Ridgedog learned the rules of adventuring quickly. If he didn't, he would've succumbed under the forces of nature or the creatures of the night. He was months into his journey to… somewhere, and he already acquired a diamond sword a talented blacksmith crafted for him. He grew to love his coat more and more, and treated it well. It kept him warm during the freezing night, where temperatures could potentially drop to below freezing.

Ridge walked through a small grove of woods, whistling to himself but keeping a steady pace at the same time. The grass crunched pleasantly under his boots as he ducked under low branches and weaved around thick tree trunks.

"This forest is pretty dense, for a small one," He observed carefully to himself.

Suddenly, a burst of unbearable pain exploded from his right shoulder. Ridge cried out and fell to his knees, his left hand flying to his wounded arm. An arrow, crudely made, was sticking out of his shoulder. Blood was pouring rapidly from the wound.

A rustle from the treetops caught Ridgedog's attention. He stood quickly, groaning at pain that came from his arm. He drew his diamond sword from a dark, wooden scabbard strapped across his back and held it to the ready, not sure what to expect from the unknown stranger or strangers.

"Who goes there?" He demanded. The arrow wound was still drawing blood, and now Ridge's breathing became heavy and labored.

The treetops rustled again, and a skinny figure dropped from the trees directly behind Ridge. He turned to face the person, but was met instead with a diamond sword to the throat.

"Don't move," The person warned him. "Or it won't be pretty."

Ridge thought that his pain was playing mind tricks on him. Standing in front of him was definitely not a man, or anything Ridge could think of. He wasn't a creature from darkness, but he was something different. Ridge didn't really worry about the person/creature he was facing right now; he was worrying for his life.

"Hey, man, it's cool." Ridge dropped his sword and put up his hands. "I'm not meaning any harm whatsoever."

The person/creature thing narrowed his icy blue eyes suspiciously. "That what they all say," he said softly.

"Look, I'm serious. I was just passing through! What else do you want me to say?" Ridge demanded. The person/creature still looked suspicious.

"You're just passing through?" He asked slowly.

"Yes."

"You mean no harm to this forest?"

"Yes! Wait, to the forest? What about you?"

"I don't care about myself! I care about these forests. These woods. They're disappearing rapidly, and I have to do all I can to keep them alive!" He spat angrily.

Suddenly, he lowered his sword and turned away. "Go."

"Wait, what?"

"You told me that you don't mean any harm to this forest, so go before I change my mind." The person/creature sounded unbelievably tired.

"No, tell me more. What's going on with this forest?" Ridge asked seriously. He picked up his sword and returned it to its scabbard. "Why are you protecting it?"

"Why should I tell you?" The person/creature asked bitterly.

"Because I might be able to help."

"Help?"

"Yeah, ever heard anything like it?"

"You're really willing to help?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be offering it." Ridge raised his eyebrows.

The person/creature turned around and smiled slightly at him. "Thanks, that means a lot."

Now that his life wasn't in immediate danger, Ridgedog took a moment to look over the person who he was helping. He looked like a regular man, but something about him was different, something that Ridge couldn't put his finger on. He had tousled yellow blonde hair, with a black headband half-hidden under it. His eyes were a piercingly icy blue, but they showed no hostility. He was quite skinny, and about a foot shorter than Ridge. Ridge was unnaturally tall, a six foot seven. The man in front of him looked like a five foot ten, but Ridge was only guessing. His eyebrows raised past his hair as he spotted a pair of pointed ears sticking out from the person's messy blonde hair.

His wear was a bit normal, to say the least. He was wearing a light green shirt, with an odd logo stitched onto it in a darker shade of green. He wore jeans with black sandals and sported a white backpack.

He caught Ridge staring. "What?" he demanded.

Ridge shook his head. "Nothing much, but you aren't human, are you?"

The man suddenly turned defensive. "What makes you think that?"

"Well for one…" Ridge thought. "You have pointed ears, which can hint that you are an Elf, but you also have this nature-like aura to you, plus the fact that you are guarding a forest, which can point to the possibility of being a forest spirit, a Druid. But Elves and Druids are pretty different compared to humans, and you look a lot like a human. So… I really don't know what you are." He winced as pain reminded him of his wounded shoulder, but stayed silent to hear the person's response.

The Druid/Elf/Human's eyes widened in surprise. "You're right," he said slowly. "I am all of those. I'm a mixed blood. I prefer forest spirit, if you don't mind. I'm surprised that you figured all of that out. You're quite observant."

"Thanks. It comes from my mom. Say, what's your name?" Ridge asked. "Mine is Ridgedog, but I usually go by Ridge."

"Inthelittlewood. But I prefer Martyn. With a 'y,'" He added. "So you said you were going to help me?"

"Yeah, can you fill me in on what's going on?" Ridge asked.

But before Martyn could explain, Ridgedog felt another unbearable wave of pain from his right shoulder. Everything turned fuzzy, and black spots danced in the corners of his vision. The last thing he heard was the distant sound of Martyn's panicked voice as everything went dark.

Ridge opened his eyes and blinked several times to get his eyes adjusted to the light. Realizing that he didn't know where he was, he sat up quickly, only to be rewarded with another burst of pain from his right shoulder. He groaned and laid back down.

Memories of what happened before he blacked out raced back to him. Martyn, the Forest Spirit. The arrow. The forest, and what was happening to it.

Ridge looked around him. He was laying on a makeshift bed, which only consisted of a sack stitched together with a bunch of wool stuffed into it. The blankets were well worn and moth-chewed, and the whole feeling reminded him of the past home.

A dying fire illuminated a small, secluded clearing in the middle of enormous, dense trunks. The flame was small, but it was enough to ward off any evil creatures and provided enough heat to keep Ridgedog from freezing to death.

He looked up and gasped audibly. The stars were splattered across the night sky like bright, glowing paint. Bright constellations and galaxies made up for the missing light that usually came from the moon. Ridge stared, and a sense of calm enveloped him like the moth-eaten blankets.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" A familiar voice pulled him back to Minecraftia. Ridge looked over and saw Martyn leaning against a tree, looking up at the sky with him.

"Yeah, I never saw this many stars…" He breathed.

Martyn chuckled. "This is what the night sky would look like without any light pollution. Unfortunately, forests, plains and deserts like this one are the only places where you can see these beautiful stars now. I try my best to protect them. I want everyone to see how beautiful nature is and how lucky we are to have it."

Ridge nodded. "It's amazing. I've always liked nature. The flowers, the different types of trees, the soft snow, but nothing compares to this." He gestured at the sky above them.

"Yeah…" Martyn smiled. "I could watch these stars forever. Hopefully I'll be able to."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a forest spirit. I don't die until my forests die. As long as there are still woods like these, protected from human hands, I will continue to live and protect them."

"Wow. Is it lonely?"

"Sometimes, but the forest critters keep me company. I do sometimes wish for a companion, but that might never happen. So far, I think I'm the only forest spirit. I guess I'm something like a… Sapling King or something." He smiled thoughtfully at the title.

"I'm sorry," Ridge muttered solemnly.

"Don't sweat it. How old are you?"

"Sixteen. I'm turning seventeen soon, I think."

"Wow, you're young," The forest spirit chuckled. "I lived for over a century. Seen quite a lot, these old eyes have."

"Really?" Ridge asked. "That's unbelievable. I thought you were at least twenty."

Martyn laughed. Ridge smiled; he liked the forest spirit's laugh. "Oh, you flatter me. I'm not that young. I wish though."

"Yeah…" Ridge said absentmindedly. His thoughts returned to the small throbs of pain radiating off his right arm. "What happened to me?"

"Hm?" Martyn took his eyes off of the night sky and looked at Ridge's shoulder. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. You lost a ton of blood, and you passed out. I took you here and took the arrow out. Unfortunately, I had to cut it out, since the arrowhead shattered when it entered your body." Ridge winced at the description. It didn't sound very nice.

"I bandaged up your arm and fed you until you woke up again. You're not in any immediate danger, so don't worry." Martyn winked. "I might have also used some Elven healing magic on you."

Ridge was alarmed. "How long was I asleep?"

"Two, three days. I lost count."

"What!?"

"It's a pretty good deal of time, but it could've been longer." Martyn shrugged. "Why, are you in a hurry?"

"No, not really. I don't know where I'll be going." Ridgedog put his hands behind his head and stared up at the stars again. "I don't know where I'll be going."

"Well, you can stay with me, you know. I'll pretty chill."

"Really?"

"Yeah, no problem. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to for a change."

"Thanks! Now, uh, what were you saying earlier? About protecting forests and stuff? I could help."

Martyn's eyes darkened. He looked sadly at the soft earth beneath him. "The forests have been dying," He started slowly. "I could feel it. The nearby towns have been cutting down too many trees, without replanting the saplings. My life energy is slowly fading with the woods, and the townspeople see me as a threat. Therefore, they ignore my pleads and continue to chop down trees. I'm not sure how to get to them, and that's where you come in."

Ridge sat up slowly and raised his eyebrows, curious as to what part he would play in all this.

"You're human, like them. They would listen to you. Maybe… maybe if you talk to them, then they'll listen," Martyn said hopefully. Ridge could hear the desperation in the forest spirit's voice, but he could also hear a little hope too, laced in with the sadness.

"I'll help you," Ridge decided. "But I can't stay forever."

Martyn didn't look surprised. "If you can help me, then that'll be enough. I don't expect you to stay forever. No one does." He hung his head. "I just wish people could see how precious nature is. They can't destroy something as beautiful as this place."

"Mm." Ridgedog nodded. "I'll try to talk to them, but maybe after my shoulder's all healed. How long do you think it'll take?"

The forest spirit thought. "Maybe a week or two, it depends how fast my magic is working."

"Oh, well, then what are we going to do then?" Ridge asked.

Martyn looked at Ridge, then at his diamond sword, which was still safely tucked inside of its scabbard. "Do you know how to use that thing?"

"I know enough," Ridge admitted. "But I'm not very good. I just know enough to plow through mobs and stuff like that. I don't think I can use it with my left hand."

Martyn smiled, an excited look in his eyes. "Then I'll teach you."

A/N: It's Martyn! Keep reviewing and supporting me, it helps a lot! This chapter took a while, so enjoy it!

Havs, out!