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Tommy was soaring through the sky, trees whipping by below him as he headed back home. He had been out gathering resources for everyone that they could only retrieve from far-away, one of these items being saddles. They wanted to make a horse stable so those few who are grounded still have a faster method of transportation. Since him and Phil had strong wings, they were the ones most suited to go and look for the items because they could travel faster. Phil searched South for saddles, while Tommy searched the North. Wilbur also had wings, but they decided to have him stay at home to help look after everyone.
They also didn't want to send anyone on foot on adventures due to the danger of the hunters who occasionally prowled the forests surrounding their camp. Select hybrids were hunted for their abilities or limbs. Avians were high on the hunters lists, but because they could fly, it was easy to evade them.
Tommy had gotten lucky and found four saddles on his adventure. He had gotten a bit sidetracked on his adventure, spotting several ocean monuments where he circled around it in the sky. The prismarine crystals he could get from the monuments were tempting, and the bird side of him desperately wanted them. However, retrieving them would mean diving in the water and getting his wings wet. Both him and Phil had barn owl-type wings, which meant their feathers weren't water repellent. Their feathers just soaked up all the water, making it impossible for them to fly.
As an avian, being grounded out in the wild until your wings dry was dangerous for obvious reasons.
So instead, he passed them on, writing down the coordinates so he could ask Niki or another hybrid to go and fetch them for him later.
Tommy flew over the trees, heading home. He'd been out for most of the day, and it was now only a couple more hours until the sun set. He grunted, fatigue hitting him hard from flying so much all day combined with the heavy weight of the saddles. He flapped his wings to send him higher into the sky as he dipped lower. The saddles were in a bag which he was carrying below him as he flew. He wished so desperately he could wear a backpack like others could, but backpacks would interfere with his wings. So he was left carrying the things he found home.
The only downside was that the bag created a lot of fucking drag.
Clipped to his waist, Tommy felt his communicator buzz, jumping to life. "Tommy, where are you?" came Wilbur's worried voice.
The teen groaned, wrestling the bag into his left hand as he grabbed his communicator with his right hand. "On my way home, Wil." he breathed, tired.
"Okay. Hurry up, its expected to rain soon. Find shelter if you can't make it and one of us can come get you." Wilbur replied, sounding anxious.
"Got it, big man. I'll hurry up." Tommy replied, shoving the communicator back into its pouch. Now out of the way of Wilbur's worried ears, Tommy let out a curse. He certainly wasn't close enough to home to make it back before it would start to rain. Judging by the clouds, it looked like it would rain any moment now. He'd just have to go faster.
Pumping his wings faster, he soared through the air, struggling to stay up. Not long after that, he felt the first sign of rain. The light drops landed on his back, and he cringed, pushing himself farther. He was so close to home, he was perhaps only a kilometre away from their campsite. He didn't want to have to stop and find shelter. He was independent, he could do this without his friends assistance.
However, this plan was immediately thrown out the window as the light rain turned into a heavy downpour within seconds. He yelled out a few strings of curses as his wings began to get soaked through, sending him crashing down to the earth. He grabbed his communicator, and spammed the button on the side of it that automatically send his coordinates to everyone else.
"Tommy?!" Phil's voice came over the communicator now, worried by the string of coordinates which showed Tommy's rapidly declining Y-Level coordinates.
"PHIL I'M GOING TO CRASH!" Tommy yelled in terror, struggling to manipulate his wings in a way to slow his descent. It was useless, so Tommy aimed himself at a nearby lake. He couldn't swim when his wings were wet, but it was better than breaking every bone in his body from hitting the ground.
"I'm near that lake, hold on Tommy!" came Niki's voice over the communicator right as Tommy hit the water. The shock of hitting the water so hard stunned him, his face stinging as water filled his nostrils. He coughed and choked on the water, limbs thrashing as he kicked up with his feet. He resurfaced for a few seconds before he was pulled under again by the weight of his wings.
He abandoned the saddles, dropping it and allowing it to sink to the bottom of the lake. They could be rescued later. Tommy continued to struggle in the water, thrashing and going through a repeating cycle of managing to come up for air before getting pushed back under again.
Right when Tommy felt like his body was going to give out and let the waves pull him deeper, he felt the smooth arms of someone wrap around his waist. He turned his head, seeing with relief that Niki had him and was pulling him towards the surface. Tommy took a huge gulp of air when they broke through the surface, coughing up water.
"Hold on, Tommy." Niki encouraged him, moving so her back was to him. He latched onto her shoulders, and clung to the female as they swam towards the shore where Tommy could see Wilbur and Phil already waiting, Phil holding an umbrella above his head to shelter himself from the heavy rain.
As soon as they got to the shore, Phil and Wilbur rushed over, grabbing Tommy from Niki and hauling him up onto the grass.
"I told you to keep an eye on the weather, Toms." Wilbur scolded him, but Tommy wasn't listening. He was looking back at the lake with a frown.
"I- I got the saddles. But they sunk down in the lake." he stammered between his coughs.
Wilbur and Phil shared a look that said 'save the lecture for later', instead helping Tommy to his feet.
"I'll go get it." Niki offered with a smile, and she dove back under the water before Tommy could even say thank you.
Finally getting his breath back, Tommy temporarily let go of Phil only to shake like a wet dog, splattering the extra water onto Phil and Wilbur, who shrieked while the teen merely laughed, sticking his tongue out at them.
"Phil, I want a hug." Tommy stated, stretching up his arms and staring at Phil expectantly.
"You're wet- oh." Phil began to protest, only to be cut off as the teen launched himself onto Phil anyway, instantly wetting his shirt.
Niki resurfaced not long after, handing the saddles off to Wilbur. "Thanks Niki." Tommy smiled at her, waving as she began to swim back towards the camp.
"Let's get you home, little Gremlin." Wilbur huffed with a smile, throwing an arm around Tommy as the three walked back towards the camp.