Chapter Text
It was slightly concerning how nervous Ranboo looked as he led Phil and Niki around the snowy settlement they called Snowchester. Niki was watching his face carefully, trying to decide on why the teen’s voice was shaking as he led them around the cobblestone paths. He had previously insisted that there was not a government here, but with every nervous glance towards the windows and the pole that looked suspiciously like a flag pole, that was becoming less and less believable.
Phil was trailing a couple steps behind the other two, looking at the buildings and murmuring to one of the several crows around him, perched on his shoulders and even one resting on the wide brim of his hat.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another one flying towards him, something small and shiny clutched in its talons. He extended a hand to allow it to drop whatever it had found. There was a small clatter as a few small pieces of gold fell into his palm, the crow perching on his wrist.
He broke his calm, calculated expression to smile. “Thanks, mate.”
The bird chirped and cocked its head at the recognition, but it didn’t fly off just yet. “You got something to say?” He asked quietly, coming to a stop as Ranboo and Niki paused in front of him, Niki asking some question that had Ranboo’s hands shaking.
The crow on his arm perked up, squawking once before taking off with a single, powerful beat that made Phil slightly jealous. Still, a grin spread across his face. Clever fucker, that one.
He looked up at the others, not even bothering to hide his smile even when Niki looked mildly confused.
“Where’s Tubbo?” His question was directed at Ranboo, and when the kid’s face dropped a little, understanding dawned on Niki’s face.
“Yeah, why isn’t he at the tour of his own country?” She asked, smiling up at Ranboo, and even though she had to look up to do so, she still somehow managed to be intimidating.
“I-It’s not a country.” Ranboo managed, one hand tugging at the sleeve of his jacket. “And I, uhh, I don’t know where Tubbo is. There are a couple places...oh!” His face brightened out of nowhere, leaving Phil incredibly curious as to what he realized that made him so happy. “He’s probably with Michael!” Ranboo continued. “That’s a good place, yeah, let’s go see Michael.”
Ranboo turned on his heel and set off in the opposite direction, moving briskly past Phil. Niki watched him go before making eye contact with Phil, cocking her brow in a silent question of who?
Phil shrugged, jostling the crow on his shoulder and wincing as it dug in its talons to stay on. “Ranboo!” He called out, taking a few steps to catch up with their guide. He jumped slightly, but paused, watching Phil carefully. “Slow down, mate. Who’s Michael?”
“Oh, yeah. Michael’s my son.”
Niki let out a slightly stunned what? as several crows squawked in surprise. Phil blinked a couple times, trying to process that.
“Your fucking what? Ranboo, that explains nothing. When did you acquire a kid?” A couple of the birds around him were babbling, incessantly, and Phil wished more than anything that he could just shut them up. He settled for waving his hands, making a few of them leave his person and hover in the sky above him.
Ranboo smiled awkwardly. “You’re right, sorry. Tubbo and I found him wandering the nether alone and decided to give him a home. He’s-” And he paused, his smile finally reaching his eyes. “He’s probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Phil was still slightly confused, but he grinned at the pure happiness Ranboo seemed to emanate when talking about this kid. “Let’s go see him, then. I’d like to see Tubbo as well.” Ranboo nodded, starting to walk down the path again. Niki stepped up to Phil’s side, her face a mixture of surprise and confusion.
“Well that was unexpected.” She muttered, and Phil scoffed.
“Yeah, it was. It seems like a good thing, though. He has something solid to fight for now.” The realization dawned on him as he said it. That could be useful. If Ranboo had something to protect, maybe it would push him to take action, to be more aggressive than passive in his choices and words. Then the Syndicate would be even more powerful, more intimidating than they already were-
Ranboo stopped abruptly, staring wide-eyed at a little house on the edge of town, the door hanging open, slightly crooked on its hinges. The air seemed to still, the crows falling into a rare silence that sent a chill down Phil’s spine.
“What’s wrong, Ranboo?” Niki piped up, eyeing the house warily. Her tone was light, but she was resting her hand on the hilt of her sword regardless.
“Something’s- somethings wrong. He- Tubbo wouldn’t…” He paused, hands shaking slightly, before running up the stairs and into the house.
“What is this kid on. ” Phil muttered, ignoring the look Niki shot him as he grabbed his sword and followed the teen into the house. Ranboo hadn’t made it very far, stopping in the center of the room and staring at an open trapdoor in the ceiling. He was silent, no reaction to Phil and Niki entering the room. It was haunting, almost.
“...Ranboo?” Phil ventured, adjusting the grip on his sword as Niki inspected the door carefully.
“I think someone broke this open, Phil. The hinges are warped.” She looked over at Ranboo cautiously. “I’m gonna go look around outside.”
That got through to Ranboo. His eyes widened at Niki’s words. “No…” He breathed, in disbelief, looking down at his hands before looking back at the trapdoor. “ Michael.” He lurched towards the ladder, giving Phil only a few seconds to grab his arm and stop him from doing something stupid. Ranboo immediately tried to tug away, panic flooding his eyes.
“What- Phil, let go, please, Michael is-”
“I know.” Phil cut in, not relenting his grip on the teen’s wrist. “But you gotta slow down, we don’t know what’s up there. We need to do this carefully, because if we get hurt or something, we’re of no use to Michael.” He paused, gauging Ranboo’s reaction. He was still trying to pull away, but there was a flash of understanding in his eyes.
“What do we do?” He whispered.
“I’ll send a crow up to look, okay? Whoever this is could be very dangerous if they managed to sneak in while we were all walking around.” Phil waved his other hand, startling the crow on his hat and directing it up the ladder, releasing Ranboo’s arm at the same time.
It only took a moment until Phil heard the crow caw from upstairs, and while it sounded slightly annoyed, the message was clear. Phil nodded as a confirmation to Ranboo. “There’s no one up there.”
Ranboo scrambled away almost before Phil was done speaking, scaling the ladder like he had done it dozens of times before. Niki walked back into the building, shaking her head at Phil’s questioning look.
“No one outside. No footprints, nothing leading up to the porch other than us. Something’s definitely up.” She glanced up at the ceiling as Ranboo’s footprints halted suddenly.
“How much do we want to help with this?” Phil muttered, head tilting forward slightly as the crow returned to the brim of his hat.
Niki leveled her eyes at Phil, the intensity of her gaze definitely unsettling. “This feels very wrong, Phil. Let’s help Ranboo as much as we can.”
Phil nodded his agreement, looking up as well when Ranboo’s footsteps picked up again. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.” He sighed, sheathing his sword and crossing the room to scale the ladder after Ranboo.
Ranboo was in the room seconds after Phil gave him the all-clear, not even caring when the ladder bit splinters into his hands. His son, one of the best things that had ever happened to him, was almost definitely in danger. The room confirmed that as he stepped off the ladder, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight before him.
He couldn’t take in the whole room at once, instead letting the details stack one on top of another until the image was whole.
There were muddy boot prints tracking into the room, occasional divots in the floorboards like the tip of a very sharp sword had rested there. The chair in the corner was knocked over, the sheets on the bed crumpled under similar boot prints.
The window above Michael’s bed was wide open.
That alone was enough to send Ranboo into a fear induced frenzy. But as he glanced to the walls, his eyes widened even more. The paintings that hung there, the family portraits that Michael treasured, were sliced through. Big, deliberate lines slashed through the canvas and severed their smiling faces, causing the paint-heavy fabric to droop inwards and fold over itself.
It was a message. Clear as crystal, and in the trashed room, it was pretty much all Ranboo could focus on. His son was gone, this wasn’t just a case of him having wandered out of the house. Someone had come here with the intent of destruction.
His breath caught in his throat, and he couldn’t tear his eyes from the rendition of his own face, slashed through entirely. Who would do this, who would cause this much harm to him and Tubbo and a child-
Tubbo. Where was- where was Tubbo. He glanced around the room again, desperate, and his eyes caught on something he hadn’t noticed before.
A boot, hopefully attached to a body, a thought that was confirmed when he heard a faint, pained groan coming from the same general area. He rocked onto his toes to peek over the clutter to see a familiar mass of brown hair. His heart jolted with worry, jumping in his chest. There he was.
Ranboo half-ran, half-stumbled over, tripping over his own feet in his haste to kneel by his friend’s side.
“Tubbo! Oh, geez, are- are you awake?” Shoot, he was so lost in this situation. He didn’t know what to do here, how to help with the sickening bruise that was peeking out from Tubbo’s hair.
There were heavy footsteps on the floor behind him, and then a hushed “oh, fuck.” Ranboo looked toward the noise to see Phil, taking in the room with careful eyes.
“Phil, can you- he’s hurt, it’s Tubbo, can you help?” Ranboo could barely keep his thoughts straight. This was too much, he was losing too much-
Phil hesitated, narrowing his eyes at the open window before he spoke. “I...could. I should look around, though, and Niki’s better with this stuff anyways. She’s-”
“Right here.” She cut in, voice firm as she stepped off the ladder. She was a surprisingly intimidating presence, with her dark trench coat and eyes that felt like she could see right through you. So when she knelt by Tubbo and reached out, Ranboo had to fight against every muscle in his body not to push it away.
She noticed, face softening slightly. “I’m not going to hurt him, Ranboo. You can trust me.”
His mind caught on that word, even as he nodded and rocked back on his heels. Trust. Something he didn’t give easily, something he was extremely wary of. He didn’t really have much choice here, though.
He watched as Niki pressed steady fingers to Tubbo’s sides, his chest, focusing a lot on his bruised temple. “Good.” She sighed, sitting up to look at Ranboo. “He’s fine. No broken bones, probably just a mild concussion. I can try to get him awake, it should only take a few minutes. It looks…” And she paused, glancing over at Phil and watching him investigate the open window above Michael’s bed. She looked back at Ranboo, face set in calm determination. “It looks like someone was just aiming to incapacitate him.”
Those words settled like a stone in Ranboo’s stomach, heavy and terrifying. “I don’t like this.” He glanced back at the torn paintings, his thoughts bordering on a panicked spiral again.
“Well, you’re not gonna like this either, pal.” Phil piped up, turning to face him as well. Ranboo didn’t particularly like this much eye contact, or the serious air that had settled over the room.
“What is it?” He managed, wishing more than anything that his voice wasn’t shaking this much.
“It looks like that someone pearled away, judging by the particles that are still here.” Yeah, that definitely made it worse. “There’s also this.” Phil continued, holding out a small, slightly crumpled piece of white paper, Ranboo’s name scribbled on top in heavy black ink. “It was tucked into the pillowcase.”
Ranboo took it with shaking hands, dread flooding his veins as he looked down at it. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he would rather do anything than open this letter.
But Niki and Phil were watching him expectantly, and it almost definitely held clues to what had happened. So he unfolded it.
In pretty much the same second, an alarm pierced through the air, causing both Niki and Phil to flinch and one of them cursed under their breath.
Ranboo didn’t budge. He couldn’t tear his eyes from the paper, sound fading out around him. He barely noticed someone placing a hand on his shoulder, and he knew that they were speaking but he didn’t know what they were saying because all he could focus on was the three simple marks in the upper corner of the paper.
:)