The Chained Watcher

A Distant Battle

~~~

Tango's POV

So last night had been weird.

They had encountered that strange musician who somehow analyzed their personalities and habits through songs none of them could hear, which was weird enough already, but the guy seemed to be wary of Grian for some reason? Sure, all of the Hermits have seen their fair share of horrors at the arena, but the guy wasn't wary of them, he was wary of Grian.

And then there was the whole being unable to hear Grian's 'song'? Neither of them seemed to know each other, so how could Grian hide something he can't even hear? The musician had asked to hear Grian's 'song', and Grian had agreed, but nothing changed from what Tango could tell.

The first thing the blind musician had talked about was basically the same as the others, basically just saying that Grian is a fun friend to have, but then it got weird. What's the whole thing about different instruments supposed to mean? And apparently Grian's song is calmer than is normal for those instruments, which... reminds him of Grian's riddles.

One of the lines had mentioned following peace instead of wrath, and peace is calm, so... And then there was the harmonization thing, which is probably referring to how well he would get along with similar people. Grian has a pretty easygoing personality and gets along with just about everyone, so how could he not like working with others like himself?

Well, unless the instruments thing is talking about something other than personality, but what else could that mean? He pushed away the memory of the vividly purple feather on Hypixel, but it lingered at the back of his mind, whispering 'what if' to him every time he tried to dismiss it. No, it's not a good idea to focus on that right now.

The theories he might come to if he let himself go down that rabbit hole are more concerning to think about than he's comfortable with, and if he vocalizes them but finds out he was wrong, he'd feel ashamed to have even thought of it.

Shaking his head, he refocused himself. Grian definitely knows what that guy meant when he spoke of instruments, so maybe he can use his question he got when he managed to catch the invisible prankster to get clarification. He probably won't get a particularly clear answer, but as long as he gets one he can work from there.

But seriously, why does Grian always sound so sure when he says he expects them to freak out? He even offered a bet, he was so sure of it. No matter what the secret is, it can't possibly be that bad, right? No matter what, at the end of the day Grian will still be Grian, and nothing will change that. Even if the niggling doubts that rise whenever he thinks of that feather are right, Grian will always be Grian.

Somehow, reaffirming that to himself silenced the growing suspicions that kept trying to get his attention, and he smiled. The musician had said that Grian's hidden song, probably referring to his secret, harmonized with the rest of the Hermits just like he usually did. That means that this isn't something like he's bipolar or secretly evil... Probably.

Nope, not gonna follow that train of thought.

Flopping down onto the currently vacant couch, Tango rolled over to face the ceiling as he thought about what he'd heard just before he went to sleep. He hadn't been very awake at that point though, so all he had were snippets of the quiet conversation.

Grian had been talking to Xisuma, that much he was sure of. The topic had been... the musician guy? Yeah, they were talking about the musician guy. Xisuma had sounded worried, but Grian was calm, and the worry in his voice disappeared shortly before Grian went outside. Why did he go outside?