Harvey (Team Crafted)

The Commander's Lament

"Sky, wait, wait!" Deadlox said quickly, running after the man who was walking away. Sky didn't stop until the shorter man ran in front of him, forcing him to. "Just hear me out!"
    "I don't want anything to do with what you're planning." Deadlox was taken aback by Sky's voice. It was far lower than the last time they met; sadder too. "I don't care what it is. I don't want back in."
    Deadlox sighed heavily.
    Harvey stared in slightly shocked confusion as Deadlox and Sky argued awhile away, their voices lowered so Harvey couldn't hear. After a few moments, he felt someone pull him up and keep him from falling over gently. "He'll get to him." True said, patting his shoulder. "Don't worry."
    Harvey didn't reply. After awhile, Deadlox gestured over to Harvey almost angrily and the man, who Harvey could assume on reasonable evidence was the Sky they had sought out, looked over at him. Both their mouths stopped moving and Harvey felt awkward under the gaze of Sky, so he waved nervously.
    Sky didn't make any friendly gesture back to him.
    Sky said something, and looked away. Deadlox's shoulders sagged in relief. For a moment, neither said anything as Sky stared down at the ground and Deadlox stared at him. He reached him, touching Sky's shoulder, but the man pulled away. He said something, before he turned and walked away, and this time, he wasn't stopped. All three travelers watched him for a few moments as he walked to the horse that had nearly stomped Harvey into the ground, which was now grazing peacefully.
    Sky approached the horse and pet its nose before he swung onto its back easily, the horse hardly even seeming to notice. Sky used its mane to turn him towards the others. "Well? Follow me." He said, raising his voice so Harvey and True could hear him instead of only Deadlox. Then he turned and started walking off westward on his horse.
    True stared after him until Deadlox walked over to him. "What's going on?"
    Deadlox smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. "He's just gotta pick up some stuff." He said. "Then he'll come with us."

Sky owned a castle.
    Well, not exactly a castle; it was more like a fortress, a little one at that. It was build out of stone and it was worn by time. There was moss and vines all over the exterior and as Harvey walked inside after they had followed Sky along the plain for half an hour, he saw that the interior looked almost like the set for Beauty and the Beast.
    It was dark. The floors were carpeted with red and the walls were dark brown wood. There were torches on the wall to light the halls, but none of them were lit. There were worn paintings on the wall, some with the paint so peeled it was impossible to see what the people looked like. Sky didn't seem to mind the dark at all. Harvey shivered as a draft ran through and Sky started walking. "There's a storm coming in." He said. "We'll leave when it passes."
    Deadlox sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "Mr. Bossy, at it again." He said with an annoyed tone although he looked like he had missed the leadership from his old friend. Harvey smiled softly, but didn't say anything.
    "True, go on and show Harvey to a room, okay?" Deadlox asked. "I'm gonna go talk to Sky."
    True nodded understanding and gestured for Harvey to follow him as he and Deadlox walked in opposite directions down the hall away from the door. Harvey jogged after the Minecraftian scientist to keep up.
    "I this a castle?" He asked True as they walked along side by side, True's pace fast for no real reason.
    "Yep." True said. "I've been here a couple times before; once upon a time, there was a caretaker, but... It's a shame, I guess he passed away. This place is completely overgrown."
    "Did he build it?"
    "No way, he inherited it from his family."
    Harvey nodded. "Right, right." He said he understood, but he was a little confused. If he had been sucked into essentially Minecraft, why hadn't Sky spawned like they did in the game? How was it possible for him to have a family? Last time he checked, there was no such thing as the birds and the bees in vanilla Minecraft.
    Harvey figured it would be more appropriate to bring up the topic at a later time, so he stored his questions in the back of his mind as they stopped at a door which was on the third and second highest floor of the castle. The highest floor was the roof itself, which was more like a watch tower than a roof, really, according to True.
    "True?" Harvey queried as they stood by the door. "If this is the castle Sky inherited from his parents... Does that make him a prince?"
    True shrugged. "Never asked him about his parents. I guess he would be a prince, if owning a castle makes you royalty." He opened the door, but didn't go in. "So... This room was Seto's when we stayed here. I think you'll like it. I'll leave you be... I'd get some rest if I were you. We probably won't stop again until we get to the base; it'll be tiring, but Sky isn't the 'slow and steady' type."
    "Why don't you just tell him to stop for the night?" Harvey asked.
    True laughed loudly. "There's no telling Sky what to do! He's gonna be leading us. He's a tough guy, but he keeps us safe. He's strict, yeah, and it'll take him awhile to warm up to you I'm sure, but he'll get there with time. I promise."
    Harvey hesitated, before he sighed. "I kinda hope I won't be here long enough for that to happen... I just wanna go home as soon as possible."
    True patted his shoulder sympathy. "Have some faith... We won't let you be stuck here the rest of your life. Now go on, get some rest."
    Harvey sighed, nodding. "I will... Thank you, Jason."
    True snorted, saying simply, "Who's Jason?" Before he turned and walked away down the hall. Harvey watched him go, staring a long time after he was gone from the hallway, before he leaned against the doorway, taking a deep breath. After another moment passed, he looked into the room, and was taken by surprise.
    Unlike the rest of the castle, this one single room was clean and kept, as though someone very tidy were living there. The bed was made with white sheets and pillows and there was a little table in the corner by a window, with slightly see-through lilac curtains covering it. Pressed against the wall was a nice-looking wardrobe, the door closed, and hanging on a hook beside the wardrobe was a dark purple cloak. The end of the cape was slightly moth-eaten and there were stitched-up holes all over it, like it had been used a lot in the past, though clearly, it hadn't been touched in years.
    Harvey hummed softly, before he walked to the wardrobe and opened it. Inside were only a few outfits; one of which caught his eye. A loose white, long-sleeved blouse with a brown vest over it, and kinda small black pants. Seto was a little taller than he had been. There was a sash that went around his waist, purple predictably, and there was one pair of shoes rested on the bottom; brown boots, old and worn and clearly unused.
    Beside that was another set of clothes, smaller and shinier. Next to that was a long, white and lilac robe. It was pretty and elegant, with lace patterns all over it. Harvey wondered why Seto had the robe; it looked like a ceremonial thing.
    Then, Harvey saw it. The outfit he had had his skin wearing. He slowly reached out and pulled it off its hanger, holding it out. It was real... The whole outfit, including the weird crown thing he had put on the skin for no real reason other than he thought it looked cool.
    He stared at the outfit he was holding up for a moment silently. It couldn't really hurt if he...?
    After a few more minutes of eager thought, he couldn't help but try on the outfit. It was a little uncomfortable, although it felt badass to wear, like he was a Sorcerer himself and he could fight bad guys and kick ass just like Seto had before he disappeared.
    There was a stand-up mirror propped opposite the bed. Harvey went over to it and smiled as he looked at himself, in Seto's Sorcerer robes. He looked a lot like his Minecraft skin would suggest, although his hair was darker and he was probably a little paler.
    Then his smile faded as he saw something in the reflection of the mirror. He turned around a blinked. There was a nightstand behind the well-made bed. On it was a vase that looked like it was sculpted by hand and painted yet another shade of purple. There were flowers in the vase, looking like they had just recently been replaced. But what caught Harvey's eye was the picture frame propped up against the vase. The frame had been dropped before; the glass had a long crack running through it. Harvey's eyes widened as he looked at the picture itself.
    Eight smiling people. Harvey recognized them all. Husky, Jerome, Sundee, and Sky in the back, and True, Ty, Mitch, and Seto were all in the front because they were shorter.
    Seto... He was real. He was smiling in the picture, and so was Sky. Sky looked so much happier than he did now... His hands were on Seto's shoulders, gentle, supportive almost. Harvey smiled sadly. Seto... Why did he have to go...? These people needed him...
    Suddenly, the door opened loudly. Harvey gasped in alarm and fumbled, dropping the picture frame. But then a hand snatched it before it could hit the ground. Harvey looked up in surprise, his brown eyes big before they connected with bight, burning gold.
    Harvey froze with fear, worried he would get yelled at or something. But Sky just stared at him fiercely a moment before he put the picture frame back on the nightstand, leaning on the vase like before. Then he looked Harvey up and down, observing his outfit, and then left the room again like nothing had even happened.
    Harvey stared after him, almost dazed from the sudden and rather scary encounter.
    "...D-Damn..."