Commotion started and Mumbo held up his hands.

"Alright, alright! Who else will be willing to help us try and find Joel?" Mumbo asked.

Skizz stepped forward and others glanced around.

"I'm not gonna let you go on your own." Impulse chuckled, ruffling his hair.

Skizz laughed and smiled, high fiving his partner.

"I'd rather stay here and help out when you guys get back. Someone's gotta try and trek through that forest." Etho said, folding his arms. Bdubs nodded, standing by him.

"Yes, I'd rather stay too." Scar said, "I can help make markers through the forest."

"Anyone else?" Mumbo asked, making eye contact with Grian.

"I'll go." Grian raised his hand and everyone looked at him.

Mumbo nodded, smiling as his friend stepped up.

"Everyone, please continue the journey on to new land. Cleo, you know the drill by now; stay together, please. And Etho?"

Etho glanced up and saw Mumbo's worried expression.

"Try not to get anyone hurt. If it gets dangerous or you start getting lost, go back to everyone else. We'll figure it out when we get back, but don't hurt yourselves trying to help us." Mumbo said and Scar nodded.

"Don't worry, we'll be okay." Bdubs reassured.

Grian was about to step onto the train when Scar stopped him.

"Hey, good luck." Scar smiled and he held his hand before leaving. Grian felt something drop in his hand and opened it to see a gold acorn. The gold acorns were told to grant your wishes and give you good luck the more you collect.

Grian looked up at Scar who winked before disappearing into the forest with Bdubs and Etho.

"I swear if he has maracas too..." Grian chuckled and shook his head before pocketing the acorn and walking onto the train.

-

The ride there was silent, and Grian finally had time to think about how this was his first time ever going back.

"Do you think we can see our old friends?" Grian asked, looking up at Mumbo.

Mumbo hesitated.

"We...we should just look for Joel. It won't be that hard, right?"

They arrived in the main city and Grian froze. It was nothing like he had remembered.

The city, once a quiet place of simple stone buildings and cobbled streets, now seemed alive with energy.

The air hummed with the sound of bustling crowds, the scent of fresh bread wafting from the nearby bakery.

The station, which used to be a small, rustic platform, had transformed into a grand structure of iron.

Tall, elegant arches around the entrance, and lanterns hung from the walls, glowing warmly in the late afternoon light.

Everything about it seemed so...so different from the quiet, sleepy town Grian remembered.

He took a slow step forward, eyes wide, trying to make sense of it all.

"Is this... really it?" Grian muttered under his breath, still unable to shake the disorientation that clung to him.

He tried to focus on the familiar sounds. The gulls crying overhead, the gentle slap of waves against the dock...

but it all felt distant, foreign.

"Mhm!" Skizz said, not noticing their expressions. "This is home."

"So...how easy would it be to find Joel?" Impulse raised an eyebrow.

Mumbo cleared his throat and nodded.

"Yes, well I assume we should split up in groups to try and do a search. Skizz, how big is the town?"

Skizz shrugged. "Not that big. You could bike around it in a day."

"Hold on, shouldn't we stick together though? How can we get in contact? Our communicators don't work here." Impulse said.

"Hmm...what do you think, Grian?" Mumbo asked, glancing up at his friend who had been quiet the past couple moments.

"I..." he fidgeted with the acorn in his pocket, wishing to have Scar's good luck.

1) Split up into pairs and search with Mumbo

2) Stay with everyone and see if Skizz can help show the way