Night passed by much faster than it should, leaving the residents of the small base to groan in annoyance as bright sunlight tried to wake them up. Most try to keep sleeping, hiding beneath blankets and turning away from the windows. Some are not so lucky and got the chance to keep sleeping. Like Tommy, who got kicked off the bed by Tubbo in his sleep as he turned around, yelling when he hit the floor and waking some other people living in the small house.

"Tommy..." Wilbur grumbled, rolling over and pulling the blanket over his head, which promptly got yanked back with a huff from Techno. "Stop stealing the blanket.". He whined, yanking back, but Techno growled and kept himself wrapped in his half of the blanket. Usually Wilbur would fight back or just give some witty comeback, but Techno was quite frankly towering over him now with his weird growth spurt and could probably throw him across the room if he annoyed him too much. And Techno was definitely not a morning person. Unless he absolutely has too.

"It's not my fault Tubbo kicked me off! Yell at him, not me!" "Shut up Tommy, it's too early for this." "But-!" "Go back to sleep." The youngest glared between where he could barely see Techno's pink hair poke out of the blanket and the still sleeping Tubbo, ready to give them a piece of his mind, already taking a deep breath to string together some curses when... 

A quiet chirp. 

Tommy turned to look at it's origin, thinking it was Brian that made the noise, but crows don't exactly... chirp, right? Sure, the bird made a bunch of not crow like sounds already, which was weird, but still. He watched the lump hidden beneath a blanket start shifting, large black feathers starting to poke out. Phil turned around on the bed, eyes still shut tightly, obviously still asleep or at least trying to stay asleep with all the noise. He groaned a bit and nuzzled into the pillow, wings shifting and settling back down. His body went still again, he took a deeper breath, but instead of sighing like a normal person, he chirped into the pillow. A soft, high pitched chirp, not even close to his actual voice.

What the fuck. 

"Did... did you guys hear that?" Tommy turned back to Wilbur's bed and saw both Techno and Wilbur sat up and staring at Phil. "That did not just happen. I refuse. I know he whistles a bunch to his music, but this is just wrong." Techno actually looked like he has seen a ghost. "He's changing into an actual fucking bird. I can't believe it." They exchange glances, not sure how to actually process this new knowledge. "Should... should we like... do something?" "What is there to do? It's this weird shifting thing that is happening to us. Not like we can change anything." 

Wilbur hummed, eyeing Techno and his more Piglin features. "So that is what's happening. I was gonna ask about you guys looking so weird. Phil is still missing a bunch of feathers after all, so it would have been weird if he spawned like this. Unless it's like the fucking SMP lore or some shit where he has the damaged wings..." Techno nodded, stretching now that they won't be going back to sleep. "Yup, we are slowly just switching over. Pretty much what we figured out is that the longer you stay here, the more you start to change. And Phil has been here the longest, which is why he looks the most changed. Or more the most dramatically changed, considering his Minecraft skin and all."  

Tommy nodded, hands already moving about in dramatic gestures. "Yeah, watching him grow his wings was disgusting. They literally split his back open and slipped out like some weird alien horror movie. But like... really slow, over multiple days. Techno always cleaned all the blood and shit because Phil could barely move from the pain." Wilbur shuddered, immediately thinking of that one scene in a movie when the alien bursts out of the humans chest. He had never watched the full movie, but everyone knows that scene at least. "Yeah that's enough information or I'll puke in the bed." "Don't you dare." 

"Would you guys shut up." 

They turned back to Phil's bed, where tired blue eyes stared at them, slitted against the bright light. Right... they can do that now. Gods that looks so weird, like an angry cat. A bird cat. "Sorry." Phil yawned and stretched, wings billowing out from under the blanket, making it slip off the bed. "If it makes you feel any better, Tubbo kicked Tommy of the bed. I think that's the worse way to wake up." He snorted, hiding his grin in the pillow.  "Yeah yeah you laugh at me old man. At least I don't make weird bird sounds." 

The blonde frowned, lifting his head to look at the youngest. "What are you talking about?" "You chirp in your sleep. All high pitch and weird sounding." He looked over to Wilbur and Techno, expecting them to tell him it was some prank Tommy tried to pull on him, but no, they nodded in agreement. "I do?" "Yup! Thought it was Brian the first time before we actually saw you making the sound." "Huh..." "Thinking about it, can you actually chirp on comand or is it like a subconscious thing?" 

Phil shrugged, sitting up fully in his bed. "I have never tried to chirp you know. Just whistle. I didn't know I could do that... seems a bit weird." "Isn't whistling the same thing as chirping?" "I don't think it is?" "Try it!" He hummed, grimacing a bit as he tried to get something like a chirp out. Whistling wasn't it probably so... yeah how do you even start doing that? He had no idea where the sound even came from. Was it a throat thing? Or deeper down? Or just the mouth like with whistling? 

His mouth fell dry when he tried to bring his throat to do something on its own. Alright, so it won't happen on it's own when just thinking about it, like talking. Maybe like a trilled rumble? He sat straighter, coughed and closed his eyes. This will either end in incredible embarrassment or in a weird sound and victory. With his hands clenching the blanket, he tried to make his throat rumble, just any kind of sound really. He had no idea why he picked rumbling as his first choice, birds don't rumble, but eh. Worth a shot.

The result was... unexpected.

It was kinda bird like, more or less. It sounded more like if you were to strangle and squeeze a poor bird as it tried to escape. Not a real chirp, but definitely not a human sound either.  He coughed right after, his throat itchy and dry and just weird feeling. "Well... that was something." Techno decided to be the better person here and get Phil some water, who still looked uncomfortable as he rubbed his throat. He nodded his thanks before downing the whole mug in one go. "I'm not gonna lose the ability to speak English right? I'll go crazy if I start to only talk in chirps." "Eh, probably not. Just a weird hybrid thing."

"He's gonna have whole secret conversations with his bird now. Making fun of us without us knowing." Wilbur grinned at the amused glance he got in return. "I literally don't know what any of these sounds mean." "Sure you don't." "Wil please-" He cackled, much to Phil's growing misery. Oh gods this will be fun to talk about in the future. There was a groan from Tommy's bed and Tubbo's head poked our from under the blanket. "What's going on...?" 

Ah yes, what a great way to start the morning. 

~~~~~~~

Breakfast was short, with some pieces of fresh bread and apples, so they can keep as much sunlight as possible for their village trip. It was decided that, since they have three horses, six people are the most amount that could go. And after more talking and looking over the plans for the day, they decided that the people going would be Phil, because it's literally mostly his stuff and he is probably the most responsible when it comes to their resources, Techno because he at his horse under control and would not leave Phil's side for more than ten minutes, Bad and Puffy to show them the other village and help carry stuff back and finally Tommy and Tubbo. And they were only taking the kids because Tubbo wants to show his village friends that he found his other friends and Tommy wouldn't leave his side. 

Probably for the better, so the others don't have to watch over him while they are trying to get the chores done. Plus it would be nice to actually show Tommy around, since he only ever saw the river and plains before. Wilbur had volunteered to stay home when they said only six people will be able too go, saying he was tired and the village people don't really like him much anyways. 

So much for their little Sbi trip, as Tommy lovingly put it, to which Wilbur flipped him off with a laugh and went to help with moving the fields outside to the rest of the wheat.

So after packing a bunch of their ores, most of it crafted into blocks and stored in Phil's inventory, they left the base and made their way over to the horses. Phil had put on his entire outfit again, not just the black undershirt, after they had quickly made wing-holes into the back of the robes, with his hat sat proudly on his head. Techno had his crown and cape on again, grinning happily. The others wore their usual clothes, much more normal looking than those two, even if Puffy's pirate outfit did look rather interesting. 

Carl came over almost immediately once they reached the gates, nudging Techno's pockets for treats. He laughed and gave him the hidden apple, gently patting his neck as he ate. "We got a long day ahead of us. I hope you're ready for a lot of walking." Carl answered in a soft huff, nudging into Techno's hand again. Phil had chosen the black horse for himself again, gently patting it's nose as he introduced Tubbo to it. Bad took the grey horse that instantly liked him and allowed him to climb on it's back. 

It was difficult to actually get on and ride without a saddle and just the mane to hold on, but they have to manage until they get to the village. There have to be saddles being sold there, they did see horses last time they visited. 

"Everyone ready?" Techno looked back at everyone. Tommy sat behind him, clinging to him to not fall off. Phil sat on the black horse, wings tightly pressed on his back so Tubbo fit behind him and Bad with Puffy on the grey horse. "Yup. Good to go." "We should hurry." Techno hummed and gently steered Carl on and towards the gate they had left open. The others followed close behind, Phil looking a bit nervous since he actually hadn't ridden one of the horses yet. It was a miracle the horse was even moving at all, it was probably just following the other horses. 

Slowly, Techno steered Carl from a trot to a canter, getting used to the speed and jerking movements. Tommy had his arms tightly wrapped around his torso, oddly quiet as he tried to not fall off. The others were handling themselves alright, holding on as best as they can while their horses simply followed Carl. At some point they sped up to a gallop, and this is when Tommy decided he had been quiet enough and began laughing and yelling things to Tubbo over the wind. 

Techno watched as Phil grinned, his wings slightly spreading, letting the wind rush through his feathers. He wondered if he was imagining to fly right now, that these newfound hybrid abilities were making him want to fly for real.  It sure was interesting to look at, with his messy half grown feathers and a stupid grin on his face.

He really was turning into a bird. 

What usually had been a multiple hour trip by foot turned into only an hour at most, the village quickly coming into view ahead of them. Techno guided the horses to slow down, noticing that a few people had started to stop what they were doing and stared at them once they noticed the approaching horses. They fully stopped and slid off the horses back at the edge of the village, feeling a bit awkward with how some people stared at them. Didn't they say travellers and weird looking people were normal? Why-

"Tubbo!" A short boy waved, grinning. Techno recognized it to be the florist, Kai. "Kai! Hello!" Tubbo began to hurry over, dragging Tommy along by the wrist. Well, he did say he made friends with a bunch of the villagers. Shouldn't be surprised that they wanted to greet him and make sure he is okay after he left so suddenly.

"Well, that's a nice welcome party." Bad stood beside his horse, watching the four village teenagers talk with both Tubbo and Tommy, the later having an arm wrapped around the shorter's shoulder and laughing loudly. "Tommy asserting himself as Tubbo's best friend already." "He is clingy." The adults grinned at each other, starting to walk into the village, leading the horses behind them. 

Kai noticed the adults approach and immediately forgot all about Tubbo, who was talking to someone else anyways. Instead, they approached Techno and Phil, walking side by side, smiling at them. Techno smiled, nodding his head at the much shorter teen. The Emerald earring gently swung back and forth, catching the sunlight. He could tell Kai was following it's movements, the shy smile growing bigger when seeing the jewelry. "Hello Kai. How have you been?" "I've been alright. How are the flowers doing?" Phil grinned at that, leaning forward, his own earring glinting and glittering. "Oh they are doing great! Especially the bright blue ones you gave us are blooming well." 

The little avian turned to look at Phil, confused at the sight of the second earring being in his possession and not Techno's, but then stared wide eyed at the huge, black wings sprouting from his back. And more specifically, how he was obviously missing a big chunk of his feathers. "Oh gods above, are you alright? Who did that to you? Is that why you hid them last time? Are they nearby? Was it that guy?" They looked over at Bad, looking more and more nervous. That's when Phil noticed the small, puffed up wings desperately trying to hide behind their back. They're an avian too? 

Oh... 

Oh no...

"Hey now, calm down. No one hurt me." Phil knelt down and smiled, his wings stretching out a bit to show his perfectly intact coverts that had already grown in, even if he was still missing his primaries and secondaries. "I didn't lose any feathers to someone, no one took any or attacked me, I am just growing new ones in." "And if someone tried to hurt his wings, he would have to go through a bunch of people first. Specifically me." Techno stood a bit taller at that, his axe very visible tied to his waist. That seemed to at least calm the avian down a little bit. Poor guy must have encountered some sort of poacher before... some sort of wing hunter or something. 

"Why are you growing completely new feathers? You're an adult, you should have all of yours already. A molt or preen never takes out this many feathers. Especially not all your primaries at once." Phil hesitated at that. Right... they would obviously think Phil has been an avian the whole time. You don't suddenly change species. Think of a good lie Phil... come on... 

"It's a pretty stupid reason really... I got really sick during a molt and just neglected my wings for a long time, so I lost a lot more feathers than normal, because I couldn't take care of them while sick." Please be a good lie please... He has no idea how wings or maintaining them works. Kai frowned, looking at his wings again. Now Phil regretted having them spread out in the way he had. "But... doesn't he preen for you?" They point at Techno.

Phil looked up at Techno, who seemed just as confused. Sure, they're friends, Phil would probably let him touch his wings, he has already helped him a bunch when they were growing anyways. "Uh... he hasn't preened for me, no." Kai tilted his head, looking almost like an actual curious bird. "But... aren't you bonded? Mates should care for each other when sick. I know it's a bit difficult cross-species, but if you are bonded you trust him enough to help preen right?" At that, both of them turned a bright shade of red while behind them, they could hear Bad and Puffy cackle. 

"Nononono we aren't bonded! I have a wife! Why would you think-" Phil's wings puffed up in embarrassment, curling around his shoulders. Now Kai looked embarrassed too, shrinking back, looking uncomfortable. "I just thought... because gifting jewelry and shiny things is like a courting thing for both Piglins and Avians." Well, those are certainly customs they hadn't know about. How could they? "I'm sorry. Really really sorry."

"Listen Kai... It's okay. Phil and I both weren't raised around others of our kind, we grew up with humans. We aren't really... we don't know anything about the traditions of our actual species. The earring was a friendship gift, not a mating gift. Like friendship bracelets, just as earrings." Kai slowly nodded, still looking unsure and uncomfortable. Phil sighs, still trying to calm himself down. "Anyways... let's just forget all of that happened. Please." Techno quickly nodded in agreement, playing with the cuff of his sleeve. 

"Let's just... we came here for a bunch of trades, see what you guys have in stock here and what we need to get from another village. And we were hoping for Elystone's help, if he isn't busy." "I think he's free. I can get you too him after we brought your horses to the stable." "That would be great! We want to be home before nightfall." Bad grinned from behind them, idly patting his horse's neck. 

"We should go now then." Kai turned and started leading them, moving quick, probably to get out of the awkward situation. The others followed them, looking around at the village houses and shops. Phil leaned over to Techno. "That was a very quick answer for someone who claims he's bad at social interaction." "I was saving both of us, shut up." 

There was a small grin tugging at Techno's lips. This surely will be something neither of them will live down for a while, so might as well make fun of it themselves. 

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Hey guys! Decided to cut this chapter into two parts to keep the fun shopping trip it's own separate thing. Just some fun moments to make you laugh and hopefully forget your stressful day for a little bit. 

Next part will be out this week as well, to make up for taking so long with this one. 

Have fun and a nice day! 

Bye bye!