A Faithful Memory

How far do I go?

Technoblade was very reserved that day. He waited until Philza woke up before easing himself out from under the sleepy avian's arm and starting their fire again. The meat...was useless at this point. They'd left it out all night and it hadn't even been fully cooked, so Techno went a little distance into the woods and just tossed it away.

He came back and sat down, tending to the small flames. The Voices were quiet that morning; the multitude mostly restricting themselves to background chatter that he couldn't unravel if he tried. He could pick out a few words or phrases here and there, but it was mostly noise to him.

"Morning, Techno." Phil said softly. "You doing okay, mate?" He heard Phil start to drag himself over.

Techno put a hand out to stop him, then moved closer himself so Phil wouldn't risk hurting his back any further. He didn't say anything, but when Phil reached out his hand to rest on Techno's knee a moment, the hybrid didn't stop him. He turned his attention, instead, to Phil's wings.

The bandages had come somewhat undone with all of Phil's crawling around. But, as Techno gently felt the base of the wings, he could tell that the bones had not been damaged and that was what mattered. Techno replaced the splints and wrapped them up with new cloth strips, moving with unaccustomed gentleness as he hummed some old tune he'd long since forgotten the name of.

Philza lay still and let him work, humming along whenever Techno came to some kind of chorus. The forest was quiet. Birds twittered and chirped in the trees, the wind moved like a lazy sigh through their campsite and a few leaves came fluttering to the earth. Techno could see his breath as he let out a sigh.

"The first snows will be here soon." Philza commented.

"Hm." Techno ran his hand along one of Phil's wings, his mind drifting between building the shelter and the trauma of last night.

"Do you think the shelter'll be ready by then?" Phil turned his head, looking over his shoulder at Techno.

"Hm." Techno stood up. Maybe. If he hurried. But Philza needed to eat first...Techno strode off into the woods, not caring much what he found as long as it was edible. He returned with a few grouse which he promptly began roasting. "Eat that when it's ready." He directed Phil, who just nodded.

Making a shovel turned out to be a problem, since Techno didn't carry the necessary tools for the job, and what branches he could find turned out the wrong shape. He growled as he stared at the problem. If he'd been on his own, he would've simply found a cave...

Stupidblade.
Find a cave, fool.
Why'd you take so long to get to that one?
Dummy.
Leave Phil.
No! Carry him on your back!
We're not leaving Phil.
Stupid Techno.

The hybrid stood there, his teeth and hands tightly closed. He really was being stupid. He should have sought out a cave long before this. Why had he even started trying to build a shelter?

Didn't want to hurt Philza by moving him.

"Oh, shut up." Techno cursed. He strode back to the campsite, removing his cape and throwing it Philza's direction. "Phil? Phil! I'm goin' to need you to stay here for a bit. I gotta find somethin', and I'll be right back. Okay?" He turned and was trudging off before Phil could respond.

So much time wasted. Techno swore under his breath. So much time gone. He could have had Phil safe and warm by now if he'd just used his head and gone to look for shelter. Stupid, stupid pig.

There was an area of the forest where the ground began to rise into hills. It was a long way from mountains, so any hope of actually finding a cave was slim, but Techno stumped on, his mind going over and over the various possibilities based on the terrain. He shivered, clasping his arms around himself. At least the walking kept his blood moving. Phil would have been freezing had Techno not given him that cape.