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Technoblade had vowed to himself that he would get Ranboo out of this mess even if he'd have to carry him, and that was exactly what was happening.

He hadn't seen Ranboo fall. Through darkness and the chase, Techno had been a bit more occupied with keeping himself from between the teeth of the beasts. But he'd heard it – the sound of flesh meeting earth and the crash Ranboo made when he near-rolled into the river before coming to a sudden stop at the other end. Techno knew it was bad, it sounded bad. By the time he got there, Ranboo was already out the water though, looking dazed yet fine aside from some superficial burns and his ankle that was angled the way an ankle wasn't supposed to at all.

Not broken, Techno had seen immediately. Sprained, dislocated, bruised. All of those they could cope with. He hoisted Ranboo onto his back with some difficulty. The enderman wasn't that heavy – heavier than Phil, whose hollow bones often made Techno suspect an overly ambitious breeze could probably carry the man off. But not heavy, just lanky and kind of awkward to haul around. Plus, Techno's leg wasn't in the best condition.

Between Chat's upbeat chorus of Technosupport and Technocarry (interrupted by the occasional Hounds pog? because they were strange and big fans of animals whether those animals were trying to murder Techno or not), he carried Ranboo down the river. He walked with his hooves submerged in the water, hoping it would help wipe out whatever remained of their scent.

No trail, no more pursuers close enough for Techno to hear. If they were lucky, this meant they could rest at some point. The wound on his thigh hurt and it hadn't stopped bleeding. Techno was aware of the slick of blood seeping through the make-shift bandage and running down his leg. It just had to be his luck that the cut managed to nick an artery. Walking in the river would also help wash that away. They didn't need another track to be left in their wake.

When it was getting so dark that continuing on would be more trouble than it was worth, he stepped out of the water. Ranboo had fallen asleep, chin tucked loosely against Technoblade's shoulder. His arms hung over Techno's chest and he had his knees hoisted around his middle, but it was still a deadweight more than anything. They wouldn't be able to walk far on uneven terrain like this.

So he walked just enough to be under the shelter of the tree's thick canopy and then carefully put Ranboo down. Being jolted woke him up right away.

"Ah, cr- you didn't happen to see if I hit my head on the way down?"

Techno raised an eyebrow. "I didn't, but it wouldn't surprise me."

"Think my skull got a good bash," Ranboo complained. "Feels very scrambled up there."

"Drink some." Techno had picked up a couple of decent-sized rocks to make a circle and proceeded to pick out twigs and grass that could serve as kindling. They were far enough from the river the plants were dry and could catch a spark easily. If they could make one. "You think you can get a fire going?"

"I can try." Ranboo took the piece of wood from him. Techno had already used his sword to carve a notch.

"Good, I'll see if there's any food around. And something to help your ankle."

He walked a few steps and then – as soon as he was out of Ranboo's sight – stopped trying to keep his leg as straight as he'd been and limped the rest of the distance. Using it as he normally would made the pain worse. Techno checked on the wound, cursing when he noticed that being chased through the forest hadn't done it any good. The cut was larger than before – torn open by the excess movement - and still flowing lazily with half-congealed blood, running had splashed dirt and mud into it as well. He wiped at it with the soaked rag, trying to get the worst out of it. Avoiding an infection would be a miracle at this point.

But he had Ranboo to worry about. And Ranboo had himself to worry about. It would just have to be dealt with later.

He searched around until he found a bush with edible berries hanging from it, collecting handfuls to take back. A proper meal would have to wait too, but it'd be better than sleeping on an empty stomach. He also grabbed a few handfuls of moss. When he got to where he'd left Ranboo, the enderman had already managed to get a fire going. It was a pitiful thing, small flames licking at their improvised tinders with zeal despite there not being enough fuel to grow into a real blaze. It would still provide them with light throughout the pitch-black night and maybe even some much needed warmth.

"Next time we go out together I'll be sure to provide a five-course dinner," Techno said, plopping down on the ground next to Ranboo. "But today all I have is berries. Non-poisonous though. Only the best for us."

"Non-poisonous anything sounds great right about now." Ranboo cupped his palms, smiling when Techno deposited a heap of the red treats into it. "Ah, my favorite."

Techno stuffed a few into his own mouth. They were pretty good. "I thought cake was your favorite?"

"Oh, why did you have to mention cake. It'll only make me more hungry," Ranboo complained wryly. "Do you think Niki will make us one when we get home?"

"I think we can guilt-trip her into making us one, easy."

Once they finished the berries, Techno wrapped Ranboo's ankle in the moss and more pieces of cloth, pulling tight enough that it would compress the injury. He shoved over a log for him to elevate the limb on too. "Keep it raised and hopefully you can walk again on it by morning."

Then they crawled closer to each other, a tree at their back for support and hunched shoulder to shoulder to share their body warmth. The night was loud – it often was in the woods. Techno tilted his head back to watch the stars and found comfort in those unfamiliar noises.

It wouldn't be long now. A day, maybe two. Then he could fall back asleep to the rumbling purr of Steve curling up on the floor and the Tundra wind assaulting the walls of the cabin.

Technoblade woke up shivering.

He groaned, rubbed a hand down his face and tried to sit up. The fire must have died during the night, and it could still be early morning when the forest was wet with dew and the temperature wasn't comfortable yet. Maybe Ranboo had rolled over or shifted in his sleep and wasn't next to him anymore. Anything that would explain why he felt chilled to the bone.

When he finally managed to pry his eyes open – wincing at how the light made his headache three times worse – he discovered that, nope, none of that was the case. In fact, it was probably closer to noon already. They had both been so exhausted they hadn't woken up any earlier. Ranboo was lying against him and Techno was shivering.

Which meant he probably had a fever.

His leg hurt, the wound had started pounding painfully and that too was a sign of infection. The bleeding had finally stopped, but not before it covered his pants that were now crusty and dark. Techno sighed – Chat yelled at him about tending to the injury but he ignored them.

They needed to keep going. They didn't have any time to waste.

He woke Ranboo up with more berries, then checked on his ankle. It looked good to walk on again, just like Techno had hoped.

"Let's keep going," Techno said. "We should be closer to the portal when Phil gets there. Save the old man the trouble of searching for us." Ranboo nodded.

Except the world kept spinning whenever he tried to straighten and the tiny amount he'd eaten was already making him feel sick. Except he'd slept for close to twelve hours and was still tired.

Techno knew they had to keep going.

They couldn't rest more. They had to keep going.

And when Techno tried to do just that - tried to walk this off as he'd done with so many other things before - dark spots took over his vision, made everything narrow down to nothing. He didn't properly hear what Ranboo said - only that he'd yelled something. Then nothing.