Two Different Worlds: A Hermitcraft Mermaid AU

Questions

Scar's POV

I'm still thinking about Grian when a hand taps my shoulder. Turning with a smile as bright as the sun, I see BDubs.

"Hey BDubs! Can I help you?"

"I guess, I'm just curious to know more about this Grian you've met"

I feel a little worried for a minute. He had been there when I first saw Grian, what if he knows who he actually is?! Calming myself, I keep the smile up as to not raise suspicion.

"Sure, ask away!"

"How did you meet him?"

"I was exploring to see if anything fell off a ship during the storm the other day"

That's something I usually do, so it's pretty believable.

"Ok... are you gonna see him again?"

"Maybe..."

"Can I come? He sounds nice"

"I'm not sure, we don't have any plans to meet up at the moment, so the next time I see him will probably be by chance" I quickly lie, hoping that sounds good enough. BDubs frowns, but seems to believe it. I have to stop myself from sighing in pure relief.

"Well, if that's everything, I think I lost something the other day and should probably go find it"

Not wasting a second, I immediately swim off in the direction of Ezra's cave, having planned to go talk to him today. I'm worried now, BDubs might figure out who Grian actually is, then he'd tell Xisuma. And I can't even IMAGINE what would happen if Xisuma found out. Well, I can. He'd be mad, and never let me out of his sight again, let alone see Ezra or Grian.

I'm so busy panicking, I find myself outside the small coral reef already. I'm so used to swimming this way, I've done it without even thinking about it. I carefully slip between branches of sharp coral. I'd once cut my tail and slightly tore part of my fin when coming through here, and Xisuma had panicked, demanding to know exactly what happened and where I had been. I've been careful not to injure myself from now on, especially if I'm doing something I probably shouldn't be.

I eventually squeeze through the last few branches, one narrowly missing my arm. The main issue is that it's a plant, so it keeps growing and changing, and therefore there isn't really a regular route I can take to dodge the coral. This is what you get when your best friend's an introvert. A deadly entrance you have to avoid every time you visit.

One of the things I like about the houses where I live is that the door and window frames are empty. There's often a few fish swimming through the houses, and once I woke up to a dolphin poking it's head through the window. Ezra hates that idea, and said he would rather live in the kind of houses humans have. He said there's glass blocking the windows, and a big wooden slab with a handle in the doorframe, that can open and close to let people in and out.

Looking around the cave, I realise Ezra's not here. Sighing, I turn back toward the reef of coral and try get through again. I don't pay attention, and gasp in pain as one cuts the lower part of my tail. Great. Now I have to deal with explaining myself to Xisuma, and pray for my life that a shark doesn't notice me. Despite being friendly with most sea creatures, merpeople are basically the perfect lunch for sharks.

Thankfully no sharks see me, but I bump straight into Xisuma almost as soon as I'm out of the coral.

"Scar? What are you doing h-"

He stops when he sees my tail, eyes widening in alarm. He pulls a roll of bandages out of his small bag he always has with him.

"Did you cut your tail on the coral?" He asks, motioning for me to hold it up for him. I do so, nodding as he bandages wound. He seems to realise why I was here, looking up at me with a disapproving frown.

"We're you with Ezra again?"

I don't say anything, but it's pretty obvious I was. With a sigh, Xisuma finishes healing the injury.

"I've told you not to talk to him Scar" He reminds me

"I know..." I mumble "But... why are you here?"

"I need to speak with him"

"He's not home" I tell him, and he curses under his breath

"What's wrong?" I ask, slightly worried.

"When that brother of mine's not in his cave, he's up there" X grumbles, nodding upwards. "And I'm not too keen poking my head above water and putting myself at risk"

"I could find him for you" I quietly offer, but he shakes his head immediately

"No way, I'd much rather risk my life then risk yours." He tells me

"I don't really see what the risk is. That ship is over a mile away, and there's none nearby"

He takes this into consideration, before sighing heavily.

"Fine, but only because I'll be there. If I tell you to go back down, I don't want you to hesitate. And please don't get any ideas from my brother"

It's a bit too late to tell me that last part, but I smile, nodding to show I understand.

Xisuma pushes himself above the water, looking around. I do the same, but I can't see Ezra.

"Huh, he's not here either" He remarks, seeming slightly happy about that. I hear a crash though, and Ezra tumbles out of a tree, quickly grabbing onto a branch and pulling himself onto it.

"He was up the tree. Of course he was up the fucking tree" Xisuma mumbles under his breath, clearly sick of this.

"Hey Zuma! Hey Scar!" Ezra calls happily, swinging his legs back and forward from his position on the branch

"Get down from there!" Xisuma exclaims in panic "You'll hurt yourself!"

"No way! It took me ages to get up here!"

X groans loudly

"You're a disappointment of a brother"

"I know. So are you."

I can't help but giggle, X shooting me a disapproving glare

"See, Scar agrees with me" Ezra teases

"I never said that!" I argue "I don't think either of you are disappointments!"

Xisuma raises an eyebrow, looking at Ezra, then back at me again

"You sure about that?" He asks uncertainly

"Well I can see why you'd think he's not the best, but I'm kinda with Ezra on this one. You COULD be a little more open minded"

X just sighs again

"Ezra please come down here"

"I like it here, it's nice. Besides, what are you gonna do, climb up after me?"

"Of course not. I'm just going to trust that you respect me and will listen to me" The Admin responds, crossing his arms.

"That is literally the opposite of what I do every single day" Ezra says flatly, clearly unimpressed. "But this branch is pretty uncomfortable, so I'll do it out of my own pure will"

With that, he jumps down, and I notice Xisuma wincing slightly in worry. Taking a seat in the sand in front of us, he crosses his legs.

"Right. What do you want"

"To talk to you-" Xisuma starts, before getting interrupted

"Isn't that what we've done for the last 6 minutes?" He asks, already bored

I can't hold in my snickers at all, seeing how annoyed X is getting.

"Scar, you really aren't making this much easier, can you please leave? This is kinda personal anyway, it might not have been best to bring you"

I nod, kinda sad about that, but I respect Xisuma and leave the pair be. It's a shame, I had wanted to talk to Ezra about the BDubs situation. I think I might need a nap though, something I don't usually do. If I'm going to see Grian again tonight, which I most certainly am, I'll need extra sleep.

Now all I need to do is go the next 8 hours without seeming suspicious.