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Phil stared at the portal. Techno should have come home days ago. And yet not a word. He checked his bags to make sure he had everything he needed. He placed a hand on each of his weapons as he stepped into the swirling purple haze. “Here goes nothing.”
A few seconds of the portal mist swirling against his body and he felt it sink into his skin taking him to the nether. He stepped out of the mist that clung to him like water that slowly evaporated in the heat. He needed to find out what happened to Techno. Unfortunately, he didn’t know where to start. Techno had simply said he needed to collect more resources not which ones.
He takes a deep breath as he checks his gear once again making sure he is truly prepared for what hopefully wasn’t a search and rescue and was just a silly mistake and miscommunication. “Yeah that’s what this is, just me being anxious about a miscommunication.” and Phil took that first step into the nether.
Nope, that was not it, every step with no sign of Techno just made Phil think the worse had happened. Sure Techno said he never died but the nether killed many an unfortunate soul that turned out to be unprepared. Phil had been walking for who knew how long at this point it was hard to tell when the entire world was nothing more than an expansive cavern. But his feet were sore, he didn’t trust his wings with how heavy they felt and how low the ceiling was, and his eyes were dry.
Let the record show that Phil was not a fan of the nether. He never had been but with the current circumstances, he was even less fond. He collapsed a bit away leaning against an overgrown mushroom that was on the edge of a crimson forest. He closes his eyes that cry in relief at not being used in the arid hot environment for at least a moment.
Phil is thinking about eating some bread while he plots a course of action when he hears the massive thump of something lying on the ground nearby. Phil startles but tries not to draw attention to himself as he stares at the hoglin that had settled down just a few paces away from him. He is about to try and sneak away from what he knows well to be an incredibly aggressive creature but it seems his gaze was enough to alert the creature to his presence as they lift their head and stare directly at Phil. ‘Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck,’ he thought as the creature stood up. He was screwed he wasn’t getting out of this without taking a few heavy hits and maybe being sent off a cliff if he was unlucky.
He scrambled to get to his feet but the hoglin catches him before he can get his feet beneath him properly. Except instead of trying to gore Phil he bites his tunic and starts dragging him along. “What the fuck?” he whispers beneath his breath. This was new for hoglins, and Phil tries to pry himself out of the beast's grip. He almost tears himself away when the hoglin lets him go and quickly bites down in a different spot somehow avoiding biting Phil in the process. And at this point, Phil gives up. The hoglin clearly wasn’t going to hurt him at the current moment, He is exhausted, and isn’t sure he could get away if he tried.
So instead he watches as the hoglin carries him through the crimson forest. Other hoglins pass by and barely pay him any mind but even so, he can’t help but stiffen. The hoglin carrying him seems to notice and makes an effort to shift him away from them. It is purely bizarre. Phil has no lack of experience in the nether and of all his encounters with hoglins this is a first. He isn’t sure where this hoglin is taking him, isn’t sure what is driving it to do this, but at this point, he isn’t sure what to do but let this go wherever it may lead.
The hoglin brings him into a cave alcove thing and drops him. Phil lands roughly but otherwise is fine, he looks around at the hoglin and where exactly they are, the hoglin plops down on the ground next to him and curls around him shielding him from the view of any other hoglins. Where they are is nowhere special, a cut out in the crimson forest. But Phil needs to know the best route out of here, and he needs to know where in the forest he is. But it seems the hoglin had different plans as he leans his head up biting Phil’s tunic again and pulling him back down. He collapses next to the hoglin who looks at him as he sits there on the ground.
“What do you want, mate?” Phil asked as exasperation starts to leak into his voice.
The hoglin just blinks at him. Why was he expecting the creature to say something? He goes to stand up and move again when the hoglin pulls him back down. Phil stares at it and tries again. And again.
“So what you want me to just lay here?” Phil asks the creature as he gets more and more frustrated he needs to find Technoblade he can’t just do whatever this hoglin wants for the rest of time. The hoglin to his utter surprise nods, Phil splutters. “I have places to be,” Phil says as he tries to stand only to be pulled down again. “Stop it.” but the hoglin just gives him the most deadpan stare. Phil stares right back because damn it, he was not going to follow the whims of a weird-ass hoglin. He stands up staring the hoglin in the eyes the entire time and when he turns to walk away is yanked back down. “God fucking dammit.” and he stares at the hoglin again that seems to be laughing at him with just its eyes. “You’re fucking annoying you know that right?”
The hoglin rests his head on his forearms with a light grunt as if saying he knows all that while not breaking eye contact for a second. Phil leans against the animal as he stares at the ceiling. “I’ll just wait for you to fall asleep you know and then I’ll leave.” he turns to look at the animal again to see its reaction and it doesn’t seem to have reacted at all. “You really think you can outlast me? Are you that confident you dumb animal?” the hoglin again just continues staring. “Fine, I’ll play your fucking game.” He lays against the side of the animal staring the hoglin dead in the eyes, the hoglin stares back.
Phil isn’t sure how long he sits there staring a hoglin in the eyes but he starts to relax into the furry animal’s side. His eyes start to flutter close. He is exhausted from the day of traveling through the nether and it has not been more clear than when leaning into the side of this hoglin feeling a comfortable warmth and easy breaths. Before he knows it he is lulled to sleep. He would look for Techno when he woke up.
He wakes up to find the hoglin asleep beneath him. He sits up and the eyes of the beast flutter open as he raises a sleepy head to watch Phil. “You going to let me leave now?” Phil asks as he stands. Stretching out his leaden limbs and his stiff wings. The hoglin yawns and stands itself moving to let Phil pass. Phil watches with mild shock. And starts to walk away, his eyes warily watching the hoglin that had kidnapped him just the other day. “Alright thank you mate.” and he turns and leaves.
He only gets a couple steps before he hears the loud thumps of footsteps that follow after him. He turns to see that the hoglin is following him. “Did you need something?” the hoglin just nudges him with his head. Phil gives it a scratch behind the ears. “I’m going to leave now.” he lets go and walks away and again he only gets a couple steps before he hears the following thump of hooves. He turns around to look and the hoglin stops and looks at him. Phil takes a couple steps backward away from the hoglin who takes a couple steps towards him. Phil stops and the hoglin walks up to him and nudges him again. Phil grabs the hoglin’s tusks. “No, you are not coming with me.” he tries to push the hoglin away but he doesn’t even budge as Phil pushes. Phil can see the unamused eyes in his periphery. And then a glint of something in its eyes and Phil has only the briefest second to clock the look before the hoglin lifts its head picking Phil right up off of the ground. “No, no, no, no, no. put me the fuck down.” the hoglin keeps walking with Phil held off the ground and Phil looks the animal in its eyes. “This isn’t funny, you know that.”
The hoglin seems to disagree with him as he finally stops and sets Phil back on his feet. Phil sighs with his hands still gripping the tusks, he looks the creature dead in the eyes. “I’m not getting rid of you am I?” the hoglin shakes its head and Phil lets go before he gets yanked around again. “Didn’t think so.” Phil turns around and starts walking hearing the steady thumps of the hooves behind him. He isn’t sure how he feels about this whole thing. On the one hand, this is incredibly interesting and weird, on the other, he has a hoglin following him around. A freaking hoglin, they are not small creatures and he didn’t exactly come prepared to take care of a big hulking beast.
He steps through some vines. This crimson forest was so much larger than he had anticipated. And his new hoglin companion was having difficulty moving through the denser portions of it. He runs a hand down his face as he looks behind him. He’s tempted to just keep going and leave the hoglin behind. It’s slowing him down. He should just keep walking. If Techno was in trouble, which was looking more and more likely by the second, he would need help as soon as possible.
Phil stands there debating his two choices when the hoglin in question starts ramming his way through. Okay so maybe not as friendly as he originally thought. He takes a couple steps back. He breaks through and Phil takes a couple more steps back before he turns to try and run but as he turns he sees two other hoglins coming his way. Crap.
Phil will admit what followed was not his finest moment, because he froze. He watched in horror as he was being charged by three hoglins and prayed to whatever god there was that he would see Techno again someday.
Except his new weird hoglin companion leaped and Phil collapsed to the ground covering his head. He looked up to see the hoglin that had been following him completely and mercilessly gore the first hoglin that got too close. It took a couple steps back to stand over Phil as the other hoglin weighed its choices before deciding that it should attack. Phil watches in horrified awe as the attacker was killed in one deft strike and then thrown into a nearby crimson stem for good measure. The hoglin standing over him breathes out a puff of hot air before looking at Phil still underneath him to see if he was okay.
“I’m fine. Not a scratch on me.” the hoglin looks around before moving so that he stood in front of Phil. Phil breathes after a moment realizing he had forgotten to do that in his shock. “What the fuck.” He looks at the hoglin again as it waits for Phil. “That didn’t just happen.” the hoglin in front of him dips his head a little in a condescending manner. Phil looks around to find the two carcasses of the other hoglins. “You fucking murdered other hoglins.”
The hoglin snorts. “What the fuck.” Phil says again. “You are the weirdest hoglin I’ve ever met. What- what am I suppose to do now? You just fucking murder two hoglins to protect me. Do I just keep going on like I have been? Do I sit down and process this ridiculous information? How the fuck am I supposed to react to a hoglin very definitely not acting like a typical hoglin.” The hoglin is just looking at him as it slowly walks up to him. Phil isn’t sure what he is expecting but he can certainly say it was not for the hoglin to grab his hat. It pulls it off his head and Phil tries to grab it back but the hoglin pulls it out of Phil’s reach before he can get a good grip on it.
Phil gets to his feet and finds himself in a stupid game with a hoglin who is moving the hat before Phil can get close over and over again. “Give me back my hat you stupid animal.”
The animal in question glares at him, genuinely glares. He drops the hat on the ground and starts poking at his emerald charm. “Hey, hey, hey. No.” he pushes the hoglin’s head away and grabs the hat. “That was a gift and you are not going to break it.”
The hoglin tries to investigate it further. “What’s the matter with you back off.” the hoglin doesn’t back off but it doesn’t come closer when Phil steps out of range. He looks at the pendant on his hat. “It’s actually a gift from the friend I’m looking for.” Phil looks up at the hoglin who is unamused by his story and laughs, “you know, you remind me a lot of him. You both just have the most done with everyone’s shit faces I have ever seen. Man, Technoblade would love you.” the hoglin comes up to him until it is centimeters away from his face and just grunts. His eyes are looking directly into Phil’s. “You good there mate?” no movement. “I’m going to find him if you want to stick around for that.” the hoglin turns around and walks into a stem.
“You good there mate?” the hoglin turns to look at him and walks up to him. It grabs his tunic again and starts dragging him along like it had before. “No stop we are not doing this again. Put me down now.” the hoglin doesn’t listen. Phil goes to pull out his sword and the hoglin drops him and then on him. Phil’s arm is pinned against his chest. “You know somehow this is worse.” the hoglin stands up and before it can grab him again Phil rolls away and stands up. “No. stop.”
The hoglin watches him, waiting for him to do something. “What do you want you weird-ass hoglin? You’re fucking crazy if you think I’m just going to let you drag me around. I thought you would fucking understand I need to find my friend.” Phil says and if the hoglin were a smaller creature he would say the next sound that came from it was a squeal, but it wasn’t, and as such, it sounds like a guttural scream. Phil covers his ears. “Alright I get it I’m sorry I called you crazy.”
The hoglin is breathing heavily as it stares at Phil with fury. And Phil is terrified for all of a moment before he realizes that any other hoglin would have killed him by this point and as such he’s emboldened. “What do you want from me, you're a hoglin,” he yells at him again. “What is it? You are a hoglin.” another yell. “Fine, you want me to call you something else you son of a bitch? gruff, giant, spot? how about knife, stabby, killer? Maybe Blitz is more to your liking? You know what I’ll call you Blitz you happy now?” the hoglin, Blitz, walks up to him and puts his head against Phil’s chest. Phil calms down at the interaction. “You’re lonely aren’t you?” the hoglin nods against his chest after a brief moment. Phil sighs, “I’m sorry I got angry. It’s just I’m frustrated, I need to find Techno.” a light whine comes from the head nuzzled into his chest. “Thanks, mate.”
They stand like that for a moment. Blitz pulls away and just looks at Phil. “Alright let’s go then,” Phil says and walks away. He looks over his shoulder to see that the hoglin has not followed. Phil blinks. There had to be an easier way to do this. Blitz just stares after him waiting for him to figure it out. “I thought you were going to come along.” and the deadpan stare tells Phil that he is not forgiven for his outburst. Blitz looks out through the edge of the forest at a vast expanse of lava and then a cliff on the far side. And then Phil remembers something he had packed away. That could work. Phil pulls out the lead. And starts walking towards Blitz, who looks back and tilts his head. Phil walks towards him.
“It’s okay mate, just stay still.” the hoglin then levels him with a deadpan stare again. Phil walks up and is about to loop the lead around Blitz’s neck. Except Blitz moved his head to the side meaning Phil only managed to get over a single tusk. He tries again except this time Blitz moves his head the other way. And it goes on like that for a while. Before Phil looks at Blitz, “why are you like this?” he asks Blitz meets his gaze and Phil quickly loops the lead around Blitz’s neck. Blitz doesn’t even react and Phil isn’t sure how to feel about that. He tightens it so it doesn’t slip off. And Blitz just gives him a level stare. “Alright then, let’s go.” and Phil starts walking the way he had been when the rope is pulled taught and he is stopped abruptly in his tracks. He gives it a tug and barely makes the fur move. He pulls harder and manages to move Blitz’s head a little but nothing more. He progressively pulls harder and harder until he is throwing his whole body forward.
He is leaning so far forward he nearly falls flat when he starts being pulled in the opposite direction. And it doesn’t even look like it’s giving Blitz all that much trouble dragging him across the nether as Phil digs his heels into the ground. “Blitz, I swear to god we need to go the other way.” but Phil is still being dragged through the forest until he is dragged out of it into a field of netherack. Eventually, he gives up trying to pull Blitz the other way, in no small part because the knot came undone. He sighed as Blitz finally stopped in his tracks to look at the broken lead and then at Phil. Phil gathers up the rope and puts it back in his bag for the time being. And then walks up to the hoglin as he continues trotting on.
Phil has given up on guiding the hoglin forcibly and is willing to follow the hoglin’s lead for the time being since it is better than being dragged along. Phil looks out over the cliff to the other side of the lava pool. It seems the hoglin is intent on getting to the other side. He squints to see what could have attracted the hoglin but doesn’t see anything of note. “Where you taking me mate?” Phil asks to see if he is even looking in the right direction. Then Blitz looks at Phil before looking across the lava pool to the other side where Phil had been looking. “Is there even anything of note over there?”
Blitz looks back at him and nods. And Phil can only wonder what it is, he wishes he could ask but he doesn’t exactly speak hoglin. If he could this entire ordeal would be easier. Phil sighs as he looks Blitz in the eyes. “Alright then lead the way.” Blitz seems happy by Phil’s agreement to follow and he almost laughs at the strange expression as it crosses the furry face. Phil could easily cross the lava pool if he just flew but then he would be leaving Blitz behind, and if he was being honest with himself he was growing fond of the unusual hoglin that had decided it liked him.
But instead, they walk side by side as Phil slowly feels his eyes grow heavy and his feet grow weary. Phil places his hand on Blitz and Blitz turns to look at him, “hey mate, I need to rest.” and Phil plops on the ground; he pulls out a loaf of bread and breaks off a bit, and starts to eat it. Phil puts the rest of the loaf back in his bag and finishes off the small chunk he had grabbed for himself. He goes to stand up but his feet protest and instead he falls back down and then onto his back. “Maybe we call it for the day.” he hears hoofbeats and then a plop and Phil is caught off guard when it is on him.
A furry head is laying on his chest and Phil tilts his head to look at it and sees tired eyes. He laughs, “seems you agree with me mate.” he ruffles the fur and finds it so much softer to the touch than he could have ever imagined. “So think we should find a safer place to sleep for the night?” Blitz rolls his head to the side as his eyes droop more clearly showing how tired he was. But he stands up and grabs Phil by the tunic and this time Phil snorts as Blitz drags him to the rock wall that had walls on two sides and plopped him down before laying down beside him. “Thought I was too tired to walk here mate?” Blitz just rolls their head again. “Or were you just that anxious to sleep?” and Blitz closes his eyes. Phil leans up against Blitz again sinking into the fur and the gentle warmth. “Night mate.”
And this time Phil doesn’t fight the grip of sleep and rest. He wakes up hours later and turns his head to Blitz who stares at him with sleepy eyes. “Hey mate,” Phil says and he hears a low grumble escape his companion. Phil chuckles lightly at the response. “Not a morning person are you.” another low grumble. Phil slowly gets up and stretches out again. Blitz gets his feet under him and looks once more to the cliff on the other side of the nether. Phil standing where he is behind Blitz has a thought strike him and moves to Blitz’s side.
He grips his hand in the fur far above his head and he can feel Blitz look back at him curiously. He flaps his wings as he hoists himself over and onto Blitz. Blitz looks at him on his back and Phil smiles, the words halfway up his throat before Blitz turns his head back to look in front of him and charges. Phil digs his fingers into the fur to keep from falling off. And as Blitz charges Phil feels the hot nether air whip his hair around and he feels a chuckle bubble out and turns into a laugh.
It’s not like flying. Flying is weightless and light, it’s smooth and gentle on clear days and by its very nature different every second you spend in the sky. You may hit a patch of hot air, you may fly into a wind current, or through a cloud. This, this was heavy with a clear gravity, it was rhythmic with a repeating pattern. And even when the terrain changed it still felt the same. Somehow though despite these differences, Phil couldn’t shake the thought that they were both liberating experiences. Flying was climbing above the confines of the ground freedom at its most simple. This though was the freedom you felt when you let go of control and trusted something else completely and let that guide you.
He had no clue where Blitz was taking him other than a vague sense of the other side of the lava pool. It was a weird experience to not have any clue what was going on. Because he usually let himself follow Techno’s lead but normally Techno would tell him what was going on, guide him through the plan. Here he was blind, and frankly, he loved it. He loved flying he did nothing could ever top his love for the sky. But he also loved freefalling and that was this. He was freefalling and let gravity guide his direction.
He was here for the ride. Blitz was driven, his destination the only thing of importance. And the progress they made was frankly impressive. When Blitz stopped they were almost there, or at least they were on the other side of the lava pool now so Phil assumed they were close. Phil dismounted and Blitz looked at him again, breathing deeply. “That was amazing. Thank you Blitz.” and Phil looks to see if he can catch a glimpse of what it was that Blitz had been so intent on getting to. He doesn’t really see anything of note. “You sure there is something over here?” Phil asks and instead of nodding like he had come to expect, Blitz just keeps moving and Phil jogs to keep up.
He isn’t sure what else to say or do as he scans for any sign of Technoblade. He wonders if he should have been looking closer for Techno but at the same time, Techno wasn’t exactly the most discrete person he ever met. So he figures he would see something if there was something to see. Blitz is lazer-focused though. Whatever it is that has Blitz’s attention is all he can think about. “Blitz you good there?” he was pushing himself and that can’t be healthy. A low grunt is all he gets in response. “You shouldn’t keep pushing yourself like this.” Blitz doesn’t even give that a response. Phil stops dead in his tracks. Blitz keeps walking a couple paces before he realizes that Phil is not following and then he looks over his shoulder at Phil. “I’m not moving.” Blitz walks over to Phil and Phil takes a step back as Blitz goes to grab him. “Not this time you little shit. You are resting.” Blitz walks behind Phil and Phil turns to look. Only to get a chest full of face. As Blitz has decided to just push him. Phil grabs Blitz by the tusks and pushes them away. “You stubborn ass. No, you are resting long enough to at least catch your fucking breath.”
Blitz took a deep breath lifting his head and nearly picking Phil up off of the ground before exhaling and bringing him back down. Two more breaths like this and Blitz has caught his breath. And then before Phil can stare at how quickly this creature could bounce back from the energy it just exerted. And while Phil is stunned he nearly trips over his own feet as Blitz starts shoving him along. Phil lets go and spins out of the way before he can be pushed to the ground.
"Calm down, mate." Blitz, though, just tries to keep nudging him along. He laughs as he starts going along with Blitz's antics. "Alright but you can stop pushing me now mate." Blitz now walks beside him trying to hurry him along. Phil takes a deep breath. This isn't going to end well for him he knows that he isn't built for this kind of physical activity but he starts running and Blitz trots along beside him seemingly grateful to have picked up the pace.
And it is when Phil starts to feel fatigued that he sees something shimmering black stone surrounding a swirling vortex of purple mist. Phil stops and Blitz paces with his impatience. Phil is sucking in air with each panting breath. He turns to Blitz completely unfazed by the run. Who looks between him and the portal anxiously. "Is this what you've been trying to show me?"
Blitz nods and starts walking towards it almost immediately. Phil takes another deep breath and jogs the final length to get to the portal. It hums with energy. Blitz tries to go through but the portal is too small for them. the mist licks at his fur but can't seep into his skin and transport him properly thus making it so it fails.
Phil pulls them gently out. "I don't think you can come, mate. But I'll be back as soon as I get a grasp of what happened." Blitz looks anxious and maybe even a little angry at whatever it is that has brought them both here. Blitz obligingly steps back angrily staring at the portal. And his focus makes Phil hesitate before leaving. But he steps into the mist and lets the mystical energy seep into his skin and transport him to what remained of a woodland mansion.
"Techno what happened to you." Because that was the question wasn't it. Burning down the building was just normal. It was a sign to Phil at least that Techno had been alive when he had left. Presumably with totems of undying, a pocketful of emeralds, and maybe if he was lucky an enchanted golden apple.
Phil spent a couple minutes searching to see if there was anything that would indicate what had happened and really the only thing he could find was a jar of soul sand. Which was unusual for a woodland mansion but really couldn't tell Phil much about what happened to Techno. So Phil with more worry in his heart stepped back through the portal the same wisps of mist sinking into his skin.
He was greeted by Blitz on the other side staring down at the dirt. "Hey mate, I'm back." Whatever it is that Blitz has found has left them enamored. Phil looks down and sees a slight glint of something. He steps forward and crouched down to pick it up. What he finds is a delicate golden chain a couple centimeters In length. A gentle hook curves around one end telling Phil it is an earing. But Phil could have told you that even without the hook. For at the other end was a beautiful green gem, much like the one in Phil's hat.
Techno had made these for them. Techno usually traded with emeralds but this one had cracked and broken into pieces when Phil had knocked it off the table it rested on. Phil and Techno had gathered up the pieces as Phil apologized for his clumsiness and when Phil had asked what to do with them Techno had said to just set them down.
Two weeks later and Techno was at his doorstep. Which wasn't odd but what was odd was the plain brown box that Techno had brought with him. He had handed it to Phil. And he had opened it to find a single emerald earring. When he looked up again Techno was taking out one of his gold loops and putting in an identical earing.
Phil had hooked it on to his hat since he didn't really do earings but Techno had said something about how even during the toughest times. When things feel like they're falling apart. A good friend helps pick up the pieces. It had been both eloquent and slightly off-kilter as Techno wasn't usually one to be overly soft with his speeches but was always one for dramatic flair. It had been a moment so perfectly Techno that Phil had laughed and Phil had filed away the memory to reflect upon on a rainy day.
He holds it in his hand now running it through his fingers. "Techno where are you mate, and what happened." Besides him, Blitz gives a soft cry almost as if lamenting a loss.
He stood up putting the emerald in his hat right next to his own. He'd give it back to Techno when he found him.
Blitz is still staring at the ground where the gem had been found as if dumbstruck by what he had found. "Blitz we need to find Techno." No reaction. "You with me?" Blitz looks up sad eyes meeting his before they become resigned eyes and then determined eyes. Blitz puts his head in Phil's chest.
"Alright mate let's go," Phil says as he walks away from the portal the hoglin at his side.
Phil isn’t sure where to go now. He had no direction other than he knew where Techno had gone. It’s during this walk where Phil ponders Techno and remembers as much as he can about his friend to understand where he might have gone. Techno would never leave the emerald. The moment he realized it was missing he would have gone back for it. You would have to pry it from his cold dead hands.
So why was it there? And why wasn’t Techno there?
And why was Blitz so interested in them? He had taken the hat right from Phil’s head to investigate the gem and stared at Techno’s in the dirt for who knew how long. He looked at this hoglin and remembered the strange circumstances that followed him. Actually, he hadn’t even clocked the most bizarre thing in his focus and hope.
Blitz had tried to go through the portal.
Hoglin’s life source emanates from the nether, and particularly the crimson forest. And when that was cut off that life source became corrupted, they died and became undead. They avoided portals like the plague because it was. It killed them.
“Blitz?” the hoglin looks at him. “Do- do you want to see the overworld?” Blitz’s eyes flicker and Blitz nods. “You know it will kill you? It won’t be pleasant, it will be painful and torturous.”
Blitz merely nods. Phil thinks maybe he has stumbled upon why this hoglin was so strange. Or at least the inklings of a story. “I know you can’t tell me, but why? What is so important to you that you would die for it? I can’t think of anything worth dying for.”
Blitz tips his hat with his snout causing the two green gems to rattle against each other. “Are you asking if Techno is worth dying for?” Blitz looks at him, “I don’t think it’s that simple, I’ve lived a long life, Blitz. Longer than any one thing ever should. I’ve seen people die over and over again for the things they care about and each time it leads to sorrow and grief deeper than any wound.”
Blitz listens with rapt attention, “I once believed I would find something worth dying for, I believed maybe I would stumble upon someone who I would give my immortal life for. In the end, I found that if you really love something or someone you will do your best to make it back to them alive. So I guess what I’m saying is Techno is worth living for. I would fight battalions and a hoard of monsters, I would fight nature and magic and everything the world could throw at me in order to make it back home. Because I don’t want Techno or anyone I care about to worry about me, to search for me only to find I had died. I don’t want them to mourn my death.”
Phil looks out at the hellscape, and Blitz follows his gaze. “And at the end of the day, I may be the only one to remember them. As long as I’m alive everyone I’ve met, everyone I loved, they will live on in me.”
Blitz huffs and nudges him with his head. Phil laughs not quite sure what else to do about the affection.
“Tell you what Blitz, once I find Techno I’ll bring you to the overworld with me, if you really want, it’s the least I can do.” Blitz seems to smile though it’s hard to tell and then nods. “Unfortunately I don’t exactly know where to look for Techno, and I don’t exactly have enough or any obsidian to build a portal. So I guess that means we work on collecting obsidian and just look for Techno along the way.” the hoglin nods and then crouches offering to give Phil a ride.
Phil grips the fur and then pulls himself on. A smile growing on his face. Blitz takes off the moment he feels Phil settle. It’s not as fast this time, it feels less desperate, less driven.
And that’s the start of an adventure Phil had fallen into. He still worries for Techno but Blitz is a constant there to remind him things are okay, that hope still isn't lost.
The first moment of note is when they cross through a soul-sand valley, which unlike everything else Blitz hesitates before entering, poking at it, tapping it, testing it before taking one cautionary step, and then another before slowly he feels confident walking across it.
The plan was to sneak through and not draw attention but it rarely ever works out that way as Phil hears the clattering of bones. He hears whizzing arrows just moments later. “Fucking hell.” Phil pulls out his own bow loading an arrow and firing. It will take too long and Phil doesn't have enough arrows for this fight. He dodges, slowly thanks to the soul sand underfoot. Blitz charges them to take them down. And Phil does his best to cover. But even so, Blitz takes a few hits. The skeletons go down in a clatter of bones and dust. Blitz collapses but not really from any injury, they look more inconvenient than damaging, but rather exhaustion.”
“We should find a place to rest,” Phil says looking around hoping to find a place that is either secluded or outside the soul sand valley. Blitz gets back to their feet and follows Phil as he moves to look for someplace. And that is when Phil catches the edge of blue in the red landscape. A warped forest.
Phil immediately starts moving towards it. It’s not safe, not really, not when looking at the wrong spot triggers some of the most dangerous creatures to attack. But with a little bit of foreknowledge, it is a safe haven amongst the dangers and perils of the nether.
Phil keeps his eyes downcast as he enters the forest, watching as void black limbs pass by him. He walks with Blitz beside him, a hand resting on his shoulder to make sure he didn’t lose track of Blitz. Phil moves about and finds a place to settle for the night. He looks at Blitz and finds that the hoglin had also had his eyes downcast.
Phil could have sworn other creatures couldn’t trigger enderman. But then again Blitz wasn’t a normal creature, not by a long shot. But it did make him wonder again what made Blitz different.
Blitz had followed him through thick and thin, had chosen to stick to Phil and drag Phil along, which was a lot of effort, and a huge decision. It was frustrating not knowing. After years of life, he took comfort in understanding most things in the world. But somehow he always found himself endeared to the things that he didn’t understand as well as he thought, he loved the things that managed to surprise and puzzle him.
It’s why he loved Trixten, he met Techno and had stayed with him because the man never ceased to surprise him. And now it was Blitz. Blitz baffled him but he is glad he has the strange companion.
“Alright Blitz, stay still and I'll get those arrows out.” Blitz glowers but lays down and doesn’t argue as Phil moves around, climbing on top of Blitz at one point, to remove all the arrows. Blitz barely reacts save for a grunt when an arrow is embedded particularly deep and Phil had to apply a little too much pressure to remove it. “Sorry, mate,” Phil says as he slides back down to the ground.
Blitz lets out a gruff huff. Phil smiles as he sits on the ground leaning against the soft bulk of Blitz. His eyes flutter shut. Sleep drawing him into an inky haze of images. Memories of Techno, reminding him why he is here.
When Phil wakes up Blitz is gone. And he isn’t sure how that happened. “Blitz?” he whispers. “Blitz?” a little louder. He scurries to his feet before clambering around warped stems and looking for Blitz without drawing the wrath of the forest's residents. “Blitz?” He starts to reach the point of yelling. “Blitz, where are you?”
Phil can’t lose another person in how many days. Blitz has wormed his way into Phil’s heart, he can’t lose him. He can’t.
But Blitz nudges him from the back with a light grunt. “Fucking hell mate, you trying to give me a heart attack?” he says as relief courses through his veins. But Blitz is ushering him on, and unlike at the beginning where Phil was fighting tooth and nail against the hoglin, he lets Blitz guide him. He then starts to hear the gentle hum of something familiar. Even if it does stutter and crackle. He turns a corner and sees a ruined portal, a dusty chest sitting at its base. Phil knows why he is here. He kneels in front of the chest and opens it with care.
Inside he finds pieces of obsidian. He pulls out his pickaxe and takes whatever he can from the portal itself.
And they continue on like that Blitz finding ruined portals like a compass finding its loadstone. Phil ends up gathering enough obsidian to make a portal big enough for Blitz to pass through. But he can’t bring Blitz to the overworld just yet. Phil still needs to find Techno, and Blitz has been so helpful in his journey.
Phil can feel the hope drain out of him as days turn to weeks and draws on towards months. He doesn’t let his smile drop though. Blitz walks up to him a soft and gentle question draws Phil’s attention. It’s not words but Phil can tell he is being asked if he is alright.
“I’m fine mate. Just- I’m just starting to realize that maybe. Maybe I won’t find Techno.”
Blitz presses his head against his face and Phil takes a step back before petting Blitz’s snout, a laugh being pulled from his chest. “Thanks, mate,” Phil says for the simple comforting gesture. Blitz ends up sweeping Phil off his feet as he knocks Phil’s knees forcing him to fall onto the hoglin. Blitz lifts him up and as Phil takes the offer and situates himself on Blitz’s back the hoglin gently walks along. An even beat of hoof steps.
Phil is reaching the end of his rope. He probably would have long since mourned his loss if not for Blitz. But with each passing day. With each step. With each attack and biome traveled and words spoken for who knows how long at his point, Phil sunk deeper into his hopelessness. Until Phil sees a bastion.
He doubts Techno came here. Techno never really sought out anything in here, but when he saw just a little past at the fortress connected to it stemming from a soul sand valley, Phil figures this is it. Whatever he finds here marks the end of this journey. At least for a while. He can’t do this and be disappointed after every day.
He knows it won’t be safe, but he said to Blitz he would fight the world for Techno and that hasn’t changed. What’s a little danger for an immortal and a blood god.
Phil sighs as he starts to talk “You don’t have to follow me Blitz.” only Blitz is already stalking towards the structure. Phil jogs after him. And before long they are at the foot of the building. Phil sneaks in through a crack in the wall and Blitz circles the building looking for a way in as well. Where Techno brute forces his way, Phil has always been a bit more crafty using what he has available to him. He makes his way through somehow meeting up with Blitz.
It goes well long enough for Phil to feel comfortable with their strength and the rhythm. And then all the monsters of hell become bent on their blood all at once. Piglins with axes and crossbows are flanking them and Phil can see blazes and wither skeletons and at least one ghast turn to cut off their exit. “Blitz we need to head further in or else we are going to get overwhelmed.” Blitz charges Phil and Phil rather than freezing like he did all that time ago grabs onto his fur holding on as Blitz charges leaping off when he feels clear of the piglins.
Not that he leaps into safety rather he leaps right into danger as a wither skeleton goes to attack Blitz. Crossbow bolts are still being fired at them from behind. And this is where Phil realized Blitz might die, defending him.
He hears several meaty thunks as sharp arrows hit Blitz. Blitz throws several monsters into the lava below before dodging a fireball from either a ghast or a blaze, Phil can’t even be sure. He looks at Blitz as he stumbles and shakes in a way Phil knows to be wither. Blitz was dying. Blitz was going to die and it would be Phil’s fault. And then by some chance, Phil catches sight of a small structure floating into the lava below.
The overworld. “Blitz, cover me for just a moment longer.” he feels Blitz glance over at him as he rummages and grabs out the obsidian stones. Blitz grunts out a reply. Phil starts placing the obsidian praying he doesn’t misplace one.
Blitz yells at him and he picks up the pace. “I’m working on it.” and Phil rummages in his bag again struggling to find his lighter. He wraps his fingers around it and pulls it out of his bag.
He jumps down and flicks the lighter several times before it catches. He hears Blitz shatter bones and throw piglins over edges behind him. He lights the portal and he watches as a wave of purple mist swirls into the center spiraling from the corners. He stares up at it. Placing his hand in it feeling the mist sink into his sink and pull him out. “Blitz Disengage. We‘re leaving.” Blitz turns and runs sprinting towards the portal as hell demands its fill of death. Phil sees the ghast fire. One-time portal use coming right up.
He feels panic grip his chest afraid that Blitz won’t make it but he slips into the mist; the mist engulfing him and seeping into his fur and the skin underneath and as the fireball nearly knocks him out; he is gone. The portal shatters on the other side forcing Phil and Blitz out.
They collapse to the ground and Phil laughs. He’s still alive and Blitz made it to the overworld.
Wait. the overworld.
Blitz.
He turns to Blitz as they breathe heavily on the ground. He pulls their head into his arms. “Blitz, no you can’t die.” but Blitz is bleeding badly and Phil can see the black spiderwebs from where a wither skeleton struck him. And hoglins never were made to survive in the overworld so all Phil can do is hold Blitz close. And say goodbye.
He feels the tears building in his eyes, even as he felt a smile on his lips. Blitz got to see the overworld. He takes a moment to look around at the flower forest they had been lucky enough to find.
“Hey Blitz you made it,” he whispers as he feels the labored breathing underneath.
And then steam and mystical energy strat to swirl around Blitz. He recognizes this energy. It's powerful and sacred. Magic of life.
He feels Blitz’s form crumble into sand, soul sand, as threads of green and yellow bury themselves into the growing mist until a much smaller form is left in his arms.
“T-Techno.” the young man who Phil calls a friend lay in his arms. Phil chokes out a laugh as Techno breathed in his arms alive and with him. Although he supposes he had been there this entire time. Techno had almost died, had stupidly let him go into a building that was bound to kill him. “Techno don’t you ever do that to me again.”
Techno coughs in his arms before his eyes flutter open. He looks at Phil, “You really chose Blitz.”
“Oh shut the fuck up how was I suppose to know,” Phil says as he runs his fingers through Techno’s hair grounding himself and proving that Techno really is here, and his hair is as soft as it is snarled.
“I stole your hat. I dragged you around. I tried Phil, I lead you to my portal and found my emerald what else could I do?” Techno says as he sits up seeming to use all his energy in the action.
“All that time. You were right there.” Phil says as he pulls out the emerald from his hat, Techno’s earring belongs with its owner.
“I couldn’t let you be alone again,” Techno says with a knowing and soft smile.
Phil smiles back but the smile quickly melts. Images flash through his head of the burnt woodland mansion and of Techno trying desperately to tell him he was right there. “What even happened?”
Techno sits there looking for all the world like a man who wants to sleep and he just breaths for a moment as he finally says “Why don’t we talk about that later. I feel like death.”
“I mean you did die,” Phil says as he picks up a totem cracked down the middle and lacking any glow or luster.
“All the more reason for me to rest,” Techno says as he looks at Phil.
“Alright mate, let’s go home,” Phil says with a smile before pulling Techno to his feet and looping his arm around him. He would repay Techno for everything that happened in the nether.
Phil is sitting at the table, a mug of tea in his hand as Techno reads a book across from him. It’s been a few months since the whole nether debacle. He sits there as the memories flood back to him looking at Techno and that emerald earring he carried around for ages. Techno had slept for days after they got home which in itself had taken a while so Phil and Techno had never quite gotten around to talking about it.
“Techno?” the man hums telling Phil he is listening and prompting him to continue. “I still don’t know what happened in the nether.”
Techno sets down his book as he looks at Phil. He goes and grabs a mug of tea as well before sitting across from Phil. “Where do I start?” he asks.
“Why not just start from the beginning?”
Techno takes a sip of the tea. “Alright, well I went into the nether so I could get to a woodland mansion I’d heard about quicker. Which I think you figured out.”
Phil chuckles. “Yeah, that part made sense.”
Techno leans back in his chair his hands still resting around his mug on the table. “I guess things got weird when I got to the mansion. For all intents and purposes, it seemed like a normal mansion and it was. Save for one thing.” Techno pauses as he remembers and plans his words. “There was an evoker. And well they cast a spell that seemed to be useless. They threw some soul sand on me said some evocation and then I killed them. I didn’t feel any different. Turns out the spell wasn’t useless and the evoker was far more powerful than I had thought at the time.”
“Well, I’d say.”
Techno levels a stare at him that Phil just smirks at. Techno rolls his eyes. “Anyway, when I entered the nether to go back I stepped out and that’s when it hit me. I can’t remember if it hurt, can’t remember exactly how I transformed, I only remember realizing I was a hoglin and I had no clue how the spell cast on me worked.” Techno’s brow furrows. “I hadn’t even realized that where everything else transformed my earring hadn’t. I wandered away to try and get back home hoping the spell would wear off the way potions do. It didn’t. So I figured I would simply make the best of what I was given and try and figure out a way to undo the spell.”
Techno leans forward taking another drink of tea. “I figured the spell only activated when I entered the nether, perhaps if I made it back to the overworld the effects would reverse. Problem was I wasn’t able to fit through a standard nether portal anymore. I had been wandering around trying to figure out where to go when I stumbled into you. And I think you can fill in the dots from there.” Techno says a handwave to indicate the time they spent together after that.
“You dragged me through the nether trying your best to tell me you were right there.” Techno nods. Phil thinks about everything that happened on his end and then he remembers something and he nearly hits his head against the table as he remembers something he said. Instead, he sighs, “Techno, how frustrated were you when I said you reminded me of yourself.”
“I hit my head against a tree Phil… repeatedly. I thought you’d be a little less oblivious with all your years of experience, turns out me reminding you of myself, me acting nothing like a normal hoglin, going out of my way to drag you around, keep you safe, and literally pointing to the thing I gave you weren’t enough to clue you in that I was the hoglin.” Techno says.
“Well, when you put it like that mate,” Phils said. rolling his eyes and letting go of his mug to gesture with his hand.
Techno smirks. “So I pushed you around until I saved myself since you weren’t going to figure it out any time soon,” he says taking a sip of his tea.
“Fucking hell mate, you need to cut me that deep?” Phil says a lightness filling his heart at the well-deserved criticism and banter.
“Phil, I spent months with you and you had no clue Blitz and Techno were the same person. And don’t think I’ve forgotten that you called me Blitz for several months.” Techno says switching topics to something that made Phil internally wince.
“Oh come on mate it could have been worse.” Phil weakly defends himself, it had been him saying things in frustration and it had just stuck.
“You’re right, I could have been a hoglin called spot for the rest of my life, thank you for blessing me with a joke I made as a name,” Techno says with barely any inflection while still dripping with sarcasm and gentle ribbing him.
They stare at each other before Phil burst out laughing and Techno huffs out a laugh as well.
“Whatever happened, I’m glad to have you back to normal Techno. And as you again.”
“I think we can both agree on that Phil,” Techno says raising his mug in the air in a subtle toast. Phil matches the motion and they both take a drink.