Chapter 11: Into The Jungle Biome

The voyage began after they left the house.

Jewel lead the group with her compass in her offhand. They planned on heading in the direction the compass pointed straight, since that was the quickest route. Naturally, that direction pointed to the other side of the canyon. Madison wanted to just jump to the bottom and struggle to get to the top. Of course Texik had a "better idea,": using blocks to build a bridge via sneaking. That would waste time! Of course Pickaxe and Jewel agreed with him. Cheap little upstart…

Texik simply stated he was lucky enough to steal such items.

The voyage continued on the plains on the other side of the canyon. Several animals were roaming about aimlessly. Jewel then spotted a rarity of a creature: a horse. "Awwwwwww," she cooed. "If only I had a saddle…" Reluctantly, she continued on with the journey. Pickaxe felt sorry for her. Remind me to get her a horse, he thought. Meanwhile, Texik was more concerned with the accomodations his acquaintances (calling them "friends" was too soon) had planned for the evening.

It's not like he exactly trusted a bed, a torch, and 64 dirt blocks.

Several minutes passed. The plains kept going on and on. They weren't making much progress at this rate. "...uuuuuuuuuuUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!" shouted Madison, her sanity having crumbled under the boredom. Jewel tapped her shoulder. "WhAt!?" she barked. A slightly terrified Jewel slowly pointed to a river. It was flowing in the direction the compass was pointing to. "HALLELUJAH!" yelled Texik, wasting no time pulling out a boat and hopping in. The others followed, with Jewel eventually taking the lead. As they traveled along the river, the terrain slowly began to change. Trees began dotting the plains. The grass became more vibrant. The area as a whole felt more alive. Then they saw the impressive landscape in front of them.

It took all of their willpower not to drop their jaws.

The trees were of a wood none had seen before, and they were HUGE. A new different animal was flying amongst the trees… parrots. They also saw plenty of ocelots roaming about. Jewel was absolutely gushing! Even Madison was mildly intrigued. "The only animal able to scare a creeper," she noted. The group looked over the horizon. The sun was several moments from setting. Texik began to panic. "We're out in the open! The creepers our gonna get us! We'Re DoOmE-" It was at this moment Madison smacked Texik out of his insanity.

Pickaxe then took the time to demonstrate how to construct the pillar shelters.

"IS THIS GOOD?" yelled Texik from his pillar. Pickaxe nodded. All of the pillars were 60 blocks high with a torch at the top and a bed to the side. Now the mobs couldn't get to them AND they wouldn't spawn up here! Madison let out a yawn. "Welp, I'm going to bed. See ya tomorrow," she mumbled, flopping onto her bed without a care. Jewel followed her lead in a more dignified manner. Texik crawled under the covers as fast as possible.

Eventually, even Pickaxe followed their lead.


They made a beeline for the jungle after taking down their pillars.

It was beautiful, albeit a bit shady, as the group marveled at the scenery, the trees, the fauna. Pickaxe wondered how Jewel could be so interested in the ocelots. "They're adorable!" she protested. Texik was more interested in the parrots. "They can hear mobs from 20 blocks away!" he declared. Hmmm, thought Pickaxe, did the creeper scare him that bad? "Come on, come on!" Texik muttered. "Where are those seeds I took?" "How much stuff have you stolen?" Madison asked disgusted. Texik gave a cryptic smile, "A lot."

Pickaxe decided now was a good time to look at the trees.

They were tall and strong. They were made out of a wood none of them had seen before. On the side, big orange-brown plant pods were growing… cocoa. "Ooooh, I've heard of these!" Jewel exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere. Pickaxe was startled, but rather than flinch, he calmly asked, "What are they for?" "Cocoa can be harvested into cocoa beans, a type of dye, AND an ingredient used to make cookies!" "Did someone say cookies?" The voice belonged to Madison, who popped her head from behind trees. She was followed by Texik, who had somehow acquired a grey parrot resting on his shoulder.

"If I find a nametag, I'm gonna name him Siren!" he proclaimed.

Madison rolled her eyes. Pickaxe stared up at the tree. "I'm gonna chop down this tree," he began, "Could you guys get the cocoa beans?" "Sure!" agreed Jewel. "Whatever," said Madison. "Who's a good parrot?" ignored Texik. After several moments, Pickaxe only managed to cut down half the tree. It didn't look right to see the top half floating in space. "Oh, well," said Texik, "Just keep your cookies away from my parrot!" "The good news is we just need the raw wood to plant cocoa pods," assured Jewel. That made Pickaxe feel better. So he hadn't worked in vain. Meanwhile, the group looked up at the sky. Too little too late, they realized it was already dark. Texik's parrot made a sound like a high pitched zombie.

Pickaxe took his iron sword out. "Run," he commanded.

They got split up during their escape. On all sides monsters were trying to kill them. Pickaxe was lucky enough to manage putting on his pumpkin. The group blindly slashed on all sides. Several zombies, a spider or two, maybe even an off-guard skeleton, were victims of their blades. They managed to meet on the other side of the jungle, but did not stop running. They continued to move forward, slashing any monster in their wake. Eventually, they grew tired. While Texik and Madison held off nearby monsters, Jewel and Pickaxe constructed a crude shelter out of dirt. They rushed everyone inside, before Pickaxe sealed off the entrance. They tried sleeping, but there were too many monsters nearby. So, they bided their time, praying for the daylight to come once again.

When day finally came, there was one more place the group needed to search.

During their mad dash for survival, Madison remembered coming across a structure made of moss stone. Retracing her steps, they slowly came across a rather well organized-looking structure. "A jungle temple…" whispered Texik in awe. His parrot was just at the entrance. "Stay," he told it, and the group ventured inside. After going through the entryway, the place felt very… ancient. And dark. As Jewel began laying down some torches, the group was greeted with a puzzle.

Three levers dared the group to pull them.

Pickaxe pulled the left lever. Nothing happened. Texik pulled the right lever. Nothing happened. Madison pulled the middle lever. They heard a KA-CHUNK to the side. Madison had discovered chest. "Score!" she yelled triumphantly. She quickly took the contents of the chest. "Hmmm… bones, rotten flesh (ew), gold, and… oooooooh, emeralds…" She held the shiny green rocks for all to see. "That could come in handy…" Jewel said, obviously enamored with the green jewel. Having collected their bounty, they moved on to the next floor.

This time, the chest sat there, waiting to be taken.

"MINE!" yelled Texik, who dashed for the chest… only to trigger a trip wire and be shot by several arrows. He slowly limped away, having Madison pluck the arrows out of him (much to her enjoyment and his dismay). Pickaxe looked at the walls. They were lined with dispensers hidden behind the vines. No wonder. He jumped over the trip wire. The dispensers held their fire. He slowly made his way to the chest. There was another wire in front of it. He carefully, opened the chest without crossing the wire, while Jewel gathered arrows from the dispensers.

He was lucky with his load.

He had found a few diamonds, a saddle, some iron ingots, and a strange glowing book.

He'd check out the book later, but for now, he gave Jewel the saddle. Her face was a beacon in the darkest light. Madison grumbled in jealousy. Texik was already making his way to the third floor. The others shortly followed, only to be welcomed by darkness on all ends. Jewel pulled out a torch to place on the ground. For a second, Pickaxe thought he heard someone groaning. Then the room was filled with light.

There was a zombie, and a creeper, who began to hiss…

The group was racing to get out of the temple. Even after the BOOM had passed and they heard the sound of a dead (again?) zombie, they continued to run. Texik was screaming at the top of his lungs: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO! HECK TO THE NO! THEY'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Madison shook her head in dismay. Jewel simply shrugged. Texik called for his parrot, and the group continued running. The jungle looked a lot less dense as they continued onward.

Eventually, they did leave the jungle behind. But the journey was yet to be over.