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<GeminiTay> hey guys….
<GeminiTay> I have a question
<GeminiTay> or maybe more like a concern actually
<Iskall85> whats up?
<GeminiTay> well I ran into Ren earlier at the shops
<GeminiTay> and he was acting kinda weird right?
<Grian> Nothing strange there
<MumboJumbo> sounds typical to me
<MumboJumbo> ah beat me to it carry on
<GeminiTay> well he’s not talking and he was just wandering around as a wolf
<GeminiTay> which maybe that is normal for him??
<GeminiTay> but now he’s following me home and it’s starting to freak out my cats
<Iskall85> oh Gemini, did no one tell you about that?
<Grian> yeah that happens sometimes, dog stuff I guess
<ZombieCleo> poor Ren’s gonna be so embarrassed when he wakes up
<GeminiTay> So this is normal???
<Iskall85> I’ll come over and explain it all Gem, you at your base?
<GeminiTay> yep!
Gem sighed and set down her communicator, looking over at Ren who was now appearing to sniff around her various shulker boxes suspiciously. She saw a pair of wide eyes hiding behind the storage and quickly jumped up from her chair, rushing over.
“No! Ren, you stay away from my nice cats!” Instantly Ren leapt back, looking up at her guiltily and hastily shuffling away on all fours with a loping gait, tail tucked between his legs. Sometime between her finding him in the shopping district and now Ren had become… well basically just an enormous dog. Or wolf maybe? Gem wasn’t quite sure how to tell the difference. But there was nothing to indicate humanness in his appearance anymore that’s for sure.
He stopped at the edge of the couch, eyes still following her every move.
Gem couldn’t bear to see him look so sad.
“You’re okay Ren, sorry for shouting.” She sighed and walked back to the couch, pleased when Ren’s tail started wagging again. “Wanna sit up here?”
She patted the seat next to her and Ren immediately hopped up, twisting in a circle before settling down on the other side of the couch, tail still thumping against the back of the seat.
Gemini smiled as rockets sounded off from overhead, hopefully that was Iskall. Sure enough, there was a knock on the door moments later. Before Gem could even get to her feet, Ren was off, charging up to the door and barking madly.
“Come in!”
Iskall opened the door slowly, head tilted to the side as he surveyed the scene.
“Well hallo there Ren-dog, don’t suppose you’ll let me in?” Ren spun in a circle, not really giving Iskall space to enter, and Gem noticed he looked more-wolfish by the minute.
“Ren, come here?” Ren’s ears flicked back to her the moment she spoke, and he instantly returned to her side, sitting and looking up at her with big eyes.
Iskall finally made it inside and surveyed the scene for a moment, before bursting out in laughter.
“Oh, oh dear Ren, oh he’s got it bad this time.” With some last chuckles Iskall calmed down, wiping away tears of mirth from his eye. “What did you do??”
“Me?!” Gem squealed indignantly. “I just found him like this!”
“Sure, but what did you do to make him follow you around?”
“Nothing! He was just sitting on the curb and I—”
Gem trailed off, a sneaking suspicion creeping in.
“You? You what?”
“Well I may have patted him on the head—I was trying to startle him!”
This set off another round of laughter from Iskall, which in turn set off Ren barking.
“That’s all it took? Ren is never going to hear the end of this.” Iskall somehow managed to cough out the words between laughs, though Gem wasn’t quite sure how he had enough air for all that. She crossed her arms petulantly.
“Why has he turned into a dog?”
“What?” Iskall finally got back on topic, leaning down to pat Ren on the head and quell his barking. “You’re a hybrid right? Doesn’t this happen to everyone?”
“No?” Gemini self-consciously reached up and touched one of her antlers, deer ear flicking against her wrist. “I mean yes, I am a hybrid, but I don’t randomly turn fully into a deer and run into the forest.”
“Oh. Huh.” Iskall rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well it happens to Ren sometimes. Usually just for a day or so, then he’ll be back to normal and interrogate you about his antics.”
“Right. Okay. And I don’t suppose he’d go with you instead?”
“We can try!” Iskall patted his side and opened the door. “Come on Ren, come with me.”
Ren stubbornly refused to move from Gem’s side.
Iskall stepped forward, reaching out a hand, clearly intending to get Ren moving, then flinched back involuntarily when the large wolf-dog let out a low growl.
“Nope! Guess he wants to stay with you.” And with that Iskall was walking out the door.
“Wait!! What do I do?!”
“Just feed him, let him outside when he barks at the door, then tease him for me when he comes back around to normal.”
Okay… Sounded easy enough.
And it would have to be since Iskall took off in a burst of rockets before Gem could inquire further. With a heavy sigh she turned back around towards the wolf in her living room.
“Well, would you like to go for a walk?”
The wagging tail told her all she needed to know.
<Mumbo> hey um
<Mumbo> just so everyone is aware
<Mumbo> Grian is currently nesting in his alley
<TangoTek> Don’t go into his alley, got it
<Zedaph> oh ho ho should I set up a nesting livestream like last time?
<Mumbo> actually I’m afraid it’s a bit more…. Severe than normal?
<TangoTek> Severe? How exactly does one nest “severely”
<Mumbo> well, for starters he has kind of, snatched? Me and Scar
<Mumbo> Scar and I?
<Mumbo> anyways we are in the nest and he is not letting us leave
<TangoTek> PFFTHAHAHA LOL
<TangoTek> I mean, sorry, are you alrgiht?
<Mumbo> great show of sympathy thank you
<Mumbo> and yes we’re fine, he’s showering us with golden carrots and potatoes
<Goodtimewithscar> plus he wont let any mobs near the nest at all
<TangoTek> oh hi Scar nice of you to join us
<Zedaph> I’m on my way over to check on you, do you need anything
<Mumbo> oh I really wouldn’t
<Mumbo> ZED
<Mumbo> Are you alright??
<Zedaph> yep yep tip top shape just a bit surprised there
<Zedaph> and a tiny bit bruised
<TangoTek> What just happened?
<Zedaph> well I guess I got too close to the nest cause Grian kind of attacked me
<Zedaph> he was all squawking and everything
<Zedaph> like an angry momma bird
<ZombieCleo> Hang on, I’ve just checked the chat, Grian’s gone feral?
<Mumbo> seems so
<ZombieCleo> but you are safe?
<Mumbo> safe as can be, Scar might even be safer now than usual
<Goodtimewithscar> I haven’t gotten hurt in ilke a week I’ll have you kno
<ZombieCleo> First Ren and now Grian
Mumbo sighed and let his arm fall to the side, ignoring the continued buzzes on his communicator while the rest of the hermits laughed at their predicament. Truly, besides watching Grian swoop down and knock Zedaph away mid-flight, it wasn’t that bad if he’s being honest. And to be fair even that was entertaining now that he knew Zedaph wasn’t injured by the attack.
Credit where credit is due, Grian could make quite a nest when he put his mind to it. They were up on top of his banking building in the back of the alley, in a nest made of a truly random assortment of materials. Despite the outside of the nest being… inhospitable, the inside was quite the opposite. It was lined with what seemed like dozens of blankets and pillows, not to mention the truly astounding number of articles of clothing scattered about.
Mumbo snorted as he started mentally naming all the hermits whose clothes had involuntarily become a part of this structure. There was one of Impulse’s shirts… and that looked like False’s jacket strewn over there—
“Oh! Don’t scare me like that!” Mumbo turned to his startled companion just as Grian landed gracefully on the edge of the structure, chirping softly at Scar’s distress. Scar was lounged comfortably in the center of the nest, having lone since given up on escape.
“Hello there Grian, care to let us down now?”
Grian simply tilted his head and chirped, colorful wings folded carefully behind him.
The two had both tried to simply leave the nest after Grian first deposited them into it, of course they had! But Grian would swoop down and scoop them up again, dropping them back in the nest with a series of disappointed squawks.
Mumbo supposed if he was to resigned to a fate, this wouldn’t be all that bad. At least Grian had brought them potatoes so he could still avoid eating meat.
“Mumbo?” Scar was snickering to himself already, so Mumbo knew whatever came next would not be good.
“Yes Scar?”
“I have to admit, every time he lands here I get concerned he’s going to try to feed us like baby birds?”
“I’m sorry, like—” Mumbo gagged, much to Grian’s immediate dismay. The avian hopped down into the nest and flitted to his side, unhelpfully tossing a baked potato at him.
Mumbo felt sharp hands touch his shoulder carefully and—
Wait a minute. Antics forgotten, Mumbo turned back to Grian and grabbed his hand quickly. The parrot didn’t object, just tilting his head minutely and ruffling his feathers.
Grian’s hand was rough because…
“Scar?”
“Yes Mumbo?”
“Did Grian always have talons?”
<BdoubleO> HLP
<BdoubleO> GUYSS HELSP
<Etho> Bdubs? You good?
<BdoubleO> NO
<Keralis> Bubbles? What’s going on?
<Etho> where are you, I’m on my way to big eyes
<BdoubleO> ITS TANGO HES GOT FIRE
<Keralis> I don’t understand
<BdoubleO> HESGOT FIRE AND CHANSING ME
<Cubfan> Hey I need some tone here, is this like a funny haha he’s chasing me with fire, or like an actual emergency?
<BdoubleO> EMERGENCCES IM HDING IN CAVE
<Etho> I’m here where are you?
<Etho> Oh. I see what you mean by fire.
<Keralis> Don’t type, help bdubs!!!
<Cubfan> Someone say something, I’m on my way over too, and I messaged Impulse and Zedaph though I’m not getting a response from either
<Zedaph> What’s happening?? Sorry I was doing an experiment hang on let me read
<Zedaph> Oh no okay I’m on my way, Bdubs say something
<BdoubleO> I’m fine, im fine, Etho lured Tango awy sorry
<BdoubleO> there was a lot of smoke had to get someone safe
<Zedaph> Where is Tango now, I might be able to calm him down?
<Etho> horse course
<Zedaph> Cub you and Keralis go check on Bdubs, I’ll meet up with Etho
<Cubfan> gotcha
Zedaph landed rather roughly in the clearing, not slowing down quite as much as he should’ve, but give him a break, he’s in a rush here!
“Tango!” He immediately saw his friend out in the field, chasing down Etho who appeared to be blocking the bursts of fire with his shield. He needed to get his attention—
“TANGO!!” Zedaph shouted as loud as he could, and simultaneously lit off one his fireworks, letting it burst far too close for comfort. That got Tango’s attention.
The netherborn spun, eyes huge and entirely red.
He started walking towards Zedaph and the scientist rapidly started shuffling through his pockets, looking for something that could help out here… Out of the corner of his eye he saw Etho following behind Tango at a reasonable distance, concern painting his expression despite his mask.
“Stay back!” Zedaph didn’t dare gesture, eyes fixed on Tango’s expression. “Look at him Etho, he’s terrified, he doesn’t know what’s going on, give him some space.”
Etho, with obvious reluctance, stopped moving, though he still stayed stubbornly nearby.
“Easy Tango, easy…” Zedaph fought his instincts that were telling him to back up, that there was danger approaching. He swallowed the urge. Tango looked… well not normal. His hair was fully aflame, and his eyes were massive red orbs. But his skin… his normally clear skin was covered with reddish-yellow blotches the color of netherrack, uneven designs that would break up his figure almost like camouflage if he was in the nether. His hands were also on fire, his gloves burnt away at the wrists.
His tail lashed back and forth, longer than usual and—
Right, time for helping, not for astute scientific observations.
His friend had no recognition in his eyes, only fear and obvious dripping distress.
“Okay, I’ve got…” Zedaph quickly downed a fire resistance potion as Tango got closer, then pulled out another item, slowing his movements when Tango snarled, teeth sharp. “Look, it’s just some netherrack.”
With Tango only meters away Zedaph could see him shivering. Even midday in a plains biome was too cold for him. Carefully he spread the red rock out on the ground, smiling and taking a step away when Tango reached out for it.
Zedaph typed away quietly on his communicator for a moment.
<Zedaph> Cubfan, could you bring some lava buckets and netherrack over near the horse course?
<Zedaph> Don’t come over to me, just leave them in a pile and I’ll come get them
<Cubfan> got it, be there soon
It was with a pang in his heart that Zedaph realized Tango was still snarling at him, crouched at the netherrack nervously, whipping his tail back and forth.
“You’re okay Tango… gosh I wish Impulse was here, he’d be so much better at this.”
There was nothing to do but wait until he saw Cub fly in, landing a reasonable distance away and unloading a shulker. Slowly Zedaph backed away from Tango, then jolted when the other let out a nearly imperceptible whine. The netherborn had a hand reaching out ever so slightly towards him, eyes big and so very afraid.
Zedaph’s heart broke.
“I’m not leaving you Tango, I promise, you just need to get warmed up. I’m gonna go grab some stuff and I’ll be right back.” Zedaph didn’t delay, turning and walking off briskly.
When he got to the pile both Etho and Cubfan were there waiting.
“You okay man?” Cub looked nervously from him to where Tango sat in the distance.
“I’m okay, though I’m going to need a lot a of fire resistance potions, don’t suppose you could help with that?”
“Will do.”
Zedaph turned to Etho, then winced.
The taller man had visible burns on his forearm and wrist, and a particularly nasty one on his shoulder.
“Gosh Etho, I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner, I was so busy with my experiment…”
“I’m fine, not your fault. No way you could have known about this.”
“True, true.” Zed sighed. “Is Bdubs okay?”
“He’s fine, a little shaken but otherwise no worse for wear.” Cub reassured him and Etho both.
“Good. Well then I’m going to stay here with Tango, let me know when you can bring some more potions over.” Zed turned on Etho seriously “And you, treat those burns!”
Etho scoffed at the attention.
“Well now I don’t want to.”
Zedaph let out a particularly annoyed sigh before grabbing the things he needed and slowly making his way back across the field.
Tango shot up when he approached, teeth bared and body tense.
Zed stopped a few paces away, before carefully started to build a little base of operations, ignoring Tango completely. The netherborn crept closer when Zedaph poured a bucket of lava into a hole, suddenly far less hostile and far more eager to get into the warmth.
“There you go Tango, there you go.” Zedaph continued building quickly, making sure to create a covering of netherrack above too. The nether was enclosed, so he assumed the open space might be contributing to Tango’s distress. Distress he very much wanted to limit for both Tango’s sake and for the sake of keeping himself well and uncooked.
Finally he was finished, crude manmade cave of nether materials out of place in the middle of a field, but clearly welcome to the netherborn. Tango actually curled up next to the pool of lava, tail wrapped around himself as he got warmed up.
He had stopped snarling, and almost seemed comfortable now, no aggression in his body language.
That’s why Zedaph did the very stupid thing he did next.
“I’m just gonna—oop.” Zed was trying to sit down near Tango, but instead tripped and flopped over nearly on top of him. Fortunately, besides a flinch, Tango didn’t seem that off-put by his disgrace.
Instead he leaned over and almost seemed to sniff at him, before settling back down, red eyes blinking slowly.
“You’re like a cat!” Zedaph declared his discovery proudly to absolutely no one. To his delight, Tango didn’t flinch at his shout, instead curling closer to his side and—
Oh my god.
Was he purring???
He was certainly rumbling softly, and he wasn’t growling so—
“You can purr now??” Oh this was wonderful.
Or maybe it would be more wonderful if they knew why this was happening. Right.
With all his joy at Tango’s improvement, he forgot about the rather important matter at hand. Why was this happening in the first place… and how to fix it.
But for now… the scientist was far too tired to do anything helpful besides just be here for Tango. With a huge yawn he stretched out, using his scrunched up lab coat as a pillow. Tango curled up next to him, rumbling purr never pausing.
“Goodnight Tango, guess we’ll figure this out in the morning then.”