The Doll That Saved Team Crafted

Chapter Six

"I didn't want it to go like this, but it's time that I moved on"

     Not all the members of Team Crafted were forced out of their homes. In fact, one of the members seemed to have the perfect life. Loving parents, two younger siblings who looked up to him, and a bright future in medicine in the village where he was born and raised. But something was wrong. He always felt restless. Doing the same exact routine every single day slowly grated down on his patience.

So he left his family and people behind. Quinten, medic and explosive expert of the Hybrid Village to the east, was not prepared for a night in the wilderness. Hybrids like himself never really traveled out of their birth villages. That didn't stop him from trying. Young Quinten left his home early at dawn, promising his two younger sisters that he would come back. His parents scoffed at his plan to leave. They always thought he would be unable to make his own way in the world.

     And they were right. I'm back at home, right where I've always been. It's as if I had picked up right where I left off. No one had even filled my position in the medical bay. It's like I never left. Maybe I never did. Did my time with Team Crafted even matter? It all seems meaningless now. But I still have the memories of being free. It's not that I hate my family or this place, I just feel like this isn't where I'm suppose to be. I thought that I found it once, but I guess that I was wrong.

I apply one last piece of medical tape before I stand up and smile at the young boy sitting in front of me, his feathered wings tucked tight. "Ok, I'm finished bandaging your cut. Just make sure to take it easy for a few days, ok?", I as him. He quickly nods before I help him slip off the table, grabbing his backpack and rushing out the door. I was turning away when I heard a thunk on on the tile floor. Quickly spinning around, I see something wrapped in tissue paper. I grab it and stick my head out of the examination room door.

     "Hey kid, you forgot your......", but I stop talking. There's no one in the hallway. They just left, how did they disappear that fast!? He even had a limp with the cut on his leg. His mom was in the waiting room, so maybe she came and got him? I sigh and close the door again. I have someone scheduled in about an hour, no sense in leaving. I know I shouldn't snoop, but it might be a while before the kid realizes he left something here. It only takes a second of hesitation before I'm quickly unwrapping the tissue paper.

     I take one look at the doll before dropping it. It's on the floor for about a minute before I poke it with my foot. I'm not really thinking as I half shove half kick it over to the corner of the room. I then push a chair over the spot, simply walking out of the room and shutting the door. I slide down the door onto the floor, trying not to vomit. I must have been there for a few minutes, at least. I eventually push myself back up and open the door. I kick the chair away and pick up the doll.

     Is this some kind of sick game? How could that kid have had this? No one on this side of the mountains have ever heard of what I did, never mind Adam. I cradle the doll in my hands, acting as if it were made of glass. I cringe slightly at the scuff marks on the paint. "I'm sorry, little Sky Doll. I didn't mean it", I say out loud. And now I'm talking to a doll. Good Notch, I'm going insane, aren't I?

     It was crazy how chance led me to Adam, all those years ago. My thumb rubs against the doll's arm as my mind drifts off. I had spent the entire day in the mountains, coming out though a pass in the valley. The sun was set, and I was out of luck. But not out of gunpowder. I was good at making traps with TNT. More then good, I was the best. It was such a show as I was running through that forest. Explosions went off absolutely everywhere and fireworks were shooting up into the sky, drawing more targets to their intended area. My most simple traps took me only half a minute to set up. My best take hours.

      I won't lie and say I was doing the sensible thing, and leaving the forest. No, I was having the time of my life. I had never gotten to have fun with my talent like this. I must have been at it for hours and hours by the time I ran out of red stone. The moon was just a few hours away from setting. That's when I started to run. I killed about two hundred mobs, and attracted three hundred more.

"I'm Dead! I'm so freaking Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!", I think, my breath searing from my lungs. My foot is suddenly snared by a root, sending me tumbling to the ground. The pair of spider behind me immediately scurry forwards with new vigor. I'm bracing for their claws, when an arrow flies out from the trees. A roaring sound fills my ears when something falls from the sky, lading on a spider. A pair of arms grab me and pull me to my feet. "Come on! You almost made it to the mansion", a man says with a playful smile, "Follow me! Ty's waiting for us all to get back".

It was Adam who led me to the home of Team Crafted. They were amazed that I had never heard of them before. They though that was reason I was in the forest. The reason why they didn't show themselves before I fell. Apparently, lots of people went looking for them. I'm not sure when they decided to 'keep me'. "I think we'll just have to keep you, Quinten of the Hybrid Village". It just kinda clicked. I felt at home with those six guys. Even when we met Seto, as reserved as he was, I finally felt content about where I was. Weather we were traveling around the continent, or lazing around the house, I was happy. All of us were.

     I tried to keep the team together after Adam disappeared, I really did...... but my efforts didn't matter once people started leaving. It was just Ty and I in the end. I remember his face when I told him that I was moving on. That I was returning to my family. It still stings. It really hurt when my parents weren't at all surprised with my return. I didn't bother telling them about the good I helped bring for those few years. They wouldn't believe me. Of all the noble warrior professions I could of done, I chose to be a medic instead. Instead of learning a useful skill like mining, I chose explosives. I know my parents care in their own way, but there's always been tension with the way I choose to live.

Everything has gone back to the way it's always been. I had nowhere to go after Team Crafted, only back to this place. I'm still staring at the little doll. The memories over three years flash through my head. Mitch and Jerome arguing back and forth, right before I set off a small smoke bomb in their faces. Jason showing me how the rockets work in his boots. Ian making cakes in the kitchen, only to throw them at chickens. Seto slapping my hand away from touching one of his potions. Ty passed out on Sky's lap while the rest of us are giggling around a campfire.

     Where is everyone now? I've heard that Mitch is holed up in a old fortress, alone. I only know this from a trader who came through here a while ago. What happed to Jerome? They left together. Jason said he was going to hide his spacesuit and live a normal life. Seto is trying to find Adam. Where has he wound up? I wish I new where he was. I have no idea where Ian has gone. Would I find them, if I had the courage to look?

I slowly look around the bland examination room, the scenery is almost mocking me. It's suffocating. Still clutching the doll, I run from the room and there the hall. The receptionist yells at me as I sprint past, but I don't hear what she says. The doors easily burst open with my momentum. I'm outside now, with the sun lighting my way. But the houses are still trapping me. This repetition pulls me underwater. I can't breath. I just wish the clock would turn back.

I drop the doll as a dull roaring starts to fill my ears. It gets louder, and I look up when the sun is blocked out by something above me. A pair of arms wrap around me as we both crash to the ground. It's then that I thank the world for hearing me.