#tiny!phil

After Quackity grew back, he completely avoided everything to do with magic. He tried to ignore the fact that he had been tiny. He tried to ignore the fact that he had wings. In general, he tried to ignore the fact that fairies existed and that he might be one of them. 

It had been a month since Tommy had thrown the dust on him and he had shrunken to fairy size. He hadn’t been back to the grove since that night and he tried to avoid the forest as much as possible. 

“Me veo muy gacho.” Quackity muttered as he glanced up at his reflection as he finished washing his hands in the restroom. (I look really crappy.) 

There was nothing immediately wrong with his appearance. It was the same tired eyes and crooked beanie as before. But after his visit to the fairies and the discovery that he might be half-fairy, it felt like something changed. Every time he looked in the mirror, it felt like something was missing. He looked too dull, like all the magic and energy had been sucked out of him, too human. 

Nothing had noticeably changed, but Quackity couldn’t help thinking he looked different. 

“Ya me cargó el payaso.” He murmured as he walked out of the restroom and back onto the sales floor for BigBuy. (I am so screwed.)

Quackity went through the motions of the day. Stocking shelves, talking with customers, cleaning up spills. He counted down the hours until his shift was over. There wasn’t anything particularly exciting that he had after planned after work, but at least he wouldn’t be working. 

An hour before his shift ended, Quackity noticed something weird.

There was a white guy in the store. 

The man wasn’t Caucasian, Quackity saw those kind of white people all the time, or nor did he have albinism. But instead the man was an entirely unnatural shade of white. It was almost a complete void of all color, rather than any particular color itself. The stranger’s attire was also weird. Who wears a white 6 piece suit to the grocery store in the suburbs? He didn’t appear to be doing anything out of the ordinary, just buying some berries and-

“Hey! Hey!” 

Quackity train of thought was rudely interrupted. 

“Are we paid to just stand around and stare at the customers?” Juan asked in an irate tone in English. He thought using Spanish on the sales floor was “unprofessional”. 

“No…” Quackity said. 

Juan and Quackity had never gotten along. When Quackity had first started working at BigBuy as a quick way to help pay for his mom’s medical expenses, he never expected to stay there. It was a part time gig at a grocery chain. Nothing serious. Nevermind that the part time gig turned into a full time job that he’s been working for the past few years. Wow his life is depressing. 

Juan, on the other hand, was fully invested. He wanted to work for BigBuy his whole life and become a general manager, or maybe even own a chain. As a result, he took everything way too seriously and got on everyone’s nerves. 

“Time is money Quackity. Do you know how many BigBuy dollars you are wasting right now by just standing around?” Juan stared down at Quackity. 

“I wasn’t aware that we had our own currency.” Quackity retorted, entirely disinterested in dealing with Juan. 

He shifted his weight to peak around Juan slightly to see if he could spot the unusual customer again. 

“We’re not stock boys anymore, Quackity. We need to take this seriously. And you wonder why Schlatt wants me to be assistant manager…” Juan sighed and shook his head. 

“There’s an open position? Schlatt didn’t tell me about that.” Quackity redirected his attention to Juan. 

He thought that he and Schlatt had always had a decent enough relationship, but if the general manager didn’t tell him about the position then maybe he was wrong. The assistant manager position came with a nice pay raise, and Quackity could certainly use the money. 

“Why would he? He knows you don’t have what it takes.” Juan spat. “Go help the customers.” He ordered as he walked away. 

Quackity rolled his eyes. He looked back to where the strange white man had been shopping. 

An empty isle. Damn. There goes his entertainment. 

As Quackity turned to walk down a different isle, he was accosted by the sight of the white man mere inches in front of him. 

“Good afternoon.” The customer said, unperturbed by their proximity. 

“Hello, is there anything I can help you with?” Quackity asked in his best customer service voice. 

“Which of these is pure iron?” The man asked as he pulled two packages of nails that he probably grabbed from the hardware section from his basket. 

“Uh…” Quackity stared at the nails, then looked up at the man creep. 

Whatever the thing before him was, it certainly wasn’t a man or human by any stretch of the imagination. In addition to it being as pale as a porcelain toilet, the creep had unnaturally large irises that were pitch black and long black nails that looked too much like claws to be a simple manicure. 

“Let check me on our app.” Quackity said, defaulting to his customer service script. 

He pulled out his phone to take a picture of the products, but Quackity stopped just shy of pressing the button. Instead of pale, long, claw-like hands, there were regular human hands. Quackity stared in bewilderment. Slowly, he raised the camera up to the creep’s confused face. Instead of showing the phantomesque figure before him, the app showed an average, albeit confused man. 

“Are you alright?” The man(?) asked. 

“I’m fine…” Quackity replied. Thinking quickly, he said, “There seems to be an error with the app. Will you please follow me to the customer service desk?”

“Yes.”

Quackity walked stiffly to the customer service desk. The creep followed directly behind him, sending shivers up his spine the entire time. It felt like turning your back to a bear while it was licking its lips. 

On his way to the customer service desk, Quackity walked by the A/V section. A wall of tvs was to his left and a video camera to his right. The camera was connected to the tvs as a part of a demonstration of the recording and display capabilities. As the creep passed the camera, Quackity looked towards the screens. Each screen perfectly displayed a regular man walking in an identical fashion to the thing behind him, wearing the same clothes and carrying the same basket. 

Maybe Quackity was just going insane. That would explain a lot actually. 

Eventually they reached the customer service desk where Missa comfortably sat. Quackity explained the issue with the nails to Missa. As the creep placed his hand basket on the counter to get the nails, Quackity couldn’t help but look in the basket. Lighter fluid, oil, matches, salt, jars. What was this thing doing?

He glanced over at Missa who was chatting with the creature then pointedly looked at the basket. Missa gave him a look back, he thought it was weird too. 

Missa handed the nails back. 

“It looks like these nails are steel,” Missa handed one box over, “and these are aluminum,” he handed the other box over. 

“Where can I find iron nails?” The creature asked. 

“I would look in the garden section or maybe a hardware store. I do not think we sell them here.” Missa replied. 

Without another word or regard to Quackity, the creature walked off. 

Quackity watched him go, then turned to Missa as soon as he was out of their sightline.

“¿Qué es eso?” He exclaimed. (What is that?)

“…¿un hombre?” Missa replied, confused. (…a man?)

“¿El es un hombre normal?” (Is he a normal man?) Quackity asked, praying Missa would see the same thing Quackity saw.

“No. ¿Qué tipo de hombre compraría clavos mientras llevaría un traje?” Missa wondered. (No. What type of man buys nails while wearing a suit?)

“Pero, el hombre se ve normal?” (But, the man looked normal?)

“Más o menos.” Missa shrugged.  (More or less.)

Quackity groaned.

“¿Sabes sobre el puesto de asistente manager?” Missa changed the subject. (Do you know about the position of assistant manager?)

“Sí, Juan me dijo lo sobre. Quiere el puesto.” (Yeah, Juan told me about it. He wants the position.)

“¿En serio?” Missa groaned. “Si el gana, sería horrible.” (Really? If he won, it would be horrible.)

Quackity nodded grimly. 

“¡Tengo una idea! Debe solicitar. Schlatt le gusta te. ¡Si te ganas, sería genial!” Missa grinned. “No puedo ganar porque Schlatt no me quiere después de tuvo un fight club con los Roombas.” (I have an idea! You should apply. Schlatt likes you. If you win, it would be great. I wouldn’t win because Schlatt doesn’t like me after I had a fight club with the Roombas.”

“No se…” Quackity readjusted his beanie, a nervous habit. (I don’t know.)

“Tu debe solicitar.” Missa pressed. “Por me.” He bat his eyes dramatically at Quackity. (You should apply. For me.)

“Voy a pensar sobre lo.” (I will think about it.) Quackity laughed. 

“¿Vamos a casa de Roier después del trabajo?” Missa leaned back in his chair. (Are we going to Roier’s house after work?)

“No voy.” Quackity shook his head. (I’m not going.)

Whatever happened with the strange man from earlier had to be magical. And if he wanted to more about it, he would have to talk to magical creatures directly. 

“¿Por qué?” Missa looked at Quackity with concern and curiosity. (Why?)

“Necesito hablar con un amigo.” Quackity shrugged, trying to make it not seem like a big deal. (I need to talk with a friend.)

Missa looked more concerned, but thankfully he dropped it.

They chatted about a few other things, soccer, the weather, and the latest neighborhood gossip. Then, Quackity left Missa and began to walk around the store, looking for customers who needed help. He checked his phone. 30 minutes left on his shift. A half hour until he could talk to the fairies. 

————- 

“Hey! Tommy! Tubbo!” 

Quackity had been shouting in the woods for the past ten minutes. He was near the area where he had first found the fairies and where he had met them before, but there was nothing. 

“Fairies! Come out!” He shouted, ignoring the piece of him that questioned if they were deciding to ignore him. 

A woman jogged past him with her dog. She gave him a weird look. 

Quackity smiled awkwardly and waved. He stammered to come up with an excuse, but she was gone too quickly for him to piece together anything semi-plausible. 

Then Quackity heard a light ringing. 

He turned back to the forest excitedly, looking for Tommy or Tubbo. Instead, he found a fairy with a long, pink braid flying a few feet away from him. It was the same one who had attacked Quackity a few months ago and given him the scar below his eye. The fairy seemed to be laughing at his encounter with the jogger. 

Quackity took a cautious step back, curious if the fairy would attack him again but it seemed to show no malice. 

“Who are you?” He scowled, wishing Tommy and Tubbo were there. 

A jingle of bells. 

Right.

“I can’t understand you.” Quackity said. 

The fairy shook his head and seemed to dig around in a satchel tied to his hip. It took Quackity a minute to realize what the fairy was about to do.

“Wait! No-“

It was too late. The fairy threw the pixie dust directly at his face. Quackity felt a sudden wave of vertigo. Then he passed out. 

————- 

Quackity woke up to a pair of ruby red eyes staring directly at him. 

He shouted and backed away on all fours in attempt to put some distance between himself and the stranger. The fairy took a few steps back, equally shocked. 

“Heh?” The fairy let out a confused noise while Quackity tried to get a sense of his surroundings. 

He was tiny again. The woods loomed above him. This was fine. He needed to speak with fairies and to do that he needed to be tiny again. This was exactly what he’d been wanting. No need to freak out. 

“Who are you?” The strange fairy asked. 

His hand was on the hilt of an impressive sword that looked like it could do some heavy damage. Correction: He knew it could do heavy damage. Quackity remembered getting slashed by it at human scale. He didn’t want to know what it could do to him at fairy size. 

“I’m Quackity, I need to speak with Philza.” He said, looking up at the fairy. 

Apart from the very dangerous sword, the fairy seemed to have several other weapons on his person. He looked like a modern day viking. He wore a bright red cape that looked to be made from a Dorito’s bag. Quackity couldn’t help snickering a little at the revelation.

“And you just… shrunk?” The fairy asked. 

“The pixie dust makes me shrink.” Quackity pointed to the pixie dust bag. “I’m half fairy?” He meant for it to be a statement but it came out more like a question. 

The fairy stepped forward and offered Quackity a hand. Quackity happily took it and was unceremoniously yanked to his feet. The strange fairy was strong. That felt wrong somehow, considering Quackity had swatted him away the first time they unofficially met. 

“…and you are?” Quackity asked when the fairy made no move to introduce himself. 

“Oh, Technoblade, Captain of the Sparrow Guard.” 

————- 

“Phil! There’s someone here to see you!” Techno called as soon as he landed on one of the branches of Heart Tree. He placed his hand on a vine wrapping around the tree and channeled his magic through it to ensure it reached the roots where Phil’s lab was. 

Quackity landed with a thump behind Techno. Although, landed may have been a generous term. Quackity clung to the branch and awkwardly scrambled his way to a standing position, holding his hands out for stability once he was standing. Clearly, he needed to work on his landings. 

“Oh? And who’s that?” Phil asked through the vine. 

“He says he’s some sort of half-fairy.” Techno replied, hoping Phil could hear the confusion in his voice through the transmission. 

“Quackity?” Phil said with surprise. “I’ll be right up.”

While they were waiting, Techno guided Quackity into the Heart tree through a carved hole. They were on the main level for the Sparrow Guard, so the interior was covered with weapons, armor, and maps. Phil joined them shortly. 

Quackity seemed to relax when he saw Phil. They greeted each other kindly. 

Techno knew they couldn’t have known each other long, but he still felt slightly awkward. Maybe he should just leave…

“Quackity, I didn’t think you would be back. Tommy and Tubbo miss you.” Phil said with a teasing laugh. 

“Yeah, I thought I was gone for good too.” Quackity replied, readjusting his beanie. “But I’ve got a question.”

“Is that so?”

Techno started to edge towards the door, intending on returning back to patrol. Phil seemed to have the situation under control. 

“Are there other magical creatures other than fairies?” Quackity asked. 

Techno paused. 

“What do you mean?” Phil asked, suddenly serious. 

“I don’t know. There was this really weird guy at work who was white, like as white as snow, except none of the cameras showed it. And now that I’m thinking about it, I’m probably overthinking and I shouldn’t assume you know all about any of that and-“ Quackity began to walk away. 

Techno stared at Quackity. If what Quackity was describing was correct, then the fairies were in serious danger. 

“Did he have black eyes?” Phil asked in a whisper. “And black claws?”

“Yeah, how did you k-“ Quackity was interrupted as Phil swore loudly. 

“That’s not good,” Techno frowned. “What did he do? Did he try and hurt you?”

“What? No.” Quackity sounded alarmed. “Who was that guy?”

“A Federation member.” Techno answered. “Are you sure he didn’t follow you?”

“Yes, I’m sure. What’s the Federation? Why are you so worried?”

“It’s a very powerful guild of wizards.” Phil explained. “Their dark magic warps their bodies and destroys their humanity. Humans can’t generate magic on their own, so they hunt fairies to extract their magic from them. Usually they use glamour spells to hide their true form from humans.”

Quackity shivered at the thought of the Federation member. 

“But then how can I see them? And why didn’t they notice me?” He asked. 

“It probably has something to do with the fact you’re half-fairy. Maybe the contact with pixie dust activated some of the latent magic in you?” Phil mused. The he shook his head to clear his mind. “Techno, if Quackity’s reports have any standing, we need to prepare.”

“On it.” Techno flew away to contact and organize the Sparrow Guard. He already had a strategy in mind. 

————- 

The dust, unfortunately, had not worn off by the time dinner rolled around. However, Phil kindly invited Quackity to join them for dinner. 

It turned out to be far more of a community event than Quackity had initially expected. The whole village gathered in the village center while the chefs brought large platters onto a communal table. 

Tubbo and Tommy were overjoyed to see Quackity again and Quackity would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see them. They quickly regaled Quackity with stories about everything they had done since he left. Then, they made it their mission to introduce Quackity to as many fairies as possible, making sure to tell all about how the half-fairy could transform into human size. 

It was nice, but overstimulating. 

Soon enough, Quackity broke away from the party. Instead, he sat on a large (relatively) mushroom outside the town square. He munched on a single berry taken from a much larger raspberry which had served as a centerpiece for part of the communal table. 

“How are you holding up?” Phil asked as he fluttered down beside him. 

“It’s a lot.” Quackity replied. 

He didn’t fully know what “it” referred to. The party? The threat of the Federation? His life in general? But it certainly was a lot. 

“Is that why you took nearly a month to visit again?” Phil asked. 

Quackity looked away. 

“Like I said, it’s a lot.”

“We can help.” Phil offered, not for the first time. He had been so kind to Quackity ever since they had met. 

“I don’t know if you can.” Quackity answered honestly. “Last month, I knew exactly who I was, some guy working at a grocery store making eleven bucks an hour. And now? I don’t know. And I can’t figure out why me. Out of everyone, why me?”

Phil thought for a second. “I don’t know, but like it or not, this is what you are now. It’s a lot easier if you accept that. You can’t pretend nothing ever happened, no matter how much you want to…”

“Yeah? Watch me.” Quackity chuckled dryly. 

“I’m serious, Quackity.” Phil looked at him. 

“I am too. I-I’m not meant for this. I’m nobody, I mean, maybe one day I’ll be assistant manager of the BigBuy, and I don’t even know if I really want that.”

“Do you think it will work? Ignoring this?” Phil asked. 

“No.” Quackity admitted. He couldn’t help thinking about how wrong he looked in the mirror. “There’s nowhere I can run, is there?”

“Not from yourself.”

“So what do I do?”

“Well,” Phil said. “I can’t tell you what to do, that’s for you to decide. Life rarely gives you a choice on who you are, but you get to choose how you react.”

Quackity stared up at the stars. What did he want? 

He didn’t want to ignore the fairies completely. He had missed Tubbo and Tommy over the past month. 

When he first immigrated to Essempi, it had been a big change to a whole new way of living. In some ways, this felt the same and he wasn’t sure if he wanted that. But, he couldn’t ignore it either. Especially if Phil was right and this was a part of his heritage. 

“Techno and I talked it over.” Phil continued. “We have an idea, if you want it. The threat of the Federation isn’t going to blow over anytime soon. They’re like roaches, if you see one there’s probably twenty more hiding nearby. But if they don’t recognize you, then you can warn us in advance, like you just did. And, maybe once a week or so, you can come by, give us a report and we can show you a bit more of what life is like as fairies.”

Quackity thought it over. It didn’t necessarily sound bad per se. 

“What would I tell my friends?” He asked, thinking about the concerned looks Missa had given him. 

“Tell them nothing.” Phil replied. “The Federation is dangerous, not just to fairies.”

“Alright,” Quackity breathed in. “I’ll do it.”

————- 

The next morning Quackity stood in front of his locker in BigBuy. He stared at a little bag filled with fairy dust that Phil had given him the night before. It sat innocently in his much larger hand. Of course, the bag looked much bigger last night. But now it was the size of a small jewelry bag. He could scarcely believe the difference. 

“¿Quacks?” Roier called from behind him. 

Quackity quickly put the bag in his locker and shut the door. He was afraid to keep it on his person. Just one touch of the dust inside the bag would make him smaller than a candy bar. 

“¿Qué onda?” He asked as he turned towards Missa and Roier who were also starting their shifts. (What’s up?)

“Aquí nada más, ¿listos?” Missa replied. (Not much here. You ready?)

“Un momento.” Quackity said. (Just a moment.)

From his bag, he pulled out a filled out application for Assistant Manager. He had printed it out last night after the dust wore off. 

Quackity figured if he was brave enough to stand up to the Federation, he could try to be assistant manager. 

Roier and Missa cheered him on as he walked towards Schlatt’s office, maybe a little louder than necessary. Juan leaned against the wall outside Schlatt’s office. He gave Quackity a nasty glare as he walked in. 

The office was small and smelled of coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol. Schlatt sat behind a desk with a nameplate that read ‘General Manager’.

“Put it in the pile.” Schlatt said, not looking up from the poker game on his computer. 

Quackity did as he was told, placing the application in a pile of similar applications. Then, he turned walk out of the office. 

“I didn’t think you’d apply,” Schlatt said as Quackity reached for the doorknob. 

He turned back to Schlatt. 

“Well, I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking and I believe I’m ready for this and-“

“Did I ask for an explanation? Save it for the interview.” Schlatt frowned. “Now get back to the sales floor. I need you to train the new guy.”

Quackity nodded and left. As he walked onto the sales floor, he scanned for anyone unfamiliar in a BigBuy uniform who might be the new guy Schlatt was referring to. 

Finally, Quackity saw him. 

A man stood a few aisles in front of him with the slightly embarrassed look that came from wearing a minimum wage uniform for the first time. 

Quackity stopped. 

The new employee had skin so pale it looked like a ghost’s and hair whiter than snow. Black claws drummed nervously against khaki pants. His name tag read, ‘Cellbit, Member in Training’. 

Quackity took a sharp breath. 

The Galactic Government (GG), observing this tragedy, did not stand idly by and took a certain number of humans to a so-called ‘reserve’. This place was located on one of the GG's satellites in another part of the universe and was named after the Earth satellite, Moon-2. Most of the characteristics of this celestial body were viable for humans, except the temperature. That's why a complex climate control system was installed here. Even then, not all of the territory was at a favorable temperature, and humans had to travel between cities using special transport. But over time, everyone quickly got used to it, and it became the norm.

The management system, leadership, and hierarchy were all simplified and made as transparent as possible for their own good. Every adult had a role in the new society depending on their abilities and inclinations toward certain activities. Some outstanding minds were even allowed to work in the Galactic Government in prestigious positions. Everyone had access to quality education, healthcare, and other essential needs.

It has been 30 cycles, or 300 years by human standards – 12 generations have grown up here. However, during the migration to Moon-2, there were people who decided to undergo cryo-sleep for some reason. This procedure can only be done once in a lifetime, so it’s very important to think about the date of your defrosting. Еvery few cycles you can see such people. They were often interviewed to hear their impressions of the future, of new technologies integrated into human life – in short, about everything that was different at the time they entered the cryo-capsule.

In general, it's an interesting experience and young people in each cycle are largely enthralled by the perspectives inherited from the past, particularly the utopian ones. But, such idealistic concepts have always been detached from reality. And of course, there's the conviction that these people are from the same era as the founders of the colony on Moon-2, who set off for another part of the universe to save humanity.

It's ridiculous, isn't it? To make such a big deal out of people who were just trying to save their own skin.

…

Techno was a young worker at the Scientific Galactic Community, specialized in maintaining macro- and microclimatic systems. He was sent to Moon-2 to perform maintenance and adjust settings for the next 3 years due to a drop in temperature on the satellite. This happens every few cycles, but this year saw record-breaking lows. So, he'll be spending some time getting it right.

He was studying human culture at university and got into some of the ideas. Like anarchism, for example, despite being a rather utopian and contradictory system of beliefs, he still enjoyed thinking about it.

His thoughts were interrupted as everything around him tilted – the spaceship had finally landed. He was supposed to be met by the satellite keeper, but he knew nothing about the guy beyond his name. As soon as he stepped outside, he was met by an Arachnitian. They were also humanoid, but a spider-like race with two pairs of arms. On their torso was a white spot with two black dots and a line shaped like a creepy smile, while the rest of their body was bright green. Honestly, Techno almost laughed when he saw it.

“My eyes are up here,” the voice said impassively in Common Galactic.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. It's the first time I've met someone like you,” Techno said awkwardly, rubbing his pink fur on the back of his neck.

Dream shook his head, "Forget about it. I'm glad SGC responded so quickly and sent us a climate engineer," he put all his hands together and made a little bow.

Techno repeated the gesture and then said, "I'm also glad to arrive here, I'm counting on you."

“We’d better hurry, it’s gonna get even colder.”

He nodded and followed his guide. He wasn't much for chatting up strangers, but he needed to know something, "What's it like? Being the keeper here?"

Arachnitian looked over his shoulder, “Are you interested in humans?”

Technoblade paused for a moment, "Kind of."

It wasn't quite a lie. As a rational species, they had clearly messed up. But if you ask his opinion, it was akin to lost potential. The Galactic Government makes exceptions for outstanding individuals to recruit them, while preventing them from developing in other fields. Sure, it means they don't lose great people on Moon-2, but still... They were capable of so much more.

The green alien returned his gaze forward and after a short pause said, "Pretty good, actually. I thought it would be worse."

Not everyone could breathe the same air as on Moon-2, so Techno was recommended primarily for this work. It seems that Dream could also breathe normally here, and only occasionally took a breath from a special device with a higher concentration of oxygen.

Before he could ask anything else, Dream held out a hand in front of him.

They reached the border of the warm zone, and a human city was visible relatively nearby to their left. Ahead, in the dead zone, stood a complex, branching system that seemed to benefit from the surrounding low temperature.

 “Put this on,” Dream said, handing him a special jacket.

Techno waved his hand, “I’ll be fine,” but took it as a token of appreciation.

The Arachnitian shrugged and, dressing warmer, stepped across the border.

He followed him, and despite being a Piglin, even he felt cold; he sneezed almost immediately due to the sudden change in temperature. Now more than ever, he was grateful for his warm fur, but it seemed even he would have to put on clothing like his companion.

A human couldn’t endure here for 20 minutes.

Most of the races in the galactic community were giants, unlike humans, so it's clear that body size also affects susceptibility to cold.

They got to the right place pretty fast, and Techno made a clicking sound when he was done checking out the climate system. He often mumbled while working, "I'll have to lower the temperature for the humans to temporarily stabilize the external system. It looks like autumn and winter will have to be shifted closer in this cycle."

Dream watched him silently for a while, but eventually spoke, "Do you know why this is all so poorly engineered?"

"You're aware that the project was developed in a rush, right?" Techno threw his tools down and carefully closed the panel cover.

“That doesn’t explain…” Arachnitian waved both his left hands vaguely in the air, “this.”

"Fair enough.” He sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain it, “That was the only dependable choice, though not the most practical one. Even after so many cycles, no one has managed to improve the system to a decent level. The important thing is that it has been running without breaking all this time."

“It could be better for them- I mean, for me. I'm also uncomfortable traveling between cities in this cold.”

“Oh, so you’ve attached to them,” Technoblade snorted in a friendly manner.

"Stop it." Dream hissed, his mandibles opening wide above his lip, but they quickly returned into place, "Just say that no one cares."

“Well, I do.”

Dream gave him an appraising look, as if searching for lies in his words.

Piglin continued, “It’s impossible to do something like this on my own, and I couldn’t think of a better way to do it. It’s not my strong suit, to be honest.” He folded his arms thoughtfully, “We need a good architectural engineer!”

“I doubt they'll make this project a priority, given the opportunity for more esteemed assignments in prime star systems.”

Techno shrugged, "I just shared my thoughts with you. If you do manage to get the GG's attention, then call me," he extended a fist forward, awaiting a reciprocal gesture...

Wait. He forgot that in his culture, this expression of respect would likely be misinterpreted and-

Laughter.

He blinked, still holding his outstretched hand in the air.

Dream smiled at him for the first time and extended his fist in return, “I appreciate it. Although it sounded like you were making fun of me.”

“What? Me? No… maybe just a little,” he got a slight push on the shoulder.

Techno turned around to look at the panel he had recently closed. Local climate change indicators were displayed next to it.

“Hey, сan I ask you for help? I need to monitor the temperature boundary in this sector, but it will be faster if we do it together.”

“Sure,” Dream put a bunch of portable thermometers in his bag, “Communicators don't work in the cold, so message me when you finish your part.”

Techno nodded and put his own equipment in the bag.

“Oh, and one more thing. If you see any freezeheads, bring them back to the warm zone.”

“Freezeheads?”

“Yeah, some humans are acting weird after cryo-sleep. Sometimes I feel like they're just trying to freeze their brains in the dead zone. And I don’t understand why.”

“After defrosting, you can't just immediately start walking, right?”

Dream shook his head, “Humans are different from us in this regard, but they’re unstable. Every time they manage to escape somehow, and every time I get a vague explanation...” he adjusted the bag on his shoulder, “Ok, I’m off.”

…

Techno vigorously rubbed his hands together and breathed on them a few times to warm up. The cold was already seeping into his bones, though it hadn’t even been 40 minutes yet.

He didn't notice anything strange on the way here, so he decided to do one last check of the perimeter.

He saw someone small lying on the ground.

Even though it wasn't a significant distance from the border, especially for someone with such long strides, Piglin still speed up.

Techno carefully but quickly picked up the unconscious golden-haired man. He was dressed in thin clothing, like from the Earth Age – jeans, a green shirt, and an unremarkable black cloak with white diamonds along the edges.

The man moaned when he was touched, so Techno hurried back to the warm zone, but the border lacked the heat to thaw the little thing.

He looked around, but Dream wasn't nearby, and the communicator needed time to thaw.

Ideally, the man should have been placed in room-temperature water. Then, after some time, the temperature should have been gradually increased to provide him with proper first aid…

The city wasn't too far away, but Technoblade was certain that he should start warming the man up right away.

It definitely wasn't the best idea, but it was the fastest way…

Techno carefully placed the human in his mouth and lightly ran his tongue over them. Piglins' body temperature was slightly higher than humans', so this shouldn't have caused any harm.

The poor thing trembled and began to move slightly due to the surrounding warmth, still unconscious. Techno wanted to purr to soothe the human, but that would only disturb them, so he didn't.

For now, he decided to check the readings from the remote thermometers he had installed on the border – everything was working perfectly.

The calm lasted just 15 minutes, as someone decided to wake up.

At that moment, he was taking off his jacket because he was getting hot.

Techno almost swallowed them when he suddenly heard muffled human swearing.

He accidentally pressed them against his palate, and this caused them to start hitting everything around them with their limbs. Any sound of discomfort from the giant was perceived as a victory, and they continued doing what they were doing.

Technoblade wouldn't stand for it and released them, cupping his hands under his mouth.

The frightened man stared at him, quickly looking around to understand where he was. The man said something.

Well, here we go. The language barrier.

Piglins communicated through growls, snorts, or clicks, so most soft sounds were difficult to produce.

If they speak too fast, he won't even be able to understand what they say. Like right now.

Techno's grimace made the man look even more terrified. He wanted to slap himself, as his facial expressions were unlike human ones. He relaxed his snout to look as peaceful as possible, considering he was a huge humanoid boar.

He made an effort to recall all his knowledge of this language.

“You’re safe.”

Yeah, this won't be a long talk.

The man still looked distrustful, “Leave me alone,” he said quietly, “Go away.”

He hissed, clutching his hand, which was clearly hurt by the cold. Even Techno could see the red patches on the white skin.

For some reason, this upset Techno more than it should have. He lifted the human closer to his face, not taking offense at the man's flinching.

Technoblade cupped his hands and began to periodically breathe warm air onto the man, occasionally glancing to see if Dream was approaching.

After a few minutes like that, he felt some light taps on his pinky. He pulled away to look at the man better.

Well, much better than it was at the beginning.

At least he won't die while Techno carries him to the city.

“I will bring you home.”

The man froze, and then suddenly hid his face behind his knees.

Water around the eyes is bad, right?

Whimpers were heard.

Yeah, it's definitely bad!

Techno panicked. What did he do wrong? Or is it still cold?

He carefully touched them with his finger, but the man slapped it away and freaked out, "Don't touch me! You ******!"

The man got to his feet and continued to yell at him. Techno didn't understand most of what they were saying, so he just stared back in silence. Whatever it was, it was obviously bothering them, so he'd let them blow off steam today.

Wait, today?

The yelling stopped, and the man quietly sat down, wiping tears with his hands. It seemed to have taken all the strength out of the poor guy, because he looked exhausted.

Techno decided to check if the communicator was already working, taking it in his free hand.

“I don’t want to go back.”

“I have to bring you home,” said Technoblade, still pronouncing the soft sounds rather roughly.

They looked towards the city, " This is not my home," then back at the alien, “I don't belong there.”

He should have just brought the man back to the city and continued working. It wasn't his business, but still. Maybe he could keep him company for a while. Although Dream wouldn't like that.

“Stay with me. For now.”

At least if they didn't like hanging out with him, he could just bring them back, because there were simply no other options. Certainly not for a human. This further swayed his disapproval of the galactic government.

“Are you taking me with you?”

Technoblade nodded.

He shouldn't be doing this. He doesn't even understand why he's doing this for this stranger. But because of their unfortunate look, he had a feeling…He didn't understand what it was, but for some reason his safe bag started to ache and throb slightly.

“Sorry, but before I agree, can I ask what you're doing here?”

Hmm, this will be difficult to explain.

And he didn't know such words in English, but he had a short but logical answer to the question.

Technoblade pointed to his bag of equipment and said, "Nerd stuff."

The man chuckled but cut it short, clearing his throat instead, “Yeah, sorry. I didn't expect to hear that from you.”

Piglin laughed, though it was kinda just a bunch of short snorts. An alien's appearance doesn't necessarily dictate their profession, though Techno does have a rather menacing appearance. However, anyone familiar with him would readily confirm he's a giant fluffy boy, both literally and figuratively.

It's difficult for humans to pronounce the growling sounds of piglins, so after an awkward exchange of names, they both decided to go with Philza and Techno.

Obviously, the human didn't know what a ‘safe bag’ was, so Techno had to explain that it was safe for them.

“I need to put you in my… storage,” it was the closest word he could remember.

“In your what?” Phil asked, looking the alien up and down with confusion.

He slightly pulled back the hand that held the human, "Here," he said, and ran his palm over the upper part of the belly.

"Is this the stomach?" Philza asked apprehensively.

"No. It's safe and warm," Piglin said quickly, holding Phil up to his face. He added, almost sadly, "It won't be for long."

The man stared at him, but eventually agreed, “I believe you, and…” they placed their hand on his thumb, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

Techno had no idea what possessed him, but he suddenly pulled Philza to the base of his neck and started purring (more like rumbling). A short "Whoa!" snapped him out of it.

He looked at them again, and the man laughed awkwardly.

"Wow, that was loud, I could feel it in my bones."

“Sorry?”

 “No, it’s ok, mate! I like it, really.”

At that moment, Technoblade felt so happy! It was strange, but in a good way.

"Let me know when you're ready," Techno instructed, then opened his mouth wide, moving his hands closer.

Phil carefully crawled inside, avoiding tusks the same height as him. He ran his palm over the tongue, and it began to twitch slightly, to cover him with a layer of saliva for a smoother descent.

Everything around stood still, waiting. He lay down with his feet first, because he didn't want to break his neck or hurt his back, no matter how much pressure would be around him in a few seconds.

"I'm ready!" Philza shouted.

Piglin raised his head slightly and swallowed, placing his fingers on his neck to trace the human down.

That feeling again. His storage was clearly pleased to receive something 'valuable'. Maybe it's because Phil has light hair? But he felt a desire to protect this person, and he didn't have a logical explanation for it yet.

Speaking of which, he placed his hand on the spot where Phil was. In response, he felt a gentle pressure, and a muffled voice shouted, "I'm fine, mate!"

Technoblade rumbled with happy purrs.

His communicator made a nasty, high-pitched sound.

Oh, he had missed messages from Dream.

D: I'm done. What about you?

D: Where are you at? Is there a problem?

The device just made that sound again.

D: I'm coming.

As soon as Techno looked up, he saw his partner on the horizon and walked towards him.

“What happened? Is the communicator broken?”

“Nah, everything's fine. I was just checking something here. Let's get back to base.”

“Are you sure?”, Arachnitian asked, looking him up and down.

"Yeah, yeah. And hey, do you have a built-in workshop? I'd like to take a look at the climate control system blueprints, maybe I can make some notes for the future.”

“Wow, you’re really excited about this idea.”

“Yeah, that's for sure. Sudden inspiration, you could say," Techno absently rubbed his belly and headed towards the base with a contented sigh.

Dream didn't say anything and just followed him. He received a message on his communicator.

Arachnitian stopped and stared at Piglin's back. Then he quickly entered the message on his device and continued walking.

Techno glanced over his shoulder, "Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no. Don't worry about it."

"All right."

Dream kept drilling him with his eyes, but Techno seemed not to even feel it.

…

“What are you doing?”, he asked, annoyed but calm.

Techno slowly turned around and saw Dream leaning against the wall.

"How long have you been here?", the piglin asked awkwardly, hiding his hands behind his back.

“Long enough to see you steal my human food supplies,” he sighed and rubbed his temples, leaving his other pair of hands on his waist. “I knew it. Where are they?”

“Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about, man, I-”

“I have a message from the cryo-center, Technoblade. You must return them.”

“But can we keep him for a bit, pretty please?”, he tilted his head to the side innocently.

“What? Why? Besides, we’re not talking about a cat, we’re talking about a whole person!”

"Okay-okay. I get it...", Techno grumbled disapprovingly but then he tilted his head again, "What's a cat?"

Dream groaned and, without a word, went to the Piglin's room. He swiped the keycard, not even ashamed that he'd had access to someone else's room all this time.

He and Technoblade froze for a moment as they looked into the room.

Techno exclaimed in Common Galactic, "No, Phil! You can't draw on this!", he managed to scoop up the human, who didn't look remorseful at all.

“You got the original system blueprints and left them alone with the freezehead?!”

“I only showed him how to use the holographic tablet and virtual tables, I guess he got bored and connected to my workstation...”

Philza didn't understand the language, but he knew what was going on anyway, so he finally spoke up, "That blueprint was a mess, I just upgraded it."

Dream asked in English, "What? What do you mean by-". He looked over at the table, then poked Techno in the side with his elbow.

Techno placed Philza back on the table and began reviewing the edits. While Dream was sending the improved blueprint into the simulation - all the indicators were close to 100% stable.

"I copied it before I made my own version, there was no call for all that shouting, you loud fucks," the human complained, rubbing his ears.

Both aliens looked at him as if he were the strangest one in the room.

“What?”

"Who the hell are you?", Dream asked. "This is too perfect for a person from the beginning of this millennium."

Philza snorted, "First of all, fuck you," he gave Arachnitian the middle finger, then nodded towards his work, "Secondly, I just made edits on an already finished blueprint. If I got used to these new tools, it could be even better. But I don't know this language, and honestly I'm not into the nerdy part."

"Wait, you said this could be done even better?!" Dream burst out, not seeing Philza flinch, but Techno did and picked him up.

"I didn't get it all, but don't yell at him," Technoblade warned seriously.

Arachnitian gave them both a crooked smile, "You two really piss me off, but damn." He stared straight at the man, drilling him with his gaze, "Seriously, who are you, Philip Rosales?"

Technoblade felt Philza flinch and wanted to scold Dream, "Hey! Knock it off! You're only making things w-", he felt a tapping on his finger. Phil gestured to be put back down.

Dream finally pulled back, realizing he'd crossed the line. He and Techno sat down at the table. Philza, meanwhile, sat down on a little earring case, put his hands together, and looked over at Dream.

"Before everyone found out Earth was dying, I was one of the most famous architects of the last generation. And of course, you can't be good at it without understanding related fields like building and engineering."

Dream quickly translated his words into Common Galactic for Technoblade.

Phil continued, "But a wealth didn't help me with my... problem." The Arachnitian gave a short nod, as his guy at the cryo-center had leaked him information about this man. He knew about Kristin.

"I changed my name and surname when we were preparing to leave our planet. There was such a commotion that no one even noticed," he felt tears welling up in his eyes, so he lowered his head.

"And then I woke up today to find out that she... I feel- It seems," his voice cracked, and he slowly raised his gaze to the aliens, confessing with tears streaming down his face, "that Philza Minecraft died 300 years ago."

…

That conversation left Philza so shaken that Technoblade had to calm him for a long time. The man even asked to be hidden in the storage because the reality of what had happened had completely thrown him off.

Phil didn't know what he was thinking when he escaped from the cryo-center. Perhaps to see his beautiful wife's face one last time, to touch her, to gently stroke her head, to say that everything was alright... to say sorry. Even he didn't know what he wanted at that moment. He just felt as if he had lost a part of his soul.

However, despite the hardship, he will learn to move forward.

In this world that is completely alien to him. He will have two stubborn but reliable friends to help him through.

Perhaps thanks to them, he'll be able to turn this universe upside down, even if he's just doing what he likes.

And who knows, maybe someday there will be a human who finds a cure for death or will be able to bring people back to life. It sounds very utopian, but if they manage to break free from Moon-2 and continue to develop, then it's not such an absurd idea, is it? Though this clearly won't happen in Philza's lifetime.

However, if he can make his dream a reality even a fraction of a second sooner, he will spare no effort to achieve it.

Although the two aliens won’t let him overwork, that’s for sure.

…

Logbook «Brian». Record from November 4, 2328 [Earth calendar]:

Phil sent instructions for Sector 103-f to the main screen via his tablet. He still had to wear a mask due to the unbreathable air. But the crew was working fast, so they'll be able to breathe easy in just two weeks. He was so glad Technoblade was the one who understood all that nerdy stuff.

Anyway, where are the guys?

Someone poked him from behind, and he yelped.

"Are you half-asleep, freezehead?" Dream chuckled. "You didn't even notice me come in."

“Unlike Techno, you have a light step,” he replied in Common Galactic.

"Heh?", Piglin was on the other side, startling the man once more.

"Do you wanna give me a heart attack?" Phil asked, clutching his chest. He shot a sharp glance at the Arachnitian, "And stop calling me that, it's been three years."

Dream feigned thought, "No." He and Philza exchanged two middle fingers, and with a quick goodbye, he left them with Technoblade.

They went to the empty cafeteria, where they could breathe freely without a mask.

"Don’t you know what rest is, Philza?" Techno asked, and then took a sip of his coffee.

“I just want to finish this project early so we don’t waste time here on this-”

Piglin interrupted him with a loud click, 'Wrong answer.'"

Phil snorted, "Ready to volunteer your services, are you?"

“If you keep calling it that, I'll drop you in my coffee.”

"Maybe that's what I want," the human replied with a smirk.

"I don't think we should be doing something like this in your current state," Techno noted, casting a dubious glance at him.

"Mate, I'm not out of steam yet."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that, dude." Piglin extended a hand for Philza to climb on, "How about a nap for a couple of hours?"

Philza bit his lip. He actually wanted to do something else for the current project, so he wasn't sure if he should-

Oh, what the hell.

He laughed, "Weren't you supposed to be busy as well?"

Technoblade snorted, "That can wait. I really wanted to check out that Earth book you told me about."

Phil smiled, "I think you'll like the strategy book." He glanced around to make sure no one was nearby. He didn't want any extra questions; it was enough that Dream knew.

"Ok, enjoy your reading, mate. And this time, don't forget to wake me up."

"No promises," Techno said, bringing his palm closer to his face, "Considering I'll be doing two of my favorite things at once."

"Just admit you're greedy," Phil chuckled, crawling inside.

Smells like coffee.

Technoblade will never get tired of this feeling. Is it weird to taste happiness? Probably yes, but he doesn't care. He's happy that Philza came into his life.

Gulp. Purring.

"Maybe," he said contentedly, rubbing the spot where the dearest person in his life lay curled like a sleepy ball.

…

That's it! The end!

Due to the fact that humans lived in a colony status, they were not allowed to develop in other fields besides the GG. However, thanks to the explosive incident involving Philza, everything changed. The GG had to publicly admit that humans hold untapped potential and that it was irresponsible to waste the opportunity to nurture valuable individuals for the entire galactic community.

Historically, in Piglin culture, partners would give each other small gifts, which they kept in safe bags. Techno almost never used a ‘storage’, because he is, ahem, a nerd. But that wasn't the only reason Philza caught Techno's attention. Firstly, he was curious, and he experienced that explosive personality firsthand. And he wasn't awkward about it! Which is rare for him, even though Phil sometimes made him nervous.

I absolutely did not want to write s*icidal thoughts for Philza in this oneshot. I decided to stick with the idea that upon hearing the news, he felt as though he had died on the same day as his wife. Yeah, he messed up by running, but it was a mix of several factors. In the end, it was easier for him to adapt thanks to Technoblade than to try and build a life in the colony with humans. And he doesn't regret it.

Dream was their social lightning rod in the team, as he took on all communication with investors, management, and so on. He and Phil often argue, while Techno tries to calm them down. Dream tried to make a joke at Philza's expense, saying that Techno shouldn't have picked up that wild opossum. The man simply ridiculed him for knowing such ancient memes from the Earth Age. But for real, they consider themselves friends who constantly annoy each other.

I can't say that I've written everything I wanted to, but I didn't want to make chapters for this story... I wanted to write some more hurt/comfort for this au, but there's already a lot of words here.

If someone sends me questions about any of my aus, I'll definitely answer them.

So yeah :D

Philza followed his daily routine just like he always did after sun down, he walked through the inner workings of the house, it’s walls and vent were familiar to him so much so that he didn’t even need a light when walking. He had rather good night vision as a borrower as well which he was glad for.

He made his way through the tunnel that would take him to the inside of the snack cabinet, admiring the way the light flittered through the cracks of the floorboards overhead. He liked the little things, pun intended, and tried to take things slow despite borrowers quick paced nature.

Not that he needed to be paranoid anymore, the humans of the house, the three beans that had been brothers without other family, knew about him.

No need to hide from the supposed danger, his sons. Despite them not being his by blood, his paternal instincts went wild when he first moved here, and he wasn’t even sure why until he was caught by Techno and found out they were orphans. That didn’t sit right with him.

So of course he had immediately adopted them all, regardless of the size difference and from that point on he was their father, their tiny father that loved them very much.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by loud footsteps running down the hallway he was under. It must be Tommy, that teenager still didn’t understand the concept of quiet, even with a tiny father.

Phil was curious to see what Tommy was so excited about though if his footsteps gave any indication to his mood. So he shifted his course to the nearest wall exit he had, though he still took his time getting there. 

At least, he would have if not for the sudden pounding in the wall near his living room exit, accompanied by sounds of a gremlin child screeching for him, the familiar sound of:

“Phiiiilllll!”

He huffed to himself at his youngest’s attempt to get him out of the walls. Well, it worked, but Phil didn’t mind if his sons needed something.

“What do you want, gremlin child?”

He crossed his arms, walking out of the wall with a glare, no real heat behind it. 

“It’s new years! You gotta celebrate with us, dadza!”

Now this was new… what was that? Sure, Phil knew human beans had holidays for a lot of things, a lot more than borrowers had, but new years? What was the point of celebrating a new year when it was just the passage of time?

Tommy seemed excited about it though, and Wilbur and Techno were there sitting on the couch too… he couldn’t say no to spending time with his sons.

“Alright.. so what exactly do we do?”

“Watch the ball drop, it’s on the television.”

Wilbur pointed to the TV, a machine he rather enjoy watching during family movie nights, it was on a channel show a brightly colored gigantic ball on a building and a countdown timer underneath it. Phil had to admit, the colors were very mesmerizing.

“And once the clock reaches zero we celebrate and drink.”

Techno chimed in with a smirk, Wilbur butted in at Philza’s apprehensive expression.

“Grape juice. We drink sparkling grape juice.”

He clarified with a chuckle, Phil sighed in relief, he couldn’t have his sons drinking alcohol at their ages, he knew that humans needed to be twenty one years old for some reason and he trusted human law when it came to his boys.

Philza agreed to staying and together the family watched the television and laughed, telling stories as time ticked on. It was times like this that made Philza truly happy in his lifetime. If he heard a year ago that this would be his life, sitting with humans who deemed him their dad in a home that felt safe, he’d scoff and say it was crazy…

He liked this crazy life.

Even as Tommy managed to drain his energy before midnight, passing out on the couch while Wilbur and Techno had a ‘civil’ argument with Phil sitting on Techno’s palm, he felt happy. This was the kind of life he thought wasn’t possible for a borrower like him yet he was living proof it was.

Finally his sons, minus Tommy, started counting down from 10

9

8

He was held close by Techno, the surface of his palm rough and textured nicely.

7

6

5

Phil was given to Wilbur and he was hugged against his chest, he clung to the fabric of his sons favorite yellow sweater, feeling comfort.

4

3

2

He looked at Tommy, his youngest son asleep, looking so peaceful as he slept. Phil smiled softly at his secure feeling.

1…

“Happy New Year!”

Three of the four shouted, Phil could care less about how his ears rang at the noise, he could only feel love as he watched his family, Tommy jumped up awake from the jump scare and shouted.

Once they calmed down from the height of the night they were all quick to settle down, the television was off and the lights were dim as the brothers relaxed on the couch, too tired to go to their respective bedrooms. Phil didn’t care though, because while they were all on the couch together it meant he didn’t have to go back to his room in the walls either. 

He didn’t have anything to worry about as he laid down on a pillow in Techno’s lap between Wilbur and Tommy. Maybe new years wasn’t so bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ happy new years! Hope y’all enjoyed and my posting schedule will hopefully get better so dw if you gave me a oneshot prompt!

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He let out a displeased grunt before starting to sharpen his sword. Wilbur had only gotten home right before the rain had started, he really didn’t like how risky his brother had been acting lately.

What if his twin had been caught in a flash flood? Or worse…

Techno had seen some signs on his patrol of…something…

He wasn’t sure what something was, but he did know it was big. The only thing that he could conclude was that it wasn’t human. They always left a big mess wherever they went, making it obvious that they were in the area.

This was more… careful.

That’s what worried Techno. There weren’t any tracks, it was almost always trees that seemed to receive the most damage, and maybe it was just his paranoia, but he couldn’t help but feel like there were eyes watching him as he did his rounds.

It had to be a predator of some type as well. There had been a decrease in the number of rabbits and squirrels in the area, Techno honestly didn’t have a problem with that. It was population control at best, and there was less competition between the hybrids and the rodents over storable food for the winter.

But at worse, that could mean if it found a hybrid like his brother in the woods… it probably wouldn’t see him as anything other than a quick snack.

The only animal he could think of that it could possibly be was a mountain lion, but even then he doubted that. They were rare in this region and never stuck around one place for long.

This thing had been around for a while. It frustrated techno to no end that he hasn’t even caught a glimpse of it.

Techno worried for his brother more than anything else. He couldn’t live with himself if Wilbur got hurt when Techno knew there was a threat. That’s why he’s been urging his twin to stay in the village, but it seemed Wilbur had other ideas.

He had no idea what could possibly motivate Wilbur to go into the forest so often. It was strange. He had tried following Wilbur before but the mouse knew him all to well to fall for that. Whenever Techno asked what he was up to it was always an excuse that he was working on his songs or improving on his training that Techno had taught him.

At first Techno had believed him. After all Wilbur’s stamina and strength had improved a lot over these pass few months, but Wilbur still refuses to even look the guards way when Techno suggested that he finally join.

His brother was hiding something from him. Techno could only hope it wasn’t something too bad. After all this definitely wasn’t the first time that Wilbur had distanced himself from his family.

Techno vaguely remembered the last time Wilbur ran off was for some girl he met. He had told techno she was a salmon hybrid. He had met her by the stream, and apparently had fallen deeply in love with her.

He disappeared into the forest for days at a time, only returning every now and again to keep Phil from sending out a search party for him. It had lasted a couple of months, but eventually Wilbur returned heart broken.

Apparently the girl had a boyfriend, a small detail that she apparently forgot to tell Wilbur about. Then like all salmons do, she left Wilbur and swam upstream. Wilbur had been amusing to her with his songs and lovely gifts, but she eventually grew tired of him and went her own way back to her boyfriend that she had left.

Wilbur had felt completely and utterly used. He had given his all to her and she threw it all away when she grew bored.

After that instance it was hard to even get his brother out of his room. That was a rut in Wilbur’s life that he hoped his brother would never experience again. But eventually Wilbur came around and his twin was back to his happy carefree self.

He could only hope that his brother wasn’t in a similar situation as before. Techno can’t stand his brother being upset.

Techno let out a hum of approval when he was satisfied with his sword. He stood up from his work bench and stretched. No matter how he tried he couldn’t shake the restless feeling in his bones.

Maybe he just needed some fresh air. He stepped out onto their porch that overlooked the village, carved to perfection with Phil’s own hands. The leaf roof held strong against the heavy rain, the leaves layered and pulled taut.

Techno gazed upon his home, he breathed in the crisp air deep into his lungs. The rat sat down on the ledge and closed his eyes, trying to at least get a little rest.

Techno was jolted out of his peaceful sit down by a strange sound. He waited a few more moments but the sound seemed to have stopped. He flicked his ear in annoyance and tried once more to relax.

“HELP!” Techno shot to his feet and got his sword, adrenaline pumping through is veins. Phil shot out of the house by his side in less than a second.

“Where’s that coming from?” Phil asked, eyes analyzing through the thick rain. Techno squinted at the base of the tree, someone was waving their hands in a frenzy. “There.”

Phil spread is wings wide and dived down from the tree. Wilbur rushed out of the house panicked, “What’s going on?”

But Techno had already grabbed a vine and slid down the tree before he could answer.

———————————————————————————

Philza dive bombed down from the tree. The rain beating down on his wings while he navigated towards the desperate pleas for help. Despite the harsh conditions he stuck the landing with practiced ease. It was Jack. The shrew had looked like he had seen death herself. The color almost completely drained out of his face.

Techno dropped down to his side, immediately his son was scanning for threats, leaving him to deal with the panicked shrew.

He laid a hand on his shoulder to give the boy some comfort. “Are you alright Jack? What happened? Is there any danger?” The bird spoke in a calm and clear manner.

“I-I was out hunting with my party and I got separated with my group a-and…”Jack got choked up on his words, he gave a pained cough. “I heard a noise, It was a rabbit I think…” Phil nodded his head and rubbed the shews shoulder.

“I thought I had found them after a successful hunt, but when I r-rounded the tree…” He gasped for breath before sputtering out.

“Phil…” Jack looked up to him with the upmost dread in his eyes, “It was a Naga.”

The Avian felt his heart sink to the depths of the earth. He was suddenly transported back to his old village. Fires raged all around him and giant snakes cackled, their bellies full of his neighbors, his friends…his family.

He was just a child when it happened, he thinks he only survived due to the mercy of lady death. He had barely managed to escape, his flight feathers had barely grown in, without his wings his savior came in the form of a river. He was surrounded by flames on all sides. A great beast blocked his path before him. It’s white scales glowing in the fire light, blocking any chance to escape. It had devoured all that he held dear and he was all that was left. A freezing cold river to his back, deep and violent. He had no other choice but to jump and pray that the river would take him to safety.

He was thrown this way and that, turned around and dunked under over and over again. He found security in a floating log and clung on for his life. His small pitiful wings soaked to the bone.

Once he finally made it to calmer waters he heard the gentle calling of an owl in the distance. A sound that would usually cause fear instead filled him with a reassurance that he would be alright. He had survived.

After he was washed to the shore of the river bank a group of traveling tiny hybrids took him in. They were going to a village, a safe haven for all tiny hybrids to escape the cruel grasp of a world much to large for them.

He became a strong warrior and a skilled leader, it wasn’t long before he was asked to be put in charge after the last elder pasted on. He took his place with pride and joy in his newfound home and made the village what it is today.

Then he found a new family to protect. One that he would not fail ever again.

Phil was brought back to reality by Techno shaking his shoulders. “Phil? You with us?” Techno’s eyes were worried and Phil’s hands trembled ever so slightly.

He looked to his youngest with eyes that have seen devastation. “Go sound the alarms, prepare the guards for the fight of their lives.” Phil was more serious than Techno had ever seen him before. He felt a deep pit of fear in his stomach at the look in his father’s eyes.

Techno signaled to a near by guard tower to sound the alarms. His long pink hair clung to his face in the heavy rain. The light flashed two times and in seconds a loud clang was echoing throughout the village warning them to seek cover and hide. Soldiers rushed to the great tree. Struggling to put on their armor and get their weapons in a short amount of time.

“Dad!” Phil turned around to see his oldest rushing to him. He was surprised to see Wilbur wielding a sword, his hair an utter mess, he even had a chest plate slapped on as if it were a last thought. “What’s going on?!”

“Wilbur, I need you to go warn the villagers.” Phil pulled his son along to the emergency supplies station. The healers already handing out the emergency bags to each villager. “I need you to hand out these care packages with the healers. Techno and I are leading the guard.” Wilbur looked utterly confused as big packs were shoved into his arms.

“Dad, what’s happening?” Wilbur’s words were panicked, he looked so unsure. Phil’s instincts only grew to keep Wilbur out of dangers way.

“Jack got separated from his party. He finally found what Techno has been trailing for months.” Philza looked to his son, he could since his boy’s growing dread. “He found a Naga, Wilbur.”

Wilbur threw the supplies to the ground and grabbed his father’s wrists. Phil was surprised to find the mouse’s dull craws griping into his skin.

“You can’t go. Please don’t go.” His son sounded more desperate than he ever heard in his life.

“We must. We have to protect the village, no matter how dangerous it is.” Phil softly pet Wilbur’s head trying to comfort his son, but Wilbur shook off his hand only to grab it in an even tighter grip. Wilbur looked strangely conflicted.

“He hasn’t hurt anyone. Has he?” Phil sighed and pulled his son into a hug. “It hasn’t hurt anyone yet. Jack said he was able to get away unnoticed.”

Wilbur nodded his head into his father’s chest. “Don’t worry Wilbur, we’ll exterminate it before it can cause any damage.”

Phil was suddenly thrown back from Wilbur, he was surprised to see a look of utter hatred. A vicious snarl took up his son’s face. “You can’t go.”

“Wilbur? What are you-” lighting struck the forest with a vengeance, the force alone shaking the ground. The smell of smoke suddenly filled the air, sending the village into a panic. Phil looked in the distance and saw a building orange glow. Tonight of all nights.

“Techno!”

His boy’s hulking frame was at his side in an instant, leaving the guardsmen fumbling with their armor.

“A fires broken out. I need you to stay here and help evacuate. Get them to the other side of the creek. I go to the Naga alone.” Techno snorted and crossed his arms, a determined look in his eyes. “No chance old man. You’re the one with wings remember?”

Phil looked to Techno with desperation. “You and the other avian soldiers, or anyone with wings, need to help carry everyone to safety. It’s the only way to get everyone safely out of the fire’s reach in time.” Techno lifted the giant axe of his shoulder and made his way towards his black and white rabbit Carl. He mounted his trusty steed and looked back to Phil.

“I’ll take the rest of the guard to handle our Naga.” Phil crooned and reached out for Techno’s hand. “I don’t want to lose you. Either of my boys.” Techno closed his eyes and bumped heads with Phil. “I promise you won’t Phil.” Then his son snorted once more. “Besides, this monster has never gone up against the Blade before.”

With that Techno raised his sword and called to his men. They began to march into the direction that Jack had come from. The hunt was on.

Philza watched Techno go. Fear deep in his bones. He’s be by his son’s side soon enough, he just had to get everyone to safety first.

He reached behind him to grab his eldest’s hand only to clench at the open air. He whipped his head around. “Wilbur?”

The mouse was nowhere to be seen. The emergency kits were still scattered to the ground. Where on Earth did he go?

“Wil?!” Phil called out, looking around for his son’s familiar form in the crowds. His calls and trills growing more frantic as more smoke filled the air.

Philza groaned in frustration and fear. He turned towards the avian soldiers, already guiding the villagers away from the direction of the fire. Phil shook his wings of the raindrops that collected in his feathers. He spread his wings and joined the men of his own guard.

Wilbur knew the safety protocols well, he probably just went to help gather people when the fire broke out. Phil could only hope that his son was being safe. His son wasn’t a fighter. He was always much better with his words. He could imagine Wilbur now, calming the crowds and giving them clear directions. His son knows to stick clear of danger.

———————————————————————————

Ranboo shot awake as Tubbo shook him violently, the first thing his panicked mind processed was the village alarm. Their eyes locked onto Tubbo’s own worried one’s.

“There’s a fire. It’s moving pretty slow, but we still need to get out of here. They’re relocating us to the other side of the river.” Tubbo quickly packed the pair’s essentials, he moved quickly and calmly. He grabbed Ranboo’s hand and rushed out the door.

But instead of heading towards the river, Ranboo found that Tubbo was pulling him towards the guard’s facility. “Tubbo, what are we doing here?”

The bee pulled Ranboo behind a stone wall a peaked over at the scene. The soldiers were frantically strapping on their armor and harnessing their weapons.

However the thing that puzzled Tubbo, was that only the avians and other hybrids with wings were helping those evacuate. The grounded hybrids were marching into the woods.

It gave Tubbo a bad feeling. “You see that.” The Bee nudged Ranboo to look towards the guardsmen. “They’re preparing for battle. Only half of them are on fire duty.”

Ranboo looked on in confusion before a scary realization came to mind. “You don’t think…”

“Oh, I know.” Ranboo squeezed Tubbo’s hand a little tighter, Ranboo’s heart skipped a beat as he looked out at the sea of sharp weapons. Tubbo suddenly raised his arm and pointed to a familiar form. “Seems that sorry excuse of a guard over there caught sight of Tommy. It would’ve been old Manifold.”

Ranboo couldn’t help but let out a little breath of relief. If it was anyone other than Jack, Tommy might’ve actually been in danger.

“We need to warn him. If the guard finds him first they’ll never listen to him.” Tubbo nodded his head, but his eyes were kept firmly held on Jack Manifold. “Jack didn’t run from the direction of our normal meetup spot. He was closer to the hunting grounds.” Tubbo narrowed his eyes in thought.

“The guard seems to be heading in that direction, but we can beat them if they’re on foot. Techno may have his Rabbit, but he’ll stay behind to lead his men. We can safely travel above and get to Tommy first.”

Ranboo nodded his head at the plan but then realized one flaw. “How will we now where Tommy exactly is? I don’t know the hunting grounds well enough to navigate them without some sort of sight aid, and neither of us are exactly trackers like the guard.”

Tubbo gave a mischievous laugh, his eyes gleaming with delight. “Well my dear Beloved…” Tubbo pulled a long strand of rope out of his bag, a smirk on his face. “That’s where our eyewitness and personal tracker comes in.”

Ranboo sighed in disappointment. Of course Tubbo would resort to kidnapping first, but at the end of the day this was a life or death situation. They’d just have to apologize to Jack later, after all Tommy was really the one who was in danger.

He looked up to see Tubbo was already heading in the poor shrews direction. He could only hope Jack would forgive them after all this mess.

———————————————————————————

Wilbur sprinted through the thick rain, his face stung from the many leaves and branches that whipped his face. He didn’t feel any of it. The only thing that was on his mind was Tommy.

He had to get his little brother out of here. He didn’t want anyone to hurt Tommy, and he didn’t want Tommy to have to hurt someone.

He burst into the clearing calling Tommy’s name, but the naga was nowhere to be found. Even with the rain beating down, the smell of smoke was still persistent. Wilbur’s nerves only increased the longer he saw no signs of the snake.

Frustrated beyond belief Wilbur hit himself in the head over and over. Think think think. If I were Tommy where would I be?

It was hopeless. The snake could be anywhere. He liked to hunt all over, and if he was hunting or here in the clearing he was probably patrolling.

Wilbur curled up with his arms wrapped around his legs. Praying to whatever gods that would listen that they would help him find his baby brother.

All that answered him was an owl calling out in the distance. Wilbur sighed in defeat before another sound reached his ears. It was not the graceful calling of an owl or the mud splattering from the rain. No this was a sound he was much more familiar with.

He took off in their direction, following the familiar cries for help and the angry voice of a certain bee. He stayed hidden in the brush as he observed the strange scene in front of him.

There was Ranboo, with a rather uncharacteristic anger in their eyes, wings crossed and his ears held firmly back. Then there was Tubbo, his hands gripped firmly in Jack’s shirt, screaming in the shrews face.

“WHERE IS HE?!” Tubbo shook him more. “I KNOW YOU SAW HIM! NOW WHERE IS HE?!” Jack Manifold looked utterly distraught, his arms tied firmly behind his back, completely stripped of all his weapons and perhaps his dignity.

“What’s wrong with you guys?!” Jack struggled in his restraints. “Let me go! Please! Are you guys crazy?!”

“YOU SAID HE WAS RIGHT HERE JACK! AND GUESS WHAT? HE’S NOT! I DON’T LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE LIE TO ME JACK!” All Jack could do was to plead for Tubbo to not sting him.

“Please! I swear it was right here! Why are you guys doing this?!” He looked to Ranboo for mercy. “Ranboo! This isn’t like you! Tell Tubbo to stop joking around! This is a little extreme for a prank! It’s not safe to be out here with it!”

Ranboo rolled his eyes and walked forward towering over Jack. Wilbur had never seen this side of Ranboo before. The bat sneered down at Jack, their fangs on full display. “Listen Jack, I tried to be civil with you at first. I know that you’re scared but our friend is in serious danger because of you. This isn’t some stupid prank, Now where is he?”

Wilbur looked at all the hope drain from Jack’s face. “Y-you’re hypnotized or something… It’s made you guys it’s dark servants.” Jack looked like he was about to pass out, Tubbo growled in frustration. “THAT’S IT!” Tubbo raised his stinger high, Wilbur guessed that was his queue to intervene.

He sprinted out of the foliage, “Wait!” Tubbo and Ranboo whipped around towards him, but their anger was soon replaced with… relief?

“What are you guys doing out here? There’s a fire!” Jack struggled to crawl towards the mouse. “Wilbur! Help me! They’ve gone insane!”

Tubbo and Ranboo ran over to meet him. Ranboo grabbed ahold of his shoulders, “Have you seen Tommy?”

Wilbur was completely taken aback. He began to question the last several months of his life. “You’ve met Tommy?!”

“All of us have!” Tubbo supplied, “Though, I don’t know if we should count Jack or not.” Wilbur was completely baffled.

“Why didn’t he tell me, or any of you?!” Ranboo looked a little guilty at that. “He told me he didn’t want you to know. He said he wasn’t supposed to be seen by anyone else, that was one of your rules.”

Wilbur groaned in frustration, of course Tommy would keep it secret. He didn’t want Wilbur to be upset with him. Especially if it happened after the incident.

“Whatever! That’s not important right now.” Wilbur looked to Ranboo with Desperation. “I haven’t found him. He’s not in the clearing, I have no idea where else he could be.”

Tubbo cleared his throat and gestured towards their hostage.“Well he should’ve been right here, or at least that’s what Manifold said.” Wilbur turned to Jack who was currently trying to wriggle out of his ropes.

“Was this where you saw him Jack?” The poor shrew wilted at Wilbur’s question. “Oh no… Not you too Wilbur…”

Wilbur huffed and crouched down to where the poor man was writhing. “Yes Jack, me too…” The mouse sighed and helped Jack to his feet. “I know you’re scared Jack. Your instincts are probably going haywire right now . Trust me I know.”

The mouse looked the shrew firmly in the eyes. “He’s not gonna hurt you.”

Jack let out a sharp wet laugh. “Yeah right!” Jack’s mind flashed to Blood coating sharp teeth, it slowly dripping down it’s chin. “Gods… you guys really are under it’s control! It’s using you guys to do it’s hunting for it!”

“Jack, listen to yourself! You’re spouting complete nonsense!” Wilbur pleaded but Jack wouldn’t hear any of it. People who he once thought were his friends lured him away from the village with the lie that someone needed help, now here he is, tied up and being lead to his death.

“You’re the one that’s talking nonsense! You guys are gonna get us all killed! We need to leave before it comes back!” Jack cried his voice wavering with anxiety.

Wilbur sighed, Jack was just a lost cause. He turned to Ranboo, the younger’s face coated in worry and stress. Tubbo tried his best to comfort him, but he himself had the shadow of doubt on his face.

Wilbur looked back towards West, the orange glow was growing brighter by the second, even with the ever persistent drops of the rain, but it just wasn’t enough.

“I don’t know what to do.” Wilbur stated defeated. Tears were brewing in his eyes, Ranboo and Tubbo clung to each other.

Wilbur closed his eyes, trying to conger any kind of hope, the cold rain trailed down his face, but then suddenly it wasn’t. He opened his eyes confused, as the rain was still hitting the ground all around the group.

“Wilbur?” It was quiet and fearful. It was pure relief. It was Tommy.

Everyone’s head bolted upwards. Wilbur cried out in relief as his eyes met familiar glowing red ones. Ranboo and Tubbo cheered, while Jack shrieked in fear, backpedaling away before he tripped backwards on a root and fell hard to the ground.

“Wilbur what’s going on? There’s a fire somewhere and everyone smells so scared…”Tommy slowly descended from the tree, eyeing the shrew shaking on the floor with wariness. “And what are you guys doing here?!” Tommy’s voice was strained and scared, Ranboo stepped up first to answer, but was cut off by Wilbur.

“It’s okay Tommy. I know.” There was shame in the snake’s eyes, tears started to poor down the boys face, he tried to apologize. “I’m sorry Wilby…I-I was gonna tell you, I was…I was just scared you’d get mad.”

Wilbur reached upwards and Tommy took it as his queue to wrap his tail around Wilbur and lift him up, they both tried to ignore the gasp that came from the shrew below. Wilbur squeezed the boy’s tail with all his might. “Tommy, I can’t ever stay mad at you. I just want you to be safe. I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me things.” The child nodded his head and then gently pressed it into Wilbur.

Wilbur was suddenly brought back to reality by his own words, he pushed back from the blonde curls and looked his brother in the eyes. “Tommy you need to get out of here. The guard is on their way.” Tommy looked shocked. “What?”

Tubbo suddenly flew to Tommy’s face. “Yeah, and they wouldn’t be if not for him…” Tommy turned his head down to the trembling form in the mud that Ranboo was currently trying to console. “Also not to mention the ever growing forest fire.” Tubbo added on as a afterthought. Tommy couldn’t help but let his eyes wander back to the unknown hybrid. His pitiful struggles catching Tommy’s trained eyes.

“Is he okay?” Tommy gestured towards the hostage on the ground, Ranboo had tried and failed to remove the restraints. Jack grew deathly still as he realized all the attention was on him. It was looking right at him.

He couldn’t even muster up a scream, the noise dying in the back of his throat with any hope of survival. “He’ll be alright. He’s just a big baby.” Tubbo explained.

Tommy felt guilt eat away at his heart. He sat Wilbur back to the ground and crouched down to their level, Jack tried to scoot away but Ranboo held him firmly in place.

“Hello…” Tommy tried but Jack stayed frozen. “I’m sorry if I scared you…” The naga looked to the too tight ropes digging into the shrews arms. “Here…let me help.”

Jack cried out as he was pushed closer to the monster as it reached out for him with it’s deadly claws. He squeezed his eyes closed as tight as he could, not wanting to accept his fate. But instead of the sharp claws piercing him, he found the tight pressure on his arms were cut away. He fell backwards as Ranboo dropped him back to the ground. “Calm down, you’re fine…” Ranboo huffed out. Above him he was met with a soft smile and kind red eyes. Nothing like he had witnessed mere hours ago.

“There you go, I bet that feels better.” The naga said with a sort of kindness that reminded him of Niki. Only she would make sure to ask if he was feeling alright in a stressful situation, and here was this great beast taking her place.

While Jack was still fearful, he couldn’t find it in himself to run away. The Naga had done nothing but treat him with kindness so far, and his friends, however crazy they were, seemed to trust the giant. He’d have to give him a chance.

“Come on Tommy, We need to get out of here.” Wilbur climbed onto Tommy’s head before turning to Ranboo and Tubbo. “You guys take Jack across the river to safety. I’ll go with Tommy to make sure he’s alright.” The pair nodded and helped Jack to his feet, determination plastered on their faces, while Jack looked unsure. “We’ll find someplace safe to hide until the guard gives up, and hopefully when the fire dies down.”

Wilbur gently patted Tommy on the head trying to provide any comfort. “Alright Tommy let’s g—!”

Wilbur could only stare in horror at the approaching arrow. Everything was happening in slow motion and he tried to cry out to warn his little brother, but it was too late. The next thing Wilbur knew he was thrown into the air and a painful near deafening scream filled his eardrums. Wilbur hit the ground hard, his back ached, and his ears ringing. He tried his best to get back up to his feet only to see Tommy clutching his right eye in pain, the younger was sobbing uncontrollably, unable to do anything but flinch as arrows with ropes imbedded deep into his skin. Wilbur ran forward and screamed for Tommy to run before he was pulled back and away from his baby brother. They were too late.

And there was the Blade in all of his violent glory. His bow now tossed to the side after having hit his mark. A single arrow coated in weakness had struck deep in Tommy’s right eye.

———————————————————————————

Little did the village know… another visitor was upon them. When the scent of this much fear and panic hits the air, it can travel for miles around even with all the smoke. It’s hard for someone to not come see what’s happening after their latest business deal. Especially if someone is quite familiar with one of the scents in particular. It seems he, had finally found one of his star pupils. A malicious sharp grin spread over their scarred white face. Snow white scales flashed with the strikes for lightning.

It was an excellent night for a hunt. The fear was almost overwhelming. He hoped he could control himself long enough to not go into a frenzy.

He first had to find what he had lost long ago, and make him pay for the pain they had caused him. It was never fun explaining how the champion you promised had disappeared with all the others, face wounded with one dead eye. It was even harder to kill half of the hunters who were less than forgiving of his slip up with his newly acquired wounds. Let’s just say he was grateful that rage was a motivator.

The remaining hunters were quick to be back on his side after witnessing over half of their men be slaughtered. Shameful cowards it what they were.

The Viper inhaled deep and long, letting the scent lead him in the right direction.

I’ll find you Tommy.

———————————————————————————

Wilbur was relieved it wasn’t a lethal poison, only his father would carry those. Techno much preferred his hand combat or rather his blade combat. Wilbur watched with growing dread as Techno started to make his way towards Tommy, sword in hand, the poor child was pinned in place painfully from the many arrows and ropes tying him down.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe now.” It was some random solider, pulling the mouse away, white hot rage filled the Charmer as he saw the Blade lift his black sword, his baby brother crying for help. Wilbur head butted the solider and reached for his own blade . The poor guard member sat dazed on the ground with a very broken nose.

Tommy was pulled to the ground now. His arms strapped down to his sides and his head pulled back leaving his neck vulnerable to any attack.

Tommy whined in fear, his one good eye blinded by salty tears. The Blade raised his deadly sword, ready to end it all in one fatal swing. Wilbur never ran faster in his entire life.

Instead of fresh blood pouring from a wound, Techno was met with sparks as his blade struck another with all of his force. How strange… Techno didn’t hesitate, he tried to strike down his opponent but they held strong. Every swing of his sword was met with one of equal strength. After a minute of hit after intense hit the pair stepped apart exhausted. When Techno looked up to meet his opponent’s face he was surprised to see the small form of his twin brother in the place of where the skilled warrior stood. Techno stood taken aback, nothing could of prepared him to see that he almost battled his own brother to the death. What was his brother even doing here? Wilbur took advantage of his shocked state and suddenly there was a sharp burning in his calf. His own brother had just slashed him. Techno fell to his knees and his hand was next. His sword dropped to the ground and was kicked away. Techno had a faint memory come to mind of him teaching Wilbur those moves when they were young.

“Wilbur?! What are you doing?!” Techno growled in pain. “What I have to!” The warrior cried. “I won’t let you kill him!”

“Him?” Techno looked to the Naga behind his brother. It’s one slit eye shot daggers at Techno, it’s growls rivaled thunder itself, and it was all directed right at Techno.

If he were a weaker man he would of cowered under it’s gaze, but Techno was not. He sat kneeled and took the beast’s rage head on, and glared at the monster right back.

A cry from one of his men caught his attention and he spun around quickly. He was surprised to see his men being taken down by his own students. Tubbo had already stung half of the guard and disarmed most while he did, while Ranboo made quick work of the potions, throwing them against trees and rocks and watching them shatter and poor into the mud.

Techno was speechless… what was happening? First his own brother protecting a monster and now a revolution. He turned back forward to face his brother, utter betrayal pumping through his veins.

“You would hurt your own Brother to protect that monster?” Wilbur remained silent as tears trailed down his cheeks.

A hurt deeper than Techno had ever know stabbed into his gut. His face contorted into a deep scowl.This didn’t make sense. Why would Wilbur…

The beast groaned in pain and strained against the binds. “Wilbur…” It growled and his brother called out a desperate reassurance to it. It wanted his brother’s help?

Then Techno understood. He understood Wilbur coming back late at night or not coming back at all. Why his brother never let him follow him into the woods and always seemed nervous when Techno asked where he was going.

He understood why Ranboo would show up to his potion lessons less and less, and why Tubbo seemed to never be in his study anymore when Techno would need him.

He had heard legends of creatures that could control minds or hypnotize their prey. Playing with their food by messing with their very minds. That had to be what’s happening.

This… this monster had made them into it’s pets. It had to have them in some kind of dark bind, forcing them to the forest when it wanted and making them obey it’s every whim. But worst of all It had brainwashed them into thinking it actually cared.

“Wilbur, Can’t you see?! It’s forcing you to be it’s pet! It doesn’t care about you, it’s only using you!” Techno desperately tried to bring his brother back to him.

More fuel was thrown onto the fire that was Wilbur’s anger. He stormed forward his eyes blazing. He gripped is twin by the collar now consumed by pure wrath.

“Listen to me now Techno, that boy who you call a monster is just a child. He hasn’t even hurt anyone! Then here you come charging in without even assessing the situation… Calling me hypnotized and under what proof…That is a child you’ve shot down with your bows.” His twins claws dug into his flesh. “I swear to the goddess of Death herself that if you kill my little brother, then so help me gods, I will never ever call you my brother again.”

Techno’s wounds burned from rain and sweat. He could only stare in shock at his twins words. His little brother?

Wilbur threw Techno to the ground and ran to the beast. He started slash at the restraints, desperate to get the naga free. He was soon joined by Ranboo and Tubbo. Ranboo splashing healing all over Tommy’s wounds. Even Jack was at the snake’s side, helping to remove the arrows and tend to wounds.

Techno’s men stood back awaiting more orders as they looked on baffled at the strange sight before them. The Blade himself could only sit and watch his brother in sorrow.

This was no longer his fragile passive twin, hiding behind him in a fight, this was a warrior protecting those he loved. He guessed Wilbur really his twin in every way.

Techno’s eye’s traveled to the face of the Naga… No…The child he had order his men to shoot down. Wilbur was there, gently tending to the boy’s wounded eye, pouring bottle after bottle of healing potion. Techno could only pray that it wouldn’t cause permanent damage.

Only one of the serpent’s arms were free. He couldn’t help but feel his heart spark with a fresh wave of fear as it reached out for Wilbur. The hand simple cradled Wilbur gently as he worked.

The thing that made Techno’s stomach turn the worst were the whispered apologies from the boy, repeated over and over again. Techno could only sit as if he were frozen in time.

———————————————————————————

Philza flew as fast as he could. The last of the villagers were safely across the river in a makeshift camp, the rest of the flyers where busy setting up a makeshift camp for the next few days. The fire chased after him as he flew, it burned the forest without forgiveness, the rain was doing it’s best to fight off the hellish flames, but it could not save all from the fires path.

The fire had already passed through the Village. It had suffered from the flames, shelter and cover burned away, but they had fought the flames off well enough that a majority of the trees, buildings,and shrubs survived. It would take a lot of work to rebuild and recover the lost shelter, but it could be done.

Now with his people safely out of harm’s way, he could focus on the other threat. Philza prayed that Techno was holding his own well enough. The old bird knew the power of these beasts first hand.

The avian patted his side where his poison arrows stayed. Reassuring him self that they were still there. He only had three, being unprepared for a fight, but he would have to make do. He had to try his best for his boys.

He followed the guards trail the best he could in the dark night. The rain weighed down heavy on his wings.

He flew with grace. Ducking and dodging around everything in his path. His speed only increased as did his heart rate when he heard a commotion up ahead.

Philza burst through the trees with his bow drawn carefully with his talons. There it was in all of it’s monstrous glory, it took all of Phil’s willpower to not let the arrow shoot right away.

It was down, but it appeared that one arm was free. He looked to the guard in confusion as to why the Naga was still alive. Then he saw Techno, bloody cuts lined his body, his hair a muddy mess of knots and tangles. He sat crouched on the ground almost like a plea of surrender, his sword tossed to the side.

He reexamined the Naga only to see that it was holding something in it’s grip, Philza’s heart stopped.

In the claws of the Naga was Wilbur. His boy that was supposed to be far away and out of harms way, was here. They very last place that Phil ever wanted him to be.

The avian was seething. These monsters stole his family from him once before, he would not allow that to happen again.

“NAGA!” Phil spit fire as he spoke, the rage of a thousand suns on his very own tongue. Every head snapped upwards at the murderous call.

“Release my boy now, and I will give you the mercy of a quick death.”

Philza flapped his wings steadily, he pulled the arrow back firmly, ready to release it’s deadly power. The Naga released is son almost instantly to Phil’s surprise, but what had Phil questioning reality what that Wilbur refused to leave the snake’s side.

“Wilbur! Move aside! I’ll protect you!” Philza desperately called to his oldest, but instead of running to his father’s call, Wilbur sneered and planted his feet apart and stretched his arms out wide, as if trying to shield the snake behind him. Phil was also stunned to see three others at the naga’s aid as well, there stood Ranboo, Tubbo, and even Jack?

“You will not hurt him.” Wilbur spat with such a venom he might’ve well become a serpent himself. “If you dare release that arrow I will jump in it’s path.”

Philza was completely taken aback. Why are they protecting him? Why would his son threaten his own life over a Naga?

He glanced back to Techno, only to see his boy staring right back, pure shame and regret in his tired eyes. Phil didn’t understand.

“Wilbur why would you—” A vicious cackle erupted from the night. One that struck Phil with such fear he nearly dropped out of the air right then and there, leaving the rest of the question to die in the bird’s throat.

A single emerald green eye, glowing eerily through the rain squinted in delight, peered out of the darkness of the trees.

“Well what a pleasant surprise .” Out of the forest crawled the devil himself. The fire was upon them now, it’s golden orange glow soaked into the Naga’s pale white scales, giving the illusion that this beast crawled out of the depths of hell itself.

Phil could only stare in pure horror at the Naga who had massacred is village, and took away everything that Phil had ever loved.

A sharp gasp and heightened breathing broke Philza’s spiral into despair. It was the restrained Naga, it’s breathing grew quick and panicked. The snake grabbed it’s four protectors with it’s one lose hand and pushed them quickly over to Techno.

“RUN!” It pleaded frantically, it’s voice strained and cracking. The White Viper howled in amusement at the scene before him. Phil suddenly realized just how small the first Naga was when in comparison to one that now towered over them all.

“Really Tommy? After all this time I would have at least hoped you’d learn to not play with your food. It’s quite bad manners you know.” The Viper clasped his clawed hands together in sick satisfaction. “And look at the mess it’s got you in! Oh how my once mighty has fallen.” The Naga fell back into a fit of crazed laughter.

While the Naga was focused on the smaller, Phil took his chance and aimed his arrow straight for the beast’s heart as it laughed away. The bird released the arrow with a perfectly practiced talent. Timed seemed to slow before it hit it’s target, but instead of imbedded deep into the Viper’s pale skin, it instead bounces of its chest and fell to the ground. Phil stared in shock at the sheer thickness of this monster’s skin. The laughter had stopped.

In an instant the Vipers tail shot out towards the Avian and smacked the little bird to the ground, a snarl on the snakes face. Phil cried out in pain, the sheer force of the hit cracking several ribs instantly. He hit the ground without forgiveness, his wing snapping next. He was nearly delirious with pain, he could faintly register is son’s crying out for him. He felt hands grab is cloak and pull him back. He opened his eyes to see Techno at his side, frantically shaking him awake. He could hear frightened screams and someone desperately crying for them to run. It was the first Naga.

———————————————————————————

Tommy thrashed and clawed at the ropes, screaming for the hybrids to get away. His eye still burned violently even with all of the healing potions. Wilbur’s dad lay crumpled on the ground, Wilbur crying out to him. XD looked on with disgust. Why did the Gods hate him so? The monster he had gotten away from all those years ago had found him at the worst possible time.

His tormentor. His captor. His abuser. XD. The Viper was all Tommy had ever know. He was told he was found alone as an egg. Abandoned and left in the snow. Somehow, Tommy doubted that, now that he knew the truth about the snake who raised him.

Everyday was true hell for Tommy the moment he could slither on his own. He once had siblings, all different degrees of deadly hybrids, though he was sure they were all gone now. They were forced to fight one another, told it was to keep them healthy and strong, and to protect them from danger. They were kept in separate cages when they weren’t fighting and carted to various towns and cities. Many of his sibling’s cages were taken away. Handed to humans in the cover of night with the promise of XD saying they’d be going to a good home. Tommy had once believed him when he was little.

Now Tommy knew the dark reality because his oldest brother found out the truth. His brother was something called a Warden. He was given to some humans with two of his other siblings, it was sad to see them go, but Tommy was also excited. Because Xd had said that someone was coming to pick him up that next morning. That he was going to go somewhere very special and be the Champion of a King. Tommy had never felt for happy in his life.

He had went to sleep as soundly as he could in a cage, but he quite surprised when Sam had woke him up in the dead of night.

He was alone. Blood had stained his claws and face. He let Tommy out first and then opened everyone else’s cages. He had took them away then he told them the truth.

That they we’re being sold. Sold to hunters, to kings, to fighting rings. That they were sold for their parts, for their strength, for their magical properties. Sam had been the only one to make it back alive.

XD had found them that night, screaming for them to get back into their cages, but Sam kept us safe behind him. The Viper was absolutely furious.

But Samm wouldn’t listen to XD anymore. He was a Warden after all, and they were know to be rather protective of what they loved.

They had escaped. Leaving then Naga with one less eye and more than a few deep scars. They hid in the forest, hunting and living together as a true family should. They were happy.

But then the hunters came and they had to run. Tommy wasn’t the fastest then, he wasn’t very big either. So he did what he does best. The Naga stayed out of view, hiding from the hunters while his siblings ran. He hid until the forest grew quiet and the night turned to day, but his siblings never did come back. He never saw any of them again.

Tommy was on his own. Learning to survive by himself and live among the trees. A silent and lonely life, and that’s how it was for a long long time.

Then he met Wilbur and everything changed, and he was happy. He finally had a brother again. But now that was all about to change again. Because he had screwed it all up. He had been seen and forced the guard to come after him, now XD was here and everyone was going to get hurt because of him. Why was he cursed with such a cruel fate?

“Tommy? Do your little pets not have any manners? Honestly, I thought I raised you better.” The serpent snarled and dusted off where the arrow had hit. “Really, the only good thing they’re for is to eat.” Tommy growled deep and long, XD only seemed more amused.

“You know…for how much you seem to care about them, they still seem rather afraid of you.” XD hissed a smile on his face. “I just so happened to be in the area after my latest business deal, when the smell of all this fear hit the air.” The Naga inhaled deeply though his nose and sighed in satisfaction. “It’s quite a mouthwatering scent, but I was pleasantly surprised to suddenly smell your fear mixed in as well… You see Tommy, I am still rather angry for you and your siblings running away, and that Warden definitely didn’t help your cases after he took my eye….”

The Naga gave a dark laugh as he looked at Tommy’s face. “Though now, I bet you understand how painful it is to lose an eye. Would you look at that…” XD gripped Tommy’s chin to meet his own scared face.

“We match.” XD spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone. Tommy only growled louder. “I’ll be honest with you Tommy, but only because I find you situation to be so amusing. I was just going to kill you first and enjoy the spoils for myself, but now I suppose I’ll let have one last meal. After all I do love to watch these pests get what they deserve, now which one took your eye.” He asked with a sharp grin. Tommy remained silent, not daring to make even a motion towards any of the smaller beings.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Someone shouted from the crowd. “Hmmm, who said that?” XD asked with a joyous expression. Tommy felt all the color drain from his face. His heart pounded against his chest. “IT WAS ME!” A lone mouse marched from the crowd, his family cried for them him to stop, a single sword drawn in hand and pointed right at the White Serpent. What was Wilbur doing?

XD cackled at the sight of the mouse. Where had he got all this courage? “I’ll suppose you’ll do just fine instead.” And Wilbur was suddenly scooped up in a soul crushing grip, the mouse suddenly felt bad for scolding Tommy for squeezing to tight, because it was like nothing in comparison to this. Wilbur wheezed, his lungs suddenly void of any air.

The crowd cried out, Techno and Philza louder than any of them. Techno rushed forward, his wounds gushing blood as he slayed the white scales with his sword. His constant swinging barley even left a scratch.

XD leaned down and flicked the rat away. He growled in anger and squeezed the pest in his grip even tighter, he felt something snap under the pressure…It’s leg.

Wilbur screeched in pain and XD laughed with pleasure.

“No please! Leave him alone!” Tommy begged reaching out for his big brother. “Don’t hurt him!”

XD tsked and shook his head. “Tommy, you should know by now to not get attached to your food.” The viper scratched his head as if in thought. “I guess I can’t trust you to not just store this one. More for me I guess.” Tommy watched in terror as Wilbur’s struggling form was dangled over XD’s deadly maw.

XD tossed Wilbur into the air and something in Tommy’s mind flipped like a switch. The restraints holding the red naga down all suddenly snapped away and he lunged for the white beast. He pushed the Viper back into a tree and bashed his head against it over and over. Wilbur landed on Tommy’s head, all the air rushed out of his lungs as he tried to recover from his second fall this evening. Wilbur desperately tried to grip Tommy’s golden hair to keep from falling, but his brother’s fighting didn’t create the most steady of holds.

Wilbur found himself falling once more that night before someone swooped down and gripped the back of his shirt. Ranboo held onto him tightly, but they we’re still approaching the ground at an alarming rate. Tubbo soon came from below and smacked into Wilbur’s middle. The mouse hissed as his leg was jostled around before he was sat far back from the battling giants.

Techno screamed for his men to retreat. If not to get out of the way of the giants, then to escape the fire that almost completely surrounded them now. Many refused until Techno ordered them to go warn the people across the river and to protect them from any other threats.

Philza was busy crawling closer to the raging giants, his bow in hand and two arrows left. Even with a broken wing, he could still use his talons to shoot. The red scaled naga was currently clawing at the White Viper’s gut. Their great tails fighting for dominance against the other, squeezing and strangling. Though Phil could tell that the red one was being to lose control over white.

Phil would have to take out the biggest threat first, then he’d worry about the smaller one. Phil pulled back the bow and aimed for the White Naga’s one remaining eyes. He waited for and opening. There. The white naga suddenly ducked down trying to strike at red’s throat but failing. The arrow flying safely above it’s head.

One arrow left.

Techno grabbed Ranboo and Tubbo and handed them to several guards. “Get them across the river and to safety.” The two kids shouted with displeasure and struggled in the solider’s grip to try and get back to Tommy. Techno turned to Jack and gripped his shoulder. “Make sure they get there.”

Jack nodded his head but looked unsure. “What about you three? Aren’t you coming?” Techno shook his head. “No, we’ll only slow the group down with our injuries, and I don’t think I could even get Wilbur to leave anyways.” Techno sighed as he began to hobble back to his twin’s side before he turned back. “I’ll try to get us to a safer spot, away from the flames, but Jack if you want to live I suggest you leave now. I know Niki’s waiting for you.” Despair stabbed through Jack’s heart and he saluted to his General for what maybe the last time. “I’ll see you later Captain.” Techno smiled and nodded his head. “See ya later, Jack.” Jack took off after the group, tears streaming down his face.

Techno pulled Wilbur over his shoulder shuffled away from the flames path as the naga’s clawed at each other’s throats. Techno squinted to see his father crawling closer and closer an arrow drawn. Fear pooled in Techno and Wilbur’s gut.

Wilbur’s hands were clasped tightly together, he was mumbling in prayer over and over again, “Oh please, spare them Lady Death. Have mercy on them.” Techno held Wilbur closer, and while he was skeptical of the gods, he too couldn’t help but say a silent prayer.

Tommy was losing his strength, he glanced to see that Wilbur was safely on the ground and that was enough to give him hope, but XD was so much larger than him it was only a matter of time before he could over power him.

“You’re nothing but a sorry excuse for a Naga.” XD snarled. “You would’ve been better off if those hunters got to you like the others, because at least they would’ve given you the mercy of a quick death!”

Tommy growled at the thought of his siblings deaths, tears coming to his eyes. XD yanked his hand out of Tommy’s tail and wrapped it around the younger’s throat, his claws piercing the child’s skin, Tommy fought to pull it back with his tail.

Tommy was losing strength with every second. His vision was beginning to fade to back around the edges, and his tail was growing limp. He used his last remaining strength to hold back XD’s claws.

“You’re just a stupid child! Did you really think you could defeat me?!” Tommy whined at the lack of air in his lungs. “I’ll make sure to eat your favorite pet first after I kill you. No….maybe I should make it my pet and drawl out it’s suffering, then I’ll bite it’s pitiful head off and watch the blood pour out!”

Philza drew the bow back once more. He let out a shaky breath and a prayer to Lady Death. He released the arrow and fell back exhausted. Eyes rolling back into his head.

Air rushed back into Tommy’s lungs as a horrifying scream left XD’s lips. The Snow White serpent was clawing desperately at his remaining eyes, blood gushed from the wound. Tommy’s eyes locked onto XD’s unprotected throat and lunged forward once more.

Tommy’s fangs sunk deep into the tender flesh and blood rushed into Tommy’s mouth. The Naga began to writhe in his hold, but Tommy only bit down harder.

Once the Viper’s struggles and cries turned deathly still, only then did Tommy tear back with a hunk of flesh in his teeth.

Tommy quickly spit it out to the ground with the blood that at poured into his mouth. He gagged on the disgusting taste. An oddly peaceful silence over came the forest, ever with the fire raging around them. The sky began to pour down harder than it ever had, the rain finally becoming strong enough to smother the fire.

Tommy slithered over to Wilbur immediately, the mouse reaching out to him while the Blade adverted his gaze. Tears fell with the rain as he gently cradled his big brother. “I’m sorry Wilbur… I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Wilbur gave a loud wet laugh that sounded more like a sob. “Oh Tommy, this isn’t your fault. This isn’t anyone’s fault. You’re still my baby brother and that’s all that matters.”

Tommy did sob into Wilbur’s small frame. Wilbur gently pet Tommy’s cheek before sighing and looking into Tommy’s eye. “Tommy I’m gonna ask of something that might be pretty big for you.” The blonde boy just nodded his head. “I need you to store me and my family and take us back to the village. It should be a safe place for you to sleep for the night.”

“But Wil…” Tommy looked to with with fear and uncertainty but Wilbur only smiled. “It’s the safest way to travel fast with all of our injuries, and I know your instincts are going wild right now.” The mouse laughed softly. “Yeah…” The boy admitted.

“They may not like it, but I’ll be right with you the whole time.” Tommy closed his eye and took a deep breath. “Okay…”

Wilbur scooted over to Techno and pulled him closer to Tommy. “Techno, this is Tommy. Tommy, this is Techno.” Techno glanced up at the child but quietly adverted his gaze one he saw his injured eye. “Hi Techno…” Tommy tried.

“I’ve heard such amazing stories about you. Wilbur was right, you really are the coolest brother.” Tears flooded from Techno’s eye as he finally looked up at Tommy.

“I’m so sorry… I didn’t know and now you…” Techno kneeled down before the golden boy. “ I don’t ask for your forgiveness, I don’t deserve it… But please know I’m forever in your debt.” Tommy nodded his head once more and then looked to Wilbur.

“Okay Techno, Tommy’s gonna do something that’s kinda scary, but I’m gonna need you to stay calm.” Techno looked a little uneasy as Wilbur approached Tommy’s mouth in front of him. “He’s gonna store us. I promise that you’ll be safe. I’m gonna go first so you can watch, but I need to know that you’ll stay calm.” He watched Techno for conformation.

His twin nodded his head but folded his arms together tightly. “Okay Wilbur…”

Techno watched in disbelief as his brother willingly crawled into the naga’s mouth, or as best as he could with a broken leg. Techno couldn’t help but imagine those sharp teeth biting down and cutting Wilbur right in two, but even with his nerves he stood his ground and let Tommy gently guide his brother inside the cavern.

Once Wilbur was fully inside, the Naga closed his mouth and tilted his head back. The blonde child sallowed in one go then he locked eyes with Techno. Soft purrs left the child’s lips before he shook his head and was quiet once more.

“Are you ready?” It was spoken softly and scared and it made Techno’s heart melt, even if the action did terrify him to his very core. But there was no other way as the fire surrounded them.

“I think so.” The bloodied lips parted before him and Techno was met with rows of deadly sharp teeth. Techno’s hands trembled as hot breath washed over him. He could only hope that Wilbur wasn’t wrong about this kid.

Techno took a deep breath and jumped in. The warm air of the mouth surrounded him in am instant, and in some strange way… it was comforting. The tongue beneath him began to softly coat him in spit, the loud purring started up again. Then after a few more coats, Techno was pushed to the back of the throat and swallowed down. It was tight but not unbearable and soon he dropped into a squishy bed of warmth. Next to him was Wilbur who immediately came over to comfort him, but Techno’s instincts were already please with the safe, dark, and warm surroundings. He held Wilbur tightly anyways.

“Tommy, I need you to go find my dad now. He might be afraid but I need you to be as patient as you can. If he gives you any trouble, Techno and I will settle him down.” A gentle pressure pushed down on them as Tommy laid a hand on his stomach. “I’ll find him Wil.”

Tommy’s eyes became mere slits as he scanned his surroundings. The fire’s light making the battlefield much easier to see. Tommy’s pupils widened considerably when he laid eyes on the crumpled form of the avian. He broken wing tucked closely to his chest and his eyes closed in exhaustion.

Tommy approached slowly and cautiously. This man was still a powerful warrior after all. “Excuse me…sir?” The avian’s head shot up, a wild fear in his eyes. “They’re gone aren’t they? My boys…” It was said with a sorrow of a man who had already seemed to know the answer. Tommy felt his heart break at the pure look of hatred that Wilbur’s father bestowed upon him.

Philza was suddenly a child again, his back to a river and facing a beast, his loved ones all gone. Fire surrounded them on all sides, and he couldn’t fly away. Grounded to the cold and unforgiving earth, but strangely this Naga wasn’t cackling with glee at Phil’s misery.

“No sir… I’m keeping them safe. I promise that they’re okay.” Phil laughed biter and cold at that. It was taunting him though.

“Beast, the Viper was right. It’s not very kind to play with your food.” Philza spit in anger, hanging his head low, not wanting the monster to get the satisfaction of seeing the fear in his eyes. He expected retaliation, for the monster to act out in rage and finish the job.

Instead the broken cries of a child met his ears. Philza’s head whipped up instantly, his instincts calling for him to help the child. It was the naga…

Phil looked up at the Naga in shock. He really was just a child. His instincts cried for the child as he realized that the Naga had the same scared look on his face that he had seen on himself reflected in the eyes of the monster that had tormented him.

Philza’s instincts began to overtake him and he couldn’t stop the soft coo that left his lips. The child’s crying stopped and his puffy eyes met Phil’s own. Phil suddenly knew that this wasn’t a creature that would hurt someone else willingly.

“You said my sons are safe?” The boy nodded his head but he still looked frightened. “T-they are with me…tucked away… they want me to store you as well…” Phil felt his heart drop at the Naga’s words. A charred branch suddenly fell next to the pair from above, they both jumped.

The boy scooped the bird up in his palms, Philza cried out in alarm, to powerless to even try to escape, but the boy just held him gently. “I know you’re afraid… but you’re gonna be okay. You’ll be with them again soon.”

Philza heart beat in is throat as he was suddenly lifted upwards to it’s lips. They parted open to reveal the creature’s deadly teeth and forked tongue. Phil was to exhausted to even fight as it dropped him on its tongue. Phil went limp and accepted his fate.

But the Naga never sliced him with his teeth, and he was gentle with Phil’s broken wing. This was nothing compared to what he saw his family go through.

When he thought about it he guessed the Naga had no real reason to lie. Phil supposed that even if the Naga wasn’t telling the truth he would be with his sons soon.

But with each promise of the safety of his sons, Phil’s instincts began to believe the child more and more. Even as he felt himself begin to side backwards into the back of the throat, Phil couldn’t find it in himself to be afraid.

The warmth that surrounding him made his already exhausted eyes grow heavy. He felt his consciousness start to slip away, when his journey down came to a stop he could since his boys hugging him. Phil fell into a dreamless sleep.

———————————————————————————

Tommy purred happily at the feeling of his storage being more full than it ever was before. He could feel the healing potions finally start to take affect. Tommy could even start to open his right eye again, although everything was still a little blurry.

He slithered with caution, avoiding what was left of the fire and the flames, the rain was in the final half of the battle, and it was winning by a long shot.

Tommy approached the thicket that protected the village, a lot of it was burned away, but the old trees and many of the buildings from what Tommy could see had held up well with minimal damage.

Tommy climbed up high in the largest tree and stretched out over the many branches. He fell into a deep sleep with the feeling of his new family stored safely inside him.

They’d tend to their injuries in the mornings, for now they got their much needed rest. From the stars above, a celestial owl looked down on the family with love. She had always know them since they were young, but now they had each other, and she wouldn’t let anything hurt them again. She sung softly into the night as the rain danced with her call.

"Let me go," Tommy spits out. Despite his aggression, there's a fearful, panicky air about him that sends pangs into Wilbur's chest.

"Toms, come on. You know me - you know I'd never hurt you." He wrestles him into the ground, easily pinning him to the dirt without having to exert real effort.

Tommy's arms shake from the effort of trying to fight him off. Wilbur is almost relaxed above him, a slight frown on his face as he easily presses the boy down. The more he tries to fight and the more he sees how futile it is, the more his hostility slips into abject terror.

"Wilbur, please." His voice cracks and he starts to go limp. He blinks back tears. "I won't tell a soul. Your secret is safe, just let me go. I'll disappear, and you'll never hear from me again."

No. No, he doesn't want that at all -

And something must show on his face too, because Tommy's eyes widen at his reaction, and he starts to writhe again, sobs building in his chest.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I don't - I didn't - "

"Hush."

He falls dead silent, tears still streaming down the sides of his face.

"You're fine," Wilbur murmurs to him, trying to imbue his words with as much love as he can. "Everything's going to be fine, okay?"

He starts to stand, pulling Tommy up with him as he goes.

He's tense in his arms, but Wilbur remains gentle.

As soon as they're both standing up, Tommy lurches away from him, but he's not fast enough.

Wilbur pulls him close, his arms still loose around Tommy. "Were you trying to catch me off guard?"

Tommy is sobbing and yelling and hitting at his chest, but he doesn't react.

"I... what are you doing? You - you know I'm much stronger than humans, sweetheart, you've got to stop fighting me."

He breaks down in his arms and tries to fall to the ground, but Wilbur catches him and holds, staring at him in puzzlement.

"How do I make this better?" He asks, almost blankly.

Tommy is still crying. "You - you ate the mayor," he whimpers. "You burned half the village to the ground. You burned the orphanage to the ground. You killed Phil and Tech - "

Wilbur swallows a lump in his throat and shoves down rising feelings of guilt. "I did what I had to do. I ate the mayor, I destroyed your village, including the orphanage. But how else could I get you?" He brushes a strand of hair from Tommy's eyes. "All that paperwork... it's easier if they think you perished in the fire. And for the record - " he conspiratorially winks at Tommy, trying to get humor him, "Phil and Techno are just fine."

He doesn't wait for a response, closing his eyes and starting to shift. He pays extra mind to Tommy's position in his arms. The change is done in seconds, and when he opens his eyes again, Tommy's just a tiny little thing lying between his clawed paws.

"Treasure," he purrs irreverently. "My little human - let's get you taken care of, yeah?"

Tommy stares up at him with wide eyes, completely frozen on the ground.

Wilbur wastes no time in leaning down and swallowing Tommy. He screams and kicks as he goes down the throat, but Wilbur's body was designed to eat live prey. Functionally speaking at least, Tommy is no different from the deer or tigers or knights he regularly eats.

He hums contentedly as Tommy settles into his brood pouch. It's padded out so he can be rough as he wants in there and it won't hurt either of them (and let it be said that he is trying very hard to hurt Wilbur).

"You're safe now, Tommy. Let's get you back to the rest of my hoard." He purrs again, a burst of delight in his chest. "I've waited so long to get you with the rest of my collection. Bit of a shame that you found out this way, but I'm a little glad too. I was going to reveal myself in a few months, but now I don't have to wait."

He spreads his wings and takes flight towards the treacherous mountains. Only the royals' finest knights could traverse the landscape, and even then, they were so tired and cold from the trip that their hands could barely grip the hilts of their swords.

He lands in the entrance and strides in. Techno and Phil sit idly on a pile of gold coins, chatting away, but as soon as their eyes land on him, they avert their gazes and seem to wilt. He's learned not to take it to heart - they've gotten better about managing their fear of him in the past few months since he added them to his hoard, and he's sure that as the years progress, all three of his humans will come around again.

He leans over Techno and Phil and opens his mouth up, finding it just the teeniest bit funny when they flinch back and start to plead with him not eat them. He brings out Tommy, letting the boy gently fall onto the two men below.

He sits back and admires them, a happy sound growing in the back of his throat.

"Finally," he says dreamily, "I have all three of you."

He shifts back into his human form and saunters up to them, ignoring how Tommy flinches backwards into Techno and Phil.

Phil pulls Tommy into his arms and starts to soothingly rub circles into his shoulder. "Wilbur, you're scaring him."

He shrugs nonchalantly. "You were scared too, in the beginning. He'll get over it soon - you all will - and then you'll be a proper part of my hoard."

Phil and Technoblade share a glance that he doesn't bother to decipher.

"Your hoard... what does that mean?" Techno asks slowly.

Wilbur grins brightly at him. "My collection! My treasure - it means you're mine now."

Tommy stares at him slack-jawed.

"Why us?" It seems like it slips out of Phil's mouth, something he says before he has a chance to apply a filter. But Wilbur doesn't mind answering.

"Techno is my twin, Tommy is my little brother, and you're my father." Those are all the human words for the familial terms, so they should understand.

Phil bites his lip. "Wil... we love you, but you can't - "

"I can do whatever I want," he cuts in, his voice edged with aggression.

Phil falls silent.

Wilbur smiles at him again. "Do you have anymore questions?"

Techno awkwardly coughs. "I hate to be the bearer of the obvious, but humans don't live as long as dragons. We're a lot less hearty, and you've stationed us on Dead Man's Hill. Because that's the name of this mountain, Wilbur - Dead Man's Hill. Are you sure you don't want to take us somewhere else?"

He feels his expression darken. "That won't be an issue. You're my hoard now. Which means your life force is tied to mine, and all three of your aging processes have stopped. If I'm to die - if - then you'll begin to age again." He turns a steely eye to Techno's. "And we will leave this mountain. But only when I know you won't try to do something silly, like leave me."

Techno nods, avoiding his eyes. "Sounds good."

"It does, doesn't it?" He agrees happily. "Now that I've taken Tommy, my collection is complete."

"Sorry - sorry, what the fuck?" Tommy chimes in, finally having found his voice.

Techno lowers his voice and says into his ear, "Wilbur is a dragon and he's keeping us now."

Tommy stares at him. "I thought you were fucking dead."

"Mm, me too," he says dryly. "But I'm not. I'm just the adopted twin brother of a dragon."

"Did you know?!" Tommy asks, sitting up and stumbling away from them.

Wilbur watches him curiously, fondly noting as he tips backward into a stack of gold coins.

"Did they know what?"

"What do you - what do you fucking think, Wilbur?!" He screeches.

Wilbur smiles, and lets himself shift again. Tommy flinches away as he approaches but he doesn't mind, picking him up in his mouth and plopping him back down next to Phil and Techno.

"They didn't know," he says soothingly, gazing down at them. He curls his tail loosely around their little group, forming a protective barrier. Or a cage.

Techno slides an arm around Tommy's shoulders. "Trust me," he murmurs, "if we had known, we never would have let you - " he cuts himself off, seeming to stiffen as his eyes nervously dart up to Wilbur. "We didn't know," he concedes.

Wilbur laughs lightly. "Can you imagine if you had? You never would have been my friend! And Phil never would have taken both of us in. I had to lie."

There's a look on Phil's face that he can't decipher. "Wilbur... I would have. Of course I would have," he says gently. His words carry weight, but the meaning behind it is unidentifiable to Wilbur.

"No," he says simply. "So it's a good thing I lied. Because the years passed and you realized how much you loved me, and now that you know I'm a dragon, you won't leave."

A sharp wave of paranoid insecurity strikes through his chest. "I don't think you'll leave," he mutters in afterthought, his tail slightly tensing around them.

Technoblade looks conflicted. "We love you for you, your being a dragon doesn't change that."

Wilbur frowns down at him, puffing a plume of smoke out. "Why are you saying that?"

"What - what do you mean?"

"We aren't leaving this mountain, Techno. I'm not that stupid."

A look of surprise crosses his face. He's a good actor, Wilbur decides. "I wasn't saying that to trick you, we do love - "

"I know you do!" Wilbur sharply cuts in. "Because I spent years bonding with you as a human. And now that you know I'm a dragon, it doesn't matter!" He gives them a smile with his large, sharp teeth. He ignores how forced it feels. He ignores how it feels like he's trying to convince himself more than them.

Phil looks at him with a pained expression. "Mate - "

"You're a little scared right now, but that's fine," he purrs, cutting him off. "We have the rest of time for you to love me like you used to. You weren't supposed to find out, but you have, and that's fine. I'll just keep you here. I'll just keep you here, and we can be a proper family."

He nuzzles the three of them with his snout, ignoring how they flinch away from him. "I love you!" he exclaims. "And you love me. So everything is fine. It's fine."

~ ~ ~

🏷️: @i-am-beckyu @da3dm @flowers-of-plenty @gracideaviolet

“Honestly, Wilbur, house arrest?!” His mother scolded him. Wilbur sighed and dropped his bags at the door, pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes, pointedly looking away from his mom. “I don’t hear from you in years and I suddenly get a random call that says you’re getting dumped at my house because you’ve been put under house arrest??” “I know, I’m sorry mum-“ “Were you just planning to drop off the face of the earth? Would you have just never come back here if you weren’t arrested? What were you arrested for? Why wouldn’t they just drop you off at your house? You’re an adult-“ “That’s pretty simple, I don’t have one.” “Wilbur!!”

Wilbur walked over to the couch and dropped himself on it, head in his hands. He could feel his mother’s eyes on him, staring and trying to take in how much he’d changed. He couldn’t blame her. He’d left when he was 18 to pursue music, and look at where that got him. Homeless, lonely, and arrested, the court ordered anklet digging uncomfortably into his skin at a measly 21 years old. He was a mess. An exhausted, hopeless mess.

He heard quiet footsteps as his mother came to sit next to him, and a warm arm laid over his shoulder. “You know I love you. I don’t care that you were arrested, or why you were, I really don’t. But…why didn’t you come home? I’ll always be here to help you, you know that, right? Did I…did I do something wrong?” “No!” Wilbur quickly said, head still in his hands. “No, you’re a wonderful mother, i’m just a terrible son. I..I don’t know why I didn’t come home, I’m sorry, but it’s not your fault.” His mother sighed and pulled him closer, and he relished in the comfortable silence. It had been so long since he had felt like anyone around him actually cared, and yet his mothers patience and love for him was seemingly endless, even now, even for a horrible fuck up son like him. He didn’t deserve her. If he was being honest with himself, that’s why he didn’t come back home to her when times got tough for him. Why should she have to deal with him? It wasn’t her fault that he turned out a wreck, she did the best she could as a single mother, even putting aside her passions while she put her whole focus into him.

Speaking of that, since he left, she certainly seemed to pick her interests back up, if the messy house was any indication. Or maybe messy wasn’t the right word, maybe so trashed and horder-like that it was hard to believe anyone actually lived here. Wilbur looked up from his hands to fully take in the mess that completely covered the main floor of the house. Walls were covered in taped up drawings of creatures of all kind, floors covered in similar scribbles and notes. There were some cabinets with small observation cases full of taxidermic bugs and what looked to be small…weapons? Saddles?

Well, her collection had definitely grown in the past few years.

“I see your hobby has been going well.” Wilbur said, trying to deflect the situation. Luckily for him, he knew his mother. And if there was anything that could distract her, it was asking her about her odd fascination with all things tiny. “Oh! Yeah, I forgot it’s been a while since you’ve been here. My collection had grown…a fair bit. I haven’t touched your room, though! It’s the same as it’s been, things have just been…messier.” She said, getting up to show him around. He chuckled softly as he watched her make her way around the room, carefully avoiding the piles and piles of documents scattered around the floor. She stopped at a wall of computers, pointing up at them. “I’m close, though. I have cameras set up all over the forest, and I don’t think they’ve noticed them…yet. They’re fast, but I think I have some arguable proof.”

His mother leaned over the keyboard, frantically searching for whatever new clip she had. Wilbur smiled. He couldn’t say he actually believed in any of it, despite what she had taught him growing up. Of course the idea was fun, but the older he got, the harder it was to suspend his disbelief that there may be tiny people living in the forest. How his mom kept that childlike faith in her beliefs despite the lack of proof for years and years he couldn’t know, but he was happy for her. She had something to put her heart into and believe in, and Wilbur had forgotten what that was like after music had proven to be a bust.

He snapped back to the screen as his mom made an excited noise and leaned back to point at the screen. “See! There!” Wilbur looked for a moment before taking a few very careful steps around her findings and towards the screen. It was a blurry freeze frame; one smaller brown and reddish bird, one small brown-ish spec, and a much larger black blur that seemed almost iridescent. A couple of birds and a bug, probably, the finch looking one in the lead and the large black bird and bug close behind. “Mom I’m sorry, but…what evidence am I supposed to be seeing in a bird chase?” “That’s a raven,” she pointed to the black bird, “that bird is most likely a common redpoll, and judging from the wing color and shape that’s probably a bee. But here’s the thing!” She swung back to Wilbur, an excited, manic look in her eye. And people wondered where he got his crazy from. Certainly wasn’t his father, he never knew the bastard. “The bee is out of the Ravens sight, so it isn’t chasing a food source.” She continued. “Ravens don’t go after other bird species, either, and there’s no reason a bee would chase a potential predator. But look here,” she pointed back to the screen and Wilbur leaned closer, the fuzz of the old tv brushing against his face. “you see it?”

Looking where she was pointing, there were a few thin brown straps on the bird, and a small blurry green and slightly yellow blob on its back. The raven had a spot on it where the black wasn’t as iridescent, where it looked like something was wrapped around it. It also had something on it’s back; a greyish blob with more hints of brown and black and also white, weirdly enough. And looking at the bee, it also looked like it was missing a few legs, and was built strangely, along with having something green on it. He looked back to his mom, who looked more proud of herself than he’d seen her be in years. He was sure everything on screen had a logical explanation, but who was he to break his poor mother’s heart?

“That’s great! That’s really, really amazing mom.” He said as she squealed and hugged him. “I knew you would think so!” she leaned back, hands still on his arms as she made eye contact with him and sighed. “Fuck, here I am rambling when you’ve still got settling in to do. Let’s get your bags and head upstairs, yeah? Your old room is waiting for you, and who knows how long it’s been since you slept in a bed, you impossible child.” She said, letting go and grabbing his two measly bags and guitar case. Wilbur rolled his eyes and took his guitar case from her, given that it was the heaviest. “Hey, I’m not impossible, I’m stubborn, and I get that from you, y’know.” He heard his mom mockingly repeat him and scoff from the top of the steps, and he laughed. God, he’d missed her.

~~~

“I swear to fucking god!” Phil yelled, storming his way through his castle, Techno walking quickly behind, struggling to keep pace. “I need him for one thing and he just fucking disappears! It’s a miracle I haven’t strangled that child with my bare hands.” He stopped momentarily to command more guards to triple check Tommy’s room, and Techno finally managed to catch up, panting slightly. “You know this isn’t unlike him, Phil. He likes to do his own thing, wonder where he gets that from.” “I get that he’s too much like me for his own good, but at least I was always able to take account of myself and get my shit done.” Phil responded with venom in his tone. “He’s irresponsible, he’s brash, he’s rude, I don’t know how he ended up like this or what I could have done better for him.” “I’d respond but I’m assuming that was rhetorical…” he muttered under his breath. “What was that, Techno?” “Nothing, your majesty.”

Phil continued his walk and ended up out of the palace, the sky above them turning a dark grey and a low rumble of thunder cracking through the silence. Phil, however, seemed undeterred, ending up by his stable, his trusty crow waiting for him. He pet the bird’s beak gestured to a few more guards. “Get Brian saddled, I’m heading out for a bit.” “Do you really think this is necessary?” “You forget, Techno, Tommy thinks he’s so smart, but I’m his father. He’s the teenager and I’m the adult; I’m always a step ahead.” He said, holding up his necklace. A chunky green emerald swung from a thin leather rope, identical to one that Tommy wore every day. “I thought that was to help Tommy with his magic?” “It is…mostly,” Phil said, dropping the necklace back down to his chest. “It has a lot of magic stored in it, Tommy’s does, too. His is a chip off from mine, after all. In a pinch, though, it can be used to track. As long as Tommy is wearing his, I can get him to me. If I was truly in a desperate situation, I could call Tommy to me right now. But as it stands, that takes far too much of the necklace’s power, and he just needs to learn a lesson about refusing his duties and disobeying his father.” “It’s a magic session, Phil, he practices all the time, it can’t be that much of a deal. Besides, there’s a storm coming, this isn’t a good idea.” “He’s been blowing them off for 2 months,” Phil said, straddling his bird, Brian cooing softly. “And he knows that I’m rarely ever free for them, he needs to take this more seriously if he’s going to lead. Besides, if he’s still not home before the storm starts, that’s all the more reason to find him before he lets himself get hurt.”

“Phil-“ “I’ll be ok, I promise, mate.” Phil said, eyes softening as he leaned down to his right hand man. “I’ve never lied to you before have I?” “…no, sir.” Techno said, defeated. “Have a safe flight, I’ll see you home soon. If you don’t come back with Tommy by nightfall I’m coming to find you myself.” “Relax, I‘ll be fine. I run this goddamn forest, remember?” And with that, Phil was off, Brian taking off like a shot off the stable’s branch.

Techno couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his gut as he watched Phil shrink into the distance.

~~~

Wilbur was settling in as well as he thought he would be. One thing he’d grown to hate in his short amount of time at his old house was his court ordered punishment. Other than the ankle monitor, he had to do “community service.” Of course, the court hadn’t known at the time that there was literally no community to service for miles and miles at his house, and he didn’t have a license anymore (you do donuts on a private frozen lake one time) (ok maybe 6 but that guy was an asshole). So his “community service” consisted of cleaning up the forest; turns out that the one and only road near the forest was a pretty popular spot for passerby’s to toss trash. Most of his afternoons were spent along the side of a mostly undisturbed road that had way more trash that it logically should for how new the road seemed; he doubted anyone other than the jail car he’d been driven down in had been on the road for months.

Still, he donned the eye-sore yellow “hey! i’ve been to jail and i’m serving my sentence to community!” vest and grabbed a beanie and fingerless gloves. It was spring, but under all the overhang of the trees he knew it’d feel cooler than it was, which he accounted for when he put on a yellow flannel sweater and thick slightly dirty and ripped jeans, ones he wouldn’t mind getting dirty since he was going to be kneeling on the dirt. One step onto his porch told him it was also definitely gonna storm, the sky growing dark and that spring-time smell of rain filling his senses. He decided to lace up heavy steel toed and already worn and muddied work boots and threw a thick grey hooded t-shirt on for good measure under the vest in case it (or more like when it) rained. He wished he had better than a simple hood, but he didn’t know where the umbrellas were. He’d love to ask his mother, but she had already head out that morning to double check that her cameras wouldn’t be damaged by the rain.

He hoped she just got out before the storm.

~~~

Phil flew faster as the wind started to pick up and the thunder grew louder. Brian was sturdy, and above all else fast, but Phil knew his bird’s limits. He was getting tired, and Phil wasn’t any closer to Tommy somehow. He wished his stupid crystal could work better, but it was really a game of hot or cold until he got close enough to Tommy that the shard gave him some magic feeling that his son was close by and could lead him from there. It was stupid and time consuming, but he couldn’t risk just calling Tommy to him. Turns out he probably should have listened to Techno; this storm was shaping up to be a big one, and he knew he’d need the extra magic his necklace provided in order to repair whatever damage the rain caused to his forest.

He ended up near the tar strip through the middle of his forest (the damn humans put it there years ago, and though their cursed machines came through the forest sometimes, those instances were few and far between, thankfully)(still, fuck those humans). He may hate it, but it ran through the forest somewhat evenly, so he’d be able to hopefully sense at least what side of it Tommy was on if he just went down the middle.

The storm was getting heavier, but he couldn’t give up now. There was no sign of Tommy. Phil realized at some point that his concern had shifted from “i have to teach him a lesson about wasting my time” to “oh god where is my son is he ok.” He wasn’t surprised though, really. He did truly, really care about his son, even if Tommy didn’t think so. If he had all the time in the world, he’d spend it with him, he would. But he can’t. He’d wanted to be the one to teach Tom to read, to watch his first steps, to see him grow into the young man he was now. But he hadn’t. Tommy had been raised by royal staff who’s names Phil had never cared to know. He’d been there to hear Tommy’s first word, though, but he wished it would have been under better circumstances.

It had been “Tech,” and he’d said it while witnessing one of the most brutal and gut-wrenching arguments he’d ever had with Technoblade, out of the few they’ve fought. He’d learned that Techno was skipping his guard duties in secret to spend time with Tommy. And he’d been outraged, for some reason. He’d burst into a room where Techno was telling a harmless tale to a baby Tommy and screamed at him for neglecting his duty and fooling off instead. Tommy had people to be there for him, and Phil had never cleared Techno to be one of them. Techno argued that Tommy needed someone who cared about him, not just people who were rewarded for giving him food and attention. He needed people who wanted him, and Phil clearly didn’t. It’d stung like a knife to the chest at the time, but he knew where Techno was coming from now.

The fight grew worse and worse for minutes before he’d heard the desperation in Tommy’s infant babble. They were silenced as tears rolled down his chubby infant cheeks when he realized someone who he cared about was so upset, calling out to the only person who’d ever shown him voluntary affection. And it hadn’t been Phil. It wasn’t his father, it was his father’s guard and friend. Even now, though Tommy didn’t associate with Techno as much anymore since he was always with Phil, Tommy loved Techno more than Phil. And Phil would never resent Techno for that. He trusted Techno with his life, and if Tommy had to look up to someone other than Phil, he was glad it was his most trusted confidant, but he couldn’t stop it from hurting.

His kingdom thrived, his people were happy, and his son hated him. It was just a fact of his life, at this point. Even when Phil did his best to reconnect with Tommy when he was younger, when he was finally becoming his own person, it all went downhill. They’d been the closest they’d ever been for those few years, but it all plummeted in one conversation, and Tommy never saw him the same again after that.

All he could hope is that someday, when Tommy is king, he’ll see how hard it is, and know that his dad did his best to keep him safe and happy.

~~~

Wilbur sighed as he pulled his hood farther over his head to keep his glasses from getting wet as rain started down. Yup, he’d been right. Definitely rain. Should’ve worn contacts. Damn, and he’d just started down the road, it’d be hours till he was done for the day. Still, he sighed and picked up packets of chips and broken beer bottles with his cold slippery metal trash-grabber-thing and shoved them into a garbage bag.

Unfortunately, things only got worse the longer he was out there. He’d made it fairly deep into the woods at that point, but the rain pounded onto him like hail and thunder roared around him. He just honest to god wanted to go home and sit with a cup of tea and listen to his mom ramble about whatever new thing she’d seen in woods. But lucky him, his ankle shackle tracked his movements. He was only allowed to be in the house and a little ways into the front or backyard during the day. During his torture hours (that’s what he liked to call his court ordered punishments), he was not allowed to be in the house. Instead, he had to remain on the road and somewhat into the woods for his designated amount of hours or else he’d get a couple of very stern police officers at the front door telling his mother that he was on thin ice and to do what he was ordered to unless he wanted jail time. He did not, thank you very much.

He flinched as lightning struck a tree a ways behind him. Holy shit, this was actually getting pretty bad. Was his mom still out here? Had she gone home when the rain started? God, he hoped so. But all he could do for now was pick shit up and wait it out.

It wouldn’t be that long till he got home.

~~~

Phil panted, barely able to breathe through his panic as he pushed Brian to go faster. Rain started to pound on him, but he didn’t care. He was becoming frenzied. Oh god, where was Tommy? Was he hurt? Was he back at the castle, having heard the thunder and realizing that it was stupid to be out on his own? Brian softly chittered beneath him, but he could barely process it. Phil had to find Tommy. He just had to. He couldn’t leave his little boy out here alone, cold, scared…

Phil yelped as Brian swerved out of his control, landing on a nearby tree branch that only somewhat shielded them from the storm. “Brian, wh-“ He heard a soft coo and only then felt minute quivering beneath him. He reached out a hand and felt his wings, which were shaking badly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, buddy, you’re probably pretty tired, huh…” He said, getting off the crow and petting his head. Brian pressed his head lightly into Phil’s hand as a response, and Phil reached over to his saddle and pulled out some berries and a water pouch, holding them out in front of Brian. He immediately perked up and opened his beak a little bit, enough for Phil to drop the food and pour water in. Brian cooed and nestled down onto the branch a bit more. Phil sighed and sat down next to him; seemed like they wouldn’t be moving for a little while.

They sat in silence for a while, Phil listening to the raid patter violently on the leaves above him while some stray droplets broke through and struck where he sat. He tried to even his breathing and think with a level head, but to no avail. He tapped his foot anxiously with no other way to get his nervous energy out, pulling at some of the leaves on his wrists. If Techno were here, he’d tell him to stop, but as it was, Phil was left to sit with his own thoughts as the storm raged around him.

Until the worst happened.

He wasn’t sure why his mind hadn’t registered the thunder around him. Maybe he’d gotten so used to hearing it in the past few hours, maybe he just didn’t think enough of it to even process it. All he knew after the fact was that it had been so loud it made the forest around him shake and caused a violent thud in his chest, but he hadn’t heard the warning until it was too late.

The clap of lightning around him was deafening, and snapped him out of whatever anxious spell he was in. Brian practically screamed as the trunk and the branch they were sitting broke with a ear crunching snap and heat engulfed him for a moment. He felt petals burn as pain bloomed in him and felt the gust of wind as Brian lifted in the air to avoid being hit or burned, lurching his wings downwards to try and grab Phil. And as much as Phil loved Brian, he was fast, not agile.

No amount of speed could help Phil as Brian’s beak barely missed one of his remaining petals and Phil felt himself free fall towards his forest floor. Those seconds felt like a lifetime, some parts of him knowing that he could save himself if he called onto his magic, some parts reminiscing on would happen to his kingdom, his best friend, his son…

would Tommy miss him?

He closed his eyes as the muddied grass grew closer and closer. He wasn’t sure what he wanted his last thought to be, he wasn’t sure why he was worried about it, all he could do was accept his death, knowing that once he hit the cold ground the earth would reclaim him and he’d become part of the forest he’d worked so hard to lead.

Phil landed hard, but…it didn’t feel like the cold ground he was expecting. It was damp, sure, but…warm. He heard Brian screech, but shockingly heard a different noise in response. He heard a gasp from a voice he’d never heard. It was a woman, he thought, but he couldn’t focus in on anything she said after or what was going on. He was fading out quickly, but he was alive, for now at least. The ground below him moved, the warmth starting to surround him, and the rain stopped hitting him. He should have been more concerned about what was going on, but he couldn’t find it in himself to stay awake anymore.

As he faded out of consciousness, he didn’t notice the lack of the weight that normally hung from his neck.

~~~

Logically, Kristin knew she should have gotten out of the storm before it got this bad. But she’d never really been on logic’s side, why start now?

She had started to run home when the thunder got worse, though.

Her rain boots pounded heavily on the road as she sprinted back to her house. Jeez, she hoped Wilbur’s officers could cut him a break with this one. She’d lived in this forest for over a decade and this was the worst storm she’d seen in a long, long while. Wilbur was never usually one to take instructions too seriously, so she hoped he’d just given up on the minimum hours and fucked off to go home. But she knew he also didn’t want to be in jail in case the officers were as heartless as she was lead to believe, so she couldn’t really be sure.

She practically jumped out of her skin as lightning hit a tree beside her, the leaves immediately starting to burn as bits of the top broke away and fell to the forest floor. It was getting dangerous out here, she needed to go-

And she would have if a bird hadn’t screamed.

God damn her good hearted nature, it was going to get her killed one of these days.

She ran over to the tree in time to see the bird lunging down towards a broken branch, trying to reach out to somethi-

Holy fuck.

Kristin’s eyes widened as she saw something- no, someone- falling, and falling fast. Someone green, though accented with yellow and a couple white petals, though most of what she could assume were longer ones had now been burnt back.

Holy shit, it was one of them.

Kristin ran faster and practically threw herself to the ground to catch them, the little person falling into her hands just in time. Holy shit, it was a little person. Here, in her hands, was a little man. She could barely breathe as she held him closer, taking in every detail she could. They seemed to be around her age, and they looked like a guy, but who knows how their gender roles worked in their role. God, who knew how anything worked! She had so much to ask! She could barely believe it, she’d finally done it! She got one!

She was snapped out of her thoughts as the bird screamed again, frantically flapping its wings and hopping towards her. She at first assumed it had just been hunting the little guy in her hands as a food source, but she then took notice of the green leaf-made saddle on its back. Ah, so the bird belonged to the green guy, it seemed like she’d been right in her hypothesis that the tiny people rode them to get around. It hobbled closer, and her thoughts were cut off as she gasped.

She hadn’t fully realized the damage to the bird; a few of the feathers were damaged on one side, especially on it’s wing, and it’s feet were swollen, probably from the heat. Along with that, it was shaking violently and trying valiantly to get back to its rider.

She cooed as she gently picked it up with one hand, the other still holding the small guy. It tried to fight, but in its exhaustion she guessed that it couldn’t do much. “It’s ok, little birdy, I won’t hurt you,” she cooed, closing her hand around the tiny and holding him against her chest under her coat to keep him dry. He hadn’t made a move, so she could only assume he’d fainted on impact, if he even could faint. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure if he was alive, but the fact that the crow was trying to hard to get back to him gave her hope. “We’re gonna go back to my house and fix you both up.” She slowly stood, and cringed when she realized her entire front was absolutely caked in mud, but she shrugged it off.

After all, an extra load of laundry and a shower were little to pay to see her life’s dedication paid off.

She couldn’t wait to show Wilbur.

~~~

“Phil? I’m home!” Tommy yelled. Walking into the entryway of the palace he lived in, completely drenched. He hadn’t meant to be out this long, he’s just gotten so caught up with his friends that he hasn’t realized time had passed. It was hard to tell when night fell when the entire sky was dark with a storm.

He’d only gone out to help Tubbo deliver some honey, but he and Ranboo had started talking and Tubbo had more deliveries to make so Tommy and Ranboo went to the tree base and invited Tubbo to join them when he was done. Tommy would have loved to stay at Dream’s place, but in case his dad ever found out where he’d been wandering off to he wanted the Bog king to have plausible deniability. He had started showing Ranboo all the stuff Tubbo had given him after trading with boggins, and it had turned into a fun game of “I’ll give a completely batshit description for this and then you’ll tell me what it’s actually for.” One thing looked like a torture device but was used for cutting rougher letter, and another was just a hairbrush, which Ranboo was surprised Tommy had never heard of since bugfolk used them, but hey, Tommy didn’t get out much.

Tubbo came over for a minute but left when the sky grew darker, since he couldn’t fly in the rain and had to get home before the storm. Tommy only went home once the lightning started, and Henry starting chirping, and Tommy could weirdly tell how concerned she was. Him and Ranboo also agreed that the top of a really high tree was not where they wanted to be in a potential lightning storm, so they’d parted ways for the day.

But Tommy hadn’t expected the palace to be empty, practically. Man, was the storm bad enough that the staff had gone home? He wandered his halls for a bit before he heard a voice behind him. “Tommy?” He spun frantically, only to sigh when he saw Technoblade. He dramatically caught his breath and walked over to him. “Whew, you scared the shit outta me, Blade, where’s dadza?” “He’s not with you…?” That made Tommy pause. “Nooo…should he be?” Tommy asked apprehensively, but Techno looked absolutely panicked. “He…he went out looking for you earlier. Like, this morning. You didn’t show up for your lesson with him and he said something about wasting his time and flew off with Brian. They haven’t been back.”

“…what?” His dad had gone out…looking for him? Wasn’t he more concerned about the storm? The forest? Why was Tommy the concern there? His dad rarely gave a flying fuck when he missed their lessons, why did he have to pick today of all days to throw a hissy fit and run after him? “Oh god, ok…how..how do we find him?” “I have no idea.” Techno answered, as blatantly honest as usual, but the stoic look having been replaced with fear. They both stood in silence for a moment before Techno put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Ok, I’m going to go looking for him. You’re gonna stay here and see if you can bring him back.” What? “But how am I-“

Techno reached to the emerald around Tommy’s neck, held by a thin leather strap, the same as his father’s. Pretty much the only tying them to each anymore. “Phil explained earlier that your crystals are connected. He went out looking for you knowing that the necklace would signal him when you were close by. He also said that if need be, there’s some magic property that can call one crystal to the other, since they’re just pieces of each other. He didn’t earlier since it would have taken too much power and he didn’t know how bad the storm would get, but I think we’re to that point. I don’t know shit about magic, but according to him, you should be able to use the crystal to summon him here.”

Tommy stared wide eyes at him for a moment. “I- i don’t know how to do that…I can’t-” “It’s alright, you can do it, I know you can. If if you can’t, I’ll keep looking until I find him. It’ll all be ok.” Techno said, leaning Tommy into a hug. God, this must be serious, Techno was never this emotional. “O-ok, I’ll do my best.” Techno leaned back, smiling at Tommy before clapping him on the shoulders. “You’re a good kid, Tommy. I’ll be back.” He said, walking off. He hoped Techno would be ok. The storm had been getting progressively better little by little, but it was still pretty harsh.

Tommy went up to his room and sat on the floor. Ok, so he was basically trying to learn teleportation, no biggie, just…teleport someone. Yeah, he could do that. He bring Phil back and he’d yell at Tommy for missing another lesson and he’d yell back that it was how he felt when his dad missed his entire childhood and inevitably someone would bring up mom, god forbid, and it’d end with two slammed doors like it had at least three other times that week. Great, he was so looking forward to that.

…why was he doing this again?

Tommy groaned and hit the heel of his hand against his head. His dad may be a bigoted asshole to his two best friends and a shitty father on the best of days, but he didn’t deserve to die in a lightning storm. His heart clenched at the idea that he may be too late, that he’d never see his father again and it would have been his fault since he didn’t go to that stupid magic lecture earlier.

He tried to convince himself that it was only because he didn’t want the weight of his father’s death on his shoulders. That the sore feeling in his chest was annoyance and minor guilt. He didn’t miss his dad, he didn’t care about him at all anymore.

He didn’t.

Tommy breathed in and out deeply, closing his eyes and taking the emerald off his neck, clutching it tightly in his hands. He could feel the magic practically emanating from it, and did his best to find a similar power. His dad said when he needed to do more intense magic, he used the stone to feel out the life force in the forest that needed help. He’d taken Tommy to a cracked tree once and it had taken a while, but he’d managed to ground himself enough that he felt with the tree, and used his and the stones magic to redirect energy into it and heal it. He imagined the sensation would be something like that. If he could feel specific individual forces of nature, he could feel out a magic gemstone. He could do it.

As he started to concentrate more, and as he felt his own forces spread from himself to the walls of his room and his home and the whole forest around him, the stone started to glow.

~~~

Fucking. Finally.

The storm had…somewhat slowed down. Enough that Wilbur wasn’t getting even more soaked on his way home. Though, to be fair, he felt like he would never be dry again, he was soaked to the bone.

He walked down one side of the street under the branches. Since the storm had let up, the sun had come back with a vengeance and he was wearing very thick and warm clothes. He was already drenched, he didn’t want to add sweat to that.

To give himself credit where it was due, though, walking back, the road looked a whole lot cleaner than it had previously. It may not have justified hauling his giant-ass heavy trash bag all the way back to his house, but at least he was doing something.

After what felt like hours of walking back down the road he’d come up from (he knew it was only a few minutes but he’d been picking up trash in a thunderstorm all fucking day he was exhausted) he came upon the tree from earlier that had been struck by lightning. And shit did it look bad. He couldn’t help his curiosity as he stepped closer, observing the damage up close. The top looked like it had been on fire, all burnt and blackened, but even more confusing was the large section of land right in front of where he was standing where the grass had been shoved forward and it was nothing but a slick patch of mud. It looked like the dirt on a baseball field when a catches had to slide across the ground to get the ball.

As his attention was on the ground, though, something flashed in the dim light that shone through the trees. What in the world was that?

Maybe he’d missed a piece of trash, who knows how far into the woods people can chunk things from their car. He leaned down to get a better look at it, and saw that it was shiny and a dark, deep green. Ugh, another piece of a goddamn beer bottle that someone shattered against something. Though, this one didn’t look like the large smooth but sharp edged pieces he’d picked up like a hundred of. Something was odd, so he dropped his grabber and bag to examine it more closely.

None of it was smooth; it looked somehow natural. It was think and rough, but not sharp, not polished and thin and clear like he’d seen. Maybe it could be a rock? It also had a weird brown strap attached to it, each side of the rope having scorch marks on the end. Wilbur guessed that the fire had split the strap holding the stone on. Maybe it had been…a ring? Who uses a thin flimsy leather band as a ring? He also didn’t know who would have been in the forest to lose a ring, other than his mother. Maybe he should bring this home and ask her, and if it’s not hers, can’t hurt to see what the stone is and how much it could be worth. A little extra money never hurt.

As he looked at it more closely, he realized it was greener than he originally thought. It was brighter, almost. Had the sun started hitting it differently? He held it up to a patch of sunlight, and watched in awe as it looked like it almost started to glow. Woah, maybe he could get some serious cash for this thing after all. But as he brought it back down from the light…it was still glowing. Like, actually glowing. And it was getting brighter and brighter.

He confusedly wrapped his hands around it, peeking in to see if it was still somehow just a trick of the light or if it was glowing. He saw a trickle of green light breaking through the cracks in his intertwined fingers, but when he went to peer in closer, something happened. His hand jerked in the exact wrong direction, smacking him clean in the face and right against the left side of his glasses, shoving them hard enough that he heard a crack. Before he could be too confused about that, though, his hands were suddenly yanked forward, enough to trio him off his feet, but…

He was still upright. There wasn’t any weight on his legs, but he was upright. He looked back up to his hands and saw the glow getting brighter and brighter still, to the point it was almost shining through his hands.

His blood turned cold and pure fear flooded his body as he felt himself get lifter up higher. He frantically tried to let go of the stone, putting all his effort into ripping his hands away, but nothing. He felt tears drip down his face, he wasn’t sure when he started crying, but he paid it no mind. It swung him around again, almost slamming him into a tree. He tried to push away but he was like a ragdoll to this thing. It felt like he was in the tornado scene of the Wizard of Oz.

“Help!” He screamed, his muscles starting to get sore from the useless strain of trying to free himself. “Fuck, Help me!” Nothing moved. His hands stayed firmly stuck around the crystal. “Someone!” He started to feel nauseous, and he felt himself shaking from the fear. “Anyone?!” The world around him started to morph as the edges of his visions turned green. “Mom!!” And suddenly he was gone.

~~~

A green flash filled Tommy’s room as he shot up from where he’d been sitting. Holy fuck, he did it. He did it, he actually managed to do it!! He ran to the figure as the magic began to clear only to stop dead in his tracks, his face falling.

Something stood in front of him. Not his father, not even a leafman, but something.

He wore clothes that were somewhat reminiscent of Ranboo’s, but they were more…patterned. It was weird material, and it’s not like Tommy knew many people who actually wore clothes, but he’d never seen anything like it. The man was also a weird color, not green like him or any shade of grey like a boggin. He was tall, taller than Tommy, but still dwarfed under most boggins. Maybe he was a bugfolk? But he looked too squishy. He didn’t have the hard chitin that Tubbo had, his skin looked like it felt more Like Ranboo’s but without the spikes.

His thoughts halted as he noticed that the man hadn’t even seen him yet. He’d taken a second to look around, but he was just staring at the emerald in his hands-

The emerald.

That was his dad’s emerald.

Tommy went to take a step closer, the dead silence in the room broken for just a second by his footstep. The man’s head snapped up and he just as quickly fell over, mouth agape and breathing heavily. It was only then that Tommy realized he was also shaking like a leaf.

They both just stared at each other for a minute, neither making a move. Tommy’s confusion slowly warping to anger and the other creature’s morphing into fear and apprehension.

“Why the fuck do you have that?!”