General Bart and Tom kept antagonizing one another for a few more hours. At one point, no one could stand their silly fight.
“I swear, I must have fought some 40 or 50 Creepers in my life. I did all of that by myself! You have no right to call me a coward.” General Bart replied.
“Oh, yeah? Then show me your bravery, General. Head out there and face the Hoglins. What better way of showing the world how valiant you are, other than slaying radioactive Hoglins? If you do that, I’ll finally admit that you are courageous.” Tom teased him.
“You are a silly Strider. Do you think I stand a chance against a group of Hoglins? Not even my 15th infantry could deal with them. I am not stronger than my 15th infantry. This is not about courage; it is a matter of intelligence. I have a functioning brain, and I know for a fact that I am not going to last long out there.”
“Admit it, you’re a coward. You’re just finding a reason to avoid fighting the Hoglins.” Tom laughed.
“How dare you say that to me, Strider!” General Bart was furious.
“Calm down, you two, enough with this petty argument,” I intervened to stop their bickering. Paul was covering his ears, and Nora was trying to sleep.
“Alright if you say so, Strider. I’ll give you guys a break.” General Bart replied. “But I could have easily beaten this Strider in an argument if I wanted to. I’m stopping for the greater good.”
“Ha! You can’t even beat some pigs in the Nether; do you really think you could win against me? I have got the best arguments in the world.” Tom teased again.
“Oh… You didn’t…”
“Come on general, he’s just playing with you. Don’t listen to him.” I said.
“Fine. Have it your way.” General Bart sat down, legs crossed, and faced the wall. “I’ll ignore him for the time being.”
“Good. Run away, coward.” Tom teased.
“Tom, get over it. It’s hard enough being down here and waiting for the Hoglins to go away. Listening to you two rambling about the silliest things makes it ten times worse.”
“Alright, whatever, I was just trying to pass the time.” Tom said. “Besides, we are having fun for a change. Waiting for the Hoglins to go away is boring…”
“Speaking of which, it has been a while since we last heard their stomping. Can anyone hear anything?” I asked them.
“Other than the lava flowing through the river’s stream, I cannot hear anything else.” General Bart replied, closing his eyes, and paying attention to the sounds.
“I cannot hear anything, either.” Nora replied.
“Well, maybe we are safe.” I said. “Who wants to take a peek outside and see if they can find any Hoglins?”
“I say one of the humans should do that.” Tom replied “They can fight back, if needed. We Striders are weak and fragile.”
“So much for calling others a coward,” General Bart smiled.
“I’m fragile and I am still braver than you, but you are the proud general who is afraid to go and check it out?” Tom laughed.
“Hey!” General Bart was furious again.
“Come on you two, stop it.” I said. “General Bart, why don’t you check and see if you can spot any Hoglins in the area.”
“Alright. But don’t call me a coward now, Strider. I’m the only one doing the dangerous jobs around here.” General Bart pointed at Tom.
“What’s so dangerous about peeking through a hole. Now that’s what I call peak performance! Hahahaha!”
“I am the one who should be making jokes…” Bart muttered.
“Okay general, come here. Let me help you build some improvised stairs.” Paul said grabbing some Netherrack blocks. “These stairs will take you up, and then remove the Netherrack block atop the hole and take a quick peek. If you spot any Hoglins, jump back in and I’ll close the entrance again. Got it?”
“Yes, got it.” Bart replied.
“Okay, here we go.” Paul helped General Bart climb up. General Bart removed the block above his head and peeked through the hole. He watched the surroundings and looked everywhere.
“So? How does it look up there?” I asked him.
“I am not entirely sure because I can’t see much. But base on what I’ve seen so far it’s all good.” General Bart replied.
“Maybe they’ve left the area” I said. “So, do you think you can climb up and take a better look?”
“Do you want me to climb out of the hole?!” General Bart asked.
“Oh, are you scared, General? Then let me do it.” Tom replied.
“No! I can do this! I just need a few seconds.” Bart said.
He took a deep breath and jumped out of the hole. Once he was outside, General Bart looked around for Hoglins.
“Uh, guys, I think you can come out. There is nothing outside.” He replied.
“Really? That’s great.” I said.
Paul, Nora, Tom, and I climbed the Netherrack stairs to look outside.
“Ah, fresh air! I could not stand sharing the same air as that guy over there.” Tom teased and pointed at General Bart once again.
“You had the honor to share my air, so you should be proud.” General Bart replied.
“Ha! Not in a million years!” Tom said.
“Wait, can you hear that?” Paul replied, before looking behind him and spotting a group of mutant Hoglins 20 meters away.
“Watch out! The Hoglins are coming!” I screamed.
Tom and Nora jumped right into the hole again. I went after them, and Paul and General Bart came afterwards. Luckily, Paul had the Netherrack block in his hands, enclosing the entrance before the radioactive monsters could reach us.
“That was awfully close.” Paul replied.
“Tell me about it. I saw those monsters’ teeth gnarling at me.” Tom said.
“What happened? They had left the area.” Nora asked.
“The Hoglins somehow knew that we are waiting for them to leave.” I said. “They are more intelligent than we thought. They’re waiting for the right moment to catch us.”
“Those monsters are quite something!” Tom said.
The wild Hoglins had us cornered, and we could not escape their trap.