Chapter Text
Ranboo knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up to the sound of rain. He could hear all those annoying droplets pelting the roof of his home. And thank goodness for his little abandoned shack in the woods or he’d have been sleeping in the rain last night.
He could tell you from previous experience, sleeping in the rain as an enderian was one of the least fun things he could imagine, only second to straight up jumping in a river. But the roof above his head, woven by some kind stranger was holding up through this storm.
That was one good thing about the rain, only the stupid hunters were out in the forest. Ranboo rose from his bed and saw the bed across from him remained empty. As always. He didn’t know why he expected it to be full.
It had been over a year since his best friend had been captured by hunters. Tubbo was a bee hybrid who would’ve hated this rainy day as much as he did. They had survived together for so long and then one day, Tubbo just disappeared before he eyes.
Ranboo still missed him, but he probably needed to make some new friends. Living in solitude for so long could not be good for anyone, so it must not be good for him. That was part of the reason he found himself gathering the necessary supplies for a trek into town. Of course, he also needed to get food every now and then.
Town was certainly not the nicest place for hybrids. Ranboo could just imagine the main street covered in hybrid wanted posters and bounties left and right. Not fun. He didn’t even know what Town was called. The name was written everywhere, but in a language he couldn’t read. Once again, thank goodness he spoke common.
But Town was the only place, as far and Ranboo knew, with other people. It was just a stroke of luck that he’d met Tubbo in the forest, and of course the hunters. But all the other people, good, bad, and hybrids in disguise, were in Town.
Ranboo’s hybrid disguise consisted of a black cloak running head to toe, gloves to cover his sharp fingers, and a mask to hide his maw. He’d gotten the short end of the hybrid features stick. Those lucky elytrians just had to hide their wings.
It was a bad costume, but he put it on nonetheless, putting some water in a kettle while he was at it. Ranboo was going to be forever in debt to whoever decided to fully furnish a house in the middle of the woods. The fireplace and creek a quarter of mile into the woods were also nice touches.
With all his supplies ready to go, he had considered just teleporting into Town, but someone might see him and he’d have no way to teleport back without completely exhausting himself. Ranboo would just stay put, he could wait. He stoked the fire and placed the kettle on top of the metal plate.
Ranboo would would make some tea while the rain passed. The droplets pelted on.
————————————
It had been another few hours before the rain cleared up enough for him to leave for Town. Ranboo had run into no trouble in the forest, other than intelligently tripping on an extruding root.
Once he’d arrived, the streets were busy enough that he had no trouble blending in. Nice. Loads of people in cloaks were traveling every which way, which was almost perfect if only they stopped bumping into him all the time.
Ranboo was barely able to take three more steps before another jerk practically launched him into a pole. Thankfully no one noticed that embarrassment.
His hand brushed a paper stuck to the pole. The face of a rowdy avian teen was drawn on it, with a hefty sum of a bounty below. What a lucky guy. There were other papers as well; a crude attempt at drawing an enderian bounty and an advertisement for used lantern holders.
Ranboo tore down the two bounties, the lanterns could stay, and discarded the crumpled paper. He started down the crowded path again, making a beeline for the pub at the end of Town. By whatever drinking laws you abided by, Ranboo was underage, but the pub was a safe place.
It was secretly run by hybrids, a blaze and a mer whose names he didn’t know but the kind strangers kept him up to date and always offered him a place to stay, which he kindly refused. Trust issues and all that.
When Ranboo reached the pub doors he was shocked to find a sign that read ‘Out for the week, be back Monday’. Well that threw a wrench in about 80% of his plans. He turned around, ready to head to the clothing shop and steal a new blouse when he bumped into a massive man standing behind him.
Now, Ranboo may have been tall, but the man was about the same height and huge. A faded green tunic barely covered his muscles and a dirty white cloth hid most of his facial features, with what looked like a smile painted on it.
He stuttered for a moment. “E-Excuse me sir? I’m sor-“
The man interrupted by punching Ranboo square in the stomach. And he responded the only way he could; by teleporting to safety.
Well shit.
He quickly took in his surroundings, trees. Must be forest behind the pub. Ranboo grabbed onto a branch and swung himself higher into a tree. He could lay low here until his pearl recharged, hopefully it was less than an hour but previous experience knew it could be up to four.
More waiting then, alright.
——————————————-
He barely got 10 minutes of peace before that angry green man from before, who he’d cleverly deduced must have been a hunter, returned with a whole party of shouting humans. They were armed to the teeth marching through the forest, one even had a pitchfork, which was useless in most combat scenarios really.
Maybe he could hide here, and they would see him, and pitchfork man already saw him. Epic. Now the group was charging toward his tree and he probably should move now.
Ranboo hopped out of the tree, taking only a moment to brace himself before breaking into a sprint. The hunters behind him made some kind of surprised gasp, but no time for that. It was running time.
He made the mistake of looking behind him seeing that they were gaining on him. He made a sharp right in an attempt to evade him but twice today Ranboo made the mistake of tripping on a tree root, only this time it might cost him his life.
Ranboo didn’t even bother getting up. The hunters had already surrounded him, crossbows and daggers of all kinds pointed at him. He raised his hands in surrender as one of the men threw a weighted net over him.
Well, he tried his best. The green man from before squatted in front of his face, way to close for comfort. “Caught you, little monster.”
It didn’t take long before someone decided to knock him out. See, he knew today was gonna be bad.
——————————————
Ranboo’s back hurt.
That was the first thing he realized when he woke up. The second and third being he was stuck in a cage and it was far too small for him. His hands were tied together and they’d covered his claws with a thick cloth. And they put a fucking muzzle on him.
At one glance across from him he saw several more hybrids in similar situations. Ranboo turned his head right, then left, then-
“Tubbo?”