Intervention.
DSMP/Hermitcraft crossover.
A/N: Guys, this AU has been living in my head rent-free for AGES. So there's extensive lore and stuff, this is just one tidbit of it.
Grian and Technoblade are half-brothers. They are also half-Watcher.
WATCHERS AND THE LIKE ARE NOT EVIL IN THIS. THEY BE CHILL
Summary:
The Dream SMP knows that Technoblade is dangerous. They know he's powerful. They know he has something to do with all the kids suddenly escaping vanishing off the server.
They do not know he's 15. They do not know he's the youngest son of the Head Watcher.
They do not know he has an older brother (two technically).
When Grian finally has had enough of how his little brother has been treated, he does what any sane Watcher -any sane older sibling- would do.
He intervenes.
________________________
Grian had had enough.
Enough of those dry texts and panicked flares through the bond they shared.
Tired of hearing about the hellhole of a server his little (technically half) brother was in.
He banked hard through the Void, wings cutting through star-flecked dark as the thin seam between servers shimmered ahead of him.
The things Technoblade had told him through their communicator chats... What kind of dictatorship was this 'Dream SMP'?
He still couldn’t believe that name.
They didn’t even allow access to the End. The End. What kind of admin locked away an entire dimension? What kind of server normalized manhunts and prison torture and called it politics?
Something was wrong there.
Worse — the adults were wrong.
Too busy with wars. Too busy posturing. Too busy playing hero and tyrant to notice the children standing in the crossfire.
Children.
His little brother was fifteen.
Fifteen.
Nearly every adult on the server was way too caught up in the damn 'war' to think about calling up the damn Council of Admins. That was what you were supposed to do if your admin was abusing his power, not overthrow the admin, lock them in an obsidian prison, and torture them! (Grian was glad Techno hadn't gotten too hurt during his own time in the prison alongside Dream. But even he felt bad for Dream, who had.)
And in the middle of all that, Techno had told him of the chaos every kid on the server had. That poor half-enderman with the memory problems. The brash avian that had allied with and then betrayed Techno. The young goat hybrid Techno hadn't wanted to shoot.
The damn adults on that server didn't even know his little brother was 15! 15!
Techno had hidden at first, thinking it'd be a funny bit to see how long before they realized. But nope. Unless he was lying in those texts and voice calls -something Grian doubted- not even that 'Philza', the crow avian Techno was allied with and lived near, had caught on. And that guy was the father of two of the server's residents, wasn't he?
Damn it all.
Grian wasn't going to let this slide for long. He'd already text-threatened to break onto that server himself and drag Techno off, and he was going to go through with it one of these days.
He folded one wing, accelerating.
The portal shimmered brighter ahead.
You didn't mess with the sons of the Head Watcher that easily.
~~~
((( A/N: Giant loredrop incoming)))
Watchers weren't too well-known, not as much as their sibling species, the Listeners or Secret Keepers. They were more.... reclusive. At least, less attention-seeking. That didn't mean they didn't do things- they were the masters and guardians of the End and Void, born out of the End and Void, just as Listeners were of the Aether and Farlands and Secret Keepers were of the Overworld and Nether.
Watchers Watched and Protected. They usually dealt with shit in the background that the Listeners hadn't noticed.
One thing the three sibling species shared was that they all had a mix of draconic and avian-like traits, varying from individual to individual. That made it easy for all of them, especially halfbloods, to pass as either avian, dragon hybrids, or mixed hybrids when the need arose. A lot of halfbloods had dragon blood on their other side anyway.
Techno, since his mother was an actual dragon hybrid, was a dragon hybrid-looking enough to barely have to shift anything- though occasionally he pretended to be human just to mess with people. Grian's mother had been mixed, so he had avian wings but dragonlike horns, tail, ears, and scales here and there. He usually passed as avian, though.
BUT, he'd told the hermits the motherly side of his heritage and simply told them he was used to using his dragon magic to hide it as it wasn't safe as a mixed hybrid on servers. It was a white lie, but still. He'd gotten a bit more comfortable being around his server-mates in his more truer form, since then, though he hid the telltale not-normal Watcher things, like the wing ears, and the Eyes.
Being the first of their kinds, the Heads of the three species were technically siblings. They had each other long before others of their kind began popping up and more were born. The Head Listener was Asterion, known for being... well, authoritative and a bit cold. That made sense- Listeners were the first to pop up into existence. Aster was the oldest. But he was good.
The Head Secret-Keeper was known simply as Seek. He was more friendly, apparently. And more down-to-earth. Which made sense- he was the youngest.
The middle was the Watcher Head- Grian and Techno's father. Auron. He was more chill. Grian knew from his own life that in contrast to the Listeners and Secret Keepers, Watchers didn't have much of a ranking system other than the Head and his heirs.
Patrol leaders and other things were chosen for character and merit, not for whose child they were. If a big decision had to be made, all Watchers old enough to understand what kind of decision was being made simply got in on the telepathy they all had -the web of connections every Watcher was in on, almost something between a hivemind and a telepath bond- and everyone kind... threw their thoughts at each other until they reached an agreement.
Every species had Rogues.
The Watchers’ had done damage that still echoed.
They had attacked Listeners once — not even intentionally escalating it — but it had been enough. Asterion had mistaken them for sanctioned action. A manhunt had followed. Enderian guardians had gone into hiding before the truth surfaced.
They were still avoiding being found, even now.
And then there were forced turnings.
Turnlings weren’t lesser. Not among Watchers. Not among Secret Keepers. Power didn’t discriminate between born and turned.
But the method mattered.
Listeners sometimes chose heroes.
Secret Keepers… it simply happened, now and then.
Watchers turned the dying. The abandoned. The children they pulled from wreckage and warzones who had nowhere safe to return to. They waited until those children were old enough to choose — or turned them only when healing demanded it.
Except the Rogues hadn’t waited.
They had experimented.
Forced the change on children no one would look for.
The Watchers had hunted those Rogues.
Rescued those they could. Hid some. Wiped memories when it was the only protection left. Raised others as their own.
Unlike within the Listeners, for Secret Keepers and Watchers, turnlings weren't treated any different to bornes. They didn't have lower power or anything anyway.
Sometimes, Grian thinks (knows) that the Watchers are the only ones making conscious efforts to heal people's trauma and not be toxic.
Whenever a Watcher halfling had parent problems, it was rarely the Watcher parent.
Grian didn’t think about that much.
Didn’t think about bruises.
Didn’t think about Auron going utterly still when he saw them.
Didn’t think about being carried into the Void wrapped in starlight and fury.
Didn’t think about Nerith -Techno's mother- opening her arms without hesitation.
“Of course I’ll raise him.”
Techno had been three.
Mom wasn't an a-hole. She'd raised Grian alongside Techno as if he were hers. Sometimes they both forgot she wasn't his blood mother at all.
Grian and Techno also had two older (half) fullblood siblings, their oldest brother Axys -direct heir- and their older sister Zeyliph. At first, when they were littler the two had been awkward, mostly because they weren't sure how to be big siblings to two halfbloods who were in the void only half the time, but that had faded fast- the four of them were close as any siblings could be.
One thing, was that halflings were always allowed to have lives outside of being what they were.
Allowed lives outside their heritage.
Allowed choice.
Allowed childhoods.
But, digress.
Techno was not being allowed a childhood.
He was being hunted.
Used.
Dragged into wars he hadn’t started.
Grian was fed up with how that server was treating his brother. Like he was a weapon. Like he wasn't a person.
Of course, he knew Techno wasn't stupid. Even if Techno was pretending to be a dilute hybrid, technically a human with more feral traits, he was still strong.
And Grian knew that Techno did plan to ditch at some point, but he also knew Techno didn't want to leave the other kids on that server. Grian agreed with that.
He knew Techno had a plan in motion, with the help of some of the others off-server- turnlings Shadow and Hannah and Xylias, and bornes Frost and Squid. He knew Techno had snuck the kids off the server and into the now-alerted (by Grian, as per the plan) COA's (Council of Admins) responsible hands. They'd get the other kids -Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, Skeppy, Niki, Fundy, and Michael- to safer servers from there.
But he knew Techno would be staying behind. He knew Techno would get in trouble and be hunted down.
Grian also knew that was when he'd intervene.
But he wasn't stepping in as an Ender prince, or as a Watcher halfblood, though he knew the rage of their kin would be with him and he knew they were headed right to the void after-
Oh, he was stepping in as one very, very angry big brother.
The portal opened before him.
Cold air slammed into his face.
Snow.
Boots pounding.
Metal clashing.
Too many heartbeats.
Grian folded his wings and dove like a falling star.
Intervention time.
~~~
The snow was burning in Techno’s lungs.
Boots pounded behind him — too many. Metal. Enchanted. Coordinated.
He didn’t look back.
He didn’t need to.
“Cut him off!” Quackity’s voice carried over the wind. “Don’t let him get to the portal!”
Techno resisted the urge to laugh hysterically. The portal was three biomes away and he was at three hearts.
This was fine. This was calculated. This was stalling.
The other kids were gone. That was what mattered. Now he just wanted to ragebait people.
Tommy had argued. Tubbo had hesitated. Fundy had been nervous. Niki had been waiting for it. Skeppy had to have it explained to him five times. Ranboo had quietly understood too quickly. Michael had clung to him for a second longer than he expected.
It had taken the adults on the server a few days to really realize, and one more to connect it to him. The other kids were safe.
Plan complete.
An arrow whizzed past his ear.
Okay. Slightly less fine.
Sapnap’s fire caught in the trees to his right. Sam’s trident cracked through the air behind him. Punz was frighteningly silent.
Techno vaulted a dip in the terrain and nearly stumbled when exhaustion hit his legs like a wall.
This was where it ended on this server, then.
Dammit
He really wished it wasn't. Sure, he'd just respawn out in some public server. Maybe he could get Squid to hack him back in, somehow.....just to mess with everyone....
And then—
A sound split the air.
Not the steady beat of wings.
Not the familiar glide-drop rhythm he knew from years beside Phil.
This was sharper.
A keening whistle, high and cutting, like the sky itself had been sliced open.
Techno froze for half a second.
Then he swore and threw himself sideways without thinking.
He'd known that sound since he and his brother were learning to fly.
Something hit the clearing like a meteor.
Snow exploded.
Quackity didn’t even get a full “what the—” out before a body slammed into him and sent him skidding twenty blocks across packed ice.
Wings snapped open in the settling snowstorm.
Not feather-soft and dark like Phil’s.
Broad. red streaked with purple. Powerful. Avian shape, yes — but edged in something sharper. Horns curved back from a familiar head. A scaled tail lashed once, twice.
Grian didn’t even glance at Techno.
"Get. Away. From. My. Little. Brother."
Silence.
Sapnap recovered first, fire sparking in his hands. “Who the hell are you?”
Grian turned his head slowly.
The look in his eyes was not friendly.
“Oh,” he said mildly. “I’m the concerned family member.”
Sam raised his shield. “Techno didn’t tell us he had family.”
Techno, still half-sprawled in the snow, wheezed, “I don’t tell you a lot of things. Hi Grian.”
Punz lunged.
Grian moved.
It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t theatrical.
It was efficient.
He folded one wing in and used the other like a battering ram, knocking Punz off course. His tail whipped, catching Sapnap’s legs. Claws met trident mid-swing and forced it into the snow hard enough to crack the shaft.
Quackity scrambled back to his feet, furious. “You don’t get to just interfere—”
“Interfere?” Grian snapped.
The word cracked.
He stepped forward, wings flaring wider, shielding Techno without even looking.
“Excuse me?” His voice climbed, incredulous and livid all at once. “You’ve been hunting him across biomes.”
“He’s a criminal!”
“He’s a kid!”
The clearing went very, very quiet.
Sapnap blinked. “What?”
Grian’s eyes were blazing now. “My. Little. Brother. Is. Fifteen. Years. Old.”
Sam faltered. “That’s not— Techno’s—”
“Fifteen,” Grian repeated. “And you people tried to execute him. You dragged him into wars. You were horrible to every single child on this server.”
Quackity’s jaw tightened. “He’s dangerous.”
“He’s a dragonet!”
Techno, who had taken that moment to sit up, coughed. “Technically, I’m both.”
Grian didn’t even look at him.
“Alexander Technoblade, son of Nerith and the father we share, whom I shall not reveal to these people.” Techno went still.
Legal name. He was in so much trouble.
“Oh,” he muttered. “Oh no.”
Sapnap frowned. “Alexander?”
Techno looked at the sky. “It’s been an honor, gentlemen. I am screwed.”
Grian rounded on him finally, eyes blazing. “What part of ‘lie low’ did you misunderstand to use?”
“In my defense—”
“You told me you were monitoring the situation.”
“I was!”
“You got manhunted!”
“Minor setback!”
“You are fifteen!”
“You are seventeen!”
Grian inhaled sharply through his nose, visibly choosing not to start screaming again.
Then he grabbed Techno by the back of his shirt and hauled him to his feet.
“We’re leaving.”
“But-” "Nope."
Quackity stepped forward. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Grian turned slowly.
Something in his posture shifted.
Not Watcher, though his eyes were blazing, and if you looked closely, you could see their kind's symbol in the place of his pupils, along witht he four pointed star that marked him as Head's blood. Not fully cosmic.
Just an older brother very done playing nice.
“Try,” he invited, danger in his eyes. "You've already violated multiple COA protocols. Hell, i'm sure Hypixel is gonna have fun with you with what we already told him. Not to mention my admin, Xisuma. They're gonna have a field day with ya."
For a second, no one moved.
And then—
A distant shape in the sky. Crows screeched and cawed.
Dark wings. Familiar.
Philza.
Techno clocked it instantly. “We should go. Like. Now."
Grian followed his gaze, swore under his breath, and snapped his wings fully open. "Techno, is that guy chill?"
"I do not want to deal with the old man. He's chill. At least he was chill with me so far. But like. Yeah.”
"We're leaving."
“House first,” Techno said quickly. “I am not leaving my stuff.”
“You are unbelievable, little brother.”
“Priorities, big brother.”
They launched.
Snow blasted outward as they took off in tandem — Grian surging upward in a powerful beat, Techno’s glamour finally flickering and shattering like glass.
Horns appeared. Scales spread. Wings tore free in a rush of red and purple. Spiked tail lashed.
Below them, four very armed adults stared upward.
“Is he—” Sapnap started.
“A dragon hybrid?!” Quackity shouted.
They dodged Phil- headed southwest as he entered from the north. Close enough to hear him though-
“Techno?!” Phil called.
“Uh.....Bad time!” Techno yelled back.
They hit the tundra base fast. In. Sweep. Shoved everything important into Techno’s ender chest. Out again.
By the time the others reached the house—
They were gone.
Two red-and-purple streaks against the clouds.
Grian’s voice carried faintly on the wind as he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. “If any of you even think about contacting him again, I will be back, and I won't have mercy next time!”
Techno, shielded under one wing as they broke atmosphere and blipped out of the server, sighed.
“…He’s not kidding.”
_____
>:)
