Remember the misplaced hermits au? I certainly do, so have this:
On the Dream SMP phantoms were a sign. If one was following you it meant you were about to die. They never attacked or anything, just stood and watched. However something about that changes when the two that called themselves hermits arrived, but only for those two. Many phantoms appeared around the two at night, and attacked them, and it was only ever them, never Tommy, never Tubbo, not even Dream.
Tommy was pondering this as he lay in bed, resting because Stress had told him to. Come to think of it, when Impulse had returned with 5 beacons, Stress didn't even bat an eye, even though withers are creatures of immense amounts of death and destruction. Not to mention the pair's strange reaction when they found that the end was closed off.
And what about the stories they told? The tales of the dead rising and going after the living(Stress had said she was the second dead, but she seemed very much alive when they had met), of the time travel and getting stuck in the past(apparently Tommy reminded Impulse a bit of a man called Grian), of wars that ended with a glorified game of capture the flag. What sort of group had the hermits come from?
Tommy couldn't shake the feeling that the hermits were dangerous, but at the same time, they were safe. It felt like they could be dangerous, and yet, they would never be a danger to Tommy or anyone he cares about. Tommy felt safe with the hermits, and he supposed that's all that matters.
The hermits are strange, in a way that they blend right in with the hodge podge citizens of the SMP (at first).
Stress and Impulse. Even their names make them sound like volatile players, and how quickly they find and enchant full netherite cements that impression in the heads of many. The 'hermits', as they call themselves, are distrusted by many, despite their friendliness.
Impulse hands beacons out like they're fliers, for the unbelievable price of less than a half stack of diamonds. When Technoblade rained death upon L'manburg, both times Impulse took down the Withers in no time at all. (It didn't matter, in the end. The damage was irreversible with or without them, and not even these overpowered newcomers could counter thousands of blocks of TNT.)
Stress seemed harmless for a long while, but when Pogtopia was threatened and Tubbo shot for treason, the resounding winter that befell the SMP stretched for months, bitter as a mother's grief. Every tendril of the Egg that she comes across are instantly frozen until death, Stress only scolding the dangerous vines as they wither into nothing before being on her way again. (Bad never tried to recruit her to the Egg's cause. Something deep inside activates his fight or flight whenever Stress is near, and he is in no hurry to bring that danger to his precious ward, no matter how much more powerful they'd be with someone like her on their side.) It takes true effort to make Stress stop smiling, but once she does, it becomes very apparent why she is called monster.
The strangest thing of all is their kindness.
They give and expect nothing in return, they help without being asked or paid. They comfort and hug and gift and always leave their base open to anyone looking for a nice meal and a spot by the fire, pledging their aid and friendship to those who are brave stupid enough to accept. The citizens of this broken world are hesitant to trust, even more so because there is no apparent catch or hostility. For months, they don't know what to make of these hermits. Many err on the side of caution, for that has kept them alive this long.
The hermits are dangerous and new and unpredictable, but somehow it has never felt more safe.
