Minecraft Oneshots

Sanctuary (Part 1)

(looks at this) (sighs) just take it

**

Panicked tears stung at Steve's eyes as he darted through the woods, his prize clutched tightly to his chest. He grunted as his bare foot slammed into a rock, causing him to stumble, but he forced himself to catch his balance and keep going.

"There!!" A shout came from the trees behind him, and he gasped, pushing himself faster as he clutched the loaf of stale bread in his arms. He was freezing, teeth chattering no matter how much he tried to clamp them together. At least he could barely feel where he'd stubbed his toe. He wanted to slow down, to sit and catch his breath, but he knew if they got their hands on him that they would kill him..

What crime had he committed to be worthy of an execution without trial in the middle of the woods? That of being alive, of course, after his father and mother had passed away several years ago. Steve was one of several orphans in his hometown, one of the older ones, which meant he grew less likely by the day to be treated to the kindness of those around him. So, to keep himself from starving, he had stolen a loaf of bread. And in the winter, after a poor harvest and with little enough food to go around already, such a crime was punishable by death. So, he ran.

Steve's foot caught in a root, and he went down.

The breath was forced out of his lungs as he hit the ground, the loaf flying out of his hands and hitting the ground a few feet away. He froze, lungs heaving as he tried to catch his breath for a moment before he raised his head. The soldiers... they were gone. Where had they gone?

Heart pounding, Steve slowly picked himself up, seeking out the loaf in the sparse light of the moon and brushing the dirt and leaves off of it. His foot was bleeding, he noticed, though he couldn't feel it in the chill. He would have to find someplace warm... surely he wouldn't be welcomed back into the village, not after this. Maybe he could find a cave, or a hollowed-out tree...

He wiped away the tears and took a small bite out of the bread, chewing and swallowing as he picked his way across the forest floor. He had never been in this part of the woods before. There were plenty of old stories he had heard about these woods, including one, told to the orphans in particular, that said there was a monster out here that preyed on unwanted children. Steve had never been scared of it - he was eleven, after all - but now, freezing and hurting and starving and lost, the stories seemed a little bit more real.

His shivering steadily grew worse as he walked, his adrenaline winding down and letting the cold come back in. He had no shoes, no coat, only a threadbare shirt and a pair of trousers that were too big for him and kept up by a piece of rope wound around his middle. He picked away at the bread bit by bit, hoping the food would keep him alive until he found shelter. If not, well... he would have died anyway if he'd just let himself starve.

What had happened to the men pursuing him, anyway? Had they decided to cut their losses and give up? They couldn't possibly just have lost track of him-

A twig snapped, and he turned to see a glimmering figure standing at the edge of the clearing.

He recoiled in alarm even before he realized what it was he was looking at. A skeleton stood between two trees, fully upright and animate, with a few scraps of fabric still frozen to its form. The bones were covered in frost that reflected the light of the moon, and its' eye sockets glowed with an unearthly light - and it was pointing a bow and arrow at him.

Steve nearly choked in his fright, scrambling away as the arrow was loosed and thudded into a tree behind him. The skeleton gave chase as he ran, and he paid no heed to where he was going except for away, as quickly as possible. He slipped on a patch of frost, slamming down to one knee, but was upright and running again a moment later. The skeleton made almost no noise as it moved except for the scraping and rattling of bones.