Underneath the Moon (Scar POV)
I tried so hard for a clever title for this, but struggled so much. But some of my workshop titles made me think of “Dear Fellow Traveler” so… I just went with it.
Neither of them speak about remembering what happened until after Last Life, where they learn that Ren remembers, who gets them to tell Xisuma. They soon learn about Scott and craft the theory of the 1st and 2nd placers remember. So Pearl gets dragged into the group immediately after Scott remembers Double Life.
Scar isn’t sure what to make of his dreams last night. They were horrorific, but oh so real. Is that what they went through when they vanished? He saw Impulse soon after leaving his house that morning, after he regained his composure, he looked and acted normally.
Scar found reasons to encounter most of the others from the game. That are in Hermitcraft anyway, he doesn’t know how to find the others.
Either they’re great at pretending or don’t know. Was it just a dream?
He tries to go about his days after normally, but things just feel wrong with his knowledge. He doesn’t know if he should tell everyone, or if they were better off not knowing.
He thinks back to Grian, who was his partner in crime, who stuck with him through everything, who he betrayed, who killed him in turn. Scar shivers, remembering his last death. He can’t really blame Grian, it’s not his fault, it’s the fault of whoever put them in that game.
As much as he hates what happened in that ‘game,’ he misses many of the moments he spent with Grian. Just them, together, no one else. He sighs wistfully.
Thinking of the avian made Scar realize he hasn’t seen him in days. He’s been too wrapped up in what he remembers that he didn’t notice that he hasn’t seen Grian since.
Scar exits his home and looks around the Boatem clearing and, just like it has been the past week, Grian isn’t around. Mumbo is however.
He hurries his way to Mumbo, trying to not look desperate. “Hey, Mumbo, have you seen Grian around lately?”
“I… have,” he starts hesitantly, “but only a couple of times recently, and every time he’s extremely skittish and finds some reason to leave. I’m worried about him but he always leaves before I can ask what’s going on.”
“I haven’t seen him recently at all, it’s worrying,” Scar tells him. It’s unlike Grian to just vanish like this.
“Are you talking about Grian?”
Scar jumps as Impulse suddenly joins them. Mumbo nods, “something feels wrong…”
“I haven’t seen him around much at all, it’s like he just vanished,” Impulse tells them. “I only know he’s still here because I occasionally see him around, but he’s always gone before I can even think of approaching him.”
“Have any idea what’s bothering him?” Mumbo asks, looking at them both, clearly anxious.
Scar gets a sinking feeling in his chest, is he not as alone as he thought? He needs to find Grian.
“Scar?” He startles as Impulse speaks, both him and Mumbo looking at him with concern. “You okay?”
“Y-yeah, just wondering what’s wrong with Grian.” It’s not exactly a lie, but it sure feels like it is. He can’t tell them, can’t let them know.
The moment he can, he excuses himself from the conversation. There’s one surefire way to confirm if Grian remembers without asking.
It takes him longer then he wants to find the flowers, picking a handful of each. With a nice bouquet of lilacs and poppies, Scar returns to Boatem.
By the time he lands, the sun is setting. He lurks around Grian’s starter base, trying to hide, he has to return to sleep, right? Both Mumbo and Impulse have seen him, so he has to at least be nearby. Scar just hopes he hasn’t missed him.
Just as darkness settles around Boatem, Grian suddenly lands right in front of his door. Immediately going to enter his house. “Grian!” Scar exclaims, faux cheerily. He can’t just dump his worries on him right away.
The avian flinches, staring at Scar with wide, panicked, eyes, one hand still on the doorknob. “Uh, hi Scar!” He responds, smiling widely, as if trying to hide his nervous step back as he lets go of the door handle. His smile doesn’t reach his eyes, and his wings are slightly spread as if he’s about to take flight.
Scar closes most of the distance between them, still leaving some space to not make Grian panic, the hand holding the flowers behind his back. “Haven’t seen you around lately, what have you been up to?” He tries to keep his tone casual, to not scare away Grian. He just needs to find a good way to give him the flowers without it being suspicious in case he doesn’t remember.
“Uh, just working on some stuff,” he replies vaguely, taking another small step back, like he doesn’t want Scar to notice. His eyes flicker to the hand behind Scar’s back but doesn’t mention it. Grian seems to be looking anywhere but at Scar’s face.
“Like your mega base?” Scar offers.
“Y-yeah!” He agrees, eagerly taking that excuse. “Just planning stuff and gathering materials.” His response is rushed as he tries to elaborate on a whim. He takes another step back.
“Well, I have a gift for you, I’m glad I just caught you now.” They both know he was waiting.
This gets Grian to pause, finally looking him in the eyes before looking away again, “a gift?”
“Yup,” Scar says, holding out the bouquet.
Grian’s eyes widen when he sees it, his eyes flickering between it and Scar, recognition clear in his eyes. His wings spread out a little more, betraying what he’s about to do.
Scar surges forwards and grabs his wrist, causing him to freeze, “wait!”
Grian stares at him with panicked eyes, completely frozen. Tears quickly well up in his eyes, and Scar barely manages to catch him before his falls, dropping the flowers in the process.
Grian clutches him tightly, sobbing into his chest. His voice cracks, broken up by the sobs, “I’m sorry Scar… I’m so sorry.”
Scar holds him close, “it’s okay, I don’t blame you, not for anything.”
Grian’s sobs only get louder, even if it’s muffled. Scar just holds him close.
