barbarism (dreamnoblade)

chapter four

He stares down at the bodies underneath him. Their black robes stained even darker as blood slowly trickles off the fabric like droplets on leaves. Their hideous bones litter the floor, gleaming a faint red from the puddles around him. He could still hear their screams, their faces froze open. Some were pathetically crying out in their last moments, while others wore manic grins.

Why did he do this again? Everything was hazy.

He was sure the Blood God had persuaded him to do this- so could it even be considered his fault? But he had agreed to it, so it was his fault. His mind laps at the regret puddling in his heart, this was his fault! Did he mess up, was this not even the right choice? His minds were so conflicted, like comparing black to white-

'Our minds? My mind is yours now. We aren't separate, we are one entity, what I desire is what you desire.You wanted this.'

Why did this hurt so much if this is what he wanted?

No! This isn't what he wanted! He wanted to be home, wherever that was. He wanted to be sitting with his family and laughing, what would that even feel like?

His laughter comes out wretched and in sobs, the pinkette sounds just as pathetic as the corpses surrounding him. His mind races to picture somewhere else, maybe his home? All he remembers was how hot his home was, the bright hot colors. Red like the blood on his hands, he stares at them before wrapping his arms around himself. He could almost imagine someone was hugging him.

Why did he want this? It made him scared, and sick, like he was about vomit.

He grabs his head and mutters under his breath, this wasn't right, this shouldn't be what he craves. But his mouth waters at the sight of blood and his stomach skips at the smell of flesh. They were right, he was a monster, he shouldn't be alive right now- it wasn't what he deserved.

'You are longing for things you don't need, family and love are just weaknesses.'

The Blood God was his only family. The only person he could ever trust, it talked to him during his painful nights in the room, it told him jokes and laughed with him. It even promised to help him get revenge on the humans enacting violence on him.

It was the first person that he could rely on, that he felt safe with. So he listened to the Blood God.

He killed them all.

Now he was no longer tied down, he was no longer on the run nor was he scared for his life. Now the pinkette was the one hurting them. He towers over them in the ruins they made. His blade spilled their blood and sliced their necks.

All the while the voice smirked, he could feel it smirking. Or maybe it was proud of him, was it proud of him? He didn't know or care, he just wanted to feel safe and loved. How hard was that? Why did the world give him such a pitiful life?


|||Technoblade's POV|||

The blue wood dimly flickers at Technoblade as he brushes his fingers along its rough surface. Behind him a churning chorus of popping lava and whimpering sand echoes throughout the forest. He hadn't seen a nether biome in a long time, his head rests on the tree and takes a deep breath of the hot air suffocating him.

Here was safe. The fire that twists and the sapphire vines that coil around smoke in the uphill breeze, that was a home he had forgotten. The soft but prickly grass tickling his hooves, mushrooms poking out like sore thumbs among the field of cyan, all of it was home.

Behind him, the portal buzzes in anticipation, emitting a fluorescent gleam that casts long shadows along the terrain. Slouching over Technoblade's shoulder was a leather bag filled with all the supplies he had come here to gather. But he was still hesitant in returning to the overworld just yet, if at all. He thinks back to everything that happened there, finger tracing circles on the bark.

Technoblade thinks of everything he's sacrificed by leaving here, and everything that is bound to happen in the future.

Shaking his head Technoblade leans back up frowns deeply.

He didn't want to worry his brothers though, they didn't deserve that. Despite the feeling of self-pity and despair in his gut, he steps into the pulsating energy. First, his hands melt away, then his arms and chest. The pure energy merges with him and carries him away with a soothing purple embrace.

Then Technoblade's blindness peels away to a deep, lush forest blended with meadows of susurrating grass and rushing rivers. His ears pop and the sound of tall oak trees with their swaying branches flood into his head. Life in the overworld moves slowly, the sun far vanished from sight.

"Wilbur?"

His gaze lands on his brother, who leans against the obsidian, also staring far out. In his brother's fists were a bow and black pelted rabbit dangling by the ears. Despite his large brown coat blood was still visible underneath, an ugly red patch on dusty grey. Technoblade swallows down his rising inclination.

"Hey Techno, good to see you've returned safely. I just wanted to walk back with you to make sure you knew where to go." Technoblade is a bit hurt by the trace of suspicion heard in Wilbur's voice, but chooses to ignore it anyway.

The gravel underfoot crunches as they wander their way back home, the only sounds were the rustles of owls and the cricketing of insects. Surprisingly though Wilbur was the first to break the uncomfortable silence between the two.

"So... uh, how have you been Techno? We haven't heard from you before this all happened, we weren't sure you were even alive!" He chuckles at the last part, but the melancholy of the statement remains the same.

"It's been fine, brought myself a piece of farmland far out from here, been planting potatoes ever since..." He trails off, eyebrows scrunching up distastefully.

"You know we don't blame you for what happened to Philza right?"

Technoblade stops dead in his tracks after hearing the name, unwanted memories clinging to it like a bacteria. He feels his heart beat faster as he struggles to continue moving forward, half-heartedly shrugging his shoulders.

"I know, don't bother bringing it up again it's a bit of a mood killer."

"This is serious Techno! You can't keep avoiding him forever, you need to talk it out. I can't have you unable to-"

"No, I DON'T!" His anger shoots out of his throat involuntarily, it ricochets off the nearby trees like bullets, stunning the forest into silence as he grabs his face with his hand.

Technoblade couldn't handle this right now, his frustration and hopelessness were beginning to sear within his veins like lava. It claws at his nerves with an overwhelming sense of anger. Techno squeezes his eyes shut and begins to mutter under his breath. It was too much. He could feel every part of his shell fracture away, it was too much. His mind barely registers what sounds like a laugh as Wilbur drops everything he holds, pulling Technoblade into a hug.

His arms were ice, it smothers the inferno that was tearing Technoblade apart.

Technoblade hugs back.

|||Dream POV|||

Dream hates research.

He's more of a street smart guy, albeit smarter than the average rogue and criminal, but regardless he preferred strategy and combat over pure intelligence.

But after he learned of the pinkette he found himself wanting to know more about the man. They only met twice and his life was on the line each time, it was a type of dangerous excitement he hadn't felt in a long time. There's only so much one man can do in his life until it becomes mundane.

Dream laughs to himself as he eyes the papers in front of him, leg lazily swinging from the wooden chair as he scans the legal document for a signature of the man. He had decided to figure out his name first, so Dream had sought out any information about him from the local business owners- he was lucky to find a lead on the sixth dealer!

Muffled noises arose next to Dream, he glances over at the man he had tied up in the corner of the room. Soaking in the fear they were experiencing with sadistic glee. Their eyes were wide, glistening like silver coins with what Dream assumes were tears. The curtains had been pulled shut so no one could peer inside and see what was going on.

"So this is the legit document, right?" Dream spoke in a dangerously low tone, a glint of suspicion evident in his eyes. He taps the paper with his knife to simultaneously inflict more fear and show what he was referring to.

The man quickly nods his head and Dream glances back down at the purchase receipt.

Technoblade.

Apparently, the pinkette had purchased farmland far east from here, that was near where they met. His name was scribbled down rather messily for someone who was dressed like royalty. Dream finally had a name to the face! Now all he had to do was go around and ask people about a hybrid named Technoblade, which was easy enough. With enough violence, any question would be answered.

He stifles a yawn and rises from the chair, striding towards the man before tearing off the cloth gag he had shoved in earlier.

"Answer my questions and you'll walk out of this house alive, understood?"

"Y-yes! I'll tell you anything I promise! Just please don't hurt me I have a famil-"

"I don't care about that," Dream waves him off and huffs at the pitiful man trembling under him.

"Tell me everything you know about this man here," he shoves the paper in front of the man and waits for him to read it. After a few moments he freezes, eyes beginning to widen as his breathing heavies, Dream is taken aback by the sudden increase in the man's stress as he begins to tug at the rope around his wrists.

"Tell me everything you know." He repeats himself impatiently.

"Stay away from it! You don't want to get involved with that thing! It will kill you and feast on your blood, it-it will-" His words come out in jumbles as he begins to squirm at his bindings, "please don't involve me with The Blade! PLEASE!"

"The Blade?"

"It's a demon from the depths of hell! An embodiment of the Blood God!"

The man talks more rushed until he sounds borderline insane, Dream crouches down and gently runs his knife across the man's throat, he immediately quietens, sobs still shuddering through his body.

"Unless you want me to kill you now you better start saying everything."