Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The world is full of many wonderful and fantastic creatures, these include what the world calls hybrids.

“Hybrids”, a cross between two creatures, most of the time a human and another animal. Long ago you would be able to see these crosses almost anywhere across the land. Beautiful creatures living with the benefit of sharing features with other beasts.

However the world never seems to maintain peace for too long. Eventually wars broke out between the greedy humans who were jealous of their fellow mixed-breed friends. Hunters searching long and far to claim the creatures to show off to others as decor or a coat of some kind.

And while some hybrids who were deemed “common” stayed safe from the lack of resources that could be gathered from them, other breeds were not as lucky. Having to go into hiding for the fear of their extinction.

Hybrids such as the Merlings and Enderians could be estimated to only have a few thousand left surviving. While Piglins and Goat hybrids lived in the hundreds of thousands, living peacefully to some extent with the humans who had caused their friends to die.

However the hybrids who were pursued the most were the mysterious Elytrians. Creatures sharing features with those of a bird. Wings which were said to be as soft as silk when touched, feet and hands like talons, sharp but yet so very delicate. Fluffy ear tufts which could be pinned to the hunters suit to flaunt their poor prey off to others.

They were said to be extraordinary fighters, so swift and nimble their opponent would struggle to even get a single hit on them. It was said that if you could take down one of these magnificent creatures you would be set for life, be called a celebrity in not just your own town but possibly the whole empire.

Yet the desire for these poor creatures soon took its toll, as the numbers of how many Elytrians were seen or even assumed to be alive decreased rapidly and were now practically non-existent. No one knows how many of the Elytrians still survive, they hadn’t been seen in years…

It was every creature for themself in this world. Either you kill or you get killed. Even those half-breeds who partially lived in harmony with humans feared the wrath of their neighbours, despite their perks and advantages they were born with.

The world was harsh, and there was no time to look out for others except those who you call family. Taking a single look back could mean death, it's better to stick to what you know most and give yourself the best chance at survival than risk it all at one foolish mistake.

~-~

The empire of L’manburg showed these truths to their full extent. Their President, their “dictator” was a ruthless man, despite being a hybrid himself.

J.Schaltt, he was a ram hybrid, with twisted horns that curled around his ears and a fluffy tail that didn’t match his harsh and cruel personality. He was unfairly elected around 7 years ago and somehow took over the entire empire in less than a few days, bending every citizen into his image of a perfect realm.

This included eliminating all of the “disgusting hybrids”, or in other words the individuals who were strong enough to take his whole empire away from him. While some hybrids such as the ones deemed as useless were safe from Schlatts wrath, others were not.

He ordered for every Merling to be captured and stored away in a tank for spectators to gaze at, like a circus show. For every Enderian to be tied to a pole in the pouring rain, enduring the endless pain of being burned by each individual raindrop. And for the Elytrians, well, Schlatt knew how strong they could be, and so the threat they posed to him.

He ordered for every man in his perfect empire to hunt out the winged creatures, leaving none alive.

That was 6 years ago, his raid on the Elytrians, the poor creatures massacred from the unfair amount of men coming to take their lives. Even with their uncanny strength it seemed that they were greatly outnumbered.

With the combined events of the last hundred years it is unsure how many of these wondrous creatures live, even so if one was found its head would most likely come back on a spike. A trophy presented to the disgusting president.

There’s no harmony.

Not anymore.

Not until someone is brave enough to step outside of the norm. Fighting to save what is right, even when everyone might be against them.

Can anyone break out of this terrible loop, and for the first time in generations fly free?

Chapter Text

Techno had always been a good fighter, he knew that. He had to be, he was the provider for his little family.

Well, they weren’t exactly his family. None of them were blood related, but it didn’t change the fact that he cared for them deeply.

He was the oldest of the three that he deemed his “family”, the other two were considered as his younger brothers. The second oldest being a young man at the age of 19 and part phantom, Wilbur had chocolate brown hair that was messy yet styled at all times. He had the ability to go phase between walls and at times go invisible, perfect for popping out or to scare someone. He was quite a shy individual, turning invisible once anything overwhelmed him.

Techno had found him hiding in a dark alleyway, shading himself from the sun back a few years ago while holding onto an even younger boy with feathered arms. This he soon learned was Tommy, a chicken hybrid, although Tommy much preferred the term Avian.

Tommy was the opposite to Wilbur, a loud child who was arrogant most of the time, always making himself sound better than he actually was. Or as Wilbur liked to call it “a cocky brat”, which was pretty accurate. The youngest brother was only 15, so most of his Avian side hadn’t come out yet. Leaving him with fluffy arms, from feathers that were yet to grow out to glide across the sky with and fall slower.

Techno took both in around 5 years ago back when he was only 16, making him the age of 21 in the present day. He himself was a half-breed of Piglin, a strong fellow, immune to the effects of lava and heat due to his natural habitat of the Nether, with little tusks protruding from his bottom teeth poking out of his lips. He had long pink hair that he normally tied back into a ponytail or braid of some sorts.

Either way, out of both his brothers he was the only one who could go and hunt food for them, Wilbur couldn’t go out into the sunlight or he would burn, and Tommy, well, there was no way Techno trusted that kid to grab enough resources to feed all three of them.

So here he was, in the forest next to L’manburg, picking herbs for Tommy and tracking down any animal that could serve as dinner for tonight. Although he wasn’t having much luck. The herbs Tommy liked the most were nowhere to be seen and due to him being a vegetarian with his Avian nature he couldn’t eat meat like Techno and Wilbur. And all the animals had seemed to have disappeared, not one in sight.

“Ugh, come on” he grumbled, taking the crossbow off his back and loading it back with a trap involving rope and a few stones to take down anything from the skies. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword while his eyes stayed glued to the dense mass of trees in front of him. There was bound to be something soon, there had to be! Otherwise it would be another night where all three of them would go hungry.

Techno once even thought that he should find a job as a ‘Hunter’, due to his skills in fighting and brute strength. Again neither Will or Tommy could do anything to help out as both of them had no experience in fighting or really going outside into the world. It was a scary place after all.

Even so, Techno had refused to do such a job. Much of it was his pride talking, him believing that he could do just as good a job without the title of ‘Hunter’. Also it would mean actively hunting out other more endangered hybrids, such as the Merlings and Enderians. And with two other hybrids living with him, as with him being a hybrid himself he preferred to leave the job alone.

God damn, the pay would’ve been good though.

He shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have a job to give him money so he can buy the overpriced goods in the empire, he could do just as well and better himself and on his own.

His deep voice groaned again in frustration at the lack of animals, and started to shift away from his spot he was in to head back home. What were the boys gonna think when they saw the lack of food in the sack on Techno’s back. It brought shame to Techno, annoying him that he couldn’t do more to provide for those he cared about.

His mind shifted to the thought of the Hunters again. For every catch you would get prize money, more for any creature that Schlatt specifically wanted gone. Just imagine, the boys could have all the food they wanted, and a bigger home and-

NO!

The stupid voices telling him what was better for him faded away as he brought himself back into the present. They were always there, in the back of his head, however he had learned to adapt to the weird voices, blocking them out. It was like his Piglin side trying to take control of him all the time, they seemed to demand only one thing : blood.

“Stupid voices. Seriously gimme a break will ya?” he spoke to himself, almost expecting them to give him an answer. Of course to his annoyance they kept speaking among themselves about slaying hybrids and bringing in money for the boys. “Blood for the Blood God” they would say. ‘God knows what that meant’ Techno would think to himself.

Suddenly a rustle was heard in the trees, the voices grew louder in excitement of the prey that was possibly above them in the skies. Techno pushed them away as he grabbed the crossbow on his back loaded with the trap he had put in not too long ago.

Seeing an opening in the trees not too far away he rushed over to the piece of land with the sunlight beaming down onto it from the lack of trees to shade the area. He stood right in the middle of the spot with no trees aiming his crossbow at the sky. A bird might not be the largest dinner, but hell at least it's a dinner!

All of a sudden he saw the outline of the bird swoop over the area he was positioned in. He heard the noise of the creature swiftly moving above the treetops. From the looks of it it was huge! A hefty meal for his brothers and him to enjoy tonight! It was fast though, from the one time it whizzed by it was only observable for a mere second. Whatever the hell type of bird it was, Techno was sure he’d catch it.

His pride started taking over him, engulfing his body and concentrating so that the next time the bird flew by he would be able to take it down. His crossbow was aimed perfectly and his breathing was steady as he waited.

The handmade crossbow creaked as he ensured the trap was loaded and he had the right amount of tension in the string. The rocks connected to the rope that were landed in the crossbow weighed it down significantly, not that it bothered Techno of course, as long as it was able to take down something from the sky then it was substantial. His eyes narrowed and his grip on the ranged weapon tightened.

He could hear the flap of the wings before seeing the damned thing. His stance became even more secure. His finger ready at any second to curl back into the trigger releasing the crossbow.

And just as the beating of the wings grew louder, indicating his prey was just to the right of the canopy he pulled back the trigger! The rocks hurled themselves into the sky, with the rope trailing behind it in the air ever so slightly, and just as they reached above the canopy he heard them collide with something, no doubt in his mind that it was the large bird flying by before.

“Yesssss!” he whispered, punching the air in front of him as he ran off into the direction he heard the creature land. This would be a big ass meal! He and Wilbur would eat well tonight he thought as he continued going to the place of the downed creature, Tommy might get some of his special herbs he had been saving for an occasion, due to him probably not being able to eat whatever Techno had just shot down.

How exciting though! The thought of being able to go home and treat his boys to a meal they well deserve, it made the edges of Techno’s lips curve upwards ever so slightly into a small smile. A rare occasion if I will say so myself.

Though as he neared his prey and the place it had fallen, the forest had grown eerily quiet. The wind could no longer be heard dancing into the trees creating its whistling, and each footstep he took became louder as he came closer.

It was almost as if the forest was watching Techno as he stepped towards the opening of the canopy. And even though he knew no one was there, a hush still plagued the area.

The voices muttered to themselves quietly, they seemed curious by the sounds of it. The constant chatting in his head ade the hybrid twitch his head attempting to regain control and concentration.

A few strides later he came to another clearing, although it was partially blocked by the long grass and unusually low tree branches…

Wait, it was here.

Pushing aside one larger branch off the tree to his right he saw one large outstretched wing with the coarse rope awkwardly holding it up into the air. A grin stretched across Techno’s face as he stepped closer to the bird.

However the grin on his face faltered after taking a few more steps in the direction of the animal he had shot down. It was much larger than any bird he had ever seen before, its wings a smoky grey colour, and now that he could take a closer look, it was around twice the size of his entire body when at the full wingspan.

His brows furrowed in confusion, he had never read about anything like this in his books at home or the library. His hand drew his sword as he came around the creature to look at it from the front. Cautiously keeping it in front of him.

What the…

What Techno saw on the ground in front of him was no bird. It was a girl. The outstretched wing belonged to her, and as he looked closer he could see her other wing and hands tied against her back and sides, tightly secured by the rope from his trap.

She wriggled uncomfortably, whipping her [h/l], [h/c] hair around as she tried to get it out of her face to see what was going on. It uncovered sooty dark grey tufts where her ears would normally be, spreading onto her face and around her cheekbone.

Soft groans filled with pain escaped from her lips as she kicked her feet. Or what would have been her feet, they were more like talons, they were a creamy orange colour which made them look safer than Techno knew they were.

In an instant he knew what she was. Yet he still couldn’t believe his eyes.

She was an Elytrian.

Schlatt’s raid was said to kill the rest of the Elytrians when he invaded their home 6 years ago. And even if any did survive there was no way they could’ve found the resources to carry on surviving sufficiently. Plus with the rise in Hunters they would’ve been found in an instant.

Holy crap.

Imagine how much he could make from selling her! They’d be set for life, Tommy and Wilbur could live the rest of their life perfectly, with no worries in the world. The voices grew louder, asking…no…demanding for her blood!

He listened to the shouting inside of his head, following their guidance as he drew his sword from his scabbard. The blade was a stunning silver colour, you would never have been able to tell how many times it had been stained with blood.

He put the tip of his sword next to her face, alerting her that he was now right in front of her. It caused her to look up into his eyes, both pairs meeting.

However as soon as the two eyes met, the voices grew quiet. Silenced by look in the Elytrians eyes. The smug look on Techno’s face had been wiped clean off as soon as his blood red eyes met her glossy [e/c] ones.

The eye contact had startled him and he couldn’t help but notice how entrancing her eyes were now that they had been uncovered by the hair that once hid them.

He saw many things in her expression she showed towards him. Confusion, fear, anger, but most strangely acceptance. And almost as if on cue she gave up in her struggle. Letting her body go limp, no longer moving against the strong bonds keeping her in place. She had scrunched up her eyes ready for her inevitable death Techno would grant her.

A strange sensation washed over Techno. The voices could no longer be heard in his head at all, almost as if they had disappeared. He didn’t feel pity, he felt reluctance.

He had two options here, either he kills the Elytrian, bring back her wings to the empire as a trophy and possibly live the life as a famous hunter, one who killed one of the last Elytrians.

Or, he lets her go.

Any ordinary person would've killed the creature without hesitation and taken all the glory to come with it. A selfish act with only benefits for one side. But it didn’t feel right for Techno.

It was almost if he saw himself in the girl, a hybrid unknowing of how cruel the world really is. Taking chances and then paying a heavy toll for them.

He couldn’t kill her. And with no voices to argue with his own input he started to unknowingly let his emotions take control, something he never had the chance to do before.

He hadn’t noticed in his deep thoughts, but his breathing had become heavier. Anxious and scared of what he saw in the creature that lay only a few feet in front of him.

“I did this…” he whispered to himself, so low that the girl wouldn't be able to hear.

He took a few steps back and continued to stare at the girl who had her face towards the ground, preparing herself for her death.

That's when something changed in Techno. He didn’t know what it was, or even if the voices had a part to play in it, but for the first time he acted without thinking, and without a plan.

Abruptly he started to cut away at the ropes at a pace he had never seen himself go before. Using his sword, while being careful not to accidentally cut her. Too focused on cutting the binding he failed to see her [e/c] eyes snap open, and her hands twitch behind her back.

As soon as she felt the twine loose enough on her body, the girl swung one of her wings around hitting her hunter right in his face knocking him a few steps back. She was swift to get on her feet and connect her hand to his throat, pushing him up against a nearby tree, making them both grunt from the impact.

Techno, who had only just got to grasp what had happened once again was met with the cold glare of the Elytrians eyes, his hand stayed at his side as he realised his sword was no longer in his grip. She had been able to knock it out of his hands while getting up from where she once lay.

Both hybrids breathed heavily, their hair messily lying over their foreheads, and their faces awkwardly close together.

With the closer look at the rare being he soon realised how beautiful they were, and a blush rushed to his face as he became conscious of how close they were. The girl had obviously noticed too as her face had become a darker shade of red.

At the awareness of this she let go of Techno’s neck and turned around spreading her wings and soaring into the air. The ghost of her hand still loomed over Techno’s neck as he went to touch it. He looked up at the sky in which she had vanished into, his head rushing with questions and new emotions.

After taking a moment to stand and wonder to himself he soon spotted a smoky grey feather with a hint of silver at the end, he assumed this was hers. It must have come off of one of her wings as she flew away in a hurry. He stared at it for some time, inspecting it before storing it away in his bag.

He wasted no time at all in heading back home. And for the first time in a while his mind wasn’t on what food the boys would eat tonight. It was on her. A real Elytrian?! Even now he struggled to believe it.

And as he walked home there was only one thing on his mind.

Would he ever see her again?

Chapter Text

“BIG MAN, WHERE IS OUR FOOD?!” Techno could hear his youngest brother shout at him, he rolled his eyes as he further entered into the small shack he and his brothers called home. He sighed as the Avian hybrid came running up to him pestering for something to eat.

Poor Tommy was ignored by the half Piglin though, so went on to poke his brother. As he was doing this Wilbur came out from his room to greet his brother from gathering their dinner.

“Anything good tonight Tech?” Wilbur spoke softly with a hint of cheek in his voice, he knew how good his brother was at getting what they wanted.

Though Techno wasn’t really focusing on what Wilbur had said and gave a kinda half assed answer back.

“Hmm? Oh um, not really, sorry.”

This threw Wilbur off a little, it was unlike Techno to not bring anything back, and even when he didn’t normally he would make it seem bigger and better than what it normally was. But tonight he seemed to be distracted and had his mind on something else.

Tommy, unlike Wilbur, was not able to see this. It just meant gone off vegetables for his dinner again most likely.

“Awwww man. What the heck Techno? I was really hungry tonight!”

“Ye, ye. Sorry Toms. I promise you’ll get what you want tomorrow.” Techno replied, rustling the hair on Tommys head in the process.

“Hey bro, you good?” Wilbur asked in concern. He wasn’t stupid, in fact he was probably the cleverest out of all three. He knew that something was up with the older Piglin half-breed. And as impossible as it sounds, Wilbur could tell Techno was being even quieter than usual.

Techno drew his attention to the middle brother and gave a reply in his usual monotone voice “Of course bro, why do you ask?”

“No reason, nevermind” There was no way the phantom was getting an answer out of Techno, he could just tell with the way he was being. That ‘brotherly instinct’ if you will, even with them not being blood related. “Sooo…” he continued, “what did you bring us Tech?”.

“It ain't much really, 2 loaves of bread and a few vegetables”, he sighed. It was bad really, but it was all he was able to afford when he passed by the market on the way back. It was all they had until tomorrow night. “You two have first pick, I’ll eat any leftovers.” Techno spoke as he laid what he had on the spruce table and sat down in a chair at the head of it.

“Don’t mind if I do!”

“Hold on Tommy!” Wilbur interrupted, “Techno, you really should eat first, especially due to you gathering everything for all three of us.”

At this Tommy froze. Even with his playful attitude he knew how bad they really had it. They were lucky to have shelter over their head from the money the empire provided each household. The food was the main problem. Not only wasn’t there enough money for the stuff, it seemed to be non-existent. It wasn’t just them who struggled in that factor.

There was no doubt that the younger brothers felt guilt for not being able to help out with stuff for basic survival in the empire. They really couldn’t do anything to help out. Leaving everything to Techno.

The Piglin man looked up from the table to see the younger two looking at him with concern in their eyes. He sighed a deep breath.
“Look, I don’t know why you’re making it such a big deal guys. Just eat up.” He replied with a smile on his face.

But oh boy could Wilbur see right through it.

“Hey um…” Tommy started in the silence that had grown. “I know you’ve said you don’t want to Techno, but you’re like one of the best fighters ever, why don’t you get a job as a hunter?”

That again… his mind was immediately brought back to what had happened in the forest a few hours ago.

“Well I-”

“I know you keep saying no to getting a job, and I understand that. You’re a big man bro, but…” Tommy paused before continuing “I-I think it would really help.” His voice started wavering at the end, getting quieter as his older brothers looked at him almost judgingly.

“Tommy, we’ve been through this” Wilbur pinched the brow of his nose “If Techno doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have to. He’s the one who’d have to...you know…” He trailed off at the thought of having to do the unspeakable to all those other hybrids.

At this the Avain stood up and started to raise his voice after Wilbur spoke up “Well he doesn’t have to be a hunter then! There's loads of other jobs he-”

“No there isn’t” Techno spoke up for the first time in a while breaking the argument between Wilbur and Tommy. “Hunters are in demand right now, if there’s any job that I was to go for, it would be that.”

Silence was brought upon the family once again. Tommy sat back down in his chair and Wilbur looked off to the side.

“Tom’s right though” Techno spoke up, causing the other two to glance upwards at him. “I’ll go tomorrow to see if there’s any places available as a hunter.”

“WHAT!?” Wilbur shot at Techno “Techno, you can’t, you know what you’re committing yourself to if you do go?”

“So what Will?”

“So what?! What it means is that you could be killing other hybrids!” Out of the corner of his eye Wilbur could see Tommy shudder at the thought. “Do you really want to do that?! Killing our brethren? Techno it’s-”

“ENOUGH!” Techno’s voice boomed over Wilbur’s as his hands slammed on the spruce table. It brought silence over the brothers once more. “It’s already Autumn and we’re struggling with money and food as it is, at this rate we won’t survive the Winter let alone anything after that.”

Wilbur tried to intervene once more “But last year-”

“That's last year Wilbur.” The Piglin shot. “We can’t say that this year we’ll be as lucky.”

With nothing else to shoot back at Techno the Phantom brother sank back into his chair, slightly phasing through it in his defeat.

“I’ll go tomorrow morning to see Sam. He’ll know what to do, he’s been a hunter for years now.”

“Sam the Creeper hybrid?” Tommy questioned.

“That's the one, but for now eat up. I’ll take leftovers.”

The conversation ended as they all started to take pieces of the food on the table. Making sure that they were fair in what they were taking so the others could have their share too.

While shoving a piece of the stale bread he brought home into his mouth Techno’s thoughts once again drifted. He noticed how the voices still hadn’t returned since their sudden and strange disappearance after meeting the Elytrian.

And her. What would happen if he saw her again as a hunter. Would he be forced to kill her on sight? And if so would he actually be able to do it?

None of it made sense in his head. But he knew he needed to see her again. There’s no way the voices stuck in his head ever since he could remember would just vanish out of the blue. She definitely had something to do with it.

Questions regarding the mysterious girl flew through his mind. He would see her after meeting Sam tomorrow, or he would try to find her anyway. There’s no guarantee that he would run into her again. Either way he had to try.

Eventually all three had finished with their eating and there wasn’t a crumb left on the table. Wilbur was the first to move, phasing out of the chair he was in to behind its frame. Tommy was swift to move out of his next, then taking his time Techno did as well.

“Welp!” Tommy broke the silence that had loomed over them for the last 10 minutes while eating “I’m going to sleep, can’t play with Tubbo tomorrow without my beauty rest!” Before either of the older brothers could say anything the Avian child had run off to his room leaving them both alone together.

“You know I don't agree with this.” Wilbur spat.

“I know you don’t. But we both know it’ll be better for all of us in the end.” A sigh escaped his lips again “You can’t go out into the sunlight and Tom’s too young for this kinda thing. If we wanna stay stable this Winter I need a job. Being a hunter is our best option.”

“Fine, but whatever you do out there stays out there. You saw Tommy when we were talking about it.”

Techno’s mind flashed back to how scared Tommy had seemed when mentioning the idea of hurting other hybrids. Especially with all three brothers being different breeds.

“Of course, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. The same goes for you too, you know.” He added a quick smile onto the end of his phrase, also causing Will to smile back.

“Ye ye, I got it.” Wilbur chuckled. “Goodnight Techno”

“See you tomorrow Wilbur” Techno replied as he saw Will phase through the wall into the room in which he slept.

The Piglin stood in the same place for a while, letting himself dwindle in his thoughts before also heading to his room.

After getting into the rickety bed he put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. There was so much going on in his mind. His family, the hunters, and then her.

Tomorrow, that's when he would start the change, then hopefully things might get just a little better.

It would all happen tomorrow.

Chapter Text

When Techno arose the next morning so did the voices. It had seemed that they had returned while he was sleeping.

“Ughhhhh” he groaned. He was not at all pleased to say that they were back and chanting some weird word in harmony. He did recognise the word though, it was something Tommy said quite often, not that he knew what it meant, ‘Pogchamp’. Couldn’t say he was looking forward to dealing with this crap again.

After putting a different shirt on and some shoes he started to go down the creaky stairs and see what the family had to eat for breakfast. He doubted there would be much in honesty, just like previous mornings.

However despite the food shortage they had, Techno always made sure there was something in for a morning snack, maybe an apple or two to share between the three of them. With Tommy usually having a slightly larger portion than the older brothers.

Speaking of the little raccoon boy, he was sitting at the table with what seemed to be two wooden figures playing by himself. Despite him being 15 he had quite the imagination, it was almost cute to see the scenes he could make up with the simplistic wooden figures Wilbur and Techno had carved for him.

Tommy seemed to be too immersed in his little world to notice his big brother move into the storage room. “Hmm” Techno hummed in amusement while grabbing an apple from a cupboard to cut into an even share for the three.

“Shut up” He whispered as the voices said something stupid along the lines of ‘apples am I right?’.

“They pretty bad today huh?” An echoey voice spoke from behind him making the half Piglin jump slightly. Goddamn it Wilbur, this man really did like to spook others with his ability to shift into rooms without a sound.

“Ye, I guess they are” Techno replied shortly. “I didn’t even notice you were there Wilbur, also you do realise Tom is in the other room?”

Wilbur giggled as he answered “I do, but there’s no way he’ll hear what we’re saying. He’s too interested in his ‘toys’.”

Techno always thought it was best Tommy didn’t know about the voices that haunted him. He didn’t want to freak Tommy out when he talked to himself at times or perhaps ranted about what they would say during the day.

Not that he wanted Wilbur to ever find out either, however when you have a brother who can phase through walls and turn invisible it becomes difficult to hide the fact that you’re talking to yourself.

Wilbur did help though. Especially when the voices occasionally decided that they wanted blood. Now, that was something even Techno feared. They would start to control him, making him try to slaughter anything in his path.

That night around 4 years ago, Wilbur found the man who had saved him huddled in the corner of his room clutching his head, while sobbing and whispering to himself. He had comforted him and was able to bring the older hybrid to his senses. It was obvious after Techno had regained his control that he had to tell the young Phantom what the hell he had witnessed.

Either way Wilbur was always good at helping Techno with the voices when they got out of control. They did on the other hand both agree that Tommy wasn’t ready to know about the ruthlessness of the voices inside Techno’s head.

“Don’t make fun of him Will, you used to love those figures too when you first came here” Techno teased the Phantom.

“I-I...” The cheeks of Wilbur started to glow a darker blue, indicating he was blushing. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Heh, sure dude” Techno giggled as he threw part of the apple he was cutting up to Will while starting to devour his own piece.

As he moved to the door he passed the table Tommy was sitting at again, and while he thought of throwing Tom’s share of the apple to him, he knew that the youngest brother was awful at catching and the food would most likely end up on the floor and not be edible. Instead he placed it in front of him making Tommy look up from his fantasy world.

Techno made sure to give him a wink before making an announcement to the both of them, “I’m going to see Sam about becoming a hunter, I won’t be back until late, I’ll make sure to bring food”

He didn’t expect an answer considering the conversation last night, which was fair enough. He grabbed his old, worn out, beige coloured cloak and sword, putting them both on and heading to the exit of the house. But as he was about to leave through the thick spruce door he heard Wilbur's voice.

“Look Techno... I…” He trailed off as the two exchanged looks. A sigh then left his lips as he carried on with a faint smile trailing his lips, “Good luck, ok?”.

“Of course Will.” Techno returned the smile, then turned to Tommy who seemed to be watching from the side. “And you…” Tommy jerked up with his full attention. “Don’t cause any trouble.”

Without seeing the reaction from the young avian he stepped out and closed the heavy door behind him. The cloak hanging from his shoulders swayed with the slight breeze in the air as he started heading towards the Hunters Camp.

~-~

However back in the house that the half Piglin had just left Wilbur stood with a heavy feeling in his chest despite it being partly translucent. He let out a large sigh as he turned from the door he was staring at and focused his attention on Tommy.

“Umm Will?” He heard Tommy question, although the way his brother had said it startled him slightly, it being asked in such a soft and quiet way.

“What is it Tom?” Wilbur replied, taking a seat next to him.

“What if..” he hesitated, “what if when Techno becomes a hunter…” he pauses again “he trades us in?”

The question asked by the insecure avian brought tears to Wilbur's eyes as he furrowed his brow and brought himself to answer his brother.

“Tom, you really do ask some stupid things” he nudged closer to the younger boy while wrapping his arms around him engulfing his in a hug. “You should know that he would never do that. I know hunters are scary and dangerous but…” he stopped mid sentence, trying to think of the right words, “It’s Techno, and he’s a hybrid like us. Also you’re forgetting the most important thing…”

“What's that Will?”

“That he’s our brother...”

~-~

As Techno neared the Camp he started to notice the amount of dirty looks he was getting. It was rare for a hybrid to become a hunter, especially considering the fact that if it came to it they could be hunting their own species.

Also regular humans always seemed jealous of hybrids, and for obvious reasons as well. They didn’t have any special abilities or features that made them unique.

Techno chuckled thinking of it. They really were as pathetic as they sounded. Killing the hybrids that they were jealous of and showing them off as a hunter.

Anyway, as Techno entered the Camp he saw the green Creeper hybrid leaning against a post with his signature netherite armour on. He always had respect for Sam, Creeper hybrids were hard to come across, and even if you did you wouldn’t want to get too close usually. People were normally afraid if they said or did something wrong that they would self-destruct in their face. But Sam was a kind soul and never seemed to lose his temper.

“Techno! I didn’t expect to see you here, old friend!” The man shouted across at the half Piglin as he started making his way across the field and meeting him in the middle, “what are you doing here?”

In honesty Sam was surprised to see Techno here of all places, he knew Techno never liked the hunters or the idea of being one. He had strongly disagreed when Sam first signed up a couple years back.

“I need to find where to sign up”

“Oh!” Sam's eyes widened at the response “Well you’re in luck there buddy, I’ll help you with that, you know being a captain ‘n all.” Sam puffed out his chest a little at the remark he made. “I thought you didn’t like all this kinda stuff T.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that” Techno scoffed at the nickname as the voices started to chant the letter ‘T’. “But I need the money to be honest.”

“Fair enough, gotta buckle down for the Winter I guess.”

There was an awkward pause for a moment after Sam spoke, however he broke it after realising his pink haired friend didn’t have anything else to say.

“So, umm… you wanna join us this afternoon on a hunt?” There was no need for Techno to go through any rigorous training like the other humans in the camp. Sam knew how good at fighting his friend was. Especially due to his humiliating losses to him throughout the years.

“Sure.” Techno answered in his usual monotone voice before carrying on. “Anything I need to do before then?”

“Hmm.” A hand went to Sam’s chin as he thought, “I guess some paperwork to get you an official document so you get a cut of the money after each hunt, other than that you’re pretty good!”

The two started making their way into the tent as Techno’s mind wandered to what would be happening in the afternoon. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know what was going to happen, it was just common knowledge at this point.

When the hunters went out they searched for any hybrid on their hit list. Certain species equalled more money than others, plus if you caught anything as a group you would split the money made. However it was never smart to go solo as a hunter, it wasn’t always easy to pin another creature down and catch or slaughter it by yourself.

Oh god, this afternoon would be fun.

Chapter Text

The warmth of the sun had now almost completely vanished as it hid behind the trees making way for the moon to start rising. Despite it only being 5 hours after noon the air had grown cold and darkness had started to overtake the sky.

The Blade walked nonchalantly beside Sam, they had been out hunting for around an hour and a half by this point and the half Piglin was starting to wonder if the job of being a hunter was normally as boring as this.

Nothing had particularly happened in the hours that the two had been out in the dense forest searching for life. Every once in a while one of them would say bring something up only for the other to give a short one-worded answer, unfortunately for Sam most of the time it was him being the one to try and strike up a conversation, only to have his old friend shut it down.

On the defense of Techno however, it wasn’t that he was trying to be disrespectful in any way, he just had a lot on his mind; the whole situation with the hunters, his family and that stupid girl he saw the night before.

“So,” Sam started once again, trying to get the man next to him to give in to being part of an actual conversation “I have been wondering, what actually made you want to join the hunters after all these years? I know you dislike the whole concept ‘n all, but it's kinda weird to see you come with us out of the blue.”

“My family,” Techno replied shortly, not looking over to Sam. He could see the Creeper hybrid staring at him out of the corner of his eye, almost longingly to carry on. “I’m struggling to get any food for the boys, I can’t get enough from hunting normally in the nearby green areas and you know what I’m like about getting a job.”

“Of course I do, you’re a stubborn guy for sure!” Sam bumped his shoulder into Techno’s as he responded, he knew about his friend taking in the other younger hybrids, he liked the two boys Techno called his brothers, energetic and chaotic, good to rival the Piglin hybrids monotonousness. “I get that you’re doing it for them, I respect that.”

“Wilbur wasn’t pleased with it.”

“Oh I bet he wasn’t, I knew this stuff freaked him out. And Tommy?”

Techno sighed, “He didn’t say much, I don’t blame him.”

The silence returned after that.

Sam felt for his friend, he really did. They had known each other as teens, both growing up as hybrids, they had found a strong connection. He remembered times when they would train together, reminiscing on every time he would challenge Techno to a duel and every time he would lose.

Of course as they grew older they had to find a better way to sustain themselves, Techno choosing the hard life of getting everything himself, hunting for food and selling whatever he didn’t need as a sort of income. Sam on the other hand chose to join the hunters, it was around the same time as his friend adopted the two other hybrids.

They grew apart, it wasn’t a surprise to the two, as while neither of them particularly agreed with the hunters scheme, one of them was willing to endure it to sustain his own life.

“Hey T?” Sam started, “I know how much you need this money, why don’t we split up? Let's be honest, both of us are the best fighters out of all the hunters, we have a better chance of catching something if both of us split up.”

“You sure man?” Techno replied, facing his friend this time.

“Of course, we can share whatever we catch, just meet up at the camp after dawn.” Sam started to head off to his left, giving a wink to ‘T’ as he left the half Piglins' sight.

A large breath of air left Techno’s lips as he let out a big sigh, “what fun…” he mumbled to himself as he headed off in the opposite direction he saw Sam going in. He wasn’t particularly pleased about the fact of possibly having to kill another hybrid by himself, not that he couldn’t do it of course. As long as it wasn’t a hybrid that reminded him of his brothers it would be fine, of course he could kill them, what was he thinking?!

~-~

The sky had started to get slightly lighter and Techno still found himself aimlessly wandering around the forest, searching for some poor unsuspecting hybrid who might have happened to wander into it. He suspected it was around 2 hours until dawn, and he knew he was only about 40 minutes away from the camp if he made his way back in a swift manner.

How embarrassing, to go back to the camp with nothing. What if the other hunters hadn’t found anything either and he didn’t have anything for the boys at home. Then again if he came home and had actually killed something, he doubted that his family would be impressed, even if it was for them.

He found a nearby rock and sat himself down in it, he reflected on his choices, even though he hadn’t necessarily done anything to question them in the first place.

The large Piglin hybrid sighed to himself as he tried to collectively gather his thoughts in a sane manner, this definitely proved harder than he thought though.

His hand found their way up to his face while he rested his elbows on his knees. As he leaned his head into his calloused palms he tried to clear his head. Of course this didn’t work as the voices taunted him for being ‘weak’ and not ‘good enough’. Them raging at Techno for not delivering the blood they so desperately wanted.

It was degrading and angered Techno as he knew that he couldn’t even prove himself to the voices and more importantly his brothers…

Though in the next few seconds they became quiet. Unusually quiet.

What the h–

That's when he heard it, the soft humming of a female voice to his left. He could clearly hear the melody without the voices in the back of his head distracting him and chanting to themselves.

In his curiosity he slowly stood from the rock he had sat against and started to move towards the soft humming. It was odd… not the humming of course, but how he was drawn to it.

In the shock of hearing the humming Techno had completely forgotten all about his voices and had not yet realised that they had once again disappeared.

As he walked towards the sound it strangely grew quieter, that was odd. ‘Don’t things normally grow louder when they are closer?’ He thought to himself. Maybe the person had just stopped singing, or had he driven them away? In honesty he doubted both options.

The situation felt particularly familiar too.

The canopy was a distinct colour and shape he was sure he recognised from somewhere, and considering himself “The human compass” he was irritated that he didn’t seem to recognise the environment.

Treading through the moss he pushed away a single large branch to uncover the same spot that he was at the day prior. It was the same opening.

Suddenly everything clicked in Techno’s head as he remembered what had happened yesterday. And before his mind scolded him he saw it, you.

The same girl, the same Elytrian he had shot down.

The whole world had seemed to stop, it was obvious she had heard the brute coming as her head was turned to face him as she knelt on the ground with her talon-like feet underneath her body, and smoky coloured wings spread around her. Her tail feathers neatly sat on the ground behind her, they were the same hue as her wings.

Like the previous day (e/c) eyes met blood red ones.

Her breath seemed to hitch as she realised the position she was in, she knew who Techno was, how could she not? It was the same exact person who had almost killed her the previous night. There was no way she was forgetting that face. Yet still she dared not to move, fear had seemed to cocoon itself around her body trapping her where she knelt.

Techno also struggled to move his gaze away from the winged creature, now that he could look at her again he seemed to notice even more about her than the day before. How spellbinding she was.

However Techno’s will proved to be much stronger than the Elytrian’s, being the first to move away his gaze and move his calloused hands to the top of his sword which lay comfortably in his belt. He hadn’t forgotten who he was now, and what job he had to do.

Even when stuck by fear the Elytrian was not stupid, she knew what the stranger’s implications were. She knew who he was, and she knew what he was going to do to her.

In the few seconds Techno took his eyes away from the winged girl on the floor he was not able to catch her reaching behind a rock that was in arms reach. And before he could stop her she had pulled out a bow, had swiftly aimed and released an arrow.

This struck the poor Piglin with confusion, especially when the arrow had pierced through the cloth on his right shoulder pinning him to a tree just behind him.

What the hell?? How did she?

“Why did you do it?!” She shouted now just in front of Techno, he must not have realised that she flew right up to him in his brief confusion.

“Huh?” He replied, slightly dazed from the sequence of events. What happened to him being in control?

“The other day, you caught me. But…” She paused before continuing “You let me go. But you’re a hunter. I..I don’t understand.”

“Well technically I wasn’t a hunter until yesterday” The Piglin spoke, although it was in a much softer tone than he was expecting.

“What…” her face scrunched up in confusion, it wasn’t the answer she thought she was going to get.

Her pause in speech gave Techno on the other hand just enough time to gather his thoughts together, pulling the arrow out of his clothes and the tree before launching himself onto the girl pinning her hands to the sides of her head while holding them with his own, unconsciously making a note to himself of how soft they were.

The girl made a slight grunt as her back hit the ground, now at the disadvantage compared to before she stayed completely still. Her rush of adrenaline wearing off and confidence starting to falter.

Techno on the other hand only had one thing on his mind while pinning the winged girl though.

“How did you make them disappear?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific dude” She replied with the small amount of confidence she had left.

“The voices”

“The what now?”

“Do Elytrian’s have some sort of magic?”

“What, do you think we’re some sort of witch hybrid too?”

In annoyance Techno pressed harder into the girl's palms starting to crush her hands, transferring all his weight onto them.

“Gah!” She yelped out in pain, “I don’t know! I have no idea what you’re even talking about! I can help you get them back, just stop!”

He ceased in his actions, again he noticed how quiet it was without the voices. He looked down at her before completely stepping off her and standing up to his full height.

She too carefully stood up. It felt like a face off, the two hybrids awkwardly staring at each other.

“Umm” She started gaining his attention “Are you not going to hunt me?”

Techno stared at her. How could he have forgotten his new job, but the interaction between him and the Elytrian made him question his new role again. He didn’t understand why, but he didn’t want to hunt her.

“I guess not” he replied shortly, he hoped she wouldn’t ask for a reason for he didn’t know the answer.

The two stood silently for another moment, the girl with her arms wrapped around her waist making it look like she was hugging herself, it was only now he noticed that she had completely abandoned her bow which seemed to be a good 10-feet behind her.

His sword had also seemed to be scattered on the floor out of arm's reach, how did he not notice that it came out of his scabbard? Either way, both hybrids were unarmed.

“I don’t understand you,” She said. “You say you’re a hunter, yet you don’t seem to hunt?”

“Heh,” Techno made a slight chuckle as he responded “It’s probably due to today being the first day on the job.”

“You’re a very bad liar.”

Slightly offended Techno started to speak, “Hey, I’ll let you know-”

“Do you not want to do it?” She interrupted, raising an eyebrow at him and starting to relax her arms as she saw that at this point he was no threat to her.

“Well I-”

“Or are you just really, reeealllllly nervous or something?”

Techno pouted his lips at her interruptance, (once again if he must add). She was slightly annoying if he was to be honest.

“No, but-”

“Maybe you’re starting to regret your choices in-”

“CAN YOU STOP CUTTING ME OFF!?” The Piglin shouted after getting tired of her constant interruptions. She seemed to stop talking and was taken aback by the sudden outburst from the male in front of her, of course she kinda knew why.

“Oops, haha sorry, I do tend to ramble.” She sheepishly apologised, a slight blush forming around her cheeks and up to the cheekbones where her skin was replaced with her feather ears.

Another wave of silence entered the area after that, until the girl moved away to the rock she was next to when Techno found her, she sat down on it and gestured for the Piglin hybrid to follow suit. He did so and sat on the ground next to the strange and annoying girl.

In the quiet without the voices Techno was once again able to look at the Elytrain next to him, fully taking her in, he still found her fascinating in some way. With her facing sideways to him he was able to see how her wings almost looked as if they were carefully weaved into her skin when the base of the wing met her body.

He took into account how it had looked like she had cut out the back of her shirt to get her wings to stick through the green material. The green shirt was a button down one with short sleeves which allowed Techno to see her (s/c) arms that were complimented with freckles that ran down them until her hands.

He had never noticed it till now but the tips of her fingers seemed to fade into black. It seemed strange, yet he didn’t question it, perhaps it was just an Elytrain thing.

“So,” She once again started making Techno jump a little and cut off his train of thought about the creature next to him. “You got a name stranger?”

“Technoblade” He replied shortly, “And yours?”

“Hmmm, how about I keep that a secret until tomorrow?” She stuck her tongue out.

“What now?” He turned his head to look at her from her response, eyes a little bit wider.

“If you wanna know my name so much then meet me here again, let's say around an hour or so before dawn?”

“Hey hold up-”

“Techno” She interrupted him, yet this time he didn’t say anything and let her continue, “I’ve never seen a hunter like you” She paused, “But if you want to talk more, then you’ll know where I’ll be. Don’t wanna keep your hunter buddies waiting do ya?”

The male stared up at her stunned, he didn’t have anything to say.

She gave a sigh and started to spread her wings “See you around Technoblade.” And with that she lifted herself into the air and disappeared through the canopy, leaving a gust of wind behind and nothing else. Except for her bow which laid in the same position as it was when it was knocked out of her hands not too long ago.

While Techno debated leaving it he had some strange fear in him that felt as if someone else may find it. He couldn’t think of why he didn’t want others to touch it, it wasn’t even his.

How strange this entire event was, it all seemed to come crashing down on the poor Piglin. The fact that he had met an Elytrian, a rare creature, one that he could’ve killed, yet didn’t. And how he had a conversation with it, now feeling attachment to her bow.

Techno had to shake his head to get rid of all the thoughts, they weren’t as annoying as the voices at least.

However, that was another thing. What the heck was going on with the voice's disappearance, it was just like that other night where they had vanished after his encounter with her.

He craned his neck to look at the sky above him, some light was starting to seep through the trees. His eyes squinted at the sudden contact with the light and the realisation that he still had to meet up with the other hunters set in.

He swiftly picked up the bow and began to make his way back to camp, of course he had an idea of where to go, he was the human compass after all. And for the bow, well he was sure that he would be able to make up an excuse for having it draped over his back.

What a first day in employment though.

Chapter Text

Techno now walked back home, tired, confused and also frustrated that the voices had suddenly returned halfway through his journey back. The hunters debrief after the hunt was not only boring but the humans that were there were so blatantly racist towards hybrids that he felt like he didn’t even need the voices to feel as if he should murder them all.

No one really questioned the bow on Techno’s back except for Sam to which Techno responded, lying that one of the other hunters must have dropped it while out and he picked it up. Sam had seemed a little unsure of his friend's answer considering how well made the bow looked, yet he believed his pink haired colleague.

While Techno hadn’t hunted anything, a few other hunters had seemed to catch a poor fox hybrid, the poor creature screamed and shouted in his ropes and bindings. At one point he even seemed to be praying (who too Techno had no idea, there were no gods that would come down to help the boy). He was taken away before Techno could see much more of him.

Sam had also caught a couple of feline hybrids, they were knocked unconscious and carefully tied up, unlike the fox hybrid which seemed to have many ropes loosely tied, implying how unskilled the human hunters were.

Techno had also overheard a few conversations the humans had. Disgusting, that's all he could say. The way they saw hybrids as not only a burden but a “bunch of creatures that all need to burn in hell”, that's how they described them. They couldn’t care less if Techno was behind them or not, or if Sam was there, it was never going to change their perception of hybrids.

The voices brought him back to the present and started to annoy him once again as he carried on his way back to the boys. He had been able to buy them a little something special after getting his first payment. He wasn’t an idiot and spent it all in one go (like Tommy would if he had access to it), but he did want to treat his boys, something he hadn’t done in a long time.

He was able to get some slightly more expensive herbs for Tommy’s vegetarian stomach and a nice chunk of meat for himself and Wilbur. Some money was still left over after that too! Heck apparently it was a bad day for the hunt done, yet all of this money for catching a few hybrids?

That did make Techno pause once again, his mind drifting to what the Elytrian girl had said to him in the opening of the forest, that he was ‘different’ and ‘not like the others’. Why did he feel guilty about being a hunter around her? And even when he got away from her he still felt some sort of weird connection to her, and the voices too, how did she-?

He closed his eyes. “Stop thinking about her.” He whispered to himself in a demanding tone, more towards the voices than anything else.

By this time he was already home, the cobblestone floor under his feet a little more worn down where the entrance to the shack was. He glanced down at the food wrapped in a cream cloth in his arms and sighed at the thought of what it was equivalent to. Captured hybrids. Hopefully the boys would take it well and focus on the food instead.

“I’m home!” His voice boomed through the small spruce shack, and he could hear the faint rush of footsteps coming to greet him.

“BIG MANNNNN!” It was Tommy of course. His loud and childish reaction to his big brother returning was cute and made Techno smile a little, quite a rare sight I must add.

“So,” Tommy carried on as he continued to rush towards the Piglin hybrid and envelope him in a hug, “How was it, how was your first day on the job?”

This was something Techno hadn’t taken into account, the fact that his youngest brother would be almost completely oblivious to the fact that other creatures like himself may have died from his siblings hand. Of course, he was still a child.

“Yep, it was good alright. Wanna see what I gotcha?”

Tommy squealed at this, “YOU GOT ME SOMETHING!? WILL, WILL COME QUICK, TECHNO GOT US SOMETHING!!” It was a surprise Techno’s ears still worked after the excitement in his brother.

“What's this now?” A much lighter voice drifted into the room closely followed by the physical form of the phantom brother. Wilbur passed through the wall in front of the others to come welcome his brother back. “You never flaunt anything you gather, unless…”

“I bought it, Will, with the money I made.”

“Oh…” Wilbur’s face dropped a little. But before Tommy could realise his deflated response he carried on. “Ummm, well then, why don’t we take a look?”

“YES, I AGREE WITH WILL. SHOW US!!”

Putting aside Wilbur’s obvious disappointment from where the money must have come from, Techno made his way over to the dining table and placed the goods onto the table in front of them all. After making an imaginary countdown from 3 Techno removed the cloth covering the food.

He looked over at his brothers when he heard a little gasp from Tommy, it made him chuckle a little, he looked over at Will to see his reaction too. It was clear that Wilbur was happy they had food for once, but he knew the cost of their meal and what it meant for some unlucky few. Interestingly enough and unlike the Phantom though, he kept quiet.

“Woah” Techno’s attention was brought back to Tommy after he stared in awe at the goodies in front of him. “This is ours?” His voice was softer and he wasn’t shouting, which was rare.

“Yep, its all for us.” Techno smiled back at Tommy, “Look, I even got you those vegetables that you liked from ages ago.”

“I can’t believe how much you got…” Wilbur said, he also seemed a little stunned at the array of food on the table, “Did you spend everything you had?”

“Nah, I’ve still got a little bit left. Saving it for something else.”

“CAN WE EAT IT NOW? I’M STARVING!!” Tommy yelled across the table.

“No Tom,” The Phantom replied, “We can wait until dinner, plus I want to talk to Techno about something.”

“AWWWW, BUT I WANNA-”

“Later Tommy.”

“UGH, FINE.” The young Avian made his way back up the stairs to his room after that, knowing that he couldn’t win an argument against Wilbur.

The two other brothers stood silently together until they heard the door of Tommy’s room close. Knowing that he was upstairs and wouldn’t be able to hear the conversation he was about to have with Techno, Wilbur began to talk.

“Did you kill anyone?” He didn’t make eye contact with Techno as he said this.

The Piglin hybrid sighed before responding, “I didn’t, I didn’t even find anything.” That was a lie. “Some other humans found a fox hybrid and Sam caught two felines. I don’t know what happened to them, but that's where we got the money from.”

“So you’re saying potentially three other hybrids were killed today so that we could get a decent meal.”

The way he phrased it made Techno cringe and look down in shame, making him think of what might have happened to the hybrids caught in the hunt.

Wilbur continued, “I can’t believe you’ll be doing this everyday.”

“Wilbur, try to understand-”

“WHAT?! That you’ll be murdering other hybrids, like us, just so we can eat?” His voice was wavering and was louder than normal, “How could we eat knowing that someone had to sacrifice themselves so we could continue to keep going?”

Techno said nothing after this, he was shocked at Wilbur’s outburst, it was very unlike him. He was opinionated yes, but to yell at his older brother, it was incredibly rare. And Techno knew that he was deeply upset.

Techno sighed, “I’m sorry Wilbur, I had no idea how much you were upset by this.”

A tear rolled onto Will’s cheek as he responded, “You never were good at emotions, were you?” He chuckled at his own words and wiped the tear that had slipped down his cheek.

“Will, I just want you and Tommy to live a full life. I need to do this, for him and for you.” Techno put his hand on Wilbur’s shoulder, or where Will’s shoulder should have been, his hand phased right through him after all. “But I promise you, I will never kill another hybrid. For you I won’t.”

The phantom placed one of his hands on top of where Techno’s was, “You promise to not hurt them?”

“I can’t promise you that others won’t, but I won’t, I promise.” He smiled at his younger brother.

“Ok.” Wilbur sighed and relaxed his hand from on top of Techno’s. He stepped back slightly before speaking again, “Also something else happened today didn’t it? The way you’re acting is reminding me of how you were the other day when you went out.”

“What are you-”

“Don’t lie Techno, I can see it. It’s something to do with the voices again.”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Techno deadpanned, he wasn’t ready to talk about the Elytrian girl yet, he was more worried about his family more than anything. “Welp, I’m shattered, I’m going to get some rest before I need to go out again.”

“Trying to get out of the conversation now are we?” Wilbur asked, placing his hands on his hips.

“Haha, very funny Will.” He started to make his way towards the stairs before facing Wilbur again, “By the way, call me around noon, we can eat the stuff I got for lunch, that way we’ll all be together.”

“Alright man, see you in a bit.”

“Buh byeeee.”

Techno carried on going up the stairs to his room and walked past Tommy’s door, he could hear the faint noise of the younger brother talking to himself. Techno smiled at this.

As he reached his room he closed the door which made an eerie creaking noise which filled the silence. He tiredly took off his shoes and top to leave him with only his pants on as he climbed into bed.

He stared at the ceiling, there was a lot going on. He felt bad for his middle brother. Wilbur wanted so desperately to help out, yet he couldn’t, then he had to watch as his adoptive sibling, the one who took him in had to murder others just for them to survive.

Techno didn’t understand emotions as much as he wanted to, which made it even more difficult for him. The voices told him to ‘be better’ yet he was doing the best he could. Then Wilbur had mentioned how his voices had been acting strange, he still had no idea how his brother could tell that they were unusual, this brought him back to something else.

The girl he had met, although she had never said anything in their meeting Techno knew she had something to do with how they disappeared each time he came into contact with her. They didn’t seem to be gone as long as the first time though, it was strange.

And the way she had so boldly told him to meet her the next day. Would he even do it? In some strange way he wanted to, yet could she be trusted? He didn’t know.

He wanted to find out more about her, plus he still had her bow with him. The boys hadn’t questioned it at all. Perhaps he should meet her again to return it to her, he could ask her some more questions too. In all honesty he was still in shock that Elytrians existed. Even Sam had said to Techno whilst they were in the woods that he only told the human hunters about Elytrians just in case one ‘magically turned up out of the blue’.

‘How curious’ Techno thought as he drifted off into sleep, his mind slowly turning blank, with the last thing he saw being the girl's face before he dozed off completely.

Chapter Text

Lunch was pleasant. There were no arguments, just three hungry boys eating food.

With the amount Techno was able to bring back yesterday, there was enough leftovers for a midday meal. It was a nice change for the family, and they enjoyed it. Even despite Wilbur’s obvious distaste for the idea of the food coming from the money Techno got the day prior, he enjoyed the extra nutrients.

Tommy most definitely enjoyed the food. Scoffing it down until he started hiccupping, which he started to regret as he saw out of the corner of his eye his two older brothers giggling at his behaviour.

Once finishing lunch the Piglin started readying himself for another afternoon hunt Sam had invited him on. In his room he buttoned up his white blouse (his favourite might I add), he wasn’t sure why he chose this one in particular, it wasn’t like he was trying to impress anyone. He figured he just liked it because of the fancy ruffles on the shoulders. Then again how could he not call it his favourite when his two most treasured boys had stolen it from a tailor’s stall for his birthday a few years back.

He tucked the shirt into his pants and headed back down the stairs to grab his cloak hiding both his sword and the bow he retrieved from the Elytrian yesterday, and headed out the door, quickly saying a goodbye to his brothers. He didn’t want to make a big fuss out of going to the hunt, for both of the boys sake.

The walk to the camp seemed much faster than last time, maybe because he was conversing with the voices inside his head? They demanded to see her again, the girl of course. It was strange how they were so invested in her yet never begged for him to take her blood like they did with other creatures and people. Though as much as he tried to make sense of the thousands of voices that ringed inside him, he still couldn’t tell what their intention with her was, and even worse he couldn’t find out why they disappeared when she was nearby.

The voices had been present for so long in his life and yet he still could never make sense of them. He had no clue where they came from or who they were, his subconscious perhaps? No, they were too random for that. Once he used to think that they belonged to other Piglin hybrids, and that they were all connected to a hive mind, but again it would be impossible as Techno’s input was never considered within the voices.

Anyway the constant dilemma had distracted the hybrid enough for him to now come to the hunters camp’s entrance. The human’s dirty looks seemed to still be aimed at him, not that he took any particular notice to it. He instead carried on marching towards Sam’s tent.

“Techno buddy! Nice to see you again.” The Creeper hybrid welcomed.

“Sam, you literally saw me yesterday…” Techno deadpanned in response, not that Sam took any particular notice to his friend's tone.

Sam waved his hand around in the air in a swatting motion as he continued, “Can’t I say hello to my old friend after 12 hours? Anyway, I presume you’re here for the hunt again.”

“Well I wouldn’t come here otherwise, now would I?”

“Atta boy.” A strong pat was placed on the Piglin’s back, making him jerk forward ever so slightly. “You wanna separate again? It’ll probably be better for the both of us if we come across some lower class hybrids, plus it means I’ll share my cut directly with you.”

He was a kind soul Sam. It did make Techno wonder how he ever got interested in wanting to hunt down other creatures in the first place. He was certain in the past Sam was adamant on joining the royal guard, what made him change his mind?

“Sounds good.” Techno shortly answered, “Thanks by the way.” He added at the end after feeling as if he cut off the conversation. Wilbur always said he was good at doing that.

Sam turned his head to look at the Piglin hybrid, “Hey, no problem man. I know you gotta take care of those kids at home. It’s just me at my place, so I’m not desperate.” He then pointed to a rusty golden broach on the right side of his jacket before continuing, “Anyway, being captain of all this gives me good enough pay, I can spare a few coins for you.”

“Heh, whatever you say man.”

~-~

The sky started to redden again as the sun started to rise, indicating the hunt was nearly over. Techno hadn’t run into anything in the many hours he had been searching. Not that he was particularly wanting to run into anything, how could he when he was an hour or so away from seeing her again.

The Piglin had made sure that he retraced his steps from the previous night to find the same spot she told him to come to. He recognised some of the trees and paths he made for himself , yet he was still cautious.

Every so often he traced his hands over the bow’s smooth arch that hung around his back, making sure it was there for some reason. Not that it would go missing when it was literally hanging around his body, but he still felt responsible for it. The bow itself was quite beautiful even when covered by the cloak. Techno had spent some time earlier analysing it, seeing how the carefully carved and polished birch made the deadly weapon look friendlier. This was also probably helped by the blue and purple feathers that were tied to the bottom edge of the bow.

Techno did wonder if she had meant to leave it on purpose, if it was to make sure he would come back to return it to her. He really wasn’t sure, for all he knew he could’ve taken and sold it never to return to the forest opening and meet her like she had asked him to. That didn’t matter though, not anymore, he was here now and could return the weapon to her now.

He finally reached the area he was looking for and sat down on the rock in front of him, like she had yesterday. He assumed that the Elytrian was still making her way over to the opening of the canopy, considering that she was not yet present.

In the silence he took note of the voices once again. The girl seemed to have no clue of what he was talking about when he had mentioned to her yesterday in their awkward meeting. Yet she had mentioned she wanted to help? It was a strange thing to say, however it could've been her fear talking as she was laying on the ground at that particular moment.

She was intriguing, he could definitely say that.

“Ahh, so you did come.” A voice behind him said softly, making him whip his head around.

Trapped in his thoughts he had once again missed the flutter of her wings to indicate that she had arrived. “I see you brought my bow back, thank you for keeping it safe for me.”

“You really do confuse me.” Techno replied now standing and facing the Elytrian as he took off his cloak to remove the bow from over his back.

“As do you Technoblade the hunter.”

“Why did you leave it here?” He pointed to the wooden weapon now in his course hands, she directed her gaze to it as well.

A sly smile etched its way onto the Eyltrian's lips as she responded, “I wanted to see what you’d do, simple as that.” She stepped forward towards him and gently took the bow from him, glazing his hands as doing so, and not realising the hunter’s body stiffen.

After Techno didn’t say anything she continued, “I guess you passed my test. You really aren’t like the others I’ve seen.” She looked him up and down, “And you’re a hybrid too, not many of them become hunters. I take it there’s others you care for that need the money for food.”

How did she…

“I’m perceptive.” She swiftly said, “I always have been, y’know, insightful ‘n stuff.” A small blemish of pink made its way onto her cheeks. “I’m [y/n] by the way, sorry to keep you in the dark about my name, you understand right?”

The Elytrian, [y/n] held out her hand in order for a hand shake. Techno took it and gave it a firm shake, he had been afraid the black tips of her fingers were some sort of dark magic or disease. But after shaking he could confirm that it was definitely just an Elytrian thing.

“Why did you want me to come here, [y/n]?”

She paused, “I’m… I’m not too sure myself. But you interested me, I wanted to know more about you. Like why you’re a hunter. I understand that you don’t know why you spared me, but…I feel like I want to help you.”

“How can I trust you though? For all I’m meant to know, Elytrian's are extinct, plus considered as dangerous creatures.” Techno stood up straight, making himself look bigger at the Elytrian, who herself looked quite small in comparison to him.

She never seemed to back down though, instead stepping even closer to him and encasing her hands around his. This made Techno visibly jump this time, and sending a smile onto the winged creatures lips.

“Really it should be me asking that question to you Technoblade.” She looked up into his blood red eyes as he looked down into her [e/c] ones. Why did he get a tingle when she said his name like that? “But for now, let's just call it a truce. To make sure neither of us kill each other!”

“I guess so.” Techno might have given a more thought out response, but the closeness of the young woman seemed to make his brain give up almost immediately. He was able to shake off the trance though and straighten himself once more. “What is it you want to know then?”

She skipped away back over towards the rock and plopped herself down on it, brushing off her brown baggy pants and unfolding her wings a little so they draped over the back of the rock.

“Why you joined, the hunters of course. You obviously don’t like it and you’re also obviously doing it for your family, but why pick being a hunter?”

A sigh left the Piglin hybrid's lips. Was he really going to tell her about the boys? About his choices and life? He swiped a glance at her, she seemed so invested in him, so curious about why he let her go. It was almost like looking in a mirror, heck he was just as interested in her being as she was with him. Perhaps this ‘truce’ could be beneficial for both parties. He could find out more about her and the Elytrian's and in return he told her some things about him.

Reluctantly he answered her, “My two brothers, they’re hybrids. More rare than I am, ‘middle class’ per-say. They can’t get jobs, one’s too young and the other burns in the sunlight. So it's up to me to get food, but the woods I used to go to has been sparse for food, and with the upcoming Winter I needed to get stocked up for us all.” He paused before continuing, “My friend Sam, the captain of the hunters, he always said I was a good fighter. So I figured I could use my skill to hunt hybrids, I knew the money was good, so it was pretty much settled.”

He stopped speaking and looked at her once again. The Elytrian now had her head down, thinking but also listening intently. She glanced up at him, almost as if begging him to continue. So he did.

“My brother Wilbur hated the idea of me hunting hybrids, especially considering all three of us were different breeds. I myself didn’t agree with it, but it had to be done. I never wanted to be killing others for my own benefit, but I would do anything for my brothers' safety.”

“I get it.” Techno looked up at her once again as she spoke. “I have someone I’d protect, I would do anything for him.”

“May I ask who?” The question startled the girl, yet she answered regardless.

“My uncle. Without him I’d have nothing.”

A silence swept over the opening in the forest once more.

“One thing I’m confused about.” Techno started, “Is how you’re still here? I thought Schlatt’s men had wiped out all the Eytrians in that raid 6 years ago.”

[y/n]’s face dropped, like she had been reminded of a terrible tragedy. To her it was the nightmare that really came true.

“According to Schlatt we all died. But he only accounted for the ones who were present at my village. Me and my uncle, we were the only ones that ventured out that day, but in the end…” She exhaled shakily, “In the end, we were the only ones to survive.”

Techno said nothing, frankly he didn’t know what to say. He was always terrible with emotions.

“We built up the village again, so now it's just me and him. Schlatt still knows he’s out there though, my uncle of course. That’s why they want you hunters to bring any Elytrians directly to him.”

“Why would the president want your uncle though? If you two are the only ones left surely he wouldn’t think of you as a threat?” It was strange when he thought about it, Schlatt wanting Elytrians even when they were all supposedly dead.

“He knows him, he knows my uncle. I’m not sure how, but my uncle, he’s a wicked fighter.” She started to grin, “Said to be one of the best fighters in history, able to take down armies in minutes, or so they say. If I knew any better I’d say your president is scared of him taking his precious empire away from him.”

The look on the Elytrian's face as she spoke about Schlatt seemed to be sour and unloving, especially compared to when she mentioned her uncle. Techno assumed she must be hiding her true hatred for the goat hybrid, he couldn’t blame her. The man had slaughtered her entire village, all her people, her friends and family gone…

He dreaded to think of how something like that would affect him if something happened to Tommy and Wilbur. He was certain the voices would run rampant, making him destroy anything and anyone in his path.

“I wouldn’t call him my president if I had any choice.” He replied in his monotone voice. He was sure that if Schlatt wasn’t president he and his little family wouldn’t struggle as much. Schlatt’s perfect empire did seem to consist of taking from anyone below him and making himself more king-like each day. “He hasn’t done any good for L’manburg since he ‘won’ that election however many years ago.”

“Heh, I can’t agree with you more on that one.” Her wings sunk down a little, before a heavier silence loomed over the two. It stayed that way for about a minute before [y/n] decided to attempt to lighten the mood a little.

“Hey, you said you were a good fighter right? I take it your main weapon is a sword?” [y/n] tilted her head as she spoke with a slight twinge of curiosity mixed with cheek.

The question made Techno furrow his eyebrows, the question seemed to come out of the blue. “I guess so, why do you ask?”

“Well I saw the way you handled my bow and it was kinda obvious to me you’ve never used one before.” The Piglin felt heat rise to his cheeks ever so slightly in embarrassment, “But I was wondering if you could show me a few tricks with your sword, my uncle never let me use one but it’d be good for close range attacks.”

So she wanted to learn how to use a sword, but wanted Techno to teach her? Didn’t they only just make that truce, how could she trust him to train and spar with her? She really did confuse him.

She continued before he had the chance to say anything though, “In return I’d teach you how to shoot, using a bow of course. Another little deal between us.”

He thought for a moment. Maybe he could use this opportunity to find out more about her, he hadn’t had the chance to talk to her about the voices yet. And he still wanted to know more about her, he was as curious as her in retrospect. Plus he had always wanted to know how to use a long ranged weapon, he never had the chance to even try one.

“You fascinate me.” He said to her, “I think it would be…handy to learn from each other. Plus there are many questions I have to ask you.”

[y/n]’s face lit up in excitement as she jumped up from the rock she once sat on, bouncing a little as she spoke once again.

“Yes! Finally, oh you have no idea how long I’ve wished for someone to train me to use a sword!” She had moved much closer to the Piglin making him feel the warmth in his cheeks return. “I know it’s weird, especially since we’ve just met. But like I said, I think you’re interesting, you’re different from the other hunters.”

Techno cleared his throat, “Likewise. Ummm, when do you plan to train then?”

“Every morning, here, two hours before dawn. Pretty similar to when you came this morning, however a little earlier to get more training in!”

How could she be so trusting of a person, especially one that tried to kill her? And now asking him to teach her to wield the same weapon that almost killed her, Techno couldn’t make sense of it. But at this point maybe it was better to just go with it, like he thought before it was most likely beneficial for the both of them.

“I think that sounds good, I’ll be able to make my way over here during my hunts.” At least it gave him another excuse for his procrastination of hunting a hybrid during the daily hunts. “And you said you’d teach me how to use a bow?”

“Yes, yes of course! So both of us get something out of it! You learn how to use a bow and I with a sword!” Her excitement was radiant, Techno was sure it would have affected him more if he was better with his goddamn emotions.

On the other hand he did notice the sky becoming a lot lighter, revealing the daylight now dominating the sky. He had better start to make his way back before the others noticed his absence.

“I better head back, don’t want the others to start to worry about me.” He said sarcastically, “See you tomorrow [y/n] the Elytrian.” He shifted his feet towards the direction in which he came from.

“And the same to you,” She paused and made a small bow towards her new acquaintance (as she saw it anyway), “Technoblade the hunter, or Piglin, whichever you prefer.” She stumbled over the last of her words making Techno snort slightly at her mishap.

Another tinge of pink spread around her cheeks before turning her back on him and opening her silvery wings to their entire wing span and taking off gracefully, only leaving behind a gust of wind. As Techno looked to the sky he could see her [h/c] dance as it flowed through the air following her as she began to disappear behind the thick canopy of the trees.

How in the short time he had met her was this girl, [y/n], how was she able to make such an impact on him. To convince him to meet her, an Elytrian. Now to train with her and converse with her even further? It was an irresistible offer, but why?

Techno shook off the thoughts. Better to not think about them until he met with her the following day. But something he did think about was the quiet he now had from meeting with her, as the voices had not said a single thing the entire time she had been present. It was nice to have the quiet though, the time to just breathe and think to himself for once. If he could get some answers out of her, possibly he could be rid of them forever.

He tried not to think of it too much or get his hopes up. It was dangerous to do so.

But tomorrow would be an interesting day, he was sure of it. He almost looked forward to it in a way. Heh, Technoblade looking forward to seeing someone? There was no way. He chuckled at the thought as he made his way through the forest and back to the camp.

There really was no way that could happen.

Chapter Text

Nothing much had occurred when Techno got back from the hunt, he was able to pick up a little bit of money from the shared catch of the day. Which was a poor unsuspecting bee hybrid, one Techno had never seen before, but doubted he ever would again, especially not that one.

He had gotten home safely and plopped down a single pie he had been able to buy from a stall he passed. Surprisingly he had only just been able to pay for it, turns out bee hybrids don’t cash in for that much.

The Piglin hybrid would have said morning to the younger males in the house but ended up retreating to his room before he could even try to get near the chaotic little fuckers. They were up, he could hear them bickering. But he felt too exhausted to even try conversing with them.

And by the time he had reached his own shabby little room, taken his shoes off and collapsed into the bed he had drifted away into a deep sleep.

~-~

Techno steadily walked through the forest looking at the sky every few minutes to see if he could find the redness of the sun popping into the sky. He felt bad for leaving the house immediately and not wishing the boys goodbye, but the voices were quite controlling when he woke up from his nap.

He did admit he felt guilt for leaving his brothers in the house alone all this time and especially when he didn’t even see them both when he got back and when he left for the hunt he was on now. He had worried slightly at the aggressiveness of the voices when he had woken up and thought it best to avoid interaction for a few hours.

Of course this worked out quite well with Techno anyway as he had been able to separate from the humans on the hunt again and instead make his way over to the area where he was supposedly meant to meet [y/n] for ‘training’. It was around the time he was meant to meet her so he had started on the path to the opening of the forest he had visited every night for the past few days. He had started to remember the path quite well by this point!

“Good morning Mr. Blade.” Her voice came from just behind the branches in front of him. She must have heard him with those delicate fluffy ears of hers. “Still surprised you turned up, was a bit of a last minute ordeal with this training business eh?”

He scoffed in his reply, “Well, I’m not one to agree to something then back out.” It was true, if Techno had said he would do something he mainly stuck to his word, unless it was something ridiculous (like the time Tommy had made him agree to sing in front of Wilbur, he most definitely didn’t stick to his word there!)

“I’m glad! Well, I hope you don’t mind but I’d like to get started right away! If we spend the first hour with swords then I’ll take over by showing you the basics of the bow!” [y/n] laid down two bows on the ground, one for each of them. One of the bows Techno remembered as it was the one she had left for him to keep safe the other night, and the other was a tad bit simpler, he assumed that one would be for him.

As she laid down the bows Techno undid the cloak hung around his broad shoulders and tossed it aside, now revealing two swords he had brought. Both of which were simple iron straight swords, unfortunately Techno never had the money or resources for a much more durable sword like diamond or netherite.

He ran his hand through his thick, long, pink hair brushing it off his face as he handed one of the swords to the Elytrian in front of him who hastily took it from his grip. She studied it intently while carefully waving it in front of her in such a manner that made the Piglin cringe ever so slightly.

“Look if you wanna learn how to fight with this thing you’ve at least gotta hold it correctly.” He interjected making the winged girl look up to him and almost snap out of her daze. Leaving the other sword safely in his scabbard on his hip he walked up to [y/n], “Here, like this.” He moved her hands so that one held the handle at the button and the other at the top.

She never dared to make a sound, concentrating as the hybrid in front of her altered her position and listening to his tips, “And here, your stance, you aren’t even gonna last three seconds if you’re standing like that.” His foot came into contact with hers, sliding it further from her other. “At least you won’t fall over now.”

Neither noticed as both of their faces had slowly been turning a pinker hue as the distance between them had grown shorter. Techno’s voice had become much softer than [y/n] had heard before when helping her to adjust, and [y/n] had stayed quiet in return not to disturb the atmosphere both had unintentionally created.

“What now?” The Elytrian asked, unsure of if to move or not.

“Well, I guess I can show you some simple manoeuvres and you can try to stay on your feet while I hit you a few times.” Techno now grabbed his weapon that gently laid on his hip.

Taking it out of the hilt and holding it he told [y/n] to he swung it forward in a cutting motion, he might as well start with the proper basics if she didn’t even know how to hold the sword properly. She followed his movements, swinging it back and forth repeatedly.

The sight made Techno cringe a little, she really had no idea what she was doing, he thought she might have some knowledge if she could wield a bow, but it seemed he was wrong.

“Stop, you’re going to take my eye out if you’re not careful.” She stopped her swinging as the male returned his sword to his hip, he walked over to her and stepped behind her making the girl somewhat confused about what he was doing until he spoke again. “Let me help.”

The Piglin hybrid placed his larger hands over her soft delicate ones as he guided them in the direction they were supposed to go in, compared to the way she had been doing it. His large frame towered over hers as he tried not to bump into her too much or step on her wings that brushed against the ground.

[y/n] could not see the blush on Techno’s face as he stood behind her helping her with her movements. It felt weird to hold her hands and be this close to her even though meeting a few days ago, I mean, were they even acquaintances at this point? He wasn’t sure, to shake the unusual feelings he concentrated on helping her like he said he would.

On the other hand the Elytrian’s heart rushed as she felt the tall man behind her guide her to where she should be. With his coarse hands gently gripping hers and her hair grazing his chest. She had never really met another hybrid or person other than her uncle since the raid, so she assumed it was just the thrill of making a new friend.

After a while Techno let go of [y/n]’s hands and stepped behind her watching her continue to swing, but much more accurately now. Obviously him guiding her had helped a lot.

“Much better.” He shortly spoke.

“Can you show me something else as well? I want to keep moving and learn as much as possible!” She said, halting her movements. “Maybe something more challenging?”

“Something more challenging?” He questioned, they’d only just started and she wanted something even harder? “You’ve only just learnt how to hold and swing it.”

She winked, “I’m a fast learner.”

A small grin made its way onto the Piglin’s lips, it was weird how her stubbornness and cheek reminded him of Tommy a little. The reminder of his little brother made him comply with her request though, if she wanted something more challenging then he would happily give her something way, way more challenging.

“Alright then,” He cracked his knuckles before once again taking his sword out of the hilt and into his hands. “Swing at me, see if you can hit me.”

No signs of hesitation came from the Elytrian this time as she smiled back at her newfound sparring mate. Sure she had only just learnt how to swing the weapon in front of her but she had confidence that she’d be able to hit Techno, after all he never said anything about the method to get to him.

Without another word she rushed forward and messily swung at him making him step back ever so slightly, the speed she came running up to him startled him, not that he showed it on his face. Instead he manoeuvred his body out of the way of her messy swings.

He was able to duck under a swing she had aimed towards his head before wondering why she wasn’t using the technique he had just shown her. His answer to his own question soon became apparent.

By distracting him with her chaotic swings she had been able to confuse him and make him have to think about where she would be swinging next, instead of in an orderly fashion. But in doing so his pride had made him leave his sword by his side in his hand instead of blocking her unpredictable attacks. This had given her a window to swiftly rush to his left side, which he had left open for her to strike.

Techno would’ve been able to block this easily if it was anyone else he was fighting, however by using her wings to create even more momentum the Piglin was surprised by her sudden presence on his left, causing him to only just catch her blade on his.

Now [y/n] had made the mistake of forgetting how strong the hybrid in front of her was as he effortlessly tossed aside her weapon by twisting it out of her nimble hands causing her to yelp a little. With no weapon in her hand she stood defenceless and accepted defeat while huffing.

“Do I get points for creativity?” She chuckled between breaths.

“That was impressive, I’ve never seen anyone move so fast.” Techno responded also breathing a little heavier from the sudden outburst of energy he had to use to hold her off.

“It’s my speciality I guess, I may not always have the strength to win like you but I use what I’m good at to win.” She walked over to the sword on the ground and picked it up again before coming back over to where the male stood.

“Well, wanna go again?”

~-~

Just under an hour had passed before the two decided to move onto the bows, instead of the fast paced sparring they had been doing prior Techno found that the bow was a much more delicate weapon and a lot lighter too. Much lighter than the mechanical crossbow he had used a few times.

He had just gotten the hang of how to load the arrow into the string efficiently and was now practising on how to get the right amount of power into the shot before letting go. Neither had noticed how much more comfortable they had become when closer to the other in the short time they had spent together training. With [y/n] occasionally guiding Techno’s hands on the bow like he had done to her, instead she found herself standing on her tiptoes or flying ever so slightly off the ground to alter his hands.

In the silence the winged girl started to speak, a little tired of the quiet and Techno’s clear concentration, “Tell me more about your brothers, you mentioned them yesterday.” It was more like a demand than anything else.

It took Techno a few seconds to reply as he finished aiming and let go of an arrow he had in the bow making it stick into a nearby tree he had aimed at. “My brothers?” He looked at her as she nodded. “Well I have two, both younger than me. We’re all hybrids, they’re good kids.”

After realising he needed a little more prompting [y/n] asked more, “You mentioned yesterday you were all different breeds, how come?”

At this point Techno trusted the girl just enough to tell her the basics about his relationship with the younger hybrids he took care of. “I found them both a few years ago on the streets, took ‘em in after realising they needed a home. Tommy’s an avian, he’s the younger one, a scoundrel but a sweet kid at heart. Wilbur’s a bit older than Tom, he’s a phantom, so it’s more difficult for him to go out. I think that's why he’s more reserved.” Techno thought out loud.

The girl sat quietly ushering him to continue, curious about this great brute and the evident soft side he had towards these adoptive brothers of his.

“Tommy’s a trouble-maker, always trying to prank us, and normally always failing might I add. I think he thinks he’s the toughest guy, but all he can really do is float around.” [y/n] giggled at this, “Wilbur’s a lot quieter, likes to make fun of Tommy for his childishness though. He wanted to be a musician, he loves singing and making up little songs. It’s just a shame he can’t really go out during the day.”

“You really care for them don’t you?” She curled up her knees so that they were against her chest while looking at the Piglin.

“Of course I do.” He replied, “They’re my family.”

The word made the girl twitch marginally, Techno noticed and assumed he had hit a soft spot for her. He dared not to say anything more.

“I never had any siblings…” She spoke, the sudden sound of her voice surprised Techno, he wasn’t expecting her to talk about her past, especially knowing what happened in the raid.

“I was an only child, but my parents were the sweetest, they were good fighters too. My dad was the one who first introduced me to shooting a bow. He was somehow able to convince my uncle to teach me.” She hesitated, “They always said that I was a great archer, I wish they could see me now…”

That was definitely unexpected.

Techno stayed quiet for a while before walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder, making her quickly look up at him with her [e/c] eyes. “They were right.”

“What?”

God he was awful at this kinda stuff, “They were right about you and being an archer.”

Her lips curled upwards in return and she placed one of her hands behind her head as replied, “Thank you.”

He returned the smile (something which was quite rare if you knew Techno) and backed away a little going back to his practice at shooting.

“I’m sure one day you’ll catch up to me with your shooting.” She commented from the rock smugly.

“Heh, and the same with your sword fighting.” He replied in tandem. She gasped sarcastically and placed a hand across her heart making him laugh ever so slightly at her silliness. He was sure if she ever met Tommy they would get along well.

They continued to use the bows, [y/n] sometimes stepping in to help the man but mostly sitting back and letting him figure it out on his own. ‘It was the best way to learn the bow’ she had said, not sure how true it was but Techno had gone along with it anyway.

In the short time they had spent training together both had been fully introduced to the other's weapon and could now at least do the basics. Quite impressive if I do say so myself. They had also grown more relaxed in the other’s presence, now with more understanding of each other's background they both could not see each other as a threat anymore.

Another hour or so had passed before both saw the redness of the sun turn more yellow as it started to make its way onto the sky, replacing the darkness before it. The stars that were once shining, now drowned out by the dazzling sun.

By this point both decided to part ways, agreeing to meet the next day to continue their sparring and training. With [y/n] telling the larger man to tell her more about the voices the next day too, Techno had stumbled a little in his words when she mentioned this but she was adamant on the subject so he had no choice but to agree to her conditions.

And as he walked back to the camp the Piglin swore he felt some warm and fuzzy sensation inside him when thinking about the entire situation.

Chapter Text

“Ha you’re really getting the hang of that bow now aren’t you?!” The Elytrian shouted across the opening they stood in.

A week or so had passed and the two hybrids had stuck to their promise of training with each other every morning. In fact both seemed to look forward to it (not that Techno would admit that of course).

They had gotten to the point where they were full on sparring each other with the weapon they were learning with. It was quite impressive how the both of them had gone from complete novices to skilled fighters, Techno with the bow, and [y/n] with the sword.

“What can I say,” Techno shouted back, ducking under an arrow shot by the winged girl in front of him, “I’m a natural.”

“Pfff.” The girl scoffed, “Only because I’ve been going easy on you though, I could’ve hit you on any of those shots, I was missing on purpose.” She said smugly in a way that Techno couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

Over the last week they had gotten to know each other much better, and would happily call themselves acquaintances. Techno learning of [y/n]’s sarcastic and cunning side, it made him realise how much he had missed playful banter without any negativity lurking behind the conversation.

She reminded him so much of Tommy in the way she acted, but he also saw his other brother Wilbur in her, that mysterious yet intriguing side that always made him want to ask more questions but was too afraid to.

On the other hand [y/n] had come to understand the Piglin hybrid's reasons even more, with her asking about his brothers and what they were up to during the days. She found herself wanting to meet them, finding similar traits and quirks in the brothers that she found in herself. God, they could have the best conversations if they ever met.

She also found herself entranced by the Piglin, how someone who looks so scary on the outside was actually a kind and nervous individual. She never discussed this with him of course, she could just tell. Like she said to him that one time, she was insightful.

All that time she had spent alone in the village, it was nice to finally be around someone other than her uncle. Not that she didn’t mind his company of course, but with Techno… it just felt different.

“I’ll believe you for now, if I wasn’t so nice I’d say you just aren’t that good of an aim.” Techno replied to her previous statement, making the Elytrian gasp in shock at the remark.

Instead of saying anything back she almost instantaneously loaded an arrow and shot it at the hybrid, with the arrow catching his right shoulder sleeve making him stumble back slightly so that he was now pinned against the nearby oak tree behind him.

Her smile widened at the sight, she did think it was quite funny in her ability to prove the larger hybrid wrong. Plus it was a nice boost to her ego that had started to show whilst training.

“You were saying…” She retorted, inspecting her nails with a smug look on her face.

It wasn’t the first time this had happened, not counting their first encounter as well. They definitely found a way to wind each other up while training. Unfortunately for Techno the sheer speed of the Elytrian at times was too much and most of the time ended up stuck to the tree behind him.

He pulled the arrow free and patted down his blouse that had become ruffled. “You gotta stop doing that, all my clothes are starting to get holes in them.” He chuckled slightly.

“Eh, what can I say,” She winked, “It’s my trademark.”

He was sure if it was any other person who shot holes in his clothes the voices would’ve made sure he ripped them apart. Not with [y/n] though, in fact as the week had progressed they had begged to get to their training sessions faster instead of begging for the blood they once used to desire.

On the subject of the voices [y/n] had asked him about them the other day, she wanted to understand what he meant by them disappearing. This did enquire that he told pretty much his entire history with them though, she never mocked him however. Unfortunately for the Piglin, [y/n] had no idea what they were or why they seemed to vanish around her. (Techno didn’t tell her the part about them wanting to see her)

She’d promised to help him, in return for something later. A favour per-say. She did mention that her uncle might know a thing or two but she’d have to find a way to pry some information out of him. Knowing that it would cause her some trouble to research about the voices, Techno was actually the one who suggested the favour, trusting her enough to do something for her in some way.

“Heh,” Techno laughed as he set his bow down, he was tired in some sense, the training had become more intense over the last few days, with the sessions turning into full on sparring matches between the two. “It’d be even better if you could explain your ‘trademark’ to my brothers and Sam when they ask how all the holes suddenly start to appear in my clothes.”

“Oh, whoops. Never thought about that, at least with your brothers you can say you were fighting off a hybrid I guess.” She awkwardly laughed, she was still uncomfortable with the hunters in general. “What about Sam though, if you’re a good fighter like he thinks you are, and you aren’t coming back with any hybrids…” She paused, “What does he think about it?”

“Actually I’m becoming a little worried myself.” Techno’s face hardened a little showing the clear concern on his face. “Sam knows I can take care of myself, but I feel like him and some of the other human hunters are getting suspicious of me continuously returning with nothing.”

“Why would they be so suspicious though?” [y/n] asked in return.

“I think some of them think I’m just joining in the hunts to get a cut of the money, then not actually trying to hunt something and risk getting myself hurt or something like that.”

It was true, the human hunters had been sending him some even nastier looks than usual in the last few days. He could hear them whispering about him, making threats to him and plans to gang up on him. Not that they ever did of course, in honesty Techno could take down 10 unskilled hunters like the ones in the camp. But he was more worried about what Sam thought.

The guy who was giving him extra money, letting him go by himself and trusting him in the first place. After days of not returning with any hybrids it was embarrassing for Techno to talk to Sam, feeling like he was betraying his trust he had avoided the creeper hybrid and instead heading off on his own at the start of the hunts.

Techno was sure that if he didn’t spend all his time making his way over to the opening and concentrating on training he would’ve caught some sort of hybrid by now. Heck even the humans had, so it started to look awfully suspicious.

“I see, I see,” The Elytrian said, snapping Techno out of his own thoughts. “You don’t want to really though, do you?”

“What do you mea-?”

“Capture hybrids, it's just not you Techno.” The use of his nickname made all his attention directly focus on her. “I’ve watched you this whole week, and after talking to you…” A slight pause, “After getting to know you better I know this isn’t what you want to do.”

“Of course it's not.” He blatantly agrees, “I wish there was a way I could stay being a hunter and getting the money I need, while not hunting anything.” He takes his pink braid in his hand and twirls it around.

The two place their weapons down realising the sudden change of tone in the conversation. [y/n] wraps her hands around her waist, feeling the cold start to affect her, now she wasn’t moving. The morning sun had not yet made an appearance and so the terrain felt cold and slightly damp. While shivering slightly she watched how the Piglin opposite her sat on the large rock they had grown accustomed to seeing.

Though the silence is soon broken as the male simply states, “I really hate Schlatt.”

It’s a sudden message that [y/n] feels like came out of the blue. But after getting to know the Piglin she understands that he must really dislike Schlatt if he was to verbally voice his opinion about him. After all, he was terrible with emotions.

“I thought you didn’t mind your president.” She quietly replies, hoping to get more of an answer out of Techno.

If it was any other person he most likely wouldn’t have replied, but he did. “No.” He looked down at the ground, “If it wasn’t for him I’m sure Tommy and Wilbur wouldn’t have been out on the streets in the first place. He’s made life hard for everyone, humans and hybrids.”

He remembered his sights from the streets as he continued, “I’ve seen so many people suffer from his reign, both humans and hybrids alike. He makes life hard for us all, taking anything he can and never giving back to ‘his’ people. It’s not like anyone can stop him, he’s convinced the entire kingdom that ‘his’ way is the only way.”

“And what is ‘his way’ if I might ask?”

“Taking from everyone, ensuring their safety, then never giving anything back to them.” The hardships of the years before him plagued his mind. “He’s a dictator, a ruthless one at that. He’s only in it for the power. I’m sure right now he’s enjoying some of the luxuries of life while the people of L’manburg are starving.”

It was true too. Schlatt was always known to be a horrible man, and when he got the power from the election he tore down anything that could stop him. He taxed everyone relentlessly, not caring for how many starved and died on the streets.

The Piglin hybrid was lucky enough to know how to survive, not all had the knowledge and courage to fight for themselves. It made it so much clearer why no one stood up to the awful hybrid in power. It just wasn’t possible when humans and hybrids alike had no strength.

“I understand now.” The Elytrian replies, “What I don’t get is how he can send off everyone to kill hybrids, I mean isn’t he one himself?”

The disgusting man he was. No one truly understood why a hybrid had ordered for his men to go and hunt down people who were like him. Most assumed he didn’t care, that being a hybrid meant nothing to him and he would happily slaughter ones like him.

The scowl on Techno’s face grew even more, “You’re right, he is one. I believe he just wants rid of anyone who has the strength to overtake him, and you know better than anyone that us hybrids are much stronger than regular humans.”

“You’re right there.” [y/n] adds with a happier tone attempting to lighten the mood ever so slightly. Techno could be so brooding sometimes it was contagious. “I do feel for some of the other breeds though.”

“What do you mean?” Techno lifted his head up to look at her again.

“Those ‘lower class’ hybrids you’re meant to capture, they’re harmless. And you…you need to catch one to secure your job.”

Techno dared not to look at her as he hesitantly spoke, “I hate to say it, but yes. Without this job my brothers and I, we won’t stand a chance in the winter.”

[y/n] loudly sighed. She hated this constant loop of unfair justice towards the hybrids, herself included. And her newfound friend, she felt for him too. All he wanted was to protect his family, but to do so was subjected to murdering his fellow hybrids who were like him and his brothers.

She hated how long the pause lasted, how both were so caught up in their own thoughts that it almost seemed as if both were begging each other to break the silence and speak again. But she did have courage, and she intended to use it, especially now her new friend appeared to have lost a little of his.

“So… what now?” She asked.

It was a good question, one Techno hated the answer to but knew that it was the only way to make sure that he kept control of the situation, to make sure he could keep his job, his new friend and his family.

“I think we both know the answer to that question.” He replied, turning his back to her and expecting to end the conversation.

“No I don’t, please do elaborate Technoblade.” She bluntly replied in a much harsher tone than he had heard her use before.

He scrunched up his nose at the thought of actually having to describe what he would do to the hybrids he caught. “C’mon, don’t make me spell it out loud.”

“No, no, I will make you say it.” Her sudden change in tone surprised him, taking him off guard ever so slightly. “Tell me exactly what you have to do to them Techno, I want you to say it out loud so you can hear how ridiculous it is.”

“I thought you said you understood why I was a hunter?!” He barked back at her, his shoulders rising. He really didn’t expect this outburst from her, so of course he was frustrated at the sudden change of tone.

“And I do!!” She paused before lowering her tone so it was softer again. Techno untensed as he heard her comeback, “I understand why you need to do it, but I also understand that this isn’t what you really want to do.”

“You’re right… it isn’t.” He said, accepting his defeat. It was almost strange how he could never win against her in his words. “But I’ve got a job to do.”

With his defeat he started to make his way over to his swords that laid on the ground. He was ready to go back, he was ready to hunt a hybrid now. What other choice did he have?

The Elytrian saw the conflict in her companion and felt compassion for him. She knew his reasons, he had told her all about them in the last week. But she didn’t want to leave him like this. From what he told her the voices could take over his consciousness when he was mentally unstable, she wasn’t sure if now was one of those times.

As Techno had started to wander off though she found that courage inside her again and shouted after him, “Wait!”

It was enough to make the Piglin hybrid turn around to face her, silently waiting for her to continue with whatever she wanted to say to him.

In honesty, he wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. As much as she wanted to change his mind about hunting he knew himself that there was no other choice. If he kept returning to the camp empty handed he would for sure lose this job. As he slowly turned around he readied himself for whatever tactic or persuasion she might use on him, whether it be some weird Elytrian magic or not, he wanted to stand his ground and…

“What if there was a way both of us could get what we wanted!” She shouted interrupting his thoughts.

He sighed, “I don’t think that's possibl…”

“But it can be!” She interrupted once again.

What on earth was she on about, the Piglin wondered, “What do you mean.” He asked, now fully facing her. He almost felt his eyebrows twitch from the repeated interruptions.

The Elytrian grasped her hands and started to rub them in a way that made her seem like she was… nervous? She licked her lips and her gaze was all over the place. She almost seemed as if she was getting ready to announce something.

“I mean…” She looked back to Techno, her voice a tone lower than it normally was, “If there was a way that made it look like you were hunting hybrids, but you weren’t.”

Techno relaxed a bit. A way to make it look like he was hunting? How in Notch’s name would they do that?

“I get what you mean, but there’s no way. How would that even work?” His fingers pressed against his temple, rubbing it ever so slightly. His fingernails poking at his skin prevented him from rubbing any harder, they were quite sharp, maybe he should trim them more?

“There is a way!” Her posture had become more upright, more confident. Techno. Removed his fingers from his temple and gazed up into the Elytrians eyes. “I have an idea, I’ve been thinking of it for a while now, and with you I think it’s possible…”

The pinkette exhaled heavily, he was still confused about what his new companion was on about but he was willing to listen. “Alright, I believe you could fake hunting hybrids…”

“Fake it? But how would I-“

“Just listen!” Her sudden rise in volume shut him up, “I’ll tell you, but please, I need to make sure of one thing.” She stepped closer to him automatically making his blush reappear faintly.

“Of course.” He answered shortly.

“That you really do hate Schlatt, you disagree with his morals, and don’t believe he should be in power. Please, I need to be sure.” Her voice was quiet now, close enough to Techno where he could feel her breath tickle his face. Her eyes seemed to be as big as ever and her eyebrows faced down making her frown.

Techno was sure of his answer, it seemed quite obvious really. But he still struggled to say it. Maybe it was the fact that those [e/c] eyes glared into his, almost making it seem as if she was looking into his soul, judging him every second that he didn’t answer her question.

He would’ve expected the voices to contradict his thoughts, but with nothing in his head to say anything back to him he gave her an answer he knew was his own, not swayed by anyone or anything else.

“Yes, I do.”

“Good,” [y/n] smiled back at him before swiftly turning around, flicking her wings and tail feathers close to the Piglin hybrid. “Now follow me if you wanna save some hybrids from getting hunted.”

Chapter Text

“[y/n], slow down!” The Piglin shouted as he tripped over a tree root that stuck out the ground, “Gah! Where are we even going?!”

The Elytrian didn’t slow her pace, only giggling at the misfortune of her companion behind her. In fact Techno was pretty sure she sped up, using her wings to push her forward and continue to wander further into the forest leaving him trailing behind.

Techno normally would’ve been worried about not getting back to the camp on time, but the sun hadn’t even started to show any of its colour in the sky. He was glad that he didn’t have to worry about explaining himself to Sam when he came back later than he usually did.

On the other hand he did worry about losing [y/n] in the thick forest. Speed wasn’t one of his strong suits and it just so happened to be hers, typical. He would never admit it but he admired how focused she became when she was set on something, even in this situation now! She obviously was excited and wanted to show him something, it was almost as if she planned it out somehow?

He called out to her again after losing sight of her behind one specific tree in the distance, “[y/n]! Wait!”

This time at least she responded, “C’mon, you’re so slow sometimes Techno!” Though he couldn’t see her at least he was able to track her from the direction her voice came from. He ran to the tree he knew her voice came from.

The leaves crunched below his boots, many more were falling now, looking like pieces of fire with their red and orange hues. The cold had also started to set in a little bit more, he could see his own breath as he exhaled. The Piglin hoped the boys were warm enough in the cottage back in the empire; he had made sure that they had wood to burn and plenty of blankets to wrap around their frail bodies.

His mind felt so sidetracked, so genuine since the voices left. He almost liked how he could hear himself and his real thoughts. How when he thought about the boys he could worry without some sort of anger being directed at an unrelated target.

The Blade still made sure he kept track of the Elytrain’s whereabouts though, looking for footprints she had left and the flap of her wings as she ventured deeper and deeper into the forest. What could be so far out here that she’d want to show him?

Suddenly he could no longer hear her, his pointed ears twitching at the lack of noise from in front of him. He continued to run forward and saw her stationary at a large wall covered in thick vines. He stopped too, and placed his hands on his thighs, attempting to regain the energy and breath he had just lost from running for thirty minutes.

He huffed as he started to speak, “Where are we?” No response, “Surely you didn’t take me all this way to talk to me in a random location next to this wall?”

The Elytrian smiled softly, never saying a word as she stepped closer to the ivy covered wall. She wanted to laugh at how tired her companion looked, she didn’t think she was going that fast in honesty, she knew that Techno would disagree with that though.

The Piglin hybrid watched as she elegantly reached out to the vines covering the rock wall and stared in awe when her hand slipped behind the greenery and pulled the vines aside to reveal an entrance. His mouth opened slightly to expose his two bottom fangs.

In silence she beckoned him, slipping through the entrance that had just been brought to light. She disappeared once more as the long vines moved to their original position hiding the entrance and the fact that someone had just gone through them.

Gulping slightly he followed suit, brushing aside the long rope like vines and finding himself in a short tunnel. In the distance he could see the shadow of the winged girl and the light emphasised her body. He walked forward and towards the light at the other end of the tunnel.

Eventually he reached the end where the Elytrian stood waiting for him. And once the light that shone in his eyes had been shielded by his hands they widened.

In front of him was a cove hidden to the normal eye, concealed in many dark oak trees, the leaves thick enough to hide an entire village. And that’s what it was, an entire village. Many houses high in the sky, off the ground with large staircases leading to their doors. He was sure that Tommy would call them ‘treehouses’, and he wouldn’t be wrong.

He turned to the girl beside him who wore the largest smile he had seen so far, the sight made him blush unexpectedly. “This is…” He was lost for words, “amazing! What is this place?”

“My village.” She replied, “I’m surprised you didn’t realise at first!”

“But why is it so quiet?” The Piglin spoke without thinking causing the Elytrian to turn around and give him a strange look, it made Techno realise what he had just said, “O-oh, I’m sorry, I forgot.” That was a bad response.

She seemed to overlook it though, not paying attention to it, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

He hummed in agreement, not wanting to say something stupid again.

Once a few seconds had passed he readied himself to ask another question again, but he ceased in his actions. He felt something, a presence, an odd one at that. His guard immediately raised again as his hand drew closer to the blade resting in his sheath, his fingers twitching, ready to grab it.

He noticed [y/n] had sensed something as well, her stance widening and wings slowly spreading. She looked over to him as if to silently communicate something to him, though he wasn’t sure what.

He could no longer hear the birds chirping and the wind had settled. It almost felt as if the world had stopped spinning, he focused on his surroundings, his blood red eyes manically moving around to find the presence.

“Oh no…” He turned to look at the girl who had changed from her previous position to stand up properly and look up in one direction.

“Oh no??” Techno replied, confused, “What do you mean ‘oh no’?”

Instead of answering his question she said something that surprised him a bit, “How could I forget, I haven’t told him about you yet, he’s not gonna trust you.”

‘Him’? Who was ‘Him’?

“[y/n] what are you-” Techno couldn't finish his sentence as a large figure came crashing down on him making both him and the winged girl jump out of the way to avoid whatever the hell had just come down onto them.

The Piglin hybrid quickly noticed the figure of a man rising from the area they had just jumped from, though he couldn’t take in any more information about the stranger before they swiftly charged at him.

Techno barely had time to take his attacker in, only noticing the long blade in their hands. It prompted him to counter with his own sword and defend himself against the stranger. He made sure to readjust his stance as to become more stable and make sure he didn’t get knocked over.

His attacker was quick, quicker than he was expecting, in fact the swiftness of them reminded him of [y/n]. It was times like these he felt as if he needed the voices back to help him get a grip, especially now.

As the swords danced around Techno’s eyes followed, making sure to counter any strike heading his way. A few beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he continuously struggled to keep up with his foe in front of him. He swore it had only been a few seconds since he had started fighting!

As Techno’s eyes followed both blades in front of him his ears were able to pick up the sound of [y/n] shouting, “-stop please!” He only seemed to catch the last part of what she was saying, and he couldn’t tell if her pleas were directed to himself or the person in front of him. He couldn’t spare a moment to glance at her, whoever was attacking him didn’t give him a chance.

Either way none of them stopped. Techno was pretty sure if he tried to he would've ended up with a sword stuck in his chest!

Abruptly the figure had changed positions and had somehow jumped over the top of him and landed right behind where he stood. How in the…? There was no time to question as the foe striked again.

Spinning around gave Techno the chance to take in some of the features of the man he was fighting. He noticed shoulder length blonde hair that had a green and white striped hat that sat on top. He was able to take in the large shadow that loomed behind the man, it was so familiar but seemed so strange and oddly shaped.

He didn’t get the chance to take in anything else as the silver blade incessantly danced in front of his face. He couldn’t help but notice how well they fought, almost too well. In fact the Piglin hybrid was actually having a hard time keeping up with the enemy, while they seemed to be just fine! With Techno’s bulky body slowing his movements.

[y/n]’s shouting could still be heard by him, yet it did nothing to cease the battle. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he needed to make sure that whoever he was up against didn’t go for her next.

Though that thought was soon cut short when the male in front of him swiped his legs under Techno who had briefly become distracted with the thought of the female. His back hit the ground hard, dazing him ever so.

The figure stood over him, looking like a living shadow with the light from behind him. They raised their sword and pointed it towards Techno’s neck, who had been disarmed when falling to the hard ground. The cold blade rested gently against his neck, a threat to keep him down. In honesty the Piglin was more shocked that he had lost the battle, that’s never happened before! His ego slightly harmed.

“And stay down.” The figure spoke, not moving a muscle from his position.

From the corner of his eye he could see [y/n] running towards both the males, “Phil! Please I can explain-” She started to say, although she was briefly cut off.

“Stay back! It’s a hunter [y/n], I can’t believe you lead one here.” Techno’s face scrunched up a little at that.

“No Phil, you gotta listen to me! He’s here to help!” She moved over to the opposite side of the man, at the head of Techno. Her wings began to spread exaggerating her movements.

What Techno did not expect to happen was for this ‘Phil’ guy to fully spread a large set of charcoal black wings too. It was the strange shadow he had noticed in the quick battle. So he was an Elytrian too…

How in the hell did he not see them before!?

“C’mon [y/n], this is serious! They’re all filthy murderers!” His voice was a more serious and raised tone now, attempting to get through to the younger Elytrian. His comment made Techno’s eye twitch and his face slightly grimace.

“He spared me Phil, why do you think he hasn’t killed me yet?!” The rhetorical question made the older Elytrian pause, giving [y/n] another chance to speak, “He won’t kill hybrids… he wants to help…”

Phil didn’t respond to her, instead he turned to face the ‘hunter’ that laid underneath him. His sword stayed in place while he directed a question towards the Piglin hybrid, “Why won’t you kill hybrids?” Oh god, not this question again.

Techno hesitated for a moment, the man stood over him, who had defeated him, who had humbled his ego, he felt a strange sensation of intimidation. His mouth opened and closed again, before finally speaking.

“I just won’t… I can’t do it.” The words spilled out of the hybrid's mouth before he shut it once more. Daring not to say something wrong to the man, to the Elytrian who threatened his life.

“They’re two very different things, young man.” There was a brief pause before Phil removed the sword from Techno’s neck and stepped aside from where he lay, no one dared to say a word so he continued, “[y/n] isn’t too trusting usually, so I assume you’ve gotten to know her. I’ll hear you out.” He added a small smirk at the end, which Techno couldn’t tell if it was directed towards him or [y/n].

Finally the Piglin was able to stand, as he got up onto his own two feet he brushed the dust from his trousers. He noticed Phil continuing to look at him, obviously still cautious of him.

“Phil, this is Techno, he’s a hybrid, like us!” [y/n] introduced, gesturing to the young male who now stood beside her, “I think he can help with…” She paused, “You know what…”

An eyebrow on the older Eyltrian was raised, noticeably disagreeing with her, though he never said a word. His arms crossed and his face turned into a more stern expression again.

“I feel like I’m missing out on a whole lot here.” Techno spoke up at last, he was so confused about so many things. “Would you mind filling me in here a bit please.” He turned to [y/n].

“Oh, of course.” She moved over to Phil’s side, “This is my uncle Techno.” An arm was put around her shoulders from the Elytrian standing next to her, he gave what seemed to be a proud smile. “I’m sorry I’ve kept you in the dark about this Techno, but I needed to make sure we were in a safe place when we discussed it.”

Phil cut in, “If [y/n] thinks you can truly help, then it's necessary you know about our plan.”

“Plan about what, exactly?” Techno questioned.

All eyes turned to [y/n], she slowly walked towards the Piglin hybrid reaching out and grabbing his calloused hands. “Techno… you know about what Schlatt did to our village, this village.” She turned to face the isolated houses behind her letting go of one of his hands, “Me and Phil, we want to find a way to overthrow him. But we also want to save the hybrids he ordered the hunters to catch, they’re innocent beings.”

Phil continued, “However, we can’t get close to the hunters camp, we need an inside voice to help us. If we did, not only could we rescue and save those hybrids but we could form a resistance of some sorts. All hybrids together overthrowing Schlatt.”

[y/n] walked back over to Techno, her hand resting on his shoulder making a little splash of red enter his face. “Can you see now? You said it yourself, you hate Schlatt. Plus by doing this you could pretend to capture hybrids! If you caught them then release them as a part of helping us!” Her face brightened at this, her excitement gleaming.

Techno took a second to breathe, to take it all in. Could he really do this? Join some sort of rebellion to help an Elytrian he's known for what, a week? But he’d be helping others too, others like Tommy and Will. Plus when [y/n] looked at him like she did now, her face glowing with hope, how could he say no? But there was one thing that confused him.

“Wait, wouldn’t the other hunters recognise me if I released them? they would become even more suspicious of me.”

The Elytrian rested her head on her hand as she thought, trying to come up with an idea, “Ooo! You could be like a double agent! Capture the hybrids as Techno the hunter then rescue them as someone else!”

He liked the idea to be honest, it reminded him of something Tommy would most likely come up with, though more logical! “And I assume I’d be rescuing them by myself?” He asked.

“Of course not! I’d be coming with you, can’t have a rebellion with only one person doing the hard work!” This prompted Phil to speak up again.

“Hold on [y/n],” His more serious voice had returned, making the girl shrink ever so slightly, “We talked about this, you can’t go out and fight!”

[y/n]’s expression hardened as she retorted against him, “Phil, you know I have to do this. You know I can fight, I’m perfectly capable!” She glanced towards Techno before returning her gaze to her uncle and speaking in more of a hushed tone, “You know you can’t have Schlatt recognise you.”

The sentence caused the Piglin hybrid’s brows to furrow once more. He knew from what [y/n] had told him that they knew each other, but why couldn’t he risk being recognised? He didn’t get the chance to ask before the larger Elytrian replied to his niece.

“You’re right, of course you are.” He chuckled, “As long as you’re safe, with the way this young man here fought, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll let you know I’ve beaten him a couple of times myself,” She bragged, making Techno roll his eyes, of course she wasn’t gonna tell him all of the details of their sparring sessions, especially the fact that she fought unfairly most of the time. “Hey, I nearly forgot! We need to make sure you have a name and a disguise for if the other hunters see you!

This caught him off guard slightly, he himself had forgotten about that. He got too caught up in watching [y/n] to do anything else. Either way he thought about the possibilities of an alias. Nothing really came into his head that sounded right, it couldn’t have connotations that would make it obvious it was him of course.

Then he thought about what Will had called him that one time when he had gotten consumed by the voices. It had made him laugh at how accurate it was, but sounded like a character that Tommy would make up with his figures.

“I’ve actually got an idea, The Blood God.” He hesitated, and out of embarrassment from the silence rambled on an explanation, “My brother suggested it once, and I thought it was pretty cool. I mean it doesn’t give anything away about myself, plus-”

“It’s perfect.” Her voice cut through his rambling, she smiled gently, “I think I have the perfect disguise for you as well, Mr Blood God.” Oh god, was she gonna make him regret his choice of name now?

She swiftly retrieved some items from one of the cabins up in the sky bringing them down for Techno to look upon, “They’re from one of my old friends' dress up boxes, I’m sure they’d let you use them.” He saw her hold up a cape, it was shaded in a red that almost seemed regal, it had a fur lining to it and a golden chain that would keep it secure around his chest. In her other hand was what at first sight looked like a ram skull of some sort, upon closer inspection Techno could confirm it was only a mask of a skull, perfect for keeping his face hidden.

He gently took them from her hands, and gave her a smile that mirrored hers. It felt so odd how quickly everything had happened, yet he had no regrets. He was ready for this.

“So, what do you say Techno?” She asked him, a sparkle in her eye and a red hue barely viable on her cheeks.

“I’m in.” He replied with a smirk visible. His reply caused the Elytrian to widen her already huge smile, her blush now travelling further and her hands fidgeting by her side.

Phil could obviously sense the slight tension between the young adults and cleared his throat to grab their attention, “I think it’s best if we start thinking about a plan. I say we make our mark tomorrow.”

The two younger hybrids nodded in confirmation, fully turning to the dark winged Elytrian to hear him out.

“Techno, I’m trusting you to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible.” The Piglin acknowledged his words with another nod, “Tomorrow, you need to capture a hybrid and bring it back to your camp with you, try not to hurt them and make sure that they are still mobile. This should clear some of the suspicion about yourself in the camp among the humans. Later in the night, you in your disguise and [y/n] will rescue them, make yourselves known to the humans but make sure you can get away safely.”

“What about you Phil?” [y/n] questioned.

“After you rescue the hybrid, [y/n] you direct them to the village here, I’ll make sure that they get here safely. We’ll use this as our base to keep the rescued hybrids safe.” The Elytrian then changed his tone to a gentler one as he turned to face Techno, “I’m sure if you want to be up for this tomorrow you’ll need some rest, seems like the sun is calling you back to camp.”

He was right too, now that it had been mentioned Techno noticed the yellow hue of the sun peeking its way into the village. It was around the time he needed to start heading back.

“You better get going then.” [y/n] spoke, “You sure you’ll be able to find your way back to camp?”

“Oh, I’m sure alright,” He chuckled, “I’m the human compass, I’ll be fine.” He joked, making the Elytrian giggle slightly. It made the corners of his mouth turn upwards once more and his cheeks to glow pink slightly too.

As he made his way to the exit of the village he looked back at the two Elytrians, their wings spread and giving him a small wave. His feet thumped against the ground as he left the cove and he could feel the voices almost immediately return. An unpleasant feeling, but strange how they reappeared now, just as he left.

He walked back to camp, the voices surrounding him attempting to infect his thoughts. Yet however hard they tried they could not stop his excitement for the next day.

He deeply sighed and under his breath whispered, “Here comes the Blood God.”

Chapter Text

Techno hardly recalled a time when he was nervous. Today was definitely a first for him.

The excitement he had the previous day had seemed to vanish, instead being replaced with nerves.

He had woken up on the floor instead of his bed, making it clear he had fallen off the mattress some time during his sleep. It had made him groan and mutter to himself, cursing the voices, whether it be their fault or not.

After the not so comfy wake up he had dragged himself downstairs holding his lower back as it ached slightly from the awkward position he had been in upstairs. The day was greeted with Tommy throwing random questions at his oldest brother as soon as he had entered the kitchen for something to eat.

While searching the cupboards for a quick snack he was able to make out certain words Tommy was saying, not all of them though. He was waffling on about a new imaginary world he’d made the night before and was wanting to make sure that his older brother knew everything about it, whether it be important or not.

He caught the name of the imaginary place though, it made him roll his eyes at how ‘Tommy’ it was. “Pogtopia”, that's what he called it. God it was so stupid.

The Piglin hybrid’s eye had twitched slightly as he ignored the Avain brother pestering him. Thankfully Wilbur had seen the annoyance Tommy was causing and was able to drag him away from Techno before he did something he regretted.

The eventful morning had soon ended and Techno was on his way to the hunt, making sure to put on his old cloak. He wished he could tell the boys what he was doing, how he was feeling about all this. But he knew it was too dangerous.

He also knew they’d hate him from keeping stuff from them, especially important stuff. But it would keep them safe. He could handle them being annoyed at him as long as they were ok.

His mind wandered through the walk to the camp. The voices pestered him like Tommy had done earlier. They asked questions like: ‘What if he didn’t find a hybrid?’, ‘Would the camp recognise his disguise?’, ‘What if he couldn’t find the disguise in the forest?’, ‘What if [y/n]...’

They trailed off after he thought of [y/n]. There were so many confusing things about her, but he had her trust, and she had his. It was weird, weird how he seemed to care about her that much, it was confusing.

He shook his head, attempting to get rid of the infectious thoughts of her. As long as she was there when she needed to be then everything would be fine.

[y/n] had planned to be hiding in the forest close to the camp after the hunt had finished, she would bring the Blood God disguise for Techno. It had made both him and Phil nervous that she planned to be that close to the camp after the hunt. However she had retorted with the fact that she would be fighting the hunters anyway so their worry was unnecessary.

She was strong, he wouldn’t deny her that. But he also knew how ruthless the hunters in his camp were. How hungry for murder the humans were. Yes she could fend off him, but could she do the same with an entire mob of humans?

The Piglin’s eyebrows furrowed and he rubbed his eyes as he longed for the voices to stop talking, to stop thinking about her. Thankfully he had just about arrived at the entrance to the hunters camp, he could tell from how many human eyes laid upon his figure drawing closer to the camp.

He let out a large huff and whispered to himself, “Here we go”.

~-~

It had already been a few hours into the hunt. It had started off just as normal, and according to plan.

Sam had let Techno go off on his own agreeing to share his own wage if he caught anything. The Pinkette had nodded in response, feeling slight guilt in the fact that he would betray his old friend later in the night, but making sure not to show it on his face.

Considering Techno had not actually tried to find any hybrids other than the first night he went out hunting he started to get frustrated as the third hour had passed and he still hadn’t even found any signs of hybrids passing through the forest.

This plan wouldn’t work without a hybrid in the camp, there needed to be something held captive in the camp by the end of the hunt. His worries increased when he remembered that some nights even the human hunters wouldn’t find anything to capture.

The voices started to get louder, they started screaming his insecurities at him. He felt like he was going to go insane with how they overlapped each other. Pestering him, annoying him.

He felt his head twitch at their constant poking. Stopping in his tracks and taking a moment to concentrate and attempt to make them go away.

They brought up everything that could go wrong, and it angered him. He felt trapped inside the voices, like they were a thick coating of something, keeping him restrained while riling him up to anger him even more. It felt as if they pushed and pulled at his mind, with their only intention being to infect his mind further.

Oh god, he couldn’t control them.

The last time this had happened Will was there, he was able to snap him out of the trance he was in. He was able to assure him everything was ok. But now it wasn’t.

It wasn’t ok. And there was no Wilbur, or Tommy or anyone to tell him that. He needed to hear confirmation of something.

He could feel the grip of the voices grow stronger on him, them whispering cunningly ‘you’re worthless’ ‘A failure’, ‘Pathetic’. And with the stress of everything else…he believed them.

His hands made their way up to his head, gripping his own pink locks and tugging on them as if that would make the voices shut the hell up. He felt his knees tremble ever so slightly, instead crouching down to make his body more compact and look more round, hoping it would steady himself.

How could he make sure that the boys were protected? If he didn’t find a hybrid he could lose his job, he wouldn’t be able to provide for his boys. The whole plan he had made for tonight, it would go wrong. He would let [y/n] and Phil down.

His head pounded in pain as the thoughts rushed through his mind.

How could he do this?

‘Could you have ever even done it in the first place?’ One of the voices questioned.

Techno shifted his eyes to the ground. Who was he kidding, the voices were right. He can’t do this, he would never be able to-

“Techno!”

The feminine voice from the bushes broke the trance he was in, making him snap his head up in an instant. It was [y/n]...

She made her way out from the bushes she was behind and came rushing to his aid immediately. “I- I was just on my way to the hiding spot near the camp.”

The Piglin hybrid said nothing, instead looking at the items in his winged friend’s hands. It was nothing other than his disguise and her bow. The Elytrain watched as his gaze had shifted, she watched as his eyes started to focus more. Her expression softened as she realised what had happened, seeing the glossy eyes of the man in front of her. “It was the voices, wasn’t it?”

The Pinkette’s eyes met hers as he quietly responded, “Yes.”

[y/n] swallowed slightly, she may not have known everything about the voices Techno had described to her one day, but she did understand they had an effect on him. What that effect was, was unclear until now.

She had never seen the male so insecure, so ‘out of it’. It worried her, and she didn’t know how to make it any better. Though there was always one thing that Phil did for her when she was upset, it always made her feel better.

Techno jerked slightly as he felt warm arms around his body. He took in how they slithered around his torso and linked around his back. His heartbeat started to slow, to relax as he felt [y/n]’s embrace around him.

His mind quietened, like it had done when Wilbur comforted him. But it felt… even better. Wilbur had just said words to him, it had taken him at least an hour to fully calm his older brother down. But [y/n]’s one single embrace had taken away the voices immediately.

He moved his head to look down at her, her forehead resting against his chest in a way that made him unable to see her expression. But he felt her warm breaths on his top, he could feel the rise and fall of her breath. And it felt like that was all he could hear.

From the corner of his eye he saw her wings flitter a little as she finally moved away from him. He waited a little before thanking her.

“Thank you…”

There was a little more silence.

“I can get pretty caught up in what the voices say…”

“Yeah, I think I see that now, heh.” She replied with a little laugh at the end attempting to brighten the mood. “What got you so-” She paused trying to find the right word, “caught up.”

He let out a sigh, “I’m just…worried, about tonight.” He replied feeling as if that was a substantial answer.

“You’re worried?” She raised a brow, “Why would you be worried? We’re the best team ever!”

Her uplifting response was not what Techno expected, it made his eyes widen a little.

“But I haven’t even found a hybrid yet.” His shoulders sank a little in embarrassment. Where was all his confidence now?

“Pffff, don’t even worry about that, I saw an Enderian teleporting around the area literally a few minutes ago. Techno tonight’s gonna be awesome, I can’t understand how you’re so worried about it!” Her feathers puffed up a little as she spoke, it made her smile look even bigger somehow.

“You- you did?!” He said, feeling better.

“Yes, just a few tree’s that way.” She pointed in the direction she had come from, “Look Techno…” The use of his name alerted his attention once again so he could focus on her, “I don’t understand everything you’ve got on the line for this, but I promise you, we can do this. Don’t lose sight of what you want, this is just the beginning, and I believe in you.”

His lips formed a smile and he gave a quick nod, she did the same.

“I’ll see you later, you know where I’ll be.” She gave a wink as she spoke and backed up to open her wings. Techno never noticed the warm hue on his cheeks as he watched her fly in the direction of the camp to the hiding spot they had discussed yesterday.

But he felt a new kind of confidence in him. She had confidence in him, she said she knew he could do it, could do this.

With his pride swiftly returning to him and excitement for the plan at hand he too started to move off in the direction he first saw [y/n] coming from. He strode past the trees and bushes feeling taller than he did before.

His hand gripped the sword on his belt, once again aware of his surroundings, able to concentrate without the voices. Of course they had disappeared once more when [y/n] had held him in that embrace.

In his concentrated state he heard the rustle of leaves from in front of him. His breath quietened as he continued forward though more stealthily now.

He pushed a few leaves of a bush aside to see what appeared to be another hybrid, like [y/n] had said an Enderian. He had never seen one before. The hybrid was a male, he looked young, around Tommy’s age actually, but you wouldn’t have thought so from the height of the creature. He must have been at least 8 or 9 feet tall, but he also was extremely skinny, like in a worrying way.

The young male had dark skin and a few purple particles around him. He had on a smart purple suit that looked almost royal in a way, though the outfit was covered in marks and tears throughout. As Techno’s eyes travelled down he saw a long tail protruding from the back of the suit with a tiny little turf of black and white hair on the end.

The Enderian held his hands close to his chest, muttering slightly, he seemed worried. He turned his head so Techno could see his face. The boy had one red eye and one green one with what seemed to be burn marks under them, in the place where tears would fall if he was to cry. Atop his head were two long horns covered in jet black hair that was tied with a little ponytail at the back. The hair didn’t cover his elvish ears though, they were long and pointed like his horns and had little pieces of jewellery hanging from them.

Techno slightly stepped forward to get a closer look, and even though he had hardly made a sound the Enderian whipped his head around to the general area Techno hid in. He seemed to be trembling.

“I- I know someone’s t-t-there.” He stated to the array of trees in front of him. Techno didn’t move.

“Please don’t hurt me.” He seemed to sink into his own form at this, making his height dwindle. Oh man, this just reminded Techno why he didn’t wanna capture hybrids. I mean the Enderian was just a kid.

As the Enderian boy continued to tremble, Techno took it as an opportunity to instead of immediately pouncing on the kid to maybe try and reason with him to come back to the camp? Possibly explain to the boy that he was on his side and if he pretended to be captured he would be able to return to the [y/n] and Phil’s village. It was a long shot, but he needed to make sure there was a hybrid at the camp.

As he started to come out of the bushes the Enderian took a step back, watching the larger figure of a hunter, a hybrid hunter at that, appear in front of him.

“Look kid, I don’t wanna hurt ya.” Communication still wasn’t his strongest suit. “If ya just come with me I promise-” He was cut off as a rock trap was flung from the shadows and wrapped itself around the Enderians legs. The sudden attack shook Techno and he was about to yell out to the hybrid before he was cut off by the boy’s cries.

“Gah! No! Please!” Another trap suddenly came launching out from the same direction, this time encasing his hands together and wrapping around his torso, the force of the trap knocking him over and sending him flying to the ground.

“Nice job distracting him T!” A voice shouted out from the direction of the traps.

Techno could only watch as his fellow Creeper hybrid companion appeared from the shadows, a loaded crossbow in his hands. He strode over to his pink haired friend and looked at his catch of the day writhing on the floor in pain.

The Piglin hybrid wished to pull a face of absolute disgust. This wasn’t how he wanted this to go… But he had to make sure Sam didn’t suspect him of anything so he kept his face clear of emotion.

Play along Techno, he thought to himself. “Oh- oh yeah, I saw you from the shadows, and um thought I might keep him in the open?” He ended his statement unsure of if what he said convinced Sam.

Much to his relief it did, “Yeah, that was great. Shame you couldn’t have caught him though!” He jokingly nudged Techno, with Techno giving a half hearted laugh as a response.

His gaze shifted to the young Enderian on the floor who seemed to have steam coming from his eyes, were his tears burning him?

Sam seemed to notice Techno’s discomfort, “C’mon, lets get him back to the camp. He’s classed as a big catch. The others will respect you now hmm.”

Though Sam’s attempt was futile and made Techno feel even worse when he started to classify the boy as if he was a rare collectable. But through his anger and discomfort he acted along.

“Yup, let's go back”

“Atta boy!” Sam patted his friend’s shoulder before moving over to the hybrid on the floor and hoisting him up over his shoulder like he was the catch of the day.

The Piglin hybrid waited until Sam had gone past him taking the lead before scowling to himself and promising to the Enderian boy on the Creeper’s shoulder that he will make sure that he is rescued and will have a home by the sunrise.

He would make sure of it.

Chapter Text

“GAH!!”

The Enderian’s cries shrieked through the hunters camp.

It was painful for Techno to watch, it made him feel guilty the boy was in so much pain.

Techno and Sam had been the last back to the camp oddly enough, but to celebrate the huge catch the humans had thought it to be a fun idea to tie the poor hybrid freshly caught to a pole and splash water onto him.

This wouldn’t have been so bad for most, it was worse when you realised that Enderians cannot touch water. The stuff burns them. That had been clear from the burn marks under the boy’s eyes where tears had fallen.

Sam had turned a shoulder to the torture happening in the middle of his camp, it made Techno disgusted. He had said to ‘Let the others have their fun.’, this is what they call fun!?

“URGHHH!! PLEASE!!”

The Piglin hybrid’s eye twitched as he stood off to the side, he saw as one specific human brought over a new bucket of water to replenish the one that had been used up in the last hour (all of it had been sprayed onto the Enderian in some way or other).

It wasn’t long until now [y/n] would show herself, not long until he could run into the forest and put on his disguise.

He almost begged for his friend to show herself, he couldn’t bear the sight in front of him for much longer. It was torture in itself to watch it.

Concentrated on watching the disgusting show in front of him he didn’t hear Sam come up from behind him and lay a hand on his shoulder. The sudden contact made Techno turn his head to see the hunter’s captain to his side.

“You’ll have to get used to this kinda stuff, it’s hard to watch but even I can’t stop it.” Sam sighed heavily, his gaze was fixated on the show in front of him. “It was a big catch, they like to celebrate it.”

“With literal torture?” Techno raised a brow to the Creeper, he shoved Sam’s hand off his shoulder and turned to look him in the eyes with a scowl on his face.

Sam sighed again, “As much as I hate to say it, yes. It’s not like this for every catch though.”

“Oh I’m sure it's not, only for rare hybrids right?” Sam stayed silent, “Tell me Sam, what would class a Phantom hybrid as, or an Avain for that matter?” Techno hated what he said, he hated to even think about what the hunters would do to his family if they were ever caught.

Sam’s eyes widened at Techno’s response, “I understand where you’re coming from Techno, but you’ll just have to get used to it.” He paused, “Go home, we’ll send the Enderian off on our own.”

Techno didn’t hesitate to move away from Sam or the freak show in front of him. How could Sam just be okay with letting the humans torture hybrids as if they were some wild beast running rampant?

Though he was thankful that Sam had let him go early, it gave him an alibi for the rescue tonight.

As soon as he was out of the camp’s sight he turned back on himself towards the forest. He knew where [y/n] was in the forest, they had discussed their hiding place with Phil altogether. This way he’d be able to tell [y/n] what was going on in the camp and to make sure that no more water was anywhere near the poor hybrid boy.

He made sure to go the long way around to the hiding spot, just to make sure no one saw him, not that they would’ve anyway, now he had his full concentration back he’d be able to hear if someone was close by.

“Techno?” He heard a feminine whisper to his left, it was [y/n], “What are you doing out the camp so early?” She questioned.

“Eh, Sam let me go early. I couldn’t stand it in the camp, honestly.”

She gave out a small chuckle before responding, “Because of the human stench I presume?” She attempted to make a joke, but it fell flat as Techno responded.

“They were spraying water all over him.”

[y/n]’s face immediately dropped, “What?...”

“The humans, they have the Enderian hybrid tied to a pole so he can’t move and have a bucket of water handy to douse him in. It’s like some kind of freak show up there.”

His eyes moved to meet [y/n]’s, they were full of sorrow, but what also seemed to be anger? He wasn’t sure, it was an expression he had never seen before. It felt as if he could only describe it as pure rage.

“Put it on.” She stated to him holding out her arm with the disguise for Techno. He could tell from her expression that the plan started right now, she wasn’t going to be wasting any time.

With a silent nod he did as she asked, hiding his previous cloak in a nearby bush and replacing it with the royal cloak. He made sure the deer skull was properly covering his face so that he couldn’t be recognised. He looked regal.

“Wait, I brought one more thing.” [y/n] cut in just as Techno had finished adjusting the mask over his head, she held up a golden crown. “To really finish it off.” She gave a wink and Techno was just glad he had something covering his face as it turned red again.

He kneeled in front of her as she carefully placed the headpiece onto him. It was perfect.

“Now you really are the Blood God.” A smirk formed on her lips, “Let’s go show those fuckers a piece of out minds!”

~-~

Now directly outside the camp the two hybrids waited for an opportunity to pounce on their enemies. They had made it clear what they were going to do, but still were hesitant on how.

[y/n] had volunteered to be the first one shown. But as long as both of them made an appearance, fought a bit then retreated making sure they had made their mark then all would go smoothly. Techno saw as her hands gripped her bow at her side, it looked like she was ready to go any second now.

But wait, hold on, did she also have a sword on her? Sure she may have learnt close combat with Techno, but hadn’t Phil and her agreed that she would attack mostly from the sky?

“[y/n]!” He whispered to her in an urgent tone making her side eye him in confusion. “The sword!”

She glanced down to her belt with the blade in its sheath before looking back up at Techno and shaking her head at him in confusion and shrugging her shoulders, she remained silent.

At a time like this, Techno needed to make sure there was certainty, he didn’t like the idea of her changing the plan halfway through. He pointed at the sword and shook his head as if he was a parent trying to keep her away from sharp objects.

Though the annoyance on her face was soon shown, her nose became scrunched and her mouth opened slightly. She waited a few seconds before slowly shaking her head and mouthing the words no.

They couldn’t do this right now! This rescue had to go perfectly tonight, he’d promised Phil it would!

He attempted to reach over to her to take the sword away from her, but she saw his movements coming and swiftly sprung away. Techno was about to go for the weapon again before [y/n] had decided to spread her wings and finally make her appearance in the camp.

The sudden disagreement between the two made the Piglin hybrid as he jumped from his spot to follow her into the camp, making sure not to trip over the roots of the trees in the process.

“Release that hybrid!” He heard her voice shout from just in front of him, “In the name of the rebellion!” As he jumped the walls of where the camp was he made sure to make himself look as big as possible, not that it wasn’t too hard in the process.

The hunters in the camp stood shocked, obviously not expecting a couple of strangers to barge in on their fun with the Enderian. They seemed to have two looks on their faces, one of amazement to see the winged girl, obviously recognising her as an Elytrian. The second look was fear, fear of Techno. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the disguise or his menacing look but they did all seem to cower slightly.

It all seemed to stay quiet for a moment before one of the hunters shouted out “Get ‘em!”. As soon as one of them shouted what seemed to be a key phrase all the humans went rushing to a weapon, whether it be a spear or a sword, and came to make sure they fought the trespassers.

“Let’s rumble” He caught [y/n] whispering under her breath before she lifted off into the air to gain some speed before knocking some humans off their guard by diving head first into them.

The humans that had seen her attack coming dove out of the way before targeting Techno, or as they knew him, the other stranger. The pinkette drew his sword as he clashed with the first human easily knocking him down with a small gruff.

He saw as [y/n] recklessly charged in with her sword at some points too, but mostly sticking to her bow and hovering in the air where the humans could not reach her. It frustrated him seeing her switch techniques so carelessly, only being able to get away with it due to her speed. He had to tear his gaze away from where she hovered to make sure his own battles weren’t left unattended.

A few others tried to come after him too like the first, but seemed to end up with the same fate as the first. On the floor. They felt weak, unsturdy and pathetic in all honesty. Techno didn’t even know how some of them had been able to capture hybrids in the first place.

But he was definitely making his strength known. Other hunters in his line of view started to slightly back away, they could tell he wasn’t even really trying. But Techno wasn’t about to let them just get away, he wanted to make sure that they felt the same pain they had inflicted on the hybrid boy.

He rushed forward instantly clashing swords against a human, they huffed as they attempted to hold their own against him. But Techno paid no notice and was able to land a hit on their ankle making them yell out in pain. He watched as blood spilled from the gash, and it gave him an odd sensation of fulfilment, one the voices had craved.

He went on to do the same to other hunters that came his way until he started to leave a path of injured beings behind him. Once his path was clear in front of him he made his way over to the Enderian hybrid who had been silently watching the whole affair from the post he was tied to.

As he started to cut the ropes binding the poor boy [y/n] came down to assist him, she unsheathed her sword and cut the ropes that were lower down while her associate went for the bindings higher up.

“Your technique was sloppy.” He stated to her, making the annoyance in his tone clear.

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” She retorted, “That’s Phil’s job, not yours.”

“I’m trying to look out for you.”

“Awww, well gee thanks, but I can cope on my own thank you very much, Mr. Blood God.” She never met his eyes as she cut the final rope holding the boy to the pole. He slumped down as he was freed from where he was held captive, he seemed scared but glad he was released.

A small “Thank you” left his lips as [y/n] held him up. Though Techno was not directly facing her he was still able to catch the soft expression on the winged girl’s face, it was the same one she had shown him earlier when she calmed his voices.

“I’m taking him to where Phil is so he can make it back safely, then I’ll be right back.” She stated to him her softness gone now replaced with a serious tone.

“Got it.” Techno shortly replied, he watched as some of the humans started to get back up, ready to fight once more. “I’ll hold the rest of them off.”

He heard the pitter patter of the two hybrids behind him running into the forest before waiting to see which human would come after him first.

After seeing none were going to make the first move he decided to do it himself, going after the uninjured humans first. Making sure he was able to hurt them in some way. Making sure the rage he had felt earlier was displaced onto another in some way or another. Whether it be a deep gash on a forearm or a thigh, it didn’t matter. As long as they were hurt.

After a pile of the pathetic hunters had formed he wondered where the hell Sam was. He hadn’t made an appearance at all during the fight. Had he gone out of the camp after he sent Techno home? But he normally stayed to ship off the hybrid’s caught to Schlatt.

“I’m back! I’m back!” He heard a flap of wings and a small thud from behind him as [y/n] landed on the ground and folded her wings behind her. “Woah, you didn’t leave any for me!” She joked, it didn’t impress Techno.

“I can’t believe you came to the fight with a sword. That was so dangerous [y/n]! Did you not see how they were targeting you?” His sudden accusation startled both him and [y/n] a little. He was just so frustrated that she hadn’t listened to him or Phil.

“Oh c’mon, I held them off fine, and they were not targeting me.” That was a lie, they definitely were. “Why can’t you just trust me?” Her voice softened once more at this, making Techno’s face relax a tiny bit.

“I… I don’t know.” The Piglin hybrid replied, glad his mask was still hiding his face. “I’m sorry, you’re just a good friend and I don’t want to lose you.”

His honesty shocked his Elytrian friend a little before she retorted, “Heck yeah I’m a good friend. But trust me, I know what I’m doing. And if I ever really am in a pickle then you can help me out, got it?”

“Got it.”

She smiled at him once again before turning to the camp full of the human hunters that laid on the floor in pain but still conscious. “You hear that you hunter scum! The rebellion is about to whoop your asses! You better bow before the Blood God over here!”

“Are you sure announcing it to the whole camp is a good idea?” Techno whispered her way as he made sure none of the humans moved from their place on the ground.

“Of course!” She smiled back, “Like we said we gotta make our mark! Anyways let's get outta here, I don’t think any of them are going anywhere soon!” She gestured to the men Techno was watching and elbowed him as a sign to leave.

He watched as the hunters shock and fear was still stuck on their faces as he and [y/n] left the camp. They had definitely made their mark alright, whether that be a good or bad thing he wasn’t sure yet.

Once they were far enough into the forest [y/n] started talking again, still seeming to have a buzz from the action. Her adrenaline must still have been pumping through her. “I hope that Ender-boy is ok, he seemed to be almost paralysed from the shock of someone actually coming for him.” She did a small loop ‘de loop in the air, “But didn’t it feel great rescuing him?!”

“Heh, you’re right about that. It did feel good. But that’s the whole reason we’re doing this right?” He replied.

“Of course!” In her excitement she flung her hands back not aware of the tree right behind her as her arm suddenly hit the bark with a loud thud. “Gah!” She yelled before hissing through her teeth in pain.

The yell of pain caught him off guard as he knew that her hitting her arm shouldn’t hurt that much. In a swift movement he had been able to grab her arm and roll up the long sleeve that covered it. What was underneath made his eyes widen.

Her right arm was covered in bandages, fresh bandages. Completely soaked in her own blood, in fact more blood seemed to be staining the bandages at that very moment. He moved his head to attempt to look her in the eye but she turned her own head as he did so, obviously out of embarrassment.

“When did this happen?” He asked quietly, though he wasn’t harsh when he said it.

“I guess one of those dude’s I was fighting earlier nicked my forearm when I dove into him.” He stayed silent as for her to continue, “I was able to cover it with my sleeve a little then quickly bandage it before I got back to you.”

Techno took the mask off his head before unwrapping the messy bandages around [y/n]’s arm, there was a small gash on her forearm, it wasn’t huge but it looked like it hurt nonetheless.

Silently he got to work on dabbing up the excess blood that was coming out of the wound before reaching into his pocket for some bandages he kept on himself. ‘You never know when you might need bandages’ he’d said to Wilbur one time. It was mostly because Tommy was such a klutz and kept falling over a few years ago, but since then he always made sure he had some on him.

It didn’t take long for him to patch up her arm. It wasn’t the best of course but it would do. After seeing her friend finish his work on her arm she pulled her sleeve down to hide the bandages.

“Please don’t tell Phil I got hurt, he would never let me out again.” She whispered.

“I won’t, I promise.” He whispered back, this time looking directly into her entrancing [e/c] eyes and putting a smile on his face.

She smiled back.

God, the one time he takes off his mask. He wished he could have it back on now to hide his dumb smile and the blush that accompanied it onto his cheeks.

“C’mon, we gotta welcome our Ender-friend back.” He said picking up his mask from where he laid it on the ground.

“You’re right! Just you wait Ender-boy, we’re coming home!”

~-~

Away from [y/n] and Techno, back in the hunters camp a figure sat hunched over a table. A single candle illuminated his paper he wrote on before signing it and placing it in an envelope.

Stepping outside the tent he was once in he marched over to one of the hunters, his arm had been bandaged after the attack.

“Deliver this to Mr. President of L’manburg.” He commanded before practically shoving the letter into the inferior man's hands.

“Yes Captain Sam.” The hunter spoke before rushing away out of the camp.

Sam slightly chuckled to himself as he whispered, “I’m sure J.Schlatt will be pleased to hear there is still an Elytrian around.”

Chapter Text

The rest of the walk back to the base was pleasant. The Piglin hybrid and the Elytrian found themselves walking beside each other in a comfortable silence, it was even nicer for Techno considering his voices had yet to return. It gave him the space to think for himself once more. He liked it.

It didn’t feel like a long time had passed before the two had made their way to the hidden entrance to [y/n]’s village. Techno made sure to sweep aside the vines covering the entrance to let his companion enter first with her returning his kind gesture with a smile.

The first thing Techno noticed as he entered the hidden village was Phil and the Enderian boy sitting on a small bench close to the stairs to one of the houses. He seemed to be patching the kid’s injuries. The boy’s tail that had been swaying ever so slightly seemed to halt when he noticed the two figures approaching them, this in turn had made Phil turn his head to see his niece and the Piglin coming their way.

Phil’s lips curved into a smile and gave a quick pat on the boy’s shoulder before spreading his charcoal coloured wings and making his way over to the two

“Seems like a mission success to me!” He stated before bringing [y/n] closer for a hug, he didn’t offer one to Techno.

“Oh Phil, it went perfectly! I can’t believe we did it!” She practically jumped into the larger Elytrians arms and hugged him so tight Techno thought he could’ve popped. But it seems Phil was used to her excitement and hugged her back just as tight.

As she came away from the embrace with her uncle her eyes wandered to the Enderian boy who still hadn’t made a peep since they returned. “Hey bud, how are you holding up?” Her voice softened as she drew closer to him.

Realising he was being addressed the Enderian seemed to shrink a little, but was surprised at her soft tone. “I’m…ok.”

“He had a lot of burns from what the hunters had done to him.” Phil commented, “I was able to patch them up but I still think he’s shook up from it all.”

Techno noticed how [y/n] calmly walked over to the boy and sat down beside him, he had a tinge of fear in his face, even though he had been rescued.

“I’m [y/n], my uncle Phil is the one who helped you get patched up, and that over there.” She gestured to Techno, “That's Techno.”

The boy must have realised it was a cue for him to introduce himself too. “I- I’m Ranboo.” His gaze was averted towards his hands which he seemed to be fiddling with due to nerves. “I didn’t think there were any Elytrians left after the raid.”

“Welp Ranboo, whoever told you that was wrong!” [y/n] giggled, “But we’re here to help, all of us. We want to start a rebellion, to stop hunters doing stuff like they did to you.” She smiled widely at him, though her smile seemed to falter as his gaze now travelled to Techno and fear laced his eyes.

“But, he… he was the one who-”

“Caught you in the first place?” Techno finished for him, earning Ranboo a small nod of the head.

“Well, I was about to try and get you to come back with me and explain everything to you first. But I never saw Sam, the other hunter, the one that actually got you. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”

Ranboo’s head turned back to [y/n] again in search of answers, “But he’s a hunter?” He asked her with his eyebrows furrowed and his red and green eyes narrow.

“Think of him more as a double-agent.” She replied, looking over to Techno and giving him another smile. “Either way,” She looked back to the boy beside her, “He’s here to help, I promise.”

The Enderian finally seemed to relax at this, feeling safe at last. The poor kid desperately reminded Techno of Tommy, he swore the kid couldn’t be much older than his Avian sibling. He saw how he looked at [y/n], it was the same way he sometimes saw Tommy glancing at him when he was intrigued by something Techno had said, or if he was just being ‘Poggers’ (Tommy’s words, not his). In the short time she had sat next to Ranboo, it was like she had become a safe haven for him.

Seeing the previous conversation come to an end, Phil stepped in, “Well, now we’re all introduced, I think it’d be a good time to have something to eat? Hmm? I have a feeling you’re all famished after that.”

Phil was right, well he was when it came to Techno anyway. He did seem particularly more hungry than normal. But it did remind Techno that Phil had hardly been involved in the rescue apart from guiding Ranboo back to the village. He swore that the older Elytrian could’ve helped more than he did. Though it was strange he put the thought to the back of his mind, it was a much easier task without the voices anyway.

Following Phil up the stairs to one of the houses in the branches of the trees, Techno trailed along behind the others to see how the Enderian held [y/n]’s hand as she guided him up the stairs, even though he was much taller than her. The poor kid must still be in pain.

Once in the treehouse Techno smelt the warm doughy smell of freshly baked bread, it was something he hadn’t smelt in so long. The one’s he got from the village were usually at least a day old, he wasn’t sure why, but he had never questioned it either.

He made his way over to the table the others had sat down at before quickly announcing, “Look I probably should be going back to my brothers, the food is a nice offer but-” His excuse to escape the meal was futile though as the winged girl had grabbed his forearm and pulled him to sit down in the chair next to her.

“I’m sure they can wait a little,” She said softly, looking up at him with doe-y eyes.

Well that definitely shut him up.

Techno was about to speak up again but Phil had beaten him to it while placing down a bowl of steaming soup in front of him, “[y/n] said yesterday you would probably try to make a quick getaway, but I’m pretty sure you’re famished. Stay for now and rest a little.”

The Piglin was surprised at the sudden kindness shown from the Elytrian. Especially compared to the first day he had met him. Had [y/n] said something that calmed her uncle’s mind about him? He wasn’t sure, but for now he made sure to eat up.

~-~

After finishing the homemade meal Techno listened to the conversations that happened at the table. Ranboo had found the courage to start speaking halfway through and was now actively engaged in a conversation with [y/n] about his past. Techno listened as the young Enderian revealed that he couldn’t remember much about where he was from and had long-term memory loss.

As the conversation had continued he seemed to show active engagement and interest in the plans for the rebellion and at some point had excitedly asked if he could be involved. Pleased to have another member [y/n] and Phil had agreed, with Techno just nodding his head.

“I may not be the best fighter, but I can help with other stuff.” He looked over to [y/n] while trying to reason his case for joining. “I can teleport and stuff.”

“Wait really?” [y/n] had opened her eyes in amazement at his statement, “That’s so cool! Can you bring other people with you when you teleport?”

“Yeah! It’s actually pretty awesome. I could get you guys out of a tough spot if you needed to!” His face sinked a little at the last statement, “The only time I can’t is when I panic, that and…” He paused, “When I’m soaked in water.”

“Hey, we’ll make sure that never happens again.” [y/n] grabbed his hands and made sure not to look directly into his eyes. It was something Ranboo had mentioned earlier, to try not to make direct eye contact with him for prolonged periods of time, it made him freak out apparently.

“Thank you.” He said softly, “Also, I wanted to ask, do you guys have a name for the rebellion? I mean, we can’t just be called ‘the rebellion’ right?”

He was right. It was something neither Techno or any of the others had even thought about before. It made his mind wander again, searching for something to identify the bunch of hybrids sitting around him.

“Oh, well I’ve never really thought about that before to be honest…” [y/n] trailed off bringing her hand up to her face and letting her darkened fingers rest against her chin. “What about you Phil?”

“I’ll be honest, me neither. I never thought we needed a name for what we were trying to do.” He rested his head on his hands, elbows leaning on the table in front of him.

The Enderian perked up again, “I just thought we could name it, we don’t have to if you don’t want to though…” He trailed off, his ears angling themselves down towards the ground.

Seeing Ranboo shy himself away from the conversation [y/n] slammed her hands into the table making the younger boy jump slightly and turn his attention to her. “Nonsense!” She yelled, “I think it’s a great idea! Anyone got any ideas?!”

Techno couldn’t help but smile when he heard the onslaught of name ideas coming out her mouth in the next five seconds. He swore he heard at least 25! He did notice the Endarian across the table lift his ears as a soft smile was able to grace his lips too.

As [y/n] paused to breathe in some air Phil spoke again, “I mean what about the heinous hybrids?” He suggested, though everyone’s scrunched up noses were enough of an answer to that one.

“It could be just one word maybe.” Ranboo added, “Like Hybridville for example, personally I don’t like it. I feel like it should mean something.”

Everyone sat in a comfortable silence with faces clear that they were thinking, and thinking hard too! In the silence the winged girl had noticed her Piglin friend’s silence. In an attempt to make sure he wasn’t forgotten she spoke out to him softly, “What about you Techno?”

The Piglin hybrid jolted up, broken out of the trance he was in before.

“Heh?”

“About the names? You got any ideas?”

Did he have an idea for the rebellion’s name? Not really. But while the others had been chatting amongst themselves his mind had gone to think of his brothers again. Specifically his youngest. Only because of the young Enderian in front of him, he just brought his mind to think about Tommy.

Tommy… hadn’t he created a small world of his own? He was playing with his figures the other day and telling Techno about it. Sure techno might have been half asleep and ready to push his younger brother over but he did remember some details about what the Avian hybrid had told him.

Tommy’s world. The name had made Techno roll his eyes at first, but when thinking about it now, now he kinda liked it. Sure it was goofy and laughable, but it meant something else as well…

“You know, my brother makes these tiny worlds of his own. Cuz he’s not allowed to go out much, ya know.” He glanced over to Ranboo, “He’s around your age, kid. But he always makes his worlds fair, equal. I used to think they were silly, but his worlds…it’s like what we’re trying to achieve here. They’re always peaceful, that’s what he says anyway, even though he’s a troublemaker.”

He shot a glance at [y/n] before continuing, “All of what I’m doing right now is for them. I want to make sure that they’re safe, provided for, and can live without fear. Tommy made that world in his head, he called it ‘Pogtopia’.”

A hush crept over the table. Everyone had listened so intensely to Techno, probably because he hadn’t spoken for ages. But now they all sat quietly, thinking about it. About the thing he had suggested. Techno’s introverted side of him made him want to hide away in embarrassment after his spiel, but he didn’t. Instead he tried to read everyone around the table, trying to figure out what they were thinking. He couldn’t figure them out.

“Techno,” [y/n] spoke, once again in that soft tone, he felt himself being drawn in to her every word. “It’s perfect.” Her lips curved upwards and she instantly jumped out of her seat and into him. It was another embrace. And as much as Techno would’ve liked to bask in it longer she tore herself away just as he had realised what she had done.

“Oh Phil,” She moved over to her uncle, “Isn’t it perfect? A name that comes across as harmless, yet it symbolises so much. And it’s tied to one of our most important members.” She gave him a wink.

“I’m one of your only members so far!” Techno jokes, attempting to snap himself out of the shock from the embrace only moments before.

“Still without you, we couldn’t have done any of this. Even though it’s been the first rescue, you’re one of us now.” Her cheeks visibly heated up in the moments she looked at Techno, making the Piglin hybrid’s cheeks do the same.

Phil, taking note of the tension between the two exhaled loudly, “Now that we’ve eaten and decided upon a name I think it’s time for us all to get some rest. [y/n] I can see eyebags starting to form.” He teased.

“What! No they’re not!” She retorted, slightly pulling the skin beneath her eyes. The Enderian boy beside her giggled at her outburst towards the man.

“You too young man, you’ve had a long day today.” Phil scolded Ranboo, “I’ve got a nice place for you set up over here. [y/n] will show you.”

The Elytrian hybrid now forgetting about her eyebag crisis started to lead Ranboo out of the room, but not before turning to give her pink haired friend a smile and wave goodbye. Leaving only Phil and Techno at either end of the table.

“You better get back to your brothers before they start to worry.”

“Yeah.”

As the Piglin turned to leave the table he caught the older Elytrian to open his mouth.

“Thank you, for keeping her safe.” He spoke in a soft tone similar to his niece’s. “Ya know I didn’t trust you at first, but you have truly deemed yourself worthy.”

“Thank you.” Techno replied, adding in his own smile.

“You’re brothers would be proud of what you did today. But for now, return to them, I’m sure they’re missing their big brother.”

Techno bowed his head to Phil to show his appreciation and once again turned to leave before being interrupted one last time.

“Oh, and one more thing. Take a few days rest, things like these can be mentally draining as well as physically. When you return we’ll discuss our next plan of action, but for now, rest.”

“Heh, I will.”

As the Piglin left the sight of the Elytrian, stepping behind the ivory curtains concealing the village, the winged man couldn’t help but chuckle to himself and whisper, “You found a good’n [y/n], ya really did.”

Chapter Text

Techno hardly recalled a time where he was as tired as he was right now. Sure, he’d had sleepless nights, thanks to the voices. And sure, his stress had mentally drained him before. But he usually never felt tired, he was always able to power through it somehow.

Maybe it was the soup Phil had made for him, maybe it was the fact it was a warm meal, making him feel cosy and secure as if he could’ve fallen asleep right after eating it. He doubted it was that to be honest.

He knew it was from everything that had happened in the last 48 hours. There was so much that happened in such a short time, that and the fact he’d been awake for most of it too. 

He tried to think straight as he entered his cabin, yet his mind would not let him, each thought trailing off as he tried to focus on it. With the timing of the rescue and Techno staying in the village for longer than expected he had been away from his home for much longer than anticipated, with it being around midday.

He’d even forgotten the boy’s would’ve been up. Of course that's why it surprised him when Tommy came bounding over to him and practically jumped onto him as a greeting.

“Techno! Where have you been big man?!” He yelled right into Techno’s ear, making him wince slightly.

“Tommy!” Another shout echoed in the house, Wilbur was the next to come into Techno’s sight, with him phasing through a wall. “Give him some space dude.” He practically ripped his younger Avian brother off Techno, holding him above the ground while Tommy flailed about in his arms until he dropped him. Tommy gave a quick scowl towards Wilbur before turning back around to his oldest brother.

“Nah, but seriously Techno, where have you been?” The Avian brother flailed his arms around, “Like you’ve been away for over a day!”

He stood for a moment, still trying to focus his eyes on his two adopted siblings in front of him. They stared at him, waiting for his answer.

“Work.” Techno shortly replied, moving away towards the stairs. God he needed rest. He felt bad for not giving his brothers a reasonable excuse, but he didn’t have the energy to converse right now.

The two did not try to stop him as he clumsily walked around. They could see the tiredness in their brother, how the bags under his eyes stood out, and how his tone of voice seemed even more monotone than it normally did.

Shutting his door to his room the Piglin dropped his gear he had on him, letting his cape around his shoulders fall onto the floor gracefully while his sword clattered to the ground noisily. After doing so he flopped onto his bed face first, with memories immediately flooding his mind. 

He let his mind recap everything that had happened. But strangely enough, his mind focused on one thing more than anything else. More than the rescue, more than the meal. It was before he had captured Ranboo, when his voice’s overwhelmed him with thoughts.

He recalled that they had only been as bad as that once before, but he recalled even more how he got rid of them. More specifically, how [y/n] had made them disappear. Quite literally. The way she had embraced him, how her face had nuzzled into his chest, and how it had calmed him down.

To be honest, he could care less if she had made the voices go away or not. He just couldn’t get her touch out of his head. It wasn’t an embrace like his brothers or anyone else ever gave him, he was sure he didn’t feel like that with anyone but her.

As his mind continued to think about her he found himself lost in thought and eventually drifting off, his face buried in his pillow.

~-~

When waking he could hear the soft chattering from below him, signalling that both of his brothers were awake. He was more surprised that they were not arguing to be fair, that was common most mornings.

Rubbing one of his eyes he hastily rose out of bed and changed clothes, considering he had slept in his ones from the day before. He went to brush a hand through his hair before realising how tangled it was, damn. He hated when his hair got tangled like this, it was always a nightmare. Maybe he’d be able to get one of his brothers to braid it, he never figured out how to do it anyway.

The spruce floorboards creaked as he made his way down the stairs and entered the dining room where both his brothers sat at the table. As he entered through the doorway they ceased whatever they had been talking about, now staring at him.

It was quiet for a moment.

“Techno…” Wilbur started, “Where were you yesterday, and the day before? You went out for that hunt then didn't return until at least 24 hours later.” His voice was laced with worry, but also a tinge of anger.

“Yeah…” Tommy spoke up softly, “We were kinda worried…”

“KINDA?!” Wilbur was now shouting, “Techno, you just left us! Without warning! We thought something had happened!” 

“Look guys, I just had to stay at the camp.” The Piglin lied, raising his hands as he defended himself, though this seemed to irritate Wilbur even more.

“And what were you doing? Techno you looked like you were about to pass out on us yesterday when you came back! We were so worried that you hadn’t come back, then when you did, you looked like death itself!” The Phantom hybrid stood up pushing his chair back and ever so slightly phasing through the table.

Solid hands slammed on the table, making the entire room shudder.

“Why can’t you just talk to us?! Do you not trust us Techno?” Tears had started to form in the corners of the Phantom’s eyes from his outburst, his voice then quietened, “Do you not trust me?” He asked looking up to his brother.

It was shameful that Techno sometimes forgot how sensitive Wilbur was, how much he looked out for the others but not himself. With everything Will had helped him with, the voices and his struggles he felt like he owed him so much more.

“Will…” Techno began before briefly pausing to find the right words, “I do trust you, and I’m sorry for not telling you everything.”

He moved around the table to stand beside him. He moved his hand to place it on Will’s shoulder which he noticed phased through and instead lifted it so it now hovered just above the shoulder bone.

“I always forget how much pressure is on you,” He continued, “I just… I want to make sure you and Tommy are safe, sometimes I forget that I need to tell you what's going on. And… and I’m sorry for that.”

“You never let us know about anything you’re doing. We want to know, we want to know you Techno. It just feels impossible when you don’t talk to us, it feels like we’re a chore for you to keep up with.” Wilbur sat down once more, his gaze completely focused down on the table.

The Piglin hybrid crouched down so his eye level was lower than his brother. He had learnt to do this early on when Wilbur was upset, he knew it made his brother feel more in control of the situation.

“Wilbur, you’re not a chore. We’re a family, I just get too carried away with protecting you.”

“You’re right about that…” A voice from across the table spoke, Tommy. He had kept quiet this whole time, listening. It wasn’t often Wilbur let his real emotions out, and Tommy (despite his annoying personality at times) sometimes knew when to keep quiet, knew to let his brother speak his mind.

“Just let us in Techno, we know how bad you are with communication, but we need you to be honest with us, otherwise it feels like you’re shutting us out.” Wilbur spoke, bringing the attention back to him.

Techno let out a sigh, Wilbur knew his brother so well, he cared so much. Yet he knew that he didn’t let him in like he should, like an older brother would do.

“Then I promise to be more honest with you,” He looked over to Tommy, “To both of you.” His Avian brother’s head lifted looking at Techno with a small smile across his face which Techno returned to him.

“Really though Techno, what were you doing out for so long?” Wilbur asked him, his voice more steady indicating he was calmer now.

Oh crap. Now he had to think of what to say to them. He couldn’t tell them about Pogtopia (as much as Tommy would love to know), it was too dangerous at the moment, especially considering how new the rebellion was.

He didn’t want to lie to them, well at least not completely.

“We found an Enderian,” He spoke before his hesitation seemed suspicious, “We had to make sure that he was secured before being taken away, but the humans had to make sure they had their ‘fun’ with them first.”

Technically he didn’t lie to them. Of course there was other stuff that had gone on, but for now this was all they needed to know.

Both the brother’s faces sank at the realisation of where their brother had been. Obviously uncomfortable with the capturing of a hybrid, and whatever the humans had done to them.

“Were they ok?” The Avian hybrid spoke up.

“I’m not sure, but I tried to make sure they weren’t hurt as much.” Techno reassured him, at least what he said there was honest.

“Techno…” The Phantom tapped his hand, “We know you have to do this job, and we know how hard it is for all of us to accept it. But please promise that you’ll try not to hurt the hybrids out there.” Will’s eyes were wide with sorrow, yet hope in his brother.

“Of course, it’s not like I don’t do that anyway!” Techno smiled back, lightening the mood. “Anywayyyyy,” He started, now changing the subject, “How abouts we have some lunch, I can tell neither of you have eaten due to Tommy’s constant twitching.”

He pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards his youngest brother, who had in fact been twitching. He’d found that out one day and thought it was hilarious, his brother could almost be classed as a raccoon hybrid if those existed.

“THANK GOD!” Tommy shouted slightly starting the other two, “IT FELT LIKE WE WERE TALKING FOR AGES, AND WILL WOULDN’T LET US EAT BEFORE WE TALKED TO YOU. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GUY TECHNO?!”

Tommy’s obvious ‘hanger’ made the older two chuckle and swiftly move towards the kitchen where they grabbed a few items of food Wilbur had cooked the day before. With the cash they got from the hunts Techno had been able to buy a few more ingredients for Will to cook with. It was a little hobby he relished, yet was never able to do it due to not having the money to buy the right ingredients.

The mood had seemed to now settle between the boys and Tommy had started to go off about one of his made up worlds again, not realising that neither the Phantom or Piglin hybrid were paying attention. He was so immersed in whatever he was talking about he completely overlooked the conversation Wilbur had started with Techno in a hushed voice.

“How have the voices been?” Wilbur asked before biting into the food he had made, Techno could tell he wanted a more in depth catch up without Tommy listening in.

“Eh, oh, they’ve been alright actually.” Techno replied while chewing the food in his mouth. “They’ve been on and off a little, there’s actually been times where they have gone away, it’s been weird.”

Wilbur raised his head at this, checking over the table to make sure Tommy wasn’t listening in on what was being conversed (he wasn’t, he was still rattling on about something). “Do you know why?” He asked.

“Well um…” Techno’s cheeks heated a little when he thought about a certain winged girl that his voices seemed mysteriously connected to, “No I don’t. Yeah, no idea at all.”

His sudden change in voice made Wilbur intrigued, with him looking over at his brother who seemed flustered? The Piglin’s cheeks a warmer hue than they normally were, and his gaze all over the place. 

But in situations like these Wilbur could read his older brother like an open book. He knew exactly what was going on, even if his pink haired friend refused to say anything.

“You know Techno, you don’t have to lie about what's going on in the hunts, it's fine if you’ve got a little side fling too.” This made Techno choke on the food in his mouth, his eyes widening at what his brother accused him of.

Still sputtering he drew Tommy’s attention making him briefly stop from whatever ramble he was on about before ignoring his brother's coughs and continuing what he was talking about before, leaving Wilbur and Techno to continue their conversation.

“There’s nothing like that going on Will!” He whispered across to him in a strained voice.

“If you say so dude, but I doubt you’d be blushing about your hunts.” He retorted cheekily, while Techno stayed quiet. “Look man,” He started making Techno’s gaze fall upon him, “If you do happen to have a little something going on, make sure you don’t screw it up.” 

Though it was embarrassing, Will’s advice made Techno smile. He said nothing more on the matter, instead focusing on what his youngest brother was rambling on about. Listening to the way Tommy shaped his stories about his fantasy worlds. 

Somewhere in the story he lost his focus, and thought about [y/n] again, but more specifically what Wilbur had said about his ‘thing’ for someone. Of course Will was being cheeky, but still, the fact he recognised Techno blushing over someone.

He knew he felt warm in his cheeks when he was around her sometimes, but could it really be something more than a close friendship? I mean he realised the way she was able to rid him of his voices, how she was able to calm him and make him feel like a better person. Could that really be something more than friendship? He wasn’t sure.

~-~

A few hours had passed and the boys stayed up a little later than they normally would. The younger two had convinced Techno not to go to the hunt in the afternoon, instead wanting him to stay with them for an evening, and to rest a little more. 

Techno felt a little guilty at first until Wilbur had reminded him he hadn’t had a day off in over a week. Plus with the way Sam had dismissed him the day before he assumed it was probably better for him to stay home for another day. He’d said he would to Phil anyway.

He was glad to have the extra time with his brothers in the end. They’d ended up talking all the way into the evening. The three having conversations lasting the whole time. And even though Techno admits he is god awful at communication, he felt himself relax with his brothers, sometimes staying a little quieter, and chuckling at his brothers playful arguments.

It felt nice, nice to relax, to not have to worry about anything else and let his mind settle for once. Even though it had come to an end now. Tommy had started to yawn profusely which had caught the attention of the Phantom who ushered the Avian into bed, with surprisingly little  resistance. 

After Tommy had gone to bed it left Wilbur and Techno alone. Thankfully Wilbur didn’t bring up the argument from the hours before, instead holding up light and easy conversations that Techno felt comfortable to answer and speak up in. He knew Will had done that on purpose. It sometimes felt as if Wilbur could be the older brother at times.

Not too long after Techno could see the Phantom hybrid's eyelids droop, and his head bob attempting to stay away. And like Will had done with Tommy, Techno ushered the middle child to bed. It felt fulfilling to act like he had done, interacting with his family, acting like an actual brother. 

He made a note to himself that he wanted to do it more.

Chapter Text

“Alright, so here's what we’ve got so far…”

Phil pointed to the map laid on the table in front of him, his finger directed at where the hunter’s camp was located. The sun was high in the sky, shining through the windows in the treehouse and onto the faces of four hybrids. All eyes around the table stared at the map, waiting for the winged man to continue.

“According to Techno a much larger hunt will happen this afternoon, with hunter’s being more cautious after our first attack and planning to travel in groups of no less than 10. Considering both Techno and [y/n] were able to hold off the entire camp before it should be a piece of cake to intercept some hunters while they’re trying to capture a hybrid.”

“That’s right,” Techno spoke up, making the others look at him instead. Ignoring the gazes of the others he continued, “Sam is cautious of us attacking while the hunt is happening, so we’re gonna do exactly that.”

“But why?” The Enderian standing beside Techno pointed out, “If they’re expecting that, why are we playing right into their hands?” 

“You’d think that, but we actually aren’t.” Techno placed a hand on Ranboo’s shoulder as he explained, “I know Sam, I know he’ll do this as a precaution but won’t expect it to actually happen. I mean you saw yourself when you went teleporting around on your scout that he would be staying at the camp.”

“I mean yeah I did.”

“If Sam is staying at the camp, it means he’s expecting an attack. He’s got an entire group of hunters staying with him to make sure that nothing happens while he’s around.”

Phil and Ranboo nodded, but the other Elytrian opposite Techno had a confused look on her face, “But why didn’t Sam want you at the camp? You said you were friends, so why would he send you out when you’re a valuable asset if an attack happens?” She cocked her head while leaning towards the table eager to hear Techno’s answer.

“Heh, from what Sam said to me earlier he wants me to protect some of the ‘less experienced’ hunters. I think he’s still pissed at me from what I said to him at the camp a few days ago.” Techno looked up to her, meeting her gaze and smirked. “If we can find a hybrid, it's an easy rescue.”

She relaxed a little moving away from the table and turning her head to Phil who stood at the head of the table. “So what is the plan?” She asked, crossing her arms.

“Actually, you might wanna ask Ranboo.” Phil said, gesturing to the Enderian whose eyes widened and a slight blush caught onto his cheeks, “Turns out he’s a much better strategist than I am.”

Both [y/n] and Techno tilted their heads over to where Ranboo stood, with [y/n] giving a little thumbs up for encouragement. Ranboo grabbed his tail that had been swinging around and fiddled with it as he spoke.

“Well, umm…” He stuttered, “It’s pretty simple to be honest, but as long as Techno and the hunter’s he’s with capture a hybrid, without injuring it too badly of course, then [y/n] can swoop in and start fighting the hunters. Techno if you pretend to fight her off a bit it gives you an alibi. I’ll teleport in which gives you an opportunity to chase me and become the Blood God! From there you and [y/n] can rescue the hybrid and point them to my direction, I’ll take them back to camp. And from there all you need to do is beat the rest of the baddies up and for the Blood God to disappear and reappear as Techno!” He finished excitedly waving his hands in the air.

In honesty Techno was shocked with how detailed Ranboo’s plan was, it actually seemed flawless. “Did you think of that all by yourself?” He asked with his eyebrows slightly raised.

“He most certainly did!” Phil chipped in with a wide grin across his face. “Turns out, he’s more skilled than me at making plans, bulletproof ones at that!”

“Then it’s sorted!” [y/n] smiled, “The plan will take place this evening during the hunt! It’ll be nice to have some more hybrids around too.”

“Are you saying we aren’t enough [y/n]?” Phil teased crossing his arms and pouting slightly.

[y/n] scoffed, “Pfff, shut up Phil!” she giggled slightly before turning to the Enderian next to her, “Hey Ranboo, do you mind showing me where you think I should come in for the fight tonight?”

As Ranboo started to give his answer Techno’s attention was diverted when the older Elytrian put his hand on his shoulder, making him glance towards him. Phil’s bright blue eyes met his own blood red ones. In a hushed voice Phil leaned over to Techno’s ear and said, “You mind if we talk for a moment?”

The question seemed random, and especially odd with Phil wanting to talk to the Piglin hybrid on his own. It made him slightly nervous, not that he showed it. Techno nodded his head and followed the winged man out of the room all the while glancing over to his other Elytrian friend who was now deeply conversing with the younger hybrid at the table he stood at previously.

Phil led him down out of the room and halfway down a corridor before stopping in his tracks and turning to face Techno once more. Techno noted Phil’s features, he had never really had the chance to take them in properly before. The sharp jawline, yet soft expression on his face, matched with the way his blonde hair messily fell on his face, it made him difficult to read.

The Elytrian adjusted his white and green striped hat on his head. His eyes moved to meet Techno’s gaze which sent a shiver down his spine, as much as he’d hate to admit it the winged man intimidated Techno in a way.

Even with his intimidating gaze over him Techno found the courage to speak up, making sure his voice was steady, “What did you want to talk about?”

“Have you ever heard of a being called the Angel of Death, my boy?” Phil spoke, his voice deep and serious.

The Piglin’s eyebrows furrowed, unfamiliar with the being named. “No, I’ve never heard of them. Why do you ask?”

Phil’s tension seemed to disappear as Techno answered, his shoulders relaxing and his gaze softening. “I just wanted to know.” He paused, “Though I thought you would have at least heard of the name and legend floating around about them.”

The idea of an untold legend intrigued Techno, “Who are they?” He asked, seeking knowledge about this figure. If Phil knew them, he was definitely missing some information here.

“Do not fret about it for now.” Phil responded, turning away from Techno once more, “I’m sure you can find out about them on your own, I’d recommend it anyway.” 

He started to walk away only to be met with Techno’s yells of interest, “But why? Should I know them? Are they important?” He rambled, only to be met with a small chuckle from the Elytrian facing away from him.

“You’ll know in due time my boy. For now, rest up before tonight.” 

Techno’s shoulders sank as he himself also turned around, now heading back to the room he was in previously. As he came close to the door though, Phil’s voice rang out at the other side of the corridor.

“I wish I could be of more use in the missions.” He softly spoke, sounding remorseful. “I fear too much though…”

His sombre expression could be made out even at the other end of the long hall as he continued, “It is still too dangerous for me to get involved.”

“But why?” Techno asked, his eyes narrowing.

Phil smiled in response, “It is still too early in the game for you to know. However, I’m sure you’ll find out eventually.”

His answer to Techno’s question left him confused and with more questions than he had before. Though before he could start to ask them the Elytrian seemed to disappear behind a corner. 

What the hell did any of that mean? And the stuff about the Angel of Death, he assumed Phil wanted him to do some research on the peculiar legend. But it felt weird how he mentioned it out of the blue.

He remembered [y/n] mentioning to him how Schlatt knew Phil, and how good of a fighter he is. He wondered could everything about Phil be linked to this Angel of Death? It was too early to tell, there were still so many things he was unsure about.

He was most certainly mysterious, he could say that for sure. It was almost as if the trait was in all Elytrians. The thought made him unconsciously smile as he opened the door to go back to the other two hybrids chatting away.

~-~

“Urghhhh, this is so pointless.” A whiny voice of a male stood out from behind Techno as he led a group of men further into the forest.

He never expected that working with the human hunters would be as painful as this, they were just so…annoying. It had already been around 4 hours into the hunt and there was no sign of any hybrid yet, not surprising in honesty, but he wished one would show up soon so he could get this hunt done and over with. Anything to get away from these annoying men.

“Yeah, how come we got another hybrid to lead our team.” Another voice chipped in, “Like, some of us have been here for way longer, but now we gotta deal with this piggy?” 

The comment made Techno’s eye twitch and his voices rile up. It took everything in him to stop them from taking over and plunging his sword into their heart. They begged him to turn around and tear them all limb from limb, ignoring their cries for help while their blood gushed out of their bodies. Yet he refused their pleas.

“You listen to your captain right?” Techno spoke harshly while turning around to face the humans who promptly shut up when he started to speak. “If you listen to Sam, you know why I’ve been put in charge of you all. So for tonight, you listen to me. Got it?” 

He hated having to deal with the humans like this, however the sudden fear on their faces as he spoke to them made it a little better. While he could tell the hunters were unsure of their new leader for the night it was clear that they dare not defy him, especially knowing that Sam had entrusted him to look over the rest of the hunters.

A slight worry came over him about finding a hybrid tonight though. The opportunity and plan that had been made for tonight was too good to just pass up on, he needed to make sure that a hybrid was found tonight to further cement the ideals of the rebellion to the hunters.

As another hour passed by his worry increased and he ordered for a small break to commence as to clear his mind slightly. He saw the humans all gather together and joke about something, he didn’t pay any attention to them, though he still found it difficult to think straight with all the humans around.

Being like a living gps (as he quoted) he had remembered a small stream being close by and decided he might go over to it during this break he had called to get his head back in the game. Thankfully the humans didn’t seem like they wanted to move anytime soon after he told them to stay put for a while.

Moving away from the large crowd seemed to settle the voices in his head a little more, not completely though, he couldn’t do that without [y/n], he knew that. He walked a few minutes to the stream he remembered passing and knelt down to cup some of the flowing water and splash it on his face.

He sighed heavily and stared at the water which stared back at him. 

Wait, no it literally stared back at him. Where the reflection of his eyes should have been were lilac coloured eyes that blinked back at him. The sudden realisation that the reflection was indeed someone else made the Piglin hybrid jump back with a small squeal and stumble a little.

“Woah! Sorry, sorry!” The figure popped their head out of the water, “I wasn’t expecting another hybrid to come down to this part of the stream at this time of day.” 

Upon further inspection Techno recognised that it was in fact a hybrid that was under the water. A Merling to be precise. She had grey tinted skin and was covered in scales. Her ears were like miniature fins, except on the sides of her head, and her pink hair laid messily over her shoulder.

He had seen a few Merlings before, not many though, mostly ones that were being sent up to Schlatt’s castle. Always being carried in tanks of water to make sure they could still breathe.

“You’re a Piglin hybrid, right?” She asked, pointing to his hair, which he now noticed was the same shade of pink as hers.

“Uhh, yes.” He shortly replied.

“If you are, you surely must have heard of this ‘rebellion’ talk.” She smiled at him, “Do you think they’ll strike again?”

“Wait.” Techno shook his head in disbelief, “You’ve heard of Pogtopia? Already?!” 

“Ohhhh, so that’s what they’re calling it.” Her hand trailed out of the water to cup her chin, “But who hasn’t heard of it! I heard they saved a hybrid a few days ago! Isn’t that amazing!”

Her last comment went unheard to the Piglin. He was still in awe of how word of the rebellion had travelled so fast, and if this Merling knew about it and if he was involved maybe she could help him.

“Wait, hold up one second.” He butted in, “Do you think you can help me out, believe it or not I’m with Pogtopia, the rebellion. But I’m also acting as a hunter for the humans and we need to find a hybrid to further solidify our threat to the humans, do you think you can help us?” 

The Merling’s eyes widened at his statement, her jaw dropped before turning into a bigger smile. “I believe you.” She nodded at him. “I’m Niki, how can I help?” She eagerly asked.

Techno relaxed a little at how trusting she seemed, more content knowing he had more help on his side now. “I’m leading a group of humans out, but we need to ‘capture’ a hybrid. We plan not to let them get hurt but with them in the hunters grasp it gives a reason for the rebellion to come out and strike again.”

He paused, standing straight up before continuing, “Once it’s all done we have a place that's safe for them to come back to, you can come as well if you wish.” He added his own smile at the end.

“Do you think my friend can come too?” She asked, “He’s a fox hybrid, he’s been interested in the rebellion ever since he first heard of it. The hunters captured his cousin a few weeks ago.”

Techno recalled the fox hybrid she was referencing, he remembered how scared he looked. And knowing he had family hurt even more.

“Of course he can. Do you think he could help out tonight?” He replied.

“Well I can’t exactly leave the water,” She gestured to the liquid she was surrounded in, “But I’m sure he’d be willing to be your ‘bait’, it sounds horrible but he told me himself he’d be willing to do anything to get his cousin back.”

Techno nodded his head watching as she started to float away downstream before turning to face him again.

“You go back to your hunters, come back to the stream in about ten minutes. I’ll have Fundy waiting here for you.” With that she dived back underwater, a vague figure of her disappearing downstream.

While the whole encounter was sudden, Techno felt a certain level of pride and content. Knowing word of the rebellion was already spreading was good, and having hybrids willing to help even more so.

He did find it strange how the Merling, Niki, did not recognise him as a hunter. I mean [y/n] had realised instantly when they had first met, but she was more cautious anyway. Niki seemed to be very trusting, too innocent to really be in this world. He just hoped that her friend, Fundy as he recalled, would be willing to play a part in tonight's rescue.

While it was a ‘fake’ rescue tonight still held significance towards showing the hunters that Pogtopia was relentless in their ideals and goals.

His mind rushed as he walked back to where he had left the humans. It was a few minutes away from the stream he was just at which gave him time to inform the hunters of a hybrid being sighted and start making their way back to where he was previously. He just hoped [y/n] would be able to find them to start the attack before the humans roughed up the fox hybrid.

“Oh look who's back from his break.” He heard one of the humans snide as he reached the area, he heard the giggles of some other humans that were around them.

Techno ignored the humans instead puffing up his chest and looking directly down to the humans, “I’ve spotted a hybrid near the stream I was at.” His gaze moved over to the human he assumed had mocked him just before, “We’re heading there to catch it, NOW!”

His sudden change in demeanour got the humans to move, quite quickly too. His shout echoed through the trees, hopefully loud enough to give away his location for [y/n] and Ranboo when they were to come into action.

Grabbing the sword from his sheath on his hip he started to lead the vile men to where they thought an unknowing hybrid lay. Unbeknownst to them, they were all being led into a trap. It made Techno’s lips curve into a smug smile with the knowledge the humans could not see his expression due to them following behind him.

The men behind him clumsily kept up, making Techno roll his eyes. He heard their annoying yells as some of them tripped over one another. The Piglin hybrid swore he felt his eye twitch at their idiocracy.

Being slightly ahead of the others he faintly made out a figure behind a few trees a little away from the stream he was at before. Now silent he held his hand up in the air to signal to the others to shut their godforsaken traps, it worked as the hush swept over the forest.

Giving a silent look to the hunters behind him as to say ‘stay here’ he moved forward a tiny amount to peek from behind the bushes hiding the hybrid away from him. As he expected it was a Fox hybrid. He assumed it was the one Niki referred to as ‘Fundy’. 

The hybrid sat down cross legged, as if he was waiting for the attack. He wore a black cap with ginger, furry ears popping out of the sides. His tail calmly swayed behind him with the white tip lightly brushing against the green strands of grass. His back faced towards the direction Techno was in, yet the subtle twitching of his ears hinted to the Piglin he knew of his presence and was ready.

Still slightly nervous about putting his trust in a stranger, Techno hesitated to call forth the hunters, but there was no backing out of the plan now. 

He sighed heavily before charging towards the Fox. He heard the scuffle of the men behind him as if they were dogs let out of a cage running straight towards their food. Though before the men had a chance to pounce on the young hybrid, Techno had already pinned him down shouting to the others, “I got him! Hand me some ropes, I’ll tie him up.”

The men scoffed, obviously annoyed Techno had stolen their thunder, while they moved over to tie up the Fox with some rope. They still had that gross look in their eye as if they wanted to eat the poor Fox up.

Handing Techno the ropes he started to loosely bind the Fox hybrid’s arms behind his back. While doing so he leant over to the ginger ear and whispered in a hushed tone, “You’re Fundy right?” The bound creature gave a subtle nod, “I’m with the rebellion, just play along for now. Your service is greatly appreciated.”

Fundy did as the larger hybrid asked, going limp and not putting up much of a fight while Techno pretended to bind him up.

“He’s not much of a fighter is he?” One of the other humans asked, his hands on his hips, “Seems like you got an easy one there.”

“Eh, at least I found one.” Techno played along as he picked Fundy up off the floor and handed him to the human. He saw the slight panic in the Fox’s eyes as he did so, but gave a reassuring glance to hopefully calm his nerves. “If you so desperately want to be involved, then why don’t you carry him back to camp, eh?”

Techno’s snide comment made the hunter roll his eyes and grumble something below his breath that Techno could not hear. He walked over to the others who idly stood around, neither helping nor contributing to the group at all. In other words, being useless.

He was about to yell at them again, hoping to signal [y/n] to come in now before Fundy got hurt or tossed around on their way back to the camp, but there was no need as a huge gust of wind alerted him of her presence.

He glanced up around the canopy above him spotting her figure perching on one of the branches. In her hands were her bow, drawn and pointed down at the humans. Her wings were spread far behind her, as if to show all below that she was the one to cause the sudden wind. Of course, there was no one else it could have been, with her wings so large they were sure to create a powerful gust, able to knock some of the humans off their feet.

He watched as she gracefully jumped and glided down to a branch closer to the ground, yet still high up in the trees. She drew back her bow once more and shot a warning arrow down in the opening of where the hunters stood.

“Let the hybrid go!” Her voice echoed loudly, though it still had that element of softness residing in it. “In the name of rebellion, Pogtopia, I urge you to leave this part of the forest and release the hybrid.”

[y/n]’s presence seemed to not only shut up the hunters around the Piglin, but even make some of them tremble by the looks of it. They must have remembered what happened to them the last time she had shown up.

Though her warning did not seem to make all of the hunters tremble, with one of them shouting out instead, “Yeah!? Or what, pretty birdie?” Techno recognised the human as the one who had insulted him earlier on. He must have a headstrong view towards hybrids, he assumed.

At his remark the Elytrian shot down from the branch she perched upon and landed on the floor with another gust of wind that made the humans stumble again. Slowly lifting from the ground her eyes met the human who had questioned her, “Or we can do things the hard way.” She threatened.

The human loudly scoffed, “GET HER!!” taking out his sword he rushed towards her. The other hunters who seemed to have their confidence return to them thanks to their friend questioning the mysterious Elytrian in front of them followed suit, rushing forth while waving their blades at her.

They were definitely random, Techno couldn’t deny that. Maybe that was how they were able to catch hybrids themselves, their random and messy fighting style catching unsuspecting hybrids off their guard.

[y/n] was much quicker than they were expecting, it was as if they didn’t remember anything from the last time she had attacked them. With her dodging out of the way of multiple blades from all directions, kicking away any human that came too close to her. At one point even doing a backflip to dodge them, using her wings to create extra air time as to notch three arrows into her bow and successfully pin three humans to trees by the clothing on their shoulders when releasing them.

Realising he needed to pretend to fight her too made him jolt into action, his sword clashing with hers, even though they were both pretending to fight he took notice of her surprised expression when she saw him charging towards her. Only giving her a split moment to draw her sword that she had not used yet.

He made an effort to actually fight her off a little, showcasing his skills to the humans around him who now stood slightly in awe of his sword skills. He strategically parried making sure not to hurt her, yet still look as if he wanted to.

Though after a few powerful blows to her sword that made her sway ever so he saw her attitude change to how it was when they used to train together. She started getting more serious, using her wings to create air and an advantage to her strikes against him. It was as if she was treating the short battle as a sparring session. 

With the humans watching their clash, Techno took the opportunity to actually spar with her, while dealing more powerful blows with his sword against hers. He could see her [e/c] eyes moving frantically, keeping up with his faster movements while speeding up herself.

Just as he was starting to enjoy himself he heard a shout from one of the humans behind him, making both him and the Elytrian turn around.

“Look! It’s that Enderian that escaped!” He watched as Ranboo grabbed Fundy’s hand and started running out the clearing they stood in, “He’s taking the Fox! He must be with the rebellion!”

That was his cue.

Pushing forcefully against [y/n] so she stumbled back a little and gently lifted into the air he moved towards where Ranboo’s tail could be made out. “I’ll go after the Enderian!” He shouted to the man without hesitation, “You keep the Elytrian busy!” 

He didn’t wait to see if the men listened to his command as he rushed out of the area and followed in the direction he knew Ranboo had gone. It was a shame the Enderian had entered at that specific point, he was just starting to enjoy his little spar with [y/n].

After a few minutes of running he saw where Fundy and Ranboo stood, Ranboo huffing. “Sorry.” He apologised, “I usually teleport places, it’s been a while since I’ve run like that.” He placed his hands on his knees as he attempted to regain his breath.

“Ya did good kid.” Techno reassured him, before turning to the Fox, “How you holdin up?”

The Fox hybrid readjusted his hat as he spoke, “Alright I think, it was a bit scary, Niki promised me we could join you guys if we helped out.” He looked to the ground, avoiding the gaze of either hybrids beside him. He had a small frown on his face, though Techno decided to ignore it.

Techno gave a nod, before turning back to the Enderian who had now seemed to have recovered his breath a little more. “You got the disguise?” He briefly asked.

“Y-yes!” He stammered, “It’s just here.” He moved behind a tree to pick up the cloak, mask and crown that had been carefully concealed under some twigs.

The Piglin swiftly grabbed the items from Ranboo’s hands and quickly spoke, “I’ll see you back at the camp.” Before starting his run back to where the others were.

As he left the two hybrids he heard Ranboo say to Fundy, “Come on, I’ll show you the way back to Pogtopia.” Then hearing the sound of an ender pearl, indicating he must have teleported them away.

Heading back to the camp the Piglin wrapped the regal red cloak around himself, as well as placing the skull mask over his head and the crown on top as the final touch. He adjusted the disguise as he ran, making sure everything was secure and his true identity hidden under the garments.

He felt a switch turn in his head, something that made the voices louder. Like he became someone, no… something else when he had the disguise on. The Blood God, all the humans seemed to fear him the last time, it made him chuckle. The character he had stepped into wasn’t make believe like [y/n] thought, he really was real. 

But Techno knew better than to let the voices get the better of him, sure they were louder with him in the disguise, but they didn’t overwhelm him. They didn’t control him. But that was something he feared could happen.

He shook his head, regaining control of his thoughts as he pushed past familiar branches. He could hear the shouts of the hunters as they continued to fight the Elytrian. Realising he was close to the others now he drew his blade, dragging the tip along the floor as he came into view of the others.

A few of the hunters didn’t notice him right away, with them too focused trying to hit the winged girl out of the air. She was huffing slightly, a sign she was getting tired from distracting them, yet she still had the clear advantage. With some hunters pinned to trees by arrows or on the floor, pushed down by her.

She was one of the first to notice her companions return, leading the other hunters to turn to face what they knew as the Blood God. He watched as their faces dropped into ones of complete fear, now knowing they stood no chance of winning.

Their change in attitude made Techno give a sly, devious grin under his mask. Calmly saying just loud enough for them to hear, “Knock, knock…”

Chapter Text

“That…was…AWESOME!!” [y/n] yelled, as she soared into the air. The mission had finished hours ago and everyone was safe and accounted for back at the village. “I wish I could’ve seen the looks on the human’s faces when you came back to them being all beaten up.”

“Heh, yeah.” Techno chuckled, fiddling with the sleeve on his arm. “They looked so ashamed, it was kinda funny to be honest.” He wasn’t wrong either, the poor hunters looked so defeated when he had returned to them as Technoblade.

In the end him and the humans had returned to the camp with nothing to show but cuts and bruises. Sam had seemed incredibly frustrated, and had invited Techno into his Captain's tent to discuss what happened. Thankfully, with Techno having an alibi he was able to keep everything under wraps. 

He wouldn’t lie though, the battle between him, [y/n] and the hunters was probably the most fun he’d had in ages. He found it fascinating how easily he was able to bounce off of [y/n]’s fighting technique, with her using both her sword and her bow to make speedy attacks, while he finished them off with powerful blows. Not only did it work well, it had sent all of the hunters practically running off. Even the ones that were cocky at the beginning.

“Hey, did ya know Fundy and Niki have already seemed to settle in quite nicely?” She changed the topic, catching the Piglin off guard a little after his thoughts had trailed back to the previous hours.

“Really? They’ve only been here for what, 6 hours max?” He asked curiously.

“Mhm.” She nodded her head, “You should come to get to know them, Niki has already been suggesting ideas for how to improve life in Pogtopia! She wants to make it more accessible and start a farm so that hybrids with different diets can all eat!” The excitement in her voice and the smile that accompanied it on her face made his cheeks warm.

Before he could say anything the Elytrian had grabbed her friend's arm and started dragging him to where the two new hybrids and Ranboo stood. She landed back on the ground with a small huff when she reached them. Techno caught the end of what the Fox was saying to Ranboo.

“-especially for Niki, who can only breathe properly underwater. Oh.” He noticed Techno and [y/n]’s presence. “Hey you two,” He eyed the both of them up and down, “I assume everything went well back there, but we’re in a bit of a crisis at the moment.”

“What’s up?” [y/n] questioned.

“Well, we’re just wondering where Niki is gonna stay, she needs to be in water to survive, so unless you have a bucket you wanna keep her in then she has nowhere to go.” The Fox hybrid huffed, looking at his Merling friend.

Techno looked over to Niki, it was the first time seeing her out of the water, seeing not just her head floating. The miniature fins that were on the side of her head also laid on the back of her arms and legs. Her hands and feet were both webbed, with her nails too pointy to match her personality. Most surprisingly was a long thick tail with one fin trailing all the way down. It was clear her body was meant to be in the water.

“Phil was able to supply me with some water breathing potions which thankfully let me breathe oxygen, but I don’t know how long they can last.” Niki spoke in a soft yet concerned voice. 

There was a brief pause for everyone to think of a solution and to everyone’s surprise Techno was the one to speak up, “You said you wanted to make Pogtopia more accessible right?” He asked Niki who nodded her head in agreement, “Well why don’t we start right now, that stream we met at comes down close to around here. With all of us working together we can redirect it for a smaller stream to come through Pogtopia, it gives you a way to travel too.”

With his idea he saw the Merling’s face light up in the idea. He also saw [y/n] lift off the ground once again, her smile wide.

“It’s perfect!” The Elytrian exclaimed, “We don’t have anything else to do, so we should get to work right away!” With her statement she flew off in the direction of the water source to start digging a pathway for the water, Niki followed her close behind yelling at her to ‘wait up’.

This left the three boys standing behind. Ranboo who now seemed to shy away from the conversion stating, “I’m not too keen being near the water, b-but I better go tell Phil about what the others have set off to do.” With that he seemed to teleport off with a pop, only leaving behind a small array of purple particles floating in the air.

Fundy crossed his arms in the silence that followed, Techno stayed emotionless only looking at the Fox hybrid in front of him. “So you do have some brains in you.” Fundy said.

…what…

The statement confused the Piglin hybrid, turning to fully face Fundy with a now confused expression. 

“I assumed you were just here to be the muscle, but it seems like you are a pretty useful asset to this rebellion after all.” The words seemed to come out of nowhere, yet they slightly offended the Piglin. “I can now see why Miss Elytrian seems to like you so much.”

The nerve of this little shit-

“I’ll have you know her name is [y/n].” Though frustrated at the Fox he kept a calm and monotone voice. His eyes squinted at Fundy. What’s this dude’s problem? Hadn’t he just offered himself to the rebellion, why was he acting like this?

“I know her name, like I know yours. Phil told us the whole deal with the rebellion while you were beating up those humans. Look, Pig…” Techno huffed, he swore steam came out of his nose. “I’m in this rebellion to help my cousin, and because Niki wanted to be here. I don’t care about some double agent Piglin that can’t seem to keep his eyes off a girl.”

His confession made Techno blush profusely, as he tried to defend himself, spluttering the words out, “Wha- what do you mean can’t keep my eyes off?!” He retorted, louder than he would’ve liked.

“To put it plainly, I don’t trust you.” He ignored Techno’s previous comment as he turned in the direction to where the girls had run off to, “You may be a hybrid, but I don’t trust anyone who sat and watched as my cousin was taken away.”

Before Techno could say anything else to Fundy the Fox hybrid swiftly made his exit, practically jogging over to the spot he saw [y/n] and Niki run off too.

Techno was not expecting that. Especially considering the events that had just taken place, he had expected the Fox to at least thank him for making sure he wasn’t hurt by the humans.

And what in all of Notch was he trying to say when he was talking about Techno staring at [y/n]? He hadn’t been staring, he’d been…admiring her… boy, he needed to get out more. Maybe he had a point, he was sure that he never ‘admired’ people like her before.

Either way he knew one thing for sure now, Fundy was a jerk.

~-~

Techno had spent the rest of the day digging up a canal into Pogtopia for Niki, and for any future Merling’s that were to live in the village. Thanks to his stamina he was able to work all the way through and do most of the heavy and difficult work.

Niki now happily swum alongside the rest of the hybrids, talking to [y/n] about possible farms and improvements to the village they could make alongside the canal. Occasionally Fundy would also chip in, acting all friendly to the girls, however he didn’t spare Techno a glance. And to be frank, Techno didn’t mind. Especially after what he had said before, it still kinda pissed him off a bit.

“I think that’s such a good idea Niki!” He heard [y/n] say enthusiastically, “We could actually get started on planting some crops today if you want! I might need to go talk to my uncle about something else first though.” Her smile faded ever so slightly as she said that.

“Of course, that’s fine!” Niki smiled, she gestured to a few tools that laid on the ground a bit away. “Do you think we could start ploughing some of the land in preparation for planting? We might as well make a start if you’re ok with it!”

“Yeah, I think that’s great!” The Elytrian’s voice was a little less enthusiastic than normal, Techno noticed her tone drop when she had mentioned wanting to talk to Phil about something, but he didn’t bring it up. She gave a quick thumbs up before flying off to where Techno assumed Phil was, her wings flapping elegantly behind her.

While he was a little tired from the mission and digging up a whole canal, Techno still wanted to stay a little longer before going back home. He’d told the boys this time that he’d be away for a little longer than usual, which seemed to satisfy Wilbur and calm his worries. In honesty, he loved Pogtopia already. It felt like a second home, and if he could make it even more homely, maybe it could be a safe place for the boys? It was wishful thinking, but he knew it could be a lot safer than in the empire. Yet he still didn’t want to tell them about Pogtopia yet, he figured until they had more of a secure grounding he couldn’t involve them in his antics.

“Hey Fundy, could you pass me that hoe from over there?” Niki’s voice brought him back to the present. “I can plough some of the land close to the water if you and Techno want to start planting some seeds. [y/n] told me there were some over there.” She pointed to a wicker basket close to the tools.

“Yeah sure.” Fundy replied unenthusiastically, though Niki paid no attention to it. Like she was already used to his attitude. Techno watched as the Fox jumped across the canal and made his way over to where the hoes and seeds lay, his ginger tail swinging calmly behind him slightly brushing against the floor every so often.

A sigh came from the Merling making Techno look over to Niki, “He’s been like this ever since his cousin got captured by the hunters.” She explained softly, “I just hope we can get him back so I can see him smile again.”

“We’ll do what we can.” Techno reassured. He was certain by this point that Fundy's cousin must have been added to Schlatt’s collection, whatever that meant. He just hoped whoever this cousin was, would survive long enough for them to come rescue him eventually.

“I hope we can.” Niki added, “For the moment, we should try to keep his spirits up. He may seem a little mean but he means no harm really.” She pauses, “You should try to get to know him.”

While Techno isn’t too keen on making small talk with the ginger male he does admit that he can’t just ignore him. He still isn’t great with the premises of ‘getting to know others’, it was easy with [y/n] but with Fundy? It might be a little more challenging.

Before he can reply, Fundy returns to the two, throwing a small sack to Techno who caught it without struggle. “Here you go Niki.” He hands her the hoe, “I’ll plant some wheat on this side,” He glances to Techno, “You can plant yours on that side.” He spits.

Techno looks at the small sack Fundy tossed to him. They were potatoes. He loved potatoes, especially baked potatoes.

Niki quickly got to work, making sure both sides of the stream she swam in were ploughed. With her reaching as far as she could to plough as much land as she could. Eventually going further down the canal to get as much land as possible ready for planting.

This left Fundy and Techno alone, silently planting the seeds and potatoes. 

Techno was hesitant to start a conversation with the Fox, especially with how he acted before. However it seemed as if he didn’t need to as Fundy started it for him.

“Me and Niki met a few years ago.” Techno didn’t look up as Fundy started to speak, instead continuing to pay attention to the potatoes in the ground, “She’d never tell you what happened to her family, but the truth is they all got captured by hunters.”

Fundy’s confession of knowledge about Niki caused Techno’s gaze to lift slightly. He was surprised Fundy was talking to him in the first place, then again he was speaking for Niki.

“She tries not to let it get to her though, I found that out when we first met. But she’s got a good heart, she uses her grief as a fuel to try and help others. It’s why she was so open to joining the rebellion.” 

Techno watched as Fundy paused again to look up at his Merling friend before returning to planting the wheat seeds. “As soon as we heard of a group of hybrids attacking the hunters we both knew we wanted to join. You already know my cousin was stolen away from me, so I knew I needed to get help. But once I found out you were involved, I was discouraged.”

Techno raised an eyebrow at this, still silent, letting Fundy finish his story. “The thing is I watched him get captured, I saw the camp, and I saw you. And you did nothing.”

A sudden wave of guilt spread over Techno. He remembered one hunt where a Fox had been captured. His screams had rung through the camp, and he had turned a blind eye to it. But of course the rebellion hadn’t even started back then, so if Fundy had seen everything of course he wouldn’t trust Techno.

“You say you want to help all hybrids, rescue them.” Fundy spat, “Yet, you let him be taken away from me. So until you get him back, I won’t even consider trusting you. I mean how do we even know you’re not gonna double cross us?!”

The Piglin stopped placing the spuds in the ground, standing straight to look Fundy in the eyes. He saw the hate lingering in them, he saw both anger and sadness, but also a twinge of fear.

“I know you don’t think I’m trustworthy, Fundy.” He spoke calmly and in his usual monotone, “I might not have been able to help your cousin before, but I can now.” He paused to let the statement sink in, “I promise you, we’ll get him back. Trust me enough so that we can rescue him, trust me enough to help me rescue him.”

“Ok.” Fundy replied quietly. The sharpness in his voice now gone.

Sensing the brief conversation had now come to a close, Techno returned to planting the potatoes, Fundy copying his actions with the seeds. He focused on the soft soil that he pushed aside to carefully place a potato in before filling up the hole with the soil once more.

He noted how the soil felt delicate, while having both small and larger pebbles mixed in it. Some of it stuck to his calloused fingers making Techno feel the urge to brush it off. With the ploughed land directly next to the canal dug hours earlier the soil had started to become more damp, the fabric of his trousers being stained with the damp dirt.

“How are you doing over here guys?” Niki’s voice broke the quiet that had rested between the two male hybrids. She swam up to them and looked over their progress on planting the crops, her wide smile indicated she was pleased with their progress. Though after what Fundy had told him about her, he wasn’t too sure.

“Alright actually,” Fundy spoke up, “We’re almost finished, what about you Niki?”

“I’ve finished ploughing the land I can reach around the water, so I was gonna go chat with Ranboo!” She exclaimed and pointed a scaly thumb over to where the Enderian had teleported to. “I wanna get to know him better, poor guy.” Her voice softened.

Her last comment made Techno furrow his brows. Sure he knew stuff about Ranboo but why would Niki describe him as a ‘poor guy’.

She must have noticed Techno’s confused look, deciding to elaborate, “I was talking to [y/n] earlier about him, they seem to have become quite close considering how long he’s been here for. That’s what she said anyway!” She looked over to where he stood, “[y/n] told me how she found out his memory has almost been completely destroyed, neither of them know why, but with how close the two seem to be she hopes to dig a bit deeper and find out why.”

“Yeah that does suck a lot to be honest.” Fundy added, crossing his arms. 

The Piglin nodded as the others looked for his response. They knew he didn’t always vocalise his opinion at this point.

“Anyway!” She changed the subject, “I think [y/n] wanted to speak to you Techno. Ranboo just mentioned it before I came over here to talk to you guys. She’s in the main planning room I think.” She pointed up to the house above the ground in the canopy. “See you guys in a bit!”

As she swam away Techno also turned to make his exit, he caught Fundy glancing in his direction. A sign to keep what was said between the two of them (Not that Techno would be telling anyone anyway). Acknowledging the Fox hybrid he gave a short nod of his head while he made his way up to where [y/n] was.

He made sure to brush the dirt off his trousers, nervously checking his appearance at the same time. Once away from the others he loudly exhaled, and combed through his pink locks when he reached the entrance to the ‘main planning room’ as they were calling it now.

Pushing the double doors led him into the room, the papers on the table were stacked neatly and the room looked like it had a thorough tidy whilst he was away. [y/n] stood just beyond the table seemingly biting the nail on her thumb. She seemed nervous?

Noticing his entrance her posture straightened and she drew her fingers away from her face to make her seem much more confident than Techno had just seen her. “Techno! I presume Niki sent you here?” She asked in a playful tone, jutting out one hip and resting her hand atop it.

“Mhm, did you want something?” 

“I did!” She walked closer to him, swaying around the table separating them. “I have a favour to ask of you!”

Now in arms reach, the Elytrian looked up at Techno. Were her eyes always that big…and that pretty? A sudden rush of blush hit Techno’s cheeks before he could stop them. 

“Wh-what did you need?” He stuttered slightly.

“I want you to fight me again!”

…

“What?”

Chapter Text

“What do you mean you want me to fight you?” Techno’s eyes widened, taking a slight step back as [y/n] drew closer to his face.

“Like we did in the forest before, like how we trained each other, like how we ‘pretended’ to fight in that mission!” She stood up on her tiptoes to regain the space Techno had put between the two. Her smile was wide and eyes wide with eagerness.

“Wha- where’s this come from?” Techno asked, ignoring the rising heat on his cheeks.

The Elytrian lifted off her toes and flapped her wings to rise off the ground, hovering just above Techno so that he looked up at her. “I just-” She started before trailing off.

Upon seeing the conflict in the winged girl he cocked his head and furrowed his brows. [y/n] was normally so confident, so bold with what she wanted to say. For her to be quiet…something must be bothering her pretty bad.

“I loved it so much, before we started the rebellion, when we met up every day to train together.” She paused, “I kinda miss it…” Techno felt his ears perk up, “A-and, when we fought together yesterday in the forest, I realised how much I still have to learn about sword fighting, and defending myself…”

She trailed off again, but before Techno could respond she continued, “And I miss talking to you too…” This made him stop whatever train of thought he had in his mind. “I miss learning about you and your brothers. It feels like it’s all business stuff now, with Pogtopia. And don’t get me wrong, I love helping the hybrids and making a better future and all that crap.” She let out a small giggle, “But, I always feel as if I’m being held back, except when I’m with you.”

She quietened again, leaving only the sound of her huffing from her vent. She missed being with him? I mean it was true that they hadn’t really had the ‘quality time’ they used to have in a couple of weeks, but she seemed so desperate to be with him. That, and training, like they used to.

He looked into her eyes, she was now level with him, having floated down to stand on the ground again. He opened his mouth, almost begging for something to come out.

Sensing her companion was having some trouble understanding her, she decided to elaborate. 

“I was just having an argument with Phil…” She grabbed her arms, squeezing them gently.

“What about?” Techno asked softly.

“I mentioned about him teaching me to sword fight, and he didn’t take it well. He just won’t let me do it. But I want… no, I need to get stronger. That’s why you should continue to teach me!” Her voice started to raise again. “I’ve gotten so far already, and though I’ll be going behind my uncle’s back on this one, it's for the greater good.”

He didn’t ask why Phil was so against her sword fighting, he assumed it was not the right time to ask.

“Ok.” 

“Huh?” Her feather-like ears perked up.

“I’ll continue to teach you, I won’t lie…” He felt the blush on his cheeks become more obvious, “I kinda missed it too.” Her cheeks mirrored his, with both the hybrids now profusely blushing.

“W-well, umm.” She stuttered, “I propose we just do it whenever we have a spare moment, is that ok with you?” She pointed a finger his way trying to avoid eye contact by tilting her head away from the Piglin who stood directly in front of her.

“Ummm, yeah.” He answered shortly, aware of the blush trying to get it to disappear, yet confused about why it was there in the first place.

“Are you free now then?” Her enthusiasm seemingly replaced her flustered state, “I know you said Sam let you have the next day or two off again, and if you don’t have to get back home right away…”

Even though Techno was tired from everything that had happened in the last 24 hours he still desperately wanted to go off with her. Sure his back ached from digging the canal and his knees were a little sore from kneeling when planting all those potatoes, but was he gonna pass up this opportunity? Hell no.

“Yeah, I don’t have to go back right away, so we can go do some now.” 

“Awesome! Come on then, let's get started! It’s been a while!” She rushed past him, while checking her surroundings to make sure her uncle wasn’t anywhere around, before leaping through the double doors.

Her actions made the Piglin giggle a little. He really had no words to describe how great she was…

~-~

Annoying.

Techno took back his previous thought from the planning room. She was definitely annoying.

“C’mon Techno, this is super boringggg. I wanna use my cool skills and zip behind you again!” She dragged her words as her sword once more clashed with the Piglin’s. She took a step back and wobbled slightly using her wings to balance herself again.

“Hey, I told you, no using your wings!” He retorted, parrying her attacks with ease. “This is good for you, remember?”

After she had begged Techno for something a little harder he had suggested that she try not to use her wings in combat, even though they were her greatest asset, he found they could hold her back at times.

Making her readjust her balance without them and having her attack without them boosting her speed proved to be a bit more of a challenge for her. It was almost as if she was lost without them, of course it did make sense considering they were a part of her.

Now that she appeared to be struggling a little more, she had gone to complain about it. Even though she agreed to do it in the first place. With her whining as she trained in both offence and defence against her companion.

“I still don’t understand why you’re making me do this?” She retorted, with the hint of annoyance and frustration in her tone obvious to him.

“Because-” He swung in her direction, “You rely too much on your wings-” He swung again, making him take a deep breath, “What would happen if you weren’t able to use them in a fight?”

“And when would that ever happen?” She smugly asked, blocking the swings from his sword. She felt one bead of sweat roll down the side of her head. She ignored it.

“I don’t know-” He dodged a sloppy swing, “What if you were injured, your wings, what if they were injured?” 

That seemed to make the Elytrian stop in her train of thought, her sword still tight in her grip but no longer swinging out in front of her, “I never even thought about that…” She quietly responded, all cockiness gone again.

Techno would’ve rolled his eyes in any other situation, but he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the Elytrian. He just couldn’t bring himself to mock her in any way possible.

“How come?” He asked gently, returning his sword to his sheath and crouching to sit on the ground.

“Huh? Oh. Well umm…” She was hesitant, raising her free hand to rub the back of her head. “I guess, because I was always stuck in the village, I just never really thought…” She trailed off.

Her hand holding the sword placed the blade into the sheath on her hip, sliding it in with a satisfying sound. “Look, it doesn’t matter, ok. I just didn’t think about it.” She retorted, harshly.

Techno sensed the tension that hung in the air after that. It made him feel awkward, unsure of what to say next. Unsure if he had said something wrong. He swung his arms awkwardly, very aware of the tension that now hung in the air like a thick fog.

He was silent until a thought came to his mind, something Wilbur had said to him when he had once had a breakdown due to the voices that now were silent. Almost as if a lightbulb was lit in his head he knew what to say.

“Wilbur always used to have this stupid little catchphrase he’d say to me and Tommy whenever we were upset or worried about something and we wouldn’t tell him.” [y/n] raised her head, eyeing Techno curiously, “Even through my stubbornness he was able to get me to…open up. He used to say something along the lines of ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. I don’t know but I guess it helped.”

The Piglin now stuttering and stumbling along his words in embarrassment failed to notice how the sparkle in [y/n]’s eye returned, her frown now changing to form a smile. She watched in glee as her friend struggled to find the words he seeked, she remembered how he had told her how he was always ‘bad at emotions’.

“A-and of course you don't have to share whatever you and Phil were talking about, actually it’s none of my business, but I can tell it's bothering you. And-”

He cut himself off once he heard her giggles from across him. She stood with her hands around her torso chuckling to herself with her eyes closed and a tear of laughter bubbling in her left eye. Her sudden change made him jump ever so slightly and another wave of blush riddled his face as he realised she was laughing at him.

“Oh Techno” She wiped the tear from her eye and looked up at him, “Somehow you really know how to cheer me up.”

“I do?” Techno asked obliviously.

She giggled again, “Yes.” She replied, “You know, I think your brother Wilbur was right, maybe a problem shared is a problem halved.” She sighed loudly, her smile becoming a little fainter as her thoughts turned back to the argument between her and Phil. “I think it’s only right for you to know anyway.”

Now resigning any intention of drawing her sword again for a while she lowered herself to the ground and sat crossed legged in the dry grass on the ground. Silently she patted on the greenery, indicating for Techno to follow suit. He did, kneeling before spreading his legs on the ground in the shape of a V.

Though she seemed hesitant [y/n] started to explain, with Techno quietly listening, letting her speak. “Me and Phil have always disagreed on one thing. We have other petty arguments for sure, but the one thing he refuses to let me do is wield a sword. I used to be so unsure why he'd refuse to tell me, but one day he lost his temper and told me something. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something about ‘losing control’ and ‘being to blame’ for the village. I’m still not sure.”

She sighed before continuing.

“With the rebellion rising and you coming in to teach me behind Phil’s back I thought it might be a prime time to get him to teach me a bit, considering he’s much better than anyone else.” Techno nodded in agreement, “But even with the threats of the hunters and the rescues we do he still refused to trust me, to let me wield the blade. To be frank, I lost my temper, and I lashed out.” Techno’s eyes widened at the thought. “I’ve never been angry like that before, my family, my only family doesn’t trust me enough to let me take care of myself.”

She hugged her arms around her torso once more, this time her arms acting more of a support than anything.

“I know we’ve lost a lot and he wants to keep me safe, but with our current situation there’s no reason for this. I need to defend myself.” She paused to look up at him, she glared hard into his deep red eyes, his meeting her [e/c] ones. “And then there’s you…” He paused, ears twitching and eyes growing. 

“You trusted me enough to teach me how to sword fight, even though we’d only just met. Even though you tried to kill me days before, even though you were a hunter.” His chest fluttered. “We were able to learn from each other and grow together, using each other's preferred weapon. It felt nice, comforting to finally have trust from both ends. Phil doesn’t know about this, and at this point in time I don’t want him to. I think I’m just happy to be with you, someone I trust.”

She ended her confession with a small smile, her eyes with that same sparkle in them and a red hue spread warmly across her entire face.

“Welp.” Techno started, still startled by the confession. “Was it a problem halved?” He asked, giving a guilty smile and raising his shoulders.

[y/n] burst out laughing, rocking back and forth before placing her hands on the ground to steady herself. 

“Hehe, I would definitely say so.” She replied embarrassed to look back at her Piglin companion. “But I think that’s enough emotions for me at the moment, I’m pretty worn out from it actually.”

Techno couldn’t blame the Elytrian, he knew better than anyone that emotions were difficult. He watched as she gracefully picked herself from the ground and stood once again, brushing the grass that stuck to her pants off with her stained hands.

“Speaking of Wilbur…” She continued to brush off the remaining grass stuck to her, “How are your boys, it feels like an eternity since you last talked about them. And I know you do love to talk about them.” She giggled at the end.

Techno followed suit, also standing up and brushing himself off. “They’re good I think, I know they’re much better than before.”

He watched as she drew her sword again, a sign for him to do the same, going back to sparring to pass the time after the heartfelt moment. Her eyes stayed on him as she asked him ‘why?’.

“Well, after that first rescue they were both so worried, due to me not coming back straight away they panicked. It was my fault for not telling them I’d be gone for a lot longer in the first place.” He paused to parry her before continuing, “Turns out there was a lot more than that going on, I think they’d got themselves so worried that other problems had started to present themselves again. Their fear of abandonment for one.”

He spoke softly. He recalled the day he and Wilbur had fallen out, of course it was all fine now. But looking back… he couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt, it was him that had made his brothers feel that way in the first place, so of course he had to fix it. Not that he felt good about it afterwards though.

“You said it’s ok now though, right?” The Elytrian asked, cocking her head and slowing down in her attacks to let the Piglin stand a chance while he was deep in thought of his brothers.

“Yeah, it’s ok now. I promised to be more honest with them and we were able to have a laugh by the end of it. I should spend more time with them, really.” 

“Why don’t you bring them to the village? To Pogtopia, I’m sure they’d love it here.” She smiled back, thrusting her sword in such a way that Techno easily dodged it.

“Heh, it’s something I’ve thought about. But I can’t. Not yet at least. I don’t even think they know about the rebellion yet. While I have no doubt we will succeed, I worry that it’s still too dangerous to involve them in something like this, especially when it’s only just started. Maybe in the future though…”

[y/n] shrugged her shoulders, “I get’cha. But I do think they should stay here one day. They could actually explore the village and Tommy would probably get along with Ranboo, I think they’re very similar ages!” 

Techno thought about his youngest brother. [y/n] was definitely right about him exploring and making friends. He was sure Tommy’s extroverted side would show much more in a place like Pogtopia, furthermore, he would be in absolute disbelief when he realised the rebellion was named after his own imaginary world.

Wilbur would finally have the space and freedom to practice his music he so desperately loved. Plus with the shadow from the dark oak trees all around he’d be able to roam around the village too, he wouldn’t be stuck inside all the time, plus it’d be safe enough for him to be outside at night, unlike where they were now.

But the first step would be to actually tell them about the rebellion. He’s sure they’d get annoyed at him for keeping it a secret, but it was for the best. For the moment at least, he just had to wait.

“So-” [y/n] startled him out of his train of thought as she paused her sparring, “What else did you guys talk about?”

Her innocent question brought one specific conversation with Wilbur to Techno’s mind. He could almost feel his entire face go red as he recalled when Wilbur had suggested the idea of a love interest, someone Techno had met. 

Wilbur must have been wrong, of course Techno was embarrassed when he thought of [y/n], but he was certain he was just feeling platonic emotions, or respect, or something like that. Wilbur was a hopeless romantic, surely he must have let his imagination go wild on the thought of his big brother being infatuated with someone… right?

“N-nothing, nothing at all! Not really.” He stuttered over his words, leading the Elytrian to give him a curious glance before dropping it. She knew it wasn’t ‘nothing’ but she wouldn’t push it. “We did talk about my voices though, he’s the only other one that knows about it, so he helps me out.” He didn’t completely lie.

[y/n] cocked her head at him, “How does he help you out, might I ask?” She dug her blade into the ground, leaning on the handle.

“He’s able to calm me down, like you did that one time…” His free hand scratched the back of his head, ruffling his long pink hair. “But with words..”

“Do they overwhelm you often?”

“Sometimes…it depends on if something has happened on the day. They seem to feed off strong emotions.”

She hummed, understanding, “Any idea why though?” She lifted her fingers exaggerating her question.

He sighed heavily as he shook his head. He honestly wished he knew why they plagued his mind so often, but he wished he knew why they disappeared around her just as much. 

She decided not to press the matter anymore, leaving the concept of the voices. She knew it was a sore subject for him. She had remembered when she had seen him overwhelmed by them. His hands stuck deep in his hair, mumbling to himself incoherently. It had disturbed her, but it had disturbed her even more when she realised what they had been doing to him.

They stood in silence for a moment, the tension between the two clear, yet in a way comfortable. 

It was quiet, until her voice cut through the silence.

“Thank you.”

“Hmm?” Techno’s gaze rose to meet her own.

“Thanks for telling me. And thank you for listening.” She smiled softly, it was the same one that always made almost crumble.

“Ummm, no problem.” He returned her smile with a small one on his own lips. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

He swore he saw the corner of [y/n]’s eye ever so slightly twitch, yet he couldn’t tell if it did or not. She smiled even wider as she replied. “Yep. Friends, that's what we are.”

‘Friends’. 

It had to be. What else could it be?

At her confirmation his hand wielding his sword was raised again, placing the blade in front of his face in a defensive pose as he asked a question.

“So, want to learn something new?”

Chapter Text

A large huff of air left Techno’s lips as his sword clashed with another, with them curling into a grin as he watched the hunter he was against struggle in their losing battle. Though it couldn’t be seen from underneath the mask he relished in the fear from the human he was opposite.

He had overheard the night before about some humans spotting a Feline hybrid and were wanting to go after it during the next hunt. This was the perfect opportunity for him and [y/n] to intercept and save the Feline before they were brought back to the hunters camp. It was the third rescue this week, he was sure the hunters were getting tired of it by now.

He was still waiting to talk to Sam, but he had overheard the annoyance of the hunters last night. With them exclaiming their frustration at losing two (soon to become three) hybrids in the past week. The presence of the rebellion was no longer a one time event, and they could sense it was going to get worse too.

On the other hand, it was most definitely helping to populate Pogtopia. The name had spread quite a bit as well. With Niki being able to invite hybrids she saw wandering around in the daytime, it meant that not only rescued hybrids were starting to live in the safety and protection of the rebellion.

He hoped that by now Ranboo had led the Feline back to Pogtopia. It seemed as if that was the easiest way to assure that they could travel back safely while [y/n] and ‘The Blood God’ fought off the humans that had caught them in the first place.

He thought fondly of Pogtopia and the village as he fought against the human. The battle seemed almost too easy, with Techno not even trying. He could see the human flinch as the so-called ‘Blood God’ easily parried his attack, making him take a more defensive stance instead. 

Techno paid no attention though, he knew he would win the battle, it wasn’t hard. What he was more interested in however was his flying companion, who was taking the other two hunters in battle. She was using the new technique Techno had taught her a few days ago when they had agreed to start sparring once more, it was the one he taught to her after their… emotional confessions.

He tried to forget the awkwardness that loomed over the memory of it. Out of the corner of his eye he could see as she used her wings to gracefully jump over the first hunter, knocking him over before attacking the other with the more powerful blow he had shown her. Her progress was quick, and he was most certainly impressed with her improvement in such a short time.

She looked as if she had barely broken a sweat, and the same could be said for the disguised Piglin hybrid. As he moved his focus back to his own battle he heard her voice shout over the top of the grunts coming from the hunters they fought against.

“So-” She let out a grunt of her own as she blocked a strike, “You doing anything after this?” She asked Techno.

He knew what she was doing, teasing the hunters, making it look as if she wasn’t even trying (which she wasn’t). It made him laugh a bit, yet he knew that she genuinely was asking him a question too.

“Heh, nah.” He thrusted his own sword forwards, clashing it against the humans in front of him. “Why, what's up?” He shouted out to her.

“Oh nothing really.” She teased, bringing one of the hunters down to the ground, pinning him with her feet as she continued to fight the remaining hunter. “Was just curious, really.” She gave him a smirk.

“Your technique is getting much better.” Techno praised while he easily pushed the hunter he was against to the ground, like she had done.

She kicked aside the human on the ground, Techno watched as he stayed stationary assuming he’d passed out from exhaustion. Continuing to block incoming attacks from the other she replied to him.

“Thank you, I wish my uncle could see me like this. I would hope he’d be proud.” Her expression softened for a second before resuming a harder and more stern look, remembering the hunters she was against could still see and hear her.

It had started to annoy Techno how the thought of Phil would make her mood appear to drop. Even if she didn’t completely show it, he could see the argument they had shared affected her quite badly. He could even see the tension between the two back in the village, no one else had noticed it, but he could both see and feel it.

While he respected her uncle, from a ‘friends’ point of view he had a bone to pick with the older Elytrian. If he ever would say something to him was another question, but he wished he knew more. 

Heck, he wanted to know why Phil wouldn’t even come help out in the rescues. To restrict his niece from sword fighting, yet to refuse to come help out himself, it annoyed him. Of course there were reasons, but it was getting to a point where the reasons felt more like an excuse. 

In his mix of frustration and anger he felt the voices return ever so slightly, though with [y/n]’s presence it was much easier to push them back again. He had noticed they had started to come back more and more each time he battled against the humans…

“If he came out to help once in a while, maybe he would be.” He continued to fight as he felt her eyes loom on him for a moment before she looked back to her ongoing fight.

“What do you mean by that?” 

“I just think that if he helped out with… all this-” He reeled his hand back and punched the hunter, ending his battle. The voices had definitely told him to do that one, with them squirming around in his head as he turned to face [y/n] again. “He could see why you needed to learn it, and then he could be proud.”

“What?!” She turned to face him fully, still making sure the human’s blade never came close to her. They were so tired by this point she didn’t even need to look at them to dodge it as it messily swung past her.

“I’ve told you before!” Her voice came out more gruff than usual, an annoyed tone lingering, “He just can’t! He can’t be seen! You know this Te-” She stopped herself from spilling his name, remembering who was in their presence, though at this point it looked as if the hunters wouldn’t have even processed what she said.

“But why?!” He shouted carelessly, now moving past the human he had reeled unconscious with his punch he drew closer to her. The rambling in his mind picking and poking at him, egging him on to do something to release the pent up frustration.

He watched as she also ended her own battle with the remaining human, grabbing his head and bringing it down harshly onto her knee. He eyed the human as they fell to the ground, a small trail of blood leaving their wide open mouth. The faint whisper of ‘ blood ’ could be heard from inside his own head, he shook his head ignoring them.

“Because Techno -” She emphasised his name, now knowing they were the only ones who could hear the conversation, ensuring privacy. “Because…because he…” He stayed quiet as he watched her stumble on her words before trailing off, her gaze fixated on the ground. She sighed heavily, “I… I can’t tell you, Techno.”

He sighed, taking off the Ram skull hiding his face and stepping closer to her. He dared not to speak, still frustrated at her lack of an answer. Yet he wouldn’t force her to say, he didn’t have it in him.

“I can’t tell you exactly why…” She started again, “But I can tell you it has something to do with the being referred to as ‘The Angel of Death’”

His eyes widened at her statement as he echoed her words, “The Angel of Death?”. Hadn’t Phil mentioned it to him before? After rescuing Ranboo that first time a few weeks ago. The Elytrian had questioned him about his knowledge of the being, yet he didn’t know anything. Phil had seemed so serious that day…

“I cannot tell you everything sometimes, but Phil might have some of the answers you seek.”

Techno knew he couldn’t just ask Phil directly about this mysterious reason he couldn’t join the fight, of course he knew that it had something to do with that vile hybrid Schlatt knowing him, but that wasn’t enough of an answer for Techno. He wanted real, full answers. Like the ones that [y/n] seemed to give him unknowingly.

“Ok.” He replied shortly, seeing [y/n]’s smile faintly return.

“You’ll have to go alone.” She walked closer to him, now standing beside him and looking up to meet his gaze, “Me and Phil are still on pretty bad terms.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“Thank you.” She quickly gestured to the three unconscious men on the ground before continuing, “You think we roughed them up too much?”

He followed to where she gestured, seeing the pathetic hunters sprawled out on the ground. [y/n] was always insistent on never killing the hunters, she had made it clear that she only wanted to injure them, to teach them a lesson more than anything.

“Eh, they’ll be fine. We’ll probably see them back out on hunts in a few days.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Anyways, let's get back to the village, I’m sure you have a few questions for my uncle.”

Heh, she was definitely right there.

~-~

Phil had always come across as a mysterious figure. Someone who had many secrets, and hid them right beneath your nose, right behind his fatherly aura. Philza, more like Dadza right? He felt like his boys would get along with the Elytrian, but until he got some answers there was no way he would let them go anywhere near the winged man.

[y/n] had left him by now, refusing to even go up to the same building as her uncle. By this point it was clear why, and he didn’t want to meddle in her personal business. However he was more than willing to question Phil and this thing ‘The Angel of Death’, it obviously has some importance, some impact that he didn’t know about.

[y/n] had said that Phil was most likely to be found in the library. To be frank, Techno had no idea there was even a library at all! She had said the library was at the back end of the village, more out of sight compared to the other buildings. 

He made his way past the other houses and facilities in Pogtopia, attempting to remember them as well as possible to keep his ‘human compass’ title he had given himself, before arriving upon the library.

The library was inside one particularly large dark oak tree, having to enter through the trunk of the tree. As he entered the trunk his mouth gaped open, starstruck at the sight in front of him. The inside of the tree was filled with hundreds, no, thousands of shelves, filled to the brim with books. The bookshelves travelled all the up the inside of the tree, making him have to tilt his head back to attempt to see where the ceiling was.

While taking in the beauty of the library, he spotted Phil. Hovering in the air, studying one shelf in particular, obviously looking for something while holding an open book in his left hand. His charcoal black wings flapped slowly, keeping his body suspended in the air.

Techno was about to call out to the man to get his attention. But Phil must have sensed the Piglin hybrid, as he turned and looked down to face him, closing the book he held.

His wings ceased their flapping, instead angling themselves to allow him to glide down to the Piglin hybrid. “Technoblade, what a pleasant surprise to see you here.” His voice echoed through the empty library.

His feet met the ground, with no sound to accompany it, “I assume you’re here for some knowledge?” He placed the book he held onto a nearby table before drawing closer to him, “There’s no better place than here for that.”

“Yeah.” Techno responded hesitantly, “I’m here to have a few questions answered.”

“Well, one can only hope you find the answers you seek. There’s no library like this in your hometown in the empire, is there?”

“No…there isn’t” Techno responded. It was true, libraries were not a very common place. With them being restricted to those with more power and money. 

Phil let out a small chuckle, “If that’s the case then I have a feeling whatever you wish to know is hiding away somewhere in here.” He gestured to the countless rows of books in front of him. “Come now, let me help you find what you want.”

Techno watched as Phil spread his wings, readying to take off again. Before he could leave the ground he hastily replied, “Actually, the knowledge I was seeking was from you…” Phil let his wings relax, calmly looking at Techno and staying quiet to let him explain. “I came here to ask you some questions, Philza.”

The use of Phil’s full name made him stand taller, sensing that Techno was in a serious matter, he too adopted a more serious posture. “And what did you wish to ask me?”

“I-I wanted to know more about ‘The Angel of Death’.” He saw Phil’s eyes widen out of intriguement. “They’ve been coming up more and more, I still don’t know much about them, but I know they must be important somehow.”

“Has [y/n] said anything about them to you?” Phil’s voice was quiet and soft, yet it came across in an intimidating manner.

“No, she refuses to talk about it.” Phil seemed to relax a little at this. “She said I should ask you.”

The winged man crossed his arms, still holding his tall posture, even making Techno feel small. “I see…” He said shortly, one of his hands moved to his face, his dark stained fingers cupping his chin. He hummed quietly. It was moments like this that Techno struggled to understand what the Elytrian was thinking.

“Have you asked any of the others?” Phil’s question rang out in the library.

“What?”

“Have you asked any of the other hybrids you know about The Angel of Death? Niki, Fundy, Ranboo, your brothers?”

“Wha- no I haven’t. But why-“

Phil cut him off again. “I think you should ask the others first.”

What the? This is ridiculous. First [y/n] won’t give him any answers, next Phil. It’s like he was destined to always be in the dark, like the Elytrians didn’t want him to know anything. The whole point of him coming here was to find out about The Angel of Death, knowing that was supposed to help him understand the fight between [y/n] and her uncle. If he couldn’t get any answers from either of them this was all pointless.

“I can see your frustration young man.” Philza’s voice broke his train of thought, making his head snap up to meet the Elytrians. “But trust me, I promise you’ll understand why me and [y/n] had that fight, why I can’t expose myself in due time.”

“How did you-“

“I can see how you care for my niece.” Techno felt his cheeks heat up. “It’s obvious she has shared her troubles with you, and so it's clear you want to understand the full picture.” Phil glided over to Techno, using his wings to push him forward towards the Piglin hybrid, he slithered his arm around Techno’s shoulder, hugging his side. “You just need a little background information first before I can tell you the complete story.”

Techno let out a large sigh, frustrated at the situation. He knew there was no way he could sneak some information out of Phil, not now that he had just exposed Techno for his true intentions. He felt the voices attempt to crawl into his head, try to rile him up even more, he pushed them back, making sure to stay calm and hold his monotone voice.

The Elytrian could see the conflict written all over the Piglin’s face. Techno, too caught up in his own thoughts, missed the look of pity Phil now displayed on his face.

“I may not be able to give you the answers you wished to seek out young man.” Phil’s soft tone made Techno lift his head slightly to look at the man beside him, his arm still wrapped around his shoulder. “However, I might be able to give you answers about something else.”

His words made Techno’s brow furrow ever so slightly expressing his confusion while staying quiet.

“A little while ago, before this fight me and [y/n] got into, she told me about your struggles with the voices that plague your mind.” Techno widened his eyes, “She also told me about how they have been a burden to you your entire life, not only that but how they can take control over you, like that one rescue…”

Techno could only watch as Phil moved away and walked back over to the book he had placed down on the table, the one he was reading when Techno first entered the library. Picking it up he flipped it open and started to turn the pages, looking for a certain chapter.

“I was intrigued at this, I’d never heard anything about it before. I was especially interested in the fact that they ‘demand blood’ so I’ve heard.” He stopped turning the pages, keeping the book open on a specific page. “Hearing my niece’s concerns I thought I’d look into it, I struggled for ages to find anything about mysterious voices that had a mind of their own. But the other day I found this!”

He handed the book to Techno. Gazing down at the literature he noticed its aged brown condition, with some of the pages ripped or torn. The page that Phil had opened it to was titled ‘The Piglin mind’. It had multiple diagrams of what Techno could describe as full Piglins, not hybrids like him.

“It’s old,” Phil continued to explain, “One of the oldest books in the library, believe it or not. It’s about the mobs of this world, our ancestors.”

“You mean…” Techno gazed up, taking his eyes off of the content inside the book.

“That’s right. This book, it’s an analysis of what hybrids originally came from. In your case a Piglin.”

Phil moved to stand beside Techno again, using his index finger to point at one of the paragraphs reading the content. “The Piglin, a creature from the forbidden realm, The Nether. While they may come across as monstrous creatures, they are gentle and are willing to talk if you respect their rules and wear an item of Gold, all connected by a collective hivemind.”

A small smile had formed onto the Elytrian’s face, looking back at Techno as if he should be thrilled to hear this information. Though it just caused him confusion instead.

“That’s great, but what about the voices?” Techno asked back.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there.” Phil let out a quick giggle, he acted like an excited kid desperate to show their parents something. He continued to read the text in the book, “Another tribe of Piglins also shares The Nether, they are called Piglin Brutes. These are merciless creatures, and unlike the regular Piglins appear to demand blood to be spilt.”

The Elytrian looked back at him awaiting his reaction. Techno stood in silence, processing the words of the older man infront of him.

“But, what does that mean for my voices?” He asked quietly.

“I’m still not exactly sure yet, not many documents can be found about creatures from The Nether. But I have a theory.” He paused for a moment, letting out a minute sigh. “The Piglins, they’re all connected with a hivemind. I’m not too sure if this trait has been passed down onto Piglin hybrids, such as yourself. However I have the idea that you may come from a line of Piglin Brutes, and your voices, it’s the hivemind.”

“But how would that explain how I can sometimes control them? Or how they react to my emotions, my thoughts?”

“I’m not quite sure my boy.” Phil took his finger away from the paragraph he previously pointed at, instead pointing to the sketch of the Brute. “This book was written hundreds of years ago, before hybrids were around. But now, we don’t even know if Piglins or Brutes are still around, with our connection to The Nether severed. But whatever your voices are, they are connected to this creature right here.”

Techno eyed the Brute. The image left a sour taste in his mouth, with himself finding similar traits with the mob. The large and heavy looking frame, and pink tinted fur that reminded him of his own long, pink locks. They were so similar to the Piglins, yet different in a way. Techno could understand where his origins were of course, yet it felt weird to be connected and related to these creatures.

“I do fear for you though.” Phil broke the silence that had come across. “These voices, I fear that they might one day take over your mind completely. Pushing your consciousness to where it cannot be reached, with them taking over instead with their violent nature. I fear that if that happens too often we might not be able to retrieve you from within them…”

Techno’s eyes widened once more, taking in the danger of the voices. “But…that’s not happened before. And even when I’ve been close I’ve been able to snap out of it.”

“But with help, am I right?” Phil asked, “Let me ask you, Techno, are there any moments when the voices go especially quiet? Moments that even you might find suspicious?”

The hybrid’s mind rushed to the thought of the other Elytrian, [y/n]... With her strange ability to make the voices go away even when it felt like they could overwhelm him. It was what first drew him to her if he remembered correctly. From the first time he met her, it was like she had some kind of hidden power to make them disappear. And of course it wasn’t the fact that she was an Elytrian, he had figured that out when the voices bothered him when he was around Phil. But hardly ever her…

He thought to her soft embrace that one time, how her comforting words had drowned out the impossibly loud voices. How her hold was like a magical spell, banishing the voices, that was until she left the embrace of course.

Deep in his thoughts he could feel not just his cheeks but his entire face turn a dark shade of red. Embarrassed about the thoughts of [y/n], especially in front of her uncle. Yet he proceeded to tell him.

“Umm, yes, there’s been a few times…” He replied hoping Phil wouldn’t question any further, to his annoyance he did.

“And those times were?”

“They, umm, were with [y/n]...” He trailed off at the end. Glimpsing up to see Phil looking at Techno’s reddened face. Again it was a time where the Piglin hybrid couldn’t tell what the older man was thinking, and now it was super embarrassing.

“Hmm.” Phil responded, Techno felt the urge to scrunch his eyes shut. “I thought as much.”

Huh what??

“What-”

Techno’s words got cut off by Phil continuing, “I see how close you have become with my niece, it makes sense for her to be the one that can calm the voices down in some way. I don’t wish to pry into your relationship with her, but I must say one thing…”

He paused for a moment, Techno staying silent, with a slight worry of what he could say.

“If you wanna make a move, you better do it soon.”

“Huh?” Techno replied in confusion, his cheeks heating up even more.

“You guys are frigid as hell, I wanna see some romance up in here!”

Phil’s comment finally clicked in Techno’s head as he started waving his hands in the air attempting to dismiss what Phil had just said.

“N-no, you got it all wrong. I’m, uhh, I’m not-”

“I get it, I get it.” The winged man cut him off again. “You’re still coming to terms with your feelings.” He chuckled before whispering under his breath, “I can completely understand that feeling.”

“What was that?” Techno asked, not catching that last bit.

“Don’t worry about it my boy,” He pointed to the book in Techno’s hands, “You can keep that for now, I’m sure you’ll want to read some of the other stuff that’s in there.” 

The Piglin hybrid only stood as he watched the man in front of him take a couple of steps back before tilting the hat on his head and spreading his beautiful black wings again. His hands patted down his robe he wore, assuring there were no creases before speaking again.

“Remember what I said.” He brought his wings down, lifting himself high in the air with one large gust of wind. “You must find out about the Angel of Death of your own accord, then and only then will I give you an explanation.”

Finishing his explanation he soared higher into the trunk of the tree they were inside, going high enough so that Techno could no longer see details of the man, with him instead becoming a speck before he made his exit from high above, from where the Piglin couldn’t see.

He may not have gotten the answers he wished to seek, however the answers he did get were a start. That and the feelings of a familiar Elytrian his heart confusingly ached for…

Chapter Text

“Alright!” Sam’s voice rang out in the middle of the camp. The other hunters rushed to gather around their captain, eager to listen to what he had to say. Techno also stopped his actions, the sword he was sharpening was gently placed onto a table in front of him, with him now listening cautiously.

“I know we’ve had a few bad run-ins with this rebellion, ‘Pogtopia’-” Whispers could be heard between the hunters, “But we can’t lose hope just yet, we have a job to do, and we can’t let these delinquent hybrids stop us from doing it.”

As Sam spoke, Techno moved closer to the front of the crowd, some humans angrily mumbling and cursing him as he squeezed past them. He moved to a point where he could now see the Creeper hybrid, the expression on his face showed one clear emotion. Frustration.

“After recent incidents it seems as if the Elytrian and this ‘Blood God’ person have become more active. We haven’t had a single catch in over three weeks now, at this rate they’ll be putting us out of business. So I propose we start taking a more offensive approach.”

The crowd seemed to like this idea, their whispers becoming louder. He heard one voice from across the other side of the crowd shout up.

“But how are we gonna do that, eh Captain?”

“Simple,” Sam responded, “I will be giving some of you some more training, with an increased ability, better weapons and travelling in larger groups we might be able to take those pesky hybrids down!” 

His proposal was responded with a cheer before he continued, “There are more hybrids out there that are taking part in this rebellion, but we should be able to snuff them out, as long as they don’t know our plans.”

Techno tried not to laugh at this. Oh, poor Sam. If only he knew his closest friend in the camp was working against him. In honesty though, it was his own downfall, a hybrid that sought to catch other hybrids? It just wasn’t right. Techno wished Sam would stop his actions, stop his leadership of the hunters, but he knew he wouldn’t give up his post so easily.

“That’s it for the moment, back to your posts everyone, like I said yesterday there’s no hunt today so make sure you rest up for tomorrow.” At Sam’s words the crowd broke up, with the humans going off to do some task they were set. Some of them waddled away, still covered in bruises from their previous attacks from the rebellion.

Techno stayed put, watching his peers go off on their own, some of them still scowling at him. It was clear they still didn’t trust the Piglin hybrid.

Sam caught Techno’s eye, and seeing his friend standing on his own he strode up to him, letting out a big sigh as he did so. “It’s a nightmare at the moment, as you can tell.” The Creeper hybrid said nonchalantly.

“Don’t worry, I can see that much.” Techno replied, adding a little chuckle to the end of his sentence.

He felt one of Sam’s heavy arms wrap around his shoulders, just like Phil had done the other day when he and Phil were in the library. Sam’s arms felt heavier though, with him resting more of his weight onto the Piglin hybrid.

“Yeah, this rebellion that’s popped up out of nowhere has been a pain in my back for ages now. I just don’t know where they came from!”

Techno hummed as his reply, encouraging Sam to continue voicing his frustrations.

“I mean, the Elytrian is a pain on its own, I’ve even had to get the higher ups involved-“ Techno stopped in his tracks, Sam took no notice though, “And then there’s this Blood God person, or something? I don’t know, what do you think, you’ve interacted with them before, right?”

The Piglin hybrid hesitated slightly before answering, “Uhh, yeah I have. I’ve fought the Blood God before a little, he was pretty tough.” He bluffed, “What do you mean you’ve gotten the higher ups involved?”

“Ah yes, I was meaning to tell you about this sooner T.” He still hated that nickname, “I trust you won’t tell anyone else yet, but I’ve had to get in contact with the President.”

“What?” Techno’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes, well, as Captain it’s my duty to inform Mr.Schlatt about how the hunts are going, sometimes some hybrids go directly to him. So as soon as I heard there was an Elytrian taking part in this rebellion I had to let him know.”

Sam drew closer to Techno, cupping a hand around his mouth as he whispered into Techno’s ear.

“Just between you and me, if we’re able to catch her the reward would set us for life! Schlatt said he’s willing to pay anything to get his hands on any Elytrian.”

The statement made a shiver run up the pinkette’s spine, he kept his expression neutral however, hoping to pry some more information out of the Creeper hybrid.

“Do you know why?” He asked shortly, afraid he would lose control of the voices, they seemed to be quite riled up.

“His letter was very brief, but he did mention something about The Angel of Death . Can’t exactly remember what though…”

“The Angel of Death…” Techno repeated under his breath, just loud enough for Sam to hear and tilt his head at. “Sam, do you know anything, anything at all about this Angel of Death?”

The question made Sam draw back from his pink-ish friend a little, putting a hand to his chin and thinking carefully. “I’ll be honest bud, I don’t know much about them myself.”

Techno appeared to deflate a little at this. Sam, seeing this, attempted to elaborate a little, not wanting the conversation to fade off like it usually would. “However, over the years I’ve heard many, many hybrids pray to him, The Angel.”

“They pray to an Angel of Death?” Techno questioned.

“Yeah! Sounds silly doesn’t it? But I do remember one specific Feline hybrid who prayed for the death of the hunters. I caught wind of what he was saying, from what I remember he wished for the angel to swoop down and rescue him, slaughtering all of us like he used to.”

“Like he used to?” Techno repeated Sam again, “But what does any of that mean?” He brought one of his hands up to scratch the top of his head

“Dude, I don’t know. I’m no expert on this kinda stuff.” There was a slight pause. “Maybe your brothers will know something about him?”

Techno whipped his head around violently to face Sam in disbelief. His brothers?! Why would they know about this kinda stuff? If Techno didn’t know, surely they wouldn’t either, right?

Before any retort could leave Techno’s lips Sam cut him off, “I know what you’re about to say, but just give them a chance T. You and I both know they’re smart kids, smarter than you think. You know that they grew up differently from you. Maybe they’ll know about him, just…give it a shot.”

Techno tore his gaze away from the Creeper hybrid, moving it to look at the ground as he gathered his thoughts, attempting to ignore the voices bouncing around in his head at the same time.

Sam wasn’t wrong when he described Techno’s brothers as smart. As much as he hated to admit it himself, sometimes they were smarter than him (though, that was mostly Wilbur, not Tommy).

“Ok.” He replied with a small huff, feeling as if there was air that came out of his nostrils.

Sam, content with his reply, also let a small huff of his own escape his lips. Shoulders relaxing at the same time, happy that his friend both listened and agreed to him, for once.

“On that note-“ Sam started, “We should probably get back to our duties, those swords aren’t gonna sharpen themselves, huh T?”

“Heh, I guess you’re right there.” Techno chuckled, finally separating from the Creeper and going off to return to what he was doing previously.

As he walked back to the station he was at before he thought about what his friend had suggested to him. Maybe he should talk to his brothers about this…Sure he didn’t like getting them involved in his business, but until he could figure out more about the Angel of Death nothing would happen.

And of course, as much as he hated to admit it, they did have a life before him. Before he took them in, of course, it could be a possibility that they had heard about the creature in their past before Techno took them in.

It was always worth a shot.

~-~

The walk home had been tiresome for Techno, with the voices refusing to leave him alone. Constantly babbling on about possible outcomes and consequences Techno might face if he asked the boys about the Angel. He refused to acknowledge them however.

The heavy spruce door creaked as he opened and closed it, trying to make sure that the cold air stayed outside and didn’t slip its way into the house. As the door closed he could hear the sound of footsteps coming from the dining room, them making their way to him at a rapid speed.

“BIG MAN!!” Tommy popped his head around the doorway and came bounding into Techno, hugging him tightly. “You’re back! It feels like it's been forever!”

Techno usually avoided hugs from his family, but lately he’s been more open to them. Tommy, seeing the chance, immediately started hugging his older brother much more frequently since then.

“Dude, it’s only been like three days.” Techno replied, attempting to peel the Avain off of his torso. “I told you and Will I’d be spending a lot more time in the camp, don’t you remember?”

Tommy, now off Techno pouted a little. It was true Techno had made up the excuse that he’d be spending a lot more time away from the boys and instead at the camp. At first Tommy and Wilbur had seemed a little upset by it, but Techno had attempted to make it a little better by actually being with them more when he was at home. Either talking to them more, or encouraging them and their interests. It was all a part of Techno attempting to act like a better brother.

“I know…” Tommy sulked. “I just wish you could be here all the time.”

His admission was quite cute, and it brought a faint smile to the Piglin’s lips. Tommy’s confident persona had been knocked down over the last few weeks, and it was quite nice to see his real emotions for once. Techno wished he could do the same with his.

“Well I’m here now, isn’t that enough?”

At this Tommy’s face lit up again, and if a switch had been flicked his overbearing persona returned. “Pfff, of course it is! Actually it’s more than enough Blade!”

The use of a nickname made Techno chuckle a little.

“Oh really?” He questioned smugly, crossing his arms and challenging his little brother.

“Mhm!” Tommy stuck his tongue out at his older brother and giggled while he ran away. 

His random behaviour always lifted his spirits somehow, his cheeky remarks and when he challenged others even though it was obvious he would lose. It’s the part of Tommy he loved so much.

He removed the cloak draped over his back and hung it up, as well as his sword and some other equipment he had on him. Swiftly moving into the dining room where Tommy had run off to.

“Nice to see you’re back.” A new voice echoed through the walls. The pinkette turned his head to see the Phantom hybrid phase through a wall to come greet him. “How was everything at the camp?”

His question was genuine and as he became solid Techno could see the soft smile that he wore. It wasn’t something of disgust, or disapproval, but instead happiness to see his brother. Something that Techno didn’t often see after coming back from hunts.

“Eh, it was fine. The camp’s been struggling a lot lately, so we just did a lot of planning instead.” He continued to move into the dining room, Wilbur following next to him.

“Oh yes, because of the rebellion, right?”

Techno stopped in his tracks, turning to face Will.

“Yes… how did you know about them?”

“Oh…umm…” Wilbur’s face turned a darker shade of blue, implying he was embarrassed. “I hear things, from the shadows, that’s all…”

The Piglin decided not to push the matter, he wasn’t angry, just surprised that news had travelled that fast and that Wilbur knew of them. Of course, it was bound to happen, he just wasn’t expecting the rebellion to have as big an impact as it did.

“News travels fast I see.” He said in response. “But yes, we’ve been having to deal with the rebellion. They’ve taken a lot of catches lately, and it’s taken quite a toll on the hunters' organisation.”

Wilbur let out a small laugh, “Serves them right, it’s nice to know there are some hybrids willing to take a stand.”

Techno gave a small hum in agreement. Letting the topic of the rebellion die down, it was dangerous to talk about it too much at this point in time. He couldn't risk letting these two know about it, not yet.

Him and Wilbur finally made their way into the dining room, both seeing Tommy sat at the table, with him appearing to be talking to himself about something. He was so lost in his own speech he didn’t notice his two older brothers make their way into the room.

Techno sat down at the head of the table watching as Wilbur turned invisible once more and made his way over the Avain. He stayed quiet as he watched the Phantom scare Tommy, snapping him out of his speech as he yelled into Tommy’s ear, which in turn made Tommy screech out. His girly, high pitched scream made Techno giggle in his seat. 

“WILBUR YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Tommy screeched, scrambling out of his chair to try and grab his older brother who had made himself visible again.

It was moments like these that Techno missed the most when he was out, either in the village or at the camp. He wished he could have the time to spend with his brothers more often. He was sure [y/n] would enjoy watching too, she had always expressed her fondness of his brothers, despite never meeting them.

The chase between the two carried on for a little over five minutes before Tommy gave up, never being able to get close to Wilbur, due to him phasing through the table everytime the Avian hybrid got close.

All three now sat at the table, with Wilbur and Techno still laughing from the chase, while Tommy sat in his chair and huffed heavily, attempting to regain the air he lost from the chase.

Now that Techno thought about it, now was a perfect time to ask the boys about the Angel. Even though he didn’t want to get them involved in any of his business, it was worth asking anyway. He trusted them, so why shouldn’t he ask?

“Hey guys…” He started, bringing the two’s attention over to their oldest brother. “While I was out I heard about something, someone. I tried to find out some more info about them from Sam, but even he didn’t know much. I was wondering if you guys had?”

The two looked at him with confusion written all over their faces. Techno was sure it was because he was asking them for their help, something he never did.

“I mean sure.” Wilbur was the first to speak up. “Who are they?”

“They’re called ‘ The Angel of Death ’.”

“HOLY SHIT, THE ANGEL OF DEATH?!” Tommy shouted across the table, momentarily shocking both Techno and Will.

“You know about them?” Techno asked.

“Ummm what hybrid doesn’t!” Tommy replied, refraining to shout this time. “Right Wilbur?” The Avain turned to the Phantom hybrid, Techno followed suit.

“Tommy’s kinda right, I mean I got told about the hybrid from a super young age, I was the one who told Tommy when I met him. But pretty much any other hybrid I had met before you came knew about the Angel, did you now know?”

“WELL DUH, IF HE KNEW WHY WOULD HE BE ASKING!” Tommy shot back at his brother, though Wilbur ignored him.

“I’m surprised you don’t know Techno, what’s brought all this on though?”

Techno let out a small huff, straightening his back. “I’ve just been around a few other hybrids, and I caught wind of there being an Angel or something that they pray to. I was curious because I’d never heard of it before, and I would like to know.”

Wilbur’s expression sunk a little at the reminder his brother was hunting other hybrids, however he continued to explain.

“They’re a pretty important person, among all hybrids.”

“Person?” 

“Oh yeah.” Wilbur leaned his elbows on the table, his mustard coloured sweater creasing. “We refer to him as an Angel, but he’s just a hybrid himself. He’s probably still alive and kicking too”

“He’s awesome Techno!!” Tommy butts in, frantically waving his hands around in the air. “You’ll never believe it but-”

“I was telling the story Tommy!” Wilbur cuts him off, sending him an annoyed look that shuts the Avain up. Tommy, slightly defeated, folds his once flapping hands and pouts as he lets his older brother continue.

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted.” He glances at Tommy, then back to Techno. “He’s a hybrid, and not just that, he could fly as well!

“What?” Techno whispers under his breath, his eyes widening as he listens.

“Yes! Cool right! He used to be known as the most ferocious, fearless warrior to ever exist! He used to go from town to town slaying those whom he disagreed with. People used to say he’d spread his wings, as dark as death itself and slay others before they could even think! From what I was told he was recruited to fight neighbouring armies, and he alone could take them out! It was why they called him ‘The Angel of Death’, he brought death upon those he deemed as unfair and such!”

Techno could see as his brother’s faces lit up as they spoke about the Angel, they were so invested…Wilbur continued his spiel, explaining who he was.

“Some say he had a particular grudge against one hybrid. They disagreed on many terms, but the basic gist was that this other hybrid planned to overthrow everything, making things in his image.”

“Ooo, ooo, didn’t people say that he was like Schlatt in a way?!” Tommy asked from across the table.

“I guess so,” Wilbur replied, “It was just a theory though, the hybrid the Angel fought was never revealed to anyone.”

Techno remained silent, taking in the information, but he still had one question, “Wait, so what happened to him? The Angel, if people pray to him, something must’ve happened.”

Wilbur gave Tommy a sad look, before turning his attention back to Techno. “We actually don’t know… One day he just kinda disappeared. It was well before any of the raids Schlatt sent out, but one day he just stopped fighting. No one knows where he went, for all we know he might’ve died, but I doubt that… Hybrids still pray for him, pray for him to bring death upon those being unfair to them. But he doesn’t come, not anymore.”

As Wilbur finished his story a hush fell over the table. A sad, reminiscing hush. The two younger hybrids sat quietly, thinking about the story. However Techno was lost in thought, attempting to piece together the information he was just told.

He knew there was some deal with this Angel, something big. But why would Philza want him to know all this, know the legend of the Angel? There was something he was missing, he was so close, yet so far…

“How come I never knew about any of this?” Techno asked his voice a little quieter than normal.

The other hybrids glanced at each other, Tommy’s head appeared to shrink into his neck slightly and Wilbur’s shoulders tensed.

“You never really asked…” Wilbur replied, his voice carrying the same soft tone that Techno’s did. “A lot of people think of the Angel as a legend, a myth. But to be honest, we thought you knew, most hybrids do. I’m more surprised you only just found out about him.”

“In a way, I’m surprised. But I guess I just never came across anyone that mentioned him before I guess… I was never told as a child either. I figure that’s mostly the reason.” Techno let out a little chuckle at the end, trying to ease the mood even just a tiny bit.

Techno’s attempt to lighten the mood apparently works as Tommy pipes up, standing from his chair and pushing it back while doing so. He changes the subject of the conversation as he shouts across to his older brothers, “Isn’t he cool though Techno?! Now we can talk about the awesomeness of the Angel of Death!”

Both Wilbur and Techno laugh at this, watching as Tommy excitedly starts to ramble on about his own theories and ideas of the Angel. He speaks too fast for the Piglin hybrid to even try and understand what he’s saying. Mumbling about the ‘abilities’ of the Angel and what he would do if he ever met them.

He had to admit, seeing his youngest brother like this made him smile, it was cute in a way. Tommy always knew how to lighten the mood, and at times he knew when to. Now was most definitely one of those times. His silly antics make the others around him even just a little happier.

As Tommy continued to ramble on, Wilbur leaned over to Techno. Tommy (as always) was far too indulged in his own world to notice the older hybrids speaking amongst themselves.

“How have you been doing anyways?” Wilbur asked the pinkette, his blue tinted hand resting on Techno’s shoulder.

“Heh.” Techno let out a small chuckle, “Same as always really, and you Wilbur.”

“Oh you know…” He paused before giving his older brother a smug smile before mocking his words. “Same as always.” 

The Piglin hybrid laughed, attempting to push Wilbur a little but failing as he found his hand slide right through the Phantom hybrid’s chest. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at Wilbur.

Realising this was the perfect moment to talk to Wilbur, Techno hushed his voice as he leaned in closer to Wilbur while speaking to him.

“I found some information actually… about the voices.”

Wilbur’s eyes widened ever so slightly, and he glanced at Tommy to make sure he couldn’t overhear them. Once seeing that his younger brother was still in a world of his own talking to himself about the Angel he turned his gaze back to the Piglin and gave him a nod, hinting for him to carry on.

“I found a book, it had some info on Piglins. Not hybrids like me though, actual Piglin mobs. Not only that it told of a different kind of Piglin, a Piglin Brute. I think my voices might be linked to the hivemind of the Brutes.”

“Are you sure?” The Phantom asked gently, he knew the voices were a sore subject for Techno.

“Not completely…” Techno paused, “But it’s definitely a start, it's more than I knew before, so I’m ok with that for the moment.”

A look of relief washed over Wilbur’s blue tinted face, his messy hair falling down to cover one of his eyes before he brushed it back into place with his hand.

“I’m glad, it’s nice to know something about them. Did you learn anything about how to make them go away forever? I mean are they bothering you right now?” 

“No not yet, I still don’t know how to get them to leave forever. But they’re not bothering me as much lately, I mean they aren’t really bothering me right now, they’re still there chatting away but they’ve been a little quieter lately… It's been nice.” 

Techno smiled, knowing that since this whole thing with the rebellion the voices that plagued his mind haven’t been as bad. And even if they were there was someone who was able to calm them down… calm him down…

Wilbur noticed the expression of his older brother change, his eyes becoming lost in thought and his cheeks a slight pink. Wilbur smirked, having an idea of why the voices might have been a bit quieter.

“I actually wanted to ask you something, Techno.” Wilbur spoke a little softer, hiding his smirk under a gentle smile.

The Piglin hybrid found himself nodding to his younger brother, hinting for Wilbur to ask away. Though the question Wilbur asked was not something that Techno was expecting him to say.

“How’s it going with the girl?”

Techno nearly choked on his own spit, momentarily distracting Tommy from his ranting before he continued again, ignoring his older brothers. He felt his face heat up at the question as his mind automatically went to [y/n].

“Dude, there is no girl. What are you on about?” He spoke, still recovering from his sudden choking fit.

Wilbur giggled at his response. “I see that look on your face, Techno, you can try and hide it, but I see that you’ve become ‘distracted’ by someone. From your reaction I can there’s someone, this and from the last time I mentioned it.”

Techno avoided the gaze of the Phantom, turning his head so that Wilbur couldn’t see any expression his face showed. He refused to acknowledge Wilbur at this moment, knowing that Will would happily tease Techno if he got the chance.

He carried on talking, even while Techno was turned away from him. “Well if you ever get the chance to bring her around I’d love to meet her.”

Techno scoffed and rolled his eyes. He kept his gaze on the table enjoying the sight of his brothers while he mumbled out a response.

“Whatever dude.”

Chapter Text

“So, did the old man tell you anything?” The Elytrian huffed whilst ducking as to not get hit by Techno’s sword that came by her face.

It was early morning and the two had decided to do some sparring together. Thankfully Sam had let the Piglin hybrid have the day off, allowing the pinkette to sneak off into the woods to visit Pogtopia. This time it was him that suggested the two do some sparring, an oddity, but [y/n] was more than happy to do so.

“Nah, not really.” He replied, throwing another swing at her that she once again dodged. “I mean he only gave me hints, saying that I should find out from others. It was kinda weird.”

“But did you do as he said?”

Techno stopped for a second, recalling his thoughts from the previous days. Remembering what Sam and his brothers had told him about the Angel of Death. It felt so strange how he had never heard of the creature before, yet was important enough for most hybrids to know about. He wished the older Elytrian would just explain everything to him.

“I guess so. I asked Sam and my brothers about it once I got home.”

“And…” She pressed on further, with her also stopping to let the Piglin explain what he knew to her. He could see her eyes light up ever so slightly.

Techno sighed and huffed out his response while bringing his free hand to rub the back of his neck. 

“Well, Sam had told me about how hybrid’s prayed to the Angel. I know that he was an actual person too, seen as a saviour of hybrids. My brothers told me about how he was a warrior that could take down armies, and that he had one particular feud with another hybrid. But he sounds like nothing more than a myth, or a legend.”

“But you know he’s real…” [y/n]’s voice was low, her eyes staring into the Piglins. It made Techno nervous in a way.

“Y-yeah, I know he’s real. But I just don’t see how he’s linked to Phil.”

[y/n] sighed heavily, and lifted her sword once more. Techno readied himself to fight again until he saw her throw the sword on the ground. She turned her back to face the Piglin, her wings on full display. Techno resisted the urge to stare at her toned back, attempting not to blush.

“You know I still can’t tell you why, right?” She shortly said, her back still facing Techno. He noted that she started to make her way over to their stuff they had brought with them, which was placed at a nearby tree.

He sighed and gave a quiet, “Yes.”

He too made his way over to her, looking over her shoulder attempting to see where her gaze was directed. He watched her as she placed her sword into the sheath and placed it carefully on the ground.

Techno noted how delicately she handled the blade. He watched as her darkened fingertips brushed the side of the sheath when placing it and in its place picking up her bow.

“Thank you, for understanding.” Her voice was quiet, Techno couldn’t see her expression due to her being turned from him. But he smiled nonetheless. “Now, what do you say about some bow training? You’ve been skipping out on lessons mister!”

She tilted her head and gave him a mischievous grin, one that Techno duly scoffed at and proceeded to roll his eyes. Though he was able to catch the faint glow of red still present on her cheeks for a second.

“Alright, alright. But only because you said so madam.” He replied with a wink of his own that surprised even himself for a second. He hastily moved on though, grabbing his bow that she held out for him. He dared not to look her in the eye after his response, instead taking the bow and turning back around and fiddling with the string.

She was right in saying that he needed practice with his bow, due to how busy he had been he hadn’t found much time to practise his aim and power. While she was improving significantly with her sword skills the same could not be said for his bow skills, turns out the delicacy in using a bow wasn’t his strong suit.

“Don’t you think it’s nice?” She said almost out of nowhere, it startled Techno as he preemptively let go of the string shooting an arrow at a nearby tree and missing the target.

He gave her an almost annoyed look, and she gave him a giggle as a reply seeing how she had slightly startled him. Though she carried on talking, letting one of her hips dip as she rested her weight on one leg. “The village I mean.”

“Elaborate.” Techno said, turning back to his target and notching another arrow into his bow to try again.

“Well, I just think it feels so much more like an actual home now! Considering we’ve got over 30 hybrids currently living here and more on the way as the rebellion grows!” Her voice grew a little quieter, “It was so lonely for so long… it’s nice to have so many hybrids around.”

The Piglin let the arrow loose, with it hitting the target almost in the middle. He turned to look at the winged girl and felt the urge to give her a hug, a strange sensation that he did not carry out. Instead he offered her a soft smile which felt much easier to give to her.

“I will say it has been nice meeting other hybrids, giving them a home.” He replied as he turned her way. “Do you plan on continuing to do so?”

“That’s the plan!” She eagerly replied, “If we are able to release even more hybrids, then the humans will surely know we mean business!”

Techno nodded and continued to practise while he listened to [y/n]. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her shooting some of her own arrows at the targets she had set up, though she was hardly even looking at them and getting a bullseye.

“Yeah, everything seems to be going smoothly so far…” He paused for a second. “What about the end goal though?”

“Huh?” She lowered her bow and turned her upper body to face him, her hair slightly swishing over her face as she did so.

“After the humans know we’re ‘business’, what then?”

“Well… they should start leaving us alone right? They would realise that capturing hybrids is pointless and just stop!” She sounded unsure of her own words, making Techno raise an eyebrow in confusion.

“[y/n], that’s not gonna happen, you know that right?” She didn’t say anything, “I know Sam, and as Captain of the hunters he would never give up on trying to fulfil his duty to Schlatt. He takes orders much more seriously than you would think.”

“You never know… they might just give up after a while?” She offered with a shrug.

The pinkette sighed, god, how could she be so naive at times.

“I’ve known Sam for a long time, as long as he’s the Captain you could be rescuing hybrids forever. You need some sort of end plan to stop the hunters before they get to the rebellion, because as much as I hate to admit it they will find a way to hunt us down.”

He watched as her face dropped, it was clear she was trying not to believe the words that came out of Techno’s mouth. But he knew that she could tell he was telling the truth and that he was right.

“I…well…”

She started before stopping again to rethink the words she was about to say.

“Look Techno, I can only do as much as Phil tells me to. There are certain things that we can’t do due to him being-” She cut herself off, slapping her hands over her mouth as if she was about to reveal a secret.

“Ah, of course it’s Philza!” He exclaimed, frustrated. “If either of you told me about this big secret he’s obviously hiding with the Angel of Death then things could be so much easier!”

He couldn’t believe this. It was so obvious that something to do with the Angel of Death was holding them all back, making both Elytrians keep him in the dark. And now it was clearly affecting the rest of the rebellion, possibly putting them in danger by not having a real plan.

“Does Philza even have a plan?!” He said through gritted teeth. “Or is he lying to you too?”

“Techno please, I thought you understood that I can’t explain to you what’s going on!”

“I’m trying to understand but I can’t, not when you’re putting the whole of Pogtopia in danger! If you just told me about what the hell was going on then we could work around it and find another solution!”

Dropping her bow and opening her wings [y/n] in a second flew towards the Piglin hybrid, a gust of wind following. Her wings were spread wide, making her appearance look much bigger than she actually was. Her face carried a look similar to Techno’s, clearly upset with his words her face had contorted into a look of frustration.

“It’s for the safety of you and everyone else I’m not telling you!” She practically yelled at him.

“Yet you’re both giving me hints to try and figure it out myself? Can’t you see how ridiculous this sounds, just tell me!”

He didn’t want to argue with her really, but this had been bugging him for the past few days. He wished nothing more than just to know what was going on, didn’t she trust him? They were supposed to be friends, yet she refused to tell him!

He could hear the voices in his head grow with each angry thought that entered his mind. Usually he would take a moment to calm down, to rid himself of the voices. But in this moment he was too angry, too frustrated to even think about that. Instead they continued to grow louder…

“I- I can’t, I’m not allowed! You need to figure it out yourself! You need to put the puzzle pieces together and figure out the full story of the Angel!” [y/n] shouted back, she looked like she was torn between actually telling him or not.

It just made him even more frustrated. This wasn’t a puzzle to be solved, it was real, and it could affect the lives of all the hybrids in the rebellion.

“But why are you not allowed?!” He almost felt his voice break at the frustration it was laced with.

She paused at this. Techno watched as she slowly lowered herself to the floor, grounding herself before taking a breath and opening her mouth.

“I was sworn not to by Phil, I know it doesn’t make sense now, but it’s not the right time for you to know…”

In normal circumstances the Piglin would have actually considered her words, taking them in and calming down to try and understand the situation from her perspective. But right now, he was too far gone. The voices echoed in his head, and he struggled to even make out the words she had said. 

He could hear the voices bounce around in his head, taking advantage of his vulnerable and angry state of mind. They repeated words such as ‘lair’ and ‘untrustworthy’ over and over again. All the while speaking to him as if they were a separate entity altogether.

Before he could say anything else to her though his thoughts were interrupted by a new voice, slightly startling him out of his trance. The voice came from the bushes and made both hybrids turn and face their attention towards it.

“Hey! Help! Help!”

They yelled, earning both the Elytrian and Piglin to glance at each other in confusion. The owner of the voice soon made themselves known, emerging from the bushes and rushing up to [y/n]. 

The voice belonged to a familiar feline hybrid that the two had saved the other day from the hunters camp, from what Techno could remember in that moment he was pretty sure that the feline was called James or something like that. He watched as the tail of the feline swished violently and he grabbed onto [y/n]’s arm tugging at her with an expression of horror upon his face.

“Woah, woah. What’s the matter?” [y/n] expressed, shocked at the interruption between her and Techno. She placed her own hand atop the felines, her darkened fingertips brushing against the claws on his fingers.

“You have to help!” He rasped out, clearly out of breath from running. “It’s one of my friends, we were out of the village and some hunters found us, I was able to get away but they took my friend!” His eyes were wide with fear and his tail shrunk between his legs as he spoke.

“How far were you from the village?” She asked the feline in an attempt to get some more information out of him.

“We were out at the lake that connects to the stream that runs through the village, we just wanted to explore a little but the humans came out from nowhere!”

“That’s so close to the village…” The Elytrians' voice shook with disbelief, and Techno could only give her a look that almost said ‘I told you so’. She ignored his look and turned back to the feline. “Who was your friend?”

“He was another feline, like me. Do you think you can save him?” The tears in the feline’s eyes had started to spill out, running down his furry cheeks. His ears were folded down, almost flat against his head.

“Of course, did you see what direction the hunters went in?” 

“Yes, after capturing my friend I was able to hide in a bush and escape them, I heard them say they were planning on going back to the camp.”

“Thank you, we’ll get them back, we promise!” [y/n] confidently said to the feline, removing her hand from the feline hybrid and looking over to Techno. “We can probably catch them if this has only just happened!”

Before the Piglin hybrid could protest he felt the Elytrian grab his shirt and start dragging him in the direction the feline hybrid had come from. She also grabbed the Blood God mask and cape that lied with all their other equipment they had brought with them, she chucked them to Techno who caught them just before she started dragging even more. Her grip was tight and with her speed he felt himself struggling to keep up at times.

Techno quickly grabbed his sword on his way past the equipment and sheathed it. It was always handy to have on him, just in case something happened.

“H-hold on!” He shouted after her, hoping she would just take a moment to stop and think for once. “Do we even have a plan here?” 

“Rescue the hybrid? As we always do?” She rolled her eyes at him and continued to drag him along. 

He grumbled under his breath. He still felt riled up, the voices continuing to frustrate him. Thankfully the appearance of the feline had cut through them, and while they weren’t completely gone they weren’t as angry as they were a few minutes prior.

“Don’t we wanna think this through first? Normally we have a plan, or at least have Ranboo to teleport us out if something goes South. We’re doing this completely alone here!” His voice sounded frustrated, he was annoyed that she was diving head first into things like she always did.

Couldn’t she just think something properly through for once. She had already been injured multiple times fighting the hunters, only letting Techno know and for him to bandage her up. 

“No need, we can do this ourselves. After all it’s only two hunters and one hybrid to rescue. We got this!” She exclaimed, shrugging her shoulders and continuing to drag the Piglin hybrid along.

Techno would’ve said something else, but he could hear the faint sound of voices in front of them. Turns out the feline was right, the hunters had been quite close to the village. Upon hearing the men in front of them, Techno felt [y/n] let go of his shirt, and lowered herself more to the ground so as to not be seen.

She placed a finger on her lips, gesturing for them to be quiet. Though still annoyed at the winged girl, Techno gave a nod and also crouched down, keeping a close eye on where he stood to make sure that he made as little noise as he possibly could.

As they drew closer they could overhear the two hunters, it seemed like they had taken a break, sitting down in an opening and loudly chatting among themselves. Peeking through the bushes the two hybrids watched the hunters.

Techno could make out the form of the feline, clearly tossed on the ground. He recognised the messy way the feline had been tied up, the rope digging into body parts of the poor hybrid, cutting off any circulation. Thank goodness he could see the shallow breathing coming from the hybrid, it seems as if they had lost a lot of energy in resisting the hunters attempt to catch them. 

On the other hand the two hunters could clearly be seen, their back to the direction Techno and [y/n] were crouched in. They loudly joked about something, one letting out a hearty laugh while the other playfully punched them. All this while the feline laid behind them, looking as if they  were on the verge of death itself. 

Cruel humans. It was always the same.

It made it even worse with Techno knowing exactly who these two hunters were. He had worked with them before on previous hunts, he remembered hearing them spew all sorts of racist bullshit under their breath about him and other hybrids. They thought he couldn’t hear them, but he could. He had never done anything though, doing so would have jeopardised his position in the camp.

He didn’t care enough to hear what they were saying. Not that his brain could separate their voices from his own anyway. The voices in his head clearly also disliked the two men, with them mentioning how he should ‘kill them where they stand’, he ignored their pleas for blood as much as he could.

Thankfully, [y/n] poked his shoulder making his gaze turn to be on her instead. She silently gestured to the mask and cape in his hands, hinting that he should put them on. He had almost forgotten that he was holding onto them.

He gave her another nod and quietly fixed the mask to his face and the cloak around his shoulders. His hand rested against the tip of his sword that rested in his sheath, he wouldn’t move until [y/n] said so. He knew he wasn’t in the right state of mind for it.

He watched as [y/n] decided to make a move, she silently crept forward towards the feline. She had to put her finger to her lips once more, to make sure that the feline knew not to make a fuss as they saw her approach, their eyes seeming to light up as she did so.

Not having a sword she instead grabbed an arrow from her quiver and used the sharp metallic end to cut through the ropes that bound the hybrid. Techno was surprised she was going for a more sneaky rescue, normally she would go all in immediately. He wondered why she decided to switch it up this time.

All seemed to be going well, Techno staying behind the bushes carefully watching. He wasn’t going to follow and help [y/n] cut the ropes, he knew he would be far too loud and obvious. But [y/n] thankfully was much lighter on her feet, drawing no attention to herself.

As the last rope was cut Techno could see the hunters still chatting between themselves, oblivious to the events going on behind them. [y/n] slowly helped the feline stand up and as quietly as they could move backwards and out of plain view from the hunters.

Unfortunately for them the feline didn’t seem to be strong enough to hold themselves up for too long, their beating from the hunters too obvious. Techno watched as they collapsed on themselves and the Elytrian rushing to prevent them from hitting the ground and making a noise. But the commotion of trying to help the feline made [y/n] lose her place, standing on a stick that made a painfully loud snap.

“What was that!” One of the hunters snapped, spinning around in an instant to see the Elytrian and the feline that was now free of their binds. “It’s the Elytrian from the rebellion!”

His shout made his friend turn around and scowl at the two. Techno could see [y/n]’s face, with her body facing sideways towards the feline. He felt his stomach drop as he saw her face twist into one made of fear. She was never afraid, why was she afraid now? The thought made his gut twist in a way he couldn’t describe as he felt himself rush out of the bushes, sword in hand.

“Oh great, look who’s here too. It’s her fucking guard dog, the Blood God or whatever!” They weren’t scared of him? Why weren’t they scared of the Blood God, he had beat their asses a handful of times.

“Let us leave right now and we won’t have to get messy.” [y/n] threateningly spat at the two, though a slight wobble could still be heard in her voice.

One of the hunters loudly laughed, making Techno raise an eyebrow that couldn’t be seen under his mask. The sound shocked him and he could feel himself tense up as the hunter threw away the threat from the Elytrian.

“You don’t scare me little birdy, I’ve nicked you before, you’re not as invincible as everyone thinks you are!” Both hybrid’s eyes widened at his words, “The others might be afraid of the rebellion, but some of us aren’t!”

Wait… so this was the hunter that had caused [y/n] to be hurt in some of the rescues? How could it possibly only be this one that had gotten her? 

He looked over in the Elytrian’s direction, waiting for her to deny his claims or counter it with a witty remark of her own…. But none came…Instead he just saw the fear and anger that was mixed on her face, her snarl and eyes shooting invisible daggers at the human. He watched as her fingers traced over the spot where she had been cut on their first rescue, the action made him furious.

The other human didn’t seem as confident as the one that claimed to have hurt [y/n] a few times, with him clearly just following along with the other. Oh Techno would make sure that they would be dealt with, both here and back at camp.

Before any more words could be exchanged, the Piglin felt himself rush forward, clashing blades with the cocky hunter. He could feel his anger blinding him as he sent messy swings towards the hunter, all aiming for his face.

“Why don’t you let me fight your girlfriend?!” The hunter shouted in his face, “You seem to have lost your edge, you disgusting hybrid!”

His words continued to fuel the fire Techno had going on, sending even more powerful swings the hunters' way. In his fury he didn’t notice the fight going on between the Elytrian and the other hunter.

[y/n] was desperately trying to protect the feline hybrid that stood terrified behind her, however in her rush she had forgotten to bring her sword. Only leaving her with her bow and arrows, this against the hunter with the sword and mixed with trying to protect the hybrid behind her was not boding so well. She also seemed slightly distracted, whether it was from her earlier argument with Techno or the fact that she recognised that hunter she didn’t know.

She struggled to make an offensive move, making sure to be on the defensive to protect the injured feline. Using her talons to make strong kicks at the hunter to keep him as far away as possible.

She could see out of the corner of her eye that her Piglin companion was losing himself. She had seen him once before in the state he was in now, though the last time it was fear that controlled him, this time it was anger. She could see the strong grip the voices had on him, taking advantage of his angry, vulnerable state and taking over.

She hated to admit it but she did feel fear start to crawl up to her, she was worried about Techno’s state. Plus the feline hybrid that stood behind her was still injured and needed to be taken back to the camp. She couldn’t believe she left her sword back at the area her and Techno were sparring at, she had completely forgotten and now in the situation she was in her bow was no use at all.

[y/n] was desperate to knock the hunters down, just so that they could leave without them being hurt. Because as much as she hated to admit it she could see that the two of them were in a losing situation.

Techno was too focused on his own fight to spare a glance towards his winged friend, in fact during the blows he swung at the hunter he completely forgot that she and the feline were still there. He still was in control of his actions but he knew that he was reaching a limit, his and the voices' anger paired together being a dangerous thing.

He could only think of how much he hated the human that stood in front of him, how his cocky and arrogant face smirked at him. If the mask was not upon Techno’s face the human would’ve seen the snarl that the Piglin held on his face.

The voices and their constant yapping made him less accurate with some of his swings, them being much messier than normal. Sure he was making stronger blows, but the voices had almost made his vision go blurry, with him only narrowly avoiding the sword from the human as it came close to him.

“What happened to the almighty Blood God?!” The hunter taunted, laughing while blocking some of Techno’s swings. “I thought I was fighting the one who could take on several hunters at once, but look at you now, you can hardly make a decent blow to me!!”

The taunt only made Techno growl, with him rearing his arm back to swing once more. He tried to ignore the voice of the man, yet it seemed to echo in his head similar to the voices. Though it was clear that the voices also despised the man as much as Techno, something they finally agreed on.

“Though I am getting a little bored of this back and forth…” The hunter continued, smirking even more. “How about I make this a little more interesting?”

The Piglin could feel his brow furrow, with a gap in the constant yelling of the voices so that he could take in the words of the hunter. What was he on about?

Techno’s confusion was soon answered though, with the hunter in front of him using his free hand to grab a small dagger that was lodged into his boot. He gripped it firmly while still blocking Techno’s hits with the sword in his other hand.

Before Techno had a chance to question in his mind what he planned to do with the dagger he watched as the hunter threw it. It wasn’t aimed at him though, instead he could only watch as the dagger made its way past him. He felt as if he was watching the dagger move in slow motion, flying through the air as it made its way over to [y/n].

He wished he was more in control, maybe then he would’ve seen it before it dug its way into [y/n]’s stomach. He could’ve stopped it so he didn’t have to listen to the scream that made its way from her lips, her yell of pain making his eyes open wide in shock and his own chest tighten.

His breath hitched and caught in his throat as he watched the blood instantly start to pool around where the dagger stuck out from. Surprisingly [y/n] still stood up, though she was clearly in pain she did not fall down. He could see her hands shake and her body wobble a little in trying to keep upright.

Techno was not able to hear the hunter stood in front of him laugh, no, the voices were all he could hear now. Sure they were loud before, but now…

Now they were enraged.

They were furious.

And they wanted BLOOD .

All the Blood God could see was red. Everything was red. Like the blood he now longed for. And who would stop him? 

Techno never noticed himself as he lunged forward onto the hunter that had thrown the dagger. All he saw in front of him was an enemy, a monster that dared to hurt her . 

The voices chanted in his head, loud and clear.

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

BLOOD!

KILL!

THEY HURT [Y/N]!!!

Techno embraced their calls, charging forward towards the hunter swingingly brutally. Even the hunter seemed caught off guard by the sudden aggressiveness of the hybrid, struggling to keep blocking the attacks, only just doing so in time.

The Piglin swore in his red vision that he could see the panic in the hunter’s eyes, he could see the fear of losing his fight against the almighty Blood God. He loved it, he loved the terrified expression that riddled the man’s face, and he craved for more.

He felt a smile form under the bone mask he wore as his sword started to tear into the hunters clothes, then flesh. More red flooding his vision, though now the red was all over the hunter, pooling from fresh cuts Techno had bore into him. It made Techno crave even more…

In his state he had completely forgotten once more about [y/n], his voices too focused on their revenge and craving for blood. He did not see as she was able to deliver a strong blow to the other hunter who she had been keeping away from the feline hybrid, successfully knocking him out before collapsing herself due to the dagger that still stuck out of her stomach. She was grateful that the hunter she was against had stood in sheer shock at the change in aggression Techno had shown.

She was comforted by the feline, though they looked truly terrified too. But her vision was solely focused on the now furious Piglin hybrid. Even with her wound she did not take her eyes off her friend, her eyes were wide in shock and her mouth open as she watched Techno grow ever more aggressive as each second passed by.

Techno on the other hand did not notice her, completely focused on harming the man in front of him. At this point he had forgotten what he had even done in the first place, but he didn’t care. 

HE JUST WANTED TO KILL HIM.

Struggling to keep up, the hunter stumbled backwards now trying to escape from the Blood God. He was covered in cuts, they were littered all over his skin, some of them looking deep enough to scar. Techno continued to grin as he watched the hunter fall backwards, now looking up at him.

“N-no…” The hunter’s voice begged, it was completely different from the last time he spoke. Filled with fear he begged pathetically. “Please don’t!!”

But the words of the man didn’t even phase the Piglin hybrid, with Techno, no, the Blood God hovering over the figure of the man. He raised his sword, ignoring the pleas of the pathetic welp that sat underneath him, he was looking forward to splitting his skull open.

Still blubbering words Techno could not make out the man looked up in fear, tears and snot running down his face. The smile on the Piglin’s face grew, and though it could be seen he truly looked insane in that moment. He readied his sword to come down, bloodily finishing off the man.

“STOP!!”

The sword stopped inches away from the hunter’s face.

“Please… stop…”

Her voice… he recognised her voice. His senses started to come back to him, noticing the cowering figure that lay beneath him. The man trembled, with tears streaked across his pathetic little face.

“What happened…” His voice was meek, much quieter than he had meant for it to be.

“I… you…” The words seemed to fail the Elytrian. Her hands outstretched, as if Techno could suddenly lose all control again. “We don’t kill remember… we’re just here to teach them a lesson.”

Her words almost flicked a switch in his head, with him remembering one of the rebellion's first meetings where they discussed never killing the hunters. Otherwise, they’d be just as bad as them…

His eyes went wide as he came to terms with what happened. Noticing the blood staining his hands and sword, realising it belonged to the man beneath him.

The voices… he’d lost control…

But how had she snapped him out of it? How come out of all the screaming, it was her voice that stuck out the most?

He didn’t want to think about that right now, it was too much for the moment. 

He quickly reeled his sword back and turned it around before harshly hitting the hunter on the side of his head, knocking him out before [y/n] could protest. He didn’t want the man to be awake long enough to recognise his voice and blow his cover.

With the hunter knocked out cold he heard his voice be whispered by the winged girl beside him, a shakiness still present in her voice.

“Techno… what was that?...”

Chapter Text

Techno’s mind was still racing. It still felt as if he was coming down from the events that had happened the day prior.

Thankfully the two had been able to bring the stolen hybrid back safe and sound, but little words were spoken between the two. Both clearly freaked out by Techno’s actions.

He remembered [y/n] quickly darting away to heal her injury from the hunter. Thankfully the wound wasn’t too bad, she had been holding her hand against it the entire journey back so she didn’t lose much blood. Techno had no idea how she could stomach the injury and not even say a word about it. He assumed she left quickly so that Phil didn’t see it, Techno knows he would’ve nearly killed the two of them if he knew they went out on their own.

He couldn’t believe he had lost control like that. Sure he had lost control in the past, but it was nothing like that… frankly, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, the thought of him losing control like he did scared him. It scared him knowing that he could’ve killed that hunter without even realising it, and the fact that [y/n] was only just able to snap him out of it.

If it wasn’t for her voice then he surely would’ve murdered him, not only that, but who knows if his rampage would’ve stopped there?... He could’ve hurt [y/n] for all he knew…

The voices had completely taken over…and he still knew nothing about why they had this hold over him, it was truly terrifying…

He shook his head, trying not to think too much about it. A small part of him feared the voices could take over if he thought about it too much.

But he also knew he owed [y/n] an explanation. That, and he wanted to talk to her again. He hated seeing her fearful expression and he wanted to make sure she didn’t see him as a monster… that was the last thing he wanted.

Right now he was sitting on a bench in the corner of the village, away from the rest of the hybrids. He watched as dozens of different hybrids wandered past him, talking amongst themselves. Happy and safe in the village, not having to worry about the hunters.

With his head in his hands he saw a familiar scaled face nearby in the river that flowed through the village. Niki talked amongst some other Merlings, her face beaming as she gestured with her hands. She might know where [y/n] is, they seem to be pretty close to each other since coming here.

With a sigh the Piglin pushed on his knees and stood from the bench, making his way over to the water watching as Niki’s Merling friends swam away before she turned to greet him.

“Techno! Hey, I haven’t seen you in a week or two, how’s it going?” She said kindly.

It wasn’t going great, not really. But the Piglin didn’t want to dampen the Merling’s mood.

“Yeah, it’s umm great… how are you?” Goddamn, he hated small talk so much.

“I’m doing really well!” She exclaimed, “Did you know I’ve been placed in charge of accessibility for the entire village?!”

She had? Techno hadn’t heard anything about this.

“Really?”

“Yeah! [y/n] and Phil told me that with all these new hybrids coming to the village someone should be in charge of making sure it’s accessible to all the different species!”

That made sense. At the moment there were so many hybrids getting rescued, it made sense for someone to be put in charge to make sure that they can all adjust and fit in. Making sure that their individual needs for the village were met.

“That’s pretty cool… How long have you been in charge?” He asked, trying to be polite.

“Only a few days, but look!” She gestured to some of her notes in front of her on the grass. “I’m planning to extend the river for the Merlings. Oh! And I think some burrows should be made for some of the hybrids that don’t want to sleep up in the treehouses!”

“You’re really planning this out, heh?” Techno chuckled as he saw the Merling’s excitement in her plans. In honesty, they were all important ideas, great for the ever growing population of the village.

“Of course I am, I’m just so happy to be involved and play a part in the rebellion! [y/n] trusts me to do a good job, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do!” She smiled widely, showing off her jagged teeth.

Techno chuckled again, actually glad Niki was enjoying herself before remembering what he came over to her for in the first place.

“Hey, do you actually know where [y/n] is? I need to talk to her about something.”

The Merling rose her head at the question before speaking in that same cheerful voice as always.

“Of course! She’s actually in the library at the moment, she’s been in there for ages. I honestly thought you two were in there together!”

She thought Techno was already in there? That seemed a little strange…

“You thought I was in there with her?”

Niki’s ears flicked at his question before she giggled to herself and brought her webbed hand up to her mouth. 

“How could I not? You guys are super close, I thought you were in there chatting or something, would’ve explained why she’s been in there for hours. I guess she’s caught reading a book or something though!”

That seemed like it was a… strange analysis… Either way at least Techno knew where she was.

“Umm, great, thanks Niki…” He replied after Niki’s strange remark. Stepping over the stream of water and heading towards the large hollowed out tree with the library inside.

He shook his head, focusing on what he wanted to say to [y/n]. Did he start with an apology, or go straight into an explanation. What if she didn’t want to hear him out?! For some reason, that worried Techno a lot more than he would like to admit.

He had to explain what Phil had told him, about the Brutes, about the part they could play in the control the voices had. Not that he knew much about it, but out of everyone the person he’d rather share it with strangely enough was [y/n].

As he reached the entrance to the library he didn’t bother knocking, instead letting himself in before closing the door gently. Looking around the grand entrance of the building, it’s vast knowledge lining the walls in books of many different sizes and colours. He had a feeling Wilbur would like this place if he ever came to the village.

“[y/n]...” He called out. He wasn’t sure whether he would receive an answer or not as he glanced up the trunk of the library.

A flap of wings above him caught his attention, his head turning to spot the Elytrian sitting on a hammock quite far above him. She had a book in hand, and by the looks of it even more books at the edge of the hammock.

“Oh, Techno… I’m sorry I didn’t see you there…” Her voice was soft and she instantly floated down, her talons meeting the wooden floor, her standing directly in front of him. She didn’t seem mad, or scared?

Her friendly demeanour surprised him. Not that her being friendly was surprising, oh no, but after yesterday he assumed she would be disgusted or at least a little afraid. At this point though, he was never sure what to expect from her, she still confused him, and strangely he actually quite liked it.

“I- well, you see-” He struggled to find the words, wishing he had planned out what he was going to say a little more. “I wanted to talk about yesterday…what happened…”

“Ah you mean the Brute voices.”

“I wanted to give you an expla-” He stopped himself halfway through his sentence, had she just… “Wait, you know?...”

Her feathers seemed to fluff up a bit, even her ear feathers, they brought attention to the soft dusting of blush that started to appear on her cheeks.

“I do know. But it’s not like I was trying to keep anything from you!” She said, seemingly panicked, waving her hands in front of her face. “I just decided to do my own research! I didn’t want to disturb you after what happened, I had a feeling you might not have wanted to discuss it…”

He ignored her flustered state, more interested in the fact she actually looked into what had caused them. Had Phil helped her? Perhaps…

“What do you know about them?”

“To be honest, probably as much as you, I doubt I’ll know much more though. It was impossible to find stuff on the Brute Piglins. I do know though that they work similarly to a hive-mind, and that you’re connected to them, am I right?”

“You’re pretty much spot on. I only know the basics too, that the Brutes used to demand blood, which is what my voices do. Did… did Phil tell you anything?”

Her ears flicked a little at the question, but her expression stayed the same, “No, Phil has told me nothing of the voices you hear and their connection to the Brutes. I pretty much found everything out on my own in the last few hours.”

She had found that in a few hours?! Techno chuckled a little as he thought how smart the Elytrian was before shaking his head and attempting to bring himself back to reality.

“You’re pretty much all caught up then, what still confuses me though is what causes them to go out of control, that and how they can sometimes be calmed down again once going haywire…” Techno placed a hand on his chin, thinking out loud.

[y/n] cocked her head to the side and took a step closer, attempting to make eye contact with the Piglin. The fluff of her large wings behind her and close proximity made him lift his head.

“So you don’t know the fine details of your voices, of the Brutes reasonings inside of your head?” She asked intellectually.

“Ummm, I guess so.” Why did she have to say it in a way that made him sound like an idiot who knew nothing about his own problem?!

“Well, considering you interrupted my research, how about we go do some more together?” She gave him a wink, “To find all those fine details you’re missing out on!”

Techno was about to open his mouth to agree to her idea but he didn’t get the chance as the Elytrian excitedly opened her wings and with a large flap lifted herself into the air. As she did so her large talon feet tightly gripped the Piglin hybrid around his shoulders, making his body fly into the air following hers.

A gasp and sharp exhale of air left the Piglins mouth, not expecting to have flying lessons with the Elytrian. His adrenaline started to rush and he could feel the fast pace of his heartbeat nearly jump out of his chest. The strange airy sensation overtook his body, as he felt as light as a feather being dragged below [y/n]. His calloused hands quickly found their way to the talons around his shoulders, holding onto them to make sure he didn’t fall.

Though as he was lifted higher and higher into the trunk of the library his adrenaline rush calmed a little and he felt his own excitement and joy start to take over at the sensation of flying. It didn’t last too long as [y/n] soon gently laid him onto one side of the hammock she sat on prior, before her own wings pace slowed and she rested on the other side, opposite Techno.

She noticed his shock and an apologetic look came onto her face, “Oh, sorry, I probably should’ve given you a warning.” She looked away slightly, raising her hands to gesture her apology.

Techno chuckled at her words, his adrenaline rush still lingering, “You’re alright, I love it when you surprise me like that.”

The blush returned on the Elytrian’s cheeks, it mirrored the pink hue on the Piglin’s. The two laughed for a moment, [y/n] flattening out her puffed up ears and wings. Techno didn’t quite register the words he said until he had stopped laughing, he swore he felt his face go an even darker shade of pink, maybe it was more red, he hoped not…

Thankfully the Elytrian had moved her focus to the books she had left on the side of the hammock. One of them was identical to the book Phil had shown Techno the last time they had discussed the voices, however there were a few that the Piglin didn’t recognise. He assumed [y/n] had found these ones on her own.

“I was able to find a few books that might talk a little more about the Brutes, their nature, what they were like. I believe if you’re of Brute descent or have genetics from them it might help you connect the reasoning to why the voices take over and what specifically can make them take over.”

She spoke about the voices so naturally. Normally if Techno thought about them for too long he would start to get worried and of course they might start to shout at him then. Even now, they were chatting in the back of his head, though he didn’t feel them pressuring him like they normally would.

“Let’s get researching then.” His hand reached out to one book, it looked like it focused on Pig breeds. He tried not to roll his eyes at the title of ‘The Hog Hunt’ and instead just get to reading, before he could start [y/n]’s voice rung out.

“Do you…” She hesitated for a moment, “Do you actually know why they get mad, why they overtake you. I mean I’ve seen them get bad, but never like yesterday.” Her voice had a tone of worry to it, and Techno felt guilty about making the girl worry about his own problems.

“I don’t know, I just…” His voice trailed off and his head sunk down towards the book a little.

The Elytrian seemed to sink a little herself, and one of her hands gently reached out to comfort the Piglin, her dark tipped fingers resting on top of one of his shoulders. Her touch made Techno lift his head immediately.

“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to, and it'd be ok if you don’t know. I’m here for you.”

A large lump felt like it was wedged in the Piglin’s throat, making it hard for him to swallow. The eye contact of the Elytrian impossible to look away from.

“It’s not that… I know little bits, an idea of why. It’s just… I’ve never shared this, not even with Wilbur, and he knows the most about the voices.”

She squeezed his shoulder gently, with every second her touch lingered it seemed like the voices faded more and more into the background. Their constant muttering turned more into whispers as each second passed.

“Like I said, you don’t have to, I’m already so happy you’re letting me help you. I’m surprised you were wanting to explain it to me.”

“You’re surprised?” He questioned squinting his eyes.

“Well yeah, I’m glad I’ve been able to wear down that tough outer shell you had on when we first met.” He hadn’t even thought about that before, how much he had felt himself change around her, “Anyway, you’re avoiding the subject.”

“You’re right. And I do want to tell you.” He closed the book on his lap, his legs were folded underneath him. Sitting crossed leg like a child would, he took a breath. “I know they’re connected to how I feel, like if I get upset, or angry or frustrated. They’ll react differently to specific emotions. But I don’t know how deep they can go, I don’t know if they affect my emotions in the first place, or if they just feed on them.”

He paused for a second, looking up at [y/n].

“Keep going…” Her voice whispered comfortingly. So he did.

“That’s why I try not to show as much, it means the voices can’t play into how I’m feeling. But yesterday, I don’t know what happened. So much of it was a blur, and I can’t remember what might have triggered them to go berserk like that. I mean, all I remember from it was seeing red, I don’t remember anything I did when they took over.”

As he finished he waited for her to say something. Embarrassed, he just spilled all his secrets out to her. He was meant to be the emotionless one, and here he was telling [y/n] about his silly trauma with the voices.

“So that’s why you were so boring at first!”

…

What??

His head immediately met her gaze, his mouth opened a little as he watched her giggle to herself. She had a smirk on her face, one he had seen once or twice before when she would tease him.

“I’m joking Techno! But in all seriousness I don’t think I’ve seen you not show emotion, especially when you’re around me. Truthfully I think you’re completely normal, that’s when we’re together of course, I assume it’s different for others!”

He thought about [y/n]’s words. Had he really changed around her? He had never noticed in all honesty. It must have been much more of a natural reaction than anything.

“Really?” He asked, wanting her confirmation.

“Well yeah, I mean look at us right now! Look at you, being open and vulnerable, I think that’s an achievement in itself. I would never think you’re repressing your emotions!” Her shoulders bounced ever so slightly as she chuckled along with her words.

“What effect do you think it might have on my voices?” Techno asked, wondering if she had any ideas. She may have been able to put together a few answers, more than Techno would’ve been able to anyway.

She brought a hand up to her chin, her dark fingers rubbing against her skin while she thought. “From what I understand, if you’re starting to show more emotion than normal and the voices are connected to them, the stronger you feel about someone the more the voices react. I assume they’re not always angry, like right now. But about yesterday…maybe it was when I got hurt?...”

She trailed off, unsure of if she should mention the events again.

“Maybe…” Techno also trailed off, feeling as if the subject was uncomfortable. “How…how is your injury?”

And just like that, she was back to her perky self. Her voice chipper as she lifted her shirt to show the wound, it was hardly even visible. “I’m as fit as a fiddle! A few stitches did the trick!” She let out a soft exhale of air, “But yes, I hypothesise your voices react strongly to your emotions and that certain things may trigger them to… umm… ‘take over’.” She air quoted that last little part.

He liked that hypothesis. Well, he liked that there was a hypothesis. He would rather there be no voices to begin with, but alas, that would never be the case.

“Well, if that’s all we got, then shall we get researching?” He suggested, picking up his book once again. He saw her snicker at the title before picking her own up and nodding.

“Lets.”

~-~

A few hours had passed at the library. The large circular windows that once showed the shine of day were now dark and instead you could see the stars through them. A few candles illuminated the entire library, leaving it to be dimly lit, just enough as to read the words in the books.

Techno and [y/n] laid sprawled out over the same hammock, bodies nearly intertwining as they laid in comfortable positions. They had gone through around twenty or so books, finding hardly any new knowledge. It was frustrating, but their playful banter had helped them both keep focus and carry on with their research.

Both their attention was diverted by a new sound, the sound of large wings flapping up and towards the two. The sound they made was much deeper than any sound [y/n]’s wings ever made, so it was instantly recognisable as Phil.

His body floated towards the two and his talons gripped onto the rope holding the hammock the two were on making it sway. The two hybrids instantly put down their books to look upon Phil, curious as to why he had paid them a visit.

“What are you two doing?” He asked innocently with a chuckle, he could make out the eyebags that were starting to form around their eyes.

“Researching.” [y/n] replied shortly.

“... And how long have you been researching for?” The Elytrian raised his brow, a smirk making its way onto his face as he guessed the answer.

“Hours.” Techno finished the answer and closed the book in his hand, “We haven’t found anything.”

“I wouldn’t say you haven’t found anything, my boy.” Phil spoke gently to Techno, “Any knowledge is helpful, even if it is on a Pig’s diet.”

A small chuckle made its way from all three’s lips. It was painfully obvious Techno and [y/n] were exhausted after struggling to find results.

Phil’s voice rang out again, a fatherly undertone to it. “Come now, the both of you. You should get to bed, we have a hunt to intercept tomorrow. One of our friends overheard the hunters planning to go to the East side of the river to try and capture some hybrids, you two will be our main leaders again.”

[y/n] nodded and dragged herself up, yawning as she did so and stretching her back and wings with a few pops. She hopped off the hammock and with a few flaps floated in the air, she offered her talons to Techno to grip him and bring him back down to safety on the ground.

Once on the ground Techno also stretched his muscles, he hadn’t realised how stiff they had become while he had comfortably laid in the hammock beside [y/n]. Phil rested a hand on his shoulder.

“You should get going home Techno, you wouldn’t want to leave your brothers alone for too many days in a row.” He added a kind smile to the end of his sentence before making his way out the library calling to his niece. “Come along [y/n], I can see you’re half asleep standing there, I’ll make you some hot cocoa.”

“Philll…” She whined, clearly embarrassed by him. She let out a sigh and called back to him, “I’ll be with you in a second.” She watched him leave the building before turning back around to the Piglin hybrid.

“I assume Phil won’t be knowing about our adventure yesterday?” Techno half-joked. He knew Phil wouldn’t like it.

“Definitely not.” She giggled before going quiet. 

A strange, awkward tension had suddenly wiggled its way into the conversation. The two hybrids now just standing and staring at each other. It was clear both wanted to say something, though neither knew how to phrase it.

“You know…” Techno spoke out before hesitating in the middle of his sentence.

“Yes…”

“I hate leaving the village, it makes me kinda sad. Not that seeing my brothers upsets me, I just wish they could live here instead.” The Piglin spoke, in an unusual voice with hardly any confidence. Something which felt new for him.

“Yeah, I hate you leaving too.” [y/n] rubbed her arm, avoiding eye contact with the Piglin. “But you’ll come back tomorrow, so I have that to look forward to, right?”

“Right! Right.”

This felt painfully awkward. Techno wished he wasn’t here right now. But then that would also mean he wasn’t in front of [y/n], and he wouldn’t be looking at her…

I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” The Elytrian shook her head and backed away to the door behind her, bumping into it as she kept her gaze towards Techno.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow…” Techno said quietly, watching as [y/n]’s feathers disappeared from the doorframe. He felt himself sigh, unsure if it was relief he hadn’t made a fool of himself or if it was something else.

Why was he feeling this way? He would see the same girl tomorrow, it was only a few hours away. Yet why did his heart start beating faster and faster every time he thought of the moment he could see her again.

All this talk of starting to feel, to display his emotion, was it getting to him? Because surely all this couldn’t mean what he thought it meant… 

Oh god, this was like out of one of Wilbur’s made up stories.

There was no way he could have feelings for [y/n].

…

Was there?

Chapter Text

Techno watched as the glow of the sun disappeared from the sky, instead illuminating the world in a midnight blue, stars speckled across the sky. He was on his way back to the village after having a few hours napping at home and talking to Will and Tommy.

Thankfully he wasn’t asked to stay behind by Sam when he had run into him as he passed the hunters camp. Techno could see the frustration written all over Sam’s face, with him clearly being bothered by the recent actions of the rebellion. The hunters hadn’t had a single catch in around a month, Sam was obviously quite stressed, and frankly Techno felt a little bad for him.

The Creeper hybrid was understandably trying to plan something to get rid of the rebellion, considering he had asked Techno to refrain from going on any of the larger hunts for hybrids. The Piglin had no idea what he was planning, but for now he had to focus on the rescue for tonight.

As he swept aside the ivory that led into the village he was expecting to see a familiar face, one that he knew would make him lose all nervousness and worry he had in him. After the events of the day before, he did admit he had felt tingly every time he thought of the Elytrian. A part of him wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t when it was painfully obvious like this. Right now was not the moment for it though, he could think about her all he wanted to after the rescue tonight.

A figure stood in front of him and as he was about to call [y/n]’s name he stopped, realising it in fact wasn’t her.

“Oh, you’re back…” Fundy’s voice rang out sarcastically as the Fox gave him a side eye with his paws crossed.

Oh great. Fundy. Techno thought Fundy was alright with him now? What was this dude’s problem with him?

“I’m back for the rescue today, the one by the East side of the river?” The Piglin retorted, trying to sound as nice as he could with his gritted teeth. 

“Fantastic…” The Fox hybrid mumbled out, “I guess I’m stuck with you for tonight then, I’m helping Niki and Ranboo escort any hybrids we save tonight.” Techno watched as Fundy rolled his eyes, obviously upset about the fact he would have to be in the presence of the Piglin hybrid.

Techno also rolled his eyes, sick of the childish behaviour Fundy displayed. “I’m trying to help all hybrids, that includes you ya’know?” He said, his voice a tad harsh as one of his hands rested on his hip.

“Yeah I know.” Fundy replied nonchalantly, “And I don’t care.”

What was wrong with him?...

“We’ll get your cousin back, I swear Fundy.”

The Fox’s shoulders seemed to rise at this, with him flinching at the mention of his captured cousin. “No. We won’t get him back. I’ll save him. I don’t want you going anywhere near him. The only people I would trust with helping me are Niki, Ranboo, Phil and [y/n]. Not you.” His words had an aggressive edge to them, almost threatening.

“Why?” Techno asked shortly.

Fundy’s shoulders rose even higher. “Because, you happily joined the hunters when it benefitted you and only you. I don’t trust someone who would’ve hunted hybrids of their own accord. The only reason you’re not doing that right now is because of-”

“Hey guys!” A [y/n]’s voice interrupted, stopping Fundy in his tracks and cutting him off. “What are you guys talking about?!” She spoke energetically, catching the two arguing hybrids off guard.

“Nothing much, nothing at all…” Fundy replied, trying to hold a clear fake smile on his face to not come off as rude in front of the Elytrian.

The Fox backed away a little, relaxing his posture now [y/n] was here. It was clear he was getting annoyed before but now the presence of the Elytrian had diffused the situation entirely. Techno knew that Fundy was just about to say [y/n]’s name before she flew in, and though he pushed the conversation with the Fox to the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but feel as if Fundy might be right…

“Techno!” [y/n]’s voice drew him back to reality, her voice startling him a little, “Hi! Are you excited for tonight? The rescue I mean. After last night I couldn’t stop thinking about it and some cool tricks we could pull off!”

Woah. 

[y/n] was quite energetic sometimes, but never like this. The Elytrian was all up in Techno’s face, her feathers behind her fluffed up and her face a darker shade than usual. Her smile reached from one side of her face right to the other.

After a moment of silence, more from the shock of her energy she seemed to realise how forward she was being and backed down a little. “Sorry, I just couldn’t wait to speak to you again after last night. I guess I let my excitement get the best of me!” She intertwined her hands, twiddling her thumbs as if it was a way to release all that pent up energy.

“No, it’s ok. I was kinda looking forward to this too.” Techno replied, a chuckle involuntarily escaping from his lips. “After yesterday I couldn’t stop thinking of seeing you again, oh, and the village of course.” That was partly a lie, it was mostly her he was looking forward to again.

“I felt the same way! Except I’m already in the village of course…”

A moment of quiet passed, the two faces of the hybrids covered in a red blush, spreading over their cheeks and nose. Techno felt as if he was starting to lose himself in those [e/c] eyes, them hypnotising him. While the Elytrian twiddled her hands, trying to stop herself from actively jumping onto the Piglin from her excitement.

After nearly a minute of silence the voice of the Fox hybrid spoke out, Techno and [y/n] forgetting he was also standing there and part of the conversation.

“Uhh, I don’t know if I’m missing something here.” Both heads turned to look at Fundy, realising he had still been standing there. “But this is super awkward…”

~-~

Thankfully a few hours had passed since that embarrassing situation, the three hybrids swiftly moving along with the preparation for the rescue. The moon now sat high in the night sky, illuminating the forest in a white glow.

At the moment Techno and [y/n] sat in the branches of a tree, hidden behind the thick canopy. They were to wait here until the hunters passed by them, from reports of Phil flying overhead they had around five or six hybrids captured. The dark sky the same hue as his wings gave him plenty of time to analyse the hunters position and their status.

It was now Techno and [y/n]’s job to strike when the hunters came by this part of the river, once they ambushed the hunters Niki, Fundy and Ranboo would join in, freeing the captured hybrids and leading them back to camp. Each had a pivotal role to be played, Niki being able to help any creatures confined to the water, Fundy leading the hybrids on land and Ranboo teleporting any that were too hurt straight back to the camp.

“It’s pretty, right?” 

The sound of [y/n]’s whispers brought Techno back to the present, his head moving so he could focus on the Elytrian perched on the branch in front of him. She looked at the sky, her eyes darting between all the stars.

“You like astrology?” Techno asked her, a smile forming on his face. He crossed his arms across his chest, his Blood God cape moving behind him as he listened intently to her.

“I’ve read all the books in the library about the stars, I think their patterns are amazing. It’s a shame I can’t reach them even though I can fly.”

A chuckle left the Piglin’s lips, as did the Elytrian’s. Their whispers quieted down again before Techno opened his mouth, soft words leaving his lips.

“I’ve never looked into astrology, or the stars, anything like that before. But I’ve always loved being out at night, it feels much more magical than in the daytime.” The genuine words that left his mouth felt a little mushy, but he trusted [y/n] and felt as if he wanted to open himself up to her more, especially with his newly discovered feelings for her.

“Well, maybe we could go stargazing one time?” She tilted her head towards him, “I’ll teach you about all the constellations if you want?”

Without the mask on, Techno tried not to make his shock obvious, his eyes widening a smidge.

She wanted to spend time with him? Like, just them? Not a training session or sparring, no. Time spent together, almost like a date?

 “Yeah…I’d like that.”

A sudden rustle interrupted the moment the two hybrids were having, instantly making their heads snap towards the sound. It definitely wasn’t Niki, Ranboo or Fundy, they were waiting until [y/n]’s signal. 

The sound of low voices and hushed laughs could be made out. It was the hunters. As they came more into view the two hybrids watched as eight or so hunters emerged dragging along six hybrids behind them. Two of which looked badly injured, one being a Rabbit hybrid with a nasty gash on their left leg, the other an Avian that looked as if it was on the verge of passing out with their ankles twisted in an unnatural way.

The other hybrids didn’t look as bad as them two, a little beaten up but mostly okay. Techno felt himself getting angry at the sight of the injured Avian, his mind immediately thinking of Tommy. Avian’s were quite a common hybrid but he hadn’t come across any yet, this one looked as if it was similar to Tom and Ranboo’s age. 

His fists clenched, his anger clouding his mind as the voices started to make themselves louder, echoing in his head. If it wasn’t for [y/n]’s hand that made its way on top of his own he doesn't know what might have happened, with him coming back to his own senses as he felt the contact.

His gaze met hers and he watched as her eyes flickered over to his mask that laid on the branch next to him, before returning to him. Indicating that now was the time to move. He gave her a short nod, fixing the mask on his head as well as the crown, which he had hooked onto his sheath for his sword.

[y/n] made the first move, grabbing her bow and pouncing down onto one of the hunters nearly directly beneath them, quickly flattening him to the ground and surprising the others. Techno chuckled to himself, guessing [y/n] was also annoyed at the state of the hybrids captured, wanting to teach the hunters a lesson.

He also jumped down as the panicked voices of the men started to make themselves known. Unsheathing his sword and intimidatingly standing beside the Elytrian, a smirk on his face under the mask.

“It’s the Elytrian and The Blood God!” One of the hunters shouted. Techno couldn’t quite tell if it was anger or fear woven in his voice, maybe both?

The hunter [y/n] landed onto lay the floor, knocked out by the sudden impact. It made techno nearly let out a laugh at how humorous it was. Good, one down, seven to go.

All of a sudden the two hybrids leapt into action, [y/n] flying high into the air, raining down arrows on the hunters that stood by themselves. Techno took a more offensive position with the hunters that held the ropes binding the captured hybrids, swiftly cutting through the leads so some of them could get far away enough from the action so they didn’t get injured anymore.

With her bird’s eye view [y/n] saw the hybrids move away from the slashing swords, making a loud whistle sound. Techno immediately recognised this as the signal they had discussed in the briefing. As soon as the sound was made the three other recognisable hybrids made their way into the action.

Techno tried to keep his attention on his own fight, fending off three of the seven hunters. It was clear how much of a threat they knew he was, evident by three of them taking him on at once. Strangely it felt a lot more difficult than it normally did, had Sam been teaching them some new tricks while he hadn’t been at the camp? They certainly felt a lot more trained than usual.

He was able to make a deep gash in one of the hunter’s legs, making him drop to the floor in pain. It gave him a few seconds to look at how the others were coping. In his quick glance he saw that Fundy and Niki teamed up on two other hunters while four of the captured hybrids watched in awe and took part in throwing nearby rocks at the human. Carefully making sure the Rabbit and Avian were a safe distance away from the chaos.

Just behind them was [y/n], arrow in hand as it looked as if she toyed with the remaining two hunters. Using her strong talons to kick them back before making sure they fell to the ground after she sent a gust of wind made from her wings, making them fall to the ground. A grin was on her face, making it evident she was enjoying herself far too much before using the arrow in her hand to pin the other human to the tree beside her.

Techno knew he needed to get back to focusing on his fight, but there was something so enchanting about [y/n], maybe it was the way she fought? Maybe it was the way she looked? Maybe it was…

“Concentrate on your own fight you lousy hog!!” Fundy’s voice brought him back to reality, like it did at the village. Just in time before the hunter’s he was fighting swung violently at him, barely missing cutting his mask in half. 

The sudden snap back to the present made him shake his head, he can’t lose concentration now. His sword rose once more, taking the offensive onto the two hunters in front of him. It would definitely be much easier with one on the floor, the pathetic man writhing in pain, whimpering and calling for his mother.

Unbeknownst to him the Fox’s call had actually drawn the Elytrian’s attention from her own fight. The mention of the hog immediately registering in her mind as Techno, her head flicking up to make sure he was okay. Though the seconds she was distracted from her fight one of the hunters on the floor opportunistically stuck their leg out tripping her up making her back land on her own wing as she let out a pained hiss.

Now too focused on his own fight, Techno failed to see [y/n]’s mishap, instead carrying on striking the men in front of him, with them now taunting him. Even though it was clear he would win.

He continuously raised his sword above his head, slashing down onto the hunters with a force that made their knees buckle from under them. Keeping his trained eyes on the enemies in front of them instead of the Elytrian he would rather have them fixated upon. 

Finally he is able to down another hunter he is up against, catching them off guard and slashing their leg making them fall down before using the hilt of his sword to knock them out. Now only against one opponent he feels more than confident enough to relax a little more, looking over at how the others are doing.

Still making sure to block the hunter he faces he finds Niki, Fundy and the other hybrids starting to make a getaway, with the two hunters on the floor unconscious. Techno assumed that the particularly large rock next to them was partly to blame. As he looked over to them, Fundy mimicked the sound [y/n] had made to signal them to come in, with him now using it as a signal to show that the three Pogtopian hybrids were ready to take the captive hybrids back to the village.

Neither Techno or [y/n] needed to confirm this, instead continuing with their fights letting the others make a quick get away. The hunter against Techno cocked his head at the loud whistle sound that came from Fundy, however he didn’t have a chance to question it as the Blood God continued his vicious attack on him.

From the corner of his eye Techno watched as Ranboo gently linked his arms with the two injured hybrids, the Rabbit and Avian, he had to duck to get down to their level. As soon as he had linked his arms with them he disappeared with a poof, only leaving behind a trail of purple particles. 

Once Ranboo had disappeared next it was Fundy and Niki that left, Fundy leading two of the hybrids back to the village on foot while Niki travelled through the river taking the other two through the entrance that followed the river. A large weight felt lifted off the Piglin’s shoulders as he watched the six captured hybrids escape, especially the Avian.

Now there was only the Blood God and the Elytrian left to fight. Thankfully half of the hunters had already been knocked out, with Techno close to finishing his battle with the remaining hunter pinned against him. [y/n] on the other hand was still fighting against the same two as she had been before, Techno raised a brow under his mask at this. Surely she still wasn’t just messing with them?

Like before all his thoughts immediately focused on [y/n], this  time there was no Fundy to break his trance though. The voices asked questions about [y/n], their constant yapping about the winged girl. 

He watched as the hunter that she had pinned against the tree before used the sword in his hand to recklessly swing at her, she dodged them easily however he saw as the other started to do the same behind her which made her dodging a lot more difficult.

Why wasn’t she just flying up and out of their way?

As soon as he asked himself the question he internally panicked, the voices asking even more questions, ones that clouded his mind.

Was she hurt? Why isn’t she fighting back? Where is her bow? What happened while you weren’t looking?!

A sudden hit to his ribs, partially knocking the wind out of him brought him back to reality. He much preferred Fundy’s yelling to snap him out of his thoughts rather than being punched in the gut by a hunter he was against.

He retaliated by sending back an even stronger punch to the man’s head as he snickered at being able to get a hit in. It was karma for the man as Techno knocked the man out using the exact same thing he had done seconds before. As the hunter fell to the ground joining his fellow humans Techno redirected his focus back onto [y/n], this time without the incessant nagging of the voices in the back of his head as he tried to keep them from interfering.

He quickly lept back into action, this time against the two hunters she was against. The smirks on their faces contorting into frowns as the Blood God joined their fight, ruining their fun taunting the Elytrian. With his sword he strongly pushed one of them away moving so his back was against hers so both could see the two hunters either side of them.

“I’m fine, I got this.” The Elytrian hissed out only loud enough for Techno to hear. Her voice seemed strained and she was definitely not ok, Techno hadn’t even said anything to her.

“You’re not fine, you’re not flying.” He said lowly keeping his eyes on the hunters circling them. He didn’t want to speak too loud, if he did the hunters might recognise his voice, then it would be all over for his spying act.

“I said I’m fine!” Her voice unintentionally got louder as she swept her leg under the hunter in front of her, catching him off guard and making him fall on his behind. As he fell the hunter facing Techno raised his sword, clearly angered by the low blow the Elytrian dealt to his friend.

Concealing his frustrated face the Blood God blocked the hunter’s sword with his own before kicking him back so he could get in another word to his winged friend. “It sure doesn't seem like you’re fine.” He couldn’t tell if he was making her more frustrated, it wasn’t his intention to if he was, after all he was not great at communication. Especially in a situation like this.

“I’ll tell you after, ok?” She replied quickly before returning to the fight with the hunter now getting up off the floor after she sent him tumbling down.

A short nod was all Techno gave her as a response, well, that and a small gruff. Now he just wanted to get the rest of this fight over and done with so he could get her to tell him what was really wrong. He could see her usual playful smirk when she fought was not on her face, and everytime she moved she seemed to wince, as if she was in pain or something like that.

Techno knew he had to wrap the rest of this fight up, now swinging even harder and faster at the hunter in front of him, giving him no time to process or predict the hybrid’s swings. Surprisingly he felt as if he had more control than usual, the voices not clouding his mind in worry or anger. Again he had no idea if it was because he had an actual reason to stay focused or the fact that [y/n] was still quite close to him.

He didn’t want to think about it too much, feeling his cheeks start to heat up under the mask once more. Instead he strode forward, pushing the hunter backwards and away from him, leading the human to trip and fall into the river which they had been fighting beside. Coughing and spluttering as his head rose, Techno took the opportunity to grab the man by the collar and headbutt him, subduing him like the other hunters.

He turned to see [y/n] still struggling a little, her kicks towards the hunter weaker than they would normally be. He noticed she refused to turn her back to the hunter, keeping her wings pinned against her back as if she was protecting them in a way. He made his way over, keeping out of the hunter’s sight before coming up behind him and easily knocking him out like all the others. They didn’t seem that tough, so why was she struggling?

“I had that one.” She said sternly, her chest rising up and down as she controlled her breathing, coming down from an apparent adrenaline rush. It was quite clear that she in fact didn’t ‘have that one’ with her exhaustion.

Techno ignored her words the moment, now feeling comfortable enough to speak, knowing all the hunters were successfully knocked out. “What’s wrong, you weren’t flying…” His voice was laced with worry and he stepped forward almost as if to assess her.

“Techno, I’m fine really…just wishing I brought my sword along with me for this one.” She said, still ignoring the blatantly obvious fact that she was in pain.

The Piglin ran with it just for the moment, “Then why didn’t you?” If looks could kill, Techno would be dead where he stood, with the Elytrian flashing him a brief expression.

“Are you serious? The only people who know about my sword training or that fact I can even pick one up are me and you. If Niki or Ranboo or Fundy saw me using it they would probably tell Phil.” As she vented to Techno, her voice started to calm a little. “Could you imagine if he saw me with a sword instead of my bow? He would be so disappointed…”

Her voice trailed off at the end, Techno listening carefully to each word that left the Elytrian’s lips. He understood the relationship between [y/n] and Phil seemed strained at times and he didn’t want to make it any worse.

“Do you know why he would be upset?” He asked as he took his mask off, letting his unruly pink hair fall to his shoulders as his eyes searched hers.

She sighed, “I think it's something to do with the Angel of Death, but it's something even I don’t really know.” The Angel again? How many times would the topic of the Angel come up before he found out what was really going on? “I know that my race of hybrids, the Elytrians, we always traditionally used bows, that’s why I’m so advanced in it. And though Phil won’t tell me exactly what happened, I have a feeling it has something to do with the day Schlatt raided the village, when he murdered all the Elytrians…”

Techno wasn’t expecting her to say all this. From the sounds of it Phil was becoming increasingly mysterious and instead of questions being answered he felt as if more were being raised. Though, right now he wasn’t bothered about any of that, his focus was purely on if [y/n] was ok, and her confession made it clear she was upset and frustrated.

“I understand.” He said, though it wasn’t necessarily true. “I know you know what you’re doing when it comes to archery, but how did you end up losing your bow in your fight today?”

She turned away, her head ducking a little as if she was embarrassed.

“[y/n]...” Techno pushed for an answer. He couldn’t help her if he didn’t know what was wrong.

She sighed again. “Yeah, ok, ok. You’re right, I wasn’t ok during the fight. Normally I know exactly what I’m doing, but I was caught off guard by-” She stopped halfway through as her eyes met Techno’s, before rephrasing, “I was just caught off guard. I tripped and landed on my wing, I’ve never done anything like that before and I think I twisted it or something. Either way, it hurts when I move it…”

As she spoke she uncurled her injured wing from behind her, the feathers were crumpled in one area and the whole wing looked bent in an unnatural way. The sight would have made some cringe, knowing how painful something like that would be, Techno however kept a straight face as he looked back up to [y/n].

“Why didn’t you say something? Or call for my help? I would’ve helped you…” 

She didn’t respond to this, instead looking down at the floor. It was obvious she knew that if she had asked for help, she would have received it instantly from the Piglin. Maybe it was pride? Or the fact she didn’t want to look weak in front of him? She wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know…” She finally said, her voice croaking a little. “I guess I just didn’t want to let anyone down… I couldn’t outright ask for help anyway, we all had our roles to play in the rescue, I didn’t want to drag anyone away from their own fight.”

She had a fair point. But it didn’t matter, Techno knew that he would’ve dropped everything to help her.

“Please call for me next time, I’ll always help you [y/n], I want to make sure you stay safe…” The tender words sounded so foreign coming from his mouth, yet they were exactly what he wanted to say. 

She smiled at his words, making the strange feeling of butterflies return to Techno’s stomach. “If you insist.” She let out a laugh at the end, making the corners of the Piglin’s mouth stretch even more. “You think we should tie these guys up?”

Her hands gestured to the eight hunters, all of which were lying on the floor unconscious. She was right in the fact that they needed to tie the hunters up, it was just safer for the rebellion, plus they would be able to untie themselves once most of them had woken up.

“Good call, we better get a move on.”

At his words the two started to haul the unconscious bodies together and use some rope [y/n] had brought to tie them together. Much to both their displeasure though the hunters were a lot heavier than they were expecting and having to drag eight of them together was a much bigger task than they had anticipated, even with Techno’s strength the two struggled. Not to mention how [y/n] still couldn’t fly with her injured wing.

By the time the two had finished binding the men together they were out of breath and exhausted. It was clear that [y/n]’s injury was starting to really get to her, with her seeming more tired than usual. 

The two hadn’t realised how much time had gone by until the sky started to lighten up, an orange glow making its way through the trees. This was not good…

“Shit!” The Elytrian exclaimed as she felt the glow of the sun start to hit her skin. “What time is it?”

Techno looked at the sky, his eyes widening as he realised. “It's morning…” They’d been here too long. Normally they would be back at the village before the sun started to rise. “We need to leave the forest, we can’t be out here in the open.”

“But it’s going to take us hours to get back to the village, without me being able to fly us back we’re gonna be at risk staying in the daylight.”

She was right, they couldn’t stay in the daylight. It made them too vulnerable, unable to hide in the shadows. But they couldn’t go back to the village, it would take too long, and they had no idea if they would run into any more humans, whether they were hunters or not, and [y/n] was in no shape to be fighting again.

A thought popped into Techno’s mind, he looked at the sky. It was just starting to turn orange, there was just about enough darkness.

“I have an idea, but I don’t know if Phil would like it…”

“Well, Phil isn’t here and we need to figure something out before it completely turns to day!” She spoke, clearly starting to panic at their situation.

“Ok, ok.” He sighed before speaking again, “I know where we are, we actually aren’t too far from the hunters camp. Say ten minutes or so-”

“Wait, I didn’t realise we were that close to the camp?!” She interrupted him.

The Piglin rolled his eyes, “Let me finish!” She quickly shut her mouth. “My cabin, back in Manberg, it’s close to the camp. If we’re quick we can get there before the sun has fully risen, we can hide there until night again and I’ll try and heal your wing to the best of my abilities. No one will suspect my cabin and the route has plenty of places to hide if someone comes our way.”

Her eyes seemed to light up at the idea. “Yes! That's perfect! Ooo, I’ve always wanted to see where you live!” She said as she focused on the completely wrong thing. “Let’s get going before the sun rises any more!”

With a nod, Techno immediately started to lead the way. Jogging through the trees and pushing aside the branches holding them long enough so they didn’t hit the Elytrian behind him. 

It was obvious that [y/n] was not used to so much running, her normal mode of transportation being her wings. Techno noticed as they reached the hunters camp she started to lag, her pace slowing in comparison to the Piglin. Knowing that they had to get past the hunters camp as quickly as possible he grabbed her hand, interlacing his fingers between hers, as he practically dragged her past the camp. He could feel his cheeks burning as he realised he was holding her hand but he tried not to think about it.

Thankfully they passed the camp avoiding the humans that came out of it as if they were the plague. Techno still held the Elytrian’s hand, unsure if she would struggle to keep up if he let go. He didn’t want to be found out now, it could ruin everything. As they entered the main area of Manberg he attempted to keep them both hidden in the shadows, hiding in alleyways and behind corners of buildings. 

Due to it being the early morning there was hardly anyone out, only a few humans running errands or breathing in the early morning air. Though it still felt extremely stressful for the Piglin, trying to make sure that no one even caught a glimpse of them. 

Out of the corner of his eye he could see [y/n] taking in the empire, well the dingy little town in the empire anyway. He wasn’t sure if she was expecting some extravagant area, where all the buildings were luxurious and everyone seemed happy, because what she saw was completely the opposite. He watched as she realised the poor conditions the humans were forced to live in, the conditions Schlatt had forced upon them even though he lived in a huge castle at the top of the empire.

Once again distracted by looking at [y/n] he failed to see the large group of hunters start to approach them. As his eye caught the vibrant green of a familiar creeper hybrid he internally panicked. He saw his cabin a few doors down and he swore he almost tore the Elytrians arm from her socket as he dragged her over to his cabin shoving her in and quickly slamming the door before anyone could catch a glimpse of them.

The two let out a sigh, relaxing and sinking a little as they realised they were safe inside of Techno’s home.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

A loud voice came from in front of them, startling them both. Their heads shot up to see two hybrids standing in complete shock in the hallway. The Avian and Phantom’s eyes wide and mouths agape as they stared at their older brother and the girl he had just smuggled into their home.

Tommy’s voice almost shook the house as he shouted once more. “WHO THE FUCK IS THIS WOMAN?!?”

…

Shit.

Chapter Text

The Piglin and Elytrian stood wide eyed, staring at the other hybrids who stood with their mouths open at the sight before them. How could he have forgotten about Wilbur and Tommy?? It had completely slipped his mind that they would both be in the house, his mind had been far too focused on getting [y/n] to safety.

As if his voice wasn’t heard Tommy shouted once more, his voice almost rattling the cabin with how loud it was, it made Techno cringe a little, hoping no one else could hear.

“TECHNO, YOU BROUGHT A WOMAN BACK!! AND SHE'S A BIRD TOO, LOOK AT HER WINGS!!”

Techno rushed to Tommy, placing a hand over his mouth to hopefully shut the child up. “Tom, Tom, please, just be quiet…” His worried tone surprised the younger Avian, the sense of urgency in it something that Tommy wasn’t used to.

As the Piglin was about to open his mouth again the Elytrian spoke up seemingly not sensing Techno’s urgency in keeping the situation calm, “You’re Tommy? Techno told me so much about you!” This really didn’t seem like the time for introductions, but [y/n] seemed too busy in introducing herself, now looking at the Phantom, “And you’re Wilbur, aren’t you? I’ve heard you’d like to be a musician right?”

Her eagerness clearly surprised the hybrids, them both looking at each other before back at Techno who held a guilty expression. The two obviously taken aback at how this stranger knew personal details of their life, things they only discussed between themselves.

“Yeahhh… that’s us, sorry who are you?” Wilbur was the first to speak up, asking the winged woman in front of him, trying to hold a friendly expression though it was clear he was incredibly confused and a little cautious.

Her face seemed to drop at his words. “You don’t know who I am?” 

The young boys shook their heads, prompting [y/n] to look behind her at the Piglin hybrid. Her brow raised as she questioned him, making the boys also turn their heads to look at Techno, who looked like he had been put on the spot.

“You haven’t told them?”

Techno hated the fact that all eyes were on him right now. The confused look on the three hybrids he cared about the most made him feel as if he wanted to shrink down into himself. He hadn’t planned on telling his brothers about the fact he was involved in the rebellion until they had won, however it seems like he’d have to break the news sooner than he expected.

“Listen, I can explain everything. Just- c-can we sit down, I need to make sure [y/n]’s wing is ok.” He said, his hand rubbing the back of his neck, he could feel the sweat that had formed there, making the pink strands of hair stick to his neck.

No one said anything as they moved to the dining room and sat around the table, there were only three chairs so Techno opted to stand, letting [y/n] sit down. She seemed a little tired, not used to walking or running like they had to do to get to his cabin, though she was doing an incredible job at not showing it.

He watched as Wilbur sceptically sat down, his mouth in a straight line, making it more difficult to interpret the Phantom’s thoughts in the moment. Tommy practically ran towards his seat, though his eyes never left the sight of [y/n]’s wings, it was evident he was in awe of how large they were. They were definitely something compared to his ‘chicken wings’ as he sometimes called them.

Before he could start explaining, Tommy decided to start firing questions away, Techno could see he was practically bouncing in his seat, desperate to know more. “So you’re [y/n] right?! Techno just said your name, so that’s obviously what it is, Techno is never wrong! Woahhh, your wings are awesome! You’re not an Avian so that must mean you’re an Elytrian! I thought those went extinct! Wait, doesn’t that mean you’re a part of the rebellion?! I can’t believe-”

“Tommy, shut up!!” Wilbur’s voice cut across the Avian’s sharply, startling all three and making them jump a little.

“But Will, I’m asking reasonable questions!!” Tom shot back at him. Wilbur gave him a wide eyed expression, one full of what seemed like anger. It was enough to make Tommy back down, sinking into his seat at the look from the Phantom.

“Techno…” Wilbur said, as calmly as he possibly could at this moment. “Would you like to explain what the fuck is going on?”

An awkward wave of quiet hit again, no one, not even Tommy or [y/n] saying anything. All eyes were on the Piglin hybrid as he let out a sigh, ready to explain what was really going on. He owed his brothers that at the very least…

“You’re right… I’m so sorry for not saying anything. I guess it was just easier to hide what was really going on.” He turned to [y/n], “This is [y/n], she’s an Elytrian, we were on a mission of sorts and she injured her wing. We couldn’t get back to her home so I took her here instead to heal her up so we didn’t have to stay in the forest with the hunters.”

Tommy interjected himself once more, too eager to hold himself back. “But didn’t Schlatt kill all the Elytrians, n’shit?”

“Tommy!” Wilbur scolded him, shutting him up again, before turning his head back to his older brother.

“He tried to…” [y/n] said quietly, her brows furrowed at the words, it clearly being a painful topic. In all honesty Techno normally tried to avoid talking about the massacre of nearly her entire race, it was difficult to control the conversation with Tom though. “But he didn’t quite get all of us, and that’s why I’m fighting back against him...”

She looked behind her, to where Techno stood and smiled. Placing her hand on top of his that rested on the back of her chair, “Why we’re both fighting back against him…”

“Both? What do you-” Wilbur stopped mid sentence, catching onto what [y/n] was saying. “You mean you’re a part of the rebellion?” He looked over to Techno. “You both are?”

Techno felt his throat drying up. The shock on both Wilbur and Tommy’s face was evident, what Techno couldn’t get a grasp of was the look on the Phantom’s face. He hated the fact that he couldn’t tell if it was a look of disappointment, shock or anger. 

He didn’t even have to answer, instead opting to give his brothers a nod. Too ashamed to verbally confirm the Elytrian’s words.

“NO FUCKING WAY!!” Tommy’s voice was the first to rise from the pause, his face was beaming, he clearly didn’t care about not knowing before. Only excited to hear more about this new predicament. “YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE REBELLION, THE ONE EVERYONE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT WAS RUN BY YOU TWO??”

“Ummmm, yeah pretty much…” [y/n] answered him. She could tell Techno was struggling a little, hoping that her answers would provide the brothers with the answers Techno struggled to get out.

“THAT IS AWESOME!!” His voice boomed, before Wilbur swatted him on the head.

“Tommy, shut up. We still have neighbours.” Wilbur’s voice was monotone, similar to Techno’s first used to be. He turned back to Techno, squinting his eyes. “How long have you been in the rebellion for Techno?”

The Piglin felt a lump in his throat as he found the words, trying not to stumble on them in front of Will and Tommy. “Around a month or two…”

Will’s expression stayed the same with his answer, the tension was thick and even Tommy stayed quiet. The Phantom let out a small hum, as if acknowledging the information he had just been told.

He turned to look at [y/n], eyeing her injured wing and the bent feathers. “[y/n] right?” She nodded before he continued, “We have the first aid kit in the kitchen, me and Techno can go grab it if you stay there.”

“Thank you.” She replied politely and smiled.

It was obvious to Techno that Will wanted a quiet word in private, and he shifted through the back of his chair and started to make his way to the kitchen.

“Tommy, don’t say anything stupid.” He warned his younger brother, pointing at him and making Tommy shoot back an offended look at the Phantom.

“I don’t say stupid things! I’m great at talking to women!” Out of the corner of Techno’s eye he saw Will roll his eyes and gesture for Techno to follow him into the kitchen while Tommy started to talk to the Elytrian sat at the table.

“So…what is it like being a woman?”

Techno closed the door behind him cringing at the question Tommy had asked [y/n]. He just hoped she understood that the Avain was just being cheeky and showing off.

It was painfully quiet in the kitchen… 

The heavy door blocked out the chatter from the dining room between the Avian and Elytrian, leaving the kitchen to be completely silent. Even the sound of a clock ticking in the background would have been better than the silence that flooded the room at that moment.

Wilbur stood opposite Techno, his arms crossed and his gaze directed towards the floor. He knew he should have told his brothers sooner, how could they forgive him after he lied to them for months on end. He had promised he would be a better brother, but look at him now, sneaking around and lying.

“Listen Will, I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner, I really did but-”

“Stop…”

Wilbur’s voice cut through his own. His apology stopped in its tracks as the Phantom lifted his gaze to meet Techno’s. The voices in his head shouted at Techno, telling him how ashamed he should be of himself, that he’s a bad brother…

“Why didn't you tell us…why didn’t you tell me?”

Techno swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’m so sorry… I was worried. I was afraid, if the rebellion was found out, if they found out I betrayed the hunters, betrayed Schlatt… They would have gone after you two… I didn’t want that, it’s the opposite of what I was hoping to do…”

“And what was it you wanted to do…”

He paused.

“To protect you and Tommy…”

The silence was deafening. The voices rattled around in his head, filling some of the quiet, but not in a good way. Never in a good way. It felt like they were scratching at his brain, punishing him for his own thoughts and actions.

“Techno…” Wilbur spoke after what felt like forever. 

This was it… he was going to call him out, he was going to get angry at him. Never forgive him, never want to speak to him again. He would hate him forever!

“Is there anything I can do to help with the rebellion?”

… 

What??

The Piglin shook his head a little, doing a double take. That was not something he was expecting him to say.

“Aren’t…aren’t you mad?” Techno asked, confused at the eager response of Wilbur.

“What? No, I’m not mad. I mean I’m a little upset you didn’t tell me earlier, but I can understand why you didn’t. I know it was to keep us safe.” He explained, placing a hand on Techno’s shoulder to show he wasn’t angry in any way. “To be honest, me and Tommy knew there was something else going on behind the scenes.”

“What do you mean?” The Piglin was still a little lost.

“Well, I didn’t think you would be spending that much time with the hunters. We both knew how much you hated them, plus the sudden appearance of this rebellion right as you started joining the hunts. We knew something was up. Also, do you think we wouldn’t notice the name of the rebellion was fucking Pogtopia??”

Oh… He had completely forgotten that his brothers would know the name of the rebellion, and that they’re the only ones who knew what Pogtopia was.

As on cue Techno heard Tommy’s voice shout through the door, “I CAN’T BELIEVE THE REBELLION IS NAMED AFTER ME!!” His voice carrying through the thick door separating the hybrids, [y/n] must have been explaining some things to Tommy while they were left alone.

Wilbur chuckled at the sound of Tommy’s voice. “God, he can never shut up can he?”

“Heh, I guess it’s just part of him.” A sense of relief washed over Techno, seeing Wilbur’s playful nature calming him down a little.

“Something I was not expecting though…” Wilbur started with a smug look on his face, drawing Techno’s attention back to him. “Was for you to bring back the Elytrian. I assume she’s the one that’s been distracting you…”

Techno nearly choked on his spit. “W-Will?! What…”

“Oh come on, Techno! I’ve seen you daydreaming at home before, you only started doing it when you joined the hunters which is obviously when you met her for the first time. It’s obvious that you have a thing for her, I don’t think this whole rebellion would have started out of the blue just because you wanted to be friends with the ‘cool Elytrian’!”

Wow. Way to call him out. 

Techno felt the blood rush to his cheeks making them turn the same colour as his hair. His eyes flicked to the door leading to where [y/n] and his youngest brother were before returning back to Will.

“I know I feel different around her, compared to others…it’s nothing like how I feel around you and Tommy. And it’s nothing like how I feel around any other members of the rebellion. I mean, she even has a direct influence on the voices. I just… don’t know if she is feeling what I am…”

Wilbur took hold of his brother's shoulders and took him to one of the countertops, he jumped up onto it and sat so that he was level with Techno’s eyes. He shook the Piglin’s shoulder a little, as if he wanted to knock some sense into him.

“Dude, I think you’re fuckin blind.” He said while letting out a chuckle. “I mean, I was watching her and you before. The way she understood your situation, the way she jumped in to help you. Dude, she is soooooo into you, I don’t know how you haven’t seen it.”

Techno spoke again, doubting Wilbur’s words. “But that’s what she’s like. She knows what to say and to do, I don’t think that is limited to me… I just don’t want to ruin the rebellion, if I tell her and make things awkward then it’ll damage the entirety of Pogtopia…”

It felt weird saying all this out loud. Coming to terms with the fact that he did in fact have feelings for [y/n], admitting that he was afraid to tell her. He felt a flurry of emotions he had never really acknowledged before.

“Techno, please listen…” Will spoke softly, a tone Techno hadn’t heard since the night he had comforted him due to his voices. “I can see something there, not just from you, from her as well. I saw the way she looked at you, she obviously cares about you. And I’m no expert, but I can tell you now she doesn’t see you as just a friend.”

Techno looked to the ground, unsure of what to think or say. Wilbur’s voice continued through the quiet. “You’re not going to ruin the rebellion, Pogtopia, whatever it’s called if you deal with this. In fact it might make it easier for you, especially if she’s helping you with the voices! C’mon Techno, stop being so stubborn and listen to me, you gotta at least try…”

“You could probably write lyrics to a song with that.” Techno chuckled, teasing Will. He ran a hand through his hair, pulling the loose strands away from his face showing off his smirk he now gave Wilbur. He was still feeling those strange feelings, but Wilbur’s little spiel was definitely helping.

“Oh shut up!” Wilbur laughed back, shoving his hand in Techno’s face while laughing. “Seriously though, I recommend you two spend some time together, but not like you normally do. Is there something she’s said she wants to do, or anything you’ve both bonded over?”

He thought for a moment, briefly listening to the giggles of Tommy and [y/n] from the other room. “Well, this last mission I was on I was telling her about the constellations, I think I remember telling her that we could stargaze or something?”

Wilbur almost leapt onto Techno, clearly excited. “That's perfect! You should take her out on a stargazing date! Maybe you could do something romantic, like have dinner and then oh!” He zoomed across to the other side of the room. “Then take her to a candlelit area and sit under the stars! You’ve already proposed the idea to her, all you need to do is follow through with it!”

This all felt a little much for Techno, he felt quite overwhelmed. Of course, he hadn’t really ever had the time to think about the possibility of doing something like this with the Elytrian, he had only just come to terms with the fact that he did have a small crush on her. Though, Wilbur’s idea did indeed sound very romantic, he would actually quite like to have a date with [y/n]...

“I mean… that does sound nice…but how would I ask her?”

“I guess…just be yourself. That’s the part I can’t help you with. Maybe you could get one of the other hybrids in your rebellion to help you out?” Wilbur sighed, his extensive knowledge of romance only going so far. “But I guarantee you’ll be able to get a better insight of how she feels after the date. Trust me, she’s gonna love you for this!”

Techno nodded, still a little unsure of Wilbur’s advice. But in honesty, he didn’t have anyone else to go to for this. Definitely not Tommy, he would probably just make fun of him for this.

“I do trust you Will…are you sure you’re not angry with me?” He asked. A part of him was still hooked onto the fact Wilbur wasn’t upset with him about the rebellion and being kept in the dark. “Like, you’re not gonna change your mind?”

A brow raised on Wilbur’s face as he rolled his eyes and giggled to himself. “Do you want me to be angry with you?”

“...No.”

“Then I won’t be. Seriously Techno, we knew something was happening, you just haven’t been the same since you first went away with the hunters, almost in a good way… We were more surprised that you ended up confirming our suspicions…Just make sure you keep us updated with what's going on, we want to help as much as we can.”

Finally a wave of relief washed over Techno and he felt much more relaxed having full confidence that neither Wilbur or Tommy were mad at him. His doubt dwindled away as he realised that the two younger hybrids trusted him and that their opinions of their older brother were unchanged.

With a relaxed exhale of air through his nose and no hesitation he turned and leant down, grabbing the first aid kit he came in to get in the first place.

“Do you think you can help me?” He said softly holding up the first aid kit.

Wilbur returned the kind look with one of his own, “C’mon, I wanna get to meet her properly.”

Opening up the door back into the dining room Tommy’s voice filled the air once more, his energetic tone instantly bringing a smile onto the brother’s faces, as well as the obligatory eye-roll.

“So, you’re telling me you can fly up to a bajillion miles an hour while being able to carry someone?!” Tommy asked the Elytrian, not quite seeing the other two come through the door. He stood on his chair, leaning over the table eagerly awaiting the winged girl’s answer.

“Well…that’s not quite how it works, but I can lift Techno quite high.” Through the corner of her eye she saw the pinkette and gestured towards him. “Isn’t that right?”

Only now noticing Techno’s presence Tommy’s head almost snapped to look at his oldest brother before almost jumping onto him, now shouting in disbelief. “TECHNO! You’ve kept this woman locked away from us! She has valuable information, which is strange for a woman, but is it true you flew with [y/n]?!!”

Techno wasn’t quite sure what to say at first, he did want to scold Tommy for his childish take on women (though of course he knew he didn’t really mean it). “Wha- Well, I guess it was true. She only took me up to the top of the library in Pogtopia but-”

“POGTOPIA! [y/n] told me you thought of the name! I’m honoured you used my creativity for the name of the rebellion, but I do want some credit, can we trademark Pogtopia?”

Techno rolled his eyes once more as Tommy interrupted him. “No… Tom, just slow down.” He said, trying to hold back a laugh at the Avian’s antics. “Look, do you think you think you can let me heal [y/n]’s wing first, I’m sure we can give you some answers while I do so.”

“Oh? Oh! Yeah, yeah, I can do that!” Tommy eagerly replied, Techno was surprised he’d even listened in the first place. Though he did see the Avain lean over to where [y/n] sat, loudly whispering behind his hand, “You’ll have to tell me if Techno was really heavy when you made him fly.”

Ignoring the comment his younger brother made, the Piglin hybrid got out the components from the first aid kit, neatly placing them on the table in front of him. He stood to the side of [y/n] as she spread her wing allowing him to assess the damage. Thankfully it looked as if she had only sprained it at the very most, it was clearly still very painful, with him catching her winces as he gently took hold of it.

He also watched as Wilbur practically forced Tommy to sit down in his chair again, before he sat down himself. Seeming more than content to let the two rebellion members explain some things to him and Tommy. 

~-~ 

As the daylight hours passed Techno and [y/n] sat comfortably answering any questions the two brothers threw at them. It was mostly Tom’s questions that would come out first, drowning out Wilbur. The atmosphere was quite comfortable and the room was full of laughter and joy, mostly from Tommy’s acts of stupidity.

[y/n] and the Avain surprisingly got on very well. Strangely enough [y/n] seemed to get Tom’s strange and crude humour, something that would normally just make Techno roll his eyes, but in this situation it just added to his admiration of her. Even with his obscure sense of humour the Elytrian seemed to understand where he was coming from and was able to give him the answers he exactly wanted while making them exciting for him at the same time.

Wilbur asked a few more questions about the rebellion, how it worked, how Techno was working as a double agent. With the Piglin being able to explain his reasoning for joining the rebellion in the first place and wanting to make a change. Wilbur seemed to agree with him thankfully, finding Schlatt’s reign to be unfair to both humans and hybrids. He was even more eager to stop him in his journey to attempt to capture hybrids who attempted to run or hide, seeing as clear as day it being an excuse to wipe out anyone or anything that opposed him or disagreed with his rule.

It was a surprise to Techno that his brothers were as eager as they were to be involved. Of course, Tom desperately wanted to stay in the village with the other hybrids, especially after telling him there were a few hybrids around his age there. Wilbur on the other hand understood that it was safer for them to stay where they were at the moment, as their sudden movement could be suspicious, plus it was quite a journey to the village, Wilbur wasn’t sure if they would be able to make it there in one go.

After all the questions had subsided the four hybrids found themselves chatting, with [y/n] getting to know Wilbur a little more, asking him about his passion for music and telling him she’d love to hear him play the guitar one day once he had learnt. As they talked Tommy started to doze off, his head laying on the table, a line of drool coming from his mouth and resting on the wood below. 

The calm conversation gave Techno the chance to make sure [y/n]’s wing was healed to the best of his ability. He had found a small bottle of healing potion in the med kit, he debated saving it for something else but Wilbur had insisted on him using it, saying that it would probably never be used for anything else. Though not completely healed, [y/n] could now at least move her wing and flap it a little without pain. There wasn’t enough potion to make it completely healed and let her fly, but now it would be able to heal in the span of a day or two.

By the time Techno had finished helping [y/n] he could see the light of the sun start to dim, with the sunset and darkness drawing ever closer. He chose to ignore the eyebags he had formed from staying up for so long, he was tempted to point out [y/n]’s too but chose not to as he knew he’d be setting himself up for a snarky response.

“We better be on our way.” He broke the comfortable quiet that had formed over the table, though not loud enough to wake the sleeping Avian. “We want to make sure we have enough time to get back, with you still not being able to fly.”

She scoffed playfully, “You act as if I’m completely helpless when I can’t fly, plus we have plenty of time.” She stood up, stretching her arms and wings, being careful with her injured one so as not to knock it on any of the furniture. “You’re just being paranoid like normal, ain't that right Wilbur?”

“I gotta agree with her there, you’re too paranoid for your own good sometimes.” Wilbur responded with his own smirk as he backed up the Elytrian.

“Oh come on Wilbur, you’re on her side?” The Piglin pouted a little, he had a feeling this would happen, even if Wilbur was doing it to tease his older brother. “You’re meant to agree with me, I’m your older brother!”

“Nah, me and [y/n] have got a pretty good analysis on you.” He glanced over to the Elytrian giving her a small nod which she immediately returned with a cheeky smile. “See, we know what we’re on about.”

It was nice to see the bond that Wilbur and [y/n] had been able to form in such a small amount of time, though it did not stop him from feeling as if he was being ganged up on. He shook his head and chuckled, listening to the Elytrian who had spoken up.

“Truthfully, Techno is right. We really should be on our way, even if it’s only just gotten dark. It means we’ll be able to get some rest once we get back to the village.” She stood from her chair and made her way to stand beside the Piglin hybrid.

“It’s a shame you have to go, I would have loved to spend some more time getting to know you [y/n]” Wilbur said kindly, standing up and extending his translucent hand for the Elytrian to shake. She took it (though struggling at first with her hand slipping through his) and shook it offering the Phantom a kind smile to match his.

“I’m sure we’ll meet sometime soon in the future, after all, once this is all done you’re more than welcome to stay in my village. Plus I still need to know some more embarrassing stories about Techno!” She giggled and gestured to Tommy who was still fast asleep on the table.

Wilbur giggled to himself. “I’m sure me and Tommy will be able to share plenty more stories the next time we cross paths.”

Feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, Techno butted in trying to save himself from Wilbur embarrassing him any more than he already had in front of [y/n]. “Alright, alright! We better get moving. You’ll be able to put Tom to bed right Will?” He asked, placing the chore onto his brother to which Wilbur rolled his eyes and groaned yet agreed.

“Yeah yeah, will do, boss.”

The three simultaneously laughed, though not loud enough for the sleeping Avian to wake. [y/n] and Techno moved to the door, making sure to grab everything they needed including Techno’s Blood God disguise. The Elytrian tucked her wings behind her as much as she could, giving Techno a nod as he draped his cloak around his shoulders.

“Hey-” [y/n] spoke up quietly so only Techno could hear her, “I bet you we could make it to the village in under an hour, that is if you can keep up.” She teased him, making him chuckle.

“Wanna bet on it?” He raised a brow, giving her a smirk.

“Hell yeah.”

Chapter Text

Laughter filled the air as the two hybrids joked with one another as they came closer to the village. The night was still young and the stars brightly lit the dark cloak the sky wore.

“I told you we could make it back in under two hours!” The Elytrian boasted, her hands on her hips.

“Ah ah, you said one hour, not two. Which means I win!” Techno laughed back, it felt so natural now to be this expressive with her, not strange at all. “So what's my prize?”

“What!? That’s cheating, I was testing you before! I changed my answer to two hours, not one!” She exclaimed, jumping into the air, hovering for a second before coming down again, her wing not quite able to hold her body weight in the air. “You don’t get a prize, I’m the one who won!”

Techno just laughed in response which seemed to make the Elytrian even more frustrated, pouting her cheeks in a childish manner before bursting out into laughter similarly to the Piglin she was next to. Pulling aside the vines covering the entrance to the village their laughter continued, not noticing the large figure standing in the entrance.

The sound of wings spreading and an ‘ahem’ brought their attention away from each other. Techno swore he could see [y/n]’s figure shrink beside him, her posture curling in on itself as she saw the man in front of them. 

Phil’s wings blocked any view of the village behind him, making their eyes solely focus on him. His usual kind, fatherly figure aura no longer lingered. Instead a harsh look was plastered onto his face, his hands behind his back as if had been standing  there for hours, waiting for them to return.

“And where have you two been?” He asked, his voice monotone, whilst he raised a singular brow.

Techno didn’t say anything at first, expecting [y/n] to say something, maybe retort back to her uncle. However, surprisingly she didn’t say a word. He could see her mouth open as if she was about to speak before it closed, not a single word making it out. She was nervous… maybe even frightened? No, that couldn’t be right.

“We got held up after the rescue, we had to find some shelter before returning to the village.” Techno spoke up, stepping forward hoping to direct Phil’s obvious anger to himself rather than [y/n].

The elder Elytrian seemed to ignore Techno’s words, though he did spare him a glance. Instead he looked at [y/n] and spoke again, his voice just as harsh as before. “[y/n]. What happened?” It was not a request, it was a demand.

Swallowing the saliva pooling in the back of her throat she hesitantly spoke up. “It’s as Techno says Phil. We got held up, it was too close to daylight so we found somewhere to stay before returning in the dark.”

“Your wing is injured.” He states, his voice nearly hitching as he sees the wrapped wing. “Where did you stay? I want answers.”

“We stayed at my cabin, we were safe there. My brother’s are hybrids too, I was able to use part of a healing pot I had stored in a med kit.”

Phil’s eyes went wide as Techno spoke, drawing closer to the two and raising his voice. “You went to the empire?! Do you know how foolish you are? If you had gotten caught by any of the hunters you could have doomed the entire rebellion!”

“What else were we meant to do?!” [y/n] nearly shouted back. “We were too far out from the village and I could not fly back! We were more likely to get caught by other hunters that were already out than one’s in Techno’s town! We had everything under control! Why can’t you just trust me on my own?!”

“Because you’re still young and naive.” Phil’s voice was cold making [y/n] back down instantly as if she hadn’t just shouted at her uncle. “You shouldn’t have gotten injured. You shouldn’t have been out as long as you did. And you most definitely shouldn’t have gone into the town, despite staying at a safe location.”

“But maybe if I had some more melee training I could have-”

“Enough!!”

Phil’s voice boomed, cutting off [y/n] from any more retorts she was going to make. Techno had a slight idea of what she was going to suggest to her uncle, something about letting her fight with a sword, however he could now see first hand that Philza was having none of it. It made him want to question the Elytrian as to why, however he knew it was just going to be another question added to the pile that made him so mysterious.

A part of Techno wanted to say something, finding it difficult to watch [y/n] get scolded while he appeared to get off scot free. He didn’t understand why, maybe it was easier for him to scold [y/n] as she was his niece. But he didn’t want to elevate the situation any more than it had already been.

“You have a role to play in this rebellion. The both of you. I expect you to be more careful, you are more important than you both think.” Phil said, this time a little more gently. “When you have rested a while I have a few potions to further help heal your wing.”

Without being able to interject or say anything else Philza made his leave, his large wings elevating him off the ground a gust of wind being left behind. The two watched him fly up to his house in one of the trees, they silently watched, the playful atmosphere from before no more.

Techno could see the feathered ears of the Elytrian next to him fold downwards, obviously upset at the telling off from Phil. “I should have honestly expected my uncle to get upset…” She said, trying to make light of the situation. “Though I didn’t expect him to get all ‘it's the end of the rebellion’.” A forced laugh coming from her mouth.

“Do you think he’s right though?” Techno asked, curious for what [y/n]’s answer might be. “I mean, do you think the whole rebellion really does rely on us?”

“Well… I guess so. I mean think about it, if you weren’t here the rebellion wouldn’t look as strong and I doubt I’d be able to win all the battles on my own. And if I was gone…” She paused, her expression going sorrowful for a moment. “I don’t think Phil would be able to hold everyone else together…”

She didn’t say anything for a few seconds, as if she was thinking about the situation she had just described. Her eyes flickering between spots on the ground, her mind completely lost in thought.

“You really think that would happen though?” The Piglin said, he was doubtful anything like that would ever happen. But if [y/n] thought it could happen…why would she doubt herself?

She sighed. “I don’t know… but I do know I should probably turn in for the moment. I’m exhausted, and I doubt that just standing here and talking about what Phil just said is gonna make me feel any better…” 

She started to move, her talons leading the way as she walked to the treehouse she resided in. “You coming?” She turned and asked kindly, offering her hand.

Techno swore he felt his heart skip a beat. He wouldn’t be surprised when she was looking at him that way. Her eyes glossy, with her cheeks pushing the bottom corner up, giving her that sweet, captivating look to her.

He so badly wanted to say yes, maybe he would be able to ask her what kind of magic she possessed to make him this bewitched by her. But no…perhaps for the moment it was best for him to be on his own. To think about some things, maybe he could try and get closer to figuring out the whole deal with the Angel of Death, it was becoming increasingly important.

“No…thanks.” He saw her hand falter, falling a little. “I think I need to spend some time on my own, for the voices sake.” He lied through his teeth. He didn’t really want her to know that he wanted some time to think about Philza’s whole deal.

“Oh…well that's ok. If you want any help or another opinion you know where I’ll be.” Her ears tilted down ever so slightly, and it was clear in her voice that she was disappointed. With one last smile she turned and headed towards the stairs leading to her house.

He watched her go halfway up the stairs before going to his temporary home. It was just a little room in one of the random houses in the village, just something for when he couldn’t return back to the empire to sleep. He didn’t spend a lot of time in it, but it was cosy nonetheless.

As he rested upon the bed that had been set aside from him he yawned. He was completely exhausted, being awake for more than 36 hours only now just taking its toll on him. He promised himself to think about the Angel of Death, however as he laid on the bed beneath him he couldn’t stop himself from drifting into a much needed sleep.

~-~

Maybe if the voices hadn’t been rambling in his head all night Techno would have gotten a better rest. But no, as much as Techno was exhausted the voices had been shouting, screaming at him during his dreams. Making him toss and turn, waking up throughout the night, leaving him with some quite large eye bags under his crimson orbs.

While one voice questioned about the Angel of Death another asked about [y/n]. It was definitely frustrating and Techno couldn’t remember the last time the voices were this persistent during his sleep. 

One thing they kept bringing up though was the expression on [y/n]’s face after her uncle had scolded her. She obviously knew something about Phil, however was not allowed to tell Techno. But she seemed so frustrated and upset when Phil had told her off.

He doubted that she would be feeling much better now, in fact he didn’t think she would even be awake right now. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep thanks to his frustrating voices, [y/n] was sure to still be sleeping peacefully. When she did wake however, Techno knew she would still hold that same expression she did when Phil first told her off. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened after all.

“Wait…” His own voice broke his train of thoughts. Perhaps…with the confirmation of his little ‘crush’ (as Wilbur would say) on the Elytrian, maybe he could do something to not only make her feel better but to also get closer to her in the hopes she might give him a hint towards her uncle’s big secret.

A smile quickly formed onto his lips as an idea came to his head. From what he could see outside it was maybe mid-morning. Perfect.

He grabbed another shirt, putting it on and messily tucking it into his pants before rushing outside. He almost forgot that he was in one of the treehouses for a second, nearly slamming into the balcony before going down the stairs, his idea fresh in his mind. If he really wanted to pull this off he was gonna need help.

“Niki!” He called to the Merling, she was at the edge of the river that flowed through the village. Her head popped up, with her being a little surprised by the energetic voice coming from the Piglin hybrid. She appeared to be discussing something with some other Merlings but was happy to pause her conversation to talk to Techno.

“Techno! I’m so relieved you’re ok, when you guys didn’t come back to the village after the rescue we were all so worried. But Phil said you both got back last night, I believe [y/n] is still sleeping.” She placed her fin-like hand over her heart as the Piglin came close and kneeled down.

“Heh, I guess we just like the thrill. I’m just glad [y/n] wasn’t hurt too badly.”

Her expression dampened a little. “Yes, Phil told us about that. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or upset…it was probably a combination…” She trailed off at the end.

“I have a feeling it was a combination.” Techno gave her the answer, recalling last night's events, before remembering the reason he came to the Merling in the first place. “But there’s something I need to ask of you Niki.”

“Yes of course, anything for a friend.”

“I need to set something up…” He could feel his blush start to return to his face as he thought about it. “You’re quite close with [y/n], and you probably know more about this kinda thing than I do.”

“Which is…” She pushed for a deliberate answer.

Techno sighed and looked the Merling in the eye. “Can you help me find a romantic spot for me and [y/n] to have a date?”

~-~

It had taken the whole day, but goddamn was it worth it. After the initial embarrassment of admitting he wanted to have an actual date with [y/n] to hopefully cheer her up and talk to her to Niki she gladfully accepted. She herself seemed quite excited and couldn’t quite believe that Techno had accepted his feelings. With her thinking that [y/n] was more likely to make the first move.

She bid farewell to her other Merling friends and told Techno to gather a few supplies after he had told her what he wanted to do on the supposed date. She took him upstream a little, far away enough from the village so they would not be disturbed, but not too far considering the previous couple of nights.

The Merling hybrid advised the Piglin on what she thought [y/n] would like, with the chequered blanket laid on the floor and a few food items that had been crafted using the crops grown from the farms in the village were placed into a basket. According to Niki it was the perfect romantic setup. It partly wanted to make Techno roll his eyes, but then again a part of him couldn’t wait to see the look on [y/n]’s face, he just wanted to see her smile.

By the time everything was set up perfectly the sun had started its descent in the sky, the orange starting the show in the sky. It had taken a lot longer than he expected to set everything up. But now it was the time to get [y/n]. 

Back in the village he walked up the ungodly amount of stairs to the Elytrian’s house and knocked on her door. He tried to knock gently however, he could not help but his hand nearly banging on the door, the sound much louder than he intended.

He watched closely as the door opened, the Elytrian still looking half asleep as she greeted Techno.

“Tech? I thought you would have gone home by now…” She said, rubbing her eyes. It seemed like she hadn’t gotten the greatest night's sleep either.

“I didn’t want to go back to the boys just yet…I have something I want to show you.” He said quietly, making sure no one else could listen in on their conversation. Her eyes lightened up at the idea he had something to show.

“You do? What is it?!” There it was. That energy, even though she was still upset she made sure to show her excitement. 

“I can’t tell you, it’s sorta a…surprise.” God, he knew he sounded so cringy right now. No, this is what he wanted to do. “I can take you there now if you wish.” 

Just like she had done last night the Piglin offered his hand to her. She gazed at it, thousands of things possibly going through her mind at this moment. Techno was worried for a moment she would do as he did last night and back away from it, but instead she gently placed her hand in his. Her dark stained fingertips brushing against the side of his palm, he only just felt it through his calloused hands.

“My wing’s still healing, as long as we don’t have to fly anywhere then let's go!” She exclaimed, bringing her face closer to the Piglin’s. Her hair brushing against his own pink locks.

“We can walk, it’ll take maybe ten minutes. And don’t worry about getting lost, I am the human GPS after all.” He boasted, leading her down her stairs and to the exit of the village, following the river upstream. He took note of how she didn’t let go of his hand and he attempted to control the red that rose to his cheeks.

He led her along the stream, the same route Niki had shown him, hoping it would lead right back to where he had set everything up. He felt the silence start to grow between them though, and he stumbled around his words as he tried to start up a conversation between the two. “Did you sleep well?” Not the greatest conversation starter, but it was better than nothing.

“Not particularly. I slept plenty, but that wasn’t the problem. I kept having terrible nightmares, all of those situation’s Phil had mentioned earlier…” So she still was feeling horrible about all that. He swore to all of Notch that [y/n] never seemed entirely happy after conversing with her uncle, there was a clear rift between the two. Maybe about something Phil was hiding from the others?

“But you know something like that would never happen.” He tried consoling her, looking back at her as he continued to walk hand in hand.

“I know…Phil’s words, they just…stick in my head.” She made eye contact with Techno before changing the subject. “What about you? How did you sleep after all of last night, and the night before that?”

Techno thought for a moment, “Well, in all honesty I slept pretty terribly too. My voices would not shut up.” He chuckled, trying to make light of the fact he was exhausted. “I only ended up with a few hours of sleep, but it gave me enough time to do this.”

“You’re really hyping whatever this is.” She giggled as she brushed aside a branch that was in her way. 

Techno only chuckled as he led her out into the opening and the perfect spot Niki had helped him with earlier. The sun lit the area in a beautiful orange hue, and a few candles were lit around the blanket. Niki must have lit them while they were walking there, she was too kind.

He heard the gasp from behind him as his little surprise came into view and he turned around to see an expression he had never seen on the Elytrian’s face before, in fact he hadn’t seen it on anyone before. Her mouth was slightly agape and she had brung her hand up to her mouth in surprise, and he swore he could see her eyes slightly glossy. Though not the kind of glossy he had seen last night, no, this was far happier.

“Oh my…” She trailed off, her hand slipping out of his as she wandered over to the blanket and inspected it. He could see the feathers on her wings fluff up as she came closer to it and it was easy to let his own smile grace his lips as he saw the joy she showed. “You did this for me?”

“Ummm, yeah?” 

Another moment of quiet passed, with her continuing to look around. He couldn’t quite see her expression with her back turned to him, but he could feel something, though he wasn’t sure on how to quite describe it. She analysed each part of the set-up, taking it all in before she turned around and faced him.

“I love it…” He wasn’t expecting to see tears in her eyes, but they were not the same kind as the ones he had seen yesterday. The eyes now held a shine to them, a shine that Techno longed for, it was so beautiful.

“Y-you do?” He slightly stuttered on his words, a little nervous, hoping she hadn’t noticed how starstruck he was.

“Of course I do! No one has ever done anything like this for me ever before…”

Hearing those words, Techno tried to regain some of his confidence, stepping forward and gesturing to the blanket before sitting on it. “Well, do you want to join me? I’ve got some food here too.”

She jumped a little and hurriedly sat down. “Yes please, I’m starving, I haven’t eaten in ages!” Techno watched as she carefully sat down, making sure to move her wings out of the way of the candles so as to not catch them on fire. Maybe that was something Techno should have considered before…

The two of them tucked into the food Techno and Niki had prepared for them earlier. [y/n] picking up one of the sandwiches and humming as she ate it.

“Mmmmm! You did this all by yourself?!” She asked in between bites.

“Nah, I had a little help. Niki helped me pick a spot and set up a few things. I harvested a few crops and made the food. Being with the boys helped me learn how to make stuff like this.” He gestured to the sandwiches. “It wasn’t much, but it at least kept Tommy from complaining.”

They both laughed at Techno’s words as they carried on eating. “It was so nice to meet them, I wish we could go to the empire more to see them.” She looked away at the last part, Techno noticed and placed his hand on her shoulder as he finished his food.

“Hey, you’ll see them again soon, I’m pretty sure they will make sure of that too. And this is what we’re trying to do anyway. The rebellion is growing pretty fast, I’m sure soon we’ll be able to complete our goal and get rid of Schlatt, then we can establish peace between all species and races.”

She smiled again and rested her head on Techno’s hand, which was still on her shoulder. The gesture made Techno almost jump, a part of him wanting to pull away out of fear, but then again he wished she would stay like that forever.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to that day.” She sighed. “You know, I’ve always wanted the village to be full again. I hated it being empty, I just felt… alone.” She lifted her head and turned it so it faced the Piglin. “Thank you for helping me make my village alive again.”

Her face felt so close to him… He swore he could feel each breath she took. God, he could see each detail on her face. Each little divot and imperfection on her face, though it was no imperfection to him. It almost felt as if there was a strong force urging him to meet his own lips with hers…

“O-oh look, the sky, it's…it’s gone dark…” He pulled himself away, his face too hot and vision slightly wobbly. His nerves getting the best of him and the countless voices in his head screaming at him, a little too much to bear. 

“Hmmm? Oh! Oh… yes it has gone dark…” The disappointment on her face was obvious, even in her tone of voice he could hear how much she wanted to close the gap too. “I suppose we had better get going?”

“Well, not quite. I wanted to show you something else, the food was only to warm you up.” He said, he had almost ruined the night for himself there. 

The Elytrian raised a brow at him while smirking. “Ah, so there’s more? You were only buttering me up for your real surprise huh?” She giggled and nudged him in the side.

“In a sense I guess…” Techno also chuckled. “I just wanted to make you feel better, I understand your relationship with Phil has been kinda… strained recently. I’ve seen you, and I’ve seen how much it’s affected you.” he paused, feeling the same blush rise to his cheeks, but he kept his voice calm. “I wanted to do something for you, something you said you’ve never been able to do before. Because… I do care about you…”

He took a breath and picked up the candles beside him, blowing each one out gently. He could see [y/n] looking at him intently, clearly processing his little speech for her. He smiled as he blew out the last candle, plunging them into darkness.

[y/n] was about to say something, ask what he was doing, however she stopped herself as a new kind of light lit the sky. She looked upwards and could now see the clearing they were in, no trees or branches in the way to stop the light from the stars and the moon reaching them.

“What… What is this?” She asked, unsure of what he had meant.

“You said you loved the stars, but you never got to learn about them. I wanted to take you stargazing, like I said I would. Here, I can teach you the constellations.” He smiled, hoping she could see it in the light the stars gave.

He grabbed her hand as he adjusted his legs underneath him so that he could lie down. His hand also brought her down so that she laid on the blanket. Their heads were padded by the grass underneath the plaid blanket and from the corner of his vision he could see both their hair intertwine on the rug like it had done before, pink strands mixed with [h/c] ones.

With her hand still in his he directed it towards the sky, pointing out a constellation that was quite easy to recognise. “Here, let me show you this one. It’s called the Big Dipper, it’s one of the easier ones to find.”

Techno looked to his side to see her squint her eyes and try to find the constellation he was referencing. “I… I can’t see it…”

He nudged closer, moving his head so it was directly next to hers so he could point it out to her more accurately. He lifted her hand up in the air and traced the outline of the stars. “Do you see those four stars there? They form the body, and then the three stars leading away, those are the handle.”

She concentrated, following the direction Techno pointed her hand in. “I don’t…” She interrupted herself, squinting her eyes again before gasping. “Wait, I do see it! Those seven stars right there!”

The Piglin chuckled, a bright smile illuminating his face. “Yes, that was the first one I showed Tom and Wilbur. We call it the Big Dipper, but it’s really just a smaller set of stars called an asterism within the constellation of Ursa Major.”

[y/n] listened intently as Techno explained, tracing the stars again with her finger. “Where’s the rest of the Ursa Major then?” She asked.

“If you follow the body of the Big Dipper there's some stars that aren’t as bright, these three are the body.” He pointed them out and waited for [y/n] to nod to let him know she could see them. “Then these ones here, they form what look to be legs. All together you can almost see the shape of the great bear.”

“I see them, I see the shape. That’s amazing!” She exclaimed, not looking away from the constellation as if she would lose it if she did. “I want to find another! Which one is your favourite?”

“My favourite?” Techno thought for a moment, placing his hand on his chin while his eyes roamed the night sky. “I would have to say it’s Centaurus.”

She cocked her head, moving her gaze away from the stars to look back at him. “How come it’s your favourite?”

“Well, it depicts a picture of a half-man half-horse creature. It’s like us, a hybrid. I just like the idea that we’re even in the stars, and of those stars, I think it’s beautiful. Just like other hybrids I know.” He smiled as he said that last part and turned to face her, his eyes locking with her own.

He moved his hand upwards again, directing her gaze back to the sky as he pointed it out. Directing her line of sight towards the constellation, “Can you see those two super bright stars next to each other? If you go up and follow the other stars they make the legs.”

As she looked to visualise the constellation she spoke up, “I can see, and then those ones there, they make the body don’t they?” He looked to where she pointed and sure enough, she was correct.

“Yeah, they do. You’re getting pretty good at this.”

“Y’know, I think Centaurus is my favourite constellation too.” She said, still looking up at the sky.

Techno chuckled and rolled on his side to look at her. “Is that because of the brightness of those stars?” He asked quietly.

She giggled in return and also rolled on her side as he had done, looking at him and only him. “No.” She paused and looked at him intently, a gentle look in her eye. “It’s my favourite because it reminds me of you.”

The Piglin opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say back. But no words left his mouth, he wasn’t expecting that to come from her. Though by now he should’ve known that it was always a mystery when it came to her.

“Anyway,” She carried on, “Do you think you can show me some more? What about the Ursa Minor, if there’s a major, there's gotta be a minor right?!” She energetically said, leaving her previous statement behind.

Techno shook the shock off his face, laughing to himself as he pointed once again to the sky. “Of course, I’ll show them all to you.”

Chapter Text

Sometimes Techno really did hate the fact that he was a double agent. Having to return to the camp to help the hunters in their pursuit of the rebellion. Sure he was doing it for a greater cause, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

Sam had called all the hunters to the camp, something he hadn’t done in quite a while. It did make Techno a little uneasy with what the meeting could be about, especially when Sam had declared it as an ‘emergency meeting’. He did not like the sound of that.

As always the humans that roamed around the camp avoided him like the plague, as if he was the nastiest creature alive. He rolled his eyes at the actions of the men. He knew for sure they were only doing it to act all big and tough. Techno could recall how many times he had beaten each one down when he was the Blood God, it was quite laughable.

As he reached the middle of the camp Sam stood on the small podium in the middle. Normally it would have held any captured hybrids, but there hadn’t been any for weeks, no, months now. Techno wanted to chuckle at the thought, knowing he was partly to blame for that.

“Gather round boys!” The Creeper’s voice boomed, hushing the hunters. Techno still never understood how the hunters could show their respect to the Creeper hybrid, it must have been his role as captain, forcing them into submission of some kind. “I’ve got some important news for you all.”

Awkwardly shuffling next to a human, Techno stood to the side of the podium, listening intently to the Creeper hybrid’s words. “I have been doing a lot of analysing over the last few weeks, looking at all our failed attempts at capturing any hybrid of any kind. Everytime we set out to do something, whether it be a big or small group, whether we go out for one hybrid or a bunch we always get intercepted by the rebellion.”

There was a murmur of agreement from down below the podium, the humans obviously agreeing. Sam continued speaking, “From this I have come to the conclusion that there is a spy among us.”

…

Shit.

“Whether the spy is one of you in the camp or if it’s a Pogtopian hybrid hiding out near the camp, I’m not sure which one it is. But there is no other viable option of what it could be.”

A wave of gasps and shouting started erupting from the crowd. Techno wished for nothing more than to run away or hide in that moment, however, doing so would look incredibly suspicious. It was better he just stayed quiet for the moment.

“Listen, listen!” Sam shouted once more, grabbing the men’s attention once more. “I want none of you arguing or creating a fuss about this. I will handle the situation personally. However, if you see any suspicious behaviour from your peers whatsoever you will report it to me immediately. Is that understood?”

The hunters all shouted ‘yes sir’ harmoniously before Sam dismissed them all. As the humans started to barge past Techno to get where they wanted to go, it gave the Piglin a moment to process what Sam had just said.

Of course hiding the fact that there was a spy among the hunters wasn’t going to last forever, however, both Techno and [y/n] knew that once a spy was identified it was only going to be a matter of time before Sam connected the Blood God’s identity to Techno.

Even with how careful Techno had tried to be, it could not hide from the fact that the two had never been sighted fighting one another or that they were even separate people. Afterall the Blood God’s identity and species of hybrid was something that the hunters had never figured out, Sam was clever, if he came face to face with the Blood God it would not take him long to figure out it was his old friend.

“Techno! How’s it going?” Sam’s voice shook the Piglin out of his thoughts, Techno focusing in on the world again to see the half Creeper now standing right in front of him. He must have hopped off the stage while Techno was lost in thought.

“Oh…hey Sam. It’s fine.” He replied, reverting to his original monotone voice. He hadn’t forced it like that in a while though.

“Ahhh, same you. Always replying with as little as you can. I wanted to check up on you, haven’t heard from you since you asked about the Angel of Death and all that. Did the boys know anything about him?”

Techno had forgotten he had asked Sam about some of that. “Yeah, they actually did. Was able to get my head around who he was n’all that.” He said, recalling the night.

“Ahhh, can always rely on those two, eh?” Sam nudged Techno in the side, “I did want to get your opinion on some things though.”

“You did?” Techno raised his brow, it wasn’t often when Sam was looking for approval or a second view on things. Even from his past, Techno knew he was a very independent kinda guy. “How come you came to me for a second opinion, you have other higher ups in the camp, right?

“Well, yes, that is true. But I know you, and you know me, and we’re both also, y’know…” He paused for a moment. “We’re both hybrids, we sometimes think differently to the humans. But you’re like me in that way, I want to know if you have any idea of who or what might be going on with a spy in the camp.”

So he trusted Techno enough to not suspect him, or did he? Surely this couldn’t be a trick, to make the Piglin reveal his identity. Though, Sam’s face only displayed trust for his old friend.

Perhaps, with what influence Techno had on Sam he could try and direct his attention away from the spy, or perhaps convince him that there wasn’t even one to worry about. It was a long shot, but if it worked, it could be greatly beneficial to the rebellion. Maybe giving them more time to sort everything out.

“You want my honest opinion?” Techno asked, making sure.

“It would be greatly appreciated, I know you’re quite cautious, if I’ve seen a pattern I’m sure you will have as well.” A softer look came onto Sam’s face, he was clearly distressed by the situation. Techno tried not to feel pity for the hybrid, after all he was leading the hunts.

“Honestly, I don’t think there is a spy.”

At his words Sam’s mouth fell wide open, as if he couldn’t believe what Techno was saying. “Wha- What are you talking about… What about a Pogtopian hybrid looking in on the camp, don’t you think that could be a possibility?”

Maybe lying to Sam was a little harder than he thought… he kept going though. “I don’t think that they would be able to get close enough to do so, there’s too many hunters around, they’d be outnumbered immediately. And I honestly doubt anyone is going to want to team up with the hybrids, pretty sure they all hate them.”

“What about if the rebellion offered them something, money, or power?!” Sam exclaimed, desperate to try and make his idea look plausible.

“Sam, we know better than anyone that hybrids have neither one of those things. We have nothing to give to the humans. There is no spy.”

The Creeper hybrid thought for a moment. He clearly wanted to argue back, however he could not think of anything else to suggest. Techno saw the struggle on his face as he searched for another answer.

“If there is no spy then how do you go explaining the failed hunts, the rebellion intercepting our every move. Knowing things only someone from inside the camp could know?!” Sam started to shout, his frustration showing.

“Hybrid’s are smart Sam, we both know that. With as many of them working together as there is who knows what they can do. Maybe the Elytrian has a hidden ability or something?” He suggested. He hated referring to [y/n] as ‘The Elytrian’, however in the presence of Sam it was the safest thing to do.

Sam let out a frustrated sound and covered his face with his hand before taking a few deep breaths and calming himself down. “Sorry, I’m just annoyed with the situation at the moment. I wish things could just go our way for once.”

Techno refrained from making a face. Thinking of the possibly hundreds of hybrids that had been captured before the rebellion formed. The hybrids Sam had willingly volunteered to catch and deliver to Schlatt, all to save his own skin.

“I understand, this is all you’ve got. It’ll get better I promise.” He sighed, and placed a hand on the shoulder of Sam, attempting to comfort his old friend. “Look, I gotta get going, but try not to overthink things too much alright?”

“Alright.” Sam replied shortly.

Techno gave him a firm nod before removing his hand and bringing it to his side once again. He turned to make his leave, hoping that the whole conversation didn’t seem as if he was just cutting it off. “I’ll see you on the next hunt right?” 

“Right…” Sam said, giving him a small wave and smile as he watched the Piglin leave the camp. 

What Techno did not see however, was the smile fade from Sam’s lips as Techno left by the exit, supposedly heading home. He didn’t see Sam squint his eyes, processing the conversation they had just had. 

Perhaps Sam was going to have to keep a more watchful eye on his old friend…

~-~

As soon as he was far away enough from the camp Techno sneakily looped around his small town, reentering the forest without being seen from anyone in the camp. There was no way he was going to just go home, not after the conversation with Sam. The Creeper hybrid was picking up on the small hints that had been left by the rebellion. It was not good news.

It was crucial that Techno informed everyone in the village, so they could form a plan on what to do from here on out. Though he did not look forward to having to deal with Phil.

As much as the old man intrigued him and gave off those fatherly feelings Techno had always longed for, he couldn't shake the way he had hurt and upset [y/n]. After their little date the other night she felt much better, but the rift had clearly been created between the two Elytrians, and Techno was most definitely on [y/n]’s side. Without knowing anything about Phil how was there any chance he could agree with him?

The walk to the village was a little longer than Techno had intended, taking him maybe two hours. It took much less time when [y/n] flew him half the way there, he always liked it when she did that.

Pushing aside the vines he entered the village, he hadn’t seen it this busy in a while. Hybrid’s running across in front of him, playing and laughing together without a care in the world. He recognised some of them from the many rescues they had now done. It always brought a curve to his lips when he saw how carefree they all looked.

He stopped a random hybrid just off to his left to ask them a question, “Excuse me, do you know where Phil and [y/n] will be today?” 

The Slime hybrid, if he remembered correctly his name was Charlie, smiled and pointed towards their house. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re both in.” He lowered his voice as he said the last part. “I didn’t see [y/n] sneak off to that place the two of you usually go.”

Techno almost did a double take when he said that. “That usual place? You mean where we go to spar? How did you know about that?”

“Oh, you go there to spar? I honestly thought you were doing something else.” Charlie said, not quite answering all of the Piglin’s questions.

“Wha- what else did you think we were doing?” Techno replied, a little startled.

“Ummmmm… goo gooby?”

… 

What??

“N-nevermind. Thanks anyway… I guess…”

“No problem Techno!” Charlie shouted with the biggest smile as Techno started to walk away.

He made a note to himself not to ask Charlie Slimecicle for directions to [y/n] again. Though a part of him did want to know what in the hell ‘goo gooby’ meant… Maybe it was just a Slimecian thing, who knows.

Shaking off the strange experience, Techno rushed up the stairs to [y/n]’s house and knocked on it. He’d much rather tell her first, Phil might be in charge of the entirety of the rebellion but Techno and [y/n] had done the most work. She deserved to know anything that happened.

“Techno! You’re back! I thought you would stay at home for longer before the next planned rescue!” She answered joyously as she answered the door. She was still clearly buzzing from their date, with a small blush on her cheeks. “What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing that good I’m afraid.” The smile and blush on her cheeks faded. “Sam’s found out about there being a spy among the hunters, I tried to convince him there wasn’t but I’m not sure if he listened. Even worse, I could have compromised my position.” He said, feeling his posture drop a little, worried he’d come close to ruining everything.

“Oh gosh, that isn’t great. If Sam has found out there’s a spy, there’s only a matter of time before he really does figure out it’s you. Do you think he suspects you?”

“I’m not sure, I would hope our old friendship has deceived him a little, I hope it gives us a little more time.”

She sighed, calming herself. She reached out and pulled the Piglin in for an embrace, something he did not expect, however he greatly accepted and appreciated. It was easy to calm himself in her presence, and even easier in her embrace.

“Please don’t dwell on it, nor blame yourself. This was bound to happen at some point.” She said quietly in his ear, out of instinct he gently wrapped his arms gently around her waist. “Look, we can call a meeting, I’ll get Niki and Ranboo and even Fundy to all come so we can discuss what to do next.”

“Does Fundy have to come?” He joked a little, to which she raised a brow while keeping a straight face. 

“Yes. He’s an important part of the rebellion, Techno, he’s one of the only land dwelling hybrids that's willing to come out on missions with us.”

“I know, I know. I was only kidding.” The Piglin laughed his previous remark off, though he was only really half joking.

She giggled and finally let go of her embrace around him, Techno did have to admit he felt much, much better. Maybe she was more magical in ways she didn’t think, at least she was to Techno.

“I can see why you and Fundy don’t exactly get along, he told me so himself. But trust me, if we’re moving the rebellion along with its plans then rescuing Fundy’s cousin is much closer than he thinks.”

Techno only hummed in response. Honestly, dealing with Fundy wasn’t that bad. Sure, he wasn’t keen on the Fox hybrid, but it was only because of the clear trauma the boy had been put through. He could only hope that Fundy would eventually be able to understand that Techno was trying his best to help him.

“Anyway!” The Elytrian interrupted his train of thought. “I’m gonna go round up the hybrid’s that need to come to the meeting. You make your way over to the main planning room, Phil’s normally in there so we won’t need to worry about fetching the old man.”

“Got it.” Techno nodded, turning to make his way over to the room. He heard the flap of [y/n]’s wings and the gust of wind that came with it as the Elytrian soared into the air behind him, going off to fetch the others.

Though the meeting room was not far, Techno huffed as he realised how many stairs and ladders there were in this place. Did the buildings really need to be this high in the trees?

It was a little embarrassing that it took Techno almost five minutes to get from one house to the other, he was just glad no one had seen him huffing as he climbed the stairs. They were really starting to take a toll on him, hey, at least it counted as good leg exercise.

He nearly burst open the doors to the planning room, seeing Phil there and startling the bird quite a bit.

“Phil, we’re calling a meeting.” Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to say to the Elytrian, just as he entered the room. Oh well, at least he didn’t leave the old man waiting.

“A-a meeting? Hold on mate, what about?” Phil stammered on his words, clearly caught off guard by the sudden intrusion. His silky, black feathers seemed a little ruffled, as if they had puffed up, or as if he was stressed. Techno didn’t take notice of it too much, the man was quite scruffy anyways.

“It’s about Techno and the camp.” A new voice spoke, directing the men’s heads towards the door. There stood [y/n], standing tall and proud in front of her uncle. Behind her was Ranboo, Niki and Fundy.

They all moved to stand in their positions around the table, Fundy making sure to help Niki to her designated tank of water before moving back to his spot. [y/n] strode forward, continuing. “Techno was telling me that Sam knows of a spy in the camp, or even a double agent.”

“So you let yourself get found out?” Fundy chimed in, his arms crossed, giving Techno a side eye.

“What?! No. Sam just seems to have caught onto the rebellion’s advances quicker than we expected.” Techno defended himself, his mouth slightly open at the fox’s accusations. “I shouldn’t have doubted Sam, he’s always been decisive like this.”

“If what you’re saying is true Techno…” Phil spoke up, everyone’s gaze shifting to him, “Then we must start moving along with our plans. Pogtopia has grown a significant amount, we might even have enough members to go head to head with the hunters…”

“Head to head?” Niki chimed in, her voice a little more timid than it normally was. “But some of the hybrids don’t know a single thing about fighting…” 

She made a good point. While hybrids did have physical advantages over the humans, most had grown without any combat training, instead living in the shadows to avoid being hunted. Only few hybrids knew enough about combat to fight, even then, the hunters were highly trained men, often with no heart and no consideration.

“Perhaps not, but I wonder if the numbers alone would be enough to scare the hunters away. Plus, all of you have enough knowledge in combat to hold off enough of the hunters.” Phil pondered for a moment. “But no, that was not my plan. Going head to head with the hunters will only lead to pain and injury on our behalf. If we’re going to overthrow Schlatt we need to aim for the heart.”

A small gasp came from around the table, Ranboo timidly speaking up. “Y-you mean…”

“We need to go directly to Schlatt. If we don't, there will have been no point in the rebellion at all.”

A small pause was held at the table. Niki glanced at Fundy, who then glanced at Ranboo then to [y/n]. It seemed as if while this seemed the most reasonable, there was some hesitation on the idea.

[y/n] was the first to speak after the moment of silence, the most confident to question her uncle. “We could do that, I personally think we have the strength, knowledge and wit to do it. However, we could be out of our depth. Infiltrating his castle and getting to him will be much harder than you think Phil…”

“I know you have your doubts…” The Elytrian spoke, straightening his back and looking over the five younger hybrids in front of him. “But if we do not try then everything we have done will be for nothing. We need to do this while our numbers are strong, everyone has a role to play, even those down in the village who are just planting potatoes.”

Another moment of quiet. This time Techno decided to speak up, though he didn’t trust the Elytrian he knew that whatever Phil had planned would get them closer to where they wanted to be. “Tell us how. I believe we could do it.”

All the heads turned to him, hope igniting on their faces (all except Fundy’s of course). He especially noted [y/n]’s smile, the hope not only woven in her smile, but her eyes. She completely trusted him.

Phil nodded, and gestured to Ranboo, Niki and Fundy. “We have our brains right here in front of us. You three have shown that you can not only think about others in times of need but also think in a strategic manner. Ranboo will be our main strategist, while Niki can lay out our directions and how we will get to where we need to be. Fundy, you can lead the other hybrids, you’re also quick on your feet and you know what to do in times of need.” The three gave a firm nod, all of them a little red from being praised on their strong points.

Phil then turned his attention to [y/n] and Techno, continuing. “You two are much stronger than many hybrids put together, and your teamwork is quite admirable too. With you two at the front and centre of the rebellion you can lead us to victory. You two will be the ones who will end everything, for everyone.”

The Piglin and Elytrian shared a glance at each other. Sure they knew that they were the main faces of the rebellion, but actually leading the entire thing into victory. It felt like an honour, but also a heavy burden at the same time. The responsibility felt a little scary, however the thought was pushed down, covered at this moment by a sense of pride in the two.

“Wait…” the proud face on [y/n]’s face washed away as she spoke up. “What about you? What are you going to do Phil?” She rose a good point, Techno looked at the Elytrian, guessing what his answer would be.

“I will stay here, make sure everyone does their part in helping. I will oversee everything, make sure nothing goes wrong.”

Techno could’ve known he would say that. It was frustrating to know that Phil, someone who presumably was a brilliant fighter, was just sitting around doing hardly anything to help with the rebellion. Calling himself a leader, when in reality it was him and [y/n] doing most of the work.

He watched as [y/n]’s face held a look of disappointment in it, a part of him was surprised that she wasn’t used to this by now. She had known Phil much longer, surely she should’ve expected this. Or maybe she still held hope for her dear uncle.

“Right… that's everything then, isn't it?” [y/n] finished, her tone obviously more upset from Phil’s answer.

“I believe so, I can start tracking the stream. See which river leads to where!” Niki chimed in, moving the conversation along. Thank goodness she could also sense the tension, it made Techno’s life much easier.

“And I can start organising the land hybrids, assigning them each a job and what to do.” Fundy spoke, carrying on the trend Niki had started and trying to lighten up the mood. After he said his part Techno watched as the fox harshly nudged the Enderian in the side, urging him to also speak up.

A little startled at the sudden touch, Ranboo stammered out his part, trying to fit in with the other two. “O-oh, y-yeah! I’ll start thinking of a plan, I can definitely do that!” 

“Excellent! We’re all set then!” Phil beamed, setting both his hands on the table in front of him. 

“Hold on…” Techno interrupted, “What about me and [y/n]? Are we supposed to do anything else during this time? It would look suspicious if we changed our normal routine of rescues, wouldn’t it?”

For some reason the Piglin already knew that Phil had forgotten about his niece, or at the very least not thought of something extra for both her and Techno to do. He could already guess the words that would come out of his mouth, what was the bet it was some excuse to make sure [y/n] was safe and not ‘in the way’.

“Ah, I guess you’re right. I would prefer the both of you not to do anything rash-” He was obviously referencing the fact the two had gone to the Empire and Techno’s house that one night. “This time, no getting sidetracked. Techno will make sure his role as our spy isn’t any more compromised than it might be now, and perhaps the two of you can train together, work together, make sure that you have a battle strategy for the day when we storm the castle.”

Phil’s words almost made both Techno and [y/n] roll their eyes. Frustrated, knowing that they had already been training with each other, making attacks and strategies for months now. With their secret training and sparring sessions, helping each other learn how to wield their own weapon. 

Heck, apparently many hybrids knew of their sparring sessions. No doubt the three other hybrids around the table did. Their lack of eye contact was an obvious giveaway, though not enough for Phil to notice.

“We will, we’ll… do our best…” [y/n] responded, keen to keep her uncle on her good side, and keen to keep him oblivious of her learning how to swordfight.

“Perfect, we can get started right away! You three-” He pointed towards the Merling, Fox and Enderian. “I would like each of you to start doing your individual tasks, Niki tracking the stream, Fundy organising the village occupants and Ranboo can start looking at getting a way into the throne room.”

All three nodded and swiftly moved out the room, Ranboo being kind enough to pick up Niki from her little tank and teleport her away back to the river running through the village. Fundy didn’t even spare a glance at the rest, making his exit as quickly as possible, his usual grumpy demeanour returned.

“Techno, my boy, do you think we can have a little chat?” Phil asked once the three had left. Now only stood the two Elytrians and the Piglin counterpart.

“Ummm, yeah of course.” He answered nonchalantly, making his way around the table so he was closer to the older Elytrian. The way that Phil beckoned him made it clear he wanted to talk about something a little more privately.

“[y/n], would you mind closing the door on your way out?” The crow-like man said, his words quite harsh and surprising both [y/n] and Techno. The Piglin watched as [y/n]’s face dropped and went between an angry and upset expression before settling to a calm one.

“Yeah of course… I’ll see you later Techno.” She smiled the Piglin hybrid’s way as she left the room the same way the other hybrids had. Pretty much kicked out by her own uncle. Frankly it was unfair to do this to her, she deserved to know what was going on, without her, this whole rebellion would crumble. Alas, it was clear Phil had his own way of dealing with things.

With her gone, the older Elytrian placed his hand on the Piglin’s shoulder. The urge to shrug him off was tempting, but Techno refrained, the man was probably just quite touchy. He started to lead him away from the door, more into the middle of the room, as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear or listen in.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make this all serious all of a sudden, but I needed to have a chat with you. One on one.”

A quiet hum left Techno, as he nodded in understanding. Prompting the old man to smile gently and continue.

“I’m concerned about your position in the camp, I do not know how much time we have until your colleague realises that it's his friend that’s the spy.” He glanced away, his eyes darting across the room. His mind clearly full of possibilities and situations where everything could go wrong, it was written all over the Elytrian’s face. 

“I can keep Sam off our trail for as long as I can, but if he realises that me and the Blood God are the same person then there’s no getting out of it. I’ll do all I can, I’ll start spending more time pretending to go hunting if necessary.”

“No, no.” Phil turned down his idea, placing his darkened fingertips on his chin, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “Just act like you have been doing, maybe try to agree with some of his ideas, stick closer to him in particular.”

“Alright…” Techno replied, planning out in his head what he could do or say to Sam to erase any suspicion of himself being a double-agent.

Phil’s voice rose once again, stopping any more thoughts from entering into Techno’s head. “Also, one other thing my boy…”

“What is it?”

“I ask you to try and find a way to keep the violent nature of those voices inside your head down. I know it is not an easy task, but I fear that the outbursts that they create could become quite troublesome to all of us if you do not learn how to control them.”

The mention of the voices to Techno shocked him slightly. Sure Phil had mentioned them in the past, but actively warning him of his own voices?? Was there something he knew that Techno didn’t.

“Y-yeah. Of course, I’m pretty sure I can keep them calm.” Of course, he was only saying that. He still didn’t know how to fully control them. The only person they seemed to calm down around was… maybe he should try to figure out a way to keep them concealed without her.

“Good. We’re counting on you my boy.” The Elytrian gave a short nod, his face stern but still friendly. Techno watched as he unfolded his wings and immediately flew out of the house, leaving the Piglin hybrid to himself. 

Perhaps Phil was onto something? His presence always seemed to become more complicated with every time they spoke, Techno had to figure out what his deal was before the day they stormed the castle. Maybe it would give him more answers to the questions he longed to understand, and not only the ones about the crow-like man.

Chapter Text

“Wow! I swear, I’ll never get used to that feeling!” The Elytrian bounced as she spoke, her wings lifted her off the ground momentarily before dropping her back down to the earth. “That rush of adrenaline! God I love it!”

The two had just finished another rescue, they were on their way back after Ranboo had teleported the captive Bee hybrid back to the village. It had been a fairly simple rescue, but considering they hadn’t done one in about a week or so it was clear [y/n] had enjoyed herself more than usual.

She twirled in front of the Piglin, letting her wings flutter and take her up into the air. Techno could only laugh, it was only them two there and he wasn’t afraid to admit to himself that her reaction was cute. 

Of course, today had been the first time she had been able to fly again since her wing was injured when they travelled to Techno’s house. Her excitement at being able to fly again without further hurting her wing had helped greatly in the rescue, with her being able to take down nearly all the hunters immediately. Her speed was unmatched as she knocked each over before the fight had even really begun.

It had taken the Piglin by surprise when she was able to take down the hunters, leaving him to finish them off and knock them out. Even Ranboo, who had been waiting in the shadows until he could whisk away the hybrid, was surprised. His mouth had hung open after watching his Elytrian friend practically beat up all the humans she came into contact with. His entire point was to get in and get out of the fight with the captured hybrid, but there wasn’t any fight to begin with.

Now it was just the two of them. Seeing how much energy [y/n] had, Techno offered to walk the long way home and sent Ranboo back to the village to tell Phil the two might be back later. He was pretty sure if he gave Phil the heads up he wouldn’t mind. Plus the long way gave the two a chance to spend some more time together in the early hours of the day.

“Yeah, I can’t believe how quick you were. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fly that fast before!” Techno responded to the Elytrian, attempting to match her levels of energy.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that's the fastest I’ve flown ever!” She almost shouted back, making Techno giggle even more. “I just felt like I was air itself! Faster than the wind! Light as a feather! …Am I making any sense?”

The Piglin had to cough to try and contain his laughter. “No, not at all. But I get where you’re coming from.”

The Elytrian scoffed with a smile on her face, turning around to look Techno in the eye. “You can’t say I don’t make any sense and then say you understand! That’s double sided! Even your sentences are double sided, just like your job of being a double agent! You’re a double-sided double agent!” 

“I guess that’s just a part of my job.” He shrugged and continued walking, her play on words making it easy work to keep the smile on his face.

“Well, you’re doing a pretty fantastic job so far.” [y/n] said, a little calmer. “I mean, thanks to your double-ness the village is getting busier nearly every day. The number of hybrid’s getting captured is reducing. More and more hybrids are finding the courage to fight back, they’re inspired by the rebellion, and they’re coming to the village to not only seek shelter, but to actively fight back!”

Brushing over her play on words, Techno gave her a kind glance, wanting to know more. “And that’s what you wanted, right?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed happily, accidentally raising her voice again. “I know I’ve said to you before that I wished the village to be full again, and now that it’s happening, I couldn’t be any happier.”

Techno paused, sensing something else. “But…”

The Elytrian’s shoulders dropped, Techno knew her too well at this point. He knew that there was something else lying under that joyful exterior she put up. The two slow their walking until it comes to a halt.

“There is a but.” She says vaguely, making Techno start to lean in closer, having to make him think to understand her strange way of phrasing what she was saying. “But, if you wanna get that ‘but’, I want to do something first.”

Slightly confused by her words the Piglin took a moment to process what she had said. “What would you like to do?” He offered, ready for whatever she might say.

He was willing to do anything to get her to open up, to see even more of her than he already could.

He wasn’t afraid to do anything!

“I wanna go on a fly.”

…

Ok. Yeah, he wasn’t ready for that one. 

Maybe it was because he was expecting her to suggest something to do with sparring, or for them to go somewhere like the library… Perhaps he had gotten too ahead of himself, afterall, how could he have forgotten her unpredictable nature.

“[y/n], I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s only one of us here who has wings.” He said, raising his brow and pointing to the fluffy wings attached to her back which ruffled at his mention of them.

“Yeah, I know that.” She rolled her eyes at his remark, scoffing, as if it was the stupidest thing he’d ever said. “I’m the one that’ll be flying, you’ll be the one that is coming along.”

…

“Excuse me?”

She let out a short laugh before running her hand through her hair and spreading her wings, lifting herself up into the air. Before she gave Techno the chance to think she flew above his head, and like she had done in the library, grabbed his shoulders with her talon feet firmly lifting him up in the air with her.

“Woah- woah!” The words left his mouth in shock as felt his feet disconnect from the grass covered ground below him, kicking slightly and wiggling himself in her tight grip.

“If you wanna get that ‘but’ I have to show you some things first!” She smiled deviously as she continued to lift the Piglin higher in the air.

Techno, who had blanked out for a few moments, resisted the urge to yell as his feet left the ground. His arms immediately moved to the Elytrian’s ankles for extra support, as if he was scared she would let go and drop him.

“Ahhh, [y/n]! Are you sure, this is a good idea?!” He said, voice cracking ever so slightly, a smidge of fear letting itself be known. His legs dangled in the air and just like in the library that one time he felt himself manoeuvre into the air as if he was like a feather on one of [y/n]’s wings.

“I’m not gonna drop you if that’s what you’re worried about.” She tightened her grip on him as if to reassure his safety. “Plus, all my ideas are good ideas. And my idea now is that I want you to see the world from my point of view!” She smiled and rose even higher from the ground, weaving in between the canopy of the trees.

Techno was incredibly tempted to close his eyes, however as he rose with [y/n] he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the situation. As the Elytrian burst through the canopy the morning sun almost blinded the Piglin before an audible gasp left his mouth as he looked upon the expanse of the forest they were just in.

Maybe it was because he had only seen the trunks of the trees in the forest, but the view from up here made it undeniable that the forest was not only huge, but it was also beautiful. The colour of the tops of the tree’s were a beautiful mix of green, yellow and orange. The fall shifted their colours in the sunlight, making it seem as if they were trees with some sort of magic. The morning sun highlighting their bright hue.

“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” [y/n] said gently from above prompting Techno to look above. He hummed in agreement, though he was pretty sure the forest wasn’t the only thing that he thought was beautiful at that moment.

Shaking out of his slight trance, he responded to the Elytrian, looking down at the beauty of the forest. “I can’t believe we only look at the forest from beneath, this is amazing!” He exclaimed, taking time to analyse the view beneath.

“You’re only seeing a small portion of it! From up here you can see things you would never have seen from your one point of view on the ground.” She turned and pointed, letting Techno view what he recognised as the Empire. He had always thought of it being huge, but in comparison to the forest it was only a little speck.

“You can see the entirety of the Empire from here! I never knew it was so-”

“Small?” [y/n] finished his sentence for him. “It seems silly that somewhere so small has all the power over all species doesn’t it?”

“When you say it like that, it really does. I’ve never been beyond my town in the empire, I thought the Empire was something big and powerful, so much more than this…” Techno said, in shock with how he had thought the Empire was some heaven like place when it looked like it was almost about to decay just like his town.

“So why should all hybrids be restricted to one way of living, only fearing for our lives and cowering away when it’s a tiny Empire and a singular ruler dictating everything and everyone. Why can’t we embrace this…” She turned back to the forest, looking down at it in awe, even though it was clear she had seen it many, many times.

Still slightly afraid of the height, Techno continued to cling onto the Elytrian as he continued speaking to her. “Is this why you were so keen to start the rebellion?” 

“Yes, this and a few other reasons, you know why.” Techno nodded, knowing she was referencing her original village and the Elytrians caught up in the raid years ago.

“Actually-” She continued, “My father was the first one to show me this view.” The sudden mention of her family startled Techno a little, however, he listened intently. “He used to bring me up here, tell me how I should never let anything control me, whether that be my peers or an Emperor.”

She had this melancholy look on her face, a look clearly laced with sadness as she thought back to her previous memories with her father. However, there was a sense of pride, something that told Techno she still listened to his words, and was fond of his teachings.

“Were you close to your father?” Techno took a chance as he spoke, but he was desperate to know more, to understand her.

She smiled softly, looking over the canopy. “Very…” There was silence for a few moments before Techno spotted her lips contort into an even larger smile, an idea obviously entering her head. “In fact, maybe I can show you a few places he showed me in his teachings when I was younger?”

She lifted her legs and bent down at the waist so that she could look Techno in the eyes, her head upside down as she awaited his answer. Her cheekbones were pulled up high, making her face bright and almost glow from the way the sun hit it. A sudden rush of blush made its way to Techno’s cheeks, a little overwhelmed by the entire situation, not helped by how close her face was to his.

“Ummm, yeah?” He said, not knowing what he was getting himself into here.

Not even a second later, a powerful flap of [y/n]’s wings made them soar even higher into the air, Techno gasping at the sensation of rising even further. Before he even realised [y/n]’s talons had let go of Techno, throwing him into the air before he started falling.

The sudden realisation that he was falling stopped any sound from leaving the Piglin’s mouth, his breath catching on itself as he felt himself freeze quickly gaining momentum from his decent. His arms flew out to the side as if they were wings, hoping the extra surface area would reduce the speed at which he was falling.

The rush of wind against his face rose tears in his eyes and he flailed about trying to control his movements in the air. He was able to adjust himself to face upwards, his heart pounding and his ears hurting from the sound of the air knocking against them. Stray pieces of his long hair flew in front of his face, sometimes hitting him in his face; he spluttered against them when they entered his mouth. From above he watched as [y/n] adjusted the angle of her talons before rushing down, catching up with the falling Piglin.

Though he knew [y/n] would catch him, it didn’t stop the adrenaline pumping through his veins, his voices screaming that he was going to fall to his death. But as he reached closer to the ground he once more felt the comforting touch of the Elytrian, this time her talons gripping Techno’s wrists tightly.

As the canopy of the tree’s grew closer and closer Techno was tempted to shut his eyes, afraid of what was to come. Thankfully, thanks to her tight grip [y/n] was able to make sure the Piglin didn’t hit the ground, slowing his descent as well as hers, yet still flying at an unimaginable speed. The air brushed harshly against the Piglin’s face, though now horizontally, with [y/n] sweeping Techno up, the canopy grazing his feet.

She laughed from above, a hearty laugh, one that Techno could tell was genuine. With her manoeuvring just above the trees, making sure Techno’s feet were inches away from touching the mass of leaves beneath. He felt himself let out a laugh, which seemed to grow as he came to realise he really was flying. He was flying with [y/n].

A part of him felt like he had his own wings, despite being held by [y/n].

He looked up at her, beaming and she beamed right back at him.

“Look down there!” She shouted, to make sure that he could hear her over the deafening sound of the wind hitting his ears. He did as she asked and glanced down, they were now above an almost crystal clear lake, one he hadn’t come across before. It was enormous, spanning across what seemed like a few miles, the edges surrounded by fresh grass and trees.

[y/n] lowered the two, still flying at a pace that made their faces numb. Techno felt his feet touch the body of water, and with [y/n] still holding onto him, he felt as if he was walking on the water. It splashed up at him playfully, some of it hitting him in the face, soaking some of his hair which made the Elytrian let out another laugh.

He made sure to angle his feet so that he was able to make another large splash, this time hitting [y/n] in her face. As she had done with him, he let out a hearty laugh at her shock as the ice cold water hit her, continuing to fly over the mirror-like lake.

She briefly let go of one of Techno’s wrists, still holding the other, wiping the water away the best she could. She gave him a playful scowl before bursting out into laughter along with him. As she flew above the water, Techno noted how she made sure to avoid any branches that stuck out, or any wildlife floating on the surface. She made it look so effortless as she directed the Piglin along beneath her.

“I love this lake!” She shouted once more. “My father used to take me here, you can see why can’t you!?”

The pinkette made sure to nod thoroughly, “It’s beautiful.” He said as loudly as he could, the sound of the water splashing slightly drowning him out.

“Hybrids of all kinds used to come here years ago! Of course, they stopped after Schlatt took over. Now they’ve forgotten it’s here.” She says, lifting him up from the water, making him realise his shoes were drenched. He paid no attention to it however.

He was about to respond, but the Elytrian had other plans, flinging him back into the air with her again. Another surprised sound leaving Techno’s mouth instead. She didn’t bring him too high, just enough so that they didn’t come above the top of the trees. Out of the corner of his eye he saw what looked like a small path to his left, leading from the lake into the forest. He wasn’t surprised when [y/n] started going that direction, having a feeling she wanted to show him more.

The path was hardly visible as the two flew further into the forest, following it as they were led away from the lake they flew above. The rocky foundation of the path was covered in moss, and grass had covered most of the dirt, only leaving specks of grey as evidence to there even being a path at all.

[y/n] slowed her pace as the two came to an opening. Flying slow enough to lower Techno and herself to the ground, though she didn’t let go of him. Instead adjusting her talons and replacing her grip on his wrists with a much gentler hold on his hands with her own, the warmth sending a tiny shiver down his back.

“Look here!” She said excitedly, dragging him to a tree, the sudden use of his feet on the ground nearly tripping him up. She brushed her free hand against the trunk of the tree, “Can you see the marks in these trees?”

Techno drew closer, inspecting the tree, also tracing his hand against the dents in the tree. “It looks as if they were made by a sword, or even an arrow. Though by how faded they are it looks like they were done years ago.”

“Bingo!” She dragged the Piglin to another tree, his hand still in the same position as it was against the tree. “Here look at this one! Look at all of them, they all have the same marks!” 

“Yeah… they do.” Techno furrowed his brows, ever so slightly confused about what the Elytrian was trying to get at. “Why does the path lead here though?”

[y/n]’s smile grew, her eyes squinting as it looked as if she was reminiscing a memory. “This is where I learnt to wield my bow. My father, he would take me here and teach me while the rest of my family stayed by the lake.” Techno widened his eyes. “That path, we built it ourselves. We made sure we could come back to the same place, training in the same area.”

Giving her a glance, Techno leads [y/n] to one particular tree, this time dragging her along. A large chunk of wood was missing from the middle, as if the same spot had been shot with an arrow over and over again. Just underneath were deep slashes in the tree. “These are marks from a sword, and the height they’re at, was this you?”

She looked longingly at the marks, tracing her fingertips on the grooves. “Yes, Phil may not have been keen on me learning how to swordfight. However, my father, on the other hand, thought it was useful for me to know. We used to practise here. Sometimes with Phil, sometimes with my father. I loved his lessons...” Her voice faded at the end, and Techno felt a small squeeze from her hand, it was still encased in his.

“[y/n]?” Techno spoke up hesitantly, making the Elytrian glance at him, that melancholy look back in her eyes. “Why are you showing me all this?”

She smiled again, a mix of that playful look and genuinity. “You want to get your ‘but’ don’t you?” She asked, taking him off guard as he remembered the reason she had flown with him to begin with.

“I just want to understand…you.” He said honestly.

She hummed, her shoulders rising and a small redness accompanying her smile. “Let me take you to one more place, it’s not far, I promise.” She said vaguely, walking backwards as she placed her other hand in Techno’s. Her hands felt so warm against his, so much softer, you would never expect her to be as good in combat as she was with hands like these.

“Okay.” He said shortly. He had a feeling she was going to explain everything to him, he just needed to trust her, something that wasn’t a difficult task.

“Hold on tight.” Was all she said as she tightened her grip on his hands and gracefully lifted off into the air once more. The grip of her hands wasn’t as strong as her talons, yet Techno knew that she would not let him fall, even the voices reassured him in that.

She soared upwards, through the branches above them, a few of the catching on Techno’s cape before snapping off. He felt the warmth of the sun shine on him, contrasting with the cold autumn air. This time, as she soared upwards he didn’t panic, instead he embraced the motion of flying upwards, letting the wind hit his face and blow any hair out from in front of him.

The sensation of going upwards didn’t slow though, and Techno noticed how the two kept flying upwards, as if [y/n] wanted to show him the sun. The two travelled through clouds that were starting to form, wetting the top of his head and shoulders ever so slightly as they phased through them. They weren’t anything like the fluffy feeling he had thought they would be.

It almost felt like it was magical, moving so majestically through the clouds, as if he were a bird, or even an Elytrian himself. A part of him imagined himself with his own wings, his stubby feet more like talons and his ears instead of pointy, fluffy, small feathers on his cheeks just like [y/n] and Phil. The freedom that came with the flight was something Techno had only thought of before, now he really understood.

Even without wings to call his own Techno suddenly understood what [y/n] had been trying to show him. She might have tried to explain to him with words in the past, but not until now it was easier to see the world from her view. How everything beneath them was once hers, was something she lived in and lived for. And now how it had been taken away. 

He knew he wanted to give it all back to her, she deserved at least that.

It took Techno a moment to realise they had stopped going upwards in their flight, a small squeeze from [y/n]’s hands brought him back to reality, making him realise they were making their way to a ledge on a mountain. It was one of the mountain’s that were always in the distance, clearly there but something you would never actually get to see up close. It felt strange to see something as large as the mountain now just be another patch of grass.

Nothing was said as [y/n] carefully lowered the Piglin to the ground, instead he took the time to observe how untouched the grass was. How it was clear that no-one had even come close to the mountain in a long time. Even with the season nearing its end and getting closer to winter the grass was still a vibrant green, a few flowers poking their heads up, attempting to see the morning sun.

What was even more amazing was the view. Though a few clouds attempted to block some of the view from down below it didn’t stop the Piglin from seeing everything down below. It wasn’t just the forest he saw, or just the Empire, he saw both. He could clearly see how they were linked to one another, Manberg and Pogtopia were one in the same. It was only the people that were divided.

It was like the entire world was visible from up there.

“Pretty fantastic right?” [y/n] spoke up from behind him, observing her Piglin friend carefully. She smiled as she watched him look down in awe at the view.

“Yeah, it’s even better than before.” Techno replied, a small chuckle easily leaving his lips as he spoke. He turned to face the Elytrian, his face bright with a smile that felt not so foreign. “Is this what you wanted to show me?”

[y/n] didn’t reply instantly, instead she stepped forward and crossed her legs and lowered herself to the ground, sitting on the vibrant grass. Techno followed suit, also sitting down placing his hands on his knees as he did so. 

The excitement from before had peacefully faded, now leaving the two in a comfortable quiet, the sound of the wind blowing the blades of grass much louder than any words. As he looked over at her he noticed how the Elytrian’s posture was relaxed, her back hunched as she looked down at her own hands, observing her darkened, stained fingertips. He made sure to stay quiet and be patient, waiting for her answer.

She sighed before speaking, her tone more hushed. “Everything I’ve shown you, the view, the lake, the forest, even this mountain. They’re all special to me, have a certain place in my heart. A place I’m not even willing to show to Phil…”

She paused, taking a glance up at Techno. Seeing the difficulty she was having in finding the correct words he only nodded, letting her know he was listening and for her to take her time. She smiled at this, with Techno mirroring it after her.

“Here especially, it was mine and my father’s favourite place. I remember his teachings from the first time we came up here. He used to tell me that nowhere is truly divided, it’s only our thoughts that make it so, and you cannot let those thoughts overtake you.” Her eyes made contact with Techno’s, looking into them deeply. “However, it’s hard to feel as if we’re not divided when my village doesn’t have my family there.”

Techno’s eyes widened as he saw the eye’s of the Elytrian glisten, a wetness making its way into the corner of them. His mouth slightly opened as if he was to say something, however, he knew there was even more she could say. And he wanted to let her say everything she wanted to.

“The hybrid’s we’ve rescued, my friends, Niki, Ranboo and Fundy, we’re like a family, but we’re also not. I truly couldn’t be happier that the village is full again, but it still doesn’t feel exactly like it used to, and that hurts much more than I would like to admit…”

“What about…” Techno started before trailing off, scared about mentioning her uncle, knowing there was some tension there. [y/n] was able to pick up on what he was about to say though.

“Phil?” She said, Techno nodding as she finished his sentence for him. “I love Phil… and even though we have our differences I still regard him as family. Even if we aren’t blood relatives…”

“Wha- You’re not?” Techno almost choked on his spit, this being new information to him.

[y/n] chuckled, lifting her hand to cover her mouth a little as she did so before placing back in her lap. “He’s not my real uncle, no. Believe it or not, he was my father’s best friend, he just happened to stick around enough to become my unofficial uncle. Him and my dad used to take turns training me, Phil especially in close combat, I was out with him on the day that…”

She trailed off again, her face lowering even further. Techno found it hard to watch as he saw her lip tremble, her swallowing a massive lump in her throat. 

“The day that Schlatt sent the raid onto your village…”

“...Yes…”

Another moment of quiet befell the two after [y/n] confirmed Techno’s words. Techno couldn’t keep his eyes off the Elytrian beside him, he had seen many different sides of [y/n] before, but this was something entirely new. He hated the way she held her head low, it just seemed so different to her usual strong, headstrong personality.

“You know…” She spoke once more, lifted her head just a smidge. “I trust you.”

“You do?” 

“Mhm, more than anyone I’ve ever met. More than my friends in the village, more than Phil…”

Techno straightened his back at her words, unsure of what to say. The Elytrian, seeing his change in posture, raised her head even more, meeting his gaze on her and smiling.

“Why…?” He asked, gazing into her glossy eyes, finding himself lost in them.

She laughed through her nose, letting out a quick breath. “I don’t know… I just feel different around you compared to others. I care about you, y’know?”

The Piglin searched her eyes, as if he was looking for more. He felt his cheeks redden as he took in her words, before also laughing. “Honestly, I feel the same way.”

The Elytrian only smiled in response. Taking in the Piglin’s response and letting the gentle sound of the wind answer for her instead. Techno didn’t push the conversation anymore, content with her answer, assuming she was the same with his.

Though something still nudged him the wrong way, something he felt like could be discussed at this moment. He knew it was a risk to bring it up, but in all honesty, if not now, then when? Clearing his throat slightly he promptly spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?”

She hummed again, this time tilting her head making her feather-like ears flop a little. Her hum more of a hint for Techno to ask away.

“It’s about Phil…” Her smile dropped a smidge. “If you’re not related by blood do you feel as if you can’t say anything about him?”

He knew it was an oddly phrased question, and unlike much of his questions directly cut to the point he was trying to make. He watched as his question settled in her mind, her eyes flickering around a little, clearly thinking of a way to answer, or even give him an answer at all.

Despite knowing her all this time he still struggled to come to a conclusion on how she felt. He was tempted after a moment of the quiet to redact his question and attempt to instead move onto another topic. However, he didn’t quite get the chance as the Elytrian finally spoke up.

“In a way… yes?” She sounded slightly unsure of herself. “I guess, a part of it is because he is my only family. However, he isn’t my blood relative… so in a way I feel like it’s not my secret to share.”

She furrowed her brows, Techno now seeing more clearly the inner conflict she was having with herself. “But I know he wouldn’t think of me less if I did end up saying something, I know he wouldn’t mind as much because he trusts me, and he also trusts you. I just have that fear lingering that he would hate me if I did…”

Techno chuckled a little, “I don’t think Phil could hate you even if he tried. I know you two have had your differences, but I can still see he genuinely cares for you.”

[y/n]’s face relaxed into another gentle smile. Exhaling through her nose calmly.

“I guess it’s the same kind of situation with you and your brothers huh?”

“What do you mean?” This time it was Techno’s turn to furrow his brows, wanting the Elytrian to elaborate on what she meant.

She leaned back a little, shifting her hands behind her as she laid her weight on them while still sitting down. She let out a short laugh, shaking her head as she started to explain.

“It’s like how you seemed so reluctant to tell your brothers about the rebellion, in fear that they would hate you or be upset with you when they really couldn’t care less. It didn’t change their opinion of you, you let your fears think it would… I guess that’s what I’m doing isn’t it?”

He pondered on her analysis before realising she was right. Similar to how he didn’t want to disappoint his brothers, [y/n] didn’t want to disappoint her uncle. Of course, the circumstances were different, but the same general fear was shared by the two.

“I suppose we are similar in that respect. So if you know Phil won’t be disappointed in you, then why do you hold back so much?” Techno nudged his head closer, wanting to see her and wanting to see her expression.

“...I don’t know…”

He was able to catch a glimpse of her eyes, the angle he was at made it slightly more difficult to do so. There was this far away, confused look that made its way over her eyes, almost as if it was a shield. To anyone else they simply would’ve seen her glossy eyes looking over the view, but Techno knew there was more she was looking at, that wasn’t directly in front of them.

“Can I ask you something else then?” He spoke up, almost as if waking her up from her trance.

Finally she turned her head, locking her eyes with his. He could still see traces of that far away look. It was almost as if her fears and doubts wanted to reel her in, keeping her from everything she wanted to say right then.

Well, Techno wanted to take that look away. Maybe replace it with something else. He wanted to ask her something that he knew she wanted to tell him, something important and something that would help her realise she didn’t need to worry so much about the old man.

“Ask away.”

“Can you tell me who Phil really is?”

…

“You better find yourself a comfortable position…”

Chapter Text

“Phil’s story isn’t really mine to tell… however, given the circumstances I think you ought to know.” The Elytrian spoke quietly, twiddling her thumbs, her hands in her lap. “He would never say anything outright to you, he would want you to figure it out, but he knows that you would never get the full picture.”

Techno waited patiently, still a little surprised [y/n] was so willing to share Phil’s story with him. Well, maybe willing was not the right word, but she seemed almost ready to talk about it. Like she had known she would have to at some point.

“That’s what he’s been trying to do, but it just feels like there's so many loose ends. I don’t get how everything ties together.” The Piglin muttered, adjusting his sitting position so that the blood supply to his legs wouldn't be cut off.

“He’s thrown you in at the deep end, making this whole mystery about himself, it’s not fair really. Especially when the stuff he’s hiding is important, not just for us to know for ourselves, but for us to know for the sake of the rebellion too.” She sighed, her eyes wandering, clearly nervous to talk on the subject. “But the history of Phil, is the history of why our village was raided…”

Techno almost felt his mouth fall open at her statement, though he kept it closed. It was still a surprise to hear that though, he was surprised she mentioned it at all. “He was… but why?”

Another sigh left the Elytrian’s lips, it was more than apparent this wasn’t the most pleasant thing to talk about, but he could see the determination on her face. She wanted to talk about it. “Look, if I’m going to explain it to you, I’m going to need to tell you the whole story. Everything.”

The Piglin adjusted himself slightly, crossing his legs, and looking at her intently. “I’ll listen.” He said, his confirmation enough to support the Elytrian. 

“Ok, this all started long ago, before I was born. And it started with a man who fell deeply in love with a Goddess.”

~-~

Philza was a talented young Elytrian, his sword skills something he had seemingly been born with. He was known amongst the village and well respected in the council that represented the village. Seen as someone who would also come forward and help to protect the Elytrians in their hour of need, even though the strong and skilled Elytrians didn’t exactly need protection.

He would spend much of his time training, improving his skills as if there was something he was always worried about just around the corner. Though it never seemed to come to the Elytrian. Instead, Phil found something he had never trained a day for in his life.

When Phil had first met Kristin, he had fallen completely head over heels for her, meeting her on a whim when he was out one day.  Kristin, who seemed heavenly to the Elytrian, insisted they meet again, and so they did. With the two eventually falling deeply in love with each other, it almost felt like something from a fairytale book.

With Phil showing off everything he knew to the woman, while she stayed mysterious and entrancing to the Elytrian. The two could not have been more perfect for each other.

Kristin had not told Phil everything though, and one day, regrettably she told him she would have to leave. Phil had been confused, upset as to why his love had to go all of a sudden. In which the woman revealed her true identity of the Goddess of Death . 

She explained to her love that she had briefly come to visit this area of the planet, to harvest any souls who had perished, however she had become distracted and had fallen in love with Phil. To fulfil her role as the Goddess of Death she had to look over the ongoing wars and make sure there were enough who had fallen, reaping their souls to fuel her life. And from the time she had spent with Phil she now felt her power dwindle as she had not been performing her duties to her full extent.

Riddled with fear of his love perishing, Phil proclaimed to do whatever he must to save Kristin. 

“Please my love, I could not bear to live in a world without you in it…” He had said, his fear infecting his every word. “I will do whatever you command of me…” His claws clutching her hands, as he begged on his knees in front of the Goddess.

“There is one thing you can do, it would mean I would be able to stay on this mortal plain.” Kristin spoke, her head hung low, shame filling her eyes. “Though, I doubt you would like the task.”

The Elytrian, desperate, willing to do anything to save his love he had only just found, agreed without hesitation. “I will do anything to keep you here with me…”

“Then become my muse, my helper. Serve in pointless wars the humans start, kill as many as you can and fetch their souls. This will allow me to stay here, with you.” Her soft hand stroked his cheek comfortingly, knowing the task was not a pleasant one. “Become my Angel of Death .”

As much as he hated the idea of participating in wars and killing those dragged into them, Phil felt as if he had no choice, too blinded by love to listen to his own morals. So he accepted her proposal, his position as her Angel.

Hybrids never seemed to have much conflict, they never fought over land or resources. They lived in harmony and shared the forest they all resided in. The humans however, had taken to building large cities and always seemed to find some sort of conflict. There were many human wars for Phil to participate in, and he didn’t give up an opportunity for any of them.

As a hybrid participating in a human war Phil had a large advantage, especially with his existing talent in sword fighting. He slaughtered men on the front lines mercilessly, only thinking of when he would return to see his love once again.

The human wars always felt strange to Phil, coming from an anarchist village. The humans normally being overly hostile and taking orders from one person at the top, it was a confusing concept. It did distract him away from the fact he would kill them day in and day out.

He cared not for the wars he did participate in, normally going to fight on the side that would let him in first, or the side that wasn’t threatening him for being a different species to them. He never understood why humans couldn’t just get along like all the hybrids did.

Over time the Elytrian was recognised by humans and hybrids alike as a great fighter, serving in wars and helping sides win despite them being good or not. His title somehow spilled to the general public, many on the battlefield recognising him as the terrible Angel of Death. 

Not all of his peers were pleased with his activities though, especially his closest friend. Over the span of ten years, Phil’s status was warped in the village, most still respecting him, while others not so much. His closest friend, Fraser, who had recently become a father, begged him to stop with his heinous acts, not understanding the slaughter.

“Please my friend, I beg of you. I am afraid you will lose your way on your journey, I understand what you do is for your so called love . But your morals and your identity is being replaced by ones that are far more tainted…”

Phil attempted to dismiss his oldest friend's words, but he couldn’t deny the wisdom of the hybrid. He was another on the council, helping to decide important decisions for the village, another well respected Elytrian. “You don’t understand… I have to… otherwise I have nothing!”

“But that's not true Phil!” Fraser had responded, his hand coming to clutch his friends, their claws tapping against each other. “You have many friends in this village, you have me, and now you have a niece too.”

“But we have no blood relation to each other, how can I be the uncle of your child…” The Elytrian turned his head, knowing that he didn’t have any relatives linked by blood in the village anymore.

Fraser only smiled though, his claws tapping Phil’s keeping him in the moment. His silvery wings wrap around Phil’s charcoal tainted wings. “Does it matter if you are or not? I consider you family my friend. Please, I will only ask this of you. Even if you don’t completely stop your quest for your love, please spend time with your family, teach your ways to your niece once she is of age. I would forever be indebted to you.”

“You would never be indebted to me my friend. I will teach your [y/n] what I know, but I will ensure she doesn’t stray from the path like I have these past ten years. Thank you for guiding me back.” 

Phil was good on his word too. Of course he still engaged in wars, however, he started to think about the sides he was joining and not fighting every single day as he had been for the last decade. Instead spending more of his time back in the village, his title looming less over his head.

Once the young Elytrian had turned five years of age Phil started training her in the ways of the sword, while her father, Fraser taught her how to wield a bow. It was clear she was a natural talent, similar to Phil. It was something that seemed to unnerve her father at first however, her skills were refined and kept an eye on by her parents. 

Phil had noted how she seemed better at her archery skills than the ones he taught her, though he assumed it was because he wasn’t always around. He would stay for a few months at a time before leaving for another couple of months to make sure he could still fulfil Kristin’s wishes and have her stay in the mortal plain in the village with the rest of his friends.

After another few years, becoming comfortable with the routine he had made, something changed. And it wasn’t exactly a good thing either.

When out on the battlefield one day Phil was approached by another hybrid. In all his years he had never seen anyone other than humans participate in the wars he was in. At first, he thought it was a good thing, that it was nice to see something different, something out of the ordinary.

The hybrid introduced themselves, a Ram hybrid, young, a hungry look in his eyes. He took Phil off to the side asking for a word with him, thinking it was best for them to speak in private, considering they were on different sides of the war. Still not too interested in the cause of the war Phil graciously accepted, offering his friendship to the ram.

Schlatt, that was the Ram’s name. Slid off the tongue quite nicely actually, he hadn’t heard of a name like that before. The Ram seemed incredibly curious about Phil, claiming he had heard of the warrior hybrid who involved themselves in human wars, causing whichever side he was on to succeed in their goals. Apparently, Schlatt had actually been looking for Phil, wanting to get to know him.

“I’ve heard of the tale of the supposed Angel of Death .” Schlatt had said, holding a black coffee elegantly in one hand, while the other stirred a single sugar into the liquid. Phil noticed how every time he would take a sip his eyes would never leave the Elytrians.

“Have you now? All good things I hope…” Despite his tremendous power, Phil felt slightly unnerved at the Ram's words. Finding the figure quite eerie, however, he reminded himself not to judge the man before he got to know him. His behaviour might just have been common amongst Ram culture.

A low chuckle left Schlatt’s mouth, “Oh, of course. I wouldn’t speak of your wrongdoings, that would be awfully rude of me, now wouldn’t it.” His voice held a hint of condescension, almost making Phil’s eye twitch. He attempted to ignore it, sipping on his coffee he also had while Schlatt continued. “I’m more interested in how you were able to rise from a nobody in your little village to a legend, a terrifying figure on the battlefield… able to win any fight…”

That was when Phil truly realised what his status had become, for so long he had been drowned in his own little world, only thinking of what he wanted, his wife. He had never really thought of the consequences of his actions. But now, with this hybrid in front of him he saw how he was viewed, as a weapon, as a being to be afraid of. That’s not what he wanted. All he wanted was his love, and now his newfound family.

“What I do is for my own beliefs, I do not support the wars I participate in.” He replied, finding his words.

“Oh, come now. You don’t truly believe that, do you?” The Ram hybrid twisted his words, “You’ve been in this business for years now, surely you can’t lie about enjoying the slaughter you perform. If I didn’t know any better I would say you and I are one in the same.”

“Excuse me?” Phil cocked his eyebrow, his feathery ears fluffing up, almost in defence. He didn’t even know this hybrid, and he claimed they were similar? “What do you even mean by that?”

“Well, I think we could help each other, Philza .” He did not like the way he said his name. “Seeing as you like to participate in all these wars, whatever your reason is, why don’t you join a certain side of an upcoming war. My upcoming war .”

“Your upcoming war?” Phil echoed his words, confused and concerned. 

The Ram hybrid nodded, his eyes like a fire raging, waiting to be let out, as if it had been building up for years. “Oh yes. You see, I think this part of the world needs some direction, and as a hybrid you understand that we know better than humans. I already have an army, we plan to right our little corner of the world. And I think you would certainly benefit from helping our cause.” 

The words the hybrid spoke rolled off his tongue with ease and full confidence, as if he had practised exactly what he was going to say. His expression held a smirk, one Phil recognised practically bursting with the want for greed and power. 

He could tell the intentions of the Ram were not good ones, in fact, he had every right to believe that they were terrible. He wondered what the hybrid had in store for him if he did agree to take part in his war.

“Tell me exactly what these benefits are?”

“Well, I could ensure the safety of your village, of course they would still have to follow under my rule. That and I would give you the position of my right hand at the throne, giving you access to whatever you desire, even more slaughter for whatever your reasonings might be.” The smirk of Schlatt’s face only grew as he spoke, his mind set on the power he desired.

“Your rule?” Phil exclaimed defensively, standing up, his feathers fluffing even more. “And what gives you the right to demand rule over every creature? Hybrid and humans?”

“Us hybrids are the superior race, you know that already your angelicness .” Schlatt also stood, though he kept his cool, instead starting to circle around Philza. “We deserve the right to rule, well, some of us anyway.” He inspected his nails nonchalantly.

Phil narrowed his eyes at the hybrid, a growl wanting to escape his lips. The nerve the Ram had, to demand authority over everyone. Who the hell did he think he was? “As much as you might believe in your so-called ‘cause’, I do not. I am not interested in your offer, fighting for your political authority is against my village's beliefs. And I will not go against my own people's morals just so I can get what I want.” 

Surprisingly, Schlatt wasn’t discontented with Philza’s response, only shrugging his shoulders. He eyes his beverage which he had not quite finished and continued to hold his smirk on his face. “Of course, it was only a proposition after all. I’m glad we could have this chat. My offer is always open if you change your mind.” And without further delay the Ram left.

The talk Phil had with Schlatt stuck in his mind for many months afterwards. His words chilling. The Elytrian found it hard to believe a hybrid was that power hungry, to demand control over everyone and everything.

Though soon enough Phil realised Schlatt was good on his word, a new war emerged. The consequences more devastating than any before. Schlatt wasn’t lying when he said he had an army and quickly took over the human empire like no other had ever done before. Supposedly through an ‘election’, but Philza doubted that was the case. The humans were the first he took control of, splitting his new empire of Manburg into sections based on wealth and power. The effects only brought more power to the higher ups, which of course included Schlatt.

It only took a few years before Schlatt seemingly had control of all humans who lived in his new empire. Creating rules and demands for them they had to obey by. No one had any idea how he was able to gain the power he did over the humans, but Phil could tell Schlatt’s influence wasn’t something normal.

After that Schlatt started to target hybrids, with them not being used to dictatorship. And with the humans under his complete control it didn’t take long before the hybrids were under attack, with resisting creatures being imprisoned. It all happened so fast, no one could deny the terrifying nature of what happened. Within a year the numbers of hybrid’s dwindled to a scarily low number.

The Elytrian’s, stronger than most hybrids, decided to fight back. A resistance of sorts forming. Phil, aware of what Schlatt’s true intentions were, led the organisation, wanting to protect the hybrids after seeing the devastation the humans endured. 

Again his title of the Angel of Death returned to him. Though this time he was seen in a different light. The hybrids, victims of Schlatt’s ruthlessness, started to call upon the heavenly Angel, begging for him to save them when the humans came to hunt them and take them in. They would call on him, and he would answer their pleas, slaughtering the humans who dared to harm the hybrids, as if they had any right to do so. The years of fighting back were kind to his image.

But the resistance against Schlatt’s order did not slow his takeover of the entire empire, including the forest. Phil and many other Elytrian’s attempts to stop the humans from hunting hybrids continued, but their efforts were seen as futile as Schlatt’s demand for hybrids to be captured only continued and worsened over time. With orders for all hybrids to be captured, regardless of their thoughts about the new empire.

Recognising the power Schlatt had taken for himself Phil and the other council members in the Elytrian village made the decision for Phil to meet and discuss the civil war that had been sparked. Considering Schlatt had offered Phil a position to help months prior, the council had hoped that the image as the Angel of Death would help Phil to persuade Schlatt in changing his way, or at the very least his view on the hybrids. 

All knew it was a long shot to send one of their own into the dragon’s den, but Schlatt had made it clear he was always open to Philza returning to discuss options with him. With hundreds of invitations sent to the Elytrian, and rightfully declined. Schlatt was almost obsessed with the legend of the Angel and supposedly would do anything to get him on his side, whether it be for his pride or the fact he would most likely become unstoppable if Phil agreed.

The Elytrian planned on not doing any of that though, his trip to visit Schlatt only to discuss the matters of the war he had waged on his own kind and to give him a warning.

“Ahhh, Philza, still the Angel of Death I see!” Schlatt had welcomed him in, that same smirk plastered onto his face. Phil felt incredibly uncomfortable in the throne room he had been brought to, the place covered from head to toe in expensive and rare material. “Do you want a drink? I just got this imported wine, you must try some!”

Phil felt sick to his stomach seeing how easily the Ram was enjoying himself, indulging in the luxuries of life while he sent orders for hybrids to be captured. “No, I’m not here to taste your imported products. I want to talk to you about what you’re doing.”

“Hmm? I’m doing what I said I would. Waging war and claiming the power for myself. That is what I told you I would do all those years ago wasn’t it?” Schlatt tilted his head condescendingly, taking a sip of his exotic drink while doing so. “And my offer still stands to you as well, you might have fought back against my hunters, but I would gladly accept you joining me now.”

A wave of disgust travelled through Phil, the nerve of this hybrid… “My answer is still the same as it was before. Why would I want to join you after I watch you order for the slaughter of hybrids?”

“Ahh, but Phil, I’ve already explained this to you. We know that hybrids are the superior race, that they’re stronger, smarter, more resourceful than humans. If they band together then those humans I control won’t stand a chance. That’s why they need to go, either that or you tell them to comply. I know they’d listen to their Angel .”

The Elytrian narrowed his eyes. “Is that a proposition?” He asked, raising a brow and feeling himself stand even taller than he did before. His talons dug into the ground, as they tried not to curl up on themselves in anger.

“Oh it’s a promise. If you did tell them to comply, to listen to my rule, I’d leave them alone. And you, I’d grant you even more than you already have now, special perks for your friends and family. You could have everything you ever wanted! Just like I offered you in the first place. All you have to do is get your little hybrid friends to stop resisting me.” Schlatt rose from his seat, drawing closer to the Elytrian, his hooves clicking against the marble floor. Straightening his tie he offered his hand out to Philza. “What have you got to lose?”

Before the Ram’s outstretched hand could even get close to Phil’s the Elytrian slapped it away. The Elytrian felt his feathered ears fluff up in anger, his wings following suit. “Why would I ever want to work with a tyrant like you? All you would use me for would be to take care of your dirty work for you. It disgusts me to see a hybrid stoop so low.”

For the first time Phil watched as the smirk that had been cemented on the Ram's face disappear, seemingly offended that Phil had rejected his proposal with such words. “I do what I must so that I stay on the top. I offer you everything in the world and you still can’t see that what I’m doing is right. I will do this with or without you, y’know?”

“Then do it without me, me and my village want nothing to do with your power hungry plans. If you do not stop your actions we will band together and do the thing you claim to be afraid of, we will stop you together.” Phil spoke coldly, unfolding his wings and creating a shadow onto the smaller man.

“Your village?” Schlatt echoed before his smirk made its return to his face. “Heh, go then, resist my orders, you will regret it I’m sure. If you’re in my way I will kill you like the others who go against my will.”

“You are no god here.” The Elytrian spread his wings and lifted himself into the air. “This is our final warning Schlatt, we will not take your ruthless orders any more. Stop, before you regret your actions.” With a gust of wind Phil left the so-called throne room, leaving Schlatt in the room on his own. 

“….A village, hmm?...”

…

The Elytrian returned to his beloved village and discussed the news with the council, they hadn’t expected Schlatt to stop in his ways, but there was a certain fear that they had only angered him more. Though there was no time to dwell on it, as they started to prepare themselves to fight back against the Ram. Knowing that there wasn’t much else of an option.

News spread quickly around the village and soon all of the Elytrians were preparing themselves for a fight. A war like no other. Not all had extensive training like Philza did, but their ability of flight gave them a huge advantage. That and their cunningness, as they started to plan their attacks with the utmost care and thought.

A now 14 year old [y/n] desperately asked to help fight in the upcoming war between the Elytrians and Schlatt, however, Fraser knew that she was not yet at a point where she could partake in such a battle. Instead, her father asked Phil to continue training her in the spare time they had, knowing that Phil did not need anymore training as much as he said he did.

Phil would take [y/n] away from the mention of the war as her father had asked him to, respecting his decision. Everyday taking her to the spot she would train with her father, over the lake and in a secluded part of the forest away from the village. For months he would hone [y/n]’s skills in sword fighting, knowing that her archery skills would improve with her own practice, and he knew it was her father's speciality anyway. 

But war waits for no man.

One day, while training [y/n] in their secluded area of the forest, only a matter of days before they planned to attack Schlatt, Philza felt a strange sensation. The young [y/n] also felt ` shiver run down her spine, stopping them both in the middle of their training suddenly. 

Something was wrong.

The two rushed back to the village as fast as they could. But as they came to the opening of their village their eyes opened wide, their hearts sinking as they recognised a scene in front of them that could only be described as merciless slaughter.

Blood pooled on the ground as countless bodies lay lifeless. Not a single soul could be felt in the village as all had been brutally murdered. Even those who did not want to participate in the fighting were dead, children, women, men. No one was left alive. The fresh scent of death was still evident, with bodies strung across the treehouses, blood dripping down the wooden beams staining them.

The two remaining Elytrians stood at the entrance of their village, not daring to take a step in. Paralysed by a mixture of emotions that ran down their faces in the form of hot tears. The younger Elytrian immediately realising that the death of her mother and beloved father was a reality, one she had once feared, now come true. The older on the other hand came to the realisation that the slaughter that had taken place was a punishment for him taunting the gods and interfering with their duties.

Phil had made the young girl wait in a safe, isolated area while he painstakingly took it upon himself to clean up the village. Removing hundreds of lifeless bodies from the ground and treetops, giving each one a proper burial and cleaning any remaining blood left. He refused to expose his niece to the sight of her now deceased family and friends, but for him, he knew it was a punishment.

He realised, with his hands covered in the blood of his own kind, that this had all happened because of him. Because he had taken it upon himself to play with the gods, to get involved in their business. He was the one that Schlatt had wanted, clearly this attack on his village was meant for revenge, to show Phil his mistake and to possibly kill him. Of course, he was gone in the one moment where he shouldn’t have been. 

He heard from whispers around that Schlatt had in fact organised the ‘raid’ onto the Elytrian’s village, as a punishment for even trying to rise up and fight back against him. He heard from hybrids and humans alike that Schlatt had destroyed the Angel of Death, that no hybrid was safe from his rule, and that they would bow down before him.

In any other instance Phil would continue to fight back, to prove the mad Ram wrong. But he couldn’t. Not after his loss. 

Schlatt was right. The Angel of Death had died.

After many days of cleaning up the village, Phil brought [y/n] back to the village, giving all the deceased a proper funeral and burial, especially for her father. Fraser had been a close friend, a voice of reason to Phil at times. Without him, he felt somewhat lost. The responsibility of his deceased friend’s only child now resting on Philza’s shoulders. 

Overcome with his grief Phil renounced his title as the Angel. Not finding it in his heart to even pick up a sword again, afraid violence would take away the only thing he now had left. Without the slaughter and death, Kristen was not able to stay on the mortal plane. Returning to the heavens above and continuing her duties from afar, rightfully understanding why her love couldn’t find it in himself to continue her requests.

But the legend of the Angel lived on, hybrids continuing to call for him to save them and rescue them. Though he would no longer come, the mere thought of him was still a beacon of hope for hybrids carried with them until they were taken away.

Schlatt continued with his rule, with the supposed death of his rival there was nothing to stop him from taking control over everything. Manburg became an empire ruled with fear and Schlatt employed more hunters to capture every last hybrid who refused to live within his empire. 

His raid serving as a message for any who dared to question his authority.

~-~

…

Techno could only look at his friend with a look full of pity, shock and horror. His mouth slightly agape as she finished telling him the full story of Phil and his legendary status as the Angel of Death. He had known there was a connection and that the Angel was important, but he never knew how much of a vital role he had played in not only many hybrid’s lives, but also the lives of everyone in the entire empire. His rivalry with Schlatt, and the destruction of everything he once had.

[y/n]’s gaze had remained on the grass for a majority of her telling him the story, ripping out the grass near her hands when there were certain parts that had clearly upset her. A now bald patch of grass was next to her hands, the dirt exposed from how much she had ripped out.

“Phil was different after that day… we both were. But he wasn’t the man that I had known during my childhood.” She mentioned quietly, her eyes narrowing. “He cut himself off, he even cut me off at times. I sometimes think he sees himself in me, he had said that when I was younger and I think he finds that difficult at times…”

She went quiet again, clearly lost in her own thoughts. But the Piglin didn’t blame her. He had wanted to know about Phil, but in return he also got to know more about everything, and everything included her…

“You said that in the past your father mentioned that you were skilled, similar to how Phil was.” Techno said, phrasing it more as a question.

She sighed, “He denies it, but I think the reason he’s so reluctant to let me sword fight again is his fear that… I could become like him. Another Angel of Death. He doesn’t say it, but I already know it. It’s not like it’s hard to tell anyway…” 

Techno watched the Elytrian in front of him, she seemed so far away from him, even though she was right there. Her gaze only looked over the horizon, the sun illuminating her face, making her beauty even more visible to the Piglin who found it nearly impossible to tear his own eyes away from her.

“But… you’re nothing like that.” Techno found himself saying, turning his body more towards her, hoping she would follow suit and face him. “Why in all of Notch would you take Phil’s place as the Angel of Death?” He asked, finding no reason to believe in Phil and her fears.

“I don’t know… sometimes I wish he would just believe me instead of clinging onto his fears.” She responded, getting the memo and swizzling her body around a smidge. “That’s why he never leaves the village, why he’s so cautious about being seen, or me getting hurt.”

“He’s afraid Schlatt will take everything away from him again...” Techno finished for her. She only nodded in response, showing that Techno was right in his thinking.

“Schlatt took away his home, his friends, family, his love and his meaning in life…” Her brows furrowed in slight anger. “I don’t blame him for how he feels. He so desperately wanted to get back at Schlatt, find a reason to spark up a rebellion, to return things to how they used to be. But he never would’ve done it with just me, his protection over me was too strong.”

Her eyes shifted to look at Techno as she continued, a softer tone as she spoke to him, “I think he’s grateful for you Techno, he wanted to tell you about his past, but he couldn’t bring himself to share it. As soon as you turned up it was like his mind had changed, and you started to prove his way of thinking for the last seven years was wrong. Both him and me…”

The Piglin swore he felt a wave of warmth flow through him as she looked at him like that. Her eyes relaxed and a faint smile with hints of hope on her face. The sun highlighted her best features, defining her cheeks and brows, bringing even more attention to her eyes as they shone from the reflection of the sun.

“Both of you?”

“Yeah… well, I’d been starting to lose hope as well… It’s easier to carry hope when you’re a child. But it was like you were a beacon, I was drawn to it, and then you shared your hope with me. Maybe that was why I let myself get captured that day we met.” She chuckled and rubbed her arm.

She let herself get captured by Techno? Wait, as in the first time they met? Surely not…

“You let me capture you?” He asked frantically, shocked at the news, nudging even closer to her, curious.

She waited a moment before answering, her words half interrupted by her own giggles. “Not exactly, let's say I was more distracted by you than anything. I’d been trying to think of ways to create an uprising against Schlatt, to no avail of course. You, a hybrid hunter, just caught me off guard. But you must have rubbed off some of your hope back onto me, because I waited for you to come back the next day.”

Ah, that made more sense. The thought of her waiting for him, even though they had been strangers at the time helped for his blush to make another appearance on his cheeks. He knew it was there, but he still hoped the warmth of the sun would hide it from the girl in front of him.

“I don’t think I’m as hopeful as you think I am.” The Piglin responds, brushing off the other comment [y/n] had made, knowing it made him flustered.

“You might not think it, but you gave Phil enough hope to let myself be known to the hunters. To have hope and trust in me…” She shuffled closer to Techno, her legs brushing against the grass. Her folded wings tickled the Piglin’s back as feathers glided behind him. “You’ve done so much for me… and not just things to do with the rebellion either…”

Techno felt his body go rigid as the Elytrian shuffled closer to him, close enough for them to be touching. He felt his cheeks and ears heat up even more than before, the blush most definitely not covered by the sun's glow now. Though, he noticed that his blush seemed to be mirrored on [y/n]’s face as well, her cheeks a much pinker shade than normal. And it was clear both knew each other had the dusting of colour sprinkled on their faces.

“You’ve… you’ve done so much for me too [y/n]...” The Piglin shortly said, still cursing his lack of communication skills. “The same with how it’s not just the rebellion too.”

A pregnant pause filled the air, the only hint of movement from the wind rustling past each other's faces. Wisps of Techno’s long pink hair that had come out of the braid tickling the Elytrian’s face, while her hair flowed behind her gently. Hiding nothing from his view.

Wanting to elaborate, Techno stuttered a little trying to find the right words before saying what he really, really wanted to say. “Before any of this… I wanted to give up. I had no way of supporting Tommy or Will, I thought I’d have to stoop to the lowest point, neither of the boys were pleased about it. In fact I think they were even scared I would hunt them… But you were like some sort of… switch … and I realised that I wanted to do something different.”

He watched as she listened intently, continuing, “You were affecting me… my voices… it was like your presence could calm them. Even now, they’re silent, as if they want to hear you themselves, as if they’re letting me hear you, properly, and better than anyone else. And you… you understand me, you care about me, even when I’ve done nothing in particular to even expect something like that…”

And a part of me… whether it be the voices or my own thoughts, I don’t know. But some part of me cares about you in a way I’ve never felt before. In a way where I want to make you happy, I want to help your dreams, I want to make them come true so that you can have more dreams than the ones you made when you were a child…”

As he finished speaking, he felt his chest rise up and down frantically. As if it had taken all his energy to convey exactly what he wanted to say to the Elytrian right in front of him. As if the simple act of speaking was all too much for him, it certainly felt that way.

His gaze returned to its natural position, as he looked the Elytrian right in the eye. Suddenly embarrassed he had said all of that right in front of her. But it was true. And as much as he would like to deny it, she deserved the truth from him. The truth about how he really felt towards her. She had been deprived of it so many times before, it would be cruel to do so again, especially after she shared all that she did.

“I’m sorry…” He wasn’t sure why he apologised, maybe it was more out of embarrassment. “This isn’t all about me.”

“But…” She started quietly, picking up Techno’s unfinished sentence. “What if I do want it to be about you?” 

As always, the Elytrian’s words surprised the Piglin. Causing him to search [y/n]’s face for more, an elaboration of sorts, anything to complete that statement that made the red hue burn even brighter onto his face. 

He couldn’t help the warm, tingly feeling inside of him rise as he watched her cheeks mirror his, becoming redder by the second. Though he knew she wore it much better than him, he would never say that of course, but he most certainly thought it.

This time, he stayed quiet, instead waiting for the winged girl, only inches away from him, to continue. Any more words from his mouth and he was sure he would stumble and stutter all over the place, his inability to communicate showing itself off front and centre.

“What if…” She began, her eyes solely fixated on the Piglin in front of her. Her hand nudging forward a few inches, growing closer to his own. “I want to help you, the same way you do with me? What if I want you to be with me, through all the things we go through? Whether they’re related to the rebellion or not…”

She stopped talking for a moment again, the feathers of her wings coating Techno’s back even more, encapsulating him in a blanket of her soft feathers, all puffed up behind him. She was so close, close enough for the Piglin to hear her swallow a lump that must have been stuck in her throat. As if she was swallowing the words she wanted to say, digesting them, making sure that she would say them to the man in front of her.

“Maybe, I’ve been enjoying our time together, more than I would with my other friends. What if I miss you every time you have to return to your house in the empire, and that I can only think of the next time I will be around you?” Her breath starts to become shaky, the nerves in her voice evident. “What if… I want us to be something else?”

She was so close now… 

Her face had been nudging towards his own while she had been speaking. Making each of her features more profound and more evident. The feathers that framed her face, the ones that came down her cheekbones from her feathered ears were even more beautiful than the last time Techno had seen them. Her eyes shone in the sunlight that captured the right side of her face, her pupils large as she looked into his own.

Techno tried to stop his own breath from shuddering as he replied, his words soft, as if he didn’t want to let anyone else hear, despite them being alone in the moment. “Something else? As in the something else that I’m thinking?” He said, as if she could read his thoughts, following her actions and bringing his face closer to hers, as she had been doing. He could feel her exhales tingling on his skin.

She opened her mouth once more, as if she was about to reply, however no words came out. Instead only a small hitch in her breath could be made out. 

Though it made sense to Techno as she closed the gap that had been between them for so agonisingly long. As she moved her head and gently pressed her lips against his own, closing her eyes and basking in the moment.

The Piglin swore that he felt his heart skip a beat, as if he had been shot with a crossbow, an arrow through his heart. But it hadn’t stopped beating, instead it only increased its rate. In the seconds their lips were moulded together he saw little fireworks in the corner of his vision, and he closed his eyes too, letting the fireworks blind his vision and illuminate the darkness with his lids closed.

Neither made a movement to take the kiss any further. Basking in the innocent and nervous nature of where the kiss came from. Only disconnecting from it after a few moments of the comfortable silence, each opening their eyes to look at each other and only each other.

“Was… was that the kind of something else you were thinking about?” She asked, cocking her head, teasing him, though she was clearly just as flustered as he was in the moment. Her smile caused her cheekbones to rise and she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ears, trying to regain her composure.

Words seemed to fail Techno in that moment, he could only look at her, stars in his eyes. Unable to take his view anywhere but her face. As the next few seconds passed he realised he needed to say something, to reply to her, to say ‘yes’. But nothing seemed to come out, it was as if the muscles in his body stopped working.

Before she could get the wrong impression, one that what she had just done was wrong, Techno moved to confirm her ‘something else’. Knowing that words would not come to him right now he decided to speak with his actions, hoping she would understand.

It was much easier to move his hand than his mouth, lifting it and placing it on the back of her head, intertwining his fingers with her hair and her feathers from her ears. Finding it no difficult task to gently pull her back to him, so that their lips could meet once more. With him leaving enough time for her to process the request for another kiss, letting her pull away if she wanted to. Though she did not, complying with his request and happily letting the Piglin pull their bodies close together and meeting his lips.

This time it was more than just the mere presence of their lips meeting, it felt like a confirmation. Like the words Techno was trying to say all along, telling her that this was indeed the ‘something else’ she had been on about. It was pure in all its essence, with their meeting still being gentle and new. 

Techno couldn’t help himself but smile into it as he felt the warm hands of [y/n] hold his free hand that rested on his lap. A simple gesture, with her making sure her sharp nails did not scratch his hands as she gave him a light squeeze. But the gesture itself was the Elytrian’s unspoken words, one’s that said ‘I hear you’.

As the two pulled away once again, no more words were exchanged. As if there was no need for them in the first place. The mutual understanding between them being more than enough of an explanation. And it was perfect for Techno. The smile shared between them meaning more than words could describe.

Deciding to be a little brave, Techno did what he knew how to do well, speak with his actions. He made an effort to intertwine his own fingers and hers together, mixing the darkness of her fingertips with his more pink skin tone. Squeezing her hand just as she had done to him and speaking back to her in his own way without the use of actual words.

In response [y/n] giggled, resting her forehead against Techno’s. For a moment he thought she was going to back in for another kiss, something that would probably finish him off considering how flustered he already was. But instead she quietly rested with him, soaking up the innocent nature of the first kiss they had just had together (well, first and second).

It would’ve been too easy to stay there, possibly forever, soaking up each other's embrace. Feeling the wind sway the Elytrian’s soft hair over his shoulders, her wings acting as a blanket from any of the winds' more colder gusts.

Part of him wanted to do even more, maybe he could wrap his arms around her, embrace her fully like they had done many times before. Though this time would be slightly different. But he decided not to, or at least his body decided not to, as he couldn’t bring himself to even lift his hand up, it was like his body was frozen, thinking this moment was perfect as it was. 

Eventually his muscles loosened up and he withdrew the hand that had been holding the back of her neck. He wasn’t really sure how long they had stayed like that together for, but neither seemed to mind all that much so he let the thought go. Instead he lifted his head up and away from hers, breathing heavily knowing he should say something.

“I…ummm… thank you…” He ended up saying. He hadn’t exactly been sure what to say so he just let the first words he could think of come out.

[y/n] let out a singular, quiet laugh, tilting her head as she answered him. “You’re thanking me? What for?” She must have not expected those exact words to come from the Piglin, then again, what would she have been expecting him to say? She knew his communication difficulties.

“Thank you, for telling me about your family, about Phil… And thank you for…understanding me.”

God, could his face get any hotter than it was right now. He swore his ears felt like they were going to burn off any second now.

The Elytrian’s cheekbones only rose, her smile taking over her expression. “Yeah, well in that case. Thank you too, Techno.”

Another quiet moment passed comfortably. The two awkward hybrids only smiled at each other, their hands still intertwined together on the floor. It felt so natural for them to be together like that, they almost forgot their fingers curled around the others.

“Come on.” [y/n] eventually spoke, filling the silence that Techno had quite been enjoying. “We should probably get back to the village.” 

“Mmm.” Techno hummed in response, agreeing that that was probably the best course of action next. Though he couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face when their hands unattached from each other.

Seeing his expression dull for a second at the fact they had to get back, [y/n] energetically jumped up, her normal energy returning in a time of need. “Come on, we can take the long way back. I can tell you some more about my village in its heyday, and if you’re lucky I’ll show you a special move my father taught me!”

The smile instantly returned to the Piglin’s face, his expression lightened by her energy as if it was a source of fuel. “Oh really, well I’m sure we wouldn’t need the long route for me to master this ‘special move’.” He teased, nudging her in the side.

“Yeah, but don’t lie saying you’d want to take the short route back home, you don’t wanna get rid of me that easily now do you?” She placed her hands behind her back and stuck out her tongue as her wings unfolded behind her.

“Heh, you got me… So we are taking the long way back right?”

The Elytrian rolled her eyes, starting to lead Techno down the hill and out of the sun's light, back into the forest. “Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Chapter Text

Techno had found it hard to sleep that night, his mind still buzzing with excitement and joy like he had never felt before. He swore his cheeks were stained that red hue from thinking of his time spent with [y/n] the night before.

He was glad they had taken the long way back to the village, it gave them a chance to talk to each other, joking and having playful banter. Just genuinely enjoying each other's presence. Of course there was a little awkwardness from the fact the two had kissed, however it was silently established between them that for the walk back their relationship was something to be discussed at a later date.

[y/n] had told Techno more stories of Phil when he was the Angel, the legends that she had grown up with, many tales that had mostly been lost to time. But ones she had remembered and was willing and almost desperate to share, the ones that had helped shape her morals and goals in her younger years. It was a wholesome experience, with her delving into Techno’s childhood as well. Something he had not shared with her before that moment.

He had given her the basic rundown of everything, his lost memories of his younger years, but his talent being obvious and one of the first things he remembered. How well he could fight, and his skill for the sword, strangely similar to Phil. In fact he realised how similar him, [y/n] and Phil really were, all of them being a prodigy for a certain weapon from a young age. It felt quite coincidental.

His memories of finding the two younger hybrids on the street, Tommy and Wilbur, taking them in when he was only a teenager and raising them like his brothers. Telling her details of stories like when he was able to find out about Tommy’s imaginative mind, carving wooden figures for him to play with, and helping Will with his anxiety, channelling it through the medium of music. 

It was like there was a new kind of trust between them, one that had only come forward once the two of them realised how special they were to each other. How much they cared for each other… Only sealed and confirmed with a kiss.

He wasn’t sure exactly how long that walk back had taken them, it was most certainly the ‘long way back’ that [y/n] had promised. It must have taken them at least 4 hours to get back to the village, though they had been walking quite slowly, neither of them particularly wanting to end their time together after the special moment they had shared together.

They had been so wrapped up in each other in fact, they never noticed the bushes rustling even though there was no wind, or the sound of footsteps that were clearly heavier than any smaller animal or hybrid they knew. But neither had noticed, far too entranced in each other and their conversations to realise that there was possibly someone following them…

But now it was morning, with the two separating to try and get some sleep. Though that had been impossible for the Piglin. He had laid on the bed in his little makeshift cabin he had in the treetops of the village, staring at the ceiling with his eyes closed trying to rest. Yet his mind was rushing at 1000 miles an hour. 

His voices had returned in this time, though not violent as they usually were. More annoying than anything. Rambling about [y/n] and the previous hours. No matter what he tried he couldn’t get them to shut up, he even considered going to talk to [y/n] again in the hopes they would quieten down. But he thought that would be unfair, plus while it sometimes worked, there was no guarantee they would completely shut up, after all they worked in their own way. A hivemind that he could not control, he had to remember that. It was just difficult when he was so used to them being a little quieter around the Elytrian.

The lack of sleep in the last 36 hours probably gave him bloodshot eyes, but in honesty, it wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with. He didn’t mind the long shifts of working in between the hunters and the rebellion, mostly because it was all worth it when he got to see [y/n]’s delight at Pogtopia succeeding.

He groaned as he decided to give up at any attempt to sleep, still feeling wide awake after a few hours of trying. He had some time before he needed to return back home and to the camp, he promised the boys he would keep them updated anyways. Perhaps this was a good time to go back to the library again, there were many books that he and [y/n] hadn’t read yet. Maybe he could try and find more about his voices, other than the fact that they were a hivemind of possible Brutes.

Tugging on a new shirt he noticed a small patch embroidered on the side, he chuckled to himself, recognising the Elytrian’s work. A small sword and crown neatly sewn into the front pocket of the cream shirt, she must have done this while he was at the camp sometime, even something as small as this made his heart skip a beat and his voices swoon inside of him.

He tried not to run his hands across the embroidery as he made his way over to the library, instead keeping them by his side, which was a lot harder than he thought. Thankfully he was distracted as he saw his hybrid friends below, Niki and Ranboo were clearly busy with their jobs. Techno also noticed Fundy with them, seeing him laugh as Niki said something to him, it made the Piglin sigh as he realised how much Fundy still disliked him.

“Techno!” Niki called to him as he descended down the wooden stairs, “Are you ok, you look exhausted.” She noted, pointing to his eyebags with her scaly hand as he made his way over to them beside the river.

The Piglin only shrugged, “I’m ok, just… couldn’t sleep, that's all.” He said, not really wanting to tell the hybrids about his voices, knowing Fundy would probably only taunt him if he did. “What are you guys on with?”

“W-we’re talking about possible routes into the castle via the rivers and streams.” Ranboo spoke up, stuttering at first. His posture was hunched as he tried to become more level with the other hybrids, his height hindering him slightly. “Niki’s found some possible routes in.”

“Nice.” Techno shortly replied, drawing closer so he could see the map the three of them were looking over. “You guys look like you’ve got things sorted out over here.”

“Yeah, we’re doing fine.” The Fox hybrid spoke up, his fluffy ear visibly twitching underneath the hat he wore. “We don’t need your approval for that though, we listen to what Phil says, not you.”

The pinkette subtly rolled his eyes, too exhausted to deal with Fundy’s harsh attitude. He had never said anything to do with being in charge, he just knew Fundy was being a prick for the sake of it.

Noticing the tension Niki changed the subject, asking Techno a question. “Anywayssss, how was your date the other day?” She asked which made both the Fox and Enderian perk up and look at the Piglin with a relative amount of surprise on their face. 

A little embarrassed at the question and taken off guard, Techno raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “O-oh, y-yeah. It went well, thank you for your help.” He thought back to the stargazing that he and [y/n] had done together a few days ago, how well it had gone. How that had probably led to the events of yesterday and their…flight.

“You went on a date with [y/n]?” Ranboo asked, curiously, raising his hand as if he was asking for permission to speak.

“I-I never said it was with [y/n].” Techno felt his cheeks heat up, trying to hide the obvious fact that it was in fact with the Elytrian.

From the side Fundy rolled his eyes, his tail sweeping behind him as he crossed his arms in front of him. “You didn’t have to, it’s obvious. I mean who else is it gonna be?” He shrugged and raised a brow at the Piglin. “C’mon, everyone in the village knows at this point that you guys are definitely not just friends. You’re practically oogling each other every time you’re within twenty feet of the other.”

The Fox hybrid must enjoy teasing him Techno thought as he felt himself bite the inside of his cheek, now incredibly embarrassed. Sure he knew that some people had known him and [y/n] were close, but the whole village practically viewing them as the couple was not something he had expected. He was so used to blending in or trying not to make a big show, it felt a little humiliating he had been so oblivious to the way he and the Elytrian had been acting towards each other. Especially if everyone saw them like that, and they had only just accepted it last night.

“I…oh.” 

“Oh come on Techno, it's not a bad thing!” Niki tried reassuring him, while giving a look to Fundy as if telling him off slightly in which the Fox shrugged. “We’re all rooting for you.” She said supportively.

“Yeah, some of the hybrids even have bets on it!” Ranboo chimed in.

“Ranboo!” Niki shot back at him. “He isn’t supposed to know that!”

“O-oh, I mean hybrids definitely don’t have bets on it. Yeah, that was a joke I just said…there…” The Enderian tried to hide his mistake, quite terribly might I add. A bead of sweat could be seen running down his face, making all three of the others raise a brow at him. Techno reminded himself not to leave secrets with Ranboo, the kid reminded him of Tommy… slightly.

While the whole situation was quite embarrassing, Techno couldn’t help but let out a short laugh, feeling supported like this by his friends and peers was a new feeling to him. But he liked it, as weird as it made him feel, as embarrassed as he got. He knew that all of them had his back, even Fundy to a certain extent.

“Heh, thanks guys.”

“Anytime Techno, without you, we wouldn’t have this home and family.” Niki smiled back, pulling in Ranboo and Fundy for a hug, while being sure not to get any water droplets on the Enderian. “I don’t think you realise how much you and [y/n] have really done for us, and I know you’ll continue to help us.” She nodded towards Fundy, hinting at his cousin still being captive.

Techno nodded graciously, “Well, I’m gonna head to the library, I won’t keep you guys from your planning anymore.” He said, not quite knowing how to respond to the kind words of the Merling. Turning away as Niki and Ranboo gave him a wave goodbye and heading over to the large tree that held inside the grand library.

He waved hello to a few other hybrids he saw on the way over to the library, only confirming what Niki had been saying. All the hybrids really did know him, even ones that had come to the village of their own accord and hadn’t been rescued. All of them smiling his way and acknowledging him. He had forgotten how many hybrids he had helped, it almost made it even more embarrassing knowing they were rooting for his supposed ‘love life’ as well.

Eventually he made his way across the entire village and stood at the entry to the library, surprisingly most hybrids didn’t seem to go into the magnificent building, probably because they couldn’t reach any of the high up shelves. Leaving it a place mostly reserved to [y/n] and Phil. Techno honestly didn’t mind climbing the shelves to get a few books, even if the drop was deadly, he had confidence in himself to climb. Afterall, he had taught Tommy all of his climbing skills, and that was something considering the Avian could climb literally anything. Poor kid had to, considering he couldn’t fly with those chicken wings of his.

Opening the large wooden doors to the entrance he didn’t expect to see the face that he had been thinking of all night right in front of him. [y/n] let out a small yelp, shocked as she saw Techno, she looked like she was actually just leaving the library. The Piglin noticed the book she clutched in her hands, gripping it tighter as she saw the man she had spent the previous night with.

“T-Techno! You surprised me.” She let out in between breaths, almost as if the sight of him had knocked the wind out of her. She placed one of her hands over her heart exaggerating the fact, making sure not to let go of the book in her other hand. “I was actually about to go looking for you.”

“You were?” Techno could feel his heat returning to his cheeks, the thought of her wanting to see him after the… events of yesterday made him all giddy inside. “Hold on, what were you doing in the library?”

“Oh! Research!” She answered, holding up the book in front of her face for Techno to have a good look at. He felt himself let out a laugh as he read the title ‘The psychology of love in hybrids’. Was she researching about her feelings? “Yeah, yeah, I know what it looks like.” She rolled her eyes, “But I seriously found some interesting stuff in here that I think you would probably like to know.”

For once the Piglin actually couldn’t tell if the Elytrian was being serious or not, looking at her with one brow raised. He ended up shrugging his shoulders, he trusted her judgement that there was probably something worthwhile in the book, even if it was about… love. These feelings just felt so new, he didn’t quite want to categorise them like this yet.

“Look-” She started speaking again, her voice a little quieter as she dragged him inside the library doors so that no one else could watch them. “I couldn’t sleep after…yesterday. So I ended up coming here to calm myself down, I assume that’s what you were doing here as well?”

Techno nodded, she was right on the money there. He let her continue, able to tell that she wasn’t finished yet.

“I just wanted to do a little research, considering I couldn’t get my head to focus on literally anything else.” She was referencing the kiss, he knew it. “And I came across this book, it categorised how each species of hybrid can experience these intense feelings. All normal stuff until this!”

She opened the book onto a page she had tabbed, turning it and showing him while pulling him close to look. Techno’s eyes opened wide as he understood why, seeing the page label not only a Piglin, but a Piglin Brute. The page showing a clear diagram of both a Brute and a Brute hybrid, the ink scratches flowing in certain ways, with features he recognised as his own. How in the hell was there even any information like this out there? Documentation of the Brutes was pretty much non-existent.

“What… But I thought-” He was cut off by the Elytrian almost immediately.

“Not here. I thought it’d be better to discuss this in private… this and some other things…” 

Techno’s eyes widened for a second, understanding what she meant. Perhaps she was right, if any of the other hybrids found out about Techno’s voices and the Brute’s hivemind it probably wouldn’t be an enjoyable experience having to explain it to possibly the entire village. Not to mention they might not have that same trust for him as they do now. 

Plus there was the fact that his ‘situationship’ with the Elytrian in front of him was at a pivotal point, he didn’t really want anything going around about how they had locked lips yesterday. As much as he loved the support from all the hybrids, that was something he would rather keep private for now.

“Yeah, that’s probably the best course of action.” He responded, closing the book as he agreed that it would be best to talk somewhere more private. “We could go to our usual sparring area in the woods, no one comes around that area, it's on the outskirts of the parts the hunters roam.”

“Perfect! C’mon, let's go now… Unless you’ve got something else you need to do.” She added on at the end, nervously laughing as she clutched the book even closer to her chest.

Well, there was no point going to the library now, especially considering [y/n] had found something. He doubted he would’ve looked in the same area of books as she had done, he probably wouldn’t have found anything. It was a good idea she had gone instead of him.

“Heh, as if I’d miss an opportunity like this.”

~-~

There was a slight awkwardness between the two hybrids as they walked to their usual sparring spot, it wasn’t bad by any means. But you could tell there was a lingering sense of words that wanted to be said, yet nothing was brought up about the events of the day before. It was a strange contrast to when the two had walked back to the village after their flight, they had been so talkative now, why was it different?

Instead of letting the quiet drown the two hybrids Techno decided to speak up, initiating conversation between the two. Something he usually left up to the Elytrian. “You said you couldn’t sleep?” He said, leaving the question quite open.

“Hmm?” It was almost as if the Elytrian had been in a trance, Techno’s words snapping her out of it as she answered. “Oh, yes. My mind just felt like it was racing the whole time. I just couldn’t stop thinking of the fun we had yesterday…”

So she decided to go to the library? Great minds think alike it seems.

“Did you sleep well?” She asked, turning to look at him while she continued to walk.

“Ah, well… not really…” The Piglin gave up on any attempt to lie and say he did have a good night's rest. But his eyebags and bloodshot eyes would probably give him away, plus he found no reason to lie to [y/n], he trusted her wholeheartedly. “The voices, they ummm… kept me up. I couldn’t really close my eyes without them shouting at me.”

The Elytrian flashed him a sincere look. Techno had shared his troubles with the voices and their constant yelling at times, it was nice to know that she understood his struggle with them. While she could never experience the frustration the Piglin had, she had instead made an effort to empathise with him, making him not feel so alone with his condition. It was comforting.

“What were they shouting about this time?” She asked, curiously and innocently. Though Techno had a suspicion she knew the real answer.

Knowing the real answer would make himself cringe, he decided to try and shrug the question, as if last night was just another night the voices had kept him up, even though they hadn’t done that in months. “Everything and anything.” 

“You sure it wasn’t about the stuff we did yesterday?” She teased, poking his side before scurrying off further into the woods, nearing their sparring area.

Chuckling at her antics, Techno followed her, brushing aside the branches that she ducked under to catch up with her before she was too far out of his sight. She was still able to leave him in the dust like this when she ran off ahead.

He decided to abruptly change the subject, saving himself from any embarrassment of having to confess he was thinking of her instead of sleeping. “Hey, how did you find that book? I thought we went through all the possible documents that included mentions of Brutes.” He said, wanting to get back on track to the reason they were going to talk in private in the first place.

“Yeah I thought that too.” She called back, before settling into the familiar opening and waiting for the Piglin to follow suit. Sitting on a rock with the book resting on her lap, her wings folded neatly behind her. “It’s only the really old stuff that talks about them, and even then there's not much information to help with your voices. But I got curious after returning to the village and decided to browse through the library on a certain…subject.”

The subject of ‘the psychology of love in hybrids’ apparently.

“Turns out this book is actually nearly one of the oldest we have in the library! One of my ancestors must have written it when it was common to have Nether Portals open! There are hybrids of creatures and mobs I’ve never even heard of! Like, what the heck is a warden?” She continued as she opened the book to a tabbed page, showing an inked sketch of a monstrous creature Techno had never seen before.

Techno noted the aged look of the book, the edges of each page looking torn and weathered from age. Some of the ink faded and blurred as if water droplets had smudged the carefully drawn images. “I don’t know, and I wouldn’t wanna find out.” He said, referencing the Warden. “So it has information on Brutes?”

Her face beamed, struggling to contain her excitement to show the Piglin. “Come here!” She gestured next to her on the rock, scooting over to the side so there was enough room to plonk himself next to her. The two of them were so close their sides bumped into each other, but this didn’t seem to bother either of them, with Techno looking intently at the book as [y/n] flicked to her tabbed page on Brutes. “When I first read it, I couldn’t believe my eyes!”

With her practically bouncing up and down next to him Techno started to read the words on the page out loud. “‘Although seemingly a hostile clan of Piglins, I have concluded in my examinations and research that the hivemind of a Brute, though violent and bloodthirsty, can also become protective and caring for those who they share strong bonds with.” Techno gave a quick look at [y/n], surprised and intrigued for anything to be mentioned about the hivemind and his ‘voices’. “After becoming friends with one particular Brute hybrid, they let me pick apart their minds. Describing to me that the intensity of the hivemind can calm down when in the presence of a particularly strong bond, whether it be platonic or romantic love. This research should be taken forward in consideration of the violent nature of Brutes, other hybrids should remember that they are a creature that loves just like the rest of us.’”

As he finished reading the paragraph Techno took a moment to process the information he had just read aloud. Looking at [y/n], his mouth slightly open as he took in information he had longed to know for years on end. 

Beaming at the discovery and finding his expression quite amusing, the Elytrian continued to read, moving to a different paragraph further down the page, next to the inked diagram of the Brute. “Look here, ‘While the hivemind of the Brute hybrid can be dangerous and can spiral out of control if left alone with the demands for blood, I have seen first hand that a Brute can overcome the demands of their mind and intercept the hivemind, just with a little help from those they strongly care about.’ It has all the answers you were looking for!”

Techno chuckles, examining parts of the detailed Brute. Running his fingers across the page and noting the similarities he had with the Brute. He wondered if he was a Brute, perhaps, but then again he didn’t look exactly like the picture. Perhaps he was a mixture of both normal Piglins and the Brutes, having ancestors who maybe mixed clans, after all the Brutes did seem to be described as more romantic than he first thought.

“I can’t believe it. There's actually a way to quieten the voices- I mean the hivemind.” He said, his face showing more emotion than he was used to, his cheeks almost hurt from smiling so much in the past few days. “I just never knew it was so… sappy.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, I bet it wasn’t the answer you were expecting!” She responded, laughing as well. “It gives an answer to why they go out of control too, like that one time.” She pointed to the line in the book about the ‘demand for blood’, Techno definitely resonated with that one.

“That one stuck out to me too, makes me wonder if I really am a Brute.”

“Well, you’re not a ‘brute’ in my eyes.” She smiled up at him, shifting her gaze from the book to meet his eyes with a sense of sincerity. “And I don’t think in biological terms you’re completely 100% brute either, sure you share the hivemind with them, but you don’t seem to contribute to it that same way. That and you don’t share the same mannerisms or features as a pure Brute. You are a hybrid, a hybrid of a hybrid. I’d say that's pretty cool to be honest.”

Her compliment and reassurance brought back the warm feeling inside of him, happy that she saw him just as Techno and not whatever mix of creatures he was. It almost made him proud of himself and his heritage. Almost being a keyword though. Still it didn’t stop the pink from making its way onto his cheeks ever so slightly.

“So, the best way to stop the voices from going out of control is to be around someone I have a deep bond with?” He asked, wanting to confirm if what he said was correct or not. It seemed like [y/n] had already read over the page a few times while in the library.

“It seems so, but it doesn’t say exactly what they have to do. Only that the ‘hybrids involved must figure out their own unique way of breaking off the connection to the hivemind.’ Even then, the book says that the connection never really goes away, it's still there, just not as imposing.” The Elytrian suggested, her brow furrowing as she realised they once again reached a roadblock.

Techno sighed, taking a moment once again to think, placing his hand on his chin and letting his head rest on it. He felt himself bite the inside of his cheeks. “Phil asked me a while ago to find a way to hinder the voices hold on me, saying if I was to lose my control it could be detrimental to the rebellion. Any control is better than no control.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right…” The Elytrian responded, her voice also quiet as if she was thinking. But Techno could tell there was hesitation in her voice, that and nervousness, he had grown to see the signs of it rising in her.

The two went quiet again, neither of them really wanting to say what needed to be said. It was obvious really, and the two of them both knew it. The control the book was talking about, Techno had already felt it, had already experienced it many times. He was just unaware of it as much as he was right now.

Of course it had been more confusing back then, and he had summed it up to be because he had joined the rebellion and everything was changing around him. But he knew better now. The book had confirmed his suspicions.

Anytime the voices had acted up, had acted any different than they used to was when he was around her. Whether it be from them silencing themselves to listen to her talk or acting up to protect her, the only times the voices had changed in their normal routine was when [y/n] was present or mentioned. Like the time she had calmed him down from his panic attack, when the voices had become too loud, he knew no one else would’ve been able to do that. 

The ‘strong bond’ the book was talking about. It was her, she was that attachment that severed his link to his ancestors' hivemind. 

He knew it. 

She knew it. 

They both knew it.

“Look [y/n]...” Techno started, struggling to find the exact words he wanted to say. “There’s only a few weeks until we initiate this final attack on the empire and Schlatt, we don’t have much time left to prepare everything and I need to get a handle on my voices, make sure they don’t act up and screw everything up for everyone.”

“Techno-” [y/n] started, but the Piglin cut her off with an abrupt shift of his hand, moving it so it rested on top of hers. Something that surprised both hybrids, quieting [y/n] down and letting Techno finish what he was saying.

“I don’t exactly know what I’m feeling yet, everything I do with you is so new, I can’t quite wrap my head around it… But I know for sure that I have strong feelings for you, like the book says, you’re the one who affects the hivemind the most. So… will you-”

“I’ll help you experiment with the voices.” The Elytrian finished off his sentence for him, not subjecting him to his struggle with his words anymore. Subtly moving her hand from underneath his so that their fingers could interlock with each other. “I don’t quite understand what I’m feeling either, I think we’re in the same boat there.” She gestured to the book on her lap. “But I’d love to figure it out with you.”

Little bubbles of joy felt like they were rising in the Piglin, ticking his inside and giving him the same strange sensation in his gut. How did she always know exactly what to say? Sometimes he wondered if Elytrians had mind reading abilities, whatever it was it felt like magic to him.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that too.” He could only respond, feeling as if he was losing himself in her eyes, drawing him in further and further. He didn’t even realise his face was edging closer to hers until he felt her hot breath tickle his face. It made him gulp and almost apologise and back away, not wanting to invade her privacy or do something she didn’t want to.

Once again, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking the Elytrian bravely made a move, placing her free hand on the back of Techno’s neck, like he had done to her yesterday. With her gently closing the gap and letting their lips softly meet each other. 

Those same fireworks went off in Techno’s head, as he closed his eyes and relished in the kiss shared between the two of them. He could feel [y/n] smile against the kiss she had brought him in for and he swore his heart skipped a beat as he realised [y/n] wanted this as much as he did. His feelings were still confusing to them, but with her confirmation he was sure they would figure them out together.

“Whatever it is we are, we can work on it together. Starting with finding a method in quieting the voices.” She whispered to him as their lips left each other. “We have time, in between the rescues and you spying on the camp we can try to find some solution for you, and I’ll help you the whole way.”

“The whole way?” Techno asked, craving the reassurance, nervous and flustered from the kiss.

“The whole way.”

[y/n] giggles lightly, finding Techno’s flustered state amusing and dare she say cute. Though she wasn’t hiding her own incredibly well either. She decided to break the flustered tension between them, moving her hand from his neck and flicking him in the forehead, taking him by surprise.

“Hey, what was that for?” The Piglin almost pouted at the act, finally making the Elytrian laugh, the sudden outburst from him something she didn’t always see.

“You were gawking at me.” She responded, before shifting on the rock, placing her legs and talons underneath her so she could sit more comfortably. It also made a little room between the two, making sure that nothing moved too quickly between them. “Simp…”

Techno blinked at her twice, raising his brow. “What the heck is a simp?” 

She could only laugh in response, finding it hilarious he didn’t know what she meant. Techno on the other hand only felt his face turn an even pinker shade, this was probably something he would have to ask Tommy or Will what it was. Oh boy, they were definitely gonna make fun of him for that one.

“Hmm, actually, you know what?” [y/n] started once more, after finishing laughing at the poor Piglin who was a fabulous shade of pink now, matching his hair perfectly. “Thinking about it we only need to spend an hour or two each day figuring out the deal with your voices, it still gives us plenty of time to do other stuff. And it's not only us who have plenty of free time.”

Techno fanned his face a bit, letting his face return to its normal colour. It sounded like she was thinking of something for the entire village. “I guess so, it’s not like the hybrids need to be preparing for the battle every single hour of the day. What, were you thinking of doing something?” He asked, genuinely curious to what she would say.

Her face lightened up as he asked her the question, “Well, back when I was younger, before a huge event my village would hold a traditional festival. We held them every few years and they would include games and activities for all of my friends and family, everyone used to enjoy them so much!”

“You want to do one before we take Schlatt down?” Techno asked, confident he knew what she was talking about. Smiling and letting her know she was heard.

She mirrored his expression, though her smile was possibly even larger than his, lighting up her entire face. “I’d love to. It’d be just like it used to, except now I get to do it with my new family.” She closed her eyes for a moment, reminiscing on the previous festivals she talked about. Techno waited patiently for her to open her eyes before continuing.

“You think there's enough time to set one up?”

“Absolutely. If we tell everyone when we return we can start the preparations, I have a feeling Phil will like the idea as well, I remember he was particularly good at the games. Except for the one where you had to shoot a fake baby zombie, he could never quite get a grip on that one.”

Techno laughed at that. He couldn’t imagine Philza, the angel of death failing at a game including a fake baby zombie. A man as intimidating and as legendary as that and a festival game would definitely be a sight. That was something he was gonna have to see. 

“You could bring your brothers too y’know?” [y/n] suggested, rocking back and forth as she sat next to him, her hands holding her talons as she rested her head on her knees she brought up to her head. “I think they’d love it.”

Techno’s smile faltered a little, she was right, from the sounds of it they would love the festival. But there were still parts of him that felt uneasy bringing them out of the house. “I don’t know… as much as I’d want them to come there’s still so much more going on. And with the festival, if we were to do it the day before the attack I don’t know if I’d feel safe with them in the village. Not that it’s unsafe of course! But I-”

“I understand. You want to protect them.” [y/n] cut his rambling off, summarising his thoughts and helping him out. “To be honest it would be risky bringing them all the way to the village undetected, plus nearly everyone would be going on the attack the next day. It probably isn’t the best call to bring them.”

“I need them at my cabin, not just because it’s a safe house, but because I know that no one will hurt them while they’re there. There’s just so much that could go wrong if they came, especially if Tommy acted like his usual self.” Techno laughed at the last part, thinking of his youngest brother. Imagining him shouting at Techno while they were meant to be sneaking to the village. Oh, it would definitely happen.

“Ah yes, you’re probably right about Tom.” The Elytrian confirmed, thinking of her time talking to the Avian when in Techno’s house last. “He would definitely make things complicated.”

“You can say that again.” The Piglin laughed and shrugged, knowing exactly what [y/n] was talking about. He hadn’t forgotten the conversation Tommy and [y/n] had in ‘private’ while he had been talking to Will. The embarrassment he had felt when [y/n] told him afterwards made him look like a tomato.

“We’ll do another one.” [y/n] stated, making the Piglin look up at her curiously. “Another festival, after everything is done and over with, then you can invite your brothers. We just need to make sure spirits are raised and there are no doubts in the hybrids minds, then I promise we can take your brothers everywhere, let them explore and be free.”

There it was again. That tingling sensation she brought to him. Her care for not only him, but his brothers warmed his heart, knowing he had someone to rely on. That he could share his goals with, because she would support him the entire way, oh it felt magical.

He couldn’t help himself when he spontaneously pulled her in for a hug, an embrace that held the same amount of warmth as did her words. And as he felt her squeeze him back, telling him he was heard even without the use of words he couldn’t stop the cooing of his voices, the melting of his insides.

Pulling away she asked him a question, “On another note, are you going to speak to Phil soon?”

Also pulling away from the embrace the Piglin cleared his throat, and straightened his shirt that had become ruffled from the sudden hug. “I plan on it. He never seems to be around at the moment though.”

“Eh, he’s a busy guy… for some reason.” [y/n] responded, shrugging her shoulders. Clearly she wasn’t sure about her uncle either.

“I’ll try and catch him before the festival, I think the subject of the angel of death is something that needs to be discussed.” 

She nodded, “I agree.” With her inky stained hands she pushed herself from the rock she sat atop, bending at the waist to speak to the Piglin at his level. “But for now I think we should get back, and you should get home. Don’t think I haven’t seen those eyebags.” She winked his way.

Techno rolled his eyes, groaning as he also stood from the rock. Why was it as soon as his fatigue was mentioned he started to feel it. Curse the Elytrian and her dark magic upon him. “Yeah, I won’t argue with you on that one.”

“C’mon, let’s go grab your things and you can go home.” She smiled kindly his way, gesturing for him to follow her out of their little recluse.

He happily followed, taking a few larger strides to be at her side. Laughing as she started telling him a story of Phil from a previous festival while making a start on their walk back to the village. All the while their hands occasionally brushed against each other. Their pinky fingers daring to lock together at points.

Though as the two walked and laughed together they were too entranced in each other to notice the rusting of the bushes, with two beady eyes watching from behind the greenery.

“Gotcha.”

Chapter Text

Ahhhh, this is exactly what Techno needed. A 12 hour nap back at his own cabin and in his own bed. Sure the bedding wasn’t as comfy as the ones used in the village, but there was a sense of familiarity to it, and Techno couldn’t deny he had kind of missed it after a few days of sleeping at the village.

CRASH

Ah…

There was nothing like home. And being woken up by the possibility of Tommy breaking something.

Groaning, the Piglin forced himself to get out of his little nest he had created with his duvet, he doubted he would be able to get back to sleep with the racket of Tommy and Will shouting at each other from downstairs. Loosely pulling on a shirt, leaving some of his chest exposed, he made his way down the creaky spruce stairs, listening to Wilbur try to shut up Tommy while the Avian continued to shout.

As he came to the door he heard the Phantom hybrid whisper shout to the Avian, “I don’t care if it’s broken or not, Techno’s still upstairs sleeping!” Well, not anymore.

“All I’m trying to say WILBUR is I wouldn’t have knocked into it if you weren’t being an idiot! Plus Techno can sleep through anything!” The Avian spoke confidently and loudly behind the door, not matching the tone of voice of his older brother.

Deciding now was a good time to step in, Techno opened the door bringing attention to himself and making the two boy’s heads turn to face him. He couldn’t stop himself from rubbing his eyes groggily, still waking up from his much needed nap, hoping his eye bags were now gone.

The two boys around the table immediately quieted down, both of them looking incredibly guilty as they realised they had in fact woken up their oldest brother from his much needed nap. They knew how much he was working to make the rebellion work, working double time as a spy and a rebellion leader. It only made them feel worse.

Of course, Tommy piped up, his guilt only staying for around a few seconds. “Big man!! So you’ve finally woken up from your little nap? You slept like a baby, y’know that?” Ah, so Tommy was going for the ‘let's take the piss out of the exhausted brother’.

“Shut up Tom.” Wilbur rolled his eyes and pushed his younger sibling away by his face, making the Avian tumble to the ground with a shout. “We didn’t even realise you were home, we only found out after Tommy tried to go through your drawers to find any of your ‘secret rebellion plans’.” He chuckled, phasing through the table to reach the Piglin. “We let you sleep for however long you needed, we were surprised you were conked out for that long though.”

“We thought you’d died in your sleep or something.” Tommy added, as he stood back up.

“Yeah, well, I’m still alive.” The Piglin responded dully through a yawn. Moving a chair out he sat at the head of the table, resting his hands and head on the wood, though making it clear he was still listening to the boys.

“It’s been busy then?” Will asked, raising a brow as he stood with his arms crossed next to the Piglin. Tommy also seemed to perk up at the question, genuinely interested in the rebellion and its advances, especially considering they were mostly stuck in the house at all times.

Before Techno could even think of a response he was immediately bombarded with questions from his youngest brother. His ears felt like they were going to fall off from how loud the Avian was, and he honestly doubted much of what he said even processed in his brain.

“HOW HAVE THE RESCUES BEEN GOING? WAIT, NO TELL ME THE EXACT NUMBER OF HYBRIDS YOU’VE RESCUED! HOW MANY HUMANS HAVE YOU BEATEN UP? HOW DID YOU STOP THEM? DETAILS I WANT DETAILS!”

Ah, should Techno have expected anything less from Tommy? No, this is exactly how he expected home to be, and to be honest he really didn’t mind. Though the next question caught him off guard.

“HOW ABOUT [Y/N] HAVE YOU SMOOCHED HER YET?!” That one made Techno choke on his own spit. Wilbur’s eyes grew as he also let out a chuckle.

“Wha-what?” Techno was finally able to say, still sputtering a little, having to whack his chest to make the spit lodged in his throat finally go down. “Look Tom, there's a lot going on in the rebellion at the moment, everyones just working hard to make sure we have our final attack ready.”

Thankfully dropping the subject of ‘smooching’ Tommy groaned loudly, his head rolling back in what seemed like frustration, almost as if he was a kid throwing a tantrum. “But I wanna heeeeelp!” He said, elongating his words.

“You are helping Tom, you’re helping me by staying here and staying safe.” The Avian softened his look slightly at his older brother. “Plus I need the both of you here in case anything, and I mean anything goes south. You guys are holding down the safe house.”

A long groan could be heard from the Avain, Techno expected him to argue back some more, but surprisingly the younger boy stayed quiet. Seemingly listening to his Piglin brother’s words, something that was definitely a pleasant experience for the older hybrids in the house.

“Tom.” Techno started again, grabbing Tommy’s attention immediately. “I promise you, you are important. It might not seem like it, but you protecting the cabin with your-” He paused to find the right word, one that Tommy would resonate with, “manliness is only a job you could do!” 

Techno couldn’t express how much saying that sentence made him want to cringe or scrunch up his nose. But he prevented himself from doing so, hoping the wording he used was able to get across into the thick noggin of the Avain. And it didn’t take long for a reaction from Tommy. With him puffing up his chest, as if he was the biggest hybrid there, the one in charge.

“Well, I suppose there is only one man in this house who could protect it so well.” He spoke in a lower voice while giving Wilbur a nudge in the side, resulting in the Phantom nudging him back twice as hard, rolling his eyes in the process. A small ‘ow’ coming out of Tommy’s mouth.

The Piglin couldn’t help but laugh, he did miss the boy’s antics when he was at the village. He wasn’t quite able to joke around the same with the hybrids there as much as he could with the boys in his own home.

“C’mon guys, how about some breakfast?” He suggested, knowing there was a decent amount of food in, he had been able to grab some on his way back.

“It’s noon.” Wilbur stated.

“Lunch then.” The Piglin shrugged, smiling lightly and making his way into the kitchen.

~-~

The boys had been more than grateful to Techno that he had been able to pick up some actual food. A large leg of meat that had been sliced up and placed between a fresh bun with some lettuce for Techno and Wilbur, while Tommy was able to have his favourite herb sandwich. It had been a while since they all ate a nice meal like this together. Normally they didn’t have the money to afford nice food like this, but thanks to the hunter’s salary Techno had been able to cruise around the market without a set budget.

Wilbur seemed to find it especially funny when Tom started to choke on his food after trying to eat it in 0.2 seconds, with some of the leaves getting caught in his throat. After that, the Avain actually listened to Will’s words and slowed down the pace in which he was eating. A sweet reminder that while the two teased each other, they did genuinely care and listen.

Funnily enough Techno and Wilbur actually finished their lunch first, even with them savouring the flavours and taking their time. Tommy didn’t seem to mind though, he had become distracted around a few minutes into eating, his mind clearly somewhere else, most likely in one of his imaginary worlds. Only taking a bite when he remembered the food was actually there in his hands. It was quite amusing.

Seeing Tommy get distracted Will pulled his older brother into the small kitchen to have a more ‘private’ conversation with him. Still yawning a little, Techno followed his younger brother, watching as he phased into the counter to sit on it, the Piglin decided to lean against the opposite side.

“You got something you wanna talk about?” Techno asked, more-so curious about why Will pulled him into the other room away from the teenager.

“Eh, not really, I was just wanting to know how your little ‘date’ went.” The Phantom smirked as he asked playfully. The words caught Techno off guard, not expecting his situationship with [y/n] to be brought up. “We can go back to the other room if you want, I’m sure Tommy would love to know the juicy gossip.”

“No! No. Not necessary.” Techno waved his arms around, as he spoke quickly. He was sure Tom would want to know what was going on between him and the Elytrian, but he was also sure that he would completely take the piss out of him for it. “We can talk about it here.”

At the Piglin’s words, Wilbur leaned forward, placing his head in his hands as his elbows rested on his thighs. A smile coming onto his face, showing he was quite interested in the romance aspect of Techno’s life. 

“So, what happened?!” he eagerly asked.

Techno shrugged, trying to downplay the events of his ‘date’. “Well, Niki, one of the hybrids helped me set up a little spot and I took [y/n] down there to stargaze, like you suggested.” Wilbur nodded his head. “I think she really enjoyed it, we spent the entire night picking apart constellations.”

“I knew that weird interest of yours would come in handy someday.” The Phantom crossed his arms and raised a brow, teasingly at his brother. “What about after that, did anything happen?!”

Immediately Techno’s mind went to the day the two went on their flight together, his cheeks reddening at the very thought of it. Wilbur was quick to catch the Piglin’s flush, considering he usually only saw his brother with one emotion, wiggling his eyebrows as he caught it.

“Oh-ho-ho! So something did happen! C’mon Techno, you can’t leave me in suspense!” 

Techno sighed, he did kinda owe Wilbur. Afterall, he was the one that suggested he go on his first ‘date’ with [y/n]. He roped him into his little romantic subplot, he couldn’t just leave him hanging without seeing what his suggestion led to.

“A few days later we went on a flight, well, [y/n] flew with me dangling below.” He felt his smile widen as he recited the events. “She showed me her history, told me about her family. Then she kinda…” Wilbur leaned even further forward, eyes wide. “-kissed me.”

A gasp came out of Wilbur’s mouth, something he couldn’t stop himself from doing, Techno only hoped Tommy was still distracted with whatever he was doing, it would be so embarrassing for him to join the conversation right now. The Phantom opposite him almost squealed, as if he was a young girl who had just been asked out by her crush, the noise sounded quite foreign coming from Wilbur.

Nonetheless he decided to carry on, “Then I kissed her, then the next day we talked about what we were. Just in case the day before had been a mistake, but I don’t think she thought of it like that. I don’t know, we agreed to keep trying to figure out what we’re feeling alongside calming my voices.”

Speaking of the voices, they hadn’t actually bothered him since yesterday. They still muttered in the back of his head, but since the discussion of them the day prior they had quietened down considerably. He didn’t want to bore Wilbur with the details of his voices though, from what he remembered he hadn’t even told his younger brother about the connection to the hivemind, perhaps it was better that way.

Thankfully, Will seemed far too wrapped up in Techno’s endeavour with [y/n] to ask about the voices. “Holy crap, you’ve been busy! You sure you need a wingman?” Wilbur chuckled, seeming almost proud of his older brother, as if he never expected the Piglin to be able to do such a thing. 

“Look Will, I know you just wanted the gossip, but I don’t know what to do next! I’m afraid everytime I see her now is going to be awkward.” 

The sudden uneasiness in his older brother’s voice started Wilbur a little. He had never quite heard Techno sound so… afraid? Well, not really afraid, more unsure? The Phantom felt his eyes widen as he watched the mighty Technoblade fumble, his thumbs twiddling and his sharp canines biting the bottom of his lip. He was nervous.

“Why are you so scared?” Wilbur shrugged, jumping off the counter and stepping close to his older brother. Certifiably curious as to why the normally monotone Piglin was so nervous.

“I don’t know. This… thing between us, our friendship, it’s changing. It’s all so new.”

“Isn’t the whole rebellion kinda the same thing, everything being new and changing?” Wilbur questioned.

Techno drew his lips into a thin line, thinking harder about the situation and his feelings. “Yes, but it’s not the same. I know what I’m meant to do with the rebellion. We have plans, goals and it’s something I know about, fighting. This is… completely different.”

Getting the answer and insight he wanted, Wilbur stepped over to his older brother, phasing his arm through him before placing it around his shoulder in a comforting way. “Well, first things first, you gotta stop thinking of your ‘friendship’ with her.” He said, gesturing quotations with his fingers.

“What, why-”

“What you want isn’t a friendship, you gotta stop denying that feeling first.” When in the hell did Wilbur become a relationship therapist?? “You know you want more than that, and you gotta show her that too.”

“How the hell am I meant to do that? Do I need to start acting differently or something? Change myself or something like that?” Techno exaggerated, confused by his younger brother.

“No, you idiot! You just need to be yourself!”

“But then how am I meant to show her I do want us to be something more?!” Techno felt himself becoming frustrated, why couldn’t Wilbur just tell it to him straight instead of messing around with him?

“How much are you showing her already?” The Phantom raised a brow, and at his words Techno stopped to process that last sentence.

‘How much was he showing her?’

Techno couldn’t deny the fact that he usually repressed his emotions, coming off as more of a harsh persona when he wasn’t really, it was just what he was used to. He had opened up the most to [y/n], being able to express what he was feeling around her, but considering he considered her closer than anyone else he still felt like he was holding back.

Sure he was being ‘normal’ around her, but everyone else also experienced his normal. In a sense, he still wasn’t being completely open with her like he wanted to be. She gave him her everything, shared her life with him, shared her emotions and feelings with him, yet he couldn’t quite give the same back to her.

“How am I meant to show her?” He asked, hoping Will would have the answer. 

“I don’t know, I’m not you Techno.” The Phantom could only respond.

A moment of quiet swept between the two, Techno with his hand on his chin thinking, while Wilbur waited and watched. The Phantom sighed, speaking up again, “You worry too much, you just need to let yourself go. Let her know who the real Technoblade is, I’m sure she’ll help you as well.” He suggested.

“I suppose…”

“Look, if you’re gonna be working with her to calm your voices or whatever, I assume you’re gonna be spending some more time in close proximity with her?” Will raised his finger and pointed it at the Piglin in front of him, the question more rhetorical than anything.

“Yeah, more along the lines of…discussing solutions.” He felt his left side twitch at the words, knowing this wasn’t his strong suit. 

“Ok, well, you can use this time you have with her to figure out how you feel about her. You don’t have to say it, or realise it immediately. But if you’re gonna be practically sitting down with her and figuring shit out then you’ll find it much easier to come to terms with what you feel everytime you’re with her.”

Techno scoffed lightly, throwing his arms up gently in the air. “But we’ve already done stuff like that, and I’ve never come to any sort of conclusion before!”

“Did you kiss her before?” Wilbur asked with a raised brow all in the same tone, crossing his arms.

…

“No…”

“Exactly. This is why you’re getting confused! You need to let down your guard around her, I assume you did it when you locked lips.” 

A sigh left Techno’s mouth. This was much more complicated than he thought it was gonna be. He was supposed to act differently, but still be himself. Things were the same, but they were different since they kissed. Why was this all so confusing? Wilbur wasn’t helping with his abstraction either.

“Techno listen-” Wilbur spoke up once more, a softer tone, catching his attention. “You just need to build up the trust you already have with her, you’ve already done most of the work, if she has the same feelings for you then it won’t be difficult. And before you go do your ‘final attack’ or something, you gotta let her know how you feel.”

Ok, thanks for the summary Will. 

He had done most of the work? Wilbur was right. Of course all of these feelings were brand new, but he had built the foundations of trust and care between him and [y/n] already. He had done the hard part already, he just had to trust himself enough to let go around her and let her know what his true feelings were.

“We have a festival.” He stated, piquing Wilbur’s interest and elaborating, “The day before the attack, [y/n] wanted to hold a festival, it’s important to her.”

“Perfect! You tell her how you feel on the day of the festival! No regrets before you go and fight!” He shouted enthusiastically. “Maybe you could ask her to dance or something, that’s the kind of romantic shit girls like… I think.” 

“Hmm, oh, yeah.” Techno only hummed back, Wilbur doing all his thinking for him. To be honest, it did seem like the perfect time to tell her. It gave them both time to be around each other and figure out things together. Plus, hopefully her spirits would already be high on the day of the festival, considering its origins.

That did still seem scary to him though. Actually having to tell her how he felt. Especially if it was… what he thought it was.

Before he could utter another word, it seemed like Wilbur’s shout had finally snapped Tommy out of his distraction, that or he had finished his food. With the young Avian bursting into the kitchen, screaming into the ears of his older hybrid brothers.

“ARE WE TALKING ABOUT WOMEN?!” He yelled, making Techno swear he saw the cabinets rattle from how loud it was.

Instead of rolling his eyes, as he normally did when Tommy spoke, Techno instead let out a soft chuckle. Surprising the Avain that came into the room, making him cock his head as he looked at Wilbur as if to ask why the Piglin was laughing.

“C’mon guys, how about we sit at the table and I’ll answer some more of your questions about the rebellion.” He offered, kindly, not wanting to miss the opportunity of bonding more with his adoptive brothers while he was at home.

Both of the brothers smiled, Tommy quickly rushing back to the table and plonking himself on the chair he sat in previously. Eager to talk more about the rebellion, promptly forgetting about his question about ‘women’ before. Wilbur followed suit, happy just to spend time with the Piglin.

“So what’s this festival about then?”

~-~

After a few hours of talking with the boys, explaining things in great detail to them and letting them in on plans of the rebellion he hadn’t shared with them before, Techno headed back to the camp to touch base with Sam. Of course he still needed to keep up his persona of working with the hunters, making sure his spy status hadn’t been jeopardised.

He knew that there was a hunt planned for tonight and thought it was best to attend this one, keeping up appearances was probably the best course of action, especially considering most of the humans in the camp still seemed to hate him. At this point he didn’t pay much attention to it, not caring for their blatant racism, instead keeping his focus on blending in.

As he made his way into the camp a waft of smell hit his nostrils making him scrunch up his nose slightly as the distaste of it. The smell of human sweat was most definitely something he hadn’t missed, but this much of it? Sam must be working them to the bone, which was something he didn’t mind too much when they didn’t all sweat like pigs. (Not that he did that of course).

The mumble of hunters chatting was also louder than usual, groaning and moaning could be made out from all angles, and the Piglin had to refrain himself from chucking, keeping his expression neutral. What the hell had they been doing these last few days while he wasn’t here.

At the sight of some green-ish skin at the other side of the camp Techno wandered over to meet Sam, he couldn’t help but notice how stressed the Creeper hybrid looked, his eye bags making his black beady eyes look even larger than they were already. Noticing Sam seemingly mumbling to himself he thought it was probably best to go speak to him now, maybe break him out of whatever trance he was in.

“Sam.” He greeted him with a simple wave in his usual monotone voice, stepping up the Creeper and taking a glance at the map he had laid out on a table in front of him. Scribbles littering the paper, some areas messily crossed out and some areas circled with a question mark beside them.

The Creeper didn’t seem to notice Techno at first, it took a few seconds for it to process that someone had actually spoken before he lifted his head and looked directly at the Piglin in front of him. Techno didn’t notice the twitch in Sam’s brows as his black eyes focused on him, narrowing as if he was a blurry figure ten feet away.

“Oh, Techno. You’re back.” He said shortly, clearly taken aback by the fact Techno was here. The Piglin could only assume it was because he had taken a few days off.

“Back for this hunt, yes, I ran out of money for the boys again and thought it would be best to attend this one.” He lied, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at the map in front of Sam, trying to take it all in, thinking it might be useful for the rebellion to know about.

Sam’s voice was snappier as he replied, the tiredness evident. “Yes, well, don’t get your hopes up. You can’t exactly get paid if you come back with nothing.” His gaze immediately returned to the map, as if he wasn’t expecting another response from his friend.

Techno took no notice of this though, “This whole rebellion deal is getting to you huh?” He stated, half feeling bad for his friend. He could see Sam’s dishevelled appearance, it really wasn’t like him, but of course this had to be done for the sake of the hybrids in the rebellion.

At the mention of the rebellion, Techno noticed Sam’s hand ball up, supposedly in anger or frustration. Techno couldn’t exactly tell which.

“No.” Sam spat back unexpectedly. “We’re close, I can feel it.” The short answer was filled with malice. No doubt it was due to Sam overworking himself, looking as if he hadn’t slept in days. Techno didn’t understand why he couldn’t just let the rebellion do what they needed to do, Sam was a hybrid, out of anyone he should’ve understood the cause.

Techno glanced back down at the map, looking at the certain areas of the forest that had been scribbled out, areas he had known the hunters hadn’t travelled to. How come they were scribbled out? Had someone checked these areas on their own? Suddenly, Techno looked back up to Sam.

“You’ve been going off on your own?” He asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question. Sam met Techno’s gaze and for the first time ever gave the Piglin a look he had never worn before. A scowl, with narrowed eyes and a slight twitch in his upper lip. It gave Techno his answer.

Surprisingly Sam started to deny Techno’s accusation, “Don’t be a fool Techno, I wouldn’t do that. You know it's foolish to travel alone.” But he was lying, the Piglin could just tell. Sam had never spoken or looked at Techno this way before, even when they had arguments in the past.

Maybe Sam knew about Techno working with the rebellion? But no, that couldn’t be. Sam wouldn't have let Techno come back into the camp if he had suspicions of him, he was too cautious, he wouldn’t want to risk it. Maybe Sam was just losing the plot?

“C’mon Sam, I aint no idiot. You’re overthinking this whole rebellion thing, we’ll catch them eventually. You just need sleep, I know-” Techno was suddenly cut off by the Creeper hybrid, shouting back at him.

“Don’t tell me what I need! I know what I’m doing!” The change in Sam’s demeanour took the Piglin by surprise, making him raise his eyebrows and square up ever so. “You might be my friend, but don’t forget who is in charge here Technoblade.”

Sam addressing Techno by his full name almost stopped him in his tracks, he never called him by his full name. But before Techno could say anything else the Creeper hybrid aggressively grabbed the map on the table, scrunching it in a few places before storming off and yelling for the other hunters to gather around.

That was… weird …

Maybe it was that Sam was just stressed out of his mind, but Techno couldn’t shake the way his supposed friend spoke to him. Sam was normally level headed in situations like these, but if he had been travelling out on solo missions instead of sleeping then techno didn’t blame him for the way he acted.

Of course, it wasn’t great news for the Pogtopia. From what Techno saw on the map Sam might’ve been close to the village in certain areas. Plus he couldn’t help but notice Sam had been close to places that he and [y/n] had visited. Though he doubted it was at the same time he and the Elytrian had been there, they would've heard him, surely.

Joining the rest of the hunters to start getting ready for the hunt, Techno could only be glad that their planned day of attack was drawing closer. There was no way Sam would stop them before the attack on Schlatt’s castle.