Chapter Text
How strange it is, to become alive so suddenly. To simply start existing, when everything before had been light. To suddenly start hearing, seeing, feeling.
But then, how perfectly natural, as if he had always been alive. Always existed.
He awoke, as if from a dream. A long, pleasant dream that he couldn’t quite remember but which comforted him to think about. A dream that he knew was real but that he couldn’t quite understand. He remembered very little of it--just endless light, and a voice beckoning him to wake.
So he awoke, alive for the first time. It felt strange. Feeling was a strange thing on its own. He thought--he thought, and was startled by his own thoughts. How strange it is to think!
He laid there for a moment, in the numbness of feeling everything all at once. Slowly, he began to focus on one new sensation at a time, each one gradually becoming more defined.
Listening. The sounds around him drifted to his ears and it somehow felt right. An airy whistle that seemed to be everywhere, a rippling splash that wrapped around him, and a distant, deep ringing that was barely audible from wherever it came.
Seeing. The light when he opened his eyes was not as brilliant as he had expected. Around him stretched water in all directions as far as he could see, reflections of the sun dancing on its surface. Before him ran a sandy stretch of land, a near-mountainous rock reaching from the ground and standing proud, blocking his path. Beyond that, he saw only the clouds and a distant light.
Feeling. The calm breeze ruffled his white hair and kicked up sand against his legs, disturbing his long, baggy shirt and pants. The sand fell away from his hands and feet, warm and soft as he sat up. Warm sunlight landed on his face and arms and it reminded him of the endless light from his “dream.”
Standing slowly, carefully, his bare foot brushed against something on the ground, something he hadn’t noticed there before. A hard, round object that had a curve to its surface. He picked it up and, upon closer examination, noticed it had two small holes like eyes. The thing almost looked like a face. A featureless face, at least. (How strange but so oddly natural to recognize what a face must look like.)
A mask.
He was holding a mask.
A smooth, featureless, wooden mask.
He smiled--it felt good to smile--and tried fitting the mask to his face. It fit perfectly.
Brushing the sand off his plain, baggy clothes, he turned his eyes once again to the distant light. A shimmering beam past the clouds shooting into the sky and beckoning him to follow it. Unsure what else he was meant to do, he followed the light’s wordless call and walked forward.
Though a new experience, he found walking rather easy. Natural. The pink sand felt soft beneath his feet as he took each step.
As he neared the rock formation, the large black structure loomed over his small form and left him in shadow. It was… intimidating, almost, yet beautiful. He stared in wonder for a moment. Scanning the rock formation’s surface, he noticed an opening. A large opening that led to a winding cave.
As he slowly drew nearer to the cave’s entrance, a flock of stunning white birds burst out. Their wings flapped in unison as they let out chirps like music, and their pure feathers gave off light. Before he could move the birds were upon him, flying around him once, twice, singing their song before flying off as suddenly as they had come. Their presence gave him a sense of peace as he marched on in his curious journey.
At last, he took a step into the cave. Instantly, the walls came alive with illumination as carvings of light appeared. Shining images of people with peculiar clothing, and stars--a sky of twinkling stars, with some falling to the ground.
He reached out and carefully touched the wall, drawn to the shining carvings, and more stars appeared. They appeared farther down the wall and, as he moved toward them, even more twinkled in the distance. The stars guided him through the cave, lighting his way as his footsteps echoed off the rough stone walls, until he reached a new opening.
The cave opened onto a small cliff, the view before him taking his breath away. Beyond the cliff, the sandy desert stretched on with the occasional monolith declaring its presence, the vast expanse meeting two great walls of cloud. Between the clouds, he could make out a silhouette of what looked like a castle, rays of light shining down from beyond in a way that filled him with awe. The howling of the wind only added to the majesty of it all. He could have stared at this scene for ages.
His attention was drawn from the splendor before him by a light catching the corner of his eye. Sharing the rocky cliff with him, off to the side, stood a figure not too unlike himself. The figure appeared to be about his size, clothed about the same way, but there was one major thing that set it apart.
The figure was made entirely of a brilliant, golden light.
“Hello…?” he said, almost startled by his own voice.
But the gleaming figure gave no response. It merely stood with its gaze turned toward the skies.
Confused, he drew closer. He stood in front of the figure, but it did not seem to acknowledge him. Cautiously, he reached for the glowing hand.
At his touch, the figure dissipated into a million pinpoints of golden light, each one surrounding him and enveloping him. He was startled by the suddenness, but he felt no fear. The light was warm, calming. It felt like the endless light that he could barely remember. Slowly, he could feel it changing. Moving. It wasn’t changing itself, but changing him. He felt warmer. Lighter. Better.
When the light faded, he looked over himself. Now, over his plain clothing, on his shoulders rested a cape, similar to those he saw in the carvings. His was a dark brown material that wrapped around his shoulders and arms, coming together in front, and reached his thighs with the edges trimmed like feathers. The whole thing gave off a soft glow. Wearing it just felt… right.
Looking back over the edge of the cliff, he noticed another gleaming figure on the sandy ground below, among some black rocks poking out of the sand. He wanted to get to it, he felt that he was meant to, but he didn’t know how.
He took another step, leaning over the edge of the cliff to find a way down. A little farther. A little more. How far down was it? Maybe if he could just--
He fell.
His foot slipped and he tripped over the edge of the cliff. In a moment of panic he flapped his new cape like a pair of wings. He rose in the air just a little bit, and he let out a yelp of surprise.
Wait.
A yelp?
That didn’t sound right. The noise didn’t sound like a word, and certainly didn’t sound like his voice. But he had made it. Huh. He could only describe it as a honk.
The calm breeze caught under his cape and carried him gently to the sandy ground. How did that happen? Why did he use his cape like wings? It was as if he did it on instinct. Or… had he done it at all? He didn’t remember even touching the cape, so had it done that on its own?
When he finally settled to the ground, he started laughing to himself. That was kind of fun. He laughed, and as he laughed he let out another honk. Wait, maybe he could do that on purpose. He took in a breath and…
“Honk.”
He did it. It made him laugh harder.
Another breath and a “Honk.”
This was fun. He kept honking for a moment. The sound was so peculiar and yet it felt so natural. It sounded more like music than a voice.
One more. He took a slow, deep breath, braced himself, and with all his might let out one big “HONK.”
He fell back laughing. Had he seen light shine off of him with that one? He stayed there for a moment, lying on his back still giggling, until he heard something.
Off in the distance, past a large sand dune, he heard a noise. It sounded similar to his own honking, but lower. A deeper tone. The honking came rapidly, and seemed to get closer until…
He saw another figure crest the sand dune. He couldn’t make out any details about them, but they seemed tall. They stopped honking for a moment as they appeared to scan the area for something. For him. Then suddenly the figure rose into the air, lifted by their cape and carried by the breeze. They floated effortlessly to the base of the dune before starting to run the rest of the way, waving a hand over their head and honking.
He wondered what they wanted.
When they got a bit closer, they stopped honking and he could hear their voice. “Hey! Hey you, moth! Are you alright?” The stranger skidded to a stop a few feet away.
He sat up and got a better look at the stranger, now able to take in their appearance. They were tall, far taller than he was. They wore a cape that was mostly a deep purple, with the edges trimmed in a different color--one half trimmed in black, the other trimmed in white. Their mask was decorated similarly, with one half painted black with some green markings around the small purple eye hole, and the other side white with similar markings painted in red. The top of the mask had an extra piece that resembled… well, either a crown or horns, it was hard to tell. Their pants, unlike his own baggy shorts, were long, but they wore the same plain shirt.
“...What?”
The stranger slid his mask to rest on the side of his head, revealing his face--a kind enough looking face with one green eye and one red, their white bangs nearly covering the green one. “I said ‘are you alright?’ I heard you honking, I thought you were in trouble.” Their voice was deeper than his. It matched their honk.
“Oh.” He blinked. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just thought it sounded funny. I mean, I did fall, but I’m not hurt or anything.”
“You thought it sounded…” the stranger trailed off, laughing softly. “Okay. Well anyway, I’m Ranboo. What’s your name?
He tilted his head at the stranger--at Ranboo--in confusion. “Name?”
Ranboo looked just as confused now. “Yes? What’s your-- Wait!” He slapped a hand to his forehead, sliding it down his face in...pain? Embarrassment? “Oh don’t tell me I’m the first person you’ve met.”
“You are. I think. Why?” He slid his mask to the side the same way Ranboo had done.
He let out a long sigh. “Because that means I’m supposed to name you.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
The taller boy peeked at him through his own hand. “I’m really bad at coming up with names.”
He shrugged. “I’m sure you can’t be that bad.” He wasn’t entirely sure what a name was, or how one could be bad at coming up with them.
Ranboo let out another long sigh before abruptly clapping his hands together. “Alright, fine, but you can’t complain if it’s bad.”
He waited. There was silence. He shifted uncomfortably as Ranboo took a long moment to look him up and down.
“Bo.”
“‘...Bo?’”
“I don’t know, man! I told you I’m bad at this!” He buried his face in his hand again. “T… Tu… Bo..?
“‘Tu.. Bo…’” He looked down, thoughtfully for a moment. “Tu-bo… Tubbo!” He smiled. “I like it, big man!”
Ranboo let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank the stars. I thought you were gonna hate it, I thought-” he paused and grinned. “Wait, what did you just call me?”
“Uh…” Tubbo reddened just a bit, “big man? I mean, you--you are rather big… compared to me.”
The taller boy gave a small nod. “Fair.” For a short moment, he glanced around the sandy landscape before looking back at Tubbo. “You haven’t forged a candle yet, have you?”
He hesitated. In all honesty, he had no idea what a candle was. “Um, no… What’s a candle?”
Ranboo laughed. It was lighthearted, and Tubbo felt comforted by it rather than embarrassed. “Here, let me show you.”
And then the purple-cloaked boy put his hands together in front of him. A soft glow started to rise from between his hands, and light, liquid light, started to form with an occasional drop falling to the sandy ground. Ranboo molded the thick, waxy liquid light as it slowly solidified into a white cylinder, a single flame dancing at its tip.
Tubbo watched in wonder, mesmerized as the candle formed before his eyes. The light around the flame created a subtle halo of different colors and cast a warm glow on the two of them. It was beautiful.
“This is a candle,” Ranboo said with a smile, “and it’s for you.”
“For me?”
He nodded, holding the newly forged object out for the shorter boy to take. “If you want, of course.”
Slowly, carefully, Tubbo reached for the candle. When his hand made contact with its smooth, flawless surface, it melted down into glowing wax. The glowing mass gradually broke up, splitting into a million droplets--pinpoints of liquid light--and spiraled around him. He was enveloped in its warm embrace, but the warmth did not come from the heat of the melted wax. Warmth welled up inside him as he felt a bubbly excitement. When the luminescent substance around him dissipated, it left a contented smile on his face.
“That was weird,” he said, still smiling nonetheless. “What did that do?”
“It’s… kinda difficult to explain. So, hmmm.” Ranboo looked down thoughtfully for a moment. “Here, let’s try this. You turn around, or better yet close your eyes.”
Dutifully, he closed his eyes and kept them shut.
“Good, now, what do you see?”
“I… don’t see anything, big man. My eyes are closed.”
“It’s not literally seeing, like, with your eyes. Just try and focus, you’ll get what I mean.”
So he focused. He kept his eyes shut and he focused on whatever his new friend meant by “not literally seeing” and he waited. Then he saw it. Well, no, he didn’t see it. But he sensed it, he felt it. And he almost saw it, too. It was almost as if there was a light, distant and small but also so close, in the blackness of his blocked vision. This pinpoint, this presence that he felt and almost saw, felt warm and familiar, but also new.
“Is that… you?” He opened his eyes again, finally, to see Ranboo, unsurprisingly, where he had--or, hadn’t--seen him.
“Yep! That’s me,” Ranboo said with a wide grin. “We’re connected now. There’s more to it, but I’ll let my friends explain it to you better. For now…” He held his hand out to Tubbo, “come with me, I have more to show you.”