Chapter Text
Ranboo stared down at the sleeping form of his friend, troubled by what exile had done to the vivacious blond. He had seen how Tommy had changed in exile and it wasn't for the better. The blond had lost weight and quieted down, flinching away from Ranboo whenever the hybrid moved too fast. It made his heart ache.
A low warble came from behind him, prompting Ranboo to turn around and spy the enderman behind him. They tilted their head, looking at Ranboo with an almost parental air to them.
"What is troubling you, youngling?"
Ranboo cleared his throat, returning his attention to the blond sleeping in front of him. "My friend, elder, the humans have hurt them and they are no longer themselves. I'm worried that something will happen to them and they won't be around any longer."
The enderman made a comforting rumble in response before teleporting to stand at Ranboo's side. "Which human is hurt and which is doing the hurting, youngling?"
Ranboo frowned to himself as he thought about it. Common names did not translate well into Ender, with his own coming out as split-black-white. It took him a moment to properly translate their identities into Ender for the elder. "My friend is red-loud-gold and the one hurting them is mask-smile-green."
The elder Enderman tensed at the mention of Tommy, which alarmed Ranboo enough that he took a small step to the side. The enderman turned to look at him and chirped at him to show he meant no harm.
"My apologies, youngling, for losing my temper. The concept of harm coming to a youngling is upsetting enough to me, but when the only one wishing to intervene and help the hurt youngling is another youngling, I find that to be beyond the pale."
Ranboo took a slow breath before letting himself relax. "Apology accepted, elder. I can understand your anger, as I too am enraged by the situation. Neither their pack nor their End have made any attempt to intercede on their behalf to protect them."
This information only served to anger the enderman even more, with their eyes flaring an even deeper purple and their jaw opening all the way, as though they were aggroed on Dream just from hearing about his actions. The mental image of Dream getting hunted by an enderman for no reason that he can figure out gave Ranboo a quiet sense of satisfaction.
"What sort of humans can just abandon a youngling like that? No youngling should worry about being left behind by their elders. And even if they were left behind by their original elders, a youngling should be taken in by other elders, not left in the hands of a monster."
A confused warble escaped Ranboo's mouth, but the elder was not done with their rant.
"Any elder who hurts a youngling is no longer an elder and should be removed from access to younglings."
The other's words only heightened Ranboo's distress about the situation. "Then I've also failed red-loud-gold by leaving my friend with the monster."
Shaking their head, the enderman offered comfort to the upset hybrid. "You too are a youngling and thus are not responsible to fulfil the duties expected of an elder, for you are not yet one."
"But then what should I do? I can't just sit to the side while the monster destroys my friend forever."
The enderman at his elbow bent forward slightly in order to get a closer look at Tommy before straightening up and nodding slowly. Ranboo shifted when he noticed that the other enderman did not offer anything up. Noticing his impatience, the enderman rumbled out a laugh.
"Have no fear, youngling. If this one's elders have failed them, I will step in to intervene myself."
Ranboo breathed a sigh of relief at the promise from the other before freezing in confusion. After all, how was a singular enderman meant to protect Tommy against the strongest human on the server? Sadly, before he could demand answers from the elder, the enderman teleported away.
The conversation with the enderman had done nothing to address his concern so Ranboo returned his focus to puzzling out how to help Tommy. It soon faded from his mind and was quickly forgotten.
However, Ranboo had no idea what he had set in motion, nor the consequences his words would bring the server.
-----
Much later, after the youngling had returned to his settlement, the elder, protector-bush-strong-defender, found themselves on the beach again looking upon the human youngling, this time joined by other enderman elders as they pondered the problem set before them.
It only took a moment for the youngest of the elders to recognize the youngling sleeping in front of them. "That is the human that is favored by the animals. They speak fondly of the golden one. I'm sure that they will provide assistance to our problems."
Another elder, hunter-mooshroom-cynic-thinker, chirped his displeasure. "How much help can they really offer us? They shook their head at that before their gaze returned to the youngling shivering before them. "The first problem is removing the youngling from the care of the monster. Then we can worry about destroying the monster."
The youngest elder of the group, resident-spruce-quiet-artic, chimed in at that. Their speech was less formal, making them sound like the various humans and hybrids who ran the server. "As I'm sure some of you are aware, I am currently sharing a place with a human. Though I wouldn't turn to the human to solve this problem, I would advise using their animals to assist us. They are well-trained and intelligent enough in their own right to help us in the matter."
The second hummed in consideration. "There is some merit in your words. Would you be able to convince them quickly?"
Resident-spruce-quiet-artic bobbed their head in agreement. "If this is the one the animals speak of so fondly, I know that they will rescue the youngling and work to protect them."
The fourth and final member of the group, enchanter-lapis-book-magic, took the moment to speak. "Then, if we are all in agreement, we shall depart this place and allow resident-spruce-quiet-artic to collect their compatriots and rescue the youngling. We three shall go and spread word to all the mobs of the situation and the monster they should target. It will never be able to escape our wrath anywhere it shall travel."
The others let out noises of agreement and then they each teleported to all corners of the server, preparing to do their part to help the abandoned youngling.
-----
Resident-spruce-quiet-artic, or as their hybrid housemate called them, Edward, teleported straight to the large barn erected next to the place they resided. In there, they found a horse, a cow, two polar bears, several crows and many assorted barnyard animals curled up to conserve warmth. Upon their entry, all of the animals turned to face them in surprise at their sudden arrival.
They turned to look at the horse, often called Carl by the hybrid, and began to speak. "The human you speak so fondly of, are they red-loud-gold."
Carl neighed in affirmation.< "That human is loud to cover their softness from those that would use it against them. What brought them to your attention?"
"An ender hybrid youngling expressed their concern over the treatment of their friend, the human youngling. Apparently, their human elders left them in the care of a youngling harmer, a monster, and failed to act to protect the youngling. An ender elder swore to the hybrid youngling that we would intercede on their behalf instead."
The smaller polar bear referred to as Baba growled in displeasure. "They would allow harm to come to a cub, especially one so sweet? They do not deserve the cub then. If no one else is willing to step in and protect the cub, then I will take them in."
The other polar bear, named Steve, rumbled their agreement."I am willing to help protect the cub."
The crows wasted no time in chiming in as one, in the nature of a flock. "Help the chick, help the chick." Their caws of support quickly devolved as they hopped around and lost focus on the conversation.
The other animals voiced agreement to helping the youngling, but were less adamant in their insistence about their own involvement. Focus then shifted to the final animal to voice their opinion on the matter.
Bob the cow raised their head upon feeling their gazes settle upon them. They moo-ed in agreement."Hurting a calf is unacceptable, and hurting one so sweet in particular is a crime we cannot ignore."
The barn erupted into sounds of joy and righteous anger. The enderman took it all in and took pleasure in their agreement. Now all that was left of their task was rescuing the youngling and hiding them away from the other humans who failed them.