(ooOoh lookit THAT I found some time to pUbLisH soMEthiNG)

I removed the image that was once here lol, as it didn't fit the chapter. However, it was very cute, and I recommend y'all check out the artist ;D  They're called xAstronx on Deviantart!!

I DECIDED (well my friends decided) THAT I NEEDED SOME FLUFF

SO HERE YA GO

VOTE, COMMENT, AND ENJOY!!

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Visitor

          Winter was upon the tundra. The high mountains of the biome were covered in glistening white, and the trees were draped in fluffy powder. A small cabin, the roof piled high with the white glitter, nestled snugly in the mountains, the back part overlooking a large cliff that dropped away to a snowy meadow. Spruce trees surrounded the small, wooden dwelling, standing tall and straight as if they guarded the occupant of the little cabin. Said occupant was just now beginning to awaken, as the golden sun peered over the mountains before the cabin, shining gently on his sleeping face.

          "Ugghh..." Jake grimaced and rolled over as golden light shone on his face, falling with a thump to the floor. Drowsily, he blinked open dark brown eyes, wondering why morning had to come so early. Yawning, he tried to stretch, only to realize his legs were hopelessly entangled in his orange blanket. He grumbled, kicked himself free, and stood, stretching one hand towards the ceiling, the other brushing his semi-long, blond hair out of his eyes. Lowering his stretching arm, he looked, absentmindedly, at the ice pick, leather pack, unstrung bow, and quiver of arrows sitting by the door, wondering why they were there. Usually, they were with his hunting and trapping equipment.

          Then he remembered, and his eyes widened, "Oh Notch, I nearly forgot!" His face broke into a grin as he hurried to give the dying fire some wood. His friend Steve would arrive that day, as he did every year, to cut ice. The miner would be bringing fresh vegetables and meats as well, as precious little of those would be found during the winter in the tundra. Jake quickly set about getting some breakfast into him, washing his face and checking to see if the iron he'd found yesterday had smelted. It still hadn't finished.

          He finished eating some tough, beef jerky and carrots, chewing as he surveyed his little one-room cabin. It was made of spruce logs, about 9x8 blocks and warmed by a constant fire in the fireplace. Cozy but not too crowded. A pile of blankets was in another corner, near some emergency firewood, that would be where Steve would sleep. The man liked to stay at least a couple of nights, just visiting, sharing stories of his adventures as a miner.

          As Jake checked his food supplies, he chuckled as he remembered his first meeting with the miner. He'd found Steve while out hunting, the miner had been nearly frozen and incoherent, leaning limply against a large spruce tree. Thinking the man to just be asleep, Jake had thrown a snowball at his slightly blue-tinged face, calling out a friendly insult. When Jake had realized that the miner was dying, he'd nearly panicked, and felt awful for pelting him with snow. Later, when Steve had woken up, he told Jake he'd figured that he would be fine in the colder temperatures and altitudes. He turned out to be very wrong.

          Jake snapped out of the memory, remembering he needed to get some snow to melt for water, and grab some frozen meat from the shed, he'd use them to make a stew for that night's dinner. The tall, lithe blond took off and neatly folded his sleepwear, then dressed warmly in a tan, fur-lined coat with a furry hood, deep brown wool trousers with a wide, grey belt, and tan boots layered with wolf fur. Swirling a grey cloak about his shoulders and tucking a deep brown, wool scarf over his mouth, he snatched up and threw the long strap of a small leather bag over his shoulder. It usually hung next to the door, and contained a few medical supplies, as it was dangerous to go out in the tundra without at least some bandages. Buckling his shortsword onto his back and yanking on some grey gloves, the blond grabbed a bucket and forced open his door, grunting and pushing snow aside to get out.

          The cold hit the exposed parts of his face, nipping at his eyelashes and nose. Jake shouldered the sturdy door closed again, turning to look at the unblemished beauty of the fresh snow, which rolled over the land in large humps of white, glittering in the early morning sun. Jake grinned at it, then scooped some up into the bucket, setting it by the door before making his way to his little shed, which was about twenty or so blocks away into the woods. This was to make sure wild wolves would scent the meat and then him as well, and try to break into the house, though the young hunter was sure the cabin could stand the assault.

          A mischievous twinkle lit up his eyes as he trudged through the trees to the little shack, where all his meat hung frozen. It would be mighty funny to pelt Steve with a snowball, surprising him as he arrived. It would remind the miner of the first time they met. His breath misted in front of him through the scarf, and the sun shone and bounced off all the snow layering the spruces' branches, lighting the forest with gold. Jake chuckled as he yanked open the door to the shed, stepped inside, and grabbed a hunk of beef wrapped in paper hanging from a hook in the ceiling. Quickly hacking off the needed amount with a hatchet hanging by the door, he wrapped it in spare paper and trudged back to his house, "Better be on alert Steve..." He muttered to himself, smiling again.

          Soon, the meat was thawing in a warm smoker, the bucket of snow was melting, and Jake was heading back out, ax in hand, to gather a bit more wood. A little wooden sled was tied to a harness across his chest, and ropes lay on it. He would drag the wood back on the wooden thing, which was also used to traverse steep mountainsides with ease.

          Jake walked deeper and deeper into the woods, where the trees grew taller, blocking out sunlight, and bringing cool, bluish shadows. It was still and silent, as all the birds had migrated, and not even a breath of wind rustled the laden branches of the trees. The only sounds were Jake's panting and the soft crunching noises his boots made in the snow.

          Soon, his eyes lit upon an old, fallen tree, broken from the weight of the snow. Unbuckling the harness, he quickly trudged over and brushed the snow from the log. It was nice and large, plenty to last Steve's stay. Unhooking the iron ax from his belt, he swung it high just as movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

          Confused, he swung his head about to look, mouth dropping open. Standing, with his back facing him, stood Steve, dressed in nothing but a short-sleeved, turquoise tunic and his usual indigo pants. A deep grey cloak swirled about his thin shoulders, hood down, and a small breeze ruffled his hair, which was longer than he usually let it grow. The man stood stiff and proud, shoulders thrown back and head bowed, looking over the edge of a cliff at least sixty blocks away. He was...thinner than Jake remembered.

          The hunter was utterly baffled; Steve wasn't due to come until around one o'clock. Perhaps he'd come early? But that didn't explain the absurdity of his clothing, he'd freeze again!

          Jake shook his head. Steve, after all, was a strange one. Dropping his ax into the soft snow, he let a small grin work its way onto his face as he crouched and began to drift silently closer, using his hunter's skills to keep him undetected. Stopping behind a large spruce, not ten blocks from the man, he waited, breathless, to see if he had been noticed.

          He hadn't. Steve stood, stiff and silent.

          A nagging voice at the back of Jakes's head warned that something wasn't right, but he brushed it off, rolling a nice, packed snowball in his gloved hands. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself.

          He leaped out from behind the tree, drawing his hand back and letting the snowball fly. It soared with a hunter's precision, straight into its target, exploding with a solid, satisfying poof. Steve staggered forward a bit as his head was shoved forward from the impact, a startled noise escaping him.

          Caught up in the moment, Jake didn't realize that the pitch of the voice...was not quite Steve's. The trapper burst out laughing, "What's with the short sleeves, man!? Am I going to have to save your butt from the cold again, as I did all those years back!?"

          The figure whirled around.

          Jake stopped, mid-laugh, the amused expression on his face turning into one of terror, "Oh Notch..." he breathed.

          The man's eyes shone with a soft glow and were white as the surrounding snow.

          Jake's heart started to pound in his chest. He'd heard legends and dark stories of mystery that shrouded a white-eyed being. The man was said to have godlike powers, and had killed hundreds of people, and would visit them in their nightmares, causing them to die in their sleep. Some had spoken that he would take innocents to a hellish, fiery world and would torture them until they literally screamed and begged for death. Still others had said he was a demon who wanted to destroy the world and the Creator, turning the beautiful surface into a land of fire and brimstone, of lava lakes and fields of fire. Jake had laughed off their stories, liking them for their creativity, but thought nothing else of it. It seemed as though he was being paid a visit and taught a lesson about laughing at demons.

          The blond began to slowly back away, eyes locked on the glowing ones, not noticing, in his panic, that the being wore an expression of confusion, not of anger, "Look, I'm sorry...I...I th-thought you were a friend of mine...heh...you uh, you look like him..."

          The man didn't move, just stared blankly at Jake as he slowly shuffled back, arms outstretched and palms spread in a defensive gesture. A baffled look held the being's face, his hair still wet from the snowball, and he seemed at a loss for what to do. Jake quickly took advantage of this and spun around to leave but halted and gaped as another figure shuffled out of the woods.

          The new man was tall and strong, dressed warmly in a cyan-dyed, fur-lined coat, with an indigo cloak. A belt of grey was fastened about his waist, and grey, fur-lined gloves covered large hands. A white scarf wrapped about his neck and his furry hood was thrown back, revealing short, brown hair. A large, leather pack was upon his back, and the curve of an iron pickax peeked out of it. Grey boots, a sword at his hip, and wool indigo pants completed the look. The new figure smiled and waved cheerfully in greeting, "Hey, Jake! Hope you don't mind if I'm early, I just..." His deep voice drifted off as he caught sight of the figure behind the hunter.

          Jake gulped, "Oh uh, hey Steve... I may have just thrown a snowball at you..."

          Steve's stubble-lined jaw fell open as his deep blue eyes darted from one man to the next. Jake looked positively terrified, but the being near the cliff merely looked confused. Steve squinted, looking the still-unmoving figure, slightly thrown off from the glare of the snow, then gasped as he noticed the eyes, "You did what?"

          Jake ran a hand through his hair, knocking his hood back, turning halfway so he could keep his eyes on the being, still standing quietly, merely watching the two men, "Y-yeah...I thought he was you, okay!?"

          Steve muttered, "Good Notch, he looks almost exactly like me...no wonder."

          Before the two men could say anything else, the being bowed his head and vanished with a flash of indigo ender-particles. They both gasped and looked about instinctively, but the quiet of the forest remained unbroken. Jake nervously broke the quiet, "Well, that just happened...let's just...head inside shall we?"

          Steve huffed, "Yes, and hope that guy doesn't murder us in our sleep! What exactly were you thinking!? Would I really have been wearing short sleeves in this weather?"

          Jake scowled, "Look, I wasn't thinking, I was excited for you to arrive. I'm sorry, okay?!"

          Steve sighed, dragging a glove down his face, squeezing his deep blue eyes shut, "Ah, what are we gonna do about it now anyway? The deed's been done."

          Jake swallowed, looking about the forest once more, "Aye...let's get back."

          The two men headed silently back for the cabin, Jake stopping only to grab his sled and ax, both looking about nervously. Neither noticed the grey-caped figure watching them from the trees, following them by warping from one to the next.

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          Steve gave a sigh of relief as he dumped his pack on the ground and took off his coat, stretching, "Good Notch, ahh...my legs hurt. Need me to do anything?" Under his white-fur-trimmed jacket, his shirt was a matching cyan, the tough jerkin over it, a deep grey. He removed his gloves, scarf, boots, and cape, hanging the clothing items over a 'drip rack' designed by Jake.

          Jake raised an eyebrow, taking off his own wraps, "You just said your legs were tired man..."

          Steve grinned sat him, "Precisely. So, you'd feel guilty if you make me do anything." He quickly went and sat by the fire, stretching tanned hands towards the warmth.

          Jake rolled his eyes and went to check the meat for the stew. It was not quite thawed, "Smart man, Steve. You're in luck though, I have nothin' else to do except talk." He sat beside Steve, feeling the warmth of the fire hit him like a wall, "So...how was the trip?"

          Steve shrugged, dropping his tiring arms, "Eh, the usual...I did get a small scare when I passed by this abandoned village...it was creepy as Nether, and I felt watched the whole time...it didn't help that it was nighttime." He chuckled, gazing into the flickering flames, feeling oddly satisfied. The drip drip drip of melting snow from their hanging clothes and the crackling of the flames mixed with the small sounds of ores smelting was extremely comforting, "Heh, and what exactly were you doing sneaking about the forest with a snowball meant for me??"

          Jake threw back his head and laughed, "I wanted to remind you of the first time we met! I threw a snowball at you, remember??"

          Steve shook his head, a twinkle in his eye, "My Notch, Jake, I was unconscious...but still! Really?"

          Laughter, stories and teasing issued from the little cabin as the sun went down, and even well into the night. The cabin emitted a soft, orange glow from the roaring fire, which illuminated squares of snow in the dark. Ghostly moonlight shone down onto the mountain, giving it an oddly creepy feel.

          Neither man looked outside, but if they had, they may have noticed the white-eyed stranger staring softly at the golden, glowing windows, a look of longing on his gaunt face. As the men settled for the night, and the sounds and glow lessened, the glowing-eyed man warped closer to one of the windows, peering softly down at the two friends, huddled in blankets, sleeping peacefully. A strange, sad look stole over him, and he teleported to the roof, sitting down on the snow and looking up at the blanket of stars above him. Perhaps he would watch these two a little longer, they seemed amusing. 

         He sighed, slowly allowing himself to drift into sleep, head still tilted at the stars.

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I DO LOVE ME SOME FLUFF

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