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She said sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war. Those were Mother's last words before she threw Ranboo into the portal. Big words - battle, war, winning -, they ringed in Ranboo's ears while he fell into the void and landed on the grass in the Overworld.
There was light, light he has never seen before, it burned his eyes. And it was warm! Books never mentioned the warmness of it.
Surprised by the light, still hurt a bit from Mother's words, he started to walk, occasionally teleporting and it wasn't a long time before he found a village, it was full of people, they were different, shorter, paler and they spoke a language he didn't understand. He knew Common but this wasn't Common, and wasn't Enderian, the villagers were speaking a different language. But the language barrier didn't stop them from taking Ranboo in. They welcomed him, it seemed they understood what Ranboo told them.
Soon there was food, a bed - a real bed! - and everything they thought he would need.
They were all around him, crafting stuff for him, armor and tools, telling him on their weird language he can stay, or he thought they said something like that.
The night came and there was the bed and he climbed into it thinking he would blow up, part of him wished for it. But nothing happened. He was in a bed, blanket on him, pillow under his head, and nothing happened. It was soft and warm, nothing like at home. No, not home, The End. Was that his home? Could he call The End his home after what happened?
He fell asleep thinking about the cold End Stone under his feet. No, not home.
He felt The End's cold on his skin and heard Mother's words again. Heard them so clearly like he was next to her but he did not see her, her voice came from the void, telling him she lost the battle when she lost him. Telling him that he has to win this battle to be ready for the war, the war against his own kind.
He woke up panting, scared. His own particles scared him in the dim light, his eyes betrayed him, like he saw something that wasn't there.
There was light again, must be morning. He heard the Blacksmith in the distance, already working on something, the Farmer planting wheat, cats running around and meowing for food. He get out of bed, put on his clothes all alone like the peasant he had to become, and went outside. The villagers greeted him, only looking up from their worktables just for a minute, and immediately went back to their tasks.
He watched them for a bit, they were so natural, just doing their little jobs, making food, tools, enchanting those tools, armor pieces, or just books. They gave a few of those to Ranboo as well. Looked at him so eagerly that he couldn't do anything but promise them to use the books. Somehow they understood Ranboo wouldn't stay, couldn't stay. He wanted to but he couldn't. If Mother's words in his dream were her, there was a battle for him to win and a war later. And he might have been a prince but he knew how to fight, he was really good at fighting. And he still wanted to impress his mother. Maybe if I win this fight, she will see me, she will accept me.
He wanted to show his mother that he wasn't just a prince. He was Ranboo, The First Prince of The End and it was time for the queen to notice it, to accept her son as he was. Ranboo was determined to show her his real strength.
So he hit the road. His pearls helped him to get far away from the village in no time, giving him no chance to turn around. After a mile or two he stopped, it was impossible to turn around, the village was too far. And the night came, the woods were full of weird noises, it was terrifying, creatures appeared, skeletons shooting him, zombies chasing him and all he could do was running, running, running till he was out of stamina. He threw pearl after pearl, teleporting further and further. And somehow he managed to escape and the night was over by that time. He was saved.
And that was the time when he found a house, on a floating island in the air, only a ladder leading up to it in a long dirt tower. It looked harmless and nice, a thing only people could build for themselves. So he teleported there. The Pube said a sign on it. There were flowers and bushes around it, little pools of water, lanterns hung on the side of the door. It was definitely built by humans. Not like the villagers, other humans, maybe humans like him.
And with that, he opened the door.
"Hello there, mate!" said a kind voice from somewhere. He looked around but didn't see anybody.
"H-hi?" It was more like a question than a greeting.
"Are you lost?" came the voice again, this time from behind him. He quickly threw a pearl to the other side of the building and turned around just after that. "Woah, mate, are you a hybrid, too?" The man had blonde hair and huge black wings. His wings were flapping while he talked.
"Hybrid?"
"One of your parents was an Enderman, right?" asked the man kindly.
"Are you associating me with those peasants?" Rage burned in Ranboo's eyes, his particles flew around him angrily.
"I am not. But one of your partners has to be from The End. You're from The End, right?"
Ranboo nodded. "Yes. I'm The First Prince of The End." He squared his shoulders up proudly.
"I'm Phil," came the easy answer. "I'm an Elytrian."
Ranboo nodded again.
"We are all some kind of hybrids here. You can join the community. The others are out gathering supplies but I think they'll already be on their way back." Phil smiled at him. It was a genuine offer. A strange but genuine offer.
"I think I'd... I would like that."
"Brilliant! I give you a tour... what was your name again? Or should I call you Your Highness?"
"N-no... no! I'm Ranboo."
Phil's smile widened. "Welcome here, Ranboo!"
And with that, he felt like he was already home.