Rite Of Passage

A New Ally

Simon equipped his axe and left the dwelling with caution. The person had stumbled about halfway up the stairs, using the sword as a sort of walking stick.

"Hey. You alright, down there? You look injured." Simon called out, hoping to sound friendly.

The person looked up. He looked like he'd been on fire at some point. His clothes and part of his face was charred beyond recognition. He looked thin and hungry.

"Not injured," He snickered, sounding not quite stable. "Not injured. Not weak! I promise! I can survive. I can. I just gotta try a little harder..."

Simon blinked, stepping down a few steps. "You... You alright?" He asked. "You don't look uninjured. We have food inside; You can rest and regain your strength. We won't hurt you."

"Lies!" He cried, stumbling down a few steps, using his sword to steady himself. "You're going to kill me, and take my sword. You can't fool me. You can't have my sword. You can't!"

Simon grunted. "We don't want your sword. We just want you to stay alive. We need to survive our one month and come back to the Overworld. We need to save all the other Newbies from being put through this terrible curse of a Rite."

He continued to hiss and spit at Simon. "Lies. Lies. I'm doing fine. You can't have my sword!" He screamed suddenly, turning around and stumbling down the stairs, collapsing on the last step. He got up and stumbled off, snarling and shaking violently.

Simon watched him go, sensing something amiss. This kid was acting like he had Rabies or something- Something which didn't exist in MineCraft. Maybe it had something to do with the Rotten Flesh they'd been eating? Maybe he had eaten too much at once, and was under their effects.

He shook his head and turned back to Mati and Alex. "We should start looking for other Newbies. I don't want to wait until they're all like that." He said quietly, turning to see the crazy guy's sillouette dissapearing over the Netherrack hills. He sighed. "Definitely don't feel like waiting. Mati, you go back to the Warren and make sure nobody got in and ransacked the place. Alex, you take half of the Rotten Flesh and half of my Porkchops; I'll go and look for any signs of a way to gain more food out here." He said.

Alex nodded and walked down the stairs, Mati on his heels. Simon was amazed. Why weren't they questioning him? He swallowed and his dry throat burned. A ghast whimpered somewhere in the distance.

The resident Newbies could be anywhere. The Nether was notoriously infinite; One could get lost and never again return to the Overworld. The thought made him tremble where he stood. There might even be wanderers who have spent months in the Nether, permanently lost and dying of Food Poisoning and Heat Stroke. He let out a sigh and walked down the stairs himself, wondering if they'd ever encounter these survivors.

He followed a conspicuous path dug out of the Netherrack, as though someone had established some sort of territory and had made paths for themselves.

Indeed, at the center, there was a dwelling. It was shabby, built into the side of a hill like a Hobbit home. Just outside, a few Zombie Pigmen had been trapped in the 'front yard'. There was a wall 3 blocks high, and it seemed the only way out was by Hobbit Hole.

Simon walked in, treading carefully so he didn't touch the Pigmen. This person must have started farming them, killing them whenever they needed food. Smart.

"Hey! Hey you!"

Simon turned around. On the top of the wall sat a feral-looking girl, looking very pissed. In her hand she sported an iron pickaxe, appearing old and rusty.

"Those are my herds. What are you doing in there?"

"I was looking for you, actually. I wanted to talk." Simon was relieved such an aggressive person would be willing to talk, as it were.

"Fine. Get into my shelter; We can talk there." She hopped down and joined him on the ground. They crawled under the Netherrack, and Simon was greeted by a small circular chamber. It was lit by a piece of Glowstone, no doubt crafted by manually smashing four piles of Glowstone Dust together. It had a nice glow to it.

"Nice home," Simon complimented. "Well hidden."

"You live in the same sort of way, don't you?" She hissed. "I saw you when we first got here; When you killed that kid for the Flesh he had?"

Simon paused, watching her. "I was hoping nobody had seen that. I felt awful about it."

She watched him through narrowed eyes. "I can believe that." She said. "But what do you want from me?"

Simon went forward to explain their gameplan, pun unintended: About teaming up, returning to the Overworld and finding the Mainland, starting a new civilization.

"The Mainland?" She retorted. "Pah. They won't let you go. The Council, they love having control over the Islanders. They know there's a Mainland; There always is, as you said. But the rest of the Islanders don't know that. Those ladies lie to them. They say the Mainland never spawned and the island is the only land."

Simon grunted. "It's time we uncovered their lies, don't you think?"

She growled. "While I support your idea, I don't really want to get involved. I just want to get to the Overworld and stay there, without any drama. If you do manage to build that bridge though, I'm willing to cross it."

Simon smiled. "Fair enough. My name's Simon, by the way." He said.

"Katrina." She said. "I know a few Newbies who are against this too. I'll send them your way if it turns out they're interested in finding the Mainland." She said.

Simon's smile grew wider. "That would be great. My friend Alex is easiest to find; His home is on the ceiling."

Katrina nodded. "Now... I think you need to leave. I don't want too much attention drawn to where I live. There are some crazy ones out there."

"Yeah. Well, I'll see you later. Good luck with your Pigman farm." He turned and crawled back out, climbing over the walls and running back down the path he'd come through.

He returned to Alex' house and his blood ran cold. Alex' house was partially blown up, and it was flaming. A ghast had gotten to it.

Part of the wall crumbled away and Alex came fumbling out, shaky and weak. "I didn't expect that to happen. I came back to check up on everything... When I did that wretched Ghast decided to tear me up."

Simon sighed in relief that Alex was just safe. "I got a new ally," He said as he helped the burnt male down the wrecked stairs. "She has friends she can direct to us."

Alex sighed. "Good." He said as Simon gently lead him to the Warren where they would be staying.

A ghast cried in the background.