The Chained Watcher

A Step Too Close

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(Cleo POV)

You know, casual strolls through the forest really are the best for chewing on your thoughts.

Absently stepping over a slightly raised root, Cleo takes a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying the medley of scents. Rich forest loam, that almost leafy smell from the plants, and sometimes a hint of a floral scent where there are nearby flowers. The lack of harsh colors is also pleasant on the eyes, providing very few distractions between her and her thoughts.

As for what she's thinking about? Tango. Specifically, how he could have figured out Grian's secret, and whether or not she can follow his train of thought and reach the same conclusion.

He was fixated on the tainted/tinted riddle and the huge feather, right? A ton of his notes were centered around those two things, that's for sure. But at the same time, every time those notes approached a conclusion, they end in angry scribbles. Scribbles that, when asked about, Tango would ridicule as ridiculous and both impossible and incredibly rude. He never said what that conclusion was though.

Hmm... Maybe Grian has a hidden mutation the Watchers gave him? That would explain the "didn't look how he normally does" thing from the card squad. Plenty of them have some kind of visual alteration from what's normal for their respective species though, so it's a little sad he thought he had to hide whatever it is. Then again, he's working on it with his riddles and scavenger hunts, so she can't really fault him for trying to hide being weird. Even in Minecraft, there are still some idiots who don't like anyone not like them.

She has to admit, he's done a great job of piquing her curiosity. Everything he's revealed so far has been interesting, from his weird magic tricks to his table-less enchanting. The reveal that he used to live in an extra huge Watcher facility with a literal over-the-top dramatically fancy portal as the only entrance to the majority of it was a shock, yeah, and talking to the captives who'd been brought to the surface part revealed that the Watcher he'd offhandedly mentioned killing using his own hundred year old defenses, was in fact, a Tier 3.

Tier 3! You know how absurd that is? Even Tier 1 Watchers feel like they could solo Minecraft's bosses without any gear or weapons, and while she doesn't know a lot about Watcher strength scaling, she had overheard Grian mentioning to Scar once that Watcher Tiers scale exponentially, and he sounded pretty confident in his statement. No clue what that means for a Tier 3's strength, but it's definitely absurd for stuff that hasn't been maintained for somewhere between a hundred and two hundred years to be enough to kill a Tier 3 in less than a minute.

Well, she'll find out eventually. If she hasn't clocked on by the time half of the Hermits have figured it out, she'll just start pressuring him to give her clues so she can figure it out sooner.

A distant voice immediately puts her on full alert. "You know nothing of what has assailed Life's home temple?" She can vividly picture the sneer on the face of the being the voice belongs to, every echo of its voice dripping with malice and irritation. "Tch. Useless."

"Our most heartfelt apologies, Seraph of the Autumn Breeze. We mortals possess not the divine capabilities your kind do, and have failed you."

A Watcher. Not only that, one with a posse of fanatics reporting to it. She presses her back against a tree, heart picking up speed as the ramifications of this start to sink in. She's not all that far from base right now. Half a day's walk, sure, but that's a lot shorter than it sounds when on wings. If that thing searches in the right direction, Minecraft could be discovered. But what can she do?

Fighting is out, as tempting as it is. Cleo may be vicious in a fight, but that's not the same as being skilled at fighting, nor is it the same as being able to take down a Watcher. Running is definitely the best option, but what if it searches in the direction of the base? All she can do with that option is get them to trigger her ender pearl and warn them. The third option isn't even really an option. Spy on it for a minute, and see if it says something important. Spying on it doesn't decide whether she fights or runs, just delaying that choice a tiny bit.