Michael paced around the table, faster and faster each time he went around.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God, how could I forget about him? I just left him to fend for himself...what kind of owner am I? Oh God, oh God, oh God..."
"Michael, it's fine. He's a wild wolf, isn't he? Rufus will be fine." Charlotte tried to reassure him, but Michael chattered and shivered as his mind lingered on the idea.
"I tamed him, Char, and he doesn't even have a pack to turn back to. He could be dead for all I know...OH GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!"
"Dude, chill out. We can go check on him later." Aiden fiddled with his ax, twirling it and sticking it on the floor.
"Later? Later?! He could be inches from death the longer we wait! We need to go now!" Michael was yelling now, and after he said this he stormed out of the house, bumping into Ami, who was just walking in.
"Whoa," she said, seeing the fuming look on his face. "What's up with him? I haven't seen him this stressed in a while."
"Michael's all up in a ball because he forgot about Rufus," Aiden said.
"You mean his wolf? I haven't seen him in a while, come to think of it." Ami scratched her head. "He's okay, isn't he?"
"Well," Charlotte began awkwardly. "We don't know. But I think out of respect to Michael we should go back home and solve this mess. Besides, it's not like we have anything spectacular to do anyhow."
"But just for a dog?" Aiden mumbled, shaking his head.
"Then let's get going," Luke said, uncrossing his arms and strutting out the door.
After several minutes of Michael half sprinting across the room and almost falling off the house as everyone else tried to get ready, the group was ready to set off. They all slid down the vines, noticing that the way down was a lot easier than the way up.
"Michael! Come back, we need to stick together," Charlotte called. Michael, who was already several feet ahead, reluctantly slowed down. He turned towards Charlotte.
"But-"
"But nothing. You've said it yourself, we should stick together. And it's going to stay that way." He clammed up, but still drifted further ahead than he normally would. As the day wore on them all, it seemed that their conversation material was reaching towards desperate levels.
"Do you think a cloud could hold me?" Ami asked.
"Probably not. Aren't they made out of water? Plus, clouds faze in and out of the sky house all the time," Luke said, gazing up at the sky.
"Maybe they just don't like the house. People like me, right?"
"Uh..."
"Right?"
"Right." Luke averted his eyes from the sky and Ami, instead keeping them firmly on the ground. The cobblestone bridge clicked against his feet as he walked across it, and Luke faintly regretted looking at the ground. Below them was a small pool of lava. Small, yes, but just as deadly as a giant ocean of lava. Luke stared into the horizon, thinking that he could perhaps find peace there.
"Aiden? Are you okay?" Aiden blinked, looking at Izzy. He'd zoned out pretty good there.
"Yeah, don't worry about it." He smiled. She hesitated, but soon went back to gazing ahead.
"Good," she whispered, loud enough for him and him only to hear. Aiden furrowed his brow and let his gaze wander to the sky. The sun was bright, despite the fact that it was about to set, and he shielded his eyes. This didn't prove to work very well, since he didn't have hands. Aiden sighed and tried not to let the blinding light annoy him.
Aiden awoke to a shining light in his eye. Not the best morning routine, he thought. Luckily, it wasn't just light that caught his eye, as the rest of the room he was in slowly came into view. A sickly white room with white walls, floors, even bed sheets filled his eyes with disgust. Definitely not his room. Not even his house. Aiden sat up, feeling a small pain in his neck. Ouch. How long had be been asleep?
Sunlight streamed through the open window overlooking his bed. He got up and closed the curtains, which were, would you guess it, white. It didn't make much of a difference since the curtains were so bloody bright, but it was better than before. He heard the click and squeak of a door opening. His door. Aiden tensed up as he watched a nith her black hair in a bun come inside. She stopped at the sight of him, astonished.
"Y-You're awake?" she asked, more to herself than anything.
"What else does it look like?" he said irritably. She closed her mouth and gulped.
"I'll be right back. There's someone who wants to see you." She quickly ran out of the room, not bothering to shut the door. Aiden was confused. Who would bother to see him? Aiden put his face in his hands. Maybe it would be that bald creep again...back for revenge. He sighed, only now noticing that he wasn't in his normal clothes. Grumbling to himself on how he hated hospital gowns, he hardly noticed when she came in. Aiden's eyes lit up when he saw her. Golden blonde hair, piercing green eyes, it was the same girl.
"They were right!" she said ecstatically, running over to him. "You're really okay."
"Yeah, I am," he said awkwardly. "Uh, what happened? If you don't mind me asking."
"Well, after you passed out the ambulance came and picked you up in a stretcher and everything. I, uh, stayed with you in there. Because I was worried." The girl blushed. "They said you were unwell mostly from extreme exhaustion than anything. You've only been out for three days though, so-"
"Three days? Aww, shoot." Aiden collapsed back down on his bed. "Another three days wasted. What else is new..."
"Wasted? Oh no, no, not at all! The doctors said you really needed the rest. I-I don't know how you managed to tire yourself out that much but I'm just glad to know that you're okay. I've tried visiting you to see if you're awake but every time I came in you were still asleep. I was actually just on my way out when the nurse rushed over to tell me that you were awake." Aiden twiddled his thumbs.
"You were concerned about me?"
"Of course. I watched as that awful guy jumped you and almost killed you. I'd be insane not to worry!" He smiled. Maybe he did still have a chance in this world.
"Thank you," he said, knowing that he truly meant it. "Oh, that reminds me. What's your name? I'm Aiden." He held out his bony hand.
"I'm Izzy," she said, shaking his hand and grinning.
"Are we there yet?" Ami complained.
"Yes," Luke answered.
"Really?" She lit up with excitement.
"No. Does it look like we're anywhere close?" He shook his head and shrugged. Ami groaned loudly, dragging her feet across the grass.
"Guys, seriously. We're almost there. The house should come into view just around this hill." Michael rubbed his head, annoyed and tired from the travel. All he wanted was to check that Rufus was okay. That was all he needed...
"We've been walking for hours," Ami moaned. "I can't wait to sleep." They walked around the hill that had been obscuring their vision, and all felt relieved when they saw home. Ami could practically hear her bed calling for her.
"Ami! Ami!" It would say. "Come cuddle with me! We have much to catch up on!"
Yes mister bed, she thought, I'll be there soon enough. But she did notice what they passed by before going inside. Jack's grave stood as a physical reminder of him, a big wall of grief looming over her. Maybe he's happy, wherever he is...
"Alright, you guys get settled. I'm going to look for Rufus." Michael announced, taking on a determined look.
"But the sun's set - you'll get caught up in with the monsters!" Charlotte protested. He had already begun to trot away.
"I have to do this, Char. I'll be back before you know it." He kept going until he vanished from sight. Charlotte clenched her fist, rushing inside. She watched as everyone got themselves organized and found herself gazing out the window. She knew that she couldn't just let him go off on his own like that...and in the middle of the night! Charlotte mentally made a plan. Once everyone was asleep she would sneak out to find him if he didn't show up by then.
As she'd predicted, the moon had risen high and there was still no sign of Michael. Charlotte sat up in her bed, gazing around at the rest. All sleeping. Good. She quietly slipped out of the covers and opened the door, disappearing into the night before anyone noticed.
Aiden stared after her. What was she up to? Probably looking for Michael...he hadn't come back, after all. Aiden sat up, deciding that he wasn't going to sleep tonight after all. He went outside as well, climbing up the ladder and crashing in the wooden bench on the roof. Staring at the sky, he let his mind wander. Should he do it? He'd been thinking about it for a while now. But he couldn't do that to Izzy! Not after they'd finally gotten so close...Aiden held his face in his stubs, feeling his square hands grow wet.
"Aiden?" Her voice came, barely above a whisper. Aiden gasped, hastily wiping his eyes.
"What?" Whoa, he sounded a lot worse than he thought. Izzy came over and sat beside him, a sad look on her face.
"It's okay," she said. "You don't have to put on an act around me. I know you've been holding a bunch of stupid stuff in, and...and it's okay to cry. I'll cry with you, if you want."
"I-I don't...cry." Even as he said it Aiden felt his eyes well up with tears again. Finally, he let go. Not that he had given himself much choice at this point. But Izzy didn't say a word, and neither did he. They just sat together in silence. And yet, Aiden felt that someone finally cared about him.
Michael was at his wits end, having searched high and low for his friend and coming up with nothing. Where? Where was he?! If Rufus was dead, it was all his fault. He shouldn't have left him behind in the first place! Idiot! These thoughts kept circling around his head and causing him to panic even more. How did he die? Did a pack of wolves mangle him? Was he blown to smithereens by a Creeper? Turned into a zombie, shot by an arrow...the thoughts never ended. When was the last time he remembered seeing him? When they were reconstructing the house after the monster attack, after Jack died, he told him to sit somewhere...where? Where?!
"Where?!" Michael yelled aloud. Wait...reconstruction? What was he doing then? Then it hit him. The roof. He was repairing the roof. And he told Rufus to wait when he went down to grab a drink...
"Oh my God." He smacked himself in the face, running as fast as he could to the ladder and climbing up. Michael didn't even notice the bodies of Izzy and Aiden up ahead, or the body of Charlotte right behind him as he looked to the hill beside the house, where a ball of white fur lay.
"Rufus!" he cried, falling on his knees and embracing the ball, which unrolled and licked him in response. The wolf whimpered and licked him again, he was so happy. Michael held Rufus tightly in his arms, tears flowing down his cheeks. "I swear I'll never let you go ever again. I swear." He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked to see Charlotte standing above him. Michael rubbed his face, wiping both his tears and wolf spit off and grinned.
"I told you he was okay," she said, smiling and pulling him into a hug. Rufus squirmed between the two of them, quickly plopping himself on the floor and rolling around. Michael laughed.
"Come, boy."
With the night gone and the sun rising, it seemed that things were finally going to look up for everyone. Michael welcomed Rufus back into the group, vowing to never leave his side again, and Aiden and Izzy were closer than ever. But all good things had to come to an end, and Michael knew that he would have to break some unfortunate news to the group soon.
"Hey Michael," Izzy sang, leaning against Aiden and looking at Michael with curious eyes. "Have you finished crafting those Eyes of Splendor or whatever?"
"That's a good question," Aiden agreed. "It doesn't take too long to craft stuff, right? Are we finally ready to get out of this place?"
"Uhh..." Michael stuttered, suddenly feeling sweaty and panicky. "There's, er, some bad news."
"It's fine if you haven't finished crafting them, it won't take too long. We're just wondering."
"Oh, uh, no that's not what I meant." Michael fidgeted. "There's, er, been a bit of a setback."
"A setback?" Charlotte joined the conversation. "What kind of setback, Mike?" Michael went red.
"Oh, not much...just the fact that we're one Blaze Rod short of what we absolutely need and actually we still need more even then and ohh..." His voice retreated to a whisper as he stared at his fingers.
"Are you meaning to tell us that we need to make another trip back to that place?!" Aiden fired up. Michael shrunk down.
"I thought we had enough. Really, I did. But we need twelve to open the End Portal and a few more even then to find the damned place and...I'm sorry." He hugged his knees tightly. Rufus sat beside him, nudging his hand. There was a long moment of silence where everyone slowly came to the realization of what it meant to go back to the Nether.
"Aiden almost died the last time we went there," Izzy said seriously.
"I know," Michael whispered.
"I don't think I can handle going back in there." Luke held his head and shook.
"That's - that's okay!" Michael blurted. "This time...this time we can have a couple people stay behind and guard the house. And Rufus, of course." Rufus barked excitedly.
"He can't come in the portal with you?" Ami asked. Michael shook his head.
"Never has been. We've tried, believe me, but it just wouldn't work. I don't know why."
"Well," Charlotte said after another period of silence. "We should prepare to leave for tomorrow then, shouldn't we? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can put this entire ordeal behind us. Are y'all with me?" Several exchanged glances met with several reluctant nods as people started to set themselves to packing.
Ami grabbed what she knew she would need. A sword, bow and arrows, cake, fishing rod just in case they stopped for grub, more cake, and an extra sword just in case her other one broke. Yup, she thought to herself. Perfect.
"Hey Ami." Izzy drifted beside her.
"Mmm?"
"Do you know why Aiden is putting up those signs outside?" Ami stopped rummaging through the chest and looked out the window. Sure enough, that bozo was sticking up signs right beside Jack's grave.
"What is that maniac doing?" she wondered.
"That's what I want to know. I'll ask him once he comes back in, since he looks pretty into it. Er, whatever he's doing." Izzy walked away worriedly.
"Tell me when you find out!" Ami called, gazing back out at Aiden. She couldn't read the signs from here, but he looked really sorrowful. That's unlike him, Ami thought, going back to her packing but was unable to get the thought of what Aiden was doing out of her head. But before she knew it, the night was upon them all and she retreated to her bed instead.
Izzy lay awake, her worry growing as the seconds passed. Aiden still hadn't come back, even though it was nighttime. She couldn't take this any longer! He had to still be out there putting up those signs, right? Izzy sat up and walked out of the door. The night was empty, without a trace of a monster or Aiden. Where was he?
"Aiden?" Izzy called. That boy was going to drive her insane one of these days. He wasn't anywhere. The more she looked, the more Aiden didn't turn up. She did a full search of all around the house, too, but still no sign of Aiden. Putting her hands on her hips, she glanced over to the first sign. She read the first line, and found herself intrigued. He'd forgive her for reading these later, Izzy knew, so she carried on. But the more she read, the more ice spread through her body. She felt cold and empty. When she reached the last sign she was in tears. And then she saw it. A hole, deeper than the tallest tower in the world. And at the very bottom...Izzy screamed, instantly waking anyone who was asleep. A singular square of lava burned at the very bottom of the hole, and Aiden's final word burned in her memory for all time.
'Goodbye.'
(I'm not even gonna lie, I'm really sad right now. REALLY SAD. I didn't want this to happen. And yet it still did.)
ns 15.158.61.51da2
