Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Etho was a living legend, he taught everyone how to do nearly everything at camp efficiently. He showed his skills of properly insulating the houses, and even Redstone farming when the weather warmed up, too!

It only took a few months before Etho was fully welcomed into the group, like the others. Everyone was learning from each other, and teaching one another new skills, it was starting to feel like home to Mumbo.

He was in the newest addition to the camp, something that Etho had suggested after he officially moved in, a community work room. Mumbo was tinkering at the area set aside for potion making and was working on the finishing touches on a potion specialized for arctic foxes with Etho.

"How did you figure out all this stuff anyways? I've tried to make potions before, but they never worked," Etho asked as Mumbo finished mixing the latest attempt in a small bowl.

"Oh, I learned how to make them by reading books and experimenting!" Mumbo smiled, handing the small amount of potion over to Etho, and grabbed a small knife, "Ready?"

With Etho's nod, Mumbo made another small incision on Etho's arm, the fifth time they'd done this. Etho grimaced behind his mask, swirling the potion as he began to bleed.

"Really? That's cool! You have a knack for this," Etho took a few sips of the latest potion, watching as his skin knitted itself back together in front of his eyes.

"That felt really good, I don't even feel tired! I think that was it!" Etho and Mumbo shared a sigh of relief before Mumbo turned to look at the notebook he keeps of potion recipes.

"Right, then I'll just write the combination down, and we're all done!"

"Do you want a different notebook?" Etho asked, looking down at the book Mumbo was about to close.

It was a book about hybrid attributes, and had one or two pages on lots of common hybrids. Mumbo had it open to the fox page, and was writing in a loopy script on the margins. Mumbo looked up, down, and back up again, before shyly smiling.

"No, I use the notes in this book for reference sometimes, plus it was written by an author who seems legit; they've never been wrong once!" Mumbo flipped the book closed, pointing to the cover.

"...What kind of name is Snail Beets?" Etho looked up at Mumbo confused.

"Oh- well, it's a pen name, and- oh goodness me, it is a bit faded, but it ehm- it should say Smallish Beans," Mumbo explains, shifting from foot to foot.

"Wait... Smallish Beans? I think I've seen some books by him before!"

"Really? Oh gosh, that's so cool! I grew up reading his books, and this one I managed to snag from a library a while ago!"

"Yeah, I think a few villages away there might be a few, it's a bit tricky to find their books, you know, 'cause of the hybrid focus..." Etho said, starting to walk with Mumbo toward the door.

"True, right, I'll stay here and make a spares for you, thank you for helping!" Mumbo said as Etho opened the door, waving.

Etho waved goodbye as he stepped out of the door, and Mumbo waited until the door closed to go back to his workstation, and began making a large batch of the health potion.

In his notes were not only the recipes, but also what everyone did not react well to, for example, since Etho was an arctic fox specifically, magma cream had a very bad effect on him.

He flipped through it lazily, eyes skimming over the pages as he closed the book.

In total, the process took maybe an hour, and one look outside told him it was getting time for dinner. The group liked having dinner outside, on the grass either in the woods or near them, to talk to one another about their days.

Unfortunately, there wasn't room in the cupboards for all the new potions, so he took some of the ones meant for him out to make room, stuffing them in his bag. They weren't too crucial, anyway just a few experimental ones that gave him slightly increased strength.

Mumbo quickly put the newly funneled and corked bottles away, grabbing a rag to wipe his hands as he walked outside.

The evening sun was right in his eyes when he opened the door, nearly blinding him. Raising his hand to shield some light, Mumbo looked over to the clearing where he could hear voices.

Walking over to join the group, his eyes finally adjusted to the bright sun.

"Ayyyyy! Another hermits here!" Joe said, smiling as everyone looked over to Mumbo.

"Hermit?" Mumbo asked, looking at Joe confused as he sat down.

"Yeah, that’s what we’re calling everyone!" Jevin said from where he sat next to Mumbo, passing some bread over to him.

"That's cool!" Mumbo took the bread, nodding in thanks to Jevin, and listened to the conversations that everyone was having, soaking in the chaos and fading warmth that came with these sunset dinners.

He grabbed a baked potato, and ate it happily, listening to the loud argument that the group was having about redstone, before quietly offering, "It is quite simple, really."

"Yeah, but you also think that literal witchcraft is simple!" Cleo pointed an accusatory finger, despite her face displaying nothing but amusement.

"...It is though!" Mumbo chuckled, before continuing, "I learned the basics while I was still quite young!"

Everyone looked at him now, their faces revealing how they did not believe him one bit. "No, really! Just a bit of practice is all! I can show everyone how tomorrow," All the picnic-ers nodded at that, with a quiet easy? Yeah right! from Etho.

By then the sun had almost fully set, and the 'hermits' were starting to pack up their things. They were about to say their goodnights when Doc shushed everyone.

"I see something through the trees... Shhhhhhhhh! I don't know what it is, but it looks... human, "

And with that, he got into a protective stance with Xisuma, both stepping a bit further to put themselves in danger first. Mumbo was floored. Right, if there's another human here, they could mess everything up! They could attack, and- oh goodness me, this is not good! He thought to himself.

Mumbo cowardly snuck to the back of the frightened crowd, before remembering something. His bag! He had brought it here, and ditched it when he sat down to eat! Perfect! He inched over towards it, and grabbed one of the bottles, uncorked it, and downed it in one go.

Before he could feel disgusted at the awful taste, something burst out of the trees.

Chapter Text

Mumbo was starting to feel the effects of adrenaline by the time he saw the person face-to-face with his friends. And yes, it was a person. He had a hat on and was wearing a T-shirt and pants. The shirt was black and had a large 'I' on it.

They were having a standoff, Mumbo realized, everyone too cautious to throw the first punch. Mumbo already had problems with standing still, but right now, he was fighting every fiber of his being to stay perfectly motionless.

Doc let out a small warning hiss, and Mumbo slowly put down the potion bottle, not taking his eyes off of the fight.

'I' shirt made the first move, after looking at Xisuma's knife and Doc's arm for a few seconds, lunging for Doc.

After that, it was chaos. Mumbo being in the back had a great vantage point of Doc being punched in the gut, and then 'I' shirt being tackled. Or rather, Xisuma tried to tackle 'I' shirt, but the human somehow was strong enough to not only withstand the attack but to push Xisuma onto the ground.

By then Doc had recovered enough, but before anything else could happen fighting-wise, Mumbo looked closer at the other human.

There was a thin tail now violently twitching behind them. It must have come loose when they pushed Xisuma to the ground. Their eyes weren't filled with malice, but fear. Finally, their hat, which he previously thought was styled to look faintly like horns were trying to poke through, hid their actual horns.

These three revelations are what pushed Mumbo's feet into action, and before he knew what he was doing, he ran past the 'hermits' who were paralyzed in fear, and in between the fighting parties.

Mumbo remembered what he was reading earlier; one of the pages of the book was about Imps and their characteristics. 'Brute strength, Aggressive nature, Territorial Instincts' But that doesn't explain the terrified look in their eyes. Maybe they don't want to fight? Mumbo thought.

Doc's punch was in motion, but thanks to the potion, Mumbo was able to catch it, as he looked back to the huma- hybrid, an Imp, maybe?

The hybrid didn't realize that Mumbo was helping, though, and kicked him with so much force that Mumbo could feel it through the strength potion. Letting go of Doc, Mumbo turned to the hybrid fully just in time to catch a punch to the face.

Mumbo was able to anticipate their next move, though, and before he was thrown to the floor was able to grab the hybrid's arms and shove them back. It's a REALLY good thing I had strength on me... Mumbo thought.

"Stop stop stop stop stop stop!" Mumbo finally yelled when Doc tried to push him out of the way, as the hybrid was trying to subtly back into the forest again. Mumbo tried to appear as non-threatening as possible, which was tricky when he had an angry creeper hybrid behind him and a possibly bleeding face.

"Hey, do you speak common?"

"Mumbo, what are you-" Xisuma asked roughly from where he stood now, by Mumbo's side, getting interrupted by Mumbo's quiet shhhhhhh!

"...yes." the hybrid responded, tail swishing so violently behind them now Mumbo was sure that everyone could see what was going on, but just in case...

"Can you- do you mind removing your cap?" The hybrid did so, although cautiously, revealing two small horns, maybe a few inches long at most. Judging by the sharp gasps of a few hermits, Mumbo guessed that they in fact had not seen the tail.

"You're a hybrid? Why did you attack?" Xisuma asked, confusion audible in his voice.

"I'm really sorry, I got scared, I haven't been treated nicely in so long I just thought you guys would kill me and I wanted to- to- to not make it easy for you, I guess..." The Imp, Mumbo was sure now, wrapped their tail around their body, shaking a bit more and looking down.

"It's... understandable. This is a camp for all hybrids seeking saftey from humans. My name's Jevin," The slime slowly moved up to the other side of Mumbo, venom lacing his voice when he said 'human', making Mumbo slightly cringe.

"I'm Impulse. Is everyone okay?" They looked worried now, eyes shifting from Xisuma to Doc and resting on Mumbo for a few seconds longer than the others.

Doc and Xisuma shared glances, and then looked towards Mumbo at the same time, both worried. Mumbo rubbed where he'd been hit on his face and took his hand away. No blood! Definitely bruising, but still quite good. Mumbo nodded at Impulse, before stepping forward a few steps.

"My name's Mumbo, nice to meet you!" He said, holding out his hand. Impulse hesitantly stepped forward, meeting the handshake.

"Are you hungry? We still have some dinner, though it is getting a bit late..." Cleo asked, motioning towards the bread and apples that were being packed up, then looking toward the sky.

"Yes, please," Impulse sheepishly replied, and the group carefully sat down in a circle. Understandably, no one wanted to sit near Impulse, and a wide gap was forming between them and everyone else, before Mumbo scooted over closer, about a meter away.

Mumbo passed some bread to Impulse, who practically inhaled it, revealing sharp fang-shaped teeth. Mumbo could feel the effects of his potion wearing off, leaving him feeling exhausted.

He waited until everyone was once again packing up for dinner, in the pitch black now, and said his good-nights, before hurrying to his house.

The group watched him leave, and Xisuma took Impulse to show them around. That left a few stragglers, including Keralis and Doc, who quietly began talking on the way back to their respective houses.

"Did you see how strong Mumbo was? He was stronger than me and Impulse! He's got to be like Piglin brute, or maybe some type of golem!" Keralis nodded.

"Yeah, it was so crazy! I didn't realize he was that strong, you're a creeper with a metal arm!" Keralis picked up Doc's prosthetic for emphasis.

"We should make a gym tomorrow so that we can train and become stronger! He's so scrawny, I don't see how he could overpower me!" Doc exclaimed, before saying goodnight to Keralis and going into his house.