The Crow Of Death (DSMP AU)

Chapter 13

Despite the promise of switching so the other can sleep a bit too, Techno woke up for the first time when rays of sunshine hit his face. He groaned and turned around in his bed, or what he thought was his bed, to press his face into a soft surface.

His body was aching from yesterday's stress and his arm that had felt so much better lately was hurting again now too. But hey, at least he got a bit of sleep.

"Techno?" The Piglin groaned and lifted his head, blinking away the last traces of sleep. Ranboo was kneeling at the edge of the nest holding a plate with what he assumed was breakfast. "Mmm?" "I got breakfast. I hope this is okay... I tried not to mess up the kitchen too much."

The older hybrid slowly sat up and stretched his sore limbs. "Wait... it's morning already?" "Yep. Did you sleep well? Phil didn't move much, only to curl up a bit more and get comfortable."

"Ranboo...  I thought we agreed to take shifts keeping watch." "I know... but you looked so exhausted. I felt bad, so I let you sleep." "But now you didn't get any sleep." "That's... not exactly true. I know we agreed to keep watch, but I slept for about three hours while a bunch of crows kept watch around the house."

Techno sighed and took the offered plate. "I don't agree with this... but thank you." The Enderman smiled and got back up, picking up an empty plate that was probably his own. "I don't know what Phil eats... and I don't think a plate with food would be enough."

"Right. Phil can only eat raw meat... like a real crow. Or more like, that's the only think I allowed him to eat since normal crows usually can't eat anything else." "Oh... do you have some stored in an ice box or something?"

"I think we have some... I don't know if it'll be enough. Last time we just catched him a fresh prey he shared with his crows." Ranboo nodded and looked back at Phil, noticing his wings twitching. Techno noticed as well and turned to look at his friend.

Soon ice blue eyes slowly opened and a tired trill leaves his throat. "Hey... can you hear me?" Techno abandoned his plate in favor of checking on his friend. A small nod was the answer and made the hybrid smile. "Are you hungry? We'll go grab you some food if you want." Another small nod was the answer and in an instant the Enderman was out the door and on his way downstairs.

Techno didn't complain and stroked through black feathers. "Everything is okay now... I killed those bastards. No one will hurt you." Phil chirped and leaned into the touch, slowly getting more and more awake. "Is anything hurting still? I can get another healing potion." The bird lifted his head and showed him his neck, the feathers crumpled and some broken where the rope had been tied around his throat.

"Alright. I'll be back in a second." He got up and walked down the stairs, passing Ranboo who was balancing a large chunk of meat in his arms. "Where are you going?" "Getting a healing potion for Phil's neck." Before Ranboo could answer the other was already on his way to the brewing chest.

It only took a minute to make a new set of healing potions and he took two back upstairs, just in case. When he entered the room, the Endermen was trying to coax Phil into eating his food, but the crow refused for now. His throat must be hurting a lot if he doesn't want to eat.

"Here... let him drink this first." Phil lifted his head and chirped when seeing the potion in his friends hand. "Alright, careful now." Techno carefully poured the liquid into the birds beak, seeing his friend relax when the magic got to work on easing the pain in his throat.

"There you go..." As soon as the bottle was empty, Phil leaned down to start eating his breakfast. "Well... that was easy. I thought we had to force him to eat." "Nah, in all our years of living together I never had to force him to eat, even when he got sick."

Considering it was a rather small chunk of meat in comparison to the usual size of his meal, it didn't take him that long to finish. Now that he was awake and somewhat feeling okay, Techno finally had the chance to get some answers.

"Phil... I have a question." The bird chirps and nestled his head on Techno's lap, allowing him to stroke through black feathers again. "Those men yesterday. They said they want to 'bring her Angel back to her'. And... I spent almost the entire day thinking about who 'She' is..."

The bird visibly tensed as he glanced up at his friend. "Please don't avoid this... This could be important." A distressed chirp left his throat, but he didn't move away or tried to stop him. "Is Kristin your wife?"

Phil stared at him with big eyes, as if he couldn't believe what he just heard. Honestly, he's suprised that Phil thought he would never find out. Yes, it took forever, but he managed to do it anyways.

In the end, Phil gave in and nodded, preparing himself for more questions. "Ummm... who's Kristin? I mean, you just said she's his wife... but... I never saw her or heard of her." Techno glanced at their young friend and debated if it would be a good idea to tell him or not.

"Kristin is the Goddess of Death. I've met her a few weeks ago... when I died as a hoglin." Ranboo stared at him like he just realized he's insane. "Wait... so... Phil is married to literal death?" This time Phil was the one to answer with a nod. "Oh... wow... I mean... congrats? Must be a... interesting relationship."

It almost sounded like Phil was laughing when a bunch of chirps and trills left his throat. "She seems nice. Very polite and gentle when bringing souls to their resting place. I can see why you'd fall in love with her." The bird cooed and pressed closer to his friend, as if relieved to hear a position response to his relationship with Kristin.

"Wait wait... that means... Wilbur and Tommy are literally children of Death." Techno watched in amusement as the hybrid started ranting about all the different things he's realizing now, both including Phil and his immortality as well as his two sons.

"I'm sorry to bring down the mood but... they said they want to capture you for her. Why in the world would she make hunters go out and hurt you to bring you to her? From how you talked about her and how she acted when I met her, she would never even dream about doing this. I know you Phil. You would drop everything in an instance to go visit her if she wants you to come over."

Phil looked down, looking just as confused as Techno was. He hates bringing the possibility of his wife doing something bad up, but they have to be ready for everything that could happen.

"What... what if it's not her that wants this?" Both of them looked at Ranboo, who looked more nervous than usual. "People do crazy things when gods are involved... Foolish told me about times when people still treated him like a god and gave him gifts and sacrifices. Maybe those people somehow pissed her off and thought that bringing her 'lost' Angel back to her would calm her down."

"That's... actually a good point." Phil nodded in agreement, trying to get back up on his feet now. "Uh... Phil? What are you doing?" The bird looked at the balcony doors, cawing. "Uh... he wants to go outside?" He chirped and nudged Techno before walking over to the doors. "Where do you want to go?"

The large crow just chirped again and climbed out on the balcony when Techno opened the doors for him. "Phil... I don't understand..." Phil nudged him again and looked up at the horizon. "I... think he wants to actually go to Kristin and find out what's going on?" Ranboo was quickly rewarded with a quick nod before Phil yet again nudged Techno towards the balcony.

"You want me to come along?" The crow nodded and chirped. He looked back at Ranboo, who was gathering up his stuff now. "Will you be okay now?" The Enderman nodded and strapped his axe to his waist again. "I'll go back home to Tubbo now. You two go on your adventure. I can come over and take care of the animals while you're gone."

"Thank you. We really owe you one now." The young hybrid smiled. "You've done so much for me... I'm just returning the favor." Techno nodded and grabbed his own weapons. "Have a safe trip home." "You two as well... say hello to Phil's wife for me. She sounds really nice."

With that, the Enderman disappeared down the stairs. Techno quickly grabbed all the things he needed while Phil patiently waited outside beneath the balcony.

Looks like he will finally meet Phil's wife after all.