Turbulence

## Prologue

**Darkness.**

*It squirmed in entropy, waiting for something to change. It felt nothing and everything all at one time.*

*The light was birthed from the dusk of the darkness. The light was not something it believed to be possible, yet the light stood devilishly on the cusp of creation.*

*It closed upon itself, unable to bear the pain of the light.*

*It waited an unimaginable amount of time for the pain to subside. Once it felt the presence of life, it could not bear to be closed any longer.*

*It looked down upon what had formed in its stead, and it was not pleased.*

*This was the beginning of the end, as it always had to be.*

*It existed above everything, looking for a purpose.*

*It wandered aimlessly through the light, hoping to find a way to continue existing, something worth the effort of existence.*

*It stumbled upon a rock, and on that rock existed external forces that could not yet be understood.*

*It found a place where it could rest, and it did. It waited and slept for what seemed like millennia.*

*Finally, it saw something among the creatures that piqued its interest, so it turned an eye towards them and watched.*

*It is still watching and waiting. Their time will come.*

## Story

A gentle breeze blew in the distance.

The sounds of crashing waves and seagulls shook me from my sleep.

*...huh?*

*Where am I?*

I think I must have blacked out after that because I don't remember anything that happened. I was definitely lying down. But *where* was I lying down? By the shore, I deducted from the sound of the crashing waves. And were those...*blankets* that were covering me?

Friendly hazel eyes peer into mine. "Oh, good, you're awake."

I almost had a heart attack. I sat up so quickly from the ground that it practically gave me whiplash. "Who are you?" I ask, startled.

The person backs up so I can see them better. "Hi. I'm Peregrine. And you are...?"

"Kaze..." I answer her hesitantly, what was I doing? For all I know, they could have kidnapped me.

She smiles, having no clue of what was on my mind. "Whoa, cool name. I've never heard it before. But then again, who am I to judge people based on names? There's people here called Mango, Leaf, Gravel, lots of people have weird names. Sometimes followed by numbers. If you look at my name, it says: `PeregrineFalcon3425`. Weird, right? We've all gotten used to it."

I could now see her more clearly. Peregrine was about a head shorter than me, so she came up to about my neck. She had untidy brown hair that was messed on each side. And her hazel eyes were much bigger than mine, giving her an adorable puppy-eyed look. You could almost see the halo floating above her head as she gives me a full, genuine smile. Her voice was so high-pitched!

"Thanks, but... where am I?" I croak, my head spinning.

Curiosity flickered in her gaze, but it eventually faded. "Well, Nemract, of course. I'm assuming you've played on this server before?"

"Well, of course, but not too much," I reply. Then I look around. "**I have no idea where I am.**"

"How are you feeling?" Peregrine asks, actually concerned.

"Dizzy," I supply, "and a bit light-headed."

"You should probably get some rest," Peregrine replied anxiously. "Lemme tell you what happened."

Apparently, in the year of 2039, the end of the world had arrived. It had come without much warning, and the members of Aetheria Server had logged back into Aetheria. However, they ended up being summoned into this world, that was now seemingly real. "Yeah. I can't exactly explain it the best way. We should probably find some shelter."

"Wait, so if what you said is true..."

I walked up to a nearby tree, and, with hesitation, raised my fist. I winced, bracing myself for what could be intense pain...

*Crik.*

The wood cracked.

"Huh."

I repeated the process until the whole tree was harvested before trying to get my inventory to open. Nothing happened. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. "How do you open your inventory?" I reached into my backpack, fluttered my hands around, still nothing. "Ah. That. Simply focus all your energy on the word 'inventory', be it in your head or out loud."

"What?"

"Say the word inventory. That's all you need to do."

Then, I muttered, *inventory.*

A menu flashed up. "Woah."

"Cool, right?" Peregrine was visibly excited and was bouncing on his feet, likely eager to show me the ropes. I kind of just... stared at him. Bouncing feet was considered a flirty habit for girls at my school.

Peregrine noticed me staring at her and stopped bouncing. Red rose to her cheeks immediately and she ducked her head down, feeling ashamed. "What's wrong?" I ask. "Did I embarrass you? Oh, I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," she says, shrugging it off. "I have to be careful about who I welcome here."

From what I could understand, "here" was Nemract. The horizon was adorned with buildings, mountains, and trees galore, and I couldn't even see where it ended. The sky was royal blue and huge yellow stars dotted it, as though they were patterns intricately woven into a carpet. "Come on. Let's gather some resources and we'll go exploring."

As night fell, I placed the final dirt block and dusted my hands, before stepping back and admiring our handiwork. "Wow. Talk about the 'green top', am I right?"

Peregrine laughed. "For a starter base that's completely made of dirt, it's actually really good." Then she raised a fist. "Fist bump?"

We set down our beds and crafting tables before calling it a night. "Alright, we'll call it a day, okay? Try not to snore!" Peregrine settled in for the night.

Before long, she was the one snoring.

Between Peregrine's snores and the groans of the zombies outside, I didn't manage to get a wink of sleep. How would I survive here?

Trust me when I say, there's nothing quite like the smell of burning flesh to greet you in the morning. A zombie, that looked particularly worse for wear, crawled towards me with arms open wide, as if to hug me and set me on fire as well. "Oh hell nah," I yelped as I swung my fist and threw anything at my disposal towards the zombie, now being pelted in the face by pebbles.

Most of the mobs were either in retreat, or dead. Peregrine woke up, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Doesn't coffee... not exist in this world?" I ask, stunned.

"You have cocoa beans, milk, sugar, water, and fire. Need I say more?"

"That... makes sense now that I think of it."

...

"So what do we do now?"

"I say we go exploring. I've thought of taming a horse but, in all honesty, the game makes it look much easier than it actually is." Peregrine motioned for me to come with her. Before long, she had found a horse and held out some wheat in front of it. The horse took a bite and spat it out. Then it was fed an apple. After that, a handful of sugar cubes, after which the horse reared, bucked its legs, and dropkicked Peregrine into the ground.

"You did not allow yourself to get brutally slammed into the floor to prove a point."

"I allowed myself to get brutally slammed into the floor to prove a point."

I sighed. There was little to no hope of returning to Earth. Monsters would wake us up each morning, trying to devour us purely for sport. Our house was a dirt shack. This would probably be my life for the next... few years, give or take. If I even live that long.

"Hey," I told Peregrine, "How about I have a go and taming the horse?"

"Be my guest. Don't blame me if you get dropkicked into the floor."

I cautiously walked up to the horse a petted it on the head. Then, I gently raised a piece of wheat to its mouth.

The horse ate it.

...

It laid its head on my shoulders and started licking me.

"I think it likes me how do I get it off."