I stared outside, reluctant as anything to go out. It was freezing. A heavy cloud layer lay upon the town, fog so thick I couldn't even see across the road. Scowling, I threw my bag over my shoulders and walked to the bus stop, where my best friend Sunny waited.
"Nice weather, hey." I commented, sitting next to her.
"Least it's not raining, she muttered in reply
"Don't jinx it."
Sunny smiled and began telling me of this epic castle she made on Minecraft yesterday. Sunny and I are both obsessed with Minecraft. Personally, I couldn't think of a better game. Sunny loved making the most amazing creative structures, or messing around with mods.
I, on the other hand, loved multiplayer. Joking around with other players, working together, sometimes fighting against each other. My favorite server was Empire Minecraft, which I play pretty much every day.
As we discussed our favorite blocky game, the bus stop slowly filled. Right next to me sat a middle-aged man with pitch-black hair. He seemed to ignore me as much as the others, but every time I mentioned Minecraft, he looked at me quickly. It was weird, but not overly weird, perhaps he played it too. Ignoring him, I climbed onto the bus when it came and sat in an empty seat, where Sunny began quizzing me on an upcoming test. The black haired man sat himself opposite me, and began to ignore me just like before. I did the same.
"Hey! Alyssa! Stop drifting off and look!" I turned my head around. For Sunny to bother using my full name, it had to be mega. My eyes didn't get to what she was pointing out.
The man was staring at me intently, his eyes a snow-white, seemingly glowing, the white seeping around the bus. I tried to yell out, to run, but I couldn't move. The white glow bound itself around me, and suddenly I couldn't see. Everything was white. Too bright! I tried to yell, but the words stopped in my throat. I couldn't move, couldn't hear, smell, feel anything. I tried to scream, but failed once more. Terrified, I could do nothing but wait.
Grass under me. Dull popping somewhere close by. Why is that sound so familiar? I wondered. Something important struggled to be known, but I ignored it. I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep, rest on this soft grass forever. I didn't open my eyes, what if the white light came back.
And then I remembered.
My eyes flew open.
I could see! Move! I wanted to cry out in jubilation, but I had a question to ask first. Where was I?
Cautiously I stood up, looking around. My heart stopped. About five paces before me was a small pool of bright red liquid. Lava. To my left loomed a massive castle, made of grey bricks. Ringing the castle, I knew, was a kind of dull-brown mud, grotesque faces covering it and strange mushroom-like plants growing on top. Without having to look any further I knew where I was. I knew exactly what was inside the castle, withought having to look through the windows. I knew, but I didn't believe.
Somehow, impossibly, I was in Minecraft. My home on Empire Minecraft, to be exact. But how the hell did I get here?
I decided to look around me. But obviously, as I was in Minecraft, I'd need to take precautions. I squinted upwards. Instead of the usual dawn, it was now past midday. The sun didn't move. Perhaps it passes like it does in real life. Shaking my head, I rounded the castle, and went to the entrance. I'd thought having a nether portal as an entrance was a good idea, that didn't mean it wasn't seriously freaky. I sprinted through and ignored the feelings of nausea. Walking briskly across the castle, I couldn't help but look in amazement at the bright glowstone set into the floor. I knew it glowed, of course, but one simply couldn't imagine the wonder of a glowing rock until they saw it in reality.
Tools and Weapons. My hand reached out to open the chest labeled so.
"Who are you?"
I jumped so high and spun so fast that I crashed into the floor. Looking down at me like I was a maniac was a beautiful girl with light brown hair that fell past her shoulders like a rushing stream. She wore a lengthy white top over a bright green one, tied around the waist by a worn leather belt. Faded blue jeans hung all the way to her feet, which were covered by brown sneakers. Somehow attached to her back was a chocolate-coloured bow.
She stared at me with her intense blue eyes, waiting for an answer.
"Uhh... My name's um, Alyssa," I stuttered, my cheeks blushing crimson.
Smiling and shaking her head, the girl announced that she was Rynette Song. "People just keep coming," she mused, shaking her head.
"Wait!" I cried, looking at her in shock. "There are others here?"
Rynette nodded, sighing. "We think the first person came three months ago. All of them just appear, and we can't find a connection. Some play minecraft, others don't. You do play Minecraft, don't you?" She queried, and I nodded.
"Hang on," I muttered, "you 'think' the first person to come was three months ago?"
"Well yeah. He didn't keep time well, until he died."
At this, I leaped up. "Died!" I exclaimed.
She looked at me like I was an idiot, one eyebrow raised. "You said you play Minecraft. You know the dangers."
At that, I looked towards the slowly sinking sun, through one of the many excessive windows in my house. My stomach clenched at the thought of what would happen come the time it touched the land and fell below the horizon.
Rynette followed my gaze. She motioned towards the line of chests against the wall. "May I look?"
I nodded, still recovering from the shock of imminent danger, and, obviously, being plunged into Minecraft. The loud creak of one of my chests being opened rang in my ears. Rynette was standing on the other side of the chests, digging her hands into one labeled 'Blocks'. She looked around the interior for a bit, then closed it, taking nothing. At the next one, she stopped. "Woah, how'd you get all this?"
Stumbling over, I peered over her shoulder. A weird collection of items were slotted neatly in the chest. It almost looked like the screen when you opened a chest in the game, but this time, there were no white boundaries between items. I had an urge to shake the box, to see whether the items would tumble around, or stay fixed in place.
Rynette elbowed me, and I jumped out of my stupor. She was pointing to two identical items, perfectly square blocks of bright silver. To the bottom right corner of one lay two numbers, seemingly there for no purpose. A six, and four, paced beside each other.
Sixty four, a full stack. I silently cursed my stupidity. Sixty four iron blocks, and another ten. No wonder Rynette was stumped.
"Uh... I found an Iron Golem farm ages ago..." I muttered, drifting off. I thought of the friends I'd met, through the internet and reality. Nostalgia plunged into my heart, at I sighed. Rynette looked at me, and perceiving my sadness, smiled.
"You're missing home already girl? Look around you! You're in a world of adventure, anything could happen! You've been given a chance that many people would kill for! Don't cry because something isn't, smile because something is."
Her happiness was contagious, I found myself grinning alongside her. We rifled through the rest of my stuff, and I ended up with my old sword - Diamond, Fire aspect and Sharpness I -, my power II bow, a heap of arrows, and an unbreaking diamond pick. Rynette had filled a bag of all the things she deemed precious; my many potions, the irons and other ores, most my food.
She announced she was going towards 'the base'. Apparently, the people here had gathered together in one spot. She trotted off, and I raced after her.