BanjoNote: In a world unknown, a new hero awakens.This is Chapter 2: Redux. Not much was changed, but it's a short chapter.

BanjoMano Does Not Own Minecraft. Must more be said?

[Alex]

Who am I?

This thought, this tiny, insignificant thought, was the beginning of my existence. Somehow, I knew that, even though I had no clue what was going on. Several other... answers crossed my thoughts – I knew that my "code", my life force, was being created. I was being added to the world, almost like a... like a download. Where are these words coming from?

Another thought passed my mind. Alex...

A word... a name? Alex was surely a name, gender fluid at that. I knew I was female, and...

"GOD DAMN IT!" I screamed angrily, not even sure why I was angry. I felt the air around me ripple, like something dropped in water. I felt myself bounce around, and finally I saw the world start to shape around me. Then the laws of the world also took effect on me.

In other words, I was hurtling towards a canopy of treetops.

I fell out of the sky and straight into a bundle of leaves. Groaning, I attempted to sit up. Once I did, my branch cushion broke, and I fell on top of a pig. Rolling off of the muddy animal, I stood up and brushed myself off. Snorting, the pig walked away, leaving a stench that I would rather forget.

I appeared, not surprisingly, to be in a forest. To one side, a grey brick road trailed nonstop. To my other side, the forest was beautiful, with sunlight pouring though the leaves, and flowers were rife in this area. However, I heard a song coming from the road.

"Your one true loves a flying ship

That anchors in our pier

We type her commands, we craft her decks

We wipe the Creepers clear!

And yes, our Redstone shines for her

And yes, our skies are warm,

So, when we steer her into the depths

Any port in a storm!

The Villagers stand on the dock

The Crafters stand in line

As violent as the Nether

As rich as the Spine!

For all the Village loves her

And flock to where she's moored

Each man hoping that he'll

Go down, all hands-on board!"

"Excuse me!"

I stepped out into the road, and saw a man wearing a white shirt and a blue overcoat, and a matching blue backpack. His beige pants were stuffed into a pair of army boots. His skin was the colour was a dark brown, which contrasted the colour of what he was riding.

A llama. A white llama, with a blue saddle. Behind him was another llama, but this one had a brown fur coat. Whoever this man is, he really likes the colour blue. He stopped, looked at me, and slid off his mount. "Hey there!"

Frowning, I walked up to him. "You seem very… eager to meet a stranger you just met. Why?"

"It's kind of my job. I'm a trader, see, and people don't… you know, buy your stuff when you aren't eager about selling it."

"I... ok." I nodded, still confused but less then I was before.

The man posture relaxed a bit. "I suppose I should introduce myself. My, uh, name is Gimero. Yours?" He extended a hand.

I shook his hand gently and said "Alex. It's, uh, nice to meet you, Gimero."

Gimero looked around. "You seem to be alone around here. Are you a lone villager?"

"It's hard to explain, I guess. I've not been around long." I said, confused. Gimero nodded as if there was nothing abnormal about this. He whistled loudly, and another llama walked out of the woods.

"You need a guide? I'm currently on my way to Lafor. That where you heading?"

I shrugged. "I... guess? My area knowledge is quite minimal, honestly. Is Lafor that far from here? What even is Lafor?"

"It's a city, lies in the middle of the plains." Gimero replied. Pondering the first question, he muttered "Uh... give me a second." He turned to his first llama and opened a pouch. Pulling out an old and crinkly sheet of paper, he shrugged and explained "I kinda just... started with this. It's really old, so I don't quite know how accurate this is."

He offered the paper to me. Taking it, I looked at the surrounding area. The map only showed forest for miles around. "Seems to be forest all around. Are the plains like, I don't know, north or whatever?"

Gimero raised an eyebrow. "North or whatever?"

"Look, I've been around for about 15 minutes. I don't even know what I am!"

He chuckled slightly, then hopped onto the first llama. Gesturing to the second llama, he said "You're what we in Minecraftia call a villager. Although..." his facial expression darkened. "The 14th update did- y'know what? Forget I said anything. Off we go!"

Giving him a curious look, I climbed on to the back of the other llama and looked at the map. Gimero had been heading west along the road. Weirdly, the map seemed to have a silver marker for where I was. Doing my soon-to-be signature shrug, I rolled the map up and placed it into my brown leather belt. Gimero headed off, and I followed him into an unknown world.

It didn't take long to encounter trouble. We travelled down the road for about an hour on our llamas (Who Gimero introduced as Simeron and Tina) before we met up with a man on a small cobble bridge, wearing a full set of black armour. Stabbed into the ground beside him was a sword made of iron, or steel. One of those white-grey metals. His hands crossed over his chest, he said gruffly "Pay the toll, or no passage."

Gimero swallowed audibly, and asked "How much?". He opened up a pouch in his belt and looked inside. The man smiled under his black helmet and said "Depends. Rich man like you? 50 emeralds."

I bit back a look of surprise and said "Whoa, whoa. Isn't that a bit much? Who even owns this bridge?"

He snarled at me. "Ain't none of your business, woman! Stay out of this!". Gimero shrugged at me and withdrew a single emerald- and was that a number beside it? The number read 50.

Reaching his hand out, Gimero started to hand over the emeralds. I slid off my llama and looked in my belt. I pulled out the deadliest thing in there – the map – and pointed it at the man. "Listen, I may not be the most, uh, frightening, but this is thievery! You can't jus-"

He snorted and pulled out his sword. "You think I'm gonna be merciful to people like you? If you wanna go, then-"

With a burst of speed, I slammed into him with all my strength. He staggered back, and I felt a surge of... is power the right word? I felt physically stronger, that was for sure. Recovering, he raised his sword and swung downwards.

I caught his arm and turned around. With a grunt, I judo-flipped him off the bridge. Grabbing the ledge, he glanced up at me and muttered "You're a Crafter?"

I gave him a curious look, but jumped back onto Simeron. Gimero gave me a look that was a mixture of surprise and curiosity. Shrugging, he took a wide berth from the man on the edge, and I followed.

But one thought passed my mind.

The hell is a Crafter?

Next chapter is the beginning of the Road to Pillage arc. Longer then this Chapter?

Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as Always, Banjo-On!