The Courageous Ocelot, Book 4: A World In Peril Page 5

village, at least.” Edd said.

  - “We should have asked the citizens to be more specific about their findings. They never reported any village ruins.” Greg said.

  We searched the village, or what was left of it, because most of the buildings were completely destroyed with only a few walls intact.

  - “And now, can you explain what happened to this village if you didn’t destroy it?” Edd asked Loki.

  - “The ancient villager told me that his village was directly connected to the Supreme Trees. He was the guardian of those trees, and for this reason he could speak to humans and be the voice of the unheard.” Loki said.

  - “Like me, for the animals!” I said.

  - “Yeah… I suppose.” Loki said. “But again, I thought it was just a big lie… Later on, when we returned here, the village was no more. And no signs of the villagers, either.”

  - “How many villagers lived here?” Greg asked him.

  - “Hmm. I think 35 or 36, other than the ancient villager. Those were regular villagers, we even traded some items with them.” Loki said.

  - “Well… Let’s take another look around and see if we can see any clues left behind.” Edd said.

  We searched the site of the village remains, but there was nothing important to retrieve. At night, we set up camp next to the abandoned village.

  Day 23

  In the morning, we got up and packed to leave the region.

  - “Great. Now we know the village existed here, but we have nothing more other than that.” Edd said.

  - “I told you all the village was here, I didn’t say we would find anything!” Loki said.

  But before leaving the area, I felt… strange. Some sort of energy from within the village was pulling me in, and I had to investigate.

  - “Lilly, are you alright? Let’s go, we must go back to the city.” Greg said.

  - “Wait… I felt something.” I said. I walked into the ruins and searched again. Under some of the debris from an old wall, I saw a small hole. “Guys, can you please remove these debris here?”

  Greg and Edd removed the blocks from the area and the hole was now open. It led down to a dark cave.

  - “Should we investigate?” Edd said.

  - “I feel something coming from this cave.” I said.

  - “Let’s go!” Greg said.

  - “Entering a dark hole in the middle of nowhere? Sounds great!” Loki said.

  - “Stop complaining and go, Loki.” Greg said.

  We all entered the hole and Edd crafted a Torch. We went down and searched the strange looking cave. At some point, we saw something covered by a thin silk. It was the ancient villager.

  - “What is this? Why is the ancient villager here?” Loki said.

  - “So this is the ancient villager?” Edd asked.

  - “Is he… dead?” Greg asked.

  - “No… I can feel an energy emanating from him!” I said.

  I touched the ancient villager and he slowly opened his eyes.

  - “Woah! He’s alive!” Loki said.

  The ancient villager sat on the rock where he was asleep.

  - “Thank you… for waking me up from my slumber.” He said.

  - “You’re… welcome.” I said.

  - “My name is Flask and I am the guardian of the Supreme Trees. Who are you?” The villager said.

  - “Huh, I am Edd, the Mayor of West City. This is Greg, my Deputy. This one is Lilly, the Talking Ocelot and this is Loki, former Mayor and criminal.” Edd said.

  - “I am not a criminal anymore!” Loki said.

  - “Loki? I know who you are. You destroyed our forest and all the Supreme Trees as well.” Flask said.

  - “I… Well, how could I know?” Loki said.

  - “I warned you.” Flask said. “Now, the world is in grave danger. I failed in my task of protecting the Supreme Trees, and I put myself to sleep until the world is renewed again by nature.”

  - “Renewed… again?” Greg asked.

  - “Yes. If the Supreme Trees are destroyed, the world is reconstructed from scratch. The apocalypse will take over and everything will be wiped from the face of the world.” Flask said.

  - “Gosh… How can we prevent that from happening?!” Edd asked.

  - “There is a way… But only if you humans care to listen.” Flask said. “All humans who I have met in my life ignore my warnings and predictions.”

  - “Well…” Loki said.

  - “Luckily, we aren’t like this human over there, Mr. Flask.” Greg said. “We’ll do whatever it takes to save this world.”

  - “Good. I feel a positive energy from you three, especially from you Ocelot.” Flask said.

  - “Me?” I said.

  - “Yes. The world doesn’t have much time. We need to save it.” Flask said.

  - “Sure. Can we take you to West City, Mr. Flask? We can conduct our mission from there.” Edd said.

  - “Yes.” Flask answered.

  We left the cave and headed to West City.

  Day 24

  Heading to West City, we inquired the ancient villager about his situation, the Supreme Trees and what happened to the village. But he refused to talk.

  - “Mr. Villager, we need to know more about your story. If you want us to help you, tell us more!” Edd said.

  The villager remained silent.

  - “Okay, so he won’t talk to us anymore?” Greg asked.

  - “Let’s ask him in the city… Maybe he will answer us.” Edd said.

  Day 25

  In the West City, we took the ancient villager to the Town Hall. He was still silent and didn’t say a single word about anything. We tried to communicate with him once more inside the building.

  - “Mr. Villager… Can you hear me?” Edd said out loud.

  - “It’s weird… Almost like he is frozen in place!” Greg said.

  - “Hello sir, are you there?” I said, touching his hand. He immediately reacted.

  - “Oh, yes! Thank you.” The villager said.

  - “What was that?” I asked.

  - “You see… I was not supposed to be awakened. After the Supreme Trees died, I was put to sleep by my own body, and I should only wake up again after the world has been purged from its current chaotic state.”

  - “Yeah, you said that before… but less dramatically.” Edd said.

  - “During our travel to the city, I was put to sleep again. Thankfully, you are the only one here who can wake me up from my deep slumber.” The villager said.

  - “Why me?” I asked.

  - “Probably because you are a rare creature among all… chosen by Herobrine just like me.” The villager said.

  - “Herobrine also gave you powers?” I asked him.

  - “Yes, indeed. And communicating with humans is just one of them. The other is to feel the energy from the biomes, trees, and other living creatures. And I am sad to announce that the energy from the biomes is constantly decaying at an alarming rate, because the Supreme Trees were destroyed.” The ancient villager said.

  - “But Flask, what can we do now?” Edd asked him. “Please, we will do anything to avoid this apocalypse that you’re talking about.”

  - “Heh, do you all really believe this guy? Apocalypse…” Loki said.

  - “I trust him more than I trust you, Loki.” Greg said. “We wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for your actions in the first place.”

  - “Yeah… Whatever. Anyway, I have complied with my part of the deal. You guys still owe me mine!” Loki said.

  - “Okay, Loki. Remember our agreement.” Edd said. “Guards, please take Loki out of West City and take the tunnels, so no one sees him. And notify all guards from the three cities that Loki is forbidden to enter any city without my permission.”

  - “Okay, sir.” The guards said.

  - “Goodbye guys, have fun in your mission!” Loki said. “I’ll be waiting for my abilities, Edd.”

  - “Go ahead, Loki. We got more important things to
deal with right now.” Edd said.

  Now, Loki left West City to live free from the prison like we agreed, however he would never be able to return to the cities without Edd and Greg’s permission. In the meantime, we had a bigger goal to achieve…

  Day 26

  Today, we asked the ancient villager for help. We needed to save the world from total destruction, and time was short.

  - “What’s the next step, Flask?” Edd said.

  - “You need to restore the Supreme Trees from the world.” Flask said.

  - “And how?” Greg asked him.

  - “Supreme Trees, like I said, don’t produce seeds or saplings. The only way to obtain one now… is to bring it from another area.”

  - “And where would that be?” Edd asked him.

  - “Overseas.” Flask said.

  - “Overseas? So, we have to go after a Supreme Tree and bring it back on a boat?” Edd said.

  - “Yes.” Flask answered.

  - “Gee…. I don’t like this. But we don’t have any other choice.” Edd said.

  - “And could you point us to the exact direction, sir?” Greg said.

  - “Of course. In fact, I will be coming with you.” Flask said.

  - “Really?” I said.

  - “Sure. I am the only one here who can feel the energy from the Supreme Trees and detect them.” Flask said.

  - “Sounds reasonable. Guys, I won’t go on this trip but I wish you three good luck. Please take everything you need for your travels, and take care!” Edd said.

  - “We will!” I said. “And then, the forest will be back to normal once and for all.”

  Day 27

  Edd would stay to look after the three cities. It’s impossible to just leave them all unattended for such a long period of time.

  - “I would love to go on this trip, but we have three cities to run here. We can’t leave them behind.” Edd said.

  - “You’re right, Edd. Are you sure it’s gonna be okay without me?” Greg