Stephan

Chapter Four - First Impressions

When Steve stumbled through the portal, he was met by a gorgeous, green field dotted with sunflowers.

The miner let out a little oh as he gazed around at his surroundings, a beautiful plain on which several animals were grazing contentedly. Behind him was a standard Nether Portal, beyond which was only forest. A very pretty, if empty, world.

His first sweep of the field revealed nothing, but on the second he spotted movement in the tall grass to his right. Quickly, he set off again, hoping to catch a glance of his elusive puppy. As he continued, he found that the field ended in a dark oak forest, and he slowed as he neared the border. Dark oak forests had a habit of sheltering hostile mobs during the day, and he doubted the ones here had any loyalty to Herobrine.

"Apples!" He shouted instead. "Apples! Sweetheart, where are you??" There was no response. The miner gritted his teeth, then cautiously made his way into the trees.

The atmosphere seemed to quiet as he entered the forest, glancing back and forth for any sign of Apples or her prey. No longer was the spell broken by the pacing of wild livestock, or the buzz of bees. Instead, only a heavy silence, that made him feel awfully alone.

Which, ironically, was his hope. A chill ran through his entire body at the thought of a player finding him here.

It had been years and years since he had last met a player, but he still remembered their sightless eyes and strange, blocky countenance. They almost seemed more at home in their blocky world than he did. Their movements were odd and jerky, with little range, and their faces never moved. He wasn't sure some of them actually had faces at all.

More than anything else, though, he remembered their utter hatred and heartlessness towards Herobrine, a broken wreck displayed for their amusement while they feasted and partied.

He shivered. Hopefully, whatever this server was, he was far away from any players that could bother him.

The miner glanced back, making sure his portal was still visible in the distance, before trudging on ahead through the undergrowth. Luckily, no mobs seemed to have spawned in the area, making his journey fairly safe - the ravine he nearly stepped into was an exception. He called out for Apples a couple times more, but had no more luck than before.

After a few minutes, the forest thinned out, the trunks lightening as it became a standard oak forest. It became sparser still as he continued, and then a huge building became visible in the distance.

It was a castle, built into a little nook in a mountain, with sprawling walls and gateways around the central building. The castle itself was built with stacks upon stacks of stone brick, mainly accompanied by spruce wood planks and decor. The entire build had a very pleasant feel, despite the initial intimidation of the walls and fences, with vines and flowers spilling over windowsills and into gardens.

Steve stayed just inside the forest as he walked, creeping up to the walls and staring up in awe. The build was silent except for the odd farm animal, would it be safe to go inside? It must be a player's structure, it was too intricate to be anything but. If the player wasn't at home, maybe it would be safe to explore...?

He shook his head. This wasn't the time for that, he had to find Apples.

Tearing his gaze from the castle, however, only led him to the next interesting thing. A mansion, not nearly the size of the castle but quite a building regardless, stood opposite the castle in the middle of a field. It had a much smaller, wooden wall around it, inside which was several other buildings and roads. A village? Perhaps someone there would tell him if they had seen Apples.

The miner wiggled through the fence and entered the village, but it was little more than a ghost town. A single iron golem stood tied to a fence, looking mournful as though it had lost something. A glance into some of the buildings revealed beds and workstations, typical for a village, but not a single villager could be found. He looked at the golem, and ached to think what could have happened to them.

His eyes turned to the mansion next. He could spy an Enderman of all things through one of the upstairs windows, but nothing else. He moved on.

There was a path of glowing blocks to the north, and he followed it to find another castle. This one had huge, curved, blue turrets that pointed up at the sky. At the base was another village, small compared to the sheer size of the castle, but was that- yes, this one was inhabited!

Steve hurried down the path to where he could see villagers bustling about, only to stop short a small distance from the town. Something was very wrong.

The villagers were milling about, going about their lives and speaking to one another, but their voices seemed off. They were monotone, and repeated the same phrases over and over. Hello, hello, do you want to trade? Hello, do you want to trade? Excuse me! Hello. Another wave of chills ran through him.

Slowly, he made his way into the town. The villagers didn't even seem to notice him until he had come quite close, offering him the same monotone greetings.

"Excuse me." He tried, coming up to a butcher. "Have you seen a white dog with a green collar come through here?"

"Do you want to trade?" The butcher asked.

"I'm afraid I don't have anything to trade with." He admitted. "Can you tell me if you've seen her?"

"Do you want to trade?"

"Can you- do you understand me?" A hint of nervous frustration entered his voice. "I'm just trying to find my dog."

"Do you want to trade?" Steve turned and left. Something was very, very wrong here.

He sat on a barrel near the edge of the village and just sat for a little bit, musing over what he had found. Since the rustle near the edge of the field he had seen no sign of Apples, who was likely long done. These villagers were no help, and Steve had an uncanny feeling that the players had done something awful to them. Though he hadn't seen a player yet, the threat of one coming across him hung over his head like a dark cloud.

He hugged his arms to his chest. He needed to go get Herobrine.

With a discouraged heart, Steve made his way back towards the portal. On top of losing his dog, he was likely going to receive quite the lecture from Herobrine upon his return. He could only hope he was willing to help him recover her, the thought of her being lost forever upset him in more ways than one. She had been his friend for so long, before he even met Herobrine. He would really hate to lose her.

All these worries went out the window when he emerged from the dark oak forest to find Apples sitting by the portal, wagging her tail excitedly with a long, dark bone in her mouth.

"Apples!!" The miner broke into a sprint, crossing the field between them and giving the huge puppy a hug. "Good Notch, girl, I'm never taking you to the Nether again." Apples only let out a muted bark, trying not to drop her bone as she wiggled and romped around him in the field. Steve rubbed the top of her head before tugging her up by the collar, nudging her towards the portal. "Come on, we need to get back before Herobrine notices." With that, they hopped through the portal and disappeared, leaving the quiet field behind them.

Stumbling out the other side, Steve caught his balance and looked around the ornate room.

"I think we're in the clear." He murmured, still holding Apples' collar. "Come on, let's get back to the library."