Chapter 2: Learning the Ropes
He awoke the next day to set Alex already awake and watching him patiently. She was first to speak, "If I'm going to stay here, I'm going to need to know how you manage to survive here." He thought for a moment before smiling, "Sure thing, come with me." Alex followed quietly as they went into the basement. It had a gravel floor and walls made from stone bricks, various weapons hung on the walls and there also many armour racks, most of which were empty. Along the left side of the room were different types of training targets and along the right were rows upon rows of metals and crystals. There were also a furnace, cauldron and anvil, along with a wooden crafting table and various tools. Alex silently gazed around in surprise. Steve spoke, "I've gathered everything myself, it gets hard sometimes but you've just got to press forward no matter what. Don't worry though, I've got plenty of supplies and enough experience to know what to teach you."
Alex replied, "I can use a bow, or a crossbow, or basically anything involving distance and accuracy."
Steve shrugged, "I'll be the judge of that, I have a bow in the chest over there." He pointed to the corner of the room and Alex nodded before grabbing the bow and a quiver of twenty five arrows. Steve then nodded and pulled a lever, pulling back the brickwork and revealing a cave lit up with torches, not to mention the bodies of various zombies, skeletons, spiders and even a creeper. The far end of the cave had several straw targets and there was a ladder into the cave by the entrance Steve had revealed. Alex knew what he was waiting for and nocked an arrow into the bowstring before pulling back and releasing it. Much to Steve's surprise, she hit the first target dead in the center. The next, a human shaped target with a bucket as helmet, was hit right in the target's 'forehead', piercing the bucket, then again in the 'chest' where a person's heart would be.
"I'm impressed," Steve told her, not noticing the blush she gave afterwards as he continued, "Who taught you to shoot like that?"
"My father," she replied, the hint of sadness in her tone making Steve mentally slap himself for asking, "He died last year, caught in the open by zombies."
"I see," Steve replied with a frown before smiling, "Not to worry, I can assure you that the same thing won't happen to you."
Alex felt her lips curve into a small smile as she nodded silently before focusing on the next target, she took a deep breath before firing, only for the arrow to skim the target. Steve frowned until he saw the arrow ricochet off of the back wall and hit the target from behind.
He took her into the cave with a torch, gave her a leather chestplate and stone pickaxe and told her, "Keep the bow, next we'll be going mining."
She raised a brow before asking, "Y-you want us to go mining?"
He nodded, "Don't worry, I'll handle anything we come across." With that, he took his iron pick from his belt and struck the wall, and again, and again… A small lump of coal was struck and he nodded to Alex, who lifted the heavy stone tool and hit the area around the coal, smiling contents and leaning on the pickaxe when it fell to the floor. It wasn't long before the pickaxe slipped from its position and she fell with it. Steve caught her mid-fall and quickly put her down, both of them averting their gazes and looking down, blushing. Steve eventually sighed, "Rule number one, don't pose with the tools, I learnt that the hard way as well." Alex nodded and silently began mining away at the cavern walls, this time the wall gave away and they were faced with an ever-expanding darkness. Steve took the torch and held it in front of them. However, even the soft glow of the torch showed nothing in the emptiness despite a now audible groaning. Alex started shaking and barely held back a scream as a zombie burst forth from the darkness, only for Steve to slice it in two. A second one appeared and followed the same fate, and a third, and a fourth. Alex watched as the small group was quickly cut down, her skin white with fear until Steve ran off and quickly came back with some planks to board off the hole.
Steve sighed, "Maybe we should give the mining a miss for now," and Alex nodded in agreement, still shaking. Steve gave a small frown before telling her, "As I said, it'll be hard at first, but you should get used to it quickly."
"I-I will n-never understand how you could do that," Alex replied, the fear still evident in her voice. Steve simply shrugged before leading her back into the main bit of the house.
Upon arrival, Steve told her, "OK, I'm sure you can make useful items," smiling when he got a nod in response. Steve then took some stone and wood out of a chest and told her, "Here you go, you'll need an axe." Alex silently nodded and formed the stone into a blade before creating the wooden handle. She then crafted the axe and held it up proudly. Steve nodded, "Excellent, now if you'll follow m-"
He was cut off by a deep rumbling from outside. The two exited, being greeted by the night sky, and saw a pair of purple eyes watching them. An enderman stepped forward from the shadows, Steve pulled out his sword before realising something: This one had a dark purple cape and a bluish-green sword with an ender pearl in the center. It spoke, something that shocked them both, "I must thank you, human, for ridding the nearby village of my master's enemies, however the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend, so I'm afraid that the both of you must be removed, goodbye..."
