Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lauren groaned sleepily. She didn’t want to get up yet. Her alarm hadn’t even gone off yet. However, she soon felt the wet sensation of a dog licking her face.

“No, Dexter. Not yet,” Lauren groaned, shoving the dog away. The dog refused to listen, however and licked her face again. Lauren huffed. She clearly wasn’t getting back to sleep now so she rubbed her tired eyes and opened them.

Lauren was immediately wide awake when she realized that she was no longer in her and Bobby’s bedroom. Lauren sat straight up and looked around frantically. She seemed to be in some kind of jungle which was odd since she didn’t live anywhere near a jungle. Lauren then looked at the dog and saw that it wasn’t Dexter but instead seemed to be a small dog with two black eyes, a black mouth, and black going down its back to its tail. The rest of its body looked to be a light brown splotched with black. It appeared to be some kind of Yorkshire terrier if Lauren wasn’t mistaken. The dog barked at Lauren happily.

“What the…?” Lauren was confused. Where was she? Whose dog was this? The dog clearly belonged to someone seeing as it was wearing a yellow neckerchief around its neck.

Lauren jumped when she heard footsteps in the jungle. She quickly stood up and looked around nervously.

“Bubbles! Where’d you go, girl?!” a familiar-sounding voice called. The dog ran off into the jungle with an excited bark.

Lauren debated following the dog but stopped herself. She had no idea who this person was. Sure, the voice sounded familiar but she had no idea who the person was or if they were friendly or not. What if that was the person who’d put her in this jungle? What would they do if they found her with their dog? Was this possibly someone’s private property that she was trespassing on? Lauren was so confused and currently had way more questions than answers.

But, before Lauren could make a decision on what to do, the footsteps got closer.

“Bubbles! What are you doing?!” the person huffed as the dog—apparently named ‘Bubbles’—ran back to Lauren from the foliage of the jungle. A man followed the dog soon after.

The man had tan skin, blue eyes, and short brown hair and a beard. He wore a white linen shirt, yellow pants, brown boots, a teal belt, a mossy green cloak, and an arm guard on his right arm.

The man looked at Lauren curiously. Lauren’s body was tense. She didn’t recognize this man and prayed he wouldn’t hurt her.

“Is this what you were trying to show me, Bubbles?” the man asked Bubbles. Bubbles barked and seemed to almost nod her head in response. “And you just found her here?” the man asked. Again, Bubbles seemed to understand his question and barked out an answer. Finally, the man looked at Lauren.

“Look, I’m sorry if I’m trespassing on your property!” Lauren apologized quickly. “I honestly don’t know how I got here!” The man just watched her as if trying to decide whether he could trust her or not. Finally, he smiled.

“It’s no problem at all!” the man said. “All are welcome here!” The man stuck out his hand toward Lauren. “The name’s Mythical J. Sausage! This is Bubbles,” the man introduced first himself then he motioned to the dog at his side. Lauren’s eyes widened. No wonder this guy sounded so familiar!

“Mythical Sausage?!” Lauren exclaimed. “I know you! We were in Afterlife together!” The man—Sausage—faltered slightly. His brow furrowed and he lowered his hand. Lauren’s body tensed again. She knew Sausage but his reaction gave her a bad feeling.

Suddenly, Sausage grabbed Lauren’s arm and unfolded two wings—that Lauren had not spotted before because they’d been tucked under his cloak—before taking off into the skies with Lauren in tow. Lauren yelped as the ground quickly disappeared below her. What the heck was going on?!

Sausage landed in what seemed to be some kind of town styled after the movie Encanto . Sausage dragged Lauren into a large building that was revealed to be a tavern of some sort. He then turned around quickly to face her. All kinds of alarm bells were going off in Lauren’s head right now. This was too freaky!

“How do you know about Afterlife?” Sausage asked lowly.

“Because I was in it?” Lauren answered. “Why wouldn’t I know about it?”

“I thought I was the only one who could…” Sausage seemed to mutter to himself. He focused back on Lauren. “What’s your name again?”

“Lauren. LaurenZside,” Lauren answered. “Sausage, what’s up with you? And where are we? And how can you fly ?!” Lauren asked. She had to be dreaming, right?!

“I-I do remember you,” Sausage said. “But this can’t be possible. Afterlife doesn’t exist anymore. And you’re here ! How are you here ?!”

“I don’t know!” Lauren answered. “Your guess is as good as mine! Where is here anyway?” Sausage took a deep breath.

“This is Sanctuary,” Sausage answered. “I am its protector,” Lauren’s brow furrowed.

“Uh-huh…” Lauren hummed. “Is this some kind of prank? Is this Bobby retaliating for all my pranks? I haven’t pranked him in a while,”

“What? Who’s Bobby?” Sausage asked. Lauren frowned.

“My husband,” Lauren answered. “Did he put you up to this?”

“I don’t know anyone named Bobby,” Sausage said. “Sorry,” Sausage finally backed away slightly and Lauren was able to look around more. The tavern was HUGE! But, what really caught Lauren’s eye was the small blue thing at the bar.

“What’s that?!” Lauren asked, pointing at the blue thing.

“That’s Bruno!” Sausage answered. “He’s an allay and also the bartender,”

“Hi, Bruno…” Lauren said. This was too weird! There was no way any of this could be real!

“I’m very sorry, Lauren,” Sausage said moving toward the door. “I have to go do some quick research. I’ll be back soon but until then, Bruno will take care of you!”

“No! Wait!” Lauren cried but Sausage was already out the door.

Lauren looked back to Bruno. An allay? Like from Minecraft? No. That’s impossible. She was dreaming. There was no other explanation!

Lauren decided there was nothing else to really do but wait for Sausage to get back so she sat down on a bar stool. Bruno quickly offered her a drink in a glass. Lauren looked at the drink curiously. It was pinkish in color and seemed to almost glow.

“Could…could I have a water instead?” Lauren asked the allay. Even if this was a dream, no way was she going to drink some unknown glowing liquid. Bruno nodded politely, took the pinkish drink and replaced it with a glass of water. Lauren took a hesitant sip and was slightly confused when she could feel the cool liquid flow down her throat. You shouldn’t be able to actually drink things in dreams, right? Or at least you shouldn’t be able to feel it!

Just when Lauren thought this couldn’t get any weirder, the door opened and two people walked in. Except, they weren’t people but large humanoid rabbits. Both rabbits had light brown fur with a lighter tan patch around their nose and mouth.

The two rabbits spotted Lauren and the female one waved to her politely. Lauren gave the two a small wave.

“Hello, dear,” the female rabbit greeted warmly. “I don’t believe we’ve seen you around here before,”

“Uh…no! I-I just got here!” Lauren replied. This was so weird. She was talking to an anthropomorphic rabbit!

“Well then, my name’s Maria and this is my brother Eddie,” the female rabbit said motioning first to herself and second to the male rabbit next to her.

“I’m Lauren,” Lauren said. “It’s nice to meet you both,”

“Is it alright if we join you, Lauren?” Maria asked. Lauren nodded and the two rabbits sat down at the bar. Bruno served the two and refilled Lauren’s water.

“So, Lauren,” Eddie said. “I assume you’ve met Sausage?”

“Yes, I have,” Lauren responded. She wondered whether she should tell them about having known Sausage before today but eventually decided against it. After all, with the way Sausage was acting when she mentioned Afterlife, Lauren had a feeling these two might not know what Afterlife was. How much was she allowed to say about her life and her past? How much did these two already know?

“Speaking of…where is that little tesoro?” Maria asked. Lauren didn’t answer right away. She could guess Maria was talking about Sausage but Lauren both didn’t know Spanish super well and didn’t know where exactly Sausage had gone.

“Uh…Sausage said he was going to do some research…” Lauren said, hoping that answered the rabbit’s question. Maria nodded, humming softly.

“I see,” Maria said.

“Did he say when he’d be back?” Eddie asked.

“N-No, he didn’t,” Lauren answered.

Lauren, Eddie, and Maria talked for a little longer before the door opened again and Sausage walked in. He spotted Maria and Eddie and gasped.

“Eddie! Maria!” Sausage cheered. The two rabbits stood up as Sausage ran to them, hugging them tightly. Lauren smiled softly. Even though she had no idea what was going on, this was cute. Sausage then turned to look at Lauren. “I’m glad you were able to meet Maria and Eddie!” Sausage said. “Aren’t they great!”

“Yeah,” Lauren answered. “They’re really sweet,”

“I’m afraid we have to get back to the shop,” Eddie said to Sausage.

“Are you sure?” Sausage pouted.

“Yes, mi girasol,” Maria said. “We’ll see you around,”

“Yeah,” Sausage said. “I’ll make sure to drop by more often!”

“We look forward to it!” Eddie laughed.

“It was wonderful meeting you, Lauren,” Maria said.

“And you as well,” Lauren replied.

“Adios, Sausage,” Eddie said. Sausage gave the two one last hug before the two rabbits left the tavern. Sausage turned to Lauren once the two were gone.

“Do you have anywhere you’re staying currently?” Sausage asked.

“Well, since I don’t know how far I am from home, I guess not,” Lauren replied. She just wanted to wake up from this bizarre dream and be with her husband and child again. And Dexter.

“Follow me,” Sausage said. He led Lauren up a flight of stairs and down a hall to what seemed to be a bedroom. “You can stay here for now if you want,” Sausage said.

“Thanks,” Lauren said. Sausage nodded.

“Say…why don’t you look like you did in Afterlife?” Sausage asked.

“Huh?” Lauren asked. “Um…because that was just a character…” Lauren answered.

“A character?” Sausage repeated. “Interesting…”

“Why?” Lauren asked.

“I assumed when you brought up Afterlife that you were from that lifetime…” Sausage said.

“Wait…” Lauren said, realizing something. “That lifetime…? Do you think…are you saying that wasn’t a game for you?”

“A game?” Sausage asked. “No. Why would it be a game?”

“Like…a video game. Minecraft. It was just a server we played on. It wasn’t real,” Lauren said. The confusion on Sausage’s face triggered something in Lauren’s head. “Unless…you aren’t the Sausage I know…you’re…you’re his character!”

“I don’t follow,” Sausage said.

“No wonder everything’s so weird here! I must somehow be in the world of Minecraft!” Lauren exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, back up,” Sausage said. “Minecraft? I’m not familiar with that world…you’re currently in Sanctuary, a kingdom in the land of Empires,”

“Empires?” Lauren asked. “Of course! This makes sense now!”

“It does?” Sausage asked. “Because now I’m just more confused,”

“Who’s the admin of Empires?” Lauren asked, talking more to herself than to Sausage. “I feel like I remember Scott mentioning something about Empires…what was it?”

“Scott?” Sausage asked.

“Yeah,” Lauren said.

“Hey, I know Scott!” Sausage chirped. “Do you want me to take you to him?”

“I…” Lauren thought for a second. If this was the world of Empires SMP and Sausage was acting just like his character, odds were that everyone would be like this too. Including Scott. It wouldn’t matter if she talked to him, Scott would probably be either just as clueless or more clueless than Sausage.

“How about this,” Sausage suggested, noticing Lauren’s distress. “You stay here tonight and tomorrow, I’ll help you figure out how you got here and how to get you home,” Lauren nodded. That sounded like a good plan.

“Yeah,” Lauren said. “That sounds good,” Sausage nodded.

“I still have some work to do around Sanctuary but feel free to explore. There are some extra clothes in the closet in a bunch of different sizes so hopefully you can find something that fits if you want to change!” Sausage said. “If you have any problems or need any help, just find me, Eddie, or Maria! Or Bubbles!” Lauren nodded and Sausage left the room.

Before she could do anything, Lauren decided to freshen up and make sure she didn’t look like she’d woken up in the jungle. Despite how true that statement was.

Lauren looked into the floor-length mirror that sat on the wall opposite the bed and frowned. She didn’t look too bad but she definitely didn’t look entirely like herself either. Her hair was galaxy-colored and fell down to her waist and her eyes were a slightly lighter shade of brown. She wore a white t-shirt that started just below her shoulders, black shorts, and white sneakers with purple laces. All in all, she looked like her Minecraft skin. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair to smoothen it out and made sure there wasn’t too much dirt on her clothes. However, as she did so, Lauren noticed something on her arm. She looked at her forearm and saw a line of red hearts seemingly tattooed into her arm.

“What’s this…?” Lauren wondered aloud. The only explanation that she could come up with was that these represented how many hearts she had just like the health bar that sat above the hotbar when she was playing Minecraft on her computer.

That thought also sparked another question. Could she open her inventory? And how? Was there anything in her inventory right now? Lauren tried snapping, clapping, and just waving her hands around before she figured it out. By putting her fingers and thumb together in a pinching position and then spreading out her fingers—almost as if she were zooming in on a picture on a touchscreen—what looked like a Minecraft inventory appeared in front of her. It was currently empty.

“Huh. Cool,” Lauren said. She reversed the motion—her hand doing the motion that would zoom out of a picture on a touchscreen—the inventory went away.

Finally, Lauren left the tavern and decided to take Sausage’s advice and explore Sanctuary.

Lauren was immediately blown away by how big Sanctuary was! The buildings were beautiful with their unique design and colorful appearance. It was weird to Lauren to see all of the rabbit people who were walking around but none of them seemed to be inherently dangerous. Sure, a few of them watched her closely as she passed by or quieted their conversations slightly when she got close, but at least they weren’t trying to attack her.

Lauren soon spotted a large fountain in the center of the town and her jaw dropped. The fountain was gorgeous! When Lauren looked closer, she saw that there were axolotls swimming around in the fountain.

Lauren jumped slightly when she heard the heavy beat of large wings. She ducked behind a building as a man landed beside the fountain. A child hopped off the man’s shoulders and stood on the edge of the fountain.

The child had tan skin, dark blue eyes, and short fluffy light brown hair with a section of purple that dangled over their forehead. The child wore a blue long-sleeved shirt, purple vest, black pants, a purple bow tie, and sneakers with wings on the heels.

The man, on the other hand, had tan skin and wore a white toga with a green belt, brown leather sandals, and brown armbands. He had two large white feathery wings on his back. Lauren could see some short brown hair on the man’s head from where she stood but she couldn’t see the man’s face.

“Make sure Sausage gets this, okay?” the man said to the child. His voice sounded familiar and yet, Lauren couldn’t quite place it. What Lauren did notice right away, though, was the man’s British accent. “I have some business to take care of so you’ll have to stay a little longer than normal but don’t worry, I’ll let Sausage know when you can come stay in Stratos again!” The child nodded.

Then, the child glanced over and made eye contact with Lauren. Lauren ducked behind the building, hoping whoever this was wasn’t going to hurt her. Hopefully the kid didn’t tell the man about her. Maybe she should just leave. It was rude for her to eavesdrop anyway. Lauren was about to leave when she heard the sound of wings flapping followed by someone landing right in front of her. This person was easily 11 feet tall, though. Lauren looked up nervously and saw that it appeared to be the same man from the fountain. Except much bigger. Now that he was facing her, Lauren could see his dark brown eyes and brown hair and beard. The man also had a green portion of his hair in the same spot as the child. Again, the man seemed familiar but she still couldn’t quite place it. Besides, she was way too scared to think clearly.

“Who are you?” the man asked. “And why were you spying on me and my child?”

“I-I’m very sorry!” Lauren stammered, back pressed against the wall behind her. “I was just exploring and saw you fly in! I-I didn’t mean to eavesdrop!”

“Who are you?” the man asked, bending down slightly to examine Lauren closely. Lauren gulped.

“M-My name is Lauren…” Lauren answered.

“I’ve never seen you around before, Lauren,” the man said. “Are you a new emperor?”

“No,” Lauren answered. “I’m not a new emperor,”

“Well, you’re not a Hermit,” the man said. “They all left a long time ago,”

“Hermit?” Lauren asked.

“Doesn’t matter now,” the man said. “What are you if not an emperor?”

“I’m not entirely sure…” Lauren said. “I just got here today!”

“Uh-huh,” the man hummed.

Lauren was terrified. What happened if this man wanted to fight?! She had no fighting experience or any way to defend herself! And what if she died?! Sure, Minecraft characters could always respawn but what would that be like for her?! Can she also respawn? Would it be painful? Lauren did not want to find out!

“Look, I’m very sorry for eavesdropping! I’ll just leave you-“

“No,” the man stopped Lauren. “How do I know you’re not a threat?”

“Do I look like a threat?” Lauren replied. She hoped the man agreed that she looked very non-threatening. The man considered this.

“Maybe not upon first glance,” the man said. “But I still don’t-“

“Hermes!” a voice cheered. Lauren breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of this new voice. Sausage!

The tall man glanced over and smiled slightly.

“‘Ello Sausage,” the man greeted.

“Hey, Joel! Isn’t this a pleasant surprise?!” Sausage chirped. Sausage trotted over to the man and Lauren with the child trailing close behind.

Wait. Joel?! Lauren’s eyes widened. This man was her friend Joel aka Smallishbeans!

Sausage looked at Lauren and Joel with a grin.

“I see you’ve met Lauren!” Sausage said. Joel looked surprised.

“You know her?” Joel asked.

“Yes! Old friend of mine!” Sausage said. He gave Lauren a subtle wink. Joel hummed softly and shrank down to a more normal height.

“My apologies. I didn’t know she was a friend of yours,” Joel said to Sausage and then turned to Lauren. “Very sorry about that,”

“No problem,” Lauren said. She still couldn’t believe this. So, Joel was here too? Except, it clearly wasn’t the Joel she knew. Rather, his character.

“My name is Joel of Stratos!” Joel introduced with a flourish. Lauren gave him a small smile.

“And this is Hermes!” Sausage said, scooping the child at his feet into his arms. The child, Hermes, giggled at this.

“Nice to meet you, Hermes,” Lauren said. “I’m Lauren,” Hermes smiled at her and signed something in sign language. Lauren, unfortunately, didn’t know sign language so she was completely lost on what Hermes had just said. Sausage noticed Lauren’s confusion and giggled slightly.

“He says it’s nice to meet you too,” Sausage translated. Lauren nodded in understanding. “He’s mute,” Sausage explained.

“Ah, I see,” Lauren said. Sausage turned back to Joel.

“Anyway,” Sausage said. “What brings you here? Other than dropping off mi cariño?” Sausage asked, nuzzling Hermes.

“There’s some stuff going on back at Stratos,” Joel said. “So Hermes will have to stay with you a little longer,”

“Wonderful!” Sausage cheered, holding Hermes up and spinning in a circle. “Uh, I mean, I hope everything’s okay!” Joel chuckled.

“It’ll be fine,” Joel said. “I’ll let you know when it’s safe,”

“Of course,” Sausage said with a nod.

“See you around, Sausage,” Joel said. “And I’ll see you soon, my little demigod!” Joel said to Hermes. Then, he turned to Lauren. “Nice meeting you, Lauren,” Lauren gave him a small nod. Then, with that, Joel took off into the sky, flying away.

“Sorry if Joel scared you,” Sausage apologized to Lauren. “He gets very protective,”

“Understandable,” Lauren said. “Parental instincts and all,”

“You have a child?” Sausage asked as he began walking towards the town center. Lauren followed him quickly.

“Yeah…her name is Melody…” Lauren answered and, oh, how her heart ached now at the thought of Melody!

Sure, Melody still had Bobby there as far as Lauren knew but she missed her daughter and husband deeply! When would she see them again? Would she see them again? What if she was stuck here? What if she never saw her family again? How much time had passed since she got here? She knew time worked different here but how different? How much of Melody’s life would she miss while stuck here?

Lauren felt tears in her eyes. She’d stopped walking and Sausage had noticed. He set Hermes down on the ground and went back to Lauren slowly.

“Lauren? Are you okay?” Sausage asked.

“Will I ever see her again…?” Lauren asked, voice barely above a whisper. Sausage frowned.

“You will,” he said confidently. “I’ll make sure of it!” Lauren gave him a small smile.

“Thanks,” Lauren said. Sausage grinned and put his arm around Lauren.

Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad. At least she wasn’t alone…

Chapter Text

When Lauren woke up the next morning, she was met with large blue eyes watching her excitedly. Lauren yelped in surprise and scrambled back, her back hitting the headboard of the bed.

The child signed something to her and Lauren recognized him as Hermes from the day before. So it hadn’t been a dream. Dang it.

“Hello,” Lauren said, a little shaken up. “Where-where’s Sausage?” Hermes signed something to her. Sadly, Lauren still didn’t know sign language. “Uh…what?” Lauren asked. Hermes frowned, then, his eyes lit up as he seemed to realize something. Hermes held up a finger before rushing out of the room.

Lauren shrugged and got up, stretching. She’d really hoped this had all been a dream and that she wasn’t stuck inside Minecraft with her friends who didn’t even recognize her. Sadly, she was stuck here so she just needed to make the best of it until she found her way back home.

Hermes returned once Lauren was able to get dressed and this time he held a book and quill.

“Whatcha got there, buddy?” Lauren asked. Hermes opened the book and scribbled something down with the quill. Then, he showed it to Lauren.

‘We can talk like this!’ Lauren smiled and nodded.

“Sure. This works!” Lauren agreed. “But you can still teach me some sign language if you want to,” Hermes grinned widely and nodded.

Hermes led Lauren to a small building with what seemed to be a drive-through window on the side. But, seeing as there were no cars in this world, Lauren assumed you just walked up to the window.

Hermes did just that and a kind villager greeted them.

“Good morning, little protector” the villager said to Hermes. Then, he looked up at Lauren. “Good morning. Are you the new arrival Sausage was telling us about?”

“Yes,” Lauren answered. “And good morning,”

This villager wasn’t a rabbit person like some of the other people she’d met but he also didn’t seem entirely human either. He also didn’t have an accent like Sausage, Eddie, or Maria.

“So, how may I help you two?” the villager asked. Hermes wrote something down in his book and showed it to the villager. “Two empanadas, one cafe con leche, and one leche chocolate coming right up!” the villager said with a smile before disappearing further into the building.

“Empanadas?” Lauren asked, looking down at Hermes. She really needed to brush up on her Spanish. If this place had a library, maybe there was a book on Spanish or something that she could borrow.

Hermes nodded and gave her a thumbs-up, rubbing his stomach which Lauren took to mean that empanadas were really good.

“And…cafe con leche…” Lauren said. “I’m sorry, my Spanish is rusty,” Hermes gave her a reassuring look and wrote something in his book before showing it to Lauren.

‘Coffee with milk’ Lauren read. She nodded. That sounded amazing!

Before too long, the villager came back with two cups and two croissant-like pastries. “Thank you very much,” Lauren said as she took the food and drinks from him. Hermes paid the villager—Lauren hadn’t even thought of that—and the two walked to the fountain where the sat down to eat.

Lauren bit into the empanada and her eyes widened. This was incredible! How had she never eaten something like this before?!

“Hermes! Hermes! Where are you?! Oh no, not again!” a voice cried. Lauren looked up to see Sausage flying by. He looked down and dove to the ground, landing semi-gracefully in front of Lauren and Hermes.

“Sausage, good morning!” Lauren greeted.

“Good morning!” Sausage greeted warmly though Lauren could see he was more focused on Hermes. And…were Sausage’s eyes slightly red? Surely not. It must have been a trick of the light.

In any case, Sausage’s eyes lit up at the sight of his son.

“Hermes!” Sausage chirped, hurrying to his son. “You scared me! You weren’t in your room! I thought something had happened!” Hermes signed to his father reassuringly and gave Sausage an apologetic smile. Sausage sighed. “I can’t stay mad at you!” Sausage crooned, pulling Hermes into a tight hug.

Lauren smiled softly at the interaction. The two were clearly very close despite the…whatever situation was going on with Hermes, Sausage, and Joel. However, the sight of the two also made Lauren’s heart ache. She missed her daughter. She wondered what Melody might be up to right now. Maybe she was ‘helping’ Bobby edit a video or something like that. She hoped the two weren’t too panicked by her disappearance.

“Lauren?” Lauren blinked, a voice bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at Hermes and Sausage.

“Huh? What?” Lauren asked. Sausage grinned.

“Did you and Hermes have fun this morning?” Sausage asked. Lauren nodded.

“Yeah. Sorry for worrying you. I didn’t think to let you know he was with me,”

“It’s alright!” Sausage said with a wave of his hand.

Lauren doubted that statement, though. The memory of the slightly red tint in Sausage’s eyes before he saw Hermes flashed up in her brain. Had that just been a trick of the light? What was going on here? Lauren wished she’d kept up better with the Empires series now.

“Anyway, I have some errands to run today,” Sausage said. “You’re free to join me if you wish! Eddie and Maria will be watching Hermes!”

“Are you sure you want me there?” Lauren asked. “I don’t know how helpful I can be…”

“I’d love to show you around the server! Besides, I have to stop by Chromia and I remember you saying something about knowing Scott,”

Lauren nodded. She did want to see Scott. Maybe he could help her out. Scott always seemed more observant than others around him. That’s why it was so fun yet frustrating playing Among Us with him.

“Okay,” Lauren said. “If you’re okay with it,”

“Sure!” Sausage chirped. “Oh! Before I forget!” Sausage spread out a hand in front of himself—most likely opening his inventory—and an odd screen-like thing appeared in front of him. He grabbed something and closed his fist, causing the screen to vanish. In Sausage’s hand was what looked like some sort of cape with a leather harness attached to it.

“What is it?” Lauren asked.

“It’s an elytra!” Sausage answered. “It’s for you! So you can fly with me!”

“Fly?” Lauren asked. She’d never flown before in her life—unless you count in a plane.

“Yeah! It’s easy!” Sausage said. He held out the elytra to Lauren.

Lauren took the elytra and secured the harness over her chest and shoulders. The side of the leather that pressed against her body was padded so it didn’t rub uncomfortably against her skin yet still felt secure. Sausage helped make sure all parts of the elytra were properly fastened and secured.

“I’ll show you how to use it after we drop off Hermes, okay?” Sausage said. Lauren nodded.

Once the two had dropped off the child with the two rabbit people, Sausage took Lauren up a hill.

“Okay, using an elytra is easy,” Sausage said. “You just spread the wings by pulling down on this cord here and then you let the wind catch the wings,” Sausage pointed to a cord on the strap that went over her left shoulder. Lauren pulled it experimentally and grinned as she felt the wings of the elytra spread out behind her. Okay. This wouldn’t be too bad.

“And you just…glide?” Lauren asked.

“Yep!” Sausage said with a nod. “You can also use fireworks to propel yourself forward and into the air!” A firework appeared in Sausage’s hand as he jumped into the air and used the rocket to lift himself into the air.

“Wow!” Lauren gasped. Sausage landed back where he’d been before he took off and handed Lauren some rockets.

“You try!” Sausage said. Lauren nodded, made sure the elytra wings were spread out, and jumped, just like Sausage had.

The rocket in her hand propelled her upward and her eyes widened as she flew into the sky. Lauren turned and looked down at where Sausage was. He quickly joined her in the air.

“Alright, now just shift your weight when you want to turn and use rockets when you lose momentum,” Sausage instructed.

The two spent some time in the air as Lauren learned how to use the elytra.

Eventually, Sausage seemed her skilled enough for them to move forward with the plans for the day.

The two stood in front of a small house-like structure at the top of a mountain overlooking Sanctuary.

“Follow me!” Sausage said, opening the door. Lauren’s jaw dropped as her gaze fell on the glowing purple portal inside the structure. “This is my nether portal! It’s faster to go through the Nether than the Overworld, honestly. Unless you’d rather fly over the Overworld,”

“I think I’d rather go through the Overworld if that’s okay…” Lauren said.

“Sure!” Sausage said. He turned around to face a wooden deck leading off the side of the mountain. “Come on!” Sausage leaped off the deck and flew into the air.

Lauren looked over the edge and gulped. It was a long way down if she didn’t time this just right. Lauren took a few steps back and took a deep breath. She could do this. Then, Lauren ran and leaped off the edge of the deck, pulling the cord on her harness and spreading out the wings of her elytra. She gave Sausage a thumbs-up and he nodded, grinning widely. Then, the two were off.

Lauren had to admit, the world was beautiful! The two flew over a place called the Eversea where Sausage told her a pirate lived. Then, the flew over a swampy area Sausage called Evermoore. Apparently, a witch lived there.

“Don’t go there by yourself! It’s easy to get lost because the trees are magic!” Sausage explained. Lauren gulped. Magic trees? She could probably get lost even without the trees working against her!

The two flew past an empire called Cogsmeade and, eventually, got to Chromia. Lauren gasped. Chromia was beautiful! Flower fields lit up the landscape with adorable cottages dotted around.

Sausage landed in front of a large fountain—what was with these people and fountains—and Lauren quickly joined him, tripping as she landed and nearly falling into the water.

“Scott should be around here somewhere,” Sausage said. “Just gotta find him,” Lauren looked around. This place was too cute! This was definitely built by Scott! “Scott?! Scott!” Sausage called. “Come on, he’s probably in one of these buildings,” Sausage said to Lauren. “Or he’s with the llamas,”

“Llamas?!” Lauren exclaimed. Oh. She just had to see a llama!

“Yeah! Let’s go check there first!” Sausage said. He led Lauren to a cute little area with a fence made out of hedges and stone. Lauren squealed with glee once she saw the llamas.

“They’re so cute!” Lauren cooed. She ran up to the fenced-in area and a few of the llamas wondered over to her.

Lauren was petting one llama with teal accessories when a voice made her jump.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked. Lauren yelped in surprise, scaring the teal-covered llama.

Lauren looked over to see a man with light skin—that turned white at his hands—big heterochromatic brown and orange eyes, fluffy brown hair, and a black nose. He also had white llama-like ears on his head and Lauren had a feeling he also had a fluffy white tail. The man wore a white tank top, dark brown pants, white shoes, an orange vest, and an orange headband. The man watched her with his hands on his hips.

“I-I was just-I really like llamas, and-” Lauren tried to explain.

“Did you find Scott?” Sausage asked, trotting over. The llama boy looked over at Sausage.

“Why do you want to find Scott?” The llama boy asked.

“Oh! I have the wood he asked for!” Sausage said, an odd-looking box appearing in his hand. Lauren watched as Sausage put the box down and tapped the top, causing the top of the box to spin and lift up. Lauren’s eyes just widened at this.

“Okay…” the llama boy said. He didn’t sound convinced. He opened his mouth to say more but stopped when another voice called out.

“Owen! Owen, what did I say about running off?” a man hurried over. The llama boy—most likely Owen—watched the man happily as the man held up a handful of sugar cubes. Owen’s eyes widened and he reached for the sugar. The man chuckled softly as Owen took the sugar and munched on it happily.

“Sorry, Scott!” Owen said in between bites. The man—Scott—sighed.

Lauren’s jaw dropped. This was Scott?!

The man had light skin, short light teal hair, and heterochromatic blue and gold eyes. He wore a white shirt, a colourful jacket, a magenta belt, black pants, and brown boots. The man was tall and lean and seemed to carry himself with an air of confidence. He was both similar to the Scott Lauren was used to and yet quite different.

Scott looked over at Sausage and Lauren.

“Hey, Sausage!” Scott greeted brightly. “Who’s your friend?” Scott looked Lauren up and down with one eyebrow raised. His hands rested on his hips similar to how Owen was standing when Lauren first saw him—didn’t Scott have a friend back home named Owen?

“I’m Lauren,” Lauren said. Scott grinned and held out a hand.

“Nice to meet you, Lauren,” Scott said. Lauren took Scott’s hand and he leaned down, kissing the top of her hand. Lauren blushed at the action; not because of any romantic feelings—she had Bobby after all—but because her Scott had never been known to do that!

Scott looked at her and chuckled.

“Scott! Leave Lauren alone!” Sausage laughed. Scott stood up straight again.

“So, how can I help you two?” Scott asked. “I was just about to collect some of the flowers to be turned into dyes when this one-“ Scott jabbed a thumb toward Owen. “-ran off,”

“We came to drop off that wood you needed!” Sausage said, motioning to the box in front of him. Scott looked at the box with a small grin. He opened with a tap and looked through the contents.

“It’s all there!” Sausage said. “Counted it out myself!”

“Well, thanks, Sausage,” Scott said. “Let me just go grab those dyes you requested!” Scott turned, then, “Follow me!” Sausage and Lauren followed Scott with Owen calling out that he was going to stay with the other llamas.

Scott led Lauren and Sausage into a tall building that appeared to be his storage building. Scott skipped up the stairs.

“Be down in a sec!” Scott called. Lauren looked around the room. It was filled from floor to ceiling with chests.

“This is some nice organization, Scott!” Sausage complimented.

“Thanks! Pearl helped me do it when the Hermits were here!” Scott called.

Soon, Scott slid down the banister, landing gracefully with his arms full of different dyes. He had dye on his hands and on the sleeves of his jacket but he didn’t seem to mind—or notice.

“Here you go!” Scott said. “All the dyes you needed!” Scott placed down a box similar to the one Sausage had back at the llama pen and put the dyes inside. Sausage looked through them and paused.

“Hey…I didn’t ask for purple,” Sausage said.

“I know,” Scott said with a smirk. “It’s for your friend! I can tell she likes purple and I’ll bet she wants to customize her elytra!” Scott winked at Lauren who sputtered out a thank you causing both men to laugh. Why couldn’t the Scott back home be like this?!

Thinking about Scott back home made Lauren miss home again. Why did everything have to remind her of home?!

“Hey,” Scott leaned over to Lauren, speaking softly as Sausage gathered up the box and trotted off to grab the other box from outside to bring in. “I hope you know I’m not interested,”

“Oh! I know!” Lauren said quickly. “I only see you as a friend! And you’re not really my type and I’m not really yours and-“

“How do you know that?” Scott asked, raising an eyebrow. “We just met today,”

“Uh…” Lauren was lost for words. Shoot.

Thankfully, Sausage quickly returned. He set the box of wood down in front of Scott.

“Well, we should be off now,” Sausage said. “It was nice seeing you, Scott!”

“You too!” Scott said as Sausage made his way out of the storage building. Lauren followed him and Scott followed her, leaning against the doorframe. “And Lauren? It was nice meeting you!” Lauren gave him a smile as she and Sausage flew up into the air.

Once the duo was out of sight, Owen trotted over to Scott. Scott flicked his wrist and opened up the world chat. Owen sniffed around Scott’s jacket pockets looking for more sugar which Scott did give him. Owen grinned and thanked Scott, trotting off to go eat his sugar elsewhere. Scott scrolled through the world chat but didn’t see anything about Lauren. Just the achievements she’d gotten while living in Sanctuary—Scott assumed that’s where she was living since she was with Sausage.

“Who are you, Lauren…?” Scott muttered. However, a new message caught his attention.

<LaurenZside fell from a high place>

Chapter Text

Sausage quickly gathered up the little things Lauren had on her before she died and flew as fast as he could toward Sanctuary. This was not good! Not good! Not good! He was quite sure what had happened. One minute the two were gliding through the air, the next, Lauren was screaming as she plummeted to the ground.

Sausage knew Lauren would wake up back in Sanctuary but he had a feeling that—based on her reaction to things like allays and shulker boxes—Lauren wasn’t used to a world like this one. Which also meant this might have been one of her first deaths ever if not her first.

Sausage got to Sanctuary and quickly raced over to the tavern. Hopefully Lauren was okay.

Lauren sat up straight, eyes wide and she looked around frantically. Where was she?! What had just happened?! Had she died?!

Lauren tried to take deep breaths but she couldn’t. Her breathing was sporadic and she felt tears in her eyes. Oh, gosh. She had died!

Lauren pulled her knees up to her chest. She couldn’t breathe! She couldn’t think! The only thing in her head was that awful plummeting feeling before she hit the ground way too hard! Everything had hurt. Even after everything went black, she could feel her bones fixing themselves and that HURT!

These people went through this every time they died?! How many times had Lauren died in Minecraft before this? How many times had her character died and had to go through this when all Lauren had to do was click a button?!

Her body ached. She couldn’t do this! She couldn’t do this! She needed to be home! She had to see her family again! She just wanted to wake up back home with Bobby and Melody and Dexter. Would she ever be back home or would she be doomed to living here forever? Melody would end up growing up without a mother. Bobby would assume Lauren abandoned them. There were so many things she would never get to do!

Lauren didn’t hear it when the door flew open. She couldn’t hear anything but her own heartbeat. She had died!

Lauren felt something touch her. She thought she could hear voices but they were muffled. It was all too much.

Lauren paused when she felt something wrap around her. Someone was hugging her. She leaned into the touch and could hear the other person’s steady heartbeat.

“That’s it…focus on my heartbeat,” a voice said calmly. “You’re doing great, chiquita,”

Lauren focused on the voice and the heartbeat. Eventually, her breathing slowed down.

“Deep breaths,” another voice said. Lauren took deep breaths—however shaky they may still be. “In, out,” the voice instructed. “Good,”

When Lauren had calmed down, she sat up and felt the arms around her slowly lower. She looked over and saw Maria—the rabbit lady from the day before. She also saw Sausage, Eddie, and Hermes. Maria was sitting on the bed next to Lauren and had supposedly been the one helping to ground her.

“Lauren? Are you alright?” Sausage asked. Lauren nodded. She wiped the tear tracks from her face and sniffled. Hermes handed Lauren a tissue and she gave him a small smile, blowing her nose.

Sausage’s posture was different than it had been since Lauren had woken up here. He looked…scared. Worried. For her? Was he worried about her?

“Was that your first death, dear?” Maria asked Lauren. Lauren nodded. She didn’t trust herself to say anything.

“It gets easier,” Sausage assured her, putting a hand on Lauren’s shoulder. She nodded again.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Eddie asked.

“I-I think so…” Lauren said softly. Her voice was slightly hoarse but she was otherwise fine physically.

“You don’t have to come with me on the rest of my errands. I can do them myself and I don’t want you to do anything that might make you uncomfortable,” Sausage said. “Hermes would be happy to hang out with you!” Hermes nodded in agreement. Lauren gave the boy another small smile.

“I’ll be fine,” Lauren said. “I want to see more of this world,”

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked. “You can stay with us,”

“I’ll be fine…” Lauren assured the rabbit man. “I promise,”

“Sausage, cariño, watch over her, please,” Maria said to Sausage.

“I will!” Sausage said, saluting to the rabbit woman. Maria smiled fondly.

The group waited a little more while Lauren got her bearings again and Bruno even brought her some water and a slightly glowing liquid that Sausage assured Lauren was safe to drink and would help fix anything the respawn didn’t.

Once Lauren deemed herself okay to continue, Sausage returned her elytra to her and the two headed up to the Nether portal.

“Okay,” Sausage said. “I think we’ll avoid flying for now. Let’s just make a quick trip through the Nether,”

“Uhm…” Lauren bit her lip. She was confused. “I know I’m new here…but isn’t the Nether more dangerous than the Overworld?”

“Usually, yes,” Sausage said. “But we’re on the Nether Roof. Completely safe!”

“Okay…” Lauren hummed, following the man into the small building that housed his Nether portal and through the glowing purple portal.

The Nether was…impressive. Though Lauren was on the roof and not below where all of the mobs and lava were, it was still impressive. It was also incredibly hot! Lauren was afraid she might melt if she spent too much time here.

Thankfully, they weren’t there for long as Sausage led her to another portal, this one was less decorated than the others and seemed to be just a normal portal.

“Come on! We can get to the Great Bridge from here and I want to show that to you!” Sausage said eagerly. He hopped through the portal and Lauren followed quickly.

Lauren stepped out of the portal and her eyes widened as she was met with a ginormous structure. The structure seemed to be heavily damaged and Lauren gawked as she followed Sausage away from the structure.

“Sausage? What is that ?” Lauren asked. Sausage looked up and cringed slightly. He swallowed and took a deep breath.

“That is-was Hermitopia…” Sausage answered.

“Hermitopia?” Lauren repeated. Then, a memory flashed into her mind. “Wait…when I first got here…you mentioned something about hermits…”

“Yeah,” Sausage said with a nod. “The hermits came through a portal from another world. But, the portal closed before they could return so they built that,”

“How long were they stuck here?” Lauren asked. Had the hermits been like her? Was there a way to get her back home?

“Not too long,” Sausage said. “Only a few weeks, I think,”

“Weeks?!” Lauren exclaimed. She was doomed. At least the hermits had been together. She was all alone! And what if how they got back is different than how she can?! She really was stuck here forever!

Sausage’s eyes widened as he realized why Lauren had seemed upset at that. Sausage quickly took Lauren’s hand in his own and looked her in the eyes.

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem for you. You’ll get home, Lauren. You’ll see your family again,” Sausage said, trying to keep his breathing steady so that Lauren could match her breathing to his.

“I hope you’re right…” Lauren muttered.

Just then, Lauren and Sausage both felt a sensation in the air. Sausage let go of Lauren’s hand and flicked his wrist to pull up the world chat. Lauren watched in awe. Sausage checked and, sure enough, there was a new message.

<Smajor1995> Can everyone meet at the Campfire? We need to talk.

Sausage bit his lip. This couldn’t be good. Sure, the emperors were nice, but they didn’t take too kindly to unexpected visitors. Especially not after what happened with the hermits and Grumbot…

“Woah! What’s that?!” Lauren asked excitedly, having forgotten her near spiral for the time being.

Sausage jumped and closed the world chat.

“Nothing!” Sausage answered quickly. Lauren frowned.

“Sausage. What are you hiding?” Lauren asked.

“It’s nothing! You know what, let’s head back to Sanctuary! I’m sure that-“

“Sausage!” a voice called from above. Sausage clenched his jaw as Joel landed in front of him. “You coming to the meeting?” Joel asked.

“What meeting?” Lauren asked.

“The meeting Scott just called. Said he needed to talk,” Joel answered. Then, he looked at Sausage and cringed slightly. “And…you didn’t tell her…”

“No,” Sausage said. He took a deep breath and looked at Lauren. “Lauren, I’m sorry. It’s just…I wasn’t sure if you were ready to meet everyone all at once…”

“I’m not a child, Sausage,” Lauren said. “And I believe I am. I mean, what better way to figure out how to…” Lauren looked at Joel then leaned in to Sausage. “Get me home,” she said quietly. “Then to have all hands on deck,”

“What are you two whispering about?” Joel asked, shrinking down to his human size.

“On second thought, Joel,” Sausage said. “Lauren and I are attending that meeting!”

“Great! I was just heading over myself! Would you two like to come with me?” Joel spread his wings out and Lauren’s face paled. Flying? Again? After what happened last time?

Lauren’s body tingled with the sensation of her bones being put back together and her body forcing itself back into place. The feeling of her body hitting the ground. The feeling of her bones shattering upon impact with the earth. Her breathing quickened and her vision tunneled. What if she fell again? What if it didn’t go right this time? What if it took longer?

Lauren heard a voice. It was muffled and she could barely hear it through the pounding in her ears.

“Can I touch you?” the voice asked though Lauren barely heard it.

She nodded and she felt someone take her hand and put it to their chest. She could feel the person’s steady heartbeat. Lauren tried to force her own heart to slow down but it didn’t work. The feeling of hitting the ground again emerged. Her bones shattering then slowly repairing themselves. Her body being broken and fixing itself. The pain. She couldn’t go through that again! She couldn’t! She couldn’t! Not again!

“Deep breaths, Lauren…” a voice said. “In…out…” Lauren took a shaky breath. “Good. Again…” the voice instructed. Lauren repeated the motion again.

After a while, her heartbeat no longer pounded in her ears and her vision returned to normal. She looked up and saw that Sausage was the one grounding her.

“You okay, now?” Sausage asked.

“Y-Yeah…” Lauren said with a nod.

“What was that?” Joel asked. Lauren had forgotten he was here and she jumped.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sausage said. “We’ll walk to the Campfire. It isn’t too far,”

“Then, allow me to accompany you!” Joel said. “I feel like it’s the least I can do since it seems like I said something to trigger…that…”

“Thanks, Joel,” Sausage said. He looked to Lauren and she nodded. “You can come with us if you want,”

“Might as well!” Joel said. Then, the three started on their way toward the Campfire.

Sausage, Joel, and Lauren seemed to be the last ones to the Campfire. This meant that everyone else was already there and that all eyes fell on them as they entered. More specifically, all eyes fell on Lauren.

Lauren suddenly felt very small as 11 pairs of eyes watched her with a mix of fascination, confusion, and slight suspicion. Maybe she should’ve gone back to Sanctuary after all.

Sausage and Joel took their seats and Lauren sat next to Sausage, staying close to him like a child staying close to their parent. Lauren was never the most extroverted person despite how she acted in her videos.

‘You know most of these people already,’ she thought, trying to calm herself down. And, that was true…kind of. She knew some of the creators, sure, but not the characters. To the characters, she was a complete stranger.

“I assume this is why the meeting was called, then?” a man dressed as a pirate asked, motioning to Lauren with his sword. She leaned back from the blade slightly.

The pirate had light brown hair, cyan-blue eyes and pale skin. He wore a sleeveless crimson coat, a black sash, brown pants, a bicorn hat, and large gold-trimmed boots.

His voice sounded familiar. Wait. Joey?! Lauren’s brow furrowed. Joey looked both different and similar to his real life counterpart. It was freaky.

“Put your sword away, Joey,” Scott scolded. Joey growled.

“She could be a threat, Scott,” Joey snapped. “Or have you already forgotten Grumbot? We can’t trust unexpected visitors,”

“Joey! Sword down!” a woman snapped. Joey huffed but his sword vanished from his hand anyway—supposedly going into his inventory.

Lauren turned her attention to the woman. The woman had tan skin, long black hair, and mysterious black eyes. She wore a pink dress with off-shoulder sleeves and Lauren also noticed the woman’s socks were mismatched—one was purple and one was pink. Lauren also noticed the woman’s sheer amount of muscle. It was impressive ! Lauren had to get this woman’s workout routine!

The woman gave Lauren a kind smile and Lauren gave her a small smile back.

“So, who are you?” another woman asked. This woman had pale skin, golden eyes, and long dark brown hair. She wore a purple sweater, a pair of olive green overalls decorated with pink flowers, black boots, and a green witch hat with little flowers on the top. Her outfit and hair had all kinds of flowers in it. She was also significantly shorter than most of the others around her.

“My name’s Lauren…” Lauren said.

“Where are you from, Lauren?” a man asked. The man had tan skin, short rusty brown hair and beard, and inquisitive dark blue eyes. He wore a slightly dusty dark blue button-down shirt, dark khakis, brown boots, brown leather fingerless gloves, and a brown satchel. The man overall looked like some kind of archaeologist.

Lauren could feel the man’s gaze sweeping over her as if she were an especially intriguing artifact.

“Uh…” Lauren bit her lip nervously. She couldn’t tell them that. She didn’t know how they’d react. Besides, what was she supposed to say?

‘Well, I’m from the real world and you all are video game characters controlled by my friends for the amusement of thousands of strangers across the globe!’

No! That sounded insane!

Thankfully, Lauren didn’t have to worry because Sausage answered for her.

“She’s an old friend! We were reunited just yesterday!” Sausage answered. He gave the group a big smile to try and convince them.

“I’m not buying it…” a man hummed. Lauren’s eyes widened when she saw him. He was the shortest of the group by far and looked the most out of place.

The man had green skin, pointy ears, blue eyes, and short ginger hair with a short beard. He wore a black undershirt, a blue jacket and pants—or coveralls—a red vest with golden trim, and a broad belt.

The man noticed Lauren’s staring and raised an eyebrow.

“Whatcha looking at?” the man asked. Lauren’s face heated up from embarrassment and she looked down.

“Sorry! I-I didn’t mean to stare! I-“ Lauren stammered.

“It’s alright,” a woman said. Lauren looked up at her. “Don’t mind fWhip. He’s just cranky,” the woman giggled as the green man—fWhip—gasped dramatically.

“I am not cranky!” fWhip said. “Goblins don’t get cranky!”

“Clearly they do,” Scott teased. The group laughed as fWhip crossed his arms and huffed.

Then, the woman turned her attention to Lauren. The woman had light skin, emerald green eyes, and long ginger hair. She wore a pink long-sleeved dress with a brown waist tie and open front. Over the dress she wore what appeared to be some kind of leather harness with shoulder pads and boots. She also wore various types of golden jewelry including a tiara, earrings, and a ring or ribbon around her thigh.

“My name’s Princess Gem, but my friends call me Gem,” the woman said. Lauren nodded. She was in the presence of a princess?! Lauren had never been around a princess before! Was she supposed to bow?! How was everyone so calm around literal royalty?!

“I guess we should introduce ourselves,” another woman said.

This woman had blonde hair, fair skin, and deep blue eyes. She wore a white button-down shirt, dark brown suspenders, dark brown pants, brown boots, brown fingerless leather gloves, a cyan tie, and copper-colored steampunk-esque goggles on her head.

“Hi. Grand Architect False! At your service!” the woman said. Lauren waved to the woman. Next to False was the woman in pink.

“Princess Katherine,” the woman in pink said. Lauren clenched her jaw to keep it from dropping. Two princesses?! How in the world?! Next was the short girl.

“Great Witch Shelby!” the short girl said with a grin. “Nice to meet you, Lauren!”

“You too,” Lauren said. A witch?! Like, with real magic and everything? Next was the archaeologist-looking man.

“Pixlriffs,” the man introduced. “But you can call me Pix or Pixl,” Lauren nodded and the group went around like that. Joey, fWhip, Scott, and Joel were all next. Then, next to Joel was a woman who sent shivers down Lauren’s spine.

The woman had light skin, long pink hair, and blue eyes. She wore a schoolgirl-esque sailor outfit. Except…something didn’t look right. Something about this woman wasn’t right…

“Mayor Lizzie!” The woman said and Lauren’s jaw dropped this time. Lizzie too?! Just how many of her friends were here?!

“Something wrong, Lauren?” Joel asked. Lauren blinked and looked up at the man.

“Yeah! Sorry!” Lauren then looked to Lizzie. “You just…remind me of someone I know back home…”

“Weird. I never get that. Ever,” Lizzie hummed.

The group skipped over Sausage and Lauren and went straight to the spot that Lauren had originally thought was empty until she looked closer and realized there was, in fact, a man there.

The man had tan skin, short golden blond hair, and chocolate brown eyes. He wore a white shirt, blue jeans, a brown vest, a blue neckerchief, a wide belt with golden buckle, tall brown boots, and a holster at his side. He also wore a golden star badge almost like a sheriff from old western movies. The only problem was that this man was tiny . Lauren hadn’t even seen him at first!

“I’m Sheriff Jimmy!” the short man said.

“Nice to meet you…” Lauren said. “May…may I ask you a question?”

“Is it about my height?” Jimmy asked.

“Maybe…” Lauren replied. Joel erupted into a fit of laughter making Lauren jump. A few of the others in the group laughed with him. Lauren was a little confused.

“Joel did this,” Jimmy deadpanned.

“How?” Lauren asked.

“Simple potion,” Joel answered, wiping a tear from his cheek. “Makes him look more toy-like to match the rest of him!”

“Joel, we are not starting this right now,” fWhip sighed. Joel rolled his eyes but quieted down anyway.

Finally, there was just one person left. A man with light skin, brown eyes, and short blond hair. He wore a white shirt, light blue and gold jacket, red and gold striped shorts, dark red shoes, white socks, and a red beret with a white feather in it. This man looked slightly familiar as well. Lauren searched her brain for some kind of list of her friends that had mentioned being on the Empires server but she was having trouble coming up with them other than the ones who’d already introduced themselves.

“Hello, Lauren! My name’s Oli!” the man said. Lauren’s eyes widened. Oli was here too?! Just how many of her friends were on this server?!

“He’s the bard,” Sausage said.

“Would you all quit calling me that?!” Oli snapped.

“No,” Sausage said. “Not until you leave Eddie alone,”

“Never!” Oli scoffed. Sausage frowned, eyes narrowing at Oli.

“I don’t even want to know,” Scott groaned. “Anyway, now that we’ve all been introduced,” Scott looked at Lauren. “How’d you get here? And where’d you come from?”

“Uh…” Lauren looked to Sausage for help. He looked to be struggling to find an answer just as much as she.

“Yeah, the two of you kinda dodged that question earlier,” Pix agreed. “Where did you come from, Lauren?” Lauren shrank back almost as if she was trying to hide behind Sausage. Maybe coming here was a bad idea…

“Leave her alone, guys,” Joel said. “When the hermits showed up, we didn’t interrogate them,”

“And our world was almost destroyed!” Oli snapped. “We can’t be too careful, Joel!”

“There’s just one of her,” Joel retorted. “There were…what? 10 or something hermits? She’s not going to do anything,”

“You don’t know that,” Scott said. He looked over at Lauren—making perfect eye contact—and his eyes almost seemed to glow. Lauren broke the eye contact and looked at Sausage. Sausage took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

“It doesn’t matter where she came from,” Sausage said. “She is a resident of Sanctuary so she is under my protection. She doesn’t have to tell you anything she doesn’t want to,”

“Yeah! Everyone’s entitled to their own secrets!” Lizzie agreed.

“I don’t trust her…” fWhip said lowly.

“Well, I do,” Sausage said. “And that’s enough for me. She’s promised me she won’t hurt me or anyone else and I believe her,”

“The hermits promised too,” Joey grumbled.

“Would you all get over that stupid robot?!” Sausage snapped. “Yes, it threatened our world but we took care of it! It’s gone and it’s never coming back!”

“Unless the Rift reopens,” Oli remarked. Sausage frowned.

“It won’t,” Sausage said darkly. Lauren could hear something in Sausage’s voice. Something…sad. What had he been through…?

“Everyone, let’s just calm down,” Shelby said, everyone’s attention snapping to her.

“Yeah. Come on, we never fight. You’re all giving Lauren a terrible first impression,” Katherine added. Lauren ducked her head. She just wanted to go back to Sanctuary.

The meeting ended soon after that and Sausage quickly took Lauren back to Sanctuary through the Nether before anyone else could interrogate her.