Chapter Text
Techno gets separated from his crew.
That’s not a common occurrence, if anything, it’s rare, because they hardly split up on purpose, let alone on accident. They’re careful with staying together, and they’re careful not to lose each other.
Technoblade knows that across the seas he’s described as cruel. Emotionless, maybe. Not an ounce of mercy or love in his heart, hence the reason why so much blood stains his hands. Same with his crew. They’re nearly monsters, with the lack of humanity in their souls.
It’s entirely the opposite.
Techno doesn’t mind the rumors saying he doesn’t have a heart. It gives good intimidation when he needs it. But he does have a heart, and he does have love. He fights and kills, for that same love. For the crew he considers family, considers his own.
They fight for the same reason. All of them have agreed to never be alone again, never be abandoned or left behind. None of them will ever be left on their own ever again, not if they have anything to say about it. They’ve become stubborn with love in that way. If Techno becomes stuck on a sinking ship, then Wilbur and Phil will sit down and sink to the bottom of the ocean with him.
It’s a beautiful type of devotion. Techno sometimes still can’t believe he has that, has people who will stay with him, even with the amount of blood he’s shed, the amount of lives he’s taken. They’re not scared. After all, they’ve taken just as many lives.
Technoblade is a fearsome pirate on the seas, with his crew who are equally as terrifying. To those who’s survived to tell the tale, he’s known as the Blood God across the waters, and stories say he doesn’t have a single bit of humanity left in him, only a never ending thirst for bloodshed.
The stories are lies. Lies that Techno likes to laugh about with Wilbur, lies that Phil repeats in a mocking voice that makes Techno roll his eyes. Technoblade has a heart, and kindness. It’s just never granted to anyone other than his crew.
His crew, who he’s been separated from.
There was a fight at sea, a ship who came by and decided to try and take a crack at a measly group of pirates who should’ve been overpowered within moments. The skies overhead were filled with dark looming clouds, and a storm quickly started when the first shot was fired.
By all means, they should’ve been overpowered. It was three against what had to be at least thirty men. Techno only had one sturdy sword in his hand, Phil held just two guns. Wilbur didn’t even have a weapon.
Technoblade cut off heads and sliced through enemies like it was just a fun dance. He moves too quickly to be shot, and by the time someone is reloading their gun to try again, they either have a sword in their chest, or a bullet in their head.
Wilbur had snuck onto the enemy ship, blended in easily with the chaos of fighting. He has a talent for that, sinking into the background like he belongs. By the time Technoblade has killed ten men, and Phil ten more, Wilbur’s rigged explosives underneath the deck.
They go back to their own ship, watch and laugh as the surviving enemies curse them out. Wilbur grins wide as the explosives finally go off, and the warm heat of the fire almost chases away the cold from the rain.
Unfortunately, the fight doesn't end there, because pests have gotten onto their ship, and so they work to get them off, and throw them into the sea.
Technoblade slips, makes a mistake. The storm is loud and unforgiving, and the dying man next to him is determined to bring Techno to the bottom of the sea.
Phil screams his name when he goes overboard, and Techno holds his breath, hits water. He twists around in the relentless waves, turns to the idiot who is still holding on to him, and he strangles the fool to death underwater with his bare hands.
The storm is loud, and the sea is unforgiving. Technoblade tries his best to put his head above water, not to try and grab a breath of air, but to tell Phil and Wilbur to not jump in after him. He knows it would be stupid for them to do so. And he knows they would do it anyway.
Techno is pushed around by the ocean, and he hears Wilbur calling for him on the ship. Technoblade closes his eyes, and finds himself falling into the dark.
He opens his eyes to sunlight.
He’s on the shore of a beach, washed up with sand in his mouth and his clothes soaking wet. His shirt sticks to his skin as he sits up, and he can feel the sting of a wound on his side. Not life-threatening, but it should still be treated.
His leg aches badly, and when he tries to stand up, he’s forced to fall backwards onto the sand again, letting out a pained groan. He’s alone on the shore, but he knows it won’t be for long.
It’s funny, in a way, how even with a situation like this, Techno just feels annoyed. Wilbur and Phil would raise hell and search the entire sea for him, he knows this. So he doesn’t feel worried about being alone, for now. He knows it won’t last.
But even if it’s not going to be for long, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be tedious to wait through. Techno leans back from where he’s sitting, breathes in the air and sighs out, irritated and already bored.
He scans the shore with nothing else to do, and finds just sand and the ocean waves, a few trees further on inland, and-
A ship.
Or a shipwreck, is a better way to put it.
It’s far, but not too far for Techno to throw away the possibility of going towards it. Just from here, he can see the damage, can see holes blown through the wood, the mast gone and snapped off. The wood at the back of the ship looks like it was burnt.
For a second, Technoblade wonders if it’s the ship they were fighting against just a while ago, but it’s not. Wilbur’s explosives turned that ship into pieces.
Looking out at sea one more time, Techno sighs and pushes himself up on his feet, ignoring the ache that comes with it. He limps, hates the fact he’s limping, but he moves slowly and steadily towards the abandoned ship. His curiosity is too much to handle, especially with the boredom of waiting to be picked up. He wonders if he’ll find any left behind valuables, anything he can sell or keep. He’s always had a liking for gold.
Phil likes jewels more than anything, especially red ones. Wilbur isn’t too picky with his loot, he’ll steal gold and jewels anyday, but if there’s ever a pretty dagger to be picked up, Wilbur will grab that first.
Which irks Technoblade just a bit, because Wilbur doesn’t even use the daggers he has. He just holds onto them, like a collection, and Technoblade can’t be angry about it, because he has his own collection of gold. And according to Phil’s words, “We all collect our own things, mate.”
How can he argue with Phil?
The walk to get to the broken down ship is tiring, and it makes Techno be even more impatient for when his crew will come and pick him up. He’s tired, he’s limping, and he’s pretty sure he needs to wash out his mouth with clean water.
The ship is smaller than he thought when he gets up close, and the damage seems recent. More recent than what he’s comfortable with, but he’s curious for loot, so he finds a way in anyway.
There’s already a hole in the side of the ship, and Techno kicks it open a bit more, then ducks his head as he goes inside. The wood creaks under his boots as he stands up straight, and he’s careful and wary of any enemies who might still be inside.
It’s empty though, and rather broken. There’s debris thrown everywhere, and Techno makes his way through the ship, walking around craters and cautious when walking over weak flooring. He limps through the rooms that are still intact, pokes around and searches for anything worth of value, worth his time.
He finds a small pile of gold coins in a drawer, and it’s not much, but it’s good for a start. He searches around a bit more, finds a damp blanket in the corner of the room and he uses it as a makeshift bag. The coins don’t need to be clean at the moment, he can scrub each one when he’s back home.
Technoblade travels slowly, since he’s still rather injured, but he steadily finds a few more trinkets, few more things that he could bring back. A silver cup with a pretty design etched into it. Earrings with dull blue gems that could be shinier if Techno pries them out and cleans them. A thin metal chain that might be a bracelet of some sort. A key that has a small ruby embedded in it.
By the time Techno’s gone through half the ship, he has a good pile of loot in his bag, and he moves on to the next room, aiming to hurry up and finish so he can wait outside. Then, he can look through the items he’s found, pick at them while he waits for Phil and Wilbur.
There’s a sound that comes down the hallway, and Techno goes dead still, presses his shoulder into the wall beside him to try and hide from view. He listens, strains his ears to figure out if someone is in the ship, if he should turn back.
He hears crying.
A non-stop wailing, clearly upset, and clearly young .
Technoblade isn’t afraid, not at all, but his heart drops anyway. He bites at the inside of his cheek, listens to the sound of a baby crying down the hall. Should he just turn back? This isn’t his problem to deal with, and he has enough to take back.
Technoblade frowns as he turns over his options, and he knows that from the start there’s only one he can really pick, if he wants to sleep peacefully at night. Technoblade is a murderer through and through, he knows that for a fact, and he’s not entirely bothered by it. But he knows that if he turns around and leaves an innocent young life behind, he’s going to hear this baby crying in his dreams.
He goes towards the sound, leaning a hand on the wall as he limps, his other hand holding onto the bag of loot.
Part of him wonders as to why a kid would even be here. This ship is clearly abandoned, left behind since it’s too damaged to be useful anymore. Surely whatever crew was here would take their child with them?
Or not. Technoblade knows that people can be cruel idiots at times.
He walks into the room where the crying is coming from, and he finds a room just as broken and dirty as all the others. There’s a drawer that’s been toppled over, and shattered glass is scattered across the floor. A worn-down crib is up against the wall, with the non-stop crying coming from there.
Technoblade listens to the sound of wailing, high-pitched cries that repeat over and over again, and he can’t help but make a face. He’s not fond of crying children. Or any children, for that matter.
Either way, he’s always curious, so he steps around the broken drawer on the ground, and slowly makes his way to the other side of the room. He holds a hand to the crib, leans against it a bit and hears it creak with his weight. When he looks inside, he finds exactly what he thought he would find, a young baby crying out.
He’s small, tiny in that way that makes Techno feel fascinated at the way humans can just be so tiny and defenseless.
The first thing that Technoblade notices is the hair. Bright, golden hair, dulled a bit with dirt that needs to be washed out. The second thing he notes is the clothes the kid is wearing. A big, worn out shirt, that’s nowhere near clean enough for the kid.
The third thing he notices is that the crying has stopped.
The kid looks up at him with tears in his eyes, sniffling and seeming to be waiting for something, and Technoblade falters a bit when he sees how blue those eyes are. They remind him of Phil’s eyes, almost. It’s strangely endearing.
Technoblade tilts his head to the side, frowning a bit as he stares back, listens to the baby make quiet noises up at him. A small hand gets raised up towards Techno, and like a soft fool, he reaches his hand into the crib.
Tiny fingers curl around his pinky with a strong grip, and the kid babbles up at him, pulling at Techno’s hand until it’s resting against the kid’s chest. The kid wraps his arms around Techno’s hand, holds onto it like it’s a stuffed teddy bear, and Technoblade doesn’t pull away.
His other hand that was holding onto the bag of loot goes loose, and he lets the makeshift bag slip out of his grip. He listens to the sound of clinking coins hitting the ground, and he pays it no mind, instead using his now free hand to reach into the crib as well.
Techno doesn’t have much experience with kids. He doesn’t know how to care for one, or how to raise one.
Then again, it doesn’t matter too much. He can learn, and it’s not like he’d be doing it on his own. His crew would help. He thinks Phil could be a good role model. Maybe Wilbur would like the kid, think he’s cute.
“Come on, kid.” Technoblade says quietly, pulling the baby out and resting him against his chest, careful to hold on tightly. The kid fusses a bit with being picked up out of his crib, and Techno tries to sooth him as he reaches his hand up to try and pick dirt out of the kid’s hair. “Alright.”
Technoblade turns and leaves the room, leaving his loot behind without a second glance. He keeps murmuring words of reassurement, rubs his hand against the kid’s back. He hopes that for once, his fearsome reputation is only due to his actions, and not the way he looks.
The kid doesn’t seem to be scared, though. Only a bit upset, and a little too cold. Techno holds him close, walks slowly and carefully through the ship, taking extra caution to not trip and fall, since he’s holding precious treasure in his arms.
Techno leaves the ship with nothing but a baby in his arms, and a warm feeling in his chest. He’s left behind all his loot, but he smiles happily anyway, and listens to the kid babble non-stop at him, noises that mean nothing and everything to him.
There’s small hands that pull at his braid, which is mostly undone at this point, a mess of tangled pink hair. Technoblade runs his fingers through the kid’s hair in return, and he gets a tiny young laugh as a reward.
The sun is bright outside as Technoblade makes his way back onto shore. The light bounces off the kid’s hair, makes that golden color seem even brighter, and Technoblade can’t help but think-
“I’ve found the most valuable thing in the world.”
He mumbles the words quietly into the kid’s hair, limps slowly down the shore, and watches the sea. He’s not surprised to find a familiar ship near shore far off, and he can see someone running towards him. He hears Wilbur yelling his name with a happy, panicked tone.
Technoblade’s steps come to a stop, and he stays where he is. He holds a talkative baby in his arms, and waits for Phil and Wilbur to get to him.