Hatchling

Debrief

(Sorry about the long wait guys xp did not intend to take this long)

Technoblade examined his sword, and the enchantments on it; when he deemed them satisfactory, with no need for replacing them, he checked his armour, ensuring that it was strapped to his body securely, and there wasn't a loose plate anywhere.

He watched the other members of the little search group check their weapons and armour. New armour had been gifted to them, and Philza was marvelling at gilded wing-plating he had received from a blacksmith, who had commented how he didn't have armour for his wings, so she had taken it upon herself to make some for him. So there he was, stretching his wings to make sure his mobility wasn't impedimented.

Wilbur swung two small scythes in his hands, the blades no larger than a handspan and a half, he was better with them than a sword, and Techno was shocked to discover how natural the blades were in his hands. The brunette swung low with ease, an opponent likely wouldn't be able to dodge that hit if they weren't fast enough, he then flipped the scythe in his left hand and performed an aggressive uppercut that left an afterimage in the air. Wilbur stopped after that, and an astonished look painted his face as he stared down at the weapons in his hands.

Fundy was chatting to the blonde with white and red wings — Theresa he reminded himself — and he seemed to be comfortable around her. He couldn't shake off the feeling that she was familiar somehow. Maybe, it was the way she held herself, her facial expressions or how she reacted to stimuli. She was frustratingly familiar, Techno was positive about it, and it was driving him mad, but so many things didn't line up.

With nothing to do he tuned into his surroundings, he ignored the quiet chatter of other unfamiliar faces and zeroed in on Fundy and Theresa's conversation.

"Did you enchant all of this stuff- Like by yourself?" He asked, disbelief colouring his voice as he stared down at his gifted boots. It was rumoured that Theresa had gifted the Netherite used to make it, which was only shocking because Netherite was scarce in these areas and was only used by skilled Blacksmiths and Masters of Enchantment.

Theresa let out a barking laugh.

"Like I keep telling you- Yes!"

"But- But how? It doesn't look familiar at all!" The blonde woman sighed exasperatedly but still had a smile on her face.

She flicked her wrist clockwise sharply, the Golden trident streaked into her hand and lay there compliantly. She turned it over, pointed to a section near the shaft, which connected to the prongs, and continued slowly.

"You can read enchants, right?" Fundy nodded quickly, the enthusiasm painting his pointed face.

"Right- so here, what enchant can you see?"

"Loyalty, I think?" The boy said hesitantly, looking to Theresa for her agreement.

"Yeah! Very good- but you can tell it's different right?"

"Mhm..."

"All I did was change it a bit to key the enchant to a particular person, this part here means 'tie', and this one here is 'connect'... 'bind'," She explained, pointing proudly at the weapon.

"It's more durable than normal gold, and Piglins tend to steer clear of me when I have Atlan tagging along,"

"Cool!" Fundy grinned impishly. "I was wondering if you had a plan, bringing a water tool to the Nether or if you were just stupid-"

"Oi!" She scowled playfully, a smile tugging the corner of her mouth as she cuffed the boy lightly on the back of his head.

A slight nostalgia swept over the pink-haired man. Where had he seen this before?

A distant image of a blonde boy hiding his laugh behind a hand, in the same way, crept into his mind. He shook his head and cleared the dubious thoughts that were running wild. 'No way ', 'that's a girl though?' and 'they're kinda similar... ' melted in with those speculations.

He brushed the school of thought away as he tuned back into his surroundings, the blue-haired doctor, who he couldn't be bothered to remember the name of, had gathered the small group around a portal. When she noticed everyone was present and listening, she began to speak.

"Right– so I've found something  — with the help of Theresa— that may be able to help cure this disease, I've run the tests, and it works well, but it takes around seven hours for the illness to be entirely eradicated.

"To cut it short, we don't have that kind of time, it leaves patients vulnerable to being re-infected, and we can't have that, so the results need to be instantaneous.

" This is where you come in, we need you to get the Nether variant of Eucaly as that may be a complete game-changer, and it's the only ingredient we don't have immediate access to.

You will enter the portal, " She gestured toward the glowing portal and continued, " And head west toward the nearest Warped Biome, the Eucaly should be found nearby. If you go past a bastion and the Piglins barter for Eucaly take that opportunity. We want you back as soon as possible,"

The man that had dragged Theresa away during the baptism popped up next to the doctor.  "In case of any emergencies this—"

He held up an odd-looking Enderpearl; odd because it had runes carved into its smooth surface, and each one was glowing a soft yellow rather than the uniform purple. The black lens in the centre seemed to lock onto something in the distance and followed it as it was moved around in the air.

"—will bring you to the Waystone near the Honeycomb Inn. Just throw it at any hard surface, so it shatters, and you'll be back quicker than you can say 'Prime ',"

"Alright..." the blue-haired doctor looked at the group when she seemed to be satisfied, continued, "Well, if that's all, it's best not to keep you,"

"Good luck to you all, and come back in one piece!"

Theresa laughed nervously as she wrapped the both of them in a hug. Techno heard a quiet 'look after the kids for me ' as she squeezed the one with the cap, and he nodded as he pressed the Enderpearl into her scarred hands.

She turned resolutely to the portal, which hummed and throbbed like a foreboding heartbeat, and stepped through the purple particles that swarmed her before spreading back like an up-right liquid, leaving the surface smooth and glass-like until the next being walked through.