the hunt (dreamnotfound)

Chapter 9

Phil leads them through the forest, taking different twists and turns. Occasionally even making a loop and heading backward. If you didn't know him, you'd think he was lost. But he was trying to confuse the three newcomers, so they couldn't tell anyone where he lived. It was a long time before they came to a small log cabin in the middle of a clearing. Techno then took the lead unlocking the door and holding it open for the group to enter. "Take a seat at the table," Techno said, shutting and locking the door.

It was silent as the group sat at the table, tension thick in the air. Finally, after a few minutes of awkward silence, Phil came into the room carrying a tray with teacups and some medical supplies on it. He passed a cup out to everyone, saying, "I figured a warm beverage would be good on a cold day like this."

"Thank you," Skeppy said, gingerly picking up his glass. Then, taking a small sip, he closed his eyes in pleasure as the tea warmed his cold body.

Phil picked up the bandages and some alcohol, saying, "We need to get those wounds cleaned up and bandaged before they become infected. I have some expertise in the field, but I know you don't trust me that well, so I completely understand if you want one of your friends to do it instead."

Skeppy shook his head, saying, "No, that's ok, you can do it if you want."

Phil smiled gently at him before cleaning the wound with a clean cloth and water bowl. He dipped the cloth in the water before he dabbed away the dried blood around the wound on his head, occasionally dipping the cloth back in the bowl of water until the clear water turned red with blood. Once the injury was clear of blood, he grabbed a different cloth pouring some of the alcohol on the cloth as he said, "Now, I won't lie to you. This shit hurts like a bitch, but it's the best way to keep out infection, alright?" Skeppy nodded as Phil said, "Brace yourself." Skeppy closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Phil gently pressed the cloth to the wound on his head, causing Skeppy's eyes to snap open as he sucked in a breath clenching his fists to try and keep from screaming as Phil cleaned the wound, muttering apologies before bandaging the wound. After he finished, he pulled out an ice pack saying, "Keep this on your eye. It'll help with the swelling." Skeppy nodded, taking the ice pack and gently pressing it on his eye.

"Thank you," Skeppy said quietly,

"Not a problem." Phil said as he sat down at the head of the table with Techno standing intimidatingly behind him as he said, "Now about your friend-"

"Boyfriend," Dream corrected, narrowing his eyes at Phil.

"Right, sorry, your boyfriend, you said that it was Techno's fault he was in the dungeons. Would you mind elaborating on that?" Phil said, leaning forward and folding his hands on the table.

Dream ignored him, looking out the window, leaving the other two to explain. Wilbur sighed, doing the majority of the explaining. He explained how the king had summoned them because he wanted them to hunt down Techno and when they refused, the king took their loved ones, his two younger brothers, Dream's boyfriend, and Skeppy's husband locking them away in the dungeon to keep the three of them in line. When he finished, both men had a murderous look in their eyes.

"That bitch is dead," Technoblade said, standing from his seat, moving to a series of chests at the back of the room, and beginning to search through them. "I'm sorry you three got dragged into this," he said as he started to pull weapons and armor out of the chest. He put both on the table, saying, "I say we pay that bastard a visit." Dream eyed the weapons on the table, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

Phil stopped him, saying, "Techno think before you act. I know you're angry, we all are, but we can't fight an entire army by ourselves, as you said in the forest. So we need a plan."

Techno scoffed but sat down next to Phil as Wilbur said, "Why are you helping us?"

"Because we know how it feels to lose someone you love," Techno said as Phil sadly looked down toward the table.

"What do you mean?" Skeppy asked, putting down the now empty glass.

Techno took a deep breath before saying, "A few years ago, I lost my brothers. We were out hunting, and some of Schlatts men came through and took them away. I tried to stop them, but they knocked me out. When I woke up, they were gone. It tore me apart, and I swore to get them back."

Wilbur looked up in surprise at his words before saying, "What were their names?"

"Tommy and Tubbo."

"I KNOW THEM! I've been taking care of them for the past six years! I thought their parents were dead!" Wilbur said, standing up quickly.

"What! Where are they now?!" Phil asked, standing up, walking over to Wilbur, and grabbing his shoulders.

"They're in the dungeons right now. They're the ones that Schlatt took to keep me in line." Wilbur said quickly.

Phil released him, turning to Techno. "They're alive, Techno!" Techno nodded in excitement as Phil continued, "My boys are alive!" The smile fell from his face as he said, "shit, Schlatt has them. We can't have that." Phil began to pace the room, muttering to himself.

"Dad?" Techno said, trying to get Phil's attention.

Phil ignored him, saying, "We need to develop a plan to rescue them. Of course, we'll need help from them, but that's no problem-"

"DAD!" Techno yelled loudly, startling everyone in the room but, more importantly, getting Phil's attention. "Dad, you can't come."

Phil gave him a skeptical look saying, "WHAT?-"

However, before he could say more, Techno cut him off. "You can't come to the castle with us Schlatt doesn't know about you, and I'd like to keep it that way. If you come with us, he might take you too. I couldn't live with that."

"But-"

"No, I can't lose you," Techno said firmly.

"Wait." Dream said, drawing everyone's attention, "Maybe there's a compromise."

"What do you mean?" Techno said, standing with his arms crossed.

"I mean, he can be back up." Dream paused, waiting for Techno to acknowledge him. Techno nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "Phil can stay here, and if we need him, we can call him. That way, he stays out of unnecessary danger, but if we need him, he'll be there."

Techno thought for a second before nodding saying, "I'll agree to that." Phil nodded in agreement.

"Great, with that out of the way, let's start planning," Wilbur said, standing up. With that, the small group began to plan.