Fight or Flight (V1)

Chapter 4: Missing

Two months.

It had been two months since Grian had set off to search for the mansion, and he'd ran into the Far Lands.

The Far Lands was a wall of messed up stone and caves and canyons and lava and basically one of the most dangerous places in his world. It was warned that anyone to enter would perish.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna risk it." Grian muttered, backing away from the border. He took off into the air again, this time heading Southeast instead of North. He relished the feel of the air against his wings, and wished he could tell the others, but...

No. He needed to focus.

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"I'm telling you, we should send a search party! It's the most logical solution!"

Iskall was pacing inside the Sahara meeting room. Mumbo and the other hermits were there. He still hadn't told them about his suspicions, but he desperately wanted to get out there and search.

Mumbo stood up from his chair. "Iskall, we need to figure out what he was looking for first."

"We aren't even sure if he was even looking for something!" Iskall paced faster, his mechanical eye flickering.

"The note said that he may never come back. Not that he won't ever come back." Stress pointed out. "If he was running away, wouldn't the note say he was going away for good?"

"Maybe he just needs some time? He's been really stressed lately, sorry about the pun Stress, and maybe he's just taking a break?" Impulse waved his hand in the air as he spoke.

Tango had taken off his gloves and had been sitting there in thought. "Maybe this has to do with his 'Elytra break'?"

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"Tango's right." Mumbo nodded. "Before his 'break', Grian's Elytra wouldn't work. He claimed he got it to work but was taking a break. I don't think he'd do that, as much as he loves flying."

Joe nodded. "He wouldn't just give up the one thing he loves more than building."

"Well, whatever the case, we should figure out where he's going, and then send a few hermits out to try and find him." Cleo's voice was diplomatic and calm. "It seems that something was troubling him, and he left because of that."

"I caught him in my enchanting room looking through the bookcases," False offered, "Maybe he was trying to find information?"

"Hey, I also caught Grian in my enchanting room!" Scar interjected.

"Me too!" Xisuma nodded his head.

"Same here," said Doc, "He must be looking for some kind of information we don't have."

"In that case, the answer is simple." Scar perked up. "Magic."

"Magic?" Iskall tapped his chin. "That would make sense, considering what me and Mumbo have uncovered."

"Uncovered?" Jevin questioned.

Mumbo put a firm hand on Iskall's shoulder to stop him pacing. The redstone expert spoke quickly and briefly.

"We think Grian's no longer human."

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"Yes!" Grian touched down on the top of the trees, the canopy littered with giant mushrooms and dark trees. It was a Dark Hills biome. And it was huge enough to hide a mansion.

Grian made his way to the forest floor, placing torches as he walked. He eventually built a small home and placed down his bed for the night.

It had taken him two and a half-months to find the biome, even with his wings. Now, he just wanted to turn in. He'd been careful to reserve his stamina by not flying all day (unlike his Elytra, his wings did get tired quickly) and sleep at night to avoid phantoms. That had slowed him down a ton, but he didn't want to risk dying in a place where he couldn't replace his stuff.

As Grian collapsed on his bed, he thought back to the Island.

Everyone was probably worried sick, and he felt a little guilty. But if he could figure out what was happening to him, maybe he could find a way to hide it. Then he could return, claim he was going on a grind trip, say he'd lost his stuff to lava on the way back, and no one would suspect a thing.

Whatever the case, he needed to sleep before mobs started spawning.

But as he fell asleep, a lingering feeling sat in the back of his mind that something would go wrong.