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Techno stared at the child in his hands in confusion for several long moments before looking around with hesitation. He’d been walking around the market, trying to see if he could find either Philza or Kristin to see if he could convince them that it was time to go home now when someone ran at him, handed him a child and then took off in another direction.
There were no words exchanged, there was no note with the child that Techno could read, and everyone around him refused to look at him once they saw the child in his arms. And it had been a very intentional hand off of the child.
“Where did you come from?” He asked, holding the child a little higher and trying to meet the child’s eyes. It took him a moment to feel the trembling of the child, to notice that the child’s eyes were squeezed closed as if even accidentally meeting Techno’s eyes would cause harm to him.
The child also wasn’t speaking and was holding his hands over his mouth to muffle any sounds from him.
Techno sighed, moving and cradling the child protectively in his arms as he moved to find Philza and Kristin so that they could leave. Philza could come back for supplies for the child after they had the child safe.
There was a whimper from the child, who was very clearly subconsciously leaning into Techno. His skin felt like ice against Techno’s shirt, which was highly concerning given that it was nearly 80 degrees out.
Techno took a corner and spotted Kristin, which was a relief, but there was no Philza with her. Surprising given that Philza never went too far from Kristin when she was visiting. Goddess of Death duties let her come home rarely, so Philza often stuck to her side. So seeing Kristin by herself was a bit of a surprise.
“Kristin!” Techno raised his voice only slightly, catching her attention but not drawing more attention to himself, not that he thought anyone would actually look at him.
Kristin turned with concern already on her face. The concern amplified as she spotted the child in his arms, and there was a hint of sadness as she gazed at the trembling child.
Kristin only looked like that when a child was particularly close to death.
Techno very quickly made his way towards her, eyes darting towards the townspeople with contempt. He was making his thoughts obvious to her, something that Techno only did when he was particularly upset with a large number of people.
“What’s happened, Techno?” Kristin asked quietly, glancing at the small child in his arms as Techno looked around for Phil.
“Someone… handed him to me?” Techno looked back at her as she frowned. Her eyebrows furrowed as she carefully reached one hand out and brushed back the child’s hair. The child flinched near violently, a quiet whine escaping the child as he curled up tighter.
“Shh, no worries small one,” Kristin motioned as if to take the child from Techno, who handed the child over hesitantly. His instincts, something he hadn’t felt in what felt like several decades, reared forward as the child left his arms.
It was only because of the years of knowing Kristin and Techno seeing her as part of his sounder that prevented him from snarling at her as the child whined. Though his face did contort with the effort, which was obvious to Kristin who only looked amused.
“Go find Philza, Techno, and then we can go home.” Kristin told him, and Techno nodded somewhat stiff-like before turning and leaving. He easily picked up Philza’s scent, and followed it to its source.
Philza was talking with a trader, a pleasant smile on his face as they conversed. It looked like Philza was buying jewelry, which wasn’t entirely surprising to Techno. Philza liked collecting jewelry, he also liked gifting jewelry to people that he found incredibly important to him.
Techno waited just out of hearing range in case it wasn’t supposed to be something Techno knew about, but he was in view of Philza who nodded at him slightly. Techno waited as Philza finished up his conversation, bowing his head slightly as Philza moved towards him.
“What’s wrong mate? Want to leave already?” Philza asked, a smile on his face as he greeted Techno.
“Someone handed me a child and ran away… Kid’s with Kristin now, she said to find you.” Techno responded, forgoing any form of greeting. Concern filled Philza’s eyes as the two of them started their way back towards where Techno had left Kristin.
Techno could tell the moment that Philza spotted the child, and could feel the moment that Philza spotted how heavy death must have been hanging around the child. Techno couldn’t see or feel death like they could; not since he’d taken Kristin’s offer of removing his voices after it became apparent that he was sticking around Philza for a long time.
“Oh, poor thing,” Philza murmured. Kristin looked up, smiling at the two of them and moving towards them. There was a set look to Kristin as she moved, eyes hardening whenever they strayed from Philza or Techno, and there was a clear indication that she was clenching her teeth from the way her jaw was set.
“We’re leaving.” Kristin’s voice was soft, most likely not to scare the child. “Techno? You’ll hold him. He’s freezing and I’m certainly not helping.” Krisitn passed the kid to Techno as his arms nearly snapped forward.
His instincts settled as he cradled the child, and a noise from Philza told him that he hadn’t been able to control his instincts well enough. The child settled in his arms quickly, leaning against him and clinging to his shirt with a desperation that Techno was sure the kid didn’t know he was doing.
“What do you know?” Philza asked as the group moved to leave the town. Kristin was walking faster than normal, and he could see that her wings were twitching from where they were hidden underneath an enchanted shawl that she wore outside of her enchanted forests.
She may be a goddess, but her immortality was heavily tied to her wings. And Avian’s wings were some of the most hunted in most worlds, a heavy fact that weighed on Techno. Or, maybe it was that her wings helped her visit their world, but Techno wasn’t entirely sure since it was established as a taboo subject a long while before Techno met Philza.
Techno hadn’t realized he was purring softly until Philza chirped in curiosity. Techno quickly stopped, embarrassment flooding through him. The child whined, bumping his head against Techno’s shoulder in annoyance.
Techno glanced down with a raised eyebrow, but the child’s eyes were still firmly closed… Techno tilted his head when he spotted tiny fangs protruding from the kids bottom lip. It appeared Philza had noticed too if another chirp sounded from his long time friend.
“Oh, he’s a Piglin child…” Kristin murmured quietly. It was obvious once you noticed it the first time. “Techno’s instincts appearing make sense now.” She mused. Philza hummed quietly as Techno started purring again.
Techno looked back up and spotted the activation point, relaxing with the knowledge that they would be home soon. They would get the child a bath, and some clothes for the night; which would probably be a shirt of either his or Philza’s, and it most likely would be Philza’s. And then the next day Philza would probably head out to find actual clothes for the small child.
His purring was interrupted as Philza’s linked arms with him, and on the other side, Techno spotted that Philza was holding Kristin’s hand/
“Home?”
“Definitely.” Kristin laughed lightly, her eyes glowing with power, eyes darting towards the child. “He needs as much warmth as we can provide as fast as we can, or we’ll risk losing him.” Her eyes saddened, and Techno growled for the briefest moment.
“Yeah, Techno, mate, growling isn’t going to scare away death.” Philza huffed a laugh. Techno made a face at his friend.
“Oh no, Techno could most definitely do it, it’s just a matter of if Death comes back at a later date.” Kristin snorted at the look of offense on Phil’s face.