Chapter Text
Tommy kicked his feet idly off the roof of the Pub(e). He was waiting for Tubbo to come back, the bee hybrid had left not long ago to go grab some flowers or something.
Everyone liked to make fun of the young avian saying that leaving Tommy to think would kill him. And they might’ve had a point, even if he actively tried to prove that he had the biggest brain and was the smartest.
The longer Tubbo took, the more Tommy rolled the thought that he was still very much upset about his missing red sweater over in his mind. But that wasn’t even all of it because as of that morning, he had a missing jewelry box and a missing package of quills as well. The avian was… confused out of his mind, for sure.
And it didn’t help that once everyone started taking his missing red sweater seriously, they also just so happened to notice they too were missing a lot of strange items. Not that Tommy didn’t trust his dad in believing that there could be some mystery hybrid who didn't want to show their face who was stealing their supplies but Tommy knew that a jewelry box and a half used package of quills were both far from being a necessity.
The sweater he could understand. Some of the other’s tools like shovels or swords he could understand. But his jewelry box??
That was absurd, it wasn't like there were any villages around to trade with and even if they took his jewelry to sell on their travels, then they would’ve left already. This random hybrid had clearly not left them all alone yet.
And… and that sweater… did he cry because of that sweater the second he realized it wasn't exactly where he left it? Maybe. It was his favorite sweater alright?! Wilbur had knit it for him; Wilbur’s first gift to him after his joining of the commune.
It was more than just “a red sweater,” no matter what anyone else said.
But the young blonde wasn’t going to just overlook the missing things! Tommy was going to get to the bottom of this dumbass thief bullshit even if he was doing it alone!
A giggle rose up from the avian as the most genius idea he had ever thought up appeared in his mind, glowing and exploding in its geniusness like the fireworks Scott shot off when he got mad.
Tommy was going to become the Overworld’s Best Detective and no one was going to stop him!
“Wilbur, you can’t beat up a kid, that’s
final
.” Phil, no, the
Crowfather’s
voice was firm. Spoken with the wisdom of a man older than… well however old he was, his tone was flat and his face betrayed nothing.
Wilbur, however, did not give a shit.
“You— Phil! I don’t care that he’s a ‘kid,’ he’s clearly up to something! You heard how fucking rude he is— Ranboo is a little menance,” the Phantom flickered in and out as he raved around the Pub(e). ”And— and not in the good way like how Tubbo and Tommy are. They’re normal children menaces— they do normal gremlin things like speak their age and not like they’re from the 15th century! I know you can see it, Philza Minecraft, you just have a bleeding heart!”
The elytrian silently watched as his son threw his tantrum. Teenagers.
“Wil, Techno spoke the way Ranboo does when he was 10. Ranboo’s speech is not that ‘weird.’ You’re just being rude, mate.”
“Philza fucking Minecraft you—” Transluent hands tugged through brunet locks in frustration. Wilbur was somehow the only one seeing how strange Ranboo was. There was no way that kid was normal. The way he spoke, the fucking crown and fancy ass costume king outfit, the way he acted as if it were a fact that he was better than everyone, and really his entire personality was a red flag.
Ranboo was hiding something and it seemed like Wilbur was the only one not willing to let the kid ruin the commune. Somehow he was the only one to put together glaringly obvious facts but Wil knew even if he spilled everything he realized to his father in that very moment, Phil would just shake his head and wave him off.
“Fine, then, Phil. Just wait and see what happens when you leave that kid to his own devices. And don’t come crying to me when something goes wrong.”
The phantom disappeared before the elytrains' eyes with an angry huff. Unbeknowst to Phil, Wilbur was on his way to becoming the greatest fucking detective on the case of Ranboo the Weird Kid, mark his words he was going to expose Ranboo for the stranger he was.
Night in the Overworld was the only time when Ranboo felt still connected to the End.
The Overworld sky was lit up with small specks of light instead of being a void. The Overworld sky was tinged with blue instead of purple. The Overworld sky felt so far away instead of close and looming and safe.
Not that the Overworld sky was gross or bad or anything, it just wasn’t home.
The first emotion Ranboo truly felt in the Overworld was homesickness. Not fear or sadness or worry or guilt, but a deep rooted longing that sat heavy in their body as they were sprawled across green grass staring up at a strange sky in a mocking of the far away cold of the End.
To admit that they had been homesick long before they were kicked from the End would be to admit that there was something wrong with them (or their home) … but Ranboo refused to say it out loud.
There’s nothing wrong with me. I am perfect, was the mantra they chanted in their mind when even the Overworld night sky wasn’t enough to distract them from the clenching of their gut, their throat, their entire body.
In the first few days of Ranboo’s stay in the Overworld, when they were alone and confused and lost and so painfully homesick, they blamed the entire dimension for their feelings. Never once in the End had they felt so much at once and for so long. Sure, there were flashes of heavy emotions sometimes, but mostly they just… existed.
Which it made sense, in the End, to not feel much. It wasn’t like they had to worry about surviving, or food, or being burned by water, or being made fun of, or not being respected or anything other than looking like they knew what they were doing. And Ranboo was raised to know everything but they were also taught themselves how to act like the royalty they were meant to be.
Acting was second nature and Ranboo was never more glad of that talent because it was saving them from the wrath of one phantom hybrid.
Before the commune meeting and the whole “conversation” that happened afterwards, Ranboo could tell that Wilbur did not like them much. Everyone else always smiled at Ranboo or greeted them in their strange Overworld ways, but Wilbur?
He never smiled at Ranboo. Though he did make strange, clearly disgruntled expressions at them both whenever they weren’t looking at the phantom and even when they were. What they had done to deserve such treatment was a little up in the air— there was no way Wilbur knew of Ranboo’s… happenings… right?
Ranboo knew they covered their tracks well and even when they can’t remember how certain things in that stupid small ugly chest got in there, they were smarter than the average Overworld being because no one else said anything about it. Yet during the commune meeting, they could feel the phantom’s eyes on them. It sent their Enderian brain reeling, wanting to lash out at him but Ranboo was better than those instincts and feelings and unlike Wilbur, they could control themselves.
Wilbur’s behavior after he stated he was willing to cause bodily harm to Ranboo, in front of multiple people no less, definitely did not cause Ranboo any worry, no.
There was definitely no way Ranboo was going to be hurt, Phil had promised that ( right??) . And there was no way they were going to be kicked out ( Phil said he wouldn’t lie so there was no way…).
Ranboo was not scared to be on their own; it's just… being alone was very different from loneliness, they learned. Probably the biggest lesson, in fact, that they learned from the Overworld in their few week stay.
Technically, they were surrounded by others, so they weren’t alone. But, they were lonely. Ranboo wasn’t confident in themselves to be fine being both alone and lonely.
But no matter what happened, whether or not Phil broke his promise to never kick (abandon) Ranboo from the commune, they had to stay calm. Wilbur, somehow, had found multiple reasons to hate them over but Ranboo would have to stay strong. They were already at the disadvantage of being in a “feud” with the commune leader’s son, they knew that Overworld beings cared so much about their families, oddly so, and even if Wilbur blamed them for something they had no part in, Phil was more likely to believe his son than them.
They were fighting an “uphill battle,” as they’ve heard some express. But they would be fine, they just needed allies to back them up in case Wilbur got too confident…
For the first time, since Ranboo’s beginning of living in the commune, did they go to bed eagerly awaiting the rising sun.
I am going to make allies and no one is going to stop me.
“Tubbo what the fuck?!”
“Bow down to me you peasant! Mwahaha!”
Tommy’s screeching echoed throughout the valley beneath the Pub(e) as Tubbo pelted the avian with sticks from the air.
“I will not stop until you say ‘Tubbo is the most powerful boss man ever!’”
“ NO!”
Another assault of sticks rained down over Tommy, adding more twigs and leaves to the collection of mess stuck in his hair and on his wings. The kid looked like he had been rolling around in the mud, not like he was being attacked by his completely clean, no-dirt-not-even-a-speck-on-his-shirt friend.
“Just say it!” Tubbo’s cackles only grew louder as in Tommy’s haste to get away, tripped over his own feet and landed face first on the ground.
Ranboo watched the… whatever they were doing, from the mouth of his cave with the spyglass Sneeg left as a “house warming gift,” or something.
The whatever the two were doing did absolutely not look like fun. Though Ranboo supposed it might be easier to understand what the two were doing if they could actually hear what the two were saying. They could hear their screeching all right, but their words were lost in the distance.
Before they could back themselves out of anything, their pearl sent them teleporting down onto the grass of the valley. Just being on the side of the river closer to the Pub(e) made the two other boys’ screaming understandable.
“Bow! Down!” Tubbo whacked Tommy atop the head, successfully stopping the blonde from being able to get back up from where he had fallen. Every attempt to skitter away was met with a shower of stick whacks.
“Fuck off Tubbo— what the hell man?!”
Ranboo couldn’t hold back a snicker as they made their slow approach to the two. And yet, a strange feeling swirled in their gut as they approached; nerves, was it? I’ve never been nervous to talk to others and these children are peasants, this should be easy, they reminded themselves.
It was true, Ranboo had talked to other Enderian’s of more status than anyone in the Overworld just fine, there was no explanation for why they should be nervous around two 13 year old children.
“Greetings,” Ranboo called out once close enough. Apparently, neither boy had seen Ranboo’s ever closing in presence.
Tubbo twisted around fast enough that the stick in his hand made a silly swish sound through the air and Tommy screamed. That seemed to be common for the avian.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?! Sneaking up on two young children??” The avian squawked, surprise etched on his face.
Ranboo faltered in their step, “There is nothing wrong with me, avian.” How dare Tommy not do one of those silly Overworld greetings and instead insult them! “But clearly there is something wrong with you. You stink and are covered in dirt.”
Tommy sputtered, scrambling to stand up in front of the much taller Ranboo. It made them snort, despite all being the same age their maturity difference could be seen not only in personality but also in height.
“Dude you can’t just say that to a man!”
“...Man? I was under the impression you were deemed a child.”
Ranboo received no response as Tubbo keeled over himself laughing and Tommy, with a weird hand finger gesture, stormed off towards the ladder up to the Pub(e). Again, he was screaming nonsense.
“Are you not children?” They reiterated, hands reaching up to steady their crown to redistribute the strange energy coursing through their body.
The comment only spurred the bee hybrid on more and slowly they sank to the ground with tears falling from their eyes. Ranboo never felt remorse for anything but what did they do? Why was he upset?
“Boss Man—” an unhealthy sounding wheeze left the short brunet’s mouth. “Ranboo I can’t—” another wheeze, “I can’t—”
“Do you need assistance?” Ranboo sank to the ground next to Tubbo, hands reaching out but not touching. A brief flash of remorse over the cleanliness of their pants washed over them but then the bee started to cough and ugly sounding thing and another flash of is this murder?! overroad the worry of their pants' cleanliness. “Are you dying?!”
There was no response to their questions, only more coughing, and Ranboo didn’t want to acknowledge the fearful warble that left their mouth. They didn’t mean to kill him! How were they supposed to know that bee hybrids die to random things?? If Phil had any doubts about keeping his promise to them, killing one of the Crow Father’s own would definitely give him enough reason to.
“Please do not die, I do want to remain here—”
“I’m not— I’m not dying, Ranboo—” and, thank the Void, Tubbo ceased his coughing fit. He still did not speak, instead taking in large inhalitations of air as he sat himself up from the grass. “I am fine, I’m fine. Do not worry about— about me Boss Man.”
“...alright…” The taller still did not move their sight from the bee hybrid. Delayed death was still a possibility and any death that happened to Tubbo would surely be placed on Ranboo.
“Gods, man, you’re—” Tubbo wiped the tears from his eyes.
Ranboo sat silently as the bee hybrid composed himself. It was kind of peaceful, it was a nice day, there were a few others lounging around the valley, doing whatever. The only unpeaceful thing had been Tommy’s screeching.
“So,” the brunet started. “Don’t worry about Tommy, he’s over dramatic and throws a tantrum every time someone calls him a kid.”
“...but is he?”
“Is he what?”
“Is Tommy a kid?”
Tubbo’s face pinched as he looked at Ranboo but the direct eye contact had them turning their sight away from the bee hybrid uncomfortably.
“You’re being serious?” He asked slowly, as if their question was dumb or something.
“Yes, I am being serious you dumb peasant.”
Said peasant seemed unbothered at the insult and instead their face dropped as something seemed to click in his brain.
“Tommy is a kid, me and him both. A man is someone over 18, usually.”
Ranboo idly fixed their shirt as they processed.
“Okay. Tommy is a kid, you are a kid. I am a kid but Philza would be a man,” their voice was level, hiding their slight confusion.
“Well, yeah. But you’re only a kid if you’re younger than 18, though.”
“But I am the same age in Overworld years as you? Does social status count as an exception to the ‘man’ rule?”
The brunet’s eyes widened before he awkwardly rubbed his neck.
“No, it doesn’t, I just thought you were older boss man…”
Ranboo felt his face sink into a scowl, of course the bee would be the same as every other peasant in this god forsaken Overworld.
“As everyone has, apparently. But I do not care. Regardless, I came here to talk to both you and Tommy about an important thing but now that the avian has disappeared I shall talk to only you for the time being,” Ranboo straightened themself, turning back to be properly facing the bee hybrid. “You should be allies with me.”
Tubbo sat up more, his mouth falling open in, what looked to be, mild confusion.
“Allies?” Tubbo questioned. “Why do you need allies? That’s a bit creepy, King.”
“Allies are an essential part of being royalty— I’m not sure why I even thought a peasant would understand,” the Enderian hastily stood, finally wiping away the little flicks of dirt stuck to their pants. Thankfully, there were no stains. “I take back what I said, I will no longer be talking to you. Good day.”
“Woah wait—” Tubbo scrambled to his own shaky feet to follow. “Allies? What— do you mean friends?”
I said goodbye, Ranboo only walked faster, trying to lose the bee. I said goodbye now, leave me alone.
“Ranboo, wait—”
“I said your stupid Overworld ‘goodbye’ now leave me alone. I do not understand you people.”
And miraculously, the bee hybrid did stop. Ranboo, for some reason, felt a pit grow in their stomach, as they continued on. They… they had been doing well, having a civil conversation with the Overworld bee and yet… where they went wrong, they couldn’t tell. Was asking to be allies too confrontational? Maybe Overworld beings had special ways of becoming allies they didn’t know about?
Ranboo brought a hand up to their chest, scrunching the fabric of their shirt. Their chest hurt, and it only grew the further they got from the Pub(e), no, from that stupid bee.
There is nothing wrong with you! They reminded themselves, over and over until they pearled back into their little cave home, and until they slumped against the stone walls. There is nothing wrong with you, you can make allies.
You just have to try another way.
Tubbo stood frozen, watching Ranboo’s retreating back until he pearled away and left his sight.
He… didn’t know what to think other than that might’ve been the weirdest fucking interaction I’ve ever had…
Despite his confusion and mild annoyance about being insulted over literally nothing, again, Tubbo decided to just ignore it all. Ranboo was clearly going through some… stuff, and definitely wasn’t as smart as he made himself out to be. And he was also 13??
The bee hybrid felt his shoulders slump, he really thought Ranboo was…
So… there was a lot of things Tubbo didn’t know about Ranboo— no, there was literally nothing Tubbo knew about Ranboo other than he was kind of a dick and did just scream with a strange sort of defensiveness at him for following for, like, 5 seconds, but also…
Ranboo was also a little bit funny.
The brunet turned, a smile growing on his face.
I’m going to figure this guy out!