-author note:

hey readers!

I just wanted to add a few things before I begin my story. First of all, thank you for choosing to read this Fan fiction, it is very well appreciated. Second, this is my first story to ever be published so it may be a bit sketchy... Third, if you are expecting this story to be anything like actual Minceraft and you are going to complain, leave now. As of right now in MC, there isn't much of a story line... so I'm kind of writing my own story here (although there will be many MC references) but otherwise, please enjoy and feel free to compliment or criticize!

thx!

Falling Through the Void

-A Minecraft Fanfiction-

Chapter 1

Steven. I hear the voice whisper clearly through the blank nothingness. Control it, Steven, control it. The feminine whisper growing louder and almost palpable.

"Who's there?" I ask calmly, feeling my heart skip a beat as I realize there's nothing around me but black. I must be going mad. This can't be happening.

STEVEN!The voice screams all around me. I see a flash of two bright, white eyes before me and wake up instantly. My eyes snapping open and slowly focusing on the digital, redstone powered clock on my wrist. I slam the button in the off position before its high-pitched beeping drives me insane. Wow. Five o'clock already. Time to start moving before the desert sun is too hot. I gather my things and put them in their place on the back of my long, black coat, picking up my diamond pickaxe last. On its silver handle is engraved 'Sehroph', my Skyworld name. "Wind." I whisper as the sky-blue diamond in the center of my pickaxe grows slightly transparent and a column of wind rushes about me, blowing the desert sand from my coat. My sight blurs slightly for half a second and returns to normal before I strap my pickaxe to my side by its handle. I drink a swiftness potion and I'm on my way to the nearest village. ~

I rush into the open gates of Ganish, the small desert village. I fall to my knees immediately and embrace the cobblestone streets. People are staring, but I'm far too relived to care even slightly. Once my little episode is over, I start looking around for the nearest 'Inn' sign. Finding one almost instantly, (I'm way too experienced at looking for these things) I walk in the door. As the loud bell above the door rings behind me, I am greeted by a small lady behind the bar. "Hello, dear," she says with way to much enthusiasm, "Welcome to Barbara's! We don't get too many drifters here."

"Hey, I'm no-" I pause for a while, wondering if it's worth fussing about. Deciding it isn't, I ask for a room for the weekend, pay the Innkeeper, and follow her to my room. I duck into the door with a loud sigh and all but throw my things into the large chest at the foot of the king-sized bed. It's going to be a very long weekend, and hunting down this Enderman is not helping my state of mind. I know he's in this desert and ever since I entered this forsaken desert village, my awareness of his presence has grown exceedingly noticeable. Deep in my thoughts and concerns, I manage to run straight into a shorter, thin, teenage girl about my age, causing her to drop her surprisingly large amount of (probably stolen) emeralds. Blushing through her dark, brown bangs, she bends over to pick them up and I kneel over to help her. I can't help but notice her strange, black hood and grey suit. On her shoulder was the blue, Skyworld symbol for stealth. "Where did you get that enchanted hood?" I ask, reaching to my side where my coin purse usually is and noticing that it's missing.

"Um, It was… a gift." She said with a well practiced poker face.

"So does that mean you stole it, like you stole my coin purse?" she blushed and forked over my half-empty, drawstring sack. I raise my eyebrow after weighing it in my hand and she gives me the rest of my coins with a defeated frown.

"How did you… Hey!" She said suddenly, eyeing my diamond pickaxe, "You're the boy sent down from the Skyworld!"

"Yeah, more like kicked out." I reply with a frustrated look. She sticks out an arm with an open, gloved hand. Startled, I jump and cover my coin purse, but realize her kind gesture and step forward to shake her hand.

"I'm Karen." She said proudly. "Got a name, jumpy?"

"Yeah, I'm… Steven." I reply, almost forgetting my name. Wow, it sure has been a long time since I've met anyone. Let alone shake their hand.

"Steven, huh?" she says with a thoughtful look, as though trying out the name. "So what's a drifter like you doing in a place like this?"

"I'm… um… just passing through." I reply, ignoring the fact that she just called me a drifter.

"Just passing through, huh? Is that why you walked out of the Inn?" she questioned with a challenging grin that dared me to lie.

"Fine, fine," I say, quieting down to a whisper and squinting at the people on the streets around us, "I'm hunting an Enderman." I say in a low, hushed voice. She gasped and I gestured for her to quiet down. The last thing I need is the Enderman finding out who I am and running again.

"What for?" she whispered quietly with a concerned look.

"Personal reasons…" I say with a shrug. "I always hated the things. Ever since I found out my sister was killed by one back when I still lived in Skyworld and life was… normal."

"So sorry." She said with sad, grey eyes. "Well… I should probably get going." She said to break the silence.

"Yeah," I say, looking again at the faces around us. "Me too."~

As I'm walking down the dimly-lit, cobblestone streets, I can't help but think about that girl I met this morning. Why was she here? She didn't look like the stereotypical Ganish girls whom always seem to wear the same, red desert robes and sandals. I think back to when I saw her. She was wearing a gray, skin-tight suit and a black hood. And her face didn't look Ganish at all. And what about that enchanted Skyworld symbol on the shoulder of her hood? Why would she need a stealth seal? As I near a corner, I can't help but feel a presence shadowing me. Casually, I look into the reflection of my redstone wrist clock and see a dark figure with a scarf hiding its face. I turn the corner and stoop into the shadow by the building once I'm out of sight. And sure enough, just as I had suspected, the figure turned the same corner, slowed down a bit, and looked around with hidden confusion. As it nears the alley I'm hiding in, I take action. I bolt out of the shadows and grab the figure from behind, pulling whoever it is back into the alley. I twist around to face the figure and rip down its scarf, revealing the feminine face (to my surprise, I had expected a male follower) of Karen. "What!?" she yelps at my with the same well-trained face.

"Why are you following me?" I ask, trying not to let my anger take over.

"Why are you so jumpy!?" she asked, most likely trying to change the subject.

"Stop changing the subject and answer my question." I say bluntly with an annoyed tone.

"I… fine, I was following you because I wanted to see the… you know" she said, as if disappointed with herself for being caught.

"Well next time you decide to stalk someone, you should really consider-" I stop mid-sentence and look around cautiously. That was where I would usually go off on some long rant and lose my temper, but lucky for her, (well, not really) I can feel the Enderman nearby. And he's right on our heads. Karen started to say something to break the silence but I quickly put my hand over her mouth and shook my head with the most serious face I can muster. I take a deep breath and untie the drawstring bag in my coat. I take out and drink a potion of swiftness and a potion of strength, setting the veils silently into the drawstring bag. I creep towards the corner and risk a look as the disguised Enderman releases his purple, venomous cloud on a man next to him. The man passed out cold and I watched carefully for my chance, dagger in one hand, diamond pickaxe in the other, as he stoops down ever so slowly next to the man. Now. Acting quickly, I change my grip on the pickaxe to a back-handed one and run at him. I was too loud. The Enderman heard me and turned around in one swift motion, grasping my neck in a cold-handed grip.

"What's the matter, boy?" he asks eerily with a raspy voice, spitting on my face, "Any last words?" Wow. That was way too cheesy.

"Ice" I choke. Wow, that was even more so. He looked at me with a face that called me stupid before he realized what was actually happening. The end of my diamond pickaxe slowly faded into a mist as ice surrounded his arm and he loosened his grip on my neck. I took advantage of the situation, slipping from his grasp and round-housing his arm, shattering the ice with an audible crash. He screamed the best he could behind his aged throat. He reels back and I pierce his sorry chest, removing the blade slowly with a sigh of relief and wiping the blood on his shirt before he falls to the ground and his corpse becomes a cloud of sand, leaving behind a single ender pearl.

"That was awesome!"Karen shrieked with joy, almost startling me. I let myself get so caught up in the moment, I forgot she was there. I pick up the small pearl and add it to my collection in one of my many drawstring sacks. I raise the bladeless handle as all the ice from the ground is levitated up, forming the shape of my pickaxe and uniting the pickaxe and my hand once again with a flash of blue light. My eyesight blurs and returns to focus as usual.

"Yeah, yeah." I say weakly as I walk past her, heading for the inn.

"What, so that's it?" She asks with a mixture of exhaust and disappointment. "You come in, save us all, and then just leave without a word from anyone?"

"Pretty much." I call bluntly over my shoulder as I open the door and walk up to my room. ~

I walk out of my room, tip the manager, and leave the inn, headed for the gates with a sigh. So that's it, back to loneliness, back to traveling. Another Enderman is another wasted week. But of course I'm lying to myself. Of course I don't look at it that way. Another Enderman is another step closer to regaining entrance to the Skyworld, and better yet, regaining respect from my parents. I wave at the guards and the open the gates for me as I round the corner to leave. But I stop and smile, turning back around to greet my shadow named Karen. "Go home, Karen." I say with a sigh.

"I've decided I'm going to travel with you." Woah, I did not expect that one.

"Since when did you just up and decide that you're coming with!?" I ask, startled with the idea of having someone to travel with.

"Face it," she said smugly, "you're all alone, and judging by what I saw last night, you're going to need someone to watch your back! Besides, drifting must get terribly lonely."

"Hey! I'm not a drifter! And the answer is no, so go back home." I say, knowing that she would follow behind me anyways. There's a long silence while we walk the warm, sandy, morning desert plain.

"So, what do you have to eat?"