Chapter Text
“My vision…”
Everywhere Branzy looked or went, it was all dark. Even being able to see, everything was black. He was used to this. This place was called the deep dark after all, what could he expect?
Branzy thought to himself, digging deep into his memories. He had been created down here, in the deep dark, as an experiment. Designed for use as a puppet, his duty was to do as told, nothing else.
Then everything he knew was gone.
Branzy shuddered as he remembered the dreadful day. Something, and he didn’t know what, had destroyed the only place he knew as home. Almost everyone was killed, and those that weren’t soon died from their wounds. Branzy had been the only survivor, sheltered beneath the rubble in the experiment room. Despite this, he was still injured. Bits of his “skin” had been scraped off, revealing the fleshy metal underneath, and one hand was crushed. Branzy had tried to repair it but, having no skill, wasn’t very successful.
Sighing to himself, Branzy got up and decided he’d explore a bit of the cave system around the city. He had only been there once before, and was poisoned by a cave spider. This time though, he’d be more careful.
Venturing out with his iron pickaxe, Branzy was on the lookout for one specific ore, diamonds. He wanted to upgrade his tools, weapons and armor, to better protect himself. Branzy normally wouldn’t have to, but recently skulk catalysts had been producing many more shriekers than usual, making the area much more dangerous. Make noise to trigger them three times, and you spawn a warden. Branzy had already encountered one once, and wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.
Making it into the caves, Branzy started digging around, hoping to find some diamonds. He unearthed redstone, lapis, iron, and even found deepslate emerald ore before coming across the shiny gemstone. Mining it with his pickaxe, Branzy carefully set the diamonds in his inventory. Feeling satisfied with himself, he headed back to the ancient city.
Now at home, Branzy crafted a diamond pickaxe, sword, and an iron axe with everything he had found. He reckoned that if something would harm him down here, he’d be able to fight it off. Having nothing else to do, he decided to wander around. Sneaking quietly around, Branzy admired all the skulk catalysts that had formed over the years. Still though, he was careful not to trigger them. The ancient city had many more wonders than just skulk, of course. Precious items stored in chests were scattered around the area, and of you dug under the debris, you would find secret experiment rooms. In one of those, that was where Branzy was created. Now though, they’re just littered with bits of destroyed redstone and glass panes.
Life down here in the dark was generally uneventful, as Branzy put it. However, being safe was pretty easy…well, apart from the warden. No mobs could spawn down here, keeping you safe from unexpected creeper explosions. It was peaceful, and Branzy, having never encountered another sentient being, was perfectly happy with how things were for him. Everyday was pretty much the same. Branzy didn’t need to eat or sleep, so mindlessly walking around everywhere was his only pastime. Even then, it wasn’t really boring. Exploration was a huge part of the deep dark, and Branzy still had a lot to discover. That wasn’t important now.
From an outsider’s perspective, Branzy would seem very lonely down here, but that was far from the truth. It might be a little weird having a whole area to yourself, but Branzy was used to the idea…
As night fell, Branzy decided to take his chances and parkour across the wool on the floor. It was almost impossible to see in the ancient city at this time, which definitely wasn’t an ideal condition for any risky business that could summon a warden. However, that though reached Branzy a little too late.
He jumped as a misstep alerted a sensor, which in turn triggered a shrieker. Slipping off the wool, Branzy stumbled, creating even more sound. He slowly realized that he could hear something else, apart from the earsplitting screams of the shrieker. Something squelching and gross. Branzy felt cold as everything around him suddenly disappeared, being replaced with a night of no stars.
The warden emerged, its heart radiating beats. Branzy gulped, trying to silently edge away, but the warden, having sniffed him out, followed suit. Out of desperation, Branzy punched the warden, which turned out to be a giant mistake. He felt agony coursing through him as a sonically charged shriek hit him from behind. Looking back, Branzy saw that the warden was feet from him, preparing to deal a deadly melee attack. It hit, and Branzy, feeling damage to his exterior, realized that he had no choice but to try and build. Placing blocks around him, he slowly built up, making sure he was at least 21 blocks above the warden. Eventually, after receiving no signal for a minute, the warden retreated back under the skulk. Letting out a sigh of relief, Branzy came down, being careful this time.
Now back on the ground, Branzy took deep, calming breaths as he retreated to the only safe place he knew: the room where he was created. The wool covered floor and redstone lamps made the place seem very welcoming. Too scared to do anything else, he curled up into a ball and closed his eyes, hoping for a peaceful sleep.
When Branzy awoke, he became aware of the pain, coming from the shredded metal in his back. Realizing that he’d better fix this as soon as possible, Branzy got up, exiting the ancient city into the nearby caves. To fix himself, he’d need a lot of iron, quartz, and a little bit of redstone.
Mining for a bit, Branzy successfully found the iron and redstone, but it was the quartz that was the problem. See, you could only get that in the nether, and Branzy had obsidian or any flint. That was easily remedied, however, as all it took was some blocks with lava,water, and gravel. In the end, Branzy got the quartz easily enough.
Smelting the iron, Branzy connected the newly made plate to his back using the quartz and redstone.
“Hey, I’ve survived a warden twice, what else could go wrong?” Branzy muttered to himself.