Hermitcraft Randomness - S7 Oneshots

Mark As Read, Redux

(WC: 1257
Category: Soft angst
Warnings: None

I learned way too many things when writing this and I feel so old now. Like, Demise is over one year old. The Turf War started in August. Hermitcraft Season 7 is one year old today I am not okay

So, to celebrate S7's anniversary, I decided to rewrite my first S7 oneshot, Mark As Read, to be relevant to today's events! Consider it a sequel of sorts :D I didn't mean for this to be slightly angsty but Grian's "i miss you" letter was calling

For the sake of plot and angst potential, let's say that Grian kept sending Mumbo letters even when he was in his mansion until he stopped for a bit, then finally sent one during his world tour video again

Enjoy! And happy birthday Season 7!!)

The pile of chest minecarts hadn't gotten any smaller, even if it was almost a year after its initial construction.

A lot of things had changed. Mumbo had outgrown his starter Hobbit Hole, built his megabase, then lost that megabase and was now living in Scar's Big Dig. He'd seen a war pass by in the span of a couple of months. Hermit Challenges, the Button, the Head Games...they had all come and gone.

But, for whatever reason, the pile of chest minecarts from Grian was still as prominent as ever.

"This is ridiculous," Mumbo said, marveling at Grian's determination to keep the messaging system going...or maybe he was marveling at his refusal to clean this mess up in the first place. Maybe both.

He knew that if he didn't clean it up soon, though, Grian would send more letters coming his way.

The stack of minecarts was so tall that even Mumbo couldn't reach the top, so he had to settle with pulling out the bottom minecart and trying not to get crushed by the rest of the carts falling down.

There were at least 7 or 8 in this stack alone, and there were still a few carts thrown off to the side as well. Did all of these have letters in them? Mumbo shook his head in disbelief.

He pulled out the chest from the minecart closest to him. Sure enough, when he opened it, there was a small piece of paper inside. The ink was fading, and the paper itself felt dry and well-worn. This was probably one of the older letters in the stack.

The age of how old some of these letters were sent a wave of realization crashing down on Mumbo. He felt a bit guilty for not answering these on time--or, well, at all, really.

But back to the letter. He recognized Grian's loopy, smudged writing on the paper. It simply said, spread the spores! with a small doodle of a mycelium block next to it.

Was this back in the Turf War? That had started, what, back in August? Mumbo reached for another letter.

got all those hermit challenges done. are you proud of me

And another...

don't worry, mumbo, grumbot won't fail us for the election! we got this

And another. Mumbo pushed the minecarts to the side carelessly, and a big pile of them started to form. From a tower to a cluster...he couldn't get rid of them, could he?

been feeding your base some golden apples recently. i left a box for you by the counter :D

did you know that demise ending is one year old today? i set that tnt trap for doc back in december 2019. crazy right...dragon broooos

mind if i steal your head for the head games? just kidding...unless you don't mind

Some of the carts didn't even have handwritten letters in them. One contained a purple concrete block with a note attached to it: didn't need a purple belt. decided to give it to you pathetic yellow belt instead

Even if the contents of each minecart varied, each one reminded Mumbo of some event that had taken place in the past--and with it, old memories. Without meaning to, he and Grian had created somewhat of a museum of Season 7's past occurrences, which was pretty cool.

Mumbo tore through the rest of the minecarts until there was only one left. It sat off to the corner, easily ignored when you were faced with an eight-cart stack or something.

He almost laughed at that--eight-cart stack? Was he starting to measure things in carts instead of meters or blocks? He'd spent too long in this place.

But there was still one more letter to read, so he picked the paper out of the final minecart chest.

This letter looked like it had been written more recently--a few months ago? Maybe? Compared to the rest of the letters he'd seen, this one might as well have been written yesterday. The ink was still pretty dark, too, so he could read what was on it easily:

i miss you -g

Mumbo sighed inwardly, not being able to ignore the growing guilt he felt from never answering Grian's letters. While he doubted Grian cared that much--they still talked on occasion, after all--he still felt obligated to write back after all this time.

Mumbo took out one of the bigger papers, then tore out a section to write on. He fished a quill out from one of his chests--this place really needed some cleaning up--and scrawled something onto the page quickly. He grabbed one of the spare minecarts and shoved the paper in.

He paused for a minute, trying to remember where his and Grian's messaging system was located. Wow...it had been a minute, hadn't it?

Then he remembered an incident at the beginning of the season, and he climbed the ladder down to the lower parts of his Hobbit Hole. He faced his Nether portal and broke the blocks behind it, revealing a hidden room behind.

For a moment, Mumbo was caught off guard by the secret Hobbit Hole behind his portal. He'd forgotten this was here...Grian had built this too, hadn't he? This letter-reading session had become one wave of nostalgia after another.

He opened the door and walked into the building. The inside was dusty, and the wood creaked under his feet as he walked towards the minecart track at the end, kicking the cart at his feet as he went.

When he reached the track, he lifted up his cart and placed it onto the track safely. Then he hit the button next to the track, powering the rail and sending the minecart on its way. The rolling wheels echoed across the tunnel as it went along its way.

"Been a while," Mumbo said to himself. "Hope you're happy with that message, Grian."

»»————-　★　————-««

One of the last things Grian expected to hear when he got near his old Hobbit Hole was a bell clanging noisily.

He'd gone over to his starter base for the first time in a while to grab his two villagers stuck there. He was making a breeder in his mansion, and he needed these two to start it up. It was about time he moved them, anyway.

But when he got in earshot of the main room of his Hobbit Hole, he startled at the loud clangs resounding from inside.

"What in the...?" Grian blanked for a moment, trying to figure out why in the world a bell was ringing in his base. Then, with a jolt, he realized that the bell was the alarm system for his messaging with Mumbo.

And it only rang whenever he received a message.

Grian stumbled over himself in his excitement before running for the entrance to the Hole, completely forgetting he could have just gone through the broken window next to the messaging system. He hadn't sent a message back, had he? It sounded too good to be true.

But, sure enough, there was a chest in a minecart waiting for him at the end of the track.

Grian didn't hesitate to open it, and he flung open the lid with more force than intended and grabbed the contents of the chest, which was just a singular folded piece of paper.

He unfolded it and read what was printed in Mumbo's handwriting, feeling like he was back at the start of the season holding the letter:

I miss you too