Natural Born (Minecraft)

Darkness

I'm not afraid of the darkness.

I can remember that it used to drive my mom mad when I went out at night. She would drag me back inside and tell me for hours about how dangerous it was because of all the mobs. The endermen, the skeletons, the zombies, the spiders, and most of all the creepers. Creepers were the reason I couldn't go outside alone during the day either.

A creeper was what had killed my mom. I wasn't around when it happened. She had gone outside to get me a horse for my birthday. Now the only person I talked to was Gasherton626. He was a bit older than me. Even though the words hovering above my head said my name was KessieCake333, he always called me Kess. He was the only person I knew aside from my mom.

I looked out the window on the ground floor of my home. It was still dark outside. The square moon was bright in the sky. Gasher was supposed to show up with some supplies from mining. But for the first time ever he was late.

I opened a chest by the door and pulled out an iron sword before stepping outside. The grass was moving faintly in the soft breeze. Clouds temporarily moved over the moon, making the shadows deeper.

Gasher darted out from beneath the trees. An iron sword was in one of his hands, a pickaxe in the other. His eyes were wild and his clothes torn. The only recognizable thing about him was the familiar name floating above his head.

"Kess! Get back inside!" he shouted as he ran.

"What's going on?" I called. He shook his head.

"Some Griefer," he replied. He had almost reached me. "Hide the resources before-"

TNT rocketed through the air from the trees and blasted apart the front of my house. I was thrown forward to the ground and could taste dirt in my mouth. I scrambled to my feet as I heard swords clanging.

Gasher was sword fighting a player I had never seen before. The name above the other player said he was AshGrove192. He was wearing iron armor and carried a diamond sword. Gasher didn't stand a chance. I watched in horror as the diamond sword cut through Gasher. He dissolved into bright light. The iron sword, several steaks, and a dozen iron ores dropped to the ground. AshGrove192 turned to face me.

"You monster!" I shouted, charging forward with my sword raised. I didn't have any hope to stop him. But he had killed Gasher. He had taken the last person I knew from me.

Our swords met two times before he knocked me to the ground and held his sword over my heart.

"You Players," he growled. "All the same. You never look past yourselves. Hope you enjoy your last few respawns. Tell your pesky Admins we're coming for them."

He raised the sword and hesitated. His eyes were on my neck, where a necklace my mother had given me hung. He used his sword to pull on the string so he could see it better.

"Leave that alone!" I growled. "You can take it when I'm dead. You did that to Gasher anyway."

"What is this?" the player asked.

"None of your business."

"It looks like a name tag."

He was right. The necklace was a black string looped around my neck with a paper tag at the end. The paper tag shimmered and had my name inscribed on it: KessieCake333. I didn't see why that was any of his business.

"It's got my name on it," I told him. He examined the name tag for a moment more before turning the sword and slicing the string. The necklace fell to the ground.

"Hey!" I protested. But the player's eyes were fixed above my head. I followed his gaze. The name above my head had vanished.

"That's impossible," the player said. He backed up and lowered his sword, allowing me to stand. I gathered the remains of my necklace and stood.

"You're not just a Griefer, you're a Hacker too," I accused.

"Someone's touchy," he said. "I'm not a Griefer or a Hacker. I'm a Natural Born, just like you."

"A what?" I asked.

"Natural Born," he repeated, reaching under his shirt. He removed a name tag necklace just like mine. As he did, the name above his head vanished.

"And you expect me to trust you just because you can do some magic trick?" I asked.

"What else are you going to do? That Player will be respawning soon, and I can almost guarantee he'll call an Admin. It'll take barely twenty seconds for that Admin to figure out who you are and kill you. And guess what, Cupcake? You don't respawn."

"My name is Kessie," I growled.

"And I'm Ash," he replied. "No time for long explanations. You coming back to the base or no?"

I hesitated, glancing back at my house. It was still dark and mobs would be swarming the area. It wasn't safe for me to stay. But what was the respawn that Ash was talking about? Did he really mean that Gasher would be back, better than ever? If Gasher could come back, why didn't my mom?

"It wasn't just a suggestion, Cupcake," Ash called as he walked away. "It's an order."

"I don't take orders from you!" I retorted as I ran after him. "And the name's KessieCake333. Get it right, Smokestack!"