Chapter 1:
I waited to be struck, to be killed by all the monsters, but that never happened, the screeching of them ringing in my ears as my body continued to lightly shake as lied there, arms over my head and face, my body slightly curled in a ball, the soft grass all around me. When the noises died away, the only sound was my light, shaky breathing. I heard someone rush to my side, others as well, and as a hand gently touched my shoulder I tensed, waiting.
"Guys, he's hurt, badly. We need to get him to the house." A strong and confident, yet worried voice stated.
"Well come on then!" A second voice cried as someone picked me up and held me against them. Whoever it was, they were strong and warm, but I was handed to someone else.
"It's getting cold and he's barely wearing anything to keep him warm, you generate more heat Jerome; you take him." Someone stated.
"Fine, come on then!" The second voice, who apparently belongs to this Jerome guy, once more confirmed. I heard and felt them all running around me, something soft and very warm touching parts of my bare skin. I could hear them killing more monsters, and whenever Jerome would be stuck with killing one, I would feel the strong muscles in his arms flex as he easily wiped them out.
By the time everyone slowed down, the darkness was being penetrated by a glowing light, but I didn't look up, just stayed still in the fluffy man's arms, still very, very cold. A door opened, and walking just a bit more, I was gently set down on a soft surface. I didn't move, the surface comfortable and somehow welcoming.
"I think he's asleep." Jerome commented.
"He looks really tired." Someone added.
"Why was he out there all alone? He was basically asking for a death sentence!" Someone quietly argued. I recognized the voice as the one that had first spoke, telling the others I was hurt.
"Poor kid." Jerome stated, sitting next to me and gently smoothing my hair.
"Here, let me get a health potion, maybe some food, if he's up for it, but he needs to heal, we don't know if he'll try sneaking off on his own again." I heard two people walk from the room.
"Hey, wake up…" Jerome softly whispered, lightly shaking me.
"I never fell asleep to begin with." I softly replied.
"Oh." The second person in the room with us blunt stated, then began laughing.
"Can you move?" Jerome asked. I slowly sat up, my eyes still closed as I leaned on his side. He chuckled, wrapping an arm around my waist, gently holding me.
"Oh, you woke him up, that was fast." Someone stated.
"He never fell asleep." Jerome informed them. "He's just good at acting I guess, I don't really know." He added. Someone knelt down in front of me.
"Hey, can you open your eyes?" I opened my eyes slightly to see a man with a red and black checkered jacket, light brown hair and eyes, knelt down in front of me with a bottle in his hand and a smile on his face. The bottle contained a pinkish liquid, and he gently placed it in my hands. "You should drink this, it'll help." He confirmed, sitting on my other side, placing his arm on the back of the couch.
Slowly, I drank it sip by sip, each time being greeted with a horrid, yet delectable taste. When I had finally finished the bottle, the man slipped it from my hand. He then threw it over at the other two sitting across from us, and the one with sunglasses and a gold purple amulet juggled with it for a long time until he managed to secure it in his hands.
"Mitch, that could have hit me!" He cried out, staring at the man next to me. A few seconds later they all laughed, and the man with sunglasses set the bottle down on the table next to his chair, then returned his full attention to me. "I'm Adam, this is Ian and those two are Jerome and Mitch. What's your name?"
"Deadlox…" I whispered.
"Do you go by anything other than that?"
"I go by Ty." I softly stated, not making eye contact and staring at my lap.
"How old are you?" Ian questioned, warmly smiling at me.
"I'm 12."
"Hey, he's not much younger than us." Jerome announced. I waited for them to explain. "Mitch and I are 14, Adam's 15, and Ian's 19, he's the oldest, obviously." I slowly nodded, barely moving my head at all in the first place.
"Do you have any family we could take you to? I'm sure they're worried sick." Mitch concluded. I shook my head no, leaning against Jerome again, his warm, fluffy body, which I now noticed was covered in brown fur from head to toe, soft like cotton. They all stared at me, concerned.
"You don't have a family?" Adam sadly asked, a hint of sorrow in his voice.
"What about the person who takes care of you?" Jerome tried.
"I take care of myself." I quietly managed to muster.
"How long have you been alone?" Ian started, leaning forward, his arms folded, resting on his legs and knees.
"I don't remember." A long, heavy silence filled the room, the boys all looking to each other, until suddenly Jerome smiled brightly.
"We can take care of him." He decided. "I mean come on, it's only one extra mouth to feed and an extra body to shelter, it's not like it would be a problem." They all agreed and after that everything seemed to go by so fast, as if I were stuck in place. Why… why are they being so nice to me?
I sat up hastily, taking nice, slow, deep breaths. I felt my forehead. Why does that dream always put me on edge? Damn it, it happened 6 years ago, I'm over that. Sure, it was strange people I'd just met took me in like I was suddenly their long lost brother, but I couldn't be happier! So why does that dream make me feel uneasy?
"TY!" I heard Adam whine from outside the door. "TY, WAKE UP!" He continued. "I'M HUNGRY AND FLUFFY WON'T LET US EAT WITHOUT YOU!" He half sobbed, half whined.
"I'll be down in a minute!" I quickly assured, jumping out of bed. I through my shirt on, brushed my hair, and placed my headphones around my neck. My glowing purple eyes seemed duller today; they'd been looking like that for a while now. Oh well. Before leaving, I slipped my purple wristband on, concealing my eyes with a maroon colored red, my wings seeming to vaporize and my tail copying.
I rushed downstairs after shutting my door again, finding everyone waiting.
"Ty!" Adam delightfully stated, hugging me and messing with my hair as I half heartedly smiled, allowing him to mess with me. I was the youngest after all, it was expected.
"You've been sleeping in longer lately, what's up?" Jerome asked as Adam let go and sat down by his plate of food. I stood there, not moving, leaning on the counter.
"I'm fine, just having trouble sleeping is all." I assured.
"If you say so. We're going down to the mines today, you ready?" Mitch asked me, and everyone else. I nodded.
"Yeah, just let me finish eating first." Adam requested. Ian laughed, already seeming to have finished his meal.
"Aren't you going to eat Ty?" Jerome questioned, seeming a little concerned. He'd always looked after me, he was like an older brother, sort of. They all were really, but it was mainly Jerome who acted to it on impulse.
"I'm not really hungry; I'll just bring something down there for later." I assured him, stretching my aching limbs. He was suddenly feeling my forehead, but went and sat back down, seeming a bit unsettled. "I'll start getting our stuff together." I yawned, heading upstairs.
"He doesn't have a fever." Jerome announced. I tuned in on them, my hearing having became more sensitive over the years.
"What is this? Like, the seventh time in a row he's skipped out on breakfast?" Mitch cautiously asked as I grabbed our supply bag set for mining trips from the closet.
"I think so… why? Do you think something's wrong?" Adam started, probably finished with his breakfast. I grabbed Betty and Mitch's bow, quiver of arrows, and his diamond sword from the room Jerome and him now shared.
"He shouldn't be skipping breakfast; Ty has never done this before." Jerome confirmed. I grabbed Adam's butter sword from his room, pausing to sit on his bed. I got back up.
"Maybe you're overreacting; Ty's still the same old Ty, maybe his body is adjusting to a new diet or something." Ian suggested as I grabbed his diamond sword. I didn't grab myself a weapon, even though I was one of the best fighters here. Of course, they didn't know that, I barely try when practicing, so they tend to kill anything and everything before I even get a chance to unsheathe my blade. I don't mind, really. I slowly crept downstairs, listening as they continued to talk about the situation. They didn't notice me standing at the bottom of the staircase.
"No, something has to be wrong, I can just see it in his eyes!" Jerome insisted.
"Nothing's wrong Jerome, Ty would tell us if something was wrong, chill dude, he's- standing there." Ian blurted out as he realized I was right there. Everyone stared at me.
"You done yet?" I questioned. "I could hear you all the way to Ian's room." I added. Ian had the furthest away room from the kitchen, and it was the truth, I could hear them from all the way down there. They all gave me an apologetic look. I just sighed, shaking my head with a soft smile. "Look, I'm fine. I'm just having bad dreams is all, nothing to worry about, ok? Ty is still Ty, I promise." I assured. "Anyway, you ready?"
"Yeah." Ian insisted as he came over. I handed over his blade as he passed by to get his armor.
"Ok, let's do this!" Jerome cheerfully exclaimed like he always did, him and Mitch rushing past. He grabbed Betty, his war axe, and Mitch slipped his quiver over his head, having it slanting at a diagonal angle on his back, sheathing his blade like Ian had and holding his bow in his hands, following Jerome into the armory.
"Here, I'll get that." I assured, trading Adam's butter sword for his empty plate. He smiled, taking off for the armory as I rinsed the dish off, then followed them. They all had full sets of iron, Ian having diamond boots and a helmet. Adam had diamond leggings. Mitch had saved up the diamonds he was collecting for a chest plate, and Jerome had the same set up as Ian.
"I still think you need better armor." Ian suddenly stated, looking at me. I quietly laughed.
"If I have heavier armor I'll get in your way." I argued. I had leather armor, at my choice, not because we didn't have iron or something like that. Besides, the leather armor allows me more speed and agility for a tight situation, and frankly I don't want to get hurt too badly.
"Ty, don't say that, you don't get in the way, you never have." Adam argued. All of them were looking at me, but I put the armor on anyway.
"I got it fixed a few weeks ago, it'd be a waste of resources to not wear it, besides, I'm fine with it, I don't need anything better, stop worrying." I had gotten the entire thing dyed black, the darkest shade of it they could make. It allowed me to blend in better, and I like that.
"Ok…" Mitch uneasily stated. They'd been bugging me about it for a while now. We went outside and started towards the base of the mountain, where the mine entrance sat, and when getting there we pushed mine carts down the track, hopping in them at the last possible second and enjoying the ride down. It got dark very quickly, lanterns lighting the way. I got out of the cart along with the others, and we started searching the mine in two groups to maximize our search range. I was with Ian and Adam, Jerome and Mitch having gone the opposite direction. We mined anything we could find, following the hollowed out trails deep in the ground, the flooring made of stone and the cave not collapsing because of the support beams here and there.
Continuing to hollow out the straight tunnel, sometimes turning to head a different direction, we managed to break open into a large cavern flooded with lava, but with plenty of resources.
"Whoa." Jerome suddenly stated from behind us, causing us all to jump. "Sorry, we ended up connecting up with you again, but I'm glad we did, look at all the- diamonds!" He suddenly shouted. We all stared at the diamonds that sat dangerously close to the lava floor below, no way to get to them without risking our lives. Diamonds were worth it.
"How are we going to get them though, the only easy way I see is to use the thin ledges to climb over, but they'd break beneath us, they're all worn down and most of them loose stones." Mitch pointed out.
"We'll mine our way around then." Adam confirmed, Ian nodding in agreement.
"It's the safest way to get to them, we just have the plan it out very carefully, we don't know if the ground will give out below us." Ian explained as they continued walking further ahead. I didn't follow my eyes slowly wandering the ledges, finding a way down. They're going to kill me.
"Ty, why are you just- TY!" Jerome screamed as I jumped from the path and just barely grabbed the ledge on the left side of the path. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?! WE HAVEN'T BEEN OVER THERE YET, THE MONSTERS ARE PROBABLY EVERYWHERE- TY!" By now, everyone was standing next to him, staring at me shocked. A nearby cave the ledge connected to was dark, eerie. I stared into to it, making out the damn archers. I turned and jumped to another ledge, Mitch killing the damned creatures with his bow as they slowly emerged from the cave, shooting at me. I stood, getting closer to the lava. I could feel the ground shift underneath me, and I jumped to the next ledge, not waiting around to see if that one would fall as well and quickly jumping from ledge to ledge, falling down at a steadily controlled rate towards the lava, as well as the diamonds.
Getting to the diamonds, having a possibly sprained ankle and maybe a broken leg, I sat there next to them in the little indent, the lava warm, making me sweat, causing me to become drenched in my own clothing.
"Fuck, don't do that ever again!" Jerome sighed, seeming relieved, and yet terrified I'd even try doing that.
"Just sit there, we're coming!" Adam assured, all of them taking off but Mitch. I slowly stood, lifting my pick and mining the diamond ore vein, receiving a total of 12 diamonds, then sitting down again. Anytime a monster emerged from the cave, Mitch would kill it instantly, and after an hour or so, I saw the cave break out across the pool separating the two openings.
"Thank god you're safe!" Jerome breathed.
"You good Mitch?!" Ian called up to him.
"Yeah, I got you covered!" He answered. On that note Ian, Adam, and Jerome all began making a bridge across, made of stone they melted together about a week ago and had put into the supply bag in case of emergencies. I guess I'm special then. Jerome hugged me tightly, holding me to him. Adam came over and hugged me too, as well as Ian.
"Even if it was completely stupid, that was still cool. I never thought you were light enough to actually do that!" Adam cheered, laughing a bit.
"That's why I don't wear heavy armor." I stated. They led me back up, my ankle still hurt, but it wasn't sprain or I wouldn't be walking. Eventually, when the thought came back to my mind, I handed the diamonds over to Ian.
"Dude!" He exclaimed, showing the others how many diamonds were down there.
"Awesome, that's more than we were looking for this trip, should we leave?" Mitch asked.
"No! There's bound to be more here somewhere, I think I saw some when we were getting Ty, but I didn't mention them, hang on…" Adam started, walking back over towards the end of the tunnel they had to dig out to reach me. He didn't go down the staircase, but to the end where it cuts off because we need to build another bridge, as well as a support to keep it up. He pointed to the right. "Right there!" He announced. I looked over, seeing a vein of diamond close to the side of the ledge, I could reach them if I just…
"Hang on." I concluded, slowly inching across the ledge, making sure not to step too suddenly.
"Ty!" Jerome whined.
"Hang on…" I stated barely above a whisper. Finding a small indent in the wall I could grip onto, I leaned towards the corner, looking around it, seeing a bit of an overhang, sturdy looking. I stepped onto it, disappearing from view for a second. I looked down over the edge, seeing that the small floating area that could barely fit one person was a spike rising from the lava. It looked sturdy enough, if I was quick enough. I jumped onto the spike, quickly jumping to the other edge and firmly planting myself onto the wall.
"And you thought you got in the way!" Adam laughed. I took my pick and mined the diamonds, the guys watching me. I peered into the indent it'd made into the wall, seeing no more diamonds and jumping back. I handed over the extra 3 diamonds.
"That makes a total of 15 diamonds, there's 5 of us, so that's 3 diamonds each, that's more than I could've expected in a few hours." Ian determined.
"That rescue mission we put together for Ty has me beat anyway, we can head home now if you guys want too." Mitch determined, rubbing the back of his head.
"Agreed." Jerome stated.
"We didn't find a single piece of butter…" Adam quietly mumbled as we started back home.