The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
That's right. I just made another one. Hold onto your butts.
Part 1:
Lance slowly opened his eyes, still half-conscious and staring at the blue sky. The only thing his mind would allow him to do was watch the clouds as they floated on by. He never bothered to question himself, how did he get here? It was as if staring at clouds with the rest of your nonresponsive body was your entire life.
Eventually, his mind started to turn its gears. He began to enter that strange process he knew as thinking. Somehow it seemed so foreign to him. When his mind reached a certain point, it hit him. A flashback came to mind.
He was in a military base. Not just any base, no. This was the headquarters of the international air force. However, nobody knew he was there. He was hiding behind some crates and walls, following a specific man wearing a heavy vest. He could overhear a guard speaking to the man with the vest.
“Agent Anderson.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Heading to the platform?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
“Go on.”
Lance watched closely from behind a corner as Anderson strolled through the metal hall while the guard stood there. “Crud,” he whispered to himself. The guard was stationary. He had to find a way around him. He was scared that even his own heartbeat would be heard by the guard. He concentrated and began to think. Reaching into his pocket, Lance could only feel a rubber band and a stick of staples. Carefully, he knotted the rubber band around a few staples, his hands working like nimble spiders. He managed to make some kind of slingshot out of them, but he had nothing to launch. Quietly, he opened one of the huge containers and found a large pile of empty ammo cartridges. He took one that was small yet heavy, and put it into the rubber band. Finally, he stretched it back and slowly peered over the corner where the guard was standing. He was running out of time.
In a time-splitting movement, he released the band and the cartridge zipped through the air, finding its mark on the guard’s head and also knocking him out. Punching the air in a victorious way, Lance moved out and made it to the end of the hallway.
He was getting closer to the helipad. He knew this as he began to hear the sound of loud humming air. Wait a second. That’s the helicopter. It’s taking off.
He found the metal double-doors leading outside and shoved them open. He could see the helicopter facing away from him, just beginning to lift off the ground. Panicking, Lance sprinted to the helicopter with all his strength and sprang off his feet, just barely grabbing hold of the helicopter’s landing rails. He looked down and saw the platform moving further away; the helicopter was ascending. He yelled in fear, but the spinning blades and the whirling air drowned out his voice. He scurried up into the open doors of the helicopter, a few feet behind the pilot, who had put on his helmet.
Immediately, he crawled and hid inside the tiny storage room in the back, where there were four heavy crates. The sound of loud air suddenly ceased, and Lance figured that the pilot had just closed the doors. Now the only sound was coming from the humming propellers, which was emanating from every direction.
He overheard the pilot conversing with the control tower in the base. But he could only hear the pilot’s voice. “Yes, I’ve just taken off… I apologize, sir, but… There was a rescue operation I had to attend to. It was a major shipwreck off the cost of California… Yes, that’s why I’m a few days late… Don’t worry, sir, they’ll be back before you know it… Yes, sir. Anderson, out.”
Then there was silence. Lance remembered that he had paid careful attention to the flights in the air force base, including delayed flights, which this one was. That’s right; he had sneaked on this helicopter to see his friend. He had lived in the same town as Lance, and he was chosen for the expedition to find new land. What was his name…?
Either way, he was going to surprise his friend with his presence. Of course, the pilot was going to find him sooner or later. But he didn’t care. He just wanted to come along for the trip, as if he were the twenty-first explorer. He wanted to join the adventure.
However, the expedition team would be going home soon, and the helicopter is to carry this out. That means he would barely have time to enjoy the time there. But, again, he still didn’t care.
Since time had gone by and he didn’t expect to be arriving soon, Lance decided to peek into the large crates in the storage room. The first one contained your average supplies; ropes, pliers, an axe, the usual. After all, this was a standard search-and-rescue helicopter. The second box was the smallest, and it held a variety of canned goods and bottled water. The third box held a few minor weapons like knives and small guns, but judging from the weight, they seemed to be unloaded. The fourth contained miscellaneous items, such as a life preserver, a flare gun and some kind of voice recorder.
Lance checked his watch. About an hour went by. How long was it until he arrived at his destination? Despite how much he wanted to stay alert, the sounds of the propellers made him sleepy. Lance found himself using the life preserver as a rough pillow, and his eyes force-closed.
Ironically, he had been safe for the whole nap. He checked his watch again. Now it had been two hours of being a stowaway.
He poked his head through the storage room door, listening for the pilot’s voice. Then he heard it. “This is Pilot Anderson, there seems to be a problem with the tracker device the team kept with them. I’m not getting a reading… Yes, I understand, they began here, but they could be anywhere by now. I don’t know what to do…”
Now, Lance could barely hear a muffled voice from the pilot’s speaker. It seemed to be upset. But then, he heard the pilot’s voice in a different tone, a frightened one. “Um, what is that…? Hold on, sir, I think I see something… No, I don’t think it’s them…”
Lance instinctively checked his watch. Strangely, the hands were wildly spinning in different directions. Reluctantly, Lance crawled to the window on the doors and looked out of it. Below the helicopter was a large mass of tall, thick, dark green trees. He kept scanning the view. That’s when he saw it; there was some kind of bright, harsh light some distance away. But that wasn’t all. It was spreading throughout his sight, turning different colors. What was going on?
In no time, the huge, infinite light engulfed the helicopter, which began to rumble violently. The pilot yelled out “Something’s hit the vessel! Mayday! Mayday!... Sir, are you there? I’m losing altitude! Something’s happening!” As Lance listened closely, all he heard from the speaker was fuzzy static. The line was dead.
Lance saw the trees getting closer. The helicopter was falling.
“I need a flare signal!” the pilot shouted as he sprang from his seat. Lance was in panic, but he didn’t know if it was from the pilot getting up, or the blinding light that beamed through all the windows. He began to hear the sound of machinery failing and a small alarm bleeping.
He looked up and noticed that the pilot had stopped a few inches from him. He couldn’t see eye to eye with him, but he was sure the pilot was facing him. The light was so intense that it made everything look like a silhouette. The pilot didn’t have time to say anything.
Because the helicopter had already crashed.
Lance had flown out the window, shattering through it with his head, and his last memory was torpedoing face first into the ground.
All of those events flashed through his mind in a split second. It was the memory of hitting the ground that finally awoke Lance completely. His entire body jump-started and every muscle twitched at once. Most of them were pained. Immediately, Lance said “Ouch!” He took a deep breath. Finally gaining control of himself, he slowly sat up. His neck ached all too terribly. Looking around, he was in a small clearing, but it wasn’t truly clear. There were random pieces of wreckage and rubble surrounding him, and to the right of him was the destroyed helicopter. Its rudders were dented, the windows shattered, and most of the supplies spilled.
Lance managed to stand, but one leg was badly injured. Perhaps this was the one he put his weight on when he landed on the ground. He limped over to the broken helicopter. There were some burn marks along the floor and walls, but the fire and smoke had gone out some time ago. As Lance looked closer, he noticed the blackened body of the pilot, and a pretty bad amount of blood in the areas around him. However, most of the blood was much darker and cooked by the fire that had once been there.
Lance turned around and limped a few feet away from the helicopter, studying the scattered items. Most of it was useless. Plus, the majority of the supplies that were useful were closer to and inside the helicopter, which however was slightly tilted to one side.
From behind him, Lance could barely hear the sound of grass being crunched under a set of feet. He looked in the direction where the sound came from. From under a cluster of trees outside the clearing, a creeper, its face twisted as if it was screaming, was making its way toward him. As if that weren’t bad enough, there was a second creeper trailing behind it. When it came dangerously close, it hissed and flashed white. With a quick reflex, Lance punched the creeper, knocking it into the one behind it, causing it to explode, and killing the one behind it.
The explosion was loud and a ring of thick dust emitted from it, and a crater was left in its place. Lance looked into the crater. There were no traces of either of the creepers. Except for… what was that? There was a peculiar pile of gray-white dust inside the crater. Before he was able to pick it up, though, Lance felt a throbbing pain in his right arm. He had made a mistake punching the creeper with that arm; it was his good one, and he messed it up even more after the crash.
The thought came to him. “Wait. What was that?” he thought out loud. Worried of the possibility of more creepers, Lance scooped up the pile of gray-white dust and examined it. It appeared to be some form of gunpowder. Unsure of why this strange creature would have this, Lance took the gunpowder into an empty crate that was lying on the ground and kept it there. He knew he had to gather the better supplies; at least until he found a way out of this huge forest. The sun appeared to be nearing the horizon.
Lance looked at his wrist, expecting the watch to be there, but it was gone. When he looked again at the ground, the watch was there in the grass, covered in dirt, and broken beyond repair. Ignoring it, Lance slowly pulled the door to the helicopter open, which hurt both of his arms.
Stepping over the pilot’s body, he entered the storage room and looked for any undamaged items. The voice recorder had been smashed, yet somehow the life preserver was in better shape. Lance noticed a still-wrapped roll of gauze in the corner of a broken crate. Seizing the opportunity, Lance picked it up and wrapped it around his broken arm and shoulder. That would at least protect it by a small amount.
Lance also picked up a can of beans and the life preserver. To be honest, he thought it’d make a good pillow for the night. He also got the flare gun. He hoped it still worked, as he was going to fire a shot into the air tonight in the hopes it would attract attention. Finally, he picked up a dented water bottle. His hands were beginning to fill up, so he exited the helicopter, noticing that the sunlight cast a kind of blue hue under the trees as it was beginning to disappear.
He looked around the enormous roots of the giant trees for some kind of shelter. There, he thought, looking at a kind of dome made by the roots, and covered by bushes. He crawled in and set his food and water inside of it. Then, he placed the life preserver in the back, against the trunk of the tree, and crawled back out of the roots.
It was dark now. Lance pointed the flare gun up, hoping it would work. He pulled the trigger. Suddenly a little red ball of light shot up into the air. Lance smiled, then covered his eyes as a huge red flash lit up all of his surroundings, becoming a replacement sun for a minute. Then it stopped and disappeared altogether.
Lance tiredly crawled under his little root-shelter, opening the bottle of water and drinking some of it. It refreshed his insides, but it couldn’t make up for the damage the crash had caused him.
Suddenly, the thought hit him that the flare could also attract more of those strange green creatures. He lay down against the life preserver, whispering “What have I gotten myself into?” He wanted adventure, but not like this.
This was the second time I climb the Butte in one day. But there couldn’t have been a more perfect time; the sun was setting, and there were beautiful festive lights in the village. Everybody was enjoying themselves. Day One of being ruler of the Overworld was a success. I also gained the ability to control spiders, silverfish, and creepers whenever I’m in their presence, similar to how Amnesha controls Endermen and Herobrine controls the Nether creatures.
But something disrupted my train of thought. I looked down and noticed my shadow was more visible than it was a few seconds ago. I looked behind me and noticed some small, yet strong red light nearly a mile away or possibly more.
However, this was something I knew back in civilization. It was a flare. I had no idea how it got there, but I was prepared to find out. I retrieved the Homing Bow and headed in the direction of the jungle for the first time ever.
There was still something to take care of.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
Part 2:
“Wait a second,” Lance thought, remembering his injured arm. He crawled out of his root-shelter and moved to the helicopter’s ruins. He figured that if he were to fight another creature, he shouldn’t be using his bare hands.
The helicopter was sitting in front of a broken down tree. The tree was covered in a sleek pattern of cuts across the bark, meaning the blades had sliced through it, damaging them heavily. Lance checked the blades. Two were missing, and two were barely unhinged off the top. Lance thought this was a crazy idea, but a helicopter blade seemed to be the only thing around that would do as a weapon.
It took a bit of strength, but he pried the blade off the hinge. It was extremely heavy, and it made his arms even sorer just by holding it. But Lance figured it was better than the shock that came after punching something. He dragged it back to his shelter, careful not to bump into any roots because of how dark it was. The flare had already died out.
Lance set the blade beside him and fell onto the soft life preserver, thankful he could finally rest.
But a sound from behind him made him think, not just yet.
There came the sound of rustling inside the helicopter, the sound of glass and other parts being moved around. Lance sat up, trying to see even the slightest movement. His eyes were not adjusting enough.
As if by complete luck, the moon weaved its way through the clouds, making things only so much brighter. Lance could now see the silhouette of the helicopter, as well as some trees. As he continued to observe, another silhouette was making its way out of the window of the helicopter. He heard more glass scraping as the figure’s hands reached over the window sill. Lance suddenly thought, is that the pilot?
The figure stumbled over the window opening, falling clumsily into a heap on the ground. It mumbled something gibberish, like it could not speak. Then, it slowly picked itself up, getting control of itself, and, with a groan, it began making its way over to Lance.
Lance’s eyes sharpened. He wasn’t sure if he could believe it, but it seemed to be a zombie. A zombie? He only knew them as something out of a video game. But it was real. How could that be?
But it wasn’t the time to question. The zombie was coming after him. Lance fearfully heaved the helicopter blade and pointed it at the zombie, hoping it would step back. The zombie showed no fear and persisted onwards, now only feet away. Also concealing his fear, Lance jabbed the blade through the air with all his might, piercing through the zombie’s chest. The zombie gurgled, twitched, and then turned to dead weight as it fell motionless in the helicopter blade.
Lance’s arm pained once more, and let both the blade and the zombie fall to the ground. He could just notice the half-singed body, its bones beginning to protrude from the stretched skin on its face. Sharp pieces of metal had punctured through the pilot helmet, revealing a few bits of brains and blood. The vest was burnt to a crisp, and sure enough, a blackened and bloody “ANDERSON” was printed on the side of the vest.
Lance began to look up, away from the sight, and as he did, he instantly looked back down. Something was standing beside him, an impossibly tall dark figure, staring him down with shimmering purple eyes.
Slowly, Lance looked up again, having an unexpected staring contest with the Enderman. Its eyes were so bright against the dark of everything else. Perhaps they were brighter than the moon.
And soon enough, the Enderman disappeared without a trace, except… are those purple snowflakes?
Lance looked around, unsure of where it went. He eventually shrugged it off, thinking it was some illusion, and crawled back to his shelter, staring up at what little he could see of the sky. The moon was starting to make its way to the west end of the horizon. His body shut down into sleep, but his eyes remained open, as well as his mind. He began to reflect once again on how he got here, how he was going to survive, what those creatures were, and most importantly how he was going to find a way out. He would just have to rely on that one flare for the night.
Suddenly, his train of thought was derailed as he heard the sound of a string being pulled, followed by something zipping through the air. Something very light and quick flew across his field of sight, and immediately he turned his head back as the thing hit and stuck to the bark of a root. It was an arrow.
Lance’s heart sank.
Returning to this rainforest gave me a chilling feeling inside, but curiosity has gotten the best of me. If that really was a flare, then someone must have set it off. My vision was decreased slightly in the dark, but the Soul Bond had that covered. Its purple glow lit up a good few feet so I could traverse the bumpy terrain easier. I looked up at the sky through the thick leaves; I could barely see the smoke cloud left by the flare above me, but it was continuing to move a specific direction similar to a firework smoke cloud. That meant that the source of the flare was a bit further than from where I expect it to be.
The moon was reaching the far end of the horizon, meaning the sun would be coming up soon. I stopped, and carefully listened out for any sound out of the ordinary. Then I heard it, the most inaudible sound volume possible. In the distance, I barely detected the sound of arrows being fired. It was a skeleton, no doubt.
I picked up the pace and jogged faster. The sky’s black color was now a deep navy blue. If the sun came up quick enough, the skeleton would burn if I didn’t take it out myself.
Then, I heard a voice loud and clear; “Stop!” I couldn’t believe it. That sounded like a regular human. My jogging turned into running. My old shoes screeched to a halt as I nearly tumbled over a small valley side.
I could see much further now that it was early morning. I hastily scanned the valley, looking for signs of movement. The sound of grass and bushes being shoved brought my attention to the left side of the valley. There I saw him; someone was stumbling over mounds of dirt and tree roots, ducking every so often to avoid an arrow aimed for his head. Behind him was the skeleton, almost out of arrows. And to make matters more interesting, a creeper was sneaking up on him from the left flank. Without even thinking another thought, I took the Homing Bow in hand and released an arrow, hitting the skeleton right through the skull, killing it instantly. The person stopped running and looked at the skeleton’s cracked body, its bow still in its phalanges. He didn’t even hear the creeper behind him, which hissed and began to flash white. He spun around and saw it just as I flung out my arm and concentrated my mind. He saw the creeper flash one more time, then it stopped, and backed away from him.
He looked up at me, but we were a bit too far from each other to see detail. I hopped down the valley side and went over to him, putting the Homing Bow on my back. As I neared closer, his face came to me with recognition.
I stopped in front of him and I sized him up. I wasn’t sure what to think; it was my friend Lance. After a few seconds, he broke the silence. “Whoa. Dude… Hi.”
It felt strange seeing him here. I supposed it was too early for explaining, so I simply said, “Is that you, Lance?”
“Yeah, it is…” he said, sitting on the ground from exhaustion. “Nice to see you here…” Then he let his back drop to the ground, falling asleep knowing it was safe. I wasn’t sure if he had been awake or tired for a long time or not, but he sure seemed like it. His face looked beat up, he had a few bad cuts, and his arm didn’t look okay at all.
I was more than used to this business by now. I whistled as loud as I could in the direction I came from. I waited a few minutes, switching looks between the valley side and Lance, who was still out cold.
Finally, I heard rapid footsteps on the ground some distance away- or should I say paw steps. Rhino came running and skidding down the slope, stopping in front of me and wagging his tail. He sat down, looked at me, and continued breathing from his mouth.
I pointed at Lance and said “Let’s get him to the village.” Rhino got back on his fours and braced himself as I put Lance on his back. I waved my arm in the direction from which we entered the valley, and we set off back through the jungle. I looked back and saw that the creeper was following us, curious to what we were up to. The three of us began to bring Lance back to the village.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
I don't even know what necro means. But meh. I'm going to keep working on it as much as I can. However, because it's a school year right now, I will not find much time to write it. This could take some patience, but hopefully I'll get this done in the middle of the summer. After all, I wrote the whole first story during the summer, so... yeah.
Ugg, know how that feels: writing a story myself right now. (Although at the moment I'm on Spring Break) So I guess just do whatever you feel like doing.
Also, congratulations on the 42 posts; I remember when I hit 42: I was like, "what the heck is this".
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
Thank you, my good people. I assure you, after all this school business is over with, you can expect the chapters to be rolling in. I will try to make one during Spring Break, which for me is in two weeks.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
Part 3 is currently in progress. It will still be some time, but some progress is better than none. Plus there's still a bit of planning to do. Don't worry, it won't be too long before I'm done.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
Finally, after much delay, the next chapter is done!
Part 3:
It took a while for Zane to fully grasp what I had told him. I did not blame him either. Who would believe your old time friend had just crashed here on the helicopter that was to bring us home? Zane sat down on a nearby chair, attempting to get his facts straight. “Hold on. Just hold on. So this helicopter was late? We could have gone home at the last second?” Zane buried his half-burnt face in his piggy hands. He seemed to have forgotten what he had said days earlier about staying here in this new world.
Zane was also paying no attention to Lance, who was knocked out in the village recovery home. I watched as the medic studied him carefully. He was checking his arm, which looked in bad shape, as well as checking his forehead for any fever or possible brain damage from when he fell to the ground.
The medic turned to us and said lightly “Something will be done for the arm especially, but I feel additional injuries under the flesh as well. They too will be treated.” He opened a cabinet over his desk and reached for a fresh, higher quality gauze wrap, as well as disinfectants for Lance’s open cuts.
Zane did not raise his head until a much harsher voice broke the fairly calm atmosphere. “You have allowed another human into this realm?” Each of us turned to find Herobrine standing completely unnoticed in the corner of the house. In his usual, yet unsettling tone of voice, he asked “Do you not realize the amount of danger he could pose to us?”
Looking Herobrine in the blank eyes, I found the courage to say “I do, and the threat is very little. I know him. He poses no such danger.”
“It does not matter. I keep my suspicions. Humans are nothing but trouble,” Herobrine said.
Zane raised his back up a little more and stated “Plus, don’t you know it’s a human that now keeps this world solitary against all others? You have him to thank. I’m technically not a human anymore.”
Unexpectedly, even the medic made a remark of his own. “Who is one to talk down upon an injured man?”
Herobrine stared unblinkingly at all of us for a short silent moment, before saying “So be it.” And a second later, he vanished into thin air; he had probably gone back to his castle in the Nether.
There was another minute of silence, except for the peaceful sound of villagers outside, handling all of their daily duties. Also from outside, I heard Rhino bark once, but it did not sound like an aggressive bark at all. In walked Amnesha, which surprised me because she could simply get around by teleporting. I figured that now that everything’s peaceful, there’s no need to rush around all the time by teleportation.
“Hello guys,” she said. “I’ve set up a magic painting at the end of the church’s hall. It’s like a quick portal, if you will, to the End. No need for traveling so far to the Stronghold anymore. If you ever must speak to me, that painting is your way to go.” Before turning to leave, Amnesha stopped and looked at the window. A second later she said “There’s a creeper at the window.”
I looked in the direction she was looking, and noticed the creeper that had followed me was peering at us through the window near Lance’s bed. It seemed to be smiling. “Who’s that on the bed?” Amnesha asked. Just as Zane began to sigh deeply, I explained to Amnesha how I had found Lance and the state of physical health he was in now.
“He better not cause trouble,” Amnesha said after. “It’s amazing what even a handful of humans can do.”
“Don’t worry,” I replied. “Everything’s just fine.”
At that moment, Herobrine reappeared in the room, handing the medic a glass bottle containing a shining pink liquid. I couldn’t confuse it for anything else. It was a potion of regeneration. The medic carefully took the bottle and promptly said “Thank you.”
Then, turning to face me, Herobrine eventually said “One of yours is one of mine.” He vanished again after that.
“How nice of him,” I thought out loud.
“Huh. Didn’t expect that from a guy like him,” said Zane.
Addressing Amnesha, I asked “Is it normal that I feel the need to sleep even though I’m technically a mystical ruler now?”
“It’s normal,” Amnesha answered. “You’re young as a ruler, so you’re not going to have almighty powers right away.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said. “I think I may go take a quick rest. I haven’t slept very recently. Hope you guys can carry on without me for a bit?”
The medic had finished giving Lance the potion of regeneration, so he looked up at me with the odd shade of green eyes that all other villagers have. “Do what you must. Rest is very important.”
“Thanks again,” I said, to nobody in particular, as I walked out the door. Rhino greeted me, as did the creeper with its unordinary smiling face. Steadily, I made my way to my house, the desert hill not far to the West. I opened the old wooden door and stepped inside the warm house. Seeing my own home, which I had made completely myself, gave me a vibrant feeling of comfort. I turned to close the door behind me, and as I did, I saw that the creeper had walked in behind Rhino and I.
The creeper and I stared face to face for a while, before I asked “What’s up?” The creeper, not being able to speak, huddled into me, apparently trying to hug me without any arms. Whatever it was, I accepted it, and embraced the creeper in my arms. I never realized until now that hugging a potentially evil monster was a nice thing to do. Despite being a living bomb, the creeper was soft, almost like a pillow. It made sense to me that, being an exploding creature with no arms, all a creeper would ever want was a hug. Just like all other living things, they had feelings too.
I realized I was standing in the same place Amnesha had hugged me.
Maybe that’s all it took to plant a seed of good; a hug.
I released the creeper and turned to head upstairs. But, the smell of food from the storage area was making my mouth water. I opened the box and took out a slice of bread for a pre-nap snack. I ate it, but, somehow there was less taste than I imagined. It was the kind of feeling I got back on Earth, when I was tired of eating the same thing all the time.
That’s when I realized it was a feeling of being right at home. This place felt like home.
It was home.
The creeper waddled up to me in its smooth kind of stride, and nibbled the rest of the bread out of my hand. It never lost its smile.
Finally, I was ready for my afternoon nap. Rhino followed me up to my bedroom; the creeper stayed put. I put my hand to my head, ready to instinctively remove my armor; but then I remembered I had forgotten it at the village without even thinking. So I skipped to lying down on my back, staring at the rough sandstone ceiling. I succumbed to my tiredness and let the light, gentle darkness of sleep grip me.
What a day. I’ve never deserved sleep more.
I awoke on my own; no sounds of teleporting Endermen, no screaming Ghast to startle me awake, not even a knock on the door from a villager. I awoke ever so peacefully, and it was pleasant.
Standing up, however, was not so pleasant. A blur of purple and black clouded my vision, as if I were somehow malnourished. But I felt great either way, so I marched down the stairs, Rhino following me. The creeper was standing at the foot of the stairs, waiting for me. I smiled and pat it on the head. Then I took out a chunk of beef from the box and fed Rhino.
I looked out the door once I had opened it. The sun was a little more than halfway through the sky. I probably hadn’t slept that long. Nonetheless I felt rejuvenated.
The creeper, Rhino and I began to walk through the desert clearing in front of the Butte. In the distance, over a small hill, I noticed a few villagers outside, growing their crops.
As I approached the roads of the village, I glanced at the entrance of the church. A few villagers seemed to be inside of it, and at the back of the church, Amnesha was speaking to them. I kept walking to the medic’s house, which was across the gravel road. I pointed to the ground, indicating for Rhino and the creeper to stay. I turned and opened the door, the gentle squeak of which eased my nerves a little more than I imagined.
The first thing my eyes directed to was the bed which Lance was on. His well-made cast was still on and his eyes were open. Immediately he said excitedly, “Hey man!”
“Afternoon, Lance,” I said, then turning and saying “Medic,” to acknowledge his presence as well. “I’m still surprised you managed to find me. Tell me, how did you do it?”
As if on cue, Amnesha and Herobrine teleported into the room. “I love a good story,” said Amnesha.
“Indeed,” Herobrine responded. “I am interested to know how this little human beat the odds. As if one lucky human was not enough.” We all found a chair and sat down.
With the slightest hesitation, Lance began to tell his story. We listened intently, trying to make sense of each detail.
“…They were late to go get you, so I managed to sneak on board this helicopter…”
“…So I was like a stowaway, completely unnoticed by the pilot…”
“…And I saw this, like, huge wave of colors and suddenly the helicopter started rupturing…”
“...Those things were like exploding green stalks, and I found a lot of gunpowder in its crater…”
“…I swear that guy was like a zombie or something, and it really freaked me out…”
“…And that’s when you showed up.”
It was almost sunset.
After the story, Herobrine took a breath and said “What you survived through was nothing short of a miracle, I assure you.”
I sat up straight and said “Now then, Lance, if you think that’s a lot to go through, let me tell you my story.” I chuckled. “Boy, are you in for one heck of a treat.”
Allowing a very slight giggle, Amnesha said “Do tell.”
Taking a deep breath, I too began to tell my story:
"It was only a few days after the expedition began when it happened."
It took what seemed like forever, as the sun fell before we knew it. By now, even the medic was listening along. To let in a bit more light, Herobrine created a little ember of fire, flickering over his hand. It felt like a campfire gathering where we all told our stories to each other. By around this time, Amnesha and Herobrine were throwing a few parts in, while Lance frequently asked questions.
“I can’t believe I was so evil.”
“If it were not for me, falling from the tower would have easily killed you.”
“So that’s what those tall black things are?”
“I had to wake you up with a screaming Ghast.”
“So silverfish are giant worms? What kind of place is this?”
“Only then did I experience what it felt like to smash into obsidian headfirst.”
“What? I kissed you? Oh…”
“You died?!”
With that, I finished my story with both a smirk and a very dry throat. I know I had made my impression, almost certain that Lance saw me as some kind of hero now. I loved the feeling of being at such a high level of respect.
The sun had disappeared long ago. Now, outside, was only a soft moonshine. For a moment, there was a peaceful silence that, oddly enough, was somewhat settling. Then, Amnesha asked us “Do you want to visit the End? As I said earlier, I put up a painting in the church that takes you there. I was demonstrating to a few villagers today, and they seem to see it as an inter-dimensional vacation or something. But I can show you, Lance, what the End is like.”
“Sure I would!” replied Lance. “Medic, can I go?”
“If you wish,” said the medic. “You should be feeling much better by now.”
Excited, Lance jumped out of the bed and followed us, as we began to exit the house and cross the path to the church. Rhino looked at me happily, and so did the creeper. I invited them into the church, and they eagerly followed. The interior’s cobblestone walls and flooring made the church seem somewhat ancient and monumental to the community.
The painting was a few paces away from the entrance; the church itself wasn’t very big on the inside. “Here it is,” said Amnesha. “You can come and go as you please using the painting.”
We studied the medium-sized painting on the wall, which also reached down to the floor. I could see the End quite nicely; the End stone ground, some obsidian pillars, and the black void far in the background.
“How do you enter it?” Lance asked.
“Just step right through it. It’s like a magic mirror.”
Taking her advice, we carefully put our feet into the painting, which surprisingly allowed us to pass completely into the End. We stepped through entirely and looked around in surprise. The exit painting was hanging on the flat surface of an obsidian pillar, which instead looked like the interior of the church. Also in the exit painting, I saw Rhino and the creeper clumsily stumble over each other and into the End with us.
Amnesha was the last to enter, after Herobrine. After we were all in, we were greeted by an Enderman, who seemed to be standing around doing absolutely nothing. Amnesha guided Lance around, showing him the pillars and telling him the story of how it came to be, of how it shattered into many pieces. The End looked like a massive place, but it felt more empty now that the feeling of evil was gone, leaving the air light.
Along the way, we ended up seeing many massive, dried splatters of blood, the biggest being in the spot where I was killed. Lance almost lurched at the sight, but by now I was completely unfazed by the sight of gore.
“I’m sorry,” said Amnesha. “I’ll get that cleaned up later.”
A few paces later we came across a worn-down, abandoned iron sword that was on the ground, approximately three meters away from an obsidian pillar that had a few cracks in its side. We all looked at Herobrine. Lance asked “What is your skull made of?”
“I will not answer that,” replied Herobrine.
Finally we reached Amnesha’s massive throne. Only, resting beside it was Mir, the Ender Dragon. Rhino, Lance and I approached him, causing him to open his purple eyes. Mir lifted his head and nuzzled us as we pet his back. Rhino licked him on the face.
“Mir’s really cute,” said Lance, “Especially for a dragon. I didn’t know dragons really existed!”
“So, yeah. I suppose that’s about it for this place,” said Amnesha.
“I can’t believe it though. Another dimension! How amazing is that?” Lance shouted. “I mean, could you imagine all the awesome stuff we could do with more than one dimension?”
“Like what?” Amnesha asked, with a slight tone of irritation.
“Like, we could use them for really fast traveling,” Lance said. “We could get from one point to another in mere seconds with your paintings.”
Amnesha nodded. “I wasn’t expecting an answer like that… Well, that bedrock fountain in the center is also a portal. It takes you to the Stronghold, which normally would be miles away.”
“Wow,” said Lance, turning to me. “You really got your work cut out for you, don’t you? You actually rule this place?”
“No, she does,” I said, pointing to Amnesha. “I take care of the Overworld outside the painting. Actually… Amnesha, why don’t I have the kind of abilities you and Herobrine have? Like all that fancy element controlling and not even having to sleep?” The thought had been puzzling me for a while, but I figured I might as well get that out there again.
“Let’s put it this way,” Amnesha replied. “Becoming a new ruler, it’s almost like being reborn, but not really. You are young as a ruler, as I said earlier, so you’re not almighty. You still need to grow, in a sense. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” I said. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Okay,” Amnesha said, “I’m going to head back now. I wanna try building a little house for myself in the village. In here, it’s nothing but this giant throne. Let’s go.”
Herobrine, the creeper and I began to follow her, but then I turned as I looked for Rhino. Then I saw him, sitting with his mouth open while an Enderman was petting him. I motioned my hand for him to follow, and he did. We stepped through the painting, still talking amongst ourselves, and we exited the church.
But we had totally forgotten Lance.
Lance stood behind an obsidian pillar, listening as a small group of Enderman was taking a short walk, discussing something inaudible. When they had passed, Lance looked around. He was still baffled at the size of the End; perhaps it went on forever. But in the center of this blank nothingness, surely there was more to this floating island than this. Lance’s need for exploration had to be satisfied.
He slowly made his way to the throne, the most massive one he’s ever seen. He felt the arm of it, which felt cold as stone. Then, Lance quietly walked around it, trying not to wake up Mir, as he wanted to peer over the edge of the island. He knew how dangerous it was, but he was driven to it by curiosity more than driven away by fear.
Lance looked over the edge. There was nothing. Nothing but a huge black void. There was no seeing the bottom.
But something else caught Lance’s eye. At the edge of the island, some paces away, there was a cut-out staircase made of End stone. Without another thought Lance went over to it, silently. There seemed to be something he was not told about on the tour. Lance cautiously went down the stairs, careful not to fall over the edge of the island.
The stairs led to a massive, wide open cave in the side of the island. A toxic smell penetrated his nose. He knew it as the horrid smell of uranium. Lance was a skilled engineer on Earth, and he had worked with every element in the periodic table.
At the entrance of the cave, there were a few old, discarded bomb shells across the floor, giving the impression that there was once a nuclear explosive that detonated down here. Perhaps it was what shattered the End in the first place.
Lance held his breath as much as he could; he did not know exactly how deadly the fumes were. No matter how old, nuclear waste can stay lethal for years after an explosion.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of splashing gelatin. Lance pushed onwards, to find that there was a strange cube of green slime sitting at his feet. Suddenly, the slime looked at him, and Lance could see an odd dark green face inside of the cube. The eyes were square, and its mouth showed no emotion. Then, the slime turned and hopped away in a different direction.
“Weird…” said Lance, which echoed slightly. It made sense now; the toxic waste from the atomic bomb mutated into a glob of living slime. The thought made him smirk, as he had always imagined creating artificial creatures in the past.
But a few more steps forward showed that this nuclear waste was a lot more powerful than Lance thought. There was more than one slime; a few cubes of slime of different sizes were hopping around the floor of the cave. One was huge, the size of Lance, while others reached no higher than his knees. The largest one was staring at him, with an unreadable face that almost reminded Lance of some cartoon.
Lance wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to be down here. When he remembered the danger of the uranium stench, his mind was set on leaving. But, yet again, something caught his eye. There was a semi-hidden chest in the back of the cave. With a final burst of curiosity, Lance approached the chest. He wasted no time opening it, as he wanted to leave this place immediately. But when he did, a bright ray of light shined out of the chest, blinding Lance for a second or two. When his eyes adjusted, he peered into the chest.
Sitting on a plush-looking, miniature pillow was the last Eye of Ender. Its green and blue sparkle amazed Lance. He picked it up, saying “Wow. Isn’t this the Ender Eye?”
His mind hit the crossroad of whether he should bring it to someone to ask about it, or if he should leave it in the chest and not speak about it. However, his mind didn’t get the chance to ponder. A tiny slime bumped harshly into the back of his legs, forcing his knees to unlock, driving Lance forward and toward the ground. The Eye of Ender slipped out of his hands, flinging forward away from him. Lance hit the ground, but looked up quickly enough to see the Eye land perfectly inside the giant slime. When it did, both Lance and the slime remained frozen, unsure of what just happened.
Then, suddenly, the giant slime made an odd bubbling sound, and its face now looked shocked. Lance watched closely, noticing the shine of the Eye become dark, and a black ooze began to replace the green innards of the slime. The slime’s face began to twitch as more of itself became infected by the Eye’s power. Suddenly, as the infection spread to its face, its black eyes began to glow purple, just like an Enderman. In no more than a few seconds, the entire slime turned pitch black.
“Uh oh,” said Lance with a drop of sweat.
Corrupted by the Eye of Ender, the black slime suddenly extended itself, reaching all the other slimes using gelatinous tentacles created from itself. All the other slimes became carriers of the black ooze, and in a matter of seconds, victims.
They all turned to stare at Lance with a crowd of purple eyes. Lance didn’t know what to say. The gaze of their shimmering eyes paralyzed him with fear. Then, without warning, they simultaneously teleported out of the cave, making a chorus of echoing swooping sounds and leaving a cloud of purple snowflakes.
The stench of uranium was gone. But it was replaced by a feeling a thousand times worse. Evil.
Always a a method for disaster. I like how your bringing in mods again. Suits the situation perfectly. Can't wai to see wwhat happens and how angry the rulers will get.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
Indeed, not many people are going to be happy about this. This story is going to bloom a lot more; this chapter specifically is just about as humorous as it gets. Things will get a lot more serious very soon.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
7/24/2012
Posts:
69
Member Details
Well I can't promise anything right away. I've been busy again, but summer is only a month and a half away. For sure there will be new stuff around then.
Part 1:
Lance slowly opened his eyes, still half-conscious and staring at the blue sky. The only thing his mind would allow him to do was watch the clouds as they floated on by. He never bothered to question himself, how did he get here? It was as if staring at clouds with the rest of your nonresponsive body was your entire life.
Eventually, his mind started to turn its gears. He began to enter that strange process he knew as thinking. Somehow it seemed so foreign to him. When his mind reached a certain point, it hit him. A flashback came to mind.
He was in a military base. Not just any base, no. This was the headquarters of the international air force. However, nobody knew he was there. He was hiding behind some crates and walls, following a specific man wearing a heavy vest. He could overhear a guard speaking to the man with the vest.
“Agent Anderson.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Heading to the platform?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
“Go on.”
Lance watched closely from behind a corner as Anderson strolled through the metal hall while the guard stood there. “Crud,” he whispered to himself. The guard was stationary. He had to find a way around him. He was scared that even his own heartbeat would be heard by the guard. He concentrated and began to think. Reaching into his pocket, Lance could only feel a rubber band and a stick of staples. Carefully, he knotted the rubber band around a few staples, his hands working like nimble spiders. He managed to make some kind of slingshot out of them, but he had nothing to launch. Quietly, he opened one of the huge containers and found a large pile of empty ammo cartridges. He took one that was small yet heavy, and put it into the rubber band. Finally, he stretched it back and slowly peered over the corner where the guard was standing. He was running out of time.
In a time-splitting movement, he released the band and the cartridge zipped through the air, finding its mark on the guard’s head and also knocking him out. Punching the air in a victorious way, Lance moved out and made it to the end of the hallway.
He was getting closer to the helipad. He knew this as he began to hear the sound of loud humming air. Wait a second. That’s the helicopter. It’s taking off.
He found the metal double-doors leading outside and shoved them open. He could see the helicopter facing away from him, just beginning to lift off the ground. Panicking, Lance sprinted to the helicopter with all his strength and sprang off his feet, just barely grabbing hold of the helicopter’s landing rails. He looked down and saw the platform moving further away; the helicopter was ascending. He yelled in fear, but the spinning blades and the whirling air drowned out his voice. He scurried up into the open doors of the helicopter, a few feet behind the pilot, who had put on his helmet.
Immediately, he crawled and hid inside the tiny storage room in the back, where there were four heavy crates. The sound of loud air suddenly ceased, and Lance figured that the pilot had just closed the doors. Now the only sound was coming from the humming propellers, which was emanating from every direction.
He overheard the pilot conversing with the control tower in the base. But he could only hear the pilot’s voice. “Yes, I’ve just taken off… I apologize, sir, but… There was a rescue operation I had to attend to. It was a major shipwreck off the cost of California… Yes, that’s why I’m a few days late… Don’t worry, sir, they’ll be back before you know it… Yes, sir. Anderson, out.”
Then there was silence. Lance remembered that he had paid careful attention to the flights in the air force base, including delayed flights, which this one was. That’s right; he had sneaked on this helicopter to see his friend. He had lived in the same town as Lance, and he was chosen for the expedition to find new land. What was his name…?
Either way, he was going to surprise his friend with his presence. Of course, the pilot was going to find him sooner or later. But he didn’t care. He just wanted to come along for the trip, as if he were the twenty-first explorer. He wanted to join the adventure.
However, the expedition team would be going home soon, and the helicopter is to carry this out. That means he would barely have time to enjoy the time there. But, again, he still didn’t care.
Since time had gone by and he didn’t expect to be arriving soon, Lance decided to peek into the large crates in the storage room. The first one contained your average supplies; ropes, pliers, an axe, the usual. After all, this was a standard search-and-rescue helicopter. The second box was the smallest, and it held a variety of canned goods and bottled water. The third box held a few minor weapons like knives and small guns, but judging from the weight, they seemed to be unloaded. The fourth contained miscellaneous items, such as a life preserver, a flare gun and some kind of voice recorder.
Lance checked his watch. About an hour went by. How long was it until he arrived at his destination? Despite how much he wanted to stay alert, the sounds of the propellers made him sleepy. Lance found himself using the life preserver as a rough pillow, and his eyes force-closed.
Ironically, he had been safe for the whole nap. He checked his watch again. Now it had been two hours of being a stowaway.
He poked his head through the storage room door, listening for the pilot’s voice. Then he heard it. “This is Pilot Anderson, there seems to be a problem with the tracker device the team kept with them. I’m not getting a reading… Yes, I understand, they began here, but they could be anywhere by now. I don’t know what to do…”
Now, Lance could barely hear a muffled voice from the pilot’s speaker. It seemed to be upset. But then, he heard the pilot’s voice in a different tone, a frightened one. “Um, what is that…? Hold on, sir, I think I see something… No, I don’t think it’s them…”
Lance instinctively checked his watch. Strangely, the hands were wildly spinning in different directions. Reluctantly, Lance crawled to the window on the doors and looked out of it. Below the helicopter was a large mass of tall, thick, dark green trees. He kept scanning the view. That’s when he saw it; there was some kind of bright, harsh light some distance away. But that wasn’t all. It was spreading throughout his sight, turning different colors. What was going on?
In no time, the huge, infinite light engulfed the helicopter, which began to rumble violently. The pilot yelled out “Something’s hit the vessel! Mayday! Mayday!... Sir, are you there? I’m losing altitude! Something’s happening!” As Lance listened closely, all he heard from the speaker was fuzzy static. The line was dead.
Lance saw the trees getting closer. The helicopter was falling.
“I need a flare signal!” the pilot shouted as he sprang from his seat. Lance was in panic, but he didn’t know if it was from the pilot getting up, or the blinding light that beamed through all the windows. He began to hear the sound of machinery failing and a small alarm bleeping.
He looked up and noticed that the pilot had stopped a few inches from him. He couldn’t see eye to eye with him, but he was sure the pilot was facing him. The light was so intense that it made everything look like a silhouette. The pilot didn’t have time to say anything.
Because the helicopter had already crashed.
Lance had flown out the window, shattering through it with his head, and his last memory was torpedoing face first into the ground.
All of those events flashed through his mind in a split second. It was the memory of hitting the ground that finally awoke Lance completely. His entire body jump-started and every muscle twitched at once. Most of them were pained. Immediately, Lance said “Ouch!” He took a deep breath. Finally gaining control of himself, he slowly sat up. His neck ached all too terribly. Looking around, he was in a small clearing, but it wasn’t truly clear. There were random pieces of wreckage and rubble surrounding him, and to the right of him was the destroyed helicopter. Its rudders were dented, the windows shattered, and most of the supplies spilled.
Lance managed to stand, but one leg was badly injured. Perhaps this was the one he put his weight on when he landed on the ground. He limped over to the broken helicopter. There were some burn marks along the floor and walls, but the fire and smoke had gone out some time ago. As Lance looked closer, he noticed the blackened body of the pilot, and a pretty bad amount of blood in the areas around him. However, most of the blood was much darker and cooked by the fire that had once been there.
Lance turned around and limped a few feet away from the helicopter, studying the scattered items. Most of it was useless. Plus, the majority of the supplies that were useful were closer to and inside the helicopter, which however was slightly tilted to one side.
From behind him, Lance could barely hear the sound of grass being crunched under a set of feet. He looked in the direction where the sound came from. From under a cluster of trees outside the clearing, a creeper, its face twisted as if it was screaming, was making its way toward him. As if that weren’t bad enough, there was a second creeper trailing behind it. When it came dangerously close, it hissed and flashed white. With a quick reflex, Lance punched the creeper, knocking it into the one behind it, causing it to explode, and killing the one behind it.
The explosion was loud and a ring of thick dust emitted from it, and a crater was left in its place. Lance looked into the crater. There were no traces of either of the creepers. Except for… what was that? There was a peculiar pile of gray-white dust inside the crater. Before he was able to pick it up, though, Lance felt a throbbing pain in his right arm. He had made a mistake punching the creeper with that arm; it was his good one, and he messed it up even more after the crash.
The thought came to him. “Wait. What was that?” he thought out loud. Worried of the possibility of more creepers, Lance scooped up the pile of gray-white dust and examined it. It appeared to be some form of gunpowder. Unsure of why this strange creature would have this, Lance took the gunpowder into an empty crate that was lying on the ground and kept it there. He knew he had to gather the better supplies; at least until he found a way out of this huge forest. The sun appeared to be nearing the horizon.
Lance looked at his wrist, expecting the watch to be there, but it was gone. When he looked again at the ground, the watch was there in the grass, covered in dirt, and broken beyond repair. Ignoring it, Lance slowly pulled the door to the helicopter open, which hurt both of his arms.
Stepping over the pilot’s body, he entered the storage room and looked for any undamaged items. The voice recorder had been smashed, yet somehow the life preserver was in better shape. Lance noticed a still-wrapped roll of gauze in the corner of a broken crate. Seizing the opportunity, Lance picked it up and wrapped it around his broken arm and shoulder. That would at least protect it by a small amount.
Lance also picked up a can of beans and the life preserver. To be honest, he thought it’d make a good pillow for the night. He also got the flare gun. He hoped it still worked, as he was going to fire a shot into the air tonight in the hopes it would attract attention. Finally, he picked up a dented water bottle. His hands were beginning to fill up, so he exited the helicopter, noticing that the sunlight cast a kind of blue hue under the trees as it was beginning to disappear.
He looked around the enormous roots of the giant trees for some kind of shelter. There, he thought, looking at a kind of dome made by the roots, and covered by bushes. He crawled in and set his food and water inside of it. Then, he placed the life preserver in the back, against the trunk of the tree, and crawled back out of the roots.
It was dark now. Lance pointed the flare gun up, hoping it would work. He pulled the trigger. Suddenly a little red ball of light shot up into the air. Lance smiled, then covered his eyes as a huge red flash lit up all of his surroundings, becoming a replacement sun for a minute. Then it stopped and disappeared altogether.
Lance tiredly crawled under his little root-shelter, opening the bottle of water and drinking some of it. It refreshed his insides, but it couldn’t make up for the damage the crash had caused him.
Suddenly, the thought hit him that the flare could also attract more of those strange green creatures. He lay down against the life preserver, whispering “What have I gotten myself into?” He wanted adventure, but not like this.
This was the second time I climb the Butte in one day. But there couldn’t have been a more perfect time; the sun was setting, and there were beautiful festive lights in the village. Everybody was enjoying themselves. Day One of being ruler of the Overworld was a success. I also gained the ability to control spiders, silverfish, and creepers whenever I’m in their presence, similar to how Amnesha controls Endermen and Herobrine controls the Nether creatures.
But something disrupted my train of thought. I looked down and noticed my shadow was more visible than it was a few seconds ago. I looked behind me and noticed some small, yet strong red light nearly a mile away or possibly more.
However, this was something I knew back in civilization. It was a flare. I had no idea how it got there, but I was prepared to find out. I retrieved the Homing Bow and headed in the direction of the jungle for the first time ever.
There was still something to take care of.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
“Wait a second,” Lance thought, remembering his injured arm. He crawled out of his root-shelter and moved to the helicopter’s ruins. He figured that if he were to fight another creature, he shouldn’t be using his bare hands.
The helicopter was sitting in front of a broken down tree. The tree was covered in a sleek pattern of cuts across the bark, meaning the blades had sliced through it, damaging them heavily. Lance checked the blades. Two were missing, and two were barely unhinged off the top. Lance thought this was a crazy idea, but a helicopter blade seemed to be the only thing around that would do as a weapon.
It took a bit of strength, but he pried the blade off the hinge. It was extremely heavy, and it made his arms even sorer just by holding it. But Lance figured it was better than the shock that came after punching something. He dragged it back to his shelter, careful not to bump into any roots because of how dark it was. The flare had already died out.
Lance set the blade beside him and fell onto the soft life preserver, thankful he could finally rest.
But a sound from behind him made him think, not just yet.
There came the sound of rustling inside the helicopter, the sound of glass and other parts being moved around. Lance sat up, trying to see even the slightest movement. His eyes were not adjusting enough.
As if by complete luck, the moon weaved its way through the clouds, making things only so much brighter. Lance could now see the silhouette of the helicopter, as well as some trees. As he continued to observe, another silhouette was making its way out of the window of the helicopter. He heard more glass scraping as the figure’s hands reached over the window sill. Lance suddenly thought, is that the pilot?
The figure stumbled over the window opening, falling clumsily into a heap on the ground. It mumbled something gibberish, like it could not speak. Then, it slowly picked itself up, getting control of itself, and, with a groan, it began making its way over to Lance.
Lance’s eyes sharpened. He wasn’t sure if he could believe it, but it seemed to be a zombie. A zombie? He only knew them as something out of a video game. But it was real. How could that be?
But it wasn’t the time to question. The zombie was coming after him. Lance fearfully heaved the helicopter blade and pointed it at the zombie, hoping it would step back. The zombie showed no fear and persisted onwards, now only feet away. Also concealing his fear, Lance jabbed the blade through the air with all his might, piercing through the zombie’s chest. The zombie gurgled, twitched, and then turned to dead weight as it fell motionless in the helicopter blade.
Lance’s arm pained once more, and let both the blade and the zombie fall to the ground. He could just notice the half-singed body, its bones beginning to protrude from the stretched skin on its face. Sharp pieces of metal had punctured through the pilot helmet, revealing a few bits of brains and blood. The vest was burnt to a crisp, and sure enough, a blackened and bloody “ANDERSON” was printed on the side of the vest.
Lance began to look up, away from the sight, and as he did, he instantly looked back down. Something was standing beside him, an impossibly tall dark figure, staring him down with shimmering purple eyes.
Slowly, Lance looked up again, having an unexpected staring contest with the Enderman. Its eyes were so bright against the dark of everything else. Perhaps they were brighter than the moon.
And soon enough, the Enderman disappeared without a trace, except… are those purple snowflakes?
Lance looked around, unsure of where it went. He eventually shrugged it off, thinking it was some illusion, and crawled back to his shelter, staring up at what little he could see of the sky. The moon was starting to make its way to the west end of the horizon. His body shut down into sleep, but his eyes remained open, as well as his mind. He began to reflect once again on how he got here, how he was going to survive, what those creatures were, and most importantly how he was going to find a way out. He would just have to rely on that one flare for the night.
Suddenly, his train of thought was derailed as he heard the sound of a string being pulled, followed by something zipping through the air. Something very light and quick flew across his field of sight, and immediately he turned his head back as the thing hit and stuck to the bark of a root. It was an arrow.
Lance’s heart sank.
Returning to this rainforest gave me a chilling feeling inside, but curiosity has gotten the best of me. If that really was a flare, then someone must have set it off. My vision was decreased slightly in the dark, but the Soul Bond had that covered. Its purple glow lit up a good few feet so I could traverse the bumpy terrain easier. I looked up at the sky through the thick leaves; I could barely see the smoke cloud left by the flare above me, but it was continuing to move a specific direction similar to a firework smoke cloud. That meant that the source of the flare was a bit further than from where I expect it to be.
The moon was reaching the far end of the horizon, meaning the sun would be coming up soon. I stopped, and carefully listened out for any sound out of the ordinary. Then I heard it, the most inaudible sound volume possible. In the distance, I barely detected the sound of arrows being fired. It was a skeleton, no doubt.
I picked up the pace and jogged faster. The sky’s black color was now a deep navy blue. If the sun came up quick enough, the skeleton would burn if I didn’t take it out myself.
Then, I heard a voice loud and clear; “Stop!” I couldn’t believe it. That sounded like a regular human. My jogging turned into running. My old shoes screeched to a halt as I nearly tumbled over a small valley side.
I could see much further now that it was early morning. I hastily scanned the valley, looking for signs of movement. The sound of grass and bushes being shoved brought my attention to the left side of the valley. There I saw him; someone was stumbling over mounds of dirt and tree roots, ducking every so often to avoid an arrow aimed for his head. Behind him was the skeleton, almost out of arrows. And to make matters more interesting, a creeper was sneaking up on him from the left flank. Without even thinking another thought, I took the Homing Bow in hand and released an arrow, hitting the skeleton right through the skull, killing it instantly. The person stopped running and looked at the skeleton’s cracked body, its bow still in its phalanges. He didn’t even hear the creeper behind him, which hissed and began to flash white. He spun around and saw it just as I flung out my arm and concentrated my mind. He saw the creeper flash one more time, then it stopped, and backed away from him.
He looked up at me, but we were a bit too far from each other to see detail. I hopped down the valley side and went over to him, putting the Homing Bow on my back. As I neared closer, his face came to me with recognition.
I stopped in front of him and I sized him up. I wasn’t sure what to think; it was my friend Lance. After a few seconds, he broke the silence. “Whoa. Dude… Hi.”
It felt strange seeing him here. I supposed it was too early for explaining, so I simply said, “Is that you, Lance?”
“Yeah, it is…” he said, sitting on the ground from exhaustion. “Nice to see you here…” Then he let his back drop to the ground, falling asleep knowing it was safe. I wasn’t sure if he had been awake or tired for a long time or not, but he sure seemed like it. His face looked beat up, he had a few bad cuts, and his arm didn’t look okay at all.
I was more than used to this business by now. I whistled as loud as I could in the direction I came from. I waited a few minutes, switching looks between the valley side and Lance, who was still out cold.
Finally, I heard rapid footsteps on the ground some distance away- or should I say paw steps. Rhino came running and skidding down the slope, stopping in front of me and wagging his tail. He sat down, looked at me, and continued breathing from his mouth.
I pointed at Lance and said “Let’s get him to the village.” Rhino got back on his fours and braced himself as I put Lance on his back. I waved my arm in the direction from which we entered the valley, and we set off back through the jungle. I looked back and saw that the creeper was following us, curious to what we were up to. The three of us began to bring Lance back to the village.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
Also, congratulations on the 42 posts; I remember when I hit 42: I was like, "what the heck is this".
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
Part 3:
It took a while for Zane to fully grasp what I had told him. I did not blame him either. Who would believe your old time friend had just crashed here on the helicopter that was to bring us home? Zane sat down on a nearby chair, attempting to get his facts straight. “Hold on. Just hold on. So this helicopter was late? We could have gone home at the last second?” Zane buried his half-burnt face in his piggy hands. He seemed to have forgotten what he had said days earlier about staying here in this new world.
Zane was also paying no attention to Lance, who was knocked out in the village recovery home. I watched as the medic studied him carefully. He was checking his arm, which looked in bad shape, as well as checking his forehead for any fever or possible brain damage from when he fell to the ground.
The medic turned to us and said lightly “Something will be done for the arm especially, but I feel additional injuries under the flesh as well. They too will be treated.” He opened a cabinet over his desk and reached for a fresh, higher quality gauze wrap, as well as disinfectants for Lance’s open cuts.
Zane did not raise his head until a much harsher voice broke the fairly calm atmosphere. “You have allowed another human into this realm?” Each of us turned to find Herobrine standing completely unnoticed in the corner of the house. In his usual, yet unsettling tone of voice, he asked “Do you not realize the amount of danger he could pose to us?”
Looking Herobrine in the blank eyes, I found the courage to say “I do, and the threat is very little. I know him. He poses no such danger.”
“It does not matter. I keep my suspicions. Humans are nothing but trouble,” Herobrine said.
Zane raised his back up a little more and stated “Plus, don’t you know it’s a human that now keeps this world solitary against all others? You have him to thank. I’m technically not a human anymore.”
Unexpectedly, even the medic made a remark of his own. “Who is one to talk down upon an injured man?”
Herobrine stared unblinkingly at all of us for a short silent moment, before saying “So be it.” And a second later, he vanished into thin air; he had probably gone back to his castle in the Nether.
There was another minute of silence, except for the peaceful sound of villagers outside, handling all of their daily duties. Also from outside, I heard Rhino bark once, but it did not sound like an aggressive bark at all. In walked Amnesha, which surprised me because she could simply get around by teleporting. I figured that now that everything’s peaceful, there’s no need to rush around all the time by teleportation.
“Hello guys,” she said. “I’ve set up a magic painting at the end of the church’s hall. It’s like a quick portal, if you will, to the End. No need for traveling so far to the Stronghold anymore. If you ever must speak to me, that painting is your way to go.” Before turning to leave, Amnesha stopped and looked at the window. A second later she said “There’s a creeper at the window.”
I looked in the direction she was looking, and noticed the creeper that had followed me was peering at us through the window near Lance’s bed. It seemed to be smiling. “Who’s that on the bed?” Amnesha asked. Just as Zane began to sigh deeply, I explained to Amnesha how I had found Lance and the state of physical health he was in now.
“He better not cause trouble,” Amnesha said after. “It’s amazing what even a handful of humans can do.”
“Don’t worry,” I replied. “Everything’s just fine.”
At that moment, Herobrine reappeared in the room, handing the medic a glass bottle containing a shining pink liquid. I couldn’t confuse it for anything else. It was a potion of regeneration. The medic carefully took the bottle and promptly said “Thank you.”
Then, turning to face me, Herobrine eventually said “One of yours is one of mine.” He vanished again after that.
“How nice of him,” I thought out loud.
“Huh. Didn’t expect that from a guy like him,” said Zane.
Addressing Amnesha, I asked “Is it normal that I feel the need to sleep even though I’m technically a mystical ruler now?”
“It’s normal,” Amnesha answered. “You’re young as a ruler, so you’re not going to have almighty powers right away.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said. “I think I may go take a quick rest. I haven’t slept very recently. Hope you guys can carry on without me for a bit?”
The medic had finished giving Lance the potion of regeneration, so he looked up at me with the odd shade of green eyes that all other villagers have. “Do what you must. Rest is very important.”
“Thanks again,” I said, to nobody in particular, as I walked out the door. Rhino greeted me, as did the creeper with its unordinary smiling face. Steadily, I made my way to my house, the desert hill not far to the West. I opened the old wooden door and stepped inside the warm house. Seeing my own home, which I had made completely myself, gave me a vibrant feeling of comfort. I turned to close the door behind me, and as I did, I saw that the creeper had walked in behind Rhino and I.
The creeper and I stared face to face for a while, before I asked “What’s up?” The creeper, not being able to speak, huddled into me, apparently trying to hug me without any arms. Whatever it was, I accepted it, and embraced the creeper in my arms. I never realized until now that hugging a potentially evil monster was a nice thing to do. Despite being a living bomb, the creeper was soft, almost like a pillow. It made sense to me that, being an exploding creature with no arms, all a creeper would ever want was a hug. Just like all other living things, they had feelings too.
I realized I was standing in the same place Amnesha had hugged me.
Maybe that’s all it took to plant a seed of good; a hug.
I released the creeper and turned to head upstairs. But, the smell of food from the storage area was making my mouth water. I opened the box and took out a slice of bread for a pre-nap snack. I ate it, but, somehow there was less taste than I imagined. It was the kind of feeling I got back on Earth, when I was tired of eating the same thing all the time.
That’s when I realized it was a feeling of being right at home. This place felt like home.
It was home.
The creeper waddled up to me in its smooth kind of stride, and nibbled the rest of the bread out of my hand. It never lost its smile.
Finally, I was ready for my afternoon nap. Rhino followed me up to my bedroom; the creeper stayed put. I put my hand to my head, ready to instinctively remove my armor; but then I remembered I had forgotten it at the village without even thinking. So I skipped to lying down on my back, staring at the rough sandstone ceiling. I succumbed to my tiredness and let the light, gentle darkness of sleep grip me.
What a day. I’ve never deserved sleep more.
I awoke on my own; no sounds of teleporting Endermen, no screaming Ghast to startle me awake, not even a knock on the door from a villager. I awoke ever so peacefully, and it was pleasant.
Standing up, however, was not so pleasant. A blur of purple and black clouded my vision, as if I were somehow malnourished. But I felt great either way, so I marched down the stairs, Rhino following me. The creeper was standing at the foot of the stairs, waiting for me. I smiled and pat it on the head. Then I took out a chunk of beef from the box and fed Rhino.
I looked out the door once I had opened it. The sun was a little more than halfway through the sky. I probably hadn’t slept that long. Nonetheless I felt rejuvenated.
The creeper, Rhino and I began to walk through the desert clearing in front of the Butte. In the distance, over a small hill, I noticed a few villagers outside, growing their crops.
As I approached the roads of the village, I glanced at the entrance of the church. A few villagers seemed to be inside of it, and at the back of the church, Amnesha was speaking to them. I kept walking to the medic’s house, which was across the gravel road. I pointed to the ground, indicating for Rhino and the creeper to stay. I turned and opened the door, the gentle squeak of which eased my nerves a little more than I imagined.
The first thing my eyes directed to was the bed which Lance was on. His well-made cast was still on and his eyes were open. Immediately he said excitedly, “Hey man!”
“Afternoon, Lance,” I said, then turning and saying “Medic,” to acknowledge his presence as well. “I’m still surprised you managed to find me. Tell me, how did you do it?”
As if on cue, Amnesha and Herobrine teleported into the room. “I love a good story,” said Amnesha.
“Indeed,” Herobrine responded. “I am interested to know how this little human beat the odds. As if one lucky human was not enough.” We all found a chair and sat down.
With the slightest hesitation, Lance began to tell his story. We listened intently, trying to make sense of each detail.
“…They were late to go get you, so I managed to sneak on board this helicopter…”
“…So I was like a stowaway, completely unnoticed by the pilot…”
“…And I saw this, like, huge wave of colors and suddenly the helicopter started rupturing…”
“...Those things were like exploding green stalks, and I found a lot of gunpowder in its crater…”
“…I swear that guy was like a zombie or something, and it really freaked me out…”
“…And that’s when you showed up.”
It was almost sunset.
After the story, Herobrine took a breath and said “What you survived through was nothing short of a miracle, I assure you.”
I sat up straight and said “Now then, Lance, if you think that’s a lot to go through, let me tell you my story.” I chuckled. “Boy, are you in for one heck of a treat.”
Allowing a very slight giggle, Amnesha said “Do tell.”
Taking a deep breath, I too began to tell my story:
"It was only a few days after the expedition began when it happened."
It took what seemed like forever, as the sun fell before we knew it. By now, even the medic was listening along. To let in a bit more light, Herobrine created a little ember of fire, flickering over his hand. It felt like a campfire gathering where we all told our stories to each other. By around this time, Amnesha and Herobrine were throwing a few parts in, while Lance frequently asked questions.
“I can’t believe I was so evil.”
“If it were not for me, falling from the tower would have easily killed you.”
“So that’s what those tall black things are?”
“I had to wake you up with a screaming Ghast.”
“So silverfish are giant worms? What kind of place is this?”
“Only then did I experience what it felt like to smash into obsidian headfirst.”
“What? I kissed you? Oh…”
“You died?!”
With that, I finished my story with both a smirk and a very dry throat. I know I had made my impression, almost certain that Lance saw me as some kind of hero now. I loved the feeling of being at such a high level of respect.
The sun had disappeared long ago. Now, outside, was only a soft moonshine. For a moment, there was a peaceful silence that, oddly enough, was somewhat settling. Then, Amnesha asked us “Do you want to visit the End? As I said earlier, I put up a painting in the church that takes you there. I was demonstrating to a few villagers today, and they seem to see it as an inter-dimensional vacation or something. But I can show you, Lance, what the End is like.”
“Sure I would!” replied Lance. “Medic, can I go?”
“If you wish,” said the medic. “You should be feeling much better by now.”
Excited, Lance jumped out of the bed and followed us, as we began to exit the house and cross the path to the church. Rhino looked at me happily, and so did the creeper. I invited them into the church, and they eagerly followed. The interior’s cobblestone walls and flooring made the church seem somewhat ancient and monumental to the community.
The painting was a few paces away from the entrance; the church itself wasn’t very big on the inside. “Here it is,” said Amnesha. “You can come and go as you please using the painting.”
We studied the medium-sized painting on the wall, which also reached down to the floor. I could see the End quite nicely; the End stone ground, some obsidian pillars, and the black void far in the background.
“How do you enter it?” Lance asked.
“Just step right through it. It’s like a magic mirror.”
Taking her advice, we carefully put our feet into the painting, which surprisingly allowed us to pass completely into the End. We stepped through entirely and looked around in surprise. The exit painting was hanging on the flat surface of an obsidian pillar, which instead looked like the interior of the church. Also in the exit painting, I saw Rhino and the creeper clumsily stumble over each other and into the End with us.
Amnesha was the last to enter, after Herobrine. After we were all in, we were greeted by an Enderman, who seemed to be standing around doing absolutely nothing. Amnesha guided Lance around, showing him the pillars and telling him the story of how it came to be, of how it shattered into many pieces. The End looked like a massive place, but it felt more empty now that the feeling of evil was gone, leaving the air light.
Along the way, we ended up seeing many massive, dried splatters of blood, the biggest being in the spot where I was killed. Lance almost lurched at the sight, but by now I was completely unfazed by the sight of gore.
“I’m sorry,” said Amnesha. “I’ll get that cleaned up later.”
A few paces later we came across a worn-down, abandoned iron sword that was on the ground, approximately three meters away from an obsidian pillar that had a few cracks in its side. We all looked at Herobrine. Lance asked “What is your skull made of?”
“I will not answer that,” replied Herobrine.
Finally we reached Amnesha’s massive throne. Only, resting beside it was Mir, the Ender Dragon. Rhino, Lance and I approached him, causing him to open his purple eyes. Mir lifted his head and nuzzled us as we pet his back. Rhino licked him on the face.
“Mir’s really cute,” said Lance, “Especially for a dragon. I didn’t know dragons really existed!”
“So, yeah. I suppose that’s about it for this place,” said Amnesha.
“I can’t believe it though. Another dimension! How amazing is that?” Lance shouted. “I mean, could you imagine all the awesome stuff we could do with more than one dimension?”
“Like what?” Amnesha asked, with a slight tone of irritation.
“Like, we could use them for really fast traveling,” Lance said. “We could get from one point to another in mere seconds with your paintings.”
Amnesha nodded. “I wasn’t expecting an answer like that… Well, that bedrock fountain in the center is also a portal. It takes you to the Stronghold, which normally would be miles away.”
“Wow,” said Lance, turning to me. “You really got your work cut out for you, don’t you? You actually rule this place?”
“No, she does,” I said, pointing to Amnesha. “I take care of the Overworld outside the painting. Actually… Amnesha, why don’t I have the kind of abilities you and Herobrine have? Like all that fancy element controlling and not even having to sleep?” The thought had been puzzling me for a while, but I figured I might as well get that out there again.
“Let’s put it this way,” Amnesha replied. “Becoming a new ruler, it’s almost like being reborn, but not really. You are young as a ruler, as I said earlier, so you’re not almighty. You still need to grow, in a sense. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” I said. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Okay,” Amnesha said, “I’m going to head back now. I wanna try building a little house for myself in the village. In here, it’s nothing but this giant throne. Let’s go.”
Herobrine, the creeper and I began to follow her, but then I turned as I looked for Rhino. Then I saw him, sitting with his mouth open while an Enderman was petting him. I motioned my hand for him to follow, and he did. We stepped through the painting, still talking amongst ourselves, and we exited the church.
But we had totally forgotten Lance.
Lance stood behind an obsidian pillar, listening as a small group of Enderman was taking a short walk, discussing something inaudible. When they had passed, Lance looked around. He was still baffled at the size of the End; perhaps it went on forever. But in the center of this blank nothingness, surely there was more to this floating island than this. Lance’s need for exploration had to be satisfied.
He slowly made his way to the throne, the most massive one he’s ever seen. He felt the arm of it, which felt cold as stone. Then, Lance quietly walked around it, trying not to wake up Mir, as he wanted to peer over the edge of the island. He knew how dangerous it was, but he was driven to it by curiosity more than driven away by fear.
Lance looked over the edge. There was nothing. Nothing but a huge black void. There was no seeing the bottom.
But something else caught Lance’s eye. At the edge of the island, some paces away, there was a cut-out staircase made of End stone. Without another thought Lance went over to it, silently. There seemed to be something he was not told about on the tour. Lance cautiously went down the stairs, careful not to fall over the edge of the island.
The stairs led to a massive, wide open cave in the side of the island. A toxic smell penetrated his nose. He knew it as the horrid smell of uranium. Lance was a skilled engineer on Earth, and he had worked with every element in the periodic table.
At the entrance of the cave, there were a few old, discarded bomb shells across the floor, giving the impression that there was once a nuclear explosive that detonated down here. Perhaps it was what shattered the End in the first place.
Lance held his breath as much as he could; he did not know exactly how deadly the fumes were. No matter how old, nuclear waste can stay lethal for years after an explosion.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of splashing gelatin. Lance pushed onwards, to find that there was a strange cube of green slime sitting at his feet. Suddenly, the slime looked at him, and Lance could see an odd dark green face inside of the cube. The eyes were square, and its mouth showed no emotion. Then, the slime turned and hopped away in a different direction.
“Weird…” said Lance, which echoed slightly. It made sense now; the toxic waste from the atomic bomb mutated into a glob of living slime. The thought made him smirk, as he had always imagined creating artificial creatures in the past.
But a few more steps forward showed that this nuclear waste was a lot more powerful than Lance thought. There was more than one slime; a few cubes of slime of different sizes were hopping around the floor of the cave. One was huge, the size of Lance, while others reached no higher than his knees. The largest one was staring at him, with an unreadable face that almost reminded Lance of some cartoon.
Lance wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to be down here. When he remembered the danger of the uranium stench, his mind was set on leaving. But, yet again, something caught his eye. There was a semi-hidden chest in the back of the cave. With a final burst of curiosity, Lance approached the chest. He wasted no time opening it, as he wanted to leave this place immediately. But when he did, a bright ray of light shined out of the chest, blinding Lance for a second or two. When his eyes adjusted, he peered into the chest.
Sitting on a plush-looking, miniature pillow was the last Eye of Ender. Its green and blue sparkle amazed Lance. He picked it up, saying “Wow. Isn’t this the Ender Eye?”
His mind hit the crossroad of whether he should bring it to someone to ask about it, or if he should leave it in the chest and not speak about it. However, his mind didn’t get the chance to ponder. A tiny slime bumped harshly into the back of his legs, forcing his knees to unlock, driving Lance forward and toward the ground. The Eye of Ender slipped out of his hands, flinging forward away from him. Lance hit the ground, but looked up quickly enough to see the Eye land perfectly inside the giant slime. When it did, both Lance and the slime remained frozen, unsure of what just happened.
Then, suddenly, the giant slime made an odd bubbling sound, and its face now looked shocked. Lance watched closely, noticing the shine of the Eye become dark, and a black ooze began to replace the green innards of the slime. The slime’s face began to twitch as more of itself became infected by the Eye’s power. Suddenly, as the infection spread to its face, its black eyes began to glow purple, just like an Enderman. In no more than a few seconds, the entire slime turned pitch black.
“Uh oh,” said Lance with a drop of sweat.
Corrupted by the Eye of Ender, the black slime suddenly extended itself, reaching all the other slimes using gelatinous tentacles created from itself. All the other slimes became carriers of the black ooze, and in a matter of seconds, victims.
They all turned to stare at Lance with a crowd of purple eyes. Lance didn’t know what to say. The gaze of their shimmering eyes paralyzed him with fear. Then, without warning, they simultaneously teleported out of the cave, making a chorus of echoing swooping sounds and leaving a cloud of purple snowflakes.
The stench of uranium was gone. But it was replaced by a feeling a thousand times worse. Evil.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
I'm inactive, hoping to make a return one day.
TT2000, you are genius.