Muahahaahaa! Greetings, traveler! Welcome, come, and view my latest creation! If you don't, things could get very bad for you. Muahahahahahaaaaa!

*Cough.* Uh… yeah. Sorry I've been gone. By the way, school started. Good so far. I caught my sister's cold, turns out one man's cold is another's fanfiction chapter. Updates will be slower, but I promise I'm not abandoning this thing. I'm very excited about where this is going :3 Either way, Follow, favorite, review, they all help. Most of all, enjoy!

I DO NOT OWN MINECRAFT, ONLY MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS.

Friendship

"SCAWRAWK, SCAWRAWK, SCAWRAWK!" Jonathan jolted awake and fell off Farmer Brown's modest couch where he had been sleeping. Rubbing his head, he used an arm to push himself off the floor and squint at Hawk, who was flying circled about the room, making a ruckus.

"Scawrawk, scawrawk!" He shrieked, doing a loop over Farmer Brown, who had stumbled down the hallway wielding a pitchfork, before he swooped over the smoking coals of the hearth and presumably flew up the chimney. They could still hear him shrieking as he woke up the others in the barn.

"I am never sleeping in a house with him again." Jonathan remarked, taking Brown's proffered hand. The farmer just grunted in agreement. Moving outside, Brown went to stabbing a zombie sheltering under the lee of the house with his pitchfork, leaving Jonathan to observe the chaos unfolding outside the barn.

"CATCH THAT PIGEON!" The barn door swung slightly and Hawk emerged still in bird form, followed closely by Slime. Hawk was obviously having a grand time, hovering just above Slime's outstretched hands. Still screaming, Slime leaped the bird swooped and clawed at the air, about to turn the corner of the barn.

Suddenly, Chase shot from behind the barn wall, where he had set up an ambush. Tackling Hawk to the ground, he laughed maniacally as the shifter turned back into a person.

"Get off me you fool." Hawk sputtered, waving vaguely with his hands. Slime was grinning widely. "How's it feel, Pigeon?" he called.

"I am not a pigeon!" The shifter shouted.

"Pidgeon." Trouble chuckled, coming out of the barn. Waving a hand at Jonathan and Brown, he asked, "You ready?"

"How did you know we were here?" Jonathan called.

"Brown hasn't washed in a week!" Turning in surprise, Jonathan was in time to witness the farmer's face turn a vivid shade of red.

"I'll go and get my things." He said cooly, returning inside the house.

Half an hour later, everyone had packed and was ready to go. Two days after that, Jonathan was rocking gently on the gray horse he had brought before to help his friend. Slime was seated with his back against Jonathan's, watching their rear for robbers.

Hawk flew lazy circles overhead; being in the air allowed for much faster travel than a walking horse, but he had to hold back to allow the others to catch up. Chase and Trouble both sat atop a white mare, while Jonathan rode his donkey.

When they arrived at the riverside city a plan was quickly discussed at the side of the road. Bret and Luna, Chase and Trouble's mare, would find a comfortable home in a rental stable for the next few days (the spawn and Father Jonathan had all assured Brown they would be more than happy to pay for his share) while the natives (again, Chase and his brother) rented a boat big enough to take them all upstream. Slime insisted on waiting by the bank, and, much to Hawk's chagrin, ordered the newbie to come with him.

"This is boorring." Hawk groaned, plunking a small stone into the wide waters of the river. They had been sitting for approximately fifteen minutes, which was more than Slime had initially given the kid credit for.

"It's only been fifteen minutes." Slime responded absentmindedly. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the little-over-a-teen pull rushes as he lay on his stomach, half hanging over the water's edge.

There was a moment of silence, then rustling, a sharp thwack, and a sharp cry of pain. Slime instantly produced his sword, only to see his self-appointed charge sucking his thumb as he glared at the reeds.

"Careful." The older spawn sighed, leaning back on the heels of his palms in the mud. It was cool and calming, shaded by a sapling willow.

"I was careful." Hawk muttered around his thumb. He looked like a toddler. A gnarly, red-haired toddler with a narrow face.

"Stop sucking that." Slime growled, grabbing Hawk's hand and pulling it from his mouth. He inspected the wound carefully, a paper cut at best, but produced a small length of cloth and wrapped it around the thumb. "There." He grunted, releasing Hawk to fiddle the bandaged thumb.

Another, precious minute of silence, and then:

"Do you think they'll be okay?"

"Hmm?" Slime glanced at Hawk in surprise. He was looking at the settlement downriver, a good three hundred yards from here.

"They'll come back, right?"

"Of course they will." He snorted. "It's only a trip to town. I thought you'd be used to the city by now."

Another moment of silence, then Hawk broke again. "Forest doesn't let us explore." Slime sat up again in surprise.

"Really?"

"Well, he does." Hawk continued. "But Falcon and I have to stay in animal form. Says so we won't get in trouble." Slime winced, that was why he'd asked the kid to come with him. "Forest was nice before, but now he's all bent up about those books in the library and he doesn't have time for us." Hawk turned big orange eyes on Slime. "The city's a scary place, Slimeball. There's a lot to see when nobody cares you're there."

"You can just call me Slime." Slimeball muttered, glancing back at the town for their ferry. Hawk's worried banter had made him realize that maybe the newbie wasn't as innocent as he seemed. He may have been a spawn, but as any creature goes, he was young, and probably scared. Nervous, at least.

"Hey, kid." Slime punched Hawk, who had lapsed into another moment of reflective silence, gently in the shoulder. "You like games?"

Hawk glanced up, his orange eyes alight again with the fire that Slime was starting to enjoy. "A game?"

"We've got about five minutes until they-" he pointed to where the small sailboat carrying their company had come into view, "-row all the way up here. Person who gets the most wood blocks before they land wins." Hawk's eyes lit even brighter, and he grinned mischievously. "You're on!"