Endstone Crusaders' Journey

Fractures Series
Storyline by Rainimator and the Production Team

The titular characters of the story arc, as depicted in the thumbnail for Eternal: Stella, Ciara, Kane, and Rain

### Location

Mystic Forest (Coven Village, Tundra Cliffs)
Swamp Lands (Swamp Castle)
Netherbane Tavern
Piglin Bastion
Frostbourne Tundra (Frostbourne Castle)
Barren Frontier (Desert Villages)

The **Endstone Crusaders' Journey** is a major story arc of Rainimator's Fractures Saga, encompassing the majority of the second season of the series, beginning early into Wither Heart. It originally centers on Rain and Stella's odyssey to the Mystic Forest to find a cure for Rain's Wither Heart Curse; after the Battle of New Dragonspire and Ceris' imprisonment, it centers on Rain, Stella and the Netherbane on their mission to preserve the Ender Watchers' legacy and safeguard The Artifacts. It continues into Cold as Ice: The Remake, and will continue throughout the third season.

The story arc has excluded the other Frostbourne characters, although has compensated with the introduction of several new factions and characters - such as the Netherbane, the rise of new prominent ships such as Ralla, and many important events. In Season 3, it lead to the formation of a newfound alliance known as the Endstone Crusaders.

## Plot

### Grandmaster's Discussion

In Wither Heart, Rain and Stella converse with Ser Patrick in the Grandmasters' Quarters, located in the Frostbourne Dreadfort. Stella, observing a miniaturized visualization of the Mystic Forest, explains her and Rain's intentions to journey to the Coven Village in the Mystic Forest in order to find a spell that could cure Rain's rapidly degrading Wither Heart Curse, from which he had received from the Ruby Thorn in Just So You Know.

Rain and Ser Patrick engage in a heated argument, with Ser Patrick believing that a journey to the Coven Village solo would be disastrous, mentioning the unencountered dangers on might face undertaking an odyssey such as this; angrily, Rain opposes the Grandmaster's stance, before Stella reassures Ser Patrick they were capable of fending off the dangers. Irritated, Ser Patrick reluctantly allows of their departure, although vows that he will not take responsibility of anything that befalls the duo on their journey.

### The travel to the Coven

Rain and Stella slowly make their way to the Mystic Forest, passing through destroyed villages and forests. During this time, the Wither Heart Curse slowly ebbs away at Rain, turning his right eye's pupil red. After setting up camp for the night, they end up being attacked by Zombies and Skeletons. With Rain wielding a dual set of diamond swords, and Stella with her Arcane Magic, they quickly take out the mobs. After impaling the last Zombie with Arcane Blades, Stella looks back at Rain, only to find that he has deteriorated even more, one of his eyes' sclera black.

The two continue on their journey, taking a boat down a river. With the Coven Village now in sight, Stella starts running. Rain attempts to keep up, but the Wither Heart Curse had taken its toll on him. His other eye turns black, and he collapses on the ground. Stella quickly rushes over to him, but realizing that she doesn't have much time, she turns around and crosses the river. When she arrives at the village, she finds out that the place is destroyed, the witches dead. Stella is shocked, feeling sorrow from the loss of the people she once knew. However, Infernius, who was responsible for the deaths of the Coven witches, is gazing down upon her. The two engage in a hard fight, Stella suffering from hard hits even as she shields herself with a Barrier, and pummels Inferinus with Arcane Blades and Arcane Beams. She eventually prevails, summoning a Nether portal as Infernius dashes towards her, causing him to dash through the portal.

Afterwards, Stella finds an old spell book that has the cure for Rain's Wither Heart Curse. She makes her way back to him and uses the spell book to heal Rain, before surprising him in a hug.

### Battle of New Dragonspire

While reading a book, Rain and Stella hear thunder. They run to find a collapsed Zeganirn with an End chest next to him. The two learn that the Nether had overcome the End, and Zeganirn gifts The Artifacts to them. With the Ancient Enderman choosing to sacrifice himself so that Rain and Stella could escape the Nether's Assassins, who are tasked with hunting down the remnants of the Ender Watchers, they set off, journeying down the nearby river.

Stella quickly brings up the fact that they shouldn't just leave Zeganirn to die, in which Rain quickly states that he's stalling the Assassins that are hunting them. Eager to help the Enderman, Stella suggests that they should fight back, instead of being cowards. Rain opposes this idea, knowing that they alone are no match for the Nether's forces. He explains that with the Battle of New Dragonspire, Zeganirn has nothing left to live for; Stella's fury flares up, saying that Rain isn't himself lately, turning away from battle and now leaving an Enderman to die. This doesn't faze Rain; instead, he takes her hands, and assures her that running is the best option, if they wish to carry on the Ender Watchers' legacy.

―Rain, to Stella during their argument about leaving Zeganirn behind.

### On the run

While Zeganirn fights the Assassins, Rain and Stella run through forests, only stopping to set up camp when it got dark. Djinn, despite being injured by Zeganirn, had caught up to them. Two knives tipped with poison were thrown their way. Rain deflects one, but the other strikes Stella, killing her. Enraged, Rain grabs the Ender Greatsword, and duels Djinn; however, with the weight of the sword and his lack of experience of using it, Djinn blocks his attacks and slashes him across his eye. Rain lets go of the sword and kicks him into a tree, before grabbing one of Djinn's knives and stabbing him in the eye. As Djinn struggles to get up, Rain opens his cut eye, revealing an Ender Eye similar to Ceris. He then beheads Djinn with the Greatsword.

As Rain examines the poison-tipped knife that killed Stella in the morning, his eye reverts back to its red iris. Determined to help her, Rain carries Stella on his back, slowly making his way across the Tundra Cliffs. While on top of a hill, the Wither Book that was still following Stella suddenly drops to the ground. Stella, with the Demon Curse taking full effect, wakes up and attacks Rain. He falls off the hill, dropping the Ender Greatsword and his diamond sword in the process. He looks up to find a demonized Stella, now a feral Netherkin with horns and fangs. She runs at him, throwing wild punches. Rain desperately tries to block her attacks without injuring her, but fails to do so. Soon enough, Stella uses this to her advantage, knocking him back with a barrage of fire magic. With nowhere to run, Rain takes control of the Wither Book, and hits her with a spell. Stella screams, as her humanity is forced back into her. Rain covers his ears and shuts his eyes, opening them right before she punches him into a tree, rendering him unconscious. With her humanity restored, Stella realizes what she had just done. She sheds tears before noticing that her scream alerted nearby members of the Netherbane. Kane lines up his crossbow with her as she runs away, with Ciara silently waiting to attack. Presumably, he knows who she is, after his conversation with the Nether Princess months ago.

### The chase after Stella

After failing to kill Stella with his shot, Kane jumps down from the hill he was standing on. Before he could start chasing after her, Rain puts a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to wait. Annoyed that Rain insists that Stella is not a threat, he leans forward, daring him to make a move. Rain responds by opening his injured eye, revealing his Ender Eye, and punches Kane. They engage in a short fight, Rain knocking Kane to the ground. Ciara, who's behind Rain, hurls a Karambit past him and teleports. After a quick glance, she turns around, pursuing Stella. Kane, now back on his feet, rips off his crossbow, and stalls Rain by challenging him to hand-to-hand combat.

Stella flees to the Nether, eventually going through a second Nether Portal and ending up at the Tundra Camp. Ciara, who has destroyed every mob in her path to get ahead of her, lazily twirls her Karambits a small distance away. Stella, knowing why she's there, conjures up an Arcane Blade, and duels her. Despite not being able to land a hit on her due to the teleportation power of her Karambits, Stella eventually wins, pinning Ciara to a tree with an Arcane Blade and escapes. Unable to teleport to her weapons, Ciara is forced to wait until Rain and Kane show up. Rain had prevailed in the fist fight, convincing Kane that Stella wasn't an out-of-control demon. He releases Ciara with the help of the Wither Book, and the three of them chase Stella.

Returning to the Coven Village, Stella stops in her tracks, seeing Zeganirn gravely injured. As she cries, he is able to use the last of his energy to cure her completely of the Demon Curse. This sends beacons from End Chests shooting into the sky, alerting Rain, Kane, and Ciara of her location. They race towards the beams of light, eventually finding Stella mourning a dead Zeganirn. Rain runs towards her, shouting her name. Kane and Ciara simply watch as she turns around, her eyes now back to normal.

### Journey to the Dreadfort

After Rain witnesses the execution of Ceris through his Ender Eye, the squad packs up their camp. Kane explains that they'll have to travel through many regions to get to their destination, the Frostbourne Castle. After a day's walk, they spend the night in the Netherbane Tavern. The next morning, they utilize the horses stationed outside the Tavern, and continue their journey; they are unbeknownst of Lance, through the Ender Frog, following them. During the night, they run into a Nether outpost. Fighting on top of their steeds, they are able to make it through the army of pigmen and piglins stationed there. Shortly after, they set up camp.

During breakfast, Kane pulls out his map again and explains their course. They pack up and set off, heading through the Barren Frontier, and eventually, into Frostbourne territory. When they arrive at the Dreadfort, Hilda notifies Ser Patrick of their arrival. While Rain, Kane, and Ciara meet with Ser Patrick, Stella finds Lady Azura in the medical wing. Nostra, who had been helping her, turns to examine Stella, who has a characteristics of a demon, and a human.

Later, the Endstone Crusaders talk in the Grandmasters' Quarters. Ser Patrick learns that the Ender Watchers scattered the End Crystals across the Overworld to prevent the Nether Horde from controlling the portals. Him and Rain are confused as to why they spread them across the world, instead of giving them to Rain. Kane explains that Naeus was expecting Ceris to give the Crystals to him, so he sent Assassins to find him. Stella wonders if the prophecy also included her turning into a Netherkin, before changing the subject. Lance, who was listening behind them, teleports onto the table. He give a monologue about how the Ender Watchers were cowards, leading to their downfall. Despite not being able to do much as a frog, he promises to help as much as he can to restore the End back to its former glory. Claiming that Ceris was rather predictable, he says that he knows where all of the End Crystals are. A brief silence follows, the words sinking in. Ciara, stunned, asks if the Frog on the table was actually talking.