A/N: For everyone who had praised, reviewed, followed and/or favourited my work, you have my immense thanks. :)
WARNING: The following chapters can be considered a draft of the story that improves over time but which will nevertheless be rewritten once I finish writing the fanfic. It'll probably appear mediocre for a while.
~~~*{O}*~~~
"We have arrived, Your Majesty."
"Hm?"
Suddenly alert, Avi scanned the foggy landscape before her to see the forest veiled by morning mist looking no different from an hour ago. She tugged at the reins of her chestnut stallion and directed it towards a small pond as Riane did the same. When they neared the water, they stopped the horses and Avi dismounted awkwardly, wincing as she did so – two days of hard riding were far from comfortable.
As the horses drank, the two tied them to nearby trees and began to explore the area. Avi glanced at Riane occasionally; the face of the wiry black-haired man in his late thirties was blank until they walked past the edge of the forest where they, upon seeing what was in front of them, stopped dead.
A ravine tore open the ground in front of them, forming jagged stone sides that were almost completely vertical. As Avi's eyes followed it to its far end, she saw that its shape was in a slight curve, like a lopsided smile.
"Did anyone know this was here?" she murmured to Riane.
"None of the gathering's participants, I believe," he replied, "you are quite fortunate. I would be hard-pressed to see you constructing a large enough shelter within three days otherwise."
"Well," Avi frowned, "I am still rather confused as to why we chose this location. It is rather dreadful for building something, I would say. It would take too much time to cut down all the trees in one area."
"Surely you have learnt before that the geographical features of this area is less than satisfactory, Your Majesty. It will be unrealistic for us to try to find a flawless building location in such a short period of time." Before Avi could answer him, he was taking off the pack of supplies they had hastily gathered before setting off.
Avi examined the items. There was a small amount of wooden supplies, four stone tools, a few torches and three apples.
"Right, then," she said, hefting one of the axes, "should we try to find a vantage point?"
"I can do that and wait by the horses while you gather the materials for the shelter."
"I thought we were going to co-operate?"
"That is simply absurd," he snapped, "I am going to be maintaining the spell for a long time and I need to garner the strength for it. I shall wait by the pond and tell you what I found after you return."
"Fine," Avi sighed, snatching up a stone pickaxe as Riane re-packed the items. "I will be back in the afternoon."
Riane nodded and walked back the way the two had came from. Within seconds the dense trees had obscured his form, and Avi felt a tinge of anxiety. What now…?
She decided that the first priority will be to get to the bottom of the ravine, and she will need to establish a method for that. A staircase will be out of the question; there was no room for such a thing. Ladders couldn't work either since she had no time to collect the necessary wood – the most reasonable idea seemed to be a small quarry as she could gather the stone for the shelter at the same time.
She began mining, and for the first time was grateful for the hardly pleasant months she spent studying a wide range of subjects under the strict supervision of numerous mentors, dragging herself through each day and things she thought she would never need. She was wrong, though – even though her palms were rougher than they used to be, she did not receive any unbearable blisters while gathering stacks of cobblestone.
After five layers and a few pieces of coal, Avi realised she was running out of time and climbed the steps along the edge of the quarry as fast as possible, fetching her crafting table along the way. The copious amounts of dirt and cobblestone she gathered slowed her down, but she managed to get to the pond by mid-afternoon.
"Riane?"
He stepped out from between the trees, leading the horses. "I ascended," he informed Avi, gesturing to the south where a large hill blocked the view, "and saw by its foot a small clearing bordering a swamp and water. It appears to be the only place empty of trees within visible distance."
"We should go, then," Avi answered, taking the reins of her horse but not climbing on it – if what Riane said was true, they did not have too much distance to cover and she would rather avoid aggravating her saddle sores. The Mage glanced at her and also refrained from mounting his steed.
"Did you find any iron, Your Majesty?" Riane asked as they went up the hill.
"No," was Avi's curt reply.
They led their horses forward and Avi soon saw the clearing Riane mentioned. She examined it as they made the steep descent; it was small and overall unattractive. When I expand, I will have to extend the refuge's foundation to above the water, she thought, and then construct some kind of support below so that the whole structure would not crash down at some point.
But at the moment, all she worried about was constructing a shelter before nightfall. As Riane went to find a place for the horses, she took out her stack of cobblestone, hesitated for a moment as rough calculations spun through her mind, and began to lay the blocks down in a three-by-three area. Once a tiny cobblestone hut was created, Avi sped inside, placed a crafting table on the ground and started working.
As the sun began to sink below the horizon, Riane ducked into the hut, wordlessly handing Avi half a dozen blocks of wood before sitting down in the corner and saying, "I am not going to bother with the spell, Your Majesty. It is unlikely that Endermen know we are here, and it is easy to cast if needed."
Avi nodded as she made a chest and placed most of their materials inside.
Midnight had passed, by Avi's calculations, before she saw movement in the distance – a bloodstained zombie with its back facing its watchers. Then a skeleton appeared near it, holding its bow upright, a black chain wrapped across its skull. As she shifted her gaze to the left, she spotted a large Slime bobbing slightly in water.
She turned to the left and peered out of the gap in the wall blocked by sticks. A small Slime bounced nearby, drawing closer until it leapt up to the makeshift window and pressed itself against the sticks, continuing to bounce at a more frantic speed.
Riane followed Avi's gaze and asked, "Have you not seen Slimes before, Your Majesty?"
"Not live ones," she muttered.
"I would not worry about it. They are easy enough to kill."
Avi started to reply but stopped as she noticed an orange glow filling the eastern sky. "Dawn is near."
"You certainly have a heavy workload, Your Majesty."
"I know," Avi sighed, drawing her sword and sliding her fingers down the flat of the blade which was likely to get coated in slime within moments.
"Do not forget that the survivors will depend on us."
~~~*{O}*~~~
Update as of February 15, 2013: Changed the PoV to third person and edited some capitalisation and adjectives. I also cut useless bits off the A/N.
Update as of August 25, 2013: Changed the A/N again.
Update as of January 12, 2014: Changes to geographical descriptions.
