Chapter Text
grian knelt back on his boots and took in the sight before him. a cooling breeze washing over him from the hilltop above the forest, he spots the alien crew sitting together on a green hilltop.
"you know i could get used to this" he whispered to himself, dropping his rucksack.
the crew is discussing about seeing family or getting ready to study everything they discovered in the outer world.
"oh look mumbo is getting all emotional" pearl giggled pointing him out. grian turned to see mumbo practically kissing the ground, rubbing his whisker's into the soft dirt. "dont worry he dose this every time we get back" scar chuckled sitting by grian with a huff. "no i dont!" mumbo nipped before shuffling around a bit more. "i dont blame him" grian whispered back as he began to explore the forests around him.
after some exploring he comes across a large meadow with a small lake with crystal clear water. the odd red hue made his curiosity peek as he leaned in closer, slowly a creature swam up to the edge. its blue skales and stubby paws made grians heart sink, a salrick. he didnt notice the footsteps behind him until a clawed hand landed on his shoulder. jolting he turned around to see pearl. "what are you doing" he hissed.
"i could ask the same of you!" she hissed back. the natural smile that cracked his lips seemed to make her silliness grow.
"i just wanted to see what it was like up close" he shrugged. pearl nodded but didn't step closer, instead she turned around and picked out a few pebbles from the lake side. "we skippin rocks now?" pearl tilted her head and clicked her mandibles "skippin? naw i was just gonna toss em, can you skip these?" grian let out a lauphing huff remembering how his old school friend would ask him to skip rocks by their local creek. "sure give em here" he took the pebbles from her and began to toss them into the lake.
"so wanna tell me why you got so sad looking at that flirash?" the name didn't spark any ideas so he tilted his head like hes seen so meny times before. "uh the blue thing in the water" pearl explained. that got grian to freeze "oh you mean the salrick" grian mumbled but pearl burst into a chirping echo, her version of a lauph. "Salrick, a- oh gerese is that what youve been calling them?" she giggled droping the rocks. grian flushed crossing his arms in defense. "No no, i just thought it was cute!" she giggled back.
"you just love seeing me suffer dont you?" he asked. "of course" she said nodding in affirmation. grian let out a fake scoff placing a hand on his chest "Well i Never" he tried to scold in mock offence but he just fell into a pile of giggles.
"imagine all the cute names you could come up with to call them" pearl giggled in remembrance. "well i only needed the one, they didnt last long anyway" grian told distently making pearl get up on her elbows. "what cha mean by that?" she asked getting up and following him closely.
"Youve been calling them fishfilips or what ever" he said pointing to the water. "i called them salricks because thats all they fed me, and well you cant say sorry without a name."
"oh" she whispered rubbing his shoulder. "i guess i should have known you'd be a little upset about it" she looked down at the ground. "hey its fine, theres nothing to be upset about" he assured.
"i mean your right, stay out of the past and all that but i just want you to know. were here and ill fight claw and wing before some random creeps take you again." grian smiled to the ground before looking up to her. "thank you" he mumbled standing up. "you really need to get moving" she added. "yeah i know and im going, just gotta find those rocks now" he replied taking a deep breath and feeling a bit better knowing that pearl is there for him.
Grian & pearl kept walking for a long time when he heard stomping pawsteps. they stopped and turned to see a large white 6 legged creature standing near the trees, its tail held high and a hiss on its lips. on instinct grian lept infront of pearl letting out a growl. the creature continued to advance, making grian hold out his hand.
"stay away from us, we do not want trouble" he hissed. the creature paced forward, its eyes fixed on grian. once it was about 3 feet away it pounced causing grian to pounce back, leaping onto the beast and tackling it to the ground. hisses and snarls echoed through the woods as they tumbled exchanging scratches and bites. the creature rolled around trying to avoid his teeth.
grian roared as an all too familiar feeling of power rolled through him and he clamped down, pulling out his limbs and shacking his head like a feral dog until a satisfying crunch rattled in his jaws. the creature let out a loud screech before collapsing into a heap. grian sat up and stayed there breathing heavily, licking his teeth of its blood. he sighed and returned to his feet, standing over the fallen creature.
"g-gods" pearl whispered from behind him. "that was... impressive" she muttered. grian looked at her, his mouth dripping in blood. he tried to step to her but she flinched sending a cold spike through his heart. "i'm sorry if i scared you, i wasnt tryi-" he couldn't finish before his stomach gave an odd growl that made him turn in circles.
"i think im hungry" he mumbled. he didnt look up but he could hear her take a step back "right ill uh, ill leave you too it. Oh and clean up at the stasion when your done, the water around here has a bad reaction to blood" she warned him before slowly walking away, grian was thankful afraid what would have happened if she ran. turning back to the corpse he licked his teeth and felt a slight sting in his throat.
"best not waste time" he sighed aloud. he dropped to his knees and dug into the creature's belly, pulling out the organs and eating them raw.
the oddly rubbery texter and salty meat was refreshing after eating such sweet meat for so long. did more intelligence make your meat sweeter? as these thoughts weaved through his mind, he finished the rest of the body in record time.
grian rose to his feet and made his way back to the camp. he found mumbo and the others still talking.
"im telling you its mocking me!" mumbo declared. "uhuh but that didnt excuse you throwing it through a window" pearl interjected. tango held a cooling bag to his head as he smirked "as much as this hurts i completly understa-Deus Carus!" tango yelped jumping behind mumbo as grian walked up, form still draped in jade blood. the aliens watched him curiously.
"grian tell them my reaction was fully justified!" mumbo insisted. "what did you do?" grian asked tilting his head. mumbo looked around at the other three then back to grian.
"a repeater was breaking on purpose just so spite me so i showed it what-for" he said triumphantly. "showed it what for, what did you smash it or something?" grian repeated. mumbo blinked before flicking his attena in a so-so motion.
"Uh are we just going to ignore the fact he looks like he just slaughtered a family of panjinx?" tango muttered in fear behind mumbo. "oh dont worry it was just the one, this killer protected me from a feral one just a bit ago so wnat wrong with him claming his prize?" pearl chuckled patting grian on the back before shaking the blood from her claw/
tango let out a stangled laugh "ah ahaha Yep that toldly normal, and ima geuss you just ate it raw, no cooking or frying in sight uhuh yep cool" he stuttered slowly sinking further behind mumbo who was now holding back giggles. grian catching on nodded pointingly licking the blood from his teeth while staring down the blaze "Nope, why would i cook when flesh tastes so much better. but that makes me wonder-" he now leaned over getting amost nose to nose with the blaze "-what dose yours tastes like" he growled watching the alien pale, with a scream the blaze dashed away leaving the group to burst out lauphing.
"ahh hells yes" mumbo cheered slapping his leg. grian laughed along with them, looking around he noticed a bit of blood on his hand. he wiped it off on his pantleg and looked at pearl. "so how am i gonna get clean if the water here is weird?" pearl took a breath before waving him to fallow. going into what looked to be a small hobbit hole that stood infront of a towering twisting tower. she led him down a turning maze of halls until they stopped at what seemed to be a huge spa aria "just use the showers on the left and you should be fine, dinners in a bit so dont dattle" she told him giving him a wink before leaving.
he followed the directions and soon enough was relaxing while a wave of water washed him from the shining green blood, it was almost hypnotic watching it go down the drain. the water was warm and it seemed to run over his skin like silk. he stood up and dried himself with a cloth that had been placed on the bench. drying his hair he fell back on the bench and listened to the water for a moment before yawning.
"it'll be a few hours till dinner, you can nap or play around if youd like but keep everything in mind" pearl told him as he pulled on his shirt. grian nodded and left the shower area. after washing off he walked absently, loooking down the halls he smiled as he passed rooms, one was a deep teal with what looked to be a cuddle pile inside, the next few where locked or where just closets until he stumbled on what looked to be newly layed wooden door frame, on its door was "grian" written in red paint messily. letting out a soft chuckle he opened the door and stepped into a small room with plush black carpets and a large sky blue bed that was big enough for two.
grian walked over and pulled open the curtains, the sun had set and it was now night. the surounding woods were surprisingly quiet exept for the odd alien call that sounded mush too harsh to be kind, so he desided to give it something sweeter to hear. leaning against his window seal he whisled out meteor shower into the night sky watching as burning purple particles raise from the grass, dancing to his music.
mumbo watched from the doorway "you're a strange one ya know that" he said. grian grinned before turning to face him.
"oh and when did you come to that conclusion?" grian asked leaning back onto the window. mumbo strode over crossing his arms on the window seal beside him "when you didnt eat me" he whispered watching out the window. "you could have, hell you had a clean shot to my weak point and yet you just hugged me...why?" he asked quietly. grian looked down "-its just when i saw you crying it reminded me of home, even in tht hell hole i could remember how pure a emotion crying was and it kinda just- brought me back. in a way you saved me as well." he explained.
mumbo let out a sigh before pulling him in for a hug, it was quick and gentle but it made the world fade away all the same.