Y/N = Your Name

L/N = your Last Name

S/N = Sister's Name

B/F/N = Best Friend's Name (boy)

N/A = Name of your Army

N/F = Name of your Followers

S/A = Symbol of your Army

Y/B = Your Birthday

M/N = your Mother's Name

H/C = your Hair Color

E/C = your Eye Color

F/C = your Favorite Color (you can have multiple if you'd like, lol)

The list will be updated as need be throughout the series.

¥¥¥¥¥¥

Several days later....

Jerome's POV

Needless to say, I was nervous about asking the tribe for double the ingredients.  I may be a bacca like them, but my affiliation with humans doesn't have me on their good side.  I mean, they almost killed me last time because I smelled more like a human than a bacca!  They literally thought they were killing a sneaky human until they saw me....

Mitch was pretty nervous, too.  Maybe because I was nervous, but I dunno.  He wasn't fond of this tribe BECAUSE they tried to kill me the last time I approached them.  Granted, I had been kinda sneaking through the undergrowth around the tribe because I was nervous to see so many baccas at once, but Notch almighty, they could really be aggressive!  At least I knew better how to approach this time.  In plain sight.  And of course, without Mitch by my side.

Like last time, Mitch would camp out about an hour's trip from the tribe's borders.  This worked last time, so what could go wrong?

I say with full confidence before everything goes to heck.

To take our mind off things, we were just doing Merome things, goofing off and the like.

Uuuunfortunately, we weren't paying attention to how close to the tribe's borders we had been getting.

What?  It's been 4 years!  How were we supposed to remember exactly where Mitch had camped?

Or the unknown fact to us that they'd expanded their borders quite a bit since last time?

Anyway, we were both laughing at a joke Mitch had made when an arrow flew at us, nicking Mitch's hoodie and making him stumble.

"Woah, Biggums!"  I exclaimed, looking around the area the arrow had come from.

"Damn, I missed the human."  I heard a voice mutter.

"Try again, then!"  Another voice hissed quietly, though, to my bacca senses, it was loud enough for me to hear.

I shielded Mitch with my body, throwing my arms out to the sides.  "Don't shoot him, please!"

"Great, the human's got him as a pet."

I scowled at the insult.  I was NOT Mitch's pet, we were friends!  "I resent that comment!"  I called out.

"Dude, are we being ambushed??"  Mitch whispered, still behind me.

Before I could even open my mouth, 3 baccas jumped down from the nearby trees with stone spears and slowly stalked towards us.

I glanced at Mitch.  "Um, that may be a yes, Biggums."

I looked back at the baccas and grinned sheepishly.  "Hah, heeey, guys!  Th-There's no need for any violence...we're just...here to speak with the chief!"

The baccas narrowed their eyes at me.  "The pet wants to speak to our high chief?  Hah!  You're something else."  One replied, sneering.

Mitch scowled slightly.  "He is NOT a pet, he's a friend!"

"Shut up, human, we'll deal with you in a second."

I quickly took out Betty, exclaiming, "Mitch, RUN!"

I body-blocked Mitch as he nodded and took off back the way we came.

However, with clearly-honed reflexes, one of the baccas threw his stone spear faster than I could block and it hit Mitch in the back of his leg.  Mitch cried out and fell, sliding a couple blocks forward.

The other baccas chuckled.  "Man, your owner sucks at dodging."

I growled.  "One, NOT my owner, for the third time.  Two, his back was turned, idiots, how could he have seen?  Third, what the Nether?!  He was leaving, not attacking!"

"One, PET, he clearly knows the location of our tribe, so sadly for you, we're gonna have to take him out.  Two, neither pets nor humans are welcome anywhere near our tribe."

The one who threw his spear advanced towards Mitch, so I side-stepped to block him, threatening him with Betty.  "Leave him alone!  I just have to speak with the chief!"

"Okay, pet, about what exactly, hmm?"  One mocked.

I scowled at the term once more but continued on anyway.  "We need eucalyptus flowers."

Mitch had pulled the spear from his leg but was unable to stand from the wound in his leg.  I took a step back towards him as the baccas growled in unison.  "YOU need our precious eucalyptus flowers?!  How dare you, pet!  Do you not realize how sacred those are?!"

Mitch turned over onto his back, pushing himself into a sitting position with a grimace.  "We do not come asking for them lightly.  The future of Minecraftia depends on those flowers."

"Pet, your owner would be wise to SHUT.  UP."  One of the baccas growled.

I sighed angrily.  "This is getting nowhere.  Your tribe will not be safe if we do not have those flowers as soon as possible.  I'm not the one threatening you, the brines are."

The baccas hesitated for the first time since our encounter, looking at one another.  "The b-brines?  Maybe we should take him to the chief...."  One whispered.

"And what about the human?  He knows the location of our tribe!  And his pet--"  I growled at him but he continued speaking anyway.  "--will try to kill us if we attempt to harm him further."  He finished.

"Oh, just leave him.  Night will come soon enough and he'll be the mobs' problem."

"Okay, I ABSOLUTELY resent that idea!"  I exclaimed.  "You cannot leave my friend here to just die!"

"I also do not want to die."  Mitch muttered to himself.

"So...this would leave us at a bit of an impasse."  One of the baccas sighed, lowering his spear slightly.  "You clearly will not leave without talking to the chief and we're not leaving the human alive with the knowledge of our location."

"I mean...he knew of the location the last time we came for some flowers...."  I muttered.

Mitch was close enough to me at this point that he heard me and kicked me with his good leg.

"Ow, dude!  What--oh."  I glanced at the baccas to see renewed anger in their eyes.

"He KNEW?!!  How many know of our location, pet?!"  One growled, leveling his spear at me.

I held up Betty defensively.  "J-Just Seto knows exactly where, th-the other 5 only know it's a week's travel away, but not the exact location.  A-And I guess Mitch knows, too."

The bacca without a spear pinched the bridge of his nose.  "Great.  Just great.  So when are we getting invaded, pet?"

"Nobody's invading anybody."  I sighed.  "Hunting our kind has been illegal for years, although some outside our kingdom's influence still do it.  Those people, in particular, do not know about this tribe, okay?"

"U-Um, could I get a little help?  I think you nicked an artery because a lot more blood is coming out."  Mitch said quietly, looking like he was a bit lightheaded.

I glanced at Mitch before looking at the baccas.  "Could you guys maybe not kill him while I try to keep him from bleeding out?  You know, a request from a bacca to a bacca."

"Pet."  One muttered.

I narrowed my eyes but bit my tongue to keep from lashing back at him.

Another sighed and rubbed his face.  "I'm not a leader, I dunno what to do here.  Fine, pet, take care of your owner, but we're taking you both prisoner until the chief is ready to speak to you."

I winced.  I mean, that was better than death, but not by much.  Being taken prisoner is kinda pride-wounding for a bacca.  We're a bit barbaric like that.  Death over imprisonment and all that.  That's why they keep calling me Mitch's pet.

"Whatever."  I grumbled, putting Betty away and turning towards Mitch.

I noticed the baccas moving to surround us with their spears and the spearless one picking up his from the ground, holding it up towards us.  I winced at the bloody tip of the spear but turned my attention back towards Mitch.  "Okay...bandages, bandages...thank Notch we packed some for...some reason."  I muttered, pulling out some bandages and wrapping up Mitch's leg.

Mitch grimaced quite a bit as I wrapped his leg, making sure to make it tight but not too tight and all that.

Eventually, I managed to pull Mitch to his feet.  I slung his arm over my shoulder and looked at the baccas.  "Done.  Can we get this over with now?"

The baccas sneered slightly at me giving in to being considered a prisoner of theirs so easily.  They turned and started walking the direction we had been going.  Mitch and I followed slowly behind.

"You gonna be okay, Biggums?"  I whispered, worried for my friend.

Despite his injury, he grinned.  "I'll be good as long as they don't kill me."

"There will be some fierce words if they attempt it again."  I growled lightly.

After about a 10-minute walk, we arrived at the edge of their village.  There were many baccas roaming the area, chatting and laughing, but it got deathly silent in the area when they all spotted Mitch.  Mothers hid their children behind them and all that fun stuff.  It made me remember that most baccas were afraid of humans.

The 3 baccas led us to a rather tall cage in the middle of the village.  They turned to us and we stopped.  I could hear Mitch faintly panting from the pain and exhaustion he most likely had from the blood loss.

"Hand over all your weapons."

I scowled slightly but handed over Betty.  Helping Mitch, I grabbed his iron sword and bow and arrows from him and also handed them over.

"In you go."  One of them sneered, gesturing to the cage.

I helped Mitch limp into the cage as they closed and tied the door shut.  I could easily open the door with my claws, but it wouldn't help our case if I did.  I was thoroughly humiliated, though, to be in a cage in full view of the village.

Mitch let go of me and collapsed into a heap on the ground, groaning.  "Notch, I'm tired...."

I knelt down beside him.  "I know, dude, I know...just relax, it may be a bit before we can see the chief.  Hopefully, he'll give us what we need...."

I could hear baccas gathering around us, staring in surprise at one of their own in a cage with a human.  There were some murmurs, but I was too focused on Mitch to care what they were muttering about.

I felt like an animal in a zoo what with all the gawking they were doing.  I just hoped the chief would be able to see us soon....

It took about an hour, but some baccas who seemed like guards came up to the cage and opened it.  "Alright, pet--"  Was this a nickname I was gonna have for the rest of my time here?  Geez....  "--the chief will see you, but considering you threatened one of us, we'll have to tie your hands."

"Is that really necessary?  He was trying to kill my friend!"  I exclaimed, standing up.

"A human.  Surely you know the danger humans pose.  And clearly, you've been severely...humanized."

I went to protest, but I instead let out a heavy sigh.  I mean, he wasn't WRONG, per se, but that term was very...mean.

I let them tie my hands up in front of me and walked out of the cage.  I glanced back at Mitch who was still trying to recover from the walk.  "What about Mitch?"

"The human will be staying here until the chief decides what to do with him."

I was praying to Notch that this would all just blow over and they'd let us have the flowers and leave.

4 guards surrounded me as we walked to a slightly larger building than the rest.  I was guessing that the chief either lived here or did the majority of his work here.

We entered the building and I faltered in my walk slightly.  The bacca sitting in the seat in front of us was not the chief I remembered from last time.  It was a female bacca.

She looked over in interest.  "So this is the bacca who wishes to see me?  Oh, must he be all trussed up like that?"

"It's for your safety, high chief.  He threatened one of us with his diamond axe when they tried to kill the human."

She sighed and waved her hand.  "Alright.  Well, what did you wish to speak to me about?"

I tilted my head.  "Well, actually, I am curious.  Who are you?  Last time I came, it was an older male bacca who was the chief."

She nodded slightly, understanding my confusion.  "That would be my father.  He passed away last year, so I became the new chief.  And you must be...oh, what did he say...Jerome, I believe?  You came about 4 years ago looking for our sacred eucalyptus flowers for some kind of special potion to save your friend."

"I must say I'm a bit surprised that you'd even remember a random bacca who came around looking for the flowers."  I replied.

"Not many know about the tree, and even fewer seek it out.  Powerful little things when mixed with the right ingredients.  Cure the incurable, save the unsavable, kill the unkillable...."

"I don't know a whole lot about it, really.  My sorcerer friend needs some to make a couple of the potions we made before.  The brines are back, so that's why I've come again."

She sat up straighter, looking alarmed.  "Brines?  I thought that ordeal was taken care of 4 years ago."

"We thought so, too.  Then 2 sisters showed up claiming to be Herobrine's children, as well.  And one of them came of age a little under a week ago.  Seto asked me to come here again and ask for more flowers.  Twice the amount needed so he can make a potion for the other sister, too."

She hummed in thought.  "Well, you came at the right time, I have to say.  The tree is in full bloom with many flowers.  Twice the amount needed, you say?  How many flowers are we talking about?"

"I believe Seto needs 8 for each potion, so 16 flowers."

The guards looked at me in disbelief, but the chief nodded slightly.  "I see...and what can you give us in return?  That is a lot of flowers...."

I smiled a little sheepishly.  "I-I'm not sure what I could give you in return...we didn't bring much."

She crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly.  "You smell greatly like a human.  I'm guessing that you live with them?  The humans?"

"Humans, hybrids, yeah."  I replied, a little uncomfortable that I still smelled more like a human than a bacca.

"Then how about this.  You bring us some of their supplies--weapons, armor, tools, the like--and we'll give you the flowers.  Any edge against humans that want us for our pelts is a good edge to have."

"Wait, you want these supplies before you give us the flowers?"

She nodded at that.  "Indeed."

I bit my lip.  "That's a bit of a problem.  We need the flowers ASAP or Minecraftia could be in ruins by the time I get there and back with any supplies.  And also, with what you're asking, I couldn't bring it all by myself.  I'd need help, and there aren't any other baccas in the kingdom.  Just me.  So other humans would know your location."

She waved her hand, unconcerned.  "That second part is easy.  I'd just send some of my guards to bring it all back.  However, that first part is a problem.  Hmm...."

She seemed to study me and I grew uncomfortable under her gaze.  "Leave the human here as leverage for us in case you betray us and you can take the flowers and guards with you."

"You want me to leave Mitch behind??"  I exclaimed.  "That's insane!  How do I know you guys won't just kill him while I'm gone?!"

"Like I said, leverage.  You betray us, he dies.  You don't betray us and the supplies come here safely, he'll be set free to return.  Simple as that."

I scowled slightly.  It SOUNDED simple, sure, but could I trust these human haters to not kill my best friend??

"I'd feel safer if you swapped that deal around and let him go home with the guards and flowers and kept me here."

She hummed in thought once more.  "...perhaps.  Perhaps that could work.  I'd be down several guards obviously and having someone who's clearly a threat as a prisoner should deter any no-good humans."

"I was hoping you'd end that off as I'd be a temporary guard, not a prisoner...."

The guards snickered at my comment and the chief laughed slightly.  "Notch, no.  You were bold enough to threaten your own kind.  That alone deserves banishment from ever returning here.  But I'll play nice.  You stay as a prisoner and the human can limp his way back with my guards and the 16 flowers.  Deal?"

I sighed.  "Mitch won't like it, but I say that is a deal."

She waved her hand in a 'move along' gesture.  "Alright, go discuss things with the human if you'd like.  I'll have someone gather the flowers and the guards."

The guards moved me a bit so I figured it was time to make haste back to Mitch before things went any more awry.

The guards took me back to the cage and opened it, untying my hands and pushing me forward.  I scowled at them slightly as they closed the door and once more tied it shut.

Mitch was dozing on the ground and I hated to wake him, but he had to know what was going on.

Hey, dood...."  I whispered, gently shaking him.

He groaned slightly and opened his eyes.  "Ow...hey, dood...."

I chuckled slightly.  You awake enough to hear the plan?"

"Are we busting our way out of here or something?"

"Or something.  You won't like this...."  I trailed off before telling him what the plan was.

"You're right, Biggums.  I don't like this plan."  He muttered.

"It was that or leave YOU behind in the midst of a bunch of baccas who want to kill you.  At least they won't kill me."

Mitch sighed.  "But it'd be probably more than 3 weeks before I'd see you again...."

I hugged him.  "I know, benja.  But it's safer for you to go.  The guards won't kill you.  I think."

"That's reassuring."  He deadpanned.

I chuckled, letting go of him.  "How's the leg?"

"Hurts like the Nether and I'm not even standing yet.  They are stupidly accurate with their throws."  He muttered angrily.

"Well, they wouldn't have survived this long if they weren't stupidly accurate...."

Mitch grinned.  "You suck at blocking, by the way."

I smacked his arm.  "Hey!  I tried, you know!"

We lightly bantered with each other, relaxing some despite being in a cage in full view of a village of human haters.

After about 15 minutes, 8 bacca guards came up to the cage and opened it.  "Alright, human, time to go."  One said gruffly.

Mitch looked sadly at me before painfully standing up and limping towards them.  Surprisingly, they handed him his iron sword and bow and arrows, which he took and put away.  They also handed him a small bag.  Probably the flowers.  Mitch then looked at me.  "See you later, Biggums."

I grinned at him.  "Later, benja."

They closed the cage again and all headed off at a pace Mitch could keep up with.

I sighed, settling in to be here for a long time.

A pretty long time....

A nice long chapter for y'all :3