Steve, Entity, and Null peered out from behind trees. Below them was a small village, bustling with people. Despite the few residents, it had a bustling marketplace because it laid on the cross between two major trade routes. Most of the traders were humans and villagers, but Steve spotted an Enderman teleport in and out of the town.
"Here's our shopping lists," Null said, handing Steve and Entity a scrap of paper. "Please make this as quick as possible and try to not draw attention to yourselves. Meet back here when you have everything," he ordered.
"Aye aye, captain!" Entity said, saluting and flipping his hood up. Null adjusted the brown cloak over his shoulders and tried to pull his hood as low over his face as possible. Steve was the only one who didn't need a hood, since he already looked human. He did have a green cloak over his shoulders anyway, just in case. "You wanna stick with me, Steve?" Entity asked.
"Uh, sure." Steve nodded. Entity took his hand and the two scampered down the hill and into the town.
It was a lot busier than Steve had anticipated and he felt his heart pound at the sight of such a thick crowd. Entity's reassuring hand kept him from panicking, though. Entity led him through the crowd, easily ducking in between legs and weaving between people. He almost seemed to move like water through these people. The two ducked into a less busy side street where they could read their lists. Steve unfolded the paper and skimmed through it.
-1 stack sugarcane
-1 stack pork chops
-2 stacks beef
-1 shulker bonemeal
"A shulker?" Steve asked.
"One of these," Entity said, handing Steve a pale purple box. "It's small enough to carry around, but it can also fit a lot of stuff. If the list is asking for one, it just means filling the shulker to the brim with whatever it says," he explained. "I got paper, coal, and torches. What did you get?"
"Sugarcane, pork chops, beef, and bonemeal," Steve replied.
"No fair, you got more things than me," Entity said. "I'll let Null know that I am JUST as responsible as you, if not more!" Steve tried to hold in his chuckle and Entity playfully punched his arm. "I am very, very responsible thank you very much!" Steve burst out laughing.
"If you want, you can get the sugarcane," he offered once he could speak again.
Entity's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah," Steve tore off the first item in his list and handed it over to Entity. The look of unbridled joy put a smile on Steve's face.
"Meet back here in ten minutes?" Entity asked.
"You got it," Steve gave him a thumbs-up and the two split ways.
Steve wove through the crowds, not nearly as skillfully as Entity had. He checked his list and skimmed the market, spotting a vendor selling various cuts of meat on ice. He headed over to the stand.
"Well, hello young man!" the butcher said cheerfully. "What can I interest you in?"
"Um, I'm looking for pork and beef," Steve said, trying to sound mature and adult-like.
"Well, you're in luck, I'm running a special today! Five emeralds can get you a full stack of beef and half a stack of chicken," the butcher said, tapping the sign with the sale on it.
"Oh, uh," Steve glanced at his list. "If I give you six emeralds, can I get a stack of beef and a stack of pork?"
"Seven emeralds and you got yourself a deal," the butcher said with a smile.
"Deal." Steve dug out the emeralds and set them on the counter. The butcher wrapped up the meat and handed it over. As Steve walked away, he crossed two of the three items on his list. Not bad, he'd probably beat Entity in completing his list. That wasn't exactly fair, of course, since Entity purposefully took on a fourth thing in his list.
"Boo!" Steve screamed and whirled around to see Entity laughing hard. He put his hand on his chest to slow his pounding heartbeat.
"Sweet Notch, Entity. Why would you do that?" Steve demanded.
"Sorry, sorry! I couldn't resist!" Entity laughed. "I finished my list, how are you doing?"
Steve blinked in shock. "You're done already!? How!"
Entity grinned, showing off his sharp teeth. "It's so much easier to buy things by just taking them and putting emeralds in their place."
Steve blinked. "That doesn't feel quite… legal."
Entity giggled madly. "What do you have left?"
"Just bonemeal," Steve said, showing Entity his list.
"Perfect! I'll help you!" Entity grabbed Steve's hand and dragged him back into the crowd. It seemed like each time Steve had to walk through the crowd, it got more suffocating. There were too many people and it was way too loud. He kept getting jostled around by the bustling people, and each time was getting less tolerable. Just one more item on the list, then they could go home. That's just what Steve had to repeat to himself.
Something caught his eye that made him freeze. Entity kept moving, so his hand slipped out of Steve's and he was lost in the crowd. Steve didn't really care at the moment, since his gaze was fixed on the billboard in front of him.
It was an ordinary wooden board where the town had hung assorted flyers and posters. Most were completely ordinary, like flyers for help needed and posters for wanted Illagers. It wasn't this that caught Steve's eye. Right in the middle of the board, in fresh, new paper, was a picture of Steve. The circus had put out a flyer for him, detailing that he had been kidnapped. The poster described a few ways to contact them if someone found Steve, along with a reward of 500 emeralds and a free ticket to one of their shows.
Steve's heart pounded in his chest as he slowly backed away from the poster. No. no. they couldn't find him. They couldn't! He… he wouldn't let them!
"Ugh, probably some stupid advertising thing for their shows," a man randomly said, getting Steve's attention. Steve just stared up at him in bewilderment, still far too terrified to control his face. The man looked down at Steve and furrowed his brow in confusion. He glanced back up at the poster, and it hit him. "Hey, wait! You're the kid on the poster!" With few other options, Steve whirled around and ran back into the crowd. "Hey, wait! Come back!"
Steve's heart pounded in his ears as he wove through the crowd. The man's shouts faded behind him, but he couldn't tell if that was because he was escaping or if his heart was just beating too loud to hear. He glanced back to see if the man was chasing him, but he didn't get the chance to before he slammed into a stranger's legs. He stared up in horror as the man turned around to glare at him. In his panic, Steve assumed that this man knew who he was and was also going to capture him. This probably wasn't true, but Steve still freaked out and ran away. He disappeared into the crowd.
