When the Universe Smiles (abandoned) ((go read the Trilogy))

Chapter 1: Arrival

She was falling. That much was obvious. Just was she falling to the right place? Overhearing rumors of a certain "Grian" from their lackeys had spiked her interest.

But she was falling. Then-

Darkness gripped her body as she struggled to breathe. Cold seeped into her bones. She sank deeper into the ocean, touching the bottom, then pushing off and rising to the surface, and-

~

It was just a normal day in Hermitcraft season 7. All was running smoothly for Mumbo Jumbo. He'd been working on starting his Industrial District all day, making good progress on his mob farm.

Just as he was packing up for the day, his communicator, a small watch on their non-dominant hand (every player has one), started vibrating like crazy.

ᒲᔑ||ᔑ has joined the game.

<Xisuma> What the-

<Stressmonster101> wot 'appened, luv?

<iskall85> did someone get past the whitelist? :o

<Grian> What in blazes did you do, X

<GoodTimeWithScar> Is that... Galactic? Like the language around an enchanting table...

<Docm77> Should we go check out spawn? See if they are there?

<Xisuma> Let me go investigate first

Mumbo typed a quick message:

<MumboJumbo> If you need help, just ask :)

<Xisuma> :) Wish me luck

Mumbo grabbed his shulker boxes and stepped inside the nether portal. 'Well, now we wait.'

~

Grian flew to the top of his mansion, settled down, and stretched out his wings. He dusted his hands on his pants and leaned backwards, resting against one of the towers on top of his project. In the distance, he could see the towering structure of Mumbo's ancient-futuristic crossover base, the fantasy village that Scar was messing around in. Stress' "gorgeous" skull and pink-topped brewery. 

His communicator alerted him that many messages being sent at once. He checked it, shocked at what he was seeing. 'Someone made it past the whitelist,' he thought. Only one thing stopped him from zooming off to spawn to see what was happening:

Xisuma whispers to you: Don't come to spawn. They might not know what to think of your... appearance.

Grian smirked and replied:

Aye aye, cap'n.

It only made sense for him not to go. But he was worried. 'The Watchers... What if... No, they're dead. We killed them.' A shiver ran down his spine, causing his wing feathers to ruffle. 'But what if we didn't...'

~

She swam to shore, sputtering for air. Her lungs burned from the quick change in altitude to being underwater, and her body stung from hitting the surface so hard. She pulled herself onto shore, barely noticing the sounds of rockets growing louder. Failing to notice someone land in front of her, asking-

~

"Who are you," the server admin questioned. Xisuma held his dominant hand near his hot bar, sword in the first slot, just in case the intruder decided to pull some sort of trick. "W-who are you, you... girl?" Xisuma noticed the soaking wet mid-length hair, the drenched dark green jacket, the purple t-shirt and black skirt. Yeah, he was dealing with a girl. 

The mysterious girl coughed up water, and looked up at Xisuma. "Who... are you..." she asked between labored breaths. "... Where am... I?" 

Mentally facepalming, X realized he should probably ask if she was ok. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut-off by the girl muttering to herself, "Is this... was that the right portal?" The girl noticed X looking at her curiously. "Finished gawking?"

X averted his eyes, a blush flaring beneath his helmet, looking at the ground, then back to the girl. "N-no, it's not that... I- I am Xisuma, admin of this server, and I have a right to know who you are."

The girl stood up, squeezing out her hair. "Maya." The girl-Maya-scanned her surroundings. 

"But who are you; where'd you come from, and how did you get past the whitelist?" X smirked, knowing she would not be able to work around that question. 

"I am Maya, a player. I came from the Server Hall, and... I honestly don't know how I got past the whitelist. There... there was a glitch; I felt it. Something was wrong in the Server Hall. It had been all day. I- I was walking around, and the glitch, or lag or whatever it was, must've forced me into the portal and past the whitelist? I don't know..." 

X was shocked. The lie detector in his helmet was not firing, nor were the other sensors to detect if someone was lying. "Well... where are my manners? Welcome to the Hermitcraft server. And I also should've probably asked, are you alright?"

Maya smiled, genuine joy radiating from her face. "Just a little wet, but I'll dry up in no time." She pulled her arms tight around her and shivered.

Xisuma pulled out his communicator and sent a server-wide message:

<Xisuma> it's a girl named Maya

<MumboJumbo> need help X

<Stressmonster101> luvly, another girl!

<Xisuma> all good, mumbo. thanks

<Grian> may I?

<GoodTimeWithScar> anything we can do to help u?

<Xisuma> I'm alright for now, but Maya needs a change of clothes for the night, and an empty starter base to live atm. anyone willing to share?

~

Grian smiled and replied:

<Grian> she can have my old hobbit hole! I'm not really using it rn, so it'd be perfect :D

<Xisuma> sounds good, but

<Grian> I know what u r gonna say: it's fine with me. idc if she sees them or not

<Xisuma> I'm just worried that she'll be... uneasy with the wings and all.

<Grian> dw, X. it'll be just fine

<Xisuma> ok, Gri. just telling ya what I think

Grian flew down from the top of his mansion and went to go clean up the hobbit hole. 'I wonder who this "Maya" girl is...'

~

Maya was soaking wet, being led by a man in a bee spacesuit, and in some strange server called "Hermitcraft." And to make the day even better, the two of them had to squish into a boat and row over to a jungle (though that biome was one of her favorites, second only to the swamp), since he did not have an extra pair of elytra. Apparently, this "Xisuma" was the server admin, so maybe she could get some answers out of him. Maya tried to start a conversation: "So, this is Hermitcraft? Like, all those people that record themselves playing and post on Youtube?"

Xisuma smiled, even though his back was facing her. "Yes, it is. The one and only." The conversation died from there until they got closer to the jungle. "One of our members, Grian, has offered to share his first base with you until you settle down in your own spot."

"Grian?" Maya asked. 'The Grian I'm looking for????'

"Yes. And, I will warn you... he's not your... average player."

~

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! First part published! I hope you enjoy it and decide to stick around!