Chapter Text
Earlier that day…
Thick, dark clouds gathered about as the sun slowly dipped below the trees. Sunlight dappled the forest floor in front of you. You had been on your way back to your cabin with your basket of fresh berries, when you felt a tug from the forest off your trail.
Now, you walked through the brush, and you suddenly understood what the issue was. In front of you lay a white bunny, madly tangled in the bramble. It couldn't see you, but it squicked as you got closer, struggling against the thorns to get away.
You cooed, in an attempt to calm it, and slowly reached for your dagger tucked into your belt. As you reached towards the vines, they seemed to loosen on their own, sensing you. You smiled, and began gently cutting the thorns back.
The bunny yanked itself free, little droplets of blood dripping down its brown coat. You cringed back as the bunny looked at you, uncomfortable with the sight of blood. Breathe. You reached out to pat the bunny's head, and it let you.
Then, slowly, the bunny stepped back before bounding off into the brush out of sight. You began the long walk back to you cottage, and by then, the sun had disappeared, leaving the forest illuminated in soft gray light.
The forest had been your home for the past few years, and you had come to know the area very well. You loved the forest, and the forest loved you. You were pretty sure that one of the magical beings that caused the creation of hybrids had once roamed in this place.
Most days it seemed like the forest was speaking to you. Not literally, but it often felt like it would lead you to patches of berries or a distressed animal which was likely due to the magic in the soil. You had become the caregiver for those living here. You enjoyed it, since it provided her a purpose, and distraction, from the memories of before.
By the time your cottage came into view, the sun had long since gone down. The storm clouds had moved in, blocking out any of the light that would be offered by the moon. A few drops of rain began to fall, wetting your cheek. Perfect timing, you thought as you climbed the few steps leading up to your front porch. You entered your home, and inhaled the delicious smell of the stew that had been slowly cooking all day. You lit some candles, and then the fireplace, which soon illuminated the once dark space.
After grabbing a bowl of soup, you ate in content silence at your small dining table. The rain increased from a light drizzle to a heavy downpour, with occasional flashes of lightning. You cleaned your dishes and settled on your couch with a book, until you were tired enough to head to your room. You got ready for bed, exhausted, and laid your head down on the pillow to sleep, lulled by the sound of the storm.
…
Rapid barking startled you from your sleep. The storm was still raging outside, and you sat up. Your farm dogs were making a ruckus.
It’s the middle of the night, why are they like this… With an exasperated sigh, you got out of bed, grabbed your cloak and put on your boots to go investigate what was upsetting your dogs. Just in case, you grabbed your bow and exited the house.
You were immediately soaked through as you walked to the barn. You reached the door and slowly opened it. As you did, three of your hounds shot out past you into the woods surrounding your house. You stumbled back from them forcing their way out of the door. Panicked, you shouted after them. In a storm like this, it was no place for them to be out.
You looked into the barn. The other animals looked distressed. Your horse was restlessly moving on her feet, the cows were mooing, and the chickens were all huddled in the back of the barn. Assured that the rest of the animals were fine, you locked the door and turned to pursue her dogs through the woods. They are probably scared from the storm…
You could hardly see as you jogged into the woods, shielding your eyes from the pelting rain. A flash, quickly followed by thunder, allowed you to briefly see in front of you. You had walked these woods hundreds of times, and your feet easily found their places on the ground as you ran.
“Xander! Blair!” You called the names of your dogs, “Athena!” They had been heading towards the river, so at least that kept them from going too far.
Cracking in the bushes in front of you caused you to pause. You tensed, stringing an arrow in your bow, ready to face any monstrosity that liked to come out at night.
Thankfully, it was only Xander prancing through the brush right to you. He barked, distressed, circling around you and looking back in the direction of the river. The trees around you were leaning, beckoning. Something was wrong. Even the forest wanted you to go towards the water.
You grimaced, but set a determined pace to where Xander and the woods were telling you to go. After what felt like forever in the dark, you came close to the river. You couldn’t hear the water over the storm, but you knew you were about to come out of the trees to the water. Xander rushed ahead of you, towards the clearing.
You followed, and looked around. Wind howled around you, as you made your way to the shore. Nothing looked out of place aside from the river being fuller and more violent than usual from the storm.
Xander had disappeared again. Confused, you began walking along the water until barking drew her attention to the shore farther ahead. All three of your dogs were pacing around a dark shape on the rocks.
You rush forward, and quickly realize that the dark shape was a person, unconscious. The body still half in the water, you move to drag the person out, but froze. Xander, drenched in rain, rubs his head against your leg, as if he could tell you were anxious
You recognized the person below you. Soaked, albeit pink hair, small tusks that stuck out slightly from soft lips, a well muscled body from years of training. Yes, you recognized the terrible man unconscious on the rocks below you.
Technoblade.
The man you had vowed to kill if you saw him again.
…
You stared at him, storm still raging around you. Your world shrunk down to his body on the stone and the blood that tarnished his skin. Memories from before came flooding into your head. That awful, bloody, night where your life came crashing down around you. The night you lost everything.
What the hell. Breathing was suddenly not working well, and you felt as though you were being crushed.
No. Nonono-
Suddenly, a sharp pain radiated up your arm. You yelped, jumping back, shocked out of your mental spiral.
“You-“ Xander had bit your hand. You grumbled and begrudgingly admitted to yourself that he had helped. You couldn’t freak out here, not now. Not with him so close to your home and life and everything you had built for yourself.
You brought your attention back to the injured man who you definitely did not know below you. You could leave him here, go back to the cottage, climb into bed and pretend none of this ever happened. You should do that. In fact, every instinct and rational thought you had ever had told you to leave him here and let him die.
You pulled him all the way out of the water. Maybe you weren’t as rational as you thought. I can’t be doing this. What am I doing!? Your hands slightly trembled as you dragged his body away from the shore.
Gods, he is so heavy. You struggled to get him off the rocks and into the cover of the trees, but after a few minutes of huffing, you had successfully gotten the two of you back into the forest.
You dropped your arms from under his shoulders unceremoniously, and his body dropped with a thud. A loud crack rang out, and you startled. You quickly crouched down and rolled him onto his side. Arrows, now with broken stems from having dropped him so carelessly, protruded from his back. Oops…
Seeing the arrows worried you though. It made you wonder who had shot him and how he ended up in the river in the middle of a storm. You scolded yourself for not checking him before you dragged him away from the shore
You knew you wouldn’t be able to carry him back to your cabin (you absolutely did not want him there anyways) but if you left him here he would likely die. Not that you would care. It was wrong to leave someone to die. Even though this particular someone really deserves it. It went against what you stood for and believed.
No, you wouldn’t leave him to die. Your Athena, one of your dogs, suddenly started barking. She was staring into the trees. You stood and drew your bow, ready to face whatever was coming out of the dense woods.
Instead of a night creature you were expecting, a large buck calmly walked towards you and your dogs. Athena quieted. You sighed. The forest was helping you, but you didn’t particularly want its help this time around.
The elk came to your side, and you gently brushed your hand along its nose. All of you were soaked, and you felt bad that all this trouble was because of a certain pink haired man who decided to wash up in your forest.
You knelt down to Technoblade’s level once again, and slid your hands under his arms. You heaved him up, and the stag lowered himself to allow you to get Technoblade on his back.
Why can’t the forest hate him as much as I do? There was no excuse to not bring him back to your cabin now, since you had a way to get him there.
You arranged Technoblade’s body on the elks back, so he was less likely to fall off. Your hands and clothes were covered in blood, and you tried your best not to think about it. The sight of blood made you sick, and it would always bring back memories from before.
“Let’s go,” you told the buck, and began the trek back to your house. The storm country to rage, and you sighed. So much for a nice, cozy night.