The Mystery of the Griefer's Mark

by Winter Morgan

  “Adam, you’re right,” said Steve. “We have to talk to Thomas. Also he’s hiding my diamond sword and I want him to tell me where it is. And I want him to clear my name.”

  The group sat and discussed a plan of action. “Maybe we can take all of our ideas and come up with a master plan,” said Steve.

  “Yes,” Lucy agreed, “I think we have to act fast though. I don’t like that the villagers are calling you a griefer. I know they can’t attack us, but I bet other people might come here and try to seek revenge.”

  Steve and the gang decided to dig holes throughout the house. Adam brewed as many potions as he could with his resources. Lucy hunted for food, since the group needed to feast so their food bars would be full. They were going into battle against Thomas and they needed to be prepared.

  As they dug their final hole, night was beginning to set.

  “This is when Thomas does his griefing,” said Adam.

  Steve sat on his bed and tried not to fall asleep. He yawned. Bang! Clang! Steve could hear a noise coming from outside the house.

  “Suit up guys, we have to see what that is,” said Steve.

  The group carefully walked outside Adam’s house. Adam lit a torch and placed it on the wall.

  “Do you see anything?” asked Lucy.

  “No,” said Max.

  Steve could see something off in the distance. It was two sets of glowing purple eyes.

  “It’s just Endermen,” said Steve.

  “But they are chasing someone,” said Lucy.

  The Endermen had teleported and were standing in front of Thomas as he stood with a block of TNT in his hand.

  Thomas put the TNT block down and took out a sword.

  “That’s my diamond sword!” Steve cried. “And I want it back!”

  Steve took out his gold sword and sprinted toward Thomas and the Endermen. Despite having Steve’s diamond sword, Thomas was being challenged by the two Endermen. The Endermen made gurgling sounds that were growing louder.

  “Help!” Thomas called out.

  Steve struck one of the Endermen but the creature wasn’t hurt. Steve battled the Enderman as they made their way deep into the grassy meadow. It was dark and he tried not to trip as the Enderman stood next to Steve. The gold sword struck the Enderman. It was getting weaker. Steve knew there was a cliff just a few feet away. Steve fought the Enderman until they reached the cliff and then struck the Enderman and it fell over.

  Thomas tried to fight off the other Enderman but he still hadn’t destroyed it. Steve joined Thomas in battle and fought off the Enderman. They both fought hard using the gold and diamond swords.

  Once the Enderman was destroyed, Steve said, “I want my diamond sword back. You have no idea how hard it was for me to get that sword.”

  “I’m sorry.” Thomas said as he handed the diamond sword to Steve.

  Steve held the diamond sword in his hands. He never thought he would ever be reunited with the sword.

  “Why did you do it?” asked Steve, “Why did you steal my sword? Why did you burn down my wheat farm? What did I ever do to you?”

  Steve didn’t realize how loud he was screaming and it attracted the attention of an army of zombies.

  Kyra, Max, Adam, and Lucy sprinted toward the zombies to help their friend. As the group fought off the walking dead with Thomas, they also wondered why he’d betrayed them. And why was he helping them battle off these green-headed beasts? The group led the zombies to the cliff and declared a victorious battle over the night creatures.

  As the last of the zombies were destroyed, the group put their swords down. Except Adam; he held onto his sword and walked toward Thomas.

  “How could you do this?” Adam shouted and pointed his sword at Thomas.

  Thomas stood silently. He had no excuse. He tried to sprint away but Adam took out his potion of weakness and splashed it on him

  As Thomas grew weaker, Steve stood by Thomas with his diamond sword. Now they were going to get answers.

  17

  APOLOGIES

  “There’s a spider jockey behind you.” Thomas said weakly, but Adam didn’t believe him.

  “Don’t lie to me, Thomas!”

  With his last bit of energy, Thomas took out his bow and arrow and shot it at the skeleton.

  Adam quickly turned around and hit the spider with his sword, but at the same time his potion of swiftness and his potion of strength fell on Thomas. Adam struck the spider and fell back. Max and Lucy sprinted over to see if he was okay.

  “I’m fine.” Adam looked over at Thomas, but he was gone. “I accidently let my potions of swiftness and strength splash on Thomas. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t think he will be that hard to find. We know all of his tricks now,” said Steve. “It’s not your fault, Adam.”

  Daylight began to set in and the group walked back to the house to guard the TNT and come up with a plan to find Thomas.

  “He’s definitely living in an underground house in one of the tunnels,” said Lucy.

  Baa. Baa. The group walked out of Adam’s house to see Steve’s missing sheep grazing on the lawn outside the house.

  “Do you see Thomas?” Adam asked as he looked around the property.

  “He gave back the sheep!” Steve said as he held onto his diamond sword.

  “You can put the sword down Steve,” Max joked.

  “I’m so happy to have it back, I don’t want to let go of it,” said Steve.

  Steve looked at the sheep and realized that Thomas’s days of griefing were over. He was using the sheep as a peace offering, but he wasn’t sure Thomas was worthy of being forgiven.

  The group led the sheep back to Steve’s house. Rufus barked and Snuggles meowed when they returned. Rufus walked over to the burnt wheat farm and Steve followed him.

  “Guys!” Steve called the gang over, “Look!”

  Somebody had tended Steve’s land and placed wheat seeds in the soil.

  “I bet it’s Thomas!” said Adam. “He’s trying to make up for all the grief he caused us.”

  “Maybe splashing him with a potion of swiftness and strength wasn’t as bad as we thought,” said Kyra.

  “Oh no,” screamed Max, “Do you think he had something to do with that?” Max pointed to a witch hut just a few feet from the wheat farm.

  “A witch!” cried Lucy. She raced toward it with her sword.

  “No, use your bow and arrow, Lucy.” Max called out. “She can splash you.”

  But the warning came too late and the witch swiftly splashed a potion of poison at Lucy and she was defenseless.

  The witch drank a potion of swiftness, but before the evil creature could sprint toward the group, Max shot her with the bow and arrow.

  The group turned to help Lucy who was laying on the ground and were shocked to see that Thomas had appeared and had already raced to her rescue. They watched silently as Thomas handed Lucy some milk. She drank it slowly. “Thank you, Thomas,” she said.

  As the group walked over to Lucy and Thomas, Adam kept his sword out. He didn’t trust Thomas. He felt betrayed by his friend, and despite Thomas’s small gestures of forgiveness, he wasn’t sure of Thomas’s motives.

  “I’m sorry,” Thomas said as he stood next to Lucy, who was slowly regaining her strength.

  But Thomas’s words came too late. Adam stood by his friend with a sword.

  “Adam,” Steve pleaded, “let him explain.”

  “If you hurt him, we’ll never get any answers,” said Lucy.

  Adam wasn’t listening.

  18

  CONSEQUENCES AND ENDINGS

  Adam drew his sword closer to Thomas. “I can’t believe you caused so much trouble. Why?”

  “I-I’m sorry,” Thomas stuttered. “It started out as a joke.”

  “A joke?” Adam raised his voice.

  Steve was angry too. “You have the entire village believing that I’m a griefer and you blew up my wheat farm twice!”

  “And you fl
ooded my house with lava!” screamed Kyra.

  “You trapped me in a bedrock room!” yelled Henry.

  Thomas attempted to defend himself. “I didn’t realize how much my griefing was hurting other people and when I finally saw how bad it was, I didn’t know how to stop.”

  “You didn’t realize how much you were hurting other people?” Steve didn’t believe it.

  “It started as a joke; I was just hiding your potions,” said Thomas.

  Adam was disappointed with his friend. “I don’t think hiding potions is funny.”

  “Truthfully, when you didn’t realize I was the one stealing the potions, I wanted to see how many other things I could get away with,” Thomas confessed.

  Steve was infuriated by Thomas’s words. “You weren’t thinking of anyone else but yourself!”

  “I just wanted to see how much trouble I could cause because I thought it was fun. Then I’d leave the wool. I was waiting for you guys to figure out it was me. And I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it would cause all this trouble. I regret that I took it too far.”

  “Took it too far?” Adam yelled. “That’s putting it mildly.”

  Steve knew the battle between Adam and Thomas could go on forever. Despite being upset, he said, “Thomas, what is done is done. You’re a griefer, but you don’t have to stay a griefer. What can you do to change?”

  “I gave back the sheep and the sword. I planted the seeds. Can I just say I’m sorry?”

  Kyra looked at her home in the distance that Thomas had destroyed. “No, that’s too easy,” she said.

  “I will help rebuild your house,” said Thomas.

  “I think there’s something more important than helping us rebuild,” said Adam. “You need to go into the village and tell everyone that you’re the griefer. Steve’s reputation was ruined and you need to clear his name.”

  As the group walked into the village, Thomas kept his head down. Steve could see Thomas felt embarrassed. It was a hard thing to admit to everyone, that you were the griefer.

  “I know this isn’t easy.” Steve told Thomas.

  Henry couldn’t believe Steve was being so kind to Thomas. He was a griefer and deserved punishment. “Why are you being so nice to him?”

  “It’s hard to admit when you’re wrong and Thomas is trying to make things better,” said Steve.

  The group walked into Eliot the Blacksmith’s shop.

  Eliot was happy to see them. “Hi guys! Are you here to trade?”

  “Not today,” said Kyra.

  “Thomas has something to tell you,” said Adam.

  Thomas bowed his head in shame. “Steve isn’t the griefer. I am.”

  “Thomas, why would you do that?” asked Eliot. “And you lied about it, too!”

  “I didn’t want people thinking I was the griefer,” Thomas replied. He couldn’t look any of his friends in the eye, but he spoke with genuine regret and remorse.

  Thomas walked around the village and let everybody know he was the griefer and apologized. Steve’s name was cleared, but Thomas wasn’t cleared of his crimes.

  Night was beginning to fall, and the group walked back toward Adam’s house. Thomas walked at their pace but didn’t say a word.

  “How do you intend to earn our trust back?” Adam asked Thomas.

  “I want to help each of you rebuild what I destroyed, and I will give back everything I stole.”

  “You stole time away from my friends,” said Henry. “How are you going to repay me for that?”

  Thomas thought about Henry’s question carefully and then responded. “I promise to be the best friend you’ll ever have. If you’re ever in trouble, I will help you anywhere. If you find yourself stuck fighting the Ender dragon, I’ll create a portal in seconds and join you in battle.”

  “Really?” Henry was still suspicious.

  “The one thing that bothered me while I was griefing was watching you guys work together as a team,” said Thomas, looking at the group.

  “Bothered you?” Steve didn’t like the way Thomas phrased his apology.

  “Yes, I liked seeing you guys stick together. And I saw how you really cared about each other. It made me feel very bad. I felt so alone.”

  “But you said griefing was like a game,” said Adam.

  “Games aren’t as much fun when you play them alone. And they aren’t fun at all when they hurt other people,” said Thomas.

  The gang passed Kyra’s house and stopped to look at the lava-filled home that had been destroyed by Thomas’s TNT.

  “Tomorrow I’m going to start rebuilding this house for you,” said Thomas. “And I’ll make it nicer than your last house. I’m sorry.”

  Kyra had to trust him. “Okay,” she said, “but you can’t let us down again, Thomas.”

  “We need to get to Adam’s house before it gets dark,” said Lucy and the group hurried on.

  Steve opened the door to Adam’s house. “It’s nice to be able to walk in the door and not worry that we’ll fall in a hole and get stuck in a tunnel,” he said.

  “Or that someone is stealing TNT,” added Lucy.

  “I’m truly sorry, guys.” Thomas felt badly. “I’ll never do it again.”

  “You’re a reformed griefer,” Steve told him.

  Darkness set in as the group was safely tucked away in their beds. The night was quiet. They didn’t need to keep watch for a sneaky griefer and his wool mark. Tomorrow, they’d rebuild. Tonight they could sleep peacefully with their comfortable wool blankets, dreaming of all the fun adventures they’d have now that they didn’t have to worry about the griefer.