Chapter Text
Coldness is all you felt as you tore through the darkened woods. Sharp branches and leaves scratched against your face as you ran but you could barely feel the piercing pain as the frigid cold chilled you to the core. Your breathing was ragged and your legs were failing you - your knees kept unlocking and your feet planted themselves awkwardly against the snow-covered ground unlike the beginning of the chase when your strides were strong and your will stronger.
A cry ripped from your throat as a stray root caused you to fall, forcing your ankle into an agonising angle as you collided with the frozen dirt. You attempted to pull yourself back up but logically you knew your ankle was either sprained or twisted and running would get you no-where.
Your fast breath revealed itself as clouds of frost around you as you frantically searched around for a hiding spot away from the thieves whose taunts could still be heard throughout the woods. Your eyes flicked from tree to tree, all too tall to climb, until finally a shrub made its way into your vision. You desperately scrambled to it and tried to cover yourself amidst the leaves as best you could. The hiding spot wasn't perfect (in fact, it wasn't even average) but it was dark and your attackers seemed to be relatively daft. You prayed to a god you didn't believe in that they weren't hybrids able to see in the night.
A moment passed. Two. Three.
On four the thieves were ungracefully barging into your area with no care for their loudness and obnoxiousness. For only three men they made quite a cacophony of noises. One of them paused and tilted his nose up into the air, sniffing quickly.
"The trail stops here," he announced to the others and they all paused, "she's nearby."
"Nearby?!" Another exclaimed, "Where? Did she dig into the dirt? Or fly?"
"She can't be here," the third agreed, "she would be in front of us."
There is no way they don't find me. I'm a goner.
The men all searched around, looking for a trail or a clue. Your fists clenched tightly. One of them let out a sigh of resignation and stopped in his tracks.
"In this weather, there's no way she'll survive. We can loot her corpse tomorrow. What about that, boys?" The first said, noticing the tiredness and uncertainty of his men. All muttered their reluctant agreement, obviously hoping for more than what the day gave them, and left you behind.
You waited until their footsteps are long gone before letting out a breath and gulping down the prickly air that hurts your lungs. You wanted to cry. You wanted to scream. But instead, you forced yourself into a sitting position to inspect the mess that was your body. Minor cuts and scrapes with an unpleasant forming bruise was as good as it got. Your ankle was definitely twisted and a nasty gash separated your upper arm in two. Not deep nor fatal but painful all the same. You felt the adrenalin leave your body and incredible tiredness replace it. You now had full awareness of the pain riding though your limbs and the coldness of the snow beneath you. It seeped into your clothes relentlessly, causing an uncontrollable shiver.
Give up.
No.
Give. Up.
I can't.
There is nothing around you but trees and snow. Soon, Death will welcome you with open arms.
Stop being so ominous! Silly voices with your silly riddles. I refuse to give up that easily.
You stood up on your good leg and started in the direction opposite the way the thieves went. You tried to keep the noise to a minimum as at least one of them seemed to be some kind of wolf hybrid, but your ankle made it difficult.
Take a few steps, lean on a tree, breathe, repeat. A slow process made slower by your ankle and damn mortality. You kept at it for a while, ignoring the voices that shouted to every corner of your mind. It was only a matter of time until your knees gave in and you collapsed to the firm ground.
This isn't going to work. I'm as good as dead.
A howl of approval from the voices.
Why do you want me to die so bad? Aren't you nothing without me to torment?
Foolish girl. No understanding of-
Their answer was cut short as you noticed something in the distance that made a gasp push more sharp air into your lungs. A faint trail of smoke, only illuminated by the quarter-moon high in the sky, became your beacon of hope. A house, possibly a base. Survival. A new rush of adrenalin pulsed you forward, gripping onto the dirty and rough bark of a tree every few steps like before, but this time with a place in mind and a bit of optimism.
You made your way into a clearing, the trees stopped neatly around a cabin which was softened by the yellow warmth within where the smoke came from. There were no trees to rest on in the wide clearing and you stumbled your way towards the home, not allowing yourself to sit or kneel on the ground. You clumsily made your way up the front steps and your frozen, shaking hands made a weak fist to pathetically hit against the door. It swung open aggressively, bringing light to the dark porch. A man stood over you with an armed raised. It took you less than a moment to realise he held an axe above your head ready to swing and kill.
"Please!" You cried, weak and broken, "Please." Your throat closed and you couldn't say anymore before collapsing to your knees, placing your hands together and looking up at the man. Your eyes were fuzzy but you could vaguely make out his tied back pink hair and pale skin surrounded by a glow of heat and light.
"I come in peace. Please help me." Your voice was shaky and desperation laced every word. The man lowered the weapon to his side and assessed his clearing, no longer finding you a threat. After he completed a quick assessment, he wordlessly bent over and gently grabbed you by the shoulders to direct you into his cabin. His hands were warm and comfortingly rough as you were guided inside. You barely paused to look around his home before he forced you to meet his eyes, his hands not leaving their firm grip on your shoulders.
"I will help you," he said in a soft voice, "but try anything funny and I'll break your neck or throw you out into the snow to freeze, got it?"
Without having much else of a choice, you nodded.
"Good." He said simply, "I'm going to run you a hot bath and prepare a fire for you to sleep next to. After you've finished your bath, I'll patch you up and you can rest." He nudged you towards the fire in his living room before disappearing into a room down a hallway. You heard a faucet being turned and water running as you settled near his fireplace, trembling.
This man is familiar to us...
You didn't have the energy to respond to the voice's insatiable foreboding and thankfully did not have to as your host lifted you off the floor and helped you limp to the bathroom. The small room steamed from the bathtub in the centre and your skin burned from the sudden temperature change. The man left and you didn't even shut the door as you stripped off your soaked clothing and stepped into the hot water. It burned your skin more than the steam and you welcomed the feeling as you quickly settled in the liquid fire. The cut in your arm stung, but a few deep breaths settled the pain slightly.
After a few minutes, the coldness flowed out of your body and into the water, the shivering that plagued you subsided and exhaustion settled onto you like a heavy blanket. Sleep beckoned to you despite the stabbing pain in your ankle and arm.
"Don't sleep yet, girl." The man said from the doorway, doing his very best not to look at your naked figure. On a better day, you would've commented on his timidness. "I still need to dress your wounds. And don't get your hair wet. Not when you're already so damn cold." You nodded in agreement and watched as he placed a set of clothes and a towel onto a chair beside the door. The man -no. Not a man. Now that you had calmed down, you had better sight to see his physical characteristics - scars, braided hair that fell down to about half-way on his back and, most notably, his ears that pointed up into a sharp arc. A hybrid.
The hybrid did not notice your staring or chose not to acknowledge it as he silently left the room, pulling the door behind him to keep it open slightly but not shut. You were not scared of hybrids as many other humans were, but you had been raised in a village that despised all hybrids and you had seen your fair share of what humans can do with hatred rooted in fear. Terrible, brutal things. You wondered how many of his scars were from battle and how many were because of his pointed ears.
Eventually, you emerged from the bath and dried yourself off with the fluffy, soft towel. The clothes you had been given are far too big for you but were soft and fit loosely around your frame. You were still cold and couldn't stand on your left leg, however felt immensely better knowing your fingers weren't going to fall off. You left the bathroom with a limp.
The small living area by the fire had a neatly arranged array of medical supplies on a table and two very thick blankets. Without even thinking, you unravelled the folded blankets, set one on your shoulders and wrapped it around your body that still trembled from the events of the night.
"Sit on the sofa and I'll fix you up." The stranger came from behind you, refraining from commenting on how it was rude to take someone's blanket without asking. You did as you were asked and sat on the comfortable sofa that you wished could swallow you whole. God, you were so tired.
He settled down next to you, shrugged the blanket off your shoulders before inspecting your cut arm and began applying a salve that stung. You muttered an "ouch" which made the man chuckle lightly.
"It's not too bad." He said softly, heavily focused on the task at hand. "What's your name?"
"Y/N," you told him, "what about you?"
"Technoblade." He said after a pause. That name was familiar and not just to the voices that hissed and laughed at his response.
Where have I heard that before?
"I recognise your name." You offered weakly. Technoblade only nodded and mumbled something incoherent under his breath. You didn't have the energy to ask him to repeat himself. He bandaged your arm and moved onto the floor to look over your ankle. You cursed as he picked it up a little too roughly.
"Sorry." He said genuinely, looking up at your face to make sure you were okay. You waved his apology off and a silence settled over the two of you as he worked.
He must be used to working on battlefields or on himself if he treats a wounded limb that harshly.
You are assuming things again, girl.
Why would a warrior live in the middle of no-where? Even if he doesn't fight, he clearly knows how to treat injuries correctly, so why is he out here?
The voices then started yelling at one another - your questioning sent them into a frenzy. Hundreds of different responses came at you at once and you cringed, placing your hands on your head from the unpleasant symphony.
"Am I still hurting you?" Technoblade's voice tore through the wall of voices in your mind and you pulled your hands away from your head sharply.
"No!" You said hastily, "No. You're fine. It's just been a long day." He eyed you sceptically before going back to your ankle. You cursed the damn voices and the way they get louder and more troublesome when you're weak.
You turned your focus to your host. He had long, silky hair coloured a light pink, plaited loosely with a piece of brown leather. He wore a white blouse tucked into brown pants but scars still made themselves known along his collarbone and arms. He was tall but not broad which surprised you as his scars seem to be typical of a warrior. He was strong, definitely, but had a leanness to him that fascinated you.
And then there were his ears.
They didn't give a real indication as to what type of hybrid he was and you hadn't seen any other defining features - he was mainly human. Hybrids were incredibly misunderstood amongst the humans of your server, especially in small towns and villages away from the main cities. You could still remember the smell of burnt flesh that lingered in your village days after the horrible, regular attacks on the hybrids who happened to be passing through.
Technoblade moved on from your now bandaged ankle and applied a salve to the minor cuts that scattered your body. You got a view of his eyes now that his head was raised and you noticed they were a beautiful amber colour highlighted with soft, yellow spots that sparkled as he moved his head.
"Your eyes are wonderful." You told him honestly and didn't notice the light blush that tinted his cheeks at your compliment. The voices noticed, though. They always noticed.
"Thank you." He said, still in that soft voice.
Technoblade finished by placing the jar of salve down onto a small table and quickly scanning your body for any other signs of harm. "Okay, you're all done but you're gonna be sore in the morning." He chuckled and you nodded in understanding. "I have a spare room you can sleep in with a fire already going." He stood up and (with a bit of struggle and Technoblade's helping hands) you did too before he took you down the hall and into a bedroom. You barely even muttered a "thank you" before collapsing onto the bed and immediately falling asleep.
A huff of amusement came from Technoblade as he reached over to throw some blankets on you, stoke the fire and shut the door behind him as he left.
"She noticed I was a hybrid but said nothing. She didn't even look scared." He thought, not really expecting a nice response.
But, for the first time in a while, his voices had nothing to say.