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“Tubbo! Tubbo, wake up you lazy ass!” Tommy banged on Tubbo’s door. It was about mid-morning, and the blond really didn’t need to be as loud as he was.
“What the fuck, man? Micheal’s asleep, what do you need so badly you had to break my fucking door down for?” Tubbo answered the door, decked out in pajama pants and a hoodie, clearly having just woken up. Micheal had likely kept the ram hybrid up late, Tommy thought. Poor man had to put him to bed alone last night. Which reminded Tommy why he was there.
“Your husband has been lurking around my yard all night, and he is ruining my lawn with all the grass blocks he is pulling up,” Tommy explained. “Normally I wouldn’t mind them enderwalking nearby, but I don’t think he’s ever enderwalked for so long before.”
“Trust me, they’ve enderwalked for days before. But yeah, I can see how that’s annoying, just give me a few minutes.” Tubbo responded, still sleepy.
As Tubbo shut the door, Tommy simply looked around. He doesn’t actually spend much time in this region, it’s quite beautiful. The snow shimmering in the morning light, the sun dappling through the leaves of the tall, dark trees, the blue-gray sky. The mountains in the distance. It’s rather soothing.
Tubbo opened the door, looking much more awake and actually dressed this time. “We should hurry, I don’t like leaving Micheal alone, even while he’s asleep,” Tubbo said, running a hand through his hair, careful to not get his hand caught on his horns.
“Alright, come on then.” The pair began walking to Tommy’s house. Tommy noticed Tubbo was carrying a bag and asked him about it.
“Ranboo often doesn’t remember much of anything when they first wake up, so I’m bringing his memory book,” Tubbo stared straight ahead and flicked one of his ears. He seemed, well, lost would be the best way to put it. The bags under his eyes indicated that the ram hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in quite a while, and his distracted gaze indicated he was watching for something. Tubbo had always been the jumpiest growing up, but he became much more alert by the time Tommy came back from exile. Tommy didn’t quite know the reason why.
The two talked about everything and nothing as they walked to the blond’s house. Catching each other up on recent news, gossip, and rumors. Eventually, they caught sight of the house, and more importantly, the Enderman.
Ranboo had basically destroyed Tommy’s yard at this point. Grass blocks were pulled up from everywhere, and put in a pile. Not a pile, some sort of formation. Ender particles surrounded the tall mob, each emitting a faint purple glow.
“Boss man!” Tubbo called out. The mob turned to him, their normally heterochromatic eyes burning a harsh violet.
“⍜⊑, ⊑⟟ ⏁⎍⏚⏚⍜! ⊑⟒⌰⌰⍜ ⏁⍜⋔⋔⊬! ⎅⍜ ⊬⍜⎍ ⌰⟟☍⟒ ⋔⊬ ⌇⏁⏃⏁⎍⟒?” The garbled words met unknowing ears.
“Do you understand what they said?” Tommy questioned the ram.
Tubbo’s ear flicked. “Nope. Enderian is strange.” Tubbo walked up to his husband. “Hey, Boo.”
“⊑⟒⌰⌰⍜ ⏚⍜.” Ranboo responded. “⟟'⋔ ⌇⍜⍀⍀⊬ ⟟'⎐⟒ ⏚⟒⟒⋏ ☌⍜⋏⟒ ⏃⌰⌰ ⋏⟟☌⊑⏁.” The ender’s monochrome face turned apologetic. Tubbo simply climbed on some blocks so he was sitting at about Ranboos height. He gently grabbed Ranboo’s face and pulled their head so it was in the crook of the ram’s neck, Ranboo’s eyes closed, tail lashing violently.
As Tommy watched, Tubbo gently stroked his partner’s back and began to sing softly. Tommy vaguely recognized the song.
He remembers Phil singing it to them as kids, the song comforting even after the worst of nightmares.
He remembers Techno humming it as he calmed down Tommy when he would accidentally cut himself on the edge of a blade while training.
He remembers hearing Wilbur singing it to a younger Fundy.
Hearing Tubbo singing it, the memories light up fondly in his head. The song is strange. It’s beautiful, but it is not in any language that is still around today. He remembers asking Phil about it once.
“Hey Dadza, what’s that song you always sing us?” A younger Tommy runs up to his father, trailed closely by Tubbo.
“Why do you ask?” Phil turns away from his work to look at the two boys.
“What do the words mean? It’s so strange!” Tubbo asks excitedly. Tommy remembers that his head was wrapped in bandages because his horns had just broken through the skin of his head. Gods, they were young.
“Well, they are far too old to be translated into English at this point,” Phil ponders, wings pulled close to his back as to not hit anything off his desk. “But the words are a story.”
“What’s the story?” Tommy asks.
“Well, it tells of a soldier. A general, perhaps, though the story is older than the song. The soldier is the last survivor of his troops, and he had just awoken on the dawn of a lost battle.” As Phil tells the tale (far too dramatically, Tommy thinks.) the two boys watch, amazed at the tale.
“The soldier can do nothing but stare at the bodies of his friends and comrades as the sun rises. But once the sun hits the blood, all the soldier can see is beauty. He sees the mist roll over the hills, the flowers that haven’t been trampled bloom a victorious shade, the trees stand tall and mighty, as if saying ‘knock me down, I dare you.” Phil tells it as though he were there. “The song is about being able to see the best things, even in the worst of times. It’s a song my mother used to sing to me when I was just a young boy.” The crow’s wings ruffle a bit at the memory.
“Wow. Did the soldier ever make it home?” Tommy asked, still in amazement of the story.
“Who knows,” Phil said simply.
“That tale is full of crap, nobody would ever be able to see ‘beauty’ in a lost battle.” Techno scoffed.
“I don’t know, but it calmed you down whenever you got scared of the dark, so it at least did its job,” Phil responded, causing Wilbur to burst into laughter and consequently get smacked by Techno.
Tommy smiled at the memory, and as he watched Tubbo sing it to Ranboo, he saw Ranboo’s tail slow, and his body start to sag. By the time Tubbo had finished singing, the creature had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Tubbo looked over to see Tommy smiling a the couple.
“What are you staring for?” Tubbo laughed quietly, in a better mood than he had been all morning.
“That’s the song Dad used to sing to us,” Tommy said as he walked over to help Tubbo gently lay Ranboos sleeping body on the grass.
“Well, it always puts both Ranboo and Micheal to sleep, and it gets Ranboo out of his enderwalk.” The ram hybrid explained, gesturing to the sleeping Enderman at their feet.
“Well if it's doing its job…” Tommy laughed, and Tubbo joined him.
Tubbo ran home to get Micheal, but the family spent the day at Tommy’s house, the adults chatting and watching the young piglin play in the grass. That is, once Ranboo woke up and they all fixed the yard.