Wrote this for 'Voices for the Blade'. It was a lovely project where we all made content to honor Technoblade's memory o7
Just a little child!Techno fluff with emduo crumbs
What Techno had found did not look like it belonged in the Nether.
It had similar colors to the warped forest he had been to a few times, south of the sounder. But that was a completely different direction from where he currently was and those trees did not hum. The shape was off too, sharp-angled and smooth. Man-made. The surface shimmered, pulsating with waves that made it look like it was moving even though it wasn't. Techno didn't like it, it felt… wrong.
The elders had warned about this once or twice. They told stories to their shoats of strange holes that would open up and swallow them whole. Techno thought this might be one of those holes, but if it was he could not see the bottom of it. He stepped closer, looking around. Even the meandering hoglins seemed to stray in an arc around this area. Danger hung heavy in the air, making his tail stand up a bit in attention.
He shouldn't mess with it, he really shouldn't.
But, well, Techno was a curious little thing. All the brutes agreed, often grunting their annoyance over his antics between themselves. He wasn't as good at listening as the other piglets. That's why he was out here in the first place. And the purple shone so brilliantly, mesmerizing him. Just touching it once wouldn't hurt, right? He wasn't going to be dumb and fall in.
Holding onto the hilt of the gold sword he'd stolen from the armory and tucked into his belt before leaving, Techno took a step closer.
The purple mist did not feel like Techno thought it would.
It felt… sticky. Like lava cream, but thinner. It also wasn't as cold as he expected it to be.
More importantly, his hand just came out the other side. Weird. He let out a surprised little oink. That didn't seem dangerous to him at all. Emboldened by this discovery, he stepped into the frame. It tickled a little, the skin on his arms and his legs prickled strangely but not unpleasantly. When he looked around the ground and rocks surrounding him looked purple too, despite Techno knowing they weren't.
The humming got louder all at once. He reached up and covered his ears with his hands, closing his eyes and tucking his chin into his chest, whining. Nope, not liking this anymore. So he jumped out of the mist again, hoping it would make the noise quiet down.
Instead of the netherrack he'd been expecting, his hooves hit something soft.
Techno stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden change. His eyes shot open again, the sight before him taking his breath away and making his heart hammer in his chest.
There was no roof. Or if there was, it was way up somewhere and had turned blue somehow. A big ball of fire hung in it and when Techno looked at it he flinched, finding the brightness near painful. He rubbed at his face, looking around his immediate surroundings instead. There were trees and grass like he was used to, but they also looked completely different. The air moved around him, but it wasn't the thermic expel of gas pockets caused by lava in the walls. This breeze seemed to come from nowhere.
Techno stuck out his arm, watching this strange phenomenon rustle the thin shirt he was wearing. Some of it blew hair into his face and he sputtered, trying to get it out of his mouth.
He took a few more steps before spinning around again. The same portal he had stepped into was still there. He'd just gone through it. Where had it taken him? If he would go through it again, would he end up back home?
While it'd probably be smarter of him to do that he wanted to look around first.
The place he had ended up in was huge. He pushed through shrubs and swerved through trees, only finding more space to explore. Strange plants grew here, some big and some small. The ground sloped sideways so Techno carefully followed the curve of the rocks down until he found lava.
Or not lava. It was colorless and it didn't radiate any heat. But it definitely looked liquid, streaming between deep furrows. Kneeling down, Techno stuck his hand into it. It felt a bit like the portal, just colder. When he pulled his hand back, it clung to him and he shook his hand to get rid of the droplets.
A voice behind him made him jump.
Techno growled, pulling the sword from his hip and holding it in front of himself protectively.
The man who had spoken to him just stared back, looking thoroughly unimpressed. His striped hat was tipped back to keep the light that had hurt Techno earlier from getting in his eyes. He was holding a fishing rod braced against one shoulder, using his other arm to cling to a basket full of… something. Techno couldn't tell. He had his wings spread a little to help keep his balance.
The man said something else. Techno shook his head. He only understood a few words of common, definitely not these ones. Humans came into the Nether sometimes to trade, some of them even brave enough to approach the sounder. But Techno was only ever able to spot them from afar because the brutes kept the shoats far away from any non-piglins that did enter their villages, let alone allow them anywhere near the bastions.
Probably realizing Techno could not understand him, the man hummed and nodded. A few more words of common passed his lips before he started trying to talk in an atrocious piglin accent. "You no sick?"
To Techno, this man spoke as if he had a bunch of gold nuggets in his mouth. He snorted out a laugh, which made the man chuckle too even though he probably didn't know what they were laughing about.
"Sick," he repeated. Then pointed at Techno. "Others sick. You not?"
Techno didn't know what that meant. He did know one thing though. "I'm different from other piglins."
The man nodded again. He could have probably told this from a glance, Techno knew anybody with eyes could see he was a hybrid and not a piglin. But having this confirmation must have soothed some unknown worry of the man because he then started approaching. Techno hissed, raising his sword a little more.
"I mean no harm," the man said. Compared to the other words, these came out a lot clearer. As if he'd had to use this phrase a lot of times before. "My name is Phil."
"Ph'l?" Techno echoed, and the man smiled encouragingly.
"Yes, me." He held his hand against his chest, the rod almost falling in the process. "You?"
Techno told him his name in piglin first but at the clear confusion on Phil's face, switched to common.
"Techno."
"It's nice to meet you, Techno."
Techno titled his head, not fully understanding but getting the gist of it. Phil still switched back to piglin.
"You lost?"
Techno shook his head, stomping his hoove a little. He wasn't lost, he knew exactly where the portal was. It was…. He looked around. Somewhere, somewhere around here? Probably?
"Here." Phil reached into the basket and pulled out something that was round and green. Techno squinted at it, not recognizing it at first. "You take."
Unsure, Techno dug into his own pocket. He had one small, misshapen piece of gold left. Barely even a nugget. He still offered it to Phil in exchange for the trade.
Phil didn't refuse it. He had definitely traded with piglins before. What he handed to Techno was a type of food, going by the smell. Tangy and a little sour. Techno bit into it with no hesitation, delighted as the juice flooded his mouth. It tasted good, very good.
"Come with me," Phil said, tugging on his hand. Distracted by the food, Techno allowed himself to be led by Phil back up the hill.
They came onto the portal again in no time. Pushing the small of his back, Phil urged him to enter it. Techno dragged his hooves a bit, not liking being told what to do. But Phil persisted.
"Safer," he said. "In there, safer for you. Your home."
"Your home?" Techno asked him in turn.
Phil shook his head. "My home nearby. Your home in there."
The expression on Techno's face was close to a pout. Phil rolled his eyes and said some more in common that Techno couldn't parse. He didn't stop pushing him towards the portal.
"I visit you," Phil promised. "Other time. I visit."
With a grunt, Techno relented. Phil was clearly not going to give this up, besides he'd get in trouble if he made the brutes look for him much longer. They'd get concerned and all huffy and sneaking out next time would be that much more difficult if he had so many eyes on him.
Stepping back into the portal, before he could even blink this time he was back in the Nether exactly where he had left it. Still munching on his gift, Techno headed home.
—
When five days later Phil still hadn't come by to visit, Techno found himself at that portal again.
He'd been coming by a lot since then, just waiting for Phil to finally show up. He was going to grow tired of waiting eventually.
Passing through it was as easy as the first time. What met him on the other side wasn't.
Techno covered his head with his arms. That burning orb was gone, replaced by the much softer pale glow of something else. Countless lights shone far in the distance, reminding Techno far more of the nether roof than the blue had before. More importantly, it was raining.
Out of instinct, he almost dodged back into the portal. What they got in the Nether was always the acidic rain of buildup sulfur and condensation, falling down on warped forests or souls sand plains. What stopped him was the smell, though. This rain did not smell like the acid rain did. This scent was fresh, like the place he had met Phil at. What was pouring from up above must be the same liquid. Curiously, Techno held out his hand.
He shivered because it was so cold. But it was definitely harmless.
Judging that there was no danger, he started walking. Last time he hadn't paid a lot of attention, but Techno tried heading more or less in the same direction. The dark made it hard to see though. He wasn't used to there not being a single light source, not a lone pool of lava or glowshroom in sight.
Half-blind, he stumbled through the forest like he had before. And like before, it was a noise that startled him into spinning around.
What had crept up behind him wasn't Phil this time though. It was a strange black creature with multiple legs and angry red eyes. It sprung at Techno and it was only his own deep-seated survival instincts which made him duck out of the way in time. He pulled out his sword, and when the creature sprung again, buried the blade into its open maw.
It hissed horribly, blood pouring out of the wound. Techno let out a series of high-pitched victory squeals, dancing around his kill like he had seen the hunting parties do. His celebration was short-lived however, since more of those creepy things started crawling from between the trees. Techno killed four more, but for every one he got rid of, two new ones would appear. One even managed to bite him. His leg burned from it, the injury shallow but painful.
Deciding a tactical retreat was in order, he ran.
It only made his leg hurt worse. Between the darkness and the rain, he couldn't see more than a hoglin's width in front of himself, so it wasn't exactly a surprise when the ground disappeared from beneath his feet.
Techno fell, rolling down the hill only to land in a heap at the bottom. He grunted, displeasure evident. It quickly turned into a loud whine, as baby piglins did when asking for the support of the sounder.
Nope, this place sucked. He definitely much preferred the Nether.
Phil found him like that, a pathetic little curled up mess. Techno had made enough noise to alert him, since it turned out Phil only lived a little past the trees at the bottom of the hill. A whole speech in common came out of Phil's mouth which Techno gladly ignored because he didn't understand a word. Phil picked him up, bundling him up into his cloak. The not-lava had soaked Techno through completely by then, so he was grateful for the added protection.
Phil's house was small but cozy, a little cabin made from bright wood and with a fire burning inside. He put Techno down on a strange, cushy chair that sunk under his weight. Almost as if he would disappear into it. Wings shaking off more of the rain, Phil immediately opened a box and pulled out a bottle full of milk. He handed it to Techno.
"Drink," he said. Another piglin word Techno could understand.
He scrutinized the bottle for a moment. Techno hadn't seen a single hoglin since coming to this strange place, but this definitely looked like the same milk that some experienced tenders got from domesticated hoglin herds. He opened the bottle and sniffed it, finding it smelled similar too.
At Phil's urging, he drank it. The throbbing in his leg stopped.
Phil cleaned the bite too, winding a bandage around it carefully. When he was done he straightened his back and sighed, a deep weary thing. Exhausted. Actually, looking at Phil he was wearing different clothing from before. Much lighter. A simple tunic and pants with no armor. His hat was gone and his hair was a mess.
Maybe when the big orb goes away the humans go to sleep?
Which meant Techno's loudness had woken Phil up.
"S'rry," he said. It was one of the few common words he knew, because piglins used it sometimes. When they did something that might anger a trader by accident, apologizing made humans calm down quicker.
Phil's fatigue was wiped away by a soft smile.
Techno couldn't understand his first response, but then he added onto it in piglin. "Not angry… Scared?" He hesitated on that final word.
Scared was definitely not what Phil had meant, but something close to it. Techno could infer from context.
"S'rry," Techno said again, feeling guilty suddenly. "I go home now? Be gone."
Phil seemed surprised. Techno had been practicing his common with a few books he had 'borrowed' from the ancient library.
"I'm not letting you go out there in this rain, mate." Techno understood just enough of that sentence to know what that meant. "You can sleep here. Go home tomorrow."
Phil brought him a bunch of pillows and two blankets. Everything he needed to build himself a little nest on the long soft chair. Techno sat there, cozy and warm, listening to the otherworldly sound of rain tapping against the window.
And when Phil brought him back to the portal the day after, the big fireball had returned. Its light refracted off the clear droplets of water that covered everything. It was beautiful.
No matter what Phil promised him, if he'd come to visit or not. Techno knew he would definitely be back.
—
Going back ended up taking much longer than Techno would have liked.
Apparently, the brutes had seen him sneak out of the village in the morning. And when he hadn't returned, it had caused quite the panic. For a while, he was not allowed to go anywhere unattended. He had to wait for a rare occasion where every other member of the sounder was either sleeping or assuming he was sleeping. Then he could sneak out unnoticed.
He pretty much jumped through the portal this time, no longer daunted by what might lie on the other side.
Which turned out to be a horrendous decision when it immediately made him land knee-deep in something cold and wet. Techno jumped, but only found more of the white stuff surrounding him. It had covered the ground all around, like a big blanket that had been draped out over the entire world. Techno shivered, unable to escape how terribly unpleasant it was. More of the same stuff covered the trees and the portal's big arches. Underneath the big canopies, the layer seemed slightly thinner. It must have fallen from the sky then?
Techno looked up at it, as if it would somehow explain to him why it had done such a dreadful thing. The sky didn't do much of anything, least of all answer his non-verbal question.
He huffed, warm breath exhaled through his nostrils. It rose in front of him like a small visible puff of air and made him startle. He jumped back again, but each time he breathed the weird clouds seemed to follow him, coming out of his body.
It was all slightly concerning.
Techno decided to put it out of his mind though. He had to go find Phil. Vaguely remembering which direction the winged man's house was in, Techno started walking towards it. Or trudging might be the better term. It felt like wading through lava after drinking a fire res potion, the cold white powder making him fight for every step. When he moved too much, it flew up onto his chest or face, where it melted and soaked him like the rain had before. It was similarly unpleasant but also about ten times as chilly. All the hair on Techno's arms and neck was already standing on end, and he couldn't stop shaking.
His tail flicked in agitation. Why did he keep doing this to himself? What was so great about this place, or about this Phil person, that he'd feel the need to torture himself just to be there?
(Why did he feel like he belonged in this world more than he did in the bastions and lava-streaked lands of the Nether?)
Fighting against this new hurdle proved to be more tiring than Technoblade had anticipated. He got to the hill and that made things a little easier, even if he had to put his hooves very carefully because he couldn't see the earth beneath the white dust so that meant he would go tripping down the slope again if he wasn't mindful. But going downhill meant he could work with the momentum.
Still, by the time he could see the outline of Phil's cabin, he was quivering like a leaf. Even his hair hadn't been spared during the journey, damp and sticking to his face. His skin prickled, as if tiny needles were being stuck in it repeatedly. And his fingers were basically numb. His eyes watered either from pain or exertion or both.
Once he got to the door, Techno opened it. Knocking was not an observed behavior in piglin culture.
Phil stared at him in shock for a full four seconds. Then he rushed forward, a worried warble already making its way from his throat. His wings flared out behind him, puffed up and twitching in sympathy for Techno's own shivering which had not died down in the slightest despite him getting inside where it was a little warmer.
Unable to really parse much from the entire waterful of common Phil started speaking at him, Techno nodded along as he was led to a chair. One near the table this time. Phil went into another room before coming back with a towel, using it to dry Techno's hair and hands. He glanced at Techno's hooves too, as if unsure. Techno oinked and wiggled his legs to show it was fine. The hard cartilage there couldn't get cold. The same couldn't be said for his face, which was itching with the slow heating of the fire. As if the skin itself was a little too tight. Techno scrunched up his nose at the sensation and Phil noticed.
He left again, only to return a few minutes later with a cup. It had milk in it, Techno could tell from the smell. Except it was brown and the scent of sugar plus something else hung heavy on it as well, combining into an alluring fragrance Techno quite enjoyed. Steam rose from the cup, just like it had done from Techno's exhales earlier.
It tasted even better than it smelled too.
"Why?" Phil asked when he was done drinking, sounding close to exasperated. He switched to piglin mid-sentence. "Why you come back? Not safe."
"I wanted to see," Techno answered, keeping his explanation simple for Phil's sake.
"See me?"
Techno snorted a little laugh. Phil was flattering himself too much. While Techno wouldn't deny the winged man intrigued him, it wasn't by far the only reason he came through the portal twice more. He told him as much.
"Wanna see world."
Phil stared at him, bemused. Then he shook his head. "I suppose I can't fault you for that," he said in common. Techno blinked, not really getting it.
Instead of explaining, Phil went over to a table in the corner. Techno had noticed it last time he was there as well, a big desk strewn over with books he'd love to get his hands on and technical thingamajigs he never had seen before. Phil dug one out of the rubble, a simple device with three buttons and a little screen.
"Take," he said, offering it to Techno.
Techno frowned. His pockets were all empty, he hadn't brought anything. "Can't trade," he told Phil.
"Take," Phil repeated, a little more insistent. "Is gift."
Reluctantly, Techno took it. He could always find a way to repay Phil later.
Slowly, the buttons were explained to him. You could send complicated messages with this device, Techno got that. But he could also just use one button to alert Phil.
"Warn me when you visit," Phil said. "I will show you around this world. Is safer."
Techno didn't need anybody to keep him safe. He never did. That's why he would sneak away from the sounder to go on adventures.
Something held him back from saying that though.
"Th'nk," he said instead. Phil kind of laughed at his pronunciation, as if his own wasn't ten times worse. Hypocrite.
He slept in the same nest on the couch that night, close to the fire so he would warm up again, and dreamt of all the new places he'd get to explore with Phil soon.
