My Brother's Dog, Part Five

"Nothing, I thought a fly flew in." I said. In fact, I couldn't be better. Faith was gone, burned to death in the lava, and I was free.

"It doesn't suprise me, since half the stuff in there's dead," he said, a smile appearing. Just as quickly, though, the smile turned into a frown. "Dangit, I knew I shouldn't have brought Faith. Especially with the lava..."

We started up the world again, and I even helped Caleb make Faith a little grave marker, during which I struggled to imagine Faith as a normal dog. It worked for a bit, enough for me to sit through thirty seconds of Caleb saying goodbye. It was a game, at least from Caleb's perpective, but it was Caleb's first dog, so I gave him some slack. But I stopped pretending when Caleb was finished. Faith wasn't normal.

We played a little more, but I was getting thirsty.

I decided to take a break. "I'm gonna get some water. We'll stop here." Caleb nodded, and I left the world. Caleb still looked a little sad.

I shrugged, patted him on the back, and went to the kitchen to get some water. I was smiling the whole way. Faith was gone!

When I returned, Caleb had already started a new world. I guess he was a little fustrated that he lost Faith, and wanted to start over. His world, though, had the "bonus chest" box checked. Eager to begin playing, I picked up the controller and sat down without a word.

Here we go again. Another world.

We spawned in on a snow biome. It was snowing, and the pond we spawned facing towards was covered in ice. We were surrounded by trees, and the chest was sitting at the base of a sizable one behind us. There weren't many animals, but I did see the occasional rabbit sprint by.

"I'm getting wood."

Caleb ran ahead, forgetting about the chest. I decided to open it. A few apples, some wood, a sword, and a bone. I almost fainted when my cursor hovered over it.

"Discord's Bone."

I tried to leave it in the chest. I really did. But the sweat from my hands caused my thumb to slip over the back button. So instead of taking everything everything else and exiting the menu, I took everything. Including the bone.

I tried to toss it into the frozen water. I tried to drop it into a hole and cover it up. I even dropped it off a cliff, but the thing always showed up in my inventory after a minute or two. I was stuck with it.

I sighed, anxious to even have it in my hotbar. I stashed it in the bottom right corner of my inventory, where I would never see it.

I had spent over half the day trying to get rid of the bone, so I hurried to gather as much food as possible. Caleb had finished the shelter in record time and was doing the same. By the time I had gathered enough wool for a bed, the sun was sinking out of view. I ran for the shelter.

I ran into a pack of wolves, which suprised me. It was huge: having 18 or so wolves in it. For me, seeing them was super rare, even if there were a few in the last world.

What was most suprising was when a wolf walked out from the center of the pack, and sat down: almost like he was expecting something.

I hadn't noticed it until now, but Discord's bone had appeared in my hotbar. Curious, I equipped it, and screaming on the inside, fed it to the dog. I didn't know what to expect. Clouds sprouted out from the dog, showing that it didn't accept it.

But then, his eyes flashed blue.

''Oh, it's been a while. Yes, it has. I really must thank you, because- oh, I smell something... else. The voice paused.You have Faith's scent all over you.''

I was taken aback. Faith...? I thought she was dead.

''No, no. We don't die. And yes, I can read your thoughts.''

I was silent.

''Anyways, we don't die. Part of our... spirit? Yes. Our spirits are transfered to our bones. Don't ask me why, you can ask the cre-''

''Who's we? ''I interrupted. While I was asking this, I looked over to Caleb. He was focused on cooking the food he had.

Can't wait, can you? A few zombies came from out of the trees. Discord just looked at them. Sic' em', boys. Half of the pack broke off to kill the monsters. Within a few seconds, the monsters were just exp orbs on the ground, and the group rejoined the pack. ''I just love saying that. Enjoy the little things.''

He continued. ''I'm surprised you don't know what we are. Aren't we in your... creepypastas?''

What are those?

''Nothing important. Back to the good stuff. I'm what you'd call a by-product of a...glitch. Me and a few others. Faith is also one of us, but we don't talk about her. Based on the fact that you reek of her, I'd say you're aquainted?''

I didn't need to answer.

''Faith is what you'd call an outcast among outcasts. She can do things many of us can't. The reason she hadn't tried to ruin you as of now is because we've managed to nullify her level a notch or two. Puns not intended. And yes, I know what happened. Word spreads quickly.''

''We don't die. It's a fact. We just... move on. In fact, I believe one of us is a bat, down in a cave somewhere.''

Why are you telling me this? I asked.

''Well, I felt obligated to, since you've given me back my bone. I really missed it. Anyways, I- Oh, I see.''

See what? I asked, confused. Well, even more confused.

Seems like Faith is back.

Then someone slapped my forehead.

When I opened my eyes, the entire pack was gone.

"Are you okay? You were standing in the same place for ten minutes," he said, somewhat worried.

"Yeah, I was just... thinking," I said, rubbing my forehead. "Did you have to do that?"

"Would you have done any different?"

Caleb carried on like he already heard an answer.

"Anyways, I built this awesome tower. You can have the second floor..." Everything else he said was blocked out, while I tried to parse the information Discord gave me. There were even more beings like Faith and Discord, and while Discord seemed nice, he seemed... tolerant. Not unlike a cat.

They didn't die, because glitches in the system couldn't. I don't know why.

Since Caleb had already made beds, I made a painting. I placed it, and found an image of Faith on my wall. I sighed, tired of all the mystery, and left it on the wall. I didn't care anymore.

I just wanted it to end.