Chapter Text
He was hungry.
That wasn’t really anything new. He’d been hungry forever. There were a few times where he’d been able to eat enough to not be hungry, but not many, and he’d been hungry again soon after.
Right now, he was trying to make this one of the few not-hungry times. There was an animal with long ears and soft fur hopping around on the forest floor, and he was creeping after it, moving as silently as he could. He was slow - being quiet was always slow - but he was very, very good at sneaking. And biting, but he couldn’t bite it yet, he had to get closer.
The animal paused, sniffing the air, and he froze. Had he forgotten to check the wind? Had he made a noise? But no, after a moment, the animal went back to sniffing at the leaves on the ground.
He gave it a few more seconds to relax, then crept forward a few more cautious steps. He’d gotten one of these before, once, and it had been tasty. He really wanted to catch this one, too.
He took one more step -
And the world turned upside down.
He couldn’t help it, he screeched in confusion and alarm as he was yanked up into the sky, something digging into him on all sides. The animal darted away below him, but he could hardly bring himself to care as he started to thrash.
What was it what was happening?
He tried to bite, to claw, to make whatever had him let go - rope, he realized with a pang of fear. He was in rope. And he couldn’t get a good angle to tear it apart, not here in the air, wings pinned to his sides.
A whine of panic started rising in his throat, and he kept thrashing. He had to get out he had to get out, there had to be a way out. There had to be.
Footsteps. Voices.
He hissed. His claws hooked on one of the rope bits, and for a moment he was hopeful, but no, he couldn’t move enough to rip it. He tugged at it anyway, hoping a little desperately that he could pull it apart enough to get more leverage.
The voices got louder. They spread out - three humans, he could hear them, he could smell them, he could see them in the corner of his vision as he wriggled.
“What do we do with it?” one of them asked uncertainly.
Oh that was a bad question. That was a bad bad question. Humans usually had several things they could do with him, and he didn’t like the idea of any of them. He hissed and snapped, hoping they would go away, or at least wouldn’t want to touch him.
They murmured amongst themselves, and then one of the humans walked over to some more rope pulled tight near a tree, leading up high into the branches. They pulled out a knife and cut through it.
Another screech tore out of him as he fell to the forest floor. That hurt, but the rope was looser now, and he started trying to crawl out of it, tear it apart, get it off.
… It didn’t work. He was getting even more stuck, even more tangled up. The human with the knife started slowly walking toward him, and he backed away as much as he could, whining high and terrified.
He didn’t want to die. He had kept living for so long, he couldn’t die now. And… as silly and small as it sounded, he didn’t want to die hungry.
Air rushing, high above them. Massive wing beats.
And then a huge dragon landed with a big thud nearby, growling low and angry enough to shake the earth.
The humans wouldn’t be so bad, actually, he thought, shrinking to the ground inside the ropes, hoping he wouldn’t be seen.
There was nothing kind about other dragons.
Techno knew there was someone in his territory.
What specifically was in his territory was a little more difficult to figure out. They smelled dragon-ish, but they weren’t hunting anywhere near enough for a dragon, and there was the faint scent of human to them. A dragon-friend, maybe? Like Dream or Tubbo?
Though a dragon-friend would recognize they were in a dragon’s territory and know that it was polite to greet the owner.
Interesting.
Techno didn’t worry too much about it. The possible dragon-friend wasn’t hunting much, and wasn’t disrupting the territory at all, so he let them be. He did patrol his territory slightly more often, though.
It was on one of these patrol flights that he heard it. Far below him, somewhere in his forest, there was the cry of a dragon hatchling.
Techno instantly dove for it, listening carefully for more sounds to help triangulate. He heard more, alright, and they all sounded scared, panicked.
He saw a group of humans, huddled near a writhing, rope-covered shape, and he landed with a thundering growl. Had they been hunting a hatchling?
The humans all stepped back in terror. Then one - the leader, maybe, or an especially brave one - stepped forward. “G-Greetings, lord of the territory.”
“I give you permission to hunt in my lands,” Techno snarled, flexing his claws into the dirt, “And this is what I find?”
“It was a snare for rabbits,” the human squeaked. “We - we didn’t intend for… this to happen, we swear.”
Techno took a moment to breathe, to push aside the anger and look at this objectively. The humans who hunted here had never pushed the limits of his patience. They had never lied to him. Granted, he had never been so angry at them before, but this was a hatchling. He settled for rattling his scales at them and saying “I’ll forgive it this once. Never let it happen again. Now get out.”
The humans bolted.
As soon as they were gone, Techno turned his attention to the hatchling. They had gone silent, and mostly still, but he could see them shaking.
Techno let out a soft little croon, stepping forward to try and help them out of that net. As soon as he did, though, the hatchling hissed at him and rattled their tiny scales. They were still shaking.
He paused. It occurred to him, very suddenly, that the hatchling might actually be afraid of him.
That… wasn’t good. Hatchlings were rare, and therefore very important and very well cared for, so there should be no reason for them to be afraid of another dragon.
Techno tried a soothing little rumble. He was met with more hissing.
“Little one,” he tried again, keeping his voice as soft as he could. “Can you get out of that net?”
There was a moment of silence. Then they rattled again.
Oh, they were well and truly stuck, weren’t they? In front of humans, and then a strange dragon they were (for some reason) afraid of? That couldn’t be pleasant.
“Okay. I’m gonna try and get you out.” Techno shifted down into a more human shape, then walked slowly over to the hatchling, ignoring the hissing. He had kept his talons for this, so he reached out and began very carefully snapping the ropes, one at a time.
The hissing began to stutter as more rope fell away, fading into a soft whine.
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he told them, cutting another rope. “I just want to get you out of this.”
They didn’t seem to believe him, because the whining didn’t stop until the last rope fell away, and they fell utterly still and silent, pressed against the forest floor.
Their scales were a beautiful dark green, blending nicely into the foliage, though the edges faded into an unhealthy greyish color. They were very, very thin, and now that Techno was paying attention, he recognized their scent.
He rumbled in quiet amusement. “So you’re the one who’s been in my territory for a few weeks.”
The amusement died like a doused candle when he saw the hatchling shrink away even further, warbling in frantic apology.
“I’m not angry, little one,” he assured them, and tried to force it to be true. He was angry, he was furious, but it was directed toward whoever had given them this much fear, not toward the hatchling. Never the hatchling.
The warble died away, and the hatchling just watched him. They looked slightly confused.
“My name is Technoblade,” he told them - him? - gently. “This is my territory. What’s your name?”
The hatchling didn’t answer beyond a quiet rattle.
“Are your parents around?”
That one got a hiss.
Techno sighed. So. Scared hatchling, in the middle of the woods, no parents in sight. He wished for a moment that Wilbur was here, but he and Tommy were off visiting Tubbo for a few weeks. It was all up to him.
Why, universe, was it all up to him? He was the worst possible choice for this. But the hatchling was right here, in front of him, so he was going to try. The hatchling deserved that.
“Okay. Are you hungry?”
The hatchling paused. Then he made a very soft little chirp.
So he was hungry. Understandable, with the amount he’d been hunting. Techno nodded. “I have food in my den, if you want some.”
The offer was… considered. The hatchling rattled his scales, a little grumble in his throat, but the gesture looked more hesitant than anything.
“Tell you what,” Techno said slowly, realizing part of the issue. “You get some food and you answer a few of my questions. An exchange, yeah? You get something and I get something?”
After a long moment of shifting his weight, the hatchling drooped a little and nodded.
Techno could hardly believe that that worked. He nodded back and took a few steps away from him. “Alright. I’m gonna shift back.” He changed back into his natural shape, taking a moment to stretch out his wings, then lowered his head to the hatchling’s level. “Do you want to ride or be carried?”
The hatchling was obviously terrified, but despite the soft whine in the back of his throat, he crept very carefully toward Techno’s paws.
“Carried it is.” Techno picked him up as gently as he could, making sure there were no gaps the hatchling could fall through. He refused to waste this piece of fragile, precious trust.
The flight back to the den was slow, much slower than Techno normally flew. He coasted, as much as he could, trying to make the flight as smooth as possible.
He could still feel the hatchling shaking.
Techno had put his den up in the side of a mountain. It was nearly impossible to reach without flying, so he could have as much privacy as possible, but that did mean the hatchling couldn’t leave without Techno flying him back down. He would feel bad about that if he couldn’t see how malnourished the hatchling was.
He landed gently just inside the den, then walked into the large central cave.
There were a few things in Techno’s hoard that no one was allowed to touch without permission. Some crowns, several particularly shiny or strong weapons, a suit of armor. Tommy and Wilbur were the same way, with more personal or private parts of their hoards, some of which Techno had never even seen. Those items stayed in their own personal caves, where no one would go without their explicit permission. The rest, though? That all got dumped into the common area.
Techno made a soft, pleased little rumble as he stepped onto the pile of coins and goblets and jewelry, listening for a moment to the lovely clinking of gold. Then he carefully set the hatchling down, noting with satisfaction that the heating enchantments etched into the cave walls were working. They were at a fairly high elevation, after all, and too much cold wasn’t good for hatchlings.
The hatchling made a choked little squeaking sound when he saw the sheer amount of gold piled in the large cave. His pupils, when Techno got a glimpse of them, had dilated so much his eyes looked almost black.
“We’ve been collectin’ for a long time,” Techno informed the hatchling with no small amount of pride. “I’ve had some of this since I was your size.”
The hatchling crooned, very softly, lifting his paw just a little, like he wanted to explore but was too nervous.
“I’ll go get some food, you look around,” Techno urged. He was a bit nervous to leave such a skittish hatchling alone, but he seemed pretty engrossed in the hoard, so… it would probably be fine, right?
… He’d just be quick. He could foresee no problems with this.
Techno ducked into one of the side caves where they stored their extra meat, shivering at the abrupt change in temperature as he passed the cooling runes, and paused when he realized he had no idea what to feed a half-starved hatchling. Too much meat at once would be bad, he was pretty sure, but how much was too much?
After another few seconds of deliberation, he picked out a large rabbit. That would be enough to start with, right? It was barely a mouthful for Techno, but the hatchling was so much smaller than him. And if it wasn’t enough, he could just. Bring him more food later. Yes, that seemed like a good plan. He carefully picked up the rabbit with his teeth and carried it out to the main room.
The hatchling had - oh. He’d buried himself in the gold in Techno’s absence, and he was making a scratchy little purr as he wiggled deeper into the pile. It was the most precious thing Techno had ever seen.
He rumbled, very quietly, and gave it the edge of a purr just for good measure as he walked over.
The hatchling went stiff, the purr cutting off immediately. He just… lay there, under the gold, looking up at Techno. Still scared.
Techno set down the rabbit and nudged it over to him. “Here you go, little one. Let me know if you want more after this, okay?”
Strangely, for how hungry he seemed, the hatchling didn’t immediately lunge at the rabbit. He tentatively lifted his head and gave Techno a questioning little whine.
“Go ahead,” Techno told him, backing off a pace in case that’s what was bothering him.
The hatchling glanced around at the gold and whined again.
Oh. Techno shook his head. “If I cared about you gettin’ into the gold, I would have told you. Or I wouldn’t have brought you in here. Okay? I’m not upset with you.”
Very slowly, like he might change his mind, the hatchling crept forward and sank his teeth into the rabbit, pulling it back toward his little burrow of gold. Then, when Techno didn’t react, he started eating.
The hatchling ate like a scavenger. Big, quick bites, and periodic glances up at Techno. He even gnawed at the bones, but his jaw wasn’t quite strong enough to snap through the bone yet, so he couldn’t get at the marrow.
Techno shifted carefully down into a more human shape and took a few steps toward the hatchling. “Want help?”
The hatchling gave him a warning little growl, puffing up his wings to look bigger.
Okay. Okay. Techno very carefully knelt down and held out a hand. “Toss me a bone?”
There was a long pause as the hatchling eyed him up and down, his wings slowly lowering and then puffing back up as soon as he realized he wasn’t “threatening” anymore. Then he reluctantly nudged a bone over toward Techno.
“Thank you,” Techno said calmly. He picked up the bone, examined it a little - a leg bone, he thought, one of the larger ones - then snapped it in half and nudged it back over.
The hatchling made a startled little chirping sound. He tilted his head sideways at Techno, then the bone. Then he started gnawing at it to get to the marrow inside.
Good, Techno thought, giving him a proud little rumble. There were a lot of nutrients in that. Once the little one had finished that bone, Techno held out his hand again.
There was less hesitation this time before the hatchling nudged another bone toward him.
They kept up this back and forth until the largest bones were gone, and then Techno tilted his head toward the nest he and the others had constructed in the corner of the cave. “You tired, little one?”
The hatchling whined very quietly, glancing back toward the cave entrance.
“… I don’t want you to be out on your own,” Techno admitted quietly. “It’s dangerous out there, especially with how little you are. But… if you really want to go, I’ll let you back down.”
He didn’t reply right away. He just looked between Techno and the entrance, his tail tip twitching, disturbing a few coins. A soft whine built in his throat.
“It’ll probably be cold tonight,” Techno pointed out. “At least stay for a little while? You won’t be trapped, I promise. Just… I want you to be well-fed and well-rested, if you’re goin’ back out there alone.”
The hatchling hesitated for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.
Techno stood and gestured him over toward the nest. “Come on, then.”
The hatchling crept, very cautiously, over to the nest. He poked at it with one paw like he wasn’t entirely certain what it was. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he had never seen a proper nest and hoard before.
With that thought, Techno shifted back into his full dragon form, then leaned down to scruff the hatchling. Ignoring the soft squeak of alarm for the moment, he curled up in the nest and set the hatchling down against his side, then spread a wing over him.
The hatchling was shaking again, just slightly. After a moment, though, he slowly leaned further against Techno’s side, soaking up the warmth. Hatchlings needed that. Another reason Techno didn’t want him out in the cold tonight.
“Rest,” Techno told him quietly. “You’re safe here.”
It took the hatchling a while to fall asleep. He kept shifting around, sitting up a little before laying back down, as though he was afraid something was going to come into the cave and hurt him.
Techno kept him covered with a wing, though, and stayed quiet and still, and eventually, the little one stopped moving around. He started making tiny, whispery huffing sounds; he was out cold.
Good. Step one - get the hatchling in here and show him that Techno wasn’t an immediate threat - was done. Now onto step two, making sure he didn’t want to run off into the woods again.
This was going to be interesting.