Null and Qorin weren't where he'd left them.

This had initially been cause for alarm, but Valor found them before he had a chance to really panic. The pair had, apparently, moved underneath a large tree while they waited for him. As he neared them, Qorin looked up, giving him a fanged smile.

"Were you successful?"

"No." Valor shook his head. "My amulet was there, I SAW IT, but I was attacked." His jaw worked slightly. "By endermen." Qorin's smile vanished.

"Endermen?"

"Oh, good morning." Null cut in. The sorcerer opened his eyes, stretching his arms above his head before looking leisurely at Valor. "Not wearing your necklace, I see. What a shame. I suppose I'll have to put up with you further."

"That's impossible." Qorin protested. "The sovereign himself approved your mission. He would not allow any of his followers to attack you."

"I can't explain it either." Valor shook his head. "And, oddly, they seemed most interested in my pickaxe." Qorin looked to the weapon with a frown.

"What for?"

"I wish I knew."

"Come now, Valor, don't ignore me." Null cajoled. Valor ignored him.

"Are there any endermen who are not a part of your society? Ones who follow another master?"

"Not that I have been told." Qorin shook his head, frowning at Valor's bruises. "Though, if you wish, I can go and check with my father."

"Stay, for now. I don't want him getting any ideas." Valor gestured to Null.

"What did I do?"

"Where is the amulet now?" Valor addressed him at last, turning to face him. Null blinked.

"How rude. I'm not just some magical bloodhound, I have feelings too."

"I asked you a question."

"Fine." Giving him a long-suffering look, Null turned, stretching out a hand towards the town. Slowly, his hand drifted to the right. "It's traveling."

"Wonderful." Valor blew out a frustrated breath. "Alright. You two stay here. I'm going back into town to see if I can find out anything about the-" He paused, switching languages. "The enderman attack."

"The what?"

Valor just turned away, one arm tucked across his ribs as he headed back towards the village.

Valor stared into the distant sunset, chewing absently on his dinner as he did so. On his left, Qorin was eating a chorus fruit, Null on his other side watching with narrowed eyes. Valor paid them little heed, mulling over the information he had gotten from the innkeeper.

Apparently, enderman attacks there were not all that uncommon. They would come in packs every few weeks, usually with a specific target - the black market was a common one. They would kill anyone who tried to stop them, but were not excessively violent, only took what they wanted and left. The bartender had apologized that Valor was caught up in it, it had been a couple of months since the last attack and the town had hoped that it was over. Of course, Valor thought bitterly, they happened to attack the night he was there.

Null had said his amulet was moving - that, hopefully, meant that the endermen didn't get it. Endermen would simply teleport to their destination, wouldn't they? Hopefully the buyer had simply taken off, and they would have another chance to get it back. If the endermen wanted it, though… Valor would need to be fast if he wanted to get it first.

"Valor?" Qorin nudged him, and he looked up. "What's troubling you?"

"The attack." Val answered honestly. "Something's bothering me about it… those endermen were… strange."

"Well, of course." Qorin tilted his head. "They attacked you. They shouldn't do that. And they didn't respond when you addressed them, correct?"

"Yes, but it was something else…" As he studied his companion, something clicked. "You're young, for an enderman, aren't you?"

"I am." Qorin nodded. "I'm forty-three."

"All of the endermen who attacked me were shorter than you." Valor gestured to him. "Presumably your age, or younger." Qorin's eyes narrowed in a frown.

"Perhaps… a group of unruly rebels? But I've heard nothing of the sort…"

"Well, it's a clue, at least." Valor stretched, then lay down on his side. "Can you take first watch?"

"Of course. Get some rest." Qorin shifted, crossing his legs. Valor stared at the fading sunset until he fell asleep.

"You've been quiet." Null's voice grated on Valor's ears every time he heard it. "What's on your mind?"

"Finding my amulet." Val responded shortly, hoping he would take a hint.

"Well yes, of course, but there's something else, isn't there?" Clearly that was too much to ask for. "Since you visited the village, you've been far more wary than normal. Always looking over your shoulder, checking on your pickaxe every few moments." Null nodded towards the weapon slung on his back. "Something you're not telling me?"

"There's a lot I don't tell you." Valor told him. "And for good reason."

"Anything that affects me?" The sorcerer asked mildly. Val frowned. He had yet to tell Null about the attack he had suffered in the previous town, but perhaps it would be wise to keep him informed. After all, if they were attacked as a group, Null would be better prepared to defend himself.

Valor had slept poorly the previous night, thoughts, then dreams consumed by the rogue endermen. From what he had heard from Qorin and seen for himself, the Endermen were a very peaceful society. Such an attack, which seemed to be focused around the magical trinkets being sold, was unheard of. So what had prompted it? No amount of chasing his thoughts in circles could help him figure it out.

"Fine." Val said at last. "I was attacked in the village."

"Well, that's not all that unusual."

"By endermen." Valor finished. "Which is." Null cocked a brow at that.

"I suppose it is." He remarked. "I was under the impression that you and the Endermen were on good terms."

"Yes, so was I. And Qorin doesn't understand it either, he tells me that endermen never attack unless provoked."

"Cor-in?" Null echoed. "Is that the- his name?" Valor just gave him a look, and the sorcerer went on. "I suppose this group is an outlier, then."

"Yes."

"What were you doing to make them so angry at you?"

"They attacked the auction I attended." Valor kept walking. "Where I saw my amulet. The auctioneer got away with it before the endermen got to him, so they went after my pickaxe."

"Curious. Perhaps they merely collect shiny things."

"Or they have some great need for large amounts of magic."

"I suppose I can understand that." Null went quiet for a little while, mulling over this. Val wondered if he saw some means of escape with the group. "If we are attacked," he spoke at last. "I hope you do not expect me not to defend myself."

"Oh, by all means, do so." Valor assured him. "I wouldn't want to lose my magical bloodhound."

"On the other hand, maybe I'll just let them kill me."

"I thought you couldn't die."

"I was hoping you'd forgotten."

Valor was startled awake by a hand gripping his arm.

"Valor." Qorin hissed, and Val lifted his head to look up at him. "Look." the young man turned, and he froze at the sight of several sets of purple eyes in the darkness. "They won't respond to me." Qorin murmured. "Do you think-"

"They're the ones that attacked me." Valor gritted out. "Wake Null." He scrambled upright, grabbing his pickaxe from where it lay halfway inside his backpack. The moment the shimmering blade came into view, the endermen attacked.

Val was forced to teleport away to give Qorin time to react, swinging blindly as claws slashed at his face. Another enderman appeared behind him, and clawed hands latched onto his arms, jerking him back. Valor let himself fall, the momentum helping him break free and swing at the enderman's legs. It connected. His assailant shrieked, and teleported away to nurse the new wound.

The rest of the endermen seemed all the more enraged at this, converging on Valor in an attempt to get at the pickaxe. Valor teleported out from the midst of them, only for a clawed hand to latch onto the blade. It cut, but the enderman held fast, trying to yank it out of Val's grip.

A blast of white light crashed into the enderman's head, causing it to shriek and teleport away. Valor stumbled back, looking back to his camp to find Null upright, hands cupped around a white, flickering flame.

The attacking endermen were momentarily stunned by the blast, but they didn't let it stop them for long, attacking Valor again. As he defended, he registered for a fleeting moment that none of them were any taller than he was. Considerably younger than Qorin, then.

Something hard slammed into the back of his head, and he crumpled, stars flashing before his eyes. He heard a distorted shout from Qorin, and a cry from one of the attacking endermen. Teleporting a few feet away, Valor staggered upright again, looking up to find Qorin drawing the ire of their assailants. He needed to go on the offensive.

Picking an enderman close to the edge of the fray, Valor teleported close and swung at it. The enderman stumbled back, then surged forward, slashing at Val's chest. Valor blocked both strikes, then swung again, and again, forcing the creature back until it stumbled. When it did, Val teleported behind it, forcing his pickaxe up through the creature's body and killing it instantly.

The enderman's dying cry had the rest of them spinning in alarm, several wordless cries coming up from the group as an ender pearl dropped to the ground. One of them lunged for the pearl, but Valor snatched it up first, raising his pickaxe to take another one down. At this, the endermen abandoned their mission, teleporting away in bursts of purple and leaving the night still once more.

Qorin was at Valor's side in an instant. "Are you hurt?"

"No." Valor held up the pearl in curiosity. He had never seen one in person, though he had heard of their purpose. Allegedly, if you threw one, you would teleport to wherever it landed. Given that Valor could teleport on his own, it had little use, but it was a curiosity nonetheless.

"Give me that." Qorin snatched it from his hand. Surprised and slightly hurt, Valor frowned at him.

"What's the matter?"

"This must be returned to my people." Qorin cupped the little orb in his hands, peering at it closely in the dim light that shone from his purple eyes. "The Pearls that fall from an enderman's corpse when he dies are the key to our race's survival." He explained, carefully closing his hands around it. "They hold the life force of an enderman. Under the proper conditions, they will grow into a new life." Valor blinked, curious now.

"Like an egg?"

"I suppose, yes." Qorin hesitated, then looked back at Null. "I must bring this home. Will you be alright for a time?" Valor grimaced, but nodded.

"For a time."

"I will be back before morning." The young enderman bowed, then vanished, leaving Valor and Null alone in the cool morning air.

The sorcerer stretched, then lay back down on his bedroll. "What a hassle. I'm going back to sleep."