The long awaited explanation to how Lukas lost his arm
Prosthetic!Lukas or Lukas-Debbuged is an au that stemmed from my idea of Lukas having a prosthetic arm after an incident that takes part in a hypothetical season 3. All of the events written down below take place two years after Minecraft story mode season 2.
(more context to this au is given in this post)
Enjoy the story!
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-A letter comes in, addressed to Lukas.
It's a letter from his old home. Lukas can tell just by the stamp on it. Creator knows how long it took for it to reach it's recipient, but the worn and partially ripped envelope was definitely a sign of it's long journey through the hands of many people.
That is exactly why he did not waste time to act once he read through the contents of the letter; his home was in danger and the widespread stories of the new order of the stone sparked hope in the village folk that there is a chance for them to be saved. The letter probably took weeks if not months to arrive in Beacontown - is there even anything left of his home?
Lukas's friends are scattered around the world: taking care of other cities, adventuring, going on missions- all whilst Lukas stayed behind in Beacontown. He could not wait for them to show up because that'd take time and his home definitely does not have the luxury of it. Instead, Lukas writes a letter to each of his friends informing of the situation and attaching the coordinates of his hometown to get backup on this new adventure of theirs.
Radar has hopefully had enough time to learn how to run a city- Lukas cannot be there to mayor and mentor his young friend, but the blonde knows his young friend can do it. Dewey is more than displeased to know that Lukas is leaving them behind, but the human leaves Nell to watch over his ocelot and cabin. With reassurances directed towards Radar and some prepping for the journey, Lukas sets off towards his hometown. A trip through the Nether was the quickest way to reach it, even if there was barely any road system built that went in that direction. He made it as far as he could through railway systems that did exist, but the rest he had to travel on foot.
He always disliked the Nether: it was hot, barren, suffocating. At least the day and night cycle did not matter here: he did not have to worry about an influx of hostile mob spawns (as if this whole place wasn't already always deadly). He had plenty of obsidian with himself to build portals back into the overworld when the terrain of the Nether would become too treacherous to traverse, only to return there when he gathered enough recourses in the Overworld. He had to put aside his usual outfit in favor of warmer clothes when the tundra biome started creeping into the dense dark oak woods.
After more than a week of travelling, he was finally here. His home barely changed throughout the years. At most, it was...emptier. The people here always did live semi-nomadic lives. His home was just one of of the few more permanent settlements. Just as cold and isolated as ever, but the folk here thrived in this environment. Dozens of siida lived here, with many coming to stay for a season or two- now it seems to have only about 15 families left. Lukas would be lying if he did not admit to missing how the cold bit at the tip of his nose and cheeks. Although he liked the temperate climate of Beacontown a lot, the winters there just weren't all that impressive compared to his old home. The silhouette of the Farlands was only slightly visible through the dense fog, but they too seemed to be frozen in time just like the village.
The first to greet him were a small group of armored men, bearing spears and other weapons. That was new: he never saw his folk as fighters, he himself barely ever fought until the ocelots were founded. If this is what his home had to resort to, then the threat truly had to be great- someone they can't just move to a different area to escape.
The guards only inspected him for a moment before giving him a warm greeting, which was odd. He thought they'd be far more weary of someone wandering into this remote village. The guards directed him to the village's Noaidi (someone akin to a cleric in default terms) so that he could finally get the full picture of what dangers their home faced. The contents of the letter were, after all, vague. White eyes and missing people. Distortions, almost as if the Farlands were closing in on them.
What Lukas never expected in this solo mission of his was that the biggest threat to his home would be....a fable from his childhood. Herobrine? That's the name from tales as old as the Admins. The village folk were absolutely certain that it was he who was haunting them, making loved ones go missing. Lukas didn't know how much of that he believed, but after Witherstorms and Admins, some ancient tale about an entity that moved the earth and the sky did not seem too far fetched.
It wasn't far fetched at all actually.
During his first week back, Lukas spent his time readjusting to the cold tundra and scouting out the area surrounding the village, just to get an idea of things. On his 5th day, he heard word of a nomadic family settling down not too far off from here. Lukas decided to go check it out the next day, for traveling through such a snowy biome required more time, effort and he wanted to make sure he has plenty of time to make it back to the village before it gets dark.
He found the tents of this temporary camp completely empty. Only a few reindeer wandered around the campgrounds. The inside of the tents were warm, which means that the family had just left. But why? And to abandon their herd of reindeer so carelessly? It wasn't until Lukas stumbled upon strange magenta and black checkered blocks right behind one of the tents that he realized that this must be the corruption his folk were worrying about. They seemed to move ever so slightly, spiraling upwards into an unrecognizable shape that felt wrong to look at.
Lukas did not dare approach it, but when he explored the rest of the area and got ready to set off back home, he could swear he heard a cry coming from the direction of those checkered textures. When he turned his head to the campsite, he saw that the spiraling shape was not there anymore. Instead, it had fallen forward and laid on the ground. That in itself wouldn't be too alarming, but that shape wasn't in the snow right next to where it previously stood, no- it was a couple blocks away from it's original location, facing Lukas.
He fled.
If the blonde had stayed for at least a little longer, he would've noticed a pair of white eyes and how the checkered texture was completely reformed to look just like another pile of snow.
After two weeks, nothing noteworthy happened in the village itself, although from his patrols, Lukas could see how unfamiliar the landscapes were becoming. Either he's crazy or the hills have been moving and spruce forests were growing as if someone has been feeding them bone-meal non stop for an entire night. It's the sort of change he'd only imagine the Admins were capable of and that's really the last bunch he wants to involve himself with. Then again, he can't imagine anyone willingly shearing the leaves of entire forests, leaving them looking like colourless pillars. Not to mention the random blocks of netherrack littering the area only for Lukas to find something completely different in their place the next day: trees, mossy boulders, ruined nether portals. The blonde even tried to play along by planting saplings next to these new forests or leaving his leftover obsidian blocks next to the ruined portals. It was, however, a fruitless endeavor.
Two and a half weeks later- today's aftermath will make Lukas wish he were ambidextrous.
Lukas hurried out of the village when a few of the folk he familiarized himself with over the past weeks expressed their worries about how one family left the other day to bring their reindeer back into a herd since the animals have been acting strange lately. The family has yet to return. Today the usual blizzard was absolutely relentless with it's powerful winds and icy flakes that almost felt like they could cut through skin. Luckily Lukas had equipped himself with some proper winter clothing that the people here wore. This weather is really making him miss the more mild climate of Beacontown. Hopefully his friends will show up soon or he can start wishing for an unlikely scenario where whatever this threat is, leaves his folks alone. Herobrine. If it's him, then what's his deal with this barely populated corner of the world?
It was almost noon when Lukas stumbled upon a bunch of tamed reindeer. A couple of hours later, he finally finds a trail of footprints in the snow that lead closer to the cliffs of the Farlands. There was only an hour or so of sunlight left when Lukas seriously began wondering whether he should return for the night and try again tomorrow. A sound of something shuffling in the snow quickly wiped that idea clean out of his head; there, in the snow, beneath massive fir trees was the body of a child lying in the snow. Lukas didn't hesitate for a moment as he pushed himself through the thick layer of snow to reach them. Their face was all rosy and the skin of their cheeks was flaky, lips blue from how little heat the child still preserved in their body. Lukas was quick to take off some of his warm gear to wrap around the kid. At first, the child seemed unconscious, but the moment Lukas attempted to lift them up into his arms, the child woke and cried out in pain. Creators...a broken leg, a gash on the left side of their head and the front part of their tunic drenched in blood that was now freezing over.
The blonde tried to comfort the child to the best of his capabilities as he adjusted his hold on them. He asked the kid if they knew where their parents were, but the only answer he got was a quiet murmur. Lukas was only confused for a moment till the sound of something dragging itself across the snow alerted him. The lack of labored breathing from traversing through hills and snow hinted at it being an undead mob and the blonde was quick to pull a spear out of his inventory. He still wasn't used to using this weapon, but his bow had dangerously low durability left from all of his patrols. Out from the snow crawled out a zombie, then a couple more followed behind. At least Lukas knows who it was that injured the kid.
Fighting with only one arm was.... difficult. But there was no way he was going to put the kid down when his body heat along with the extra clothes was the only thing keeping them alive. In the end he managed to fend off most of the mobs that spawned, though his own tunic got ripped up by the boney fingers of hostile mobs. He asked the kid once more where their parents could be and they quietly pointed behind one of the hills.
The cold was biting at Lukas's exposed right arm and he could barely see through the blizzard and low light of the clouded twilight sky. If the parents were in a similar state as the kid, then Luaks can't in any way think about turning back now. If Jesse were here, he would be running headfirst through the snow to reach the rest of the family. "I've got you..." The blonde reassured the kid as he waded through the snow and up the hill.
Instead of finding the parents or at least some remnants of them, Lukas stumbles upon two checkered pillars, rising out of the snow. Just as unnaturally twisted as the one he saw last time. Shock and confusion made him freeze on the spot as he watches the pillars twist continuously before stopping for a moment only to fall forward and crawl forward; the static forms moved as if they were...lagging: motions all choppy and stopping at the most random intervals. The blonde turned his head to the kid in his arms and although it wasn't audible, he could see how they mouthed the word "Papa?...". The kid couldn't tell what they were looking at, but Lukas...
Realization dawned on him as he finally understood that each of these moving entities were once people. It explained why he saw one at the campsite all those days ago; why they were only areas where you'd normally find people. Creators... he just left last time, didn't even try to help. The blonde made an audible gulp as they continued to watch the two checkered figures make their way towards them in painfully slow motions.
Only when the sound of static began to intrude Lukas's ears did he notice that there was someone else here as well; you could barely see it with the way the sky and the ground fused together in this unwelcoming weather. On a distant hill where no footsteps led, standing beside fir trees drowning in snow with only a bit of their evergreen beauty still peeking through, a pair of pure white eyes were looking right at him. Not the clearly disfigured forms of two parents quite literally clawing at their last remains of humanity- at Lukas.
The blonde took one slow step back, weighing his options in this situation, but there's only one logical choice here. He slowly turned on his heel, keeping his eyes on the two white orbs in the distance before he turned around fully and began heading back towards the village with hurried steps. His exposed arm has become numb by now, but he still managed to pull the spear out of his inventory and hold it with the limb's last remaining might. Now it was the tear right above his shoes that was was starting to sting. Last thing he needs is a numb leg.
Lukas made the mistake of taking one quick look at the checkered figures he left behind, but in their spot all he saw were two colourless trunks. Like someone took a pair of shears and cut away all the leaves. Lukas feels sick to his stomach from the familiarity to previous encounters, but continues forward...
The kid he's been holding up this entire time has stopped shaking from the cold- that wasn't a good sign. Their small form is barely holding on and Lukas wants to slap himself for not even bothering to bring flint and steel along with himself today. He stops only for moment to catch his breath, to cough as the cold yet dry air abuses his throat and he coughs till static fills his ears again.
"Don't look...just...whatever you do, don't look back, kid." Lukas warns, as if ignoring the fact the bearer of those hollow eyes wouldn't do anything as long as they didn't acknowledge his presence. He was right there, behind him. The blonde didn't even know what the rest of him looked like, but he doesn't think he wants to find out. Once the blonde straightens up and takes two steps forward, he hears clicking sounds as if something is being mechanically written down. It sounds painfully similar to the many sounds PAMA's processors would make.
/⊣ᒷ∷ ̇/ᒲ⊣⨅⊣⊣ᒲ⍑ʖʖ∴ℸ ̣!¡.!¡ℸ ̣⎓∴↸⊣(⊣⋮!¡∷ᒲ⨅_10091387)
Lukas's heart drops in an instant and he slowly turns his head to look at the source of the sound. Wide eyes and shrunken blue pupils meet the abyss. "....what did you say?-"
In an instant, the child in Lukas's arms distorts and vanishes into thin air. They didn't die....just....ceased to exist. Lukas didn't even have time to properly react and find the child's face as it happened. One moment there was a weight in his arms and the next, there was nothing....just a bunch of snowflakes caught on his tunic.
The corners of Lukas's vision darkened as the weight on his arm was replaced by a crushing weight on his lungs. He was hyperventilating and it hurt. The cold burned his throat and vocal chords, he couldn't even make a sound besides incomprehensible gasps. He had them... he had the kid right there; the village was already in their line of sight- he wanted to keel over, but his instincts were screaming at him to run. Lukas always did choose to flee or worse- freeze when it came to intense situations. His stupid moment of freezing when Gabriel and Petra needed to be saved from the Witherstorm was good proof of that. He wasn't much of a fighter and his inability to hold the spear in his numb and useless hand was proof of that. The weapon slipped out of his non-existent grip and Lukas hissed as he tried to move the fingers of his exposed hand, but it felt like one bad move and his whole arm would fall off.
For the first time today, Lukas looked down at the pale skin of his arm and noted the clear signs of frostbite. It was bad, but...still treatable. This is how Lukas made his 100th mistake today: because the moment he drew his attention towards his arm, so did the entity with white eyes.
/ᓵ╎ꖌᓭʖ╎𝙹!¡⎓ᑑ╎ʖꖌᔑ.ℸ ̣ꖎꖎ⚍リℸ ̣ℸ ̣⚍ℸ ̣||ᓵ(ꖌᑑ𝙹⋮ꖌ||⊣⎓);
/⊣ᒷ∷ ̇/ᒲ⊣.⨅⊣↸ᒲꖌ ̇/ꖌ∴𝙹⊣ᒲᓵ ̇/⍊ʖ(ᓵ╎ꖌ∷⍑⚍ ̇/ᑑᒷᓵᓵᒲ.⨅ᑑ╎||);
Lukas could not only hear the static, but see it as it invaded his vision. The pressure behind his eyes was unbearable and he closed his eyes shut, stumbling forward, but catching himself at the last moment so he wouldn't fall. He spared his frostbitten arm one glance and saw how it was quite literally pulling apart. Blocky chunks ripped away from the limb that now glowed a blue so light- it almost looked white. He couldn't feel pain in his right arm, but he felt the pressure on it and the way thousands of tiny needles were pricking at it. He's going to get erased out of existence too, isn't he?
Then the world went dark.
Creators know how much time has passed after that, but during a brief moment of consciousness Lukas woke to see that he's surrounded by the void; only the outline of a sun that has already set accompanying them in the vast and empty space. He did not stay awake for much longer after that.
Next time he awoke, the world was all too bright and all he saw were outlines of shapes before he blinked and the world around him returned to normal. He was inside some building but where was the question because his hometown did not have any houses with this interior. He could vaguely recall the sounds of a busy street just outside the window.
As it turns out Lukas was no longer in his home, but in a town further away from the Farlands: the last bigger settlement before the expanse of those barren lands. He had made a stop here when he was heading towards his hometown. He knows where he is now because when he finally tries to get out of bed in the morning and falls over from lack of balance and missing support- it alerts the inn-keeper. The inn-keeper, for the lack of better words, is the most displeased looking person with the character of a labrador that’s trying to look tough. He complains about something to Lukas as he helps him up and sits him back down onto the bed. Lukas is struggling to comprehend most of what the guy is saying and is still in the process of gathering his bearings; not like it discourages the inn-keeper from continuing his rant. From what the blonde managed to pick up, the inn-keeper is the brother of one of the folks from his hometown, all of whom have now abandoned that village after Lukas’s fateful encounter with Herobrine. Did he fail the mission? He recalls the events of that day through a hazy fog, but for a moment he was sure he was going to die then and there. He wasn’t dead, but he definitely felt like he was head slammed by a Ravager. Just now, Lukas fell over like it was the first time he’s ever stood up and looking down explained exactly why he had such poor balance. His right arm was missing.
The days after that one morning blurred together and although Lukas was awake, he wasn’t exactly…conscious.
His friends: Axel, Olivia, even Petra and Jesse who had been on the road for the past two years, found him in this town after going on a wild goose chase through the Farlands. They sounded and looked distressed, but all Lukas could hear and see was static and checkered textures.
His journal is left to collect dust.
--+
Note: I'm not much of a writer and my English language skills are not all that good. If I had time and patience, I would've expanded even further with this story/explanation by incorporating more of Lukas's habits and character, but I did not want this to be a long piece that I'd have to separate into parts 💔.
Also the language used by Herobrine is an enchantment table language, but even if you translate it, you'll get gibberish. That's because you also need to decipher it.
