Chapter Text
Technoblade was having a relaxing day tending to his farm of nether wart when he heard the tell tale sounds of Overworlders. He could tell there was a fairly large group of them, maybe five or so (which was a lot more than the one or two he usually saw at a time), and from the tone of their voices, seemed nice. He did not turn away from his farm though, as he knew from stories as well as experience, that looking at Overworlders frightened them, and they were more likely to attack, especially by a big brute such as himself. If they wanted to trade, it was better for his safety if he let them come to him. Continuing to tend to his farm did not mean he couldn’t listen to their conversation though, trying to pick out parts he understood, and he subconsciously perked up when he heard himself be mentioned.
“Hey, look! A piglin!”
“We better get some actually good trades. How much gold do we have?”
“Enough,” a pause, then, “hopefully.”
He could hear the group get closer, and then as they were just entering the edges of his “territory” he heard them discuss in hushed voices.
“I’m pretty sure that’s a Brute, Sapnap. I don’t think this is safe.”
“Oh come on, they’re all alone,” that makes a part of Techno bristle, “and besides, they’re farming. “
He hears the rustling of cloth and is tempted to look, but refuses to scare them. Especially now that the fact they outnumber him has been brought to attention.
“Hey, Mr.Piglin,” one of them calls, and he slightly turns his head, moving slow enough that he didn’t look panicked, but fast enough that it wasn’t predatory. He just turns in time to see a fluffy headed fellow elbow a well-built but short man in light clothes, whispering,
“How do you know it’s a Mr ?” To this Light Clothes shrugs.
“I don’t, but simply saying ‘hey Piglin’ feels rude. I’m just trying to not get murdered here.”
He shifts more, and keeps his movements slow as they watch him stand. The groups’ eyes widen visibly, and Fluffy Head takes a small step back. Techno gives a curious chuff, and tries to give a few short friendly sounds. It seems to work, and they tentatively start walking towards him again.
“That’s the biggest fucking brute I’ve ever seen - and there’s no way they’re not a brute.”
“Shut up, he can hear you.”
As they move closer, Techno proactively places his trading chest down, then observes the rest of the group. There’s Light Clothes and Fluffy Hair, then what looks to be a furry bi-legged - a hybrid of some kind, he assumes - with pointy ears and a long slick tail, a tall black also-maybe-hybrid with horns and tail more like his own, and then a hooded figure.
Light Clothes steps up to him first, offering the first piece of gold.
“Here you go, Big Guy. We would like some ender pearls, please.” The man’s words kind of mold together, and to him it sounds like some garbed mess, but he does pick out the familiar name ender pearls . He gives a grunt at the words. Overworlders are only ever looking for ender pearls, and never anything else they may need. He could be nice and just hand some over - not like he really has a use for them - but while studying them in that short period of time, he noticed a couple things.
He ends up carefully taking the golden ingot from Light Clothes, quickly sniffing it and feeling the texture, checking its authenticity. He’s never had an Overworlder try to give him fake gold, but he’s heard stories, so it’s become routine. Satisfied with the ingot, he places it gently in the chest and pulls out a few lines of high quality and well cared for string. He had noticed that Fluffy Hair’s bow was fraying a bit where he could see, which means it should be replaced soon. Plus, it was always handy to have good quality string for mending. No one seemed to carry quality string on them anymore. He makes sure to hold the string out to Fluffy Hair, since Light Clothes didn’t seem like he would understand why Techno would be giving him the string. Fluffy Hair looked a bit confused why Techno was handing the string to him instead of his friend who had given Techno to ingot, but took it anyway with a small thank you .
Another ingot was handed to him, and this time he handed the group some magma cream (better safe than sorry). He trades a few more goodies for the gold ingots, waiting until the last one to give the pearls, since he knows once the group gets the pearls they’ll leave. Light Clothes is getting visibly annoyed as Techno passes him gravel, and for a moment he thinks he may have gone too far. He catches movement from his left, and shifts his eyes to watch as Hood pulls down his hood, running a gloved hand through golden hair. He can feel his own eyes widen and brain start to go fuzzy at the sight. He barely even hears Hood speak up. But he does and Techno finds he enjoys listening to Hood’s voice, even if he doesn’t fully understand all the words. The pronunciation is clearer than Light Clothes, though, so it is easier.
“Sapnap chill. We’ll be able to find enough ender pearls, I’m sure. It’s not worth getting upset over.”
Light Clothes, who he is connecting the strange two-syllabled jumble to, huffs. His eyes and focus is still on the now exposed golden hair of Hood (who he thinks he may change the name of to Gold). The group tenses as Techno takes a step towards Hood, but seeing as he himself has yet to draw a weapon, just watches with wariness. Bright emerald eyes - a gem he had been given by a kind, trading Overworlder - stare back at him, and they, too, seem to be laced with gold. Though, Techno thinks in awe, the bright colour that breaks up the gem-like hue more closely resembles flowing lava or activated blaze powder. Before he’s really aware of it, he feels soft tufts of hair brush his fleshy palm as he runs his fingers through the strands, soft chuffs easily flowing from him. He can feel the stares and uneasiness of the group, but all he can fully focus on right now is the perfect being in front of him, with a head full of the most valuable metal, and eyes of precious gems and fire . He could think of nothing in his chest that would be enough to properly trade for something this valuable, but a thought passes his mind of something that may be close enough. Walking backwards, cradling the human’s head and gently pulling him forward towards the chest, not able to take his eyes away. Blindly reaching into the chest where he knows his stash is, he pulls out a stack of ender pearls he’s been saving up (he doesn’t get a lot of guests, and the young enderman supplies him with a lot) and hands them over to Light Clothes, who he absentmindedly hears gasp and cheer.
“Yo Dream! You scored us the absolute jackpot- holy shit!”
Black Horns speaks up, his voice gentle.
“Excuse me, Mr. Piglin. As much as we appreciate the pearls - because we really do, - we would like our friend back.” To emphasize his point (of which Techno could only pick out tone and a few words, understanding that they were thankful and happy for the ender pearls), Black Horns pointed towards Hood, who was starting to look even more uneasy in Techno’s grasp, emerald eyes flicking towards the group - his Sounder. Light clothes, who looks like he really wants to put away the pearls, faces Techno instead and goes to step forward, reaching the bundle of pearls out.
“Yes, we would like our friend back, Mr. Piglin. Here, your enderpearls back for our friend,” another step, and even though Techno understands they don’t accept the trade, he feels his body move defensively around the treasure in his hands, instincts kicking in, but Light Clothes still tries to placate him, “he is not tradable.”
Light Clothes takes one more step, reaching out again, gesturing the bag towards him. It’s too close, however, and Techno finds himself stumbling away a step with Gold still tucked into his chest, his snout resting on top of the precious strands, and letting out a couple of snorts of distress, displeasure, and warning. Leather covered hands come up to hold onto his forearms. Light Clothes and the group seem to be at a loss for what to do.
A gentle push brings Techno back to attention, and he loosens his grip enough for him to look into Gold’s eyes again. They knock the breath from his lungs again, but has to quickly push those thoughts aside once Gold starts talking.
“You have to let me go, okay?”
The words are spoken slower and clearly; gentle. He understands them, but something in his chest hurts at the thought of letting Gold go. However, he also knows that the Overworlders will not take kindly to leaving behind a member of their Sounder, especially for such a measly price of ender pearls. It is also not his place to hoard this human, even if every instinct in him is telling him he should.
He gives the golden tufts another run through, and looks at Gold’s eyes again, before slowly, ever so slowly, releasing his hold and forcing himself to step back. Something pulls in his chest as he does, and a pained whine escapes him without permission. Gold takes a few hesitant, tentative steps back, as if he’s worried Techno will grab him again. His Sounder pulls him in once he’s close enough, and Light Clothes goes to hand him the bag of pearls. Techno pushes back on it to show they can keep it. It is a fair price for the moments he did have. Light Clothes seems unsure, but also pleased, giving a small nod of his head and backing up towards the group. They each gives him another look before they start to walk away. Before joining them, Black Horns gives a sincere thank you and a respectful bow of the head.
Techno watches as they walk past his settlement, stepping closer and closer towards the border, occasionally glancing back at him. That string pulls again, and he feels it tug him towards Gold. He tries to stamp it down, but the feeling of something vital missing in him is too much. He looks towards his den, then again towards the receding group, and, deciding that Piglins were never a solitary race to begin with, starts to walk towards the still moving group.