To BUDDER

Chapter 1

The sunlight streamed in through the window, shining upon the desk that was filled with clutter. The people outside were buzzing, happy and completely oblivious to what was happening inside the building. Sky stared out the large window that took up his wall. It was right behind his desk, so all he had to do was turn. He sighed at the normal civilians. They had it easy, only having to care for the few that were dear to them. He was the one to care for an entire army. He slowly started to drift asleep in the warm sunlight. His comfy, velvet chair wasn't helping.

"Um," A squeaky voice stated from behind him. Sky woke up, only a bit. He shook his head, trying to wake himself. "Sir Sky?" Sky turned his chair to see a small recruit, looking uncomfortable in his office doorway. He was decked in armour, budder and iron.

"Yes?" Sky inquired. He knew it must be something important. It would probably lead to him not being able to sleep. Gosh, he was really tired. Only because of last night's squid attack. Well, not the attack itself, the meeting afterwards was the real chaos. Constant arguing on what the squids would do next. Sky had to stand on the table and yell for everyone to calm down before people would just shut up. He felt like he was getting too old for this. He could retire, but he had created this army and he was going to die with it. Besides, just Army would be quite a dumb name.

"MinecraftUniverse asked for you, sir," The guard replied, gulping a bit. Sky smirked at him. Newbies, always afraid of the general.

"Okay, then," Sky responded, standing up. His navy cape rustled and the picture of a budder pick was disoriented for a few seconds. He felt the fatigue when he stood. He just breathed through it and knew he would be sleeping in his nice warm bed tonight. The guard turned to leave. "Wait." The guard turned, a quizzical look on his face. "Could lead me to his office? I'm awfully tired and I will probably end up in the wrong room." The guard nodded and waited for Sky to catch up before leading him through the budder corridors. Sky knew this place like the back of his hand, even if he was tired he could get around. Since he wanted to think, he let the guard lead. He could focus all the energy to his brain. So, why would Jason need to talk to Sky? Did Jason find something disturbing? Maybe a new lead? Or something of the sort. Oh, that would be bliss. He would be sleeping well tonight.

The guard stopped abruptly, almost making Sky tumble into him. Sky felt his sunglasses even move forward from the stop. "Um, Sir MinecraftUniverse? I have brought General Sky at your request."

Sky heard the shuffling of papers and the sound of footfalls coming towards the door. They were slow and sloppy. So Jason must be tired as well. "Just a second," Sky heard his familiar voice from the other side of the door. The door swung open to reveal a spaceman in his spacesuit. Same old Jason. Sky grinned a bit and could feel Jason smile back. He felt Jason's attention go to the guard. "Thanks Frank. Go off and train." The guard, Frank, slightly bowed and then he raced off.

Sky stepped into Jason's office. Jason closed the door behind him and motioned him to his desk. "So, what's up Jason?" Sky inquired, crashing into the chair in front of Jason's desk.

"Well," Jason started while he walked over to his side of the desk. He sat down in his own chair. Sky's eyes scanned Jason's desk. It was filled with a tons of papers, maps, letters, pictures, and it had a few more items as well. One of which was a bulky lamp that shone onto the mess. "I've found a lead. But, you may not like the outcome."

"Tell me," Sky responded, solemnly.

"The note that we had discovered yesterday," Jason brought it out and showed Sky. Sky remembered finding it right after the battle. "It was coded. I identified the key and found that it was the name of a town that is under Budder City's command. I checked some maps and saw it was near here.

"Do they plan to attack the city?" Sky questioned.

"Actually," Jason replied, scratching the back of his helmet. "They decided to take it."

"Whatever do you mean?" Sky stood quickly, making his chair fall. It was bizarre, the squids actually accomplishing something.

"They captured it last night while they attacked us," Jason explained. "We were too occupied with predicament that we couldn't help them." Sky sighed and brought a hand to his forehead. "That city was one of our budder suppliers, as well."

"Oh no," Sky uttered, his hand moving from his forehead to his mouth.

"Do you see it, too?" Jason inquired. "Their plan to shut down our supplies and attack while we are feeble?"

"It's a nightmare, Jason. The squids became smarter, overnight," Sky answered in a whisper. "Impossible." He saw that the supplies of budder had gotten a bit smaller. He only took it as a sign of laziness. Sky picked up the chair that he knocked down and collapsed in it. He rubbed his face, trying to think of a way to stop them.

"What are we going to do, Sky?"

Sky wanted to say, "I don't know." But he knew he couldn't. Jason was his friend and he didn't want Jason to feel alone in this war. Even if Sky was alone. With all the bad stuff happening and now this. How was he going to solve it? He sighed, exhaustion sinking in.

"I need you to gather warriors and transport them to producers of our ores and supplies," Sky answered. "Put more people in our patrols, I don't want people to get hurt."

"How are we going to help?" Jason quizzed.

"Patrol, maybe?" Sky responded.

"Got it."

"And make it so I can get some sleep."

"Well, sleep up, Sky. We are going on night patrol."

There goes sleeping in a warm bed tonight.