Hiii

tws: mentions of child neglect and shitty dad ;(, blood.

Mumbo trekked through the cobble streets of the Shopping district, taking each unique and wonderfully built store in. Currently, the Hermits are on the end of Season 5.

It was on days like this, when Mumbo had nary to worry about, when he had time for the occasional walk, that the mustached man thought about older times. Times before he arrived in Hermitcraft.

He liked to remember running through the woods with his best friend at nine. Jumping trees and rocks, creating little universes inside their own. Sipping sweet tea at a ornate metal table in the summer.

Yet, he could never remember his friend.

Sure, the boy was there, but he never had a face. Never a name. The only defining feature was his large parrot wings, the same wings that flared and moved when he talked. The same wings that let him glide over the creek they'd play by and shove Mumbo in.

Afterall, Mumbo was never brave enough to jump.

But that was fine because the parrot boy was always there. He remembers clipped shots of him & the parrot, hiding at their middle school dance when Mumbo's social anxiety overwhelmed him.

He remembers silly, childish promises. Explanations, for things they don't understand.

" We'll run away to Africa!! "

" Your house must be haunted."

He remembers words he'd never speak to another, said in fields in the dead of night, said at sleepovers. Whispered, although he hadn't known, that one fateful October day. A catchphrase between the two,

"Love you, to the moon!"

And then Mumbo would add,

" And Saturn!!"

Mumbo wasn't sure when they started saying that. He would never truly know.

About a year later, the parrot boy left. It was for the better, he was escaping his shit dad. His mother had finally gotten custody. Then she died. Mumbo remembered that moment when the parrot boy realized he wasn't escaping at all. He remembers the tears, the promises they'd run away together.

The last thing he remembers with the parrot boy is high school, that same year. They were freshmen. It was October, and he'd flown to Japan to meet with friends for Halloween. Mumbo remembers waiting at the willow tree beside the bus station every single day.

Waiting for his friend.

Yet, the boy would never come.

Mumbo moved on; he made new friends. He enjoyed the new times. He had new catchphrases, new hobbies. He took up redstone officially. The memory of the parrot, sometimes, would come to him. Of how the avian never truly understood his passions.

He'd always put it to the side, afterall, that senior year he got an invite to HermitCraft, season 2.

That was three years ago.

~

A strange rustle draws Mumbo out of the memories of the parrot boy he can't quite remember. The redstoner looks up, finding himself at a willow tree. He wasn't sure why, but every season, he'd plant a new willow.

Perhaps to wait there for his long-gone friend.

Anyway, the tree was moving oddly. Leaves shook and fluttered down, covering him. He traced their origin, seeing... a feather. It's a lavender color, although rather grey. It flutters down with the leaves, presumably from whatever creature is scuttling around in the tree.

Typing a quick message into his communicator, Mumbo summoned X.

Mumbo-

Hey X, weird thing in my willow tree down by the shopping district... Come check it out w/ me?

XisumaVoid-

OMW

~

X got to the tree relatively quickly, landing smoothly beside Mumbo. Leaves had stopped falling; the creature must've stopped scuttering around in the canopy.

" So, what are we gonna do? Can't just leave this guy."

X considered for a second before walking up to the trunk.

" I'll shake the tree; you catch whatever falls out."

Mumbo nods and positions himself to catch whatever it was. X glances back at him to ensure he's prepared before shaking the tree violently. Little excessive. There was a startled 'chirp!' from the tree before a ...

A HUMAN BOY DROPPED OUT???

Mumbo barely caught the boy, struggling under his weight and setting him down. Hey, he's a stick, can you blame him? With the boy on the ground, he curls up and his large wings form kind of a shawl around his shoulders. One is a bright red parrot wing with yellow middle feathers & vibrant blue end feathers, whilst the other is a matching pale lavender to the feather he'd found earlier. The most disturbing thing about each wing is perhaps the bright red blood (seemingly tinted purple) splattered across their delicate feathers. It matches the rest of the boy, Mumbo supposes, what with his tattered purple rode, also covered in blood. The robe itself is ripped in many places, although mostly along the arms. You can see way too many intricate scars for one person.

The boy's flight feathers seem to be clipped. Horrid.

He's violently shaking, and X seems to snap out of his shock at the creature being, well, a boy.

" I'm going to message Stress, calm him down, will ya?"

Mumbo nods and crouches down, approaching the curled-up boy. He'd moved to the tree trunk subtly, clearly searching for escape. Mumbo murmured something soft to him and he looked up.

Wait.

Mumbo knew those ocean blue eyes. Even with the distrust rippling across them like beach waves. The redstoner's eyes widen and he opens his mouth.

" .. love you to the moon..."

Mumbo didn't mean to say it, not exactly. The avian's eyes widened, memories flashing through his brain. Mumbo waits, patiently.

" And Saturn."

The boy says, his voice soft and oh-so familiar. Mumbo scoops him up as the memories finally complete. Tears prick his eyes.

" It's been awhile, huh, Grian?"

~

Wrote this in school.

Did nothing to edit.

xD

also I needed the fluff smh