It's amazing what an overexcited little girl can get done in only a week.
Brooke had finished their castle, made of nether brick, tall and looming elegantly by the cliff. The first floor being a simple living area, the second a kitchen, a library; it seemed to go on and on and on. The bedrooms were simple but lovely, the top a dark magic room leading directly to the power flower at the top.
Rythian whistled. "This is a proper mage tower." He said, impressed "Where did you learn to build?"
Brooke grinned proudly, spinning a wrench around in her fingers. "I was something of a prodigy back home for architecture…so you really like it?" she said happily
Rythian nodded "Definitely. I was going to build something like this before but….never mind. What do you feel like doing today?"
"Hmm…" the girl checked her ruby red bag "We've been running low on food lately. I suppose we could make a farm later, but honestly fresh meat is quicker and tastes better. Want to go hunt?"
Rythian blinked. What an un-Zoeylike thing for her to say. But then again, he reminded himself; this was not a little Zoey, even if they looked alike. "Uh, sure. Let me go put some stuff away."
Five minutes later, they were standing outside the tower. Brooke wearing leather armor dyed green, bow and arrow in hand. Rythian hadn't bothered with camouflage and had his red katar. They flew to make less noise and headed into the expansive forest.
By sundown, they had bagged enough game to keep them well fed for a while. Brooke daintily carried a half dozen chickens by the feet while Rythian was stuck dragging two adult cows, only made possible by their flying rings.
Soon the moaning behind them started, and Rythian cursed. "I knew we shouldn't have stayed out so long." The creatures of the night seemed to be appearing everywhere around them, and they were already exhausted. "Brooke, you brought your sword with you this time, right?"
Brooke's face turned pink and she shook her head. Seeing Rythian's angry face she said "I'm sorry, okay? It's too heavy for me!" she said indignantly but picked up her bow. "I have some rope. Just tie the stuff around your waist, and I'm sure we can make it back to the house." She tossed him some rope, and with some difficulty tied the heavy game to their waists. They landed to conserve energy and began battling.
Rythian was effortlessly killing the mobs in one hit each, fighting his way towards the house. As he reached a break in the waves of skeletons and zombies, he looked back at Brooke.
She had dealt fairly well with them, but was already out of arrows. This meant that with only her shining dagger, they were getting dangerously close to her and landing some hits. However, they were all being taken down rather quickly. He began to make a path towards her. It was as effortless as usual until she gasped.
Rythian's veins seemed to pump with ice. An enderman was right behind him and Brooke was too far away to take him out from behind. He simply looked a Brooke calmly, looking around for water to dive into once stabbing the enderman, when he saw something green sneaking up behind Brooke.
"Zoey, watch out!" he yelled to her, and then his eyes widened. Not because of the perfect execution of stabbing the creeper in the head, but the fact that he accidentally let her name slip from his mouth. Shaking his head, he used the last of his klienstar's energy to fly over, scoop up Zoey-or Brooke rather, and decapitate the enderman before crashing in front of the castle, all of the weight going onto his head as he blacked out.
Rythian awoke in a warm bed with sunlight streaming through stained glass windows. Through his still blurred vision, he saw the outline of a pale face and red hair bandaging his arm. He was about to call out "Zoey? When did you get here?" When his vision cleared and he realized it was Brooke, who looked down at him and smiled a little.
"Nice of you to drop by. How are you feeling?" she asked him kindly, her arms and legs also covered in bandages.
He checked himself mentally. His head still ached, though he didn't believe he had a concussion, his body was only a little sore, he could think clearly, and his mask was….where was his mask!?
Reading his facial features, Brooke gently pushed his shoulders back onto the bed and gave him his mask, hardly looking at what it was concealing.
His skin slowly faded to a black with purple tint where the mask usually was. When his ender side had taken over, his lips had vanished and his whole mouth had taken the form of the enderman's jaw, but as Zoey returned way back when, everything was slowly turning even better than normal, his lips back, mouth a regular human form, but his skin had yet to turn normal.
Rythian closed his eyes, not sure if he was angry, sad, or embarrassed. Without opening them he said simply "It's okay. You can go back to your village. I won't stop you."
Brooke rolled her eyes "I'm not leaving, after I built this masterpiece here. But, after calling me Zoey and now this…you have some explaining to do, Mr. Hero."
He looked at the girl in disbelief. She was a caring soul, just like the girl he mourned. He sat up, took a sip of water which slightly scalded his lips, and began speaking in a slow in steady voice.
"Fine, have it your way. Go ahead and sit down, this will take a while." Brooke sat down obediently, an inexplicable hope in her eyes.
Rythian sat up in his bead and gazed out the window. "Let me tell you a story. About a boy and a girl, in a land of magic and monsters…"