YES I can update my WIPs

alright so when I write this fic, I use the greater-than and less-than symbols on either side of endermen text to make it clear when they're talking in enderman speech. the other websites i post on are fine with this. Unfortunately, fanfiction purges those when I post this. so it makes it a bit hard to tell whether they're using enderman speech or just yelling. I am not sure if there is a solution for this but if you think of one let me know lol

Contrary to Valor's expectations, Null really did go back to sleep.

Valor didn't, too worked up by the sudden battle and being left alone with Null to do so, so he was exhausted when Qorin reappeared later that morning. The enderman had suggested they stay longer so he could get some more sleep, but Val had refused on the grounds of not letting the thieves get further away with his amulet. Qorin let him off without much argument. No doubt he was eager to get this quest over and done with as well.

The trio was quiet as they walked. Even Null was silent, just as troubled as the other two by the attack they had suffered. Valor could only assume that their assailents meant to try again. He would have to be constantly vigilant to keep them from getting at his pickaxe. That was what they were after, right?

Valor didn't know what he would do if he lost the pickaxe too.

After a few hours of walking, though, Valor felt dangerously close to passing out on his feet.

"Qorin?" He tried, striking up a conversation with his escort. "You said that an Ender pearl will grow into a new Enderman, correct?" Qorin looked down at him, nodding.

"Correct."

"How does that work?"

"Well…" Qorin shrugged. "You likened them to eggs, last night, and I suppose that is a reasonable enough analogy." Null gave the enderman a curious look as the latter held up a chorus fruit from his satchel. "You likely saw the Chorus trees, upon which these fruits grow, when you arrived." Valor nodded. "Those trees grow special blossoms," Qorin replaced the fruit in his satchel. "In which the pearls are placed. After a few weeks, they hatch into a hatchling enderman."

"So endermen cycle through the same pearls generation after generation." Valor deduced. Qorin nodded.

"We do not reproduce like humans do."

"But Earl is your father, isn't he?" Valor countered. "How does that work?"

"Correct, yes." Qorin patted his own chest. "It is not… required, I suppose, but most endermen are encouraged to take on at least one hatchling during their lifetime. Usually they are not considered ready to adopt until at least 80, at which point they are considered a mature adult."

"So you're about halfway there."

"Indeed." They fell silent, Valor gazing curiously at his friend for a few moments. "What?" Qorin asked after a moment.

"I'm only wondering about the differences between our species." Was Val's response. "We're both considered young adults, correct? But you're twice my age." Qorin smirked at that.

"Because we live longer, I would assume."

"Not me, I'm immortal. I suppose." Valor added. "My father barely aged past… maybe 25 or 30. For hundreds of years." After they had been reunited about a year ago, Herobrine had been much more open about his past and experiences. He himself didn't know his true age, but he estimated that he was around 350 years old at the time of his death. Compared to the majority of his friends, he was truly ancient. Perhaps that was why he got along with the Endermen so well.

"So are we." Qorin countered. "Perhaps you are not yet a young adult. How old are you?"

"Twenty." Valor responded. Qorin snorted.

"That would be a mere child in our society. Are you sure you should be out here on your own?"

"I'll remind you that I am not in your society." Valor nudged him. "And that I have little choice." Qorin sobered, nodding thoughtfully.

"Am I here to babysit you?"

"You're here to babysit him." Val nodded over his shoulder at Null, trailing along behind them, who lifted a brow.

"I feel as though I'm being made fun of."

"You are." Valor assured him. Null just turned up his nose and looked away.

Even though he was tired and stressed, Valor found that his spirits were lifted by the calm conversation, and he chatted amiably with Qorin until the sun started to set. When evening finally came, Valor rolled out his bedroll and lay down, forgoing his dinner in favor of going right to sleep.

It was only a couple hours later that he was woken up again.

"Valor." Val grunted at the whispered voice, accompanied by a hand patting his arm. He lifted his head, and immediately scrambled for his pickaxe at the sight of purple eyes in the darkness again.

"Wake Null." He ordered, bracing himself for an immediate attack. None came. In fact, the endermen appeared to be ignoring him completely, standing still in the dim light. Slowly, Val eased himself upright, placing himself between the intruders and Qorin as his escort woke Null up. The endermen still didn't move, though he heard a low noise from the group. "They're not attacking." He called back lowly. "Should we-"

"Valor?" Qorin cut him off. "They're all looking at me." Valor frowned, looking more closely. At this distance, he couldn't tell.

"Are they-?" A vwoop cut him off as one of the endermen vanished, and Valor spun to find Qorin being slammed to the ground. "Qorin!"

His guide snarled, shoving the younger ender off of him as Valor charged for him. He didn't know why their target had shifted, but he couldn't let Qorin get hurt.

"What in the Nether is going on?" Null demanded, charging up a spell as the endermen surrounded them.

"Just fight!" Valor snapped. He skidded to a stop between them, pickaxe brandished. They had set up camp beside a forest- could the trees be of any use to them? Or would they only hinder their view?

The creatures must have been waiting for an opening, as the instant his gaze moved to the trees he was being attacked. An enderman teleported directly in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders, teleporting both of them away from the others before it slashed at his face. Valor jerked back to avoid the strike, lashing out with his pickaxe and staggering, disoriented. Where was Qorin?

A low boom sounded nearby, and Valor spun to find Null standing upright, both hands lit with white flames. Qorin stood over his shoulder, and three of the young endermen were on the ground, struggling to right themselves. One of the remaining endermen appeared behind Qorin, and he spun, not fast enough, and Valor teleported in to slash at the creature's head.

The blow connected, slicing a wide gash in the creature's arm as it jerked back. The enderman gave a pained shriek, a purple glow emitting from the wound, and it seized Valor by both wrists and yanked them up. Val nearly lost his grip on the pickaxe, but held firm, struggling for the moment until Null blasted the creature off of him.

The endermen wasted no time in coming in again. They all but ignored Valor and Null except when they directly opposed them, clearly targeting Qorin this time. Their escort was defending himself as well as he could, but he was relatively evenly matched with even one of the rogues, his only advantage being his size and maturity, so Valor had his hands full protecting him. Null was helping as much as he could, though his magic was obviously much weaker than when he held Valor prisoner. They were holding their own, but, even with one fewer enderman than last time, they were struggling.

Valor blocked a slash at his face, backing up behind Qorin. "We're gaining nothing from this," He hissed to his allies. "We need to drive them away, or lose them somehow, if-"

Something heavy slammed into his side, and Valor was hurled into a tree trunk.

White-hot agony spiked up his leg as he hit the dirt, handle of his pickaxe dropping from his limp fingers as he struggled to catch his breath. He heard a cry from Null, and the sorcerer hit the ground next to him, rolling over twice from the momentum before going still. Valor took a deep breath, which escaped in a groan as his ribs protested. He lifted his gaze to where Qorin still stood, and his heart nearly stopped at the sight.

A huge enderman, standing at least 10 feet high, stood over Qorin with the rogue endermen clustered around it. Its face was split nearly in half by a gaping wound that spewed purple particles, and it held Qorin in one giant hand, claws wrapped around the young enderman's torso and keeping him from fleeing. Qorin was hissing, clawing at the hand that held him, but his desperate attacks did nothing against the creature. As Val watched, the huge enderman lifted him off the ground, opening its mangled jaw to rasp out

"⍑̸̖͠ ̴͇̇リ̷͖̈́ℸ̴͍̃ ̵̘̈ ̴͇̈́|̷̳̾|̴̳̄∷̷̜͆…"

And then he vanished, taking Qorin with him. Valor's breath caught as the other endermen teleported with him, vanishing in little flashes of purple light. Null rolled over, eyes flickering, and Valor tried and failed to push himself upright as he screamed,

"QORIN!"