Now that Phil was allowed to ride on the hoglins back, they indeed managed to cover more ground in a shorter time. But this also meant that his mood dropped a lot faster when they still found no clue on what exactly happened to his friend or where he could be. Even the communicator had no signal for Techno. By now the blonde had tried to call the Piglin hybrid multiple times, but the call never went through. Of course this only made him even more nervous as he started to play with some random strands of fur on the hoglin's back to try and distract himself from the growing pain in his heart.

'What if he's dead? No... he can't be dead... but then why isn't he answering? Maybe he lost his communicator? No... he never lost anything before...'

Techno could sense the worry of his friend and how he tried to keep it together after searching for hours. If only he could tell him that he was right here, alive and well. 'Oh I hope this stupid transformation thing isn't permanent or I will lose my shit...'

Soon the duo spotted a nether fortress in the distance, right accross from the soulsand valley they were currently wandering around in. "Mmm... maybe he went in there? It's worth a shot... what do you think big guy?" The hoglin snorted and started to walk into the direction of the fortress. At least Phil will be able to get some loot from it if they don't find his friend there. It looked untouched by other people, so there is a big chance that the chests were still full with gold and diamonds.

A sudden pain in his hind leg made the hoglin squeal in pain as he jumped back, startling his blonde friend. "What's wrong?!" He looked around for any kind of danger or enemy that could have attacked them and spotted a few skeletons on a soulsand hill, aiming right at them. Before either of them could react, a second arrow hit the hoglin, making it back off further. 'I hate those stupid things!' The hoglin was already prepared to turn and run, so he could bring his friend to safety, but Phil had other plans. He had already pulled out his bow and was shooting back at the skeletons, landing the first three shots without any difficulty.

But they were still out in the open and more skeletons got attracted by the noise of the fight. Techno tried to shield Phil to the best of his abilities, taking most of the shots for him as his massive body could take them much batter than the average human body. Even as a god, Phil's body can still be killed a lot easier than you'd think. And Techno was not about to risks his friend's safety for a fortress where he knows he will find no traces of his friend.

So when he realized that there were just too many skeletons to fight at once, he turned around, made sure Phil held on tight before bolting off into the direction of the large warped forest they had walked through earlier. It will provide them a lot more safety than the open wastelands or the soulsand valley. The hoglin kept running until they were deep inside the forest.

After making sure they were safe for now, the hoglin stopped and allowed Phil to climb off of his back. "That was close... are you okay big guy? Yoou took a lot of hits there..." The winged human noticed how heavy his hoglin friend was breathing, before it suddenly collapsed on the ground. Phil immediately fell to his knees and craddled the hoglins head on his lap. It was still breathing... just tired and in pain. "Don't worry... you'll be okay... I'll keep you safe, you just rest up and relax." The hoglin whined and leaned into his touch, obviously not liking the idea of not being able to protect his friend. "I'll be fine... I can defend myself." He slowly stroked through the hoglin's fur, trying to help it calm down.

It only took a few minutes for the hoglin's breathing to go back to normal. That was Phil's signal to get up and check just how wounded his friend is. He counted a total of 9 arrows that were stuck in the creature's body. So without wasting any time he began to pull out the arrows, wincing every time the hoglin gave a pained whine at the action. "I'm sorry... I know it hurts... But I have to get them out before they get even more stuck." When he pulled out the last arrow, the hoglin groaned and began to stand up.

"Woah wait! You have to rest! I don't want you to collapse again!" Of course the hoglin didn't listen as it got up and stood over Phil protectively. "What's wrong?" The blonde looked around and stpotted a group of Piglins not too far away from them. They were obviously staring at them, weapons drawn. The hoglin gave an angry grunt and lowered it's head, showing it's massive tusks, ready to attack if they dared to make a move. The Piglins immediately recognized the defensive stance and backed off. Hoglins are already very dangeous creatures that should't be messed around with, so picking a fight with a hoglin that is more than double the size of a regular one is probably not a good idea.

Phil watched the whole interaction with wide eyes, taking mental notes on how it seemed like both sides were silently communicating with each other. In the end, the Piglins retreated and left the two alone. This allowed the hoglin to relax again as it slowly laid back down, making sure not to accidentally squish Phil while doing so. "Wow... that was amazing! I've never seen something like this before! Usually Piglins never back off from a fight. Especially Piglin hybrids..." Of course the hoglin knew who his friend was talking about and gave an amused huff. Why would he ever back down from a fight when everyone who is challenging him is barely above the skill-level of a toddler? Especially a certain loud mouthed blonde teenager...

"Guess you won't stay down and let me handle things, huh? Should have expected that one." Phil settled against the fluffy stomach again and smiled. "But at least stay down and rest for a bit longer... you need it." This time the hoglin accepted it's fate and laid it's head down, showing Phil that he will indeed just rest for now. And while he did that, Phil began to play with his communicator again, hoping that this time it maybe does rech Techno.

It didn't.