Let's get this party started!
Hey this story gets pretty rough so here are some trigger warnings: starvation/dehydration, dehumanization, violence, torture, vaguely alluded to noncon, general angst - with a happy ending though... eventually
If Technoblade were to make a list of all the terrible situations he could think of to wake up in, his current one had to rank pretty high.
Maybe not quite top five material – there had been the Arctic Empire and the hectic wars that followed, days of getting up when he was sure he wasn't going to make it to nightfall – but this was pretty bad too. There really were no other words to use when you woke up in prison.
He tested the chains again, instinctively. Even putting his full weight on them didn't make them budge more than an inch or two, only serving to press his wrists painfully into the sharp metal before they fell back against the wall.
Pretty solid work, that. Whoever got him here must have been confident in the cuffs being enough to keep Technoblade in place, since they hadn't even bothered to restrain his hooves. He had his legs stretched out in front of him, sitting on his butt on the cold stone the cell was made of. The height his arms were fastened at made standing up an unappealing prospect unless he wanted to break his back by having to crouch awkwardly.
Looking around, the room wasn't that big. The floor was maybe six by six blocks total, but across from him, there was a staircase that slightly enlarged the space, leading up to an iron cast door with huge cliché bolts set into the framework. Real dungeon-type stuff Technoblade would probably have been impressed with if he wasn't so busy wondering why the fuck he was in here. Aside from himself, there wasn't anything in the room, no clues as to where he was or who had locked him up.
His head hurt, a painful throbbing that seemed to originate from the inside of Technoblade's skull and not any wounds he could feel that would have knocked him out. He was dizzy too, his vision hazy as if he couldn't focus properly, and while he was parched a distinct bitter taste lingered in the back of his throat. The effects of a potion, then. Leaning back against the wall, Technoblade closed his eyes and tried to recall the last memory he had before waking up in this place.
He had seen Phil off at the door of the cabin, watching him check his bags again. Technoblade could have told him he wasn't forgetting anything, Phil always packed meticulously for trips – even the short ones. This being a journey planned to last a week or more, Phil probably had already gone over his supplies multiple times.
"Watch you get there and realize you didn't bring a shovel," Techno joked instead.
Phil threw him a glare, equal parts annoyance and fondness as he slung the bag over his shoulder.
The door was thrown open hard enough to hit the wall, the smack of iron against stone deafening. Technoblade shot his eyes up, trying not the wince at how the noise aggravated his headache. There was a shape standing in the doorway, backlit and indiscernible through the blur. They started down the stairs slowly, step by step. Taking their damn time.
Techno closed his eyes again, sinking back into the memory.
Phil gave one final wave over his shoulder as he disappeared from view. Ranboo was waving back, shuffling on his feet in the snow and making furrows. Techno remembered him heading back to his shack too after they exchanged a few words, as Techno set off for the dog house to do the morning feeding. By the time he was done Ranboo was gone, so he went inside.
The tea Phil had made them was still on the table, rapidly going cold. Technoblade remembered picking it up.
After that-
The one who had entered the room hummed, the kind of low-pitched reverberation of amused curiosity usually reserved for people Technoblade distinctly disliked. He could already tell he was not going to get along with this person, regardless of the whole kidnapping and chaining him up in a basement thing.
Finally, he looked up at them on the staircase, to note with faint confusion it wasn't anybody he recognized.
Which was not entirely unexpected perhaps. Techno wasn't exactly known for being the most popular guy around and had made plenty of enemies on the server, but his notoriety would keep most of them from doing something as overtly stupid as whatever this was. After the Butcher Army disaster, he thought his days of being hunted for sport had been behind him. It made sense that this person was somebody who hadn't gotten the message.
Their stride had a playful lightness to it as they skipped the last step. "Well fancy meeting you here!" Their speaking voice was even more grating than he expected. As they approached Techno, he strained his eyes to focus, until he could finally make out their face from the haze over his vision. As if to help him do so, they kneeled in front of him and cupped his chin with one hand, forcing him to look up at them. "Then again, maybe not since I was the one who took you home."
Their lighthearted tone stunned him and Technoblade frowned. "What?"
"Hmm, not as eloquent as they told me you were," they chimed while taking a step back, sounding amused at his expense. It made anger flare up in his gut.
He didn't need the voices to know the violent urge to kill this person running in his veins. He wanted so badly to tear down the shackles keeping his arms suspended above him, clasp his hands around their throat and squeeze until they had gone pale and hollow. Rip their throat out, gore them until their guts spilled, kill them- but the pounding in his head hadn't stopped and he already knew the chains were too sturdy.
So instead Techno bared his tusks and growled his annoyance.
They drew up an eyebrow, less than impressed. Then they stepped forward to breach the remainder of the distance between them again, face to face. "Threatening me already?" Their eyes were a light grey like the moon when it had reached its peak, obscured by strands of dark hair. "Funny thing is you haven't even asked me why you're here yet. I expected that to be your first question."
Talking was straining through his parched throat, but hell if Techno was going to let that show. He swallowed and mustered up his effort to speak. "Funny thing is I don't particularly care."
"Oh?" Their lips curled upwards. "And why's that?"
"Because I don't expect to stick around long enough to find out, really."
It hadn't been a bluff – a warning maybe, but not a bluff – yet the man just laughed.
And not even a light chuckle, full-on breathless doubled over laughter. They slapped their knee, acting as if his intimidation was a joke to them. As they leaned back on their heels, drew their shoulders up, they mockingly pretended to wipe a tear from their eye. "Good one. Now it's my turn to tell you something."
With a single quick movement, they had come close enough to make Technoblade profoundly uncomfortable. Their slender fingers weaved into the long strands of his hair - almost gently so - until they got close enough to his scalp to grab a painful hold on him. They angled his head up, the position he had been shackled in making it so they could look down at him more easily.
"I'm not scared of you," they said coldly. Techno would have snorted at those words since he had heard them a hundred times before, usually from men he was about to slay, if a sharp tug on his hair didn't keep him from doing so. "What's more, I want you to know I absolutely relish this. I'm afraid your reputation proceeds you, Blood God. It has made you the predictable choice for somebody with my ambitions. But I won't lie and say I won't enjoy this."
"What are you even going on about?" Techno managed through grinding teeth. Every inch of him was screaming out to bite this guy's nasty fingers so they would never lay a hand on him again, but even more so his instincts told him that would only make the situation worse.
A chuckle reverberated through their chest, and with them pressed so close against him Techno could almost feel it echo across his skin. The hand not twined in his hair moved over his body slowly, appraising him in a decidedly unpleasant way. "Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you?"
"Not really." Keeping his voice careless was a chore. He wanted to move, to kick, to fling this puny human off him like it was nothing, but between the chains and the drugs, his body refused him. "But I have a sneaking suspicion you're about to tell me."
With a slight hum, they finally let go of his hair. The painful prickling lingered, but Techno ignored it when they hooked their hand around the front of his shirt instead, pulling him closer still. Their breath ghosted against his mouth. "Hm, maybe not. I could just leave you in anticipation."
"Don't do me any favors."
Another short laugh as they lightly shoved him back against the wall, straightening to their full posture. They were tall, not as tall as Technoblade probably but the angle wasn't helping any. Lanky limbs reminded Techno of a spider or some other kind of insect. The kind that most loved having their prey at their mercy, helpless to escape.
"Glad we're on the same page." Their smile stretched across their face, thin and insincere. "You're a smart thing, you'll figure it out soon enough anyway. In the meantime, we can start on your training."
If he had any more energy left in him to expend, Technoblade would have probably bristled at the choice of those terms. It stuck on his tongue, iron and resentment. He wasn't going to dwell on how a single word could make the blood freeze in his veins, make his heart stall in his chest.
He wasn't going to dwell on any unpleasant memories it could stir.
Not when it was such an easy thing to push down, turn away, lock it up in a small box that had the voices chanting in disapproval and him crawling with it beneath his skin.
Until they reached into their pocket and pulled out a long flat circle of metal that glinted in the torchlight.
"You'll make a good fighter, someday." That person had said. "A fine weapon."
They took a step forward and Technoblade lashed out with one leg, too alarmed to aim right. They sidestepped him easily, the collar in their hands already unlatched. Blind panic made him kick again, managing to hit them in the knee this time but they recovered too fast, and then their hand was in his hair once more.
Pulling forward first, they slammed his head into the wall hard enough for stars to explode in Technoblade's vision. The headache erupted, overcame him, and he was barely aware of the collar being tightened around his neck until he could feel the squeeze of it. The man left his hand to linger above it, pressed to his throat. Seconds away from cutting off his airway.
"You didn't like that one bit, did you?" they asked, and it was with some detached satisfaction that Techno noted the pained undertone of their voice. They might have won, but he had still managed to hurt them. "Not keen on behaving yourself?"
Technoblade spit in their face.
Their hand pushed down, fingertips pressing bruises into his throat and he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything. Blood dripped down the back of Techno's head while dark spots danced around his vision, overtaking all else. They let go seconds before he could pass out.
"You know, I'm feeling quite generous so I'm letting you off easy for that one," they said, mock affection dripping from every syllable as they petted his cheek. "But starting tomorrow, we'll have to teach you how a pet shouldn't disobey their master, or there'll be punishments."
Before Technoblade could even process his own nausea at that statement they had already left, slamming the door behind them.