A train station made of stone. An icy ocean. A mighty city, guarded over by pale golems. A blue squid. A statue made of clay. A grave.

Grian took a deep breath, pulling himself out of his dreams. The man stretched, wincing as the light of day streamed directly into his eyes. He reached up to rub the sleepiness from his face, but something stopped him. A faint, pale purplish glow was emanating from his hand. He inspected it curiously, realizing that he had a small symbol on the palms of both his hands. It looked like two L's, one facing up, one facing down, along with two dots. He inhaled. There was something strangely... familiar about it.

Where have I seen this before?

Grian stood up, wobbling unsteadily, and attempted to run his fingers through his waffle-like hair. As he did so, his hands brushed his helmet, and he realized he was still wearing his armour and broken elytra.

What? He thought. I died. I should have lost all of my items... He shrugged, and walked out into the bright sunlight.

After a moment of stretching, he noticed an unfamiliar weight on his back. He unclipped the silvery gliders and felt his back curiously. Two large lumps protruded from his shoulder blades. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He should get a better look.

He equipped a spare elytra and glided down to the little lake where his starter base was. The serene pond beneath reflected him perfectly, and the few ripples that there were lapped playfully at the shore. A few schools of fish darted about in the cool, clear water. As he alighted, the beautiful jungle scenery rose around him. Vines hung down from the branches of the trees, and in the distance, an enormous tree rose from the ground, planted and nurtured by Iskall, one of his buddies and jungle neighbours. Larry the Snail sat peacefully on the banks of the lake, and Grian quickly popped in to see if his owner, Scar, was home. Grinning from ear to ear, he broke down the door, snatching it and quickly depositing it into a shulker box.

His boots sunk into the sand as he alighted at the edge of the water. He took off his armour and glanced at this reflection. Confusion flashed across his face. His eyes were a faint purple and... on his back...

He pulled off his signature red jumper and inhaled sharply. Two magnificent wings, covered in glittering pale violet feathers, merged smoothly into his skin. He carefully felt the new appendages with shaking hands. He scooped up some water, and splashed it across his face, taking in what he had seen. He stood up, breathing heavily, and placed down a chest. His jumper, followed by his armour and the elytra, flew into it, and it snapped closed with a creak.

Glancing about, he made sure he wasn't being watched. The bird-man flexed his wings experimentally, and to his great surprise, it felt almost... instinctual. Like he had done it before... he shook off the thought. That couldn't be. He flapped them, and a few glimmering feathers floated down and landed upon the water. Ripples made their way gently across the serene surface of the lake, warping his reflection. He moved his wings again, up and down, and he felt his weight begin to lift. Enthused by this small success, Grian began to flap harder. The water waved and splashed as he tried to take off, the gusts from each flap hitting the surface.

Suddenly, he was in the sky. He laughed, exhilarated by the air flowing through his feathers and hair. He went higher, bursting through the branches of the jungle canopy, and tried to hover. The mist from the clouds condensed in gleaming pearls, clinging to his skin and resting on his wings like beads of glass. The wind was stronger up here, and he let out an exclamation of dismay as an unexpected gust of air hit him. He flailed a bit, tumbling through the air.

He moved his wings up and down awkwardly as the wind tossed him about. He still needed practice. Flying here in the humid jungle was much different than the stagnant air of the mesa. He crashed back down through the branches of the canopy, startling a parrot. Grian's panicked flapping smacked him into a tree trunk, and he ricocheted into some vines. He winced, grasping the thick ropy creepers to stop himself from falling. He folded his wings with a sigh, and began to disentangle himself from the plants.

After a bit of careful maneuvering down the strong green vines, he alighted upon the ground. He sat, groaning at the new aches in his face and side. Scratches throbbed angrily from where he had hit the tree, even though his side had taken most of the impact. He ate a golden carrot, and once he had finished he put back on his jumper. The feathers poked out noticeably at the bottom and they were pressed in uncomfortably. He shifted his shoulders. Still not the comfiest. With a sigh, he decided to cut slits in the back. He had a lot of jumpers. He could sacrifice this one.

Once his new appendages were freed from their textile prison, he spread them out and smiled. He should show Mumbo! But first, he needed to retrieve his elytra. He would have loved to show off his new abilities, but... he didn't think that would end well. He chuckled as he imagined smacking into Mumbo as he tried to show off how "skilled" he was. Still grinning, he put on the elytra and took off.

~ ⬩ ᒷリ↸ ⬩ ~

"...atcher is none other than our good friend Gri-"

"HELLOOOOOOO!" Grian shouted, interrupting Scar as he dove down out of the canopy. His wings were barely noticeable when he was wearing his elytra, the silvery folds of membrane draping over most of his back. He landed with a thud behind Mumbo who had been, until Grian had surprised him, having a conversion with the other hermit.

Mumbo seemed extremely startled by his abrupt arrival, and it took The moustached man a few seconds until he managed to speak. "Hey Grian! Did you see the... um... the thing yesterday? That was weird. It was like the world kinda... broke, or something.."

"And did you notice the weird letters in the sky?" interjected Scar, his eyes wide.

"W-what?" Grian took a step back. He hadn't seen anything of the sort.

"No, Scar, it was definitely some kind of symbol. Like a broken rectangle. I'm a bit spooked, to be honest." Mumbo stated with a shiver.

The symbol that was glowing on his own hands flashed through Grian's mind. He was about to show them this when Scar said. "And Xisuma said he saw someone out flying." He paused for dramatic effect, not noticing Mumbo's exasperated expression.

"Hey guys I need to—" Grian timidly attempted to interject.

Scar didn't notice.

"But here's the thing. I asked everybody," At this, Scar held up his communicator and shook it slightly, where a tiny screen displayed worldwide messages to every hermit. "And so far, no one had been out flying when it happened. Xisuma thinks that this mystery person might have something to do with the crater!"

"Wait, what crater?" Grian inquired curiously.

"Yeah yeah, Xisuma found an odd crater between his and Keralis's base, and we're going to run experiments on it! It's got all this purply smoke and bedrock and stuff!"
Mumbo paused, "Grian, you weren't out flying when it happened, were you?"

Grian opened his mouth to tell them, but hesitated. They were his friends. They would understand. Right? They would be supportive and help him figure out what was happening to him surely. But on the other hand, what if they blamed him for the crater? What if they wanted to run experiments on him? He wouldn't, couldn't let that happen. They can't find out he had something to do with this.

Steeling himself, he made his decision.

"No," he answered. "I was working on the back of my base."

~ ⬩ ᔑ ⬩ ~

Grian smashed his face into the dirt. Again. Heaving a heavy sigh, he got up and brushed the dust off. He flexed his wings and fluttered back up to the platform he had made for himself. He was getting better at controlling his flight, but when it came to landing... the numerous dirt smudges and bruises on his body spoke for themselves.

He was going to help investigate the crater with Iskall, Keralis, and Xisuma later today. Mumbo was going to stay back, he needed to work on his base, and Scar was going to help him. Grian, however, accepted the invitation, genuinely curious about what he would find. Besides, he needed an excuse to avoid the back of his mansion. However, he did need to clean up; they would wonder at his sorry state.

I think I'm going to need a better way to hide these wings...

He hopped off the edge of the platform once again, and flew in a circle, scoping out a place to land. After a few more lazy circles in the sky, he pulled his wings and arms in close, diving towards the ground, and just as it seemed he'd hit it once again, he flared his wings open. His joints screamed as the air billowed beneath them, and he winced. But then his feet alighted upon the ground, and he only stumbled slightly. Despite his coating of dirt and sweat, Grian let out a cheer.

"Yes! I did it!!! Yesssssss!!!"

He laughed, and flopped down onto the ground.

The sun was high in the sky, and the hot red soil of the mesa wasn't helping things much. The sand was a fiery shade of orange. Dead bushes dotted the dusty dunes, rattling like the bones of a skeleton. The occasional sturdy acacia tree would cast its long shadow across the scorching terracotta. Every so often a small patch of sickly yellow grass would poke out of the scorched land.

He retrieved his belongings from a chest nearby and put his jumper back on. He shoved his wings through the holes, tucking them neatly behind him. It's not that he minded lying with the jumper on, it was just blisteringly hot in the badlands. This area in the south that he chose was secluded and uninhabited. The risk of being seen was practically nil, making this an optimal spot to practice flying. Equipping his elytra, he headed back to his base to see if his plan would work.

~ ⬩ ᒲᔑリ ⬩ ~

Some beautiful blood-red cloth. A small pin that he found in a chest. A wonderfully shiny black thread to bring it all together. Grian's cloak was complete. He was back at the edge of the lake, admiring his reflection. The hood nicely concealed the lump that his protruding wings made, and the rest of it billowed out, making the wings barely noticeable. As long as he kept it firmly strapped in place, he should be able to use his elytra over it. He turned around a few more times, admiring his reflection. He twisted his neck and touched his odd hairdo. "Just look at my glorious waffle!" he chuckled to himself.

He clipped on his elytra to make absolutely sure that it functioned well. He took off, firing some rockets. It felt a bit odd now, flying with an elytra. He wished he could fly around the server with his wings, but he had to keep them secret. The flight was a bit odd with his new cloak. It caught the wind and billowed weirdly, and it kept catching on his armour. He shrugged. He was a skilled flier, and could compensate for the cloak.

He landed at his base and deposited some of the junk he had into various chests and boxes. After his inventory was mostly emptied, he took off again, ready to investigate the crater.

...

Oh no I don't like the sound of this crater... leave a vote, maybe it'll help.

Let me know what you think of my story in the comments!