Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

After a storm comes a calm

           Grian laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed like he hadn't ever before. And considering the amount of insanely enormous funny pranks he had done in his lifetime, that was saying something. But the sight of Timmy as a toy sheriff doll like Woody from Toy Story really made his day.

           "I am not a toy!" Jimmy screamed, shaking with anger and shock. "Unfortunately, yes, you are," Cleo informed the wooden sheriff, convulsing in a powerful fit of giggles. She laughingly avoided the little toy as he grabbed his tiny sword and tried to whack her ankles with it, which looked so absolutely cute. Grian really had to give it to Joel; his lore potions did good work.

           "Hey, guys, look! It's Tiny Tim!" Grian giggled, and Jimmy screeched again about how he wasn't a toy at all and that he wanted to become big again. Grian laughed and flew off to go get Joel and fWhip to show them the sight. Soon he was in the air; wind whipping around him forcefully and making him fly a lot faster than he normally did. Bleak black clouds whirled around him, leaking drops of rain to the earth far below and soaking his elytra. Thunder boomed and lightning crackled through the air. I'm flying through a storm! 

           Flying in storms was fun. It wasn't safe, of course, and it was incredibly wet, but it sure was fun. And Grian never really cared about danger that much. He laughingly did a few loops, taunting the storm to teach him a lesson. Maybe he shouldn't have done that while he was trying to visit the god of the sky who was prone to shocking his enemies with lightning bolts. But it was too late to take it back. 

           The next thing the hermit knew, the storm was suddenly fiercer, the wind was whistling louder, the rain was coming down heavier, and the lightning was flashing closer to him and more often. One bolt flashed dangerously close to him and he nearly got hit; his arm tingled from the nearness of the voltage. Grian, shaking, decided that he should get to Stratos soon. But where was it? The dark skies hid the horizon from his sight. Should I fly higher and clear the cloud level or land? But his decision was chosen for him. 

           As Grian debated his next move, a harsh ripping sound attracted his attention. His elytra. The elytra that he was wearing, the elytra that he'd forgotten to check the durability of before leaving. And while flying through a rough storm like this, with such windshear and turbulence, the elytra snapped. And without the artificial wings keeping him aloft, Grian began to fall. The only way out was down, and down he went. 

           Grian panicked. For a few seconds he flailed around uselessly in the air as he fell faster and faster to his impending doom. It reminded him of the last day he'd spent on third life; falling to his death after he'd jumped off a cliff in grief and guilt of killing Scar. But this time, the fall wasn't intentional. Focus, you idiot! Grian surveyed the quickly approaching terrain for a body of water that could break his fall. But the heavy downpour screened his vision like a sheer veil, and every lake could turn out instead to be a shallow puddle. What choice do you have?! 

           The hermit ended up landing face first in a green pond. Opening his eyes underwater, he could see silvery fish swimming away from him, their scales reflecting the lightning that occasionally flashed overhead. Grian quickly realized that he was running out of air and doggy paddled to the surface; where it wasn't that much drier with the rain still coming down in torrents. Gasping for air, he crawled onto land, slipping in mud that went up as high as his ankles and spitting out pondwater that was a disgusting navy green. Well, at least I'm alive.

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           Maybe Jimena shouldn't have flown in a storm. But it seemed interesting earlier, back when the sky was moody. Now it was actually angry. It was strange how weather could change so easily. But everyone had their mood swings; even the sky, apparently.