The Frozen Empire - An Empires SMP AU

19 - Stronger

Katherine lurked in the forests, she trekked along, charting her path in maps. She had been in a rough spot, after narrowly killing FWhip during a fit of rage, Katherine decided to take a step back and enjoy the wildlife. 

She had noticed changes since the dawn of eternal winter, the Grass no longer crunched with a crisp snowy coating, animals flourished the land, bringing with them lusher grasses and healthier trees. The leaves budded on the prickled skeletal woods, vines and mottles of moss returned to the Azaleas, axolotls sleuthed out from their hiding spots where they hid from the storm.

Katherine sat on a branch overlooking what was her Empire, the towers all had collapsed, crushing the flowers under their immense weight. Her palace lay in ruin, the outer walls still standing but every floor now lying on top of each other. Normally, this would disturb Katherine, but the crushed flowers mixed with the warm spring scent created a sensory dream.

Katherine scribbled in a small notepad, she drew the landscape with every detail, from the windswept mountains, to the frosty ponds and lakes. Her legs dangled over a clearing, they swayed to an imaginary beat. She wriggled her toes around in her shoes, but they accidently slid off and dropped onto the ground.

She rolled her eyes, leaning against the bark as she pondered on whether to retrieve them. She could just make others, but then they would need to be worn out and -

".....liner, I ask of you a simple task, find me a suitable spot!" A snake like voice spat. "Every where we go was inhabited by one of your 'pals'" Katherine dove deeper into the canopy, hiding herself in the leaves.

"I could of swore my winter got rid of them all!" A voice she recognised as Scott's replied. "It was brutal, even for our standards..." They came into view, Scott dressed in cyan and gold robes, they curled around his figure like vines. Around his head was a dazzling circlet decorated with two antlers, a mist of winter and fresh pine lingered by his feet.

The second voice was a reptilian figure with archaic cloths, their primary protection was plates of bone that clung onto them with leather straps. They wore no circlet, true horn-like appendages pierced out of their skull. Their eyes and mouth were both holes filled with purple malice. The Stag twins had arrived.

"If he's worrying about the stuff already here, I can work with it." Joel added in an uncertain voice. He was dressed in the garments of the Mezalean King with a fur coat put over it. His hair frizzed at the back. 

"You seem awfully eager?" Scott frowned. "You do realise you are being enslaved?" Joel shrugged.

Under the tree where she sat, Katherine saw the group walking by, but they didn't notice her boot. They marched onwards, coming to a stop at the entrance of her empire. They started to talk, with Scott constantly repeating what Xornoth was saying.

Then Katherine heard a knocking at the stump of her tree, she saw a rough-for-weather man with a shaggy beard and clothes made of muted leather staring expectantly up at her. 

"Katherine!" Sausage yelped. "I know you're up there!" Katherine sprung into action, weaving through the branches, she dove downwards then yanked Sausage upwards. He scratched himself against the branches, leaves fusing themselves with his hair. She spun him around throwing him out of the canopy where he landed with a thud on the thick branch where Katherine first sat.

"Sausage!" She grinned awkwardly. "How you been?" Sausage snorted, amused by her playful talk. 

"After your little fit, not great..." Katherine sighed. "He wants the book back, tell me you still have it?" Katherine shook her head. Sausage's face switched to a paler tone, his cheeks turned green.

Katherine felt bad for him, he was enslaved by Xornoth, and Katherine stealing the book from him couldn't of helped his reputation.

"He was raging that night, beat me half to death!" Sausage said through gritted teeth. "Where is the book then?"

"Gem has it," She replied, packing her stuff back into her rucksack. "Her and the Prophecy Patrol have some big plan about Exor and Aeor or whatever..." Sausage furrowed his brow.

"Well can you get it back, if I slip up one more time, I'm dead.... again."

"So then leave him," Katherine said, hopping onto the main branch. "Run away just now with me..." Sausage chewed on his bottom lip.

"I really wish I could..." Sausage held out his arms, each limb seemed to be sown together by invisible forces, the strings had a reddish tint, and larger threads lead off in the direction of Xornoth. "I'm only free, if he dies. So I reckon you should help the Prophecy patrol..." Katherine cursed, if that name sticks, there's no way in hell she's joining. "Think about someone other than yourself for now, okay?"

A crack of ice was followed by the arrival of a massive spike coming out from the ground, it shot into the sky with the distant silhouettes of Scott, Joel and Xornoth standing on top.

"I guess this is my queue," Sausage fell backwards, he was caught on the strings as he dangled and swirled around towards Xornoth. All the while, he gave Katherine a look that said 'do not disappoint'.

Katherine paced her breathing, she grabbed tighter onto the branch, she didn't know what they were going to do up there, and she almost didn't want to find out.

Xornoth and Scott stood at opposing side, outlines of armour formed around them, Scott's a royal blue, and Xornoth' s a dark crimson. They outstretched their arms, as if waiting to give each other a hug. There was silence, the buzzing of bees and the rattle of nearing skeletons were the only sounds gracing Katherines ears. 

Then the earth tremored, the lands cracked as ravines of molten lava pooled around the remains of the Overgrown. Orange smog churned out from the holes. Katherine put back on her elytra, she desperately flapped her wings, and with the help of a small firework, she soared into the sky to watch in fear as the world crumbled around her. 

It was strange, the ground seemed ready to crack, as if another similar shockwave could've caused the same disaster.

The buildings topple in, they submerged in the lava and burnt with the smell of charred wildlife. Katherine swooped around the rubble, pulling out of the carnage soaked in sweat.

Then the earth started to mould, the patches of lava shrank and the landscape rose. Pine trees burst out from the grass, their trunks curved like wires. Thunder struck, snow fell, the whole world become uneasy and a shambled mess of everything. The biome kept switching - spikes of ice fell to give way for red sandstone pillars, which submerged in snow that melted to reveal a sandy landscape.

Katherine stopped trying to look, she flew faster than sound, rocketing out of the vicinity. She landed in a river with the fear of god in her eyes.

As she let herself drift down the stream, she began to sob. Her empire was gone - forever this time. She hadn't been at the Overgrown just to chart it, she was there to rebuild. She knew the weather had bettered, so she hoped it was hospitable once again... but now it was gone.

Then she screamed, whatever Xornoth and Scott had done, it was powerful, much more powerful than making stasis tentacles and the odd patch of crimson. This was real damage to the ecosystem, this was worse than anything imaginable. 

So swallowing her pride, she returned to her house she made from a cliff-face, in the house, a Portal waited for her to enter.

The 'Prophecy Patrol' better make this worth her while... or else.