#not tagging the others simply because they don't play prominent enough roles to bring attention to them

[cloudwhisper23]

Another day of Grumbo Month under the belt! I don't know that I really remembered to stick within the guidelines for this one, but then again, I'm really bad at sticking to the prompt anyway. Once again, thanks to @grow-bettah for creating this event!

Day 3: Hurt/Comfort

Grian could taste blood when he jumped into the lava after Mumbo, getting a secure grip on his friend before he swam back up to grab the ladder. They both stood there trembling after the fire died down, but Grian knew he was shaking more aggressively.

“I think… I might just fail my task on this one, mate.” Mumbo looked worriedly at his friend. “It’s not going so well.”

“You think?” Grian said distantly. “We haven’t even made it to the fortress yet.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t still help you,” Mumbo said slowly. “You did just jump in to rescue me, after all.”

Grian nodded, knowing fully well he should not have risked himself for Mumbo. They weren’t even allies. Mumbo’s task was forcing him to be here. He wheezed out a cough, blood finally splashing on the netherrack as he attempted to clear his throat.

“Grian?” Mumbo hesitated, fists clenching and unclenching. He wanted to help, but he didn’t know how.

Grian wasn’t even sure if it was possible for Mumbo to help. He felt like a breeze could kill him at this point.

“Maybe you should build across for a while?” Grian said when he could finally breathe again. “If you don’t mind, I mean.”

“Of course.” Mumbo carefully started bridging. “How many hearts are you on?”

Half a heart, Grian nearly answered. He clenched his jaw and lied. “Three. You?”

“Five. I guess we’re both tougher than we thought we were?”

“Still…”

“We very well could still die here. I’ll probably still die here,” Mumbo said.

“I’d die before you would, Mumbo. Lower hearts, remember?”

“Yeah, but your reaction times are better.”

“Sure,” Grian said, following Mumbo’s lead.

“It’s strange, what we’re doing. Following the words written in a little book.”

“But it’s a requirement of the game,” Grian replied automatically.

“Yeah, but if all but one of us are going to die anyway, why can’t we just ignore it? What are the consequences of that?”

Grian clenched his jaw. He knew the consequences very well. He remembered a ring of cactus and bloody sand. “Nothing you want to find out about.”

“Grian?” Mumbo looked at him again, concerned. “Are you sure about this?”

“Hard task, Mumbo. I have no choice. But you do have a choice.” Take it. Leave me to this. Don’t risk yourself.

“And I choose you,” Mumbo replied simply.

“Maybe I think you should choose yourself.”

“Well, it’s not your choice to make, is it?”

Yellow eyes caught green. Grian’s mouth thinned into a tighter line. “You’re yellow, Mumbo. If you’re not too careful, you could go red in an instant.”

“I’m well aware of the risks, Grian.”

A short while later, they arrived at the fortress. Mumbo hissed out a breath as wither flickered across his skin for a moment after killing a wither skeleton. Grian’s sword clattered to the ground as he quickly built a box around the two of them.

He held his breath as he watched Mumbo shudder with damage. “One heart,” Mumbo said softly.

“Unacceptable,” Grian replied, his hands shaking. “Let me-“ He gave the extra heart to Mumbo almost without consideration.

“Ah, thanks mate.” Mumbo swallowed slowly. “So, now what? We’re both low.”

“Now?” Grian echoed. “Now you stay here while I get what I need.”

“No need to shatter the illusion mate. You need a wither for something. It’s gotta be part of your task. Which means you’re dead if a wither skeleton hits you once.”

“And you’re not?” Grian’s voice was strained. “This isn’t by choice, Mumbo.”

“Mate, the task can’t be worth this-“

“It isn’t!” Grian inwardly winced at how hysterical he sounded. “Nothing is worth this risk! But that’s the aim of the game. If I don’t at least try, then it’s not going to be entertaining enough!”

“Entertaining?”

“Stay put,” Grian said. “I have a task to work on, and you are not allowed to get yourself killed.”

Half a heart or not, Grian wasn’t going to sacrifice his best friend. Even if he had more health, this was Grian’s problem.

The skeletons fell easily, and Grian had his three skulls. “Time to go, Mumbo.”

“Uh huh.” Mumbo sighed again as Grian started up his coughing once again. “You lied about your hearts, didn’t you? Side effects like that don’t come up until you’re under two.”

Grian didn’t answer, opting to push past Mumbo and walk back across the bridge. He typed out a message to Etho as he went, letting his ally know to be prepared to work on the next phase of their task.

“Grian,” Mumbo said in a worried tone as Grian’s coughing nearly took him over the edge into the lava. “Careful now.”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. Grian-“

Rushing forward so he didn’t have to hear Mumbo complain, Grian forgot about the hole in the platform he’d built earlier. He dropped straight into the lava and died instantly. He sat up from a bed, a strangled cry stuck in his throat.

That’s one way to avoid Mumbo’s motherhenning, he thought to himself. Groaning into his hands, Grian sighed. There was no way around it. He was yellow now, and that was something he’d need to cope with.

In his distress, he almost missed the next death message. Mumbo tried to swim in lava.

“Mumbo…” Grian’s feet hit the ground, and he was running for it.

He watched Mumbo press the fail button, hidden behind the Secret Keeper. Mumbo’s shoulders sagged as the new task appeared in front of him.

“This isn’t just a game,” Mumbo said quietly, glaring up at the Secret Keeper. “You can’t make me do this. You can’t force me to do this task.”

Grian’s curiosity tugged at him. He wanted to come out and ask, but Mumbo wasn’t allowed to tell him. Not that it mattered, since Mumbo clearly didn’t want to do it.

His communicator dinged in his pocket. Etho was ready to do the other half of the task. With a muffled sigh, Grian left Mumbo to shout at the Secret Keeper on his own.

He had a task to do, after all.

Things were not going well. Grian stumbled away from the edge of the cliff, thunder still rumbling in his ears as Jimmy fell to the ground and disappeared.

Mumbo was still down there, and the Warden was hunting. “Scar, over here!” Grian yelled as the Wither came into range. “If we get them to fight, they’ll leave us alone!”

“Great idea, Grian!” Scar yelled back, and together they ran toward the Warden.

Almost automatically, Grian threw an egg, and the Warden whirled to let out an outraged roar. Pain shot through his body as it knocked him backwards. He heard several people yell his name, and he stumbled to his feet to get away from the fight.

A stray shot from the Wither hit him squarely in the back, and Grian fell to his knees in front of the Secret Keeper. The poison flashed across his skin, unrelenting even as the Warden let out a final roar and died. He was almost delirious as he laughed. Blood came up his throat yet again as Mumbo staggered toward him.

“You’re insane,” Mumbo muttered, wrapping his arms around Grian.

“I did it.” Grian laughed more as his eyes became more unfocused.

“Stay with me, G. You gotta stay awake until you press that succeed button.”

Grian leaned into Mumbo’s supporting arms. “I don’t care if I die. I did it.”

“Grian?”

He was being stubborn about it, he knew. But the Secret Keeper had told him a secret he wasn’t supposed to know, in favor of making Grian behave.

Looking up into Mumbo’s red eyes, Grian giggled more. “I’m okay. You’re alive.”

“I- Yeah?” Mumbo tried to smile, and Grian let his eyes close. “Hey, stay awake, Grian.”

“You’re alive,” Grian said again.

“I’m alive,” Mumbo confirmed. “And so are you. But you won’t be for long if you don’t press that button.”

“It’s fine. Wither wore off.”

“That doesn’t negate the other risks, G.”

“Worried I’m going to hit the ground too hard?”

“Grian-“

Grian forced himself to get up and view the destruction caused by the battle between the Warden and the Wither. He let out a low whistle, causing him to cough a few more times. “What a disaster.”

“Yeah…” Mumbo steadied his friend as they both looked at the shell-shocked server. “I take it this was your task then?”

Grian didn’t reply. He saw blood on the fields, and he wondered who else had died. Jimmy and Lizzie were both gone already, but Grian almost didn’t want to check who was still alive.

The Secret Keeper had shown him Mumbo’s final death. The Warden bore down on him, and his foot caught on a fence post. There had been no chance.

Tears spilled out of Grian’s eyes as he stared at the offending posts. He wanted to get his axe out and destroy them. He wanted to drag Mumbo away to live with Etho and Cleo.

He wanted…

“Grian? Hey, it’s okay buddy.” Mumbo said softly. “It’s over. They’re both dead.”

“I helped unleash two bosses onto the server at the same time,” Grian said. “I got Timmy killed.”

“It was a risk.”

“You could’ve died,” Grian snapped, burying his face in Mumbo’s shirt. “You would’ve been gone.”

“But I didn’t die. You and Scar got there in time.”

“How did you die in the nether?” Grian demanded.

“A ghast broke the bridge,” Mumbo answered. “Mate, you need to calm down.”

“Calm down? Calm down? Why didn’t you just leave the nether when you decided to hit fail, Mumbo? Why did you stay?”

“I didn’t want you to die when I could do something about it,” Mumbo replied firmly. “Grian, I think you’re in shock.”

“Am I?” Grian replied, his voice getting higher. “Maybe you’re the one in shock.”

“I think you need to go hit that succeed button, mate. Come on.”

Grian let Mumbo bring him back over to the Secret Keeper, and he glared at Mumbo before his hand came down over the button. “Happy now?”

“I’d be happier if you were smiling.”

“Not much to smile about.”

“The session is almost over. We can take a break and breathe.”

“How exciting,” Grian said sarcastically.

“It will be.” Mumbo pulled him into another hug. “There will be no more red names, no more permanent death, no more grief. It’ll be okay.”

Grian sniffled, reaching for Mumbo again. “I guess anything is worth it if it means you’ll be by my side.”

“Of course. Never apart, mate.”

“Never.”

#grumbo month #grumbo #hermitshipping #grian #mumbo jumbo #secret life #not tagging the others simply because they don't play prominent enough roles to bring attention to them #cloud writes