#Welcome to the HCDA
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 17
Tws: Mentions of death
Notes: Now they get to have a good time (kinda)
Chapter 17 - Chatting
Scar
And then Grian is falling.
The Watchers used some sort of draining spell, and Jimmy had broken free of Tango’s hold to save him.
Now Grian is falling, and neither of his winged siblings can reach him.
Pearl somehow manages to break free and dives toward him, but it quickly becomes clear she isn’t going to reach him in time.
I reach for my dragon scale, and then realize, Grian has it. He took everyone’s because he didn’t want us helping.
Could I catch him?
There’s no time to think about it, either I do or I don’t. I dart forward, into the empty street they’re fighting above, and position myself where Grian is falling.
“Scar, what are you doing?” Joel calls. Mumbo seems to realize what I’m trying to do, and joins me. Two people is better than one.
And suddenly, the avian has fallen into my arms. I stagger backwards, feeling the strain on my braces as Mumbo steadies me.
“I can’t believe that worked,” I say quietly to Mumbo, meeting his dark amber eyes. My newly healed shoulder is aching again, and so are my legs, but I don’t mind.
Pearl lands on the ground next to me, and I notice one shoulder is bloody. I ask her about it and she shrugs it off. Jimmy is still up in the sky, wings beating as he talks to the Watchers.
He comes down a moment later, and is immediately met with a tackle hug from Tango. Afterwards, he explains the deal he made with the Watchers: we’ll leave each other alone for one week, and then the boundaries go down. That will hopefully be enough time for everyone to recover. He’s very shaky throughout the whole explanation, but it’s not hard to see Tango’s presence calms him down a bit.
I take my dragon scale back from Grian’s pocket and set him down.
“How are we going to get him home?” I ask Mumbo. The rest of the hermits have begun to leave already,
“Carry him, I guess.” He replies. At that moment, Grian stirs.
“You are not going to carry me,” He says groggily, sitting up. “I am going to fly myself home, and you can’t stop me.”
He tries to take off, and immediately falls again. This time, Pearl has to catch him.
“Nope, we’re definitely carrying you.” I laugh.
. . .
Mumbo ends up being the one to carry him, despite Grian’s numerous protests. We let him walk once we’re back at the headquarters, but I follow him up to his room. I hope I’m being sneaky and that he hasn’t noticed me, but that’s unlikely.
“Scar, I know you’re there,” Grian says when he sits down on his bed. “Come in here.”
“You caught me,” I sigh, coming out from the hall.
He laughs. “Get over here,” He says, beckoning me to sit down on the bed with him. I sit down next to him and he sighs.
“You good?” I ask.
“The last two weeks have been quite something,” He replies, taking off his shoes. He takes off his sweater too, revealing the white undershirt that only a handful of the hermits have ever seen.
“I know,” I agree, also slipping off my boots and braces. “I hope you don’t mind me leaving these here, by the way.” I gesture to the items.
“Not at all,” Grian smiles. Then he leans into me. “I missed you and Mumbo so much.” He whispers.
“I did too, and Mumbo definitely did.” Grian leans on my shoulder and begins to recount his time with the Watchers. I figure the best thing to do is listen and nod once and a while.
He tells me everything, describing his meeting with Gem and his Watcher powers. When he gets to the part about the mall, his voice cracks.
“Jen died.” He says, clenching his fists. “Because of me.”
“It sounds to me like she chose to die,” I reply. “You said she insisted on staying inside while it was collapsing. If she didn’t like being with the Watchers, dying might’ve been a good thing.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Grain sighs, letting his wings relax and leaning back into me. His hands open up too, and I see scabs on his palms, has he clenched his fists so hard during the past couple weeks his fingernails broke skin? He resumes his explanation. Eventually, he finishes his story with being imprisoned by the Watchers.
“Wow.” I say, shocked by how much he had to tell. “That’s a lot.”
“I know,” He sighs. Then he perks up suddenly, fixing me with his deep brown eyes. “It’s late, Scar. Are you sure you aren’t tired?”
“I’m sure,” I lie. I am actually a bit tired, but I like this, staying up with Grian.
“If you insist,” He shrugs, but I can tell he doesn’t believe me.
We continue to chat, I tell him about what happened from my end. By the time I’m done, I feel really sleepy, like I could just fall asleep right… here…
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 18
Tws: None
Notes: Cringes. Dies of cringe. How can I hate something I wrote so much. AUGH. Very sorry mumscarian nation the addition of mumscarian was a bit of a midway through change and as such he's written like a third wheel still sobs
Chapter 18 - Let’s go swimming!
Grian
I blink open my eyes to my dark room. The first thing I notice is the snoring.
While me and Scar had been chatting, he had dozed off. I couldn’t bear to wake him, so I just let him use my bed instead. I suppose I must’ve fallen asleep as well, which means we’re sleeping in the same bed.
I bolt upright, face heating up. Pearl is never gonna let me live this down.
I slip out of bed, figuring I’ll let Scar get his sleep. It’s about 8:00, which is late for me, but I suppose I was tired.
Almost as soon as I walk into the hall, I bump into Pearl. She’s grinning widely at me, and I can tell she’s got something up her sleeve.
“I saw you two!” She says gleefully, moth antenna twitching happily. “You let him sleep in your bed! You are so, so in love. You should get Mumbo to join you!”
“Shhh!” I hush her, putting a finger to her lips. I really hope no one else heard that. “I know! Don’t say it so loud!”
“You’re no fun,” She says, batting my hand away. I can tell how happy she is to have me back, she only teases me when in a really good mood. Unlike Jimmy. “But I’m totally telling Jimmy and Lizzie!”
“No don’t-” I stutter, but she’s already whipped around.
“You can’t stop me!” She calls back as she skips down the hallway.
I sigh, putting my hand to my head. Pearl is so annoying sometimes, but I missed her. Instead, I just walk after her, because I know there really is no stopping her from telling our siblings.
Almost as soon as I enter the main hall, I get surprised by Mumbo tackle-hugging me.
“Sorry about that, it’s just good to have you back.” He says as we pull away. Mumbo is another one of the people who would never like me back the way I like him. But judging from recent events, maybe it’s not so impossible after all.
Scar enters the room just a few minutes later, and looks away when he sees me, cheeks flushing. It’s clear he’s embarrassed about falling asleep on me, and maybe a little guilty about it too.
I’m not going to let him avoid me, so I pull him to the side after breakfast.
“Do you want to go swimming?” I ask. “Me, you, Mumbo, and my siblings maybe?”
“Sure!” Scar replies, grinning.
We agree to go at 1:30, so we have time to eat lunch and stuff, and then we split up. I tell Mumbo and my siblings about the plans, and they all happily agree to come.
I think we’ll have a lot of fun.
. . .
A few hours later, at 1:30, we pile into Mumbo’s VW bus in bathing suits. Jimmy calls shotgun almost immediately, and the other five of us (Joel came too) are forced to cram into the backseat.
“Isn’t it beautifully spacious?” Mumbo jokes.
“Mhm. Very.” I laugh.
Turns out Mumbo is a reckless driver, so maybe it’s a good thing we can barely move.
When we finally get to the beach, we set down our towels and just have some fun. I don’t actually like swimming a ton, but Scar drags me into the water anyways.
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” He tells me, taking my arm and pulling me into the ocean. I stumble and trip from the sudden movement, barely catching myself on one arm, and give Scar a good splash for that.
What that simple action ended up causing was a full on splash war. I duck as Scar tries to splash me back, instead hitting Lizzie, who had just ventured into the water.
“Hey!” She yelps, kicking water back at him. Joel and Jimmy, chaotic as ever, join in just because they can. Pearl watches from afar for a little while, but not long.
“Now you get in here,” I grin, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the crossfire.
And after we’re done, soaked, happy, and giggling like mad, we sit on our towels. We all chat together, have some snacks, and do what I would consider to be normal things for friend/family groups.
And after all that, everyone is tired, so we get back into Mumbo’s car and head home.
Scar finds me after we get back and are in regular clothes.
“Hey G,” He says. “That was fun. Thanks for suggesting it.”
“Of course!” I smile. “Anytime.”
As I lay in my bed that night, I realize that I felt truly happy and free for the first time in two weeks. I close my eyes and let sleep come, content.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA Masterpost
Cross posting from Quotev! (It will be on Ao3 when I get an account)
Book 1: Welcome to the HCDA
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 20
TWs: Violence, injury
Notes: This is really late sorry- no double update though because I wanna let this one simmer
Chapter 20 - Fighting the Watchers
Grian
“Are you ready?” Scar asks me softly as we approach the Watcher headquarters.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I sigh in return. My fingers slide against the cold metal of the doorknob, and I twist. It’s finally time.
The dark marine door swings open. Zed twitches one ear. “They’re on the top floor.” He whispers.
Scar nods and leads us up the stairs. As soon as the Watchers are in earshot, they fall silent. They have most definitely sensed twenty-eight people ready to fight them.
“Go.” Scar whisper shouts. And we do.
It's good we have the numbers, because the Watchers are a lot more powerful than we are. The first Watcher I spot is Falqua, and I feel a burning rage building in my chest. They were the one that hurt Scar.
I charge at them, drawing my sword. Falqua notices just in time, swinging around to block my strike. The clang of metal echoes through the room, not just from our swords colliding, but the many others doing the same thing.
We continue without drawing blood, until Falqua finally manages to land a strike. A thin trail of blood runs down my forearm now, but I ignore it. I’m the one to land the second hit, giving Falqua a much deeper slice over their leg.
At this, the Watcher hisses and pins me with one hand to the floor, raising the other to use a burst of magic. I angle my neck so it doesn’t hit me straight on, but the burst still burns. I struggle under Falqua’s grip as they raise their sword.
A flash of pink hair and an ax, and Falqua is on the floor. Lizzie stands triumphant with a now bloody ax clutched in her hands. Falqua scrambles to their feet and decides to go pick on someone else.
“Thanks,” I gasp as she helps me to my feet.
“No problem.” She grins, and disappears back into the fray. I swing my head around, looking for my next opponent, and spot someone in one of the doorways. Scar is there, attempting to pick off Watchers with a bow. I see Selqua go towards him.
It’s probably not a good idea for Scar to fight Selqua alone, so I begin to run towards him. Partway through though, I see Mumbo struggling to use an end crystal against Vilqua. Breaking away from my course, I yell at Mumbo to get out of the way and I throw a pebble at the end crystal. It explodes, and Vilqua retreats.
“Are you okay?” I ask Mumbo, looking him over for any major injuries.
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks.” He gives me a wave and heads after Vilqua, presumably to keep fighting them.
I turn back to where I’d seen Scar. He and Selqua are gone now, they must’ve gone through the doorway. I’m out of breath at this point, but I keep running as I make my way back over.
When I reach the doorway, Scar and Selqua are fighting, like I expected. Scar’s sword collides with Selqua’s as they duel.
“Hey Grian!” Scar gives me a quick glance. “I wouldn’t mind-” He blocks another blow. “-Help here,”
“That’s why I’m here.” I reply, jumping at Selqua. I slash at their chest, and they barely manage to block it. Distracted, Selqua doesn’t notice Scar behind them until he’s already landed a blow. They hiss as they stand up, landing a swipe on Scar he didn’t quite manage to block.
“You do realize you’re no match for a Watcher’s power, don’t you?” Selqua hisses, turning to me. They raise a hand for an energy blast, which I roll out of the way of. There’s a charred spot on the wall where it hit. I take a jab at Selqua’s ankles, which they dodge. Scar tries to hit them from behind again, but is intercepted. Selqua raises a hand to do another energy blast, aiming at Scar. I move to stop him but-
“Do you guys want any more help?” My head whips around to see Mumbo standing in the doorway. Selqua turns around too, energy ready to fire. I know what’s going to happen before I see it.
“MUMBO GET OUT OF THE WAY!” I scream as Selqua releases the blast. Mumbo doesn’t move fast enough.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Welcome to the HCDA
Tws: None
Notes: Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I was on vactaion
Chapter 19 - Plans
Scar
I wake up in the morning to birdsong outside. Wait a minute, not birdsong. It sounds almost as if someone’s singing, but it sounded a bit like a bird’s song.
I peek out my open window into the large underground cave. Grian is down there, singing. I don’t think he realizes I always keep my window open. I can’t help but notice he has a very nice voice. I’ve never heard him sing before, but now I want more of it.
Instead of telling him, I just keep listening. I’m not sure exactly what Grian is singing, but it's kind of pretty. He stops and looks up, spotting me. I grin.
“Were you listening?!” He yelps, turning bright red.
“Heck yeah,” I laugh at how flustered he is. “You’ve got a great voice!”
Grian flies up to my window sill, glares at me, and promptly shoves me.
“Not everybody likes being listened to while they sing!” He cries, still blushing.
“You’re fine,” I yank him into the room. He tumbles to the floor, and I help him up.
“Okay, but do not mention this to anyone. Except maybe Mumbo, because he knows what I sound like already. But still.”
. . .
Today, we need to do some planning. It’s been three days since we got Grian back, and he’s not convinced the Watchers will be able to leave us alone for a week. He said:
“The Watchers are dirty creatures, and only a few have the sense to keep their end of a deal. It’s not punished if you don’t. They would much rather attack us now and go back on the deal if they had a choice, and they do.”
I think he summed it up well enough. We’ve had our fun, and Grian’s recovered from being with the Watchers for the most part.
Everyone has agreed: We’re going to attack first. All we need now is a plan.
“So, any suggestions for how we’re going to do this?” I ask the hermits.
“We know where they’re base is, let’s just storm it.” Wels suggests. He knows the most about battle strategy, and no one else can think of anything to add, so that’s what we decide to do.
The plan currently is:
1. Storm the Watcher base
2. Fight
I’m aware that it’s not the best plan, but it’s all anyone could think of.
A few hours later, I go up to my office and sit down on a bench. We leave early tomorrow morning, so I suppose I should rest up, but I just can’t. Because honestly, I’m worried. I’m worried that someone is going to get hurt, or maybe even die.
“Hey Scar, you okay?” Mumbo’s voice shakes me from my thoughts.
“Yeah, just worried.” When I turn around, I’m slightly surprised. It’s not just Mumbo there, Grian is standing next to him. I wonder what they were doing?
The two come and sit down in the chairs on either side of me.
“The battle?” Grian guesses.
“Yep,” I sigh, slumping into my chair.
“Well, get a good sleep at least,” Mumbo says. The three of us sit in silence for a while. All I can hear is our breathing.
“Sooo,” I say, trying to fill the silence and standing up. “What should we do for the rest of the day?”
“I don’t kno-” Mumbo starts, but his sentence is interrupted by a red and gold wing slapping him in the face. “Hey!” He protests, but Grian is already talking.
“We can go flying!” He exclaims. Me and Mumbo don’t have wings like Grian does, we’ve still got the dragon scales. It isn’t quite as satisfying to me as I know it is for avians, but it is still quite calming.
“I’d like doing that,” I say, smiling.
“I’ve got my scale,” Mumbo says, gesturing to a black and purple scale on a cord around his neck.
“I’ll go get mine,” I say, popping out of the room. When I return, Mumbo and Grian are laughing, presumably at some joke. I feel a bit better, but only for a moment as I realize that I might not have Grian or Mumbo to joke with very shortly.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 16
Tw: Blood and violence, accidental sh
Notes: One of the better chapters I think, a little late though, sorry about that :'D
Chapter 16 - Battling Watchers
Grian
Well. I decided to battle Watchers with no help.
I know it was really, really stupid, but it was the only thing that I could think of doing to save Pearl and Gem.
Scar and Mumbo panicked as soon as I said it, trying to get me to back out, but I didn’t listen to them, sweet as it was that they were so worried. Now we stand on the ground, just about ready to start. I took away everyone’s dragon scales so they wouldn’t try and help.
Scar grabs my wrist. “Don’t you dare die, not when we just got you back.” He warns, looking me right in the eyes. He has very pretty eyes, too. I’m suddenly reminded of Mumbo somehow. Since when did I think Mumbo was pretty- I mean, not saying he’s not or anything- wait. Why am I suddenly thinking about how pretty Mumbo and Scar are when I’m about to fight a duel I might not win? Feelings.
“I’ll be fine,” I reassure him, and then turn and take off.
The Watchers are already waiting, the five of them hovering.
“Are you ready to begin?” Selqua asks.
“Yes.”
And we do, darting around each other and trying to land hits.
The wind whistles past me as I fly, occasionally messing up my flight, but I still dodge all the Watcher’s attacks.
I dive suddenly, aiming for Dalqua, and kick them hard in the face. Since I no longer have my magic, Scar gave me his sword to fight with, but I’ll use it soon.
Falqua attempts to knock me over the head with a club, but I duck and am only grazed. Still, there are so many Watchers and only one me, so I’m having some difficulty.
And for some reason, Pearl decides to come up and help me.
“What are you doing?!” I cry as soon as I see her. The entire reason I’m doing this is so she wouldn’t get hurt! “You’re supposed to stay down there!”
“I know,” Pearl rolls her eyes as she swipes her blade at Vilqua. “You can’t stop me.”
I sigh and resume fighting. The Watchers have given up trying to blast us with magic and are now fighting with swords as well. Slightly dangerous, but oh well.
They swipe, and they jab, but we are still too fast. With the both of us, we are actually starting to overpower the Watchers.
Suddenly, Pearl lets out a cry of pain, and I whip around towards her with a spike of panic. Blood is dripping one shoulder, leaving dark red spots on her jacket. Selqua is the holder of the sword dripping with her blood.
“Pearl,” I gasp breathlessly, flying towards my sister.
“I’m fine,” She reassures me. Then she glances behind me and her eyes widen. “Grian behind you-”
A searing pain. A Watcher glides in front of me, presumably Selqua. Their hands are glowing, they’re obviously using magic.
“And finally, you can actually be of use,” They sighed. “We would leave your silly friends alone, but you won’t live to see it, so what’s the point?”
“What?” I choke out. The world is spinning. They’re using a spell on me, but what sort of witchcraft is this?
“All we needed was the energy of a Watcher who had enough negative emotions, and you presented yourself on a silver platter.” Selqua explains, but I only barely process it through the haze of pain. “A Watcher’s energy is powerful, and even more so with negative emotion.”
“But you took away my magic,” I gasp, finding it hard to speak through the pain.
“Not all the way. We took away its usage, but it’s still in you.” The pain increases. I’d clutch my head, but I seem to be rooted to the spot, floating in midair.
My hands are balled into fists, fingernails starting to dig into my skin as I press harder and harder. It hurts too, but distracts a little bit from the searing pain.
I don’t know where it’s coming from, my head or my whole body? I feel blood dribbling down my hands.
Pearl is shouting my name, but I can barely hear her. The pain is too much, I feel faint. Whatever this spell is, I’ll die if it’s not stopped soon.
This wouldn’t be the worst way to die, protecting my friends and family, but I still give a shudder at the thought. Maybe it’s not just the thought, I’m shaking violently.
Suddenly, a blur of blue and yellow shoots up into the sky next to me, tackling Selqua. Through the spinning world and my fuzzy vision, I manage to recognize the figure as he’s grabbed by the Watchers.
“Jimmy?” I manage to ask, but the words have barely left my mouth when the world goes dark.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 11
Warnings: Blood, violence, knives, injury
Notes: ;)
Chapter 11 - Something stupid
Scar
It’s been two weeks since Grian went missing.
Two. Weeks.
Since the mall, there hasn’t been anything that I’ve been able to find that might be a clue as to what’s happened to Grian.
My mind is constantly whirring, wondering if he’s okay, wondering if I’ll ever see him again. It’s my fault for trying to mess with the Watchers, my fault he got caught. I should’ve done more research myself before I sent one of my best friends on that mission.
I’m so tired. After the mall attack, I’ve been plagued by nightmares of my friends getting hurt by the Watchers, which have been waking me up at night. Pearl and Mumbo are finally sleeping a little better, but not much.
At least Bdubs’ burns have healed well. They’re just faint marks on his olive skin, and the general PTSD from almost getting blown up has definitely died down.
I rub my eyes. I’m in my bed and I know I should be trying to sleep, but I just can’t seem to find it. I glance at the clock. 11:58. Almost twelve. I usually fall asleep at around 11:00, because I like actually having a good night's rest, so this is late for me.
Eventually, I cave, putting on the braces and slipping out of bed. Maybe going for a walk will help calm my nerves. I pass Pearl on my way out.
“I’m going for a walk.” I tell her before she can ask. “If I’m not back by one, something is probably wrong.”
Pearl nods. I know staying up until then won’t bother her, she’s a night owl anyway.
I walk out onto the sidewalk. The sky is dark, most lights in windows are out, and the street lamps provide most of the illumination. I let the cool breeze ruffle my hair as I walk, hoping somehow I can fix this mess.
I’m desperate. I’m so, so desperate to get Grian back. I miss him. I miss his laugh, his smile, his eyes. So here I am at midnight, standing out on the street in a white undershirt and baggy pants, just about ready to have a mental breakdown.
I sit down on a nearby bench and think. I stay there, head buried in my hands, until I glance up and see a flash of white and purple disappear around the corner.
I get to my feet slowly and cross the street, peeking around the corner. A Watcher is heading down the street. This is my chance! This is my opportunity to find out more!
I creep down the sidewalk after the Watcher, occasionally ducking into alleyways so they can’t see me. I pop my head back out of the alley that I’m now in. They still haven’t noticed. I follow them a little further down the street.
The Watcher freezes. I dive into the nearest alleyway and hope I haven’t been seen, but the Watcher appears in the entrance a few moments later. They are completely silent. Fear rises in my chest as I stare up at the figure.
I make a break for it.
I glance over my shoulder to see them pull out a throwing knife, and attempt to zigzag. A burst of pain goes through my right shoulder, and I know that the knife has hit its mark. I tumble to the ground, the metal of the braces pressing painfully into my skin as the Watcher comes up behind me.
They lift me by my shirt collar until we’re eye to eye. Or we would be, because they don’t have a face for the eyes to be on.
“Well well well.” I can hear the smirk in their voice. “An HCDA brat I see, the leader, even.”
I glower at him. I’m terrified of what they might do and my shoulder hurts like heck, but I try not to let it show.
“There’s no use in keeping you alive, so might as well kill you now.” The Watcher shrugs and drops me. I try to turn and run, but something connects painfully with the side of my head. I think it was a glass bottle, because suddenly I’m on the ground, surrounded by glass shards. And quite a bit of blood.
My head throbs, the world spinning. My arms sting too, I think the glass may have cut them. The Watcher picks me back up again, only to toss me violently against the back wall of the alley.
My world spins. I think I’m surrounded by trash bags, and I’m leaning on one. Pain burns through my whole body, but mostly from my head, my shoulder and my arms. Faintly, I hear the Watcher cackle.
I’ve failed.
I’m so sorry Grian, I’ve failed you.
I am going to die.
And then my world goes black.
#gootimeswithscar#hermitshipping#scarian#tw blood#tw injury#tw violence#tw knife#welcome to the hcda
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome!
Hi there! My name is Robin (But you may call me Sparrow or Jay as well!) and I use she/her pronouns.
I'm a self taught artist/animator, as well as a wannabee author. Most of my posts will not be this formal lol
This blog is dedicated mainly to Hermitcraft and the Life Series, but I might post multifandom things once and a while
Tags: #Welcome to the HCDA - for a fic I'm writing! Masterpost here
I am a MINOR, so please, please do not be a weirdo.
DNI if:
Racist
Sexist
Homophobe/Transphobe
Mainly NSFW blog
And that's it!
I do make quite a few hermitshipping posts, so don't like, don't look! <3
Speaking of which, favorite ships are Pearltek, Skizztek, Mumscarian, Poly Bad Boys, Poly ZITS, and Gempearl. Big mutishipper here so I'm good with pretty much anything!
Requests are OPEN! Can't promise they'll be done fast, but,,
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 13
Warnings: Mentions of healing injury
Notes: Lucky number 13!
Chapter 13 - …I’m alive?
Scar
My head hurts.
Wait.
How can I be feeling my head hurt if I'm dead?
Which means, I’m still alive.
My eyes blink open to late afternoon light. I’m still in the alley, how long has it been?
I look down at my arms, surprised when I see they are bound with bandages. I faintly remember someone… They had a cloak and wings, and had dirty blonde hair. They had a gentle touch, and I think their eyes were purple. I think they might’ve saved me.
But that doesn’t make sense, if their eyes were purple, they were a Watcher, but they had a face. If they were a Watcher then why, why did they help me?
I realize that one of my eyes is also covered by a bandage around one side of my head, I assume from glass and being hit in the general area.
A purple feather is attached to one of the arm bandages, and I decide to keep it there. It could be important.
It suddenly occurs to me that Pearl would’ve gone looking by now. Oh shoot. The hermits must be panicking.
I bolt upright, immediately wishing I hadn’t. Pain shoots through my body, I assume from bruises. I get to my feet much slower, going carefully and making sure to support myself against the wall. Once I’m standing, I begin to feel a bit more stable.
I walk out of the alley into the sun. Squinting up at the clock tower, I see it says 3:37. I can only assume how long it’s been, as it could’ve been days. But considering how fresh the wounds feel, probably not.
Whether or not it’s been multiple days or not, I get going. I need to get back to the HCDA. Before I know it, I’ve started running. It hurts, but I need to go quickly. I don’t notice the man until I’ve run into him.
I recoil, jumping back, and look up at him. “I’m sorry sir I didn’t-” I stop dead. I know that mustache.
Mumbo is staring down at me. “...Scar?” He asks. I just blink.
“Yes, that’s me.” I say slowly, a smile spreading across my face.
Mumbo pulls me into a hug. “Oh my gosh where have you been?!” He cries. “We’ve been looking everywhere!”
Now I really do smile. “Sorry about that- Ow- Let me go now-” Mumbo releases me and blinks apologetically.
“You’re hurt,” He says, scanning me.
“Yeah… I might’ve followed a Watcher and gotten into a fight,” I admit sheepishly. “And lost. Badly.”
Mumbo sighs. “Well at least you’re not dead,”
“I probably should be, but someone helped me.” I glance down at my arms.
“Well let’s get back,” Mumbo says. “We need to let everyone else know you’re okay.”
We begin to head back towards the HQ in a comfortable silence. I finally speak. “What happened when I disappeared?” I ask a bit cautiously.
“Well, when you didn’t return Pearl went looking.” Mumbo explains. “When she didn’t find you, she woke me up and we both looked. She was in quite a panic. After that, the other hermits took turns looking so the two of us would get some sleep.”
I wince. Stupid, stupid me, why did I follow that Watcher?
“By morning, we were really worried.” Mumbo continues. “So out of panic, Pearl called her siblings.”
“What?!” I yelp. “We weren't supposed to!”
“Well, she did.” He sighs. “Jimmy, Lizzie, and Joel are in on this and they aren’t going back.”
We round the corner to the HCDA headquarters, and open the entrance tunnel.
“Mumbo? That you?” Joel’s voice sounds from further down the tunnel. “Did you find-” He rounds the corner and stops. Then he turns and shouts back down the tunnel, “Mumbo found him!”
As soon as I enter the headquarters, Pearl appears with Jimmy and Lizzie. I explain to them the mess I managed to get myself into.
“You idiot!” Joel exclaims, though I can tell he’s happy I’m okay. “What were you thinking?”
“I would just like to let it be known what Joel said when he found out, because you deserve it.” Lizzie says. “He said, and I quote, ‘Both of those blooming idiots need saving?!’”
Despite myself, I laugh. Joel blushed. “I did deserve it,” I sigh.
Jimmy doesn’t say anything, but he smiles at me.
We finally managed to get the hermits together for me to explain the whole situation. I managed to convince Stress, our healer, that my injuries could wait a little longer.
I’ve just finished telling the hermits about what happened and am getting down from the podium when Tango asks me a question.
“What’s that on your arm?” He tilts his head, as if trying to get a better look.
“The bandages?” I ask, confused.
“No, there was something in one of them.” The blaze hybrid twitches his tail.
I look down to see a purple feather wedged in between the bandages. I remember seeing it, but it slipped my mind.
“This?” I hold up the feather.
“Yeah. What is it?” Tango asks, red eyes flashing with interest beneath his glasses.
“I know what it is.”
I look around to see who’s spoken. Gem is standing up, I assume she did.
“What do you mean?” Everybody has turned to look at her. She looks a little nervous, a bit guilty, and her hands are shaking.
“I should probably tell this from the start,” She says. “A few days after Grian went missing, I saw him at the mall. I mistook him for a Watcher at first, and was definitely surprised to see him.”
I just blink. Gem has seen Grian? Why didn’t she tell anyone?!
Pearl begins to speak, but she stops herself.
“He told me that the Watchers essentially blackmailed him into joining them, the punishment for refusing being all of us dying.” Gem explains. “He made me promise not to tell you, because if everyone knew the Watchers would kill us. Then we worked out that he would leave a Watcher feather when he knew enough to oppose them.”
It’s complete silence for a while. At first I’m mad at Gem, I mean, why didn’t she tell us?! Then I’m mad at Grian for making Gem stay quiet and staying with the Watchers for so long. Finally, I realize the only ones I should be mad at are the Watchers. They are evil, they took Grian, they threatened to kill us.
Then chatter breaks out and Pearl scolds Gem, but everyone can tell she’s not really mad.
I go up to my room and plop down on my bed, lost in thought. I make sure to take the braces off, it feels good to let my legs breath a bit.
It’s only evening, but I’m tired. I finally let myself drift off to sleep.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 12
Warnings: Blood
Notes: I've learned rereading this that the only way to make this better is by making it past-tense and in 3rd person because gosh. I'm not very good at present tense, especially when it's in 1st person, but I am not changing every verb in the story. Book 2 will be 1st person past tense maybe?
Chapter 12 - Words mean nothing to them
Grian
I can hear the Watchers talking.
They aren’t speaking to me, rather each other, and their voices are hushed, as if they don’t want me to hear. I lean closer, pretending to be reading one of their books of Watcher vs Listener history. It's written all in Galactic though, so it takes me longer to read.
It’s about thirty past midnight, and I know I should be sleeping. I was going to, but Falqua turned up late and immediately went to the other Watchers. I knew there was something going on. I concentrate on listening to the Watchers’ muffled voices as they speak.
“He’s out cold. Should be dead soon, assuming he’s not found.” Falqua whispers.
“Fal, why did you attack him? We made a deal!” Melqua’s voice is soft, but firm. They are the only one who uses nicknames in the Watcher group. “If Xelqua finds out about this…” About what? What do they mean? Who did they hurt?
“That HCDA leader deserved it. He followed me!” Falqua snaps back. Selqua hushes them quickly, and Falqua lowers their voice. “The HCDA are deliberately messing with us. As long as Xelqua stays for a little longer, we can get what we need and it doesn’t matter anyway.”
My breath catches in my throat. Falqua means Scar. They have hurt Scar to the point he’s almost dead, and broken our deal. And what do they mean by ‘get what we need’? What do they need from me?
“Falqua, this was an extremely reckless move.” Selqua says. “But, good job I guess. As long as Xelqua doesn’t know, he’ll die and we can just say we don’t know what happened.”
“He shouldn’t be found.” Falqua reassures. “I’ve left him in an alleyway, and he’s hidden at the back.” Selqua nods.
They break up the huddle and go their separate ways into the void, leaving me trying to not let my panic show. My mind is spinning. It keeps repeating the same sentence over and over: What am I supposed to do?
I need to somehow sneak away, get to Scar, and then what? I’m no healer, but I guess I’ll have to try. After that… I just need to make sure that the Watchers don’t find out.
. . .
The rest of the night goes by in a blur of plans and worry. What if I’m not there in time? How will I even find him?
Falqua said something about an alley, but there are so, so many alleys in London. I suppose I’ll have to trace the path from here to the HCDA headquarters, since that’s probably where the two would have met.
As soon as the sun is up, I tell the Watchers I’m going to do something productive and collect some emotions. Selqua seems pleased, like they’ve been waiting for me to shape up, get over blowing something up, and cooperate. Ohhh, don’t they know.
I push open the door and dart away from the Watcher HQ. The further I stray from the black void inside, the better I feel. But as I check alley after alley, there’s still a worried pit in my stomach.
Finally I think I’ve come across what I’m searching for. It’s an alley, just like the rest, but there’s shattered glass on the floor, and there’s blood staining the concrete.
I press toward the back, which is a pile of trash bags. I almost think I might be in the wrong place until I see the top of someone’s head peeking out from behind the bags.
I move to see the figure. It’s Scar, like I thought. He’s breathing, but he doesn’t look good. His arms have cuts running up and down them from what I assume was glass, but that’s not really what I’m concerned about.
As I pull him carefully from the trash bags, I can see blood running down the side of his head. I assume he was hit with something hard enough to knock him out. His leg braces have been banged up a bit, but they should be fine with a bit of magical reinforcement. Somehow, I almost don’t notice his shoulder. When I do, I inhale sharply.
I think he was stabbed, there is a gash in the back of his shoulder. It’s relatively skinny, but looks deep. If I had been a bit later…
I conjure a medical set of the things I’ll need to fix Scar up. Thank goodness Lizzie and Pearl forced me, Jimmy, and Joel to learn first aid. And for once, thank goodness I have Watcher powers.
I pull my hood down with my trembling hands and brush the hair out of my face. Come on Grian, concentrate.
I go through the steps Lizzie and Pearl showed me, cleaning and bandaging. I do Scar’s arms first, slowly working my way up to the head and then the shoulder.
The sleeve of his shirt has practically fallen off, it was always loose and the split in the fabric was big enough to give me a good vantage point.
I exhale as I tie the bandage. I hadn’t realized just how much I’m shaking, I’m not sure if it’s that medical work makes me nervous or that I’m just worried as heck or something different. I think it might be nearly losing someone I love.
I rest my hand on his other shoulder that’s not injured. My skin has grown paler in the last two weeks.
“Don’t die.” I whisper, moving him back into the position he was in before, amongst the bags of trash.
I pluck a purple feather from my wings and slide it in between the arm bandages. It’s time for them to know, if the Watchers will no longer uphold their deal, and need me for something. I have to get away from them.
I take my hand away and pull up my hood. Then I turn and run.
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chpater 10
Warnings: None
Notes: Not proud of this chapter but oh well
Chapter 10 - I can’t do this anymore.
Grian
I just stay up on the roof.
I don’t want to go down, I don’t want to go back to the Watchers, I want to go home.
I guess the HCDA headquarters isn’t really my home, but it’s close enough.
When I’m not with them, me and Pearl live with Lizzie and Joel, which is always nice. Jimmy would go insane if I had to live with him, so we’ve spared him that. Me and Pearl are gone a lot anyway, so our sister and her husband don’t really have to deal with us much.
Even though we move every few months, I still feel like the HCDA is my home. Many people who move too much never feel at home, but I always have. I think it’s because I can enjoy myself with the people I’m with, and that’s what really makes it home.
Just thinking about my siblings and the other hermits hurts. I wonder if Pearl has told Jimmy and Lizzie yet? Part of me hopes she has, and the other hopes they don’t know yet.
The sun is setting. How long have I been up here for? I still don’t move from my spot. It’s getting kind of cold though… I wrap my wings around myself. I wish I could call them parrot wings still, but they have taken on the purple color all Watcher wings are.
I can shift my wing color at will, though I only gained that power when I joined Hermitcraft. Before that, my wings had always been white, but they started randomly changing in season six. It’s fun to change them.
I like making my wings parrot colors most, so I kept them when Hermitcraft was banned. I think everyone else likes them best too, because I guess the colors are just… Me.
The purple just doesn’t sit too well.
I wish Hermitcraft had never been banned. I miss the fun bases we used to build and the pranks we could play. I miss being able to die and come back as many times as I wanted.
It’s no use dwelling in the past and I know that, but I can’t help it. It’s hard not to when you’re struggling with a mixture of homesickness and guild.
I really really want to run myself into a wall, but that wouldn’t do anything to improve my mood, so I keep sitting. Eventually I cave and decide to fly around a little bit. Flying has always calmed my nerves.
I leap off the building and spread my wings, letting the cool air rush past me. I fly as high as I dare and just admire the view.
The air is thinner up here, so if I were to go much higher I would need special equipment to stay conscious. It’s really pretty up here though, especially at sunset.
The sun has dipped lower in the sky, and it’s practically nighttime now. I know I really should get back.
Begrudgingly, I fly back down to the surface. I push open the Watcher’s door.
“Finally back, Xelqua.” Jilqua comments disdainfully. “Are you done pouting?”
“Yes.” I say, brushing past them. I hate Jilqua, they’re mean and arrogant. Selqua’s arrogant as well, Falqua’s just cruel, Dalqua’s patronizing and harsh, Vilqua’s rude and inconsiderate, and Melqua is quiet but is silently cruel. None of them are any good.
Jilqua snickers. “Have fun.” They turn away from me.
I need to figure out something. I need to do something, something to hurt the Watchers. But what?
1 note
·
View note
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 9
Warnings: Light description of injury
Notes: I'm not particularly proud of this chapter but oh well
Chapter 9 - They blew up the mall?!
Scar
I sit in my chair, stroking Jellie as I try to think of where I should search next.
The malls? That’s where Gem found the feathers. That might work. But which one should I search? There are two malls.
“Scar?” I hear Mumbo call. “Bdubs is back. The mall blew up.”
My head shoots up, startling Jellie, who scrambles out of my lap as I begin to roll the wheelchair over.
“What do you mean the mall blew up?!” I exclaim, following Mumbo out of the office and down the hallway.
“I don’t know!” Mumbo cries, exasperated and panicked. “The mall blew up!”
Bdubs doesn’t seem badly hurt, at the very least. He’s got a decent burn on one arm, hit his head, has a black eye and chipped tooth, and is a little dazed. Everyone understands this and doesn’t crowd him, which is also good. If I had just been in a building that had blown up, I wouldn’t want a crowd.
I roll in between the other hermits. Etho and Cleo are seemingly his two supporters, and I am the one who gets to ask the questions.
“What happened?” I ask simply, scanning Bdubs.
“Well, it was normal until the first bomb went off.” Bdubs begins. “There were eight in total, and the fifth got me a bit. I hit my head on the wall, so I was a bit dizzy, but I think someone dragged me from the plaza.”
“What happened to the plaza?”
“The roof collapsed, so anyone still inside was probably killed.” He says, looking away. “Though it held up for way too long, so either it was an extremely sturdy building or someone somehow held it up." He leans back against the wall, putting a finger to his head. “I think I need to go sit down.”
He and Etho retreat to the medical room and chatter begins to break out. Who would blow up the mall? Why? It only takes me a bit to conclude that I need more information, information Bdubs can’t give me. I’m going to have to go get it myself.
I grab my dragon scale, an item that will give you temporary wings when you need them, and put on the leg braces.
“Scar, where are you going?” I turn around to see Mumbo.
“To investigate.”
“Alone?!” He exclaims. “That’s incredibly stupid, and you know it!”
“So? I’m not letting anyone else get hurt.”
“At least let me go,” Mumbo tries.
“No.” I tell him firmly. I run out the door before he can stop me.
“Wait! Scar! Stop!” Mumbo tries to run after me, but I have already pulled out my wings. His voice fades into the distance.
I feel bad about not letting him come, but it’s for the best. If I hadn’t decided to move our base and go after the Watchers, Grian wouldn’t be missing… I can’t let anyone else get hurt.
I see the mall over the horizon. It’s a bit worse than I expected, it completely collapsed in the center. There are sirens still wailing as the firemen search the ruins. There’s no way anyone could have survived, so I don’t know why they bother.
I land and duck behind a piece of rubble. All I need is to get in, then get out with some information.
Shoot. I forgot to bring any sort of invisibility potion. I press through the debris, avoiding any sharp bits sticking out. There’s muffled speaking from somewhere in the rubble, and it sounds a bit like firefighters.
If I lean closer, I can barely make out what they’re saying.
“What’s this purple dust?” One voice asks.
“I don’t know. It feels powerful.” Another replies.
There’s a little bit of muffled movement, which eventually fades away into the distance. I attempt to pinpoint where I’d heard the talking from, which I think was right below me.
I carefully shift the debris to make a hole big enough to get in and slip through. This is such a stupid idea, going into a collapsed building. Ah, oh well.
Once I’m down, I realize that this area is almost like a cave, held up only by wire. The pieces of debris are big enough that they don’t fall through the cracks.
There’s a spot of purple on the floor, and it looks like dust. There’s a lot of it, like something disintegrated here. I reach down cautiously to touch it, and feel a jolt of energy run up my arm. I leap back, but nothing happens. It felt almost magical, which can only mean one thing.
The Watchers are behind this.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 6
Warnings: Mentions of bombs
Notes: Not the proudest of this one but it's important so
Chapter 6 - The Watcher’s approval
Grian
I swoop down to land on the Watcher’s doorstep. After they had found me out, we moved our headquarters. What used to be near a park was now a few blocks north, close enough for a fifteen minute walk but not close enough to be found again.
The new headquarters is tall, red bricks stacked to make a three story building. There’s a balcony at the top, but I’ve never actually been on it. After all, when I go into the building, I’m greeted with what a normal Watcher sees: an empty void.
I push open the dark marine colored door to said void, and step in. I shut the door behind me.
“I’m back.” I say to the Watchers, who are gathered in the void.
“Well then, welcome back Xelqua.” Selqua says. I wince at how friendly they sound, I don’t want them to be friendly.
I glance around at the other watchers. I can tell who they are by some sort of emotional link, and there are only eight watchers in total (including me). The seven Watchers besides me and Selqua are Jilqua, Nilqua, Melqua, Dalqua, Vilqua, and Falqua. The structure of the names seems to be a consonant, a vowel, and then l and qua. They mentioned the qua part, but I didn’t know there was a l in each name too.
My Watcher name is Xelqua. As much as I hate being a Watcher, I will admit that my Watcher name has a nice ring to it.
“Deposit the emotions you have collected into the void beyond.” Jilqua instructs. The void beyond is a small gap in space and time that Watchers can open to store things, and that is where all the negative emotions are kept. It’s like a pantry, but for emotions.
I open a rift to the void beyond and unscrew the cap of my vial, letting the emotions flow in with the others. Then I let the rift close and look back up at the Watchers.
“Well done,” Selqua claps. “You have completed your first task as a Watcher. That is a good amount of emotions, good job.” I look away. I don’t want praise from them.
“It is time you learn what the Watchers aim to do.” Falqua says from Selqua’s side. They seem to have cleared this with the head Watcher already. “For though you know our powers, you do not fully know our goals and plans.” My headwings perk up, this might be it. I’ll finally have something to share.
Selqua creates a ring of ornate stone seats and gestures to them. “Sit.” They say. So I do. I sit down on one of the eight seats, which are surprisingly comfortable considering they’re made from stone.
“The first thing you should know about the Watchers is that we have an enemy.” Selqua begins, sitting down as well. “The Listeners. The Listeners get their power from hearing the positive conversations of mortals. They are also the reason we are here in London.
“We want the Listeners dead. They want us dead. And to do that, we need to drain the source of their power. Since their power comes from positive conversations, and they can hear them from a radius of three thousand miles, we are going to need to fix that.
“We will slowly conquer various parts of the world, and use the negative emotions generated by that to boost our power. And with less positivity, there will be less positive conversations and less power for the Listeners.”
I nod my head politely throughout the explanation, but my brain whirring as I try to make sense of what this means. The Listeners are the Watchers enemy, and they feed on positivity and happiness. If the Watchers essentially become anarchists, the Listeners will lose power and the Watchers can rule. What I’m worried about is what the Watchers will do to receive this power.
“Understood.” I say. “What will we be doing to increase the negativity?”
I look into the black void that is Selqua’s face. I wonder what they actually look like, if they have a real face at all.
“We are going to start by setting off a bomb.” Selqua says, voice monotone and unemotional as they tell me. “It will be set off in the shopping mall.”
“When?” I ask, my heart racing.
“You and Nilqua go to plant and detonate it tomorrow morning.”
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Welcome to the HCDA - Chapter 4
Warnings: None
Notes: Sorry for the lack of updates. I forgot, and then promptly got sick
Chapter 4 - Run in with friends
Grian
I’m on my first solo patrol of sorts. I’m not really sure what to call it, a patrol? A mission? An assignment?
Well, I’m supposed to be gathering up some negative emotions for the Watchers in the shopping mall, which is pretty easy, lots of people have bad days all the time. I’m honestly not sure why the Watchers try to cause trouble, people give themselves enough. Sometimes, I wish I could help them.
My emotions vial is strapped in my rope belt. It collects the emotions I am able to harvest from people, storing them until I can deposit them in the actual emotion storage.
Inside, the emotions take the form of a tiny ball of flame. They look kind of like the appearance of the typical soul in the movies and stories, a white hot core surrounded by colored fire.
The diamond shaped glass jar is about halfway full with emotions, and more are popping in every second as I let the negativity flow in.
It’s been a few days now, since the Watchers took me.
No one seems suspicious of me, a cloaked figure with purple wings strolling through a mall. The Watchers have that sort of effect on people, they are never suspicious unless they know who the Watchers are or are thinking about them.
Another Watcher power is the ability to read emotions. I can vaguely tell why the emotion is the way it is, and it’s stronger with negative emotions, but I definitely can tell.
There’s one who’s having trouble with friends, one whose heart is broken, one who’s struggling with a physical problem…
That’s when I spot her.
Gem is standing in the crowd, her braided orange hair tucked over one shoulder and a bag of groceries slung over the other. I sense that she’s upset. Worried, sad, almost… Angry? About someone being taken from her-
Oh. Me. She’s worried about me.
It hadn’t quite occurred to me how much panic my disappearance must have caused, and I feel bad for not thinking about it earlier. They must be devastated.
I pull my hood up further and hope she doesn’t notice me. Unfortunately, Gem does manage to spot me, and she’s not happy.
I feel a sudden spike of fury as she comes and drags me by the arm into a space between two buildings. It’s not quite big enough to be an alley, but I guess you could call it that.
Gem slams me against the wall, anger burning in her green eyes.
“What have you and your friends done with Grian you son of a-” She stops, her eyes going wide with shock as she recognizes me. “You’re not- You haven’t-” She stammers.
“It was the only way I could protect you.” I sigh, not meeting her eyes. Gem releases me from the wall.
“We’ve been worried sick!” She bursts out. I don’t want to know the hermits’ reaction. “It was… It’s been bad. Scar was almost in tears announcing it, and Pearl didn’t get any sleep last night. None! I don’t think Mumbo’s sleep was great either.”
I flinch. Every part of me wants to go with her and go back, but I know I can’t. The Watchers would kill them. “Nobody can know.” I say, my voice strained. “They can’t know I’m with the Watchers. They’ll just get themselves killed trying to rescue me.”
“At least let me tell them you’re alive,” Gem pleads. “A lot of us think you might be dead.”
I freeze. Dead? Yeah, I can see captured or something, but dead?
“Okay.” I say slowly. “Won’t they get suspicious?”
“No.” She tells me firmly. “I’ll bring them some of your feathers, and that should be proof enough.”
I pick up on her train of thought quite easily. “If the feathers are warm and recent, then that’ll definitely work.”
Gem nods. “That would. But can I still tell them eventually?”
“Let me learn some things about them first, so we can actually fight them.” I say. “I’ll send you a signal, like…” I trail off. What would be a good signal?
“A purple Watcher feather.” She says, pointing to my Watcher wings. “I’ll know when I see a Watcher feather.”
“Sounds good.” I let my wings revert to red and gold, their normal appearance, and pluck two feathers, one from each colored section. I hold out the feathers to Gem.
“You never saw anything but these, got it?” I say as she takes the feathers.
“Got it.” She says, and takes off running.
I watch her disappear into the crowd and can only hope they believe her. A purple feather… I can still finish my work. I can gather information, and I can take the Watchers down.
4 notes
·
View notes