The True Hero: A Minecraft Story

Chapter 12: Inventions

"By the way my name is Lenny, it's nice to meet you both."
Lenny had short, dirty-blond hair, wiry glasses, a gray T-shirt with a white lab coat over it, tan pants, and brown shoes.
Lenny and Alex shook hands whilst Firea nodded.
Lenny then opened the green book to a page with drawings on it,
"This is my sketchbook and everything you see here are weapons and tools that I have made in the past, but as of right now I am trying to make this one:"
He pointed at a drawing that was in the shape of the letter T but the top was rounded,
"I am not sure what to call it yet, but it's going to be a very useful and probably amazing pickaxe."

Alex raised his eyebrows,
"You sure have made a lot of stuff,"
He pointed at something that looked like a sideways bow,
"What's this?"

Lenny walked over and pushed open his closet door, then he walked in and after a short moment came out with the weapon.
"I call it, the crossbow."
The crossbow was a sideways bow with a thick stick going from the middle of the shaft and down past the string. There was a horizontal hole at the end with a metal trigger hanging down.
The string rested against the thick stick and the crossbow had a small hook sticking out of the top of it.
"You see, you pull back the string of the bow like so;"
Lenny pulled back the string to barely get caught on the hook,
"Then you grab a small arrow, called a bolt,"
He picked up a short flint-tipped arrow off of the messy ground and put the feathered end of the arrow right up against the string where it met the hook,
"You place the bolt in like so; and it won't fall off because the base of the crossbow has a ridge going through it than the bolt locks in place in, until it is ready to fire."
Lenny lifted the crossbow up to a leveled position and appeared to be aiming at his wall,
"Then you pull the trigger back and let the bolt fly."

He pulled the metal trigger and with a quiet click, the metal hook on top folded down, letting the string pull the bolt forward and sent it incredibly fast to the wall.
With a satisfying *thunk* the bolt stuck there on the wall.
"Also, this is the reason if you hadn't already noticed, that I don't have windows like the other rooms."

Alex chuckled,
"So, Lenny, what can we do to help you make this pickaxe?"
Lenny appeared to look around for a minute until letting his eyes rest on the kitchen counter. He walked over to the paper-covered area and picked up a very detailed piece of paper.
"In order for this device to work, I am in need of proper building materials, would that be okay if you were to get them for me?"

Alex nodded and Firea just looked around.

"Great! You two can help me by getting the following materials, 5 iron ingots, some redstone dust, 3 pure vibranium ingots, and 1 emerald. I have this map,"
Lenny held out the detailed tan piece of paper,
"It has a drawn map you can follow to a large and secret cave nearby."
Alex took the map from his hands and took a look at it.
It showed a lush, green forest and a large area full of man-made structures in the middle of it, Fallaver Town. In the bottom left corner of Fallaver Town was a bright red mark, the red mark led in a completely straight line diagonally downward where it ended in the middle of the forest with a large X.

"Just follow the line drawn on the map and you should find a hole in the ground. Climb down the the hole with the ladder already set up there and you should find what I need. Of course you will need tools as well, here:"
Lenny pushed some papers on the table aside and grabbed 2 iron pickaxes lying there. He handed one to the two of them and then handed them both an unlit torch and flint. Lenny then pulled open a kitchen drawer and took a loaf of bread out and gave it to them for them to share.

"And here you are,"

Lenny grabbed a brown leather backpack, with only one big pocket,
"You can hold anything you need in here and have this as well..."

He walked over to his closet after giving Alex the backpack.
He went in and came out with 1 sheathe for his sword,
"For you."

Alex smiled,
"Thank you for this gear and we will be back before you know it."

* * *

Alex and Firea, now just leaving Fallaver Town's gates, were on their way to the cave.  Alex held both of their pickaxes in his backpack, with the iron parts sticking out of the top and leaning against the sides.
"So Firea how come you didn't want to stay any longer?"
Before she could respond Alex added,
"And I am sorry for making the decision."

Firea half frowned,
"I just think we need to get moving..."

Alex silently nodded his head and looked down at the map he was holding.
They were following a red line which led them in twists and turns all around the forest trees.

Eventually after a long silent walk, the duo arrived at a red X on the map.
They looked around until finding a small hole in the ground that they could barely fit through.
Alex walked over to it and peered down, an incredibly long wooden ladder led so far down that he couldn't even see the bottom. The only good thing was that it was lit with torches, 1 block into the walls, every 10 blocks down.
Alex went first, climbing down the ladder with Firea right above him.

As they climbed down, Alex began some small talk,
"You like caves?"

Firea kept climbing down above Alex,
"Well yeah, I love exploring new things."

Alex laughed, "As far as I know I have never been in a cave!"

Firea quietly laughed and they continued downward.

Alex looked up to continue then noticed his view of her.
"Yah!"
He quickly looked back down as he climbed further below,
"S-so how come you d-don't talk much?"
Alex kept climbing down, quickening his pace, with Firea not too far above,
"I-I mean, you never, or-"
Alex lost his footing on one of the ladder's rungs, slipped down, hit his chin on the rung he just lost his place on and then caught himself.

"You alright Alex..?"

Alex felt hot and rubbed his chin,
"Y-yeah I'm fine,"
He quickly continued where he left off,
"H-how come you never start questions and stuff? I just mean you seem quiet a lot."

He heard a sigh from above him yet didn't look up,
Firea replied,
"To be honest I wasn't always quiet like this, I used to be jumpy and the happiest person you'd ever meet. When I was younger, my people, my family, they were killed by the hunters... The Elemental Wolf hunters, a specific branch of them were mainly hunting us Fire Wolves. After all that, and after gaining the sword and everything, I was sad a lot.
Eventually I realized something.
The past is behind me, the future feels far, and all I have to do is live the present.
Then I became a little happier and loved having fun."

Firea half-frowned,
"Then somehow the hunters found me, and being the ruthless killers they are, they wanted me dead. I have been on the run for a while now since I can't stay at one place for long, they eventually catch on. So I became quiet, not wanting myself to get noticed everywhere I go."

Alex noticed the ladder was coming to an end a few blocks down,
"I guess I understand, I'm sorry I brought up your past, and I am sorry for what happened."

He saw a light dimmer in comparison to the light at the ladder as he came down in the cave.
He got off the ladder and stepped onto the cold stone ground with Firea just coming through the hole with the ladder,
"It's okay, I don't mind anymore if someone talks about my past, but at least we made it to the cave."

Alex turned away from the ladder and towards the big cave,

"Wow..."