Signs of Presence

Victories in the forest filled us with enthusiasm. And in the days that followed we had fun!

Steve taught me how to make pickaxes, axes, and other tools on his crafting table. He showed me a network of mining tunnels he made and explained how to distinguish ore from stones. In less than a week, we smelted so much iron that we made an entire set of metal armor for each of us, as well as forged swords from the left-over ingots. No more wooden or stone clubs! Only sharp, deadly stainless steel.

Now, I strolled around the island without any fear at all. I made raids against monsters to get bones, which Steve would then use as fertilizer for the wheat crops. It was fascinating. These monsters, which came out of nowhere and vanished when I destroyed them, often left something behind. A few arrows, or a piece of rotten flesh. I carefully collected what I found and brought them to Steve, figuring that everything could find use on our farm.

Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. And one day our serene life came to an end. One day, returning from a nightly hunt, I came across an eerie scene, which filled my soul with vague uneasiness.

I was making my way through the woods along a well-known path, morning fog thickly trailing all around me. By now I knew this terrain so well, that I could have walked with my eyes closed, were it not for the likelihood of running into a creeper if I were to do something so reckless. Already close to the house I noted something move at the corner of my vision, just at the edge of visibility. I stopped and turned off the path, making a few cautious steps in that direction. I thought it was a creeper...

What I saw was... unbelievable. Yes, a creeper did sit on a small ledge. Sideways, so it could not see me. But that was not what startled me. What did make me doubt my own eyes was a small leash on its neck, the other end of it held in hand of... someone... dressed in exact same blue trousers and a blue shirt like mine. The stranger was also about the same height as me or Steve. But I doubted that this stranger was anything even remotely human. The reason was the stranger's eyes.

The stranger's eyes were absolutely white, even glowing. I could see that clearly despite the distance and the thick fog curling around us. The stranger's eerie gaze held me spellbound, unable to move or look away. For a few seconds, we studied each other. And then the stranger silently stepped back and vanished beyond the white veil, taking his tame creeper with him.

I didn't feel like trying to track down where they went. Instead, breathlessly, I ran all the way home. Seeing that Steve has not woken up yet, I dived into my bed and hid completely under my blanket. And, despite the excitement and anxiety, my eyelids soon drifted closed into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke up again, the entire episode seemed to have retreated in my memory and I began to wonder if maybe I just imagined it all after an exhausting night of work. So, when Steve pushed me awake for lunch, I didn't mention what happened.

After lunch, we set off for the south part of the island, where Steve said he wanted to show me an abandoned sanctuary.

"When I traveled around the mainland, sometimes I came across different empty buildings. Who made them and why they were abandoned, I do not know. Sometimes, it seems as though the entire world just suddenly became empty. As if all its inhabitants just... vanished... Or... maybe they turned into the undead?" Steve said when we approached a small building made of mossy cobblestones, webbed with tangled, green vines.

"... Here." Steve waved his hand toward the entrance, already equipped with torches. "There are a bunch of traps and a couple of chests with supplies inside. I already neutralized the traps I found. And I found the chests by accident when I pulled a few levers... It's a system of some sort with pistons?... Come on, let's go. You'll see everything for yourself..."

I climbed into cramped stone containment. Definitely, human hands have built this place. So, other people once did live on this island. I wondered if we would ever meet any of these builders.

"Listen, Steve." I recalled one detail from my arrival to the island. "What is that sandy pyramid in the sea? Were there any treasures in it, too?"

Steve froze briefly and then jerked to glare at me, his face twisted in a grimace of horror.

"What pyramid?" He demanded harshly. "What did it look like?"

I blinked at Steve with confusion, startled by his unexpected reaction.

"Um... Small? With steps? Like a... Where are you going?!"

Steve silently returned just to grab my hand and forcefully pulled me out of the abandoned temple. Ignoring my question, he dragged me after him through the forest to the coast, which was not too far away from this place.

"... Right angles, perfect proportions?! As if someone stamped the sand with a mold?!" He almost yelled, still dragging me along.

"Yes, but I don't understand... Why are you so... Worried?"

We ran out, stumbling, upon the shore. Steve nervously looked around himself.

"Where?" He demanded after a moment.

"Are you kidding? The tides probably washed it away a while ago... Besides, I'm not sure where I saw it. I might have swam from the sea further to the east... Or west..."

Steve continued to look around helplessly. I just stared at him. I have never seen him so confused or... scared.

"Not again... Not... I hope it's not him..." The miner muttered under his breath. Once again, I began to doubt his sanity. I wanted very much to encourage or reassure him.

"You know what? Let's take a break and just go home. Enough adventuring for today." I declared.

Slightly slumping, Steve nodded numbly and allowed me to lead the way back through the jungle. The entire trip back home, he didn't say a word.

Our evening passed in the same uncomfortable, oppressing silence. Several times, I tried to ask Steve why he got into such a bad mood, but he just waived it away, insisting that everything was fine. We laid down to sleep still in heavy mood.

In the morning, a terrible, drawn out scream tore me from sleep. It sailed over the island, carrying despair. In an instant, I was out of bed and running out of our mud house, my faithful sword grasped in my hand. Doubtlessly, the one shouting was Steve.

That scream came from not far, at the edge of the dark forest. I rushed there as fast as I could.

I didn't have to run long. Almost immediately, I saw him – a lone, lost figure standing next to the dark forest.... No, not forest any more... What was left of it.

Steve held an axe, which he usually used to chop wood for the stove. A mask of animal fear distorted his face. His hands shook and his wide eyes held on the surreal spectacle that lay just beyond.

"Davis... Did you do that?" Steve asked in a desperately hopeful, trembling voice. "Please tell me that it was you."

I could only silently shake my head. With confusion, I also studied the scene before us. The whole ... THE WHOLE dark forest lost its leaves in one night. And not just leaves. Some unknown force had stripped the bark and branches from the trees, leaving only ugly trunks sticking out from the ground.

"And there is nothing on the ground," I observed thoughtfully, "it's all clean." The sound of my voice seemed to bring Steve back to his senses.

"We're getting out of here." He ordered abruptly and rushed back in direction of the house. By the time I caught up to him, he was already finishing up building a small, flimsy boat out of boards.

"Help me get it to the water." Steve ordered. I hurried to do as he said.

"Won't it sink?" I doubted, helping Steve carry it.

"No. It's made from a cork tree... Get your stuff. Take only what's necessary. We are sailing to the Mainland."

"... What? Why?"

"You still don't get it?" Steve raised his voice, his unease and desperation already holding me on edge as well. "Herobrine is here. He came to our island!"