Mumbo was sitting outside his house, his knees brought to his chest as his finger dragged through the dirt. Grian stepped outside, taking a seat next to the vampire, who seemed to be so lost in thought that he didn't notice the human.

"Hey," Grian smiled, nudging him slightly. Mumbo jumped, suddenly coming back to the present moment.

"O-oh. Sorry." The vampire muttered, turning back to the dirt to continue to draw nonsensical shapes and lines. "I didn't hear you come out."

"Sorry if I scared you." He said, placing his hands on Mumbo's shoulders. The vampire shook his head, while his crimson eyes stared into nothingness.

"Nono, I.." Taking in a breath, then releasing a heavy sigh, Mumbo shook his head. "I've just been thinking..."

"About?" Grian tilted his head, a slight smile across his face, with his soft eyes promising reassurance.

Mumbo stared into his eyes for a couple quiet moments, before looking away. He swallowed the lump in his throat, a bit of pink blush appearing on his cheeks. "Grian, I-I—"

"Grub's here." A voice suddenly broke through the conversation, a burlap sack being dropped between the human and the monster. It was overflowing with apples and fruits, along with pastries and bread. Grian looked up at the man who had interrupted them, though he was clearly intimidated upon meeting his eye.

He was a pig, and that wasn't meant to be an insult, the man was quite literally a walking, talking pig. With large tusks that poked out of his mouth, and an outfit that made him appear almost royal. Complete with a golden crown atop his head, and fancy red robes.

The man-pig snatched a potato out of the bag, taking a bite out of it raw while holding eye contact with the human. "What are you supposed to be?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, u-um—!"

"H-He's with me—!" Mumbo interjected, standing up to meet the pig's eye. "TFC said it was okay to have him with me."

The pig shrugged. "Okay." He took another bite of his potato. "I haven't seen you around before. New here?"

"Y-yes sir." The vampire answered nervously.

"No sir. Just Techno." The pig said as he bent down, grabbing an apple from the bag. He tossed the fruit to Grian, who fumbled as he barely caught it. Techno looked at Mumbo, studying the creature for a moment, before letting out a little hum. "Vampire, huh. Okay, I think we gathered up some blood while we were out."

He began rustling around the bag a little more, searching for a jar of blood he had collected. While he was distracted, Mumbo and Grian shared a similar look of concern as they looked at one another, then back at the pig. "Ah, here it is."

Techno handed the jar to Mumbo, filled to the brim with the familiar sticky red liquid. "O-oh, thank you."

Lifting the burlap sack over his shoulder, the pig grunted. "No problem." He replied while turning away, beginning to walk down the path of the village.

"O-oh! Wait!" The vampire ran after him, causing Grian to also follow, the three walking down the middle of the street of the village. "I-I'm Mumbo. Thank you for the food."

"No need." Techno grunted, still walking forward. "That's my job."

"Your job is to deliver food?" Grian asked with a puzzled expression. "But you look so...royal. Like a king!"

He snorted a little. "I'm more of a revolutionary." Techno said, handing a loaf of bread to Zedaph. "A small team and I leave every once in a while to steal and rob supplies from the humans. There's a path leading to the kingdom nearby that's a trade route. We usually jump a wagon or two."

"So you're the bandits Scar was talking about.." Grian muttered, though the pig's ear twitched.

"Scar? As in the king?" Techno narrowed his eyes a little. Mumbo laughed nervously as he placed a hand over Grian's mouth, pulling him a little further away from the pig.

"Sorry about him. His brain is, uh, s-still all jumbled from my hypnosis! H-He doesn't have any idea what he's talking about."

Techno raised an eyebrow as he looked from the human, to the vampire, then back to the human. "Just keep him in line." He shrugged, handing a loaf of bread to Impulse, then a piece of raw meat to a zombie lady. "As long as we're here, we're safe from the king."

"Right. Right..." Mumbo stared at the bottle of blood in the palm of his hand, before looking down at Grian. "It was, uh, very nice to meet you. I should get going, the sun is starting to come up."

"Don't wanna get burned." Techno agreed, "I'll see you around, vampire."

As he walked off, Mumbo grabbed the human by the wrist and began to drag him back home. "Come on," He hissed. "I don't want anyone else getting suspicious of you. If they find out that you're really not under my control—"

"They won't." Grian assured the creature, nudging him playfully. Mumbo just sighed, shaking his head.

"Look..maybe it would be better for you to head back home. Thank you for all your help, really. But it really isn't safe for a—"

"HUMAN!"

The two nearly jumped at the sudden yell, as they looked in the direction of the sound. It was TFC, standing at the porch of his cabin. He was in the doorway to prevent the morning sun from hitting his skin, as he waved the two over. Mumbo and Grian shared a look, though the two reluctantly headed to the vampire's cabin.

"Thank you two for coming." Tin greeted as he opened the door slightly wider for the two to enter. "I need to talk to you both."

Mumbo instantly felt nervous as the door was shut behind him. Had someone caught Grian? Or were they about to be kicked out?

"I'm sorry to be so rude, yelling halfway across the village like that." The vampire groaned as he limped over to his armchair, using a cane to help him walk. "Though we have a dire issue."

"What's wrong?" Mumbo spoke up, holding out his arm to keep Grian behind him.

"I was hoping I could borrow your human." TFC asked, Mumbo cringing slightly at the vampire talking about Grian like some kind of pet.

"I-I'm sorry?" He blinked, almost in shock.

"I know vampires and their humans have a rather close relationship with one another. We can be very possessive over our food source." The head vampire laughed a little, though it was a bit weak. "But, unfortunately. Ex has had quite a slow recovery, even with the aid of his human."

Mumbo felt himself cringe again, this time he was biting back the urge to spit at the mention of the vampire's name. It just left a sour taste in his mouth.

"His human needs to rest and recover his blood." TFC explained, "But Ex needs blood to speed up the healing process. We were wondering if you could lend your human to Ex to help."

The human slightly hid behind Mumbo, frightened at the idea. The vampire frowned. "I would prefer to keep Grian to myself." He said firmly.

Grian tugged on Mumbo's shirt, looking up at him. "It's okay." He said with a somewhat nervous smile. "I'll be fine."

"I don't want him to turn you." Mumbo responded, shaking his head as he looked towards TFC. "Ex was the vampire that turned me. He's the reason I'm like this. I would prefer it if he didn't turn Grian, as well."

"Trust me. Gem and I are keeping a close, watchful eye on Ex. He won't drink more than Grian can handle."

"A-are you sure?" Mumbo asked as he looked down at the human, worry in his eyes. "You can say no. You don't have to do this."

"It's okay, I promise." Grian smiled reassuringly at Mumbo, "I'll be just fine."

Mumbo sighed as he looked back to the other vampire. "He'll do it."

"Perfect." TFC clasped his hands together, gesturing towards the set of stairs. "You can head up to Ex. Gem should be up there too."

"I'll uh..s-see you back home, then?" Mumbo asked while fiddling with his fingers, watching as Grian began to walk up the steps to the upper level of the house.

"I'll be quick, I promise. You head back and get some rest. You look like you've been up for a couple nights straight."

Truthfully, it felt like he had been. After Grian went back to sleep, Mumbo couldn't help but worry. He spent most of the night worrying, stressing, unable to rest whatsoever. "Alright." He smiled a little, nodding his head. "I'll see you in a bit."

~•~

The doors to the throne room opened, morning light pouring into the darkness. Guards stood at the ready with their spears in their hands, watching closely as a hooded figure walked down the carpet to approach the king. Scar looked up from his work, smiling at the man who stepped forward.

"Xisuma!" He greeted, placing down the papers he had been studying to rise from his seat. "My prized monster hunter. I assume you have some good news for me, yes?"

"Could be better, sir." Said the man, his expression hidden in the shadows of his hood.

"Well, you brought me all those lovely creatures in my collection, so you haven't failed me yet~." The king said in a somewhat sing-song voice, giggling a little as he did so.

Xisuma brushed a bit of dirt off of his clothes, his outfit stained in black blood. "Yes, well, I had a close call with a vampire."

Scar was suddenly much more intrigued, taking a seat on his throne. "Go on." He smirked.

"He got away." X grumbled, "But not without a fight, sir. The beast has been wounded by a silver blade. Even with a vampire's advanced healing, it won't be able to put up much of a fight for a while."

"I'm hoping you come with more good news rather than just telling me about this little brawl of yours." Scar hummed, his gaze cold as he stared down at the hunter.

"I believe I have narrowed down the monster sanctuary, sir." Xisuma said as he pulled out a map, marks and circles drawn on the paper. "If we storm their base of operations soon enough, those beasts won't have enough strength to stop us. After all, that vampire was their main line of defense."

He handed the paper to the king, who studied the map and its markings for a few quiet moments, before rolling it up into a scroll with a smile across his face. He tossed the paper back to the hunter, who snatched it up quickly and tucked it under his cloak once more.

"You never cease to impress." Scar said with a grin across his face, leaning back in his chair as he spoke.

"I think we agreed upon payment for my work?" X spoke up, tugging on the mask that covered his mouth and nose.

"Yes, yes. You'll get it in due time. But for now, take a team with you. Scour the rest of the forest. I want all the remaining monsters you can find gathered up before we head to battle." He commanded, causing Xisuma to grumble underneath his breath.

"Fine." He scoffed a little, "But I better get a nice reward."

"Have I ever disappointed you with my payments?"

"...no sir.." Xisuma murmured. Scar just smiled.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me before getting back to work?"

Xisuma thought for a moment or two. "Oh yes," he remembered suddenly. "The vampire— when speaking to him, he mentioned having a human slave. It seems as though he might have drawn out a villager to be his meal for the time being."

Scar went a little pale at that. "Guards!" He rose from his seat. "Hurry and head to Grian's residence. Search the village quickly! Find him!"

"Sir, what is this about?" Wels spoke up, raising an eyebrow at the king.

"Grian, he was supposed to meet with me for the past couple days. I thought he was busy, but..." Scar trailed off, shaking his head as he rose from his seat and began walking out of the throne room. "Just hurry and find him! Leave no stone unturned!"

He left the room, slamming the grand doors behind him. Xisuma scoffed a little, heading out of the castle to begin his search for more monsters, while the guards began their search for Grian.