The Crow Of Death (DSMP AU)

Chapter 2

Techno stared at the door, not sure what to do now. Was his friend angry at him? No... that can't be. He knows Techno is grumpy almost every morning and snappy comments or huffs were a normal thing for him. There is no way the bird would suddenly be offended by it when he was fine with it the last couple years. But what if he was? Should he go after him and apologize? No, that would make Phil even more mad, considering he told Techno to stay in bed or on the couch.

With a groan the Piglin stood up from the table, his empty plate quickly finding it's way into the sink. He'll wash it later when he's in a better mood. Despite Phil telling him otherwise, he put on his cloak and went out the door. He wasn't planning to go far, just quickly feeding his animals.

"Hey bud... how are you doing?" Carl trotted over to him once he opened the stable door and happily ate the apple offered to him. "Phil took good care of you right? Brushed and fed you?" Of course he didn't get a vocal answer, just a gentle nudge with his head, probably checking if he had more treats on him. Techno laughed and pets his neck. He missed going out on trips with his beloved horse already. Usually they went out for a ride at least once a day, even if it was just for an hour.

He knows Phil took good care of him and that he even went out of his way to give Carl his daily exercise himself. The avian rarely ever gets on the horse or any horse. He preffered flying or walking, the later more considering his now damaged wing. But he did know how to ride a horse as Techno had teached him once he found out he couldn't. Just in case.

"Good boy... I'll try and convince Phil that he lets me go on our little trip today." The hybrid smiled when Carl immediately nudged him again and gently pat his snout. "I know. I missed it too." Who knew the infamous Blood God could be so gentle and soft? Especially towards another living creature? Then again, he always prefered animals over people, with a few exeptions, one of them being Phil.

Once Carl had his daily dose of pets and love from him, he went to pet and feed Steve, who was more than happy to see him. Techno laughed and ruffled through the snow white fur of his pet. "I know, I know. Happy to see you too." They cuddled for a while before Techno realized how much time he had spend outside. Phil should be back from the village any second now and if there is one thing he doesn't want, it's Phil catching him outside after telling him not to.

So after saying goodbye to Steve, he quickly fed the dogs before hurrying inside and flopping down on the couch, careful not to hurt his arm. Once he was comfortable enough, he grabbed the book he was currently reading. Something about ancient gods and a conflict that almost destroyed all three dimensions.

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An hour passed, then two and even after three hours, Phil did not return. At first Techno didn't really mind, since Phil sometimes stays at the village longer if he finds something interesting or gets stuck in a conversation, but the longer his friend stayed away, the more nervous he got. Something wasn't right. He should have been back by now or at least sent a message saying he will stay away longer. Maybe it was because Phil was still mad at him? But even then he would have said something...

Techno quickly grabbed his communicator again and checked his messages for what felt like the 100th time. No message.

You whisper to Ph1lza: Phil? Are you there?
You whisper to Ph1lza: Where are you?!
You whisper to Ph1lza: Answer goddamit!

He got no reaction, even after he sent the messages multiple times again. Why isn't he answering? He usually never takes longer than a few minutes to reply, even less when it's Techno who is messaging him. "What is he doing...?" This is very unlike his friend. The only reason for not replying would be a broken or lost communicator and that is almost impossible. Phil has never broken or lost that little device even once and made sure to take good care of it. He favoured using his crows for communication anyways, so he rarely uses the communicator and therefor barely even has a chance to break it.

After waiting another 20 minutes for any kind of reply, he got up from his comfy spot on the couch and got dressed in his heavier out door clothing that bore the colors of their arctic empire times. Once fully dressed and geared up, with his broken arm safely tugged away under the thick fabric, he left their warm home.

It was already dark, the last traces of dark red fading from the horizon to give way to the darkness of the night. At least it was a clear night, the stars and moon giving enough light for Techno to see everything around him clearly. He went to the stable and quickly saddled Carl, who didn't seem too pleased about going out in the dark.

With a lantern strapped to the side of the saddle, they made their way to the village. Since the journey was mostly over plains and small hills it only took them about 20 minutes to reach their destination. Most villagers were already in their homes, only a few still walking about withe the safety of their golem.

Techno climbed off of Carl's back and went to the first Villager he saw, asking if they had seen his winged friend. They shook their head no, just like the four other ones he asked. If no one even saw him... does that mean he never even reached the village in the first place? No... that can't be.

The thought alone that is friend might have gotten ambushed or captured shook him to his core and the voices roared up in anger and worry.

Find him! Find the bird! Find Phil! Blood! Kill them! Blood! Need to find Phil! Get Phil!

In a matter of seconds he was back on his horse and racing back home, tracing his traces back and scanning the empty fields of snow for a sign, any sign, of his friend. "Phil! Phil can you hear me?!" The only reply was his own echo. Not even a single crow replied to his cries. They seemed to have vanished just like Phil had.

He screamed for his friend until his throat hurt, not caring who heard him. The mobs that did hear him and tried to attack were either shot by his crossbow or trampled by Carl. Techno's heart dropped when he could see the lights of his home. Not a single sign of the winged man for miles.

FIND HIM! FIND PHIL! FIND HIM! PROTECT! SAVE HIM! PROTECT HIM! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!

His ears were ringing with the screams of countless voices, growing louder in volume the longer they didn't find a trace of his friend.

"Phil! Phil are you out there?!" He tried to listen into the quiet of the woods surrounding him. Suddenly the voices went quiet, only remaining as hushed murmurs in the back of his mind. He listened again. "Phil?!" Then he heard it. It was quiet, barely loud enough to hear, but it was there. The cries of a crow. Phil's crow.

He instantly jumped off of Carl's back and made a run for it, following the cries of the crow. It knows where Phil is. It can bring Techno to him. "PHIL!" This time more crows answered, their cries a mixture of worry and fear. Even if he can't understand what they were saying, he spent more than enough time with them to know what sound meant what emotion.

As soon as he spotted one of the birds their cries stopped. Instead, the flew down to him and clawed at his cloak, desperately trying to drag him somewhere. "Show me where he is." The crow flew ahead and Techno followed, more and more birds joining them, until they reached a clearing in the forest. The surrounding trees sat countless crows, like guardians sitting watch.

In the middle of the clearing sat a pile of messy black feathers, much larger than the surrounding crows, but also too large to be his friend. Even with his massive wings, he souldn't be able to make such a huge pile out of himself. When a brave crow landed close to the feathers and cawed at it, pained warbles and chirps emerged from within. That's Phil's voice. Techno slowly approached what he hoped is his friend, the crows silently watching.

"Phil?" More pained noises emerged as he carefully got on his knees. With his good hand he moved away a few feathers... and froze. Staring back at him were two crystal eyes, unmistakenly the same ancient eyes he had been looking for, but the creature they belonged too wasn't human. Instead of seeing the face of his friend, he saw a sharp beak and a giant head of a crow, partially covered by what seemed like a bone mask or something similar.

The only proof that this was indeed his friend were the blue eyes staring back at him.