Steve and Sam woke up from a long, not-so-peaceful night's sleep. They could hear a skeleton clanking around above them. Not wanting to deal with it at the moment, they sat up under the low ceiling and ate some bread for breakfast. Sam tossed the pit a carrot, which it ate happily. He smiled and shook his head. They could hear some of the mobs above start to burn, but there were also the sounds of the ones that remained unscathed.
"Maybe it doesn't work on all mobs?" Sam asked.
Steve just shrugged.
They finished their breakfast and cleaned up their belongings. Steve picked up the torch and held it to the ceiling. Sam broke a dirt block. Standing on his bed, he peeked up through the hole.
"What do you see?" Steve asked.
"There's a skeleton under a tree close by and two zombies out in the sun," he said. "The rest I see is some random mob drops. There's some arrows on the ground we can use."
"That's good. We were running low."
Steve broke a block above his bed and aimed at the skeleton. One hit to the head took it out, and it dropped two additional arrows. The zombies noticed their presence and started in their direction. Sam pulled himself out of the hole and reached to unsheathe his diamond sword, only to find it was gone. The mobs didn't care and moved forward anyway.
"My sword is gone," he said. "Notch, it must've gotten left behind!"
"I've got them," Steve said.
He unsheathed his iron sword and made quick work of the two zombies. The pig shielded its eyes, peaking through one. Steve put his sword back and started collecting arrows.
"Fifteen total," Steve said. "It's uneven."
"You take the bigger half," Sam said. "You're a better aim than me."
Sam picked up the bow the skeleton had dropped. With the loot divided, they gathered what was left and set off again. No sooner had they taken off that Sam could see something in the distance.
"What is that?" Steve asked.
"You see it, too? I don't know. Something big. And white."
Whatever it was, it was in the direction the compass pointed, so there was no need to not check it out. As they got closer, Steve noticed something else.
"What's that?" He said and started running.
"What's what? Hey, wait up!" Sam called.
He caught up with Steve. Steve stopped and picked an item off the ground.
"An iron ingot?"
"Wait, look!" Sam said, pointing at what he saw earlier.
"It's the... golem?"
They walked up to the body of the golem. It was spread out on the ground, but it was definitely a golem.
"This doesn't make any sense," Steve said. "He can't be yours. We left him in the valley."
"You're wrong," a voice said.
Steve and Sam both jumped at the voice. They turned around and looked. There was an enderman standing there, speaking.
"This golem is yours."
Steve jumped back.
"Whoa whoa whoa, who the heck are you?"
Steve pulled his sword out and pointed at the talking enderman.
"Whoa, easy fella," it said. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Steve," Sam whispered. "Look at his eyes."
Steve looked. They were a bright shade of green, different from other endermen.
"You're not like the others, are you?" Sam asked.
"Considering I haven't killed you when you looked me in the eyes, I would say you're right."
Steve and Sam both quickly looked down to the ground. They had completely forgot about that rule.
"Don't worry," the enderman waved his arms. "I'm not going to hurt either of you."
"You act... just like us," Steve said.
He remembered the dream he had before. He didn't like the feeling of this enderman, but maybe that was because he was... and enderman. They were very dangerous. Steve and Sam were lucky they didn't encounter any in the valley when the mobs attacked or things could have turned out much more different for them. The enderman just nodded his head.
"You could say I'm a lot like you," he said.
The golem got up from the ground.
"Glad to see you're okay," Sam said.
"I'm with Sam. We thought you were a goner," Steve said.
The golem smiled.
"I'm only here to help you," the enderman continued.
The enderman's voice even sounded human.
"We're listening," Steve said with caution.
Sam shushed him.
"Steve, let him finish. I wanna hear this."
"I know you think I'm a monster," the enderman said. "A lot of people do."
"Oh, really?" Steve said.
The enderman grew stern.
"You don't even know."
Steve gulped and remained silent.
"I was human just like you once."
The enderman dug through his fading memories, trying to piece together into words what he was trying to remember.
"My real name is Francis, but my friends all called me Frank. We used to be strong warriors together. When everyone else would give up... I wouldn't. I always pushed forward, no matter the odds, because that's what warriors do. We were the ones that tried to kill the Ender Dragon."
Steve and Sam's eyes went wide. He continued.
"It was a long battle. Everyone else had died, and I was the last one left standing. The fight was ruthless. It was almost right at the end of the battle. I was heavily wounded. I almost couldn't pick up a sword. I was so close to defeating him. I just had to break one last crystal piece."
"I struggled to climb up the tower, but I eventually made it to the top. I crawled to that fiery crystal and waited. Ender came in, and I raised my sword to strike him. He knocked the sword out of my hand. I shouted profanities at that dragon for every bit of pain it had caused us. I didn't have any other choice for what I had to do next."
"When Ender came in to finish me off, I punched the crystal with my fist. He had just enough health left for the explosion to kill him. I didn't think I would survive. I just wanted him dead. There was a bright flash and a loud boom, then darkness. What happened next is still a mystery to me."
"When I woke up, I was like this. Like a monster. And now I live like a monster. I can't approach people, or they will think I'm a real enderman and try to kill me."
"Then, why are you helping us?" Sam asked.
"I might look like an enderman on the outside, but I'm still human inside. I'm a man. I'll do anything to stop these monsters from destroying every village in their way. I can't do much, but I will still try. I saw you fight and realized you had a chance to fix this. You are a lot like me, and I had the power to help. Sam."
The enderman took something out of its inventory and tossed it to Sam. Steve saw the blue blur. Sam caught it and looked at it.
"Here's your sword," Frank said. "You left it in the valley when you got hurt."
Sam tilted it. It glistened in the sunlight.
"Take this armor, too."
The enderman passed Sam a chestplate.
"A diamond chestplate?" Sam said in disbelief.
"Yes," Frank said. "It's strong and light. It will deflect any arrow."
Sam put it on. It was very comfortable.
"Thanks! Um... but... where did you get the armor?"
Frank looked away.
"He... doesn't need it anymore."
Sam didn't push it further. He assumed it had to be Frank's old armor piece before...
"Steve, I'm sorry," Frank said. "I've got nothing for you right now."
Steve sighed.
"I guess it was too good to be true," he said. "It's alright. I'll be fine with my gear."
"It's time for me to go," Frank said.
"Wait!" Sam said. "Will we see you again?"
"I hope so," Frank said. "I'll be watching you fight from a distance. You can do this. Good luck."
With that, Frank disappeared, a collection of purple particles left behind.
The golem's eyes glowed and turned to his face to them. It smiled.
"Alright, golem!" Sam said.
"Well... that was strange," Steve said.
Sam wasn't listening. He was admiring his new gear.
"Man, I've only ever dreamed about armor this good," Sam said. "And this sword is awesome!"
"Yeah... good for you, man."
"Well, we better press onward," Sam said. "Hey, golem. You still with us?"
It nodded graciously.
"Then let's mosey."
He started walking, picking his pace up a little bit. The golem and pig waddled up behind him. Steve shook the confusion of what he just witnessed from his mind and ran to catch up with Sam. Steve looked at him. He seemed too comfortable after that strange encounter.
"I don't like this very much," Steve said.
"What, exactly?" Sam asked.
"Didn't this so-called 'human' look a bit suspicious to you? I mean, if there really were some 'man-monsters,' I assume we would have heard some stories about it, you know? The dragon was killed a long time ago. How do we know he's telling the truth?"
"I think you're over-exaggerating a little bit," Sam said. "Think about it. If you were in his shoes, wouldn't you avoid people? Besides, he brought golem back to us! He's only trying to help."
"Whatever," Steve said. "I guess you're right, but, dare I get to say, I told you so."
~~~
From the distance, Frank watched them walk in the woods, following the compass. He had overheard their conversation. He smiled and chuckled with sinister intention. Then, he gathered his purple particles and teleported. About every thirty blocks he would teleport, and he did it quickly. He covered a lot of ground to get where he was going. He couldn't keep his master waiting.
Eventually, he made it to the portal where his master was waiting patiently.
"I'm here, your majesty," he said.
"How was your mission?" A deep, raspy voice came from the portal.
"They took the bait, just like we expected."
"Good. Very good. Stay nearby for a while. I will have another job for you, yet. Remember: your life is mine, now. You took mine, and now I have yours within my claws."
"As you wish, your majesty," Frank said with the roll of his eyes.
The voice laughed maliciously. It echoed throughout the large room out among the giant castle.
"The Warrior of Gold," the voice said, "is no match for my power."