The Chained Watcher

Hypixel pt 1

(Not terribly accurate to actual Hypixel or smps, I kinda just mashed them together for convenience)

Grian clicked his tongue in annoyance, thinking about what he had just discovered. 

Xisuma was a Voidwalker, and a fairly sensitive one at that.

At least he knew what the admin had been searching for back when he had detached the portal hub from the fortress. 'A Watcher', was the answer to that question. 'Grian', to be specific.

Dropping down from his base's wall, Grian spread his wings to catch an updraft, soaring up to the clouds as he let himself get lost in his thoughts.

This discovery complicates things. Now, to explain how this is a problem, one must first remember that Grian is not, in fact, human. Through various magics, he has shifted himself to blend in with the rest of the modified humans, but much like wearing clothes a size too small, it's not the most comfortable thing to maintain.

Originally, Grian's plan had been to fly off to some untouched corner of the world and stretch his wings -all of them- for an hour or two before returning. Now however, he couldn't do that without the admin feeling the unique signature of Watcher magic. Down below, his elytra course caught his eye, and he spun into a dive. 

Pulling up abruptly, Grian rocketed through the course, going at speeds that would have most of the hermits finding themselves face-first in a wall. Right, left, under the bridge, above the rise, sharp right. He wove through the course with the level of precision only born of practice, and a strong familiarity with flight in general.

Rising back up into the sky, Grian finds himself lost in his thoughts once again. What could he do to hide his magic? The only reason the Voidwalker hadn't noticed it was Grian's magic was due to how heavily Watcher magic permeated the fortress. In a world almost completely free of it? He might as well strap a glowing sign to his chest that read "I'm a Watcher!" and parade around the shopping district.

A thought crosses his mind. What if... he goes to a different server? He could claim he wanted to make sure his pvp skills didn't get too rusty and go visit... Hypixel maybe? That server had gotten quite popular recently, what with its high-tech respawn and multiple sub-divisions. It was nearly a hub in and of itself by now! Everyone called the worlds "servers" now, something that just weirdly caught on before anyone found a better name for it. Noone knew who had started it, but did it really matter anymore?

There were now guides as well, how-to books for aspiring admins. Respawn was by now present in almost all the servers, even if just to make sure those who died in hardcore made it back to the hub safely.

He eyes the server portal, standing tall in the middle of the shopping district, before contemplating asking Mumbo if he wanted to come with him. Hmm. Well, no harm in asking, right?

Soon enough, Mumbo's base comes into view, the giant not-quite-a-sphere slowly coming into view. The hermit in question was currently standing below it, looking up and pondering something. Perfect. Grian swoops down low, barely skimming above the water as he approaches the mustache man at ill-advised speeds. Aaaaallllmost there...

Now! Grian flared his wings out to slow his speed, turning what would have been a rather painful crash into a rather forceful tackle-hug. Mumbo, caught very off-guard by the sudden feathery weight hitting his back, exclaims "OH SWEET HEAVENS! Grian?!" once he realizes just what this sudden attack is. Grian grins at the flabbergasted hermit, and stands up before pulling Mumbo back to his feet as well.

Mumbo brushed off his pants, complaining lightly "Do you have to do this every time? I swear, one of these days you're going to give me a heart-attack." Grian simply grinned unapologetically at that.

About to ask Mumbo his question, Grian pauses and reconsiders the phrasing. He'd rather not have to explain why he needs to head to another server to "stretch his wings" if someone else overhears the conversation. No matter, "Hey Mumbo, I'm thinking of popping over to Hypixel for a bit to keep my pvp skills from getting too rusty, you wanna come?" He stretches, arching his back and wings.

Mumbo takes a moment to connect the dots, realization dawning on his face before he shakes his head. "I'd like to go, but I think I've almost figured out what I want to do with my base. Sorry, Grian." Well, so much for that idea.

Grian deflates a little, but perks back up, saying "No matter, I'll be back soon enough anyways. As fun as pvp can be, I could never just leave my base looking like a flower pot." That gets a laugh out of Mumbo, remembering the various nicknames for his friend's base currently floating around. 

Spreading his wings again, Grian jumps up, calling back down, "I'm gonna go tell X so he doesn't wonder where I am, see you later!" waving at Mumbo as he goes back to pondering his slightly-too-short-to-be-a-sphere base.

Flying past the shopping district, Grian notices Xisuma coming out of one of the shops. How convenient! He swoops down towards the admin, pulling up to land right in front of him as he blinks in surprise.

"Grian? What brings you here?" Xisuma questions, a little confused as to why the shorter hermit seemed to want his attention today.

"Weeeellll, you see, I was thinking of popping over to Hypixel for a bit to brush up on some pvp, and I figured I should tell you before heading off so you don't call in a search party." Xisuma goes to respond, but gets cut off as Grian flaps his wings and dashes away towards the portal, hollering back, "Well, that's it! See you later!" and bee-lining straight for the server portal. The admin is left behind just standing awkwardly, a shulker box of rockets in hand.

Going through the portal, Grian congratulated himself on a bamboozling masterfully executed. X was probably going to be standing there for at least a minute after he was out of sight, and the awkwardness that would result should another hermit see him staring blankly in the direction of the server portal would be the funniest thing. Shame Grian already had a plan for what to do today.

The sight of the hub unfolded before him, with portals framed by anything and everything, sometimes all at once, scattered around the area. Rolling hills of grass stretched out into the distance, and the farther from the center of the hub it was, the less ornate the portals became. Up-to-date maps were rather difficult to obtain, as the locations of all the portals seemed to shuffle quite frequently depending on how many people frequented them.

Spotting the large sign above Hypixel's portal, Grian made his way through the crowd till he emerged in front of it. A couple of people stood guard outside the portal, though less for intimidation and more to make sure there were proper logs of who was currently there. They glanced up at his approach, doing a quick round of rock-paper-scissors to see who had to stand up. 

Sighing, the loser picks up a notepad lying next to them, and walks in Grian's direction, asking bluntly, "Name?"

"Grian"

"G-R-I-A-N?"

"Yep"

"A'ight, head on in." The guard nodded at the portal before heading back to their partner. While passing them, Grian could hear the other one say "Well that was quick." "Mhm" "Lucky"