HermioneJG
Notable Member
- Apr 12, 2017
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The next morning, we left the bunker with backpacks full of supplies, and began the trek north, towards... whatever lay in the north, I supposed. Our deaths, probably, but maybe I deserved that.
If I died doing this, well, I probably deserved it for my cowardice, and at least I'd be able to stop feeling guilty. And if I lived to succeed, hopefully that canceled it out somehow.
"You okay, Hermy?" Ang asked as we stepped out into the sunlight.
I nodded and tried for a smile. "Yeah. Much better than yesterday."
"Well, you don't have to worry," said Stre as the entrance closed behind us, and the hill once again appeared to be nothing more than a hill, "'We're riding horses today, remember. Not just running."
"There weren't any horses by the jungle!" I pointed out.
"I'm not teasing you," Stre said.
Before this could turn into an argument - which I hoped it didn't - Ang said, "C'mon, let's go. Sooner we start, the further we can get before night."
So we mounted the horses and began riding. Ang's mare was called Fire Dancer, and had a mottled coat of dark grey and black. It made me think of smoke, which suited the horse's name. Stre's horse, which was entirely black, was called Elytra. The one I rode was named Quicksilver. She had a light grey coat, except for her legs, which were white.
And riding was pretty much all we did. We took breaks every now and then, tying the horses' leads to a post that we put in the ground then sitting and having something to eat, and we made sure to keep an eye out for monsters. We didn't see very many, and just tried to avoid being noticed when we did. At one point, a skeleton saw us and shot. Luckily, it missed, and Stre killed it. Another time, I noticed a light, like a fire, moving through the trees, and we all paused when we heard something like a giant cat being tortured. We never saw the source of the sound, though.
Both girls had diamond swords, and wore diamond helmets and chestplates. They'd given me a diamond sword and helmet as well, but didn't have enough diamond for anything more than that. The rest of our armour was iron. Strel also had a bow and arrows.
The sword felt useless hanging at my side. I had tried to tell Ang and Stre that I was a horrible fighter, and that in my hands a sword was pointless (ha-ha), but they'd insisted that I keep it.
Gradually, the landscape began to change. The air became slightly damp, although not as humid as the jungle, and noticeably cooler. The plants lost that dead, dried-out look and the acacia trees were replaced by oak and birch, and then spruce. After a while, the grass even disappeared, giving way to what looked like plain dirt with leaves fallen on it and tall ferns sprouting from it everywhere. Moss-covered boulders appeared between the trees, which were extremely tall here.
"Let's take a break," Stre suggested. Ang and I nodded in agreement, and the three of us sat down on one of the boulders and began to eat.
We stayed there for a few minutes, enjoying how cool and quiet it was. Suddenly there was a noise, a slight rustle of leaves on the ground. In one quick motion, Strel had an arrow notched in her bow and was turning from side to side, looking for the source. The noise came again, from the right, and Stre let the arrow fly,
Something growled and leaped at us from between the trees. Furry, light grey, and a bit smaller than a person, it stood on its hind legs and placed its paws on the boulder, snarling and snapping at us. A wolf.
The horses began snorting nervously. Elytra reared up on her hind legs with a neigh, but she still couldn't go anywhere.
I noticed a blue collar around the wolf's neck. Has it been tamed? I wondered.
That question was answered a moment later when we heard a boy calling, "Max! Max, stop it! Come back here, boy!"
A boy with brown hair and blue eyes emerged from between the trees a moment later. He was wearing a scarf, a blue jacket, brown pants, and black sneakers. Over his clothes, he also had on an iron helmet and chestplate. I noticed that the end of the scarf looked singed, and his skin had the pink tinge of someone who's been a bit too close to fire.
"Max-" the boy stopped when he saw us and scowled, his hand going straight to the sword hanging at his side. Diamond, naturally. Was I the only person who could never find that? Then again, I just didn't like to go too deep into the caves, and diamond could only be formed far down.
"You shot at me!" he said, glaring at Stre, who was still holding her bow with another arrow notched in it.
Well, at least she missed, I thought
Stre winced and lowered the weapon. "Sorry, I... we kinda thought you were a monster," she said.
The boy scowled, but called, "Relax, Max. Sit down." The wolf obeyed, and smiling, the boy reached into his pack and tossed it a bone. Then he looked up at us again, frowning. "So, I don't know you. What are you doing here?" he asked. Before we could answer, he added sadly, "Hope you're not looking for a village. There was one to the west of here. It... got destroyed."
"Destroyed how?" Ang asked.
The boy shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me. You guys talk first. What are you doing?"
"Traveling north," I told him. "To..." Should he know? I didn't see why not, so I continued. "Well, to figure out why monsters are getting stronger and try to stop it."
"To stop it..." the boy repeated. He evidently thought we were crazy. Well, at least there was one sane person in the world. "Well, can I come with you, then?"
And here I was thinking he was sane.
"Sure," said Ang. "Except, wait, we only have three horses."
"We can take turns," Stre said. "I'll walk for a bit, and you can take Elytra. Then someone else will take a turn walking."
"Fine by me," said the boy. "By the way, I'm Thomas. And, this is Max," he added, waving to the wolf.
"He's not going to attack us when we get down, will he?" I asked Thomas.
"Max? No, he's calmed down now."
I climbed off of the boulder and approached the wolf, reaching out to pet him. He didn't growl or act even a bit hostile, and when I began to scratch by his ears he closed his eyes and yawned.
"Aw, Max is a sweetie," I said.
Thomas nodded as Ang and Stre came and pet Max as well. He seemed to enjoy the attention.
"We should probably keep going," Ang said. "So, who's walking first?"
"I said I would," said Stre.
Ang, Thomas, and I began untying the horses while Stre continued to play with Max. When we'd started riding, I glanced across at Thomas. He was watching Max, who was walking right next to Elytra, never straying far from his master.
"So, what exactly happened to your village?" I asked.
Thomas didn't look up when he answered. "It was attacked by monsters, but... not the normal kind," he said. "Nether monsters. There were two ghasts, which shot fireballs at everything. They were the worst..."
Another strange thing that was happening. Ghasts couldn't spawn in this world, the Overworld. Neither could blazes or wither skeletons, or most creatures from the Nether dimension.
"So... what happened to the monsters?" Ang asked.
"I managed to kill some. Most of them pretty much disappeared after, but I've encountered a few since."
He paused, and I said, "The ghasts?"
I knew that ghasts sounded a bit like cats when they cried, and earlier we'd heard something like that. And if they were more powerful too...
"They're still flying around," Thomas said. "They tried to attack me the other day. I managed to hit one with its own fireball, but they're super strong. I'm not sure I should still be alive." He laughed a bit. There wasn't really any humor in it.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. We had ghasts, which shouldn't even be in the Overworld, flying around, capable of shooting incredibly powerful fireballs. Juuust wonderful.
-----
Yet again, I call people insane for doing what we're meant to do in Minecraft.
Yeah, the horses are all mares, even though Quicksilver sounds like a name for a stallion and Fire Dancer was taken from the name of a boy character in the Seven Realms books (has anybody here read those?). Fire Dancer was named for Ang's whole fire theme, and Elytra for Strelitzia's profile picture, but Quicksilver was just my being unable to come up with something else. After writing the chapter though, I realised that the name Quicksilver is connected to the name Hermione... barely. See if you can figure out how.
I'll put the answer at the end of the next chapter.
Oh, and yes, I will now be updating the story twice a week. Hooray
Constructive criticism is welcome, just as long as you say what specifically needs improvement and maybe say how to make it better, not just 'I don't like it.' It's fine if you don't like it, but say why.
If you want an alert when future chapters are posted, just say so. Note that if you're someone who's in the story, I'll just tag you under that heading when you've entered it. And if you're someone in the story who does not want to see an alert every time I post a chapter that you're in, just say so and I'll make sure that it's not a proper tag, just your username.
If you're just seeing the story now and want to read the other chapters, here's Chapter 1 > https://brokenlens.xyz/forums/threads/our-world-begins-to-fall-chapter-1.24551/
People in this chapter > @angsk8 @Strelitzia @XThomasXPlayzX
People who asked for an alert > @cheesyunicorn @MagicMiner684
Reading it after more chapters have been posted? Here's Chapter 5 >
https://brokenlens.xyz/forums/threads/our-world-begins-to-fall-chapter-5.26066/
If I died doing this, well, I probably deserved it for my cowardice, and at least I'd be able to stop feeling guilty. And if I lived to succeed, hopefully that canceled it out somehow.
"You okay, Hermy?" Ang asked as we stepped out into the sunlight.
I nodded and tried for a smile. "Yeah. Much better than yesterday."
"Well, you don't have to worry," said Stre as the entrance closed behind us, and the hill once again appeared to be nothing more than a hill, "'We're riding horses today, remember. Not just running."
"There weren't any horses by the jungle!" I pointed out.
"I'm not teasing you," Stre said.
Before this could turn into an argument - which I hoped it didn't - Ang said, "C'mon, let's go. Sooner we start, the further we can get before night."
So we mounted the horses and began riding. Ang's mare was called Fire Dancer, and had a mottled coat of dark grey and black. It made me think of smoke, which suited the horse's name. Stre's horse, which was entirely black, was called Elytra. The one I rode was named Quicksilver. She had a light grey coat, except for her legs, which were white.
And riding was pretty much all we did. We took breaks every now and then, tying the horses' leads to a post that we put in the ground then sitting and having something to eat, and we made sure to keep an eye out for monsters. We didn't see very many, and just tried to avoid being noticed when we did. At one point, a skeleton saw us and shot. Luckily, it missed, and Stre killed it. Another time, I noticed a light, like a fire, moving through the trees, and we all paused when we heard something like a giant cat being tortured. We never saw the source of the sound, though.
Both girls had diamond swords, and wore diamond helmets and chestplates. They'd given me a diamond sword and helmet as well, but didn't have enough diamond for anything more than that. The rest of our armour was iron. Strel also had a bow and arrows.
The sword felt useless hanging at my side. I had tried to tell Ang and Stre that I was a horrible fighter, and that in my hands a sword was pointless (ha-ha), but they'd insisted that I keep it.
Gradually, the landscape began to change. The air became slightly damp, although not as humid as the jungle, and noticeably cooler. The plants lost that dead, dried-out look and the acacia trees were replaced by oak and birch, and then spruce. After a while, the grass even disappeared, giving way to what looked like plain dirt with leaves fallen on it and tall ferns sprouting from it everywhere. Moss-covered boulders appeared between the trees, which were extremely tall here.
"Let's take a break," Stre suggested. Ang and I nodded in agreement, and the three of us sat down on one of the boulders and began to eat.
We stayed there for a few minutes, enjoying how cool and quiet it was. Suddenly there was a noise, a slight rustle of leaves on the ground. In one quick motion, Strel had an arrow notched in her bow and was turning from side to side, looking for the source. The noise came again, from the right, and Stre let the arrow fly,
Something growled and leaped at us from between the trees. Furry, light grey, and a bit smaller than a person, it stood on its hind legs and placed its paws on the boulder, snarling and snapping at us. A wolf.
The horses began snorting nervously. Elytra reared up on her hind legs with a neigh, but she still couldn't go anywhere.
I noticed a blue collar around the wolf's neck. Has it been tamed? I wondered.
That question was answered a moment later when we heard a boy calling, "Max! Max, stop it! Come back here, boy!"
A boy with brown hair and blue eyes emerged from between the trees a moment later. He was wearing a scarf, a blue jacket, brown pants, and black sneakers. Over his clothes, he also had on an iron helmet and chestplate. I noticed that the end of the scarf looked singed, and his skin had the pink tinge of someone who's been a bit too close to fire.
"Max-" the boy stopped when he saw us and scowled, his hand going straight to the sword hanging at his side. Diamond, naturally. Was I the only person who could never find that? Then again, I just didn't like to go too deep into the caves, and diamond could only be formed far down.
"You shot at me!" he said, glaring at Stre, who was still holding her bow with another arrow notched in it.
Well, at least she missed, I thought
Stre winced and lowered the weapon. "Sorry, I... we kinda thought you were a monster," she said.
The boy scowled, but called, "Relax, Max. Sit down." The wolf obeyed, and smiling, the boy reached into his pack and tossed it a bone. Then he looked up at us again, frowning. "So, I don't know you. What are you doing here?" he asked. Before we could answer, he added sadly, "Hope you're not looking for a village. There was one to the west of here. It... got destroyed."
"Destroyed how?" Ang asked.
The boy shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me. You guys talk first. What are you doing?"
"Traveling north," I told him. "To..." Should he know? I didn't see why not, so I continued. "Well, to figure out why monsters are getting stronger and try to stop it."
"To stop it..." the boy repeated. He evidently thought we were crazy. Well, at least there was one sane person in the world. "Well, can I come with you, then?"
And here I was thinking he was sane.
"Sure," said Ang. "Except, wait, we only have three horses."
"We can take turns," Stre said. "I'll walk for a bit, and you can take Elytra. Then someone else will take a turn walking."
"Fine by me," said the boy. "By the way, I'm Thomas. And, this is Max," he added, waving to the wolf.
"He's not going to attack us when we get down, will he?" I asked Thomas.
"Max? No, he's calmed down now."
I climbed off of the boulder and approached the wolf, reaching out to pet him. He didn't growl or act even a bit hostile, and when I began to scratch by his ears he closed his eyes and yawned.
"Aw, Max is a sweetie," I said.
Thomas nodded as Ang and Stre came and pet Max as well. He seemed to enjoy the attention.
"We should probably keep going," Ang said. "So, who's walking first?"
"I said I would," said Stre.
Ang, Thomas, and I began untying the horses while Stre continued to play with Max. When we'd started riding, I glanced across at Thomas. He was watching Max, who was walking right next to Elytra, never straying far from his master.
"So, what exactly happened to your village?" I asked.
Thomas didn't look up when he answered. "It was attacked by monsters, but... not the normal kind," he said. "Nether monsters. There were two ghasts, which shot fireballs at everything. They were the worst..."
Another strange thing that was happening. Ghasts couldn't spawn in this world, the Overworld. Neither could blazes or wither skeletons, or most creatures from the Nether dimension.
"So... what happened to the monsters?" Ang asked.
"I managed to kill some. Most of them pretty much disappeared after, but I've encountered a few since."
He paused, and I said, "The ghasts?"
I knew that ghasts sounded a bit like cats when they cried, and earlier we'd heard something like that. And if they were more powerful too...
"They're still flying around," Thomas said. "They tried to attack me the other day. I managed to hit one with its own fireball, but they're super strong. I'm not sure I should still be alive." He laughed a bit. There wasn't really any humor in it.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. We had ghasts, which shouldn't even be in the Overworld, flying around, capable of shooting incredibly powerful fireballs. Juuust wonderful.
-----
Yet again, I call people insane for doing what we're meant to do in Minecraft.
Yeah, the horses are all mares, even though Quicksilver sounds like a name for a stallion and Fire Dancer was taken from the name of a boy character in the Seven Realms books (has anybody here read those?). Fire Dancer was named for Ang's whole fire theme, and Elytra for Strelitzia's profile picture, but Quicksilver was just my being unable to come up with something else. After writing the chapter though, I realised that the name Quicksilver is connected to the name Hermione... barely. See if you can figure out how.
I'll put the answer at the end of the next chapter.Oh, and yes, I will now be updating the story twice a week. Hooray
Constructive criticism is welcome, just as long as you say what specifically needs improvement and maybe say how to make it better, not just 'I don't like it.' It's fine if you don't like it, but say why.
If you want an alert when future chapters are posted, just say so. Note that if you're someone who's in the story, I'll just tag you under that heading when you've entered it. And if you're someone in the story who does not want to see an alert every time I post a chapter that you're in, just say so and I'll make sure that it's not a proper tag, just your username.
If you're just seeing the story now and want to read the other chapters, here's Chapter 1 > https://brokenlens.xyz/forums/threads/our-world-begins-to-fall-chapter-1.24551/
People in this chapter > @angsk8 @Strelitzia @XThomasXPlayzX
People who asked for an alert > @cheesyunicorn @MagicMiner684
Reading it after more chapters have been posted? Here's Chapter 5 >
https://brokenlens.xyz/forums/threads/our-world-begins-to-fall-chapter-5.26066/
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