How do you write again? 😅
Picture above is a WIP from a long time ago.
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Section 10:

     Steve returned from the darkness of the cave, the old leather bag in one hand, drooping to his side. He had folded the letter in there and picked up the bag without second thought. The human, once next to the still feasting fire, shook the flame from his own torch and set it down beside him where he had sat earlier -- back against the stone, facing the fire.

     Hero was still asleep. Laying with his back to the fire now, the other man rested soundly, shivering occasionally in his sleep. Steve realized his friend must be cold. Made sense. That water was much colder than the river by the village, and Hero had most likely swam more that day than he ever had. Everything of Steve's was soaking wet. The human emptied his inventory and set everything out to dry, then looked through the old bag for anything useful. In there were many things, but the thing that Steve was looking for was a soft fuzzy blanket made with wool.

     The fabric was a bit scratchy -- not pleasing to the touch -- and was so old the fabric itself was wearing down, but it would be good enough. Steve stood up as he unrolled the blanket. Then, he tossed it over Hero, who was hugging himself in his sleep. Then he returned to his spot by the fire again, still internally trying to digest what all had happened, both with Lumpy, and Steven.

     Thinking became tiresome, after some time, so eventually the human laid down and rested his eyes. 'Just a small nap, so I can keep watch once I'm rested...'

     It was a little longer than just a small nap when Steve next opened his eyes. Sharp grains of stone and sand were the first to remind him that existence was a real thing, and when he rose his head, much of those small pebbles stuck themselves to the side of his face. As Steve squinted his eyes open, brushing off the granules of rock, he noticed in pouring through the entrance of the cave, was sunlight. The thrashing waves had softened mildly since then, and the dark clouds from late last night were quite the distance away. Hero still slept with the blanket pulled tightly to himself, sleeping soundly still -- now facing Steve this time. Though the still tired and dreadfully sore man wanted to just fall back to sleep and rest once more, it was morning already -- probably nearing mid-day:/; it was time to go.

     Steve let Hero sleep some more as he packed the belongings he had laid out the night before. While he was at it, he also warmed-up some steak over the fire. Hero rose to the smell of steak, stomach growling as soon as he sat up.

     "Where did you find this blanket?" He asked Steve all of a sudden.

     "O-oh, it was in Steven Chriss' bag." Steve answered, his body turned away from Hero as he busied himself with packing.

     "Wait, the Chriss? The one we came here to find?!"

     "Yep... He was.. just in this cave...dead." Answered Steve, his shoulders drooping a little. After a decent pause, Hero quickly kicked the dead man's blanket off of him, a hollow awkward feeling rising the more he dwelt on the realization. He was greatful..though. It had kept him warm.

     "Wh-where is his body?" Hero asked, beginning to look around at the few things that had changed since he had fellen asleep.

     "Outside the cave. I...buried it already..." The human said with a sigh. "At least... he did leave behind another book in his bag, his most recent one. I just... don't have the heart to read it yet.."

     "I get it... I can imagine yesterday was pretty tough for you..losing Lumpy and all.-"

     "Lumpy was just a piece of coal." Steve gritted his teeth as he tightened the knot he had tyed around the aging leather bag.

     "Yes...it was.... It was still a hard day. For both of us... You can wait to read it in the village if you want. It is the reasonable thing to do, anyways." Hero comforted, tapping into Steve's language of logic and reason. That helped Steve reason out what he should do with the book in his head: just wait to read it later...in the village. Oh yeah... Hero knew this trip was going to be dangerous some way or another.. And he had promised nothing would happen... He was foolish for lying to even himself about that. He knew there always had to be one bad thing to go wrong on an adventure! That was just the rule of travel. Yet he pushed that logic aside, hoping this trip would be the first to go right..

     "Listen...Hero.." The younger man, who was stirring the dying fire upon ashes around with a stick, turned quickly to Steve's voice. Steve then turned around so they were somewhat looking into each other's eyes -- Steve's only glancing at Hero's when he occasionally reminded himself to do so. "I...I'm.. sorry... This adventure was a flop.. I really just.. wanted us to be able to travel new and exciting places, together. But, now I see why you might not like that idea... They're dangerous, and merciless, and I know you don't like all the risks that come with it."

     "Woah woah, now who said I don't like a little adventure here and there?!" Hero interrupted Steve right there. A smile smile breaking through Hero's mouth, he stood fully.

     The human was a little curious for a moment. "..Wait, but I thought you were scared, and wanted to stay in the village because it is safer?"

     "Pff! I never said that! I like being in the village, yes. I love hanging out with my friends, helping them whenever they need it, and generally being a good friend to those around me, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of the danger either! If anything, I was afraid more for your health than mine! I loved being able to see landscape, plants, rock formations, and animals I had never seen before; it was amazing!.. I just don't like the idea of being gone for too long, just because I would feel like I was missing out on so many things going on in the village while away!.. And I still love the idea of going on adventures with you. I just.. don't want that to be my entire life."

     That explanation absolutely stunned Steve. That both made so much sense, and no sense at all. Like, why would he want to stay at the village all the time, just talking to villagers all day? Where was the excitement in that?! Pushing his misunderstandings aside, Steve smiled a little. "So, you aren't actually scared to explore the Nether, then?"

     "Well.. the Nether is a different story.." Hero admitted, breaking aye contact while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "I might just be a little scared to fall into all that lava."

     "Oh, well that's understandable. Me too." Steve chuckled. With the lighter mood filling the cave, Hero thought of a suggestion for his friend.

     "Hey, maybe you should try doing some stuff in the village. The villagers really do want to get to know you too, but you keep running away when there is a gathering or something. I could probably act as your translator so you can communicate with everyone better, and I can teach you some of the cool things the villagers do, like how they gather around big tables with lots of food and call it a feast. I think it would be cool for you to try some of that stuff out too." Hero offered. A queasy feeling rose in rebellion against the idea, but, since Hero was so willing to go on adventures with him.. he might just try doing the same for Hero.

     "Yeah.. I think I'll try that. Just, as long as we start off with small things, so I can adjust to it."

     "Sounds just like what you did for me. Yeah, I think I can do that." Hero smiled.

     "Alright." Steve said finally, swinging the leather bag over his shoulder. "Let's head back home."

Section 11:

     The two walked along the naturally carven edges of the sheer cliff, slowly making their way to the shallow beaches, where they could easily return to dry land without having to scale the cliff. They barely made it to their wooden shelter as night fell, but luckily their carpet bedding was dry by the time they arrived, and so could sleep on more than just stone like last night. Ahead of schedule by half a day, Steve and Hero returned to the village without having taken any more harm along the trip back.

     By the time they returned, their only problem was the mild fever both had. For a while both men had tried to hide it from the other, but when Hero realized Steve was feeling a little sick too, he was the one to open up about it, and so Steve did too. So, when they arrived neither of them were shy to ask for a little help and medication. The villagers happily provided, asking Hero many questions while they helped them find warm blankets and cool water.

     While the two were gone, the villagers had come together to furnish and decorate Hero's house, using all the colors and flowers they knew he liked. The younger man was exceedingly greatful, and wouldn't stop thanking all of them for a solid ten minutes, but eventually he had to rest. Hero fell asleep in his brand new bed, in his brand new house. Steve returned to his old bed, feeling safe and secure..at last...

     The only thing stirring in the human's mind as he laid there was the last time something like this happened. Hero he..had gotten really sick. Of course, that time, he had many open wounds that were easily infected, but...

     When everyone was sleeping, safely tucked away in their houses, Steve snuck out of his house, a wad of his blankets -- borrowed and original -- rolled up under one of his arms. Quietly, he made his way over to Hero's house, where he heard his friend cough a couple times inside. He opened the front door quietly, seeing that Hero was already. First, Steve made sure Hero had everything he needed, including water, a half drinken healing potion and some already cool soup. Satisfied with that at least, the human rolled out his blankets along the opposite wall of Hero's small house and laid down. It took him a while to fall asleep, his mind too busy thinking about all the what-ifs, as he himself shivered in the thick blankets. Steve wanted to be there for his friend, in case anything went wrong. He knew Hero had risked a lot by diving in after him. And if there was anything he regretted, on top of being stupid enough to dive after Lumpy, it was..

     He forgot to say thank you...

     Lesson of the week: Treasure those close to you... But don't get overly attached to a lump of coal.

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Ight, this one was even shorter than I was expecting. I had plans to finally include a scene I have been planning for a while now, but didn't want to just shove it in there, so I found a better place to put it last minute, which will be a little later-on in the book.

Other than that. WOW, words are lots! Guess I went through "When?" pretty quickly too, didn't I? Hopefully I can keep this writing streak all the way until... ;-; ...the end of the book.

Anyways, byeee!!!

(Same day the last one was published)

I've also decided to make some small adjustments to the book cover finally, which I always figured I would at some point, even while I was making it.