Quick considerations: This AU was built off of the original animation series Griefer Legends by FrediSaalAnimations on Youtube so there are some clear similarities from that series to this AU. All Youtubers in this AU are based off of their Minecraft skins and characters, not them in real life (sounds silly to say, but it should mentioned). Not to spoil anything, but this AU takes a dark twist in the end. If you do not handle death well or topics such as manipulation, you’ve been warned (although I did try to be as toned down with it as I could).
GENERATION ONE: A kid named Herobrine grew up a fairly boring life as one’s supernatural being life can go. He had a brother named Notch. When Hero turned 17, he thought the world could need some spice and came up with the idea of Griefers. Griefing was still a thing that happened before this, but those who did grief didn’t have any special title. They were just criminals (which Griefers technically were criminals: the different name gives it a bit of finesse). Hero goes out one night and began finding a few kids to become the first official Griefers (this is over a series of nights). Notch was with him the whole way until now. The two made special swords together which are very similar besides the colors. (These swords could also shrink to necklaces and pop back to normal size by a hand’s touch. This became a signature to Griefers.) He didn’t like the idea of convincing children into this, but he very much liked the power and control he was able to have as a Griefer. He left Hero and parted his way to find his own world to be powerful in. The first official Griefers were to be known as: Ant, Sorce, ASF, Bajan, Dee, and 40. Being supernatural, his glowing white eyes easily attracted these preteens/teens and so eventually they take on the griefing lifestyle under Hero’s teachings. (Note: not all Griefers were coerced by Hero. There were many who grew up and just as destiny became Griefers as the term started to spread around and become popular). Griefers were more hostile, varied, and dangerous than criminals. They’d attack fast and almost immediately hit the targeted area with chaos and fire. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared. They were raccoons excited by the sound of danger. This was until Griefer Hunters started to rise by the lead of Latez and his friend Vox. Hunters rose two years after Griefers and Latez was 16 when he first began. Because of the rise of Hunters, many Griefers became more careful. A Griefer by the name of Finn began building a village called Red Stone Valley in the woods. It was a safe place for Griefers. In that area Griefers continued to strive; however anywhere outside Red Stone Valley Griefers slowly began to die off. Whether they were literally killed or they simply stopped griefing because they did not want to be a part of it anymore. Many Griefers dropped their nicknames and started using their real names again. Hero eventually had a son named Adam. The mother was quickly unnamed as she left a year later. Taylor, formally known as Ant, gifted Adam an amulet like his own. The amulet hid their weapon inside. Notch also had a son named Charlie and later adopted a child named Mikey. It seemed that the Griefers were already toning down within a span of 10 years. Red Stone Valley still strived, however. The village Taylor and Hero settled in was called Golden Heights.
GENERATION TWO: Notch takes his two sons, Charlie and Mikey, with him into the nether where he began building the world he wanted as a teenager. Even though Charlie was his biological son, he favored Mikey much more. Both sons worked for their father but Charlie was always on a thin thread. One day, Charlie accidentally dropped a piece of machinery and broke it. Notch had enough. Later that day Charlie ran to Mikey in bruises and begged Mikey to leave and escape with him. Mikey found it hard to say no because of Charlie’s frantic and terrified tone. Upon jumping out of the nether the two boys almost immediately face Finn. Charlie now immediately began to go by Einshine; Shine for short. Finn takes both of them under his wings and to his village which was still striving and alive. Finn trained the two boys to be Griefers. Shine told Finn about Notch and where he came from and Finn decided that Notch was a threat. Finn banded a team together including Shine and Mikey to attack Notch and once they thought he was dead they left back home. One day Mikey wanted to leave the village to the real world. After some convincing, Shine followed him. Eventually the two brothers separated paths and Shine found himself next to Hero. Hero invited Shine in gladly. Thus, Adam and Shine also grew up together until they turned into teenagers. Shine went out on his own one day to grief on his own (this was a very common thing) and on his way he crossed paths with Mikey again. Shine did not go back home that day because he wanted to catch up and be with Mikey. The next day, Hero gets the idea that he isn’t safe anymore. He felt watched and unsafe. Hero visits Taylor and asks him to take care of Adam for him. Taylor and Hero have stayed closed friends even after Taylor left the Griefer life behind; it was no question that Taylor said yes. That night Hero left Golden Heights and the next morning marked the day of Hero’s death by the sword of Latez. Taylor took care of Adam well through his teenager years and even trained Adam basic defense from when he was a Griefer. Adam met a boy named Jason. Jason’s father was a Griefer hunter and Jason then became an ally of Adam and Taylor. He kept them protected the best he could. When Shine tried to come back with Mikey, he saw that Hero was gone. He decided to move on with Mikey and go back to the habits he had before he met Hero. A few months later, Shine ran into a boy named Fredi. With some convincing and arguing against Mikey, Shine managed to let Fredi become a part of their group. Fredi and Shine slowly formed a romantic relationship to which fueled a spark of jealousy in Mikey. A few years later when Adam is still in Taylor’s care, Taylor’s friend Jordan is killed. Jordan was not a Griefer, he was an ally, and his death came as a warning to Taylor. This is when Taylor realized that he had to tell Adam about his father and that they were Griefers. Shine, Fredi, and Mikey revisited Golden Heights to thieve. While the three boys were roaming through trails in the village or the outskirts, Adam caught a glimpse of Shine’s outline. Adam had found Shine again and needless to say they were both excited. Adam was introduced to Mikey and Fredi. Shine wanted to go back to Red Stone Valley (he may not have wanted to admit it- but he missed that place) and asked Adam to come with him. Adam could’ve just left at that moment, but he went back to Taylor anyway and asked him to come along. Taylor would’ve said no but looking to the recent death of Hero and Jordan he took the chance. Jason gave Adam a bracelet before he left so Adam wouldn’t forget him. Taylor told Adam to possess the nickname Sky to keep the tradition Hero started.
Mikey, Shine, Fredi, Taylor, and Adam made their way to Red Stone Valley where they saw Finn for the first time or again. This is where they stay for the rest of their life. When they were back, it was realized by Shine and Mikey that Notch was not dead. Along with Fredi, they went back to the Nether to find him. They killed Notch but it costed Fredi’s right arm. Besides Mikey, they were terribly injured. Fredi used to wear a bracelet on both wrists but after losing his arm he gave Shine the other bracelet. Mikey dragged them back to Red Stone Valley and built Fredi a robotic arm. A year later, Vox has enough of Latez’s hunting and separates himself from Latez. He finds himself at Red Stone Valley and after he was stopped and interrogated (It happens to every newcomer- it’s to keep to village as safe as possible for Griefers) he was let in. The next couple of years Taylor and Finn developed a romantic relationship. One day started as any other until a building was struck and exploded into debris inside Red Stone Valley. This started a brief one day battle of Griefers and Hunters inside the village. There were no winners; both sides lost many casualties and eventually the Hunters simply left. Vox left with Latez, too. As Taylor walked through a plane of deceased Griefers and Hunters he found Finn’s corpse. Shine and Mikey broke out into argument the night of Finn’s death because Mikey proposed that he should become the next leader in a very disrespectful way. The next day Mikey catches Shine weeping to Fredi for support and the jealous in him grew. That same night Adam thought back to Jason and had a hunch; a very stupid hunch. He wanted to leave and find Jason again. After having an intense argument with Taylor that ended in tears, Adam stormed out the village. About a week later Mikey killed Fredi and cleaned up his tracks spectacularly. Mikey went to Shine and convinced him that Fredi left and gave Shine the golden hoe necklace that Fredi had. No one knew what really happened to Fredi and Shine wore both his bracelets now. Taylor eventually became the official leader. Because of Fredi’s death, Shine became emotionally weak and started to follow Mikey and become manipulated by him. Shine lost motivation to grief and became so unlike himself Mikey began calling him Charlie again. Taylor noticed this and tried to talk to Mikey about this, but Mikey lashed and punched Taylor, telling Taylor that he will be above him one day. During all this, Adam was still making his way to Jason. The first night he was out, he was caught by Latez and trapped. If it wasn’t for Vox jumping in and saving Adam, Adam would be dead. Latez wore Hero’s necklace and when Latez left Adam couldn’t help but mention how that necklace was his fathers. Vox now knows Adam is Hero’s son. Adam ran away from Vox. Golden Heights became a village of Hunters but after a few complications Adam found Jason and they left together. Adam and Jason made it to Red Stone Valley and the fact that Vox knew Adam’s identity didn’t cross his mind. A few weeks later Adam got lured away to the outskirts of the village to where he encountered Vox again. This time Vox wasn’t an ally to him and returned to Latez’s side once again. Vox made Adam confess that he was Hero’s son;but what Adam didn’t know what that even if he didn’t confess he would still be met with the same outcome: death. Latez left Adam’s amulet and bracelet at the gates for Taylor. Taylor let Jason keep the amulet and bracelet. Upon seeing that Adam’s death didn’t weaken Taylor’s stance as leader, Mikey decided that he had to become leader himself. One night he attempted to kill Taylor, but with Taylor’s Griefer background, Taylor’s heightened hearing helped him hear Mikey behind him. Before Mikey could swing his sword down, Taylor immediately stopped him. Enraged with this ridiculous stunt along with everything else happening with Shine, Taylor unhesitatingly banished Mikey from Red Stone Valley. Mikey tried to shout at Shine to come with him, but Taylor held Shine’s hand. After Mikey left, Taylor and Shine spent the next few years rebuilding each other. Taylor taught Shine how to do his work and Shine became his apprentice in teaching. This was when it was becoming more obvious that Taylor was seriously aging. Some days Taylor would wake up and be unable to push himself out of bed until 30 minutes to an hour later or some days Taylor would use his sword as something to lean on and/or help him walk. Shine and Taylor grew very close at this time and Shine even regained the motivation to go out and grief again (this time in groups for safety). Mikey had met Latez and since then began working with him. During this time, Jason had slowly separated himself from the village and went on his own again. After those few years, Shine went out to grief with a group of four. He began straying away from the group as it was a usual thing for him to do, but that day wasn’t the same as everyday. Shine almost immediately was surrounded by the infamous three men: Latez, Vox, and Mikey. Shine tried to run but they managed to drag him to a more secluded place. Latez gave Shine a very long, agonizing, and gruesome death. Vox and Mikey looked away the whole time. Latez left Shine’s body at the gates of Red Stone Valley. Taylor couldn’t recognize that it was Shine at first until he saw the bracelets on both his wrists. Taylor was absolutely devastated; but as a leader, he continued to push himself on. He was now under constant stress and sadness. Mikey kept Shine’s necklaces: a golden hoe and a golden shovel. A few weeks later, Latez was suddenly annoyed by Mikey and took the extreme decision to kill him. This is what finally ticked Vox over and he lashed out against Latez. A difficult fight, but Vox won and Latez had died. Vox took the necklaces: Herobrine’s sword, a golden hoe, a golden shovel, and Notch and Mikey’s sword. Vox burned Notch and Mikey’s sword. Vox returned to the village and as he was held by the blades of many Griefers, he put the three necklaces into the hands of Taylor and left in silence. The next year was difficult for Taylor. He pushed himself to his limit and it sadly didn’t end in his favor. He collapsed one fateful day as his heart failed on him. He was given a grave with all four necklaces: The golden hoe, golden shovel, Herobrine’s sword, and Taylor’s amulet. As years passed, the forest began to regrow and reforested over the village as the villagers began to split and go their own ways.
Vox revisited the village only a few days after it was deemed abandoned. His guilt that was tied to Red Stone Valley had him want to stay there for two years. Jason visited again too while Vox was still there. Vox told Jason to leave Adam’s amulet with the others and he did. Jason only stayed partially a day. Vox tried to tell others his story about the Griefers, Red Stone Valley, and Herobrine. No one believed him. Griefers and Hunters that lived to that day did not want to expose themselves or look back to their past to back him up.
His stories were myths.
