Hey ya'll, it's Ender! I hope you're having a great day and I hope to make it even better with this new chapter! 1,305 words this chapter. NOTE: I don't own Minecraft, Mianite, any YouTubers mentioned, and really, I don't own anything except this story.
Chapter 6
It was funny how much Richard had changed in just a year.
Not only was he taller and leaner, but he was a lot more melancholy and quiet. He didn't try to help the animals anymore, but he flinched whenever he walked by some poor forest animal that was injured or dying. Richard could still hear them – still hear their voices – but he couldn't do anything about it.
'Help me! Please! My – my foot is caught!'
'It hurts…. Why… does it hurt… so much…?'
'Please, sir, you have to help me! I can't find enough food! My children are starving! Please!'
Richard swallowed, staring down at the ground. He couldn't pretend that the animals' pleas weren't there; they were, and it was so difficult to ignore them. He knew that would just make his father angry if he helped them.
"What is wrong with you today Richard?" His father asked curiously, glancing back. Richard wordlessly shook his head, not wanting to get punished for 'lying', even if he was telling the truth. "Hey, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."
"If I told you, then you wouldn't believe me," Richard whispered.
"Oh really?" His father murmured. "What would it be about? The animals again? Richard, I told you to stop that nonsense."
"But it's not!" Richard protested. "Honest to Notch, I can hear them! I'm not lying!"
"Enough, Richard," His father snarled. "I've had enough. I thought you knew better."
"Fine," Richard swallowed. "If that's really what you want, then goodbye. I'm leaving. You clearly don't want me around."
"Now wait just a second," Richard's father narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that I don't want to be accused of lying when I'm telling the truth. I'm done with you. I'm done with this. You said yourself that something was different about me, but you refused to accept that my ability to hear and talk to animals was that. So I'm going, and I'm not coming back," Richard said determinedly, feeling his courage grow as he finished his little speech.
His father's face turned pale and he stared at Richard in shock. Richard didn't wait for a response – he turned and stalked quickly off the path into the woods, not looking back. He wasn't a liar and he didn't want to be called a liar.
"Wait!" Richard walked slightly faster when he heard his father call out behind him. There was no turning back now. What had been done was done. Defeat was not an option. Submission was the worst possible decision. Surviving alone was the only way.
Richard walked until nightfall, unsure of where he was going, but obeying his instinct nonetheless. A few whippoorwills started singing – singing about long cold winters, and the sorrows they bring.
Richard paused for a moment and listened to the whippoorwills' songs. Then he took a deep breath and joined in with a song of his own.
"Oh how, the whippoorwill cries
He sings of a sorrow to come
Oh how, the whippoorwill flies
He knows of a winter to come
X
He sings his song to warn today
Of frost-white flakes and bitter cold
He sings his song, then flies away
To the southerly lands of old
X
Oh how, the whippoorwill cries
He sings of a sorrow to come
Oh how, the whippoorwill flies
He knows of a winter to come
X
He stays in this land 'till the first snow falls
He warns his friends with his mournful song
Why does he bother singing at all?
Why does he stay in this land so long?
X
Oh how, the whippoorwill cries
He sings of a sorrow to come
Oh how, the whippoorwill flies
He knows of a winter to come."
Richard watched as the whippoorwills slowly stopped singing to listen to his own sad, sweet song. By the time he had finished, not a single bird was joining in – they had just been listening to him.
"Please, sing some more for us, young sir," A young whippoorwill chirped excitedly, ruffling his feathers. "Please, sing."
"Yes, sing!" The other whippoorwills started clamoring for Richard to sing more, hopping up and down on the branches and flapping their wings. Richard smiled faintly and tried to think of another song for the birds. Coming up with none, he decided to just create his own right there.
"In the moonlight, in the moonlight
A young elf dances in the moonlight
Spirits watch with a loving smile
The young elf dancing in the moonlight
X
Her dress is gossamer, her eyes glint crystal blue
Her silver-blond hair is speckled with flowers
She picked those flowers in the dawn of the day
Now awakens in the moonlight her powers
X
She dances with a gracefulness, and sings with a peacefulness
That rivals that of young does, that rivals that of birdsong
The spirits wake to watch her, to praise and adore her
She has been dancing, dancing for so long
X
In the moonlight, in the moonlight
A young elf dances in the moonlight
Spirits watch with a loving smile
The young elf dancing in the moonlight."
The whippoorwills were stunned into complete silence by the time Richard ended the second song. They didn't even ask for more, they just stared at him with their wide, dark eyes filled with awe.
"Do you have any songs for me now?" Richard asked softly, staring up at the multitudes of brown-feathered birds that were perched in the trees, watching him. "I want to hear you sing too."
One of the larger whippoorwills hopped a bit on her branch, then puffed out her chest and began to sing. The others followed suit, joining in and singing at different pitches to create a beautiful, melodious tune.
"They say a spring breeze carries
Away the winter cold
And brings in new life
To replace the old
X
They say a summer breeze takes
Away the raindrops
And gives us warmth
And grows our crops
X
They say an autumn breeze steals
Away the laughter
And paints the trees
With colours after
X
They say a winter breeze tears
Away the snowflakes
And coats the ground
And ices the lakes
X
They say a season's breeze
Reflects the hearts that feel them
From falling leaves, to falling flakes
From golden wheat, to flower's stem."
The whippoorwills began to sing it a second time through and this time, Richard joined in. He sang in human tongue, starting soft, but growing louder as more birds joined in the song.
"Hey!" Richard abruptly stopped singing and whipped around, searching for the source of the voice with wide frantic eyes. The whippoorwills' voices died off, as though they sensed Richard's moment of panic. "What are you doing out here?"
Three other boys, probably a little older than him, emerged from the trees. In the lead was a tall, scrawny boy who looked about fourteen with shaggy black hair and faintly glowing silver eyes. Then there was another boy who had the hood of his cloak pulled over his face, even though his diamond-coloured eyes shone out brightly. Lastly, the tallest boy, who looked about fifteen or sixteen, had dark brown hair and solid green eyes.
"Hi! I'm James, and this is Tom and Chase," The boy in the lead introduced himself and his friends behind him. "What's your name?"
Richard hesitated to tell these new people his name. What if they weren't friendly? What if they would hurt him?
"Be brave," The large whippoorwill from earlier chirped at Richard. "Use your creativity. Think of a name to tell them if you don't want to use your own."
Finally, after another moment's worth of hesitation, Richard took a deep breath and turned to face James.
"My name," He said slowly, and slightly cautiously, "Is User."
So much singing... and User meets what is the beginning of the Fyre group! (For more backstory on how the Fyre group came together, see TWC)
Random Observation: Sunday morning - I had never held a saxophone in my life. Sunday night - I was putting music to the second song this chapter playing - you guessed it - an alto saxophone. I have NEVER picked up on how to play an instrument so fast before! XD
DiamondScribe: ONE MORE DAY NOW! *sings* One more day, until chap-ter seven!
RusYRP: You're ready for more? Then be prepared for a little surprise on Monday... ;)
OstrichLord4Lyfe: LOL! XD Spanish keyboard FTW!
TUCITC: You actually had me legitimately worried... XD. No joke, I was checking User's Twitter to see if he actually HAD said anything about reading the Mianite Collection! And I'm going to take a nab at this - you're actually Ianitethecookie! Good to see you back, if you are, which I am pretty sure of!
MyBrokenHeart123: I've only been watching Mianite through Wag and Dec, and I was watching FyreUK livestream it. But they won't start livestreaming Mianite again until the 23rd... which is conveniently the day this story ends!