"Hon, we need to talk." A dark-skinned woman said with a hand on her hip. The red-haired girl felt her eyes sting again. "No," she said. "I want to be alone."
"You're coming, whether you like it or not." Charlotte grasped Ami's arm firmly, leading her outside. The sun shone brightly, and the repairs on the house were going smoothly. Even the grass seemed to have an extra spring to it today. But it all made Ami feel like she stuck out even more. The death of her closest friend had struck something dark within her soul. She hadn't stopped crying since that day, hardly came out to eat, and had started having nightmares that would leave her so shaken that Charlotte would have to hold her in an embrace for her to finally calm down. Charlotte and Ami made their way to a pocket of sand next to a small lake.951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiIgKtyBlt
Ami dipped her toe in the water. Cold. She brought it back and instead buried it in the warm sand, small pebbles filling in between her toes.
Charlotte handed her a fishing rod. "Might as well make ourselves useful as we're here." she said, casting her line. Ami paused, but threw her line into the water as well. "Your leg is better." her eyes noted the arrow had disappeared.
"Righter than rain. That arrow just up and fizzled into nothin'. But, that's not why we're here." Charlotte cleared her throat. "Tell me everything. Start from when you two met." Ami bit her lip. She wanted to stay silent, she really did, but she also knew that with Charlotte badgering her, it would only be a matter of time before she spilled everything. Better to get it over with now, she supposed.
"Well, I woke up staring at the sun. I wandered for a while through a forest, and just as I was getting worried I saw this guy staring into a pond like he had no idea what or who he was. I mean, he was all square-like, so I judged him a little. But when I looked at my hands, I saw I was the same. So...I went up to him. He told me his name was Jack..." she went on to tell Charlotte about everything she could remember about Jack. Their pact, stargazing, fighting side by side...all of it. She wasn't quite sure where the words came from, but spouted them anyway.
"Well," Charlotte said, after Ami had finished long enough to breathe. "The only thing I can say to do is to try and move on. It's awful advice, I know, but I'm not sure what else we could do..." Her eyebrows raised. "Actually, there's an idea."951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡte4DNpBinD
"What?" Ami questioned bleakly.
"We could always have a funeral. I'm sure we could build a grave."
"There isn't a body."
"We'll have to make due. Better than nothin' ain't it?"
"I suppose," Ami shuffled her legs closer, watching the bubbles swirl in the lake. "I think you have a bite." Charlotte followed the bubbles with her eyes. 951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLDAHXDRNE
"Naw, I think it's yours. Get ready." The bubbles swirled in between the lines as if debating to go to either rod, but in the end decided to snag on Ami's line. She reacted quick, yanking her rod and reeling in a salmon.951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWualtX1wq
"Told you," Charlotte grinned. "That looks like a good one, you can eat it later if you want." The faint shadow of a smile crossed on Ami's face.951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DBnDxDmRK
The grave was built behind the house, where a barren space provided the crew with enough land to build such a thing. A generic cross now stood over her. She wished they could have something more grand, but... Ami hoped Jack wasn't atheist, that would have made the entire situation awkward. She almost smiled to herself despite the serious scene. But it dropped as easily as it came when Michael cleared his throat.951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmBkCuGAuE
"Um, I'm not sure how one would go about this, but..." his eyes glazed over. " Jack became my friend mere minutes after I first talked with him. I didn't know what to expect, considering he was almost dead when I originally saw him. But...he proved to be a better man than I thought. He wanted to help everyone, and strove to do so, saving some of our lives. He fought valiantly in his last moments, however ridiculous and absurd the circumstances became. Jack was killed by a creature called the Enderman. If you look directly in its eyes, it attacks. I've never seen one wait until the right moment, but..." he gulped. "I'm glad I knew him. Maybe he's waiting for us in the real world." There was nothing but silence for the longest time, each member of the group glancing at each other, all wanting to say the same thing.
"I met him first in this world," Ami started before she could prevent herself from doing so. "He was weird, and had just as much of an idea how he got here as we all do. But we chopped up trees together, joking around and talking. Later that night we tried to sleep under the stars. It worked, for the most part, until a creeper found us." she laughed mournfully. "He saved my life, throwing me to the ground as it exploded. I haven't been able to thank him properly, so..." her words trailed off. Silence. Roses were scattered across his grave. Ami didn't leave until dark.951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsVYda1FFa
"Now? It's a little too soon don't you think?" Charlotte protested.
"I know, but we can't just sit around here any longer, we need to get out of here. I won't have any more of us die!" Michael urged, giving her a steely look.
"We can't just rush into things, Michael! It'll get us all killed!"951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOi6j4gNJf
"You don't think I know that? It's better if we at least try to escape rather than watching all of our own get killed!"
Charlotte sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing. And I swear...ifanything happens to her, you'll be hearing from me." Michael gulped. "Got it."951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQQWNsPdc3
"Uh...am I interrupting something?" Ami raised an eyebrow, having watched the entire scene.
"No, you'd be finding out soon enough anyway. We're going to explore and find new territory." Charlotte rolled her eyes.
"It's not new, I have another house about a day's travel from here, and it has all the materials we need to start getting to the Ender Dragon! If we kill it, it could be our only chance of beating this game and escaping alive!" Michael seemed half stressed and half ecstatic about the idea. "Besides, we need to see what the Nether has in store for us before we all dive-bomb into the portal, so we'll have two or three people-"951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoy0B0mPF7g
"Slow down there, speedy. First things first, we go to this 'other house' you mentioned, then we talk about what to do next." Charlotte instructed.951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOtPm8MYuQ
"R-Right. We leave as soon as the sun rises." Michael lingered for a second, but then walked away into the chest room.
"Well, you heard the man." Charlotte sighed again. "Sometimes I honestly don't see why I look out for him. Idiot." She drifted into the kitchen, slumping in a chair and fiddling with her stubs on the table. Ami slowly sank into a seat beside her. "Look out for him?" she questioned.951Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUtXwUzI8g
"He'll be dead if he keeps pushin' himself like that. Someone has to be there to slap him upside the head when he starts gettin' all ahead of himself. Now look here, Ami, I don't want to be overbearing or nothin', but don't let him do somethin' stupid if I happen to go, alright?"
"...Sure. Hey, Charlotte, just how old are you?" Ami gazed at her inquisitively.
"No idea. I'd assume I'm well over the age of twenty, considering the things I think I've done. But I could also be sixteen, so I can't really say for certain."
"You seem like an older person to me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Not that old! I mean like...old enough that you could be a parent. That's what you strike me as, anyway."
"Oh." she played with a strand of her curly hair. "Me? Kids? That seems surreal." Ami breathed a laugh. "Yeah. Well, what do you remember before you came here?" Charlotte blinked. "Before? Well, not much of anything, except for what I think is a memory. I'm just sittin' there, surrounded by animals. I can remember a rabbit, big dog, and a ferret. That's it, though. Hah, maybe I had pets before all this. I don't think it matters now, though, but maybe it'll make sense once we get home."
"Home," Ami repeated. "Do you think we'll stay in touch if we get out of here?"
"When we get out of here," Charlotte corrected. "I wouldn't just let you go off runnin'. Of course We'll stay in touch! Don't let your mind fool you otherwise! I just hope we all make it out alive, for now. Don't look ahead too far, or else you might trip over what's underneath your feet."
Ami smiled. "Roger that."
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