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The hounds are hunting.
Xisuma jolts awake when he hears the baying, a sharp, cold noise that cuts through the night. For a moment, fear grips his heart. It is an instinctive emotion, one he quickly pushes aside as he rises to his feet.
The hounds are hunting, which means it's a night to stay indoors. More than any other night, at least.
Considering what happens during 'any other night,' this is a serious matter indeed.
Xisuma has no intention of leaving the dorms. He also has no intention of letting anyone leave the dorms; certainly none of the humans will survive a night like this, and even for his Fair Folk, there is danger to be found. The Wild Hunt finds its prey from fae and human alike, after all.
And the Wild Hunt has very little to bargain against. They are hunters, and they are wild; to bargain with them is - more than any other - to bargain with nature.
And nature does not bargain.
Xisuma adjusts his cannula and begins the work of checking on his Hermits. He starts from the bottom and works his way up, knocking on each door, opening it, and making sure that each student is where they're meant to be.
He does it quietly, for some sleep through the hounds. Others nod when he opens the door, giving him a few "hellos" as he passes through.
Exhaustion settles on his shoulders when he opens the door to Grian and Scar's room, only to discover one gone and the other glaring at the opposite bed. Xisuma sighs, already mentally drafting an apology email to his professor.
"Where is he?" he asks.
Grian continues to glare at the opposite bed. "Out," the fae says curtly, his wings raised and looming. They seem to be made of shadows; Xisuma is careful to not look too closely.
"Why?" Xisuma asks tiredly.
Grian's eyes flick to him, for a moment, a hard glint of purple. "It's difficult to say."
Xisuma glances at the empty bed. There are no shadows, no shoes, no gifts of gold, nor any clothes crumpled in a suspicious pile. Most telling is how Grian is still here. Scar has not been spirited away; at least, not from this room.
It's Xisuma's responsibility to protect his Hermits. It's also his responsibility to know when someone is a lost cause, and when there is no intervention needed at all.
"Did he plan on coming back?" Xisuma asks.
Grian nods. He looks distinctly unhappy about the matter. Scar seems to have that effect on all his friends, but the man doesn't fear death; perhaps for good reason.
Xisuma smiles. It's the least he can do.
"Let me know if he's late," he says. "Before you go. Just leave a note."
Grian is capable, and so is Scar, but they are both still his responsibility. Xisuma waits for Grian to agree - a slight, begrudging nod, hardly more than a sigh - before closing the door and moving on.
In the morning, Xisuma finds Scar and Grian sitting at the kitchen dining table, the former shoveling waffles into his mouth like he hasn't eaten in days.
But then, he's always like that.
Xisuma smiles and waves and makes sure to set out some butter and cream out of the mans' reach. They've both used the offerings for their pancakes before, and Xisuma no longer trusts them around any kind of food.
"How was your night, Scar?" Xisuma asks, kneeling down to dig through the fridge for breakfast.
Scar laughs. "Oh, it was absolutely amazing! I actually got to see the horse rider with his -"
"Scar!" Grian snaps.
Xisuma glances over his shoulder to see Grian glaring at Scar, his not-quite-there wings bristling angrily. Scar, meanwhile, only looks a little bit contrite.
"...I met a completely ordinary horse rider?" Scar says sheepishly. His cheer returns instantly though as he continues, "Oh, X, you should've seen the horses' manes, they were absolutely gorgeous! I swear there were stars streaming from their manes and the bridles had silver edges, all decked out in leaves and flowers -"
Grian puts his head in his hands. Xisuma carefully busies himself with the toaster, half-listening to Scar's rambles about what, after a few sentences about 'stars' and 'hungry doggos' and 'horse riders,' is probably the Wild Hunt.
Which means Scar had been actively chasing the Wild Hunt last night. No wonder Grian was so upset.
He loves his Hermits dearly, but they're going to be the death of him.
[]
Pearl opens her eyes wide, as if to appear more innocent. All it does is make the stars within sparkle even more brightly.
"A missing house? No, I'm not quite sure I'd know where such a thing might be... It could be anywhere?" she says, voice raised in a question, her hand pressed lightly against her cheek. "Perhaps Scar took it? He's been quite mischievous of late."
Xisuma holds back a sigh. Pearl only starts talking in the way the Fair Folk do when she's determined to stretch out a bit.
The bit, in this case, being a missing building, of all things. Xisuma doesn't quite remember which one it is, whether it's the greenhouse lab or the algebra building, but either way, Pearl is a Hermit. And Xisuma is responsible for his Hermits.
Which means he's - technically - partially responsible for the missing building. Which is kind of a hassle, all things considered.
Xisuma smiles and plays along.
"Apparently, Scar's been at all his classes. It's a full day for him, you know?" Xisuma says casually. "Interesting, really. He is the first person I'd expect to pull a little mischief like this - but, well, we're all capable of our own tricks, hm?"
Pearl giggles. "Oh, for sure! Hm... Grian's been up to something lately! Shall I ask him about it for you?"
Xisuma pauses.
"Up to trouble?" he clarifies, because while he's still pretty sure Pearl was the one who made an entire building disappear, he wouldn't put it past Grian to be scheming something while he's looking the other way.
Pearl only grins. "Maaaybe?" she says.
Oh dear. Xisuma sighs. "Where's the building, Pearl?"
Pearly giggles again. "Don't worry, Xisuma, I'll put it right back!" she says, dropping the act now that he's acknowledged her mischief. "It was just positioned wrong, see? It wasn't facing the right way!"
"Facing the - Pearl, the buildings move of their own accord!"
"And they shouldn't do that," she says, her smile sharpening. "Things should look nice! It was standing out from the rest, and it would've bothered me all semester! It'll be back before you know it, don't worry!"
Xisuma sighs. "I only knew about it because people have classes in that building, Pearl. I had classes today."
She has the decency to look contrite, even if the word 'sorry' won't pass her lips.
He wouldn't have expected it anyway, not for something this small.
"I'll get started on it now, then," Pearl says, cracking her knuckles. Her eyes sparkle with something distinctly fae; a shadow of moth wings spreads behind her. "Perhaps it would have been best to do this at some other time. However! It'll only take me an hour to put things right back. Especially if I can get Scar to help me out again - ooh, I wonder if Impulse would be lend another item -"
"Did they help you tear it down?" Xisuma asks suspiciously.
Pearl pauses. She smiles, all teeth and star-lit eyes and edges. "It's hard to say!" she says, laughter coating her words.
Xisuma decides to just let it go. At least the problem's going to be fixed.
Although he's certainly not going to be able to attend his lectures today. Well, small loss. He's sure the professor's recorded it somewhere, he'll just have to look for it.
[]
Look, Xisuma lets his Hermits get away with a lot.
The way the interior of the fifth floor seems to be far larger than the exterior of the building? Not a problem. Sure, walking in the corridor of that floor can feel weird at times, but it's not hurting anyone, so whatever.
The lightning pole located on the side of the building that attracts thunderstorms every few nights? A bit of soundproofing and glamour (courtesy of one of their fae residents, probably Tango or Stress) fixed that right up. No noise complaints? No issues.
Even the tree with upside-down animals curled up on its branches just behind the dorms is perfectly fine! Weird, but fine! Honestly, he looks at those kinds of shenanigans and feels fondness more than anything else.
But.
Sometimes, Xisuma finds himself staring into a hole that opens up into the literal Void and finds himself wondering where it all went wrong.
He drags one of the residents of this floor - Impulse, as it happens - and points wordlessly at the mass of darkness. He doesn't say anything, just stares down his Hermit with disappointment and silently demanding an explanation
From the way Impulse grimaces, his message gets across.
"I mean. It seemed like a good idea at the time?" Impulse says, smiling sheepishly.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Xisuma echoes. His voice is flat. "And this has nothing to do with the 'Boatem Hole' I've been hearing about lately?"
Impulse winces. "It miiiiight have something to do with that?" he hedges.
Xisuma narrows his eyes.
"I also," Xisuma says slowly, "seem to remember Bdubs complaining about being tricked down a certain 'Boatem Hole.' Would you happen to know anything about that?"
"Erm." Impulse looks away. "Well, uh. I didn't push him."
"Then who did?"
"Uhhh. That's a, that's a great question! Um. Not me?"
Xisuma pinches the bridge of his nose. Is that a headache he's feeling? It is. He's getting a literal headache from this.
He lowers his hand and fixes Impulse with a look. "Impulse? Move this. At least get it out the hallway. I don't care where you put this, as long as it's out of the way because right now, this is a hazard. Alright?"
"Yes, Xisuma," Impulse mumbles. At least he sounds remorseful.
"I don't mind your usual antics," Xisuma says, a little softer. "You know that, right? It's just, someone could fall in this -"
"About that -"
"And they might not come back," Xisuma continues, choosing to ignore whatever Impulse was about to say. If it was about someone actually falling in there, he might just lose it. "I just want you all to be safe, okay?"
Impulse nods, looking a little down. Thankfully, he gets to work moving it, although the contraption he's using also looks worrying...
No, no, he doesn't want to deal with that right now.
Xisuma waves and leaves, fervently praying that he doesn't have to see this 'Boatem Hole' ever again. There's something unnerving about the void, especially when it's smack in the middle of the Hermitcraft dorms.
He suddenly understands Bdubs' sudden request to move floors.
Not that his other floors don't also cause some issues - the Octagon is certainly up to something right now, something that hasn't yet been brought up to him directly so he's leaving it alone for now - but there's something blatant about the Boatem students and their shenanigans.
Ah, well. At least the hole's getting moved. Hopefully that's the end of that... and hopefully he hasn't just jinxed himself.
[]
Scar's familiar has always been a bit of an enigma. The man claims he's had her since she was a baby, and that she is a perfectly ordinary house cat with no oddities whatsoever. After all, she's 'way too cute to be anything but a house cat.'
The Hermits collectively agree that Jellie is very adorable, but she's no house cat.
After all, domesticated pets tend to go missing within a week at the university. It's why pets are deeply frowned upon at most dorms; the emotional trauma tends to mess with student retention (although it could be argued that being Taken is far worse and far more common). Domesticated pets and service animals that don't go missing are usually those that are practically wrapped in iron from head to paw, with salt sewn into their harnesses and protective herbs mixed into their food.
Jellie, however, wears no iron - only a small silver charm that hangs from her collar. That's the first thing that makes people look twice, wondering just what this ordinary cat could possibly be doing out all by itself.
She also walks around as if she owns the place, which, to be fair, is normal cat behavior.
However, she also walks around outside.
If house pets are normally drowned in protective materials, they also never wander outside. That, more than anything, is just asking for a pet to get Taken. However, oftentimes Jellie can be found sitting underneath trees and on benches around campus, as well as curled up on the couches in the dorms. She'll go anywhere, it seems, and yet the Folk haven't abducted her just yet (despite a semester or two already having passed).
So, it's clear Jellie's not a house cat, no matter how much Scar says, "She's just the cutest thing, look at her paws! She's such a cuddly little house cat, yes you are." A familiar could be a house cat, technically, but again - a house cat would have long disappeared by now.
That does, of course, leave the question of what exactly Jellie could be. The Hermits have a betting pool, actually, and a whiteboard on the topic somewhere with scribbles about shapeshifters and Seelie fae and changelings, but no one really has any proof. Zedaph swears he could figure out what she is if he could just get some samples, but so far he's been unsuccessful. It doesn't help that, for whatever reason, Jellie doesn't even appear to shed.
What kind of house cat doesn't even shed?
Which is why, when Scar walks into Xisuma's room and says, "Jellie's missing," the RA has to take a moment to process the words. Because Jellie is never missing. It's kind of her whole thing.
"Okay," Xisuma says, because Scar's still waiting for a response and panic never helps anyone. "Okay, do you have a, uh, a way to track her? Or do you know where she was seen last?"
Scar shakes his head. "She's marked by a sigil, but it's not activating. And it's been a few days, she should've been back by now."
"Oh." That's not great. The only reason a sigil wouldn't activate would be if it's somewhere with a lot of errant magic, which would interfere with the spell - or if someone's intentionally blocking it. Which means there's a possibility that Jellie's finally been Taken. "Okay."
Xisuma stands. "Okay," he says again, more to himself than anything else. "Try the, uh, the tracking spell for a bit longer. I'll ask around for Jellie."
"Thanks, X," Scar says, looking relieved. He fiddles with his earring for a moment before leaving, a bag of something-probably-suspicious poking out of his jacket pocket.
One problem at a time. Finding Jellie takes priority over... whatever nonsense his Hermits are up to this time.
The smell of boneset lingers.
...Gods, what the hell is Scar doing that involves boneset?
No, no. Xisuma silently scolds himself, trying to focus on his task. Finding a pet is difficult, but finding a familiar - an animal bound by magic and runes - should be a little more doable.
After some asking around, which involves a brief ritual with Keralis and a bit of advice from Scott, Xisuma is able to figure out that Jellie may (or may not) have entered the gym behind the back parking lot about three days ago. The thought of the gym makes his hands feel cold; after all, that particular gym is under renovations.
It's been under renovations ever since he's arrived at this university.
Suffice to say, it'd be more accurate to call the gym 'abandoned' than 'under renovations.' The latter term is used for places that have been claimed by the Folk. And what the Folk take for themselves is difficult to take back; it's usually best not to try.
But Jellie is a familiar, and she is one of his Hermits' beloved family members. So Xisuma counts out a wad of cash, tucks acorns and ash leaves in his pockets, and makes his way to the gym to find himself a Jellie. He's got his oxygen concentrator slung over one shoulder, wrapped in thin iron chains; of all his stuff, that's one of the few things he really can't afford to lose.
He negotiates with the creature in the gym.
He walks back out with Jellie in his arms.
Xisuma mourns the weight in his wallet. He's pretty sure that was about a third of his university-granted budget for bribing the Folk to give back what they've stolen. He hopes none of his Hermits decide to collectively get Taken; he's not sure he could afford that.
Seeing Scar's relieved expression when he brings back Jellie is worth it though.
Scar mutters some concerning things about Jellie 'eating troublesome people,' which Xisuma chooses to ignore. Not his problem. Not yet anyway.
Time to get back to bed.
[]
Xisuma spots it when his classes are done for the day.
It's... hard to miss.
It flickers in and out of existence, a barely-there silhouette with undefinable edges. Someone's glamoured it, but Xisuma knows enough to look from his peripherals, to put together patterns from the vague and uncertain.
He nearly drops his bag when his brain finally recognizes the figure.
It's an Ender Dragon. A creature of the Void, the strongest of them all.
And it's right on top of his dorms.
Xisuma takes a breath, shutting his eyes. He needs to think. If he doesn't calm down, he's going to have a heart attack, and that won't help anyone.
He pulls out his phone and messages the group chat.
[ Xisuma: why is there an ender dragon on the dorms]
He half-expects to wait, but within seconds, there's a reply.
[ Doc: oh ]
[ Doc: you can see that? ]
Xisuma exhales harshly. That's an admission of guilt if he's ever seen one.
He shoves his phone back in his pocket and hurries back to the dorms. Thankfully, Doc's standing outside, head craned back to stare at the Ender Dragon. There's a gleeful look on his face; it looks very nearly like madness.
"What have you done?" Xisuma asks, hardly able to keep the disbelief from his voice.
Doc turns, still grinning. "It's safe!" he says immediately, which really doesn't inspire any confidence. In Xisuma's experience, when someone has to say 'it's safe,' at best that means it's 'safe for now'.
Xisuma glances up at the dragon again. Now that he's finally seen it, the Ender Dragon's form flickers in and out of sight, circling the dorm building lazily. It's an awe-inspiring sight, sure - if it wasn't in broad daylight! On campus!
Xisuma groans. "This isn't how things are done! This is - this is Hermitcraft! The dorms! Why did you bring it here?!"
"It was a complicated process," Doc admits. "A lot went wrong."
That is not what he wants to hear!
Xisuma only stares at Doc.
Doc smiles back; his expression looks remarkably unrepentant.
"Are you... planning on keeping it?" Xisuma asks slowly.
"Yes! It's my new pet."
This is. This is worse than the Boatem Hole, actually. Or is it? After all, the dragon's just... flying there. Maybe it's peaceful?
Xisuma sighs.
"I'm going to put my stuff away. Don't go anywhere, we're not done talking about this," he warns. When Doc nods, Xisuma goes inside and dumps his bag on the floor. Damn, the textbooks are getting heavier every year.
Maybe next semester he'll try online only classes. At least he'd have less walking to do - although the online classes are limited, so it's a hit-or-miss situation.
Xisuma returns to Doc, hands on his hips as he observes the Ender Dragon.
He... he doesn't have time for this. "Get rid of it."
"It's just a pet!" Doc says mildly. "Nothing wrong with it."
A pet. A pet. One of the most dangerous Others, the manifestation of the Void itself, and Doc wants to keep it as a pet.
This is just like him, Xisuma thinks despairingly.
Okay then, priorities. Doc doesn't seem willing to just... put the thing back, so instead, he'll just have to make sure it's not a danger. Not an immediate danger.
"Will it attack if someone gets too close?" he asks.
Doc shakes his head. "Being out of the void seems to have dulled its reflexes. It doesn't respond to much."
Okay. Not great. Not terrible. Xisuma asks how it's being contained and taken care of, at which point Doc's eyes - one dark, one red - light up with excitement.
As Doc rambles about an automatic feeder and a dimension-warping barrier (Xisuma is going to pretend he didn't hear the words 'dimension' and 'warping' from Doc's mouth because that is a problem for another time, in the far future), Xisuma has to admit that Doc at least has the thing contained.
In an enriching environment, even. Supposedly.
Doc says something about wither skulls filled with ground meat and that's when Xisuma decides he's reached his limit.
The dragon isn't going anywhere, and it's being... well-taken care of. Apparently.
Which means! It's no longer his problem.
Xisuma makes his excuses and escapes, glad to get some distance from his crazy dorm students. Each and every one of them is just slightly insane.
Still his Hermits, each of whom he'll cherish.
Still such incredible troublemakers.