A white haired man was working away at some sort of redstone contraption when he heard a knock at the door, not turning around he called out, "Come in!"

The door opened and then closed, faint footsteps approaching him, "Etho, we need to talk"

Etho turned around to face the person who had walked, Grian, with a confused expression on his face, "About what?"

"It's about Bdubs," Etho froze completely, what did Bdubs have to do with anything?, "He's started appearing in Hermitcraft, but he's always falling and every time we see him he's falling. Someone sent him back but they didn't do it right, so now we have a problem"

"And how can I help with that?" asked Etho, "I'm not out of training yet, I still have to practice having my own world, how could I be of any help if I'm not allowed to?"

"Well, looks like I'm the bearer of good news then," said Grian, extending his hand for the other male to shake, "I'll be the one supervising you!"

Shaking off his shock, he took Grian's hand and shook it, "Wait, does this mean I'll be in Hermitcraft with you?"

"Yes, at least until your ready for your own world. And don't worry, you'll still be able to visit after you've gotten your own world. So don't be afraid to say hi to anyone"

With that Grian turned to walk out of the room, probably to return to Hermitcraft. And Etho watched him go, still trying to process what's going on.

Grian was going to be supervising him and he was going to have his practice on his old server, with Doc, plus everyone else, but it was mostly Doc he was worried about. What would the creeper hybrid say? Would he hate him for leaving? What would he even say to him? "Hi! Sorry I kinda disappeared for a few years without telling you where I am! Missed you!" no way. No matter how close he and Doc where doesn't mean the other wouldn't be mad.

Sighing Etho went back to working on the redstone contraption, he could worry about Hermitcraft later, but right now he needed to figure out what was wrong with his creation.

Time seemed to fly by when you didn't want it to, so soon Etho stood waiting for Grian in the "lobby" of Watcher HQ. Upon hearing the melodic yet powerful roar of the shorter in his dragon form he walked towards the landing area to come face to face with the other, and just as he made it to where Grian had landed the dirty blonde turned back to normal. Etho walked to stand next to the other, wings twitching anxiously. He soon felt a hand grab his own in a comforting gesture, looking down the whitehead saw Grian grinning up at him, almost as if to say you'll be fine. Etho doesn't think Grian realized how much he appreciated the gesture, but he didn't voice it.

"So are we ready to go?" asked Etho, looking around the platform and at all the other Watcher's opening portals leading to their worlds, seeing the portals poof away as soon as the people where through.

"We are," answered Grian, he then turned to look Etho directly in the eyes, "But the question is, are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath Etho noded determinedly, not trusting his voice at the moment. He was so focused on keeping is cool that he didn't hear when Grian called for the portal to be opened, so when he was suddenly right in front of a purple swirling portal he might of jumped back. Assassin or not, things appearing suddenly right in front of you would still startle you.

Not giving Etho anymore time to hesitate Grian pushed him through the portal, jumping in after the assassin. The white haired man's blue-gray wings had a purple shine to them as they glided through the portal. Which was a thing he was still so surprised about the fact that they physically had to walk/ fly through the portals from HQ instead of just walking in and being transported like normal portals did.

Appearing on the other side of the Etho just hovered for a bit over the ocean, from where he was he could see what could only be the shopping district. And to his left was a terraformed cliff with a launch platform, so Scar was still at it like usual. And then to the right was Grian's base, a mighty fine build, but it got a bit boring if you were constantly shown to you. He looked up to his right when he felt a light gust of wind gently brush against his hair, Grian was looking at him with a smile eyes wrinkled with happiness, "How does it feel to be home?"

Home, Etho choked up as Grian said that, he hadn't been involved in anything Hermitcraft for over two years but it still felt like home, even if it was a different world. It was nice, made it feel less intrusive of him to be here, "It's good, nice even"

Seeming to get the answer he desired, Grian motioned for the taller to follow him and then flew to his base. Flying after the older Watcher, Etho debated if he should ask the other a question that had been nagging at him since Grian came to get him, or if it was a bad time. Making up his mind, he asked, "You can stop Bdubs fall without me, can't you?"

The silence that came after lasted so long Etho thought he wasn't going to get an answer, "...Yes, yes I can"

"Then why haven't you? Why did you drag me here?" asked the white haired man, don't get him wrong! He was very happy to be back in Hermitcraft, but it just didn't make any sense for Grian to do this.

"Because I want to give Doc something I will never get"

Of course. Of course! how could he have forgotten? Grian couldn't enter Evo due to the world rejecting his changed core, it was the reason why more precautions were taken before sending Watchers (fully fledged ones that is, since Tyro's still had the same core during their training period until they stopped being Tyro's) into their old worlds. So Grian was completely locked out off Evo until they figured something out. Etho winced and looked away, this was a sore spot for the builder and he had just pushed at it. Though he couldn't help but to playfully say, "And what's that?"

Grian chuckled lightly, "You know, for a redstone genius, your not the brightest" He had caught on to the joke and decided to play along.

Letting out an over exaggerated undignified huff he landed at the top of Grian's base and then jumped down the hole in the middle, landing in the aviary he waited for the other to get comfy before retorting, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm giving him a chance to see the nHo again"

Etho's eyes widened, he didn't say Etho and Bdubs. He said the nHo! "Does that mean that, that you were able to break the seal in Vintage's new world?"

Grian shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid not, the techs are still trying to figure out how someone managed to create such a powerful Watcher ward. So Vintage won't be joining you and the others"

Sighing, he resigned himself to this, he shouldn't have expected anything of that sort. But hey, here's to hoping.

Changing the topic Grian went on to tell him what was going to happen, Bdubs was going to fall again in a few days time and he had planned for Etho to catch him. And of course Bdubs was going to fall right onto Area 77, right in front of Doc ("How do you plan to do that?" "Don't worry, I already know he's gonna land there"), "-and your sure this is going to work?"

"Nope," said Grian cheerfully, "But I don't suppose you have a better plan?"

Etho didn't, so the whole "Be the hero" plan was the one they're going with. Something told him this wasn't going to go as planned.

And he was right, the plan didn't work. It actually failed horribly.

You see Grian's calculations where horribly off, so instead of falling in front of Area 77 Bdubs fell into Keralis' swimming pool. Which left Etho to just hover dumbly just below the clouds, waiting for Bdubs falling form to great him.

But instead of that greeting him it was instead a Docm77 approved trident, said weapon just barely missing his wings and instead it just graced his secondary feathers. Etho quickly flew out of reach, years of training and natural instinct kicking in. He let out an undignified squawk as Doc threw the trident, the three pronged spear obvious missed since he was out of its range. This was not how he had wanted to be reunited with Doc, he had been shot by the creeper the first time they talked, and he'd like to avoid a similar thing being the reason they started talking again. God, where was Grian when you needed him?

Instead of getting help from Grian, he got yelled at by Doc. Joy, "GET DOWN FROM THERE YOU HIPPIE! JUST BECAUSE YOUR FLYING DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T SEE YOU!"

Etho blinked down at Doc. Does... does Doc think he's Grian? Holy shit, he is!

The white haired assassin remained silently hovering, praying that Doc either lost interest or Grian came to save him. Both of which didn't seem very likely, but hey, a man can dream.

But today wasn't his day. Why? Well, I'm glad you asked! Because Doc strapped on his trusty elytra and rocketed up to him, that's why!

Hissing a quiet 'shit', Etho took a sharp dive, going down as Doc went up. The German cursed at him, elytra quietly creaking as he turned to chase after his target. The creeper obviously didn't hear the creaking, but Etho did. And he knew what said creaking meant, Doc's elytra was breaking.

Just as he swiftly turned and shouted out a terrified, "DOC!" The elytra broke, sending Doc falling to the ground dangerously fast.

Etho instinctively flew up the catch the cyborg, letting out a grunt as the heavy mass that was Doc Monster slammed into his waiting arms. The redstoner let out a relieved smile as Doc settled in his arms, a fall from that height would kill Doc, not permanently of course but dying wasn't fun in general.

Etho gently flew down to the ground, a hand rubbing Doc's shoulder in comfort. As soon as he landed he set the other down, and Doc must not have seen his face judging by his next words, "You're a lifesaver Grian! Thanks for saving me man"

The assassin let out a little laugh at the creepers words, "Grian huh? Not the worst thing I've been called"

At the sound of the hauntingly familiar voice Doc snapped his head up, not trusting his ears. But his ears didn't deceive him, Etho was in front of him, "E-Etho..."

Said man smiled gently down at the other, "Hi Doc, long time no see"

The cyborg stood up on shaky legs, and unreadable expression on his face. He staggered towards Etho, which made the Tyro look up at him confused "Etho...Etho. ETHO!" Doc suddenly flung himself at Etho, "Oh my god! It's so good to see you again, I've missed you so much man!"

"I've missed you too," consoled Etho, arms now full of 6'7 feet of German creeper hybrid. Man, it was good to say that again, it had been far too long, "I'm so sorry for leaving you and the others. I wanted to visit, I really did! But I couldn't, and I'm sorry for not telling you what was going on"

Etho was about to go a rant of apologies, so Doc but a hand over the assassins cloth covered mouth to shut him up, "Don't, don't say any more apologies. I don't care for them, I just care about you," the creepers one (real) eye glistened with barely there tears, "So tell me what you've been doing, that's what I want to know"

"Okay," breathed Etho, nodding minimally in acceptance of the propositions, "Got anywhere private? I'd like to stay hidden from the Hermits for as long as I can please"

Doc nodded as he detached himself from the other, "Sure, let's go into the control tower, Scar rarely goes there so we shouldn't be bothered"

And so they went to the tower to talk about everything, why Etho left, where he had been, and how he was here.

"Wait, Grian brought you here?" asked Doc, brows furrowed in confusion.

Etho cursed as his mind coughs up with his mouth, this wasn't going like he wanted it to. He wanted to tell Doc, but he didn't know if he was allowed to. So he called up Grian to ask for permission, "⍑ᒷ|| ⊣∷╎ᔑリ? ╎'ᒲℸ̣ ᔑꖎꖌ╎リ⊣ℸ̣ 𝙹↸𝙹ᓵᔑℸ̣ ℸ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ𝙹ᒲᒷリℸ̣ , ᔑリ↸╎ᔑᓵᓵ╎↸ᒷリℸ̣ ᔑꖎꖎ|| ᒲᒷリℸ̣ ╎𝙹リᒷ↸||𝙹⚍, ᓭ𝙹ᓵᔑリ╎ℸ̣ ᒷꖎꖎ⍑╎ᒲ?...ℸ̣ ⍑ᔑリꖌ||𝙹⚍, ╎'ꖎꖎᒲᔑꖌᒷᓭ⚍∷ᒷ⍑ᒷ↸𝙹ᒷᓭリ'ℸ̣ ℸ̣ ᒷꖎꖎᔑリ||𝙹リᒷᒷꖎᓭᒷ

ʖ||ᒷ"

The redstoner put his phone away as he looked up at Doc again, "I'm a Watcher in training"

"A what?" asked Doc, even more confused than before.

And so Etho got onto explaining what a Watcher was, "Watchers are beings who inhabit most worlds, more watch over servers then single-player worlds, they help with updates and help to stop server corruptions. They can also put out structures with riddles and rewards, but that's just an unofficial thing some do. Watchers can also watch over a world by being one of the players in it, but most stay hidden. There are technical two stages to be a Watcher. You start as a Tyro, that's what I currently am, and their the Watchers who are in training, most have two or three years worth of training before they do one last thing to become a Watcher, that thing watching over a world for a few months with a Watcher with ten years of experience. Next are fully fledged Watchers, now what I just described earlier was the common job of a Watcher, there are so much more you can be as a Watcher, there are Techs, Portioners, Builders, Redstoners and so much more, but most still have a world even if they have another job. I think that's everything"

Doc sat in shock, eyes looking off into the distance. After a few beats of silence he finally spoke up, "So you were chosen to be a Watcher and now your in training, yeah, I understand that"

Etho rolled his eyes at the creeper, "You don't understand anything I said, did you?"

"No, not at all"

"Let's just focus on reuniting, you'll get all the Watcher stuff eventually. It took me an entire year, and I'm still lost with some of it," said Etho with a shrug, his wings shrugging with him.

"Yeah, lets do that," said Doc absentmindedly, just choosing to ignore the wings. Just as he was about to start explaining what's been going on a thought hit him, "How is Grian involved in this? You said he brought you here, does... does that mean that he's also a Watcher?"

"Yes he is," said Etho simply, "He'll explain soon I'm sure, now let's get back to business. What's been going on here?"

And so they started talking, at some point Bdubs joined them. The rest of the night was spent laughing and talking about all that's been going on. All three of them were enjoying themselves, Doc explaining about the Civil War and the Area 77 stuff. A day and a night full of laughs and good times. Etho slept over in a secret room Doc made, whilst Bdubs went back to Keralis. They said goodbye with promises of talking in the morning.

The next morning when Etho woke up a note rested on his nightstand, "It's nice, isn't it? I hope you enjoy yourself, you deserve it!"

"You do too," whispered Etho into the empty room. He knew no one would hear him, but he just wanted to say it out loud. He wanted to give Grian what the dirty blond had given him, but he knew he couldn't.

He decided to go for a short flight before he met up with Doc and Bdubs, and as he flew over the Hippie Commune he heard laughter. He looked down to see two people sitting around a campfire laughing. The taller of the two leaned down to plant a kiss on the shorter's head. Etho smiled as he saw it, just because he could never see his friends from EVO doesn't mean he wasn't happy here.

He thought back to what the Watcher that chose him said when he demanded to return to Hermitcraft.

"Your future needs you. Your past doesn't"

It might be a bit harsh, but it was the truth.

Grian has had twenty-four (two Elyquin) years to grieve the loss of them. He might miss them, but that doesn't mean he hasn't moved past that. He will never forget them, but he can leave them as happy memories in his mind.

With one last look back Etho took off, mind and heart at ease. He returned to the control tower, chest light. This was going to be some very nice next few months, and he couldn't wait to experience each and every second of them.

<<This is almost 3K words, and my god was this challenging to write towards the end! This has taken me forever to get done, I started making this somewhere in the middle of the Area 77 vs Hippies arc, before Impulse nodded and maybe a few days after Bdubs first fall. Anyways, I'm just glad to have this finished! I'm now down to 6 stories that aren't apart of TRMAS and RDP that needs to be finished! One is half done, two just need an ending, one just has the beginning started, and one I'm unsure about. 

Now I'm gonna go play some Minecraft, so have a wonderful time everyone!>>