"I'm bored," False complained, kicking the carpet. "Is there any games here or something?" Doc turned to Grian who simply shrugged, running up the stairs and grabbing an old chess set, tucking it under his arm and running back down and placing it on the table.

"Do you know how to play?" Grian asked False, unpacking the board and placing the pieces in the appropriate places. She nodded, looking at Doc expectantly and raising her eyebrows, as if challenging him.

"Doc, you up for a game?" She asked, sitting on the white side and moving a pawn back to where it was supposed to go. Doc hesitated for a second before nodding, taking the seat opposite and moving his pawn. Grian sat back, as he wasn't that great with chess, watching the moves and trying to see if there was a way either of them could win.

After about half an hour, Grian noticed False had left her King exposed, and he worked out that if Doc moved his bishop one place it would mean False couldn't escape.

"Move the bishop to [Insert square here]," he whispered, and Doc looked at him skeptically before checking again. By that point.a lot of people had gathered around to watch the game as if it was football or something, and annoyance flashed across False's face when she realised what he was about to do, giving a resigned sigh as Doc checked her king. She pushed her chair back, stretching her arms and standing up.

"Someone else can have a go, I'm done for now," False said, getting out of the seat, soon taken by Xisuma.

"I'm going for a walk," Grian said, sighing and biting his lip as he turned to leave. He was planning to fly back towards the spawn area, just have a quick look and see how destroyed it was.

"Can I come with you?" Grian froze, opening his mouth but no words coming out. He turned around slowly to face Doc, as he was intimidated by him even if Doc didn't realise it.

"I- Umm, sure, I guess," Grian stuttered, and Mumbo shot him a worried glance, to which he ignored. Doc didn't seem to notice his nervousness, or if he did he just ignored it.

He grabbed his obsidian sword, stuffing it into his hotbar and putting on some iron armour, and Doc did the same (but with an iron sword obviously), and after a couple of minutes Grian walked out the door, slamming it shut once Doc was there. If they were to head to spawn it would take an hour or so maybe to get there, but he didn't feel as comfortable going there with Doc. He decided he'd just walk and if they arrived, then that would be good.

They walked in silence for a while until they reached an ocean, a pale purple instead of the dark blue, completely devoid of any life. Grian crafted a boat, knowing there was little chance it would last all the way, but hoping he'd get at least some of the way without getting his wings wet. He let Doc get in the boat first, taking control once he was in it and continuing to head in the same direction.

"Have you got a specific place in mind that we're heading to?" Doc asked, sounding irritated. Grian nodded, biting the inside of his lip as he debated saying where.

"There's a place I used to live in- I want to check the damage, but I don't know-" he cleared his throat. "I'm heading in that general direction, but if we don't get there then we'll just head back, it's not vital," Grian explained, trailing his hand in the water before pulling it out when a fish swam near.

"What happened here?" Doc asked, knowing there was little chance Grian would actually answer, but he was going to keep asking. Grian stiffened, his boat strokes coming harder and rougher as he tensed, before he forced himself to relax and settled into a steady rhythm.

"I- Don't know." They pulled up to an island, and while it was overrun with mobs, it felt good to be on solid land. Doc knew he was lying, and Grian knew Doc knew that, but he was still reluctant to admit what happened, that it was his-

"We both know that's not true," Doc stated, his hand automatically switching to his iron sword threateningly. Grian forced himself to ignore the sword, but he paled significantly in fear. He backed away against the tree, trying to get as far away from the blood-stained weapon as he could.

Grian stayed silent, trying to slow down his breathing and thumping heart unsuccessfully, looking back at Doc so that hopefully he wouldn't think he was scared, even though he was. He wrapped a wing around his body, hoping it might shield some of the impact, but- Doc wouldn't kill him, would he? 

Grian saw a cluster of mobs behind Doc, his eyes widening as Doc was clearly oblivious. He knew from experience that the mobs would likely kill him, especially with the weak armour. There was a very high chance of permadeath.

He switched to his obsidian sword, hand trembling as he took a step forward, a sign Doc took as a sign of attack. He raced forward, praying Doc would be smart enough to dodge. Thankfully he moved out of the way, the cluster of mobs coming into his view for the first time. His eyes widened as he realised what Grian was doing, as Grian attempted to fend off the mobs, doing a pretty good job of it until a creeper decided to blow up, which while it killed the remaining mobs, it dealt an awful lot of damage, tearing away part of his wing and sending him flying into a tree.

Grian bit back tears, pressing his hand against the wound to hopefully stop the flow of blood but only succeeded in dying his hand red, dripping through his fingers. He shut his eyes, hoping it would stop the dizziness, but instead it only got worse, and the voices grew only more tangible.

"It's your fault! I don't see why they wanted you - but we're not complaining!"
"Gree-on it's your fault! It all started to go wrong when you arrived!"
"We made a mistake choosing you - you're pathetic and now you have to live with that guilt.
"You deserve to die, I wish you never summoned me."
"Evo's gone because of you! I'm glad you're trapped there, you're the reason it's like that."

'I'm sorry,' Grian mouthed, a tear slipping down his face as the voices hit him full force, shouting that it was his fault, and the worst part was that he believed them.

Grian let out a small whimper of pain, opening his eyes when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, as he tried to scoot away unsuccessfully.

"Deep breaths Grian, come on, you can do it," Doc whispered, his voice softer and calmer than he'd heard Doc use before. "In, then out, slowly, come on," He encouraged, as Grian struggled to slow down his breathing before eventually managing to breathe at a fairly normal rate. After that, they're both silent for a few minutes as Doc wrapped a bandage around one of his wings, and while it hurt Grian knew he was trying to do it as gently as possible.

"I'm sorry, I should've explained or at least tried," Grian murmured, this time out loud and directed at Doc, stumbling up and looking apologetically at him, looking directly in the eyes.

"You've got nothing to apologise for, it's probably traumatic or something," Doc mumbled, throwing a piece of bread over to him.

"It's been a month, in that time I should've at least tried," Grian mumbled, looking at the ground.

"3 weeks," Doc corrected before continuing. "And look, it was my bad. It's personal, you don't have to tell anyone. And it's getting dark, we should start heading back." Grian looked partially relieved but also partially disappointed as he placed the boat, clambering into it as they rode away, back towards the tower, any ill-feeling left on the island to the surprise of the other Hermits. Maybe Grian would tell Doc, but he just wasn't ready yet, it was too fresh.

'Soon,' he promised himself. 'But not yet.'