Chapter Text
Techno was young–well, he was at least by immortal standards of life–when he had travelled to the End that day with Phil. Compared to the man–his fathers thousands if not millions of years–he was but a small blink next to it. He could still be considered a child to many other immortals if not for the need to mature quickly while he was still younger. Much younger. However, to potentially normal humans like Wilbur or the recent addition to their family of Tommy he was ancient and a mystery left to be discovered. His life stretched across decades worth that the two would likely never come to know, no less understand or even comprehend. A mere one hundred and seventy eight to his father and a grand total of a hundred and seventy eight to his sort-of-sounder. Wilbur had even gotten into teasing him once he learned about this fact. Calling him an ‘old man’ despite the fact mentally there was no real difference between their ages. Aside from the fact he had seen generations worth of families come and go he was barely the age of a twenty year old. And, to a set few individuals, that was clear.
All this to say he was young, still young and still stupid and not nearly wise enough to understand many of his actions. He had made his fair share of mistakes and stupid decisions, but this one, this one that many would call him an idiot for and berate him for his choice… he doesnt think he regrets it a single bit unlike the others he’s made; even if it left all the other stupid choices he made in the past behind to choke on dust.
I suppose we should start with what had led to this decision.
It was meant to be a simple check in that day. A simple in-out to make sure the enderian community was still thriving under the rule of their recent queen, Phil would discuss politics with her to ensure that their agreements still held and Techno would go out to the community that lived in their floating houses to distribute resources. He heard that they had recently built a library and he wanted to go see it as well. Phil would take a long time afterall.
Most of all he wanted this time alone to talk to his friend once again. The last time they spoke she had seemed nervous, terrified even; she was different. She acted so unlike the figure of grace she presented herself as, and he wanted to make sure she was alright. That was almost a full year ago, it had felt like eons.
So, he and Phil packed away everything they would be needing, Techno donned his elytra and they took to the skies of the bitter Antarctic wind that had seemed infinitely colder from the slowly changing seasons coming upon them. He and his father made witty banter as they flew to the portal and quieted once they reached it, entering the stone structure with a sort of silent respect.
“Just in and out, Techno.” Phil said as he prepared their packs, Techno’s full of supplies the End needed like the recent crops they had produced while Phil would carry all the paperwork to settle things with this new queen. He scoffs to which Phil raises an eyebrow. “I’m not kidding Techno, I don’t like this new queen, she's… strict to say the least. Stay on your toes today.”
“Alright, fine old man.”
Chat laughed at him:
idiotblade
E
blood
dadza getting angry
blood gods in trouble
He shakes his head to try and silence them which only works for a moment.
The dip into the portal is just as disorienting as it once was and once they are safely on carpeted floors of the Endworld palace he sways for a moment before reorienting himself. The grand hall is still as impressive as the day that it had been first built and he takes a moment to appreciate the new silk tapestries hung on the wall, eyes of ender embroidered as a centerpiece. The large and impeding obsidian pillars stretch up for what seemed like miles coming to a point where they met.
Phil gives him a nod and a pat on the shoulder before he is being escorted away by one of the endermen standing nearby.
The fly into the city is just how it used to be. Quiet in the cool night air before the sudden rush of noise as he approaches the heart where the marketplace was. He tightens his grip on his bag as he descends to the meeting place of the merchant that would handle the supplies for him.
The city was always full of life. Enderlings running around with friends, shouting in a language none but their own kind knew as they chased each other. Older enderians walked past with hushed words when they saw Technoblade carting around the produce he gave them.
It was honestly a relief when the merchant met up with him and gave away the precious end stones and soft fabrics they had no access to otherwise as he handed over the multitudes of crops they weilded that month. There were little words spoken beyond the simple ‘thank you’s or discussion of the next trade and he was out of there before he knew it.
He had more than enough time to spare before Phil would be done so he rushed his way back to the palace, to the pillars with crystals at the top to protect the queen. There was one in particular, a broken one with no crystal left near the palace gardens he would meet her. Reixya was always on time to their meetings and he suspected that this would be no different.
When he reaches the place he was meant to see her again all his hopes are dashed.
No one meets him when he turns the corner to the only place safe from prying eyes.
Not the lovely enderian who had flowing white silks clothing her, bright, kind eyes that shone with the light of the stars above that showed no disgust in him or held any contempt against his brutish race. He can still picture her in his mind with her horns that stretched to the heavens and the careful wings on her back that were the purple of a galaxy. The way she had spoken in her broken and accented common with an almost staticy lilt to it.
No one came. Not for a long time.
And Chat was freaking out, the bustle of voices nearly becoming static in his mind.
friend???
baby
friend gone :(
in the wall
blood for the blood god
check the wall
E
One of those messages stood out to him and he glanced over at the pillar with a sigh. ‘You better not be lying to me again, Chat.’ He thinks to himself as he approaches the pillar he had been standing closest to, placing a single hand on it. The cracked walls of glossy obsidian have several places that give way to a pitch darkness inside. There was nothing he could see, he reached into a few of the bigger cracks and felt nothing in those either.
It wasn’t until he heard a soft whimper that he found what Chat had noticed. His slight thrum of anxiety becomes a sudden wave of adrenaline pushing him to reach into the hole and feel around the small space. He feels something soft moving beneath his hand with a gasp for air following it. He grabs it and pulls whatever it was free of its confines.
When his arm retreats from the hole the whole world seems to stop for just a moment. It sparks in him enough emotions to force a shift and he is suddenly standing there, helpless despite his more brutish piglin form supposedly able to handle any problem.
A child, a baby barely even a year old, rests in his arms, screaming its little lungs out as thick tears roll down their cheeks.
Oh. Fuck.
He can barely think before he is suddenly trying to hush the child, soft chuffs being let out to try and calm the child, bringing his arms to cradle them properly with one arm supporting their neck.
He… he needed to find an enderian to take them. Right?
Reixya had once spoken about another non-enderian who had met with her once. Technoblade had asked if he would need to take care of this hybrid but she had laughed her bell like laugh and insisted he needn’t do that. That she rather enjoyed this strange hybrids company actually. He didn’t push further than that.
His heart sinks further as he notes the mixed skin of the baby in his arms.
That probably wasn’t good.
He thinks back for a moment as he cradles the still crying child, to when Phil had first found him. He had been in the rings. Fighting. For the food that his handlers would toss into his cell at the end of the day, for the voices that constantly scream for blood. For his life he fought. Phil had found him and, despite all the blood that flowed into his eyes from his injuries and the way he had brutaly attacked without thinking twice, had extended a soft hand to him and offered kind words. He had picked him up like a child–which, at the time he still was–had given him a bath, tended to his wounds and didn’t prod further whenever he had heard Technoblade hiss in minor pain. Since that day he had been treated with only kindness. Phil had looked at this broken child and fixed him as best he could and only ever supported him since. He had helped him, held him and comforted him. Allowed him to be a child.
Why, then, could he not do the same for the baby in his arms?
He knew they would have a similar life as he, of death and heartache without an ounce of comfort if they were to remain here. The Enderians were a proud race, even before this new Queen, never allowing their kind to take on a mate of different origins lest they be shunned away from the community and never permitted to return. Even he and Phil were only allowed to interact with them because of the trade agreement set in place from centuries past. Even Techno and Reixya were forced to meet away from the prying eyes of others, behind one of the pillars of the queen whenever they spoke lest they be caught. They had likely already tossed Reixya into the portal to the overworld. She wouldn’t survive a minute there, quite literally not born to survive out there. The same–possibly even worse–would happen to the child in his arms that was now settling as he rocked back and forth on his hooves. This tiny, tiny Enderling.
Techno wouldn’t allow it.
His instincts and Chat wouldn’t allow it.
As the child begins to calm themself Techno is calm enough to shift back to his more human form and rest against the pillar, leaning against it as his legs give out from under him sending him to sit on the cool stone below. A shaky hand comes to run through his hair as he takes a second to breathe. Chat is cooing at the back of his mind whenever he looks at the child. He opts to look away to the parchment that had fallen to the ground when he had initially pulled the child free.
He carefully shifts to not disturb the baby in his arms that had just begun to relax as he leans over to grab the cream white paper.
A familiar scrawling hand wrote the note with a simple phrase on it.
Their name is Ranboo.
He takes a deep breath and begins to speak, raising a hand to the child’s face.
“Ranboo, huh?” A single, small and frail hand reaches up and grasps his fingers tightly. At least, as tightly as such a small, malnourished looking child can. He notices how their red and green eyes seem to glow under the dull light of the End with a sort of innocent curiosity. He doesn’t fight Chat as they begin to scream a bit loudly at the sight. “I guess we have to figure out something to do with you.”
He gets up slowly, careful not to disturb Ranboo as they pass into an almost restless sleep in his arms. Their breathing evens out a bit as he begins to walk to the front entrance of the castle.
“Everything’s gonna be fine,” he says with a soft voice, mostly to himself and a bit to calm Chat down as they approach the entrance. Several endermen jump to try and stop him but all it takes is a single harsh gaze before they back off. Ranboo is safely tucked under his cloak where no one would see them. It didn’t calm his racing mind but it settled Chat enough that the child was safe that he could focus on the task at hand.
He stood in an empty hall, Phil would come along shortly to the same place they always met in. He tapped his foot and quietly hushed Ranboo whenever they stirred. He stood for what felt like hours but was likely only a few minutes before the swift clacking of wood on stone sounded in the hall. A soft sweeping of robes and a rustle of feathers became more apparent before Phil came into sight from behind the corner.
His cane tapped against the ground with all the harshness of the warrior he still was yet his face held only the softness and kindness of a father, of a king. It eased Technoblade more and his heart didn’t race as he spoke up, voice echoing in the empty halls.
“Phil, I think I messed up.”
That stops the crow king in his tracks as he stands before his son. A look of confusion crosses his eyes before he relaxes again.
“What did you do this time mate?” There is a happy lilt to his voice indicating a joke. Techno didn’t laugh as he unfurled his cloak and Phil gasps, suddenly understanding the situation his son is faced with.
“Oh gods above, Techno, please tell me-”
“They’re not mine, I swear.”
Phil nods as he reaches out a hand to place on Ranboo’s cheek, they lean in to the touch and the older man smiles. He watches his father chirp out a few calming noises before his face hardens once again and he looks up to meet Techno’s eyes.
“Either way this isn’t fucking good.” He huffs out an unbeleiving laugh, adjusting his grip on Ranboo as they stir.
“Yeah, you’re telling me.”
“What’re we gonna do?”
Techno had an idea, not a good idea but it was still something. He guessed Phil knew the idea as well.
“I want to take them-“ he is cut off by the sound of a pained and angry screech. The cries of endermen followed shortly after. Chat panicked and Techno fell to one knee just as the Queen rounded the corner. She was fully shifted, deep purple wings stretching to the ceiling of the hall, her snout spewing smoke every breath she took. Technoblade crumpled in her presence, the power she held making him squirm. Yet, Phil stood strong in front of his child who cradled a child of his own without fear. Even as the Queen drew near and Techno knelt before her out of respect and fear, covering the child from her harsh gaze with a corner of his cloak, Phil stood before her. His own black wings shimmered under the dying light of stars millions of miles away. He leaned a bit heavier on his cane but did not waver his gaze or bend his back.
These were two royals and it showed.
The Queen roared out a loud cry, Techno could feel the rage behind it and only understood a few of the words. “Child. Daughter. Kill. Deserved.”
“I wish to take this child back to the over-world with us. They are my sons claim and if you do not need them we are more than willing to take care of them. We understand your rules and traditions and this does not break any of them as it will still be taking them to the overworld.”
She seems to consider this for a moment, glancing between Phil, Techno and the once again crying Ranboo in his arms. Her bright purple eyes pierce his soul as he shakes slightly under her harsh gaze. The endermen at her side are ready to pounce at the slightest order, their limbs tense as she glares. However, the Queen just roars softly as she begins to turn, craning her neck as she starts to walk away, a single wing flitting towards them before retracting again as she shifts back to her smaller form and continues back down her halls. The endermen follow after a moment's hesitation. She had given her blessing, Technoblade could take the child home with him.
All at once he was hit with two waves at the same time.
The first wave was of pure elation. His friend's child would be safe in his care. He knew this for a fact. He could find a proper home and ensure that Reixya’s last memory would survive. There was a possibility of even finding the strange hybrid she had spoken of and letting them raise the child. This is something good, a decision that could only end good. Phil would be proud of him for finally, after so many years, making progress towards being a better person. To be able to show his care of others in healthier ways.
The other was the overwhelming guilt and fear that began to swallow him. His face is alight with tears as the reality of what he had done hits him suddenly. He would need to leave the castle for a while. Find a family that he knows wouldn’t abuse the life of a tiny enderling like so many had. Killing the child several times over just for a few measly pearls. Ranboo lets out a tiny trill as Technoblade rests his forehead on the baby’s stomach, pulling the child ever closer as the voices scream at him. All his worries being shouted back at him a hundred fold.
kill him
Blood
baby boo
you’ll never be good enough for them
she’s dead thanks to you
Blood
Blood
Blood
A steadying hand rested on his shoulder and it silenced his mind for only a few moments but it’s enough for clarity to break through for a moment. Phil rubs his thumb over the red cloak Techno wore, such a simple action providing such comfort.
“Let me take them, you calm down Chat for a moment.” He nods slowly, his firm grip lessening as Phil carefully maneuvers the child into his own arms. Cradling them with a much more practiced precision than Techno. It looks natural. The way Phil pulls the little one up to be face to face with him. Babbling little words as Ranboo’s mixed eyes stare back at Techno.
His heart aches for a moment before he closes his eyes, counts to ten and back as he clenched and unclenched his hands in time with each number, takes a deep breath and opens them again.
“I say we get out of here before she changes her mind.” He says, reaching out his hands for Ranboo who Phil quickly gives back. An unspoken agreement between them occurred as they began to walk down the halls.
A silent ‘thank you’ is passed as Phil takes flight, Technoblade following shortly after, carefully adjusting his grip so that Ranboo wouldn’t fall. A silent ‘it’s okay’ follows.
===
He returns to the palace silently, and leaves just as quickly.
By the time they get back Tommy had been put to bed long ago, the three-month old sleeping peacefully in his cradle as Techno gives a goodbye kiss to his pudgy cheeks, safe in the knowledge that he won’t be missed by the little one. Wilbur was in his study when Techno entered, still wide awake despite the late hour, his wings wrapped around him like a blanket.
He watches his brother in the doorway as he rubs his eyes, pushing his glasses further up his face by the light of the lanturn beside him. The soft moonlight trickles in through the curtains as the pen in his hand races a bit clumsily over the parchment below.
“Want me to make you something to drink?” He asks, his brother's attention being drawn from the parchment and maps he stares at. Wilbur huffs out a humourless laugh before standing.
“Nah, I’m fine.” Techno nods before walking over to stand over the desk. “What’re you doing up? Isn’t it past your bedtime old man?” He doesn’t respond as he takes in the paper Wilbur is looking at, some other trade agreement that would need to be renegotiated. He sighs before looking his brother in the eyes.
“I’m going soon,” Wilbur pauses, wide eyes looking at him in slight shock.
“Oh,” he finally says, stepping further away from his desk and adjusting the robe he wore over his sleeping clothes to better provide some warmth. It wasn’t unnatural for this to happen so suddenly. Some nights he left without so much as a goodbye. At least this time he had the courtesy to say something. Phil would be getting everything ready for him, by now he was probably done. “How long?”
“I-” He pauses to consider what he will say. “I don’t know. I got a kid I need to find a good home for.”
“Okay,” Wilbur says. Because it is okay. Because he knows that his sounder will be safe here. That Phil can protect them. And, that's enough for him. “I love you, Techno.”
“Yeah, love you too, idiot.”
Wilbur laughs as he is pulled into a quick hug. He doesn’t fight it as his brother leaves, merely returns to his desk to continue his work as crown prince.
Phil is waiting for him out by the stables.
Carl has already been hitched up to the wagon. Apollo and Steve both bundled into the bed of the wagon along with a sword wrapped in protective cloth. He has all the basics for starting his new life until he can return.
“All ready for you,” Phil says as he comes to stand next to Technoblade, Ranboo is asleep in his arms, his cane tapping lightly on the ground as Phil approaches him. “Take your time, we’ll always be here for you.”
“Gods willing I’ll be home before you know to miss me.” Phil nods, pulling him close and planting a single kiss to his temple. As he pulls away he carefully manoeuvres Ranboo into Technoblade arms.
He climbs aboard, taking a seat at the head, Ranboo carefully placed in a basket for them to sleep relatively peacefully and not be in the way of Techno or Carl. He nods at Phil before sending Carl into a trot out of the royal stables.
“I love you,” is the last thing Techno hears before he is driving the caravan away from the last thing he had known as home in a long time.
===
It’s late when they return to the small cabin lost deep in the woods. Three days worth of non-stop travelling has left Techno tired and Ranboo fussy over the tiniest of things. He had learned in that time the child rather enjoyed sitting up to watch Carl's tail swish about, sometimes reaching out to bat at it and that they surprisingly enjoyed the steaks he would cook up each night. It was fine he supposes, it was something to know on to keep them occupied as well as fed, Prime knows they would need the extra meat on their bones. Plus their teeth had already grown in for the most part, tiny fangs already prepared for taking on food. (It almost hurts for him to think about that.)
He could do research later on proper dietary needs but it would do for now.
The house is empty but clean as they enter. Eret had been taking care of the cottage, dipping in and out on the odd occasion they needed to disappear for some short time or simply avoid her kingly duties for a bit. It was still well cared for and Phil would be sending a letter telling them not to visit for a while so it would all end up okay. Once Techno could get Ranboo a home he would be done and back in his own.
It… it was odd, seeing his childhood home so empty and devoid of life. The soft moon rising in the distance filling the house with a pale light. Ranboo fusses a bit, clinging to his cloak as he crosses the threshold into the home.
He doesn’t waste any time dwelling on old memories. Doesn’t bother with making food or setting anything up in preparation of their stay. The long travel of barely any rest grating on him already.
His childhood bedroom looks just as it once had. The smaller bed pushed into the corner looks the same as it once had, the covers still a little too messy like he always left it.
“Okay, so, we’re just gonna sleep for tonight.” He says as he begins to lower Ranboo to the mattress. “And, we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do with you tomorrow.” They let out a few vroomps, reaching up to him with tiny little grabby hands that clutch at his cloak like a lifeline. He wrenches it free and as he exits the room the cries start. Chat is already annoyed with that decision.
nooo, stay with baby!
poor boo
E
monster made the baby cry
sleep with them >:(
“Chat, we’re not sleeping with them. Just let them calm down for a bit, get it out of their system.” He says as he opens the door just across the hall, Steve and Apollo follow after him, yipping a bit and tugging at his hands. He ignores all of this in favour of entering the room.
Phils room looks a bit too eerie from how it had once been when he was still a child, too dark and empty compared to how it used to be. But, it wasn’t like that couldn’t change, he would just need to get used to it all again.
So, with Chat still screaming in his mind, the child a hallway away and his dogs barking softly at him, he sinks under the covers and tries to sleep for the first time in days.
He didn’t account for the fact that all the noise would make it so hard.
Ranboo was the most grating on his brain. The kid had been so quiet on their trip that now it felt like their cries shook the whole house and made his brain rattle around in his skull as his instincts cried out for him to do something. Chat followed at a very close second.
blood
poor boo
protect
go sleep with them
separation anxiety much?
blood
He tries to close his eyes and clench his hands as he always did but that only seems to make the world grow much louder. Everything grating on his senses. His own mind betrays him and screams ‘child, protect, protect, save’ as he tries to calm Chat down and still his breathing.
But he can't. Theyre so loud. It's like he's a child again, forced into a corner to keep himself safe from the hands that hurt far too much. Grabbing at his hair and chopping or grabbing at the back of his neck when he tried to charge. Hands pressed against his ears and nails dug into his head as if that can calm his racing mind. But it doesn’t. Chat grows louder, and Ranboo cries louder. And it's so loud. They scream for blood. They scream for mercy. The stands are full of people screaming for him to spill blood. They scream in pain. It sounds like static in his brainas the noise grows. He can't. He can't. He can't. He can't. Why is it so loud-
“Just shut up!” He screams and that seems to do the trick, silencing the house completely. Even the child who had been screaming its lungs out a room over had quieted down. His flared instincts seem to calm with the sudden silence. He sighs as he pulls the blankets aside and lets his feet rest against the cool floor below him, grounding him to the moment as Steve rests his head in Techno’s lap. He sighs once again as he buries his face into his hands and takes a few deep breaths, listening to his racing heart beating in his ears. It takes only a moment to slow it back down to a regular heart beat. He sighs as he pulls his face from his hands.
Finally, he stands and begins the short trek to the room a hall across from him.
Ranboo is still there, of course, the bed was just a bit too high off the ground for them to climb down safely. They sit up, practically drowning in the blankets and furs on the small bed.
Techno softens when he sees the tear tracks rolling down the kids cheeks, taking a seat on the bed at which point Ranboo crawls into his lap almost instantaneously. Curling into a little ball there. His brain screams at him, ‘this is right’ it tells him. And, scarily enough, he almost wants to believe it. He places a hand on Ranboos hair while they sniffle lightly, clutching onto his sleep shirt like they had his cloak.
“I’m, uh… sorry, kid.” Ranboo looks up at him with their big eyes shining with tears in the soft light of the room. “Guess I should’ve considered your needs as well as mine.” He brings up a hand to rest on Ranboo’s cheek and they begin to purr, leaning into the hold heavily.
Techno sighs, understanding all too well what was happening. Enderians bonded far too easily in his opinion. Ranboo definitely should have chosen someone better, but, he supposes he would do.
“Alright,” he says, picking up the kid, letting them rest against his shoulder and walking out of his childhood room. “This is okay too. I didn’t really like castle life anyways. You’re just lucky Wilbur isn’t here to bully me for this.”
He settled under the covers easier this time, Ranboo nestled into his chest purring contently. Steve and Apollo were laying near his legs. And, for what seemed like the first time in his many years of life, the voices weren’t screaming at him for any particular reason and were instead cooing at the young enderian curled up on his chest, now fast asleep.
He supposed he could make this work as well.
===
Dear Phil,
I am writing to you to say that there may be a bit of an issue that I didn’t account for while we were discussing who I would give Ranboo to. I, and Ranboo, will likely not be returning home any time soon due to some unforeseen circumstances. (Blame Chat for that one, absolutely not my fault in any way). Keep Wilbur and Tommy safe for me if or until I return.
If you are ever in need of help you know where to find me.
Until then,
Technoblade.