Tails of DogCraft

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I let out a soft whimper as Addison let out three sharp barks, eyeing the other wolves. "Without further complaint," she cleared her throat, irritating me slightly, she turned to face the chalkboard. After several ear - wrenching scrapes against the blackened board, Addison stepped back to reveal some sort of wonky zombie figure. I barely held back a snort of disbelief, what on earth was that dog up to?

"Okay," Wink says. "So your plan is to..." -he reads Adisons messy handwriting (or pawwriting, or mouthwriting, or something of the sort)- "Mess with one of the most dangerous mobs in the game?" He shakes his dog in disbelief. "Addison," Tucker agreed, "Out of all your insane ideas," -he shares a glance with Wink- "this is, by far, the most insane." The rest of the wolves shook their heads, but stopped when I spoke up. "This may be the most crazy and dangerous idea Addison has ever come up with," I say, glances at her, "but it's for Stacy."

Addison's glare was immediately wiped off her face. "Yeah!" She chimed, nodding her head, "like, does it even matter how dangerous it is? It's for Stacy, right?" Me and Addison have never been close, but I try not to glare as she makes a huge show out of my earlier point. The other wolves exchange glances, and I can see Addison tense. "I'm in," Noah piped up. Wink and Tucker nodded. Only Everest seemed slightly unsure, but he often worries more then he needs to.

"Okay guys!" Tucker grins, "Let's get a move on!" The next day was a blur of white chalk dust caught in our coats, ear-wrenching screeches, and sleepless hours.      The next thing you know, all of us (the wolves - Droplet and Splat) are in the Nether, looking for the pigmen, with Everest nervously leaving behind dog buscuits, which we need to pay Madeline back for.

"G - guys," Everest glanced around, gulping, as we made our way past lava lakes and fires still ablaze. "What is it, Everest?" I spoke through gritted teeth, extremely irritated. The canine didn't respond, just glanced away and continued dropping his biscuits. I sighed, breaking into a jog, which seemed like a sprint due to my speed, and easily overtook everyone else.

   I soon stop in my tracks. In front of me, at least one-hundred pigmen are in a herd, walking about in a slow, lazy manner. They seem not to notice me, just continue their robotic movements and monotone groans. I bite my lip and stop moving a second. Don't move a muscle, Basil, I tell myself. I wait for the others to catch up before releasing a breath. The others gasp. A crowd of pigmen move out of the way like The Red Sea, revealing a large cobblestone castle. I hear distant wails from inside

My ears immediately pull back to press against my head and my eyes widen. I feel Tucker shuffle to stand beside me, chest puffed out and head held high. "We came all this way," his bark was barely audible against the pigman ruckus, "I won't back down just now." And with that, he charged. For that very moment, everything slowed to a stop. And all I did was watch. That was probably the best I could do, as Tucker completely dodged past the pigman without notice, darting into the castle.

I run after him as fast as I can, trying to block the grunts and call behind me. All I see is a mental plan. Soon, I find a room in the wall. Tucker's already there, picking up gold with his teeth. I do the same, but keep one ear open. My doggy backpack is full when I'm done, and I see everyone else is done, too. But at least twenty pigmen show up to ruin my sense of relief

Thoughts race through my head. How did they get here so fast? What will they do to us? What about those blaze noises, will they feed us to the blazes? Fear numbs my entire body as I hear a clank behind me, assuming someone dropped a bar of gold they must've packed away. I take a step back, then a few more. Soon I'm pressed against the back wall, whimpering softly. I watch as Wink is scooped up and away, letting out a yelp. Then Noah, Tucker, Addison, and Everest, who is shaking and whining the most. Soon, it is only me who is left, cowering behind a few stacks of gold.

Crap. I simply walk forwards. If my friends are dying...  I am, too.  They scoop me up with their rotting arms and tread until we reach a hallway of cages. Blazes, Wither Skeletons, everything, in the cages. My vision turns hazy and a severe buzzing fills my head. Then darkness creeps up on me and I think to myself, I am going to die.

I shut my eyes tightly, feeling myself being rested upon the cold stone ground. Only when I hear the door clang shut behind me do I open my eyes. Around me, the other dogs let out soft groaning sounds, and I couldn't help but wail.

I lay down and stay there. I don't move. I just sit there, blink and breath, silently waiting for the unwilling act of death

It was only when I heard the gruff zombie - like noises of a pigman did I finally open my eyes to see two large slabs of meat lying in front of me. Despite my current, horrible situation, hunger gnawed at my stomach. I watched Wink and Noah hungrily tear off chunks while Tucker tentatively sniffed the second. Everest still sat facing the wall, and Addison was no where in my immediate view

I touch it with my paw, but decide against it. Instead, I try to injest a crumb of carrot I find on the floor. I'm going to starve, but there's probably something worse in the meat.

My mind wanders to back in the world of DogCraft, with Stacy, and my dear puppies Splat and Droplet. With every thought my heart wrenches, until a certain image pops in to my mind. Madeline. I growl softly, then let out a sigh. It was probably traumatizing for Madeline to be bitten by Charlie that fateful day. 'But that gives her no excuse to treat Stacy the was she has been!' I let out another sigh and curl up, ignoring the groans erupting from Wink and Noah. I knew there was something in the meat.

This is the first time I've ever been truly scared since the lightning strike. This is also the first time I've ever been this determined to survive.

originally published ;;  may 2015