Fun fact: In this world of Minecraftia, animals are significantly more lively than how they are in Minecraft. They often travel in groups and wander across the surface of the Overworld in search of food and shelter.
I woke up to see bright light shining on my face. It was the morning sun. Fortunately, I wasn't as tired as I had been last night, so I managed to pull myself out of bed much easier. I stretched out my arms and legs, listening to my bones crackle as I went, before walking out the room into the living room.
Our house wasn't that big, so the bedrooms were four-by-four, while the living room was five-by-six. Fortunately, that was more than enough space to live in without feeling too cramped, and we had room for our chests and furniture, so I had no complaints. I noticed Alex already sitting down at a chair, helping herself to a delicious-looking apple. I felt my stomach growl at the sight of the fruit and pings of hunger jabbed at my body as I realized I never ate dinner last night. No wonder I was starving. I went over to the food chest and helped myself to an apple as well as a loaf of bread.
"Good morning Steven." Alex greeted. I brought the food back to the dining table she was eating at.
"Same to you." I replied and proceeded to chomp down on the apple, making a loud Schho as my teeth bit into it.
"Did ya have another dream last night?" she asked. I thought to myself for a moment while I munched on the apple, breaking it into particles. I might've had some kind of dream, but I couldn't recall anything at all.
"Nope." I responded.
"Well, it's pretty strange how you describe them to me." she replied. Since about a week ago, I had been getting these weird dreams in my sleep. I remembered one night dreaming about fighting mobs, and then about fire, and then I recalled having a dream about mining iron ore while a cow was trying to eat my pickaxe. That one was especially weird.
"Yeah, well, dreams are pretty strange." I pointed out, then finished off my apple. I felt my stomach settle somewhat as my body gained strength.
"I gotta agree with that." she responded as she finished off her apple. Then, Alex got out of her seat. "Well, I need to get to work." I tried to think about what her job would be today. Yesterday, she had gone fishing... so that must mean she would be doing some farming today.
"Good luck." I told her. She shrugged.
"Thanks, it's going to be lame, but that's just life sometimes." she responded.
"I'm looking forward to hunting today though." I said. It was always exciting to think about what I might find, although Alex and I had a strict no-killing-pigs policy, since we had Joey.
"Best of luck to you." was the last thing she said before she left the front door, closing it behind her. I got to work on the loaf of bread, reducing it to particles within a moment.
I noticed Joey emerge from the entrance of his piggy house into our home. He looked excited to see me and snorted, pushing into me with his head.
"Good morning buddy." I said as I took a carrot out of my inventory and tossed it at him. He looked at it and hesitated for a moment before eating it. He probably wanted a potato, but those were treats, not meals. With Joey now fed, I got up and began to head towards the door. But then, Joey ran over and stopped me. He clearly wanted to play, but I had to get to work. I looked down at him and gave him a rub on the head.
"Sorry buddy, but I gotta get to work." I said to him, but his face became frustrated. He started squealing and I knew what he wanted.
"No, no, no, you can't come with me. I'm going hunting today, and you could become a target for one of the other hunters if you go." I told him. He still looked angry and I bent down to him.
"Look, how about this? I'll take you to the stables where there are other animals and you can play there. Sound good?" Joey looked forwards for a moment, thinking, before he looked back up and squealed happily, a smile covering his face. "Good, then let's go. I'll just need to let Ms. Sandston know in advance so she doesn't come over today." I said and we headed out, making our way over to Ms. Sandston's home.
Within a moment, we had arrived at a fairly small house made of cobblestone with log supports. I knocked on her oak door and waited a few moments before she opened it.
She was an adult who looked to be in her late twenties(I wasn't sure though, because it wasn't polite to ask a woman for her age). She had blond hair and a kind face. She looked surprised to see me.
"Oh, hello there, Steve." she greeted.
"Hey, uh, I just came by to let you know that Joey's going to be at the stables today, so you don't need to come over and take care of him." I informed. She nodded in understanding.
"Okay, thanks for letting me know." she replied. I nodded back.
"Uh huh." She closed the door, and I brought Joey over to the stables, which was pretty close by-only two houses to the right of Ms. Sandston. As I brought Joey in, I let the stable owner, Mr. Garret, know about the situation.
"You can count on me. I'll keep your pig nice and comfy." he said as I handed Joey off to him. Joey said goodbye to me with a final squeal before he ran off to greet the horses. Now with that situation done and over with, I left and made my way towards the woods.
Our village was within a plains biome technically. but the woods surrounded it on all sides except for one. The forest we lived in was an oak forest where animals often frolicked due to having a lot of grass patches. The reason why we had to go hunting instead of raising animals to slaughter was apparently one of the cities that governed ours banned large animal farms in smaller villages due to inhumane living conditions for the animals that couldn't be easily resolved. I didn't really have an opinion on that law, but it definitely made things more complicated when it came to getting food.
We were normally supposed to hunt by ourselves and always wear an orange article of clothing while we did, so I pulled out my leather chestplate and equipped it. The orange clothing was to make it so if two hunters encountered each other, they would notice the orange and not accidentally shoot at each other.
As I entered the forest, I pulled out my bow and held an arrow to it, preparing myself for the day ahead of me. I headed deeper into the forest.
By the time I stopped, I had traveled a good dozen chunks or so. Animals knew about our village, so they often stayed far away from it, so we had to venture deeper into the woods to get to them. I listened to the sounds of the forest, trying to see or hear any sign of movement. After a couple moments, I heard what sounded like a heavy creature moving around the tall brush ahead of me. Instantly, I snuck behind a tree and looked at the brush. It was a thick bush of grass, but I could see a big cow eating at the smaller grass on the ground. Excited, I raised my bow and aimed steadily. I wanted to make sure the animal couldn't hear me, so I readied my arrow as quietly as I could manage.
Listening to the serene wind blowing through the forest trees, I breathed in before I let my arrow loose. The projectile flew through the air before it struck the cow in the side, causing it to let out of pained cry before falling over sideways and exploding into white particles, leaving a piece of raw beef and leather behind. I ran over to the spoils and collected them, stuffing them away into my inventory. By the end of the day, I was hoping to have at least five kills.
It took another long moment before I noticed a sheep wander over to another bush near the original, looking for food. In that moment, I raised another arrow to my bow and readied myself. Then, I shot the arrow towards the sheep, but the arrow landed in the bush right in front of it. The wooly creature jumped in surprise, then noticed me and ran off.
"Drat!" I cursed as I ran over to the arrow I had just shot and picked it back up. I wasn't that great at using a bow yet. I had just started learning a couple months ago, and I still had a lot to learn. I just wasn't that good at calculating trajectory yet. I went back to my hiding spot and waited. This had to be a really good spot if two animals had wandered here within a short span of time, so I decided I would stay here for the rest of the day.
By the end of the day, I had gotten six kills. I had three raw mutton, two raw beef, and one raw chicken. With my good haul, I made my way back to the village, relying on my map to find the way back. Once I had gotten back, I handed my spoils over to Mr. Sandlett, who was the village cooker. He paid me back-two emeralds for each mutton, one emerald for the chicken, and four for each raw beef, so I ended up with fifteen emeralds. Taking my earnings with me, I went on my way back to my home.
Being a hunter for the village was sometimes very rewarding, although it entirely depended on what animals you hunted. If you could only find chickens, then you weren't going to make a lot of money. Pigs and cows were the most rewarding to hunt, though I let any pigs I found escape.
Once I went into my house, I saw Alex and Joey sitting in the living room. The moment I saw the look on her face, I knew I had done something wrong.
"Oh crap! Yeah, sorry, I forgot to stop by and tell you that Joey was at the stables." I said to her. She gave me an annoyed look.
"Yeah, I was pretty surprised to see neither Joey or Ms. Sandston at the house. You really should've let me know."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." I said, putting both hands on the sides of my head in shame.
"So, anyways, you went hunting, right? How was that?" she asked.
"Um, pretty great actually. I managed to bring in fifteen emeralds." I told her, pulling them out.
"Not bad at all." she replied. "Well, I purchased some rabbit stew, so we both can have that." Hearing that made my eyes widen. I LOVED rabbit stew.
"That's amazing, thanks!" I responded.
"I figured that's what you'd want to hear." she said, chuckling to herself. "Which is why I lied. I got steak instead." My smile went away. I stared at her, feeling completely and utterly betrayed. She looked back at me, and her smile grew wider.
"I'm kidding, here it is." she said as she pulled a bowl of rabbit stew out of her inventory and tossed it to me. I caught it before it could fall on the floor. Then, I looked back at her and pointed.
"You... you have a sense of humor that I don't understand sometimes." I told Alex as I sat in the seat next to her. She smirked back.
"I could say the same about you." she responded as she pulled out her own. "Let's do a cheer." I looked at her with surprise, but raised my bowl with hers. "To being weird, and having a unique sense of humor!" she said and we both tapped our wooden bowls together. I did in fact feel weird doing that, so she was right. Then, we both went to consuming our meals. I made sure to savor every bite of the delicacy, tasting its warm and meaty flavor, wishing the feeling could last forever. Within a moment, I had fully consumed the meal, leaving nothing but an empty wooden bowl in my hand.
After we were both finished, I gave a carrot to Joey for him to snack on. Alex decided to turn in for the night. Realizing how late it was, I did too and returned to my room, taking the time to rummage through things in my chest and put away my hunter equipment. I had to prepare for tomorrow, when I would be going fishing. Who knows, I might be able to catch a fishing rod like my sister did.
Once I was done, I went onto my bed and lay down on my back, feeling the tiredness growing as I lay upon my comfy sheets. Within a moment, slumber overtook me, and I drifted off into the dreamscape.