POV: Grian + others

Location: Hermitville

I walked up the stairs inside Iskall's house and peeked up. Taurtis was sitting on the bed and staring out the window, his wing bandaged behind him.

I smiled and walked the rest of the way up.

"Hey Taurtis," I said. When he turned to look at me, I tossed him the clothes I had been holding behind my back with a grin on my face. His eyes lit up as he saw the familiar blue shirt and black jeans. His frown turned into a grin and he looked up at me.

He hopped up and pulled me into a hug, the clothes I had thrown him grasped tight in his hand. I chuckled and hugged him back.

"Be right back," he said before dashing downstairs to the nearest room where nobody was.

Soon, he returned with the clothes on and a wide grin. I had to admit, his pale purple wings slightly clashed with the blue of his shirt but that was perfectly fine. I had made sure to add holes in the back for his wings while they were healing and intended to fix the holes myself when Taurtis was able to hide his wings.

Once at the top of the stairs, he spun around to show off his outfit. "How do I look?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

I chuckled. "Almost exactly like I remember you," I replied before walking forward to give him another hug.

He smiled and nodded. "Shouldn't be too long before this is healed and we can figure out why my wings didn't vanish," he said when we pulled apart.

I smiled too. "You know, you haven't seen all of the cool things in Hermitcraft, how about I give you a tour of at least this area?" I suggested with a smile. He grinned and agreed and we left together to explore the village.

I was unaware of the glare EX was sending our way as I left without even greeting him.

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~POV CHANGE~

I soared over Hermitville in search of something to do. The village was quiet today and the only people I could see was Grian with... Someone I didn't recognize. I made a mental note to find out who that was later.

Something in the distance caught my eye. I turned my head and saw a bit of smoke rising in the distance. Raising my eyebrow, I turned toward it and rocketed off to investigate. My blonde hair ruffled in the wind, my red eyes trained on the smoke on the horizon.

I realized I was nearing Area 77 and soon saw the source of the smoke. The entire front door of the bunker had been blown off and the area was blackened and charred. I raised an eyebrow and landed nearby, pulling up my communicator.

Tango: hey Doc, Scar, why is the Area 77 bunker door blasted off?

GoodTimeWithScar: long story

GoodTimeWithScar: everything's fine

Tango: okay...

I let out a sigh and circled around again. I headed back toward Hermitville and landed.

I spotted Grian again with the black-haired person and realized the large pale purple wings on the newcomer's back were not normal.

"Hey, Grian!" I called with a wave before jogging over to him. "Who's your friend?" I asked, eyeing the winged man.

"Hey, Tango! This is Taurtis, " he introduced with a smile.

"Hello, " he greeted with a friendly smile.

"Hey, " I said, a small smile on my face even though I was wary.

"How did you get here?" I asked, crossing my arms and not realizing I looked menacing.

Taurtis glanced at Grian. "By mistake and now I can't get out yet, " he said sheepishly.

I raised an eyebrow. "I see, " I said in response.

"Well, we have to go, see you Tango!" Grian said with a smile.

"Bye, Tango, " Taurtis said with a small wave.

I put on a forced smile and bid them farewell before leaving.

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~POV CHANGE~

I glanced over at Doc with a sigh. He still hadn't woken up and it had already been a day or so. I felt awful about it. Technically, it was my fault for letting the creature gain power.

I stood from the bed and stood over him with my arms crossed. My burnt trench coat had been replaced with a fresh one along with the rest of my clothes and Stress was in the process of finding someone to either fix my hat or make a new one. However, my burnt one rested on my head nonetheless.

I heard a quiet frustrated growl and looked back to see EX staring out the window.

"You okay?" I asked quietly.

"I'm fine, " he snapped quietly.

I decided to leave him alone. I turned back to Doc and began to question whether or not he would actually live. The cuts the creature had given him were deep and he had some broken bones from getting thrown by the creature.

I let out a frustrated sigh and sank down onto my bed, burying my face in my hands.

A quiet groan came to my ears and I looked up to see Doc stirring. I jumped to my feet and dashed to his side.

His mismatched eyes blinked open and he looked up at the room and then at me.

"Scar? What happened? Where are we?" he asked weakly.

"We're in Iskall's house in Hermitville," I explained quietly. "The creature blew up the area."

"How are you alive? You were much closer to the blast than I was, " he said, confusion filling his non-mechanical eye.

I swallowed. Here came the hard part to explain.

"I died... And Cub brought me back, " I said softly.

"How?" he asked in bewilderment.

I sighed. "We're Vex-cursed players. There are some things we can do which includes bringing each other back, " I explained.

He stared at me for a good few second as if he was trying to figure out how to respond. "Do you have wings?" he asked. As he spoke, I happily noticed that he was sounding a bit stronger than before.

"Yeah, I don't usually have them out," I answered.

His eyes widened and he sat up. He immediately grimaced in pain and gripped his chest. "Where's the creature?" he asked, his gaze set on me.

"It escaped," I answered with a sigh.

Doc looked off to the side and noticed EX staring out the window. Stress had somehow fixed his armor and he had already put it back on.

"Why is he here...?" he asked quietly.

I glanced back at the silent Watcher. "He got hurt somehow too... I don't know how half of these people are here anymore," I answered quietly.

Doc didn't respond to that and just looked away. He looked up as Iskall entered and looked around.

"Where's Taurtis?" he asked, looking over at us.

"Grian gave him new clothes and they left together earlier," I answered.

Iskall hummed in response and then left. I glanced over at Doc once he had vanished from view and he shrugged.

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~POV CHANGE~

I glanced back at Iskall before he left and scowled with an eye roll. I looked back out the window and at the red sweatered hermit across the town. Grian was still with Taurtis and he hadn't even greeted me while he was here.

I wished I could leave but Stress had said she needed to make sure the burn wasn't going to come back. Iskall told her that it wasn't but she apparently didn't trust the magic well enough. I was livid that she wasn't letting me leave the house.

I glanced back as Stress entered with Joe right behind her. Stress placed her gaze on me, a small frown on her face.

"You're free to go," she said.

I glanced at Joe and he gave me a small nod.

I stood from the bed and faced them, my hands at my sides. "Fine," I said quietly.

As I passed them on the way to the stairs, I felt their gazes following me until I was out of sight. I let out a quiet sigh and exited the house.

I silently walked through the village, unsure of where I was going. I discovered myself near Xisuma's house but decided against going inside.

I looked around to see where Grian and Taurtis had gone but never saw them.

"Hey, Evander," I heard the voice from behind. I turned to see Xisuma standing outside his house.

"Hey, Xisuma," I replied quietly.

A look of concern spread over his face. "Everything okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I lied.

"No it's not," he said. "Come on," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder and leading me inside his house. I reluctantly went with him inside and sat down on the bed while he closed the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting beside me.

I let out a sigh. "Grian visited Taurtis earlier and didn't even look at me," I deadpanned.

His gaze rested on my face for a few moments before he quietly sighed. "He's just happy to have an old friend back," he told me quietly. "He'll still hang out with you in the future."

I looked away, feeling as if that wasn't true. "Whatever," I said quietly, crossing my arms.

I didn't notice the concerned look on my brother's face as I stood and headed to the door.

"Evander," he said before I exited.

I turned to see him standing and slightly reaching a hand out to me. "What?" I said.

"Don't make a mistake you'll regret," he said quietly.

I rolled my eyes. "I've made a lot of those. I'm still here, aren't I?" With that, I turned and left, leaving my brother alone in his house.

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~POV CHANGE~

I glanced at Taurtis with a mischievous grin on my face. He looked back at me with a similar smile on his own face.

Some of the hermits had been spending more time in Hermitville, meaning there were more people to try and prank.

 I put on the chicken mask and began to spam eggs inside a hermit's house. I tossed Taurtis some eggs and he joined me.

We didn't notice the red-clad Watcher fly past overhead, a disguised look of rage on his concealed face.

Once the house filled with clucking baby chickens, Taurtis and I laughed together and walked off after I took off the mask.

"Where's Mumbo?" I wondered aloud as we walked.

Taurtis glanced at me and shrugged. "Dunno," he replied.

I smirked and put on my elytra. "Wanna go find him?" I asked.

Taurtis raised an eyebrow while smirking. "If you want to, but I don't have an elytra and I can't use my wings," he pointed out.

I shrugged. "Oh well," I said before pausing as my phone buzzed. I pulled it up and saw a message from someone in a group chat that included everyone who had been in the area when the creature had escaped.

BDoubleO100: why have all of you disappeared from the rest of Hermitcraft? you've been spending a ridiculous amount of time in Hermitville

Xisuma: things happened that we had to deal with but everything's fine now

BDoubleO100: what things?

Docm77: that's classified

BDoubleO100: ohh, something to do with Area 77?

GoodTimeWithScar: yeah

Grian: why are you so worried Bdubs?

BDoubleO100: you've all pretty much vanished

BDoubleO100: I'm not the only one with concerns

Mumbo: we're all fine, you don't need to worry

iskall85: by the way, if you see someone with pale purple feathered wings walking around, don't interrogate him

iskall85: he is allowed to be here

BDoubleO100: I will relay that message

Xisuma: thanks Bdubs

I put my phone away and looked at Taurtis, who I had allowed to watch the conversation over my shoulder. He had a small frown on his face and he was looking at me with worry in his eyes.

"What's going to happen, Grian?" he asked.

I gave him a slight smile. "Everything will be fine, Taurtis," I told him.

He smiled slightly back and gave me a hug.

A red armored man stood on top of a house nearby, his angry gray gaze trained on us. Neither of us noticed him.

He spread his elytra and flew off, out of the sight of anyone. We didn't pay any attention to the sudden sound of rockets.

(2009 words or so)

(A/N this chapter was basically set up for the next chapter. After finishing writing this chapter, I immediately started writing the next one so that one will probably come out soon after this one :) )

(I really wanna share my theory involving Iskall and the creature so plz lemme know if u want to know it)

(Hope you enjoyed, bye~!)