The ship drew ever nearer and Xephos sat up, pressing his face to the cold, thick glass.
They broke through the rough atmosphere, crunching could be heard as parts of the ship took damage from the dense air. A gas check showed there was barely enough Oxygen in the atmosphere to live on, but oxygen all the same. With an audible 'thud' the ship and its practically ancient landing gear touched the barren landscape and all systems were turned off to save power. Cracking and crumbling with the weight of the ship the ground seemed weak compared to anything they had seen.
The three edged down the platform onto the planet and began walking in search of, well, anything really. Vibrations tickled their feet occasionally; Xephos assumed they were underground springs or volcanoes. They had been walking for several hours before they could see one of the stone structures in the horizon. It seemed to have been carved out very professionally, definitely not natural as it had windows and intricate decorations around what seemed like doorways. As they approached they saw a couple of small people loitering around, they walked up to them to explain the situation but they began backing off very quickly.
One of them shouted in anger and some more people ran out from the stone, house like structures. It wasn't long before Rythian, Xephos and Cynda were surrounded by them. They held pikes and short swords, pointing them toward the three who had done nothing as of yet.
"Who are you?" A gruff voice shouted at them, "And wha'd'ya want?" It added.
Rythian held his arms up, "We came in hope to find some fuel for our ship. We do not want to hurt anyone." He said passively. His voice was wrung with a tone that insured his plea.
"Get out of here monsters. You're not welcome in our lands." He replied forcefully.
The men were only a few inches shorter than Cynda who was the shortest and many had long magnificent beards and helmets with horns on. Their helms were like the stone structures, beautiful and intricate. Many looked very fierce, like a fire sprouting from the metal and copper laced steel but one stood out as a leaders helm. The tallest man had horns that were far larger than the others and was wearing chain steel armour and gold anklets and bracelets designed to look like vines and trunks. He moved toward the front and silenced the others.
"Lower your weapons! They have done nothing for you to approach them like this!" He bellowed at them. They lowered their weapons in shame and took a couple of steps back. The leader faced Xephos and the others,
"I am sorry they have greeted you in this way, it is not usual to get visitors around here." He said calmly.
Rythian was first to respond this time, "We understand, there are no planets for light-years around here, we'd have been lost if we hadn't come across the place."
The man nodded seeming to take it in then paused, he looked up confused, "Wait, you are from another planet?"
"Yes, we came from Minecraftia." Xephos responded. He gestured to Rythian and Cynda, "They are Enderborns and I am prince Xephos from mistral city." He said. He went into no further details about Arabor after Rythian nudged him.
"Notch's beard! Enderborns, my we haven't had new tales of those for millennia." The man said, "Ah excuse me for being rude, my name is Honeydew, Honeydew of Khaz Modan the great dwarf city." He added. Upon speaking of his home the other dwarves around him cheered.
"I'll take you to the lower levels, many will want to hear your stories young prince."
So Honeydew lead the three into one of the stone structures which tunred out to be a massive staircase with carvings of dragons and dwarves warriors carved into the sides. They became more and more frequent as the walked down nigh a hundred flights of stairs until they stopped altogether. The stairs continued downwards but there was an entrance to a tunnel.
Cynda looked down rather than follow the others into the tunnel, "What's down there?" She asked curiously.
Honeydew turned and looked at her as she leaned over the edge of the stairs, "The mines, be careful you don't fall you'd kill yourself." He warned.
Xephos chuckled under his breath at the irony, Rythian looked at him strangely as if demanding an answer, "It'd take a bit more than that to kill her." He whispered.
Rythian laughed and looked at Cynda who had started walking towards them, so did Xephos and Honeydew. Rythian gave Xephos a look and they both burst out laughing, Cynda looked at Honeydew who just shrugged.
"What are you two laughing at?" She demanded.
"Nothing." The two replied in sync and they followed Honeydew once again down the dim tunnels lit up occasionally by oil lamps.