Lost

Chapter 58

×~ 3rd Person ~×

T

he group silently walked through the forest. Technoblade was in the lead, making sure that everyone kept up the pace. Their eyes were kept on the forest, looking for any sign of the young teen or the haunting of endermen that caused them to run off in the first place. The only thing that they were able to find was the occasional set of familiar footprints nestled into the muddy forest floor, and as the hours went on the group slowly became more and more sluggish. Their only break during the day was lunch, and it wasn't nearly long enough for the exhaustion that soaked their bones to fade.

"Ugh," Tommy groaned as he slipped off his backpack and fell to the ground. The group's eyes quickly fell on him.

"Tom, get up. We'll find them any minute now," Techno huffed; in response, Tubbo mimicked his friend's actions before letting out a long sigh.

A firm hand was placed on the piglin's shoulder. "We're just as worried as you are, but you're insane if you think we're not going to set up camp," Wilbur spoke in a low hum. Techno desperately glanced over at Philza. The blonde only shook his head. A saddened sigh escaped Technoblade's mouth as he finally took off his bag.

The camp was set up with little issue. The tents now stood proud, the campfire was gently blazing, and food had been cooked and eaten. It almost would have been peaceful if it weren't for Techno mindlessly pacing around the fire.

"Go to sleep Tech," Philza said, looking at the piglin with heavy eyes. 

Techno was about to say something but was cut off by Wilbur. "I'll be happy to take first watch if you'd like."

"No, what if something happens?" 

"You'll be the first person I wake up."

The piglin glanced over to his friend, looking for support. Phil only looked back at him with soft eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Techno finally relented. 

"Fine," He huffed, as he started toward his tent. Within moments he was lying down with his eyes closed in the warmth of his sleeping bag. The chirps of bugs and the rustling of leaves in the wind had never seemed so loud. Techno worried that each small forest sound was a threat, waiting to pounce on the small camp. Even with these worries the piglin was still somehow able to fall into an uneasy sort of half-sleep.

As the hours passed so did Techno's moment of rest. He lay in his sleeping bag, staring up at his tent. Someone began walking around the campsite, and the unease finally became too much for him. He crawled out and began to stare down the person that had been walking about. Wilbur, who was now standing over Phil's tent, stared back, looking like a deer in headlights.

"You should probably try to get some more sleep," He hummed with a tired buzz to his voice.

"Not a chance," Technoblade huffed, "Go to bed."

"Yeesh, fine," He shrugged, before sluggishly doing what he was told.

Techno stared at Will's tent for a moment before shuffling closer to the fire. He stared into it, his tail flicking back and forth as he thought about his kid, all alone, shivering in the cold, with no one there to comfort them. He tried and failed to shake the uneasy thought from his head. Then the thought of Ranboo not stopping to sleep came to mind. He quickly made his way over to Philza's tent.

"Phil!" He quietly called. "Phil wake up."

A low groan sounded from inside the tent. "What is it, mate?" A groggy voice croaked.

"Can you take watch of camp for me? I'm leaving," The piglin asked.

"What?" The groggy voice hummed.

"Can you watch camp for me? I'm leaving," He repeated. Silence fell over the two for a moment before Phil exploded out of his tent.

"What the hell do you mean you're leaving?" He asked, and before Techno could answer he continued. "Do you have any idea how late it is? Are you trying to get yourself hurt?" The bird boy let out a long sigh before continuing. “We'll continue looking for them in the morning.”

"If Tommy or Wilbur went missing like this you wouldn't stop until you found them."

"That's not the same," He said as he looked into his best friend's eyes. Silence fell over them for a moment. "Sorry," He sighed, bringing his gaze down to his feet. "Go look for your kid mate." And with that, Techno practically ran out of the camp.

Technoblade's footsteps pounded against the forest floor as he ran. Eventually when he was far enough away from camp his pace slowed slightly. He used this as an opportunity to better examine the forest around him. Any signs of something out of place would have been immediately noticed.

He walked for hours, and as he did so, he slowly began to realize that he was woefully unprepared for any overly long hike through the forest. He mentally cursed himself as he turned around and began sprinting back in the direction of camp, much less worried about not noticing something important. He didn't know what he'd do if this waste of time caused him to permanently lose Ranboo. After a short while Techno began to notice the brightening sky. And decided to take a moment to look up at it.

As he looked up at the now colourful sky, he couldn't help but notice something odd. One of the branches on a pine tree was moving and shaking much more than the ones around it. Then it stopped, and the branch below it began moving. This continued a couple more times before Techno noticed the figure in the tree and realized what he was looking at. He suddenly sprinted forward hoping with everything that he had, that it was Ranboo climbing down that tree.

997 Words: This was supposed to just be the first half of one chapter, but I realized that it had been months since I last posted, so you're getting this short little thing as an apology; and as a way to know that im not dead. Whoopsies, I guess