Chapter Text
Everyone turned silent to Philza’s orders, including Tommy. Tommy was in disbelief like why would anyone want to keep a human?! Technoblade didn’t question the order as he stepped forward and replied with a simple request of his own.
“Can you get the ship ready for take-off?”
“Will do.” Philza replied then turned to the others and gave out simple orders to each of them.
“Wilbur, you stay with Techno and make sure that thing stays asleep. Whatever you shot it with, make sure you’re prepared to shoot another.”
Wilbur flicked his wings in agrement as he quickly went after Techno to go collect the human, also reloading his gun in the process. Philza then looked at the other three.
“You three start walking back to the ship and stay a safe distance away from the human. Who knows how long that sleeping drug will last… I’ll fly back and make sure the ship is ready when you get there.”
Tubbo and Ranboo both agreed to the order but Tommy was too focused on the human to pay attention. Technoblade looked like he hesitated just a bit before picking up the human and putting it over his shoulder.
Tommy remembers the confrontation, the human yelling at Philza then almost shooting at Tommy. Although Tommy was a bit scared of it, he couldn’t stop thinking of the human yelling at Philza.
It was like… it was like the thing was trying to communicate to them?
But every video that Philza made him watch for ‘homework’ made by the Galactic Council has shown time and time again that humans aren’t sentient and aren’t able to communicate with them. It showed that the humans needed to be killed off as they would attack and kill without any hesitation and were dangerous overall. But… for some reason, Tommy didn’t feel that way.
It was like the human was trying to tell them to… back off? To remain as far away from it as possible and even fired what seemed like a warning shot at them. Sure, it did attack Wilbur and was even able to knock down a tree, but it looked like something on Wilbur triggered the human to attack and, not to mention, Wilbur did shoot it first.
On the walk back, Tommy kept giving glaces back to the human that Technoblade was carrying and he was brimming with curiosity.
If it is sentient… then we can prove it to the Galactic Council and we can be the first ever to communicate with a human!
It… No, they seemed to be sentient and Tommy could tell the rest of the group was a little off-put on the idea of killing them as they were starting to come to the same conclusion. Although it may be a human and they were taught to immediately kill them or let the Galactic Council handle them, Tommy thinks they could try to communicate with them instead of killing them off.
The group finally made it back to the ship and Technoblade put the human down onto the floor and sat down in his seat, making sure to keep watch of them. The others sat down in their seats as well and all eyes were watching the human and were afraid with every breath that the human would wake up and attack them.
Philza wasted no time in making the ship take off towards their main aircraft. Tommy watched as Phil pressed a few buttons and flipped a few switches and they were already on their way. Tommy was always fascinated about how to fly spaceships and he knew it wasn't as easy as Philza made it look like. He hopes that one day Philza would trust him enough to fly the ship by himself. Phil is still teaching him the basics but Tommy is confident enough that he could fly it with no help… or at least, he thinks so.
It took about an hour to get back to the main spaceship and Philza piloted it back with no problem whatsoever. Everyone was still afraid that the human would wake up any second but they still seemed to be in a deep sleep.
When they landed, Techno picked the human back up and got out of the ship first as everyone else followed. Philza made sure to completely shut off the aircraft before getting out.
“We… don’t have a cage.” Philza says as he looks to Techno.
“We have a cell?” Wilbur suggested. “It could work?”
“You think it would work against a human?” Tubbo asked and Wilbur looked like he didn’t know how to answer that. And Tommy understands why as no one knew what a human could do.
“It will have to do. Technoblade and I will put the thing in the cell, the rest of you start writing your reports… but… don’t include the human in it.”
“Huh?” Everyone looked at Philza in surprise. Usually he would immediately inform the Galactic Council of any findings and give a report as soon as he could.
“This is… the first time I have ever encountered a human… alive, that is. I’m not sure how I am going to tell them about it so let’s wait until I think of something. Until then, just write about everything before we saw the human then turn it in to me. Understood?”
“Understood.” Everyone answered.
Technoblade and Philza left towards the jail area while Wilbur went off to his lab more than likely. Tubbo and Ranboo talked for a bit while Tommy was lost in thought.
Did Philza not want to tell the Council because he is questioning about the humans too? Maybe… Just maybe…
Tubbo grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from his thinking.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Oh- uh- nothing!”
Tubbo didn’t believe him. “Uh-huh” He twitched his shoulders, a sign of sarcasm. “Anyways, Ranboo and I are going to our rooms to write our report. Make sure to write yours!”
“Yeah, yeah, I will!” Tommy flapped his wings slightly, signaling a goodbye, then made his way towards his own room.
He pressed a few buttons on the keypad then slid into his room. It wasn’t small, quite spacious actually, and he usually practices using his wings here. There was a small desk on the underside of his bed, as the room was a two story and he jumps from the top all the time. Tommy strided over to the desk and sat down on the chair. He pulled out his tablet and started typing up his report while also pulling out his usb card that he used to take pictures.
There wasn’t much to say in his report other than ‘bodies everywhere’, ‘no survivors’, and ‘airship had crashed’. The only thing that kept coming back to his mind was the human.
Tommy wanted to talk about how different it looked than the videos the Galactic Council provided. He wanted to talk about how strong they were and how fast they were. And the main thing he wanted to talk about… was that Tommy thinks they are sentient beings. From the makeshift weapon it made to the way it started to talk to them.
In addition to that, unlike the videos that were shown and everything that he was taught from the handbooks, the human didn’t attack them immediately. Instead, it was running away before turning to give off, what seemed like, a warning to them. The human only attacked when it was shot at by Wilbur.
He was already done writing his report but was still thinking about the human.
“Maybe…” Tommy started to say out loud. “Maybe the Galactic Council was wrong about humans?”
And that was a dangerous thought.
It was about a few hours before Philza called them all to go to the cell. Tommy was excited to go and see the human once more. His other friends though, Ranboo and Tubbo, looked a little anxious to go but still followed orders. While they were walking towards the cell room, they saw Wilbur and greeted him.
Wilbur looked tired as always but there was a hint of uneasiness as well. Tommy can guess that he also didn’t want to go see the human since they did attack him and almost kill him in one punch.
They all arrived in the cell room, well, the door before the cell. There was a wall that was not transparent yet, as Tommy knows the wall can be made transparent or not. Philza and Technoblade were already standing there and discussing something before turning to the rest of the members.
Philza was the first to speak to them.
“There are going to be three groups of watchers.” He started while everyone was intensely listening. “I am not going to be there as I have to man the ship and get the rest of the reports ready. The first one is Technoblade and he can watch the thing alone.”
Technoblade gave a gruff noise as he had already discussed with Philza before, already agreeing.
“Next group is Wilbur and Ranboo.”
Wilbur and Ranboo looked at one another before turning to Philza and agreeing with the decision.
“Last group is Tommy and Tubbo.”
Tubbo had already agreed but Tommy was a little upset by the decision. He was hoping to be alone when he was put on watch like Techno was so he can get some info about the human without anyone trying to stop him.
“Tommy?” Philza questioned, waiting for the younger to agree.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Philza squinted his eyes at Tommy then added, “The only reason you are with Tubbo is to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”
“What?!” Tommy sounded offended as he squawked out. “What do you m-”
“Tubbo has always done as he was told and always made sure to keep you safe and keep you out of trouble. You, on the other hand, only cause trouble.”
Tommy was a bit bitter about that but he couldn’t argue with facts. He does do whatever he thinks is right and doesn’t really listen to orders if he feels like he wants to do something else.
“Fine!” He exasperated.
Philza gave Tommy a long stare then continued on with his debriefing. “Right… You will switch out every six hours. The most important rule I want you all to follow is to always have your emergency button on you in the case something happens.”
Philza then waved to Techno and the piglin walked over to the buttons and switches, flipped one of them, and the transparent wall turned on. What they weren’t expecting was the human to be awake and staring at them with wide eyes. The drug that they shot the human with should have made them sleep for three days but it only has been about less than twelve hours.
Not even a second had passed before the human started to race forward with their fist held back to aim at one of them. Everyone took a step back, including Tommy, as his own heart started to race. But the human looked like they were aiming for Wilbur first, and that also made Wilbur jump back. The only one who stood still, not afraid that the creature could break the barrier, was the one and only Philza.
But then they hit the wall, quite hard that even Tommy flinched.
The human was on the floor for a couple of seconds then started to rub their face as Tommy could see a few droplets of, what looks like, blood fall. Philza began to ignore how the human almost attacked them as he continued on.
“Another rule is that you are to never open that door. There is a small compartment to put in food but you are to never open the door fully and let it out.”
Everyone agreed to the rule. However, Tommy kept looking over to the human. They curled into the corner, instead of the soft nest that was on the other side, and curled into themselves. He… kinda felt bad for them and Tommy didn’t know why. He knows he should view the human as an enemy and as a monster that could destroy hundreds but when they look like that… they just looked scared.
“Techno is on first watch. There will be a beeping from your communicator to let you know when it is your turn to watch the thing. Until then, all of you may return to your rooms.”
Philza left first as everyone but Technoblade followed. Techno went to sit in one of the chairs on the side. Tommy was the last to leave but gave one last long stare at the human before leaving then mumbled under his breath, inaudible to anyone else.
“They’re not a thing…”
When they did the first rotation, it was finally Tommy’s and Tubbo’s turn to look after them. Before they switched out from Wilbur and Ranboo, they turned up the lights and sat down. Ranboo had already left the room, too scared of being seen by the human already, while Wilbur gave one last say to Tommy before he left.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
Tommy stuck his tongue out in response and Wilbur chuckled as he did a small wave with one of his bat-like wings. Tubbo sat on one of the chairs while trying to avoid looking at the human as much as possible, since he was scared of them too.
Tommy did the exact opposite. He kept staring at the human with fascination and awe. He kept staring until Tubbo pulled him away from his thoughts.
“Don’t even think about it.” He says, “Philza gave clear orders-”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Tommy replied with annoyance as he sat down in the other chairs. In hindsight, he should’ve just ignored the human. But whenever he was talking to Tubbo and exaggerating his words with his body, he noticed that the human was paying close attention to his movements. Maybe it was to study him? Or maybe they see Tommy’s fast movements as a threat?
He gave a long look over to the human and stopped talking to Tubbo. The human didn’t look like he was going to attack or angry for that matter, they just looked confused. Tommy, despite Tubbo telling him to not look or speak to the human, started to tell a story to the human while waving their arms about to try and communicate. The human looked at Tommy for a few seconds before turning their head away from them.
But Tommy isn’t one to easily give up.
Day after day, Tommy slowly stopped talking to Tubbo and focused more on talking to the human, even if they couldn’t hear him. He tried to express his story more with his body and using his talons to describe the settings and people. After a bit, the human started to watch him instead of ignoring his antics.
And in the second week, to both Tubbo and Tommy’s surprise, the human got up from the corner where it usually sat and moved towards the barrier.
Tubbo sat up from the chair as well and rushed towards Tommy and tried to pull him back.
“Get away from the wall! I think it’s going to try and break it!”
Tommy didn’t move and Tubbo was growing increasingly more worried with every step that the human took towards them. But the human only sat down in front of Tommy with the barrier in between them and Tommy watched with wide eyes as the human was… they were communicating!
Although Tommy didn’t understand a single word that the human was saying, it was replicating Tommy’s movements and saying something that Tommy couldn’t hear. He was ecstatic at this discovery and got up from the floor and bounced up and down, flapping his wings in excitement as he turned to Tubbo.
“Tubbo!”
“No, Tommy, don’t even say it-”
“Let me go into the cell! Just for a minute!” Tommy pleaded and Tubbo’s antennae seemed to twitch as he was thinking about what could happen.
“It’s not safe-”
“They can communicate!” Tommy started with determination. “The Galactic Council was wrong about them! If we can prove that humans are sentient, then we won’t have to kill them! And we’ll be the first to discover that!”
Tubbo was still skeptical, even with Tommy’s persuading, but it was hard to dispute that humans could actually be sentient if one was already trying to communicate in front of them. His antennae went downwards, meaning that he disapproved of the situation but Tubbo still agreed.
“Two minutes. That’s it. If anything goes wrong, I’m pressing the emergency button.”
“Thank you Tubbo! I knew I could count on you!” Tommy laughed as he hugged his friend then raced over to the machine that controls the wall and clicked a button that opened the door to the cell. Tommy didn’t waste another second as he stepped inside the cell and gave the human a small smile.
The human stood up from where it was once sitting and stared at Tommy. Tommy tried to not look threatening in any way as he put his arms up, and started to speak slowly to the human.
“My name is Tommy. I am from a small planet with other avians like myself. This is one of my best friends and their name is Tubbo.”
Tubbo was at the door of the cell, looking constantly between Tommy and the human. But Tubbo saw something in the human’s eyes that Tommy didn’t.
“Tommy, get out of there, now.”
“It’s fine, Tubbo,” He took another step forward and started to speak more to the human, “I’m sure you’re just scared- far away from your home-” Another step. “And you-”
The human rushed forward, punched him in the gut and sent him flying back into the wall.
“Tommy!”
It was dizzy, everything was seemingly spinning around and he felt like puking up his insides. When Tommy looked up, he felt a sense of dread wash over him as his eyes landed on the human’s eyes. Before he could even scramble to get out of the cell, the human grabbed Tommy’s neck and pinned him to the ground.
Then it started to squeeze Tommy’s neck, cutting out his airways.
Tommy, fear-stricken and dizzy, started to use his talons to scratch the human’s arms that were holding him down. Even with the amount of scratches that Tommy gave them, the human didn’t relent and kept squeezing.
Although his vision was starting to turn black and becoming dizzy, he saw Tubbo punching the human and trying to shove the human off of Tommy while yelling and screaming.
“Get off him! Let go of him you fucker!”
The human shoved Tubbo back with his other hand then lifted Tommy up from the ground by his neck. Tommy’s vision was turning black as little dots began to appear and the feeling in his arms started to become numb.
Tubbo…
His best friend kept coming back even when the human kept pushing them off. He could hear a bunch of yelling going on from outside the door to the cell room. Tommy isn’t sure what had happened but the human let go of him then he heard a loud thud.
Tommy was gasping for air, shaking, as he tried to regain focus with everything that was happening. He looked to his left and saw Tubbo on the ground and Tommy felt tears brim his eyes.
This is my fault…
He tried to crawl to his best friend but the human stopped him yet again and grabbed his neck then lifted him up from the ground. Tommy felt a rush of fear as his whole body began to shake and he met eyes with the human.
This time, he saw the human pause. There was something that the human saw in Tommy that made them release him. As soon as the human did, the doors burst open and out came the rest of his crew, including the captain.
Tommy looked up at the human in confusion and saw that… they looked terrified. Not of Tommy or the rest of the crew members, but of themself. When the human landed their eyes on Tommy once more, he could see regret in the human’s eyes. The human looked over to Tubbo then tried to go towards Tommy again but Tommy’s vision was blurred by a bunch of black feathers.
Philza had pushed the human back, onto the ground, and pointed the gun at them. He gave out strict orders, his voice didn’t hide the anger he felt.
“Wilbur, check on Tubbo’s condition then get him out of here. Technoblade, carry Tommy out of the cell. Ranboo, don’t come any further.”
Wilbur rushed over to Tubbo and checked his vital points and gave out a clear statement. “He’s alive.”
Technoblade whispered to Tommy with a gruff voice. “You alright?”
“Y-Yeah.” Tommy stood up shakily but then heard a click of a gun and looked to Philza in horror.
“Get them out of here, I’ll take care of this thing.”
Technoblade started to pull Tommy but he shoved him away and started to yell out.
“Don’t hurt them!”
Philza twitched slightly. “It is not your decision.”
“They didn’t- They didn’t mean to! It was my fault!”
Wilbur let them argue as he carefully picked up Tubbo. Technoblade didn’t know what to do in this situation and let Tommy talk to Philza.
“Didn’t mean to?” Philza asks. “You’re telling me that this thing didn’t mean to choke you out and almost kill Tubbo.”
“I-I think they’re just scared! I went into the cell without any warning and stepped towards them... I think they’re just scared of us!”
“We’re scared of it! Are you really taking their side than Tubbo? He’s the one who is hurt right now thanks to your foolishness to not listen to my orders! That thing is better off dea-”
“They’re not an thing!”
The room fell silent for a good couple of seconds then Philza responded, with almost no emotion.
“Meeting room, now. ”