Chapter 13
Memories of Days Past
An endless sea of blue, changed only by the occasional cloud. Nothing was here, yet everything was here. Because there was nowhere else...
...was there?
A young woman floated here, in this endless mass of nothing. She couldn't remember how she got there - well, actually, she didn't remember anything. What was interesting was the fact that she knew language, and had the nagging feeling that she knew facts she didn't know how she learned.
"Hello?" She called out into the empty sky. "Is... anyone out there?"
She didn't expect the disembodied voice. A voice, neither male nor female, called out through the sea of blue: "What is your name, young one?"
... she couldn't remember. Nothing came to her when she tried to remember her name, not even a single clue.
On the bright side, she had freedom over her name. The disembodied voice huffed.
"I can see your future, O goddess of wisdom. You certainly wouldn't take this long to say your name."
Goddess of Wisdom?
Maybe... a clue? Her name began to form in her head, one that really made no sense whatsoever. She raised her head to the general direction of upwards, and spoke her name.
BanjoNote: What is this? Story before the BanjoNote? Unheard of!
If this chapter comes out a bit later then usual, my apologies. For my upcoming 16th birthday, I got a new PC, which kinda puts a halt on typing to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps. It's a great game, made by the God of Video Games. It's also the only game to ever make me cry.
It's an excuse. Don't look too hard into it.
Anyways, this is my favourite chapter planned in the Broken Arc! Hopefully, It'll be a longer chapter, since it's gonna be mostly Backstory. Of who? I think y'all know.
Also... I've been writing my ass off here. So... I am equally sad yet happy to announce that at the end of the Broken Arc, I will be taking a Hiatus. That's September 19th to... oh. I would be returning on Halloween.
Actually, fits for the next arc.
Anyways, here's the first of three backstory chapters in Update: Pillage!
[Athara]
I woke up like a fish: Thrashing and gasping for air. It took me a second to calm down, breathing in and out steadily and slowly. I slid off my bed and looked into the cauldron, at my reflection in the water.
I brushed my shoulder length hair behind my ears, and heard the door open beside me. I turned to see Sileeno writing in a book.
He looked up from the pages and nodded. "You have been asleep for a long time. It's approximately eight thirty-four am, which is two hours and four minutes later then usual. Flashbacks?"
I sighed, exasperated. "Yes. I'll be fine. Are you all packed up?"
He raised his goggles. "I was not the one who slept in. If today is one of the days-"
"-then I can't help it, can I?" I shot back. "Look, these only happen a day at a time. I'll be fine by the time the Pillagers arrive."
"And the Griefers." He watched as I flinched slightly. "Was your name in the flashback?"
I shot him a dark look. "My name is Athara. That's what it is now, that's what it'll stay as. Let's get moving."
With that, I pushed past Sileeno and grabbed my bow from the item frame and looked down at it.
Oathbow. That's what the bow was called. It was ornately carved, with gold lacing trailing white wood, made in the Tinker's Forge in the Spine to make it have infinite durability.
Given to me by one Griefer.
I shook the memory out of my head and walked out into the outdoors, breathing in the early morning air. Sileeno walked out beside me and handed me a loaf of bread, because my husband has the worst sense of what should be eaten for breakfast.
I put it in my belt for later, and rolled my eyes as he pulled out An Advanced Guide to Redstone, Volume 87. The book probably had a title, but my brain censored it to random letters. Or maybe it was just random letters.
"You've probably memorized all hundred volumes of those books, Sky." I sighed. He looked at me and shifted his goggles.
"Why do you practice with a bow if you are the best archer in Minecraftia?" He asked, stumping me. "One's memory may lose it's capacity at any time. After all, I am a hundred years of age, and you are ninety-two, turning ninety-three in two months!"
"Don't remind me," I mumbled. "I hate that humans live as long as we do."
Sileeno shrugged. "It was not my decision. Blame whoever made Minecraftia."
I flipped the bird to the sky, and walked towards the gates of Lafor, more grumpy than Grumpy the dwarf.
Crack-OOM!
Naturally, as soon as we walked out of the city, it had to storm. Today really wasn't going my way.
I trudged onwards, not giving the rain a second thought. Behind me, Sileeno mumbled angrily and put his book away.
"I can not read in this weather." He complained. "The pages will get wet, and-"
"Pages don't get wet in Minecraftia, Sky." I sighed. He gave me a dark look, which wasn't very intimidating, as it was Sileeno giving me that look. I gave him one of my own, and his expression changed back.
I looked at our surroundings, looking for shelter to rest for a bit. Eventually, my eyes rested on a little cave near a small pond. I started to it, then stumbled.
Shelter from a storm... just like that day. I fell to a knee, blinking black spots out of my eyes. I faintly heard Sileeno calling to me, and I tipped to the side.
[Griefer]
She huddled inside her cave, wrapping her scarf around her neck. A storm was whipping ferociously outside, bombarding her even from this far into the cave.
A crashed of lighting echoed across this small isle she found herself on, followed by three cursing voices. The woman, wary, stepped behind a large rock and pushed her long red hair back, hiding it from view of the two boats that washed in.
Three guys stepped out, all clad in metal plate and holding swords with made of various materials. The one in front stuck out the most, being the most heavily muscled and holding a bright blue blade. He was bald, but his ginger beard was so scraggly and large that it made up for the bald cap. He motioned for the other two to move in further.
He kneeled down, investigating the sand, where she had left a trail of barely visible footprints leading to her hiding spot. He looked up at her rock and put his sword away.
"Alright, miss." He sighed. "Step out from the rocks. We're not going to hurt you."
Trapped with no way out, she stepped out from her hiding place. The man blinked, looking at her.
"Oh."
"Oh?" She asked, confused. The man stuck out a hand.
"I know the look of a warrior anywhere. The name's - well, you can call me Cer. With a C, not a K."
Surprised, she shook Cer's hand. "Why-" She cleared her throat. "Why are you so..."
"Friendly?" Cer suggested. "Well, we might be thieves, mercenaries and looters, but I can tell friend to foe." He gestured to her. "Despite your fiery eyes, I can tell that you mean no harm. You have a spark to fight. I respect that, as a warrior."
She stepped back nervously, giving the group a nervous chuckle. "I'm no fighter. I can't swing a sword-"
Cer reached into a pouch in his belt and pulled out a bow, to her surprise. He tested the string, then handed it to the woman, who blinked.
She gripped it in her hand, pulling the string back. She reached into her belt, pulling out an arrow she found on the ground one day at dawn. She nocked the arrow, pointed past Cer, and fired. The arrow whistled out of the cave, narrowly missing one of the men who was hanging back. He gave the woman a scowl.
"You're just going to give her, a random girl in a cave, a weapon?" He complained. Cer looked at her. "What's your name, lady?"
She frowned. She didn't trust them enough to give them her name, but she had to give them something. She nodded and answered "Call me Equara."
Cer gave the dude a smug smile. "Well, Equara, I'm not forcing you to come with us, but I can train you-"
"-yes." She interupted.
It was an an automatic thing. There wasn't really a thought, it was a feeling. The bow felt right in her hand, unlike the other weapons she tried- a sword, a stick, a fern.
She was desperate that last time.
Cer smirked and patted a hand on her shoulder.
"Welcome to this small group of Griefers, Equara."
[Athara]
Equara.
A name she used over eight decades ago. The name she used when she joined the Griefers.
The name she used in Quersit.
She had long since used the name Athara.
Sileeno had dragged me into the cave, leaning her on a wall. I looked around for him, finding him sitting on a rock with his book in his hand. He looked over, closed his book, and slid off his seat.
"You sure you are okay to go to Ki'sann?" He asked, concerned. I rubbed my head.
"It's not like we're going to fight, Sky. How long was I out?"
He pondered the question. "Ten minutes and thirty six seconds, approximately."
I sighed. "It doesn't have to be that exact. Besides, how the fuck did you know that?"
"It just comes naturally."
"Naturally, my ass." I retorted, opening up a map. I looked at the location of Ki'sann, which was still another three or so hours from our position. Putting the map away, I stuck a hand outside the cave and was satisfied when it was still raining.
Sileeno must've seen my expression, because his darkened. "We could not just wait untill rainfall is over?"
"It's couldn't," I corrected him. "And the rain can drown any sound you'll make."
He rolled his eyes, despite my angry look. "You do not have to emphasize that you're sneakier then me. And the fact that words can be shortened by practicing mixing two of them together. Words were made for a reason!"
"That's... whatever." I gave up on this decades old arguement and stepped out into the rain, Sileeno grumbling behind me.
In other words, a typical day in Minecraftia.
I stopped in my tracks, taking out my bow. Sileeno frowned and pulled out a stack of TnT, a button in his other hand. I nocked an arrow and aimed it toward the faint sounds of footsteps to my left.
A man stepped out of the forest in black leather armour. He raised a sword and charged at me, with two others running up behind him. I kneeled down and fired the arrow into his knee, causing him to fall straight on his face, sliding through the wet mud.
Sileeno quickly built a line of redstone, placed a TnT block, and ignited it with a quick button. The man on the ground rolled over to the side, but I kicked him back into the blast area, sending him flying into a tree. The other two looked at each other and back at us.
"Well," one of them muttered. "We chose the wrong people."
"Yes, but you're in too deep." I stated, spinning around and throwing my obsidian dagger, nailing him in the stomach. The other guy ran at me, and I stood to meet him. He swung his sword at me, and I crouched under the attack, firing an arrow in his arm. I flipped over to the man with my dagger, ripping it out of his chest and kicking him off, slamming him into a tree.
Turning to the other one, he swung his sword horizontally. My eyes narrowed, and I deflected his attack, switching to my left hand. When his sword came around at an upwards angle, I knocked it upwards and stabbed him in the gut. He staggered back, and I nailed him in the head with the end of the dagger, promptly knocking him out.
I fell to one knee, a sudden headache taking over me. Sileeno looked over to me and sighed.
"Well, I suppose you should-" He started, right as I removed the veil between past and present.
[Huntress]
Thwip! Thwip!
Arrow after arrow, firing faster than the eye could see. Cer watched in amazement as Equara, after a year of practice, aced a bullseye in all eight targets, in the span of- well, it was hard to count. Sometime within a minute.
Over the year, Equara had put on a more comfortable, if not modern, look. Instead of looking straight out of the pages of a fantasy book, she sported jean shorts, sneakers, and a red t-shirt that was partially ripped from wrapping a wound from a skeleton. It looked more like a deformed crop top, but less... inappropriate. She sometimes had a trench coat over that outfit, but today was a microwave.
She put her bow away and gave Cer a small smile. Her arms felt like boiled noodles after firing that rapidly, but she did get the job done.
Of everyone in this little troupe, Cer wasn't really a 'Brother'. He was the oldest, as was revealed by his now fully white beard. He was more like the 'Father' looking over a group of four rag-tag children. Equara looked over their newest member, Kat_Kin, to reduce the stress of leadership. Besides, Equara and Kat were the closest to each to each other. Jokingly called the twins of the family.
Cer laughed, snapping Equara to the present.
"When you said you were practicing, I thought maybe. But... this is insane! You've got to be among the top archers in the world!"
She gave Cer a sly smile. "No killing, of course."
"Oh, of course not. Take only what you need."
The two basic tenets of Griefer society- never kill, and steal what you need. Others also have lives, and by taking theirs, you aren't making yours better.
Why?
That's one less person to steal from in the future!
Out in the Birch forest of Han'li, this group had most of the things needed for survival. They spent most of their days honing the skills they had - Herobrine knows she did.
"I, uh, have actually been practicing with this." She held up a black dagger. "It's quick, and I can throw it. I think it's just my style."
Cer frowned. "I thought you didn't like getting up close? The point of being an archer is to stay far."
Equara nodded. "It is, but what if someone manages to get close to me? I need to fend them off, don't I?"
Cer pulled out his sword and charged her, with no warning. She combat instincts kicked in, and she dodged his first attack. She ducked under his next swing, getting under him and stabbing him in the ankle. He stumbled, off-balance, and Equara kicked him away.
Cer stabbed his sword in the ground, stabilizing himself and jabbed at Equara once he could stand without his sword. She flipped to the side, unnecessarily dramatic, and backflipped with her bow in hand. Mid-air, she fired an arrow into his stomach, but it was blocked by the armour. She landed on the ground, Iron-man posed, and blew her hair from her eyes.
Then again, when it fell back down. Eventually, she stood up and combed her hair back with her hand, only to get slammed to the ground by Cer.
"Keep your guard up." Cer told her, stretching a hand down. When she went to grab it, he pulled it back and kept walking.
"Bitch." She muttered. Without thinking, she chucked the dagger at Cer, with sailed past him and cut a gash at the side of his head. He stopped, and turned towards her.
She didn't know what she was expecting from him, but she said "Keep your guard up. Those are your words, are they not?"
"You dare use my own spells against me, Equara?" Cer asked, only to get shot in the knee with an arrow.
He pulled the arrow out and watch as it despawned in his hand. He smiled, and gave a hand to Equara, who frowned and stood up of her own accord.
"That's my little Huntress." He said enthusiastically. "You'll be the greatest Human to live yet, I can tell. Now shoo- I think Kat wanted to see you."
Cer leaned down and picked up the dagger. "I'll practice with this. Oh, and Redonath is coming next week, so-"
Equara groaned, but nodded. "I'll be there."
[Athara]
I was really going to have a vendetta against caves after this journey, because this was the second time I woke up in one.
Sileeno looked outside, sulking just inside the cave entrance. He had changed his hair to a more curly look, because he says that it felt better in the rain.
I cut my hair to shoulder length because it reminded me of a past I can't forget.
"Sileeno?" I called, making him look over. Sighing, he trudged back to me.
"Athara, there's something I need to tell you. Concerning your flashbacks, or blackouts, or whatever you call them."
"I-" I stopped on my tracks, realizing he shortened a word. That's never a good sign.
"Your flashbacks... we assumed it was medical. We assumed it was just a backlash of the events ninety years ago."
"And...?" I asked, not getting the point.
He sighed. "Don't you think it is strange that you only get these memories during this time of year? Same month? Same memories?"
"No...?" I was failing to see the point.
He huffed. "Some outside force is tempering with your emotions, trying to break you. The day you came to Lafor, you killed someone."
I looked down. "Aidan_Heo. He was alone, and-"
"-you snapped." Sileeno finished. "When we get to Lafor, I need to get a look into this force. I've never seen anything like it before."
I stood up. "Well, we aren't getting their any time sooner. We need to get moving - we've lost too much time. By now, it'll be midnight by the time we get back from Ki'sann."
The first thing to come to us was the smell of smoke, followed by two faint voices. I ducked behind a tree in instinct and gestured Sileeno to do the same. He stumbled behind a different tree and flattened himself against the bark.
Rolling my eyes, I peered over the side of the tree to see our two talkers. The voices came louder, until I heard a familiar female voice say "...not here. They must've escaped to the Jewel."
An unfamiliar female voice replied "I hate that codename. Everyone knows it's Lafor, thanks to Equara."
Sileeno looked at me and mouthed Kat_Kin?
I nodded, dreading this encounter. Kat, the female, replied with "Well, I would say Equara-"
I nearly missed the next point of the conversations, but I managed to keep my cool long enough.
"Still defending your tutor? She left us, Kat. If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd go with her."
I stepped out from behind my tree, an arrow nocked. "I wouldn't complain."
The two Griefers spun to meet me. The two girls stepped back in surprise.
The first one was unknown to me- black armour, blonde hair, blue eyes, and holding a sword. Imagine the most fake, teenage girl you could think of.
The next one was all too familiar, even after 90 years. Kat stood in front of me, her brown braid, hazel eyes, and chainmail armour. She wore a black hoodie, jeans, and hiking boots. In her hand was a bow.
The blonde stepped back, but I trained my bow on her. "Want to see how far I can shoot?" I snarled. "Go ahead and run."
Sileeno stepped behind me. "Athara-"
"Be quiet, Sileeno." I muttered. The blonde looked between me and Kat, swallowing. Kat look at me with a stunned look.
"What are you looking at?" The blonde asked, shaking Kat. "Let's get moving. She won't kill us."
I gave her a smile. "Think again, plastic girl. I have an arrow that can instantly kill, kudos to my husband."
Sileeno let out a strangled yelp. "What?"
I took out a glowing purple arrow and switched the arrows on my string. "You doubt me? Go ahead. Run."
I was surprised when she did, but it didn't matter. I let loose the levitate arrow, nailing her in the head. She fell down, and started to fly upwards. Sileeno fell to his knees.
"I was going to use that arrow for testing!" He complained. I sighed and looked and Kat.
And my entire world tipped to the side.
BanjoNote: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
First of all, I apologize for the late chapter. This chapter... goddamnit, it had to spill into my next chapter, which is another great chapter. Focused on Alex! We've had a Gimero Chapter, an Athara chapter, and soon we'll have an Alex chapter! Note that it won't be exclusive to Alex's perspective, but it's going to be a big moment for her.
Next Chapter: Fateful! Until then, Read, Review, Favourite and Follow! And, as always, Banjo-on!