Seers & Hearers [Hermitcraft AU]

Chapter 1 🪶 Xelqua & the Flock

TW: Non-graphic violence (Nothing worse than Warrior Cats)

Grian perched on the roof of his treehouse as he looked out into the tangle of the jungle where he and other members of his flock lived. A few other treehouses were hidden in the trees and he could see the silhouettes of a few residents meandering about in their houses.

The treehouses looked like they were part of the trees themselves. Leaves and branches were weaved into roofs and walls while the trunk of the tree and the branches held up the few wood logs and planks that made up the floors. There were very few belongings because the flock were taught to not have emotional attachments to belongings, in case they need to drop anything and flee if they were found by the Admins. From the outside, the houses could barely be seen.

A dark blue parrot landed on Grian's head, its small feet softly digging into his short, fluffy, dirty blonde hair.

"Pesky biird," the young man chuckled to himself. The parrot tweeted in response, content with its current perch.

Grian was wearing his signature red sweater and the sleeves were pushed up, revealing his bandaged arms that covered small scars from branches that had scratched his arm while flying. He also sported too long grey pants that were also rolled up to a more suitable length, showing is dirtied black shoes. A pair of square-ish glasses sat on his face, covering his brown eyes.

The bird pecked at his forehead, causing him to nearly drop his glasses. He laughed, catching them. Opening his eyes, they appeared bright highlighter yellow. He shoved the glasses back on his face, and his eyes were brown again.

The parrot chirped once, then flew off. Grian watched it disappear into the trees, longingly. He turned to look at some of the members of his flock, who were wandering about on the forest floor. The Flock of East Verdant Oasis, EVO for short, originally came from a desert, thousands of blocks from where they were now. The flock was one of the oldest, back when there was barely anything added to the universe by the Watchers and Listeners.

Grian retreated back into his treehouse, brushing off the leaves that clung to his clothes. He fell back onto his red-blanketed bed that was messy as ever. He longed to leave the jungle and explore, but it wasn't worth the risk of accidentally getting spotted by Admins. He rifled through his half-empty inventory out of boredom but was unable to find any distraction in his axe, a ton of feathers, a previously drank potion, a pair of extra glasses, or his pile of miscellaneous blocks.

Small, navy blue scales appeared on his skin, his hands shifted into the form of talons, and a pair of ragged, bat-like phantom wings sprouted on his back. Grian stretched out his wings, they were numb from lack of use. He longed to fly even more, but shook his head and tried to push the feeling down, hiding away his wings and talons as well.

As he was reaching out to grab one of his few books, there was a knock on the trapdoor the lead down the tree. The young man sighed, got up, and opened to the door.

Outside was a man with brown hair and beard, somewhat pale skin, and dark blue eyes who was wearing a green vest, tattered grey pants, and black fingerless gloves.

"Hey Xelqua!"

"You don't have to be so formal," Grian chuckled. "What are you doing here?"

"The flock decided to have a meeting, we might've found signs of Admins being nearby," Mini said, scratching the back of his head anxiously.

Leaders of flocks, or for Listeners, leaders of packs, were often given a 'leader name'. For Grian, this name was Xelqua. They were often only used in formal situations or in meetings with other leaders, but with the near extinction of Watchers and Listeners, the names were only given to preserve the tradition.