Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

False symmetry

          The rift sent False tumbling into a hilly plain. She got up, trying to shake off the goosebumps she got from passing through the rift. She looked around. Where is everyone? False assessed the situation. She was alone, with no tools or supplies, which was not good.

           From the position of the sun, she could tell it was early morning, so that meant at least she had plenty of time to collect supplies and maybe build a shelter. First, she needed to go and punch a tree. She found one nearby. A lot of them, actually. There was a whole mangrove swamp within walking distance to her right. False dove into it. 

           The swamp enveloped her quickly, so quick it was almost ethereal. She was surrounded by fog and trees and leaves and mud and dirty water and so much of it all that she could hardly get her bearings. With so many things blocking her path, False could only see a foot in front of her; in all practicality she was blinded.

            Which way was the correct way to go? Which lead out of the swamp?? It was stiflingly hot in the swamp, meaning that the sun was shining bright overhead, but False couldn't really see proof of that with her eyes; the thick canopy overhead filtered it out, meaning that the jungle floor was full of shadow. Shadows that could protect mobs who wanted to hide from the sun. 

           False grabbed some sturdy twigs and wedge-shaped rocks, then, pulling vines from the treetops, she tied the stones to the sticks to craft some tools and weapons. She had a stone dagger now, and an ax. They were crude and covered in grime and mud, but they were tools that would last the inventor for now.

           Trekking through the thick mud and murky water that was as see-through as the rest of the jungle, False nearly got into an accident with an alligator napping in the shade, but her resourcefulness saved her. Grabbing a strong vine, she climbed up it like a monkey and dropped her ax on the reptile's head, distracting it long enough for her to swing away. 

           It turned out swinging through the jungle was a lot more efficient than wandering around on foot, and plenty more fun. False was just getting the hang of grabbing vines and reaching for another in a steady, repetitive rhythm when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw smoke.

           It looked like it was coming from a controlled fire, which meant human settlement. False made a split second decision and let go of the vine she was hanging from, dropping down to the ground below in a not-so-expert fashion; nearly spraining her ankle and slipping to fall in the mud. Okay, I'm glad no one saw that. False got up and didn't even try to get rid of the mud that was staining her clothes. It was too messy in the swamp to try cleaning up so soon. 

           Instead she headed toward where she saw the smoke, penetrating through the leaves. Soon False found herself walking out of the dense jungle like leaving a room and entering another. It was quite startling. One second she'd been surrounded by nothing but thick foliage, and the next she was seeing houses in a wide clearing. But they were very odd houses.

           Wooden shacks made of such dark-colored wood that they would have blended into the shadows, contrasting with how lit up they were on the inside, with bright yellow light streaming out of their thick paned windows. Their deep purple and maroon roofs were floppy-looking, almost droopy, like an old and ratty hat that you'd find in an attic. 

           Seventeen different kinds of vines and foliage grew up and over the houses, spreading like wildfire, like the jungle was trying to reclaim the cleared land. Glowberries lit up the area from where they hung; from wide and curving tree branches and the eaves of tall and crooked buildings.

          Tiny lanterns, of the regular and soul variety, did the same thing, sitting on fence posts, on doorsteps, hanging from a bit of roof that stuck out too much, floating on a pond nearby that had surprisingly clear water in it. Even more surprising was the building that looked like it was built inside a giant purple mushroom, and what appeared to be a giant cauldron bubbling with boiling neon green slime standing next to it. That was where the smoke came from.