Writing Championships #5

Amber Antags

Prompt: Secret message in a stone

Zedaph stood outside the mansion that was now his, taking the clear air of the jungle into his lungs. He had worked on an elevator for the last few hours so he needed a break. So he went back inside the mansion, passing through the nether portal to go to The Shopping District. When he arrived at the island he went into the redstone shop, looking around for fun. He could see the HEP building from the window of the shop he was in. Whenever he came to the shopping district he remembered the Turf War. The second big war had turned his best friends to rivals.

He didn't understand why they couldn't just get along. He always tried so hard to calm them down, but no, they never listened. He was tired of trying to mediate between the two and for them to just outright ignore him. Zedaph clenched his fists. What was he thinking, trying to go to the Shopping District for "fun". His stomach twisted, remembering Tango and Impulse still hadn't forgiven each other from the Turf War. Even though he poured himself into trying to make things better again, nothing ever happened. Suddenly, he remembered that he was standing in the middle of the Shopping District, doing nothing. He just had to hope nobody saw him, that would be embarrassing.

The man shook his head, moving forward. He had no clue why he had come here. Food? Redstone? All shuffled his thoughts into a mix of inaudible words. He simply walked around, staring at the ground. His mind was blank besides the sounds of his own footsteps and an elytra fluttering in the sky.

Wait. An elytra? He tensed up, looking around. A hermit wearing a blue shirt and jeans flew above him, and he slowly scuttled up against the closest shop wall, not wanting to talk to anyone. He wanted to be alone. He hoped the other would leave him alone.

Just because he had such great luck, the other hermit had noticed Zedaph and landed next to the man. It was none other than the helpful poet, Joehills. Joe walked over to Zedaph, a look of concern plastered on his face. Zedaph wanted nothing to do with social interaction and he knew that Joe would not leave him alone. He hid his face as Joe spoke softly, "Zedaph, what's got you so upset?" Joehills asked, very worried for the blond hermit.

"None of your business, joe." Zed responded. Joe reached into his pocket slowly...

Taking out a black-green stone with red dots on it. "Here, have this bloodstone. A grim name for such a beautiful stone, isn't it." Zedaph nodded, not sure why Joe would give him a stone out of the blue.

"Why are you giving me this?" He asked the question in his head, and joe smiled.

"Bloodstones represent getting over harsh reality's of earthly life, I thought you might want it."

Zedaph looked at Joe, and back at the cold stone resting in his hands. "I-Thank you, Joe." The blonde hermit looked to the side, trying to hide his expression, but Joe clearly saw it, as he began to smile.

"No problem Zedaph. I would hate for anyone on this server to feel badly, and I know I can't stop all the problems in this corrupted world but... You're welcome."

"Uh, do you mind if I ask one thing?"

"Not at all."

"Why... Do you carry bloodstones on you? Is this a common occurrence or..."

"I just carry plenty on me. I guess you could say I'm a collector of sorts, items always help with poems." Joe responded simply, and Zedaph chuckled a bit.

"So you just carry random stuff everywhere? Usually you'd keep it at your base." Joe shrugged, looking away at the sigh and sitting down,

"I guess. But it never hurts to have a few stones are you, it came in useful, did it not?" Joes' gaze made it seem like an genuine question, and Zedaph snorted, sitting down next to Joe.

"Yeah, I guess it did."

Score: 7