~The First Step~ a Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 3 (Grian)

btw: bolded = a/n

wc: 840

Grian's heart was racing from both the pain and the worry twisting his stomach.  Mumbo had seen everything- the wings, the scars, his breakdown. 

"Where did you get those wings from?" Mumbo asked with a tone of awe. He reached out and gently touched a single feather as if it would crumble into a thousand pieces if he wasn't gentle enough, which Grian was thankful for.

Grian almost flinched, but he didn't want to scare Mumbo away. "I, uh..."

"And also, Grian..." Mumbo's voice was full of concern, "how did you get all of these scars?"

"Mumbo, I-"  I can't let him know. I can't let him see what I am on the inside.

"Grian, who did this to you?" Mumbo's eyes were filled when determination that warmed Grian's heart just a bit.

Grian dissolved into tears at the memory of his time under the Watchers. Mumbo was too pure, too innocent, to know. But Grian couldn't keep it from Mumbo, who was rubbing Grian's back a little awkwardly, his fingers bumping against Grian's scars yet still managing to be comforting, which was surprising for the spoon.

"Watchers," Grian whispered, his voice shaking with fear. "Do you know who they are?"

Mumbo shook his head.

Grian winced. He really didn't want to describe them, so he went with the bare minimum. "They're... creatures that look over servers and control their outcomes." Mumbo seemed to wait for a little more, so he continued, "They can turn events any way they want, and are supposed to have access to any server they want."

"What do you mean, 'supposed to'?" Mumbo asked. Grian looked away, trying to find words. When he couldn't, Mumbo said, "Never mind, keep going."

Taking a deep breath, Grian willed himself to continue the story. "I was the admin of my original and first server, Evo. It was awesome, I made friends. The Watchers seemed fond of us, and led us through the portals into new versions. They gave us mystic clues and we were given loot when we figured it out." Grian shuddered at the memory. He recalled himself, helping construct buildings in honor of the Watchers, and even engraving it on the floor of his base. 

"Were they really... that bad?" Mumbo asked. "I mean... if they helped you-" He stopped when Grian's eyes filled with hate. Grian knew Mumbo was startled, but he couldn't stop the resentment for the Watchers.

"They took me from my friends, made them promise to be good and obedient. They said that they would let me go if they agreed."

Grian could hear Mumbo's quickening breath. He buried his face into his arms, trying to shut the rest out, but he knew he had to finish the story.

"They didn't give me back," he mumbled. "They just... said that any Players' word cannot be trusted. And then..." Grian trailed off. Already memories were pushing their way to the front of his brain, but he held them off.

Grian could tell that Mumbo was waiting for more, but that was it. That was all Grian was willing to say.

After an uncomfortable beat, Grian straightened up, shoved his red sweater back over his head, and grabbed his elytra. "Could you promise that you... won't tell anybody?"

"Why would you hide it?" Mumbo asked. "Your wings are beautiful. Everybody knows and trusts you. Who cares if you have wings or scars?"

Grian didn't respond, just crammed his elytra onto his back. His shoulders felt cramped as usual, and after that long of a time without wearing anything constricting his wings, they ached even more. 

With a sigh, Mumbo grabbed Grian's wrist and pulled him back down. "You probably haven't eaten lunch," Mumbo said. "I came to eat with you."

Grian looked back with surprise. "Oh, well..." He gave an uneasy smile. What does he want? There has to be another reason. Nobody comes to talk to me with just... no reason. He involuntarily shivered. I haven't eaten in a while... his mind countered, remembering the nibble of bread he'd had the previous morning.

They shared the bread and beef that Mumbo had brought. Mumbo had gone into a deep, undoubtedly one-sided conversation about redstone.

"...So once the user clicks that part, that system activates, and they're let in! guys don't judge I don't know redstone D:" Mumbo finished happily, swallowing the last of his bread. Grian, who had slightly zoned out, blinked himself back to reality.

"Cool!" he said. "I mean, I didn't have any idea what you were saying, and I can barely tell the difference between a comparator and a repeater, but that's awesome, the way you understand it."

Mumbo blinked in surprise. "Thank you! I could teach you some time you know."

Grian laughed. "I break everything I touch. I don't think thats a good idea."

"I'll be going, then," Mumbo said, stuffing the leftovers back into his inventory. He pulled out his rockets and readied his elytra. He was about to take off when he turned back to Grian. 

"And I still think you should tell somebody," he said seriously. "You can't keep it all bottled up forever."

Grian laughed softly. "Bye, Mumbo Jumbo."

not my best writing ever, but I guess its a bit of background info. hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! <3

-Ete