Part of my collection of hurt!Techno Febuwhump oneshots. These can all be read as standalone.

Febuwhump prompt: Knife wound

The social functions were by far Technoblade's least favorite part about being royalty.

Really, the whole thing was horribly overrated. But perhaps that had more to do with Techno personally not enjoying international politics, expensive clothes that restricted his movement, or only being allowed to leave the castle if he took an entourage of six men with him. At least he could consider himself lucky, Wilbur and Tommy had to take twice as many guards if they wanted to step foot beyond the castle grounds. And their father wasn't lenient if they broke the rules - never mind the fact that Wilbur and Techno were both adults well into their twenties. It was exhausting, but that was the sad reality of being an heir to the throne. Phil could be a bit… paranoid when it came to these things.

Techno was honestly surprised this grand ball was allowed to take place at all considering what had happened in the past couple of weeks.

"You know if you keep that expression on your face long enough, it's going to be permanently stuck there," Wilbur said. He reached out to poke Techno's cheek as if that alone would remedy the frown there, but Techno batted his brother's hand away.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He looked at Wilbur and smiled. "Then you could finally be the handsome one in this family."

"We're literally twins, you prick." Wilbur rolled his eyes at him, though a small smirk made the dimples in his cheeks stand out.

Compared to Technoblade, Wilbur was much more suited for these sorts of events. He seemed to naturally draw people towards him and had no issue entertaining a crowd. Techno was forever grateful he'd been born three minutes behind his brother, it would spare the country a ton of awkward royal speeches down the line.

"Have you seen Ranboo?" he asked.

"Nope." Wilbur looked around the room too. Normally the half-enderian was rather easy to spot. He was extremely tall even for a teenager. But then again, Ranboo shared Techno's disdain for social situations and would probably try to make himself as unintrusive as possible to avoid notice and not invite conversation. And since he wasn't a royal, he often got away with it too.

Not a lot of people were interested in talking to the stable boy.

"He's probably hiding somewhere," Wilbur said. "Do you want my help looking for him?"

Techno shook his head. "I think I know where he went off to."

It was the same spot Technoblade went when he felt overwhelmed and needed some time alone. He slipped out of the ballroom discreetly, throwing a glance over his shoulder to watch Wilbur take off across the hall and towards the dance floor. Hopefully, nobody would notice Techno was gone for a bit. He could do without the headache.

The air outside was a little chilly, early autumn making frost creep over the greenery. At the far back of the garden grew a thicket of rose bushes, the thorny branches making for an intimidating sight despite the red blossoms that sprouted on them. Most people would not venture too close to those bushes unless they were gardening. Or unless they knew that near the far end, there was a small dip in the ground where somebody could slip behind them if they crawled on all fours.

Techno had to yank on his cape as it get caught on the thorns when going through the gap, ignoring how the rich velvet fabric tore a little in the process. Ranboo looked up, eyes wide and terror struck.

"Your highness-"

Techno waved his hand, brushing the dirt off that would surely stain his clothes. There was a small space between the rose bushes and the castle wall, which is where he had found Ranboo right where Techno expected him to be. "I told you not to use the fancy titles for me, kid."

"I think I'll lose my head if I don't," Ranboo said, a little high-pitched.

"You know Phil's not like that," Techno replied. "Besides, it's just the two of us out here so it doesn't matter anyway."

That was probably easy for Techno to say. Ranboo had grown up on the streets, more or less. He'd never had a shred of kindness in his life until he got lucky enough to find employment in the royal stables, taking care of the horses. As nervous and finicky as Ranboo was, somehow he seemed to have the opposite effect on animals. They always took an instant liking to the boy. Ranboo was hired at the young age of fourteen, hoping to work his way up to knighthood somehow. It was the one way he could elevate his status.

The first time Techno had seen Ranboo wielding a sword, he had instantly commanded the boy to be appointed as his page.

Not because he thought Ranboo had potential. No, quite the opposite. It was a decision motivated solely by pity. Ranboo fumbled through the training, dropping his wooden practice sword multiple times and flinching whenever his enemy feigned an attack. The kid would be eaten alive if he ever saw a real battlefield, and Techno had felt a smidge of compassion at the thought. If Ranboo was his personal retainer, he wouldn't be thrown to the wolves.

Two things had quickly become apparent after that. The first was that Ranboo actually wasn't as terrible at fighting as he had appeared at first glance. Techno had taken Ranboo's training upon himself since then and found that with the right guidance, he'd make a proper knight yet. More importantly though, he'd discovered Ranboo had a much more vital capability when it came to tuition.

Ranboo was smart. Very smart.

And while somebody of his background would never get a formal education, Techno didn't have anything better to do than take that task upon himself. He needed to occupy himself with similar studies anyway, who was to say he was wasting his time passing them along to Ranboo?

The boy would make a much better scholar than he'd ever be a soldier.

If Techno had grown to like Ranboo in the process of tutoring him, that was neither here nor there.

On paper, Ranboo was still merely Techno's page. It would be frowned upon for a royal such as Technoblade to take somebody from Ranboo's standing as a student. And despite how little Techno cared about causing scandal, the nobility needed to remain appeased (yet another reason Wilbur would make a better king than Techno ever would). He had already spoken to Phil about the matter though. In a few months when Ranboo turned eighteen, he'd be knighted. Once that happened, nobody would bat an eye at Techno continuing to mentor the kid.

"So why are you hiding out here?" Techno asked. "Crowd became too much for ya?"

"They were very... loud," Ranboo said. Techno had to chuckle at the way he pronounced the word 'loud' like it was a strategic choice. Ranboo had that same contemplative expression on his face as he always did when they played chess.

"They talk a lot but say very little," he agreed absently. Techno had been forced to listen to the noblefolk ramble on about inane things since birth basically. He was over it. "I can't fault you for needing a break. But this isn't the ideal time to go wandering off alone, you know."

Ranboo's head snapped up, shoulders drawing back a bit. "That's not- You think it will happen again?"

"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you," Techno said, taking a step forward and laying a reassuring hand on the kid's shoulder. It was pretty telling how Ranboo relaxed instantly at his touch.

Things had been a little tense since the first body was found.

Four people had been killed in the span of two weeks. It had put the entire city on edge, thought them all being killed on the castle grounds meant the royal guard was especially aware of the going ons. Security had been drastically heightened and there were more patrols than ever. How this assassin managed to get in and out of the castle remained a mystery.

Techno could look after himself, but he'd been keeping a closer eye on Ranboo too. He wouldn't stand for anybody hurting the kid.

"It's… it's concerning, right? How nobody has seen anything?" Ranboo laughed, humorless and distressed. "And what's the point of killing castle staff, anyway? Like, what would they gain by that?"

Techno pulled back. "Sowing fear, for one thing. And they seem to be doing a pretty good job at that." He was never one to shy away from blunt honesty.

Ranboo nodded, biting his lips slightly. "I guess."

There was an awkward silence between them after that, only slightly undercut by the sound of the party being loud enough that it actually carried through the open patio doors and into the garden. Techno didn't care, they were tucked away from sight. The night was chilly but pleasant enough. Ranboo sighed.

"We could probably do archery field training tomorrow and go hunting," Techno said in the hopes of distracting him. The kid worried too much. Possible assassins in the castle were not a burden Techno wanted to add to Ranboo's already staggering amount of anxieties.

Predictably enough, the promise of a day outside away from all the riffraff brought a small smile back to Ranboo's face. "I'll make sure Carl is ready at dawn."

"Punctual as always," Techno joked.

"Early morning has the best catch," Ranboo said with a smirk. "So I've heard."

So Techno had taught him.

"Speaking of, I do believe I can hear the king calling for us," he said. Phil would grow concerned if they were gone too long and Techno would rather not deal with that. "What do you say we head back inside?"

"If we must," Ranboo answered. But he did straighten his spine, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the horrors of social interaction again.

Techno clapped him on the back with a hearty laugh. "I'm afraid we must. Royal orders."

"We could just sneak away," Ranboo proposed. "I won't tell anybody if you don't."

"Get on with it." Techno pushed him towards the gap in the rose bushes. "Before you're executed for having a bad influence on me."

The remainder of the ball was as tedious as was to be expected. But Techno was grateful to have a hunting trip to look forward to.

Tomorrow would be a good day.

Technoblade was woken up by the door to his bedroom opening.

Years of instinct flared alive instantly, making him sit up in his bed before his mind had even properly registered what was happening, hand reaching for the sword he'd always kept nearby. Then he blinked and dropped his arm.

"Oh, Ranboo, it's just you…" His voice was rough with sleep. Techno drew a hand down his face, hoping it would rid some of the tiredness sticking to him.

Ranboo stood in the doorway, the flickering of the torchlight outside casting him in shadows. He didn't move.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Technoblade asked, throwing the blankets off to get up. It wouldn't be the first time Ranboo suffered from insomnia. Techno had asked the kid's room to be opposite his own for that very reason. Sometimes Ranboo would come by at odd hours to borrow a book to read or tell Techno about a nightmare he had.

But today Ranboo just stood there, trembling slightly.

Alarm bells had started going off in Techno's head.

"Ranboo?" he asked, finding himself reaching for his sword once more.

Ranboo rushed towards him then and it was only thanks to Techno's quick reflexes that he managed to evade the knife aimed at his heart. Ranboo stumbled past him, then turned fluidly. Unnaturally. He immediately tried to strike again.

Techno raised his blade, catching the sharp edge of Techno's dagger with his own steel.

"Ranboo? What the heck are you doing?!"

Ranboo didn't answer before stepping back and trying to strike again, lower this time. Techno sidestepped him again.

"Ranboo, stop!"

The next attack was feinted to his right, but then Ranboo swung left at the last second. It was a tactic Technoblade himself had taught the kid and he could curse himself for falling for such a cheap trick, hissing when the dagger buried into his shoulder.

Ranboo didn't smile at having struck his target. His expression was empty, emotionless. His eyes were glazed over, vacant as well.

They were green.

What the-

Techno dropped his sword.

Magic had never been his area of expertise, but Techno was smart enough to know when sorcery was at work. Ranboo's eyes, the jittery movements, the utter silence… all of it pointed towards some sort of magical puppetry pulling the strings.

Somebody was controlling Ranboo and forcing him to do this. The other murders as well. That blood might be on Ranboo's hands, but the culprit was elsewhere.

On the next strike, Techno caught Ranboo's wrist. He didn't want to hurt the kid but he didn't have a choice. He yanked on Ranboo's arm, pulling him forward to try and force him to the ground.

Ranboo went slack like a rag doll, hitting the floor headfirst. Techno turned him over, his shoulder burning with pain. As soon as he was on his back, Ranboo lashed out again.

Leaning back in the nick of time prevented Techno from having his throat slit.

He hit his bedside table with his elbow, toppling a carafe of water that stood there. It shattered on the ground beside him. Ranboo didn't even blink, trying to attack him again and again. "Damnit, Ranboo, stop it!" Techno cried out. He was having more trouble than he expected wrestling Ranboo to a standstill.

He'd won against Ranboo during training more often than not, but it was a lot harder when they were going at it barehanded. And Ranboo was fighting like a cornered animal, wild and desperate.

Techno grabbed Ranboo's wrist and slammed it down, sending the dagger flying. It had been a gift from Technoblade, Ranboo had gotten it for his seventeenth birthday.

Ranboo stared up at him blankly, body slack.

"What has gotten into you?" Techno asked nobody in particular.

And as if in response, Ranboo smiled.

That's when something cold pierced through Technoblade's stomach.

He looked down and would almost chuckle at his own foolishness. Ranboo's fingers were curled around the hilt of Techno's sword that he had discarded so carelessly. A rookie mistake, really.

The taste of iron welled up in his throat, accompanied swiftly by blood staining his lips. Techno grunted at the sensation but held Ranboo down. Even when with a swift and rather painful jerk the sword was pulled out again. Blood soaked his sleeping shirt quickly, pouring onto Ranboo's chest.

Ranboo, who blinked up at him. The green faded from his irises, replaced by the familiar grey hue Techno had decided he vastly preferred.

"Techno?" Ranboo said, voice wavering. His breathing hitched, face going pallid.

"Hey kid," Techno said, "do you think you can fetch me a medic?"

His arms decided that was the prime moment to stop working properly, and since he'd been using them to hold onto Ranboo and support his own weight, this ended with Techno kind of collapsing on top of his student. Which in turn sent a fresh wave of pain through him bad enough that it blacked out his vision for a moment.

When he blinked it back into focus, Ranboo had rolled him over and was hovering above him. His blood-stained hands were clutching at Techno's shoulders, tears in his eyes.

"Techno?" There was so much panic and regret there that it broke Techno's heart. "Oh god, what did I do?! What did I-"

"Ranboo!" Techno grabbed his wrist again, grip a lot less bruising this time but firm. They couldn't waste time. "Go get somebody." There should be guards stationed at the end of the hallway. Techno would rather prefer not to bleed out.

"But I-"

"Now!"

He hated having to use that tone with Ranboo too. He hated even more how it had the poor teen jump and push back, almost slipping on the growing pool of red beneath them.

Technoblade closed his eyes. He could make it up to the kid later.

Time became kind of liquid after that. He couldn't really tell what was happening, thoughts spilling out of his head as soon as they popped up. Techno shivered, though he wasn't really cold. Somebody was shaking him again, but their hold on him was a lot stronger.

"Put pressure on the wound!" Niki directed. Techno was glad she was there since she was the best physician at court. And the least annoying by a long shot.

A painful amount of pressure was put onto the gash in his stomach and Techno gasped, eyes shooting open again. Just in time to see one of his guards try to not-very-kindly haul Ranboo away - Ranboo, who still was absolutely shellshocked.

Techno felt some rage burst through the pain when he saw that. "What are you doing?!"

"Don't move," Niki said, not looking very pleased with his attempt to get up.

He ignored her. "Hey, get your hands off him!"

It seemed his pleas fell on deaf ears and Ranboo was roughly pulled out of the room. Techno wanted to stand up, to intervene. To explain the situation somehow. But his body could only send sparks of agony through him when he tried to force his muscles to obey him.

"Your majesty, it's really important you stay still," Niki said again.

"Please listen to sense for once in your goddamn life," Wilbur said. Techno blinked, not having noticed his brother was also in the room. He was pale, terrified.

Techno supposed that with the amount of blood all over him, he couldn't blame Wilbur for such a reaction.

"He didn't do it," Techno said.

Wilbur scowled. "We'll sort this out later."

Techno would have replied if it wasn't for the black spots dancing in front of his vision. He nodded and finally went still, allowing Niki to proceed with whatever first aid he needed.

"You can't argue that he wasn't the one who stabbed you."

Phil pinched at his brow. Techno would feel bad for the stress he'd put the old man through in the past several hours, but in his defense he had quite a lot on his own plate too. Making sure Ranboo didn't get executed for a crime he didn't technically commit was one of them.

"I'm not arguin' that," he said. When he forced himself into sitting up on the bed, the stitches in the stab wound pulled unpleasantly. If only Niki could see him, she might just kill him after all for ignoring her order that he should be on bed rest.

Techno had been told by plenty of doctors that he was a terrible patient.

"You're claiming it was mind control," Phil said, crossing his arms. He didn't say it in a dismissive manner, not like he was discarding the possibility entirely. But there was a healthy dose of skepticism in there.

"I know it was," Techno insisted. "Or some type of magic crap. That wasn't the Ranboo I know. The kid wouldn't do something like that of his own volition."

There was almost a faint smile playing around Phil's lip for a moment there, a ghost of amusement at Techno's conviction perhaps.

"Okay, so suppose it was some kind of outside control at play. How do the other murders factor into this? Why not just assassinate you and call it a day?" Phil was treating Techno's claim with the needed seriousness.

"Maybe they were test runs?" Techno said. He didn't sound entirely certain. And truthfully he wasn't. He didn't know nearly enough about this type of magic to make any assumptions.

But he knew that the person who had tried to kill him last night couldn't be Ranboo.

"We'll have to look into it," Phil said. "I can get my own enchanters on the case." He turned his head. "I trust your judgment on this, Techno."

Technoblade smiled at his father, a hollow thing. "It's appreciated."

Until they had the real person behind this in chains, he wouldn't feel any relief.

Getting up from the bed made him flinch a bit. His feet were unsteady, but they would hold his weight.

"Where do you think you're going?" Phil asked sharply, the concern ill-concealed as sternness. It made Techno smile a bit since it reminded him of simpler times.

"I want to see him," Techno said. He left no room for argument.

The dungeons were damp, cold. Techno was only in a dress shirt and Ranboo in not much more. He was still wearing the blood-stained clothes Techno had seen him in mere hours before.

"Techno!" Ranboo rushed to the bars when he saw him. "Are you-"

"I'm okay," Technoblade said quickly. The statement probably didn't carry as much weight considering he was wrapped in bandages across most of his torso and he wasn't as steady on his feet as he'd liked to be. But he was alive. He'd survived.

Ranboo didn't have to carry the guilt of killing him.

"I'm sorry," Ranboo said. His hands gripped iron, knuckles turning white. He looked close to crying but going by how red his eyes were, his tears had run out a while ago. Techno felt terrible just looking at him. "I don't know what happened, I really don't. I don't remember."

"I know, I believe you."

Two frightened grey eyes met his.

"You do?"

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this Ranboo. Don't worry, we'll figure this out." Techno would not let any harm befall Ranboo. "You won't see the gallows on my watch. Trust me."

There was an almost smile on Ranboo's face when he answered. "I trust you."

And while he probably couldn't get Ranboo out of this cell, especially since it remained unclear if he could still pose an unwilling threat to others, Techno would vouch for better treatment at least. He could pull some strings and make Ranboo's time in prison as bearable as he could manage.

And he would also make damn sure that time would be as short as he could possibly make it.

Technoblade was going to find whoever was behind this and make them pay back tenfold for any suffering Ranboo had to endure.