Chapter Text
Ranboo had only been traveling with Tubbo and Tommy for a few months, but he already knew how most days would go. Wake up, check that they are still on course to the next planet, eat, get into trouble around the ship, sleep, repeat. Get more data on where they are heading. Make ship repairs if needed. Take inventory. It got mundane after a while, but that was something Ranboo liked. He enjoyed sitting in the pilot’s seat while his companions would chase each other, their lifelong friendship shining through.
When Ranboo was rescued from a crumbling planet by the duo, he didn’t expect to be so comfortable around them. Tubbo attached himself to him immediately. Tommy was a little rougher, claiming that Ranboo “stole Tubbo from him” (Tubbo told Ranboo that Tommy’s just clingy), but soon he would playfully insult Ranboo. Ranboo was confused at first, but he saw him do the same to Tubbo, so he assumed it was a form of affection.
Tubbo let out a gasp from where he was staring at the console. “Great news! The next place we land is supposed to be inhabited.”
Tommy laughed from where he was doing diagnostics on the ship. “Thank god, you know I love both of you like brothers, but I could really stand to talk to some other people.”
The last time they had landed, the planet only had some rocky terrain and strange crystals, which Tubbo had taken with him to examine. The time before that was when they had met Ranboo.
Ranboo had been stuck underground for so long, trapped there by the king’s guards. They made it look like an accident to the rest of the world. “⏁⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⍙⏃⌇ ⏃⋏ ⟒⏃⍀⏁⊑⍾⎍⏃☍⟒. (There was an earthquake.) ” They would tell the townspeople. “⍙⟒ ⍙⟒⍀⟒ ⌰⎍☊☍⊬ ⏁⍜ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⟒⌇☊⏃⌿⟒⎅ ⍜⎍⍀⌇⟒⌰⎐⟒⌇, ⏚⎍⏁ ⏁⊑⟒ ☊⊑⟟⌰⎅ ⍙⏃⌇ ⏁⍀⏃⌿⌿⟒⎅. ( We were lucky to have escaped ourselves, but the child was trapped.) ”
No one would mention how he was pushed to the ground and nearly crushed to death.
Luckily for Ranboo, whatever his other half was did not need to eat, so food wasn’t a huge issue in his predicament. He could try to dig his way out, but that wouldn’t get him very far. He resigned himself to waiting for someone to get him.
He lost track of time very quickly in the cave. There wasn’t much to do other than sleep or stare at the walls. When you sleep all the time, it’s very easy to forget what time it is. There were frequent earthquakes, decreasing in intervals as time went on. The roof of the cave threatened to fall with every tremor, but never did.
On the day that the earthquakes didn’t stop, the entrance of the cave was blasted open. When the smoke cleared, Ranboo saw a boy with horns who was easily a foot shorter than he was. He had shaggy brown hair that nearly covered his eyes. The newcomer looked at him and smiled maniacally. “Holy shit! I knew I’d find something down here.”
“⍙⊑⍜ ⏃⍀⟒ ⊬⍜⎍? (Who are you?)” Ranboo asked, his voice hoarse from lack of use.
“I can’t understand you, boss man.” The newcomer held out his hand. “Come with me if you don’t want to get crushed to death.”
Ranboo couldn’t understand what he was saying, but he took his hand anyway. He just wanted to leave the cave. “⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⟟⌇ ⊑⏃⌿⌿⟒⋏⟟⋏☌? (What is happening?)” As soon as Ranboo was standing, the pair was running through tunnels. The kid was screaming about something, but Ranboo paid no attention to it. After all, he was speaking a language that Ranboo couldn’t understand.
Ranboo fell at one point, pain shooting up his leg. The kid quickly put Ranboo’s arm around his shoulders (Ranboo had to crouch a bit) and helped him out. On the surface, buildings were crumbling and large cracks were starting to form in the ground. Ranboo’s heart dropped as he watched his home get torn apart.
The pair kept moving. The kid started yelling into an earpiece that Ranboo had not noticed. “Tommy, start the ship!” Ranboo couldn’t hear what the other person said. “This planet is literally going to fall apart any second. I found something in the cave system, but we need to go before we get stuck here.”
Ranboo was taken to a weird-looking vehicle before entering, spotting another person. He was wearing red and had both curly blond hair and small, black wings on his back. He said something that Ranboo couldn’t understand and they got on the ship. The guy with wings ran to a seat and started pressing buttons, and soon enough the trio was flying away from Ranboo’s home, watching as the planet split into pieces.Tears started leaking out of Ranboo’s eyes, the tracks burning a path in his skin.
The guy with horns took Ranboo to another room, helping him sit on a bench. He left for a little while, coming back with a first aid kit. He started wrapping Ranboo’s ankle up, chattering on about something Ranboo could not understand. Ranboo only realized he asked a question when he stopped and looked at him. “⟟ ☊⏃⋏'⏁ ⎍⋏⎅⟒⍀⌇⏁⏃⋏⎅ ⊬⍜⎍ ⏃⏁ ⏃⌰⌰. (I can’t understand you at all.)” Ranboo offered, knowing the words would not be comprehended.
“Man, I really need to fix my translator. Probably should also make you one too.” The guy with wings came into the room as he said that. He did not look happy.
“Tubbo, do you mind explaining what the fuck is going on?” The other guy crossed his arms.
“Do we have any extra translators? Mine broke.”
“Don’t avoid the question!”
“Well I’d be able to explain a lot better if I had a working translator!”
Wings turned towards Ranboo. “Do you speak English, pal?” Ranboo gave him a blank stare, and that’s all that Wings needed. He turned towards Horns. “We only have one backup, and I’m giving it to him.” Horns made an offended noise. “Tubbo, you just kidnapped him from his home, and he can’t understand you. He’s probably terrified.” Horns looked down at his shoes.
Wings came back a few minutes later holding an earpiece connected to a box via wire. He made a motion with it by his ear that Ranboo interpreted as putting the piece in his ear. As Ranboo was fitting the device, Wings flipped a switch on the box. Once Ranboo was all set up, Wings said, “Can you understand me now?” The sentence translated to Enderspeak in his ear.
“⊬⟒⌇, ⟟ ☊⏃⋏ ⋏⍜⍙. (Yes, I can now.) ” Ranboo responded.
“Perfect, awesome. What’s your name?” Wings asked.
“⟟'⋔ ⍀⏃⋏⏚⍜⍜. ⍙⊑⏃⏁'⌇ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ☌⎍⊬⌇' ⋏⏃⋔⟒⌇? (I’m Ranboo. What’s your guys’ names?) ”
“What did he say? What did he say?” Ranboo didn’t know the “he” that Horns was referring to.
Wings sighed. “I was getting there. You gotta give me a minute.” He took a breath. “His name is Ranboo.” Wings turned towards him. “Sorry about my friend. My name is Tommy, and that’s Tubbo. We’re space travelers.”
Tubbo jumped in excitedly. “Why were you in that cave Ranboo?”
“⏁⊑⟒ ☍⟟⋏☌'⌇ ☌⎍⏃⍀⎅⌇ ⏁⍀⏃⌿⌿⟒⎅ ⋔⟒ ⟟⋏ ⏁⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏃ ⌰⍜⋏☌ ⏁⟟⋔⟒ ⏃☌⍜ ⏚⟒☊⏃⎍⌇⟒ ⟟'⋔ ⋏⍜⏁ ⎎⎍⌰⌰⊬ ⟒⋏⎅⟒⍀⟟⏃⋏. (The king's guards trapped me in there a long time ago because I'm not fully Enderian.)” When Tommy and Tubbo gave him a confused look, he continued. “⏁⊑⟒ ⌿⌰⏃⋏⟒⏁ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⍙⟒ ⟊⎍⌇⏁ ⌰⟒⎎⏁ ⟟⌇- ⍙⏃⌇- ☊⏃⌰⌰⟒⎅ ⟒⋏⎅⟒⍀. ⟟'⋔ ⏃ ⊑⊬⏚⍀⟟⎅ ⍜⎎ ⏁⊑⟒ ⟒⋏⎅⟒⍀⟟⏃⋏ ⍀⏃☊⟒ ⏃⋏⎅ ⌇⍜⋔⟒⏁⊑⟟⋏☌ ⟒⌰⌇⟒ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⟟'⋔ ⋏⍜⏁ ⌇⎍⍀⟒ ⍜⎎. ⏁⊑⟒ ☍⟟⋏☌ ⎅⟟⎅⋏'⏁ ⌰⟟☍⟒ ⌿⟒⍜⌿⌰⟒ ⍙⊑⍜ ⍙⟒⍀⟒⋏'⏁ ⎎⎍⌰⌰⊬ ⟒⋏⎅⟒⍀⟟⏃⋏, ⌇⍜ ⏁⊑⟒ ☍⟟⋏☌ ⌇⌰⍜⍙⌰⊬ ⏁⍀⟟⟒⎅ ⏁⍜ ☌⟒⏁ ⍀⟟⎅ ⍜⎎ ⏁⊑⟒⋔. ⏁⊑⟒ ☌⎍⏃⍀⎅⌇ ⏁⍀⏃⌿⌿⟒⎅ ⋔⟒ ⟟⋏ ⏁⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏁⊑⟟⋏☍⟟⋏☌ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⟟ ⍙⍜⎍⌰⎅ ⎅⟟⟒ ⍜⎎ ⌇⏁⏃⍀⎐⏃⏁⟟⍜⋏, ⏚⎍⏁ ⟟ ⎅⍜⋏'⏁ ⋏⟒⟒⎅ ⏁⍜ ⟒⏃⏁. ⏁⊑⟒ ⟒⏃⍀⏁⊑⍾⎍⏃☍⟒⌇ ⍙⟒⍀⟒⋏'⏁ ⏃⌇ ⏚⏃⎅ ⏚⏃☊☍ ⏁⊑⟒⋏ ⏃⌇ ⏁⊑⟒⊬ ⍙⟒⍀⟒ ⍙⊑⟒⋏ ⊬⍜⎍ ☌⎍⊬⌇ ⍀⟒⌇☊⎍⟒⎅ ⋔⟒. (The planet that we just left is- was- called Ender. I'm a hybrid of the Enderian race and something else that I'm not sure of. The king didn't like people who weren't fully Enderian, so the king slowly tried to get rid of them. The guards trapped me in there thinking that I would die of starvation, but I don't need to eat. The earthquakes weren't as bad back then as they were when you guys rescued me.) ”
Tommy relayed the information back to Tubbo. Tubbo looked at Ranboo. “So I guess kidnapping you wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Sorry about that by the way, big man. Your planet was kinda fucked, so I figured I was doing you a favor.”
“⊑⍜⍙ ⎅⟟⎅ ⊬⍜⎍ ☍⋏⍜⍙ ⟟'⎅ ⏚⟒ ⟟⋏ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ☊⏃⎐⟒? ⟒⎐⟒⍀⊬⍜⋏⟒ ⏁⊑⍜⎍☌⊑⏁ ⟟ ⍙⏃⌇ ⎅⟒⏃⎅. (How did you know I’d be in that cave? Everyone thought I was dead.)”
Tommy answered for Tubbo. “Oh, he has this weird sixth sense about things like that. He’s usually the one who scavenges for things we need.”
Tubbo practically jumped onto Ranboo. “You can travel around with us now! I promise that it’s a lot of fun, and you get to see new places!” Tubbo paused, thinking about his words. “I mean, it’s not like you can say no. You’re already on the ship.”
Ranboo sighed. “⊬⟒⏃⊑ ⌇⎍⍀⟒. ☊⏃⋏ ⟟ ⏃⌇☍ ⌇⍜⋔⟒ ⍾⎍⟒⌇⏁⟟⍜⋏⌇ ⏁⊑⍜⎍☌⊑? (Yeah sure. Can I ask some questions though?) ” The duo nodded in response.
It turned into a mini interview of sorts. Ranboo asked basic questions: where they were from (a planet called Minecraftia), how old they were (both 17), how long they’d known each other (pretty much all their lives), are they related (no, but it’s also a little complicated), what kind of hybrids they were (Tubbo was a Moobloom hybrid, and Tommy was an Avian), how long they’ve been in space (3 years). However, when Ranboo asked why they were traveling through space, their expressions got dark, and they avoided the question.
There was silence for about 30 seconds before Tommy spoke. “Tubbo, you really didn’t think this through.”
Tubbo tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, first of all, we’re gonna be going through more food now-“
“He literally said he doesn’t need to eat.” Tubbo interrupted.
“Let me finish. Secondly, we don’t have anywhere to put him. This ship was made for us and us alone. We don’t have room. Also, he doesn’t speak English. We have translators, yes, but what happens when they die?”
“The space thing is easy. I’ll just move into your room with you.”
Tommy groaned. “I don’t wanna room with Tubbo!”
“We kidnapped him-“
“ You kidnapped him”
“-the least we could do is give him his own room.”
Tommy stood up and sighed dramatically. “Fine, fine. You can figure out all the logistics of that. I’m going to go make sure we don’t crash.” Tommy took out his translator and threw it at Tubbo. “Don’t scare him too much Tubso.”
Tubbo rolled his eyes and smiled, turning to Ranboo. “Welcome to the crew, Ranboo. Sorry again about kidnapping you.” Tubbo reached out his hand, the second time in a few hours. “Your ankle was only sprained, so you should be okay to walk on it now that it was wrapped up. C’mon, I’ll show you your room.”
Tubbo rambled on and on about his things and the other planets they have adventured to. He talked extensively about the tape recorders he spoke into.
“They’re fantastic because I see so much that I can’t write it all down. Not that I can write it down anyways- I’m dyslexic so I can’t read. Besides, it's so much easier to talk. And-and, sometimes the sounds of the planet pick up on the recording, and I could never describe them with words.” He gathered up various rocks and plants in his arms; Ranboo had to help him because there was so much. “This ship is really cool. My brother designed it, and it can essentially morph to what we need. I used to just study this stuff in my room because it was easier, but now I can turn one of the storage rooms into a lab.”
“⍙⊑⊬ ⎅⍜⋏'⏁ ⊬⍜⎍ ⟊⎍⌇⏁ ⋔⍜⍀⌿⊑ ⏁⊑⟒ ⏚⟒⎅⍀⍜⍜⋔⌇ ⟟⋏⏁⍜ ⏁⊑⍀⟒⟒ ⍀⍜⍜⋔⌇? (Why don’t you just morph the bedrooms into three rooms?”
“We can only morph the storage rooms. To be fair, I don’t think my brother thought that we would gain another person. But Tommy and I essentially shared a room before anyways.”
Ranboo liked to listen to Tubbo talk. Tubbo would talk about things that Ranboo had no clue about, but he liked to hear the passion in the Moobloom hybrid’s voice. Despite being essentially kidnapped by the pair, he found himself wanting to know more about them.
Especially the reason they’ve been traveling through the universe for the past 3 years.
Getting used to each other was a learning curve. Tubbo started off teaching Ranboo how to speak and read and write in English, but Tommy quickly took over once he realized what was happening. Instead of teaching Ranboo English, Tubbo taught him how to do all the ship tasks. Ranboo picked up on those a lot quicker than he did the English language. (Enderians did not have a concept of personal pronouns, for example. Tommy and Tubbo found it hilarious when he asked who “he” was everytime they talked about each other. They explained to the best of their ability, and Ranboo settled on he/him for his personal pronouns.)
It took a few months, but Ranboo could speak English almost fluently. There were times where he made mistakes, of course, but they were becoming less and less frequent. Ranboo even taught them some Enderian phrases as well. Ranboo enjoyed Tommy and Tubbo’s presence.
“What’s the planet called?” Ranboo asked.
Tubbo squinted at the screen. “Manifoldland? That’s what the locals call it.”
Tommy scoffed. “That’s a fucking stupid name for a planet. Sounds like the name of a country that an elementary schooler made and named after themselves.”
Tubbo and Ranboo laughed, then the former read something else and groaned. “It’s apparently really hot there.”
Tommy also groaned. “Why can’t we go to an icy planet. I hate the heat.”
Tommy and Tubbo hated the heat because they grew up in the cold; Ranboo hated the heat because his sweat literally burned his skin. This planet would be an experience for all of them. Whether it was good or bad had yet to be decided.
“We should be there in a few hours,” Ranboo alerted them, “We should prepare.”
Tommy nodded and went to gather the supplies they needed. Tubbo took one more glance over the console before running off to grab a bag and his tape recorder. Ranboo wished there was a way for him to not sweat, but unfortunately Enderians are warm-blooded. He would just have to mentally prepare himself for constant burning.
Soon enough, the planet was approaching, with Tubbo all but jumping from excitement. Tommy rolled his eyes and told him to sit down so they could land without injury. Ranboo eased the ship onto the planet with ease, which was impressive for his first time landing. The group stepped out of the ship into the heat, sweat already forming on their foreheads.