She was out. She was done.

Stress was flying away, far away from spawn and the shopping district. Away from the strange figures and deadly lightning. Two other hermis trailed behind her, Keralis and Hypno. Keralis, having been struck by the lightning, agreed with Stress. They were worried for their friends, yes.

But I'm... afraid...

It was foolish to stay in the main parts of hermitcraft now that so much was happening. They were going to found a new village, far away from the chaos and conflict, and forge a new, better life.

As the three Hermits sailed silently over the ocean, Stress shook the wilting pink flowers from her hair, letting the delicate petals float down to the surface of the ocean. They were quickly swallowed by the waves, sinking farther and farther away.

It was time to move on.

~ ⬩ ⎓╎リᔑꖎ ⬩ ~

False looked at her new favourite feather. It was a deep black shade this time, and she swore that occasionally she would see it flicker slightly with remnants of lightning.

She had gotten it just a few days ago, when one of the creatures had approached Doc and Bdubs. She had come in for "backup" but had never planned to harm it.

That would only have made them angry.

She had been struck with less energy than her friend, who had taken much longer to recover. Zed was still weak, but at least he was back on his feet. The only remnant she had was a slight ache in her limbs and a mild headache.

It knew. I know it knew. It could tell I wasn't trying to hurt it.

False added the black feather to her collection. All of the others were an iridescent lavender shade. She loved how they shimmered, almost as if each one contained a tiny storm. The lightning was known to be dangerous though. To most Hermits, these bird creatures were seen as a danger.

But not all legends are true, and these so-called "Watchers" couldn't be too bad, right?

Besides, if they were really so dangerous, then why has no-one died yet?

She winced, remembering Bdubs, but shrugged it off.

It was his fault for hitting the golem. He was trying to hurt one of them. Of course it would defend itself!

If she could just get the other Hermits to realise, then maybe... maybe she could save the server, and finally meet one of these magnificent visitors face to face!

False grinned, and gleefully hopped into the air, gliding away to go see her friends.

~ ⬩ ↸ᒷᓭℸ ̣╎リᔑℸ ̣╎𝙹リ, ⬩ ~

"So you want me to get ya cobble?"

TFC was gathering up some torches, readying himself to go back down into the mines. A group of Hermits, each with a small feather pinned to their collars, were standing around him.

"Yeah! Our base of operations will be mostly stone and stone bricks, and I've heard your mining skills are quite admirable. You must have built up quite a lot of it while mining. You could become one of our loyal members and help us in our cause!"

Behind False, each of the Hermits had a different expression. Cub seemed to be exasperated with False's enthusiastic praise of the watchers, but was inspecting a feather carefully. Maybe he was here for science.

Iskall and Beef were standing next to each other, nodding. Iskall looked a bit more unsure, fidgeting with the edge of his lime-green shirt.
TFC slid the last parcel of torches into his inventory.

"And what do I get?"

False's face fell a bit.

"We could... you will have our protection! As a member of our little group here, we'll teach you how to stay on the good side of the Watchers!"

He didn't know about this deal. It seemed a bit sketchy.

He reached for his trusty diamond pickaxe. He was happy to just stay down in his mines. Rather not get involved in whatever was happening. "I think I'm gonna pass on that one..."

False grabbed his wrist before he could take a hold of the tool.

"Please. We need that stone, it would take weeks to mine it on our own. And we're going to get it one way or another..."

False drew a netherite sword out of her inventory.

"So what do you say? Join our group?"

I already have quite a lot of stone anyway. What else am I gonna do with it? Besides... False doesn't seem like she's kidding. Best to just go along.

He sighed. "Alright, I'm in."

He hefted his pickaxe onto his shoulder with one hand and reached out the other. False shook it eagerly, slipping her weapon back into its slot.

She reached up, and TFC leaned down so she could pin a small feather to his black T-shirt.

"Welcome to...

...the Watched!"

~ ⬩ ᓭᒷℸ ̣ ⬩ ~

A foreboding metal cage covered in glowing hot magma was hidden in this cave. He peered between the bars, and recoiled. Chains sat on the floor, casting blurry shadows in the dim light of the lava.

Why is this here? I probably shouldn't have ignored that no entry sign...

As if in answer to his question, soft chattering began to grow louder, approaching him. Jevin quickly darted around a bend and hid in a craggy recess of the rock, listening.

Tango's voice came into focus first.

"... mainly iron and magma, to weaken them in case we need to ki-"

Xisuma spoke next, his voice clear and echoing.

"No killing, remember? We need them."

Jevin shivered. Tango obviously wanted someone or something dead.

"Believe me, it's hard to kill a watcher, even in its weakened state."

Ah

So that was it.

This cage was made for a watcher.

The footsteps stopped abruptly.

"Wait..."

Jevin was breathing heavily. They were right next to his hiding spot. He heard the footsteps resume, boots crunching on the rough ground, approaching the place where he hid.

Just as Jevin was sure he would be found out, he heard rockets, and Xisuma called out to a third person in greeting.

He sighed in relief.

As Tango's steps receded down the cave, Jevin quietly slipped out the other end of the cave and flew off.

Tensions were high on the server right now, and he would rather stay out of this whole mess.

~ ⬩ ╎リℸ ̣𝙹 ⬩ ~

Etho already knew of the watchers. Xisuma had mentioned them once before, towards the beginning of season six. Now, it seemed they had become a problem.

It would be much more simple if we just eliminated the threat.

He strode up to Xisuma. Tango approached him too, greeting him and ushering him into the cave. His arms and legs still bore bandages, the burns from a few days ago still not fully healed. Tango acted fine, however, and refused to rest.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice."

Xisuma led him into the cave, where the cage was already set.

"No problem."

Xisuam began to explain their plans to capture one the Watchers and interrogate it, ask why it was here.

After the strider man had finished, Etho posed his question.

"If we can destroy them, then why shouldn't we? If there's a way, killing these creatures would be the better choice."

Xisuma seemed to pause for a moment, thinking.

"Well, we want to know why they are here..."

"The server's safety comes first, Xisuma. As admin, you know that better than any of us. So can they be killed or not?"

Xisuma sighed. After a long silence, he answered.

"No. They cannot be destroyed."

Etho nodded, and joined Tango, who was already working on the cage's redstone.
As he approached, he noticed a confused look on Tango's face, but it quickly faded a
way.

Etho shrugged.

The best they could do was imprison them.

Right?

~ ⬩ ℸ ̣⍑ᒷ ⬩ ~

Tango was scared.

This measly cage couldnt be enough.

Not from what he had heard.

And why did Xisuma lie to Etho?

He could tell when the strider man was lying. Those evil beings could be killed, he was sure of it.

He was sure many others believed the same, that the Watchers were too dangerous to try to contain. He remembered, after he initially built the cage, being intercepted by a whole group of Hermits on the way out.

Doc, Ren, Cleo, and Joe. They all had ideas, ways to keep the server safe, and they all agreed with Tango. The occurrences on the server were getting out of hand.

Tango had been amused by Joe, who seemed like he had simply just come along with Cleo, and seemed quite bewildered at the whole ordeal.

He winced as another throb of pain laced up his arm. The burns weren't terrible, they were just taking a long time to heal. He still got a bit dizzy when standing up, and his right leg had been struck the hardest.

Nevertheless, Tango would stay with Xisuma.

The watchers did need to go.

Permanently.

So when the time came, and they had a watcher contained...

That was when he would strike.

~ ⬩ ᓭℸ ̣𝙹リᒷ. ⬩ ~

Ren nodded. His friend was right.

He had just heard the chilling tale of what happened to Doc just a few days ago. The watcher had approached him with clear intent to destroy, to kill. Doc had gone on and on, talking about how it had hurt Tango and Keralis, and the ordeal impulse and Bdubs had gone through.

"It's like they see us as lesser beings, as playthings!"

And Ren agreed.

He had seen the damage these things had caused the server, and he trusted his friend. It was time for this to end.

As they sat on the unfinished goat statue, Doc threw a bit of crumbling and charred stone into the air and watched it tumble towards the troubled sea below.

Doc produced his netherite sword, and began to polish it, wiping off smudges until the surface was glassy and mirror-like.

"We're going to stop these creatures."

He held the blade up to the light, and it glinted dangerously.

"Whatever it takes."

~ ⬩ ᒷ⍊ᒷ∷ ⬩ ~

It was ready. The trap was beautiful, cunning and creative. A watcher would never see it coming, allured as they were to fear and pain. They would be too focused to notice the trap closing in around them, or the lava slowly oozing down the metal bars of their new cage. In any other location, they would sense it, but the netherportals behind the walls would sap their energy even more, causing their focus to narrow.

Someone would have to manually chain it, of course, but that would be considerably less difficult when the watcher was weakened.

Xisuma ran one last test.

Watcher flies in, lured by a single person, alone and "lost"

Xisuma glided through the cave on his elytra and landed about halfway through the tunnel, just in front of Etho.

Hermit presses the button...

Xisuma nodded to Etho, and the Hermit pressed a hidden button.

And now we've caught ourselves...

The blocks beneath him cycled out, turning from rough stone to tough iron floors. The ceiling did the same, and iron bars quickly slid out of the floor, trapping him. Finally, lava poured over the cage, effectively trapping Xisuma inside.

...a watcher.

...

Hmmm... I can't catch a watcher, but with you help, I might get a vote!
Don't forget to let me know what you think in the comments, and follow me so you don't miss the next one!