Okay so since Sky and Amber are very far ahead in time, I'm gonna do Cole's and Lily's PoV this chapter. Then next chapter will be just about Sky and Amber. Maybe in 3rd person...? Up to you guys.

Anyways, I started this immediately after I published the last chapter so I can actually publish on time. Maybe.
Update: I didn't. New time schedule is Tuesday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also like I previewed the first part horribly and didn't edit the second one, so if you found any mitsakes, be nice about it.

•    •    •

~ Cole ~

As soon as I heard a sound by the door, I raced up the steps.

"I'm comin' for you!" The guy screamed from outside.

"No thanks I'm good." I huffed to myself as I reached the top.

I didn't have much time to gaze at the details, but upstairs was at first a hallway. It continued both ways with two doors on each side, but at the end it broke into two, with a giant column in the middle that still matched the wood pattern. It most likely combined back into one way.

(^^ because I know how easy it is for you guys to get confused)

I raced down the hallway as quietly as I could, and went down the left side. It led right to another sort of living room.

I cursed. Basically a dead end.

The sound of pounding footsteps were by the stairs. He was coming.

I pressed my back against the column. This had a 50 50 chance of working. If he went the opposite way I was hoping for, I was a dead man.

When he was only a few steps away, I jumped to the left of the column. He went past me on the right, completely missing me.

I didn't have time to cheer, though. I sprinted back down the hall, hearing him scream, "Come back here!"

I jumped down the stairs and ran back into the living room. Then, I turned right and ran into the kitchen. It was a giant square with 4 islands in the middle. There were counters along the edge, with a fridge, furnaces, chests along the walls, and multiple random appliances.

I didn't have any time to think of anything, so I opened the cabinet of  one of the islands and climbed underneath. I shut the door softly while I was in the fetal position.

The wait was excruciatingly painful. All I could hear was my breath. My heartbeat was also loud, so loud that I was surprised he didn't hear it.

What was I going to do? Where was his storage area? Or should I just escape and run outside?

"Come out come out wherever you are..." The screech of a sword being dragged on the ground made me hitch my breath.

The footsteps stopped. Either he was being quiet, he stopped, or he left.

All of a sudden, the cabinet door opened, revealing a grinning face.

"HERE'S JO—" My foot slammed into his face to shut him up.

He teetered backwards, holding his jaw. I climbed out of the small space and launched forward, punching him in the gut. He doubled forward in pain. I could've tried to fight, but I was easily outmatched in strength. At the moment.

I ran away toward the stairs again. However, instead of going up, I marched in place for a second to give the impression I was climbing up. Then, I hid in the small gap between the stairs and the cold wood wall. I backed up as far as I could. The killer raced up the stairs.

I still continued to back up, until I felt a different kind of block under my feet. I looked down at what may have been my savior.

A trapdoor.

I crouched down and slowly opened it up. It thankfully didn't creak. There were ladders leading down about 10 blocks. I quickly jumped down and shut the hatch behind me.

The room was barely lit when I got down there, but from the outlines, I could tell it was a cellar for storage. A crap ton of chests were on the sides along the walls, stacked 3 high. Tables were spread randomly throughout the room, making it a maze basically. In the tables were more trophies of all kinds, and some old brewing equipment. Along one side of the wall were armor stands. However, they only held random pieces of leather and stone swords. Nevertheless, I grabbed a stone sword and started to look through the chests. All there was were food and blocks. I shut the chest and continued.

After a few useless chests later, I decided to open one more. As I lifted the top, a large creak echoed through the room. And somehow I knew that he had heard it (not Santa you dummy).

I closed the chest and ran across the room. There was nowhere to hide easily, so I crouched behind a table.

As I had predicted, he came climbing down the ladders. He jumped off and drew his sword again (I heard the sound). He turned on a light that I didn't see before, allowing us both to see faintly.

"You know." His gravelly voice rang out. "I always like a good hunt. Makes me feel good when my prey try to run, and realize there's no hope, you know? I've been at this for 7 years, I've hunted tens, and I've never had a hunt in my own house. I appreciate that you were kind enough to give me a great experience." As he talked, he walked around slowly. "But it would've been more exciting if you ran into the woods. I have more traps there; I didn't think anyone was dumb enough to enter the house of the person that's trying to kill them." He chuckled. "Oh well."

I heard the swing of a sword hit a group of bottles on the table I was hiding behind. Glass rained from above me. I  lunged to the side as he jumped on the table and sliced where I just was. His sword got stuck in the wood, which could've bought me time to escape. However, I didn't.

Instead, I picked up a water bottle. When he got his sword unstuck, I chucked it at him. It broke against his armor and splashed water all over him, barely harming him. I didn't expect it to, but I did expect it to distract him. Which it did.

I charged forward and used the tip of my sword to knock the helmet off of him, giving him a slice on his cheek. Now he was exposed.

Wait... was his hair... pink?

"Dude." I said. "Is that seriously a pink buzzcut?"

He growled. "My ex wanted me to do it when we were together. Match her hair color."

"I can see why you two broke up."

Our swords clashed. He tried to push me away, but I held my ground. It was difficult because he was stronger than I was. He pushed me back a block and swung at my feet. I jumped up and struck my sword downward, but he blocked it. I tried to kick him in the gut, but with all his armor, he barely budged. He grinned at my failure and punched my jaw. I fell to the side, my upper body on the table. I coughed and touched my jaw, wincing at the pain.

"And so ends the hunt." He said from behind me.

I turned around and held my sword up just in time to block his hit. He still moved his sword down, the point of his blade dangerously close to my face. I put my hand on the flat side of my sword near the end, pushing my weight on both sides. However, I could feel the stone sword slowly starting to crack under the pressure. I silently prayed it would hold on long enough.

But what could I do? I was in a horrible situation. There was nothing around me, besides the table I was half on, that I could use. The table...

With my last bit of energy, I pushed my sword up, pushing his up as well. I then swerved to go onto the table. I started to crawl to the end. From the sound of footsteps on the table, I could tell he was above me on top of the wood. I tried to crawl out on the side, but his sword appeared there. I tried the other side, but he must've lifted his sword up, because it swung where I was just about to go. I was trapped, and continued to crawl.

"This isn't going anywhere." He sang.

I ignored him.

Finally, I made it to the end. I quickly lunged out from under the table just after he stabbed the ground. This time, he pulled his sword out much faster and charged toward me.

I ran toward the wall. I thought over again: wait for it, wait for it...

Right when I was just about to slam into the wall, I jumped up. I made it a few steps up the stone before I jumped off, doing a backflip over the guy's head.

Before he fully turned around, I swung my sword and sliced his head clean off.

Silence.

His body disintegrated, leaving his head on the ground as a trophy. My sword finally snapped from all the pressure, and crumbled.

I didn't know I was breathing hard until that moment. That was... horrific.

My head was buzzing with the same words over and over. I just killed a man.

•    •    •

Well that was a long part. Huh. Oh well.

•    •    •

~ Lily ~

"Ohhhhkay..." I shifted to the left so I didn't fall off. It wasn't a long fall off of PB, but it would still stink.

Jess slowed down so I could catch up with her. "Keep the side of your feet against her belly or girth if you must, but not too hard. She'd start trotting if you press too hard."

"What's a girth?"

"It's a little bit in front of the belly."

I did as she told. It did help my balance a little. I still gripped the reins tightly though.

"We're coming up to a creek." She warned. There was indeed a little stream ahead that was a block deep and around 6 or 7 blocks across.

"Uhhhhh...." Nervousness rose in my stomach.

"It's okay. I go across it all the time. Easy peasy. The horses aren't afraid of it; they'll just walk across. You don't need to do anything. Nothing to it."

"If you say so..."

When the horses were about to go into the water, they jumped. I gasped as we landed in the middle of the stream. Water splashed everywhere, and on Jess and I.

"Sorry!" Jess started laughing. "I forgot to tell you about that. You okay?"

"It's okay. I'm fine." I moved my feet up so they didn't hit the water. It barely reached the horse's stomach.

"I probably should have warned you though. I don't know how much you like water anymore..."

"Like I said, it's okay. It's just water." I shrugged.

The horses jumped out of the water and continued on.

•    •    •

We made it into town a few minutes later. It was a cute little town. Houses on the outskirts, a marketplace, and from what Jess said there was a library, a little doctors office, a few diners, a motel, and more. Just a quaint little village.

There were some posts near the outskirt where we could tie up our horses. I did ask Jess about people stealing them, but she said she had been doing it for as long as she could remember, and nothing bad happened.

"The people here are so nice." She added. "They couldn't hurt a bat. We don't get a lot of mobs here, but if we do, we just try our best to avoid or lead them away."

"That's nice." I said.

We walked into town. Everyone indeed was nice. They either greeted us, or smiled. It felt good. But also... off, in a way.

We walked down the cobblestone road. Despite the daylight, glowstone lamps still lit up the streets. People of all looks were walking and conversing.

"The marketplace is over there." Jess said. She pulled out a piece of paper. "My list says we need to get steaks, potatoes, mushrooms for mushroom stew, carrots for the horses, and I could use some more watermelon seeds."

"Okay."

We walked over to the busy market. It was a long line of booths selling all kinds of things— ores, food, armor, farming, I even saw someone selling chickens.

"Alright. Stay by my side. I don't want you to get lost." She smiled at me.

"It's not a big place." I shrugged. "I could get some stuff off the list too."

She hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"It's no biggy."

"...Alright." She ripped the list in half. "You can get the carrots and watermelon seeds. They're at that stall over there. Here's some money— should be 10 carrots, 2 brown mushrooms, and 2 red ones for 12 nuggets. Here you go." She handed me the torn paper and the money, and shooed me away.

I walked over to the oak stall she was talking about. The guy there was looking at everyone with a wide and cheerful grin.

"Hello there! Care to buy something?" He said when I walked up to him.

I told him what I needed. He opened one of the chests and took out a bunch of carrots and some mushrooms. I set the money on the counter as he set the food down. We traded, I said thanks, put everything in my inventory, and started to walk away.

"Say." He said. "You don't look familiar. New here?"

I turned around and nodded. "Yeah. I'm a spawn. Jess took me in." I didn't know whether it was good or bad to tell him that. But it just kinda slipped out of my mouth before I could think.

"A spawn you say?" He whistled. "Haven't heard about those since '06. Big Lenny passed away, bless his soul."

The last spawn around here died 10 years ago? "I didn't think I was that rare."

"If you want to know more, you should talk to Harold. He knows all that stuff, and more."

"Harold?" I asked, curious.

"The old man is a recluse in that treehouse of his. Only friends are his books. Last I heard he doesn't even come out. Some say he created a farm in his place to sustain himself. Others say he just died. No one's bothering to check." He flipped a nugget in the air. "Shame really. He was brilliant with both redstone and history. He built our irrigation system. You should see it sometime."

I swallowed. "Where can I find him?"

"Well, if he didn't move, he's still be in the Old Tree. Clever name, am I ri—"

"Jerry!"

Jess came up from behind us. "Telling tales about nonsense again?"

"Hello Jess." His smile seemed more strained. "Fancy seeing you here. And I'll have you know my tales aren't 'nonsense'."

"Come on, Lily." Jess grabbed my arm and led me away.

As we walked away, I heard a "Pst."

I turned and saw the guy, Jerry, pointing to the right. I looked over there, but saw nothing. When I glanced back at Jerry, it was like nothing had happened.

•    •    •

Wow some crazy stuff happened.

How will Cole cope with his decision of killing the dude?
Who is Harold?
Will Harold be important?
Why did Jess say that Jerry's story wasn't real?

Next chapter will be all about Sky's and Amber's time in Hidenburg. Would you guys like the two individual PoVs, or just 3rd person pov all the way through?

Rock on, my little rebels.