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“Pearl- Pearl don’t say anything. Don’t say anything, just get on the Boatem Pole.”
The start of the season was usually chaotic as is, but with Grian already basing with Mumbo, dying in the first few minutes to a golem hit to the neck, bragging about a diamond, losing a diamond, trying to control a boat from the back and then running to the northern tip of the island it was marginally more chaotic than usual.
Her look of bewilderment almost set Grian off in laughter, but he was quick to help try and add to the pole as the others talked over each other, racing to make a boat to add to the totem. Nobody seemed to question the fact that Impulse was dressed as Poultry Man, or the fact that Mumbo’s pants were almost skin tone (Grian had already broached that question, but he refused to believe he was the only one who would bring it up).
Pearl was, thankfully, not too confused about what was going on and already in the process of acclimatising to the Hermit's particular brand of shenanigans. “What is this?”
Her protests fell on deaf ears as Mumbo jumped around to try and find wood in his inventory and . “There’s no time, somebody get her a boat!”
Grian began to scaffold upwards to be able to reach the top of the previously-dubbed Boatem Pole, but it didn’t take long for Mumbo to be able to place the woman a boat. "There's no time, there's no time to explain!"
“Okay I- I’m sitting.”
Pearl, thankfully, was rather used to Grian’s particular brand of chaos, and it was rather on brand for his friends to be along a similar line, so had long learned not to question the demands too harshly.
Grian peered down at his friend from atop where he had scaffold, a wide grin on his face, before declaring Pearl get in the boat that Mumbo had just placed. A lot of moving around later, Pearl had climbed up to the top boat, Scar had somehow made it into the boat underneath her with Mumbo below him. A pump of Grian’s wings gave him the push to climb into the 2nd boat, and Impulse slided into the bottom boat with (minimal) grumbling.
Boatem started with the 5 of them in a boat-totem pole that was quickly named the boatem pole. Grian had almost broken the precarious structure in the first few minutes, while Pearl had to kamikaze out of the top boat and pray she didn’t take too much damage, before she then took it upon herself to climb into each boat separately for ‘the full experience’.
That should have been a clear indicator to the server about how the new season would continue, with Grian “It’s totally normal for my wings to change styles, shut up”, Pearl “Let’s turn a base around in a day because it doesn’t look right”, Scar “this is a starter base I Promise”, Mumbo “peace love and plants” and Impulse “574 levels are totally normal to have” all basing together. That should have really been a clear indicator of how the rest of the season was going to go.
—
Before elytra were commonplace, in the early stages of each season, Grian resisted using his wings for a lot of things. He simply believed it wouldn't really be fair to his friends and fellow hermits if they were ground-bound while he could soar. But that didn't mean he was above using them for pranks.
"Grian?"
"Yes?"
"Why is my tree full of pigs?"
"I have no idea what you mean, Mumbo. Treesa is filled with pigs?"
"Don't- don't do that. I know it was you. Why pigs?"
"..peace, love and plants?"
"I would kill you but unfortunately I'm not allowed this season."
—
Being a mooner had seemed like a good idea at the start. It seemed like fun, a joke between friends that was kind-of-totally a cult. But now he hadn't slept in an amount of time he couldn't even remember, which should have been the first warning sign. Sleep deprivation was an old friend, but this time it was different. It felt different.
He built Midnight Alley's sky and an observatory, which he loved, but it reminded him a bit of the before . Before Hermitcraft, before he learned what it was like to be a player, to be human , again. It also reminded him a bit too much of their buildings. They were creatures of the void, made of stardust and light and shadow, moulders of worlds. They made him one of them, in a way. In more than a way. In many ways. His wings, for one. Where the sky bent and shifted and looked akin to an end portal when he shifted their appearance. The way, when he lost focus, sometimes he would blink and be looking out of more than 2 eyes.
He knew he was reaching a sleep-deprived-limit when the idea of telling someone, anyone, everyone began to sound like a good idea. He didn't like the feeling that he was lying to his friends, even if he had never really lied - simply omitted facts that would have linked to the truth. But the truth was relative, really.
Should he tell the Hermits?
Could he tell the Hermits?
His hands were shaking, and no matter how hard he tried to clench them it wouldn’t stop. The Hermits were welcoming to everyone, yes. But Watcher’s weren’t everyone. Would his player remnants be enough to redeem the parts of him that they twisted? He was a player, yes, but his wings were distinctively not human. He barely had any avian traits anymore, and everytime someone tried to craft something or open a portal or shift in the environment Grian knew . The same way he knew Pearl liked to flip mobs, the same way he knew Mumbo could make redstone contraptions that made Grian’s head hurt. He knew. Which, in player terms, was not normal.
No, he could do this, it would be fine. He was once Xelqua. Now he was Grian. He was once an Evolutionist and now was a Hermit. He mined and built and died and respawned and died again. He made tnt traps and spawned withers over the town centre. He helped Pearl flip mobs and filled Big Eyes with boats with his friends. He did things they would have never approved of. He did player things.
He was Grian. Yes, he was a Watcher in code, but he was a player in action and a player in heart.
He could do this. He could be honest.
His first stop was Xisuma. His admin, the man who let him join the server that became the most home he had had in a long long time. He deserved to know first.
He flew to Xisuma's mountain village in a daze, entirely in his own head.
How would X react?
Would he be mean? Cruel? He wasn't the type. But he'd never had a Watcher on his server before.
He was so lost in his head he wouldn't be surprised if he-
Wall.
Grian twisted at the last moment, his legs connecting with the wall and pushing off, kicking away without losing too much momentum, and continued around the corner. His instinct had been to shift, change his wings to make the manoeuvre easier but he hadn't, clumsily twisting to avoid dying from kinetic energy.
Landing, Grian was panting slightly from the adrenaline of trying to not hit a wall when he heard a small chuckle.
"Hello, Gree-anne. Nice flying."
Grian just smiled slightly. It was obvious Xisuma picked up on something off about his demeanour, but thankfully he didn't mention anything.
"Are you okay?" X patted the spot next to him on the stairs, and Grian sat next to him.
He took a deep, shaky breath, and began to talk.
—
After his talk with Xisuma, Grian was feeling a lot better. He was also seven stages more emotionally exhausted, but he was content. X hadn't judged him, he hadn't gotten mad or removed his whitelist. He simply asked if there was anything he needed help with, be that avoiding them or even just managing stress. It was good to get it off his chest.
But Grian couldn't shake the feeling that there were 4 more people who deserved to know.
Boatem.
Pearl knew the story, but never spoke of it. Never mentioned her feelings towards his abilities from them . Them , who had tormented her after taking him. Them, who led her to believe he was dead. Them who risked her and the other Evolutionist's lives by deleting the server with them all still in it. He had to know.
The campfire crackled and the warmth brought him back to the moment.
"Pearl?" Grian whispered. She was sitting on one of the three logs placed around the crackling fire that licked at the stars, and he was leant against her legs and the log. Mumbo and Scar had taken one of the other logs between them, while Impulse - the lucky duck - got one to himself.
She hummed slightly, listening, but also watching as Scar and Impulse debated the pros and cons of trying to keep pet endermen.
"Do you hate me? For.. for what they did to me?"
Pearl looked down at him, as he looked up. He was positioned so that his wings were not squished or uncomfortable, and she so that he could function as an avian leg warmer.
Pearl simply laughed at him.
It wasn't a cruel laugh, more one of surprise or disbelief.
"Do you really think so little of me, Griba? None of that was your choice, but now what.. they have given you is yours to control. You're still you. Just with more feathers and purple, now."
He couldn't help himself, Grian found himself laughing. Laughing, and then very quickly crying.
He was crying, because that was exactly what he needed to hear. She always knew what he needed to hear.
And then, she was tickling him. Actually, truly, tickling him and oh boy-
"P-Pearl s- ha! Stop that's chea- Pearl!"
He could barely talk between laughter, and Pearl was giggling too.
Pearl continued her barage for a few more minutes, before giving Grian a blessed relief and time to breathe. It was only then he realised that Impulse, Scar and Mumbo was watching the pair with barely held laughter of their own.
Shifting back to his old position, Grian wacked Pearl on the way past with his wing, chuckling as she spluttered against his feathers slightly.
From his place leaned against Pearl’s legs, Grian started to humm. It was a simple song, one they had all heard before, and it didn’t take long until Mumbo was singing along.
“And the people they were dancing,”
Scar joined in quickly, meeting Mumbo at the end of the line. “To the music vibe.”
Pearl laughed a bit, knowing the next lyrics, before dramatically throwing her arms up and singing. "And the boys chase the girls, with curls in their hair.”
Grian sat up, struggling to sing laying down, and grinned. "While the shy tormented youth sit way over there.”
“And the songs get louder, each one better than before.” Their voices overlapped, undercut with laughter and chuckles, as they all got close and close to losing it.
Impulse stood up fast, jumping to his feet with a dramatic twirl. “And you’re singing the songs, thinking this is the life!" His twirl gave him more momentum than he really wanted. and he almost went flying into the campfire, laughing hard enough he was in tears.
Grian only got part way through before Pearl elbowed him in the side, before joining in herself. “And you wake up in the morning and your head feels twice the size.” He took his revenge when they were finished.
Scar and Mumbo took over next, amongst giggles from Scar at his and Pearl's antics, although if Grian was being honest it became more of a serenade from Scar. “Where you gonna go?” Half way through, at some point, Scar had thrown his arm over Mumbo's shoulders who just rolled his eyes and leant into it.
“Where you gonna go?” Impulse managed to finish his line before he dissolved into giggles, but tried his best to join the others in the finale.
“Where you gonna sleep tonight!”
Ironically, that was enough to set them all off in laughter.
Propped against Pearl's side, with Mumbo and Scar still doing their strange hugging routine and Impulse managing to fall off his log, arms clenched around his stomach from laughing too hard, Grian felt content. In between them all, the fire continued to burn on. He was happy, and he was home.
Pulling a piece of chicken out of his inventory, Grian went to munch his dinner.
"Grian… why are you trying to eat raw iron?"
He was what?
"Uh… fuck. Oh not again!"
Grian couldn't help but laugh, of course now was when he tried to eat the iron again. Of course.
The others were laughing too, but after the laughter subsided, it was clear everyone was sleepy. A cuddle pile was forming, and soon everyone was saying goodnight.
Grian waited a moment.
“You’re not going to tickle me again, are you?”
Pearl just laughed and punched him in the arm.
“Shhh, go to sleep, Griba.”
Grian's eyes began to droop, and it finally dawned on him just how tired he was after that truly emotional day and not sleeping for so long. He wondered if, maybe, he should have talked to his friends about it all a lot more. About what he could and couldn't do. But then Scar let out a soft snore directly into Grian's ear, and Impulse shifted so his arm was thrown over Grian's chest, and he couldn't help but feel that everything was going to be okay.
—
Scar was on a Grian hunt. The pesky bird had flown off muttering to himself a few hours earlier, and nobody in Boatem had seen him since. That wasn't too odd with the builder, but he wasn't in his alley working and nobody else seemed to know where he had gotten himself too.
When he did find his friend, Grian was a sight for sore eyes. And, maybe, an inflicter of sore eyes.
He was in his watcher form, sort of.
His two eyes had filled with black, the whites of his eyes replaced with void and his pupils flooded with a swirly purple. His wings, now 4 pairs varying in size, no longer looked like they were made of feathers. They dripped like a wax candle made from the simple essence of their worlds while the galaxy itself shifted and moved inside the limbs. Grian's veins ran a deep blue and 5 eyes floated around his head. Floating, lilac outlines of the real things. It was eldritch, inhuman, otherworldly. And it was distinctively 'Watcher'.
It was also distinctively Grian.
"...Grian? Whatcha doing?"
Grian didn't jump, but also hadn't acknowledged Scar's arrival. "Trying to find Xisuma."
"Have you considered not doing the floaty.. eye.. thing, and instead just message him?"
"He's not answering his communicator, and I'm worried."
"We're worried too, buddy. You disappeared."
"I didn't want to scare you all with the whole 'glowing eyes and floating' thing."
Scar only then realised that Grian was, in fact, not standing on the ground doing the glowing eyes thing, but was rather casually floating about half a block off of the floor.
Which was fine.
Sure, one of his best friends was technically an eldritch being who many told stories about to their children to scare them, but he was also Grian. He was a pesky bird, who could change his wings at will. He was a prankster, who sometimes used his block-bending powers to his advantage in them. He built intricate caves and mountains and made meetings entertaining (even if they always, always, died during them at least once).
Who cared if he glowed a bit?
A few hours later, after Grian had reassured himself that Xisuma was fine, just absorbed in a mining run and had left his communicator in his base, Scar had managed to drag the Watcher home. It hadn't taken long for him to fall asleep.
Over in the corner, Grian was clicking and hissing and making other weird noises as he slept, floating in mid air, completely in his watcher form.
Nobody even looked at him twice. Apparently the best way to sleep with 4 pairs of wings was to float.
He hadn't even bothered to shift back to his 'player' form, as he called it. Which was a development, if it meant he was getting more comfortable in it around them all.
As for the floating, if it worked it worked.
—
Large, peregrine falcon wings spread from his back as Grian grinned, watching the sun set over the sea at the back of his base. Shifting was easier when he didn't have to do it in the secret of a barren field anymore. In one swift movement, he pushed himself off and away from the cliff ledge he had been sitting on, and began to fall. He tucked his wings close to his back for the dive, only spanning them out to do a twist half way down, before he spanned them out to glide over the water.
He twisted lazily in the air, shouting with glee, and felt his wings shift and change half way through into cormorant wings. They were the wings of a water bird, and so unphased when he tilted to brush his primary feathers across the top of the waves.
He turned, intending to loop around the island to head for Pearl's side of the gigabase.
His wings shifted again, with barely a thought now, to be songbird wings - the colourful feathers a stark contrast to the blacks and whites of his cormorant feathers - to spin rather gracefully through the gap linking his and Mumbo's part of the base before swerving a sharp left and heading for Pearl's lighthouses.
From atop one of her taller towers, Pearl waved with a shout as he headed towards her build. His wings shifted again for the last time, back to his normal parrot wings - red and blue feathers matching his jumper more than the others had.
The sound of rockets firing was all the notice he got of Pearl joining him on his evening flight, her elytra doing a reasonable job of keeping up with him without Grian having to slow down too much. She was smiling too, as Grian moved to a glide to keep pace with her.
"Race you to the boatem hole?" She shouted over the wind that tugged at their clothes and tried to shift their flight paths to its will.
Grian laughed, but nodded. "First one in the top boat wins!"
He didn't wait for her reply, pumping his wings faster to speed up even as she fired off multiple fireworks to try and keep up.
It wasn't even a close race, Grian won by a mile. He didn't even shift wing type.
Pearl didn't hesitate to get her revenge, however.
[Grian fell into the void]