A Minecraft Life

Wow... I'm doing this. Read the description. Oh yeah, Minecraft belongs to Notch, Jeb, and Mojang. You won't be seeing this again, so note it.

Chapter 1: The Silent Player

It was just supposed to be a simple cave exploration. We were supposed to be back before dark. Four of us made it out. It was all thanks to him...

Third person Time...

In this beautiful land of Minecraftia, 6 players adjusted check their gear for a third time as they prepared to head towards a cave. A player was a unique person who had the power to build and create. They couldn't be born, but they randomly appeared around the world. They had the ability to re spawn, or come back to life (for those of you who don't play minecraft). They dropped everything upon death however, adding extra fear to the pain of dying.

This group was about to go scout out a cave that was rumored to have large amounts of iron in it before a bigger miner guild settled in it. They were supposed to take some iron as a bonus and tell how deep it went, along with the amount of tunnels. Iron was useful for building and pretty handy anywhere in Minecraftia, still being the only good resource that was still used to barter besides emeralds. Gold was the main currency, but a stack of gold bars was as good as one diamond. The group was hoping to find get some better gear and improve their home. They were one of many guilds that operated in the region, but unlike the fighter guilds or, may Notch damn their souls, a griefer guild, they did a bit of everything, which made it hard to get by sometimes, when contracts went to better guilds. Then there were the factions, which mostly operated by city. Factions house guilds, guilds do what they want, so long as they pay their fee to the city. Then their were the admins (Administrators) who controlled the world. They settled disputes and banned the evil players from the world, at least the ones they could find. Unfortunately, griefers were very hard to catch, or even prove that they did something. The Admins are usually good, but there are a few bad ones. You can't stop them, so it's best to just stay out of their line of sight. This faction, Stone Bridge, was small, but not at all poor. They were somewhere in middle.

"Hurry," a female voice said with a bit of a whining tone, "we have to get this contract done today to pay our fee." The speaker was the organizer of the guild, Ana. She had long brown hair that went to the center of her back and her bangs were just out of her eyes. She was currently wearing the customary blue T-shirt and jeans that players began with. It was a good outfit for hard work. She had brought them together and trained players who usually left for a better guild, which was why she was bringing mostly original members along for this job. "Is that sword in good condition, Tom?"

Tom was their fighter. He handled mobs and used melee weapons such as swords and sometimes axed when he was desperate. Tom had short black hair that spiked out of the top of his head. His black vest kept his arms showing and his red shorts went good with the black. "It's good enough for now, but don't expect me to handle everything Gary," Tom said in his tough voice. Tom was a bit overconfident, but he was a good fighter and a good friend.

Gary was the archer. He handled things from behind Tom with his arrows. Tom had flowing green hair that covered his eyes sometimes. He was a gentlemen and flirted with just about every woman he met. Tom had his long brown coat on and his white clothing on underneath. "I would never trust you to be able to protect a beautiful lady Tom," Gary said with his usual wink to Ana or any girl.

Ana face-palmed and turned to the other three members. "Jake?" she asked him, "You have only 10 pieces of food on you right?" Jake was a young boy and the newest member of their guild. His cute brown eyes were innocent and complemented by his untidy red hair. He only wore red clothes, but they were all different. Jake picked up on things fast, but still had a ways to go. The only problem he really had was that he always ate all the food.

"Yes," Jake said rather annoyed. He was supposed to accompany them and learn. The real reason was also so he could carry things. "Can't I have a few extra pieces, Sally?" Jake pleaded to the woman on his left. She looked back with a uncaring expression.

"Nope," Sally said, getting up. "Ana's orders." Sally was a quiet woman who usually beat up people who started fights. Recruits feared her, but they loved her cooking, since that was her specialty. She was their farmer and her overalls and normal blue shirt underneath showed signs of hard work and dirt. Jake didn't fear her for some reason, but she swore that that boy was unusually kind. The girl on Jake's right hugged him close.

"You can have some of my food Jake," the girl said as she pulled him uncomfortably close.

"Thanks Kate!" Jake said as he smiled at her. Kate flirted with everyone, like Gary, but was a lot less formal about it. Jake was too innocent to notice though, which made it really fun for her to flirt with him. Her pink shirt and short jean shorts were a popular choice among girls lately. Her blonde hair hung around her shoulders and fell to her stomach. She handled deals and was second in command despite being such a flirt. She did know her stuff.

"Fine!" Ana yelled at them. "I don't care! Just get ready to leave."
-

The six players set out to the west across the plains. As they reached the extreme hills biome, they sat down for a break. "Okay," Ana said looking at the map that their employer had provided, "if we head north until sunset, we should find it." Jake breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least we won't have to deal with mobs for this one," Jake said to the others. No one felt like telling him they would have to deal with mobs in the cave. They all set off shortly after and continued over the hills that almost seemed like mountains. As the sun was beginning to set, they were all getting worried, including Ana. They couldn't seem to find the cave and they didn't want to fight here through the night. Jake decided to climb to the top of a large hill and almost fell once or twice. "I don't see an entrance." Jake continued to turn around as it began to get dark. "Wait! I see torch light. Do you think it's the cave?"

"Who cares?" Ana replied. "Torch light means someone put it there for a reason. Let's go!" They waited for Jake to come down and ran in the direction he pointed. They were beginning to see zombies and skeleton's rise out of the ground in the distance behind them. "Keep running! The last thing we want is to get surrounded." Tom brought up the rear in case something caught up. As they reached the torch light, they saw it was a wood wall with a door on it. Ana didn't have time to think as she rushed in and held open the door for the members behind her. She slammed the door as Tom ran in last. Ana placed some cobblestone in front of the door in case the zombies got through.

The group currently sat at the entrance of what appeared to a cave system. "Let me see the map," Ana said as they all sat around a torch in the pitch black. Ana placed a few more torches down as she looked at the map. After a few minutes she sighed. "Why am I not surprised? It looks like this is the contract cave." Everyone sat there with grim expressions. Even the usually cheery Jake. Something about this job just had a bad vibe to it. "We might as well work if we're stuck here." Everyone followed Ana's lead and got up. "Alright... Report!"

"Contract assigned by a Zack White," Kate responded. "Miner/Surveyor class contract. Usual pay of 3 stacks of gold ingots. Bonus pay of every sixth iron ore surveyed." Ana nodded and turned to Tom.

"Estimated depth of 45 from bedrock," Tom said to her. "No mine shafts supposedly and a mob threat level of 2 stars. Estimated time of contract: 5 hours." Ana nodded again and proceeded to the front of the group.

"Alright," she said professionally. "Tom, you lead. Gary, your in the middle. You have a secondary job as a surveyor, but keep your bow ready. Sally, your in front of him. Keep count as well and don't take chances on the numbers. Kate, your second, right behind Tom. Place torches sparingly, but keep us lit. Jake, your in front of me in the back. You carry the iron we collect. Watch how the rest of the group works and keep track of how low we are." Everyone nodded in determination. This was the last job they had to keep their guild and they were determined to make it work.

The first two hours went by without any problems. The cave seemed very promising also. They already had half a stack of iron. They had dispatched only a few mobs so far and with relative ease. Jake was the first to notice something was off, but Tom felt as if there were less mobs than the job said there would be. "Ana?" Jake whispered so only she would hear as they waited for the others to mine out another vein of iron. She turned to look at him questioningly. "I'm noticing something weird. Even though we're only halfway through with the job, I've counted and I'm pretty sure we're only about 50 above bedrock." Ana saw the worried look on his face and she was beginning to feel the same way he looked.

"Lets not worry about that right now," she said kindly. "We might have to do some back tracking or go up. Lets start worrying when we pass 45, okay?" Jake looked slightly less worried, but smiled all the same and continued on.

They passed 47 when things went wrong. All they could hear was their foot steps as they walked along a long stretch of gravel. As Tom took another step forward, he heard something click. The sound of a trip wire followed by hiss of TNT. All Tom had enough time to do was push Kate back as TNT exploded under him, killing him instantly. Kate fell back, only slightly hurt from the blast. As more TNT went off underneath the group, the gravel gave way underneath them. The uneven gravel hills they landed on hurt in different amounts, but everyone managed to survive except for Tom.

Ana groaned as she got to her feet. As she looked up, she saw two players standing above the pit they were now in. The pit was about ten blocks deep and was covered in obsidian. As Ana got a good look at the players, she got furious. "Zack White!" she yelled. "You son of a bitch! You're a griefer! Damn you!" She looked up at the player in a white suit. His black hair pulled back behind his head just like his arms went behind his back as he smiled at them. She got a good look at the other griefer who was in a tattered cloak that covered his face.

"I have to admit," Zack began in a impressed tone, "You're friend there had some good reflexes. I expected to get at least two of you with that." Ana's face began to turn red with the rage of a thousand endermen.

"I'll rip your fucking head off!" she yelled at him at the top off her lungs. The other griefer began to chuckle as he crouched down to look at them.

"This bitch is as feisty as you said Zack," the other griefer said with an insane laugh that showed how how much he was enjoying. He continued to laugh at them until an arrow went right into his shoulder. "Gah! You bastard!" Gary lowered his bow as the griefer clutched his shoulder.

"Never insult a lady," Gary said with a cold stare. "I'm sorry I missed your head. My arm got a bit messed up in the fall." The griefer continued to glare at him and his body began to shake in rage as he tore out the arrow.

The griefer suddenly began to laugh uncontrollably as he stepped back. "Let's see how messed up you are after this," he laughed with demented satisfaction. Zack just shook his head and walked away as the much higher ceiling began to open up above them. To the griefer's happiness, he heard all of the players in the pit gasp as lava started to flow down from the hole in the ceiling. "Don't try breaking the walls either. They're 5 obsidian thick in every direction. You'd starve to death before you broke them with those tools."

Sally took some cobblestone out of bag and began to build a tower up the side of the wall hoping to beat the lava. She barely beat the lava out of the hole only to be hit by a flaming arrow and knocked into the lava pillar that had fallen behind her. She let out one horrible scream of defiance as she burned to death. They could hear the griefer laughing as Jake just watched where the tower Sally built was. He was too stunned too even yell not to try.

Kate hugged Jake close as Ana hung her head and began to feel tears streak down her face. The lava was impossible to escape from at this point. Gary just punched the wall and cursed.
-

Just as they had all given up hope though, an obsidian block broke from in between the three groups. It was the bottom one, so they couldn't see the miner, but they could hear him now as he begun to mine the second block. They all rushed towards the block, hoping to escape as soon as possible. As the lava was two blocks above them, the final block broke and the miner pressed himself against the wall, grabbing the obsidian and allowing the 4 players to get by him. As Gary rushed by him, being the last one to pass, the miner placed two obsidian back to cover the hole and placing some more back in his bag.

As Ana looked down the mine tunnel they had been led to, she began to think this guy was here to save them only. The tunnel went on for what seemed like forever. She looked back at the miner and was a bit astounded. The player wore an electric green hoodie that was outlined in black everywhere and black pants. His large grey boots were strangely loud to her as he walked by her. His back had nothing special, not even on his coat. His hood was pulled up at the moment, but that didn't stop her from seeing his face as he turned to look at her. His face was deathly pale, but was half covered by his teal-colored hair. His green eyes had a blank stare that stared annoyingly back at her as if nothing had happened. He turned away and motioned for the group to follow.

They decided to trust him as he had saved their lives. They tried to be quiet, but the silence and mystery about their savior was getting to them. Ana finally tried to say something. "Thanks for saving us back there," she said in embarrassment and with a tone of unsure. He continued to walk forward after looking back at her. Ana wasn't sure how to take this, so she tried again. "So... Where are you leading us?" The silent player simply pointed up as he kept walking. "To the surface?" The player nodded silently.

Ana was getting creeped out, so she stepped back. Jake was in awe of this miner who had saved them. He began to bombard the miner with questions that never got or had time for answers. After a while however, the questions became slow and important. "Did you know where we were?" he asked softly. The player shook his head as Jake continued to ask him questions. "Were you searching for us? Are you an angel? Are you a trap the griefers set up for us? Are we at the surface yet?" They continued to head down the endless tunnel, following the miner who never said a word. "Do you have any food?" They couldn't see his face, but the miner was happy to finally answer a question with yes, in his own way of course. He tossed back a loaf of bread and continued to what no one noticed was the end of the tunnel.

They came out into a seemingly random set of cave tunnels and were led down a set of caves that almost seemed the same. The quiet player seemed to know where he was going though, and they had no choice but to follow him. led them to a small pillar of lava that appeared to flow naturally over the rocks. The miner went as close as he dared to it, which was to say he started to sweat from the heat inches from his face, and he placed a block to block the lava flow, but in a way to be able to start it again.

As they waited for some reason, they saw that behind the lava pillar was a lever set far back in the stone. As the miner pulled it, he jumped back as a hidden dispenser shot an arrow at him. He retrieved the arrow and went to place it back in the still hidden dispenser. The rest of the group did not see this however as they saw the uneven stone wall move inward to reveal a furnished house. The miner led them inside and went over to a wall. He checked the clock he was keeping on an item frame and determined the time. The guild members were impressed as they walked across his carpet floor and sat on his wooden couch. The miner went off into what appeared to be a kitchen area for a few minutes. He came back and handed them each a bowl of mushroom soup. "I thought you were taking us back to the surface?" Kate asked. The miner shook his head and looked at the clock. As they all looked over, they saw that it was going to be quite a while until morning. "Well, this could take a while." The miner went over and sat in a quartz chair. Kate was very confused by this player. "Are you in a guild?" The miner looked up and shook his head. She was getting uncomfortable with his silence "Do you speak at all?" The miner shook his head and went back to writing in the book he took out.

"Are you one of those... solo players?" Jake asked. Solo players were, well, players who stayed by themselves. They were either players who were too badass to bother with other people or people who just stayed alone. Rumors went that they didn't bother for claims or contracts. They simply mined, built, and lived in shadows. The miner took a deep breath as if he was about to speak. This was only to relax himself as he nodded. "Cool." Ana finally couldn't take any more and let out a scream of rage. Everyone jumped except for the solo player who simply looked at her calmly.

"I'm still so angry!" she yelled. "In case you all forgot, we... we..." Ana began to cry as she sat down. "We're going to lose the guild without any pay." Everyone hung their head as they remembered they were broke and had lost their weapons and quite a bit of food. The miner got up and walked over to her. He searched around in his bag and finally placed something on the table. As he pulled back his hand, their were four light blue rocks on the table. Gary and Kate gasped and Jake just looked confused. Ana lifted her head and gasped as she saw the rocks.

"Ana?" Jake asked. "What are those? I've never seen them before, but they looked rare." Ana began to cry again, but she kept smiling.

"Those are diamonds Jake," she laughed. She enjoyed the look of amazment as he realized what was in front of him. Ana looked up at the silent player and noticed something she hadn't seen before in the back of his eyes. A deep sympathy and understanding that was hardly shown by his anti-sociability. He actually cared about what happened to them. "How can we thank you?" She watched as he grabbed a diamond and placed it in her hand. He smiled and closed her hand around it as he nodded. "Just... Just take them?" He nodded and went over to another room. Ana could only sit there, clutching the diamond against her chest and smile.

The rest of them were celebrating this great turn of events. They had payment for the next two months, so the rest of what they made next month was bonus cash. Jake started to call out, "Hey! Uh... Miner guy?" The silent player came back and leaned against the door frame. "Can we get some food to go?" The silent player nodded after some thought. "How much?" The silent player shrugged. "All of it?" That was what Jake thought he meant and the rest of the group face-palmed. The silent player made a silent chuckle that only Jake saw and nodded. "Seriously?" The rest of the group was shocked by his generousity. "Yay!" Jake ran to the kitchen, followed by Gary who knew there wouldn't be enough for anyone else if he took it all.

The silent player shook his head and smiled as he left. Ana watched as he left again. "You like him, don't you?" Kate whispered in her ear. Ana jumped back before blushing. The heat of embarrassment quickly turned to rage.

"I do not!" Ana whispered in a quiet yell. "I'm just a bit overwhelmed by how strange he is." Kate just smiled deviously before frowning at her.

"Well, that's too bad then," Kate said in mock disappointment. "Maybe I'll take a shot then. He's rich and hasn't had much player contact. He should be pretty easy to flirt with." Kate was slightly surprised when Ana grabbed her by the collar.

"You had better not," Ana said with a red face.

"Why do you care so much?" Kate said with her devious grin. Ana eyes widened as she realized she didn't know why she cared. Her brain came up with a solution.

"I-I just son't think it's right to do that to someone who saved our lives," Ana said as she looked away. Kate just rolled her eyes and let it go at that. Jake came back with a handful of treats.

"He has cake and pie!" Jake yelled as he rushed back to the kitchen. Ana and Kate looked at each other before they rushed after him to enjoy the food. They ate for what seemed like hours, because it was. They never saw the silent player during that time, but he appeared when they were done. He walked over to the clock and studied it briefly before putting on his pack and taking up an enchanted diamond pick. It was obvious to everyone that it was time to leave.

They left through a different exit that seemed to be an endless stair case. They walked silently, not really knowing what to say. At some point the torch light ran out, but they didn't know that this was because it helped hide the exit. As the player suddenly stopped they could here him mining out some stone, and then some dirt as he broke through to sunlight. They climbed out and were in the middle of a long plain. The entrance seemed to be in a completely random place, which allowed it to have an extremely low chance of being found. They were in a large plain which seemed to go forever. These were the northern plains, a stretch of plains that was north of Stonebridge and carried on to the next closest city, which didn't have enough fame yet for players to give it a name.

They continued south after the player fixed the stair case with the smooth stone. They weren't sure why he was leading them now because he surely knew that they could find their way back. They didn't complain, as they strangly enjoyed the company of this silent player. Jake and Gary made small chat anout how great it was to see the sun again and how everyone would react when they got back. Kate just smiled deviously at Ana who proceeded to growl at her.

After the day hit noon, they finally saw the large lake that Stonebridge was built on. They took another hour to reach one of the four long bridges made of stone that gave the town its name. As they reached the gate, they were met by two guards in enchanted iron armor. They were about to stop them when they saw the silent player and simply allowed them through. As they walked through their home, they decided to see where the player was leading them. They walked through the streets, ignoring the shops and other players as they headed to the largest building in the town. The town administrator's house. They began to wonder why he would take them here, but they asked no questions as they knew they wouldn't get an answer. The player went up to the iron door and hit the button on a small pillar beside the door. They heard a quiet sound that must of been a doorbell. The administrator walked to the door and opened it upon seeing the silent player. As they walked in, the admin asked them, "What happened to you Ana? How did you meet him?" They sat down in one of the rooms and Ana told the story of how they had been griefed and then rescued.

"Zack White huh?" the admin said as he sighed. "That guy is hard to catch. He only communicates with the griefers through letters he leaves silently around hidden spots, as far as we know." He turned to the silent player. "Can I trust you to handle this one?" The player nodded before getting up and leaving. The admin turned back to them once he was gone. "Admins don't have time to deal with some of the big griefers, sadly. We waste too much time hunting them down. Luckily, there are some solo players who are willing to help out from time to time. They all are great at stealth and they never hold grudges against people because they don't care. That one however is strange." Ana was about to ask a question when he stopped her. "No one here knows his name. There are rumors, some of them being completely crazy, but the most normal one is that there is player in the capitol that used to know him before he was banned. He might have left some stuff behind. That's the most the admins know." Ana thanked him for the info before getting up and beginning to leave. "One other thing Ana... Guild fee?" Ana chuckled before handing him 2 diamonds. The admin sighed. "He has to stop paying for people."

Without any other reason to stay, they left the house and went back to the guild. It was a warm welcome. "What happened to you Jake?" Sally asked in a rage of worry. Tom was also worried, but knew that because they hadn't died, they might be okay. This did nothing to calm down Sally. Ana saved Jake from the scolding he was going to get for surviving. Ana took them to the meeting hall and told the story of how they had been saved.

"A solo player saved you and gave you 4 diamonds?" Tom asked. Ana hadn't mentioned the conversation they had had with the admin. "And he doesn't talk at all?" Ana nodded again as Jake once again saved himself from a scolding by emptying his pack of cakes and pumpkin pie. They had plenty of food and pay. The next contract would be used to pay for renovations to the guild house. They weren't sure what to do next, but Kate had a devious answer.

"Why don't we take a guild contract?" Kate said with her devious grin. A guild contract was a large scale job that usually required the services of an entire guild or even 2. They were only given out with special permission in the capitol. Kate knew that Ana would look into that rumor, and apparently Ana did too as her face turned red. No one else saw this because they looked at Kate in excitment and disbelief. It had been quite a while since they had been offered a chance to take this type of contract.

"Can I come?" Jake asked, still being a noob. Kate and the others looked away as they thought that he shouldn't come. Jake took this as a bad sign and his smile began to drop.

"What if we brought along a veteran student to watch him," Sally said, coming to his rescue. Jake smiled at her before looking at the rest of the group. Everyone nodded in happy agreement before Jake zoomed off to his room. "Well, what are we standing around for? Lets get ready for a trip to the capital!" Everyone cheered and set about their work, but Ana couldn't help but think back to that player.

Woo hoo... YES! It's done. That's over with. Not much else to say on the matter. Bye