OK, so, reviews have slowed down alot, but maybe that's because no-one has any new critisisms or compliments. Either way, I'm gonna keep updating. ALso, sorry about the missed upload date. Birthday distractions lol. Ok, here we go!

In the end, I calmed down, made a last inspection of my possessions, and began my slipping and sliding journey across the frozen landscape.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Eventually, after innumerable falls and countless faceplants, I reached the shore. I was so sore I knew I would be grounded for at least a couple days. I looked for a good spot to make a temporary home, and found the oddest natural rock formation.

It was a monstrous overhang, tons of rock just hanging over empty air. Underneath was practically an entire ecosystem. There were a couple trees, a small river, and ridiculous amounts of gravel.

I broke out my shovel and had every piece of gravel out from under that overhang in less than an hour. I was working on pure adrenaline now, and I knew if I stopped for even a second I would be unconcious for hours, so I had to make a decent shelter before I collapsed.

I pushed my wall out from my small corner I had barricaded myself in, matching it to the shadow of the overhang, making the wall perfectly shaped. After hours of compacting, I estimated it could take at least 3 creeper hits and still stay up. Once that was done, I flattened all the land under the rock overhang, dug a few trenches outside the wall for good measure, then made a quick foray underground to get some coal. I got lucky and struck coal quickly, uncovering a massive vein of 16 blocks. After hauling them up, I made a crapload of torches, setting them up in strategic places to maximize light saturation with minimal resource usage.

My newest home now lit with dozens of torches and protected by a solid wall of gravel, I took stock of my situation. I was safe from every monster I had seen so far, I had enough resources to build and light a good sized castle, and I was starting to stockpile meat from pigs and cows. I had covered countless miles, honing my body into a lean, muscle ripped form.

I had all this, but I was still no closer to getting home. It seemed I would have to keep searching. Deciding I had done all I could today, I laid down in my new bed, made of sheep wool, and went to sleep.

A dull thud woke me. It wasn't the kind of thud like something falling, more like the thud like something breaking the sound barrier. I went to my wall, looking out warily. In the dense tree cover nearby, I saw an unnaturally tall figure carrying a hunk of stone. I wanted to shout a greeting, but something stilled my tongue. I looked closer, trying to make out it's face.

The figure froze, locking eyes with me. Deep, purple, evil eyes. I couldn't move, every muscle refused to cooperate. I began panicking, wanting nothing more than to look away from those eyes.

Through an extreme force of will, I wrenched my eyes away from the thing. As soon as I did, the thud came again, and the figure was gone. I could see a very faint trail of purple dust. I followed it...right to my wall. I looked, and again, the eyes, the awful eyes. I screamed and jumped back from the wall. The thud came again, over and over, and the thing was in my house! It came at me, dissapearing and reappearing with no warning, battering me with it's long arms. I flailed wildly, with no hope of survival.

Suddenly, the arms stopped. I peeked out between my bruised arms to see the figure turning towards my bed, looking at...me.

Well, almost me. Whatever it was was larger than me, in both height and muscle mass. It wore the same clothes as me, except they wern't ripped or burned.

Also, it didn't have pupils. Just blank white eyeballs.

We stared at each other, this monster and me, and time seemed to stand still. The man raised a hand, pointing at the figure. As one, they dissapeared, leaving only a scorch mark and a piece of paper behind.

I cautiously hobbled over to my bed and picked up the piece of paper. Moving to the light of a nearby torch, I read what was written.

"You who seek a portal home...look for the tower of bones."

What the hell did that mean? I looked for more clues, but nothing presented itself. My adrenaline waning, exhaustion overtook me and I collapsed into my bed.

Finally, the mysterious Herbrine makes his apperance! Will he help our hero, or is it all an elaborate trap? Find out next time!