There was a very short, orange-bearded man. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?" He said in a heavy Russian accent as he stepped back, staring at our swords. Jeff let out a relieved sigh, and put his blade away. "S-sorry" I said, embarrassed. "Jeff thought you were a zombie" I said, pointing my sword at him. He shot me an annoyed look, and I smirked back at him. The little man crossed his arms, still looking at us. "Yeah, my apologies" said Jeff. "So... we're just... gonna keep going" he said as he started to slowly walk forward. The little man began to go back the way we had come from. "This cave leads right into a spider nest. Judging by her choice of weapon..." he gestured to my wooden sword "...I recommend you turn back, and come back later" I gave him a skeptical look "I think I can handle some spiders..." He and Jeff both chuckled a bit, and Jeff shook his head. "No you can't" he said. "I say we head out too" I looked into the cave, unable to see through the darkness "but... spiders?" Jeff and the short one kept moving "Well, if you want to get killed, be my guest" Jeff said, still walking. I sighed, and followed after them.
I followed Jeff and the other man quietly, as they kept up small talk between the two of them. As I walked silently, my sword still in my hand, I started thinking. Who is this guy? Why am I following him? Doubts started to form in my mind, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to speak up, and ask him about what's going on. As the three of us walked out of the cave it was already getting dark, and we could see the moon rising over the horizon. "Oh, crap..." Jeff said under his breath. "Okay, this is a problem" said the small man as he took a grenade in his hand. I stared at him, a bit surprised. "Woah, hey, is that a bomb?" I said, shocked, as I stumbled back a bit. He grinned back at me. "It sure is!" He said, sounding a bit exited. He started to walk ahead, and Jeff slowed down to my pace. "It's getting late, this is dangerous. Why don't we go back to the cave from last night?" I nodded. "Yeah, I guess so..." I said quietly. We walked in silence until we got to that cave again. We both went through the hole Jeff had chopped in the wooden wall, and he patched it up. I sat down against the back of the cave like I had the night before, and he sat down by the wooden wall.
We both just sat for a while, and getting bored I started to draw in the dirt floor with my sword. A while later, I looked up at Jeff again. He was holding a little doll, looking a bit worried. "Hey, what's that?" I asked him. He glanced over at me. "Hmm?" He quickly put the doll away, then looked at me again. "Oh, it's nothing." He walked over, and sat down next to me. "So. What's on your mind?" I looked up at him. "Oh, not much." He leaned back against the wall. "Well, what do you want to do?" I shrugged. "Well, you know this place better than I do. What do you usually do?" He thought for a moment "well, I guess I usually go mining, or explore something, or fight monsters... but you might not be quite ready to do that at night." I sighed, and crossed my arms. "How dangerous can it really be out there?" I said, and stood up. "More than you'd think. You'd at least want to make some armor first." He said as he gestured for me to sit back down. "Well, how do I do that?" I asked him. "And hey, what ever happened to that other guy?" Jeff chuckled a bit. "He'll be fine. He's a demolitionist. Anyway, I guess we could get you some wooden armor... wait here, I'll get some wood" he syaid as he stood up and broke another hole in the wall. "Hey, wait, I want to come with!" I said as I stood up. "No! No, wait here. Trust me, it's dangerous out there. Just wait" I sighed, and nodded. "Alright, fine."
He left the cave, and patched up the hole with wood again. I sighed, and slumped down where I was sitting. I let out a sigh, before noticing something had fallen out of his bag. "What is...?" I walked over and picked it up. It was the doll I saw him with from before. I sat back down and looked at it. Strangely enough, it looked just like him. Well, about as close to him as a handmade doll could look. "Huh..." I continued to stare at it, and the longer I held it, the more it felt... oddly warm. I gave it a little squeeze, before setting it down on the floor where Jeff had been sitting before he left. I waited a while more, and he still wasn't back. Starting to feel worried, I stood up and walked to the wooden wall. "Oh, crap, I don't have the axe..." I said to myself quietly. I sat back down, and waited patiently for him.