Chapter Text
It had been about a year since the incident happened, as Mumbo referred to it. He still woke up from nightmares occasionally, hearing the sickening noises of the tall man choking to death. Today was one of those days, where he was quite rudely awoken by those memories, gasping for air as his lungs refused to cooperate.
He had built a small hut about half a year ago when the infirmary became even more overcrowded. It was a claustrophobic little hut, with one window, one door, and three rooms, but Mumbo liked it. Well- not right now. To be fair, he didn't like anything at the moment, struggling to breathe as he curled up in a ball on his bed.
Eventually, he was able to control himself enough to get ready for the day. He stood up from his bed and walked over to the opposite wall and into his compact bathroom. He did his business, and changed into his signature suit, before going back into his bedroom, home of the one window.
He was lucky today was a quiet day at camp; usually someone would be knocking on his door at least once a week because someone fell off of something and needed a potion to fix their bleeding or bruised arms. Mumbo didn't mind, of course, helping his friends is something he enjoyed doing, afterall ! But, after a while, Mumbo seemed to take on more and more of the healing responsibilities, and he also took the blame whenever something didn't heal quite right.
He parted his curtains, to see a soft sunrise taking hold of the sky through the treeline. Another early start to the day then, great! He sighed, walking out of his bedroom to the combined kitchen and living area. He fumbled in his food chest for some breakfast food, and found a few berries! Totally a full meal!
He'd have to go out to the nearby town again for more resources soon then. He'd gone maybe three times now, and luckily none of the trips ended as catastrophic as the first time. They also instated a buddy system, to make sure no one got lost.
The buddy system had to be instated after Bdubs got lost in the forest almost as soon as he and Keralis returned from their adventure. The whole camp was... distraught for a few days, with the hybrids that knew Bdubs the best refusing to rest and spending hours upon hours in the forest, but eventually, Mumbo, Cleo, and Jevin were able to get Keralis, Joe Hills, and Xisuma to sleep.
A few months passed, and then Mumbo finally began work on a small hut for himself. Nothing special, and using as little resources as Xisuma and Keralis would allow him to. He didn't want to take up too much space or resources, in case they find out he'd been lying to them about his hybrid status.
He made it on the outskirts of the town, claiming that he was a bit antisocial. His building skills were next to nonexistent, but he managed. His knowledge of how to assemble stuff was limited, but he understood enough to make a vaugely structurally sound house.
He walked out of the kitchen part of his house and into the living room area, which had a few chairs that he found abandoned in the nearby village outskirts. They weren't too terribly comfortable or stylish, but Mumbo didn't mind that much.
He also had managed to find a small amount of redstone in the community chests, and he made himself some crude restone lights! This, of course, ended up with him finding books on more advanced redstone from the nearby villages, because his old village wasn't too fond of modern technology.
He finished eating his handful of berries, before walking out of his hut, squinting at the sun, which was 'gently' shining through the trees and directly into his eyes. He sighed and started walking around the perimeter of the camp.
Walking around, he saw the work in progress that was Cleo's house, and Jevin's house right next to hers, which were near the middle of town. He was happy that they were both settling in nicely! Both houses were still lacking roofs, and many structural components that make houses safe, but they were coming along nicely, if not quickly.
The infirmary is as overcrowded as ever, with three hybrids stuffed in its confines. False had moved into the compound when she got stuck in the trees, the eagle hybrid's wings getting scratched by branches. Mumbo managed to heal her up quickly, his knowledge of healing avians was extensive due to his avian friend in his old village.
After False got all healed up, she became one of the village-goers, because she was skilled at combat, and she could scout out where they were going from the skies if need be. She stays hidden whenever they finally get to the village, though.
Mumbo finally finished his loop around the entire camp, walking back up to his front door. He'd decided to ask Xisumavoid about going out for resources today, as it seemed like a cool enough day for the journey, despite being late June.
Mumbo went inside his house, and back into his room, to pack a bag for the trip. He'd been using the same bag as when he was kicked out of his village, so it's very old and about to break, but still gets the job done.
He grabbed his old bow, just in case, with two arrows, and stuffed them in the bag, while laying the bow next to the bag . He then walked over to his chest of potion materials, grabbing a bowl, some sugar, a bottle of water, a few mushrooms, and a handful of sweet berries.
Mumbo closed the bag, slinging it over his shoulder with his bow, and walked out the door. The sun was now fully risen, so Mumbo figured Xisuma was probably awake at this point, as he was usually an early riser.
Mumbo walked over to Xisuma's house and knocked on the door. His common had improved a lot in a year, and he was able to comfortably hold deep conversations with others ! The books he 'borrowed' from the nearby village combined with teacher Xisuma helped him become practically fluent!
"Good morning Mumbo! What brings you over here?" Xisuma greets, motioning for Mumbo to step inside the house.
"I wanted to ask about going out to town today? We could grab seeds to set up an actual farm, and I need more potion supplies aswell..." Mumbo said, walking into Xisuma's house. Xisuma nodded, before replying.
"I was actually going to bring that up! False and Keralis went up to me yesturday to suggest that, and they're probably packing their things right now."
"Right, thanks Xisuma! I'll go wait for them!" Mumbo said, making his way back towards and out the door.
"Be careful!"
"You know I will!" The door almost slammed shut, as Mumbo went over next door to the infirmary. He knocked on the door, waiting for a 'come in' from one of its residents.
"Hello Mumbo!" Called out both residents when he entered. Cleo's house was in no state to live in, with it missing most of a roof, so they still stayed in the infirmary.
"Hi Cleo! Hi False!" Mumbo replied, walking into the building enough for the door to close behind him. False was packing her own bag for the trip, and looked to be almost done. "Are you about ready to head out?" Mumbo asked, looking at her expectantly.
"Yep! I guess you talked with X about going on a road trip?" False replied looking at him with a curious smile as she closed her bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"Yeah, I need more healing supplies..." Mumbo replied sheepishly, as False and he walked towards the exit. "Bye Cleo!"
"Be safe guys!"
When Mumbo and False exited the building, Keralis was waiting for the pair outside. He was all geared up as well, wearing sunglasses to mask his abnormally wide eyes.
"Ready?"
"Yep!" Keralis replied cheerfully, and the three of them began their journey out of their camp.
"So... I was thinking we go to a different village this time!" Keralis says as soon as they exit the camp.
"Wh-what? Why?" Mumbo almost stops walking but catches himself before fully ending his stride.
"Well- we've already bled the other one dry, so to speak. We'd get more resources from this other one!" Keralis explains, pulling out a map before continuing. " And , its only about fifteen minutes extra away! See?"
Keralis pointed to the map, and sure enough, the village looked a little more- well developed than the one they frequent.
"Sure! It's not a good idea to constantly go to just one village anyway, incase someone finds out we're not humans," False offers from the other side of Keralis, studying the map.
She then hung back from the two a bit, just enough to extend her wings a bit more, and took off, expertly maneuvering her eagle wings through the dense branches, and above the leaves before completely disappearing from Mumbo's vision.
Well, maybe they'll have a better library! Mumbo thought to himself, before tuning back into Keralis' rambling. The hybrid rarely was quiet during these expeditions, seemingly wanting to keep everyone entertained.
He tuned in at just the right time, though, because Mumbo heard the end of a question that he'd never have wanted to hear directed towards him.
"...What kind of hybrid are you, by the way?" Keralis was looking at him now, and he could feel the scrutinizing gaze that Mumbo wanted to avoid so badly.
Keralis took his silence as an invitation to guess apparently. Great. Perfect.
"I know that Shwishammy says you were a fae of some kind, with your hesitancy to share your name, and your choice in house location. I think you're definetely a vampire! I mean, you don't go into anyone's house without permission, and you know so much about everything that you HAVE to be immortal!" Keralis prattled on, not noticing how Mumbo's heart rate was reaching dangerously high levels.
"O-oh uhm, I- uh, I don't really like t-to talk about it!" Mumbo's voice was impossibly quiet, and Keralis looked at him with the saddest and most guilty expression immediately.
"OH GODS I'M SO SORRY!! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!!" Keralis rushed out apologetically. "Its just- y'know, you look too human! Like uncanny valley! I just- I'm really sorry, I let my curiosity get the better of me and-"
"N-no, you're fine!" Mumbo interrupted, faking a smile, trying to reassure Keralis. "What d-do you mean by uncanny valley? I thought I looked pretty human?"
"Yeah, almost ! Like, theres something off about you, but I can't put my finger on it!"
"I'd say that Keralis with his sunglasses on looks more human than you, Mumbo!" False calls out from above the trees, teasing audible in her tone.
Mumbo forced himself to calm his heart rate, which was currently pounding in his ears. They don't know. They don't suspect. They're thinking the exact opposite actually...
Mumbo could almost laugh. They didn't think he looked human? He was human! What do they think a human looked like then? Slowly, he got his breath under control, and his anxiety spike lessened down to the normal amount.
The rest of the trip was spent teasing, each other like normal. Keralis checked the map occasionally but mostly filled the silence with his quick jabs at the others, as well as him just talking about anything.