Splash, splash, SPLASH! Was the sound of Pierce, Equinox, and Ursula hitting the freezing lake water. They surfaced, and looked around.
"Quick, get to shore." Said Ursula.
They swam to the beach, and sat there, panting for several minutes.
"Did we just survive that?" Asked Pierce.
No one answered, but it was obvious that they had in fact survived the fall, but more importantly the landing. The lake sat on the edge of a forest, which Ursula had been thinking about the whole time they were sitting on the beach.
"We can find a cave to spend the night in." Said Ursula. "After that, well... Let's cross that bridge when we come to it."
In a few minutes they had found a cave. It was dark, and slightly scary, and they didn't have any torches, but it would do for the night. Ursula lead them into the cave. A low growl came from inside, and she drew her axe.
A dark silhouette walked out from the darkness, growling. It was definitely a zombie.
Ursula lopped it's head off with her axe, and they walked into the cave.
"There could be more where that cave from." Said Pierce.
"Well if your mommy is still alive in all this, you can go cry to her. Said Ursula.
As soon as they walked into the cave, Ursula laid her head on a rock, and began to snore. Equinox held his staff out in the dark, the end rod at the tip illuminating the small cave.
"If it isn't too rude," said Pierce, "what do endermages actually do?"
"Well," replied Equinox, "endermages rely on an ancient power, called enderchi."
"It is a mysterious power in the air around us." Equinox continued.
"We can create portals, that is the power we are most well known for."
"Is that how you got here from the farlands? Asked Pierce.
"Well, most travelers, myself among them, use a network of portals called owned by the CTA."
"Whats that?" Pierce interjected.
"The CTA is the central teleportation agency, they are a group of endermages that specialize in transporting others."
"And no, I am not part of them." Said Equinox before Pierce could interrupt."
"We should probably get some rest now, said Pierce."
Farlanders tended to look about the same to a player, or hedgehog, like a two block tall enderman, without the detaching jaw. But to farlanders, they looked completely different, but Equinox especially stood out in a crowd. He had one normal purple eye, and one orange.
Equinox always thought this went well with his name, Equinox, night and day, dark and light. Also, his portals; purple for a portal through space, and orange... well that was for another day.
All three of them had a fitful and restless sleep, and in the morning they all woke up still quite tired. Ursula yawned, and Pierce thought that the sound of it would scare away any animals, or monsters lurking in the forest.
"We should probably get going." Said Ursula.
"But, where are we going?" Asked Pierce.
"There's a fort near here, Fort Mossy Stone." Replied Ursula. "They'll probably have lot's of refugees from the city."
"If anyone made it out." Said Equinox.
So they set out, hiking through the forest for a few hours. Pierce, and Ursula complained the whole time about how hungry they were. But Equinox told them to keep on walking.
In a few hours the three tired travelers reached an actual road. There was a sign on it that said: Fort Mossy Stone, 100 chunks.
"Ugh," Said Ursula, "I at least hope they have food there.
"Agreed." Said Pierce.
As they followed the road through a plains biome, they saw a few craters on the road.
"A few stray creepers?" Said Equinox doubtfully.
Ursula walked off the path, and said "You guys better come see this."
Pierce and Equinox walked over to where she stood, to see a body, lying in the grass, burn marks on his... her... it's? Limbs.
"You sure this is the right way?" Asked Pierce.
"Yeah." Said Ursula.
They kept following the path, seeing more craters and bodies. It was not a good sign. But in another half hour they reached, something. A small cliff overlooked a few piles of cobblestone.
"Is that the fort?" Asked Equinox.
"I hope not." Said Pierce.
"That's whats left of it." Said Ursula.
"Think it's safe to investigate?" Asked Pierce.
"Probably not." Said Ursula.
Now Pierce, and Equinox expected that when she said it wasn't safe that would mean they turn back. But, to their amazement, Ursula walked right up to the fort. Pierce, and Equinox followed at a safe distance behind her.
As they approached the fort, they could see smoke rising from what had once been the barracks. It smelled of sulfur, and death.
"This isn't good." Said Ursula.
"Yeah great deduction." Said Pierce.
What had probably been the wall at one point, had large holes in it, and on top there were dead archers. But not all the corpses were of soldiers. Some were of civilians, refugees, fleeing the city.
"Oh no." Said Equinox, his jaw could not detach from his skull like an endermans, but it was as close as it could get.
A hiss came from one of the piles of debris.
"What was that?" Said Pierce.
Ursula took her over sized axe off her back.
"Let's see." She said.
Walking over to the debris, a creeper jumped out. Ursula chopped off its head.
"Hey look." Said Pierce. "A treasury."
"This is no time to be stealing from the dead." Said Equinox.
"I know." Said Pierce, "but some of this stuff might come in handy."
"We should go." Said Ursula. "They might come back."
They left, and set out into the plains biome, with no idea where they might go next. It was a harsh world now, and they were just three tired survivors.