New Generation

Tag

((Max's POV))

        "Max, you're gonna drop those on your head!" Alice warns. I smile, tossing another stone into the three I'm currently juggling. 

        "No, I'm not. If I drop them, they'll land on my feet. I'm not new to this, either! Hey Indy, toss me another rock, will ya?" Indy shakes his head, so Alice picks one up and tosses it to me. I catch it and keep juggling. 

        "You know, I was worried we might manage to get to the castle without someone hurting themselves. So glad we brought you along." Indy mutters. I toss the rocks one at a time into the grass next to us. 

        "See? I'm fine! And don't worry, we still have time to screw up!" I assure him. He rolls his eyes, as expected, and mutters something I can't quite hear. Alice runs ahead and stops at the top of a hill. 

        "Hey look, a lake! I know how to clean the water without a filter!" Indy stops walking, then actually takes a step back. 

        "What's wrong?" I ask. He looks almost like he's scared. If Indy is freaked about something, I think we should be as well. 

        "Can we not stop by the lake? There's a stream up ahead, can't we go there?" He asks. Alice frowns, and looks at the lake. 

        "How far ahead? I haven't had anything to drink since lunch yesterday, I don't think any of us have. If it's really far, I think we should stop here." Indy thinks a second. 

        "Well... it's just through the woods. maybe another mile? Just don't stop here!" What's got him so freaked? I look at him, then it hits me. 

        "Indy, is this the lake..?" He glares at me to shut up. I'm guessing that's a yes, this is the lake he almost drowned in. Where he met Mitch and Jerome and joined their little society in the trees. 

        "Let's keep going. A mile isn't that bad, is it?" Alice looks from me to Indy, then sighs. 

        "Fine, we'll keep going. It better be the coolest, nicest water I've every tasted!" She turns around and starts running down the hill. Indy raises an eyebrow. 

        "Childish. This girl is the next leader of Minecraftia?" I smirk and punch him in the arm lightly. 

        "Chill out and be a kid. You're it!" I start sprinting down the hill, and can feel myself gaining speed as gravity takes control as well. I see Alice ahead of me trip over her feet and fall. She's laughing, so I think she'll be fine. I'm going to fall to, unless I do something with the forward energy...

        Don't be a show off. Who are you showing off for, anyways? It's not like Alice would care, and Indy would just roll his eyes. My mind says. I smirk. Although... then there's nothing to loose. Going for it! Once I feel like I'm going to fall on my face, I jump and do a front flip, landing perfectly on the ground. 

        "Wow." Alice says, slow clapping. I shrug, then feel something poke my back. I turn around to see Indy. I can't see his mouth, but the rest of the face says he's smiling. 

        "You're it, show off." Alice looks surprised, then laughs. 

        "He does have a good side!Good for yo- eep!" I push her to the side, then take off into the forest. 

        "You're it, Alice!" She laughs and tries to tag Indy, but he jumps and pulls himself up into a tree before she can. When he gets down, though, he is tagged. 

        "You're it, Indy!" 

        "Max!" 

        "Hah!, got ya back!" 

        "Alice is it!" 

        We play around like normal kids for a bit, and I realize how much pressure it takes off. We're being kids, normal kids. Nothing is wrong, we arn't in danger of anything but getting tagged. It feels great. 

        "Hey look, the stream!" I yell, pointing ahead. Alice smiles and looks at us. 

        "Race ya?" 

        "You're on!" We all sprint for the stream, then slip in the mud and fall right in. There's a moment of silence, then we all start laughing. Even Indy. 

        "You're laughing! You're not a robot!" I cheer, hugging Indy. He blinks, then splashes me with water. 

        "Let's chill here for a bit. After all the running we did, I could use a break." Alice suggests. I nod, and take off my cloak so it can dry. Alice and I drink water, but Indy just sits on the bank. 

        "You've gotta be dehydrated, Indy. Why don't you drink?" Alice asks. He point to the bandana. 

        "This. It's not coming off my face. Nope. I'd rather die of heatstroke." Whoa, new level there. I'm not letting it go that far. 

        "Hang on a second there, Indy. I got an idea." I walk across the stream to some reeds growing. I pick one and look through it. Perfect. 

        "Here Indy, it's like a straw!" He looks surprised, but takes the reed. It does look a little odd, seeing him drinking like that, but Alice and I make a silent agreement not to judge him on it. Then, I remember something. 

        "Crap! Dad's book!" I reach behind me and untuck it from my belt. To my surprise, it's completely dry. It looks undamaged. Wow. 

        "Magic can't be ruined by a little water, huh?" Alice asks. I nod, tucking it back in my belt. Indy tosses the reed into the stream and stands up. 

        "We should keep going, right? Still have a lot of daylight left, let's use it." I nod, then point to the end of the woods, just visible in the distance. 

        "Race ya!" I grab my cloak and start running. I hear Alice laugh behind me. 

        "You're on!" I splash through the creek, then hear two more people follow. Despite what I first thought about this group, we're turning out to be quite a team. Who would've known?