This is where all old chapters are stored. (sans 6, 7, 8 becuz they got deleted) I've decided to include them here in case anyone wants a look into the past, and because, even though this writing is particularly cringey, I like looking back on it to see how I've improved. I'll keep adding as rewrites come out, up to chapter 17.

<3 Soe, enjoy :>
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1: River? No thanks

Tango had redstone block, as he liked to call it. He was working on a new machine with Mumbo, and today he couldn't seem to wrap his head around the complexities of the redstone. He decided a stroll through the jungle would clear his head.

"See ya!" he said to Mumbo. "Later," he heard his mustached friend respond as he closed the door.

Mumbo's hobbit hole was serene, but Tango decided he would prefer to walk through the less inhabited jungle. He equipped his elytra and flew to where he could just make out the smoke from Stress' chimney.

A river rushed nearby. A noise like this sounds calming, but to Tango it was stressful. Just one drop of water could cause his skin to be red and itchy for days, with him being a nether demon and all. Water was so unnecessarily cold too. He walked further from the sound.

Tango heard rustling behind him, he flicked his small tail nervously.

"Wh-Who's there?" Tango stuttered.

A figure stepped out from behind a tree. But Tango instantly recognizes his light green tee and messy dark brown hair, which was full of leaves for some reason. 

"Iskall! You almost gave me a heart attack... Iskall...?" His Swedish friend didn't answer, approaching with a blank stare in his eyes. Wait, his eyes weren't their usual green! They were bright red. Almost as red as Tango's one eyes. 

Then, Iskall levitated a few feet off the ground, surrounded by a pink aura.

He floated closer, and Tango ignited his hand in a deep red flame. He didn't want to hurt his friend, or burn down the forest for that matter, but just in case.

"W-What's goin' on buddy?" Tango asked nervously, but he was trying to stay calm. He started backing away from Iskall who, in a voice unlike his own, responded to his question.

"Just terminating a threat." Iskall's lips pulled into a wicked grin.

Iskall reached his arm out, levitating Tango and surrounding him in an aura too. Usually, when Iskall lifted another hermit, they could move around freely in the air. Tango was locked in place.

"PUT ME DOWN!" Tango struggled against Iskall.

"ISKALL YOU BIRD BRAIN! PUT! ME! DOWN!" Iskall just smiled.

Tango tried to look down and his eyes widened in fear. Iskall was floating him toward the river.

"Stop! Stop it Iskall! You know I can't swim!" Iskall didn't stop, he chuckled at his friend's panic stricken face.

There had to be someone nearby! Tango shouted for help, over and over. He quivered. He was now directly over the river.

The pink aura dissipated.

Tango let out a mortifying shriek as he plummeted into the water.

Iskall collapsed.
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2: Hearing screams

Grian stepped out of his hobbit house to get a breath of fresh air. He'd been cooped up all day, and the jungle leaves were especially green this time of year.

He heard the sound of someone screaming. Screaming for help. Was that, Tango? Grian sprinted towards the sound. Grian knew Tango was going to Mumbo's today, or at least he thought that was today.

The screams got louder and more panicked. Grian was along the riverbank now. He heard one last, shrill screech. Rounding a bend, Grian spotted Iskall, who, at that moment, fell to the ground.

"Iskall! Iskall are you alright!" Grian shook him awake. Iskall seemed groggy for a second, but snapped almost immediately to his feet.

Iskall was glancing around, a horrified look in his eyes

"Iskall! Oh my gosh I- I saw you fall an-"
"Oh my god, Grian go get Stress!"
"But"
"NOW!"

Grian shrunk himself into a canary and flitted towards Stress' house. He should have chosen a larger bird, but there was no time. He could still fly faster than he could run.

Grian still didn't know what had happened, but he landed at Stress' turning back human. No time for the doorbell. Grian burst in.
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3: To save a life

Stress was hanging a photo in her front hall. She was contemplating why she, of all hermits, had healing powers. It was somewhat annoying, her friends pestering her constantly. 'Stress, cure my zombie villager' or 'Stress! I scraped my elbow.' She mocked their voices in her head. Stress was disappointed in herself. She couldn't even heal when she wasn't calm. She couldn't even fix every wound or illness either.

Stress' door swung open with a crash. She spun around, dropping her hammer. To her surprise, she saw Grian in the doorframe. He was wheezing and out of breath.

"Grian? What's wrong!?" She asked the littlest of the hermits.

"Iskall told me *pant* to get you *pant* river! *gasp* emergency!"
"Grian, I'm sorry, what?"
"I don't know what *wheeze* happened! *gasp* follow! Now!"

Grian shifted into a bird and whizzed through the sky. Stress chased bird Grian through the jungle. He was difficult to see in the midday sun. But, just as she thought she'd lost sight of Grian, she heard him.

"Oh my GOD! Tango!" he shrieked. Grian hadn't mentioned Tango, but he clearly also had no clue as to what was going on.

Stress rounded a bend to see none other than Tango. On the ground. Unconscious. And soaking wet.

Iskall, also soaked, was kneeled next to the nether demon, very flustered. Grian was standing off to the side, bewildered and muttering to himself.

Stress rushed to Tango's side, knocking Iskall out of the way. "Calm down Stress, calm down," she said to herself aloud. She fortunately didn't have to do CPR because of her powers.

Stress placed a hand on Tango's sopping gray vest. She imagined his heart beating, and his lungs full of air again.

Tango's skin was hissing and smoking. Stress noticed and remembered how water 'burned' him. No Stress! Focus on saving his life! She concentrated harder and soon enough...
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4: Scared

Tango woke up. He was gasping, coughing, spluttering. Where was he? What happened? Tango made a small groan and lifted his hand to his head.

Was he dead?

No, he most definitely was not dead. Tango blinked his eyes open furiously to see a worried but relieved Stress. His vision was blurry but he could make out another person behind Stress. Grian maybe.

Wait, there was someone else. Tango looked right at their face and he remembered everything.

A look of sheer terror plastered itself to Tango. He tried to get up, get as far from Iskall as he could. But Tango whimpered and stumbled back to the ground. The dry leaves stuck to his hands.

"Tango, it's okay. You're gonna be fine." Stress was so calm when there was an almost murderer behind her!

"Nonono! Get away!" Tango wasn't focused on Stress. "I-I... Tango?" A look of confusion and sadness materialized on Stress' face. But Tango wasn't looking at her face. He was looking right over her shoulder to his cold blooded friend.

"Get away Iskall! Get away!" Tango shuffled backwards, but his back hit a tree. No! He needed to be far from Iskall!

Grian shot an angry look at Iskall. What had he done?

Tango began to chatter from the cold

"Don't h-hurt me Isk-Iskall"

"Iskall's not going to hurt you Tango," said a worried Stress, "You're okay." Oh Tango was NOT okay in the least and Iskall very much so was going to hurt him. Stress leaned over and tried to heal Tango's skin but he flinched at her touch.

"They- they... Get them away!" whined Tango. He pressed his back harder into the tree and clenched his eyes shut.
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5: Iskall's Dilemna

Iskall couldn't believe himself. What had he done to his friend! He backed further away from the panicking Tango, and from Grian, who was staring him down, confused and angry.

Tears began to stream down Iskall's face. He did the only thing he could think to do. He ran.

--------------------
5 hours earlier
--------------------

Iskall was quite bored. He couldn't think of anything to do. He didn't really want to build, or go flying. Nothing really sounded appealing.

Oh! He could hang out with Mumbo! Iskall was never bored when he was with Mumbo. He was about to head over when...

Wasn't Mumbo working on that big redstone project? His friend had a way with electricity, but big projects took a lot of time and patience.

"He's working on that project with Tango you know...." Yeah, so? Wait, where had that voice come from?

"Show yourself!" Shouted Iskall into empty space. Show myself? The voice chuckled. I'm in your head Iskall... The voice was in his head, but it didn't sound like his own.

"What do you want!?" The voice didn't answer Iskall's question. Mumbo really should be working on that project with you, not Tango, it said instead.

No, Mumbo didn't have to do everything with Iskall all the time. But yet, Iskall did kind of agree with the voice.

It didn't talk again. Iskall made up his mind and decided that he would go to the shopping district for a little while. He didn't want to tell the other hermits about the voice. It was probably just himself and he didn't want to make it someone else's problem. It still worried him though.

-——

Iskall was trudging through some particularly squelchy mud on his way to the shopping district. He didn't feel like hovering over it like he usually would. This is annoying. The voice startled Iskall. "Jeez! I nearly jumped out my shoes!" Iskall wondered what the voice had to say this time. Why can't you use your powers to fly over this? Iskall you have power... power that is great. You need to use it more often.

What was the voice trying to tell him? Whatever it was it didn't sit right in Iskall's stomach.

"Iskall! Hey!" It was Bdubs! Iskall loved seeing his happy face. The two began to walk through the shopping district, chatting happily. Bdubs was dragging out a long story about a trick False had shown him earlier. Iskall didn't mind though, he liked listening. Just as they were settling on a bench, the voice spoke again.

Isn't he so irritating, chattering on with no end in sight? Aren't all the hermits sooo irritating? Why don't you just KILL HIM?!

The words rang in Iskall's ears. Iskall would never in a million years try to kill a hermit! Iskall jumped to his feet clutching his head and exclaimed "NO!" as loud as he could.

"Iskall? You ok? Oh my gosh was it something I said?!" Bdubs eyes filled with concern.

Iskall quickly looked around for an excuse. "Erm... Nooo! All these... stupid campaign posters are ruining the view!"

Bdubs was not buying it. " Hey, dude, if something's wrong... I dunno, I'm here" He put his hand on Iskall's shoulder. It was kind of soothing, and made Iskall feel better about his whole ordeal. Iskall was getting scared of the voice and he needed to tell someone.

"Bdubs, I- I should tell you something-" You wouldn't want anything to happen to your little Bdubs would you...? Empty threats, thought Iskall. He was about to continue talking when his hand reached into his pocket and grabbed his pocketknife.

iskall didn't control that

"You know what? Never mind!" Iskall made a nervous, squeaky chuckle.
"Uh, no. Your eyes just like, changed red for a second there Iskall... What is going on?!" Bdubs was wary of Iskall, but persistent nonetheless. Iskall flicked his pocketknife open. Iskall did NOT control that! Iskall tried to close the knife and move his hand. It would not MOVE! He started pulling the knife out of his pocket...

Iskall panicked. "I gotta go!" He equipped his elytra using his working hand and flew off. Bdubs has forgotten his own elytra and wouldn't have been able to catch up.

Back at his omega tree, Iskall started screaming at the voice. He had regained control of his hand but he wanted the voice to get out! Iskall knew he had to tell somebody, but then, he realized, the voice would try and kill them too.

You want to get rid of me, don't you? "Just get out!" Iskall hit his head with his fist. Come on Iskall! We need to have some fun first! "No, no, NO!" Iskall began to sob. We need to terminate some threats Iskall. "It's just a dream or something! Surely it's got to be!"

This is no dream. Why don't we start with your little nether friend... tANgO?"

And with that, Iskall lost all control over his body.

——

Iskall watched in horror as his legs started moving on their own, marching out the door. He struggled against the voice, trying to regain control. Iskall couldn't control anything, not even his facial expressions.

He started sprinting through the jungle, branches catching in his hair. Iskall tried to yell at the voice again, but no sound came out. Are you trying to stop me? Iskall your attempts are feeble. Iskall tried to force his hand open at least. His fingers twitched! Yes! No Iskall. This body is mine now!

The two slowed down, leaves crunching under their feet. Voice-Iskall peeked around a tree. "Who's there?" they heard Tango stutter. Voice-Iskall walked out silently. "Iskall!" No, it was not Iskall.

Regular Iskall tried to speak. He needed to tell Tango to run. He screamed at the top of his lungs, but no sound came out of himself.

"You almost gave me a heart attack...Iskall?" Voice-Iskall kept slowly approaching. Iskall knew he must have had a creepy look in his eyes. Then, Voice-Iskall levitated.

Great, it could use his powers. Iskall has to do something fast. He watched as Tango lit his hand using his nether powers. "W-What's goin on?" Tango asked nervously. Then, the voice spoke through Iskall. "Just Terminating A Threat..." What! Tango wasn't a threat! A pink aura appeared around Tango. Voice-Iskall was lifting him too.

Tango was very irritated, yelling for Iskall to put him down, over and over.

Then they realized. Voice-Iskall was slowly pushing Tango towards the river. Iskall noticed his nether friend's face glaze over with terror.

"Stop! Stop it Iskall! You know I can't swim!" If Iskall could stop, he would. Tango, realizing Voice-Iskall wasn't going to put him down, started yelling for help. Iskall started fighting as hard as he could for control.

Someone was running up. Help? Iskall stares to take control of himself again. He could move his fingers and toes. Iskall made one last forcible effort against the voice and collapsed onto the dirt.

But he was too late. Tango had plummeted into the river just seconds before.

----

Someone was by Iskall's side, shaking him. Iskall whisked to his feet as fast as humanly possible. Grian, who was the person that came running, was saying something to Iskall. Iskall wasn't listening. His eyes darted towards the river. Seeing small bubbles, he realized there was still time.

"Grian go get Stress!"
"But-"
"NOW!"

Grian flipped into a small bird and flew, extremely quickly, towards Stress'. Iskall dived into the river with a splash!

The frigidness of the water was quite a shock. Using his 'robot' eye, Iskall spotted Tango, flailing about. Iskall clutched onto Tango, and tried to swim to the surface. Tango felt as heavy as cinder blocks and had gone completely limp.

Iskall was relatively okay at swimming and and dragged himself and Tango out of the river. He rolled his friend onto the riverbank.

What would he do? Tango wasn't breathing, and Iskall didn't know CPR. It was a disaster. But then he heard Grian. *phew*
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6, 7, and 8 were tragically deleted, so u only have their new versions :p

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9: In the Dark

Impulse sat calmly with Stress at her kitchen table. He was using his powers to calm her down, telepathically transferring happy thoughts and emotions. Impulse's power was confusing to the other hermits, but it was helpful in a pinch. Stress was also catching him up on what she knew of the situation so far.

They heard a knock at the door which Stress went to check. "Mumbo, hi!" She said cheerily.

Mumbo started speaking rapidly. "Have you seen Tango?! He'd just gone on a walk but I checked by Grian's a-and Scar's and Iskall's a-" Stress interrupted.

"Mumbo! Calm down, he's here." Stress led her tall friend inside and told him Tango had had a river accident.

"He's over by the fireplace." Mumbo rushed to his blanket bundled friend. Tango popped his head out of his burrito.

"Tango, ar-are you okay?" Mumbo said, panicky. The demon, however, was surprisingly calm.
"I'm alright I guess."
"I was worried!"
"Sorry..."
"No, no don't be!" Mumbo brought Tango into a small squeeze, giving him a static shock. "Ooops! Sorry!"
"No! Shock me again, it felt warm!" Mumbo chuckled and did so.

"You shouldn't do that too much mum- be- o. It could hurt him..." Stress called from the other room.
"One more!" begged Tango
"Fine."

Soon, the two started blabbing in about redstone stuff that Stress couldn't care less about. That is until Mumbo went and asked where Grian and Iskall were since he hadn't spotted them whilst searching for Tango.

Stress pinched the bridge of her nose and let out an exasperated sigh. "And that is where our problem lies."

///////////////////

From what Mumbo could understand, Iskall attacked Grian, and had done something to Tango as well because Tango would refuse to speak at the mention of Iskall. Fortunately, Grian was fine, but was asleep and couldn't provide any answers.

Impulse, Mumbo, and Stress were left stumped, confused, and in the dark. They couldn't go to Iskall either because, from what Stress heard, he was a madman.

It was beginning to get late, so Impulse and Tango walked back to their homes together. Mumbo stayed longer because he was worried about Grian.

"Just go home and get some sleep Mumbo!"
"But-"
"He'll be fine, I promise." Stress flitted her purple butterfly wings. They glimmered beautifully in the afternoon sun.
"He's... he's in good hands." Mumbo sighed and walked out, closing the wooden door behind him with a clunk.

Stress looked down at her hands, feeling self-doubt. Was what Mumbo said true? We're her hands, good hands? It didn't matter. She didn't know how to help Grian and she had to find out. Pulling out every book, scroll and script she had on birds, Stress knew she'd be staying up a while.

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10: Sleep? What's that again?

Grian stirred awake. Sun rays peacefully beamed into his room. Except, it wasn't his room. He gazed around the unfamiliar place and soon realized he had slept with his wings. That was odd. Grian could be full human or full bird, which were more comfortable ways to sleep than hybrid.

He shrugged it off, getting up and stretching. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain blossom in his right wing. Grian reached over his shoulder and felt bandages in the downy feathers. Oh, right! He remembered.

Iskall had hurt Grian's wing, but Stress and Joe helped him. Grian realized he must be at Stress' house and strutted down the stairs, bedhead and all.

Stress was sitting at her table with a really fat encyclopedia. She looked bored, but determined somehow. "Good morning Stress!" chirped Grian, which startled her.

"Oh, hey Grian." She sipped her tea.
"You don't look to great"
"I didn't get much sleep... I'm close to figuring out how to heal your wing though!"
"Awesome!"
"...Bird anatomy is weird"

The two had breakfast together and Stress asked what happened with Iskall. She was eager to gain more information on the situation. Grian began to describe his experience as best he could.

"So first I chased after Iskall. Well, I assumed he had dropped Tango in the river or something since Tango was so scared of him and all."
"He still won't talk about it by the way," Stress interrupted.
"Oh... well anyways, Iskall stopped running and I asked him why he hurt Tango. He denied it, but then his eyes turned red and he spoke in a different voice saying he had. He told me to run and attacked. I ran here as fast as I could so I didn't see where he went."
"Hmmmmm"

They didn't ponder it too much longer and Stress got out some disinfectant for Grian's wing. He, reluctantly, let her put it on, and headed back to his own place.

"Remember to get to bed earlier tonight!" he said to his tired friend as he left. But Stress wouldn't take his suggestion. She felt guilty, and had to find answers. Stress needed to be better! She was supposed to be able to heal and, guess what? She couldn't even do that properly! She should've learned about birds the moment Grian joined hermitcraft. But she didn't, and now her friend was in pain because of her. Stupid! She had to be smarter, stronger. She couldn't break down every time she saw blood! She couldn't sleep. She wouldn't sleep.

After a whole day and night without rest, Stress had learned everything there is to learn about birds. She had a solution. Maybe she wasn't so much of a failure anymore....

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11: Slime & Snoozing

Stress burst into Grian's hobbit hole. Grian, Mumbo, and Jevin were hanging out in the main room, playing some version of D&D with... slime?

"I know how to fix your wing Grian!" Mumbo turned and suddenly gave her a shocked expression. "Stress! My word you look terrible!" The girl had dark bags under her eyes, her hair was a birds nest, and she looked sickly and pale. "When was the last time you slept? Are you sick?!" Asked the concerned mustached hermit.

"Totally *yawn* fine! Anyway-" Grian interrupted her. "STRESS! You said you were gonna sleep!" He grabbed Stress' shoulders and forced her to sit back on the couch.

"You know I couldn't! I had to find answers!" Jevin grabbed a blanket and threw it on Stress.

"Stress you are not in your right mind!" argued Grian. "Now sleep!" Stress passed out moments later.

Jevin plopped down at their game. "So anyways, where were we?"

///////////////

"Ack! How long was I asleep!" Stress instantly stood up. "About... 6 hours." Grian responded after checking a clock. Jevin and Mumbo has left awhile ago.

Stress was mad with herself for sleeping so long, but she had to admit she did feel better. Grian was hesitant to allow Stress to try and heal him. So, he convinced her to test her powers on Professor Beak, who had a scraped toe.

After healing up, not one, but two birds, Stress triumphantly left the hobbit hole.

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12: Pavilion Predicament

Only two days had passed, and Iskall was nowhere to be seen. Grian and Stress explained what occurred to Xisuma and a few others. Xisuma seemed unnaturally concerned, but then again, he did get concerned easily.

Grian was meeting up with Zedaph in the shopping district on account of his torn sweater. The sheep hybrid could mend clothes faster than you can snap your fingers. Strolling casually, he spotted Impulse and Joe.

In about 0.2 seconds, Joe was locked into a tight hug by Grian. The small hermit started thanking and praising him.

Joe have Impulse a confused look. Impulse just chuckled lightly. "I'll explain later."

"So... what are you up to today Grian?" Joe asked, trying to make small talk.

"Nothing much, just gonna see Zed, he's going to fix my sweater!" Joe noticed that Grian was wearing a different red sweater with a white stripe across the bottom. He wondered what happened to the bird boy's usual beloved sweater but decided not to question it.

"Mind if I tag along?" Impulse asked Grian. "Course not!" Grian glanced towards Joe, seemingly inviting him.

"I need to buy some more wood, I'll see y'all later!"

"'Kay"
"Bye Joe!" Grian skipped away from his imaginary savior.

........

Zed was waiting in the Mayoral Pavilion, where hermits would show their support for the candidates. So far in the run, Scar was doing really great, and False was too. The architecture of the pavilion was incredible. Some of the most amazing bits were the large, sturdy quartz pillars and the smoothly tiled floor.

Impulse and Grian, who was carrying his red sweater, walked into the pavilion while Zed was admiring one of Stress' posters. "Hi Zed!"

"Thanks again for agreeing to fix this on such short notice. This other sweater," Grian motioned to the striped one he was wearing, "is just really itchy."

"It's no biggie." Zedaph mended the fluffy sweater. "Good as new, here—"
Zed backed up, nervousness tainting his face. Grian and Impulse spin around to see Other-Iskall.

That's what they'd been calling the red-eyed, deep voiced, violent version of Iskall.

All three hermits pulled out their swords, ready to fight if necessary.

"Wait... Lets have a quick... chat..." Grian still gripped his sword tightly. "Who are you? What are you!?"

"Hmm... You know what? Iskall! You get one minute!" Other-Iskall's eyes turned green again, and he dropped to his knees. Impulse dashed to Iskall's side. "Iskall, are you okay!?"

"It-It's in my head! I'm trying to fight back I promise!" The swede's non-robotic eye began to well up with tears. "It just takes control of me! A-and I think... I think he's tryna take over hermitcraft! He's gonna—"

"Ah-a-a Iskall. What did we say about sharing our plans? Well, my plans..."

"Let go of him!" Grian shouted and lunged toward Other-Iskall. The villain dodged every one of his attacks.

"You see Gri- enn, trying to fight me will only result in great consequences." Other-Iskall lifted his hand and engulfed not Grian, but Zed in a pink aura. Talk about passive aggressive!

Zed began to squeal for help as he was lifted into the air. Impulse tried to use his power to get to Iskall, but it was as if there was something already there in his mind. Other-Iskall was lifting Zed higher and higher. Grian yelled for him to stop.

"Ooopsie!" Other-Iskall flicked his wrist aggressively, and the sheep barreled through the pavilion. Zed's side slammed into one of the pillars, letting out a quiet but sickening crack.

Grian shrieked and rushed to the aide of his fallen friend. So did Impulse.

Other-Iskall backed into the shadows. He smiled at the chaos he caused. He slipped away from the scene, horribly and villainously proud of himself.
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