> Grian joined the game.

That was not a very... expected message. Xisuma stared at the message on the screen of his communicator, a small watch-like device on his wrist.

No new members were supposed to be joining, much less in the middle of the night or without warning. Perhaps this was an Admin, looking to check on things, or simply someone who got lost and somehow bypassed the whitelist.

This has to be an Admin, how else would they have joined in the first place? Unless it's a Listener or Watcher... No, it can't be, he thought.

The device buzzed. And buzzed again.

[Iskall85] who is this?

[MumboJumbo] Idk. New member?

[MumboJumbo] Hey X, do you know who this is?

The other Hermits were just as confused.

Xisuma dropped his helmeted head into his hands. The helmet was a dark grey with a purple visor and it obscured a big part of his face. Through the lenses, his grey eyes appeared almost purple. Xisuma was also wearing green and beige armor, the only parts that showed his tanned skin were his arms (his hands were coved by thick gloves) and his neck. He glanced around his prismarine base and stood up, deciding to confront this stranger.

"I don't know who this is. I'll deal with this," he typed into the chat before taking off.

- - -

It didn't take long for Xisuma to find this 'Grian.' after flying around on his elytra. They had appeared in the Futuristic District, not too far from Mumbo's base. Their red sweater stood out from the dark blue sea, as well as their flailing. It looked like they were (unsuccessfully) trying not to drown.

Xisuma glided down, placing down a boat for himself to land on and for the stranger to climb onto. 'Grian' instantly spotted the boat and hauled themselves into it, wheezing and panting. The man was entirely soaked, and for some reason, was trying to avoid looking at Xisuma, as if hiding something. He pulled out a pair of cracked glasses from his inventory and shoved it on his face before finally looking at the other man in the boat.

"Hi..." 'Grian' greeted awkwardly, brown eyes meeting grey ones.

"You gave me quite the fright from joining with no warning, plus, you know..." Xisuma gestured to the man's sopping wet clothes and cracked glasses. 'Grian' chuckled sheepishly.

"Whoops." He was very obviously trying to hide something. Something about him was... familiar, but not quite. It was as if they had grew up in neighborhood cities. 'Grian' kept pushing his glasses up when they slipped, even if it was just slightly. It reminded Xisuma of himself and how he refused to take his helmet off around anyone.

"You can stay the night here if you want. You don't have a place to stay, do you?" Xisuma offered before he could stop himself. He could see 'Grian' perk up, but also hesitate.

"Are you sure? I'm not supposed to be here."

"Don't worry about it."

Xisuma pulled out a spare elytra from his inventory and passed it to Grian, who took it gratefully and instantly pulled it on. The pair flew up into the air and made their way to Xisuma's base. He could see that Grian glanced at Mumbo's base in curiosity.

Grian flew like he was born to fly, doing a loop in the air when he thought Xisuma couldn't see him. Xisuma smiled under his helmet. Grian would fit right in the server.

He slowed slightly letting Grian fly in front of him. The green armored man was almost jealous of the other's skills in the air. Xisuma preferred to be on the ground, tapping away at his red stone and interior builds. The earth and caves was comforting in a way, although the shadows that housed monsters weren't quite as welcome.

The pair swooped down into Xisuma's prismarine base, surrounded by hundreds of blocks of ocean. Xisuma sighed in relief as they entered the building.

"Woah," he heard Grian gasp from behind him. He chuckled to himself. While this building was still under construction, its size was still impressive. Megabuilds weren't extremely common, and each one that was constructed were often stunning in scale and beauty. Xisuma's server was famous for its builds, but they rarely let anyone visit the server until the season ends.

Xisuma watched as the strange man looked around, seeming as if he wanted to explore but was too scared to leave the other's vicinity. He could tell that Grian was holding back from pushing buttons and levers, though it looked like he wouldn't be able to hold the impulse back any longer. He chuckled to himself.

He lead Grian to an unused room and set down a chest and bed.

"You can stay here for the night. Feel free to look around, but don't press any buttons," Xisuma told him.

"Thank you," Grian replied, looking at him with a genuine, but somehow bittersweet smile. Xisuma left the strange sweatered man to do his own thing.

As Xisuma wandered aimlessly around his base, Grian couldn't leave his mind. He was certain Grian must've been an Admin to have bypassed the server's whitelist, but after talking to him, it didn't seem as likely.

The way he hurriedly shoved broken, seemingly useless glasses up his face and the way he was so suspicious of Xisuma was familiar.

Images flashed through his mind, images of caves, blinding sunlight, and red. The helmeted man shook his head. No. It's in the past. It's not important anymore.

A buzz from his communicator snapped him out of his thoughts.

[MumboJumbo] Have you found out who this Grain is?

[MumboJumbo] *Grian

"I think he's lost. I'm letting him stay for the night. I'm not sure how he got passed the server whitelist, though," he replied. Xisuma sighed, making his way back to his room before sitting down on his bed.

[MumboJumbo] It was probably just a bug, he's just staying the night anyways

He hoped that was the case. What else could it have been?