A New Game pt 5

Ridgedog watched the sky that night, delightfully sumg with himself when Turpster's face was shown. MintyMinute had died as well. Sjin must have been distraught with grief, Ridge thought to himself as he saw the blond curls and cheerful smile in the sky.

Turning away, Ridge walked through the abandoned building, pausing at the shadows to check for skeletons, zombies, spiders, and creepers. The loot he had gotten from Turpster was meager at best; the knife that he had fought with, some cooked chicken, a stick, and one arrow. The knife went into his own boot for a back-up weapon. And as the stars twinkled above, Ridge allowed himself some rest from the day's events.

The next day interrupted Ridgedog's blissful sleep. With a reluctant groan, he sat up, stretching. The building he had temporarily made his base for the night, wasn't exactly his idea of a fortress, and he was surprised that no monsters came in during the night. He had only gone in there because he wasn't going to sleep in the open, even if this wasn't much better.

Ridgedog peeked out of his hiding spot, on the lookout for other players. Thankfully, he didn't see any. He wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse. The sun was beating down on his back as he stepped out of the comforting shadows that had previously concealed him. Ridge brushed back his reddish-brown hair, and strolled closer to a new building, wary of even the stone underneath him, and seemingly bare walls surrounding him.

He crossed the street, intent on finding another chest, and hopefully not getting injured in the process. The gash Turpster had hewn into his skin was just now healing, and Ridge didn't want another wound to slow the process down. Ridge opened the rickety old door of the building. It looked like it used to be a library. Old musty books lined the shelves, old chairs still pushed in at tables where ancient computers lay, covered in cobwebs and dust. But looks were decieving, Ridgedog reminded himself as he looked through the books, hoping to see an ancient tome about enchanting an object. There was nothing.

After what seemed an hour, when, in fact, it had only been ten minutes, of searching, Ridgedog found a lever hidden away behind a particularly hefty volume of 'Minecraftia: The Story of Steve'. And, as any bored and curious person would do, he pulled it.

The sounds of pistons and books falling reached his ears as he started searching again, now with vigor. He found the secret near the back of the library by the old computers, the books were all surprisingly from the research section.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Ridgedog muttered as he stepped into the now exposed alcove that housed an open iron door that led into darkness. The shelves slid back, and redpower lights turned on, showing a pristine hallway.

Ridgedog strolled along the hallways, interrupted occasionally with windows, showing laboratories, empty but well-tended. He stepped into a large room, a large computer with a chair facing away from Ridge took up most of the room.

"Welcome," a voice sounded as the chair swiveled to face Ridge, revealing a familiar face. "I see you found my favorite part of the arena."

"Lalna," Ridge greeted as he looked around. "This wasn't mentioned in the report."

"One of the unmentioned surprises," the blond scientist explained as his green eyes sparked with delight.  "The computers aren't all that good, so don't even try to use them to spy on the others."

"I didn't even consider it, I want the others to have a chance." The purple clad man looked over to Lalna. "I remember that there's no interaction with players in the Games."

"Without good reason," the blond finished as he reached into his coat pockets. "And who am I if I don't greet someone?" Ridge stayed quiet, silently wondering what Lalna was looking for. "AH!" Lalna cried as he pulled two lumps of Red Matter from his pocket. "Here."

Ridge took the Red Matter and looked at them as they flickered with ghostly yellow flames. After awhile he quietly asked, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care where," Ridge replied, still looking at the red stones in his hands with a smile.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go." Ridgedog looked back up to find that Lalna had disappeared.

He chuckled as he headed down a new hallway, heading towards a new exit. Ridge looked at the open door, hidden from the outside by vines and leaves. It was almost night, and he was in the middle of the forest. He turned to head back to find that the way had disappeared. With that, he headed towards a tree and climbed up it, careful to check for Martyn hiding in the branches. He laid back in the branches, opening a book he had pocketed from the library.

"After a fall such as this," Ridgedog mused as he turned a page, "I shall think nothing of tumbling downstairs!"