Notch, forgive us for what we have done.
We did not know this would happen. We didn't want it to turn out this way.
Please, help us make it right.
Somebody help us.
Date: year 10181 Villager calender, the first day of summer
Hiding in my bunker
All right, He's up there and I don't have much time. A lot has happened and I don't have much time to write this down. I'm safe in my obsidian-lined bunker for now, as deep underground as I can be, but frankly, I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before He finds me, and even obsidian walls won't help me.
It's been a long, hard fight, and it's only just started. My castle is burning, the village at the Temple is destroyed, it's people massacred, and it's all our fault. I didn't even believe it myself when I saw Him, but now I know painfully well just how powerful this so-called fairy tale is.
Don't ever laugh at the name of Herobrine. This isn't a joke, and this isn't another lame story to scare children with. The danger is real and I don't know if anything will survive when this is over. Notch, I barely know what's going on!
My name is Huntress. I know, it doesn't seem much of a name, but it's what I chose for myself and it's what I go by. Just, please bear with me. I don't know how long I'll last now. I'm being chased, and I want my story to be told. Remembered, somehow. I've got to write quickly. But blast, where do I start?
I know that there are only seven of my kind- myself and six others. We're all close friends that have no idea where we came from or how we got here. We chose our own names, and built our own estates and cities. We were taught everything we know by the Villager race, who calls our kind Sons of Steve, or Steves for short, after the old race that lived here before we came.
It's a long story on how I ended up down here in this bunker. I hope I have time.
It began with a simple expedition into a deep cave. I was with two of my companions, Dragon and Wolf. We ran into an ancient mineshaft that cut through the cave, and the real adventure began.
There is one thing that you need to know about our kind- we do not have to fear death of any sort. You see, we have discovered that when we die, we reappear somewhere safe completely unharmed. A bit shaken, perhaps, and missing all of our things, but quite alive. We are also able to carry things without using our hands. I'm told it's called an 'inventory', something usually not seen in Overworld creatures.
But I digress.
So, a trip down a dark, monster-infested mineshaft was nothing frightening. If anything, we were glad we found it. There are many treasures to be found down there. Ancient weapons, rare metals and stones, magic items... anything hard to come by could be found in these mineshafts.
We were not disappointed. Dragon uncovered an old chest filled to the brim with old, crumbling manuscripts. We all got a good look at them- they were careful instructions on how to create a Nether portal, and things that could be found in the Nether. It was decided that Dragon would hold on to the manuscripts, and when a portal was built, we would all go.
So help me Notch, I wish we had never found those manuscripts.
The Villagers were wary of us going to such a place- something we once thought was mere legend- but no one had anything against the trip. The priest at my village did grow quiet as I told him, but he gave me no sign of refusing to let us go.
I wish he had. I wish we had known sooner. By the Void, we should have known. Someone should have known. Why is it that things that happen so long ago cease to be truth and become myth, and then fairytale? If only someone had told us.
Instead, we learned too late after it was done.
It was mid-spring when I found out.
Someone was pounding on the door to my forge. It was early afternoon in my estate, and the bright sun streamed through the small windows high up on the stone brick walls. I put down my hammer, calling for whoever it was to come in.
"A message from the priest," a familiar voice said, and a white-robed Villager librarian poked his head in. I set the hammer upright on the anvil.
"What is it?"
"He says to come immediately to the church tower. Something is wrong. It's about the Son of Steve, Dragon." he said, and left.
Blinking, I shucked off my leather forging apron and left my work where it was on the anvil. The priest didn't summon me when my friends were in trouble. It was our own job to look after one another. Stepping out of the forge, I came out into the bright sun and went off into my manor to clean up.
A few minutes later, I was climbing the ladder to the second story of the church tower in fresh clothes with a bow slung across my back. I never left home unarmed.
"Have a seat," the priest said curtly, motioning to the wooden bench under the table before him. I obediently sat down, and he held up a browned, crumbling manuscript page. "Do you recognize this?" I nodded. These were the very manuscripts we had found in the mineshaft, just a few days ago.
I looked up at the priest, who was rubbing his temple with his free hand and avoiding my eyes. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Sir, what happened?" I asked cautiously, suddenly getting a very bad feeling. The priest sighed.
"Something that we didn't anticipate. You see..." he trailed off, and then cleared his throat. "Something bad has happened. Your friend, we think he opened a Nether portal. Well...You see, there are things in the Nether that we didn't know actually existed. Things that... well, we thought they were old children's tales. That's all we have left of the old histories..." My eyes widened.
"What things are in the Nether? What has happened?" I pronounced each word slowly and carefully. The priest met my hard gaze with his green eyes and took a deep breath, fumbling for a book under his robe. He drew out a thick volume with a leather cover, bound up with a satin ribbon. He untied the ribbon, letting it fall to the tabletop, and opened the book.
"I... I don't know how to tell you this, Huntress," the priest confessed. "I should have known the truth sooner. It is my duty, after all. The truth is, there was something much more dangerous than we expected. Ah, here we are," he said, reaching the desired page and showing me the illustration. "I suppose the best way to explain the situation would be to explain what we believe we are dealing with." I raised one eyebrow, looking at the priest with a gesture of impatience.
"Yes. Herobrine. The one who will get you if you don't eat your vegetables and go to bed when mummy tells you. What about him?" I couldn't keep the mocking undertone out of my voice. The priest's features darkened.
"He is quite real, Huntress," he said in a no-nonsense tone. "You must understand that He is real and now he is here. The most powerful force of evil in all of known history is here, in the Overworld, and we are all in very real danger." That shut me up.
"The story I was able to find," the priest explained, "is that Herobrine was imprisoned in the Nether. I do not know exactly what for or when, but the Nether was meant to be a place no one ever intruded upon. He was- is- the younger brother of Notch, and is very, very powerful. The banishment was supposedly for a treachery he committed against Notch's creation. The destruction he caused, according to the tale, was incredible. Huntress, I am sorry. I didn't know, and I should have. Your friend..." He trailed off again.
"No." I whispered. Then louder, "No! What happened to Dragon? Tell me!"
"He opened the portal, Huntress. We found it in the ruins..."
"Ruins!" I burst out. "By Notch, what happened?" My breath was quickening.
"Let me speak!" The priest snapped. "Now, I only have the report from the trading party that was going to the village near where your friend lives. The crystal city, is it?" I nodded. We had called it that for all the glass and diamond he used to make it. It was beautiful. "According to the reports, I think the chain of events went like this: Dragon opened the portal at the edge of his city. As soon as it was open, Herobrine appeared, released from his prison, along with massive amounts of energy. The parts of the city we were able to explore nearest to the portal have been transmuted to Nether materials. Knowing Dragon, he probably fought Herobrine, but we do not know what has become of him after that. Both Dragon and Herobrine are nowhere to be found. The crystal city is utterly destroyed."
I sat in silence, my hands folded tightly before my face. I couldn't believe it.
"You saw Herobrine?" I prompted. The priest shook his head.
"No."
"Then how did you know it was him?" I cried. I was suddenly scared, and very desperate. If there was any chance that it was anything else, anything at all, that did this to Dragon and his city, I had to know. There was no monster in the Overworld that could defeat us, but the brother of Notch... a god, when it came down to it...
No. It had to be something else. It had to be something we were prepared to deal with. Not this- anything but this.
"This is how we know," the priest answered, shattering my hopes. He handed me a clean sheet of parchment that had a few words written on it in neat script.
Beware, people of Notch. The Overworld is mine.
"This was found," the priest continued, "written on a sign outside the city. One of the members of the party copied it down. No mere beast could have written something like that. After this disaster, it can only mean one thing."
"Herobrine is back," I said, defeated. The page slipped out of my hand and fluttered slowly to the ground as I slumped on the tabletop, head in my hands. "What have we done?"
Things went downhill after that. One by one, my friends were notified, and one by one, I lost contact with them. I do not know if they were captured, or if they have simply gone into hiding. I have no way of knowing, especially not with the bind I'm in. I prayed daily to Notch that Dragon was okay. Alive, at least.
During the last few days of spring, a signpost appeared at the edge of my estate.
Surrender or die.
I knew exactly what I had to do.
Drumming up my courage, I packed up the things I would need and put on my armor, riding into the village with purpose. The priest saw me from atop the church tower and came rushing down to see me.
"I thought you were taken!" He exclaimed as he caught me in a tight hug after I had dismounted. I returned the hug, grateful. "Thank Notch, you're all right!"
"I need your help," I said when we at last drew apart. The priest nodded.
"What do you need?"
"The tale. I need a copy of that tale you found." I said. The priest got a haunted look in his eyes.
"Huntress," he began in a warning tone, "What are you planning to do? You can't seriously be thinking of going after Him?" I shook my head vigorously.
"Aether, no!" I answered forcefully. "I need information. You saw the signs- I can't stay here. I'm going to my castle near the Great Temple to learn what I can." The priest sighed with relief and nodded.
"I can give you the tale."
Moments later, I sat in the village library, scanning page after page that the priest put in front of me. When the sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon, I put the manuscript away in my inventory and stood to face the priest. I took a deep breath, unsure if I even had enough courage to say this out loud.
"Sir," I began, "There is something I need you to promise me." The priest looked up.
"Absolutely. What is it?" he asked.
"If Hero- if He comes here, I need you to do exactly as he says. If that means telling him where I went, fine. I don't want him to hurt anyone. He will come here, sooner or later. If you do what he asks, maybe he'll leave you alone." Or maybe not. But I left that part unsaid- we both knew the possibilities. The priest paled.
"Huntress, don't-"
"Do it! Anything can happen. Anything at all. I want to make sure that you have a chance. You have to promise me."
"But he could kill you!" The priest cried. "He could trap you in a place you might never escape from! Huntress, I can't-" I didn't let him finish.
"He'll kill you if you don't." My voice was low. The priest stopped. "Of course he'll kill me. But I will always come back. You won't. I don't know why that is- Notch knows that isn't fair, but it just is. If he kills me, fine. I'll just wake up safe and sound somewhere else. I don't want you to die." My voice was shaking. Fine if he kills me? Who was I kidding? Still, I was scared for the Villagers. I really didn't want them to die. I had to make the priest promise this. Slowly, he nodded.
"I swear it," he said tightly. "And I'll let the others know. I just want to protect you."
"And I want to protect you, which means you can't defend me." I said. Then I hugged the priest. "Thank you."
"Take care, Huntress," the priest said in my ear. "Notch's blessings on your trip." We parted.
"And good luck!" he called as I left.
Then I was mounted and riding hard for the castle Ember, going on through the night.
I had no idea what kind of war I was about to get into.
I need to sleep. I'll keep writing when I wake.
At last, I begin the official rewrite! For all of you fans of A Minecraft Tale, here is the official reboot to fill in missing pieces and improve the general story itself. Trust me, it needed it, especially now that I am writing in the other installments to the universe such as Chronicle, the prequel, and the mysterious upcoming sequel.
Sooo... To my new readers... What do you think so far? Have I drawn you in? What has become of Dragon? Is he alive? What's going to happen to Huntress as she bravely goes out to find answers? Leave a favorite, follow, and/or a worthwhile review, and I promise I will update soon! Until then, I will see you next chapter!