Now, without further ado, I present,
“A Crafter’s Dream”
To say Steve was a bit confused to wake up in the middle of a forest was an understatement. While it was nostalgic, since this wasn’t the first time this had happened, the unexpected was never and would never be a welcome thing in his life.
His instincts immediately kicked in and he shot to his feet, his senses on high alert for any enemies around. To his relief, he appeared to be alone, accompanied only by the chirping of birds and the wind blowing through the grass beneath his feet. With no immediate threat present, Steve took a quick look around.
It appeared as though he’d woken up in a small meadow, with trees lining the edges. Past that was too dark and covered in foliage to make out. Steve finished with his look around and then immediately began checking his Inventory to see what he had, knowing from past experiences that time was not on his side. After opening his Inventory, Steve gave a sigh of relief at what lay inside.
He immediately saw his enchanted diamond sword, enchanted bow, shield and the rest of his tools
“Good”, he muttered to himself, “that would’ve sucked if I had lost them. Took me a long time to make them.”
As for the rest of his inventory, there were a few random items, like some cobblestone or dirt, as well as some melon slices, carrots and a few bits of chicken. Besides that, there were 4 shulker chests, each colored-coded. A blue one, a red one, a black one and purple one. He automatically knew which ones were which, having had. Blue was for armor, weapons and materials, Red held the brewing stands and various brewing supplies, Black contained any and all excess food, and Purple had random miscellaneous items like snowballs, ender pearls, seeds, saplings, the like.
Letting out a small sigh, he pulled his sword, bow, pickaxe, axe, shovel, and compass into his hotbar and dispersed his inventory. Pulling out his compass, he looked down, turning his body in the direction of the red arrow, north, and began his trek, eager to get out of this forest.
* * * * *
Steve panted slightly, his feet pounding the floor, any tiredness not already overcome by his nearly infinite stamina being put off by the loud barking of multiple creatures behind him. He ducked under a low branch and slid under a large log that had fallen against another tree, putting everything into getting as far away from those stupid and slightly terrifying wooden wolves.
He’d just been walking through the forest when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Only moments later, he heard the sound of growling to his left. His head snapped to the side, his gaze focusing on the source of the noise, the sight of the creature causing Steve’s eyes to widen.
It was large, it’s shoulder lay a good block’s length above his head, around the same height as an Enderman. Physically, it looked almost exactly like the wolves he’d seen when traversing the taiga biomes, but that was where the similarities ended. Unlike flesh and blood like the wolves back home, these creatures were composed of wood, twigs and leaves, with lime-yellow, glowing eyes. Steve began to reach over his right shoulder to pull out his sword when a second growl came from his right, signaling the presence of another one of these “wooden wolves”. That particular one then let out a loud bark.
“A signal!”, Steve quickly realized, as he saw two more of the wolves appear in a square formation around him, effectively boxing him in.
“Well.”, Steve thought, as his gaze slowly fell over the four wolves, his hand grasping the handle of his fishing rod.
“Shit.”
And that just about lead up to what the hell was going on right now. Steve was being chased down by four persistent demon dogs from the Nether that really must’ve thought he looked pretty tasty. He’d been running for a few minutes know, desperate for any type of clearing or way to get those things off his ass. He dodged under a fallen log and tripped over a large root. Turning his fall into a roll to keep his momentum, he was back on his feet in an instant, the strange wolves nipping at his heels. He groaned, not in pain, but in frustration, and looked behind him at the wolves, eager for a way to get these things off his back. Fortunately, such an opportunity presented itself, in the form of the ground beneath Steve’s feet to very suddenly disappear.
The next thing he knew, he was falling, the sound of air rushing past his ears and the surprised yelps of the wolves enveloping him as he fell. He didn’t even have time to look down at his fate, before he hit something very cold and everything went black.
* * * * *
When his senses came to him, he felt dirty, very cold and very, very sore. Groaning, he sat up and looked around, taking in his surroundings. He had ended up on the bank of a river, the lower half of his body still laying underwater. He slowly dragged himself free of the cold river, pushing past the soreness in his muscles. Getting to his feet, he brushed any sand off his person and looked up at the sun to gauge how much time he’d lost.
The sun lay at right about at it’s crest, roughly midday. Pulling out his compass and turned himself back in the right direction, which luckily, was pointed away from the river, put his compass away and began his journey again, with only a faint limp to show for what he had just survived.
* * * * *
Steve didn’t quite know how long he’d been walking for. His body had gone into autopilot, any weariness of his body not registering in his brain, only ever stopping when his stomach demanded sustenance and he was forced to stop and have a loaf of bread or piece of chicken before continuing onward. No thoughts about taking up residence in the forest ever surfaced, and if they did, they were quickly squashed. Something about this place made his stomach churn and his senses constantly screamed “Danger!”. So he continued on.
It’d been a while, two days, maybe three days. Steve couldn’t be sure. The only thing he knew was that he suddenly was met by the bright light of the late morning sun. Putting up a hand to block the sun, he looked around. A smile was brought to his lips as he looked around, the grassy plains stretching out as far as the eye could see.
Steve wandering gaze was brought to a halt, however, when he saw what appeared to be a village. No, that wasn’t the right word for it, a town was more like it. While massive wasn’t exactly the best word to describe it, it certainly was large, made up of various buildings. But Steve didn’t focus on that. For he knew that if a town existed, than that meant villagers, civilization. Hopefully a place where he could get his bearings.
He had a pep in his step as he walked, his body not bothering to hide the joy he was feeling, the thought of being able to talk to someone after so long making him ecstatic. It'd been a while since he'd visited a village, so his Villagese was a bit rusty, but that hopefully wouldn't be a problem. However, as he walked silently into town, the joy he had previously been feeling slowly fell away as he looked around, his smile turning into a frown.
The town looked deserted. All the buildings doors were shut, their windows locked tight. To add insult to injury, a tumbleweed blew by, despite there being no wind blowing. And to top it all off, there was some annoying whistling sound that seemed to be getting louder, coming from behind him.
Wait...
X (Hold): Power Jump
Steve didn’t have any time to finish that thought before he jumped high, the source of the noise slamming into the ground beneath him.
Left D-Pad: Fishing Rod
X (Hold): Rod Zip
Left D-Pad: Fishing Rod
Pulling out his fishing rod, he hooked into the ground, pulling himself to the floor a few feet from where the crash site was. Putting away his rod, his gaze hardened as he waited with baited breath for the creature that had attacked him to get up. He heard a groan, some unintelligible muttering, then the creature stood. Steve’s gaze softened in awe at the strange thing.
It was, strangely enough, a rather short horse, probably a pony. It was coated in blue fur and a pair of blue, feathered wings were attached to its sides. It’s mane was rainbow colored. It seemed to have a strange, white mist surrounding it, barely even there. However, what really caught his attention, though, was it’s eyes. They were magenta in color, with a furious anger lay inside them, which informed Steve of two very important things. This pegasus, thing, was sentient, and it was pissed.
“What the Nether/buck are you?!” They both yelled simultaneously, Steve taking a step back in shock while the pony lowered into a defensive position. The Crafter's gaze quickly flickered over the pony. "You look like some kinda strange mutated horse!"
"Like you're one to talk, you bald monkey!!" The pegasus snarled in a raspy, seemingly masculine tone, inferring it was a male. "What even are you anyways?!"
"I'm Steve, and I'm a, well, that's a long story." Steve answered with a narrowed gaze, hands out in a placating manner as he slowly beginning to back-pedal. The last thing he wanted right now was a confrontation. "Now, I'm not sure why, but you seem pretty tense, so I'll just leave you be and skedaddle on out of here."
For a brief moment, nothing happened. The pegasus stared at the slowly retreating Crafter, not moving a muscle. Then, Steve saw something. A strange light filled the pegasus' eyes, and the strange white mist that surrounded his body intensified. The pony shuddered before shaking his head violently. "No! No you're lying!! I'm not gonna let you go and hurt somepony!!" The pony yelled, getting into a fighting stance.
Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What was that? “Whoa, what the Nether are you-!"
Circle: Dodge
Steve wasn’t given a chance to finish before he leapt to the side, narrowly dodging the pony’s charge. “Hey, wait, I don't wanna fight, I just…”
Circle: Dodge
Steve was interrupted once again as the blue pegasus tired to hit him again, making him roll to the side. Realizing that words would probably wouldn't do much, Steve dropped into a fighting stance, pulling back his right arm and putting up his left in a slight defensive stance.
X: Jump
Square x 4: Punch Combo
Steve leapt forward, his fist flying forward and slamming home into the off-guard pegasus' nose. Not letting him regain his sense’s, the Crafter swung his left fist forward, snapping it’s muzzle to the side while pulling back his right fist. Punching upward, he jumped, putting more force into the blow, snapping his head back. Using his airtime to his favor, he cupped his hands together, bringing them above his head, before bring them down with brutal force, slamming the pegasus into the floor. Jumping back, Steve stood straight, hoping the fight was over.
“Please, stop. You can't beat me." Steve spoke in a pleading tone. However, the pegasus simply got back on its feet (hooves?), before giving him a hard glare and a snarl.
“Oh really? Let's find out, monkey boy.” He (probably, Steve couldn’t tell) responded, before getting ready to charge again. Letting out a sigh, Steve got back into a stance, readying himself for a fight.
Circle: Dodge
The pegasus leapt at him again, and again, Steve rolled to the side, however, it seemed the pony had learned from it’s previous mistake, because in mid-air, he swerved around till his flank was pointed directly in Steve’s direction, then kicked both back hooves into Steve’s chest with all the kindness of a TNT blast.
Damage Received: - 5 damage. 15 health remaining.
Steve rolled back, skidding along the ground before coming to a stop a short distance from his opponent.
X: Jump
Triangle (Hold): Roundhouse Kick
Getting to his feet, Steve leapt high, swinging his leg around in a roundhouse kick that caught the attacking pony in the wing, making him tumble to the floor with a cry of pain. Landing on his feet, Steve slowly walked to the crippled pegasus, ready to finish the fight. However, he was caught off-guard, when he felt something wooden slam into his side, sending him airborne for a few moments before crashing into a stand or something, that subsequently crashed down on top of him.
Damage Received: - 5 damage. 10 health remaining.
“Take that, you ruffian!” A very female sounding voice shouted from somewhere. Steve groaned and shook the rubble off of him, getting to his feet, his gaze landing on his attacker and the new addition.
She (definitely a she), was a white pony, with a rather elegant purple mane and tail. Her blue eyes withdrew from the pegasus and landed on him, her gaze turning into a scowl. Then, to his surprise, her pale white horn glowed a light-blue color, before a plank of wood, surrounded by a similarly blue colored aura, was lifted from out of Steve’s line of sight, coming to hover in front of the unicorn, her eyes narrowed in his direction. She spoke as Steve got to his feet.
“I will not allow you to hurt Rainbow Dash anymore.”
D-Pad Down: Shield
Steve simply responded by getting into a fighting stance and withdrawing his shield, the heavy object thudding into the ground. Silence reigned for a short time, both sides eyeing the other. Then, the silence was broken by Steve.
“Your parents must’ve hated you.” Both ponies blinked in response, confusion spreading across their faces. Steve continued.
“I mean, c’mon, what kinda parents name their son Rainbow Dash. Either they have a weird sense of humor, or they really wanted a girl.” His statement drew two varying reactions. The white unicorn’s eyes grew wide in shock as her mouth fell open. The cyan blue pegasus, on the other hand, looked absolutely furious. If looks could kill, Steve would be six feet under.
“I. Am. A. Mare.”, he, well apparently she, said, with enough poison in her words to kill a witch on sight. Steve gawked at the mare, not quite believing the pony, but also not seeing how lying would benefit the situation.
“Heh, sorry about that, with the raspy voice and heavy testosterone, it was hard to tell.”
That was all the incentive required by the pegasus, as she launched himself forward, speeding directly at Steve. Steve only reinforced his hold on his shield, and waited for the right moment.
Square: Shield Smash
When his attacker was right upon him, with only seconds until it was too late, Steve moved. Stepping forward, he pulled his shield back slightly, then rammed it forward, right into her outstretched hooves. The result was a small shockwave, as an unstoppable force met an immovable object. Unfortunately for the pegasus, Steve had a stronger will.
Throwing his back into it, he pushed right past the opposing force, sending his attacker flying back, colliding with the ground. Not even seconds later, the unicorn was there, swinging her wooden plank with all of her magical might. Which wasn’t enough. The blows bounced harmlessly off of Steve’s shield, rendering her attacks void.
Triangle: Shield Swipe
Square (Hold): Shield Charge
Stepping forward, he swiped hard, knocking the plank out of the unicorns magical grip. Rushing forward, he leveled his shield, intent on full-on slamming his aggressor. Unfortunately, she managed to jump out of the way in time, forcing Steve to slide to a stop, turning back around to charge again, only to abandon that plan in order to avoid the pegasus that had tried to hit him from behind.
X: Jump
Leaping back, Steve dug his feet into the ground, halting his momentum.
L1 (Hold): Potion Select: Health Potion (Level 2)
Health Restored - 8 health. 18 health remaining
Taking a moment, he pulled a Potion of Healing, gulping down the bright red liquid. He let out a silent sigh as the familiar warmth spread through his body and healed his wounds. Readying his shield again, he was only nanoseconds too late. The pegasus, seeing an opening, had managed to get past his defenses. She swung her hoof into his cheek, knocking his head to the side before tucking and bucking him straight in the chest, sending him back.
Damage Received: - 4 damage. 14 health remaining.
Steve slid backwards on his feet, coming to a stop only a short distance from his attacker. His gaze fell on his two attackers as they closed in, step by step.
He wasn’t willing to kill them. He only killed those that were evil and while these psychotic ponies were very stupid and brash, they weren’t evil. Something was wrong with the pegasus as well, he could tell easily enough from what he'd seen. And since they were far too nimble and tough for him to knock out, that only left one option. To get the heck out of Dodge.
D-Pad Down: Shield
Putting away his shield, he allowed a sly grin to make its way onto his face, one that caused the advancing ponies to stop.
“I’ll admit, you ponies certainly are tough, but you best prepare yourselves for my next daring move.” This statement caused his aggressors to gain looks of apprehension and their bodies to tense. Steve took a slow, deep breath, and then….
He turned and ran.
TO BE CONTINUED