Chapter Text
Anyone who knew Grian would tell you he was a bit of an odd one. He was a Scarlet Macaw avian whose dark-brown eyes starkly contrasted his freckled white face, with his messy, dirty blond hair going against the logic of an avians hair and wings being the same color. He always wore the same green hoodie and tan pants but walked around shoeless, for he had grey talons instead of feet. His feathery ears would always quiver whenever he was curious, and he loved pulling pranks on his friends, who would call him a “pesky bird.”
Grian was intelligent and would catch on to things quickly, which meant he knew he was a part of his friend group, but he was never ‘one of them.’ He was always the odd one out, the strange one, that weird bird. Although he was stranger than any of his friends could even fathom.
Grian was a Dream Walker. That meant that when he was asleep, his spirit would drift around the world. He would find himself in places he had never seen and could hardly control where he went next. It scared Grian. He wished he couldn’t do it. He was Dream Walking when he was found by Them.
~ ¤ ~
Grian had lived in the land of Evo, which was a mix of forests and plains, so when he found himself in a desolate wasteland among the stars, while not overly surprised, he was scared.
As far as the eye could see was an empty, desolate Void. No sun, no moon, the only light coming from stars twinkling in the distance. He heard something roar, and before he knew it, his spirit was being dragged along by some beast. He tried resisting but found he couldn’t, which was strange because he often could faze THROUGH both objects and living things in this form.
“Stop struggling,” he heard a voice growl. He finally looked up and saw a black dragon holding his hoodie in her talons.
‘Let go of me!’ He tried to shout. But no words would leave his mouth. He couldn’t talk in this form. So he resigned himself to sulking, waiting for the beast to take him to her lair, to do who knows what with him, unless he woke up first. They traveled for an hour in silence until Grian saw something in the distance. He squinted and saw a collection of floating islands, the main one with eight obsidian pillars of different heights towering into the void.
As they came closer, he saw that the islands had no vegetation, made of some sort of sandstone-like material. The only life forms were hundreds of Endermen. Upon closer inspection, he found some sort of crystal on the top of each pillar, two of them having iron caging surrounding them. She set him down next to what looked like a nest made of bedrock, with a small four-meter pillar coming out of the middle, a single egg resting on top of it.
Grian realized he was standing on the ground, as if he was awake, instead of drifting like he did when he was Dream Walking. He wondered if it was because they were in the Void. ‘Why did you bring me here,’ he thought, looking around.
“Listen, avian SPIRIT, I have no idea how you got here, but you need to leave. If you were still in your body, I would kill you, but you’re not, so I can’t. But I can send you out of here before They show up, so GO,” she growled. Who were They, and why could she see him? Not even other animals could see him when he was in this form, so how could she? Was it because she was a dragon? Grian had a hundred questions running through his head, but they came to a halt as he saw that the nest opened into what was actually a portal.
It made the area glow in a cold, dim light, and he saw more stars swirling in the rift between the void and his home. Grian jumped into the portal without a second thought, glad to be given the opportunity to leave the cold and desolate wasteland. Stars whizzed past him, and he automatically tried to open his wings to catch himself from falling, but it was to no avail. He saw something purple in the corner of his eye, falling at the same rate as he was. He turned to see what it was and startled.
The thing, whatever it was, resembled a purple Eye. It Watched him curiously, as if trying to figure out what he was. He waved shyly, not sure of what to do, and it blinked, just once, and was gone. Grian woke up in his nest, as if nothing had ever happened, the sunlight gently filtering through his window.
~ ¤ ~
Over the next couple of days, Grian acted like nothing had ever happened, just like he always did. It was rather uneventful. He would play a couple of pranks, and he would get a laugh, but he could still feel that he was a part, but never one of them. As the days passed, his mind would often wander back to that interaction with the Eye.
Was it a spirit? Was it a figment of his imagination? Grian did not know. But the next few days continued as normal, nothing exciting occurred. That changed a week after he saw the Eye.
He had woken up in his nest as normal. Only something was different. He could feel someone Watching him. He rolled over, and sitting on one of his chairs was a tall, hooded figure with a white mask covering its face. The hood—which was more like a cloak—was purple in color and covered its entire body.
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my home?” he asked, still groggy, sitting up, swinging his legs over the edge of the nest.
WE ARE THOSE WHO WATCH,
AND WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR A WHILE YOUNG AVIAN.
He jumped at the booming voice that seemed to echo in his mind, reverberating his very bones. He felt his feathers quiver, half with nervousness at this clearly powerful creature, half with curiosity. What was it, and why did it want with him, a simple avian fledgling?
“Could you maybe talk a little quieter? You’re hurting my ears,” Grian asked, trying to be polite. “Would you like something to eat? I’m sure I have something in my kitchen.”
“We need not eat, avian,” Their voice echoed at a regular volume.
“Could you maybe call me by my name? I’m Grian, and you never told me what your name is.” Grian got up and went to sit in a chair across from Them.
“Your current name is not necessary where you are going. And we only share our NAMES with those who are with us.” They shifted, and Grian swore he could see more of those purple Eyes in the corners of his vision.
“You never said why you are in my home or what you want with me.” He crossed his arms, watched Them, his feathers quivering.
“You are a Dream Walker who cannot control your gifts. WE CAN TEACH YOU.”
Grian would not call his ability a gift. For as long as he could remember, every night he dreamt, he would wake up in places far away he did not know. He knew he was not dreaming because everything felt REAL, even after he had woken up. He would see things he should not be privy to. He hated his ability. How could they make it so he could control it if he had never been able to before in the seventeen years he’s been alive?
YOU ARE LIKE US FLEDGLING.
YOU CAN SEE WHAT OTHERS CANNOT,
WATCH THOSE FROM AFAR.
YOU ARE A WATCHER.
WE CAN TEACH YOU TO HARNESS YOUR POWER,
IF YOU JOIN US.
They held out their hand for Grian to take. He seriously considered taking it. He would finally be able to control his ability. And they wanted him, didn’t they? But what about his friends? Wouldn't they miss him?
YOU KNOW THEY DO NOT WANT YOU.
YOU ARE JUST IN THE WAY,
AN ANNOYING BIRD WHO WILL NOT BE QUIET.
THEY WILL NOT MISS YOU AND YOU KNOW IT.
COME WITH US.
They stretched Their hand farther. It was black, and the skin looked black and rotten. Dead. Part of Grian knew this was a bad idea as he reached his own hand across the table, shaking Theirs. But he was determined. He wasn’t truly wanted here anyway, and They had promised they could help him. They stood up and led him outside, and Grian realized he had, in fact, been seeing Eyes in the corners of his vision.
When they got outside, They murmured an incantation, and Grian watched with morbid curiosity as three pairs of wings fading from dark to medium purple, erupted from their back, and another two smaller pairs erupting from the sides of Their head. Black blood sprayed out, hitting Grian in the face, but when he went to wipe it away, there was nothing there, as if it had already evaporated. They made no noise, showing that it had hurt them. They didn't even twitch.
They grabbed onto Grian’s wrist, Their cold fingers digging into his skin. They stretched Their large vulture-like wings, which were far bigger than Grian’s ever were, and took off, leading Grian deep into the Void.