Beautifully Dangerous (Technoblade x OC [Azalea])

Chapter 58:

Azalea's P.O.V

The journey home was hard, and tiring. Tubbo and Ranboo wouldn't speak to each other. Tubbo didn't really talk to anyone. He just kept to himself on the outside of the group. I was actually really concerned for him. 

Those two were made for each other, and I knew that this was going to hurt both of them. But I knew that they need each other, and that they wouldn't stray too far from each other. If anything, I knew that much. One couldn't go far without the other.

It was nice to have my wolves and Owen coming with us, because they could scout ahead and make sure that nothing was following nor coming for us. It felt nice to be almost at ease. Key word: almost.

We were about a quarter way down the mountain, when I heard an alarmed bark come from up ahead, and Doe soon came sprinting into sight, a frightened look on her face. I instantly knew something was up. I dropped my bag, pulled my mask over my face, drew my axe and started running towards the commotion, everyone else still behind me registering what was happening.

I rounded the corner and found my 4 wolves facing off a full grown polar bear. He had bright green eyes, and an angry protective look in his eyes. They growled at each other, before the bear swatted at Storm. He jumped out of the way, and Charlie and Redtail leapt up onto the bear's back, clawing it.

It roared, and flipped itself over as to crush my wolves. Luckily, they jumped off, and I whistled for them. They all turned and trotted towards me, and lined up behind me, still growling at the beast. I saw some red like the snow where the bear had been, but I didn't care. My main focus was on the bear itself. 

He glared at me with stone cold eyes. I shifted my axe in my hand, but I hoped that I wouldn't have to use it. I didn't like killing innocent animals. After all, the bear didn't really do anything. We were on his territory.

I heard footsteps come up behind me, and glanced back to see Techno and Phil had drawn swords and were coming to aid me. I focused on the bear, and saw that it had perked up at the approach of other people.

"Stay back!" I yelled over my shoulder. I knew that it was going to attack. And I was right. What surprised me was that it wasn't even aiming for me, nor did it look he wanted to attack. I watched him run right past me and barrel into Techno. My wolves growled, but I snapped and they shut up.

I watched the two interact. It looked like Techno was.... laughing? Why would he be laughing? I looked towards Phil and saw that he was looking fondly at the pair on the ground. The others rounded the corner, and everyone smiled at the sight. I was still confused.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, wanting to know why the hell they were all being friendly towards this polar bear. It's a freaking polar bear for Christ sakes! Techno shoved the beast off of him and got up, dusting himself off, before glancing at me.

"Zia, this is my pet, Steve. Steve, this is Zia, my fi- friend." He quickly corrected himself. I blushed at what he was about to say, but luckily my mask hid it. The polar bear turned towards me, his tongue dangling out of his mouth. I was just down right shocked. 

"When did you recruit Steve here?" I asked, still suspicious of the puppy-like beast. Redtail took a brave step forward and sniffed the bear. Steve jumped away and started running around the group, a playful look on his face. Immediately, Redtail went to play with him. Well, my wolves trusted him.

"I found him about a year and a half ago. He was just a cub, and he reminded me of you, so I raised and trained him, and he's still the playful cub he always was." Techno said, sheathing his sword. His story made me smile. 

I put my axe back, and opened the skull of my mask. That was how I opened it. It's like an old fashioned knight helmet, except made of bones and see through. It would still hide me with the jaw down though.

We continued our way down the mountain, and they told me everything that had happened over the past four years. How everyone had changed, and that Michael was really upset when I went missing. I was glad that I made a lasting impression on the kid. He was likely the only nephew I was going to get in a while.

We made it down the mountain by the time the sun was setting, and Phil said that the horses were tethered somewhere close by, so we could get home a little after dark. Phil took Tommy and Wilbur with him and they went to fetch the horses, while Ora, Whirlwind, Tubbo, Ranboo, Techno and I stayed put. I didn't really mind much, but I could tell the air was thick with tension.

I looked between the two boys, before giving Techno a look. He sighed, before nodding and walking towards Ranboo.

"Hey, can we talk for a minute?" I saw a look of shock and worry pass his features, before he nodded and the two boys walked away. I looked over and saw the other two girls were talking to each other. They gave me a knowing look, before walking away, leaving Tubbo and I waiting for the rest.

I walked over to where the boy was and sat down next to him. I heard a quiet sniffle from him, and glanced over at him to see that there were silent tears streaming down his face. This broke my heart.

I carefully put my arm around the boy's shoulders and felt him tense, but he didn't move away.

"You can talk to me, y'know. I'm always here for you." I said, giving him a quick squeeze. I heard him sigh, before his hand came up and wiped the tears off his face. "Tubbo... can you tell me how the fight started? Because I believe that this runs deeper than this morning." He nodded. Curse my gut feelings and how they are almost always right.

"Well... when you left, everyone was broken. Ranboo was never the same, and I could tell. He would always want to be by himself, and he would always snap at me. He sometimes told me that I didn't know his pain, and that I didn't know what it was like to have no family at all. It just... It made me feel like I was hurting him more than helping him, and in that process, he was hurting me back in defense. He didn't even know it, and I think that's what hurt me most."

"I let him be for a year, before consulting him again about you, but he just pushed me away and got angry at me even more. I tried to tell him I was there for him, but he just kept repeating over and over that I wouldn't understand. That he needed someone to understand, someone who wasn't me. So I backed off again."

"I waited another year, before consulting him again. He just did the same thing, except this time, he actually told me to leave him alone. And so I did. I just... I don't know how to deal with him. He's been pushing and pulling me and I'm growing tired of it. I get it, it was devastating for all of us when you left, but he didn't need to act the way he did."

I didn't know how much Ranboo had changed when I left. I looked over my shoulder, and saw that everyone was still busy talking with one another. I saw Ranboo look over at us, and I saw genuine hurt in his eyes. I turned back to Tubbo, and saw that he was crying again.

"Tubbo, listen to me."

"You two were made for each other. I can tell. Ranboo needs you as much as you need him. And this argument is hurting the both of you. I'm sorry that I was the cause of this, but I believe that you two are stronger than this. You WILL make it through this, but you have to talk it out, and realize that you two need each other. You guys were made for each other, and nothing is going to separate you." I told him. I didn't know how much my words were going to impact him, but I knew that it was the truth. I also knew that Ranboo was listening.

They both needed to hear it. I know they did. Tubbo gave me a weak smile, and I smiled back at him. We heard rustling from the bushes and looked up to see the boys walking back with the horses. But there was one that wasn't with them.

"Where's Asher?"

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1532 words!!