The Edge of MINECRAFT (Being the Second Volume of the Minecraft Trilogy)

A (Not So) Warm Welcome

Steve stumbled up the crimson cliffs. The rejuvenation from the soul sand had worn off, and now his entire body felt heavy. General Four's sword hung from his hand, its blade dragging the ground. His feet and legs were ready to give up, and his brain was getting close to agreeing with them.

But he carried on. Steve was determined to find some way to move on. He was a survivor; he adapted to the situation at hand. And though his chances of getting back home were slim, he knew he couldn't just give up. That would mean death for certain. This world was much less tolerant of life. The first two inhabitants Steve had met had tried to kill him.

At this point, home seemed so far away. Steve knew he couldn't actually know how long he had been gone, he tried to figure it out anyway. Since he seemed not to have aged (he had even gone as far as to feel for facial hair; he was still clean shaven), he assumed less than a day had passed since the battle in the fields.

Steve sometimes wondered what Lucas and Jack were doing. He wondered about his men, and their fight against the monsters. Once, his mind had even drifted to his parents. Where were they? It was something he hadn't thought about in a long time.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a series of sounds. He focused in on the noise. It sounded like people! His pains forgotten, Steve ran. He could hear more clearly now. The noises were coming from somewhere just over the bend. And then as quickly as he started, he stopped. In front of him was a bizarre parallel of the world he knew.

Houses were distributed evenly, though they seemed to be made out of the same red rocks that were so pervasive. Rows of a weird red mushroom-like crop were growing in soul sand. And then there were the people. They looked very similar to villagers, but their skin was a leathery pink, and their faces somewhat resembled that of a pig's. Even creepier, though, was the fact that they looked almost reanimated, with eons-old wounds decorating their bodies and bones showing in various places.

Steve looked around in awe. Surely this was one of the last remnants of the ancient pigmen! He had heard that they had journeyed in search of the Nether, but now there was living proof that their quest had succeeded. Or had it failed? Steve wondered this as he watched the scarred beings go about with their daily lives.

The warrior's concentration was broken when he heard a loud command barked in his direction. Steve wheeled around to see one of the pigmen, presumably a guard, advancing toward him. It barked a command again.

"Easy, buddy," Steve soothed, realizing in the back of his mind that these were the first words he had spoken in what seemed like eternity. The pigman looked puzzled for a moment. Then, he signaled for the other guard and muttered some words to him. The other guard walked over.

"Who you?" he asked in a very broken and accented version of Kwerting, Steve's language.

"I'm not from here," Steve explained very slowly. "Can you help me?" The guard stared at him for a minute.

"Come with me," he said at last. The two of them walked to the village gate. The other guard stopped Steve and held out his hand. "Give sword," the guard explained. Steve had forgotten about the gold sword in his possession. He handed it over to the silent guard.

The two of them walked through the village. Just as Steve had noticed earlier, it seemed almost identical to those of Minecraft's Overworld. Steve drew several stared and a few whispered conversations as he was led by. He saw that the guard was leading him to a stone building toward the center of the village.

Just then, Steve almost laughed aloud. The irony had hit him. The pigman gatekeeper was taking him to a meeting building, just as Jack had taken him to the house of elders three months before. Exactly three months before, Steve reflected. It was the day this whole mess had started.

The two entered. A simple table sat inside. The guard remained by the door, but Steve took the hint to sit. A moment later, the guard went outside, and then a pigman of importance entered. He wore a crimson bandana and somehow was able to look older than anyone else Steve had seen.

"Hello," he said quite suddenly. His voice was deep but smooth, and his Kwerting was near perfect. "I understand you are not from this world. My name is Po. I know you must be confused, and I will answer your questions, but will you explain how you got here?"

And Steve did. He spent the next half hour just talking about his story. He left nothing out between meeting Jack and Lucas and winding up here. Po nodded and listened contently. Sometimes recognition would flash in his eyes. Every time Herobrine was mentioned, Steve saw his features grow tense. But he never interrupted.

When he finished, Po nodded one last time. They sat in silence for several minutes. Finally, he spoke.

"I suppose I owe you a few answers, now," he said. Steve nodded. "As you correctly assumed, we are part of the last remnant of the pigmen. After the terrible crimes Herobrine committed against us, we set out for revenge. The story of how we found ourselves in the Nether takes too much time to explain, though I will say it involved a handful of witches and plenty of sightseeing.

"Eventually, though, we got here. We set out immediately for Herobrine. We were convinced he wouldn't find us. And soon, we found him. I wish we wouldn't have. A large number of his army had been exiled with him, and what remained of it attacked us. Once again, we were at his mercy. But this time, he didn't kill us.

Instead, he bombarded our systems with soul sand and his dark magic at the same time. The soul sand kept us from dying, but horrible wounds were afflicted onto all of us. And then, as we lay defeated on the ground, he destroyed our portal in front of our eyes. After that, he just let us roam free around the Nether. In fact, we haven't heard from Herobrine himself since then. But his soldiers torment our people. We have repopulated all over the Nether, and they use that to their advantage. They regularly prey on innocents, taking them for labor and leverage. Our villages could be inspected any time. We are living a nightmare; we know no peace here."

Steve soaked the entire story in. "But wait," he inquired, "you said you took a portal here."

"Yes," Po replied. Steve thought about it for a moment.

"Then maybe, if I can build one, I can escape!" Steve exclaimed.

"Yeah," Po laughed, "but if it were that simple, would we still be here?" The mood slightly darkened. "The portal requires obsidian, one of the rarest materials. I haven't seen any of it just laying around here."

"I'll find a way," Steve answered confidently, "if you'll help me."

Po smiled. "I like your spirit, young warrior," he said. "I will do what I can." Their conversation was broken by a clatter outside. Po got up. "I'll be right back," he assured.

Steve tried to listen. He heard Po talking to some other pigmen in what he assumed was there language. Then there were some squeals and grunts of surprise, Steve guessed. A new voice spoke.

"Let me in, Po, if you know what's good for your people."

Po: "You can't do this. This is more than us, more than you. Leave it alone."

"Do you want us to leave you alone?" the voice asked maliciously.

"A full scale attack would be an outrage," Po argued.

"Times are changing, Po. Face it. You know that. Now, be a good boy and let. Me. In."

Steve jumped up as he heard the door swing open. He reached for a sword and cursed under his breath when he realized he didn't have one. He readied himself for an attack. What he wasn't ready for was the person who walked in.

Steve almost fell to the ground as one of the most horrifying things he had seen walked in.