A/N: This chapter will mention real events that happened on hermittwt on the 7th of February. It was hermittwt's selfie day, but 404twt (George's fanbase) suddenly decided to move it to the 7th, and hermittwt was upset because the one thing they had was "overshadowed". Things escalated, but eventually, hermittwt decided to be wholesome and supportive instead, choosing to trend #hermittwtsupport and loudly declare their love for Hermitcraft and its fandom. Joehills himself even participated in the selfie day.

-

I've been so good, I've been helpful and friendly

I've been so good, why am I feeling empty?

I've been so good, I've been so good this year.

-

Weeks before the 8th Championship, the entire school was already in a frenzy. Ever since a few Championships ago, certain rumours had circulated around the school, but nobody thought they would actually come true. And once the news was revealed, it spread around the school like wildfire, and even the elusive hermits knew about it less than an hour later.

The best students of the school, Technoblade and Dream, were finally teaming up.

Well technically, Michael and Burren were teaming up with Technoblade and Dream, but due to Techno and Dream's massive clout, the other two were overlooked and ignored. Which was kinda sad, because they were also part of the four-person team.

Hence the 8th Championship was hyped up like it had never been before, and the excitement had spread beyond the school. Noxcrew, Scott, and even Stan Twitt were stupefied by the attention given to Team Pink Parrots (most people only cared about Dreamnoblade, but it didn't feel right to exclude literally half of the freakin' team). People were talking about the legendary rivals teaming up, with whispers of Techno desperately trying to win following his loss in the 7th Championship. Would Techno get his revenge with help from Burren and Micheal? (Also Dream.)

"They're totally gonna win," Cub said when he talked about it with the hermits. He would be joining the 8th Championship along with the regulars False and Ren, plus Pearl from 3-G. They would be in team Yellow Yaks.

"Yeah, Reddit's placing them first." Rem sighed. "Oh well. Two of the top PvPers from 3-A, and they're both members of the student council? So skilled that they're well known beyond our school? And the two other teammates aren't bad either. Isn't this line up kinda unfair?"

"Like this school has ever been fair to anyone," False retorted. "Well, I suppose this Championship will be a fan favourite. Until the hermits win, of course," she stated it like it was a fact.

"Yup, yup, we'll win one day." Cub and Ren chimed in unison.

After Fruit's Hermitcraft tour, Fruit had offered to train the hermits, and by extension, their team. So that was why the three hermits made their way to the main campus one afternoon to meet up with Pearl and Fruit. But when they reached the ugly cobblestone box, there was quite the commotion going on. The hermits frowned and decided to approach it cautiously. After all, they tended to stay away from drama (because it just wasn't worth it).

To the hermits' surprise, Herman Blur was stuck in the chaos, looking extremely distressed. He wrapped his fake angel wings around himself protectively, the flower crown on his head lopsided. Around Herman were a crowd of first and second years, raising signs, protesting something. Opposite of Herman's gang were a massive hoard of fans, screeching and laughing, holding up photos of popular 3-A students.

"Wait, Herman Blur's in trouble?" False wondered out loud. "He tends to avoid discourse. What's happening?"

"Herman!" Ren called out, jumping up and down to get Herman's attention. "What's up my dude?"

When Herman saw the hermits, they looked relieved. "Hey guys! These first and second years here are fans of Hermitcraft, and they've always had a selfie day on the 7th to, y'know, interact with other fans and promote Hermitcraft. It's a way to show solidarity and love within a fandom. But apparently a huge community suddenly decided to change their date to the 7th, thus stealing our thunder, and everyone's mad."

People on both sides were shouting and yelling, and it was obvious which side had more support. To everybody's annoyance, Stan Twitt was also there. Despite being overwhelmed, the Hermitcraft fans stood their ground.

"What the fuck is a Hermitcraft," somebody sneered. "If you're like this you don't have to worry about what's in the vaccine. Haha, what an amazing comeback! Pat me on the back! Wow!"

"We've been here for a long time!" a hermit fan cried out. "I know we're not as big, and the hermits are looked down, so can we please just have this selfie day? To celebrate the existence of this fandom? Y'know, since y'all think the 3-Hermits are lame?"

"STOP HAVING SELFIE DAYS YOU ALL ARE UGLY AS FUCK," Stan Twitt screeched, stomping on the ground like a hissy baby (but that would be a major disrespect to all babies). "FUCK YOU I STAN GOGY!"

"This is so sad," someone else drawled melodramatically. "Nobody hurts my boyfriend George Not Found. Waaaa waaa."

"Tbh, you guys are so lameee," someone spat out, probably thinking they were smart for making a half-assed Heat Waves reference. Nobody could still comprehend how a Dreamnotfound fanfiction became the 2nd most kudosed work on Archive Of Our Own, which was quite the feat when Dream SMP had existed for less than a year. Oh, how had the Universe shifted.

"Why the fuck did you choose to shift to the 7th? You were perfectly fine before, please let us have our two minutes of fame!" a hermit fan declared.

"Y'all so bitchless omg," was the very clever retort.

"Listen, we don't mind sharing days, but can you listen to us for one second?" another hermit fan cried out. "We're overshadowed, and—"

A derisive laugh. "A fandom is overshadowed?! This is MCYT School, shut the fuck up, care about real stuff."

"It's. Not. That. Serious."

"This sounds so stupid to me."

"Don't even like Gogy but no."

"Stop with the selfie days none of you are cute."

Cub wrinkled his nose. "That's rude."

"Why would you call people ugly?" Ren demanded. "Everyone's gorgeous. Stop making people feel even more insecure."

"I mean... perhaps both sides are overreacting, but it's pretty obvious one side is being more vocally toxic," False pointed out.

"Who gives a shit about Hermitcraft?!" some person scoffed. The hermit fans gasped, highly offended. Almost immediately, a fan stepped up and drawled, "Listen Grian—"

"Nobody touches my bush. You're done," all the other fans continued in unison, creating a rather creepy echoey effect.

"Ohh, they're gonna rap Hermitgang," Ren muttered to False. "I've forgotten most of my lyrics, embarrassingly enough."

Herman chuckled. "We can all sing Hermitgang at any given opportunity." Behind him, the Hermitcraft fans were furiously rapping the lyrics in response to the ignorant person.

"Hermitgang, Hermitgang, Hermitgang," the fans chanted as the other side booed. The noise was getting louder and louder, and the situation was escalating rapidly. Several bystanders shook their heads, embarrassed. Stan Twitt was hopping up and down and screaming.

"Stop making a fuss out of this!" Stan screeched. "Like I get you guys are small, and you want a bit of recognition, but just calm down! I mean, if my fandom was treated the same way, we would be pissed off too, just like you guys! Wait, what was the point I was trying to make again?"

Thankfully, there were calmer fans on both sides. "It's not that serious," a George fan explained. "Just do your stuff elsewhere. Like at your supposedly-tiny-but-actually-looks-great-classroom. Selfie days clash all the time."

"Not involved in your fandoms, but communities get overshadowed all the time. It sucks, but we can't change it."

"But... aren't you guys in fandoms for the interaction? Not the recognition."

"I mean, true," one of them sobbed. "We create remixes, songs, artwork, fanfiction, and much more. Hermitcraft community is one of the most wholesome I'd been in, but we just— we just—"

"We just want more people to appreciate the hermits!" another burst out. "You've been sleeping on them, heck, even saying they're not part of MCYT, when without them, we wouldn't have what we have today. Bedwars, TNT Run, so many redstone farms, and—" tears spilled from their eyes, "—and yet they get so little recognition in comparison! We're sick of it! Can't you just freakin' appreciate the hermits?!"

The three hermits shared glances, and decided to step up. They hurried to their upset fans, Herman Blur hot on their heels.

"Hey guys," Ren said gently. "I understand that this is... distressing and you probably feel angry now, and thank you for defending us, but it's not worth your energy. Please don't let it drain you." His blue eyes were soft and sincere.

"Yeah, let them have their measly twenty four hours." False patted the shoulders of her fans. "Hermitcraft has been around since 2012, and we've evolved and changed over the years. We have years of history and years to come. We survived all turbulent eras of MCYT, we survived the Minecraft drought, and we survived 3-H. Let them have their precious selfie day, since they don't have that much time. We've been around for literally eight years." A pause, and False turned to head to glance at Stan Twitt and co. "I'm joking. I'm going to be cancelled again," she quietly chuckled.

"It's okay, we know our worth," Cub reassured the fans. 'We know your worth. You've been loyally supporting us by watching and commenting on our content. Our community may not be the largest, but we love and support each other, and that's all that matters."

"Hey, lemme give you guys a hug," Ren said with a smile. He tightly wrapped his arms around his crying fans. "There, there."

"Howdy y'all! Heard you guys were in a crisis, I'm on my way."

The hermits and their fans looked up, recognizing the voice. "Joe!" they cried out joyfully.

Joe was a calming presence in the fandom. Joe was calm, wise, witty, yet encouraging and caring at the same time. The fans wiped their tears off and giggled softly, probably a bit overwhelmed by how four of the hermits were there.

Joe took out his phone and snapped a selfie. "This is me trying to figure out what a selfie day is." The fans cheered, delighted.

'Hermitcraft Western Telegraph thinks that this is an amazing selfie."

"You're absolutely stunning, Joe!"

"For someone who doesn't know what a selfie day is, you certainly did a great job, Hills of the Joe."

Joe slung an arm around his fans. "It's like Ren said, it's not worth your energy. And if you're feeling especially salty, you can always write a satire fanfiction about Stan Twitter to express yourself creatively."

"And it's honestly their loss if they don't appreciate Hermitcraft," Herman brightly declared. "At least we know how to properly deal with the toxic side of our fandom, like the Grumbo Stan Army. Some big fandoms just ignore the toxicity or even encourage it."

"Honestly, thank you for being so passionate and supportive. It really brightens hermits' days to see you guys." Cub grinned at the Hermitcraft fans. "You help us pursue our dreams, plus you're always so patient when we have to take breaks. We appreciate you guys. Really."

So the Hermitcraft fans decided to do what the hermits had taught them to— stay positive and loving. They encouraged and hugged each other, and rambled about how wonderful their community was. A veteran of the fandom who had left for a while returned, with everybody instantly sobbing how much they missed them. Fan content of the hermits were enthusiastically exchanged, with people writing long essays on how much they loved the hermits and how Hermitcraft would outlast all current trends. The hermits gazed fondly upon their supporters, their hearts warm and full.

Joe turned to the other three hermits. "You guys should go to practice. I'll stay for a while to make sure they're okay."

"Yeah, yeah, good luck hermits!" Herman Blur waved.

"Good luck!" the fans cried out. "Hermitcraft support!"

"We're not going to get ninth again!" False laughed. She put her arms around Ren and Cub's shoulders, and together all three of them went to find Pearl and Fruit.

-

Why, are you asking me why?

My days and nights are filled with disappointment

Fine, oh no, everything's fine

I'm not sure why I booked today's appointment

-

The main campus was ugly, with the exception being a few builds that included Noxcrew's Championship arena and the place the crafters were working on. They found Pearl with the Legates, who were discussing where to expand to. As looked down as the hermits were, at least they had an entire hill to themselves. 3-G were not as lucky, and not to mention they were made out of several crafter groups unlike the hermits who were one huge community. The 3-G people were having an enthusiastic debate on the pros and cons of making taller buildings.

"Do it," Cub insisted. "Make them taller than the school. For the flex." The 3-G students laughed, entertained.

At that point, Pearl could be considered an honorary hermit. She had helped Grian and Xisuma with some of their designs, plus she had been with the hermits in Championships before.

Several other 3-G crafters were also participating in the 8th Championship. Notably, Martyn and Jimmy, who always participated with each other (like False and Ren). Fwhip was going to be in a team with Joel and two 3-A students, HBomb and Quig. Apparently Fwhip and Joel also had a practice session with their team, so the three hermits and the three 3-G students went to the gym together. 

It was Ren's first time meeting Joel, so naturally, he started to flirt with him. "Hey Beans, we can make beautiful little babies together," he joked.

"Oh, I've found a nice baby making corner," Joel played along with a grin. "We can be Beandog."

"Beandog," Ren repeated, laughing. "I like the sound of that. Little Beandog babies."

Pearl and Fwhip shot Joel fake-disgusted looks. "This is what you get up to when Lizzie's not here?" "You're sleeping on the couch tonight, Joel."

Their idle chatter died down when they saw Fruit and H outside the gym.

"Ooh, Fruit, you're training the hermits. Nice," H commented.

Fruit shrugged, acting casual. "I mean, I'm not gonna be in this Championship. Might as well try to help someone."

"How about your students Techno and Dream?"

"Ohh, they can surely manage themselves." Fruit shoved his hands in his pockets. "No need for my training."

H snorted. "Will be interesting to see the two rivals be on the same team. I wonder how it'll work out."

Fruit glanced up. "Weren't we rivals before? Y'know, maybe we should team up next time," he said with a hopeful lilt in his tone.

H clapped Fruit on the back. "We'll see, we'll see. Gotta get through this Championship first!"

The two teams parted ways as H, Joel, and Fwhip went inside the gym to find Quig. Fruit turned to the Yellow Yaks. "Let's gooo, guys! It's practice time!"

Fruit trained them on their PvP skills and reflexes. It was definitely more effective than when the hermits tried to learn from sparring with each other. Now, with one of the school's athletic stars as their teacher, they received more specific feedback.

"C'mon, Ren, hit me with all you got!" Fruit declared.

Ren looked slightly apprehensive. "Umm—"

"I'll be fine," Fruit told him with a laugh. So Ren threw Fruit a punch. "Nice, but I know you can do better."

Ren shook his fist and bit his lip. He punched Fruit again.

"Are you holding back because we're friends? Because you shouldn't. Come on, I wanna see what you can do."

With a battle cry, Ren tried again, and this time, Fruit's eyes lit up. "That's more like it!" He cheered. "You're stronger than you know, Ren. Like you literally chop trees every day."

"Yep, put those muscles to good use!" Cub teased from the sidelines.

"You don't need to be scared of hurting yourself," Fruit explained. "So long you have the correct technique, you can use more of your strength."

Pearl, as a student from the main campus, was required to undergo training. As a result, she had more experience than the three hermits.

"It's not fair," Pearl remarked, "how the only way for hermits to get back to the main campus is through a Championship, and yet you don't get any official help from the school."

"Yeah, they just want a bunch of people to look down at, to be honest," Cub said. "Like people can go 'at least I'm not the hermits'. Someone has to be at the bottom of the social hierarchy."

"At least we're not those players who rage every time something doesn't go their way," False quipped, and everyone laughed.

Fruit led the Yaks in trying out the parkour course next. To everyone's surprise, Pearl did pretty well. When the hermits gaped at her, Pearl smiled a little, and shrugged. "Totally not been practicing parkour for the past two months."

"Have you finished it?"

"Yeah, I'm missing two levels."

"Dang!" Ren looked impressed. "So this is the power of practice!"

"Yeahh, the only way to get better at parkour is through practicing," Fruit said. "Factors like agility and nimbleness do contribute, but just like everything else, practice matters the most."

"You must spend a lot of time practicing then," Cub said, "since you're like, a god."

Fruit laughed. "I try, I try."

"Fruit, don't be so humble, dude!" Ren exclaimed. "You're crazy talented."

Fruit didn't know how to respond to compliments, so he just smiled and continued to teach the Yaks. That was his way of thanking the Yaks.

They rested for a bit after parkour, then went to the school's shooting range. Ren was the most excited out of the five, mainly because he wanted everyone to see how good False and Cub were at shooting.

"Stop it, Ren," Cub hit Ren's shoulder, a little embarrassed. "I'm no good at shooting moving targets."

Indeed, when it came to shooting the moving dummies, False was clearly the best shot out of the four. With two hands grasping the air gun and blue eyes narrowed at the target, False looked intimidating, especially to Cub and Ren who had long known her as "the queen of hearts". False's fingers swiftly pressed the trigger, and the BB bullet slammed into the dummy's chest. Everybody cheered, with Ren screaming, "LET'S GO FALSIE!"

"You have pretty good reflexes, False," Fruit noted. "I was going to comment on that when we dueled, but I think the thing is, you're a careful person. You tend to hesitate, which can be why you can be eliminated by opponents weaker than you. But when you're not in danger, like here," he gestured to the dummies, "I can really see your reflexes shine. Go for it, False. You can do it."

Cub was struggling, mainly because he was used to the static targets in Targét. He huffed, frustrated. The disparity between his low accuracy rate and the highscores he got on his minigames was upsetting him. He shot again, but none of them hit. Upon seeing this, Fruit hurried over.

"Don't forget to breathe, Cub," Fruit reminded him. "Take your time."

"I have been, but I keep on missing." Cub sighed, and glanced at his gun.

"Your shoulders are tense," Fruit noted. "Also, you should switch up your position a little so your arms can be more comfortable." He nudged Cub into position while continuing to give him advice.

A little further away, Ren was determinedly practicing his shooting skills. He kept on missing, but he wasn't going to let that discourage him. Since Fruit was busy teaching Cub, Ren decided to ask False for help, but then he heard False and Pearl talking.

"... honestly I'm not that good of a PvPer," Ren heard False admit, her voice slightly covered by the sound of bullets hitting the dummies. "It's just that I'm better than other hermits... and they all look up to me..."

"Maybe it's like what Fruit said!" Pearl replied. "Trust yourself a little more!"

False sighed. "I'm trying... but sometimes I feel like I'm larger than life and overrated..."

Upon hearing that, Ren faltered. He and the other hermits had always asked False for help when it came to PvP, and False had always happily obliged, but... had they ever thought of the pressure they unintentionally imposed on her? False had her reputation, but did it stress her out to uphold it?

... Now Ren wondered if the hermits' praises for False also contributed to that. Ren thought they were being encouraging, but were they pushing False's limits? Placing the burden on False's shoulders alone? It was the last thing Ren wanted. It wasn't fair for others to depend on her so much.

And actually, Ren thought Fruit was right about False. If only she was more confident... but could the hermits could give her that confidence? Had they been admiring her for so long the compliments felt stale? And what if their encouragements accidentally sounded like expectations?

His brain was stuffed with unpleasant thoughts and Ren wanted a break, so he said bye to his friends and walked away. He exhaled, and tried to restabilize himself.

It was all okay. They were okay. He was okay.

(He thought about how False said that to Pearl, not him or Cub. She shared that with the non-hermit.)

"Okay, Ren, stop being freakin stupid and overreacting to freakin everything," Ren furiously muttered to himself. He paced up and down the corridor. "Geez! Just be... a good friend! It's not hard!"

Sudden voices interrupted Ren's train of thought, and Ren recognized the voices. One was H, the other Fwhip. It seemed like the Aqua Axolotls were coming over.

"... and actually, the hermits aren't half bad."

"YEAH! Fwhip, you would know, you teamed with them before."

Ren didn't mean to eavesdrop, but hey, it wasn't his fault HBomb was loud!

"I'm a little scared of False when I face her in PvP, actually," came H's boisterous voice. "She's the X factor for the Yellow Yaks this time. If she does well, the Yaks will definitely get a boost."

"False is genuinely good with a gun."

"I know right! I've been rewatching some of the Championship footage and she definitely can pop off."

You know that feel when people you admire insult you behind your back? Well, Ren just experienced the complete opposite of that. Ren knew he really shouldn't be listening, but it felt nice that H and Fwhip were saying that without the intention of False ever knowing. Like they weren't saying it to be nice to False. They honestly thought False was good. And that was both reassuring and heartwarming.

The Aqua Axolotls went around a corner and saw Ren. Ren stood there, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Oh, hey Ren!" Fwhip was quick to greet them. He shared sheepish looks with H. "So... uhh... you heard us?"

Ren could only nod. "Umm, sorry, didn't mean to. But it's great to hear that you guys think that way about False! She's the PvP legend of Hermitcraft."

Fwhip smiled. "So I've heard."

H raised an eyebrow. "So I haven't heard. Do tell me more."

"Everyone's scared of her in 3-H," Ren laughed. "Like she has these lightning quick reflexes. One time Grian tried to tag her but she spun around so quickly she nearly knocked him to the ground. She saved multiple hermits (mostly me, because I'm a derp) from tripping and falling in ponds. And she's terrifying with guns. You should've seen her go crazy at UHCs, man."

"I didn't know she's the PvP queen in your class," H said. "I just thought she's good from watching the old footage..."

That pleased Ren. "It's great to know that main campus students also feel that way about Falsie. Like I think she's been worrying she's only good by hermit standards."

H and Ren enthusiastically exchanged more compliments about False, both excited someone agreed with them. H noticed the rest of his team looked slightly awkward, and cleared his throat.

"Well, that was a nice chat," Ren hastily said, not meaning to bother H's team. "I'll definitely tell False what you said."

To Ren's surprise, the conversation didn't end there. H turned to the rest of the Axolotls and asked, "Would you mind if I give the hermits some help?"

"Oh, sure!" Fwhip was quick to agree, almost too quick. "I mean.... I want to stop the prejudice against hermits and the crafters' community! And we're friends!"

"3-GH solidarity!" Joel exclaimed. "Gotta support the crafters."

The three turned to Quig, whom Ren was slightly apprehensive about. Quig had done nothing wrong, but Ren knew he was a 3-A student and one of the top 5 students. The five S-tiers, or DTPQF, consisted of Dream, Techno, Pete, Quig, and Fruit. Two of them, Pete and Fruit, were nice to the hermits. Dream seemed indifferent, and Techno seemed indifferent to all hermits except everybody's favourite bread boi Grian. Quig was the only one left. Did he think the hermits were lame? Or was he like the rest of the Aqua Axolotls team?

Quig shrugged, calm and chill. "Sure, it's about time the hermits do better. Just don't steal our first place," he joked. "I hope you can get into Dodgebolt, but let us win."

Ren scratched his head. "Getting to Dodgebolt is our dream, but for now, we're aiming for seventh," he confessed. "And I dunno, it feels wrong for you to help us since you're also participating..."

"It's like Quig said, just don't steal our first place." H grinned at Ren. "And for some of us, the Championships aren't all about winning. We just want to have fun. Now, where are you guys practicing?"

-

When Ren returned, False definitely wasn't expecting him to bring more people with him. She might've expected Fwhip, but she wasn't expecting the entire Aqua Axolotls team. Even Fruit looked surprised.

"Hope you don't mind if we practice next to you!" Quig called out. "Sure," Pearl responded, bemused. 

Out of the four Axolotls, H was the most eager one. Quig, Joel, and Fwhip mostly stayed in their corner, occasionally making small chitchat with the Yaks, but H was determined to join Fruit and become the Yaks' second "sensei". H continuously complemented the hermits, False in particular, and False raised her eyebrows. She was flattered, but also a little overwhelmed. Something seemed fishy. So when H was talking with Fruit, False pulled Ren aside. "Okay, what did you say to H?" she demanded.

"He kinda forced his way in!" Ren replied, a little spooked by False. "I overheard him talking about how good you can be, and we chatted for a bit, and boom! He's here."

False crossed her arms and glared at Ren. "Okay, so he really thinks I'm good?"

Ren gave her a look. "Duh?" Then he amended his tone. "No pressure though," he hurriedly added.

"... That's nice to hear." False wanted to believe in H and Fruit and the Yaks, but she wasn't sure if she could live up to that. Of course False wanted to improve, and she was taking steps to improve, but maybe... being optimistic would disappoint her. After all, her team had placed ninth two times in a row.

H wasn't with the Yaks and Fruit for long, and H didn't do much except for boosting their spirits, but the Yaks appreciated it. As False dutifully aimed again and again at the test dummy in front of her, she found it fascinating to hear Ren and H converse. They didn't know each other before the Championships, but to any outsider, they felt like old friends. H and Ren were both extremely positive and wholesome, and were convinced all their team members would do better than them (liars). False would almost call them effortlessly wholesome, but she knew while they sounded effortless, it was actually pretty difficult. Anyways, it was awesome that Ren finally found someone who could encourage him in the way he encouraged others. Ren brought him down so aggressively that even False and Cub were at a loss sometimes, but H could bring Ren up even more aggressively.

Too bad they didn't get to spend much time together. H had his own team to train. And the hermits were all busy, so they only managed to have one practice session with Fruit.

And so the 8th Championship inched closer and closer.

-

Cub ambled down to the main campus. Cub didn't have anything to do, he just wanted to be up to date with the news in the community. Being on a (confessedly very cool and pretty) hill distanced you from everyone and everything.

There was a huge notice board, and Cub peered at it, privately thinking the Hermiton Herald did a much better job at reporting news (Cub knew he was biased, but oh well). But something caught his eye— it was a rough sketch of him and the other Yellow Yaks in... cute yellow jackets? Next to that sketch were also numerous drawings of other team uniforms.

"Ahh, the tailors are getting into the Championship," Cub muttered to himself. They were probably inspired by the matching jackets the Orange Piglets wore in the 7th Championship, and were eager to show their support by making outfits in hopes their favourite teams would wear them. It was nice to know that the Yellow Yaks had fans even though three of them were in the "lame" 3-H.

Cub peered at the sketch that had originally caught his eye. There were three designs; one with a yak logo, one with the initials of the team members, and one that spelled out "YAKS". There was a note attached to it that said: "Saw that the Championship teams were out, so I decided to make outfit concepts for the Yellow Yaks! I couldn't decide on one design though... so here's all 3 xD. These were honestly really fun to design. Anyways, if anyone's interested in using any of these, feel free to hit me up and find me in the studio! I'll make these outfits real quick for you. FoxyNinjaBear (or just Foxy)."

"That's cute," Cub commented with a grin. He snapped a photo of it and sent it to the other Yaks, waiting for their opinion. He always knew the tailors were active in the school (Grian even took a fashion design course in his second year), but he didn't expect them to be involved in the Championship.

Cub: Hey, wanna wear something nice for the Championship?

Cub: [attachment]

Ren: Ooh! Sweet! :D

Ren: I like the YAKS design <3

Pearl: Ohh that's on the notice board? Lol i dont really go to that part of the campus

Pearl: should check that more often :P

Ren: so we're commissioning them?

Cub: yeah if everyone is cool with it

Cub: ...False?

Pearl: cub are you still there? Im coming over

Cub: yep

There were a few minutes of silence, then Cub's phone vibrated again.

False: oooh yeah that's cute! I agree with the YAKS one

Pearl: yas yaks!! 

False: sorry for replying late, i was in a boat with zed

False: dont ask

Ren: (they thought it was a good idea to flood a piece of land for no reason)

False: dont. ask.

Ren: falsie and i will come down so we can visit the studio together?

Cub: yeah, sounds great!

The Yaks assembled at the notice board, and walked to the school's studio. The studio was one of the nicer looking places in the main campus, probably because of the abundance of creativity. Mannequins were dressed in half-finished outfits, and sketches and mood boards were plastered on the concrete walls. Students who designed clothes, or "tailors" as they were referred to, hurried between work benches, clutching rolls of colourful fabrics, their fingers covered with chalk. The room was filled with chatter and the hum of sewing machines. It was a busy, productive and creative space, and it had an atmosphere the Yaks were familiar with. Except their expertise laid in architecture (and redstone machinery, for Cub's case), and they felt a little lost and overwhelmed (in a good way, like the way you would feel when you entered Scar's magical village and had no idea where to focus on first.)

The Yaks shuffled around the studio, and felt pairs of eyes on them. No doubt several tailors had offered to design outfits for them, and were wondering which tailor the Yaks had chosen. It was flattering that they had multiple fans.

Cub quickly found Foxy, whose designs the Yaks liked the most. "Hi Foxy, we'd love to use version three of the design, the one with the "YAKS", for the 8th Championship. It'll be great if you can make the jackets!"

Foxy looked up, brown hair falling over her shoulders. "Yes, of course! So happy to hear that you guys wanna use them!"

Foxy quickly measured the Yaks and promised to send them the jackets a few days before the 8th Championship.

"We seem so professional and official now with the uniforms," Pearl mused out loud.

Ren chuckled. "It's like we're a sports team! Yellow Yaks gonna kick your butt!"

"Oh yeah," False joined in, smirking.

"Oh yeahhh," Cub cheered. "We're the cream of the crop!"

Now with their team outfits in good hands, the Yellow Yaks' morale was boosted. And they felt like fighting even if the entire world was against them.

-

'Cause I've been so good, I've been working my ass off

I've been so good, still, I'm lonely and stressed out

I've been so good, I've been so good this year

And I've been so good, but it's still getting harder

I've been so good, where the hell is the karma?

-

The days slipped past and soon it was the night before the 8th Championship. The Yellow Yaks met up for dinner and to briefly discuss their strategy and goals.

The hermits didn't find the time to practice, but Pearl went to the parkour course practically every day, so Pearl hoped Parkour Warrior would be chosen. (Parkour was the hermits' least favourite game and none of them wanted to play parkour.)

False was a little worried, but hey, they did practice, even if just for a bit. Plus all four of them had participated in Championships before and had learned from their previous experiences. With Fruit and H's advice ringing in their heads, they would surely perform better.

"Seventh is what we're aiming for. Just better than eighth, alright dudes?" Ren laughed, but it only intensified his faintly desperate tone.

"Better than eighth," Pearl and Cub repeated, both nodding.

"We'll prove everyone wrong," Pearl vowed, determined. "Everyone in the community has been putting us as ninth or tenth."

False winced internally. She wasn't surprised, but it still stung. After all, they were the hermit team. And of course everyone thought the hermits sucked.

"Really?" Ren gaped, blue eyes wide.

Pearl managed to laugh, slightly awkward. "So. Yeah! We're gonna get better than that!"

"Yeah, yeah," Cub echoed.

Ren looked around, a frown on his face. They could hear him pause as he searched for words to express himself without sounding too negative. "I mean, talk about getting a stab in the back by the community!" He tried to keep his tone light, but everyone could hear the hurt in his voice. It was just like Ren to attempt to sound funny and unbothered— too bad his true feelings were still painfully obvious. He slammed his glass on the table. "Damn!"

"It's okay, it's okay. We're a bit more competitive than they realized," Pearl soothed them.

"Yeah, we practiced, didn't we? And they're just underestimating and looking down on us like they always do," False stated firmly. She wasn't going to let the community and MCC Reddit and their stupid predictions drag her team down.

The Yellow Yaks had Fruit and H, two famous 3-A students, as their mentors. They had multiple fans who were willing to design team outfits for them. False thought about the Hermitcraft fans being upset that their selfie day was overshadowed. If something as small as that got them worked up, they must have been burying their frustration for so long. And they were angry on behalf of the hermits, because the hermits were so "underappreciated". People supported them, people wanted them to do good. So many people believed in them, so they should believe in themselves, right?

The words slipped out of False's mouth. "And if we work hard, I promise all four of us will even get into Dodgebolt one day. Maybe not with the four of us together in a team, but we will get there."

The three of them laughed. "Yeah, nothing's impossible," Cub said. "Even if it sounds impossible."

"To Dodgebolt we go!" Pearl whooped.

"But for now, we're aiming for seventh," Ren declared.  "One step at a time, dudes." Ren looked happier now, having recovered from the news that everyone predicted they would be last.

And so on that humid summer night, the Yellow Yaks made two promises.

The first was to get anything above eighth place.

The second was that all four of them would get into Dodgebolt eventually.

Things were finally looking up for the hermits and the Yellow Yaks. They were confident they could end their streak of getting ninth. They gazed at each other, hearts full and hopeful, and raised their glasses to the moon, huge beams on their face.

But what they didn't know was that tomorrow, the Yellow Yaks would be completely massacred.

-

The universe works in mysterious ways

But I'm starting to think it ain't working for me

Doctor, should I be good?

Should I be good this year?

-