Another huge ty to my friend Solar (MoondustTheMoonwing) for helping me with this chapter of the au and future things to come!

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POV: Iskall

Mumbo and I were sitting in the branches of my tree watching Grian fly around. It was actually pretty funny. But what made it more funny was the fact Gri was a parrot. And everyone knows parrots dance.

"Hey Mumbo, do you have a disc and jukebox?" I laugh. 

"Uh, weird question, but yeah." Mumbo replies as the mustached man sets down a jukebox. I fumble around in my pockets and finally find a music disc. Perfect. 

I look at Mumbo and laugh before putting the red disc, Chirp, into the jukebox. Lo and behold, Grian lands next to it and starts dancing like no parrot has before.

Mumbo laughs to the point where he's crying.

"Iskall, you pesky bird! Normal Grian would do that, too!" 

I pull out a melon. What, i'm not allowed to eat and watch a parrot dance? It was a watermelon, green on the outside and a red-pink on the inside. Grian walks over to me, so I (somehow) take out a chunk and put it on the floor for him. Mumbo laughs again. 

Grian pecks at it once, and then Grian-parrot is no more. Now normal Grian is on the floor in front of the watermelon. He looked at the watermelon and then me, confused. 

"Uh, that was... eventful," He said. Mumbo nodded. 

We all sat in an awkward silence. 

"Being a bird is kinda fun," Grian finally spoke up. Mumbo laughed. So did I. 

"Should we tell X?" I ask, looking from Mumbo to Grian. G nodded, Mumbo pulling out his communicator and tying in a few things I didnt see. 

"He'll be over in a few minutes." Mumbo tells us. I nod, and so does Grian. That's when the music started. Not like guitar music, like clarinet or flute music. It was too high to be clarinet music, though.

Flute music. Snake-lady can play the flute...

Mumbo and Grian heard it too. 

"You guys hear that?" Mumbo asks, unsure.

"Yeah. It must be snake-lady's music." I answer.

Grian laughed, and I heard the sound of fireworks over the music and saw X heading toward us. Grian waved, moments before X landed in front of us.

"Hey X! Look, im normal me again!" Grian squeaks. 

"Hey Grian, yeah, I see that," X laughed. "How'd you shift back?" He asked. 

"Watermelon!" Grian shouted, receiving a confused look from X. Grian explained all of it and X nodded. 

"Let's pay a visit to Viper and tell her," He tells us. "She's clearly up, if she's making that music." I nod. A few moments later, we're flying over to Scar's village.

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POV: Viper

I had only been playing for 5 minutes when the sun started to rise. I kept playing, fingers moving swiftly, producing different notes in a pattern I didnt know. I played a new song. I usually did, it was hard to memorize longer songs. So I made them up.

But I always steered clear from playing songs that would have the effect of snake charmers music. It would make me fall asleep, despite being music I hated. It just didn't sound good. 

I heard fireworks, probably a hermit. I stopped playing, setting my flute down in the grass. The grass was green. I still found it weird. 

I looked up from my spot against the tree to see a few figured heading in my direction from the sky. I must have woken them up on accident... 

Then I realized it was Xisuma, Grian, and those two new guys I never met. Oh, the swede. Wasn't his name Iskall? I never caught the mustached mans name. I should ask.

X landed first. Grian after, then Iskall and the other. I waved as they walked toward me. 

"Hey X! Did I wake ya'll?" I ask, puling up my red hood. 

"Hey Viper, and no, you didn't." X responded. Iskall looked much less... threatening, than he did earlier. Grian looked happy, jumping around. 

"I turned into a parrot!" He exclaimed, smiling. "It was awesome!" 

I laughed. "Yes, I know, Grian." 

"Oh... But im not one anymore!" Iskall and the other one nodded. I didn't want to just call him 'the other one' forever.

"I never caught your name," I say, looking at the suited man. He looked a little bit surprised but nodded. 

"Mumbo," He replied. So now I knew everyone's name, great.

"So, why'd ya'll come? Need something?" I ask, still confused why they were here. 

"We just wanted to tell you Grian knows how to shift back." Mumbo replies, with a nod from Iskall and Grian. 

"With watermelons!" Grian exclaims, jumping around a bit more. 

Well, that was weird. I laughed, not meaning to. I picked my flute back up but didnt play it, just clicked the keys. 

"You might wanna stay away from chocolate," I warn the little hermit, standing up. 

He looked sad. "Does that mean no cookies?" He whispered, looking at me. 

"Just dont eat chocolate cookies, I think." I tell him and he nodded. He looked happier, and then he rushed forward and hugged me. I hated it. I just stared at X, then looked down at Grian, who was only a few inches shorter than me. The hug was short, but still weird. 

"Thanks, Viper!" He chirped before turned back to Mumbo and Iskall. Then they shot out of the sky and were off. I turn to X, knowing there was something he wanted to say. 

"Uh, you need something?" I ask, bending down and packing my flute away in its case.

"I thought there's someone you might like to meet," He answers and I nod. I always liked meeting new people.  

"Well, when are we leaving?" I ask, laying my flute case against the tree. 

"Now, if you'd like." 

"Alright, lets get going then."

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Third Person POV

Viper and X walked through the nether, heading to the portal that would take them to Joe's base. 

"Is this it? Just flat land?" She asks, pulling the hood off her head. 

"No, this is the top of the Nether. It's safer here." X responds.

"Its really warm here." She says calmly, clearly not effected with the extreme heat of the Nether.

"Yeah, its really hot up here." X says, looking at a sign on one of the portals. "This is it," He says, pointing to the portal. Viper nodded, and stepped through, X following. 

There was a man in a blue shirt walking around petting and feeding dogs. He had dark brown hair and glasses. Viper's eyes lit up when she saw the dogs. 

"Dogs!" She chirped, rushing over to them. Joe looked confused, but smiled. Viper went around, petting all the dogs. Joe laughed, Xisuma walking over to him. 

"So this is who you wanted me to meet?" He asks in a southern accent, laughing. Xisuma nodded. 

"This is Viper," He laughed, looking over to the woman petting the white dogs. Joe nodded. 

Viper approached them, petting a few dogs on the way.

"Hey, im Viper!" She greeted Joe, receiving a nod from him. 

"I'm Joe, and welcome to Joe-Rassic Bark!"

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X, Viper, and Joe all sat down inside of Joe's winery, Viper with a white dog in her lap. 

They had been talking for almost half an hour, just telling stories.

"Who's Ruvio?" X finally asks. Joe looks a little bit confused but nods.

"Oh, yeah. He's a friend of mine from the Graylands. So is Shard." Viper replies, looking a bit sadder. "I miss them, ya know? It's great here but I cause too much trouble." She laughs, petting the dog again.

"Oh," X says, looking at Joe. "And Scar told me about Boom, how'd he get here?" 

Viper's eyes lightened. "Oh, Boom! There are small portals that open up sometimes, and he found one and came through it to me. He brought my flute, too. I hope he'll come again next time one opens up. Archer, one of my two cats, can't come because his wings are too big. Scavenger, the other, oh my gosh that cinnabon is so sweet, well, he doesn't really like spending time with the other animals. But he and Boom are the smallest." Joe nodded. So did X.

"Oh, and one time-" 

Viper rambled on with her stories from the Graylands for two hours. She loved telling stories, X and Joe learned. When she finished one, she just started another. 

"Hey Viper, its noon, we've been here for hours. I think its time to leave and let Joe work on his projects-" X finally says before she can start enother story. Joe nods and they all get up.

"Sorry, im a bit of a rambler," She said, laughing a bit. "Bye, Joe!" She said, waving to him before setting the little dog down after one last pet. Then she walked out the door after X.

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And thats a wrap! Yes, Viper calls people or animals cinnabons or cinnamon buns. Its a thing I do and Viper is me so y e a h. Sorry this chapter was so dry, but I have some exciting news! Me and Solar have spent some time working on something special. 

We present to you... the Shapeshifter AU discord server! Sure, its not all that fancy, but it works! So come chill with us! 

https://discord.gg/fDqMNMb

Gosh i hope it works-

aaanyway, thats that! Thank you again, solar! 

Remember, when life gives you shoelaces, dont tie them.