AN: I've put this off long enough.
I wanted to wait until I had every Chapter written out, but now seems as good a time as any.
Call this a prequel experiment to try my hand at a different style and genre of writing. I'm trying to make it so you don't have to read My Craft to understand what's going on. If you have read My Craft, it'll probably help, but I'm pretty sure I'm including enough background explanation so people won't be confused. Let me know in the Reviews what you think.
Also, this series will be rated M for obvious reasons. Credit to Puppet3 for the cover art. I asked for this a while ago, but am only now publishing it, because I was hoping to have the whole thing written out, even though I do have it all planned out. Best way to force myself to finish it is publishing it.
RISES IN THE EAST
Teal_Larkspur was something of a thrill seeker.
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!"
A boisterous voice belted out as its owner dove through the air at terminal velocity. Jumping off of Mt Mur's famous Harker Plunge will do that to someone.
Teal was a young, fair-skinned woman with long teal-blue hair done in a bouncy waist-length ponytail, held up by a simple pink band. Her innocent face and vibrant blue eyes were framed by shoulder-length bangs. Her hair had light blue highlights designed in a spiral that wound up her left bang before ending in a spiral along her forehead. She wore a light-yellow halter top with a dark blue flower design emblazoned on her lower left side. A short blue sash-skirt with light-blue flower patterns covered her bottom half, but not by much, revealing slender legs clad in blue fishnet stockings. She also wore fishnet sleeves and sneakers of the same color. Her belt and backpack were teal blue, just like her hair.
Her number was three-hundred-fifty-four-thousand three-hundred-and-twenty-three. That meant she was the three-hundred-fifty-four-thousand three-hundred-and-twenty-third Crafter to spawn into the world of Minecraftia. She was a six digit.
Teal_Larkspur's signature teal-blue hair, unbound from its ponytail by her will, whipped behind her as she fell, laughing from the heady adrenaline. Her two friends came right after her, aiming for the deep lake below to cushion their otherwise fatal fall.
Teal was an extroverted social butterfly who could coax the most introverted of turtles out from its shell. She could fill a room with her presence. Bubbly and playful, she had a wide network of friends, but the only ones into the same thrill-seeking stunts as she were her best friends Keara and Tomas.
Keara was Teal's oldest friend and the one who got Teal hooked on adrenaline-spiking stunts. She had straight, shoulder-length blonde hair, violet eyes, and a heart-shaped face. Tomas had long, dark hair that was brushed back, a goatee that a drunken Teal mistook for a caterpillar one time, dark-brown eyes, and tan skin. While initially only joining in an effort to impress the girls, he found he enjoyed the rush of adrenaline just the same and became the third member of their little trio. The three went on stunt sprees often; It was their thing. They went all over together. From the rapids of Daymonte to the snowy peaks of Lazuli. From the southern hills of Zeppil to the rolling Dover Plains.
Teal also considered her body a temple, keeping it in shape with a number of fun extracurriculars. Not just the thrill-seeking ones, like skydiving, rock climbing, and white-water rafting, but also boxing, kickboxing, swimming, spleef, wrestling, judo, taekwondo, etc.
They all lived in Daymonte, the famous kingdom of redstone. Its capital was located in a carved-out x-shaped chasm, with stone buildings built along it and stone bridges crisscrossing like spiderweb. A river ran at the bottom of one of the two intersecting chasms.
However, for the purposes of getting their hearts pumping and feeling the sweet kick of adrenaline, the trio had gone west to mountain dive off a famous freefall spot.
All too soon, the exhilarating feeling came to an end when they landed in the water with three distinct splashes. There was a beat of silence before they came bobbing to the surface, gasping for breath in-between jubilant laughs.
"Again, again!" Teal cheered to the approval of her friends.
The year was 180. Exactly one-hundred-and-eighty years since the first recorded Crafters spawned into Minecraftia.
In the Automated Kingdom of Daymonte, two females sat at a bar table while a third male had just arrived.
"Sorry I'm late." Tomas slid into the empty chair with a drink in hand. "My tram was packed with college students to the point I couldn't extricate myself. Missed my stop."
"Yeah, gotta watch that college traffic." Teal shrugged. "Getting through nerds is like running through soul sand. So damn slow."
"And yet they're the ones carrying Daymonte into the future. It boggles the mind."
"That reminds me." Keara snapped her fingers. "Teal, weren't you enrolled at the Redstone College? For, like, ten minutes?"
"Three weeks, thanks." She replied flatly in an effort to salvage her dignity.
The Redstone College situated in Daymonte was the leading institution in teaching Crafters of the intricacies of redstone. Many a brilliant mind had come out of that school, applying their knowledge to master the science that is redstone tech. They were called redstone engineers.
"Still, I never knew that!" Tomas leaned forward with intrigue. "You wanted to be like those high-paid specialists that are going round automating everything?"
"No. I just - agh, it's stupid."
"Go on, tell us."
Teal sighed. "I wanted to make fireworks, okay?"
Her friends prompted her for context, which she gave reluctantly. "I don't know. There was this exhibition fireworks show - you know the one they do every New Year's?"
"Oh, yeah! Those are always eye-popping."
"Right? So, I saw them, and I was floored by all the colors and shapes and sizes. Then I hear it was all done by redstone, like with the timing and frequency, and I thought... ugh, I dunno what I was thinking, but I enrolled."
"So what happened?"
"Well, you know." She shrugged uncomfortably. "It's a rigorous curriculum. The students are geniuses. It involved way more brainpower and patience than I thought."
"So you dropped out?"
"I felt dumb!" She blurted out, the topic upsetting her a great deal. "Surrounded by new students yet I'm the only one lost - you know I got picked on by nerds? Freaking, nerds! The hierarchy was so backwards that being the bubbly bombshell with the juicy thighs meant nothing! I was the airhead with zero friends."
"It wasn't fun! Everyone kept making me feel stupid. Even when I pulled all nighters trying to figure it out with my lump of wood for a brain! The textbooks - ah, good lord, it was like they were written in alien! The first test reduced me to tears when I couldn't answer a single fucking-" She cut off her ranting with a strangled sob when she saw her friends' sympathetic faces. She settled in her chair, took a long swig of her drink, and schooled her face before calming down. "Uh-uh. Nope. Not reliving that. You know what? I'm glad I'm out of there. It was a mistake and I learned my lesson and I'm wiser for it and I no longer care. Redstone ain't for me. End of story. Let's talk about something else now, please."
"...Yeah. Sorry I brought it up." Keara apologized. "Anyway, uh, why don't we talk about our plans for our next outing?"
"I vote backpacking." Tomas spoke quickly, raising his hand.
"I want to try horseback-riding. Dover Plains is pretty good for that."
"Booooooring. Been there, done that." Teal blew out dispassionately. "We've seen Dover Plains. Why don't we take a backpacking trip somewhere new?"
"What'd you have in mind?"
Teal grinned as she took out a map and spread it out on the table. "I thought you'd never ask."
As soon as Tomas and Keara peered down at the map, they went white and started muttering protests.
The map showed the ruined kingdom of Nitebane.
"Where'd you even get this?"
"From an experienced rock-climber who frequents only the most dangerous of venues." Teal spoke mysteriously.
When Minecraftia's civilization began to settle, ten kingdoms were established by the first ten Crafters and kings. Ringwood, Oak Docks, Daymonte, Lazuli, Jolin, Exter, Zeppil, Akasha, Dover Plains, and Nitebane. These ten kingdoms each had a capital.
Nitebane's capital was laid to waste by a monster that gutted the population and invited the infernal Griefers and the God-like Hackers to take over. Now, it was a lawless, ruined kingdom, where Griefers thrived. Nobody dared to enter it out of fear for their lives.
And Teal wanted to go backpacking there.
"Look, I know it's dangerous, but this rock-climber guy I met said he goes there all the time and says it's cool. Here." She pointed to the shore northwest of Nitebane's capital and traced it down towards the rocky cliffs. "He said there's a trail going up the cliffs from the beach. It's a blind spot the Griefers don't patrol."
"That's right under Lunar Castle!"
"The Hackers won't patrol." Teal waved off easily. "Look, I've really thought this through. We camp out at the beach until, say, sunset. Then, we bring some Night Vision potions to see in the dark and we can do some extreme rock-climbing. Then we camp for the night, see that legendary Nitebane sunrise over the ocean, and then scramble back down before any Griefers even know we're there. It's foolproof."
"I dunno..." Tomas sounded hesitant.
"Of course you'd be reluctant, scaredy cat."
"I'm not a scaredy cat! I just think it's a little dangerous."
"Stunts are meant to be dangerous. Or are you chicken?" Teal goaded.
"I know what you're trying to do and it won't work."
"Bock."
"Stop it."
"B-Bock bock." Teal tucked her hands under her armpits in imitation of a chicken wings and flapped them.
"Teal, it's not doing anyth-"
"Booooooock bock bock booooooock."
"..."
She got right up into Tomas' face with an innocent look. "Bock?"
"...Ok I'll do it."
"Yay!"
"I'm not a chicken, though."
"Why, of course not! The least like a chicken I've ever seen." Teal assured good-naturedly, copying up to him now that she got his consent. "You're a brave lion."
"Okay, okay, ease up."
With Teal's urging, the trio had their next death-defying trip planned. To the treacherous cliffs of Nitebane.
AN: There Chapter 1. I think I kept things. Let me know your opinions in the Reviews as this goes on.
Minecraftia is in 1.8 Java version of Minecraft, so don't expect any of the new stuff.
