#At one point the grass was saturated with jumping spiders

[tarantula-wizard]

im so happy the bugs are coming back

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM

Chapter 1! Enjoy~! :0c

“This is stupid.” Olivia muttered under her breath.

“Says you, I think this is the best thing we’ve done in a while!” Jesse said happily as he carefully maneuvered his way through the jungle’s thick leaves. The air was warm and thick enough to cut through, the area carried a scent similar to freshly cut grass; the vibrant greens complimented the cool and calming indigo night sky.

“We’ve saved multiple worlds from multiple dimensions multiple times. A jungle temple is pretty mediocre compared to what we’ve done before.” she grumbled while yawning, upset that her friend convinced her to join him on this little exploration so late, the regret and drowsiness catching up to her and slowing her down more and more.

“Look out for the spiderwebs!”

“The wha-” Olivia stopped dead in her tracks and sputtered, feeling a thin, slicky string wrap around her face. She shook her head violently while trying to pull off the practically invisible materialy on her; she gagged, thinking she got it in her mouth, though it could easily be her hair or imagination. Jesse jumped and quickly rushed over to her to help get the web off of her.

“Okay, all off!” He assured her, sighing with relief. Olivia still felt the spider’s web’s presence on her and shuttered.

“That’s it, I’m going back home.” The girl huffed as she turned around, only to have Jesse’s hand promptly grab her shoulder.

“We’re only a few feet away, after we go in and look we can leave right away, I promise!” Jesse pleaded as he motioned his arm north, a faint green glow coming from an area that couldn’t have been no more than a few meters away. She gave her friend a look and asked

“Why did you have to bring me along?”

“Well,” Jesse began without skipping a beat, “I read about these temples having little lever puzzles and redstone tactics that are super ancient and I thought you’d like checking that out!”

Olivia blinked a few times, staring at Jesse for a moment. His eyes glowed with joy and his smile didn’t twitch.

Sighing, she began walking again, “Well, let’s go, the temple won’t explore itself.”

Jesse mouthed a “Yesss!” as he walked beside her.

A few minutes of walking in silence--with the sounds of the jungle making the scenario a little less awkward--they knew they were getting closer and closer to their location, the saturated emerald green light practically blinding them, forcing Jesse to shield his eyes; Olivia placed the goggles on her hat over her eyes. They could only make out bits of the temple, such as it’s medieval-esque exterior. Old, worn down flags with strange symbols--that didn’t look like anything the two recognized--decorated the walls and the large, moss covered cedar door, which had its steel handles removed.

It was quite small in size, the huge, gaping hole in the roof made it appear even smaller as the trees’ thick leaves and tangled vines consumed sections of the temple.

“Probably monsters in there.” Olivia said under her breath with uncertainty, looking up a bit in an attempt to see more of the ancient building.

Jesse drew out his sword, “That’s never stopped us before!”

As they approached the massive door, chunks of the building and trees managed to block out the vibrant light, giving the two friends time to have their eyes adjust to the darkness once more and be able to properly observe the area.

“Man, time has not been kind place, has it?” Olivia huffed as she studied the structure. Glass was broken, blocks were missing, arrows covered in cobwebs stuck out from the wall, it felt as if it was all going to collapse on them in any given second.

“Gotta wonder what the inside looks like.” Jesse reached out for one of the damaged door knobs and pushed in, only to have the door itself fall forward and shatter into hundreds of tiny pieces. They cringed as the booming sound of the crash echoed throughout the abandoned temple, afraid they had awoken any sleeping creatures. Slowly creeping their way in, the floorboards creaking under their weight, they kept an eye out for any traps, monsters, or the source of the green glow.

“How did you find this in the first place?” the girl whispered as she clenched her fists, the inside of the area looking like a haunted mansion. Spider webs, dimly lit torches, broken weapons, and even chunks of armor were scattered about, a strong, metallic smell took over, causing Oliva to gag. Broken levers and redstone smeared on the ground, which was more of a shade of brown than it’s usual dark red were placed in seemingly random patterns.

Despite what little was left of the room they were in, there was still a soft, moss covered carpet on the ground, leading to a fancy but worn down chair. The few tables and chairs were flipped over, vases were covered in dust or shattered, and paintings on the wall were torn or possibly burnt gave Olivia the impression that they were walking in the remains of a throne room. A throne room where a battle must’ve taken place.

“I was walking around yesterday during lunch and kind of... Ran into it. I was excited to explore it but I didn’t really want to do it alone, so I went back home to tell everyone about it but then I forgot, but- Woah! Look at that!” Jesse ran towards a corner of the room, he stared at a broken plank of wood where the blinding light was coming from.

“All this light from such a tiny opening...” he pulled the plank with a little force, a loud popping sound caused them to jump. Olivia took a few quick breaths, collecting herself.

Jesse pulled some more, a new scent began coming from underneath the floor, or maybe it was the jungle itself, but it was a sweet, pollen-like smell, feeling much more welcoming than the overpowered rustic one.

“Mind lending me a hand?”

“Oh, sure!” Olivia crouched down beside her friend and grabbed the old wood tightly, feeling small splinters stabbing her fingers. She bit the bottom of her lip, uneasy, she couldn’t shake off the thought that something was wrong with this place; opening her mouth to say something, the plank, much longer than they thought it was, flew off the poorly bolted floor and flug across the room. Olivia looked back at the wreckage, Jesse stared at the now bigger hole in the floor, more light pouring out and filling the area.

“Hey-” they both began at the same time, they paused and exchanged embarrassed glances.

“You go first,” Jesse insisted,

Olivia cleared her throat, “Uhm... Don’t you think this place is... Bizarre?”

“It’s a temple in the middle of some jungle, of course it’s going to be bizarre!”

“No no!” she shook her head, “I’ve never BEEN inside one of these before, but I’ve seen pictures of jungle temples before, and while they’re small, none of them were shaped like like THIS, none of them had flags or some weird, glowy green stuff coming out of it!. Plus! There were no mobs in here, or surrounding it! Don’t you find that a little weird?”

“... Maybe we... Lucked out?” Jesse shrugged awkwardly, Olivia sputtered in response.

“You think it’s ‘lucky’ that no mobs happened to appear in a DARK and ABANDONED temple in the middle of the NIGHT in a thick, spider web infested jungle?!” she waved her arms about.

There was a moment of silence, both were trying to figure out what to say next. Jesse thought for a second before speaking, “I don’t understand it either, but...” he motions towards the floor, “I think if we find the source of the light, we might get some answers.”

Jesse slipped one of his legs into the hole, avoiding any jagged wood or crooked nails sticking out, “There’s some old staircase down here. Looks a bit unstable but I’m sure as long as we’re careful, we’ll be okay.”

He sucked in his gut as he slid his way in, Olivia could hear him fall face first into the floor below them. Sighing and shaking her head, she squeezed through the hole and fell right on top of Jesse, who let out a small “Oof!”

“Sorry, I thought you already moved!” she frantically got up and adjusted her hat, helping her friend up.

“Nah, it’s okay. Let’s go!” the boy said as he tiptoed as fast as he could, his small steps echoing throughout the stone stairs each time his foot touched the ground. Two grey walls were on each side of the staircase, which gave the already thin stairwell feel even smaller. The pollen smell was getting stronger, almost making it hard to breathe in. The girl felt as if she was suffocating.

Tightening the strap around her goggles, she squinted her eyes to see how far ahead Jesse was, but a thick layer of fog devoured the area.

“Great, I’m blind AND can barely breathe-” Olivia let out a yelp she felt her foot touch the floor, thinking that for a second, she had missed a step. Catching her balance, she inhaled a hefty amount of the sickeningly sweet air, getting more and more nauseas by the second. Maybe the metallic smell from early was a blessing in disguise.

“You okay?” she heard her friend ask, before she could respond, Jesse turned and pointed to something in front of them, “Do you see that?”

Olivia looked up.

It was just a long, green, foggy hallway.

“Yeah. More walking down this creepy hallway. Amazing.”

“No! There’s something else, come on!” Jesse grabbed her hand and ran to the other end of the hall, Olivia stumbling behind, missing every other step. At first, all she could see was a thick layer of fog and the unholy green, but the farther they kept going, the more she could make out the dead end.

No, it wasn’t a deadend.

It looked like some bizarre painting that she couldn’t properly make out.

They kept running.

It wasn’t a painting.

“A portal...?” Olivia’s eyebrows shot up as they slowly came to a halt. It wasn’t the usual obsidian one she was used to, the blocks that were used appeared to be... Lapis? The entrance was emerald green and swirled about peacefully, it’s consistency reminding her of clouds in some odd way; it’d release small gusts of wind that’d brush against her face. At first, Olivia thought her eyes were deceiving her, maybe the pollen aroma was finally getting to her.

Sticking one hand through, Jesse shivered.

“A bit colder than I thought it would be.” he chuckled, giving her a small smile with a hesitant pair of eyes. “You coming?”

Olivia stared into the portal’s entrance, the wind swirling around her. Who knows where this would lead to. It could be paradise. It could be some terrifying monstrous kingdom. Or it could be an abyss. Gulping down her fears, she nodded, and with a confident voice she said “Let’s go.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The two leaped out of the portal and into the new world. There was no green light that consumed the area. There was no longer an active portal.

‘That’s gonna be a problem...’ Jesse thought to himself as he observed his surroundings. They appeared to be in another hallway, but this one was much more refined. The floors were made of oak and spruce wood, instead of the mossy, stone one they walked on before, the walls were noticeably wider, the ceiling was higher as well; Olivia felt much more at ease, more space and no stupid oder she had to constantly breathe in.

Turning to her left, she saw the walls were made up of stone bricks. They were still in tact and sturdy, but she also noticed carvings. It was hard to make out at first, they were quite thin, and the dark hallway didn’t help with that either, but they were odd swirls, figures, and shapes that vaguely reminded her of words, they were carefully engraved into the blocks.

“Jesse, you see this?”

Jesse walked to her side and brought himself closer to the wall.

“Wish I could read that, it’d be cool to know a bit of information about this world we’re in.”

Olivia nodded in agreement.

“There’s another staircase, maybe that leads to a way out of here.” Jesse said, looking ahead. Without wasting any time, they raced their way up the stairs, their eyes passing by hundreds upon hundreds of symbols on the wall. It seemed to tell a vague story, from what Olivia could make out. Maybe this old place is a library, or has a room full of books. Anything. There was no telling what lies ahead. She was praying that there’d be something she’d recognize when they’d reached the top of the stairs. Thinking about it, being lost in some unknown world, with a chance of being stuck there forever didn’t sound too appealing to her. Yes, they’ve been through similar adventures, but it was still a fear that crept in the back of her head.

“Did you say something?” Jesse asked, as the spacious stairs came to the end. He hunched over, panting, Olivia leaned against one of many pillars, also trying to catch her breath.

“Uh, no?” she said between gasps.

“I don’t think I even heard another voice.”

Jesse groaned and threw his hands up, “Great, not even five minutes into this new world and I’m already going insane, huh?”

Before Olivia could comment about their new location or Jesse’s sanity, she heard something. Jesse did too. Footsteps, and a very, VERY muffled voice. The friends looked down the hall decorated hall, it wasn’t too long, in fact, the door was only several feet away.

“What should we do??” Olivia whisper shouted, hearing the footsteps getting closer and closer.

“Hide behind the pillar, draw out your weapon.” he mouthed some words, but she still got the message. But a weapon... She didn’t have one on her. She did have a lever, however. Hiding behind the pillar with Jesse parallel to her, she clutched the lever tightly in her hand. Anything is a weapon if you’re skilled enough.

The talking got louder, it almost sounded like arguing, it was hard to tell, but the sound of the doorknob jiggled, causing the two of them to tense up.

Swinging open, Jesse peeked his head out from behind his little hiding spot and gasped.

“Aiden?!”

[silvermp]

Flock Together - Part 6

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6)

The rhythm of her new task flowed easier than she thought it would. Her mother murmured instructions to her, and in the pauses between directions, Kuroko listened to the hundreds of crows whispering to one another. Their presences shifted through the black shadows, the exact where of their voices never quite clear, but a general feeling was easy enough to grasp.

“The Cranes have answered.”

Tero’s soft voice came in from the void, and Kuroko was hard-pressed to pull back from the crowd and forward the message only to the direction of her mother.

From the small chorus of raucous cheers, her aim had been a little broad.

“Stay near the river” Her mother’s words echoed from her beak, her own mind trying to remember the landscape she’d only flown past once. No, she had nothing to contribute. All she could remember was marshland and slow-moving water. “Try to drive them to unstable land, while we wait for our allies.”

Kuroko felt them shift around, and the brief quiet that told her they were too busy responding to pass messages between themselves.

“The spiders have answered”

She didn’t have the chance to pass the words along before the darkness lit up with a symphony of screams.

Shadows snapped open, several tattered crows falling from their roughly-grabbed branches and landing with soft thumps to the mat of petals below. Kuroko nearly missed sending her mother’s next round of instructions, energy thrumming through her skeleton.

She couldn’t tear her gaze from the black bodies lying uncomfortably still, on the brown-and-pink below.

“Pull back!”

She yelped the order, feathers spiking up with the urgency her mother had hissed it at her.

“Alpha, Theta, retreat. Let them follow, but maintain a safe distance. Head East.”

Another one of the presences winked out, but there was no corresponding shadow she could sense at the Roost. Curiosity and fear roiled in her breast.

What was happening?

------------------

It wasn’t often Tero felt the limits of his body.

Crows were swift, but swifter still were the long white wings of the cranes that flanked him.  Their strokes were longer, feathers catching and pulling the wind, even as long black legs dragged behind them through the sky. From what little he knew of their kind, they had originally called the northern mountains their home, but regular migration down to the marshlands had given them an excuse to linger. It wasn’t like there was much anyone in the area could do to stop them. Where the Crows had their shadowy portals, the Cranes felt the pull of icy waters in their hearts, and could pull back.

He wasn’t quite sure what Kokoro-hime had promised them, but the elemental birds had come to their aid, and that’s all he cared about until the flock was safe.

Tero tried pouring on speed, finally picking up the brief whispers through shadows as his team  came within range. His white entourage branched out, sweeping high above the treetops in a messy formation of long beaks and pale silhouettes against the darkly cloudy sky.

“The spiders have answered”

Tero held back a snort at the broadcasted message, having never doubted they would. Greedy bastards.

Still, he sent a quiet thanks through the shadows, trusting Kokoro-hime to pick it up. She had chosen well, appointing her daughter as the main point of contact. Regardless of the rumors spreading, the young bird was competent in this, at least.

He dove between branches, emerging on what had become a muddy battlefield.

Long grass had been trampled, wetland herbs throwing up a medley of spicy scents into the thick air. Flurries of feathers dove in and out between manmade weapons, claws raking and beaks snapping at any fleshy opening they could find.

For all that their kind lacked in offensive power, he noted grimly, they did a fair job making up with maneuverability. Thankfully, their enemy did not seem particularly well organized, or even the most nimble crow would find themselves outmatched.

A human looked up at him as he swept over the thrashing crowd, wide brown eyes looking maniacal, clawed lips opening in a bloody grin. They leapt into the air, a bladed staff whistling toward his body. Tero was quick to flash his tail, veering sideways and out of range. A mad cackle sounded off behind him, and he couldn’t help his wince when a nearby bird yelped in pain.

Mindlessly attacking as they were, even a wild strike could hit in a swarm.

He relayed the details as best he could to Kokoro-hime, trying to note the main groups of humans, and the physical details they shared. She ordered the flock to pull back, to fly higher than the humans could reach with their weapons. Black wings obeyed, and a few more crows sank into shadows to nurse their injuries.

Black hair, brown eyes, a tendency to wear white. The red dots on their foreheads were telling - either an unlikely coincidence, or a callback to their demon blood. Tero would have suspected the spiders, but they seemed eager to fell the two-legged prey, laying sticky traps and concealed snares to open up a place to bite any who wandered into the thicker underbrush.

Something about this whole ordeal seemed *off* somehow. He was used to butting minds with humans, not dodging as they threw themselves into danger. They were conquerors through skill, not strength or speed. The beastlike bloodlust and single-minded lack of tactics was unfamiliar to him.

He landed on a branch, surveying the terrain again. The Cranes seemed to be doing an excellent job herding them toward the river, crackling spires of brittle ice forcing retreat at the threat of injury. Hopefully the open shoreline would give them more ability to target with deadly force. They were far too close to the roost. Far too deep into their established territory, and far too aggressive to let live.

Tero tilted his head, hearing the heavy thump and a distressed shout as a human was dragged down from a tree behind him, a telltale rustle of exoskeletons the only real signal to what had happened.

Several of the humans had stepped out onto the river and he felt a pang of irritation.

Fucking bloodlines. The Spiders seemed to notice as well, and were quick to target the white-garbed humans still charging through the underbrush.

His irritation morphed into anger when he realized the Spiders were falling back, their bodies designed for burrows and trees, not the shifting water. Typical of them, to eat their fill and help only when it was convenient. He reported the movement to Kokoro-hime, taking a quick stock of the crows who had remained. Between the miserable drizzling clouds and thin fog starting to collect again, it was hard to get a good number, but he could tell through the shadows that they weren’t eager to continue.

“Alpha, Theta, permission to return home. Beta, keep in the clouds - follow from afar, and be ready to supply distractions.”

Clicking his beak in relief at the new orders, Tero jumped into the sky again, racing along the choppy water to help lead the last group of humans across the water. He had his own orders to follow, and attending the Cranes was paramount.

Fog grew deeper around them, but between the teasing dives from white wings and angry shouts from humans, it was easy to keep them moving across the water’s surface. A lucky strike clipped one of their long legs, and Tero winced at the cry of pain. He darted quickly to the taller bird, risking a quick jump to appear in the shadow of her wing.

Humans already converging on the faltering crane, Tero dug in his talons, yanking hard on his Chakra to pull them out of there.

He and the Crane fell in a pile of feathers and weak limbs. Tero wobbled as he stood, feeling lightheaded from the sudden loss, and aching from the early symptoms of spiritual exhaustion. She thanked him quietly, dragging her beak through the mist and solidifying an icy cast around the broken limb.

Tero decided not to look at it, his own leg twinging from the sight of joints bent in such a wrong direction.

He lunged back into the air, banking to ride a slow updraft over the forest. A small murder of Crows flapped far above him, asking a barrage of questions that he quickly answered.

No, it’s not over yet. We’re still here to provide support. Listen for Kuroko-san’s orders, I will not override them.

The last comment got a scatter of displeased murmurs, but they did not disobey.

It took a long moment, but he found again the cranes in their strange formation, teasing and leading the aggressive humans to shore. Eyes starting to throb a little, he angled down to follow.

They seemed to cross an invisible threshold, and the fog grew thicker, saturated with mixed Chakra.   Shinobi  he whispered to his group, Stay distant . He was quick to bank off their trail, landing to watch the Cranes push the last few yards to shore. The humans didn’t stop, striking at the birds, and then striking at the other humans who darted in to subdue them.

The tactics were swift, brutal, and familiar. Tero watched the white-garbed humans throw themselves at the Mist Shinobi, pitting spears and swords against the trained swiftness and stolen techniques of the human city’s guard.

Tero twitched when he saw one of the Crane’s signature ice pillars being directed by one of the shinobi , but the broad-winged birds did not seem bothered by the sight. If anything, they continued to circle, raising shining walls when the violent humans tried to flee.

It did not take long before the last of the bodies fell.

“Safe.” He reported back, keeping his voice lowered. “Return to the Roost. All are slain.” He remained in his gnarled tree, knowing one of the Cranes would be quick to call upon their new debt, even as black wings turned away and headed back.

The Shinobi gathered the bodies, talking among themselves for a long while before raising the river’s bank and sweeping dozens of bodies down to be devoured by fish and other aquatic carnivores. How courteous.

One of the cranes swept down, landing beside the one who had used her technique and spoke in low tones Tero couldn’t quite detect from this distance. The human looked up, spotting his black form easily from the skeletal branch he perched upon.  

He realized perhaps a beat too late that the two were also allies, and their clan may have just been dragged into human affairs.

Tero took a slow breath, flattening his feathers against the uncomfortable drizzle of rain.

This wasn’t going to be a fun time.

----------------

Kuroko kept her connection to the shadows open as long as she could, but her chest had begun to feel empty and aching in a way she couldn’t properly describe. Drained, perhaps? Like all the fluids had been pulled out of her chest cavity, and replaced with seed fluff. Corresponding throbbing of her head and eardrums were quick to appear, until the dizziness nearly pushed her off the branch.

She cut the line, feeling guilty as she did so.

A warm body appeared beside her, familiar heartsoulself of her mother pressing into her feathers lending some comfort and much-needed stability. Kuroko leaned into her, sucking in air she didn’t really need, trying to steady the flutter of exhaustion spreading through her bones.

Kokoro didn’t say anything.

She just sat there, eyes closed even as birds tore through the membrane of shadows to flop exhausted into nests. She didn’t react to the figures hopping onto branches to watch the two of them, nor did she open her eyes when Kuroko let out a soft, startled noise at the sight of a clearly dead crow being pulled out from one of the dark pools.

The elderly crow that had first greeted her lay sprawled across a branch. His beak hung open, eyes wide and dull and blankly staring. She looked away, guiltily watching birds hopping together, pressing their bodies against one another as black mist seeped out between feathers. Too tired to ask what they were doing, Kuroko finally succumbed to her exhaustion and closed her own eyes.

And slept.