Alexander's eyes opened slowly. Another person was standing in front of him, accompanied by a wolf in a bright pink collar. They were huddled inside a tiny shed, built haphazardly of spruce wood. Alex tried not to lean against the wall in fear that it would collapse under his weight. He heard a voice calling softly to him.
"Hey..." The person the voice belonged to, who wore a blue jacket and had long brown hair, shoved what looked like a repurposed stone pressure plate in front of him, atop which sat a single loaf of bread.
"Eat the bread. It should probably make you feel better. When you're done eating, I'll explain this whole situation." Alex tried to break the loaf into smaller pieces with his hands, but it was so hard that he needed to use his wooden shovel to cut it. Though it was nearly stale, he was so happy to have something other than raw porkchops to eat that it didn't matter to him.
"Sorry about the bread. Here's the deal: you were hiding in this little hole in the ground, right? And then a creeper must have found you down there, because I found you lying in a crater, all banged up. Also, you have a couple of burns, because you fell asleep on your torch. I took as many of your items as I could. Did you just get out from the Academy?" Riverstream Academy of Crafting was possibly the most well-known school in Minecraftia, training students in the art of building and crafting. Of course, many of the students went in the opposite direction. One person even went on to become the leader of a huge griefing team.
"Yeah. I guess I didn't have a great... first night out here. By the way, what's your name? My name's Alexander."
"I'm Bennett Flynn... but you can call me... Ace. Sorry I forgot to introduce myself." Alex cringed at that. He hated it when people tried to look "cool" in front of others. Besides, the person didn't even look "cool". He wore bell-bottom jeans and a thick red and green belt. But Alex let it slide. After all, this polite, friendly (as far as he knew) stranger had taken him in, and he was not going to be rude to him.
"OK, this might come off as a little creepy, but... can I, um, stay in your house overnight?"
Ace chuckled. "Well, sure. I mean, you're going to have to stay here for quitea while." A half-grin broke across the stranger's face. "Really, isn't it basic knowledge that sleeping right next to aburningstick is dangerous?" Alex weakly nudged his new friend in the side.