The Sky is Not the Limit

Chapter 6

Floating before them was Herobrine, though he didn’t appear angry or even malicious. In fact, he looked sad.

“Speak of the devil…” Mitch muttered. “Hey Herobrine, we’ve got a bone to pick with you!”

Jerome shushed him. "Herobrine, are you here to heal Shine?"

Herobrine didn't say a word, but slightly nodded his head. Jerome laid Einshine down on the ground, and they ran to take cover behind some boulders. Herobrine came over and kneeled down beside his unconscious friend, obviously guilty for what the squids had made him do. He moved his hand over the kid, and the curse was immediately lifted. Coughing back to life, Shine looked up and saw the ghostly figure above him.

“H-herobrine?” He squinted as his vision came back. His work there being done, Herobrine smiled and teleported away in a swirl of purple, leaving fire in his place.

“Nice to see you back in the land of the living.” Quentin greeted, coming out.

“Woah! Jerome, Mitch, Quentin? What are you doing here?” Shine stuttered, honored to see them.

“The squids are at it again, but you probably already know that.” Mitch answered.

“The guys are off trying to find the squid dimension, so we should hustle back and try to catch up with them.” Jerome said.

With that, the group rose to leave the cliffs. Behind them, Kermit watched them go. “Good luck my friends. May the power of budder prevail you.”

......

The trio began their search for the portal by going to a nearby kingdom of Sky’s to ask people if they knew anything. As they passed through the village streets, citizens gathered to cheer and get a glimpse of them.

"It's like they think we're heroes or something." Jason mused, waving at the crowds.

Sky caught sight of a tavern up ahead. “Maybe someone there will know. Wait here; I’ll be back in a minute.”

Jason and Ty stood outside, watching the villagers pack up their trading supplies as the sun set.

"Why do you figure so many people like Adam?" Ty asked.

"Probably 'cause he's so relatable." Jason figured. "He went through the same problems these guys do. I mean, I grew up on the moon, so I wouldn't know..." Jason looked up at the moon, rising proudly into the sky. "I miss my Stars. I hope they're doing okay..."

Ty laughed. "Jeffery'll take care of them."

Sky came out, looking pleased.

"Find any leads?" Ty asked.

"No, but check out who I found!" Sky motioned to the door, where a man dressed in all black, shades, and sporting a beard came walking out. It was their long-lost member of Team Crafted, formally called Ssundee.

"Ian?" Ty gasped. "We thought you were dead! Where've you been?" Ian had left for an extended mining trip, but when the team could not get a hold of him for months, they had to assume the worst.

"Haha, sorry if I made you doods worry," Ssundee laughed. "but I ran into some trouble during my trip. The mine collapsed on top of me, and it took forever to dig myself out. Oh, and I heard about your little problem with the squids Sky, and I thought you might need these." Ian got out his mining bag and showed them his finds; many ingots of iron and gold, and multiple diamonds as well.

"Oh wow Ian..." Sky was speechless and in awe. "Thanks! Combined with the stuff I have back at the castle, we could make plenty of weapons and armor with these!"

"So it's official then? You're going to war with the squids?"

"What else can we do?" Sky shrugged. "I'd prefer to be passive-aggressive on things like this, but they left us no choice after all that they've done already." The three managed to fill Ian in on what all had happened.

"Wow, so those squids have been getting smarter..." Ian paced back and forth. "So you have no idea where to look?”

“Nope. It’s been ages since we’ve tried going there.” Sky answered, recalling when he had stumbled upon it during a gold speed run. He ended up being captured, but got a glimpse at the armada the squids had been preparing. It wasn’t good.

“I think we could be of assistance.” Jerome and the others came up to them randomly.

“Wha…? How did you guys find us so quickly?” Jason asked, confused.

“Power moves only, dude.” Jerome replied, fist-bumping Mitch. “Oh hey Ian! Eyes still derped up?”

“The same.” Ian nodded.

“Anyway, Einshine told us something from when he was in his coma that I think you might want to hear.” Einshine peeked out from behind them and gasped as he saw the other members of Team Crafted. He couldn’t believe his luck.

“Uh, yeah, when I was out,” Shine explained, “I could see Herobrine’s thoughts. I saw what the squids were planning. And for just a second, I saw their portal, but I didn’t recognize what the location was.”

“Can you describe it? Maybe one of us can remember it.” Ty asked.

Shine closed his eyes and tried to picture it again. “It was a huge circular clearing in a forest, with glowstone markers around the outside and a platform in the middle with chests.”

“THE HUNGER GAMES CORNUCOPIA!” Mitch and Jerome shouted simultaneously. The two of them had an unparalleled love of The Hunger Games, and liked to pretend they were contestants and play the game themselves with some of their friends. Never literally though. They built this arena a bit away from their lumber shack in the woods they lived in.

“Yeah, that’s it! It’s buried directly under the cornucopia.” Shine confirmed.

“I guess all we need to do now is prepare." Sky determined. "Shine can tell us more about what he saw on our way back to the castle. Oh yeah, and Shine?"

"Yes Sky?"

"It's good to have you back buddy." With that, the group left the village.

In the shadows, a squid/human scout watched them from the sea and scurried back to report. It kneeled before it's master, the squid overlord.

"So, they now know the location of our secret portal." The overlord thought. "That dunce Jackel failed us and allowed the prisoners to escape and himself to get shot, but plan B will not end this way. Send out the soldiers for Operation Freaky Friday. And hire someone else to name these missions!"