We Were Rulers [Empires SMP × Genshin Impact]

Oh, the Irony

One minute, Joey was a pirate. The next, he was a landlubber with no ship, no crew, and no treasure.

No treasure... what a sad existence.

Joey refused to accept it. In a few minutes, this weird Grumbot malfunction would end, and they'd all go home, or at the very least to Hermitcraft.

A few minutes came and went.

Joey closed his eyes. He didn't want to look at his surroundings. He waited for the familiar crash of the waves, the rocking of his boat, the voices of his crew.

The waves were there. He could hear them. He could feel them lapping at his feet, inviting him out to sea. He could smell the salt in the sea breeze. It was cool, but not necessarily cold. Joey could use a jacket, but he wouldn't freeze if he didn't have one. Mixed into the ocean's aroma was the faint, tangy smell of ozone, like electricity coursed through the very air itself.

The promise of the water was the only thing that made Joey open his eyes. He was laying on a beach. The water was cold and gray, definitely not what he was used to. The sand was damp and stuck to him. He could see a storm on the horizon - not safe for sailing, but it explained the smell. He shouldn't have smelled it from here, but he did. Maybe his nose was better than he thought.

He sat up. The grass behind him was a strange bluish-green color, like warped nylium. The trees were pink. It looked like something that Shelby would build in her mangrove swamp.

The thought of the witch awakened a deep fury within Joey.

Since going out to sea clearly wasn't an option when he had no ship, Joey went inland.

The first thing he encountered was a small cliff that jutted up out of the beach. Joey climbed it and got his bearings.

He couldn't see all the way to the shores, but he was pretty sure he was on an island. There was a part of him that could just feel it. Maybe it was the air or something. Or maybe it was his awesome pirate senses.

Joey thankfully had a compass on him. To the north was a mountain, glowing purple near the top. It probably had some cursed treasure at the top. To the south was a city of some sort, although the building style was very different from what anyone made in Empires. Right in front of him, to the east, was a village, and behind him - west - was, of course, the ocean.

Hermitcraft actually looks decent, Joey admitted to himself. He had been expecting something industrial, like the Hermits had created in Empires. This was much better.

Joey turned around and admired the ocean. The storm on the horizon seemed to be heading away from the island, which was good. Joey wouldn't have to deal with it.

To the northwest, there was a smaller island with another city on it. These Hermits really liked building cities, didn't they?

Joey put his fists on his hips in what he hoped was a dramatic brooding pose and looked at the smaller island. The roofs of the town were green. There was a beam of light peering up from the far end of the island, but he couldn't see the source. The island appeared to be accessible by a sandbar.

Joey took a step in that direction to investigate the beam of light. He guessed that it was a beacon, because nothing else in Minecraft did that.

However, before he could take more than a few steps, a person stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Look at this," the stranger grinned. "An outlander. And I doubt he has a travel permit, either."

Joey crossed his arms. "Are you guys Hermits?" He asked loudly. "I know you like pranking, but this isn't funny."