Just to say this chapter has a trigger warning for kidnapping.

Three of four of the boys were standing, staring up at their father with pleading expressions. It had been so long since they had left the woods and Wilbur, Tommy and Tubbo were bored of it. So now they were begging to be allowed to join Philza on his trip into the town.

Phil sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Alright, you four can join me, so long as you promise me that you'll stick together the whole time and not wander off. It can be dangerous, especially for Tubbo and Technoblade."

Technoblade looked up from where he had been reading on the sofa. "Wai', why d' I have to tag along? Thought I was saying 'ere. I don't want t' go." He spoke slightly awkwardly, his tusks had started to poke from his lips, making it slightly harder for him to talk, so he skipped a few bits here and there. It would get better when they had stopped growing and he had figured out how to talk around them better. Or so he hoped.

"Because I'm not leaving you home alone Techno. Now we need to go through rules and such, so put your book away." Technoblade rolled his eyes at Philza's words but did as he was told, it was easier than arguing with him.

"Good, now, remember to stay close to each other and close to me, don't wander off. If someone seems suspicious tell me, got it?" Phil sounded so serious as he spoke, his eyes scanning over the faces of his boys.

Tubbo was the first to nod. "Got it! We'll stay close to you!" He gently elbowed Tommy before turning to smile at him, earning an eye roll from the taller blond.

"Ain't no poin' in wandrin' off." Techno seemed mildly irritated about the idea of going into the town, he didn't like how people stared at him. He hadn't been in a few years, and seeing as how much different he looked now, with a near constant bored expression and the tusks that poked through his mouth, he knew the looks would just get worse. Luckily for the other hybrids they could hide themselves easily, Phil having to just wear a cloak over his wings and Tubbo being seen as "cute" meant that he didn't have to change anything about himself to pass. But Techno, he was weird, looked "wrong". He could already feel how people watched him, wondering what they assumed to be a full Piglin early adolescent was doing following three humans and a goat hybrid.

"Hey, you can trust us. We won't leave your side, no matter how bored we get." Wilbur promised, Techno was the only one who noticed how he shifted awkwardly, he was probably planning on leaving, but eh, he'll be fine. He had a talent for getting into trouble and getting out of it unschaved.

"I'm not going to wander off I guess. I'll be fine though, I'm a big man!" The way the youngest boy asserted himself caused Tubbo and Wilbur to burst out laughing, earning offended glares from Tommy.

"Tommy please, promise me you'll stay close." Philza sounded so exhausted, he just wanted to get some supplies, but now three of his four boys wanted to come along and he had to drag another with him.

"Fine. I'll stay close."

"Thank you. Now you should get ready and wait for me."

Wilbur, Tommy and Tubbo nodded running off to find their shoes, and Wilbur a hat. Techno followed behind them, hands in the pockets of the hoodie he was wearing. He really didn't want to go, humans were annoying. They stared and whispered, some clutched their golden possessions a bit more tightly. Gods Techno hated it, and the voices. The voices, they hated it more than he did. They told him to prove them right. To hurt the humans that stared at him. But he knew that was stupid. So he ignored them.

---

Techno hated the town. He hated how loud it was. How crowded. How people bumped into him. How he had to cling so close to Phil's cape. How the noise and the chaos and the smells hurt his head. His brain was too full of all the outside world. He couldn't even hear the voices. He was alone in his own head, clinging to his father's clothes, praying silently to every god that it would get quieter soon. He hated how Wilbur and Tommy and Tubbo were laughing and joking, running around Phil as they walked. He hated how he was never even asked to join their game.

Closing his eyes tightening in hope that would fix how scared he felt Techno sped up slightly, trying to ignore how he stumbled slightly on the cobbled street. He just wanted to go home, to not be here, where people stared and muttered and there was so much noise. He wanted to go home where it was quiet and safe and away from all of this. He wanted to be younger again when people would coo and be kind, when he couldn't understand their barbed looks and hushed whispers. When he and his brother would run around under Philza's feet, utterly enchanted by every little thing that the overworld had.

But Technoblade wasn't a small child filled with innocence and curiosity anymore. Towns weren't big and scary, but in that way that filled the boy with a longing to explore. People weren't sympathetic when he got lost or confused about something that he didn't understand.

Technoblade was tall, with scars and tusks, all gangly limbs, still slightly too thin. He saw how people glanced at him, eyes full of hate. He saw how they looked at Philza and Wilbur and Tubbo and Tommy. How they whispered about how hard it must be to live with a Piglin. How he must be such a handful to deal with because of this. How he must be violent and dangerous. How he must have pushed the other boy's mother away.

Techno hated it. He wished Wilbur looked just a little more like him. He wished that he shared more physical similarities to his twin, not just their deep black eyes. He wished Wilbur's ears, with their slight point, were just slightly more like his. Maybe then he wouldn't feel so abnormal?

Selfish. Wilbur deserved to be happy, to go into towns and cities and laugh and run about, unaware of the eyes that watched his twin. Wilbur deserved to not worry about what people thought of him just because of how his hybrid nature presented itself. Wilbur deserved to never face people's hate for being a hybrid of a Piglin.

Maybe he should become the master of his fear?

Maybe he should leave? Not for long. But he should face the town and the people's glares and whispers.

Maybe he should face what scared him so much with his head held high, he was powerful after all. He could do it. Face his fear.

Face his fear.

Face the town.

Break the promise.

He would have to break his promise to do so.

But he would feel so much stronger for it.

But he would break the promise.

But it would be good to go for a short walk to find something. He had a few coins in his pocket anyway.

And Phil would be proud of him, he faced the fear.

But Phil would be angry that he broke his promise.

Break the promise.

Keep the promise, keep safe.

Technoblade gulped, hands loosening on Philza's cloak.

Break.

Technoblade looked about, seeing how his brothers were too busy playing together.

The.

Technoblade looked up at his father, occupied with bartering for something.

Promise.

Technoblade let go of his adoptive father's cloak and began to walk. He cast a glance back, seeing how Wilbur was watching him, a curious expression in his black eyes. Techno just nodded, hoping his twin would understand. Wilbur seemed to and went right back to playing with the two younger boys, keeping them from getting too far from Phil's side.

Anxiety and fear coiled around his heart, digging their barbs into him. He turned back, now unable to see his family. The early adolescent gulped, deciding to wander on. He would eventually find Phil and Wilbur and Tubbo and Tommy. He kept walking, deciding that he should ignore how people stared at him.

He felt even more out of place the further he walked. He was aware of how different he looked to humans, but he was just now realising how foolish walking away from his family had been.

Unaware of how long he had walked for Technoblade's legs ached, his mind fuzzy from fear. The voices screamed at him. They told him how scared Phil was. Gave him conflicting directions. They however didn't help with his intense anxiety. So he kept walking, fists clenched, jumpy and alert from danger.

It may have been years since he had been in any danger, but that kind of fear never leaves your body. He may hardly remember being a small child and having to look out for his weak, human appearing brother, but Techno had never forgotten what fear felt like. How it nearly blinded him and he was filled with one thought.

Live.

The boy kept waling, he was beginning to feel hopeless. It had been years since he had been this scared, and fear like this takes a lot of energy, and judging by how the sun had moved in the sky he had been walking, tense and scared, for a while now. Maybe he should find someone and ask them to help find his family, or at least the edge of town so he could make his own way home.

Techno was incredibly good at navigating, well, he was incredibly good at navigating when he had an unobstructed view of the sky or when there were trees about that he could gain an idea of where he was from. But he was hopeless in towns, they were disorienting, with their weaving streets and turns.

He just kept walking, longing to hear a familiar voice or see something he recognised, he had got turned around in the maze of streets. But no familiar voice came to his ears and he saw no familiar landmarks in the cobble and wood maze.

"Hey, kid." Technoblade turned to the voice, seeing a tall man stood there, his hair was ginger and well kept, matching the suit he had on. Part of the hybrid was curious as to what he wasn't frightened or just acting like he hadn't existed. The larger, and less logical, side of the scared eleven year old was just thankful that someone else was aware of his predicament.

Remembering what Philza had told him Techno looked at the man's feet, muttering a quiet "Yes sir?" He really didn't like how small it made him feel, but he had always been taught that he had to be polite to humans, especially those that were dressed smartly.

Technoblade hated how the man smelt, like dirt and fear, but not his own. He ignored it, but bit at the insides of his mouth, hoping that the slight pain that it gave would distract him from the smell of the man.

"What are you doing here kid? This ain't no place for a Piglin like you." There was something wrong with how the man spoke, but Technoblade couldn't identify it, deciding that the voices, and his anxiety, were wrong and the man would be perfectly reasonable and help him find Philza and his family again. He, however, couldn't deny the slight indignation that the man assuming he was fully Piglin brought to him. He would correct him and then ask for help.

"I'm only 'alf Piglin. And I know this isn't a safe place, but I got lost from my family. We don't live in town and I've not been here since I was small." Technoblade was focusing so hard on not stumbling over his words, harder than he usually did when just talking to his family. After all, he wanted this man to help him. Proper pronunciation of the common language would help with that goal.

"Alright, this still ain't no place for a half Piglin. You should find your family quickly kid. These streets are full of scum." The man sounded genuine, but Techno was wary, he wanted to find his family and get home where he would get scolded and probably sent out to gather firewood for a few hours before being sent to his room, where Wilbur would bring him a small meal and they would chat together about what had happened that day. To gain that goal Technoblade would need to first ask the man for help.

"Dadza told me not to leave, but I got lost in a crowd. Could you help me get back to the centre of town?" Keep being polite, he reminded himself. Being polite would make the man more likely to help him find his family again.

"Sure kid. Follow close." And with that the man set off, not giving Techno long to react before he followed.

The two walked for ages, twisting and turning, Technoblade staying silent, the man had to know his way about the town, after all, he probably lived there. The voices were screaming, telling him that the man was danger, to run. Their fear was nearly overpowering, but he kept himself closed off from them, remaining silent and close to the man. He had to trust the ginger, he was the only human who hadn't looked at Techno with an expression of fear, pity, anger or disgust. The man was the only person who offered to help.

So Technoblade followed. His suspicion of the man growing as he saw the houses thinning out and becoming shabbier in appearance. "Uhh... Are we going the right way?" He hated how unsure he sounded. He was Technoblade after all, the one the voices call the Blood God, he had survived on his own in the Nether looking after his brother. He shouldn't sound so scared of something as simple as the houses looking shabbier and worse.

"Can it kid." The man sounded harsh and angry, it sent chills down Technoblande's spine. He considered running, but as if the man had read his mind he turned. A blue blade, glowing faintly purple now pointed directly at the Piglin boy. "Run and you get cut. And you're too young to be able to respawn yet."

Fear clouded Technoblade's mind, the voices screaming for blood, for violence, for Techno to run, for him to fight. They were so damn loud. He gulped and nodded, eyes fixed on the glowing blade, which he now identified as being made from diamond, glistening in magic from the enchantments.

"Good job kid. Now come with me, stay close or you are even less likely to see your shitty little family again." The man nearly growled this as he grabbed Techno with his free hand and began to drag him through the streets. The poor Piglin was too scared to react, his body seeming to just obey the man, scared out of his mind, with the voices screaming for him to fight back, demanding blood.

It wasn't much longer before Technoblade was shoved through a door and into a room, cages lined one wall, each having a small bundle of what seemed to be rags in an ugly heap. It took the Piglin a few more moments to realise that each cage actually contained a child, ranging from younger than Tommy to a few years older than him.

He wasn't spoken to, just shoved into an empty cage and left. None of the other children reacted to him much, except a boy who looked at him with dull eyes before going back to seemingly being asleep.

Techno was in too much shock to do much more than sit curled up on himself. He didn't cry, he just sat there, regretting his decision to face his fear.

He regretted leaving Philza's side, regretted not saying a word to Wilbur. He regretted even going into the town. If he had just been smarter he wouldn't be here. But he wasn't smart. He was a fool. A foolish child who thought he was stronger and safer than he was.

He wouldn't go back to the centre of town, get scolded by his father and made to collect firewood and then sent to his room for the night. He didn't know what would come next. He didn't know if he would ever listen to Wilbur sing again, if he would fall victim to one of Tommy's pranks, watch Tubbo befriend yet another random bee and then feel sad when it left to return to it's hive.

Technoblade fell to his side, and his eyes closed.

The voices seemed to be soothing him, but they repeated one thing. "Sleep."

He did. Maybe if he did he would find out that this was a horrible nightmare.