The End wasn't supposed to be like this.
The world rocked, rattling the blocks. Items fell from shelves. Precious healing potions, scavenged from End City raids, shattered on the ground. Chests tipped over, and it felt like the whole world was shaking.
In a tiny hut made from Endstone bricks, X stumbled around, trying to keep his balance. He frantically tried to remember anything that explained why the End was acting this way.
"X...what's going on?" Ex whispered, staying close to his brother. The two had always been similar, but X was the smarter one and the one who had studied the End closely in his free time. Ex always came to him for information before he went out on unsupervised End City raids.
Their parents ran around the house, trying to keep everything under control. "You two!" Their mother called from across the small house. "Stay in the corner--don't go out!"
The brothers knew better than to disobey their parents. They ran to the nearest corner. X started muttering to himself, trying to figure out what to do.
The End was a relatively safe place--if you could call the danger of Endermen everywhere and the endless void safe, not to mention the toxic air. The air didn't bother X, as he and Ex were born here.
The real danger, the one that their parents had told them to avoid at all costs, was the strange portal in the middle of the main island. It was lined with a block their parents had called bedrock, and in the center, there was the portal. Their parents had never elaborated on it, and the brothers had never been too curious to go near it.
The house was nearly torn to pieces as a huge tremor shook up the island. The Endermen were trying to get in, though none could teleport in since they lived in a two-block high space.
Now X was really beginning to worry. What would happen if the house collapsed? What would the Endermen do? Would they have to retreat to the outer islands, where the End Cities were?
Their father frowned, seeming to consider their options. He looked towards their mother, and she nodded.
"The portal. Go through it."
X had a sudden sense of vertigo. "B-but you warned us to stay away from it!"
X's mother knelt next to the brothers. "Honey, I need to explain this quickly. We weren't born here. We came from that portal. We did it to escape the Overworld. It's an unpredictable world, full of monsters and uncharted territory. We promised that we would never send you there...but the End is falling into chaos. The Overworld is the safest place for you."
"You just said that the whatchamacallit-world was dangerous, though!" Ex protested. "Why send us there?"
As if on cue, the End shook yet again. Ex stumbled and tripped over a helmet on the ground.
Their father picked up the helmet and put it on X's head. "Ex, the End is getting more and more dangerous. You two need to leave--it's not safe for you. The air in the Overworld is toxic to you. Keep this helmet on at all times."
You two. "What about you guys?" X said, feeling a growing sense of dread.
"We have to stay here, to get the End under control." X's mother said.
X started shaking, but out of fear, anger, or sadness, he didn't know. "But...will we ever see you again?"
"I don't know," their father said. "But, for now, you have to leave." He gave X a rare set of wings, called Elytra, and their mother gave Ex a shimmering diamond sword.
"I don't want to leave you..." X said, trying to keep his composure.
"We'll always be with you," his mother said. "Please, stay safe. Watch your brother."
"Xisuma!" Ex called, standing by the doorway with his sword drawn. "We've gotta go! This place'll be overrun in a few minutes!"
"He's right," their father said. "You two have to go now." He gave X a big hug. "I love you."
Ex tugged at X's shoulder, and the brothers ran out of the house for the last time.
X looked back, and the last thing he saw of his house and parents was the tiny house get smaller and smaller, his parents' defiant yells growing distant.
They dodged screaming Endermen, Ex having to skewer quite a few. X tried to keep up but kept falling over due to the shaking.
Ex helped him up, a grim expression on his face. "We're in this together."
Without hesitation, Ex jumped through the portal. X paused, looking at his world he was now leaving. The tall obsidian towers, the endless void, the dragon that they had to kill for potions...and their house.
X's whole life had been here. Now he was leaving--not because he wanted to, but because this world he lived in was too dangerous now.
"Goodbye," he whispered.
Then he stepped through.
»»————- ★ ————-««
Everything seemed so bright. There was a ringing in his ears. What was he laying on? It felt soft and sort of wet.
"Ex...are you playing a joke on me again?"
Maybe he was shining one of those End rods in his face again. Or maybe he had poured a potion on X's sheets again. Ex had done that once with an awkward potion. It hadn't hurt X, but his parents were pretty mad at Ex for a while.
"Ex," X muttered, still drowsy. "This isn't funny." He didn't hear any quiet giggles, or any voice for that matter. X sat up, looking for his brother.
"Ex? Ex, where are you?"
Then everything came rushing back in a tidal wave of memories. He'd had to leave the End. He'd jumped through the portal that would take them to the Overworld with EX. They'd left their parents. But...where was Ex?
"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no."
The portal had separated X and Ex. He was alone in this new world.
This world was so bright. What was that thing in the sky? There was so much color, so many things to look at. There was a rustling noise behind X, and he yelped. A pink four-legged creature stared back at him with derpy eyes. What is that? What is that sound? Why is it staring at me like that? Is it dangerous?
Everything looked so new. It was like going outside and seeing the End for the first time, only bigger and brighter.
He scanned his surroundings. He was alone, save for the weird creature next to him. There was some flowing blue liquid next to him, and he was lying on a green surface. The sky was light blue, and that bright thing in the sky was right above him. He couldn't look straight at it without wincing and turning away. Compared to the darkness of the End, this world was straight-out alien to him.
There was no sign of the portal that had brought him here. No sign of Ex, either. X realized he was clutching something--the wings that his parents had given him. His last gift from them. He still wore the helmet, too. The thought made his heart hurt all over again.
"Alright, X," he gave himself a pep talk. His voice sounded different coming from the helmet. "You can do this. It's fine...just...a whole new world...and nobody with me...except this pink creature next to me."
His survival instincts kicked in. He needed resources. He needed a sword, to fight off the supposed monsters that his parents had told him about. Most importantly, he needed to find other people--a civilization, maybe? He winced. Things weren't looking so good. Right now, they were looking pretty impossible by himself.
He was never that great at survival, though. Ex was the one who raided all the End cities. X just studied the blocks. He would have a harder time surviving here. But he would have to make do. Maybe he could find Ex somewhere in this strange world.
But one thing was for sure: it wouldn't be the end. Not just yet.
(WC: 1356)
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Hermitcraft: Origins
Fanfiction"Each world has its own story. Even if you tried to get a story from me, I wouldn't be able to tell you half of it. There is so much life in each build and block, and each event has told their own tale. But it has to start somewhere." Fate has the o...
