In the Minecraft world, I go by Air. Some of you might know me for another fan fiction I have written in this section called "The Wooden House." I have realized that I have been pretty inactive in the Literature section of the Minecraft Forums. In fact, my most recent activity dates back all the way to the beginning of December, 2013. That's seem to become a trend, actually. I come back after a month or more period of inactivity, make a small bit of new material, then go inactive again. And now here we are now, in April...
I think it's time that changed. I've decided to make another story, something with a completely different idea. This idea has been on the top of my head for a while now. It's not going to be a multiple chapter story, it's going to be short and sweet. I hope you all enjoy it! Here it is:
The Skeleton Child
It's no surprise that hostile mobs are the most feared and hated creatures in the world of Minecraftia. Their evil attributes either frighten or damage a person to the point of fleeing, end their life, or, most commonly, end the life of the mob itself. Violence seems to only be the main answer, it seems. But the question is, are all hostile mobs filled with evil emotion? Are some like the neutral Enderman and pigman who only attack with self-defense? The question is hard to answer. For with all the encounters humans and hostile mobs endure, the hatred towards one another that has resulted can only be impossible to soothe...Or can it?
Begin.
It is the middle of a rain-filled night. The lights from a colossal NPC village sitting on a lush, green hill dim out. Hoards of zombies begin to creep towards the village, only to be stopped in their tracks by a towering, stone brick wall. They give up their pursuit after realizing that their hope in terrorizing the villagers would not be reached tonight, so they head back to where they came from. The place where they came from was a land not too far away, but yet, stood out completely from the land that the NPC village had been settled on. The ground was grey, the grass and plants were dead, and the bones of once living animals were everywhere. This place was called "The Badlands."
There was indeed a village in this dead land that resembled the neighboring one on top of the hill, and civilians too. However, the buildings were not as well constructed as the ones in the neighboring one. They were simple wooden-plank cubes, and could only hold a maximum of one person. The inhabitants of this village were indeed hostile mobs: Creepers, spiders, zombies, skeletons, and the occasional enderman. But all of them seemed to be gone on this rainy night, most likely looking for food or people, which resulted in a silence among the village. However, there was one building that was active, the biggest one, in fact, and it was the village hospital.
Inside, a witch dressed in a nurse uniform loomed over a patient who had been laying in bed. A redstone contraption was producing an obnoxious clicking sound, and was most likely being used to check the patient's heart. The patient was a young skeleton, who had been in very, very bad condition. A flaming arrow had dug straight through his skeletal body. The witch walked over to the other side of the room and pulled out a potion of weakness, which was the substitute for a healing potion when dealing with undead mobs, which the patient was. The witch instructed the patient to drink it, which, after some struggle, he was able to. However, the healing effects would not do anything.
The witch sighed and shook her head, then, she looked towards the other side of the bed, into the sad eyes of another figure who had been standing there, looking curiously at the patient. It was a very small skeleton, a skeleton child to be exact. He was the son of the patient.
"Look, young one," She began. "I don't think there's anything else I have that will help your father. I-I don't think he's..."
The skeleton child looked towards the floor in sadness, then looked back up to the witch with tears in his eyes.
The witch stared at him for a couple seconds, then a look of determination struck her face. "No, no. I'm not going to allow a young one like yourself to endure this. You both were already lucky enough to experience a second life as a skeleton, but once you die in this state, there's no chance of you coming back. You'll be alone in this new life of yours if I allow your father to die."
The skeleton child stared at the witch.
"That being said..." The witch continued. "The only hope in saving your father is by getting a golden apple. Sadly, the only place near here that has them in stock would be the human village that neighbors ours. Knowing my experience, those minecraftians won't take pity on you just for being a child, they will kill you if they see a skeleton in sight. Are you willing to take that risk, young one?"
The skeleton child looked out a window of the hospital and saw the NPC village, then turned back to view the witch. He then nodded in agreement.
The witch handed the skeleton child a bow, a stack of arrows, and a cloak to wear. He grabbed them and got prepared. Suddenly, movement was seen from the patient on the bed. He reached out his bony arm towards the skeleton child, and the child grabbed his hand. Although the father was too weak to speak, he managed to strike a smile towards his son. After a couple minutes, the father fainted again, and the child walked out of the hospital and towards the NPC village.
Lightning struck and winds howled as the child reached the giant stone brick wall that protected the village from hostile attack. He was clueless on how he would get in. There was indeed an iron gate that allowed transport into the village, but unless he was a villager, there was no possibility he would be able to enter without instantly being attacked. He observed his surroundings, and soon enough, he found something that he could use for his advantage...string. A spider had probably tried to scale the wall and perished from fall damage. The skeleton child picked up the string and tied it around the end of one of his arrows. Then, he pulled out his bow and shot the arrow over the wall, where it successfully dug into the soil of the village. He pulled the string just to make sure it was stable enough, and it was. With that, he began climbing over the wall. Within a minute, he hopped over, and was successfully in the NPC village.
Every villager seemed to be peacefully sleeping, the exception being one or two houses with lights still on and a shop; just the place where golden apples would probably be sold. The skeleton child walked silently across the village, trying not to make any sound. However, even when hope seemed high and nothing could go wrong, a voice screamed into the heavens:
"SKELETON!"
Every single light in the village flicked on and the villagers stormed out of their doorways with torches, pitchforks, swords, bows, and pretty much any other accessory they could use as a weapon. They stormed toward the skeleton child's location in attack phase, each and every one of them. Knowing that he had no chance to survive, the skeleton child covered his eyes, fell to the ground, and weeped. But suddenly, the sound of numerous, charging footsteps silenced. The villagers stopped in their tracks and stared at the skeleton, they didn't attack at all. The skeleton uncovered his eyes and looked up. The expression on the villagers faces was none other than shock. They had expected to be attacked, like every hostile mob that entered the village did, even the baby zombies...but they weren't.
A villager in a suit and top hat who was presumably the mayor coughed and got the attention of all the civilians. "That'll do. Everyone back to sleep."
The villagers looked towards the mayor, then back at the skeleton, then back at the mayor again. After a while, they simply put down their weapons and returned to their homes. However, a few stayed and walked among the village. They gave the skeleton child dirty looks, ready to attack if they felt threatened. The skeleton child stood up, then began his journey to the village shop, constantly looking at the civilians to see if they would attack. Luckily, they didn't.
The skeleton child opened the door of the shop, which instantly followed the sound of a ringing noteblock. A customer who had been observing the shop looked behind him, alarmed, shrugged, then continued to observe. There was all sorts of items behind a glass display that the shop had to offer. The child looked through each one, and eventually saw a golden apple, the item he needed to aid his father. A villager came out of the back of the shop and stood behind a wooden counter.
"How may I help-?" The villager asked, then looked down to see that his customer was a skeleton. "You..."
The skeleton child pointed to the golden apple behind the glass display and then gave the villager behind the counter three emeralds.
"Just had to be my shift..." The villager whispered angrily to himself. "I'm sorry, little one, but the day I serve a hostile mob is the day circles become popular in this world."
The skeleton child appeared as though he was about to say something...but he couldn't. He got on his knees and put his bony hands together and begged the villager. The customer who had been observing the shop became interested in the situation at hand and looked towards the skeleton child and the villager, but in such a way that he wouldn't be noticed.
The villager behind the counter gave the emeralds back to the skeleton child and pointed at the door. "You're lucky you're a kid, or else I would ensure of your destruction."
The skeleton child grabbed the emeralds, then sadly walked out of the door. The customer's eyes followed him until he was out of sight. Then, a furious look cam upon his face, and he turned to view the villager behind the shop counter.
"What's up with you?" The villager asked.
It had been later on. The skeleton child climbed over the stone brick wall of the village then sat on the hillside in depression. He pulled out a picture, a picture that had a tall and short human standing side by side. It had been them when they were alive, not undead. He had always thought that even though their first lives were cut short by a minecart disaster, they would be able to make it up with their second lives as skeletons. His father always assured him that they would not be the victim of a death again. And now, in the present, the skeleton child has faced the fact that there is no possibility in saving his father now. Once he dies as a skeleton, as the witch detailed, he has no chance in coming back.
However, was this a fact..? No...
When all seemed lost, a golden apple fell into the lap of the skeleton child. His hands grasped it in shock, confusion, but more so, happiness. He looked up to see the face of the customer who had been in the shop with him.
"My name is Jay," The customer responded with a smile. "You know, what you were trying to accomplish was a very brave deed, but very risky. What were you trying to do?"
"M-My-My fa-" The skeleton child tried to speak. "My father- dying."
"Ah," He replied. "You have a great heart for doing what you did. It's a shame the others couldn't see that, they judged you for what you are and instantly had the thought that you were up to no good. It's a shame this world has come to that."
The skeleton child nodded in agreement, and smiled at the customer.
Despite being a hostile mob, the customer, who was a human, helped the skeleton child in his simple, yet risky tast. The next morning, when the rain clouds vanished and the sun shined over the horizon, the golden apple would heal the child's father, and the two would endure an everlasting life of happiness. For after the deed was done, the mobs were overjoyed by the aid of the human, and ordered hostile mobs everywhere not to harm him. Which answers the question from the beginning, can the hatred between hostile mobs and humans ever be healed? Well, considering the legendary encounter between the skeleton child and the human, it only goes to show that there are some in the minecraft world who can mend their rivalry and do something great. In this case, giving life back to a skeleton father.
I think it's time that changed. I've decided to make another story, something with a completely different idea. This idea has been on the top of my head for a while now. It's not going to be a multiple chapter story, it's going to be short and sweet. I hope you all enjoy it! Here it is:
The Republic of Atlas