"You know, you have always been a weak link to the team, Deadlox."

"Yea, I don't even remember why we let you join our team."

"We don't need you on this team, go join the squids. Your as useless as they are."

I was on my knees, hunched over, my hands on my head and tears spilling out of my eyes. Sky, Ian, and Jerome looked down on me, not with pity, but with disgust.

"Sky? What do you mean?! I'm your best friend!" I stuttered, looking up at the guy who had been my best friend for years.

"Correction. You were my best friend. But now, I would recommend you get out of my sight." Sky growled. I hung my head, my long hair covering my face.

"Sky....you don't mean that...do you?" I asked quietly. He said nothing, but the expression his face gave his answer all too clearly.

"Don't you get what he's saying, Ty? Get out of here!" Jason said, pointing at the front door of the Sky Kingdom.

"Not you too Jason...." I said quietly.

"Get out! Or I'll get you out myself! Dead or alive!" Mitch said, pulling out his sword. I stood up, my legs shaking like crazy.

"What did I ever do to you guys?!" I cried, starting to back away from Mitch.

"You betrayed us Ty, you sold out critical information to the squids, and because of your stupidity, all of the recruits are dead. You killed them all." Jerome said flatly, giving me the death glare.

"I...I never would do that! You guys know me! I'm loyal! I am!" I pleaded.

"We thought we knew you Ty....but we were wrong." Sky said, looking over at Mitch.

"It's time for you to pay Ty...." Mitch said, a psychotic, killing type of glare forming in his eyes. Scared, I jumped to my feet, and ran for the door. I looked over my shoulder, and as I did, I crashed into the wall. I fell to the floor, dazed, and realized the door was somehow gone. I turned around and saw Mitch starting to corner me. I had my back against the wall, and I was shaking from head to toe.

"Goodbye Ty." Mitch said to me as he loomed over my shaking body. I gulped, and closed my eyes. There was a loud swish, and everything went black.
---------

I sat up, breathing heavily. I was sweating, and my entire body was shaking. I pressed the heels of my palms to my eyes, and tried to calm down.

It's ok.....It's ok.....It was only a nightmare.....

I was still breathing heavily when I saw the handle of my bedroom door open. Sky came running in, still in his pjs.

"Ty! You were screaming! Are you alright?!" Sky asked, running over to the side of my bed. I nodded, still breathing heavily.

"Y-yea...." I said, trying to calm my breathing, "It..it was just a nightmare." I said, and Sky looked at me, worried.

"What did you have a nightmare about tonight?" Sky asked me, sitting down next to me.

I sighed, and started telling him the dream I had. Every detail I could remember. Sky listened intently, and when I told him about how I dreamt that he wasn't my friend anymore, I couldn't hold back the fresh set of tears. He wrapped one of his arms around me, comfortingly.

"Ty, that would never, ever happen." Sky told me. I smiled.

"T-thanks Sky....thanks for listening to my stupid dream." I said, and he smiled.

"Of course Ty. We promised to protect one another, even if it was just from a dream. I'll be there for you." He said comfortingly, and I gave a tired smile, that was then followed by a yawn.

"Would you be ok if I left you to sleep here for the rest of the night?" Sky asked me.

"Y-yea....I'll be ok. Go back to sleep Sky. I'll be fine." I said sleepily, brushing my hand through my long, brown, shaggy hair. Sky nodded, and walked out of the room. The door clicked as it closed behind him.

"Urgh.....what is the problem with me?!" I mumbled, throwing my hands by my sides. I sighed.

"Maybe I just need some more sleep." I said as I pulled the covers off of the floor and onto my bed. I pulled them over my body. I closed my eyes, and I hoped I could get in a few hours of good sleep before I would have to wake up to work the next day. As I closed my eyes however, the images from my dream still swam freshly in my mind.
---------
It honestly only felt like I was asleep for about 5 minutes before I heard the annoying little beeping sound of my alarm clock.

"Ugh, five more minutes." I mumbled, flopping my head back on my pillow. I didn't want to do anything other than sleep at the moment. Unfortunately, I heard the quiet squeak of my door opening, and knew exactly what that meant.

"Vhat do ou want Sky?" I said, my words getting muffled by my pillow.

"Jeez, grumpy today aren't we?" Sky said. "How did you know it was me anyway?

"Because your the only guy foolish enough to come into my room at 7:00 in the morning." I grumbled, turning in my bed so I was now laying on my back.

Sky laughed, and threw some things on my floor.

"What is that stuff anyway?" I asked as I sat up, rubbing my eyes in the process.

"Mining gear. We're running pretty low on resources and we need to get more." Sky said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You know exactly what I mean." He said, smirking back at me. "Get up." He said, and left my room. I rolled my eyes and swung my knees over the side of the bed. I stretched, and then grabbed my white polo shirt and grey jeans, along with my trademark neon green headphones. I looked over at the small pile of stuff on my floor that Sky had given me, and decided to leave it for later. I then walked out the bedroom door and down to breakfast.

I opened the doors to the dining hall, and it was in its usual state. Everyone was chatting happily, eating the breakfast being served. I walked over to the leaders table, swaying a little, and was greeted by a chorus of hello's.

"Hey everyone -yawn- how's life?" I asked sleepily, sitting down. Everyone just muttered "good."

The table was silent for a few minutes, Except for the occasional clatter of silverware on a plate. I heard someone clear their throat, and realized it was Jason. Everyone turned their heads over his way, to see if it was anything important.

"So, guys, it was my turn to oversee the night watch last night, and I need to report that was some suspicious activity reported over on the west wall, around 11:30 last night."

"More activity over there? That's the 3rd time this week." Mitch said, which started a good amount of muttering between one another.

"Was anyone able to see what was happening over there?" I asked, suddenly much more alert. Jason shook his head. "They were able to tell it was Squid by the squid indicators around the castle, but they weren't able to see what they were up too. It was took dark." Jason said, and I nodded.

"What do think they are doing this time?" I asked Sky, who was sitting to my right.

"I don't know Ty, I haven't seen this much activity from them in a while. We are going to have to keep a close eye on that side of the area," he said, turning to face the rest of the table, "Make sure no one leaves their post." Sky said, and the table nodded.

"Hey Ty, aren't you going to eat? If your going mining, you'll need your energy." Jerome asked, looking at the empty plate in front of me. I had completely forgot to go to the breakfast bar. I looked over, and my stomach sank as I saw it had been closed so the recruits could start making lunch.

"Guess not." I said halfheartedly, and Ian sent over a half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"I won't eat the rest Ty. I'm too full." Ian said, and I smiled.

"Thanks Ian." I picked up the sandwich and took a bite of it.

"So Ty, do you think your up to go mining today?" Sky asked, and I slowly nodded.

"I guess so. I mean, I don't like mining, but I guess I can do it. It's better then trying to train with those two." I said, whispering the last part as I looked over that Mitch and Jerome. They saw me glance over that them and smiled.

"Ok! So we flooded the training ground once! Big deal!" I rolled my eyes and turned back to Sky.

Sky leaned in closer and whispered to me, "Ty, you know what I really mean. You don't feel too tired right? I don't want you stumbling around a cave if your too tired. Me and Jason could go, we could take Ian if you need to sleep-"

I shook my head. "Really Sky, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. I'm ready to...-yawn-...to mine." I said, but Sky looked skeptical.

"Well, ok, but the first time I see you trip on something in that cave, I'm sending you back here to rest." He said, and I sighed and nodded.

"So, when do we start?" I asked, finishing off my half of Ian's sandwich.

"I was hoping before sunrise, but we are a little late, so we are going to have to go quickly. Grab your stuff and meet me in the main hall, ok?" Sky said, standing up from his seat. I nodded and left the table. I ran into my room, threw most of the stuff on my floor into my backpack, and ran back down into the main hall, where Sky and Jason were waiting.

"Alright, ready to go you guys?" Sky asked, and we both nodded.

"Good. I'm hoping we can find a good amount of budder, along with some Diamonds, Emeralds, and coal." Sky said, leading Jason and I outside and over to the path of the mining fields.

"Why Emeralds?" Jason asked curiously.

"I'm hoping we can do a little bit of trading with some of the villagers. We are low on some supplies other than ores and ingots and we need to restock, especially now with the threat of the squids coming back again." Sky said, muttering the last part. Me and Jason both nodded. We all then walked in silence the rest of the way.