The Wizard of X (A Hermitcraft/Wizard of Oz Fan Fiction)

4. Over the Rainbow

=== Rewinding Time Back to the Beginning ===

(Okay... So... I may or may not have rebuilt Grian's time machine... and... used it to time travel back to the beginning of the story... It was Jellie's idea! Enjoy this next chapter while I run away from the Area 77 agents! XD)

Grian had run out of rockets while working on his base, again.

So, when there was finally a break in the latest storm, he left his project and glided gracefully towards the shopping district. The wind whistled in his ears as he landed and made his way to Tango's rocket shop.

'What in the server is happening with the weather right now?' he wondered, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to keep warm.

The weather was indeed very strange. For the past week thunderstorms had been coming and going multiple times a day, and the wind blew harshly in between them. Many of the Hermits took shelter in their bases during these storms. But when there was a break in the weather like this, it seemed safe enough to fly around and continue the day as usual.

When he arrived at Tek to the Skies, Grian brushed strands of his blond hair out of his face and walked inside to one of the chests that lined the far wall. He immediately bought three stacks of rockets, dropping his diamonds into the chest.

"Hopefully, I can make these last a little longer this time!" he chuckled to himself.

Grian had an inconvenient habit of going through his rocket supply way too quickly. Being one of the master flyers of the Hermitcraft server, these trips to the rocket shop had become a twice a week thing.

After putting the new rockets away in his satchel, he stepped back outside to find the wind had grown colder in the short amount of time. Fallen leaves and dust swirled swiftly around his feet, and the elytra that hugged his shoulders shook furiously with the wind. He shoved his cold hands into the sleeves of his red woollen jumper as he walked along the cobblestone footpath, looking around for something to do.

The shopping district had grown quiet since the storms had begun. The Hermits would gather there all the time to meet and collaborate on projects, catch up and hang out with each other, or just buy materials they needed. This meant that there was always someone for Grian to talk to when he came. But, because of the storms, today the place was what could only be described as a cold and miserable ghost town.

As Grian wandered around the district, he looked up towards the sky and gasped. To his surprised a beautiful rainbow was stretching from one end of the island to the other, dazzling through the dark and moody clouds.

Grian stopped to admire the rainbow, but also question why it was there. Rainbows were not supposed to be a part of Minecraft as far as he was aware. But right now, he was just happy it was there. It gave him a little hope that the terrible weather the server was having would stop soon, and that he would be able to see his friends again soon.

He began to hum a song under his breath as he continued walking.

"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high.
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow, Skies are blue,
and the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true...

Someday I'll wish upon a star,
and wake up where the clouds are far behind me...

Where troubles melt like lemon drops.
Away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me...

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little blue birds fly beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?"

Just then, Grian heard a buzz come from the communicator in his satchel. He took it out and unlocked the device.

But as he did, the screen began to flash red and make a high-pitched whistling noise, startling Grian enough to make him to yelp, leap back, drop the communicator on the ground and block his ears.

The noise kept going for around a minute until it stopped dead.

"What... in the server...?" was all that Grian could say.

He knelt down and picked up the device, careful not to trigger any more unexpected surprises. It seemed to still be intact at first glance, but when he unlocked it again and checked his new messages, he did not have to look twice to know it was broken. The screen now glowed a dim shade of red, and the text in the group chat had become completely scrabbled.

X!s%m@v*!d: Th#r#'s @ t*rn@d* h#@d!ng f*r th# m@!nl@nd! #v#ry*n# n##ds t* t@k# sh#lt#r n*w!

X!s%m@v*!d: Scr@tch th@t l@st b!t! #v#ry*n# c*m# t* Str#ss's b@s# t* t@k# c*v#r!

X!s%m@v*!d: N*w!

Even after trying for a minute to read it, Grian could not understand the message at all.

"It probably wasn't that important anyway." He thought out loud. "I'll see if I can get Mumbo to take a look at this when I see him next." Mumbo was always better at these sorts of things.

At the thought of his moustachioed friend, Grian looked toward the Sahara building.

Sahara was an extremely large project that Grian and Mumbo, along with their friend Iskall, were working on together. They had called themselves 'The Architechs', and their plan was to create a brand-new shop that would sell everything anyone could wish for, without the need to go grinding for resources. Iskall and Mumbo were the redstone experts of the trio, so they had been working hard, non-stop, to get the automatic delivery system up and running while Grian preferred to handle the building side of things, it being his line of expertise. He had completed the construction, exterior and interior. All that was left to do now was to conduct one last inspection and test of the redstone system to make sure it was ready for the grand opening.

"Speaking of Mumbo, I wonder if he and Iskall have found it yet..." Grian wondered while laughing to himself.

You see, Grian had decided to hide another potato in amongst the redstone system as a joke. Of course, he knew that the two master redstoners were both going to be more than annoyed with him, as it was not the first time that he had done this. He also knew that they would probably make him take both of their Sahara resource grinding sessions for the next week. But at least punishing him would put smiles on their faces and give the two workaholics a break from their normal routines. Grian wanted to remind them that Sahara was supposed to be a fun project, not just another serious way of making diamonds. Even if that meant he had to delay the grand opening of the shop to do it!

"Isuppose I'll have to face their 'almighty wrath' at some point." Grian sighedas the clouds grew darker, hiding the rainbow away behind them. Noticing the sign ofanother incoming storm, he put his communicator away in his satchel and beganto race towards the large warehouse. Grian would choose a punishment from hisbest friends over the cold rain any day. 

But little did he know, a shadow lurked among the trees behind him, watching.