"Please, save us!"
The girl looked upon the strange mobs with the weird noses, her eyebrows furrowing as her father hesitated. "My wife is very sick right now and my daughter needs me. I'm sorry, but I can't."
One of them shook its head. "There's no time, we need you!"
The girl's father was firm. "My wife and daughter need me."
The thing scuttled in front of the father. "You can kill them real quick, and make it in time to your wife and kid. It won't be long."
Her father glanced back at his sickened wife, while the little girl grabbed her father's pants. "Daddy, don't leave me!"
He gave a tender smile and kissed the top of her head. "Never, darling. I'll be back soon, I promise."
She gave a cheeky grin as he pinky promised her. "I'll see you soon, Daddy!"
"And I'll see you soon, my little Callida!"
She waved as her father brandished his gleaming diamond sword, confident he would return in a few hours.
She never saw him again.
The girl jolted awake, gasping. That weird nightmare had plagued her for the past week, and she didn't understand what was going on.
'Are you alright?'
She smiled. "Of course I am, Ambrose!"
Her dear companion rumbled and eyed her with purple, mysterious eyes. 'You had that nightmare again, didn't you?'
She huffed. "…Maybe."
The creature sighed and wrapped its long black arms around her. The girl squeaked and adjusted her hoodie, grumbling.
'I'm just trying to help, you know.'
"I know. Nothing will make it go away." She sighed. The two gazed over the village about 100 blocks from them.
'…You ready?'
"Always." The girl pulled out a Power 1 bow and notched an arrow, praying to the Nether.
"Are you ready, Ambrose? Last time I checked, you had a bit of cold feet." She teased.
The creature muttered something in its language and sighed.
'Might as well start now. The sun went down.'
"Then let's go." The girl gave her companion a wicked smirk and raced out to the villages, a diamond axe in her hoodie and armed with her bow and arrows.
As the two descended into the houses, cries of agony and pain rose into the night.
…
"C'mon biggums, you've got to share some food!"
Mitchell laughed as he ate some cooked chicken. "All the fish are cooked, Jerome."
The Bacca shivered and grumbled, "You vile creature."
"I've got some wet noodles though!"
Jerome sighed as he pulled them out of Mitch's backpack, chowing down. "You owe me some food."
"I know," Mitch laughed. "There's no one out here! Why did Sky send us all the way over here? No assassin is gonna be here!"
Suddenly, a bush rustled and a villager popped out, a few arrows and gashes in his stomach and back. "Please, save us!" The villager begged. "She came out of nowhere; right from the shadows!"
Jerome drew Betty, while Mitch pulled out his diamond sword and bow. "Where is she?" He asked urgently.
The villager nodded at the settlements. "She's burning everything! My family is dead and she is on a fiery rampage!"
Jerome said quickly, "Where is she now?"
The villager opened his mouth, but a strange sound stopped him.
THUMP!
All three looked down in horror at the arrow protruding from the villager's stomach. A dry rasp came from his throat. "…Here."
The body dropped to the ground as Mitch yelled in anger and whirled around, watching the houses burn to the ground. "Coward! Come out and fight me!"
A figure dashed from the shadows as Jerome hurled Betty at it. The diamond axe got stuck in a tree as the Bacca growled and ran to get it.
Mitch backed away underneath the foliage, clutching his weapon. Not expecting the stone cliff behind him, the boy gave a shout as he almost tumbled over the edge.
Mitch would have dashed from the rim, if a certain noise hadn't stopped him.
Ssssss…
Fear tore at his heart as the creeper emerged from the trees, crawling towards him. Jerome was still getting Betty and no one was here to save him.
Mitch looked around wildly, seeing if someone could help him. He spotted a pair of violet eyes in the shadows and his eyes widened.
An Enderman? What are they doing so far from the End?
The creeper grew ever closer with each step, and finally Mitch was face to face with the explosive mob. "Nice…creeper…" He gulped.
The creeper regarded him and started to inflate. Sssss…
"NO!" Mitch screamed as the explosion knocked him over the edge. His hands tried to grab anything; stones, plants, roots. After a few moments, he grabbed a root hanging from a tree.
Mitch dangled over the mist filled drop, sweat trickling down his forehead. Behind him, the moon shone brightly as he let out a panicked filled gasp.
The Enderman stared at Mitch, his eyes glowing as he let out a sound.
'You could always ask me to help you, you know. I could pull you to safety.'
"Please, Mr. Enderman. I don't want to fall and I need to save a village from an assassin." He pleaded, rocks tumbling past his face.
The Enderman tilted his head. 'Deal.'
He teleported, grabbed Mitch, and teleported back to the cliff, dropping the boy.
Mitch coughed and spat out dust, smoothing his hoodie down. The Enderman grabbed Mitch's shoulder, its fingers digging into his flesh.
"Wha?! What are you doing?" Mitch demanded, trying to find his sword.
The Enderman growled a bit. 'The name is Ambrose, and she never wanted to be an assassin.'
Mitch's brown eyes widened as he realized what the Enderman–Ambrose–meant. "No, wait–!" He yelped.
It was too late. Mitch vanished in a bunch of violet sparks.
…
Jerome yanked Betty from the tree and turned around. "Biggums! Where'd you run off to?" Jerome yelled, trying to find his best friend.
Not spotting anyone, the Bacca sighed and ran on ahead to the village.
Fire raged through the wooden buildings. Fear clenched Jerome's heart as he realized one thing; there were no villagers screaming.
"No…" He muttered, running around wooden pillars. "No! She wouldn't of!" Jerome screamed, trying to find a single living soul.
No one. They were all gone.
"MITCH!" He screamed, wailing as the fire started to burn out. "MITCH! WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO SKY!"
Jerome turned around to find nothing. Mitch wasn't there.
Did the assassin…?
"BIGGUMS!" The furry cried. "MITCH, WHERE ARE YOU?"
No boy in a checkered hoodie answered him, and Jerome dropped to his knees and wept bitterly.
…
"Ow!" Mitch hit the ground, groaning as he tried to get up.
"Sit."
The voice was so full of gentleness that Mitch immediately sat back down. "Are you the one who sent the Enderman?" He questioned, staring at the shadows in front of him.
A figure hesitantly stepped a bit forward into the light, and Mitch was gobsmacked.
A beautiful girl emerged, her red hair flickering like fire. Two amethysts stared him in the face as she tucked her Enderman hat down past her ears. Her shirt was also an Enderman face and her black boots had some dark sky blue checkers in them; her shorts were the same.
Mitch stared in astonishment as the girl sat down in front of him, choosing her words carefully. "…Ambrose is my best friend. He looks after me." She murmured.
"You…you're beautiful." Mitch whispered.
The girl's pale cheeks went a few shades lighter than her hair. "Not when I kill, no." She sighed.
That was when Mitch's brain was jolted back to reality. "You're the assassin!"
"Yep, that's me. The assassin." She exhaled. "That's all I'll ever be known as."
"What's your name, anyways?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
The girl hesitated. "…"
"Secretive, I see. I'm Mitchell, or BajanCanadian. You can call me Mitch though."
The girl bit her lip. "Why are you being so nice to me? Just 30 minutes ago I was laughing as I shot a villager in the head."
Mitch winced at the mental image. "I…don't know. My leader might be harsher than I am, so I want to be nice."
She jerked back. "You will not take me to your leader! I have to stay out here and extract my revenge!"
"Revenge for what?" Mitch prompted.
"…Nothing. You wouldn't understand."
"I might, though. Just tell me."
The girl stood up and walked away, brushing away a quick tear. "I just have to, that's all. Ambrose, I think we're done here. You know what to do."
The Enderman appeared out of the night and teleported Mitch away, the boy crying out for the girl.
Ambrose dropped Mitch in the exact same clearing where he nearly fell off the cliff. 'I am so sorry, but I have to do something to your brain. Won't hurt at all.'
Mitch tried to fight the large creature but Ambrose held him down. Right as an arm reached for his forehead, the girl appeared holding a beautiful little kitten with bright violet eyes. "Here, Mitch. Keep the cat. I thought you knew that cats kept creepers away, after all." A faint smile flickered on her features as the kitten meowed and pawed Mitch's shoulder.
The girl approached him and gave a light kiss on Mitch's forehead. "Go ahead, Ambrose."
The Enderman gave a small screech as he muddled up Mitch's recent memories, rendering them to become dreams. Mitch's eyes flashed before the boy passed out, slumping down onto the ground.
The girl sighed before Ambrose grabbed her and teleported away.
…
Jerome trudged back to GeoCity, wiping away his tears. He would never see his buddy again.
As he pondered his thoughts about Mitch, the furry Bacca suddenly tripped and fell onto something soft.
"Huh?" He murmured.
A kitten's cry was his answer as Jerome stared in astonishment at Mitch's unmoving body, his chest going up and down.
"BIGGUMS!" He yelled, bundling Mitch into his chest. Fresh tears poured down his face as Jerome sobbed with joy, clutching Mitch's hoodie.
Mitch only moaned softly and snuggled into Jerome's chest, fast asleep.
Feeling an adrenaline spike, Jerome got up from the floor and held Mitch to his chest, the black kitten on Mitch's shirt.
Wasn't that cat on the floor just right now?
Shrugging, Jerome held his best buddy as he walked the long way back to GeoCity, his happiness at finding Mitch fueling his muscles.
…
"Blackjack!"
"Notch darn it, Sparklez!"
CaptainSparklez laughed as he watched the sunrise, tipping back his chair as Bashur raged across him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Bodil's laughter rang through the INN, the parkour master planning out another adventure map on some blueprints.
xRpMx13, or commonly known as Ryan, laughed from his end of the table. "Sparklez, you won't give poor Bashur any mercy?"
"No way!" The Captain chuckled.
"And in that case, the CaptainSparklez, once again, has beaten the cantaloupe at Blackjack 53 times in a row." Ryan said in his Morgan Freeman voice.
This caused Bodil to make everyone else laugh with his high-pitched laughter, and Bashur to cry out, "I'm a freaking watermelon, not a cantaloupe!"
The Captain sighed and turned around, his eyebrows furrowing. "Wait, is that Jerome and Mitch?"
The other three looked up. "What? Shouldn't they be at the Crafted HQ?" Ryan said nervously.
CaptainSparklez pulled out his wristwatch communicator and called up Sky.
The Butter God looked alarmed and worried. "Jordan! Good to hear from you, buddy!" Sky yawned.
Sparklez winced; he hated waking up Sky at only 5 in the morning. "Yeah, same. Listen, are you missing two Team Crafted members?"
Sky was more awake now as he yelled down the hall from his room, "Jason!"
TrueMU appeared at his door in a flash, a yawn rattling from the inside of his helmet. "Have you found them?"
Sparklez nodded. "If you mean Jerome and Mitch, then yes. They passed out at Bashur's INN."
TrueMU nodded and called to Deadlox, whose eyelids were drooping every second. "Let's get them, okay Ty? You can go to sleep afterwards."
"…Okay." Deadlox yawned again, heading after the spaceman.
Meanwhile, Ryan and Bashur had dragged in the other two.
Mitch was out cold; Jerome was barely conscious as he murmured, "I got my buddy back. I got my buddy back. I'll never let him go again."
Sparklez hung up and looked down at them with pity. "I'd say they were on a mission and got separated. Mitch must have gotten separated from Jerome and he panicked."
Bodil put down his blueprints and headed to Bashur's fridge, getting some raw fish and putting them in Jerome's paws.
The Bacca's nose twitched. The parkour master waved it over Jerome's nose and it twitched even more. Startling the four, Jerome grabbed the fish and gobbled it in a few moments, his health coming back.
"Gah…where's Mitch?" Jerome asked sleepily.
CaptainSparklez nodded at the figure besides him. "He's right next to you, Jerome."
Jerome turned over and saw the boy in the checkered hoodie out cold. His breathing stirred the fur on Jerome's chest, his almond hair waving from the air from Bashur's ceiling fans.
Mitch whimpered in his sleep and on instinct, Jerome pulled him to his chest. "Shh, don't worry biggums, I'm here. Don't worry." He whispered, closing his eyes and not noticing the smiling looks exchanged between Sparklez, Bashur, Ryan, and Bodil.
A jetpack sounded outside, and Jerome gently picked up Mitch and carried him to where TrueMU and Deadlox were waiting. The little kitten followed them, its long tail waving.
Deadlox gave Jerome a quick hug. "Good to see you in one piece, buddy."
"Same here. I thought I lost Mitch, and…" Jerome trailed off, quiet as he realized what could have happened to his best friend.
TrueMU picked up Mitch as Jerome waved a thank you to the four at the INN. Deadlox supported the Bacca as they headed their way home.
…
Ambrose turned to the girl, who was still in the shadows. 'Do you think he'll remember?'
"It depends, honestly." She replied. "I think he'll remember just a bit."
'Why did you let him go? You could have killed him easily.'
"…There was something about him. Just, something. I didn't want to kill him."
Ambrose turned and teleported back to where he was staying with the girl. She, however, stayed a bit longer.
Her amethyst eyes followed the spaceman, the guy with the headphones, the furry Bacca, and him.
Mitch…what an intriguing name.
She felt something; not love, but maybe friendship.
Friendship…I could try.
For the first time in a very long while, her lips pulled upwards into something genuine.
She smiled.
. . .
AN: PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE THIS.
OH MY GOSH.
I was actually planning to delete the second chapter 'cause I thought no one would review. XD Thankfully I didn't, and here it is!
I didn't get to write the third chapter because I wasn't expecting such a positive feedback. I'll get working on it right away :D
Thank you everyone for reviewing! :)