#hermitcraftheadcanons

Grian is cold. He’s so cold he no longer feels it, even after his body long stops shaking and he sinks into blissful nothingness. He likes it when that happens, he shouldn't but dying is the only relief he gets from this… trap, this hell hole of a situation even if  the nothingness scares him. He doesn't know how long he's been here, it feels like both years and seconds have passed. 

There’s a noise and something new and solid pressed into Grian’s side and his body twitches, the only reaction it was capable of anymore. 

It's hard to think. Grian thinks he used to try and get free from this place but he can't remember it happening, if it even did? The only thing he knows for certain is that trying to leave was pointless, he would never be free of the cold.

Grian sometimes gets up, just once more, but there’s no point so all he does is drag himself a few feet in a random direction. His body technically resets every time he dies, as does the hunger and pain and need for warmth but it seems that now he doesn't have that anymore. He’s so tired, tired of trying and moving and so he lays there in the snow. 

He blinks his eyes open, vision swimming with the mass of white in another snowstorm. The blackness around his vision has increased significantly from when he last bothered to open his eyes, and his brain unblurs a bit as he starts. He blinks again, the darkness doesn't disappear but movement from just in his vision makes him oh so slowly swivel his stiff, freezing body to trace it. 

It's blurry, but after a second he realizes that the moving snow is in fact not snow at all, but a pure white, furry body. A white fox stares at him, small and curious, and gets closer. Grian watches it back, unable to really do anything but stare back at it, and he can't bring himself to care about it. Death by fox would be a new one for sure but the fog in his brain is already creeping back.

Grian closes his eyes again, acceptance seeping into his bones as he recognizes that he’s about to die via freezing if the fox doesn't try to eat him, and death is about to take hold once again. Soon, soon he’ll get a small, brief relief from this place. Something moves into his side, pressing against him and staying there, and he lets out a soft sigh, exhaling a final breath.

Grian dies, and all too soon he’s ripped from the embrace of sweet nothingness and thrust back into the world of cold and pain, again. The wind bites at him, and he forces himself to take a deep breath as he can now breathe again. The weight from his side is gone, but now he has a small bit of energy and makes himself look around again, brain now clear for a while once more as the wisp of the frigid air whips around him. 

There, right next to him is the fox, who looks quite annoyed and tense at his death. Grian knows the disappearance and reappearance of his body must have startled it, but Grain likes to think that maybe something in this lonely place was worried and cared about him.

He brings his hands from under him and pushes up from the powdery snow, flakes calling off as he sits up. The fox just continues to watch as Grain holds out a hand to it hesitantly. It was small, bigger then a baby but as far as he could tell definitely not a full grown adult, young enough to still be a bit bold but old enough to be alone. 

The fox leans out and sniffs at him, it's warm breaths hit his naked hand and he has to stop himself from crying at the sensation he hasn't felt in what seems like forever. Then, it nudges his hand and he strokes along it's long fur and it gets closer. The thing curiously sniffs around his body and lays hesitant paws on his lap. He carefully moves so he’s sitting cross legend and it wastes no time climbing into his lap. His shaking hands start petting the fox again as it worms down and gets comfortable. 

A real, genuine laugh bubbles softly from his throat and horse words spill out without him trying.

“Y-your a bra-a-v-ve one, h-hu-h?” Grain asks, burying his hands into the fur of the fox, his fingers just barely getting relief from the cold. He hummed as the fox made a small chitter noise back at him, and he continued to pet. 

“W-w-why are  yo-u  all-l  the wa-ay up  he-re  litt-tle  frie-end-d? The-ere’s not e-even tree-e-es  or  aa-a-anyt-t-hing  tasty  to-o  ea-at.” Grian teeth chattered as he looked around once again, knowing there was literally nothing in his graveyard of a spawn, and started wondering if maybe he just missed something. Maybe, maybe he would go look again. 

The fox, of course, did not respond but it was nice to have something else out here. His friends where gone and his communicator had long broken due to the harsh temperatures, but he had a fox and that would be okay for now, until… until he either managed to be found or something happened. He tried not to think what that ‘other’ thing could be, he’d already slipped down that dark path many times and for now he would avoid it.

A noise broke him from his thoughts and he felt the fox nudging his hands intently, as he had stopped petting. He laughed again, carefully and slowly scooping his hands up under the fox and used all his remaining willpower to push up with his legs.

He stood and cradled the fox in his hands, looking around. Said fox made another noise but seemed content in his arms for now. Surely, surely there had been something he hadn't tried yet right? Grian picked a direction and started walking, feeling hollow of determination but still willing to try once more.

And more times.

He looks down at the white fox in his arms and hums again, a small smile creeping up onto his face. “I-I thin-n-k  i'll-l  ca-all  you-u… Kit. No-ot  ve-ery  crea-a-t-tiv-ve  I  kno-o-ow” his teeth chattered thoghther and continued on.

~

Sadly it didn't work and Grian died again.

And again.

And again. 

Thankfully he managed to save his fox friend from sharing his untimely deaths, either tossing him to avoid them both from slipping into a ravine, managing to keep him from stray mobs, or just straight up leaving him behind when he started to get farther down, knowing the Ice pillagers waited below. 

Sometimes the little bugger would even bring food, dragging a chicken or a chuck of scavenged meat to Grain’s prone form and sometimes he would give in and eat the thing raw despite how sick it could make him. It helped, even a bit. 

But no matter how many times he died and how far he got only to return to his spawn, he would find Kit would find his way back. Grian doesn't know what he did to earn the foxes loyalty, but even when he once again gave up and stopped moving, stopped giving into the foxes nudges for pets and annoyed noises, the fox still always returned.

Sometimes Kit would disappear for long periods and it scared Grian to think his only friend in the world right now had left forever, maybe he died or just found better food, but he always, always came back to Grian.

It was Kit who alerted him to the fact something was wrong, his frantic yips and barks made him force his eyes open, black dots seemingly permanently etched into his vision and took him a second to register forms moving in his direction. He hears nothing but the howling wind and Kit’s noises, and he closes his eyes, accepting his fate of another death due to a mob of some kind.

He barely feels it when something drops beside him, something heavier then Kit presses into him and he hears a low murmuring, it's almost oddly familiar. He’s about to open his eyes again when the thing touches him and shifts him to the side, and cold, shooting pain and agony rips and races up through his back.

He lets out a strangled scream, unconsciousness reaching up and taking hold before he does anything but flinch and sags into the weight of one warm hand, and one cold, stiff metal one.  He doesn't hear Docs frantic whispers or feel’s the creeper man struggle to lift him up, nor the fox body that desperately climbed up and settles into Grian’s frame, snarling when the other man tries to shake it off before giving up and half carrying, half dragging his unconscious friend down the mountain through the snow.

~

Grian however does feel it when genuine, real warmth breaks through the blackness of sleep and lulls him back into the world of the living. He opened his eyes to a bright, warm fire and a wooden wall, and he’s still so cold but it's not the chill of before, and god it's not just white as far as he can see. 

He lets out a sob and pushes up into a sitting position to see he’s in a cabin, a real genuine house and Kit is curled beside him, there’s a fire and he can smell food, and… voices, familiar voices.

Around him the world is fuzzy and dark but at the same time far to bright, black spots in his vision and darkness clings around the edges. He can see far less then he knows he should and he wants to close his eyes again but he doesn't care because it's over, and he’s safe. 

Tears of relief are still streaming down his face when he lets out a particularly loud sob, throat too sore to try and call out but the voices freeze and loud, frantic steps start up, racing closer. The door bangs open and two blurry forms race in and while it takes a second to be able to recognize them, he can hear their voices all too clearly and he reaches out as Ren flies at him.

The hug is gentler then he expected from the relived wolf man, who just manages to stop from actually launching himself at Grian, but he clings on nonetheless and cries into his friends shoulder despite the slight shooting pain. Doc walks to his side and also presses into the hug, both of them whispering and talking to him and Grain manages to piece together some of the story but his brain is still honestly muggy so he has to force himself to let go and clear his throat painfully after they start to ask questions.

Doc hands him a glass of water and Grian drinks before he starts to tell his side of the story. He… well he’s missing a bunch and leaves out even more, he also knows he hasn't fooled them but they leave him alone for now so he just continues.  When he stops, Kit climbs into his lab and he pets his fox friends as his friends tell their sides of the story. It's equally as terrifying and upsetting as he thought it would be and the reminder that their friends are out there, and many have been dying a lot as told by Ren’s loosely working communicator, makes him want to cry again but he holds back, tired from everything.

Doc reaches out and gives Kit a few soft pats as his story peters out.

“Your little fox friend was very insistent on following us down as I carried you, even tried to bite me when I kept trying to wake you up.” Doc almost coos fondly at the canine and Grian lets out a semi-startled laugh. They didn't often get to see Doc like this, but it was sweet to see the teddy bear side of his fellow hermit despite the circumstances.

“Y-yeah. I call h-him Kit.” Grian responded, pulling the blanket tighter as the reminding chill tried to cling to his body. As he moves, something catches his eye and he freezes, looking down.

A startled noise breaks from his throat as his eyes widen and he looks at his hand. Dark, long ice blue marks race from his fingertips, and up his hands and arms, he moves to see they go all the way up to his elbow. He noticed his nails were also oddly long and sharp as well. That, that was for sure not natural at all. Bile burns in his throat and he wants to puke but he resists the urge as another hand hesitantly reaches out and takes his hand in theirs.

He follows their hand up to see Ren’s face, face soft and a gentle expression there. His glasses are gone and his brown fluffy ears are turned and pressed back, showing his emotions. 

“It's okay Grian my dude, it's fine. It's, you have these marks on your arms and legs and some on your back and chest too as far as we can tell. They don't seem to be anything but cosmetic right now, but… whatever happens, it’ll be okay.” Ren’s voice is smooth, but sounds almost practiced, like him and Doc have talked about this. Grian wonders how long he’s been asleep for, for him to be able to tell that he’s just repeating something but he nods along, swallowing roughly and moves his hands out of view shakily.

Doc and Ren watch the movement but don't say anything as Grian takes a few deep, calming breaths. He does, however, catch the look Doc shoots at Ren, a questing but insistent one and Grian is filled with dread. What now?

Ren gives Doc a pleading one right back, ears still flat and Grian can see his tails is still and tucked tight behind the man. “Doc, not now, just, give him a few minutes, maybe he can take a nap and we can talk more when he wakes up?” Doc looks back to Grian and meets his eyes before breaking away.

“Ren he’s gonna find out anyways.” Doc said, voice heavy but gentle. Slight irritation builds, at this world, at everything that keeps happening, at them despite knowing it wasn't their fault, and he speaks up.

“He is right here you know. I, tell me please, what else?” Grian almost begs bitterly. He’s so tired but he wants to know. Ren crouches down, closer and he can now spy the new, faint scars that are on the skin he can see.

“Grian, I…” He trailed off before gesturing off to the side and Doc moves, handing him a small revive metal piece from somewhere. He places it and Grian’s hand. “I guess we kinda match now huh?” Ren finishes weakly, gesturing up and grabbing one of his furry wolf ears lightly.

Confusion laces through his mind as Ren’s other hand reaches up by his head, going up and grabbing Grian’s own ear except Ren’s reaching higher then he should and it feels weird under Ren’s fingers. Something is horribly wrong and he jerks away, startled and lifts the metal piece up to look in it's reflection. It takes a second but he spies dark fluffy ears sitting on the top of his head where there should be none.

The thing slips from his grasp and clattered to the floor, but he doesn't care as he instead reaches up to feel them and Grian can definitely feel them up there. He pinches them and pain races though them, signifying this was real, not a dream. A confused ache pings through his chest and he lets go, hands dropping as he curled in on himself slightly. His voice is shaky as he speaks up, meeting the concerned and sympathetic looks of his friends.

“What, what the hell?” He asks, desperate to understand and confused. Ren sits on his knees in front of him, Doc in the only chair beside him.

“We don't know, Doc said you had them when he found you.” Ren answered, Grian turned to look at Doc who nodded. Ren continued, taking his blue streaked hand. “You… you also have a tail Grian, I think its Fox parts.” Grian took a shaky breath, trying to keep calm and panic started to hit him. He refused to look back, suddenly realizing that the weird heavy sensation at his back wasn't just pins and needles or a fluffy blanket he could feel pressed against his left hip and thigh under the covers.  

Doc reached out and started petting Kit again, looking Grian in the eyes. His cybernetic eye was dark and dim Grian distantly registered. “When I got there I didn't realize and when I rolled you, I turned you directly onto your tail and I think you passed out from the pain.”

Grian nodded again, familiar numbness starting to creep back within him. The pain, his tail. He was… This was all too much Grian decided.

“I'm- I don't want to deal with this right now.” He said roughly, pleading. Gran had to fight tears from pricking in his eyes. “I'm tired and hungry.” His voice was shaky, he was very much on the edge of panic, and thankfully his friends recognized it.

“That's okay, we have food, we found some mushrooms for stew and iv planted wheat seeds a bit ago so I made bread as well. Do you want to eat now or later?” Ren asked, already getting up. Doc reached out and rubbed his back softly. Grian leaned into the touch and the tiredness made him want to close his spotty vision, which was actually better then it was when he first woke up, but he resisted the urge to fall asleep now.

“Food please, I don't think I've had real food since… since I spawned.” Grian told them. Doc nodded, understanding in his tone and Ren just looked upset at the thought before he spun around and started walking out.

“Okay, I'll be right back with some grub, give me a second okay?” He said, and disappeared through the door.

Beside him, Doc continued to half hold him as they waited. There was silence, it was almost too loud and Grian opened his mouth to speak before Doc interrupts him.

“Are you okay?” Doc asked, accented voice heavy and a bit hard due to the emotion. Grian could see that Doc also had some new scars, not as many as Ren did but he looked… off, tired, so unlike his normal self it made Grian just sad.

Grian shrugged lightly, ignoring the very slight pain at the movement. “I don't, not really. It could have been so much worse but it was so hard up there. As for the,” He trailed off, looking down. “Things that are here now, I don't know. I'm- it's scary and it's new and I don't like it but I don't know how to react.” He finished plainly and Doc just nodded.

The door opened again and Ren came back with a bowl of mushroom soup and bread and it was the best thing Grian had seen in awhile despite his friends. As the food was handed to him, he let himself dig in, just barley listening to the others telling him to take it slow. Talking rose around him as he ate and he listened as they bantered and talked plans. 

Grian would have to deal with… what happened, both on the mountain and what had changed with him, and he would have to let the others know about the vision he could acknowledge was very much not supposed to be that way, and he would have to soon start worrying about other things like his other lost friends and finding their way to them.

But for now he just drank in the fact he wasn't alone anymore, he wasn't dead again, and he was warm. That, just those facts made just a smidge of the heavy weight lift from his chest. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's it! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope ya enjoyed the twist and my take on it! 

Yup, I turned him into part fox. Why? No clue tbh ha! I mostly just saw the opportunity and I think Grian is very fox like. How it happened? Also no clue, maybe a glitch when he died with Kit next to him or something? Either way it happened lol.

Other things I didn't really write (mostly due to length) but wanted to mention and other ideas;

Grian’s nails are sharper, like claws, his teeth as well though he hasn't noticed in story, he notices as he’s eating when he bites his tongue and one of the others mentions their sharpness. His sense are all heighted as well. 

I mentioned pain serval times despite nothing actually causing him pain other then the cold, that was actually the pain of the new limbs and changes to his body, thought it happened fully once he laid down for the ‘final’ time so he never noticed due to the cold. It would of been a lot worse if he wasn't freezing. 

The whole ‘blindness’ and darkness in his vision is snow blindness due to to the bright light reflecting off the snow and hutting his eyes. Thankfully this is temporary and once the Doc and Ren find out, they help him and he gets better with no lasting effects after a few days in darker light. 

I specifically didn't mention his fur color so people could chose what they want, but personally I see him as a red fox, just fits him better, though I could see a white/arctic fox like Kit too lol. Again feel free to see it how you want!

Ren is a wolf Hybrid and he too wasn't born with his features but gained them later on, so he kinda understands how Grian feeling and thats gonna help alot.

It took roughly 4 days for Grian to wake up and Doc hasn't slept since he found Grian and and Ren’s place. 

The talk about the Blue snow/cold/Ice marks actually was rehearsed and Grian picked up on it correctly. Ren and Doc have been planning on how they where going to talk to him ever since they noticed. 

His hands will permanently shake after this. Physically therapy might help in the future but there’s always going to be a slight tremor. Idk if its psychosomatic or nerve issues due to repeated frostbite, take your pick!  honestly the only reason he didn't lose anything was becuase dying and respawns reset your body physically. 

Said marks swirl up from his finger tips all the way up to his elbows, same on his feet, from his shoulders down his back and chest and down the shoulders a bit as well, and a bit up the back of his neck. 

The marks will eventually fade from bright light blue to a icy blue and more until they almost look like pure white scars with just a tinge of blue to them

Kit is Grian’s new protective friend and while he’s small, he’s viscous and loves Grian. He also only likes Grian, Doc (hence why Ren didn't pet him, Kit doesn't like the wolf man much), also Mumbo, Etho, and Tango for some reason when they finally meet up way later. Why them? who knows!

Grian was stuck on the mountain for at least a few weeks. The longest he went without dying was a week, the shortest a few minuets when he fell right off the mountain. 

The mountain was ridiculously tall and had no resources, no wood or food or grass, nothing cept snow, ice, and mobs.

He never made it father then half way down. 

I actually almost made Grian a wolf dude too but changed my mind to fox, fits him alot better no?