#tiny!techno

After Quackity grew back, he completely avoided everything to do with magic. He tried to ignore the fact that he had been tiny. He tried to ignore the fact that he had wings. In general, he tried to ignore the fact that fairies existed and that he might be one of them. 

It had been a month since Tommy had thrown the dust on him and he had shrunken to fairy size. He hadn’t been back to the grove since that night and he tried to avoid the forest as much as possible. 

“Me veo muy gacho.” Quackity muttered as he glanced up at his reflection as he finished washing his hands in the restroom. (I look really crappy.) 

There was nothing immediately wrong with his appearance. It was the same tired eyes and crooked beanie as before. But after his visit to the fairies and the discovery that he might be half-fairy, it felt like something changed. Every time he looked in the mirror, it felt like something was missing. He looked too dull, like all the magic and energy had been sucked out of him, too human. 

Nothing had noticeably changed, but Quackity couldn’t help thinking he looked different. 

“Ya me cargó el payaso.” He murmured as he walked out of the restroom and back onto the sales floor for BigBuy. (I am so screwed.)

Quackity went through the motions of the day. Stocking shelves, talking with customers, cleaning up spills. He counted down the hours until his shift was over. There wasn’t anything particularly exciting that he had after planned after work, but at least he wouldn’t be working. 

An hour before his shift ended, Quackity noticed something weird.

There was a white guy in the store. 

The man wasn’t Caucasian, Quackity saw those kind of white people all the time, or nor did he have albinism. But instead the man was an entirely unnatural shade of white. It was almost a complete void of all color, rather than any particular color itself. The stranger’s attire was also weird. Who wears a white 6 piece suit to the grocery store in the suburbs? He didn’t appear to be doing anything out of the ordinary, just buying some berries and-

“Hey! Hey!” 

Quackity train of thought was rudely interrupted. 

“Are we paid to just stand around and stare at the customers?” Juan asked in an irate tone in English. He thought using Spanish on the sales floor was “unprofessional”. 

“No…” Quackity said. 

Juan and Quackity had never gotten along. When Quackity had first started working at BigBuy as a quick way to help pay for his mom’s medical expenses, he never expected to stay there. It was a part time gig at a grocery chain. Nothing serious. Nevermind that the part time gig turned into a full time job that he’s been working for the past few years. Wow his life is depressing. 

Juan, on the other hand, was fully invested. He wanted to work for BigBuy his whole life and become a general manager, or maybe even own a chain. As a result, he took everything way too seriously and got on everyone’s nerves. 

“Time is money Quackity. Do you know how many BigBuy dollars you are wasting right now by just standing around?” Juan stared down at Quackity. 

“I wasn’t aware that we had our own currency.” Quackity retorted, entirely disinterested in dealing with Juan. 

He shifted his weight to peak around Juan slightly to see if he could spot the unusual customer again. 

“We’re not stock boys anymore, Quackity. We need to take this seriously. And you wonder why Schlatt wants me to be assistant manager…” Juan sighed and shook his head. 

“There’s an open position? Schlatt didn’t tell me about that.” Quackity redirected his attention to Juan. 

He thought that he and Schlatt had always had a decent enough relationship, but if the general manager didn’t tell him about the position then maybe he was wrong. The assistant manager position came with a nice pay raise, and Quackity could certainly use the money. 

“Why would he? He knows you don’t have what it takes.” Juan spat. “Go help the customers.” He ordered as he walked away. 

Quackity rolled his eyes. He looked back to where the strange white man had been shopping. 

An empty isle. Damn. There goes his entertainment. 

As Quackity turned to walk down a different isle, he was accosted by the sight of the white man mere inches in front of him. 

“Good afternoon.” The customer said, unperturbed by their proximity. 

“Hello, is there anything I can help you with?” Quackity asked in his best customer service voice. 

“Which of these is pure iron?” The man asked as he pulled two packages of nails that he probably grabbed from the hardware section from his basket. 

“Uh…” Quackity stared at the nails, then looked up at the man creep. 

Whatever the thing before him was, it certainly wasn’t a man or human by any stretch of the imagination. In addition to it being as pale as a porcelain toilet, the creep had unnaturally large irises that were pitch black and long black nails that looked too much like claws to be a simple manicure. 

“Let check me on our app.” Quackity said, defaulting to his customer service script. 

He pulled out his phone to take a picture of the products, but Quackity stopped just shy of pressing the button. Instead of pale, long, claw-like hands, there were regular human hands. Quackity stared in bewilderment. Slowly, he raised the camera up to the creep’s confused face. Instead of showing the phantomesque figure before him, the app showed an average, albeit confused man. 

“Are you alright?” The man(?) asked. 

“I’m fine…” Quackity replied. Thinking quickly, he said, “There seems to be an error with the app. Will you please follow me to the customer service desk?”

“Yes.”

Quackity walked stiffly to the customer service desk. The creep followed directly behind him, sending shivers up his spine the entire time. It felt like turning your back to a bear while it was licking its lips. 

On his way to the customer service desk, Quackity walked by the A/V section. A wall of tvs was to his left and a video camera to his right. The camera was connected to the tvs as a part of a demonstration of the recording and display capabilities. As the creep passed the camera, Quackity looked towards the screens. Each screen perfectly displayed a regular man walking in an identical fashion to the thing behind him, wearing the same clothes and carrying the same basket. 

Maybe Quackity was just going insane. That would explain a lot actually. 

Eventually they reached the customer service desk where Missa comfortably sat. Quackity explained the issue with the nails to Missa. As the creep placed his hand basket on the counter to get the nails, Quackity couldn’t help but look in the basket. Lighter fluid, oil, matches, salt, jars. What was this thing doing?

He glanced over at Missa who was chatting with the creature then pointedly looked at the basket. Missa gave him a look back, he thought it was weird too. 

Missa handed the nails back. 

“It looks like these nails are steel,” Missa handed one box over, “and these are aluminum,” he handed the other box over. 

“Where can I find iron nails?” The creature asked. 

“I would look in the garden section or maybe a hardware store. I do not think we sell them here.” Missa replied. 

Without another word or regard to Quackity, the creature walked off. 

Quackity watched him go, then turned to Missa as soon as he was out of their sightline.

“¿Qué es eso?” He exclaimed. (What is that?)

“…¿un hombre?” Missa replied, confused. (…a man?)

“¿El es un hombre normal?” (Is he a normal man?) Quackity asked, praying Missa would see the same thing Quackity saw.

“No. ¿Qué tipo de hombre compraría clavos mientras llevaría un traje?” Missa wondered. (No. What type of man buys nails while wearing a suit?)

“Pero, el hombre se ve normal?” (But, the man looked normal?)

“Más o menos.” Missa shrugged.  (More or less.)

Quackity groaned.

“¿Sabes sobre el puesto de asistente manager?” Missa changed the subject. (Do you know about the position of assistant manager?)

“Sí, Juan me dijo lo sobre. Quiere el puesto.” (Yeah, Juan told me about it. He wants the position.)

“¿En serio?” Missa groaned. “Si el gana, sería horrible.” (Really? If he won, it would be horrible.)

Quackity nodded grimly. 

“¡Tengo una idea! Debe solicitar. Schlatt le gusta te. ¡Si te ganas, sería genial!” Missa grinned. “No puedo ganar porque Schlatt no me quiere después de tuvo un fight club con los Roombas.” (I have an idea! You should apply. Schlatt likes you. If you win, it would be great. I wouldn’t win because Schlatt doesn’t like me after I had a fight club with the Roombas.”

“No se…” Quackity readjusted his beanie, a nervous habit. (I don’t know.)

“Tu debe solicitar.” Missa pressed. “Por me.” He bat his eyes dramatically at Quackity. (You should apply. For me.)

“Voy a pensar sobre lo.” (I will think about it.) Quackity laughed. 

“¿Vamos a casa de Roier después del trabajo?” Missa leaned back in his chair. (Are we going to Roier’s house after work?)

“No voy.” Quackity shook his head. (I’m not going.)

Whatever happened with the strange man from earlier had to be magical. And if he wanted to more about it, he would have to talk to magical creatures directly. 

“¿Por qué?” Missa looked at Quackity with concern and curiosity. (Why?)

“Necesito hablar con un amigo.” Quackity shrugged, trying to make it not seem like a big deal. (I need to talk with a friend.)

Missa looked more concerned, but thankfully he dropped it.

They chatted about a few other things, soccer, the weather, and the latest neighborhood gossip. Then, Quackity left Missa and began to walk around the store, looking for customers who needed help. He checked his phone. 30 minutes left on his shift. A half hour until he could talk to the fairies. 

————- 

“Hey! Tommy! Tubbo!” 

Quackity had been shouting in the woods for the past ten minutes. He was near the area where he had first found the fairies and where he had met them before, but there was nothing. 

“Fairies! Come out!” He shouted, ignoring the piece of him that questioned if they were deciding to ignore him. 

A woman jogged past him with her dog. She gave him a weird look. 

Quackity smiled awkwardly and waved. He stammered to come up with an excuse, but she was gone too quickly for him to piece together anything semi-plausible. 

Then Quackity heard a light ringing. 

He turned back to the forest excitedly, looking for Tommy or Tubbo. Instead, he found a fairy with a long, pink braid flying a few feet away from him. It was the same one who had attacked Quackity a few months ago and given him the scar below his eye. The fairy seemed to be laughing at his encounter with the jogger. 

Quackity took a cautious step back, curious if the fairy would attack him again but it seemed to show no malice. 

“Who are you?” He scowled, wishing Tommy and Tubbo were there. 

A jingle of bells. 

Right.

“I can’t understand you.” Quackity said. 

The fairy shook his head and seemed to dig around in a satchel tied to his hip. It took Quackity a minute to realize what the fairy was about to do.

“Wait! No-“

It was too late. The fairy threw the pixie dust directly at his face. Quackity felt a sudden wave of vertigo. Then he passed out. 

————- 

Quackity woke up to a pair of ruby red eyes staring directly at him. 

He shouted and backed away on all fours in attempt to put some distance between himself and the stranger. The fairy took a few steps back, equally shocked. 

“Heh?” The fairy let out a confused noise while Quackity tried to get a sense of his surroundings. 

He was tiny again. The woods loomed above him. This was fine. He needed to speak with fairies and to do that he needed to be tiny again. This was exactly what he’d been wanting. No need to freak out. 

“Who are you?” The strange fairy asked. 

His hand was on the hilt of an impressive sword that looked like it could do some heavy damage. Correction: He knew it could do heavy damage. Quackity remembered getting slashed by it at human scale. He didn’t want to know what it could do to him at fairy size. 

“I’m Quackity, I need to speak with Philza.” He said, looking up at the fairy. 

Apart from the very dangerous sword, the fairy seemed to have several other weapons on his person. He looked like a modern day viking. He wore a bright red cape that looked to be made from a Dorito’s bag. Quackity couldn’t help snickering a little at the revelation.

“And you just… shrunk?” The fairy asked. 

“The pixie dust makes me shrink.” Quackity pointed to the pixie dust bag. “I’m half fairy?” He meant for it to be a statement but it came out more like a question. 

The fairy stepped forward and offered Quackity a hand. Quackity happily took it and was unceremoniously yanked to his feet. The strange fairy was strong. That felt wrong somehow, considering Quackity had swatted him away the first time they unofficially met. 

“…and you are?” Quackity asked when the fairy made no move to introduce himself. 

“Oh, Technoblade, Captain of the Sparrow Guard.” 

————- 

“Phil! There’s someone here to see you!” Techno called as soon as he landed on one of the branches of Heart Tree. He placed his hand on a vine wrapping around the tree and channeled his magic through it to ensure it reached the roots where Phil’s lab was. 

Quackity landed with a thump behind Techno. Although, landed may have been a generous term. Quackity clung to the branch and awkwardly scrambled his way to a standing position, holding his hands out for stability once he was standing. Clearly, he needed to work on his landings. 

“Oh? And who’s that?” Phil asked through the vine. 

“He says he’s some sort of half-fairy.” Techno replied, hoping Phil could hear the confusion in his voice through the transmission. 

“Quackity?” Phil said with surprise. “I’ll be right up.”

While they were waiting, Techno guided Quackity into the Heart tree through a carved hole. They were on the main level for the Sparrow Guard, so the interior was covered with weapons, armor, and maps. Phil joined them shortly. 

Quackity seemed to relax when he saw Phil. They greeted each other kindly. 

Techno knew they couldn’t have known each other long, but he still felt slightly awkward. Maybe he should just leave…

“Quackity, I didn’t think you would be back. Tommy and Tubbo miss you.” Phil said with a teasing laugh. 

“Yeah, I thought I was gone for good too.” Quackity replied, readjusting his beanie. “But I’ve got a question.”

“Is that so?”

Techno started to edge towards the door, intending on returning back to patrol. Phil seemed to have the situation under control. 

“Are there other magical creatures other than fairies?” Quackity asked. 

Techno paused. 

“What do you mean?” Phil asked, suddenly serious. 

“I don’t know. There was this really weird guy at work who was white, like as white as snow, except none of the cameras showed it. And now that I’m thinking about it, I’m probably overthinking and I shouldn’t assume you know all about any of that and-“ Quackity began to walk away. 

Techno stared at Quackity. If what Quackity was describing was correct, then the fairies were in serious danger. 

“Did he have black eyes?” Phil asked in a whisper. “And black claws?”

“Yeah, how did you k-“ Quackity was interrupted as Phil swore loudly. 

“That’s not good,” Techno frowned. “What did he do? Did he try and hurt you?”

“What? No.” Quackity sounded alarmed. “Who was that guy?”

“A Federation member.” Techno answered. “Are you sure he didn’t follow you?”

“Yes, I’m sure. What’s the Federation? Why are you so worried?”

“It’s a very powerful guild of wizards.” Phil explained. “Their dark magic warps their bodies and destroys their humanity. Humans can’t generate magic on their own, so they hunt fairies to extract their magic from them. Usually they use glamour spells to hide their true form from humans.”

Quackity shivered at the thought of the Federation member. 

“But then how can I see them? And why didn’t they notice me?” He asked. 

“It probably has something to do with the fact you’re half-fairy. Maybe the contact with pixie dust activated some of the latent magic in you?” Phil mused. The he shook his head to clear his mind. “Techno, if Quackity’s reports have any standing, we need to prepare.”

“On it.” Techno flew away to contact and organize the Sparrow Guard. He already had a strategy in mind. 

————- 

The dust, unfortunately, had not worn off by the time dinner rolled around. However, Phil kindly invited Quackity to join them for dinner. 

It turned out to be far more of a community event than Quackity had initially expected. The whole village gathered in the village center while the chefs brought large platters onto a communal table. 

Tubbo and Tommy were overjoyed to see Quackity again and Quackity would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see them. They quickly regaled Quackity with stories about everything they had done since he left. Then, they made it their mission to introduce Quackity to as many fairies as possible, making sure to tell all about how the half-fairy could transform into human size. 

It was nice, but overstimulating. 

Soon enough, Quackity broke away from the party. Instead, he sat on a large (relatively) mushroom outside the town square. He munched on a single berry taken from a much larger raspberry which had served as a centerpiece for part of the communal table. 

“How are you holding up?” Phil asked as he fluttered down beside him. 

“It’s a lot.” Quackity replied. 

He didn’t fully know what “it” referred to. The party? The threat of the Federation? His life in general? But it certainly was a lot. 

“Is that why you took nearly a month to visit again?” Phil asked. 

Quackity looked away. 

“Like I said, it’s a lot.”

“We can help.” Phil offered, not for the first time. He had been so kind to Quackity ever since they had met. 

“I don’t know if you can.” Quackity answered honestly. “Last month, I knew exactly who I was, some guy working at a grocery store making eleven bucks an hour. And now? I don’t know. And I can’t figure out why me. Out of everyone, why me?”

Phil thought for a second. “I don’t know, but like it or not, this is what you are now. It’s a lot easier if you accept that. You can’t pretend nothing ever happened, no matter how much you want to…”

“Yeah? Watch me.” Quackity chuckled dryly. 

“I’m serious, Quackity.” Phil looked at him. 

“I am too. I-I’m not meant for this. I’m nobody, I mean, maybe one day I’ll be assistant manager of the BigBuy, and I don’t even know if I really want that.”

“Do you think it will work? Ignoring this?” Phil asked. 

“No.” Quackity admitted. He couldn’t help thinking about how wrong he looked in the mirror. “There’s nowhere I can run, is there?”

“Not from yourself.”

“So what do I do?”

“Well,” Phil said. “I can’t tell you what to do, that’s for you to decide. Life rarely gives you a choice on who you are, but you get to choose how you react.”

Quackity stared up at the stars. What did he want? 

He didn’t want to ignore the fairies completely. He had missed Tubbo and Tommy over the past month. 

When he first immigrated to Essempi, it had been a big change to a whole new way of living. In some ways, this felt the same and he wasn’t sure if he wanted that. But, he couldn’t ignore it either. Especially if Phil was right and this was a part of his heritage. 

“Techno and I talked it over.” Phil continued. “We have an idea, if you want it. The threat of the Federation isn’t going to blow over anytime soon. They’re like roaches, if you see one there’s probably twenty more hiding nearby. But if they don’t recognize you, then you can warn us in advance, like you just did. And, maybe once a week or so, you can come by, give us a report and we can show you a bit more of what life is like as fairies.”

Quackity thought it over. It didn’t necessarily sound bad per se. 

“What would I tell my friends?” He asked, thinking about the concerned looks Missa had given him. 

“Tell them nothing.” Phil replied. “The Federation is dangerous, not just to fairies.”

“Alright,” Quackity breathed in. “I’ll do it.”

————- 

The next morning Quackity stood in front of his locker in BigBuy. He stared at a little bag filled with fairy dust that Phil had given him the night before. It sat innocently in his much larger hand. Of course, the bag looked much bigger last night. But now it was the size of a small jewelry bag. He could scarcely believe the difference. 

“¿Quacks?” Roier called from behind him. 

Quackity quickly put the bag in his locker and shut the door. He was afraid to keep it on his person. Just one touch of the dust inside the bag would make him smaller than a candy bar. 

“¿Qué onda?” He asked as he turned towards Missa and Roier who were also starting their shifts. (What’s up?)

“Aquí nada más, ¿listos?” Missa replied. (Not much here. You ready?)

“Un momento.” Quackity said. (Just a moment.)

From his bag, he pulled out a filled out application for Assistant Manager. He had printed it out last night after the dust wore off. 

Quackity figured if he was brave enough to stand up to the Federation, he could try to be assistant manager. 

Roier and Missa cheered him on as he walked towards Schlatt’s office, maybe a little louder than necessary. Juan leaned against the wall outside Schlatt’s office. He gave Quackity a nasty glare as he walked in. 

The office was small and smelled of coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol. Schlatt sat behind a desk with a nameplate that read ‘General Manager’.

“Put it in the pile.” Schlatt said, not looking up from the poker game on his computer. 

Quackity did as he was told, placing the application in a pile of similar applications. Then, he turned walk out of the office. 

“I didn’t think you’d apply,” Schlatt said as Quackity reached for the doorknob. 

He turned back to Schlatt. 

“Well, I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking and I believe I’m ready for this and-“

“Did I ask for an explanation? Save it for the interview.” Schlatt frowned. “Now get back to the sales floor. I need you to train the new guy.”

Quackity nodded and left. As he walked onto the sales floor, he scanned for anyone unfamiliar in a BigBuy uniform who might be the new guy Schlatt was referring to. 

Finally, Quackity saw him. 

A man stood a few aisles in front of him with the slightly embarrassed look that came from wearing a minimum wage uniform for the first time. 

Quackity stopped. 

The new employee had skin so pale it looked like a ghost’s and hair whiter than snow. Black claws drummed nervously against khaki pants. His name tag read, ‘Cellbit, Member in Training’. 

Quackity took a sharp breath. 

Techno was on the verge of turning around and going home, but after some hesitation, he still descended into the ravine where the naga slept.

And how surprised Philza was. Of course, humans woke him up by sneaking attacks while he was trying to bask in the sun or sleep. But this man was poking him in the belly with a stick. What the fuck?

Phil lifted Techno by his clothes, leaving him dangling helplessly in mid-air. "Ha-ha, hello...Um- funny story! And if you don't kill me, I'm willing to tell you about it." And Phil was curious, but when Techno got to the part about the artifact, the naga told him frankly that the human would have to take it by himself. Because of how small it was compared to the naga.

Of course, Techno wasn't happy and tried to find out if the naga was lying.

Philza simply said, "If I wanted to eat you, I'd have already. Take it yourself or go home before I change my mind." He has a point, but Techno was still scared. Because this was a BIG deal after all. His life was potentially in danger.

Despite Philza's words, Techno decides to protect himself and do something nice for the naga to reduce the chance of being digested even further. They talk a bit more, and Phil admits he can't get rid of the swords in his stomach. Techno agrees to safely retrieve them so they don't further traumatize the naga from within.

So, after a few humiliating screams and new trauma, Techno finally reaches the stomach. He finds what he was looking for and does what he promised the naga.

Phil says he feels the other human approaching.

And at that moment, something shifts in Techno's mind, and he asks Philza to scare Sneeg. Phil laughs and calls Techno vindictive, but the herbalist doesn't care. He was tired, and after everything he'd gone through today, he couldn't let Sneeg miss out on such an ‘unforgettable’ experience.

For Sneeg, everything is much more traumatic, and he apologizes to Techno in stomach for putting them both in danger. Finally, the herbalist admits it's a prank, and Philza releases them.

Later, Techno visits naga for purely 'medical' purposes, but Phil simply enjoys holding the human in his stomach while he's being 'checked.' After a while, they begin to argue, and Techno insists that he's not just 'someone who can be alive in his stomach,' but a friend.

Since Philza grew up in an unfair, cruel, and wild environment, he has to rethink some things. And Techno has to suppress his fear and hope that he sounds convincing enough to keep their friendship from becoming one-sided.

At some point, Philza realizes that he likes Techno as a person. He listens to all Techno's chatter about herbs and sometimes finds something of interest. And the naga begins to care for the human in his own way.

One day, Techno was so exhausted that he didn't notice Phil sneaking up on him. He screamed as warm breath hit him in the back.

While Techno was complaining, Phil noticed how shitty the human looked. “When did you sleep last?”

Herbalist tried to awkwardly get out of the conversation, but Philza insisted that he needed rest.

So Technoblade ended up trying to sleep in naga's stomach, shutting himself off from all the worries that awaited him. He said, “Now I have an official excuse for missing work.”

Philza chuckled, “Consider it a day off.” Naga put his hand on the place where Techno was lying. “Have a good rest, mate.”

That's all! Basically, Philza always considered humans as weak creatures when they were alone, but he didn't intentionally hunt them. However, some of them provoke a fight, and then you know their fates :] I enjoyed writing about the idea that someone could literally trust their own life to a stranger (especially a predator). And Techno taught Philza to notice small details that are also important. Sometimes he regrets that Phil has become so observant and can catch him in a lie more quickly.

Anyway! If I missed a trigger warning or tag, let me know!

Hopefully I'll return to publishing g/t stories soon, but I don't think I'll be publishing about vore often. (‘cause it's not that popular, and most of it will remain in drafts)

It couldn't have been hours already, had it? They barely started! He still had to redeem himself and his character into great glory! "No, come on, let's do one more hour— please, please?" He begged, holding onto one of Phil's fingers like he had all the power to hold him down and force him into another round. 

With his other hand, Phil picked up the die and tossed it into the container— folding up the map before putting it back in the box. Tommy knew it was over, they'd start another session again sooner or later. 

But he wanted to do another hour, or maybe two more, now. "Pleasee, I rolled so low every turn, I need to redeem myself!" 

"I wish we could continue, mate." Phil smiled, "But I got work tomorrow and it's already…" He stared at the clock, making a surprised sound at the 11:48 PM on the wall. Phil cursed under his breath, gently, slowly pulling his hand away from Tommy’s hold. "Alright, get to bed you three." 

The blond borrower knew there was no convincing Dad anymore. He crossed his arms with a humph, upset with his bad luck during the game. "Cheer up, Toms! I'm sure luck will make you do justice next time." Wilbur consoled, pushing his chair into the table and picking up the box with their fantasy map and die. 

“You are horrible at throwing the die for me,” Tommy grumbled, narrowing his eyes at his older brother who had offered to throw the dice for him earlier. Wilbur’s luck when it came to the game was pretty good, yet whenever he tossed the die for Tommy, the luck seemed to plummet- doing worse than when the borrower himself threw the die. 

In the corner of his eyes, he could see Wilbur’s lips press into a thin line. He was stopping himself from being amused at Tommy’s anger. “It really wasn’t on purpose.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Tommy replied. Not upset at Wilbur, nor was he upset at the game. He swears he would be able to throw the dice better if he was just… more human-sized. 

“You’ll do better next game, I’ll make sure of it,” Wilbur promises.

Tommy looks at him incredulously, slightly laughing. “What, are we gonna cheat or something?”

In response, Wilbur shrugged, a playful smile tugging at his lips. “Dunno, maybe.”

Holding the game board, he placed his other hand on the desk. A trust exercise that slowly grew into a habit none of them thought was strange anymore, Tommy hopped on the hand and held onto the fingers for support. He used to have to walk from place to place, no matter how far it was because the big man was too stubborn to accept and ask for help. In response, they all worked together to install little stairs everywhere so Tommy would at least be able to reach things without having to heave himself up with a rope and a hook. He almost cried in front of them because of how much he appreciated the gesture. 

That night, Tommy lay in his bed, uncharacteristically quiet as he stared at the ceiling. His room looked so much like a human's room- constructed by his family after nearly a year of accidentally revealing himself to them. It wasn’t exactly like him to be upset for the dice throws during the game, it really wasn’t Wilbur’s fault. On a good day, he throws exceptionally well for Tommy’s character too. 

But Tommy isn’t upset about the dice, is he?

It was never the dice, never Wilbur, never his family, but him. 

If he was truly meant to be their family, then couldn’t the universe make him human? Did he seriously have to be something that was never allowed to mingle with larger beings? It was a written code since the beginning of time that borrowers were never allowed to be with humans. Never share anything, what you are, what your name was. Most importantly, never be seen. 

Were they never supposed to be a family then? Did he have to break the borrower’s code just to be a part of something he’s not supposed to? He’s not a borrower anymore, he knows that. He barely even follows the code anymore, but he’s not human either. Too exposed to be a borrower, too small to be a human.

Then what was he?

Tommy released a loud, exasperated sigh. His calloused hands rubbed over his face. He knows he shouldn’t think about such things, but lately, he’s been more aware than ever. He notices how Techno looms over him when they do woodwork together, Wilbur’s singing voice goes from soothing to too loud, and Phil barely gives him any chores (Maybe he shouldn’t complain about that one, actually).

They don’t mean it, of course, they didn’t. They probably don’t even notice it as well. Something so small and insignificant to them could be so overwhelming for him. He just wants to be bigger, to fit in… 

He should go to sleep. He'll forget about it tomorrow and everything will continue on like it usually does (until the nagging feeling returns and he feels like he's rotting in bed).

Goodnight, me. Tommy closed his eyes, unable to rid of the heavy weight in his chest. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

If Tommy could recall this correctly— and while he may not have the best memory, he can certainly tell when something is just plain wrong… He fell asleep on his bed, right?

His eyes blurred as he gained consciousness and though he wasn't aware of where he was— he could sense danger even from a mile away. His shoulders ached, raised high above him. Something was holding his arms upwards. Cold, tight metal gripping his wrists, uncomfortably pressing into his skin. He tried tugging it downwards, but it barely moved. 

Instead of lying on a soft, warm bed, it felt like he'd been kneeling for Prime knows how long. His legs felt numb, ringing uncomfortably no matter how much he tried to move. It didn't matter because he was stuck in place. 

It was hot. Sweat was dripping from his forehead to his nose and down to either his clothes or the floor (he made a mental note that he wasn’t wearing his pajamas). 

He sucked in a deep breath, humid air filling his lungs in a way that didn't calm him down, but just made him panic more. 

Tommy's vision began clearing up and despite the little ache in his neck, he decided to look around. The room was dimly lit, weak artificial lighting barely reflecting the big, metal room he resided in. 

There were mini stairs and platforms built around him. The platforms in front of him connected through the middle and had a door on each side of the wall. Above the platform in the wall in front of him was glass, he couldn't make out anything inside, it was darker than the room he was in.

The metal room he sat in was quite spacey. The ceiling was quite high but he couldn't stand up even if he attempted to— his ankles were chained as well, shorter in length compared to the ones around his wrist. Tommy struggled against the chains, everything looked so.. small yet so oddly detailed. 

Where was he? Who were these stairs for? Were there more beings smaller than a borrower? Prime, how would they even look next to a human?

Does his family know where he is right now..?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

He let out a displeased grunt before starting to sharpen his sword. Wilbur had only gotten home right before the rain had started, he really didn’t like how risky his brother had been acting lately.

What if his twin had been caught in a flash flood? Or worse…

Techno had seen some signs on his patrol of…something…

He wasn’t sure what something was, but he did know it was big. The only thing that he could conclude was that it wasn’t human. They always left a big mess wherever they went, making it obvious that they were in the area.

This was more… careful.

That’s what worried Techno. There weren’t any tracks, it was almost always trees that seemed to receive the most damage, and maybe it was just his paranoia, but he couldn’t help but feel like there were eyes watching him as he did his rounds.

It had to be a predator of some type as well. There had been a decrease in the number of rabbits and squirrels in the area, Techno honestly didn’t have a problem with that. It was population control at best, and there was less competition between the hybrids and the rodents over storable food for the winter.

But at worse, that could mean if it found a hybrid like his brother in the woods… it probably wouldn’t see him as anything other than a quick snack.

The only animal he could think of that it could possibly be was a mountain lion, but even then he doubted that. They were rare in this region and never stuck around one place for long.

This thing had been around for a while. It frustrated techno to no end that he hasn’t even caught a glimpse of it.

Techno worried for his brother more than anything else. He couldn’t live with himself if Wilbur got hurt when Techno knew there was a threat. That’s why he’s been urging his twin to stay in the village, but it seemed Wilbur had other ideas.

He had no idea what could possibly motivate Wilbur to go into the forest so often. It was strange. He had tried following Wilbur before but the mouse knew him all to well to fall for that. Whenever Techno asked what he was up to it was always an excuse that he was working on his songs or improving on his training that Techno had taught him.

At first Techno had believed him. After all Wilbur’s stamina and strength had improved a lot over these pass few months, but Wilbur still refuses to even look the guards way when Techno suggested that he finally join.

His brother was hiding something from him. Techno could only hope it wasn’t something too bad. After all this definitely wasn’t the first time that Wilbur had distanced himself from his family.

Techno vaguely remembered the last time Wilbur ran off was for some girl he met. He had told techno she was a salmon hybrid. He had met her by the stream, and apparently had fallen deeply in love with her.

He disappeared into the forest for days at a time, only returning every now and again to keep Phil from sending out a search party for him. It had lasted a couple of months, but eventually Wilbur returned heart broken.

Apparently the girl had a boyfriend, a small detail that she apparently forgot to tell Wilbur about. Then like all salmons do, she left Wilbur and swam upstream. Wilbur had been amusing to her with his songs and lovely gifts, but she eventually grew tired of him and went her own way back to her boyfriend that she had left.

Wilbur had felt completely and utterly used. He had given his all to her and she threw it all away when she grew bored.

After that instance it was hard to even get his brother out of his room. That was a rut in Wilbur’s life that he hoped his brother would never experience again. But eventually Wilbur came around and his twin was back to his happy carefree self.

He could only hope that his brother wasn’t in a similar situation as before. Techno can’t stand his brother being upset.

Techno let out a hum of approval when he was satisfied with his sword. He stood up from his work bench and stretched. No matter how he tried he couldn’t shake the restless feeling in his bones.

Maybe he just needed some fresh air. He stepped out onto their porch that overlooked the village, carved to perfection with Phil’s own hands. The leaf roof held strong against the heavy rain, the leaves layered and pulled taut.

Techno gazed upon his home, he breathed in the crisp air deep into his lungs. The rat sat down on the ledge and closed his eyes, trying to at least get a little rest.

Techno was jolted out of his peaceful sit down by a strange sound. He waited a few more moments but the sound seemed to have stopped. He flicked his ear in annoyance and tried once more to relax.

“HELP!” Techno shot to his feet and got his sword, adrenaline pumping through is veins. Phil shot out of the house by his side in less than a second.

“Where’s that coming from?” Phil asked, eyes analyzing through the thick rain. Techno squinted at the base of the tree, someone was waving their hands in a frenzy. “There.”

Phil spread is wings wide and dived down from the tree. Wilbur rushed out of the house panicked, “What’s going on?”

But Techno had already grabbed a vine and slid down the tree before he could answer.

———————————————————————————

Philza dive bombed down from the tree. The rain beating down on his wings while he navigated towards the desperate pleas for help. Despite the harsh conditions he stuck the landing with practiced ease. It was Jack. The shrew had looked like he had seen death herself. The color almost completely drained out of his face.

Techno dropped down to his side, immediately his son was scanning for threats, leaving him to deal with the panicked shrew.

He laid a hand on his shoulder to give the boy some comfort. “Are you alright Jack? What happened? Is there any danger?” The bird spoke in a calm and clear manner.

“I-I was out hunting with my party and I got separated with my group a-and…”Jack got choked up on his words, he gave a pained cough. “I heard a noise, It was a rabbit I think…” Phil nodded his head and rubbed the shews shoulder.

“I thought I had found them after a successful hunt, but when I r-rounded the tree…” He gasped for breath before sputtering out.

“Phil…” Jack looked up to him with the upmost dread in his eyes, “It was a Naga.”

The Avian felt his heart sink to the depths of the earth. He was suddenly transported back to his old village. Fires raged all around him and giant snakes cackled, their bellies full of his neighbors, his friends…his family.

He was just a child when it happened, he thinks he only survived due to the mercy of lady death. He had barely managed to escape, his flight feathers had barely grown in, without his wings his savior came in the form of a river. He was surrounded by flames on all sides. A great beast blocked his path before him. It’s white scales glowing in the fire light, blocking any chance to escape. It had devoured all that he held dear and he was all that was left. A freezing cold river to his back, deep and violent. He had no other choice but to jump and pray that the river would take him to safety.

He was thrown this way and that, turned around and dunked under over and over again. He found security in a floating log and clung on for his life. His small pitiful wings soaked to the bone.

Once he finally made it to calmer waters he heard the gentle calling of an owl in the distance. A sound that would usually cause fear instead filled him with a reassurance that he would be alright. He had survived.

After he was washed to the shore of the river bank a group of traveling tiny hybrids took him in. They were going to a village, a safe haven for all tiny hybrids to escape the cruel grasp of a world much to large for them.

He became a strong warrior and a skilled leader, it wasn’t long before he was asked to be put in charge after the last elder pasted on. He took his place with pride and joy in his newfound home and made the village what it is today.

Then he found a new family to protect. One that he would not fail ever again.

Phil was brought back to reality by Techno shaking his shoulders. “Phil? You with us?” Techno’s eyes were worried and Phil’s hands trembled ever so slightly.

He looked to his youngest with eyes that have seen devastation. “Go sound the alarms, prepare the guards for the fight of their lives.” Phil was more serious than Techno had ever seen him before. He felt a deep pit of fear in his stomach at the look in his father’s eyes.

Techno signaled to a near by guard tower to sound the alarms. His long pink hair clung to his face in the heavy rain. The light flashed two times and in seconds a loud clang was echoing throughout the village warning them to seek cover and hide. Soldiers rushed to the great tree. Struggling to put on their armor and get their weapons in a short amount of time.

“Dad!” Phil turned around to see his oldest rushing to him. He was surprised to see Wilbur wielding a sword, his hair an utter mess, he even had a chest plate slapped on as if it were a last thought. “What’s going on?!”

“Wilbur, I need you to go warn the villagers.” Phil pulled his son along to the emergency supplies station. The healers already handing out the emergency bags to each villager. “I need you to hand out these care packages with the healers. Techno and I are leading the guard.” Wilbur looked utterly confused as big packs were shoved into his arms.

“Dad, what’s happening?” Wilbur’s words were panicked, he looked so unsure. Phil’s instincts only grew to keep Wilbur out of dangers way.

“Jack got separated from his party. He finally found what Techno has been trailing for months.” Philza looked to his son, he could since his boy’s growing dread. “He found a Naga, Wilbur.”

Wilbur threw the supplies to the ground and grabbed his father’s wrists. Phil was surprised to find the mouse’s dull craws griping into his skin.

“You can’t go. Please don’t go.” His son sounded more desperate than he ever heard in his life.

“We must. We have to protect the village, no matter how dangerous it is.” Phil softly pet Wilbur’s head trying to comfort his son, but Wilbur shook off his hand only to grab it in an even tighter grip. Wilbur looked strangely conflicted.

“He hasn’t hurt anyone. Has he?” Phil sighed and pulled his son into a hug. “It hasn’t hurt anyone yet. Jack said he was able to get away unnoticed.”

Wilbur nodded his head into his father’s chest. “Don’t worry Wilbur, we’ll exterminate it before it can cause any damage.”

Phil was suddenly thrown back from Wilbur, he was surprised to see a look of utter hatred. A vicious snarl took up his son’s face. “You can’t go.”

“Wilbur? What are you-” lighting struck the forest with a vengeance, the force alone shaking the ground. The smell of smoke suddenly filled the air, sending the village into a panic. Phil looked in the distance and saw a building orange glow. Tonight of all nights.

“Techno!”

His boy’s hulking frame was at his side in an instant, leaving the guardsmen fumbling with their armor.

“A fires broken out. I need you to stay here and help evacuate. Get them to the other side of the creek. I go to the Naga alone.” Techno snorted and crossed his arms, a determined look in his eyes. “No chance old man. You’re the one with wings remember?”

Phil looked to Techno with desperation. “You and the other avian soldiers, or anyone with wings, need to help carry everyone to safety. It’s the only way to get everyone safely out of the fire’s reach in time.” Techno lifted the giant axe of his shoulder and made his way towards his black and white rabbit Carl. He mounted his trusty steed and looked back to Phil.

“I’ll take the rest of the guard to handle our Naga.” Phil crooned and reached out for Techno’s hand. “I don’t want to lose you. Either of my boys.” Techno closed his eyes and bumped heads with Phil. “I promise you won’t Phil.” Then his son snorted once more. “Besides, this monster has never gone up against the Blade before.”

With that Techno raised his sword and called to his men. They began to march into the direction that Jack had come from. The hunt was on.

Philza watched Techno go. Fear deep in his bones. He’s be by his son’s side soon enough, he just had to get everyone to safety first.

He reached behind him to grab his eldest’s hand only to clench at the open air. He whipped his head around. “Wilbur?”

The mouse was nowhere to be seen. The emergency kits were still scattered to the ground. Where on Earth did he go?

“Wil?!” Phil called out, looking around for his son’s familiar form in the crowds. His calls and trills growing more frantic as more smoke filled the air.

Philza groaned in frustration and fear. He turned towards the avian soldiers, already guiding the villagers away from the direction of the fire. Phil shook his wings of the raindrops that collected in his feathers. He spread his wings and joined the men of his own guard.

Wilbur knew the safety protocols well, he probably just went to help gather people when the fire broke out. Phil could only hope that his son was being safe. His son wasn’t a fighter. He was always much better with his words. He could imagine Wilbur now, calming the crowds and giving them clear directions. His son knows to stick clear of danger.

———————————————————————————

Ranboo shot awake as Tubbo shook him violently, the first thing his panicked mind processed was the village alarm. Their eyes locked onto Tubbo’s own worried one’s.

“There’s a fire. It’s moving pretty slow, but we still need to get out of here. They’re relocating us to the other side of the river.” Tubbo quickly packed the pair’s essentials, he moved quickly and calmly. He grabbed Ranboo’s hand and rushed out the door.

But instead of heading towards the river, Ranboo found that Tubbo was pulling him towards the guard’s facility. “Tubbo, what are we doing here?”

The bee pulled Ranboo behind a stone wall a peaked over at the scene. The soldiers were frantically strapping on their armor and harnessing their weapons.

However the thing that puzzled Tubbo, was that only the avians and other hybrids with wings were helping those evacuate. The grounded hybrids were marching into the woods.

It gave Tubbo a bad feeling. “You see that.” The Bee nudged Ranboo to look towards the guardsmen. “They’re preparing for battle. Only half of them are on fire duty.”

Ranboo looked on in confusion before a scary realization came to mind. “You don’t think…”

“Oh, I know.” Ranboo squeezed Tubbo’s hand a little tighter, Ranboo’s heart skipped a beat as he looked out at the sea of sharp weapons. Tubbo suddenly raised his arm and pointed to a familiar form. “Seems that sorry excuse of a guard over there caught sight of Tommy. It would’ve been old Manifold.”

Ranboo couldn’t help but let out a little breath of relief. If it was anyone other than Jack, Tommy might’ve actually been in danger.

“We need to warn him. If the guard finds him first they’ll never listen to him.” Tubbo nodded his head, but his eyes were kept firmly held on Jack Manifold. “Jack didn’t run from the direction of our normal meetup spot. He was closer to the hunting grounds.” Tubbo narrowed his eyes in thought.

“The guard seems to be heading in that direction, but we can beat them if they’re on foot. Techno may have his Rabbit, but he’ll stay behind to lead his men. We can safely travel above and get to Tommy first.”

Ranboo nodded his head at the plan but then realized one flaw. “How will we now where Tommy exactly is? I don’t know the hunting grounds well enough to navigate them without some sort of sight aid, and neither of us are exactly trackers like the guard.”

Tubbo gave a mischievous laugh, his eyes gleaming with delight. “Well my dear Beloved…” Tubbo pulled a long strand of rope out of his bag, a smirk on his face. “That’s where our eyewitness and personal tracker comes in.”

Ranboo sighed in disappointment. Of course Tubbo would resort to kidnapping first, but at the end of the day this was a life or death situation. They’d just have to apologize to Jack later, after all Tommy was really the one who was in danger.

He looked up to see Tubbo was already heading in the poor shrews direction. He could only hope Jack would forgive them after all this mess.

———————————————————————————

Wilbur sprinted through the thick rain, his face stung from the many leaves and branches that whipped his face. He didn’t feel any of it. The only thing that was on his mind was Tommy.

He had to get his little brother out of here. He didn’t want anyone to hurt Tommy, and he didn’t want Tommy to have to hurt someone.

He burst into the clearing calling Tommy’s name, but the naga was nowhere to be found. Even with the rain beating down, the smell of smoke was still persistent. Wilbur’s nerves only increased the longer he saw no signs of the snake.

Frustrated beyond belief Wilbur hit himself in the head over and over. Think think think. If I were Tommy where would I be?

It was hopeless. The snake could be anywhere. He liked to hunt all over, and if he was hunting or here in the clearing he was probably patrolling.

Wilbur curled up with his arms wrapped around his legs. Praying to whatever gods that would listen that they would help him find his baby brother.

All that answered him was an owl calling out in the distance. Wilbur sighed in defeat before another sound reached his ears. It was not the graceful calling of an owl or the mud splattering from the rain. No this was a sound he was much more familiar with.

He took off in their direction, following the familiar cries for help and the angry voice of a certain bee. He stayed hidden in the brush as he observed the strange scene in front of him.

There was Ranboo, with a rather uncharacteristic anger in their eyes, wings crossed and his ears held firmly back. Then there was Tubbo, his hands gripped firmly in Jack’s shirt, screaming in the shrews face.

“WHERE IS HE?!” Tubbo shook him more. “I KNOW YOU SAW HIM! NOW WHERE IS HE?!” Jack Manifold looked utterly distraught, his arms tied firmly behind his back, completely stripped of all his weapons and perhaps his dignity.

“What’s wrong with you guys?!” Jack struggled in his restraints. “Let me go! Please! Are you guys crazy?!”

“YOU SAID HE WAS RIGHT HERE JACK! AND GUESS WHAT? HE’S NOT! I DON’T LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE LIE TO ME JACK!” All Jack could do was to plead for Tubbo to not sting him.

“Please! I swear it was right here! Why are you guys doing this?!” He looked to Ranboo for mercy. “Ranboo! This isn’t like you! Tell Tubbo to stop joking around! This is a little extreme for a prank! It’s not safe to be out here with it!”

Ranboo rolled his eyes and walked forward towering over Jack. Wilbur had never seen this side of Ranboo before. The bat sneered down at Jack, their fangs on full display. “Listen Jack, I tried to be civil with you at first. I know that you’re scared but our friend is in serious danger because of you. This isn’t some stupid prank, Now where is he?”

Wilbur looked at all the hope drain from Jack’s face. “Y-you’re hypnotized or something… It’s made you guys it’s dark servants.” Jack looked like he was about to pass out, Tubbo growled in frustration. “THAT’S IT!” Tubbo raised his stinger high, Wilbur guessed that was his queue to intervene.

He sprinted out of the foliage, “Wait!” Tubbo and Ranboo whipped around towards him, but their anger was soon replaced with… relief?

“What are you guys doing out here? There’s a fire!” Jack struggled to crawl towards the mouse. “Wilbur! Help me! They’ve gone insane!”

Tubbo and Ranboo ran over to meet him. Ranboo grabbed ahold of his shoulders, “Have you seen Tommy?”

Wilbur was completely taken aback. He began to question the last several months of his life. “You’ve met Tommy?!”

“All of us have!” Tubbo supplied, “Though, I don’t know if we should count Jack or not.” Wilbur was completely baffled.

“Why didn’t he tell me, or any of you?!” Ranboo looked a little guilty at that. “He told me he didn’t want you to know. He said he wasn’t supposed to be seen by anyone else, that was one of your rules.”

Wilbur groaned in frustration, of course Tommy would keep it secret. He didn’t want Wilbur to be upset with him. Especially if it happened after the incident.

“Whatever! That’s not important right now.” Wilbur looked to Ranboo with Desperation. “I haven’t found him. He’s not in the clearing, I have no idea where else he could be.”

Tubbo cleared his throat and gestured towards their hostage.“Well he should’ve been right here, or at least that’s what Manifold said.” Wilbur turned to Jack who was currently trying to wriggle out of his ropes.

“Was this where you saw him Jack?” The poor shrew wilted at Wilbur’s question. “Oh no… Not you too Wilbur…”

Wilbur huffed and crouched down to where the poor man was writhing. “Yes Jack, me too…” The mouse sighed and helped Jack to his feet. “I know you’re scared Jack. Your instincts are probably going haywire right now . Trust me I know.”

The mouse looked the shrew firmly in the eyes. “He’s not gonna hurt you.”

Jack let out a sharp wet laugh. “Yeah right!” Jack’s mind flashed to Blood coating sharp teeth, it slowly dripping down it’s chin. “Gods… you guys really are under it’s control! It’s using you guys to do it’s hunting for it!”

“Jack, listen to yourself! You’re spouting complete nonsense!” Wilbur pleaded but Jack wouldn’t hear any of it. People who he once thought were his friends lured him away from the village with the lie that someone needed help, now here he is, tied up and being lead to his death.

“You’re the one that’s talking nonsense! You guys are gonna get us all killed! We need to leave before it comes back!” Jack cried his voice wavering with anxiety.

Wilbur sighed, Jack was just a lost cause. He turned to Ranboo, the younger’s face coated in worry and stress. Tubbo tried his best to comfort him, but he himself had the shadow of doubt on his face.

Wilbur looked back towards West, the orange glow was growing brighter by the second, even with the ever persistent drops of the rain, but it just wasn’t enough.

“I don’t know what to do.” Wilbur stated defeated. Tears were brewing in his eyes, Ranboo and Tubbo clung to each other.

Wilbur closed his eyes, trying to conger any kind of hope, the cold rain trailed down his face, but then suddenly it wasn’t. He opened his eyes confused, as the rain was still hitting the ground all around the group.

“Wilbur?” It was quiet and fearful. It was pure relief. It was Tommy.

Everyone’s head bolted upwards. Wilbur cried out in relief as his eyes met familiar glowing red ones. Ranboo and Tubbo cheered, while Jack shrieked in fear, backpedaling away before he tripped backwards on a root and fell hard to the ground.

“Wilbur what’s going on? There’s a fire somewhere and everyone smells so scared…”Tommy slowly descended from the tree, eyeing the shrew shaking on the floor with wariness. “And what are you guys doing here?!” Tommy’s voice was strained and scared, Ranboo stepped up first to answer, but was cut off by Wilbur.

“It’s okay Tommy. I know.” There was shame in the snake’s eyes, tears started to poor down the boys face, he tried to apologize. “I’m sorry Wilby…I-I was gonna tell you, I was…I was just scared you’d get mad.”

Wilbur reached upwards and Tommy took it as his queue to wrap his tail around Wilbur and lift him up, they both tried to ignore the gasp that came from the shrew below. Wilbur squeezed the boy’s tail with all his might. “Tommy, I can’t ever stay mad at you. I just want you to be safe. I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me things.” The child nodded his head and then gently pressed it into Wilbur.

Wilbur was suddenly brought back to reality by his own words, he pushed back from the blonde curls and looked his brother in the eyes. “Tommy you need to get out of here. The guard is on their way.” Tommy looked shocked. “What?”

Tubbo suddenly flew to Tommy’s face. “Yeah, and they wouldn’t be if not for him…” Tommy turned his head down to the trembling form in the mud that Ranboo was currently trying to console. “Also not to mention the ever growing forest fire.” Tubbo added on as a afterthought. Tommy couldn’t help but let his eyes wander back to the unknown hybrid. His pitiful struggles catching Tommy’s trained eyes.

“Is he okay?” Tommy gestured towards the hostage on the ground, Ranboo had tried and failed to remove the restraints. Jack grew deathly still as he realized all the attention was on him. It was looking right at him.

He couldn’t even muster up a scream, the noise dying in the back of his throat with any hope of survival. “He’ll be alright. He’s just a big baby.” Tubbo explained.

Tommy felt guilt eat away at his heart. He sat Wilbur back to the ground and crouched down to their level, Jack tried to scoot away but Ranboo held him firmly in place.

“Hello…” Tommy tried but Jack stayed frozen. “I’m sorry if I scared you…” The naga looked to the too tight ropes digging into the shrews arms. “Here…let me help.”

Jack cried out as he was pushed closer to the monster as it reached out for him with it’s deadly claws. He squeezed his eyes closed as tight as he could, not wanting to accept his fate. But instead of the sharp claws piercing him, he found the tight pressure on his arms were cut away. He fell backwards as Ranboo dropped him back to the ground. “Calm down, you’re fine…” Ranboo huffed out. Above him he was met with a soft smile and kind red eyes. Nothing like he had witnessed mere hours ago.

“There you go, I bet that feels better.” The naga said with a sort of kindness that reminded him of Niki. Only she would make sure to ask if he was feeling alright in a stressful situation, and here was this great beast taking her place.

While Jack was still fearful, he couldn’t find it in himself to run away. The Naga had done nothing but treat him with kindness so far, and his friends, however crazy they were, seemed to trust the giant. He’d have to give him a chance.

“Come on Tommy, We need to get out of here.” Wilbur climbed onto Tommy’s head before turning to Ranboo and Tubbo. “You guys take Jack across the river to safety. I’ll go with Tommy to make sure he’s alright.” The pair nodded and helped Jack to his feet, determination plastered on their faces, while Jack looked unsure. “We’ll find someplace safe to hide until the guard gives up, and hopefully when the fire dies down.”

Wilbur gently patted Tommy on the head trying to provide any comfort. “Alright Tommy let’s g—!”

Wilbur could only stare in horror at the approaching arrow. Everything was happening in slow motion and he tried to cry out to warn his little brother, but it was too late. The next thing Wilbur knew he was thrown into the air and a painful near deafening scream filled his eardrums. Wilbur hit the ground hard, his back ached, and his ears ringing. He tried his best to get back up to his feet only to see Tommy clutching his right eye in pain, the younger was sobbing uncontrollably, unable to do anything but flinch as arrows with ropes imbedded deep into his skin. Wilbur ran forward and screamed for Tommy to run before he was pulled back and away from his baby brother. They were too late.

And there was the Blade in all of his violent glory. His bow now tossed to the side after having hit his mark. A single arrow coated in weakness had struck deep in Tommy’s right eye.

———————————————————————————

Little did the village know… another visitor was upon them. When the scent of this much fear and panic hits the air, it can travel for miles around even with all the smoke. It’s hard for someone to not come see what’s happening after their latest business deal. Especially if someone is quite familiar with one of the scents in particular. It seems he, had finally found one of his star pupils. A malicious sharp grin spread over their scarred white face. Snow white scales flashed with the strikes for lightning.

It was an excellent night for a hunt. The fear was almost overwhelming. He hoped he could control himself long enough to not go into a frenzy.

He first had to find what he had lost long ago, and make him pay for the pain they had caused him. It was never fun explaining how the champion you promised had disappeared with all the others, face wounded with one dead eye. It was even harder to kill half of the hunters who were less than forgiving of his slip up with his newly acquired wounds. Let’s just say he was grateful that rage was a motivator.

The remaining hunters were quick to be back on his side after witnessing over half of their men be slaughtered. Shameful cowards it what they were.

The Viper inhaled deep and long, letting the scent lead him in the right direction.

I’ll find you Tommy.

———————————————————————————

Wilbur was relieved it wasn’t a lethal poison, only his father would carry those. Techno much preferred his hand combat or rather his blade combat. Wilbur watched with growing dread as Techno started to make his way towards Tommy, sword in hand, the poor child was pinned in place painfully from the many arrows and ropes tying him down.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe now.” It was some random solider, pulling the mouse away, white hot rage filled the Charmer as he saw the Blade lift his black sword, his baby brother crying for help. Wilbur head butted the solider and reached for his own blade . The poor guard member sat dazed on the ground with a very broken nose.

Tommy was pulled to the ground now. His arms strapped down to his sides and his head pulled back leaving his neck vulnerable to any attack.

Tommy whined in fear, his one good eye blinded by salty tears. The Blade raised his deadly sword, ready to end it all in one fatal swing. Wilbur never ran faster in his entire life.

Instead of fresh blood pouring from a wound, Techno was met with sparks as his blade struck another with all of his force. How strange… Techno didn’t hesitate, he tried to strike down his opponent but they held strong. Every swing of his sword was met with one of equal strength. After a minute of hit after intense hit the pair stepped apart exhausted. When Techno looked up to meet his opponent’s face he was surprised to see the small form of his twin brother in the place of where the skilled warrior stood. Techno stood taken aback, nothing could of prepared him to see that he almost battled his own brother to the death. What was his brother even doing here? Wilbur took advantage of his shocked state and suddenly there was a sharp burning in his calf. His own brother had just slashed him. Techno fell to his knees and his hand was next. His sword dropped to the ground and was kicked away. Techno had a faint memory come to mind of him teaching Wilbur those moves when they were young.

“Wilbur?! What are you doing?!” Techno growled in pain. “What I have to!” The warrior cried. “I won’t let you kill him!”

“Him?” Techno looked to the Naga behind his brother. It’s one slit eye shot daggers at Techno, it’s growls rivaled thunder itself, and it was all directed right at Techno.

If he were a weaker man he would of cowered under it’s gaze, but Techno was not. He sat kneeled and took the beast’s rage head on, and glared at the monster right back.

A cry from one of his men caught his attention and he spun around quickly. He was surprised to see his men being taken down by his own students. Tubbo had already stung half of the guard and disarmed most while he did, while Ranboo made quick work of the potions, throwing them against trees and rocks and watching them shatter and poor into the mud.

Techno was speechless… what was happening? First his own brother protecting a monster and now a revolution. He turned back forward to face his brother, utter betrayal pumping through his veins.

“You would hurt your own Brother to protect that monster?” Wilbur remained silent as tears trailed down his cheeks.

A hurt deeper than Techno had ever know stabbed into his gut. His face contorted into a deep scowl.This didn’t make sense. Why would Wilbur…

The beast groaned in pain and strained against the binds. “Wilbur…” It growled and his brother called out a desperate reassurance to it. It wanted his brother’s help?

Then Techno understood. He understood Wilbur coming back late at night or not coming back at all. Why his brother never let him follow him into the woods and always seemed nervous when Techno asked where he was going.

He understood why Ranboo would show up to his potion lessons less and less, and why Tubbo seemed to never be in his study anymore when Techno would need him.

He had heard legends of creatures that could control minds or hypnotize their prey. Playing with their food by messing with their very minds. That had to be what’s happening.

This… this monster had made them into it’s pets. It had to have them in some kind of dark bind, forcing them to the forest when it wanted and making them obey it’s every whim. But worst of all It had brainwashed them into thinking it actually cared.

“Wilbur, Can’t you see?! It’s forcing you to be it’s pet! It doesn’t care about you, it’s only using you!” Techno desperately tried to bring his brother back to him.

More fuel was thrown onto the fire that was Wilbur’s anger. He stormed forward his eyes blazing. He gripped is twin by the collar now consumed by pure wrath.

“Listen to me now Techno, that boy who you call a monster is just a child. He hasn’t even hurt anyone! Then here you come charging in without even assessing the situation… Calling me hypnotized and under what proof…That is a child you’ve shot down with your bows.” His twins claws dug into his flesh. “I swear to the goddess of Death herself that if you kill my little brother, then so help me gods, I will never ever call you my brother again.”

Techno’s wounds burned from rain and sweat. He could only stare in shock at his twins words. His little brother?

Wilbur threw Techno to the ground and ran to the beast. He started slash at the restraints, desperate to get the naga free. He was soon joined by Ranboo and Tubbo. Ranboo splashing healing all over Tommy’s wounds. Even Jack was at the snake’s side, helping to remove the arrows and tend to wounds.

Techno’s men stood back awaiting more orders as they looked on baffled at the strange sight before them. The Blade himself could only sit and watch his brother in sorrow.

This was no longer his fragile passive twin, hiding behind him in a fight, this was a warrior protecting those he loved. He guessed Wilbur really his twin in every way.

Techno’s eye’s traveled to the face of the Naga… No…The child he had order his men to shoot down. Wilbur was there, gently tending to the boy’s wounded eye, pouring bottle after bottle of healing potion. Techno could only pray that it wouldn’t cause permanent damage.

Only one of the serpent’s arms were free. He couldn’t help but feel his heart spark with a fresh wave of fear as it reached out for Wilbur. The hand simple cradled Wilbur gently as he worked.

The thing that made Techno’s stomach turn the worst were the whispered apologies from the boy, repeated over and over again. Techno could only sit as if he were frozen in time.

———————————————————————————

Philza flew as fast as he could. The last of the villagers were safely across the river in a makeshift camp, the rest of the flyers where busy setting up a makeshift camp for the next few days. The fire chased after him as he flew, it burned the forest without forgiveness, the rain was doing it’s best to fight off the hellish flames, but it could not save all from the fires path.

The fire had already passed through the Village. It had suffered from the flames, shelter and cover burned away, but they had fought the flames off well enough that a majority of the trees, buildings,and shrubs survived. It would take a lot of work to rebuild and recover the lost shelter, but it could be done.

Now with his people safely out of harm’s way, he could focus on the other threat. Philza prayed that Techno was holding his own well enough. The old bird knew the power of these beasts first hand.

The avian patted his side where his poison arrows stayed. Reassuring him self that they were still there. He only had three, being unprepared for a fight, but he would have to make do. He had to try his best for his boys.

He followed the guards trail the best he could in the dark night. The rain weighed down heavy on his wings.

He flew with grace. Ducking and dodging around everything in his path. His speed only increased as did his heart rate when he heard a commotion up ahead.

Philza burst through the trees with his bow drawn carefully with his talons. There it was in all of it’s monstrous glory, it took all of Phil’s willpower to not let the arrow shoot right away.

It was down, but it appeared that one arm was free. He looked to the guard in confusion as to why the Naga was still alive. Then he saw Techno, bloody cuts lined his body, his hair a muddy mess of knots and tangles. He sat crouched on the ground almost like a plea of surrender, his sword tossed to the side.

He reexamined the Naga only to see that it was holding something in it’s grip, Philza’s heart stopped.

In the claws of the Naga was Wilbur. His boy that was supposed to be far away and out of harms way, was here. They very last place that Phil ever wanted him to be.

The avian was seething. These monsters stole his family from him once before, he would not allow that to happen again.

“NAGA!” Phil spit fire as he spoke, the rage of a thousand suns on his very own tongue. Every head snapped upwards at the murderous call.

“Release my boy now, and I will give you the mercy of a quick death.”

Philza flapped his wings steadily, he pulled the arrow back firmly, ready to release it’s deadly power. The Naga released is son almost instantly to Phil’s surprise, but what had Phil questioning reality what that Wilbur refused to leave the snake’s side.

“Wilbur! Move aside! I’ll protect you!” Philza desperately called to his oldest, but instead of running to his father’s call, Wilbur sneered and planted his feet apart and stretched his arms out wide, as if trying to shield the snake behind him. Phil was also stunned to see three others at the naga’s aid as well, there stood Ranboo, Tubbo, and even Jack?

“You will not hurt him.” Wilbur spat with such a venom he might’ve well become a serpent himself. “If you dare release that arrow I will jump in it’s path.”

Philza was completely taken aback. Why are they protecting him? Why would his son threaten his own life over a Naga?

He glanced back to Techno, only to see his boy staring right back, pure shame and regret in his tired eyes. Phil didn’t understand.

“Wilbur why would you—” A vicious cackle erupted from the night. One that struck Phil with such fear he nearly dropped out of the air right then and there, leaving the rest of the question to die in the bird’s throat.

A single emerald green eye, glowing eerily through the rain squinted in delight, peered out of the darkness of the trees.

“Well what a pleasant surprise .” Out of the forest crawled the devil himself. The fire was upon them now, it’s golden orange glow soaked into the Naga’s pale white scales, giving the illusion that this beast crawled out of the depths of hell itself.

Phil could only stare in pure horror at the Naga who had massacred is village, and took away everything that Phil had ever loved.

A sharp gasp and heightened breathing broke Philza’s spiral into despair. It was the restrained Naga, it’s breathing grew quick and panicked. The snake grabbed it’s four protectors with it’s one lose hand and pushed them quickly over to Techno.

“RUN!” It pleaded frantically, it’s voice strained and cracking. The White Viper howled in amusement at the scene before him. Phil suddenly realized just how small the first Naga was when in comparison to one that now towered over them all.

“Really Tommy? After all this time I would have at least hoped you’d learn to not play with your food. It’s quite bad manners you know.” The Viper clasped his clawed hands together in sick satisfaction. “And look at the mess it’s got you in! Oh how my once mighty has fallen.” The Naga fell back into a fit of crazed laughter.

While the Naga was focused on the smaller, Phil took his chance and aimed his arrow straight for the beast’s heart as it laughed away. The bird released the arrow with a perfectly practiced talent. Timed seemed to slow before it hit it’s target, but instead of imbedded deep into the Viper’s pale skin, it instead bounces of its chest and fell to the ground. Phil stared in shock at the sheer thickness of this monster’s skin. The laughter had stopped.

In an instant the Vipers tail shot out towards the Avian and smacked the little bird to the ground, a snarl on the snakes face. Phil cried out in pain, the sheer force of the hit cracking several ribs instantly. He hit the ground without forgiveness, his wing snapping next. He was nearly delirious with pain, he could faintly register is son’s crying out for him. He felt hands grab is cloak and pull him back. He opened his eyes to see Techno at his side, frantically shaking him awake. He could hear frightened screams and someone desperately crying for them to run. It was the first Naga.

———————————————————————————

Tommy thrashed and clawed at the ropes, screaming for the hybrids to get away. His eye still burned violently even with all of the healing potions. Wilbur’s dad lay crumpled on the ground, Wilbur crying out to him. XD looked on with disgust. Why did the Gods hate him so? The monster he had gotten away from all those years ago had found him at the worst possible time.

His tormentor. His captor. His abuser. XD. The Viper was all Tommy had ever know. He was told he was found alone as an egg. Abandoned and left in the snow. Somehow, Tommy doubted that, now that he knew the truth about the snake who raised him.

Everyday was true hell for Tommy the moment he could slither on his own. He once had siblings, all different degrees of deadly hybrids, though he was sure they were all gone now. They were forced to fight one another, told it was to keep them healthy and strong, and to protect them from danger. They were kept in separate cages when they weren’t fighting and carted to various towns and cities. Many of his sibling’s cages were taken away. Handed to humans in the cover of night with the promise of XD saying they’d be going to a good home. Tommy had once believed him when he was little.

Now Tommy knew the dark reality because his oldest brother found out the truth. His brother was something called a Warden. He was given to some humans with two of his other siblings, it was sad to see them go, but Tommy was also excited. Because Xd had said that someone was coming to pick him up that next morning. That he was going to go somewhere very special and be the Champion of a King. Tommy had never felt for happy in his life.

He had went to sleep as soundly as he could in a cage, but he quite surprised when Sam had woke him up in the dead of night.

He was alone. Blood had stained his claws and face. He let Tommy out first and then opened everyone else’s cages. He had took them away then he told them the truth.

That they we’re being sold. Sold to hunters, to kings, to fighting rings. That they were sold for their parts, for their strength, for their magical properties. Sam had been the only one to make it back alive.

XD had found them that night, screaming for them to get back into their cages, but Sam kept us safe behind him. The Viper was absolutely furious.

But Samm wouldn’t listen to XD anymore. He was a Warden after all, and they were know to be rather protective of what they loved.

They had escaped. Leaving then Naga with one less eye and more than a few deep scars. They hid in the forest, hunting and living together as a true family should. They were happy.

But then the hunters came and they had to run. Tommy wasn’t the fastest then, he wasn’t very big either. So he did what he does best. The Naga stayed out of view, hiding from the hunters while his siblings ran. He hid until the forest grew quiet and the night turned to day, but his siblings never did come back. He never saw any of them again.

Tommy was on his own. Learning to survive by himself and live among the trees. A silent and lonely life, and that’s how it was for a long long time.

Then he met Wilbur and everything changed, and he was happy. He finally had a brother again. But now that was all about to change again. Because he had screwed it all up. He had been seen and forced the guard to come after him, now XD was here and everyone was going to get hurt because of him. Why was he cursed with such a cruel fate?

“Tommy? Do your little pets not have any manners? Honestly, I thought I raised you better.” The serpent snarled and dusted off where the arrow had hit. “Really, the only good thing they’re for is to eat.” Tommy growled deep and long, XD only seemed more amused.

“You know…for how much you seem to care about them, they still seem rather afraid of you.” XD hissed a smile on his face. “I just so happened to be in the area after my latest business deal, when the smell of all this fear hit the air.” The Naga inhaled deeply though his nose and sighed in satisfaction. “It’s quite a mouthwatering scent, but I was pleasantly surprised to suddenly smell your fear mixed in as well… You see Tommy, I am still rather angry for you and your siblings running away, and that Warden definitely didn’t help your cases after he took my eye….”

The Naga gave a dark laugh as he looked at Tommy’s face. “Though now, I bet you understand how painful it is to lose an eye. Would you look at that…” XD gripped Tommy’s chin to meet his own scared face.

“We match.” XD spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone. Tommy only growled louder. “I’ll be honest with you Tommy, but only because I find you situation to be so amusing. I was just going to kill you first and enjoy the spoils for myself, but now I suppose I’ll let have one last meal. After all I do love to watch these pests get what they deserve, now which one took your eye.” He asked with a sharp grin. Tommy remained silent, not daring to make even a motion towards any of the smaller beings.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Someone shouted from the crowd. “Hmmm, who said that?” XD asked with a joyous expression. Tommy felt all the color drain from his face. His heart pounded against his chest. “IT WAS ME!” A lone mouse marched from the crowd, his family cried for them him to stop, a single sword drawn in hand and pointed right at the White Serpent. What was Wilbur doing?

XD cackled at the sight of the mouse. Where had he got all this courage? “I’ll suppose you’ll do just fine instead.” And Wilbur was suddenly scooped up in a soul crushing grip, the mouse suddenly felt bad for scolding Tommy for squeezing to tight, because it was like nothing in comparison to this. Wilbur wheezed, his lungs suddenly void of any air.

The crowd cried out, Techno and Philza louder than any of them. Techno rushed forward, his wounds gushing blood as he slayed the white scales with his sword. His constant swinging barley even left a scratch.

XD leaned down and flicked the rat away. He growled in anger and squeezed the pest in his grip even tighter, he felt something snap under the pressure…It’s leg.

Wilbur screeched in pain and XD laughed with pleasure.

“No please! Leave him alone!” Tommy begged reaching out for his big brother. “Don’t hurt him!”

XD tsked and shook his head. “Tommy, you should know by now to not get attached to your food.” The viper scratched his head as if in thought. “I guess I can’t trust you to not just store this one. More for me I guess.” Tommy watched in terror as Wilbur’s struggling form was dangled over XD’s deadly maw.

XD tossed Wilbur into the air and something in Tommy’s mind flipped like a switch. The restraints holding the red naga down all suddenly snapped away and he lunged for the white beast. He pushed the Viper back into a tree and bashed his head against it over and over. Wilbur landed on Tommy’s head, all the air rushed out of his lungs as he tried to recover from his second fall this evening. Wilbur desperately tried to grip Tommy’s golden hair to keep from falling, but his brother’s fighting didn’t create the most steady of holds.

Wilbur found himself falling once more that night before someone swooped down and gripped the back of his shirt. Ranboo held onto him tightly, but they we’re still approaching the ground at an alarming rate. Tubbo soon came from below and smacked into Wilbur’s middle. The mouse hissed as his leg was jostled around before he was sat far back from the battling giants.

Techno screamed for his men to retreat. If not to get out of the way of the giants, then to escape the fire that almost completely surrounded them now. Many refused until Techno ordered them to go warn the people across the river and to protect them from any other threats.

Philza was busy crawling closer to the raging giants, his bow in hand and two arrows left. Even with a broken wing, he could still use his talons to shoot. The red scaled naga was currently clawing at the White Viper’s gut. Their great tails fighting for dominance against the other, squeezing and strangling. Though Phil could tell that the red one was being to lose control over white.

Phil would have to take out the biggest threat first, then he’d worry about the smaller one. Phil pulled back the bow and aimed for the White Naga’s one remaining eyes. He waited for and opening. There. The white naga suddenly ducked down trying to strike at red’s throat but failing. The arrow flying safely above it’s head.

One arrow left.

Techno grabbed Ranboo and Tubbo and handed them to several guards. “Get them across the river and to safety.” The two kids shouted with displeasure and struggled in the solider’s grip to try and get back to Tommy. Techno turned to Jack and gripped his shoulder. “Make sure they get there.”

Jack nodded his head but looked unsure. “What about you three? Aren’t you coming?” Techno shook his head. “No, we’ll only slow the group down with our injuries, and I don’t think I could even get Wilbur to leave anyways.” Techno sighed as he began to hobble back to his twin’s side before he turned back. “I’ll try to get us to a safer spot, away from the flames, but Jack if you want to live I suggest you leave now. I know Niki’s waiting for you.” Despair stabbed through Jack’s heart and he saluted to his General for what maybe the last time. “I’ll see you later Captain.” Techno smiled and nodded his head. “See ya later, Jack.” Jack took off after the group, tears streaming down his face.

Techno pulled Wilbur over his shoulder shuffled away from the flames path as the naga’s clawed at each other’s throats. Techno squinted to see his father crawling closer and closer an arrow drawn. Fear pooled in Techno and Wilbur’s gut.

Wilbur’s hands were clasped tightly together, he was mumbling in prayer over and over again, “Oh please, spare them Lady Death. Have mercy on them.” Techno held Wilbur closer, and while he was skeptical of the gods, he too couldn’t help but say a silent prayer.

Tommy was losing his strength, he glanced to see that Wilbur was safely on the ground and that was enough to give him hope, but XD was so much larger than him it was only a matter of time before he could over power him.

“You’re nothing but a sorry excuse for a Naga.” XD snarled. “You would’ve been better off if those hunters got to you like the others, because at least they would’ve given you the mercy of a quick death!”

Tommy growled at the thought of his siblings deaths, tears coming to his eyes. XD yanked his hand out of Tommy’s tail and wrapped it around the younger’s throat, his claws piercing the child’s skin, Tommy fought to pull it back with his tail.

Tommy was losing strength with every second. His vision was beginning to fade to back around the edges, and his tail was growing limp. He used his last remaining strength to hold back XD’s claws.

“You’re just a stupid child! Did you really think you could defeat me?!” Tommy whined at the lack of air in his lungs. “I’ll make sure to eat your favorite pet first after I kill you. No….maybe I should make it my pet and drawl out it’s suffering, then I’ll bite it’s pitiful head off and watch the blood pour out!”

Philza drew the bow back once more. He let out a shaky breath and a prayer to Lady Death. He released the arrow and fell back exhausted. Eyes rolling back into his head.

Air rushed back into Tommy’s lungs as a horrifying scream left XD’s lips. The Snow White serpent was clawing desperately at his remaining eyes, blood gushed from the wound. Tommy’s eyes locked onto XD’s unprotected throat and lunged forward once more.

Tommy’s fangs sunk deep into the tender flesh and blood rushed into Tommy’s mouth. The Naga began to writhe in his hold, but Tommy only bit down harder.

Once the Viper’s struggles and cries turned deathly still, only then did Tommy tear back with a hunk of flesh in his teeth.

Tommy quickly spit it out to the ground with the blood that at poured into his mouth. He gagged on the disgusting taste. An oddly peaceful silence over came the forest, ever with the fire raging around them. The sky began to pour down harder than it ever had, the rain finally becoming strong enough to smother the fire.

Tommy slithered over to Wilbur immediately, the mouse reaching out to him while the Blade adverted his gaze. Tears fell with the rain as he gently cradled his big brother. “I’m sorry Wilbur… I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Wilbur gave a loud wet laugh that sounded more like a sob. “Oh Tommy, this isn’t your fault. This isn’t anyone’s fault. You’re still my baby brother and that’s all that matters.”

Tommy did sob into Wilbur’s small frame. Wilbur gently pet Tommy’s cheek before sighing and looking into Tommy’s eye. “Tommy I’m gonna ask of something that might be pretty big for you.” The blonde boy just nodded his head. “I need you to store me and my family and take us back to the village. It should be a safe place for you to sleep for the night.”

“But Wil…” Tommy looked to with with fear and uncertainty but Wilbur only smiled. “It’s the safest way to travel fast with all of our injuries, and I know your instincts are going wild right now.” The mouse laughed softly. “Yeah…” The boy admitted.

“They may not like it, but I’ll be right with you the whole time.” Tommy closed his eye and took a deep breath. “Okay…”

Wilbur scooted over to Techno and pulled him closer to Tommy. “Techno, this is Tommy. Tommy, this is Techno.” Techno glanced up at the child but quietly adverted his gaze one he saw his injured eye. “Hi Techno…” Tommy tried.

“I’ve heard such amazing stories about you. Wilbur was right, you really are the coolest brother.” Tears flooded from Techno’s eye as he finally looked up at Tommy.

“I’m so sorry… I didn’t know and now you…” Techno kneeled down before the golden boy. “ I don’t ask for your forgiveness, I don’t deserve it… But please know I’m forever in your debt.” Tommy nodded his head once more and then looked to Wilbur.

“Okay Techno, Tommy’s gonna do something that’s kinda scary, but I’m gonna need you to stay calm.” Techno looked a little uneasy as Wilbur approached Tommy’s mouth in front of him. “He’s gonna store us. I promise that you’ll be safe. I’m gonna go first so you can watch, but I need to know that you’ll stay calm.” He watched Techno for conformation.

His twin nodded his head but folded his arms together tightly. “Okay Wilbur…”

Techno watched in disbelief as his brother willingly crawled into the naga’s mouth, or as best as he could with a broken leg. Techno couldn’t help but imagine those sharp teeth biting down and cutting Wilbur right in two, but even with his nerves he stood his ground and let Tommy gently guide his brother inside the cavern.

Once Wilbur was fully inside, the Naga closed his mouth and tilted his head back. The blonde child sallowed in one go then he locked eyes with Techno. Soft purrs left the child’s lips before he shook his head and was quiet once more.

“Are you ready?” It was spoken softly and scared and it made Techno’s heart melt, even if the action did terrify him to his very core. But there was no other way as the fire surrounded them.

“I think so.” The bloodied lips parted before him and Techno was met with rows of deadly sharp teeth. Techno’s hands trembled as hot breath washed over him. He could only hope that Wilbur wasn’t wrong about this kid.

Techno took a deep breath and jumped in. The warm air of the mouth surrounded him in am instant, and in some strange way… it was comforting. The tongue beneath him began to softly coat him in spit, the loud purring started up again. Then after a few more coats, Techno was pushed to the back of the throat and swallowed down. It was tight but not unbearable and soon he dropped into a squishy bed of warmth. Next to him was Wilbur who immediately came over to comfort him, but Techno’s instincts were already please with the safe, dark, and warm surroundings. He held Wilbur tightly anyways.

“Tommy, I need you to go find my dad now. He might be afraid but I need you to be as patient as you can. If he gives you any trouble, Techno and I will settle him down.” A gentle pressure pushed down on them as Tommy laid a hand on his stomach. “I’ll find him Wil.”

Tommy’s eyes became mere slits as he scanned his surroundings. The fire’s light making the battlefield much easier to see. Tommy’s pupils widened considerably when he laid eyes on the crumpled form of the avian. He broken wing tucked closely to his chest and his eyes closed in exhaustion.

Tommy approached slowly and cautiously. This man was still a powerful warrior after all. “Excuse me…sir?” The avian’s head shot up, a wild fear in his eyes. “They’re gone aren’t they? My boys…” It was said with a sorrow of a man who had already seemed to know the answer. Tommy felt his heart break at the pure look of hatred that Wilbur’s father bestowed upon him.

Philza was suddenly a child again, his back to a river and facing a beast, his loved ones all gone. Fire surrounded them on all sides, and he couldn’t fly away. Grounded to the cold and unforgiving earth, but strangely this Naga wasn’t cackling with glee at Phil’s misery.

“No sir… I’m keeping them safe. I promise that they’re okay.” Phil laughed biter and cold at that. It was taunting him though.

“Beast, the Viper was right. It’s not very kind to play with your food.” Philza spit in anger, hanging his head low, not wanting the monster to get the satisfaction of seeing the fear in his eyes. He expected retaliation, for the monster to act out in rage and finish the job.

Instead the broken cries of a child met his ears. Philza’s head whipped up instantly, his instincts calling for him to help the child. It was the naga…

Phil looked up at the Naga in shock. He really was just a child. His instincts cried for the child as he realized that the Naga had the same scared look on his face that he had seen on himself reflected in the eyes of the monster that had tormented him.

Philza’s instincts began to overtake him and he couldn’t stop the soft coo that left his lips. The child’s crying stopped and his puffy eyes met Phil’s own. Phil suddenly knew that this wasn’t a creature that would hurt someone else willingly.

“You said my sons are safe?” The boy nodded his head but he still looked frightened. “T-they are with me…tucked away… they want me to store you as well…” Phil felt his heart drop at the Naga’s words. A charred branch suddenly fell next to the pair from above, they both jumped.

The boy scooped the bird up in his palms, Philza cried out in alarm, to powerless to even try to escape, but the boy just held him gently. “I know you’re afraid… but you’re gonna be okay. You’ll be with them again soon.”

Philza heart beat in is throat as he was suddenly lifted upwards to it’s lips. They parted open to reveal the creature’s deadly teeth and forked tongue. Phil was to exhausted to even fight as it dropped him on its tongue. Phil went limp and accepted his fate.

But the Naga never sliced him with his teeth, and he was gentle with Phil’s broken wing. This was nothing compared to what he saw his family go through.

When he thought about it he guessed the Naga had no real reason to lie. Phil supposed that even if the Naga wasn’t telling the truth he would be with his sons soon.

But with each promise of the safety of his sons, Phil’s instincts began to believe the child more and more. Even as he felt himself begin to side backwards into the back of the throat, Phil couldn’t find it in himself to be afraid.

The warmth that surrounding him made his already exhausted eyes grow heavy. He felt his consciousness start to slip away, when his journey down came to a stop he could since his boys hugging him. Phil fell into a dreamless sleep.

———————————————————————————

Tommy purred happily at the feeling of his storage being more full than it ever was before. He could feel the healing potions finally start to take affect. Tommy could even start to open his right eye again, although everything was still a little blurry.

He slithered with caution, avoiding what was left of the fire and the flames, the rain was in the final half of the battle, and it was winning by a long shot.

Tommy approached the thicket that protected the village, a lot of it was burned away, but the old trees and many of the buildings from what Tommy could see had held up well with minimal damage.

Tommy climbed up high in the largest tree and stretched out over the many branches. He fell into a deep sleep with the feeling of his new family stored safely inside him.

They’d tend to their injuries in the mornings, for now they got their much needed rest. From the stars above, a celestial owl looked down on the family with love. She had always know them since they were young, but now they had each other, and she wouldn’t let anything hurt them again. She sung softly into the night as the rain danced with her call.

"Let me go," Tommy spits out. Despite his aggression, there's a fearful, panicky air about him that sends pangs into Wilbur's chest.

"Toms, come on. You know me - you know I'd never hurt you." He wrestles him into the ground, easily pinning him to the dirt without having to exert real effort.

Tommy's arms shake from the effort of trying to fight him off. Wilbur is almost relaxed above him, a slight frown on his face as he easily presses the boy down. The more he tries to fight and the more he sees how futile it is, the more his hostility slips into abject terror.

"Wilbur, please." His voice cracks and he starts to go limp. He blinks back tears. "I won't tell a soul. Your secret is safe, just let me go. I'll disappear, and you'll never hear from me again."

No. No, he doesn't want that at all -

And something must show on his face too, because Tommy's eyes widen at his reaction, and he starts to writhe again, sobs building in his chest.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I don't - I didn't - "

"Hush."

He falls dead silent, tears still streaming down the sides of his face.

"You're fine," Wilbur murmurs to him, trying to imbue his words with as much love as he can. "Everything's going to be fine, okay?"

He starts to stand, pulling Tommy up with him as he goes.

He's tense in his arms, but Wilbur remains gentle.

As soon as they're both standing up, Tommy lurches away from him, but he's not fast enough.

Wilbur pulls him close, his arms still loose around Tommy. "Were you trying to catch me off guard?"

Tommy is sobbing and yelling and hitting at his chest, but he doesn't react.

"I... what are you doing? You - you know I'm much stronger than humans, sweetheart, you've got to stop fighting me."

He breaks down in his arms and tries to fall to the ground, but Wilbur catches him and holds, staring at him in puzzlement.

"How do I make this better?" He asks, almost blankly.

Tommy is still crying. "You - you ate the mayor," he whimpers. "You burned half the village to the ground. You burned the orphanage to the ground. You killed Phil and Tech - "

Wilbur swallows a lump in his throat and shoves down rising feelings of guilt. "I did what I had to do. I ate the mayor, I destroyed your village, including the orphanage. But how else could I get you?" He brushes a strand of hair from Tommy's eyes. "All that paperwork... it's easier if they think you perished in the fire. And for the record - " he conspiratorially winks at Tommy, trying to get humor him, "Phil and Techno are just fine."

He doesn't wait for a response, closing his eyes and starting to shift. He pays extra mind to Tommy's position in his arms. The change is done in seconds, and when he opens his eyes again, Tommy's just a tiny little thing lying between his clawed paws.

"Treasure," he purrs irreverently. "My little human - let's get you taken care of, yeah?"

Tommy stares up at him with wide eyes, completely frozen on the ground.

Wilbur wastes no time in leaning down and swallowing Tommy. He screams and kicks as he goes down the throat, but Wilbur's body was designed to eat live prey. Functionally speaking at least, Tommy is no different from the deer or tigers or knights he regularly eats.

He hums contentedly as Tommy settles into his brood pouch. It's padded out so he can be rough as he wants in there and it won't hurt either of them (and let it be said that he is trying very hard to hurt Wilbur).

"You're safe now, Tommy. Let's get you back to the rest of my hoard." He purrs again, a burst of delight in his chest. "I've waited so long to get you with the rest of my collection. Bit of a shame that you found out this way, but I'm a little glad too. I was going to reveal myself in a few months, but now I don't have to wait."

He spreads his wings and takes flight towards the treacherous mountains. Only the royals' finest knights could traverse the landscape, and even then, they were so tired and cold from the trip that their hands could barely grip the hilts of their swords.

He lands in the entrance and strides in. Techno and Phil sit idly on a pile of gold coins, chatting away, but as soon as their eyes land on him, they avert their gazes and seem to wilt. He's learned not to take it to heart - they've gotten better about managing their fear of him in the past few months since he added them to his hoard, and he's sure that as the years progress, all three of his humans will come around again.

He leans over Techno and Phil and opens his mouth up, finding it just the teeniest bit funny when they flinch back and start to plead with him not eat them. He brings out Tommy, letting the boy gently fall onto the two men below.

He sits back and admires them, a happy sound growing in the back of his throat.

"Finally," he says dreamily, "I have all three of you."

He shifts back into his human form and saunters up to them, ignoring how Tommy flinches backwards into Techno and Phil.

Phil pulls Tommy into his arms and starts to soothingly rub circles into his shoulder. "Wilbur, you're scaring him."

He shrugs nonchalantly. "You were scared too, in the beginning. He'll get over it soon - you all will - and then you'll be a proper part of my hoard."

Phil and Technoblade share a glance that he doesn't bother to decipher.

"Your hoard... what does that mean?" Techno asks slowly.

Wilbur grins brightly at him. "My collection! My treasure - it means you're mine now."

Tommy stares at him slack-jawed.

"Why us?" It seems like it slips out of Phil's mouth, something he says before he has a chance to apply a filter. But Wilbur doesn't mind answering.

"Techno is my twin, Tommy is my little brother, and you're my father." Those are all the human words for the familial terms, so they should understand.

Phil bites his lip. "Wil... we love you, but you can't - "

"I can do whatever I want," he cuts in, his voice edged with aggression.

Phil falls silent.

Wilbur smiles at him again. "Do you have anymore questions?"

Techno awkwardly coughs. "I hate to be the bearer of the obvious, but humans don't live as long as dragons. We're a lot less hearty, and you've stationed us on Dead Man's Hill. Because that's the name of this mountain, Wilbur - Dead Man's Hill. Are you sure you don't want to take us somewhere else?"

He feels his expression darken. "That won't be an issue. You're my hoard now. Which means your life force is tied to mine, and all three of your aging processes have stopped. If I'm to die - if - then you'll begin to age again." He turns a steely eye to Techno's. "And we will leave this mountain. But only when I know you won't try to do something silly, like leave me."

Techno nods, avoiding his eyes. "Sounds good."

"It does, doesn't it?" He agrees happily. "Now that I've taken Tommy, my collection is complete."

"Sorry - sorry, what the fuck?" Tommy chimes in, finally having found his voice.

Techno lowers his voice and says into his ear, "Wilbur is a dragon and he's keeping us now."

Tommy stares at him. "I thought you were fucking dead."

"Mm, me too," he says dryly. "But I'm not. I'm just the adopted twin brother of a dragon."

"Did you know?!" Tommy asks, sitting up and stumbling away from them.

Wilbur watches him curiously, fondly noting as he tips backward into a stack of gold coins.

"Did they know what?"

"What do you - what do you fucking think, Wilbur?!" He screeches.

Wilbur smiles, and lets himself shift again. Tommy flinches away as he approaches but he doesn't mind, picking him up in his mouth and plopping him back down next to Phil and Techno.

"They didn't know," he says soothingly, gazing down at them. He curls his tail loosely around their little group, forming a protective barrier. Or a cage.

Techno slides an arm around Tommy's shoulders. "Trust me," he murmurs, "if we had known, we never would have let you - " he cuts himself off, seeming to stiffen as his eyes nervously dart up to Wilbur. "We didn't know," he concedes.

Wilbur laughs lightly. "Can you imagine if you had? You never would have been my friend! And Phil never would have taken both of us in. I had to lie."

There's a look on Phil's face that he can't decipher. "Wilbur... I would have. Of course I would have," he says gently. His words carry weight, but the meaning behind it is unidentifiable to Wilbur.

"No," he says simply. "So it's a good thing I lied. Because the years passed and you realized how much you loved me, and now that you know I'm a dragon, you won't leave."

A sharp wave of paranoid insecurity strikes through his chest. "I don't think you'll leave," he mutters in afterthought, his tail slightly tensing around them.

Technoblade looks conflicted. "We love you for you, your being a dragon doesn't change that."

Wilbur frowns down at him, puffing a plume of smoke out. "Why are you saying that?"

"What - what do you mean?"

"We aren't leaving this mountain, Techno. I'm not that stupid."

A look of surprise crosses his face. He's a good actor, Wilbur decides. "I wasn't saying that to trick you, we do love - "

"I know you do!" Wilbur sharply cuts in. "Because I spent years bonding with you as a human. And now that you know I'm a dragon, it doesn't matter!" He gives them a smile with his large, sharp teeth. He ignores how forced it feels. He ignores how it feels like he's trying to convince himself more than them.

Phil looks at him with a pained expression. "Mate - "

"You're a little scared right now, but that's fine," he purrs, cutting him off. "We have the rest of time for you to love me like you used to. You weren't supposed to find out, but you have, and that's fine. I'll just keep you here. I'll just keep you here, and we can be a proper family."

He nuzzles the three of them with his snout, ignoring how they flinch away from him. "I love you!" he exclaims. "And you love me. So everything is fine. It's fine."

~ ~ ~

🏷️: @i-am-beckyu @da3dm @flowers-of-plenty @gracideaviolet

Technoblade wasn’t like other borrowers.

Other borrowers didn’t have voices in their heads, who screamed at him for blood, grew emotionally attached to the most random things, or know things that helped him evade capture multiple times.

Other borrowers didn’t have memories that never existed, searing into his brain at moments when he loses themselves, of friendships with beings of power, of him being a being of power, of falling from the clouds for a crime he did not do.

When his sword is stained red from those who wronged him, then in his head it rings. When the voices, or as he called them, Chat, started chanting. It never made sense, what they chanted.

Blood for the blood god

And it scared him, not knowing what it meant. But he couldn’t dwell on it now, just like he couldn’t dwell on it yesterday. He was a borrower, and that meant he needed to borrow.

Techno stepped outside of the comfort that was the shelter that he had been using for the past week. Being a wandering borrower, he didn’t have a home, exactly. He wandered from place to place, travelling lightly and swiftly, being able to escape at a moment's notice.

He had bases in some places, so he could restock and rest for a bit, but he was exploring a new area and that came with the consequence of not knowing where safety lay, so if a bean were to see him, he might not be able to get out of there fast enough.

But it wouldn’t come to that. Techno was an amazing borrower, and his motto was literally ‘Technoblade never dies’. He started walking through the long grass, humming to himself. He wouldn’t get caught, he was certain of it.

So why did he feel so uneasy?

. . .

“Hey- Hey! Stop it!” He whispered, whipping his sword out as an act of defence. The crow squawked defiantly but didn’t stop trying to pick him up with its beak.

Techno groaned. Crows were always nice to him, and they were one of the few things that gave him those memories other than blood. 

Memories of black wings surrounding him, feeling safety and warmth, and when he looked into those eyes-

Other things that did this were music, especially guitars or discs, the colour red, and that one statue. It had been in some rich fucker’s garden, and from what he had overheard the people in it were gods, whatever that was.

Their names, according to the beans he had been eavesdropping on, were Philza, Angel of Death, a golden blonde man with large black crow wings, a fatherly expression on his face as he stared at Soot, the god of music and chaos, a brunette who was laughing and ruffling the hair of Innit, god of discs and the wilderness.

And, standing a little bit away from the others, was a statue with its head gone. According to one of the beans, it was because they had been banished from the kingdom above, for a crime so terrible, and therefore been erased from history.

He also heard them say that it turned out to be an accident, that DreamXD, had framed him. But by that time it was discovered, it was too late, and he had been cast down, though it is said those three gods still search for him, in the hopes that they could bring him back.

They said his name was Blade, the god of war and blood. And that’s how he got his name. 

Technoblade.

And, another funny thing is, no matter how hard he sees those gods as Philza, Soot, and Innit, like the man described, some hidden part of his mind changes that to Phil, Wilbur, and Tommy. But that was beside the point.

The point was, that no matter how nice the crows were to him, they kept trying to take him somewhere.

Usually, they’d stop if he complained or shouted, or drew his sword (never intending to kill, just to scare them off) and they’d stop. But this one was even more persistent, and Techno realised now that he’d either have to fight it (something he would like to avoid if possible, he liked crows and they sometimes brought him gifts) or run.

He chose the latter, dashing to the side the moment the crow grabbed him. It squawked in outrage and Techno realised that it couldn’t chase after him on foot, with its legs like sticks. Birds were meant to fly, not walk.

‘Looks like I win this time, eh?’

He thinks, grinning to himself. The crow that he escaped from cawed loudly, and he only had a split second to wonder what that could mean before another crow SWOOPS down out of nowhere and yoinks (he’s not even sure what that word means but it seems about right for this situation) him up in its claws.

He had jinxed it. Techno didn’t believe in superstition, but he was certain that was what had happened.

The pinkette struggled in the crow's grasp, desperate to get free before it took him to… Well, wherever it was taking him. But it was no use. He wondered why it was so determined to bring him wherever it was going. Techno supposed he’d find out, soon enough.

Eventually, after a few minutes of flying, the borrower noticed something very, very strange. The crow was taking him up. And by that, he meant really, really high up. The world below was barely visible, as they went higher and higher, through the clouds.

And once they came out of the clouds, Techno couldn’t believe his eyes.

“The kingdom above… Fucking hell it’s real…”

He muttered to himself in awe. It was made out of pristine white shining material that might’ve been made out of the clouds themselves, with magical glowing lanterns floating in the air.

Techno’s first thought was that it belonged to the ruler of this kingdom, or at least some kind of person in power, I mean it was so fine and well-kept that it had to be, right? Wrong.

On closer inspection, he realised that the people walking down below were… Normal. This was a normal town here, and these were normal civilians.

The crow flew past it though, taking Techno with it. Its wingbeats never slowed, and it showed no sign of tiredness. This was no ordinary crow, he was sure of it.

And this was no ordinary place. Chat had stopped talking altogether, and his mind felt as if it was his own, at last. It was as if someone wanted him to be peaceful, but that was silly since he was literally getting kidnapped by a bird.

What a great day Techno was having, right?

Aaaaand now the crow was flying down, towards three people that looked awfully familiar, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it and then-

Oh fuck that’s Philza, Soot and Innit. He’d recognize them anywhere, after the incident with the statue. Oh, he’s fucked. He’s going to die, oh stars he needs to get out of this mess-

‘But aren’t the gods his family?’

He brushed that thought off with a shudder. Why on earth did he keep thinking stuff like that!? It didn’t make any sense, and you better believe that he was gonna get to the bottom of this.

Not today though. He was about to get caught by some of the most powerful beings in the entire universe, and he’d actually rather not. He valued his life, after all. So he did what any self-respecting borrower would do and fucking stab the bird.

Techno hadn’t particularly wanted to stab the crow. As he might’ve mentioned before, he liked crows. There just hadn’t been another choice. 

And it had worked.

The crow dropped him with a screech, alerting the three gods immediately. Their gazes fell on the bleeding crow who flew over to them with a lot of effort and landed on Philza’s outstretched arm. It healed almost instantly.

But the pinkette didn’t know any of this, because he happened to be falling when that situation had played out. And when Techno hit the ground, he felt his body scream out in pain and his head ring in agony.

The world around him felt loud and blurry. His head seemed to be sticky with what he could only assume was blood. He forced himself to stand, he needed to get out of here, needed to be safe-

Chat was back now,  just as incoherent and jumbled as his thoughts, and from what he managed to make out, delusional. They kept saying something about… Dadza? Who the hell was- Oh. Wait what!?

So Chat was no help. 

Techno winced. He couldn’t think, everything was just so loud and it hurt so damn much and he couldn’t understand and oh fuck did one of the Gods? beans just spot him and oh no they’re all walking towards him now.

The borrower’s eyes widen, and he couldn’t help but shrink back as the three gods towered over him, eyeing him over with such a strange expression of hope and longing that made Techno wonder if he actually was delusional.

The silence was broken when one of the gods, Innit, spoke up, voice breaking slightly and eyes glazed, as if holding back tears.

“Holy shit… Is it him? Like, really him?”

Philza responded, managing to sound calm and yet so desperate that it made Techno’s cold heart shatter, though he was not sure why.

“I don’t know Tommy (wait WHAT-), why don’t we ask him instead of talking over his head?” The angel of death suggested, and now they were all staring at him again, possibly even more intensely than before.

“So,” Philza said curiously. “Who are you, why did you stab my crow and why did it try to bring you here?”

There was no malice in his voice, it was just confusion and subtle amusement, but that just made Techno’s nerves worse. The only reason he could think of that would involve the god being amused about his half-dead state was-

Oh fuck, were they going to torture him?

“I’m Technoblade,” He said, after a few moments of hesitation. The pinkette ignored the sharp gasp of air from above, acting like he didn’t hear it, because he did not want to think of why the god might be shocked, and instead continued.

“I stabbed your crow because I was about to get seen (and look how that ended up) and I have no clue why it brought me here.” Techno knew it was not a smart idea to lie to a god, and he was anything but stupid. His injuries throbbed painfully, but the gods either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

Techno wasn’t about to guess which one…

After a very long while (in which Techno was trying his absolute hardest not to die on the spot) Soot spoke up. “So that’s a- a yes, then? It’s him?” He asked, voice cracking slightly. “Yes, Wilbur, (WHAT THE FUCK) It’s really him.”

The borrower didn’t have time to question what in the world he meant by that, because at that moment  Philza reached down, and Techno realised what was about to happen a second too late.

He scrambled backwards as the hand came towards him, absolutely terrified out of his wits, but the god paid no mind to that, plucking him off the ground by his waist easily. 

Techno struggled in his grasp but fell limp almost immediately. There was no way he was escaping from Philza, even though he wanted to, and besides, it just made his injuries worse. The tight grip the god had him in didn’t help either.

“What do you want from me!?”

He shouted, glaring at the gods, though it quickly fell as he remembered how easily they could crush him. Soot made a small noise (pity?) but he ignored it. “You- you really don’t remember us?” Asked Innit, with a look of despair on his face.

‘Remember you? I’ve never seen you before in my life!’ 

Not in this one you haven’t.

 Responded one of the voices, before it faded back into the clutter of noise. “Chat?” Philza asked, and Techno almost responded with ‘Yeah, it’s making no sense…’ when he remembered that he never told them about Chat.

Something clicked behind Soot’s eyes, and he spoke up. “So you really don’t know who we are… Right?” Techno nodded. Where exactly was (Wilbur) Soot going with this? “So that means…” “Means what? I’m not about to sit around all day waiting while you give me half-formed answers,” the borrower responded, with more challenge in his tone than was wise.

It’s not like you could stop them from doing that…

Said another one of those loud voices unhelpfully. ‘Thanks a lot…’ He thought to himself irritatedly and stared at Soot expectantly, which was harder than it seemed because his eyes kept unfocusing, and the corners of his vision were blurry and stained red. ‘Blood?’

“Listen, Technoblade, I don’t know what species you think you are, but…” He hesitated again, before continuing.

“You're a god, and our brother, at that.” Soot paused, and then started saying something more. “I’m so glad we finally found you, we’ve-”

But Techno didn’t get to hear what they’d done, the blood loss had finally caught up to him, and he passed out, darkness now surrounding him as he finally drifted into a dreamless sleep.

. . .

Aaaaaand that's it, folks! Great ending we got there, right? Hope you liked it :] Big thanks to Beckyu for helping me choose how to end it, and start next chapter.

That reminds me...

@i-am-beckyu and @brick-a-doodle-do, thank you for wanting to be tagged! If you want to be tagged, comment, ask or dm me and I'll add you! :D

Kristen just laughed as she sat down on the couch next to Philza and watched him work on the rooms over his shoulder, she every now and again would help setting up some of the rooms. Philza and Kristen did find it a bit strange there were certain rooms they absolutely had to have before they could add bonus rooms.

The game told them they needed three bedrooms, two bathrooms (one with a bath and one without) and a kitchen with a table and chairs in it. Philza found it a bit annoying cuz he didn't even know what kind of virtual family he was going to make and put in this house but he did it anyway.

"There finally fucking done- now to make an actual dining room and living room for this house." Philza got a bit more comfortable on the couch leaning up against his wife as he added the final details to the house and made sure there were a few windows so natural light would come in, the blonde hit done and instantly got a notification saying that his house would take an hour to make.

"What the fuck- this game has literally only been out for a month at best, how is it this fucking slow?" Philza grumbled until he noticed a new notification and clicked on it "Oh wait do I not make my own tiny family for this?"

"I guess not, maybe they had to trade out the customization for the family so you can customize your house more?" Kristen noted as she slowly took her husband's phone and started scrolling through the small family's they could get, she smiled when she found a very nice particular looking pair.

"You should get these three, the Neapolitan ones!" Philza took his phone back from Kristen and smiled at the three young looking NPCs she had picked out, he clicked the check mark next to them and the app informed him that within an hour his home would be done and these three would be moved in. Philza decided to just set his phone down and talk with his wife for a bit till it was time to actually decorate the house he had made for the three, he was really looking forward to the decorating expect of this game!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Philza has been decorating the house he had set up in the game for at least 2 hours now and thankfully had only spent $10 on extra furniture for the house, plus well setting up the furniture he had learned a very fun and kind of cute thing about the three brothers.

Tommy and Wilbur were little shits and sometimes moved the furniture slightly to a different spot just to mess with Philza. Well Techno straight up picked the furniture up and completely moved it to a different room, Philza didn't really mind and found it kind of funny. The boys were all roughly the age of teenagers so it was probably in their coding to be rebellious.

"Kristen, come look at the house! I finally finished decorating!" Philza called over his shoulder as he looked over at the kitchen, he smiled as his wife walked out and sat back down on the couch next to him. Philza excitedly handed the phone to her, starting to show off each of the rooms.

"So the game gives you a tiny descriptive on the three house members so I tried to decorate their rooms to fit things they like, for example Tommy really likes animals so I gave him a bunch of different toy animals for his room- well Wilbur only likes one animal and that's a sheep so I gave him a bed that kind of looks like a sheep!" Philza explained excitedly as he finally pointed at Techbo's room "Now Techno's room was probably the hardest, his description was pretty blank and the only notable thing was that he likes to read. So I just gave him a few extra bookshelves and made sure they were full of books that he would like!"

Kristen smiled as she looked at the three tiny rooms and zoomed in to inspect them a bit more, she then noticed something a bit strange in Wilbur's room. "Hey Phil, why is there a hole in the corner of Wilbur's room?"

Philza looked at his wife a bit puzzled as he took the phone and also looked at the strange hole in the corner of the room, he and Kristen became even more confused as Wilbur suddenly dropped a pillow over the hole acting like he was trying to hide it.

"I don't know…maybe the game is just glitching out?" Philza suggested as he moved over to the kitchen and went back to adding small details to the counters so it felt a bit more lived in, he set his phone down as it started to load and set up decorations.

"Why is it loading? You just added some small decorations to the kitchen." 

"Hm? Oh I'm not really sure but whenever I place decorations a loading screen pops up, I'm starting to think the game didn't add in the future of you placing the item down like the Sims." Philza explained as he picked his phone back up once it was done loading "Do you think I need to add anything to the living room or kitchen?"

Kristen took the phone again and started inspecting the kitchen and living room, she moved over to the dining room and pointed at one of the corners that was very bland looking. "I think you just need to add a painting here and you should be all done with decorating!"

"I'll do it later, is dinner ready by any chance?" Philza asked, turning his phone off for now and standing up from the couch, he followed his wife to the kitchen and smiled as he spotted the finished pasta.

"I have! We just need to wait for the cheesy garlic bread in the oven to finish up, can you grab my oven mitts?" Kristen asked as the timer on the oven went off and she started turning the heat off, she thought of her husband as he handed her the oven mitts and pulled out their cheesy garlic bread.

The two started dishing up their plates and getting ready for dinner Philza ignoring the notification he got on his phone from his new game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tommy inspected all of the plush animal figures that had been left inside of his room and started moving the ones that he found extremely creepy into a corner making them stare at the wall, he didn't like the stuffed animals lacking button eyes. He actually found it pretty creepy they just had weird black buttons replacing their eyes.

"Tommy? What are you doing?" Wilbur asked as he walked into his little brother's room and noticed him moving the toys around. "Um…why are they all just staring at the wall-"

"They are creepy evil creatures that don't deserve to stare at the room!" Tommy explained as he shoved yet another large plushie into the corner. "I hate them."

Wilbur leaned against the door frame as he watched his little brother continue to choose which stuffed animals would be staring at a corner and which ones got left alone in the room; he patiently waited a few minutes until his little brother seemed to be done.

"So now that you've exiled some of these guys to the corner do you want to go eat? Techno was able to find a small bit of food in the weird cold box thing." Wilbur asked, taking his little brother's hand and started to lead him towards their kitchen.

"I guess, when we're done eating we're going to skip and go home right?" Tommy asked with a big smile on his face as he looked up at his brother. They had been stuck with these horrible humans for at least two months now and Tommy just wanted to go back home. 

Tommy didn't really notice the weird face his brother made as they walked into the kitchen and he sat down at the table, the young borrower's nose scrunched up and disgusted as a plate of nothing but vegetables was placed in front of him. 

"Why are there so many carrots and peas? Are there any crackers, nuts, or fruits?" Tommy asked poking the two peas on his plate with his finger, he knew not to complain about food too much but this was all they had been eating for months!

"No. That's all that was in the cold box Tommy, just eat up and then go to bed." Techno said in a Stern voice as he started munching on his own peas and carrots.

Tommy wanted to protest but felt Wilbur lightly kicked his foot and decided not to argue with Techno, he begrudgingly started to eat his peas and carrots hating every minute of it. Why can't the stupid humans in the white coats give them actual food?

The young blonde finished his dinner instead of from his seat getting ready to head back to his room, he walked around the table and gave his brother Techno a hug.

"I'm sorry I complained about the peas and carrots, they weren't that bad." Techno reached up and padded Tommy on the back and then sent the young boy back to his room, Tommy tried to ignore his brothers as they obviously started to have a conversation without him.

The young blonde grabbed one of the small plushies that looked like a moth and climbed into his weirdly shaped bed, for some reason it had Wheels but both him and his brother said it was not in fact an old wagon turned into a bed. Especially with the ugly silver color it was.