PHOENIX

Chapter Ten: Secrets

It was the first weekend of September when I first noticed Fundy's unusual behavior patterns. The only reason I noticed anything was because I grew up with him, I've caught onto his habits and schemes quickly.

But this was different.

Whenever we were in the smp territory, he was constantly looking around, as if he was nervous. Normally Fundy and I would talk a lot, but he was keeping to himself a bit more, making me think he was keeping something hidden from me. The strangest thing by far, was that everytime someone brought up the dream team, Fundy had a slight blush to his cheeks.

I'm not one to pry, and I respect Fundy's privacy. But damn did I want to know what was up. So in what I would call a genius move, I asked Fundy to accompany me on a little trip, in hopes I could use my detective skills and crack the case.

I'm not manipulative, I'm just too smart for my own good.

"What are we doing again?" Fundy sighed, walking alongside me.

"We are helping Niki out, she needs some ingredients for her bakery" I reply vaguely, leading Fundy to Tubbo's docks that are under construction. 

"Okay, but what ingredients does she need that requires us to leave L'Manberg territory?" Fundy asked impatiently.

"Well, I'll just say that we may be there a while, like probably all day" I hinted, bringing Fundy to the very end of the spruce planks.

"What?" Fundy stopped walking, and grabbed my arm "Nix, where are you taking me?"

"Ahhhhhhhhh, a jungle biome" I rushed out quickly, rocking back and forth on my heels.

"How are we going to travel to a jungle?" Fundy's voice was shrill.

"By......boat!" I said with jazz hands, revealing a small boat for two already in the water.

Fundy immediately turned around and started heading back in the direction we just came from without saying a word.

"Fundy, wait come back!" I sprinted up to him, stopping him from taking another step. "This is for Niki, remember? We wouldn't want to make her do this all by herself!" I begged, my hands clasped in prayer.

Fundy sighed, and with a grouchy look on his face, got into the boat.

"Yay! This is going to be so much fun!" I assured Fundy, patting him lightly on the head.

Fundy said nothing as we rowed all the way to the jungle, taking up most of the day. I tried to start a couple conversations with him, but he was not in the mood for opening up about his deepest secrets.

We arrived at the jungle, our arms sore from rowing. Dragging the boat ashore, I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead. This was going to be a long day.

"So, we need to get Niki some cocoa beans for her chocolate chip cookie recipe" I turned to fundy with my hands on my hips in determination.

"Should we split up?" Fundy asked, looking up at the tall trees covered in vines in front of us.

"Hmm, we might get lost" I responded, hoping Fundy would agree. I knew that if we split up now, we wouldn't get to talk at all today.

"You make a good point" Fundy nodded, "we can stick together then"

"Perfect!" I smiled, hooking fundy's arm in mine, and dragged him into the brush of the jungle.

Fundy and I worked together, picking the cocoa beans from the jungle tree's, with very little conversation. I was getting anxious, trying to come up with topics to talk about that could lead to Fundy spilling his secrets.