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You could never know what it's like
Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice
And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use
Wind pulls at sunshine curls standing high above the hard ground. A crescendoing star, debating if the Earth’s final embrace was the way he wanted to go. Standing on top of a tower of cobble and dirt, a teen wonders what an absolute eternal peace would feel like.
Tommy had been through so much on this server full of malice and power hungry souls, used as a pawn and abused like an adult, he was so fucking tired of it all.
If he lived beyond this point, it was only to return into Dream’s evil hands, the maniacal blonde wishing to disassemble every one of Tommy’s defenses to learn how he ticked. To learn his deepest weakness and exploit without regret, all for the sake the curly blonde refused to bow to his demands.
Dream desired total control, and Tommy was constantly searching for anything to escape it.
All he had to look forward to was fighting. Fighting for his ideals, fighting for his memories and fighting for free will against such an oppressive force.
Tommy glanced down once more while the strong breeze tugged at his clothes, like ghosts of regrets urging him to step forward. For one final moment of agony before he never felt again. To return to the Death Goddess’s embrace a broken child, Her mercy healing and kind to those who deserved it.
Held tight within his palm is a vibrant purple compass, flashing with regular pulses, reminding him what he used to take up the sword in defense of. A scarred small blonde teen, wearing a jacket a few sizes too big standing on his tiptoes over a podium taller than him. Someone who risked it all, gained scars burned through youthful flesh under mussed wheat-shaded tresses.
Fundy, Quackity, Ranboo…all he left behind, thrown into a boat with Dream to be carted thousands of chunks away after he stepped out of line one time too many apparently.
Tubbo, his best friend who betrayed him which his stomach burned fire thinking of, yet his traitorous heart still missed his best friend.
Wilbur.
That name still brought a stab of pain, fresh and deep as if he had been impaled. Similar to how Wilbur died, at the end of his fathers sword. Leaving a phantom in his wake filled with joy, a remnant of Wilbur without his bloodthirsty drive. Forgotten beyond a handful of happy memories to many, only remembering the one willing to destroy it all when something he treasured left his hands.
His whirling mind questions it all, standing beneath the clear night of the waxing moon. Rain mists his skin, mixing with the sweat after clambering up this tower debating if he wished to land in the pond, or the hard ground.
Looking up at the sky, a name crosses his mind thinking of the one who used to tell him all about the Death Goddess in the ravine of Pogtopia when Wilbur Soot’s only company he wanted was his fraying sanity.
Technoblade.
Casting his eyes in the direction of the piglin’s cabin, for the first time that night he has a positive thought about life. Hearing Techno’s stories, of crusading across battlefields slick with blood with a crow hybrid at his side. Listening to his signature chuckle when Tommy begs for just one more story before bed, only one more tale before the sandman claims him away to the lands of dreams deep within the ground.
Tommy looks down, hundreds of blocks below his feet once more, gaze being drawn towards the soft lapping water of the pond below.
Liquid or solid.
Life or death.
Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, he steps forward.
Wind screaming past his ears, ripping at his clothes as he descends rapidly down the tower he built with the intention to toss himself off of it. Opening his streaming eyes to look to the sky above, water cushions his fall and flies towards the sky as it embraces him.
Teeth chattering in the chilly water, he pulls himself from the pond and finds a set of clothes he had stashed in a chest beneath the ground. This was a separate stash from the supplies Dream just blew to kingdom come, pulling them on after abandoning his current set.
Turning in the direction he last saw Technoblade, he puts one foot in front of the other and starts his journey towards maybe the last soul he felt he could trust.
And did you think this fool could never win?
Well look at me, I'm a-comin' back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
And if you need to know while I'm still standin'
You just fade away
As the moon travels across the sky, a sunshine blonde traverses the land below heading in the direction he hoped Techno lived. Wrapped in clothes and trembling, he gritted his teeth as he focused on continuing forward.
Large boughs of trees criss-cross the air above Tommy, protecting him mostly from the snow that had begun to fall. He felt hopeful the moment a flake landed on his nose, knowing the piglin had set up base in the cold snowy north. He claimed it reminded him of better times when he won the world for Phil, his partner and Wilbur’s father.
Groaning through fogging breath, his legs ache already from the distance he had covered so far, determined to make it. He worried about the thin clothing protecting him right now as the temperature continued to plummet, wondering if he saved himself from a death by gravity only to pass away in the freezing cold.
The path ahead is relatively clear, snow levels starting to climb up trunks as the minutes pass by, Tommy’s pace remaining steady besides the occasional stutter. Hiding his trembling fingers in the pocket of the coat he wore, holding the brown jacket close to his chest. Cigarette smoke and pine surround the boy, heart cracking remembering the curly brunette who once owned this piece of clothing.
He prayed to Her his soul had found peace. It was still hard to believe such a final thing separated them, killed at his own behest as his father sobbed, moments after arriving forced to slay his own flesh and blood.
Remembering the proud man he once stood beside, looking up at his idol while Wilbur preached words, not weapons. Encouraging diplomacy until his policies became outdated, a stubborn mind turning dangerous after his fall from grace.
Tommy held some hesitation turning to Technoblade after his heavy push for disorder under Wilbur’s command, but he wasn’t sure of the other options he had. The blonde had managed to be outcast from many, many people he was once close to. Many he would consider dear friends who, at one point in their lives on this chaotic server, put their own hide in the way of his in exchange for his loud voice.
He had a way of finding the cracks in walls, rallying the masses, and breaking them down. A rebellious soul at heart, Dream couldn’t stand having a wild card and intended to break him.
Pulling him far away from everything he knew since arriving on this server, isolating him completely as he searched for Tommy’s imperfections to mould him anew from the shattered bits of his soul.
Luckily, or unluckily, for Tommy, he was far too fucking stubborn for that to work for a good long time. He made back up plans, a rare thing for him, and squirreled away resources in hopes to make a break for it at some point. Until his stash was discovered, and was made quick work of by some TNT blocks placed by a mocking man with a tongue sharp as a blade.
Ripping him a new one, Dream stomped off and Tommy built a tower.
Leading up to this point, his pace started to slow as the snow grew deeper, sapping energy he couldn’t afford to lose. Stumbling more now, he pushes forward.
Having nothing left beyond putting one foot in front of the other, Tommy steels his will to survive this journey, as his limbs start to warm and the shaking slows.
Falling to his knees beside a great pine tree, his feet refuse to move any further. Tommy realises in his haze of moving forward, there are now strange blips in his memories and his legs hurt quite a bit from forming bruises.
Pulling the jacket closer, his fingers refuse to cooperate as he presses his back into the rough bark. Tucking them under his arms, he huddles close to himself. Thoughts fighting their way through the fog of a brief rest before he continued onwards.
Only a few moments couldn’t hurt…right?
Don't you know I'm still standin' better than I ever did?
Lookin' like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid
And I'm still standin' after all this time
Pickin' up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
Techno is settling in for a night with steaming tea and a good book, fire stoked in the corner, crackling away as the stars twinkle overhead. Moonlight bathes the snow in a shimmering blush, shining like the gas giants above.
A hound snores away in the corner, laying on his back with his mouth splayed open. Techno chuckles, the so-called beast-of-war was a sucker for a warm fire and belly rubs, which the creature had plenty of until the piglin sat back against the high back chair.
Brushing his braid of pink hair behind his shoulder, he fidgets with his gold-gilded emerald earring as the book lays open across his palm. Wrapping in warm robes left over from his Antarctic Empire days, the crimson cloak is his warmest article of clothing for especially cold nights like this one. Despite the fact new red stains covered it from the execution attempt earlier, Techno couldn’t be bothered to clean it completely right now.
Just as his crimson eyes read the first word on the page a pecking against glass breaks his illusion, casting a tired expression at the crow with glowing purple eyes.
He grunts as he stands, going to the door to open it and hold out his hand. The black bird lands upon his outstretched finger as he closes the door, bringing both back inside. Nether-violet particles dance through its feathers, the voice emerging speaking a language much older than this server as a whole. Only two people spoke it here, himself and his lifelong friend Philza.
Croaking in Enderian “ A child is dying outside, you must save him. ”
It's all Techno needs to hear before abandoning his book, quickly gearing up for a trek through the cold night. Pulling on a snow suit and wrapping the same cloak he wore earlier around himself, embroidered on the back the marker of a Kingdom long forgotten, he opens his door once more.
Whistling through his tusks, Hounds of War surround their master as his eyes flash the same bright vibrant purple as the crow perched on his shoulder. “Go, my beasts, find the one who doesn’t belong an’ lead me to him.”
Glancing over at the bird which cocks its head as the white dogs take off into the night, Techno’s mouth pulls up at the corner. “You don’t often interfere, have you grown soft my Goddess?”
The crow tilted its head away, the piglin could imagine the woman’s face right now as he called Her out. “You are lucky Phil’s golden heart melted my own.”
Expertly avoiding pitfalls and trees, he begins to slowly hike towards the portal leading back to the main parts of the server waiting for his summons to return, glancing at the moon above. It was nearly morning now, when the cold of night was the harshest. Techno only hoped they weren’t too late, at war with his faith the Death Goddess arrived at the exact right time for her Blessed to save the one She protected.
Howling echoed somewhere far off, several of his Hounds coming to lead their master to his target. Taking off at a speed he hardly used anymore as the crow flew above, bounding through the snow with experienced steps to find the one the Goddess wished to save.
Starting the day under an anvil to now, saving the life of someone who might have once wanted him dead. At least he never was bored here.
I'm still standin' (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'm still standin' (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Finding a collapsed curly blonde teen against a tree, Techno’s chest tightens in panic how still Tommy was. His first reaction was concern, drowning the anger that roared to life seeing the one who chased him off. Shaking it off, he pulls his cloak from around his shoulders and kneels before the boy who held his knees close to his chest.
“You there, kid?” Techno asks softly, resolving to move the teen into his arms as he wraps the cloak tightly around the boy, feeling the softest pulse of his heart through his neck when he places scarred fingers to just below his jawbone. “Thank Goddess, stay with me Tommy. I got you.”
He rumbles deep in his chest, huffing at finding the boy like this. Pondering what finally inspired him to snap the collar Dream kept trying to force upon him and ended up nearly freezing to death near Techno’s cabin, the piglin gathers the boy up as he stands. Holding him close to his ribcage, hoping his netherblood warm body could bring the teen’s own temperature back up from dangerous levels.
“I swear to Her Toms, if you die here I will never hear the end of it.” Joking to take the edge of seriousness, he looks in Tommy’s dull blue eyes as they barely track his face. “Let’s go home.”
Ordering the beasts around them to protect the pair from any mobs, Techno walks back to his cabin with barely any trouble. Tommy’s heartbeat grows steadier as the piglin hybrid holds the small child close, Voices screaming in his head seeing each new scar on the poor teenager's face.
At some point in the rescue mission the crow left, returning to Her for a report.
Techno pushes open his doors with a groan, depositing the boy on the couch and gathering up the things he needed to warm him up. Used to healing soldiers left too long in the cold, he finds several blankets and heats compresses over the fire to apply to vital areas. Finding fleece pajamas, he helps a barely conscious Tommy change out of his wet, stiff clothing, the boy protesting when Techno mutters about the jacket in specific and how damaged it was. Unable to understand him, Techno tosses it on the ground to deal with later, preferring saving the organic instead of the inorganic.
Wrapping him in several of the blankets, created by a mix of people including Niki, Phil and Techno himself, Tommy’s cheeks start to get some colour back much to the ancient hybrid’s relief.
Placing the warmed rice around his hands, feet and neck, Tommy slowly comes back to life under Techno’s careful ministrations. After the sunshine blonde was more himself, blood returning to his lips so they were no longer the ghastly blue colour, Techno leaves him to heat up the stew he made earlier in a cauldron over the roaring fire.
He had built the flames higher than usual to warm the cabin quicker, to bring up Tommy’s temperature safely. The boy was oddly quiet for his usual rambunctious self, eyes distant each time Techno asked him a question.
Lacking the sharp wit and obnoxious personality Techno was used to, his worries shifted from the boy’s physical state to his mental one. Evasive answers surrounded the topic of Dream, Tommy eventually just stops responding as Techno prepares his dinner.
Startling him as the piglin settles across from Tommy’s sky eyes, Techno raises an eyebrow as he hands over the bowl of fragrant stew. “I know the signs of someone who doesn’t want to talk about something so I promise I won’t ask anything more for now beyond one question, what were you going to do once you got here?”
“Hoping you would take me in out of pity, Techno.” Tommy’s weak voice is a far cry from his usual loud, demanding tones.
“You only had to ask.” Techno says immediately, the first bit of hope returning to the blonde’s expression. “As long as you need.”
“Do you swear?”
“Upon my ageless soul.”
“Okay.”
You know I'm still standin' better than I ever did
Lookin' like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid
And I'm still standin' after all this time
Pickin' up the pieces of my life without you on my mind