How the world works

16

~6 days ago~

Technoblade told everyone the plan, quite publicly too. But not every detail. 

After telling the plan to use Phil as bait he took his best friend aside.

"Ok, so we're not doin all that." He says. 

"Mate, you're not making any sense-" Phil starts but is cut off by his friend. 

"The real reason its you is because youre the only one I trust to do this. This is the loadstone." Techno holds up a Keychain. But it's not the one Dream later found. This one is disguised. Painted to look like an emerald, and shiny too. It looks like part of a necklace. 

"You give chat necklaces n stuff all the time an' wear em too. The paint weakens the signal but this is the ONLY way we're gettin something like a lodestone past Dream. But he'll be expectin that, so this is another keychain. Hide this one. It'll be our cover." He holds up a painted button that's about 3 times the size of the false emerald.

"Good plan mate, I hope this works." Phil says.

"Of course it will, I made it." Technoblade declares and the two friends laugh. Once the laughter dies out, the pig puts his hand on his friend's shoulder, now serious.

"Be careful out there. He's dangerous." Technoblade says solemnly in his monotone voice, as per usual.

"If I die, I'll haunt you for sending me." Phil assures him and they laugh together again.

~Present time~

Techno leads the fleet in the general direction of the arrow on the compass. It isn't a clear signal which may prove to be a problem once they get close, but for now, a general direction is far better than they had before.

Behind him, in boats of birch, oak, spruce, and more, follows an unlikely party. Usually great adventures have trained warriors and battle hardened rough folk. This group? Well, they have a furry, a baker, a gambler, a tracker, a family friendly  demon cultist, an immortal, another immortal, a literal child God, a captain, a gay amnesiac in a suit, a fairy, a ghost with a blue sheep, another gay amnesiac but bright color edition, a king, a guard, a builder, a few anarchists, several arsonists, a crew of murderers, and a warrior who has never lost a battle. And yet, the odds are against them.

They are missing many of their fellowship, captured or left behind intentionally. The enemy quite likely knows that they're coming. It's his territory. His turf. There's no cover in approaching.

The uneasiness between them boils over as they head for battle. Not one of them doubted they would win. But what would they lose? Friends? Family? Their very lives? It grew into too much to bear. Some begin to lose before they even arrive. 

After his voices chastise him for a good 5 minutes on mental health, Technoblade stops. He stands in his boat and turns to face the people coming to a halt behind him.

"Listen, it's not dream that'll be beatin us today. If there's anything that could take us now, it's fear. I can smell it. The tensions so thick you could cut it with a knife. That's how he's gotten this far, y'know. Mind games. He gets in your head. That's how he kills ya. So don't do that." Techno announces. Surprisingly, it boosts moral. Then they go and beat Dream and save everyone! Yay!

Yeah, right. Talking about the whole fear, headgames, and death thing just made it worse for most. Luckily, they had a good speaker with them who can speak without striking fear into people's hearts. Someone who has experience speaking to crowds,someone to look to for hope.