The Lone Wanderer

Written by Lisra Felltome

It was a beautiful day in the land of Minecraftia. The air was still humid after a long rainstorm, causing some grass particles to stick to my feet as I stood admiring the view of the rising sun. Another day, another adventure. I gripped my fire staff and gestured for my rabbit and slime partners to go. Danis the rabbit hopped into my arms as I positioned him to be on my back where he held onto my cloaked head and Squishy the slime began jumping beside me as we headed off.
"We're looking for the local coal mines, guys." I reminded them as we went. When I asked around at the village we were at yesterday, I had learned that there had been an attack by bandits days earlier, and that a man had helped bring the children to safety. That man supposedly worked at the coal mines for the village, so I wanted to meet him there. Fortunately, I was given instructions on where the place was located, so that was where I was going.
It wasn't until halfway through the day that I located the mine, and there were several workers moving minecarts with chests into and out of the mine. I stayed hidden from behind a stone outcropping, while Danis and Squishy jumped into my inventory to stay quiet as they had done many times before. And then I waited.
Several moments later, the man I was looking for came out of the mines, a blond-haired individual with a muscular build. His clothes were stained black and drenched with sweat from working in such conditions underground, and he had a goatee that ringed around his mouth. He said something to his co-workers and then headed off to a nearby spring, one that was secluded from the rest of the miners. Presumably, he was on break. I made my move.
As he was covering himself in the spring water, I made my presence known by stepping into his sight.
"Hello there, Marcel." I said to the man. He froze and gazed at me.
"Hello there, kid. Do I know you?" he said curiously. I smiled and closed my eyes as I leaned onto my staff.
"Nope! But I know all about you. The man who's a town hero. The man that saved those children while the griefers were attacking. You're a bit of a celebrity now, huh?" I pointed out. He smiled.
"Well, yeah. I suppose. But someone had to rescue those tots. And I wasn't about to let those damn griefers harm my little one, either." he revealed, catching my attention. So, he had a child that was with the rest of the children... Then, his actions may not necessarily have been done out of the kindness of his heart, but rather to protect his child.
"That's fair. I hear griefers have been targeting this town and a few others a lot lately." I told him. He shifted uncomfortably.
"Oh yes. Ever since the war came to an end, griefers have been trying to fill the void left by the illagers when they lost the war. And I've been letting them know what I think of them whenever one of those damn scumbags shows up around here." he informed. This guy really had a disdain for griefers, and just revealed the possibility that he may be hostile on sight towards them even if unprovoked. Not a very heroic trait. Internally, I let out a sigh as I realized that this likely wasn't the one I was seeking, but I kept my smile.
"Interesting. You know, I've been hearing a whole lot about this war between humans and illagers, but I don't really know what it was about." I informed him. That was a lie, I knew a lot about the war between the two. But there were a lot of good people from the war that I was eager to investigate, and hearing more about them from others was always helpful. He looked surprised.
"You don't know what the Purge War was about? Pretty much everywhere got hit pretty badly by it!" he exclaimed. I shifted to one foot.
"Well, you see, I came from a village that wasn't really affected by the war. I guess the illagers just didn't really care about the location. Would you care to explain how the war ended?" I requested.
"Apparently, the war came to an end after Sir Joseph and his unit invaded the illagers' castle." Joseph... that was a name that I recognized, but I couldn't remember where I'd heard it. "He and his child along with a ton of the best soldiers of the Diamond Kingdom took over the fortress, capturing the mastermind behind the war, the scumbag traitor that was Lucian." He said his name with such vitriol and I could feel the hate the man had for this guy. My mind was made up-this was not the one I had been looking for. "The former prince was executed. In other words, justice was served. But sadly, Joseph was killed in the invasion. His poor son hasn't been seen since." With this new information, I had gotten all that I needed.
"Okay, thank you. I was very confused about some of the details. Well, take care!" I said and turned to leave.
"Hold up!" he called out. I paused and turned back to him. "Who exactly are you? You know my name, I'd like to know yours." I thought for a moment.
"Well, my name's Melody." I lied to him, and then headed off, disappearing from his sight into the woods before he could follow up with anything else.
While I walked, my companions left my inventory and came with me. I thought about the information I had gotten from the miner. I finally remembered why the name Joseph stuck out. It had been the name of the knight that my mother had brought into the village. Right before she...
I straightened myself and brought my mind back on topic. Joseph had not been chosen by the Patron, according to the Elder, and now he was no longer alive. It was the first time I had heard he had been a part of the war itself. My thoughts drifted towards the son. A child being taken into battle to fight in an invasion was definitely questionable parental behavior at best, but if he had survived, he could be a possible candidate. But I had to get more information on him, and apparently the boy had gone missing after that. He could be alive or dead. Whatever the case, this was something I had to investigate. If he was the one... then that changes everything. My staff in hand, I set out on my new quest to search for this boy.