Chapter Text
Technoblade had existed so long in the realm of time, its effects were almost meaningless to him. An endless cycle of repeating history. Kingdoms rose and fell like the sun, friends came and went like the phases of the moon. Techno thought nothing would break the cycle until time stopped on an ordinary day in the height of summer.
A shriek cut through the forest, causing Techno to skid to a stop, breath heaving in and out of spasming lungs. The sound rang out again, sounding human, but just barely. If he didn’t know any better, he could’ve sworn it sounded like a bird. Shouts followed after the sound, sounding like regular men. Regular men who were angry. A small smile ghosted across Technoblade’s face as he started to follow the sound. It had been a little while since he had some fun with mortals. The voices in his head cheered with approval, egging him on as he moved deeper into the forest and away from the path.
Technofight, Technofight, Technofight
Blood for the blood god
The clang of metal and the sounds of a fight grew louder as Techno drew nearer to the source of the shriek. Taking care to hide behind a rather large tree, he peeked out to see a crowd of men clustered around a large figure that seemed to struggle with everything it had. A flash of feathers and skin caught Techno’s eyes, and all at once, he understood. These were hunters capturing a hybrid. For decades, hybrid hunting had been made illegal as more and more hybrids had protested against such dehumanizing actions, but that didn’t stop some groups enticed by large sums to try their luck. That didn’t make it any less illegal.
Technoblade drew his sword and stepped out from behind the tree, garnering the attention of some of the hunters not actively trying to pin down the winged hybrid and tie him up. “What do we have here?” Someone leered, brandishing a wickedly curved knife in front of him.
“Just your worst nightmare.” Techno drawled and lept at the nearest man, taking him down with a kick before moving on to the next hunter, taking out each one with deadly efficiency. Eventually, the clearing was full of hunters groaning in pain, blood spilling out into the grass, leaving only the hybrid wrapped in thick rope. A man, with giant black and grey wings spread out behind him like a pinned butterfly, looking at Techno like he couldn’t decide if he was worse than the hunters.
Technohelp, Technofree, Technohelp, Technohelp
He flinched as Technoblade drew a knife, watching him warily as he cut the rope entangling his wrists and ankles. “Come on,” Techno stuck a hand down to him. “Let’s get out of here before someone decides to stumble onto this.” The man stared before pushing himself off the ground, ignoring the hand. Techno shrugged and started to move away, wanting to put as much distance between the bodies and himself as quickly as he could. He was only mildly surprised to see the man follow him, wings folding tight against his back. His hands fidgeted with his dark green robes, smoothing down wrinkles and prodding at places where bruises no doubt were forming.
“I’m Technoblade.” He said idly, trying to fill the silence that was quickly becoming awkward. He wondered why the man didn’t just fly off, flying above the trees would create a lot more distance than trying to weave around them on the ground. He watched as the man opened his mouth, presumably to tell Techno his name, but all that came out was a high-pitched whistle, like a songbird. His jaw snapped together, brows knitting together in frustration. He looked over at Technoblade and tried again, a warble from the back of his throat singing out. A grunt and the man dropped to the ground in a crouch, startling Techno to a stop.
The man traced with his finger in the dirt for a bit before Techno could decipher what he was writing. Philza.
Philza, Philza, bird, bird-man, Birdza, Phil, Philza
“That your name?” Techno drawled, peering down at him. Philza looked up and nodded, holding his half-lidded gaze with piercing blue eyes. They looked like the sky itself, full of hidden emotions like tumultuous clouds. Techno shrugged and tipped his head to look at the sky. The sun was setting, the light catching on the leaves and turning them into disks of gold.
“Well, you might as well stay for a bit, those hunters look like they roughed you up pretty bad. If we walk for a bit longer, a place to set up camp will probably turn up, and I can fix you up.” His face seemed to sour at the mention of needing to be taken care of, but stood and followed Techno deeper into the forest.
Phil repeatedly tried to speak as they walked, but all that would come from his mouth were whistles and chirps, creating a discordant melody of frustration. After a while of fisted hands and faces twisted into a mask of frustration, Techno stopped Philza’s thousandth attempt with a raised hand. “You don’t need to stress yourself out man. Honestly, quiet would be better for stealth anyways.” His face scrunched up for a moment before nodding, a quiet warble escaping, his wings shifting behind him.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Techno hummed after a bit. “Kinda cool, if I’m honest. Just don’t wanna get caught by another group of hunters.” Phil nodded again, his face smoothing out into a neutral expression. The pair walked through the trees until they reached a high bank of a river and the sun had almost dipped below the horizon, dunking the forest into swathes of purple shadows.
“This seems like a good spot, what do you think?” Techno looked over at Philza, who looked ready to fall asleep on his feet. Who knew the last time he was able to get a proper night of sleep if those hunters were tailing him for a long while. Philza just nodded and sunk to the ground, wings folding around himself in an imitation of an embrace.
“I’ll get some wood for a fire, you can just stay here,” Techno mumbled, moving back into the woods, quickly gathering an arm-load of sticks and branches that were dry enough. Philza was in the same place as he was when Techno left, eyes barely open as he stared at the ground in front of him. Techno quietly stacked wood until it made the perfect pyramid, bringing a little smile to his face. No matter how many times he did it, it pleased Technoblade to no end whenever he made a perfect campfire. It didn’t take long for the merry flames to light up the clearing, sending warmth running through him.
Philza looked up, a chirp sneaking from his lips as he shifted closer to the fire, keeping it between himself and Techno. “I don’t have much, but this should be able to get us through the night,” Techno said, digging into his pack to pull out a loaf of bread and a roll of bandages. He tore the loaf in half and stood, taking a few steps to hand the bread and the bandages to Phil. He took them with wide eyes, wings drawing back and fluffing. “Figured you might need these…” Techno muttered and crossed back to his side of the fire, biting into the bread. It was a bit stale as he hadn’t been able to stop by any towns recently, his quest driving him to keep going.
Neither of the two spoke for the rest of the night, just eating and watching each other from across the fire. Phil slowly treated his wounds, revealing a long gash along his leg that looked a couple of days old at least. After trying to comb through his feathers the best he could, Phil silently curled up with his wings wrapped around him, falling asleep almost instantly.
Techno could see a jagged line of feathers with them wrapped around the smaller man that looked like they had been cut. That must’ve been why Phil didn’t fly off the moment he was free, Techno noted idly, his voices murmuring in agreement. Techno took a little longer to fall asleep, making sure his sword was within grabbing distance before wrapping himself up in his cloak and slowly drifting off to the sound of the fire and the river.
************
The next morning Techno woke slowly, the sun warming his limbs, sinking its light into his bones, and urging him to move. He stretched against the ground, pulling every limb taunt before relaxing and sitting up. Philza was gone from his place across the fire. The only indication he had been there and it hadn’t been a dream was the indent in the grass and a single grey feather lying discarded.
Maybe he had decided it was time for them to part ways. Techno didn’t mind either way, although it was nice to have a companion for at least one night. It got lonely, going on quest after quest by himself. A quiet warble drew his attention to the bank of the river, where he saw Phil.
He was standing in the shallows, wings spread on either side of him, creating huge shadows on the surface of the water. Slowly, he picked up one foot and moved forward, dipping it back into the water in a way that didn’t create ripples. With a hand that moved like lightning, he lunged forward and snatched at something. He turned to face Technoblade, a grin on his face and a fish wriggling in his grip.
Techno stared, first at the fish, then at the man who smiled like this was a normal thing to do early in the morning. He had tried his fair share of trying to fish with his hands when things had gotten rough, but the fish had always managed to evade him, slipping downstream.
Fishza, fishza, birdza, birdza, fish, fish, weird, cool, weird, food, food, hungry, hungry, fight, fight, fight-
Techno placed his hands on either side of his head, sinking his fingers into his hair. Now was not the time for his voices to get out of control, especially over something as simple as Philza catching a fish with his bare hands.
Techno looked up as Philza chirped in a way that almost sounded like a laugh as he climbed up the bank, easily keeping his grip on the fish that desperately wanted to be back in the water. “Mornin?” Technoblade tried, still confused how this man caught the fish so easily. Philza cleared his throat before speaking. “Mornin mate.” His face lit up at the spoken words, a little chirp following it. “I’m-” warble “getting there.” another warble. Technoblade nodded, feeling one of his ears flick against his hair. Who was one hybrid to judge the habits and nature of another hybrid?
“Could you-” Philza winced as another chirp forced his way out of his throat. “Clean this? I imagine this won’t be enough for the two of us.” Another chirp followed closely by a wince. Technoblade took the fish without speaking, watching the winged man climb back down the bank, wings spreading out until he looked twice as large as before. He eyed the fish, still flopping around, albeit pretty weakly.
“You better behave,” He warned the fish and got to work gutting and descaling it. Phil caught two more, each time bringing them to Techno to clean and cut up, disappearing into the forest for a bit before coming back with more kindling for the embers of the fire from last night.
“How’d you sleep, mate?” Phil asked, tilting his head with a chirp, and took the strips of fish from Techno, carefully placing them on stones to be cooked. When he wasn’t chirping like a songbird, Phil’s voice had a pleasant lilt to it; something that Techno could listen to for a long time without getting tired of.
“Pretty well for sleeping outside.” Techno’s voice was almost the opposite of Phil’s, deep and rumbling, gruff towards almost everyone. Philza threw his head back and laughed, blond hair catching the morning sun and lighting it ablaze in a wash of gold. His wings spread out behind him, feathers rustling as water droplets rolled off and fell into the grass.
“Sleeping outside was never a favorite of mine, although I guess when you’re folks like us you don’t get a choice, do we?” Phil grinned in a way that was anything but cheery, teeth sharper than knives and a stare that communicated all that Techno needed to know. Despite his capture and apparent weakness last night, Philza was not going to be a man to trifle with. Techno averted his gaze to the smoldering fire, nodding silently. The intensity in those blue eyes made his insides squirm and his voices scream for a fight. Philza wasn’t a threat, at least not yet, so there was no reason to get upset. He admonished the voices with an iron voice, exercising control that he had worked decades and decades to cultivate and master.
Phil broke the silence with a flap of his wings, the air pushed by his feathers almost putting out the small flame. As Techno looked up, eyes questioning, he shrugged as an apology. “I need to preen or the water will get caught in odd spots and cause all kinds of problems.” He explained, a hand reaching up to comb through the feathers, nimbly separating each one and straightening crooked ones. Soft chirps fell from his lips, an easy smile spreading across his face. The motion reminded Techno of his hair, long and probably a mess from the fight and sleeping on the ground.
He brought a hand up and dragged his fingers through the long pink strands, grimacing as he ran into knot after knot. He twisted and drew a comb out of his pack and set to work, running the comb through the ends of his hair and working upwards. The clearing was silent for a while, the smell of frying fish pleasantly filling the air. After a bit, Philza poked at the fish with a stick and spoke.
“These should be done mate if you want some.” Techno looked up from a particularly troublesome knot with wide eyes. His stomach cramped in hunger at the scent of the fish and gratefully accepted the offered strop of meat. It didn’t take long for him to devour the entire thing, easily ignoring the heat in favor of satiating his hunger. Phil looked at him with wide eyes, still gingerly holding his fish, lips puckered from blowing air on it to cool it off. “Piglin,” Techno shrugged in explanation, reaching for another piece. Philza nodded and started to eat, his wings spread around himself as if someone was going to come and steal it.
After they had both eaten their fill, Techno finished combing through his hair and tied it up into a ponytail that would at least keep it out of his face. He envied the girls in his village who seemed to know instinctively how to twist and braid their long hair into intricate hairstyles every day. Techno had none of that knowledge, so he settled for loose ponytails and buns that did the job most of the time.
Philza whistled as his face twisted into frustration, arms twisted at odd angles as he reached for feathers right behind his shoulders. “Fuckin- hell-” He breathed out quietly, hands dropped away to claw through his hair. His eyes locked on Techno’s and a small smile formed.
“Hey, mate, this is a bit weird, but could you lend me a hand? There’s just one feather I can’t reach and I can feel it getting all twisted around my coverts-” A warble cut off his words, lips twisting to seal off the sound.
“Uhh, sure?” Techno drawled, hauling himself up to his feet, skirting around the fire to stand in front of Philza. “Where is it, rather what is it?” Techno had never heard of a covert in his whole life unless it was a stealth mission.
“It’s a feather mate, back here.” Phil’s voice held a laugh as he twisted to look behind him, hands attempting to point at the feather. Techno moved behind Philza, slowly, so as not to scare him, and knelt.
“You should see, mmm, maybe four layers of feathers, count from the top three down and right in the middle, you’ll see it. If you could just straighten it, all of my problems would be solved.” They both laughed at that, Techno tracing along each feather with his eyes, counting the layers of feathers, looking down, down, down, and there, a feather curled and twisted around its neighbors.
“I think I found it,” Techno muttered, raising his hands to try and fix it.
“Just don’t pull mate, you’ll be fine,” Phil said as if he could sense Techno’s anxiety. Techno breathed in and out in an attempt to silence his voices and reached out to touch the feathers. They were soft and silky, sliding in and out of his fingers as he worked to untangle the feather from its friends. Little whistles and warbles rose from Phil’s chest and filled the clearing as the wrong was righted, the rest of his feathers rustling with pleasure.
Technohelp, Technohelp, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, steal, steal, steal, steal, steal, steal, take
We are not taking the feathers. Techno told himself, feeling Philza tense beside him, his wings rising defensively. A moment too late, Techno realized that he had said the words aloud. “Sorry,” He muttered, hurrying to finish his job and moving around to where Philza could see him.
“What was that?” Philza asked, his voice idle but his face dangerous. Techno considered his words before speaking, knowing that a misstep could disrupt the clearing’s peaceful environment.
“I- uh, have voices…” Techno muttered, his gaze dropping down to his lap where he played with his hands. “They say all kinds of wild things and normally I just talk to them and calm them down, I didn’t realize that what I said came out.” He chuckled awkwardly before falling silent. Risking a glance up, he saw Philza studying him with those piercing blue eyes, the feathers in his wings ever so slightly puffed up. After a moment, he nodded, and his wings relaxed.
“I believe you.” He said, draining all the tension out of Technoblade’s body. He had only known this man for less than a day and already he wanted to please him, wanted to spend more time with him. There was something that drew him to Phil, and he didn’t want his careless words to be the end of this strange new relationship.
“Who am I to judge another hybrid? I make weird sounds and have all kinds of strange habits. If you talk to yourself, I can’t fault you for that.” He grinned and chirped, drawing a smile out of Techno.
Techno could understand why Philza would react the way he did at Techno’s words. A winged hybrid like him was rare, and lots of hunters would love to get their hands on his wings, or even just his feathers. Even though they were getting along, they had only met just last evening, and they knew almost nothing about each other. Phil had every right to be wary.
A hum from Phil broke Techno out of his thoughts, watching as Phil tipped his head to look up at the sky. A few white clouds scuttled across it, but for the most part, it was just clear, flat blue. Lucky for him, no sign of rain.
“Where are you headed? We could always stick together for a bit. Two hybrids traveling together is always safer than one.” Phil asked, standing, wings flaring out behind him.
“I’m on a quest for the king of this realm. He sent me to find and kill a dragon that’s been terrorizing some villages at the border. I’m a quester by trade, kingdoms hire me to do the quests no one seems to be able to do.”
Technoblade never dies
Philza nodded slowly, absently shifting his wings behind him. “So you’re like a mercenary.” He stated.
“No.” Techno’s voice was harsh, instantly shutting down his voice that would be happy to dredge up old memories. “Not anymore. I refuse to be hired to kill.” He drew his shoulders close around himself, muscles tight and knotted.
“Okay mate, no need to get upset.” Phil raised his hands in a placating gesture. “Just wondering.” Techno nodded slowly, taking a breath in and out before standing to put everything back in his pack as it was before.
“You can come with me if you want. It’ll be pretty dangerous from here on out, we’re close to the dragon’s territory.” He said to Philza as he worked, tying it closed.
“Mate, everywhere I go is dangerous. Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be okay.” Techno eyed the man, noting that he had no weapon on him. Maybe it had been stolen by the hunters, maybe this man was so deadly he didn’t need one.
“Take this,” Techno grumbled, handing Phil his dagger. He couldn’t justify letting Phil come with him if he had nothing to defend himself with. Phil took the dagger with a grin and deftly strapped it to his side. After stamping out the last embers of the fire, they set out, Techno referencing his map every so often to make sure they were going the right way. Hours passed in companionable silence, Philza every so often calling out to the birds that flit between the trees, listening to the calls before answering. Pretty soon he had the entire forest alive with birdsong, his song melding with the others seamlessly.
Techno watched with amusement as Philza swung his arms out in front of him like a conductor, an easy pleasure imbued in all of his movements. The voices seemed to enjoy Philza’s songs, some of them humming along to the melody, the rest of them staying relatively quiet.
Songza, musicza, birdza, they whispered reverently. Techno smiled and found that, for once, he agreed with them. His songs were beautiful, something he could listen to all day. Unfortunately, they reached the dragon’s lair before he could have that chance.