How to train your hoglin

Stories

Phil spread his aching wings in the morning light. A camel grunted at him, lifting its head from a pool of water.

This place was like a zoo.

Phil stretched and began to preen, cleaning each and every feather on his wings.
Soft bits of down floated down around him as he struggled to reach the itchy spot near his shoulders.
Techno used to help him with that. Even though Phil protested, there was no stopping Techno when he put his mind to something.
Besides....he was really good at it.
Phil twisted but again couldn't reach. He sighed and looked around. Was anyone nearby? No.
He picked up his staff and rubbed it against his wings. The itch faded.

"Um, what are you doing?"

Phil jumped with a squawk and spinned. Ranboo stood a few feet away, his head tilted in confusion.

"Uh, I'm.... I'm preening." Phil mumbled.
"What?"
"You know, taking care of my feathers." Phil said, looking to the side, rubbing the back of his neck. "Like birds do."
"Oh, that's cool! Like polishing scales? Or brushing fur? It helps them be...not itchy I guess?" Ranboo flicked his tail over and ran his hands through the little floof of fur on the tip.
"I guess." Phil said, the embarrassment fading slightly.
Ranboo grinned, and Phil felt a wave of fondness. He grinned back.

"Hello my friends." Foolish said from behind them. "Phil, can I talk to you?"

You should adopt him.

Excuse me, crows? We are not adopting anyone else.
Phil shook his head, dislodging the crow that sat there, and followed Foolish, with a wave at Ranboo.

"What did you want to talk about?"
"I've heard from the Astrals. They're ready for you. Unfortunately, wither knights are gathering between the desert and their starlit forest...so it'll be difficult for you and Ranboo to get there."
"Why are they gathering there?" Phil asked. "Why aren't they attacking anyone else?"
"Well, you see.... they're hunting you. You specifically. Because you're going to see the Dreamon King. They'll do whatever they can to stop you from getting to him."

Phil blinked. "Why do they want to stop us from visiting him?"
"Because he's powerful. And they're afraid of him. They're afraid of you, King, and Techno. That's why they killed him, and why they were hunting you down."

Phil froze. They'd been chasing him. Him, not Ranboo. Ranboo had gotten hurt because of him.

Phil shook his head, raking a hand through his hair. "What do we do?"

Foolish's expression seemed to falter. "We go to the Astrals. They can explain the situation. But first.... I need to explain.... everything."
Foolish turned and started walking. Phil followed him, expecting a long talk, but instead, they walked to the throne room, where Foolish flicked a lever.

The floor rippled, the stones swiveling and turning and moving down into a spiral staircase.
Phil backed up, violently reminded of another redstone door, which had led to him almost drowning.

Foolish started walking down, and Phil could only follow, albeit hesitantly.

The stairs went for a long time, but Foolish didn't speak, not even to reassure Phil that they were almost there.
Finally, they reached the end, and Foolish unlocked a heavy oak door.
They walked through, into a white room. The walls were quartz, the floor white tiles.
Glittering mosaics covered the walls, inlaid with white gems, gems which seemed like crystallized starlight.

"What is this place?"
"An old shrine. To the Dreamon King. Although then he was called the Green God."
"The one who destroyed L'manburg and sent my sons running?" Phil said, hot anger rising in his chest.
"No."
"The conqueror declared himself as this Green God."
"The Dreamon King never claimed that title. He was only ever called that by his worshippers. Besides, he hasn't been on this world for centuries. That's why you're looking for the portal."

Phil glared, but grudgingly nodded.

"Now, as for why the wither knights are gathering."
Foolish drew a white stone from a pocket and threw it at the wall. It hit, but didn't bounce off. Instead, it was absorbed into the white stones, which flickered.

As Phil watched, the stones turned red, as though dipped in blood.
"An old enemy of the Dreamon King has risen again. It's called the Egg, or the Parasite, or even the blood vines. It doesn't have much power on its own, at least not at first, but it is able to control people, make them devoted to the Egg, and do whatever it says."

"So... it's controlling the wither knights?"

"More or less."

"Why does it want to kill us?"

"Because you three can resist it. Surely you remember the old war against it, right?"

Phil searched his memory, but that far back....what little he could remember blurred together, all he could recall was in bits and pieces.

Further back, and everything was a smoky haze. No matter how hard he tried....the earliest thing he knew was her. Her, then his sons, then Techno. Anything earlier was nothing but wandering, alone. Why would he even want to remember that?

But now he did. If only to know what had happened. If he could just remember, maybe he could find ways to protect Ranboo, to find the Dreamon King.

But everything in his memory was smoke and mirrors, and Philza was lost in the maze.

Sorry about the late update. I had a few tests this week, and people came over. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.