All around him there were trees. Jungle, spruce, oak, birch. He checked his axe and made sure it wasn’t about to break. Hefting the tool, he began to wonder which direction to head in. He switched his axe to the other hand and pulled out his compass. North was to his right, so he decided to go West – towards the heart of the forest.

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After a few hours of chopping, Steve finally made it out into a clearing. There, he found, unsurprisingly, more trees. However, there was a small pool of water as well as a large hill with a gaping cave in its side. “Now THAT is the most interesting thing I’ve seen since I got here.”


Steve switched his axe and compass for his diamond sword and iron pickaxe. He smiled as he crept towards the opening. As excited as he was to get spelunking, he knew that if he didn’t want to get sent back across the sea, he needed to be careful. He
quickly switched his pickaxe for a torch and placed it down.


He couldn’t see much, but what little the torchlight revealed intrigued him. He saw a large chest surrounded by a pile of gold and jewels, some of which he didn’t recognize. He tiptoed further into the cave, setting down torches as he went. His eyes widened as the miniature mountain of wealth continued to grow. After placing what was probably his second-to-last torch, a large object caught his eye.


It was about the size of his head, and shone with a much brighter luster than any of the gems littered around him. As he walked closer, he noticed it was a bright red color with thin maroon stripes all over it. Steve was entranced by it, yet as he reached his hand towards it, he felt another familiar feeling: apprehension. He knew he was trespassing, but couldn’t seem to pull himself away. Before he could decide what to do, he heard some treasure behind him shift.


He held up a torch to try and see what had caused the noise. He noticed something moving in the darkness. His interest peeked, Steve took off in the direction of sliding gems and ingots. He followed it and noticed whatever it was, he was being led away from the entrance. He stopped, suddenly lost in the inky blackness. He listened as hard as he could, but was unable to track the strange thing.


He suddenly became aware of something behind him, but the next thing he knew, he was face down in the cold, musty loot. Unconsciousness beckoned him, and he was powerless to resist.

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Steve awoke in a much warmer, and more humid place then he remembered falling asleep in. He held his head as it all came pounding back, giving him a massive headache. He felt a gust of air wash over him, and he knew he was in trouble. Why? Well, air doesn’t just get blown around underground.


He opened his eyes to see a massive red dragon standing over him. It’s scales, as large as his hand, shone in the torchlight, wait . . . torchlight? Steve’s eyes shot around the cavern, from the dragon to the torches to the silhouetted figure – he fixed his gaze on the figure standing beside the dragon. “Hey! Who are you? What’s going on?!”


“Well, we would like to know that as well.”


Steve turned back to the dragon in surprise. Did it just –?


“Yes, I spoke. And I will continue to speak as long as I please, Scale-less One.”


Steve took a moment to force down his terrified scream. He took a deep breath and prayed to Notch that he wouldn’t lose his composure. “M-my name is S-s-steve.” Notch, he was dead for sure.


“Well then, S-s-steve,” the dragon replied with a hint of mischief. “Why don’t you explain to us why you were on our island, stealing our treasure?”


“What?! I wasn’t stealing anything!” Steve forgot about being stared at the mere accusation of his integrity. “I found this land after an evening of sailing. I chopped a path through the trees and found the clearing with the cave. I decided to take a look around and found all that treasure, and then –” He faltered. His gaze wandered back to the dark figure. “You!”


The figure became startled and began to run, but what stopped by the dragon’s tail. “Oh, no you don’t! You brought him here, you will stay here while we sort things out.” The figure’s shoulders drooped as they turned back in Steve’s direction. They began walking toward him, and Steve’s “fight or flight” kicked in once again. As the silhouette stepped into the torchlight, he gasped.

The figure turned out to be a woman about his age, perhaps a little younger, with long red hair draped in a ponytail down her left shoulder. She wore a pastel green shirt, a darker green belt, and brown pants with black boots, though her attire looked a bit worn.
She set her fiery gaze upon him with her dark verdant eyes.


“Well, what were you expecting? A monster?” she asked, her voice dripping with contempt and a strange accent.

Steve was shaken from his stupor by her words. “Uhhhhhhhh, no! No, not at all! I just, well, didn’t think there was anyone else here like me.”


The girl crossed her arms and continued to glare at him. The dragon stared at her before turning back to Steve. “She doesn’t seem to like you. But, I believe your story. Come, let us go meet the others.” The dragon rose to its legs and turned around slowly in the cramped cavern.


“Wait! Others? As in, more people?”


The dragon laughed. “No, S-s-steve. More dragons!”


Steve nearly fainted again.

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He followed the dragon and the girl deeper underground, still confused by the strange turn of events. He was so lost in thought that he nearly walked off a cliff. The dragon caught him in its mouth and threw him back onto the path. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’d hate for the guest to become the welcoming feast.”


They continued deeper into the world until they reached a large ravine. It had been filled in at the top so it was flat, though a few holes could be seen. The dragon gave a great roar, which boomed off the cave walls in a great cacophony. A few seconds passed before other dragons emerged from tunnels that presumably led away to other caverns, possibly even nests. They were all different colors and sizes, their scales a mismatch of stripes, zig-zags, and other strange patterns in darker variants. However, they seemed as enraptured by Steve’s foreign appearance as he was by theirs.


They gathered around the red dragon, who seemed to be the leader. The light was much stronger here, making it even more obvious how massive he was. The girl even seemed to have a pattern tattooed all over her body. The red dragon turned to Steve and began to speak. “Friends, neighbors, dragons. We are gathered here to name our Champion.”