Ah, what a beautiful day! The sun's shining in a beautiful way. And what better way to spend it than outside?

Grian sipped from a cup of sugar water–which was literally what it sounded like–as he sat on the top of a tree, surveying his base. The thing was quite massive, as he had been working on it for as long as he could remember. From the outside, it looked like a giant aquarium, fit with decorative quartz detailing little fish and squid. But on the inside, it was anything but that. In fact, it was actually an aviary. Any birds that the brit found were always brought here, and the population had grown quite a bit over time. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but something inside of him was always drawn to the feathery creatures. And so, he had centered his home around them, providing a sanctuary where they had plenty of room to fly around, and an endless supply of food and entertainment.

He called it the Fish Out of Water Aquaviary.

Setting down the cup of sugar water, Grian stood up and stretched. It was his scheduled brainstorming session. He had lost a lot of time while making his elytra course–he totally wasn't still salty about none of his friends ever completing it–so it was probably a good idea to get thinking now. And he required copious amounts of sugar water to get his brain moving, so he sat back down and reached for his cup...

To get a peck on his hand. Grian turned to the cup with a betrayed expression, now staring into the beady dark eyes of a bright green parrot. Grian blinked. The bird gave a little innocent chirp. "Mister Minty, please step away from the sugar water," he ordered, narrowing his eyes. This bird was always getting out of the Aquaviary and causing mischief. The other week, it got into one of Doc's game breaking schemes and nearly blew up his entire base. Grian had no doubt in his mind that Mister Minty knew exactly what he was doing.

The bird stared at him for a moment longer, then dipped his head back into the cup. "Hey!" Grian watched in astonishment as the parrot proceeded to tilt its head back, then stare at Grian, a look that seemed almost like a challenge. "That's it," he said, and tapped Mister Minty on the head. The bird obediently, if not a bit begrudgingly, sat down. Grian dumped out the rest of the sugar water and threw the cup into his inventorial pouch, then scooped Minty up. "Pesky bird," he muttered affectionately.

Grian flew over to his base and went inside. Instantly, a world of color and flora greeted him. It was like stepping into a movie. Big, handcrafted jungle trees stretched up to the tallest ceilings, dropping down tangled messes of vines down. The grassy ground was soft and green, separated by quartz paths, winding their way through a gigantic foyer. The sound of chirping birds greeted him. He set free the parrot, who immediately flew off into the greenery. Grian tossed the cup into a chest and found a bench to sit on.

What to do today? It was still morning, so Doc and Cleo likely hadn't begun working for the day yet. Maybe he'd go visit them. Yeah, that was a great idea. Grian quickly found Mister Minty and sat him down with the other tamed parrots so he wouldn't get out again, before making his way to the plaza, where he and his friends hung out whenever they weren't doing anything. Perhaps he'd run into them there.

The man sat in a specialty chair, far bigger than anyone would ever need ever, and sat back, chomping on a golden carrot. This was when he heard a distant screaming that was getting progressively closer and looked up.

Welcome back to another day in the glorious world, filled with shenanigans, friendship, and, apparently, random people falling from the sky.

With a thud, a white mound of what Grian could only assume was a person hit the concrete floor. Oof, that looked like it hurt. A muffled ungh came from said mound, and Grian immediately jumped up. Who was this? It wasn't Doc or Cleo, that was for sure. Then how...?

"Hey, are you alright?" He called out, kneeling down next to this person. "Where did you...?" Grian looked up at the sky, half-expecting to see another falling person. But, as normal, there was just sky up there. No portal, no people-raining clouds, just a blue sky with perfectly normal clouds.

"Ungh," whoever they were repeated, and shifted position slightly. "Was not expecting that to be so painful." So they could talk!

Grian was thoroughly confused and had absolutely no idea what to do. He had never thought this was a scenario that would ever happen, let alone had to deal with it before. "Um, do you need help?" he offered awkwardly. "I can get my friends..." This was not how he saw his day going.

"I'm alright," the person mumbled, beginning to sit up. They mumbled something about being sore later. They turned to Grian. Unfortunately, Grian couldn't get a good read on their facial features, given that they were almost completely shrouded by shadow. Huh, someone turned down their graphics.

"Hey, can you see from under there? It's a bit dark," Grian chuckled, not-so-subtly suggesting that they take off their hood.

A chuckle came from this person, but they made no move to remove the hood. "Oh, don't worry, I can see perfectly well. Better than most, I'd wager."

Alrighty then. Perhaps later Grian would finally see what his new companion looked like. "Well, my name is Grian," he prompted, grinning. Oh, blazes in the Nether this was one of the most awkward conversations he had ever had. And he once had to explain redstone to-

This person just sat there for a moment, silent, before slowly saying, "Nice to meet you, Grian." Grian waited for more, but it didn't come. Nice chat. Usually, he wasn't the person who had to keep up conversations—his friends were talkative enough to make chatting a breeze. But this person seemed to have the social skills of an enderman, which is to say, none. After a tense moment of silence, the newcomer stood up. "Got all the way here, bit useless to just chill on the floor for all of eternity, you know?"

"Where did you come from, anyway?" Grian prompted. Obviously they came from a different world, but how? And why?

They paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh, just another world. You wouldn't know it." They folded their arms, looking up at the sky. "Felt like stopping by another world." There was something about the way that they said that that struck Grian oddly, like they weren't telling the whole truth. Ah well, they were probably just shy. "Nice place you got here. Share it with anyone?"

Oh! Grian almost forgot! He should probably call the others over. "Hey, my friends Cleo and Doc live here, too. They're great, here, I'll call 'em over." Grian pulled up his communicator to type out a summons, but the other person froze.

"...Did you say Doc?" Their voice hit inhumane levels.

Grian glanced at him oddly. "Yeah, why? Ring a bell?"

They quickly shook their head. "No, I'm sure it's nothing. I just used to know a guy named Doc is all," they said quickly, waving their hands dismissively. Still, they glanced away, suddenly becoming extremely interested in the concrete floor. That wasn't the most normal thing all day. Grian raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press further, instead finishing out his message

<Grian> Hey guys someone just fell from the sky come see
<Grian> plaza
<ZombieCleo> ????? Okay?? I'm on my way, don't go anywhere
<Docm77> Was not expecting that while eating a sandwich...
<ZombieCleo> lol bring some for me
<Docm77> no
<ZombieCleo> D:

Grian chuckled as the dings continued for the next few minutes while he waited for his friends. To pass the time, he attempted to make small talk with the newcomer, but to no avail.

"Oh, and why are you dressed like a cultist?" He questioned, cocking his head. This was a genuine question, this person really looked like a cultist, fit with the singular colored clothes and creepy hood. The person, who had previously been staring off into the distance, snapped their head around.

"What?" They squeaked. "I do not!"

"Yes you really do," Grian snickered. "You're looking like some Cultie the Cultist with that white cultist robe." He stuck his tongue out at the person, whom he now dubbed 'Cultie'.

Cultie stomped over to him and folded their arms. "This is a cape, not a robe." Nerd. "And I'm not mocking you for looking like a discount default character, so I don't want to hear it."

Grian overdramatically put his hand to his chest and gasped. "Oh my gosh, that's so mean, Cultie!" Just then, two figures flew in, each holding half of a grilled cheese sandwich. Cleo landed normally, while Doc did some showy rolling land thing. He fell on his face. Cleo laughed at him.

She then turned to the newcomer and immediately said, "Oh cool a cultist, what's up?"

"Why does everyone think I'm a-?!"

But Grian talked over him, barely holding in laughter. "Yeah, he just suddenly appeared. I'm talking one second clear skies, the next a falling person." As he spoke, he mimed the fall of a person with his hand, splatting it on the ground for added emphasis. Grian glanced over at the person to continue explaining, but their focus was fixed on Doc. After an awkward moment of silence, they glanced over at Grian and jumped.

"O-oh, right, so, I was just in my world, and got a bit bored, and decided to look around for a bit, and came here. Then Grian found me, and that's that. End of story," the person explained. Cleo's eyes lit up, and she rushed forward to grab their shoulders.

"You mean to say you know how to leave the world?" Her voice peaked with excitement, she was practically vibrating. "You've got to tell m- us! Then we can get out and-"

"Hang on, I don't think that's a good idea," Doc butt in. "You mean to say we should trust the first rando that shows up here? Could be a trap for all we know." While Doc had a good point, Grian had to disagree. He'd like to think that he was a pretty good judge of character, and this person seemed pretty harmless. Maybe a bit odd, but not poor-intentioned. If his ego's visible vulnerability was any clue, this person was just about as evil as Mister Minty.

"If I may advocate for myself," Cultie interjected, cutting off Grian's train of thought, "I believe I have a way of proving myself. Have you ever wondered about what came before this world?"

"Pfft," Cleo countered. "Nothing came before this. Trick question." She leaned back, folding her arms for a good ten seconds, before her self-satisfied grin faltered. "...why?" Grian was also intrigued. What could the newcomer mean by all this? Before? Grian and the others had been here as long as they could remember.

Cultie shook their head. "That's just it. A lot happened before you all came here. And I have the key to your memories." Without further ado, the person snapped. Grian squeezed his eyes shut... but nothing happened.

A snicker from Cleo. "Yeah, okay, crackpot. I think you might be an idiot as well as a cultist."

"I'm not a-" The person inhaled deeply, before explaining calmly. Grian furrowed his brow. Could they be telling the truth? "You see, I can't just grant you your memories. You'll have to find them yourself. I've merely unlocked them. Maybe soon you'll see what I mean."

"Hah, what a load of spider jockey, Doc, you hearing this?" Grian looked over to Doc for his reaction, but he was oddly still. Since when did he shut up? The cyborg was staring directly at Cleo's florist shop—"Stop and Smell the Roses", wow, such a creative name. Grian watched as he slowly turned to look at Cultie. "Doc?"

He threw a glance at Grian and then turned back to the other. "...I think we should trust him." Woah, that was not something Grian was expecting. Neither was it, evidently, for Cleo and the newcomer.

"Doc, you doin' alright?" Grian asked, nervous. This wasn't like him at all, especially considering he was so adamant about not believing what the newcomer had to say. "You seem out of it."

"Oh, he's fine!" Cultie said, much more enthused this time. "He's probably just remembered something, I take it." He shrugged. Cleo and Grian shared a glance. "Now, you said you wanted to explore the other worlds?"

There was no hesitation. "Heck yeah," Cleo grinned. "Let's do it."

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No one's POV

[[valueTIME=not_found]] Ago

_______________________

Oh, would you look at that. It seems that that robot wasn't just a hunk of junk now after all. No, He was alive, per se. If one could say that alive was being completely disoriented, confused, and otherwise in pain. If not, then He was not alive. But, most would say the former counts, so that's what He was. Alive. Against all odds, He was alive. In fact, He was one of only three beings alive in the whole world. And He was well aware of this. He was also well aware of the fact that one of the other two living beings was someone important. The other? Not so much. And yet... Grumbot decided that He had to get to this second being, and free him.

________________________

-(Author's Rambling)-

Hello there again, my lovelies! How nice it is to talk with you again. It's mid-December! We're almost out of 2021. Something tells me I won't be able to get much done before the holidays, so here is my wish to you all! I hope you all have an amazing rest of the year, and if I don't catch you before that, happy new year as well!

As always, I'll see you in the next one, my little Readers!

Promise out!