A Rising Dawn

Chapter 7 (Part 3)

Connor and I rush to the cave entrance, leaving the house unattended. As soon as we get near, we are met by a crowd of peoplr, surrounding the entrance. I straiten myself just to peek over everyones heads. I notice a large man in front, his back facing me. I push through the crowd, ignoring the small comments. Connor follows closely. We get to the front, just behind Steve. I peak around him only to see the girl who had attacked me before stand there. She's shaking, like a puppy in the cool snow of a freezing winter night. I notice that she is trying to keep strong, but her gesture betrays her. Steve tenses.

"Leave. You knew the rules when entering this place! You have betrayed many of them. You have become a nuisance that must be disposed of." Steve stated clearly, his voice cold, each word was like an icicle piercing her. She flinches, shaking. Without another word, she dashed into the mouth of the tunnel, and hopefully, never to be seen again.

"You got to wonder why everyone's so scared of him. He looks like another player that could be taken down easily." I jump at Connors sudden statement.

"Not easily..." I correct him. But he was right. Just another player that is extremely tall. Why would anyone fear him?

The crowd begins to disperse. Connor and I rushed back to the house in case Steve nagged at us for leaving the house. As we got in there we quickly sat in a seat, silent. A few moments later, Steve enters through the door. His eyes trail towards me.

"Did Curlos let you leave early?" Steve asks calmly, as if nothing had happened. My eyes widen. "No... I forgot I had to go back..." I replied quietly. Steve steps away from the door and I get up, running out. I dash to Curlos' hut. Half way there, the chasm goes dark. I don't stop running though. A few blocks infront of me is the dim light of Curlos' hut. I barge in, nearly colliding with Curlos. She yelps and jumps back.

"Watch it boy! You nearly killed me!" She exclaimed angrily. I slouch.

"Sorry Curlos..." I respond quietly. She grunts and shoves a potion in my hands. She doesn't explain, just turns around and enters the back. I huff and take a seat at the table, drumming my fist lightly on the table.

Curlos comes back a few moments later, a potion in hand. She shoves the potion in my hands with out a word. She turns and waves her hand at me in dismissal. Am I supposed to drink this? Or sell it? I may as well drink it... I wonder. I shrug and tilt my head back, chugging the sweet liquid. Scents whirl around me as I lower the bottle. I keep my head back, strength over running my body. Was this a strength potion? I stand, the sudden urge to mine overwhelming me. "I'll be back!" I call to Curlos. I rush out, making a beeline strait to the mine. I halt in front of it, few miners roam the long tunnel. I go to the break room, only to find no one there.

"Hey, you shouldn't be in here." A female voice states from behind. I turn my head to see who it is. It's a player with long, white hair, big pink eyes, and a cute outfit. I turn my body to face her. "Oh, really?" I ask, smirking. "I was in here with Steve not too long ago." I state clearly. The girl rolls her eyes, pushing past me.

"This room is for miners only. And you aren't a miner." She says while digging through a chest. I look at her, figuring out how to to deal with the situation. "And how do you know?" I ask. The girl stops what she's doing before turning to look at me.

"Because, you don't have your name on a pickaxe." She replies steadily.

"How do you know that?"

"I can see your name. Not everyone can, but it's like an option... Sort of like going into f1. Turning it on will allow you to see your health, hunger, other players names... Etc... But it gets annoying once in a while." She states, grabbing a pickaxe and walking out.

"Wait-" I start, but she already left the room. I shrug, searching for a free pickaxe. I shrug and just take a random one, heading down a strip mine. I have a feeling that I'll get into a lot of trouble, but for now, I don't care.

I get farther down the strip mine, until I reach the end. I twirl the pickaxe in my hands and smirk, starting to mine away. Only about a few blocks away from the previous torch, I realize I don't have any torches, or light sources. I facepalm, and walk all the way back. As I reach the main tunnel, I see people moving all about, removing chests and blocks. They were even removing the block sorting room. I run into the crowd and into the break room, hoping I could put the pickaxe back in the chest before anyone notices.

As soon as I get there, the room was cleared out. I slump, looking at the room with an expression I can't describe. Great... I just caused something, I think. The thought ran through my mind. I straiten, starting to back up. As soon as I turn, I run into Steve. He chuckles when he sees me.

"Hello, Brody, why are you in the mine?" He asks, his deep voice rumbling with curiosity. I smile nervously and shrug.

"I-I just wanted to mine." I stammer. Steve, for some reason, picks me up and walks out of the mine.

"Steve! What're you doing!" I shout. Steve chuckles again, walking out.

"I'm going to reset the mine. I don't exactly want to re-dig the mine and find you suffocating in a wall and have you loose all your memory." He states as we get outside. He sets me down and I stare at him with large eyes.

Everyone seems to have evacuated the mine. If he's resetting the mine, does that mean any houses built in the mines would be destroyed? It's something I will find out eventually. Steve walks up to the main tunnel, just standing outside of it. A player walks over to him and they exchange a small conversation I can't hear.

The player walks away and Steve stands in front of the mine. He dramatically holds out his hand and the mine starts to replenish itself.