Phil scanned the ground beneath him, his wings keeping him afloat without much difficulty, easily catching the soft winds. He has to find the intruder before they can cause any more damage. Making the storm around the island disappear was already something that endangers everything he knows and loves. Everything he had spent centuries defending. He can't let anything happen to his island. Especially not to the very first thing that ever posed a threat. Brian bravely stayed by his side, scanning the ground below just as cautiously for their unwanted guest. It was so silent... as if the whole island was holding it's breath.

Until there was a loud sound from further down in the city, causing all the birds in the area to flee with panicked screeches. It sounded like when the old walls started to crumble. They were destroying his city. Phil almost growled as he started to fly lower to the ground, before taking shelter in one of the larger trees at the edges of the city so he could safely look for the intruder. There was another loud boom, this time much closer. The angel moved from tree to tree, hiding in the leaves to keep the element of surprise on his side. Whoever was here probably doesn't know that someone still lives up here. He jumped the short distance to the next tree... and that's when he saw them.

A large weird construction of wood, cloth and metal sat at the edge of the island, connected to it through ropes and a small bridge. Only a handful of people were around the construction, which Phil assumed was an airship, like the one that Techno used to work on. It couldn't be anything else really. Though now that he actually gets to see a fully built one, he has to admit that he's impressed. To think that this construction can carry so many people through the air... but it also meant that there are probably a lot of ships that could easily reach the island. And with the storm gone... he doesn't even want to think about it. The only thing he needs to focus on is to get rid of these guys and recreate the storm around the island. It's the only successful defense against outsiders, as long as they don't have a crystal to get through.

Right... before he gets rid of them, he needs to find their crystal. Never should such power stay in the hands of greedy men that won't hesitate to destroy his home for treasure and power.

Phil carefully climbed closer until he couldn't go any further without being seen, trying to see any hint to who might hold the crystal. Two people were at the front of the group, looking out at the island as they spoke to each other. One was clothed in bright green and brown fabrics, heavy boots and a hood that covered their head most of their face. They also held a weird weapon of shiny metal in their hand.

The other was wearing a long dark coat that looked like it could use a good wash and had many holes in it. They were taller than the other person and had curly brown hair. One of them must be the leader of the group, judging by the way how the rest of the group stayed behind them and seemed to be awaiting orders. Phil wasn't able to make out any other details from this distance, but he knew that these people didn't even look close to what his people used to look like. They are outsiders, no matter what their reason or way of getting here was.

But he also couldn't spot anything that could indicate who was in possession of their crystal from so far away. He has to somehow get closer without being noticed. For a second he considered sending Brian into a closer tree, since they won't suspect a bird to be spying on them, but that thought was very quickly forgotten when one of the men aimed at a fleeing bird to shoot it out of the sky. One of his other crows, that belonged to the large murder living on the island. He could hear the panicked and pained screech as the crow was hit, falling out of the sky and landing in the tree below.

That's when he snapped.

A furious cry ripped from his throat as he shot an attack spell down at the group, who all yelled in panic and surprise as they tried to avoid the hit. When his attack hit and whirled up dust and debris, he used it as cover to spread his wings and speed over to the other tree. Brian followed him, wanting to help his injured friend.

The crow was nestled in some high branches, wings twitching with every slight movement. "Shhhh...it's okay. I'm here." Phil carefully cradled the bird in his arms, inspecting the wound. The shot had only graced the poor thing, but it looked like it wasn't too badly injured. Just very spooked and frozen with fear. "What was that?!" "Something attacked us!" "Where did it go?!" Phil growled and retreated further into the small forest area, the crow carefully cradled against his chest until he reached a larger tree with a hole in it. He placed the crow in it and carefully stroked over puffed up feathers. Brian trilled and cuddled against his injured friend for a few moments. "Stay here. You'll be safe. I'll come back for you once I got rid of these guys."

The injured crow cooed as it watched the angel and his loyal crow leave. He could already hear more shots being fired from the group, probably to try and hit him by chance. "Stop it! You're just wasting bullets!" Phil watched as the bright green guy shoved the guy who had shot his crow earlier. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. So stop hitting random birds to make it angry again and let's move." "You're joking. You can't just tell us to ignore that! Something is here with us!" "No, I agree with Dream here. We have guns and bombs, what can a large bird or whatever the fuck that was even do to us? We are here for something much bigger, so stop joking around and lets try find that crystal."

Phil growled as the tall brown haired guy stepped away from the group and started to walk through the old city. He can't let them get close to the garden... to Techno and the entrance to the tunnel system. From what he had heard, that tall guy probably has the crystal, or at least he knows about it and Sky City's heart. So he will be his main target for now. The rest of the group soon followed, still eyeing the surrounding trees, weapons in hand. Seems like not everyone is as brainless as the leader. It almost made him feel bad, seeing how scared they are. Almost.

As soon as they had their backs turned and were far enough away, he jumped into action. His wings spread wide as he shot up into the sky, spear in hand and a snarl on his lips. He won't let anyone mess with his home. Not when he has anything to say about it.

So, without any hesitation, he swooped down from the sky, his spear stretched out in front of him as he crashed down on the man at the end of the group. His weapon had no problem piercing through the man, who immediately dropped his own weapon and sunk to his knees. The group turned towards him once they heard the commotion with cries of "Ant no!", but it was already too late for his prey. Their body went limp as he ripped out his spear, both it and himself covered in blood, his dark wings still spread out wide behind him.

"The fuck?!" "An angel!" "Shoot it!" Phil let out a shriek as he summoned his shield just moments before they start shooting at him. His shield had no problem protecting him against their weird weapons, easily withstanding their shots. Though the attack almost immediately stopped again when the brown haired man yelled at them to 'cease fire'. The angel frowned and kept his shield up when the man stepped in front of the group, a wide, almost disturbing grin on his face.

"He's a crystal user guys! Look at that! That's a great shield, strong enough to resist even modern weapons." The group just looked confused, except for the bright green clothed guy, who stared at Phil with darkened green eyes, analyzing him like a battle plan. That didn't stop Phil from raising his spear a bit higher, pointing it at the tall man as his shield faded away. He can summon it back in an instance, so there is no need to waste his energy.

"Hello there friend! I'm really sorry for the terrible first impression we got of each other. We had no idea that there was someone living up here. My name is Wilbur, what about you?" Phil snarled, not allowing the weird behavior of the man to distract him. It's like he doesn't even care about the guy he just killed. "I am not your friend. You are trespassing onto my island and attack my animals." "Ah yes... I'm sorry about that. Our dear Sap is a very talented hunter and just wanted to catch us some dinner." "Get the fuck off of my island."

The brown haired man, Wilbur, frowned. "We searched for this island for a very long time." "I don't care." He huffed and crossed his arms. "Well aren't you a rude host." Phil growled and raised his spear to the man's throat, resulting in the other members of the group to aim their weapons at him again. "We don't mean you any harm. We just came here to pick something up. That's it." "I know what you want. And I won't let you take it." "But it belongs to us." The man grinned as he pulled out a necklace that he had kept under his shirt, a crystal pendant displaying a pair of wings dangling from it.

Phil's eyes widen. It can't be. After he became guardian... and they realized he's immortal, the royal family or just leading position in general changed their crystal symbol to wings. Terrible taste if you ask Phil, to just do that without his permission or anything, but it's not like he could have stopped them. Those bastards somehow managed to sneak a crystal away from him when they left the island.

"See? We're not intruders, we are island people, just like you. So let's put the weapons away and settle this like civilized men." So many emotions swirled around in his heart, so many thoughts racing in his head. But the most dominant ones were rage... and hurt. Hurt, because Techno had been right. Some of the people trying to enter Sky City were his people, returning from the surface. Many of them found their death in the storm.

And rage, because these bastards think that owning a crystal gives them the right to just demand the island's heart from him or even just expect him to immediately forgive them for everything they did. How they had abandoned him. And now, how they want to destroy his home and everything he loves. No, they are not his people. Not anymore. The only people that can ever expect Phil's kindness and loyalty or even just him listening to them were Techno and Lady Death.

So, Phil did not hesitate to cry out in rage and attack the other, who managed o avoid his spear by mere inches. The rest of the group tried shooting at him, but his shield immediately stopped that attack from going through. "How dare you demand something like that from me?! After everything you did to me!" He tried to attack him again, but was stopped by the green man, who stopped his spear with a sword. "We deal with this guy. You go get what you promised us."

Wilbur huffed and ran into the direction of the castle, the garden. "No!" Phil pushed the man away and tried to fly after Wilbur, just to be stopped by a rope thrown around his leg and pulling him back down. An angry screech left his throat as he turned and slashed at the guy, his shield quickly blocking an attack from a different man.

Phil tried everything. He shot attack spells at the men, slashed out with his spear and even his wings when they got too close. But every time he saw an opening to fly or run away from the group, someone manages to stop him. Too many. He can't stop Wilbur like this. His only hope now was that Techno would keep his word and defend the tunnel entrance with everything he got.

He trilled up at Brian, who got the message and hurried to the garden.

"Warn Techno. Someone is coming for the crystal."