Hi there. This is my first Minecraft story. Please note that while this rated T for swearing and violence, I will not under any circumstances use the "D" word, for personal reasons. Anyways, enjoy :D!

The burning flames of an inferno licked against the cold stones of the ruined castle. The dull grey blocks littered the ground. Standing in the center of the fire was a king, no longer regal, and fighting for his life. Behind him stood his wife and his son; this being an especially traumatic experience for the son, who was only three years of age. In front of the couple and their son stood the instignator of the fire, a man who was called by the name of "Shadowzone". This of course was not his real name, which was Magnus, but people preferred to call him that anyways because of the black armor he wore. Shadowzone was, at the moment, advancing on the king. His icy sword flashed down like lightning, only to be countered by the king's weapon, an amethyst blade which possessed enchantments which rendered it nearly indestructible. The king expected his opponent's weapon to break; however, it did not. That was when the king noticed the blade was another enchanted one, the Blade of Ice. "Grab our son and run!" the king screamed to his dear wife. The queen obeyed, and, taking their son, ran off into the forest. The fierce fight between Shadowzone and the king was still raging. But it was clear who would win. The king was getting tired. As he swung his sword downward for the very last time, he felt a pain in his chest, and he dropped his weapon. Shadowzone removed his weapon from the king's body. Shadowzone then whispered a spell under his breath, and black particles began to swim over the king, enveloping him in their cold tentacles.

Within an instant, the king was gone. Only his amethyst blade remained. The evil sorcerer smiled triumphantly and grasped the sword hilt, only to receive a powerful shock which sent him flying back several yards. He had forgotten one thing: the sword could only be wielded by the heir to the kingdom, or one who had killed the heir. Shadowzone cursed himself for not remembering. The new ruler of the kingdom smiled.

"There is still a prize to be taken..."

And there was. The king's crown was lifted up onto the head of Shadowzone, and it began to reformat itself to fit him. Once the crown was finished reformatting, it looked like a helmet. The helmet was black, to match Shadowzone's armor, with a light blue crystal in the center (Author's Note: To make this easier, the helmet looks like the Lich King from World of Warcraft's helmet). Shadowzone turned his head toward the trees. The heir and his mother were in there. He would find them. And end them.

Meanwhile, in the forest of pine trees, the mother rushed to escape. She heard two of Shadowzone's soldiers following her. She came upon a stream, with a boat docked in it; some fisherman had probably gotten scared off and left it. The queen knew what she had to do. "Get in! I will distract them!" she told her son. The son obeyed, and the queen hugged him for the last time, and then, with a powerful push, launched the boat out into the stream.

13 years later

The masts and timbers of the merchant ship creaked and groaned in the cold, rainy night. V was wide awake in his hammock. Some other ship members had told him that the annoying sounds of the ship lulled one to sleep. Sure, that might be true for the more experienced sailors, but not for V. He supposed that you would get used to it, and then it would be true, but he also supposed that he would never get used to it. Consumed by his train of thought, V didn't pay attention, and, as a result, fell out of his hammock and hit the floor.

"Aah shit! I hate it when that happens!"

V rubbed his shoulder and climbed back into the now swaying hammock. This had happened many times before, and now there was a large bruise on his shoulder. The annoyed V decided it was not worth it and he left, going onto the deck of the ship. The captain was out already. "What are you doing up here?" asked V.

"I was about to ask you the same question, Mr. V."

"Hey, you can't blame me! I just had a rough sle-"

V was interrupted by the lookout in the crows nest, who shouted "Sir! Another ship is up ahead! I don't think that they're friendly!" The captain frowned and muttered a few choice curse words under his breath.

"Ready the archers! If they attack us then we attack them!"

A moment passed and then the call came.

"Archers at the ready, sir!" the defense officer shouted. The two ships came closer to each other, and closer, and closer, until they were right next to each other. The opposing ship's archers were wearing expensive-looking black armor with light blue symbols on the chest-plate, helmet, and boots. The leggings and quiver were made out of dark brown leather. The arrows had barbed points and the points were lit on fire with blue flame. The enemy archers far outnumbered the measly number on the merchant ship. There were three lines of archers on each side of the ship, which was clearly a warship, and a frigate, at that. Behind the line of archers facing the merchant ship stood the captain of the frigate. He looked like a cruel man.

The frigate captain held up his diamond sword, as did the merchant ship captain. Both captains opened their mouths and shouted the universal command.

"Fire!"

Both ships shot a huge volley of arrows at each other. The air was filled with the sound of the wooden missiles. V ducked for cover and hid inside a large metal crate, watching the fire arrows strike and then smelling the burning wood. One of the flames burned a large hole in the deck, and V saw, terrified, as another one of the flaming arrows whizzed into the hole.

"No! Not the explosives!"

Everyone on deck heard V scream. There was a moment of panic and horrified confusion, then a huge burst of fire leapt from the hole and exploded outward, incinerating all it touched, including the crew members. V was only saved because he was in the crate. His eyes followed the mast if the ship, which had been blown off, sail up into the clouds, with the captain in it. The sound of rushing air caught V's attention, and he turned his head to see a burning block off TNT come flying towards him. He remembered flying through the air for a braief second.

Then everything went black.