Chapter Text
==========
Once long ago there lived two sibling gods, in charge of the sun and the moon. The sun god was creative and cheerful, while the moon god was more strategic and calm. They took care of each other and the world. They loved the universe, and the universe loved them.
Their mighty watch knew no end, from the top of the aether to the bottom of the void, they’d make sure everything was in order. This was long before the regular people, of course, so there was mostly nothing to worry about. They would gaze at the stars when the moon god made them come out, seeing the reflections of their past and future in them. There was nothing bad, because they loved the stars and the stars loved them.
They complemented each other perfectly, as when tough decisions came Moon would be there, and when it was time for fun Sun would be there. They helped plants and animals all over, saved innocent lives, kept everything going. Of course they loved nature, and nature loved them.
The question was, did they love each other? Would they truly stay together forever?
It didn’t take long, maybe a couple centuries, for Sun to get bored. It was long expected, after all. There wasn’t much to do. So using their power, they created humans, or as they are known now, players. These players had power over the world, able to build anything they wanted if they knew how. Sun was very satisfied with this creation.
Moon, on the other hand, was not on board. Not only because their sibling hadn’t thought the amount of power they gave to humans through, but because they didn’t consult them. It made them sad, but they wouldn’t let that show, instead choosing to present annoyance at the other’s actions. To solve the problems they could cause, they gave more control to certain people, so they could look after the rest. These were the first Admins.
But Sun didn’t like this. They wanted them all to be equal, and there was no guarantee the Admins wouldn’t abuse their power, since there was no one to keep them in check. Moon told them there was, since they were there, but Sun said that they couldn’t keep doing everything forever. So they created a force equal to Admins, that would later clash with them; The Watchers. As the name suggested, their job was to Watch over the Admins.
But this seemed to fuel the fire more than put a stop to it, and Moon and Sun started fighting over everything. Was it meant to be night or day? Moon created a time god, but Sun wanted to be able to control time, and this made them angrier. Is death supposed to be eternal? Sun made respawns, but Moon didn’t agree, so they made a god to control who deserved to respawn, and with it, permadeath. Sun didn’t like this, but didn’t retaliate further than cutting communication between them.
Eventually, they decided to separate. The second they moved away from each other, it seemed things turned for the worse, vegetation started dying, lava pools expanded into full on volcanoes, earthquakes rumbled deep into the ground. But Sun and Moon couldn’t bring themselves to turn back, to tell eachother how much they loved them, to talk out their issues. So they left, and traveled over the universe to separate themselves.
Most of the terrible things that happened then have stopped now, after the mysterious appearance of new entities to take up their spots. The two didn’t question this, of course, something was bound to come along eventually. They used this relief of the world not falling apart to settle down and start doing things.
To this day, Admins and Watchers still do their jobs from long ago, and the rest of the created gods' powers were passed on to their family. Everything is perfect, with mankind making more things. You could say this is a Sun and Moon free world now.
The two moved on and soon started or joined other servers, hanging out with mankind (Moon admits they are quite interesting, but nothing more than that) and helping them through their adventures. They are happy now.
This is the past of Xelqua and Escent, or as they're known now, Grian and Pearl.
==========
Grian woke up on a fine Sunday day, sitting up from his bed.
“Good morning, Maui.” He smiled, patting his attention seeking cat before gently picking it up and placing it aside, standing up and walking out of his bedroom.
Today was the start of Hermitcraft Season Eight, so he had done his best to remind himself to wake up early (though, it turns out there was no need, because he had a cat alarm clock) which meant he had about as much energy as a droplet of water. He yawned, before doing his usual morning routine.
He left the house after serving his cats some food (he’d miss them whenever he couldn’t be there, but oh well) and made his way over to the hub, where Scar had asked them to meet so they could get there together. He had been on for two seasons and had already gotten a giant dumbass to take care of. He certainly wasn’t the correct one for the job, he reminded himself with a chuckle.
He looked around the mostly barren area. Luckily it was one of the least high traffic times, so he managed to spot Scar by one of the portal holders fairly easily and walk over to his friend. He was promptly hugged to death by the taller man. He had a feeling the rest of the day would be filled with a lot of hugs from his friends. Why was everyone taller than him?
Scar flipped open his communicator, scrolling back on some messages. “IP, IP, IP… oh, here it is!”
He walked over to the charcoal black structure, tapping on an empty looking board to reveal a keyboard. He typed in the numbers that were sent to him and the machine sprang to life, opening up a purple spiral that was what allowed them to get in, or in other words, Hermitcraft’s server portal.
“Hermitcraft Season Eight, here we go!” Scar exclaimed before running into the portal. Grian sighed, shaking his head at his friend’s antics, even though he wasn’t much better. He turned around and then let himself fall backwards into the portal.
There was the noises that come with portal travelling, and then Grian was falling, but not for long because he soon hit someth-
“OW- That hurts!”
Okay, he’d fallen on top of some one.
“Hiiii Mumbooo-'' Grian giggled, changing his position into more where he wasn’t lying on top of the mustached man’s back and instead where the taller was sort of giving him a piggyback. “Long time no see?”
“I’m not quite sure that was the entrance I was expecting.” He sighed. “Hello, Grian.”
==========
After that, Grian found that he was in fact quite early, as only Scar, Mumbo, X, Etho, himself and Gem (one of the new hermits, he’d learned) were there.
“I got the wrong time,” Gem explained. “I’ve been here a whole hour watching Xisuma do finishing touches on the code and rechecking it over and over again.”
“I have to make sure it’s safe for us to start,” X defended, before adding. “...but maybe I am a bit paranoid.”
“See?”
“So, apart from you, there’s another new member?” Grian inquired, interested.
“Yeup! A good friend of mine, too. Her name is Pearl. I’m sure you’ll get along just fine!” Gem replied enthusiastically. “Some people find her scary, but she’s just like that.”
“Oooh, cool.” Grian hummed. He didn’t think much of it. Though, it would be fun to get to know (and prank) this new hermit, for sure! Finally his time to not be the new kid, and possibly not to be the shortest hermit.
They spent some time waiting and saying their hellos (Grian’s air got hugged out of his lungs by people taller than him, aka, everyone), and soon they were just waiting for the last person, which happened to be Pearl.
Then, they heard the noise of someone hitting the ground and a small ‘oof’, and everyone moved to look at the now two people in the small cave.
What?
Grian and Pearl’s eyes met and widened in equal shock. They weren’t meant to be reunited, not after this long. Pearl looked… different, but he could feel her aura, her scent, and their bond was still tied enough for them to recognize each other. They blinked in unison, then were snapped out of their trance by X.
“Alright everyone. Mumbo will overview this season’s changes for everyone here.” He announced.
While Mumbo went over the rules, the two kept silently glancing at each other, but never letting their gazes meet. As soon as the season officially started once Mumbo’s ‘speech’ was finished, they made sure to run off separate ways.
All of this time. And they hadn’t even greeted each other hello.
Some grudges are eternal, after all.
==========
Scar, Mumbo and Impulse had all met Grian at the northest north, giggling about their newest creation: The Boatem Pole. A pole of boats and other… various things? It was interesting, to say the least, but they were still finding ways to make it taller. And taller.
Mumbo squinted at a figure in the distance. “New person incoming!”
It was Pearl, and Grian had a mini internal panic before deciding to play it cool and hopefully not make it obvious that there was something between them.
"Pearl! No time to explain! Get on the Boatem Pole!" Scar said before he could, which he was grateful for.
"Uh- what- okay-"
Mumbo noticed how Grian was more silent, not butting in with dumb jokes and comments like usual. Weird, he thought, but justified it as Grian just feeling a bit stressed or out of it.
=========
Grian and Scar were walking beside The Boatem Pole, laughing at Grian's most recent experience-filled prank, when they noticed Pearl caring for her bushes from afar.
"Hey Pearl!" Scar yelled, making her turn to look at him.
He almost missed the way Pearl's eyes avoided looking at Grian or how the latter was looking at the floor. Almost.
"...hello, Scar, and uh…" She didn't finish, instead opting to just walk into her house. Scar was confused, to say the least, but he decided to ignore this encounter.
==========
Over time, the Boatem Crew noted more and more of these occurrences, to the point they had run out of things to justify them with. Grian and Pearl carried on with their own things, trying to ignore what they were badly trying to hide.
When Grian summoned the first boatem meeting, it confirmed their doubts.
While they did talk between each other about Grian's plans, whenever they weren't talking there was an awkward silence. The tension was so thick Impulse thought he could cut it with a netherite sword, and he almost let out a sigh of relief when Grian said the meeting was over.
The rest of the meetings were a lot like this, yet they seemed to be the only times the two talked. The rest of the group were worried, but didn’t want to butt into something personal. So they pretended they couldn’t see what was clearly happening before them.
They should’ve. They should’ve helped them sort it out.
Because unbeknownst to them, the tides were changing, rising. The fish were hiding deep into the sea where they weren’t noticeable. The clouds seemed to be running away, along with packs of scared animals running into the forest.
It was too late.
==========