Don't Mine At Night

Save File 7 - No Rest For The Weary

     Thrust into trouble once more, Onyx drew her sword, and attacked the spider that lunged at her. There was no time for yelping or crying in dismay. As soon as the first spider was killed three more crawled from the dark depths of the cave.

"Are you kidding me?!" She growled.

Slashing through the three spiders with a little bit of difficulty she finally managed to kill them. The red eyes seemed to multiply and keep coming. The large spiders ruthlessly attacked from every angle. The sword made a cracking noise, a wooden weapon was no match against these horrendous beasts, but still held together.

Tossing a torch to the wall it lit enough of the area for Onyx to see another dozens spiders. . "Come on!" She groaned loudly. How did Peri not notice any of this?

With moves that would've impressed a warrior or a ninja, Onyx maneuvered the spiders. As the last two approached her sword shattered into a dozen pixels. "Oh this can't be good," She muttered to herself. The spiders didn't stop. She slowly walked until she was against the wall.

No tools. No weapons. The only thing she had was a single cube of dirt. If this is how she went out it was going to be the saddest death a gem had ever experienced. Probably.

As soon as the spiders were within arm's reach she started attacking it with all she had. She was relentless. Her life was dependent on this one moment. Anything she did, she did for Peri, for their friendship, for any scrap of a chance they had at being a couple in the future. Which, was something she secretly dreamt about.

With one last slash the spiders both died. It was a victory. A sort of empty feeling victory, but still a victory. She crawled back up to the layer Peri was mining on.

"Peri?"

The gem barely acknowledged her and kept mining.

Onyx slumped up against some dirt, rubbing her slightly sore arm, and gazing into the dark. Every once in a while she fantasized about going on some sort of grand adventure with Peri. The gem had been through a lot as it was and the idea of the two of them going somewhere far away and new seemed like a special thought. This however, wasn't the adventure she'd dreamt about. If they ever made it out alive she'd find that perfect adventure. She'd take Peri on it. They'd have fun. Together.

"Hey Nyxie. I got us some iron. We can go make some better tools."

Onyx cringed at the name. She cringed hard. To a point she tolerated "Nyx" though it was hardly her favorite. "Nyxie" was downright despicable. Though, getting frustrated now hardly did them any good. She'd just survived a spider attack with barely any decent forms of weapons.

"Ready?"

Realizing she'd kept to herself, stewing in her own hate for her nickname, she perked up. "Let's get out of here."

And so they left. Peri gleefully led the way whilst Onyx kept a sharp eye behind them in case any more rogue spiders came after them. The trip up to the surface was a quick, painless, and safe one. As soon as they arrived back at "camp" Peri immediately got to smelting the iron ore for weapons.

The glow of the fire from the furnace was mesmerizing. Onyx curled up in bed and rested while Peri worked. She savored the peace and quiet. The peace didn't last forever. As night began to fall so did the fire.

"We're almost out of wood," Peri curiously remarked.

"Do I need to go get some?" Onyx groaned and rolled over in bed, giving Peri a tired, and worn look.

"I'll go get us some. Be right back."

Onyx rested and waited.

It felt like a while since Peri had left and, like a cat, her curiosity was had. Pulling herself out of bed she walked to the entrance and gazed into the night. The pale blue moonlight lit the countryside beyond. A few chickens scattered, the occasional lazy cow milled past, a few sheep grazed. Nowhere in sight was Peri.

There was an odd pit in the bottom of her stomach as she realized Peri wasn't nearby. "Peri?" She called, running back to grab her block of dirt. "Peri?" She kept calling but there was no answer. With all the haste she could manage she set off in the dark, frantically calling her friend's name, and hoping everything would be alright.