Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulations

Our heroes go on an adventure and encounter something...or someone beyond their imaginations.

"So let me get this straight," Jack ruffled his hair in confusion. "You want us to go back out there." He pointed to the setting sun outside the window. The two of them, Michael and Jack were sitting around a wooden table, discussing their next course of action.

"Yep." Michael nodded, unfazed.

"Where we almost died."

"Seems like it."

"And intentionally look for those monsters."

"Pretty much."

"Have you lost your mind?!" Jack spluttered out. Michael sighed. "Look, Jack. I know you don't know a lot about this world, but we have to gather some materials. The only way to get these materials is by killing the monsters and hoping they drop it once they poof out of existence. Besides, I can give you both some armor and weapons. You're not going to be feathers in a thunderstorm. I'm not that daft."

"But that thing that exploded right onto us-"

"A creeper," Michael stood and walked across the wooden floor to a chest that rested alongside the wall. "They're quite bothersome. But they drop gunpowder, which has a bit of use for us, so be on the look for that, we can use anything we get."

"B-but-" Jack stuttered. Michael slammed the chest with an audible force, a diamond-edged sword in his right stub. "This conversation is over, we're going out in a few minutes. You've had the entire night to steam over this. I'm going to get Ami; meet us at the front door to get your gear. Please, Jack. You won't survive in this world for long if you continue to hide." And then he left, tucking the sword away with remarkable ease.

"D****t!" Jack slammed his fist on the edge of the table, accidentally breaking it. He swore, placing the corner back on again. The last thing that he wanted was to go back out there again and come that close to death. The way the creeper's eyes just bored into his skull, as though searching for something it couldn't find. The fear of disappearing in an instant if that thing came near him again. Jack's head fell to the table. Did he have a choice? Hiding here would do no good, but going out in the night and being swarmed by God knows what left him immobilized.

His mind wandered. Jack thought of Ami, her fiery passion diminishing as a horde of creepers engulfed her in a vast explosion. He sat up rather suddenly, took a last glance at the table and gulped. Jack got up and took large strides towards the entrance.

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There was Ami, who looked rather stressed, hanging on every word Michael was saying. He handed her a sword, some food, and a pickaxe, explaining about what to do if they got split up. She was already dressed in a silver-coloured armour from head to toe. Though her brow was furrowed in intense concentration, she couldn't have looked more excited to go out and she lightened up even more when she noticed Jack tiptoeing his way over to them.

"You're coming with us? Awesome! Look, I have a sword!" She waved the cyan blade around happily, narrowly missing Michael's throat. Michael doubled back, adjusting his glasses and looking solemn.

"I get the point," Jack smirked at his own joke. "But I'd rather none of us died today." His eyes panned over to Michael, who gave him a curt nod. Michael then started with a jolt, darting over to another chest. Now that Jack thought of it, Michael sure had a lot of them.

"You'll need these," he said, handing him a myriad of things Jack couldn't identify. "That is, if you want to live." Jack had just obtained a full set of the same armor that Ami had. Everything was labeled as 'iron;' he put it all on and felt incredibly more powerful than he had before. It was surprisingly light like thin cloth and he could move just as freely as if he wasn't wearing anything at all! Michael also handed him a sword, diamond like the others, some steaks, porkchops, the odd loaf of bread, and an iron pickax just like Ami's. Jack held the sword out in front of him, gazing at its every detail. How it gleamed in the light, the razor sharp edge giving him chills. This was a real weapon. He'd never seen one like this before. Jack wondered how one would actually use a sword. It seemed like relevant information.

"Okay, so we should be fine with what we have. I'm putting a lot of trust in you guys, alright? I'll try and stick with you two so we can fight together, but know that it's entirely possible we may be left to ourselves. Remember - aim for the monsters, not each other." Ami snickered. Michael continued on with a grin. "We should go. Night is falling."

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It was the first time Jack had been outside since his run-in with the creeper. That is, outside at night. The world didn't seem as creepy in the daytime, with the clouds lazily gliding over the skies without a care in the world. Jack watched as the last of daylight disappeared over the hilltops, the world feeling a lot colder that it had been a few moments ago. Michael called for Jack to keep up. He jogged to catch up, not even realizing that he had stopped.

"So how do we know where we're going? And how will we get back?" Jack asked once he had caught up.

"I have a map, and I've pinpointed exactly where our house is. No need to worry." Michael reassured him.

"Who needs a map?" Ami stretched her arms behind her neck. "Let's go on an adventure! What about that mountain over the-"

"Filled to the brim with spiders. I'd rather wait until we're more equipped to go in there. Or at least enchanted. Don't want to risk it." Michael interrupted, scanning the map feverishly, and shuddered after a pause. Ami pouted. "How about the desert?"

"That's where we're going, actually," he smiled. "Be sure to leave a torch every so often, too."

"So you're saying that the map could be useless!" Ami laid down a torch and shot a look at him. "Why lay down a torch if we have a map?"

"Reassurance. Can't be too careful, can we? Oh, never mind with that look. We're here, anyway." Michael shook his head, and pointed his sword to the sandy plains ahead. All was quiet, not a creature nor a sound to disturb the peace. At least, until a rustling came from somewhere unseen. So much for peace and quiet.

"What was that?" Ami tensed up instantly, raising her sword inches away from her nose.

"Spider!" Michael's face brightened up. "Find it and kill it, I'm desperate for string. If we split up, we can get more angles on it. I won't go far. Best of luck," Michael nodded.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked uncertainly, sword wobbling in both his stubs.

"Jack, Ami, I have complete faith in the two of you. Don't ask me why. If anything goes wrong - yell; I'll run as fast as my legs can carry me. Trust yourselves and you'll find greatness." Michael gave them both a determined look, nodded, then was on his way to the left, out of sight in the growing darkness.

"Jack?" Ami edged closer to him, still stiffly holding her sword in place.

"Let's stick together," he stated. Ami breathed a sigh of relief, and eased up slightly. "Agreed."

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After a few minutes of walking, the sound of anything had disappeared into silence, and Jack felt a bit more comfortable. However, in the back of his mind the silence was even more terrifying. It was like the monsters were waiting to pull a cheesy jumpscare on him. He made sure to keep everything exceptionally aware for anything out of the ordinary. Though the absence of monsters was unnerving, Jack was able to control himself with deep breaths. Ami, on the other stub, only got more worried by the minute.

"What was that?!" she would say at the shifting of the sand, or the creak of a cacti.

"Nothing, nothing. Just keep moving. We're gonna be okay so long as we're together." Jack would always reply back, grabbing her arm and giving her a little tug. She was nearly glued to him until something else caught her attention; then she would be rigid as a stone statue. Jack looked around for something that could distract her from everything, a funny-shaped cactus perhaps, but found nothing that could really ease her. Jack was getting desperate. The sand was turning back into grass, and he was about to feel dread when he saw a familiar cave in the mountainside.

"Hey! It's that little mountain we passed by earlier! See that, Ami? We could go adventure in there and kill all those spiders for Michael! Think of all the string we would get! He wouldn't think we're unequipped or weak or...anything! ...Ami?" Jack looked back at her. She gazed upwards, brow furrowed and small stubs quivering.

"Do you think we can make it?" Ami shuddered.

"Of course," Jack felt the lie sink its venomous fangs into him, the poison filling his veins. "We can do anything if we stick together." He reached out and held her stub reassuringly. She looked up at him with that gleaming smile he loved.

"Okay," she said, following him up the mountain. Would they be fine? Jack put on his game face. But even Michael was concerned and he had to be a better swordsman than either of them. Jack shook his head, emptying his brain of pointless worries. Michael would soon see that Jack was not a weakling. He could handle himself and protect her; he was more than he seemed. He could do this.

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Once the two had broken a fine sweat getting up to the cave, they gazed into the abyss. Jack felt that the only way he could tell it was a cave and not normal darkness was that the inside was darker than the night itself. He gulped, stiffening. "Do you have torches?"

"Right here." Ami placed one on a stone outside the black hole. It illuminated a portion of the cave, but certainly not as much as Jack would have liked. "We can light up this entire place, see? Just like home," she smiled. Her stubs were still shaking with the light she held.

"Keep your guard up," Jack held his sword towards the untold ebony horrors, stepping ahead of her. Ami laid a torch every few steps to add the faintest bit of light. For a while, they encountered nothing, and their hopes began to drain along with any lingering fear. Jack was certain that this was the cave Michael had pointed at.

"Do you think we should turn back? I'm almost out of torches." Ami counted the remaining sticks in her inventory. "7 in totes." Jack sighed, the tip of his sword hitting the stone floor. "I suppose so. I could've sworn this was the right cave. Oh well, at least we got to adventure." He shrugged, then smirked after a moment. "What does totes mean anyway?" Ami rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion. "Honestly Jack, I thought you were more civilized than that. Totes is an abbreviation used only by the highest classes of people."

"More like you're totes messing up my head." He climbed over a boulder, offering a stub to Ami who followed suit.

"Well, you ought to get used to it, dearest Jacky -" She cut herself off, stopping in her tracks. "I just heard something." Her voice was suddenly solemn.

"I doubt anything would be here. We've already checked this whole area, right? If something was here we would've found it already."

"Creatures move, Jack." He saw the beads of sweat that ran down Ami's forehead. She wasn't kidding around. A scuttling sound reverberated around the room, perhaps belonging to a creature with many legs. He shuddered, sword raised forth. "Ami, let's jam," he hissed. She nodded, tiptoeing beside him. Treading carefully, it was quieter than a baby in a crib. That is, until the creature leaped from the shadows, blocking the exit. Jack blinked, shielding his eyes from the light of the torch they had left outside. It was so close. Ami yelped and huddled beside him. Jack felt a new sweat running down his body and boldly raised his sword. The dark figure started to advance, only, it acted rather strangely. The figure straightened up, and stood on two legs. A zombie, perhaps? A mythical creature come to life in this fictional world? Jack braced himself, prepared to charge.

"Could you put that thing down?" The figure asked. The sword almost fell from his stubs.

"W-what?!"

"I said," a southern accent drawled as the figure stepped closer. "Put the darned thing down."

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"So who are you again?" Ami managed to slobber through a bowl of soup.

"Names Charlotte. I'd advise you to remember it. Sorry about earlier, by the way, I thought for sure you were some sort of zombies." The once ebony figure had revealed itself to be none other than a woman. Dark skinned, with chocolate brown eyes and a shockingly big puff of hair that Jack imagined was smooth to the touch, she was rather intimidating. Well, the fear hadn't struck itself in Ami at all. She hadn't seemed to notice Charlotte's frightening demeanor. For Christ's sake, they thought she was a monster at first. Jack wondered if she was daft, that Ami, sometimes.

But here they sat, just outside the cave, slurping down the mushroom soup they had packed. Jack had offered Charlotte a bowl, which she heartily took, soon after exclaiming, "This is heaven compared to that zombie flesh I've been eatin' for days! It's got one hell of a sour punch to it and might make you a bit sick, but God knows I'm too tough for any of that." Jack still hadn't fully wrapped his head around her character. She was a badass, that much was evident, but it concerned him a little in the long run. Zombie flesh couldn't be good for elongating one's lifespan.

"Well, should we get back?" Ami yawned, wooden bowl empty before her, staring at Jack for an answer.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Just let me finish, I'm almost done. Oh, are you coming with us, Charlotte? The house isn't too far from here. I'm sure Michael wouldn't mind another guest, he's a nice guy."

"And how do I know y'all won't poke me with them swords as I sleep?" she bellowed. After a long pause, and no answer to her loud remark, she patted the ground roughly and laughed. "Haven't your grandparents ever taught you to laugh? Bah, I'll show you two how to live, someday. I suppose I don't have nowhere else to go. Found myself right at home in this here cave - nasty smell, but not somewhere I'd like to vacation. No guarantees I'm staying for good, alright?"

"Gotcha," Jack mumbled. She surely was her own person, that was for sure. Jack could only imagine Charlotte and Ami devising crazy plans together; the house would likely be a full one with these two together. Ami got to her feet and stretched, gazing outwards to the rising sun. A collective wave of relief seemed to wash over them. No more monsters.

"Perfect time to take you home, then," Ami grinned. Charlotte scoffed, urging that this would only ever be a visit, but Jack had a feeling she would stick around for a bit longer. Her and Ami got along far too well for her to leave the next day. As their home came into view, so did Michael along with the stunned look on his face. He seemed excited that they were alive, but less so by the new ruckus that accompanied them. Jack felt the corners of his mouth tug into a light smirk. Maybe Charlotte would put him in his place. A know-it-all and a badass, huh? He stuffed a giggle down his throat, not daring to make a sound lest any of them hear his thoughts. After all, the show was only just beginning.

Author's Note

Tell me what you think!