Techno woke up to the sound of footsteps right outside the small cave. His first instinct was to check on Phil and see if he's alright. The blonde was still asleep, cuddled against his stomach. Seeing his friend in good shape calmed the large hoglin down a little bit, but the noises outside still made him nervous. He couldn't tell if it was a group of Piglins or hoglins. Or worse... one of their friends or other people from the Overworld. If it was, Techno could be in big trouble. Most people he knew would immediately try to take down such a gigantic beast like himself, either as a trophy or just to make sure he won't be able to hurt anyone. He waited until the footsteps became more quiet, then dissappear completely. 'Guess that's our sign to leave.'

Carefully, he nudged Phil awake. He protested at first, grumbling something under his breath before yawning and opening his eyes. "Just a bit longer..." Techno huffed and nudged him again, this time with more force. "Okay okay. I get it." The blonde got up and stretched his wings before looking back at the hoglin that was still blocking the exit. 'Why is it keeping me in here? Does it know something I don't?' Whatever was causing the hoglin to be so protective over Phil, it must be nearby. Otherwise it wouldn't be so keen on keeping the human hidden.

But Phil can't stay in this cave forever. He has to go look for Techno. Or... Maybe Techno is already back home? He has to go check. Then again... he would have said something over the communicator. Or would he? Yes he would. Phil snapped out of his thoughts when the hoglin started to move and reveal the exit of the cave. Almost immediately he took the chance to run out of the cave. Finally! He was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. Now... where should he go first? Probably back home, just to check if Techno was there or if any of his crows have seen him.

He had already started to walk back towards the portal when he heard the heavy footsteps of the hoglin right behind him. "Oh come on..." Phil turned around to face the gigantic creature again, which was just looking at him as if saying 'go on. I'll follow you'. "Sorry big guy. But you have to stay here. I can't exactly bring you back home... Techno would probably kill you on the spot." The hoglin huffed and took a few steps closer, nudging Phil forwards a bit. "No. You can't follow me." He grabbed the hoglin by its tusks and pushed him back, or at least tried to. "Go back home and leave me alone!" He kept pushing, but to no use. The giant pig creature stayed right where it was and just watched in amusement as his friend tried to push something that was about ten times his own weight, possibly even more.

"Don't you look at me like that. You are starting to get on my nerves." He glared at the hoglin to try and get his point across, but it had the opposite effect of what he hoped for. Because he could have sworn that it started to smirk, as if in accepting a challenge. "Oh no..." Before he could pull away, the hoglin lifted it's head and stood back at its full height, successfully lifting Phil up in the air, who was still holding on to his tusks. "No no no nononono! I said go back home!" Of course he didn't listen and instead walked into the general direction of where Phil was planning on going. Even with his still slightly wobbly walk, Techno managed to carry Phil quite a way without tripping before the blonde decided he had enough and let go of his tusks. "You really won't leave me alone huh... fine... have it your way."

Phil only grumbled more when the hoglin gave a pleased noise and continued to follow Phil towards the portal. For just a second he could have sworn he saw something in the hoglin's eyes. Something... familiar. 'Weird...'

Soon they reached the Nether portal Techno had been searching for this whole time. But now he noticed a rather... big problem. He won't fit through it. Not even in the slightest. "Alright big fella. This is my stop. You can go now." Of course the hoglin didn't leave. Instead, he laid down on the floor and kept watching Phil. "Oh come on... don't do this to me. You make me feel bad for leaving." The hoglin snorted. 'Good! Feel bad old man! Don't just leave me here!' Phil groaned and tried to think of a way to take the hoglin with him. Might as well keep them around if they insist on staying with him. "Alright. Listen. I know you will do it anyways, but wait here. I'll go home and quickly check if my friend came back. Then I'll come back for you. Sounds good?" The blonde only got a nudge towards the portal as an answer, but he'll take it as a yes.

The cold air of the Overworld greeted him on the other side of the portal, together with the familiar snowy landscape. Phil didn't even took three steps away from the portal when one of his crows came flying towards him. "Hey mate~" He waited for the crow to land on his shoulder before giving it a few pats. "Did Techno come home yet? Did any of you see him?" As expected, the crow shook it's head and gave a worried sound. Looks like even the crows are starting to get worried for their pink haired friend. "Alright... then I'll go back and keep searching for him. You tell the others that I'm okay and that they need to keep looking for Techno, alright?" The crow nodded and nuzzled it's head against Phil's cheek for a second before flying off. "Wait! Can you bring me some rope?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Techno had no idea for how long he just stared at the portal, but it felt like an hour. Maybe more. 'What's taking him so long? I'm obviously not home... Are his stupid crows crowding him again? I swear I will kill one of these birds one day. They keep stealing my gold and jewels and bring them to Phil...' Right when he completed that thought Phil walked back through the portal. 'Finally! I swear he gets- oh no...' Techno groaned when he saw the rope in Phil's hands, ready to be put on the hoglin. 'You got to be kidding me...'

"Alright big guy. I'm gonna put this on you so I can keep you close and you won't wander off. It won't hurt you, I promise." Phil approached the hoglin, which immediately got up and out of reach. "Come on. It's not that bad." The hoglin huffed and walked a few feet away from him. Phil followed him and tried to put the rope around his neck, but every time he came close the hoglin managed to move out of the way in the last second. 'Come on. Just leave the rope of and let me walk myself... I'm obviously telling you no.' What Techno didn't expect was how determined his friend was on catching his new pet. He didn't give up and in the end, Techno lost that fight, because before he even realized what happened, Phil used his wings to give himself just enough momentum to throw the rope around his neck like a lead. "There we go. That wasn't so bad..."

He smiled and looked around. "Alright... we came from that direction last time... so let's go this way. Maybe I'll find a trace of Techno." Phil began to walk, but was yanked back when the hoglin didn't move with him. "Oh come on big guy. Don't be like this." He tried to pull the large creature again, but to no use. Instead, Techno decided to mess with his friend and started to walk back towards the crimson forest a few hundred feet away, successfully dragging Phil with him. "Hey! Not that way!" The winged human tried to pull on the rope to stop his new companion, but of course the hoglin was much stronger and just kept going. Techno looked back at him for a second and snorted in amusement at Phil's pathetic attempts to make him stop walking. 'Keep trying old man. You'll get it eventually.'

In the end, Phil accepted his fate and gave up on trying to force the hoglin to go anywhere. He just walked next to it, feeling a little stupid for putting the rope on him. Really, it worked the opposite way of what it was supposed to do. Now he was on the lead and the hoglin was pulling him around, instead of the other way around. At least he gets to safely explore the forest, since most other mobs decided to stay away from the large hoglin, most likely out of fear.

"I just hope Techno is okay... wherever he is..."