Minecraft: Mob Squad/3CHP

Chapter 13: Lenna
Switching to Lenna’s POV, the arrow misses wide from the big and gray creature, forcing her to stare at it for a bit. Mal immediately recognizes the creature as a wolf, showing a picture of one from one of Nan’s books to Lenna. Mal also gives Lenna some bones to give to the wolf. Lenna does indeed give the wolf a bone, who takes it gently and crunches it with its teeth. By the time the wolf had chewed on the fourth bone, a red collar appears on its neck. Lenna and company then continue through the mountains, with the wolf following close behind. Mal explains to Lenna that the wolf will help them if they get in a tussle, and that some meat should be fed to it every now and again. Mal also suggests to Lenna that she give the wolf a name. After some hesitation, Lenna decides to name the wolf Poppy. It and Candor quickly get along. One of the llamas even bends its head down to bump Poppy’s nose. After a few minutes, the group continues heading toward the mansion, with Lenna staying near the back of the group. Just then, Lenna notices something off in the distance, described as "a very tall person, all black with glowing purple eyes and long arms" which reaches down and picks up a chunk of grass and flowers, sets it down somewhere else, teleports over to pick up a chunk of poppies, and then teleports away. Lenna then catches up with the group, who eventually find a path that zig-zags down into the roofed forest that is home to the woodland mansion. Lenna then cautiously looks down at the river below her.

Chapter 14: Mal
Switching to Mal’s POV, she soon realizes that the river in the world is different than the one on the map. On the map, the river is shown as "a pretty blue ribbon, swirling between the jagged cliffs" of the mountains and the dark forest. In the world, however, the river is described as "a moving thing, an angry thing, a foaming, fuming, tumbling, crashing thing". Mal also notices a fallen tree laid out across the river down below a steep cliff. After looking to the left and right for any other viable options, she realizes that its the only way across the river. The group carefully head down the side of the cliff toward the fallen tree. Looking for a place to rest, they come across an unlit campfire in a small clearing. Just then, a group of six men appear, who will only allow Mal and company to cross the river if they give them everything they have. They have no choice but to comply, and so Mal and company give the six men the llamas with the contents of the chests (Nan’s books, their weapons, their food, and Tok’s crafting table), their armor, and Thingy. Mal, Tok (along with Candor), and Lenna (along with Poppy) then all cross the river safely. Chug prepares to cross as well, but soon takes Thingy in both hands and runs across the fallen tree. Fortunately, they both make it across. The leader of the group of six men prepares to run across the bridge to confront Mal and company, but Mal, Chug, and Tok all push the fallen tree into the river below. Tok then asks as to how they will get back home, and Chug jokes that they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it. Mal and company laugh until they begin to cry from all the laughing they did.

Chapter 15: Tok
Switching to Tok’s POV, he recognizes that his brother, Chug, might be an idiot, but he also has a big heart. Tok is still in shock from the fact that Chug was able to carry a pig across the fallen tree, which goes to show that Chug can do the impossible if he wants something pretty badly. Tok and company then head for a clearing that is closer to the mountains but just outside of the view of the six men that had just taken everything they had. The clearing is small, consisting of a small meadow with flowers. As they sit down to relax, Tok recognizes that Mal has a look which shows that she is ten steps ahead of everyone and preparing herself. Mal then mentions that they will need to find food. Lenna complains that they don’t have anything left, while Chug jokes that they’ll die quickly in the roofed forest. Mal insists that they’ll be able to survive in the roofed forest and offers up some suggestions: everyone could go fishing in the river with some fishing rods, the big mushrooms could be used to make mushroom stew, and that Tok could craft a crafting table from the wood. Without hesitation, everyone gets to work. Tok has Chug collect some logs for Tok to craft a crafting table; Tok also crafts a wooden pickaxe for Mal, who begins looking for stone and charcoal. As Chug brings in some more wood, Tok crafts a sword and some more pickaxes. Lenna then returns with some cobwebs that can be used as string, so Tok crafts a fishing rod and assigns Chug to catching fish, who soon catches a heap of salmon, plus a squid that Poppy quickly devours. Mal soon returns with a few lumps of iron and one lump of coal. Tok uses some of the iron to craft an iron pickaxe for Mal, and then the coal to craft some torches. Chug then starts a campfire and cooks the salmon by the flames. Lenna then returns with another batch of cobwebs and some feathers, so she uses the crafting table along with "several smaller pieces of stone" from the lumps of iron and coal that Mal had brought back to make some arrows along with a bow. Tok then checks on Mal, who is already making a shelter that also serves as a mine. She asks Tok as to what they already have, and he says that he has two swords ready (one for Mal), some torches, and could make some armor for Chug.

Chug then calls out that the salmon is ready, and they all meet by the campfire. Everyone talks about what they had accomplished as they eat. Not long after, the sun begins to set, and upon hearing the first groan of a zombie, everyone begins packing up what they had and heads inside the shelter. Tok soon realizes that he forgot to craft a door, so he rushes to his crafting table to do so while everyone else stands guard, fending off a skeleton and a baby zombie in the process. Tok soon crafts a door and secures it to the opening leading to the shelter. Everyone rushes in with Tok closing the door behind them, relieved to be safe from the outside world.

Chapter 16: Chug
Switching to Chug’s POV, he reminisces about everything that had happened over the past few days, from leaving Cornucopia for the first time, to being able to start from scratch after being robbed by the group of six men. Chug also recalls about working on his family’s pumpkin farm and possibly inheriting it from his father, or splitting it with Tok. Chug also mentions his aunt, Becca, who apparently lives on the other side of the cobblestone wall with her own pumpkin farm. The next morning, everyone wakes up feeling cold and achy from the lack of beds, but soon pack what they can and head toward the dark forest, leaving the shelter behind for any traveler that comes along. Remembering the map, Mal notices that there is a clearing just before the woodland mansion, so she and company continue heading toward it. The group then stumble upon some zombies, but they are killed with relative ease by Chug and Lenna. One of them was equipped with a helmet, a sword, and a chest plate, in which Chug takes the helmet and chest plate, and gives the sword to Tok. Eventually, the group come across the clearing, which is home to a swamp biome. Mal then finds a structure hidden behind some trees and vines, described by Chug as "a small house of birch and spruce, up on stilts to keep it out of the water". Mal asks if anyone is home, only to be greeted by the meow of a black cat. Chug and Tok then create a staircase leading up to the structure. The former decides to enter it first with his sword out just in case, only to find the black cat, a crafting table with a potion bottle on top of it, a cauldron and some mushrooms. Everyone else then enters the structure besides Thingy, who oinks as it stands belly-deep in the water below. Tok inspects the potion bottle and believes that it might be a potion of slowness. Lenna feels cautious about this structure, having her bow and arrow at the ready in case something attacks them. Chug and company then decide to sleep here for the night. After eating some mushroom stew and raw chicken, everyone takes a corner and falls asleep. Chug is then woken up in the middle of the night by something making a "hee hee hee hee" sound. At first, he thinks its a llama, but soon realizes that its coming from below.

Chapter 17: Mal
Switching to Mal’s POV, Chug, with his sword in hand, wakes her up by placing his other hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. He whispers to her that there is something in the swamp, and then it makes the "hee hee hee hee" sound again. Suddenly, Mal has a flashback to when she was young; Nan had told her that if she wasn’t good, then a witch would get her. Mal mentions to Chug that its a witch, and that Lenna needs to get her bow and arrow ready. She wakes Lenna up, who immediately fires some arrows at it. The witch retaliates by throwing a potion into the structure, which ends up dissolving a section of the wooden planks on the floor. Tok wakes up in a fright, with Chug dragging him away from the hole that was created. Tok, confused and frightened, clutches Candor to his chest and sits down in a corner. Just then, the witch throws a splash potion of slowness, hitting Lenna on her arm. Mal asks if she is okay, but Lenna responds slowly that she probably is; by the time she draws her bow and arrow, another potions zips by and crashes against the wall. Mal decides to use Lenna’s bow and arrow despite her objections. She fires some arrows, only being able to hit the witch with one of them. Just then, a crazy idea pops into Mal’s head. She decides to have Chug let Poppy loose and go after the witch as a ways of distracting it. Chug obliges, also going after the witch himself. Mal’s last arrow misses wide, but Poppy is already tugging on the witch’s cloak. Chug then attacks the witch with his sword, and then once more just as it whips out a potion to drink, ultimately killing it. The witch ends up dropping the potion it was about to drink, along with some powder, stone, and the red eyes of a dead animal. As Mal and Chug inspect the contents of the bag, Tok exclaims of something off in the distance, described as "a green, transparent block" hopping toward them. Mal realizes that its a slime, remembering a line from Nan’s song that mentioned them. Mal and Chug then notice a smaller slime behind the big one. Both are heading toward them; they have no choice but to head back to the structure. The smaller slime soon catches up and begins climbing the stairs. Mal then kills it with her sword, only for it to split into two smaller ones. She ends up killing them both, which both drop slime balls. Chug also goes after some slimes, but is hit by a big one just as Tok finishes crafting a door, who places it down just as Chug starts heading back inside the structure, slamming the door behind him.

Exhausted, Chug sits on the floor with his legs out straight and a bruise on his face. Mal looks over at everyone, with Lenna appearing to be annoyed as she counts the arrows she lost in the swamp, and Tok leaving against the crafting table and murmuring at the cats as he looks at his brother, feeling worried about him. Mal decides to offer Chug some mushroom stew, who refuses at first, but after Tok and Lenna also offer their mushroom stew, he practically lets it run down his throat, falling asleep soon afterward. Mal looks down at the hole in the floor, noticing a few slimes hopping around. Her mind wanders as to how her parents are handling the situation, wondering if they are either packing up, or too worried about her to do anything. Eventually, she too falls asleep.

Chapter 18: Lenna
Switching to Lenna’s POV, she feels mad at Mal for her actions from earlier (taking her bow and arrow away and letting Poppy loose), but mentions to the reader that she generally pushes those feelings down just like she does at home, almost as if feeling accustomed to having her emotions ignored. Chug wakes up as the sun begins to rise, wondering if they’ll make it to the woodland mansion today. Mal says that they might, noticing the canopy of it off in the distance. Chug decides to head out to pick up some more mushrooms for stew. Tok insists that he take his sword, but Chug refuses. Mal then leaves to find some arrows that were shot from the bow, not meeting eyes with Lenna. Tok and Lenna then chat for a bit about Chug, with the former wondering why he won’t listen about some mobs spawning during the day. Lenna then decides to head out with her bow and arrow, taking Poppy along. Mal soon returns, handing a fistful of wet arrows to Lenna. She tries to explain to her about what she did yesterday, but is interrupted by Chug exclaiming about growing the huge mushrooms back home. Just then, a creature described as being "molted green with a frowning face, long neck, and short skittering legs" approaches them, revealed to be a creeper. Lenna orders Chug to run, which he does so. Mal motions Chug to run to the right as Lenna fires an arrow at it, making it stop flashing, yet its still running toward them. Lenna fires another arrow at it as she and Mal run back to the structure; the arrow does hit the creeper. Although Chug is still on the shore of the swamp, the creeper starts running away once it notices the cat on the steps of the structure. Chug hurries back to the structure, thankful that the cats made the creeper run away, but Tok is furious, saying that nobody can just go running around without having a weapon in hand. Chug asks as to how he was supposed to know that a creeper was gonna come after him, and Tok says that it was because Nan had told him about it, knowing as to how dangerous it would be outside of Cornucopia. He is relieved, however, that Lenna had her bow and arrows, saying that if she didn’t, then Chug would’ve been killed. After an awkward silence, Chug heads inside the structure to make some more mushroom stew, while Mal and Lenna collect some more arrows in the swamp. After doing that, Lenna sits on the porch of the structure while Mal goes after some chickens.

Chug soon calls out that the stew is ready, and everyone heads inside to eat. Lenna, feeling oppressed by the silence, decides to give a long pep talk, saying that they can’t just be angry and silent, and that they knew it was going to be hard outside the walls of Cornucopia. Lenna also mentions that its basically them against the world, knowing that anyone could get injured if they step outside the door of the structure, and that not taking precautions endangers everyone. Lenna also says that everyone has to work together, and that they have to kill off the mobs before they kill them. Chug responds by apologizing for his actions from earlier, saying that he won’t leave his sword behind ever again. Mal also apologizes for what she did regarding Lenna’s bow and arrows and her wolf, Poppy, saying that she’ll listen better and try to consult with the others before making decisions. Tok also apologizes for not being able to contribute much, saying that he feels helpless and mad, and that he just wants to keep everyone safe. Chug appreciates him, however, for always being there to save them, and the two engage in a hug. Lenna then explains to everyone that although she is used to people making decisions for her, she begins to realize that she likes to make decisions by herself, so she asks for everyone to not have Poppy do stuff and to not touch her arrows. Everyone appears to be in agreement as they all engage in a group hug. Lenna then exclaims that they are no longer the "bad apples", instead now preferring to call the group the "Mob Squad".