Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’d been a while since he’d gotten to chat with Iskall. The Swede had been busy with creating Vault Hunters and he’d been busy with Watcher games and their aftermath along with the whole thing with Doc before and the crossover. They’d been busy and hadn’t gotten a chance to catch up.

They met up in the shopping district and caught each other up on their lives, or in his case as much of his life that didn’t include the games.

Then Iskall started talking about a coder friend he’d meet.

The friend was a fox hybrid with apparently dyed orange hair.

The more Iskall talked the more familiar the friend sounded.

He continued to ask polite questions, a little prodding he’d admit.

Once Iskall got to the end of talking about the friend he asked for the name.

“Oh, I didn’t say before?” Iskall asked.

“You did not,” He chuckled.

“His name’s Fundy,” Iskall said, “I’ve asked for a last name but he refuses to give it to me, he has one he just won’t say what it is.”

Soot or Minecraft, He thought, “Interesting name.”

“I can’t say much since my name’s Iskall,” Iskall joked.

He laughed, “Yeah.” Then he moved the conversation onto a new topic, specifically one Mumbo K. Jumbo.

He didn’t know how he was supposed to react especially since Iskall told him at the end of the conversation that Fundy got approved for a day pass.

Fundy, his nephew, his younger brother’s son. Who he’d met twice, once when the boy was barely a year old and Fundy had no clue that it was him, the other when Wilbur introduced them but Fundy was highly sleep deprived at the time, it was also a very brief conversation, both of them seemed paranoid at the time.

He pushed it to the side, ignoring it.

‘Fundy joined the game’

The join message taunted him even as the other Hermits welcomed him.

He bolted, grabbing his emergency shulker and an enderchest before taking off into the sky going beyond the explored world.

There’d be questions, his friends would wonder what was going on, he didn’t care, his panic didn’t care.

Xisuma called him after a bit.

“Hey ‘Suma,” He greeted.

“Hello G,” Xisuma greeted back, “Would you like to inform me why you’ve disappeared?”

“Not really,” He said.

“Does it have to do with Iskall’s friend? I can have them leave,” Xisuma offered.

“No, well yes it does but he doesn’t have to leave,” He said quickly.

“Gri, if he’s making you disappear he doesn’t have to be here,” Xisuma told him.

“It’s not his fault, I’m having a moment,” He insisted.

“Grian,” Xisuma said firmly.

“I’m having an I was taken from my family moment, X,” He nearly snapped, “It’s not his fault, don’t make him leave.”

“How is he related to you?” Xisuma’s voice was suddenly much gentler.

“He’s my nephew,” He admitted quietly, “I met him one briefly.”

“G,” Xisuma said sadly.

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” He said.

“Okay G, I’m not going to make you,” Xisuma allowed, “But I’m sure he’d be glad to see you.”

“I know,” He whispered.

“Stay safe G,” Xisuma said.

“I will,” He promised, “I will.”

Chapter Text

The day pass quickly turned into a weekend pass as the redstoners took to Fundy.

He had show back up on the second day but was avoiding Fundy, not that he’d admit it.

He was flying back to his base after stocking up the entity when he noticed the group of redstoners.

In the middle was Fundy, ears pinned to his head looking stressed, Iskall was trying to get everyone to back up a bit.

He pulled out his bow as he dropped down to be a little closer. He notched an arrow and aimed for Impulse, Boatem tag excuse and such.

He let off the arrow and it hit Impulse in the shoulder.

Everyone quickly moved away, looking for the skeleton while Tango quickly checked out Impulse’s shoulder.

He landed nearby, shallowing the lump in his throat. He could have them continue thinking it was a skeleton but it was the middle of the day.

“Gonna keep you on your toes Impulse!” He called over.

Impulse whirled on him, “Grian!”

Fundy also whipped around, eyes wide.

He was the most recent ‘it’ in the Boatem game of tag so he called, “You’re it!”

Impulse glared ta him.

He grinned at Impulse then sent Fundy a much more shaky smile and a nod before taking back off.

He nearly crash landed back onto the bridge. His hands were shaking, the fact he got off the shot was a suprise to him, especially the fact it hit Impulse.

He sat down on the first chest that was inside his base.

“Oh void, oh void, oh void ,” He said to himself.

He had enough presence of mind of message Scar as his panic build, ‘You whisper to GoodTimesWithScar: My base, panic, pls?’

‘GoodTimesWithScar whispers to You: On my way.’

He gripped at his comm, trying to focus on it while waiting for Scar.

“Oh Birdie,” Scar said quietly, “What’s going on?”

He shook his head.

“Okay, not right now,” Scar said, “You’re got to breathe Gri, lets breathe together.”

He nodded.

Scar continued gentle and steady, “Beath in for 8, Hold for 7, and Out for 4.”

He let Scar lead him through the breathing exercise for a good while, till after he could do it by himself.

“Okay,” He finally said quietly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Scar asked.

“Fundy’s my nephew,” He whispered.

Scar’s eyes widened, “And the redstoners were talking about you tagging Impulse.”

“He was stressed and they weren’t listening to Iskall,” He explained.

“Tagging Impulse was a good excuse,” Scar said.

“Thank you,” He barely breathed out.

“You’ve only met him once, right?” Scar asked, gently.

No. “Yes,” He confirmed.

Scar squeezed his hands, “G, he’s not going to hate you.”

“I know,” He agreed, “But I was taken from my family before he was born and that’s terrifying, what if I don’t live up to his expectations.”

“Then he gets to learn about the wonderful person that you actually are,” Scar reassured.

“He has more in common with the redstoners,” He argued.

“He’ll appreciate the break and the others will understand and for those who don’t, they can get over themselves,” Scar said seriously.

He giggled at that.

Scar beamed at him.

“Can you invite him and Iskall to dinner here, and Mumbo?” He asked.

“I can do that yeah,” Scar agreed, deciding that he’d pushed far enough for the day.

He stared at the ceiling above Scar’s head as he typed up messages to Iskall and Mumbo.

He forced himself to take deep breaths so he didn’t spiral again because he was at risk to.

“They agreed,” Scar said.

He shallowed before turning back to Scar and nodding.

Scar smirked up at him and started to talk about his plan for the continuation of Scarland.

Less than five minutes later Mumbo was half-stumbling into his base.

Of course Mumbo would see Scar asking him to dinner at my base as suspicious, He thought. He raised a hand and waved at Mumbo.

Scar glanced over brightening, “Hey Mumbo!”

“Hello Scar, Grian,” Mambo greeted, taking in the scene.

Mumbo moved closer to them, carefully as he still probably confused about what was going on.

He took a bit of pity on his best friend and offered up, “Fundy’s my nephew.”

Mumbo’s eyes went wide, “Oh.” 

Scar nodded, “Yeah.”

“How’s he taking Hermitcraft?” He asked quietly.

“He’d a bit overwhelmed, the other redstoners have been much help, you shooting Impulse helped Iskall get control back,” Mumbo told him, “But he likes it, finds out redstone interesting, enamored by Doc but that’s how that goes.”

“What does he think of Etho?” He asked, a tiny cheeky grin on his face.

Mumbo gave him an odd look, “Finds him mysterious but ‘really cool’, why?”

“No reason,” He brushed off, if only Etho knew who Fundy’s grandmother was or his mother even.

Both Mumbo and Scar gave him a skeptical look.

He pushed himself off of the chest, “I’m gonna go take a nap till we have to cook dinner.”

He got twin concerned looks.

“Okay,” Scar allowed, “We’ll wake you up.”

Mumbo and him both helped Scar off the ground.

He stretched before heading up to his nest.

He heard Mumbo asked Scar, “What happened?”

He knew they shared information they figured out about him, him and Mumbo did it about Scar and him and Scar did it about Mumbo, so he wasn’t mad about it. He just curled around himself in his nest and soon feel asleep, that panic attack really wore him out.

Chapter Text

A knock on his bedroom door is what woke him up.

He blinked into awareness, vision blurry, time slow and fast at the same time.

The door opened and he turned to look and there was Scar, cane in his hand, looking mildly concerned still.

“Good afternoon G,” Scar said with a bright smile, “Time to cook dinner.”

Right. He pushed himself up and twisted his body so he was sitting up. He rubbed his eyes, “I’ll be down in a minute.”

Scar nodded, “See you in a minute.”

Scar left the room shutting the door behind him.

He got out of bed and headed over to the bathroom. The cold water as he washed his hands helped him wake up further.

He’d slept in his clothes so decided to change into different ones. They looked the same as the ones he had on before but they were clean.

He went downstairs to his kitchen and there Scar and Mumbo chatting about plans for their bases.

They both turned to face him, “Hey G,” Mumbo greeted.

He offered a smile to them, “Hi.”

“How do you feel?” Scar asked.

He shrugged.

His friends exchanged looks at that.

“Any ideas for dinner?” He asked.

They exchanged a few ideas before settling on chicken and veggies.

They worked efficiently together, many years of cooking in the same kitchen, and especially after Boatem, which had small kitchens all season.

Scar was putting the chicken on the serving plate while Mumbo set the table.

He was scrubbing his hands just a little too hard, no blood for once, just nerves.

Mumbo was the one who pulled his hands out of the sink, “Scar needs to wash his hands Gri.” The redstoner’s voice was soft and gentle. “Your hands are clean. I promise it’ll be okay.”

He nodded, “I know, I know.”

Mumbo squeezed his forearms, “Dry your hands, you’ll be okay.”

He took a deep breath before pulling away from Mumbo and drying his hands.

His comm buzzed as he finished. He grabbed it out of his pocket.

‘Iskall85 whispers to You: On our way!’

‘You whisper to Iskall85: See you soon!’

He put his comm back in his pocket and called over, “They’re on their way.”

Mumbo nodded.

Scar glanced over at him, “Okay, we’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” He hesitantly agreed.

All to soon two people landed on the bridge.

“Iskall, Fundy!” Mumbo’s voice greeted brightly.

“Mumbo!” Iskall greeted back.

Scar squeezed his shoulder, “You’ve got this G.”

He took a breath and entered into the entry way with a fake smile he plastered on his face, “Glad you could make it!”

Fundy was staring at him now, like he was trying to figure out if he was actually his Uncle.

“Thanks for inviting us!” Iskall said, “You three always make some good food.”

“Aw thank you Iskall,” Scar said grinning.

“Hmm…What’s this the Archi-Techs all together with one Con-Corp member?” Mumbo teased.

“Void, I should have invited Cub,” Scar said in a tone of realization.

“Too late!” Iskall said, laughing.

He shallowed and made eye contact with Fundy, it was odd seeing the observantness of his younger brother’s eyes in someone else, “Hello Fundy.”

Fundy’s amber eyes widened at the confirmation.

Iskall looked between them before whispering to Mumbo, “What am I missing?”

Mumbo laughed quietly.

Scar cleared his throat after a few moments of awkward silene, “Dinner?”

“Yes dinner,” He agreed, turning quickly to his dining room.

“Don’t take it personally,” He heard Mumbo say, “He’s been through a lot.”

“I’ve heard,” Fundy voice responded.

“It’s not you,” Mumbo promised.

They all sat down at the table.

Scar gave him a look saying interact with him.

Mumbo had started a small debate with Iskall.

“Do you want to send a picture to your Dad?” He asked, trying to force a smirk on his face.

Fundy glanced at him, “Yeah.”

He quietly got up and leaned over Fundy’s shoulder holding out his comm and snapping a picture before sending it off to Wilbur will not caption.

Fundy giggled a little.

He smiled, small and still a bit fake. He went back to his chair.

‘WilburSoot: What?!’

‘Grian: He’s friends with Iskall, a Hermit.’

‘WilburSoot: What in the void?’

‘WilburSoot: Small world.’

‘Grian: Apparently.’

Fundy’s comm buzzed and he laughed once he pulled it out and read what the message was.

‘WilburSoot: Why do you look so uncomfortable?’

‘Grian: I’m having a moment, ignore it please.’

‘WilburSoot: G.’

‘Grian: I’m not talking about it.’

‘WilburSoot: I’m bringing it up later.’

He shoved his comm back in his pocket now ignoring his brother.

Scar raised an eyebrow at him he just sent Scar a smile.

Once they started eating Scar started asking questions to Fundy about what he likes to do.

“I like redstone, obviously, and coding,” Fundy said.

He looked at Fundy with a mischievous look.

“Keep your mouth shut Grian,” Fundy told him.

“I didn’t say anything,” He said, hands up in a mock surrender.

“You were thinking it,” Fundy said.

Iskall gave them both a confused look.

“Hey Iskall?” He turned to his friend.

“Yes Grian?” Iskall asked suspicious.

“Wanna know what my last name is?” He asked.

“Sure?” Iskall send confused.

“My last name is Minecraft,” He said simply.

He watched the realization sink into Iskall. “Oh.”

He chuckled, “Now Fundy?”

Fundy was fighting smirk but his eyes were sparkling with mischief as he answered, “Yes?”

“What’s your last name?” He asked.

“Well that depends, do you want to one on my birth certificate or the one I go by usually?” Fundy asked, small smirk on his face.

“Both,” He responded.

“I usually go by Soot, but my legal last name is Minecraft,” Fundy said.

“Wait-” Iskall started in shock looking between him and Fundy again, “That means-”

“That Grian’s my Uncle,” Fundy finished.

“So then why did you run off?” Iskall asked after his shock had processed.

“That’s a fair longer explanation,” He said waving a hand.

“One I don’t think we should go into over dinner,” Fundy said.

He sent Fundy a grateful smile.

They chatted about past Hermitcraft madness and at one point Fundy, Iskall, and Mumbo stating talking about redstone which had Scar and him exchanged exasperated looks.

It was in the middle of a sentence when Fundy broke off turning to him, “Actually I have some code I’d love for you to look over G. If you’re up for it.”

“I’m a bit rusty but sure, hand it over,” He said, reaching a hand out.

Fundy quickly pulled the code up and handed it to him.

He looked through the code finding the most basic of errors, nothing bit.

He waited until the conversation had a lull before handing it back to Fundy, “Only basic things were wrong, nothing gigantic. The idea’s also really interesting.”

Fundy beamed, “That’s good, thank you.”

He nodded, “Of course.”

“So how do you know about code Gri?” Iskall asked leaning onto his hands with his elbows on the table.

He rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m a licensed admin.”

“You’ve kept it up?” Fundy asked.

“Since I got to Hermitcraft,” He confirmed, “Had to retake the test but since then.” He groaned a little remembering the test.

“Is the test that bad?” Mumbo asked.

“Yes,” Iskall and him chorused.

“Agreed,” Fundy said.

“Wow,” Scar said, “I could never.”

“I mainly do it so I can help ‘Suma and Xavier,” He shrugged, “Joe’s more involved then even me, I can’t do the responsibility after an incident.”

Iskall gave him a confused look.

“Admin school teach about a server that got wiped from existence?” He asked voice carefully calm.

Iskall nodded, “The admin disappeared but no one remembers them and the players don’t remember what happened on it.”

“That was my first solo server out of Admin school,” He said, “So I refuse to be a solo or main admin to any server ever again.”

Iskall’s eyes went wide, “I’m so sorry.”

“Wait G-if no one remembers you how does Fundy know who you are?” Scar asked.

Him and Fundy exchanged looks.

Okay, look, he didn’t like lying to his friends, especially Mumbo and Scar, but he also really didn’t want to admit that his mother was the Goddess of Death.

“I’m built different,” Fundy said, “My Dad, other two Uncles, and Grandpa also remember him. My last Uncle is apparently up in the air but I’ve never met him so…” Fundy shrugged.

He nodded, “What Fundy said and no we won’t be expanding on how they’re ‘built different.’”

Scar and Mumbo sighed tiredly but let it go.

“Does X know?” Iskall asked.

“More or less,” He answered vaguely.

“And that’s the end of that conversation, huh G?” Scar asked.

“Yep!” He said, popping his p.

Fundy snorted.

Iskall playfully groaned.

The rest of dinner went wonderfully.

Chapter Text

After dinner Mumbo commandeered Iskall to look at some redstone, Fundy deciding to stay back with him and Scar.

Then Scar, the traitor, started cleaning up dinner leaving him alone with his nephew.

The vex wasn’t a traitor he just felt felt a tiny bit abandoned.

He shallowed his pride and said, “I’m sorry for running off, it has nothing to do with you.”

“You disappeared when my dad was twelve right?” Fundy asked.

“Yes, I went into the server i created, it was called the Evolution SMP or EVO and,” He ran a hand through his hair, “Well originally I was attempting a mechanic that would have us moving through the updates but it wasn’t working,” He shallowed, “We were approached by a group named the Watchers. Never make a deal with the Watcher or accept their help. We made it to the original End update and defeated the Dragon. They ended up taking me and my best friend and turned us into them,” He took a shaky breath, “Sorry you didn’t need all that, I’ve been feeling guilty about being away from the family for so long. I’m just having a very prolonged moment.”

Fundy processed that and then carefully said, “You’re not at fault for any of that. You got forced into something and you got out and reached out the moment you could.”

He, as always, didn’t fully believe those words. “Right,” He agreed. His voice was less confident than he wished it was.

Fundy, had he been pretty much any Hermit could have called it out, but he didn’t know him and so believed him at face value.

Mumbo and Iskall soon came back and he took it as his chance to escape to the kitchen.

“How’d it go?” Scar asked.

“I said too much,” He said, “I said far too much.” He felt just on the wrong side of shaky.

Scar was in front of him very suddenly, “You’re okay, it’s okay, whatever you said won’t change how he sees you.”

“I told him more than I’ve told anyone but Xisuma,” He said, a little sharply.

Scar paused for a second, “That’s alright, he probably won’t go around spreading it, right?”

He couldn’t imagine Fundy doing so he said, “Right.”

Scar pressed a kiss to his forehead, “Then everything will be alright.”

He just nodded. Scar would call him out for lying if he spoke.

He spent the next day in the trees or buildings around the redstoner group, firing off warning arrows when they got too much.

Mumbo, Iskall, and Fundy were the only people who know that the arrows were him.

Fundy left the morning after that.

He pulled Fundy into a hug, “See you next time I visit?”

Fundy grinned, “Yep, see you then.”

He smiled, gave Fundy a mock salute and took off before the redstoners showed up to say their goodbyes.