Unreachable

~Chapter Two~

Ah, what a beautiful day! The sun's shining in a beautiful way. And what better way to spend it than outside?

Grian sipped from a cup of sugar water–which was literally what it sounded like–as he sat on the top of a tree, surveying his base. The thing was quite massive, as he had been working on it for as long as he could remember. From the outside, it looked like a giant aquarium, fit with decorative quartz detailing little fish and squid. But on the inside, it was anything but that. In fact, it was actually an aviary. Any birds that the brit found were always brought here, and the population had grown quite a bit over time. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but something inside of him was always drawn to the feathery creatures. And so, he had centered his home around them, providing a sanctuary where they had plenty of room to fly around, and an endless supply of food and entertainment.

He called it the Fish Out of Water Aquaviary.

Setting down the cup of sugar water, Grian stood up and stretched. It was his scheduled brainstorming session. He had lost a lot of time while making his elytra course–he totally wasn't still salty about none of his friends ever completing it–so it was probably a good idea to get thinking now. And he required copious amounts of sugar water to get his brain moving, so he sat back down and reached for his cup...

To get a peck on his hand. Grian turned to the cup with a betrayed expression, now staring into the beady dark eyes of a bright green parrot. Grian blinked. The bird gave a little innocent chirp. "Mister Minty, please step away from the sugar water," he ordered, narrowing his eyes. This bird was always getting out of the Aquaviary and causing mischief. The other week, it got into one of Doc's game breaking schemes and nearly blew up his entire base. Grian had no doubt in his mind that Mister Minty knew exactly what he was doing.

The bird stared at him for a moment longer, then dipped his head back into the cup. "Hey!" Grian watched in astonishment as the parrot proceeded to tilt its head back, then stare at Grian, a look that seemed almost like a challenge. "That's it," he said, and tapped Mister Minty on the head. The bird obediently, if not a bit begrudgingly, sat down. Grian dumped out the rest of the sugar water and threw the cup into his inventorial pouch, then scooped Minty up. "Pesky bird," he muttered affectionately.

Grian flew over to his base and went inside. Instantly, a world of color and flora greeted him. It was like stepping into a movie. Big, handcrafted jungle trees stretched up to the tallest ceilings, dropping down tangled messes of vines down. The grassy ground was soft and green, separated by quartz paths, winding their way through a gigantic foyer. The sound of chirping birds greeted him. He set free the parrot, who immediately flew off into the greenery. Grian tossed the cup into a chest and found a bench to sit on.

What to do today? It was still morning, so Doc and Cleo likely hadn't begun working for the day yet. Maybe he'd go visit them. Yeah, that was a great idea. Grian quickly found Mister Minty and sat him down with the other tamed parrots so he wouldn't get out again, before making his way to the plaza, where he and his friends hung out whenever they weren't doing anything. Perhaps he'd run into them there.

The man sat in a specialty chair, far bigger than anyone would ever need ever, and sat back, chomping on a golden carrot. This was when he heard a distant screaming that was getting progressively closer and looked up.

Welcome back to another day in the glorious world, filled with shenanigans, friendship, and, apparently, random people falling from the sky.

With a thud, a white mound of what Grian could only assume was a person hit the concrete floor. Oof, that looked like it hurt. A muffled ungh came from said mound, and Grian immediately jumped up. Who was this? It wasn't Doc or Cleo, that was for sure. Then how...?