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Alex awoke to the morning sounds and the light creeping in from her window. As she yawned, she reached into the chest next to her bed. In it was her usual outfit and some tools. She grabbed the clothes, the tools, and equipped them, heading out the door and stopping at Steven's room. She gently knocked and called out to him.
"Hey, you awake?"
No answer.
"Yo, Steven. You passed out in there?"
Still no answer. If Alex was worried enough, she would just barge in but she had two reasons for not doing so. One, Steven hadn't slept in days and was probably just exhausted. And two, the last time Alex barged in on Steven, he was wearing nothing except his boxers, which embarrassed the both of them.
Ugh, he's probably just sleeping. Guess I'm on my own today. Alex thought as she walked downstairs to the kitchen. Alex thought as she left for the kitchen downstairs.
In the kitchen, Alex grabbed a few stacks of porkchops and some buckets of milk. Why milk? Well, Alex found a mineshaft a few days ago and everybody knows mineshafts are fill to the brim with cave spiders. Their bite is poisonous and will slowly kill the person if not treated. That's where the milk comes in, when used, it removes all traces of the poison from the person's body.
Alex wanted Steven to go with her on this expedition but with how exhausted he looked last night, he was in no condition to go with her but that didn't stop Alex.
Alright, that's everything I should need. Alex thought as she grabbed her things and headed for the door.
The walk through the forest was quiet. A few creepers here and there but nothing crazy. By the time it started getting dark, Alex found the ravine she marked with a torch and made her way down into it. The place was crawling with monsters but she made quick work of them with her bow. Soon, she entered the mineshaft and was greeted by not one, not two, but THREE cave spiders.
Shit! Already!? Alex thought as she rushed for the spiders, killing them in a single slice.
Looking around, she quickly spotted the nest and began slashing away at the webs until she reached the spawner.
Better break this before more think about spawning...
She quickly broke the spawner using her pickaxe before sighing with relief. As she turned back to explore the mineshaft more, she heard a voice call out to her.
"Why did you break my home?"
Alex jolted her head backwards as she heard the voice and couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was a cave spider hanging from a web attached to the ceiling, looking directly at her with its bright golden pupils. It was smaller than usual, that's for sure, less eyes too. It looked afraid.
"You hurt my friends too and broke our spawner... Why?" The cave spider asked.
There's no way a cave spider is talking to me right now... How is that possible? Monsters are brainless creatures with no thoughts or emotions. Yet... This spider... Alex thought as the grip on her sword got tighter.
Alex wasn't sure why but she could feel herself getting more and more aggressive. Why? The reason is because mineshafts are also known for their terrible air quality. Aggressiveness, hallucinations, dizziness, delusions, all common symptoms of low oxygen levels. Usually, this doesn't happen but this mineshaft was so deep into the ground, there was no airflow whatsoever and Alex was slowly succumbing to her insanity.
Steven... I bet this was his doing. I bet he made this little contraption to scare me! That would explain why he's been up so late at night! He was researching this! He was planning this! I bet he's laughing at me right now-
"Are you okay miss?" The cave spider asked when it noticed Alex staring off into space.
Alex, now being completely off the deep end, smiled widely at the cave spider, causing it to step back.
"Steeeeeven..." Alex said as she held her sword up and walked towards the cave spider.
"H-Huh?" The cave spider said as it dodged the oncoming slash.
"You think you're reaaaal funny building this little thing to scare me... Can you see me through those mechanical eyes of yours?"
"M-Mechanical!? I'm not a machine lady!"
"Can you hear me through there Steven? I hope so because I want you to hear me breaking your little toy... PIECE BY PIECE!!!" Alex yelled as she lunged for the cave spider.
The cave spider dodged the attack, taking off and running into the rest of the mineshaft. Alex was close behind, swiping at every possible moment but barely missing. Any monster that happened to be in the way was immediately disposed of.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME STEVEN!!"
"MY NAME ISN'T STEVEN! PLEASE STOP CHASING ME!"
Suddenly, the cave spider turned a corner, which led into a dead end.
Crap! The cave spider thought as it turned around to see Alex approaching slowly.
"W-W-Wait! Please! I don't know what's going on but you're scaring me!"
"It's gonna be worse when I get home Steven, you're going to be in a world of hurt for making me worry like that..." Alex said as she held the sword up high to prepare for a slash.
The cave spider looked up in fear before noticing another cave spider sneaking over to Alex to bite her.
"L-Look out!"
"H-Huh-"
But it was too late, the cave spider managed to bite her, poisoning her.
Shit! Alex thought as she struck the cave spider before reaching into her inventory for her supplies.
Her heart sank when she noticed the milk buckets she brought with her were gone.
W-Where are they!? I know I brought them with me!! Alex thought as she felt herself becoming weaker.
While Alex had been in pursuit of the cave spider, she failed to notice some of her supplies had fallen out of her inventory somewhere in the cave. Alex, feeling stupid for her mistake, hits the ground in anger before falling flat on her back.
This is how I die... Alone in a mineshaft... I never even got the chance to tell Steven how much he means to me... Alex thought as her heart rate slowed.
Then, out of nowhere, in the corner of Alex's eye was the cave spider she was pursuing, now holding the bucket of milk she dropped earlier. The cave spider offered it to her and, using the last bit of her strength, she grabbed the bucket of milk and gulped it down, finally erasing the poison from her body. She sighed with relief as her body returned to its normal function, repositioning herself against the wall so she could relax.
"Are you okay?" The cave spider asked, still a bit fearful after the whole ordeal.
Alex opened her eyes to look at the cave spider before her.
You know, now that I've calmed down a bit, this cave spider doesn't look or sound like a robot... Alex thought as she frowned.
"I'm sorry for freaking out earlier. Talking cave spiders aren't exactly common so I thought my friend was playing a trick on me..."
The cave spider smiled.
"It's no worries. I was pretty freaked out though."
The two laughed with each other before the cave spider realized something.
"So what's your name?"
"I'm Alex."
"Alex huh? My name's Nova."
"It's nice to meet you Nova." Alex said as she reached out her hand to the cave spider.
Nova happily shook it.
"Likewise!"
"Alright, I should probably head back now. This place is too dangerous without my partner. What are you going to do now?"
Nova thought for a moment before remembering what happened to her home.
"Y-You broke my nest with your sword! It'll take ages to fix it up like it was before! Why'd you do that!?"
Alex frowned, regret filling her body as she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.
"Right... Forgive me please, I didn't mean anything personal by it, I promise."
Then, Alex smiled as she thought of something.
"How 'bout this, to make it up to you, you can come live with me and Steven."
Nova gasped.
"R-Really!? I can go to the surface!?"
"Yeah, it's the least I can do since I wrecked your nest. Hop aboard and let's get out of here."
"Yay! Best day ever!" Nova said as she jumped onto Alex's shoulder.
As the two made their way to the surface, Alex was left to her thoughts.
Steven, if my hunch is correct and you know about these intelligent mobs...
You better have a good explanation for not telling me about it.