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Chapter Text

He let his wings push him forward, each pair flapping just after the other to keep his body moving through the vast void between worlds as the energy began to wane.

They were almost a flash to him as he sped along- and if it were any other time he'd take a break to peer into the new worlds with curiosity- but he couldn't stop, and therefore couldn't notice much more other than if they were in the way of his flight-route.

There was fear coursing through his veins as the Beings behind him continued their chase, gaining on him just as quickly as he was loosing them. He continued to turn and weave between the worlds- both the newly generated ones and the old ones that drifted through.

A sudden, sharp sound of the dark void air sucking in on itself alerted him to a new world being formed. Angling his many wings towards it, he dove around the area and to the other side, the new world popping into place just a few seconds later in front of the Watchers.

With his new-found few seconds of breathing time, the winged man caught his breath before swerving sharply around a different world nearby, cold sweat beading on his skin.

Finally, he flew down below a different world, tucking all but one pair of his wings close to his body to keep himself small yet afloat in the low gravity of the void.

He unfolded his long ear wings, stretching them out to try and hear for the loud wingbeats of his pursuers, thankful that he was a few worlds- and the spaces between them- down.

Soon enough, from what he could tell, They stopped Their search, disappearing from his senses as if they were never there.

His eyes flickered through the vast emptiness of the void, letting his many wings unfurl around him once more so he could stay where he was- under the safety of a random world, hoisted up by the void's unnatural gravity.

Letting out a quiet sigh, the winged man breathed in through his nose, letting the cold and thin- almost acidic- air wash through his lungs. It helped calm him down slightly, but his heart was still racing with adrenaline. 

His wings were lax in the air, each finding a different section to rest as he thought about what to do. The ones on his head drifted closer, twisting up enough for the feathers to touch. They looked like a twisted, feathery halo on his head of brown hair.

Blinking into the emptiness, he felt his wings begin to drag as exhaustion began to creep up on him, the adrenaline beginning to ebb away.

Closing his eyes briefly, he let himself drop through the air, stretching his wings to keep him from plummeting down for infinity.

The void was weird, with it's gravity. Unnatural at best, down-right gone at other times. Now was the other times, his wings catching random air currents as he glided down, always alert for any sense of the Watchers returning. A small current of feeling began to pull at him, so he let himself get dragged along it, gently flapping his wings to follow it.

Eventually, the current dipped down into the lower section of the void and he beat his wings to fly away from it. Down here was where the newest worlds would spawn, the air being much less acidic to normal beings- and it came with the added benefit that the worlds would have a lessened chance to spawn with errors or glitches. Due to that, none of the other watchers ever came this low into the void, feeling it to be much too low standing for them.

Here, the winged man could let his mind wander without a high risk of being found- and yet he kept himself on high alert, head turning this way and that.

Exhaustion leaked into his body more than before, and he blinked a few times as he flew through the area, dodging newly generated worlds with as much grace as he felt he could muster.

Soon enough, however distracted he could be, his minds forced his thoughts to form the same thing, making his face crease with worry and his wings stutter in their movements.

Why was it so easy to loose them?
Why weren't they still looking, as he knew valuable information to the way they worked?
Why weren't they still here?

Any adrenaline from before was now completely gone, having been replaced by stress and fear as he began to think about why they had forgone their chase so suddenly.

As he went, the time between when he closed his eyes to when he opened them lengthened, and it was even longer between the beats of his many wings. He was beginning to tire more than before, and anything more was going to make him pass out.

The minutes ticked on, and the time between his wings flapping and eyes blinking grew longer and longer. He was beginning to tire out more than before, and if he couldn't find somewhere to stop soon he was going to pass out in the void.

He shivered, dragging his eyes open once more and rubbing at them with his hands, staring ahead. Worry was etched into his face, eyeing the darkness below him.

There was a sensation in the air that made his feathers twitch, and his head whipped around, fear reawakening him from the daze he'd fallen into.

After spotting nothing around him, he sighed again and looked ahead, heart beating wildly in his chest.

A few more minutes went by, and his body fell into the same state as before, and he closed his eyes again, drowsiness keeping them shut.

This time, his eyes didn't open up, and with the blood rushing in his ears, he didn't notice the sounds of air sucking in on itself- nor the feeling of being sucked in with it.

His wings went limp, the new and strong current pulling him along to whatever was being made in the void.

How did he not notice earlier?

His breath slowed as his consciousness slipped from his grasp, body collapsing in the wake of the new world being created.

When they first joined the new world, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everyone did what they usually would do when starting a new world, getting materials, organizing mining parties, the works. It had only taken about a week for someone to spot something- no, someone- unusual.

False had sent him a message over their comms with a set of co-ordinates and a few words which told him to get their immediately.

And when he arrived, he saw the blond avian pacing along the cusp of a divot in the field, her talons sometimes carving lines in the dirt, and he hopped off the horse he'd tamed a bit ago. "What's wrong, False?" Xisuma asked, leading the horse behind himself.

The girl looked over, "this-" cutting herself off, False flared her wings out as she gestured behind herself into the hollow, "who is this?"

"What do you mean, who?" He questioned, walking up to the edge. Confusion and worry danced in his body as he thought of who could've appeared. Nothing had come up on the coding as an error or glitch, was something wrong with the code as well, causing a person to spawn in?

What he saw instead shocked him into stillness.

The person he expected to be there laid in the middle of the hollow, perfectly still for the exception of his chest rising and falling.

A person laid on his back, two large wings splaying across the grass- the wingspan easily dwarfing the man despite being bent at the joints. They looked odd- like they were in the wrong spot. His legs however were exactly like False's, birdlike with black colouring below white feathers.

White robes that shimmered in the sunlight despite the dirt on them, strange symbols and patterns having been thread between the different layers that made up the outfit. On the stranger's face was a splash of smaller feathers across his cheek bones, leading to larger feather where his ears were.

If you replace the clothes with something else, he seemed like every part a world-born avian, unraised in a colony and birthed in their brand new world.

But Xisuma knew better. He knew the symbol that was on the person's clothing.

A memory flashed in the back of his mind, and he narrowed his eyes at the stranger in the hollow.

Them.

His body tensed, and he raised his arm to begin scanning the chunk where They were. How did his firewalls not detect one of them? And why was he here?

"Xisuma." False said, walking closer and putting a hand on his shoulder.

He jumped, looking over to the other avian out of the corner of his eyes, before sighing and putting his other hand on his helmet. "I don't know." He lied.

Letting the blue light of code wash over his helmet, Xisuma quickly looked over the freshly generated language of the chunk They were resting on, and finally spotted something unfamiliar between the coding of it. A strange language reflected back to him, and he looked it over before sighing.

Muttering quietly, he dropped his arm and said, "that must be him."

"Should we call an emergency meeting here? A breach in security means something else might be in. Who knows, though, maybe Doc broke something and teleported him here." She asked, then added the joke on at the end. It felt flat, though.

Xisuma thought for a moment, before nodding, "yes, I've got the materials for a Nether Portal. I'll give the co-ordinates for that as well."

Waving the screen away, Xisuma pulled out the obsidian and flint and steel to build it near where the Watcher was laying. He wasn't sure about gathering all of the Hermits in one spot so close to Them, but had to let them know about the stranger on the server. Admin duties, he thought.

Xisuma closed his eyes briefly, breathing heavily through the ventilation of his helmet. Xelqua, please give me the knowledge of what to do, he mentally prayed, hoping the darkness of his closed eyes would give the similar feel to the void he'd grown up in.

There was a sudden, but small, shift in the hollow beneath him, and his eyes snapped open as both he and False whipped around to watch the avian. However, nothing happened as his wings shifted, curling closer to his frame.

He let out a huff, making eye contact with False, before turning back around and completing the Nether portal. Quickly he hopped in, closing his eyes once more as the strange feeling of teleporting dimensions washed over him.

A blast of heat accompanied by the even thicker, hotter air of the Nether hit his face as Xisuma jumped out of the portal, making him cough and sputter as he waved a hand over the vents of his helmet. Bringing up his comms quickly, he copied the notes of the co-ordinates and turned around to go right back through the portal.

With another sigh, he emerged from it once more in the same place as before, cool clouds covering the sky that day making it easier to walk through the uncovered grass.

"Everything all good over there?" False waved.

"Yep!" He replied, and began to get the message ready to send to the other hermits of the server.

<Xisumavoid> Hey guys, could everyone gather here? X**** Y**** Z****, there's also a nether portal, X**** Y**** Z****. Say it's an emergency meeting.

As soon as the message was delivered, confused and concerned replies came from the other hermits. But eventually they all agreed to meet there, slowly gathering up.

Soon enough, people began to come in. Some came in through the Nether, red dust coating their clothes, while others came in on horses, tying them next to Xisuma's.

"Hey X, how are you?" Zedaph asked, approaching with a smile on his face.

"I'm good, Zed, how about you?" He replied, turning to face him.

"Good good. Hey, why'd you ask us to get here?"

"Well, there's something that people need to know." He hoped the helmet helped mask the worry in his voice.

"Does it involve the wall that's there?"

"Wall?" Xisuma turned around, and blinked in surprise at the 3 block tall wall made of wooden planks. False stood by it, a sheepish look on her face as her wings folded against her back to form a loose heart.

"We don't want people swarming him-"

"Him?" Zedaph raised an eyebrow as he cut him off, looking back at Xisuma.

"I'll explain it when everyone gets here." Xisuma waved the question away, sweat beading near his forehead from both the heat and question.

Just a few more minutes went by and everyone who could get there had arrived. He did a mental headcount of them all before nodding to himself, and walked to the front of the group of hermits.

"Good evening, hermits. I'm sure you're all wondering what you all were called here." Xisuma began, alerting them all.

"What happened to call us all here? No one's decided to live here." Doc called out, his fuzzy pale green skin making him stand out against the crowd.

"Not quite. False, could you get the wall down?" He asked, turning to the girl. She nodded, clipping a chipped iron axe from her belt. "In fact, it's a bit more worrying than land feuds."

As the wooden wall disappeared block by block, the hermits began to spot the oddity in the cusp of the field and voiced started to ripple up from them. They asked who the avian was, why was he unconscious, and what could've happened to make him be there.

"We don't know who this is- or how he got here. False spotted him while exploring and because he weren't showing sights of being either an error or glitch we thought to call everyone here to brainstorm." Xisuma responded to them as a whole, looking across the faces he could see.

"Is it safe to get close?" Ren asked.

"I haven't run all the tests yet, but the edge of the hollow is fine. I'll go with anyone who wants to check." For safety, he added mentally.

And with that, the main conversation dwindled and they all approached the edge carefully. A few people hung back, continuing their words as before. Xisuma turned around once more to look down at the man, a strange feeling settling in his gut.

The wind blew over the group quietly as the minutes passed, and Xisuma noticed a certain person slowly inching his way closer to his side with a confused look on his mustached face. Raising an eyebrow, he looked over as his helmet partly covered what he could see. "What is it?"

"I... I don't know. Am I able to get a closer look?" Mumbo asked, his hands fiddling with his red tie. His eyes darted from him to the winged person? Watcher? avian beneath them.

Xisuma pulled up a screen in front of him, once more scanning the chunk's coding- along with the stranger's coding- and began to run a test with it. "I'll come with you. All seems clear, but we can't be too careful."

Mumbo nodded, and together they walked to the edge of the hollow. Mumbo began to climb down the slope, and behind them the chatter quieted as the rest of the hermits watched.

"Is it okay?" Scar asked, worry in his voice.

"All good, no glitches or errors in the chunk." Xisuma reassured, waving the screen away to run out of sight and following after the redstoner.

Mumbo was finished climbing down the hill when he began, and was now walking towards the avian with long grass entangled in his wings. Pausing for a moment, he continued forward and crouched by his head.

Xisuma joined him soon after, standing by his side as the test ran on the screen of his comm. An air of confusion began to swarm the hermit, and Xisuma rested a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. "Is there something wrong?"

"He's familiar."

"What do you mean?"

"I... I think I know him." Mumbo whispered, reaching out with a hand and hovering it above the strangers face.

"Do you remember his name?"

Mumbo's face scrunched up, though he could only tell from his mustache moving slightly and some wrinkling on his face. He seemed deep in thought, as if the memories were forced away from him.

"I believe I do, but I can't." He admitted, shoulders slumping forward.

"That's alright, you can take some time to think." Xisuma said, and Mumbo nodded, standing up with a sad look on his face.

"What I do remember, though, is that his feathers weren't this colouring."

Ominous... he thought, eyeing the white and purple feathers.

"Is it all good down there?" Cleo called down to the hollow, approaching the edge carefully.

"All good, I'll be keeping an eye on him as time goes on. Is there anything else people want to say?"

Quiet mutters went through the crowd before declines came from them, and Xisuma nodded. "Then there's nothing else. I'll keep you all updated."

The hermits there nodded and some began to leave- most through the nearby nether portal- and Scar carefully hopped down into the hollow, leaning heavily on his cane as he approached Mumbo. "You all good there?" He asked, stopping beside the redstoner.

Xisuma cast a sad glance over, wanting to know the same. The man was fidgeting with his tie again, red dust coating his fingers as usual and caused the red material to have a dull red shimmer on it. His face was shadowed as he leaned forward, his hair sticking to his scalp with sweat.

"Something's happened to him, I know it." Came the quiet mutter.

===

As worried as he was about the fact that Mumbo seemed to both remember the mysterious avian and not have a clue as to who he was, nothing else had happened between the time of them discovering the winged man and now, a week and a half later.

There was very little movement in the form him shuffling in his sleep and the wind stirring his feathers around.

Xisuma stood up from the chair he was sat on, the cool shade from the small shack he was in cooling himself. On a small screen he'd set up on the table nearby ran the code he'd collected last week.

He was definitely one of Them, but not a naturally formed one. It made his mind hurt, thinking about it, but also his heart less wary whenever one of the hermits dropped by to observe the unconscious avian with him or take over.

Taking a few steps out from under the shack, he stretched in the sun as it's warm beams soaked into his armour, making sweat begin to form along his body once more. It made him uncomfortable as always, but as he wasn't from the Overworld his body wasn't going to get used to it's heat.

Sighing, he walked over to the tentesque shelter that covered the hollow, looking down at him once more.

He was still asleep where he was before- back to the ground and his wings splayed around his body- and the grass around him was slowly growing around his body. The robes he wore swayed slightly in the breeze that came into the hollow, shimmering at every twist.

As he slid down into it carefully, he breathed out in relief as the cool shade covered him once more. Walking over to the avian's head, he crouched down and leaned against a stray pile of wool that lay there- some left overs from the shelter no doubt.

While he could've taken the spare time he had to leave and work on something else in the server, Xisuma didn't want to leave him alone, fearful of what would happen once he awoke.

Eyes tracing the symbol that was looked dyed onto his robes, he noticed that the purple it was made with looked similar to the colour on his wings. Looking over at the large limbs with faint purple patterns fading in near the bottom, he couldn't get over the fact it almost looked like a hawk's wings- but white and purple.

The feathers on his face and ears looked almost the same, except that the purple blocked in the end instead of looking like a sharp curve.

As he looked, the hair on the back of his neck raised slightly. His mind couldn't get over the fact that no matter how the unconscious man became one of Them, he still learnt the ways of how to be Them and that he could attract more.

Closing his eyes and looking away, Xisuma sighed once more and looked up at the dark material of the shelter they were under. Something strange was going to happen soon and he felt like it was only the beginning of the iceberg.

A few quiet moments went by like that, sitting against the wool, listening to the wind blow by and the light breath of the sleeping stranger when all of a sudden a loud sound echoed across the world.

Xisuma jumped up, "what..?" he asked himself, bringing a hand to his helmet, before his mind connected the sound to an Ender portal being opened- along with the pings from the communicator at his wrist. A group of hermits must of reached the end.

Before he could open some of the coding panels to keep a metaphorical eye on the group of fighters, the sound of something- no, someone- gasping for breath beside him made Xisuma freeze.

His body tensed and he jumped up from where he was resting against the wool, now crouched just a block away from the head of the now conscious man. A screen launched on his comm, a hologram dancing in the air above it as he quickly typed a message into the world chat.

<XisumaVoid> Meet me at the shelter, he's up

The avian had lurched up, coughing and gasping and pulling his bird legs up to his chest as he jolted awake. The wings that had laid peacefully before were pushed against him, and all Xisuma could see in the way they moved was both uncomfortability and power, like all avian wings.

His mind raced as it went through all possible scenarios when the avian twisted around to look at his surroundings, before spotting him and staring with wide eyes.

Were they really eyes though?

Because there wasn't anything in his eye sockets. They were all black, seemingly endless, like the void Xisuma had been born in.

The first thing his senses picked up on when he woke up was the resounding noise of an End Portal being opened, making him jolt up from where he laid- the sounds of roots being torn from dirt almost being deafened from it.

He heaved in the heavy, clear air- so so different from the vast void that he had to do a double take on it. His arms felt weak as he thrust them underneath his body, wings lurching up back to his side as he moved from laying to a sitting position.

The third thing was that it was so bright. Closing his eyes quickly, he let out a quiet hiss and covered them with a hand. The sun didn't get through to his eyes anymore, through the clouds, shelter, and his own body.

Wait.

Sun? Clouds?

The last thing he remembered was the bitter cold of the void, and exhaustion.

A sudden sound of something moving behind him made his eyes fly open, and he twisted around quickly to spot what moved. His wings tucked up tighter behind him, the long feathers dragging against the floor as he picked himself off the ground into a bent crouch, talons digging into the dirt beneath him.

However, sitting against a lump of colourful wool, was a man covered in green armour and a helmet, with a purple visor hiding his face through a glaring sheen from the glass like material. Even through the glare and thick colouring, he could spot his wide eyes. One of his arms was raised with the other right above it, fingers poised as if typing something.

With his feathers properly bristling up, he shifted his wings against his back to support his weight properly if he were to stand up, his bird-like legs spreading slightly and gripping the ground where he stood.

The stranger in front of him seemed to get out of whatever state they were in before and jumped up after him, a bit taller than him at full height. He startled backwards at the movement, and more so when a muffled voice called out to him, "wait, don't stand up!"

Tilting his head at him, the man seemed to sense his confusion. What does he mean?

"You've been asleep since I assume we opened the new world about 3 weeks ago. Sit down, you're shaking." He explained, an unfamiliar tone to his voice.

Once he uttered those words, his mind began to race as he finally noticed the shaking that seemed to envelop his legs. His eyes widened and his wings spread out against the colours of the hollow.

The man, though, didn't move from where he was standing, and instead opted to inch towards him, arms held out and palms up like he was some sort of wild animal.

Was he, though?

"I'm Xisuma, the admin here. Do you know who you are?"

His breath picked up slightly at the question, only one word circling his head for an answer.

Xelqua, Xelqua, Xelqua.

Opening his mouth, the voice that came out was croaky and sore, quiet from who knows how long of disuse, yet still sounding faintly like multiple people speaking at once, each trying to be heard more than the other, "don't know."

The admin jumped, but quickly steeled himself and spoke with a slightly shaking but firm voice, "that's fine. We're here to help."

However, before he could answer the words again, the sounds of people bickering and running suddenly sounded over the cusp of the hollow, a distant portal being the answer to their sudden appearance once he focused more. Startling backwards once more, he tripped over his legs and flung dirt up as he collapsed into the grass, hissing as his wings dragged against the dirt wall.

Xisuma stopped his slow steps, picking up the pace and approaching him fast, a panicked edge to his movement.

His eyes darted to the left where the sounds of running people- who were still chatting- kept coming from, three forms appearing from where he could see. Before they realised what exactly was happening, he looked back over at the admin with creased eyebrows, confusion and fear swirling in his gut.

From where he sat only two blocks in front of him, Xisuma spoke softly, "they're my friends, don't panic."

Shaking his head, he pushed himself against the steep wall of the hollow once the three people could finally see into the hollow.

Now that he could see them clearly, one towered above the other two significantly, with green skin and robotic parts. A different one also had green skin, but with a more dead, patchy look to them and fiery orange hair with flowers weaved into it.

The last person wore a suit, with a thick mustache on his face and black hair and he was running towards the hollow and he knew him why does he not remember him?

His breathing picked up more as the group hurried in, one calling out in a heavily accented voice, "we're here, we're here."

"Didn't expect you lot so quickly." Xisuma looked over, making a small gesture towards him, "he's up."

"That much we can tell." The orange haired woman said, sliding into the hollow behind the mustached man.

"Doc, come here real quick please." The admin stood up quickly and walked over to the far side, with the tall man hurrying behind him. His eyes followed their movements, body stiffening as the two other people in the hollow came up to him.

"Hey there, I'm Cleo." She greeted, looking at him as they moved to sit down properly. But as her eyes met his, they froze slightly, an unfamiliar emotion flickering through their pupils before they shook her head and sat down quickly. Looking back over, he noticed how their eyes no longer met his.

Before he could notice much else, though, he closed his own wings around himself, the feathery frames crossing over just above his head as he ducked it down to hide out of sight.

The feathers on his head twitched when he heard Cleo ask another person, "Mumbo, wanna come sit down?"

"Of course, give me a second." Came a hurried reply, which was accompanied by the shuffling of something. Then another thump came from a bit off center- he must've sat beside Cleo.

They sat in awkward silence for awhile, his wings huddled around himself before, "do you know your name?"

His body shivered, and he lowered his wings to look at the pair across from him. Cleo was shuffling around, an air of awkwardness surrounding her while the man beside them kept darting his wide eyes across his wings, strange emotions swirling in his eyes.

Realising they were still waiting on a reply, he shook his head, wings shifting with the motion as he rocked them.

They hummed, eyeing the man sitting next to her before saying, "anything you wanna be called by?"

He shrugged again, licking his dry lips as he looked away.

"Alright, why don't we call you..." Cleo drew on, a hum coming to the end of the sentence as they thought.

"G."

The feathers on the top of his cheeks puffed up at the simple letter, and his mind raced as it sounded just as familiar as Mumbo looked- even with the confused and shocked expression the man wore.

"Huh?" Cleo also looked confused, eyes darting between the two.

"It sounds the most correct out of all the other letters." Was all Mumbo had to explain, shrugging sheepishly.

He hesitantly nodded his head as well, looking at Mumbo as the other avoided eye contact.

"Alright, everything okay over here?" Xisuma came over, the conversation he was having with the hybrid behind him seemingly finished. 

"Yeah, don't worry about it." The red head responded, waving him next to them. "Come sit. You too Doc."

His feathers ruffled more, the tenseness that had been slowly leaking out since a few moments ago with the sudden spoken words from Mumbo coming back in full force. His wings shifted as he tensed as well, drawing tighter around his body to make himself seem smaller.

Doc approached surprisingly quiet for his size, settling down just beside Cleo 

"Do you remember anything before now?" Mumbo asked, concern in his voice. "You're not a new player."

Again, he began to shake his head, mind swarming as he thought. But, he did remember something. Quickly, he changed it to a nod, peering at the group through his wings.

"Can you share what it is?" The admin asked, sitting down and leaning forward slightly.

He hesitated, going to open his mouth before snapping it shut when a crawling sensation crept down his spine that made his whole body shiver. If he spoke Their name, who knows what would happen. Instead, he lifted his arm slowly, feeling confused as to how to convey it before a sudden idea popped into his mind. Would it work..?

Lowering his wings slightly, he raised his hand to his face- just above his eye. Touching his pointer and thumb together, he peered through the circle it made, a frown on his face.

Cleo, Mumbo and Doc shared looks, confusion thick in the air between the three of them, but Xisuma froze where he sat. An air of understanding and solemn acceptance formed around him, and the man nodded at him.

He knows the sign, the one they teach all server admins when first learning about Them, as a way to tell other people about Them.

How does he know that?

"Would I be able to talk to you about it in a few days?" Xisuma asked, "I need to know so that everything's okay."

A shiver crawled across his body again, and he nodded. The admin had every right to be worried about having a Watcher on the server. He was taking the right steps.

How does he know about the right steps?

"Since you're going to be here for a while longer, you need somewhere to stay. Mumbo, do you have room in your base?" Xisuma turned to the tall man, who began to nod.

"Of course he can live with me. Maybe it'll jog my memory a bit more."

He looked at the distracted mustached man, studying the way his face looked. He does look familiar, though a bit older than he last remembered him.

Twisting his neck so he could lay his head on his knees, he covered himself with his wings once more against the sun that- despite not shining on him- made him sweat. Humming quietly, he hugged his knees closer to himself and sighed quietly.

The server seemed safe, and there was an overlay of something over the boundaries he felt now. Something powerful and strong and reeking of Voidwalker.

Good, he thought, maybe it'll be enough to deter Them.

Immediately after he felt bad. He wants this group of people safe, they seemed so nice.

A bit later, after being given food and water by Cleo after Doc asked if he had eaten anything, Doc scanned his body with a tool that seemed to display stats.

"Aside from exhaustion, starvation and dehydration, you've got a few injuries and a memory block. I'll give you a regeneration potion and when you're with Mumbo I don't suggest doing anything strenuous."

He tilted his head, confused. How was he to do anything strenuous if he didn't know what to do exactly?

Cleo left a bit ago, waving goodbye and climbing out of the hollow. Her footsteps sounded to be going towards the portal once more, and this time he heard the sounds of it teleporting her away.

"Alright, you good to go now?" A semi-stiff voice asked from above.

Looking up from where he sat, he saw Xisuma standing beside him, offering a hand down. Mumbo wasn't far, shuffling through a bad while Doc spoke to him, holding a bottle of a pink potion.

Shuffling around, he stood up from the sitting position he was in, grabbing Xisuma's cold hand and wobbling on his talons as the admin helped steady him. "I can put a code into your own that makes your voice normal again, if you'd like, and I'll come by in a few days for the chat. Okay?"

He paused at the offer, before nodding with a small smile. Xisuma nodded back, and let go of him. Looking over at Mumbo, he saw that he was waving goodbye to the tall creeper hybrid. "Alright, G, ready to go?"

Xisuma had followed through with his suggestion not that long after they arrived at Mumbo's base. A shock of something had flooded his body- something like pain and uncomfortability- when he was in the guest room Mumbo had finished clearing out a bit after. But it worked, his voice didn't sound like it did before.

Mumbo was shocked when first hearing his voice later that day, but didn't say anything.

Over the course of three days- to settle in and get used to the world- the redstoner tried his hardest to remember his name, taking to calling him G or some other nickname.

A part of him felt guilty for not telling him the name he knew, but he knew he did not wish to be known by it anymore. That name held memories of Them, and being known as a sort of cruel stranger that had been twisted from his original body.

And in the meanwhile, he tried his hardest to remember what happened to tell Xisuma. It was very telling to him that the admin didn't properly trust him yet, but seeing the sign he did for Them that first day might have changed his view of him.

Even then, though, at night, as he laid in the comfortable bed with his wings pressed close against his sides, his mind couldn't come up with any memory other than the odd feeling, smell, or sound. It frustrated him to no end, but he couldn't focus well enough.

With each gust of wind, the leaves outside the window rustled and whatever state he was in- let it be dozing or lightly sleeping- he jolted awake with a thump as his wings hit the walls.

The first time it had happened, Mumbo ran down to check if he was okay. After the brief check, he asked him why he had startled so much, the only reasonable answer he could give was that his previous area where he slept was very quiet.

Mumbo looked quite concerned at the fake answer, so he was quick to change the topic.

But now, on his fourth (?) day on the server, Xisuma was coming over for multiple reasons and Mumbo was acting like it was a normal day when it wasn't and he was starting to stress.

"Your admin is visiting and you're not cleaning?" He asked in his quiet, normal voice, bewildered as Mumbo continued to shuffle around the kitchen like area.

"Whatever do you mean, G?" Mumbo asked, turning around and raising an eyebrow at the winged man, confusion clear on his face.

He flushed, gripping the slightly torn robe he wore, "what if he gets angry?"

"Oh, X never gets angry at messes," he began, a small smile on his face, "even if he did get like that ever, he'd understand the special circumstances here. Don't worry about it a bit, he's just like a normal player- with a few exceptions of course."

Even at the answer, he still shuffled where he stood uncomfortably, a tense feeling becoming more prominent as the admin's visit ticked ever closer.

Soon enough, there was a knock at the door.

At the sudden sound, he jumped and felt his wings knock against a shelf. It rattled, and he twisted around quickly to steady it before anything fell. A chuckle came from behind him, and shame swamped his stomach as he inched away from the wall.

Mumbo was walking over to the door and opened it wide to reveal the man of the hour. "Xisuma! Come in, come in."

"Thank you, Mumbo. How are you both?" He greeted, coming into the base as Mumbo closed the door behind him.

"We're doing good! No luck on his name yet though." Mumbo responded, heading back over to the furnaces.

The admin looked over at him, and the feathers on his head flared out slightly as he stammered out his own response, "g-good, you?"

"I'm doing well. Shall we sit?"

"Oh, go ahead! I've got some food cooking in the furnace but it won't be done for a while. Is there anything I need to stick around for?" The redstoner asked.

"Not currently, thank you again for letting us do it here." Xisuma said, sitting down at the table. The green armour he wore shone in the sunlight that came through the window, and he looked away from it, wings shifting closer as the long feathers dragged.

"It's no problem at all. I'll be working on some redstone, just message me if anything is needed!" Mumbo waved at them cheerfully, before leaving out a different door deeper into the base, no doubt going to an area to work.

When they were sure the man had left, Xisuma turned to him, gesturing with a gentle hand at the chair just across from him. "You sound better, how are you settling in here?" He asked, muffled from the helmet which seemed usual.

He walked around to the chair, pulling it out further than usual and sitting on the edge, leaning against his wings which rested uncomfortable on the back of the chair. "It's... loud." He answered, fiddling with the edge of the white sleeve while looking out to a different wall.

"Sure is, compared to your old living area, right?"

Shrinking into himself, he nodded, "it's bright, as well."

"Takes a bit to get used too."

He raised an eyebrow, looking back at Xisuma slightly. "What do you mean?"

"I assume you know what I am, to begin with." The admin made a small gesture at himself and when he nodded, made another one towards the avian. "I'll share some of my history, if you are willing to share yours."

"You're not making me?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"I care for my hermits, and currently, you are one. Despite what you could've been."

"Oh."

"Are you willing?"

"I can be." He nodded, forcing the feathers on his head flat again. "What do you want to know?"

"Some basic safe guarding questions and some others. They may be prodding." Xisuma leaned more against the back of the chair, and he felt his wings brush against his own one each time he breathed.

"Shoot."

"Are you still one of Them?" He asked immediately, and even with the screen on his helmet being opaque, he could probably predict the face the Voidwalker had on. Tense, worried, and hopeful- that he isn't Them anymore.

He shook his head frantically at the question, all attempts to smooth his feathers backfiring as they flared out again. "No, no. I am not."

"That's a relief." Xisuma laughed quietly, his shoulders relaxing at the answer. "I had to check."

"I understand."

"Do you remember what happened before you woke up?" The next question had a lot less stress in it's tone, with Xisuma resting his arms against the table as he spoke.

He hummed quietly, looking at the wall behind Xisuma as he thought. "I was fleeing."

"Fleeing?" A confused voice came from the helmet, muffled as usual.

"They did not like what I had become. So I fled, and They followed." He explained in a small voice.

"Do you know where you are?" The same firm tone from before came back.

"No. You have built strong firewalls, and they do not like Voidwalkers, I'm sure you know that."

A sigh. "By Xelqua, I do."

He tensed, eyes widening slightly at the admin, "pardon?"

"What?" He asked, a questioning tone to his muffled voice.

He shook, "nothing. Don't worry about it. And I'm sorry."

"What for?" Xisuma asked again tilting his head to the side slightly at the second question.

He flushed once more, "I don't know. I never got the hate for your kind. Another reason They didn't like me."

Xisuma laughed quietly, "it's not your fault. Could I ask a few more questions? Then you can ask any you wish."

Shifting in the chair once more, he let his wings fall beside himself as he shuffled backwards more, "of course."

"When we first found you in that field, I had run a test on your coding to make sure you were safe. With it, I found some concerning lines of data and I want to run them by you."

Nodding, his eyes jumped to a holographic screen that had appeared above the admin's arm, and suddenly it disconnected from where it was being displayed from and was set to float in between them on the table. White lines of code danced past his eyes until he focused on the different symbols that made up Their language.

"I cannot understand it, but I can tell from how it's formed that you were not born with it. Along with Mumbo having his odd memory with you, we can assume They messed with your coding. Can you remember anything related to that?"

He shook his head, "I've already tried to remember the before. My brain hurts and fogs up before anything proper appears. Things seem familiar though, like a gut instinct." He added on to the end.

"That's odd." Xisuma hummed, leaning in closer to look at the coding that flashed across the screen. Reaching an arm out, he zoomed in on a specific part. "Can you read this?"

"I think I can." He nodded again, propping himself against the table as he leaned closer as well.

'Colour: White'
'Secondary Colour: Purple'

"It's just the colouring of my feathers." He shivered, looking away from the screen that held the coding to his soul.

"Does that mean They altered your feathers?" Xisuma said quietly, moving his head to look at him.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, he shrugged, "possibly."

There was a quiet mutter from the Voidwalker, and he said, "if possible, would you be able to help me decode this so we can figure out what exactly is wrong? It could help with your memory."

"Yes, I can." He replied curtly.

As if sensing the discomfort from him, Xisuma began to speak, "just one more question, G. Think you can do it?"

"Of course I can, it's just questions." He leaned back, waving his hand in the air as if brushing something away.

Nodding, the admin pressed on, "it might be a bit personal."

"Just ask it already," he huffed, laughing quietly as he shook his head, "nothing can be too personal unless it's questioning my own body."

Xisuma was quiet for a second more, before sighing. "If given the option, would you go back to Them if They were to accept you with open arms?"

"No." He said immediately, feeling his features harden as he stared at the man across from him. "I do not wish to be Them anymore. I said it already, didn't I?"

Raising his arms up frantically, Xisuma began to say, "of course you have. I just had to double check. Server safety, do you understand?"

He sighed, dipping his head forward as he felt his shoulders drop. "Yes, I do. Does anyone else know what I am?"

"No. Only people who learned at the Administrative Academy know that signal." Xisuma explained, "which is why we also know to never say their names."

"But you said..." He drawled off, tilting his head.

"Xelqua?"

Nodding, he suppressed another shiver down his spine and through his wings. "Yes."

"Xelqua is the one my pantheon worships. We worshipped Them for much longer than I was with the pantheon, so I never learnt the true reason as to why we did, but in my opinion- after doing research, of course- They're the one that is good out of the rest." The admin explained, crossing his legs underneath the table as he did so.

"But that doesn't explain my question, really." He said, pressing his lips against each other after. He felt his body shake minutely in an unfamiliar emotion at the topic.

"I feel most comfortable saying Their name rather than any of the others. I don't want to bore you with this, however. My questions are finished, you can stay here as long as needed. Do you have anything to ask?"

"They might also be a bit personal to yourself." He admitted, forcing the shivers down.

"Hadn't I asked some personal ones?" The Voidwalker joked.

Huffing quietly, he nodded, "well... what did you mean, earlier, when you said 'it takes a bit to get used too.' referring to the Void." Putting air quotation marks around the words.

Xisuma stilled slightly, and he worried it was too personal, before he shook himself and sat up straighter, "of course. There's a reason I don't like Them other than the typical dangers."

"Of course."

"Well, way before I had even heard of Hermitcraft, I lived with my pantheon in the Void like all Voidwalkers. One day, we saw Them swarming our home and I had to flee as well. Ironic, isn't it?"

"In what way?" He asked hesitantly, a quiet sorrow in his voice. "And I'm sorry for that happening to your family."

"We both fled from Them and ended up on the same server. And it's in the past now. I've reunited with my brother."

"That's good." He said, "how long have you been here?"

"Since the server first started years back. I wasn't the original admin, but he stood down and left at the beginning of the second world." Xisuma began, "over the years I hope I've become someone to rely on."

"You seem to be a person like that, don't worry about it." Glancing over, he smiled slightly before tacking on, "I bet you've proven yourself many-a-time."

"You flatter. Should we call Mumbo back?" Xisuma asked, sensing the serious conversations to be over.

He nodded, "if he isn't distracted."

"I'll be back." The admin stood up- the chair screeching against the flooring as it was pushed back- and he walked over to where the redstoner had disappeared.

With a sigh dancing on his lips, he slouched into his crossed arms that rested on the table, eyes open against the white of his clothes as the edge of his wings lay beside his elbows.

Tilting his arm, he watched as the fabric seemed to shimmer in the light, the purple sheen glimmered across the material before stopping suddenly near the edge of the sleeve.

Closing his eyes against the material, he dropped his head more and huffed, smelling the scent of cooked meat from the furnaces in the kitchen.

Rushed footsteps came from the area where the other two had disappeared from, and he tilted his head to see Mumbo running into the kitchen and shoving oven mitts on. Xisuma was trailing behind, shoulders shaking in laughter.

Lifting his head, he raised an eyebrow in confusion as Xisuma leaned against the kitchen counter and looked over. "He forgot he had food cooking."

"But it's hardly been 30 minutes?" He said, glancing over and seeing Mumbo pull out a few cooked steaks and potatoes.

"I forget things easily." The man sounded flustered as he put the hot trays of food onto a small cooling rack. Waving at it with his cloth covered hands, he watched as the steam blew out a nearby window with the breeze.

"It's fine, Mumbo, don't worry." Xisuma shook his head, shifting where he stood to lean over and grab a tea towel from a rack, handing it to the man. "Here, seems easier."

"Thanks." Mumbo nodded, taking the oven mitts off and putting them into a small basket that sat off to the side.

He noted that it seemed full, and the admin seemed to as well. "Laundry soon, Mumbo?"

"Ah, seems so. I'll make a note to do it later."

"Do you always need notes to do stuff?" He asked, drawing attention to himself.

"I mean, sometimes. I'm just a bit busy at the moment, so I need notes to remind myself of stuff." As he explained, he cooled the furnace's coals, the warmness of the room slowly going down due to it.

He wiped a drop of sweat off of his forehead, and thought that maybe that was for the best. Sitting up once more, he lifted his wings and let them rest against the back of the chair, sitting near the edge of the seat again to feel more comfortable as the feathers splayed across the wood.

"Are you going to stay for lunch, X?" He heard.

"If you'll have me." Xisuma dipped his head, the visor in his helmet catching a stray piece of sun.

He squinted at it, blinking and looking away as Mumbo replied, "of course! It's nothing fancy."

"Better than what I cook." The man shrugged, and Mumbo waved him to sit down at the table where he was before. "I just buy golden carrots to eat."

"Why would you eat golden carrots?" He asked as Xisuma sat down where he was before, across from him at the table.

"They're a good source of food, if you ignore the metallic taste."

"Huh." He hummed.

The kitchen was quiet for a few moments, before Xisuma suddenly spoke up again, changing the previous topic. "Have you gotten any other clothes yet?"

With slight confusion, he shook his head, "no, I'm alright with these though."

"We haven't gotten around to getting any made yet, it's on my list." Mumbo replied to Xisuma, starting to plate up the food. "Why ask, though?"

"The robes can't be comfortable in the Overworld." Was all he said to it.

Fiddling with the edge of a sleeve, he nodded, "not exactly made for the constant wear and gravity, I think."

The admin shook his head, "no, it's incredible fragile once it leaves the Void."

"The robes were made in the Void?" Came a confused and incredulous Mumbo, turning around in the kitchen with a fork in hand.

The admin nodded, and he shrunk into his chair, folding his wings closer to himself. Mumbo looked closer at him, watching as the material he wore shimmered in the light. "It's very pretty."

"And like I said, not durable. I can get someone to bring some spare clothes if needed." Xisuma repeated.

"I don't want to destroy anything, though." He protested, glancing between the two.

"Nonsense, G, we have another avian on this world, False. She found you, in fact." Mumbo shook his head, "she should have some clothes that fit you."

"I can ask her to bring them tomorrow?" Xisuma asked, already opening the comms on his wrist.

"If you want visitors, G."

He startled slightly, "what do you mean?"

"You're the one that's new here. We don't want to force you to meet too many people almost immediately after you woke up in a strange place. You only feel comfortable with me here because we faintly know each other." Mumbo explained, gesturing at him with the fork in his hand, "it's weird, but easily explainable."

He nodded, "it is weird. My brain hurts whenever I try to think about it."

"Ah, you mentioned that earlier. Is it the same for every time you try to remember something?" Xisuma looked over- though the only way he could tell was seeing the helmet move.

"Anything I can't immediately recollect from the time before Them hurts." He sighed, looking down at the table once more. Twisting his fingers, his eyes focused on the black nails that were trimmed back.

There was a slight awkward tension in the air before the redstoner spoke up, turning back around to put the fork down, "I'm sorry I can't be of more help with your name."

"Don't be silly, Mumbo." He denied, the feathers on his head bouncing against his hair as he looked over at the man who was still standing in the kitchen. "It's not your fault. They made sure I was forgotten by almost everyone."

Xisuma seemed to stiffen where he sat, and the look he felt on him sharpened, "almost everyone?"

"Can I know who this 'They' is you guys keep talking about?" Mumbo asked, confused again.

"I can't explain properly, Mumbo." Xisuma sighed, his helmet moving over to him in a sort of regretful way, "maybe one day."

The man blinked randomly, hurt slowly creeping into his eyes, but he spoke up, "we literally cannot explain it without endangering the server. Just know that They are bad."

"Bit of an under exaggeration there."

"Shut it, you."

"Oh, so it's not on purpose?"

"No, well, yes, but no."

Mumbo began to chuckle quietly, and eventually the other two in the room joined in, letting their quiet laughter drift through the home before it slowed down.

"Well, I'll hurry and get lunch set up. It must be cooled now." Mumbo said, beginning to prep their food once more.

"Need any help?" He asked, standing up from the chair. His wings stretched out slightly, and he followed his body's lead and stretched as well, reaching up with his arms clasped together. He shook slightly and let his wings shiver, before letting them drop.

"Nope, I'm all good." The man replied, dropping some small balls of bread onto their plates and shaking his hands afterwards. Steam rolled off the freshly baked goods slowly, and as he walked over he grabbed the tray of cooked meat.

"I'll help. I don't wanna sit down while you do this." He said, ignoring Mumbo's wishes in a well meaning way. The man only huffed, shuffling out of his way so they could both stand in the kitchen.

The sounds of a chair scrapping across the floor behind them made Mumbo twist around, shooting a stare at Xisuma, "stay seated, X. I don't need help."

"But G's next to you."

"I put myself here." He whistled, hearing a snort of laughter from the redstoner beside him.

Together, they quickly plated the food, and brought it to the table before sitting down once more. Steak, potatoes, and carrots laid on the plates, making his stomach rumble quietly.

"Before we eat, I still wanna know the answer to that question from before." Xisuma pipped up, a hand fiddling with something on his helmet.

He looked over at him, raising an eyebrow, "what question?"

"Are you okay with people visiting?"

His lips formed an 'o' shape as his mind remembered, "oh yeah, I'll be fine."

"You sure? There's a lot of people who are keen to meet you properly, but I don't want to force anybody onto you before you're ready." The admin explained.

"I know Scar's been wanting to meet you since we first saw you- he told me after that first meeting," Mumbo added, directing that last bit to Xisuma who tilted his head in confusion.

"Scar?" He tilted his head as well, a questioning tone in his voice.

"Ah, he's one of the many people on the world, has a lot of scars everywhere, and uses a cane mainly. Has some sort of magical ability but won't say what it is, frustratingly." The man explained, toying with a fork that lay beside his plate.

Across from them, Xisuma's helmet made a small series of clicking sounds, before it was pulled off and set on a clear spot on the table. Mumbo acted no different, continuing on about Scar's mysterious magical abilities, as he looked at the admin's face with slightly wide eyes.

Xisuma's face had patterns on it in a lighter shade of his skin, thick stripes meeting his eyes from the sides of his face and spots across his nose. Dark purple-ish blue eyes started back at him, with white pupils that seemed to glow.

A smile formed on the admin's face, and he smiled back with slight hesitance, before they finally started to eat the food that was cool enough that it wouldn't burn their tongues.

"This is delicious, Mumbo. What seasonings did you put on the steak?" Xisuma asked, cutting another bit off.

"The typical ones, like salt, pepper, garlic..."

He drowned out the conversation, looking out the window that was beside the table.

This was different than he expected. Xisuma was different than he expected. He was nice, and didn't threaten him- other than what was necessary.

"Hey, G, quick question." Mumbo asked, turning to him.

"Hm?"

"Scar might come over tomorrow now that he's allowed too, could you let him in when he does?"

"Sure, he's your friend." He nodded.

Many hours later, late into the night, he was laying in the bed that Mumbo had put into a spare room for him a couple days ago and sighed into the pillow he was resting his head against.

His wings were splayed out beside him- one partly on the floor while the other was pressed against the wall on his other side- as he looked out the window that was near the top of the room. Stars blinked into view between the clouds that drifted by, only reminding him of the Void.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he twisted his head to the other side of the pillow and away from the window, sighing into the quiet of the room.

Clutching the blanket he laid on between his fingers, his eyes opened into slits as he looked at the moonlight washed room, and a question played in his mind before he quietly muttered into the night.

"I want to stay here..."

Chapter Text

A bout of giggles brought him to open his eyes, and he squinted in the brightness of the daylight as the sounds of laughter from another room woke him.

Shifting about, he sat up and drew his wings in, stretching his arms upwards with a satisfied stretch. A warm air drifted around his room as he scrambled out of his nest, tail feathers catching on the blankets around it. The door swung open before he got to it, and as he walked out to the living room, he spotted three familiar heads of hair and 3 pairs of wings.

One turned around, and waved his arm at him, mouthing words that didn't quite reach his ears. Despite the quietness that now enveloped him, he smiled and continued walking, talons clicking against the hardwood flooring of their small building.

Another turned around, taller than the others, with longer hair. She stood up and ran over, almost bowling him off his claws. A series of sounds came from her, but he didn't understand anything.

The third, smaller than the others, was still focused on what he was doing, stacking cards in a way that made a pyramid. With one arm supporting the girl, he walked over to the small one and ruffled his hair, earning what sounded like an undignified squawk of surprise and the collapse of the card pyramid.

He laughed quietly, letting the girl go and sitting down behind the small boy. Shaking his wings out, he leaned back and stared up at the sky, watching as clouds drifted by.

The sounds of someone running towards him made him look over, and he sat up, staring across a field of grass watching a boy with black hair run over, the beginnings of a mustache forming on his face.

That boy was familiar.

"Mumbo..?" He muttered, squinting at him, and suddenly the boy was in front of him, still taller like usual, red faced and panting.

Empty words came from his mouth, and he blinked at him in confusion. "What are you saying?"

"G..." A single letter sounded from the other, ghosting past his lips and almost dancing around in the air. His wings fluffed up, and he looked around, suddenly remembering something.

"Where are-" He paused. What are their names? He has siblings. He was just with them.

What's going on?

===

He jolted awake in the bed, wings flaring out and hitting the wall of the room he was in. Another thud sounded from across the building, and he winced, frowning into the dull light of dawn. Bringing a hand to his head, he rubbed his temple before looking out the window that shone into the room, muttering, "what was I dreaming about again?"

===

Another different sounding knock rung through the room the next day, startling him. Standing up wearily, he approached the door as the seconds ticked by, wings shifting behind him. Pricking the feathers by his head, he heard someone humming quietly on the opposite side of the wooden door.

Grabbing the doorknob, he swung it open and the first thing he noticed was that the man that stood there was covered in scars, and the second was a bag slung over his shoulder.

Eyeing it carefully, he looked back up and saw the cheerful expression on his face. Meeting the other's green eyes, the last thing he noticed was him tensing suddenly and a strange emotion flickering in his eyes, smile twitching, before coming back full force.

After a few more moments of silence, he stepped back to let the man come inside, looking away and speaking up, "are you Scar?"

The white and purple wings on his back shifted as he led him inside, sensing the tension that had been built up slowly being washed away.

"Why of course I am! Has dear old Mumbo been talking about me?" Scar replied, voice growing stronger with each word until it matched a cheery expression. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the man limp after him, leaning carefully on a cane.

"Well, Scar, he asked who you were yesterday, so I told him. It's not unexpected." The man in question appeared from around the corner, holding a strange white box in his hands.

Confused, he tilted his head at it, narrowing his dark eyes as they traced the lines that made up it's delicate looking seams. What was it? Was it a chest? It's an odd look- it'd be difficult to open and close, he thought.

"Are you wonderin' what that is?" Scar asked, leaning down beside him on his cane which now had the bag hanging on it.

"A bit, I can't remember it." He admitted, looking down at the floor.

"It's a shulker box, found in the end," Scar started, gesturing with his free hand, "much easier to move compared to chests. Makes everything super light! Almost like magic- it doesn't matter how much is in there."

"Definitely easier to keep track of as well, since we can dye it different colours." Mumbo agreed, putting down the shulker box on top of others of the same type, "what that you got there, Scar?"

"I have gathered some gifts for G right here!" The man grabbed the edge of the table before lifting the cane into the air, bag dangling from the top.

"What- Scar, you didn't have too!" Mumbo said, shaking his head in exasperation at his friend's antics.

Meanwhile, the feathers on his head flared out slightly, and he tilted his head again, "what do you mean?"

"G, my man, you cannot be serious about wearing those robes all the time. A wardrobe update is necessary!" He responded, putting the cane back down on the floor and grabbing the bag, "this is for you."

"I thought False was going to come by later with clothes?" Mumbo asked.

"I ran into her on the way here with the bag and insisted I take it, cause she's busy. She'll be coming by later to make sure everything's all good." Scar explained, handing it over to the avian in the room. "I'm not sure what's in there, though."

He stared at the bag, holding the thing carefully in his hands and refusing to let his nails touch the tender fabric. Since he hasn't cut them for a while, the sharp claw points were forming again. "It's for me?" He whispered.

"The robes cannot be comfortable with all it's tears and wears." Scar complained, sitting firmly on the edge of the table now. Mumbo wandered around the room, listening intently.

Looking down at the white robes he wore, he spotted some spots becoming threadbare and other areas- specifically around the edges- having tears. Frowning, he tugged at a sleeve, remembering what Xisuma had explained yesterday about it not being for overworld use.

The feathers on the sides of his head flicked again, and he turned to face Scar and Mumbo, waiting for a lull in their conversation- some place called the Shopping District?

Tightening his grip on the bag- and still not digging into the fabric- he said, "thank you."

"It's no worries at all! Least we can do for someone." Scar sent an exaggerated wink his way, and as he shook his wings out he rolled his eyes back at him.

"Do you want to try something on?" Mumbo encouraged, gesturing to the bag.

"I guess. I don't know how to put on avian specific clothes though."

"Just come back out here if you need help."

He nodded, and as he turned around to go look in the bag, he noticed that the bag felt like leather, and not the fabric he thought it was before. His talons tapped against the floor, the sound soothing to his ears.

Closing the door behind him, he faintly picked up Scar and Mumbo continuing whatever conversation they had been going on about.

Setting the bag on the bedside table, he opened the top and the first colour he saw was red.

A bright red wool sweater pooled into his hands as he pulled it out, looking hardly worn for the exception of some wear around a large hole in the back. Confused, he turned it around to see the back was only connected by the top- the bottom was two pieces that were attached to the main body, and one side had buttons on the end while the other one had slits.

At the top of the hole was a long piece of woolen fabric. but it was thinner than the hole. It also sported the buttons and slits, but they were alternated- the left side had the slits, while the right one had the buttons.

Squinting his eyes in confusion, he laid it out on the bed and began to put together the button mess at the bottom. The result had the sweater properly hold itself together with no slumping in the back, but two long slits where he supposed his wings would go were empty.

Nodding to himself, he undid the buttons and took a proper look at it.

It looked much cozier than the robes he had on.

Putting it carefully on the bed again, he began to take the robes off. Arms in, sleeves hanging at his sides, he tugged the top up and over his wings- face twitching at the material tugging at his feathers.

However, it was over quickly as the white robes covered his hands, and his upper body felt cool. Putting it carefully on the bed, he reached for the red sweater once more.

He tugged it over his head and immediately noticed how it caught on the feathers there, and how much tighter it was than the robes he wore. It wasn't form fitting, however. It was loose and warm, while the robes were long and big and cold no matter how long you wore them fore.

Slipping his arms through the sleeves, he felt a smile grow on his face as his skin felt the warm material, so different from the air light silk. Letting his wings flap slightly in the room, he noticed how the top of the slits rubbed against the joints, but paid it no matter.

Reaching behind himself, he tried to button the bottom up, but couldn't gain proper hold with his wings in the way. Huffing to himself, he adjusted the long flap in the middle.

It covered the feathered part between his wings neatly, and stretching them out as much as he could in the small room helped him adjust the sweater to fit himself properly.

With a satisfied hum, he turned back to the leather bag, wondering if any of the pants in there would actually fit.

Shifting through the bag again, he took out a few of the other tops that sat on top and admired each one with the same wide eyes as before. Each one was different, but had the same style backing for wings.

Laying each on the bed carefully, he reached in once more and pulled out a pair of loose pants. They were a dark brown colour with some pockets around the top and down the sides.

Nothing about it screamed worn, unlike the red jumper he now had on, so he assumed they were ones that Cleo had made recently. The thought made him feel all giddy, thankful and a bit guilty.

Nothing about it screamed worn, unlike the red jumper he had on now. He was curious as to if it were new or not, but shoved the feeling aside as he put the pants on the bed besides the other clothes to shed the white pants he wore.

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he pushed his talons into the pants, careful to not tear the material with his claws. After successfully getting them on with no tears, he stood up and twisted his upper body around, wings dragging on the bed.

Reaching up, he walked around the room on taloned feet, gaining a feel of how the new clothes felt and each time he looked down at the colourful items the smile he felt forming on his face grew more and more.

Leaving the mess on the bed and forgetting the wool hanging by his sides, he opened the door and walked back to join Scar and Mumbo. Their conversation had quieted when they heard the door open, and when he appeared around the corner Scar took a quick look and immediately clapped loudly. "I knew it would look good! Doesn't he look good, Mumbo?"

With a quick elbow in the side, neither of the two noticed the wide eyes that their host had taken on, "ow! They're good, suit you. Need help with the buttons?" Mumbo asked, glaring at Scar while having a nervous tone in his voice.

"Hm? I forgot about that." He admitted sheepishly, not noticing it.

"I can help, just turn around quickly." The redstoner suggested, and he followed the request, turning around and tucking his wings up and far from where the other would be.

"Your wings look very nice, have you cleaned them yet? Or is it yet another avian secret?" Scar asked, sitting down against one of the chairs at the table as Mumbo crouched down behind him slightly to see the buttons clearer.

"Not properly, I don't have any correct tools." He shook his head, looking over the top of his wings. In the back of his mind, he noted that Mumbo's hands were quick against his skin, and when he stood up and a few steps back he turned around with a questioning look.

"Have you done that before, Mumbo? It was quick."

"It's just buttons, and it felt familiar," the taller one said, a strange look in his eyes, "sorry if I touched any feathers."

He shook his head, "you didn't, don't worry." Taking a few steps back- away from Mumbo and Scar- he stretched his wings as much as he could without touching anything in the room. The new clothes felt nice against his skin, much nicer than the old robes from Them.

He shivered, and closed his wings against his back once more.

"Hey, G, have you flown since you woke up?" Scar asked suddenly, eyes shining with an idea. He pulled something out of seemingly nowhere, a contraption that looked like bug wings. It was grey with a purple sheen to it in the light. His eyes narrowed at it. "Most of us hermits don't have wings, but we have elytras! Pretty similar, am I right?"

Looking up from the strange thing made of strange materials and magic, he gazed at Scar and said, "is that what you call an elytra? It looks nothing like wings."

Mumbo winced out of the corner of his eye, turning to Scar and agreeing, "yeah, mate. Sorry."

"No, no, it's my fault. Fake wings that make you glide getting compared to real wings with muscles? Completely different!" He laughed, gesturing to the avian while putting the elytra on anyways. "But have you flown?"

"I haven't been able too yet. Too tired."

"Why don't we go now, then? We can see how fast you can fly!"

"It would be a fun idea, get you out of the base." Mumbo nodded, turning to him, "do you wanna fly?"

He hummed, "I would love too, but I don't know if I can fully fly yet."

"Ah, not to full strength I see. No problem, these elytras aren't exactly the fastest things in the sky either." Scar said solemnly, hand on his cane.

"I think that'd have to go to False right now. Unless you're faster than her."

"I'd love to race her when able." His wings fluttered against his back, the prospect teasing the avian part of his brain.

"Let's go and see what your wings can do, firstly!" Standing up from where he sat, leaning heavily on his cane, Scar sauntered over to the door and the other two followed behind him.

Outside, Mumbo pulled out his own elytra that glimmered in the light- differently than Scar's. He figured it was enchanted- something he remembered from even before Them.

Stepping into the sunlight properly, he let his wings spread out beside him fully, stretching in tandem with a satisfied groan. A light breeze blew in front of Mumbo's home, ruffling his feathers. To the side, the two other men were putting their own elytras on, Scar struggling slightly but getting it on successfully.

"You sure you'll be fine?" Mumbo asked pensively, twisting his fingers as he looked over his large appendages.

"They feel fine, and I don't wanna fly for too long." He said, folding them in on himself.

"You sure? Once you get up there I don't think you'll wanna come back down." Scar joked, fiddling with his cane as he leaned against the wall behind him.

"Confident. Where should we go to take off?"

"Oh, we don't really need to go anywhere, we can use rockets to give ourselves a boost." The cane collapsed into a small cylinder, of which Scar put carefully into his pocket. Then, reaching into the bag he had over his shoulder- a different one than before- he pulled out some colourful paper rockets. "Do you need some, Mumbo?"

"Got my own here, mate."

"Do you need to go somewhere to take off, though?" Scar raised an eyebrow, gingerly pushing away from the wall and limping over to where the redstoner stood.

He shrugged, "it's not needed, but liked for most."

"Alrighty then, shall we take off?"

"Wait, should we decide where to go before aimlessly flying around?" Mumbo looked between the two of them, before settling on the avian, "wait, no, you don't know where things are, never mind."

Scar laughed, leaning against the tall man, "why don't we give him a tour? Not much but it'll be fun."

"I'd like a tour." He cut in, wings shuffling against his back. "Should we go now?"

"I suppose so."

"Should I take a step back from you guys?" He asked.

"No, no, the rocket explosion just propels us up, no actual heat in it." Scar explained, brandishing the object in his palm.

"Why don't you meet us up there?" Mumbo said, a flint and steel in his hands. "It'll get loud."

He nodded, taking some steps back anyway. The two men fiddled with the rockets again, and he spread his wings once more, relishing the way the wind blew in the feathers.

Giving the large limbs a few experimental beats, a small smile began to form on his face as he stretched them out wide and forced them down, jumping at the same time as an even bigger gust of wind came from his feathers.

The wind blew against Scar and Mumbo, the former of which had to steady himself against Mumbo, and the fire on the rope in the rocket blew out.

Before he could hear them complain ever so kindly, though, he was up in the air, pushing himself up with his large wings like he'd done it just the hour before.

The feeling of no ground being beneath him made his stomach flip, but the happiness in his gut made it work while. His face split into a grin as he continued up, soaring into the blue sky.

Beneath him, the sounds of rockets began suddenly, and two forms quickly appeared next to him. Mumbo and Scar glided beside him, their elytra's spread beside him. They continued forward, unable to stay in one spot, so he followed with lazy wing beats.

"Oh my god! You're wings are so big- I never realised! And you went up so fast!" Scar called out, eyes wide and giggling.

"The wind was shocking." Mumbo said, rocket prepared in his hands already.

"I need to produce the wind in order to fly, but it's easier for me to fly off of a high surface." He responded, gliding above the pair with easy flaps.

The muscles in his wings burned with the sudden movements, but it felt worth it to feel the wind in his face. Closing his eyes against the breeze that they flew into, the grin on his face relaxed into the small smile it had before.

"So, do you just jump off the edge?" Scar asked, looking up as he held a rocket.

"Technically, I do," he nodded, repeating "it's the easiest way."

Mumbo twisted his head upwards as he flew above them, a few blocks up. He angled his body to the left, looking down at them as he met eyes with the mustached man. His dark eyes widened, a yell escaping his mouth as he tipped further to the side and down.

Scar shouted out as well, body jerking to the right as he tried to light a rocket in his hands.

Tucking his wings into his sides, rolling in the air and pushing them back out when his back faced the earth, a laugh coming from his chest.

"Don't do that!" Mumbo scolded, wiping a hand down his face. Scar clutched his chest, gawking at him as well.

His laughing trailed off into giggles, and with a few lazy wingbeats he was in front of them once more. "How do the elytras work again? Rockets?"

"It's a lot easier than wings, in my opinion." Scar said, "every now and then we do have to use another rocket."

"That doesn't sound easy. I much prefer my wings. Do you need another rocket now?"

"Probably." Mumbo shrugged, "do you wanna fly ahead? We gain some speed with them."

"I can, yeah." He nodded, waving to them again as they prepared another rocket.

"Before anything!" Scar jutted in, "just keep going straight, we'll get into the shopping district there."

"You sure?" He asked, beginning to drift ahead of the two.

"Definitely!"

Once again, he nodded, and turned to face forward again. Hearing the clanging of flint on steel, he beat his wings harder to fly faster, eventually getting far away enough for both Mumbo and Scar to rocket forward with their elytras.

Gliding after them, he dipped down and gained more speed before banking and turning up again, using the excess speed to get in front of the two. An idea popped into his head, and he turned his head back again. "We should race!"

"What!?" Mumbo yelled, cupping a hand around his ear.

"I said we should race!" He repeated, letting his wings rest against the wind.

"I second that! I wanna see how fast you can go!"

"What about your wings? You haven't flown in weeks!" Mumbo asked, worry clear on his face again.

He thought about it for a second, feeling a slight strain on the limbs, but shrugged it away. "I'll be fine! Let's do it, just tell me what to look for as an end point!"

As Scar began to explain a point where they could finish, he began to hear other wingbeats in the distance. Turning his head away, he flapped his wings a bit more, looking this way and that for the source. The chatter behind him slowed to a stop, and he faintly heard a confused sound from Mumbo.

Through a cloud above them, he finally spotted a shadow with large wings flying on top of it, and he narrowed his eyes. The shadow disappeared, but quickly reappeared beside the group. He drifted to the right quickly as she flew closer.

"False! Hello there!" Scar called out, waving at the blonde avian that now flew beside them.

"Hey guys! You're looking better, huh?" She greeted, directing the last bit at him.

"Yeah, thank you." He nodded, smiling. Looking at her properly, he noticed that her wings were distinctly eagle-like, and goggles over her eyes. Her talons looked the same as his as well, but yellow-ish instead of black. She smiled back, flying along side.

"Where are you guys heading?" She asked, turning her head back towards the two with elytras.

"The shopping district, I gotta get a few things and this guy here needed to stretch his wings." Scar explained ahead of Mumbo, who glared at him.

"It's a good way to get him out and about, fresh air and everything, you know?" Mumbo explained, "not that I hate having you here, G. It's lovely."

"No offense taken, Mumbo." He shook his head fondly.

False was quiet for a moment, before speaking up, "hey, G, right? You doing good with your wings?"

"Why does everyone keep asking about my wings? They're fine, better than ever." He groaned, dipping his head to the side before looking back over at her.

"We're asking because you haven't flown in who knows how long! We don't even know what happened to you before you got here- gosh, we thought you were a world-born player until Mumbo here remembered you." Scar said, dipping closer to the avians.

He stayed silent for a moment, which allowed for False to say, "wanna follow me then? Avian to avian, we're faster than those two with their elytras."

"But I thought I was meant to stay with them? Mumbo specifically?"

"Mate, you can do what you want! You know what my base looks like, and it's not like you're specifically meant to stick to my side." Mumbo chuckled, "and False is right, avians are naturally faster than us with elytras."

"That may be true, but it's not like I don't like it. I wanted to get to know you, G!" Scar frowned, "wanna meet up at the shopping district? Show you around!"

"Sure. You'll take me there, right False?"

"Of course!" She nodded, beginning to beat her wings harder than before. "Catch up to me!"

Before he could respond, she flew away quickly, down and around some clouds until he couldn't see her. With a quick look back at the two who were smiling and waving him on, he followed after her.

Dipping his whole body down, he swerved around the same clouds she had, listening intently for any sounds of wingbeats.

He drifted for awhile before hearing them again, flying towards the sound and spotting False up ahead. She had slowed and was looking at him, a grin plastered on her face.

When he finally caught up, she spun in the air, back to the ground- the same move he'd pulled earlier. "Glad the clothes fit you."

"They're very comfy." He nodded, before pointing at the goggles she wore, "goggles?"

"Keeps the wind and bugs outta my eyes." False explained, "you don't have any, right?"

"Oh, uh. Don't need any." He shook his head, feeling awkward.

"Ah, you can fly without them. Most hermits don't, but then again they close or squint their eyes when using the elytras." She hummed, flipping over and flying closer. She seemed to look closely at his face, and he leaned backwards. "It doesn't matter in the end, truly."

"Your eyes are awfully dark."

"Where's the shopping district?" He changed the subject, looking away from the prying avian.

"Uh, just ahead." She replied, confused. "It's noticeable. I can lead you there."

"I thought you wanted to race?"

"Why?" False looked at him again.

"'Catch up to me.'" He quoted her, putting air quotation marks up.

"Oh, I just know you would've flown better with another avian. Scar and Mumbo are great, they're just not the best flyers. In fact, we don't have any other avians on the server besides us." False said, "we're already far ahead of those two."

"I suppose so." He muttered, looking over his shoulder to not even see them.

"Just follow me, alright? They're gonna meet us there anyway- I've gotta do some things in the area, that's why I was flying that way."

After she said that, he didn't respond, unsure of what to say. She looked awkward, but quickly began to fly ahead, leading him to where they were heading. He kept up with her easily, finding one set of wings much easier to control than the three or more he had before.

He shook his head, a shiver dancing it's way down his spine at the memory. Breathing deeply through his nose, he angled himself downwards after False, spiraling towards the ground.

Landing beside her, he folded his wings behind himself and sighed, stretching his arms upwards. False laughed, copying his moves but including her wings and stretching them in front of her. "Tired, huh?"

"A bit. It's been a while since I've flown." He agreed, looking over at her and mimicking her own stretch.

She laughed even more, "have you never seen another avian stretch?"

"Uuh, maybe?" He hummed, "probably."

False reached up and moved her goggles up to her hair, shaking her head afterwards. The feathers on the sides of her face shook, framing her ears and cheekbones like they did with his. Looking back at him, she froze. "Your eyes really are that dark."

Immediately, he looked away, bringing his wings up to his sides. "Yeah."

"Sorry, sorry. Sensitive subject?" She apologized, and he felt his wings feel less tense.

"Yeah." He repeated, before spotting two dots in the sky. They were followed with the sounds of rockets in the distance, and he looked up at them.

Scar and Mumbo quickly approached, and False took a step back behind him, wings spreading out slightly.

"Hey guys! Glad to see you here!" Scar waved, dipping in and circling around them. Mumbo followed, but landed a few blocks away, almost toppling over.

"What are you doing?" He asked, tilting his head at the man in the air.

"I'm slowing down so I dont crash and fall over like Mumbo did."

"I did not fall over!" The man shot back, jogging over to them.

"You almost did, Mumbo." False said, walking towards where Scar had finally landed. Letting the man lean on her for a bit, he pulled out his cane and unfolded it, leaning on it once more. "Anything in particular you guys are here for?"

"Not really, just wanted to show G here around."

"Yeah, though I wouldn't mind seeing if anyone's set up a redstone shop." Mumbo mused, looking around.

"I doubt it right now. Anyway, I'd best be off. I'll see you guys again later!" She waved goodbye to the trio, who all responded in a variety of goodbyes, and jogged off.

"Anything you guys talked about while we glided along?" Scar asked, leading them into a walk.

"Nah, not really." He said, looking around at the area. There were already a few buildings scattered about, and more than a few people were around them, either adding onto them or buying stuff. "It was nice flying, though."

"I'd imagine so. Gosh, I can't believe you haven't flown since you woke up. You're wings are beautiful in the sun. So bright." Scar nodded.

"What?" He asked, confused. Looking over his shoulder at his wings, he shook his head, "these wings aren't pretty."

"What ever do you mean? The white is a gorgeous base with the purple acting as an accent. I've never seen anything quite like it."

He sighed, looking at the ground. His head began to feel sore, as if a memory were trying to force itself forward. "My true wings... they were beautiful."

"What do you mean, G?" Mumbo asked, confused.

He tilted his head to the side, half closing his eyes and trying to remember. Fuzzy memories emerged from the past, causing a headache to form. "They were red, blue and yellow. Those were gorgeous in the sun-" before he could say any more, he hissed through his teeth, wincing and bringing a hand to his head. "Sorry."

"It's fine, G. You're head's just being weird." Scar said, a frown on his face. "But true wings? I thought avians only ever had one species and couldn't switch."

"I- what?" He asked, looking up while not moving his head. A hand found itself on his shoulder, and he leaned into it, smelling redstone.

"Why don't we sit down." Mumbo led him away towards a nearby tree, Scar following close behind. His arm found the trunk, and he slid down it, carefully wrapping his wings around himself. Mumbo sat down next to him, soothingly rubbing his shoulder- where he could, at least.

There must've been wordless communication between him and Scar, cause the man spoke up, "don't worry, I carry around a chair."

The sound of something being placed on the ground make him look up from his wings and seeing Scar sitting in a chair with happy groan, before settling properly and leaning forward towards him. There was a concerned look on his face, and he frowned.

"You feeling better?" Scar asked.

"Mostly." He nodded, rubbing his temples again. "Sorry, I don't know what happened."

"It could have something to do with what happened to you before you got here? I don't know entirely but from what you and Xisuma told me yesterday it wasn't good." Mumbo said, sounding unsure but keeping his hand steady.

"I think it is." He sighed, closing his eyes, dropping his head to his knees and resting his forehead on them. The dull throb in his head was beginning to dissipate, and he muttered, "It's going away now."

"Should we get Xisuma here? He could help more." Scar anxiously started to repeatedly tap the seat of the chair.

"He's probably busy right now, I heard more farms are being built and it's pulling the code to it's limits. We could message him about it not being urgent though..." Mumbo replied, but their voices became background noise as he heard someone approaching from the distance.

Lifting his head up, he spotted someone he hadn't seen yet, a dark wolf hybrid wearing shades. Confused, he moved his head more, alerting the other two that someone was near.

"Ah, Ren! Hello there!" Scar waved, and the man- Ren, apparently- waved back.

"Hey guys. Just coming over to check on the mystery bird. Everything okay?" He asked, coming to a stand still only about 3 blocks away.

Resting his head on the tree behind him, he nodded, "it's fine. Something just flared up I think."

"Ah, understandable." Ren agreed, one of his dark brown wolf ears flicking in the wind, "you did only wake up about a week ago. What's your name?"

"Um, we don't know. Just call me G for now, it's the first letter of it." He said, forcing the name that sprung to mind down. His eyes narrowed at the ground, mentally berating himself- even if it didn't come out of his mouth, who's to say it never will?

"Huh, fun. Well, G, it's nice meeting you," Ren grinned, bowing dramatically. Beside him, he heard Mumbo huff a laugh. "I'll be happy to help you with anything you need. I'm pretty sure anyone in this world is, we're a friendly bunch."

"That we are!" Scar laughed, moving his free hand to rest on his cane and thump the end of it on the grass.

He shook his head away from the bark, dislodging any possibly pieces of wood from his hair. "I'll be sure to take you guys up on the offer when needed."

Mumbo moved his hand from his shoulder, and for a brief moment he mourned the warmth it brought before he shifted his legs beneath himself, standing against the tall oak behind them. Ren put his hands in his pockets, silently standing there.

"My head's feeling better now." He said, offering a hand to Scar so he could stand. The man took it graciously, and he pulled him up.

"That's good, I'd assume." Ren joked, and he turned around to help Mumbo up as well. "I'll be off now, I just wanted to check to make sure everything was okay."

"See you later!" Scar smiled, and the wolf hybrid waved once more, before turning around and jogging back to the main area. He watched him go, confusion thick in his mind.

"That felt awkward and quick." He commented, shaking his wings out.

"Everything will feel like that when you don't know a person well enough." Mumbo said, quickly stepping forward to get out of the way of his wings. "Ready to head back?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Scar, you joining us?" Mumbo asked the other man, and he shook his head.

"Nah, I gotta go back home and feed Jellie before she gets mad at me."

"Who's Jellie?" He scrunched his eyebrows, trying to think back to when he first met Scar earlier today. Nope, no mention of Jellie, he thought.

"Jellie's my cat, and she's just lovely. You'll have to meet her some time."

"That I will." He hummed, and only a short while afterwards Scar left, telling him to come over any time and the coordinates of his base.

"Come on, follow me. I'll try to be as fast as I can with an elytra- seeing you chase after False earlier made me realise how slow they can be."

"Ah, don't be too hard on yourself. Scar said it himself earlier, nothing can beat real muscles." He joked, stretching his wings out.

"Don't go too hard on yourself, either." Mumbo scolded, "we don't want you getting a headache while flying."

"It wasn't due to anything other than remembering something that They didn't want me too." He replied slowly, feeling hesitation clear in his tone. Mumbo faltered, frowning.

"Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yep!" He smiled, forcing any sad feeling down. Right now, he was bonding with the man his heart knew- even if his brain didn't.

>===<

It was only a few weeks later when another memory flare up happened.

>===<

He sat at the table in the main room of Mumbo's base, wings lax behind him as he read a book the redstoner had leant him, trying to ignore a dull throb that had remained persistent in his head. It was interesting, and he had been quickly absorbed into it's story to ignore the pain.

Just as he carefully turned another page- so that he didn't tear it with his claws-, a knock on the door startled him enough to close the book entirely. With a groan, he sat it on the wooden table and pushed the chair back, walking towards the door as he rubbed his head.

Who could it be, he wondered, not knowing if Mumbo was expecting anyone today.

Swinging open the door, he spoke up, not yet looking at who it was, "hello? Mumbo's not here right now if you're looking for him-"

"I was looking for you, actually." The accented voice made him freeze, and he dropped his hand from his head to look properly at the person in the doorway. Xisuma stood there, holding something in his hands. "Sorry for the sudden drop-by."

"Oh! Uh, come in, don't worry about it." He jumped, opening the door wider and stepping back to let the admin in. The Voidwalker dipped his head and walked in, stopping for a second to look around. "I was reading a book before you dropped by. Lost my page..." He muttered the last part.

"Ah, sorry. I would've messaged you or Mumbo but I only just found this and it's urgent." He said, hurrying over to the table and putting the thing in his hands down.

He followed behind, talons clicking against the floor, before sitting back where he was before. Xisuma sat opposite of him, fiddling with what he could now see was a tablet. Staring at it for a second, he squinted his eyes and looked up at the masked face of the world's admin, before blinking and looking away when the pain in his head spiked suddenly.

"What did you find that I have to know?"

"I think it's something that'll prove why no-one seems to know you. Or something pertaining to your memories. Or both. Argh, I don't know. It's suspicious and I can't read the language that's scattered about." He huffed, seemingly having found what he was looking for and sliding the device over to him. "Read that, please."

He hummed, "okay."

Grabbing it carefully, he brought it closer to himself, seeing lines of coding across the screen. Was it his coding?

A shiver coursed through his whole body, and he looked at it closer, ignoring most of it. He didn't like looking at his code- his soul- no-one did.

Flashing another glance up at the other, he heard anxious tapping from beneath the table and frowned, feeling a pit form in his stomach. Could this be related to his headache? Scrolling through the code, he was careful to make sure he didn't scratch the screen with his claws.

Suddenly, a large and almost empty portion appeared. He froze, staring at the mostly missing space with his mouth slightly agape. On the top and bottom of the portion was wording written in Their language. It was jagged looking and stuck out completely compared to the rest of his coding.

He immediately knew what happened. And it made him feel sick.

Pressing his lips into a thin line and wincing, he passed the tablet back to Xisuma, resting his elbow on the table to press against the side of his head. "They deleted the portion that's related to my memories, I think."

The Voidwalker sighed through his helmet, bringing an arm up and resting his head against his palm just like he was doing. "Just as I thought. Xelqua, They're awful."

Another shiver danced down his spine, and he scrutinized Xisuma, lifting his head. "You say that, and yet you still worship one of Them. I know you've already explained why, but I still think it's bittersweet." He scoffed, flattening the feathers on the sides of his head down.

Xisuma looked across at him, and even through his visor he saw the other's eyes widen as if in realisation. "I'm so sorry! It's a reflex."

"It's fine. You've already explained why you worship Them in particular." He huffed, shaking out his wings to cover the shivers.

"Even still. You've had a bad experience with Them and here I am casually saying one of Their names." The other dipped his head, sounding truly regretful.

He nodded, forcing the funny idea that he was, in a way, telling the man off for worshipping himself. "Don't worry about it. Sorry, I was getting bitter."

An awkward silence filled the air for a moment before he sighed again, motioning to the tablet, "I don't know what to do about this."

"There isn't much we can do. I can't go in and fix it because I physically cannot. You have to go to the head admins to even bring up the case and it might be denied. It's a whole process."

He hummed, "I don't even know what could happen if the memories are brought back. All I knew was Them..." he shook his head, "I'd be incredibly different, I think."

"I don't think so as much. While I've never seen anything quite like this, when we learn to be admins we get shown something similar to this. The person's memory was restored after multiple attempts and they acted mostly the same."

"Oh?"

"Granted, it wasn't as severe. Only a day was missing from his memory, and it was an experiment he agreed to do." Xisuma shrugged. "I'd say the best we could do is just try to jog your memory on what you're missing."

He nodded, "it'd be helpful to know who I knew before this happened, however different the circumstance."

"Mumbo might be able to help." He suggested.

"Mumbo's trying his best to remember my name, I don't think he'd be able to remember anyone I knew before."

"But if you knew both him and these other people before, he might've known them too."

"Aah, I'll bring it up to him." He relented, before perking up with a sudden thought, "oh, I'm sorry. Would you like anything to drink?"

Xisuma stayed silent for a moment, before reaching over to his bag and beginning to shuffle through it. Another moment later, he slouched slightly and asked, "could I have some water? I thought I brought my bottle but I think I forgot it in my hurry to get here."

He shook his head, a smile beginning to form on his face as the tense atmosphere began to dissipate. "I'll get us some."

Standing up from the table, he walked over to where the kitchen was, grabbing two cups quickly. As he poured water into them, he twisted his head to look over his shoulder to ask, "why were you looking at my code today to begin with? I hope I'm not prying but it seems random."

"Well, I found myself with a bit of free time and thought back to how, a few weeks ago, you had agreed to help me decode this. So after toying with the idea, I had a brief look and went further than before- spotting this. I came over as fast as I could." Came the reply.

He set down the cup of water in front of Xisuma, and propped the tablet up on his discarded book. With the slight elevation now, they could both look at it. He shuddered, wings closing closer around his body as he stared at the white letters against the black background.

"It feels weird staring at your own code." He commented, looking away for a moment and taking a sip of water, hoping it might help with the headache that was still lingering.

Xisuma hummed, "it does."

It was quiet once more before the other lifted his hands to his cup, pausing briefly. "Do you think Mumbo has any straws?"

"I can look, sure." He nodded, pushing down the surprise and want to laugh over the silly question. "I assume you don't want to take your helmet off?"

"I can't, really."

"But you took it off last time." He said, having already stood up and ruffling through one of Mumbo's kitchen draws. "Different circumstance?"

"I can't breathe the air here well, but Mumbo offered food." Xisuma shrugged, "it was fine mostly, I just had to sit for a while longer with the helmet on before leaving."

"Ah, that explains it." He found a metal straw near the back of the draw, and quickly rinsed it before trotting back over, plopping it into Xisuma's cup.

"Explains what?" The Voidwalker asked, staring at the avian through the purple visor.

He sat back down in the chair opposite him, "you always wear the helmet, I haven't seen you without it since that first week."

"I don't wear it in my base. I've been able to make the air in it thinner, almost matching the void's." Xisuma's eyes closed behind the visor, and he heard a deep sigh come from the ventilators. "The helmet helps a ton when outside of it."

"And you have a section in it where you can put a straw through? How recent was that addition?" He teased lightly, now properly ignoring the tablet that had since turned off.

Xisuma spluttered for a moment, but before he could say anything in response the door to Mumbo's home slammed open, revealing the man himself. The two at the table jumped, the avian's wings flinching outwards and hitting the chair beside him. Mumbo looked frazzled but overjoyed, and he completely ignored the admin.

"Hi Mumbo! What's up?" He asked, trying to feign uninterest in what clearly concerned him.

However, Mumbo didn't speak, instead running over to him and grabbing him by his shoulder's. On instinct, he put his own hands over the other's, looking up in confusion and then over at Xisuma. The admin shrugged, leaning backwards slightly.

"I know it!" Mumbo yelled, beginning to shake the avian.

He yelped, tightening his grip on Mumbo's hands and closing his eyes. "Stop shaking me! What do you mean?" He both shouted and asked, voice wobbling from the shaking and head panging.

"Your name!"

"Then say it! Quit shaking me!" He yelled back, ignoring the snort from Xisuma. The movement stopped just as suddenly as it began, and he moved his hands to grip the table and chair, steading himself for a moment and closing his eyes. Breathing deeply through his nose, he sighed as his headache felt less painful than when he was being shook. "What is it?"

"It's Grian! I don't know how I remembered it but my brain just said it!" Mumbo announced cheerfully, bouncing on his heels as if he couldn't stay still.

His own brain short circuited, however. He opened his eyes and stared at Mumbo, mouth agape. That sounds... correct? It sounds right. "Huh..?" He whispered, mouthing the name silently.

Xisuma clapped from where he was sitting, "I assume that's correct, from your reaction. Grian, it's nice to finally have a name to your face."

But he couldn't hear him. Not properly, at least.

He leaned back into the chair, wings limp by his sides now. Squeezing his eyes shut, he brought his hands up to his eyes, rubbing them with his palms. The headache was suddenly much more worse.

Mumbo stilled, exchanging a worried glance with Xisuma. "Grian? Are you okay?"

In response, he groaned, "just fine..."

A memory flashed across his mind, of another avian grinning at him, saying his name to him and saying goodbye at the same time. Another, this time of Them saying his name Grian was no longer his, that he would now be known as Xelqua.

He bit his lip, forcing the memories down. A cool hand brushed his forehead, and he leaned into it. "Sorry." He muttered, not removing his hands.

"Don't be. Is this like when you mentioned your wings?" Mumbo asked, sounding further away than where he assumed he was.

"Worse." He nodded, moving his wings so they were propped up where they usually were, making his mind focus on something else than the pain.

"What do you mean? Worse than before?" Xisuma asked, sounding much closer than he expected. Was the cool hand his? His addled brain wondered.

"I- we were gonna message you about it, truly, but it must've slipped my mind." Mumbo stammered, "a memory of his surfaced and made his head hurt. It wasn't this painful before, though, I think."

"Definitely not." He groaned, bringing his legs up to his chest and leaning his head against them, moving his hands to wrap around his legs in replacement. Xisuma's hand left for a brief moment but quickly rested in his hair, and it sounded like Mumbo walked closer.

"Was it something I said?" He asked anxiously.

"Probably my name. Brain didn't agree, heart did." He explained, "not your fault."

"I wonder if there's a way to stop the pain when you remember things from the past." Xisuma wondered, and he shrugged in reply. "Do you want us to say your name now?"

"Yes please. I don't wanna remember the past name They gave me." He spat, knowing that no matter what it'd stick with him like glue.

"Alright, Grian. It sounds good." The admin replied easily, and he smiled into his pants. Mumbo quickly began to ramble about something he was doing earlier that had apparently jogged his memory, filling the empty space easily.

I could get used to this, he thought, I hope I can stay.

"Hey, Grian?" Mumbo asked, turning to face him as he walked into the main room.

"What's up?" He replied, shaking his wings slightly. They felt itchy, and he reached over to one and glided his fingers through the feathers.

"I have a question, regarding the flare-up from last week."

He paused, looking up at the man properly. Mumbo seemed to take it as the sign to continue, and continue he did.

"You explained that it had lasted all day, up until I remembered your name. But that's different than when you brought up the wings, right?"

"It was different, yes." He nodded, moving to sit at the table.

"Well, what do you think was different? Cause both situations were kinda similar." Mumbo leaned against the counter behind him, a conflicted look on his face. "If we can learn to predict these things, it'd be so helpful."

He shrugged, tapping his nails against the wood of the table carefully. "I don't think there was anything different. The headache last week coulda been from anything, then the whole name thing made it worse."

Mumbo sighed, "clever response, and reasonable as well. Still, I hope they don't get worse."

"Me too, bud. Those are awful, and making me remember things I'd rather forget." He shivered, ignoring a sad glance from Mumbo. "Anything on the agenda today?"

"Well, there is something today. We'll be going to the shopping district again to meet everyone for a meeting." As he spoke, Mumbo gradually began to get giddy, making him suspicious, "you've met everyone, right?"

"Yeah, I've at least introduced myself to them, using my name the next time I met them." He nodded, "it's odd. Having my own name again."

"I'd assume it would be. It shouldn't be too long, but it'll be so good to get out again, seeing everyone."

"Is there anything I should prepare for?" He asked, grabbing the book he was reading before. He'd finally gotten to the last few chapters.

"Ahh, nothing, don't worry about it." Came the all too rushed reply. He looked up, squinting at the now nervous man.

"What does that mean."

"Nothing! I've gotta go check on my farms now, don't do anything bad here!"

And just like that, he was gone. He stared at the spot Mumbo just was, confusion muddling his mind enough that he muttered out, "what just happened..?"

===

A few hours passed quietly. He'd finished the book and went to find Mumbo, but could only find traces of his friend. Redstone dust coated his feathers when he left the workshop, and he groaned in irritation.

Walking to the front door and leaving out of it, he spread his wings out in a satisfying stretch. He couldn't properly stretch them out inside, and it'd been too long. Curving one around his side, he brushed his fingers against the dust and the feathers, and remembered something False had told him a while back.

With narrowed eyes, he brought his fingers to the base of an obviously loose feather, and tugged at it carefully. It fell out with little pain, and drifted down to the ground.

He watched it fall, and a sudden urge to repeat the process with the other loose feathers surged into his mind. Looking around, he spotted something that could be used as a chair and walked over, talons sinking into the ground.

Sitting on the crafting table, he brought his legs up and crossed them over each other, talons resting on the edges of the bench beneath him. Bringing his wing over again, he felt around and winced at finally focusing on the uncomfortable loose or bent feathers.

"How did I let my wings get to this state..?" He muttered, dusting off the redstone dust from before.

Reaching out to the top of them, he gripped another loose feather and tugged it out, beginning to repeat the motion for others. Twisting the caps on new ones and crumbling the brittle ones.

It felt relaxing, to be honest. He couldn't reach the back, or the part closer to his torso, but even cleaning the front of his wings seemed to calm a part of his mind.

He hummed quietly as the minutes ticked by, moving onto his other wing when he finished what he could of the current one. A pile of broken or loose feathers grew around where he sat, size varying.

Even if these weren't his true wings, he'd still take care of them.

A knock sounded distantly from the base.

Looking up sharply, he spotted Mumbo in his usual attire, with a fond look replacing his past one from a few hours ago. He wore his elytra- the shimmer beginning to show in the sun. "You doing good?"

Tilting his head, he thought the words through before answering, "oh! Yeah. Wings got dirty."

"Yeah?" Mumbo replied, closing the door as he came closer. He looked at the small pile of feathers that sat below him, some being blown away from the wind.

"Went looking for you and got redstone dust on them." He grimaced, shaking his wings out. "I can't get the back."

"We have to go soon, unfortunately. I could help you with the back later?"

"Maybe." He nodded, hopping up. Crouching down immediately after, he quickly scooped up the loose feathers. "Got a bag I could put these in?"

"Just put them in a chest, we can do something with them later." Mumbo said, quickly putting one down. He opened it up and dropped them into it, closing the top and shaking his wings out.

"Any redstone dust on them?" He asked, turning around quickly.

"Hmm, nope. Come on, follow me."

Turning back around, he quickly jumped back as Mumbo lit the rocket and threw it down, covering his face from the smoke explosion. Looking back up, he saw his elytra open up and begin gliding towards the shopping district. With a groan, he opened his wings up once more and jumped up, flapping them and hurrying to catch up.

"Warn me next time!" He called out, finally arriving next to the mustached man.

"Sorry! I'm anxious!"

"For what?" He tilted his body to the side, looking at Mumbo's face as his friend looked away quickly.

"Uh, nothing. You'll love it."

"I'm getting real suspicious of you, Mumbo." He shot back, beating his wings harder when he saw the rocket in his hands.

"For what, Grian? This afternoon will be so fun."

Squinting at Mumbo's face, he looked ahead and flew forward, listening as the rocket was set off again and watching as Mumbo was pushed forward, ahead of him once more.

They repeated the motion for the rest of the short trip, chatting about the meeting and him getting increasingly more confused over why Mumbo was so adamant he'd enjoy it.

The clearing that they were heading for appeared below them, and Mumbo pointed down. "I'll meet you down there?"

"Sure, does your elytra stuff now allow you to go straight down?"

"It hurts." Mumbo winced.

"Ah, okay. I'll see you down there." He nodded, and quickly he dove down, rising up a while up before slowly landing on the grass a few blocks away. A few people were already in the clearing, and waved towards him.

"Grian! Good to see you!" Scar hurried over, a wide smile on his face. He looped an arm around his shoulders, leading him over to a group of chairs set to the side. "Come sit down. You and Mumbo are early."

"If Mumbo and I are early, then everyone else here is super early." He nodded, tucking his wings close to himself.

"Well, today is a special event, so I had to get here early." Scar said, tilting his head up with a proud smile.

"What is so special about today? Mumbo's been so skittish about it." He finally asked, dodging out of Scar's arm.

"Oh, has he kept it secret? Well, I'll keep it a secret too." The man winked, and he groaned. A thump behind them, though, made him turn around and see Mumbo dusting himself off.

"Good to see you, Mumbo." Scar waved, and the other jogged over, elytra still on his back.

"Hello! How have you been?"

"Good, good. Just leading Grian here to his seat. Follow me." Scar turned around again. They followed behind him, and began to say hello to the other people who were there.

Sitting down, he noticed the chair's back was a bit lower- just the perfect height for his wings to rest on. Leaning forward, he twisted around and looked at the back, noticing that it was, indeed, lower than others. Looking around, he spotted only a few others that looked special.

Confused, he commented, "the chair is odd."

"Made for your wings, customized." Scar commented. He stared at him for a second before settling back in, the wood on his back feeling odd. He's never had it perfectly made for himself before.

"Grian, I think Xisuma wants to talk to you about something." Mumbo said from beside Scar.

"Hm?" He looked around, spotting the admin standing a bit away and chatting to Doc. "He seems busy."

"Give him a minute, Mumbo." Scar shot at the man, and Mumbo shot something back at him.

He looked across the clearing, ignoring the squabble beside him. False was arriving nearby, Ren and Cleo walking over to greet her. Tango was sat nearby with Impulse and Bdubs, chatting away about something he couldn't hear properly.

Doc waved goodbye to Xisuma and walked over to where Ren and Cleo were headed, and he saw the admin walk closer. "Grian, a word quickly?"

An odd feeling formed in his gut, and he stood up, "sure."

"Follow me, it'll be brief."

"See you in a jiffy, G!"

He smiled at Scar and Mumbo, waving at them before following behind the Voidwalker. Why did he want to talk to him? Was it to say he should prepare to leave? Or something else?

They walked to just beside a table that held some food, standing beside a tall oak tree. Xisuma stopped beside the tree, and he stopped just in front of him, wings tense behind himself.

"Why do you think I asked you to follow me?" Xisuma asked, leaning against the tree behind him.

"Many things, and too little things." He shrugged, "could be anything."

"It's one specific thing, today. Nothing regarding your code or the past." The other joked, shoulders shaking briefly. "I assume you know, anyway."

"I believe it's regarding something of my stay here." He commented, crossing his arms.

"Bingo. It's something about it indeed."

He narrowed his eyes, "if my time here is gone, quit playing it up."

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head, helmet's visor glinting in a small patch of sunlight. "It's nothing of that sort."

"Then why bring it up?" He asked back.

"Here in Hermitcraft, we have a system. Every time we have a new world, we look at a group of people we all know and see who would be a good fit here. There are some exceptions, obviously, but most people here have been welcomed with open, familiar arms." Xisuma began, and the feathers on the sides of his head shook.

"Where are you going with this?"

"The group of hermits take a vote on if we let the new person in or not. As I have just said, there are exceptions. You are one of them."

"Huh?" His brain short circuited. "What do you mean?"

"Over the past few weeks we have all talked about this, and with your truly unique circumstance- I haven't told anyone about the secret- we all agree it's best if you stay here. Plus, we're all becoming friends."

He squinted at Xisuma again, searching what he could see of the other's face to see if he was lying. "You're lying."

"Nope. I'm surprised Mumbo hasn't told you yet, he's bad at keeping secrets."

"I get to stay?"

"Yep. It's all settled." The admin nodded, "would you like too?"

"I would love too! I don't really think I know any place outside of here I'd be able to go too." His feathers ruffled as his body came to terms with the joy that was beginning to fill it. "You mean it?"

"Of course. Any questions you have, you can ask anyone." He swept a hand out, gesturing to the clearing behind them. "Although I'd usually tell the person in private about the news, I figured today would be best to tell you as everyone's already gathered."

He smiled, "thank you, Xisuma."

A hand was placed on his shoulder, "anytime, Grian. We're here to help, and offer you a place to stay. Now, you should get back to Scar and Mumbo, they're starting to look angsty."

Turning around, he spotted the two looking over at them, faces too far away to get an accurate description on what they're feeling.

"The meeting will start when everyone gets here, and I'll tell everyone you're staying."

He twisted his head back to the admin, shooting a grin his way, before beginning to run back to Mumbo and Scar. When he got close enough, he stopped quickly and pulled them both into a hug.

"Woah!" Mumbo yelled, and Scar began to laugh in his grasp.

"How'd you react?" Scar asked, hugging him back.

"I'm staying!?" He said, sounding incredulous to his own ears.

"You happy?"

"More than that!" He laughed. He set the two down, face beginning to feel sore from the smiling, "I'm feeling much more than excitement. I don't have to leave!"

"Of course not, buddy!"

"I told you that you'd be happy!" Mumbo pointed at him, and he swatted his finger away.

"Yeah, yeah, but you were so vague about it." He giggled, sitting back in his chair. "When Xisuma pulled be aside I was so concerned I'd be told to leave."

"Now why would he do that?" Scar scowled playfully, sitting down beside him as Mumbo pulled his own chair around so he sat in front of the two.

"I don't know, my brain is being weird." He said, gesturing with his hands beside his head.

The other two laughed beside him, and he followed suite, feeling his chest tighten. I haven't laughed like this in ages, he thought, a small smile on his face now as Mumbo and Scar began making jokes about something or other.

Tilting his head back, he looked up at the blue sky briefly, and decided, maybe I should build a base in the water. It's been so long since I've been near an actual ocean.

Chapter Text

She wrapped her hand around the necklace she wore, a soft smile gracing her face as she tucked her wings into herself. People passed by quickly, all aiming to get to their destination so early in the morning- just as she was.

Ducking into the small shop, she spotted a head of orange hair and hurried over, talons clicking quietly on the tile floor. Letting go of the necklace, she waved at the girl, saying, "morning, Gem."

"Oh! Pearl! Good morning." The deer hybrid looked up and brightened when she saw the avian. "How are you?"

"Good, yourself?" Pearl replied, twisting her chair to the side and sitting down. Carefully and slowly, she flapped her wings so the feathers weren't stuck on anything.

"The same, excited for today." Gem tapped the table with a finger, sipping at her drink. "I do wonder why we've been asked to meet here by Xisuma."

"There's only one thing I can think of." She hummed, bringing her hand back up to her necklace to fiddle with the three feathers there. Looking over at her friend, she noticed her eyes dart down to it. Narrowing her eyes, Pearl raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry! You just always wear that. I'm curious." Gem shrugged, looking embarrassed for only a second.

Pearl shook her head, "it's fine, you can ask."

"What is it, exactly? I assume it's something to do with your species." She gestured at her wings, "like how us deer decorate our ears or antlers with special items related to the people we grew up with."

"It's basically like that. These feathers are from my brothers." The feathers on the sides of her head flickered, "they both have one of mine, and vise versa."

"But there's three..?" Gem asked hesitantly, swirling her almost empty cup passively.

Huffing a sigh, Pearl said, "I don't wanna explain that here. Plus, I assume Xisuma is near anyway."

"True. Sorry for prying."

"It's fine, I pry all the time, don't I?" She joked, before looking over at the counter where a small line had formed, "you reckon' I have time to order a drink?"

"Should do."

"Then I'll be right back." Standing up again, Pearl walked over to the line quickly. Aware that it was only a distraction, she smiled at Gem before leaving and faced the front of the line, fighting to keep her expression neutral. _It's not Gem's fault for being curious,_ she thought.

After around 3 minutes, she got to the front, ordered her drink, paid, and stood off to the side, waiting quietly when she felt a buzz in her pocket. Pulling out her communicator, she saw Jimmy's name pop up.

With an exasperated sigh, she unlocked the device and opened his message, reading it quickly.

<SolidarityGaming> Good luck for today! Whatever it is! Martyn says it too, don't worry about him

<PearlescentMoon> Thank you lol, tell him I said thank you too :)

"Order for Pearl!"

Looking up sharply, she hurried over to grab it, "thank you!"

Walking back over to where Gem was sitting, Pearl immediately noticed the third person who was sitting with her now. He wore dark armour, with a helmet covering his head, and was chatting with Gem casually. Narrowing her eyes, she approached with a slower pace before the deer spotted her.

"Pearl! This is Xisuma, did you not notice him come in?"

"Oh. Guess not, hello." She greeted, sitting down just like she had before, setting her drink down after. "Sorry."

There seemed to be a slight delay in his response, and she looked up to see him staring at her through a purple visor. She raised an eyebrow, and his eyes widened. Bringing a hand up to where his mouth would be, he coughed before speaking, "no need, I could see you were busy. How are you?"

"Good, anxious." Pearl replied, settling back and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, dragging her fingers down it so it wasn't stuck in her white feathers.

"Why?" He asked, and Gem quickly cut in.

"Who wouldn't be nervous? After all, we don't entirely know why we were asked to meet you." She explained, an ear flicking as if a fly landed on it. A pale green gemstone attached to a gold chain clanked together as she did so.

"Oh, easy enough." Xisuma nodded, digging around in a bag that she just noticed he had. "You both had some questions about joining the Hermitcraft world. After I asked you to fill in the papers and stuff, we had a meeting to discuss it all and ultimately would love to meet you both officially."

"Wait, really?" Gem perked up immediately, and Pearl's eyes widened. "You mean it?"

"Yep. I'll just need to get your communicator ID's so we can chat more about it and then I'll answer any questions you might have."

"Of course." She nodded, and dug her's out from where she pocketed it earlier. Handing it over to the admin, he copied the ID to his and did the same with Gem's, then handed them back. "Any questions?"

"Any that I can answer." He joked.

"Is there anything crucial we should know before joining?" Gem asked, leaning over the table slightly. Pearl took a sip of her drink, listening carefully.

"Not that I can think of. We've got a good collection of people from all over, no-one will ask you deeply personal questions- such as backgrounds- unless you bring it up. Although we do host a few games within the world, examples include tag." Xisuma began, fidgeting with something on his communicator, "what I've just sent you is a list of everyone you'll be living with for as long as you want. Look at it whenever."

She nodded, putting it on the table as Gem slipped hers inside her bag. "Any sort of lore or whatever?"

Xisuma shrugged, "it depends on the world and what we want to depict. During this one we had a turf war."

"Oh." Gem deadpanned, and she laughed into her drink.

"It's not always stuff like that." The man waved his hand in the air, "it's fun with everyone. You two will love it there, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so." Pearl dipped her head, "I've been pretty bored not doing much after my previous world."

"I'm excited to meet new people."

"Well, I'm sure you'll both have the best time." Xisuma chuckled. Pearl's wings shifted behind her, and she relaxed into the chair to get more comfortable.

Something in the back of her mind nagged at her, however.

===

She sat down on the cushioned seat, wings folded behind her comfortably. Resting her talons on the ottoman in front of her, she finally opened up her communicator to see the files that Xisuma had sent both her and Gem.

He hadn't mentioned anything suspicious beforehand, but had acted odd when she greeted him. Humming, Pearl opened up the file and began to look at the pictures and profiles of her soon to be... what would she call them? Neighbours? Friends? Family?

Pausing her scrolling, she looked up at the wall opposite her, before shaking her head. Family? Ridiculous.

Her black nails scratched pleasantly against the screen, not hard enough to leave marks on it's delicate surface but light enough to produce a nice sound. Humming, her eyes roved across the pictures and words mindlessly.

Suddenly, Pearl paused again. Rereading the words she just read.

Mouth agape, she looked at the picture she had just skimped over previously.

White feathers, dark, empty, black eyes staring back. Something in the back of her mind chanted voidvoIDVOID.

She tapped the image.

Dusty brown hair, lightened in the sun, cut to exactly as she remembers. White wings behind him, looking almost iridescent in the picture's lighting.

Sitting up straight, Pearl rubbed her eyes violently, blinking away stars and black splotches and looked back at him.

A message went through her communicator.

<InTheLittleWood> Everything all good? I thought you'd message us when you're done

Pearl tapped on it immediately, fingers beginning to shake.

<PearlescentMoon> Both you and Jimmy need to get here now.

She then exited out of there again to go right back to staring at his image.

The person she thought she'd never see again was staring right back at her.

It was Grian- but something happened to him.

Xisuma sat up with a groan, bedsheets pooling at his waist as he rubbed his eyes. The air was thin and crisp in his base, and it was quiet as all mornings were. Sighing peacefully, he moved to get out of bed when the ringing coming from his bedside table alerted him to his communicator buzzing.

Reaching over, he recognised the ID as Pearl- the avian he'd met the day before that bears a striking resemblance to Grian. "It's so early..?" He muttered, before tapping on the accept button.

"Xisuma!" Pearl's accented voice yelled down into the mic, and he winced, pulling it back and slouching slightly.

"Hello, good morning. What can I do for you so early?" He asked, rubbing a hand down his face as he tried to wake up.

"Where did you find Grian!?" Her tone was a garbled mix of emotions that got Xisuma sitting up properly.

"What do you mean?" Standing up, he reached the armour stand that stood beside the bedside table.

Xisuma began to detach the pieces from the stand as Pearl- and was that two people in the background?- spoke some more. "Grian! The avian? He's on the list of people that's in your care. Where did you find him?"

"Why are you asking?" He questioned, keeping his tone neutral, "I cannot share any personal information like that to just anyone."

"He's-" There was a pause from the other side of the call, and he took the opportunity to slip his helmet on and connect his communicator to it. "We believe he's our brother."

That caused him to pause, now. "Brother?"

"Yes. Has he really not mentioned being a brother?"

Xisuma hummed quietly, "when we found him, he had no memory of any past. It's any luck we have Mumbo with us- he apparently knew him before."

"Mumbo was his best friend!" A male voice called out, and he shot a quizzical look to the device that now settled into the forearm piece of his armour.

"It's since been a few years now. More memories have come back, but nothing related to siblings." He finished, sitting down on his mattress again.

"Can we meet him?" Pearl asked, "it's been far too long. Even if he doesn't remember I- we-"

"I understand. All I can do is ask him, unfortunately. But he's most likely to say yes."

"Please ask. We want to know if our brother is okay after everything that could've happened."

"I'll get back to you later today." He said, and on the other side of the call came a collection of goodbyes, thank yous, and sorrys about the early call.

When the call clicked off, he sighed heavily into his helmet and closed his eyes. What a complicated mess that came from forgotten memories. Grian had siblings?

Could he ask Mumbo about them? No, Mumbo's memory about Grian is as bad as the avian's own. Again rubbing a hand down his helmet, he opened his eyes and stared out the window of his room. "Time to find an avian, I guess."

His talons wrapped around the top of the pole, balancing himself carefully as he looked down at the barge beneath him. There'd been a bad storm late last night, so he was checking on the glass roof of his shop.

Deciding that it seemed all good, he spread his wings out to hop off and fly down when someone called out to him.

"Grian!" Came the familiar voice, and his ear feathers pricked. Turning his head to try and spot who it was, he looked to the front of the barge and quickly spotted Xisuma standing there, wringing his hands anxiously in front of himself.

While confused, he continued to flap his wings and flew down quickly, landing in front of the admin without any additional flourish. Shaking his wings out and folding them loosely behind himself, he turned to the Voidwalker and looked up, asking, "what's up, X?"

"I've gotten a request from one of the new people who are joining us next world." He said, and Grian raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is it Pearl?" He asked, and immediately Xisuma asked back.

"How'd you know?"

"Mental guess? Who knows what goes on in my brain anymore." He shrugged, "what's that got to do with me, though?"

"She called me early this morning asking to meet with you and if she was able to bring two other people. There's something I should mention first, should we sit?" Xisuma began before gesturing to a nearby bench. Nodding, Grian followed him over and sat down.

Angling himself so his wings weren't pressed uncomfortably against it's wooden back, he looked at the Voidwalker who sat beside him and asked, "what is it you gotta tell me?"

"Well, when I went to meet both of the new hermits early yesterday, I immediately noticed Pearl looked a lot like you. Like same hair and wings- but we both know the wings aren't exactly..." he trailed off, and he nodded once again, grimacing. "But it's whatever, really. Everything went normal, and I think they'll be very good additions to us."

"I do remember the name Pearl being familiar to me, almost the same way Mumbo's name was. Back when you guys found me." He explained, crossing his legs absentmindedly, "but I think because I haven't seen her, nothings flared up."

"That's good. Your memory flare-ups are a concern for me, despite the fact you gain a memory from them."

"Why?"

"Ah, anything could happen during them. We still don't know if you'd remember anyone you knew before everything or if they'd remember you."

"I mean, it seems Pearl knows me."

"True enough," Xisuma shrugged, "shall I continue?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He nodded.

"There were two other people with Pearl when she called, and while she said no names she also said that the three of them are your siblings- that's why she wants to bring them if you agree to meet." The admin finished, "I'd be there when it happens, as it'd most likely be on the next world. I could troubleshoot some things while you guys chat."

He hummed, leaning his head back and staring up at the cloudy blue sky. His gut twisted as he thought, an unfamiliar emotion settling there, and he replied, "I think I'd like that, both meeting them and you being there, even in the background."

"I'll let her know that you agreed. What time would work for you?"

"Any time would, really," Grian shrugged, "things have gotten quiet and no-ones buying anything since the end of this world will be soon."

"Day after tomorrow, around midday?" Xisuma asked, already typing something into his communicator.

"Sure." He nodded, smiling, "that'd be perfect."

"Great. I'll meet you in front of your base so we can go."

===

He sat on the couch beside Scar, listening as Mumbo spoke about some redstone contraption he hadn't been able to figure out in this world. Scar hummed quietly, before breaking into the one-sided conversation.

"Why not do it next world? It's not like it's gonna disappear with your smart brain."

"I suppose I could." Mumbo sighed, finally taking a seat on the couch beside the one they were on, "I was so excited to figure it out here, though."

Grian shrugged, "it's like what Scar said, this world isn't going to disappear. We're just going to another one so we can start new projects."

"Speaking of which! What bases are you guys wanting to build next?" Scar leaned forward, grinning.

"I want to build a mountain. Not sure what design yet but I want it to be big enough to fit a sorter inside." The redstoner said, looking up at the roof.

"Ambitious. I have an idea for tag, but no spoilers." Grian replied, fiddling with a feather that had fallen loose.

"I haven't got many ideas yet." The man beside Grian leaned back, "we'll see where the world takes me."

He nodded, twirling the feather absentmindedly when the feathers on his head twitched. Looking at Mumbo, he noticed the other staring. "What's wrong, Mumbo?"

"You seem distracted."

"I am." He admitted, tilting his head, "nothing too bad, though."

"Tell us, we'll listen." Scar looked over, gesturing at Mumbo to come closer. With a skeptical look, he got up and made his way over, sitting beside Scar in the squished spot there. "You were too far away."

"Okay..? Anyway, mate, we won't judge."

"It's nothing like that." Grian glared, but he hardly put any force behind it.

A few moments of silence went by before he huffed, dropping his shoulders and his head. "Xisuma went to meet the new hermits that are going to be joining us next world, and apparently Pearl is my sister."

Another moment of silence.

"Oh."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Apparently I have 3 siblings-" He huffed again, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. He felt his wings begin to shake slightly, and stilled them as best he could. "I'm meeting them tomorrow in the next world."

"That's awfully quick." Mumbo said, and it was quickly followed by a yelp- Scar must've elbowed him. He laughed slightly, and moved his head to look at his friends.

"Apparently, Pearl called Xisuma super early yesterday morning."

"Oh? How early?" Scar asked, leaning closer.

"I don't know, I'd assume she woke him up." He snickered.

"It seems you two are in fact siblings already." Mumbo brushed a finger across his mustache, "it's funny. Pearl's name seemed familiar to me as well."

Grian closed his eyes and breathed in, exhaling quietly, "I hope their hopes are put right. I don't want to be someone I'm not to them."

"I doubt it, you don't remember your past, but they could remember it for you if they are your siblings." Scar patted his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to look at the other's green ones.

"Thanks."

"It's no problem. Any other issues you're thinking of?"

"Well, what if a memory flare-up happens?"

"Isn't Xisuma going to be there? He knows what to do." Mumbo asked, shifting to sit on the edge so he could properly look at the avian. "Just explain to Pearl and the other two- are there two others?- the issue."

"Yes, Xisuma's gonna be there, yes, there's two more, and yes, I plan to explain it all to them." He listed, "we're also going tomorrow midday."

"That's not too early."

"But it's early enough where I think you should go to bed."

"What? The sun's hardly set." He sat up properly at Scar's words, sending a questioning look his way.

"With how anxious you feel, you'll be tossing and turning all night." Scar said, grabbing his cane and standing up quickly. Grian shot a look at Mumbo, who shrugged back at him.

"I'm not that anxious." He stood up a few seconds after, wings relaxed behind him.

"Eh, it'll also pass the time."

Rolling his eyes, Grian followed the man a few steps behind, the clicking sounds of his talons on the floor accompanied by two sets of footsteps and the thud of Scar's cane. The tall walls of his base towered above the three of them, and Scar began to hum a little tune once more to fill the quiet halls.

"G, I have no idea how you can live in such a large mansion." He hummed, eyes roaming the walls.

"Well, you get used to it." He replied, "do you know where you're going?"

"Yep! To the front door!"

"Why?" Mumbo asked, sounding perplexed.

"We gotta let Grian sleep, Mumbo."

"I thought we were going to have dinner?" He asked, wings shifting behind himself.

"We can do that tomorrow so you can tell us all about meeting your possible siblings. I'll bring the food to cook here."

"I still don't trust you in the kitchen, Scar." Mumbo said, "I'll cook."

"I can help, guys."

"And yet, I have the oddest feeling that you'll be distracted all night."

Shaking his head, he picked up the pace and took the lead from Scar, "whatever. You were going the wrong way."

"What! You never told me that!"

===

The sun shone high in the sky as he paced back and forth in front of his mansion, wings held high behind himself. It wasn't quite midday yet, but his mind was racing as he thought about what could happen.

Biting one of his nails anxiously, he paused and looked up once more, a cloud drifting across the sun covering him with a shadow.

"I guess Scar was right..." He muttered, beginning to pace once more. He had, indeed, tossed and turned once midnight hit.

What if they're wrong? That I'm not their brother? Would they take solace that I look like them? What if I am their brother? I only know the name Pearl out of them all. Nothing about the past.

Shaking his head with a frustrated huff, he opened his eyes and spotted a shape gliding closer in the sky. Looking up to get a better look, it got closer and closer until he could make out the shape of Xisuma's classic helmet.

His wings relaxed slightly, taking an unknown comfort at the admin's presence, and he waved up at him.

Landing not so far away, Xisuma took the elytra off and looked over, waving back. "Good morning, Grian. Nervous?"

"Who wouldn't be nervous." He chuckled, walking closer. "I don't have anything in my inventory or anything. To make it easier."

"Good, do you have an empty chest or shulker box around here?"

"Yeah, follow me quickly." Nodding, Grian turned around and walked up the steps to wherever he could find a chest- or wood. The sound of footsteps behind him was something he could focus on other than his rushing mind.

When they finally found something for the Voidwalker to deposit his stuff into, Grian began to anxiously wring his hands in each other as the admin dropped his items in. The sound stopped for a moment, and Xisuma spoke up suddenly, "are you okay?"

"Already said, just nervous." Grian repeated, "worried my memories will play up."

"You'll be following me in the void anyway, so I'd be there before you. I believe they're already there, so I can explain the details to them before you arrive." Xisuma explained, "if that's alright."

"Sounds better than what I thought to do." He admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"And what would that be?"

"Not telling them that..?" Grian leaned back, and the admin just shook his head with a small laugh.

"I don't know what else I expected. You okay with going now?" He held out a covered hand.

"I'd rather not put it off." He agreed, slipping his own into Xisuma's cold palm. It sent a shiver up his arm, and he flapped his wings behind himself.

"Alright, just follow me." The other's cool voice was the last thing he heard as the world around them disappeared. Blinking his eyes open, Grian noticed he was now floating in the void.

Wings flared out, he also noticed the phantom feeling of multiple other ones around himself. Looking around at where he could, however, he saw nothing. Frowning, he felt a tug on his hand.

Glancing over, he saw only a light shape of green pulling him away. Remembering why he was there in the first place, he pushing his wings forward to follow Xisuma.

He listened carefully to the void around them, knowing that- despite his friend being a Voidwalker- he was not built for this type of void. He had explained previously that he could not hear in the emptiness between worlds, only see the lights that they provided.

A distant world was where they were headed, and as they approached, Grian noticed the sense of Voidwalker from it. Seems that he's already gotten the protective code around it, he thought, drifting quietly behind the admin.

Suddenly, the cold hand in his own disappeared, and for a brief moment he floundered. Flashing his wings out, he righted himself and sighed into the void. Rubbing one of his eyes, he looked around once more. Where did he go?

Forcing the panic that began to surface down, he shuffled through his mind to remember Xisuma also saying previously that he would teleport Grian into the new worlds.

It's worked before, he thought, flying closer to the world they had headed for. Reaching a hand out, Grian lightly dragged it through the outer atmosphere of the world, the warmness from it a stark difference from the cold void.

"It's something I could never get over..." He whispered, almost forgetting why he was there to begin with.

A tugging motion pulled at his body, and he whipped his head around to look confused at his empty surroundings before they began to disappear like before. In it's replacement was the overworld of most worlds.

The second his talons hit the ground, he gasped in the clear overworld air with a cough, beating his wings behind him as his lungs readjusted to the atmosphere. It was quiet besides the usual nature sounds, and once he finished coughing, Grian looked around where he had spawned.

However, before he could take a proper look, a gasp sounded a few feet away. His head snapped over, and immediately he took notice of three other avians standing next to Xisuma. The tallest- a girl with white wings folded tight behind her- had her hands covering her mouth, while the other two in similar heights, though not as tall, stared at him with wide eyes.

Xisuma stood off to the side, arms clasped behind his back, looking over with a tilted head.

"Grian..?" The girl asked, and he had to lean forward to hear her properly.

"I'll go sit over by that tree, call me if you need anything." Xisuma said, pointing over to a tall oak tree not that far off. None of them responded, and the admin wandered off, giving the four their time.

"Is it really you?" She asked again, and Grian straightened, looking at them properly. They flinched back once meeting his eyes, only to seemingly grit their teeth and approach.

"What happened to you?" The canary hybrid asked, his sorrow clear in his voice.

"I don't know entirely." He admitted, glad that so far nothing was playing up with his head. "But I do know that I am Grian."

The girl- who seemed to lead the other two right now- stopped right in front of him, her eyes wide as she stared. Grian craned his head back, wincing in the sunlight that shone directly above them. Her blue eyes had tears in them.

"I assume you're Pearl?" He asked, wings fluttering behind him. The word rolled off his tongue smoothly, and he felt comfortable in their presence. Something that was different- he wasn't used to people who he didn't know just yet. He definitely knew these people before.

"Yes." Pearl nodded, sounding like she was choking back more.

"Xisuma was correct- you really don't remember." The third spoke, his brown finch wings tense behind himself.

He sighed, looking away. "Not as much as I should."

"Well, doesn't matter. Could we sit down?" Pearl asked, "we thought you were dead- Griba, it's been years."

Nodding, he frowned, "I know. I-I don't know how to explain stuff to you."

"We could start with when you disappeared?" The second tallest suggested, "I'm Jimmy, if you don't remember. This is Martyn."

"Thank you. And sorry again." He smiled, moving to sit down where he stood. The three followed his lead, and together they sat in a roughly shaped circle- Pearl sat closest to him, her wing brushing up against his.

He didn't move his wing away.

"Well, we were all in the same world when it happened- a world where you were the admin." Pearl began, fiddling with a necklace she wore- they all had the same one, but with different feathers. He glanced at them each, noticing they had small feathers that matched the other two, and a third random one.

"You joined us later than everyone else, remember?" Martyn replied, leaning back on his arms.

She shook her head fondly, "yes, that's right. It was a lovely world- first of it's kind- one where we progressed through centuries old updates of our realities. Nothing was unusual when I joined."

"Yeah, I remember a tad bit of that." Grian nodded, humming as she spoke. "The admin stuff explains a bit."

Martyn continued where Pearl had stopped, "suddenly, these statues of two watchers appeared- previously, the only two. They took control of our world, and stuck us on it until we killed the Ender Dragon.

"We all went to the portal, but when we went through, you weren't there." He finished, the explanation short but sharing a lot more than what Grian himself knew.

"We fought the dragon and escaped the world, but we never found any traces of you- Mumbo didn't even know your name!" Pearl shifted as she spoke, hands gripping onto his shoulders at the end. He looked up at her wide eyes, and recognised a sort of fear in them. "None of knew what happened..." She whispered.

"From what I can remember, at the beginning," he started, not moving to remove her hands. Pearl moved again, now sitting directly beside him with their shoulders brushing. "I'd always been with them- but of course, Xisuma discovered that they messed with my memory coding."

Martyn shook his head, the feathers there pressed against his skull. Jimmy pressed his wing against the other's, and they exchanged a small smile. Grian gripped the grass beside himself, thinking.

"You okay?" Pearl asked softly, and he looked over.

"Yeah. Things changed a bunch." He nodded.

"Of course they did. It's been ages. And we don't even know how long you were with them." She said, shrugging, "our world- evolution SMP- was an experiment. You had to send us back to the beginning essentially. First of it's kind."

"I think that's what made Them interested." Grian frowned, "They said I was one of Their first who joined, gave me a name and everything." He shivered, "I didn't know any better."

"Grian, they wiped your memory." Jimmy retorted, leaning closer. "Of course you wouldn't know any better. If anything, you have sick eyes now."

He snorted, "yeah, they freak people out."

"We don't know where you're looking with them." Martyn replied. "Is the heavy conversation out of the way? I wanna talk about how we've all been."

"Yeah, I agree. We can always meet again to go over that stuff." Grian nodded, "how have you guys been, though?"

"Ah, as good as we could be." Pearl said, "people had questions about what happened, but we didn't share much."

"Couldn't let people know about Them." Martyn scowled, sitting up and crossing his arms. "Speaking of which, how does he know?"

"He?" Grian asked, tilting his head.

"Your admin, over there. He explained stuff and eluded to how you'd been affected by Them."

"Ah, Xisuma is an admin, of course. They teach that stuff in the school." He began to explain, tugging at the grass beside himself as he mutters the next part, "he grew up in a pantheon that worships Them as well, but he mainly worships a specific one."

"Oh, I never took him to be a religious type. Uh, who does he worship?" Jimmy asked anxiously, eyeing Xisuma in the distance. "If you can say it."

Grian sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked over as well. The Voidwalker was typing something on a holographic screen in front of him, from what he could see. "Well, it's complicated."

"Grian." Pearl looked at him, the feathers on her wings puffing up slightly. Her eyes were slightly wide, and she had a grin on her face. Oh no, did she catch on that quickly? He panicked.

"Yes?" He replied, wincing backwards.

"Does he happen to worship you?" She asked.

He blinked, an embarrassed blush warming his face, "well, when you say it like that it sounds different."

"He does!" Pearl jumped up to her knees, wings fluffed up as she laughed. "Oh my god, that's so funny. Have you told him?"

"That's not exactly something he can just tell his friend." Jimmy argued, "'oh, hey, X, I happen to be the one you worship!' that sounds so bad!"

"He gets it!" He glared at her as she sat back, still giggling.

"Well, it's a funny situation." Pearl justified herself, "it's not like I'm gonna tell him."

Grian sighed again, leaning back to stare up at the sun. A soft breeze rolled through where they sat, and he closed his eyes against it. "Should we fly?" He asked.

"Why the sudden question?" Martyn replied, "not that I'm against it."

"It'd be nice. I imagine you guys haven't been able to fly together in a while." He said, looking back at the three of them.

"Well, I say we do. I wanna see your wings too." Jimmy nodded, "they weren't always white and purple."

"Yeah, They changed it." He turned his head to glare at the unnatural wings, "luckily no one's been able to tell what they stand for."

"Your true wings were beautiful." Pearl sighed, bringing her hand up to hold her check, "red, yellow and blue- such rich colours."

"Is that the reason why you guys have the third feather in your necklaces?" He asked, moving to stand again.

"It's old, but it was yours." Martyn stood up as well, giving a hand to Jimmy to help him. "We could give you a necklace like these when we see you next?"

Grian hummed, "yeah, I think that'd be nice."

"Are we gonna fly or what?" Pearl stretched beside him, wings and arms reaching upwards.

"Should you tell him? I don't know how to say his name." Jimmy asked, pointing over his shoulder at Xisuma, who- when Grian looked over- was looking at them with a probably confused look on his face.

"Yeah, I will. Be right back." He nodded, turning to jog closer to the admin.

As he approached, Xisuma moved to stand up, and Grian quickly shook his head, stopping about 10 blocks off and cupping his hands to his mouth. "We're going for a fly!" He shouted.

It took a few seconds, and he got a thumbs up from Xisuma as he settled back against the oak tree. Smiling, he turned back around and jogged back to where the other three were already stretching their wings.

"All good?" Pearl asked him.

"Yeah." He nodded, "should I also stretch?"

"Well, it's not like us three fly all the time where we are." Martyn commented, "I bet you do, with how nice hermitcraft sounds."

"That's true, I fly at least once a day- even if it's for a minute or two to reach something high up." Grian agreed, flapping his wings behind himself slightly. "So, are we flying anywhere, or just flying?"

"You asked." Shrugging, Jimmy stood beside him with his wings loose at his sides.

"We should get a feel on how fast we've all gotten." Pearl grinned, "just like old days."

"Aw, you always win that!" Martyn retorted, glaring at her with playful anger in his eyes.

"Who knows, it could've changed." She shrugged, spreading her white wings, "I'll meet you guys up there?"

And after getting a round of nods from them, she jumped up and flew off, her strong limbs letting her gain air quickly. Grian winced as wind blew into his eyes, spreading his own wings behind himself. "Let's go." He smiled to the other two, and they beamed back.

Soon enough, they were all in the sky, wind blowing in their faces and the ground blocks away. Grian beat his wings to stay up, admiring the other three's wings.

"Wow, Griba, you're wings are pretty in the sun. Not as pretty as your true wings, but I guess these'll do." Pearl commented, circling around him in a way that the words grew quiet behind him and louder as he twisted around.

"Quit circling me!" He laughed, flying away next to the other two.

===

Weeks passed, and with his bag of personal items Grian met with everyone at spawn so they could leave.

Scar stood beside him, leaning on his cane with Jellie resting across his shoulders, and his bag slung across his side. He was chatting as animatedly he could while balancing with Cub, who was also prepared.

They were just waiting on a few more people, and Xisuma was making some last minute code checks to make sure everything was set before they left.

Humming quietly, he walked over to the voidwalker, peering slightly at the screen. "Anything wrong?" Grian asked playfully.

"I hope not." Xisuma replied back, sighing through the filters on his helmet. "Switching servers is hard enough."

"Hey, it won't be too bad." He shrugged, wings in a loose heart shape behind himself. "Pearl and Gem already there?"

"Yep, they send me their messages about 10 minutes ago. You prepared to leave?"

"I got everything I need." Nodding, he gestured to the bag that was nestled between his wings. "Have you packed everything?"

"Keralis made me triple check."

"As he does."

"Ah, Mumbo's here. We're just waiting on Bdubs now." Xisuma commented, looking over to where the redstoner joined them. "I'm all good here."

Grian nodded, smiling up to the admin before jogging over to where Mumbo was now stood next to Scar. "Oh, Grian!"

"Hey!" He greeted the other, stopping in front of him, "excited?"

"Always am. Have you got everything?"

"Mhm, you?" Grian tilted his head at Mumbo's bag, some bits of metal glinting in the sun.

"I believe so. It's so hard parting with stuff, but I'm excited to start on a new world and build a new home." The other sighed, "I already have ideas for some redstone contraptions I can include."

"I expect nothing less." He shook his head fondly.

Minutes passed as they chatted passively, and Grian looked towards where Xisuma was standing and readying the portal for them to go through.

"Oh, are you going to do something before meeting us there again?" Mumbo asked suddenly, leaning down slightly to ask.

"Yeah, don't worry." He smiled, "I won't take too long."

A shuffling sound came from behind them, and they turned around to see Bdubs running up, large eyes wide. "Sorry! Sorry I'm late!"

"It's fine, don't worry." Grian assured him, "just go tell Xisuma that you're here and we'll be off soon."

"Great, thanks G!" Bdubs waved at him before jogging up to their admin. A few minutes passed as they spoke before he nodded and called everyone to the center of spawn.

"Alright everyone! Do we all have everything?" Xisuma called out, standing on a block- that was placed by Keralis- to be seen by everyone.

A round of yep! and yeah! came from the group of hermits. The voidwalker nodded and continued to speak, "we have two new people who are joining us in our next world, and you'll all be meeting them in just a few minutes. This portal here will take us to world 8."

He gestured to the portal that was beginning to swirl next to him, and Grian stared at it tensely. Beside him, Mumbo patted himself down, almost sighing in relief when he was done.

Soon, Xisuma finished his end-of-world-speech and they began to file into the portal. Their admin stood beside it, having gotten rid of the block beneath himself to make sure everything was working smoothly.

Grian stayed at the back of the line, and besides some questions to pass the time, no one asked anything else.

Eventually, it was just him and Xisuma. The other stood beside the portal, finalizing some details before turning to him. "You okay to do the usual?"

"Of course, we did it a few weeks ago." Grian shrugged, walking up beside the other. "I'll meet you guys there as usual."

"Okay, just-"

"Remember to go close to the world and don't drift away, I know." He cut the admin off, gently hitting his arm with his fist, "I'll be okay."

"If you're sure." There was a hesitancy tone in his voice, and Grian smiled up at him.

"You should go through to make sure they're all okay."

"Yep, I'll see you in a few." Xisuma nodded, and he quickly disappeared through the portal with a short look back at him. Waving goodbye, the portal disappeared.

Grian sighed, and stretched his wings out behind himself. A few seconds passed, and he felt the world around himself disappear, growing dark and black like the void.

It was his favourite part of being with the hermits. They never stayed in one world for too long, always moving on when they've had their fun. It gave him a sense of relief, knowing They would never find him.

He spread his wings in the cold of the void, opening his eyes against it, and immediately looked for their new home.

His eyes darted across the void before spotting a sort of familiar world, and he began to drift towards it. It was the same one they'd gone to before so Grian could meet his siblings.

Surprisingly, his mind didn't do the normal stuff when he remembered stuff with them. Unlike his wings, or his name, or anything else. It was the same with Mumbo.

Maybe people are different compared to the other stuff? Grian mused as he glided closer, wincing as he remembered the pain he got from the memory flashes.

Soon enough, Grian reached the world with his friends. Xisuma knew it wouldn't take long, so he didn't need to message him like the first time they had to do this.

Humming quietly in the void, he looked around and observed the worlds that blinked in and out of existence in the distance. Ignoring the phantom senses of the wings he didn't have, Grian reached out to touch the world beside himself as he drifted along.

Something else in the distance caught his eye, and he twisted to look at it closely. Squinting his eyes, he saw the thing move, growing closer and more defined.

He continued to watch for a moment before a chill danced down his spine when it's head turned towards him, wings splaying out in the void. Grian dove to hide behind the new world, fear causing his muscles to tense as he looked around wildly. Had They seen him?

A tugging motion pulled him closer to the world, and he almost cried in relief. The void around him began to disappear as their world did a few minutes ago, and in the last few seconds he was in the void, he exhaled all the air from his lungs and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes next, Grian was in a field just a few blocks away from everyone else who was milling about excitedly. His eyes glanced over them all, and he spotted Pearl's white wings among the crowd.

Breathing in deeply, he sighed and stretched his arms up over his head, finally noticing Xisuma who was standing nearby. With a quick look around, he walked over and whispered to the admin, "X, I gotta speak to you later about something."

"Of course, just message me whenever you can." Came the immediate reply- in the same whispery tone- and he smiled at the other briefly before jogging back over to where everyone else was, forcing his tense muscles to relax.

He settled by Scar, who was hanging around the edges of the crowd with Jellie. The cat was sitting by his legs, fur looking clean as ever. Smiling, Grian crouched down to gently pet the cat as he waited for people to disperse a bit more- or for her to come over.

A few minutes went by as he and Scar stood quietly next to each other, and soon enough Pearl spotted him as she looked around again. Grian saw her eyes seemingly light up and she turned to the people she had been talking too- Impulse and False let her go easily.

Pearl squeezed her way through the crowd- which wasn't that hard, to be honest- and hurried over to him, smiling wide. "Griba! How are you?"

"Good!" He grinned, opening his arms wide to her. She fell into them easily, wings wrapping around him, "you excited?"

"Of course I am." Pearl replied, letting him go. "Do we wait a day before splitting apart?"

"We do." Scar chimed in, his face pulled into his classic smirk, "settling down and telling stories while we make sure everything's okie-dokie. One time we didn't do it and we all died at least once- either to a creeper explosion or skeleton arrows or what have you."

Pearl hummed, looking up at the sky. "Fair enough, I figured you guys would want to get busy right away."

"It's a fun tradition, third time I get to experience it." He nodded, "whenever we get here it's usually an hour before nightfall. The next morning someone will welcome everyone in and we explore!"

"Who do you think it'll be this time?"

Grian hummed- eerily similar to Pearl's earlier one- and said, "dunno. Anyone can, if they want too."

"Well, any ideas who you're gonna build with this time?" Scar asked, sliding his bag off his shoulder and placing it on the ground by his feet. Jellie almost immediately crawled on top of it, curling herself into a ball and tucking her tail over her nose.

"No real idea yet, I'm just gonna look till I find a place. But do you wanna live near me, Pearl?" He questioned the other avian, who's smile widened as he spoke.

"If I don't find a better spot, then sure. After all, it's not like I can't crash at your place." She agreed, wings fluttering as she playfully elbowed him.

"If I remember correctly, Mumbo and I were talking a bit ago about building near each other, but ultimately we'll see where the wind takes us." Scar leaned heavily on his cane as he moved to sit down, huffing quietly as he crossed his legs and laying it across his knees.

"You sure you wanna sit so soon?" Grian looked down to his friend, raising an eyebrow at him, "there's a tree over there for shade."

He shrugged, a grin playing on his face as he spoke, "it's not like we're moving any time soon."

"I mean, if you phrase it like that-" Pearl began, stepping around Grian and shuffling her wings as she sat on the other side of Scar, reaching out to gently pet Jellie, "-I wanna sit too."

"I'm gonna help Joe get some stuff for torches." Grian smiled, shaking his head slightly as Pearl and Scar began to ignore him in favour of talking about how he'd come across Jellie.

===

Later that night, when the moon was high above the sleeping hermits, Grian stared up at the stars, sitting a bit further away on a rock. His wings were folded carelessly around his legs, talons scrapping against the stone beneath himself.

It was grounding- especially in the dark as his mind crept back to the image he remembered from earlier. A shiver ran down his spine.

Torch light flickered against the trees, casting long shadows that drove away any night time mobs. He could hear the clanging of bone against bone, groaning of zombies and slight hisses of creepers.

They could almost overshadow the slight rustling he could hear from where the sleeping hermits lay.

Almost.

Grian twisted his head to look over, laying a clawed hand against the stone that he was sat on. A tall figure had stood up from where it sat near one of the three campfires they had and began to walk towards him.

Fire light from one of the fires caught on his armour, shining a light pink- that's right, Xisuma was talking about changing his armour to reflect that of an axolotl. He'd done it with a bee last season.

He relaxed, not realising he had tensed up, and moved the wing on his left to make space beside himself when the Voidwalker got closer.

"Trouble sleeping?" Xisuma asked, hovering by his side for a moment before sitting down in the newly vacated spot beside him.

Grian sighed, bringing a leg up to rest his chest against his knee, "as usual, when in a new world. Dunno why, really."

"Could this one have something to do with Pearl being here now? Or is it about the thing you wanted to tell me earlier?" Xisuma asked, stretching his legs out in front of him so that they dangled off the rock- even though his soles touched the grass.

The avian turned to look at him, resting his head on his knee in a way that flattened the small feathers on his cheek. "Both? It's complicated."

Xisuma hummed, leaning forward and tilting his head slightly to look at Grian in the slight moonlight that shone down. He could hardly see the admin's face through the visor with it. "We have all night, really. We both know that we-" he gestured between them, the word thick with hidden meaning, "don't need sleep as much."

He snorted, "well, that's true. We both run on like 3 hours a day."

"Voidwalkers don't need as much rest, and you're you." The other offered the weak explanation, and Grian lifted his head with a small smile.

"You're right, we do have all night." Grian shook his wings slightly behind himself, feeling his feathers brush against Xisuma's back as he did so. "To start, when I was in the void earlier, I... saw something."

"Oh?" Xisuma's voice had hint of something new- tense suspicion paired with the clear frown he could hear.

"To put it blankly, I saw one of Them," he paused, flattening the feathers on the side of his head as he adjusted how he sat, being careful as to not accidentally scratch Xisuma. "I'm not as stressed as I would be, considering multiple things. Your coding is so strong that it took a week to figure out the transfer for me for world 7."

"How far away were They?" The admin asked, sitting straighter as the tone of the conversation drifted.

Grian narrowed his eyes at nothing in the tree line, "far enough away that They had to do a double check no doubt. But I..."

"Because of this you want us to be extra careful when leaving the world?"

He relaxed, casting a soft look over to his side where Xisuma was, "yeah, that'd be wonderful."

A cool hand was placed gently on his shoulder, it's weight dipping into his classic red sweater. "Of course we'll be careful. And I'll keep an eye on the firewall code even more than usual."

"They could do anything." Grian frowned.

"I think us two out of everyone here know that the most." The other joked, slouching slightly and bending a leg to rest his other arm on it.

"I mean, Pearl was apparently with me when I was, ya know, so she knows too." He added on.

"Oh? Is that why you're concerned about her too?"

Again, Grian sighed, "yeah. I don't know how to explain it- my subconscious knows more than I do, really."

"With the gap in your memory code, it's to be expected." Xisuma offered, the hand on his shoulder sliding down his arm softly. "It's unprecedented the affect of it long-term."

"But that's the thing, I don't remember if They did anything to her or Jimmy or Martyn cause they were there too when I was taken- I mean, they're all still here so I don't think They did anything. But I'm just so worried about the things that I don't even remember-"

Xisuma's hand gripped his own gently, and Grian looked over with slightly wide eyes. "Grian, calm down. It'll be okay. They know your memory isn't good, and they're fine with it. Believe me, the three of them are just happy to have their brother back."

Grian forced the feathers on his wings to smooth as he breathed in deeply, sending Xisuma a small smile. "Yeah?"

"Yep. And I'm curious, new necklace?" The change in conversation was so obvious between them, but Grian couldn't find it in himself to care.

With his free hand, he reached up and grasped at the rope necklace, three small feathers dangling at the end. Grian smiled, "well, when we met a few weeks ago, all three of them had a necklace like this- they kept my old feathers which I now have proof were parrot wings! My memories didn't play tricks on me!"

"Never said they did." The Voidwalker shook his head, gently drumming his fingers against the back of Grian's hand.

The smile he wore grew softer, and he continued, "still. Anyway, when I pointed it out, they explained what it was and what it meant- then offered to bring me one next time we saw each other. Just turns out that I saw Pearl next and she had brought it."

"What a sweet thing. Is it like that for all avian families?" Xisuma asked, the curious tone in his voice sweet.

"I assume so," he shrugged, spinning the banded feathers slowly between his fingers- each one brushing his palm, "when I had asked, Martyn explained that it's a tradition for avians- giving feathers to loved ones."

"How interesting." Xisuma hummed, "I'd seen other avians in the trading realm with feather decorations, and now I know why."

Grian shook his head, the smile on his face hurting his cheeks. "Well, any plans for this world, or are you just gonna wing it?"

"I want to build an enormous statue coming out of the ocean, just gotta find the correct spot for it." Xisuma explained, shrugging slightly- the movement slightly jostling their still connected hands. "You?"

"I've got plenty of plans in my noggin, including a new idea of tag, but I'm not revealing any clues." He teased, tipping closer to the edge of the rock as his smile grew into a cheeky grin.

===

Grian landed on the roof of his starter base, wings out beside himself to attempt to stay steady as an earthquake rocked their world again. The tiles of his roof clattered together, and one fell off to crash into the ground below him.

He sighed, gripping the textiles with his talons as he carefully maneuvered himself to the top of his roof. Up above, over by the mountains across the horizon, the moon loomed over the clouds, larger than he'd seen it previously.

"How big is it now..?" Grian muttered to himself, tucking his wings loosely behind himself as the quake slowed to a stop.

It'd been about a month since both he and Mumbo noticed that the moon was always full, and seemed slightly bigger. The sight made the nerves along his whole body tingle, and he was suspicious about how it had started.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked over at the moon that rested between mountain peaks, and was about to take a guess on it before the sound of fireworks somewhere to his right alerted him to someone flying in.

Turning his head, Grian spotted another boatem member- Impulse- landing in front of his house, waving up at him and cupping his hands to his mouth.

"Gr--n! C-e-- y--r --m-!"

"What!?" He called down, leaning closer while still balanced on the roof.

"Che-- your co-m!" A clearer version came up, and Grian huffed, quickly spreading his wings and jumping down to glide to a stop beside the demon.

"What are you saying?" He asked again, and Impulse blinked at him for a second before tilting his head.

"Do you even have your comm on you?"

"I should." Humming, Grian patted his wrists, then his pants, and slowed slightly. "Uhm, I don't."

"That explains it." Impulse laughed, elbowing his shoulder, "come on, X's called a meeting."

"Why?" He asked, confused, "I should find my comm first."

"It's regarding the whole moon thing?" The other pointed up to where the moon was sitting, stars beginning to blink in above them as the sky darkened.

"Well, I should've guessed that." Grian mused, "where's the meeting being held?"

"Around spawn from what it says. Do ya think you have time to find your comm?"

"Ah, it'll be around here, I'll find it later." He shrugged, spreading his wings beside himself. "Race you there?"

"Okay! Everyone else should already be headed there."

Grian nodded, giving Impulse no time to prepare as he jumped into the air with heavy wingbeats- the sound quickly accompanied by Impulse rocketing by him with his elytra. He knew better than to expect Grian to wait by now.

Quickly gaining speed, he tilted to the left, observing as the moon raised itself into the night sky more. It was certainly bigger- but what was causing it?

Spawn quickly came into view, and Grian glanced behind himself to see Impulse many blocks away. He snickered, purposefully slowing himself in the air so the demon could catch up.

And catch up he did, after about 2 minutes. Yellow eyes shot a glare at him, and Grian snickered again. "What?"

"I forget how fast you are."

"Come on, we gotta land." Grian had been gliding before, but with a few heavy flaps, he was rushing towards land with Impulse not too far behind.

Landing carefully, he shook his wings out and tucked them behind himself as he looked around the area.

Indeed, almost everyone was there. The other boatem members waved them down from where they were standing, and once Grian checked that Impulse was beside him he jogged over to where they stood.

"Sorry I was late." He apologized, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Pearl shook her head, "other people are late too."

"What do you think the meeting's about?" Scar asked, sitting on one of the chairs that now scattered the spawn area.

"Probably the moon being big." Grian replied, sitting beside him. Mumbo was standing behind the chairs, fingers drumming on the seat Scar was in.

"That's what I'm thinking." The redstoner replied, anxiously looking up at the sky. "I can't think of any other reason."

Pearl sat down on Grian's other side, a wing laying over his own. He playfully hit her's, and she scoffed while responding in the same manner.

Impulse wandered over after a few minutes, eyes sparkling as if he'd gotten a new idea. "Guys, tomorrow we have to do our own meeting, I just thought of something great."

"Yeah? Let's do it, but you're organizing it." Scar grinned, pointing at the demon who rolled his eyes.

"Deal."

"Alright, is everyone here?" A loud voice called out, causing the five of them to look over to the center of the clearing- where a small stage made of slabs had been made. Xisuma stood in the center, with Doc and Ren side by side just a bit behind him.

A few voices rose, all confirming that everyone was at least nearby and wouldn't miss anything. Their admin nodded, looking around the clearing as if to solidify what they were saying. "Then let's get this meeting started. I assume you all know about the whole moon thing right now."

Murmured voices filled the clearing, and Grian glanced over to the other hermits before Xisuma continued. "For the moment, nothing bad has happened besides the currently sporadically done earthquakes. A collection of us are keeping an eye on the moon, and so far there's no need to panic."

Tango raised his hand, and Xisuma pointed at him, "what happens if there is a need to panic later?"

"Then I will start planning our nineth world, just like the previous 8 worlds. It's a simple fix, but a hopefully unneeded one."

"X, if we may?" Doc spoke up, walking forward to stand just a block behind him. Xisuma looked up, nodding, and took a step to the side so Doc and Ren could stand in the center. "Ren and I found a moon rock in our chicken coop, and at first thought it was something from Boatem-"

"Hey!" Grian called out, making Pearl hit his shoulder to shut him up. Ren snorted, his tail passively swaying side to side beside the taller creeper hybrid.

"-anyway, and we're going to investigate it. Anyone who wants to investigate it with us is welcome, but we will share any findings with everyone." Doc finished, glossing over the interruption.

"It's got a weird sensation to it." Ren explained, ears lowered as he thought, "dunno how to explain it. But that's all, really."

Grian hummed, the words striking a cord in his brain as he thought. What was so odd about a moon rock?

===

A knock on his door caused Grian to look up from where he sat, before eyeing the dark sky outside his window.

He hadn't slept in days, thanks to the whole Mooners cult that Mumbo convinced him to join. Almost too luckily, thanks to Xisuma's coding, he felt no bad symptoms of the sleep exhaustion, but he could feel fatigue drag at his limbs as he stood up.

Moonlight from the looming moon washed over Grian's floor as he stood opposite his door, wondering if he should really open it for his late night visitor, when the knock came again- a heavy rapping against wood.

Sighing, he twisted the doorknob and opened it, swinging the door open before he could second guess himself. "Good evening, it's almost midnight, why-" Grian began, yawning before realising who was there.

"Have you even slept?" An all too familiar- was that a twinge of panic?- accented voice asked and he blinked a few times before focusing on the man in front of him. Pink armour gleamed in the light, and he squinted as he looked up through his visor.

"Xisuma? What're you doing here?"

"I know it's late, but Ren contacted me about some suspicious coding they found in the moon rock that crashed into their base and-" The other began to ramble, revealing the panic he'd picked up on earlier, and Grian grabbed his hand to drag him into his base and out of the open.

"X, calm down. What's this weird coding? And why've they only found it now, it's been a while since it crashed into their base?" He asked, tilting his head up at the admin.

Breathing in deeply, Xisuma tightened his grip on Grian's hand before loosening it again and sighing. "He sent me a snippet and it's the same coding that's in yours."

Grian froze. "What?"

"That means that They're involved in the whole moon thing." The Voidwalker's voice was panicked, and so was Grian- at least internally.

His eyes widened, and thoughts went wild. They'd seen me before I was teleported into the world. Was that the cause of this? Was it my fault our home was being threatened?

He almost voiced his thoughts out loud, but a hand on his upper arm shocked him out of the idea. "World nine would be made quickly if needed- hell, we could even move to it before the moon crashes into us, but what if They follow? We can't have that- for multiple reasons."

Swallowing thickly, Grian forced his voice to stay steady as he quickly looked around his base to see what could be sat on quickly, "let's sit down, hey?"

As he eyed his options, he sighed before deciding to lead the slowly spiraling Xisuma to his bed that was almost hidden by the staircase. It was at least comfier than his other options.

Making the Voidwalker sit down, he sat beside him and laid a wing over his back, leaning forward so he could see the other's eyes. "Xisuma, it'll be okay."

"Yes, I know that, but They're Them! I mean, you were one of Them once-"

"I was once. That's more than anyone could ask for." He cut in, feathers flattening. "I can help in whatever way you need, but the real issue with moving worlds is that there's no concrete way for me to get between worlds like you guys. It's the Void or nothing."

"That's another thing I'm concerned about- I don't want you getting caught again." Xisuma's head dipped lower, an almost ashamed tone to his voice.

"If anything, I'd rather that then They take anyone else." Grian said, his other hand moving to cover Xisuma's that was still in his grasp. "I know Them, and I can flee again."

"But how long would that take? You know what They'd do to you if They got you into Their hold again."

He sighed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes as he sorted his thoughts. "Xisuma. Just focus on getting world nine prepared. I doubt that- with Them involved now- we can stay here. Make sure Doc and Ren are okay after investigating the moon rock. I believe They could've sent it through the world border but couldn't control it afterwards."

Xisuma nodded from beside him, his cool hand relaxing in Grian's own palms. "I'm sorry. Xelqua, it's so late."

A shiver danced down his spine as Xisuma uttered the name, but he covered it easily- could he say that he'd gotten used to the other saying that name?

"Don't worry about it. You discovered something that caused you to panic and immediately came over for assistance, I assume?" Grian questioned teasingly, the feathers on the sides of his head fluttering.

"In a way. I just wanted to make sure that everything I was thinking of doing would make sense." Xisuma shrugged, sounding sheepish when he realised exactly what his actions did. "Sorry again for coming by so late."

"Again, don't worry about it. It's not like I'm sleeping currently." He replied, moving the hand that laid on top of Xisuma's to stretch that arm out.

"You never did respond to my question earlier."

"Which one?" He asked.

"You not sleeping."

"Ah, I joined Mumbo's Mooner cult. Can't sleep. Only really joined because sleeping was interfering with my own experiment."

"Oh? Never heard of this." The Voidwalker tilted his head, resting his free arm on his thigh as he leant forward.

"Measuring the moon, above Midnight Alley. Made an observatory and everything." Grian explained, covering his mouth as he yawned again. "To be honest, not sleeping isn't helping with much."

"Yeah, you look disheveled." Xisuma agreed, and he sent a playful glare at the other.

"Says you. I bet Keralis has to drag you to your bed sometimes."

The admin laughed at that, shaking his head as he leaned back. It died down slowly, and Xisuma looked at the comm that rested in his armour. "Is it really past midnight now?"

"Yeah, you came by at 11:56pm." Grian nodded, crossing his legs as he leaned back, wing still resting on Xisuma's back.

"I should get back to my base to sleep."

"Want a snack for the trip?" He asked, standing up a few seconds after the other.

"If you want to give me one." Xisuma shrugged, and Grian led him over to where he stored his food, still grasping his hand.