Monster

Accident

A half hour earlier

"Come here, Poofy... Please?" Hero crouched to his knee, his hands outstretched as he tried to coax the small, green creature to come out of the bushes. It peeked out, but saw the two taller figures next to Hero and darted back away. Hero sighed with frustration.

"He won't come." He pouted, even though both of the visiting young villagers watched him with fascination in their big eyes.

"He almost did. His name is Poofy?" Kyle grinned.

"Why? That's a silly name." Jin chuckled lightly. Hero frowned and glared at them, but, seeing only good-natured expression in their faces, huffed slightly.

"I didn't name him that. Someone else did. A little Human boy. He was his pet first before he last respawned."

"What Human boy?" Kyle asked, puzzled.

"Danny." As soon as Hero said the name, the little creeper peeked out of the bushes again and made a small, questioning chirp. All the three children turned to look at him.

"Look at that. It's as if he knows that name. But, how did you know about that?" Kyle curiously eyed the creeper and then the little Human who once again reached out his small hands to him, holding a little piece of bread.

The creeper approached Hero this time, coming closer in little stops, lifting on its short legs, and then creeping forward again, until he nosed Hero's palms. He then nibbled on the piece of bread and Hero smiled with satisfaction as he began to pet its silky, soft fur. On an impulse, he leaned closer and hugged the creature with both of his arms thrown around its neck.

"I'm sorry. I'll never do that again. I promise." Hero murmured.

"I didn't know that creepers liked bread."

"They don't." Hero shrugged a little. "It's only Poofy who does. It reminds him of Danny."

The small creature chirped again and then purred, leaning his head forward and nosing Hero's cheek and neck.

"You forgive me, Poofy?" Hero asked timidly. Pushing him slightly with his head, the being darted back to the bushes and Hero sighed, smiling contently.

"Why? What happened?" Jin asked curiously. Hero shrugged, standing up and putting his hands in the pockets of his worn out cyan trousers.

"My brothers were mean to him. They asked me to put a rope on him and to t-take him to my home... They wanted to scare our uncle." Hero explained guiltily, wondering why it was suddenly so easy to talk to these two children compared to how it usually felt for him to talk to someone.

Encouraged, he continued. "I got in big trouble... And Poofy didn't want to come to me... for a very long time."

"Well, I think he forgives you now. Right? Does he know that we are different villagers?" Kyle asked and then also produced a little piece of bread and reached it out as he crouched to a knee. Jin gasped a little, grabbing on to his gown for support when the small being once again peeked out of the bushes.

Tentatively sniffing its nose, it unmistakably focused on the bigger child and its ears focused on him in alert. Its chest remained a pure, slightly glowing green that made its fur sparkle with sheen colors.

Hero nodded with confidence. "He does."

The three children watched as the being made one step, then another, then a few more as it approached Kyle and then quickly took the piece of bread from his hand and darted away again.

Jin squealed quietly with delight. "Again, again!" He asked his older brother. Kyle immediately took out another piece of bread.

Instead of one pair of green, large eyes with split irises like those of a cat, now two pairs of eyes peeked at the children from the bushes. Startling a little, the two villagers froze as five more creatures appeared, surrounding them slowly.