I awoke to the sound of commotion, as I sat up in my bed and noticed families conversing with one another. Remembering how we had ended up at this shelter, I could see there were several more people than there had been last night. Looking around for Mom, I couldn't find her anywhere.

Suddenly alarmed, I got up from the bed.

"Mom?" I said out loud, hoping to hear a response from her. Maybe she was somewhere among the families?

A brief moment passed before I spoke again.

"Mom!" I said, louder this time. No familiar voice from my mother. I grew nervous, where could she be?

I approached one of the nearest group of people, who appeared to be a mother, father, and their child. The three were quick to notice me.

"Excuse me, have you seen my mom?" I asked them. But before they could respond, I heard a familiar voice.

"David!" Mom's said, and I saw her at the entrance of the building. She quickly came up to us and apologized to the parents, then guided me back to our part of the room.

"Be careful who you talk to. I left to get us some food." she explained as she pulled out some carrots and gave one to me. "Thankfully, they're passing out free food to people from Blockfield. No telling how long that'll last, but I'll be able to look for other ways to get money for when that stops." I spent a moment enjoying the sweetness of the carrot as she spoke.

I hadn't noticed it before, but Mom must've put up a sign right above our beds that had our names on it. It must've been to keep the others from taking our places. Once I finished the carrot off, Mom grabbed my arm.

"Come on, dear, let's check out the village for today." she said eagerly as she pulled me. "If this place will be our new home, we'll need to know where everything is." We left the building and came out to meet the afternoon sun for the first time in what felt like forever.

There were people all around us, and knights were patrolling the village, donning full iron armor. There was a certain tensity in the air, as many people whispered amongst themselves when they looked at us and people that I recognized from our home village.

As we moved around and explored the settlement, I clung to Mom's leg, fighting the temptation to hide whenever someone approached us and asked about the attack. Mom mostly answered with something along the line of "I don't know" when they pressed for details before they headed off.

 **********

After several moments spent looking at buildings and learning what they were for, I heard a familiar voice behind us.

"David!" a boy's voice excitedly rang out. I turned to the voice and saw Andrew, with his mother and Ralph in the distance.

"Andrew!" I gasped, filled with joy at the sight of my best friend. I resisted the urge to hug him and instead settled for a fist bump. "You're okay! Th-that's great!"

"It's awesome to see you got out!" he exclaimed, his face stuck in a permanent happy grin as he spoke. "Is Emily here too?" My smile went away.

"No... I haven't seen her here yet..." I muttered. His no-longer permanent smile disappeared too.

"Oh... Well, I'm sure she's fine." he replied sadly as his family caught up to us. His mom, Ms. Birchbar, spoke to him.

"Andrew, there'll be plenty of time to interact with your friend. Right now, we need to go to that shelter that knight told us about." she insisted, but my mom then spoke up.

"Actually, I can take you right there if you want. Might as well let the kids have fun." she suggested. Ms. Birchbar hesitated before looking straight at me.

"As long as David knows the way back." his mother settled. I nodded in assurance.

"Yeah, I know where to go." I promised. We weren't very far from the shelter, maybe a couple dozen blocks. Mom and Ms. Birchbar began to head off towards the shelter, leaving me, Andrew, and Ralph, who looked uncomfortable and tried to look busy with his inventory.

"It's awesome to see you again." Andrew said to me. I nodded.

"I was so... worried... about you..." I said, growing nervous as I said it. Hopefully it didn't come across as too... too much. He put his arm on my shoulder as he looked around with eagerness.

"A new village, a new setting for us to have some fun in, don't you think?" he chuckled mischievously.

"Yeah." I replied, my sight turning towards Ralph. He looked almost like how I had felt-completely taken out of my home and unsure of everything.

"M-maybe your brother can join us for once?" I suggested meekly. Ralph quickly turned to look at me as Andrew turned to look at him in surprise.

"I don't think so. Brother's too big for his own good. He can't sneak around if his life depended on it." he laughed.

"A-as if I would wanna join you losers on anything." Ralph growled, although I quickly caught on to the hesitation in his voice. He shook his head. "I'm getting out of here. You guys are lame." Ralph started to head off, but Andrew spoke up.

"Dude, you don't even know where to go! David's the one that does!" he giggled. Ralph looked back at us in anger.

"I know that! I just... Fine... David, show us the way." he demanded. Reluctantly, I headed in the direction. It was beginning to turn nighttime, so it was probably for the best anyways.

I guided them to the shelter as the sun was beginning to set. Inside, I went to the corner where Mom was at. Andrew and Ralph's mom called to them from the other side of the shelter, and they left to go to her. Mom was putting things into a chest she had placed down right beside our double bed.

"Hey Mom." I said as I sat down on the red bed.

"Hey dear. Did you have fun with Andrew?" she asked, smiling to herself.

"Well, not really fun. But it was great to see him again." I replied happily.

"It's great to see you happy, David." she told me. "Tomorrow is a new day you'll get to spend showing Andrew around, but only as long as Ms. Birchbar is fine with it." She gave me some bread. "Here you go, dear. That's probably enough for tonight." I munched on it while she munched on her own bread. We didn't say much, but I noticed people were beginning to go to sleep.

"Let's get some sleep, okay dear?" she suggested once we had consumed the bread, and we both lay down in the double bed. After a moment, I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes to the yellow world from nights before. My mentor stood before me, his golden sword in fist. His torn-up blue cape billowed behind him, even though there wasn't any wind.

"Welcome back, boy." he greeted. "Our training continues. Draw your sword." Pulling my wooden sword out from my inventory, I felt its wooden handle in my fist.

"Now, I want you to show me that you retained what I taught you last night." he ordered. I could remember with ease the lesson from the night before, as though it had just happened moments ago. "Attack me, and attack me right."

Holding the sword in front of me, I stood right ahead of him and swung the sword at him. He quickly blocked the hit, but I stepped forward and swung again, this time slamming the blade against his armor. He glowed a light shade of pink as he stared at me with his glowing eyes, not even seemingly bothered by the damage he had taken.

"Good. Remember, a good offense can be the difference between victory and defeat. Now, we shall begin on your next lesson." He thrust his other arm at the ground beside him, and a wither skeleton appeared again. "I complimented a good offense, but this time our lesson will focus on a good defensive tactic. This is the first step towards learning to fight defensively, and as such it would serve you well to master it quickly." He let out a whistle, and the still skeleton turned to face him, drawing its grey sword.

"Sometimes when you are in battle, an opponent can overwhelm you and threaten to land strikes if you do not act. It is in this situation that you must give up ground to your enemy, so as to avoid giving up health." The wither skeleton began to attack him with basic swings. He deflected them and walked backwards. "It is vital that you are aware of your surroundings, so that you do not trip over a block or obstacle."

The Spectral Hero jumped up just in time to land on top of a block ridge as he continued blocking hits from the black skeleton. He kept this up until he launched a swing against the wither skeleton and struck it in the ribs, causing it to blink red. He whistled again, and the wither skeleton ceased its attacking as it turned to face me.

"I want you to give up ground to it, until you see an opening in which to strike at it." he ordered.

"Uh... you won't let it kill me though, right?" I said nervously, looking up at the skeleton that was at least three times larger than me. Skeletal rattles came from him, but I wasn't sure what they were supposed to mean.

"You won't die to this skeleton as long as you follow my instructions." he explained.

"But-" I tried to speak but he interrupted me.

"Our time is limited, boy. And you have much to learn in a short time. So, you will listen to me and follow my instructions." he demanded coldly. "Remember, even in the event that you die, you will simply awaken in the waking world. Death has no consequence within this realm of dreams."

"O-o-okay..." I stammered, watching the wither skeleton anxiously. He whistled, and it began to approach me menacingly, holding its grey sword in front of it. Holding my sword cautiously, I stared at it as it got closer, until it suddenly swung at me. I let out a cry of fear as I ducked beneath the swing, and then felt pain as its sword struck my side, pushing me away.

"Owww..." I groaned as I steadily got up, noting the wither skeleton watching me do so.

"Do not panic. Panic leads to death in battle. Stay focused and breathe steadily." he instructed. I did as he said and took a deep breath as the skeleton went back into stance.

Once on my feet, the skeleton began to swing at me again. I backed up and gave it all the space I could as it approached, swinging whenever it got near me.

I kept walking back, but then bumped into a ridge. Immediately, my mind panicked, as I crawled up the ridge, only to feel more pain as the skeleton's sword bit into my back. I was sent forward and landed on the ground with a grunt.

"Boy, I warned you to be aware of your surroundings. If this were a real battle, you could have met your end at that moment." the Spectral Hero shouted. "Be. Aware."

"I'm trying!" I shouted back as I slowly pushed myself back up.

"Do not try. Do." he ordered sternly.

Once I was back to my feet, the skeleton continued its attacks. I stepped back to avoid them, and focused on trying to find an opportunity to attack back. After waiting for a moment, I bumped into another ridge just in time for the wither skeleton to reach down and snatch the collar of my shirt with its arm, holding me high above the ground. I let out a cry of shock as it brought back its sword, ready to attack, and I closed my eyes, waiting for the attack to come. But after a brief moment, it never came, and I opened them to see the skeleton frozen.

The Spectral Hero rattled in annoyance.

"The sun begins to rise. You have failed this session." he clattered. The wither skeleton crumbled to particles, and I landed with a grunt onto the ground. Steadily, I got to my feet, looking down.

"I-I'm sorry..." I said to him.

"That does not matter, boy. If you make such reckless mistakes on the field of battle, they will only end in one way. You will fall." he rattled angrily. In that moment, I felt the insecurity beginning to come out.

"If I keep making mistakes, then how can I be the hero of the Overworld? I... I'm just a boy..." I grumbled, scowling deeply. "Of course I'm no hero! I... I'm just some loser who's in way over his head..." A brief moment passed before he responded.

"It is true that I have my doubts regarding your ability to live up to the heroes of old. But there is only one way to find out your true potential. And that is through all of this." he stated firmly. "Do not be sorry, boy. Learn from your mistakes. Correct them. And overcome them." I still wasn't convinced. "We will meet again when Moon arises, and we shall continue this lesson until you have completed it." With that, he raised his sword, and everything vanished.