Great escape. Great rescue.

Chapter 3

Travelling by portal was almost instantaneous. It took a few seconds between entering and exiting to get where you needed to go and the feeling of travelling between these two parts was one of unfathomable Vertigo.

Grian would never admit to the dizzy shriek he made when the portal he jumped through in Teal's gallery led him to an exit that was 6 ft off the ground. He fell fast and collapsed onto the soft grass below with a pained 'oof!'.

He coughed and sputtered desperately for a few long moments; closing his eyes and wincing at how bright the light was; before the horror was finally over.

Grian took a gentle breath. It tasted fresh and new on his tongue. Cold on the back of his throat but it didn't sting like it would have if it was mid winter. It was the kind of cold you got in late spring, the soothing kind that fluttered into your lungs on a welcome breeze.

His lips twitched into a smile. Eyes finally opening to find a wide expanse of bright blue sky. Quiet clouds lazily floated along the wind turning the sky into a patchwork of soft shapes. He'd never seen anything so wonderful. Not even Evo had anything so subtle with its beauty. How many updates had he been missing for? Too many apparently.

Grian felt his tongue gently dab over the cut on his lip. And probably many more after this. Olive had seen him run through that portal. And they were bound to tell Teal about it if they didn't just come and get him themselves.

A worried frown creased his brow and he gently twisted the green grass between his fingers. If he was lucky he estimated a time between 5 days and a month before both watchers came to collect him. He was in trouble but they were also busy. They couldn't just up and leave whenever something stupid happened outside their work. It took preparation and planning for them to do something else, even if it was pressing.

Grain weighed up his options.

He couldn't exactly go back and apologise, make an excuse about being startled or something. Watcher portals were one way. Once you go through them they spit you out somewhere random and then disappear, leaving no trace of it ever having been there or the linking portal it connects to. You have to have the power to make custom portals to get you back to where you came from.

It seemed like the only thing he could really do was wait. He was bound to be locked in his room for the next millennia once Teal came for him, so why not enjoy his time? He could make friends with the Hermits and act out his life as if it was normal for a while.

Maybe a week of pretending to be normal was better than never having had the chance in the first place?

Maybe he could be here long enough that the Hermits would move worlds again? He could go with them and hide? Okay, maybe that was a little too hopeful. But making friends and forgetting about all the Watcher stuff for a week does sound pretty nice actually.

Grian sat up and picked up his bag. It had slipped from his shoulders during the fall and had miraculously survived the whole portal ordeal. Still intact and everything. He pulled the Red Jumped from its confines and slipped it over his head. The light chill in the air was suddenly significantly less sharp. He knew this thing would come in handy. Now for the next task - finding the Hermits.

He was already late so it was a pretty safe bet that they had already come through Xisuma's portal. He just had to follow the sound of laughter? Or maybe just normal crowd talking? He wasn't sure. It had been so long since he had been around a group of people this big! So exciting but also so terrifying.

Would they like him? Maybe? Probably? Xisuma wouldn't invite him unless he liked him right. But did that extend to the rest of them? Wait, was Xisuma one of those "I do what I want and you all obey!" Leaders or was there a voting system or something? Xisuma didn't seem like the dictator type but you never know.

Oh god! What if it had all been a joke and he turns up and they're all like- "why are you here? Haha did you actually think we wanted you? We don't even know you? Ughhh get out of our sight!1!! We ban you from talking to us or being near us!" No, that's silly Grian. Don't panic. DON'T PANIC! It will all be fine! They want you here! You can build and be useful in some aspects. Sure, everything's pretty new here but you've always been a fast learner. Just don't overthink it or you'll come off as weird. Just act as human and as normal as you can. Easy! .... hopefully...

Grian panted a little as he jogged up a particularly steep hill. His left hand came up to grip an oak branch. Steadying himself as he hoisted the rest of his body up to the top. Maybe he should have kept up with his exercise a little better in the Watcher's facility? He was totally building a railway as soon as possible. No way was he running around everywhere like on Evo. He'd die at this rate!

A shrill shriek of laughter cut him sharply from his thoughts. He quickly darted behind the tree he'd been leaning on and peaked out nervously.

Just off the coast of the island, nestled safely within a small clearing, was a giant portal and a cozy looking campsite.

Grian's eyes widened in wonder. There was so many people. And they were all so diverse looking! Some of them weren't even human!

The more humanoid ones were of all ages and genders, and all happily nestled themselves comfortably among cyborgs and hybrids and many more people looking so strange that Grian didn't even have the words to describe them.

One girl happily carried a bundle of sticks for a guy holding a stone axe. She was completely unfazed by the fact her skin seemed to be rotting from her bones, and he unbothered by the fact that he seemed to be made entirely of some kind of blue bioluminescent slime. They trotted over to a big campfire in the middle of a few roughly put together houses and deposited their bundle just to the side of the flames.

The zombie looking girl made a comedic show of saluting a man in some kind of full facial mask before bursting out into laughter. The rest of the people around them seem to chuckle at her antics as well. A man in some kind of Indiana Jones style outfit struggled to keep his laughing contained and the cat on his lap content at the same time. Another guy in what seems to be full plated knight armour, helped to keep the cat placated by removing the red feather from on top his helmet and waving it in front of her a few times to keep her occupied.

Grian can see the campsite itself is temporary. The houses are made out of hastily thrown together wooden planks and bits of bark. In some of them there are pieces of dirt, he certainly hopes that's ironic. There's crafting benches and furnaces clustered in random spots and he can see the beginnings of some kind of a mine being built just a few yards away from the nearest tent.

It's slowly getting to dusk and the first rays of the golden hour begin to cast across the tips of the site. Grian certainly doesn't want to be standing alone in the forest when it gets to night but he's rooted to the spot. He's not sure what it is that's keeping him from heading down there and introducing himself. Maybe it's the fact that everything seems so perfect. The Hermits seem so happy together in their own little community, he's almost afraid that by meeting them he'll taint it.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea after all...

He's almost halfway turned around before a sharp yell makes him flinch.

"For Sparta!!" The voice was heavily accented with something he can't place but it sounds offensive yet somehow playful.

Something collides with his arm which startles him into losing his balance. He's about to go tumbling over the side of the hill and suddenly he's gasping for anything to help him stay up top here. It's Grian's particular brand of bad luck that jinxes the thing he grips to be just as uncoordinated and unbalanced as he currently is.

Grian's eyes catch sight of a glowing cybernetic something or other on someone's face before both he and whoever this tech belongs to both go crashing down the side of this sloped cliff.

To be continued...