I would like to make people aware that this is a fictional story, created from personal experiences and put together to make a story. Certain things that happen in this story are based upon other events. Many characters in this story are made up, and any relation to them is pure coincidence.
I would like to let people know that if they have and idea for a character, a setting, or a small plot piece, to put it in the comments.
Please detail why you think I should put your idea in.
Also remember to give characteristics for the characters, details for the settings, and reasons for the plots.
Remember also to be specific and yet leave me with some room to work with and adapt.
I apologize in advance if I offend anyone by changing their ideas to match the story.
Fact: After events which I have experienced, I decided to write the story that I experienced up for a Machinima format. But due to the fact that it both seemed bland and also if I told it exactly how it was I could get my account and my friend's account banned. Both the names Telanir and Deus are names of accounts which I borrowed off of my friends because I liked the sound of them. They have no interaction with the events that I have experienced. If anyone wants to make this a Machinima series, let me know and I can help give you the story as I see it in my mind.
If you do like these, I will create and post up more.
Master Assassin Mark stood at the watchtower of Daggerfall fortress, staring out into the vast forest. He scanned the edge of the forest, and satisfied that there were no mobs there, turned around and gazed at the expansive tundra that was behind him.
Peering into the blinding snow, he spotted a group of travelers headed towards the fortress. Turning, he pushed one of the row of buttons on the wall beside him, which would send a current along the redstone wire, and ring the note blocks at Headquarters in a certain order. The chimes would then alert those at HQ to send out someone to greet the travelers, and direct them towards the hotel inside the fortress, or the market just to the west of the fortress.
The door to the watchtower opened, and Grandmaster Assassin Telanir came in. Mark glanced at him once, nodded, and returned his eyes to the tundra.
Telanir was never one for greetings, and got straight to the point.
"The southern village is acting up again. The villagers there are saying we are trespassing on their land, and stealing their goods and customers," Telanir started.
Mark said nothing.
"Either way, we're sending a diplomat over. I need you to escort him, while 2 assassins infiltrate and scout out the town."
Mark spoke for the first time.
"Who will be the assassins?"
"James and Olivia."
'Good,' Mark thought in his head. 'Those two are excellent at keeping a low profile.'
"And who's the diplomat?" he asked.
"Me," Telanir replied.
The door to the watchtower opened again, and a guard stepped in to take over for Mark. Mark handed off his bow and arrows, and exited the watchtower, following Telanir.
"Sir, if you're going to be the diplomat, I suggest we have more than just one official escort. If they..."
"They won't hurt us. They need us for goods and protection, no matter how much they want to be independent. And we want them to trust us, and not be too suspicious."
Mark almost laughed. Telanir wanted the villagers to trust them, and yet they were sending in assassins to scout the town out? If the assassins were spotted, the whole thing could go bad extremely quick.
==========================
Mark was riding in the head minecart, and following him was the Grandmaster, and behind the Grandmaster was Olivia, her bow at ready. In the far back, almost out of sight, was James, riding in his cart with his back to them, watching of anyone was following them.
As they neared the village, they passed over a detector rail, which would send a tone to the note blocks in the town square, alerting everyone that someone was coming.
They passed on a bridge over a wide river, and Mark tasted the fresh water. After going up a hill, he could see the village in the distance, just past a massive ravine.
He turned back and nodded at Olivia, who hopped out of the cart,, pulling it off the tracks with her. Moments later, James did the same, and after hiding their carts in the tall grass, they started sprinting for the village.
Riding over the ravine, he nodded at the villagers on the other side, and the minecarts came to a stop near the village square.
Mark swiftly dismounted, and helped Telanir out of his minecart, as was custom.
After courteous greetings were made, they all moved into the village leader's house to talk.
Mark stood at the doorway, bored out of his mind. He was a protector and a fighter, but he was not suited for the position of diplomat.
As the discussion became a little heated, Mark glanced around the room, taking in the two guards, the three windows and the two exits. Similarly, the guards glanced at him, ready to make a move if he did.
Suddenly the Grandmaster stood up, and said, "Why don't we go take a walk, and cool down a bit?"
'Smart,' thought Mark. If they did go outside, they could be covered by James and Olivia.
The village leader agreed, and they all stepped into the courtyard.
Mark spotted James and Olivia out of the corner of his eye. James was to the right of them, laying flat on a rooftop, with the sun behind him. If anyone glanced that way, they would be blinded and would have to squint to see him.
Olivia was to the left. She had taken her shirt and hung it on a hook on the side of a roof, and she dangled in the shadow of the building, in an almost impossible place, ready to take a shot.
After a few more minutes, Telanir and the leader agreed on something, but Mark didn't care. He could see the sun was going to set soon, and wanted to make it back to Daggerfall before nightfall.
As they were escorted back to their minecarts, the leader said, "Have a nice trip back."
'Why would he say that?' Mark wondered.
They got back in their minecarts, this time with James in the far front.
They got away without incident, and Mark asked the Grandmaster what deal they had made.
"It's mostly taking down some shops and advertising to scavengers to pick up their goods at their town instead of Daggerfall. Nothing too major."
Just as they were about to pass over the river bridge, Mark thought he saw a flash of red from beneath the bridge. But the bridge was made out of birch wood, why was there red on it?
Mark got his answer.
James had just started crossing the bridge when Mark saw the tripwire.
Aw crap.
An explosion detonated in the center of the bridge, blasting James out of his minecart and straight into the river.
There were no brakes on the minecarts, and Olivia, Mark and Telanir were helpless to do anything as they too tumbled off the bridge.
Olivia was screaming, at least until they all hit the water.
The Grandmaster was the first up, and waded until he caught hold of Mark and dragged him to his feet.
"Get up! James is injured, and I need you to help me get him out of the water!"
Mark was gasping, but followed the Grandmaster.
James was able to float on top of the water, but just barely.
When Telanir and Mark got him out of the water, Mark was horrified. James' legs and arms were crushed. It didn't seem like anything was broken, but James clearly wasn't going to be fighting creepers anytime soon.
Olivia had made it to the shore by that time, and was beckoning to them. Telanir and Mark were able to pick up James and carry him through the water to where Olivia was waiting.
They collapsed on the bank, and rested for a moment, but then the Grandmaster stood up, pointed to the horizon, and spoke.
"It's getting dark. The sun is going down, and we need a campfire, and some shelter. If we work now, we'll be able to get it all ready by sunset."
==========================
The four of them were sitting around the campfire, discussing the incident with the bridge.
"I'm sure it was the villagers," Olivia was proclaiming. "They disliked the deal we had made, and placed TNT under the bridge and blew it up."
The Grandmaster shook his head. "They wouldn't risk doing that. We could easily walk in and destroy their town if we wanted. Also, how would they light the TNT and get away without us noticing?"
James wasn't focused on the conversation. He was on guard duty, watching the forest to alert the others in case of an attack, but something unnerved him.
Earlier, he thought he heard a scream off in the distance, but when he turned to ask the others if they heard, he found them talking amongst themselves.
He had also heard whispers in the forest, and what sounded like a mother crying.
All this he kept from the others, so they would not think he was crazy.
The Grandmaster noticed him staring at the woods, and asked what was wrong.
"I... I keep hearing whispers, and sounds, yet I don't see anyone. Do you know what they are?"
The Grandmaster and Mark shared a look, a look that said they knew something.
Mark looked left and right, and asked, "Have you ever heard the Voices of the Dead?"
James shook his head, but Olivia paused.
Mark noticed and motioned for her to speak.
"I remember reading something about that in the Daggerfall library. I think it had something to do with Herobrine."
In an instant, Mark was at Olivia's throat, hissing, "Do not say His cursed name!"
The Grandmaster, even though he gave the image of being weaker than Mark, strode in between them and pushed them away from each other.
"Enough," he spoke firmly.
Mark backed up, massaging his wrists. He grabbed an axe, muttered something about getting extra firewood, and wandered off.
The Grandmaster sighed, sat down, and stared into the fire for a long time.
No one spoke.
Olivia finally whispered, "Does Mark have problems with the name Herobrine?"
The Grandmaster didn't even look at her.
"Do you remember the legends I use to tell, about the Burning of the Great Plains, and the Death of Herobrine?"
"Yeah?"
"They weren't legends."
Olivia was confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean both Mark and I were there. It was real."
-------------------------------------
The Grandmaster was standing on top of a small hill, overlooking the Great Plains. It was totally flat, and the Grandmaster could see all the way to the other side, where He was watching. Both eyes and non-eyes bore into each other, many chunks away.
Someone came up behind the Grandmaster. It was Mark, the Grandmaster's Apprentice.
"Sir; the archers are in position, and waiting for your go. All squads are in formation."
"Good," the Grandmaster replied. "Tell them to hold and wait for my signal."
"And what will be the signal, Master?"
"They'll know."
Mark nodded and moved off.
Off to the Grandmaster's left, two figures came out of the shadows. It was Notch and Steve, the creator of all things and the glorified miner.
Telanir bowed before them.
"Rise," spoke Notch.
The Grandmaster did.
"That boy will become a great fighter someday," Steve commented. "I'll bet my golden apple on it."
Telanir smiled and asked, "Only your apple?"
Steve laughed and said, "Nah, maybe my first diamond instead."
As he said this, a lightning strike was heard off in the distance.
Notch was less of a conversationalist. "Are all of your troops in position?"
The Grandmaster nodded.
"Good. You know the signal."
Notch disappeared into the trees.
Steve sighed and shook his head.
"Typical Notch. He wasn't exactly happy that his supposed 'brother' returned."
Telanir gave Steve a stern look. "You really shouldn't be saying that. You know how secretive Notch is about his brother. He never wants anyone to know."
Steve shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like he can make me disappear. I'm the one who found the first diamond, after all."
Another lightning strike sounded, closer this time.
Steve sighed and said, "I'd better go prep the tunnels."
Telanir nodded, and Steve loped off.
After Steve was gone, Mark came out from behind a bush. How much did he hear?
But if Mark had heard anything, he gave no sign of it.
"They have been notified, master."
"Good. You will stay with me. We will fight together."
"As always, Master."
Mark followed the Grandmaster up to a ridge.
TNT cannons lined the ridge, all aimed to the Great Plains. The instant the Grandmaster came into view, the men standing by them all stood at attention.
The Grandmaster nodded, then shouted, "Load them up!"
The men shouted orders and the cannons were loaded.
Turning back to the plains, he saw hundreds of zombies and skeletons lined up, and commanded by an enderman with glowing green eyes.
The enderman shrieked, and the Grandmaster yelled, "Fire!"
The crews at the cannons complied, and in an instant massive holes were blasted in the Great Plains, and numerous zombies were killed.
The Grandmaster held up a fist, and behind the cannons, two lines of 25 archers each prepared their bows, aiming extremely high.
Telanir pumped his fist, and arrows flew and slammed into the ranks of the zombies.
The enderman commander shrieked, and the zombies marched forward at a slow steady pace, unperturbed by their fellows deaths.
Notch suddenly appeared at Telanir's side.
"Prepare to charge."
Telanir frowned. "We will be up against superior numbers, with undoubtedly more cooperation. I don't see how a charge will help."
Notch stared at Telanir and hissed, "Do it, or I will relieve you of your command."
Telanir nodded, and drew his sword. Mark followed suit, although the sword Notch drew was odd, a mixture of iron and gold.
Mark stood there, his iron sword at his side, staring at the sword Notch held. He could tell it wielded power, and it actually seemed to be humming, vibrating, unable to keep still.
"Go!" Notch screamed, and soldiers from the many different countries and empires of
Minecraftia streamed over the ridge, all bellowing their own distinct war cries.
Mark joined them, but stayed by the Grandmaster, protecting him, just as the Grandmaster was protecting Notch.
Notch fought like a devil, hacking left and right, and even made gravel appear over top of some of the zombies, crushing them.
Telanir fought more carefully, his movements precise and calculated, as deadly as a blade in a crowd.
Mark was unused to this style of combat, always moving, trying to overwhelm your enemy.
Just as they were about to reach the enderman captain, walls of dirt sprang up from the ground, trapping Notch, the Grandmaster, and Mark inside with a few zombies.
They quickly took care of the zombies, and heard the sounds of battle from outside the dirt walls, the numerous traps being launched, and the growls of the zombies.
Mark turned to Notch.
"Did you do this?" he asked.
"No," Notch replied, his sword still ready. "It's Him."
They all created a ring, looking for the slightest sign of Him.
A bolt of lightning came down in front of Notch, and an explosion blossomed. All three were thrown backwards.
It was Him, the God of the Caves, the Warrior of Death and Trickery.
It was Lord Herobrine.
Herobrine had nothing in his hands, and simply stood there and stared at him.
They formed a line, watching him warily with their swords ready.
Herobrine reached over his back, and slowly drew a sword.
Even though it was thought impossible, it looked to be more powerful than even Notch's sword.
It was made of diamond and gold, with a iron hilt.
If Notch's sword buzzed with power, then Herobrine's rattled.
"Herobrine..." Notch began, and Herobrine attacked.
Herobrine seemed everywhere at once. He slashed at any opening, teleporting behind them, bent upon destruction.
Mark saw that Notch was taking most of the beating, and charged forward.
Herobrine disarmed Mark with one sweep of his sword, and punched him so hard he flew into the dirt wall and collapsed.
Barely able to keep his eyes open, he saw Telanir disarm Herobrine, but was instantly hit back, right beside Mark.
Now it was only Notch, who was struggling, Herobrine's blows driving him back.
Mark looked at the Grandmaster and whispered, "I'm sorry, master."
The Grandmaster slowly picked up Herobrine's sword and handed it to Mark.
"Kill him," he said. "End it."
"I will," Mark replied, and slowly got up.
The Grandmaster took hold of Mark's chest plate, and pulled Mark's face close to his.
"Remember though, apprentice; Do not go towards the light."
Mark nodded, distracted.
Mark slowly made his way up behind Herobrine, who was no longer teleporting, all of his attention focused on Notch, who looked close to collapse.
Mark paused behind Herobrine, raised the sword, and stabbed him through the back.
Both Mark and Herobrine screamed, and then Herobrine did the scariest thing Mark had ever seen.
Herobrine's head turned a full 180 degrees, so his pale blank eyes bored straight into Mark's.
Mark screamed again, pulled out the sword and collapsed.
Herobrine kept on screaming, made jerky movements, screamed again, and the ground exploded.
-------------------------------------
The Grandmaster was silent for a minute. James finally spoke up.
"What happened?" he whispered.
"When we woke up, the Great Plains were on fire. Everyone around us was dead, except for those farther away in the world, and Steve and his mining group. They never did get to set off their own trap."
Both James and Olivia were speechless for a moment.
"How did you survive?" James asked.
"We don't know," spoke Mark standing right behind them, an axe in one hand and an iron sword in the other.
James was slightly scared when he saw the look on Mark's face. He was staring at Telanir with a look that said; 'Traitor.'
The Grandmaster didn't seem bothered.
"Either way, He's gone now. What are the whispers saying?"
James listened for a moment. "I don't know. They're all intermingled, and I can't make out only one voice."
Telanir nodded, satisfied. It went with his theory. It was more of a sensitivity passed down from generations. After all, James' father was one of the ones closest to the blast outside of the dirt cube when it happened. He was severely injured, but was able to get a potion from a doctor in time.
"Just ignore them. They're all in your head, and if you speak forcefully, you can tell them to get out."
Telanir noticed a subtle guested from Mark.
"Alright you two, you'd better get some sleep. It's still a long walk back to our lands."
James and Olivia nodded, and went inside the shelter the built behind them.
Mark came over and sat down beside the Grandmaster.
"Why did you tell them? Why do they deserve to have the knowledge?"
"Because it's in their blood. A war is coming, whether Notch knows it or not."
"So you believe He's still out there?"
"He will always be there."
-------------------------------------
Deus was in the watchtower on lookout on top of the mountain near Daggerfall Fortress. Daggerfall was on full alert, looking out for the Grandmaster and his escort.
All of the soldiers were out of their barracks, either on patrol or guarding the fortress, with a hospital and a fast response unit already set up.
Deus was only partially worried. The Grandmaster could take care of himself. Deus wasn't worried for him, he was worried for Mark, one of his best friends.
Stephanie entered the tower, and took the bow and arrows off of Deus.
"You gotta report to HQ. They got somethin for ya, I dunno what though."
Deus nodded and quickly ran down the staircase. He knocked on the back door, and two guards peered out at him over the top.
They let him in, and Deus immediately went for his bunk in the barracks.
Deus opened the chest by his bed, and took out his most valuable possession.
It was a specialized bow, enchanted to make it more accurate and do more damage. But the most special part about it was that this bow was the only known bow to be able to fire 2 arrows, thus he was given his name.
He went to command, and prepared for his mission.
-------------------------------------
No. 2
They were lost.
Even with James' internal compass, which was usually infallible, and the Grandmaster's knowledge of the world, they couldn't figure out which direction to go.
They stopped in a small clearing, and Mark looked around.
"What should we do now?" he asked the Grandmaster.
"What one should always do when hopelessly lost; wait."
James was still too injured to help, and the Voices of the Dead were wearing on him.
But the others ran around, making shelter and a fire pit.
James wished he could help, but they seemed to preoccupied anyway.
The others had been gone quite a while, collecting wood for the fire, when he heard a sound out from the forest.
It sounded like a crops between a growl of a zombie, and a grunt of a pig. He had never heard something like that before.
He was peering to the place it came from, when he heard it again, this time behind him.
James turned, and screamed.
-------------------------------------
Olivia, Mark, and Telanir sprinted through the forest, leaping over hills, branches and bushes, all towards the scream.
Occasionally when there would be a larger hill, they'd boost each other over in one smooth motion, swing around trees, always moving, never stopping, making it seem effortless.
They were so coordinated all you would've seen is 3 blurs passing through the tree trunks and in the branches above.
They stopped at the edge of the clearing, just inside the tree line.
James was gone.
The Grandmaster slowly made his way out, with Mark and Olivia covering his flanks.
Telanir got to the place where James had been lying, and knelt.
There was a small pool of blood, melting into the grass.
The Grandmaster wiped some off of the grass, and smelled it.
"This is from James, but there isn't enough of it for a person to bleed out. There's also no blood trail, so I assume whoever took James used a teleporting potion."
They spread out, calling for James, keeping within sight of each other, but after 3 hours they had to call the search off.
They set up camp and built a massive bonfire. A pig ran into the clearing, and Mark killed and gutted it, then cooked it over the fire.
"I wonder where the others are right now," Olivia commented.
"Probably searching for us, but the forest is big, and they can't exactly put out everyone to search for us," Telanir replied.
-------------------------------------
Deus was in HQ, with papers and books everywhere, detailing the surrounding area.
He was currently thinking over how many people he should take for his searching mission.
He mulled over it for a bit, then realized he wasn't going to come up with a solution just sitting there.
He walked the halls of the HQ, heading for the tavern, nodding at people he passed.
Sitting down at the bar, Greg, the barkeeper, called to him, "The usual, Dues?"
Deus shook his head. "Nope, I got a mission coming up, and I don't need to be off my rocker. But I could use some fish though."
"No problem. I'll talk to Dan about your payment later."
As Deus sat there, he surveyed the tavern.
It was old, but massive, and everybody liked it that way. It had the feeling that if you tore the tavern down, it would find some way to get back at you later.
As his food was brought to him, he noticed a hooded figure in the corner, a hand on his sword.
Deus had been in the same covert operative class as Mark, and Mark repeatedly said to him, 'If you don't know everything when a fight begins, you might as well stuff yourself in a furnace and hope someone doesn't light the timber.'
Deus casually turned back to his food, and pretended to fuss about, arranging his plate, and shifting his stool slightly to the left to be able to see the figure's reflection in the window behind the counter.
He saw the figure slowly get up, and start to make his way over to him.
Deus reached up, and fiddled a bit with his bow, which was strapped over his shoulder. The figure stopped, evidently knowing how dangerous Deus was with a bow.
The movement over his shoulder distracted the figure, and Deus quietly pulled a knife from his leg.
The figure waited until it looked like Deus had settled, then took another step, and that's when Deus struck.
Whipping around to his left, he threw the knife, and it his the figure in the left shoulder, causing blood to appear on his shirt.
The figure took his eyes off of Deus, and yanked the blade out. Turing back, out of the corner of his eye he was the wooden center part of the bow coming at his face.
There was a crack, the figure toppled face down, and his hood fell off.
The tavern went silent.
Deus slowly walked up and turned him over.
He looked like any other Minecraftian, except for the massive scar that ran down his face, over his eye and hitting the corner of his mouth.
Deus became aware of someone standing behind him.
Deus turned and saw Greg, a butcher knife in hand.
Greg wasn't showing any hostility towards Deus though.
"I know him," Greg said. "He burned my home. He destroyed my farm. He's a griefer, HE'S A MURDERER."
Greg tried to get at the figure, but others jumped up and held him back.
The figure woke, and Deus crouched over him, and whispered into his ear.
"He is coming for you."
The figure started panicking, and ran out of the tavern, screaming.
Deus stood up and smile to himself.
"That was fun."
And best of all, he now knew who he was going to take with him.
-------------------------------------
After a sleepless night, Mark, Telanir and Olivia packed up their limited possessions, and started walking again.
Telanir had an Eye of Ender, that, when he threw it upwards, would point in a direction. Using his knowledge of the lands, and the direction from the Eye, he could partially figure out which way they should go.
Mark wasn't sure whether to trust Telanir on this, as it was said the Eye led to an underground place called a Fortress, with many evil mobs there.
It was also said that one of the Fortresses was the tomb of Herobrine, and contained his body and all of his riches.
After what had been happening recently, with the disappearance of James and James hearing the Whispers of the Dead, Mark didn't want to take any chances.
But what other choice did they have? Otherwise they would be lost wandering the forest for who knows how long until someone found them.
So they trudged (hopefully) towards home.
But they did not know someone was watching them, but through the eyes of another.
-------------------------------------
Malcolm, who replaced the Grandmaster in times of need, had given Deus and Greg level 2 clearance for their mission.
He gave them the location of a SpecWar (Special Warfare) project called 'Liontamer'. When asked if he could give any more info on it, Malcolm gave him a look that said, 'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'
They were forced to take 2 boats and 3 minecart rides to get to the coordinates, and when they got there, there was only a clearing of trees.
They were supposed to go to a certain tree and whisper the code word (whitecollar), and Deus felt stupid doing it.
Greg was trying not to laugh as Deus went up to the tree.
"What?" Deus said irritably.
"I don't know, maybe he fact that you're about to whisper a word to a tree in the middle of the mountains might merit a little bit of humor," Gred replied.
Deus sighed, and turned back to the tree.
"Whitecollar."
Greg spoke up behind him.
"Um, if I were you, I'd get out of there. Like, now."
Deus was about to ask why when he saw the tree falling towards him. But not in the sideways traditional fashion, but straight down.
Deus scrambled out from under the tree, and he couldn't beleive his eyes when the tree dropped straight down into the ground, leaving its leaves lying on the ground around a hole in the center.
Deus crept up to the 1X1 hole and looked in. He was barely able to make out a faint light at the bottom.
"Jump?" Greg suggested.
"Great idea. Since you suggested it, you can go first."
"But you whispered the code word. I'm sure whoevers down there would be suspicious if someone who they weren't expecting dropped in."
"But you're under my command."
"I guess, but shouldn't a leader lead?"
An annoyed voice drifted up from the hole.
"Just bloody well jump already."
Greg and Deus looked at each other, and grinned.
"Great. Now the hole wants to eat us," Deus called down.
"Yeah. Let's throw down this TNT we have here, and see if the hole likes the taste of gunpowder."
An exasperated sigh drifted up from the hole.
"Why don't I stand here, and you throw some goddamn sand down here SO I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU IDIOTS."
Deus shook his head, laughing, and jumped down, hitting some wool placed at the bottom to cushion his fall.
An irritated balding man in a white coat was there to greet them.
"Can't anyone just jump down immediately? It would save me a lot of frustration," he growled.
Deus could see that the man was really ed, and decided not to push it.
"So why are we here again?" he asked.
"We have a project that could help you on your... eh, mission. An old project, one of the more succesful ones, and it was about to go public anyway. We're gonna give you four extra ones, and you get to keep them to."
Deus frowned.
"Keep what?"
The turned a corner and entered a testing area.
Deus grinned.
"Oh, this is going to be great!" he said.
-------------------------------------
They were too tired to move on. So they built a small wooden wall around their campsite so that they were relatively protected from the monsters that came out at night.
Still, all it would take was a creeper getting a bright idea to bring this all crashing down upon their heads.
It was the fifth day lost, and four days since James went missing.
The worst part wasn't the survival, it was that they could all hear the whispers now, and the only way to stop them was to talk.
But your throat gets sore after talking for 4 hours straight, and they tried to ignore them.
But unlike some noises, which you can get used to and your brain ignores the sound, these could not be ignored. It felt like the whispers were inside each of their heads.
They were all sitting around the campfire, and it was getting dark.
There was nothing to do. Nowhere to go.
The creepers had been outside the walls all day. Mark and Olivia were unable to gather food, and they were all hungry.
But just as they were about to go to bed, they heard a hiss. And one that didn't diminish.
"Incoming!" yelled the Grandmaster.
One of the walls blew up, and the creepers and all of the monsters came rushing in. They barely had time to get their weapons before they were fighting for their lives.
Due to the fact that Telanir was proclaimed as Minecraftia's most efficient fighter, and that Mark had been Telanir's personal apprentice, they could hold their own even in these impossible odds.
But Olivia had not taken the same training, and they were forced to adapt to protect her from time to time.
They slashed an killed all that they could, and Olivia even used a ripped up fence post to spear an oncoming creeper.
But just as they were about to fall, they heard barking in the distance.
Three wolves charged out of the forest, and leaped over and through the mass of mobs, and started biting and killing anything that came near, protecting the three.
Two more wolves came out of the forest, and there were two people riding them.
Mark smiled and shouted, "Deeeuuuus!"
Deus replied with a, "Woot!" and shot two arrows to go right through two creepers heads.
As Deus rode by them on a pass, he called out, "Ride my friends! Ride for your lives!"
Mark was confused until he saw Telanir jump on top of a wolf, and ride straight through the mob.
Olivia and Mark looked at each other, shrugged and did the same, yelling out battle cries as the slashed at the creepers below them.
The wolves were swifter than any pig Mark had ever ridden or wrestled (there were annual competitions in Notch's Kingdom for this).
They quickly left the clearing and the creepers behind, and Mark finally caught up to Dues.
Deus slowed his wolf and said, "Well, it always seems that you're the one making the mess and I'm the one who always picks it up."
Mark grinned and said, "So you're my personal maid now?"
"I'd watch what you're saying, buddy, or else I might have to take a round out of you.
-------------------------------------
After a while, they had to get off the wolves, as they were good for combat, but they weren't meant to ride long distances.
Mark walked beside Deus in the center, with Greg on point and Olivia covering the rear, with Telanir in between them.
"What happened to James?" Deus asked.
"Are you talking about his disappearance? Or how he got hurt as well?"
"The whole story."
Mark sighed. "Well, we were heading back to Daggerfall in our minecarts, and just as we were going across it, someone blew up the bridge. James was right over top of the explosion, and he got hurt bad. But we were able to pull him out of the river. The minecarts were blown up too, so we started walking back."
"Why didn't you walk along the tracks? Someone could have went by and picked you guys up."
Mark shook his head. "You know the area around the tracks. When we send some of the maintenance workers to clear the bushes around the tracks, they really only clear the bushed above the tracks."
Deus nodded. That was understandable.
"But couldn't you just have waited for someone to come by?"
"Nope. Remember the fail-safe we installed on the tracks, so that if one place failed they'd all go out so no one would get hurt?"
"Ugh," Deus groaned. "Don't remind me. I helped wire that sucker. Six hours work, one hour lunch, then another six hours going."
"Yeah, so there was no way anyone was getting to us."
"So that's why they sent us instead of a team of engineers. I was wondering... Anyway, what happened to James?"
Mark grimaced. "We were camping in this clearing, and we all went to find wood for a fire and shelter. We heard him scream, and we ran back as fast as we could. But he was gone, save for a small bit of blood."
Suddenly Telanir halted, and everyone froze.
"He's here."
-------------------------------------
Telanir had been half listening to Deus' and Mark's conversation, and half listening to the woods.
Now though, his sixth sense was roaring in his ears, and he heard whispers and saw flashes in the corners of his eyes.
He forced himself to scan the forest, and ignore the flashes. He had to.
"He's close. Very close," he told the others.
"Closer than you think, old man."
Herobrine was speaking through Mark, his eyes blank and white.
"Mark! What did you do?!"
Herobrine sneered. "He looked farther into the light than you ever did. He has more knowledge than you can even imagine. Now you can join me and share this knowledge, or die."
The wolves with them were ready to attack Mark, and is was only a word from Greg that stopped them.
"Then we shall fight," Telanir said, and drew his sword.
He paused. "One more thing though, before you draw your sword. You're older than I am, Herobrine."
Herobrine growled, and drew Mark's sword.
Herobrine stated at the sword for a minute, hissed, "Impossible!" and dissapeared, only leaving Mark's empty shell.
-------------------------------------
1 week later
Mark woke, but he did not move. He had been trained to listen to the space around him before he made a move.
The last thing he had known was the white light at the edge of his vision, and the sound of an explosion close by.
Hearing nothing, he carefully opened his eyes, and slowly and silently turned his head to the right.
Steve was sitting on a chair beside him, reading a book. Mark also noticed that he was in his house.
Mark made a tiny cough, and Steve put down his book and made a forced smile.
"Hey buddy, how are you doing?"
Mark tried to speak but his throat was too dry.
"Take it easy, you're pretty dehydrated. But you somehow made it through it all, though I'm not surprised with that coming from you."
Mark drank a bit, then forced out a single word.
"What...?"
"What happened? Well, officially, you wandered into a cave, and got lost, and we found you after a few days."
Mark lay back and took this in, and realized that was his cover story.
"Unofficially, you, um... met Herobrine. Again."
Mark turned his head to look at Steve, and gave him a look that said, 'Really?'
Steve held up his hands.
"Alright, alright. You were... possessed by Herobrine as you were in the forest. We brought an Eye of Ender there, and my assumptions were correct. Underneath you at that moment was a fortress. That probably sparked the possession."
The Grandmaster walked in.
"Ah, he's awake. Good. Have you filled him in?"
"Mostly, yeah. I'll take my leave now."
Steve and Telanir shook hands, and Steve left.
"How are you feeling? Can you walk?"
Mark carefully sat up. "Yes...but... I can't... speak well."
Telanir waved a hand dismissively.
"Whatever. That doesn't matter. Remember the wolves?"
Mark nodded.
"Good. But that was just one of many projects. Come, I'll show you our next completed one, and one of our biggest."
Mark followed Telanir out of the gates, and down to the docks.
Telanir looked around carefully, then pulled back some shrubbery to reveal an iron door with no windows.
Telanir knocked, waited a few seconds, then spoke.
"Kingoftheseas."
The door opened, and a guard was standing thereafter the door, aiming his sword at them. When he realized who it was, he lowered his weapon slightly.
The guard looked at Telanir, and raised his eyebrows.
Telanir nodded slightly.
The guard lowered his sword and stepped back, allowing them in.
Mark followed Telanir past the guard and multiple rooms, all of them having an iron door.
There was one door with windows, and Mark peered through quickly. What was there surprised him.
Mark recognized people from many different places, different Empires and Factions. And they were all working on this 'Kingoftheseas' project? So many people, and Mark wondered how many of them got to go home every night. Probably not many, if any at all.
Telanir stopped in front of another iron door, and turned back to Mark.
"Mark, I just wanted to let you know, you were specifically trained for this. Many empires and factions contributed massive amounts of resources to be where you are today."
Mark was confused.
"I was trained for what?"
"Never mind," Telanir said quickly.
But Mark could tell the Grandmaster was hiding something. Which was extremely odd, considering their time spent working with each other.
"Prepare to meet your ship, the United Nations (UN) Avenger."
Mark walked through the door, and was stunned to see a massive ship, many blocks high and long, sitting at an underground dock, it's sails ready to go, oars in need for windless days, and what looked like cannons protruding out the port and starboard sides.
Mark smiled.
"Oh, this is gonna be great."
=====================
No.3
Telanir left Mark to take a look at the ship, and as he approached Deus walked down the stairs to the dock.
"Captian," Deus nodded as he walked past.
Mark nodded back and kept walking on.
Then he stopped and turned back, staring at Deus walking away.
"Deus!" he called.
Deus stopped walking and turned back.
"What is it?"
"Why'd you call me Captain?"
Deus started walking back towards him.
"Didn't the Grandmaster tell you? You're the Captain of the Avenger."
Mark shook his head.
"No, that can't be right. Telanir should be the captain."
Deus shrugged.
"He just said to me that you were the right person for the job."
Mark paused, mulling this over.
"I'll have to ask him why. Anyway, when do we take her out for a sail?"
"Soon, but we have a problem. We don't have enough people volunteering to work on the ship. We'll have to hire some from somewhere. Also, we can't sail or fight well in a river, so we'll sail down it towards Pandaria Ocean."
"But won't that take us through Steve's territory and, uh..."
"Pentagona's territory, I know. I wish we could avoid them. But anyway, I gotta go get some more supplies for the ship," Deus said as he backed off.
"Wait. How long have you known about this?" Mark asked.
"Not long, only a few days."
Bit Mark didn't hear him, he was too preoccupied remembering what had happened in Pentagona long ago...
-------------------------------------
6 months after the Burning of the Great Plains
Mark was with Deus and Mikhail, in Pentagona, searching for someone to infiltrate the Stalin's kingdom. He was a little frustrated, because everyone he had approached so far had turned down his offer.
Mark thought that, in theory, Communism was a perfect society, as long as everybody agreed with it. But Mark had been living too long already to know that, in reality, people were finicky, and Communism probably wasn't going to work.
On the other hand, Pentagona was one of the 'unruled' kingdoms, with many small alliances and factions forming and dissolving in a matter of days. Many fights were known to break out, and everyone watched Pentagona carefully, making sure they didn't start fighting outside of their borders.
There had been recent rumors that Stalin had been working on a secret project, one that was supposed to be able to 'literally go to hell.'
Mark had no idea what this meant, but he knew that he had to get someone that could blend in well with those people.
Mark knew that the people of Stalin's kingdom spoke Russian, which Mark knew nothing about at all. All he could do was listen, and hope that they knew enough English so he could at least convey his message.
He walked up to one of the groups.
"...Но когда я вернулся к лидер племени, он просто смотрел на меня и сказал..."
Mark cleared his throat, and spoke.
"Does any of you speak English?"
"Что они хотят от нас теперь?"
Mark was annoyed.
"Well?!"
One of them stepped forward.
"What do you want?" he spoke in a good English with a slight accent.
"We have a job for you. The pay is relatively good, and it's not a tough job, it's just... it's probably against your moral conscience."
The one in the front laughed.
"If we had any conscience, we wouldn't be here, would we?"
Mark allowed himself a tiny smile.
"What's this job?"
Mark's smile vanished.
"I need you to spy on Stalin, and find out about his 'going to hell' research."
One the men standing in the far back sped off, disappearing into the rocks.
The men in don't turned back.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Mark was so intent on trying to spot the runner that he hadn't noticed the others had drew weapons and circled his group.
Mikhael muttered, "Can we talk now?"
"Yes."
Mikhael faced the men circling them with an unwavering air of confidence.
"If you try to take us on, you'll just end up as food for one of the other camp's dogs."
One of the circling ones sneered.
"Right, like we'd be afraid of some random travelers."
Mark slowly drew his sword, and noticed the one who stepped forward had not made a move on them. He simply stood there, shaking his head at his peer's idiocy.
Deus had two arrows primed in his bow, but he did not raise it to fire. Deus and Mikhael had been given orders to not engage unless Mark told them to do so.
The Grandmaster evidently thought that Mark needed more experience commanding people, as he could take any order and modify it until it was logical and complete, although he could not seem to communicate this to others properly, leaving them confused on what he was doing or trying to tell them.
Mark made a fist at his side, and saw Deus and Mikhael tense. If he pointed two fingers to the ground, it meant they could attack.
One of the men screamed a battle cry, and charged.
Mark pointed, Deus released his arrows, and Mikheal threw a knife.
Deus never missed, and both his arrows went through two of the men's legs, making them collapse to the ground.
Mikheal's knife flew and impacted, burying itself in a third man's hand, forcing him to drop his sword and back off, clutching his wounded hand.
Three down, five to go.
Two charged in, and simultaneously swung at his head and torso.
Mark blocked the top swing and was about to grab a knife from his belt and block the second swing, when another sword blocked the attack.
Mark looked to his right, and saw the one who stepped forward had blocked the attack.
"Mischa Yurinov. Time to fight."
Mischa slashed sideways, disarming his opponent. Mark slashed downwards, clashing against the knife his opponent drew.
The air crackled, and a bolt of lightning came down, hitting his opponent.
The man was vaporized where he stood. He didn't even have time to scream.
The rest of the men attacked scattered, and Mark pointed his sword at one of them.
The man screamed, and was lit on fire, with no clear reason why other than the sword.
The man screamed once more, them keeled over and died.
Mischa looked at the sword, looked at Mark, and said, "I think you've just gotten yourself a new ally."
Dues and Mikhael were less than impressed.
"Mark, you're going to be in big trouble when the Grandmaster finds out about how you killed that fleeing guy."
Mark winced. Mikhael was right. The Grandmaster had always repeated one of the oaths they took as soon as they were old enough to truly understand it; Never take an innocent life.
Mark slowly sheathed his sword. He turned to Mikhael.
"So, are you still in for the mission."
Mischa smirked.
"Not going to happen, buddy. Someone is sure to have seen the commotion, and I can guarantee that the others will spread the story far and wide."
Mark sighed. He had failed the mission, and he had broken one of the oaths of the assassins.
There was going to be hell to pay.
Later, Mark stood in the middle of the Grandmaster's study, at full attention, while Telanir paced back and forth in front of him, furious.
"Now, what are we going to do with you? Hm? Make an example of you? Let it slip quietly under the carpet? I don't think so."
The Grandmaster went behind his desk, sat down, and took out a potion.
Mark did nothing.
The potion was bright red, and a glow ensnared from it. Mark's eyes flicked to it once or twice, but they mostly stayed staring straight ahead.
The Grandmaster picked up the potion and unlocked it, and gave it a slight smell, then winced.
"Do you know what this potion does?"
"No, Grandmaster."
The Grandmaster stood and waved it in front of Mark's face.
"It's a special potion, and it is very tough to make, let alone keep it where it can be stored safely without any side effects."
Mark said nothing.
The Grandmaster pushed it into Mark's hand, and said, "Drink."
Mark did, and began to feel a little hot.
The Grandmaster took back the bottle, and said, "This potion has a unique property of making the last hurt upon others feel as if it is being done to themselves."
Mark started to tremble.
"Ten minutes. Good luck."
The Grandmaster walked out.
Mark felt a searing pain at the top of his head, and collapsed in a fetal position.
Ten minutes later, Mark realized this was a lesson he would never forget; Pain inflicted upon innocents will be inflicted upon yourself.
-------------------------------------
"Hey, you in there?"
Mark snapped out of his memories to see Deus staring at him.
"Uh, yeah, sorry. What were you saying?"
"I said, all of the cannons are loaded, sails are rigged, and we have a makeshift crew. I'm afraid they have no naval combat experience, but I'm confident we can find some people that are loyal enough and have naval experience in Pentagona."
Mark laughed.
"Deus, the is the first ever ship built without being a single person ship. This is new for everyone. Hell, I don't know if it's even legal."
"I actually asked the Grandmaster about that. He said that there were many different nations and empires working on this."
"So why did I get the position of captain?"
"I don't know."
Mark shook his head. No matter.
He turned and saw his crew begin to board the ship.
"Well, let's get this over with."
-------------------------------------
Mark made his way to the helm, he passed his crew, who all greeted him with, "Captain," or something similar to that.
Mark felt a little awkward, as he had always been referred to as "sir" or his rank, "Master."
His hand lightly brushed the helm, and he could feel the power of the ship radiating beneath it.
He stood upon the captains area, and watched as Deus climbed the rigging with an odd tool that looked like a hook.
Once Deus had made it up to the frontal mast, Mark signaled tithe dockmaster, who pushed a button, and the doors started to open and the chamber started to flood.
The dockmaster ran for the door, but when couldn't open it, turned towards the ship.
Mark yelled, "Deus! Arrow line!"
Deus quickly slid down the rope using his odd hook tool, and primed an arrow, aiming it slightly closer to the ship than the dockmaster. He let the arrow fly, and a line of wire trailed behind the arrow.
The arrow imbedded in the floor, and the dockmaster ran to it and pulled it from the floor, and him on for his life.
Deus had wrapped the other end of the wire around the main mast, and called out, "Angelo, pull!"
Angelo was by far the strongest person on the ship, and with one yank catapulted the dockmaster aboard, just as the wave from the doors pulled them forward.
But one of the doors was half jammed, and the rocketed towards it.
"Brace!" screamed Mark, and everyone either hit the deck, or wrapped themselves around something solid.
They slammed into the doors, and bashed straight through them, the wood splintering as the doors broke off.
But the ship's frontal ram took the blow, and the rest of the ship was fine.
Mark stood up, and motioned for the dock master to come talk to him.
"Captain," the dock master said as he approached.
"Who designed the front of the ship?"
"That would be the guys from Force Construction Company."
"Well, tell them they did an excellent job."
"Yes, Captain."
Mark turned and took the helm, guiding lightly to the port. Men on the docks waited for lines which were thrown from the ship to anchor it to the dock.
Once the ship was secure, and people started to disembark and go back to their normal schedules, Mark whistled, and Dues took out the odd hook shaped tool from his belt, and swung onto a rope, sliding down it. As he reached the end of the rope, Mark watched amazed as Deus transferred from rope to rope, with almost no effort at all.
He landed lightly in front of Mark, a little breathless.
"What's that?" Mark asked.
"Just a hook that I fashioned out of some iron. I don't know what to call it though."
They both stood thinking about it for a minute.
"A rigging hook?" Deus suggested.
Mark nodded.
"That works. Can you make more for others that may need it?"
"Of course. I'll have it ready tomorrow."
"Today."
Deus gave him a funny look.
"What do you mean?"
"We're going to set sail for the Pandaria Ocean today. The crew just got their first taste of sailing, but not of sea life."
"So you're going to take us on a voyage? For how long? And where are we going to go?"
"We'll be gone about 3-4 days. I've already arranged for provisions to be brought aboard. The crew will have to learn fast."
"But this isn't our crew, we still need to pick up more crew from... somewhere."
"We'll hire people along the way. Now, didn't you have some rigging hooks to make before we set sail?"
Deus nodded, and loped off towards the treasury and storage.
Mark sighed.
Things were changing rapidly. The Whispers of the Dead, all of these projects, and Him. Mark hoped the voyage would be uneventful, but he doubted it.
==========================
Mark and his crew sailed down the river, heading for Pentagona territory. Mark was less than happy about having to hire Pentagona natives for the Avenger's crew, as the people living there really only did things for coin.
But maybe if he picked the right ones, and showed them that he was a good leader, they might stay with him.
Mark snorted. Right.
Maur, the Avenger's secondary helmsman after Mark, look at him.
"Captain? Did you day something?"
Mark took his weight off the railing and turned back.
"No, nothing. Just thinking."
Maur nodded and turned back to the helm.
Mark wouldn't have had anyone else with full control of the ship. Maur had an uncanny eye for currents in the water. As a bonus, Maur was hardy, and could easily work 14 hour shifts.
Once, Mark asked him how he did it, and Maur just replied, "Just tell your body that you're not tired."
Mark could see the logic in that. But he could never quite accomplish it.
Mark turned and walked down the steps to his left, balancing his steps with the waves and swells.
Passing by the temporary crew, he nodded at each and every one of them, and they were grateful for it.
The Avenger was magnificent. Previous beach assault would be stopped short due to the fact the the defenders could wait at the edge of the water, and it's always harder to move and fight when you're in the water.
But with this ship, he could simple raze the beach and give cover fire to his infantry assault.
Mark blinked, remembering. He'd have to get the new crew to calibrate the cannon aim, so that they weren't hitting their own people.
"Captian! I see the dock!"
Mark looked up and squinted at the figure on the top of the mast.
"Got it Deus, thanks."
He quickly mounted the steps again, and put a reassuring hand on Maur's shoulder.
"Just don't scratch the paint."
Maur smiled, and shook his head, guiding the ship in for a smooth docking.
On the dock stood former General Tillius, who used to be in Notch's Imperial Army, before he was dismissed by Imperial Internal Affairs (IIA) for allowing citizens to leave the town he was attacking, instead of interrogating them first.
Later, Notch found out and fired every single one of the IIA members who had overseen General Tillius' review. But the damage was done, and Tillius renounced the Imperials, and left, due to the fact that he had said that he 'lost faith in the Inperials knowing who was the true enemy.'
Mark was unsure what Tillius meant by that, as Daggerfall had a massive history of being neutral in almost every conflict, except for The Madrionic Wars, where the self-proclaimed high king of this earth attempted to take over all of the known world. Daggerfall had remained neutral for much of the conflict, until the Madrionics attacked and killed every member of a diplomatic convoy heading to Madrionic lands.
This was way back when Mark was just born, and Telanir was training to be the Grandmaster. The previous Grandmaster, Scargill, had been ruthless with the Madrionics after that, immediately ordering the slaughter of all Madrionics in Daggerfall lands.
Daggerfall would later play a key role in the seige of New Ambrotos, when Scargill and Telanir would lead a small party to infiltrate and attempt to capture the Madrionic leader, Morthenal.
Scargill's group had been spotted, and in the resulting chaos, Scargill had been shot. Bleeding out, Telanir would be filled with anger, and take the ultimate shot; A killing blow dealt to Morthenal, from over 50 meters away, diving off a balcony with a bow and arrow, attempting to land in a fountain.
And just as trained, Telanr hit him in the throat.
Just as Telanir was divin off the balcony, General Tillius and his men burst into the grand hall with vengeance, overwhelming the enemies at the door, and the General was just in time to see the shot Telanir made.
Unfortunately for Telanir, he missed the fountain.
On the other hand, he did land both on a bunch of enemies, and in history, where he was then renowned for his shot. The arrow that ended the war was placed in rock above the entrance to Morthenal's tomb, with a picture frame with a stone cutout beside it reading, "Even the mightiest can fall because of a single arrow."
And the bow? Telanir gave it to Notch as a gift, to remin him that as creator of all that exists, he still had to maintain it as well. And so started the legendary Dragonriders, who were supposed to bring fire and true judgement and justice upon the land.
The Dragonriders hadn't been seen for a thousand years, only appearing once, at the Battle of the Great Plains, supposedly lifting Mark, Notch and Telanir from the ground, as Herobrine died in a spectacular explosion. But because of the limited evidence, and the fact that there was no crater, Mark doubted this theory.
Mark's crew threw ropes on to the dock, and Mark noticed that tr General had gotten his men to pound massive stakes into the ground.
The General's men scurried around, grabbing the ropes thrown on top of the dock, and tying them around the stakes.
Mark was both surprised and wary that the General had this much power and influence in Pentagona.
The fact that he had mustered enough people and materials to make the dock showed promise, almost too much, which Mark was all too aware of.
The ramp was lowered onto the dock, and Mark disembarked, followed closely by Angelo and Maur.
Mark approached the General, who was waiting in the middle of the dock, hands clasped behind his back ad feet set slightly apart. Looking at him carefully, Mark noticed the General was beginning to show signs of age, with the greying hair and the sunken eye sockets. But he still stood like he was on parade ground, honorable to the end.
"Captain Mark. Telanir told me you were coming. But I did not exactly expect Inge way he let me know."
Mark nodded. "Yeah, she certainly has a type of awe attached to her, doesn't she?"
The General unclasped his hands and developed a more relaxed stance.
As relaxed as one can get after being involved in the military for over 30 years.
"Come, I have set out some refreshments while we talk about the... deal Telanir offered me."
Mark nodded, then turned back to Angelo.
"No one gets on the ship unless I or Telanir says so."
Mark paused and added, "And General Tillius too."
Angelo moved in front of the ramp, cracked his neck and crossed his arms, his gaze daring anyone to try to board.
-------------------------------------
Deus was on top of the main mast, his eyes in both the land and sea, as they could be attacked from any direction. And the Avenger was certainly a prize worth fighting for.
A few Pentagona residents came to see what was happening, but the General's guards roughly moved them away.
Squinting, he noticed something wrong with the ocean. It seemed as if certain parts of the ocean was dipping slightly, and then it would return to normal.
Deus secured his bow and arrows, and pulled a rope beside him. The rope rang a certain bell, letting the next watchman know it was his turn.
As the watchman started to climb the mast, Deus prepared himself for his next course of action.
Deus stood on the edge of the platform, arms spread wide to either side. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply.
Leaning forward, he let himself fall off the edge, plummeting towards the water.
Halfway down, he pulled his arms above his head, and shifted his weight towards his torso.
He was now doing a perfect dive, splashing into the water, driving himself far underneath it.
Struggling to see through the salt that worked its way into his eyes, he could barely make out anything.
Suddenly a face came out of the gloom, startling him. He prepared for an attack.
But the face seemed as startled as he was.
Deus quickly reacted, reaching for his belt to the dagger that was there. Scrabbling around, he realized it had been knocked free from the dive.
His fingers brushed something, the rigging hook!
He ripped it from his belt as the figure, now a little clearer, reached over his shoulder.
Deus brought up the hook, countering the slow blow made by the long sword the figure drew from his back.
The blades intertwined, and Deus yanked. The hook caught on the sword at a very sharp angle, getting a grip even in the water.
Noting his lack of air, he realized the figure had something in his mouth.
Yanking on the hook drew them together, and Deus saw it was a long strand of sugarcane.
Deus immediately took it in and his mind created a solution.
First, the figure had it in his mouth, and the top of it would be just barely above the water.
Second, the figure didn't seem to be struggling for air as Deus was.
Third, sugarcane was mostly harvested for the sugar in its center, and when hollowed out, would be thrown away.
Dues grimaced and traced up with his free hand, and in slow motion hit the figure in the face.
The blow wasn't enough to hurt the figure, but it did knock the rod free.
The figure gasped, drawing in water. Deus grabbed the figure's collar and swam to the surface.
Deus hit the surface, gasping. The watchman called down, "Are you alright sir?"
Deus spit out some water, taking in a deep breath.
"Sound the alarm!" he shouted. "We're about to be under attack!"
I would like to let people know that if they have and idea for a character, a setting, or a small plot piece, to put it in the comments.
Please detail why you think I should put your idea in.
Also remember to give characteristics for the characters, details for the settings, and reasons for the plots.
Remember also to be specific and yet leave me with some room to work with and adapt.
I apologize in advance if I offend anyone by changing their ideas to match the story.
Fact: After events which I have experienced, I decided to write the story that I experienced up for a Machinima format. But due to the fact that it both seemed bland and also if I told it exactly how it was I could get my account and my friend's account banned. Both the names Telanir and Deus are names of accounts which I borrowed off of my friends because I liked the sound of them. They have no interaction with the events that I have experienced. If anyone wants to make this a Machinima series, let me know and I can help give you the story as I see it in my mind.
If you do like these, I will create and post up more.
Master Assassin Mark stood at the watchtower of Daggerfall fortress, staring out into the vast forest. He scanned the edge of the forest, and satisfied that there were no mobs there, turned around and gazed at the expansive tundra that was behind him.
Peering into the blinding snow, he spotted a group of travelers headed towards the fortress. Turning, he pushed one of the row of buttons on the wall beside him, which would send a current along the redstone wire, and ring the note blocks at Headquarters in a certain order. The chimes would then alert those at HQ to send out someone to greet the travelers, and direct them towards the hotel inside the fortress, or the market just to the west of the fortress.
The door to the watchtower opened, and Grandmaster Assassin Telanir came in. Mark glanced at him once, nodded, and returned his eyes to the tundra.
Telanir was never one for greetings, and got straight to the point.
"The southern village is acting up again. The villagers there are saying we are trespassing on their land, and stealing their goods and customers," Telanir started.
Mark said nothing.
"Either way, we're sending a diplomat over. I need you to escort him, while 2 assassins infiltrate and scout out the town."
Mark spoke for the first time.
"Who will be the assassins?"
"James and Olivia."
'Good,' Mark thought in his head. 'Those two are excellent at keeping a low profile.'
"And who's the diplomat?" he asked.
"Me," Telanir replied.
The door to the watchtower opened again, and a guard stepped in to take over for Mark. Mark handed off his bow and arrows, and exited the watchtower, following Telanir.
"Sir, if you're going to be the diplomat, I suggest we have more than just one official escort. If they..."
"They won't hurt us. They need us for goods and protection, no matter how much they want to be independent. And we want them to trust us, and not be too suspicious."
Mark almost laughed. Telanir wanted the villagers to trust them, and yet they were sending in assassins to scout the town out? If the assassins were spotted, the whole thing could go bad extremely quick.
==========================
Mark was riding in the head minecart, and following him was the Grandmaster, and behind the Grandmaster was Olivia, her bow at ready. In the far back, almost out of sight, was James, riding in his cart with his back to them, watching of anyone was following them.
As they neared the village, they passed over a detector rail, which would send a tone to the note blocks in the town square, alerting everyone that someone was coming.
They passed on a bridge over a wide river, and Mark tasted the fresh water. After going up a hill, he could see the village in the distance, just past a massive ravine.
He turned back and nodded at Olivia, who hopped out of the cart,, pulling it off the tracks with her. Moments later, James did the same, and after hiding their carts in the tall grass, they started sprinting for the village.
Riding over the ravine, he nodded at the villagers on the other side, and the minecarts came to a stop near the village square.
Mark swiftly dismounted, and helped Telanir out of his minecart, as was custom.
After courteous greetings were made, they all moved into the village leader's house to talk.
Mark stood at the doorway, bored out of his mind. He was a protector and a fighter, but he was not suited for the position of diplomat.
As the discussion became a little heated, Mark glanced around the room, taking in the two guards, the three windows and the two exits. Similarly, the guards glanced at him, ready to make a move if he did.
Suddenly the Grandmaster stood up, and said, "Why don't we go take a walk, and cool down a bit?"
'Smart,' thought Mark. If they did go outside, they could be covered by James and Olivia.
The village leader agreed, and they all stepped into the courtyard.
Mark spotted James and Olivia out of the corner of his eye. James was to the right of them, laying flat on a rooftop, with the sun behind him. If anyone glanced that way, they would be blinded and would have to squint to see him.
Olivia was to the left. She had taken her shirt and hung it on a hook on the side of a roof, and she dangled in the shadow of the building, in an almost impossible place, ready to take a shot.
After a few more minutes, Telanir and the leader agreed on something, but Mark didn't care. He could see the sun was going to set soon, and wanted to make it back to Daggerfall before nightfall.
As they were escorted back to their minecarts, the leader said, "Have a nice trip back."
'Why would he say that?' Mark wondered.
They got back in their minecarts, this time with James in the far front.
They got away without incident, and Mark asked the Grandmaster what deal they had made.
"It's mostly taking down some shops and advertising to scavengers to pick up their goods at their town instead of Daggerfall. Nothing too major."
Just as they were about to pass over the river bridge, Mark thought he saw a flash of red from beneath the bridge. But the bridge was made out of birch wood, why was there red on it?
Mark got his answer.
James had just started crossing the bridge when Mark saw the tripwire.
Aw crap.
An explosion detonated in the center of the bridge, blasting James out of his minecart and straight into the river.
There were no brakes on the minecarts, and Olivia, Mark and Telanir were helpless to do anything as they too tumbled off the bridge.
Olivia was screaming, at least until they all hit the water.
The Grandmaster was the first up, and waded until he caught hold of Mark and dragged him to his feet.
"Get up! James is injured, and I need you to help me get him out of the water!"
Mark was gasping, but followed the Grandmaster.
James was able to float on top of the water, but just barely.
When Telanir and Mark got him out of the water, Mark was horrified. James' legs and arms were crushed. It didn't seem like anything was broken, but James clearly wasn't going to be fighting creepers anytime soon.
Olivia had made it to the shore by that time, and was beckoning to them. Telanir and Mark were able to pick up James and carry him through the water to where Olivia was waiting.
They collapsed on the bank, and rested for a moment, but then the Grandmaster stood up, pointed to the horizon, and spoke.
"It's getting dark. The sun is going down, and we need a campfire, and some shelter. If we work now, we'll be able to get it all ready by sunset."
==========================
The four of them were sitting around the campfire, discussing the incident with the bridge.
"I'm sure it was the villagers," Olivia was proclaiming. "They disliked the deal we had made, and placed TNT under the bridge and blew it up."
The Grandmaster shook his head. "They wouldn't risk doing that. We could easily walk in and destroy their town if we wanted. Also, how would they light the TNT and get away without us noticing?"
James wasn't focused on the conversation. He was on guard duty, watching the forest to alert the others in case of an attack, but something unnerved him.
Earlier, he thought he heard a scream off in the distance, but when he turned to ask the others if they heard, he found them talking amongst themselves.
He had also heard whispers in the forest, and what sounded like a mother crying.
All this he kept from the others, so they would not think he was crazy.
The Grandmaster noticed him staring at the woods, and asked what was wrong.
"I... I keep hearing whispers, and sounds, yet I don't see anyone. Do you know what they are?"
The Grandmaster and Mark shared a look, a look that said they knew something.
Mark looked left and right, and asked, "Have you ever heard the Voices of the Dead?"
James shook his head, but Olivia paused.
Mark noticed and motioned for her to speak.
"I remember reading something about that in the Daggerfall library. I think it had something to do with Herobrine."
In an instant, Mark was at Olivia's throat, hissing, "Do not say His cursed name!"
The Grandmaster, even though he gave the image of being weaker than Mark, strode in between them and pushed them away from each other.
"Enough," he spoke firmly.
Mark backed up, massaging his wrists. He grabbed an axe, muttered something about getting extra firewood, and wandered off.
The Grandmaster sighed, sat down, and stared into the fire for a long time.
No one spoke.
Olivia finally whispered, "Does Mark have problems with the name Herobrine?"
The Grandmaster didn't even look at her.
"Do you remember the legends I use to tell, about the Burning of the Great Plains, and the Death of Herobrine?"
"Yeah?"
"They weren't legends."
Olivia was confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean both Mark and I were there. It was real."
-------------------------------------
The Grandmaster was standing on top of a small hill, overlooking the Great Plains. It was totally flat, and the Grandmaster could see all the way to the other side, where He was watching. Both eyes and non-eyes bore into each other, many chunks away.
Someone came up behind the Grandmaster. It was Mark, the Grandmaster's Apprentice.
"Sir; the archers are in position, and waiting for your go. All squads are in formation."
"Good," the Grandmaster replied. "Tell them to hold and wait for my signal."
"And what will be the signal, Master?"
"They'll know."
Mark nodded and moved off.
Off to the Grandmaster's left, two figures came out of the shadows. It was Notch and Steve, the creator of all things and the glorified miner.
Telanir bowed before them.
"Rise," spoke Notch.
The Grandmaster did.
"That boy will become a great fighter someday," Steve commented. "I'll bet my golden apple on it."
Telanir smiled and asked, "Only your apple?"
Steve laughed and said, "Nah, maybe my first diamond instead."
As he said this, a lightning strike was heard off in the distance.
Notch was less of a conversationalist. "Are all of your troops in position?"
The Grandmaster nodded.
"Good. You know the signal."
Notch disappeared into the trees.
Steve sighed and shook his head.
"Typical Notch. He wasn't exactly happy that his supposed 'brother' returned."
Telanir gave Steve a stern look. "You really shouldn't be saying that. You know how secretive Notch is about his brother. He never wants anyone to know."
Steve shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like he can make me disappear. I'm the one who found the first diamond, after all."
Another lightning strike sounded, closer this time.
Steve sighed and said, "I'd better go prep the tunnels."
Telanir nodded, and Steve loped off.
After Steve was gone, Mark came out from behind a bush. How much did he hear?
But if Mark had heard anything, he gave no sign of it.
"They have been notified, master."
"Good. You will stay with me. We will fight together."
"As always, Master."
Mark followed the Grandmaster up to a ridge.
TNT cannons lined the ridge, all aimed to the Great Plains. The instant the Grandmaster came into view, the men standing by them all stood at attention.
The Grandmaster nodded, then shouted, "Load them up!"
The men shouted orders and the cannons were loaded.
Turning back to the plains, he saw hundreds of zombies and skeletons lined up, and commanded by an enderman with glowing green eyes.
The enderman shrieked, and the Grandmaster yelled, "Fire!"
The crews at the cannons complied, and in an instant massive holes were blasted in the Great Plains, and numerous zombies were killed.
The Grandmaster held up a fist, and behind the cannons, two lines of 25 archers each prepared their bows, aiming extremely high.
Telanir pumped his fist, and arrows flew and slammed into the ranks of the zombies.
The enderman commander shrieked, and the zombies marched forward at a slow steady pace, unperturbed by their fellows deaths.
Notch suddenly appeared at Telanir's side.
"Prepare to charge."
Telanir frowned. "We will be up against superior numbers, with undoubtedly more cooperation. I don't see how a charge will help."
Notch stared at Telanir and hissed, "Do it, or I will relieve you of your command."
Telanir nodded, and drew his sword. Mark followed suit, although the sword Notch drew was odd, a mixture of iron and gold.
Mark stood there, his iron sword at his side, staring at the sword Notch held. He could tell it wielded power, and it actually seemed to be humming, vibrating, unable to keep still.
"Go!" Notch screamed, and soldiers from the many different countries and empires of
Minecraftia streamed over the ridge, all bellowing their own distinct war cries.
Mark joined them, but stayed by the Grandmaster, protecting him, just as the Grandmaster was protecting Notch.
Notch fought like a devil, hacking left and right, and even made gravel appear over top of some of the zombies, crushing them.
Telanir fought more carefully, his movements precise and calculated, as deadly as a blade in a crowd.
Mark was unused to this style of combat, always moving, trying to overwhelm your enemy.
Just as they were about to reach the enderman captain, walls of dirt sprang up from the ground, trapping Notch, the Grandmaster, and Mark inside with a few zombies.
They quickly took care of the zombies, and heard the sounds of battle from outside the dirt walls, the numerous traps being launched, and the growls of the zombies.
Mark turned to Notch.
"Did you do this?" he asked.
"No," Notch replied, his sword still ready. "It's Him."
They all created a ring, looking for the slightest sign of Him.
A bolt of lightning came down in front of Notch, and an explosion blossomed. All three were thrown backwards.
It was Him, the God of the Caves, the Warrior of Death and Trickery.
It was Lord Herobrine.
Herobrine had nothing in his hands, and simply stood there and stared at him.
They formed a line, watching him warily with their swords ready.
Herobrine reached over his back, and slowly drew a sword.
Even though it was thought impossible, it looked to be more powerful than even Notch's sword.
It was made of diamond and gold, with a iron hilt.
If Notch's sword buzzed with power, then Herobrine's rattled.
"Herobrine..." Notch began, and Herobrine attacked.
Herobrine seemed everywhere at once. He slashed at any opening, teleporting behind them, bent upon destruction.
Mark saw that Notch was taking most of the beating, and charged forward.
Herobrine disarmed Mark with one sweep of his sword, and punched him so hard he flew into the dirt wall and collapsed.
Barely able to keep his eyes open, he saw Telanir disarm Herobrine, but was instantly hit back, right beside Mark.
Now it was only Notch, who was struggling, Herobrine's blows driving him back.
Mark looked at the Grandmaster and whispered, "I'm sorry, master."
The Grandmaster slowly picked up Herobrine's sword and handed it to Mark.
"Kill him," he said. "End it."
"I will," Mark replied, and slowly got up.
The Grandmaster took hold of Mark's chest plate, and pulled Mark's face close to his.
"Remember though, apprentice; Do not go towards the light."
Mark nodded, distracted.
Mark slowly made his way up behind Herobrine, who was no longer teleporting, all of his attention focused on Notch, who looked close to collapse.
Mark paused behind Herobrine, raised the sword, and stabbed him through the back.
Both Mark and Herobrine screamed, and then Herobrine did the scariest thing Mark had ever seen.
Herobrine's head turned a full 180 degrees, so his pale blank eyes bored straight into Mark's.
Mark screamed again, pulled out the sword and collapsed.
Herobrine kept on screaming, made jerky movements, screamed again, and the ground exploded.
-------------------------------------
The Grandmaster was silent for a minute. James finally spoke up.
"What happened?" he whispered.
"When we woke up, the Great Plains were on fire. Everyone around us was dead, except for those farther away in the world, and Steve and his mining group. They never did get to set off their own trap."
Both James and Olivia were speechless for a moment.
"How did you survive?" James asked.
"We don't know," spoke Mark standing right behind them, an axe in one hand and an iron sword in the other.
James was slightly scared when he saw the look on Mark's face. He was staring at Telanir with a look that said; 'Traitor.'
The Grandmaster didn't seem bothered.
"Either way, He's gone now. What are the whispers saying?"
James listened for a moment. "I don't know. They're all intermingled, and I can't make out only one voice."
Telanir nodded, satisfied. It went with his theory. It was more of a sensitivity passed down from generations. After all, James' father was one of the ones closest to the blast outside of the dirt cube when it happened. He was severely injured, but was able to get a potion from a doctor in time.
"Just ignore them. They're all in your head, and if you speak forcefully, you can tell them to get out."
Telanir noticed a subtle guested from Mark.
"Alright you two, you'd better get some sleep. It's still a long walk back to our lands."
James and Olivia nodded, and went inside the shelter the built behind them.
Mark came over and sat down beside the Grandmaster.
"Why did you tell them? Why do they deserve to have the knowledge?"
"Because it's in their blood. A war is coming, whether Notch knows it or not."
"So you believe He's still out there?"
"He will always be there."
-------------------------------------
Deus was in the watchtower on lookout on top of the mountain near Daggerfall Fortress. Daggerfall was on full alert, looking out for the Grandmaster and his escort.
All of the soldiers were out of their barracks, either on patrol or guarding the fortress, with a hospital and a fast response unit already set up.
Deus was only partially worried. The Grandmaster could take care of himself. Deus wasn't worried for him, he was worried for Mark, one of his best friends.
Stephanie entered the tower, and took the bow and arrows off of Deus.
"You gotta report to HQ. They got somethin for ya, I dunno what though."
Deus nodded and quickly ran down the staircase. He knocked on the back door, and two guards peered out at him over the top.
They let him in, and Deus immediately went for his bunk in the barracks.
Deus opened the chest by his bed, and took out his most valuable possession.
It was a specialized bow, enchanted to make it more accurate and do more damage. But the most special part about it was that this bow was the only known bow to be able to fire 2 arrows, thus he was given his name.
He went to command, and prepared for his mission.
-------------------------------------
No. 2
They were lost.
Even with James' internal compass, which was usually infallible, and the Grandmaster's knowledge of the world, they couldn't figure out which direction to go.
They stopped in a small clearing, and Mark looked around.
"What should we do now?" he asked the Grandmaster.
"What one should always do when hopelessly lost; wait."
James was still too injured to help, and the Voices of the Dead were wearing on him.
But the others ran around, making shelter and a fire pit.
James wished he could help, but they seemed to preoccupied anyway.
The others had been gone quite a while, collecting wood for the fire, when he heard a sound out from the forest.
It sounded like a crops between a growl of a zombie, and a grunt of a pig. He had never heard something like that before.
He was peering to the place it came from, when he heard it again, this time behind him.
James turned, and screamed.
-------------------------------------
Olivia, Mark, and Telanir sprinted through the forest, leaping over hills, branches and bushes, all towards the scream.
Occasionally when there would be a larger hill, they'd boost each other over in one smooth motion, swing around trees, always moving, never stopping, making it seem effortless.
They were so coordinated all you would've seen is 3 blurs passing through the tree trunks and in the branches above.
They stopped at the edge of the clearing, just inside the tree line.
James was gone.
The Grandmaster slowly made his way out, with Mark and Olivia covering his flanks.
Telanir got to the place where James had been lying, and knelt.
There was a small pool of blood, melting into the grass.
The Grandmaster wiped some off of the grass, and smelled it.
"This is from James, but there isn't enough of it for a person to bleed out. There's also no blood trail, so I assume whoever took James used a teleporting potion."
They spread out, calling for James, keeping within sight of each other, but after 3 hours they had to call the search off.
They set up camp and built a massive bonfire. A pig ran into the clearing, and Mark killed and gutted it, then cooked it over the fire.
"I wonder where the others are right now," Olivia commented.
"Probably searching for us, but the forest is big, and they can't exactly put out everyone to search for us," Telanir replied.
-------------------------------------
Deus was in HQ, with papers and books everywhere, detailing the surrounding area.
He was currently thinking over how many people he should take for his searching mission.
He mulled over it for a bit, then realized he wasn't going to come up with a solution just sitting there.
He walked the halls of the HQ, heading for the tavern, nodding at people he passed.
Sitting down at the bar, Greg, the barkeeper, called to him, "The usual, Dues?"
Deus shook his head. "Nope, I got a mission coming up, and I don't need to be off my rocker. But I could use some fish though."
"No problem. I'll talk to Dan about your payment later."
As Deus sat there, he surveyed the tavern.
It was old, but massive, and everybody liked it that way. It had the feeling that if you tore the tavern down, it would find some way to get back at you later.
As his food was brought to him, he noticed a hooded figure in the corner, a hand on his sword.
Deus had been in the same covert operative class as Mark, and Mark repeatedly said to him, 'If you don't know everything when a fight begins, you might as well stuff yourself in a furnace and hope someone doesn't light the timber.'
Deus casually turned back to his food, and pretended to fuss about, arranging his plate, and shifting his stool slightly to the left to be able to see the figure's reflection in the window behind the counter.
He saw the figure slowly get up, and start to make his way over to him.
Deus reached up, and fiddled a bit with his bow, which was strapped over his shoulder. The figure stopped, evidently knowing how dangerous Deus was with a bow.
The movement over his shoulder distracted the figure, and Deus quietly pulled a knife from his leg.
The figure waited until it looked like Deus had settled, then took another step, and that's when Deus struck.
Whipping around to his left, he threw the knife, and it his the figure in the left shoulder, causing blood to appear on his shirt.
The figure took his eyes off of Deus, and yanked the blade out. Turing back, out of the corner of his eye he was the wooden center part of the bow coming at his face.
There was a crack, the figure toppled face down, and his hood fell off.
The tavern went silent.
Deus slowly walked up and turned him over.
He looked like any other Minecraftian, except for the massive scar that ran down his face, over his eye and hitting the corner of his mouth.
Deus became aware of someone standing behind him.
Deus turned and saw Greg, a butcher knife in hand.
Greg wasn't showing any hostility towards Deus though.
"I know him," Greg said. "He burned my home. He destroyed my farm. He's a griefer, HE'S A MURDERER."
Greg tried to get at the figure, but others jumped up and held him back.
The figure woke, and Deus crouched over him, and whispered into his ear.
"He is coming for you."
The figure started panicking, and ran out of the tavern, screaming.
Deus stood up and smile to himself.
"That was fun."
And best of all, he now knew who he was going to take with him.
-------------------------------------
After a sleepless night, Mark, Telanir and Olivia packed up their limited possessions, and started walking again.
Telanir had an Eye of Ender, that, when he threw it upwards, would point in a direction. Using his knowledge of the lands, and the direction from the Eye, he could partially figure out which way they should go.
Mark wasn't sure whether to trust Telanir on this, as it was said the Eye led to an underground place called a Fortress, with many evil mobs there.
It was also said that one of the Fortresses was the tomb of Herobrine, and contained his body and all of his riches.
After what had been happening recently, with the disappearance of James and James hearing the Whispers of the Dead, Mark didn't want to take any chances.
But what other choice did they have? Otherwise they would be lost wandering the forest for who knows how long until someone found them.
So they trudged (hopefully) towards home.
But they did not know someone was watching them, but through the eyes of another.
-------------------------------------
Malcolm, who replaced the Grandmaster in times of need, had given Deus and Greg level 2 clearance for their mission.
He gave them the location of a SpecWar (Special Warfare) project called 'Liontamer'. When asked if he could give any more info on it, Malcolm gave him a look that said, 'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'
They were forced to take 2 boats and 3 minecart rides to get to the coordinates, and when they got there, there was only a clearing of trees.
They were supposed to go to a certain tree and whisper the code word (whitecollar), and Deus felt stupid doing it.
Greg was trying not to laugh as Deus went up to the tree.
"What?" Deus said irritably.
"I don't know, maybe he fact that you're about to whisper a word to a tree in the middle of the mountains might merit a little bit of humor," Gred replied.
Deus sighed, and turned back to the tree.
"Whitecollar."
Greg spoke up behind him.
"Um, if I were you, I'd get out of there. Like, now."
Deus was about to ask why when he saw the tree falling towards him. But not in the sideways traditional fashion, but straight down.
Deus scrambled out from under the tree, and he couldn't beleive his eyes when the tree dropped straight down into the ground, leaving its leaves lying on the ground around a hole in the center.
Deus crept up to the 1X1 hole and looked in. He was barely able to make out a faint light at the bottom.
"Jump?" Greg suggested.
"Great idea. Since you suggested it, you can go first."
"But you whispered the code word. I'm sure whoevers down there would be suspicious if someone who they weren't expecting dropped in."
"But you're under my command."
"I guess, but shouldn't a leader lead?"
An annoyed voice drifted up from the hole.
"Just bloody well jump already."
Greg and Deus looked at each other, and grinned.
"Great. Now the hole wants to eat us," Deus called down.
"Yeah. Let's throw down this TNT we have here, and see if the hole likes the taste of gunpowder."
An exasperated sigh drifted up from the hole.
"Why don't I stand here, and you throw some goddamn sand down here SO I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU IDIOTS."
Deus shook his head, laughing, and jumped down, hitting some wool placed at the bottom to cushion his fall.
An irritated balding man in a white coat was there to greet them.
"Can't anyone just jump down immediately? It would save me a lot of frustration," he growled.
Deus could see that the man was really ed, and decided not to push it.
"So why are we here again?" he asked.
"We have a project that could help you on your... eh, mission. An old project, one of the more succesful ones, and it was about to go public anyway. We're gonna give you four extra ones, and you get to keep them to."
Deus frowned.
"Keep what?"
The turned a corner and entered a testing area.
Deus grinned.
"Oh, this is going to be great!" he said.
-------------------------------------
They were too tired to move on. So they built a small wooden wall around their campsite so that they were relatively protected from the monsters that came out at night.
Still, all it would take was a creeper getting a bright idea to bring this all crashing down upon their heads.
It was the fifth day lost, and four days since James went missing.
The worst part wasn't the survival, it was that they could all hear the whispers now, and the only way to stop them was to talk.
But your throat gets sore after talking for 4 hours straight, and they tried to ignore them.
But unlike some noises, which you can get used to and your brain ignores the sound, these could not be ignored. It felt like the whispers were inside each of their heads.
They were all sitting around the campfire, and it was getting dark.
There was nothing to do. Nowhere to go.
The creepers had been outside the walls all day. Mark and Olivia were unable to gather food, and they were all hungry.
But just as they were about to go to bed, they heard a hiss. And one that didn't diminish.
"Incoming!" yelled the Grandmaster.
One of the walls blew up, and the creepers and all of the monsters came rushing in. They barely had time to get their weapons before they were fighting for their lives.
Due to the fact that Telanir was proclaimed as Minecraftia's most efficient fighter, and that Mark had been Telanir's personal apprentice, they could hold their own even in these impossible odds.
But Olivia had not taken the same training, and they were forced to adapt to protect her from time to time.
They slashed an killed all that they could, and Olivia even used a ripped up fence post to spear an oncoming creeper.
But just as they were about to fall, they heard barking in the distance.
Three wolves charged out of the forest, and leaped over and through the mass of mobs, and started biting and killing anything that came near, protecting the three.
Two more wolves came out of the forest, and there were two people riding them.
Mark smiled and shouted, "Deeeuuuus!"
Deus replied with a, "Woot!" and shot two arrows to go right through two creepers heads.
As Deus rode by them on a pass, he called out, "Ride my friends! Ride for your lives!"
Mark was confused until he saw Telanir jump on top of a wolf, and ride straight through the mob.
Olivia and Mark looked at each other, shrugged and did the same, yelling out battle cries as the slashed at the creepers below them.
The wolves were swifter than any pig Mark had ever ridden or wrestled (there were annual competitions in Notch's Kingdom for this).
They quickly left the clearing and the creepers behind, and Mark finally caught up to Dues.
Deus slowed his wolf and said, "Well, it always seems that you're the one making the mess and I'm the one who always picks it up."
Mark grinned and said, "So you're my personal maid now?"
"I'd watch what you're saying, buddy, or else I might have to take a round out of you.
-------------------------------------
After a while, they had to get off the wolves, as they were good for combat, but they weren't meant to ride long distances.
Mark walked beside Deus in the center, with Greg on point and Olivia covering the rear, with Telanir in between them.
"What happened to James?" Deus asked.
"Are you talking about his disappearance? Or how he got hurt as well?"
"The whole story."
Mark sighed. "Well, we were heading back to Daggerfall in our minecarts, and just as we were going across it, someone blew up the bridge. James was right over top of the explosion, and he got hurt bad. But we were able to pull him out of the river. The minecarts were blown up too, so we started walking back."
"Why didn't you walk along the tracks? Someone could have went by and picked you guys up."
Mark shook his head. "You know the area around the tracks. When we send some of the maintenance workers to clear the bushes around the tracks, they really only clear the bushed above the tracks."
Deus nodded. That was understandable.
"But couldn't you just have waited for someone to come by?"
"Nope. Remember the fail-safe we installed on the tracks, so that if one place failed they'd all go out so no one would get hurt?"
"Ugh," Deus groaned. "Don't remind me. I helped wire that sucker. Six hours work, one hour lunch, then another six hours going."
"Yeah, so there was no way anyone was getting to us."
"So that's why they sent us instead of a team of engineers. I was wondering... Anyway, what happened to James?"
Mark grimaced. "We were camping in this clearing, and we all went to find wood for a fire and shelter. We heard him scream, and we ran back as fast as we could. But he was gone, save for a small bit of blood."
Suddenly Telanir halted, and everyone froze.
"He's here."
-------------------------------------
Telanir had been half listening to Deus' and Mark's conversation, and half listening to the woods.
Now though, his sixth sense was roaring in his ears, and he heard whispers and saw flashes in the corners of his eyes.
He forced himself to scan the forest, and ignore the flashes. He had to.
"He's close. Very close," he told the others.
"Closer than you think, old man."
Herobrine was speaking through Mark, his eyes blank and white.
"Mark! What did you do?!"
Herobrine sneered. "He looked farther into the light than you ever did. He has more knowledge than you can even imagine. Now you can join me and share this knowledge, or die."
The wolves with them were ready to attack Mark, and is was only a word from Greg that stopped them.
"Then we shall fight," Telanir said, and drew his sword.
He paused. "One more thing though, before you draw your sword. You're older than I am, Herobrine."
Herobrine growled, and drew Mark's sword.
Herobrine stated at the sword for a minute, hissed, "Impossible!" and dissapeared, only leaving Mark's empty shell.
-------------------------------------
1 week later
Mark woke, but he did not move. He had been trained to listen to the space around him before he made a move.
The last thing he had known was the white light at the edge of his vision, and the sound of an explosion close by.
Hearing nothing, he carefully opened his eyes, and slowly and silently turned his head to the right.
Steve was sitting on a chair beside him, reading a book. Mark also noticed that he was in his house.
Mark made a tiny cough, and Steve put down his book and made a forced smile.
"Hey buddy, how are you doing?"
Mark tried to speak but his throat was too dry.
"Take it easy, you're pretty dehydrated. But you somehow made it through it all, though I'm not surprised with that coming from you."
Mark drank a bit, then forced out a single word.
"What...?"
"What happened? Well, officially, you wandered into a cave, and got lost, and we found you after a few days."
Mark lay back and took this in, and realized that was his cover story.
"Unofficially, you, um... met Herobrine. Again."
Mark turned his head to look at Steve, and gave him a look that said, 'Really?'
Steve held up his hands.
"Alright, alright. You were... possessed by Herobrine as you were in the forest. We brought an Eye of Ender there, and my assumptions were correct. Underneath you at that moment was a fortress. That probably sparked the possession."
The Grandmaster walked in.
"Ah, he's awake. Good. Have you filled him in?"
"Mostly, yeah. I'll take my leave now."
Steve and Telanir shook hands, and Steve left.
"How are you feeling? Can you walk?"
Mark carefully sat up. "Yes...but... I can't... speak well."
Telanir waved a hand dismissively.
"Whatever. That doesn't matter. Remember the wolves?"
Mark nodded.
"Good. But that was just one of many projects. Come, I'll show you our next completed one, and one of our biggest."
Mark followed Telanir out of the gates, and down to the docks.
Telanir looked around carefully, then pulled back some shrubbery to reveal an iron door with no windows.
Telanir knocked, waited a few seconds, then spoke.
"Kingoftheseas."
The door opened, and a guard was standing thereafter the door, aiming his sword at them. When he realized who it was, he lowered his weapon slightly.
The guard looked at Telanir, and raised his eyebrows.
Telanir nodded slightly.
The guard lowered his sword and stepped back, allowing them in.
Mark followed Telanir past the guard and multiple rooms, all of them having an iron door.
There was one door with windows, and Mark peered through quickly. What was there surprised him.
Mark recognized people from many different places, different Empires and Factions. And they were all working on this 'Kingoftheseas' project? So many people, and Mark wondered how many of them got to go home every night. Probably not many, if any at all.
Telanir stopped in front of another iron door, and turned back to Mark.
"Mark, I just wanted to let you know, you were specifically trained for this. Many empires and factions contributed massive amounts of resources to be where you are today."
Mark was confused.
"I was trained for what?"
"Never mind," Telanir said quickly.
But Mark could tell the Grandmaster was hiding something. Which was extremely odd, considering their time spent working with each other.
"Prepare to meet your ship, the United Nations (UN) Avenger."
Mark walked through the door, and was stunned to see a massive ship, many blocks high and long, sitting at an underground dock, it's sails ready to go, oars in need for windless days, and what looked like cannons protruding out the port and starboard sides.
Mark smiled.
"Oh, this is gonna be great."
=====================
No.3
Telanir left Mark to take a look at the ship, and as he approached Deus walked down the stairs to the dock.
"Captian," Deus nodded as he walked past.
Mark nodded back and kept walking on.
Then he stopped and turned back, staring at Deus walking away.
"Deus!" he called.
Deus stopped walking and turned back.
"What is it?"
"Why'd you call me Captain?"
Deus started walking back towards him.
"Didn't the Grandmaster tell you? You're the Captain of the Avenger."
Mark shook his head.
"No, that can't be right. Telanir should be the captain."
Deus shrugged.
"He just said to me that you were the right person for the job."
Mark paused, mulling this over.
"I'll have to ask him why. Anyway, when do we take her out for a sail?"
"Soon, but we have a problem. We don't have enough people volunteering to work on the ship. We'll have to hire some from somewhere. Also, we can't sail or fight well in a river, so we'll sail down it towards Pandaria Ocean."
"But won't that take us through Steve's territory and, uh..."
"Pentagona's territory, I know. I wish we could avoid them. But anyway, I gotta go get some more supplies for the ship," Deus said as he backed off.
"Wait. How long have you known about this?" Mark asked.
"Not long, only a few days."
Bit Mark didn't hear him, he was too preoccupied remembering what had happened in Pentagona long ago...
-------------------------------------
6 months after the Burning of the Great Plains
Mark was with Deus and Mikhail, in Pentagona, searching for someone to infiltrate the Stalin's kingdom. He was a little frustrated, because everyone he had approached so far had turned down his offer.
Mark thought that, in theory, Communism was a perfect society, as long as everybody agreed with it. But Mark had been living too long already to know that, in reality, people were finicky, and Communism probably wasn't going to work.
On the other hand, Pentagona was one of the 'unruled' kingdoms, with many small alliances and factions forming and dissolving in a matter of days. Many fights were known to break out, and everyone watched Pentagona carefully, making sure they didn't start fighting outside of their borders.
There had been recent rumors that Stalin had been working on a secret project, one that was supposed to be able to 'literally go to hell.'
Mark had no idea what this meant, but he knew that he had to get someone that could blend in well with those people.
Mark knew that the people of Stalin's kingdom spoke Russian, which Mark knew nothing about at all. All he could do was listen, and hope that they knew enough English so he could at least convey his message.
He walked up to one of the groups.
"...Но когда я вернулся к лидер племени, он просто смотрел на меня и сказал..."
Mark cleared his throat, and spoke.
"Does any of you speak English?"
"Что они хотят от нас теперь?"
Mark was annoyed.
"Well?!"
One of them stepped forward.
"What do you want?" he spoke in a good English with a slight accent.
"We have a job for you. The pay is relatively good, and it's not a tough job, it's just... it's probably against your moral conscience."
The one in the front laughed.
"If we had any conscience, we wouldn't be here, would we?"
Mark allowed himself a tiny smile.
"What's this job?"
Mark's smile vanished.
"I need you to spy on Stalin, and find out about his 'going to hell' research."
One the men standing in the far back sped off, disappearing into the rocks.
The men in don't turned back.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Mark was so intent on trying to spot the runner that he hadn't noticed the others had drew weapons and circled his group.
Mikhael muttered, "Can we talk now?"
"Yes."
Mikhael faced the men circling them with an unwavering air of confidence.
"If you try to take us on, you'll just end up as food for one of the other camp's dogs."
One of the circling ones sneered.
"Right, like we'd be afraid of some random travelers."
Mark slowly drew his sword, and noticed the one who stepped forward had not made a move on them. He simply stood there, shaking his head at his peer's idiocy.
Deus had two arrows primed in his bow, but he did not raise it to fire. Deus and Mikhael had been given orders to not engage unless Mark told them to do so.
The Grandmaster evidently thought that Mark needed more experience commanding people, as he could take any order and modify it until it was logical and complete, although he could not seem to communicate this to others properly, leaving them confused on what he was doing or trying to tell them.
Mark made a fist at his side, and saw Deus and Mikhael tense. If he pointed two fingers to the ground, it meant they could attack.
One of the men screamed a battle cry, and charged.
Mark pointed, Deus released his arrows, and Mikheal threw a knife.
Deus never missed, and both his arrows went through two of the men's legs, making them collapse to the ground.
Mikheal's knife flew and impacted, burying itself in a third man's hand, forcing him to drop his sword and back off, clutching his wounded hand.
Three down, five to go.
Two charged in, and simultaneously swung at his head and torso.
Mark blocked the top swing and was about to grab a knife from his belt and block the second swing, when another sword blocked the attack.
Mark looked to his right, and saw the one who stepped forward had blocked the attack.
"Mischa Yurinov. Time to fight."
Mischa slashed sideways, disarming his opponent. Mark slashed downwards, clashing against the knife his opponent drew.
The air crackled, and a bolt of lightning came down, hitting his opponent.
The man was vaporized where he stood. He didn't even have time to scream.
The rest of the men attacked scattered, and Mark pointed his sword at one of them.
The man screamed, and was lit on fire, with no clear reason why other than the sword.
The man screamed once more, them keeled over and died.
Mischa looked at the sword, looked at Mark, and said, "I think you've just gotten yourself a new ally."
Dues and Mikhael were less than impressed.
"Mark, you're going to be in big trouble when the Grandmaster finds out about how you killed that fleeing guy."
Mark winced. Mikhael was right. The Grandmaster had always repeated one of the oaths they took as soon as they were old enough to truly understand it; Never take an innocent life.
Mark slowly sheathed his sword. He turned to Mikhael.
"So, are you still in for the mission."
Mischa smirked.
"Not going to happen, buddy. Someone is sure to have seen the commotion, and I can guarantee that the others will spread the story far and wide."
Mark sighed. He had failed the mission, and he had broken one of the oaths of the assassins.
There was going to be hell to pay.
Later, Mark stood in the middle of the Grandmaster's study, at full attention, while Telanir paced back and forth in front of him, furious.
"Now, what are we going to do with you? Hm? Make an example of you? Let it slip quietly under the carpet? I don't think so."
The Grandmaster went behind his desk, sat down, and took out a potion.
Mark did nothing.
The potion was bright red, and a glow ensnared from it. Mark's eyes flicked to it once or twice, but they mostly stayed staring straight ahead.
The Grandmaster picked up the potion and unlocked it, and gave it a slight smell, then winced.
"Do you know what this potion does?"
"No, Grandmaster."
The Grandmaster stood and waved it in front of Mark's face.
"It's a special potion, and it is very tough to make, let alone keep it where it can be stored safely without any side effects."
Mark said nothing.
The Grandmaster pushed it into Mark's hand, and said, "Drink."
Mark did, and began to feel a little hot.
The Grandmaster took back the bottle, and said, "This potion has a unique property of making the last hurt upon others feel as if it is being done to themselves."
Mark started to tremble.
"Ten minutes. Good luck."
The Grandmaster walked out.
Mark felt a searing pain at the top of his head, and collapsed in a fetal position.
Ten minutes later, Mark realized this was a lesson he would never forget; Pain inflicted upon innocents will be inflicted upon yourself.
-------------------------------------
"Hey, you in there?"
Mark snapped out of his memories to see Deus staring at him.
"Uh, yeah, sorry. What were you saying?"
"I said, all of the cannons are loaded, sails are rigged, and we have a makeshift crew. I'm afraid they have no naval combat experience, but I'm confident we can find some people that are loyal enough and have naval experience in Pentagona."
Mark laughed.
"Deus, the is the first ever ship built without being a single person ship. This is new for everyone. Hell, I don't know if it's even legal."
"I actually asked the Grandmaster about that. He said that there were many different nations and empires working on this."
"So why did I get the position of captain?"
"I don't know."
Mark shook his head. No matter.
He turned and saw his crew begin to board the ship.
"Well, let's get this over with."
-------------------------------------
Mark made his way to the helm, he passed his crew, who all greeted him with, "Captain," or something similar to that.
Mark felt a little awkward, as he had always been referred to as "sir" or his rank, "Master."
His hand lightly brushed the helm, and he could feel the power of the ship radiating beneath it.
He stood upon the captains area, and watched as Deus climbed the rigging with an odd tool that looked like a hook.
Once Deus had made it up to the frontal mast, Mark signaled tithe dockmaster, who pushed a button, and the doors started to open and the chamber started to flood.
The dockmaster ran for the door, but when couldn't open it, turned towards the ship.
Mark yelled, "Deus! Arrow line!"
Deus quickly slid down the rope using his odd hook tool, and primed an arrow, aiming it slightly closer to the ship than the dockmaster. He let the arrow fly, and a line of wire trailed behind the arrow.
The arrow imbedded in the floor, and the dockmaster ran to it and pulled it from the floor, and him on for his life.
Deus had wrapped the other end of the wire around the main mast, and called out, "Angelo, pull!"
Angelo was by far the strongest person on the ship, and with one yank catapulted the dockmaster aboard, just as the wave from the doors pulled them forward.
But one of the doors was half jammed, and the rocketed towards it.
"Brace!" screamed Mark, and everyone either hit the deck, or wrapped themselves around something solid.
They slammed into the doors, and bashed straight through them, the wood splintering as the doors broke off.
But the ship's frontal ram took the blow, and the rest of the ship was fine.
Mark stood up, and motioned for the dock master to come talk to him.
"Captain," the dock master said as he approached.
"Who designed the front of the ship?"
"That would be the guys from Force Construction Company."
"Well, tell them they did an excellent job."
"Yes, Captain."
Mark turned and took the helm, guiding lightly to the port. Men on the docks waited for lines which were thrown from the ship to anchor it to the dock.
Once the ship was secure, and people started to disembark and go back to their normal schedules, Mark whistled, and Dues took out the odd hook shaped tool from his belt, and swung onto a rope, sliding down it. As he reached the end of the rope, Mark watched amazed as Deus transferred from rope to rope, with almost no effort at all.
He landed lightly in front of Mark, a little breathless.
"What's that?" Mark asked.
"Just a hook that I fashioned out of some iron. I don't know what to call it though."
They both stood thinking about it for a minute.
"A rigging hook?" Deus suggested.
Mark nodded.
"That works. Can you make more for others that may need it?"
"Of course. I'll have it ready tomorrow."
"Today."
Deus gave him a funny look.
"What do you mean?"
"We're going to set sail for the Pandaria Ocean today. The crew just got their first taste of sailing, but not of sea life."
"So you're going to take us on a voyage? For how long? And where are we going to go?"
"We'll be gone about 3-4 days. I've already arranged for provisions to be brought aboard. The crew will have to learn fast."
"But this isn't our crew, we still need to pick up more crew from... somewhere."
"We'll hire people along the way. Now, didn't you have some rigging hooks to make before we set sail?"
Deus nodded, and loped off towards the treasury and storage.
Mark sighed.
Things were changing rapidly. The Whispers of the Dead, all of these projects, and Him. Mark hoped the voyage would be uneventful, but he doubted it.
==========================
Mark and his crew sailed down the river, heading for Pentagona territory. Mark was less than happy about having to hire Pentagona natives for the Avenger's crew, as the people living there really only did things for coin.
But maybe if he picked the right ones, and showed them that he was a good leader, they might stay with him.
Mark snorted. Right.
Maur, the Avenger's secondary helmsman after Mark, look at him.
"Captain? Did you day something?"
Mark took his weight off the railing and turned back.
"No, nothing. Just thinking."
Maur nodded and turned back to the helm.
Mark wouldn't have had anyone else with full control of the ship. Maur had an uncanny eye for currents in the water. As a bonus, Maur was hardy, and could easily work 14 hour shifts.
Once, Mark asked him how he did it, and Maur just replied, "Just tell your body that you're not tired."
Mark could see the logic in that. But he could never quite accomplish it.
Mark turned and walked down the steps to his left, balancing his steps with the waves and swells.
Passing by the temporary crew, he nodded at each and every one of them, and they were grateful for it.
The Avenger was magnificent. Previous beach assault would be stopped short due to the fact the the defenders could wait at the edge of the water, and it's always harder to move and fight when you're in the water.
But with this ship, he could simple raze the beach and give cover fire to his infantry assault.
Mark blinked, remembering. He'd have to get the new crew to calibrate the cannon aim, so that they weren't hitting their own people.
"Captian! I see the dock!"
Mark looked up and squinted at the figure on the top of the mast.
"Got it Deus, thanks."
He quickly mounted the steps again, and put a reassuring hand on Maur's shoulder.
"Just don't scratch the paint."
Maur smiled, and shook his head, guiding the ship in for a smooth docking.
On the dock stood former General Tillius, who used to be in Notch's Imperial Army, before he was dismissed by Imperial Internal Affairs (IIA) for allowing citizens to leave the town he was attacking, instead of interrogating them first.
Later, Notch found out and fired every single one of the IIA members who had overseen General Tillius' review. But the damage was done, and Tillius renounced the Imperials, and left, due to the fact that he had said that he 'lost faith in the Inperials knowing who was the true enemy.'
Mark was unsure what Tillius meant by that, as Daggerfall had a massive history of being neutral in almost every conflict, except for The Madrionic Wars, where the self-proclaimed high king of this earth attempted to take over all of the known world. Daggerfall had remained neutral for much of the conflict, until the Madrionics attacked and killed every member of a diplomatic convoy heading to Madrionic lands.
This was way back when Mark was just born, and Telanir was training to be the Grandmaster. The previous Grandmaster, Scargill, had been ruthless with the Madrionics after that, immediately ordering the slaughter of all Madrionics in Daggerfall lands.
Daggerfall would later play a key role in the seige of New Ambrotos, when Scargill and Telanir would lead a small party to infiltrate and attempt to capture the Madrionic leader, Morthenal.
Scargill's group had been spotted, and in the resulting chaos, Scargill had been shot. Bleeding out, Telanir would be filled with anger, and take the ultimate shot; A killing blow dealt to Morthenal, from over 50 meters away, diving off a balcony with a bow and arrow, attempting to land in a fountain.
And just as trained, Telanr hit him in the throat.
Just as Telanir was divin off the balcony, General Tillius and his men burst into the grand hall with vengeance, overwhelming the enemies at the door, and the General was just in time to see the shot Telanir made.
Unfortunately for Telanir, he missed the fountain.
On the other hand, he did land both on a bunch of enemies, and in history, where he was then renowned for his shot. The arrow that ended the war was placed in rock above the entrance to Morthenal's tomb, with a picture frame with a stone cutout beside it reading, "Even the mightiest can fall because of a single arrow."
And the bow? Telanir gave it to Notch as a gift, to remin him that as creator of all that exists, he still had to maintain it as well. And so started the legendary Dragonriders, who were supposed to bring fire and true judgement and justice upon the land.
The Dragonriders hadn't been seen for a thousand years, only appearing once, at the Battle of the Great Plains, supposedly lifting Mark, Notch and Telanir from the ground, as Herobrine died in a spectacular explosion. But because of the limited evidence, and the fact that there was no crater, Mark doubted this theory.
Mark's crew threw ropes on to the dock, and Mark noticed that tr General had gotten his men to pound massive stakes into the ground.
The General's men scurried around, grabbing the ropes thrown on top of the dock, and tying them around the stakes.
Mark was both surprised and wary that the General had this much power and influence in Pentagona.
The fact that he had mustered enough people and materials to make the dock showed promise, almost too much, which Mark was all too aware of.
The ramp was lowered onto the dock, and Mark disembarked, followed closely by Angelo and Maur.
Mark approached the General, who was waiting in the middle of the dock, hands clasped behind his back ad feet set slightly apart. Looking at him carefully, Mark noticed the General was beginning to show signs of age, with the greying hair and the sunken eye sockets. But he still stood like he was on parade ground, honorable to the end.
"Captain Mark. Telanir told me you were coming. But I did not exactly expect Inge way he let me know."
Mark nodded. "Yeah, she certainly has a type of awe attached to her, doesn't she?"
The General unclasped his hands and developed a more relaxed stance.
As relaxed as one can get after being involved in the military for over 30 years.
"Come, I have set out some refreshments while we talk about the... deal Telanir offered me."
Mark nodded, then turned back to Angelo.
"No one gets on the ship unless I or Telanir says so."
Mark paused and added, "And General Tillius too."
Angelo moved in front of the ramp, cracked his neck and crossed his arms, his gaze daring anyone to try to board.
-------------------------------------
Deus was on top of the main mast, his eyes in both the land and sea, as they could be attacked from any direction. And the Avenger was certainly a prize worth fighting for.
A few Pentagona residents came to see what was happening, but the General's guards roughly moved them away.
Squinting, he noticed something wrong with the ocean. It seemed as if certain parts of the ocean was dipping slightly, and then it would return to normal.
Deus secured his bow and arrows, and pulled a rope beside him. The rope rang a certain bell, letting the next watchman know it was his turn.
As the watchman started to climb the mast, Deus prepared himself for his next course of action.
Deus stood on the edge of the platform, arms spread wide to either side. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply.
Leaning forward, he let himself fall off the edge, plummeting towards the water.
Halfway down, he pulled his arms above his head, and shifted his weight towards his torso.
He was now doing a perfect dive, splashing into the water, driving himself far underneath it.
Struggling to see through the salt that worked its way into his eyes, he could barely make out anything.
Suddenly a face came out of the gloom, startling him. He prepared for an attack.
But the face seemed as startled as he was.
Deus quickly reacted, reaching for his belt to the dagger that was there. Scrabbling around, he realized it had been knocked free from the dive.
His fingers brushed something, the rigging hook!
He ripped it from his belt as the figure, now a little clearer, reached over his shoulder.
Deus brought up the hook, countering the slow blow made by the long sword the figure drew from his back.
The blades intertwined, and Deus yanked. The hook caught on the sword at a very sharp angle, getting a grip even in the water.
Noting his lack of air, he realized the figure had something in his mouth.
Yanking on the hook drew them together, and Deus saw it was a long strand of sugarcane.
Deus immediately took it in and his mind created a solution.
First, the figure had it in his mouth, and the top of it would be just barely above the water.
Second, the figure didn't seem to be struggling for air as Deus was.
Third, sugarcane was mostly harvested for the sugar in its center, and when hollowed out, would be thrown away.
Dues grimaced and traced up with his free hand, and in slow motion hit the figure in the face.
The blow wasn't enough to hurt the figure, but it did knock the rod free.
The figure gasped, drawing in water. Deus grabbed the figure's collar and swam to the surface.
Deus hit the surface, gasping. The watchman called down, "Are you alright sir?"
Deus spit out some water, taking in a deep breath.
"Sound the alarm!" he shouted. "We're about to be under attack!"