Chapter 3

"Seeing as how time is of essence here," it began, "I will do my best to give a brief version of the story.

"We 'hostiles' spawn without the type of consciousness that you humans have. We do not usually possess a sense of right and wrong; instead, we thrive on two things to survive: pure instinct and a single command - the command to kill. But it's not just humans that we are told to kill.

"You do not know this, but those born with a consciousness are constantly surrounded by a wall of energy… an aura, if you will. Humans cannot see this aura because it is a natural thing for them to have. For us hostiles, however, it is against our very way of life to let such things exist; therefore, from the beginning of time, we were told to exterminate any beings with the aura, and in a desire to aid our quest we were given the ability to see the aura itself."

It paused for a moment, allowing this revelation to sink into Steve's mind. He instinctively bit his lip and winced, realizing he had been chewing on it the entire time. "So I have an 'aura', as you said?"

"Correct."

"And you can see it?"

The creeper nodded. "I can."

"What does it look like?"

The creeper peered at him with a strange look on its face, making him feel more than a bit uncomfortable. "Imagine an electric wave of water, as blue as the ocean and as bright as the morning sun, swirling around you like a thick cloud of smoke. That is what I see. Of course…" It paused and tipped its head to one side. "Yours is noticeably brighter than…"

Steve blinked. "Than what?"

"…Than mine."

"Wait, what?" Just as soon as he was beginning to understand what the creeper was saying, that grasp of knowledge suddenly slipped away from him. "I thought you said that hostiles don't have an aura - you're a hostile."

"That I am," it agreed, "but at the same time, I am different.

"You see, I spawned in the protected shade of a forest one especially dark night, just like a normal creeper would. But from my very first thought, I could tell that there was something… abnormal about me. It wasn't some sort of major physical defect or anything; it was more of a feeling I had. I didn't have the urge to seek out the aura possessors and kill them - far from it. I had no intention of doing anything to harm anyone. But that wasn't all.

"Apart from any reports of aura sightings, we hostiles usually just ignore one another; however, one by one, those who were also in the forest I spawned in found their eyes drawn to me - I can still remember the shocked expression on their faces. And then that expression contorted into one of hate… and loathing." It shuddered as it recalled the event. "They formed a line in front of me and began to close in, almost as if they were planning to attack. 'But why?' I wondered. They weren't supposed to attack one of their own; only the aura-possessed were to be killed. But then I thought of something…

"What if humans weren't the only ones who could possess an aura?"

Steve felt chills run down his spine in spite of himself. The question hung in the air like a dense fog, refusing to leave even when the creeper continued his story.

"I needed to find out if my suspicions were really true, so I turned and ran as fast as I possibly could until I hit a river. The moon shined upon its clear waters as I examined my distorted reflection, and a hostile's worst fear was brought to life. That same wispy, blue ring of light that was being sought after in this world outlined my entire body, and I realized that I was no longer the hunter but the hunted… excuse that overused line… it seemed only fitting.

"Anyway, that night I began an exhausting, deadly game of hide-and-seek, constantly hiding in fear of being found and slaughtered. There were many close calls had and many sleepless nights spent, where I would ponder my next move.

"The only comfort I found in having an aura was having actual intelligence. I could feel real emotions. I could think for myself. I could actually outsmart my enemies' movements with real wits, not just by a given order from an invisible commander. I almost felt, dare I say, like a human - like you. Of course, what I know about humans is little, but I know enough to say that you can do some wonderful things.

"But I apologize; I'm getting off track! I haven't even told you my real reason for coming here.

"It was just a few days ago when it happened; I was being chased after by a couple of skeletal archers across a seemingly endless field. It was dark and quite difficult to see anything, which explains why I didn't see the large hole in the ground. I fell right into it, scraping myself on its rocky, jagged sides along the way." It winced for effect. "When I came to, my head was bleeding from a nasty cut I assume I received on the way down. The loss of blood made me dizzy and blurred my vision, but I could still see that I was in some sort of cavern… a man-made one."

Steve's heart lurched in his chest. Did this mean that there had been other humans in the past?

The creeper continued. "I was relieved to see that the torches along the walls still glowed with a faint light, making it impossible for hostiles to spawn in the area; I was safe for the moment.

"Looking closer at the walls, I saw that symbols had been meticulously etched into them at one point in time. My eyes followed them along one wall until they reached a corner, where a shrine had been set up. It was a peculiar-looking thing, consisting of a large stone with a scarlet cloth resting on it; on top of the cloth there lay a small, circular stone, dark blue in color. It was perfectly polished and very beautiful; I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

"Suddenly, it began to emit a glow, and I heard a voice coming from within it. It uttered the same message I revealed to you and then fell silent."

There is great evil afoot, far beneath the crust of the earth… where the dark things lie. The wicked shall rise up and overthrow the fair. The world is doomed to die. Steve recalled the words in his mind and nodded. For some reason, he was beginning to believe the creeper.

"I didn't believe that there was really a voice coming from the stone at first," it said hesitantly, "but then yet another bizarre thing happened. I heard a low rumbling sound, and the cavern itself began to shake as if a great earthquake had struck. I whirled around, only to find that the symbols on the walls were now glowing - and morphing!

"When the trembling of the earth subsided, I saw to my surprise that the symbols were no longer symbols; they were letters - letters of your language. And what was even more odd was the fact that I could read and understand those letters! What I read was simply this:

"Find the human."

"Oh my…" Find the human? What did it mean? "So you came to me?"

"Yes. It took a few days of careful hitchhiking, but I eventually saw the light coming from your house and thanked the Higher Ones that my journey was finally over. I have found you, human, and I now ask for your help in vanquishing this unknown evil. I am still mightily confused from all that has happened in the past few days, and many of the pieces to this puzzle are still missing - I do not even know where to go or what to do in the least - but I do know that our very lives are at stake here. Call it a creeper's intuition. Please help me. You are this world's only hope; I can feel it."

Steve gulped uneasily. This was a large burden being placed on his shoulders; he wasn't sure if he was up to the challenge.

The world is doomed to die.

He definitely couldn't let that happen. This was the only life he had, and after all of this time, he felt like it was just beginning. He couldn't let it end now. Not like this.

He hesitated for a minute, thoroughly weighing the odds. If he agreed to assist this creeper, he would be in danger. If he refused and let this evil whatever it was take over, then he would be in danger. He now knew what it was like to be in between a rock and a hard place.

Then he came to his senses. Look at you, he scolded himself. Is this really the same person who washed up on the shores of this earth with no memory whatsoever and still managed to get to where he is now? You can do this; you've come a long way.

That he had.

He sat up in the chair and looked this unusual creeper straight in the eye. "I'll do what I can to help," he declared with what (he hoped) sounded like true confidence.

The creeper's eyes shone with tears of relief. "Thank you, human!" he cried joyfully. "I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for your kindness. I will find some way to repay you for this benevolence; you mark my words. I am forever in your debt."

Steve smiled at it for the second time today. "No problem," he replied. "But please stop calling me 'human'; my name is Stephen - Steve for short."

The creeper nodded vigorously. "Yes. Steve. Got it."

Steve was about to say something else, but then he thought of a question he wished to address. "Do you have a name?" he asked.

The creeper shook its head. "No. Hostiles are merely spawned for the purpose of assassination. We do not get the privilege of having a name."

"Oh." He contemplated it. "How about 'DC?'"

"DC? What does it stand for?"

"Different creeper. You're a different creeper."

"Oh! I like the sound of that." It nodded approvingly.

"Good." Steve looked at the clock hung above the fireplace. "Well, it's nighttime right now, so we should probably get some rest. Tomorrow we'll set out for that cavern you discovered and get some answers. I have two beds in my room, so you can use one of them."

"Okay." The creeper allowed Steve to show him to his room, and the two fell asleep almost instantly, worn out from the tiring conversation that had taken place.

And thus began the adventures of Steve and the newly-named DC.