Chapter Text
When Quackity was out getting food for the oncoming winter the last thing he expected to find was a guy with a sword in his stomach passed out in the forest bleeding to death. His first thought was What the fuck? His second thought was What the actual fuck?!
He quickly got on the ground next to him, dropping the basket he had with him, to check for a pulse. It was faint, but there. He was just about to pull the sword out when he remembered that it was keeping a good amount of blood in and stopping the guy from bleeding out completely.
“Alright shit dude, uh, I’m going to run to my place and get some shit to patch you up.” He states looking around frantically. “Then we’ll figure it out from there.” He rushed back to his house. His wings flapping weakly behind him, only lifting him to a short glide every now and then. It was moments like he wished he could fly. Breathing heavily.
He slammed open the door of his wooden cottage walking to his bathroom. Underneath the sink was where he kept all his medical supplies. Next he went to his living room to grab a medical book. He lived alone for years, he got most of his things from abandoned villages. Like books to keep himself entertained or when he was bored and needed something to do.
With those in hand, he was back out the door and into the forest. He found the guy again and quickly opened the book. When he first got it he tabbed out spots he thought he might need, and with some mobs around here having swords stab wounds was one of the few tabs he had quick access to.
“Alright man, I need to wrap around the sword to keep it from bleeding too much or something,” Speaking out loud only to keep himself from panicking and in case this guy was somehow conscious. “Or I don’t know. I’m just looking at the pictures.”
He studied them for a few moments, trying not to be nervous.
He wrapped around the sword making a donut like shape with some of the wrapping. “Says I have to be careful when I pull it out or it can cause more damage. I don’t think I can make this any fucking worse besides killing you.”
He stood up and gripped the end of the blade. “Here I fucking go.” He slowly pulled it out trying to keep it as steady as he could with shaky hands. He got it almost all the way out when the man on the ground let out a low groan. “Holy shit!” He said, throwing the sword to the side when he got it.
Not having much time to process it he got down again and put pressure on the wound. “I uh, I gotta clean it and then stitch it.” He used some gauze sponge to soak up the blood. Then he uses a disinfectant and cleans up the white foam the bubbles up till barely anything comes. The man lets out a noise every now and then, but doesn't move much. Moaning low and shaking and shivering helplessly.
“Just gotta wrap it then we’re done!” He’s just about out of breath when he finishes. He looks at the sky to notice the sun's setting. He puts the book and all his medical supplies in his basket.
Glancing back at the man he finally gets a good look at the man. His long matted pink hair was the first thing to note. He also had pig-like floppy ears. Tusks coming out his mouth to match. His poet shirt was torn to high hell because of the wound. He seemed to be wearing waist high pants with a red sash tied around it and knee high black boots as well. The guy seemed to dress like he was so incredibly full of himself. Like he was royalty.
Quackity grabbed the guy's arms and pulled him into a sitting position. Throwing one of them over his shoulder he stood shakily. The guy, who he started to meantly call Prince, was much taller than him so his feet were dragging on the ground as he walked back. He made a mental note to come back for the sword tomorrow and look around for anything Prince might own. It was hard to hold the basket and the guy at the same time, but he made it.
Walking in he nearly collapsed. Just barely making it to his room to lay Prince down. A page from the book flashes in his mind. Don’t leave pillows under an unconscious person’s head. He doesn't know why, but he just does it. Quackity waits a bit to see if he moves, but he stays asleep, so he leaves the room to go make something to eat.
It’s then that it hits him. He just saved some guy that could just as well kill him to return the favour. “Fuck..” he whispers to himself. He was never one for rational decisions, but this takes the damn cake. He eats quickly and then unpacks the basket. It had some apples and other fruits and plants he found around that might be useful. A few pretty rocks for his collection as well. He puts up all the med supplies and decides to keep the book with him to read a bit more in case something goes wrong.
He grabs the blanket from his living room couch and goes to sit at the desk by his bed. He reads a few more pages in the book before he passes out.
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When he wakes up the next morning he’s confused for a second. He hasn’t fallen asleep at his desk in a while.He adjusted the beanie on his head since it was falling off. A quick look around the room and the events of yesterday come rushing back to him.
“Oh shit.” He curses himself as he walks over to look at the guy in his bed. He seems to still be out, so since it’s early he decides it would be a good time to go back for the sword and such.
“Alright Prince, I’m going to get a few things then I’ll be right back.” He finds a piece of paper writing down where he’s going and to stay laying down in case he wakes up while he’s out.
It was a rather calming walk to his surprise. Not once did he run into any mobs or even any animals. When he knew he reached the right spot when he saw the blood in the grass. A quick glance around and he saw the sword too. It had a black blade with a purple sheen to it. He picked it up with care. He had no way to know how good of a sword it was. An old iron ax was his weapon of choice.
He looked around to see something gold and shiny caught in a nearby bush. He instantly wanted it. Walking over he saw that it was some sort of crown. It had various jewels lined along it.
“I really need that guy to wake up, if this is his I might have been onto something calling him Prince.” He says to himself. One more look around and nothing catches his eyes, so he turns to walk back to his cottage.
When he gets there he sets the sword and crown on his coffee table and goes to check on Prince again. From what he read last night people who pass out from blood loss shouldn’t take long to wake up. He walks carefully over to Prince. His breathing is still steady, making it seem like he was still asleep, so he decides to check his bandages.
He’s pulling the guy's shirt up when a hand grabs his wrist. He all but screams when it happens. “What the fuck!”
Prince is looking at him with barely opened eyes when he asks. “Where am I?” in a weak voice. Quackity yanks his hand out of the man's grasp and backs up away from the bed.
“Holy shit you’re alive!” He calls out. Prince’s ear twitched at the loud outburst. He tires to sit up before, against his better judgement, Quackity rushes back to his side to lay him “Lay down dumbass! You were bleeding out a few hours ago!”
“You didn’t answer my question,” He grunts out, laying back down. “Where am I?”
“Fuck if I know man.” Quackity responds with honesty. He’s been living here for years and the closest village is abandoned. He has no idea where anything around him is. Sometimes people come across his place, but they never stay, nor do they tell him where they're going.
“Landscape? You know, what biome are we in? Anything of note?” Quackity gives him a confused look before answering.
“Large forest area, the closest village has been empty since I lived here.”Prince nodded while he looked down at his stomach area again. “Hey man, I need to check your wound to make sure it didn’t get infected and shit. You gonna grab me again, or let me be?”
The guy squints at him before nodding. Once again Quackity moves to lift the shirt. He pulls the bandage off and looks it over. He smiles a bit. “Good news, it’s not infected! Which means I did a good job yesterday. The stitches look fine, but I’ll look at the book again to see if I need to re do them.”
“Book?” Prince asks.
“Yeah, I found you then sota came back here to get the shit I needed to fix you up. I grabbed a medical book I had laying around and brought it all back to you, so I could do it without killing you.” He explained reapplying the bandage and walking over to his desk. He flipped back a few pages to look over what he did and if he did it right.
“Why didn’t you just use potions?” Prince asks with an almost mocking tone. Like he knows something Quackity doesn't. “Or actually, why didn’t you just leave me?”
“Because, jackass , I don’t have any or anyway to make them,” He stated with a glare, his wings ruffling up a bit. “And because I wasn’t going to just let some guy die when I could have helped.”
“Not like this is any better.” At this point it sounds like he’s trying to get on his nerves. See how much he can push.
“What exactly makes you say that?” He responds walking over to the bed again.
“You don’t exactly look the responsible type, or like you could take care of an injured person.” There’s so much smugness in his voice that makes Quackity’s blood boil.
“You know what?” He makes a point of walking out of the room. The door is on the opposite side, so Prince won't be able to see where he went from the bed. Walking into the living room he grabs the sword and hides it in a nook within the inside of the fireplace. After a few people you let into your home rob you, you make adjustments. Next he grabs the crown and marches back into the bedroom.
“You wanna be a prick, príncipe cerdo? Get out.” He says with as much authority as he can muster throwing the crown on the guy's chest. The guy almost looks shocked. He starts to slowly sit up with a groan and it takes everything in Quackity not to rush over to help him. His feet stay planted. Instead he throws out his own smug comment.
“What’s wrong princess? Need a bit of help?” The guy all, but glares at him. Wincing again he lets himself fall back onto the bed.
“Green bastard really did it this time.” He mumbles to himself. He finally stands and makes it a few steps then he begins to fall forwards. Quackity shoots forward to catch his, stretching his wings out to help him balance.
“Shit, sit down dumbass. You’re gonna open your stitches.” He scolds guiding Prince back to the bed and setting him down. “Did you miss the part where you lost a shit ton of blood?”
“I can take care of myself, this isn’t the first time I’ve been like this.” He says with annoyance. Only getting an eye roll in response.
“How about we wait till you can fucking walk straight then you can be on your merry way. How’s that sound, Prince?” Quackity says.
“Make up your mind, you want me here or gone?” He says with a grunt laying back down.
“I don’t want you here,” He says looking at his eyes, just now noticing their red. He pauses for a moment to just look at them. It was such a striking and bright color. How didn’t I notice them before? Shaking his head slightly he continues, “I brought you here because I wanted to help. I still do.” He says the last sentence a bit quieter.
All annoyance seems to leave Prince’s face at that moment of genuineness. “Why?”
“I haven’t seen anyone in a while. Let alone another hybrid. You were hurt, for all I know it’s because you’re like me. Of course I was going to help you.” There's silence before Prince speaks.
“I’ll stay. Thank you for patching me up, I shouldn’t have been so hostile on spot.” Quackity smiles at him and goes to pull his desk chair closer to the bed.
“It’s no problem, Prince.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” He asks with a grimince.
“You question everything don’t you? ‘Where am I?’ ‘Who are you?’ ” He says with a laugh. “Look at the way you're dressed man, especially with that crown? What else would I call you?”
For the first time, Prince smiles. It makes Quackity beam, feeling like he just made some achievement.
“For the record, my name is Technoblade.” And Quackity just about wheezes.
“What the fuck kind of name is Technoblade?!” He squawks. Technobalde huffs through his nose.
“Oh yeah, and what’s your name?”
“Quackity!” He answers proudly.
“Ah yes of course,” Technoblade deadpans. “That’s so much better.”
Quackity cackles out a laugh. They banter for what felt like the rest of the day. Quackity offers to make food, to which he is declined because “I don’t trust you to not poison me, intentionally or not.” Technoblade only got a pillow to the face in response. He ended up eating an apple.
By the time night came they were well acquainted. As far Quackity could tell he seemed to be a decent guy. A little scary, but he can’t be that bad right? Seeing as Technoblade was injured Quackity made no fuss about sleeping on the couch that night. He would most likely be there for a few nights now that he thought about it. They talked and got a long fine, but you can’t blame Quackity for locking his knife drawer and sleeping with a dagger under his pillow.
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It had been morning three days later when Quackity walked into the room to find Techno looking at his corner table. It was filled with pretty rocks and shiny trinkets Quackity had found throughout his life. It’s also where the shiny gold crown had been placed after their first squabble. When most people saw his collection they often made fun of him for “keeping trash around”, but to him it was fine.
“What are you doing?” He said rushing over. “If it’s the crown I’m sorry, instinct and all.” He mumbled, his face flushing.
“No it’s fine. I have more, and I understand.” Techno responded calmly. By this point most people were picking things up and moving it around. Techno didn’t. Instead he asked for permission to pick up what seemed to be a rusty sword necklace. Quackity nodded.
“I know better than to mess with a gathering.” He starts slowly examining the necklace before placing it back down. “My dad’s an avian. He has his own pile of things he’s gotten over the years.”
“You’re dad?” He asks confused because he was pretty sure Techno was a pig hybrid.
“I’m adopted, me and my brothers are.” Quackity nods. “He always had a story for everyone of his trinkets and rocks. Where he found them, when, how. All that.” Techno smiles softly at the memory and it seems like something dawns on Quackity. Techno is going to leave. They always leave, so he reminds himself not to get too attached.
“I’ll admit it’s refreshing not having to panic over people finding my gatherings.” He says with a sigh walking out the room and to the kitchen. He goes through the fridge to realize their running low on meats. “Speaking of gathering I need to go get some food. Was sort of interrupted on my hunting day.” He says with a joking tone.
“Do you want me to come with you?” He asks.
“What? No! You’re still hurt, the last thing you need to be doing is straining yourself.” He says with a huff, his feathers puffing out a bit.
“You really trust a guy you just met to be alone in your house? How do you no I won’t burn it down?” Techno intends it to be a joke, he really dose, but the response he gets seems to be spoken with to much experience.
“You’re right,” Quackity looks him in the eye. “I don’t trust you-” crossing the room to grab his basket and his iron ax. “But I know how to rebuild this house.”
He’s just about to walk out the door before Techno speaks up. “Do you know what Xenia is?” Quackity looks back at him with confusion written on his face. “It was the old greek rules of hospitality. Respect from host to guest.” He gestures between them.
“Host must offer food, drink, bath, gifts and a safe escort to their next destination.” He says smoothly. Quackity can feel like there's something building in the room, so he tries his best to break it.
“We have yet to get you in a bath, príncipe cerdo. ” He says with a short chuckle, receiving a smile in response.
“And respect from guest to host. Guests are expected to not be of threat or burden to their host, and must provide stories and news of the outside world.” He looks at Quackity with his bright red eyes, and for once they seem soft. “I’m not going to wreck your house, and the moment I can return the favor for you, I will.”
With a nod and a smile Quackity was out the door. As he walked he pulled out a small notebook he had been keeping on hand since the second day of Techno being awake. Every now and then he’d drop some random fact about his life or recount some old greek story. They seemed like things that were important, so he kept them written down. He had done this before, with others that came by. Though he had never filled a book up, he always tried to. So that when they left, he could keep in touch with the different types of people he met.
Technoblade had yet to explain why he was out in the grass bleeding to death or where he had come from. Quackity was fine with that. He never got anything like that from people. He was used to it, but there was something about Technoblade that intrigued him.
When he got home he was surprised to see Techno reading in his living room. Instantly he scanned the room to see if he found the sword. Sighing, he walked in.
“Hello Technoblade, what you got there?” He says putting down the basket and placing the now bloody ax on the counter.
“Sun Tzu, Art of War.” He answers without looking up. Quackity put the meat in the freezer and grabbed a wet rag to clean his ax.
“Why everytime I talk to you, half the shit you say has to do with murder?” Techno shrugs as he looks up to see his temporary roommate carefully washing the blade of the ax. He squints his eyes slightly.
“You wouldn’t happen to have that sword I was impaled with?” He sees Quackity stiff slightly before relaxing.
“Why?” He asks carefully. “Do you need it?”
“I will when I leave. It’s got a lot of enchantments on it, my dad will have my head if I came home without it.” Techno’s eyes scanned the room carefully. “Can I see it?”
Quackity looks up at the man across the room. “Can you step outside for a bit?”
“What? Why?” He asks with genuine confusion.
“Well if I ask you to leave the room you’ll assume it’s in here, but if you leave the house your guess is as good as the next guys.” Quackity liked to be stupid for humor, but he wasn’t. He could blast through anyone of these textbooks in a few days flat. He knew better than to give any hints to secret stashes. Techno, to his surprise, smiled.
“Smart move, Feathers.” Quackity felt a little flattered, and sue him if his wings fluttered even slightly at the praise and new nickname. Techno walked out and after making sure he was out the house Quackity quickly walked to the fireplace and pulled out the sword. He held it with care as he walked back to the front door to walk out.
He spotted Techno a few feet away looking up a bird in a tree. It was a crow with deep black wings. Techno’s eyes looked distant, as if he wasn’t seeing the crow at all. The sun was high in the sky, but the trees filtered most of the light. It only broke through in thin streams. It seemed to catch his still matted pink hair in perfect light. His shirt was still torn and red, but he looked lovely.
Quackity’s breath was caught in his throat. He didn’t even realize his grip was tightening until he felt the blade brake skin.
“Shit.” He pulled his hand away to look at his cut palm. Techno seemed to be snapped out of whatever daze. The crow flew away.
“Are you alright? Do you need help?” He asks walking over and grabbing his wrist to look over his hand. For the first time he notices the long, black, claw-like, nails. Quackity’s skin feels like it’s burning in the autumn air.
“Its-It’s fine. I know how to fix it,” He takes a step back and pushes the hilt of the sword into Techno’s hand. “Here, I uh, got it for you.” Then he took a few steps back out of stabbing range.
Techno held it up to the light. He was looking for any damage on the blade. Examining the runes to see if the enchantments had been ruined. He carefully examined the end of the blade, running his finger across the dried blood with a frown.
“I really need to clean this.” He murmurs to himself.
“Before you worry about washing up a sword, maybe you should wash yourself.” Quackity remarks gesturing to the torn and bloody shirt and matted hair. Techno hums before handing the sword back to Quackity.
“It’s not like I have a change of clothes.” He said looking at Quackity who seemed to just realize that. Quackity looked at the ground trying to figure out what to do about it because he couldn’t just let the guy stay in a shirt that's torn to kingdom come.
“Oh I know!” His wings fluttering behind him slightly. “I can take you to the village! There's all sorts of shops with stuff in them. I’m sure we can find you something to wear.”
Techno nodded and Quackity went to put the sword back. They both sat in the living room for a while.Quackity cleaned his ax a bit more and Techno almost finished the entire book he was reading. It was a calm rest of the night and they both went to sleep shortly thereafter.
Quackity didn’t sleep with a dagger that night.
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The next morning they started their walk to the village. It shouldn’t take long, Quackity’s been this way many many times before. He knows it well enough that he doesn't even take a weapon with him. That action got him several questioning comments from Techno.
They walked down a cleared path. It was a little chilly, but getting colder as the days went on. Winter will be coming soon. Techno took a look around the forest they walked in.
“How did you end up living here?” Techno asked gesturing to the forest.
“My home town was raided by hunters when I was young.” Quackity started. “My mom had given everything, so I had a chance to escape. From there I wondered from town to town.
I read books and played music to make some coin. Did odd jobs and learned to build.” They seemed to be coming to the edge of the forest. “One day I came across this place. It was desolate and empty. I didn’t feel right staying in one of the houses, so I made my own in the woods.”
Techno looked around the town and saw there were only a few village houses. Maybe five or six. There was a fire pit surrounded by logs near where they entered. Near the center there was a small fountain. From where they stood he could see a large watch tower on the other side of the village. Something about it all seemed familiar, and then it dawned on him.
“I know where we are!” He spoke looking around. Quackity squawked in surprise.
“No way in hell you know where we are! I’ve been living here for years and I don’t even know where we are!” He stared at the taller boy in disbelief. Techno tuned to face the avain with a smile on his face.
“Were in The Empire.” He said as if Quackity would know what that was.
“The what?”
“The Empire, it’s where I’m from. The kingdom of this land.” He turned back to the town. “Have you ever heard of a tale about The Village That Went Mad?”
Quackity shook his head. It made sense seeing as that was a story known only by locals of The Empire. It was a story with no real lesson, just something fun to tell before bed. Some people believe it to be just that. A story. A small part of Techno had always thought it was real. There were just some details that were too specific to not be real, random not important to the story notes that were passed down.
Techno recounts the story in great detail as they make their way to one of the houses. They had gone and searched every closet and eventually found a button up that would fit the pig hybrid. As they were leaving Techno insisted they stop by the school house. He went into the class and searched the shelves for a specific book. Not being able to find it until he was just about to walk out. Inside one of the desks was a history book. He brought it out and handed it to Quackity who was writing in a little book.
“Uh, thanks, but what is this?” He asked looking over the cover.
“It’s a history book. You might want to look over it so you have some basic knowledge of the kingdom.” He says as they begin to walk back to Quackity’s house. “You’ll need it.”
“Okay, cool, but why do I need it.?” He puts the book in his basket looking back at Techno.
“Well you need to know a bare minimum for when we go to The Empire.” He states matter of factly making Quackity stop in his tracks.
“What do you mean ‘When we go back to The Empire’?” He continues to walk up to Techno and stands in front of him. “I never said I was going to leave with you.”
Quackity never really liked to be alone. In fact he welcomed the few people who stumbled across his cottage with open arms, but he was not about to up root and leave the place that had been his home for the past several years for some random guy. Prince or not.
“You don’t want to come with me?” There seemed to be real disappointment in Techno’s voice, his ears drooped a little. The sight made Quackity’s wings hitch up his back a little. He didn’t mean to upset the guy.
“I can’t just leave my home Techno,” He started staring in his eyes. “I’ve made it my own and it’s been my one constent for a long time. I can’t just let go of that.” For you hangs on the tip of his tongue. He doesn't know why.
“You saved me, that was your choice. I’m your problem now.” He says with a slight smile.
“Isn’t supposed to be ‘you saved my life, I owe you now’?” Quackity asks confused.
“Nope, other way around.” Techno smirks. “God wanted me dead, now you get to find out why.”
This caused Quackity to laugh before they continued to walk in silence. There was a slight sadness coming off Techno. He Quackity had found some guy bleeding out he didn’t expect to get attached so fast and they guy to return the attachment. Especially when he realized the guy was a prince to some kingdom. They had barely been together a week and Techno was trying to bring some random person who lived in the woods back to his kingdom.
When they made it back to Quackity’s cottage the sun was setting. Quackity was looking at the light through the trees when Techno coughed to bring the birds eyes back to him.
“I know you don’t want to leave, “ He started looking at the ground. “I understand that completely, but I don’t think I’m ready to say goodbye yet.” He looked up into Quackity’s eyes. The sunlight catches them just right.
“What if you come with me temporarily. Then the moment you're ready I’ll make sure you can come back here safe and sound. You don’t have to stay, but you won’t be leaving either. And I’ll come and visit you when I can, so that you're not alone all the time-” Techno has started to ramble when he was cut off.
“Xeina.” Quackity said with a soft smile. Techno gives him a confused look, not full processing what he said. Quackity’s wings were fluttering slightly as he pulled out his small journeral and flipped to a page then handing it to Techno.
“Respect from host to guest. Host must offer food, drink, bath, gifts and a safe escort to their next destination.” He chuckled a little. “We still need to get you that bath, and I need to fulfill the last requirement.”
From the page the book was opened to, Techno could see other little notes of things he said or mentioned. Habits Quackity had picked up on and jotted down. His face felt a warm in the cold setting sun.
“Does this mean..?” He trailed off causing Quackity to laugh, his wings flaring out as he did so.
“Yes, I’ll come back to The Empire with you.”