When Techno awoke a second time, it was to a significantly better feeling head. He blinked slowly, allowing his eyes to adjust, but quickly realised he didn't need to.

The hut was in complete darkness, but he wasn't tired anymore, so he stood up and made his way over to the door.

He thought idly for a moment that this would definitely mess up his sleep schedule, but he decided he didn't really care so much.

Opening the door, Techno realised it wasn't as late as he was expecting it to be. He'd guessed it was far past the time that everyone went to sleep, but he was wrong. It was still dark, but he saw lamps hanging from the front of each hut, and heard the chatter of a crowd not too far from him.

His eyes narrowed in on a lit-up path away from the clearing into the forest and wondered where it led to.

He looked around, seeing no one else, and decided to follow it. The moon hung heavy in the sky as he looked up, but it was slowly replaced by the tops of trees as he got further and further into the forest.

He continued along the lamp-lit trail, and his eyes widened as he made his way over to another, much smaller clearing.

An enormous tree, absolutely the biggest one he'd ever set his eyes upon, was nestled in the middle of the clearing. Branches stretched out from it, lights lit up its stump and leaves, and he could see small wooden structures along with it.

In the middle of it, he could see an entryway into the tree that was blocked off with wooden planks, and could faintly make out a soft blue glow coming from inside of it.

Hybrids sat around the tree, exchanging stories and laughing under the glowing lights, and Techno could even hear music coming from somewhere in the vicinity.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a voice said from beside him, and his ears flicked, turning to look at where the sound came from.

Another teen, probably somewhere around Techno's age, stood next to him. He had bright red hair and what appeared to be red panda ears sticking out from his head. The boy's red and white tail flicked slightly as he waited for a response.

After a moment, Techno nodded slightly.

The boy smiled, turning to look at the lights with him.

"I get you're probably scared-" the boy started, and Techno huffed.

"I don't get scared." he muttered, and the boy turned to him with a sympathetic look.

"Everyone gets scared." he said, and Techno narrowed his eyes, looking away from him.

The boy sighed before continuing.

"I was scared too when I first came here. I only got here a few months ago, but it's become my home," he murmured, looking over at Techno, "it'll become your home too. You just have to give it some time."

Techno bit the inside of his cheek, not commenting on the fact that this random kid just came up to him and started spewing about home, despite the fact that he really wanted to.

"I'm not staying long." he said, and the boy smiled slightly.

"My name is Velvet." the boy introduced himself, sticking his hand out, green eyes lighting up.

Techno narrowed his eyes for a second before he stuck his hand out and awkwardly shook the others.

"Technoblade." he responded. He wouldn't let them use his nickname. That was reserved only for his family.

"Nice to meet you, Technoblade. Come meet the others." Velvet said, gesturing for Techno to follow him. He did so, albeit hesitantly, and they made their way under the tree's branches and to a group on the other side.

A group of five others sat around the roots of the tree, hanging out and chatting about random stuff. Velvet pulled Techno forward and smiled in greeting at the others.

"Hey, guys! This is Technoblade!" Velvet introduced them, and Techno nodded stiffly in greeting.

"This is Connor," Velvet said, motioning to someone around the same age as him who had blue fluffy ears poking out from his brown hair, "this is Callahan," a boy, older than Techno, who had deer ears, a tail and two deer horns poking out of his head nodded towards him.

"This is Jack," Velvet moved on to a boy a couple of years younger than the 16-year-old, who had fluffy bear ears poking from his head, "Foolish," Velvet nodded to another teen with cheetah ears and a long flicking tail, who cocked an eyebrow at Techno but said nothing, "and last but not least, Eret!" The last one smiled, and Techno's eyebrows raised a little bit.

The teen had white and yellow feathers sticking from behind their ears and had two large cockatoo wings attached to their back.

"Uh, hi." Techno cleared his throat, and he got some smiles in return.

Velvet sat down in between some of the roots and Techno, not knowing what else to do, followed suit.

The others continued their conversations from before, a few of them at times trying to pull Techno into the talk, but he'd flash them an awkward smile each time and not say anything.

He was too focused on the blue glow that had been emitting from the front of the tree.

He glanced over at the other's, still deep in conversation, and stood up silently.

He made a quiet excuse about needing the bathroom, none of them even really hearing him, and slipped away.

He moved around the large tree, his hand trailing against the side of it as he gazed up at its beauty.

Techno made his way back to the entryway that was bordered up and tried to peer through the wooden planks.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." a voice said from behind him, and Techno narrowed his eyes when he saw Eret.

The cockatoo hybrid smiled slightly, fixing their round and dark glasses.

"What's in there?" Techno asked after a moment of silence, and Eret tilted their head to the side slightly.

"Captain didn't tell you?" they asked, and Techno wondered for a moment about who they were talking of before realising they meant Puffy.

"...No, Puffy didn't say anything." he said, and Eret scratched the side of their head, nodding slightly.

"Okay, well, this is our magic tree." they said with a smile, and Techno raised an eyebrow.

"...Magic tree?" he repeated, sceptically.

Eret snorted, "You find out you're a hybrid who can change forms and yet you get surprised at a magic tree?"

"Touché."

"Anyway," Eret continued, "it's the source of our power. It helps to hide our civilisation from humans, and it makes it easier for us to transform and stay alive. It's boarded up so no one goes inside and bothers it. Some say a spirit lives within the tree, but only Captain would ever know. She's the only one that's been inside." they said, letting out a heavy sigh when he was done.

"Hm." Technoblade hummed, and Eret nodded again.

"Some say that she bonded her power with the tree's to make us stronger. Like they work in sync. I don't know though, could just be a myth."

Well, that was pretty fucking weird.

Techno continued to inspect the blue glow emitting from inside of the tree before he turned back to Eret.

"I wouldn't spend so long dwelling on it. Lots of us have tried to figure it out. None of us have." Eret murmured, and Techno looked at the tree warily again.

Eret slung their arm over the younger teen's shoulder and pulled him along back to the group.

"Hey, did Captain tell you to call her Puffy?" Eret asked after a moment on the walk back.

Techno raised an eyebrow, shrugging their arm off his shoulders.

"Yep."

"Huh. Weird." Eret murmured, and Techno looked at them questioningly.

"How is it weird?"

Eret shrugged, "She generally doesn't like us calling her that. Whatever, it's no biggie. Just a bit weird."

They continued to walk forward, and Techno paused, glancing back to where he saw Puffy sitting with a group of older hybrids.

She noticed him staring and tilted her hat in greeting, smile illuminated by the glowing lamps. Techno gulped slightly, feeling uneasy, before tearing his gaze off of her and following after Eret.

"Yeah. Weird."

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Hello friends!! An updateeeeee, yaaaaaaaaaay! 

Hope you enjoyed it!! :D

Happy reading!!

-Bee <3

(24/2/21)

Co-posted on ao3