'Guys, the village search came back unsuccessful,' Harry began slowly, glancing at Simon to see his reaction. The silver-haired leader seemed calm for now, but they couldn't be too careful, 'So we don't really have a choice, we've got to raid the Glitched Lands'

'Seriously? They didn't find any evidence whatsoever?!' Josh screeched, his hazel eyes wide as Ethan sighed and propped his head up with one hand 'Josh, bro, you seriously need to calm down. At least they didn't find any bodies or blood or anything - Right?'

'Ah, about that... While searching in a tower most likely to be used as either a sniping point or some sort of jail, they did find blood. It was about three to seven days old, and from some hairs pulled from it, they found that - JJ, hold Josh back, and Ethan do the same to Simon - I'm sorry to have to tell you, but it was Vik's blood'

The room fell silent for a few moments, Harry's nervous gaze darting between the two eldest in the space. You probably would have heard a pin drop before the outburst. Surprisingly, it wasn't from Josh or Simon; Though they looked about ready to murder someone. The loud crash of the man's chair echoed around the room as Tobi kicked it away, pure rage and hurt in his usually calm brown eyes.

He didn't say anything - He didn't need to. The others all held similar emotions and thoughts, it's just... Tobi had been the first to break. The dark-skinned male stormed out of the room, muttering curses under his breath as he slammed the door open 'Okay, then' Ethan muttered, cautiously letting go of his taller companion as if he would lash out any second.

Thankfully, he didn't, but instead slumped down in his chair and covered his mouth with his hands 'We haven't got a choice, then,' He finally spoke, voice slightly muffled by his jacket sleeves as the others turned to look at him, 'We've got to make an attack, we need to get them back'

~~~

'D'you think he's gonna be alright? His Dad sounded seriously mad' Preston spoke quietly as they snuck away from the house, a thick cloak concealing him from both sight and the light rain. Lachlan sighed and stopped behind a tree once he felt they'd gotten far enough away before turning to his older friend, his blue eyes dark with an emotion the boy almost felt frightened of 'It's better not to ask stuff like that, Preston. Sometimes you figure some things out, and you wish that you'd never thought of it in the first place... Nevermind. C'mon, let's get home'

'Lachlan, I can't go home' The lava-skinned boy pointed out, a slight pain lacing his voice as Lachlan let out a long breath and threw his hood over his dampening hair 'I've already thought about that, so I asked my Mum if you could stay with us - If that's okay with you, of course'

'But you know - Wait, what did you just say?' The blond sighed and rolled his eyes playfully, ruffling his friend's cloak hood as the shorter ducked away 'If it's okay with you, I'm asking you to move in. My Mum isn't going to tell anybody where you are, and I'm pretty sure she'd kick Dad out if he said anything - You're like a second Son to her'

'S-Seriously?' The Texan's mouth was agape with shock as his younger - Yet taller - friend nodded slightly, a soft smile on his face as tears began to well up in the lava hybrid's eyes 'You-You'd actually...'

Lachlan simply uncrossed his arms and opened them up for a hug, wrapping them around his friend's warm frame and squeezing him gently as Preston buried his face into the crook of his neck 'Yep, it means you'll have to deal with me though, and you'll need to stay hidden whenever she comes around'

'I-I will, I swear...'

~+~

'Yo Mitch, I know you're awake by now'
'...No'
'Wow. That was just - Amazing acting Mitch, ten out of ten. Can you at least talk to us?'
'Do I have to? I'm completely fine just laying here and being a disappointment to society, really brightens up my day, y'know?' The Canadian pouted, refusing to open his eyes as there was a loud, British-accented sigh to his left 'For Notch's sake Mitch, you're not a disappointment, now open your eyes and talk to us'

'How about I just lay here and marinate in all my sins instead? Marinating in my sins sound fun - Hey!' Vik and Kenny had worked together to shove their older friend out of bed, causing him to let out a loud yelp as he hit the ground, 'You guys are fudging jags, y'know that?'

The shortest of the three rolled his eyes, grabbing Mitch's non-injured arm and pulling him back upright before giving him a quick hug 'We may be jags, but we're also your friends. Don't scare us like that again, okay?' The mocha-skinned boy spoke as he pulled away, his brunet friend looking down guiltily and nodding.

'Hey guys, is he up - Oh! Mitch, it's good to see you're alright' The bright and cheery voice of their bird-like friend sounded from the doorway as he walked through, and the Canadian looked up to smile awkwardly 'Hey, Choco... I'm sorry about the whole "running away" thing, I just panicked and I guess-'

'As long as you're okay now, it's fine. Everything should heal up okay, but the cut on your arm's definitely going to scar; How did that even happen, anyway? Zombies with swords?'

'This massive bug thing jumped me out of nowhere' He admitted, and Kenny tilted his head slightly before letting out a quiet gasp 'It didn't look like a giant mosquito or something, did it? What colour was it?'. Mitch shrugged, rubbing his bandaged arm awkwardly before he nodded once more 'Green and white, I think, and it had these really long black legs'

'You got attacked by a Mantis?!' Choco and Kenny yelped simultaneously, the older of the two widening his honey-coloured eyes in shock and covering his mouth with his hands 'How the fudge did you get out of that, with only two injuries? That's insane!'

'Two? I thought I only got my gash'

'No, it turns out that thing poisoned you... Oh! I should go and check on Jerome, he got a seriously bad bite from that spider last night. See ya later!'

~~~

It was 16:05 exactly. A four hundred-man army had gathered in the village centre, each fully equipped with either full diamond or half iron, half diamond. The six joint leaders stood upon the podium infront of the crowd, muttering amongst themselves the final plan before turning to address their audience 'People of Byte Village!' Simon called, raising his hand for silence from their peers. The crowd fell silent almost immediately, gazing upon six of their greatest heroes - The ones that would lead them into this unconventional War.

'five hours ago, we received confirmation that three children had been seen running into the mountains. As most of you know, their names are Vikram Barn, Mitchell Hughes and Kenny Pygott - There is no doubt that they've been captured by the hybrids, and we will not stop until the boys are safe once more!' The army let out a loud cheer, raising their hands as Joshua Bradly stepped forwards 'You're going to be split into three squads, each one having two leaders. Two teams are going to be used in offense, while the third team are going to either ambush or treat the army for any injuries they receive'

Another cheer sounded, and the army were soon being sent to their leaders. On the outskirts of the jumble, watching with darkened eyes, was a young boy. He felt that the entire thing would be a mistake, but it was far too late to change anything now.

War against the hybrids had just begun.