Chapter One - The End

Steve's heart was racing as he pulled out a dark blue potion bottle, pulling out the cork top and chugged the contents. The potion was so sweet that his body even recoiled at the intense sugary taste, and Steve had to force himself to swallow it. A familiar burning feeling entering his gut as the potion began to take affect. His eyes seared as the night vision potion unfolded, opening his eyes to the dark realm around him.

A part of him wished he had used this potion sooner, but he knew that this was the moment he needed it the most- the climax of the battle.

He could see her, soaring through this endless abyss above him. Wings gilded with the night, eyes a dark smoldering violet deeper than the void below the island. Wounds covered the dragon's scales, the diamond sword having pierced her scales with ease. The dragon never bled, rather a purple light poured from the slashes. Steve held the enchanted sword up as she came near, letting her know he was ready to strike. Rage brewed in her eyes, the dragon veering away. They were both at the end of their rope, and they both knew it.

The dragon flew towards the edge of the island, and due to the potion Steve could now see her unlike the times before in this battle. His eyes widened as he watched the dragon swoop towards an obsidian pillar on the edge he hadn't noticed until now, slowly drawing energy from the simmering end crystal that rested on top.

"No!" Steve snarled, slipping his sword away and reaching for his worn down bow. Only five arrows remained with him- he could have sworn he had destroyed all of the crystals!

The Ender Dragon's eyes flashed as she noticed Steve running towards her last source of healing. The dragon snarled, perched up on the tower. She spread her wings, quickly shielding the crystal as Steve notched an arrow, knowing he needed to destroy it if he were to have any hope of winning this fight. He could see the black energy radiating from the crystal, slowly healing the dragon he had done so much to wear down!

If she was healed then Steve knew he wouldn't leave the End alive.

The dragon's tail twitched as Steve came closer, she knew full well what Steve was capable of, they had been in a desperate battle for what seemed like ages now. She was left with a choice: stay at the crystal and heal further, or engage Steve before he came closer and risk the last crystal being destroyed.

The Ender Dragon let out a roar, before leaping off of the obsidian pillar and diving towards Steve.

Startled at the sudden attack, Steve let the arrow fly, which pierced the dragon's left wing. She hissed, but kept flying at him, opening her mouth. Steve's eyes widened as a purple glow filled her throat, and he dropped the bow. Pulling up two blocks of dirt he threw them down towards the endstone ground, the two blocks expanding to full size in front of him. He ducked behind the makeshift wall, wishing he still had his shield, but that had shattered in the beginning of the battle when he had been swarmed by the dragon's Endermen as they attempted to defend her.

Stupid Endermen.

The dragon's dark purple breath drenched the ground as she dove low, smoke curling up as it seared the blocks it touched. Yet it gave off no heat, only a bitter coldness that send chills racing through him as the breath came close. Steve closed his eyes as the dragon flew above him, her breath attack starting to die down as she turned to fly back in the air. The dirt wall did it's job, dispersing the purple gas before it hit Steve.

His eyes popped open as heard the sound of her wings carrying her higher into the sky- if this place even had what could be called the sky. The many dimensions of this world fascinated Steve- but he knew that he always prefered the overworld, with his home and the sun. He half expected the dragon to return to her crystal to heal further as he rose to his feet, but instead she wheeled around for another attack at Steve.

Her mistake.

Steve dove for his fallen bow with one hand, pulling an arrow out of his quiver with another hand. He notched the arrow, drawing his bow back as he aimed it up towards the sky, but not at the dragon. Her eyes widened as he took aim at the undefended end crystal. The dragon let out a screech as he let the arrow fly, but she was too far away to do anything. The arrow soared through the air, whistling as it reached the crystal surrounded in a fire, and pierced the center of the crystal.

Boom!

The crystal shattered upon being hit, releasing a fiery explosion. The Ender Dragon roared in desperation, sweeping her wings up to race towards the crystal, but it was too late. Only a bedrock block sat on top of the obsidian tower, the dragon's last method of healing gone. A smirk crossed Steve's face.

"Just you and me beast," Steve told the dragon as she desperately soared around the obsidian pillar, and for the first time Steve saw fear in her eyes. He slipped his bow away, once more drawing his diamond sword, which gleamed along side his diamond chestplate. The rest of his armor was iron, but it would have to do, diamond a simply a rare resource. The dragon couldn't last much longer, he just needed to kill her and this realm would be purged of the unholy demon.

"RAWH!"

The thunderous roar echoed in Steve's ears, and the dragon bore down on him. He slashed with the sword as she dove at him, but unlike the times before she didn't fly away upon being hit. Panic flashed through his mind as she swiped with her claws, sending him flying back. Deep scratches could be seen on his chestplate, and he was simply glad it wasn't his skin. He grunted as he slammed into the endstone ground, the breath knocked out of him. The dragon landed, glaring at him as she slowly approached.

He realized that the dragon was done with her hit-and-run tactics- she had nowhere to run to heal. Her only goal was to end him. Steve attempted to raise his sword, only to realize it had been knocked out of his hands when he had been hit. Steve struggled to his knees, trying to reach it, but the dragon was already preparing her dragon breath. Steve's heart pounded as he realized that he would have no time to get the sword and counter attack, not when he was this low on health.

"AR-WOOOO!"

A long howl filled the end realm, and the dragon paused as Steve paled. Even with his night vision potion fading away, he could still see a sleek silver-white shape racing towards him. The wolf charged at the dragon, a ferocity in his eyes as he ran straight at the monster much larger at him. Steve's eyes widened as the wolf leapt up, sinking his fangs straight into the Ender Dragon's ankles.

"Sol!" Steve cried, but his wolf and oldest friend only leapt back, spitting a scale from his mouth. Sol took one glance at his alpha, before racing at the dragon's flicking tail. He had been doing his best to hold off the Endermen from his alpha, but this dragon was the real threat. He bit down on the tail, doing his best to get his canine teeth through the powerful scales. The dragon reared her head back, swinging her tail to the side. Sol yelped as he was flung into one of the obsidian towers, pain rushing through his body as the dragon turned her whole form to face him.

"Rrrr..." Sol growled through the pain, keeping the dragon's focus on him.

"Run Sol!" Steve cried, but the wolf had no more energy to run. The dragon drew her head in close, and the wolf threw everything he had and sprang at her. The dragon simply opened her mouth, drenching the wolf in her breath. The growl was cut short as the violet energy consumed the wolf's body, vaporizing it in moments. Steve stood frozen as he watched an orange collar fall to the ground, the only thing remaining of his friend. Tears stung his eyes, and he began to shake, whispering, "N-no..."

The dragon leaned down, sniffing the collar, as if making sure the wolf was gone for good. A blinding rage flashed across Steve's vision, hands fumbling for his fallen sword. The dragon pulled her head up, ready to end the player, only to find that Steve was back on his feet, charging at her, sword in hand. The diamond sword pierced her front leg, a purple light seeping from the wound as he ducked under her, barely avoiding her snapping jaws. He attempted to plunge the sword up into her stomach, but the dragon had already taken to the air.

Steve glared up at the dragon, "You're going to regret ever touching Sol!" He snarled at the dragon, tears falling from his eyes. Sol couldn't be gone- the wolf had always been there for him! He ran towards the fallen collar, scooping it up and slipping it away as the dragon wheeled around to face him. She was coming in close again, and Steve jumped back to avoid her slashing claws- there was no way he could beat her with her aerial advantage! He needed to limit her in some way... Reaching deep into his inventory, he felt his hands close around something he had never meant to bring to the End, but it just might work.

The dragon landed once more, swinging her head in close, and Steve flung the glowstone dust into the dragon's eyes just as she opened her mouth. She let out a roar as the powder stung her eyes, flashing brightly as she fumbled back. Steve charged forward, raising his sword, slashing the chest of the dragon. Another thunderous roar echoed through the End realm as Steve drew the sword out of her scaly hide, more light coming from her. She stumbled, her large clawed feet barely missing Steve. He raised the sword again as he ran under her, plunging it into her stomach, dragging it across her body. More violet energy poured from her wounds as Steve retreated from under her, and the dragon sagged to the ground, gasping for breath.

Steve slowly approached the dragon, eyes dark. He raised the enchanted diamond sword above her head, letting her look desperately up at him as more purple energy leaked from her wounds. Glowstone dust lined her snout, and Steve wasn't quite sure how blinded she was from the dust, but he knew she could at least see the glow of the sword.

"For Sol," Steve snarled, and he brought the sword down on her head.

The dragon froze up as the diamond sword hit her at a deadly arc. Her whole form began to crack, and Steve stumbled back as the light left her eyes. You could see a bright purple energy radiating from the fractures appearing along the dragon's body, and she was slowly lifted into the air. Steve raised a blocky arm to shield out the intense light coming from her, her obsidian colored-body slowly dissolving away. Pure energy poured from her, the very essence of her existence.

Steve risked looking again, breathing heavily as he watched the fading purple glow. He blinked several times as a wave of green and yellow orbs come down from the faded black form. A small smile flickered across his face as the realization hit him, his sword falling down from the air as the last of the dragon vanished. He stumbled towards the diamond sword, a ringing filling his mind as the orbs rushed at him.

Steve had wasn't quite sure what the orbs were, but he had seen them so many times that he wasn't surprised as they poured from the dragon. They often fell from slain monsters, and had always seemed attracted to him. The villagers back at his home village had never had any explanation for them, and they couldn't absorb the energy of the orbs like he could. Steve blinked as the wave of the orbs the dragon had dropped were drawn to him, he had never seen so many of these orbs at once. He closed his eyes, allowing them to be drawn into him, an energy flowing through him.

He had taken to calling the orbs simply 'magic' many years ago, a simple term for something he didn't truly understand. The magic did have it's uses, he could redirect the energy from the orbs into his weapons and tools with the proper equipment, which had lead to him being able to enchant his gear.

He picked up his sword from the ground, shaking with exhaustion. He had done it... He had slain the Ender Dragon...

He slipped his sword away, drawing out Sol's collar. Some might say that the wolf had only been an animal mob, but tears still pooled in his eyes as he bit down on his lips. A part of him still couldn't seem to accept that Sol was just suddenly gone, that he would never see the wolf again. He had slain the dragon... but had Sol's life been worth as the cost?

His hand closed around the collar, Steve had done much in his lifetime. Always out adventuring and looking for more beyond the simple life the villagers lead. He may not remember anything from before his childhood, but he had still lead a full life. Discovering biomes with new resources, slaying the hostile monsters, mining in the deepest pits of the overworld, looting the ruins scattered about the world. He had explored the highest of mountains, and even had traveled through different realms. The Nether was a world full of discovery and danger, but even that hadn't compared to his quest to the End realm, which had taken so much preparation.

And the dragon was now dead.

Steve took in a deep breath, and began searching to see if he had any healing potions left. He had unfortunately used the last of them in the fight, and he pulled out a half-eaten golden apple- he only had few opportunities to take several bites during the fight, but he was grateful he now that he had some left. With a sigh, Steve bit into the fruit, feeling his wounds beginning to heal as he ate. But as his physical pain was lifted, the emotional ones took hold. Sol was dead- Steve had been with the wolf for as nearly as long as he could remember, since it had been a pup. After a lifetime of adventure, the wolf had given his life to save Steve.

Closing his eyes, Steve gritted his teeth. The dragon had been the most challenging opponent he had ever faced, the one that had taken the most effort to defeat, and the one that had taken the most for him.

Steve was simply ready to go home to his village.

Steve turned, looking towards the center of the island. The small bedrock shrine he had seen earlier in the fight was still there, but there was a faint black glow coming from it now. Frowning, Steve slowly approached it, realizing that now a starry portal had formed between the bedrock blocks, the same kind of portal that had brought him here to the end realm. Steve frowned, was this his way home?

But it was what was on top of the shrine that made Steve paused.

A strange, curved obsidian stone was resting on top of the middle pillar of bedrock, purple glow coming from it. Steve frowned, carefully moving his way around the borders of the portal to get a better look at it. He had never seen anything quite like it, had this perhaps been the dragon's treasure? He pulled out several pieces of cobblestone, building a makeshift staircase up to the top of the small pillar. He reached out towards the obsian stone, and it suddenly vanished with a flash of purple light. Steve froze, turning, only to find the stone a few blocks away, now resting on the end stone. He hopped down, going towards it again, this time reaching out with his sword.

Once more the stone whisked away, leaving behind the same purple glow an Enderman did when it teleported. Steve frowned, it was now only a few blocks away again. Perhaps this was the Enderman's energy source? He didn't see any Enderman at the moment, even though the island had been full of them when he had arrived. Perhaps they had scattered at the death of their queen, or maybe Sol had taken care of them all.

Sol...

Steve could get within several blocks of the stone with ease, but the moment he tried to touch it, the stone would simply teleport away. Steve frowned, thinking back on the words of his mother. There was always more than one way to accomplish a task, and if the first time didn't work, simply try again. A small smile flickered over his face, picturing the villager priest in his mind. She was the leader of the village Steve had been raised in, and had been the one to adopt Steve when he had been found. She had always been there for Steve, teaching the ways of the Minecraft world, encouraging him to explore despite the villagers desperately always staying in the village. She had even been the one to make the potions Steve had used in this battle.

Steve closed his eyes, focusing on his inventory. He, among the villagers, were someone of the few creatures that could access this unique pocket dimension, able to access items they had stored within it. But unlike the villagers, Steve was able to access a much large inventory. Steve had always known that he was different than the villagers... but lately he couldn't help but notice just how different they were. He wasn't even sure of what kind of mob he was. His mother would just always smile and say that he's 'Steve', so that's what Steve went with.

Steve pulled out the piston, setting it on the ground and allow it to expand to full size. He held his breath, but the stone didn't move. Smiling, Steve pulled out a redstone torch, placing it next to the piston. The neck of the piston stretched out as the redstone energy was fed to it, pushing against the stone. Unlike all of the other times it had been touched, it didn't teleport away. The obsidian stone simply popped! It then fell, turning into a small item, spinning on the ground. Steve stepped forward, and it was drawn into his hand. This was another phenomenon Steve had always struggled to explain, the way blocks turned into the small items that he could pick up and collect, but he was so use to it that he never questioned it. He examined the strange stone, but saw no sign of what it could do. With a sigh he slipped it into the back of his inventory, recollecting his piston and redstone torch, before pulling out Sol's collar one more time.

He approached the place where the wolf had fallen, kneeling down and lowering his head, "Thank you Sol," He said quietly, "You saved my life today, and I will do everything in my power to make sure your sacrifice isn't in vain. May Notch guide your soul to the next life."

Silence.

Steve's hand curled around the collar, a pain in his heart as he dropped it onto the endstone. This is where it belonged, right next to where it's owner had fallen. As much as it hurt, Steve turned away from the collar, hiking towards the edge of the island. He pulled out his diamond pickaxe, mining some endstone as he made his way towards the edge, and he peered into the void.

His stomach twisted, he was seeing the void.

The void was blackness, an empty blackness. Just like his mother had described, it was an endless abyss with no bottom. Steve had dug down to bedrock many times, always knowing that the void laid below, but he never understood it until now. This is what lied beyond their world, a pit of blackness that would kill anything that entered it. Gulping, Steve backed up away from the edge, deciding that it was finally time to leave the End.

Steve didn't notice a pair of glowing purple eyes peering around one of the obsidian pillars as he made his way back towards the center shrine. The portal gleamed up at him as he took in a deep breath. He ran one hand along the unbreakable bedrock, before jumping into the portal. The darkness of the portal swallowed up Steve, whisking him away back to the overworld.

The tall, slender creature stepped out from behind the obsidian pillar as she watched Steve vanish from her realm. She blinked her burning violet eyes. In her hands she was carrying one of the dirt blocks that Steve had left behind, her gaze fixated on the portal Steve had left through. She was noticeably shaking, she had been the only Enderman that hadn't retreated back to the End Cities as their queen had been attacked, and therefore she had witnessed the fall of the the dragon queen.

But that wasn't the worst of what she had seen.

Not only had a player slain the queen, he had taken her egg. The Enderman gulped slightly, teleporting towards the shine, appearing up on where the egg had once rested. It had been the queen's pride and joy, the object she had kept hidden and protected with her life. But not even their queen had been able to keep it hidden in her death- the egg was always supposed to appear once the queen fell so a new dragon could rise and take their place. But with no force alive as powerful as their queen, she hadn't fallen in centuries. The Enderman placed the dirt block on top of the pillar, before teleporting back to the the endstone.

The Enderman was trembling- There had been a player. She had been raised on stories of players- a rare and powerful creature that wasn't even a mob, a creature that was the closest thing to The Notch. Players weren't suppose to exist anymore though- the players had gone extinct centuries ago, even before the last queen had hatched!

The Enderman, who was known among her fellow Endermen as Dusk, took in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing mind. It wouldn't be long until the other Endermen would sense the fall of their queen, and they would be back to the central island, ready to prepare the new dragon to take their place as monarch. Except the egg wouldn't be here, it had been taken to the overworld, by a player. A dragon shouldn't hatch in the overworld! It needed to be here in the End, surrounded by Enderman that would care for it as a creature of its power should be. Dusk teleported back a little, trying to figure out what she could do.

Sure, this player had slain her queen, but still Dusk had been one of the few Endermen tasked with protecting the egg. Just because her queen was dead doesn't mean she was freed from her duties. Dusk knew that she was fast, if she could just go after the player and reclaim the egg they could have their monarch back. She teleported to the edge of the portal, peering in. Just go to the overworld, track down the player, and return.

She teleported back in fear, and felt something jump into her hands, so Dusk looked down. It was an orange dog collar, the one the player had left behind. She gulped, but wondered if the strange object could help her in the overworld. She teleport back towards the edge of the portal, trying to understand what she was about to do. She was about to go to the overworld- going after a player than had killed the queen!

Players were dangerous to mobs like herself, she knew enough from the stories, but she could do this.

Taking in a deep breath, Dusk stepped into the portal, and was whisked away to the overworld.

...Well, I thought I'd never be doing this. I love fanfiction, and I love Minecraft, but I never thought I could come up with something for a Minecraft fanfiction. Well, here I am. :)

It was interesting writing this chapter, trying to keep the elements of Minecraft in tack while having some explanation behind it (such as picking up items, experience, and inventory.) In this story "Inventory" is basically the ability to store and access items in a pocket dimension, but usually this ability is limited, but Steve is able to access a huge inventory since he's what's known as a "player". More about "players" will be expanded later in the story, but they are separate from the other creatures of the Minecraft world.

Oh yeah, in this story there is no respawning after death. Once someone (player or mob) dies they're dead, so I guess you can say it is basically Hardcore mode.