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To say Techno was stressed was an understatement. While the fairies assigned to bring Mainland spring were steadily pouring back into Pixie Hollow, he was still sat at Buttercup Canyon.
Now this would have all been fine and good for Techno. He was by far not the most social of all Garden fairies. He was more than happy to look after the different crops in the gardens. Ever since his arrival he had felt right at home between the carrots and potatoes. While that, sure, also came with challenges, it held nothing against the stress he was feeling at the moment.
Bringing the mainland summer was by far mor difficult than bringing it spring. He was sure of it. There were a couple thousand trees that he would have to transform flowers into fruits on, another million berry bushes, and oh so many petals that still needed painting.
Given, most of these tasks he hadn’t actually started yet. Couldn’t, actually, because they were still rooted right in the middle of Neverland, in Pixie Hollow. But he had to plan. And while planning for his own gardens was one of the greatest joys Techno knew, planning for random trees was much less enjoyable.
He had already gotten the Sunflower seeds from the light fairies in the Golden Meadow, and just received the Coneflower seeds from the other garden fairies, but he was by far not done. Marigolds, Dahlias, Lavenders, Hydrangea, Catmint! (he was not looking forward to the potential cat encounters this would lead to on the mainland)
Flowers were pretty, sure, but Techno felt far more comfortable between the Cabbages and Cucumbers. He could pretend with the seeds of allium, though. Those were scheduled for today, and whoever was supposed to help him should arrive any minute now.
He was only going to oversee the transport of them to Tinkers Nook, where he was supposed to assist the Tinker fairies in finding the ideal way to store them on the trip over.
Just then, a soft knock made Techno look up from his notepad. The Delivery! Finally, it had taken long enough.
With quick steps he crossed the entirety of his humble root-turned-home. When he opened the door, a blonde fairy stood before him.
“Hey mate! You’re Technoblade, right? I got some Allium seeds I’m supposed to take to Tinkers nook.”
Nodding, Technoblade only got to open his mouth before the other fairy spoke again.
“Perfect! I’m Philza, Water Fairy. I have been helping out around the Hollow. The mouse-cart is already ready. So we can go whenever.”
“Bruh, that’s actually perfect, just gonna go get some of my stuff.” Techno turned around, walking back to his desk. That was apparently all the invitation needed for the other fairy to enter his home.
“A root home? Wow, I don’t see these often. Kind of hard to find some that the Tinkers can work with well.”
Oh gods. Smalltalk.
“Ehhhr…yeah.. I got lucky. Some young Tinkers wanting a challenge and I well, wanted a house.” He grabbed his notebook, his bundle of fairydust and a small knife for any emergencies.
“Its cool mate! Absolutely love what you’ve done with the place. Very cozy. My wife and I live in a hollowed out Pinecone, up in Autumn Forest. It’s still nestled on one of the branches, the view is amazing.”
Techno felt like this trip was going to be long.
The cart Philza brought was already being loaded by some of Techno’s colleagues. The wagon wasn’t anything special, but Techno was still happy that it looked to be on the sturdier side. With two seats in front and iron button as wheels, it looked like it would take them to Tinkers Nook relatively comfortably. A mouse was waiting patiently in front of the cart, clearly excited to stretch its legs and go somewhere.
Techno stepped forwards to scratch the mouses ear. He supposed he could partake in a little smalltalk. “That mouse yours or one of the Animal fairie’s?”
“Animal fairies! Though I see it quite often. I borrowed it from Tubbo. He’s only recently arrived but man he has a hand with them. I would have expected him to have several season changes of experience with how fast he got me Carl here.”
Phil was definitely a talker, that much was clear.
“That’s all the seeds on the wagon. We got six baskets with 12 seeds each. They got caps on, but make sure not to loose any.” The other garden fairy looked exactly as stressed as Techno felt.
“Good, then we ready to go?” Techno looked over at Phil.
“Jup, ready when you are. If we start now I’d say we get there…by around evening? Shouldn’t take too long, but also not the shortest trip.” Phil sat down one side of the carriage-bench and took the reigns into his hands. “We are mostly going to follow the stream to Lilypad pond, and then take a few crosses over the various fields to the big ol’ tree and then Tinkers nook is basically in front of us.”
Techno was happy that he wasn’t going to be the one driving all that. He could sit back and relax. By calculating how many Raspberries the Animal fairies “needed” for their mice. Techno looked at Carls giant button eyes and small nose. His whiskers were perpetually moving as he was rubbing his paws over his face.
Okay, maybe he understood the Animal Fairies needs to have treats for the little guys.
Despite Techno’s earlier worries, it seemed that Philza noticed quite fast that Techno wasn’t one for talking. They had been traveling for a couple of hours now, most of it in surprisingly comfortable silence. The brook provided a quiet but constant background noise for Technos calulatoins. Even the road was free enough of bumps that he only had to rewrite every third line of notes, instead of every second like last time!
Needless to say, things were going well!
Well enough that they decided to take a break to let Carl drink something, and them stretch their legs a bit.
Or sit on stone instead of wood, in Technos case.
“I haven’t seen you look up from your calculations since we set out”, Techno looked up to see Phil crouch next to Carl. “Have they just dumped all the calculations on you or whats happening here?”
To his credit, Philza seemed genuinely a bit concerned. And the guy really had been nothing but nice to him so far, even respecting his social awkwardness.
“Eh, more like I don’t trust them to do it themselves. Last year one of them somehow lost an entire wagon load of watermelon seeds!” He still remembered the exasperated looks of the fairies that had returned that year. Techno had been incredibly happy to be assigned to Autumn.
Philza snorted, rubbing circles into Carls shoulder. “Wouldnt want to trade positions with the fairy that made that mistake. That’s for sure. Kristin and I are on Thunderstorm duty this year. She’s a Fast Flying fairy, and I swear her favourite activity is ripping all the leaves form the trees in autumn. If I didn’t know it was her favourite season, Id think she wanted to get over with the change of seasons as fast as possible.”
Techno decided that Kristin sounded like a nice person.
“Correct opinion to have. Autumn is by far the best.”
Philza looked up at Techno “Really? A garden fairy whose favourite season is fall?”
Techno grinned, leaning back onto his arms on the sunwarmed stone. “I’m in it alllll for the crops Philza. Give me a few good potatoes, carrots, maybe some corn and I’m happy.”
Philza grinned back. “You can call me Phil, by the way. I kind of prefer the nickname.”
Carl sneezed into the water, droplets hitting Philzas face.
“Techno is fine too, for me. Easier to yell in dramatic situations.”
Techno snorted as he other man hurriedly dried his face. He kinda looked like Carl when he did that. Not that he was going to bring it up, his Social Anxiety made sure of that.
“You mentioned that you and Kristin live in Autumn forest. Fall your favourite season too?” Techno did think that is genuinely sounded like a nice place to live. Especially since the leaves there didn’t have to be hand painted.
“I don’t really know. Tied with spring for sure though, I absolutely love myself a good spring rain. With a leaf umbrella, of course.” Techno got another chuckle from Phil, who stood up and stretched.
Techno agreed that they probably should get going again. He stood up too, making his way over to the wagon.
After Carl was back at his place, Philza sat down next to Techno again.
“You talk like you have seen your fair share of season changes, do I get a clue how many?” Techno had his notepad back on his lap. He idly played with his pen while he waited for Philza to answer.
“At this point…probably around 24? Im guessing? Somewhere around that, Kristin probably knows it better than me.”
Techno didn’t hide his gaping “24?? Bruhhhhh Im barely on my 4th! You are practically ancient compared to me.”
Philza cackled.
It was about halfway through their journey that three booming echos sounded out from above them. Even Carl reacted to the alarm, anxiously kneading at the thin path their cart was rolling on.
The scouts had seen a hawk.
And at the worst fucking time for them too, Techno thought.
To their right, much farther below than comfortable, was the stream running towards Lilypad pond. Their left was occupied exclusively by a small cliff face, just big enough to make climbing it an atrocious idea.
“Shit.” Phil seemed to have drawn a similar conclusion. Mainland swears werent something Techno heard often, but he had to say it felt appropriate here.
Just before he could echo the sentiment, a large shadow passed over them, accompanied by a shrill cry.
Shit.
All three of them were holding their breath. All they could do was stay still, hope the eagle would move on and take some poor sparrow instead of a fairy.
Techno had never considered himself lucky.
Another sharp cry and sharp talons crashed into the dirt cliff just above them. Philza had just been able to duck in time, his hat already in the Predators claws. Carl was squeaking up a storm, trying to get out of hisharness and eventually deciding to forego it completely and run along the narrow cliff path.
Both Phil and Techno were holding on for dear life. The shadow behind them was already flapping its wings again, looking to get them with a second strike when the cliff under them crumbled away. The water rushed to greet them way too fast for Techno’s liking. His arms came up at the last second to brace for the impact. The wind rushing past his ears was replaced with the muffled sounds of Techno struggling to get out of the water again. More dull splashes echoing next to him were all that indicated that his traveling companions had joined him.
Carl was still squeaking up a storm, trapped by the sinking wagon and clearly desperate to stay above the surface. Techno could feel his wings clinging uncomfortably to his back. Any trace of fairy dust had been washed off the moment he hit the water.
It took most of Techno’s strength to swim over to Carl. The rest of it was used to both cling to Carl with one hand and search for his knife with the other. Techno heard Phil surface on the other side of Carl. He seemed to have inhaled quite a lot of water, if the coughing and sputtering was anything to go off of. He didn’t hesitate to cut through Carls’s bindings as soon as the knife was in his hands, letting the wagon sink to the brook’s ground without any regrets.
There was a gasp from Phil, a screech from the Hawk and an eagerly swimming Carl all in the next few seconds. Once again, the Hawk only missed them just short of their wing’s tip. Techno shuddered as the Hawk landed talons first in the brook, wings hitting the water just as swiftly. Its cries continued, but its attention was now on getting itself out of the water.
Carls legs were practically stomping against the water. He was thankfully strong enough to bring both the fairies still clutching onto him for support and himself to the shore, where the trio immedicably dove into the reeds for cover.
Heavily panting, wet and now without a cart, the three of them watched through the dense foliage as the hawk took to the skies again. An angry screech called out for them as the shadow of the Hawk passed over them one last time, before the sound of flapping wings grew more and more distant.
The three of them, however, couldn’t be happier that the Hawk was missing its lunch.
They had collapsed shortly after. The quiet tense around them was only interrupted by the Brooks soft splashing.
That was until Techno sat up.
“BRUHHHH! THIS THROWS MY ENTIRE TIMETABLE OFF! AND MY NOTEPAD- PHIL NO THIS IS IMPORTANT- MY SHIPMENT-“
Phil had made a sound between a cough and a wheeze. Admiring Techno’s work ethic, no doubt.
“Yeah no, no mate. I get it. The grind never stops. Even after nearly becoming a Hawk’s lunch.” It was definitely a cackle now. Techno was sure of it.
Okay. Yeah, maybe his priorities were a bit out of order, but the Hawk didn’t know that! For all it knew it might have messed up the most important shipment of the entire summer season, and oh gods he was thinking about his notepad again. He had all his calculations in that. Oh gods he would have to redo the entire timeplan! And all the shipment information! Maybe becoming a Hawk’s Lunch would have been easier than asking other people for the copies they had made of his notes. Oh this was going to be SO embarrassing.
Carl, Phil and Techno had tried to set out for Tinkers Grove as soon as their breath had returned. Key word being tried.
It had started getting dark when they had finally admitted to themselves that they wouldn’t get to their destination that same day. Neither of them quite knew where the river, and Carl’s ensuing rescue, had carried them. But it didn’t seem like there was much air traffic around to borrow them some fairydust. And neither foottraffic to tell them where they were going.
They couldn’t be that far out from civilisation. Logically, they knew that.
But it was also dark and they were huddled around a hastily thrown together campfire. And logic doesn’t fancy campfires all that much, if the countless horror stories normally spread around them were any indication.
Between all the wet clothes, flightlessness, and unhappy mouse noises, it was kind of nice though. Techno had to admit that the campfire aesthetic was somewhat cozy. And that he was more grateful for Phil’s presence than ever. Phil seemed to echo the sentiment.
A foraging trip had earned them a few nuts, and Philza had made a makeshift bowl to fill with water.
“Where’d you learn that?” Techno had been fascinated with the seeming ease with which Phil had transformed the small blade of grass into something useful.
“Remember when I said I’m trying to help out all across the Hollow? You pick up a few tricks when you do that. Want me to teach you?”
Their nuts were still roasting in the fire, and after a short search, their impromptu bowl weaving lesson had begun.
“Like this?” Techno’s blade of grass looked more like a stepped on bug than a bowl, in his humble opinion. But Philza lit up.
“Yeah mate! You got the basics down, I can see that you get how it’s done. You just gotta change the technique a little.”
Oh, now Technos competitive streak was activated.
A few tries, and lots of discarded blades of grass later, Techno had finally made a decent bowl. Philza seemed even more ecstatic than him.
“You are such a fast learner! It took me ages to get it down, I didn’t expect you to figure it out this quickly.”
“Well, you know what they say, old men typically make for great teachers.”
Phil cackled, and Techno decided that he wanted to hear it more.
“I got enough patience from leaf painting to listen to your lessons. If they are half as useful as this I might even survive on my own the next time a Hawk tries to eat me.”
“Oh please don’t try to make this a regular occurance.” Phil had still cackled by the end of his first sentence, but it quieted at the second. “Leaf painting? Mate that sounds awesome. Don’t tell me you garden fairies have to paint them all by hand.”
Techno sighed dramatically. Time to wrap Social Butterfly Phil up into a second meeting.
“All of them. One by one. You can make them red with the Tinker’s spray painters, but the details we got to paint by hand. I can show you and Kristin in autumn, if you would like. Still a season out, but that only means that we can practice on the flower buds. They won’t paint themselves.”
Philza seemed way more fascinated than Techno had ever expected a non-garden fairy to look at the mention of his work.
“Mate I would love that! And Kristin too, I’m sure of it. That sounds like so much fun!”
Philza grinned, and Techno gave into the urge to smile back.
Talking with Phil came surprisingly easy to him, and the more stories they exchanged, the more Techno wanted to see him again.
They woke up the next morning with the first rays of sunshine. Which wasn’t surprising, in all honesty. The ground hardly made for a comfortable bed. And the foragables yesterday might have kept their hunger at bay, but even Carl seemed hungry now.
The treck back was filled with idle chatter about Phil’s various adventurous, and Techno’s crops.
“Im telling you Phil, there is no better crop than potatoes. You just need two good ones, bury them in some decent soil, water them and BOOM! You get an entire field just like them! And they taste great too!” Phil had gone between laughing and attentively nodding during Techno’s potato rant. Techno found he didn’t really mind, as long as he got to go through all his talking points.
Finally, when the sun stood right above them in the sky, they saw the crown of the Pixie dust tree slowly climb over the hill they were ascending.
From there it had felt like an hour at most, though it must have been more. But the sight of their destination had filled the both of them with enough determination to basically run towards it uninterrupted.
Tinkers grove was finally in front of them. Even if the Allium seeds weren’t with them, Techno felt some of the stress slip away. Phils presence had made nearly getting eaten a nearly worthwhile experience. Though Techno would be happy if he could avoid Hawks for a while.
“FINALLY!” Phil seemed as excited as Techno, quickly climbing down into the small Grove, with Techno following closely behind.
He felt transported back to seeing it for the first time, the hustle and bustle of the various tinkers transporting goods around for once a beautiful, rather than stressful sight. He looked towards Philza, seeing what he thought was a similar kind of relief on his face.
“Time to give a status update to he guy we were supposed to deliver the seeds to. Don’t think he’ll be happy to see us this late.”
Phil laughed “He can be happy to see us at all! I should go right home, Kristin must surely be worried by now.” The air between them was comfortable now, but one question was still burning in Techno’s mind.
“I’m assuming I can expect the two of you to show up in Buttercup Valley soon? The flower buds aren’t going to paint themselves, and I am not letting complete beginners paint autumn leaves.”
If Phil could have smiled any wider, he probably would have.
“Absolutely, Techno! I can’t wait to spent some time with you again, hopefully without a Hawk attack, though. The absolute latest you will see us again is when we leave for the mainland. Someone has to water all the flowers you paint, after all.”
Techno hadn’t expected the Allium shipment of all things to shake up his life like it did. Neither had he expected a near death experience.
But he also hadn’t thought that he would get a new friend out of it, one that he couldn’t wait to meet again.