Freeze or Fall

Chapter 35: Home?

Grian stumbled out of the portal and onto the grass. Rolling over onto his back, he started up at the sky.

Not two seconds later, Taurtis stumbled out, followed by a metallic thunk that was likely Npg.

"We made it?" Taurtis questioned quietly.

"Yes. I'll get Grumbot know." Npg answered.

Grian sat up and glanced around. They were in a jungle biome, just outside a mesa.

Taurtis helped Grian up. "We should law low, right? Get a small starter base?"

Grian nodded. "The jungle will give us more cover. Hopefully we'll find a cave quickly, we need resources too."

"Rustic house?" Npg asked hopefully.

Grian paused for a second. "Perhaps a rustic hobbit hole? To fit the jungle aesthetic?"

Npg nodded enthusiastically. "Hobbit holes are still rustic. Works for me!"

Taurtis walked forwards a bit, glancing into the deep forest. "We've got a mob risk, you know how dark jungles get."

Grian pushed ahead into the undergrowth. "We should be fine as long as we-" He broke off into a loud gasp, eyes wide and excited. "Parrot!"

A Hyacinth Parrot was chilling in one of the tress, watching them curiously. Grian immediately snatched some seeds from the grass and offered them to the parrot.

Nothing.

Again, Grian gathered up a bunch of seeds.

Still nothing.

"Grian, what are you doing?" Taurtis asked with a small giggle.

Grian pouted as he gathered a full stack of seeds. He glared at the parrot. "I will force feed you seeds until you love me!"

A half a stack of seeds later, and the macaw finally fluttered down to sit on Grian's shoulder.

"What are you going to name it?" Npg asked.

"Hmm.... Professor Beak!" Grian exclaimed. The bird chirped, and Grian cooed, scratching it's feathers. "You're such a pesky bird, aren't you? Pesssssky bird!"

__________

Multiple distractions later, the trio finally settled on a small cliffside to make their base. Morning had come by the time Npg and Grian had somewhat finished.

"Hey Npg?"

"Yeah?"

Taurtis hummed. "You said that Ex had a plan on how to get his body back, right?"

"Oh yeah. I'll ask him real quick." Npg paused for a second.

"..."

"He says that his body will eventually die in the singleplayer and will respawn at the nearest spawn point. So probably the bed out front."

Taurtis shrugged. "I guess that works out?"

"A little help Npg?" Grian asked as he struggled with clearing away the vegetation in the back. The last bit of work they had was to put in a back wall, which meant clearing out the plants in the back.

Npg hurried over and the two tugged at the vines together.

When a big clump came off, light filtered through the gap.

The three players exchanged glances. Taurtis came over and they all grabbed a section of the vines.

It came off easily with three people working, revealing a hidden garden. Naturally spawned in and surrounded by cliffs.

A peaceful clearing, lit up with floating crystals. Pink and blue flowers circled the area, bushes and trees carefully preened. Bees calmly buzzed around, keeping the flowers healthy. Smooth stepping stones led up to an obsidian base, quartz details bringing in the eye.

A statue sat comfortably on the platform, a peaceful expression and calm posture. An end crystal sat above the statue, almost as if the statue was casting it as a spell.

Smaller statues surrounded the main one. Each was a memento of the events he'd caused last season. A banner for the Civil War, a tag for Tag, a mini dragon for the Build-off, a sword for the Head Hunt, a cactus for Sahara, a chicken for the Poultry-man shenanigans, a beacon for the Area 77 nonsense, and a music disk for all the music he's spread.

Grian felt himself tearing up as he stepped forward. He'd only seen this place in a small orb back in the void, when he'd cried at his own funeral.

The statues eyes might not have been open, but Grian saw himself staring back.