I slumped down on my bed, my back leaning up against the cold, butter wall. I was pissed. And when I say pissed, I mean that if steam could come out of my ears, it would. It sounds so cliché, but it's true. My first big break and I get screwed. Well, as if my life couldn't get any better. But, me being the absolute genius that I am, I came up with a master plan. I don't believe my adrenaline rush had gotten any better, so it must have been what was clouding my judgment, because normally, I would never dream of defying Sky. Like ever. But today, I felt edgy and dangerous, and I decided that it was my turn to see the world. I wouldn't go too far, and I would blend in with the other recruits. Nobody would suspect a thing. Now, to make myself look totally normal. I brushed my straight black hair, and pushed it out of the way of my bright green eyes. On second thought, it might make me less recognizable if people didn't see my eyes, so I let my hair fall in front of one of them. I pulled on a navy blue hoodie with the Sky Army emblem on it, the first piece of clothing you receive upon arrival to HQ. I pulled on my black crop shorts and slipped on my old, beat up pair of black converse. I tucked my amulet under my navy shirt, zipped up my hoodie, slung my green backpack over my shoulder, and headed for the armory. Quietly and stealthily, like a ninja, I finally found the perfect weapon. It was an enchanted butter axe, with a diamond edge and a blaze rod acted as the handle. It was gorgeous craftsmanship, done by none other than the famed CaptainSparklez. Sky always talked about his friends, and they seemed cool, but I was never allowed to meet them, me being a secret and all. I also saw something on the high rack that I never thought I would see in person. The Ender Sword. It was a one of a kind blade, precious and durable at the same time. It was beautiful, black like the void and empty, yet full with darkness. But if I took that people would be suspicious. One day though. One day. I slipped out of the armory, still unnoticed by the masses. I slipped out of the palace, and down into the crowd. Nobody noticed me as I made my way to the front. Once I reached the station where you were granted your Sky Army Gear, I made my way forward, as if I was just recruited. Just because I am always stuck in the palace, doesn't mean that I can't k now the layout of HQ. I mean, I am almost always bored and Sky has a huge library/map room inside the palace. What can I say? I'm an under stimulated girl. Anyway, everything seemed to be going smooth, until, me with my clumsiness, had to go banging into another new recruit. "Hey, watch it!" he said, and I kind of just awkwardly stood there, eyes on the ground, and I mumbled, "Sorry, won't happen again." "Hey, didn't mean to scare ya! Name's Crispin," he said, extending his hand. I slowly extended my arm and tentatively shook his hand. He was actually quite nice. He was much taller than me, but not like an amazon. He had black hair like me, but with smoky blue eyes. He wore the same hoodie as me, but to be honest, he wore it better. He had dark blue jeans and he also wore beat up converse, but his were navy. "How bout you? Did I make ya go mute? Didn't mean to." He said, a frown forming in the corners of his smile. "Nah, I'm ok. The name's…Marianna. But since you seem nice, call me Mari." I was basically lying through my teeth, and I kind of felt bad doing it to Crispin, but I need to do what I have to do make sure no one finds out about my relation to Sky. Because if anyone finds out and it gets back to Sky, I'm like dead. Like I wouldn't be surprised if I never saw the light of day again. Not that I do now, it's just an expression. Anyway, we walked along, well, I walked and he kind of bounced/skipped over to the career station. This was where the new recruits picked their specialty. We discussed many different things until it was almost our time to pick. "So," he said, still energetic and jumpy, "whatcha gonna pick?" It was at this time that I realized I was not proudly sporting my new axe. I swung my pack over my shoulder and pulled out the beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Crispin stood in awe of my fine new weapon, when I broke the silence by saying, "Even though I excel at woodcutting, I'll try it all." Crispin lit up when I said that, and I just smiled. "Why so happy Cris?" I joked, punching him on the arm lightly with my free hand. "Cause that was my plan," he said, a goofy grin painted across his face. That grin made anyone want to giggle, so that's what I did. I laughed. My first real friend made me laugh. It was amazing to think that I, Lia, closet sister of SkyDoesMinecraft, Leader of the Resistance against the squids, largest advocate of butter, renowned general, actually had a friend that made me laugh. We finally made it to the front of the line. We were met with a weathered recruit with long dirty blond hair and red eyes. He looked up from his clipboard for a second, but his eyes met mine, causing him to draw his entire head upwards. "Name?" he asked, and to mess with him I said, "You first," and flipped my hair. "Tobias at your service. Now your name is….." "Marianna, but you can call me Mari," I said, quickly, but not so quickly as to give the illusion of a problem. "Well, Marianna, who's that?" Tobias asked, pointing a finger at Crispin, rolling his eyes. "This is Crispin, and he is my friend, so I would greatly appreciate it if you would not refer to him with such disgust." Wow, I'm proud of myself. I didn't think I could be that sassy. Tobi, I'm gonna call him that now, looked taken aback, but immediately warmed up to my proposal, shooting Crispin an apologetic smile. "Now that that is settled, what landed you in this job anyway?" I asked, leaning up against the wall, Crispin taking a place at my side. "My friend is taking his break, so he landed me here. Sucks, right?" Tobi said, as he leaned next to me. We all watched the other recruits file through camp. Occasionally one of us would point and say something funny, and the rest would laugh. "So where you two goin?" Tobi asked, and Crispin and I exchanged a look. We both let out a small laugh, and I said, "We're not really sure. Looks like we're sleepin' in the newbies bunks tonight!" I laughed as he fist pumped. But then I realized, Sky should be done with dinner. Which means that he will be checking on my soon. Dang it. "Hey, guys? I'm kind of so I'm gonna call it a night. Wanna meet here tomorrow?" I asked, desperate to get back before Sky knows I'm gone. "Sure…" Crispin said, suspicion crossing his voice and his face. "OK, later!" I said, jogging off in the direction of the girls' quarters, but making a sharp right and changing directions. My path was now set for the mansion. I got a running start and jumped from a treetop into my second story window. I landed on the floor, and quickly scrambled to the closet, where I deposited my new axe, my sneakers, shorts, hoodie, shirt, and backpack, and changed into navy silk pajamas with the emblem on the shirt pocket. I slipped on the butter colored slippers and lay on my bed, reading another book by an aspiring author from among the recruits. Sky makes sure I have all the books I could want; too bad he doesn't supply me with human interaction. When he opened the door and saw me reading, he came in and sat on the edge of the bed. I refused to talk to him, because I'm still mad at him for earlier, even though I had the time of my life today. "Lia," he said, and I almost didn't respond because all day people had called me Mari. But eventually it registered and I looked up. "Yes," I said and sky countered with, "I'm sorry for the way I acted before. Just because you got hurt today doesn't mean it will always happen. I'm still not letting you out, but I wanted to apologize." Well, I'm deflated now. When he came in all solemn like I thought he was going to reflect on his actions and lift his 16 year and counting long ban on the outside world. But no such luck. I just lay back in my pillow, and he got up and left. I thought about Cris and Tobi and it made me smile. 'Most fun you've had since Mom and Dad died' I thought as I drifted off into a deep quiet sleep.