Ender Kingdom (On Hold for Shadows of Mianite)

Chapter Seven: To Go...or Not to Go

DiamondBlade closed his eyes and turned away from the NPCs in front of him. He was ashamed of himself for being so scared. He didn’t want to look at Plower and Reader — they were probably too disappointed in him to care, though.

A violent shiver shook his body, and DiamondBlade let out a small sigh. A gentle hand touched his back. It was probably Plower. But as DiamondBlade slowly turned, he saw the kind face of Reader. “Oh, DiamondBlade,” the old NPC said sadly, “I can see how hard this could be for you. Listen, we should go see the Head now, alright? He should be somewhere in the village; the Head of each village don’t usually leave the village. Is that okay with you?”

DiamondBlade didn’t answer at first. He turned his head to look straight at Plower. The farmer was gazing back at him, his mouth turned downwards in a frown. As for whether Plower was angry with him or simply felt sad, DiamondBlade didn’t know. DiamondBlade’s throat felt dry as he told Reader, “Yeah…yeah, okay. I want to meet the Head, anyway.”

Reader smiled and pulled DiamondBlade up. “Plower,” Reader called, “are you going to come with us? It’d be better if you did.”

Plower’s eyes glittered with something that DiamondBlade didn’t understand — it could have been anger, sadness, disappointment, or maybe even a mix. “Sorry. I was planning on taking a stroll today. You can go on without me.” Plower’s voice was hard as he stood up. He looked at DiamondBlade, and DiamondBlade could have sworn he saw a flash of subtle anger flare in Plower’s eyes. But it was gone too fast for DiamondBlade to determine if he did. “I’ll catch up with you later, DiamondBlade,” the farmer told him, his voice still unreadable and cold. Then he pushed past Reader and DiamondBlade and disappeared outside.

Have I let my friend down? DiamondBlade wondered sadly. I never meant to… “What’s wrong with Plower? Is he angry with me?” DiamondBlade asked Reader.

Reader shrugged and answered, “I don’t know. Maybe he is. Maybe he is not. I can usually tell the feelings of other NPCs, but Plower’s always been hard to read. It’s like he doesn’t really know who he is. But I can tell you that no matter how Plower feels about you right now, he won’t break his friendship with you just because of his disappointment. You’ve argued with your friends, haven’t you?”

DiamondBlade thought about his school life. He had many friends, and he had in fact gotten into arguments with them. He had once fought with his best friend, Danny, to the point where they almost stopped being friends. But luckily he had made up with Danny, and the two were still best friends. But DiamondBlade had actually lost a friend due to an argument — a boy named Luke. It was a sad day for him, but Luke had never really been much of a friend to him, anyway. It wasn’t as big of a loss as it could have been.

“Yeah,” DiamondBlade agreed. “But Plower’s different. This whole thing is different.”

Reader nodded. “It must be so strange to be down here in Minecraft when you’re used to living up there in the physical world, DiamondBlade.” The NPC’s voice was gentle and knowing. “What is it like?”

Reader’s question surprised DiamondBlade. “Oh…in my world?” DiamondBlade repeated. Reader nodded. “Well, in some ways, it’s like Minecraft,” DiamondBlade explained. “I mean, people — sorta like the NPCs in Minecraft — build lots and lots of buildings like the ones here. In fact, some of the buildings users built in Minecraft are copies of famous structures in my world. I live in a village, too, called a neighborhood. Tons of neighborhoods make up something like a gigantic village — a city, almost like the Ender Kingdom. We have butchers and blacksmiths and librarians, too, along with all of the other jobs the NPCs have. They’re just a little bit different. And we, too, have horses and cats. After all, Notch did create this with the real world in mind.”