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Hey, thanks for reading. This is my entry for the Life of Steve contest. It's just about done but I intend on adding a bit more, namely another section written like a field guide, talking about various things mentioned in the story which would otherwise be left unexplained.
Steve. What are they? How did they get to this world? What did they used to be like?
That's a long story.
Many imagine him as a survivor of an ancient civilization. The only one left.
In a way, this is correct. That being said, it is not the entire truth. What Steve is cannot be described in simple terms. They are not truly "one" being, though they appear to be a single humanoid. Steve IS the remains of a civilization long dead. Though, only dead in the conventional sense. They were still alive, in a way.
It started a very long time ago. Strange beings had begun a relentless attack on essentially anything. Across the galaxy, these creatures traveled, leaving nothing but darkness. These creatures, where they came from, and why they attacked were all unknown. It seemed so pointless. Why mindlessly destroy everything? Villains like that aren't real. There's always a motive. But in this case, there simply wasn't. Tall beings, comprised of a sort of gas, yet still partially solid. Touching them, or being touched by them was excruciatingly painful, as if you lost a part of yourself. And their eyes. You look into them, and the memory of it never leaves you. The creature knows. It will stare at you. And it will follow you. It will never stop. You can't run. It knows where you are. Only when one of you is dead will it stop.
Eventually, the creatures set their eyes once more on another target. Before the attack, they say you could see the stars dying. Every night, it seemed like more and more were gone. It took years, but eventually, all anyone could ever see, was one single star. No one knew what was happening. Few questioned it. Their world was still at peace. The stars did not affect them. Though there were those who studied it, and sensed something was coming.
They got together and began work on a project beyond measure. Some method of preserving the world. The top minds in the world together worked on this project. And it took years to finish. When it was, however, it was beautiful.
The day finally came, however, when the last star in the sky burned out. It was going to happen soon. Several months passed. Life still went on as usual. Great skyscrapers dotted the landscape, nature ran wild in the wilderness preserves left on the planet. People went about their lives. Working, learning, everything. On the most average day in the world, they appeared. A great starship, or something of the like appeared in the sky. Amazingly large, at least half the size of a footbal field. Militaries around the world rushed to attack it, but little happened. As it landed in a once pristine meadow, the ground around it even changed. Flowers wilted. The grass died. Dirt slowly turned into some strange type of stone, a sickly yellow, as if the world itself had become diseased.
The ship itself appeared almost organic - pulsating rhythmically, with no apparent windows or landing gear. It simply rooted into the earth. Soon, it seemed to open. The creatures of the End poured out, Endermen, as they were called by some. The military could do very little against them, however. Despite the incredible velocity of their weapons, they simply teleported away before any contact. The ship itself seemed to absorb stray bullets. When they finally began to result to close quarters combat, they were easily outmatched. Though some of the creatures were destroyed, for every one that fell, at least 5 men died. It was unwinnable. Tanks fired upon the ship, leaving little but dents in it, the crews often being killed by an enderman who teleported inside while they were concentrating on the attack.
However, the humans were not ones to give up. If it could be dented, it could be destroyed. There had to be a way. Fire rained from the sky, bombs were dropped upon it, jets rained down everything they had, and it damaged it signifigantly. Despite their efforts, the endermen continued to spread and the world began to wilter. The meadow it landed in had all since been lost, now little but another section of a huge scar in the world.
When everything seemed to be as bad as it could get, the Dragon came. It was huge, larger than whatever ship the endermen had arrived in, going miles across from it's head to tail. The beast seemed unkillable. It's hide thicker than any known substance. They soon gave up trying to fight it, only trying to avoid its fire, which burned in a cold, horrifying heat which destroyed the landscape.
What remained of the military focused on the ship they came in. If the world was going to die, it would do so fighting. Jets, helicopters, everything fired upon it, damaging it incredibly slowly. There didn't seem to be enough missiles in the world to destroy it...
Meanwhile, whilst the world began to burn, The Project had been activated. It was time. Their work had been completed. They all sat back and waited for it to end.
The endermen continued to spread, having destroyed well over half of the world and killed everyone in sight. They seemed unstoppable, but there was still one shot at it. They fired every missile they could at the ship they came from. Missile after missile, it still held up. Finally, however, the last missile seemed to destroy it.
The Dragon shrieked and fell to the ground, growing smaller and smaller by the second. Endermen panicked, teleporting all over, and reality itself seemed to split in two. The world was destroyed. Everyone was dead.
A few hundred years in the future, Steve wakes up. The first stage of the Project had been successful. Steve lived.
He awoke in a meadow. Flowers dotted it, and a gentle breeze caressed him. He had no idea what anything was or why he was here. He had memories, he knew it - but they seemed to be locked away in his head, just beyond his reach. He decided to get up, though, and forage for resources to attempt to build some sort of shelter. After a short walk through the meadow, he came across a few trees. It took a while, but he slowly managed to harvest as much wood as he could from them.
He created a small house out of the supplies he had gathered, and decided to explore farther. There did not seem to be much else, though there were occasional creeks and pools of water. For what seemed like days, he wandered, but the sun never set and he never grew tired. Eventually, he came across his small shelter once more, and entered it. Suddenly, he was filled with an unnatural weariness. He lays down and goes to sleep.
Steve awakes once more. He no longer has anything on him, and he does not recognize his surroundings, his house and meadow long gone. He was in some sort of plains, with a mountain range to the west, going very far in every direction, a huge lake to the east, and an expansive forest to the north and south, with plains on the sides of it. Despite all of the surroundings to take in, Steve just began to harvest some wood, in the same manner as he did long ago in his meadow. After several minutes of this, he heads towards a nice, flat spot on the plains, and begins to work on a nice table to create tools of some sort to aid him. He breaks sticks off from the logs he had gathered, using them to fashion a handle, and used some of the tough vines and grass nearby to hold in a small piece of flint, forming a makeshift axe.
He began cutting away at several trees, dragging the logs back to his makeshift workbench. With his axe, he chopped away at the logs, fashioning them into makeshift boards, useful, sturdy sticks, and the like. He began construction of a small shelter, enough to keep him safe from any potential dangers and nature. If there was any real danger out in the world.
Several hours passed and he gazed upon his creation. Nothing incredible, but rather impressive for how quickly it was created. Several layers of boards set up sturdily with logs above them as a roof. A makeshift door was on the front of it as well, and, crude as it may be, it worked. Rather impressive for something created in the space of a few hours, in fact.
Though his creation was certainly not the most aesthetically appealing, Steve was proud of his work. It should provide ample shelter for the next few days. Steve sat on the ground for a few minutes, resting. The sky seemed to be growing dark. He'd stayed in the meadow far longer than the amount of time here, and it never grew dark. Strange. He sighed and grabbed his workbench, pulling it inside of his shelter. They then close the door, sitting back in darkness.
He laid down in the grass that still covered the bottom of his shelter, making himself comfortable. Time passed as Steve wondered what to do. He drifted off in thought, as if half asleep, when a strange sound startled him back to reality. A sort of moaning, though, a deep, almost gurgly sort of moan. He readied his axe, hoping whatever it was would leave him be, but not counting on it.
He could hear some kind of footsteps in the soft grass nearby. Though, not entirely footsteps. One here and there, but with a consistent dragging, as if whatever it was did not pick up one of it's feet whilst moving. He grew more anxious, sure he was going to be attacked by something. But the walls held. The footsteps stopped. He could no longer hear the unearthly groans.
Mustering his courage, however, Steve decided to go outside in an attempt to find whatever it was that made those sounds. His makeshift axe already prepared to strike, he opened the door slowly. Fresh, cool night air blew across his face, though it did little to calm him. Distant waves could be heard from the lake nearby. Looking around, Steve saw nothing. Just the same soft grass as before. As he turned around, something whizzed by his head. He quickly looked up, and partially hidden by foliage, he could make out a figure. Having no choice, he sprinted towards it, axe in hands.
Fueled by adrenaline and fear, he kicked the creature down. Having little time for rational thought, he whacked it in it's head with his axe. It fell onto the ground, and before it could move, Steve rammed his boot onto the creature's head, making a sickening crunch.
Panting slightly, Steve came to his senses and examined the body. It appeared to be a skeleton of some sort. He kicked it a bit, accidentally knocking a bone off of it. "Oh well." he thought to himself. "I could probably use the bones for something." He picked them up, stashing several in his pocket. He got up again, readying his axe, nervously looking around.
Slowly walking through the foliage, he could make out movement in the distance. Crawling closer to get out of the bushes, he saw it. A horrifying creature. It looked as if it was a decomposing body, slowly walking across the landscape, one foot dragging behind the other.
Steve crouched down, squinting his eyes to try to get a better look. In his focus to see what the beast was, he didn't take notice of the quiet footsteps slowly getting closer to him. He heard the unmistakable hissing sound, and as he turned around to get a look at what it was, it exploded.
He went flying back several meters, hitting the trunk of a tree and slumping over. Chunks of rock and dirt flew everywhere, and you could smell the gunpowder in the air. Steve, however, could barely take notice of any of this. His ears were ringing madly, his leg bleeding badly, and his consiousness slowly slipping away. He desperately tried to stay awake, getting his axe and using it to help him crawl. Any attempts at movement filled him with pain, but when he just sat back he grew tired, all the pain faded away... "No." He thought to himself, though barely able to think in his rush of adrenaline, pain, and fear.
He slowly grew closer and closer to his shelter, as painful as it was. Just as it seemed possible to make it, the monstrosity he saw earlier came into view out of a pair of bushes on a nearby hill. It gained sight of Steve relatively quickly, and began shambling towards him, and, slow as it was, it was definitely going faster than Steve's crawling.
He picked his axe up out of the ground. Slowly, he tried to stand up, lifting himself with his right arm, realizing his left arm was too badly damaged to be of any use to him. Shaking all over, he prepared himself for the creature, almost upon him at this point. Getting a better look at the creature, he was horrified. It appeared to be decomposing, it's flesh rotten green. It wore nothing but a tattered shirt and pants, both incredibly similar to what he wore.
As it shambled within what Steve believed to be in his range, he took a strike at it with his axe, landing a solid blow to it's head. The creature shook Steve's axe out of itself, knocking him to the ground. Steve desperately kicked at it. The creature struck Steve, clawing his face fairly badly. In this moment, however, Steve managed to grab it's arm and desperately tried to push it off of himself, finally doing so and in the moment the creature was still dazed, he slammed his axe into it's head with all his remaining strength. It seemed to dispatch it.
In a dazed stupor, Steve slowly crawled back to his small shelter. He was covered in dirt, dripping blood, and had badly damaged clothing, but he was alive. And that was what mattered. He went into a well deserved sleep, even if there was no soft bed awaiting him.
Hours later, he woke up. Sitting up, he began to stretch, only to find it extremely painful. The fight had done a number on him. Several minutes pass and he manages to stand up, moving his arms and legs around a bit as if to test them. All seemed well, besides some pains here and there.
Mustering his courage and strength, Steve exited his shelter to be greeted with sunlight and a gentle breeze. Strangely, there seemed to be no trace of the fight or the creature he had slain last night. Everything else seemed perfectly normal. The trees blew in the soft breeze, distant waves could be heard from the nearby lakeshore, the sky was nice and clear, with few clouds.
Steve decided to set out towards the forest, hoping to gather something of use. As he entered it, he readied his axe, very cautious after the events of last night. As he walked, he cleared foliage out of the his way, creating a sort of path for himself. The trees grew denser and denser, the surroundings becoming more and more ominous. He decided to keep to the outskirts, taking a look around, trying to find anything of use.
After some searching, he noticed that some apples could be seen hanging from several of the trees. He grinned and picked several within his reach, glad to finally get some food. He sat down against a tree and laid them to his side, though keeping one in his hand, which he immediately took a bite of. Crisp and juicy, Steve smiled to himself as he bit into it. It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, and just a bit tart. Eating it, it seemed to remind him of something, but the memory was locked just beyond his reach. All he COULD remember was waking up in the meadow. He knew of other things though - How to talk, walk, eat, what most of what he saw was. He never really gave it second thought, come to think of it. For some reason, he felt an urge to stop thinking about it, but it piqued his curiosity farther. What was he?
After finishing up the rest of the apples, Steve got back up and picked a few more, pocketing them and moving on. He decided he could use some more wood for tools, building, and the like, and began to cut into a tree, filling the near silent forest with a crack, crack, crack as he chopped into it. He eventually finished the job, and began to drag the logs from it out of the forest and towards his shelter, when he noticed footsteps. A soft pat pat pat here and there. He readied his axe once more, dropping the logs. Before he could react, a grey patch of fur stepped out of a nearby bush.
The creature seemed to look at Steve curiously. Not with hostile intent, either, it seemed. It was a wolf of some sort, though strangely friendly for such a beast. It sniffed the air, looking at Steve as if he wanted something. Getting an idea, Steve reached into his satchel, mounted on his belt, and pulled out one of the bones he had obtained the previous night. He tossed it at the creature, and he happily gnawed on it, getting slobber everywhere, elicting a chuckle from Steve, who beckoned at it, as if asking it to follow, though not really expecting any response. But to his suprise, the wolf did.
He continued dragging the log back to his shelter, with his new companion happily prancing along with him. After reaching their destination, Steve sighed and sat down, resting. He picked two apples out of his bag, throwing one at his companion, though the wolf simply rolled it back at Steve with his nose. "Don't like apples, huh?" Steve laughed. "More for me I suppose." He picked it up, pocketing it once again, and took a bite into his apple. "What am I going to call you..." he thought out loud in between mouthfuls of apple.
"How about... Markus?" the creature let out a small bark, wagging it's tail as if it listened. Suddenly, he came to a realization. Why did he name it? What was the purpose. He knew he didn't just make up the name off the top of his head. He knew it from somewhere, but he was not sure where. Why DID names exist? Was he the only sentient creature here? He tried to ignore such thoughts, but they remained in the back of his head, and he knew he wanted answers.
He looked up at the sky and noticed the sun going down. He would not be caught off guard this time. "Come on, Markus, let's head inside." he said quietly. The night came and passed somewhat uneventfully. Steve drifted into sleep, only to be plagued by nightmares. Strange creatures watching him. Darkness. And the unmistakable glowing purple eyes. He awoke with a start, with Markus tilting his head, as if concerned. Steve gently pet him, trying to reassure him.
5 Months Later
6. Steve thought to himself. He dodged the oncoming arrow, and quickly dispatched the skeleton, lopping it's skull off with a single quick strike from his blade. 7. Steve pulled out his bow in a flash, loosing an arrow within seconds, and before it even reached the target he turned around to face more of his enemies. The sound of arrow hitting flesh Steve had grown so used to could be heard as he pulled another arrow out of his quiver mounted on the back of his belt. 8. He slammed into a creeper and stabbed it with an arrow as it began to hiss. 9. Markus could be heard growling, and soon enough another of the undead had been destroyed. 10.
"Aaaaaand clear." Steve said to himself. How far he had come, from hiding in his shelter every night to actively seeking out these creatures to obtain anything of use from them. He crouched down to rest for a while, tired from the fight. His armor was still almost completely pristine, with little damage of any sort on it. He was getting better at this, as was Markus. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a raw piece of meat for Markus. "Here you go, boy." He tossed it at the wolf, who happily devoured it.
In the distance, you could see his creation. A magnificent fortress, with towers that could be seen for miles away, a beacon of hope in an untamed world. Not that anyone was there to see it. Yes, Steve had grown quite lonely. Markus was good company, but there was no one to talk to. No adventures to be shared, discussions to be had, or friendships to be made. He'd explored for miles around, even made maps of everything, but there was nothing. No trace of anyone. He sighed.
Whilst deep in thought, Steve didn't realize that Markus had been growling. As he noticed this, he quickly readied his sword. Looking around, he saw and heard nothing. They were in a clearing in the woods, and nothing could be seen besides trees, grass, flowers, and his fortress in the distance. Then Steve saw it. One of the creatures from his dreams. The purple eyes. The tall frame. The staring. Their eyes met, and Steve felt as if the creature could see right into him.
Markus started barking, defensively circling around Steve as if to protect him. Steve couldn't move. He could hear strange noises. Some kind of static sound, growing louder and louder. A scream. "WAKE UP." He looked down. The noises stopped. The creature was gone. Markus was still growling. He looked around for a few minutes, seeing no trace of it, and sat down, terrified.
That is when the creature came back.
That is when it made the worst mistake it ever made.
Steve is not a man to be trifled with. He gets things done. And he does so with precision, efficiency, and finesse. He is not the man to make angry. And they inadvertently fueled him. A thirst for vengenace changes a person. Losing the only friend you've ever had does that.
Markus was gone in seconds. He whimpered and looked at Steve in his last moments. After losing their source of power, the endermen were not nearly as strong as they were. They were, however, still powerful. Their strikes could wipe simple beings from existence. Destroy all memories of them. They underestimated Steve, however. They did not understand emotion. He would never forget.
In a fit of rage Steve killed the Enderman. He sliced, hacked, and screamed long after he had defeated it and all that was left of it was a single black pearl. The noise he had made attracted more creatures of the night, but they were all cut down before they could do anything to him. Dozens lay dead before him. He threw his sword down and wept.
He planted a rose in the spot where Markus died.
Grief turned into anger. These creatures had haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. They took away his only friend. And in whatever way he could, he would avenge them.
Preparing for the journey took several days. Soon his backpack was near full with supplies, tools, food, and weaponry. And he set off, leaving the cold but safe halls of his fortress for uncharted territory in hopes of finding answers. In his satchel he carried the pearl the enderman left after it's death.
3 Weeks Later.
The desert was a harsh land indeed. Luckily Steve had plenty of water left, but the heat slowly got to him, resulting in him taking off much of his armor, storing it in his bag for now. He felt as if he was melting inside of it. He'd entered this place 2 days ago, and was starting to think that was not worth it. Nothing but cacti and sand, with some dead foliage here and there.
And then he saw it.
Tucked snugly in a valley between two hills was what seemed like a village. Humanoid figures could be seen walking around in it. Steve immediately took off into a sprint. Despite his exhaustion, his thrill of finding this place was almost palpable. "HEY! HEY! HELLO?" he cried out, still running as fast as he could.
He arrived at the village shortly, now walking, panting in exhaustion. "H-hey." he said to one of the figures, who looked at him as if he was a madman.
Queer looking things, they were. Rather large, tall heads with a prominent nose on almost every one of them, and a unibrow. They all seemed to wear different sorts of robes, as if signifying their roles.
Steve quickly came back to his senses and stood up, dusting himself off. 5 of the people surrounded him, with the rest continuing with their lives as if nothing important was happening. Steve coughed and introduced himself. "Hello. I am Steve. I come in peace, and I seek knowledge." His only reply was a strange sounding exhale and an expression that seemed to indicate curiosity from one of the townspeople, a tall figure who wore white. Steve spoke once more. "Can you talk?" Another of the strange sounds.
In all his excitement, Steve didn't even consider they might not be able to understand each other. Thinking, he pulled out the pearl, and made a gesture, trying to indicate curiosity. The white robed villager nodded, as if pleased, and pulled out 2 shining, green gems, and held out his other hand, as if trying to make a trade.
Steve shook his head, as if saying no. The villager took out another emerald, making a strange sound. Steve held up the pearl and made another gesture, trying to indicate his curiosity about it once more, and the villager nodded, putting the gems back, himself shrugging. Steve sighed. He was so close. Who knows what these villagers might have learned of this world or the endermen?
He decided to pace around the village, trying to decipher what everything was. The odd beings didn't seem to mind him there, and for that, he was grateful. Eventually, a somewhat large building caught his eye. Made of sandstone and glass like the rest of the village, but inside there seemed to be books. Steve excitedly shouted over at the white robed villager, and gestured, trying to ask if he could go in. The villager waved and nodded at him. It almost seemed as if he was smiling.
Steve opened the door, entering the building. He closed it behind him quietly, and looked around. Shelves on one side of the building held a copious amount of books. Rather impressive for such a seemingly small village. He took a look at the backs of them, and all of them seemed to be filled with strange symbols. They must have written in another language as well. Steve slammed his foot down in anger, just when he was certain he was onto something it was taken from him once more.
As he sat down and sighed, he felt strangely drawn to a certain book. It had a dark purple cover, and there didn't seem to be any symbols on the spine of it,unlike most other books. Just as he had sat down, he got back up, and walked over to the book.
Opening it, there were no symbols. It was, however, filled with sketches. On the first few pages were pictures of some kind of gem, what seemed like a diamond. The next few had drawings of it... Being forged into something? He went on, curious. Soon, a sketch of a sword and pickaxe were there. On the next page, the pickaxe seemed to be piercing some kind of stone... The next, it seemed as if the stone was being lit on fire? Weird.
Suddenly, he was startled by one of the villagers, who, fear in his eyes, quickly picked up the book and placed it back on the shelf, and then, gesturing towards the door, as if asking Steve to leave. It didn't seem aggressive, at least, but Steve figured he should be on his way after that.
Steve quickly made his way out of the village, trying not to overstay his welcome. He waved goodbye to the villagers, and while most simply ignored him, the white robed villager waved back, and gave him what looked like some sort of salute. Steve smiled to himself and left the valley, walking through the warm sands once again, hoping to find more out in the wastes.
2 Days Later.
Steve gazed off into the distance, trying to find something of interest. It'd been 2 days since he left the village, and he'd found very little in the time. He managed to climb a sandy hill, getting him to where he was now. As he prepared to head back down and continue moving forward, something caught his eye. An orange and blue admist the sands? It had to be something. Steve headed down the hill briskly, almost breaking into a jog as he tried to get there.
Soon he was almost upon it, and now he could see more clearly. Half covered by sand, there was a building. Almost pyramid shaped, with two towers. It's entrance almost looked like some sort of face. Perhaps a temple of some sort? He walked inside cautiously, drawing his sword. Inside, it appeared to be fairly plain. Some symbols, similar to those he saw in the village were inscribed into the walls, but he could make no sense of them. A strange pattern was carved into the floor, but nothing else stood out to him.
Then, however, he got an idea. Taking out his pickaxe, he began to strike at the floor, faster and faster, and finally, part of it collapsed, revealing a secret chamber of some sort. He excitedly pulled some rope out of his bag, struck his pick into a section of the floor to get it lodged in there well, and tied the rope around it. He then climbed down the rope cautiously, ready for anything.
In the darkness, he could barely see, so he pulled out his flint and steel and a torch, trying several times before he could light it before it finally works. The room had many of the symbols carved into it. The floor had a small, thin plate of stone in the middle, which Steve made sure not to step on. Best to be safe. What really grabbed Steve's attention, however, were the four chests placed throughout the room.
He decided he might as well open them. He unlatched one and opened it, only to be greeted with a terrible stench. "Ugh." Rotten flesh and bone all over. However, inside, a shining ingot of gold glinted, which he quickly picked up and placed in his backpack, disgusting as it may be. He continued to the next chest. Just a few ingots of iron and some bones. What were they using these for? He moved onto the next. Iron and gold, with one or two pieces of coal. He picked all of it up and stored it. Nothing that really excited him, though.
The last chest, however... He opened it, only to be greeted with a cyan glow. Diamond. He picked one up and gazed at it in wonder. It seemed to give off light of it's own, a truly beautiful crystal. He looked back into the chest and picked up 4 more. Yes.
He could definitely use these.
2 Weeks Later.
It wouldn't work. He KNEW the obsidian had some kind of connection to it all. He had to ignite it, and he tried and tried, but nothing happened. He arranged it in all kinds of different shapes, tried to ignite it in different ways, but to no avail. He shouted, throwing a chunk of it at the ground.
Several minutes later, he decided to try it again. This time, he formed a sort of doorway shape. He didn't expect anything to happen, but he did so anyway, and got out his flint and still, lighting a few sparks, but to his suprise, those that hit the obsidian erupted into a blaze. Soon the blaze grew larger and larger, covering the entire doorway, and the fire slowly changed color to purple, and then calmed down, turning into a sort of liquid.
Excitedly, Steve jumped up, unsure of what to do. This was a breakthrough. He had no idea what he did, but he certainly did something. He paced around a bit, wondering what to do. Was it worth the risk? Did risk even matter anymore? He had his only friend ripped from him. This was potentially the only clue to finding the creatures that did it. He drew his sword, and walked into the Portal.
Reality twisted around him as he left this world and went into another. As it stopped and he stepped out of the portal, he couldn't be more suprised. He was greated with some horrible, hellish place. The very stone around him seemed terrifying. It was a substance similar to bone - In fact, it might BE bone. Reddish and dark, not exactly the most inviting of all places.
One of the first things he noticed was the heat. The ridiculous heat. He began to notice how cavernous it was - a ceiling high above him, formations of the reddish substance everywhere. Off in the distance, he could see lava pouring down. higher up, there seemed to be some kind of glowing substance, one of the only things in the place that didn't look evil. It was like some kind of stone, with glowing gems or crystals growing out of it. Odd. He pressed on however, determined to find SOMETHING in this horrible place.
Minutes after he started travelling, he could see something in the distance. It looked as if it was manmade... Like a fortress or castle of some kind. It towered above the landscape surrounding it, but he could probably find a way up. He walked closer to it, until he was almost upon it, and glanced around. Carved out of the natural stone in this place, there seemed to be a pathway up to it. Naturally formed or not, he did not know. In fact, he felt the same about this entire place.
Climbing up was somewhat painful, the stone extremely hot to the touch. He eventually made it to the top after several minutes of struggling. The fortress seemed empty, but he jumped down into it. It seemed to be made of some kind of brick, a dark crimson. It didn't have any signs of life within it. No sound besides the fires burning elsewhere. He headed towards a nearby staircase, and descended. After reaching the bottom, he looked around. There didn't seem to be much of anything there. He kept going forward though, and turned around as he reached another hallway. Immediately, he drew his sword. Inside of the hallway was what looked like some kind of tall, charred skeleton, wielding a dark sword. It charged at Steve, striking at him immediately, but Steve blocked the strike with his sword of diamond, which seemed to give off a light of it's own, a beacon of hope in a place of darkness.
He kicked the creature in the leg, but it had no apparent effect. The skeleton withdrew, and drew it's sword back, as if readying a strike. Steve got in a hit on it's torso during this time however, knocking it back. It charged right back at Steve though, and quickly stabbed at his arm. Immediately Steve was filled with pain, but he focused on his goal. With one fell strike, he split it's skull right open, causing it to fall to the ground, ending all of it's movement. Steve dropped his sword and cried out in pain, now taking a look at his arm. Rather than seeing a normal flesh wound like he expected, the flesh around where he was hit had grown a dark gray. It did not seem to be spreading but it worried Steve greatly. He opened his backpack, taking out one of his bottles of water, which was not as hot as he expected. He poured a bit on the wound, hoping for some kind of relief, but found little. He sighed and covered the wound with some cloth he had kept on him, hoping that'd help. It was still painful, but he could manage.
He pressed on, trying to find something of use. The corridors seemed to blend in with each other, each ridiculously similar to the last. He finally came across something different. A small doorway leading into a room. He readied his blade once more. He could hear some strange sound. Like a metallic grinding or breathing. He charged inside, and immediately saw the source of the sounds.
A strange creature, it looked as if it was a living blaze, comprised of some kind of rods floating around it's firey core, volatile and certainly dangerous. As it saw Steve, it immediately began conjuring balls of fire, them slowly appearing in front of him and growing in size. Steve quickly struck it in it's "head", knocking it back a bit, and ran to the side, hoping to avoid it's attacks. Soon the balls of fire were launched at Steve, but he managed to dodge two of the three, the third grazing by his head, though his armor protected him from it fairly well. Before the elemental creature had a chance to respond, he quickly stabbed it in it's core, causing it to move erratically, trying to escape to no avail. It combusted, knocking Steve to the ground, but leaving him relatively unscathed.
After a few seconds recovering from the adrenaline fueled fight, he looked around. One of the rods that the creature was composed of was still on the ground. He picked it up, examining it. Surprisingly, it was not really hot to the touch, just somewhat warm. It seemed to "flow" naturally, almost, moving slightly as if it contained some kind of liquid, though it was evident it did not. Suddenly, he could hear some kind of leather or fabric ripping. He looked down, only to find his satchel had been ripped open. Now floating in the air next to him was the pearl. He felt a strange urge to try something with it.
He cracked the rod open with a swift snap. It let out a fine powder, somewhat warm to the touch. He sprinkled some on the pearl, and to his suprise, it seemed to dissolve. He waited, and saw something moving inside of it. Slowly it began to form something. An eye. He picked it up. Suddenly he was filled with clarity. He knew what must be done.
One Month Later.
The eye looked towards the ground beneath him. This was the place. This was where he would end it all. This is where he would stop the nightmares. This is where he would avenge his lost friend. This is where The Project would be truly completed. He began to dig.
It didn't take long for Steve to hit it. Some kind of ruins. He looked down at the eye. It pointed him to the right. He gazed around first, examining his surroundings. Seemed like it was made of some sort of stone brick, most of it cracked and deteriorating. He had little time to wonder about it, however, and kept moving on.
Hallway after hallway, corridor after corridor, Steve finally found it. What the Eye had led him to. A room lit by lava, with stairs heading up to what looked like some sort of ornate shrine. The room, however, had several large bugs, like overgrown silverfish, crawling in it, but Steve simply stomped them, barely paying them mind. He placed the Eye on the shrine. This was it. It lit up. The portal formed. Steve, sparing no time to worry, jumped in, accompanied with all the courage, anger, and determination in the world.
He awoke in what was left of the actual world. Sickly yellow stone and obsidian towers, each topped with a glowing, constantly rotating crystal. Hundreds of Endermen. And the Dragon. The Dragon looked at Steve curiously. "Come on then." Steve said. He drew his bow and an arrow. The Dragon let out an ear piercing roar. Steve just stood there. It took flight, and began to draw power from the crystals.
Seeing the beam coming from the crystals to the dragon, steve took an arrow and fired it at one of them, causing it to explode violently, making the dragon itself screech. He continued this, running as the beast attempted to hit him, easily dodging all of it's attempts. They were not as powerful as they used to be, stranded here as they were. He took out several more crystals, still with a decent amount of arrows left. As just one more remained, he waited for the dragon to begin drawing power from it. He took the shot. The beast shrieked and charged right towards Steve. This time he didn't attempt to dodge it, instead, right as the beat was about to reach him, he jumped, landing on top of it's snout.
"DIE!" He stabbed. "DIE!" He stabbed again. "JUST. DIE." He stabbed once more. The beast roars, attempting to throw Steve off of it, but it's not strong enough. Steve continues stabbing at the beast, trying to kill it by destroying the head, but his sword is barely able to puncture it. "I DID NOT COME ALL THIS WAY FOR NOTHING!" he screams. Another stab. "I DID NOT ENDURE ALL THE NIGHTMARES FOR THIS!" He stabs again. Mustering all the strength he has, he stabs one final time, puncturing the head and going the entire way through. The beast shrieked louder than ever before. Steve hung onto it for dear life, watching as it seemed to disintegrate.
One by one, stars began to fill the black void once more. The dragon had all but disintegrated, leaving Steve to fall. But, rather than falling as he expected, he gently floated down, into a strange fountain left behind by the dragon.
And thus, The Project was successful.
Epilogue.
And so it ended. A force that destroyed an entire world with superior technology defeated by a single man. Steve, however, was not an ordinary person. He is, essentially, the embodiment of creativity. And whilst faced with the embodiment of all that opposes creativity, he would triumph. The endermen had created creatures to defeat Steve. Creepers, the personification of destruction, zombies, hatred, skeletons, cowardice.
No amount of this, however, could possibly defeat him. In all the adversities he faced, he continued on. This Steve, however, was not entirely the only one of his kind. Somewhat. There were millions of variants. All of them unique in appearance, personality, adventures, likes and dislikes. And none of them were without merit. Where the world had limits, they broke them and created their own. They walked in entire worlds completely devoted to killing them and survived. They were not satisfied with the look of the world, and with nothing but the power of their imagination they changed everything in it. They fought battles against hundreds alone and won. They are the Players.
And so are you.
You are a Player.
You have everything you can imagine as your pallet and your own universe as your canvas.
Go ahead.
Be amazing.
Steve. What are they? How did they get to this world? What did they used to be like?
That's a long story.
Many imagine him as a survivor of an ancient civilization. The only one left.
In a way, this is correct. That being said, it is not the entire truth. What Steve is cannot be described in simple terms. They are not truly "one" being, though they appear to be a single humanoid. Steve IS the remains of a civilization long dead. Though, only dead in the conventional sense. They were still alive, in a way.
It started a very long time ago. Strange beings had begun a relentless attack on essentially anything. Across the galaxy, these creatures traveled, leaving nothing but darkness. These creatures, where they came from, and why they attacked were all unknown. It seemed so pointless. Why mindlessly destroy everything? Villains like that aren't real. There's always a motive. But in this case, there simply wasn't. Tall beings, comprised of a sort of gas, yet still partially solid. Touching them, or being touched by them was excruciatingly painful, as if you lost a part of yourself. And their eyes. You look into them, and the memory of it never leaves you. The creature knows. It will stare at you. And it will follow you. It will never stop. You can't run. It knows where you are. Only when one of you is dead will it stop.
Eventually, the creatures set their eyes once more on another target. Before the attack, they say you could see the stars dying. Every night, it seemed like more and more were gone. It took years, but eventually, all anyone could ever see, was one single star. No one knew what was happening. Few questioned it. Their world was still at peace. The stars did not affect them. Though there were those who studied it, and sensed something was coming.
They got together and began work on a project beyond measure. Some method of preserving the world. The top minds in the world together worked on this project. And it took years to finish. When it was, however, it was beautiful.
The day finally came, however, when the last star in the sky burned out. It was going to happen soon. Several months passed. Life still went on as usual. Great skyscrapers dotted the landscape, nature ran wild in the wilderness preserves left on the planet. People went about their lives. Working, learning, everything. On the most average day in the world, they appeared. A great starship, or something of the like appeared in the sky. Amazingly large, at least half the size of a footbal field. Militaries around the world rushed to attack it, but little happened. As it landed in a once pristine meadow, the ground around it even changed. Flowers wilted. The grass died. Dirt slowly turned into some strange type of stone, a sickly yellow, as if the world itself had become diseased.
The ship itself appeared almost organic - pulsating rhythmically, with no apparent windows or landing gear. It simply rooted into the earth. Soon, it seemed to open. The creatures of the End poured out, Endermen, as they were called by some. The military could do very little against them, however. Despite the incredible velocity of their weapons, they simply teleported away before any contact. The ship itself seemed to absorb stray bullets. When they finally began to result to close quarters combat, they were easily outmatched. Though some of the creatures were destroyed, for every one that fell, at least 5 men died. It was unwinnable. Tanks fired upon the ship, leaving little but dents in it, the crews often being killed by an enderman who teleported inside while they were concentrating on the attack.
However, the humans were not ones to give up. If it could be dented, it could be destroyed. There had to be a way. Fire rained from the sky, bombs were dropped upon it, jets rained down everything they had, and it damaged it signifigantly. Despite their efforts, the endermen continued to spread and the world began to wilter. The meadow it landed in had all since been lost, now little but another section of a huge scar in the world.
When everything seemed to be as bad as it could get, the Dragon came. It was huge, larger than whatever ship the endermen had arrived in, going miles across from it's head to tail. The beast seemed unkillable. It's hide thicker than any known substance. They soon gave up trying to fight it, only trying to avoid its fire, which burned in a cold, horrifying heat which destroyed the landscape.
What remained of the military focused on the ship they came in. If the world was going to die, it would do so fighting. Jets, helicopters, everything fired upon it, damaging it incredibly slowly. There didn't seem to be enough missiles in the world to destroy it...
Meanwhile, whilst the world began to burn, The Project had been activated. It was time. Their work had been completed. They all sat back and waited for it to end.
The endermen continued to spread, having destroyed well over half of the world and killed everyone in sight. They seemed unstoppable, but there was still one shot at it. They fired every missile they could at the ship they came from. Missile after missile, it still held up. Finally, however, the last missile seemed to destroy it.
The Dragon shrieked and fell to the ground, growing smaller and smaller by the second. Endermen panicked, teleporting all over, and reality itself seemed to split in two. The world was destroyed. Everyone was dead.
A few hundred years in the future, Steve wakes up. The first stage of the Project had been successful. Steve lived.
He awoke in a meadow. Flowers dotted it, and a gentle breeze caressed him. He had no idea what anything was or why he was here. He had memories, he knew it - but they seemed to be locked away in his head, just beyond his reach. He decided to get up, though, and forage for resources to attempt to build some sort of shelter. After a short walk through the meadow, he came across a few trees. It took a while, but he slowly managed to harvest as much wood as he could from them.
He created a small house out of the supplies he had gathered, and decided to explore farther. There did not seem to be much else, though there were occasional creeks and pools of water. For what seemed like days, he wandered, but the sun never set and he never grew tired. Eventually, he came across his small shelter once more, and entered it. Suddenly, he was filled with an unnatural weariness. He lays down and goes to sleep.
Steve awakes once more. He no longer has anything on him, and he does not recognize his surroundings, his house and meadow long gone. He was in some sort of plains, with a mountain range to the west, going very far in every direction, a huge lake to the east, and an expansive forest to the north and south, with plains on the sides of it. Despite all of the surroundings to take in, Steve just began to harvest some wood, in the same manner as he did long ago in his meadow. After several minutes of this, he heads towards a nice, flat spot on the plains, and begins to work on a nice table to create tools of some sort to aid him. He breaks sticks off from the logs he had gathered, using them to fashion a handle, and used some of the tough vines and grass nearby to hold in a small piece of flint, forming a makeshift axe.
He began cutting away at several trees, dragging the logs back to his makeshift workbench. With his axe, he chopped away at the logs, fashioning them into makeshift boards, useful, sturdy sticks, and the like. He began construction of a small shelter, enough to keep him safe from any potential dangers and nature. If there was any real danger out in the world.
Several hours passed and he gazed upon his creation. Nothing incredible, but rather impressive for how quickly it was created. Several layers of boards set up sturdily with logs above them as a roof. A makeshift door was on the front of it as well, and, crude as it may be, it worked. Rather impressive for something created in the space of a few hours, in fact.
Though his creation was certainly not the most aesthetically appealing, Steve was proud of his work. It should provide ample shelter for the next few days. Steve sat on the ground for a few minutes, resting. The sky seemed to be growing dark. He'd stayed in the meadow far longer than the amount of time here, and it never grew dark. Strange. He sighed and grabbed his workbench, pulling it inside of his shelter. They then close the door, sitting back in darkness.
He laid down in the grass that still covered the bottom of his shelter, making himself comfortable. Time passed as Steve wondered what to do. He drifted off in thought, as if half asleep, when a strange sound startled him back to reality. A sort of moaning, though, a deep, almost gurgly sort of moan. He readied his axe, hoping whatever it was would leave him be, but not counting on it.
He could hear some kind of footsteps in the soft grass nearby. Though, not entirely footsteps. One here and there, but with a consistent dragging, as if whatever it was did not pick up one of it's feet whilst moving. He grew more anxious, sure he was going to be attacked by something. But the walls held. The footsteps stopped. He could no longer hear the unearthly groans.
Mustering his courage, however, Steve decided to go outside in an attempt to find whatever it was that made those sounds. His makeshift axe already prepared to strike, he opened the door slowly. Fresh, cool night air blew across his face, though it did little to calm him. Distant waves could be heard from the lake nearby. Looking around, Steve saw nothing. Just the same soft grass as before. As he turned around, something whizzed by his head. He quickly looked up, and partially hidden by foliage, he could make out a figure. Having no choice, he sprinted towards it, axe in hands.
Fueled by adrenaline and fear, he kicked the creature down. Having little time for rational thought, he whacked it in it's head with his axe. It fell onto the ground, and before it could move, Steve rammed his boot onto the creature's head, making a sickening crunch.
Panting slightly, Steve came to his senses and examined the body. It appeared to be a skeleton of some sort. He kicked it a bit, accidentally knocking a bone off of it. "Oh well." he thought to himself. "I could probably use the bones for something." He picked them up, stashing several in his pocket. He got up again, readying his axe, nervously looking around.
Slowly walking through the foliage, he could make out movement in the distance. Crawling closer to get out of the bushes, he saw it. A horrifying creature. It looked as if it was a decomposing body, slowly walking across the landscape, one foot dragging behind the other.
Steve crouched down, squinting his eyes to try to get a better look. In his focus to see what the beast was, he didn't take notice of the quiet footsteps slowly getting closer to him. He heard the unmistakable hissing sound, and as he turned around to get a look at what it was, it exploded.
He went flying back several meters, hitting the trunk of a tree and slumping over. Chunks of rock and dirt flew everywhere, and you could smell the gunpowder in the air. Steve, however, could barely take notice of any of this. His ears were ringing madly, his leg bleeding badly, and his consiousness slowly slipping away. He desperately tried to stay awake, getting his axe and using it to help him crawl. Any attempts at movement filled him with pain, but when he just sat back he grew tired, all the pain faded away... "No." He thought to himself, though barely able to think in his rush of adrenaline, pain, and fear.
He slowly grew closer and closer to his shelter, as painful as it was. Just as it seemed possible to make it, the monstrosity he saw earlier came into view out of a pair of bushes on a nearby hill. It gained sight of Steve relatively quickly, and began shambling towards him, and, slow as it was, it was definitely going faster than Steve's crawling.
He picked his axe up out of the ground. Slowly, he tried to stand up, lifting himself with his right arm, realizing his left arm was too badly damaged to be of any use to him. Shaking all over, he prepared himself for the creature, almost upon him at this point. Getting a better look at the creature, he was horrified. It appeared to be decomposing, it's flesh rotten green. It wore nothing but a tattered shirt and pants, both incredibly similar to what he wore.
As it shambled within what Steve believed to be in his range, he took a strike at it with his axe, landing a solid blow to it's head. The creature shook Steve's axe out of itself, knocking him to the ground. Steve desperately kicked at it. The creature struck Steve, clawing his face fairly badly. In this moment, however, Steve managed to grab it's arm and desperately tried to push it off of himself, finally doing so and in the moment the creature was still dazed, he slammed his axe into it's head with all his remaining strength. It seemed to dispatch it.
In a dazed stupor, Steve slowly crawled back to his small shelter. He was covered in dirt, dripping blood, and had badly damaged clothing, but he was alive. And that was what mattered. He went into a well deserved sleep, even if there was no soft bed awaiting him.
Hours later, he woke up. Sitting up, he began to stretch, only to find it extremely painful. The fight had done a number on him. Several minutes pass and he manages to stand up, moving his arms and legs around a bit as if to test them. All seemed well, besides some pains here and there.
Mustering his courage and strength, Steve exited his shelter to be greeted with sunlight and a gentle breeze. Strangely, there seemed to be no trace of the fight or the creature he had slain last night. Everything else seemed perfectly normal. The trees blew in the soft breeze, distant waves could be heard from the nearby lakeshore, the sky was nice and clear, with few clouds.
Steve decided to set out towards the forest, hoping to gather something of use. As he entered it, he readied his axe, very cautious after the events of last night. As he walked, he cleared foliage out of the his way, creating a sort of path for himself. The trees grew denser and denser, the surroundings becoming more and more ominous. He decided to keep to the outskirts, taking a look around, trying to find anything of use.
After some searching, he noticed that some apples could be seen hanging from several of the trees. He grinned and picked several within his reach, glad to finally get some food. He sat down against a tree and laid them to his side, though keeping one in his hand, which he immediately took a bite of. Crisp and juicy, Steve smiled to himself as he bit into it. It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, and just a bit tart. Eating it, it seemed to remind him of something, but the memory was locked just beyond his reach. All he COULD remember was waking up in the meadow. He knew of other things though - How to talk, walk, eat, what most of what he saw was. He never really gave it second thought, come to think of it. For some reason, he felt an urge to stop thinking about it, but it piqued his curiosity farther. What was he?
After finishing up the rest of the apples, Steve got back up and picked a few more, pocketing them and moving on. He decided he could use some more wood for tools, building, and the like, and began to cut into a tree, filling the near silent forest with a crack, crack, crack as he chopped into it. He eventually finished the job, and began to drag the logs from it out of the forest and towards his shelter, when he noticed footsteps. A soft pat pat pat here and there. He readied his axe once more, dropping the logs. Before he could react, a grey patch of fur stepped out of a nearby bush.
The creature seemed to look at Steve curiously. Not with hostile intent, either, it seemed. It was a wolf of some sort, though strangely friendly for such a beast. It sniffed the air, looking at Steve as if he wanted something. Getting an idea, Steve reached into his satchel, mounted on his belt, and pulled out one of the bones he had obtained the previous night. He tossed it at the creature, and he happily gnawed on it, getting slobber everywhere, elicting a chuckle from Steve, who beckoned at it, as if asking it to follow, though not really expecting any response. But to his suprise, the wolf did.
He continued dragging the log back to his shelter, with his new companion happily prancing along with him. After reaching their destination, Steve sighed and sat down, resting. He picked two apples out of his bag, throwing one at his companion, though the wolf simply rolled it back at Steve with his nose. "Don't like apples, huh?" Steve laughed. "More for me I suppose." He picked it up, pocketing it once again, and took a bite into his apple. "What am I going to call you..." he thought out loud in between mouthfuls of apple.
"How about... Markus?" the creature let out a small bark, wagging it's tail as if it listened. Suddenly, he came to a realization. Why did he name it? What was the purpose. He knew he didn't just make up the name off the top of his head. He knew it from somewhere, but he was not sure where. Why DID names exist? Was he the only sentient creature here? He tried to ignore such thoughts, but they remained in the back of his head, and he knew he wanted answers.
He looked up at the sky and noticed the sun going down. He would not be caught off guard this time. "Come on, Markus, let's head inside." he said quietly. The night came and passed somewhat uneventfully. Steve drifted into sleep, only to be plagued by nightmares. Strange creatures watching him. Darkness. And the unmistakable glowing purple eyes. He awoke with a start, with Markus tilting his head, as if concerned. Steve gently pet him, trying to reassure him.
5 Months Later
6. Steve thought to himself. He dodged the oncoming arrow, and quickly dispatched the skeleton, lopping it's skull off with a single quick strike from his blade. 7. Steve pulled out his bow in a flash, loosing an arrow within seconds, and before it even reached the target he turned around to face more of his enemies. The sound of arrow hitting flesh Steve had grown so used to could be heard as he pulled another arrow out of his quiver mounted on the back of his belt. 8. He slammed into a creeper and stabbed it with an arrow as it began to hiss. 9. Markus could be heard growling, and soon enough another of the undead had been destroyed. 10.
"Aaaaaand clear." Steve said to himself. How far he had come, from hiding in his shelter every night to actively seeking out these creatures to obtain anything of use from them. He crouched down to rest for a while, tired from the fight. His armor was still almost completely pristine, with little damage of any sort on it. He was getting better at this, as was Markus. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a raw piece of meat for Markus. "Here you go, boy." He tossed it at the wolf, who happily devoured it.
In the distance, you could see his creation. A magnificent fortress, with towers that could be seen for miles away, a beacon of hope in an untamed world. Not that anyone was there to see it. Yes, Steve had grown quite lonely. Markus was good company, but there was no one to talk to. No adventures to be shared, discussions to be had, or friendships to be made. He'd explored for miles around, even made maps of everything, but there was nothing. No trace of anyone. He sighed.
Whilst deep in thought, Steve didn't realize that Markus had been growling. As he noticed this, he quickly readied his sword. Looking around, he saw and heard nothing. They were in a clearing in the woods, and nothing could be seen besides trees, grass, flowers, and his fortress in the distance. Then Steve saw it. One of the creatures from his dreams. The purple eyes. The tall frame. The staring. Their eyes met, and Steve felt as if the creature could see right into him.
Markus started barking, defensively circling around Steve as if to protect him. Steve couldn't move. He could hear strange noises. Some kind of static sound, growing louder and louder. A scream. "WAKE UP." He looked down. The noises stopped. The creature was gone. Markus was still growling. He looked around for a few minutes, seeing no trace of it, and sat down, terrified.
That is when the creature came back.
That is when it made the worst mistake it ever made.
Steve is not a man to be trifled with. He gets things done. And he does so with precision, efficiency, and finesse. He is not the man to make angry. And they inadvertently fueled him. A thirst for vengenace changes a person. Losing the only friend you've ever had does that.
Markus was gone in seconds. He whimpered and looked at Steve in his last moments. After losing their source of power, the endermen were not nearly as strong as they were. They were, however, still powerful. Their strikes could wipe simple beings from existence. Destroy all memories of them. They underestimated Steve, however. They did not understand emotion. He would never forget.
In a fit of rage Steve killed the Enderman. He sliced, hacked, and screamed long after he had defeated it and all that was left of it was a single black pearl. The noise he had made attracted more creatures of the night, but they were all cut down before they could do anything to him. Dozens lay dead before him. He threw his sword down and wept.
He planted a rose in the spot where Markus died.
Grief turned into anger. These creatures had haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. They took away his only friend. And in whatever way he could, he would avenge them.
Preparing for the journey took several days. Soon his backpack was near full with supplies, tools, food, and weaponry. And he set off, leaving the cold but safe halls of his fortress for uncharted territory in hopes of finding answers. In his satchel he carried the pearl the enderman left after it's death.
3 Weeks Later.
The desert was a harsh land indeed. Luckily Steve had plenty of water left, but the heat slowly got to him, resulting in him taking off much of his armor, storing it in his bag for now. He felt as if he was melting inside of it. He'd entered this place 2 days ago, and was starting to think that was not worth it. Nothing but cacti and sand, with some dead foliage here and there.
And then he saw it.
Tucked snugly in a valley between two hills was what seemed like a village. Humanoid figures could be seen walking around in it. Steve immediately took off into a sprint. Despite his exhaustion, his thrill of finding this place was almost palpable. "HEY! HEY! HELLO?" he cried out, still running as fast as he could.
He arrived at the village shortly, now walking, panting in exhaustion. "H-hey." he said to one of the figures, who looked at him as if he was a madman.
Queer looking things, they were. Rather large, tall heads with a prominent nose on almost every one of them, and a unibrow. They all seemed to wear different sorts of robes, as if signifying their roles.
Steve quickly came back to his senses and stood up, dusting himself off. 5 of the people surrounded him, with the rest continuing with their lives as if nothing important was happening. Steve coughed and introduced himself. "Hello. I am Steve. I come in peace, and I seek knowledge." His only reply was a strange sounding exhale and an expression that seemed to indicate curiosity from one of the townspeople, a tall figure who wore white. Steve spoke once more. "Can you talk?" Another of the strange sounds.
In all his excitement, Steve didn't even consider they might not be able to understand each other. Thinking, he pulled out the pearl, and made a gesture, trying to indicate curiosity. The white robed villager nodded, as if pleased, and pulled out 2 shining, green gems, and held out his other hand, as if trying to make a trade.
Steve shook his head, as if saying no. The villager took out another emerald, making a strange sound. Steve held up the pearl and made another gesture, trying to indicate his curiosity about it once more, and the villager nodded, putting the gems back, himself shrugging. Steve sighed. He was so close. Who knows what these villagers might have learned of this world or the endermen?
He decided to pace around the village, trying to decipher what everything was. The odd beings didn't seem to mind him there, and for that, he was grateful. Eventually, a somewhat large building caught his eye. Made of sandstone and glass like the rest of the village, but inside there seemed to be books. Steve excitedly shouted over at the white robed villager, and gestured, trying to ask if he could go in. The villager waved and nodded at him. It almost seemed as if he was smiling.
Steve opened the door, entering the building. He closed it behind him quietly, and looked around. Shelves on one side of the building held a copious amount of books. Rather impressive for such a seemingly small village. He took a look at the backs of them, and all of them seemed to be filled with strange symbols. They must have written in another language as well. Steve slammed his foot down in anger, just when he was certain he was onto something it was taken from him once more.
As he sat down and sighed, he felt strangely drawn to a certain book. It had a dark purple cover, and there didn't seem to be any symbols on the spine of it,unlike most other books. Just as he had sat down, he got back up, and walked over to the book.
Opening it, there were no symbols. It was, however, filled with sketches. On the first few pages were pictures of some kind of gem, what seemed like a diamond. The next few had drawings of it... Being forged into something? He went on, curious. Soon, a sketch of a sword and pickaxe were there. On the next page, the pickaxe seemed to be piercing some kind of stone... The next, it seemed as if the stone was being lit on fire? Weird.
Suddenly, he was startled by one of the villagers, who, fear in his eyes, quickly picked up the book and placed it back on the shelf, and then, gesturing towards the door, as if asking Steve to leave. It didn't seem aggressive, at least, but Steve figured he should be on his way after that.
Steve quickly made his way out of the village, trying not to overstay his welcome. He waved goodbye to the villagers, and while most simply ignored him, the white robed villager waved back, and gave him what looked like some sort of salute. Steve smiled to himself and left the valley, walking through the warm sands once again, hoping to find more out in the wastes.
2 Days Later.
Steve gazed off into the distance, trying to find something of interest. It'd been 2 days since he left the village, and he'd found very little in the time. He managed to climb a sandy hill, getting him to where he was now. As he prepared to head back down and continue moving forward, something caught his eye. An orange and blue admist the sands? It had to be something. Steve headed down the hill briskly, almost breaking into a jog as he tried to get there.
Soon he was almost upon it, and now he could see more clearly. Half covered by sand, there was a building. Almost pyramid shaped, with two towers. It's entrance almost looked like some sort of face. Perhaps a temple of some sort? He walked inside cautiously, drawing his sword. Inside, it appeared to be fairly plain. Some symbols, similar to those he saw in the village were inscribed into the walls, but he could make no sense of them. A strange pattern was carved into the floor, but nothing else stood out to him.
Then, however, he got an idea. Taking out his pickaxe, he began to strike at the floor, faster and faster, and finally, part of it collapsed, revealing a secret chamber of some sort. He excitedly pulled some rope out of his bag, struck his pick into a section of the floor to get it lodged in there well, and tied the rope around it. He then climbed down the rope cautiously, ready for anything.
In the darkness, he could barely see, so he pulled out his flint and steel and a torch, trying several times before he could light it before it finally works. The room had many of the symbols carved into it. The floor had a small, thin plate of stone in the middle, which Steve made sure not to step on. Best to be safe. What really grabbed Steve's attention, however, were the four chests placed throughout the room.
He decided he might as well open them. He unlatched one and opened it, only to be greeted with a terrible stench. "Ugh." Rotten flesh and bone all over. However, inside, a shining ingot of gold glinted, which he quickly picked up and placed in his backpack, disgusting as it may be. He continued to the next chest. Just a few ingots of iron and some bones. What were they using these for? He moved onto the next. Iron and gold, with one or two pieces of coal. He picked all of it up and stored it. Nothing that really excited him, though.
The last chest, however... He opened it, only to be greeted with a cyan glow. Diamond. He picked one up and gazed at it in wonder. It seemed to give off light of it's own, a truly beautiful crystal. He looked back into the chest and picked up 4 more. Yes.
He could definitely use these.
2 Weeks Later.
It wouldn't work. He KNEW the obsidian had some kind of connection to it all. He had to ignite it, and he tried and tried, but nothing happened. He arranged it in all kinds of different shapes, tried to ignite it in different ways, but to no avail. He shouted, throwing a chunk of it at the ground.
Several minutes later, he decided to try it again. This time, he formed a sort of doorway shape. He didn't expect anything to happen, but he did so anyway, and got out his flint and still, lighting a few sparks, but to his suprise, those that hit the obsidian erupted into a blaze. Soon the blaze grew larger and larger, covering the entire doorway, and the fire slowly changed color to purple, and then calmed down, turning into a sort of liquid.
Excitedly, Steve jumped up, unsure of what to do. This was a breakthrough. He had no idea what he did, but he certainly did something. He paced around a bit, wondering what to do. Was it worth the risk? Did risk even matter anymore? He had his only friend ripped from him. This was potentially the only clue to finding the creatures that did it. He drew his sword, and walked into the Portal.
Reality twisted around him as he left this world and went into another. As it stopped and he stepped out of the portal, he couldn't be more suprised. He was greated with some horrible, hellish place. The very stone around him seemed terrifying. It was a substance similar to bone - In fact, it might BE bone. Reddish and dark, not exactly the most inviting of all places.
One of the first things he noticed was the heat. The ridiculous heat. He began to notice how cavernous it was - a ceiling high above him, formations of the reddish substance everywhere. Off in the distance, he could see lava pouring down. higher up, there seemed to be some kind of glowing substance, one of the only things in the place that didn't look evil. It was like some kind of stone, with glowing gems or crystals growing out of it. Odd. He pressed on however, determined to find SOMETHING in this horrible place.
Minutes after he started travelling, he could see something in the distance. It looked as if it was manmade... Like a fortress or castle of some kind. It towered above the landscape surrounding it, but he could probably find a way up. He walked closer to it, until he was almost upon it, and glanced around. Carved out of the natural stone in this place, there seemed to be a pathway up to it. Naturally formed or not, he did not know. In fact, he felt the same about this entire place.
Climbing up was somewhat painful, the stone extremely hot to the touch. He eventually made it to the top after several minutes of struggling. The fortress seemed empty, but he jumped down into it. It seemed to be made of some kind of brick, a dark crimson. It didn't have any signs of life within it. No sound besides the fires burning elsewhere. He headed towards a nearby staircase, and descended. After reaching the bottom, he looked around. There didn't seem to be much of anything there. He kept going forward though, and turned around as he reached another hallway. Immediately, he drew his sword. Inside of the hallway was what looked like some kind of tall, charred skeleton, wielding a dark sword. It charged at Steve, striking at him immediately, but Steve blocked the strike with his sword of diamond, which seemed to give off a light of it's own, a beacon of hope in a place of darkness.
He kicked the creature in the leg, but it had no apparent effect. The skeleton withdrew, and drew it's sword back, as if readying a strike. Steve got in a hit on it's torso during this time however, knocking it back. It charged right back at Steve though, and quickly stabbed at his arm. Immediately Steve was filled with pain, but he focused on his goal. With one fell strike, he split it's skull right open, causing it to fall to the ground, ending all of it's movement. Steve dropped his sword and cried out in pain, now taking a look at his arm. Rather than seeing a normal flesh wound like he expected, the flesh around where he was hit had grown a dark gray. It did not seem to be spreading but it worried Steve greatly. He opened his backpack, taking out one of his bottles of water, which was not as hot as he expected. He poured a bit on the wound, hoping for some kind of relief, but found little. He sighed and covered the wound with some cloth he had kept on him, hoping that'd help. It was still painful, but he could manage.
He pressed on, trying to find something of use. The corridors seemed to blend in with each other, each ridiculously similar to the last. He finally came across something different. A small doorway leading into a room. He readied his blade once more. He could hear some strange sound. Like a metallic grinding or breathing. He charged inside, and immediately saw the source of the sounds.
A strange creature, it looked as if it was a living blaze, comprised of some kind of rods floating around it's firey core, volatile and certainly dangerous. As it saw Steve, it immediately began conjuring balls of fire, them slowly appearing in front of him and growing in size. Steve quickly struck it in it's "head", knocking it back a bit, and ran to the side, hoping to avoid it's attacks. Soon the balls of fire were launched at Steve, but he managed to dodge two of the three, the third grazing by his head, though his armor protected him from it fairly well. Before the elemental creature had a chance to respond, he quickly stabbed it in it's core, causing it to move erratically, trying to escape to no avail. It combusted, knocking Steve to the ground, but leaving him relatively unscathed.
After a few seconds recovering from the adrenaline fueled fight, he looked around. One of the rods that the creature was composed of was still on the ground. He picked it up, examining it. Surprisingly, it was not really hot to the touch, just somewhat warm. It seemed to "flow" naturally, almost, moving slightly as if it contained some kind of liquid, though it was evident it did not. Suddenly, he could hear some kind of leather or fabric ripping. He looked down, only to find his satchel had been ripped open. Now floating in the air next to him was the pearl. He felt a strange urge to try something with it.
He cracked the rod open with a swift snap. It let out a fine powder, somewhat warm to the touch. He sprinkled some on the pearl, and to his suprise, it seemed to dissolve. He waited, and saw something moving inside of it. Slowly it began to form something. An eye. He picked it up. Suddenly he was filled with clarity. He knew what must be done.
One Month Later.
The eye looked towards the ground beneath him. This was the place. This was where he would end it all. This is where he would stop the nightmares. This is where he would avenge his lost friend. This is where The Project would be truly completed. He began to dig.
It didn't take long for Steve to hit it. Some kind of ruins. He looked down at the eye. It pointed him to the right. He gazed around first, examining his surroundings. Seemed like it was made of some sort of stone brick, most of it cracked and deteriorating. He had little time to wonder about it, however, and kept moving on.
Hallway after hallway, corridor after corridor, Steve finally found it. What the Eye had led him to. A room lit by lava, with stairs heading up to what looked like some sort of ornate shrine. The room, however, had several large bugs, like overgrown silverfish, crawling in it, but Steve simply stomped them, barely paying them mind. He placed the Eye on the shrine. This was it. It lit up. The portal formed. Steve, sparing no time to worry, jumped in, accompanied with all the courage, anger, and determination in the world.
He awoke in what was left of the actual world. Sickly yellow stone and obsidian towers, each topped with a glowing, constantly rotating crystal. Hundreds of Endermen. And the Dragon. The Dragon looked at Steve curiously. "Come on then." Steve said. He drew his bow and an arrow. The Dragon let out an ear piercing roar. Steve just stood there. It took flight, and began to draw power from the crystals.
Seeing the beam coming from the crystals to the dragon, steve took an arrow and fired it at one of them, causing it to explode violently, making the dragon itself screech. He continued this, running as the beast attempted to hit him, easily dodging all of it's attempts. They were not as powerful as they used to be, stranded here as they were. He took out several more crystals, still with a decent amount of arrows left. As just one more remained, he waited for the dragon to begin drawing power from it. He took the shot. The beast shrieked and charged right towards Steve. This time he didn't attempt to dodge it, instead, right as the beat was about to reach him, he jumped, landing on top of it's snout.
"DIE!" He stabbed. "DIE!" He stabbed again. "JUST. DIE." He stabbed once more. The beast roars, attempting to throw Steve off of it, but it's not strong enough. Steve continues stabbing at the beast, trying to kill it by destroying the head, but his sword is barely able to puncture it. "I DID NOT COME ALL THIS WAY FOR NOTHING!" he screams. Another stab. "I DID NOT ENDURE ALL THE NIGHTMARES FOR THIS!" He stabs again. Mustering all the strength he has, he stabs one final time, puncturing the head and going the entire way through. The beast shrieked louder than ever before. Steve hung onto it for dear life, watching as it seemed to disintegrate.
One by one, stars began to fill the black void once more. The dragon had all but disintegrated, leaving Steve to fall. But, rather than falling as he expected, he gently floated down, into a strange fountain left behind by the dragon.
And thus, The Project was successful.
Epilogue.
And so it ended. A force that destroyed an entire world with superior technology defeated by a single man. Steve, however, was not an ordinary person. He is, essentially, the embodiment of creativity. And whilst faced with the embodiment of all that opposes creativity, he would triumph. The endermen had created creatures to defeat Steve. Creepers, the personification of destruction, zombies, hatred, skeletons, cowardice.
No amount of this, however, could possibly defeat him. In all the adversities he faced, he continued on. This Steve, however, was not entirely the only one of his kind. Somewhat. There were millions of variants. All of them unique in appearance, personality, adventures, likes and dislikes. And none of them were without merit. Where the world had limits, they broke them and created their own. They walked in entire worlds completely devoted to killing them and survived. They were not satisfied with the look of the world, and with nothing but the power of their imagination they changed everything in it. They fought battles against hundreds alone and won. They are the Players.
And so are you.
You are a Player.
You have everything you can imagine as your pallet and your own universe as your canvas.
Go ahead.
Be amazing.
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YOU WILL WIN *or atleast should win