The Drip

“So…How exactly do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Teleport everywhere and stuff, ya know?” Tubbo continued to mine at the coal beside him, pausing to turn to look Ranboo in the eyes as he spoke. “Vwoop around and stuff?”

Ranboo shrugged and reached into his pocket. He pulled out an ender pearl and held it up so Tubbo could see. “I use this, it comes back to me after a few seconds. Always have had it, I guess. I can go as far as I can throw.”

“Ah, so it's just an eye of ender, eh? Thought it would have been a bit cooler than that. Give it here.” He put away his pick and motioned for Ranboo to pass it over. “I want to get a better look.”

“Sure!” Ranboo absent-mindedly tossed it into Tubbo’s hands, causing him to find himself suddenly standing on top of Tubbo’s hands.

“Oh. Well hello there.” He laughed and Ranboo awkwardly hopped down. If Tubbo wasn’t so strong, he would have surely fallen over with his friends' sudden appearance.

“Well, that didn’t work. Heh.” Ranboo got back out his pickaxe and began mining some iron once again. “I guess no one can really hold it but me then.”

“Yeah, seems that way.” Tubbo shrugged and went back to looking for some ores. Wilbur said they needed some more for the Pub…Pube… whatever thing they were building, and so they were going to fetch some.

“So how about you? How does your stuff work?” Ranboo continued the conversation with his back to Tubbo, mining up a few cobbles to make a furnace.

“Oh, me? Well, you see Ranboo, I’ve got this neat ol’ box that I’ve got on me all the time. I think you’ve seen me use it before, yeah, the purple one? Right now, you see, it’s in these little itty bitty pieces, floating around me, and whenever I want to use it- ”

Drip.

The sound caught his attention, causing his words to trail off.

“Tubbo?”

“Ranboo, did you hear that?”

“Uh…no? C’mon, help me look down this way, I think I saw some gold over here. ”

Drip.

“Wait, there! I heard it again! What is that?”

“C’mon Tubbo, now’s not the time. We’ve got to get this stuff and bring it back to Wilbur so he can-”

“Ranboo, where did we find this cave again? Like where are we, exactly?” Tubbo pulled out a torch and looked around more intensely, trying to find the source.

“Uh, let me see.” He flicked his hand upwards in a certain way, and a small menu appeared with tons of numbers and messages on it. “Yeah, so I found this cave near around the back of Wilbur’s house, and then we dug down a bit and found this ravine, right? Oh, the numbers say we’re still right near spawn. If I’m right, we're actually pretty close to my house! Huh, neat.” Ranboo swiped the menu back away and continued towards the end of the cave.

“Under your house, huh?” Tubbo spotted some peculiar spots of gravel on the ceiling above, which were almost…shining? Glistening?

Drip.

Hiss.

A drop landed first on the floor beside him and then another onto his torch, nearly putting out the flame. Oh, finally some answers. Just some loose gravel leaking, right? He’d have to warn Ranboo on the way back to avoid it.

Wait.

This was near Ranboo’s house, right? Under the giant lake? Where Niki lived?

The was a sound above him as the leaking increased, forcing him to step back. Just as he made out what the sound was, a terrifying realization hit him.

Didn’t Niki say she was doing renovations on the lake?

Tubbo’s eyes widened with fear as he heard a final shovel sound above him, and the gravel above him finally freed itself. He could barely make out the soft “Whoops” above him as he began to run away from the wave of water, frantically yelling.

“Ranboo! Ranboo! Ranboo!”

His friend turned away from the ore he was inspecting and froze in terror as the wave of death approached. He had never seen Ranboo so afraid as he was now. Tubbo leaped up, tackling him, and in an instant pulled his box shut around them both.

There was a loud slam as it shut, due to the fast nature in which it had to form. Tubbo held his breath for a moment, waiting to hear Ranboo shout out in pain, but no such sound came. He opened his eyes, arms still wrapped tightly around him, and saw the sheer luck they had had. He had closed it just fast enough not to get Ranboo wet at all. The only things wet were the corners of Tubbo’s eyes, which he quickly wiped away. Couldn’t let himself cry, not on Ranboo, of course.

“Holy shit.” Tubbo laughed, relieved. “You alright?”

“Y-yeah. I’ll be fine. Never been that close to…I’m lucky that I didn’t get any water on me. Thanks.”

Tubbo pulled back and sat on the other side of the box, leaning against the wall. “No problem.” He put a hand on the box and paused for a moment, closing his eyes. “Yep, I can feel it. No one’s here, she must’ve left already.” He opened his eyes and shook his head at Ranboo. “We’re all alone.”

“Huh, she?”

“Niki. I think she must’ve caused the cave-in. You said we were below the lake, right?”

“Oh, right. That’s not good.” He sighed and adjusted himself into a more relaxed position. “They’ll probably come looking for us after a while. They need the supplies and we were only supposed to be gone for, like, twenty minutes.” There was a pause as Ranboo thought.

“Tubbo?”

“Yeah?”

“How much air do you think we’ve got in here?”

“I don’t…Let’s try not to think about that.”

“Alright. Well, what should we talk about then?”

Tubbo pondered for a moment as he felt a fish brush up against the box. Every little vibration in the area around him, he could feel. The shucker box was part of him, like a snail’s shell, and it was something he never really got used to. He understood, historically, it was so predators couldn’t get near without him knowing, but now, it was just a bit…distracting.

“You know, this is technically where I sleep, right?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. When the box is shut up, that’s kinda what I always assumed you were doing.” He patted the surface of the floor below him. “How do you sleep on this? It’s so hard!”

Tubbo shrugged.“It bends a bit, I guess? It’s not as hard as it looks. Anyway’s, I’ve just always slept here, ya know? It’s just always has been this way.” Ranboo nodded. Instinct, something many of them and their friends had used to guide them with their abilities. Like a built-in manual where you just follow what feels right.

“Yeah, I understand. Just like me and teleporting, I guess.”

There was silence for a moment as Tubbo checked again. He had to try a bit if he wanted to feel farther, but everything close he could feel without trying.

“Do you feel it too?”

“What?”

“The fish, they’re hitting the box a bit. You feel that?”

“No, not really. But I do hear the water. Ugh, water. It’s so cold and it burns you. I don’t understand how Niki lives in it.” Tubbo laughed and shifted his seat to beside Ranboo, and leaned into him a bit.

“You remember back when we met?”

“Yeah, feels like yesterday, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Why don’t you tell me about it, to pass the time?”

“Sure, I guess. We’ve got nothing better to do.”

It was nearly a year ago. Maybe more, maybe less. The time didn’t really matter. They didn’t count days where they lived anyways.

Ranboo lived alone, on a small, end island, sleeping inside a floating ship, eating chorus fruit, and being careful not to anger the shuckers who lived nearby. Sometimes, he’d pick up a block or two and try to imitate his Ender brothers. But they never seemed to accept him, never seemed to talk to him, to understand him. For he wasn’t truly an Enderman, now was he? The tail, the horns, the uselessly broken wings?

He was an Enderian, one of the rarest creatures in this world. A child, half enderman, half ender dragon. Accepted by neither of their kin, left to wander, alone, throughout the end.

But one day, he nearly tripped over a brand new shucker box just outside his home. New ones weren’t too unusual, but he expected to feel the familiar sensation of floating away by now. However, no floating came, and he instinctively muttered “Sorry” to himself as he got up.

“You better be.” The box responded.

What? They never talked to him before.

“Uh, hello?”

“Wait, is there actually someone out there?” A face peeked out from inside and looked up at him. “There is! Hello! It’s good to finally see someone around here!”

“Oh, it’s good to see you too! I thought I was the only one that could talk!”

“That’s what I thought too! What’s your name?” Ranboo crouched down and held out a hand.

“Tubbo! And your’s?” Tubbo took his hand.

“I’m Ranboo!”

“And then you tried to rob me of all my chorus fruit.”

“If it wasn’t for the Endermen attacking me every time I left the box, then I wouldn’t have needed to rob anyone! You shoulda told them!”

“You know it doesn’t work that way yourself Tubbo!” He laughed. “Now, how many Shulker’s did you talk to?”

Tubbo turned away and crossed his arms.“That doesn’t matter.” Ranboo giggled again, as he yawned aloud. “I’m getting a bit sleepy.”

Ranboo nodded and then also yawned.“Yeah, me too.” They didn’t know it, but the lack of air was the cause for their drowsiness, and as such, they didn’t think not to fall asleep.

They leaned together as they slowly began to nod off, Ranboo wrapping an arm around him as Tubbo hummed a little tune. It was one Tommy had taught him after they met. Philza had met them both on his way out of the End, and brought the duo out with him. He had made some sort of comment about “Keeping it sealed away” and “no turning back” before destroying the portal, and then they were here. Their new home, the overworld. It was such a big change, but they didn’t regret a thing.

As he was drifting off, he heard a familiar voice singing the words to the funny little tune.

“She’s in your bed…”

Wait, that wasn’t right. Did Ranboo even know the song? He opened his eyes to check. No, that wasn’t Ranboo, Ranboo was fast asleep. Then who…Wilbur!?

The vibrations didn’t lie. Wilbur was moving through blocks just below them both, singing his song to himself.

“Ranboo! Ranboo, wake up! It’s Wilbur, he’s below us!” He shook Ranboo awake, and they both began to slap the ground and yell at the ghost below.

“Please! Help us! Will!”

“Uh, hello?” There was suddenly a leather helmet floating on the floor of the box. “Oh, Tubbo! Ranboo! There you are! I was just looking for you, none of us knew where you went!”

“We got trapped because of the water Will! Remember, Ranboo can’t swim!”

“Oh, well that’s quite the pickle we have.” The helmet seemed to be scratching its invisible chin. “That’s it! I’ll get Niki and she can carry the box to the surface, alright?”

They all quickly agreed and the ghost sped off. The minutes felt like hours before Tubbo felt a small group of fish and one larger swimming being approaching.

“Tubbo? Ranboo? Where are you?” They called out to her, and eventually, she spotted the box, sitting in the corner of the ravine, and they felt themselves being unsteadily rocked around. They tumbled around in the box as the mermaid struggled to lift the heavy container to the surface. As they got closer and closer, they both could hear the clamor of voices nearby. Everyone was gathered by the shore, waiting.

Suddenly, the box was lifted much smoother and steadily. Two other people were holding onto them now, they were almost at the surface. And then, they felt a large slam as the box was placed down, on its side, and they fell on top of one another.

Tubbo, with the movement stopped, immediately disassembled the box, and there they were, laying on the grass. They gasped in breaths of fresh air before laughing at the fact that they were piled on top of each other. The group around them each began to ask many questions, concerned that either of them was hurt. After some checking, the adults were satisfied as to them being fine.

Tommy stood forwards suddenly, poking Ranboo. “Yes, Tommy?”

“Did you at least get the iron?”

“Uh…I think it’s still in the furnace, I didn’t really have time to grab it.”

Tommy groaned and rubbed his face. “You’re useless, Ranboo.”