Chapter 5: An Old Friend ‘O Mine

Slash stared up at the user hybrid. He had a chicken skin with her own jacket’s twin but yellow, orange, and dark red. On top of his skin was a golden chestplate and orange dyed leather leggings and boots. The corners of Talon Blazebeck’s mouth curved into a slight smile.
“WHAT ARE DOING HERE!?!” Slash yelled, hulling herself the rest of the way out of the canyon and slapping him. “I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD AFTER THE PHANTOM KNOCKED YOU INTO THAT VOLCANO!!!”
“Luckily I had my spare emergency ender pearl or I would not be here.” He replied, rubbing the trail of dirt from his cheek.
“I almost was ready to jump in after you myself!” blurted Slash. “I could just kill you for all the pain and worry you caused me! And why didn’t you come and see me.”
“Oh, uh– Hey, where’s all your armoured glory?” Blazebeck stammered, changing the subject.
“It’s back at the Phantom’s Fortress, uh, er, I mean my treehouse. I got playernapped! Can’t you believe it!?! I was just starting to walk back to my treehouse from the garden when SOME IDIOTIC PERSON thwacked me on the head!!!”
“Who would DARE do that?” Talon yelled sarcastically. “But seriously. What kind of oddblock would do that?”
“I have no idea.” Slash confessed. “I was just escaping them and trying to find home before a very rude weirdo very politely interrupted me.”
Her friend felt his cheek again. “And you very politely smacked the ‘very rude weirdo’ in the head.”
A crash sounded from the mineshaft entrance as Slash’s previous captor stumbled through. Now, in the intense daylight, Slash could see he had a ragged attire, blank fuzzy white eyes, and an old miner’s cap of grey grizzled hair.
“ FILLIS?!?!?!?!?!?” Talon shrieked, his mouth almost dropping to the orange sand in surprise.
The man looked up tiredly. “Yes, that’s me. But you, sonny chick, can call me ‘Mr. Nuts o’ Fortune Mesa.’”
“You, you’re a legend!!! The dimension skipping, the traps . . . You’re incredible!” Talon exclaimed, running down to him.
“Oh, that was when I was a wee young sprout. Now I just an old, cranky cacti.” He said from below. “And forgive me, little lady, for attacking you up there. I don’t know what came over me.” The sun-bleached man kneaded his temples like he had just done something that he didn’t really do.
“Why did you capture me?” Slash growled. She didn’t believe him for a rabbit’s hide, no matter how much her friend obviously was intrigued by this person.
“I said I don’t know. It sort of happened. I remember going to feed Old Boy, my pack mule, his grain when this dark purple, misty wisp appeared and passed through me then, then . . . I don’t remember. It was all a blur up until when I came into the sun.”
“That’s . . . freaky.” Talon and Slash murmured in unison.
“You d’urn right. But I do declare that I’m feeling mighty fine now, thanks to da bright angel up there.” The miner looked at the sky and Slash realized he meant the sun.
A tumbleweed blew sluggishly behind her, pricking her angle. “Ow!”
“Don’t mind ‘em busters.” Mr. Nuts said. “You’ll get used to ‘em.”
“What ARE you talking about? I’m going home this second.” Slash yelled indignantly.
“I’m ‘fraid that’s not quite possible.” He shook his gray head sadly. “You see, lil’ lady, whoever enters da Fortune Mesa . . . never goes out. That’s da curse.”
So that’s why Talon was acting weird when I asked about him visiting me. He couldn’t.
“YOU’VE BEEN TRAPPED IN THIS DRAGON’S GUTS THE WHOLE TIME!!!” She howled like an angry coyote at Talon.
“Um, yea.” Talon whispered in a barely audible voice, turning his face away and scratching his neck embarrassedly.
“How could you? I was heartbroken!” Slash punched him as hard as she could on his arm. “I wanted to kill every mob I saw! I wanted to go and jump into the End’s abyss to fall forever! I–”
“I wanted to do those same things. Slash, you see, I thought you had also gotten knocked into that volcano too. I just tried to hit it out of my brain. Every time I thought about it I made myself kick a cactus and screamed at myself that you weren’t even real. After a while, I thought you were a dream. Something in my imagination that I thought was real so much it had gotten implanted in my memories. From the moment you smacked me, I knew it was really you. I’ve dreamed about you, though. You were beckoning me to follow you, but it was always a dark place.” Talon shuddered, before speaking again. “One time I followed you. The mesa turned into this nightmare with towering trees all shrouded in a blanket of fog. Unseen creatures shrieked and crawled along the ground whilst reaching for my legs. They grabbed me and started to drag me into this blackest pit. You were standing over me, laughing, with pure white eyes. Then there was a flash and two figures in armor so bright that all the dark fled screaming. They took me away and that’s all I remember. I woke up in my house the next morning and kicked away at that stupid cactus for hours until the poison it inflicted was too terrible. I had to crawl, writhing in pain, to my basement for a potion of healing. I missed you so much…” Talon sighed. An awkward silence followed.
After a few seconds Fillis broke the tension. “Well, we best get to me home before we get trapped with da big black demon!” Fillis said, trying in vain to lighten moods.
“You mean an enderman?” Slash said, confused.
“Well, o’ course not! It means nighttime! What exactly is you thinkin’ in that tiny wooden brain o’ yours, huh?!?” Fillis said. “Sprouts these days.” He added, muttering under his breath.
Slash sighed. They followed Fillis until they reached an old prospector-style cabin with a stable and mine. Once inside, Fillis lead them into the stable and a partly empty, hay-filled loft where he placed down two more beds for Talon and Slash. Slash climbed into the bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.