The Skeleton in my Closet: a Grian VS NPC Grian Fanfiction

Chapter 13, Scar

I'd walked for about an hour, maybe hour and a half, and had somehow wandered my way into Grian's property.

It was completely silent. My very footsteps almost seemed muffled and hushed.

The sun was now well into it's skyward trek, although still not high enough to say it was anything past early morning. It's warmth felt soft and welcoming on my face, and I basked in it's glow for a moment, before walking up to Grian's door.

I knocked. Still there was silence, so I opened the door.

Inside I saw no sign of Grian. He must've left earlier to search for Mumbo, as two sets of armor and lots of tools and food were gone. Oh well, it didn't matter. As long as we were both out looking for Mumbo.

I left his house, and started down the path leading to Mumbo's base. If we were going to start a search, we should start there.

It wasn't long to the base, in fact the path here is shorter than the one from my house to Grian's, and I was there before I knew it.

It was the same as last night, or so I thought at first. Descending the staircase I noticed that all the carpets were torn up, several walls had holes, and a trapdoor on the floor was flipped open.

Either something had happened, or Grian had already been here. I didn't consider either idea further, and instead immediately began investigating.

I wanted to check that trapdoor first. When I finally made my way over, I realized I was right to look here. There was a ladder descending into an obsidian-lined hole. I immediately went down.

It was dim, there was barely enough light to see by, and reaching the bottom yielded little more than a thin tunnel reaching for another thirty-ish blocks or so.

I had torches in my inventory, so I placed a few as I walked through the tunnel. I could see ahead that it eventually opened up into a room.

As I placed another torch, some five blocks or so from the end, it shed light on something I hadn't seen before. At the other end of the room was a bed, with a figure lain atop it. I continued down the hall, intrigued but apprehensive.

"I told you to go away."

I stopped. It was Mumbo! But his voice sounded different. Trembling, deliberate, low and barely above a whisper. I took another step forward.

"GRIAN I-"

He jolted from the bed, but stopped when he saw me. His tear-soaked face turned from an expression of anger, to one of bewilderment.

"Mumbo, it's me. Scar." I assured, my concern emboldened in my voice tenfold.

He sat down on the bed, and gazed off into an unseen distance, his hands gripping the mattress tightly.

I sat next to him, and stayed silent. His breaths trembled and shook, and he seemed on the precipice of fainting. I attempted to reach a comforting arm around his shoulder, but he flinched, and pulled back, as though such a gesture was traumatic for him in some way.

It seemed to help snap him back into reality, however, and he finally turned to look at me.

I tried to give a warm smile, though I'm fairly certain it looked more like a pained grimace. "Mumbo." I asked, "what happened?"