A tale of Humans and Hybrids

Chapter 16

"Where the fuck were you?"

Wilbur glared from his spot in the middle of the room, Scott by his side. "Not now Wil." Phil helped Techno to walk right past the Phantom and sat him down in one of the chairs. The human hissed when the arrow in his shoulder was moved again. "Hold on. I'll get it out now." Before he could move behind Techno to take care of his wound, Wilbur grabbed his arm. "Phil! Where were you?!"

With an annoyed groan he hit the younger with his wing, pushing him away. "Why do you care about that? Can't you see I have bigger problems right now?" He moved to grab the arrow, the other hand on Techno's shoulder. "Deep breaths, I'll pull it out on three." The human nodded and took a deep breath, biting his tongue to try and keep quiet.

"Three... two... one..." Phil pulled and the arrow came free, making some of Techno's blood splatter on his clothes. He grabbed a healing potion and carefully poured it onto the wound, watching as it slowly stitched itself together. Scott was watching the whole thing silently, while Wilbur paced up and down the room, his wings twitching with anger.

"I can't believe you! You took him outside, didn't you?!"

"Wilbur I don't-"

"I don't want to hear it! You keep breaking the rules we made for him! Don't think I don't see him walking around by himself! Phil you're gonna get us all killed!"

"For fuck's sake Wilbur, why do you still think he will betray us?"

Before Wilbur could answer, Scott placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back a little. "What exactly happened? Why are you hurt?" Phil sighed and put the arrow away before checking if the wound was fully healed. "Got jumped by hunters... Techno shielded me from an arrow. Once I got the chance I flew us out of there."

"So he protected you... again." The statement was more directed towards Wilbur, who had his arms crossed now. "He's proven that he isn't a threat. Yes, I'm still mad that you two just left without telling anyone, but I don't see this as an actual problem. Just tell at least me next time... so there won't be any confusion when you just disappear. For a second we really did think he did something to you... before a certain Avian told us otherwise."

Techno huffed and looked back at Phil. "What was that about snitching?" "Why do I even bother..." "Techno has helped us quite a bit since he got here. Helped with resources and building, protected Phil from hunters, even learned our language so he can communicate with us better. He earned his place here, don't you think?" Again, the question was more directed at the Phantom.

Wilbur looked between Scott and Techno, not glaring anymore, but still obviously not happy. "Look. We talked about this. You don't have to like me, not at all, but at least don't try to get me killed? We can just avoid each other as much as possible, if it makes you happy. All of you could, if that's what you want." The phantom stared at Techno, trying to see if there was anything, anything, that could give away his true intentions. That he just wants to hurt them all.

But there wasn't anything. Is this human really on their side? It almost seemed impossible. Wilbur had spend a large chunk of his childhood in the wild with his mother, fleeing from hunters. His mother had been shot down when he was ten, screaming at him to fly away instead of helping her. He didn't and watched her get murdered and torn apart. From that moment onward he had sworn to kill every single human that he could.

Of course, a small phantom kid has no chance, so he stayed hidden. Tried to set traps for humans, but most didn't work. He was just a kid. Phil had found him when he was thirteen and took him back to the sanctuary. It was the first time he felt warm again... loved and cared for. He grew up with Tommy, who was about to turn seven when they first got introduced, as well as Tubbo.

He finally had a family again and he swore on his life to protect them. And now? Now Phil, his father, had brought a human to the sanctuary and treated him like he had done with him. It tore him apart between the promise to kill every human he could and the promise of protecting his family. And as much as he hated to admit it... Techno somehow was part of the family now... at least if you ask Phil.

When looking at him now, he felt kind of bad. The human had tried his best to fit in, to follow the rules and stay out of everyone's way unless they want something from him. Only Phil and Tommy went near him a lot and he had seen him spending a lot of time near Niki too. And how did he treat him? Like a prisoner, a criminal that shouldn't be alive. Yes, he used to be a hunter and was definitely a criminal in the eyes of hybrids, but he had spend nearly a month in the sanctuary now, without showing a single sign that he was a threat.

Maybe it was time that he allowed the human into the community... at least in a way that won't make him feel like a complete outsider. "Fine... I guess he has proven himself." Phil smiled when hearing his answer, glad that the other was finally starting to see Techno as a friend. Techno smiled too, happy to hear that even the aggressive ones finally start to accept him.

"Good. Now that this is finally settled... what exactly where you doing outside?" "Gathering some resources. I got spruce for Wil and berries for Fundy. Oh, and bamboo too, if you want some scaffolding. We just have to plant it first so we get more of it."

Wilbur grinned and hugged Phil tightly, as if the previous conversation just never happened. "You got me more spruce!" Phil just laughed and hugged back. "Please don't burn the saplings again." "Yes! I promise!"

"Now... where is Tommy? I need to have a talk with him."