The rain started as I stepped under the tree. I was afraid it would start any moment, and I had seemed to be right for once. The rain was hard against the leaves and the only light I saw was the setting sun. I was afraid to set up the tent here. It was too close to the area I had felt the strange auras from. I didn't want to go there.
Looking up, another light caught my eye. A small flame through a window on a hill glimmered like a beacon to me. I felt a skip in my heart and a smile cross my face. I started quickly into the rain and toward the village. The sun was still high enough that the monsters hadn't started coming from the caves and I was pleased to see villagers working inside the buildings. I ran to the closest building and quietly stepped up to the door. I knocked on the door and waited, the rain becoming louder.
"Hello? Is anyone home?" I called, though I already knew someone was inside. I heard someone take the doorknob in hand, and then, an eye peered through the partially opened door.
"Um…yes?" A woman's voice softly muttered out. I was stunned. I had never seen a woman villager before. She didn't remind me anything of the men. Her face was small; her nose was small, too. Her eyes, though, were the same brilliant emerald green color. She also had short, light brown hair that slightly went over her eyes. She was quite pretty.
"Hello. Would you mind if I could find a place to stay in the village? It'd only be for tonight." I said kindly, making sure to smile. She opened the door a little more, showing that she wore a robe just like the men-villagers. She looked out into the rain, looking down the hill.
"Well…it is raining. It should be safe. You may stay here, if you would like." She said with a small, almost non-existent smile. I thanked her kindly, and stepped in as she opened the door for me. I heard her lock the door, and then close the curtains on the windows. "I see you're a traveler. You don't look like any I have ever seen, though." She muttered, her voice so quiet I was wondering if something was wrong.
"Yes, ma'am. I have been traveling, studying the Overworld. I find it rather fascinating and I love to expand my knowledge of this world." I said, slipping my backpack off and holding it in front of me. She started showing me to a room beside the kitchen.
"How lovely," She said, "I would love to know what you've seen on your travels." She suddenly seemed to be happier. It was odd, really. She was one of the strangest people I had ever met, and I had met many villagers before her.
"Well, you yourself are something new to me. I have never met a female villager before. I've been in this world for quite some time and never met a single one." I said, setting my bag on the bed. She cocked her head.
"In this world? You're from another world?" She asked, as if to read my words. I felt my face flush a little. I had forgotten my significance here.
"Um…technically, no. I am a Crafter." I said, knowing she would know what a Crafter was. Her eyes lit up.
"A Crafter! My, you can help us with our problem!" She exclaimed, clutching her hands to her chest. I blinked a little. What had I gotten into this time?
"Problem? What do you mean?" I asked. She lowered her hands, and her bright expression dimmed down to the one I had met her with. Her lips twisted a little.
"If you were to help us…you would have to stay for several days. Would you be able to stay for a while?" She asked, stepping closer with a pleading look in her eyes. Even if I had to say no, I felt I couldn't. She needed help.
"I am in no hurry to leave. I could stay." I said. Again, she became bright.
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much!" She cried, taking my hands in hers and hugging them. I felt my face flush again. What was she so emotional about? What kind of problem was she facing? What problem was I going to be facing? "Oh…what is your name, Crafter?" She asked, releasing my hands. I smiled.
"My name is Natalie." I said. She smiled with me.
"Okay, Natalie. My name is Rea. I will tell you tomorrow, but for now I think you must rest. Throwing the village's problems on you the day we meet would be rather rude. If you need anything, don't hesitate to come and ask. I'm sure I will have anything you need." She paused, "If you don't mind my prying, could you show me what type of armaments you have, just to show me how much you will be protected." I found it to be an odd question, but I had no problem showing her my sword. I undid my bag, sliding my sword out. The brilliant blue, almost clear, diamond blade reflected the light from the torches. She gasped softly. "I have never seen such a brilliant sword…you will have no issues if that sword is true to you." She said. "Thank you, Natalie. Make yourself at home here. I hope to see you in the morning." She closed the door and left me to the room.
I unpacked my clock and placed my clothes in the drawer. I couldn't help but play her last statement in my head, over and over. 'I hope to see you in the morning.' Did she suspect we weren't going to see each other? I was in her house and everything was calm. What could have gone wrong before then? I looked out the window, the rain slowing to a drizzle. The auras I had felt before still seemed to be with me, almost like they were swimming around in my chest. It felt like they were getting closer. So many questions I kept asking myself…why didn't I have any answers? I undid my boots and placed them at the end of the bed. I would have to see in the morning.
I awoke at the light of dawn, a chill running down both of my arms. I couldn't tell if it had been a dream…I had heard a scream from somewhere. It was a woman's scream, but I assured myself it was just my dream. I checked my clock, seeing that the sun was high enough that the monsters would be burning away at this moment. I went to the tub in the bathroom beside the room and bathed. More and more questions kept popping into my head, even as I dried off and redressed. What was happening to this village? Why did the feelings in my chest keep bothering me?
"Natalie, are you there?" Rea's voice came as she softly knocked on the bathroom door.
"Yes," I called back. I opened the door, rubbing a towel through my hair. "Is everything alright?" She frowned and folded her arms into the sleeves of her robe.
"I'm afraid not. Something happened when the rain went away last night. We may need your help more desperately than I had originally thought." She said, motioning me to follow her. As we walked out into the village, I admired the serenity in the air. Everything was clean and dew covered. It was just strange, now, that there was practically no movement in the village. She brought me into another home, but there were other villagers inside. Several of them, almost as if it were the whole village, crowded around in one room.
"She is here." Rea said, showing me to stand in front of her. The other villagers, all of them female, turned to look at me. They all looked sad and scared, and then they saw me. They became surprised. I heard murmurs of 'she actually exists' and 'can she really help us?'
"Um…hello. What is wrong here?" I asked hesitantly. One of them took my hand and led me to the woman in the chair in the corner of the room. I held back my gasp of shock. The woman sat with bandages on both her forearms and a large gash down the side of her face. She looked up with the same shock the other women had.
"Oh, it's you," She said, almost in a whisper. "You're the Crafter, Natalie?" She asked.
"Yes, of course. What happened to you?" I asked, leaning over to look at her face. Tears seemed to well up in her eyes.
"I...I-"
"It was the Endermen." A voice said before she could answer. I turned to see an elderly woman, the village elder, walk through the others and glower at me. "It was then and it was last night." She hissed.
"Endermen…Endermen don't leave their harmed victims," I said, "They kill when they hurt anything, but Endermen don't usually attack when unprovoked." The elder sniffed and brushed a strand of silver hair from her face.
"You have never been in this village, so I would expect you to be ignorant of this situation. These Endermen have a tendency of which we have never seen before." The old woman spat. I raised an eyebrow, afraid to look away from the woman.
"What is it? It's happened more than once?" I asked.
"Yes it has. These Endermen have been raping the women of this village." She said, her voice full of anger and fury. I jolted back. Endermen…raping women?! I didn't believe this kind of thing could happen. Endermen did not even cross my mind of being able to even…mate. I looked to the woman and asked her what had happened to her last night. As she told me, I couldn't help but think of one thing. What would it be like to just see an Enderman just walking out on the prairie and then all of a sudden it turns and there's his penis? I didn't even know they had them. Their bodies were always smooth from what I saw. I'd never wanted to get close enough to one to see it. Then, I couldn't imagine…what it felt like. They were at least three feet taller than any normal person, three and a half to the average woman. Size comparison with its member and itself was probably terrifying.
"Then…it dropped me back onto my bedroom floor…and it disappeared." She whimpered, wiping a tear from her face. I frowned and lowered my head.
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine…" I drifted off a moment, "What is it that the village wants me to do?" I asked turning back around. The elder sniffed again, snarling a little.
"We just need a way to keep them away. We don't make weapons here and we're not very fond of fighting. We just want them to leave us alone. The only times we are safe is when it rains. The rain never lasts the night and we want to make sure this stops happening." She snapped. Rea put her hands on the elder's shoulders.
"Lin, please. She's just trying to help." She said softly. Lin grumbled.
"I am sorry, Natalie It's just that…this has happened four times before, and we just don't know what to do." She said softer than before.
"It's alright," I said, "When did this start?" I asked, looking out the window.
"It started a little less than a week ago. Sometimes there's a day between. Sometimes there isn't. The house they pick is never the same, and we don't know if it is the same Enderman or not." Lin said. I ruffled my hair, trying to gather all of the information I had on the Endermen that I had seen. There wasn't a lot that could be gathered from only observations. They were a mysterious race of creatures, clearly not from the Overworld. The only weakness I knew they had was that water burned them.
"Well, we can try to place water troughs on the outsides of the buildings. They hate water, so maybe it could ward them off." I said, giving up on any other idea. The women muttered to each other and seemed to like the idea. Rea smiled.
"Let's start getting the water then."
The village was working viciously to get the task done before the night came. All of them worked to bring water to the small moats they built and some of them carried large bowls of water to set by their windows. I liked their enthusiasm. It kind of reminded me of myself. Lin said there were several abandoned house that had been left by some of the women that had decided to escape the village. She said I could live in the bigger one; the one with the library. I spent the day inside, looking for any information that could help. The only thing that seemed to help was the book written by another Crafter who had spoken of a world named The End. He spoke of it as a calm world but only inhabited by the Endermen and the creature known as the Enderdragon. An excerpt said, "I can only hope that the death of the Enderdragon will keep these creatures from coming back to the Overworld…I can't promise that this is true, though. " As much as this "Steve" person had experienced, he seemed to never have any true answers.
Rea walked in with my sword and looked to the piles of books on the floor.
"Natalie, I just wanted to thank you in advanced. Even if this doesn't work properly, you're the only one that has wanted to help and who wasn't afraid." She said. I snorted a little and took my sword in hand.
"I wouldn't say I'm not afraid, Rea. I'm just hoping that this does work so I can save this small village. From how hospitable your people are, I actually wouldn't mind living here." I said honestly. She smiled, and looked to my notes on the desk.
"Have you been able to gather anything?" She asked curiously. I sighed and turned in my chair.
"Not really. No one really knows about the Endermen. They're just as mysterious as I had, unfortunately, expected." I said. She shrugged and patted my shoulder.
"It's alright. You still knew more than any of us." She looked to my clock and whined a little. "It's time to see if this actually works." She suddenly snapped her fingers and looked hard at me. "You don't have a moat around your house!" She exclaimed. I raised my hands and grinned.
"I made sure to keep it that way. If this works, then everyone else will be okay. If it ends up in this home, my sword will quickly rid this village of one of its problems." I said brightly. She grumbled and fidgeted.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Natalie. I don't want the fate of the victims to fall on you." She said, leaving the house and leaving me alone. I grumbled. I hoped I knew what I was doing, too.
The night came and the village was silent. I kept the handle of my sword in hand, but I lay comfortably in bed. My eyes were tired, but my mind was still running. I had been thinking non-stop about what simple sex with an Enderman would be like. My curiosity wouldn't leave the idea alone. A creature that large could easily destroy a person, but I had only learned today that an Enderman had a reproductive organ, and it apparently liked to use it.
Creatures outside made their usual noises and I didn't jump as a skeleton rattled by. I started drifting in and out of sleep as the night continued to be uneventful. The sword fell from my hand and I rolled over. Then…a noise. A gurgling chirp. My eyes tried to open, but I was too tired to open them. Then, the auras in my chest throbbed. I groaned and rolled onto my back, my eyes opening. My breathe stopped, my heart stopping with it. What I faced was more painful than the swimming feelings in my chest. Purple eyes stared at me from across the room, floating purple particles swarming around it. It was then that I had wished I had taken the villager's advice and let them build the moat.
He stared at me, studying me. I stared back, glancing back to my sword. I was going to be brave. I had to be brave. I quickly lunged for the sword at my bed side, and as I grabbed it, I felt something grab my face and shove me into the wall. My vision blurred harshly and my head felt like it had been smashed. I looked up to the Enderman who had his hand over my mouth. He took my sword and tossed it away. I was afraid; more afraid than I had ever been. I was now a victim…
He wrapped his thin fingers around my shirt and tore it away effortlessly. I squirmed to try and fight back, but it simply clasped its fingers around my head harder. It tore away the rest of my clothes and I felt the fear well up in my eyes as it started feeling me.
His hand traveled up my legs, feeling me quiver against his touch. He bypassed what I thought he was going for and traced the edges of my waist. He was being delicate…why? Then, suddenly, his hands were at my breasts. He squeezed and felt them, causing me to squirm more. His grasp was too tight and there was barely much flesh to grasp anyway. The hand holding my face shifted and held under my chin, loosely. I watched his face, the curiosity in his eyes causing my own to rise. He was exploring me as if he had never seen a body like mine. Was this the same Enderman as the women had experience before?
To my slight horror, his tongue lashed out at my skin, licking up my chest. I gasped and tried to grab at him. He hissed loud, clutching my stomach and slamming me to the floor. I shrieked in pain, feeling my spine almost shatter. He glared down at me with furious, dark purple eyes, a snarl hissing out from his fangs. I struggled to move, but I had settled on not moving again.
The large, thick, dark purple, almost black tongue of his slathered my skin with cool saliva, licking over every inch of me. I quivered more, wanting desperately to make it stop. I didn't want anymore to happen. I didn't know what his intentions were…actually, I might have. He pushed his hand hard down on my chest and moved his head between my legs.
"No, stop-!" An even larger hiss shut me up as his dark fangs glinted in the dull light. "Please, stop…" I whispered, closing my eyes. The emotions, sensations, and noises that I was experiencing made it hard to decide on what I was truly believing. I was enjoying myself. How could that be possible? I was a victim of sexual violation and forced actions that I believed I didn't want. My curiosity was getting the best of me. I wasn't judging his actions; I was studying them through first hand experience. It went on and on, seeming to go on for hours. I was crying out in pure ecstasy, and sometimes pain, but I did not want it to end. Then…it did. He dropped me onto the floor, leaving me to look up at face him.
A glimmer of happiness shined in his large eyes, the floating specks of light seeming to glow brighter. Then…he was gone. In an instant, he was simply gone. In the back of my mind, I felt kind of hurt. My previous experiences couldn't have matched up to that, and then, it was one of the worst experiences ever. I felt dumped…
Stepping into the bathroom, I started to wash off. I felt like I was washing the shame off. What had I truly done to myself? I became slave to primal instinct…right? I couldn't think correctly. What was right? What was wrong? I slammed myself onto the bed, not even bothering to dry off. Feeling the softness of the bed, I was almost instantly asleep.
"Natalie! Natalie, are you there?" I heard my name over and over, not helping the fogginess messing around in my head. I searched around for a towel, something to at least cover up. As I wrapped it around me, I walked over to the door.
"Rea? That you?" I called, rubbing my head and opening the door. She looked at me, bright eyed. She, at least, slept well.
"Hello, Natalie. Whoa…you okay?" She asked, brushing my bangs from my face. I really didn't know how I looked. I just knew that I felt like hell.
"Yes, I'm fine…just didn't get a lot of sleep. I…was up…watching out over the village." 'Yeah, that was a good cover up…' I looked out, realizing the sun was almost blinding as it came around her body. "What time is it?" I asked. She shielded her eyes as she looked up to the sky.
"Well, it is far past the midday sun. That is why I came looking for you. I was afraid something had happened to you." She said. Then, she bounced a little, "I came to tell you! No one saw an Enderman last night!" She exclaimed with joy. I smiled, feeling happy for the village. I had figured the moats had warded the Enderman off and sent it to my home. At least I had actually kept them safe.
"That's good to hear, Rea. I wouldn't count that this is the end of the problem, but I'm sure it'll be fine for now." I said, yawning. She nodded and then looked to the village.
"The village looks to be back to normal. Would you like to go back to bed, Natalie? You look completely worn out." She said. I felt myself holding on to the door and slowly sliding down.
"Yeah…that would be…nice." I said, smiling and saying a quick good bye. I closed the door and slunk back into the darkness of the house. I went into the small library and sat at the desk. I felt I should be writing down what I learned, at least what I learned intellectually.
Endermen seemed to have emotions. The small glimpse of the smile I had seen that almost blended in to the black complexion of his skin was truly there. Also, they were much taller than I expected and their floating teleportation particles seemed to glow depending on their emotion. They were also warm, pleasantly warm. It just made me wonder if they were able to show compassion, or something of the like. I found myself playing with the quill in my hand as I thought about the night before. I wanted more information about the Endermen and what they could do. I wanted the Enderman to myself.
The night came and I waited. I waited at the window, sliding my finger tips up and down my legs. I kept telling myself I was studying the otherworldly mystery, but I knew I couldn't deny it. I wanted him to fuel the lust in me.
Then, like a wish come true, an Enderman appeared by the bed, his hand already clutching my stomach. Before he could react, I snatched my sword and pointed it to the center of his face.
"Show me if you're the same creature from last night. Now!" I demanded. He hissed, but only slightly clutched me tighter. He moved his head away from the sword and looked over my body, as if to think. I watched him, seeing the tip of his tongue flick in and out of his mouth. Then, the long tongue slid between my legs and then the sensations I had been craving since the night before returned to me. I gasped and flinched a little. The tongue felt the exact same; perfect, wet, and warm.
"Okay…I know it's you. You can stop." I said against the voices telling him to keep going. As if he heard, he didn't stop. As a matter of fact, he seemed to become more enthusiastic. I moaned and looked down to watch him. I let myself enjoy it, I wanted to completely let go for once. He glanced up, his dark purple eyes glimmering. Slowly, he stopped and loomed over me, almost like he was expecting to talk to me. I felt my face start to burn, burning red. I continued to stare, not knowing what to truly do. Then, the intellectual me snapped back into play.
"Alright, okay. Stop," I snatched the sword again and shoved the Enderman away. "There are things I want from you." I said sternly. His demeanor was suddenly harsh, a hostile hiss coming from his mouth. I was afraid he'd attack, but he simply trembled in anger. He was definitely different. "Do you understand me?" I asked, finding it as my first curious thought. He simply cocked his head, his eyes talking, but I didn't understand. I grumbled. "Can you communicate at all?" I asked. He slowly looked to the books I had tossed on the floor and looked to the writing on it. He picked one up and slid it across the floor to me. I opened it and looked inside. The writing was the ancient calligraphy that was said to be a dead language.
"You can read this?" I looked to him. He chirped a little, seeming to get a little irritated. He disappeared for a moment and then returned with paper. He handed it to me. "You…can write it?" I seemed to be spouting the obvious to him, his noises becoming a little louder. He disappeared and returned again, an ink well in his hand which was extremely tiny in his palm. He placed a finger tip in the ink and drew three characters on the paper. In the dead language that was written in the book, he had written 'yes.' I was completely shocked. He could understand and communicate. This was something I could have only imagined.
He suddenly rushed at me, pushing me down against the floor. I could read his eyes. He had come for what he wanted, not to help me learn. I had wanted him as well, so I didn't fight back as he started exploring me again. He was a little more aggressive than before, his irritation surely to blame. He grabbed my leg, slamming me onto my stomach and putting his massive hand on the back of my head. Before I could see what he was doing, I felt him press himself against me. I gasped and squirmed a little.
"Wait-!" He didn't hesitate. I screamed, clenching the carpet tight. The harshness was painful and definitely unfamiliar, but in a way, it wanted it to keep on. He was giving me what I wanted, in a way, and I could tell he was thoroughly enjoying himself, too. I pleaded once for him to ease up a little, and to my surprise, he listened. He was catering to me more than I thought he would. It was lovely…the feelings…
I cried out, clawing hard against the floor. Quivering against the soft ground, I felt my entire body tingling with energy. "That…that was…different…" I said with a small grin. He softly put me on my bed and knelt against the floor, sitting down. I slowly pushed against my arm and looked to the Enderman. Seeing him that way kind of made me want to laugh. He reminded me of a patient child. He simply stared at me, as if he was waiting for something. "What do you want?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He chirped, looking for something. He took the ink well he had left on the shelf in his fingertips and started scribing on the paper he had dropped. It was fascinating. The characters he wrote were perfectly legible and small, like he was writing on imaginary lines. My mind was being completely turned inside out.
'You are different. You did not fight back like the others. You also do not remind me of a villager. What are you?' The paper said. I looked to him and felt a quiver of intellectual excitement. He wasn't as primitive as I had been led to believe and he wanted to know things. How much better could this get?
"I'm not a villager, as you may have figured out. I am a Crafter, one of the people that form the world to be useful and safe for its inhabitants." I said. He drew back a little, hissing. His eyes burned with suspicion. He started writing more.
'Crafters are not supposed to be here. Mother had told us that they are evil, before one killed her.' He said, cautiously handing me the paper. It took me a moment to understand what he meant. Who was 'Mother?' Then, it clicked. Steve had written of only one female creature that had anything to do with the Endermen; the Enderdragon.
"Mother…the Enderdragon?" I asked, just to make sure.
'She did not like that name. She did not believe she was a monster.' He answered. I sighed. I was sure that he would never trust a Crafter. Crafters were also the ones that killed any monsters in the Overworld. It was a wonder that Crafters weren't killed more often by revolutionizing monsters. Then, I quickly thought, not many other creatures actually showed any evidence of being able to think that far.
"So…if a Crafter killed her, why haven't the Endermen tried to get rid of the Crafters?" I asked. He sat for a moment, thinking.
'What could we do to stop them? More of them arrive in the Overworld every day and they try to find the portal into our home. Also, we do not want to fight. They fight us. They disturb us.' He said, hissing and trembling a little. I realized that I was one of the ones that had been searching for the Ender portal in this world. I was one of the Crafters they hated. Would his mind be changed if I convinced him I wasn't trying to hurt anybody?
"Would you still hate me if I told you I've never killed any creature here in the Overworld?" I asked. He looked up and cocked his head, a curious chirp adding to his questioning eyes.
'Not even the swine, or the bovine, or even the feathered white bird?' He asked. I shook my head and grinned.
"I've never killed them. I've eaten them, but I'm too weak hearted to kill anything. I don't even fight monsters at night. I find them too terrifying to try." I said. A new sound came from him, something like a growl and a chirp in the same sound. Was he…laughing? He started writing again.
'You are not the same kind of Crafter that I find. You are too gentle and weak. The others are cruel and selfish. I like you.' He said. The weak comment kind of felt offensive, but I knew what he meant. And something else; he liked me! Even if he liked me just because he had used me, I didn't care. Maybe he would stay long enough for me to research Endermen completely.
"So would you care to come back more often so I can take notes on you?" I asked. He laughed a little more.
'I would not mind. Using you, however, is something I will admit to not wanting to stop.' He said. I grinned and giggled a little.
"I understand. I don't mind. I just might have to set some ground rules." I said. He stood, as tall as he could in the room, and looked down at me. He nodded once. He looked to the window and hissed a little. "What's wrong?" It took him a moment to write on the paper he left on the floor.
'Sunlight. I cannot stay any longer. We do not like sunlight. I will return.' He said. I looked to see half of the sun rising above the horizon. Then, I looked back, and he was gone.
"Wait! I don't even have a name for you…" I trailed off. I frowned and started toward the library. I walked to the desk and saw a piece of paper on top of my notebook. It had his handwriting on it.
'My name is Nazik.'