Chapter Text
The life of a Piglin shote living among a Bastion is a simple thing. The hours spent in the low red and oranges of the Nether filled with sleeping, eating, and playing. Each important in their own right, but playing arguably was the most vital. And while sleeping and eating provided growth and strength, both undeniably necessary for what would be to come, playing was the precursor to fighting. For battle and bloodshed and all of the glory it entailed. Playing was a way to honor their God and in some cases led certain souls to meeting said deity. But instead of being met with grief, the loss of those lives were attributed to the reality of living in a cruel unforgiving world. And thus, Piglins had to learn to be just as harsh, just as unyielding as the dimension they were born into.
This reality had not yet been introduced to the pair of Piglin twins currently playing in their den. They were too young to go outside, only recently weaned from their Tsa who was out foraging for herself and her piglets. But they were more than content to hide in the den that was their world. The outside was big and scary and full of strange sights and smells that were just too harsh. The den was big enough to be full of entertainment, especially since they had entered the world with a twin. And that added to the entertainment value; a built in playmate.
At the current moment, the bigger one was being accosted by the smaller, the larger tossing his head as his smaller brother bit and tugged on his ear playfully, earning a happy squeal from the shote, “No, no Soot! Not that!!”
But Soot wasn’t interested in his twin’s pleas for mercy, his tail wagging happily as he finally got the upper hoof on his bigger brother and he only clamped down harder, being sure he didn’t actually hurt the other. Play was great until someone started bleeding. Then there was scolding and everything came to a halt and Soot was having too much fun to stop. Even as the other finally wrenched his head hard enough to get his ear out of Soot’s mouth before twisting expertly pinning the smaller to the ground and smirking, “Ha! Gotcha!”
“No fair, Blade,” Soot complained, pushing his brother off of him and shaking himself off, “You cheated!”
“How?!” Blade complained, “There’s no rules in fighting!”
Soot had several complaints about the lack of rules in fighting, especially when he always seemed to be on the losing side of said conflict. He just wasn’t as strong as his brother and that meant he found himself pinned to the ground, unable to move every time. And as much as he loved playing, especially wrestling his twin, no game remains fun when you’re always on the losing side.
But before Soot could begin listing his complaints or his evidence for his twin cheating, a dark shape filled the low light of the den as an unfamiliar smell flooded the nest. Instantly, both piglets were on edge, manes fluffed up in a threat display as they pressed themselves up against the wall of the cave. A display that would do no good against a male of this size. Both Blade and Soot knew that there would be no winning against a brute that large; if he wanted them dead, all he had to do was hit them hard enough and they would be off to meet their God.
Apparently murder wasn’t on the menu as the massive Piglin looked over the two with something approaching amazement that could almost be reverence as he breathed, “So it’s true.”
Blade was not sure what was happening, nor did he have any clue why this random male had just invaded their den, but something deep within him screamed danger. They were not safe and needed to rectify that immediately. If not sooner.
Safety came in the form of Ire, who managed to push herself between the stranger and her twins, the female’s curly pink mane standing on end, spitting, “Glaive. What are you doing here? You have no business in my den.”
“On the contrary,” the brute spoke, his voice smooth as velvet, “Seeing as how I was a part of making… this happen. When were you going to tell me there were two of them?”
“I wasn’t. The runt won’t make it as it is. It’s only a matter of time before it dies in some accident. There is nothing of interest for you here.”
As Ire made her expectation of Soot painfully obvious, the runt in question pressed himself against Blade, as if the larger could protect him from any oncoming threat, be it physical or verbal. But it seemed the current onslaught against him was over as Glaive didn’t seem put off by any of this, the larger shrugging and looking around Ire’s puffed up figure to glance at the twins.
“As long as there remains two of them, there is a great interest to be had. Look at them. The first Piglin twins born to this Bastion in generations. At least a pair where both survive? This could truly be something great. Magnus would kill to-”
“ NO .” Ire bared her admittedly small tusks at the boar in the den, her tail lashing behind her, “You will do no such thing. The High General will know nothing of my boys because there is nothing to know. You will not breathe a word of them to him. You may have taken everything from me but you will not destroy what little life they will be able to grasp.”
“You cannot command me, Sow. You are but a female who needs to be reminded of her place,” Glaive growled his voice low. Dangerous. Blade was pretty sure there was about to be a fight in the den and if that were the case, he needed a way to get Soot and himself out.
Thankfully, no fight broke out as Ire was quick to back down, “You’re right. I can’t force you to do anything. But I can beg. If you have one good modicum in that withered thing you call a soul, you won’t tell Magnus anything. Besides, imagine you get the High General’s hopes up and what you hope for fails to pass? Any and all trust the High General would have for you, any of the accolades granted to you would be lost forever. Or, you bide your time, wait, and should the impossible happen, and it won’t, you’ll still forever be remembered as the boar that sired the Blood God.”
Blade and Soot were listening to this conversation, incredibly lost as to what was going on. Whatever it was, it had to have been important if their Tsa was spending this much time bargaining for them. She rarely if ever spent any time with them, acting more like her progeny were nothing more than parasites and she was the unwilling host. And even then all of her efforts were spent on Blade, as few as there were. So the fact she wasn’t giving either of them up to this random Brute had to be significant.
Glaive mulled her words over for several heart stopping moments before he closed his eyes, taking a long, deep breath, “Very well. Your reasoning is sound. Most impressive… for a female. I won’t speak of them to the High General…Yet. But be assured that we will be keeping a close watch on them. A very close watch. We will be in touch.”
And with that, the boar left, leaving two trembling shotes and their Tsa, who was shaking for reasons she would never admit to anyone, let alone her boys.
Once he was gone, Ire instantly turned on her piglets, looking them over and patting them down, asking a thousand questions and letting them answer none of them. “What happened? How long was he here for? Did he touch either of you?”
The onslaught would have gone on probably forever had Blade not found his words, flicking his ear as his Tsa ran her hooves over it. “We were playing, and he just appeared. Didn’t talk to us, just came in and looked at us.”
Soot nodded and added on, “He wasn’t here for long. Who was that? Why was he interested in us?”
“Someone you should never be alone with. Ever,” Ire growled, giving Soot a quick look over to make sure he wasn’t bleeding before she pulled both of her boys to sit in front of her. “This is important for you two so listen and do not forget this lesson.”
Blade and Soot allowed themselves to be seated, the two staring up at their mother with wide eyes, ready to take in whatever wisdom she was about to impart on them. Ire didn’t speak immediately, allowing the tension to build so that her shotes would pay attention and actually heed her words.
“That boar? He is a bad person. Someone who takes what he wants heedless of if he hurts anyone to get it. And he will do anything to get what he wants. Anything, understand me? He will lie, cheat, steal, hurt, or kill for it. I do not want you two to be alone with him. Ever. Even if that means you have to run to Mire’s den, understand? I will show you the way and how to hide, but you cannot, cannot , allow him near you without a grown Piglin.”
The two shotes nodded, though neither of them truly understood. How could they? They had not yet been exposed to the horrors of their world. But it wouldn’t take them long to begin to comprehend those words. Not in the Nether and not in their Bastion.
“But why is he interested in us, Tsa?” Blade asked, trying not to feel Ire’s iron grip around his hoof. He was beginning to lose feeling in that arm and had to wiggle the keratin digits to ensure he could still feel everything. As he asked, he gently pulled at his arm, trying to dislodge his mother’s grip.
Ire only gripped her sons harder, earning a squeak of pain from Soot who was an easy bruiser before she growled, “He is interested because you are twins. Twins are uncommon in the Nether as it is. Twin pairs where both survive is almost unheard of. To have a pair survive is said to be a blessing from the Blood God himself. Warriors born with someone already there to watch the other’s back. A brother in blood, battle, and glory.”
Blade could only nod, taking every word in, absorbing them. A twin was someone who could help protect, but also needed protection. Soot would have his back and Blade would have his. Starting now. As long as Blade could do so, he would shield his smaller, weaker brother from whatever horrors lay beyond the entrance to their den.
“But who is he?” Soot risked asking, breaking Blade from his thoughts and at the question, Ire growled. A low, vitriol-laced sound that sent shivers up and down Blade’s spine. Whomever he was, he had to be bad if their Tsa was reacting this way.
Sure enough, Ire took a long, deep breath before she growled, “That was your sire.”
“What’s a sire,” Blade asked before he could stop himself.
At this point Ire looked like she wanted to find a hole and bury herself in it, but she managed to keep her composure long enough to spit, “It takes two to produce shotes for the Bastion. The female is the sow, the Tsa of the pair. The other one is the sire. He’s the other half of your parentage. But that does not make him a good person. If anything that makes him more dangerous. That makes him invested in you, and an invested Glaive is a dangerous one. Do you understand?”
Both Soot and Blade nodded, shooting fearful glances at each other. This was a lot and had been an eventful day for the two who really just wanted to take a nap at this point. Thankfully, this sated Ire who nodded, releasing her boys’ wrists, “Good. Good… Ok, I have a little bit of food but I need to go back out. You two stay safe and remember what I said. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
And with that, Ire was gone again, leaving the shotes alone in the den. As she left, Soot reached up to rub at his wrist, “That was scary…”
Blade nodded his agreement, the two moving in a silent agreement to the sleeping corner. A place in the den filled with hides and tucked away from the entrance to keep an optimal temperature. It took a few minutes to get settled, Blade nesting down first with Soot following soon after so they were sleeping in a comfortable pile, using each other for a pillow.
Once they were in their usual sleeping arrangement, Soot risked breaking the tentative silence, “Blade?”
“Yeah?”
“What do you think that boar wanted with us?”
Blade thought it over, trying to come up with different scenarios to fill in the gaps within Ire’s story. But in the end, he came up with nothing and could only shrug, “I… I don’t know. But if Tsa is right, it can’t have been anything good.”
Soot couldn’t disagree with that, closing his eyes to settle down as he worked on getting his heart to stop racing. That had been scary. Too scary and Soot had been sure his heart was about to pop. But right as he felt like he could relax to the point of sleeping, Blade broke the silence with, “You know I’ll keep you safe. Right? From anything and everything.”
Soot thought that was a rather silly statement, as he already knew that fact. But maybe Blade just needed a reminder that Soot hadn’t forgotten. And it was all the runt of the pair could do to sigh, “I know, Blade. I always know that. Just like I’ll keep you safe too.”
Both knew that when it came to fighting, Soot would never be nearly as capable of his twin. But that didn’t stop the younger from meaning every word he spoke with every fiber of his being. His protection just would have to look different from Blade’s.
They fell asleep that way, curled up with each other in a ball of warmth and security. Protecting each other even in the throes of sleep.
One day, their bond would be tested. One day they would have to look at each other and see the two different paths they walked on. The path of a god that bathed in blood. The other, doomed to be a blood sacrifice for the sole purpose of strengthening that god.
But that would be a trial for another day. For now, they were just a pair of Piglin twins, sleeping in the comfort of the other’s embrace with the promise of mutual protection keeping them secure. With no inkling of what trials and tribulations would find them in the waking world beyond the security of their den. Nor of the distance their destinies would take them.