Chapter Text
Muscle pain mixed with cold pulled Mumbo from his sleep. He sat up, ignoring the protests of his stiff body, and realized he didn't recognize his surroundings. A sparse forest stretched as far as the eye could see. Mumbo was struck by its stillness. It was as if the flora and fauna were holding their breath.
Frightened despite himself by the eerie atmosphere of the forest, Mumbo got up, glancing at the surrounding canopy. The absence of his communicator did nothing to reassure him, and to make matters worse, the sun was in the last quarter of its journey. There were only a few hours left before the end of the day.
Realizing the urgency of his situation, Mumbo moved forward under the forest canopy. The air was no less frightening among the trees, and Mumbo had to resist the urge to take to his heels. Getting lost would only aggravate his situation.
He was right to exercise caution, as behind the foliage of a hazel tree, a wall made of stone bricks appeared as if by magic. The structure stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. Mumbo hesitated only for a moment before walking along it to the right. After walking for just a few minutes, he reached an opening in the wall where it turned sharply to the left, back into the forest. The wall did not surround a building, as he had assumed, but the forest itself.
He eagerly rushed into the opening, the very idea of spending another second in those woods making him shiver. Civilization awaited him on the other side. His gaze wandered over the dilapidated plank path and the multiple colored blocks left on the side of it like so many landmarks or totems, his heart heavy. There was no such place in Hermitcraft. At least he had found his way out of the forest and could take refuge with someone for the night, he thought, taking the plank path and once again heading west.
Twilight was behind him when he came within sight of what was a motley collection of buildings whose layout reminded him of the Shopping District. Adding to the resemblance were posters of unfamiliar faces plastered haphazardly across the walls. Official signs accompanied this visual pollution, traces of Players. Anxiety gripped Mumbo's heart as he ventured deeper into this strange city, at the possibility that the server had been abandoned. He would then be condemned to wander among the ruins of illustrious strangers, forever trapped in this relic of the past.
Night had fallen when he reached a tunnel, the setting sun visible at the end. He stopped in his tracks, drinking in the view as if it were his last. The now invisible sun's glow painted the landscape below, orange. Buildings, including a few castles and towers, dotted the landscape, along with some more unorthodox structures, but what caught Mumbo's eye was an aerial obsidian grid structure from which an impressive mass of foliage hung over a wooden bridge. It was the only place that was relatively well lit.
The bridge was well-built and had a certain charm. Stepping onto it, Mumbo could contemplate the crater it spanned. Water had seeped in, forming a pool betrayed by the reflections of the torches scattered along the walls. Someone had taken the trouble to methodically torch this place. A giant flag stood with its feet in the water and the bedrock, hanging limply, but Mumbo could imagine that its colors were similar to the lanterns guarding the crater.
Was it a glitch or a player who had razed this chunk, Mumbo wondered, anxious that the server might be unstable. The place was warm, though almost as eerie as the forest, with leaves swaying in the night air and the wind whistling above the crater. The cold finally tore Mumbo from his contemplation. Reluctantly, he turned away from the comforting sight of the torches and finished his crossing.
The sky was now almost black, except for a lighter patch in the west. It was only a matter of minutes before night fell completely. Spotting some chests, Mumbo searched them for something to make a bed or torches. All he found was potion-making equipment. He decided to take a torch from the deck before continuing his exploration.
The landscape here was strange, with rough stone walls, holes, and boulders mingling to form a labyrinthine landscape. Spotting a glimmer of light, he came across what looked like an altar. Suddenly, Mumbo wondered if what surrounded him were the remains of a stone building that had been destroyed without the debris being cleared afterwards. Mumbo did not walk on the golden redstone and lapis tiles as he made his way to the chests at the other end of the altar. There he found a blue lapis bed. Without wasting any time, he laid it on the ground and lay down, unable to get through the night quickly enough.
He woke up to the sound of birds singing, the sight of the cloudless blue sky filling him with optimism. Under the sun's rays, this unknown world seemed less gloomy. He took a moment to absorb the view and chase away the distressing memories of the previous evening before thinking about a plan of action.
He was once again inspecting the chests from the previous day, looking for tools or iron, when he heard the distinctive metallic clank of armor. At the sight of the Player standing before him, Mumbo was overcome with such immense relief that he almost fainted.
“Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm Mumbo.”
The stranger remained silent, his gaze sweeping over Mumbo's silhouette with the impersonality of a scanner. It was hidden behind heterochromatic lenses, one blue and one red. The stranger was young, head shorn, wearing powerfully enchanted Netherite armor. Suddenly, the possibility that his interlocutor was deaf or mute struck Mumbo.
“Can you hear me?”
The man gave no sign that he had heard Mumbo, pulling a trident from his inventory for some reason. His throw caught Mumbo completely by surprise, but that was nothing compared to his confusion when, seconds later, he disappeared in an explosion of purple sparks.
Stirred by this strange interaction, Mumbo returned to digging through his chests, determined to get himself some diamond armor as quickly as possible. Though the fellow had not be particulary welcoming, the fact that the server wasn't deserted made him whistle. It was with a light heart that he began mining.
He quickly lost himself in the routine of the task, collecting a respectable amount of iron and a handful of diamonds. The sky was still a clear blue when he emerged from the mine, the sun slowly declining toward the horizon.
Mumbo would probably have headed for a tree to gather wood if a creeper covered in Netherite hadn't landed in front of him with a trident pointed directly at his heart.