Neil woke up, stretching his back and yawning. He rubbed his eyes, wincing as he opened them to the sun shining in his room. Which was a problem, seeing as his window faced to the west. "Well, fuck," he said, stumbling out of his bedroom and down the stairs to see his roommate, a young slender man with green hair, blue pants, and a blue hoodie, the hood green, the pattern resembling a zombie's face, chewing on a piece of bread. "Yaebi, what time is it?"

"Evening," Yaebi answered, sparing a glance in Neil's direction. "The mayor stopped by earlier, asking where you were."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What'd you tell him?" Neil asked as he sat down in the chair on the other side of the table, running his hands through his brown messy hair.

Yaebi shrugged. "Somefing abou' a ca'e," he mumbled around his bread.

"Cake?"

"Cave," Yaebi clarified after swallowing. Neil groaned, letting his head slam onto the table. Yaebi just smirked. "So, what were you doing so late last night?" Neil looked up, a victorious grin on his face.

"I was getting the materials we need to get to the Nether," he said.

"What? But…I thought…wasn't that just a legend?" Yaebi asked, leaning forward, while Neil leaned back, hooking his hands together behind his head, shaking his head slowly.

"Nnnope. I lit it last night. It works!"

"So, when do we leave?!" Neil's face then fell and he slammed his head into the table again.

"About that," he said, his voice muffled. "A creeper blew up and the explosion knocked out the portal. And in my haste to leave, I accidentally put four more obsidian blocks in it…and…yeah." Yaebi looked at Neil before sitting back down in his chair, sighing.

"Notch damn it, Neil…"

"I panicked!" Neil said, raising his arms in defense. "But now we know that it's possible to go to the Nether!" Neil's voice raise in pitch a bit, cracking in his excitement. Yaebi laughed.

"Calm down, man," Yaebi said, standing up from the table, looking out the window to see rain clouds rolling in. Yaebi winced as he heard the sound of an Enderman teleporting around in the rain. "I hope that isn't someone I know." Neil looked at Yaebi as he continued to stare out the window, looking for the source of the noise. Neil had met Yaebi seven years ago, when he was eleven. Up to that point, Neil had never seen another human, having been raised for as long as he could remember by the testificates of the village just over the hill. Neil and the village's farmer had been inspecting the crops when Neil decided to try to balance on the fences, falling off on the other side and nearly landing on Yaebi, who was unconscious, a gash on his head. The villagers had taken Yaebi in and nursed him back to good health. Yaebi was actually a zombie, but looked and functioned much like a human did. The other villagers were always wary of Yaebi, save for the mayor, the farmer, and the doctor. Over time, Neil became good friends with Yaebi and when he was sixteen, he had asked the mayor for permission to move out on his own and build his own home. He offered Yaebi a room as well, since most of the village wasn't too fond of Yaebi. And so, they had left the village and walked over the hills surrounding the village, choosing a spot behind the hill. They were close enough to the village to help them, but far enough away that they were able to keep their privacy. During their two years living together, Neil had been introduced to what were usually hostile mobs that Yaebi had befriended.

"Achoo!"

"Bless you," Neil said, his eyes now closed as he sat back to turn his thoughts to the Nether.

"That wasn't me," Yaebi said. Neil opened his eyes, looking at the front door.

"Well, if it wasn't you, then…is someone at the door?" he asked as he saw a shadow through the door's frosted glass. He got up, grabbing his shirt from the back of the couch, putting it on as he got to the door. He opened it to see the back of someone wearing a green hoodie that went down to their thighs. They hadn't noticed him yet and they were holding their arms, shivering. "Can I help you?"

"Eep!" The figure turned around to look at Neil, who simply looked back. It was a girl, probably only a year or two younger than himself, her hair color orange, her eye color matching that of her hair. Her hood looked like a creeper's face and she was looking at Neil, worry in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry! It's just, it was raining and cold and-"

"Whoa, slow down," Neil said as the words began to jumble, having trouble deciphering what she was saying. "It's alright, it's alright. You shouldn't be out here, not when it's getting this dark and the weather being what it is. Come on in," he moved back, gesturing her in. He looked back at Yaebi, who moved to light the fireplace with some flint and steel, then walking back into the kitchen to get something for their new guest to eat.

"But…but my friend is still out there," the girl said, slowly backing away from Neil. Neil reached behind the door and the girl's expression turned to panic as she saw a handle in his hand. Neil pulled the rest of the item from behind the door, a red umbrella.

"Is your friend nearby?" he asked, walking out onto the porch with the girl, looking around the yard. He spotted a figure huddled under the tree beside the gravel walkway, another girl, this one taller than the red head on his porch. "Ah, is that her under the tree?" The girl nodded, looking at Neil with a look of confusion. "Alright. You go on in, I'll get your friend, alright?" Neil smiled at her, walking off the porch and opening the umbrella.

"B-but!" The girl felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned to see Yaebi holding a plate with a hot pork chop on it. He shook his head.

"Just come on in," he said. "Neil isn't one to leave someone alone if they look like they're in need of help." The girl followed him in, turning back to look at Neil walking down the walkway.

"Hey, there," Neil said as he arrived at the tree. The girl was wearing all black, a turtle neck and miniskirt, her hat with two purple rectangles on it covering her brown hair, the hair reaching almost to her waist. Neil noted that her eyes were a deep purple as she turned to look at him, immediately blushing and turning away, burying her face into her knees. Neil scratched his head. "Uh, miss?"

"P-p-please don't stare at me," the girl stuttered, her shoulders scrunched. "I-I only want to stay here u-until the weather c-clears…"

"Well, that's fine and all, but you'll catch cold out here," Neil said, walking under the tree with her, his hand hooking under her shoulder. "It's much warmer inside, I promise. And your friend is already in there. We've got a fire going and you can stay there tonight." Neil gently pulled her up onto her feet, smiling as she gave him a side glance. He noted off hand that she was a bit taller than he was. "Yaebi and I are harmless, promise." He then let go of her arm, walking back onto the walkway. He turned to look at her. "Well?"

"Um…I…I don't like to get wet," she said, looking down at the ground, her left foot rubbing the back of her right calf. She looked up as the handle of the umbrella was suddenly in her view to see Neil offering it to her.

"Then take the umbrella," he said. She took it slowly and Neil gestured towards the house and started walking back to the porch, the girl behind him. "I'm Neil, by the way."

"A-Andr."

"Well, Andr, welcome to my home," Neil said with a smile as he made it onto the porch, pulling his shirt off and wringing it out over a bucket. He laid it on the swing at the end of the porch, walking through the front door, Andr behind him as she closed the umbrella, avoiding the water on it. "Just put it in the bin," Neil said, pointing at the small cylinder that held a second umbrella in it. Andr did as told, looking around the room she was in. She saw her friend was now eating a slice of cake, a smile on her face as she licked icing off of her lips. Neil ran upstairs, Andr hearing doors opening and shutting.

"Welcome, miss," Yaebi said as he walked in with another plate of pork chop, handing it to Andr with a smile. "Cupa was just explaining to me that you two just happened to be passing by."

"Yaebi, where hell are did I put our spare beds?" Neil yelled from upstairs.

"Basement!" Yaebi yelled back. Neil came down the stairs, his hand on his face in embarassment.

"Right," he said as he looped around the stairs, now going down.

"Forgive Neil, he's a little…um…well, he's Neil," Yaebi said with a chuckle. "I'm Yaebi, if Neil's yell didn't make it immediately obvious."

"I-I'm Andr," Andr said, taking a seat on the couch beside Cupa, the girl with the green hoodie. She looked at the pork chop before picking it up, nibbling on it.

"So," Yaebi said as he sat in one of the armchairs, Andr looking at him. "Which mobs are you two?" Andr dropped her pork chop, while Cupa looked at Yaebi in shock, dropping her plate, the plate making a thunk as it hit the carpet. "It's okay!" Yaebi said quickly, waving his hands when he saw Cupa and Andr were both getting ready to bolt. "I'm a zombie!" They looked at him, looks of disbelief on their faces. "No, really, I am! I'm just like you!"

Andr looked at Cupa and Cupa looked at Andr, before they both returned their attention to Yaebi. "E-enderman," Andr replied.

"Creeper…" was Cupa's soft reply. Yaebi's eyes widened.

"So, you are just like me!" he exclaimed, whooping. They looked at him, confused. "I thought I was the only one!" He then looked at Andr, realization dawning on his face. "You're the one I heard teleporting when the rain started!" Andr nodded. They all looked at the stairs as they heard Neil's grumbling, Neil slowly stomping back up the steps. "You set off your own traps, didn't you?"

"No, but I did just have a tugging match with that damn rat!" Neil said, pulling out a miniaturized bed. "Why do we let him stay down there, again?"

"Because he keeps the other rats from raiding our food supplies," Yaebi answered, before he smirked at Neil.

"What?"

Yaebi pointed at Andr and Cupa. "They're just like me, Neil!" Neil dropped the bed in shock, looking at the two girls, terror once again on their faces.

"They're zombies, too?" Neil asked.

"Nope. Enderman and a creeper!" Yaebi said, grinning.

"That's…" Andr and Cupa once again made ready to bolt as Neil slowly got over his shock. "Awesome!" They both fell off the couch in shock. Usually, they'd be running from arrows and swords at this point. "Are you two okay?" he asked as he ran around the couch to help them up.

"You're…you're not going to attack us?" Cupa asked, looking at his hand in fear.

Neil frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"W-well," Andr spoke up, "humans don't really like mobs like us…" She looked up as Neil suddenly grabbed her shoulders, kneeling in front of her. Her entire face reddened as Neil's own face was only a couple inches away from hers.

"You've met other humans?" he asked, completely serious. "Humans like me, not the villagers?" Andr slowly nodded, too scared and embarrassed to move. "Which direction? How long ago? How many were there?" He bombarded her with questions and she remained mute, frozen in place. He felt Yaebi's hand on his shoulder now.

"I think you might want to back up a bit," Yaebi said. Neil looked back at Andr to see that she was terrified of him right now. He quickly let go, backing up and apologizing.

"I'm sorry!" He rubbed the back of his head, laughing at what he had just done. "It's just…I've never met another human, so…I mean, I always wondered if there were others out there like me, ya know? It's…it makes you feel lonely, wondering if you're the only one of your kind…" Andr and Cupa slowly relaxed, nodding. They knew how Neil felt. They were like him, wondering if there were others just like them. Yaebi was frowning at Neil right now. He slapped the back of Neil's head.

"Idiot. I know how exciting this kind of news is, but these girls have quite obviously had bad experiences with other humans," Yaebi said, scolding his roommate. "You at least have to try to be a little sensitive, dude." Neil nodded, embarrassed at his behavior.

"Again, I'm sorry," he said, bowing his head towards the two girls.

"It's fine," Cupa said, Neil looking up at her to see a smile on her face. "We get it."

"W-we went through the same thing before meeting each other," Andr said, nodding. "We don't really go around announcing what we are. Bad things happen to mobs." Neil looked at Andr and Cupa, confused.

"But…why? Mobs aren't all bad," he said. "I mean, you two seem pretty harmless. And then there's Yaebi. I've known him for seven years now. And he's introduced me to other mobs. Well…mobs that don't look like humans, at least. Like that stupid rat downstairs." Neil stood there, quiet, grumbling under his breath before exhaling. "Anyways. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Though the guest rooms aren't quite done yet. We…we don't actually have any guest rooms. You're welcome to set up a bed where you can find the room and I can get to work on spare rooms tomorrow morning."

"Thank you," Cupa said, smiling again. Neil handed her and Andr a bed apiece.

"Anyways, if you need me, my room is upstairs, third door on the right. Yaebi sleeps on this floor. It's the door right beside the stairs. There's two bathrooms upstairs, on the opposite side of the hall from my room and one down here, right beside Yaebi's room. If you get hungry later on, just help yourself to whatever you can find in the kitchen. If it isn't marked, it's free game," Neil said.

And that is a story idea I've had for almost a year now. It's gone through multiple identities and at least two rewrites before arriving at this form. Whoo! The language should be minor enough that this can stay as a K+ story. There won't be a lot of violence either, so there's no reason to up it to T, unless I start adding WAY more language into this. Other mobs will slowly be introduced, but this story has no definitive plot. There is no endgame to this story. It's just something to write in my spare time. Will there be romance? I don't know. Will there be changes in the future to the rating? Maybe. Will this be marked as complete and as a one-shot? It could be, it just depends on how well this does and how much fun I have writing for it. Which, I actually had a good bit of fun with this chapter.