Chapter I

Where...?

Imagine a forest. Trees, big ones. The ground beneath the canopy of leaves is flat, grassy. A few flowers are scattered around.

Now imagine a young male unconscious, lying face-down in the dirt. He's a bit thin, but otherwise in shape. His hair is, strangely enough, a sort of greenish-blueish color, mostly green, almost like seaweed. His skin is a sort of sky blue color. He is not human, but similar. He is just now waking up.

And this is where this story shall begin.

The boy opened his eyes, grimacing at the way his head throbbed.

Where am I?

This question is more important than he thinks, but he will not receive an answer anytime soon.

Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his head. After a few more moments of resting, he stands, staggering slightly. He looks around. This doesn't help at all, because he only saw more trees. He sighs.

Well, I'm not solving anything by standing here.

So he sets off.

Twenty minutes later, he has ends up where he was before.

He sighs and leans against a tree, pinching the bridge of his nose.

This is... problematic.

So he decides to rest for a little. Twenty minutes of hopeless wandering tends to incite reactions like that.

After twenty more minutes, he stands, ready for more hopeless wandering.

Ten minutes later, he stops near a particularly large tree. Something in him, an instinct, tells him to be careful. He steps closer to the tree, lays a hand on the surface. It is smooth, but it has a few strange black marks, and a smell of... of...

Fire?

His hand stops at a notch in the wood. There is a clicking sound.

"Duck," someone says.

He ducks, more out of surprise than obedience.

A jet of flame shoots out of the tree, nearly touching him. He feels a small tongue of flame lick his cheek as it passes right in front of his face.

Then the fire is gone.

He stands, considerably more panicked than before. Then he remembers the voice that saved him.

"W-Who are you? Where are you?" he calls out.

Something hits him very hard on the back of his head.

For the second time that day, he wakes up, face-down in the dirt. Something is different, though. He rolls onto his back.

He is in a camp of types, with a campfire. It is inside a cave, though the entrance has been partially blocked off with wood. He could see two shapes, humanoid ones, sitting in front of the campfire.

"Vizier's gonna love this," one of the shapes say.

"Yeah, new blood hasn't been around since -" the second one starts.

"Victor," the first one finishes. "And he ran straight at that beast. Couldn't even bury him. Not enough body."

They both laugh.

The boy sat up slowly, trying not to be too noisy. He evidently failed, because one of the shapes turned around. Now that he could see them both more clearly, he saw they were both outfitted with armor, cobalt blue and covering most their face except their eyes. One had a large, Titanium sword strapped to his back - not that he could tell it was titanium - and the other had a strange rifle strapped to his waist, with cogs and gears, like clockwork.

"Well, hellooo, new blood. I'm Tex," says the one with the rifle.

"I'm Reave," says the one with the sword.

"Your name is...?"

The boy narrows his eyes. "Actually, I believe answers are in order first, before I say my name."

Tex and Reave exchange glances, then turn back to him.

"What was that flame back there? And where are you taking me? And who is Vizier?"

Reave chuckles, replying, "Flame was a flame trap. We use it for hunting. Kills and cooks." he then grins crookedly.

Tex continues, "We're taking you to, ah, a refuge. We call it The Krokkoan."

Reave finishes, "And the Vizier... well, you'll find out."

They both chuckle.

The boy shifts slightly, then asks, "The Krokkoan?"

Tex nods, replying, "It's deadly being out by yourself, especially new blood like you. People used to just live scattered across the place, never working together, dying like flies. Then, four survivors built a town, and then it grew larger, and larger, and know it's a city. We take care of people."

"And once you see what's out there, you'll thank us," Reave adds.

The boy bristles slightly, but sighs in defeat. "Well, if what you say is true, then... I'm Nile."

Tex and Reave nod, and then, in unison, stand.

"In that case, Nile, you can follow us to the Krokkoan."

Nile sighs, but he follows as they leave the cave. After all, it sounded like it would be far safer in the Krokkoan than out here.

Nile runs as fast as he can to reach the other side. This 'Corruption' certainly showed him the many things that could kill him if he didn't go to the Krokkoan. It sounded better by the minute.

He staggers as a gob of green, acidic spit misses him by a mere foot. He pushes himself harder, watching the few plants left wither in the spit.

That could've been me, he thinks.

Tex was busy shredding a horde of some strange, multiple-eyed floating creatures that they called 'Eaters'. Reave, meanwhile, was holding off a bigger version of the Eaters, one that spit acid and seemed much tougher.

Nile was busy running, of course. He didn't have any of the armor, weapons, or experience that the other two had. Besides, Tex and Reave were actually winning.

Nile falls, gasping for breath, onto regular, clean grass. Not purple grass, thankfully. The end of the Corruption.

He decides it would be better to just rest here. After all, Tex and Reave would hate to lose the new guy, so he should probably stay here. Not because he was afraid. Ha. No. Maybe...

After ten minutes, Tex and Reave came over, Reave cleaning his blade and Tex hauling a bag of... something bloody. Nile didn't want to know.

"Well, come on, new blood! Still have a ways to go!" Reave says, in a weird, sing-song tone.

Nile groans, but he follows. It was that, or stay back in the Corruption.

Nile pants, dragging his feet as they climb a hill.

Tex and Reave were as cheerful as always, chatting to each other idly.

As they reach the top, they both stop, waiting for Nile. After a few moments, Nile finally drags himself to the top.

"Behold..." Tex says, waving one arm in an expansive gesture towards the horizon.

Nile gasps.

The hill sloped down, and then there was a colossal field of flat ground. Then, in the middle of the field, another giant hill rose, and on top of that...

Walls of blue bricks, towers spiraling upwards, no visible entrance, but obviously some sort of impenetrable fortress, Nile could see people, like ants at this distance, scurrying across the walls. A moat of clear water surrounded it, and two towers sat in front of the moat, with a sort of basket on the bottom filled with boulders. In the center of the fortress-like place, a palace towered, lit up like a lantern.

"...Krokkoan," Reave finishes.

Okay. So...

This is basically based in a Terraria world in hardmode. Obviously, I've changed a few things, and I might add a few items or monsters. And also make worlds way bigger. But still basically Terraria. And, uh, I suppose if you wanted to submit a character, just PM me. I personally like adding other people's characters to my stories.

Hang Together,

Reaper of Books