Chapter Text
The ship was sinking. No doubt about it. Water welled up in the below decks and the whole boat was slanted to the side, slowly slipping down into the watery depths below. It was getting harder and harder to stand as the floor got more horizontal, and Tommy had to clutch the railing with his full strength, or else he would’ve slid across the floor and landed in the Pacific Ocean.
Waves lapped at the floor of the top deck. Tommy could see nobody, so he cried for help. He heard a yell back in response. The voice was familiar, and It was coming from the navigation room! Relief flooded over Tommy. Whoever was in there could help him, he was so sure of it. Hand after hand, he worked his way along the railing until he got in front of the door to navigation. He dropped down onto the door, and pulled it open.
Inside was Technoblade, looking frazzled and scared, knelt over the radio. It looked like he was trying to hail someone, but was unsuccessful- either because he didn’t know how to work a radio or because the radio wasn’t working. When Tommy opened the door he looked up.
“Kid!” He cried out, and Tommy ran over and embraced him, the same way you embrace anybody when you’re in mortal peril.
“What’s happening? Where is everyone? Why is there water below the decks?” Tommy asked, panicked. He knew the answer to these questions, of course, but he didn’t want to believe it.
Technoblade gave him no confirmation, perhaps not believing it either. Instead he said, “There’s a lifeboat on the port side of the boat. We need to get there!!” Then he took Tommy’s hand and pulled him up out the door, which was now laying horizontal. The two boys scaled up the side of the boat, now sinking very rapidly. Dangling above them was a white lifeboat, swinging dangerously and bumping on the side of the boat. By the time they got up there, most of the boat was submerged. Everything except navigation and a few cargo boxes which were chained to the deck.
Techoblade grabbed Tommy by the arm and swung him onto the boat. He crawled over to the ropes that held the lifeboat in the air and started undoing the knots.
“What are you doing?” demanded Tommy, as the horizon rose up higher, “You’re not in the boat! Get in the boat!”
Technoblade said nothing, just kept undoing the knots.
“GET IN THE BOAT TECHNO,” he yelled, and crippling realization spread across his chest and throughout his whole body.
“There won’t be enough for both of us, Kid. You have to survive.”
Tommy choked, his voice now a sobbing gasp, “Techno there is enough. There will be enough. Get on the boat.” It was a plea, a desperate beg, but Techno’s resolve didn’t budge.
“You have to live!” The older boy cried, glasses slipping off his face from sweat and grief. His fingers nimbly undid the last of the knots.
“Live, Tommy! Survive! It isn’t over for you yet! It’s not over!”
Tommy moved to grab hold on Techno, any piece of him, and haul him on board. They would laugh about this later. This isn’t real. It’s not happening.
But Techno was too far away and Tommy wasn’t fast enough. His fingers missed, and in the same moment, the white lifeboat fell to the surface of the ocean. Tommy was dazed from the impact, but he sat up quickly anyways. He saw Techno standing above him, barely holding on. He looked down at Tommy.
“Tommy,” and he sounded calm, “It’s gonna be okay. Remember that. Fight for it to be okay! KEEP FIGHTING, TOMMY!”
Tommy opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. All he could see was long pink hair swaying above him. Almost in an instant, the ship went down, pulling Techno with it. A deep blue swallowed him up, with formidable force. He was gone.
The silence that followed was remarkable. A dazed young boy sat very still, watching the water below him. Wet tears streamed down his face, and still he made no sounds.