Millennium ago, when Minecraftia was still new, a man was born in a small village like all the others that dotted the land. His parents named him Steve. As a child, he was always loud and risky, coming home just before mobs spawned, running, jumping, leaping over and off mountains instead of going around. He even played with spiders in the mornings! He scared his parents stiff, but never did he scare them more then when he was 16, and announced he was going to mine. As a rule, villagers did not go beneath layer 30 underground. Mobs, lava and death was all that awaited them there. They lived with iron, coal and stone. But Steve took no notice of them. He grabbed a stack of food, torches and his iron sword and pick, and set off into a cave, planning to go deeper than any before him.
At first Steve encountered nothing, the area around him lit by previous miners, cobblestone lining the wall where ores once lay. As he ventured deeper, the area became darker, and he began to place regular torches. Further he travelled, mining coal and iron as he went. As he mined what was probably his thirtieth vein of coal, his pick landed on a strange stone. It looked like the stone he received after his pickaxe cut it apart, but this one was covered with a strange, bright green moss. From behind it he heard the familiar hissing of spiders.
Thrilled with his new discovery, he un-sheathed his sword and held it ready, the pick in his other hand mining the strange mossy cobble. Instantly a spider's many red eyes peered above him, and he stabbed forth, turning the monster to smoke and ash. Before the other arachnids could react, he threw blocks under him and stepped into the dungeon and stared around him.
The dungeon was a pitch-black room, the only light was a faint glow from where Steve came from. In the centre was a strange cage of thin iron mesh, fire flickering inside. A tiny black figure was swirling inside, gradually getting faster. Steve bent closer, fumbling with a torch, trying to see better, when the fire engulfed the box, and a screaming spider leapt at him, mandibles widening. Steve yelled and brought his sword down on the spider, killing it. He looked in fear at the cage. He hurriedly placed a torch next to it, flooding the room with light. To be sure, he placed three more torches around the cage, giving it as much light as possible. Then he saw the cluster of black spiders around him. He span as the attacked, letting his sword slash them all. They died in seconds.
Because his inventory was near full, he put together some of his spare wood, forming a chest into which he placed the drops from the spiders, plus some iron. He pushed the chest into a corner of the dungeon, deciding he could come back to it later. Then he turned and left the room, continuing with his mining.
Many ores later, Steve heard the familiar hissing of a creeper. He ran forwards, but too late. Flying over stone, he landed roughly, blue dust floating around him. Examining the stone under him, he found it was lumped with blue, similar to coal ore. Ignoring his bruises, he mined it quickly, and it spilled forth with chunks of blue powdery stone. Experimenting, he rubbed a piece on his pants, which became a bright blue. Amazed, he wrapped the stones carefully and placed it his bag.
As he left the blue-ore chamber, he came across a massive cavern, lit at the far corner by a small pool of lava. It was almost pitch black. Steve squinted through the darkness, sure his eyes were damaged. Gold glints were spread throughout the cavern. Steve placed a torch, and stared. Pieces of stone flecked with gold were clumped before the lava, shining brilliantly. Happily, he tumbled some gravel into the lava, making a platform where he could stand to mine. He rushed forward, only to fall as the gravel sank into the deep lava lake. Crying out, he did the only thing he could; he threw a bucket of water, collected as a drink if needed, over him, hoping to be able to stem the heat from the lava.
The water flowed onto the still lava, causing a monstrous hissing. When it stopped, the cavern was dark, lit only by his one torch. Surrounding Steve was a lumpy purple stone. When he tried to break it with his pick, it simply battered it to nothing.
Heart still racing, Steve threw a piece of stone under him and clambered out of the 'lava' lake, collecting the water in his bucket. Breathlessly, he muttered a prayer to Notch, mined the gold and continued onwards.
By now, Steve was getting very deep. His new pick was extremely battered, as was his sword. Even though he'd made more on the way, he was running out of torches. He decided to take a break in a lovely round chamber. He placed a torch right in the centre, giving a warm circle of light. Steve sat down and nibbled on a piece of pork, pondering his finds.
Squelch.
Steve froze, ears straining for the strange sound.
Squelch.
Steve unsheathed his sword, spun to his right and placed a torch. Bouncing on the stone was a green cube, about as high as his waist. It stared at him for a second, then jumped high and landed right in front of him.
Steve slowly reached out, determined to touch this thing that looked almost like liquid. As he did, a bolt of pain shot up his arm and he jumped back. It seemed the cube was protected by a layer of acid.
As he came to this realization, the thing leapt again, throwing itself at him. Instinctively, Steve thrust his sword into the centre of the creature. Instead of dying, it split where the sword struck, becoming two creatures. Yelling in alarm, Steve stabbed them both in quick succession. Thankfully, they died this time, leaving him panting with a slime coated sword.
"Slime," he growled, running the flat of the blade along his hand. The slime collected into three just-smaller-than-fist-sized balls, which he stowed in his bag, which by now was getting heavy.
Utterly awed with his new discoveries, Steve decided to turn and go back to the surface. It was only when he was about to leave the chamber that he turned to the exit, and saw an ore of the most beautiful blue. Steve loved blue, it was his favorite color. And to him, no blue was better than this. It's color shone, like a mixture of gold and glass, it seemed. Lost for words, Steve brought his pick down on the ore. "Diamond," he muttered, the Minecraftian word for wonder.
As the ore broke, the blue flecks formed into a elegant round gem that fit perfectly into Steve's hand. Staring at it, he barely noticed there were more ores behind the first. Feverishly exited, he mined all he could see, ending up with five gems. Cradling them carefully in his arms, he followed his torches back to the surface.
Steve's discoveries made him the hero of the village. He continued mining, and others followed in his lead. He found even more ores, things like Redstone, a ore giving red dust, used like electricity, and Emeralds, something the villagers loved, and used as currency. But Steve sought nothing like he sought diamonds. He would ring lava pools, climb massive ravines simply to get at the gems. Diamonds became the most sought-after thing in Minecraftia. Courageous villagers followed in his stead, braving outwards. The village grew into a thriving town. Redstone was formed into complex machines. Beautiful architecture formed everywhere. The stone Steve created using water on lava, dubbed obsidian, was announced the second-hardest material (after bedrock, or void-rock) in Minecraftia, and was formed into huge walls ringing the city. More discoveries were constantly being made.
Steve was crowned the first king of Minecraftia. Happiness and riches lay everywhere.
Many years since his first mining expedition, Steve was wandering outside the city, diamond sword in hand. It was near dawn, and he was looking for wandering mobs. Few were around, due to the light from the city, but Steve always felt it his priority to protect the city.
As he jumped over a river, a flash of light caught his eye. Running over, he saw the strangest thing. A portal of yellow rock and water stood in the grass, more than twice as tall as Steve. Sprawled next to the portal was a humanoid figure with feathered wings the color of snow. It's pitch black hair shifted aside to show a face as it - she - hauled herself up.
"Are you Steve, king of Minecraftia?" She asked in a whispery voice.
Steve nodded, used to the title though he disliked it. He resented being though of as 'above' people.
"I am a Valkyrie, a messenger from Notch himself." She barely let Steve process this before she continued. "A great danger has arisen in Minecraftia. In a hidden realm, a dark creature rises. It will not stop until it has destroyed all realms."
"What is this creature?" Whispered Steve, still yet to understand what was going on.
"A dark being, a Dragon- a winged creature larger than fifty men."
Trembling, Steve asked what Notch needed him to do.
"Notch's power isn't very strong outside the Aether," she explained, "therefore he cannot kill this being."
Steve nodded, he knew what the Valkyrie was asking. "How?"
"The End, that's what the Dragon's realm is called, is almost impossible to get to. The portal to it is deep underground, protected by small silver creatures. It is inactive, to make sure nothing escapes. Take these," she threw down a handful of strange glittering eyes. "They belong in the End, and will fly to the portal. Take the best weapons you have and follow the Eyes of Ender. Good luck."
With the last sentence, the Valkyrie collapsed, as though tired from being in the Overworld, and faded into dust, then nothing. Blinking in surprise, Steve gently put the Eyes of Ender into his bag, and returned to the city.
"You can't go!"
Steve turned to his advisor, a shabby old man. "And let all of Minecraftia be destroyed?" He said simply, turning back to the array of weapons that had been sent to the king. He picked up a glimmering diamond sword. Sharpness 5, Fire 5, Knockback 5, was encrypted on the blade in the language of Minecraftia. Remembering the Valkyrie saying the Dragon had wings, he picked up a bow. Infinity, Fire 5, Power 5. Satisfied with his weapons, he took an arrow from a pile, sheathed his sword and headed to the kitchens. His advisor followed him, begging him not to go, to send someone else. Steve refused every time, he would obey Notch's wishes.
Bags packed, weapons ready, Steve walked out of the city, looking around him. It was dawn, giving him as much time as possible during the day, but he had materials to back a quick home if his travels were slow. Excitement rushed through his body, and once again he was a child, taking risks no others would dare. He pulled a single Eye from his pocket and threw it straight into the air.
It hovered for a moment, before flying south. It flew until Steve could barely see it, hovered a little longer, then fell onto the ground, where Steve ran to pick it up. Straightening, he turned to wave to the city a final time, then set off southwards. Every now and then he threw an Eye, which always went south. Sometimes an Eye would crack open, turning to purple dust. To save them, Steve used them more and more rarely. Hours and then days passed, and he was still traveling. Each night he made a small wooden shelter, threw a bed in and lay down to sleep. Each morning he was up early, continuing his journey.
By the fourth morning, he had only roughly twenty Eyes of Ender left. He packed up his shelter and threw an Eye. It flew for a while, then gently dived down and hovered over the ground for a while, before falling. Steve sprinted to it, and threw it again. It went straight to his feet, pressing against the ground as though eager to be underground.
Believing he was nearly at his journey's end, Steve pulled out his shovel and dug a rough spiraling staircase down, later using his pick to continue. Every now and then he'd throw another Eye, which dug into the ground. Ignoring ores and caves alike, Steve soon found himself in the void-haze area. He finally reached the point where when he threw an Eye, instead of going down, it pressed into the stone beside him. He mined it hurriedly, and he stumbled into a small room. Lava pools lay in the corners, cut off by stone. A cave led off behind him, pitch black. In the centre of the room was a small square lava lake, above it a strange set of stones. They were a pale creamy-white, topped with a dull, dark green. In the centre of each was a hole, the exact same size as the Eyes of Ender. As Steve was contemplating placing the Eyes inside, something nipped his ankle. Hard.
Yelling in pain and surprise, Steve swung around to see something that first made him think of a fish. It was a strange silvery bug, with long frill-like hairs between every segment. It's black eyes stared at Steve, then it dove at him, biting constantly. Steve brought his sword down on the bug, killing it with a single whack. He noticed a spawn-cage, a miniature of the bug inside. He drew his pick, smashing the cage into a mess of iron bars. Satisfied, he clambered up to the stones. He carefully slotted Eyes into all twelve holes.
A loud whoosh filled Steve's ears, and he stepped back as the gap between the stones formed into a black portal, stars twinkling randomly inside. It was like looking straight into the void. Fearful, awed, excited, anxious and adventurous all at once, he leaped into the portal, sword in hand.
So what do you think? Halfway through, I suppose that makes this a two-shot... does that even exist? I hope you appreciate my descriptions of the many discoveries, especially the one of the End portal room (I had to go through glitchy eyes of ender to get an accurate description for u!). If you disapprove of my Aether knowledge (or more likely un-knowledge), calm down, I really know nothing 'bout the mod, I had to use the Aether wiki for a humanoid mob XD. Anyway, R&R, give me any editing comments, and hopefully part 2 will be out soon!