BUNNYBLADE HEADCANONS TIME!

So there's this headcanon where Bunnyblade loses his leg because it's actually a fake leg... I ran with it-

Technoblade was a mere kit when his warren got destroyed.

Only just a handful of years in age, barely considered old enough to stray outside without his mother's watchful eye on him at all times. That same mother whom he had then seen viciously slain in front of him along with his siblings – seven of them total, though Techno always had been the runt of the litter. Perhaps this meant there was some irony to him being the one who survived.

He had escaped because unlike his littermates, he was small and agile and knew when to run and where to hide. Nobody else of the warren made it out of the attack alive, Techno watched them all die. Concealed, trembling, too scared to move from his shelter yet unable to close his eyes or look away.

The next day he left, fleeing the scent of his family's blood that would carry on the wind.

Life wasn't easy after that. Rabbit hybrids were prey animals, their communities were large and close-knit, relying on each other to keep them safe. Techno had only himself to rely on, meaning he had to grow twice as strong, sprint twice as quick. He dug for materials all day then crafted them to usefulness while sitting at the flickering light of his campfire. He ate whatever he could get his hands on, be it flowers or leaves or grass. Anything that would help against the hunger cramps keeping him up at night. Before long the comfort and warmth of his warren felt like a distant memory from eons ago he was starting to forget.

Techno didn't need them anymore, he knew how to take care of himself.

But this still led to him getting cornered one dark night, certain of his own death.

Pain was barely an issue at the moment. And Techno knew this should concern him because the fact he didn't feel how much he should reasonably be hurting meant his body was succumbing to blood loss and going into shock. The bandages on his leg weren't holding up, drenched in blood and slipping off. Beneath it pulsed his torn flesh - what remained at the end of a stump that had once been his leg.

Two days ago a nild had attacked him, a huge bird-like creature with feathers of jet black and an appetite for rabbit meat. Technoblade had defended himself fiercer than any bunny ever had, biting at the talons that clawed into him until it had no choice but to let go. But it was so much bigger and stronger than him. What use did his fighting have except to prolong the inevitable?

He had escaped its clutches one leg short, only finding time to halfway seal the injury by use of fire (a painful process that didn't even work as intended) and craft himself a temporary crutch before it had given chase. Hours had been spent by Technoblade evading its shadow, concealing himself in some tiny hole until it would inevitably catch on to his scent again and he had no choice but to keep moving. Part of him had hoped it would grow bored and give up to go in search of easier prey.

Sadly, that had been too much to hope for. Having had a first taste of his flesh, this nild was not intended on letting him go.

The sun set and rose once more, Techno's heartbeat not slowing down enough to allow sleep. Not that he would risk it anyway, lest he be gobbled up as soon as his eyes closed. Then the moon came out again and he was scampering for safety, feeling desperate and exhausted. How often had his wound reopened? How long ago did he find the time to eat or drink? At this rate, he would bleed out before getting a chance to treat himself.

The nild screeched, its anger only ignited further by Techno's struggling. He could hear its wings beat the air, beak pecking repeatedly at the ground in an effort to get to him. Techno couldn't outrun it anymore, but he could sprint into clumps of trees it had no hope of squeezing between. It almost worked until he felt claws digging into his back.

He fell to the ground with a sharp cry and that was enough for the nild to grab onto his ankle and drag him towards it. Twisting and turning, Techno rolled over and tried to jab his crutch into its horrible beady eyes to no avail. What little light there was reflected iridescently in its feathers that were forming a cage around him, making it so their darkness would be all he saw before dying.

Techno only hoped his meeting with Inlé would be swift.

That great weight was knocked off him suddenly, shrieking filling the night sky. Techno stayed stunned for all of three seconds before he came to his senses, realizing that whatever had attacked the nild was just as likely to finish its job of killing him as well. Abandoning the crutch he'd wasted, he struggled upright with the help of a tree, using it to lean his weight against. Everything had already gone quiet – much quicker than he'd expected it to.

Something moved behind him.

A voice started speaking, but whatever they were saying got lost when Techno turned and such familiar black wings filled his vision. His breathing skipped and he pressed himself further into the tree, trying to shrink away. They reached out and – acting on some horrible amalgamation of pure instinct and blind fear – Techno surged forward to bite their hand. Not the most sophisticated manner to defend himself, but desperate times and such. The person he had bitten cursed and took a step back, enough for Techno to slip past them.

Or he would have if pushing off from the tree hadn't made his head swim with dizziness. He knew he was about to lose his balance and tumble to the ground, but the person with the horrible bird-like appearance caught him before he could. They were still talking, Techno didn't even care to try and tune into their words though. The exhaustion of the past few days was finally catching up to him, which combined with how much he'd been bleeding and what was probably the start of a serious infection from how badly he'd been treating his injury meant he had a choice between either trying hard to pay attention and probably still fail in doing so, or just let unconsciousness take over.

Aware of what the better option was, Technoblade simply closed his eyes.

Philza knew he could come across to others as intimidating.

He might not have inherited the impressive height most Elytrians possessed, The great wings on his back did much of the heavy lifting – both literally and figuratively. When flared out they spanned about sixteen feet total and were powerful enough to create gusts of wind that would knock a grown man onto their ass. Meanwhile, Phil's legs ended in a set of talons that could firmly hook into rock and cliffside for him to keep his balance on uneven terrain, yet were equally able to gut a cow with their sharpness. His hands were more human at first glance, but closer inspection would reveal the blackened claws extending from his fingertips. Add to all this the patches of obsidian feathers that replaced normal skin on various spots of his body and it wasn't a mystery to Phil as to why most might be taken aback upon first meeting him.

So truly, he did not take it to heart that the mysterious rabbit hybrid had bitten him only moments after Phil had risked life and limb to save them.

Really, he didn't. Considering the poor thing was short a leg – torn off, not amputated by any medical means – and seemed to be running on empty, Phil assumed their hostility to be due to the rather traumatic circumstances he'd found them in. They fainted almost immediately after too. Phil scooped them up to bring them back to their commune, not even certain of their chances of survival at this point. They looked half-dead already.

When he got to the Pube, Phil was relieved to see Sneeg and Wilbur were both around to help him apply whatever first aid they could. Niki was also there, but confined to her tank she couldn't do much more than offer helpful advice and suggestions. Her moral support was still appreciated. Before long they had the horrific wound on the rabbit's leg cleaned and wrapped up, as well as the injuries on their back sorted out. Bundled up warmly in one of the spare beds of their community pub, all that remained for them was to wait for their guest to wake up so they could get some nutrients in them.

Phil volunteered to keep watch.

It only felt right, seeing as he was the one who had found them. Word spread across their little town quickly, others started dropping by to catch a glance at the mysterious newcomer but Phil chased them out of the room they were resting in at least. He didn't think they'd want to wake up to a bunch of strangers staring at them. For an entire day, he sat at their bedside, checking on their temperature to see if an infection was brewing.

And then they opened their eyes.

They blinked around wearily at first, clearly needing a moment to even process they hadn't died. Phil waited patiently for them to get their bearings, not wanting to overwhelm them. When they started to shift their arms, head lifting from the two pillows Phil had provided them, he felt it safe to reintroduce himself.

"Good morning."

Neutral, light tone of voice, just pulling their attention towards him so he could explain exactly what happened.

The rabbit's gaze fell on him, on his wings. They flinched so badly the bed knocked into the pub's wooden wall noisily.

"It's alright," Phil said – because this too was something he was used to. Intimidating Elytrian, he got it. People usually only needed a few seconds and a couple of kind words to warm up to him. "We're not going to hurt you, mate. I brought you here because you seemed to be in a bit of a pinch-"

They growled at him.

"Oh! Uhm, I'm..." Phil tried, but he couldn't get any further into his sentence before their eyes shifted to the open door behind him and they bolted for it. It was impossible to tell if they had forgotten about their missing limb or were just that frantic about getting away from him that they'd risk potential further injury over staying in the room. Phil had to duck if he didn't want to get kicked in the face, still getting hit in the shoulder by their remaining leg.

It slammed him into the wall – rabbit hybrids had a mean kick to them.

This was quickly followed by ruckus from outside. Other people were in the pub and going from the sounds they'd been surprised to suddenly have a panicking bunny among them. Phil tried to catch up in hopes of defusing the situation, only to find their newcomer already sitting on the floor looking a lot calmer, with Wilbur kneeling in front of them and talking in a soft voice. Phil could see him smiling encouragingly, to which the rabbit hybrid nodded.

He started to approach.

Both heads turned towards him. They flinched again – less noticeably, but more than clear enough for Phil to catch. He stopped moving immediately.

"Phil, I don't- Maybe you should sit this one out?" Wilbur offered, ever taking the route of diplomacy. He was a chaotic little fuck, but Phil knew he'd been elected the leader of their commune for a good reason.

Trying hard to make his voice sound normal, Phil responded. "Yeah, of course."

He watched as Wilbur and Beau supported the rabbit hybrid between them to get them back to the bed. Then – because he didn't know what to do with himself or how to feel and conflict of emotions always led to Phil wanting to keep his hands busy and his mind busier – he went back to his nest to start working on a new project.

Afterward, Wilbur found him and finally filled him in on what was happening.

The rabbit had introduced himself as Technoblade. He was a wanderer with no home, which meant he'd probably be living in the commune with them. And he was incredibly, absolutely, very very uncomfortable with Phil.

"He's not scared of you," Wilbur said, holding up his hands. "He's made it very clear I should say this, not scared. But, well... the thing that took his leg-"

"I get it," Phil said. "I'll just have to give him some space, hm?" He didn't look up from his work to see Wilbur's facial expression. The phantom whirred a happy little tune.

"Exactly man! I'm sure it'll turn out."

It did not, in fact, turn out.

Not as fast as Phil would have liked it to at least. The next time he saw Technoblade was inside the Pube again. Phil went there to grab some materials, and Techno was sitting at one of the tables, talking to Niki.

He visibly tensed when Phil entered.

Their conversation carried on while Phil went about his business, but the entire time he couldn't shake the feeling that Techno was keeping an eye on him, as if wary he'd try something. Phil ignored it as best he could, but when he passed by them again on his way out Techno finally spoke to him – the first time he had.

"Thanks."

"What?" Phil asked, half turning and as he did he automatically tucked his wings behind him, as if to hide them.

"Thanks," Techno repeated. His long pink ears twitched, paw thumping on the ground. He was nervous. "I mean, for saving my life. Thank you."

"Anytime," Phil told him with a smile.

Techno kind of halfway nodded, halfway shrugged. Then he went back to talking to Niki. Phil would count it as a win.

Similar encounters kept happening for days, Techno greeted him politely but with indifference. He never quite relaxed when Phil was around or seemed in the mood to talk. He always left rather quickly. And Phil didn't feel guilty about that exactly, he knew he hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't his fault that Technoblade had been found under such terrible circumstances. But then why wouldn't his thoughts stop bothering him with ideas on how to 'make things up' to Techno somehow?

Or maybe it was more accurate to say he wanted to do something nice for the rabbit hybrid. Even if only to soothe his own selfish conscience.

The idea came to him one rainy afternoon. A lot of people had gathered in the Pube to shelter from the storm, enjoying a lively atmosphere and warm fires. It almost made things so Phil didn't notice how Techno tensed up every time Phil stretched his wings, shaking them out to escape the cold. He quickly tucked them away again and pretended to be looking in one of the communal chests, because he didn't want Techno to know he was watching his reactions. His hand curled around a carrot, probably somebody's surplus from a vegetable farm that they'd left behind for whoever needed it. When Phil pulled it out, Techno tensed again.

Not in the way he'd done before though. No nervous energy or lingering fear. Techno's ears swiveled towards Phil in attention, sitting up a little straighter in his chair. Phil couldn't help his amused frown.

"You want these, mate?" he asked, holding out the bundle of carrots.

"I love carrots," Technoblade said – which wasn't truly an answer but Phil thought he knew what the rabbit was playing at.

"Great, they're yours then."

"Nice." Techno blinked at him from his seat at the table. He gestured at his leg, the crutch that was leaning against his chair but which he clearly didn't feel like wrestling with at the moment. "Uh, do you mind bringing them over?"

Phil scrambled to get up, handing Techno the carrots to be rewarded with a content hum. When he got home, he started working on his new project immediately. Gathering the materials wouldn't be difficult, but it would take time he'd rather spend fiddling with the design so he asked Tommy for help.

"You know Phil, Techno doesn't like you."

Oh, the things he put up with from that kid.

"I'm a great guy though, everybody likes me. I think it's because I'm built different."

"It's because you look like a skinned chicken," Phil told him. Tommy turned around so fast he hit Phil in the chest with a feathery wing.

"I do not!"

"Look at these, you can't fly with them." Phil pushed him out of the door, chicken wings and all. "I don't think you could intimidate anybody if you tried. Techno likes you because you're a harmless toddler."

"I'll have you know I'm a big man, Phil." Tommy puffed out his chest, which automatically made him puff out his wings too. Phil did his best not to laugh in his face. "And Techno likes me because I'm building him a carrot farm."

"So you're bribing him."

"No, Phil, you just don't get what it takes to function on my level. Also, you're literally asking my help to bribe him too?"

Phil sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose. "I'm asking your help in getting me metal, I don't have time to go mining. Do we have a deal or not."

"Oh, we have a deal." Tommy's grin made Phil second-guess if what he'd promised in return was really worth it.

He did get his metal though, working tirelessly through the night to finish his design. As he had done a few times before, Phil went to seek out Techno at the Pube the next time he could, carrying with him a purpose.

Techno was still hesitant around him, though the carrots had certainly helped. Phil hoped this would be the convincing factor to turn their relationship around.

"Hey! I know we kinda started off on the wrong foot..." he paused, making sure his words could sink in, "so I brought you a new one."

He plopped the prosthetic leg that took him hours of work down onto the table. Phil had some trouble figuring out the design, knowing that a normal prosthesis would add too much weight and not enough flexibility for a rabbit hybrid to be of any use. That's why what he had made was only robust at the top where the socket was meant to connect to Techno's thigh. From there it consisted of a single metal pylon for sturdiness and to allow for full mobility of the bending piece beneath, a spring-loaded foot that wouldn't keep Techno from performing any of his usual running or jumping.

Techno took a moment to register what the fuck it was Phil had brought him, then in delayed reaction he processed the joke too and laughed.

"Okay, yeah, that's pretty funny."

Phil knelt on the floor so he could help Techno attach it, satisfied to see he had gotten the measurements more or less perfectly. Small adjustments would be easy to make. When he got up he helped Techno to find his balance, keeping his arm around Phil's shoulder for the first steps so he'd get used to the difference it made.

And when they almost tripped and Phil instinctively flared his wings out and wrapped one around Techno's shoulder protectively, the other didn't even recoil.

"I think you should test this bad boy out, and I think you should do so by raiding Tommy's carrot farm. Because making this thing might have required me to promise him I wouldn't touch his carrots so he can maintain his monopoly. I didn't promise anything about you touching them though."

Techno grinned at him. It was the first time Phil had truly seen him smile.

"I think that's an excellent idea."

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