//------------------------------//
// Continued Exploration 
// Story: Minecraft: A New Adventure 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

After their return to the village, and making sure it was safe, Steve decided that there would be enough time for Pinkie to work on her stuff later, once they had a chance to actually explore the rest of the area, so they restocked their supplies and headed to the south this time. Of course such a thing meant they had to traverse a ruined forest that had signs of the black dragon they had seen previously, though this time around, with all of their gear, none of them were worried about most of the challenges that might be in front of them. Steve was interested in finding a desert, mostly because this world was so different from their own and he was eager to see what might be out there, plus with their improved diamond gear he had a feeling that nothing bad would happen to them, unless a dragon showed up. Alex hoped that they wouldn't run into one, as there were several to the northwest of the village, while Pinkie didn't seem to mind, since it meant more materials for them, and Octavia shared Alex's opinion on the matter.

Once everyone was ready to go they headed to the south, once more having their tools at the ready in case they found any useful materials or items laying around, while Octavia found a few Vis crystals and collected each deposit, since she had no idea how many she'd need in the future.

Eventually they had to slow down when they reached the area that had been torched by that black dragon, just to make sure it wasn't nearby or something else wasn't lingering, waiting for them to lower their guard, though as they did that Pinkie found a chicken that looked like a log. She and the others realized that it was from one of the tomes she had found, before they went into the Nether to be exact, which claimed there were special chickens that laid resources and it seemed to follow her and her friends, which she was fine with. According to that tome there were sand, flint, and bone chickens, while they could also make or find dyed chickens to breed and make other things, and there were even a few in the Nehter, so she felt that collecting one of each might be a good thing for them in the future. Steve and Alex didn't argue, as it was just odd to see and went along with it, though they did hope that Pinkie would let someone aid her in the future so she didn't overheat herself with too much to do, even though they were the only Crafters in the world.

Alex paused for just a moment when she found the area that she had found Pinkie and Octavia in, reminding them of the Creeper that had nearly hurt them, before resuming her walk as they headed to the south, putting some distance between them and this part of the world, all while Pinkie found no dragon in the nearby area.

While they explored more of this strange and wonderful world the group spotted several structures that Pinkie noted in her atlas for later, one being a massive stone structure that seemed to be an advanced Battle Tower, a Battle Fortress to be exact, while another was in an entirely different forest off in the distance, giving off a sense of evil. Octavia was sure that all of the structures they were seeing held some powerful entities inside them, though not the powerful beings that served the Admins that seemed to be blocking them every now and then, like when that one dungeon room changed into that dragon's massive chamber. Such a thing told her that, at some point in time, she and her companions would attack the locations in question and liberate the land, though she was also amazed by the amount of dungeons that seemed to be in this world, meaning someone intended for them to tackle them once they reached a certain level. Of course she also knew that the Experience in the dungeons wouldn't do much for Pinkie, in fact she was sure the other Equestrian had an unlimited amount of it and it never depleted, but it was more for her and the others to ready themselves for whatever the future held for them.

When the group found a jungle, however, Pinkie seemed to be more in tune with the world and quickly located a shrine of gold and stone that seemed to be for a dragon of some kind, wielding lightning no less, where she lit a brazier and made an offering of gold and diamond, placed on either side of it, before bowing her head and departing.

"Pinkie, what was that about?" Octavia asked, though she found that while Pinkie did that her lens went off, vibrating as if some sort of powerful being was resting inside that jungle, and if there was something powerful inside it, which caused her companion to back off, they wouldn't be able to explore it for new resources.

"There's a powerful dragon inside this jungle... far more than the one we found in the dungeon." Pinkie replied, where she glanced back for a moment as they left the province behind and continued to the south, though everyone paused for a few seconds as she said that, unaware of what they could have gotten themselves into if she hadn't been with them or if she had ignored the odd shrine, "My Pinkie Sense just went haywire when we entered the jungle... as if waking him from his slumber would be far worse for us than running into a black dragon."

Octavia knew what that meant, they likely found the domain of a monster that served one of the Admins, though as she thought about such a thing she suspected that it wasn't one of the three they were looking for, causing her to wonder what this meant and if they had to be worried about it in the future. Steve and Alex had an idea of what she might have sensed, in fact their companions trusted her sense and didn't question it, as it had saved them several times already, so the pair remained quiet as they considered the information Pinkie had revealed. An immensely powerful dragon could be a worthwhile ally, especially with Pinkie's power to make as much of an item as she desired, but if she was nervous about this discovery, and what was resting inside the jungle, than they had to be careful when dealing with whatever was resting inside the depths of the temple they stumbled upon by accident. Of course none of them had seen anything other than the statue, since everything was covered by thick jungle trees, but they were sure that it was a temple and the beast was waiting in the center of it, resting based on what Pinkie was able to uncover from just entering the area.

With that in mind they angled themselves away from the jungle and continued their exploration, seeking more areas for all sorts of materials, though Steve let a smile appear on his face as he spotted a desert some distance in front of them, even if it was on the other side of a small river.

Sure enough the desert was hotter than what they were used to, where Pinkie confirmed that she needed to make some liners for their armor so they could handle both hotter and colder environments, as she was thinking ahead since they had no idea where they would be going next. While she considered that Octavia used her lens on the surrounding area, simply gaining more information about the world they were in, though she also found that Pinkie knocked down a cactus with her axe, gathering more material as she added some sand and sandstone. Of course they came across a sandy chicken and a white bone chicken, who simply fell in with the one they had found so far, though Steve and Alex weren't annoyed with this turn of events since it was one less thing they had to worry about. Both of them were interested in finding a temple, as a desert temple was usually abandoned and had some good things in the depths, chests full of treasure and tnt below it, so they needed to avoid the pressure plate if they discovered such a structure, even though he was wary since they had no idea what sort of dangers awaited them in this new world.

Off to the east Octavia spotted what looked like a massive ant hill, with a few large light brown ants wandering around the opening, though when one started to make it's way over to where they were standing she got the others to continue, due to the fact that it seemed hostile, and found that no one argued with her.

There were other critters living in the desert, like some four legged beasts called Jouste, though they seemed neutral and didn't come rushing at them, like a couple of desert Zombies, Shamblers they were called, but Octavia was less interested in them, even if she scanned a few with her lens, as they spotted a village in the distance. Pinkie wandered off to the left of it for a moment and Octavia was surprised by the dragon skeleton she discovered, something her companion salvaged as she joined Steve and Alex in the village, where all of the Villagers seemed surprised to see them, but they received them without too much commotion. Octavia knew that travelers wouldn't come this way if they could help it, as there were all sorts of dangers in a desert and people would want to avoid it if possible, though the Desert Villagers were fine with it, as it changed nothing about their lives, plus they had a Waystone that the group activated. While they talked the Desert Elder informed them of a couple of dangers that he and his people saw occasionally, such as small and large Death Worms, at least two dragons, not counting the dead one Pinkie found and salvaged, and a mysterious beast they only had rumors about, a massive monster that spread the desert's influence while crushing villages and building towers.

As they talked about the beast, as it might be one of the monsters the Admins controlled, Pinkie shuddered as she glanced to the south, where a sandstorm was raging, though as her friends followed her eyes they found two earthen dragons that had black scales and brown wings on the ground. In addition to that the Desert Elder spotted several Death Worms near the two Zoataur, which was what the dragons were called, before Alex spotted what appeared to be an army of ants, as in those from the hive they had spotted earlier. Steve understood what was coming the moment he saw Pinkie's sense going haywire, someone, likely an Admin, was going to wipe this village off the face of the map and that meant they had to get all of the Villagers out of here, though he had no idea how. Pinkie, however, had an idea as she tapped Octavia's staff for a few seconds, to which the pair combined it with her ability to bend the rules as she struck the Waystone, where she tore a portal open before their eyes, though at this point Steve and Alex weren't surprised and knew it was stable thank to all of Octavia's knowledge on the subject.

While the Desert Villagers moved to gather everything of importance, and Steve and Alex helped them with the items that they couldn't touch, Octavia felt the ground shudder as a massive beast rose out of the desert some distance away, one hidden by the sandstorm, though she could tell that it was dangerous. The confirmation of the rumors caused many of the people to stop for a moment, even though the dragons and worms moving caused them to move once more, as this was the end of their village and they were lucky Steve's group had arrived when they had. As that happened the Villagers made their way through the portal and disappeared before the enemies reached their soon to be destroyed home, though it did give Pinkie and the others a chance to see that the beast was as tall as a Battle Tower, maybe a floor taller. Once everyone was through the portal Octavia lowered her staff and huffed, as that took a lot of power out of her, before Pinkie rapidly moved through all of the buildings, checking them for anything and everything that might be important, and found that all of the important components had been taken, but she did claim a tome titled 'Vault Hunters'.

With that done the four of them moved through the portal and let it slam shut behind them, preventing their home from getting hit by whatever was happening to the desert village, though as Pinkie and Octavia rested, so they could recover, Steve and Alex took the Desert Elder to speak with the Elder, but they all knew that they would be returning to the desert at some point, they just needed to prepare a little before doing so.





"Was that really necessary?" the ghostly being asked, as he witnessed the scene that had been caused by his glowing eyed brother's sudden influence over the Overworld, something that ended up wiping out the entirety of the village that Steve and his companions had been visiting, making him wonder where their brother kept such a beast.

"It was, and it's because of THAT!" their brother replied, where the scene shifted and revealed an ebony black dragon that was sleeping in the middle of the jungle that the group had passed by, a large beast with amethyst purple markings on it's body that looked like lightning bolts, which he and their shadowy brother looked at, "Raijin, the personal creation that's similar to our own creations: those being Rahovart, Asmodeus, and Amalgalich."

"Raijin?!" the shadowy figure inquired, though as he said that he knew it was true, the dragon matched what he recalled, as if it hadn't aged or changed since the last time they had seen the beast, and he understood why his brother was trying to get rid of the dragon while it was still sleeping, before he considered something, "Wait, does that mean...?"

"Yes, She's back." the glowing eyed brother said, though it wasn't something he wanted to admit, despite the fact that he was sure their sister's interference might explain Pinkie's strange powers, as it could be a blessing from someone he and his brothers thought they had destroyed, or at the very least buried to the point where she would be unable to use her powers to influence their games, "We destroy Raijin, before he can wake up, we cripple her ability to do anything besides give Pinkie her blessing... I'd like to use one of the others to destroy him, but with how we've set up our game this time it would take too long to rewrite their positions... my Titan Golem might move slow, but it should wipe the dragon out when it reaches it's target."

The brothers glanced at the scene, at Raijin, and knew that things were getting interesting if their sister was trying to make a move against them by waking her avatar from his slumber, they just had to be patient and see what happened next, as this game was far more exciting than they originally thought it would be and were eager to see how the group reacted to this turn of events.