? If I lost you to those barbarians I'd kill every last one of them to save your pearl!"

"I was careful to stay in the shadows."

"Sometimes that isn't enough. Those humans like to explore unlit caves and claim everything as their own. We're lucky they haven't found this one yet."

Neila lowered her head in both shame and sorrow. "Well, sorry for potentially exposing us. But do you think there are friendly humans like Mom used to say?"

"After seeing them kill her and selfishly take her pearl, I find it hard to believe. That and the way they stare at our kind so tauntingly. There is no way for us to live peacefully with humans."

"Oh.." Neila said softly before walking the rest of the way to the room alongside her father for some sleep. "I guess we'll just stay in this cave then."

"Not exactly. We have to keep moving, else some human discovers the cave and lose more family members before we finish him off. Besides, this mountain land has little food and won't hold us for very long. Now get to sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover tonight."

"Mmkay..." She was already dozing off as soon as she found a comfortable spot and slept in peace until nightfall.

The moon was already well on its way across the darkened, cloudy sky. Neila and the others were on the move again. They stayed in a generally western direction and zigzagging through mountain passes in search of available food. The clan hoped to find something soon since their rations ran out the previous night.

Just then, Neila spotted something not too far off. It had come in her sight for a moment. Curious, she teleported to where she thought she saw it. Standing near her feet was a chicken, with other chickens nearby. This was good news for her family, for now. She can just stay nearby and collect any eggs they lay until early dawn. It'll be small meals for all but it'll hold, she thought. She heard the familiar quiet plop from one of the chickens and readily collected the egg. She glanced up to make sure the others were still nearby and then went back to the egg collecting.

Suddenly the sky lit up like daytime and seemed to crash down on the world. Before she could make it back to the others, it began to rain heavily. Of course being Endermen, it caused a great deal of pain to everyone and they all scrambled to find any sort of shelter, her father trying their best to protect her panicked, screaming siblings. Neila herself was in a state of near-panic herself. She ended up dropping her egg and soon lost sight of it amidst all the teleporting.

Even through the pain and fear, Neila had to find a shelter and her father, no, anyone to bring under with her. But with the constant teleporting it made such a task very difficult. Then she noticed the rain stopped as quickly as it came. She glanced around and found the reason why was because she had teleported her way into a desert. Wasting no time, she called out to any of her kin to teleport to her.

"DAD! OVER HERE! I FOUND A DESERT! MALINE! TEVAN! TELEPORT OVER HERE!"

The sky flashed brightly with lightning and the accompanying thunder made it feel like the sky split in two. She jumped back in fear, for both the lightning and for all the ones she knew.

"ANYBODY! COME OVER HERE! THERE'S NO WATER!"

The rain continued on and she began to lose hope with each passing minute. She paced back and fourth along the edge of the desert hoping to find someone else who made it but with no luck. She continued to cry out for them through the night, grief soon joining her fears. She was alone. She didn't know how far away they teleported to escape the rain or, Notch forbid, if they even made it at all. Neila still cried out to them, though by now she was practically kidding herself.

The pain and exhaustion were starting to catch up to her. She could feel the dawn approaching, but was too exhausted to find cover so she plopped down by a sand dune and ended up crying herself to sleep.