Chapter Text
Chapter One
Flower Boy
Ranboo strides quickly along a path through a village. His long legs helping him move quickly down the bumpy, stone road. The village is stirring with people because it was just past dawn. When most people, including Ranboo, are starting their work. The tall boy ran into one of the buildings in the village, a tall, cobblestone and wood building with a few windows.
Ranboo opens the door and inside is a man tinkering with a clock that sat on a wooden table. He throws a bag that he had swung over his shoulder on the table and opens the bag grabbing some leather gloves and a long wooden tool.
“Hello Ran,” the man says without looking away from the broken clock. “You're late again”.
“I know Mr Manifold, I'm sorry” Ranboo says while grabbing a broken clock from a wooden bin under the table and starts tinkering with it. “I got distracted.” he glances up and out the window where he can see a large castle in the distance. Its stone pillars stood tall and red and blue banners hung from the top of them. Ranboo would wonder what was happening inside that castle.
Of course he knew that inside was King Philza and his three sons. But what would they be doing in the large castle, sleeping perhaps. Ranboo was shaken out of his thoughts when the man spoke again.
“Are you thinking about the Royal Ball?” The man spoke. Ranboo shook his head, he had almost forgotten of the Royal Ball that was being held there in a couple weeks. The king is hosting the ball in search of a lady to wed his middle son, Wilbur.
Ranboo tried to remember what the boy looked like, he was almost 18 years old by now. Ranboo had only seen him once or twice near the woods at the edge of the village, often with his younger brother. Wilbur was tall, lean and had dark curly hair. Most likely getting his features from his mother because he and King Philza looked very different.
He had seen portraits of the family around the village. They are all seen wearing shiny golden crowns that rest excellently on their heads as they softly smile in the direction of the painter. The youngest son was observed to be more energetic than the other two. Tommy was the same age as Ranboo, both just 16 years old. His hair wasn't as curly as Wilbur’s but definitely still curly. He had golden, blond hair and blue eyes like the King.
Ranboo wondered if the family would actually look like how their portraits do. Perhaps almost as perfect as each paint stroke on the canvas.
“No, just wondering what they could be doing in there.” Ranboo replied after the long silence.
“Probably just sleeping, it's still early ya know.” Mr Manifold said as he closed up the back of a clock, screwing the hatch tight and set it aside.
The boy nodded. “Probably.”
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It was nearly sundown now. The golden sun pressed through the windows and rested on Ranboos' young skin. He grabbed his bag from the table and exited the building and started his way down the stone path, already off in his own thoughts, but he suddenly paused at the sight of something moving behind the building. He glanced around and the street was less crowded now that it was the end of the workday, besides from a few people still working bakeries and markets. He crept through the grass to the figure he had seen. Ranboo was now behind the building, the forest trees only a couple feet away from him and he was surprised to see that the area was full of flowers. Beautiful, colorful flowers.
His eyes were caught on what he had seen earlier, it was a boy, Ranboo’s age. Knelt down with his head facing away from Ranboo as he plucked some of the flowers.
“Excuse me?” Ranboo said with a grunt and the boy whipped his head around. Ranboo tilted his head because he couldn't recall who it was but the boy was familiar.
Perhaps he had seen him around the village. The blonde boy was wearing a more elaborate outfit than Ranboo’s. He had on a white v-neck tunic with ruffles around the collar, long baggy sleeves that seemed to stretch just perfectly to the end of his wrists then spread off into large ruffles covering his hands and long black trousers with many buttons around the hem. The outfit looked expensive considering the absurd amount of buttons, meaning he was most likely the son of a magnate.
The peaceful look on the boy's face faltered as a bitter expression took its place. “How’d you find me here?!” the blonde spoke hastily, dropping the flowers that he had been holding so gentilly just a moment before.
Ranboo took a step back but crossed his arms. “Well you aren't exactly hiding,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. “Who are you hiding from anyway?” Ranboo asked more softly and dropped his arms.
The boy shrugged. “Castle guards, maybe. They don't like it when I wander from the bailey.” He says with less hostility but it still lingered in his ocean like eyes.
Ranboo’s breath hitched as he finally recognized the boy. “You're Prince Tommy?!” he yelled out a bit too loud and the prince’s face was shattered with alarm.
“Shush!” Tommy said getting closer to Ranboo. “And yes, I am you featherhead. Did you not recognize me at all?!” The Prince said in a whisper yell.
“I have a bad memory.” Ranboo replied bluntly and The Prince facepalmed.
“You’re going to get me caught” He said with a grunt.
“Are you not allowed to be here?” Ranboo asked Tommy quietly.
“Not without supervision…but that's no fun.” The prince smiled but then his head whipped around to the sound of horse hooves coming closer. “Shit!” Tommy grabbed Ranboo’s arm and practically dragged him to the wall of the building and pressed them both to the wall. Both boys’ chests rising and falling quickly. Ranboo peeked around the corner to see two soldiers on horses stop a few feet from the wall.
“Do you see him?” One of the soldiers with medium length black hair and a scar over one of his eyes says to the other soldier.
The other shakes her head. Her long, pink hair is tied up in two buns. “He must have gone to the other side.” She says and leads the other in a different direction.
Ranboo hears Tommy sigh in relief. “So, why are you running from them?” he asked the prince, who is now sliding down the wall and sitting.
“Because I hate being locked up in the courtyard all the time, and I like to collect flowers and I don’t like seeing the same ones all day.” he propped up one of his knees and rested his arm on it while leaning his head back on the wall.
Ranboo sat down next to him. “How do you hate being locked up in such an amazing, extravagant courtyard? I could sit there for hours painting the scenery…the people.” Ranboo closed his eyes, letting his imagination take over.
He saw himself sitting in front of a blank canvas, a small river running through the garden. The royal family sitting on a bench at the center in their expensive clothing covered in ruffles and buttons. Extravagant, shiny crowns glistening in a setting sun, jewelry shining on their wrists, in their ears and around their necks. How perfect it would be.
Ranboo is snapped to reality when Tommy interrupts his daydreams. “It's not that amazing when you are forced to look at it every day for 16 years. The people are annoying too. My dad is always saying how I should start acting more like a prince, whatever that means. Wilbur is always going on and on about his studies and Techno can hardly hold a conversation anymore. Its fucked!” Tommy ends his rant more harsh than it started. Ranboo had almost forgotten about the eldest son, Technolade.
It is an odd name but it's quite suitable for the man. He had long pink hair which is often pulled into a braid during meetings and balls. Technoblade is a fierce man who is almost never seen without a sword of some kind with him. He is rarely seen around town, probably off working with the kingdom's military because he had refused to marry anybody to focus on being a military general.
“What about your mother?” Ranboo asked the Prince.
Tommy shrugged weakly and pushed both of his knees to his chest, hugging his legs. “Don't see her often. She has been quite sick recently..wait. Why am I telling you this?!” Tommy jumped back as if he was disgusted.
Ranboo shrugged and smirked mischievously. “Maybe you trust me.”
Tommy wrinkled his nose and stood up, shaking his head. “Absolutely not, I only trust myself and the trees around me!” The prince sounded so bold and ambitious.
Ranboo raises an eyebrow. “That actually sounded quite wise.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I just wouldn’t expect that from you.”
“Are you calling me dumb?” Tommy puts his hands on his hips, in a sassy way.
“I’m calling you spontaneous.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
They both laughed and looked up at the sky.
The sun was gone from the sky now and all there was left behind was a bright, rising moon surrounded by glistening stars.
“I should actually be going now or I’ll get a stern lecture from my father about being gone for too long.” Tommy rolled his eyes, picked up the flowers he had dropped earlier and started to walk off before raising his hand up and not looking back. “See ya never, Towny!”
Ranboo thought he would probably never speak to the Prince ever again. He thought.