Grian had never felt so miserable his entire life. He was being led down a familiar, blank hallway by Sapnap, his hands and wings bounded by ropes. Tubbo was beside him, mouth muffled and held in place by Bad.

Grian was thrown into a cell, and a thump beside him indicated Tubbo with him. Grian twisted around to try to catch sight of his surroundings. Grian grunted when the ropes tying his hands together dug into his wrist as he tried to turn around.

"Here." Tubbo said, and Grian turned his whole body to see the boy holding a sharp rock in his hands. Grian scooched over to the boy and let him saw through the rope on his hands.

Tubbo cut through the binds on Grian's hands as well as his wings. "Thanks." Grian said as he stood up, stretching his wings.

"No problem." Tubbo said. "I'm sorry you got dragged in with this." He added, a sorry look in his eyes.

"Oh, Tubbo." Grian leaned forwards and wrapped his arms around the younger boy. "You don't have to be sorry for that. I'll always care for your safety." Grian paused, a brick of nostalgia hitting him as a memory surfaced.

I will stay with you forever, Tommy.

Grian's shoulders slumped with grief. Tommy. How does the young boy feel now? When his best friend and his mentor were gone? How could he deal with this situation?

"Grian?" Tubbo asked, moving towards the avian.

"It's fine." Grian replied. "I'm just... thinking about Tommy." He said softly.

"I think a lot about Tommy too." Tubbo replied gently. "And Phil. And False. And everyone, basically."

"Yeah." Grian said. He was starting to regret making those promises to Tommy. Who knew how many of those he could keep? Grian sighed deeply. "So how's life in prison?" He teased weakly.

"Well, apart from Dream not feeding me enough and the abuse, it's actually quite nice. Peace and quiet, you know." Tubbo replied, putting on a fake cheerfulness.

Grian's gaze travelled down Tubbo's body, and his heart clenched with pity as he saw how thin the boy was. "Oh, Tubbo!" Grian whispered, bringing the boy into his embrace again.

Tubbo hugged Grian back, pressing his head into the avian's shoulder. Grian wrapped his arms around the boy's frail frame and hugged him tight. Grian soon felt his clothes turning wet. "Oh, Tubbo." He whispered, feeling the boy shake against him.

"I'm-I'm sorry." Tubbo whispered. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this, and you're now stuck with me, and I-" He gulped, his body shaking.

"Tubbo, this isn't your fault!" Grian said. "I wanted to save you! I put myself in danger! I shouldn't even have volunteered in the first place, but my stubborn mind didn't let me. Maybe if I hadn't come, then you would have escaped real fine." He sighed, disappointed in himself.

"Big G..." Tubbo said, and Grian looked at the boy, surprised. Only Tommy had called him by that name. Tubbo smiled weakly as he recognized the surprise on his face. "I picked up that habit from Tommy." He said.

Grian smiled, and when he saw Tubbo's face fall again, this time probably because of the memories of Tommy, he changed the topic. "Let's not be pessimistic, ok?" He asked. "Let's think about something happy."

"Something happy..." Tubbo repeated, his face blank.

"Yeah." Grian said. He decided to go with the same approach that he did with Tommy. "Did I tell you that one time, I trapped Scar's base?" He asked.

Tubbo immediately perked up. "You did what?" He asked.

"I trapped Scar's base." Grian replied. "It was a brilliant plan. I found a zombie spawner near my base, and I built a water tunnel that pushed them to Scar's base. He was bombarded with zombies. It was hilarious." He giggled, and so did Tubbo.

"Wasn't he mad after that?" Tubbo asked, eyes wide.

"No, not really." Grian said. "Me and Scar have a long history. You know, everytime there's a war, we always seem to be on opposite sides. Just last year, we had a war over mycelium-"

"Over what?!" Tubbo gasped, his mouth open.

"Over mycelium." Grian repeated, smiling. "Mycelium and grass."

Tubbo shook his head. "I've always thought Dream was crazy. I think you might be crazier." He said. Grian laughed. "To have a war over grass." Tubbo muttered

"It's not about the block." Grian said. "It's about the principle." He said proudly.

If Tubbo had drank water just then, Grian knew he would have snorted it out his nose. But due to the little amounts of food they were given, we as readers did not get to see that.

Tubbo and Grian shared stories until late night. "Do they ever feed us?" Grian asked, rubbing his belly. "I dunno about you, but I need a healthy diet of grain to survive for more than a day." He joked. He snickered to himself on the joke, and Tubbo glanced at him, a confused expression on his face.

"Well, we should be getting food eventually." Tubbo said, and right on cue, Scar appeared.

"Hey Scar!" Grian called, waving. Scar waved back, also smiling. Grian looked to Tubbo to see a confused look on his face. Of course. Grian thought. He isn't used to this kind of friendly competition. For him, it's everything or nothing. More intense than anything we've had on Hermitcraft.

"I brought you food." Scar said, and Grian could tell he was a little nervous, fidgeting around. As he set the metal tray down, he shot a look at Tubbo, and Grian understood why.

There was pity and apologies in Scar's eyes, and Grian instantly knew that he felt the same as he did. They both believed that Tommy, Tubbo, and others like them were way too young to be a part of this. To be in war. "I sneaked a little more in, I hope it helps." Scar said, scratching his head nervously.

"Thank you, Scar." Grian said, and the two hermits made eye contact.

Scar blinked sorrowfully at Grian as they recognized that their opinions were the same. But their positions were not. Grian looked to Scar hopefully, but Scar gave a small shake of his head. Grian glanced at Tubbo, who was looking back and forth between the two, trying to make sense of their silent conversation. Grian turned back to Scar, and hiding his mouth, mouthed 'later' at the terraformer. Scar nodded and left, glancing back once to make sure they were ok.

"Let's eat." Grian said lightly, trying to distract Tubbo. It worked better than Grian thought it would. Tubbo turned immediately to the tray, his eyes gleaming with a hungry light. Grian smiled dryly, wondering how much food Dream would give to make the boy have such a reaction every time food was around.

He crowded around the tray with Tubbo as the boy lifted the tray and was greeted with...

Two pieces of dry bread, two pieces of cheese and some sort of fruit, sliced. There were also two pieces of beef jerky and two extra slices of fresh bread. Tubbo brightened, and he picked up the jerky, turning it around and examining it. "Scar sneaked in more than he should have." Tubbo said, putting the jerky down.

"Did he?" Grian asked.

"I don't usually get jerky." Tubbo explained. "And obviously the extra bread is his doing too. I wonder how he got that past Sapnap, unless he isn't guarding today." Tubbo said.

"What does Sapnap have to do with it?" Grian asked, confused.

"It's usually Punz, Bad or Scar that brings me food." Tubbo said. "Usually Scar can get a little extra to me. But sometimes, if he brings too much, Sapnap or Punz - it's mostly them who guard the prison, Punz usually brings me food when he's guarding and stands outside my cell while I eat - Sapnap or Punz might catch him. And then Scar gets lectured by Dream, he's told me about it. So either they've put Tango, Impulse or Bdubs on guard duty today, or Scar just got really lucky and managed to get past Sapnap or Punz." He explained. "Or maybe Sapnap got drunk again." Tubbo added a moment later, thoughtful.

Grian laughed. "We should eat, before drunk Sapnap or Punz catch us with this much food." Grian said.

Tubbo ate faster than anyone Grian had ever seen. He gulped down his portion of food like a hungry wolf, which he kinda was, Grian mused. Tubbo turned to Grian, eyes apologetic as he stared at the other half of the food. "It's fine." Grian said. "You eat it all."

"I can't let you starve!" Tubbo protested, pushing the plate to Grian.

"I won't starve, at least not yet." Grian said. Tubbo blinked in confusion. "Has Phil never told you?" Grian asked. "When we avians don't have enough food, the first thing that happens is that our wings thin. Then we become unable to fly because of how thin our wings become. And then we starve."

"So... your wings are like the humps on a camel." Tubbo said.

"Yes, they store energy." Grian said. "It's quite useful, especially in situations like this. Now eat." He pushed the tray back to Tubbo, and watched as the boy ate the food. "Where can I get some water?" Grian asked as Tubbo wiped his mouth.

"Here." Tubbo said, holding up a metal can. "They have a control system, where they trickle water out through here." He pointed to a hole in the wall, where a plastic tube protruded and water trickled out. "This is our water source." Tubbo said, handing the bottle to Grian.

Grian took a long sip, satisfying his thirst but regretting it when he saw how much of the water he had drained. "It's ok." Tubbo said, taking the bottle from him. "They'll add more water." He placed the bottle under the plastic pipe and watched as the water flow increased, filling the bottle at a steady pace. "It's late." Tubbo said, rubbing his eyes.

"We should sleep." Grian said, and Tubbo led him to a small straw mat in the back. Tubbo curled up on the mat, and Grian covered the boy the best he could with the scattered straw before stretching out on the floor, spreading his wings.

The chill of the stone floor prevented Grian from sleeping. He closed his eyes, trying to fall into dreamland, but no success. Grian shivered, curling up into a ball.

Tubbo's hand fell from the straw mat on top of the higher ledge, and Grian grasped it, thankful for the warmths. The next thing he knew, Tubbo was beside him, dragging the straw mat down to cover them as he curled up next to Grian on the floor.

Grian felt his heart warm at the gesture, and he opened his wings, letting them fall over Tubbo as the two cuddled together. Listening to Tubbo's steady breathing, Grian fell asleep, almost peacefully.

Almost.

(isn't it cute? rachel drew it uwu)

WC: 1783

yes, i have run out of ideas to call chapters
yes, we have a new cover
yes, pls give support to purple1i for the cover

ITS AMAZING AALKDJASDJLJDLAS

and yes, in case some of you noticed, the old cover did indeed have a spelling mistake 😅

but me and rachel talked it over, it was funny, i kept it

everything is fine
(except my writing schedule, that is-)

https://www.instagram.com/_songder/
(that's her insta)

i made the ranking in scar

love y'all, stay safe, bye-

(if you can't tell im very tired)

'edited' on Jan 23rd 2022