Hey, guys! And welcome back to Ocelot Mode! I'll just answer these reviews, and you can be off to your reading!

Alice Forshadow: Thanks! Glad to have some Aiden-sympathizers on my side! ;D

the indecisive bird: Glad you think Aiden's weird behavior fits him. I'd hate to have him OOC when he doesn't need to be. Keep holding that thought! Don't let it get away!

RapidSammi: Me too. I wonder….

Hit it, Crisper!

Crisper: (hits it)

What time was it? Two in the morning? Three? Midnight? Did it matter? However long it had been, Maya knew she'd spent long enough fighting to sleep and forget her ever-present worries. Or just that one worry. Whenever she shut her eyes, she'd feel herself falling asleep just to jolt awake with fear for Gill. And every time he'd be sleeping peacefully. She jolted awake again, feeling alert at first, then fatigued. She hadn't slept at all. She rubbed her eyes and squinted in the darkness at Gill, expecting to see something horrible. She studied him for a few seconds and, like another side of her expected, he was….

Her eyes widened and her heart flinched. Gill was sitting completely still, not breathing. She frantically crawled across the dirt to his side. She grabbed his arms, her nails digging into his buff arms with desperation and terror. "Gill, wake up!" She pleaded, shaking him as much as she could. He woke up, coughing loudly instead of giving his usual last-snore.

"Maya, what's wrong?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper. Coughing aside, seeing him alive and hearing his voice made Maya feel both relieved and foolish for waking him up.

"I was just checking on you, making sure you were okay. You can go back to sleep, alright?" She said, faking a smile.

Gill raised an eyebrow at her. "You two are really that worried, aren't you?" He asked quietly.

"Of course, I am!" She hissed loudly.

"Shh," Gill said, pointing a finger in Aiden's direction. He had no idea, but Maya could've cared plenty less about Aiden's sleep, especially when she felt Gill's life was on the line! But then, it hit her. He'd just shushed her! As loud as he was on a regular basis (especially when people were trying to sleep), she should've been shushing him! This was more than a red flag. It was an omen.

Gill could see the worry growing right in Maya's eyes. "I told you guys. I'm not gonna die, okay? I probably just caught a cold, or something."

The pang of guilt Maya felt made her desperately wish she was asleep. Here she was again, nagging him when he needed to be resting. "Alright. Sorry for waking you up." She began to crawl back to her side on the floor.

"Maya," Gill said, placing a hand on her shoulder before she could leave. "You wanna," he looked away from her soft-blue eyes, a small grin curling on his cheeks, "you know, sleep over here?" He asked, lightly patting the dirt beside him. She fought back a wide smile and nodded, crawling over to him. She lay a few inches from him to give him his space. But he gently pulled her close, spooning her. "G'night, Maya." He whispered into her ear.

"Goodnight, Gill." It only took a few seconds for Gill to doze off. His snoring acted as a familiar lullaby to Maya, reassuring her and helping her attempt to sleep peacefully.

And keeping Aiden wide awake.

Aiden was a light sleeper, or so he'd just figured out. Maybe he was too used to having his own space and a door for as long as he lived, or maybe he was still fretting about the Witherstorm. But none of that mattered when each and every creak, crack and crumble he heard (and he heard all of them) was keeping him awake. Maya was to blame for waking him up this time, clambering across the floor to wake Gill up for no reason. And just when Aiden was starting to drift back to sleep, she and Gill decided to burrow into their lovely nest for two, being as noisy as they possible could. True, their shuffling and whispering were relatively quiet, but Aiden was still a light sleeper, if light was a strong enough word.

And, no, Gill's snoring didn't make things better.

He shuffled to the other end of the room, trying to distance himself from the two. But the further away he moved, the louder Gill seemed to get. Delirious with fatigue but alive with rage, he tried to think happy thoughts about building and joking around with his friends, and even some of the books he'd tried (and failed) to write. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't care to think about bullying Jesse. That loser was the least of his concerns right now. Right now, he needed silence, sanity and sleep. Jesse wasn't that silent, kind of drove Aiden insane, and how was Jesse going to help Aiden sleep? Sing a lullaby? Or plug his ears for him?

He imagined he was going to have a word or two for Gill when they all woke up.

When he opened his eyes again, warm sunlight streamed through the door, and he heard zombies and skeletons burning outside. Aiden sat up with a yawn and stretched. He glanced at Gill, who looked no better than before. But his eyes widened with surprise when he saw Maya sleeping snugly against his chest. He looked away with an annoyed frown.

If Lukas were there, he would've went right back to sleep. But Lukas wasn't there, and today they were going to search for him. At least he had something to look forward to besides seeing those two drooling over each other. He stood up and stretched again, then he headed outside, antsy to begin the day.

Maya woke up at the sound of the door slamming shut. Though it was just morning, Maya felt like it had been a long day already. Knowing from the start that she wasn't going to get a good night's sleep, the tiredness she felt wasn't surprising. She shifted in Gill's arms to see if Aiden was still sleeping. When she didn't see him, she lay back down and tried to ignore the urge to check on him, sure he'd be able to handle himself, especially since there were no mobs to worry about.

Aiden shielded his unadjusted eyes from the bright sunlight as he looked across the tiny field. His growling stomach reminded him that he and his friends hadn't eaten since lunchtime yesterday. He started by looking around for something small and easy to kill, like a duck. But there was nothing, not even a lone cow grazing around. Where did all the animals go? He walked back to the pond. He would've turned his nose up at the thought of eating fish, but if fish was the only thing on the menu, so be it.

A fish as long as his forearm and hand swam through the lake, accompanied by a few littler ones that glinted in the sunlight. He tracked the larger fish's movements like a cat preparing to pounce. The task of catching such a large fish with just one hand seemed daunting, but that was the only way to get a meal. He slowly dipped his hand into the water, careful not to scare the fish, and waited. The curious minnows swam close by, but the larger fish minded its own business. Aiden forced himself to stay still while the annoying minnows tickled his hand. A few minutes later, the big fish decided to join the minnows. Aiden grinned with satisfaction as it "sniffed" his hand. Suddenly the fish chomped down on Aiden's fingers as if they were carrots. He screamed in pain and surprise and ripped his hand out of the water. The fish soared over and behind his head. Just as he began to wonder where it landed, he heard a loud smack and a muffled cry. He spun around and saw Gill tending to a knocked-over Maya who lay with her hands on her face next to a flopping fish. Gill slowly looked up and met eyes with Aiden, and the two boys burst into laughter.

"Are you okay?" Aiden asked as he made his way up to them. Maya slowly removed her hands, grimacing at the strands of slime that hung on. She didn't feel like laughing, but she wasn't hurt either. Gill helped her to her feet while she fought the stubborn slime that coated her face. "Well, you caught breakfast." Aiden laughed with Gill. Already sickened by the slime on her hands, she sent the fish a disgusted look.

"We're eating that? Um, no thanks."

"Well, it's that or nothing." He said. He walked over to the fish and bent to pick it up, but it jerked and slapped him in right in the face with its tail! Aiden straightened and sent the fish a fiery glare. Now it was Maya's turn to laugh. "Gill, would you pick this stupid fish up?" He asked, annoyed by Maya's giggling.

Gill started to bend over, but straightened as soon as he could when he felt himself get dizzy. He emitted a tired sigh and began to kneel instead. He scooped the fish into his arms, wrapping his arms around its tail. The fish's cool, wet body cooled his feverish body. Within minutes, the oxygen-deprived fish fell limp in his arms. Aiden gleaned some sticks and rocks off the ground, putting them into a pile to start a fire. He handed the flint-and-steel to Maya and she lit the pile. Then Aiden took the fish from Gill, stabbed it through its mouth to its tail and perched it over the fire. Gill scooted over to Aiden and Maya, joining them in sitting around the fire and waiting for the fish to cook. He rested his head in his hands, feeling exhausted.

"Okay. So, where should we start looking for Lukas?" Aiden asked. Gill dragged out a sigh at the daunting task of moving anywhere. When he removed his hands from his face, Maya and Aiden got their first good look at the purple bags under his eyes which were darker in color than before. Gill focused on the fish, trying to ignore their stares.

"Oh, my goodness! Gill, you look terrible!" Aiden blurted. Gill sent him a bleary-eyed glare. "What? You do! You look way worse than yesterday!"

"I'm tired. I didn't get any sleep last night." He sighed again, grabbing the stick and turning it to cook the fish evenly. He turned away and coughed into his arm, sounding more like an old, sick cat than himself. "What did you say before?" He asked hoarsely.

"I was wondering where we should start looking for Lukas." Aiden said. Gill turned away to think for a moment.

"If they all came out of the portal less than a day ago, shouldn't they be around somewhere? I don't think they went anywhere in such little time." Maya said thoughtfully.

"She's right," Gill said with a nod, "so we should probably check around here somewhere." He said.

Aiden glanced at the fish, gently taking the handle from Gill to turn it some more. "I think it's done." He said, taking it off. He slid the hot fish onto the ground, getting a rude stare from Maya who thought the dirt was making the fish seem worse. But as far as he and Gill were concerned, the fish was going to be fine and so were they. "Here, divvy it up." Aiden said, handing the stick to Gill. Gill took the stick and did his best to eyeball three even pieces with a headache and slightly blurred eyesight. Maya eyed the fish nervously as Gill used the stick as a crude knife to slice the fish into a tail, the body, and the head. The thought of eating the fish's head, (eyes, brain and all) made Maya feel suddenly ill.

"I don't want the head." She said, putting a hand to her mouth. Gill stopped cutting and glanced at her.

"Well, I don't want it." Aiden said. They both looked expectantly at Gill, who once again tried to ignore their eyes. He was not going to eat a fish's head.

"Or the tail." She added.

"Are we even supposed to eat the tail?" Aiden asked, lifting the scaly tail with his fingers. Gill went back to cutting the fish, making the edges closer to the head and tail. After that, he divided the body itself into three pieces. Right when he was finished, Aiden grabbed what Gill thought to be the biggest piece, the piece he was going to give to Maya. He knew she didn't like fish, but she needed to eat something to sustain herself. Aiden was acting selfishly. But just as Gill prepared to confront him on it, the unexpected happened.

Aiden gently handed the fish to Maya. "Here. I know, it's the biggest one there and you don't like fish, but you've gotta eat something." He said, placing it in front of her. Then he reached out and grabbed the second biggest piece, the piece Gill was going to get for himself. Gill picked up the smallest piece, fighting the urge to send Aiden a look as nasty as the fish's taste. It tasted worse than any fish he'd ever eaten, probably because the fish they had before the Witherstorm was sanitized and actually cooked. He looked up to see Aiden and Maya grimacing at their pieces of fish. Aiden forced himself to swallow before speaking. "Are you sure this was cooked?" He asked. His question made Gill spit the fish out with anger and disgust.

"What do you mean 'are we sure this was cooked'?! You were the one who—Maya, spit that out!" He yelled. Without hesitation, Maya spat the fish out, wiping her mouth and gagging softly. Gill glared at Aiden, "You were the one who said this was done!"

"No, I said, 'I think it's done'." Gill growled at Aiden and tossed his fish back into the fire.

"I wasn't hungry anyways." He grumbled. Maya tossed her fish in as well. Feeling like his work that morning, and the blood on his fingers, was in vain, Aiden reluctantly tossed his fish. That was the last time he'd go fishing for any reason.

So, there ye have it! In the next chapter, hopefully the guys get to finding Lukas. So, how about that word-count? Over 2K, I hope everyone had time to read. I try to stay at 2K, if you haven't noticed, but today we had a generous helping. How about that shipping? Once again, thanks to BlackPanther for getting things set up in the previous chapter. Well, see you next time in MCOM! Close it, Crisper!

Crisper: (closes it)