Chapter Text
Everything is dark and silent, and Ranboo tries to keep it that way as he moves around. There isn’t even the smallest sound, making the need for a silent escape even more apparent. If anything, the silence just sets Ranboo more on edge than he already is. Every time he moves something that makes any sort of sound, he cringes, slowing his movements as much as he can with the hurry that he is in. A drawer sticking a bit and making a scraping sound when it's finally freed, a door hinge squeaking just a little too loudly. He's memorized which floorboards creak by now, so that doesn't cause as much worry.
Thankfully, his bags are almost packed, and he isn’t bringing much, anyway. It’s mostly clothes, the few plain and simple ones that he has. They're mostly his pajamas. The rest of his clothing is decidedly too fancy, too dramatic, too fitting for the princely life he is about to leave behind, as well as not suitable for the journey they are about to take.
It’s been a long time coming, but his throat still feels tight with nerves, something in his mind screaming at him to change his mind, to stop this plan and just continue with the life he’s led thus far so that he doesn’t get in trouble. Being married to a princess might not be that bad–no. No, he's doing this because he can't anymore. His parents are the ones who broke their deal, and he refuses to go along with it anymore. And really, it’s not his fault that he fell in love with Tubbo. He hadn’t meant for it to happen, but really, the more he thinks about it, how could it have not happened?
Tubbo has been by his side for as long as he could remember, first as a servant, then quickly a friend, and then slowly, with careful steps and a little dancing around each other, becoming so much more. They’d had to keep it a secret, because of course they did. Who would approve of the prince falling in love with his personal servant? His parents were already not fond of what they called his “preference in partners”, but both he and Tubbo also knew how their relationship would look to possibly anyone. The difference in dynamic between the two is glaringly obvious, to the point that Ranboo still questions whether Tubbo is really okay with this partnership, if he truly is in this because he loves Ranboo and not because he thinks he has to because of Ranboo’s royal status. Tubbo has always reassured him that that’s not the case, but Ranboo can’t help but worry, as he does most things.
At the current moment, Tubbo is standing by the door, hand on the handle and his own bag slung over his shoulder as he waits for Ranboo to join him. They can’t bring much with them, so it’s really only the necessities. Clothes, a map that isn't as detailed as he'd like. With shaky hands he closes up his bag and slings it over his shoulder before turning towards Tubbo, who perks up a bit.
“Ready to go?” he asks quietly. At Ranboo’s shaky nod, he frowns. He walks over to where Ranboo is still standing, and he takes his hands when he notices the slight tremble to them. Ranboo holds on tightly. “You can change your mind, you know. If you want to stay, we can. We don’t have to leave.”
Ranboo shakes his head quickly. No, he has to do this, he has to get away from this place, from these people. It’s been dwelling on his mind for far too long, but only recently has he actually been given enough reason to. If he keeps hesitating now, he'll never actually do it. And besides, maybe for once something will work out in his favor. It'd be nice for that thing to be him running away to live with the one he loves.
“No, no, I’m okay. Promise. And besides, I’m the one who asked you to do this, it’d make more sense for you to be the one hesitating,” he says, laughing nervously. He gives Tubbo’s hands a quick squeeze and sighs. “I don’t know why I’m so scared, though.”
Tubbo gives him a small smile. “Being scared is okay. Hell, I’m scared right now, but we’re doing this together. I’m here for you, no matter what, okay?” He gives Ranboo's hands a light tug, and Ranboo nods at him. “I love you.”
Ranboo untenses a little at that. Tubbo is with him. He can do this.
“I love you too,” he replies, and Tubbo leans up to give him a quick kiss.
"Ready to go raid the kitchen?”
Ranboo grins. “Always.”
. . .
Sneaking into the kitchen for snacks in the middle of the night is something he’s very used to. It’s something he and Tubbo started doing when they were kids, and they’ve just never stopped. They’ve never gotten in trouble for it, anyway. It surprises him that taking food from the kitchen was the one thing he never got in trouble with his parents for. Or, well, it used to surprise him. As a kid, he hadn't thought twice about it because why would he? Now, even if it's something small, he feels guilty for taking anything, like he's unintentionally asserting some kind of power over the people who work in the kitchen to allow him to take food whenever he pleases, especially since he's not too sure how much they get to eat food themselves. Even after having one of the cooks tell him that he's welcome to take what he wants whenever he wants to, he still feels bad and tries to take only a little.
Ranboo had discovered at a young age that the workers in the castle had taken a liking to him, and as he got older he realized it was because he was one of the only people to treat them like they were, well, people as well. He’s never understood why he has to be rude to people just because of a title he didn’t even ask for. If you were to ask him, some of the cooks would be better rulers than his own parents.
It's why he feels extra guilty now, knowing how much he and Tubbo are going to have to pack up for their journey.
The familiarity of sneaking into the kitchen helps calm his nerves a bit. It’s empty as usual, but they wouldn’t have worried about it either way. Well, Ranboo might have since no one was supposed to know they’re sneaking out anyway. No one except Samuel, who is supposed to be waiting for them at the stables.
Using the soft light coming in through a nearby window, they mostly grab fruits and bread, anything that shouldn’t spoil after a few days. They don’t plan to be traveling for that long. The castle isn’t that far from the country's border, and their current plan for the moment is to just make it into the neighboring kingdom. After that, who knows? Their hope is that they can find somewhere to live, or maybe find someone they can convince to help them build a house in a secluded area.
It does worry Ranboo that they don’t have more of a plan than that, but this plan was made very quickly, so there’s bound to be some holes.
Digging around they find a couple of flasks and water skins that they fill up before putting them in the bag they are putting the food in. Ranboo is slinging the bag over his free shoulder when a door off to the side creaks open. They both freeze, too startled to even think about hiding.
This is it. They haven't even made it outside of the castle walls and they've already been caught. It's probably a guard, but it could also be his mother. If it is her, they're entirely and completely fucked. The last time she had caught them, it had almost ended very, very badly. Blindly, Ranboo frantically feels for Tubbo's hand, holding it tightly when he finds it as the door fully opens.
The woman who steps in isn’t his mother, Ranboo quickly realizes, and he lets out a breath when he sees it’s just Helen, one of the cooks, the small candle she’s holding reflecting light off of her graying auburn hair. She looks just as startled as he feels when she sees them. Her eyes rake over the two of them for a moment. The three of them stare at each other in silence, and when she registers the bags they’re holding, she smiles and lets out a soft laugh.
“It’s about time. We were all wondering if you were ever going to gather the courage to do it,” she whispers. She walks over to a crate, and Tubbo and Ranboo glance at each other confused.
“Do what?” Tubbo asks.
“Leave,” she responds, digging through the crate. “We all knew you’d do it eventually, especially with how unhappy Prince Ranboo has been for a while. And, we all knew he’d never leave you behind.”
Ranboo feels his face heat up at the implications. They've always made sure to stay professional around each other whenever they were with Ranboo's parents or any visiting royalty. Are they really that obvious? If so, is their relationship actually a secret from his parents?
She turns back to them, now holding a small bundle in her hands. She gestures to the bag Ranboo is holding, and he hands it over, still a bit puzzled.
“What are you giving us?” He asks.
“It’s some dried meat. We’ve had this tucked away for a bit in case this ever happened,” she explains. “I’m just glad I caught you before you were able to leave.”
She hands the bag back to him, and he stands there a bit shocked.
“I-I still don’t understand why you’re helping us, you don’t have to–”
“You have been nothing but kind to us,” she says, cutting him off. “We want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy. You’ve helped make our lives a little bit better, so let us return the favor.”
Ranboo just looks at her for a bit. He can’t remember ever doing anything spectacular or particularly special. He’s treated them like he would treat anyone, so this sentiment doesn’t entirely make sense to him. Especially since he never did it expecting some kind of reward later. It feels a little strange to be rewarded for what he considers to be normal behavior.
Still, it has him tearing up a little, realizing that there are people here that do care about him. It almost makes him want to stay, to give back the food and go to his room and put all of his things away. To go to bed with Tubbo in his arms only to scramble to get up in the morning before they’re caught. The reminder of what he's been having to do sours his mood a little.
He knows that Helen is right. He knows that doing that same routine where he constantly has to hide himself does not make him happy. He knows that constantly hearing his mother’s disapproval does not make him happy, that seeing his father never show any sort of care towards him does not make him happy. Not being able to openly show his love for Tubbo does not make him happy.
So instead of doing any of the other things a part of his mind is screaming at him to do, he slings the bag back over his shoulder. Walking to her side, he pulls her into a hug. It’s a little awkward with how tall he is, but she doesn’t mention it, just hugs him back and pats his back gently, a little surprised.
“Thank you,” he says when he pulls back, hands on her shoulders. “Really, thank you.”
She smiles at him, and reaches up to pat one of his hands. “Good luck, both of you.”
He nods, and Tubbo gives his own thanks before they move to the door that leads outside. Tubbo steps through first, but Ranboo pauses in the doorway. The question from earlier, if they were too obvious with their relationship, comes to mind again.
“How did you know about us?”
The two of them have always been as careful as possible about how they interact in front of other people, even just as friends. There had been one time when they were younger where they had been caught, and Ranboo had to beg and plead for Tubbo to not get fired or killed (the threat of death was never made, but Ranboo felt fear for Tubbo all the same). Because of this, it’s a little confusing to him on how Helen, and several others from the looks of it, know about their relationship.
Helen shoots him a grin. “You two aren’t as subtle as you think, Your Highness.” She replies, only confirming his suspicions.
He feels his face heat up once again, and she just laughs as she shoos him away with a wave of her hand. He steps outside and closes the door behind him while trying to stop the train of thoughts that start running through his head.
If they were that obvious, do his parents know? Have they just never said anything? That wouldn’t make sense, so maybe they’re just more oblivious than Ranboo realized. Hopefully that’s the case.
Looking around, Tubbo isn’t standing near the door. Actually, he isn't standing anywhere nearby. He starts to panic. Did Tubbo get caught? Was Helen a distraction to keep him occupied so that guards could find Tubbo and then wait for him to go outside as well? Have they already failed?
Eventually, his eyes adjust to the dark as he tries to calm himself down, and he can make out what looks like two figures down near the stables. It should be Samuel, and he realizes that Tubbo had probably kept walking when Ranboo had turned around one last time to speak to Helen, not even noticing that he hadn’t followed. Right, of course that's what happened. That's the most logical thing to happen, no need to worry.
It’s a fairly nice night for them to do this during. Being in the middle of summer, the night air is a bit warm, but there’s a breeze that helps the heat not be stifling. It blows through his long, black hair, and he realizes he never grabbed anything to tie it back with. That will just be a problem for future him.
As he makes his way down the path towards the stables, his shoes catch on a few rocks and he slips a bit. They’re nicer shoes, but the simplest ones he own, a plain black leather still shiny from rarely being outside and slippery from the lack of traction. It’s probably from the fact he hasn’t worn them enough, but he manages to make it down the hill without dying.
As he gets closer to the stables, he can hear Samuel saying something, Tubbo and him lit up slightly from the single lit lantern hanging above their heads. Samuel looks a bit exasperated, and the light flashes across his glasses when he moves his head.
“-you lose a whole person? How on earth is that even possible?”
Ranboo opens up the gate as Tubbo throws his hands up, exasperated himself.
“I don’t know! I thought he was right behind me!”
“Everything. . .good?” Ranboo asks as he closes the gate back, the latch catching with a small ‘click’.
They both turn and look at him, and Samuel straightens up a bit automatically while Tubbo just looks relieved. Behind both of them, Ranboo’s horse Sunny is still in her stable, and she whinnies softly when she sees him. Tubbo’s bag is on the ground in front of her stall, and Ranboo walks over to set his own bags down. He reaches up to pat her nose.
“Everything is fine now,” Samuel says. “It wasn’t two seconds ago when Tubbo got here and thought he had somehow lost you.”
“But I didn’t, and here he is,” Tubbo retorts. Samuel just rolls his eyes.
Samuel is the only stablehand that works with the royal family's horses. Any other horse that is used for pulling carriages and such are looked after by a separate group of people. Ranboo is the only one who actually has his own horse, so Samuel only has to take care of one animal instead of three. Ranboo had offered to take care of Sunny when he first got her but, like every other time he’s offered to help with something deemed to be below his status, he's turned down.
He still comes down every so often to exercise and groom her, giving her treats when he has them. And besides, he likes Samuel and trusts him enough to take care of her, so it’s not all bad. Samuel was the only one who could help them with this, anyway.
When Ranboo and Tubbo had started planning their escape, Tubbo had gone down to see him when they were both free and asked the man to have Sunny saddled up and ready at the current time. Samuel had been a bit confused, but Tubbo hadn’t given him too many details. Thankfully, he decided not to question it further and just go along with it which Ranboo was incredibly grateful for. It's not that they couldn't have done it by themselves. Or at least, Tubbo couldn't have done it by himself. Ever since Tubbo had first met Sunny, she seems determined to not like him. He's done absolutely everything he could to try and get her to let him handle her, but she always refuses, only allowing Ranboo and Samuel to take care of her.
(Tubbo complains about it endlessly, and Ranboo loves to tease him about it.)
Samuel walks over to the stall and grabs Sunny's reins, leading her out into the middle aisle. Ranboo starts attaching their bags to her while Samuel holds her steady. Tubbo brings a bag over, but groans stops when Sunny just stares and huffs at him, tail flicking behind her. Eventually everything they brought with them is tied to different places on the saddle, and Ranboo gestures for Tubbo to come over.
“You’re going to sit behind me while we ride, but I have to get on first. You just need to put your left foot in the stirrup and push up. I’ll grab your hand and pull you up while you swing your right leg over the side,” he instructs and he mounts up onto Sunny's back.
Tubbo nods, and with minor amounts of struggling, both from Tubbo and Sunny, they get him situated behind Ranboo, arms wrapping around his stomach. He’s never ridden on a horse before, Sunny or not, but Ranboo had assured him earlier that he would always be the one directing Sunny so that he wouldn’t have to worry.
Samuel moves to open up the gate as Ranboo leads them back out into the warm, breezy air. It’s still quiet, which was the plan, but Ranboo is still relieved that no one has noticed them, or at least if they have, no one else has been alerted. For now, at least. Samuel takes a moment to blow out the lantern, locking the gate behind him once he does.
“So, do you two have a plan?” he asks. Tubbo nods and reaches down to dig through one of the bags. He pulls out their map a few seconds later.
“For right now, we’re going to travel through the forest until we get into Dusan’s borders. After that, we don’t entirely know.”
“We’re most likely going to town hop for a while until we find somewhere,” Ranboo says.
Samuel hums, not looking too impressed but not making any further comments. He takes a second to look up at the moon and he squints at it. “Looks like the moon’s about to reach its peak, so you might want to go ahead and go. You'll need all the light you can get.”
Sunny gives another small whinny, and Ranboo reaches down to pat her neck. He glances back at Samuel, suddenly nervous. They’re really about to do this, and he can’t help but worry that something is going to go wrong before they even get started. The worry that he’s going to be caught and then dragged back keeps appearing and disappearing throughout the night. Maybe, and he hates that he's going to do this, maybe he can use the fact that all the workers like him to his advantage.
“Samuel, please don’t tell anyone about this.”
Samuel had started to make his way back up the hill towards the castle, but he pauses for a split second, like he wasn’t expecting that. He turns back to them, and regards them both with a soft smile.
“Of course, your highness. And good luck, to both of you.”
Ranboo gives a thankful nod, and Samuel returns the gesture with a small bow. Ranboo reaches down to give one of Tubbo’s hands a quick squeeze before picking up the reins. He takes one last deep breath to try and calm his nerves. Then he flicks the reins slightly, and with a click of his tongue, they start moving.