Thanks for the reviews, guys! I really appreciate the enthusiasm. So far, this story's been pretty fun to write!

Movie Mode

Episode One: The Order of the Stone

Part Three: Into the Woods

Onscreen, Jesse, Olivia and Axel came to a stop in the woods, looking around. "I don't see him anywhere." said Jesse, "Reuben?"

"I hope you're okay, buddy." muttered Jesse, tightening his hold on Reuben, who snuggled against his chest contently.

"The sun's going down." said Olivia, "We've gotta find him, fast."

"He could've gone anywhere." Axel said, "And this part of the woods is huge."

"We stand a better chance of finding him if we split up." concluded Jesse. Olivia nodded.

"If either of you get lost, just use the lights from Endercon to make your way back to town, got it?"

"Got it." said Axel. The three friends turned and began running in opposite directions in search of Reuben.

Jesse came to a halt, looking about the dimly light forest. He continued forwards at a slower pace. "Reuben?" he called out, "Where are you? Just give me an oink if you can hear me."

"Poor Reuben." Olivia sighed, "I hope we find him soon."

Jesse walked forwards, spotting distant smoke to the right. "Reuben? Reuben? Come here, boy!" He passes a long body of water, stopping when he came to a burning tree. "He must have run by here."

"Great." sighed Petra, "Not only did you set their build ablaze, but now the forest is in danger of burning. Do you know how many people get their resources from that forest? Not just for wood, but wool and food as well?"

Aiden chose not to answer.

Taking a closer look at the tree as the fire consumed it entirely, Jesse muttered to himself, "Doesn't look like this fire will spread." he put his hands on his hips, "I bet Reuben started this."

Most of the tree now burned away, Jesse continued into the woods, coming to a clearing where a herd of pigs were grazing.

"Is one of them Reuben?" asked Axel.

"Reuben?" called Jesse, "Are you in there?" He walked into the herd, a few pigs walking away from him as he got closer. Jesse looked at all the hoof prints on the ground and glared at one of the careless pigs. "Stupid pigs."

Reuben gave an annoyed oink.

"What?" Jesse asked, "They are!"

"Reuben?" said Jesse, as the pigs began oinking loudly, "No, not you gu- pigs! All pigs but Reuben shut up!" Sighing, Jesse walked towards a patch of long grass, only for a chicken to jump out in front of him, startling him.

Aiden laughed, "What, are you scward of chwickens?"

"If I was scared of chickens," Jesse said, face blank, "I'd be scared of you."

Aiden's face fell, and he glared at Jesse with a growl.

The chicken continued on, Jesse watching it go sadly. He came to a small three-block cliff and jumped down, looking around. The sun was almost completely set. "Reuben, it's getting scary out here!" Walking past a tree and turning a corner, Jesse spotted Reuben's dragon costume setting against a small hill of dirt, smoke floating from its surface.

"Oh no." Olivia whispered. Jesse swallowed.

"Reuben? Reuben?! Oh, no!" he ran towards it, getting on his knees and pulling at the costume, "You in there, buddy?" He lifted up the wing, "Oh, jeez, please don't be toasted, Reuben."

Thankfully, the costume was abandoned, but Reuben was no where in sight.

Real-Jesse gave a sigh of relief.

Onscreen, Jesse let out a relieved breath, standing up and starting to stomp out the smoke. Turning back around, he spotted a cave opening with a light shinning through it.

"Jesse, no!" Olivia exclaimed, "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

Walking past the torch near the cave entrance, Jesse's eyes widened as he looked at the dark insides of the cave, his eyes slowly adjusting. He jumped down, walking forwards and looking around as if expecting something to jump out at him at any moment.

"Reuben? Is that you?" he looked down a small dark hole, yelling in fright upon spotting a spider. But the spider didn't seem that interested in him, for it turned and walked out of sight. Jesse quickly backed away from the hole, climbing up through another hole to the surface.

He looked around the small field, his eyes landing on a patch of long grass, where something was moving. Eyes narrowing, Jesse slowly walked towards it, peering through it and spotting none other than a shaking, wide-eyed Reuben.

"Yeah, you found him!" grinned Axel, rubbing Reuben's head.

"Reuben!" exclaimed Jesse, the relief evident in his voice, "There you are!"

Upon realizing who it was, Reuben left the grass and came forwards, oinking. "Let's get out of here, Reuben." said Jesse, "Hope you're ready for some more walking. We've gotta hurry back to town if we don't want to run into-"

Reuben cut him off with a terrified oink, and Jesse looked back at the cave entrance to see two zombies making their way towards them, groaning and moaning in hunger.

"I can't look!" Olivia said, covering her eyes.

"Welp," said Magnus, "Nice knowing ya, what ever your name is."

Jesse and Reuben backed away, eyes wide. "Reuben, run!" Jesse shouted, and the two spun around and sprinted in the other direction. They ran through tall grass and past trees, coming to a clearing as Jesse got to one knee, panting and looking behind him in search of the zombies.

"Whew." he said, "I think- I think we're good."

"Aaaand he's jinxed himself." said Petra.

Sure enough, a moment later a creeper came out of nowhere and began hissing. Jesse yelled, scrambling to his feet and running, ripping through tall grass and jumping over a pile of dirt to hide behind a small hill. "I think we made it."

"Jesse, again?!" Petra exclaimed. Jesse winced.

An arrow hit the hill, narrowly missing Jesse's head and provoking a scream. Reuben gave a startled squeal, as Jesse looked up to spot a skeleton standing on top of another hill. It drew another arrow immediately and Jesse didn't have enough time to dodge, the arrow lodging itself into his shoulder. "Ow!"

"He's hit!" Gabriel yelled.

Pig and human ran, only to come to a large cliff. Trapped, Jesse turned around to see three zombies making their way towards them. Reuben backed away and, with no other choice, Jesse drew his wooden sword.

"He's gonna die." Petra deadpanned.

Onscreen, Jesse hit the closest zombie, knocking it back. "Back!" he yelled, as though it could understand him, "Get back!" he glanced down at Reuben, "Stay behind me. I've got you." Reuben obediently backed away with a whine, body low to the ground.

Jesse took another step forward and hit the zombie again, then sliced it across the chest, knocking it to the ground. Before it could get back up, Jesse plunged his sword into its head and it died in a puff of smoke.

But there was still two zombie left, and in the distance you could see yet another two. Jesse once again turned to the closest one, hitting it back, before turning to the second one, which was now closest, and knocking that one back. He did this again a few times, before the first one turned to smoke in one last hit.

Turning to the other one, Jesse hit it with all his might with a yell, and it too died, only for the top of his sword to break and skid away. The swords remains turned to smoke in his hand.

Olivia, who had peeked up from her hands, squeaked and covered her eyes again with a groan.

"Stupid wooden swords!" shouted Jesse. He and Reuben began backing away as more zombies made their way over, Reuben squealing in fright. Far too soon, they were backed against the cliff, with no escape. Reuben shook with terror, the zombies groaning as they closed in.

A spider jumped down seemingly out of nowhere, hissing and spitting as it inched forward on its long eight legs. Jesse swallowed.

"I know it's bad,"

"Like, really bad!" groaned Olivia, still not looking at the screen.

"I'll think of something!"

"You better think fast then, boy." said Gabriel, "Because you're about to become monster chow."

The zombies groaned, the spider snipped hungrily, inching closer and closer. Jesse turned to Reuben.

"You're gonna have to make a run for it, okay?" he said, glancing at the upcoming monsters, "I'll meet you back in town, I promise!" Reuben squealed in protest, "Get outta here! NOW!" Reuben ran past the monsters, narrowly dodging getting hit by a zombie, and out of sight, squealing the whole way.

"Oh, please don't die." Axel said, unable to tear his eyes from the screen. "Me and Olivia will end up killing each other without you!"

A spiders hiss meet their ears, and Jesse turned back to the incoming hoard, only for a spider to appear halfway up the cliff behind them.

Ellegaard gasped, "Behind you!"

The spider jumped, landing in front of Jesse and springing towards him, hitting him on the chest and knocking him to the ground with a scream. Jesse screamed again, scrambling backwards as the spider advanced, jumping onto his chest and trying to claw at his face.

Jesse's hand shot up automatically, barely holding the spider at bay as its legs scraped against his face. Screaming, Jesse was able to throw the spider off and onto its back, but it immediately did a flip and landed on its feet again. Jesse grimaced and began scrambling away again, the two spiders and hoard of zombies getting closer and closer.

"Don't worry," said Axel, trying at a smile. But it looked completely fake and his voice was wavering. "We'll- We'll bury you and Reuben besides each other, yeah?"

"Not helping, Axel." groaned Jesse, tightening his hold on Reuben. Olivia moaned beside him, still covering her eyes and sounding as though she was close to throwing up.

The spider jumped back onto his chest, Jesse once again barely holding it away, and a moment later a pickax embedded itself into its hide. The screen zoomed out to show Petra throwing the spider off of Jesse, stabbing it multiple times as it landed on its back.

"Petra!" Axel exclaimed. "Olivia, you can open your eyes, Petra's there!"

"Petra?" questioned Olivia, peeking out from behind her hands. She gasped. "Petra!"

Onscreen, Jesse scrambled to his feet as the spider went up in smoke, the rest of the hoard still coming in. "Come on," said Petra, "Let's get out of the open."

Petra and Jesse began running, Petra killing a nearby zombie with her pickax and Jesse picking up some string the spider dropped. The screen went black for a moment.

Jesse let out a relieved breath, "Thank you, Petra."

"No problem, Jesse." said Petra, "I'll always help a friend in need."

The screen came back on to show Jesse climbing down a ladder into a cave, looking over his shoulder to see Petra already making her way down to the lower level.

"I wanna show you something." said Petra, leading Jesse deeper into the cave and passing multiple minecart tracks.

"Not that this isn't a really cool, dimly-lit tunnel, but... how far away is this thing you wanna show me?" asked Jesse.

Aiden snickered, "Look, the babies scared."

Jesse walked over a track, squinting into a narrow tunnel where it disappeared into darkness.

"Careful, Jesse," said Petra, "You don't want to get a reputation as a wimp."

"This isn't my first time in a cave, Petra." argued Jesse, as they came to a stop.

"Yeah," said Petra, turning to him, "But have you ever seen-" she pulled out a black skull, "A Wither skull?"

"Oh, cool!" Lukas breathed, straightening in his seat, "You went to the Nether?"

Ivor's interest was also captured, his eyes narrowing on the skull. He briefly glanced at Gabriel.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Jesse. The screen zoomed in on the skull, giving them a perfect view of it.

"Fresh from the Nether." said Petra. "You're the first person I've showed it to."

"That's insane, Petra." Jesse said, "You could've gotten yourself killed."

Petra chuckled, "Don't worry so much. I can handle myself." She turned around, putting the Wither skull away and heading deeper into the cave, "There's this guy I'm meeting up with at Endercon. He's gonna trade me a diamond for it."

Ivor shifted, crossing his arms uncomfortably. Petra blinked at him. Did she know him? Now that she thought about it, he looked familiar.

"Being the resident go-getter pays off every once in awhile."

"The guy you got the skull for," said Jesse, "What's his deal?"

Petra chose her words carefully, "He's kind of strange, I guess. But, hey, everybody's got their thing."

"And you never thought to ask him." Jesse said slowly, "Hey, what's with your whole... totally normal... not at all weird... skull thing?"

Ivor grumbled to himself.

"As long as this guy is willing to pay," shrugged Petra, "I earned that diamond."

"Hm." said Jesse a moment later, "Wow."

"Wow, what?" asked Petra.

"In a single day, you went to the Nether, you killed a Wither skeleton... I mean, I did build a super-cool statue, but still. It's pretty sweet being you, huh?"

"You know..." said Petra, "You could come with me."

"Awesome, dude!" exclaimed Axel, "Say yes, say yes!"

"I mean," continued Petra, as they continued walking, "If you're too nervous, I totally get it. But I wouldn't mind a little backup."

"You want me," said Jesse, astonished, "To come with you."

"Consider it my charitable act for the day." said Petra.

"Oh, come on, Petra!" said Aiden, "Why would you want that loser with you? I bet he's gonna mess everything up!"

"Shut up, Aiden." snapped Petra, "I can bring along whoever I wanna bring along." Jesse grinned.

"I'll consider it whatever you want me to consider it, as long as I get to come." said Jesse.

They came up to a crafting table and a chest. "You just keep a crafting table down here?" asked Jesse. Petra put her hands on her hips.

"Comes in handy." she said, "Since that wooden sword of yours got busted..."

"You're giving me a new one?" asked Jesse.

"Even better." Petra smiled, "You can make your own. One stick, plus two stones equals one sword."

Grinning, Jesse made his way over to the chest and opened it. "Just grab what you need." said Petra.

"Oh, okay." said Jesse, "Thanks." He spoke up as he rummaged through the chest, "Hey, is all this stuff yours?"

"No," said Petra sarcastically, "We're just stealing from whoever was dumb enough to leave this here. Of course it's mine."

"Just making sure." Petra shook her head, as Jesse continued, "Oh, here we go! Jackpot!" He straightened with sticks and stones in hand, before turning to the crafting table. He placed down the stick and two stones, and they shook for a moment before forming a stone sword. Grinning, Jesse held it up.

"See?" said Petra, grinning, "Isn't it better when you make it yourself?"

Jesse nodded and sheathed the sword, following Petra out the cave and to a bridge with a minecart track going along it.

"Check it out," said Petra, pointing to lights in the distance, "Endercon's all lit up." The town is shown in the distance, with a beacon going straight up into the sky and changing color.

"Oh, yeah! Told ya we'd win." Aiden grinned, as the other Ocelots high-fived each other. Jesse glared at them.

"Only because you burned ours to the ground!"

"Aw, man." groaned Jesse, "Looks like Lukas and the Ocelots won again."

"Aiden!" Aiden growled, "Aiden and the Ocelots!"

"But we're just Ocelots!" Lukas protested, "We don't specifically have a leader!"

"Sorry, Jesse." said Petra, turning to him. "But, you've gotta admit. That beacon does look pretty sweet."

Jesse sighed, "Yeah, yeah. I just wanted this to be the year we finally beat that jerk!"

"You know," said Petra, "Lukas may be kind of arrogant, but he has come through for me in tricky situations. You might want to get to know him. Just in case. He's good at building, that's for sure. It's always useful to have a guy like that around, no matter what you might think of him personally."

"Yeah," Jesse said reluctantly, "You might be right."

"Erm... thanks?" said Lukas. "I think."

"I'm just saying," continued Petra, "If you run into him at Endercon, try talking to him."

"I don't need a lecture on the power of collaboration, Petra."

"Collabra-what?" Axel asked.

"How 'bout a lecture on the power of my fists?" asked Petra sweetly, "It's short, but deadly."

Wincing, Jesse quickly changed the subject, "C'mon, let's hurry."

They began walking across the bridge, Petra speaking. "Remember what Endercon was like before it was cool?"

"Remember what we were like before we were cool?"

Aiden let out a bark of a laugh, Gill and Maya snickering. Jesse forced himself to ignore them, focusing on the screen.

Petra was silent for a moment. "Some of us will never be cool."

"Ha-Ha." said Jesse sarcastically.

Suddenly, they came to a stop halfway across the bridge. In front of them, three creepers were hissing and eagerly making their way towards them.

"Creepers!" Jesse exclaimed. Upon looking behind him, he spotted zombies and a few creepers making their way out of the cave. "Crap."

The creepers began making their way across the bridge towards them, the zombies and one creeper making their way out of the cave quickly doing the same. The screen zoomed out to show monsters coming in from both sides of the bridge, Petras and Jesse trapped in the middle.

"Oh no, not again!" Olivia groaned, covering her mouth with her hands.

"This..." said Petra, "Doesn't look good."

Jesse looked over the edge of the bridge, down, down at the water far bellow. It was a very high drop.

"Well," Petra said, "There's only one way off this bridge." They were back to back, Jesse facing the creepers and Petra facing the zombies, said monsters closing in. "Whatever we do, we do it together."

Jesse's face set in determination, "The only way off this bridge is through them." They both drew their stone swords, facing the upcoming monsters, still back to back. Jesse took a step forward and knocked a creeper back, quickly backing away before it could explode.

"Oh god, no." said Olivia, once again covering her eyes.

"There's too many of them!" said Jesse, and the monsters closed in. "I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

The creepers exploded, just as Petra shoved Jesse off the bridge and jumped after him, both of them yelling. It all went in slow motion, music playing. It sped up for a second, before slowing down again as MINECRAFT: STORY MODE was revealed in front of them. Still in slow motion, Petra and Jesse came face to face and Jesse gave her a grin, only for a creeper head to appear behind him a moment later, flashing white as it prepared to explode.

Petra's mouth opened and Jesse turned around, his smile fading. He pushed the creeper in midair, sending it into the cliff side where a group of chickens were clucking about. It exploded upon contact, causing the chickens to go flying. The screen showed chicken feathers flying up everywhere, the surviving chickens soaring through the air. Now it showed Jesse and Petra's backs, as they fell through a flock of flying bats. Petra hit one away from her face.

"This is... strangely funny." said Axel.

"I know," Olivia agreed, "Who knew so many facial expressions could be made in the amount of time it took someone to fall from a high bridge."

The slow motion and music cut off, and their screams could finally be heard as they slammed into the water. They resurfaced, Jesse shouting, "It burns! It burns!"

"Don't you know?" asked Petra, "You dive into the water- you don't land on top of it."

Jesse rubbed the back of his head, "Oh, um, I'll remember that."

"Pull yourself together," Petra said, starting to swim away, "And follow me." Jesse did just that. The screen went black.

"Okay." said Petra, "That was a bit entertaining. But I still don't get why we have to be showed this. It seems like every other day, really. Except, this time, Jesse tags along."

"Maybe something happens with your Wither skull deal?" Lukas suggested, "I mean, why would someone want a Wither skull in the first place?"

Petra shrugged. "Decoration? Because it looks cool? Maybe he made a bet with a friend, found out he couldn't do it and decided to cheat his way out? I don't know, man."

"Still." said Jesse, "It just seems a bit... sketchy."

Did you tell Reuben to run or stay? Let me know in the reviews!

We have now gone through around thirty minutes of gameplay and the episodes usually take about one hour to complete. Maybe another three chapters or so and we'll have completed episode one and be going after either Ellegaard or Magnus.

THIS CHAPTER WAS EDITED ON 29TH JULY 2016. ONE LARGE DECISION WAS CHANGED. Said large decision was telling Reuben to run instead of stay.

THIS CHAPTER WAS EDITED ON 7TH AUGUST 2016. GRAMMAR MISTAKES WERE CORRECTED.