I do not own Minecraft. Story inspired by numerous minecraft song parody videos online along with Story Mode. Couldn't help it. The idea wouldn't leave me alone.

Shadow

John walked out of the canyon and sighed, watching as the cows all slowly made their way to the river. Oh how he hated the cows. He hated being a cattle farmer's son. Most of all, he hated being weak. He dreamed of being a hero like any of the countless legendary adventurers he heard about when he went to town, but he was no hero. He wasn't fast, strong, smart. He didn't have legendary weapons or armor. He wasn't good with potions or enchanting. Hell, he wasn't even brave. More than once he had left the cattle behind when the sun had set. Then, after being berated by his father for being a coward, one of the other townsfolk would show up with the cattle and his father would go out and lock them up. John didn't enjoy being a coward. He had no friends, no one respected him, and he was hard pressed to even leave the house except to do his chores. His family had tried to convince him to join the outside world and have some form of social life, but they had ultimately failed.

John looked at the cattle again, seeing that there were only a few at the water now, the rest having drunk their fill. He sighed and patted his horse as he waited for the stragglers. Finally, they were all done and he began to herd them back toward the farm. As they travelled, John kept a very careful eye on the canyon walls. He knew travelers had been attacked during the day due to the canyon walls shielding the interior of the canyon from the sun during all but three hours in the middle of the day. He still had plenty of time, but that did nothing to assuage his fear.

As he rode, something ahead suddenly shrieked. He recognized it as a horse instantly but the horse sounded hurt and in distress. For a moment, he stopped, unsure whether to flee or investigate. The horse cried out again and he groaned then made his cattle stop before riding off to investigate. After a few moments, he rounded a corner and stopped. There was a herd of sheep ahead with one of them having broken its leg. The horse was pure white, except for dirt and mud where it had fallen. Beside the horse was a girl roughly John's age. She was kneeling beside the horse, clearly meaning to kill it.

"You're going to kill it?" John called out, startling her for a moment.

"That's what you do when a horse gets a broken leg," the girl stated.

"That seems a little cruel," John stated. "Can't their legs heal?"

"Not fully," she stated. "Their bones bend before they break, making it impossible for their legs to heal properly, and it sometimes heals wrong anyway because of the number of bones in a horse's leg. It would be crueler to let her live."

The horse cried out in pain and the girl sighed and knelt back down, killing it quickly. Then, she stood, and looked around.

"Now how am I supposed to get there and back in time?" the girl wondered aloud.

"Um...I could, let you ride with me on mine, if you want," John offered. "My cattle are just around the corner headed back anyway. The river's not to far. You were heading to the river, right?"

"I was," the girl smiled, nodding. "You sure you don't mind?"

"No point in you being stuck in this canyon after the safe hours," John stated.

The girl smiled and nodded, climbing onto the horse behind him and he turned it around, heading back the other way, the girl getting her sheep to follow as John turned his cattle around, leading them back to the river. When they stopped, the sheep began to drink but the cows simply stood around. As the sheep drank, John watched the girl. Killing the horse clearly wasn't sitting well with her, and John couldn't blame her. His horse was important to him. However, John's mind was thinking about something else at the moment. He knew the girl. She was from a farm a few over from his own home. Her family was friends with just about everyone. Everyone except John's. Aside from that, the girl was fairly popular. Most of the boys in town liked her but wouldn't even consider making a move because her boyfriend was one of the students of the town's Martial Arts master. He was also one of the town's biggest bullies. Everyone knew to stay on his good side as much as possible. John had given up trying a long time ago. He didn't like John. That's all there was too it. John was his favorite stress relief. And John knew it. The boy often beat John senseless for no better reason than the fact that John had been in town that day. That was the primary reason that John didn't go into town any more than he needed to. And he always kept his business there short.

But this girl was nothing like her boyfriend. She was sweet, kind, generous. She would do whatever it took to help someone as long as it didn't involve harming someone else. John would be lying if he said he didn't have a bit of a crush on her as well.

"You okay?" John asked walking over and standing beside her.

"Yeah," she smiled. "That horse was a friend of mine, is all. I had her since I was young."

"Sorry," John said. "At least you have your sheep still."

She smiled and nodded.

"True," she nodded. "My parents won't be too mad at me."

"That wasn't your fault," John pointed out. "Accident's happen. It's not like you made your horse break its leg."

"True," she nodded. "By the way, my name's Melody. What's yours?"

"John," John smiled. "Looks like the sheep are ready to leave. Good thing too. We need to get going. There isn't much time before the canyon becomes impassible."

She nodded and the two climbed onto the horse, John sitting behind Melody and wrapping his arms around her to hold the reigns. They got their herds moving back through the canyon and John noticed that the canyon floor was almost a quarter of the way covered from the sun.

"It'll get dark in here quickly," John stated. "We should get moving."

Melody nodded and John spurred his horse, making it move a little faster, the cows and sheep all doing the same, seeming to understand the danger. They travelled through the canyon quickly. As they passed the spot where Melody had left her horse's body, they saw that it was gone, the spot it had been lying covered in shadow already.

"That's not a good sign," Melody stated. "We'll make it out of here, right?"

"Of course," John said, thankful she was in front of him so she couldn't see how terrified he was.

He had never been in the canyon so late. He really needed to move, but he couldn't without leaving the livestock behind. After a few more minutes, the cows and sheep began to move at a near stampede. John looked back and saw that the shadow behind them was closed and gaining.

"Hang on!" John said spurring his horse, urging it to move faster.

It sped up to a gallop, keeping up with the livestock. After a moment, they turned a corner, reaching a section facing the sun but the livestock continued at the same frenzied pace, John choosing to allow them to stay at that speed for the sake of getting out of the canyon faster. As they rode, John found himself growing more and more anxious and reached down, hand closing around the handle of the wooden sword he kept with him. He couldn't use it, and it would be next to useless in a fight anyway, but it made him feel calmer when it was close to dark.

Just as his hand closed around the handle, they turned a corner and John's eyes widened as he and Melody both gasped. The section they were in had already fallen into shadow.

"Um...John?" Melody asked.

"It's okay," John said. "If it comes to it, Faith can outrun any monster."

He patted his horse's side and smiled then looked around, hand instinctively closing around the wooden sword's handle agin.

"Then why do you have a sword?" melody asked.

"That's a bit of a...long story," John stated.

They rode in silence for a couple of minutes. By John's estimation, they were roughly halfway through the canyon. Then, just as they saw a lit section canyon that the herds were running into, an arrow stuck into the ground in front of Faith. Faith reared up onto her hind legs, throwing John and Melody to the ground. John felt his head hit first just before Melody hit him in the head with her own, slamming his into the ground again before rolling away. John groaned, trying to sit up and look around as Faith shrieked again. He looked toward her as she ran around the corner and disappeared. Fear gripped John's chest, steeling his breath. He gasped for air, one hand clutching his chest, the other clutching the wooden sword he had somehow pulled out of the saddlebag he had kept it in. He looked around wildly, eyes searching the darkness for whatever would kill him first. Just as he turned toward Melody, something massive and black leapt at him. He was unconscious before it had even reached him.

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