Chapter Text
Ranboo was floating.
He couldn't see.
He couldn't hear.
He couldn't feel anything.
He seemed to just float in an endless darkness. Eyes terribly heavy and refusing to open. Body made of lead weighing him down. Ice forming in his bones making him feel so cold and preventing him from moving.
Was this death?
As the thought passed over him the world seemed to shift. He felt the ground appear beneath him. Slowly the ice in his bones melted and feeling returned. He could hear the sound of water nearby as well as the crunching of leaves under footfalls.
Ranboos eyes fluttered open. Taking in a deep breath, the air seeming fresh and cool he starts to look around from where he is laying on the ground.
He is laying in the soft grass of a field. Off in the distance there is a small creek flowing through the trees, who's leaves are falling in the crisp air. Above him the sky seems to expand for an eternity.
It is not the sky he is used to.
Where there used to be city skylines is now nothing but stars. The stars themselves seemed brighter. Streaked with colored trails of stardust.
Where is he?
"Hey mate? Can you tell me your name?"
Oh right. Footsteps means he wasn't alone here.
Glancing over and finding the owner of the voice, Ranboo sees a slightly older man with honey blond hair and ocean blue eyes standing next to him. Those eyes stare directly into him. Searching for a story that ranboo can't seem to remember.
Looking away from the man's face ranboo realizes that this man isn't human. He has wings, almost blending in perfectly with the night sky, inky black feathers tipped with gold.
"Hey, are you alright? Can you hear me?"
The man's face shifts into something concerned with that question. Oh right, the man had asked him a question. What was it again? His name? He sits up slowly his bones protesting.
"Uh, Yeah. Sorry what was the question?" His voice comes out rough like it hasn't been used for a week.
The man let's out a breathy chuckle and smiles at that. He has a nice smile. He hold out a hand for ranboo to take.
"No worries, I had asked you what your name is?"
Ah so it was his name.
"My name is Ranboo" Ranboo grabs the hand and stands shakily.
The man pulls out what looks to be a journal, or some kind of registry book. The cover is beautiful all swirling gold and precious sstones. The man hums as though he is stumped on a question. He flips through a few more pages before snapping the book closed. The book fades off into dust and he sighs.
"Ranboo, would you happen to remember how you died?"
"I-" ranboo takes a second to try and recall anything from before he woke up, "I don't?"
The man sighs and runs his hand through his hair. He whistles. In the distance the sound of wings grow closer. A crow flies to him landing on his shoulder and looking at him with more intelligence than normal. He hands the crow a slip of paper and it flies off.
"Alright, Ranboo, my name is Phil, I am a reaper who's supposed to take you to your afterlife but since I don't have any notes on you we need to take you so the seer. They'll be able to view your memories and help us find your afterlife" Phil turns towards the trees "it is me and four others who will help you make the journey. Boys come out!"
There are four people who walk out of the treeline.
The first one is a tall man with pink hair who has scars covering his body. Dressed almost like an old poet he radiates power. He has what appear to be tusks poking out from his bottom lip and a long red cloak billows behind him and the various pieces of gold jewelry shine in the moonlight giving him an ethereal glow. He has a sword strapped to his side that shines menacingly.
The second one walking out is taller than the first and throwing his arm around the others shoulder. He has curly brown hair and he is dressed similar to the first one. However the cloak and gold is replaced by a long coat with strange patches and pins all over it. He appears to have patches of blackened skin on his cheeks and fingers. He has a knife strapped to his thigh.
The third boy looks younger than the others. He has golden curls bouncing with a childlike energy. Dressed in a simple red and white shirt and pants with a bag around his shoulder and a pair of small crimson wings with gold tipped feathers fluttering behind him. He has a crossbow strapped to his side.
The last boy is being pulled along by the blonde laughing about something or another. He is the shortest and has messy brown hair with horns and ears similar to a goats. He is covered in scars like the first but they seem more like burns than blade scars. He is dressed in a simple dark green shirt with a brown jacket over top. He has a large axe strapped to his back.
The boys stand around Phil and they stare wearily at ranboo.
" ranboo, this is my family. The pink haired one is technoblade, or techno, the one next to him is Wilbur, the blonde is Tommy, and the one with the axe is tubbo," Phil turns to the others "boy's this is Ranboo. We need to take him to the seer because he doesn't remember anything about his life."
The four stare at ranboo studying him. Techno makes direct eye contact with him. Blood red meeting green and red in a warning. Tommy breaks the silence.
"Oi dadza, are we spending the night here or are we going to try and speedrun through the between?" Phil rubs the back of his head in thought before nodding.
"We should stay here for tonight. It's too dangerous to try and get across the between during the night," he glances at ranboo who hasn't spoken in a while, "besides, we should probably explain a few things to ranboo before we go."
The group wandered towards the treeline to set up camp for the night. Ranboo followed lost in thought.
He was trying to remember anything about his life. He knew his name and that he had parents at some point but nothing else. It felt like his head was filled with cotton. He could feel himself starting to panic.
"Ranboo?"
He jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder. Following the arm it lead to Phil who was looking at him worried.
"Are you doing alright mate?"
He nodded and smiled at him. He wasn't alright but he wasn't going to let them know that. Phil smiled sympathetic.
"Are you ready for me to explain how this will work?"
Swallowing around the limp in his throat ranboo nods. They wander slightly away from the campsite and Phil pulls out his book.
"Alright, so here's how it works. In the morning we are going to leave this little bubble and enter the between. The between is incredibly dangerous so that's why us reapers are here. We will protect you and get you to the seer. There the seer will enter your memories with you and I will be able to find your afterlife. Then we go back through and deliver you alright? Any questions?" Ranboo looks genuinely concerned and looks at Phil.
"What happens, what happens if I don't have an afterlife?" This question surprises Phil. He just stares at ranboo for a bit of time before smiling sadly.
"Well then you have a few options. Become a reaper, or cease to exist." Phil watches as ranboo realizes what that means.
He feels bad but it's the honest truth. Ranboo turns to walk back to the camp and Phil follows close behind. They sit around the fire all of them having their own conversations and ranboo stuck in his head. Slowly they all head into their sleeping spaces. Until its only ranboo and techno left.
Techno watches ranboo, the kid is so lost in his own head he doesn't notice at all. He knows exactly what he asked and the response he got. Hell, techno had asked the same question when he met Phil.
"You won't cease to exist"
Ranboo jumps at the sudden voice looking up at techno confused. He goes to say something and stops himself before curling back in on himself.
Techno sighs and sits up straight "it is only if the reapers don't accept you that a soul ceases to exist, phil already has a soft spot for you, so you wont" ranboo looks at him so genuinely hopeful he let's himself smile.
"Uh, thanks for that" with that ranboo stands and heads to his own sleeping space. Leaving techno sitting by the fire alone. He sighs and stares up at the sky. Why does his heart hurt?