Chapter Text
He wakes up to the smell of smoke. That in itself would be alarming to anyone else in another village, but not to Technoblade. He opens his eyes to a curious Crimson Goregutter sniffing at his face.
“Bruh, Floof, what are you doing?”. His loyal friend decides now is the time to lick his face. Dragon tongues are scratchy. Techno groans as he rolls out of bed, much to Floof’s excitement.
“Shoo Floof, let me wake up in peace” Floof obeys for once and heads out into the living room where, presumably, his family is.
Techno sits up and stretches. He stands and walks over to his wardrobe, grabbing his clothes and mask. His mask isn’t where he left it last.
“Tommy better not have been messing with my mask again” he mutters under his breath. After he dresses he pushes out into the living room. As his bedroom door closes behind him he feels a nudge in his side. To be fair, it might be more than a nudge since it’s a dragon bumping into him. Ehhh, whatever. He turns to see Zephyrus, his father’s Stormcutter tilting his head at him.
“I’m sure Phil already fed you, you rascal. Don’t be trying to get extra from me” Zephyrus gave a defeated look and huffed at him. Techno followed his father’s raucous laughter to the kitchen. There he found Floof closely following his father, waiting for any scraps to drop.
“Little help mate?” Phil asked.
Techno simply grinned. “Nahhh”.
Phil gave a playful shake of his head and continued making breakfast. Techno heard some groaning behind him and turned to see his brother, Wilbur, giving him a death glare.
He was opening his mouth to ask what he’d done wrong when Wilbur whined “Techno, PLEASE teach Floof to stop licking me?” Their father held back a chuckle as he started serving the eggs and bacon he had made.
“It’s not my fault Floof is untrainable!” Techno defended while trying not to laugh at his brother’s clear distress.
“I wouldn’t say untrainable, mate. You DO have one of the best relationships with your dragon compared to some of the Antarctic Empire.” Phil chimed in unhelpfully. Techno huffed. He then noticed that the house was unusually quiet.
“Where’s Tommy?” He asked.
“He and Tubbo went to see Steve this morning, you know how early that gremlin wakes up” his father replied.
“Poor Steve” Wilbur and Techno said at the same time, sending the table into a fit of laughter.
“I’m going on a ride after breakfast to check around the village for anyone who might need my help today. I have a meeting at dinner time so you will have to fend for yourselves” said Phil.
“I’ll join you” Wilbur decided. Their father nodded in approval and turned to techno.
“I’m gonna check on Tommy and Tubbo and then patrol the waters around the island” he replied. It had been a few weeks since they had seen anything near their home but techno was cautious. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Anyone else that is. He shook his head free from those thoughts and picked up his plate. He slyly slid some of his bacon into the waiting maw of Floof.
As he put on his boots, Wilbur’s Deathsong Sally came trudging out of the room she shared with Wilbur looking just as disgruntled as her rider. Techno stood up and gave her a pet on the snout before turning to his own dragon and walking out the door.
His world lay in front of his eyes in its entirety. A flock of Terrible Terrors swiftly crossed the sapphire sky over his home, the Antarctic Empire, the village he would one day be chieftain of. He shuddered at the thought. He had never been all that big on authority and politics. I guess that’s what happens when you’re raised by dragons for half your childhood. He saddled Floof up and hopped on.
“Alright Floof, let’s fly” he said as they took off. He gracefully climbed into the air higher and higher, before diving through the village streets. Villagers yelled hello to him as he flew by but he was going too fast to hear them. Prime, he loved the feeling of riding a dragon.
Off to his right he saw Niki taking off for her morning ride with Nemesis, her Sliquifier. She was headed out over the waters he would be patrolling after checking in with the kids.
He also saw his apprentice Ranboo and his rare dragon. Ranboo was the only rider known who had a Nightlight. Her name was Ender and she was one of the rarest dragons to ever exist, the hybrid offspring of a Nightfury and Lightfury. He yelled a greeting as he sped past.
Techno started towards the cave where Steve and the “wild” (more like not yet tamed) dragons on the island lived.
As he approached the cave he suddenly came to an abrupt stop. He heard the war horns. He was torn between flying to confront the threat that undoubtedly faced the island or safely returning Tommy and Tubbo to the village. He sighed, reminding himself that the boys knew what to do when the horns sound. He took off towards the village.
Two minutes later he was in the town square.
“What’s the situation?” He asked as he approached Niki who had been the one to blow the horn.
“I was on my morning ride with Nemesis and I saw them, a hunter ship”. It felt like a punch to the gut. Techno’s vision went red and all he could think about was his mother’s sweet face. The face that had been taken from him.
He shook himself from his memories. He marched over to Floof, ignoring Niki’s calls to wait for backup and took off without another word.