Y/N = Your Name

L/N = your Last Name

S/N = Sister's Name

B/F/N = Best Friend's Name (boy)

N/A = Name of your Army

N/F = Name of your Followers

S/A = Symbol of your Army

Y/B = Your Birthday

M/N = your Mother's Name

H/C = your Hair Color

E/C = your Eye Color

F/C = your Favorite Color (you can have multiple if you'd like, lol)

The list will be updated as need be throughout the series.

¥¥¥¥¥¥

Mitch's POV

Despite the pain I was feeling in my leg, I knew I had to keep trudging along.  I was leading the way slowly, my pain keeping me from doing the pace I wanted.  At this rate, it would take a little over a week to reach the Budder Kingdom.  Who knew if Y/N was causing havoc or not...?

Well, they seemed to have some semblance of a plan when Jerome and I left, so hopefully nothing was wrong.

The bacca guards were pretty much silent, which kinda unnerved me.  I was used to my bacca's happy banter as we walked.

I really should've been the one to stay behind, not Jerome....

After about another hour, I had to stop and rest.  The pain was getting to be too much and I also needed to change my bandages.  All this walking was opening the wound pretty badly.

I should've been resting completely for at least a week, but we didn't have that kind of time.

"We...need to stop."  I panted slightly, glancing nervously at the 8 bacca guards.

They simply nodded and we stopped.  I went up to a tree and slid down it, groaning.  "Ow...."

With difficulty, I unwrapped the bandages, wincing at the amount of blood on them.  If I wasn't careful, I'd pass out from blood loss before too long.  I was sure that the nicked artery had healed over, but that was about all that had healed.  I was still bleeding pretty bad.

The bacca guards spread out around me, doing whatever they were doing.  One seemed to disappear into the woods.  I wasn't sure what he was doing.

I put the bloodied bandages in my pocket and pulled out some new ones.  I didn't have very many, so I'd have to be careful.

I rested a bit, letting my wound breathe for a little while.

The missing bacca guard came back with a handful of what looked like leaves and herbs.

He brought them over to me and spoke matter-of-factly.  "You'll want to cover your wound with these and the bandages.  It should prevent infection."

I took the handful of greenery with a slight nod.  "Th-Thanks."

I did as he said, wincing at the pain.  I trusted the bacca wasn't trying to poison me or anything.  It wasn't like they knew where the base was, anyway....

After resting for a little longer, I pushed myself to my feet, still grimacing.  I needed one of those walking sticks...well, maybe I could use my sword....

I unsheathed my sword, causing the bacca guards to tense up.  I placed the tip to the ground, grinning at them.  "Don't worry, the only ones who will find themselves at the end of my blade are the mobs we encounter.  I just needed some extra stability.  Besides, I'm not really in a state to be fighting 8 of you even if I wanted to."

The baccas eyed me suspiciously but said nothing about it.  We simply continued our journey.

When it became nighttime, we found a small clearing and set up camp.  The bacca guards spread out, setting up their beds and posts in a circular fashion around me.  Were they trying to protect me?

Well, again, they didn't know where the base was, so it wouldn't be advantageous in any way for them to have me die from a mob attack in the night.

I set up my own bedding in the middle of the clearing before sitting down with a sigh of relief.  My leg was hurting quite a bit and resting it sounded like a good idea.

I laid down, looking up at the stars for a while, wondering how everyone back home was doing.  Or how my Benjas were doing, too.

The pain in my leg kept me awake longer than I would've liked, but I eventually fell asleep.

???'s POV

I watched the human as he eventually fell asleep.

The trust he had in us to not end him in his sleep was astounding.  Did he not realize the threat we could pose if we really wanted to kill him?  Especially in his weakened state?  And current vulnerable state?

I shook my head and went back to carving the long stick I had found.  I was attempting to make the human a walking stick so he wouldn't be pulling out that sword of his.  Needless to say, it had made us all ready to fight when he did until he told us he needed it to walk better.

"You're too nice to the human."

I looked up from my project to see Ferris come over.  I shrugged.  "This would be better than using that sword to walk and making us all tense for no reason considering he never used it."

"First it was the herbs, now this.  Did that pet rub off on you or something for the 5 minutes we were near him?"

I chuckled.  "I'm not being nice to the human out of the kindness of my heart.  We don't need him getting infected and being completely unable to walk.  And the whole sword thing unnerves most of us.  This is also to keep him from being more of a threat if he can trust us."

Ferris glanced over at the sleeping human.  "He already seems to have let his guard down considering he's fully asleep now."

I nodded.  "This human is unlike the others we've gotten rid of in the past.  He seems...more in tune with nature.  Or at least more in tune with our kind.  Probably because of his pet."

"Just don't let him hear you call that bacca his pet.  He seems to get mad about it."

I scoffed.  "What's he gonna do, glare at us?  As he said before, he's in no state to be fighting the 8 of us."

"Yeah...but he's also our liaison in terms of the supplies and making him mad wouldn't necessarily be in our favor."

I sighed.  "That's true.  Alright, alright, I won't call the pet his pet in front of him.  Even though he acts very tame in comparison to the rest of us."

"I don't know how he can stand living with humans.  I wonder why the pet doesn't live with his tribe...."

I shrugged again, going back to carving the stick while talking.  "Well, we might as well get used to the presence of this human because it may be a bit in this kingdom of his before the supplies are put together.  We'll just have to be even further on guard in case they try to kill us."

"Didn't the pet say something about the kingdom making it illegal to hunt us?  I figure we might actually be safer in the kingdom than outside it if that's the case.  Not saying we should stay there at all, but for the time we are actually there, we can probably let our guard down slightly."

"That's a bit of a foolish thought, Ferris."

Ferris sighed.  "Wishful thinking, I suppose.  It'd be nice to not worry about humans constantly hunting us, you know?"

"Agreed."  I replied tiredly, though more so tired from the thought than actually tired.

It was my turn to rest by the time I finished carving the walking stick.  I stood and snuck over to the sleeping human, placing the stick down next to him.  He didn't stir, which surprised me.  Was he really that deeply asleep?

I shook my head.  How did this human make it all the way here like that?  I guessed that pet of his was the lighter sleeper of the two.

I went over to my tree and climbed it, settling among the branches and leaves.  I stretched and closed my eyes, falling into a much lighter sleep than the human.

Mitch's POV

I was awoken by a light poke in my side.  "Human, the sun has risen.  Let's not waste the daylight."

I blinked sleepily and looked up at a bacca guard standing over me.  "Oh...hi.  Okay, one moment...."

I stretched some with a yawn, grimacing as the wound in my leg made itself known.  I sat myself up, rubbing my eyes.  I must've slept really deeply last night.  That wasn't a good idea when mobs could've attacked us.  I guess the baccas had taken care of any mobs.

I glanced around and noticed a long, carved stick on the ground.  I looked at it curiously and picked it up, weighing it in my hand.  Light, but not overly so.  Tall enough to use as a walking stick...did one of the bacca guards make this...?

I snuck a glance around at all the baccas, but they were busy packing up their spots minus the one standing near me.  "I don't know which of you made this, but thanks to them."

The bacca guard looked confusedly at the stick but shrugged silently.

Using the stick, I pulled myself up into a standing position.  With difficulty, I packed up my little area and looked around for a moment to get my bearings.

Let's see...we head...that direction!

"Everyone ready to go?"  I asked, looking at the guards around me.  They nodded silently, and I nodded back, getting used to their silence.

And so we continued our trek to the Budder Kingdom.

The trek was pretty uneventful except for one event which I'll describe here.

We stopped by a river so that the bacca guards could catch some fish for lunch.  They were surprised that I'd eat the fish raw, as well.  I'd eaten many vile creatures with Jerome, so I was used to the taste.  Not the best thing in the world, but it was still edible, and I figured it'd get them to like me more...or something.

While they caught fish with their spears, I used a fishing rod I made with the strings of some spiders we'd killed on our journey.

I managed to catch a few fish when something came up out of the water with a jump, scaring the bejeezus out of me.  It was a stinking squid.

"Down with the Sky Army!"  It screamed before latching onto my bad leg and pulling me towards the water.

I yelled out in pain and surprise.  "Ahh!  Get off me, you stinking squid!"

The guards were not too far from me and looked over in surprise before rushing over.  The squid had me halfway into the water before one of them stabbed it in the face, killing it instantly.  They pulled its tentacle off my leg and helped me out of the water.

I grimaced some.  "Ow...stupid squid...thanks, guys."

"What in the Overworld just happened?  Why did it just speak and try to drag you underwater?"  One asked confusedly.

"Ah...very long story.  Sky hates squids and kinda massacres them when they attempt to overrun the Budder Kingdom.  This makes them really not like us and they constantly try to kidnap us for leverage.  It usually never works because they're weak, but...well, I'm in a weakened state, so it probably would've gotten me if not for you guys."

"They never bother us when we go out fishing...."

"You're not associated with the Sky Army, that's why."  I replied simply.

"You should probably stay away from the rivers for the journey, then."

"That's probably a good idea.  The same thing happened to Jerome on the way here when we fished, but we got rid of it pretty easily...."

"The squids attacked your bacca friend?"  The one continued speaking to me as the others went back to spear-fishing.

"He's rather recognizable because of the suit he wears compared to the clothes you guys usually wear."

"I see...."

Like I said before, the rest of the journey was pretty uneventful.  The walking stick helped a lot, and I was thankful to whichever of the bacca guards made it for me.

We eventually got to the gates of the Budder Kingdom near sundown.  The guards at the gate looked surprised to see me with so many baccas with me.

I recognized Matt, one of the more common gate guards.  He was part of my army.

Matt came over to me with a grin.  "General Mitch!  It's great to see you back after so long!  You've come at a pretty good time, too....  And where's General Jerome?  Also, who are these people?"

I chuckled.  "Lots of questions, huh?  Jerome had to...attend to some things at the location we came from."  I said hesitantly, which Matt clearly picked up on but said nothing.  "And these are some bacca guards who've come for a trade deal.  Though we'll have to attend to that deal tomorrow morning as the suppliers will have probably closed up for the night.  I have some things to attend to, as well.  May we go in?"

Matt studied all the guards' eyes diligently, a good habit he'd picked up since all guards were told to look at newcomers' eyes.  After a moment, he nodded.  "Come on in, General."

I looked to the bacca guards to see them, for the first time, nervous.  I beckoned them forward and turned, using my walking stick to continue on into the kingdom.  The baccas followed closely, clearly uneasy.

We made our way up to the castle and into the library where I knew Seto would be.  He often spent his days in the library.

As expected, Seto was there, reading a book.  He looked up and his eyes widened in surprise.  "There you are!  You're a couple days later than I expected.  Did you manage to get the flowers?"

I nodded, handing him the small bag of 16 eucalyptus flowers.  He took them eagerly, looking at the baccas behind me.  "And who are these baccas?"

I looked at them before explaining what had happened.

Seto nodded simply once I finished.  "We can definitely supply you with what you need, just not at the moment...we need all the supplies we have to prepare for the upcoming war we're about to have."

"Did...did the plan to contain Y/N not work?"  I asked worriedly.

Seto shook his head.  "She was broken out by none other than Skybrine."

The baccas tensed at the name and I gasped.  "Skybrine's back?!  How?!"

"The golden glow will dull once more....  The prophecy alluded to Skybrine's return and we just didn't catch it.  So now Y/N is Y/Nbrine and I'm stuck without my powers."  He finished sourly, holding up his wrist.  On it was the band that we used with the sorcerers that wanted to try physical training without the risk of using their powers.

"Did Skybrine change the spell on it?"  I guessed, to which Seto nodded.

Seto then looked at the uneasy baccas and smiled warmly.  "It's nice to see some more baccas around.  Most of them stay away from the kingdom.  I'm sorry we can't supply you at this moment, but you can stay in the castle while we prepare for this upcoming war.  I wouldn't ask of you to participate when it's not your battle."

One of the bacca guards spoke up, his words causing his fellow guards to look at him in disbelief.  "We can join you if you need help.  The brines are a danger to us all, not just you."

"You can't be serious, Jeremy!"  One hissed quietly.

Jeremy looked back at the one who spoke.  "They can't spare the supplies at the moment and it's for a really good reason.  Who's to say that we won't be attacked by the brines while leaving the kingdom with the supplies, anyway?  I say we help."

The one who spoke sighed heavily.  "Dammit...fine."

Seto nodded slightly.  "We'll be grateful for your help."

He then turned to me, looking at my bandaged leg.  "You should go to the infirmary, Mitch."

I chuckled at his bluntness.  "I should.  And I guess I will."

I waved to the bacca guards and headed out of the library to the infirmary.

I'd have to find out more about what's happened from the others in the morning....