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One warm summer day, just as the sun was setting, a pair of twins were born at a village near a field of flowers, the kingdom’s castle overlooking their house as they took their first breath.
Twins — identical in so many ways, yet different in so many others.
They were named William and Technoblade, a few minutes of difference between their birthdays.
Twins that were destined for greatness in their own ways — yet in the end, they would always return home.
Together.
• • •
Wilbur and Techno were decidedly the village’s sweethearts . Wilbur, the eldest, all warm smiles that crinkled up his chocolate brown eyes and sweet words that stole everyone’s hearts.
Wilbur, who was often seen dragging his twin around the village. Technoblade, the youngest, who’d begged his mother to dye his hair pink using tulips from the flower field next to their house when he was five — a pink that would remain in his hair for many years.
Techno, the shy kid that often hid behind his brother when he got nervous. He was always seen holding onto his twin’s hand. A shy kid, but with a large heart and a bright soul that everyone in the village could see.
They were, decidedly, some of the only kids still alive in the village. And everyone was determined to keep them safe from their drunk king’s wrongful ruling.
• • •
Wilbur and Techno, now twelve years old, ran through the flower field next to their house. The tulips and poppies brushed against their legs as Wilbur laughed loudly, Techno quietly giggling behind him as he was dragged by the hand he always kept linked with his twin’s.
So similar, yet so different all the same.
They laid down next to the lake as they ran out of breath, flowers tickling their skin. They were recovering from running around when they saw them — dragons, their kingdom’s most priced beauty, calmly flying over their heads.
“I’m gonna tame one, when I’m older.” Techno spoke. Hearing his voice was a privilege only few got to experience, Wilbur and their parents being the only people in the village used to its monotone.
“A dragon?” Wilbur asked, staring mesmerised and the swirl of bright colours dancing on the sky above them.
“A dragon.” Techno agreed. “I’ll tame one all by myself.”
Wilbur nodded his head, as if it was a serious matter they were discussing. “Will you teach me to fly once you do?” He asked, turning to look at his brother’s face.
“Anytime.” Was Technoblade’s reply. “We should probably head back.” He pointed upwards with his finger, Wilbur turning to see the sky change into orange hues as the sun hid on the horizon.
“Yeah. Mum must have made dinner already.” Wilbur agreed, still a bit breathless — though if it was from running or from the beautiful sight in front of him, no one knew.
• • •
The following years watched the twins slowly grow apart, as their personalities shifted towards different goals and they started to take separate paths, arguments turning into a common event with them as the kingdom rot them from the inside out and tore them apart, slowly but surely severing their bond.
“That will never be enough, Wilbur.” Techno growled, yet another argument having started up between the eighteen year olds just a few minutes earlier.
“What do you mean it will never be enough?!” Wilbur yelled, the quiet never being his thing. “How do you expect to change this kingdom without politics, Technoblade . It must be fixed from the inside!”
“Politics are not enough when a king is unfit to rule .” The pinkette spat, arms crossed in front of his chest. “You can’t solve everything with words, Wilbur. Some people are simply not weak to your doe eyes and sweet talk. You’re not a child anymore, it’s about time that you stop believing in fairytales.”
Wilbur grew quiet, chocolate brown eyes welling up with tears. Techno always did know how to make their arguments hurt the most, even if he did it without knowing.
“I’m going to prove you wrong.” He spoke, voice shaky with emotion. “It’s not fairytales. The real fairytale here is you thinking you will ever tame a fucking dragon!” His ire grew again, tears flowing freely down his flushed cheeks. “You can’t even look people in the eye, Technoblade. How could you ever hope to manage to tame a dragon?” He laughed drily, turning to run away from his brother.
Techno just stood there, stoic, as his twin’s poisonous words echoed in his brain.
Wilbur didn’t believe in him anymore.
• • •
It only took a couple of years for Wilbur to sweet talk his way into a spot at the kingdom’s council, just as determined to prove Techno wrong as he was the first day his twin told him his ideas of progress were mere fairytales .
Techno, no longer tied to his twin nor his parents, took his own separate path. He joined the secret anarchist revolution that started up at his village. He cut off all ties to his brother, set on his thoughts of politics never being enough to fix up the mess their supposed king had caused in the decades he was allowed to rule freely.
Techno was determined to bring karma to that pathetic excuse of a man that called himself king.
And their parents, their town, could only watch as the bright eyed kids that used to always run around together grew older, their lights dimming due to the kingdom’s misfortunes.
They could only watch as the twins left their nest and took their separate paths, silently hoping that they would one day meet each other again. Wishing that one day, that same light would return to their eyes.
• • •
The revolution only stood for three years of arduous combat. Three years of blood spilled and in one split second, it was over.
The king’s guard stood undefeated in the end, the revolutionaries’ blood staining the entire kingdom.
And in between those lifeless bodies, laid a man with long pink hair tied up on a braid — the light that his eyes lost, never to return.
Wilbur found out from a war report, easily recognising his brother’s name.
He didn’t think, he didn’t speak, he simply ran to his home wishing to find Techno baking potatoes in their kitchen.
The tears in his parents’ eyes were indicators enough of just how real the situation was.
His twin was gone. Forever.
And the last thing Wilbur said was that he hated him.
• • •
Wilbur didn’t really need to ponder on his decision too much. He left the council as soon as he managed to pull himself away from his parents’ bruising grip.
His grief didn’t let him think things through much, he only knew one thing — Techno had been right.
Three years he’d spent on the council! Three years he could’ve spent by his twin’s side. And all his efforts led to nothing . Nothing but a piece of stone with his brother’s name standing by the lake they used to visit when they were younger.
Wilbur didn’t even get to bury his brother properly. He didn’t get to apologise, or say how much he actually loved his twin, his other half. How sorry he was for all the yelling. How proud he was of Techno being brave enough to fight for the change Wilbur was too scared to pour his entire heart into.
But he wasn’t scared anymore. Not as he stood in front of his brother’s grave. As he picked up the diamond sword that was stuck on the ground to mark this grave as a soldier’s one. Techno’s sword.
In that exact moment, he made up his mind. He would follow in Techno's footsteps. And he would make his twin proud.
If the pinkette could even see him from wherever he was now.
• • •
Having spent three years working closely with the king and inside the castle’s walls proved to be a major advantage once Wilbur successfully took over the revolution in his brother’s name, the remaining kids he grew up with at the village willing to follow him just as they followed his brother.
His extensive knowledge proved to be a major advantage once, combined with his twin’s annotations on the war journals he found, Wilbur came up with a strategy that successfully put the king on his knees just over a year after his brother died.
And Wilbur, holding Techno’s diamond sword in his hand, pridefully delivered the last hit — the king’s blood turning the shiny blade red.
And just like that, they’d won.
• • •
Wilbur stood at the flower field, by the lake, right next to Techno’s grave. Blood still soaked his skin and uniform and dripped from the sword in his hand as he stared down at the lake’s reflection, his brother’s warm eyes staring back at him.
He sat down in between the pink tulips and red poppies, eyes never taken off his brother’s reflection.
“I miss you.” He whispered, a few clear tears falling down his cheeks, turning red as they hit the blood splattered across his skin like freckles. “You were right.” He laughed, voice shaking. “You somehow always were. God, that used to annoy me so fucking much.”
He swiped a bloody hand under his nose, blood already drying up in his hair and turning the curls matted.
“I did it for you, Tech.” He smiled, sparing a glance towards the tombstone next to him. “I wanted to make you proud. God , I hope you are.”
He stopped talking once the sobs started up, Wilbur’s entire body shaking. And still, he laughed. It was a sad thing to hear, yet it was tinted with relief .
He did it .
A dragon suddenly landed beside him. It was a baby, far too small.
Beautiful, ruby coloured scales ran up and down its body, matching the blood covering Wilbur from head to toe. Its eyes were looking up at him — chocolate brown ones.
Wilbur let out a breathless laugh as the baby dragon cuddled right next to him, not even flinching when he put his hand on top of it.
The dragon practically started purring as Wilbur ran his hand down its scales. He could see one of his feet was broken.
“You poor thing.” He cooed. “You’re alright, darling, I’ll help you heal up.”
The dragon simply laid its head on Wilbur’s lap, as if he understood what the brunet was saying. Wilbur looked at Techno’s grave once more, and smiled.
“I’ll take care of him.” He whispered, nodding towards the stone with his brother’s name on it.
A gentle breeze ran through the flowers around the pair as the sun started setting, and Wilbur’s smile grew as he realised the truth.
Techno had listened. He always had.