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Chapter Text

   Tubbo was running. Running for his life.

   He was too far away from home, without any good weapons or armor, and the worst, he was injuried. One of the skeleton's arrows had finally got him, it was a lucky night for the zombies who could feel the smell of his blood.

   He looked at his wrist. A heart-shaped mark, it was fading slowly. No, he didn't wanted to die yet. Please.

   Tubbo looked around, despaired, searching for anything that could save his life right now. His tired eyes found a cave not so far away. It seemed big enough for him to hide, now he just needed something to distract the monsters behind him. The ram had an idea, but it could be even more dangerous if he failed.

   He armed his crossbow, with the only firework he had and stopped running, turning around in a fast movement, aiming at the numerous mobs and...

   ...FIRE!

   The firework was gone, blue and red sparkles lightened the dark area shortly, it didn't killed all of the mobs, but it sure gave some time for Tubbo to hide behind some rocks, before making his way to the cave.

   Just as he entered, he pulled a lighter from his pocket and took some of the big branches laying around the floor. It didn't matter it wouldn't last long, he just needed some fire.

   Now that he had some light, he started walking even more deep into the cave, he couldn't risk the mobs coming back. His head felt dizzy, and he already tripped twice, until he actually fell the third time. And he didn't get up.

   He placed the torch in front of him, throwing some more branches to keep the fire up. He checked on his still bleeding arm, the least he could do was to rip a piece of his sleeve and make an improvised dressing.

   Then he pulled out his walkie talkie. It wasn't in a good state either, but it was his only hope to be saved.

    "Tommy...? Tommy, are you there?" He whispered weakly. "Please, i need help... I don't want to die here." He cried. No one answered.

   And as if it couldn't get any worse, he started hearing steps. And they were coming closer. Tubbo looked for his crossbow and pointed it to the dark in fear, hoping it could at least threat whatever the hell was there.

   After some seconds, nothing happened. No arrows, no explosions...

   Just a small quiet voice, saying something he didn't understand...

   An Enderman.

   Two heterochromatic eyes shone in the darkness. Staring at him with a bit of curiosity. It couldn't be actually an Enderman, right? Endermen's eyes are usually purple, these were red and green.

   In a way or another, Tubbo closed his eyes firmly, still aiming the useless crossbow at it.

   The creature got closer, still staring at his tired and injuried body, making more unknown sounds, as if they were actually trying to talk with him.

   Tubbo was trembling, his heart pounding hard on his chest, feeling that he would pass out at any moment. He could feel the "Enderman's" presence dangerously close to him, and didn't dare to look at it.

    "What happened to you?" He heard it saying softly. Tubbo let out a small gasp and held the crossbow tighter.

   They stayed in silence. Until the Enderman asked again.

    "I said... What happened to you? Don't you want my help? You're going to die here." Whatever it was, it was trying very hard not to sound dangerous. Tubbo started to put down his weapon, but his eyes still didn't open. "You were attacked, didn't you?"

   He nodded hesitantly.

    "Can you get up? I'll take you to my house and take care of you. Alright?"

   Tubbo took a deep breath, putting down his crossbow completely.

   He let the Enderman touch him and help him to get up, with a bit of difficult. They wrapped one of their arms around his body, guiding him somewhere between the stones and mud.

   Tubbo decided to finally open his eyes and see what's happening, but still looking down on the ground for safety reasons. He couldn't see shit. But, he looked up a bit and found those pretty, shiny eyes again.

   The thing noticed it was being observed and angrily looked back at Tubbo, who quickly looked away.

   As they were walking, a weak light at the end of the hallway started growing brighter. Catching Tubbo's eyes attention.

   They entered it, and Tubbo's expression was of full surprise and admiration.

   A room. This person managed to make an entire room with crafting tables, furnaces and even brewing stands inside a simple cave hole.

    "Sit on that bed, i'll clean your wound." They said, pointing to an old looking bed across the room. Tubbo obeyed, being careful to not spill any blood on the red mattress.

   Now he could see that strange Enderman better. Their body was tall and slim, dressed in a worn black suit. A long thin reptile tail could be seen peeking out of his back, moving in the air lazily. Tubbo also noticed they were wearing a... Crown? On top of their head... He suspected it was a fake one, why would an Enderman walk around a cave with a crown anyways?

    "What's your name?" They asked suddenly, making Tubbo jump a little.

    "Tubbo... Are you really an Enderman?" The creature paused, slamming lightly one of glass bottles on the table. Tubbo experienced immediate regret.

    "My name is Ranboo, thanks for asking." They said, impatient, before taking a deep breath and continuing to put some glass bottles filled with water on the brewing stand. "And yes, i am an Enderman. You aren't human either, are you? I don't think humans have horns like that." Tubbo lifted a hand to touch one of his horns almost involuntarily. Just to make sure nothing was wrong with it.

    "Yeah... I am a ram." He looked at his palm, completely forgotten that it was full of blood. Ranboo looked at him discretely.

    "You should probably wash your hands when i finish."

    "I will... Why did you helped me?"

    "You're not the first person who appears in my cave injuried. I'm already used to it." The brewing made a glub sound. "I don't really mind, though. It's nice to have some kind of company."

    "Don't you have Endermen friends too?"

    "Uh, yeah..." Ranboo hesitated. "But they aren't as social as the other mobs. It's their nature, can't really blame them." They shrugged, stretching one arm to get a pair of gloves on the shelf above.

    "So you're kind of an outcast?"

    "Um, i don't know what it means... But i know that your potion is ready and i'll clean your wound now." Ranboo kneeled down next to him with a bowl full of water and some cotton balls.

    "Outcast is someone who's cast out or rejected by a social group..." Tubbo stretched his arm out. "You're an Enderman who lives all by themselves in a dark cave instead of your natural habitat." Ranboo made a quizzical face while cleaning the blood around the skin with the wet cotton. "Ugh... I think it fits."

    "I've never been rejected from a social group. So i'm not an outcast." The Enderman carefully tried to clean the wound directly, and Tubbo flinched, closing his fist. "What were you doing so late outside? Were you escaping from something else besides the monsters?"

    "N-No... I was just looking for some resources..." The ram hissed. "I just wasn't lucky today and all my things broke midway... OW!"

    "Sorry. It's almost over, don't worry." Tubbo sighed loudly, bumping his head back.

    "Can i ask you something?"

    "Yeah, sure."

    "How should i refer to you?"

    "What do you mean?" Ranboo finally finished cleaning, now beginning bandaging his arm.

    "Like... Should i call you a "he"? Or do you prefer something else?"

    "Uh... As long it's not offensive, i don't really care." They stood up, taking one of the bright pink potions on the table and giving it to Tubbo. "Drink this, it'll make you feel better."

    "Thanks." Tubbo took the potion with caution.

    "No problem." He picked up the bowl and dirty cotton from the ground, turning around to burn it on the furnace.

   Tubbo was still suspicious of Ranboo, but since he helped him so much at this point, he decided to take a very long sip from the potion without fear. Which wasn't a great idea, he had no idea how strong that substance was and started coughing.

    "Hey, hey, be careful! – Ranboo warned, patting his back." This isn't like water, kid.

    "I... am not... A Fucking... Kid!" He said angrily between coughs.

    "Sure." Ranboo rolled his eyes.

    "I'm serious!" The ram stopped coughing and his breath hitched. Besides that, he actually felt better, the pain faded away, but he felt very sleepy.

    "Okay, if you say so. Just go wash your hands." Tubbo got up, going to wash his bloodied palms in the cauldron. "Also... It'll be dawn soon. Do you need to stay here a little longer? You look very tired."

    "Yeah, i think so..." He yawned, brushing his wet fingers on his brown hair. "If it doesn't bother you."

    "No, it doesn't, don't worry." Ranboo assured, lowering the brightness of his lamps. "Just don't lie on your arm and everything will be fine."

    "Okay..." Tubbo went back to bed, taking off his shoes and laying down on the other side of his body, curling into a little ball. He felt Ranboo covering him with the blanket and he could finally relax that night.

Chapter Text

   It was finally day. Zombies and skeletons were running to hide from the sun in caves and under the shadow of close trees, the birds were singing, and a group of butcher soldiers were just coming back to their nation after a failed rescue mission.

    "Did you find anything?" One of them asked, with worry and hope on his mind.

    "We found some broken pieces of weapons and armor at the forest." A man with a big scar across his eye answered, handing him some bits of iron. "But we aren't sure if it's Tubbo's because there were a lot of armed mobs last night..."

    "THEN GO SEARCH THERE! Tubbo has to be somewhere!" The boy screamed.

   "Tommy, chill!" The guy tried to touch his shoulder, but was denied and got his hand pushed away abruptly.

    "No, i won't "chill"! My bes- My brother is missing and will be probably DEAD if we take longer! Either you go search through that fucking forest or i'll fucking do it myself!" He pointed at him then at himself furiously.

    "Tommy, come here. Let's talk." A deep voice echoed behind him and another hand touched his shoulder, pulling the boy to their side. "The rest of you keep searching, we'll see you later."

   The army left, leaving Tommy alone with his older brother.

    "Now what, Wilbur." He crossed his arms, well aware of the lecture that was coming.

    "Tommy, i understand that you're upset... But you can't just say that you're going to explore such a big and dangerous forest by yourself like that! Why do you think Tubbo is missing right now??" Tommy sighed, uncrossing his arms.

    "I'm just worried, Wilbur. You know that Tubbo has only one life left."

    "And so do you! You can't just put yourself in danger like that!" The man watched him bow his head in defeat. "Look, the butcher army will find him. They're good at what they do."

    "But what if they don't? What if when they find him... Tubbo's already dead. Or even worse, he's been kept as a hostage somewhere??"

    "Who would even want Tubbo as a hostage?" Tommy glared at him incredulously. "I mean... That would never happen, Tom." He stroked the boy's blond hair.

    "No, you have a point... But, man, i'm still worried."

    "I'm sure Tubbo is fine, he's more than capable to throw hands at anyone who look at him in the wrong way."

(...)

   When the ram opened his eyes, the first thing he heard was a loud hiss and the sound of metal being thrown. He turned around fast, more than ready to punch someone in the face.

   He thought that Ranboo finally decided to be an actual mob and kill him, but the only thing he saw was that "big and intimidating" Enderman sucking their own finger in pain.

    "Are you okay??" He asked with a still alarmed, yet tired, voice. The Enderman took the finger out of their mouth to answer.

    "Yeah, i just... Cut myself again."

    "Again?" Tubbo made an effort to say on the bed, stretching his body right after. "What are you doing?"

    "I couldn't save your old crossbow, so i'm crafting a new one for you. Did i scared you?" He stoop up from the chair.

    "Of course not. Nothing scares me."

    "Sure..." Ranboo squinted his eyes. "How's your arm?"

    "Feels much better...!" He lifted it strong enough to feel a sudden twinge of pain and put it down immediately. "OH MY GOD... Okay, maybe it still hurt a little."

   Ranboo chuckled. It was such a sweet chuckle that Tubbo didn't knew if he should be angry or flustered. Probably the first one.

    "I'll give you another potion." He walked towards the brewing stand. "Are you hungry? Also, do you even eat meat?"

    "Yes, i do..? Why?"

    "Well... You're a ram..." He looked at Tubbo, who was already staring at them, making it even more awkward.

    "And?"

    "Nevermind, just drink this and i'll bring something for you to eat." He handed him the same pink potion and quickly stepped away to open some chest across the room.

   Tubbo took a sip slowly this time, still wrinkling his face because of it's bittersweet taste. He looked at the table on the side of the bed, apparently the crossbow was almost finished. "Did you really stayed up all night just to craft that?"

    "Yes. As i said, i wanted to give you something to defend yourself outside." He watched Ranboo head towards the with a bow and take something out of it.

    "And aren't you tired?"

    "Of course i am!" They exclaimed, suddenly turning around. Tubbo lowered his eyes to the ground. "Crafting weapons is always very difficult. Especially because i always end up hurting my hands during the process." Ranboo stood in front of him, offering a bowl with bread and cooked beef in it.

    "I saw..." He held the bowl, putting it on his lap. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

    "I thought you said nothing scares you." Ranboo grinned, also handing him a bottle of water.

    "It was only for a second, okay?! I thought you were going to kill me!" Tubbo reached for the bottle with his marked arm, which didn't go unnoticed.

    "What's that on your wrist?" Tubbo's eyes widened, automatically pulling away his arm and hiding the mark.

    "Uh... What?"

    "There's a mark on your arm. Is that another wound?" He got closer.

    "No, it's just a... Tattoo. Nothing much. Don't worry about it."

    "Can i see it?" Ranboo sat by his side and gave him a hand. "Just to make sure. I promise i won't hurt you." Tubbo looked at it, then at him. Those eyes staring at him so close were way more unsettling. They we're similar to a cat's, though.

    "Sure... But it's just a silly tattoo, i don't know why you're so interested." His voice trembled, just as his entire body when it was touched by the Enderman's clawed hands.

   He analyzed it carefully. The mark was pretty simple, with black a outline and coloured with a strong red in the middle. But for some reason, there was some similar shaped scars under it, they were hard to see, as if they disappeared with time.

    "I'm just curious." Ranboo brushed the sensitive skin with his fingers, making Tubbo flinch. "It's an interesting tattoo. I'm sure it has a special meaning to you..."

    "Y-Yeah, maybe." Tubbo pulled away from them almost instantly, and Ranboo let him go easily. "Don't you have to finish the crossbow?"

    "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about it." He jumped out of the bed. "Good thing i just need to tie this here and..." They started messing with the strings again, and when finished, he confidently lifted the new weapon. "Done! You can try it out before you go!" He smiled, showing off his pointy fangs.

    "Alright, i will." Tubbo said, eating a bit of the beef. Ranboo sat down on the chair in front of him, and he realized that they were still wearing that crown. "Where did you got this crown?"

    "Oh, this?" They took off the golden adornment and arranged their split up hair. "I found it inside of a castle's ruins." Ranboo caressed the crown's colorful jewelry. "I'm still not sure who the owner is, but i'm pretty sure they were someone important. But hated by a lot of people, for some reason."

    "How do you know that?"

    "Well, i also found a few books inside some chests." He left the crown on the table, but still playing his fingers on it. "But some pages were either ripped or scribbled, so i couldn't read everything. A lot of the scribbles would say "trator" and..." Tubbo busted out of laughter, inclining himself down slowly. "What??"

    "Trator? Don't you mean traitor??" The ram sat up, putting more food on his mouth. Ranboo growled, Tubbo had the impression of seeing the sides of his mouth open, but only for a second.

    "Oh, come on, it was hard to translate!" Tubbo couldn't help but snicker.

    "So you don't understand English fluently? Or did you misread some letters during your research?"

    "Probably both. You certainly understand it better than i do, wouldn't you like to help me?" Tubbo hummed thoughtfully.

    "Oh, i don't know... What do i gain with it?" Tubbo said it playfully, but Ranboo didn't really took that as a joke since he made an shocked and angry expression.

    "What??" He growled again, this time a scary Enderman sound started growing louder with it and Tubbo stared at him in fear but then quickly covered his eyes.

    "Just kidding!! I'm sorry, i'll help you." Ranboo's expression relaxed, the sound disappearing bit by bit. "But not now. I still have to come back to my country, or else everyone will think i'm dead."

    "Oh, yeah, about that... Who's Tommy? You tried to call for him yesterday, is he your friend?"

    "He's... My brother, but we call each other best friends sometimes." Tubbo started tapping his pockets, searching for his walkie talkie. "It's weird that he didn't tried to call me yet." He held the small device and tried to turn it on, unsuccessfully. "Nevermind, i think it actually broke, that's why."

    "I'd help you, but i have no idea how this little thing works." Ranboo said, looking at it with curiosity.

    "Don't worry, i think i can fix it when i get home." He put the walkie talkie back on his pocket and focused on finishing his food.

   "Do you have a family?" Ranboo rested his head on one arm.

    "Yeah, two brothers, a father, and a guy who'd probably be my uncle." Tubbo smiled fondly, then looked at Ranboo, who quickly moved his eyes to the ground. "What about you?"

    "I think i do too."

    "Were they Endermen too?"

    "Probably. I had my doubts because of my..." He gestured to his half black and half white face. "...intriguing appearance."

    "Either you're a hybrid..." Tubbo put the empty bowl on the table. "Or White Endermen exists. Anything is possible in this world, i'm always finding colorful sheeps when i go out to explore... You might be a sheep, Ranboo!" He said playfully, and at least Ranboo laughed this time.

    "Nice suggestion, but i don't think so." They stood up. "Are you going now?"

    "Yeah, before an desperate army invades your cave and think you're keeping me as a hostage." Tubbo also got up, taking the crossbow.

   They went outside, Tubbo charged it and looked around for something to test it out. He then aimed at a small white sheep some feets alway from them.

   After some seconds, the arrow went flying, shooting the sheep right in the head and killing it instantly. He let out a thrilled gasp, looking at Ranboo with excitement.

    "Did you saw that?? It worked!"

    "Yeah, it was impressing, Tubbo." They smiled back and followed the ram when he ran towards the corpse.

   Tubbo removed the bloody arrow, lifting the slightly heavy body by it's legs, and then giving it to Ranboo.

    "Consider it a retribution gift for helping me."

    "Thank you." Ranboo held it with more ease. "You know, it's funny how you said i could be a sheep, then you just kill one minutes later and now is giving it to me as a gift."

    "It's also a reminder of what you could happen if you're actually a sheep."

    "Okay, Mr. Ram "nothing scares me"." Ranboo rolled his eyes and Tubbo chuckled, charging the crossbow again and resting it on his shoulder.

    "Well, i'll have to go now. We can meet up here mid-day tomorrow, if you want."

    "Seems good. Be careful on your way back."

    "I'll be. Bye, Ranboo." He waved as if started heading his way back to his home. "And thank you again!"

    "Bye." Ranboo waved back. Watching Tubbo slowly disappear among the trees. He involuntarily made a little Enderman sound, still smiling.

   Tomorrow will be such a great day for him.

(...)

   Tubbo finally arrived at L'manburg after some more hours of walking and being attacked by more mobs. And God, he was tired. He just wanted to go back to Snowchester, sleep, and don't wake up for the next 12 hours.

    "WHAT THE HELL??" He heard someone scream. And Tubbo knew exactly who it was. "TUBBO!"

   He looked up, seeing a tall blonde guy running towards him with his arms open. Tubbo tried to sign him to don't hug him, but it was too late and the boy hugged him with all strength. Tubbo "hugged" him back with one arm.

    "Dude, stop it, my body still hurts." He whined, giving some light pats on his back, and Tommy pushed him away with an angry face.

    "Where the FUCK have you been?? I almost thought you fucking died, Tubbo!! Why didn't you call me?!"

    "ME?? Why didn't YOU answer me?? I actually could have died!"

    "I was sleeping!"

    "And my walkie talkie broke!" Tubbo angrily pulled out the broken device, pressing the switch button histerically and Tommy sighed, massaging his eyes.

    "Okay... At least, i'm glad that you arrived and safe now." Tommy lifted his closed fist.

    "Me too." And Tubbo gave him a little fist bump. Tommy giggled.

    "Wilbur is going to be so mad at you..."

    "I know."

Chapter Text

    "Are you insane or something?? Do you even realize how worried i was?!" The man questioned loud and furiously. His damaged wings opened involuntarily in rage, causing some black feathers to fall on the floor.

   Wilbur's arms and legs were crossed on the couch, his eyes full of seriousness after also scolding Tubbo before they went to Snowchester. He stayed in the living room to give some support, if necessary. Unlike Tommy who was there solemnly because he wanted to watch them argue, occasionally making some silly comments and being shushed by his older brother.

    "I didn't know this was going to happen!"

    "Even so! You don't go out at night wearing a simple iron armour! What do you think you have?? Three lives??" Tommy tried to hold a laughter, but then ended up letting out a painful whimper after Wilbur hit his side with his elbow. "I'm still surprised you survived without no serious wounds or anything!"

   Tubbo's fluffy ears dropped slightly and he looked down. He couldn't tell him about Ranboo, could he?

    "If you needed those things so bad you could just have asked me or Techno." The angel of Death crossed his arms, emerald eyes were looking at Tubbo with disappointment. "You know that we would do anything for you and your brothers."

    "Except for Tommy, of course." Wilbur said, receiving an angry look from his younger brother.

    "Oh, now you can make stupid jokes, huh!?" He shouted. Phil turned around, cleaning his throat to catch their attention.

    "You two, why don't you shut up and leave us alone for a second? I still need to talk with Tubbo."

    "Sorry, Dad." They stood up, walking towards the kitchen, with Tommy still swearing at Wilbur during the process.

   Tubbo and Phil sat down.

    "I'm sorry, Phil. It's just..." He sighed. "I didn't want to ask you or Technoblade for things all the time. I'm supposed to go search for them myself!"

    "But you always asked when you had the opportunity." The blonde put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't understand why you're so hesitant now."

    "I didn't want to be so dependent of him. Even Techno agreed with me when i told him!"

    "You told Techno but didn't told me?? Tubbo, you know how Technoblade is!"

    "Yes, but this time he was right! I was being a burden."

    "You were just asking for help, dude. There's nothing wrong with that." Tubbo looked away. "And you know how you only have one life, so..."

    "Oh my God, you ALWAYS say that! Phil, i already know the whole one life story." He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and laying his back on the furniture.

    "Then why do you keep ignoring my advices and putting yourself in danger?!" Phil got up, starting to get angry again.

    "You aren't giving me advices! The only thing you do is say if i don't "behave", you'll have to start accompanying me everywhere when i go out! Just like Wilbur did with Tommy!" He pointed to the kitchen entrance, where they were were peeking and instantly hid themselves instantly. "And i'm not putting myself in danger, it was only an accident!"

    "An accident where we could have lost you! Tubbo, i only do this because i worry about you!"

    "I know!" Tubbo shouted, frustraded, gesturing his arms to the air. "But i don't want to be under your wing as if i was a baby!"

    "If you don't want to be treated like a baby, then stop acting like one!" Phil put his hands on his waist. "We have rules here, Tubbo. Basic rules. And there's a reason why they exist, it's because we need to protect ourselves! So you better obey them if you want to live. Do you understand that?!"

   Tubbo got quiet, bowing his head and ears down again. Deep down, he knew he was right by worrying about his son's well being. But there was still a bad feeling that wouldn't rub off that easily.

    "Yes, sir. I understand." He said softly. Phil exhaled, relaxing his body.

    "Good. Go rest for now, i know you need it." The blonde angel stepped to the kitchen. "We'll come to visit you soon, be careful."

   Tubbo still didn't looked at him, only heard him calling his brothers, telling them they finished to talk and it was time to go.

   He accompanied them to the door. Phil stroke his hair, assuring that it was for his own good, and then leaving. Tubbo closed the door, pressing his forehead against the spruce wood, letting out another tired sigh.

(...)

   The next day, as he promised, Tubbo went to visit Ranboo again. He decided to listen to Phil and ask Techno for some things so he could make a decent armour and weapons. He wasn't proud of it, but didn't wanted to disappoint his father again.

   He stopped in front of the cave, dark and sketchy as always. How does Ranboo live here in such tranquility?

    "Ranboo? Are you there?" His voice echoed through the cave's walls.

    "Hello, Tubbo." Ranboo's eyes shone in the dark and stepped out of the shadows, he was also wearing an armour that day, along with a leather purse on his side.

    "Hey... Why did you brought a purse?"

    "Well, the books are in here." He adjusted the leather on his shoulder. "And i know i should have told you sooner, but i was thinking if we could visit the ruins together today. Maybe we can find more interesting things there. Are you okay with it?"

    "Um... Yeah, sure. You seem very excited for it anyways... Do you still know the way there?"

    "Hopefully i do. I'm still carrying a map with us, just in case." Ranboo pat his purse, taking the lead.

    "Cool..." Tubbo followed him.

   During half way there, the ram was awfully quiet. Always looking numb at the grass under their feet, and only answering to Ranboo's attempts to start a conversation with an distracted hum.

   Ranboo knew something was wrong. They we're so excited to finally hang out with someone, they expected Tubbo to be a little bit interested too.

    "So... Did you get home well? Did "Tommy" and your family met again?" Somehow, that question seemed to upset Tubbo even more.

    "Yeah... We did. Everything's fine." His voice tone was so dry, it hurt Ranboo a bit. Asking things wasn't the best option for now.

   The Enderman then started searching around them, trying to find something that would cheer him up. Something small and inoffensive, but that still could put a smile on Tubbo's face.

   But what?

   After more minutes of searching, Ranboo started hearing a buzzing sound, almost like...

   A bee?

   His head followed the sound, and his eyes stopped at the image of a bee hive hanging on a oak tree not so far away from them.

    "Oh, look." Ranboo touched his shoulder, pointing at the hive. "There's bees over there."

    "Really?" Tubbo's ears lifted and his eyes filled with joy when he saw the bees flying around some colorful flowers. Even his little ram tail started wagging happily. "Can we go see them??" He asked, excited.

    "Sure, we can. But we need to be..." Tubbo ran away from him before he could finish. "...Careful. There he goes..."

   Tubbo slowed his pace when he got closer to the hive. The bees noticed his presence and started flying around him, making sure he wasn't any type of threat. He giggled, sitting down on the grass and opening his palms, letting the bees land on him.

   Ranboo arrived right after, sitting with him, even if they were still a bit bothered by the insects.

    "You really like bees, don't you?"

    "Absolutely." Tubbo smiled. "You have no idea how happy i am right now."

    "I'm glad that you're having fun."

   Tubbo played with the bees for some minutes, while Ranboo was desperately trying to keep them away from his face. He tried to pay attention to the plenty diversity of flowers that surrounded the tree. They were so colorful, it almost made him want to pick all of them and start placing them around randomly.

   The creature then found a small blue flower planted beside them. A beautiful and vivid blue. Ranboo carefully picked it up, before giving it to Tubbo.

    "Hey, it looks like your eyes." They smiled fondly.

    "You think so?" Tubbo took the flower from their scaly fingers. He couldn't help but smile too. "But the flower is much prettier than my eyes... Or my face at all." He gestured at a big burn scar that would cross half of his skin.

    "But it doesn't automatically means you're ugly, though." Ranboo grabbed the flower from his hands, putting it between his ear and horn. "You look good when you smile."

   Tubbo could feel his face going all red, and the way Ranboo stroked his hair so gently while to fix the flower didn't help either. He looked at him and their eyes met for a moment, until the ram turn around, laughing awkwardly and pushing him away.

    "You're just farming aww's from me now."

    "I have no idea what that means, but guarantee to you it was a honest compliment." Ranboo smiled, before getting jumpscared by a bee that was flying way too close from their nose again, they starting waving for it to go away, terrified.

    "Sure..." He stood up from his place. "I think we should go back. I can feel from here that you don't like the bees." Tubbo gave him a hand, helping him to get up.

   Ranboo's hands were so weird to touch, making Tubbo want to analyze them too. He put his palm open against theirs, comparing it. The size difference was surprising. Ranboo didn't mind, but still remained confused by his actions.

    "What are you doing?"

    "Your hands are so big..." He tried to align their fingers togheter. "How easily can you strangle someone with them?" Tubbo asked with genuine curiosity, which concerned Ranboo.

    "You ask very grotesque things for someone with such soft hands, Tubbo."

    "Answer the question, Enderboy."

    "I'm not answering that." Ranboo distanced himself, going back to their path.

    "Oh, come on! It's for science!" Tubbo ran to them, pratically begging for some answers, and being successfully ignored by Ranboo.

(...)

   Two enormous towers cut the sky above them. The building was all made of stone bricks, and was all covered in a green blanket of moss and vines, always going up. There was no gate or whatsoever, leaving it completely open for anyone to enter, including hostile mobs.

    "I don't think there's anything dangerous since last time i checked, so i'm pretty sure we're safe." Ranboo assured, walking to the castle's outer gate.

   This place seemed so familiar to Tubbo, he was pretty sure he already saw it somewhere. Probably in a book too, but he couldn't remember where or who was the owner of it.

   They entered. The broken ceiling allowed the sunlight to enter and illuminate the throne room. Pieces of stone, wood and glass strewn across the floor, and for a second, he swore to have seen some bloodstains as well.

   The golden throne remained untouched, standing out between the chaos. Tubbo approached it and a strange sensation started to grow inside his chest, as if he could feel someone else there besides them.

    "Do you think it's haunted?" He asked to the Enderman behind him.

    "Probably." They shrugged. "Did you saw the fountain?"

    "That was a fountain? I thought it was just a weird looking statue." Ranboo guided him to the middle of the castle. There was actually a fountain there, dirty and covered in moss, but it was empty, for Tubbo's disappointment.

   It didn't stop him from getting inside of it, though.

    "What in earth are you doing?"

    "I'm investigating!" He answered playfully while touching the moss on the stone pedestal. Ranboo just did a slightly confused expression and laughed.

    "I'm pretty sure you're not going to find anything "investigating" the moss. Just get out of the fountain, Tubbo."

    "I don't think i will." He said challengingly.

    "Oh, really?" He crossed his arms and Tubbo nodded. "Okay, have fun with the ghost of the throne then." Ranboo left the room, disappearing completely as he turned around the hallway.

    "Ranboo?" Tubbo called, hearing nothing but silence. "Ranboo, this isn't funny, where are you?" He looked around, stepping out of the fountain.

   A weird growling started coming from the hallway where Ranboo went, getting louder and louder. He warily got closer to it, finding a very tall creature, looking at him with bright purple eyes and a jaw open in a inhumane way.

   It seemed like Tubbo's heart stopped for a second, then the creature got closer to his face with a creepy smile and he finally screamed at the top of his longs, launching himself backwards and crashing hard against the floor.

   Then there was no more growling, just a loud and annoying laughter.

    "You should have seen your face!" Ranboo wheezed.

    "YOU MOTHERFUCKER, WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Tubbo screamed angrily, getting himself up and cleaning the dirt from his clothes. "Oh my God, i hate you so much."

    "Oh, come on, i was just messing with you. Did you got hurt?"

    "Fuck you! I almost died, you piece of shit." The Enderman giggled, receiving another angry glare.

    "I'm sorry, i'm sorry." He pat his head. "I promise i won't do that again."

   Tubbo grunted, pushing his hand away.

    "You're gonna to need more than that if you want me to forgive you."

    "I'll do whatever you want when we're finished." Tubbo reddened a little at how that phrase sounded.

   The castle sure had a lot of hallways, just like a labyrinth, the duo almost thought they were lost, before Ranboo make they enter a room with a staircase, that would lead them to the library for sure.

   Ranboo then started saying how he put some lamps last time he came here and also how many mobs tried to attack him when he got there, and while he was talking, the same weird feeling invaded Tubbo's chest, he wasn't even paying attention to Ranboo's voice anymore when something whispered into his hear.

    "Hello." He heard it saying. His body shivered and he stopped in place, embracing himself with his arms.

    "Ranboo, i think i heard something."

    "What?" The taller got closer. "You're not trying to scare me, are you?"

    "I'm not! Something actually whispered in my ear, i swear!"

     A loud creaking sound was heard, and Tubbo shivered again. Then the lights on the walls started flickering. Ranboo looked downstairs suspiciously, grabbing Tubbo by his shoulder and pulling him closer protectively.

    "Let's just... Go to the library." He said, continuing to go up the stairs and looking back a couple times.

   When they finally reached the library, Ranboo made sure Tubbo entered first, and then closed the door, both of them sighed in relief.

    "Were you serious about this place being haunted?"

    "No, otherwise i wouldn't have brought you here. What did you heard down there?"

    "It just said "hello" and nothing else." Tubbo put his arms down. "It didn't tried to kill me at the fountain or push me downstairs when it had the chance, so i'd assume it's inoffensive."

    "Even so, let's not put our guard down. If it's actually a ghost, who knows what this thing can do." Ranboo cleaned a bit of the dust on the room's table, placing his purse.

   Unlike the other rooms of the castle, the library wasn't that messy, just dusty and with some spider webs here and there. It was a small library, so it wouldn't fit more than eight shelves and a table with two chairs.

   Tubbo kept looking the books inside one of the shelves, most of them were Enchantment books, History, Fantasy, facts about ferrets... He ended up picking one about ancient legends, with a black cover detailed with gold.

    "Did you found something you like?" Ranboo asked, very close to his ear. Tubbo's body got a bit tense.

    "Y-Yeah, it's about ancient legends. I think it might be useful." He sat down at the table, seeing a small book that Ranboo placed there. "Is that the one you found?"

    "Yes. It seems to be some kind of diary. The first pages are fine, but then..." They flip some pages foward, stopping at a entirely scribbled one.

   "What the hell?" Tubbo leaned closer, flipping some more pages. Big and messily written letters occupied the papers, it was difficult to read.

"You fucked up."

"Traitor."

"Everyone hates you now."

"How could you do that with your own friends?"

"You are an embarrassment for your nation."

"Go away."

"Traitor."

"Traitor."

"Traitor."

"Traitor."

   The rest of the pages were empty.

    "Whoa... Whoever that person was, they fucked up really badly." Tubbo closed the book, turning it over. There was a small signature. "Property of..." He squinted his eyes, looking closer. "...Eret??" The ram widened his eyes.

   The door behind them slammed closed, making both men jump. Ranboo immediately pulled out the sword on his waist, waiting for something to happen. But there was nothing.

   "Do you know this person?"

   "I do... I mean, i did, once. It was an old friend of mine." Tubbo pressed his fingers tightly on the diary's red cover. "My brother said he... Disappeared, after an incident, and no one even tried to look after him."

   He looked at the door pitifully, he almost could see the silhouette of a person standing on the wall. Tubbo blinked and it was gone, just like before.

   "He probably stayed here all this time after no one forgave him for what happened. Not even me." His eyes looked at the signature written in cursive again.

    "I'm sorry."

    "I'm sorry." Tubbo jumped. Ranboo was right in front of him, with a hand on his shoulder. "I shouldn't have brought you here."

    "There was no way you could know. It's not your fault." The ram looked up at him, expecting to only find his heterochromatic eyes staring at him with concern...

   Not a human face, looking over his shoulder with a sad expression.

   It was Eret. Wearing L'manburg's old uniform. His eyes full of darkness and guilt.

   Tubbo's mouth opened in horror, he would have screamed, but nothing came out at time. He tried pointing at it, even if his hands were shaking really bad, Ranboo luckily noticed his behavior and looked behind them, pointing the sword at the air.

   It disappeared.

   Tubbo gasped, his body suddenly felt weak and he started to kneel down. Ranboo panicked and held his body clumsily, slowly going down with him and sitting on the floor. Tubbo squeezed his eyes shut while griping hard on his arms.

    "Tubbo??" Ranboo called, just as terrified.

    "Please..." His voice trembled. "I just want to leave..."

Chapter Text

   Three days.

   It's been three days since the incident with Eret's apparition, and Tubbo haver never felt so horrible. He was curled under his sheets, staring at the nothing on his wall across the room.

   He had a dream... about Eret. Multiple dreams, actually. It was the only thing on his mind since he closed his eyes. Most of them were just frames of Eret's pale face, looking at him without moving. Sometimes he could hear her voice, whispering words he couldn't understand well. It caused him to wake up scared a few times with teary eyes, before going back to sleep again.

   That's when he finally had a different one.

   They were sitting on their old drug van's table. Alone. But Tubbo could hear Tommy and Wilbur's voices coming from outside. Eret was wearing L'manburg's uniform, with her hands together on the table and eyes closed while bowering her head down.

   Tubbo looked at the window of glass that allowed him to see the outside. No one was there, only the nature could be seen.

    "Why did you do that?" Tubbo asked, but it didn't actually felt like it was him. "Everyone trusted you. You know how everyone would feel about that."

    "Down with the revolution, Tubbo..." Eret finally opened her eyes, they were just as white as he remembered, and a single tear came from her left eye. "It was never meant to be." She smiled, and Tubbo woke up.

   He grumbled, both in anger and agony, burying his face on his pillow, desperately hoping that those thoughts would go away. He even thought about going back to sleep again, but then he heard a static noise coming from behind him.

    "Tubbo? Tubbo, are you there?? I swear to God if you went missing again..." It was Tommy's voice. He have never been so angry and happy at the same time just from hearing the blonde's voice.

   Tubbo groaned, lazily turning around to get the now fixed walkie talkie and putting it next to his ear.

   "I'm here, calm down." He said, impatient. "What do you want?"

    "You didn't answer me when i called, i thought you went to the forest alone again." The ram rolled his eyes, but then smirked.

    "You were worried about me, how cute."

    "WHAT?? OF COURSE NOT, YOU DUMBASS." Tubbo distanced the screaming device from him. "I was just checking to see if you were still alive."

    "Ugh, stop screaming. It's the same thing, you moron." His body made an effort to stand up and sit on the mattress.

    "No, it isn't!"

    "Did you just called me to deny that you care or do you have something else to say? You ruined my sleep, y'know?" He rubbed his eyes.

    "I'M NOT..." Tommy took a deep breath. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

    "I'm fine, thanks for asking." Tubbo stared at his feet thoughtfully, his eyes starting to get used to the dark. "Hey, Tommy..."

    "What?"

    "Do you remember about Eret?" Tubbo could hear Tommy gasping in disbelief. After that he heard fast steps, then a door being slammed closed with way too much strength.

    "W... Why are you asking about Eret??" The boy spelled Eret's name with hatred while panting.

    "Um, nothing... I was just... Remembering when we used to be friends..." Tubbo arranged his messy hair nervously. "Those were good times, don't you think?"

   Tommy didn't answered him. His heavy breath was the only thing audible, before the blonde let out a sorrowful sigh.

    "I do." His voice sounded sad. "I really do, Tubbo. But it's over now. You know what he did to us. To everyone. We can't just let it slide because of some laughs."

  The silence came again, and this time it hurt. Tubbo looked at the table beside him, there was a picture. A picture taken when L'manburg was still a small nation.

   Him, Tommy, Wilbur, Fundy, Niki, Jack, Eret were smiling while matching outfits... They all seemed to be so happy.

   Those were times who would never come back.

    "Do you want me to tell Philza and visit you earlier this week?" Tommy asked more worriedly this time.

    "...No, it's fine."

    "Alright... Remember i'm here for you if you need to talk."

    "I know." Tubbo smiled a little.

(...)

    "Be safe."

    "You too." Tommy turned off the walkie talkie, grumbling right after.

   His door was knocked behind him, and a muffled masculine voice echoed. A voice he didn't want to hear right now.

    "Tommy? Are you okay?" Wilbur asked. Tommy exhaled, standing up and opening the door for his brother.

    "What do you want?"

    "You were just fine minutes ago and then you suddenly started running to your room, did something happened?"

   "It's none of your business." Tommy tried to close the door, but Wilbur didn't let him and held the wood.

   "Was it Tubbo? Did something happened to him?"

    "Let out of my door, Wilbur!" The blonde tried to pull it, unsuccessfully.

    "Why were you talking about Eret?" He asked in a serious tone and Tommy froze, loosening his grip on the doorknob and allowing Wilbur to fully open the door again.

   "What...?"

    "I heard when Tubbo asked about him. Why were you talking about Eret, Tommy?" The man got closer. Tommy kept looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

   A memory from when Wilbur used this same intimidating tone with him flashed in his mind...

   "You're scared."

   Tommy's breath hitched and he shook his head.

    "It wasn't nothing, okay? Tubbo... We... Were just remembering things from the past. Good things." Wilbur hummed.

   "And what else? Tell me."

    "Wilbur, you're acting weird again." He gave some steps back, Wilbur made an offended expression.

    "I'm acting weird?? You're hiding something from me!"

    "Even if i was, i wouldn't tell you!" He shouted, clenching his fists. "WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO THE PRISON YOU CAME FROM, YOU FUCKING CREEP?!"

   The boy kicked the door, slamming it closed and pushing his body against it while holding it's doorknob hard, expecting Wilbur to scream and try to open it against by force.

   But there was only silence.

   Tommy waited and waited... But nothing happened.

   The only thing he could hear were steps distancing from his room and he opened the door, Wilbur wasn't there. He walked away.

   Tommy closed the door and slided down through it, sitting down, his heart was pounding like crazy.

   He still could hear Philza's voice from the distance, asking what was going on.

(...)

   Tubbo put down the walkie talkie and then whimpered while hiding himself even more under the blanket. As if hiding Ranboo from the people he trusts the most wasn't enough, he also had to hide about Eret's death.

   Should he even talk about it with someone to begin with?

   Tubbo took a deep breath. Well... Ranboo knows about Eret. They were with him all the time when they left the castle.

   Poor thing, they were so worried and asked several times if he didn't want to stay at their cave again that day, just in case if he didn't feel well to go back by himself.

   He should go at least say "hi" and assure that everything is okay anyways...

(...)

    "Ranboo?" Tubbo called, and was greeted with complete silence. He waited a couple seconds, only to hear the sound of the trees being hit by the wind. "Ranboo?" He stepped inside the cave and walking through the path that would lead to Ranboo's little hiding place.

   It was darker than the usual, and it smelled weird. It smelled like blood, getting stronger the closer he got to the room, and Tubbo got worried instantly.

   But the only thing he saw the Enderman's figure sleeping peacefully on the old bed. They were curled in a ball so they could fit in the small furniture. Their tail was moving slowly on the floor, and it was a sign for Tubbo that they were still alive.

   He got closer to them, always being careful to not make any sound, and kneeled down next to it. Their faces were very close right now and Tubbo could here a low purring coming from the Enderman's parted lips.

   "He actually looks like a cat." Tubbo thought, chuckling softly. Ranboo's ears twitched to the small sound, and Tubbo held his breath.

  The taller didn't reacted after that, and Tubbo slowly distanced himself, almost bumping on the table behind him. He looked at it, and saw a very interesting object. It was small and shiny, he could recognize it anywhere.

  An eye of ender. It's light was weak, but it was enough to allow Tubbo to see how messy that table was since last time he checked.

  There was some open books and papers, which wouldn't interest Tubbo that much if it wasn't by the dry blood stains and also some fingerprints on the books pages. The blood was also coming from the eye, and the ram's eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion.

   He grabbed and examined it carefully, the eye was in perfect state so it didn't came from cracks or whatsoever. And it was red, normal blood.

   So it either was Ranboo's blood, or his new friend was a murderer, and he was holding one of their prizes.

   Tubbo looked at Ranboo, still sleeping. Although Enderman were neutral mobs, they're still going to try and kill other creatures, but Ranboo just so... Nice? It was hard to imagine them killing someone for something else than food.

   He looked back at the eye, remembering when he asked Ranboo how easily it was for them to strangle someone.

   Maybe it was actually easier.

   The ram then started checking the wood table, trying his best to use the eye as a light. He stopped at one of the open books, one that had a big picture of an unknown place and a small subtitle under it, but it was just completely unreadable, and so was the rest of the text.

   He tried getting even closer, but it was useless. It surely wasn't written in a known language, the only thing Tubbo could see was scribbles. But if it was in Ranboo's possession, it means that they understand it.

   The man started flipping through the pages, looking for more clues, until he stopped at a page that had a picture of an Enderman. It looked a picture he saw in one of his history books, the Vitruvian Man, and everything made sense now.

   Suddenly, Tubbo's body shivered, and he felt a bad presence.

    "What are you doing here?" A distorced voice spoke behind him, and Tubbo's head slowly turned around. He saw those purple eyes looking down at him again and Tubbo screamed, but as a refle, he just punched Ranboo's stomach without hesitation. "OH, YOu..." He heard Ranboo's voice gasping along with the weight of their body falling on the ground.

    "YOU SON OF A BITCH, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" Anger suddenly took control of Tubbo's body. "OH MY GOD, WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!" Ranboo just started, or at least tried, to laugh while still holding their stomach. "I hate you so much."

    "I can't believe you fell for it again!" They coughed, standing up.

    "Yeah, yeah, you think you're so funny..." Tubbo rolled his eyes. "God, i need to sit down a bit." He said, taking off his jacket and walking away from him.

   He sat down on the bed, putting his hands on his face, trying to process what just happened. Ranboo sat down next to him, and for some reason, the weird smell got stronger.

    "Sorry, sorry." They tried not to giggle and Tubbo grunted. "Do you need anything?"

    "Water would be good."

    "Okay." He quickly stood up and messed around with some chests before coming back with a bottle of water.

    "Thanks." Tubbo grabbed the bottle and drank from it. He laid his back on the wall behind him, taking a deep breath.

   Ranboo then started lighting up his lamps, clearing up Tubbo's vision.

   He finally could see the reason why the room smelled so weird and almost spat his water. There was a bloodied axe next to the entrance resting against the wall, and when Ranboo turned around, he saw even more blood stains on his white, long sleeved shirt and his mouth fell open.

    "Ranboo, why the fuck is everything covered in blood? Didn't you even clean yourself before going to sleep??" Ranboo looked at his own torso, then at him.

    "Oh, i got very busy yesterday and i was very tired, sorry. I'll clean myself today, don't worry." He walked towards the table, starting to arrange his belongings. His hand grabbed the eye, it looked even more smaller when Ranboo held it.

    "Does it have to do with... Those things in your desk?"

    "Well, yes... I was doing some research." He put the eye inside a little box he haven't seen before on the table, then started to pick the books and put it under his arm.

    "About what?" Ranboo hesitated.

    "...Endermen." He went to put the books and papers inside one of the chests. "But i don't think you want to hear me ramble about that right now, do you? How are you feeling today? You didn't appear for three days, i was worried." Tubbo raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but decided to change the subject with him.

    "I was... Trying to get my head back in place after what happened." He took a last sip of water. "That's why i came to talk to you. I think i need some help."

    "With what?" Ranboo sat down again, a bit more closer this time.

    "Eret, the ghost i saw." They made a quizzical expression.

    "You didn't tell me you saw a ghost."

    "Well, now you know i did. Anyways... I tried to tell Tommy about it."

    "And?" He inhaled.

    "And i gave up halfway." Tubbo bowered his head in disappointment. "I just couldn't tell him about that. I knew he was going to react badly."

    "So what are you going to do now?"

   Tubbo hummed. He knew what he wanted to do right now, and he also knew that Ranboo wasn't going to like it either.

    "I think i want to go back to that castle."

    "Tubbo, this is a terrible idea." He was right.

    "I know! But i want to know why he's there."

    "You almost fainted that day. You can't just put yourself in danger like that! What if you actually faint or something?" Tubbo glared at them.

    "You sounded exactly like my father right now."

    "I'm just saying." They shrugged. "I don't want you in danger, Tubbo." One of their scaly hands caressed his shoulder, only reminding Tubbo of his father even more.

    "Don't you want to come with me then? So i won't be alone there."

   Ranboo seemed to think about that, removing their hand to brush his duo colored hair.

    "Well..." Tubbo's ears went up in expectation. "I guess i don't have a choice. I'm coming with you." His little tail wagged and he smiled.

    "Thank you so much."

Chapter Text

  It was raining the night Eret fled from L'manburg. The raindrops mingled with their tears of regret as they ran, the furious voice of one of their old friends, Wilbur, still echoing in their mind.

  "GO AWAY. GO AND NEVER COME BACK. AND IF YOU DO, I WILL TAKE YOUR THREE LIVES MYSELF!" He yelled, in front of everyone in the room, along with some other hurtful things that made Eret's heart ache just to think. But he couldn't blame him, because he knew it was his fault.

  Eret finally arrived at the castle he built himself, a building that took months to complete, and that was the only place where he would be welcome right now.

  He hurried into the castle, taking off his red cloak and sunglasses instantly, dropping them to the ground carelessly. Eret pressed his back against the large wood door, letting his soaking body slowly fall to the ground.

  Eret's trembling hands lifted the golden crown from his head, stroking the colorful jewelry he used to be proud of with sorrow. He didn't deserve it anymore. He didn't deserve to be called a king, or even a citizen of L'manburg. It wasn't supposed to end like that, but Eret had to be so dumb and naive to fell into their enemy's spider web with such ease.

  He just wanted their nation to be great again, just like the song said.

"A special place where men could go and emancipate the brutality and the tyranny of their rulers.

We built a home and watched it end
And from the rubble grew my great L'manburg.

My L'manburg."

 What a cold, hard way to end things, Eret.

(...)

  "It's going to rain soon, how wonderful." Ranboo complained while looking at the distance.

  Clouds laden with water drew closer and closer, and small drops of rain fell on their vulnerable skin. Tubbo wasn't too bothered by this, as it wouldn't be long before they reached Eret's castle. They could already see the immense stone towers from afar.

  "I know Endermen can't handle water very well, but is it that bad?"

  "Yes, it is." Ranboo covered his face with one of his palms. "It feels like my face is constantly being burned. Not a nice feeling, if you ask me."

  "Oh..." A small flashback came into Tubbo's mind when they said that. He remembered the colors red, white and blue flashing in front of his eyes, burning his skin no matter how hard he tried to protect himself. The pain was simply inexplicable, but it only lasted for a short while, until everything went dark and Tubbo wake up in a bed, covered in bandages. "I know how it feels."

  "You do?"

  "Yeah... I've been through some rough adventures in the past." Tubbo gave them a awkward smile.

  "Oh, so is that why you have this big scar on your face?" Silence. Tubbo stroked his scarred cheek involuntarily, and Ranboo felt like he shouldn't have said that.

  "Yeah... Changing the subject," He dropped his hand quickly. "Do you mind explaining me why did you had a bloodied axe in your room?? That was disgusting!" He glared at the taller figure beside him.

  "Oh, I was... Hunting some animals last night." Ranboo hesitated. "I had gotten so tired that i forgot to clean everything up. You didn't need to see that, i'm sorry." Tubbo didn't believe a word he said, but decided to pretend he did and hummed.

  Tubbo looked around for a moment. He saw a tall figure among the trees, very much like Ranboo. It stared at them and Tubbo realized it was an Enderman by it's purple eyes. It was pretty rare to see an Enderman in the Overworld in daylight. Normally, you would have to travel quite a bit to find one.

  "By the way," Tubbo looked away from the creature before it decides to attack him. "I also saw a rather... Interesting book on your desk. What was it about?"

  "What did you see?"

  "Not much, honestly, but i saw the image of an Enderman on it."

  "Ah, yes, that was a research i was doing!" Ranboo smiled widely, shaking their wrists in front of Tubbo like an excited child. "Ooh, now that you reminded me of that, i have so much to tell and show you! There's even a special place i really want you to know!"

  Tubbo frowned a bit at that phrase, he didn't have a very good experiences with "special places", but he didn't want to ruin Ranboo's fun so he giggled.

  "It must be very interesting, Ranboo."

  "It is! It is!"

    The two travelers' conversation was suddenly interrupted by the loud noise of thunder from the sky, before heavier drops of water begin to fall.

  "Woah, okay, time to run!" Ranboo exclaimed, taking off their blazer quickly and covering their head before running towards the castle's tower.

  "Hey! Wait for me!" Tubbo followed them.

  The rain only got worse when they finally arrived at the castle. Tubbo pushed the door abruptly and let Ranboo go first. He entered in such a hurry that he even forgot to be scared of the fact that there was a ghost there.

  "Are you okay?" Tubbo asked breathlessly.

  "This is terrible." Ranboo said, taking off the soaked blazer from their head slowly, as if they couldn't move their arm well. "My face is burning so much right now."

  Tubbo approached them and examined their face. There were several small burn marks on his skin, and Ranboo immediately closed their eyes, probably from the pain.

  "Oh, God." Tubbo stretched out a hand to touch them, but immediately backed off. His hands were still way too humid for that. "Well, let's try to find something to dry you, okay? There must be a room where we can find some towels or something."

  "There's one in that hallway where we went to get to the library." Tubbo wrinkled his nose unpleasantly. "But i know you wouldn't want to go down that hallway today, so..." The ram sighed, interrupting them.

  "We would have to go there one way or another anyway." Tubbo said, grabbing the Enderman by the sleeve of their shirt. "And it would be stupid to leave you hurt in the middle of a haunted castle. Let's go." They started walking down the hall, with Tubbo leading them.

  The darkness inside the castle along with the noise of rain and thunder coming from outside didn't help Tubbo to stay calm. Ranboo was also terribly quiet, so the only thing he could hear well was his nervous heartbeat.

  As they were climbing the stairs, Tubbo could feel the atmosphere getting heavier and heavier as they walked, just like the last time. It made him squeeze Ranboo's sleeve tightly, even though he knows that they wouldn't be able to reciprocate. Once they reached the top, Ranboo showed the direction that would lead to that room, pointing to a door on the right.

  The ram opened the door carefully, checking in to make sure there was nothing unusual there, but it was really just a simple room. Completely untouched. It was a very simplistic room for someone who owned an entire castle.

  Tubbo turned on the two lamps on the dressers while Ranboo closed the bedroom door. He could see some photo frames hanging on the walls, all of them were pictures of Eret with the rest of his friends. Some of them Tubbo didn't even remember they had been photographed.

  "What is this?” Ranboo asked from behind him.

  "These are photos of us, from when Eret was still alive." Tubbo's fingers brushed the frame of a group photo of L'manburg's first citizens.Tubbo was there, and it's amazing to think how much he's changed over the years.

  "Is that you?” Ranboo pointed to the image of a little brown-haired boy with small ram's horns wearing what seemed to be his nation's uniform and laughed. "Aww, you were so cute." Tubbo glared at him with reddened cheeks.

  "You better sit on that fucking bed before i throw you down the stairs and leave you with the ghost." He threatened, heading towards the closet.

  "And then i'm the hostile mob between us." Ranboo said with an ironic tone, getting another glare from Tubbo and then shutting up instantly.

  Tubbo stood on tiptoe to reluctantly open one of the little doors at the top of the closet. He had no idea if Eret would like him going through her things like that, but if her was among them now, she would probably understand why for sure.

  He pulled out one of the white towels stored on top, then turning his attention to Ranboo, who zoning out while looking at the floor. Tubbo wondered what was on his mind right now.

  "I found a towel." Ranboo awoke from his trance. Tubbo could see that there was some blood on his marks and he finally understood how bad water could be for their species. "Do you want me to dry your face first?"

  "Um, sure." Tubbo positioned himself in front of him and brought the towel closer, before Ranboo hesitated and leaned away. "Please, be gentle."

  "I will, don't worry." Tubbo brought it closer again more carefully this time, pressing the towel over Ranboo's face gently, drying his cheeks first and then gradually moving up into his hair.

  He freed one of his hands to take the golden crown off Ranboo's head before starting to dry their duocolored locks. His hands then lowered the soft fabric until it reached his neck and Ranboo put his head back, allowing him to dry the entire length of his neck and nape.

  "Done." He said, still pressing the towel on his jawline.

  Ranboo lowered his head and opened his eyes slowly. It still burned a little, but the Enderman had a more relaxed expression on his face than before.

  That was the first time their gazes met and Ranboo didn't look away, nor it feel uncomfortable. A low, contented purr sound began to come from him, and Tubbo pressed his lips together to stifle a laugh.

  "Did that felt good or something?" Tubbo mocked, with a lovingly smile on his face. Ranboo took his wrists gently and pulled them away from them.

  "You should go dry yourself too." He said seriously.

  "As you wish." Tubbo chuckled, handing him the towel so he could dry his hands.

  He approached the closet and grabbed another towel. Tubbo started drying his hair first so he would have time to think about what he would do with the rest of his clothes. His pants would still be able to wear, but his green shirt was soaked. He couldn't keep using it, or else he could catch a cold afterwards.

  "Hey, Ranboo." The Enderman hummed across the room. "Can you... Leave the room when you're finished? I'm going to need some privacy now."

  "Of course." Ranboo stood up. "Do you want me to wait for you at the door?"

  "Yeah, sure."

  "Scream if you need help." Tubbo nodded and Ranboo left the room.

  The second he stepped out and closed the door, Ranboo leaned his head against the next wall, dying of pure embarrassment. He wasn't lying when he said he hadn't purred to Tubbo on purpose.

  Ranboo sighed, shutting his eyes closed with all strength. He must have been lonely for so long that he ended up submitting himself to this kind of situation without meaning to.

  He stayed like that for a few more long seconds, before he heard a noise beside him. Ranboo turned around, thinking it was Tubbo leaving the room, but the door remained closed.

  The noise was of someone knocking on wood, and it didn't come from the room Tubbo was in, but from another door at the end of the hall.

  Ranboo tilted his head to the side in confusion. He had already tried to get in that room before, but the door was locked and he didn't know where the key was.

  Something was screaming in Ranboo's mind for him to go over there and Ranboo glanced at the bedroom's door. Tubbo would probably take a while to get out, so it wouldn't be a problem for him to go investigate. Right?

  Without hesitating, Ranboo went to the end of the hallway. Their hand touched the iron doorknob and a shiver ran up their spine, making them swallow dry. They turned the knob, and it was still locked. Ranboo squinted their eyes, until they felt a cool breeze at their feet and they looked down.

  A key. Ranboo bent down to pick it up. That key hadn't been there the last time they came, not to mention that only them and Tubbo knew about this place, so how could it be there now?

  Unless...

  "Ranboo??" Tubbo shouted. "What are you doing there? Didn't you say you'd wait at the door??"

  Ranboo turned around in a very slow way, only to find the small ram wearing the coat that had previously been tied around his waist, holding his soaked green shirt in one hand and Ranboo's crown in another.

  "Sorry... I got distracted." He approached the ram, who took a few steps back.

  "I saw... Here's 'your' crown." Tubbo handed him the gold ornament, so he would look at something else instead of him.

  "Thank you. I also found something." Ranboo showed him the key. "It was on the floor, by that door over there." He pointed across the hall and Tubbo's gaze followed it. "Which is weird since it wasn't there before."

  "Should we go there?"

  "Only if you're sure about it."

  Tubbo thought for a moment. He didn't have a good feeling coming from that room either, but they had come here for a reason, and that reason was to know what happened to Eret.

  "Yeah. I'm sure, i want to go there."

  The two of them went into the misterious room, and Ranboo was the one who put the key in the doorknob, and he was also the one who hesitated to turn it. Tubbo noticed it, and grabbed his free hand, receiving a little squeeze in response. His hand was cold, and they could both feel that they were shaking. They had never been so grateful that they weren't alone now.

  Ranboo turned the key and the door unlocked, Tubbo squeezed their hand tighter. They pushed the wood slowly, the sound of it creaking being uncomfortable for both of them.

  But none of this was worse than what they saw inside that bathroom, being illuminated with only the lights coming from the hallway behind them.

  There was a dead body. Rotting inside a bathtub half full of water and blood that came from their slashed wrist and throat. It was Eret's body.

  The most Ranboo could do was widen his eyes, but Tubbo gripped his hand even tighter, while opening his mouth to scream. But nothing came. His legs suddenly couldn't support his body's weight anymore and he would have fallen straight to the floor if Ranboo hadn't caught him.

 Ranboo hugged Tubbo tightly as he leaned down, heavy tears began to fall from his eyes and he finally screamed in agony. A sickening feeling filled his insides, and he thought he was going to pass out.

  You could say that Eret was there too, watching them despair over his corpse. Feeling after years what regret really felt like.

(...)

  The rain had begun to stop slowly, but the sky was still gray. Ranboo was right about going to the castle being a bad idea, now he was waiting for Tubbo to finish throwing up after the horrible scene he saw. He wished he had never brought Tubbo there in the first place, now the poor ram was suffering because of him.

  Tubbo came out from behind the castle wall, wiping his mouth with his coat sleeve.

  "How do you feel?”

  "Terrible." Tubbo replied hoarsely. "I'll never come with you to these places again." He spat, and Ranboo's eyes widened in surprise, but deep down, they understood why.

  "I'm sorry." Ranboo lowered their head. "Is there anything i can do for you?"

  "I just want to go home." Tubbo's voice quavered. Ranboo approached, opening his arms.

  "Can i hug you?" The ram stared at them for a short while, before leaning his face against their chest and letting the Enderman's long arms enfold him. Ranboo still smelled like blood, so he turned his face to the side, now being able to hear their heart beating calmly. Tubbo didn't mind to reciprocate him, but it still felt comfortably warm that way. "Do you want me to accompany you to your house?" Ranboo asked, slowly pulling away from him and removing a few strands of hair from the front of his humid eyes. Tubbo shook his head.

  "No," He answered. "But can we do one last thing before we leave?"

  (...)

  Tubbo placed the flowers he and Ranboo had picked on the floor near the, now closed, bathroom door. It was risky to go in there and try to move the corpse outside without getting any kind of disease, so that was the least they could do.

  There were several types of flowers in the bouquet, as they couldn't find many of one type, but most of them were teal colored. Eret's favorite color.

  Ranboo was somewhat fascinated by the peaceful way in which Tubbo's species handled funerals. Where he used to live, things were completely different.

  The Enderman decided to take the golden crown from their head, and moved to place it near the flowers, but Tubbo stopped them.

  "You don't have to do that, Ranboo."

  "It's okay." Ranboo smiled. "It's not mine anyway." They placed the ornament on the floor, along with the key that locked the door.

  Tubbo then raised his arm in a respectful salute, with Ranboo imitating him, and holding back even more tears. He shouldn't cry at a traitor's funeral, but it was all so hard to process that he ended up letting out a painful tear.

                        It was never meant to be.

Chapter Text

   Before that pine forest appeared, Tommy still remembered how all that field used to be just open space, completely empty. Untouched snow would go as far as the eyes could reach and you would have to walk further if you wanted to reach the nearest forest.

   Nobody knows where those trees came from. It was just the four of them living there, and none of them had such a green thumb to grow trees so tall and healthy. Not even Phil knows where they came from, just him, who's had contact with countless strange things.

   Still, although the travels to Snowchester are now a little more troubled, good things have come with that forest as well.

   Tommy always liked small animals, from cute little squirrels to furry moths snuggling close to lamps, he always wanted to have one as a pet, so seeing families of rabbits and birds looking for new homes in that forest filled his heart with happiness. He really wanted to go there and cuddle them with his gloved hands, but that would only freak them out, so he didn't even get off his trail.

   Not to mention, he and Wilbur now had a new excuse to pester each other all the way to Tubbo's house. It was only a matter of time before one of them found a thin, leafy branch lying around and the other start screaming for his life and running away from the lashes of the branch. Just a fun little joke between brothers.

   Under normal circumstances, one of them would be doing it right now.

   But not today.

   Today, Tommy and Wilbur were in the process of ignoring each other.

   At first it was just Wilbur doing that, such as avoiding interacting with Tommy when they crossed the hallway, or sliding his chair a bit more fad away when they happened to sit side by side at the table during breakfast, until Tommy also got angry with his acts and started to avoid him too. It didn't even matter if Wilbur wasn't angry or not anymore.

   It was a real cold war. Whose silence and attempts to indirectly get into each other's nerves ended up getting their father's attention as well.

   Phil peeked over his shoulder to watch them walk five steps away from each other, as if they were bombs about to explode. He didn't even need to look that much to feel the heavy atmosphere behind his back.

   And worst of all, he didn't know the reason for that fight.

   "They're so quiet, it doesn't even feel like they're actually my kids." Phil muttered and let out an awkward laugh to catch Technoblade's attention.

    "Uh, and this isn't good? Less screams, less gray hair for you, Phil." Technoblade muttered back with a mocking grin.

    "Are you calling me old too? Listen, i already gave you some ear-pulling over that shit you told Tubbo, don't make me do that again." Phil tried to sound menacing, but his slack smirk on his face said otherwise. 

    "Okay, okay, i'm sorry." The hooded pigman chuckled briefly. "But seriously, aren't you worried? It's been some time they're like this."

    "I am, i am. I heard them screaming that day, but Wilbur didn't say anything to me and went out to 'take a walk'." Techno stared up at the cloudy sky as he rummaged through his mediocre memory for anything that would tell him if they'd ever had that conversation.

    "Uhhh, i guess you already told me that he came back hours later... What about Tommy?"

    "Same thing, but he was so frightened..." Phil's shoulders hunched as he frowned, flapping his ruffled wings under his cape and dropping some tiny black feathers. "I hope Wilbur didn't do anything to him, he promised me he had changed."

    "And do you believe him?" A silence came from Phil's mouth.

    "I do." He then said, yet his gaze wasn't a confident one, his sapphire gaze was glued disappointedly to the snow under them, and he didn't said anything after that. Techno, to offer some support, put an arm over his friend's shoulder and patted him gently.

   Wilbur's deep brown eyes watched their entire conversation. Though they could only see it, because Will didn't hear even half the whispers of the two longtime friends. Wilbur knew he was involved in that conversation, the burning on the tip of his ear assured him of that.

   ... Did he went too far? Wilbur thought about it as he took a discreet look at his younger brother, who was staring at something beside him.

   Wilbur followed his gaze, finding out that Tommy was watching a pair snow foxes that happened to take the same trail as them. A cub and an adult fox, walking side by side to somewhere. Sometimes the cub would bounce around and snuggle against the larger one, who would reciprocate with a few fond licks on it's white fur. They looked like family.

   Soon the two foxes realized they were not alone and quickly ran off, their rushed paws throwing some snow into the air and shaking the bushes in which they hid.

   Now Tommy had a upset look on his face, who knows kind of thoughts he was having seeing those happy little foxes together, and Wilbur's arm trembled to keep it from wrapping around him.

   But, fortunately, his upset didn't last long, as he now had something else to pay attention to, and it was in front of him, big and fantastical.

   The Nether Portal.

   Obsidian's pillars were neatly stacked and constructed in a rectangle, it was a difficult material to wear out, so even though Tommy has been coming to that portal for years, it still looked brand new to him. Phil had decided to put a stone stairway decor around it some time ago, and the weeds and snow on top and around the pillars added to a more mystical feeling to it.

   The noises from the Nether Portal were nauseatingly loud. Each sound wave seemed to carry a haze of purple and magenta particles that danced in the freezing air, until they finally disintegrated.

    "Okay guys, you already know how this works, just two at a time." The angel warned as he stretched his legs, preparing for the possible run they would risk taking once they reached the Nether. It wasn't called a hell for nothing.

   Tommy raised the moss green bandanna on his neck halfway over his face. The Nether always had harmful amounts of smoke, a simple bandanna Tubbo gifted him when they were kids was basically nothing against that, but he always wore it just in case. He only had one life left after all, and dying like that would be just lame.

    "We'll send you a signal if everything's safe," Phil added, adjusting the hood of his black cloak. He and Technoblade always went through the portal together first, which left Tommy to go with Wilbur... "And most importantly, don't..."

    "U-Uh, Phil!" Tommy quickly took the bandanna off his face and raised his hand, just when they were about to cross the portal. "Can i talk to you before we go?"

    "Now? Is it important?"

    "It is! It is very important! It's for safety reasons, you can believe me!" Tommy walked over to grab his father by the arm and pull him aside, leaving only Wilbur and Techno to just stand around and impatiently wait for them to come back.

   When Tommy stopped, he still made a point to peek over his shoulder and make sure the other duo wasn't watching them.

    "What is it?" Phil asked.

    "Look, i know it's kinda late to ask for that and all, but... Can i enter the portal with you? Just for today?" The young man's voice suddenly became softer and he placed his hands together. Tommy was begging.

    "Huh? But why? Didn't you always went with Will?" Tommy's gaze then soured.

    "Oh, please, Wilbur this, Wilbur that... I just want to know if we can go together today." Tommy always had a habit of gesturing with his hands when he was angry, and after that, he would cross his arms and look away like a grumpy little kid.

    "Okay, but this is a weird change." He put a hand over Tommy's thick dark brown jacket and got closer to whisper. "Did something happened? You know you can tell me." Phil's thumb massaged his son's shoulder gently. Tommy's angry expression gradually eased, becoming just a saddened frown.

    "It wasn't nothing, Dad. We just fought. Siblings do that." He shrugged, the move pushing away Philza's hand.

    "Okay... But don't hesitate to ask me for help if you need to. You can go with me today." Phil watched Tommy process the answer for a moment, before seeing the blue in his eyes become a little more vivid, but still different from how they had been all week.

    "Thank you." Tommy stopped in place for a minute, looking at his father's torso as if considering what to do next.

   And what came next was a needy, but warm, hug from his son. Tommy had thrown himself hard and carelessly at Phil's direction, causing him to stumble back a little and squeal.

    "Woah! Chill, man!" Phil said, smiling softly as he returned the hug. A past memory lingered in his mind, from when Tommy was still too small and weak to make him trip like that with a hug. He walked away from his son and... Look at him. He's so grown up already, so much more alive than when Phil adopted him. "We should go now." The angel took Tommy's bandanna with two fingers and covered his nose with it. "Techno will complain the shit out of me again if i take too long."

(...)

   As soon as she stepped outside, Puffy took a deep breath of Snowchester's frigid air, taking a few seconds before releasing a graceful cloud of steam into the wind. Something about that process was therapeutic for her. She always did this before setting out to travel the seven seas on her ship, almost as if she wanted to carry a little souvenir of her home before the ride.

   The captain then proceeded to pick up a leather bag hanging from a hanger beside the door, along with her favorite scarf to warm her cold neck. It was a long rainbow scarf with white fur at the ends, which definitely stood out among the sheep lady's black and gold pirate robes.

   Putting on a pair of sunglasses to complete her outfit, Puffy then quickly descended the front stairs and jumped into the soft snow, almost falling on her knees at the end.

   When she was about to leave Snowchester, she passed by Tubbo's cottage.

   It was still pretty early in the morning so she didn't intend to go there and bother him, but soon she saw a depressed silhouette, wrapped around a heavy blanket, on his window and immediately got worried. That couldn't be Tubbo, could it?

   The 'silhouette' caught Puffy's gaze and she waved. He waved back, although way less energetically and and went out of her sight. Puffy followed him, climbing the front steps completely covered in snow that certainly needed a cleaning and waiting at his door.

   Puffy's brow furrowed at the sight in front of her, lifting her sunglasses to take a better look at him.

   Tubbo was wrapped from neck to toe in a thick blanket, perfect for an environment like that, his brown hair was a complete mess, Puffy didn't doubt that it's been a while since he had combed it, and dark circles were beginning settle under his eyes, completing her friend's tired, if not ill, look.

    "Oh my God, Tubbo. Are you okay?"

    "I'm fine, I'm fine..." Tubbo answered in almost a whisper while nodding wearily. Her thin brows drew together at such statements.

    "Can i get in?"

   A rude 'no' and an even grosser 'go away' got stuck in Tubbo's throat. He really wasn't in a good mood today, but he shouldn't take it out on the person who checked on him the most since ever.

    "Sure." He said monotonously, guiding her to his dark kitchen. The whole house was dark, the only thing that served as a source of light were the faint rays of sunlight that streamed through the window glass. It was almost like Tubbo wasn't even there in the first place. "Do you want anything?"

    "Nooo, thanks..." The captain placed her bag on the counter, taking a brief moment to stare at the single still-full cup of coffee lying on the sink, there was nothing else. Something told her Tubbo was worse than she thought. "I just wanted to make sure everything is okay here."

    "Don't you have work today? Won't it be a nuisance to your sailors?" Tubbo asked as he curled up in his chair and covered himself with the blanket.

    "Oh, no, of course not, don't worry about it." The sheep woman pulled out a chair for herself and sat down beside him, sighing. "So... How are you feeling today?"

    "A bit tired, but i can handle it, i always do." Her head tilted to the side in doubt as Tubbo smiled weakly.

    "You're not going out exploring or anything, are you?"

    "Puffy, if i pick up anything heavier than this blanket, i'll die." Tubbo snorted, throwing his neck back and closing his eyes at the ceiling, the smile on his dry lips slowly fading. Who was he trying to fool? He felt terrible. "I'm so fucking exhausted, Puffy..."

    "And why's that?"

    "Nightmares. Awful nightmares." Tubbo leaned forward. "Puffy, i don't know what to do anymore. I can't just stuff myself with coffee anymore so i don't sleep, i... I just don't know what to do..." The ram put his trembling hands on his head, griping hir hair tightly between his fingers. Puffy even heard helpless sniffles coming from him.

    "Oh, Tubbo, i am so sorry for you." She said softly, standing up and approaching him with her arms open. "Can i hug you?"

   Tubbo looked up at the lady in front of him. Her long, wavy brown hair reminded him of someone. Someone he missed as much as he felt a bitterness in his chest whenever he thought of them. But Puffy was way more different.

   "Sure." Tubbo opened his arms as well, welcoming the warm embrace of the sheep's strong arms.

   He could hear the calm heartbeat through her chest, and felt a lull when she started to comb his messy strands with her fingers, brushing the tip against the base of his horns and sometimes behind his fluffy ears, ever so loving. He felt like a cub. An abandoned cub all over again, looking for a gentle hand to comfort and care for him.

    "You remind me of my mom sometimes." Tubbo said without thinking, snuggling against the red shirt under Puffy's jacket decorated with golden buttons.

    "Oh... Was she a good mother?" Puffy continued to stroke his hair.

    "No, it's just your appearance that reminds me of her a little bit."

   Puffy didn't know how to react for a moment.

    "...What?"

    "But it's fine now. I don't need to worry about that anymore." Tubbo then released her small hips, bowing his head and wrapping himself on the blanket once again.

    "Do you dream of her?"

    "Sometimes..." He said with embarrassment.

   Puffy brushed her forefinger against her chin thoughtfully.

    "Y'know, i have an idea of what you do to deal with your nightmares."

(...)

   As Tubbo sat down on the couch, Puffy offered him a notebook and a pen, to which he stared at in confusion.

    "It's simple. All you need to do is write about your nightmares here when you're awake, but, you will add a different ending to them."

   Tubbo blinked a few times to make sure he understood correctly and then glared at Puffy.

    "Puffy, i don't understand how making a dream diary will help me."

    "It'll make your nightmares less intense. You can write anything, as long as the outcome of your nightmare is less terrifying for you."

    "But what if my nightmare is about a bad memory i have?"

    "Then write it down." Tubbo examined the book's brown cover, rubbing his fingers across the rough leather surface. "Start by writing your less terrifying dream, it'll give you the confidence to keep going."

    "... What if it doesn't work?"

    "We'll go slowly, it may take a while, but it will work." She stroked his hair. "I'll be back in a few days, be sure to let me know how your progress is going." Puffy headed to the kitchen to get her bag, leaving Tubbo alone on the living room.

    "Alright..."

    "I'm leaving now," Puffy warned as she approached the wooden door. "Will you be fine by yourself?"

    "Yeah, i will. I might start writing today before sleeping."

   "That's good, bye bye!"

   "Bye."

   Puffy opened the cottage door. But as soon as she did that, the first thing she saw was Tommy, with a fist raised in the air that was supposed to knock on the same door. And he wasn't alone, Phil, Wilbur and Techno were also staring at her as if they had seen a Mob.

    "Tommy?" She looked up at the young man who was way taller than her.

   Tubbo's ears never perked up so fast.

    "Puffy? Puffy!" Tommy opened a wide smile as well as his arms to receive a tight hug from the captain. She almost choked a little with the amount of strength and passion he put into that hug. "What are you doing here? Is Tubbo alright?"

    "Yeah, he'll be. He's just a bit tired today and..."

   Tommy didn't even wait for her to speak and stepped inside the house with a swift. Now it was just her and the other three family members.

    "Uh, hey, it's been a while since i saw you..." Her eyes roamed along the line of men, until they came to rest on Wilbur. "Hello, Wilbur. How is it going?" She asked while folding her arms, a pang of bitterness could be aknowledged if paid a little more attention.

    "Good. As always." Wilbur answered in the same tone and with a grin Puffy absolutely hated to see, genuine or not, she still hated it, and he tucked his hands inside the pockets of his old coat.

    "Very well... Don't waste much of his energy, though. He's already going through a lot." She adjusted the strap of her bag and dodged Wilbur. Phil followed her with his gaze, not following Wilbur and Technoblade into the cottage and approaching her instead.

    "Wait, Puffy!"

   The sheep lady stopped when she was going down the second step, climbing it back up to stay in the same level as Philza.

    "Is... Everything okay? Did Tubbo tell you something?" The angel clasped his hands nervously.

    "He didn't tell you?" She tilted her head sideways, confused.

    "Tell me what?"

   Puffy then put her head in place and her lips parted in surprise. Tubbo didn't tell him, and he certainly didn't tell anyone else.

    "Well... I don't know if i should be sharing this with you without permission, but... Tubbo is suffering from nightmares, so much so that i doubt he's taken care of himself well lately." The hands that had been together near his chest began to lower slowly, Phil looked devastated.

    "Is there... Something i can do? He... He didn't tell me any of that."

    "I already asked him to do a project for me. It's called Imagery Rehearsal Therapy. It might take a while, since it's a slow therapy, but i can assure you it'll help him a lot."

    "What's he been having nightmares about?"

    "Certainly memories. Bad memories. PTSD, i'd say."

    "Oh, my God." He hid his face with his hands, sighing with exhaustion and rubbing his aging skin to see Puffy touching his shoulder. "And this therapy will help him?"

    "Yes, but he will still need your support. Especially yours, Phil."

    "I always try to support him, but he doesn't even tell me what's going on with him! None of them do! I don't know what i'm doing wrong..." He wrapped himself in his cloak, folding his arms against the cold.

    "Parenting is hard, Phil. Show him that you genuinely care for his well-being. He'll open up to you when he feel ready and know that he can trust you, so don't rush him." Phil sighed.

    "Thank you, i guess..."

    "If anything happens, just call me. I'll have to leave Snowchester for a few days, but we can talk better when i get back."

    "Alright. Alright..." He nodded slowly. Puffy gave him one last friendly pat on the shoulder and headed down the stairs.

   Philza finally entered the cottage, pressing his back along with his damaged wings against the spruce door. His icy hands roamed over his stressed face for a short moment, before removing his striped hat and cloak. A few black feathers fell to the floor, but Phil didn't notice and headed towards the living room.

   Wilbur was sitting with the other duo of brothers on the couch, fiddling with the remote pointed at the small TV in front of him while Tommy and Tubbo chatted in mutters. Tommy was curled up with Tubbo under the sheep's blanket, nuzzling his cheek against his shoulder as he listened to him talk about something.

   Technoblade, on the other hand, was more distant and sitting in the armchair next to the couch, and was the first to notice Phil's presence.

    "You took a while," The pigman said, a little worried. Suddenly, all eyes in the room were on him. Phil and Tubbo made eye contact, but it was only for a short while, and Tubbo looked away, as if afraid to see him there.

   Phil wondered once again if he was doing something wrong. He truly loved his son since the day he brought him out of misery, he would never do anything to hurt him on purpose. He just wanted to know what was going on so he could fix it. So he would never see Tubbo look away from him like that again.

    "Are you okay, Phil?" Technoblade asked.

    "Hm? I'm fine, i was just catching up with Puffy." He answered with a smile. Tubbo's ears lowered, he was nervous, and Phil took that as a sign to change the subject. "Uh, why don't you guys turn on the lights?? It's literally pitch black here!"

    "It literally isn't, don't be delusional!" Wilbur protested, aggressively pointing at the TV, but Phil already had his fingers on the switch.

   The next thing everyone saw was the sudden light bothering their eyes, especially Tubbo... And maybe Tommy.

    "AH, FUCK." The two yelled in unison first, with Tubbo hiding his face in the blanket and Tommy 'passing out' on the couch dramatically.

    "And suddenly i'm blind." Techno quickly joined the mockery, taking off his glasses and rubbing his pink eyelids.

    "How could you, Dad." Wilbur chimed in, being the last straw for Phil to roll his eyes.

    "You guys are such softies, spare me of this idiocy." The angel entered the kitchen, but then peeked his head behind the wall to speak to Tubbo. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

    "Um, i just had some coffee a while ago, but... I didn't... Eat anything yet." Tubbo scratched the back of his neck.

    "I can make you something. If anyone wants it too, you better come help me cook." That said, Technoblade was the only one who got up, leaving his furry red coat on the armchair and heading to the kitchen with Phil without saying anything. "Thank you." He smiled and went to assist Techno.

    "Let's wait in my room then." Tubbo suggested, standing up from the couch and stealing the blanket from Tommy.

   Tommy took a short look at Wilbur, who glanced back at him, and got up too, walking hand in hand with Tubbo into the bedroom. Leaving the sighing man all by himself on that living room.

(...)

   Tubbo sat down on the messy sheets, placing the book on his lap as he waited for Tommy to make sure no one else was around and to close the door.

    "So Puffy gave you that book to help you with your nightmares?" Tommy started to question, sitting next to his adoptive brother and watching him write his first sentence on one of the sheets of notebook. His full name, Tubbo Underscore Watson. To this day Tommy doesn't understand why he didn't let them remove the 'Underscore' from his name.

    "Mhm. She said i'm supposed to turn my nightmares less terrifying."

   Tommy watched silently as Tubbo flipped through the empty pages that would soon be filled with the ram's thoughts and bitter memories. He felt bad for Tubbo, for not knowing how to help him or at least knowing what was happening to him.

    "Why didn't you tell me you were struggling?" Tommy asked with a soft voice.

    "... Because i knew you'd be speeding out of the Arctic all by yourself to come here." Tubbo chuckled, but Tommy didn't find it very amusing.

    "Tubbo, i'm serious." Tubbo immediately ceased his laughter. "You've been acting weird lately. What's happening?"

   Tubbo's face fell. So much was happening. So many words got stuck on the tip of his tongue, that the only thing he could do was stay silent about it.

    "It's complicated."

    "Complicated or not, i want to know what's bothering you. We're brothers, man, you can count on me for anything."

   Tubbo couldn't stop a small smile from dawning on his face and he closed his eyes gently.

    "I know."

   Tubbo laid back on the bed, curling up to fit the mattress's position and to feel safer. Tommy, on the other hand, preferred to let his foot dangle off the bed and then rested his cheek in one arm.

    "So? What's going on?" The blonde asked, first receiving a sigh as an answer.

    "Well..." Tubbo looked at the blonde next to him, who was genuinely interested in what he was saying. This will not end well. "It all started when i went missing." Tommy hummed for him to continue. Tubbo's short nails then began to scratch the sheets as he spoke. "I met someone."

   Tommy has already started to frown.

    "Go on..."

    "I was attacked by a horde of Mobs and had to hide in a cave. I hadn't been able to call you, i thought i was going to die... But no, apparently i hid in their cave and they helped me. If it wasn't for them, i don't even think i would be here anymore."

   Tommy was quiet, processing what he had just heard. He wasn't sure if he should feel relieved that Tubbo had been helped, or skeptical that Tubbo was talking to a stranger.

    "Who is this person?" Tubbo looked at him with slightly bulging eyes for a moment, before looking away.

    "Um... We'll get into that later. There's more i need to tell you."

    "There's more??"

    "Yes. They helped me, and in return, i helped them with something. They had a book, a diary... Which belonged to Eret." Tubbo swore that it's been ages since he saw Tommy's eyes widen as they did now.

    "You're joking..."

    "Crazy, isn't it? But i'm not."

    "Ohh... Is that why you were asking about Eret that day???" Tommy sat up, trying not to raise his voice and whispering. Tubbo sat up with him, crossing his legs together. "But how did they find that diary? What was in it?"

    "Honestly, i don't know. Let me finish first and i'll try to answer all your questions."

    "Tubbo, you're making me anxious."

    "Listen... They said they found the diary in a castle that belonged to Eret. And i went there."

    "You did what??!" Tommy questioned a little too loudly and Tubbo scolded him.

    "Shuuush!!" Tommy covered his mouth and they stared at the closed bedroom door. "I went there. I needed to know what happened to him. But..."

   The image of Eret's body in that abandoned bathroom flashed in his mind, as well as in his nightmares, and he began to feel sick. His torso even hunched forward and he flinched, worrying Tommy.

    "Tubbo? Are you okay??" Tommy tried to comfort him, holding him by the shoulders. "Please tell me you're not gonna throw up."

    "I won't. I hope i won't..." Tubbo took a deep breath, still holding his stomach, sometimes sliding his hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat quicken.

    "What happened to Eret?"

    "Eret..." Tubbo stared at his brother in nervousness. "Eret is dead." Tommy widened his eyes and slowly released him, holding his own head instead. "I saw it. I-I saw their corpse. They were hiding all this time. It was too late."

    "God, i think i'll faint." Tommy grunted, pushing his wavy bangs away from his face. "Tubbo, who is this person?"

    "Well, it's not exactly a 'person'. They're... A Mob thing?? They have traits of Endermen with... Something else, a hybrid." Tubbo said it with fascination rather than fear or concern.

    "You hanged out with an Enderman?!" Tubbo's fascination quickly dissipated at that question.

    "We weren't hanging out, i was helping them!"

    "Helping them with what?? To give you more trauma??"

    "Neither of us knew it would happen, Tommy. They even asked me for forgiveness after what happened, it wasn't intentional."

    "And you believe them?"

    "They saved my last life. So yes, i do."

    "What's their name?"

    "You won't tell Dad or Wilbur about that, right?" Tommy got silent. "Tommy, this is serious. If Dad knows, he'll probably just... I don't know, forbid me to even leave the house."

    "He wouldn't do that..."

    "How can you be so sure? He put Wilbur to be your security dog wherever you go!"

    "Don't bring fucking Wilbur into that!" He barked, silencing both of them. "... Okay, i won't tell, but i don't want you around this... Creature or whatever they are."

    "But... Ran... They aren't dangerous."

    "Listen, i don't care if you don't think this 'Ran' is dangerous or not. You don't know that. We don't know that. I don't wanna risk losing you to some stranger."

    "Ranboo is not a stranger..."

    "Oh, so is that their name?? Guess what? I don't care! How can you trust them so easily?!"

    "They literally saved me!"

    "But at what cost?! You don't know if they'll ask you to do some dangerous shit someday. Will you still trust them when they almost get you killed??"

     "They wouldn't do that in first place!"

    "Tubbo." Tommy grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Promise me. Please promise me you won't see them again."

   Tubbo didn't know what to do. He had only known Ranboo for a short time, unlike Tommy, who was one of the only people who stayed by his side when the world abandoned him. They've been through so much, both together and apart. However, Ranboo didn't let Tubbo die alone in that cave. He held him tight when he was on his knees, grieving for a deceased loved one. Ranboo was the one who allowed them to stay together, albeit indirectly.

   So he looked into the eyes of his adoptive brother, his best friend, his strongest bond, and said,

    "I promise."

   And just with an exchange of glances and trembling hands touching, Tommy knew he'd just lied to his face.

    "For real?" Was all Tommy asked.

    "For real." Tubbo nodded.

   Tommy then held their hands together, squeezing them without hurting. They were warm, inviting Tommy's thumbs to caress the ram's slender fingers. And finally, he sighed.

    "Okay, thanks for telling me." He let go of Tubbo's hands. Tubbo could feel his disappointment.

   The ram laid down again, being imitated by Tommy, who stayed side by side with him, leaving just some inches of space between them.

   Then the door knocked. Tommy jumped from his position, causing his head to feel light and grunting once again because of that.

    "Dude, be careful!" Tubbo warned.

   It was Wilbur.

    "Hey, uh, the food is ready. Phil is calling you to come eat."

    "Just a sec." Tubbo unwrapped himself from the blanket, leaving it on the bed and tucking his hands inside the pockets of his baby blue hoodie underneath.

   Tommy had already risen first and was just waiting for Tubbo to join him. When he walked through the door, he made a point of dodging Wilbur as if he was the plague. And he noticed that, yet, all he did was follow them.

   In the kitchen, Tommy and Tubbo sat side by side, while Will sat with Technoblade across the table. Giving even more the impression that they were enemy teams, and Phil was the angel keeping a war from happening only by his presence.

   As Tubbo took a bite of the sandwich his father made him, he ended up staring out the window, or rather, at the little decoration in the corner of it.

   A blue flower, still as vivid as the day it was given to him. Tubbo kept it, although knowing that it wouldn't live for long.

   And even though he had promised, Tubbo still wasn't so sure of what he would do in a few days.

(...)

   Night fell, and the Mobs were already starting to come out of their shadowy havens and spread out. Ranboo never had to worry about being attacked by one of them, maybe just by zombies or creepers who think they're so funny to scare someone with their explosive hisses.

   Ranboo walked through the forest with an axe over their shoulders, their favorite weapon since they learned to use one, looking for someone. For Non-Enderians. Careless beings who often camp in these surroundings and leave their items unattended.

   However, Ranboo didn't specifically look for riches or things like that among their stuff, unless it was something that caught the attention of their eyes drawn to shine.

   They were looking for an item much desired by Non-Enderians, something they steal from their kind constantly, so Ranboo didn't consider stealing them back wrong.

    An eye of the ender.

   Those items can only be gained by killing Endermen, as far as Ranboo knows. Ranboo didn't want to kill his own species, even if all they did was just stare at him coldly and then walk away, so he only went after their hunters.

   That diamond axe was only used a few times. Ranboo only used it to defend himself against hunters who were too interested in having his head. It was just a process of taking what he wanted and leaving, just like any other Enderman would do.

   An orange light could be seen not far away, which Ranboo assumed was a bonfire. He approached the clearing behind the trees, another camp. There was only one fire and one tent, strangely, the traveler's backpacks and a pickaxe were left outside. There were no dogs or any other kind of protection, and the traveler seemed to be already asleep inside the tent.

   "Noob." Ranboo thought.

   His long legs walked to the other side of the small camp where the items were, ever so silent. Ranboo crouched down as he faced the large backpack, something seemed like wrong, he would generally find it easier to open this kind of storage, but this backpack seemed to have been thoughtfully organized and locked, so even if Ranboo rubbed his fingertips through it's pockets to feel the presence of something round, he wouldn't recognize the eye, there was too much stuff in that bag.

   Ranboo stared at that for a while longer, the tip of his tail waving distractedly behind him, completely unaware that he was no longer alone, until he decided that he should leave.

   The Enderman was about to get up, when his pointy ears perked up at the sound of a crossbow being loaded right behind his head and he froze.

    "Well, but aren't you a pretty thing?" Ranboo heard the traveler purr. No wonder he felt something was wrong, it was a trap, and he fell for it like a fool. "You're pretty famous around these parts, stealing things from explorers... How unpolite, man!" They laughed, flipping their long, brown hair. "Wait until they hear i've caught you in the act. I think you're going to be a great pet for me."

   Pet? A pet?!

   Ranboo's pupils contracted and he gritted his teeth with a growl, some purple particles began to appear near his feet, Ranboo wasn't anywhere near to be a damn pet! Especially to a stupid Non-Enderian like this one.

    "Listen, i know you can understand me. So i'd like you to collaborate and..." That was the moment when the last thing the traveler saw was airborne end particles. Ranboo teleported, appearing right behind them with his axe held high.

    They turned just as the axe was descending, narrowly missing a terrible axe on the shoulder. The fox managed to gain distance, getting into position and preparing their crossbow.

     "Oh, so you wanna fight? Let's fight then!" They growled as well, aiming at Ranboo's lower body.

   Ranboo narrowed his eyes at them, they always go for the legs, and began to run in circles as arrows began to shoot towards him, some even passing through the fire and falling too close to his feet.

   He managed to dodge most of the arrows, but at some point he would be caught out of tiredness, and that's what happened.

   Ranboo tried to jump again to dodge an arrow, but his energy had already drastically depleted and he couldn't go very high. The arrow hit him right in the thigh and Ranboo stumbled, his back hitting the ground with a thud and a loud scream.

   The traveler, as tired as he was, smirked in victory and approached him.

   After a while, Ranboo could no longer breathe properly as the traveler's weight had settled on his chest, his arms had been immobilized by their knees trapping them. His leg tried to move, but a horrible pain caused it to remain on the ground. Ranboo was caught.

    "On second thought..." They began, panting, and pulled a small dagger from their pocket. A gloved paw grabbed Ranboo's throat firmly, choking him, and Ranboo whimpered. "Catching you dead must be more valuable. Those cute little eyes would make a nice decoration for an Ender chest." They pointed the dagger at Ranboo's face, who widened his eyes. Suddenly, everything felt like in slow motion.

   Ranboo threw his head back. That's it, he'll die. He'll die and his body parts will be sold to traders interested in rare hybrids like him, that was what he feared most.

   And he's going to die alone.

   There was no one else beside him, there never was. He doesn't know where his parents are, he doesn't have friends... He doesn't know where Tubbo is.

   A single tear ran down the side of his eyelids, burning his sensitive skin. It's been days since he saw him. Just when he thought he was finally making a friend. It must have been the situation at the castle, Ranboo knew Tubbo was mad at him and he just wanted to know a way to tell him it wasn't on purpose. He wanted to apologize one more time, he wanted to at least speak to him one last time, to hear his voice and see him smile again because of him, before forgetting everything.

   Ranboo closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come together with his heartache...

   But it never did. He almost thought he had passed out and somehow was just living in his subconscious, but he could still hear zombies growling and knew he was still alive.

   He opened his eyes, still seeing the dagger hovering dangerously over his head, along with an alarmed traveler watching the forest.

   Two zombies came at them at the same time and the traveler quickly got off Ranboo, going to fight the zombies with only the dagger in hand.

   Ranboo took advantage of their distraction and took his axe back. There was no hesitation when Ranboo pushed the traveler closer towards the zombies.

    "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" They shouted, before screaming in pain after a zombie finally bit them.

   Ranboo immediately used his axe for support and tried to get out of there as quickly as possible, even though he was still limping and too tired to teleport. Obviously he wouldn't stay to watch the traveler get devoured by the zombies.

   Screw the eyes, he had something else more important to worry about.