Phil sat in the mouth of the cave, staring out at the pouring rain. Occasionally, he'd pull a foot back from a water splash, or move, but for the most part he didn't move. Outside, a heard of cows had walked past, headed towards the trees for cover. One had gotten to close to the cave. Phil had piled it's bones with the rest in the back.
Leaning back against the cold rock wall, Phil kept his eyes closed thinking. Thinking of the past, of memories, of anything he could to leave that dim cave behind. The memories burst to life with a golden light around them. He smiled to himself from reminiscing.
Colin played behind the house, laughing as Jonas ran after him. He jumped in the pond at the edge of the forest. It had taken Phil and Jonas two days to make, and much longer to keep it hidden from Colin for his birthday three days later. He was so curious the whole time as to where those new bushes had come from.
He was so happy.
Phil sighed and opened his eyes. He thought about how they were now, still at the castle. Maybe they were being put through the same thing he was. Phil shook his head, trying not to think about that possibility. It wasn't likely, they were kids. They didn't know anything. They couldn't get anything out of them, even if they tried.
But Kye and Endra didn't know that. And they hadn't been too nice to anyone while he was there. As if in emphasis, Phil scratched at a healing cut on his side. It hurt still, and he knew it would scar. It was too deep not to.
A noise from the forest made him perk up again. It wasn't a cow, too big, but it was still coming this way. He stood up quickly, backing into a crevice in the wall. A tree outside cracked and fell down. A flurry of startled mooing sounded, and a hissing sound rose up above it. Phil kept silent, trying his best to stay still.
The faint amount of light streaming into the cave was blocked out for a moment as a larger creature walked in. Steam filled the cave and Phil fought the urge to cover his nose as the smell of burnt scales and fur wafted towards him.
The beast walked past him, straight towards the back of the cave. Phil carefully poked his head out to watch. He only got a glimpse of it when it walked past. It was big, black and smelled like an ender. But it was too big to be another enderman, and too small to be Endra. Phil watched the tail turn around the corner. It was stumped, like it had been cut at the end. Phil's eyes narrowed and he followed it.
the light in the back of the cave was dim, but there was just enough for Phil to see whatever it was leaning of the rest of the cow carcass, noisily crunching through the bones. To Phil's surprise, it was a dragon. A smaller ender dragon, sure, but a dragon none the less. Steam still rose from it's back and neck, looking like it'd been in the rain long. And Phil noticed the tail was cut off, like he thought before. Half way up it's length, it looked like a clean blow had taken it off. It was nothing but a nub at the end.
Phil smirked and leaned against the wall, watching the small, hungry dragon search among the pile of bones for anything else. The cow was gone entirely, not even bones were left. Phil cleared his throat loudly, arms crossed over his chest. The dragon went still and slowly turned it's head around. surprised, Phil took a step back.
"Who are you?" The dragon asked, turning around entirely. It was much smaller than the darkness around it made it look. And one of it's purple eyes was scarred over. Phil almost laughed. Almost.
"The one who caught the cow" Phil replied. He smirked at the little dragon. "Where did you come from?" He asked, walking closer.
The dragon growled and back up into the bones. "Stay back or I'll bite" he threatened. Phil chuckled, but stopped advancing.
"Listen, I don't mean you any harm. We're stuck in the same situation for now. Might as well get to know each other?" Phil shrugged. Slowly, he sat down, and smiled warmly at the dragon. "My name's Phil. I've been in this cave for awhile"
The dragon watched him carefully, sweeping the half of his tail he had left to clear the bones. He sat down carefully.
"How can I be sure you wont hurt me, Phil?" The dragon asked. Phil sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Because if I was, I would've already" Phil replied, leaning his head back against the stone wall.
The dragon relaxed just a moment. "Qwuen" he said. Phil looked up surprised.
"My name is Qwuen" the dragon said again. He sat down and looked away.
"Now we're getting somewhere" Phil grinned "what brings you here Qwuen? Adventure? And it looks like something did a number on you too."
Qwuen shook his head. "I came- I was looking for my sister" He mumbled. "I went to a village to ask for help finding her, but- My sister said people were nice. That they didn't attack us like the hunters who come to the end do"
Phil snorted and shook his head. "Humans are cruel, and very unusual creatures. Whoever your sister is, she's got her memories wrong" he said. "Humans are animals, just like everything else up here besides mobs. They're a hive mind type of deal. Always following one another. You probably caused a panic, and that's why they attacked you. You're lucky to have gotten away"
Qwuen nodded silently. He looked down at his claws again and sighed. "How much do you know about the overworld?" he asked, looking up at Phil. "I mean, I've read books before, but there's so much here I didn't know about"
Phil laughed. "We've got plenty of time before this rain lets up. Ask away" He said, smiling. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but it was nice to have someone to talk to.
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Colin watched Kye from across the table. It was silent in the dining hall, and even the guards around them seemed nervous. Nova was silent beside Kye, and Jonas was watching all of them from beside Colin, eyes narrowed.
The doors slammed open as Endra walked in, a frustrated expression on her face as always.
"Find anything?" Kye asked calmly, hands crossed on the table. Nova looked over too, calmer than the rest but not as calm as Kye seemed to be at that moment. She was always calm now, and always distant.
"Nothing. Again" Endra growled, walking over. "Phil's disappeared and could be anywhere by now and he was the only one who knew where she is"
"We'll find him eventually" Kye replied, adding a small smile in at the end. "In fact, he may just lead us to where we want to go" Slowly, she stood up. "Take the bounty on him down. We no longer want to catch him, we want him to go where he's going"
Endra looked at her confused. "Where would he be going? He just seems to be wandering around"
"That's what he wants us to think" Kye smirked. "He's going home. And when he gets there, we get him"
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Crystal stared out of the window absentmindedly. The rain outside drizzled down in streams inches from her face, but she didn't seem bothered by it.
Out in the kitchen Steve was cooking dinner. Every now and then he'd poke his head around the corner to look in, but she was always in the same state. Not moving, only blinking every now and then as she stared outside into the forest.
After a while, Steve walked over with a cup of hot chocolate and offered it to her. Crystal looked up surprised, but took it carefully and took as sip as Steve sat down in the chair across from her window ledge seat.
"You doing okay?" He asked gently. Crystal nodded and set the cup down.
"I'm fine" she replied in a hoarse whisper. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders tighter.
"you sure?" Steve asked pushing the point. Crystal looked back out the window and didn't respond.
"You can tell me anything Crystal, you know that" Steve said, pushing it more "Please, you can't go through this alone"
Crystal sighed and looked over. Her grey eyes were full of tears as she looked back at him.
"What's real?" she asked in a shaky voice. "What actually happened, and what didn't?"
Steve smiled sympathetically. "well, let's sort through them. I can't be sure about a lot of it, but I can help with the majority"
Crystal nodded. "Are you really my dad?" she asked quietly. Steve looked at her with a pained expression.
"No. I'm not" He replied "But I know who is"
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A/N Hey! I'm sorry to keep leaving you on cliff hangers like this but it's really fun.