Chapter Three: Preparing for a Journey

The next morning, Steve and Jimmy set out for the town. Walking through the darkish forest, Steve stared at the darkening sky and sighed.

"Is… something wrong?" Jimmy asked, pulling his hands farther into his penguin hoodie.

"Well," Steve paused to check his inventory. "It's kind of dark out. Storm's brewing. We probably shouldn't leave until this afternoon."

They started walking again, snow crunching beneath boots.

"Oh," Jimmy answered, narrowly dodging a stray cat as the two of them approached the village. "So are we still going to leave or…"

"We probably can still leave, but we might need to ride through the night, and that could be dangerous," Steve answered, waving to a few villagers as the passed. He gave Phineas a high-five as he passed the kid, and together, they walked farther towards the stonemason's. "Can you or Elli fight?" He asked.

"I got formal training," Jimmy shrugged. "Like, as a guard, but Elli wasn't ever trained to do anything but hunt passive mobs."

"Huh," Steve answered, as they stood in line for the stonemason's. "You certainly had a different upbringing."

"Well, yeah," Jimmy answered. "I grew up with other minecraftians. Didn't you…?"

Steve shrugged. "I grew up here, with the villagers." They reached the front of the line.

"Oh, morning, Steve," The villager at the front, Tyrone, smiled as he looked up. "Are you here to sell? We need more granite."

"Oh, yeah, actually," Steve answered, pulling out a few stacks of granite to exchange for a bunch of emeralds. "Anything new?"

Tyrone shrugged. "Nah. But I heard Brad and Shelly just got a new shipment of woodland maps. They're selling like hotcakes if you want one!"

"I'll think about it," Steve answered. "Alex and I-"

Tyrone cut him off, finally noticing Jimmy. "Did you too have a kid? Wow… minecraftian childhoods must be even faster than-"

"No, no, he's not our kid," Steve interrupted. "He's a… friend. Staying with us for a bit."

"...Oh," Tyrone looked disappointed by this, but that was his only statement. "Ah, well. I also heard that Dr. Green got one of those fancy-like mushroom cows and a calf. She's selling stew two bucks a pop."

"Thank you," Steve answered.

"You're welcome," Tyrone grinned.

Steve sighed and led Jimmy away from the stand. As soon as they were far enough away, however, Jimmy looked at Steve in awe.

"What?" Steve asked with a slight laugh as they passed the well.

"You… you speak perfect villagerish," Jimmy whispered. "That's amazing?"

"Villagerish?" Steve asked, staring down Jimmy. "What do you mean? This is Minecraftian."

"Well, yes, but," Jimmy sighed. "Villagerish is a dialect. You speak it almost fluently."

"Huh," Steve answered. "I did not realize that I was speaking a… different language."

"That's awesome…" Jimmy whispered in awe. He blinked. "Anyway, shouldn't we head back to the house?"

Steve shrugged. "Yeah, we should. Any more questions?"

They began walking back to the house. Jimmy shrugged. "What's a woodland?"

"It's like… a really dense forest," Steve answered. "With dark oak trees and very large mushrooms. Haven't you ever seen one?"

Jimmy smiled wryly. "Elli and I don't get out much."

"Oh, speaking of which," Steve started suddenly, remembering his question. "Where is your home anyway?"

Jimmy glanced around uneasily, before he whispered it. "We're under a mountain."

"Oh, really?" Steve asked, surprised. "That's the last place I would check."

"I think the adults were hoping it would also work for Herobrine," Jimmy answered as they entered the clearing where Alex and Steve's house was. Alex and Elli were busy saddling up two horses and a pair of mules.

Elli giggled when one of the mules nosed her hands. Holding the lead close to her body, the creature was calm as Alex placed a worn leather saddle and two chests onto the animal's back.

"Oh, you're back," Alex smiled, looking up from the mule and taking the lead from Elli. "Are you guys ready to leave?"

Jimmy nodded as Alex handed him the lead to the mule. Elli unhitched the other one, climbing on. He scrambled up and almost fell off, but managed to hold himself upright.

Steve climbed into the saddle of his horse and Alex urged her black mare beside him.

She smiled at Elli. "Lead the way."

Elli urged the mule into a trot, riding through the forest and towards the path Alex had taken to get to Steve back.

As they began riding, Alex steered her mare closer to Steve's gelding, to the point that they're feet were almost touching.

"How was hanging with Elli?" Steve asked, stroking his horse's neck.

"Fine," Alex shrugged. "She's kind of okay. How was Jimmy? Did you learn anything?"

"They live under a mountain," Steve shrugged. "I don't know much else, but apparently when we talk to villagers we use a different dialect than when we talk to one another."

"Odd," Alex lamented. 'But I can see it, yeah."

"They also have some sort of class system," Steve added. "Jimmy is closer to the top than Elli. Also, he didn't know what a woodland was."

"That's… worrying," Alex answered, biting her lip as Elli urged her horse into a canter.

"It is?" Steve asked, speeding up to stay beside Alex. "Why?"

"Herobrine told me some of the creatures that live in the woodland are… magical," Alex answered. "Like witches, but much, much worse."

"Oh," Steve shuddered in his saddle as they entered a massive, open field. He urged his horse a bit faster. "That's terrifying."

"We probably won't have to deal with it," Alex answered, patting her mare's neck. "They won't come after us."

Steve smiled slightly, before he and Alex sped up to catch up to the kids.

Over the next few days, almost a week, they rode together across the prairies, fields, mountains and forests. At one point they had to ferry their horses across a sea, but when they finally arrived, Alex was speechless.

"Welcome to our home," Elli nodded towards the large hill. "Dragon's horns mountain."

Review Replies:

JimmyPenguin421: Yes it is, and I felt it necessary to let everyone know.

ElbertTheCookie: Aww, thank you.

Moatasabou4: Well, yes, of course.

Note: I need to explain. Herobrine is returning EVENTUALLY. I can't promise it'll be this story, but he will return.