Back with another chapter for you all! In this one, we get to see what Ellie's been up too!
Time had passed in the desolate forest that she had spawned in. Though she had managed to escape the group of figures that spotted her when she first arrived, Ellegaard was still confused about her current surroundings. She knew well she was no longer alive, but was this it? Was this what awaited everyone when they passed? It's not as if the engineer had any idea of what the afterlife was like, or if there was one; after all, nobody does. But if this was where humans went after death, why was she alone?
Ellegaard had spent the first month after her death in hiding, keeping as far away from the dark creatures as possible. If she had her armor and the resources in her inventory, she would have attempted to get a closer look at her surroundings, but she had given her armor to Jesse and the items in her inventory had remained in her location of death back home.
It was only after the initial shock of spawning into the world died down that she took the time to do the smallest amount of exploring. So far, all Ellegaard could see were the tall, ashy trees she had spotted when she first spawned. Thankfully, she was able to cut down a couple of them to give herself some wood to make a small shelter and a couple of tools. Food wasn't an issue as Ellegaard noticed she hadn't grown hungry or thirsty since living there. It was as if her body had frozen in time and therefore didn't need anything to sustain itself.
Although she didn't need it, one of the things Ellegaard immediately missed about her life, besides her home in Redstonia, was the taste of food. There were moments when she'd long for a bite of roasted chicken right out of the furnace, pumpkin pie, or freshly crafted bread.
Unfortunately, Ellegaard found there was little she could do about her current situation as this world wasn't giving her much to work with in both resources and socialization. Those mysterious figures were the only beings surrounding her, and she was far too anxious to approach any of them upfront. She'd just had to make the best of it.
Eventually, Ellegaard became accustomed to her new way of life, as much as she could anyhow. She gathered what little supplies she could and avoided the creatures that wandered the area.
That was until today, of course.
Had it been five, or six months since she first came? Either way, the engineer had decided that she'd had enough of staying in one secluded location. Today would be the day she would venture out and see what else this realm had to offer. After all, what did she have to lose? It's not as if she could die again.
Ellegaard cautiously entered the small wooden shelter she had built the first month after her death. She walked towards the double chest placed by a wall and rummaged through it. There weren't many items in it, as resources in the area were scarce. Though with the mission, as she called it, planned that day, that could very much change. She removed some sticks and wood and placed them in her inventory.
Ellegaard closed the chest and walked to a crafting table; she exhaled sharply through her nose as she began to craft some wooden tools.
"If only this place had some Redstone so I could craft a compass. It would make travel a lot less confusing." She put the newly crafted tools in her inventory. "Not only that, but it would make it feel more like back home,"
She reminisced on her time spent in Redstonia watching her citizens work on their redstone inventions, as well as working on her own and showing them to the people of Redstonia, after days or even weeks of building, when they were completed.
She closed her eyes and sighed sadly; how she missed working with Redstone.
The engineer wondered how Redstonia was holding up after her death. As far as Ellegaard knew, the Witherstorm had been dead for a while. She could only hope her people were safe and slowly rebuilding what the monster had torn down. However, the engineer had been worried about how they were holding up without a proper leader in place.
"I hope Calvin can handle everything in Redstonia, for now at least,"
Ellegaard turned her head towards the wooden door that separated her from the outside world. She hesitated for a bit before twisting the knob, opening the door, and stepping out of her hut. She stood outside, observed her surroundings, and began to walk away from the structure.
The engineer walked along the dead gray grass, looking around the area; there was nothing new she could spot. There were the same black trees scattered around that she had stumbled upon previously, though she did notice some saplings that had fallen from a previous tree she had chopped down.
Ellegaard walked over to one of the saplings, picked it up, and examined it. It looked similar to a jungle sapling, except the wood was either a dark brown or gray and had no leaves. Ellegaard looked up at the sky and raised an eyebrow.
"How would this sapling grow? There's no sun or clouds so it can't get any sunlight or rain," she said to herself. The engineer looked back at the ground and took some of the saplings to replant them, curious about how they would grow back. She kept a couple to herself to inspect at a later date.
"Hm, if these saplings can grow without sun or water, I wonder if I would be able to start a small farm." Ellegaard smacked herself on the forehead and groaned. "Agh, what has this world done to me? I'm talking to myself more often than before!"
She sighed, calming down, "Then again, I suppose that's what happens when you only have yourself to talk to." Ellegaard looked back to the ground and kicked the earth beneath her feet.
The world she was in was isolating, to put it simply; Ellegaard hadn't seen a single person since she had spawned. Though in life, the engineer had enjoyed the time to herself (she had an entire dome made with the intended purpose of keeping others out as she worked on her inventions for crying out loud), the lack of human contact had driven her a little mad. After all, it was natural for one to desire human connection, no matter how introverted they were.
All this pondering about human connection and isolation made Ellegaard begin to think about her old friend Soren. When The Order broke up, he had run off to his fortress in the mountains to continue his research on The End, even staying in the realm for prolonged periods. Ellegaard thought back to when Soren had invited her to visit his fortress even after the group had parted ways; according to Magnus, he had even asked him to come.
She recalled the conversation she and the griefer had about Soren when Jesse and the rest of the group attempted to locate the architect in the Order's temple.
"Look, he invited me there a couple of times but it always seemed a little-" Magnus had said before Ellegaard interrupted.
"Weird, right? It always seemed a little weird."
Magnus turned to her and gave her a small smile. "Glad we can agree on that at any rate."
"I mean, I never actually went there with him." Ellegaard had clarified.
"That's probably the only time you made the right call,"
Ellegaard's stomach was knotted in guilt as she thought back on the conversation. Though the Ender Dragon incident left a bitter taste in her mouth, she couldn't help but feel immense guilt for not trying to reconnect with Soren when she had the chance. Now that she was in a similar position of being isolated in another world with no socialization, Ellegaard began to wonder if Soren went through the same stages as her when he was in The End; the nagging feelings of loneliness and depression, wondering if your slowly going insane, talking to yourself as you are your only friend, and the feeling of a gaping hole where your heart should be.
Ellegaard shut her eyes tight and covered her face, trying her best not to burst into tears. "Dammit, why didn't I ever visit him when I was able to?" her voice began to crack, "Now I'm never going to see him again…"
She stayed crouched on the ground, holding her head in her face trying not to break down. It wasn't until she heard rustling in the distance that Ellegaard lifted her head out of her hands and looked around. She once again heard the noise, coming from deeper in the forest.
The engineer wiped her eyes, stood up, and walked closer to where the sound was coming from. She hid behind a tree and searched the area for what could have been causing the sound. When she finally spotted it, her blood ran cold. It was a group of those dark creatures that she had seen when she first came, only Ellegaard had never seen them up close.
Her first instinct was to begin walking the other way, but Ellegaard shook her head and decided that if she was going to be staying in this world, she would have to become familiar with what inhabited it.
Ellegaard walked closer to the group, hiding behind more trees as a way to protect herself in case the creatures were hostile. She squinted her eyes and studied their appearance. They looked similar to endermen as they were a bit taller than humans (although they varied in size), but their eyes were pitch black and a smokey substance was exiting out of the sockets. They looked to be covered in a dark slime that oozed from their bodies.
The creatures weren't doing anything that notable or interesting; they seemed to just roam about. However, it did look as if they were trying to search for something. They also all made a small moaning noise, sort of like zombies from back home.
Ellegaard watched the creatures in disbelief and curiosity, "I've never seen anything like this before in my life," she whispered to herself.
One of the creatures changed its position allowing Ellegaard to see the front of it better. She noticed the creature had a medium-sized hole in its chest, the exact location where a human would have their heart. She took note of how they also had gaping holes in the same location. As she watched, the engineer subconsciously clutched the area of her chest over where her heart was.
Or at least, where she thought it was.
Before Ellegaard could get a better look, she felt a drop of a substance land on her hair. She raised an eyebrow before hearing a growling sound. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned around and saw one of the figures standing, towering behind her. Before Ellegaard could react, the creature pounced on her and slammed her into the tree she hid behind.
At first, Ellegaard was too terrified to speak or call for help; she only stared at the mob not even bothering to fight back as the sheer thought of the monster being out for her blood was enough to trigger a freeze reaction from her, but she soon snapped out of her trance and attempted to fend off the beast with her wooden sword so that it would release her from its clutches.
"Unhand me you monster!" she shouted, trying to push it away with her sword.
She struggled for a while, using her somewhat freed limbs to counter its attacks, before eventually, Ellegaard was freed from the creature. The monster viciously roared and Ellegaard ran as far as she could away from it, not looking back.
Hope you all enjoyed, the next few chapters will be delving into the history of the realm so stay tuned!