In the beginning, builderkind was alone. The other creatures of the land had no great pleasure in their presence. Neither the chickens, pigs, nor cows had reverence for the builders that controlled the world. Barbarian creatures, the skeletons, zombies, creepers, and later, endermen, sought only to destroy any and all builders that they encountered. The Creator sought to remedy this. He created the Wolves, and entrusted to them the safety of the builders and the world itself. The arrival of the Wolves to the world filled some builders with wonder and curiosity, and many others with confusion. "Are we not capable of protecting the world ourselves?" many wondered. As the doubts and skepticism of these ignorant observers spread, the wolves were mocked and driven out of many of the kingdoms and realms of Undecim. After thirty five days and thirty five nights, the wolves arrived in the distant realm of Tinsel. It was located in the only part of the world where no wolves dwelled. The residents of Tinsel welcomed the wolves and were grateful for the protection they provided against the many monsters seeking to attack Tinsel. Within a few months of their arrival, the wolf population of Tinsel rose beyond one hundred, nearly double that of the population of wolves that originally migrated to Tinsel. The wolves were the pride and joy of Tinsel; their natural fighting abilities and calm demeanor towards builders allowed the town to prosper as never before. Although the wolves were treated extremely well by the builder hosts, even Tinsel could not provide a complete escape from the violence of the past. A creeper managed to breach the walls of Tinsel early one morning, taking the lives of four wolves with it in a single attack. Several more wolves died the following week to disease. Alarmed, the wolves dispatched their strongest and wisest pack, led by the alpha Zuus, to meet with the Council of Tinsel. The Council vowed to use all of the town's resources to protect the wolves, going so far as to delay work on a new minecart track. Satisfied, Zuus and his pack returned to their den. As they approached, the world shook and three of the wolves stumbled. The ground beneath them began opening up rapidly, swallowing them into the earth before they could even hope to react. Zuus's den, as well as several others, were completely destroyed. Few wolves died thanks to a festival that was being held in their honor on the western edge of town. The Tinsel Council began a full investigation of the incident, eventually concluding that the cause could not have been natural. The ruined area was later renamed 'The Tinsel Pits'. Only days later, the wolves suffered yet another loss. Suddenly, completely out of the blue, a great voice boomed, proclaiming 'Butcher!' Half of the wolves in Tinsel died instantly. The other half of the wolf population had been out on a hunting expedition, and returned in horror to find so many of their number dead. Zuus and his pack narrowly avoided The Great Dying, arriving only minutes after its occurrence. The wolves, following a week of mourning for their losses, once again dispatched Zuus's pack to the Tinsel Council. The Council knew not the exact cause of The Great Dying, but they repeated rumors they had heard from the realm of Zion; that a powerful builder-deity living in a valley in the North had caused The Great Dying. Zuus's mate had died in the upheaval; revenge was foremost on his mind. Zuus decided to lead his pack to the North to confront the builder-deity. The North proved to be much tougher than Zuus anticipated. After two days of trudging through snowy lands, the pack arrived in the valley. They searched for any signs of life, finding none that were obvious. Frustrated, Zuus shouted, "Show yourself you vile 'deity'! I want to know why you caused The Great Dying!" There was no response to Zuus's cry. Zuus ordered his pack to begin howling, hoping to lure out the builder-deity. The world shook again as before; the builder-deity had heard them. Lightning struck the mountaintops on both sides of the valley, illuminating it to a level beyond that even of the great city of Tinsel. The builder-deity appeared directly in front of the pack, clutching his staff tightly. "Wolves! What business could you lowly creatures possibly have with me?" Zuus's pack began howling angrily. The builder-deity merely laughed at them. "The Great Dying, you say? I have never heard The Cleansing referred to in such a vulgar way." Zuus replied, "Cleansing? Half of our number dropped dead instantly! What creature could be so evil to consider the death of living beings cleansing?" The builder-deity magically produced a book with his staff. He flipped through several of the pages before stopping at one. "This world has become too overpopulated with lowly creatures such as yourselves. It cannot handle the strain, so I took it upon myself to cleanse the world. Wolves are an insignificant price to pay to protect the integrity of the world." "INSIGNIFICANT! HOW DARE YOU!" Zuus roared. Every wolf in Zuus's pack began snarling directly at the builder-deity. Zuus raised his paw in fury at the builder-deity. The builder-deity was not pleased with the wolves' behavior. "Begone ye lowly wolves! You have no place in OUR world, consuming OUR resources and taking up OUR space!" Zuus's pack did not budge. "Have it your way then, you pathetic creatures." The builder-deity pointed his wand directly at Zuus. "Lightning!" A powerful and blindingly bright lightning bolt slowly emerged from the sky. Zuus and the pack narrowly avoided it, feeling the searing heat from it nonetheless. They nearly made it to the southern edge of the valley when the pass suddenly closed before their eyes. Some of the wolves tried desperately to climb up the magically-sealed hill, to no avail. Zuus did not try to climb up the hill. Resigned to his fate, he turned and faced the builder-deity, snarling. "Lightning!" The second bolt struck every wolf in the pack, shocking them and lighting their fur on fire. All of them died within seconds from burns. Zuus managed to hold on the longest, rolling around on the ground in agony. As his vision began to fade, he could see the builder-deity cackling wildly at their demise. Just as rain began falling from the sky, Zuus finally collapsed.
Zuus awoke in a daze, sometime later. When he rose to look at his surroundings, he noticed he was not alone. He was surrounded by thousands of wolves. When Zuus finally stood upon all fours, the assembly of wolves howled in harmony. "What is happening? Why am I here, and where did you all come from?" A golden wolf, fur shining brighter than Zuus's memory of the Sun, stepped out of the assembly. "Zuus, our kind is in grave danger. The world you currently inhabit, the world known as Undecim, is dying. There is not much time left." Zuus howled in fear. "Why is this happening? Is this all the doing of the builder-deity we have encountered?" The golden wolf replied, "No, Zuus. He is no more control of Undecim's fate than anyone else." "Then what is the cause?" "Undecim has merely reached the end of its life cycle, much like that of a living being. It has not been decaying because of an overpopulation of anything; it has been decaying because it is destined to decay." "If that is true, why was the builder-deity so convinced that we were the cause of the world's collapse?" The golden wolf stood firm. "He fears our kind, Zuus. He fears that Wolves can become far more powerful than he can possibly imagine. His attempt to destroy our kind, The Great Dying, was an act of desperation. Under the protection and guidance of the realm of Tinsel, you were destined to surpass all life, even the builders." Zuus whimpered. "But I have failed to stop him. He has killed me, and even now I fear that he will seek to destroy what is left of my people." "No, Zuus. The builder-deity has not killed you. In fact, he has made a grave mistake." "I don't understand." Zuus said. The golden wolf placed his paw upon Zuus's shoulder. "The builder-deity is a powerful being, undoubtedly, but he is not perfect. His power of lightning was designed to kill by flooding a living being with energy, whether in the form of heat or redstone. Your body, although severely wounded by that energy, was not overwhelmed by it. That energy now exists within you. In his attempt to destroy you with his powers of lightning, he has infused you with far more power than he can comprehend. He has caused exactly what he feared might happen one day." Zuus, confused, answered "But I do not feel any different, oh great one." The golden wolf howled and bowed down to Zuus. "No, Zuus. I am not the great one. My fur may be golden, but yours is divine." Zuus focused, finally realizing the subtle pulses of energy flowing through him. "Golden one, what must I do now?" The golden wolf smiled. "You must return to Undecim and destroy the builder-deity. Only then can you hope to save the builders and wolves of the realm of Tinsel." Zuus, concerned, asked, "To where would I lead them?" "There is a new world, Cryinia, that even now, at this very moment, is being formed. When you have destroyed the builder-deity, all will become clear to you." "But what if I cannot defeat him?" "Zuus, fear not. You have already survived your previous encounter with the builder-deity. He may strike you with lightning again - but it will mean nothing. You have ascended beyond his power now." The golden wolf raised his paw towards the heavens. A column of golden light descended from above, stopping next to the golden wolf. Zuus carefully approached the column of light, turning to examine the thousands of wolves that now bowed down to him. "You are no longer Zuus, the mortal leader of the wolves of the realm of Tinsel. You are now Zuus, the Wolf God, lord of all, lord of the realm of Tinsel, inferior to none. When you destroy the builder-deity, you will lose all doubts. No living being, builder or otherwise, shall ever doubt wolves again! Go forth Zuus, go forth!" Zuus finally began ascending the pillar of light. Suddenly, the entire assembly of wolves howled in unison. Zuus no longer felt any doubt in his heart. He stared straight up past the heavens, fully prepared for the monumental task before him. Zuus closed his eyes, opening them as a sudden jolt of energy ran through him. He quickly realized he had returned to Undecim; he was atop the great Tower of Tinsel, no less. Zuus looked down upon the land, as both builders and wolves gathered to see him. "BUILDER-DEITY, I COMMAND YOU TO SHOW YOUSELF!" Lightning struck as Zuus spoke these words, but none in the realm of Tinsel felt fear as it happened. Zuus repeated his demand, receiving no further response. "COME AND FIGHT YOU COWARDS, FIGHT ME!" At last, a second bolt of lightning, this time of the darkest sort, struck the tower. The builder-deity appeared at its impact. "IMPOSSIBLE! My powers of lightning should have destroyed you! I saw your fur burning before my eyes!" Zuus snarled at the builder-deity. "You have failed to destroy me, builder-deity. In fact, you have even made me more powerful than you can possibly comprehend!" "Hahahahahahaha! You are pathetic, wolf. You do not stand a chance against me, ME, LORD of this world! I shall destroy you with fury a thousand times greater than before!" The builder-deity took to the sky and raised his staff, again pointing it directly at Zuus. "BUTCHER!" "Not this time, builder-deity!" Zuus took to the sky, taking breaths of such magnitude that the builder-deity's magic was neutralized. Satisfied that his people were safe, Zuus flew straight at the builder-deity. In one fell swoop, he took a hold of him with his mouth. "ARRRGGHHH! You PATHETIC wolf! How dare you!" Zuus let go of the builder-deity and shouted with all his might, "LIGHTNING!" Lightning of the purest gold thundered down from the heavens, crashing upon the builder-deity with all of Zuus's might. As the lightning ceased, Zuus lunged at him again and went straight for his heart. The builder-deity screamed in pain as Zuus's teeth pierced his organ. Zuus released him again and shouted once more into the sky, "LIGHTNING!" The builder-deity immediately went limp as the lightning struck him again. He fell straight to the earth, hitting his head upon the walls of Tinsel as he descended. Zuus glided down to his opponent's broken body. The builder-deity, now dying, turned towards Zuus with a maniacal grin. "You have changed nothing, you know. This world will still be destroyed. You cannot prevent any more than I could have. The cycle of this world reaches an end." "That's where you're wrong, builder-deity. I will use my power to bring all that reside within the realm of Tinsel to a new world, Cryinia." The builder-deity coughed up part of his lung. "It is as I have feared. Wolves are far smarter than I originally believed. Your species will become the dominant form of life in the next world!" Zuus shook his head. "No, we shall not be dominant. We shall be equals with the builders! I will not do to them as some of them have done to us. We shall work together to build ourselves a new home in Cryinia. Neither Wolf nor Builder shall ever suffer again!" "You are indeed wise, Zuus. I regret that it has become necessary for you to destroy me." Zuus began to feel pity for the builder-deity. "Farewell, builder-deity. May your spirit rest from this time forward." The builder-deity convulsed violently for several moments, and then finally died. Zuus turned to see wolves and builders surrounding him. They bowed down to him as he turned. The Council of Tinsel approached Zuus. "Zuus, oh powerful and wondrous God amongst us, what shall we do?" "We must leave this world, my good friends. The people of this realm, the realm of Tinsel, have been good to us. You gave us protection when the other realms of the world sought to exterminate us. You have shown us friendship and companionship where others have shunned us. You fed us when you yourselves were in danger of starving. For that, we shall always be in your debt. I shall lead the Wolves and Builders of this realm to the new world of Cryinia. We shall not die with this world. We shall live together in the next." The Council of Tinsel bowed down to Zuus. "No, almighty Lord Zuus, we are in *your* debt. You have protected *us* when the monsters of this world have attacked us. You have shown us friendship when other realms have shown us hostility. You have risked your lives hunting in the wilderness when our crops failed. We are in *your* debt." Zuus smiled at the Council of Tinsel. "Let us go my friends. Let us go to the new world. Never again shall we feel threatened, never again shall we witness injustice and never again shall we starve. We go together to Cryinia, and together we shall LIVE!" Zuus looked upon the sky of Undecim, his last view of it. He raised his right paw to the Sun, and simply shouted, "WARP!" It was in that moment that the wolves and builders of the realm of Tinsel departed from Undecim, never to return. The world of Cryinia was theirs for the taking. THE END
