Work Text:
"Love, could you run to the store? We need more bread," his wife asks, she is standing in the kitchen, flour over her whole outfit.
"Only bread?"
"Yes, and maybe some butter.. if you could, as fast as possible, please?"
"How is the bread already gone? We couldn’t have aten it all, I bought a loaf yesterday," he mumbles to himself.
Ohh, he know why it is.
"Kirsten, have you been feeding the neighbours ducks again?"
"I.. maybe? Look, in my defence, Bendson looked hungry-"
"I don't want to hear it, Love," he cuts her off, there is a laugh in his voice. "I'll go grab it.. just, wake up Tommy?"
"Yes, I will. Please get the bread."
Phil hoped this would be a normal morning where he could chill on the couch, scrolling through whatever platform he wanted. But no! His, he loves her so much, wife needed to feed Bendson! Like the duck doesn't get enough food from his owner already!?
Just, let this trip to the store be quick. He doesn't even need to walk to it, that the convenience of having two beautiful wings.
After what feels like an hour flight, what could only he 30 minutes, he lands. Its somewhat outside the city, in the woods because he doesn’t like being stared at by citizens.
Being a hybrid in l'manberg isn’t common. Or.. more, it is commen- being an avian hybrid isn't commen. People think there aren't any left, all died some years ago.
Phil knows this is true, or mostly true. He was the only one who survived, and he got Tommy. Phil and Tommy are, for what Phil knows, the only Avian hybrids left in fhe whole world.
He puts on his cloak, it large, its hides his wings perfectly.
After he adjusted his cloak so no feather could be seen, he makes his way to the store.
Just, fast in and fast out. Thats what he likes.
When he finally found the bread aisle, there is yelling near the entrance. He doesn't know what is happening, but he really doesn't care either.
He doesn't know if he should take one or two loafs. After deciding on two, because Kristen can then feed Bendson even more, he makes his way over to where the butter is located.
Why are there so many brands he can choose from?! He can count almost-
There is a gunshot, he truns around, looking where the shot came from.
There are two men standing at the entrance of the store. They have guns, both of them.
They have hostages, three of them he can count. He needs to save these people, he can't just let them be here and do nothing.
Phil walks backwards, trying not to make a sound. He fails miserably in that.
There was a tower of soups cans standing on the ground, now they are all clattering on the ground.
The burgalars turn around, stopping when they see Phil.
"Hand where we can see them," one yells, they both have their guns pointed at Phil.
He obeys the order, raising his hand in mock surrender. He won't let them take him as hostage too, he will fight them if needed.
"Walk closer, keep your hands where we can see them," the others orders, Phil obeys. When he is in reach for one of the burglars, they try grab him. Phil dodges the hand, kicking them into the stomach.
"Don't fight us, you won't win this," one snarls, kicking Phil back.
"Who says I won't win this?"
"Me," one says, Phil looks up at the man, he sound like a young adult, maybe a teenager.
"By doing this you will go to prison," he tells the teenager. "By stopping now, maybe the police will pity out because of your age."
"How.."
"Mate, you need to hide your voice if you want to be secret about still being a teenager," he tells him, kicking the gun out of his hand.
The other, presumably also teenager, grabs him. Pulling him back from the other boy.
"Don't touch my brother," he snarls.
"If you let me, and the other people here leave. Sure, I won't."
The boy pulls him further back, Phil feels the cloak loosening under it.
The other boy kicks him in the leg, leaving him stumble away. He other boy is still holding his cloak, the knot untied itself and now the cloak is only hiding his wings because of pure gravity.
The boy kicks him back again, letting him stumble. Out of instinct he uses his wings to steady himself. That was a mistake.
He cloak falls off, now his wings fully insight.
"Shit," he mumbles under his breath.
He can hear the whole room gasp, they are seeing one of the last avains alive. They should be surprised.
"What the fuck!?" One of the two boys yell.
"Surprise?"
The is a bang and Phil falls on the ground. They shot his leg, they shot his fucking leg!
"Basterd!"
"Willow, keep the others seated. I am gonna talk woth out exotic animal over here."
"Don't ever call me that," the other boy- Willow snaps.
"I shouldn't use real names, young man," Phil tells the boy, only now he can look at the boy thoughtfully. He has red eyes and little tusks. "You're a piglin hybrid?" Phil, in return for his power to not shut up, gets kicked in the wings.
Pain shoots through his whole body, his wings are funerable, they can break really easy.
"Please, don't break my wings," he tries, he just gets another kick against his wing.
"Please, just, for the love of prime, shut up." Phil listens to the man, not fancying his wing break today.
"Willow, what do you want to do with it?" He is talked about like he is an object, just something to play with.
"I am not an 'it'," he says, standing up, he had enough of this.
"You will stay here, Avian. We don't want to hurt you, we just need to get our word to the government," the boys tells him, kicking him to the ground and placing his knee on Phil's back to he can't stand up again.
"You don't want to hurt me? Is that because you are decent people or just because of the wings?" Phil snaps, he needs to get home, these boys are the only thing holding him back.
"Neither. Willow, you heard me? How do we want to proceed?"
"How many hostages do we have here?"
"6, excluded the Avian."
"We let the 6 go, we keep it here, the government will listen to us if we have it. They can't let a little exotic animal die," the last part he mocks, directed to Phil.
A yes, being an Avian too means being the most important person in a heist. How lovely.
"The other 6 aren't important to the police, only the Avian is. We need to keep it here until we have what we want."
"And what is that-" Phil begins immediatly stops when two hands are placed on his wings.
"Don't talk. I know how birds work, you have hollow bones, ones that we can break with ease."
"Don't touch my fucking wings, young man," Phil hisses, he flaps his wings, trying and exceeding to get the boy off of him.
"Willow!" The boy yells, and the other is running to Phil. A little device in his hand.
It's almost black, only a little red light changing the otherwise completely black.. thing.
Suddenly, Phil's use of gravity is heavier, pushing him to the ground.
Form the depths of his troat comes a chirp, what more sounds as a snarl. The boy- Willow comes closer. Stopping just in front of Phil.
"Just, don't hurt yourself when you are out, okay?" The boy says, placing, what can only be seen as a bracelet, around his wrist.
When he hears a click and everything goes black.
When he wakes up, the gravity didn't leave yet. He is still stuck in the ground.
Like the boys said, they let the other 6 people go. Now it is only him, Willow and the other boy.
"When are you going to let me go?" He rasps out, he barely can get enough air in to breath, let alone talk.
"When the president listened to our demands. When he heard them, and promises to do them, you will be let go off. Although, I don't-"
"Willow," the other boy snaps. "Just, I don't know what your name is, know that we will let you go when the president listens to us."
"What do you want from him? Because if you want money-"
"We do not want money, Avian. We want him finally listen to us, we need change in this and we can't have that change if the president doesn't listen to us."
"The president won't listen to you.."
"We know that, Avian. We do, but we can try!"
"There are cops outside.. you both seem young, just remember.. after this, you will both get life in prison."
"Are you threatening us?"
"No, I am not. This is a fact, you will go to prison.. that is not good for kids your age."
"We are not doing anything too illegal. We have a hostage, yes. We have guns, so this will be count as an armed robbery. We will get maximum 10 years, no more than that."
"Considering that I am an Avian, the hybrid that is extinct for about 10 years, and the government has put up a law that will protect every single Avian hybrid, death or alive, this won't be just a 10 year centence."
"They did that!?"
"But then... I don't know, but..." the kid mumbles. "Cover his ears," the boys says to Willow, Willow turns his hand once and every sound goes numb in Phil head. The kid has powers?
After what felt like ages, what couktn be more than 5 minutes, the numbness in his ears vanish and he hears the boys talking again.
"Do we want to show him?" The kid asks.
"I don't know, Blade. If he says that that law is true, they can't do anything to us, right?"
Phil frowns, what do they mean? This onky counts for...
Oh..
Oh.
Oh!!
"You're Avian hybrids?!"
"What?!" Both the boys turn to Phil, a mix of shock and horror in their faces.
"Both of you are Avian hybrids?" Phil asks shocked.
"I... yes, w-we are," the boy- Blade finally answers.
"Have you taken good care of your wings?" Phil chirps out.
Both the boys nod frantically.
"And you both know how to fly?"
They again nod.
"We are leaving then, I'll take you home.." he stops as he sees the horror in the boys faces.
"You aren't angry with us?"
"Flock," he only answers back and both the boys understand.
He never thought that this trip would get him two new kids.. maybe this wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.