Asunder ~ A Dream SMP Story

Chapter 35: Storm

Technoblade felt himself be forced into walking at a fast pace out of the prison, where he received his first breath of fresh air in over a month.

His surroundings hadn't changed much at all, although it was hard to tell in the dark. The breeze was icy just like it always was up North; prehaps it was because they were now approaching the end of December.

As he was led closer to L'Manburg's ruin, his mind found it difficult to process what was actually about to happen. He had been sentenced to death; today was his death date. Yet Badboyhalo seemed to have a plan; one that he was yet to be aware of.

An unknown object had been pressed into his back, making it slightly uncomfortable to walk. Although, Techno knew that questioning it wouldn't be a good idea. It might be his only hope of getting out of this alive.

While he was thinking, a loud, harrowing growl erupted in the sky above him. All three of them; Techno, Bad and Ant looked up in unison, only for large droplets of rain to start falling onto their faces.

The storm had begun, Techno thought solemnly, and it was just in time too. He turned back towards the path, blinking away the drops of rain that had slipped past his mask and into his eyes.

He could see a crowd in the distance, now that they had reached the top of the hill. In the rainy haze, lanterns illuminated the terrain, lighting up a podium surrounded by people. That's when he realised that this was L'Manburg. A huge sheet of glass covered over a pit that could easily hold a mountain. It made sense for the execution point to be here; sitting right atop of Techno's biggest crime.

He recognised just about every face that stood in the crowd; Tommy was first to catch his eye. The boy looked tense, face wearing a permanent frown as he looked around uncomfortably. Quackity stood near the front and surprisingly enough, he wasn't smiling either. Techno honestly expected the man to be over the moon today, but instead he looked more cautious than anything.

All in all, the atmosphere was glum; not something he would have predicted.

Feeling the grip tighten around one of his arms, he turned slightly to see Badboyhalo. The demon looked paranoid as he continued to tighten his grip on his arm until it probably would have caused some pain for most people. Techno decided to dismiss it; it wasn't like there was much he could do in this situation.

Sam stood at a podium that held a speaker, not that it would help much over the nonstop, heavy rain and thunder. His gaze immediately met Techno's through the mask as they stepped out from the dense vapour haze. It wasn't just him, the Blood God soon felt dozens of stone hard glares prickle his skin.

Many of their expressions didn't show signs of anger or distaste though; most stared on with a sense of pity and general gloom. Techno wasn't sure which he'd prefer.

He watched as Sam signaled him to the large object that was positioned before him. It took a second to realise the signal wasn't actually directed to him, but the guards behind him who brought him closer to the object.

A holding container, he noted. It stood around 3 meters tall and was made up of iron bars with a clear opening at the front. It had been placed quite a distance away from the audience, who stood behind a safety gate, protected from what was about to ensue.

The Pilgin averted his eyes away from the audience and to the cell that he was being moved into. He felt the hands behind him move away as Ant bent down to cuff his ankle to one of the bars of the cell, then move out to shut the door.

Bad was slightly more hesitant as he stared at Techno, his face expressionless under his mask. Instead of leaving immediately, he turned back towards the handcuffs that restrained his arms. That was when Techno felt a small slip of paper be pressed into his palm before Bad went straight for the cell gate to lock it shut.