Forgotten (sequel of Cursed) - Hermitcraft fanfic REWRITE ON HIATUS

Ch 19 - Emergency meeting

Cub walked alone in the forest behind the base, thinking. No one liked him, no one wanted him to show his face again. So he was clearly against them. Xisuma was a liar, he was right, the others were wrong. It was simple.

Suddenly, he ran upon a clearing. There was a hole in the middle and Beef unconscious against a tree. Cub looked into the hole, and jumped back, trying to erase the image from his mind.

It was Grian, and he was dead. His wings hung at strange angles, blood covering everything. Something had done that... Had NPG returned?

Just as he was standing there, Etho walked into view, freezing. Cub looked from the ninja, to the hole, to Beef.

'It wasn't me.' He stated. 'I just stumbled across it... Grian's dead in there. Permadead...' 

'None of them returned.' Etho looked away. 'Taurtis and Grian went to find Beef. They must've found him here. Then something happened to Grian... Why didn't Taurtis come back?!'

'I don't know... Can I go?'

'No. You're staying until we've figured this out, and found Taurtis.'

'Great.'

Etho turned to his communicator, typing something in chat.

Etho: Meet at the coordinates (20, 52, 146) 

Etho: This is an emergency meeting.

Tango: who's the imposter?

A little while later, the group arrived. Cub sat down by a tree, sulking. Jevin raised his shoulders at the sight of him.

'What's he doing here?' He asked disdainfully. Etho sighed. 

'I found him here. Grian's dead body is in that hole, Beef is unconscious and Taurtis is nowhere to be seen.'

'It's Taurtis then.' Tango sounded sure. 'Who else would it be? Why did he run away if it wasn't him?'

'Exactly.' 

'Why am I here still?' Cub crossed his arms. 

'Because you're still suspect.' 

'I found this body the same as you did! Why aren't you blaming Etho?'

'Because we trust him. Unlike you.' Jevin walked pointedly away from the pharaoh.

'Savage!' Tango and Jevin fist-bumped. Etho knelt down by the hole, investigating. 

'Chat said that Grian was killed by vex.' He noted. 'Cub, you always used to have an affinity with them.'

'I did not kill Grian.'

'No, your vex did.'

'I did not see Grian die. Grian was dead when I found him. It was Taurtis, not me.'

'The injuries show that he fell into this hole, given the wounded leg. He was also shot by arrows, and there are the scars caused by vex too.'

'See, I can't have killed him, because he doesn't have any injuries I could've caused.'

'The vex? How do you explain them?'

'I'm not the only person that controls vex! They must've come from somewhere else! I'm as innocent as you are!'

'No one knows who did it! I'm only questioning you because you're the prime suspect!'

'I DIDN'T DO IT!' 

Etho stood up, pacing.

'You tried to kill me before.' Jevin added. 'And you killed Jiggle. You would've definitely killed Grian if you saw him. There's no doubt about it.'