Forward Bound, a minecraft fanfic

No Path to Follow

Year 1121

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a player. And the player's name was Joshy Boy. Generated by a source code used over a billion times, the player spawned into a world where everything was made of blocks. He could go wherever he wanted to go; from climbing the tallest mountain to venturing down into the darkest cave. He could build whatever he wanted to build, with the only limit being his own imagination. He could be well enough alone or better off with others as he discovers the world around him. With no path to follow, this adventure was up to him...

Joshy Boy clutched his chest as he suddenly spawned into the world. His breathing softened and his heartbeat slowed as everything began to render around him, finding himself standing within a vast plains biome. The sun rose over the horizon to the north, which painted the brightening sky in shades of pink and orange. Tall grass textures and blossoming flowers swayed in the cool morning breeze that brushed against the player's brown skin. There was a deep forest hills biome to the far south along with a winding river that flowed near the east. The plains itself continued westward with no end in sight.

Joshy Boy shifted in his black leather jacket and adjusted the gray hood attached to it. He tugged at the short brim of his black fedora then shoved his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans. He started walking the plains, enjoying the soft crunch of grass underneath his black boots. Early spring had come in the time of his arrival and new life began to emerge from the previous winter season. Bees buzzed and butterflies fluttered from flower to flower gathering nectar. Birds sang their songs amidst the trees whilst rabbits fled back into the safety of their burrows. Flocks of chickens and turkeys clucked and gobbled as they hunted bugs and seeds upon the forest floors.

Herds of Friesian cattle and Angora goats and even flocks of Merino sheep grazed the grass blocks of the plains as they wandered. Pigs of different breeds sniffed around for truffles within the deeper part of the wooded biome and frogs croaked loudly along the bank of the river. Deer moved cautiously throughout the forest hills to avoid wolves hunting in their packs. There were even hedgehogs that scuttled about into the tall grass textures as Joshy Boy continued his exploration. But there was something strange about these animals that the player suddenly noticed.

Each type of animal had a modular blocky form – even creatures as small as the bees and butterflies. The only exceptions to this rule were both the wolves and the player himself. They possessed a more realistic nature in contrast. Joshy Boy had fingers to flex and toes to wiggle within his boots. He had arms and legs he could bend and had a more roundish physique. The wolves had similar features, being able to bend their limbs and twitch their ears and wag their long tails. As he wondered over this new discovery, he spotted something else in the forest and froze.

Dryads manifested from the trees and stretched themselves out after a long slumber during the winter season. They appeared in two variants – oak and birch – and greeted one another before wandering deep into the wooded biome. Their hair was made of grass and their legs of tree bark and their dresses were fashioned from leaves. Their eyes were the color of tree sap and their smiles were gentle and sweet. A couple even waved at Joshy Boy when they noticed that he was observing them.

Next were the honeybees: monster girls with the characteristics of buzzy bees. Each had antennas that arched from their heads and had glossy black sclera with light blue pupils. Their wings buzzed as they causally flew by and each were equipped with a large stinger. One of them glanced at Joshy Boy as she buzzed by and stopped to observe him. She floated gently in place, bobbing up and down as she looked the player over. After an awkward moment of being examined – and determining that he was not a flower – the honeybee lost interest in Joshy Boy and causally moved on.

Suddenly he heard the sound of thundering hooves far off behind him and turned to see a tribe of centaurs galloping across the plains. They were half human and half horse with both male and female counterparts. Each carried with them the long bow as well as a quiver of arrows and strapped to their horseback were small saddles. Accompanying them was a small clan of satyrs that were prancing along, playing their wind instruments and toasting the new year. These were beastmen with the characteristics of goats and consisted solely of females. Strapped to their backs were short swords and broadswords made of tin and extra flasks of wine hung at their side.

Just like himself and the wolves, these monsters had the same realistic physique and features. He watched as the centaurs and satyrs settled down in their respective camps then set off to do their unrelated duties. The centaurs simply hunted the Friesian bulls and Angora bucks within the nearby herds. When one died, its body disappeared in a small plume of smoke and left behind its meat, along with either its leather or its wool. The centaurs seemed only interested in the meat and abandoned everything else. They continued their hunt until only a few males of each species were remaining.

The satyrs gathered in pairs and set out to find berries and grains hidden within the food gardens that were scattered around the plains and woods. Joshy Boy had never noticed them until now. There were two kinds: windy gardens and shaded gardens. Windy gardens looked a lot like wild wheat growing in the plains, whereas the shaded gardens looked like lush bushes growing in the forest hills. Whenever a satyr broke one of the two, an assortment of different foods would drop from them. Like their kin, the satyrs only took what they wanted and abandoned everything else. Once the beastmen returned to their camp, Joshy Boy seized the opportunity to retrieve the abandoned food items.

There carrots and potatoes and beans and other foods and crops left for the taking. But there was a problem. Joshy Boy had no place to store these food items and he did not fancy carrying these items around everywhere he went. But when he shifted, he noticed that there was a big blue backpack fastened around his back. So he put the food items down and swung off his backpack to set it to the ground. And when he unzipped it to open its inventory, a six-by-nine grid suddenly appeared before him and displayed several other items at the top row. There was a tan book, a stack of torches, some kind of jerky, and a small hatchet made from flint.

He stored the extra food items in the free slots then looked upon the tan book and selected it. It popped into his hand where the title read Crafting & You and he wondered about the contents written inside. So he closed the inventory of his backpack and sat down underneath an oak tree, then cracked open the book and began flipping through the pages. There were a whole manner of different crafting recipes for various tools, weapons, blocks, armor, and even primitive machinery like furnaces and smokers. The book listed numerous different materials that could be used such as stone or iron as well as their many uses other than mere tool or armor upgrades.

It was a lot for Joshy Boy to take in, but it showed a lot of promise for easy progression. He flipped back to the first few pages and read through what he needed to do in order to accomplish these feats. He needed to craft what was essentially known as a workstation – which consisted of four different workbenches and a pattern chest. All could be made from wooden logs and planks and Joshy Boy quickly remembered the flint hatchet he found inside his backpack. He reopened its inventory and selected the hatchet, then he looked toward the sky. Morning was coming to a close with the afternoon right on its tail. I hope the dryads won't mind if I cut down a few trees, he thought.

The rest of the morning was spent felling trees and collecting wooden logs for his workstation. The dryads had fortunately left Joshy Boy alone, so he showed his appreciation by replanting the acorns so that new trees could grow. After chopping some of the wooden logs into planks over a chopping block, Joshy Boy ventured over to the hunting grounds of the centaurs to collect the handful of wool blocks and few pieces of leather that were left behind. He found a good spot to set up his own camp and followed the crafting recipes for a sleeping bag and a tent, as well as the workbenches and pattern chest for his workstation. Lastly, he placed a large wooden chest where he would store extra items once he figured out what he actually wanted to do.

It did not take long for the idea to reach him. As he sat there on a few wooden logs he placed down, Joshy Boy thought back on the food items he stored inside his backpack and the animals he observed when he was exploring. The plains were largely flat and were the ideal location for cultivation and agriculture. He chuckled at the idea – Farmer Joshy Boy. It had a nice ring to it. He looked out into the plains and began to visualize where everything would go; from his cozy little farmhouse to the large stable where his animals would live. He imagined himself sitting in front of a fireplace and...fire, he repeated inside his head. He snapped from his daydream and quickly came to a realization. He no campfire and the last thing he wanted was to be shivering in the cold on his first night.

He remembered a recipe where he could craft a campfire block using a few sticks, three wooden logs, and either a single piece of coal or charcoal. But that was the one ingredient he did not have and it would require him to find a cave if he wanted to obtain one. He would not have much luck finding a cave in the plains. It was much too flat and lacked cracks or tremors and was sparsely populated with oak trees. He considered trying his luck with the forest hills until he recalled the winding river toward the east. There was a small hillside on the other side of the river where he guessed that – with a little bit of searching – he would find a cave that provided what he needed.

He crafted a wooden pickaxe from a recipe he had learned from the book and headed over to the winding river. There was a small leap he could make up the bend, as the rest of the river was too wide and deep. It was late in the afternoon when he began his search and for an hour he wandered the hillside, keeping near the river so he would not lose his way. At last he found what looked to be an opening of earth and hurried over to it. Then he stopped and stared fearfully into the gaping darkness that was below. The descent was steep but manageable with a drop that was only two blocks deep. Though he could climb in and out, he kept it in his thoughts to make for an easier way.

So he selected his stack of torches in one hand and carried his wooden pickaxe in the other, then at last began the trek down into the depths of the cave. It was cold and musky. Droplets of water echoed off the stone block walls and sounds of crackling and crumbling reverberated around him. He placed torches along the stone block walls to illuminate his way – as well as to serve as a useful means of finding his way back out. He crept carefully and quietly, feeling more and more unnerved as he traveled deeper into the darkness and the light of the surface fading away. There were various metals that glinted off the torchlight that caught his eye and he noted the many layers of different stone blocks that colored the cave: marble, limestone, slate – as well as a few others.

He turned a corner and placed another torch when he finally found what he was looking for. There was a small vein of coal ore blocks embedded into a wall of andesite. He grinned with relief and took to mining out the entire vein before hurrying back out into the surface. But as he was breaking the first block, Joshy Boy suddenly heard something from the darkness beside him. There was a click and clack of footfalls echoing off the cave walls, followed by what seemed to be a rattling of bones. Joshy Boy paused to listen and suddenly the sound of a bow being drawn back caught his ears. And before he could react, an arrow came flying out of the darkness and whizzed just inches passed his head.

He let out a yelp and scrambled for the surface, the clicking and clacking of footfalls picking up pace behind him. Another arrow shot passed him and grazed his right shoulder, causing the player to nearly fall. Despite fear and desperation gripping him, Joshy Boy risked a glance back at his pursuer. Following closely behind was a skeleton, now fully exposed in the torchlight. It was blocky in form – much like the animals the roamed above ground – but appeared to be more simplified rather than modular. It carried a short bow in its right hand and had countless arrows stashed in its worn quiver. Again it drew its bowstring and loosed another arrow, but once again failing to land a hit.

Joshy Boy looked ahead of him and saw that he was nearing the surface. He picked up his speed and made a great leap unto the ledge of the drop, then climbed out as quickly as he could. He was now back out into the surface where he could see trees and the sky and the winding river ahead. There was no more clicking or clacking behind him, nor were there any more arrows whizzing by. The skeleton had ceased its pursuit and remained within the depths of the cave. Only when he was back on the other side of the winding river did Joshy Boy allow himself to finally collapse from exhaustion. His heart thundered inside his chest and his brow was beaded with sweat.

He sat up quickly and searched himself and when he found what he was looking for, his heart was filled with relief. In his hand was a single piece of coal and now he had all the ingredients to craft a campfire block. It was growing dark by the time Joshy Boy had returned to his campsite and crafted the campfire block at his workstation. He placed it a few blocks away from his tent and moved his sitting log closer to the crackling flames as night fell. The sound of crickets filled the night air and white rabbits darted to and fro across the plains. An eerie hoot of an owl resounded from the forest hills beyond and frogs continued to croak from the bank of the river. Everything else seemed to have gone to sleep for the night – save for himself and a few partying satyrs at their camp.

The campfire seemed to ward off danger and brought about a secure peace that Joshy Boy found reassuring. He watched the fire danced and flicked embers from its wooden frame as it brought about warmth and illumination. He gazed up at the twinkling stars above with a new sense of awe and wonder. His mind began to wonder of the days to come and what new challenges would await him. He wondered if he would meet others like himself or strange peoples that were settled in lands not yet seen by him. But he put those thoughts to bed for the time being and figured he should do the same. So he retired to his tent and crawled into his sleeping bag after removing his boots and his fedora.

Suddenly there was a bunch of howling from the wolves that roamed the forest hills. He suddenly smiled as he imagined himself having a dog that would accompany him on his farm. He would have to train it not to eat his sheep or goats should he ever acquire one. And he was unsure at the time of what he would name the wolf. His eyes finally grew heavy from a long but interesting first day and slowly Joshy Boy's world grew darker as he drifted off to sleep.