The Bull's Horns

Ch 13: The Steak-out

(Author's note: Title pun intended)

Grian was intently working on a block palette inside the main rock of his base when Mumbo found him. "Grian! I have a mission for the two of us!" Mumbo declared marching up to the other hermit. The avian's wings puffed up in surprise as he turned around only to sigh as he saw it was just Mumbo.

"Oh? Does it involve you finishing the back of my base?" Grian teased with a cheeky smile.

Mumbo could help but chuckle at the suggestion, "No. We're going to be spying on King Ren."

"What!?" Grian sputtered and looked at Mumbo like the hermit had lost his mind, "You know I'm NOT trying to start a resistance right?"

"Yes I know, but we're just going to be watching him. Doc's been worried and I said I'd help keep an eye on him." Mumbo knew how hard the prankster was trying not to start a resistance against the King. But he also needed some help and Scar was terrible at reconnaissance, so Grian was his best bet. Well... that's debatable but he trusted Grian to help the most with this.

"Yeah, he has that whole king persona going on so he's going to act differently," Grian seemed a little hesitant as he spoke, he didn't want to rile up the King but Doc didn't worry over things as easily as other hermits did. Worry wasn't an emotion the hermits saw often in Doc, not that he showed much negative emotion in the first place.

"You saw how he went after me during his coronation. Persona or not, that was so not like him, Doc thought so too." Mumbo hoped he was convincing enough, he needed the buddy system on his side if he was going to spy on the King. The last thing he wanted was for the king to come after him again and have no one around to bail him out like last time.

"That's true..." Grian mulled over the idea, soothing some feathers in thought. "Well if Doc's worried, and I'm assuming you're worried too, then I'll help. You got a plan?"

"I do, I do. We're just going to watch him from a distance," Mumbo explained searching through his inventory for what he crafted earlier in preparation. "Spyglass for you," The horned hermit passed over the newly crafted spyglass, "And one for me," He pulled out another one and looked through it to test it, suddenly zoomed in on Grian's face. "Now we just have to find him," Mumbo said swapping out the spyglass for his communicator to check the global chat for any clues.

"That shouldn't be too hard. You know he's either at the Crastle or wandering the shopping district using those stupid royal emeralds," The avian grumbled as he flapped his wings slightly in annoyance.

"Then let's start with the shopping district. Tell you what, while we're there, I'll replace all the royal emeralds used with actual diamonds." Mumbo pocketed his communicator before pulling out his elytra to put on, flashing a smile at the winged hermit.

"You don't need to do that," Grian shook his head and waved a dismissive hand at the horned hybrid, "It just annoys me..."

"I have diamonds to spare. Plus I'm the richest hermit, remember? Race you there!" Mumbo jumped into the air and fired off a rocket, the head start wouldn't help him in the long run but mainly to get the avian riled up.

~~~~

It was a short race to the shopping district, Grian had won by a long shot but Mumbo wasn't expecting to win anyways. The pair landed on the outskirts of the district and got started on their search for the King. It didn't take them long to find him as Grian had spotted the blinged-out emperor a mile away. The diamond's shards woven into his cape sparkled in the sunlight and mimicked a disco ball, casting odd beams of light with every movement. The pair ducked behind shops and tiptoed through alleyways to get a clear view of the King and his right-hand moss man.