"But how are you supposed to build a house with skeletons around?" asked Sollux.
Karkat shouted to the air at Sollux's disembodied voice, "I don't know! You're the master of this game! Can I build a weapon of some sort?"
"You can build a sword," said Sollux, "Some twigs and stone."
A few zombies nearby were walking towards Karkat with their eyes(?) locked on him. Karkat wasted no time building himself a weapon. He put some stone blocks on the table, slapped on a twig, and made himself a stone sword. The blade shown in the sun- except it was night so it didn't, it shown in the moonlight- except moonlight is sunlight reflected off the moon's surface so theoritically the sword did shine in the sun. Except it didn't shine because it was a coarse-looking piece of shit.
Karkat took the blade in his right hand and stared down the zombies, "Why doesn't this stupid game have a sickle? I'm completely out of my element!"
They shambled their way close to Karkat groaning as they moved with their arms stuck out like they were being dragged by their rotting hands.
Karkat roared as he ran up to the ghouls and jumped into the air. He took both hands to the blade's handle and swung the sword down the zombie's body. The festering creature fell back and disappeared into a burst of smoke.
Before Karkat could act again, one of the zombies slapped him right on the face.
He backed away and wiped his face, "Ew-w-w-w-w! Fuck! "
"What's wrong?" asked Sollux.
"What's wrong!" Karkat shouted, "That zombie just touched me! I got zombie on me!"
"Complain about it later, KK," said Sollux, "You got some zombies to slay and a house to build."
Karkat gritted his teeth and charged the two zombies once again. He first sliced into the one that dared touch him and then stabbed the other. While they were both dazed, Karkat then chopped at both of them a few more times. Both zombies fell "dead".
"How many more do I got to kill?" asked Karkat.
Sollux cleared his throat, "Uhhhh... until morning."
"What do you mean 'until morning'?" asked Karkat.
"They keep respawning," said Sollux, "They all burst into flames when morning comes. You'll have to wait until then."
"Fuck dammit!" said Karkat. He took a look around, "Okay, no one's around. Let's build a house."
He walked over to his crafting bench which had become the closest thing to a home base he had. There was the hole he dug earlier nearby, and some trees at arm's length. On the ground he had stacked a number of dirt blocks, stone blocks, and whatever was left of his wood blocks. Karkat sheathed his sword.
The first layer of wall came up easy. Karkat took the remaining wooden blocks he had and built a square frame on the ground around his workbench.
"Fuck!" said Karkat, "I'm out of wooden longboards!"
"Use dirt or stone if you have to," said Sollux, "Gravel and sand are the only blocks that drop when you place them."
"I'm not living in a house made of dirt!" said Karkat, "Forget it, I'll punch down some more trees."
He took a quick look into the nearby forest to spot any more zombies, but everything seemed clear. A quick in and out was what he wanted. He took to the nearest tree and began punching it down like before. The short tree toppled over and transformed into a pile of wood blocks and saplings. Karkat left the saplings alone and took the wood.
'How much will I need?' he asked himself in though.
As he approached his next tree, he began hearing a screechy hissing sound. Karkat drew his sword he looked around for the creature, but even as he moved along the forest, he couldn't see anything behind the trees.
Karkat scratched his head, "Where are y-!"
Something had attacked from the top. Karkat fell to the ground and dropped his sword. When he looked ahead, he was staring down a giant yellow-eyed spider with sharp fangs and black fur.
"Damn it!" Karkat shouted as he grabbed his sword.
The spider approached him slowly for a second strike, but before the spider could leap, Karkat swung at it with his sword and struck its face. The spider was knocked back, but not slain. It hopped once again at Karkat and before he could get up from the ground, the spider had pinned him down. The sword once again fell from his hands.
Karkat screamed as the spider's fang drew close to his neck. The feel of the arachnid's smooth, wet tooth rubbing up against his skin was enough to make him spasm in disgust. He used all his strength to push himself off the ground, pull the spider off of his body, and whip the beast against a nearby tree, felling the tree and slaying the spider both!
"Ugh!" Karkat screamed as he wiped his neck, "Why does every monster around here have to be so disgusting?"
"That was a spider," said Sollux, "It can climb walls."
Karkat could only grumble in annoyance.
The tree that the spider was thrown against had disassembled into a pile of saplings and wooden blocks. Karkat took the blocks and looked around for his sword. Grabbing his sword, Karkat ran back to his to-be shelter and dropped the wood on the ground. No monsters closeby, but he could see a few skeletons and a pair of green stick monsters in the distance.
He began converting the wood trunks into wooden boards and continued building his walls.
"Make sure you leave room for a doorway," said Sollux.
Karkat didn't answer. The second layer of his wood wall was going at a moderate pace. He walked backwards along the wooden frame dropping wooden boards along the way. Before long he had his second layer although he neglected the idea of a doorway.
"Take out two blocks going down," said Sollux, "We'll put a door there."
Still silent, Karkat took out two wooden blocks going down, leaving a space in his wall. He walked up to the bench before spotting a touch of green just over his hole's edge.
"Ack!" Karkat shouted, "What is it? A zombie?"
"No, KK," said Sollux, "It's a creeper! If it gets close to you it'll explode!"
"Explode!" said Karkat, "Why the fuck would it do that? Is it suicidal?"
"Uh..." mumbled Sollux, "Yeah, I guess so."
Karkat scowled, and edged close to the pit. He drew his blade and brought it afront his body. It wasn't a sickle but standard one-handed weapon protocol remained. Karkat could see the creeper hopping up and down the steps he made for the hole. With a steady hand, Karkat zipped up to the hole and swung aimlessly into it, hoping to strike the "creeper". After swinging the sword like a madman, he took a second to look down the hole and see if anything was still living.
The creeper remained. Karkat had swung it, but the green stick monster looked at Karkat with angry and melancholic black eyes. He began hopping up the steps- towards Karkat.
"God damn!" said Karkat.
He swung again but missed. The creature was resilient. Maybe swords could not destroy it. Karkat looked around for something- anything- that could kill the beast. But there was nothing else around, just piles of stone, dirt, and wood.
"Fuck this!" said Karkat.
He picked up a dirt block and placed it on the stairway. It was too high for the creeper to climb up. Karkat leaned over the edge to see what the creeper was doing and fell back when the creeper poked out from behind the cliff. Frantically, Karkat took another block and made the steep higher. He took some more blocks and covered up the hole completely.
Karkat laughed in triumph, "Haha! Take that you stupid eldritch vegetable!"
It was another small victory for Karkat, but the night was still young. The moon had barely left the horizon. Monsters still dwelled and he hadn't finished his house. Would he survive? We shall see. Or shall we? Yes, we shall.
