Sapnap stood up and winced as pain shot through his leg.
The splint was gone because they figured it had been long enough. The surface looked okay; he could walk normally. But sometimes a sharp sting jolted from where it broke and Sapnap felt like he was being stabbed.
He privately blamed George for healing it wrong.
He was blacked out at the time though, so from what George said he did a great job for the situation. Sapnap's memory was hazy.
Anyway Sapnap had eaten a golden apple when they got back, but it didn't fix it. He hadn't mentioned that it was still hurting him, since it was always bearable. They didn't need to know.
There was a long scar across his chest from the piglin brute, but it was slowly disappearing. His shirt had already re-stitched itself over the gash. That had stopped hurting, and Sapnap figured George's near-death theory was right. The marks that almost killed them were slow to fade.
The six of them were equipping everything they would need for the End.
Sapnap walked around and double-checked that everyone had at least two stacks of arrows, plenty of food, three gold apples, fresh shields and iron for new weapons, plus three health potions, one regen, two slow falling, and assorted other things.
For example, Bad and Skeppy had extra wood, and a6d was carrying all the extra potions.
Sapnap made sure a6d was only taking high-tier foods to budget inventory space efficiently, and reviewed with him his task in the End.
He was going to have two water buckets and come to help if anyone agro-ed an Enderman or needed a health boost. The rest of the time he was to stay far away from the dragon in a sheltered place and attempt to shoot it.
They had made all the potions into splash pots so they could all share the effects. Sapnap carried three harming potions for the dragon.
He also had the other swiftness potions in case George wanted to be piggybacked again.
The rest of the stackable stuff was assigned to one or two people and they would dispense it at the stronghold.
Dream and George split the pearls. George held all the Ender Eyes.
"Hold on a sec-" Sapnap placed George and Dream side-by-side again.
"What- oh." George looked up at Dream's face.
Sapnap tried to measure their heights; he squinted. "George, how many inches do you think that is?"
"Ummm I'm 5'9" and he's 6'2"... so that's 5 inches difference right?" He held his hand over Dream's head and then moved it to his own. "God, why are you so frikin' tall?" He muttered. Dream lifted his eyebrows and gave him a confused smile.
George rolled his eyes. "It seems like 4. It's definitely a lot more than before."
"Why are you shrinking George?" Dream tilted his head and stooped slightly to be at eye level.
George scoffed and pushed him back. "I'm not! You're just freakishly tall. Why do you always say that?"
Dream muttered something back but Sapnap turned around and saw Bad comparing his height to Skeppy's with a hand.
"How tall are you actually, in real life?" Bad asked.
Skeppy crossed his arms. "Taller than you."
Bad smirked. "Doesn't look like it."
Skeppy scoffed. "Yeah well the game's glitching. It probably just got it backwards."
"So you're saying, when we meet up in real life, you'll be taller?"
Skeppy averted his gaze. "Yes. I will. I'll be so tall, you'll look at me and say 'WOW Skeppy I didn't know you were that tall, that's impressive!'"
"Oh reaaaaaaaally?" Bad wasn't buying it.
"OK OK! Less talking, more moving." Sapnap said loudly. "If everyone has everything, let's go."
Bad and Skeppy's dog named Bean Muffin or something barked and wagged its tail. A6d's cat meowed at it.
Sapnap eyed the pets, but didn't say anything. There was no point in leaving them at the village, even though they would probably both die in the End.
Still, Dream had told him how the cat saved a6d's life, and the other two seemed super attached to the dog. They knew the risks.
Sapnap was pretty lucky to have prot 4 on three of his armor pieces, but he got crappy unbreaking on his weapons and basically nothing else useful. So he convinced George to trade his Sharpness 3 fire aspect 2 sword with knockback for Sapnap's plain unbreaking 3 sword. Dream was pretty protected, and he had feather falling, which made Sapnap feel slightly better about his safety. But Dream could always MLG, so the person Sapnap was really worried about was a6d. If they were there long enough for the potions to run out, he'd basically be dead if he was out in the open.
They gave him the most protected gear, including using the only netherite ingot they had to give him a heavily armored chestplate, but Sapnap still worried it wasn't enough. His blindness was just too much of a handicap. Sapnap didn't want to put him in danger, but they had no other choice. He couldn't be left behind.
They left the village and George tossed an Eye. It zoomed backwards through his hand and floated up and east.
They caught it and started traveling.
"This is back towards our old house," George commented as he stepped out from the tree line next to a familiar pool.
"Not quite, but we'll go past it-" Sapnap pointed to the side at Dream's stepping stones.
"Ooo OOOO!" Dream pushed past Sapnap to the front excitedly. "Can I do it again?! Please- it was so fun!"
Sapnap chuckled and slapped his back. "Sure buddy."
Dream was already one block out when George cried "Wait!"
He was making a boat. "I'll take a6d in this and we'll race."
"Take me in what?" Vincent looked nervous.
"A boat," Skeppy said.
"There's water here? Do we have to cross it?" He anxiously held his walking-stick sword in both hands.
Bad started to say no but Sapnap quickly cut in- "This is the fastest way. You'll be fine. Here." He pulled a6d's hand towards where George had the boat.
Vin glanced back towards Bad and Skeppy.
Skeppy looked unsure, but he sounded confident. "You're fine a6d, it's only one block deep."
"Put your sword away so you don't stab me," George said with a smile. He took a6d's hand and pulled him down in the boat.
Vincent made a scared noise but quickly covered it with a cough. "Okay, just save me if I start drowning."
George started rowing, and a6d held his breath.
"We aren't in the water yet," George said and Sapnap held in a laugh. He was rowing over grass like a turtle.
A6d let out his breath, but his knuckles were white on the sides of the boat. "Right. Okay. Great."
"Aaaaaaaaaand liftoff!!!" George narrated the boat sliding into water as it immediately sped up. Vincent gasped again and held on tighter.
"Wheeee!" George spun the boat around and pulled it against the shore again. "Okay, Sapnap, count us off."
"OK. Three." Sapnap found blocks and walked next to Dream. "Two..."
Skeppy looked at Bad, but he just shrugged.
Sapnap jumped forwards- "ONE!"
George immediately started rowing as a6d held on for dear life. "You cheater! You jumped before we started!" George complained.
"Dream already had a block!" Sapnap was trying to focus. This was harder than it looked.
"I demand a fair rematch!" George shouted.
"You're winning!" Dream complained back.
"HA!" George swerved in front of Sapnap and he missed a block, getting soaked. A6d clung to George for safety as he laughed. "Wipeout!"
"Oh fuck you! That was so unfair!" Sapnap angrily heaved himself on another block while Dream laughed from up ahead.
"Language!" Bad was following them along the blocks with Skeppy.
Sapnap groaned, but George sped past him again and doused him with a splash. Poor a6d was regretting his life choices as George mercilessly powered through the water towards Dream.
"OH DREEEEAM!" George laughed maniacally, throwing sprays of droplets with the oars.
"No- NO- NO!!" Dream was in the lead, but struggling to dodge George as he zigzagged in front of him.
Sapnap was catching up on Dream's path. George snagged Dream's foot mid-jump and brought him crashing down with a tremendous splash.
"HEY!" Dream was also soaked now. He saw Sapnap jumping over him and hit him out of the air. "Make your own-" the rest was lost as water covered Sapnap's head.
He came up coughing water. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"LANGUAGE!!" Bad gasped distantly, but Sapnap hardly heard him.
He pushed Dream down again and sprinted toward George.
"YES YESSS!" George screamed happily as he torpedoed towards shore.
"NO YOU DON'T!!" Sapnap tackled him off the boat and they were both submerged in seconds.
George kicked him off underwater and when Sapnap finally breathed air again, he saw Dream about to make it.
George glared and threw a block as hard as he could. It knocked Dream out of the air, and he fell backwards into the water.
"YES!! YE-" George celebrated as Sapnap gaped. "NO hey! How did you hit that?! Your throwing is terrible!"
"IT IS NOT!!" George dunked Sapnap's head and slammed a fist into the surface to make a splash. He pointed forwards. "A6D MADE IT! WE'RE ON THE SAME TEAM!! I WON!!!"
"Oh my god- oh my god." A6d breathlessly felt the ground next to him and weakly crawled out of the boat. He lay dramatically on the sand, dripping from all the splashes.
"YOU DID NOT WIN!!" Sapnap angrily chased George through the water as he tried to stop Dream. "GEORGE!!!"
"DREAM STOPPP!!!" George yelled.
"No I'm winning!!! I- ARGAIUH-" Dream went under again as George caught his foot and pulled back.
"C'MERE!!" Sapnap tackled George on top of Dream.
"NO EUGH!" George kicked him backwards and charged. They were right next to the sand but Dream pulled on his shirt. Sapnap crawled over Dream but George wiggled free and tagged the sand. "YESSSS!!!" He kicked himself onto it gleefully as the other two shouted "NOOOOO!"
"YEEEEES!! I WON!! I WON!" George jumped and celebrated around the soggy pile on the ground that was a6d.
"You cheated so much!!!" Sapnap wrestled him and tried to throw him back in the water.
"No I would've won!" Dream insisted as George squirmed away from Sapnap. "George pulled me down! I WOULD'VE WON!" Dream stomped his foot.
"You cheated FIRST!" George shouted at Sapnap. "There weren't rules anyway!! Ah, my hair's wet." He ruffled up his wet hair and tried to shake the water out of it.
Then they noticed Bad and Skeppy staring at them.
"Wow," Skeppy said slowly with his arms crossed. "You guys are really competitive."
Bad pushed past Sapnap and crouched next to a6d, glaring up at the other three. "A6d, are you okay?"
A6d pushed himself up on his elbows. "I don't really know what just happened, but I don't want to do it again."
"Awww, c'mere-" Bad helped him stand up and gave him a hug. He raised his voice with a parental tone. "I want all you muffins to apologize."
"Sorry," Dream said sheepishly.
"No, Bad it's okay," a6d said. "I'm fine."
"Yeah, see? He said he's fine," Sapnap said.
Bad gave him a look.
"Look, Bad," George said, "I think you're forgetting we're going to fight an actual dragon. You don't need to baby a6d over a little water."
"I'm not babying him," Bad insisted. "You muffinheads just don't care about his safety." He gently put a hand under Vincent's chin and his voice got softer. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Vin smiled, but pushed his hand down. "Thanks."
Skeppy broke the boat. "We should probably keep going, right?"
They agreed and the dog barked. Ian looked around and meowed.
Bad held a6d's hand to guide him where the land changed.
They eventually came out of the trees next to the field. Home sweet home.
"Oh is that your house from before?" Bad asked. "It's... nice." He smiled awkwardly.
George burst out laughing. "It looks terrible. We were all ribbing on Dream about it the first night."
"Well at least you were doing better than us," Skeppy said as Bad blushed. "We were running for our lives from skeletons and getting attacked by silverfish," Skeppy said lightly.
"What did the silver fish do to you?" Dream asked.
"They just bite, but they can multiply," Bad said.
"Yeah, you'll meet some when we get to the stronghold," George said with an evil grin.
Sapnap was idly listening. Mostly just watching the house as they passed it. He tried to remember exactly where spawn was. Somewhere near here in the field. Maybe it was next to the river?
They got close enough to see the river and the mountains behind it. Sapnap realized that he had never even asked George what was past those mountains.
"Wait, is this the same river that went near our house?" Skeppy asked, looking around. "Like way over there?" He pointed north.
"Oh yeah, I think you're right," Bad said thoughtfully. "It's far though."
Sapnap and George looked at each other. "You guys didn't happen to find a ruined portal next to the river, did you?" George asked cautiously.
"Yeah, how did you know?!" Bad exclaimed in surprise.
"We found the same one, but it was looted," George said, glaring at Sapnap, who rolled his eyes.
"I told you there was nothing in it," George said huffily.
"Alright, okay, but it makes more sense that you would hoard all the stuff than random other people stealing it before us!"
"Wait- so you guys lived close by us?" Dream asked excitedly.
"Well, not really close..." Skeppy started, but Bad smiled and said, "I guess so! But we never saw a trace of you guys."
"We only explored that direction for half a day," George grumbled as they came up on the river. "What stuff did you guys get in the chest?"
"Gold, obsidian and a cursed shovel," Bad said. "We only spent one other day over there before we got chased out. It was a while ago-"
George held up a hand and they stopped. Bad stopped a6d.
"Is it just me," George said, "or is the water moving?"
Sapnap examined it. It was flowing slowly to their right. "That's new. It must connect to the ocean somewhere."
A6d paled. "Are we going across the moving water?"
"It's barely moving." George waded in. "Come on, Dream."
"I'll make you a bridge, a6d." Sapnap splashed down again and started placing blocks. Bad quickly helped him. Vincent started carefully walking across it, being watched by Skeppy and Bad. His cat stayed at the other side to teleport across later.
Sapnap turned around and splashed George.
He groaned loudly and spun around. "ARRGH SaPnAp why'd you do that?! You're so annoying." He splashed him back, then Dream splashed him and they all got in a splashing fight.
Meanwhile a6d got safely to the other side. Skeppy put Ian in his arms and lowered his voice, "These guys act like kids."
Bad put his hands on his hips like an angry mom. "I don't know how they got this far when they get distracted so much."
Vin chuckled and pet Ian. "You guys mess around and argue like kids too."
"Yeah, well..." Skeppy looked at Bad. "It's different."
"Doesn't seem so different to me." A6d smirked.
"HEY! MUFFINHEADS!!!" Bad yelled, making them jump. "We're losing daylight!"
Sapnap had almost pushed George to surrender when his leg was yanked and a jolt of pain shot through his whole body. He choked and coughed and paddled to land, wincing at the sharp, stabbing feeling. He treated it gently standing up, but the others didn't notice.
George was fussing about being all wet again and Dream tousled his hair.
"DWEAM UGH!"
"Wha-ha-ha-t?! It looks cute!" Dream laughed.
George messed up his own hair with both hands then smirked up at Dream looking like a wet puppy. "How about now?"
"Still cute." Dream abruptly leaned down and kissed his cheek.
Sapnap stared openmouthed. George frowned and leaned back. "Why.. why did you do that?"
"I dunno, I just wanted to." Dream shrugged and then caught on to their shocked expressions. "What?"
They stood still for another long second.
Then George walked silently to Sapnap and slapped him. Sapnap put a hand on his stinging cheek and stared at him.
"That was too far." George shoved past him and started towering up.
"Wait- George!" Dream followed him. "It wasn't his idea! Why are you-"
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sapnap exploded.
Bad said a quiet "lang..." but suppressed the rest.
Sapnap whipped around. "George get your wimpy ass back down here or I'll-"
"SHUT UP!" George shouted down. "You never know when to quit! Just stop!" He missed a block and almost fell, then went faster.
"Lay off him!" Dream pushed Sapnap back and started climbing behind George. "George! Slow down! I'm sorry! Just wait!"
"Stop following me!" George's voice was getting fainter.
"Just wait!" Dream frantically climbed under him. "Talk to me! George!"
Sapnap stared after them, but didn't follow.
Dream kept going. "George!"
Bad slowly walked up beside Sapnap. "What was that all about?" He asked cautiously.
Sapnap lowered his eyes; his hand was still on his face. "He thought it was a prank, but I didn't tell him to do that," he said numbly.
Skeppy turned to a6d, grasping at a sense of normalcy. "Bad and me can make a staircase for you up the mountain." His voice was unusually high. "Come on."
"Um, okay?" A6d put Ian down and let Skeppy take his hand and start placing blocks. "But what just happened?"
Bad left Sapnap to help. "Dream kissed George and then he hit Sapnap and left."
Sapnap shook his head to clear it. He wasn't going to follow lamely behind the other three in shock. He started towering up next to George's pillar.
When he got to the top he found a few llamas, lots of gravel, and Dream looking distressed.
"I don't know where he went. He seems really upset."
"He probably started going down the other side. He can't hide under this gravel." Sapnap started running towards the opposite cliff. Dream did too.
"What did I do wrong?" He asked sadly.
"Nothing, man. He's just..." emotional.
"He's probably just surprised."
"I didn't know it was a big deal. All I did was-"
"Don't talk to me about it," Sapnap said quickly. "Just... whoa"
The sea opened up in front of them. Sapnap had never seen a view like this before.
"George!" Dream shouted.
George was under them on a tiny ledge; he didn't even glance up.
"George!!" Dream placed blocks low on the cliff and jumped down. "Are you okay?"
Sapnap jumped behind him, double-checking his water bucket.
George was huddled against the cliff. He was shaking.
Dream knelt next to him, gently touching his shoulder. "George. Are you okay?"
George jumped and finally looked at him, scared. "I tried.. I tried... but I fell. It's so... so far-" he swallowed- "I can't. I can't!" He pushed Dream back and covered his ears, rocking back and forth.
Dream glanced at Sapnap with worried eyes.
"He's just scared of the cliff." Sapnap motioned Dream to the side- "He'll be fine once he's at the bottom."
George saw him and knew what he was going to do. He gasped and scrambled backwards, but there was only the sheer drop behind him. "NO! NO! SAPNAP!" He was caught, so he shrank against the wall and cowered. "DON'T! SAPNAP NO!"
Sapnap upended his water and it spilled down the cliff. He took a few careful steps toward him. "George, it's fine. You're safe, just don't move-"
George gasped sharply and panicked, "NO NO SAPNAP! I CAN'T I CAN'T! NO-"
Dream pulled Sapnap away from George, almost swinging him off the cliff; he quickly hauled him safely close again.
Sapnap sucked in a breath, even though he had been over water, he still felt that roller-coaster rush but with less excitement. "Dude! What the hell?!"
"Sorry-" Dream stood between him and George, who was on the verge of a panic attack. Dream held out a hand to stop Sapnap- "Whatever you're trying isn't working. I have an idea. Just let me handle it."
Sapnap was frustrated for a second, but he controlled it and stepped back. "Fine."
He eyed Dream. He looked more like his old self, overprotective. It was alright in this case. Dream had gradually become more outspoken. Maybe if his memories weren't coming, his personality still could.
Still, normal Dream was way too reckless, it was his biggest reason for failures.
Dream warily made sure Sapnap was calmed before lowering his hand.
"George, try to relax. There's plenty of water to catch you. Here."
He placed a boat next to the waterfall.
George's screams had subsided into murmurs and whimpers.
Dream stepped into the boat and paddled it slowly towards him on the stone. "It's okay, George. Look, it's safe."
George shrunk back against the corner, but he wasn't able to use anything to get away, so he blipped into the boat with a shriek.
Dream glanced over his shoulder and spoke softly, "It's okay George. It's okay."
George's eyes darted around as he frantically tried to hold on to anything and ended up clutching onto Dream. Then he shut his eyes, chest heaving heavily. "Nonononono..."
Sapnap watched and Dream tried to turn the boat, but stopped.
They were hanging over the edge. There wasn't enough space.
"Ummm." Dream peeked over the edge.
Worriedly, George had gone quiet. The only sound was his panicked breathing.
Sapnap detected a change in the sky and glanced up. Sunset colors.
He heard the splash of a water bucket being dumped and saw Dream put his away. The new waterfall spilled down alongside the first and spread into the sea far below.
Dream held his breath and they fell.
Sapnap watched them plummet next to the rush of water and land at the bottom, then slide over some rocks and float out into the ocean. He sighed with relief and jumped.
>>>
<<<
I stepped up for the thousandth time and Bad cheered. "We're here!"
"Where?" It wasn't like I could look around. Everything away from the village was new territory. I knew it was necessary, but I understand why blind people aren't explorers.
"A gravel biome?" Skeppy answered questioningly, probably looking around. "There's um... llamas."
"Is that a type of animal?" I asked.
"Yeah they're kinda like horses, come on-" Skeppy tugged on my hand and I assumed this place was flat and safe to walk on. I had figured out that mountains were just really really tall things that are hard to avoid.
"Hold your horses, guys," Bad said. He sounded like he was looking in another direction. "Where are the other potatoes?"
"Sapnap made me leave them-" I started to say but Skeppy cut me off.
"He means the other people."
"Oh," I said. Why does he call people potatoes?
"I'm going to look for them," Bad said.
"But I was gonna show a6d the llamas!" I pictured Skeppy pointing away as he said this.
"You can still do that, I'm just gonna look around," Bad said.
"But wait- I don't wanna leave you!" Skeppy said.
"I'm just looking around, Skeppy. I'll take Mob, does that make you feel better?" Mob barked when Bad said his name.
"I don't have to see the llamas," I said. Not see, but you know what I mean.
They ignored me.
"The sun's going down. I'll just find them and be right back, just wait," Bad said. I heard him walking away.
"They probably went down the other side!" Skeppy groaned and tugged on my hand again.
He guided me over gravel to the animals. "They spit at you, so don't hit them."
I hesitated but Skeppy put my hand on thick fur. "Oh wow-" I petted it. It was unbelievably soft.
"You wanna ride it?" Skeppy started pushing me onto the thing.
"Wait- Skeppy- SKEPPY-"
Well... now I'm on top of it.
Skeppy made a soft "huh" sound and commented, "We should actually get a horse for you, it would probably speed us up a lot."
"Yeah, but I don't think we brought the sadd- AAAA" the stupid llama threw me violently off its back onto the gravel.
"Oh fuck are you okay?!" I immediately felt Skeppy helping me up.
"Yeah, I'm okay-" I brushed gravel off myself, probably missing a lot.
Skeppy helped me stand again and pulled me towards Bad, I assumed. "You could ride it with a lead someone else pulls, and then like, you could still be following us, maybe..." He trailed off. "Shit. The sun's going down."
Oh? It must've been too early for me to detect a change in light.
Skeppy hurried, picking up the pace of gravelly steps. I thought briefly back to before I was blinded.
I miss sunsets.
We quickly found Bad again and two minutes later I was trapped in a boat behind him. He promised I would be safe.
I held on tightly to him as he rowed slowly forward, then wind tore at my hair and clothes as I felt the boat plummet. It bounced with a splash and fell again, dropping and stopping and dropping sharply again, but it stayed level without tilting any direction, thankfully. I don't know what I'd do if it flipped. I just held onto Bad until we finally stopped moving.
I kept my eyes closed, pointless behind the blindfold, but whatever. "Is it over?" I asked fearfully, hating the whimper in my voice. Please tell me we're at least on land.
"Yep-" Bad moved one arm and the boat spun with a splashing sound- "we're at the bottom. I think that was fun!" He giggled happily. "Too bad we can't do it again. Are you okay, you muffinhead?"
I mumbled "yes" without letting go of him. "Can I get out now?"
A cool breeze dried my exposed skin where it had been splashed; I didn't feel it everywhere because of the armor, but I realized Bad was moving the boat forwards. He paddled and talked, "No, we're still in the ocean. I'll ask the others if we should stay the night here or keep going."
Our speed increased and Bad hummed happily. "Wheeeeee!! WOOOOO!! Oh my goodness this is so fast! WOOOOO-"
I hooked one arm around Bad and took off the blindfold to ring it out. Then I noticed that it was dark. It was always dark for me, but this was the deep dark of night instead of light dark of day. "What's the ocean?"
I dropped the cloth and clung to Bad as the boat drifted sideways at high speed. "AAAAA! IT'S TURNING!!"
"RELAX IT CAN'T TIP! WHEEEEEE!!!" Bad was loving the speed as the cold wind picked up and I started to adjust to it.
Then we lurched to a stop and water closed over my head.
>>>
<<<
I had calmed George back to normal at the base of the cliff. Sapnap started digging a small cave to sleep in. We saw Bad and a6d spinning around nearby until they torpedoed in our direction. They were there.
Then they were gone.
I stood up on the stone, scanning every direction. "Where'd they go?"
"What?" George was sitting next to me on a block.
"What?!" Sapnap echoed from the hole he was digging.
I didn't see either of them, or the boat. "Bad and a6d. They were just there-" I pointed over the water.
George walked past me and paddled backwards in the boat to turn it around. "C'mon Dream, let's go find 'em." He sounded passive, not worried, like I was starting to feel.
I climbed onto the second bench, watching him slowly work in reverse.
Suddenly the boat rocketed forwards and Sapnap jumped over me to stand up in the middle, having just pushed it offshore. "JUST FUCKING GO BACKWARDS! NO TIME!!"
He was searching urgently as George stopped. "What? How are you- What happened-"
"FUCKING ROW GEORGE! HOLY SHIT!" Sapnap almost fell off as the boat moved, but I caught him. He was stuck standing, but too anxious to sit anyway.
"What happened?" I asked him. I thought boats always floated, and only two people fit in them, but obviously not.
"Magma blocks suck you down and kill you at the bottom- you did a video with a test one time- but they could be drowning-" I could barely understand with how fast he spoke, but George noticeably started working harder, saying "Oh fuck. You're right. Fuck. I hope-"
"I COULD SWIM FASTER THAN THIS GEORGE!" Sapnap yelled at him.
"THEN SWIM IF YOU WANT! I'M GOING BACKWARDS WHAT DO YOU EXPEC-"
Sapnap dove off and kicked powerfully, pushing us backwards but making headway towards bubbles I could barely see in the water ahead.
Just then, Bad's head popped above the surface. He gasped in a breath. "Whew, that was scary, right a6d?" He wiped his eyes and looked around. "A6d?"
"BAD!!" I yelled. "WE'RE COMING!"
He went underwater again and didn't hear me. Sapnap dove under without a word.
I stood up and promptly fell. I coughed and swam towards them.
George gasped as the boat slid over bubbles and rocked violently.
Bad came up again- "A6d's stuck in the boat!"
A shiver went through me. I ducked under and saw Sapnap nearly at the bottom of a swirling pillar. He kicked to a tiny square that must have been a6d and the boat. I took a deep breath and swam down as fast as I could.
At the surface, Bad remembered his helmet had a water enchantment. He splashed in a frantic circle. "George! George, does respiration work if you put it on underwater?! Can I give him my helmet?!"
George was trying to see 40 blocks down and Bad's splashing was not helping. "I don't know! Why aren't they making doors?! What's taking so long?!"
My lungs started to hurt about halfway down when I remembered Sapnap using the bubble spirals. I kicked into the nearest one and heard a WHOOSH as it sucked me downwards. I realized with surprise that my chest stopped aching. The bubbles kept me from drowning.
When my feet touched the bottom, burning pain came up through the boots. It pulled my head into the rocks until I kicked out and lost air.
I saw Sapnap yanking on a6d's arm. A6d was thrashing in the boat, unable to get out. He pried at it, motions slowed by the water. His hair floated around his head like seagrass and I saw his dark brown eyes veiled by mist. Bubbles spilled from his mouth and raced upwards.
Sapnap braced his feet against the boat and pulled, then jerked and clutched his leg with a grimace.
I kicked the boat and it rocked, then I heard a scream above me. I saw George tangled in kelp. I punched the kelp at the base and it broke; George looked like he was choking. I motioned for him to go back up and started punching the boat as Sapnap drifted backwards, losing air.
A6d was slower now. The boat wouldn't crack, but it had to break.
Finally it did and a6d was loose. I propelled us off the floor, clutching his arm. We almost ran into Bad, who tore off a6d's helmet and gave his own. A6d started kicking weakly and Bad helped me pull him up. Bad held a golden apple to his mouth to buy him more time. I looked for George and saw him dragging Sapnap into an air pocket, where they both coughed water and George pointed up at us.
I had run out of air and started to choke, but I knew I wouldn't die immediately, so I kept pushing a6d as my vision blurred. We were so close. Water flooded my nose; numbness crept into my arms and legs.
I felt someone pulling me up through the fuzzy darkness. Ropes wrapped around me, then I finally breathed.
I gasped fresh air in and choked up water over and over. Hands pushed me to a boat.
A6d was slumped over the edge of a boat, gagging up sea and covered in kelp pieces.
The ropes on me were kelp too. Sapnap made sure I was okay as the dog helped me float and licked my face warmly. Skeppy was pulling a6d into his boat and I blipped into George's, sitting upright. Sapnap was sucked in behind me and the dog bobbed around us, panting like the rest of us.
Food was shoved in my face, and a6d and I both recovered. George and Bad were okay; we all made it back to the cliffs. A few monsters had spawned, but the others shot them before we landed. Finally I collapsed on a bed in the tight cave, ignoring the dim lighting and my painful breathing as I immediately fell asleep.
(5.6k words)
Near death woooo, wonder if anyone'll die before the end.
Back when they were racing, picturing all of them tussling in the water gave me so much serotonin lol
Also dnf for you thirsty folks, yw
(By the way I had no idea this was this long until I pasted it into this draft here so I'm sorry. that's what an almost 6k chapter feels like. Check my message board and reply to it please :)