In a Dream

He was dreaming. He knew this, because he had dreams like this before.

Hero curiously looked around himself.

Enormous, ancient trunks of trees rose impossibly high in the air. Each of them even bigger than his own tree at home. These trees were real giants, their twisting branches spread out and entangling with each other to form a thick ceiling.

Hero could barely glimpse a bit of foreign sky, clear and dark, very very far above. Rare moonlight rays broke through and slid across the forest floor, submerged into perpetual dusk. The air here smelled almost the same as home, only a bit more damp, mossy.

Mist flowed around him. And not too far away came the dull echoes of the ax rhythmically striking wood. A brief pause and then the dangerous creaking, followed by the breaking of branches as something heavy fell through the ancient trees, disturbing their rest.

Hero's eyes glowed brighter with excitement.

"Oooh! I know where this is!" He said out loud, not caring that his voice came strangely dim and without substance. Of course, this was only a dream, so things didn't have to make sense.

The dream shifted, pulling Hero in closer toward the sounds. Trees blurred into dim shapes that streaked past him. And then he was there. Hero looked around and settled his gaze on him, whom he already expected to find.

Next to him stood his older double. As usual, his form blended with the shadows, his face blank. His eyes, glowing just like Hero's, unblinkingly held on the other person not too far away in the clearing. The other person currently stood facing away from them, but Hero recognized him anyway. He was the same person that he had often seen in his dreams, always from a distance though. This was probably the closest that Hero had ever seen him.

Hungrily, he studied the stranger.

"He must be a human. He looks just like them." Hero said, comparing the person's appearance to what he remembered.

Similar to the one who stood next to Hero and to Hero himself, the human wore simple garments of spun cloth, a cyan t-shirt and dark trousers. But he had a thicker, more muscular frame and non-glowing eyes.

The man turned in their direction. Blue eyes calmly searched the shadows, but noted nothing unusual. Still seemingly unaware of anyone watching him, the man ran his hand across his forehead, flicking away the sweat. Hefting his ax over the shoulder, he headed to the trunk of the fallen tree.

Hero glanced at his double and noted that he had briefly closed his eyes, probably to keep their glow from betraying his presence. Now, he reopened them. Hero considered him with a displeased frown settling in his face.

"There you are, just standing there and watching him again... I don't know why you don't just go and say hello? He seems friendly, I can tell. And it's not like he can hurt you, right? You have so much power, more than me, yet you always hide. Why do you do that?"

Hero tried to take a step forward, but for some reason couldn't. As usual in his older double's presence, he could only make a few steps ahead of him before the air grew thick, becoming an invisible wall that kept Hero from where he wished to go.

Frustrated, he watched the other person start chopping away the branches from the tree trunk, preparing it for transport back to his cabin.

"I really wish you would go closer." Hero complained, eager to see this possible human's face. Of course, the glowing-eyed older version of Hero didn't react, unaware that Hero was even there. Hero looked at him a bit longer, sighed, and turned away to watch the human, instead.

And he was almost sure that it was a human.

That powerful body, larger than that of the grown-up villagers, thick arms that swung widely with each confident step, the really short, small nose, the messy brown fur on his head... Hair, Hero corrected himself.

He remembered Grandpa Grake saying that as he pointed at a picture of an old book.

When Hero was little, Grandpa Grake took him to the village library to show him what humans looked like. That was when everyone in their home village still believed that Hero was human and before the librarian found out that Hero could set things on fire. After that, he forbade Grandpa Grake from bringing his foundling anywhere close to his building.

Hero could still remember it very clearly, though. The dim library, the old villager with the tiny child nestled in his lap, helping him turn the enormous pages. Their heads nearly touching and faces full of fascination as they gazed at the accounts of beings clad in strange clothing stand against the monsters.

Endermen, creepers, spiders, zombies, wolves, and other mobs Hero had never seen before, viciously attacked the Humans, seeking to destroy them, and fell beneath the strikes of their scary, mysterious weapons.

Hero didn't mind that the mobs in these books died. The monsters shown in pictures looked nothing like the mobs he knew. Their angry faces snarled, showing too many teeth. And their claws dripped with the blood of the Humans they had managed to wound or even kill. Hero's mobs were not like that.

Well, they occasionally attacked the villagers, but it was a long time ago. They didn't do that unless Hero grew angry, which was why he tried not to do so. He didn't want them to be like those horrible creatures in the books. Because he wasn't like that. Even if he might be a Monster, like the villagers said.

Hero frowned at the human and then gave the glowing-eyed double a look of understanding.

"Or, maybe Humans don't like ANY monsters... Is that why you just watch him but do not come? Is everyone in your world mean to you, too?"

Hero's words remained unheard. This was just a dream, anyway. A dream he sometimes had just before waking up.

To prove that, the world around him wavered, becoming less real. His double's image dimmed until only glowing eyes remained, two white lights floating in the shadow. Like a reflection that Hero saw in the dark waters of a lake in a cave where he now lived.

Quickly looking back at the more interesting Human, Hero caught a glimpse of him chopping wood with powerful, easy strikes. And then the dream faded away.

Finding himself back in the real world, Hero became aware of the roots, where he snuggled, and the coolness spreading in the evening air. Blinking his glowing eyes open, he shaded them with the palm of his hand and looked up in the sky to judge the time.

The yellow sun was still high, but not so bright and already leaning lower to the horizon, just barely visible through the sharp tops of the spruces. Good, that meant that he still had plenty of time left to explore.

On his way to this village he found yet another abandoned place filled with ruins. Nestled high up in the hills, he didn't even realize that it was a village at first, until he stumbled over a broken pot and stared up at the intricately ornate stone wall rising before him.

He didn't have time to thoroughly explore that place just yet, since he wanted to try trading first, but planned to come back. Useful things often hid beneath rubble and stone, overgrown by the leafy vines. Sometimes, he found orchards growing wild, but still bearing fruit. And he thought that he had glimpsed fields just beyond the broken walls.

Well, it was still too early in the season for wheat to form grains. But maybe he could find some apples?

Hero rose to his feet and stretched, yawning. Making sure to grasp his basket, Hero cast the Tree behind him a grateful look, and headed out of the clearance, his steps springy and light with renewed strength.

Only a moment later came a wurp and a familiar, long, gangly figure appeared a few steps away.

"Hey, Albert. I'm going exploring. Want to come?" Hero asked brightly. The mob's puzzled soft rumble made him smile.

The mob faithfully followed, appearing and standing still until Hero caught up, and then vanishing, only to reappear some distance ahead in a different spot. Sometimes, the mob curiously reached out and with its mysterious ability tagged at the world magic, making bits of it come undone and form in a shape of an accurate cube between its clawed hands. It studied the block curiously, its black head tilted to the side.

Hero wondered what it was seeing and why it was doing that. Maybe it just did so for fun? Like Hero did when he was little, building castles in the mud as he saw the village children do?

Hero didn't know, but felt glad for the mob's presence. It was not nearly as boring and lonely to go somewhere when the mob he named Albert came along.