Missing (Third in An Old Friend Series) //Hermitcraft & Yhs Crossover\\

9

The muted light blinking off of lit torches shone through the dark water, revealing the large sunken ship encased in glass laying at the bottom of the ocean. As Grian swam closer to it, he noticed some things wrong with it. Someone had built onto the structure, at least doubling the size. It was off-putting to Grian to see something he had spent so much time making become so twisted and deformed. The person who added on to it had no sense of building, and put a large wooden box onto the back of the ship. It was encased it in all different colors of glass, like the glass was an afterthought to help it blend it in with the rest of the ship. This must have been what Yuki had been doing all this time Sam was tormenting everyone, Grian thought. He was so bewildered and disappointed in himself for not seeing it sooner, for now that he was up close, it was very obvious there was some foul play going on. Finally, he reached the neck of the bottle, the trapdoor attached wide open and forgotten about. He crawled through and was hit with a sense of nostalgia. He hadn't been down there since he had first built it and was reminded of the memory of first coming to Hermitcraft.

        "Who are you?" A large group of people flooded out of the portal in front of him. After Sam's arrest, Grian had run. He didn't know where he was running, nor did he care. He just wanted to get away from everything. Wanted to get away from the looks of disgusting pity people would smother him in, or the sad smiles they tried to offer him. Finally, after about a year of wandering aimlessly, he came across a nether portal, unlit and dormant. He was confused by it, and after a while of debating, made a flint and steel and lit it. The wavering purple glow of the portal gave way to the large group of people rushing out and over to him. He was bombarded with unfamiliar faces and questions before finally, someone calmed them all down and introduced themselves. 

        "Hi! I'm Xisuma. This must be the new Hermitcraft!" He said cheerfully through a large helmet that made his voice echo and ring off of the metal. "Thank's for bringing us here. What's your name?" He asked happily as the rest of the group watched.

        "I am, uh, Grian." He stuttered, still very overwhelmed by the number of people now surrounding him. They all introduced themselves and explained to him what Hermitcraft was all about. With nowhere else to go and people that didn't know him as "The poor guy Sam tormented", he stayed. He built, he learned, and he made friends. He was reminded of these friends as he crawled out of the neck of the bottle and onto the main deck. He surveyed the old, forgotten chests and plants that had now been long since dead, thinking of simpler times. That was, until he reached the main door to the ship. He took inventory of himself, reminding himself where his sword sat and how his bow rested across his body. He took a deep breath and entered the ship.

With every step he took inside the large sunken ship, the wood groaned and creaked beneath him. Grian took as few but as large steps as possible to reach the staircase. Now, he could choose whether to go up or down. He was debating his options when he heard the floor creak behind him, from steps he didn't take. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and spun around quickly, only to see a fully armored Ren, waving sheepishly at him.

        "Ren, what are you doing here? I told you, I have to do this alone." He whispered across the room as Ren took another step toward him, causing the wooden boards to creak again. 

        "I know. But I had to come down here. Plus, this way, if anything happens to me, it can't possibly be your fault because I came here completely by my own volition." He replied snarkily, and Grian sighed.

        "Ren-"

        "Look Grian, we don't have time for this. I'm sorry I didn't do what you asked me to, but I'm here now and I am not leaving. Let's just get everybody out of here and talk about it later." Ren finished and this time, Grian's sigh was in defeat. Ren made his way as quietly as possible over to Grian and the staircase and looked at him, puzzled. 

        "Ok. Here's how we are going to do this. Yuki has added on a bunch to this ship, but everything up there doesn't look touched. Which means I know how to navigate up there. I'll go up and try to find Yuki, while you go down and get everyone out of here." He commanded, and Ren nodded. He was about to descend the stairs when Grian grabbed his arm to stop him. "Ren, once you've found everyone, get them out of here as fast as possible. Don't wait for me. Just leave." Ren opened his mouth to protest, but Grian beat him to it. "Please, Ren." The sad and desperate look on Grian's face was enough to make Ren sigh in response before nodding in unhappy agreement. Grian let go of his arm as he walked slowly up the stairs, sword at the ready, terrified to be used. 

Hehe things are about to get interesting... Also sorry this chapter isn't the most fun thing to read, but don't worry. This is all just buildup for the big parts I have planned so stay tuned for whenever I write those. Anyway, thank you for reading. I hoped you enjoyed it since I wrote the whole thing at the top of the bleachers of an ice skating rink while my entire family ice skates. So let's hope it's even slightly coherent. I hope you have a good day/night, and you are loved.