Greetings, fellow readers and authors! My name is Stormpixel, and I am proud to present my first Fanfic: The Mth Dimension! Feel free to leave reviews; criticism is always welcomed. Enjoy!
It was 10:00 P.M., Halloween Night, in the city of Richmond, Virginia. Ryker was walking down the path to his house, dark and cold and forbidding.
"What a night for broken lights," Ryker muttered to himself. Taking a look around, his lips tightened. The shadows seemed to be moving in the forest, unknown beings stirring inside the night. Pulling his jacket tighter around himself, he increased his pace. He shivered, but not from the cold…
He had finally reached his house, an hour later. Trudging into his bedroom, Ryker slumped across his mattress and struggled with his Minecraft Steve costume. Oh well, he thought, I can take it off tomorrow. Then he fell asleep.
Ryker woke up with a start. "Is it Saturday already?" Ryker mumbled to himself. Getting up, he looked around. His bedroom seemed…different. Everything was blocky! He tugged on his costume's sleeve.
And felt skin.
"What?" he asked aloud. Wrestling with his costume's…skin, he attempted to pull it off, but to no avail. "This must be some trick," he muttered to himself. "Or this is a dream." Then, Ryker took a look around. It seemed all too familiar…
The cubed landscape, the blocky terrain…this was Minecraft! He was inside the game!
Ryker took a quick inventory of his belongings, which didn't turn out to be much. "Backpack, journal." He noticed an oak forest, and cut down a few trees for wood. He crafted a table and prepared to construct a cabin against the cliff wall.
As he was constructing his night-house, Ryker became aware of some presence behind him. He turned around… and saw a skeleton, armed with a wooden bow, an arrow nocked to the string.
Ryker's Boy Scout instinct came to life and he tackled the bony figure, knocking it to the ground. Ryker flipped the skeleton over his back, turned 90 degrees and slammed the skeleton into the cliff face, jarring his collarbone and bruising his forearm. The skeleton, shattered into white shards, leaving a few arrows and bones on the ground. Ryker picked up the arrows, then made his way back to finish constructing his cabin. He fell asleep inside afterwards, too tired and exhausted to complain about the lack of a bed or a proper floor.
Ryker woke up with a start. Scratching his head, he looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was inside a wooden…cabin. It wasn't much of a cabin, with just three walls and to his left, a gray, blocky wall. Ryker stared out the cabin's door and saw sunlight filtering in. He shook his head and tried to get his system started.
Then he remembered.
He remembered the Halloween Night, and himself walking home, then falling asleep and waking up in this odd, square-like world, not able to remove his costume. He pictured himself collecting wood blocks and constructing his cabin.
And as all his thoughts settled, one thing popped up in Ryker's mind: A blocky, rattling, bony skeleton, holding a wooden bow in his hands, an arrow ready to fire.
As he had that thought, he became aware of a faint noise in the distance, outside the cabin.
Ryker wanted to investigate, for he was a very curious boy. Getting up, he started toward the door, then decided he wouldn't want to find anything unarmed, even during dawn. Ryker's eyes searched the cabin, lighting on his pack in the back corner. He picked it up, and heard a thumping sound as his journal dropped to the ground. Snatching it, he pushed open the door.
The door became stuck about halfway open. Ryker shoved it, but it still wouldn't budge. He squeezed out the space between the door and the door frame, and looked for the source of the infringement. It took him about five seconds to realize there was a fifteen-inch-long arrow protruding from the door. Probably from the skeleton last night, Ryker thought. He tugged the arrow free, cleaned it with his shirt, then set off in search of the strange screaming sound.
Nearly a minute later, Ryker heard it again. It sounded a lot closer this time. He quickly slid behind a block-tree and grabbed his arrow, the only weapon he had.
He heard the screaming once again, and he breathed through his nose, as calmly as he could. Breathe, he told himself. Then Ryker grasped the arrow tightly and spun around the tree trunk, and was confronted by a horrifying image.
It was yet another skeleton, on fire. Ryker was frozen in fear, then he remembered his father's fgolden rule of survival: Always attack first.
Ryker had to act quickly, so he gripped his arrow tightly and launched himself at the burning skeleton. The skeleton grabbed his bow, struggling with the arrow. Now's my chance, he thought. Twirling the arrow between his fingers, Ryker threw it like a dart at the skeleton's upper body.
Maybe it was just chance, or some lucky maneuver on the skeleton's part, but at the last moment, the skeleton turned left to fire at Ryker, and Ryker's arrow only hit between the two upper ribs, its power depleted.
Ryker may have missed his shot, but that wasn't to say it wasn't painful. The skeleton screamed in rage and pain, and it released its arrow prematurely, bowstring twanging and the arrow going off-course, disappearing into the forest. The white skeleton turned to face Ryker, but then, fortunately, ran to a tree.
As the skeleton stooped under the tree leaves, the fire disappeared, and you could almost swear the skeleton sighed in relief. Then the white figure faced him, and calmly nocked an arrow to the bowstring.
Ryker backed up against the mountain wall, knowing there was no escape. To his left and behind him there were cliff walls at least fifty-four blocks high on either end. To his right was the sheer drop of the ravine, and forward, facing Ryker, was the skeleton, holding the key to his end. Ryker closed his eyes, waiting for it to be finished.
Ryker heard the twang – whizz of the bow and the released arrow, and he flinched, expecting burning agony.
Instead, he heard screaming start once again.
Ryker tentatively opened his eyes, and noticed an arrow; about sixteen inches in length, fired clean through the skeleton's leg.
The skeleton gave one last piercing scream, then toppled over, dead as dust.
Ryker had seconds to think of what to make out of all this until a hooded, cloaked figure stepped out from behind a tree, a bow in his hands. Great, Ryker thought, if it's not the skeletons who want to kill me, it's mysterious, camouflaged archers. He started to raise his hands in surrender, until, surprisingly; the cloaked figure flipped the bow over his back and spoke.
"You are a human, yes?" the archer's voice was smooth and obviously well-toned to giving commands. As Ryker hesitated, the archer spoke once again, "Do not be frightened, for if you are human, then I am your friend." Ryker stepped forward.
"Can I trust you?" He was glad his voice didn't tremble. Ryker promised himself to never again show fear to the unknown. Ryker looked now for a response from the cloaked archer, wondering if he would take his hood off. It freaked him out; the man looked like Ezio form Assassin's Creed. As if reading his mind, the archer pulled back his hood and grinned.
"Of course you can. For if I weren't trustworthy, I would have been dead long ago," Ryker couldn't help but grin as well. This man certainly looks trustworthy. However… he decided to ask him one last question.
"Do you know where I am? Where we are?" The man stroked his dark brown beard.
"Where are you from?" The archer replied. "Everyone knows this place."
"I'm…new," Ryker said, not wanting to reveal that he arrived here from his sleep.
The blonde-haired man grinned again. "Why, we're in the world of Minecraftia, of course. The original world, the first world ever created." He paused, adding effect. "The home of Notch, creator of Minecraft."
The blonde man took a few steps forward. "I forgot to introduce myself," He held out his hand in a friendly gesture. "My name is Lexarus. What's yours?"
Ryker shook his hand. By now he knew this man was fully trustworthy. "My name is Ryker. Ryker Lanceton. Fifteen years old, and in all modesty, quick, intelligent, and pretty handy with a pencil." He saw confusion cloud Lexarus' face.
"You fight with… pencils?"
Ryker decided to elaborate. "No, I meant I'm a good writer."
Lexarus opened his mouth to reply, but he was drowned out by an amazingly loud screech from above. Ryker looked up, and saw a huge, eight-legged black animal heading straight for his face!
"Look out!" Ryker turned and ducked, and watched as Lexarus fired three arrows, all in quick succession, at the animal's head. Two of the arrows found their mark, reaching the black-colored beast and burying themselves into its head. It gave one last piercing screech, and then fell still.
Ryker stared at the dead creature. He realized that it was a humongous spider.
Lexarus noticed him staring at the arachnid. "Spiders have always grown this big in the country," He explained. "I don't know why; just that they do." Then he took a step backwards.
Lexarus strolled over to the dead creature and picked up a small ball of a soft, white material. The blonde-haired man then tossed it to Ryker. The teen turned to Lexarus. "What is it?" Ryker inquired. Lexarus smiled and replied.
"It's called string. You may use it to make a bow or wool." He picked up the string, tossing it into his pack.
"Lexarus?" Ryker asked, "Do you have a spare pack that I could use?"
Lexarus turned toward me, confusion written all over his face. "You should already have one," he replied. "Did you leave it in your cabin?"
Ryker ran back to his cabin, Lexarus close on his heels. Ryker burst into his small, 3x3 house, looking around. He noticed a small pack toward the back of the cabin. Ryker walked toward it, picking it up. He heard footsteps as Lexarus entered his house.
"Got your pack?" he asked Ryker. Ryker turned to face him, then replied.
"Yeah, I have it," He compared his pack with Lexarus' pack. "Why is my pack smaller than yours?"
"That's most likely because you just arrived here," he explained. "As you survive through the nights and days here, your pack will grow larger." Lexarus unslung his pack. "I have been here for a long time," he spoke, his voice soft and quiet. "I have yet to find a way back home." He turned toward Ryker. "I expect you came from Richmond, Virginia?"
Ryker took a step backwards in surprise. "How… how did you know?"
"There are only a few gateways into this dimension." Lexarus clarified. "There are two gateways leading from Moscow, Russia. Those lead into the Deathlands." Ryker had a feeling that the Deathlands wasn't a happy place. "There is a gateway leading from Antarctica. That one leads to Antares' Castle." He continued. "No humans live on Antarctica, however." Shifting a bit, Lexarus spoke about the other gateways. "There are two gateways leading from Shanghai, China. Those lead to the Dark Forest. Additionally, there is one gateway leading from Richmond, Virginia. That one leads here. Finally, there are three gateways spread across France. Those lead to Flamefire's Cave. Considering that you aren't dead, frozen or on fire, I concluded that you arrived from the Richmond Gate."
Ryker took a moment to comprehend this latest news. "Who is Antares? And who is Flamefire?"
Lexarus answered swiftly. "Antares is a powerful warrior. He rules over the Ironlands, along with two other lords: Shadowstorm and Thunderbolt. Flamefire is a mystical hermit, known only in legends. No living human has ever seen him…and lived to tell the tale." Lexarus stood up from his sitting position. "Come, we must go now."
Ryker was perplexed at this. "Why? Where are we going?"
Lexarus stepped outside. "We must get out of here. We're heading for Tyrfing, Antares' Castle. Hurry, gather up your items and your pack. Oh, and you may need this." He handed Ryker a sword. "It's iron, so it should last you for a few days." Ryker hefted the sword into the air, feeling the weight and balance.
"Why do I need a sword? I mean, shouldn't it be safe out there?"
Lexarus grimaced. "It is never safe outside. At night, the hostiles come out of hiding. You saw the skeleton and the spider. There are zombies, skeletons, spiders, and creepers out hunting at night here. During the day, bandits, brigands and Claw-vetala operate along the roads." He unsheathed his own sword. Unlike Ryker's, his sword was a purple-bluish color. He sensed Ryker's curiosity. "It's diamond. It's been with me for a long time, kept me alive for two years." Lexarus started toward the forest. "Let's go."
And that is chapter one! I hope you enjoyed it, and expect more chapters to come! Sayonara!