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"From deepest red and soot and ash
A boy must fight for those who bled-"
The song was beautiful, a ballad that spoke of long-lived hope, beaten down as it may be. The deep hum of a bow across the strings of a cello was made to pull at the heart, pairing wonderfully for the prophecy put to song. It was clear that the two singers that harmonized with the instrument were skilled. They deserved every coin that dropped into the case at the woman's feet as she played.
Despite that, if Tommy heard one more bard singing the praises of the 'chosen one', he was going to lose his shit. It was everywhere, he couldn’t escape it – every dark corner whispering about the boy chosen to free them from their plights.
Well, joke’s on them – the chosen one that was supposed to save them was the same boy that they kicked around and spit on in the streets, called unnatural.
The only people that had treated him with the respect that he had apparently deserved were the ones who cut his knuckles in punishment for his mistakes. The people who had served him the finest foods possible were the same ones that stripped him of any ounce of gold he attempted to hoard away.
The ones that celebrated his hardy piglin blood were the same that continuously beat down his instincts. They made him as human as his apparently twisted body could manage, and then taught him magic.
He turned away from the musicians and slipped back into the alleyways, making his way to a different square. He didn’t want to think about those teachings and the people who taught them, so he pushed his mind on towards a different subject as he walked.
Tommy had vague memories, from before he entered the world that now looked at him as a savior. The waves of heat that came off of a blacksmith’s forge made him feel at home, sometimes the screams of other children were made at just the right pitch to make him look up in concern and fear.
Even though he couldn’t truly remember anything from back then, he hadn’t forgotten the feel of the Nether. And he could definitely say that he missed it.
As he slogged through sleet-filled streets, the watery mush splashing over his shoes and leaving his cloven feet freezing, he wished only for the blazing heat of his natural home. He didn’t understand how anybody could stand this weather.
He was slowly falling into his own thoughts and loathing over the Overworld when he felt a slight nudge. It wasn’t anything physical though, putting him off for a second as he looked around.
It was rare that his magic acted up on its own. It had been hard to cultivate enough magic to do anything, really – and when he had enough, he usually had a tight enough grip on it to keep it from doing anything. From what he had noticed, it only acted up when there was something important nearby.
Or something dangerous.
His eyes wandered through the crowd, trying to pick up what his magic was trying to warn him of. The last time that he had gotten a nudge like that, he had narrowly avoided being killed – some supporters of the king didn’t want him to fulfill his ‘destiny’.
But he saw no threats, and he was standing far enough away from the crowd that he didn’t think that anybody would try to rush him. Still, he put his back to a wall just in case.
That’s when he saw it – saw him.
A tall man with pink hair, sword strapped to his hip, and tusks protruding from his mouth.
And, more importantly, nearly glowing with magical power.
Tommy blinked, surprised to see another piglin. Or, at least a piglin hybrid, seeing as the guy mostly looked human. Still, it was rare to see a nether hybrid of any sort. Tommy had only seen one other piglin before, when he was very young and still in the care of his old handlers.
He shuddered at the memories of the woman. They were only grim and bloody, just like every other memory of every person that he had come to care for.
Tommy was curious about this guy – even though the townspeople seemed wary of him, they didn’t harass the man like they did Tommy. Maybe it was because he was only a hybrid, unlike Tommy who was a full-blooded piglin, or maybe it was the sword on his belt that shimmered with enchantments when his cloak brushed over the pommel.
So lost in thought, he wasn't expecting the guy to glance his way, seeming to meet Tommy's eyes from across the square. There was something like thirty feet and at least a couple dozen people in between the two of them, and yet he still felt the need to hide. He ducked away behind a wall, wondering how the man seemed to pick him out so quickly.
Tommy stayed there for just a minute, before he felt a tug in his gut – his magic, again. This time leading him out and away from the alleys of the town that he had taken to roaming. He didn't like that, not one bit. He had learned quickly that most people were more likely to spit on his entire existence and kick him into the dirt. It was entirely unlike the 'prophecy's servants' as they called themselves; they had nearly worshipped the ground he walked on. Or at least, they had outside of his training.
Another tug, and he sighed. It looked like he was following the hybrid guy.
He ducked between the alleyways of the town to keep up with the pink-haired hybrid. His magic helped him hide from any prying eyes, though it was hard to focus on such a task. He’d been getting more practice with such uses with his magic in the last couple of months at least.
But his magic couldn’t help with the way that snow clung to the fur around his hooves, the wet slush that splashed up as he had to rush to keep up with the man. The only thing that Tommy could do was keep moving – it was the only thing he had been doing for months now. Moving through the cold and the wetness, moving through the chill that clawed as his warmth-loving bones.
At least he had somewhere specific to go now. He watched as the hybrid man headed towards the edge of town, and followed the road out entirely.
Tommy wasn’t looking forward to the cold that came with the forest, but he had nowhere else to go.
With a deep breath to steady him, he rushed after the man, intent on keeping hidden until he couldn’t any longer.
~~~
With magic and wit he must clash
And go on through where all have fled
Techno sighed as he opened the door to his home with a palm against the smooth wood. It swung open with a quiet creak that he didn't pay any mind to. It had been squeaking for months now, and he hadn't found the will to fix it quite yet, so he lived with the slight annoyance.
He stepped in and kicked the door shut behind himself, setting his sword down on the table. Then he swung his cloak off and hung it in its spot beside the door, before he carried his backpack down into his storage space in the basement.
Glowstone, nether wart, fermented spider eyes, magma cream, blaze powder. Usually he went to the nether for his own potion materials, but this was his backup stash and could be stored for months.
Some would call him paranoid, but Techno had learned years ago that being caught off guard wasn't worth the relaxation.
His forest home could withstand a siege of magic users for months with barely an effort. Over the years he had warded the entire forest to hell and back to keep outsiders out; things that would turn the terrain impassable, wards that would confuse and turn intruders around. The entire forest had been weaponized to protect him and the animals within.
The only people who were allowed in without his knowledge were Phil and Wilbur, the motley family that he had gathered around him through one mishap or another.
So when he heard the door creak as it opened again, he called up through the hatch that led back up to the first floor, not thinking much of it.
“Wilbur, you know you’re still supposed to knock, right?” There had been at least one incident where he nearly gutted the man when he was caught off guard.
Moments passed by without an answer though, and Techno grew more concerned. He finished putting away his potion materials and climbed back up the ladder.
“Wilbur? C’mon, you know I don’t like hide ‘n seek,” he drawled. As casually as he could, he crossed the distance between him and the table – carefully keeping an eye out for an intruder that he had thought impossible.
But no, there was nothing. Not a hint of anything, nothing moved, nothing-
There. A small trail, leading from the door and over to the sitting room area, water and quickly-melting snow.
Drawing his blade from its sheath, Techno held the weapon loosely at his side. Ready in case of danger, but not quite threatening just yet – not until he knew whether or not the intruder deserved it or not. Sure, he didn’t really like the fact that they had entered his home without permission, but he wasn’t a total asshole. There was probably a reason for it, especially if they had fought their way all the way through the forest.
There were many things that Techno expected to see in his sitting room. Perhaps an exhausted Phil crashed on his couch after a painfully long flight. Maybe an assassin come to try their hand at taking his head again. Maybe one of his old handlers, from the life that he was so desperately trying to forget.
None of those were what he was presented with.
Instead it was a small, shivering bundle curled up under the cloak he hadn’t noticed was missing from its spot, a fire that he hadn’t started burning in the fireplace. It was small enough to perhaps be a wolf, one of the viciously smart things that had followed him home before. If it weren’t for the latent magic rolling off of the thing, he might’ve believed it. But no – whatever had found its way into his home was magical, and powerful as hell, too.
“Hey,” he called, still standing back. He wasn’t sure what this thing wanted with him. Was it a faerie looking for shelter from the cold? Some sort of shifter looking for help? Maybe even some sort of imp, banished from the nether realm.
Techno was again surprised when the bundle shifted. From under the folds and excessive material that pooled around the form, a head peeked out.
Immediately he took note of the blonde hair – the fur that seemed to mostly cover the kid’s head and face, the soft ears that flopped to the side as the kid shifted.
A piglin, full-blooded and undeniably young. Techno admittedly didn’t know a lot about his full-blooded cousins, but… based on how big piglins could get? This kid couldn’t be more than ten, maybe twelve at the most.
“Uh,” he stuttered, caught off guard by the child laying in front of his fire. “Who’re you?”
“Who are you?” The kid shot back, his expression quickly turning into a glare.
Techno blinked. “Um. The guy who lives here? What are you doing here?”
“Tryin’ to warm up.”
“... how did you even get here?”
Big blue eyes blinked up at him, holding an uncomfortable sense of judgement within them. “... I followed you? It wasn’t that hard, big man.”
With a sigh, Techno pinched the bridge of his nose and came closer to sit down on the couch. Immediately he could see the kid latch onto the sight of his sword. For now he simply laid it across his lap, a neutral position seeing as he was facing… a child. In his home.
“So you just… followed me? The wards didn’t even bother you?”
“They weren’t that hard to brush off, what were they supposed to do anyway?”
How was he even supposed to respond to that? As far as Techno knew, he was the most powerful magic user on the continent. Sure, to him his wards felt like small buckets taken out of an ocean of capability, but to most anybody those wards presented a solid wall. The only person to ever get through them was Wilbur, who had forced his way into the forest through sheer desperation and fear as he fled from his pursuers.
But this kid simply walked through – he at least felt the wards, which told Techno that he still had the upper hand. Barely, at least.
“Why did you follow me, then? Did you need something?”
That seemed to give the kid pause, eying Techno up and down as if assessing a threat. “... dunno. Just felt right.”
Techno sighed, one hand rubbing across his face with annoyance. He didn’t know what to do with kids in general, not to mention an overpowered one.
“So let me get this straight- you just saw me and decided to follow me, ignoring the wards that I had set up to keep people out, and breaking into my house without even knocking. All because it felt right?”
With a shrug, the kid nodded as if it was as simple as that. Perhaps it was, to the mind of a child.
He gave another sigh and stood up again, looking down at the runt still huddled in his cloak.
The sight was not cute. He refused to admit anything of the sort.
“... alright then. When was the last time you ate? Are you hungry?”
“Yeah,” the kid answered, not bothering to answer the first question. It made Techno feel slightly concerned.
He nodded with a huff and turned away, towards the kitchen. He didn’t have anything too fancy right now, still waiting for some of his vegetables to finish growing, but he had a decent stash of potatoes still.
Setting his sword on the table once more, he started gathering what he needed to make a good soup. The kid looked too small. Even if he was a piglin runt, he shouldn’t be so stick-thin.
Techno squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to shut down the instincts starting to bubble up in his mind.
Protect the runt. Feed him. Keep him warm, keep him safe.
With a shake of his head he fended off the need to bundle the kid up into a mass of blankets and set him in Techno’s hoard room. He had a feeling that neither of them would appreciate that, with how jumpy the kid seemed.
He would have to get the runt’s name soon.
For now, he simply gave the doorway a glance before turning back to his cooking.
He kept busy for as long as he could, cubing potatoes and setting a pot over a heating glyph. Water, spices, the potato chunks and some milk were thrown in the pot, and eventually he ran out of things to do and things to keep his mind busy with.
Instead he pulled a book from the shelves by the table. He was desperate for something to keep his instincts from going wild, or his mind running rampant with theories about the kid. It was hard to focus, but about the time that he started thinking himself in circles he found that the soup was finally ready.
Thank the gods.
So he walked out to the sitting room where the kid had apparently migrated to the couch to curl up. He was still buried under Techno’s cloak, hiding everything but the very top of his head where a shock of curly blonde hair peeked out.
“Hey kid-”
“I’m not a kid,” the runt spat, throwing the cloak away from his face to glare at Techno.
He saw the briefest, barest flicker of worry pass through those blue eyes before he responded with a huff.
“Alright, runt,” he said, watching that almost undetectable tension in the kid’s shoulders ease back again. “But soup is ready. You should eat.”
The boy nodded and untangled himself from Techno’s cloak as the man turned to head back into the kitchen. He’d already moved the pot of soup off of the heating glyph, he just had to serve it into a bowl-
Behind him he heard the quiet clicking of hooves.
Quickly his mind put together a few facts for him. One, piglins have cloven feet. He skipped out on most piglin traits such as that, only being a quarter nether-blood or something like that, but he knew that. Two, there were no shoes or general footwear that he had seen anywhere near the door, and he hoped the kid hadn’t taken them off under his cloak.
Three, there was a foot of snow on the ground outside. On his way back he ended up having to nearly plow through a few drifts of freshly fallen snow to clear a more usable path.
Techno turned his head to glance at the piglin boy to confirm, and yep – the blonde fur all the way up to his hocks were dark with melted snow.
“You don’t have shoes,” he said dumbly.
It earned him an annoyed flick of the ear from the boy, who looked up at him with a huff. “No shit.”
Techno waved a hand down at him, catching the way that the boy leaned away from it despite the distance between them. “Don’t you, like… have anything to keep warm?”
“Not really, big man. I just deal with it.” The boy huffed and shifted on his hooves. “Now c’mon, what about this soup? It smells good.”
“Right,” Techno said with a distracted nod. He turned to grab down a couple of bowls as the boy seated himself at the table.
It was nearly five miles between the forest’s edge and his home. Five miles of ice and snow, and yes the kid was surely capable of making heating glyph, but did he know how? With the amount of latent power he had, Techno knew first-hand how easily it was for a simple spell to blow up in your face – sometimes quite literally.
A trickle of summoned water turning into a geyser. A spark of fire turning into an uncontrollable wildfire. A breeze into a hurricane.
He hadn’t learned control for years. He had been taught for power, for pushing his boundaries until he could nearly rend the world apart with the magic that danced at his fingertips.
It had been Phil that taught him to concentrate and ease the flow of his own powers. Before that he had been terrified to even attempt using his magic. Too many accidents had occurred, and he had been hunted down and returned to his keepers too many times because of his own fear.
“So… are you some sort of demigod or something?”
The runt broke him out of his spiraling thoughts and Techno jerked in surprise, nearly spilling soup over the rim of the bowl he was holding.
With a hissing sigh, he steadied himself and shook his head. He filled the other bowl and set both on the table, pushing the more filled one towards the kid. It looked like he needed it more than Techno, anyway.
“Not as far as I know? I guess there’s a chance of that, it’s not that often that people as powerful as us are born.”
Blue eyes flashed up to his own, and Techno’s ear flicked in curiosity. Did the boy not think that he could feel the magic rolling off of him?
“... so where did you learn your magic?”
“Didn’t really learn it. I was just born powerful, I guess.”
The kid narrowed his eyes at him and Techno raised an eyebrow back at him.
“Really? You didn’t even have to train?”
“What, did you? You haven’t even had that much time to train, you’re still practically a baby.”
He watched in amusement as the kid quite literally bristled up with offense, his short fur puffing up slightly. And of course the expected phrase that he had heard just minutes before: “I’m not a kid! Dickhead. And I’m definitely not a baby.”
“Mhm. And that’s why you barely come up to my chest, huh?”
“I do too! I’m almost up to your shoulder already, I’m not tiny.”
Techno smirked, chuffing quietly. “Are you sure about that?”
“I- y-yes,” the kid said with a stutter. He watched as the runt’s pupils blew out just a slight bit, and felt his heart skip a little. “I’m a big man. The biggest.”
With a nod, Techno looked away and forced down the instincts that were trying to push upwards once again. Gods, this kid would be the death of him. Just a quiet chuff, a sound of pleased fondness and the piglin boy looked like he was damn near melting.
A few moments of silence passed between them before Techno cleared his throat and got the conversation started again.
“So… where are your parents? Do you got any?” A shake of the runt’s head confirmed the thought that had passed through Techno’s mind. “Do you know how you even got out of the nether? It’s pretty rare to see full-blooded piglins in the overworld.”
“There was a ritual to bring me out, I think. I don’t really remember it anymore.” The boy shrugged, and Techno felt his eyebrows pull together.
“Someone held a ritual for you? To bring you out of the nether.” Another nod. “Why? that’s a difficult ritual to keep a hold on, the zombification process is…”
He had an idea. A vague, horrifying thought as he stared down at the piglin boy sitting across his table from him. He watched as the boy scrunched down in his seat with an uncomfortable glance to the side.
Techno drew in a breath and held it for a couple of seconds. “Kid, what’s your name?”
Blue eyes glanced between the bowl in front of the kid and Techno, before shooting back down.
“Tommy.”
Tommy. A simple name, a human name – he found it almost funny, since the hybrid in the room had a more piglin name of Technoblade.
He wanted to ask. He wanted to prod, to push, confirm or disprove his theory.
For now, he let the subject drop and moved on.
“Well, Tommy. We should probably find you somewhere to stay,” he said carefully. “I know a couple of people in town that would-”
Almost immediately Tommy was leaning forward as his hands slammed down onto the table with all the force that the kid could muster. “No! I don’t wanna go back!”
Techno blinked at the vehemence in the boy’s words and raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“Because, that town is shit,” he groaned. “All the people there are pricks, they wouldn’t leave me in fucking peace.”
“Yeah?” A protective growl fought to rumble to life in his throat, but Techno forced it down. Gods, what was wrong with him? The more he had to fight with his instincts, the more annoyed he found himself. Not at the runt – never the stick-thin boy in front of him – but more at himself. Was it just because Tommy was also a piglin?
“Yeah! There was this one asshole kid that kept fucking kicking snow at me whenever I found a dry spot to sit down- I shoul’ve set him on fire, I swear to all the gods I will the next time I see him-”
As much as Techno wanted to condone the payback – because honestly, who bullies a homeless kid? – he had to sigh and keep himself from encouraging violence. “No, don’t set him on fire.”
Tommy frowned at him and Techno felt himself wavering.
“... freeze his shoes to the ground instead.”
That earned him a wide grin, and Techno had a feeling that he wouldn’t be getting rid of this runt.
(He was in fact correct in that assumption.)
~~~
Where many souls have been misled
Take up in arms so war may cease
Tommy had to admit, he was surprised that Techno was at all willing to let him stay in his house. The man didn’t seem very keen on visitors if he had apparently warded the forest against most humans, after all.
But it had been a week now, and he didn’t seem any closer to kicking Tommy out.
In fact, it was like he was only becoming nicer. It felt like some sort of warning that he probably should’ve listened to – but Tommy trusted that his magic would warn him of any danger before it became an issue. Hopefully.
Techno gave him food, and blankets to make his own nest beside the fire in the living room. He let Tommy help cook, teaching him how to properly handle a knife in his small, inhuman hands. He gave him new clothes, oiled leather covers with soft fleece insides to keep his legs warm in the snow. It was everything that Tommy had ever wanted.
He was sure that he was going to watch the entire thing come crumbling down, any day now – any hour. Techno was already aware that Tommy was incredibly powerful with his magic, but what happened when he found out that he was the chosen one?
Maybe Techno wouldn’t care that much. Honestly he seemed like the type to not even give a fuck about some famous kid that was supposed to save the people from some tyrant.
Techno didn’t have to worry about the outside world, after all. Tommy had asked him what all his wards were for and got to watch first-hand as some poor hunter was turned around and forced out of the forest. It was amazing, the way that Techno could manipulate his magic and turn it into something so precise and useful.
The only thing that Tommy had ever been taught was how to hurt people. It was all he did, one way or another.
His magic was specifically meant to destroy the tyrant that had been dragging the land into poverty and ruin for decades now. He had to be powerful, he had to be able to blow down a castle if it came to it. He couldn’t bother learning the tiny little tricks that most magic users practiced.
Perhaps his interest in learning such things hadn’t been as subtle as he thought it was – because now Techno was asking him if he wanted to learn.
“We’ll just have to go out into the forest a ways. I don’t want you burning down the area around my house, but I can generally fix whatever you might do – or stop it before it gets too far.” Techno shrugged, sitting across from Tommy as the piglin boy pushed his oatmeal around his bowl.
“You don’t have to teach me,” Tommy mumbled. “I’ll be fine, I know plenty of magic…”
Techno hummed. “Clearly you do, or you would’ve been torn apart by now. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have some more to learn.”
“What does that mean?” Tommy narrowed his eyes at the man, stabbing his spoon into his bowl.
“I’m just saying, not everybody knows everything, kid–”
“No, the other thing.”
“The… whole ‘torn apart’ bit?”
Tommy nodded, watching as Techno shifted uncomfortably.
“Well… it seems that you were lucky enough to have someone to teach you all the basics,” Techno said. “But I didn’t, and when I was really young all the magic just…”
He shrugged, which only confused Tommy further.
“Just what? That doesn’t explain shit, bitch.”
Techno huffed with some sort of amusement. “I didn’t have any control with it – mentally or otherwise. I have a vague memory of destroying a cliffside when I was young because I sneezed or something.”
“What?” Tommy’s eyes blew wide and he leaned forward. “You took out an entire cliff with a sneeze?”
“I might’ve been sick or something, I was upset and my magic responded to that, so…” Techno shrugged, as if that explained everything.
But Tommy had never had to deal with something like that, and not for the reason that Techno probably thought. He had no one to teach him to control his powers when he was young – he simply did not have the power back then.
Not until years later. Not until a naive, innocent Tommy had been placed in the middle of a circle and powerful hearts were placed around him.
Not until he became the chosen one.
That thought soured his interest, but Techno didn’t seem to be too fazed by it.
“So… I can try to teach you a few things, if you want.”
Tommy looked up at the hybrid man and carefully nodded. He could try to learn a bit, at least.
With a smile and a nod, he hopped up from his seat and left the remnants of his oatmeal in his bowl as he rushed to grab his jacket. “Can we go now? It’s not too far, is it?”
“Uhhhh, it’s a few miles into the forest, I think. I can carry you for the more difficult portions if you want, I guess.” Techno stood as well and grabbed Tommy’s bowl to clean out, finishing the last few bites for himself and leaving it in the sink for now.
“Pog,” Tommy said with a grin, ignoring the way that the man gave him an odd look. Instead he rushed out the door and waved Techno along behind him. “Now c’mon, where to big man?”
Techno gave a small huff of what Tommy hoped was amused exasperation, but pointed the way as he swung his cape around his shoulders and stepped out of the cabin. “That way, just keep going straight until you get to the weird… twisty tree bit.”
“Twisty tree bit?”
“Mhm,” the man said, nodding sagely.
Tommy huffed, but shrugged and trotted ahead, intent on getting to their destination.
It took them about an hour to get there, Techno eventually taking the lead so that the bigger hybrid could bulldoze through the thick snow in their way. Tommy could then follow in his footsteps with slightly lesser struggles, though eventually the cold started seeping in. By the time that they got through the snowy forest and to the clearing that Techno had been leading them to, his feet were getting cold and wet despite their covers.
But that didn’t seem to matter much, when Techno stopped in the middle of the clearing and raised his arms. Tommy stood in front of him and watched him mutter words laden with magical power – and then nearly jumped out of his skin when fire erupted around them.
In moments it blew away the snow, the blast of warm air sending what didn’t melt sloshing into icy drifts at the edge of the clearing.
Tommy watched the fire lick around Techno’s hands before he lowered his arms and patted the faint, lingering smoke away from his palms. The hybrid sent a small smile to him, fully aware of how he was showing off.
It just made Tommy want to try harder. Destruction was easy, it came as naturally as breathing to him – he wanted to learn how to make those delicate creations that Techno did. His wards, the glyphs that warmed their food without fire, the things that transported items straight into Techno’s palm with barely a flick of his fingers.
“So, kid. What kind of glyphs do you know?”
Tommy shrugged. He hadn’t been taught about glyphs or permanent markings for the most part. He hadn’t really been finished with his training either, but whatever. It didn’t really seem like the prophecy’s servants were all that interested in teaching him stuff like that anyways.
Techno hummed and sat down on the now-damp grass around them, still brown and dead with the chill of winter. He patted the ground beside him and Tommy dropped down with him as he pulled out a wad of paper.
For a while, the two of them went over glyphs of all sorts. The natural elements, protection, motion, luck and curses.
Some things that he covered were things that Tommy had some vague knowledge of how to use – other things he was totally lost on. But Techno slowly worked through the basics with him.
“For your most important or complicated glyphs, there’s one good way to make them more steady,” Techno explained gently. He shifted over to leave some room between them and set down a sheet of paper. Then Tommy watched as he drew a needle from some hidden pouch on his side, pricking his middle finger with it with a quick punch through the skin. “Use blood for your drawing medium. It doesn’t have to be a lot, and it doesn’t even have to be used for the entire glyph, but you generally have some more control over what you’re doing like this.”
Tommy watched with wide eyes as Techno let the blood bead up on his finger, before smearing it across the paper in carefully laid lines. A fire glyph, which hadn’t even begun to dry properly before the edges of the paper started to turn black and brittle with heat. There was no proper fire, but when Tommy glanced up it looked like Techno was focusing quite hard on controlling it.
“You just have to focus on how much power you’re pouring into your glyphs,” Techno explained slowly, his focus still straining until the paper was reduced to nothing but a circle with the fire glyph perfectly centered on it. “For us, it’s hard for it not to turn into a waterfall that we’re constantly pouring out. You have to kinda dam it up for small things like this, make it so nothing but drops are escaping.”
Tommy nodded, though he didn’t fully understand what the man was trying to say. He knew that he could control how much power he used, but he had only ever been trained on how to push for more.
With a hiss, the paper stopped burning and Techno placed down a new paper. “My blood won’t work to steady your magic – you don’t have to use blood to make these glyphs, but you should write them yourself.”
“Um… okay. Lemme see yours?”
Techno gave him an indulgent smile and pulled out a small vial of ink and a seemingly broken quill. “Ink is the next best thing – you can use charcoal once you get used to suppressing your power enough.”
Tommy hummed, not sure what to say. He didn’t really feel like he could trust himself – but he gave his new teacher one last look before he copied down the fire glyph in thick black ink.
“Now, using glyphs is a lot like pronouncing a spell – instead of speaking you simply project your intent through the glyph.”
“Okay, so I just…” Tommy cautiously stared at the paper, as both he and Techno took a step back. Usually his magic felt like he was giving his power a shove – so with this, he just had to give it a nudge, right?
He followed through with his own attempt at controlling his power as he gave himself a mental countdown.
One, Two, Three-
The paper with the rune burst into an inferno that immediately scorched the grass underfoot. Tommy watched with wide eyes as the damp winter brown turned into burnt black, fire licking outwards as quickly as it could as Techno called over the roar of consumption.
“Tommy! Stop!”
With a blink, Tommy held his breath and watched as the fire stopped growing and was doused with a stream that came from the waterskin Techno held in one hand. Despite its rather small size the water didn’t stop until the fire went out.
And then Tommy felt fear slam into him.
He hadn’t done what he was supposed to. He hadn’t done what Techno had been teaching him.
The breath that he had held in his chest exploded outwards and his knees slammed into the now-dried earth underneath him. He held in the distressed squeal that tried to creep out of his throat and stared downwards as he held up his scarred knuckles.
He hadn’t done well enough. He wasn’t good enough, he wasn’t- he wasn’t worthy of being the chosen one, how- how- he was supposed to save his people, how could he do that if he couldn’t do this?
But then a quiet chuff cut through the fear electrifying him. It wasn’t able to douse it quite yet, but he looked up to meet Techno’s gaze.
“Tommy?” The man looked confused – concerned, perhaps. The expression scared the piglin boy even more. “What are you doing?”
He carefully reached forward, taking one of Tommy’s hands as if confused by the way he was offering them up.
It was then that Tommy’s mind decided to remind him that he was away from his trainers. He wasn’t in the hidden sanctuary of the prophecy’s servants anymore. He wasn’t in the padded, gilded prison that he had been held and taught in.
Tommy snatched his hands back from Techno’s grip and bit down on the whimper that tried to fall from him. He couldn’t let Techno know who he was, he couldn’t risk being delivered back to that place.
But in a cruel twist of fate, it seemed like his hopes didn’t matter as Techno’s expression darkened and seemed to be shuttered behind an unreadable wall.
“Tommy… what do you know of the prophecy?”
“Shut up!” He immediately shouted, stumbling upwards to stand on shaky legs. “I- no-”
“Kid-”
“No!” Tommy stepped back, horror creeping over him as Techno followed with a much longer step. “Leave me alone!”
“Tommy, I’m not going to-”
With a breathless shout, Tommy turned on his heel and ran. He couldn’t let Techno catch him, he couldn’t let anyone catch him.
The problem with that was the fact that Techno wasn’t some commoner that he could blow away with his magic. In fact, he had to fear the piglin hybrid – and for good reason, as he felt invisible force wrap around his wrist.
He tried babbling out his own spell to reverse the hold, but he was too inexperienced – he was too weak, a feeling that he hadn’t had since he was forced full of power that wasn’t his own.
By the time that Tommy had at least partially broken Techno’s spell, the man himself had caught up to him.
This time he slid to his knees in the snow, hands grabbing hold of the boy’s shoulders to keep him from sprinting off again. Tommy let out a wail and tried to thrash, though he was held firmly.
“No- no, let me go, you bitch-”
“Tommy- Tommy listen, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m not going to give you back to them.” Techno held onto him, dragging the boy closer with shaking hands. “I’m not going to let them hurt you, I promise.”
“You’re lying,” Tommy screamed, breathless as he tried to struggle.
Techno only chuffed, reassuring and encouraging Tommy to melt into him. And he wanted to, so badly. He wanted to relax and accept the protection that the hybrid presented. He wanted to let go of his fear, but how could he?
But the noise was constant. A soft chuff-chuff-chuff that wormed its way into his mind until Tommy went limp all at once as his mind seemed to go all fuzzy. Techno gave a quiet grunt but took his weight without complaint, cradling him close.
“It’s okay,” the man said quietly, pressing his face into the fur on top of Tommy’s head. “It’s okay runt. You’re safe here.”
Carefully, almost reverently, the man cradled Tommy in his arms and stood up. The soothing sound of those quiet chuffs only stuttered for a moment before Tommy knocked his snout against his shoulder. If he was going to be dragged into his instincts, he was bringing this bitch down with him.
“It’ll be okay, Tommy,” Techno said with some difficulty. “You don’t have to hide, treasure. They won’t find you here – you’ll be safe, I promise.”
With a sigh, Tommy turned his face further into the hybrid’s shoulder. He was tired, exhausted even without his instincts going wild. The panic seeped out of his form and he struggled to keep his eyes open.
As Techno started walking it seemed that Tommy finally lost his battle with his instincts anyway. His eyes fell closed and he gave a tiny chuff of his own, feeling the arms around him tighten for just a moment.
He lasted only a couple of minutes with the swaying of Techno’s gait before he slipped into sleep.
~~~
With golden crown placed on his head
A king be made there in his peace.
Techno’s hands were still shaking when he got back to his forest home. It wasn’t from the cold – the glyphs sewn into the inside of his cloak made sure of that.
Rather, it was from the utter shock and disgust that kept running a steady loop around his mind. The sight of Tommy crumpling to his knees after his very first attempt at controlling his magic and offering already-scarred knuckles up to him left him feeling absolutely gutted.
The attempt had actually gone fairly well! The boy had tamped down his magic to something that was surely miniscule to what he could have done.
Techno flexed his hands, feeling the ever-present ache of his own scars. He still remembered the punishments that the servants of the prophecy doled out. He remembered their teachings.
Opening the door to the house he knew that he couldn’t deny his instincts any longer. He didn’t even try to push them down, simply carrying Tommy to his hoard room, setting the boy down in the nest. Perhaps he would detest the coddling later, but for now Techno couldn’t help but indulge in the precious sight.
He would give the runt everything that he deserved, without the punishments he was clearly so used to taking.
His mind growing hazy as warmth enveloped him, Techno wrapped his cloak around the boy’s back before shuffling around his hoard. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, clips and pins and crowns.
Smiling, Techno took down one of his oldest crowns. Dented and worn but still shining, it was a bit small for him now. He too had been young when he turned away from his destiny. Phil was the one to gift it to him, the metal dented in the act of stealing it from some faraway prince.
It was perfect for Tommy, his golden fluff of fur.
When he turned back to the nest he found blue eyes staring at him. Bleary and yet focused, pupils blown into black voids ringed by pale blue.
Techno settled into the nest next to him – the necklaces came first, settling over the runt’s chest comfortably. And then rings, bigger than he would have expected to need sliding onto his fingers. Bracelets with delicate charms hanging off his wrists.
And then Techno carefully placed the crown on the boy’s head.
A perfect golden runt. It finally settled the itch that had been plaguing Techno over the last week – seeing Tommy fed, cared for, covered in gold.
“Tech?” The boy’s voice came out as a hazy murmur, prompting the hybrid to wrap his arms around the runt.
With some difficulty, Techno bumped his forehead against Tommy’s and answered. “Yeah?”
“W-why won’t you…? I’m s’possed to be the chosen one…”
Techno almost wanted to cry at the simple sort of acceptance that Tommy had in his voice. The way that the boy seemed to accept that he was supposed to be the one to fulfill the prophecy that had floated around for years.
As if Techno wasn’t the one that they had originally wanted. He was supposed to be the one that killed the tyrant ruling over the land.
“Because you’re not the chosen one, Tommy,” he whispered, voice cracking as he pressed his head more firmly against the boy’s. “You’re not, treasure. You never should’ve been.”
The broken, confused noise that the piglin runt gave nearly shattered his heart entirely.
“I am,” Techno continued. “I was the chosen one.”
With a wiggle, Tommy pulled away and those blown-wide pupils locked onto him. “What?”
And Techno couldn’t even attempt to offer anything as comfort. Nothing that he hadn’t already, as he gently squeezed the boy with another soft chuff. “I’m- look, they taught me too,” he said, offering up one of his hands and his scarred knuckles. The white, slightly raised lines of scars had lightened and gotten tougher over the years – but still, they were recognizably similar to Tommy’s.
The boy looked up at him and sniffled slightly. Though the boy couldn’t cry tears, the tremble that ran through him shook Techno just as thoroughly. “Oh,” Tommy murmured.
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
He wasn’t expecting the way that Tommy threw himself at him, rocking backwards in the nest with a quiet oof.
“You- you won’t send me back?”
“Never,” Techno promised with as much vicious vehemence as he could muster. “Never, I promise treasure- they’ll never find you here, I’ll make sure of it.”
“And I don’t have to leave…?”
With a rush of breath Techno hugged the boy tighter, reminded far too much by his own fear when he was small and clinging to Phil. “Never, Tommy. You can stay for as long as you want.”
Tommy’s hand curled into the cloak around him, the other grabbing onto Techno’s shirt. “Forever?”
“Of course,” he said – the acceptance was as easy as breathing.
“Okay,” Tommy breathed.
The two clung to each other, and Techno couldn’t deny the comfort that it brought him. After fighting his instincts for a week it was nice to just relax. He could finally comfort his runt properly, appeasing the softer side of him that he so rarely indulged in.
Later he could sit and stew in his guilt and regret, and apologize properly for scaring Tommy. But that would be after this moment that they shared.
For this moment, no servants of the prophecy could reach either of them. For now there was only the comfort of knowing that they were both safe and sound.