A Crown of Broken Runes (ACOBR)

Power

Grian alighted on the hot clay of the mesa and skidded into his secret base. His fingers eagerly fumbled with a chest latch. Inside, the mask sat. Grian snatched it up and eagerly pressed it to his face. The now familiar feeling of his body morphing spread across his body, making his arms tingle. He now had to crouch in the cave he was in, and his talons left small scratches on the wooden floor.

He spread out his wings. A bit more than half of his feathers were now dark. Even the longer flight feathers had begun to change. Small glowing purple lines had begun to appear on each black feather, and Grian wasn't quite sure what they were.

He changed into his fitting clothes, struggling out of his tight red jumper and short grey pants and into a dark and silvery garb. As a final touch, he fastened a deep bluish-black piece of cloth over the messy holes in his shirt. It perfectly concealed the wing holes without impeding his movement, and he liked the way it looked.

It flowed behind him like a mysterious cape, and small threads he hadn't noticed before twinkled like stars. His deep purple shirt complimented it nicely.

He emerged from the cave into bright sunlight. With the Hermits now wary of the strangers, he would have to be a lot more careful. He needed backup, some kind of insurance to make sure he wouldn't be caught.

He thought back to the day he had fought one of the creatures.

If I used lightning back then... maybe I still can!

Grian enthusiastically shoved his hand out, and closed his eyes, willing lightning into existence. Nothing. He tried some more. He tried it while flying. He tried lying down. He tried pointing his finger. Nothing seemed to work. Finally he began to give up.

Maybe it's my mindset. I just need to believe I can do it...

He reached out, but there was still nothing. He took off. Maybe it was something about where he was, in his base.

Upon arriving, however, there was still no sign of the electric powers. Grian sat down in his base and closed his eyes, reimagining what had happened that day.

How did I do it?

Then it hit him.

Fear.

Mumbo was afraid.

And that's when I was able to use the power.

Grian laughed aloud. It was risky, especially if he was wrong, but he had a plan.

~ ⬩ ∴ᔑ⍊ᒷ∷ᓭ, ⬩ ~

Doc and Bdubs were quietly finishing up a build, placing block after block of quartz.

"Almost done!" Bdubs said, smiling.

Doc nodded, engrossed in his work.

Bdubs laughed at his buddy's single-minded attention, grasping a new batch of quartz blocks.

They had been working for hours, and the statue was beginning to take shape.

Bdubs stood, and inspected the snout of the giant goat.

"I think it needs a bit more width there, it looks a bit odd."

Doc took a look.. His friend was right, the snout could use a bit more stone on top.

"I'll go grab some"

He headed over to their shulker pile and began to search through them. Finally, he found the only stone shulker left, filled with huge chunks of grey slate. He scrabbled back over to Bdubs, and placed the shulker down.