Section 1:

     Dear diary... Frick this!

     The desert sun beat down on my blue robe, baking me inside like a furnace! Like, c'mon, man? Ya gotta be this insufferable today?? My sandals were stock-piled with a year's worth of sand. Unfortunately...you can't exactly sell sand out here...

     I tugged on the leads so my two llamas, Chewy: brown and Ewy: cream, would stop behind me. My burning feet shuffled over the baking granules for a moment. My emerald eyes scanned over the tan, crisp horizon. Nothing but a few cacti to brighten up the nothingness. The sky overhead was painted in pale blue. Not a single cloud wandering the emptiness. I opened my blue robe and pulled a hastily shoved map out from the pocket of my green vest. The crumpled paper was damp with sweat. As I unfolded it with a little more care now, I followed the black dotted line, occasionally peeking up from the paper to scan my surroundings further.

     "Come onn..." I grumbled under my breath. My llamas sniffed around the sand for anything to eat as they waited for me to make a move. "Aha!" I startled them. "Must be just around this dune!" I smiled under the red scarf, pointing to the large mound of sand as my head spun back to my companions. Their lazy eyes landed on me, Ewy chewing his cud in my face. Hhh, serves me right for never socializing with anyone but animals nowadays...

     I pulled on the lead for the two to follow behind. On their backs carried sacks of all the trinkets I had collected from many different biomes. There was just one last thing I needed before making my first stop.

     As I rounded the dune, my eyes sparkled when they landed on a small, ancient structure. Among the piles and piles of sand was one small mound of tan rock and orange clay. Hard to see, but I recognized its irregular shape quickly. I led Chewy and Ewy toward it quickly, bounding through the sand to reach the place as if the sun itself was timing me! As soon as I arrived at the irregular mound of sandstone, I peered down into the deep, dark hole. Unlike outside, not everything was submerged in sand. Dewey and Ewy both leaned to peer down as well, nearly pushing me in.

     "Ay-ay-ay-ay! Woah!... No!" Warding the two off. I scurried from the precarious position with their leads in hand and tied the two to a cactus. "Now, stay!" I returned to the hole quickly. Since the main entrance was burried in centuries worth of sand, I set to making that hole my entrance point instead.

     I pulled a stake and some rope from a large old leather pack on my back.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

     With a mallet, I hammered the metal stake into some firm sandstone, then tied the rope around the head of it once the metal was in deep enough. Dropping the rope, I let it fall into the darkness below. My hand idly tapped the sheathed dagger on my right hip... Still there. Good. I descended carefully. My new, leathery gloves made this a whole lot easier. About halfway down, I scanned the darkness quickly. Four pillars propped up the high ceilings. Cracking sandstone reached their way up to the hole I had just descended through. No sign of any monsters... Good. I descended further.

     Once my feet touched the smooth sandstone ground, which was lightly dusted in much cooler sand than what was up above, I sighed. Then chuckled. Funny. Every time I enter one of these things, something always goes wro-O-OAA!!

Guuhhh...

     A husk stumbled from behind one of the sandstone pillars. His arms reaching for me and his few teeth sharpened, this beast was eager for a new meal. The thing was covered in old tan rags, its rotting skin resembling stoney sandpaper more than actual flesh! I shrieked, quickly jumping back onto the rope. Such an action startled the object, snapping my fine rope in two. I crashed onto the grainy floor, spitting dust as the rope flopped atop my pathetic body!

     Frick! Frick! Frick! Frick!

     The husk pounced at once. I didn't have time to draw my concealed dagger, so I grabbed the rope instead. As the dry undead landed on my body, I grabbed the rope in both hands and held it up against the creature's neck. Its hands gripped at my blue and gold hood, pulling that down to reveal the dark red bandanna around my forehead. Its hungry mouth was the most dangerous of all. Sand and dry clumps of flesh dropped from the husk's widened jaws as it groaned, its disgusting, rotting mouth opening wide to bite me. This certainly wasn't going to work; not long term, anyway!

     One of my legs moved to the side to land on top of one of the husk's, holding that limb down. Following a quick grunt, I thrust my hips upwards to catch the monster off balance and tossed it off of me by rolling over the dead one's captured leg. Once on top of the monster, I pinned it down with all I could as my shaky right arm gripped the handle to my copper dagger. The monster thrashed and growled under me. I rose the bronze colored weapon over my head, and-

Thch!

     It penetrated the creature's skull through one of his eyes. Still, the monster didn't seem to care. Its arms started to scratch at my own, thankfully breaking through nothing but thick blue cloth. I threw my wrist with the weapon up into the air again and stabbed a second time. My face tightened. I continued the same, repetitive jabbing action until the entire creature's face had lost nearly all its features. Frail bones broke easily under my attacks. At last, liquid the color of blood leaked from the creature's exposed and fractured skull.

     At last, it stopped.

     Once its arms fell limp, I sighed in relief. I jumped up from the monster, still a little shaky, and assessed the damage done to me. Other than a few minor scratches and bruises...I was fine. Most of the blood on my clothes wasn't my own... Darn, that stuff was hard to wash out.

     I scrambled back to what I was doing, shoving sand aside with my shoes to reveal the tan stone underneath. I could tell the sun was falling low, so I hurried my pace.

     Aha! At last, my feet revealed an indigo tile. I pulled out a pickaxe from my bag and carefully chiseled away at the tile. After I removed the surprisingly thin layer of terracotta, I peeked again into yet another hole. It was too dark down there to see anything, so I carefully dug away at the edges of the hole, making sure no large pieces fell in, until the opening was at last large enough for me with my bag to fit through. After tying the half of the rope I still had around one of the four pillars, I plunged down again into further darkness.

     I could barely see a thing. My eyes had to squint just to pinpoint how close the ground was to me. When it seemed as though I was near enough, I froze. The faint shimmer of a golden pressure plate lay just below me. I began to sway on the rope a little. I swung back and forth until at last I let go. Though my body thrashed against the wall, it was much better than the punishment waiting for me had I dropped down!

     Feeling along the smooth, untouched walls, I guided myself using primarily touch to one of the chests. Opening it carefully, I dug my hands into the sand filled chests. I pulled out a small, crusty leather bag full of what felt like gun powder. Nice. I slid it into one of my green vest pockets. I dug my hands a little deeper into the chest... Ew. Quickly dropped what felt like a dried, severed limb... Pulled out another small bag of gun powder...aand- Aha! Though I could barely see it, once I had pulled it out under the dim light I could spy the faint sparkle! A golden apple!

     I carried on to the next chest along the other wall. These rooms were always super small but made up for it by having high ceilings, so thankfully it wasn't the kind of place to get lost in. After I had looted all four chests, I counted all the things I had just gained to see if the looting was worth the effort. As I climbed back up the rope with relative ease, I recalled the ten or so iron bars, six golden apples, and twelve small pouches of gun powder... I did not, however, count all of the dried, severed limbs I had found, though my brain was really tempted to recall that information. I huffed as I pushed myself out of the hole. I untied the rope from around the pillar and stressed my neck to peer up at the fleeting light through the hole. I sighed. No way was I climbing out of that!

     Course sand filled my gloves as I dug out the front entrance. Hopefully, it would be a little easier to just dig out..right? Let's just hope so!

     One tiring hour later and I had at last surfaced. I flipped onto my back once outside. Huffing and puffing the quickly cooling air, my eyes wandered around the darkened sky... The sun had nearly set. Maybe it would be safer to just spend the night in the temple...

...

   Nahh!

     Pushing myself up onto my legs again, I made my way over to Chewy and Ewy and untied their leads. Shoving my hand into my pocket for the moist map again, I traced my finger down the dotted line until it at last landed on a small collection of squares. I smiled faintly as I did the math.

     "Well, boys, looks like the village isn't all too far. Perhaps we can catch it before night really falls!" I attempted to persuade the single minded animals. Chewy and Ewy stared at me blankly...both chewing their cud mockingly. "Alright then! You two can just stay here. I'm sure you'll find food somewhere!" I said, crossing my arms. The two continued as before. "Hhhhh, just... Come on." I pulled their leads down the hill. Toward the peeking sunset, we set off. We'd be there soon. Hopefully...at least.

Section 2:

     I could see their glowing street lamps from a mile away atop an especially large sand dune... Strange... I thought the sand villages put out their lights at night to deter the monsters... My first hint for suspicion had been given. But, overall, the place seemed friendly enough from afar.

     I approached slowly, dreary from the long day's worth of travel. It had taken about half the night to finally reach this place from the desert temple, so I was beyond ready for a good night's sleep. I remember it being decided among the village that a man named Mr. Claymoth would minister to any of my personal needs here for the next two nights before I was to set off again, eastward. I kept my eyes pried for a house with a large blue banner beside the door. That was typically the sign of any host of mine...

     Once I had arrived at the well lit streets of Xiana, I glanced around tiredly. Suspiciously. Though it was well lit, not a soul walked the stiff sandstone streets. My footing was stifled as I at last came up to the first road. It was too quiet... Maybe it was just my paranoia. I had, after all, been on the move ever since I was a child, never stopping long enough to reinstate a level of comfort for myself...but still...

     Reaching into a pouch within my backpack, I pulled from it a pale lavender potion and shook it a little in one hand...just to be safe. As I crept onto the empty streets, I kept a rigid posture, prepared for just about anything.

     "...villager.....no one." My posture stiffened even further as I completely stopped. The ramblings of someone was heard. Though they continued beyond the few words I could understand...it was exactly that. A language I had yet to learn completely. A language I had only been accustomed to hearing in my youth. My eyes widened.

     Humans.

     "Emeralds.....nobody..but I....Careful." And it sounded like there were multiple... Ewy huffed loudly behind me, bringing the collection of voices just around the corner to silence. My head lowered between my shoulders as I meekly stepped back. Sweat returned to my pale brow when a figure peered around the corner. There was no mistaking he was human. Long, black locks of messy hair draped over half the man's face. With a golden tooth, the human snarled my way. His outfit was mostly hidden in terribly crafted iron armor, but apparently it was still good enough to do the job it was needed for. I stumbled back.

Tup!

     Something landed behind me. I spun around to see an equally poorly put together human woman snatch the reins of Chewy. "No! Please!" I lurched her way, knowing the human wasn't able to understand me.

     "Useless trader.....emeralds." Was all I could understand of her as she spoke over me to the other. The two chuckled between each other.

     "...Kill..." Another joined in the mix. Though I had no idea who he was offering they should kill...I sure didn't want to sit around and find out! With my teeth, I tore off a small wooden piece attached to the lavender filled bottle and threw the glass container to the ground! It shattered into a hundred pieces at my feet and instantly I was invisible! I dropped the leads and ran!

     "Ow!" I hissed in pain, a little too late realizing I probably shouldn't have shattered glass right next to my open sandals! I stopped for only a moment to pull a large shard of glass out of my foot before continuing. Many shouts sounded, like a pack of wolves, the humans raced after the one who dared run away! In terror I realized my wound was leaving behind a steady trail of blood, and there was nothing I could do about that at the moment! I weaved between buildings and along village streets, hoping to at the very least confuse the master hunters. Seemingly out of no where, I was tackled to the ground. It did not matter that I was invisible or not, they still knew exactly where I was!

     I shrieked as my stomach was pinned by the darker toned human's digging knee and my wrists restrained by his tough hands. It did not matter the life full of fighting and training I had lived before, I was no match for this single human and his strength! He loomed over me, shouting to the others who arrived. The woman from before had a color of hair I had never seen before. Cream color. Almost yellow looking. Her skin was also extremely pale to the point I wondered if she was alright health-wise. The third was a man who was also oddly pale but had really, really short black hair. How these people decided what length they wanted their hair to be, I had no idea! I was alright with just staying bald, thank you very much! A fourth man arrived as well. This one had darker olive tan skin, which reminded me an awful lot of Steve.. but his hair was strangely reddish. Of them all, not one appeared to have any facial hair like the first human had.

     I was yanked up off the floor and tied by my wrists behind my back. Then, I was led back to where I had first started. At last, I became visible... Boy, how helpful that had been! When I was at last shoved onto the same street I had started in, my eyes widened to see Chewy and Ewy both laying dead on the street with pools of blood under them. The red head returned to the llamas to strip their corpses of anything valuable. I was shoved onward, not allowed a moment to mourn my long-time traveling companions...

     My pack was literally cut off of my back and the only reason my dagger was allowed to stay was because it was hidden beneath the open blue robe. They didn't consider for whatever reason that I would even have one.

     The one with long black hair barked orders the most, so I assumed he was the leader of this small squad of do-badders. Said leader escorted me personally to the largest building, where he threw me in and locked the doors. "What?!" I gasped at the sight of about fifty or more villagers, all crammed into the same building, all huddling and terrified of what was beyond the doors. Every window had been replaced with boards and stone. The only door was blocked by the leader himself. He stared at me through a small hole in the door, his dark irises sparking shivers throughout my body. I was expected to sit...and so I did. I sat near the door only because everywhere else was taken by another villager.

     "...I was...kinda hoping...yu-you'd save us..." A little girl at last spoke meekly from behind. I spun a little to glance sadly her way.

     "Why would... Why would you think that?"

     "You're Thee!" Another spoke up, also a young villager. "The first Wandering Trader! Surely, you know enough to beat a human! Didn't you know the first human?!" He carried on.

     "...That was...a long time ago... Fifteen years ago to be exact! And it wasn't like I ever studied him to figure out how to take him down! He was a friend, after all! I just... Hhhh..." I gave up trying to defend myself. I sighed, turning away from them slowly to stare down at my bleeding foot. I knew how weak and pathetic I was.. I just hated admitting it to the public. "-But," my head perked up suddenly, catching nearly everyone's attentions. "if I've learned anything over the years...it's to never give up." I gave the younger ones a smile. My smile was contagious. Soon, several in the crowd were smiling hopefully, even if just faintly. "I'll get us out of here... I don't even need to officially promise it. Heh-heh.. Just trust my words... We'll all be free again."

Section 3:

     The humans gathered in front of the doors of the building we were all houses in. I couldn't see any of them, but I knew they were all relaxing just outside around a fire, probably cooking food for themselves as well.

     "Villagers know.....village...Herobrine."

     "Herobrine?!" I parroted. I hadn't heard that name in, well, forever it seemed! I struggled to stand back up and peered out one of the small windows in the door. Indeed, the leader and the woman sat in front of the double doors on some steps casually while the other two sat elsewhere around the fire sorting through all my stuff! I tried to listen-in a little more carefully, hoping I would catch more of what these guys were talking about.

     "Is Herobrine...real?" The woman asked their leader.

     "Yes.... Legend..about..village....Oakland Village." That's my home village!!! Wait, had word of Hero really spread that far?!? Steve had tried so hard to keep his identity a secret; even drilled it into my head as a kid that no one should ever mention his name! I had taken that to heart, always censoring myself when it came to talking about old friends and childhood stories. Apparently, not everyone took Steve as seriously as I did! Kinda hard to imagine. Steve could be pretty terrifying at times!

     After conversation between the humans had continued for a time, someone finally pointed out to the leader and woman that I was staring at all of them. Their eyes turned to me suddenly. I froze up, terrified of what these humans might do to me for so much as staring. Thankfully, their leader just smiled widely up at me, starting to chuckle along with the others. "...understand us? Funny....villager." Though I could understand very little verbally, I was a lot more fluent through writing. Inhaling deeply, I stepped away from the door. My brain stormed over whether I should really go in this direction. After giving every scenario thought, I decided it was worth a shot.

     "Does anyone here have a paper and pen?"

     The humans were chatting casually, even laughing on occasion...when suddenly a thin piece of paper was slid under the door. The leader's eyes widened when he recognized the scribbles written on it. I had simply written with sloppy handwriting,

     " 'What do you know about Herobrine?' "

     The door was opened abruptly. I fell away from it, trembling when I saw nothing but a blank stare glaring my way from the leader. I was pealed off of the stone ground and thrown outside by the fire. The woman stood by the now closed door as the leader and redhead approached me. I shook visibly, teeth chattering, elbows digging through sand, as the two overpowered men approached. However, instead of commiting any form of violence, the leader pulled out the paper and held it in front of him.

     "Did you write this?" The question was simple enough. I nodded slowly. Everybody watching gasped, the woman and short haired one even smiling. The two interrogating me, however, didn't. I was pinned again to the ground by the leader's iron boot. "Herobrine....talk.....I know....speak!" I was frantic, my eyes wide. I had no idea how to tell him I was not fluent! I just knew the occasional words! And he was speaking so quickly, I couldn't even wish to catch a majority of what he was saying!

     "Please! I can't understand!!" I cried out, knowing at the very least, the four would hear confusion out of me. My words did seem to lower the main man's aggression. His foot lifted from my chest as he barked an order. The human with short hair brought him another rope, which he used to tightly tie my ankle on one end and then a nearby post on the other. When I was safely secure in the clutches of such a coarse rope, or at least somewhat attached to another object, my wrists were untied and I was handed another piece of paper and a pen. Sitting, I flinched in terror to see all eyes were on me, demanding I start.

     " 'I am not fluent.' " I started. After I had shown the paper to them, a look of understanding and thoughtfulness crossed their leader. He repeated what I had written to the others in his own words. Then, he dropped the paper to my level again. Hovering over me, the leader placed both hands on his armored hips as he leaned closer, darkly growling.

     "Where is Herobrine?" He asked simply, speaking in such a way that mocked me somewhat. I mean, I know I am not that fluent, but gosh! Gotta make it sound like I'm genuinely stupid? I wrote slowly, worried they might not like my answer.

     " 'He's dead... I know where he is burried, but..that's it.' " After I had finished, I flinched hearing the leader growl.

     "No. It is not!" The man retorted. I had no idea what sort of rumors this man had heard, or what lies he had been told, but I knew that was false! "Tell the truth!" He stomped on my bloody foot. A yelp of pain bound from my mouth. I leapt with the paper and pen, scrambling to write quickly enough. My hand writing was sloppy and barely comprehendible, but at least he seemed to be able to read it alright!

     " 'I saw his dead body! I think I KNOW what I am talking about!!' "

     "GLOWING EYES!!!" I fell away from the leader's intensity, afraid he was going to step on my foot again. "People have SEEN his GLOWING EYES!.. TAKE US to Oakland Village!!" His dark eyes were lit ablaze, the light of the fire only illuminating his back. I heaved through the silence, too jittery to even respond. Still...my brow creased curiously... Hero couldn't be alive...

     Could he...?

     After the looming leader had finally backed away a smidge, I gained the courage to write again. " 'I will ONLY if you let the villagers and I go.' " I scowled just enough to confirm that I was indeed serious about this issue. The leader smirked at the proposal. Then, he turned to the others. They all huddled, whispering to one another. I tuned-in my listening ears carefully.

     "...go with plan....kill...enslave them after..." The leader proposed. I forced myself not to react. Instead, I stared at the ground stupidly. I may have not known their whole plan, but what I did hear sure didn't sound good. But...it was the best shot I had. Turning back to me, the four suddenly appeared very formal as they stepped closer. The leader strode my way and held out his hand. I grabbed it, expecting a handshake. I was terribly surprised when with ease I was yanked up to my feet! Then did he actually shake my hand. "Good plan. Will follow." The leader smiled, golden tooth shimmering once again. I faked a low quality smile, agreeing silently to this plan. As the four prepared to head out...I formed a plan of my own.

Section 4:

     I could tell they were regretting killing Chewy and Ewy already. Those humans wasted no time in securing the villagers in their makeshift prison with little more than a few buckets of water and a pile of bread before heading off! I was to lead the way. However, I was so tired that even holding my eyes open for another minute was hard. This eventually led to the leader carrying me on his back like some little kid. I slept about an hour, was woken up and asked where to next, simply pointed, and then was given another hour to sleep. This cycle continued until the sun's stretching light was just barely breeching the horizon. How these humans managed to stay so spry, I had no idea!

     We all stopped at a mound of sandstone. I was dropped from the leader's back. Suddenly woken, I scurried up into a sitting position while the long haired male scowled down at me. He then gestured to the surrounding area in confusion. Seeing the desert temple was nearby at last, I forced myself to stand on two feet and stretched my hands out for a paper and pen. I was given such. I pressed the paper against one hand and wrote using the other. The humans, meanwhile, impatiently waited. I had told them the village they sought wasn't too far.

     " 'We have secret passes for traveling. Underground, so the monsters won't find us as easily.' " I wrote down. Then, I pointed to the mostly hidden desert temple and wrote. Sweat building on my brow, I prayed this would work! " 'There is one of the entrances.' " All four of the humans spun around curiously. Then, silently, they moved as a unit towards it. They were content for now with the information given. The idea of secret underground tunnels was pretty cool, I had to admit. Using the supplies they had stolen from me, I led the crew down through the small hole I had dug and then to the very center of the temple itself. The woman glided her fingers over some of the fine chisel-work slowly, admiring the ancient carvings. The leader stuck by my side, peering up at the hole in both the ceiling and floor with a lit torch in his hand. The other two crept around the darker corners of the place, checking for any monsters.

     When at last it was confirmed everyone was safe, the leader called the woman to him and handed her his torch. Then, he lit himself a new one. Peering into the darkness of the ominous pit below, he prepared to drop the new torch in. I frantically stopped him. This, of course, only filled the human with suspicion. I attempted to cover it up by innocently chuckling. Gesturing to the bag on the woman's back, I was allowed to open it and retrieve a long rope. I offered it up to their leader. He was still very suspicious, but allowed me to do whatever it was I had in mind at least until he deemed it unnecessary.

     I repeated what I had done several hours ago. I tied the rope around one of the pillars and let it drop into the dark hole. Then, I did jazz hands beside the hole, also faking a smile. No one appeared any less suspicious then before. A brow raised, their leader motioned for me to go first. I...did so with little hesitation. Concealing my building anxiety, I gripped the rope firmly and slid down into the darkness. With widened eyes, I listened and watched intently to want was going on outside. It was very possible they already knew what I was doing and so had plans to just cut the rope and leave me for dead. I really didn't want that to happen!

     Near the ground again, I swung myself again and landed just barely missing the golden pressure plate!

Trddddddd...

      I lifted two corners of the heavy piece of ancient machinery and slid it to the corner propped against the wall where it wouldn't activate anything. "Uh! I-it's safe!" I shouted up to the four humans. I knew they couldn't understand me...but still. One after another, the four followed quickly. Once all four of them were down, all their eyes landed on me with deep scowls. I trembled under the weight of their glares. Losing all feeling in my legs, I, thinking quickly, pointed to the chests around everyone. The leader lit another torch and set it on the sandstone ground so all could see the four chests. Four chests...four humans. Nice! -Oh my gosh! Now was my chance! I had nearly forgotten!!

     With no time to lose, I shoved the pressure plate back on the ground correctly, slammed my foot on it, and ran for the rope!

Ts- sss-sss-ssss.....

     All froze. Everybody knew what that noise meant...

   "GO GO GO GO!"
   "AAAA!!"
   "EVERYONE RUN!"
   "GET OUT!"

     All sprung into a panic. By then, I was already halfway up the rope! Their leader was first, filled to the brim with panic as he climbed after me at intense speeds! I stopped, entwined my right leg with the rope quickly, and leaned back so that I was upsidedown. I nearly screamed when I saw how close the human leader was. A wimpy squeak fled from me. And, at last, I revealed my copper dagger.

     "AAAGH! YOU...." I didn't quite understand the next word. I squirmed quickly to dodge a swiping hand of his, extended one hand, yoinked the human's iron hat, and slit the rope in half! I then clutched the helmet over my own head, eyes shutting tight as my body curled. I hadn't the time to climb out.

Sss-sss-ssss....KABOOM!!!

     The TNT blasted through the floor and even up the walls! Nothing within that room was safe! Hot blood splattered up from the explosions and stuck to my helmet and back. Shockwaves sent me precariously swaying... But then... It was all calm. A haunting kind of calm.... I listened closely for any subtle movements.

Silence.

     Though my curiosity was strong, I refused to look down. Instead, I returned to climbing up the rope.

Clank

     I set the metal helmet down first, which was now covered in someone's blood. I followed shortly after, sweating and panting profusely. At last, I scooted so only my lower legs were dangling down into the small, dark hole. Faintly, I chuckled while on my back. I laughed, happy to be alive! However, when I rolled onto my side, emerald eyes again landing on the bloody helmet...my smile dropped. I watched as small beads of blood accumulated on the metallic surface. Slowly, the crimson liquid dripped into the sand. For a while, I stared motionlessly at the sight, rarely even blinking.

     I had killed many monsters before, yes. I had even killed many innocent animals for food before!.. But never had I deliberately, in all my life, taken the life of another... 'They deserved it.' I told myself. 'They were going to kill me and enslave a whole village anyways!' ...Even so...

     It still felt bad to deal the final blow...

     Sighing, I picked up the bloody helmet for nothing more than proof to the village that the deed was in fact...done. I dragged my feet across the floor and pulled myself tiredly out of the desert temple. By the time I had risen from the heap of sand...the sun was sparkling in greeting to me. I stared at it blankly for a while. A cold, dead stare in my eyes. Still numb from all that had happened recently, I turned from the sun's warming embrace to meet again the village I had yet to officially save.

     ...Hhhhh... It was hard being a hero...