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A loud, persistent ringing sung in Grian’s ears and he fought to keep conscious. Air rushed past him, fast enough to hurt even the skin unaffected by the biting burns and bruises.
There’s been an explosion. One of the other watchers- Scott, with his fluffy blue hair- had been startled by Grian’s appearance, and had brushed a sensitive strand of code just enough to bump it into another.
And now Grian fell towards the void, smoke trailing from his wings, distantly hearing yet another watcher shout his name.
Grian came back to himself slowly and painfully. His side and his torso hurt, littered with burns only a code malfunction gave. He tried to wake, but must have slid into unconsciousness between blinks, as he caught glimpses of an expanse of green, then someone running towards him, then sky- with that one, his wounds hurt more, as though someone was holding him.
When Grian finally came to, he groaned, waves of pain crashing over him. Someone gently shushed him and helped him sit up. Grian tried to open his eyes- he couldn’t, for some reason? Well, not all of them. There were two he could open, but they didn’t see anything- and felt something pressed to his lips. Obediently, the blonde watcher opened his mouth and swallowed the cold water he’d been offered. The others must have caught him after he’d passed out, thank goodness. He’d have to remember to thank them, and to assure Scott that it wasn’t his fault.
But it was an unfamiliar voice who spoke. “Careful. Are you alright?” They paused.
Ah. So Scott was probably blaming himself a lot more than Grian had anticipated, if he wasn’t here already.
The watcher- who likely hadn’t met Grian yet, since he didn’t recognize their voice- spoke again. “You can understand me, right?”
Grian carefully nodded. He thankfully didn’t seem too badly injured, though the motion made him aware of bandages wrapped around his chest and a dull yet violent ache that he’d felt once before, when he’d broken a bone back in E- the server he’d taken care of, and the players had treated him with potions.
So.
Something was definitely wrong.
Watchers didn’t use bandages. Nor did they use potions.
They could fix injuries at the source, in their code.
Speaking of code, Grian’s felt… wrong.
Fingers grazed the edge of the blonde’s mask. “Can I take this off?” The stranger asked.
It took Grian’s mind a few seconds to realize what the question revealed.
…Was this person… not a watcher?
Grian nodded in response anyway.
Gentle hands removed his mask, and the watcher squinted as his only two open eyes were assaulted by the bright lights and colors. There was an unfamiliar player-
Sitting there-
A player. Players meant servers.
Servers like EVO.
Yeah, this was definitely worse than Scott blaming himself.
Over the next few hours, Grian spoke a little with his rescuer, and even learned the man’s name. Xisuma. He was a voidwalker, which intrigued Grian- both of their species manipulated code by nature.
And that’s how the blonde learned another thing.
“So, you’re not that different from me.”
“What do you mean?” X tilted his head slightly.
“You’re a voidwalker. I’m a watcher.”
X had paused, gaze panning to Grian’s wings. “…Ah.”
And when the watcher had looked back- no, he wasn’t a watcher anymore.
He couldn’t open more than two eyes.
He couldn’t see through his mask with the two that did work.
His code felt wrong.
And now his wings and tail were patterned like a banded macaw’s.
The watcher-turned-avian sighed, and Xisuma glanced over.
“I’m bored,” Grian complained under his breath.
X glanced back at him, eyebrows raising beneath his helmet’s visor. “Is that so?” The blonde huffed.
“It is.”
The voidwalker spoke up again. “Want to walk around for a bit? If you feel up to it.”
Grian immediately perked up. “Wait, what?”
“Yeah. Walk around for a bit. See what a server looks like from the ground.”
Grian flinched.
X noticed.
“Hey, are you…”
Grian shook his head. “…Nevermind. I’m fine being bored. Maybe later.” The watcher avian turned away, fighting down a shudder.
He couldn’t remember what had happened the last time he was on a server.
But he remembered that it hadn’t ended well.
A couple days after his initial crash-landing (that had apparently broken two of the blonde’s ribs), Grian went on a short walk with X close by. The voidwalker mentioned something about “meeting the other Hermits,” who Grian learned were the people of this server.
“…‘Hermits’?”
“Oh, that’s right! Our server’s called Hermitcraft.”
The blonde thought it was a rather odd name, but didnt comment further.
Along his walk, the watc avian ended up running into a few of the Hermits. He’d become fast friends with a group of people who had a rivalry with “Tear STAR.”
“Hi, there! Who’s this, X?” The man had an accent and a glowing green mechanical eye.
Xisuma placed a hand on Grian’s shoulder. “This is Grian. Grian, this is Iskall.” The blonde waved hello, to which Iskall returned the gesture. X turned. “Oh, and this is Cleo, Stress, and Joe.” The voidwalker pointed to three other Hermits in turn, and Grian respectfully greeted them.
“Nice to meet ‘cha.” The zombie hybrid with fiery ginger hair- her name was Cleo- said cheerfully.
“You too.” Grian said.
Iskall, Cleo, Stress, and Joe were quick to inform Grian that X was a member of Team STAR and even quicker to steal him from the voidwalker, with the blonde cackling like a madman as they fled. The group introduced him to the other members- Tango, a blaze hybrid, and Jevin, a slime hybrid.
It only took a few minutes of convincing for them to name themselves the G-Team. Grian having fallen from the sky and being the newest (albeit unofficial) Hermit might have affected their decision, but who was he to complain.
Grian may have been a wa ex-watcher, but he also found wars very entertaining. Because of this, he was more than willing to partake in the server’s (no, not a server, don’t think about that right now) Hermits’ Civil War. Xisuma had tried to tell him his ribs weren’t healed enough, but Grian assured him they were (watchers, even without manually fixing their own code, still healed much faster than players, and apparently even as watchers-turned-avians. Besides, X was part of Team STAR. He just wanted Grian out of the way, the blonde was sure).
Which had been completely for fun. That part definitely confused him. But he didn’t mind. The G-Team had managed to bring in Mumbo as a double agent, which ultimately led to a successful attack on Team STAR, which unfortunately led to Mumbo losing his place with Team STAR and just becoming a full-time G-Team member. That was fine, though.
And it had been kind of funny that he just yelled “bananas” like it was the end of the world. So. No regrets.
By the time that Grian had completely healed, he knew almost everyone. He’d even started a company with Mumbo and Iskall called Sahara. Grian had to give the players one thing, they were a lot more self-sufficient than the watchers realized. They could honestly probably hold their own against a lone listener or a hacker.
Not that his last server could. EVO had been helpless, even with a watcher already there to fight.
Speaking of. The avian looked over the Shopping District, content. His tower had once again surpassed the others in height. Catching sight of Scar walking around, Grian flew down to join him in a burst of brightly-colored wings.
Almost all of his anxieties surrounding the fact that he was, indeed, on a server had been significantly dulled. He still got a flare of panic once in a while, but he could ignore his fears easier when he was actually doing things.
“Scar!” Grian chirped.
“Why hello there, Grian!” The vex hybrid called back. “How are you today?”
“Good.” The avian started to walk beside the taller man. “Just beating ConCorp in sales and profits.”
Scar gasped dramatically. “Why, how dare you! ConCorp is doing quite well, thank you very much! Better than Sahara by a long shot!” Grian giggled.
“Sure, Scar. Whatever helps you sleep at night.” He patted the vex’s arm, even as Scar pretended to be horribly offended.
The two talked and battered for a while, before Scar invited Grian to hang out at his base. The avian eagerly agreed, excited to spend time with his friend.
Friend. A player as a friend.
If someone had told Grian a month or two ago that he’d have player friends again, he’d have told them they were delusional and to stop playing tricks on him.
The two alighted into the air, Grian on his macaw wings, Scar on his elytra. The only noise once they were up was the roar of wind in the blonde’s ears and the scream of rockets below, behind, and to his right as Scar kept pace. Grian smiled-
A crackle of something ripped across the sky a few hundred blocks away. The avian immediately halted, beating his wings in attempt to hover, as Scar wheeled around in circles, unable to hover but trying to stay close.
“You alright, G?” The vex called out, too-small wings poking from beneath his elytra and steering him with precision.
The blonde opened his mouth to respond-
Grian felt a ripple of disturbed code spread from where the server’s shields cracked.
The avian’s face went pale, images of half-broken memories flashing across his vision. Code, torn and twisted, injuries, blood sprayed across the ground, a forest on fire, a burning treehouse crashing to the ground, buildings blown apart or collapsed, rail tracks torn up, a flooded building somewhat resembling a coliseum-
“Grian!”
The blonde jolted back to reality at Scar’s worried shout. He met the vex’s eyes and slowly lowered himself to solid ground, not trusting his shaking wings to keep him up.
Scar landed moments after him and ran over, grabbing the avian’s arms to ground him.
“Hey, talk to me G, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Grian lifted his head to meet the brunette’s eyes and barely managed a fearful keen. At the sound, Scar pulled him closer and wrapped an arm around him, rubbing soothing lines between his wings. “Hey, shh. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s okay. You’re okay.”
Out of the corner of his eye, past the water forming in them, he saw Scar’s other hand type out a message to Xisuma.
<Scar> help g looks terifyd idk y
The avian buried his face in the brunette’s neck as a soft ding announced a response.
After a moment, Scar lifted Grian’s legs off the ground, pulling the shorter man into a bridal carry. Grian could feel him begin to walk urgently towards… well, somewhere.
Before long, Grian found himself and Scar in Xisuma’s base- specifically, the same room he’d woken up in after his crash-landing into the server.
Oh, Xisuma was there, too.
Scar gently set Grian down on the bed, and the voidwalker crouched down, looking Grian over with concerned eyes.
“Hey, G. Are you alright?”
The avian shook his head, though he could slowly feel himself calming down, even if slightly.
X’s brow furrowed. “Okay. Can you tell me why that is?”
Grian opened his mouth, before closing it and opening it again. “Listeners.” He finally managed to whisper.
The voidwalker’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “I see. You picked up on that, huh? It’s okay. There’s only one. We’ll be okay.” He promised.
It did little to calm Grian’s racing nerves. He barely caught the nervous glance X and Scar shared between flashes of memories, waking nightmares relived all over again.
He shook his head. No. No, he couldn’t get distracted by this right now. He was the only watcher here, and who knew if any others would show up. He had to take on this threat himself.
Grian forced himself to calm down. “I can help.” He said, as loudly as he dared without letting his tone waver. Xisuma gave him a surprised look, but nodded. Scar helped him to his feet.
He might not remember EVO. He might have failed them.
But he would not fail Hermitcraft.
The avian-turned-watcher let his gaze take across the ground beneath the crack in the sky. His diamond armor glittered with enchantments- he could feel the excess magic rolling off in waves. The glowing pieces were practically dripping with protective spells and defensive wards.
Mentally, he reached out and felt around for the disturbance in the code. It wasn’t hard to find. Like a tear in a piece of fabric, the strings around its edges fraying and disintegrating. Grian traced the path of destruction until he felt a knot of code actively being unwound.
The listener was trying to cut off Hermitcraft from any other outside interaction- other servers, watchers, even other listeners.
Yeah, no.
Grian tightened his hold on what was practically the beating heart of the server and intentionally forced two incompatible strands of code together-
An explosion, complete with billowing black and violet smoke, went off somewhere not too far away.
Too close, Grian thought to himself, but took flight anyways. His macaw wings weren’t too different from his watcher wings, and he shot above treetops with little inconvenience. With an avian screech, he slammed into a coughing shape amidst the smoke.
The blonde collided with something distinctly humanoid-shaped. He scrambled to his feet as the listener rolled, claws unsheathing with an audible raasp. The listener’s tail flicked as it got a stance on all fours, seething and glaring daggers at the ex-watcher. Grian wasn’t fazed. He couldn’t be, at this point, not if he wanted to defend his server.
With a snarl, the creature lunged for the avian, and Grian kicked off the ground, wings propelling him far enough back that his foot collided firmly with the listener’s shoulder.
The avian screeched as the monster’s claws grazed his face, barely registering a flurry of footsteps as Xisuma caught up and stopped a (hopefully) safe distance away. He twisted, beating his wings to shoot upward before diving past the listener, elbow extended to strike. The creature leapt back, avoiding the initial strike but failing to adjust in time as Grian rotated and swung his leg in a brutal kick. It cried out in rage, staggering back.
That was when it saw Xisuma. The blonde avian immediately put himself between the two, puffing his wings up and holding a wide, stable stance, but it did little to deter the listener. Instead, the monster lunged, its fur-tipped tail lashing in anger and for balance. It twisted at the last moment and struck Grian shoulder-first before darting to the side and hissing through bared, pointed teeth. The avian staggered but did not relent, diving forward with a strong wingbeat and turning on one foot as the listener jumped back, out of the way.
As Grian tried to strike again, the creature hooked a foot behind his ankle and managed to trip him with a forceful shove. The blonde hit the ground hard, breath driven out of him, before scrambling to get up. Before he could, however, the listener’s foot pinned him down by his throat, pressure steadily increasing until his air was cut off completely. The ex-watcher gasped for breath, simultaneously trying to land a kick and displace the limb crushing his windpipe. Dark spots started to dance in his vision, the edges going blurry-
Something large slammed into the monster at a breakneck speed, prompting the listener to cry out in pain and surprise.
Grian scrambled to his feet, only to see a familiar cyan-haired face grinning back at him from where the watcher had the writhing listener pinned beneath a foot of his own.
“Good to see you, G.” Scott greeted.
There wasn’t much time for pleasantries, though, as the listener rolled and raked a clawed hand along Scott’s leg, before vanishing into a cloud of decaying, glitching code.
But Grian could feel it. The listener was gone again.
He visibly deflated with relief, his bottled-up terror and past traumas crashing over him and weighing heavily now that the adrenaline had run out. Scott helped him to his feet, glancing over as Xisuma cautiously approached.
“Hi, there. I’m guessing you’re another watcher?” The admin called out.
Scott nodded. “I am. Pleasure to meet you, though the circumstances weren’t quite favorable.”
X relaxed slightly, offering a hand for the cyanette to shake. Scott did, firmly but kindly.
He turned to Grian. “We’ve missed you, y’know. I know what happened back at… there, so I’m sure it wasn’t too nice for you the first little while.”
Grian nodded. “Yeah, it was… kind of rough.”
Scott held out a hand in offering. “Do you want to…”
Grian took it before he even finished. “I think so.” The avian paused, though, and turned to X. “Tell everyone what happened? I might come back sometime to say a proper goodbye, but…”
The voidwalker nodded in understanding. “Say no more, G. I’m glad you found your way home. And, hey- even if you’re not here, you’ll always be a Hermit to us.” Grian laughed a little, even as Scott tried to hide a confused look.
“Okay. Thanks, X. For- for everything.”
The admin nodded. “Bye, Grian!”
The blonde waved as he vanished into a cloud of violet particles.
Grian walked through the watchers’ halls, his life finally back to normal. Simply being here had fixed his code, and he could open all of his eyes again. On top of that, he could wear his mask- X had returned it to him when he’d recovered back on Hermitcraft. Grian would always be grateful for that. He paused at the entrance to a room, where a familiar cyanette was weaving code back together. The walls opened up to show expanses of void as far as the eye could see, the view speckled by gates to different servers and the firewalls surrounding them.
The blonde cleared his throat quietly, prompting one blue external eye to open facing him.
“Grian. I see we’ve both learned from… that experience.” Scott said humorously.
Grian chuckled. “We did. Are you busy?”
The other watcher shook his head, tying off the code and turning to walk side-by-side with Grian. The chatted aimlessly for a while, stopping occasionally to check on servers or code. Eventually, the subject came back to Hermitcraft.
“I think I’d like to go see them.” Grian murmured.
Scott glanced at him, but didn’t object. “You did say you wanted to give everyone personal farewells.”
The blonde nodded decisively. “Yeah. I should.”
Xisuma looked up from his conversation with Cleo at the appearance of violet particles.
The voidwalker smiled. “Grian! Hello again! Come to say the goodbyes you promised us?” He nodded towards the cyanette watcher accompanying the blonde.
The watcher-turned-avian-turned-watcher-again (who looked to have turned avian again simply from being there) nodded. “Well, maybe. Hey, X?”
“Yeah, Grian?”
“…Can I stay here?”
End