//Why do my chapters all feel so short now...

To say they were surprised to see Phil out and about would be an understatement. Their mouths practically dropped open in shock when he waved while Techno carried him over. That was not what they expected when the pink haired man ran after Brian just a few minutes ago. "What is he doing outside! He was still complaining about pain this morning!" Techno huffed as he walked up the small hill, the sun burning down at him not helping at all when carrying someone. "He's feeling better. And being stuck inside for so long might not be that good for him..." "I can talk for myself you know." Techno laughed as he carefully placed him in the soft grass underneath the single small tree that was near the stable. Some shade is better than no shade.

"He's just here to chat and hang out, not help with the stable, so this should be fine. It's not that much pressure on his back." "Again, I have the ability to talk too." "You haven't stopped me though." The others began to snicker and giggle behind them as Techno placed a water bottle and some food on his cape, which he had quickly snatched from the fence and placed it next to Phil. "Stay. Don't move too much. If you even try to get up you are banned back to the house." "I'm not a little kid!" "But you are too stubborn for your own good, that's already bad enough."

Phil was left to pout in his spot underneath the tree, Brian and Blade both deciding that he was a nice resting spot, with Blade in his lap and Brian perched on his shoulder. Techno completely ignored the oldest and joined the others to help construct the walls of the stable now. It wasn't the prettiest thing, really ugly and basic actually, made from cobblestone and wood, but it's theirs and they were proud of it. Tommy was constantly laughing and making jokes, Phil's hat on his head and shielding him from the sun. Looking at him like this, with his hat and the messy blonde hair poking out from underneath it... it's starting to become obvious why people would consider him Phil's son in real life. Sure, there are some obvious differences, but that could easily be said to come from the 'mother's' side.

Tommy's excitement was a nice distraction from any dark thoughts that had been there earlier, his laughter very contagious to the point where there was barely a moment without him and someone laughing. He may be loud and sometimes very annoying, but he still is a good friend and tries to keep everyone smiling and laughing and distracted. Even if he doesn't know that he is doing it, which he probably does.

It was easy to involve Phil without needing him to get up, his position under the tree perfect for a good outside look on their construction and feedback on what they need to change so it doesn't look as bad as it could. They had to talk a little louder so he can hear their conversation over the small distance, but that wasn't that much of a problem. Besides Techno, everyone was used to talking and screaming loudly in streams or videos. Okay... Techno has been pretty loud as well, but that's not the point. He would never admit to it anyways.

It was a nice day... one that didn't feel like being trapped and lost.

When the sun started to set, they retreated back to the safety of their base, leaving the half constructed stable for now. If they manage to keep the same pace tomorrow, then they should be able to finish it. "That stable takes much longer than I thought." Sapnap stretched and yawned, trying to get his body to wake up a bit again, at least enough to eat dinner. He's probably the one that hates skipping any kind of food the most.

"Of course it does. Even with Minecraft physics, constructing a house takes forever." Phil placed his head on top of Techno's, who had taken of his crown and tied it to his belt so it wont get lost. Brian was on top of Phil's head, feathers fluffed up and half asleep, just like his human friend was. "And it's exhausting too, especially if you do it on your own." "We managed to finish Dream and George's house in a day though." "That house is half the size of the stable and is mostly wood. Not so many different materials and stuff like fences and shit." "Fair enough."

"Guys. I have an idea." Tommy grins when everyone turned their heads towards him like a kid on christmas. "What if we all eat dinner together outside. We can make a campfire and take our stuff out here! Mobs can't spawn and we all slept so much that we probably won't get phantoms chasing us." They shared a look, silently arguing if that's a good idea as some of them are pretty tired. But it would be a nice switch up to their usual dinner, so they ended up agreeing anyways. "Alright... sure. Sounds fun." The teen cheered and immediately went to go grab some stuff, leaving the adults to laugh and Phil to mumble something about 'teenagers'. But they all love Tommy and they know it.

The campfire was set up pretty quickly in the middle of their base, on top of the gravel path to make sure nothing flammable is too close to the fire. They spread out the two spare blankets they have on either side to sit on, but far enough away from the flames so they won't catch fire, and Techno just used his cape. While most of them found a comfortable spot, Techno and Dream prepared some food that they can eat. They do not really trust themselves with making food over the open fire without burning something.

"We should go to the village and see if we can purchase some meat... maybe eggs and milk too... this is getting a bit boring." George bites of a piece of his baked potato while the others grumbled in approval. Dream looked down at Blade where he sat pressed against his side and begged for some treats. "No pork-chop though. Please." They all looked at Blade for a second, who grunted and happily munched on a potato. "Yeah... agreed. Let's not buy pork chop." "We should do that when we have the horse anyways, so we have some time to think about what we want. Otherwise the food might get bad on the way home. And we need to figure out a way to keep the meat cooled down too. We don't exactly have a fridge here."

"True... Maybe we can have animals ourselves? Like chickens and stuff. At least then we can have fresh eggs." "We'll figure something out. And we need to make the base much bigger if we want animals..." "Yay... more filling in water." The list started to grow longer the more they thought about it while eating their dinner. Everything from more food options to maybe some extra clothes so they can have spare stuff. "Maybe when we have the horse we can go look for the bigger village that the blacksmith talked about. They will probably have a lot more stuff." "I still want to buy tools from Elfstone. He's nice and the poor guy needs more business."

"Who is Elfstone?" "Phil's new best friend." The blonde threw a piece of his carrot at Dream, who ducked out of the way and laughed. "Shut it." "He is the nice Blacksmith in the village who made us our diamond weapons. Phil just got along with him pretty well and worked out diamond weapons with barely any high costs, but a ton of iron." "Ohhh okay." "We should visit him for some armor soon. Now we have enough materials to pay for some. Even if it's only enchanted iron." "Yeah... then we could maybe go into actual small caves. With shield and armor and all. Get some diamonds." "Sounds good to me."

They may not be that confident in fighting mobs yet, but they have to learn it at some point if they want to get further into the direction of beating the game, one way or another. Even if they only want stronger armor and stuff, they will probably have to go to the nether for potions and netherite. And if they can't fight properly when they do go there... well it's practically suicide then.

"We can do this... even if it will take us months to get good enough, we will get there." Grinning at each other, the group raised their water bottles in a cheer of agreement to Dream's words and took a big swig, looking for the world like a half drunken pirate crew celebrating the newest successful treasure hunt.

"Woah... guys look." They followed Tommy's gaze up to the sky, where a million stars were lighting up the dark blue, the half moon glowing brightly. There were soft purple swirls mixed in with what they assumed was supposed to be the milkyway and if you paid close attention, then you could spot a shooting star or two striking past. "That is not the normal Minecraft sky..." "It's beautiful..." "Wow... I've never seen so many stars at once..." "Look! A shooting star!"

They spent a good 10 minutes just silently staring up at the sky, all in too much awe to say anything. It's difficult to see more than a handful of stars when you live in bigger cities, so a sky free of light pollution is a first for most of them. At least seeing one for real is.

"Kinda makes you forget about the whole... surviving thing, doesn't it?" George mumbled, who was starting to feel tired now and yawned right after his question. Dream looked over to him and huffed out a laugh. "Alright. I guess it's bed time now. It's been a long day for all of us." Tommy nodded, already rubbing his eyes while huddling against Techno's side. Sapnap and Dream got up to extinguish the small campfire while Techno and Tommy, despite the teen being half asleep, helped Phil back to their shared house.

But they all froze and turned towards the iron door in the wall when a loud knock echoed through their base.

There was a bit of light coming through the small holes in it. Whoever was on the other side has a lantern or torch. But they were dead silent... which was a bit suspicious. Techno left Tommy to support Phil while he slowly walked towards the door with his diamond axe in hand. Dream followed close behind, just in case. There was a second knock, this time more panicked. A part of him hopes it was another one of their friends that managed to find them, while the other is worried it might be some sort of intruder.

Techno looked at Dream for a second, who gave him a short nod, before opening the door with his axe in front of him. He had expected one person to stand there, but it turned out to be two... and he immediately recognized them duo to their clothes first, then their faces. The two newcomers seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see them. "Technoblade? Is that you?" "Yeah... um... come inside?" He stepped aside to let the two in, who as soon as they were in were welcomed by the group with big grins and hugs.

"Bad! Oh my god you are here!" Bad was immediately tackled by all three members of the Dream Team, who were more than happy to see their friend. He laughed and hugged back as best as he could with three people squishing him. "Hey guys! It's so good to see you! Are you all okay? No one hurt?" "George was, but he is fine now." "That's good." He smiled, his teeth seeming just the tiniest bit sharper than they are supposed to and his eyes having a slight glow to them underneath the hood of his black and red hoodie.

While they did that Techno patted the second newcomer on the shoulder and smiled. "Good to see you in one piece Puffy." "Yeah... seeing other people after so long feels like a dream." She smiled up at him before she was almost crushed in a hug by Tommy, who had left Phil leaning against the wall for support. "Puffy!" "Hey Tommy! Wow you are much taller in real life than I thought you were." "Of course I am! I am a big man! Huge in fact!" "Sure you are." She laughed when Tommy stood straighter to practically show off with his height when he was in fact still shorter than Techno right next to him.

"It was so crazy out there... I have been alone for a week out there before Bad found me... And then Bad and I have been traveling none stop together for 2 days and had to hide from monsters so much." "Yeah... same goes for me. I traveled for like a week before I found this place." "2 days of travelling huh? You two must be hungry. We can make you some food if you want." Phil smiled and slowly made his way over to them, Techno coming over to help him as soon as he noticed it.

"Holy shit what happened to you? What is that?" The blonde laughed and allowed his wings to slightly spread out until they started to sting. "Oh these? Yeah I am just growing wings, nothing big." Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the featherless limbs. "You are doing what now?!" "Yeah he's been in so much fucking pain the last few days from then growing in, but he powered through it like the man he is and now he's feeling better but it still hurts and-" "Tommy. Breathe." They laughed as he began to pout and argue that he is not a child, while Puffy stepped closer to Phil to get a better look at his wings.

Looks like the night isn't quite over yet.