Season 1: Never Again | Act 1: Losing Your Items
Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft, that belongs to Mojang. I do not own the Yogscast, nor their characters/plot(s). I do, however, own any and all OCs as well as twisted plot/Cannon.
-= *How Many Steps?* =-
How many steps does one take in a lifetime? a thought mused wondrously. It also wondered how it could think of the dumbest things at the strangest of times. He failed to notice this sense of deja vu, however.
-The man who thought of this stood defiantly, despite his ragged attire and many bruises - most of which were fairly recent - with a clear thick blood of purple marching down his chin from the corner of his plump lips.
-His eyes were narrowed, the features of his face pulled back into a scowl, bridge of his nose scrunched, mouth in a thin line, glaring angrily at the enemy in front of him.
How many times do humans get back up? he thought another strange one. He wasn't sure where these were coming from. All he knew was that they were only slightly motivational in getting his ass moving.
-He brought his fist to bear, chambered behind him. He yelled something, all audio dropping to rock bottom zero, his voice inaudible as music racks your ears. And while this isn't a reader's perspective, or the writer's perspective, it was still quite loud and freaking obnoxious!
-Obnoxiousness aside, it was about time we got this story on the road. The eight bystanders included the strongest humans alive. While technically the man who was fighting was also obviously human, his methods of fighting weren't of that of his race-sake.
Why do we do the things we do? he mused further, but pushed it aside for the task at hand.
-Instead, he was taught bizarre powers, inhuman strength, and the innate ability to protect, rescue and amaze his friends constantly without rest simultaneously.
Who would dare to watch the world crumble as others struggle to lift it with their lives?
-Rythian, one of the eight bystanders, as he watched, realized that he, indeed, believed that this impeccable and unbelievable story that the man had once told him was actually one unfolding before his eyes and actually coming true.
-If he was correct, he believed along with the others that with this guy, the strange friends they made along the way, the crazy gadgets and motivational speeches they made, had just one goal.
-Winning.
-He would win, he would fulfill this destiny that he hated, no twice-not even that! Thrice hated! He hated this destiny that was forced on him, one that he didn't want (what with his missing memories and personality that seemed to leave with it) to fulfill.
Could one man save the world?
-He just wanted to be a normal boy with normal knees! He wanted to be that kid in high school who was average, who got bullied often, who had a few friends, and maybe even the right girl.
Could a group full of idiots do it?
-But there was none of that for him. He wasn't a normal guy. He certainly was too old to be in school, but apparently - and much to the eight's amusement - too young to be considered an adult.
Will they die trying to save this thrice-damned world they now held little care for?
-Rythian believed that, with this guy, they could live on in a safer world.
11 idiots out to save the world? What kind of sick man thought of that?
-That's just one thought he had.
-= *3 Months Prior* =-
Rythian just had a thought.
It was going to be Zoey's birthday soon, and he was lucky to have had already picked out the perfect present for her. He had to admit, he wasn't going to lie, he wasn't going to even sugar coat it; he liked her.
Scratch that, he'd fallen for her ever since she freaking came into his life. He just never knew how to break it to her. What was he going to say? 'I love you'?
Straight up? Just like that? No, he had to coat it in layers and layers of things that she'd understand. Not saying she was stupid, mind you, he just wanted to put it in her words.
Together-together.
"Heh," he chuckled as he lifted his feet off the floor and lazily crossed them on the table. The thought entertained him, but for the past month, nurturing a flower had its merits on his health. The thing that combated his well being - health-related, that is - is trying to say something that laid along the lines of a sappy romance story. So he'd been stealing and hiding books from Zoey - an act he'd have to tell her about later, much to his chagrin.
He just finished his new copy of a Swiftwolf's Rendering Gale. He was selling to Lewis and Simon, two very well known customers.
He'd had grown out of his revenge habit as of late. Three months ago, he and Duncan had their last conflict, and therefore, no one was any longer biased for either side. Instead, they focused on more petty things. Like the economy.
Ever since the Science-Mage wars, Sips Co. and Honeydew Inc. have been on their heels with one another. One took the lead temporarily on the stock market, the other soon taking their place. The Stock Market. "Heh," he chuckled once more with an added sigh. Duncan had been building some good inventions since the Treaty of the Science-Mage Wars, he reluctantly admitted. This included phones.
Since that invention, communication throughout Minecraftia had improved drastically. And although he had a treaty with the mad scientist, he still hated science with a burning passion.
Luckily, Kim was there to save everyone.
Duncan and Rythian had gotten into a pretty heated argument, Zoey being unable to stop it. Kim walked in, shook hands with Zoey, and the two began to work on opposite things their instructors taught them. Kim worked with magics, with Zoey working on science. It calmed the two down immediately as both jaws prominently hit the table they began to feud at each other with.
Rythian unconsciously began to rub his left arm. The moment the two had begun to argue back then again, both girls, respectively, punched their teachers. And they punched hard.
Never underestimate the strength of a female protagonist...He sighed. He wasn't getting any of his work done, and his little mini break was over. He pulled his feet off the table and leaned forward and focused on his work.
Hmm, he thought, where is my dark matter-oh, there it is-
-= *line break* =-
Zoey was currently gardening in she and Rythian's personal abode. It was a beautiful place at that. Surrounded by the Ruby Valley, surrounded by water - something Rythian hates with a burning passion - on their own little island they called Sapphireless Island, she hummed a short tune. They didn't know why they named it Sapphireless Island; it just seemed to fit.
She pulled weed after weed and threw them in a bin labelled weeds, all the while scattering seeds from a bin called seeds.
"ZO-EYY~!" Rythian called from their wooden home.
"YES?!" Zoey called back.
"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT MUSHROOMS IN THE HOUSE?!"
She sighed. They grew out from between the floorboards from their secret base again. She deadpanned. She'd have to tell him about that base sometime. "'No mushrooms inside the house...'" she replied with discontent.
With his Briniandamned ears, he heard her. "GOOD!" he yelled back.
Despite the chide, she smiled. She knew the two were happy, although some ground rules were sometimes broken. Mostly her fault-but that's not the point!
She happily dug up one more batch of weeds before throwing them into the Energy Condenser. She grinned. It was something of her own invention, in stark contrast to his, however.
She walked away to a hut a little ways out from their house in a forest. You couldn't see it unless you had a good set of eyes and knew where it was.
She continued to the keenly placed hut, containing literally no decorations as of yet. It would be for Rythian's birthday - literally tomorrow and all.
She smirked at her creation. All she had to do was to decorate now, and get him a budded rose. Hannah, sometime, somewhere, had told her that a budding rose gifted to another person usually meant something about unblossomed romantic love, or some sappy romance story level stuff.
She'd find one, somewhere, but for now, she needed to continue to decorate that house.
Now, she thought, I need some dark matter bricks...
-= *The Next Day* =-
Zoey was glad she didn't work overnight, for now she completed the hut in all its glory. She slept well next to Rythian - and the fidgetiness he showed every night proved that something this petty to him may as well be the best thing ever. Maybe. That was just her train of thought. How couldn't it work? She was Zoey-freaking-Nethersheck! She could do anything for Master Endstrand. She added, Especially on his birthday. Today.
She'd just gotten the perfect rose for Rythian. Budded and all. She placed it in a nice, clay pot with the perfect dirt - not Sips Co. dirt anyways - and in it, lay fine grain to nurture the flower. It seemed nurtured enough, though she didn't know why. She just picked it up because it was on the floor of her house one night.
Could it be Rythian's? To her?
Nah, she dismissed the thought. If he's as serious in his mind as he is his actions, then it's not going to happen, is it?
She slid down the thick vine that she had overgrown from a tree branch above. It was fun going down it, and it would be funny to see how Rythian gets up it without his Swiftwolf's Rendering Gale~!
Oh, she thought devillishly, with a smirk of pride. How fun it was to break things...
She walked nimbly onto the field and began to giggle with all the animals frolicking with her. The land she run amok on was finely excavated by Sips Co. They had dug it out and placed 'quality dirt' there for the mages - love birds, as Lewis put it (let's just say that no one heard from him for a week). The animals running around with her consisted of a few squirrels, an owl, even a crow. They rarely show themselves, as it seemed. Maybe other types of animals she hadn't noticed were closely behind her.
-= *line break* =-
Rythian began to hear giggling and got curious. He looked out of his window and clearly saw with his magenta eyes, his partner in crime, Zoey Nethersheck, literally frolicking.
He sighed with a smirk from behind his purple bandanna. He really did fall for her, and every day it grew harder and harder to tell her the truth. He frowned. With two days - for her birthday - he had to figure out some good, romantic words for her. He wondered what she had been doing ever since morning. The second they both awoke at the same time of the alarm (argued against Duncan by everyone in Minecraftia to not name it Duncalark) she ran off into the forest and he hadn't seen her since then. He'd inquire her about that later.
For now, he had to get that flower ready.
He stood up from his work, took the items sprawled about his desk, and dumped them into the Ender Chest on his right. They disappeared in their own little void, only for him to pick up his work later. He'd get the rings to Lewis and Simon in time.
Maybe he'll craft one for Zoey.
No, he thought. That'd be embarrassing.
To what? he thought further. To what end would it be embarrassing if you love her?
Well, he reasoned, what if she doesn't like me back?
Good point, his arguing mind ended.
He turned heel and walked to the other end of the long hallway the two had built for their house. They had gotten so caught up in the offices they built for different projects, they had to build a long hallway that stretched all the way around the entirety of the house - as well as some steps to the inner cubicles.
At the end, he looked behind him to make sure Zoey wasn't there, and then opened a hidden hatch in their purple-colored carpets. He set in the electromagnet combination lock - something he both hated and loved from the mad scientist - and opened it. He went down the ruddy wooden ladder and closed it behind him.
There it lay, his laboratory as Duncan put it. To put it lightly (which also seemed to be a large portion of his opinion), it just looked like a really metallic version of a large room, with a lot of magistics of course.
He walked across the well lit room into one of the little alcoves. There lay the pot to which held the budded-
Wait, he thought. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Where's the rose?!
-= *line break* =-
When Zoey was done having fun in the fields, she made way into the house. Looking to her left into the cubicle Rythian was most seen in the past week and frowned as he wasn't there.
Oh, how many times she had tried to track his position with science-y stuff from Duncan, she could not count. Every morning the mad scientist tried to track him with Zoey to find out where he went, she'd find a broken piece of metal in his trashbin. She sighed and puffed her cheeks in a pout.
Then she smiled devillishly.
You want to play that game, Master Endstrand? she thought. Let's play that game, then.
She turned heel, turned on her jet pack - hoping it was fuelled, as she was not going to wait to charge it on the otherwise - and flew off in Duncan and Kim's direction.
-= *Duncan's Castle* =-
Kim was more then capable to handle Duncan's antics from time to time now.
Every once and a while, her room would explode (1), he would dump cider all over her in the middle of the night [she didn't really mind that bit though (2)], and he would throw her a steaming hot Flux grenade - boom (3).
Now, as she was covered in Flux, she would usually wipe it off her face and laugh at him (1), or she would turn the jokes on him when she lapped up the cider like a cat and successfully flustered him (2), and then sometimes she'd get him back with explosions (3).
Today was no diff-
BOOM!
"DUN-CANN!" Kim yelled.
"It's fine!" he yelled back. "Everything's perfectly fi-" BOOM! "-OW!"
Kim sighed. "Really?" she mumbled to herself. This wasn't even her fault this time.
As much as she would admit.
"Hehehe..." Kim giggled in the courtyard as bitter, dark grey smoke lifted from the tower.
"KIM!"
"YES?!"
"WHERE'S THE VIBRATION CHAMBER?!"
She giggled a little more.
He flew down to her now, his lab coat riddled with black. "Tiddles was sitting on it, though," he tried.
"Hehehe," Kim continued giggling. "That's what he said."
"Hehehahahaahehe!" Duncan let out his laugh without restraint.
"Heh," Kim giggled the last out. "Wait, what about Tiddles, now?"
"I'm not lying," Duncan said, still floating above. "He really was sitting on it."
"Well, find him!" Kim yelled. "Rythian asked for some domestic issues, I'm due in half an hour!"
"Why didn't he call me?" Duncan asked, brow raised as he slowly lifted a little higher to begin his goose chase. Or cat chase, whatever floats your boat.
"I don't know," Kim said. She let a smirk rip across her lips. "He probably doesn't want science in the matter, Dun-Cann..."
"Don't pronounce my name like that!" he said bitterly, though he had a smile and a little chuckle in the end. "Take care!"
"No problem!" Kim yelled, turning on her jet pack as well and flying through the iron-riveted wooden door.
"Hmm..." Kim hummed as she flew off a few leagues in a particular direction. The Sapphire Mountains is where Rythian asked her to go for a private matter concerning Zoey. To be honest, she was more glad he called her instead of Duncan. 1; because now the two can talk more rather than just being her and Zoey - along with diplomatic reasoning. And 2; so he and Duncan don't get into another fight - also a diplomatic problem.
She finally landed on the top of the flattened top of the mountain, near Yoglabs, Honeydew Inc... whatever they called it. She yelped as the bush in front of her moved, Rythian immediately appearing in front of her - luckily four or five feet away - with swirls of magenta around him. He called it what now? Endurium Liquidity Excess or something? Doesn't matter.
"What's this about?" Kim asked.
She noted how he twiddled with his thumbs and how he fidgeted. Much, much different from his anger-filled tone over the phone.
"Uh..." he mumbled something.
"What?"
"Uh...I kinda need some help?" his voice squeaked a little at the end.
"Seriously?" she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. "If you're not going to tell me-"
"It's Zoey," he cut her off.
"Huh?" He now had her full attention.
"It's Zoey," he repeated. "Her birthday is tomorrow and-"
"You need the perfect present."
He lit up. "Yeah! But, I already had one."
"Had?"
"Yeah..." he continued with a saddened mood, face pointed away from her in embarassment and shoulder slouched considerably. "I had the perfect budded rose for her and now it's gone."
"Budded?" she asked with mirth. A mischievous glint reached her eyes as the corner of her lip curled into a lop sided grin. "Getting romantic are we?"
I shouldn't even be talking, added Kim in mind.
"Hehe," he nervously chuckled and scratched the back of his head. Even behind the bandanna, she could practically see the reddening cheeks.
"I understand," Kim said before he revealed anything to her he didn't want to talk about. "Here," she handed him a budded rose. "Take this."
"Oh, my Brine!" he yelled with mirth. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"No need to thank me," Kim smiled. He thanked her a few more times before flying off back to Sapphireless Island.
How quaint, she thought. Sapphireless and Sapphire. Plus... she thought with a saddened tone. I was saving that rose for Duncan's birthday next week...
She spotted a flower at the same color of Rythian's eyes. She thought it looked absolutely beautiful at just the sight. "Ooh," she hummed. "Duncan might like this..."
Little did she know, that that one little flower would be the beginning of the best adventure in the history of Minecraftia.
-= *line break* =-
Zoey, with a somehow unbelievably overcharged jetpack now, flew at a speed she didn't know she could get (that's what happends when you feed the jetpack cheese instead of redstone and/or glowstone).
Flying over hundreds of leagues in a few moments, she crashed into one of Duncan's towers.
He didn't seem to notice her, even as she creaked across the mahogany floors.
From a distance, she was unable to tell what he had been doing. It probably had been an experiment, what with how he was bent over a table with colorful crystals on it, each one in a flask and each flask filled with water. They were suspended but not floating on the surface of the water. She noted the ethereal glow on each one.
"Hey," she whispered into his left ear.
"WHA?!" Duncan shrieked in terror and threw his head back. His knee bounded up with him and caused him to kick over the tabletop that held precious - and fragile, at that - Vis Crystals. "NO!" he yelled as they landed on the floor, bounced a few times and crackled into nothingness. "No..." he let out. "No, no, no, no, no, NO!" he yelled as he frantically searched across the floors for some kind of last strand in order to replicate what he had done, but found none whatsoever.
"S-sorry..." Zoey let out.
He finally looked back up to her and pulled his goggles back to the top of his forehead. "It's fine..." he murmured, though distinguishable and loud enough for her to hear. "Just a few Fire Vis Crystals is all...I can get more..."
"What was it for?" she asked. He looked to her. "I-I didn't mean...you don't have-"
"Miss Nethersheck," he cut her off. "It's fine. It was a present I was making for Kim," he explained. He began to rub the back of his neck. "It was stupid, but I'll try again." He smiled.
Zoey smiled back. "That sounds reasonable, but..." she began digging her shoe into the mahogany beneath her - something Duncan noted to be strange as he wasn't one to know much about romantic issues. "Could you...help me...with Rythian and all?"
"What has he done this time?" he asked with exasperation.
"He's upped and left again without so much as a goodbye," she let out without restraint, as it was easy.
"I don't know what I can do with trackers anymore, Zoey," Duncan said annoyed as he paced around towards his Loot-Sorting machine.
"I have an idea..." Zoey said, bouncing off her heels lightly.
He had his hand opening a chest and stopped immediately. He looked towards her, face in an 'Ooh' look, brows raised and mouth in a small O. "What kind of idea?"
"Well..."
-= *line break* =-
Rythian finally made it back to Sapphireless. He looked around to see if he could find Zoey, but found nothing of the sort. He figured she would be somewhere around the Island looking for mushrooms or hiding in the forest again as usual.
He made it into his house and back into his laboratory. He opened the little glass capsule where the rose would hold and closed it with a sigh.
"I really hope I don't mess up..." he murmured to no one in particular.
Soon, he went outside once more to start working on the rings once more, before he heard some kind of cracking noise.
"What was that?" he called, soon looking around frantically. He turned back to his Ender Chest and pulled out an entire stack of Intelligent Golems.
"Search the Island," he told them. "If you find anything in particular, you tell me. Do this, and I will guarantee your freedom."
Due to their intelligence, they had a knack for doing anything for freedom - or just forcing their freedom in general - so he bargained.
"Understood," the leader said. He made a gesture with his arms to have them follow him to the great Island before them and set off to find what they could.
Rythian sighed. He didn't know what he would do with himself had he not these little guys with him. Maybe he'd try to strike a deal with them every once and a while when he needs their help. He'll free them and make a little kingdom for them on the Island.
Little did he know, the cracking sound was just in his mind.
-= *line break* =-
"Zoey..." Duncan said slowly. "What are you doing?"
"Uh," she pulled the mask off. "Don't scientists wear these when they're doing something important?" she asked with genuine curiosity, a small, nervous but genuine, smile on her face.
"Yes," he said. "But since you're around him all the time, his blood won't be effected by you nor vice versa."
"And you?" she pouted.
"Right," he smirked before pulling on his mask. She nodded in approval with a smile.
"Endurium Blood is so hard to work with..." he murmured. "Maybe..." he looked to her inquisitively.
"What?"
"I have an idea..." he said quietly. "And you're probably not going to like it..."
"Huh?"
-= *line break* =-
Kim finally made it back to the Castle with Duncan, only to overhear a part of his conversation he seemed to be having with Zoey. She frowned at their closeness. She was practically rubbing up against him...
"Endurium Blood is so hard to work with..." she heard him say. "Maybe..." he looked towards Zoey.
"What?" she asked innocently. Innocent, my ass-
"I have an idea..." he said quietly. "And you're probably not going to like it..."
"Huh?" she hummed before he grabbed her arm. "What are you donig?!" she asked with a look of fear despite a small blush tinted on her cheeks.
"I'm going to see the changes in your blood," he said calmly, lifting a syringe.
"N-n-no!" she yelled. "I don't like needles!"
"Okay, okay, knock it off, you two!" Kim yelled, finally at her limit. At least she was able to lightly hold in her anger at the moment.
"K-Kim?!" Duncan yelled.
"Hi, Kim!" Zoey called, happy that he wasn't using a syringe anymore.
"What's going on here?" Kim asked as she went around Zoey and Duncan. "Whose blood is that?" she asked.
"Rythian's," answered Zoey quickly. "We were trying to track him down again."
"Using his blood?" she asked, unamused.
"We're serious," she said.
"Really?" she turned to Zoey.
"Yes," Duncan defended. "She thinks we can track his movements using his blood, and I was also about to try using her blood to see if it changed over time due to being around him at all."
"May I help," she asked.
"Sure," Duncan smiled. "I need you to see if you can find any Duplication Vis Crystals anywhere," he said. "I'm going to have to mass produce this on a scale if my calculations are right."
"And what of Zoey?" her brow raised.
"I don't trust her with any of the machinery-"
"HEY!"
"-so she's fine standing here."
Kim tried her best not to frown. If anything, she knew that Rythian would soon get her attention if he hasn't already. And if Rythian never gets her attention, so help her Brine, she will actually murder him.
She turned on her heel and finally let her pout burst into her lips. Oh, how she'd been holding it in for so long. She just wanted to just...rip the bangs from her head.
-= *line break* =-
It was getting dark out and Rythian was getting worried for Zoey. He put his work away and saw to it that one of his Golems reported to him.
"What's going on so far?" Rythian crouched to its height.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," it said. "We'll keep looking."
"Say," Rythian started. "Say I lent you the freedom to control this place - other than Zoey and I, of course - and you...well...just have to guard it?"
"I'll talk with the Head to see what he thinks," said the Golem before walking away.
Wow, Rythian thought. They already have a government in place? They're fast!
Rythian turned his ring so the sapphire would face down before clicking it. Soon, he was flying over leagues of water - hoping to Brine he didn't run out of redstone or glowstone any time soon. He would look for Duncan, and see if he can put a tracking device on her, or at least tell him where she was.
-= *Somewhere to the West of Duncan's Castle* =-
A man panted in ragged brown clothing as he ran through a forest away from the Royal Knights. He had been chased down for a good portion of the day. He had done nothing, and upon even hearing his name, citizens had cowered in fear, spoke to a guard, and they were immediately sent after him.
Town after town had been close, so he could rest and hide for a little while. He hadn't the faintest idea why they had actually been after him. While he may not remember anything before he turned eighteen (as far as he knew, he was currently 24), and he definitely didn't do anything against the law within his current memory.
Each town he had been to, guards from the previous town would explain the situation, which was only a good in-between of 20 minutes before, they found him and gave chase again.
His panting seemed to bounce off of the very trees of the forest, giving way of his position to his pursuers. He ran harder, faster, and even more confusedly than he had ever been in his entire life. What had he done?
In all honesty, his mind was so filled with questions as to what he had done, that he did not pay heed to a certain question in the back of his head, that was of little importance, that was at the bottom of priority.
In fact, he had been so caught up in his running, his thoughts had little to go off of. And with that, he ignored the questions, instead bothering only to run. But he could not get this question out of his head. What was it? Why was it pestering him? He should be running!
Not wondering such a silly thing:
How many steps does one take in a lifetime?
-= *End of Chapter 1* =-
Welp, this is the end of the chapter. I originally started this almost a year ago, 2015 and all, but now, in 2016, April 26th, I have finally finished it!
If this is a COMPLETELY different date, I will not hesitate to take any verbal berating from you that you see fit.
And now, for the love of God, let the next Fanfiction begin!