What if Grian had died in the creeper trap + ravine instead of Scar and what might have been his third death.

(insert creative divider here)

Scar was chatting with Impulse and Tango in the village when his life changed forever.

Everything was going as normal until Scar heard an all-too-familiar hiss. He sighed. "Martyn, I'm not gonna fall for it again."

"Scar!" Impulse exclaimed fearfully.

Then, Scar was shoved out of the way as an explosion shook the spot where he'd been standing. He whipped around to see Grian, eyes wide in panic and... guilt? Grian vanished in the smoke as the creeper blew him up.

"Grian!" Tango called surprisedly.

"He just pushed you away," Impulse gasped. "He saved you."

"Oh my gosh, I have to go say thank you-" Scar rushed off without another word to Impulse and Tango.

He found Grian making his way through the woods and called out. "Grian!"

"Hey Scar," Grian smiled.

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much," Scar exclaimed. "You saved me-"

"'S okay," Grian shrugged, then gave him a guilty grin. "Least I could do for luring it there."

"But, still, you sacrificed your first life for me," Scar said.

"Because I know that you'd do the same for me, that's what friends do," Grian replied fondly.

"Well thank you, Grian. I'm in your debt," Scar told him. "Can I go exploring with you?"

"Of course!" Grian answered cheerily.

Together, Grian and Scar roamed the server, deciding to settle in the desert. They stood atop the mountain and watched hand-in-hand as the sun set, casting golden rays over the shadowed, reflective, speckled sand.

"It's beautiful," Scar gasped, gazing unbroken at the magnificent landscape.

"Truly," Grian replied dramatically.

Scar sighed and fell silent as the sun sank below the hills in the distance. 

The two sat on the cliff for far too long, not getting up until a terrifying hiss sounded behind them. They instantly jumped up and turned around, lashing out. The creeper was dead instantly, but it wasn't the only mob advancing on them.

Night had brought a wave of monsters creeping up Monopoly Mountain. Grian and Scar fought them off, but they kept coming, spawning in the unlit desert.

"Stay here Scar!" Grian told him. Scar was too slow to protest, and Grian took off down the side of the mountain.

Scar watched Grian as he fended off mobs. Grian ran down and began placing torches around. Scar saw a skeleton creep up on him and he ran down to fend it off.

Scar lunged at it and it died with a clank of bones. Grian turned around. "Thanks, Scar."

"You're welcome!" Scar cheerily replied.

A zombie lunged at Scar he swiped it away casually. Then another skeleton appeared. It shot an arrow at Grian, knocking him backwards.

Only, instead of stumbling backwards a bit, Grian vanished, eyes wide in surprise.

Scar ran over to where he'd been standing and noticed a ravine... the bottom of which Grian slammed into with a thud. He vanished, to what Scar knew to be the respawn.

Scar killed the skeleton, then ran up to the top of the mountain where Grian had respawned, which was now lit up.

"Oh my gosh, Grian, are you alright?" Scar asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay!" Grian replied brightly.

Scar breathed a sigh of relief and the two slept til the morning.

A week passed without much else happening, and then... it all went wrong. 

The day had begun as usual; Scar and Grian doing various tasks around the desert: mining, farming, crafting, planning. Their bunker had been completed, and not a day too soon, because before lunch, Dogwarts came.

As hey advanced across the windblown sand towards the bunker, Grian frantically pulled Scar aside.

"You have to pull the lever when they're in range," Grian told him agitatedly.

"But what if you're there?" Scar asked nervously.

"It's okay," Grian gave him a weak, forced smile. "I won't be."

"But what if you are?" Scar demanded.

"It'll be fine as long as you just pull the lever at the right time!" Grian told him. He seemed worried, as if he was trying to convince himself more than Scar.

"Are you-" Scar began.

"It's too late," Grian interrupted him. "Just- it's been fun, Scar."

With that, Grian turned and went to confront Dogwarts.

"Greetings, sand hippies!" Ren called smugly, as if he'd already won.

"Greetings, Ren," Grian called politely.

"That's the Red King to ye, desert mole," Ren told him dramatically.

"Desert mole?" Grian asked indignantly. "That's a bit rude."

"Aye, but ye've already angered the Red King," Ren explained. "Now we've come to invade ye lands!"

"I can't let you do that," Grian said determinedly, lifting his head in defiance.

"Well, then, looks like we'll have to fight," Ren said in mock-sadness.

"I guess we will," Grian agreed, then turned and yelled. "Scar!"

Scar rushed over to the side of the bunker. He'd beed watching, captivated by the conversation. He was about to yank the lever when he heard a pained cry.

His head whipped up to see Grian with an arrow sticking out of his back, where he'd exposed when he turned to Scar.

"S-car!" Grian called again, voice edged with pain.

Scar flipped it and the world exploded.

Stone, sand, and people flew everywhere in the loud, earth-shattering blast. Dust and bits of sand swirled around in the wind emanating from it, finally setting a few minutes later to reveal Martyn and Ren's twisted, lifeless figures lying motionless on the ground. Skizz, Tango, and Impulse were standing back, frozen in shock by the scene.

Grian! Where was Grian?

Grian was laying still in the sand, half-buried. Scar rushed out of the bunker and raced to his side. He was still alive, but badly hurt.

"S-s-sc-" Grian weakly tried to stammer.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Scar burst out. Hot tears burst through their dams and spilled out onto his face. "Grian, no, don't die on me-"

"A-ar-" Grian began, then motioned imperceptibly to the arrow in his back. Shrapnel littered the ground around him and he was covered in cuts and bruises.

"A-a-arrow!" Scar realized. "It's okay- I'll save you-"

There was one important detail Scar had forgetten.

Three of the people from Dogwarts had lived.

Heartlessly, uncaringly, they raised their bows and fired.

One of the arrows lanced straight through him and Grian's eyes widened. Then the second one hit...

Right in his chest...

And those eyes, the ones that had flashed with guilt and fear when he'd saved Scar from the creeped, the ones that had been wide in shock as he'd plummeted to his second death, the ones that had cared for Scar, that got smiles in them when he laughed, that were worried for Scar, that were so bright with life...

They dulled, the light in them gone.

And Scar lost all will to live, simply giving up and letting the third arrow hit him and send him through the pain and darkness of respawning, to the tower- the one Grian had built- to sit in shock and denial.

It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. He'd walk outside and there, there would be Grian, bright-eyed, awaiting Scar, ready to go exploring, ready to have fun, ready to be there, by his side.

It couldn't be real.

With his second life, Scar ran outside and murdered Tango. The arrow hit him and he vanished too fast. Too fast. He hadn't suffered. Not like Grian had. Not like he deserved.

Skizz vanished too fast as well. But there was nothing Scar could do, just feel the pain again as Impulse got him, a second before Scar's arrow destroyed him.

They'd still gotten off lightly.

None of them knew.

None of them cared.

They didn't know how Grian had saved Scar, how he'd stopped the creeper from killing him.

They didn't know how Scar had pledged his loyalty to Grian in return.

They didn't know how Grian had been a great companion, happy, bright, and loyal.

They hadn't felt the shock and fear Scar had when Grian fell into the ravine.

They didn't know how Grian had refused to blame Scar and instead comforted him, saying he knew Scar wouldn't hurt him.

They didn't know how he had hurt Grian. How he'd been too late to pull the lever.

They didn't care that they'd heartlessly murdered him.

Scar knew.

Scar cared.

And he couldn't live without Grian, without his joy, without his light.

He wandered outside, pointlessly. Why bother? He'd failed. Grian had trusted him, and he was dead.

No one would want him, the man who'd done nothing.

Unhesitatingly, Scar ran outside and leaped off the cliff.

Was this what Grian felt like when he flew?

Grian flew in so many ways.

He was an angel, Scar's angel.

And he was gone.

Swirling sand faded into blackness. Blackness faded into the storeroom. Scar shot up again and stumbled to the edge.

And he fell, with one final thought.

Someday, we'll fly together, Grian.