Things That Need To Pass (passerine!Technoblade x OC) {COMPLETED}

Be My Light

(3rd person POV)

"We're almost there," Techno called out. "It's just over this hill."

He looked back to find Wilbur slowly making his way up the slope. Philza hovered close behind, grimacing every time his son slipped or slid against the snow. Wilbur, in true Wilbur fashion, had decided he did not need any help, blaming his blunders entirely on his new fur-lined cloak and not on his inexperience with maneuvering a frozen incline. 

If he weren't so sure Wilbur would retaliate with an arrow to his shoulder, Techno would have laughed at his flailing attempts.

Techno leaned against his trident as he watched Wilbur swat away Philza's assistance. But, unlike before, there seemed to be no true heat behind the rejection—just Wilbur being Wilbur. Techno knew the fault lines between them could not be healed overnight, but he had to admit it was nice, having Wilbur not look at his father with murderous intent every time.

Ugh, Techno thought. When did I get so sentimental?

If the voices had any comment, they kept it to themselves. In fact, they had been quiet the whole day. It wasn't unusual for Techno to go days—even weeks or months, at some point—without the voices murmuring like nosy neighbors in the back of his mind. 

But this felt... different. Sinister, somehow. It felt like the smug silence of an opponent that knew it had the winning hand.

"Gods, Wilbur," Techno called out, digging the butt of his trident deeper into the snow, "this entire tundra will have melted before you... before..." The rest of Techno's words trailed off as he felt his trident hit something too hard to be just snow. 

With a sinking feeling in his gut, Techno looked down at where his trident had struck, slowly moving the snow aside with his weapon, slowly but surely unveiling what was hiding beneath his feet.

"Techno?" Wilbur shouted, getting closer. "Techno, what are you doing?"

"Gods," Techno whispered. "Gods and stars and shit."

Because beneath the snow was a pale face, staring unseeing up at Techno, its expression of wide-eyed terror forever preserved by the cold. His heart hammering in his chest, Techno ran until he crested the hill that overlooked what once was a bustling city but was now something else entirely.

He could hear Wilbur scrambling up the hill behind him. He knew Wilbur would see it eventually. But still Techno turned back around, catching Wilbur by the shoulders before he could realize the full extent of the devastation.

"Wilbur," Techno said solemnly. "I need you to know this isn't your fault."

Wilbur's brows drew together. "I don't—"

"Listen to me," Techno demanded in a voice that he had not used on him since they were tutor and pupil. "We're here for one thing, and one thing only, and if anything can get in the way of that—your self-doubt, your fear, your loathing—I suggest you leave them at the door. "

"Right here, right now. Do you understand?" Eryn added gently, smiling.

Wilbur's eyes hardened. "I'm not a child."

"That wasn't my question." Techno narrowed his eyes.

Wilbur shrugged his hands of him and gritted out, "I understand," before marching stoically up the rest of the way.

"How bad is it?" Philza asked quietly as they watched Wilbur reach the crest.

"Fucking bad," was all Techno said in response.

Techno could pinpoint the exact moment Wilbur saw it for himself. He went rigid, his hands curling into fists the only indication that he was not a statue of frozen flesh and bone. When Philza and Techno joined him at the summit, Techno heard his fellow god draw in a breath as he, too, took in the massacre below them.