Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Watchers, beings from the Void.

Watchers were the mysterious beings that watched over players…sent by the Void itself.

Their intended duty was to help guard the servers from corrupted code ( bugs ) that emerge from the Void occasionally whenever the [core] code updates. Thus they were mindless entities ( their duty coded within them without a choice to go against it ) gifted with powers and knowledge to manipulate the code.

Over time, Watchers grew sentience due to the bugs corrupting their code. And soon began messing with players for their own amusement, and from then on they became entities that live for the thrill and don't really think any further. Void entities acting as gods, omniscient of the server they were watching. 

They find amusement in the players' suffering, giving trials and riddles, and when they are bored, they move on or destroy. But most do not really bother destroying servers or interfering more than some signs and bedrock. That was too much effort.

Some gave gifts with the condition that the player must do something to entertain them. Be it dying and losing something precious or causing chaos on the server on their behalf.

The Watchers were unpredictable and difficult to categorise, so for the most part those who wanted no dealings with Watchers attempted to hide their servers from them. Away from their eyes. 

Then, the EVO incident caused players to fear and suspect the Watchers even more…

“Have you heard? The Admin of EVO was taken away by two Watchers…”

“Really? Well no one has been taken away by the Watchers before…”

“We should be cautious…you never know what those Watchers can do…one moment they are like angels and another they suddenly become heartless sadists…”

“The poor Admin…”

“Hopefully it’s just a one time case of a player being taken by the Watchers….or a server being destroyed by the Watchers…”

“What happened to those on the server…?”

=( -—- )=

“Xelqua get up.” A Watcher voice rang in Xelqua’s ears. 

Xelqua frowned, ‘I’m Grian not Xelqua…’ 

His wings retracted a little as an arrow-like object was embedded on the ground close to his wings. A warning for him to obey orders. No matter how tough he acted, his wings gave away his true feelings, fear.

Grian hurriedly propped himself up as he paid no mind to the pounding headache that made it unbearable to focus. He was taken by the Watchers for an experiment, a player, better yet an Admin having the Watcher's code in his code. 

They had forced him to be able to use his newfound Watcher powers after altering around with his code, though they could never touch the code that housed his admin powers. He ensured that it was out of bounds. However, it didn't take away from the fact that there is now a rectangle symbol of the Watchers now forever embedded in his code, a reminder. 

Grian groaned as he got dragged by the Watcher to who knows where…He did not bother one bit, not having the energy to put up a fruitless fight. He guessed it was probably for more experiments.

He glanced at his wings, dragged on the floor…it was once vibrant of red blue and yellow, now although the vibrant red was barely present, as his coverts were red, but from then his wings were pale gold in the middle and inky purple at the end. He hadn't had the time to preen them…not really bothering after each experiment or test left him severely injured and wings always threatened to be clipped if he disobeyed.

“... how exciting~” The Watcher hummed, Grian did not pay attention to what they were saying, drowning out their words in favour of listening to his own thoughts, it kept him as sane as he could be. The Watcher could have teleported them there but to them dragging Grian along the twisted hallways was more amusing for them. Knowing that it indeed hurt him, most likely opening some wounds or making them worse.

When they reached the room, Grian was tossed into the room ungraciously, head slamming into the ground causing a thud to echo in the plain room. Reopening more wounds that had just started to close.

“Thank you for bringing Xelqua here… hello little birdy…~” The Watcher floated towards Grian, who angrily looked at the mask of the Watcher. Their inky purple wings had eyes all over, every single one of them staring at Grain as if he was an interesting object, a spectacle. That thought disgusted him.

He let out a yelp of surprise as his wings were grabbed and started panicking, heart beating faster and louder. Grian took a glance at the glitchy sword like object the Watcher was holding. His eyes gave away how terrified he was when he realised what it could possibly do...

“I see you have figured out what it is, looks like that lesson was taught well~. Anyhow let’s get rid of your Admin code shall we? It’s such an eyesore, maybe the base player code while we are at it. Then you can fully be a Watcher. First…the wing–”

In his panic Grian had materialised the mask, although it was differently designed than the Watchers mask, it served the same purpose. It was so he could access his Watcher powers, eyes having a violet hue as the inky purple on the tips of his feathers crept up and enveloped his wings into inly purple, as if his wings were dipped in paint that was the colour ‘void’.

Grian forced himself to use up all his powers to teleport far away from where he was now, somewhere in the Void that the servers reside in.

It was well known that only Watchers or Voidwalkers could safely traverse the Void. Though there weren’t many left, at least the strong ones..

Grian was in shock he could teleport anywhere, but since he was in the Watcher’s domain…maybe it had a part to play in it. It bends to the will of any Watcher when they use their powers, with the price of draining you much faster.

“I…I did it…?” He muttered quietly…eyes scanning around, purple vision clouding his eyes. A product of using his Watcher powers while in the Void. Everything happened so fast…his heart pounding as he tried to regain composure and figure out his next course of action.

‘I bet…they won’t chase me now…but the moment I’m found they will make a beeline to make my life miserable…’ Grian bitterfully thought. 

He knew they were lazy to a certain degree and loved to avoid real danger. If they had a chance to be entertained and safe, watching…they would gladly do that.

Ha, his prediction can be proven wrong though.

A server caught his attention, it was well protected, but was the closest server he could see. It was barely visible, most likely due to the Admin possibly trying to hide the server from Watchers. It could either work in his favour or against him, is most likely the latter.

‘I don’t have a choice, currently I am too weak to find a more vacant server…or travel anywhere, either I be found by the Watchers or corrupted by the bugs…’

“I guess I should crash there till I can fully recover...just need to brute force the firewall and hack into the code to not raise suspicion…I would tear it down but I doubt I can cover it up in time,” Grian thought as he readied himself for more pain, he knew overworking his powers was a horrible idea but he didnt care, that was a future him problem. And without hesitation he dive bombed right at the server.

As expected, he felt as if he was burning as he brute forced his way through the firewall while hacking away at his Admin panel, trying to recall how to do it. Having spent so long in the Watcher’s domain and unable to use his communicator ( he assumed it was broken ) and Admin powers were useless there.

Unfortunately at the cost of brute forcing his way in, his wings refusing to cooperate, the burning feeling ever present consumed him, causing him to crash into the ground as he slid and hit a nearby tree. 

‘Great.’ Grian deadpanned as he dragged himself somewhere hidden and safe. Not wanting to be seen at all if possible. He was running on adrenaline as he pushed the pain at the back of his mind, ignoring his limits. 

‘You shouldn’t do that’, a thought he knew was true but chose to ignore.

Not caring that possibly he left a trail of blood, it was small enough, one can safely assume it was from any mob. Plus he doubts anyone really goes near the spawn where a deep hole was close by, near the border of the desert and plains leading to a forest. 

He whined as he plopped himself into the cave after dragging himself a good couple of blocks, catching his breath. He couldn't open his communicator as it was useless since he is not whitelisted, plus he doesn't have the energy or power to use his Admins powers to mess around with the code here. If he did it would ruin what he was trying to do earlier, conceal his entry from the Admin. 

He let himself take a breather, wings returning to the tri-colours while his eyes returned to dark brown. The mask dematerialised into nothing in an instant, purple particles bouncing around before disappearing. 

Grian’s vision blurred attempting to adjust back to his player’s view instead of the Watcher’s purple tint that had shielded his eyes in the Void. He always hated that feeling. Did not help that he was not fond of using his Watcher powers.

The dreaded wave of pain crashed into him, he felt his wings must’ve bent in an odd shape when he crashed, but he couldn’t quite tell yet as a burning sensation consumed his body, like a fire hungry for fuel to continue burning.

“Hah…guess that’s what I get for overworking those powers,” Grian bitterly smiled, cringing as he tried to focus on something in the cave. It was all just darkness and before he knew it he fell asleep. Pale gold and inky purple staining the tips of his fingers.

=( -—- )=

“What… is that…?” The hermit in a green armour grew curious as he flew over one of the forest areas, the season just started not long ago and he was checking on the hermits if the server was running smoothly. 

As he got closer and closer he felt his heart pounding louder and louder till it felt his heart was in his ears. The sounds of nature around them drowned out.

“Oh my…” He trailed off, frowning as he looked at the faint trail of blood. Being a Voidwalker he could sense the nature of the code left behind in the blood. It was an odd combination of a player and…

“A Watcher.”

Chapter Text

“Xelqua.”

Grian tried to get up but this body would simply not cooperate. He attempted to curse at the Watchers but no words came out.

He had no control over his own body here, he could only watch…

This was a memory. One of the few memories that haunt him in his sleep.

“That’s your new identity, erase Grian the avian hybrid, and become Xelqua the Watcher.” Their voices said in unison, [Grian] had to get up and fight, he had to.

‘Don’t play their biassed game, it's a trap!’ Grain tried to reason with his dream self but he was forced to watch as [Grian] stood up, eyes glaring at the figure in front of him. Dragging [his] body to stand upright. Wings spread out as his instincts kicked in. 

“Fighting is a fruitless game, but we will humour you Xelqua.” They chuckled, they materialised a glitchy sword and threw it to [him] to pick up.

‘No no no no no…’ Grian shouted at his dream self, but it was meaningless, he already knew what was going to transpire and he knew there was nothing he could do now to stop it but just watch.

Again.

[Grian] swung the sword at the Watcher but was met with a wooden sword pressed against his neck.

“Thought you would’ve put on a much better show…how boring…” The Watcher sighed whilst lifting [Grian] into the air with their powers. But as much as [Grian] tried to struggle his way out of their ‘grip’ his body was like a puppet on strings. Staying limp as if waiting for the puppeteer to move [his] limbs for [him]. 

“The first act of defiance after being a Watcher…how quick I must comment~” The Watcher grinned, giving [him] a baleful stare. Picking up the sword that [Grian] had dropped.

“Time for a little practical lesson…while you exist in the Watcher’s domain, when stabbed with this sword…it erases some of your code~” The Watcher took glee in the sheer fear and panic in [Grian]’s eyes.

“You won’t be able to hide anywhere~ no one would want you!” He laughed like a madman, the eyes on his wings seemingly to show glee in them.

It was the day the Watcher’s symbol was embedded in his code.

Grian suddenly heard the advancing movement had a sound ‘but the Watchers float?’,  it was as if there were footsteps. It sounded like someone was walking on gravel and stone cautiously…it did not in fact, match the dream…

=( -—- )=

‘Something that concerns me is that I can barely find their code, whoever they are, they don’t want to be known…to cause harm or to hide is the question…’ Xisuma pondered. A frown on his face as he thought of the possibilities of this player being sent by the Watchers as a spy on how he had kept them away.

“They did have Watcher code in them but have the base code of a player…so are they a player turned Watcher? Most likely unwillingly…that’s really unfortunate that it happened.”

It was quite a couple of blocks till he reached the small cave in the dense forest that was where the “guest” chose to hide. ‘I’m impressed how far they got…’

Xisuma cautiously made his way through the entrance of the small cave, the amount of blood on the trail seemingly increasing. It was getting more concerning by the second.

He saw something red poking out, which was presumed to belong to “guest” poking out. 

Without warning Xisuma was pushed back with an invisible force and fell back, the “guest” had a red sweater, wings that were massive but were horribly taken care of. Their eyes filled with fear as they stared at the Admin. Their wings flared out but doing so revealed how badly injured they were.

“Hey-” Xisuma started but before anything else could happen the winged guest shot past him in a blur and took off as fast as possible, despite the obvious injuries. Wobbling in the sky.

“They are severely injured…and their wings, it's in no condition to fly.” Xisuma thought. 

“I should try to catch up to them and deal with this guest as soon as possible.”

=( -—- )=

Grian was known to be reckless, but he didn’t know how badly it would have bit him back. It was just his luck that the server he chose to hide on, the Admin was a Voidwalker. 

He knew the player was an Admin simply because he still had the Admin code in him, thus able to identify Admins of the server he was in. 

And much to Grian’s resentment that he is technically a Watcher, there was no running away from it, the Watchers had the ability to recognise a fellow product of the Void and vice versa.

Voidwalkers are known to have the power to banish Watchers to the Void, unable to enter servers while bound to the Void even though it took a horrible toll on the Voidwalker to do so. 

( boring explanation starts )

It was the bugs that had set the Watchers free after all, Voidwalkers were meant to monitor the Watchers but soon died down as without the Watchers, more of the corrupted ( bugs ) appeared and took the lives of numerous Voidwalkers. 

But the main factor that caused the most deaths of the Voidwalkers was that they had to banish as many of the notorious Watchers who went rogue. Said Watchers that had caused serious damage to the [core] code, corrupting many critical parts of it. Much to the dismay of the Devs having to immediately fix said code.

They knew in order to get rid of the corrupted Watchers they needed Voidwalkers to do so. It was simply the most effective solution.

Those Watchers who were left long enough bound to the Void, would have a slow and painful death. As the Void would break down their code and eventually kill them.

Of course the price the Voidwalkers had to pay to even be able to keep the Watcher bound to the Void that long was essentially a life for another’s life. Both dying a painful and slow death. 

The Devs not fond of the corrupted Watchers, decided to modify the [core] code of the Void. And so Void could barely create any more Watchers, but by modifying the code the Void was unable to create Voidwalkers as easily. 

The Devs had deemed it not urgent and so they never bothered with it.

And so, there were almost no Voidwalkers left, as there were almost no Watchers left who weren’t corrupted by the bugs.

( boring explanation ends ) 

Grian could hear the rockets getting closer, but he had to push through the pain for he did not want to be caught and banned or perma-killed. He wanted to live.

His flight was shaky and he grew more tired, the burning sensation slowly draining his energy, reminding him of the stunt he did. 

Well the only reason why he was in the air right now was because of him using more of his powers to help him fly, less of his wings. Once again overworking himself.

Yeah it was now a present him problem, as inconvenient as it is. And he had added more to the problem.

Grian felt that the Admin was trying to say something but he drowned it out due to the pain of pushing his injured body further. The need to crash somewhere clawing at him, he was running out of time. And once again he didn't think thoroughly as he was flying above a body of water. He did not want to think how painful crashing into the water would be…as well as drowning.

He had no clue where respawning would cause him to be but he did not want to take chances respawning back at the Watcher domain.

So now his only option was to out-fly the Admin, he knew it was very unlikely, though he knew the Admin had the power to ban him but they hadn’t. It would save them the trouble of dealing with him…

Or he could be chasing him to get information. Well if the Admin asked Grian would gladly share, whether they believe him or not? Well it would be just his luck. But the possibility of being perma-killed because of the Watcher code in him…was his biggest fear.

All Grian felt was his entire body burning, overwhelming his senses to numbness. He soon found himself free falling, he had pushed his injured wings and powers to the limits and they would not cooperate with him anymore.

“Gotcha-” was all he heard as he felt himself losing control of himself and slipping back into the darkness. But the firm grip felt oddly reassuring.

=( -—- )=

“X…? Think he is awake…” Grian heard a mysterious voice. They sounded familiar...like an old friend…but why?

Chapter Text

“Aha you sure are skittish,” Xisuma huffed, preparing himself to teleport to the closest hermit’s base. He didn’t want to overexert himself.

He knew he could get to his base if he took a little while to recover his energy, but for now the closest base it is.

He was surprised how far they had made considering how close he was to where Mumbo, Impulse and Scar were building.

“X? What brings you here…is that Grian?” One of the residents paused, dropping the item in his hands.

“Hm? Mumbo you know them?” Xisuma walked towards them, lifting the limp player in his arms.

“Mhm, I met him before he left for EVO…” 

It took awhile for Xisuma to connect the dots.

‘So he was the Admin that the Watchers took.’  Xisuma frowned, wondering why the Watchers would want to make him one of theirs. The player in his hands was surprisingly light, most likely because he was an Avian hybrid.

Their red sweatshirt was torn, arms were coated with gold and purple, a sign of overexerting his powers. 

“I should take care of that…if not his powers are going to hurt him,” Xisuma commented, frowning at the horrid state Grian was in.

“I have a spare bed nearby,” Mumbo led the way to the small house, before leaving to find some bandages. Mumbo unfortunately had no regen potions. Though maybe one of the others may have one.

“Haven't done this in awhile…this should lessen his pain,” Xisuma said carefully placing Grian on the bed. He then placed both palms on Grian’s arms, closing his eyes as he channelled some of his energy into his palms. Although Xisuma felt a little exhausted, he watched as the pale gold and inky purple slowly faded, meaning that at the very least Grian would not be having his powers eating him alive.

“Here…” Mumbo had returned, handing Xisuma the bandages, Xisuma wrapped as much of Grian’s injuries as he could, careful to not touch his wings. They frowned at how his entire body was filled with injuries one way or another.

Xisuma brought up the Admin panel, searching up a file on EVO.

Server: [ EVO ] 

Admin : Grian [ taken away by Watchers during the EVO incident ]

Status : unknown [ presumed dead ]

Status of the rest of EVO members : unknown [ presumed dead ]

Status of EVO server : destroyed ( unconfirmed ) , corrupted beyond saving

“What happened to him…”

“He is really here, I thought I lost him…I’ve missed you so much Grian…” Mumbo knelt near the bed, as Grian was shifting around slightly, but it seemed that he was rather peaceful.

“He is here now…he is safe within the walls of this server.” Xisuma gave Mumbo a reassuring grip.

‘I doubt he is with the Watchers...’ Xisuma thought.

“I’ll leave you some time alone. I’m heading to the main hub to create a new set of clothes for him, I believe Cub is coming over with the potion of regen,” Mumbo nodded. Xisuma took a piece of fabric from his red sweater and pants before taking off.

Thankfully Cub just raised a brow at the sight of the new guest but did not question further. Seeing how Mumbo was looking worried and more zoned out. He gave Mumbo the regen potion, and asked if the man needed food. 

Mumbo mutely nodded. Cub gave Mumbo some bread and golden carrots he had on him before returning to working on his base. Not wanting to pry, for he knows they got it covered.

=( -—- )=

“I’m back,” Xisuma returned, stumbling a little as he landed. The two chatted for a while, wondering what they should do as their next step of action.

“X…? Think he is awake…”

“That’s a relief, his injuries were pretty bad, it is surprising how soon he has awoken even with the help of the regen potion.” 

‘That was most likely the Admin.’ Grian thought, barely registering his surroundings.

It was like a sudden switch flipped as Grian panicked, his wings flapping as he bolted upright, looking around to find an escape. He started to tremble and mutter gibberish.

“Hey hey it’s okay,” Xisuma tried to sooth the panicked Grian, but that did not stop him from attempting to take off.

Attempting.

He fell face first into the floor.

“Hold it, you are going to reopen a lot of wounds,”

Grian knew what the Admin said was true. Surprisingly, the unsettling feeling he had earlier had washed away when a pair of strong arms lifted him back onto the bed. 

It felt warm…he hasn't had any proper contact with anyone since he was taken away, the avian instincts in him crying out for some companion.

It felt nice but it had only fueled Grian’s panic.

“I wasn’t a Watcher willingly, I wasn’t I swear I…don’t hurt me please!” Grian pleaded whilst closing his eyes, wings attempting to shield him but was too painful to move. Shrinking himself further away from the Admin and the mysterious person. Grian didn’t register what either of them looked like.

“Grian…it’s okay we won’t hurt you,” 

At the mention of his name, he froze still as if he was a statue. It has been so long since he heard anyone say his name. Was he going insane..?

“It’s me Mumbo…remember this feather?” Mumbo said whilst revealing the feather with red, pale gold and blue. No inky purple to be found.

Grian looked at his friend who he never got the chance to talk to after creating EVO.

They kept the feather he had given the man, a sign of being in his flock. The last person in his flock he was certain was alive. 

Grian pathetically launched himself as he tried to get closer to his friend, pushing them both onto the floor as the avian instincts took over, identifying Mumbo as ‘safe’.

“Mumbo!” he cried as he clung onto his friend tightly, shaking.

“I’ve missed you,” Grian let out a weak chuckle, happy to see his best friend after so long.

“I’ve missed you too. Hey mate, you are safe here okay?” Mumbo patted Grian’s head gently. Grian chirped as he nuzzled deeper in the hug.

“Where am I…?” Grian asked, just realising he was not sure what server he crashed into.

“You are in Hermitcraft. Don’t worry I have already whitelisted you into this server for your safety, I will keep you safe from them, though…for you to permanently stay with us we need an unanimous vote. But me and Mumbo will settle that,” Xisuma smiled, kneeling to the same height as the two on the floor.

“B-but why…you know what I am…I” Grian turned to look at the Admin, confused. Terrified that he may be trapped here instead…his new prison. He does not know which of the two is more cruel, the Watchers or them.

“Mmm I indeed know, but I know you weren’t a Watcher willingly, and I believe that what you need now is safety.” he smiled, though the mask made it difficult for Grian to see the smile.

“I’m a Watcher, a sensible thing to do is to perma-kill me or banish me to the Void…am a monster…”

“You aren’t a monster, and we believe you aren't with them. Besides, I believe you are running from them. And now I’m offering a place on this server for you,” Xisuma’s voice was gentle, it made Grian’s instincts yell ‘safe’. Grian chose to ignore that thought.

“How about the others on the server…they wouldn’t want a Watcher in their midst…”

“Well, knowing them they would accept you eventually despite the first impression. You have my word that you are my responsibility as so are they, so if they do hurt you…or you hurt them…we will settle with it peacefully,”

“Oh..” was all Grian managed to get out, his paranoia shouting that it was a trap, no one would be this nice.

“Oh yeah, here are some clothes I managed to get for you…and a new communicator,” Xisuma pulled out at least three sets of a replica of Grian’s clothes and a device. 

“Was not very sure how to bandage your wings or snap it back in place, apologies. Had to rely on the regen potions to lessen your pain.”

“Thanks, and it’s fine…I’ll heal it myself. Watcher magic and all…” Grian mumbled, looking down and fidgeting with his sweater.

“Don’t overexert your powers though, I managed to stop your powers from eating you alive,”

“Will do…Thanks,” Grian realised his arms where no longer had any hints of purple or yellow. Drawing to the conclusion that the Admin had saved him from more pain while waking up. At the cost of his own energy…

His bird brain was screaming at him to invite the Admin into his flock, Xisuma was actively protecting him, and showed no sign of hurting the man, but Grian feared what their reaction might be.

Plus they just met…logically he should take more time to know the Admin but his instincts sometimes don't flow with logic. It wanted him to be a part of his flock, a safe place.

‘It’s all just a ploy for the long run, soon he will turn his back on you and hurt you. It will hurt even more when you are attached to them, remember EVO?’ the thought in his head reasoned, the strong paranoia ever present. Well Grian for once did kind of agree with what his instincts were trying to communicate to him. 

“I should get going, Mumbo, I entrust you to take care of Grian?” Xisuma stood up, patting Mumbo’s back.

”Yup, take care for your self X” Mumbo replied.

“Alright alright. Oh but I suggest we wait for him to recover and slowly introduce  everyone to him so as to not be overwhelming for him.” 

Mumbo nodded, they both knew his wings did give away that he was a Watcher to those knowledgeable…

Mumbo hadn't noticed about the fact that his best friend was a Watcher till it was brought up in the conversation between Xisuma and Grian earlier. He simply though the purple tips were something Grian did it himself.

Plus, being a Watcher willingly or unwillingly is not a good thing to simply announce to strangers.

Even if it’s a friend’s friend, it was still a stranger to Grian as Grian was a stranger to them.

Just as Xisuma was about to walk off, he felt a tug on his leg. He looked down to see Grian sheepishly looking the other way.

His hand held out a feather he had just plucked, there was a tint of red at the base of the feather, it was not blood to the relief of X, but the middle was pale yellow ending with the inky purple that seemingly bled into the middle section. 

Unlike feathers that just fall out naturally, the feathers Grian gave to flock members had hints of his magic on it, thus having a gradient of three colours on him. It was his way of imprinting on his flock members, it was more of trust than anything really for him.

The feathers also served as a way to protect them, and make them recognisable to him if something were to happen. He still had the canary's yellow feather and a pale blue-ish grey feather of his sister safely hung on a necklace he had. Grian wanted to know if they were okay…If they were even alive after the whole EVO situation.

“It seems Grian has taken a liking to you X, welcome to the flock,” Mumbo chuckled at a shy Grian. 

“Friend…” Grian mumbled. Not daring to look at Xisuma out of embarrassment. His bird brain really likes making things awkward for him.

Xisuma was a little surprised but accepted the gift. Accepting that despite the little time they have had together Grian was inviting him to his flock.

He cautiously patted Grian’s head, earning a happy chirp from the avian hybrid, before taking off to work on his base and the server. What an eventful first week in Season 8 of Hermitcraft it was.

Xisuma still needed to figure out why one of the supposed two hermits hadn't arrived; there were meant to be two people who joined them this season as they were voted in, but only one showed up. 

The other had disappeared without a trace. Xisuma had no success trying to contact them.

How odd.

Chapter Text

Grian had spent the entire night figuring out how to use the new communicator he was given, asking Mumbo to help transfer some of the salvageable data before night had arrived then. 

Grian was grateful for Mumbo taking care of him, even though he was more or less forced to lay down as Mumbo helped preen Grian’s wings, concerned that it would hinder his flight. Halfway through Mumbo had fallen asleep whilst doing so, leaving Grian to space out, no longer having someone to talk to.

“Hey mate you good?” Mumbo questioned standing there, not sure what to do with Grian perching nearby on a tree just…watching him. Mumbo was waiting for the other two Boatem members. 

Grian just nodded in response. He liked watching Mumbo from afar. He had naturally kept his distance from the other two players that lived nearby as much as possible, even though he was very curious he was also a little scared. 

The two would not deny they noticed a watching presence. It had just been a day since he had arrived.

During the conversations Mumbo had with Grian, the latter was clearly hiding something from the moustached man. But Grian did not want to worry his best friend about something Grian had deemed he did not need to know. Mumbo wanted to point out his wings but was dragged away by either one of the two to work on the Boatem area.

Mambo did not want to push Grian into interacting with people when he was not ready. And Grian was very insistent that Mumbo return to his project, using the excuse that he wants to watch from afar and get a gauge of the hermits.

Grian scratched his arm again, his body was still littered with some burn-like wounds and it had not been healing well, which was concerning. He managed to put on a glamour to hide it from Mumbo when he had checked up on him in the morning, he did not need his best friend to worry over something that he cannot fix. 

<Grian> whispers to <Mumbo Jumbo> I’m going to explore for a bit

Saying that he was going to visit Xisuma may raise concern that he did not want.

Mumbo looked back but Grian had already taken off, he flew silently which was most likely due to whatever code that the Watchers embedded into Grian. He shivered at the thought. Scar and Impulse were busy talking about plans to notice Mumbo's short interaction with Grian. Grian did not want to worry Mumbo about his injuries, those that he can’t fix.

Grian stared at the coordinates Xisuma had sent him of his base if he needed anything. He glided towards the small house and looked at the surroundings, it was near the ocean, his starter base was simple but nice.

Grian saw Xisuma, looking in his chest, dumping materials inside it and retrieving some out. Grian had the great idea to spook him. 

Grian made it such that he was positioned right to dive right into the Admin, was it a dumb idea? Probably but he could not resist the mischief of messing with his most recent flock member. It is fun.

“Boo,” Grian grinned as he poked Xisuma sides, the Admin let out a shriek and swung at Grian, thankfully Grian was not as injured and was able to dodge the attack.

“My word…” Xisuma let out an exasperated sigh, his face starting to turn a bit red of embarrassment. As Grian bent over laughing, unashamed at how loud he was, Xisuma chuckled and raised a brow at Grian.

“What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Xisuma questioned.

“Hey X-eye-e-suma, I kinda need help with the burns…the firewall…” Grian looked away, gripping onto the sleeve, wings folding towards himself.

“Alright, let’s go in,” Xisuma kept his voice gentle as he guided Grian into the house, Grian sat on the bed looking at the inside of the house.

“You all are an interesting bunch,” Grian let the comment slip, while flying over he did catch a glimpse of what the hermits nearby were doing.

Xisuma hummed and took out his Admin panel, the blue screen with a yellow outline, navigating to Grian’s file.

“Huh, you are right, there are some lingering injuries that the firewall caused, most likely due to the Watcher’s code in you. Since whitelisting you should have nullified the damage to your [base] code,” Xisuma frowned, tapping away at the panel to figure out how to manipulate the code to fix the damage.

“Figured…have you tried using your Admin powers to override the effect of the firewall on me? I mean your powers should work well considering you are the Admin of this server,” Grian suggested.

“That’s…interesting, doesn’t hurt to try,” Xisuma shrugged, focusing on trying to locate the lingering code of the firewall. The feather Grian gave glowing a bit, lessening the strain it would have on X to pull it off.

Grian could feel the weird thing bugging him gone, finally more relaxed, leaning into Xisuma. Xisuma smiled, he was surprised it worked but he had an inkling that this knowledge was something the Watchers had taught Grian.

“There there,” 

“Also…” Grian started, he knew there were some spots on his wings he was unable to preen properly after Mumbo had fallen asleep. 

He would have asked Mumbo in the morning but the man was pretty busy with projects, grinding the materials he needed to start his mega base. He did not want to burden the man so early into the day. But that reasoning also applied to Xisuma.

“Nevermind… you must be busy ,” Grian mumbled the last part as he stood up, not daring to look at Xisuma. “I’ll get going!” He smiled, he was about to leave when Xisuma spoke up.

“You need help preening? I have the time right now,” Xisuma’s voice remained calm and inviting, Grian nodded shyly.

“Alright alright, how would you like to do it…?” 

Xisuma was motioned to sit down on his bed, he was puzzled but followed anyway. Grian wordlessly laid his stomach on Xisuma’s lap, letting out a trill as Xisuma started to preen his wings. 

Xisuma’s hands were gentle as he worked his way from the feathers closer to Grian’s back, and he began recalling about the past seasons as Grian silently listened. For a Watcher he sure likes listening.

Grian seemed to be asleep by the time Xisuma was done, he lost track of time and noticed that even if he left now he would be late for the monthly meeting.

<Xisuma> hey all, sorry for the inconvenience I’ll be a bit late for the meeting, I’ll be there in 10 minutes

Xisuma can hear his communicator ding, they were definitely worried why the Admin was late and he knows he would have to explain to himself. He carefully shifted himself off the bed and let Grian rest on his bed.

He wrote something to Grian on his communicator before he took off. Typing while flying is. dangerous combo for an elytra user.

=( -—- )=

“Hey Shashwamy!” Keralis greeted the Admin as he landed at spawn, where most of the members. A chorus of greetings followed.

“Xisuma late, what a time we live in,” Doc commented, amused and curious what would have caused their dear Admin to be late. Even if it was by five minutes.

They knew that Xisuma was always early, no matter how drowned he was in work he somehow always managed to be on time for their monthly meetings.

“Ha ha very funny Doc, I’ll explain later,” And soon the meeting started, updating each other on what was happening and their plans with the land. The usual meeting.

=( -—- )=

Grian sat up once Xisuma left, he did not really feel like sleeping despite how comfortable it was, he started to straighten some parts of his wings and dusted off the dust that some of the pin feathers created.

Grian was not really sure what to do other than reading the message and making his way to spawn.

 He was a curious bird, this was the chance he got to see almost all of the hermits. He silently landed on a tree nearby, listening in on their meeting. They were all sharing their plans for the season and month, how things are going and so on. The gathering of the group had reminded him of EVO.

Grian shook his head at the thought, he was already attached to two members of this server, if he were to grow more attached to the rest…the pain of losing them would hurt even more. Knowing that if the Watchers came, it was for him. And it would be his fault for the mess.

“Hey X? Not to alarm you but…I have a feeling someone is watching us,” Etho voiced out near the ending of the meeting, some of the hermits nodded, Doc drew his bow and directly pointed it at the direction Grian was in.

“Someone is there…” Doc growled, not liking the unknown guest. Others mummering amongst themselves, some giving a death stare in Grian’s direction.

“Hey guys calm down, I am the one who let them stay. Let me explain,” X started, his tone stern so he got their attention.

“This new guest's name is Grian, Mumbo’s best friend from a while ago, the Admin of EVO, I can assure you that he will cause no harm. So try not to hurt him yeah…? Just as Hermitcraft is our safe haven, it is the same for him,” Xisuma continued cautiously, at the corner of his eye he could see Grian in the position ready to flee.

Doc dropped his bow, but was still on guard. Hushed whispering that accompanied the hermits started to arise before dying down. A sign that they were ready for Xisuma to continue.

“For now he is in our care, so we shall see if there is a change in plans. Right now he is using this place as somewhere safe as he is a victim of the Watchers, I won't be able to answer your questions about what had been done to him,” The hermits nodded in agreement. Xisuma decided to not share too much about Grian’s past, that was Grian’s choice. Especially the part where Grian is a Watcher.

The mixed reactions were expected, but for the most part they seem unbothered, even excited to meet a new friend. The EVO story was well known and finding out that he was Mumbo’s friend did make them more open to meeting him. That put Grian at ease for the most part.

Despite Grian’s instincts of fear, he found the creeper-goat hybrid interesting, and so he stayed behind as the hermits scattered, eyes taking note of where the creeper hybrid had taken off to. 

Oddly drawn towards the person named Doc, more of wanting to watch and annoy said hermit. He knew he had to be cautious in any of his attempts to approach the hermits, both wary of the other. The wolf hybrid that was with Doc was equally interesting.

Grian silently perched on one of one of the trees, overlooking a wolf hybrid and the creeper hybrid. He was not entirely sure if they noticed him yet but he was content on watching them work on the base from afar.

The moon was peaking over the horizon, Grian suppressed a yell as he felt an arrow impale his back. A skeleton that had spawned due to the night had shot him, luckily the skeleton died to Doc, who was with Ren not too far away working on something.

“Is that noise I hear…? Pathetic…” The Watcher huffed, unamused.

Another slash

Grian tried again to suppress his pain, his body shaking from the beating.

“Hey Doc…? I think Grian is injured…I…smell blood,” Ren tugged at Doc’s lab coat, pointing to where they assumed the guest was. Doc frowned, even though being watched did unsettle them both, he had seemed to be happy to watch from afar and not bring harm to them. Yet. He was still sceptical toward Grian.

“Not a sound…odd,” Doc commented as he made his way to the tree Grian hid at, looking terrified as he stared at Ren and Doc.

“Hey…Grian was your name yeah…?” Ren started, Grian nodded his head, barely holding onto the trunk of the tree.

“Could you get down…?”

Grian opened his wings cautiously, revealing his tri-coloured wings as he glided down. Doc tried to stop himself from staring. There was something a little off about Grian, what hybrid had such unique coloured feathers? 

“Oh my…Doc do you have…”

“Yeah I do, give me a sec,” He pulled out bandages and a potion of regen. Hands tense, ready to push Ren back and throw himself forward.

Grian wordlessly took the bandage from Doc and to the duo's surprise, pulled out the arrow, quickly bandaging himself. Both were impressed at how unreactive Grian had seemed to be to the injury. As well as how quickly he did it.

“Not much of a talker okay…hey-” Ren was about to say something but Grian had already wordlessly flew away.

“Man…this guest is interesting, Mumbo likes to talk about them,” Ren smiled. Doc frowned thinking, did Grian possess Watcher powers? How odd it was for him to not make a sound when the arrow impaled him. Doc was interested in if this Grian was truly a threat or not.

‘I hope I fooled them,’ Grian panicked as he flew high in the night sky, he did not utter a word afraid it would give away how scared he was. His flight was unsteady as he took the opportunity of the night sky to conceal him in the skies. His anxiety slowly melting away as he enjoyed his free flight in the skies, finally free to roam around.

Grian found himself in the area Mumbo had informed him was called Boatem, he spotted one of the three members building their base. 

He figured that the person that had elfen ears was Scar, he perched near a tree and watched the builder hum to himself. Grian was fascinated at how Scar used the copper blocks into his build and how fast he worked. 

‘How much have I missed…? I should look up the update logs,’

Scar turned around and jumped back when he realised he had been watched, Grian sitting on a branch, tilting his head curiously.

“W-woah you scared me haha,” Scar chuckled, “do you perhaps want something to eat…? I..” Scar began mumbling to himself Grian hesitantly glided down, he heard from Mumbo about this Scar person, he seemed friendly enough to his friend. He could feel some sort of power lingering around the man.

“Sounds nice,” Grian smiled, voice soft but Scar caught what he said, face brightening up.

“Alrighty let’s go~” Scar smiled, Mumbo joined them not long after sorting out the structure of his mega base.

“Wow…you all have really ambitious plans,” Grian admired, Mumbo chuckled. 

The three made their way to Scar’s base, the interior was one of the many things Grian admired of this building. 

“Oh hey Jellie~” Scar cooed, squatting down to pet the cat who happily meowed.

“Grian, this is Jellie. Jellie this is Grian,” Scar motioned, Grian looked perplexed. Jellie made her way to Grian and rubbed herself on his legs, meowing a greeting.

“Looks like you have her approval mate,” Mumbo chuckled light heartedly.

Soon Impulse joined, ‘Xisuma did mention Impulse was part demon… Wouldn’t be able to tell, how interesting.' Grian noted to himself. ‘This server has a lot of hybrids, it must be a safe place for all of them. Could I belong here…?’ 

They shared with Grian about the previous seasons and how it worked, and they were happy to meet him. Laughter filled the air.

Grian had loosen up to the other two Boatem members, maybe he could afford to make this place also his home. When asked about his plans…

“Hm…I think I will explore a bit more before anything really,” Grian smiled, he was still awfully curious about the ‘Octagon’ area, and the many other areas on the island. Xisuma had sent him a map of the place.

“Well I’m sure the rest will want you to stay,” Impulse smiled, the others agreed.

As the conversation died down, his instincts became more apparent, screaming at him to possibly not go exploring tomorrow. Well…he decided to ignore it, chalking it up to him being extremely paranoid, and not his body warning him that his lack of sleep may result in something bad happening.

He just wanted to fly and explore, curiosity of the people Mumbo surrounded himself with clawing at him.

Who cares if he is a little low on energy? Surely it doesn’t affect the healing of his wounds that Mumbo worries about.

What could possibly go wrong?

=( -—- )=

“How is she doing?”

“Very feisty, and honestly a hassle. What do you even plan to do with her? It better be worth it.”

“Oh it will be worth it, she has an important role to play in the story~”

“Always the storyteller.”

“How else will we get our entertainment~?”

Chapter Text

Grian for the past two days he had not fallen asleep at all. He could feel some sort of fatigue chaining him down.

Last night he decided that tinkering with his new communicator that Xisuma gifted him was a better alternative than possibly falling asleep and reliving his memories. He reasoned that he was catching up with the new updates he had missed.

‘Two days without sleep? II think they have made me stay up for longer…’ Grian did not want to dwell on his time with the Watchers, though it was not that long ago he had escaped.

“Hey mate, something seems to be bothering you…” Mumbo frowned, concerned for his best friend. 

“Ehhh no,” 

“yeah honestly you seem a little pale…” Impulse squinted, as if trying to recall if Grian did look as pale as he was at that moment.

“It’s most likely just the lighting,”

“Dude…is everything going well…? Being new and all…” Scar added. Three pairs of eyes full of worry staring right at Grian.

“Mmm yep!” Grian smiled, a cue to leave. Run from the problem, run from their care.

‘Hah…do you really think they care? You are a Watcher, a being that only destroys and hurts.’ a sinister voice to go along with that thought. He attempted to stop himself from cringing, rightfully earning concerned looks.

He gave Mumbo a hug and waved at the other two before flying off. The former chuckled uneasily at his friend. Mumbo knows better than to restrain him but it did not stop him from worrying, he pulled out his com before returning to his mega base. The other two had also gone their own ways to work on their projects, a bit unsettled by how Grian was acting.

=( -—- )=

Grian silently flew high up in the skies, taking in how there seemed to be buildings starting to pop up. He noticed an area between Boatem and where Xisuma was at, dripstone poking from the ground. “Are they creating a biome? Interesting…what a grind it must have taken.”

Grian couldn’t see anyone though, so decided to find someone else to watch.

He then flew to the area near Xisuma’s base, amazed at what the group there were building. Grian saw a player with blond hair and dark red eyes looking in his direction, doing a double take, staring at where Grian was and had a frown slowly forming. And that was his cue to leave. Not liking how long they were staring at each other.

While in the skies he felt something in him bubble and claw at his insides, but he chose to ignore that after side-tracking and taking a notice to a building in the sky, a player with long blond hair building something.

“Oh, hey there!” False waved, taking a pause from building. Not expecting to see Grian that soon.

“Erm…Hi.? And cya-” Grian chuckled nervously and waved back, before immediately turning towards the direction of Boatem. The sudden interaction had kind of scared him and so he decided it was time for a break.

False shrugged and continued building, not really questioning what he was doing, hearing from Mumbo that Grian, his best friend, was trusted and liked to watch from afar. Was that true? She trusts them all to a degree but not enough to fully drop her guard when Grian was around. Maybe soon.

Grian was silently panicking at how his instincts now are going wild, screaming at him that he was in danger, why? Well he hasn't figured it out yet. 

You did not possibly think that you could hide from us XELQUA

Oh. Memories came back to haunt him while he was in the air. 

Splendid. 

And he did not know what the trigger was, simply amazing.

Grian’s head was pounding horribly as he lost focus, his abdomen still in slight pain from last night. 

Grian knew he needed to land somewhere, and thus caused him to ungraciously descend somewhere. He crashed into someone, well he was too disorientated to register anything that has been happening. 

Whomever he crashed into felt firm, as if they were metal. He definitely had made them fall.

“Wow dudes, you good?” 

“Ren…let's bring him into the van, I’ll check on his injuries. We should contact X,” Ren frowned at how tense Doc was, the man was usually calm. They slung Grian’s arm over their shoulders.

Grian eyes snapped open and panicked, wings smacking Doc and Ren.

“Wow wow we are just trying to help!” Doc exclaimed, trying not to hurt the avian hybrid, voice muffled with feathers in his face.

‘ Danger danger danger !’ A mantra stuck in Grian’s head as he squirmed, his arms were being lifted up as if it was the time two Watchers appeared after he defeated the Ender dragon…

The memory was clear in his head.

“Hey…”

The blocks around them started to have an eerie glow, as if the code was being altered. 

The duo were seeing code being changed in front of their eyes, done by Grian.

“He was an Admin, no? But on this server…”

Doc had removed his hand as he stood frozen to the ground, the peculiar situation had made him step back and try to find a resolution. Whilst Ren frantically dialled for Xisuma to come help.

“No! let me go!” [Grian] screamed, squirming.

“ ◼ ey, ◼◼◼ an? Focus ◼ n my v ◼◼◼◼ ” ( Hey Grian? Focus on my voice )

“Prob ◼◼◼ , Gria ◼ he-” ( Problem, Grian he- )

‘No no no no no get out of my head!’ Grian panicked, if they were in his head it meant one thing.

“No ◼ go ◼◼ ◼◼ c,” ( no good Doc )

“ ◼◼ ’s Doc ◼◼◼ Ren, ◼◼ suma is ◼◼ ◼◼◼ wa ◼ ” ( It’s Doc and Ren, Xisuma is on his way )

‘No this can’t be, had they gotten to hermitcraft? Even with X…they all are now in great danger no…is my fault…’

“Hey…we ◼◼◼ safe…” ( Hey…we are safe… )

‘Lies lies lies, always lying…? Why is…my mind playing tricks on me?’

“It’s no lie,” 

‘A familiar voice…the Admin…?’

“That’s it, steady now…” 

‘Was that suma…? But…how is he here…? Where am I…?’

“That’s right, me, Doc, and Ren are here, breathe with me.”

“Ren…? Doc…? Mumbo mentioned their names…am I in Octagon…?” Grian said. He could feel their eyes on him, but he steadied his breathing.

“Yes you are, could you open your eyes..?” The voice belonged to Ren.

‘Such a calming voice…’ Grian slowly opened his eyes, vision blurry from the tears that formed in his eyes. 

He silently tried to ground himself, finding himself leaning into the person in front of him. A soft purr comforting him. When his vision was more clear he noticed some glitchy blocks around them, he cringed knowing it was his doing. 

Grian closed his eyes to prevent them from realising that he was using his Watcher’s powers, well Xisuma would have already known. And with a wave of his hand, the glitched blocks returned to normal. 

Grian took a glance at X, knowing that he must’ve caused Xisuma to hurt himself in his attempt to help contain the corrupted code he had caused. It was dangerous to let it spread as they spread like wildfire, and Grian was not sure how long he would’ve been stuck in the slight episode he had.

He focused on the feather to lessen Xisuma’s pain, cringing at how much more drained he felt.

‘It’s only fair…must pay it back…is worth it,’ He reasoned, hoping that everyone around him was fine…He knew more was said but in his panic only bits of what had happened registered.

‘Containing glitches directly…not the most pleasant experience,’ Xisuma sighed softly, slightly exhausted from both teleporting here while he was in the nether as well as containing the Watcher’s powers that changed the code of some of the blocks nearby, causing them to glitch. He hasn't used as much of his powers as he had today for quite a while.

‘I can assess the damage to myself later, now the focus is to take care of Grian,’ Xisuma carefully approached Grian, who was looking exhausted. 

“Do you want Mumbo…?” Ren asked, knowing how close the two were, Mumbo was always happy to talk about his friend Grian when they talked about connections outside of hermitcraft.

“Hey Mumbo! Oh yeah, have you heard?” Ren greeted Mumbo while on the pathway in the shopping district.

“Oh hi Ren, heard about what…?” Mumbo raised a brow, unsure if he should be aware of a joke coming his way.

“There is news that the Admin of EVO was taken by some entities called the Watchers,”

Mumbo stayed silent, staring right at Ren, the look of asking if it was a joke.

“Nah dude, this isn't a joke, rumour has it that the Admin is dead, no trace of them. Though they have not revealed the Admin's name, I doubt they will publicly. The Devs would most likely keep the info within the Admins. Scary stuff out there.” Ren continued.

Mumbo carefully took out the feather he kept safe pinned on the pocket of his blazer.

“Grian…” He looked absolutely torn, shaky hands holding onto the delicate feather, it was then Ren had realised that Mumbo was told news, that his best friend was gone…

Grian just shook his head, mummering to himself about not wanting to worry his friend about this incident and he would be on his way back to Boatem soon. It was barely past noon.

“Suma…flock…?” Grian mumbled more coherently, Xisuma smiled and patted Grian’s head, earning a coo as Xisuma noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Well that is concerning, he has only been here for two days…without sleep he is not going to recover well. He needed energy to heal properly.

“Am here, you are safe…Just rest,” Xisuma moved closer to the bed that the duo had outside.

“But…they…Should head back…worry Mumbo…”

“It’s okay Grian, they aren’t here, and I’ll update Mumbo that you will be heading back after resting okay?” Xisuma’s voice firm but gentle. Well Mumbo was AFK, as the greyed out name on the list gave it away, but no one will mention that.

‘It sounds nice…’ Grian found himself humming in agreement. Leaning back slightly. Ren was ready to catch him.

Grian fought hard at the exhaustion that dragged him to sleep, he knew his body wouldn't last long but the fear of his nightmares haunting him in his sleep was a good motivation to stay awake for as long as possible. But the lullaby of sleep had won as he lost consciousness.

Doc gave X a look, and when Xisuma realised he returned it with a nod. With Doc’s consent Ren had brought Grian to the nest they had made nearby, is a norm for hybrids to have a nest, filled with items of the people in their ‘group’. 

In their case, their nest was filled with all the hermit's items. Ren was busy trying to figure out a way to make Grian lay comfortably which left Xisuma and Doc alone.

“X…are you confident that Grian would not turn on us and cause harm?” Doc was straight to the point, staring down at his friend for many years. Xisuma would be lying if he did not feel slightly intimidated.

“Yes.” Xisuma crossed his arms, voice leaving no room for doubt. 

There was a tense silence that drowned the two.

“Alright X…I am just concerned for both the hermits’ safety and his. Being a victim of the Watchers is…concerning,” Doc sighed, the two knew that Xisuma wasn’t stupid, oblivious sure but if it were something that threatened the hermits’ safety he would do everything in his power to keep them safe.

Doc was worried how far Xisuma would go to protect them all.

“I understand Doc…” Xisuma gave a reassuring grip on his shoulder, smiling fondly. This time the silence of the night pleasantly filled the area.

“Your hands…” Doc grumbled, remembering what had caused him to worry for the Admin even more. 

“Eh?” Xisuma tugged his hands away but found his wrist held down by Doc. The shift caught him off guard, he should have known that he can't hide any sort of injury from the hermits, especially his good friend Doc.

“You heard me, we both know how tough it was for you to contain the glitched code.” Doc stared at Xisuma, concern evident in his voice.

“Fine…” Xisuma grumbled, removing the gloves. Revealing his hands that had a slight pale gold and a black void-like stain at the tips of his fingers.

Xisuma was surprised, he swore it was way worse. It had felt way worse. It had felt extremely sore, draining his energy. Maybe he got numbed to it? Not that that option was any better.

“How odd…” Doc commented, hands carefully taking Xisuma’s hand to inspect, cybernetic eye whirling.

“Yeah…It has never healed that quick before…” 

=( -—- )=

“So you are Grian…Mumbo talks a lot about you, you know?” Ren smiled, hands in Grian’s hair. Grian had a comforting scent, mysterious and almost felt forbidden to be this close.

Ren found himself being grabbed by Grian, the avian hybrid shaking as he mumbled things in his sleep. Ren's ears twitched, tilting his head in curiosity.

‘Pearl’, 'EVO’ and ‘Taurtis’ were the few names he could pick up, Ren was sure Grian had mentioned more names but was incredibly muffed. He continued on his muffled rambles.

“Pearl…sounds like someone you are close to, maybe family?” Ren gave a soft smile, gently patting Grian’s head. Grian soon fell silent, holding onto Ren tighter. Ren looked around the nest to find Mumbo’s blazer and carefully draped it over Grian, causing the avian hybrid to relax.

“Hey, you guys done eh?” Ren questioned, seeing the two approaching. Xisuma hummed in response.

“X wants me to check up on Grian’s injuries,” Doc knelt near Grian, lifting up the side of his sweater to check on some of the bandaged injuries. Mumbo had requested them all to look out for Grian, no further explanation given but that was not needed.

“He hasn't changed the bandages, and Xisuma?” Doc revealed Grian’s arms, those not covered by the bandages reflecting the similar stain that was once on Xisuma’s hand.

“Ah…” Was all Xisuma could utter, now curious how Grian had done it. Ren looked like a lost puppy, Doc giving the back of Ren's ear a scratch, an apology for the confusion. Causing Ren’s tail to wag uncontrollably leading to the other two to chuckle.

“Ren, help calm Grian down if he panics alright? Xisuma let’s rebandage his wounds. There is no blood, which can only mean it’s his code that is damaged…” Doc carefully peeled the bandage off as he and Xisuma got to work whilst Ren played with Grian’s hair. They decided that his arms were what they deemed urgent to rebandage, the rest can be when Grian was awake.

“The rate he is healing at is concerning…regen potions won’t do much since his base code has been damaged by them…and the section we have seen is only his arms,” Doc stepped back as he took out a book and began scribbling down some observations, the mystery both fascinating yet unsettling.

“How did I not notice it…” Xisuma frowned.

“Don't be so hard on yourself X, these types of damages appear normal. It's only that it has not healed from the regen potions that is the anomaly. The conclusion that it is damage to his code that has caused the injury.” Doc explained, giving Xisuma a reassuring nudge.

“So…they can cause this much damage…?” Ren inquired, horrified by the injuries hidden under the bandages. It was just the arms too…what about his back? How is his mental state…

“Appears so…” 

=( -—- )=

Grian slowly regained his focus, wherever he was it felt soft and really nice, eyes blurry as he attempted to shift from the position he was laying in. Memory of what happened before he had fallen asleep slowly returned. He remained still in panic, realising he was clinging onto the wolf-hybrid. Something draped over him like a blanket.

Grian’s face flushed in embarrassment as he carefully shifted his hand to access his com, checking the time, he noticed a notification of the message from X, well he is going to hold that off. Not the smartest idea but he did not care.

‘I should head back to Boatem…I don’t want to cause them worry,’

Grian slowly pried himself away from Ren, missing the aura of calmness that Ren held. He gently draped the blazer, which he identified as Mumbo’s on Ren. 

‘Mumbo sure is lucky to have such good friends…’ Grian smiled, giving his wings a stretch.

‘Should I…?’

‘If you are questioning yourself then you shouldn't. Plus you have already taken one big risk with the Voidwalker,’ The voice returned, Grian frowned. But his instincts and feelings made him want to invite Ren into his flock…Just like how he had wanted Xisuma to be in his flock despite his earlier reservations. Could they be friends…? Someone he could trust…?

Grian heard footsteps approaching and without a thought took off, causing Doc to stumble back.

“Eager to fly huh…” Doc shook his head, he knows that the slight distrust is not one-sided. It can’t be helped but he does truly hope that he would be part of the hermits, no one deserves whatever he assumed the Watchers had done to him. 

=( -—- )=

“The next part to the update is near, how exciting” 

“It will be in a few months, I think we have different definitions of ‘near’ “

“Well then we will have more time to put into action the spectacular plan! Won’t you want something entertaining like destruction? The lowered defence in the [core] code will made it all the easier to manipulate something,”

“Oh? Is this referring to the story you mentioned?”

“How smart! Siblings reuniting through a calamity? With one the cause of the calamity and the other wanting to stop said calamity, wouldn't that be entertaining to watch?”

Laughter filled the dense air. Excited chatter filling the air.

“I’m starting to see where she comes into play~”

“Oh right, we shouldn’t let him off too easily, how about a little fun? Sending a message.”

Confusion but intrigued chatter responded to one of them.

“Xelqua shall experience the will of the Watchers, imagine the rampage and damage he will cause to that precious server he has hidden in~”