Chapter 4

Chapter 4 All That Glitters Does Not Protect You from Piglins. But Gold Does! Eek placed a hand on the big skull made of moss. He was silent for a moment. Finding the right words, he took a deep breath. Finally, he began to speak. "We are all here to remember my good friend: the skeleton that you hit with arrows and swords until it died."

Ash was surprised at how positive he sounded —barely sad at all. He looked at the piglins, each seated in their own boat. "First, I think you should all apologize." "Snort!" "Uhh-snort?" "Snort-weh." "Very good!" Eek grinned. Ash was pretty sure the mobs were just making their normal noises, but Eek was happy anyway. "We do not need to be sad. You see, sometimes this happens. The

skeleton is not really gone. It turned into something different. Like me!" Ash realized for the first time that Eek must have built the moss skull. He'd placed the blocks himself! Eek was an unusual Minecraft player. He was born inside the Minecraft world, so he didn't treat it like a game. He wouldn't use any weapons or tools except for his hoe, and he didn't think of mobs as monsters. "I will miss my friend. But now the skeleton has become this beautiful moss, and we can remember it as a hero that saved my life." Eek gave a little bow. Ash clapped. The piglins snorted in their seats.

"Good job, Eek." Ash smiled as Eek's avatar— he looked like a little villager, now in golden armor from the neck down—hopped over to her. "That was very nice. I've never been to a funeral in Minecraft before." "Po taught me the words!" Eek waited for her to get out of the boat. "I was simply repeating them. But…" Suddenly, he seemed bashful. "I know I was not supposed to go to the Nether alone." "I'm glad you're safe. That's what matters." Ash stood up and glanced around. Nothing but piglins—good. In the crimson forest biome, they would probably have to deal with hoglins eventually—and the fact that they wouldn't stop attacking just because they had golden clothes. "We should make a base around the portal, just in case. Have you seen the others?"

"They are not with you?" "No. I haven't heard from them today. Stay close to me." Ash started moving in a wide circle around the portal to see if anything interesting—or especially dangerous—was nearby. "Watch out for mobs." "Okay." Eek stayed right on her heels. "Can you not go see if they are in their rooms?" "Huh?" "You are all on Earth, right?"

A hoglin snuffled nearby. Ash turned abruptly before it noticed them. "Earth is really big. And hard to get around. We live kinda far away, so it would take a while for me to go to their houses." "Oh." Eek sounded disappointed. "I thought you all lived in one big house." Ash laughed. "Jodi and Morgan do, but everybody else has their own house. And I'm the farthest away. It's kinda like…" Ash tried to think of what Eek would understand. "It's like we live in different biomes—I'm in the snowy tundra, and they're on a beach. Or they're in the Overworld, and I'm in the Nether—and we don't have a portal." "You should get one, then!" Eek said with gusto. They were almost done with their loop. As they climbed a hill behind the portal, Ash got a glimpse of something surprising: a bastion remnant! The dark stone structure rose up right on the other side of the hill.