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“Phiiiiil!”
Phil rolls his eyes, but turns towards Tommy. “Yeah, mate?”
The teen is wearing a shit-eating grin, legs dangling off the edge of the roof. Downy white wings flutter behind him. “You were gonna take me to the sky islands, remember?”
…oh, right. Phil did tell him that, in a moment of weakness- of needing the kid to just leave him the f--- alone. He didn’t think- well, he should have, he supposes- that Tommy would remember and hold him to it.
Phil casts about for a way out, for something else to do, and comes up empty. His crops will need to be harvested soon, but not today- and he’d promised Technoblade an exorbitant amount of carrots to do that for him, anyway. Ranboo will need more books at some point, but Phil has to wait for the sugarcane to grow.
There are no chores left in the way of taking Tommy for a gliding lesson, so Phil pastes on a smile and shakes out his own, larger wings.
“Sure, mate, let’s go!”
Tommy beams, hopping down. “You, Philza Minecraft, are the only man ever.”
It’s a long, long walk to the sky islands.
Ordinarily Phil would just fly, but Tommy- being an avian- can’t get enough lift with his little wings to get even a couple feet off the ground. And he is too heavy and too old to be carried- thus, an hour’s walk to the bubblevator.
Tommy chatters incessantly the whole time. Frankly, it’s getting on Phil’s nerves, but he endures. Tommy’s practically a chick, still, even if an elytrian chick would be far less- well, much.
When the soaring spires finally come into sight, Tommy falls silent. Phil breathes a sigh of relief.
“Wow,” Tommy exhales.
Phil smiles in spite of himself. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Tommy spins around. “I wanna go all the way to the top.”
-and there it is. Phil shakes his head. “We’re gonna start with one of the lower islands, mate, you’ll get yourself killed jumping off the top.”
He ducks into the cave to get to the bubblevator. Tommy follows him, still jabbering away.
Footsteps, soft and barely audible under the sound of their own, catch his attention. Phil halts, trying to listen better.
“-told Tubbo he should sleep over at Boo’s- hey, Phil, why did you stop?”
“Shh, Tommy.” Phil holds up his hand, straining to hear better.
“Come onnnn, I wanna go gliding-”
“Tommy-”
The hissing sends a flash of dread through him, and Phil lunges for Tommy. He barely has time to pull the kid underneath him before the creeper explodes in a blast of heat and sound.
~~~
Tubbo floats up to knock on Phil’s door again. “Philza?” he calls. “Still waiting for you, boss man, you were supposed to help with dinner at the Pub-”
“Still no answer?” Ranboo’s voice warbles.
Tubbo’s wings buzz behind him, not to go anywhere, just- nervous. “Nothing.”
“He should’ve been back by now.”
“Yeah.” Tubbo fidgets with the hem of his sweater. “D’you think we should call Scott?”
Ranboo’s tail swishes. “You- you think it’s that bad?”
“I mean, Philza wouldn’t be late, would he? Something’s gotta be wrong.”
The ender hybrid shivers. “Yeah. Yeah, we should- let’s go find Scott.”
~~~
Phil’s return to consciousness is slow, and painful, and… very, very dusty.
“Phil?” a voice whispers.
…Tommy?
He blinks, his vision doesn’t clear much because of the darkness but it’s enough to make out the general shape of the kid, sprawled on the ground half-under him.
Phil’s mouth works for a few seconds. “Ey, mate,” he manages.
“The- I think the tunnel caved in,” Tommy whispers. His voice shakes. “There’s a lotta rocks.”
Phil feels around the best he can, quickly coming to the same conclusion. There’s a tiny hole supplying them with air, at least, and a weak light, but that’s all.
Okay. Okay, he can work with this.
He tries to push himself upright, crying out as his wing pulls. His wing- his wing-
Rock pins the delicate limb to the ground, crushing feathers and shattering bone. Phil’s wing- oh gods, oh gods his wing-
“-il? Phil!”
He’s having a panic attack, he knows, but he can’t make it stop. He can’t breathe and he’s going to die here with his wings broken, his wings his identity his life-
There are hands gripping his arms and Phil tries to flinch away from the contact but all he succeeds in doing is wrenching his wing even harder, even more painfully, and he thinks he screams. The hands don’t come back.
He’s going to die. Oh, gods, his wings are broken and he’s going to die.
~~~
The pub is packed full. Tubbo’s pretty sure every member of the commune is here.
“Who saw him last?” Scott’s asking.
“It might have been me?” Niki’s voice is slightly muffled by the glass. “He and Tommy were headed towards the edge of the commune.”
“Which direction?”
“They- Tommy said something about going to the sky islands.” Jack keeps nearly setting the floor on fire. “A couple days ago. He was really excited.”
“They were headed that way,” Niki says.
Tubbo’s wings buzz with anxiety. “What’re we waiting for?” he demands.
Scott nods. “Split into search parties- three to four people in each. Spread out.”
Technoblade doesn’t wait, scrambling down the cliff face and taking off with a powerful leap. Tubbo glances at Ranboo, and the pair follow quickly.
~~~
Phil isn’t panicking anymore. He’s clinging to consciousness by a fragile thread, barely able to think straight let alone freak out.
He’s bleeding, he thinks.
Tommy’s still awake- he chirps every so often, calls that Phil answers instinctually. Calls of a chick seeking flock, protector, and Phil’s a shit protector right now but he keeps warbling right back. Protector here.
The panic has passed, but Phil doesn’t feel any less like he’s going to die.
Somewhere out there are zombies shuffling around, a skeleton’s rattle. If the blood loss doesn’t get him then it’ll be another mob. He can’t protect Tommy, and that- that is perhaps the thing that frightens him the most.
Tommy’s next chirp is followed by a question. “They’re gonna find us, right?”
No one is coming. No one knows they’re missing, knows they’re trapped.
“Of course,” Phil lies, his voice thin and weak.
~~~
“What if they’re hurt?”
Technoblade ignores his question. He keeps trudging on, ears flicking as he presumably listens for clues.
Tubbo really ought to shut up and let him listen. He doesn’t.
“Cause I mean they should’ve been found by now- unless they’re hurt or-” Tubbo’s breath catches. “What if they’re dead?”
Technoblade stops so suddenly Tubbo almost bumps into him. He turns sharply, but his expression is only a little exasperated. Mostly he just looks tired and kind.
“They’re gonna be fine,” the rabbit hybrid says. “Philza’s a tough old bird, he wouldn’t go down without a hell of a fight.”
Still, when he starts walking again, it’s faster than before.
It’s getting dark by the time they reach the caves leading up to the sky islands.
Tubbo sees the problem right away- rubble half-fills the mouth of the cave. He’s already running, but Technoblade shoots past him with a powerful leap.
“I’m comin’, Phil,” he’s saying, audible as Tubbo gets closer. “Hang on, just hang on, we’re comin’.”
~~~
Phil blinks slowly, someone is shaking him.
“Ph- Phil,” Tommy whispers. “Something- something’s coming-”
Phil blinks hard, trying to clear the wooziness. He can hear… rubble shifting, he thinks. Clattering, rumbling. Dust rises, making him cough.
“…hil? Can you hear me?”
The voice filters in, barely audible, but Phil recognizes it.
“Te-” His voice catches, breaks. “Techno-” he tries to call, weak and barely audible.
“…ming, hold…”
Phil sobs. “They’re coming,” he whispers. “They’re coming.”
He drifts some more, barely conscious. Sobs weakly as the boulder pinning his wing is jostled, as light- blinding and painful- hits his eyes.
Hands slip under his head and back, a figure blocks out the light. Phil can only see their silhouette, but the long floppy ears and broad shoulders can only be one person.
“Techno,” he breathes.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Techno rumbles.
A purr starts up in his chest as he draws Phil closer. Techno’s gentle with the broken wing, but it jostles a sob from Phil anyway.
“I know,” Techno whispers. “I’m sorry, I know.”
He doesn’t stop, though, gathering up Phil’s limbs and standing in one smooth motion. The elytrian bites back a cry as pain ricochets through him, as Techno hushes him softly.
Phil’s conscious of being moved, of seeing Tommy’s tiny wings flutter as the teen walks along ahead of him, and decides he can check out now.