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The graceful snow fell slowly onto the window sill of the hut. Cold wind blew the helpless flakes around the house, making them dance until they fell one last time. His sigh created a cloud of warm air that seemed to disappear into the darkness of the night. His watchful eyes followed a fox running through the nearby trees. Trees as old as time - strong and beautiful. He closed the window, the wooden frame creaking slightly. As soon as he turned to the centre of his room, the caressing warmth of the campfire burning in the corner welcomed him. But as much as he loved this warmth, it did not reach his heart. A heart he usually buried under a protective layer of armour, hidden from strangers - unreachable.
He reached for his worn coat and threw it around his shoulders. Immediately, the fur seemed to envelop him as if it was the only thing that could protect him from the world. But it was he himself who could do this best. He stroked Steve's head one last time, which promptly pressed it against his hand. A hand adorned with scars, just like the rest of his body. He pulled his hand away and pushed open the spruce door, which immediately swung open, letting the light out onto the snow, which began to sparkle as if it was made out of thousands of stars. Technoblade stepped out, closed the door and watched as the sea of stars seemed to drown in darkness below him.
He strode down the snowy steps and entered Carl's shelter. Carl. This horse was like a friend to him, no, like family. It had been faithful to him since he caught it. A friend would never be so loyal. Friends betray each other and Carl and him would always stay side by side until death parted them. Technoblade looked at the footprints lost in the forest and leading away from the hut. So Phil was on the move again. What else could he expect from a man seeking freedom?
Phil had been the first person he had let near him and he had never regretted it. Phil was like a brother, a companion of eternity that seemed to devour everything. Everything except Phil. No matter what happened, Phil was always a bright light guiding him home. A home that offered him safety. Not once had he doubted this. Not even when it seemed he was going to lose everything. In the distance he could see Ranboo's house, which cast a golden glow into the night. His neighbour was truly whimsical and yet it seemed to Techno that the boy had cheated his way past all his thorns and found a place in his heart. But this was something he would never admit - certainly not to Ranboo.
He trudged back into his house and shut out the cold. He dropped his coat beside his weapons, which seemed to burn in the light of the fire. He smirked at the thought of how he had already drenched entire cities in blood with these. Sunk in the ashes from which they had arisen. Buried in the tears of those who had called him with pain and the desire for revenge.
That night he had looked up at the sky and felt so alone, but the stars had welcomed him. They had shown him a future as one of them. And they had given him a dream beyond the stars.