Don't Mine At Night

Save File 12 - The Greatest Adventure Yet

     "Onyx?"

"Do you think she's dead?"

"She doesn't have a heartbeat."

"Does she normally have one?"

"Well... no."

"Then that's not a good means of assessing if she's dead or not!"

Everything hurt. Not miserably, but enough to be a reminder she wasn't well. There was still a dull ache in her arm where she'd been shot. The voices sounded worried. Familiar voices. One's she knew deep down belonged to her friends. With all of the strength she could manage, she opened her eyes and sat up. "Peri?" There was no time for any other words as she was tackled by her best friend.

"Onyx! You're alright!" The gem gasped and clung to her with all her might.

"Welcome back." The second gem noted casually, with a bit of a smug, wry smile.

Onyx hugged Peri and lifted her gaze to see Snowflake sitting at the desk. A quick glance around the room told her they were no longer in the strange cube world. They'd made it. They'd actually made it out alive. The gem in her arms hummed ever so softly as she partially sat on her lap and hugged her with all of her might.

"I was so worried! There were those monsters, and suddenly a flash, and we were here, but you didn't immediately get up!"

"I'm alright Per." She chuckled and ran her hands through the gems hair causing Peri to giggle.

"So... you survived." Snowflake looked overly confident in herself and the statement.

"I guess we did. Perhaps a little sore around the edges, but we're still in one piece."

Snowflake stood up and stretched. "Why don't I go get you some ice?"

"Thanks Snow. I'll be up there in a minute."

"Come on Peri, let's go get some ice prepped and maybe some tea made."

"Sounds good," Peri beamed. She climbed off of Onyx and followed the white haired gem. "Oh! Guess what Snow?! I died and respawned!"

"Really?"It was said as more of an amused statement rather than a question. Her voice held a tiny amount of mischief.

Their voices died away as they left the basement. Onyx breathed deeply and hugged her knees to her chest. A small part of her still wanted to be mad at Snowflake but in the end she couldn't bring herself to do anything more than chuckle.

It wasn't the grand adventure she'd dreamt about. In fact, in hindsight it felt like a living nightmare. The monsters sure hadn't helped anything. The fear of dying felt oddly more real than when they were being chased by Homeworld's forces. Still, she smiled. There was a good deal of joy left in her.

She got up and walked to the computer. A game was loaded. Details on the screen seemed to be something Snowflake had pulled up. A notepad by the keyboard detailed things from formulas and odd equations to rough sketches of the monsters they'd encountered.

The name of the game appeared to just be "My world". Upon inspection it seemed that was the standard preset for the game. She reached for the keyboard and went back into the menu of the game that had been loaded. With a reminiscent smile she deleted the present and typed in "The Best Adventure Yet". The game saved. she started up the stairs, ready for whatever faced her, though knowing Peri? It was going to be plenty of hugs and lots of storytelling. Life really was an adventure. Sure in the moment it could be scary and daunting. But the memories sure were worth it. No matter what happened, as long as she had Peri by her side, there was nothing she couldn't do. No, nothing they couldn't do. They were a team. They had been since the beginning and they would until the end.