Fantasy ORIGINS - A Minecraft Story

[MoonMidnight]

Jack and Huxley were the first to make contact with the illagers. I watched in horror as the pair ran forward, swords raised. I knew these illagers and they were dangerous with their axes. However, I watched as the two new people brought their swords down on the enemy as if they had done this before.

There’s that instinct again, I thought, catching an illager by the feet and sinking my sword in its chest. An arrow caught my metal boot and I quickly pulled out my bow and arrow.

I managed to shoot a few arrows back at the illager with a crossbow but another one replaced it. I ran at an awkward angle to shoot my arrows and run beside Jack and Huxley. I served as a back shield as the arrows continued shooting at us and the other illagers ran after us.

It wasn’t until we had finally put enough distance between us and the village that the illagers stopped chasing us. But when we stopped they started coming after us again. I led the others into the forest where the illagers wouldn’t be able to see or find us.

I found a small cave that was a dead end and blocked off the small entrance with a single row of cobblestone. They weren’t exactly smart or agile enough to climb through a one block space.

I slung my bow over my shoulder and sat down on the stone behind me. Jack and Huxley were struggling to catch their breath, reminding me of the first time I met Franklin when we had been in a similar predicament.

“Welcome to the world,” I joked lightly through my heavy breathing.

 

[Chaos The Destroyer]

Panting heavily Jack leaned against the wall as he caught his breath, laughing lightly at Rose's horribly timed joke. Shaking his head he stood and walked to the makeshift barrier, crouching to look under and at the legs of the grey men still trying to get in. "Do they not realize that they can break through the blocks?" He asked looking back to his two companions.

"More importantly. We're supposed to be going back to your compound, how are we gonna do it now? Are we supposed to do it now? Dig through the mountain?" He'd meant it as a joke but quickly realized it would either be that or put up a fight, it may be easier now that they had the advantage but they were outnumbered and out gunned.

"If we're gonna go then it needs to be now. I don't like this, sitting around I mean. We need to get going before we get caught by sunset again."

 

[Kassandra]

Huxley found that there was something familiar about the cave they'd escaped into, and quickly realized that the tight space they and the grey-skinned marauders had entered through was the passage way she dug through before finding the village. Jack's remark could've had some weight to it. "Maybe we don't have to do either. C'mon, I fell through here after I woke up, there's an opening in the cave's ceiling. Just keep your swords handy."

After a short walk deeper into the cave led them to the pool of water that had saved her life from a fatal fall. Illuminated by the rays of sun coming in from the opening of the pit, it didn't seem anywhere near as jarring as it felt in the dark. Looking up to calculate the hight of the opening, she realized they'd have to climb up something from the middle of the pool. Huxley pulled her pickaxe and began carving up more stone. With what she had on hand, she built a rudimentary staircase all the way up to the edge. No longer able to hear the murmurs of their pursuers, she decided it was safe enough to climb out of it first.

 

[MoonMidnight]

I felt like I was invisible as I hung back and watched Huxley work, her instincts kicking in again. Once again I was jealous of how naturally she and Jack seemed to be fitting in to the world. It took me days to finally move around like I knew what I was doing.

I watched from around the corner to make sure the illagers didn’t find a way through the cobblestone barrier. If they had chased us this far then they might be capable of other things.

I followed the pair up the staircase then led them back to the safety of the field. Fortunately the illagers were too far to hear or see us and we made our escape.

Upon reaching the field I looked up at the sky to see how much time we’d wasted. It was already close to noon and it takes a whole day to get back.

We didn’t waste any more time. The pair followed close behind me, neither trying to start conversation during our run. I was grateful for it too since my worry would make me snappy.

A little past noon we finally reached the dessert. I forced myself to take a five minute break to let the others catch their breath. I completely forgot that they had to build up their stamina.

When night fell things got difficult. Jack and Huxley tasted their first few arrows in the arm or leg, however Jack got a nasty one to the neck and lost nearly half his hearts.

The spiders and zombies were an easy hit to avoid but the creepers were just as difficult as the skeletons.

But then I saw it: my mountain. I never felt so relieved to see that boring, sandy mountain. We reached the area with all the torches and lanterns around then started our climb up the steep cliff face.

The pair followed my footsteps exactly until we made it to a small platform in the center of the cliff face. I reached into a small hole to pull a lever and the sandstone to the left broke in half to reveal an entrance.

For the first time ever I was grateful for Franklin’s obsession with redstone, especially when I saw the amazed looks on my companions

I closed the stone behind them and finally put away my sword. I couldn’t stop the smile on my face as I walked past them. My mood felt lighter and my chest wasn’t heavy for the first time in months.

“Franklin?” I called. I started down the staircase that led further into the base, making sure the other two were following.

I called for Franklin again and he finally answered from the Treasure Room. I didn’t bother to hide my excitement when I peeked around the corner to see my old friend.

“Guess what I found on my trading trip?”

 

[Chandelerion]

Franklin had been worried, Prim had been gone for several days. She was normally gone for several days, and each time she left he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit he was always a bit worried.

Obviously he would never say this out loud, but he knew himself well enough to concede the point. So when he heard the door open and Prim calling to him. He pretended not to have already known that she had made it back to the desert. He'd spent a few hours looking out over the desert from on top of the mountain over the past several days; searching for any sign of her return. Redstone was his passion, and he got along with his machines MUCH better than he'd ever gotten along with her, but the prospect of losing his only friend did worry him a bit, occasionally, sometimes.

He knew she could take care of herself, but he wouldn't deny being relieved when he'd seen her silhouette off in the far distance.

But now that she was back and her shouting was echoing through the halls, his fears were soothed and his mind wandered back to his latest experiments with golems. So when she called him what must have been the second or third time he answered distractedly. Not fully registering the sound of additional footsteps until Prim turned the corner with a wide grin on her face and asked "Guess what i found on my trading trip?"

Then, and only then, did he fully register the sound of the other footsteps, and more importantly, the other voices, approaching from the stairway above.

"Oh dear" he groaned "more noise"

but internally, he was just as excited as she was.

 

[Chaos The Destroyer]

Jack was astonished as she flipped the hidden lever, four inset pieces of what he could only guess was sand stone pulling apart to reveal a large, cavernous space hidden in the bare mountain face.

"W...wow" was all he could manage at the relatively small feat of redstone engineering. Following the woman inside of the base Jack hadnt exactly been sure what to expect when she had told them about her home, a laid out piece of land with no more than a few huts, maybe something like the village they had run from. "Did you and your friend do all of this?" He questioned, the awe in his voice as clear as a skeleton on a plain.

Delving deeper into the depths of their home the man looked all around him, when the finally got to the treasure room he couldnt help but stand with his mouth agape at the technology that sat in front of him before he finally registered the man in front of them. "H...hi, my names Jack. i....if noise is what you're worried about you wo...wont have to worry about me."

 

[Kassandra]

After they all emerged from the caverns, and it was confirmed that they were no longer in any immediate danger of the axemen, Huxley's mind naturally returned to thinking about the village they were forced to abandon. A guilt had taken shape within her, which the others seemed to lack. All manner of what-ifs and could-haves haunted her during the last stretch of their journey, which admittedly were the cause of the inattentiveness on her part that left Jack in near-critical condition when they were ambushed by skeletons. Just meant more to feel guilty about.

Their arrival brought her momentary release, as Huxley's anxieties were replaced with interest in the camouflaging capabilities Rose's home had. The lack of description beforehand led her mind to imagine a similar structure to that which they witnessed in the village. Homely, small, and built from only local materials. The fact that there was variety in their building told her that she and Jack were quite behind. Rose and her companion had been here for a significant amount of time longer than she imagined.

'Franklin's demeanor surprised her, lacking much of the expected alertness three of them had displayed when first coming across others, but Huxley greeted him all the same. "And I'm Huxley. You and Rose have been alone here for some time, hm?"

 

[MoonMidnight]

“Uh yep!” I answered for Franklin. “I’ll get us some food. Hopefully it’ll help Jack’s bleeding on his neck there.” My eyes locked with Franklin’s for a second longer.

I hurried back up the stairs to the storage room, wasting no time in getting back to the others. Franklin and I needed to talk about how much and what exactly we wanted to tell the newcomers. I didn’t want him confessing any details that were best kept to just the two of us.

They had exchanged a few words but it didn’t seem anything major had been discussed. So I handed Jack and Huxley a cooked steak and took a chicken for myself. We would have to increase our farm to steadily feed the four of us.

“Franklin, you can sleep in my room until we carve out space for them,” I nodded to the pair beside me. “For now we need to sleep. I’m exhausted and I’m sure you guys are too.”

 

[Chandelerion]

Franklin eyed the newcomers, noting the fatigue and injuries. They'd probably been running for a while, which meant another raid. Which also meant they probably had lost another village.

After locking eyes with Prim he understood the hidden message there. and as excited as he was for having new people, he knew that it was a bad idea to get to caught up in his excitement. the fact was that they didn't know anything about these people. So they should be careful for a few days, at least until they learned a bit more about them.

"You all look like you've had a very long trip, so I'll try to be accommodating as you adjust to... living I guess." He chuckled at his own, admittedly terrible, joke. "Just do me a favor and don't touch anything that glows, looks interesting, or that you don't already know how works." As if on cue, he felt his burn flare up, to him it was just a brief flash of warmth, but the red glow that arced up his neck and into his eye caught the attention of the two newcomers. Franklin sighed and rubbed his eyes frustrated as the glow faded.

"alright, get your questions out now while my patience hold up"

 

[Chaos The Destroyer]

Jack stared back at the man before them, his eyes blatantly tracing the scar thatcovered most of his visible neck. "How'd you manage to get that?" The man asked, walking around Franklin to look at the redstone that littered the floor, machinery seemingly thrown in at random.

Picking up a piece of the dust despite Franklin's warning he paired it with a lever on the, powering the redstone. Staring at the glowing red strip in awe he touched it lightly, burning his hand he jumped back with a yell. "FUC~" Shaking his hand he bit the inside of his lip to silence himself. Turning back to Franklin he pointed at the redstone accusingly. "That. What is that? I need to know more."

 

[Kassandra]

The manner in which Rose hurriedly answered her very casual question put her on edge. Huxley turned to Jack, expecting him to have picked up on her dubious behavior as well, but yet again, it seemed as if he were none the wiser. His attention was fixed on Franklin's little experiments, too focused to even consider that more might've been going on in the background that Rose was expunging.

"I guess that means Jack and I are taking Franklin's room. I brought my bed from the village, so don't bother going to the trouble of making another one." Huxley was curious, but was also certain whatever the pair were being cautious about was still going to be relevant in the morning. "Lead the way. I'm ready to turn in for the night."

 

[MoonMidnight]

“Sure thing,” I answered Huxley. My patience for her had gone up exponentially since coming home. I gave credit to my excitement for that.

I waited for one of the boys to stop talking so I could say next, “You two can stay up and talk. We’re headed over.” I gave Franklin another elongated stare before leading Huxley through the many stairs. When we got to Franklin’s room I went to his chest to pull out a book a quill I’d seen him write in.

“He’ll probably want this,” I said to Huxley. I wasn’t going to attempt to hide the book because that would just get her irritated and skeptical.

I moved to go up the stairs to my room but turned to look at her again. “If you’re hungry in the morning there’s food in the chests that we passed. If you take anything else let me know. We like to keep inventory.”

I turned back around and called a Goodnight over my shoulder. Back in my own room, I watched the entrance half expecting her to come walking in out of curiosity. Never in my life had I ever experienced danger and uncertainty in my own home.

I had felt plenty skeptical of Franklin when he came but now with two people I was even more nervous. Would there be more at spawn? Would new people keep coming and coming? The idea both excited and made me uneasy. That would be a lot of people if they started coming in twos like Huxley and Jack did.

I hoped my uneasiness about Huxley would go away. I didn’t want to argue with her like I argue with Franklin. I wouldn’t be able to take the conflict for so long.

I pushed the thoughts out of my mind when Franklin came in. He had a bed in hand and replaced the one on the loft adjacent to me. I climbed up the loft and sat on the edge as he sat down on the bed. I crossed my legs and looked over my shoulder though I knew I wouldn’t be able to see anything with the tapestry over the entrance.

“Firstly, the illagers attacked the village. But when we ran they kept following us,” I started, handing him the book and quill. “Normally they do but even at a distance they kept coming. I’ve never seen them do that before.

“Secondly, don’t tell them anything about her. They don’t need to know. Tell them all about our findings but nothing else. Fair?”

 

[Chandelerion]

Franklin watched in amusement as as one of the newcomers, the boy, activated a piece of red stone and reached his hand towards it. The entertainment value of seeing him get shocked far outweighed the minor annoyance of someone else touching his red stone reserves.

He had to admit, the speed with which the newcomer had gravitated towards the stuff reminded Franklin of his early days in the world.


Laughing, he explained “This stuff is called redstone dust. Very originaI I know, it may not look like much but,” He gestured towards the lights on the ceiling and several of his half finished contraption. “It powers everything you see here. Very useful, very hard to get a hold of, and vey much my stuff.“

Franklin punctuated the last part with a flat stare. “I don’t mind if you want to experiment with it, but never touch it without letting me know first. Its hard to come by and I don’t need you blowing yourself up and losing it.”

Not waiting for a response he brought the newcomer over towards a couple of his designs. “Now, uh John was it? Let me show you something really cool.“

After a few minutes of showing off, Franklin yawned. Now that his excitement was gone, he realized he was very tired. Bidding, was it James? A good night Frankiln Made his way to Prim’s room. With a spare bed, after setting it down and listening to her account of the trip his excitment gave way to concern.

He nodded in response to her question Regarding the newcomers and, that still too painful memory, accepting the book and quill. But a lingering fear made its way past his lips before he had time to stop it.

“do you think they might be with her? It just feels convenient that in this village you go to a lot, suddenly there's new people and then it gets attacked. Did the ones that attacked you look normal or like they'd been altered?"

 

[MoonMidnight]

I shook my head. “I doubt it. They were just as clueless about the world as you were when you first woke up. If they are with her then they would’ve had some more items on them.

“The illagers looked altered. Some of them attacked the villagers but the others came right for the three of us. If Jack and Huxley were with her I don’t think she’d risk their lives right away. But why would she come after us? She has no reason to do that.”

I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms securely around them. I rested my chin on my knees and stared at the lines in the wood. I didn’t like that he was sleeping here or that we were having this kind of a discussion.

"You're right,” Franklin said. “I just...I don't like not knowing anything. I get paranoid sometimes." He paused for a moment to let his words sink in.

“The guy seems to have taken a shine to redstone, maybe I'll give him some tips tomorrow and see what he comes up with. I'll sleep on it."

“I’m not fixing anymore holes if he blows stuff up like you did,” I smiled slightly.

"Okay. I'm tired and you've been walking all day. Time for both of us to go to sleep."

I slid off the loft and into my own bed. For the first time in months I felt the pressure in my chest lift. I felt better with him in the room now and surprised myself when I slept soundly that night.

By the morning Franklin was still asleep. I jumped out of bed to get to my favorite spot outside the base doors. I wanted to watch all the mobs burn then go down to pick up the loot. Not to mention the sun always looked amazing from so high up.

However I wasn’t alone that morning. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see on of the newcomers coming up the stairs.

 

[Chaos The Destroyer]

Jack was mildly annoyed at this Franklin person. Whether he did it on purpose or not they had literally just met not even five minutes ago.

Regardless if he wanted to learn more about this redstone stuff he'd need to keep on his good side. Listening intently as the man went about explaining his inventions he made a mental list of questions to ask him tomorrow.

Following the mans directions to as he was escorted to the room he would be staying in he nodded to Huxley as he laid his own bed out. "Good night Hux, I know it doesn't seem like it but this is our best option to survive." Rolling over to face the wall he fell into a light, fitful sleep filled with images of the grey skinned men andt he various mobs he had seen through the last two days.

Waking with the predawn chill and a cold sweat covering his body the young man got up, retracing his steps quietly he made his way out to the main door to find he wasnt the only one out to get fresh air.

"Good morning, you have trouble sleeping to?"

 

[MoonMidnight]

“Good morning,” I returned. “I’ve always been a morning person. I’m usually out exploring so getting up early is really helpful.”

I found I was very grateful it was Jack who woke first. I didn’t have the patience for Franklin or Huxley this early. I could only imagine the hustle once I mentioned the discs and my - our - life goal.

“I’m guessing you had a nightmare of some kind? Franklin had those when he first came here,” I said.

I listened to him with my legs swinging over the edge. The last of the night mobs burned, leaving the exploding creepers and giant spiders to stroll across the sand.

After he finished I said, “Wanna get some more practice in? You can keep any items you find down there.” I brought out my sword as he answered me.

 

[Chaos The Destroyer]

He nodded as he sat next to the woman on the ledge. "Yea. Those, illagers? I think you called them, they were chasing us. They found us here and captured us. It ended before we got too far away but I remember a terrifying laughter in the background." He said, watching as the skeletons and zombies alike burned under the rising sun.

In truth this would be good for him. He'd need all the practice he could to survive in this world. Nodding he stood and pulled out his own stone sword. "Tell you what. Let's make this interesting. Whoever comes back with the most loot gets to ask any questions they want of the loser and they have to answer truthfully? Sound fair?"

 

[MoonMidnight]

To be honest, I didn’t like it. If I lost he could ask any questions he wanted. He was quiet but that probably meant he’d been watching more closely than I realized. But maybe not. Either way, I couldn’t say no. It would look suspicious and trust was important if the four of us were to start living together.

“Deal.”

The smell of burning flesh was slowly fading by the time we made it down to the open field. Jack went one way and I went the other. There seemed to be nothing but creepers on my side. Twice they had exploded before I could hit them, killing any others nearby.

I was sweating by the time we had finished all the mobs in the sandy field. I was over by the ocean and Jack was climbing, rather falling, down the hill near the base. He was brushing off the sand and spitting it out every few seconds.

“Sand doesn’t count in our deal,” I laughed. “How much did you get?”

When he rattled off his string and gunpowder numbers I felt my heart stomach twist. He had beaten me by seven items. Having seen him eat a handful of sand made me feel a little better about losing.

I sighed and put my near-to-breaking sword away. “Congrats,” I said. “Walk and talk. I’m hungry now.”

 

[Chaos The Destroyer]

Running felt good. As if I were meant to do it, like some long forgotten string in my genetic required the freedom it brought. I had the luck of not dealing with too many creepers. Watching them over the past two days I'd already figured out they had a major weakness. They needed to be in a certain distance of you before they exploded. Deadly if they caught you by surprise, easy if you seen them.

Soon I fell into a rhythm hit, retreat, hit, retreat. There were a few that caught me off guard when i was dealing with a particular nasty spider, other than that I found it natural. It was practically meditative for me, being able to release all of the pent up confusion and aggression that had built in me since i had woken in the forest.

Climbing up the dunes I found the sand tasted horribly, glaring playfully at rose as i came to stand beside her. What frightened me was that i had beat her, it hadnt seemed like I'd beaten many monsters. Had i los time? Or had it really been that many? Shaking the questions from my head I followed behind her with a nod.

"What arent you telling us? You've been tense since we got back, more so than you were when we were travelling here." He allowed amoment for the question to sink in and her to answer before continuing. "Second question, how long has it been since you woke up? And Franklin. Obviously theres a significant gap between us but how long actually?"

Jack bit his lip. He wanted to ask her about his dream but he wasnt sure. Shaking his head he figured no one else would be able to answer him. Not like there was anyone to ask. "Last question. What you said this morning, about dreams. You were right, I had a dream we were back in the caves, those things got into the cave and overwhelmed us. The were taking us back somewhere. There was a dark, feminine laughter in the background. I woke before we got to where they we taking us. Do you have any idea what it could mean?"

 

[MoonMidnight]

His questions weren’t incredibly painful, nor difficult to answer. I felt my anxieties lessen as I closed the sandstone wall behind us.

“I’m tense with so many people in one small space. But when Franklin wakes up he’ll tell you what we’ve been working on for awhile.” Truthfully, I was nervous about what the pair would think when we finally played number 13. They could react either with curiosity or freak out. But I wasn’t too worried.

“Second. Tomorrow will mark eleven months to be exact. Franklin woke up four months ago.” I saw no harm in sharing that information since it revealed very little about anything. I went into the chests to pull out four bread for us to split.

“Thirdly,” I took a bite. “Never take a dream lightly. Franklin had one about an explosion in our base that happened a month and a half after he arrived. I had several during my first few weeks that saved my life.”

I led him down to the treasure room and planted myself on the fletching table, legs crossed. “Your dream...they’re called illagers. Basically villagers without the v. They have a few who use magic and they have a weird laugh. There’s no female illagers but your dream could mean they now have one. That might spell trouble in the future.”

It was the best interpretation I could come up, leaving out the dark thoughts swimming in the back of my mind. I needed to tell Franklin about this as soon as possible. There was no doubt something brewing in the dark oak forest. And my gut reaction that saved me during my first few weeks alone, told me that we might be in a lot of trouble very soon.

 

[Chaos The Destroyer]

Frowning as he sat across from her he shook his head. "I dont think it was an Illager. They have voices that arent like ours. Fromwhat i was hearing they're a few octaves too high, even compared to women such as you and Huxley. This voice was with in a range a human talks."
Shaking his head he leans back against the wall leand against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.

"If there is something i can do to help you two I want to. I get the impression Huxley isnt necessarily a fan of staying here. But I think that theres something bigger out there, something more dangerous than mobs that we really cannot face alone."

 

[MoonMidnight]

Shit, he’s smart. I thought to myself. I wasn’t one to curse but I felt the need to in that moment.

“There might be another person out there,” I said. “I’m not at the village all the time and they could’ve had a different waking up point. They probably got mixed up with the illagers. But you said you heard a laugh.” I looked at the dirty map on the wall that was of a woodland mansion somewhere in the world.

I rubbed my neck out of habit. “A laugh, not a scream or a groan. My best guess is this new girl might be working with the illagers. That might explain why they were so smart when we tried to run!”

I jumped from my spot on the table and ran up the stairs. I left Jack in the room and made my way to my room. I jumped onto the bed and shook Franklin’s shoulders. He woke with a start and looked around, registering last night’s events.

“We’ve got a big problem,” I said quietly. I had no idea if Huxley was awake or if Jack had followed me. “Jack had a dream about her and the illagers. I said she must be a new person and that’s the lie we’re going with okay? Now come on, Jack wants to help and I think he of all people can decipher it all.”

I didn’t wait for a response. I jumped down from the bed and waited until he at least swung his legs over. I went back to find Jack where I had left him. I eagerly waited for Franklin to walk into the room. When he did Huxley was close behind.

“Time to show you guys our great hunt.”

 

[Chandelerion]

Late mornings happened, Franklin didn't usually intend to sleep late, but sometimes he did. Today was different because he had intentionally decided to let himself rest a bit longer to recover from the stress Prim's trip had caused him. Minor stress, negligible really. But stress was bad for you. Some old book Prim had brought back probably said something like that right?

All this today that when he was shaken awake he had been asleep, and dreaming. His dream was one he'd been having, a nightmare that would assault him every now and then. A shadowy figure surrounded by purple light. Their eyes were the only distinguishable feature, and they were filled with what Franklin could only describe as madness, but somehow it wasn't that simple, because those eyes were familiar. Eyes he had stared into many times. Eyes he had loved.

The dream always ended right when she made eye contact with whoever he was in the dream. But today the dream ended with a rough shake. He woke in a slight daze, shaking his head to clear away the drowsiness while he tried to take in what Prim was saying.

Jack had a dream? A lie? The confusion passed quickly and he understood. He nodded, "Ok, I'll follow your lead on this." But his mind wasn't 100% on the subject of their shared secret. It was on his dream, sometimes dreams were just dreams. And sometimes... they weren't.

Jack had a dream about the Illagers, Franklin wondered what that was going to mean. He wondered what both of their dreams were going to mean.

After a few minutes of self composure he followed Prim, who he had told about his recurring dream a few times in the past, to where she had stashed their new recruit. Running into Huxley along the way. He could tell from her body language that she expected answers from this meeting, and he respected that. She wasn't going to take any dodging of questions or obviously vague answers, she wanted the truth. Franklin would give it to her, at least most of it. There was no telling what could happen if she ran off on her own, no telling what She might do if she caught a stray person with little knowledge of the world.

And Franklin suspected that telling her it was their fault She was a threat in the first place might spur her to make a very foolish decision. So he made his way over to Prim and locked eyes with the two newbies, his face serious.

"I know you two have questions and we're going to answer them now."

He locked eyes with Huxley

"What is it you want to know?"

 

[Kassandra]

Huxley gladly let her guard down for the night, exhausted after the string of near-constant dangers that was their journey. She expected to toss and turn all night, but upon her head hitting the mattress of the bed she commandeered from the village, the smells of fresh air and unsettled farmland lulled her into a comfortable slumber. They also danced into her mind, and shaped something more tangible out of her memories. Twisted them, in a good way. Images not of the village she and the others failed, but of one prepared for a siege, protected by black, impenetrable, monolithic walls. While the peaceful villagers lived on, oblivious to the dangers outside the walls, Huxley waged war on the hordes of gray-skinned marauders with an army of iron soldiers, whom she fought right alongside. The battles seemed endless, and yet, the sight of each sunrise as it illuminated yet another victory filled her with a pride unlike any other.

When she woke up, Huxley found that her hand was throbbing in pain, as it had been clutching something from her dream. A weapon of some sort from her dream. Looking over, she found that she was alone in the room, and unsupervised, deemed it a good opportunity to snoop around.

Around corners and from higher levels, she listened in as Jack and Rose talked in private, watched as they ran around killing the remaining monsters from the receding night, and then again listened as Jack reaped the rewards of his victory of their little game. Rose gambling information with someone like Jack, who obviously had no secrets of his own, seemed stupid, but at least it got Huxley some insight into what she and Franklin were so worried about. That is, until she just started following Rose, who untactfully ran away from her talk with Jack to fill Franklin in on her lie. From there, she allowed herself to be found and corralled into the one room with the other three in the base. Franklin sensed that she wanted to know things, but clearly, there was no being direct with these people. Eventually, they'd just slip up and spill everything, anyway. Meeting Franklin's gaze, she unwaveringly stared back. "Nothing. Well, I am curious as to why I can't make swords out of emeralds. Seems like it would work."

Play dumb. You'll fit right in.

 

[Chandelerion]

GAME MASTER POST
​

Prim smiled. “You would think. But there’s only a few things that you can craft into tools.”

“What’s the strongest material if not emerald?” Jack asked.

“Probably iron,” Huxley said. “Like the village guardians.”

“Actually it’s diamond but it’s the rarest. Makes sense really.”

Jack nodded and paced the room. “So aside from that, what’s y’alls great hunt? What’s it for? What’s your end game?”

“Of course,” Prim sat on the fletching table. Not a second later she stood up, her body too jittery from the excitement. “Let me start with this: we’re not the only ones in this world. And we’re not the first either.”

“You mean, like us? There’s other people out there?” Huxley kicked her legs out from where she sat.

Jack frowned and looked between Huxley and the older pair. “What do you mean first? How many came before us? How many are out there right now?!”

“None,” Prim made a sweeping motion with her hand. “That’s the thing. They’re not here anymore. I’ve explored well past this map and I’ve discovered old temples and stuff. I’ve even found cave systems where they mined and left things behind. But not a single person.”

“Were they like us? Or were they like the villagers and illagers that are out there now?”

Huxley shook her head in disagreement. “We’re the only ones that can touch this world and change it. They just kinda waddle around. Couldn’t be them.”

“She’s right,” Prim said. “The villagers can’t use the tools we can. They’re a different species if you will. And check this out,” she moved to the chest beside Jack and pulled out an old, green tattered book. “It’s a recipe book of all the things we can craft. Franklin and I didn’t make it. I woke up with it.” She handed it to Jack first.

Jack flipped through the pages before rummaging through his own inventory, now crowded with stacks of sand he had from his fall before. “Okay? If they’re a different species, what built their homes? What made the iron golems that protect them?”

“That’s a great question,” Franklin finally spoke up. “One we’ve been trying to answer for a very long time.”

“And have you gotten any leads? Any ideas?” Jack asked.

Frustrated, Franklin rubbed his eyes. “Sometimes. Then we discover something new that completely erases any theories we had. The only thing we know for sure about the villagers is that they maybehave built them. Or at least, their ancestors may have.” He chuckled quietly. “They aren’t exactly great conversationalists if you haven’t noticed yet.”

Huxley psst-ed in Jack’s direction. “Lemme see the book.”

“Well our last theory was either their ancestors built it or our ancestors built it for them. Since you saw that they aren’t great at defending themselves.”

“So you’re trying to find a lost civilization of people like us,” Jack said. “Is there anything else to it?”

Prim shrugged. “That’s it really. We might not be overly interested in it if I had run into other people every now and then. The people? What happened to them? They’re gone, like that,” she snapped her fingers.

Huxley continued to flip through the pages of the green book, particularly in the section with weapons. Whatever the item was in her dream, it couldn’t be replicated easily. Another rarity, perhaps, like her boots.

Jack hummed and paced around the small room a fraction faster. A distant laugh called for him, pulling him to an unseen location. “What do we do then?” he asked. “Forget this mystery or keep investigating the same things you found?”

Franklin had been watching Huxley. Her actions and small comments oozed with suspicion and he knew she wasn’t convinced that he and Prim were being genuine. He turned to Jack, “Personally, I think there’s much to be learned from them. They’ve created some very impressive structures and done very impressive things. Prim wants to know where we came from to answer questions about our existence and this world. I want to know where we came from so I can see where we can go.” He gave a little shrug. “Though the decision is purely yours to decide.”

“Keep in mind,” Prim quickly added. “When you live for as long as I have out here anything seems highly interesting.”

“Why’d you run off this morning, Rose?” Jack suddenly turned to her. “After I told you about my dream?”

Franklin leaned against the wall and said first, “To tell me obviously. Dreams are important.” He noticed Huxley’s reaction, or rather lack of one. “Sometimes they turn out to be more than just dreams. She wanted to let me know about it.”

Not a lie. Franklin thought to himself. She DID want to do that.

He looked at Huxley again, seeing her with her nose buried in the green recipe book. It seemed like she was looking for something specific. He said, “I take it you recently had a strange omission as well?”

“Sure,” she said. “Last night. But nothing that’s supposed to mean anything.”

*Defensive,* he noted. “But it made an impression?”

“*Leaving the villagers to die* left an impression,” she remarked. He noticed Prim stiffen and tighten her hand in a fist at her side. “I dreamt of a village, a hundred times the size of the one we left, and it was my job to protect it.”

Jack shook his head. The way Rose’s body had changed when he had told her about his dream had struck a chord in her. He knew he would have to wait until she told him or, he looked off into a seemingly random direction, where this invisible pull was coming from. He could find out on his own.

“Dreams are important,” Prim so-gently reminded Huxley. Once again, she had succeeded in getting on Prim’s nerves. “I told Jack this. Anything could be a predication of the future. And if your dream is true, Jack, then another person could be out there. And those things, those illagers, mess with magic. Magic that we don’t understand nor control. If this girl or woman or whatever she is, is working with them, that’ll be trouble for us. Imagine a smart person like us giving dangerous things like them orders. This could be very bad.”

"Pfft, smart,” Huxley said. “But I guess it isn't far-fetched to think they're learning, somehow. Their raid was strategically planned, so nobody would be able to escape without fighting. Neither the villagers or the gray ones could pull that off."

"If that is the case,” Jack said. “we need to find her. Someone like us, someone intelligent enough to do that. We need to at least know."

“That’s my point.” Prim could feel herself getting angrier with Huxley by the second. “Jack’s dream could mean something more. But to be honest, I’m not sure I wanna risk going to their mansion. They’re nearly impenetrable. Let them take the fight to us. We have more important things like this.” She moved to the chest before much else could be argued and pulled out a black disc with the edge chewed off a bit. “Listen to this,” she inserted the disc into the Jukebox.

The sounds were eerie, drawing goosebumps on their skin. The footsteps echoed in the base, almost sounding like it was happening around them. The sounds reminded Huxley of her own fall, her first day in the world. "Sounds like water."

"And arrows" Jack added rather bitterly, his hand reaching up to the scar on his face. "What is this?"

Prim smiled and thought to herself, *’Now we’re getting somewhere.’*

“It’s a CD,” she said. “Better yet, a recorded CD. I’ve found multiple in the chests from the mine shafts. They’re all music except for the two I just recently found.” She played CD 13 next, watching their faces as the sounds echoed in the base. “Creepy right? But kinda cool.”

"Sounds like the village bell, but drawn out a lot. Pretty weird,” Huxley thought aloud.

"Hold on. It sounds like that one," Jack pointed to the chewed disc. "is a precursor to this one.”

“A what?”

"A first part. Like the one you just played continues on from the first one.”

“Wait, you think so? So like...this one,” Prim held up CD 13. “goes after the broken one with the footsteps?”

Jack nodded. “They're both in a cave with relatively similar sounds. The second one sounds like he had a bad run in with a few mobs and was trying to find his way back out.”

“Interesting.” Prim was quiet for a moment. “That would make sense since I found these discs in a mineshaft. All kinds of monsters were in the caves near the train rails. But how was he able to record himself doing this? Franklin, you’ve never mentioned the ability to record anything to me. Is that possible?”

Franklin’s mind ground to a halt. “I... don’t know.” He began pacing back and forth. “I never even thought about it. I’ve been so focused on the larger machines I never even thought about the jukebox that much. I guess it’s because I couldn’t open them up, but I suppose if you can play something then that means you could record...” He continued like this for a few minutes before noticing Prim’s annoyed expression. Then, with a look of embarrassment, he shrugged and fell silent.

“Okay so we can’t record anything. But clearly these people could. And apparently could move while they did that because the sounds make it seem like they had it on them while running. At least that’s what it sounds like. But now what? That’s not much of a lead other than information gathering. What happened to them?” Once again Prim was angry with their dead end conclusions. They had made the first progress in a month and it still led to nothing.

“Zombies and skeletons look an awful lot like us, you know...” Huxley commented.

Prim’s body stiffened at Huxley’s idea. She was right. It was completely obvious but she had accepted it as a natural thing, never to even glance over. She grew more irritated but at Huxley or herself she couldn’t decide.

"At the risk of sounding religious,” Jack said. “What if they weren't the ones to record it? But the discs were made by someone. No, something else?"

Jack’s comment brought Prim out of her thoughts. “What do you mean, something else? Like what?”

"Maybe some being above. Or something worse? Something created by the people themselves that wanted to leave a warning if any at all survived and found them."

“Interesting...” she rubbed her neck and stared at the floor as she thought. “Survived. Survived.” It struck a chord with her for some reason. “Survived. They clearly know how to survive in this world. So a couple monsters couldn’t make them just disappear. So what were they surviving against? What were they running from?”

"Maybe it goes back to whatever they made? Something they needed to get away from,” he suggested.

"This book complete?” Huxley asked. “Or just everything you know how to make?" She raised it up towards their hosts.

“What?” Prim looked at her, completely derailed. It wasn’t even related to the conversation. “I dunno, I just woke up with it. I swear it changes on me because pages disappear or come at the back of the book even though they were in the front. Anyways,” she turned back to Jack. “What could they possibly need to run from?”

"Something more powerful than they anticipated,” Jack went on. “Maybe something like the iron golem? You said they might have made them for the villagers. Maybe they made something more powerful and it turned out the opposite of what they intended."

"I'm just saying,” Huxley raised her voice. “If they built something that made them disappear we should start chasing down everything in this book we don't understand."

“What would that accomplish?” Prim sighed and tiene to face her completely. “How can we know about a thing they made ages ago from a recipe book?”

"Maybe not the results themselves, but their ingredients. Like uhh... Blaze powder, whatever that is. We find something we don't know about, it could lead us to other pieces of the mystery."

"Huxely is right,” Jack said. “We need to explore every avenue possible if we expect to get to the bottom of this."

“And how are we supposed to find all that stuff? I don’t even know where to begin looking. Half of my stuff is just things I’ve found on my exploring trips,” she gestured to the room around them.

"Than we explore more. We do things you normally wouldn’t,” he answered. “There has to be other places we are missing."

"Wait,” Huxley said. “Maybe there's something to this whole 'dreams mattering' thing. My village was protected by a wall of black, almost purple rock. Maybe we need to find that, first."

"Even if we don’t need it for anything specific it could serve as protection if your dream holds true,” he agreed.

“Black rock?” Prim asked. “The only thing I know that’s black is obsidian and that’s horrifying to try to mine. There’s a couple weird boxes made out of it near lava pools and that’s it.”

“Boxes? Is there one nearby?”

“Like a half a day away. Right here,” she jumped up on the tables and pointed at a specific spot on the map. It was on the border of the desert and a green forest.

"We should check it out,” Huxley said. “Maybe we'll find answers there, and another dream will tell us more."

Jack nodded, looking at the spot on the map. “I agree, we could leave tomorrow.”

Franklin, who had been naturally quiet, noted at the distance. “Well I hope you guys have fun with that.” He started up the steps, sensing the conversation was over now.

“Oh no you don’t,” Prim grabbed a handful of his shirt. “You’re coming with.”

Franklin sighed and groaned inwardly. “What use would I be on this expedition? I build things but I’m no good in a fight. I'd just be slowing you all down.”

“You wouldn’t be any worse than Jack and Huxley. No offense, you’re just new,” she added over her shoulder. “And you need to be there in case this proves to help us with our hunt.” She turned around to face the other two, “We’ll all have iron armor. There’s enough in the chests for this trip and I can mine later. It’s not like we’re going to fight anything specific. We’ll be back just before dark.”

Franklin turned to respond then caught the look in her eye. He knew that look and he also knew that she was more than willing to drag him until he started walking. He sighed. “Fine, I’ll get some things together. Hopefully this won’t go like that time you dragged me to a desert temple.”

Jack nodded, tearing his eyes away from the map on the wall. “Good, it’s settled then. We prepare for the rest of the day and leave at dawn."