YGO TEOIC. CHAPTER 3. City Of Iron

The sun began to peak over the eastern trees in the forest. It's welcome rays fell upon the beasts and monsters of the night, burning the stragglers as the others made for the caves till the moon rose again.
Whilst the sight of the sun struck horror into the night mobs, it gave a new glimmer of hope to young villager Yugi Motou.




Who was currently clinging to the top most branches of a tall pine tree.



Yugi breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the sound of dying beasts float up through the otherwise silent forest. He didn't know how much longer he would have been able to stay up here.
He glances down past his feet to the base of the pine tree. Below him were several hideous looking skeletons, now made even more hideous by the flames and smoke coming off of them due to the sun.

He watched as they burned, finally relaxing as he did so. The night before he had been chased by them all the way up into this very tree. They had pounced on him out of no where as he had been trying to find a good place to set up for the night.
Luckily, he had made to the tree before any of their arrows had found his spiky haired head.

The tree now swayed as a breeze blew by, causing Yugi to cling for dear life. A fall from this height would most certainly kill him.
Originally, he hadn't meant to climb this high and had only meant to wait out the night in the more sturdy mid section of the pine tree. However, he had under estimated how high a skeleton's arrow could reach.

Yugi glanced down along the base of the tree, where a number of arrows were stuck into the bark. They stopped a few feet under the branch he was siting on now.
He was just out of range.

For the rest of the night before, Yugi had watched as the skeletons congregated at the base of the tree, all staring up at him balefully. Who knew empty eye sockets eyes could be so emotive?


As the last skeleton caved in on itself in a crackling bile of singed bone, Yugi began his tedious decent.
It would take a while, for the breeze made it hard and the smooth surface of the pine tree didn't help with grip. At least the pine sap would help him stick to the tree...
Yuck... He thought as his hands and cloths became soiled by the stuff.

After what seemed like forever, he finally leaped down from the last branch... And stumbled.
He hit the soft, pine needle laden forest floor, landing on his stomach with a soft oof!. Grimacing he opened his eyes to see a scorched skull facing him not 2 inches away from he nose. "WAAAAAAGH!" The teen sat up and scrambled backwards on his back side, breathing heavily. After a few moments, Yugi finally managed to calm down, still staring at the dead-or rather deadER- skeleton. The sun was still having an effect on the burned bones. The scorched, blackened bits were beginning to crack and turn to dust and the marrow began to bubble and hiss upon contact with the sunlight.

I wonder why it does that... Yugi thought to himself as see sat up. He then smacked him self in the head. You don't have time to theorize you dolt! You have to get to Ironclad! After scolding himself, Yugi glanced around in search of the path that would take him to the city. Ah! There you are! He spotted the old, run down and weedy path not far from where he had been hiding. Giving the remains of the skeletons a wide girth, he walked over to the path.


                                                *********


It had been three days.

Three days and two nights since his hasty departure from Fernway. His home...

The first day had been hard. He has spent the entire time bickering with himself on weather he should go back and beg forgiveness or not. However, each time he thought seriously about going back, he remembered the accusatory faces of the other villagers staring down at him, and of the punishment would now undoubtedly face...

That night had been awful... It had been a mad dash to anywhere that would have been safe. Every fiber of his villager being had told him to run as fast as he could towards home. Instead he had to make due with a small, cramped cave. There, he had covered the entrance with as many bush branches as he could find, and had prayed to Notch that nothing would catch his scent and burst it's way in.

He must have heard him, for nothing harmed him that night.

The next day had been slow going. Occasionally, he would stop and sleep for an hour or so, before he continued on. By then the thought of going back was out of the question. If anything he was closer to Ironclad then home on a distance scale.  
He had eaten about a third of his rations at that point. He had been generally surprised that he had even lasted this long. Maybe he could survive till Ironclad.

Then the evening came, and he had been attacked by the skeletons and chased up into the tree for the rest of the night.

And yet he was still alive...



                                       
Yugi walked along the path, his eyes roaming the forest in case there was a lone creeper or spider that was still wandering about. If he kept walking, then he should reach Ironclad by late afternoon. The sun mid summer sun soon warmed the forest, and the light mist that had formed evaporated like a dream. Dew clung to every frond and leaf, sparkling like tiny glass spheres, and the light shone down through the emerald colored canopy leafs, causing them to glow a bright luminous green.

Yugi admired it all quietly, intrigued by the new sights, smells and sounds of the forest. Villagers never usually experienced these moments, for they would never step foot in the forest if they could help it.
All he had ever really seen and known was the sounds of digging and talking, the smells of freshly churned soil and burning wood fireplaces and the sights of golden wheat swaying in the breeze, and the houses all lined up neatly along a gravel road.  
It all grew repetitive after a while.

This was new however, and Yugi wanted to drink it in.
Was this what it was like... For Grandpa?... All those tales of traveling at dawn and watching the sunsets at dusk came rushing back... It seemed like a scene he would describe... The though of his Grandpa sent a fresh wave of pain through him. He missed him so bad...
Yugi groaned and tried to focus on other things. There wasn't much to think about except home at the moment. Home. All the people he had grown up with had all turned against him. An immense sense of betrayal creeped through him like a winter's chill. All of them had blamed him for the near murder of Ushio, save one.
Yugi smiled partially as he remembered Tea's fierce and protective show of force.
It meant the world to him that somebody had believed him, better that it was someone he had known since we was hardly more the a toddler.

I wonder if she's worried. The thought made his stomach clench. He had hardly thought of that! What did SHE think of his running away!? Did she think that he had betrayed her? Maybe even that he really WAS guilty.

Would she be seen as an accomplice?  

Yugi wanted to bash his head against an obsidian block.
How stupid of him!

Selfish! Awful! Stupid! Numbskull! Inconsiderate!... Yugi pulled at his hair in self loathing. WHY hadn't he thought about that!? And now there was nothing he could do!
"AAAAAAAAAARRRRGHH!"



"Um. Can I help you, or should I just keep moving along?"


Yugi jumped and spun towards where the sudden voice had come from, every hair on his body practically on end.

On the path ahead of him, about a dozen feet away was a ginger haired man in about his early twenties, with faint ginger side burns. He had a mix of chain-mail and leather armor on with a thick leather belt, a pick axe and sword hung on it. On his back was a heavy looking mud stained satchel with various items poking out.
His face was tanned from days in the sun, and his brown eyes shown with an energetic determination that no mere villager had.

Yugi instantly new what this man was.

"Are... Are you an explorer?..." He asked, letting go of his hair and facing him completely.



"Indeed I am!" The ginger explorer replied cheerfully. "And you... You're... OKAY right?" He said, pointing towards Yugi's head.

It took him a moment to understand what this stranger meant. "OH! Oh no I'm fine. I'm just... Regretting some decisions I made..."

The explorer suddenly laughed and nodded. "AH! I see. I understand, we've all had those moments eh?"

Yugi sighed in relief and gave a smile. "Ahaha... Right..."

"So, what's a fellow explorer like you doing here?"

"Explorer? You think I'M and EXPLORER?!" He asked, dumbfounded that he would be mistaken for something so completely opposite of what he truly was.

"Well yeah." The ginger said, tilting his head a bit in confusion. "I mean... You have a sword, a satchel, some leather armor..."

He glanced down at himself. He... DID kind of look like an explorer. all be it a very ill prepared one. "Huh...."

"You're really not an explorer?" The ginger asked again.

Yugi looked up and nodded. "Yeah. I'm not."

"Then what are you then kid?"


"Um, a villager."


"Ahahaa! Very funny kid! But seriously, what are you?"


"......"


"....... Really?...."


"Yup..."


"A villager?... You?..."


"yup"


The true explorer placed one of his hands on his messy red head and scratched it. "Well... Cover me with gunpowder and call me a creeper... A villager out here in the WOODS all on your own."

Yugi blushed and nodded, fiddling with the strap of his satchel uncomfortably.

The red head now looked down at him with a touch of concern.
"Now, don't take this the wrong way but, WHAT in Notch's name are you doing HERE?"

He blinked and bit his lip. Could he trust this man? He only JUST met him. He decided that if he was going to make it to where he was going, he'd have to tell him. But only enough to appease him. "My village is low on iron and a new shipment hasn't come in months. I need to go to Ironclad and find out what's wrong."

The explorer nodded, rubbing his scruffy chin, then blinked. "Ironclad?"

"Yeah. Have you heard of it?"

"Heard of it? Kid, I just came from Ironclad!"

Yugi's heart soared. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off of him.

"Really!? How far and in which direction!?"

The explorer smiled and pointed behind him. "Just keep following the path. In about two hours you should reach it."

Two hours. Just two hours until Yugi would be safely within Ironclad's walls. He was so close!

"Th-thank you!" He cried, as he began running past the explorer.

"No problem kid." After a pause he called back. "Oi! Before you go! What's your name?"

Yugi turned and jogged in place. "My name is Yugi!"

"Nice! Mine's Grant!"

"Well thank you Grant!" Yugi cried back as he turned and began running at full tilt towards the direction of Ironclad. He was so close! He could do it! He'd make it there and bring the iron back.

"Hey Yugi!"

Yugi stopped and glanced behind him at Grant, who was already a silhouette just within earshot.

"Yes Grant?!"

"A word of advise if you're heading to Ironclad okay?"

"Okay! What is it!"

"Don't go up the mountain!" And with that, he waved and walked out of earshot.

Yugi stared for a moment, processing those words. Don't go up the mountain...
He blinked and, with a final glance over his shoulder, raced on towards Ironclad.



                                                   ************



Odd advise... Yugi thought to himself about an hour and a half later.
He was almost to Ironclad, and he was allowing him self some time to ponder the explorer's advice. He glanced up past the tree tops at the mountain in question.

He stared in amazement.

The mountain had grow bigger as he had gotten closer. Looking at it now, it seemed like  a massive behemoth sleeping in the noon sun.

The mountain wasn't so much a mountain as it was a HUGE hill. It rose gently and met high up in the air where it just barely graved the bottoms of the clouds.
Unlike the mountains he read about in books, with their craggy and shear grey cliffs, this mountain was covered from top to bottom with trees and other thick flora. It was so densely covered, that the mountain looked like a massive plant itself. Yugi narrowed his eyes, and tried to pierce past the upper canopy of the wall of trees, but it was simply to thick. He shrugged and kept walking. It was silly, being warned about going up the mountain. Why would he go up in the first place!? The trees there were thick and plentiful, creating a large amount of shade all over the mountain, and where there was shade, there were monsters. Not only that, mountains were notorious for hidden caves and caverns in them. Then there were the legends surrounding the place.

Most stories consisted of miners or explorers going up and never returning. Others claimed that it was haunted by powerful and dangerous spirits protecting an ancient artifact. Still others claimed that there was an entire stronghold inside and that it was guarded by some horrible, blood thirsty creature.
The stories of spooked villagers no doubt.
Yugi thought before he continued on.

                           
                                                       **********


So sore...
Yugi's legs were beginning to burn, and every muscle in his body screamed for him to rest.
I should have reached Ironclad by now! Where is it? I though cities were huge and EASY TO FIND!

The trees were beginning to thin and change from pine and birch to common oaks. The grass slowly was becoming longer and stiffer under his feet, and the sun became to poke through more and more.

Just as he was about to complain again, Yugi noticed a break in the trees.
He paused then ran forward, ignoring the pain in his legs.
This has gotta be it, this has GOT TO be it! Please Notch above...

Yugi suddenly burst past some bushes and squeezed his eyes shut as the sun blinded him.

The breeze touched his face, and very gently, he opened his amethyst eyes.
Slowly, the world faded from white and the scene before him began to form.

The trees abruptly gave away near the base of the mountain and turned into a plain full of course tall grass and wild flowers.
Farther away from the woods, the plains turned into plain hills, rising and falling, some even looked like miniature versions of the big mountain.

In the center of the three biggest ones, facing towards him, the forest and the mountain was the most beautiful thing Yugi had seen in a long time.

A village... Not just a village. A HUGE village! It was nestled in between the three massive hills, the biggest of which in the back. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of red roofed houses with cream colored walls. Surrounding the entire thing was a huge wall of stone bricks.

In Yugi's eyes, it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

A village.

No... Bigger...

"A city..." Yugi murmured out loud. He then paused, and tears sprang to his eyes.

"Ironclad...."

His legs began moving before his mind told them to. His spirits rose higher and higher with each step, the pain in his limbs forgotten.
"Ironclad! Ironclad! IRONCLAD!" He cried out in a sing song voice.

Faster and faster he ran. The tall grass whipped at his legs and the wind racing past his beaming face.

It didn't take long for him to make it across the field and to the front of the wall. It was the biggest structure he had ever seen in his life.
For a long moment, all he could do was stare. In front he could see the entrance. A large arch shaped entrance with iron bars, now lowered and locked, shone in the late afternoon son.

Yugi looked up at the top, above he thought he saw movement.

"H-Hello!?" He called up.

A head looked over the edge and down at him. "Yes? What do you want?!" Someone called out from above.

Yugi gulped and called up again. "Uh... I need to enter Ironclad... Can I enter!?"

"Hang on!"

He waited patiently, and watched as a rope ladder was thrown over the edge and fell against the wall with a loud CLACK.
As he watched, a man in chain-mail and iron armor descended. Once he reached the ground he hopped off and looked down at Yugi, a stoic expression on his partially armor covered face. "What is your business here boy?"
Yugi gulped, his body cold with nervousness. What do I say? I can't just say, "Oh I need to speak with your superiors about my home village. Oh who am I? I'm just an insignificant kid who's been accused of attempted murder and who ran away from his sentencing!" Agh! For a moment, Yugi worried he wouldn't have anything to tell him, when he remembered...
"I'm here to see Professor Arthur Hawkings!" He almost yelled, relieved that he could think of something.
The guard raised his head. "Do you have any proof?..."

"Proof?..." Yugi squeaked.

"Yes, proof. You think we're just going to let someone in without reason? If we did we'd have ruffians and thieves my the dozens."

Yugi's mind was a storm of panicked thoughts. Proof... Proof... AHA!
He fumbled in his satchel for a moment before pulling out the scroll Prof Hawkings had sent to his grandpa. "Here! It even has his seal on it." the guard took in observed the scroll carefully, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Yugi watched him in nervous anticipation. A number of thoughts fired off in his mind. What if the Professor had died? What if he had moved away? He had to be here! Right?

"Very well... It seem legitimate. What's the purpose for your visit?"

Oh thank Notch above... "Um... I'm here to let him know the passing of my grandfather and to visit."

"Very well then." The guard then turned and, in a loud booming voice, roared up to another guard on top. "RAISE THE GATES! ONE INDIVIDUAL ENTERING!"
With that, the guard turned half way and glanced down at him. "Don't you be starting trouble, ya hear?"

"Oh, of course not sir..." Yugi replied shakily. The guard nodded and walked back towards the rope ladder and began climbing again.
Yugi heaved a sigh of relief. NOW he could enter Ironclad.

Inside the wall, the sound of large gears could be heard, and the sound of chains reached yugi, making him jump. As he watched, the gates began to lift steadily, before stopping with just enough room for a person to walk through.

"ENTER!" A guard's voice rang out, and with a jolt, Yugi obeyed, taking shaky scared and excited steps forward.

They seem a bit on edge... Yugi thought. I wonder why... He didn't wonder for too long, for his attention was suddenly directed elsewhere.

To Ironclad. What an amazing scene stood before him! The ground beneath him was no longer gravel and dirt, but cobblestone street! The housed all had multiple stories and big chimneys, currently not in use due to it being summer. Their cream sides seemed to glow in the Minecraftian sun. Along the streets were signs for businesses and street lights. STREET LIGHTS! Made with glowstone no doubt! Such materials were practically myths in Fernway. Nothing more then far away fantasies. But here they were! Lining the streets, currently dormant until night came. But that wasn't even the most amazing part. To Yugi, one of the most amazing parts were the people! So many of them, all over the place. On the street he stood on alone there were more people then all of Fernway!
They moved so fast too. Always rushing from one end to the other. Some had goods in wagons, others scurried off into the shops or buildings lining the street. Still others walked calming in white or pink robes. Yugi stared with wide, amazed eyes, drinking it all in. So this was what Grandpa talked about... This was what it was like...
In that moment, it felt to Yugi like his Grandpa was standing by him, grinning at him as he always seemed to do when he managed to amaze his grandson.

CLACK!

WHIIIIIIR.

CLUNK!

Yugi was jolted from his daze by the gate closing loudly behind him. He looked past the bars, across the field and at the forest and mountain.

He has walked through all that for three days and two nights...

He did it.

He survived.

And he was in Ironclad.

Safe.

The giddy feeling that bubbled up inside him took him by surprise. Such a feeling had alluded him since his Grandpa's passing... But now...

Yugi smiled and looked into the ever shifting mass of people. Well then... time to find Mr. Hawkings. With a determined nod, Yugi dove into the throng of people.

Being a villager from a small village, he didn't quite know HOW to move through a sea of city goers. As a result, he often ended up bumping into people or getting shoved around. It didn't help that his physique was... Less then helpful.

"Ouch!"

Yugi yelped as he got shoved into a girl. "Sorry!" He apologized quickly.

"Hey watch it kid!"

"Sorry!"

"Ow careful!"

"Sorry!"

"Agh! You stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!"

Yugi continued to blindly wrestle his way through the mass of people.
Finally, he managed to find a clear spot, and panted. Okay, so this wasn't going to be easy... Ah well. He'd find a way.

He looked around at where he had ended up. It seemed to be the down center. It was a large circled street of cobblestone that branched off into several other main streets. It was much calmer here, for there was much more room. Couples rested together on benches lining the perimeter. People strolled through calmly, pointing at some of the shops and streets. Yugi's eyes eventually drifted to the center of the area. There, a massive statue towered in the center. The stone it was made of was different from the others in the area. Darker, with flecks of black.
Bedrock... Wow... Bedrock was a hard material to work with. One would need to be an expert of it to even now HOW to chisel it. Even then, bedrock was hard to mine, so whoever this was a statue of must be important.
Yugi observed it closer. The statue was of a man, with sideburns and a scraggly chin with a slight soul patch. He wore a T-shirt and long pants, and seemed to be in his twenties. In his right hand he held a staff, with a compass at the end. The other held a detailed sword, partially sheathed into the sheath on his belt. It didn't take him long to guess who this was. A statue to the first human explorer, miner, crafter and more.

Steve. The first true Minecraftian and founder of the land.

That made sense. He certainly was an important symbol among the human race.

With a tired sigh, Yugi walked over to one of the benches and sat, recounting where he was and how he got there.

He had survived three days and two nights all alone the the woods. He had survived long enough to do what no other villagers in Fernway would do. He made it to Ironclad and survived.

A smile cracked Yugi's dirty tired face. He was safe... The afternoon sun warmed his body, and the soreness in his legs gave way to limp fatigue. A small nap in Steve's shadow certainly wouldn't hurt... Barely conscious of what he was doing, Yugi laid his head back against the back of the bench.

Just a little nap, then he'd go to find Hawkings. His body went limp, and his breathing became steady for the first time in days.

Just before he slipped off into sleep, Yugi smiled.
This certainly beats.... sitting.... in a pine tree.... all night.... long...          






                                     



                                                              NEXT TIME ON
                                                          THE ENDER OF IRONCLAD

                                                               CHAPTER 4
                                                              STREET WISE

                                                        Yugi needs to find the
                                                      Professor, and soon! But the
                                                      city is a big place, and Yugi
                                                     has no idea where to start. But
                                                        that might change when
                                                    he meets a hot headed local named
                                                                 Joey.