1: Missing Persons
Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this, worried that it will be a bit farfetched but the general idea is that everything in this story will utilize content from the game, just with my own characters and story woven into it. Happy reading and leave a review!
Evander placed a rose in front of a stone block as rain splashed around him. Two years ago to the day, his mother mysteriously vanished from their home; tragic, but part of a disturbing trend in Birchtown. Elise was not the first person to disappear, and since then there had only been more and more, dropping like flies, to the point where it seemed like no one really cared anymore.
It never used to be like this; when his father was still here, he taught him the ways of hunting, the thing he had built a career upon. Lucius was a soldier, a knight in the Army of Minecraftia. One day, Evander wanted to serve just like him. One day, Lucius was conscripted and sent to the coast; the peak of pirate activity, plundering and pillaging small coastal holdings. During a raid, they lost track of him; missing in action, presumed dead. Evander, just ten years old, was raised alone by his mother, and now he had neither, living completely alone for the last two years.
The rain began to seep through Evander's leather cap, prompting him to exit the town's graveyard. The gravel crunched beneath his feet as he followed the pathway to the cottage. The cottage's environment contrasted nicely against the harsh, gusty winds outside; the fire roared and crackled as he crashed onto a makeshift sofa, built out of oak stair blocks. Looking around the room, Evander examined pictures of himself, his mother and his father transition into pictures of just him and his mother. Exhausted, Evander leant back as he tried to get some sleep, when he heard the sound of a fist pounding against the door.
"Who, at this hour..?" Evander asked, dazed, as he got up and approached the door. Creaking it open a little, he saw the familiar friendly face of his childhood mate, Rufus, droplets of rain falling from his long, red beard.
"Friend!" Rufus cheered joyously, "Hope I'm not disturbing you; I was in the local and spotted you walking by, was wondering if you'd care for a drink?"
Of course, the bar, Rufus' second home. On a night like this, Evander wasn't in the mood for getting boozy.
"Um, not tonight, Rufus," he replied awkwardly, "I'm not feeling up to it."
"Oh," Rufus said, slightly disappointed but obviously unaware of the tragic anniversary, "Not to worry, Evander – perhaps another time, eh?"
"Right, of course," Evander replied assuredly, waving his friend off as he walked back up the path before shutting the door. He hated to let an old friend down like that, but tonight, it just wouldn't fit. Evander considered the possibility of meeting with Rufus and maybe even Donata the following night as he walked into his bedroom, switching off his redstone lamp and crawling under the covers.
The following morning, Evander woke at the crack of dawn and equipped himself with his hunting gear; a pair of leather boots, as to make as little noise as possible, his old bow, repaired more times than he could count, and a stack of arrows. He left the cottage and made his way down the town's paths towards the town wall, the only thing that separated he and the other good natured, law abiding Minecraftians from the freakish zombies, skeletons and Creepers of the night. The gate was a short distance away, and stood guarding one side of it was a young guard Evander had not seen before. Rarely did Birchtown receive new recruits. Stood on the other side of the gate was a familiar face; Ulysses, one of the longest serving guards and a good friend of his fathers, when he was still around.
"Evander," Ulysses greeted with a grunt, "Reason for exit?"
"Hunting," Evander replied, as if it wasn't obvious enough by the bow and arrows he was holding. The new guard pulled a lever, activating a sticky piston mechanism, creating a hole in the wall for Evander to walk through. After passing through, Evander heard the flick of the lever as the wall closed back together behind him. Turning around and looking up at the guard posts, he saw them occupied, something he always checked for when he went out hunting; being outside the confines of a town alone and mostly defenceless at night was a death wish. No swordsman, no matter how skilled, stood a chance against the monsters that emerged in the darkness. Evander approached the birch forests bordering the town that gave it its name, drawing his bow as he spotted a chicken in the distance. He watched it carefully as it clucked and clacked, its thin legs carrying its feather-coated body as its beak pecked at blades of grass. Evander pulled out an arrow, holding it in place as he pulled the bow's string back, one eye shut as he tried to line the bow perfectly with his prey, waiting for the perfect moment to release. The chicken stopped to peck at some grass and Evander let go, the arrow flying through the air and impaling the chicken, knocking it to the ground and leaving its remains behind; raw chicken, which he would sell to the town's butcher. A good start to the day, for sure.
The sun began to set in the sky as Evander carried his spoils back towards the town; plenty of chicken, pork and beef to earn him a living for a few weeks. Looking up at the guard towers, he waved to an anonymous guard who called down to Ulysses. The wall opened as Evander re-entered the town.
"A good hunt, I hope?" Ulysses said, motioning to the new guard to pull the lever back up.
"About the same as always, actually," Evander said between breaths, nodding to the new guard as to acknowledge him. Evander walked back towards his cottage, passing various blocky, wooden holdings that had been established throughout the years. He was surprised to see Rufus and Donata standing at his door upon arriving home.
"Ah, Evander!" Donata exclaimed, brushing her dark hair off of her face, "I should have known you would be working!"
"Well, it seems as though you timed this perfectly," Evander chuckled, putting his hands on his hips.
"About last night friend," Rufus cleared his throat, "I had no idea that it was the anniversary of – you know, your mother and all..."
"Not to worry, Rufus," Evander reassured him while Donata glared before turning back to Evander.
"You should have said, Evander," she hugged him, patting him on the back, "I had no idea, honest."
"It's fine," Evander replied, "Honestly, with something like that I'd prefer not to dwell on it. Donata smiled acceptingly as Evander remembered his idea from the night before. "Hey, so considering I wasn't available for a drink last night, I thought I could make up for it, tonight; us three, The Blown Creeper Inn?"
Rufus nodded approvingly, "Us three, a night out; nothing like it!"
"Definitely!" Donata agreed, "I just need to close up the potions store real quick; I left my aunt in charge to come here."
Rufus and Evander laughed, knowing that Donata's aunt was a little loopy in her old age. "Well, I need to drop all this off, and you'd better change out of that mining gear," Evander joked, motioning to Rufus' dirty clothing.
"Nothing wrong with getting your hands dirty, Evander!" Rufus said, patting his hand, filthy with dust, on Evander's top, leaving a dirty imprint.
"Okay, I'll head up there as soon as I'm done!" Evander chuckled, heading inside and waving his friends off.
That night, Evander, Rufus and Donata sat around a table, bantering and making conversation. As they did, Evander couldn't help but realise how empty this bar was; even when his mother was alive, on a night like this the bar would be full of life and party – now, aside from Evander and his two companions, there was the barman and two other people, sat apart from each other at the bar. It put into perspective for him how empty Birchtown had become, a topic he decided to raise in conversation as Rufus took a sip from his drink.
"Lord, look at this place," Evander said quietly so the barman wouldn't hear his slander, "Remember how it used to be in here, when we were kids?"
"It was a good night," Rufus grinned, foam sticking to his moustache as he lowered his drink.
"But where is everyone?" Evander asked, "I mean, you must have noticed it too, right? The town's notice board is full of missing signs."
"Perhaps the town is cursed," Donata suggested, half-joking. She felt nervous, worried that this may be a touchy subject for Evander, given that his mother was one of those who had mysteriously vanished.
"Something is definitely up," Evander gulped after taking a sip of beer, "I mean, the amount of disappearances over the last three years, it's unnatural for a town like this; don't you think so?" He asked Rufus for confirmation, who was downing the last of his drink before slamming the pint on the table.
"Definitely strange," Rufus stifled a burp, "Yes, it's unusual, alright. I suppose they have the curfew..."
"Which is approaching soon," Donata interrupted, picking up her glass, "Come on, Evander, we really need to finish these drinks."
Evander leaned in to the middle of the table. "I'm telling you, something is up here."
Rufus and Donata looked at each other nervously. "That much is clear, friend; these are dangerous times," Rufus replied, "But what could be causing this, within reason?"
Evander leant back in his seat, slapping his hands on his knees. "I don't know", he said in defeat, "I don't know."
Donata dedicated herself to finishing the rest of her drink as Rufus swung back and forth in his chair. Looking up at the bar, Evander caught the barman staring at him through the corner of his eye before looking back down at the glass bottles he was cleaning. Strange; perhaps their conversation did attract attention, despite his efforts.
"You're right, the curfew's coming up," Evander said, rising from his seat. "Come on, let's walk each other home."
Donata gulped the last few drops of her drink down her throat before slowly standing up. Rufus was quick to follow, waving the barman goodbye as he followed the other two out the door. They made their way to the town centre, lit up by redstone lamps, before making their way over to Donata's Potion Brewery, where she lived in the apartment above.
"Well, this is my stop," Donata slurred her words, "That was a good night, boys, thank you – we'll have to do this again soon!"
She opened the door, staggering through before closing it behind her.
"She always was rubbish at holding her drinks," Rufus joked as he walked away.
"Easy for you to say, with all that experience," Evander bantered, "I swear, you must spend nearly every night in there!"
"Nothing like some good old Minecraftian brew after hard labour!" Rufus exaggerated, flexing his muscles. Evander laughed him off.
"Will you make it home alright?" Evander asked as they approached his cottage.
"Of course!" Rufus replied, "No one messes with Rufus! Good night, friend!"
Rufus disappeared down the gravel path, occasionally revealed by the lampposts. Evander stepped inside, shutting his door behind him and struggling as he walked to his bedroom.
Cassius was woken by a sharp prod to his head. His first night shift, and he had fallen asleep on the walkway that followed the town all the way around its perimeter. Shifting his head up, he could see Ulysses, sword in hand.
"Hope I'm not spoiling your beauty sleep, newbie," Ulysses grunted, "Wake up. This is work."
Cassius climbed to his feet, balancing himself on the stone wall to his left. He yawned as he looked out into the wild; all kind of nasty creatures. He saw a creeper, its long, blocky body held up by its four legs as it quietly crawled along the ground. Further along, there was a gang of skeletons, their decaying, halfway-to-broken bows in hand as they looked around with their eyeless sockets. At the bottom of the wall, there was a horde of zombies, who had picked up the scent of the uninfected Minecraftians sleeping peacefully on the other side. They looked up at Cassius and snarled, their voices gargling. Cassius began walking slowly along the wall, taking in the landscape. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps on the wood behind him made themselves known and turning around, he saw Ulysses, holding up the butt of his iron sword. Cassius quickly sidestepped out of the way as Ulysses brought the sword down, growling upon realising that he was too slow.
"Chief?" Cassius asked nervously, "What are you doing?"
Ulysses laughed to himself, swinging his word through the air at Cassius, who backed away just in time as the tip of the blade sliced through the front of his chainmail chestplate. Cassius quickly drew his stone sword.
"You are no match for a guard of my calibre," Ulysses taunted, "You will need more than that petty thing to out-duel me!"
Ulysses swung again, however Cassius was able to catch the blade with his own. He continued to act defensively as Ulysses swung wildly at him, slowly backing him over to the ladder that led to the walkway. Cassius bared his teeth as he resisted the force of Ulysses' blade, however it was slowly chipping away at his own stone weapon; he could not keep this up for much longer. He heard the sound of feet climbing up the ladder – perhaps someone had noticed the scuffle and decided to intervene?
That they did, however not in Cassius' favour. As Cassius blocked another swing from Ulysses' iron sword, he felt an arm wrap around his neck while a hand moved a bottle into his mouth, forcing its contents down his throat. Ulysses stopped attacking, laughing as he watched Cassius struggle after being let go. Oh God, the pain, it was unbearable! Who was that; more importantly, what was going on here? All questions Cassius did not have the time to find an answer to as he fell to his knees before finally giving in and hitting the cold wood of the walkway.
Cassius woke up in a dimly lit room, the only sources of light coming from redstone torches, placed randomly on the chiselled sandstone walls. His first realisation was that he seemed to have been taken prisoner; his hands were locked by cuffs, held behind his back. Upon his vision clearing, he saw a man tinkering with something across the room from him, unrecognisable at the moment. Cassius mustered the courage to call out at him.
"Hey!" Cassius yelled, "What do you think you're doing? What happened to me?"
The man turned around, dressed elegantly in dark, black robes. Seeing his face, Cassius recognised him instantly; the Birchtown mayor, Maximus, whom he had met upon being conscripted here.
"Do not worry," Maximus said, his dark voice carrying across the room, "You were poisoned; but only a small dose. We just needed something to knock you out."
"Poisoned?" Cassius panted, confused and panicking, "Why would you do such a thing? And why would Chief Guard Ulysses attack me? I was in no wrong!"
Maximus remained silent as he finished whatever it was he was doing and approached Cassius, helping him off the ground. "You have a new job, young man," Maximus said matter-of-factly, "You are going to be mining."
Cassius looked at him, eyes furrowed in shock, "What, all this just to ship me off to the Birchtown Mines?" he shouted. Maximus merely chuckled in response.
"Not quite the town mines, Cassius," he said, leading him through a doorway. "No, this is something else entirely."
The doorway led them into a narrow corridor, barely big enough to fit them in as they squished through, entering an empty room except for a mine-cart which led down a track. Cassius panicked upon seeing a familiar foe; Ulysses, sword holstered, watched Maximus and Cassius as they entered the room.
"You!" Cassius exclaimed, rattling his cuffs, "What's wrong with you?! What have you done?!"
Ulysses unsheathed his sword. "Stay calm, young guard, and I won't have to use this," he motioned to his weapon as Maximus pulled two more mine-carts and placed them on the track. Ulysses sat in the one in the middle, while Maximus sat in the one at the back. "If you would be so kind," Maximus ordered, motioning to the cart at the front. The tunnel once again was dimly lit as it sent the three straight down before ending up in a cave that had been renovated , protecting them from the forces of the dark. In this room, there was a structure made of blocks that Cassius was unfamiliar with; dark, purplish things. Ulysses pulled him out of his mine-cart.
"Your job," Maximus announced, "Is to find a pool of lava, and turn it into this material using a bucket of water." The mayor retrieved a bucket from a nearby chest, also pulling out a marvellous diamond pickaxe, the only time Cassius had seen one in person. His wonder was cut short by a slash; Ulysses, with one swift movement, cut through Cassius' binds, freeing his hands.
"Don't try anything funny, now," Ulysses warned as Cassius took the pickaxe and water from Maximus' hands.
"Follow Ulysses' orders," Maximus said, "He won't hesitate to kill you if you start any trouble."
Ulysses opened an iron door, leading to a cave system. "With me," he grunted, taking Cassius by the arm and pushing him in front. Cassius turned to look at Ulysses, still quite confused about his current situation. "Keep walking," Ulysses commanded. Cassius turned round and walked deeper into the cave, Ulysses staying close behind with his sword drawn as the two carefully made their way over the uneven footing. The deeper they went, the better the young guard understood that he was not the first person to go down this way; the cave walls were dotted with torches, however whether they were placed by Ulysses and Maximus or someone like himself was unclear. The two continued their long, silent journey before eventually reaching a split in their path; one cave had been lit up, while the other one was darker, illuminated only by the torches nearby. Cassius looked to Ulysses.
"Which way?" Cassius asked. Ulysses pointed his sword towards the dark cave. Cassius looked back at the cave before speaking again. "It's dark; I won't be able to see." Ulysses responded by showing him a stack of torches he had brought along.
"I'll place these when it gets dark," he reassured him, "Now come on; no good knight is afraid of the dark, you know that."
Cassius squinted as he walked down the dark path, trying his best to see while Ulysses would periodically place torches behind him. He worried about the dangers of going down this route, knowing that whatever it is that could be waiting for them in the dark, it wouldn't be friendly. As the cave turned left, Cassius could see light reflecting on the walls further down.
"I think there might be something down here," he alerted Ulysses, who turned the corner and squinted as he looked down.
"An astute observation," he replied, "Come on now, get a move on." He prodded Cassius, forcing him along, continuing to light up the areas behind them before reaching the other end of the cave. There was a lava pool, around a dozen blocks in length, with more, unexplored cave behind it, accessible by walking on some stone to the side of the pool; a risky move. "Are you going to use that water or not?"
Cassius pulled out the water bucket, holding it over the pool. "I just pour it in?" he asked for confirmation. Ulysses slowly nodded. Tilting the bucket, water poured out onto the red lava below. Steam filled the air as the water fizzled and Cassius watched as the lava it poured on was replaced by the same dark purple blocks he saw earlier. After emptying the bucket, a large quantity of this material seemed to have formed.
"We haven't got all night," Ulysses asked, looking nervously down the cave, "Quickly; get your pickaxe out and mine."
Grabbing his diamond pickaxe, Cassius held it above his head before swinging down with both hands, cracking into the dark material. He repeated this motion several times over, exasperated that none of it seemed to be breaking off. "How long will this take?" Cassius asked, slightly out of breath.
"Just keep mining," Ulysses said sternly, "Do not stop mining, no matter what". Cassius obeyed, swinging the pickaxe over and over until finally a block of the material broke off. Seeing there was more lava below, Cassius quickly grabbed the material before it fell in. As he readjusted himself to mine another block, he heard a quiet sound from deeper in the cave. It was not obvious what it was exactly, and the cross look Ulysses shot at Cassius when he was about to ask what it was prompted him to ignore it entirely and keep going. His situation was already dangerous enough and he did not want to bother his kidnappers more than he needed to. He continued to mine, looking up every so often as the noises from deeper in the cave grew louder and louder. Secretly, Ulysses began to panic too, noticing that there seemed to be multiple of whatever was making the noise. Eventually, they grew close enough for the sound to be clear, and it was easy to determine what it was; the eerie gurgling, guttural sounds of zombies. The light of the lava pool cast their shadows on the cave wall before they could be seen turning the corner. Cassius broke off another block before looking up, seeing the faces of the horde; twisted, degraded, green-skinned, they bore their teeth and snarled at the two humans on the other side of the pool. They must have been seven or eight in number. Ulysses held his sword out as the zombies noticed the stone path which would grant them access to their prey.
"I will try to hold them off," Ulysses announced and despite his strong voice, Cassius could sense the fear in him, "Remember; do not stop mining." Cassius hesitated, the imminent threat to their lives being of higher priority to him, however Ulysses was too focused on the zombies, slowly staggering over the stones, to care about his hostage. Ulysses cried out, swinging his sword at the zombie closest to him, knocking them into the pool of lava to their side, letting out a final scream as its rotten flesh burned. Cassius watched fearfully as Ulysses tried holding off the horde, noticing that slowly, more and more came from around the corner. After swinging down, a zombie grabbed Ulysses by the arm and holding his neck in his other hand. Ulysses kicked the zombies shin, forcing it to let go, nearly falling into the pool of lava beside him. Ulysses shot a look at Cassius before regaining his footing, sheathing his sword. "I cannot hold them off any longer," he breathed. The two shared a moment of eye contact before Ulysses kicked off, running back down the cave. Cassius eyes widened as the zombies had made their way onto their side of the lava pool, now focusing on the closest living thing to them, Ulysses' footsteps echoing as he ran back up the cave.
"Hey!" Cassius shouted after him angrily, stepping back from the zombies. His mind started racing with plans to get out of his current situation, holding his pickaxe up; his only weapon. When a zombie extended his arm out to him, Cassius swung the pick at it, impaling the arm and removing it entirely as Cassius pulled it away. He butted another in the skull with the bottom of the tool as it staggered head first towards him. Cassius knew that there were too many of them to take on in a fight as he slowly got backed into a corner.
