[A/N:] Sorry for taking so long on this! June was really busy for me and then July has been pretty crap so it took a lot more willpower than I have to crank this out. Enjoy! Also, if you review or PM me with questions or anything, I will be sure to respond. I'll happily explain, clarify, etc. anything that doesn't spoil the story c: Love you all! 3
As it turns out, the man was named Trent, and was a good friend of Steve's. His hoe was easily fixed and after some introductions and casual chatting, he went on his way.
Then there was no talking. Chests needed to be organized, tools needed to be repaired, and the list of busywork went on.
It was only when the sun began to set, and those working outside headed back indoors, did the two in the crafting room stop. They walked back to the main doorway, greeting those coming back in. Shelby met her sister and Gordon, taking the little one's hand, and her friend's side. Steve waited for Emma and Trent, chatting cheerfully with the two as they walked towards their rooms.
One exaggeratedly large hug and a couple of steps later, the sisters found themselves outside the room they shared with their mother.
With a deep breath, Shelby pushed open the door. The room was empty.
The two settled into the double they shared and pulled out a book that little Kate was determined to fill with her own stories.
As she was read the cute story about a girl and her weird older sister, Shelby found herself lulled into contentment, absently braiding Kate's thin orange hair.
"... baby named Brian, and- Shelby? Sheeeeeelby?" She must have dozed off a little, an unfinished braid was held loosely between her fingers, and Kate's big green eyes stared up at her in irritation.
"Hn? Oh, I was listening Katie, go on" she yawned. She got a petulant frown in response, and didn't realize her sister was starting the page over.
Shelby was aware of her closing eyes, but didn't have the energy to resist them. Curled up in a soft bed with her darling sister was just too comfortable. So blissful. Not even the sound of Marie creeping into the room could help, and she found herself asleep seconds later.
It was pitch black. If not for the memory of his destination and uncanny knowledge of the surrounding area, he would never have found his way.
The waning moon provided negligible light, and what little it have was hidden behind the thick growth of trees. Yet he stepped surely, the earth guiding in a language known only to him.
"I have to do this" he repeated to himself, a mantra he's adopted as he walked.
It was the right thing to do, this was a friend who didn't deserve the fate he'd been handed, he'd say.
As the boy reassured himself, he actively forced away the warning shouted into his head. What point was this existence if not to use the gifts he'd been given? To not control the power from which he'd been given life?
Brushing aside the overgrowth with an unusual tenderness, he stepped into the small room. Training his eyes, he was nearly blinded by what he was looking for. A white energy cascaded from the disfigured form in the center of the space, and the faint touches of gold confirmed the trip was worth it.
This was all he needed, the trace two elements that he lacked.
Two of the three elements that made these peoples what they are.
With little care of it's state, he lay a hand on the body, taking a deep breath and praying that this was enough.
Shelby awoke leaning uncomfortably against the wall. A quick glance out the slim window revealed it was before dawn. She groaned and edged carefully out of bed to avoid waking her mother and sister. With a smile, she took the jar of ink and Kate's little book off the edge of the bed and set it out of reach. Kate must have worked on it while she'd been asleep.
Shelby quickly changed into pants and an old sweater of her mother's and crept down the stairs. Fall hit quick, and the chill of winter was starting to set in. It was an odd adjustment to make, after being in the nether and then Sydney's cozy campsite, but she didn't mind the cold much.
At the bottom of the stairs she found Jack and Gordon occupying two of the chairs, dead asleep. Gordon must have offered to stay with Jack, whether it be for those extra moments of his presence or so the blond didn't have to sleep alone.
'How sweet' she thought, nostalgia rolling over her, as she turned to the direction of the library.
Some of the books in the library were old. Impossibly old, or at least they seemed. Many were falling apart, the old leather worn, and burned in some cases. She's read a handful herself in the short time she'd spent in the village before the incident with Jack and Notch.
Many of these belonged to her mother, where she found them was never said, and they were begrudgingly donated when the three of them moved in. Most were fiction, stories of enormous cities and the masses of people within them. It was fascinating, the cultures that existed in these fictional worlds.
But others were newer, research notes they'd come across, stories people in the village had written, or the plant life guides that had Emma and Trent's names scrawled on the inside.
Shelby was lost in ones of those guides when Trent himself walked past, a wool blanket in his arms. She waved at him and he stopped.
"What are you doing up?" he asked, cocking his head to the side and spilling his golden curls over his shoulders.
"Fell asleep too early," she shrugged, "my sleep schedule hasn't adjusted completely I guess. You?"
Trent lifted the blanket he was carrying with a small smile.
"Emma and I sit up on the roof and take shots at anything that gets too close to the fence. It's getting cold and she doesn't have the tolerance for it like I do."
Shelby gave him a sound of affirmation and waved him off, returning to her book scouring.
She found sketches of everyone in the village tucked into a roughly made book. She fingered through them, smiling at those she recognized. Herobrine was in there, his expression light and content. It made him look younger. Her mother's portrait had a perpetual scowl, Gordon was cheerful and smiling, and then Jack... He had the innocent expression of the Jack she once knew. She sighed and put the book back, too disheartened to look for her sister or anyone else she might know.
Shelby turned from the library, her stomach growling, and head towards the storage room. Maybe there would be some sweet bread. Or even pie. Oh, she could do for some pie.
She passed down the hallway slowly, stifling a yawn and ignoring the chill on her bare feet. Nobody had replaced the door of the storage room after Herobrine had wrecked the previous one, and she was pretty thankful. A day like today would have made that metal door freezing.
The door designated for between-meal snacks was suspiciously low on foods. Shelby frowned and snatched a small roll. With resignation she chewed on it as she walked back to the library. She figured that instead of doing personal reading, she'd look through some of those old books of her mother's. The book Steve directed her to was a bit... preposterous. He wasn't the best reader it seemed, so maybe it was only close to what he wanted her to know. Maybe she could find something for both Steve's ideas and what she knew of Herobrine's predicament.
Just as she crossed into the threshold of the library, she saw Jack coming down the stairs from the corner of her sight. He was rubbing his eyes, yawning widely and shuffling towards the door where she stood.
"What are you doing up, Jack?" she asked, and then felt silly when she realized she all but quoted Trent.
He stopped and blinked up at her slowly, having still to wake up completely. Dropping his hands he responded with a sigh.
"I don't sleep much anymore. What about you?"
She shrugged half heartedly.
"Fell asleep too early."
Jack nodded in his half asleep way and stretched his shoulders.
"Don't eat too much more," he said, noting the partially eaten roll in her hand,
"I heard whispers of some group breakfast thing."
That explained the absence of food. It's probably all hidden away for the event.
Jack rubbed at the scarring on the left side of his face in the following silence. They avoided each other's eyes, all comfort of presence left in a previous life.
"Jack," Shelby finally said softly,
"What happened to you? I... I don't like this distance between us, but I can't shake off this feeling of wrong that you bring into the room."
He looked taken aback for a second, but with more earnestly than she'd seen in his eyes since he's shown up, he said:
"I could say the same of you, Shelby. There is something very different about you as well."
With this he paused and narrowed his eyes.
"You wanna hear my story? Tell me yours."
Jack shuffled out of the library and into the main hall, leaving her alone with the pit in her stomach.
There wasn't any way to repair this relationship, was there? Not without giving up Herobrine to Jack and the strangers manipulating him.
She reached for one of the oldest books she could find. It had the name "Trellion" scrawled in it's otherwise burnt title. Shelby took in a deep breath, calming her frayed nerves and focusing her eyes on the book. One of these could have important information. If there was anything she knew, it was that this was top priority.