Free Wings

CHAPTER 8

Karl sat in the infirmary with the potion stands as he made medical based potions, organizing them while labeling their type. It was calming work for the male, and one he often gets lost in. Maybe that is why when another being walked into the infirmary he didn’t hear it. It startled him though, when said person began to talk. “Karl.” Dream. The one person he wished it wasn’t. Karl turned around, his brown eyes fixing on the other mask wearing male. 

“Yes?” Dream stepped closer, peering onto the table and making Karl feel uneasy. 

“I heard you went missing yesterday.” Karl looked away, eyes cascaded down to the floor. “Mind telling me why?” Karl couldn’t tell the other why, he'd be executed. He needed to come up with a lie. 

“I had gone out, I hadn’t been out in a bit and decided to take a few hours for myself.” The two stared at each other for a moment before finally Dream looked away. 

“Fine. But don’t do it again.” Dream started his way to the door before stopping again. “Oh, Sapnap and Quackity are looking for you.” Karl nodded briskly before looking back to what he was doing before. Once the door shut he let out a shaky breath. Dream was catching on. He was trying to figure out how to get him to spill, how to get him to slip up. He thinks Karl doesn’t know he’s onto him. Gripping the key around his neck he let himself calm before starting his work again. Hiding his secret seems to keep getting harder and harder to do.  

+ + +

Tommy held onto Philza tightly as he leaned over the edge of the cliff, looking down at the abyss that laid below. “Why are we up here again?” Wilbur Asked. Technoblade and Wilbur had tagged along to Tommy’s flying lessons, both bored. But this time Wilbur had his baby son with him who at the moment was sleeping.  

“To teach Tommy how to fly, Wilbur.” Philza answered. The older blond looked to the younger avian, removing his tight grip off of his clothes. “Now, I want you to stand on the edge, ok?” Tommy looked at the other like he was crazy. Did Philza really expect him to do that? Phil noticed his hesitance and stood closer, himself just on the edge. “C’mon I wouldn’t do anything that would endanger your safety. Just do it!” Philza finally moved out of the way, letting a very shaky Tommy walk slowly up to the edge of the cliff himself. “Now, Spread your wings.” 

“Okay…” Tommy did as told, spreading the gray wings on his back slowly. Technoblade and Wilbur looked at one another in confusion before looking back at their father and just found brother. THey knew something was about to happen, they just didn’t know what. 

“Now, start flapping them!” Philza’s voice was cheerful, making Tommy relax some, but then again his wing flaps were still very choppy as he looked over the edge. They were really high up and the young teen didn’t like it. “Okay! Now, don’t stop doing that the whole way down!” Tommy looked over his shoulder with a confused expression. 

“Whole way down? Whole way down to-” Philza pushed the other off the edge, the young teen screaming as he flailed his arms and legs around. Philza peered over the edge, his blue eyes watching in slits as he narrowed in on the other. The teen was frantically flapping his wings, screaming, and looking like he was about to cry. Wilbur and Technoblade sat shocked for a few seconds before rushing to the edge themselves, peering over the edge in horror. 

“Holy shit! You just pushed him off!” Wilbur screeched. Philza just hummed, nodding as he watched with focus. “WHY?!” Techno looked at his father for an explanation, but the older avian stayed quiet. 

“Dad?” The pink haired male asked. Philza looked over with questioning eyes. “Why did you push Tommy off the cliff?” He was honestly curious. 

“Oh, this is how I was taught!” Wilbur and Technoblade looked back down the cliff, the younger brother finally getting out of view. 

“He’s gonna fucking die.” Wilbur breathed out. Techno hummed, nodding his head in agreement. Philza annoyingly sighed, shaking his head no in the process. 

“He’s almost got it.” Philza told them, his cat-like eyes looking over to the other two children. “You know Wilbur, if you had been born an avian this would probably have been you too. But of course you would have been much younger than Tommy.” Wilbur looked horrified, his face paling while his father laughed, zoning back in on his youngest. For once Wilbur was happy he was born a human, only carrying hybrid genes. “Well, he’s sorta flying now. He’s not falling anymore, but he’s just sitting in one place.” Philza’s eyes went normal, himself spreading his wings before launching off of the cliff, swooping down towards the younger avian. Technoblade and Wilbur watched for a moment, and then when he was out of sight, back at one another. 

“What the actual hell just happened.” Wilbur wheezed out, backing away from the cliff. The pig hybrid male laughed at the other, himself getting away from the edge. 

“I think we saw Tommy’s first flying lesson, Wilbur.” 

+ + +

With Tommy, the male was only feet away from the ground, his wings constantly flapping as he himself tried to catch his breath. His pupils were in slits, frantically looking around as he calmed his breathing. That was the most terrifying experience he had ever gone through. Philza was by his side in seconds, looking at the other with a held back smile. “WHAT THE HELL!?” Tommy screeched. Philza started laughing at the other, while Tommy just stared at the other with alert eyes. “You just pushed me off a fucking cliff! Why are you laughing?!” 

“Because you were so scared! Tommy, if I thought you wouldn’t have been able to catch yourself I’d have caught you in an instant.” Philza flies a bit closer, an amused expression on his face. Tommy grumbled, looking away from the other as Philza began to once again laugh. “Now, I think that's enough flying lessons for today, unless you want to continue?” Tommy gave a quick head shake no. 

“NO! I don’t need to have a second heart attack today, old man!” Again, the older avian was laughing. 

“Okay, then I guess we should head back to the castle huh?” Philza asked. Tommy nodded. “Then I guess I’ll teach you another flying lesson!” Tommy looked at the other with a frown. 

“But I thought we were done?” Philza rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh.

“Well, I could just fly up myself and wait for you to climb all the way back up again!” Tommy was quick to perk up. 

“Uh, won't be necessary! What is this lesson now?” The blond smiled, flying behind Tommy to where his gray wings were flapping to keep him up in the air. 

“Well, you're at the moment staying in one place, but to actually fly you need to know how to go forwards, upwards, downwards, and once you’ve mastered those, backwards. We’ll work on gaining height To get back up the cliff today, and work on the others tomorrow.” He explains. “Now, to gain height to explain it without complications, is just to flap your wings a bit harder than you already are to get higher in the air.” Philza got in front of the teen to demonstrate, the other quickly copied. Though a few times he thought he might fall to the ground. Philza was there though, and even helped him when his flapping became uneven. Eventually they got back up to the cliff, the older avian grabbing ahold of Tommy’s hands and guiding him to the ground of the cliff. Wilbur and Technoblade stood watching, Fundy still asleep against his fathers chest. 

“Well, it's nice to see Tommy actually using his wings. Though fully fanned out they still look a bit big for you.” Wilbur commented. 

“He’s still growing, Wilbur. They are usually big on you until you're around seventeen.” Philza explains. The two flying males landed, now ready to head home.