A/N: Here's another chapter :) Yesterday was, once again, a challenge - I had homework and my parents insisted on talking colleges, so I couldn't work on it until late. But, here it is! Hope you like.

"I swear to Notch I jinxed myself," Steve grumbled as he mined the last of the gold blocks that had been deliberately and inconveniently placed around his house, specifically inhibiting pathways to windows and doors. Sighing, he placed the heavy blocks in his inventory. It had taken him a lot of effort to clear his yard, so he decided that this time he would keep the blocks – maybe sell them later, for the ore was valuable to potion makers and circuitry forges for redstone rail contraptionists. At the very least, it would force the perpetrator to hold off on his trademark pranks – although, that kid somehow managed to always turn up more of the stuff. How, no one knew.

Steve stretched, holding his arms over his head. The muscles ached from being forced to work before they could rest and recover from his escapade into The End. Opening the door to his house, he stepped inside and closed it behind him, a sense of relief stealing over him. Now, he was truly home – in his house, in his land, in his world. Nothing could touch him here – no mobs, no ridiculous jokester kids, no freaking Ender Dragons.

Before he did anything else, he stored his diamonds, gold blocks and redstone ore in his vault chest, as well as the chunks of Lapis Lazuli in a special compartment. The blue stone was dusty; more loosely grained than other materials, and could be used to make dye – however, it also had the potential to stain whatever he stored it with.

Dropping his diamond tools on the kitchen table, he wandered into his other storage room and opened the chest that held his spare coal stacks. Selecting about a dozen pieces, Steve walked over to his smelting furnaces and placed his collected gold and iron ore in the oven slots, the coal in the fuel burners below. Setting the blocks to cook and extract the precious metals from the stone, he moved on to another of his storage chests. In this one, he placed what remained of his armor – a sturdy diamond chestplate and some diamond boots with a Feather Falling enchantment. It wasn't the best equipment, but if it could hold up against an Ender Dragon, it was just fine for him.

Speaking of which, he had to figure out what he was going to do with the egg. It was the only remaining item in his inventory.

Removing it, he held it in his arms and set it on the kitchen table. It looked completely out of place in his humble wooden house, not to mention entirely conspicuous. He couldn't just leave it sitting around in plain view should someone came knocking – what would he say, 'Come on in; don't mind the massive egg of the world's greatest threat resting on the kitchen table'? Yeah, that would blow over well.

I have to store it somewhere… it feels wrong to just stick it in a chest, though. It almost felt… disrespectful. He felt almost guilty, having killed the mother of the unborn hatchling in a hard-won battle, and he had been thinking about shoving her child in a box. He winced at the thought. That was cruel, even though he knew there really wasn't anyone to judge him, and he resolved not to do so for the health of his own moral conscience at the very least.

But that left the question – what was he going to do with it? He held his chin in thought, and glanced over at the back wall of his house, contemplating.

His house had been built into the side of a cliff, the back wall consisting of the smooth stone surface. He didn't really have the time to build another room for the thing - the sun would set soon and it would be too dangerous to be outside constructing when mobs were roaming. Perhaps he could hollow out the side of the cliff? It would be faster, and the chance of a mob spawning was much lower.

Snatching his diamond pickaxe off the table, he set about carving out a medium-sized hole in the smooth stone, collecting the cobblestone as he worked. Eventually he had a square antechamber to the kitchen, the walls completely made of smooth stone with the occasional dirt block in the floor. Placing a torch on the wall to prevent unwanted guests, he went back to the storage room to access his crafting table and make a door.

Satisfied, he opened the door to the simple little complex, and grabbed the egg back off the table. Hauling the heavy object into the room, he set it down and placed one of the collected obsidian nest blocks in the center.

With a feeling of finality, he lifted the egg one last time, and placed it on the makeshift pedestal. Dusting off his hands, he smiled and walked out.

The egg was safely in storage, where no one would get to it. Now, he could really relax.

Dropping the remaining obsidian and cobblestone in his storage chests, he moved his diamond sword to the anvil, but decided to just leave it there. I'll fix it in the morning, he thought, exhaustion beginning to settle in.

Without much ceremony, he flopped down onto the wool mattress of his bed and quickly wrapped himself in the blanket. He sighed in contentment, his muscles relaxing as his body focused all remaining energy on the process of healing.

Outside, the sun dropped below the horizon, and Steve fell asleep.

A/N: Kinda short, but I figured this would be a somewhat important chapter. The next few chapters are going to be very crucial to several aspects of the story, so you better be paying attention ;)!

-Enderkit