I'm not proud of this. Fucking fillers.
□

Brice and Steve saw the group off. Following Cindy's instructions, Brice stayed back while the group went ahead. Everyone expected Seto to not be alright with it, but he felt the opposite. He did not argue, and that made the others really open up their eyes. When everything had been normal, Seto and Brice would probably give up their heads to accompany the other on a mission. Sky always relented, because they both had a special 'license' of some sort, signed by General Persson, which was a big deal.

They were inseparable, some could even say they were joined at the hip. The only thing everyone knew was that a disaster had hit the area they had their assessment mission in. They were the only ones not found, and were declared dead after weeks of searching. They came back, a little beat up but happy and supporting each other. They entered that mission with angry glares over their backs and returned with smiles and inside jokes.

Everyone hoped the same would happen after entering the West.

If Hero could, he would have asked Nabiel for a report on the victims of the West. He had thought that the victims would be connected somehow, but he could not do anything at the moment but follow blindly. Literally. His stallion, Kaizer, remained loyal, galloping much more slower, gentle with his visually impaired rider. The group were resting up their horses, having settled in a marshland of some sorts.

Their horses grazed at whatever food they could find, and drank water from the ponds. Their riders were gathered under a tree, listening to Sky read out their plans. He was reading out their route, for Hero's sake, while pointing it out on a map for the others. Mitch leaned in to Jason and whispered, "Should we tell the general that he's facing the wrong way?"

Jason raised an eyebrow and snapped softly, "Give him a break. He's blind."

Hero perked up at the harsh whispering. He turned his head towards the direction and scowled, "You do know that if one of our senses disappears, the others enhance? I can hear you."

Both Jason and Mitch flinched. Hero huffed and turned his head back to its original direction. Once Kaizer whinnied, signalling that the horses were ready, everyone got to their horses. Seto helped Hero get on his own horse, and the group carried on, Sky and Ty outracing each other for the lead.

-

"Do powers leave scent trails?"

Seto scoffed, "Ty, that's ridiculous."

The enderdragon let out a short puff of purple fire. He rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Oh come on, if Rive was here, he could have helped a lot."

Sky turned over in his sleeping bag and groaned, "Can you please go to sleep?"

The hybrid chuckled smugly and said, "Nocturnal."

This time, Jason was stirred from his slumber, "You're active all the time, how are you nocturnal?"

Ty shut his eyes and sighed, "No way, I'm more lazier in the day."

Seto grumbled from his sleeping bag, "You're lazy all the time too."

The enderdragon angrily thumped his heavy tail on the ground, "You just called me the opposite of what Jason said. What are you trying to prove here?"

Even the horses were shaking their heads in annoyance. Mitch was still fast asleep, as he was further away from the bonfire. Turns out the closer he was, the hotter the bonfire would burn. The others hated it, so he isolated himself. He was fine without the bonfire, as he was slowly heating himself up as he went to sleep.

Hero shuffled in his sleeping bag and snapped, "I swear if you all don't keep quiet I'll put you to sleep with my fist."

Everyone had quietened down for a few minutes, until Ty angrily retorted, "How can you knock us out if you can't see us?"

Everyone shot up in alarm, staring angrily at the hybrid. Even Mitch glared from his area, smoke rising from his shoulders as his temperature rose. Ty glared at them back, not wanting to take any of his words back. The group looked back down at Hero, who did not move from his position. His back was still turned to them, and all they did was stare at his messy golden hair.

Sky swerved around to point an angry finger at Ty. He muttered under his breath, "Apologize!"

The enderdragon stared at him with a raised eyebrow, then looked at Hero's unmoving body. He crossed his arms defensively and said, "I'm sorry you're blind."

"Ty!"

"What?! I said I was sorry."

Seto stared at him like he was stupid. He kind of was. The warlock spat, "You made it worse."

Ty was about to growl a warning or snark reply, until Hero's voice rose from his sleeping bag, muffled by the crackling of the fire.

"Just shut up already. It's fine. Rest up for tomorrow."

Slowly, everyone laid back down, but not before seething at Ty's direction. They eventually went to sleep, save for Ty, who stared into the distance. The last thought on everyone's minds before they slept was how the situation kept on becoming worse.

-

Seto huddled in his sleeping bag, biting his lip as he painfully stitched the open wound on his thigh. He was on hunting duty and went for a buck. He forgot he had no magic and could not protect himself against an attack. The buck's antlers nicked his thigh rather painfully, and he did not tell anyone about it, in fear of getting berated.

Everyone else had begun sleeping, so he took this opportunity to patch himself up. He may not be able to use spells, but he still went for the Medic course, so he could help himself without magic. As he dug the needle through his skin, he bit back groans of pain. He nearly stopped the needle when he heard a soft growl behind him.

He slowly turned his head to see Ty standing in his enderdragon glory. His leathery wings were stretched around them, blocking the light from the fire. His tail was curled around his feet, inches away from smacking Seto over. His claws were rested at his sides, but his fangs overlapped his lower lip. He was staring down at Seto intensely.

The warlock gulped when purple eyes snapped to his bloody wound. He caught Ty lick his lips, before the hybrid blinked, and the murderous intentions clear in his eyes disappeared. Seto gasped when Ty crouched down quickly, wings adjusted to block others from looking in. He allowed some light to pass through, shining on Seto's wound.

"What happened?" asked Ty.

Seto blinked at him before whispering, "Got beat up by a deer. Can you believe that?"

The enderdragon stared at his wound. Seto watched as the hybrid battled his instincts, and his fingers tightened on the needle. The hybrid just huffed, and looked away, muttering, "Hurry up. Jason gets up way too early and trust me, you do not want him on your ass 24/7."

Seto smiled gratefully at the hybrid, who still did not meet his eyes. He went back to his wound, glad that a bit of Ty remained, and that he was fighting with all he could until they could figure out what was behind all this.

-

He was out of his potions.

The potions that helped him sleep peacefully without trauma-induced nightmares. Hero itched to ask Seto to help, but he was certain that the warlock had enough bullshit on his hands. The general stopped feeling around in his knapsack, and hissed lowly. Kaizer turned his head from grazing on the grass, and neighed inquisitively. Hero reached out with a shaking hand, and a furred muzzle met his hand.

His tremors stopped, and Hero sighed, softly thanking the horse. The stallion dropped down on the grass next to him, and curled his head behind Hero. With a soft nudge with his hind leg, he shoved Hero down on his back, head resting on Kaizer's neck. The general blinked, before reaching back to find Kaizer's head again. The stallion met his hand once again, and Hero did his best to fall back asleep.

Contact with someone always calmed himself down.

It was not much, but Hero decided it was all he was going to get once this shit show starts.

-

When they had to pass a desert, Mitch had taken the lead happily. He thrived in the desert, but lead the group with a respectful distance. His temperature spiked once he entered the warm biome, and it was taking its toll on the rest of the group. Mitch's constantly rising temperature together with the desert's would combine into literal hell.

Ty absolutely hated the heat, as it went against his cold-blooded enderdragon. He grew weak, and the group did all they could to keep him hydrated. Mitch changed the route halfway through, as Ty almost fainted due to the heat. He would not have fainted if he was not in hybrid form for too long. Staying like that allowed his instincts to take over, turning him against many things.

Mitch did not tell anyone, but his own instincts were spiraling out of control too. They were like intrusive little thoughts, begging for him to take action. Set things on fire, go to the Nether, your true home or go against Ty. Apparently since Ty was a hybrid from the End, and Mitch was from the Nether, their hybrid selves were polar opposites.

They argued most of the time, but Mitch was the one in control of his instincts. For now. Mitch hesitantly tracked the shortest route to leave the biome, and soon Ty was recovering from his short sickness. They were thrown off course, so Sky had to navigate and plan a whole new route. They now had to pass a cave system to reach the West quickly.

They eventually reached their designated cavern, and Hero issued a command to the horses. Even without his powers, the horses listened, and agreed to meet them at another entrance. The horses would travel on ground, as they could not be taken down in the cave systems. The horses could reach the entrance around the time the group would, as they could gallop without heavy people weighing them down.

Kaizer led them to a gallop as soon as the group entered the cave system.

-

"Hero, stop! Wall!"

The general skidded to a stop, staring blankly ahead. He turned his head to the side, where he assumed was where Jason stood. He heard the soldier speak, "Can you try and follow my voice? You wandered into a... Tight space and none of us can reach you."

Hero extended his hands and felt the stone walls. Fuck, he probably stumbled into a crevice in the wall. He crawled towards Jason's echoing voice as his hands tried to feel and locate an exit. He felt fingers brush against his arm, and soon he was pulled out.

"Jesus, Hero. Don't wander off while we're discussing."

The general grew irritated and snapped, "Maybe if you could tell me, I wouldn't! Last time I checked, I was blind."

Hero could not see it, but Ty flinched. The others sighed and made sure to announce what they were doing out loud for Hero to catch on. The general relied on their voices to get around, and when they got quiet, Hero would grow confused. His first instinct would be to find them, which led him to crawling around.

He did not know it, but the group appointed Seto to be next to Hero at all times to watch out for him. The warlock's footsteps against the stone could also help Hero locate and follow.

-

The group was yet in another tunnel until Hero halted in his footsteps. Seto stopped as well, whistling to capture the others' attention. Hero had his head raised, and he was sniffing the air. The others watched as his nose scrunched up in disgust. Sky walked forward and asked, "What's wrong?"

The Swede lowered his head to whisper, "We're in vampire territory."

He heard Jason gasp in front of him, "What? How did you know?"

Hero sniffed the air once again before saying, "Their scent is everywhere. I don't need powers to recognize their scent. They reek of blood and bat- Shit, there's one nearby."

Everyone stilled, and slowly got out their weapons. Hero reached out for his pocket, and pulled out a small hunting knife. He felt Seto press up against him, shielding and comforting him. He sensed someone leaning in, and heard Mitch ask in a hushed tone, "Can you smell them? Where are they?"

Hero's nose picked up the smell of bat fur and blood again, and turned his head towards where the scent was strongest. He jerked his head towards the direction, and heard the group shuffling to find the vampire. Hero heard a soft flap, and then the harsh beating of wings. He felt the others surround him, defending him.

The others were staring at a bat who moved from its perch on the ceiling. It had started flapping after Hero jerked at its direction, and circled the group with low screeches. Ty made the first move, snarling angrily, and the bat stilled, flapping and cocking its tiny head at the hybrid. It lowered itself, and landing on the ground. Its form started to glow, and shift.

The group watched with bated breaths as a woman replaced the bat's place. She wore a short black dress that reached her knees. She wore red heels, and had matching red lipstick. Fangs half of Ty's fangs' length overlapped her plump lips. Under the light of Mitch's little fireball, they could make out her deathly white complexion. It contrasted with her sleek black hair that fell on her shoulders.

She spoke, voice low and lustful, "How can I help a bunch of you useless filth on my territory?"

Memories of encountering vampires sprung up in Hero's mind. He remembered losing someone to a vampire, and he found himself snapping, "Look, we'll get you what you want if you help us get out."

Everyone watched as the female vampire stepped forward. They spotted her bright red eyes, and how they narrowed with interest at Hero. She asked, voice still sweet, "Do you really know what I want?"

Hero decided to risk it. He nodded, and answered firmly, "The best blood your kind could ever get their hands on. You value angel and demon blood, don't you?"

Seto stared at the vampire's expression, genius mind setting to work as he studied every change, every behavior. Her eyes widened in shock at Hero's reply, before returning to their curious state. She just answered, "Very much so. Why, do any of you have some? You really think you ordinary people would get your mundane hands on something as precious as-"

Hero forced his way past his friends' protective stances around him. He stalked towards the female's voice, and he spoke with a confident smile, "Angel and veela blood. I'd give you that. Take it or leave it."

Everyone leaned in to Seto, who awaited their questions. Ty was the one who asked first, "What are they doing?"

Seto answered softly, "If you want a vampire to do something for you, you need to bargain blood with them. They're active neutral creatures, which mean they are neither dark or light creatures, but they support both sides. If I'm not wrong, they at least have a bit of angel and demon blood. They value it a lot, as angels lead the light, and the demons lead the dark. It's kind of a fruitless attempt though, because angels never walk Earth. Demons do, but they're still rare to come by."

Staring at the vampire, he continued, "They're very picky, so it's hard to score a deal with them. Hero promised them angel and veela blood, so-"

"What's a veela?"

"A light creature, the rarest of all creatures. Probably because they've gone extinct centuries ago. They were powerful creatures, and so far I don't think any were registered in Minecraftia."

Mitch raised an eyebrow, "Where the hell will Hero get their blood then? He just promised the bloodsucker-"

"You've got yourselves a deal," the vampire interrupted.

The others turned to find Hero scoring a deal. Seto and the others were staring at Hero in disbelief, who looked... Distant. He shook his head, and walked over to where his friends were whispering among themselves. The vampire had turned back into a bat, and was waiting for them to follow her.

As they followed her, Seto kept an eye on Hero.

-

"What did you promise her?"

"What I said, angel and veela blood."

"Do you have a replica or something? You need to carry out an illegal and sacrificial ritual if you want to meet an angel. Those rituals have a 0.2% chance of working anyway. And veelas, they've been hunted to extinction. Hero, what did you get yourself into-"

Seto stopped his ramble once Hero let out an irritated huff. The Swede sighed then just said, "Look, I got this. You don't know everything, Seto. At least, not yet."

The warlock nearly stumbled. Hero did not notice, and Seto just whispers.

"I-I... Alright."