The Mission

Chapter 2

-Chapter 2-

I woke up to the smell of rain and warm bread. I pulled back the warm red blanket on my bed, stood up, and felt the coldness attack my body. Even though I still had my suit on, it was freezing. I walked out of the room and to the kitchen, trying to find the source of the wonderful smell. Sitting on the furnace were two loaves of fresh bread.

"Hey dood." Mitch greeted, walking into the room. "One loaf is for you and the other's for Sierra."

"Hey." I grabbed one loaf and smiled. "Thanks."

"I'm going hunting. You want to join?" Mitch asked. I nodded my head 'yes', my mouth being too full of bread to reply. "C'mon then. Let's go. What weapon do you want: sword or bow?"

I swallowed the food in my mouth. "Do you have an axe?"

Mitch nodded and walked to the back room which had all of our weapons. He came back out with an iron axe. "Will this work?"

"It's perfect!!" Mitch handed me the axe and I took a few practice swings. "Chop chop, buddy!! Chop chop!!"

Mitch laughed. "Be careful with that!! I sharpened it two days ago."

I just smiled, excited to be hunting. I climbed the nearest tree and started jumping from tree to tree. I looked in the direction of my favorite tree and saw smoke clouding the sky. "I'll be right back!!" I shouted down to Mitch. I quickly leaped from the trees towards my tree. The closer I got, the more clearly I saw the bright light and felt the hot heat. When I was in the tree next to mine, the heat was scorching and shock took my body. "M-my tree.." I whispered. I looked down at the forest floor to see the king, leader, and some members of the Bacca army standing in a group. The king was holding a pen and paper, the leader was holding a flint and steel, and the army was laughing. My village turned against me...

The king said something to the leader and they walked off, the army marching behind. The paper that the king was holding was now laying on the green forest floor. I cautiously jumped down and picked up the note before scaling back up the tree. I looked down at the creamy white parchment paper and the smooth black words.

"Dear Jerome,

Your hanging out with two humans? Never pictured you doing that. I always thought you would stay loyal to the village, but I guess I was wrong. I also never thought you would drag your sister into this too. For you and your sister's own good, don't come near any of us or the village ever again unless you get tired of living.

Formally Signed By:

King Bac"

I heard footsteps behind me and quickly turned around.

"Jerome, are you ok?" Rheanna asked. "Why does it smell like fire?"

I looked over at where my tree was to find the fire and my tree gone. Dark black ashes were left in a pile on the ground. "The Bacca king burnt down my tree."

Rheanna walked to the ashes and looked through them. She started putting items she found in her backpack. She held up a picture frame with a leaf in it. "What's this?" She asked, walking over to me and handing me the picture.

I wiped the dust off and looked at the framed leaf. "It's a leaf from my tree. When I first moved here, one of my friends told me to save something from my favorite place as a memory."

Rheanna nodded and gave me a few other items which I put in my backpack. "C'mon. I think Mitch is waiting for us at the house. Here," Rheanna handed me a stack of ender pearls. "Try teleporting. It's fun." She said before she threw an ender pearl in the air and teleported away.

I threw an ender pearl up high and I appeared in a tree. I threw another one in the direction of the house and I appeared in the pond. Everyone looked towards me when they heard the splash.

"How did you... How did you teleport?" Mitch seemed stunned. He was a step away from the pond.

Rheanna, who was in a tree, laughed and threw an ender pearl behind Mitch. When she teleported, she pushed Mitch into the water. "I gave him a few ender pearls."

Mitch looked up at Rheanna and then back at me and smiled. "Oh. Well, you could of just said that."

I shrugged and ender pearled out of the water. I only had 13 pearls left so I stored them in my backpack in case I need them later.

"Hey. When's dinner?" Sierra asked, walking out of the forest and to the group. "I'm hungry."

Mitch walked back to dry land. "I caught some fish while hunting." Mitch help up four large fish. "I can cook them and we can have them for dinner."

Sierra and I looked at each other. "Can you not cook ours?" Sierra asked Mitch.

"Why wouldn't I?" Mitch laughed.

"'Cause we're Baccas." Mitch looked at me and I shrugged. "Sorry. We don't like vile creatures."

"What are 'vile creatures'?" Rheanna asked.

Mitch answered. "Baccas call cooked fish 'vile creatures' I guess."

"Well I love vile creatures in that case." Rheanna laughed. She took two of the fishes from Mitch and took them in the house to cook.

"What do you like to eat with your fish?" Mitch asked, handing each of us a raw fish.

"Liver!!" Sierra shouted.

Mitch looked at her like she was crazy. "What kind of liver?"

"Any. My favorite is chicken liver." Sierra made a slurping sound.

Mitch looked at me. "What about you? What do you like to eat with raw fish?"

"Livers. Juicy, fresh human livers." I slurped and walked closer to Mitch.

Mitch stepped away. "Uhh... P-please say your kidding..." I continued walking towards Mitch and he continued stepping away. "Help!!" Mitch screamed. "Rheanna!! Help!!" Mitch seemed really scared.

Rheanna came out of the house, but stayed by the door. "What's going on?"

I started laughing and fell on the ground. My sides were hurting. "I-I scared M-Mitch!!"

"Really?! I've never been able to do that!!" Rheanna smiled.

"Whatever." Mitch mumbled. "So please tell me you don't like human liver."

My laughter died down. "Well, I do, but I don't want to eat yours. You're my friend." I smiled. Mitch smiled back at me, but he still seemed.. Disappointed for some reason.

"I finished dinner. I also made some bread." Rheanna motioned towards the kitchen and walked in the house. Sierra followed, leaving Mitch and I alone.

"Why did you seem disappointed earlier?" I asked Mitch.

He stared down at the ground and his ears turned pink. "I-I wasn't. Why?"

"You just seemed it." I smiled at him. When he looked up at me, he blushed deeper. Why was he blushing?

"C'mon. Let's go eat." Mitch mumbled as he started walking to the house.

I followed Mitch, the silence feeling a bit awkward. When we walked in the house, Sierra and Rheanna were in the dining room, eating their food. Mitch grabbed his food from the kitchen before going to his room. I sat at the table, food in hand, confused at Mitch's behavior. "What's up?" Sierra asked. "You seem troubled."

I shrugged. "Mitch is acting weird."

Rheanna stayed silent and continued eating. Oh great. Now she's acting weird.

"Do you know anything?" I asked Rheanna. She shook her head no, but refused to look up. "You're his sister. You know more about him than any of us do. Please tell me." I begged, but she shook her head no. She ate the last bite of her food before running to Mitch's room. Sierra and I finished our food, chatting about our day, before Sierra went to bed.