Chapter Text
It couldn’t have been later than 2 PM when Philza bundled Technoblade and his brother Wilbur up in fur-lined clothes and brought them out to the village to go shopping.
It was a sunny day, despite the layer of snow coating the ground, and small flowers lined the manmade paths. The trio stopped to have lunch, a warm bowl of soup and bread (plus a baked potato for Technoblade, he didn’t care if it didn’t fit with the rest of the meal, there was never a bad time for potatoes). Warm, full, and in a good mood from the nice weather, Phil had said he and his brother could each pick out something special for themselves, as a treat, and sent them off together to the nearest stall with 10 emeralds each.
By all accounts, it should have been a good day for Technoblade.
But of course, of course, Wilbur had to wander off without him when he was supposed to be watching him. Which was how the 6-year-old found himself curled up on the side of the road, snow soaking through layers of clothes and leaving him shivering and utterly alone, stranded somewhere amongst the crowds of people.
Techno could hear his father’s voice now, lecturing about ‘I told you two to stick together, to stay at the nearby stalls, it's not safe for you alone, it's a big city and-’.
Yea.
He wasn’t looking forward to it.
Technoblade liked to consider himself a smart kid. He knew how to defend himself, as he had for the first 4 years of his life (to be fair, he didn’t remember the time before Phil. Not really. He pointedly did not think about piglins, humans, fire and gold and somebody help-).
Regardless, he knew bits about fighting, practically feral when he first met Phil, and then learning a more refined fighting style from the man at his own insistence. He knew how to use a sword, how to get edible berries without being pricked on their deadly thorns, how to avoid mobs at night, and knew how to defend himself with his bare hands (hooves? He wasn’t quite sure, somewhere past his knuckles his fingers were shielded with clunky black something that made it hard to grab things). Not only that, but he was smart too. He learned English in only a matter of months, had a vast library of different kinds of books, was well educated and caught up to normal school subjects exceptionally quickly, and knew of wisdom from old Greek tales (His brother always teased him about that but Techno stood by his obsession with myths. Not everyone could be a music geek Wilbur).
So, with that knowledge in mind, Techno refused to cry. He wasn’t a baby like Wilbur liked to call him, he was capable of taking care of himself. He would not throw a temper tantrum over being a little cold, nor would he concern himself with his inability to find his family. Techno would find them eventually. He always had a knack for knowing where he was meant to be, it was why his father had affectionately dubbed him the ‘human compass’.
(Something in the back of his mind whispered ‘you’re not human’. The boy ignored that something).
With rekindled determination, the boy stood on unsteady hooves and stormed off in a random direction. He would find his family, and then laugh in his brother's face for being worried. He was THE Technoblade! The human compass, son of Philza Minecraft, the one day greatest warrior in the land! Which is why he did not bump into someone. He did not.
He bumped into someone.
He bumped into some and fell on his butt, and dropped the book he had bought, and scraped his hands.
The boy felt his face heat up as the man he bumped into laughed, looking up through loose strands of pink hair that had come undone from his braid.
“You good there, bud?” The stranger asked, extending a hand to the pinkette.
Technoblade blushed further, hesitantly taking the man’s hand and pulling himself up before mumbling a small “I’m fine”.
The man paused, seemingly taking in Techno’s appearance for the first time. “You sure kid? You seem a little lost…”
“I…” Techno trailed off, biting his lip (as much as he could with his permanent underbite and too big tusks, at least).
“Hey, it's okay… I could help you find your parents? There's a place not too far from here, right at the edge of the stalls, where they make announcements. I could get ‘em to announce your parent's name, tell ‘em we found you. I got a buddy who works there.” He said, smiling kindly.
“If… If it's not too much trouble” the hybrid responded, picking up his book before hesitantly following the man.
Phil always told him to stay away from strangers, but he also always said to ask for help when he needed it. Besides, this stranger didn’t exactly scream ‘ax murderer’ or something. He was humbly dressed, not fancy but certainly not poor, a smile on his face, a welcoming tone of voice. Just an average samaritan helping a lost child in a marketplace. Techno considered himself a decent judge of character, he could probably tell the difference between some serial kidnapping freak and a normal functioning member of society.
He trailed behind the stranger, red eyes occasionally glancing around to look for Wilbur or Phil. Alas, life could never be so easy, and all he saw were strangers and overpriced weapon vendors.
“So, what are you exactly?”
Techno paused at that, confusion evident on his face. “What?”
“Well, I mean, you’re obviously no human” The stranger chuckled.
“Um...”
“Cmon, I’m just curious! Not everyday you see something like you!”
“I... I am human...?” He trailed off, glancing desperately towards the crowd, praying to Gods he didn’t believe in that the man would drop the slightly insulting question.
“Kid, you literally got pig ears.” The man said bluntly.
“Piglin” Techno corrected instinctively.
“Huh?”
“They’re... Piglin ears. Not pig. They’re different...”
“Huh. I’ve never met a Piglin hybrid before.” The man pondered out loud.
The two walked for a few more minutes, the silence heavy, before Techno spoke again “I... I think I can find my dad from here. This is the area we were in before.” He said. It was a complete lie, they were even farther from where he had last seen Phil, but the stranger didn’t need to know that.
“Nonsense! We’re almost where we need to be.”
“R-Really, I’m fine on my own from here-“
“Cmon, I already brought you all this way, don’t want it to be for nothing, right?” The man put a hand on Techno’s back, guiding him along.
He stiffened under the man’s touch, desperately hoping for the man to advert his eyes for a moment so Techno could slip into the crowd.
He occasionally attempted to slide from the mans firm hand, only to have his shoulder gripped firmly and pulled back to the man’s side.
“So you said you’re lookin for your dad?”
“Yea... And my brother.” He murmured, glancing down as his hands fidgeted with the pages of his book.
“They nether hybrids too?”
“No, um... Human. Will is human and Phil is Avian.”
“You really are one of a kind, huh?” The man grinned.
Techno locked eyes with a villager for a moment, hoping his eyes conveyed his rising fear.
The villager adverted their eyes and passed him without a second thought.
“Here we are, kid.” The man said, stopping as they reached a tent isolated from the rest of the market.
Techno stopped at that, looking away from the man to the tent.
“Go on, don’t be shy, they’ll help you.” He said, smiling one last time before giving him a slight shove forward.
Technoblade glanced back at the man one last time, hesitantly mumbling a shy “Thank you” before stepping into the tent, practically shaking.
The last thing Techno heard was muttering and something rustling before the back of his head was hit with a sharp pain and his world faded to black.