The Chained Watcher

Task Failed Successfully

~~~

Ever since that meeting, recon had been conducted on the arctic base Tango had found. From what they could find, only two people actually lived there. Should be a piece of cake to sneak past, spend a bit of time observing the feather, and then get out. They would be none the wiser, right?

Wrong.

Sure the black-winged avian was a bit problematic, having what felt like a sixth sense for when they were there, but he wasn't a big issue. No, that would be the other one. Possessing a tracking ability that would put a bloodhound to shame, he somehow always knew when they were there. The only way to get past him was to go in when he wasn't there, and even then they had to be alert for his return.

As several of his victims have professed, someone that deadly has no right being that silent.

But today, they'll make it to the room. Some other faction tried to get this faction to come fight, and they had both left to go wipe the floor with them. Tango was in the lead, being one of the few to have actually made it all the way to their destination, but accompanying him are Impulse, False, and Bdubs.

"It should be just around this corner here. There's a button on the wall that opens the door."

"Which one?"

"I don't know, just try all of them!"

As per usual, brute-forcing a solution proved its might, part of the wall retracting as the redstone pulled it back and out of sight. Facing them was the dimly lit path of shimmering metal, just like the video showed.

They all filed in, marveling at both the aesthetic and the materials used to make it, before crowding around the pool to watch the feather. As per usual, it was gently spinning in the center, lit up with an ethereal glow as it rotated.

So distracted were they, that it wasn't until someone cleared their throat that they realized they weren't alone. "If you four have finished gawking, perhaps you'd like to explain just what you're doing in my faction's vault?"

Slowly turning to face the source of the voice, looking for all the world like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar, the Seekers saw the form of the avian standing in a particularly deeply shadowed corner with arms crossed. Although his hat threw his face into even deeper shadow, they could feel his gaze boring into them from where he stood.

"Well?"

Tango was the first to get out a response, stuttering, "W-we were just, uh, just looking! Nothing bad or anything, just sight-seeing!"

"Uh huh, just a casual sight-seeing trip into a vault while the owners were away, is that right?"

Voice squeaking a little, Tango responded, "...Yes?"

The avian pulled out his communicator, glancing at it before directing his gaze back to them. "And are you confident enough in your innocence to believe Techno will agree with you?" They all paled considerably. He was talking about the other one who lived here, who they could never get past when he was home. "In that case, perhaps you should make yourselves scarce before-"

"Can I just ask something first please?"

Tango's almost involuntary question interrupted the man before he could finish, and several of the others quietly readied their dandelions for emergency departure. He tilted his head slightly. "You know, most factions don't really like people sneaking into their base. Nor do they usually answer intruders' questions."

"I-I know, but please? We just want to know where you found all this stuff. Uhhh, just in case we find some ourselves?"

He narrowed his eyes, watching the Hermits stand there nervously. None of them had made any move to pull out a weapon, just holding their flowers that would teleport them back to base when dropped. "You have until Techno gets back. And only because you haven't actually taken anything."

Most of the tension bleeds out of their frames, and False speaks first. "So, where'd you find all this stuff? Sure, a lot of factions have one or two pieces, but you've got an entire room made out of the stuff!"

"Well, if I had to explain it, you know how some admins have made codes for extra strong TNT? Down by the bedrock, Techno and I found an obsidian box, and all the stone and ore veins around it were streaked through by the purple color you can see. It was a lot like if one of their nukes had gone off, just with recoloring stuff instead of breaking it. Sitting in the box was that single feather right there."

Bdubs had a look of epiphany on his face, blurting out, "That's where I've seen you before! You were on the scouting team, and you usually hung out with Grian!"

"I mean, The Scouts were the smallest group out of the three, plus he was one of the few other avians to join the expedition, so are you really surprised?"

That was a fair point. "Did he happen to leave any clues for the scavenger hunt with you? He likes to leave them all over the place for us to find, even if they're usually just weird items and stuff like that."

Before the avian could answer, a door could be heard slamming open upstairs. Their remaining time here was now very limited. "To answer that question, he didn't leave me with any riddles or anything, but he did warn me that some 'crazy' people might come because of this room."

The footsteps pounded down the hall, growing ever closer.

"Tango, we need to go, preferably before we get stabbed!"

"I know, just one more question!"

"We don't have time!"

False had already activated her teleport, disappearing and leaving a single yellow dandelion on the ground. Bdubs followed soon after, his dandelion joining hers on the floor. The footsteps had reached the same level as they were on. Time was up. Impulse dropped his dandelion, vanishing much the same as the others. Tango was the last one left, torn with indecision.

It was too late, even if he asked his question now, there was no time to listen to the answer. Lifting up his dandelion, he prepared to drop it. Right before it left his hand, he heard the avian's voice one last time. 

"Good luck on your little scavenger hunt, sometimes the truth is even stranger than fiction."

Before he could ask what he meant, the flower fell. Next he knew, he was pulling himself out of the bubbles of the stasis chamber back at base.

What strange parting words...

~~~

As always, feel free to ask whatever's on your mind! As long as it doesn't spoil what few things I've actually got planned, I'm quite happy to answer!