Welcome to the next chapter! If you've made it this far, then I'm doing something right! Once again I hope you enjoy my work and leave a review if you wish.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Minecraft!
-Vincent's POV-
"Damn it," I sighed to myself, exasperated, "looks like the forge is out of lava again." It's been about two weeks since Gabe brought that spunky redhead, Cupa, into our house, and since then I've had to refill the forge 13 times. Oh, and in case Cage didn't introduce me adequately, the names Vincent Adams. I'm just a hair shorter than Cage, curly black hair, and tan enough to make it look as though I spent every day of my life at the beach. However, unlike most of my friends, I'm more of a tinkerer or builder than anything else, spending my free time trying to make something new. So working the forge fits me perfectly, aside from constantly having to seek out lava every time the forge ran out. I looked into the storage tank for the lava on the forge body.
"Yep," I said, tapping the glass, "bone dry." I sighed and went to the chest that held my tools. I rummaged through the chest and found four buckets and my iron pick and blade, grabbing my second blade I used for emergencies. I put the buckets into my pack, and slid the sword into the scabbard at my side, and put the pick into a belt loop. I walked outside of the building that housed our forge, to see Gabe and Cupa taking a break with Cage and Shade. I wandered over to them, and tapped on Cage's shoulder to get his attention.
"Huh?" Cage asked as he turned around. "Oh, hey Vincent, what's up?"
"Not much, man." I said. "The forge is out, so I'm just headed down into the mines to try and find a large lava source and some more materials."
"Ah, okay." He said, nodding. "Take care, there's been a large rise in the amount of Zombies down there."
"Thanks for the tip." I dashed of towards the opening of our mine. The entrance wasn't much, just some wood scaffolding. I climbed down into the scaffolding, taking my time to find my footing, so I didn't slip. After about five minutes, I finally touched down on the mine floor. I looked around to make sure there weren't any dead-heads nearby, then started going deeper into our mine. Our mine went straight to bedrock in some areas, but only Cage and Shade would go down that far, because the rest of us felt unnerved by the Void fog. I walked for a while, grabbing any minerals I saw along the way, until I felt a familiar heat. I turned to try and locate the source, running my hands along the walls to try and feel it. After searching for a bit, I found the hottest point and immediately began digging out the wall. The area around me began getting much hotter, to the point that I had to get out of the hall I just dug.
"Holy sweet Jesus," I said excitedly, "that source must be huge, in order to throw so much heat." I wiped the sweat off my face and got back to work. I dug forward for a few more minutes, then I finally broke through into the source.
"Oh my god..." I said, becoming speechless at the view in front of me. The lava source itself was huge, but that's not stood out to me. What stood out was the lava cascading from the roof to form a lava fall, and there was what looked like obsidian spires and islands in the center of the source itself. I looked around the area, sitting down on the hot stone. I took in my surroundings marveling at the strange beauty of it all. I must have sat there for at least an hour before I took the buckets out of my pack and walked to the edge of the lake. I drew four buckets of lava from the lake, not even touching the sheer amount of molten rock in it. I gently placed the buckets in my pack then walked towards the cascade. I climbed up the rock wall to get a better look at the source of the fall. I looked into the opening to see a purple mist.
"What the hell?" I asked, mystified by the sight. "A natural Nether portal!? I didn't even know this was possible! Well that explains this lava source, but how come it doesn't overflow?" I jumped off the rock wall, tucking into a roll to keep myself from getting hurt. I brushed myself off and wandered over to the edge of the lake and looked into it, puzzled.
"Could it be possible?" I asked myself, as an idea came to mind. I grabbed the extra crafting station I always carry with me, and quickly crafted a diamond pick. Once I finished, I walked over to one of the obsidian spires and took of a chunk off the side. I tossed the chunk into the pool, and walked over to the cascade and waited. After about 10 minutes, much to my surprise, the very same chunk came tumbling down the cascade.
"No fucking way..." I said under my breath. "This means that both the cascade and the lake are connected to the Nether!" I looked around the area, more excited than a little kid on Christmas. I started laughing at the luck of my find. I laughed for a few minutes, then thought came to mind.
"I shouldn't tell everyone about this." I said. "They'd want to drain it for power. I'll keep this secret, make it my personal spot. I don't know why, but I feel comfortable here. The heat is welcoming and the fact that, if I had a couple fire resist potions, I could swim or even go to the Nether at anytime is awesome!" I smiled at the thought of it. I sat at the edge of the lake, sighing contentedly. After about three hours of relaxing, I finally decided to go home. I picked up my crafting station and my pack and started down the hall that lead back to the mine. I closed up the hall using stone and a redstone torch to mark the entrance, and started back to the surface. I was about half way back when I heard familiar growls. I spun around to see several Zombies shambling towards me. I sighed, gently setting my pack aside, then proceeded towards the creatures, cracking my knuckles. They began to pick up speed when they saw me getting closer, drooling at the thought of devouring me. One jumped at me, to which I responded with a swift punch to its face, throwing it back a yard or two. The others watched their comrade get slammed against a wall, then looked back at me with rage seething from them.
"Bring it dead-heads." I said calmly, taking a stance. They charged at me, reaching in an attempt to rip me limb from limb. While I ducked under their reach, I grabbed two by their shirt collars, slammed them together, knocking them into a daze. I stood up and turned to face the other Zombie, which had already started to charge again. I grabbed it's arm, flipping it over my shoulder. I then used its momentum to smash it's head into the ground, killing it. The two I had daze started to get back up, so I drew my blade, slashed both of their heads off in a single blow. I turned back around, only to have a cold hand land a blow to my cheek. I staggered back and looked up angrily at my opponent. My eyes went wide once I got a good look at my adversary, seeing he looked human save for his greenish skin.
"That's for hitting me, you shit." He growled at me. I stood back up and readied my blade in preparation for an attack.
"What are you!?" I asked angrily. He just chuckled and proceeded to charge me. I readied my blade when I saw the flash of metal from beside him. I jumped back just in time to dodge an iron sword that he had been hiding.
"Hmmm..." he said, "Nice reflexes. Most would have died there. And as for your question, I'm a Zombie. I'm just more cognitive than the others." He smirked as he said this, charging me again. I blocked him and our blades locked for a while, until I pushed him off, landing a kick to his chest. He looked up at me with anger, which turned to confusion as I threw my iron blade into the rock wall next to me.
"What, are you giving up human?" He asked mockingly. I looked up at him calmly, pulling my other blade from my pack.
"No," I said dangerously, "I'm getting serious." I drew the blade out of its scabbard, revealing the light blue blade. The blade was made from a special alloy I invented. It consisted of Alumite, which is an aluminum and obsidian alloy, Silver, and Nikolite dust. The metal holds a razor sharp edge, is incredibly durable, and is very light. I flourished the blade in front of me, the went into a fencer's stance. I stood there in wait as the Zombie approached me slowly, lunging at the last few, swinging his sword wildly. I sidestepped him easily, swinging my blade in an upward arc, detaching his sword arm from his body. He screamed out in pain as he clutched his wound, blood pouring between his fingers. He spun around, seething with anger. He ran towards me at full speed, reaching for my throat. I slammed my fist into his nose, feeling it give way under my hand. He dropped to his knees, allowing me to knee him square in the jaw. He flew back into the wall, sliding down it. I walked up to him, placing my blade at his throat.
"Any last words?" I asked calmly. He look up at me, and spat blood into my face.
"Fuck you, human." He said, his voice full of venom. In response, I slid my blade into his neck, then promptly severed his head. I walked back over to my pack, picking it up, then slid my blade back into its scabbard. I continued walking back to the entrance to the mine, coming to the scaffolding. I climbed back up the scaffolding to see everyone standing there with a worried look on their face.
"What's wrong guys?" I asked nonchalantly.
"What's wrong!?" Cage yelled angrily. "You've been gone for almost a day, that's what's wrong!"
"Seriously, man," Gabe said, sighing, "you really had us worried. We thought you had died. Though it does look like you had a close encounter."
"Ah, this?" I gestured to the blood on my face, "I just got into a fight with a pack of Zombies, though one was much more coordinated than the rest, smarter too. The bastard could wield a blade and speak."
"That's not surprising." Cupa said. "There are tons of humanized mobs out there." We all looked at her stunned. "What?" She asked
"How do you know that?" Jack asked. Cupa blushed brightly and hid her face in her hood.
"I've done my research..." She said quietly. We all shrugged it off then went our separate ways. I went back to the forge, and filled the tank with lava. To me this lava felt cooler, but I knew it was because I spent so much time in that room with the lava lake. I got to work melting down the ores that I had gathered on the trip. Once I finished, I laid down in my bed and rested for a bit. After a while I dozed off, dreaming of the Nether, which are the dreams I enjoy most. I woke up to the sound of crashing in the storage shed. I grabbed my blade and rushed to the building. I burst through the door, sword at the ready to see two humanoid Zombies rummaging through the metal supplies. I walk up behind them stabbing one through the chest before they realized I'm there. The other spun around swinging the gold sword he had with him, which I sliced through like butter. He looked at me with fear in his eyes, as I grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him close to my face.
"And, just what the fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked him quietly, voice seething with anger. He just looked at me afraid out of his mind. I sighed a bit then released him. "I'd get out of here if I were you." I said, trying to calm myself. "If I catch you in here again I will kill you, understand?" He nodded and ran out the door. I fixed the storage chest locks and burned the body of the dead Zombie out of respect. I walked back over to the forge, rubbing sleep from my eyes.
"This was one hell of a day." I said to myself. I thought back to the room I found, smiling at the beauty of it in my mind. "It's good that I decided to keep it secret. Now I don't have to worry about it being destroyed." I walked back inside and laid down on my bed. I closed my eyes, and dreamed of the Nether, with Ghasts flying through the air and Zombie Pigmen wandering the grounds. you have it
-Chapter 3 End-
And there you have it. I hope you liked the first bit of action in my tale. As you can tell, Vincent knows his way around a blade. How will that round out later in the story...I'm afraid you'll have to find out for yourself.