"Okay, so this isn't exactly the good old days." I say seriously, "we should probably get out of here asap. Because I'm totally out of food and I can't hyperheal."

"I have some cocoa pods, not that they'll help," Ay says, beginning to pillar up. I follow and realize almost all the way up that I don't have enough sand, so I switch to sandstone, and then my last two blocks of dirt. I'm still one block short, so a mine into the side of the wall to get the last jump. "What took so long?" Ay asks in an annoyed tone,

"I'm short on spare blocks."

"In a desert?" Ay asks drily,

"Well, I used most of my sand to pillar up the mountain!" I argue defensively.

"Uh-huh, sure you did."

"Stop patronizing me!" I punch Ay in a friendly nature.

"Ow!" Ay glares at me and mutters something intangible. Oops, too far I guess. "Let's get going, hurry up!" Ay calls. I scowl. The sun has now completely gone down. I risk a peer behind my shoulder and I already see five or six mobs popping into existence.

"Ack!" I cry, slashing down a mob that appears right in front of me. Ay slashes down another as she vaults ahead, and I deter a couple along the way, not fatally wounding either, unfortunately. 

"Essss! Shh! We have a problem!" Ay whispers and pulls me behind a dune. 

"What!?" I ask angrily and Ay shoves her hands over my mouth, willing me to be quiet. I let out a distorted angry shout and Ay glances at me desperately, pleading with me to be quiet. Well, I don't care. "What is going on!? Stop it!" I shout loudly. Ay slaps her forehead and pulls me to my feet and begins to run.

"S! Stupid!" Ay says through clenched teeth.

"What the heck, Ay! You stop pulling me-! Oh." I say because suddenly everything clicks. Behind us is a giant mob of Husks, Skeletons, and two Endermen are giving chase - and they seem pretty angry. I can't believe myself - and if we weren't running away from a horde of monsters in the open at night this would probably be the time I don't look at Ay until I apologize the next day - but under these circumstances, nobody's talking anyway. Oof, S, you really don't know- ignore myself, me, we have to focus on running.

"This way!" Ay yells through gritted teeth, turning behind a dune, hoping to come around the other side. Uh oh! "Dead end!" Ay yells, turning around - too late, we're trapped. The mobs advance suddenly slowly. I turn to face them and - zing! The Enderman's eyes meet mine and he vanishes, only to reappear looming down on me, arms raised- thwack! I hear the blow hit. Only it's not me who's been hit, it's the Enderman. Wait, what!? I gasp, as the Enderman vanishes forever in a poof of experience points. 

I look up in astonishment and see my savior, a freckly, wavy-blonde-haired warrior stands over me holding an enchanted diamond sword.

"Chadd! What part of attack together did you not understand!?" I stare in amazement because six more Minecraftians have just lept into the battle, a man hidden behind his helmet with distinctly dark skin calls out to the warrior - apparently 'Chadd', in annoyance. A red-headed Celtic-looking girl with a lot more freckles than Chadd appears out of nowhere and helps me to my feet. 

"Sierra," she introduces herself brusquely.

"Oh - S," I say back.

"Come on - RETREAT!" Sierra calls to her teammates commandingly. The other warriors jump from the battle as quickly as it started, grabbing Ay and me and pulling us along with them.

"Good job, team!" The dark-skinned leader, I'm assuming, cries triumphantly. "Back to the Statue, make sure the newcomers get along!" There's a chorus of resounding cheers at this, and Sierra grabs my hand and pulls me along, sprinting at full speed. She's faster than Ay - wow, that is an accomplishment, I can't help wondering how some people are born so fast. I'm not that light, or flexible, or speedy. I can just think ahead in battles. Apparently not in life, but even that's not very impressive.

"Is," I huff, "this some," I huff, "sort," I puff, "of team?" I manage to gasp.

"The Minecraftians. We're some of the last remaining fighters of the rebellion. There are some other bases scattered all around the world, but we're the only one for miles here," Sierra explains, sounding barely winded. I have lots more questions but I don't have the energy to voice any more of them. We've left the mobs way behind us, but even so, whenever any others spawn near us they all work like a well-oiled machine, killing anything and everything in seconds. I admire their handiwork and teamwork.

"Are," I puff, "we," I gasp for breath, "very far?" I manage. 

"From the Statue? Not really, just another few hundred blocks." Sierra says cheerfully, speeding up and dragging me with her. I'm not sure I can manage much longer, but a couple of hundred blocks is probably okay - but no way I'm going any farther than that. After what seems like an eternity I see some orange flecks on the horizon, and then I make out what looks like an ancient build.

"That's the Minecrafter. It's a really old statue that was almost completely destroyed in one of the first invasions. You used to be able to see it for thousands and thousands of blocks around, now you have to get really close to even tell it used to exist. Our base is underneath it," Sierra explains. Wait, the Minecrafter!? That's why we couldn't see it! It was destroyed in - wait, what invasion!? But before I can ask, the leader begins to speak,

"Alright, Sierra, East, take the newcomers down and bring them straight to the strong room and provide them with sufficient hyperhealing fuel. Take all their weapons and I'll come down for questioning in a quarter-sun." The Leader says. Oh great. No way I'm letting them take my sword! We'll just explain everything, and- Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Ay hand over her sword, axe, shield, hoe, and pickaxe angrily. 

"Of course, Warden." Sierra obliges easily, then turns to me, "Come on S, up this way." Sierra scales a little way up the remains of the statue and mines out a block of orange sandstone, revealing a hidden button, which she pushes resolutely. The statue begins to shake and rumble nefariously, and quakes stretch all over the statue. Then I hear a moaning, groaning sound underneath us. Sierra quickly recovers the button and jumps down. I now realize what the button did. A dark tunnel underneath the statue has opened up, and all the Minecrafters are sprinting in - then I realize why with a jolt and join Sierra's sprint, because slowly but surely the tunnel is closing. We roll in unhurt just before the door shuts completely.

But there is no time to rest because Sierra grabs my arm and yanks me down the stairs, through one tunnel, then another, then a quick turn down the next passageway and stairway. Occasionally I'll catch a glimpse of Ay and her companion ahead of us in a long hallway, but I'm mostly alone with Sierra. I decide to get some information while this long, boring speed-walk through the base plays out,

"You mentioned an invasion?" I ask,

"Yes. About thirty years ago - when none of us were even born yet - a huge war started. No one knows who started it, but all of a sudden thousands and thousands of hybrid-mongrel troops emerged out of nowhere, made of bedrock and concrete carrying weapons with unnatural powers. Sometimes they were golems, other times they were just odd-looking lumps of blocks brought to life. We all grew up with constant threats of TNT drops, invasions, and some of us watched our parents be killed or captured - most of us died, but the Minecrafter group you see today - well, we all ran away, and somewhere along the way some of us met, others we rescued, some head rumors of us and came to look for us. Either way, we're a lot bigger than when we started."

"But the war ended, right?"

"Yes. The war lasted exactly seven moons and seven suns, then their commander disappeared mysteriously and was never heard from again. After that their armies despawned, turned back into what they once were, or continued to fight in disorderly fashions, sometimes turning against each other. But the human commanders didn't fall apart, unfortunately, and kept the war going another seven years before it completely ended." Sierra says, a twisted yet obviously wistful look on her face. I understand that look very well.

From what Sierra said, it sounds like the same thing we encountered in Juzoos... could they be part of that army? Maybe, or maybe they just both figured out how to use the subconscious to their advantage... perhaps...

"Did Juzoos help in the attack?" I ask,

"Juzoos? You know about the hidden city!?" Sierra asks in astonishment.

"We were held prisoner there for a while - long story, anyway was it?"

"No. Juzoos abandoned the war while it was still in the beginning stages, wiping their name from existence and becoming the mysterious rumored hidden city it is today. The war was led by a young warrior, so they say. A warrior by the name of Shadow." 

Do you recognize that name? I well S definitely does! What do you think will happen? I've been planning this cliffhanger since I typed the first word of this chapter, but wow that came out good! Lots of authors run into writers' block or a lack of motivation, but if you chose a story to write that you would like to read then you'll never or rarely encounter this!

I do minimal, minimal planning. I just know how this story will end and from there I'm just as new to this plot as the readers! It really helps me!

Please consider voting and give me suggestions for future chapters and/or things to improve about the previous ones!

Just Be!