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It was nice, being on the same server as Grian.
They had known each other since their teenage years, but Mumbo had never shared a home server with his friend. Most of the time they spent together was in private worlds or in public servers, so getting to spend time together without a mini game between them was nice.
Not that spending time playing mini games wasn’t nice, they always had a great time. They were both competitive when they wanted, even when everyone knew that Grian was the worst of the two, and playing against and with each other is something that they both deeply enjoy.
But waking up and knowing that you were just a short fly away from your best friend… Mumbo quite liked that
It had been a few months since season 6 had started, and they had all fallen into the rhythm of life, the novelty of a new server having worn off. Running around, finding places to build bases and getting resources was fun, but Mumbo had to admit he quite liked the mid season lull. Being able to see every hermit’s bases come to life, knowing that there’s still much more to come before they have to move onto a new world and that they have time to keep creating and challenging themselves, it never gets old.
This new beginning had been especially tiring, what with Grian having been added to the mix and wreaking havoc around his base. They hadn’t seen each other much since the other had left for Evolution, so Mumbo had forgotten what it felt like to be on the receiving end of Grian’s (almost) undivided attention. He loved Grian, but good god.
His friend had been acting off in those first few weeks of the season.He had an air about him, like he wasn’t quite comfortable in his own skin. He was fidgety, but not necessarily in a nervous way, as Mumbo had originally thought, more like when a part of your body falls asleep and you keep moving to try and get the tingling to stop. Sometimes the redstoner would catch him standing perfectly still, unseeing eyes looking straight ahead. A breeze could be felt, and it almost seemed like not even his feathers would move with the wind
The mustachioed man had chalked it up to getting used to being in the most recent version of the world, his body probably used to Evolution where they still weren’t up to date. Grian had told him in previous chats how he sometimes felt not like himself back in the other server, slower, like his body couldn’t catch up to his mind. This must be the same thing, but maybe even in reverse.
As time went on, however, the fidgeting calmed down, and the issue was pushed out of Mumbo’s mind.
Besides, there was something on the horizon. The server was livelier with grian in it, but it was also more chaotic than it was before (if that was even possible). Mumbo didn’t know what, but he had a feeling that things were just getting started
.
Nights on the Hermitcraft server rarely were calm.
In a server as populated and tight as theirs, there was almost always someone running around. That night however, there was not a soul in sight.
The meeting at Sahara had run late, so Grian and Mumbo were just now doing the trek back to their bases. Mumbo’s shoulders were slumping forward with the weight of the day he’d had, his feet still dragging on despite how much he wanted to get to bed. The temptation of setting a bed down and just sleeping there was strong, knowing that he’d forget to reset his spawn at his house the only reason he hadn’t caved in yet. They really needed to make a bedroom at the shop for these instances.
He was barely looking at his surroundings, too concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other so as to not faceplant right then and there. He could hear the distant groans of zombies, but not close enough for his brain’s survival instinct to kick in.
He should have thrown caution out the window and just used an elytra, no matter the fact that he’d probably crash and die due to kinetic energy before he even got to his base. At least Grian had offered to walk with him, not making use of the wings attached to his back.
Those wings were one of Mumbo’s favorite things about his best friend. He had always envied them, the freedom they gave the other and how well they fit him. Grian was always careful not to use them early on or in servers where others could not get access to elytras, but Mumbo couldn’t imagine having that liberty at the tip of his fingers and not making use of it. The tan and brown feathers were similar in color to the builder’s hair, and their build was on the smaller side.
Lost in this train of thought, Mumbo hadn’t noticed that his friend had stopped moving, and was standing still with his head tilted upwards.
The moonlight carefully illuminated the planes of Grian’s face, the light soft and quiet, barely allowing Mumbo to see the other’s black eyes. It was as if the moon itself kept its distance from his friend, doing her job of bringing light to the darkness of the night, but still not wanting to be too close to the avian, lest things that are better forgotten get brought back to attention.
Grian looked ethereal right then, and in that moment Mumbo felt as if there was an insurmountable distance between them.
Mumbo followed the other’s gaze up to the sky, where the stars were shining brightly and still visible despite their closeness to the shopping district, the artificial light not being able to rival those of the heavens. If Mumbo had to guess, he would say he knew what exactly Grian was looking at. It was hard not to, there came a moment that almost every hermit went through in their first season, when they finally looked up at night and saw it.
“First time looking up, mate?”
For a second, it was as if Grian hadn’t listened, still too caught up in his own mind. The human was about to repeat himself, when the other spoke up
“Has that star always been that bright?” His eyes didn’t move.
“Yes?” Despite having seen for himself the reactions of other hermits, Mambo still couldn’t understand “As far as I know, every server has a ‘main star’ that shines brighter”
This was also not the first time he made that comment, and while others tended to look at him weirdly for it, Grian’s expression did not change.
“I don’t think so, no” he shrugged “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a star that shone that brightly in comparison to the rest”
While they had never shared a home server, Mumbo was sure he had seen a star like that in the mini game worlds they had played in at some point. Not wanting to argue, he didn’t say that out loud
“Yeah, I’ve heard different hermits call it different names,” after all, if they were known for one thing it was about their ability to decide on things “but the one that has stuck around the most is Luz”
“Luz? isn’t that a bit on the nose?” now Grian turned to look at him, a smile on his lips “is that like, spanish for light, right? Why not guide or something like that?”
“It is a bit silly, but… I don’t know” his gaze drifted back upwards “it fits, doesn’t it?
I think Joe was the first hermit I heard call it that way, and it felt right back then. It’s most obviously a guide, and I guess we could call it that, but that’s just what we make of it” He had spent more time than he’d be willing to admit mulling this over “The star is just a star, is just a ball of gas that produces light, thousands of kilometers away. I feel like it’d be wrong, to name it after the use we give it”
When a few seconds passed without his best friend saying anything else, Mumbo turned to look at him, and found the other staring back at him. There was a strange glint in his eyes when he answered
“I think that’s fair”