~The First Step~ a Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 2 (Mumbo)

w/c: 662

t/w: scars and implications of torture, ig

Mumbo Jumbo tugged his tie into place. It was rather early morning, but he'd always been an early bird. He rummaged in a few chests, took some redstone supplies, and flew off to get to work on a new contraption he'd thought of.

"Grian!" Mumbo said accusingly as he rounded the corner to see the red sweatered hermit crouched in Mumbo's wheat farm. "What are you doing?"

Grian looked up, startled. "Mumbo!"

There was an awkward silence. Grian broke it by spamming a stack or two of chicken eggs in the farm, stealing some wheat, then using his fireworks to rocket off into the distance. 

"Good morning to you too!" Mumbo yelled at the retreating figure. Grian stuck out a hand as a wave before disappearing. Mumbo sighed but a small smile upturned the corners of his mouth. 

Something was bothering him, though. Mumbo thought for a minute until finally remembering. It was about Grian. 

That moment when Mumbo had called Grian's name, Grian had visibly flinched, and when his brown eyes met Mumbo's, there was something disturbed in them. He'd been troubled. Mumbo sighed. He shouldn't have sounded so accusing when he called Grian's name. Mumbo may have been a redstone genius, but he certainly was a spoon.

~~~time skip~~~ 

Mumbo wiped some glittering redstone dust from his sleeve, preparing to head back to the base after a few hours of working on a new redstone shop. He had planned on eating lunch by himself, but typical Mumbo had forgotten to bring it.

Grumbling about organization, Mumbo took the quick flight back to his base, grabbed his lunch, and was about to begin when he remembered the morning incident with Grian.

Maybe I'll eat lunch with him, Mumbo thought to himself. Praising himself for his high EQ, Mumbo shoved the food into his inventory and headed to Grian's starter base. When he reached the door, he was about to send Grian a message when he heard a muffled sob. Filled with worry, Mumbo pushed the door open and quickly headed to see what was wrong.

"Grian?"

Mumbo stared at the sight before him. 

Grian was curled up facing away from Mumbo, his shoulders shaking with sobs and gasping breaths. He wasn't wearing a shirt (please don't get wrong ideas guys), and Mumbo sharply inhaled at the sight of all the mangled scars crisscrossing Grian's back, the most prominent one in a strange rectangular symbol composed of two capital L 's and two dots arranged in the shape of a broken rectangle. However, Mumbo's breath was taken away at the sight of Grian's wings.

They were more beautiful than any pair of elytra could ever be. The feathers were a shimmering, gorgeous purple, and it looked as if Grian's wingspan was taller than him.

"Grian..." Mumbo hesitated, wondering if he should leave Grian alone, but decided to go see if Grian was fine. He was still curious about the scars.

When the spoon approached Grian, he could see that his apparently winged friend was clutching his stomach, his eyes squeezed shut. Mumbo cautiously laid a hand on Grian's shoulder, whose eyes flew open, flinching.

"M-Mumbo!" Grian gasped. For some reason, he seemed to be in pain, even though there was no visible injury. He reached for his red sweater which lay crumpled on the ground nearby, but his eyes squeezed shut again and he crumpled in on himself, gasping for air. 

"It's alright Grian..." Mumbo tried to help Grian up, but Grian's knees buckled. "Here, let me help you to bed."

"S-shulker," Grian managed to say with a lot of coughing. "P-potion."

Mumbo quickly got up and found the shulker Grian had indicated and fished a strangely colored potion inside, taking out the cork and helping Grian tip the contents down his throat.

There was a moment of quiet, and Grian's whole body shuddered, and the pained look in his eyes left him. Taking a few very deep breaths, Grian lifted his eyes to look at Mumbo's concerned expression.

"I guess I have a lot to explain, huh?"

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!! <3

-Ete