Sky's P.O.V.
It was a plain, normal day. I was eating lunch with everyone else in the dining hall. I watched Crazy talk to Alex about lessons they needed to do for the new Recruits and Compass and Raven argue whether swords or axes were better. Compass said that axes were much better while Raven said that, given the choice, she would always choose a sword. I took a bite of my mushroom stew when suddenly,
BOOM!
There was a small shaking. Everything was quiet for a minute.
"What was that?" Asked a nearby Recruit. I shrugged.
"I dunno. Maybe Bodil got into the TNT again." I suggested.
"Hey!" I turned around to see the Bulgarian a little ways up the table.
"Oh. Sorry Bodil."
BOOM! At that point, a crowd of people ran in, screaming.
"THEY'RE HERE!"
"THE SQUIDS ARE ATTACKING!"
"RUN!"
I stood up so quickly I felt my stew spill on me. I paid no attention as I grabbed my budder sword from its hilt on my waist. I saw the Hunters stand up, fasten their cloaks, and grab their weapons, more serious looking than I had ever seen them, including Raven. I ran as fast as I could, and I could hear the other three behind me. Adrenaline pounded in my ears as I ran.
'How could they have gotten in?' I thought. All of a sudden, I screeched to a halt. In front of me were at least 1,000 squids, all leering at me, holding evil Squid Blades. We all stood for a moment, Squid and Minecraftian, when an arrow whizzed past my head. Compass had made the first shot. They broke apart and began attacking. I slashed and stabbed. I felt a few shots of pain, but I didn't care. I could hear screams, both human and mob. I knew that we would win. We had numbers, intelligence, and we were always ready. Every once in a while, I would glimpse at the Hunters. They had been holding back in training. Now they were ran faster, hit harder, and moved quicker. Finally, after about an hour, all the squids were down. It felt like it was much longer.
~TIME SKIP ~
We had lost 78 Recruits. The number pounded in my head. 78. It felt like so many. The walls, that had just a few hours ago been shining a bright yellow, were now dark a mixture of ink and blood. The halls had been cleared of all the wounded and dead, the squids thrown into a lava pit and the dead Recruits gathered and placed in the dining hall. There would be a funeral later. I winced as I walked. I had escaped the battle with a few bad bruises and some pretty deep cuts. I was bandaged up, but that didn't stop the bruises from hurting. I had seen the Hunters after the battle when we were clearing up, and they looked pretty normal, aside from a few small things. Crazy had gotten a bruise on her shoulder, Compass had a swollen lip, and Raven got a cut that went from her wrist to the inside of her elbow, but it was very shallow and wasn't bleeding. This was all very impressive because none of us had been wearing armor at the time.
Once again, I got upset with the fact that I had been so careless. It had been months since an attack, I should have been more suspicious, I should have added more guards, I should have…
I sighed. It was much too late now. I would at least do more in the future. Tomorrow, I decided, I would go out on a scouting mission with some volunteers, possibly the Hunters…
"Don't get down on yourself." I jumped. I hadn't heard Crazy come up behind me.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't get down on yourself. And don't even try to deny it, because I've seen this before."
"Well, I failed. How do you expect me to be?" I snapped.
"You did not fail," she said softly.
"What do you mean, I didn't fail?! People died because I wasn't careful enough!" I yelled.
"This is war. People die. And those people that died, they knew what they were getting themselves into. They knew the risk and yet they came. It isn't your fault." She said calmly. I didn't want to hear any more. I turned around and walked back to my room. I had a funeral to get ready for.
~TIME SKIP~
I was dressed in all black. What else was I supposed to wear for a funeral? It was cold, but everyone had decided outside would be the best place. No one wanted to be inside, where the smell of blood and the echoes of screams still lingered. I saw many other Recruits, but not all of them were there. After all, someone had to help heal the wounded and clean up. I looked around, and in the front row, I saw the Hunters. They wore their usual clothing, but they had exchanged their brightly colored cloaks for simple black ones. I looked at everyone else in the crowd and saw many faces with tears. I took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Hello, and welcome. We are here today to honor some very brave and honorable people. These Recruits fought valiantly. We will always remember them for who they were. Friends, family, and everything in between. They will forever be remembered as heroes. Their places in our hearts will never be given up, and they will forever be in our memories. Now, please join me for a moment of silence." No one spoke. You could have heard a pin drop. After some more speeches and moments of silence, the ceremony ended, and everyone walked away to piece things back together.
No one's P.O.V. Somewhere Else
The room was darkened, and the deep blue walls didn't help. All that was clearly visible was several figures, one on a throne, surrounded by others, and a lone shadow in a silver cloak in front of the king.
"My forces have failed. You are the best hope I have. You must kill SkyDoesMinecraft, and you must do it soon, or we may lose the war. Do this, and you will be handsomely rewarded. Do you accept?" Said the Squid king, Derpopollus. The cloaked figure smiled under the raised hood.
"Yes."
Today's Random Fact: Since the 1920 Census, Iowa is the only state that has not doubled in population
