Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Phil had been scouting ahead of the path they were taking, saying to them that he needed to stretch his wings out. This was a relatively frequent occurrence for the group. Phil had been asleep for who knows how many years, it was understandable that he needed to stretch out more than the rest of them.

What wasn’t a regular occurrence, however, was Phil’s large form hurtling through the tree tops back towards them after about an hour, wings flapping in a frenzy to try and slow his decent enough not to splat him into the ground when he landed.

“Phil?” Will called out, hand already on the hilt of his sword.

Seeing Phil worried was rare enough, seeing him glance at them all fearfully before his eyes came to rest on Techno was enough to send a spike of fear through all of them.

Phil stumbled when he landed, but when he got his feet under himself again, he was striding towards Techno. He placed his hands on Techno’s shoulders and turned the pink haired god around, pushing him towards the way they had just come.

“We need to go. Right now.” Phil’s voice left no room for argument, but Techno still turned his head to look at his pseudo-father figure.

“Phil, what’s going on? What the hell did you see for us to need to leave so fast?” Techno went along with Phil’s pushing directions, knowing that there had to be a reason behind the behavior, but wanting to know the reason so that he could be prepared if he needed to be.

“I saw them,” the rest of the group was bunched tightly at Phil’s back, keeping close as they followed their path back out of the woods they had entered almost two hours ago now.

“Saw who, Phil? Who’s so dangerous that we need to go the opposite direction of where we need to go? We were only a little ways out from the village, it couldn’t have waited?”

“No. It most definitely could not have waited.” Techno wasn’t being pushed anymore, but Phil still had a tight grip on one of his shoulders.

“Who did you see, Phil?” The blood god asked once again, needing to know how dangerous this supposed threat was.

“I saw Dream.”

Techno’s eyes widened and he cursed under his breath before picking up the pace. As soon as he heard the name, the voices in the back of his mind became louder, almost drowning out the rest of the world around him. They were demanding blood, demanding that he go find the green bastard who got away last time.

He wasn’t about to drag any one of the people around him into a fight again, however, so he pushed the voices away, focusing on Phil’s hand on his shoulder as they sped back the way they had come earlier.

They didn’t have any potions on them either aside from the few minor healing potions they always had. They hadn’t stayed anywhere long enough recently for Techno to warrant setting up a brewing stand only to tear it down a few hours later.

“What? That green bastard again? We can take him! Why are we so afraid of a god that lost last time they came across us?” Techno heard Tommy laugh.

“Why are we worried about meeting him again? I mean, I get avoiding the conflict and all, but Dream’s not that strong of a god, is he?” Tubbo asked.

“Tommy, Tubbo, we don’t have anything to help us win this time. We don’t know what Dream has on him this time around. We were pretty evenly matched last time, so he could win if I’m not careful.”

“That and Techno would have to fight him if he saw him or felt his energy again…” Wilbur trailed off, his voice quieter than the rest of them. Phil obviously knew of the situation as well, but Wilbur had been with Techno the longest out of all of them. He knew how bloody fights could get when Techno was involved.

“Did you forget that he was the blood god? He can’t just let people get away. There’s a reason he refuses to spar with the both of you. I would have thought you’d have caught on by now.” Wilbur said, turning his head to look at their two youngest.

Tommy spluttered, “I thought you were just being an asshole, Blade!”

Techno snorted a laugh, “No, Tommy, I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“Hey! I could take you in a fight if I really wanted to!”

Techno levelled an unimpressed look over his shoulder at the blond, “Tommy, if you actually have the intention to fight me seriously, which I know you would, I won’t stop until one of us dies. We may respawn, but that doesn’t mean I want to put you, either of you, through that. It’s not pleasant.”

Tommy grumbled and looked at the ground and Tubbo nodded, seeming to now understand the situation.

They travelled in silence for a while longer before Techno heard a stick snap off to their left. He stopped in his tracks and looked into the shadows that the trees were casting onto the ground, but he saw nothing.

The rest of the group was looking at him strangely, as if they hadn’t heard anything.

Techno tore his eyes away and turned forward again, starting to walk, “Sorry, I thought-” He froze again, feeling a presence teetering just on the edge of his perception, an energy that he was familiar with, an energy that the voices in his head were screaming at him to go towards, to draw his sword and impale.

“Phil.” Techno ground out, eyes back on the darkness in the forest that was concealing the god he needed to kill.

“What, mate? We can’t stand here long, I don’t-”

Phil was cut off by a manic laugh coming from between the trees, “I thought I saw a nosey bird over my territory! It’s just my luck that he brought me right to the one I’ve been looking for!”

The noise in Techno’s head was at a crescendo now as red eyes tracked green coming towards him through the leaves. He wanted blood. The voices wanted blood? He couldn’t tell himself apart from the cacophony in his head anymore. Was there really ever any difference between them? He didn’t see one now.

Out of the corner of his eye, Techno saw Phil step forward and say something to the green clad god. The two goons, he couldn’t even remember their names right now, had stepped out from the trees to flank Dream.

“I’ve been looking for a rematch, big guy,” Dream laughed, not even paying any mind to Phil, “You caught me off guard last time, but I’m better prepared this time, and now you’re on my land.” A malicious smile climbed across Dream’s face below his mask.

Phil started to say something again and it yanked Techno out of his fuge state just long enough to look at him, “Phil, get them out of here please. It’s too late to do any good now. I’ll come find you later and you know where my last respawn is set, go there. I’m not planning to hold back this time.” His eyes slid back over to Dream as the voices cheered in his mind. “I don’t want any of you to get caught in the crossfire.”

He heard Phil try to say something to him, maybe a few of the others as well, but he couldn’t pay attention to them anymore.

He wanted blood. He wanted his sacrifice. His sacrifice. Dream would be his sacrifice.

Techno drew his sword and stalked forward, a grin on his own face now, “Do you need your friends’ help or can you manage this on your own?”

“Oh, I’ll do just fine on my own,” Dream pulled out his axe with a spin and advanced on Techno with the same crazed smile marring his face as it was for the blood god across from him.

Chapter Text

The battle raged for a long time. The two were evenly matched in strength, Dream was faster, but Techno had been fighting for longer and had the instincts to go along with that. When Dream would dart behind the blood god and try to get a swipe in at his seemingly vulverable neck, Techno had already brought his sword up to block the blow, not even needing to look.

It was frustrating for Dream to keep having his blows blocked and parried. He had come here for a rematch, not whatever this play fight was.

The tide of the fight changed when the first blood was spilled, however. It had been Techno’s, a deep gash on his arm appearing where he hadn’t had time to block Dream’s axe properly and his arm had gotten in the way.

Dream and jumped back to prepare for his next attack with a large smile. He had spilled first blood!

But Techno… Techno was seeing red now, his sight soley focused on the green clad god in front of him. He could smell the coppery tang of his own blood in the air and the voices in his head were as loud as they had ever been, chanting different things to him. He barely even noticed the wound as he sprung forward again and slashed at Dream, causing the god to stumble back.

Techno lunged again, not giving Dream a chance to go on the offensive anymore. The scent of blood seemed to hand around him now, drowning his senses in the coppery tang.

This was the true blood god, Dream finally realized, a terrifying creature that stares at you with hungry red eyes, like the only thing that mattered to the god in that moment was your death at his hands. And Dream would have been right. The only thing Techno wanted in that moment was to be bathed in the blood of the god of strife opposing him.

Dream felt an uncomfortable shiver work its way down his spine at the pure intensity of the bloodlust coming off of the god still advancing on him, but he was the god of strife and strategy, he could beat this monster of a god if he put his mind to it. And back into the battle he went, finding opportunities to go on the offensive whenever possible.

The battle continued, both of them managing to get in good blows on the other more than a few times, and by the time Techno had wrangled the squirming god to the ground and shoved his sword straight through his chest, Dream had managed to bury his axe in the blood god’s shoulder.

Technically, Technoblade had won their little fight, killing Dream first, and he felt an ubsurd amount of satisfaction watching the god’s body disappear into ash as he returned to the void and awaited respawn. But Techno could feel blood gushing from the wound in his shoulder. Dream had ripped the axe out before he died, leaving the wound bleeding freely into the open air.

The blood god cursed to himself as he stumbled his way back to his feet and pressed a hand tightly to the wound. He was bleeding elsewhere, but nowhere near as badly as from his shoulder. Now that the fight had officially ended, the haze was fading from his vision and the pain was starting to come more into focus.

Techno cursed to himself as he leaned against a nearby tree, smearing his blood along it. Would he be able to make it back to the others before he bled out, or would be respawn just like Dream was doing now?

It wasn’t that Techno had never respawned before, but that didn’t make it any more pleasant when it happened. The pain after a respawn from a bloody death could last for days if one was lucky, but sometimes that pain stuck with the unlucky bastard for the rest of their lives. Techno already had a few ahces and pains from past lives and he honestly didn’t want anymore.

Well, either way, it was no use standing there and doing nothing.

With a groan and a bit of blood dripping from his mouth, Techno forced himself to move towards where he knew his family was heading. It would be embarrassing for him either way he came back, either bloody or defeated, but he would see them again either way. The embarrassment would be worth it to see the look on Tommy and Tubbo’s faces when he told them the story of the fight later. Those boys were always so interested in his stories of the battles he had fought.

His thoughts kept him occupied until he reached the edge of the forest again, and eventually the main road, giving him something other than the pain his body was experiencing to focus on. He wasn’t far now. He only had to make it a little bit farther to meet with his family. Just a little bit further.

Just as his vision was starting to dim around the edges, he heard a shout. Techno had never been so glad to see Tubbo. The blood god smiled weakly as Tubbo ran up to him, put an arm around his waist and helped him hobble just a little faster in the direction he had been heading.

Techno caught snippets of whatever Tubbo was trying to tell him, downing the minor healing potion Tubbo handed him quickly, “-split up just to make sure we found you if you... Tommy and Wilbur are... Phil is farther, but he has more potions and knows more about-”

The blood god could feel the bleeding slow, but not enough to be significant. The potion had healed all his smaller cuts completely, but had barely touched the deep gouge in his shoulder.

“Sorry, Tubs… I don’t think I’m goin’ to make it much farther…” Techno’s voice was little more than a whisper now, the quietest he had ever been around his family.

He was never loud, but his voice carried easily when he spoke, and he could tell that his quietness as well as the words spoken were making Tubbo ask him questions that he couldn’t answer and plead with him to stay awake just a little longer.

Techno’s vision was flickering in front of him, the trees around them seeming to sway and tilt as he stumbled a few steps further. He was going to make Tubbo watch him bleed out. That fucking sucked. He didn’t want the kid to have to see that.

The bloodied god heard Tubbo’s voice, lound in his ears, but couldn’t make out what he was yelling, but just as Techno’s vision went completely black and his legs gave out, he felt another set of arms wrap around him and start to move him towards where they last had slept.

Techno woke up to a pounding in his head and hushed voices around him. He faked unconsciousness for a few more moments, taking stock of his injuries and his surroundings before realizing that he was surrounded by his family and his wounds felt significantly better than they had when he had blacked out from the bloodloss.

The blood god let out a quiet grunt as he began to sit up, but it quickly changed to a tone of suprise when he was carefully gided back down by two hands on his shoulders.

Techno opened his eyes to see Phil leaning over him with a pained smile on his face.

“Don’t try to sit up just yet there, mate, you’ve still got some pretty nasty cuts that we don’t want to open up. You wouldn’t want to mess up my handiwork would you?”

Techno only realized that Phil’s “handiwork” referred to the line of uneven stitches that was holding his shoulder together at the moment when he looked down at his bandaged shoulder.

“The boys set up some brewing stands, so the healing potions should be ready any time now and we can get that thing healed fully. We’ll stay here for as long as we need to though, so don’t push yourself, alright?” Phil levelled a stern look at him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved off Phil’s concern and glanced around before speaking again, “Seriously thought I was going to respawn when I passed out.”

“Yes, well, you certainly gave all of us a big scare,” Phil chuckled humorlessly.

“Yeah, fuck you!” Tommy yelled from somewhere to Techno’s left, making Techno flinch at the sudden volume change “Tubbo was hauling your bloody ass over that hill and I had to catch you before you face planted! You owe me now, Blade!”

“I don’t owe you shit, Tommy,” Techno grumbled, letting his eyes slide shut again, “If anything, I saved your ass again fighting Dream. You should be thanking me, you ungrateful little bastard.”

“Oh fuck off, Technoblade, you’re not as important as you think you are,” Tommy muttered, but moved closer, placing a warm hand on Techno’s lower arm, as if he wanted to make sure that the blood god was actually alive and there with him.

Wilbur moved to sit down above his head, and normally Techno would have been too paranoid to let anyone sit where they could easily reach his most vulnerable bits easily, but it was Wilbur. Wilbur was okay to sit there.

A hand started carding through his messy hair, lulling him into a peaceful state near to sleep.

“Don’t do that again, okay, Tech?”

“I’ll try my best, Wil, can’t promise anythin’ though,” Techno’s voice was slow and gravelly as he slipped closer and closer towards sleep once again.

Before he fell completely into the velvety darkness again, however, he felt a head thump carefully onto his chest. Tubbo.

“I’m okay, promise… I at least don’t feel like I’m actively bleedin’ out anymore, so I’m countin’ that as a victory,” Techno yawned widely before settling down and finally giving in to the temptation of sleep that had been pulling at him since he had woken up.

The blood god had found his family, and he would do absolutely anything for them, even die, but that didn’t mean he had to. He had people to look after him at his weakest now, and more importantly, people he trusted to do so.

If the four other gods took shifts to watch over the injured blood god, no one would have to know. If they made sure to have a healing potion ready to pour over Techno’s still healing wounds whenever the god seemed to be in any pain, no one could blame them.

They were family, and family took care of each other.