Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ranboo never thought about using his wings.

He knew they were able to be used, he knew they were the size they were so that they could lift his abnormally large form from the ground. He knew and yet at the same time, it terrified him.

What scared him even more was the possibility of being hunted down for flying.

Logically, he knew this wouldn't happen, the server was full of winged hybrids, most if not all of the members of the server had wings and those that didn't often got to fly with their friends strong enough to carry them. The skies are a safe place, one where no one is allowed to battle, all are equal and share the space as if it were a safe haven.

In all actuality, it was. The whole server was a safe space.

He knows this was what the server was for, it's why so many of the people here had wings in the first place. The Dream Smp was a place for people like himself to be free from the cruelty of other servers that refused their freedom, refused to allow them to use the one limb they needed to use unless they wanted to lose all ability to use them at all.

And yet Ranboo was still terrified.

In every server before this one, winged hybrids had been forbidden flight. Whether it was Bedwars or a simple, "relaxing" server, it had always been forbidden. They were given the okay to spread their wings in their homes, but never in public, could never fly, and those who did would sometimes be punished .

Ranboo remembers seeing clipped wings in Hypixel and feeling sick to his stomach, the fear that he would experience his wings being clipped ( though how does one clip wings like his? can they even be clipped? ) keeping him bound to the ground.

Now, though? Now he was free to soar, free to stretch his wings and feel the air in his hair, and yet…he couldn't. He was too scared .

He must have zoned out on the pathway Phil had made between his new home and Techno's, because one moment he was alone, the next he had the bird hybrid at his side, a dark wing stretched out above the ender hybrid's head, protecting him from snow he hadn't even realized had begun to fall. It was only now that he felt the slight sting against his scalp from the melted ice and he silently curses himself for forgetting the hooded cape Technoblade had been so generous to give him. 

"You back with us, mate?" Philza questions, voice laced with light amusement. The teen hums low in his chest, throat sore from his lack of speaking over the last few days.

"Yeah, sorry," he murmurs, clearing his throat in an attempt to rid the itch. The older man chuckles lightly, nodding his head towards his home in a silent suggestion to follow him. 

Before, Ranboo remembers hesitating to follow the other men into the cabins, scared of intruding. Now, after being here for as long as he has, he doesn't even have to think as he follows Philza into his cabin. 

The heat of the insulated home sends a startled shiver down his spines, multihue wings stretching and shivering slightly behind him. 

So odd, his wings. When he felt them growing in, he'd been terrified. All stories he'd heard were of feathered wings soaked in blood as they emerged from a hybrid's back, soaking their clothes and skin in the crimson liquid. Most people had someone there to help them through it, he'd heard of Techno's story, how Phil and Wilbur had been there to comfort him as large, pinks and brown speckled wings grew from his back, or how Philza had his parents there for him through it back during his mortal life.

Ranboo, however? 

He'd been alone. He didn't have friends or family to help him through it, his appearance and size scared people away, and so when he felt the signature pain in his back, he was terrified . How does one handle that kind of pain on their own? 

The day they stretched from his back, he was bedridden, screaming into a pillow as the scaled limbs ripped his skin open, black wings speckled with white stretching from his back. Never had he seen wings like his own, most feathered and looking more bird-like while his own almost seemed draconic in appearance.

Maybe they are. A familiar voice buzzes in his head, others perking up to put their input in as well.

DRAGONBOO!!
Dragon my beloved
Guys maybe he's an enderd-
ILEGAL!!!
I think they're cool
Ask Dadza!! 

One singular voice bringing up Philza caused a ruckus of 'Phil' and 'Dadza' to be screamed in his head and Ranboo groans, raising a hand to his temple.

"Are they acting up?" Phil asks from where he had begun to make tea while the teen grew lost in his thoughts, gaze gentle with concern.

"Unfortunately," He murmurs, quickling shuffling towards the fireplace so he could sit down. His 'voices' hadn't begun to grow louder until he joined the server and met more people like himself, hybrids of "monstrous" mobs. He'd been scared when they grew louder, terrified, and he'd hidden them, not telling anyone, not even Tubbo. It wasn't until they got too loud that someone finally found him, curled up in the snowy tundra with his hands over his ears and begging them to stop.

Really, he was lucky Techno and Phil found him that day, the two familiar with the voices "monster" hybrid's had to deal with.

A cup of tea is held in front of his face, once again snapping him from his thoughts, and he eagerly takes it, a soft murmur of thanks passing his lips.

"Do you want me to get Tech?" Phil had seen the piglin hybrid help Ranboo before, though his friend would never admit to it. A light laugh leaves the teen and he shakes his head, tilting his head to the side to look give him a slight smile. 

"No, but thank you, he was talking about wanting to go hunting and I don't want to distract him."

The older man simply hums and nods, clapping a hand in his shoulder and moving back to the tea to get himself a glass.

A comfortable silence falls over the two as Phil moves about the cabin, tea in hands and mind set on getting some more prepared while Ranboo warms himself by the fire, wings arching to get closer to the comforting wings. The silence also allows Ranboo to think, the voices' suggestion dancing around his mind. Would Philza know what type of wings he had? The explorer often stared at them, a slight longing and familiarity he thinks he's good at hiding able to be seen deep in his eyes, so possibly he did? But then, did Ranboo want to know? For years he'd been told he was an enderman hybrid, he had the appearance of one, he could speak Endspeak, he made the noises, could understand Endermen when they chirped and spoke to one another. He had even made friends with Edward! So why would he want to find out that this wasn't true?

Red and green eyes flicker towards Phil and he finds the man staring at him, that oh so familiar longing shining in his blue hues, and Ranboo finds his answer when their gazes briefly meet.

"Phil, is there something you know that I don't?" The question slips from his lips and he feels his wings tense on his back, long tails twitching anxiously behind him, curled around one another. The words seemed to make Phil pause, eyes widening slightly, before a low, airy chuckle rumbles from his chest.

"What do you mean, Ran?" 

Phil's wings were pulled in close, hands hidden, and he wasn't looking at his face like he normally would when they spoke.

Ranboo's eyes narrow.

" Phil ...You know something about me," he murmurs, turning in the seat to face him, "I see you look at my wings sometimes and the way you stare is as if you miss something. So what is it?" He didn't realize his voice was raising as he stood, hands clenching at his sides, gaze pleading. "Phil, what am I ?!" 

His yell echoed through the empty air, a tense silence falling between the two for just a moment. Phil's eyes widened when the ender hybrid had yelled, dark wings fluffing up slightly, before his gaze softened slightly. Closing the distance between them, Ranboo takes an instinctive step back, only to be stopped by the chair behind him and leaving him with the blonde standing directly in front of him.

"Mate, can I see your wings?" His expression is gentle and yet so sad and Ranboo can't stop himself from reaching a large, scaled wing reach towards the older man. Philza's hands are gentle, warm, and Ranboo feels himself instinctively relax at the feeling, shoulders slumping slightly.

"Ranboo, have you ever visited the End?" 

The question catches him off guard and he can't stop the startled chuckle that leaves him, multihue eyes flickering about the small cabin. Black tail lifting, it curls around the older man's wrist, its white counterpart curling around his own calf.

"Of course, that's where I was born . I don't remember my parents, but I remember being there and then the Queen allowed me to leave when she realized I wanted to explore more and the End just…wasn't enough," he breathes out a laugh, raising a hand to his hair, "She allowed me to be free and promised I'd always be welcome back, but, well…that was years ago now? I lost track of the time, I don't know for sure." Ranboo can only shrug helplessly, hand falling limply to his side as he looks back to the bird hybrid. 

A moment of silence falls over the two, Phil's fingers lightly tracing the scales of his wings, before the elder sighs. Eyes flickering to look at his face, blue hues not meeting his eyes, something he'd always be grateful for. 

"Did you ever wonder why the Queen was biased towards you?" He questions, tone falsely light, and Ranboo pauses.

"That's…she's allowed others to leave, Enderfolk are all over, you'd know, the tundra is full of Endermen-" He doesn't realize he's rambling, hands flailing, until a hand gently takes one of his own, holding it in place carefully.

"Ran, your wings are very distinct, I don't know how you haven't been told sooner-"

No.. No, he can't be an Ender Dragon hybrid, that's impossible, the Queen, she can't…she can't have kids..! 

But can she? How would he know, he barely remembers her face when she was outside of the Draconic form she took on to protect her realm. He doesn't even remember her voice , so how can he assume she can't have children? 

Ranboo?
Dragon boy!!! I knew it!
RANBOO IS A DRAGON POG
POG POG POG
Guys, he seems upset?
Ranboo, are you okay?
L
Ender Pog
Where's Phil?
Oh dear
Randragon lol
Memory Boy can't remember his own mom f
F
F
F

They're being loud , it's so loud , he can't even hear his own thoughts, it's so much -

When did he end up outside? Where was he? He was just with Phil, but he knows he's not now because it's cold and Philza was warm and safe and he's one of his homes and this isn't home . 

Eyes open and he feels the air leave his lungs.

He's flying .

Chapter Text

Phil knew he should have waited to say something, should have waited until Techno was with them in case something like this happened. 

He'd recognized those wings when he first met Ranboo, the familiar shape and texture making a spike of nostalgia hit him, heart aching. Ever since he joined the Dream smp, he longed for the End, wished he could return and see the void lands and explore. He understood why Dream banned entrance into the End, this server wasn't meant for things like that, there were things in the End that he didn't want floating around the main realm, and so Philza understood. That's why when Ranboo found the stronghold, he avoided it as well as he could, keeping away from the call of the End that wrapped itself around his form.

He hadn't thought the teen had noticed how he sometimes would look at his wings, remembering the Queen from his own server, how she had grinned at him when he entered her realm, all sharp teeth and shining eyes as her form shifted and grew to that of a dragon, the dragon. He thought he was subtle, but apparently he was wrong, seeing as the ender hybrid had finally confronted him.

The look in his eyes, the pleading…Phil couldn't say no, he couldn't refuse him when he was begging to know what he was.

So he told him and he really wished he had waited for Techno.

Red and green eyes gloss over, the teen's taller form trembling slightly as the news processed in his mind. It was like he was conscious anymore, his chest beginning to rise and fall quickly, wings twitching.

"Ranboo..? Mate, can you hear me?" Phil tried to get a better look at his face, a small frown in his face. Their eyes briefly met and a broken chirp leaves the teen before he's quickly pushing past Phil, fleeing outside. "Kid-!" 

He follows him outside, only for the air to be knocked from his chest when two large wings quickly spread out, pushing him back against the wall. 

He can't get a word out before he sees Ranboo taking off into the air, his flight unsteady and crude due to his lack of practice. A quiet curse slips passed the older hybrid's lips and he digs his communicator out of his pocket, quickly bringing up the chat.

Ph1LzA: Mates, we have a problem.

Ranboo can't breathe. 

He's never flown before, never when he was aware , and yet here he was, barely able to control his wings as he does his best to stay airborne. He always viewed flying as a freeing experience and yet at this moment, he's never felt more trapped . 

There's a soft ding from his pocket, the familiar notification of a chat message, and the noises quickly begin to increase, more messages being sent in response to the initial one. The noise is annoying and yet grounding all the same, much better than the voices cheering and yelling in his head.

He's flying!!! 
FLYBOO FLYBOO FLYBOO
I'm so proud of you!! 
Don't fall
Be careful! 
WOO
What's the messages about? 
Go show the others! 
Guys, quiet down..

"Can you guys be quiet?" He murmurs, voice slightly strained, and he's grateful when they seem to listen. A small part of his mind remembers something, though he can't put a finger on the specifics of the fuzzy memory. Something about the voices listening when their host seems distraught? He thinks he remembers Techno telling him about that, though he also thinks he remembers Techno telling him his chat will harass him even more when he's upset, so many his memories are mixing.

Another ding comes from the communicator and a shaky hand reaches to his pocket, taking it out to open the messages.

Ph1LzA: Mates, we have a problem.
Ph1LzA: I think I upset Ranboo and he took off flying.
Tubbo_: RANBOO'S FLYING FOR THE FIRST TIME WITHOUT ME??? 
Awesamdude: Tubbo, this sounds serious.
Tubbo_: Right, sorry
Tubbo_: What happened? 
Ph1LzA: I'll explain in person, but can you meet me at the Ender portal? 
Awesamdude: Yeah, is there anyone else on the server? 
Ph1LzA: Not that I know of.
Awesamdude: Then it'll just be us three
Ranboo: I'm fine

Ranboo's hands shake as he sends the message, wings moving on autopilot as he watches the chat anxiously. Philza was worried about him, that wasn't good. He didn't like worrying the older man, not after everything he's done for him, and yet here he was, taking off without a word.

There's a ding and focuses on the chat.

Ph1LzA: Ran, mate, where are you?
Ranboo: I don't know? 
Ranboo: But it's okay!!! 
Ranboo: I'm sure I can find my way home!!! 
Awesamdude: You don't know skies like Phil and I do, Ranboo, it might be good to land and send us your coordinates for now.

Ranboo feels his stomach tighten at the thought of seeing someone right now.

Ranboo: Not yet. 
Tubbo_: Ranboo, can I know where you are? 

Tubbo.

Ranboo pauses, staring at the messages for just a moment, before frowning slightly. 

Ranboo: Not right now. I'm sorry, Tubbo.
Ranboo has muted the chat.

He feels guilt churn in his gut and yet he tucks the communicator away, looking around the area. It was unfamiliar, so he must have flown a good bit away from the main Smp. Swallowing thickly, he takes in a deep breath and slowly lowers himself to the ground, grunting when his landing is a bit more rough than he had initially intended. He's landed in a dark oak biome, that much is clear from the large trees around him, mushrooms that are far too large littered here and there. Moving towards a tree, he places a palm on it, black skin nearly blending in with the dark bark. 

Multihue eyes examine his hand, taking in the texture and causing the gears in his head to turn. Endermen weren't smooth creatures, the texture of their skin rougher than most other mobs, light scales speckling their faces and tails. A white hand raises to touch his face lightly, fingers brushing across the scales that resembled the Endermen he's thought for so long he was one of, and yet Philza's words echo in his mind and he begins noticing more about himself. 

The scales weren't only on his face and tail. His hands, his body, even the horns rising from his head were lightly scaled, and…and the wings . His hand clenches against the tree and he can't stop the low growl that raises from his throat, head pulling back only for his forehead to slam against the thick tree bark. 

It hurts and yet he doesn't care, a frustrated yell rising from his throat.

Why can't he remember ?! Why were his memories the way they were, why couldn't he just remember more of his home, more of the End, why can't he remember his parent's face, his mother's face?! Of all the things he should remember, that should be one of them!

There’s a wet warmth on his forehead and yet he doesn’t care, eyes opening to stare at the tree. He’s tired despite it being so early in the evening and for a moment, he contemplates messaging Phil, asking him to bring him home, and yet he finds himself hesitating. He wants to be alone, even if it’s just for a little while, and so, with that in mind, large wings twitch on his back.

He can’t fly anymore, not properly, his body aches from going so far for the first time, but he can at least lift himself into the tree, can’t he? Inhaling slowly, he focuses on the feeling he’d experienced in the air, the way his wings had moved on autopilot, and exhales, wings stretching out. He has to try , he can learn how to properly fly later, but for now, he just needs to get to the tree branch. Wings move a few times, shoulder muscles aching, and he focuses on the motions from when he was flying before, repeating them just a few times.

He barely gets off the ground, going just high enough to grab the branch before his wings give out on him, going limp on his back, unable to carry him any further. A soft huff leaves him and Ranboo pulls, body trembling slightly as he perches on the branch, leaning against the trunk limply. It hurts and he’s so tired, eyes closing once more as he finally allows rest to fall over him, tails curling around the branch.

He doesn’t even feel the eyes on his back as his mind clouds with sleep.

Halfway across the server, Phil hears a ding from his communicator.

WilburSoot: i found ranboo

Chapter Text

 “Ma, when are you going to let me explore further?” The child is only 8 years old (in human years at least) and yet stories he’s been told by his people, those that explore the other realms, make him want to see more, to meet the so called ‘humans’ the Enderfolk told him of, the animals that are so different from the creatures in their world. He wants to see it all, he wants to see the supposed sun that gives the world light during the ‘day’, the seas that separate continents, everything!

A light, amused laugh bubbles up from beside the child and he looks up to the woman beside him, multihue eyes shining with so much curiosity. Gentle purple eyes look down to him, the Queen’s gaze fond as she raises a hand to gently cup his cheek.

“Not yet, my dear. You’re far too young, it’s unsafe,” she coos, gently nudging him to follow her. The child pouts, a whine on his lips as he follows after, tails swaying in frustration behind him.

“But maaaaa, I want to see sheep! Teacher told me they’re super sweet and their... wool ? I think that’s what they called it! Their wool is super soft!” He’s rambling now, but the boy doesn’t know and his mother is too fond of her boy to be bothered. He begins speaking about other animals his teacher has taught him about, the creatures of a realm called the Nether, the counterpart to the Overworld. It’s all so interesting to the child and he’s so wrapped up in his thoughts and words that he doesn’t notice the brief mournful look that flickers across his mother’s face, a wing protectively curling around his small form.

“Ranboo, dear?”

Ranboo jumps slightly at the sound of his mothers voice, eyes flickering up to look at her. A smile immediately spreads across his face when he sees the lack of armor, gears in his head turning as his memories slowly catch up with him. His memories haven’t been the best these days, he’s been forgetting more and more, but that warm smile, those kind eyes...No, he could never forget his mother.

“Yes, mother? Did you need something?” He questions, turning in his seat to properly face her. The queen steps closer, hands coming up to squish his cheeks, and the 10 year old laughs, trying to pull away. “ Mother, please!” Laughter is her response and she cups his face in her hands gently, the gentle touch making him melt into her warmth.

“How has your memory been? You teacher told me you didn’t remember much of yesterday..?” Concern lilts her voice and Ranboo pauses, a small frown twisting his lips downwards. Had he? He tries to focus, tries to remember just what he had been meant to do the day before, but he’s pulling a blank. His lack of an answer seems to be enough for his mother and she sighs, wings drooping behind her. “I’ve been looking into it to see if there’s possibly something I can do to fix this, but I haven’t been able to find anything just yet.”

Ranboo droops, eyes slipping shut for a moment before he hums, pulling his head back so he can look up at her.

“Could it be because of Father and not you?”

He sees her tense and immediately regrets asking, hands darting up to take hold of hers gently, expression apologetic.

“Mother, I’m sorry-”

“I’m going to keep doing research, Ran...maybe tomorrow I will tell you of your father..?” Her voice was hesitant, but her eyes were genuine, and Ranboo finds himself grinning, eyes brightening. He had always wanted to know about his father, he never understood why the man had left when Enderfolk were meant to mate for life, and so maybe his mother’s explanation could give him that closure he always craved?

They never got to have that conversation.

One evening, he awakens with his head pounding and memories blank, the only thing he knows for sure being his name.

Ranboo.

He’s terrified, he won’t lie, unsure of where he is or why he’s here, all he knows is that he needs to get out of this room, it felt like it’s suffocating him. So, he does just that, hesitating for a moment before dressing in the silky clothes in the room, the texture odd against his sensitive skin, and he flees the room…

Only to run into a woman, purple hues wide with concern and mild panic. A startled chirp rises from the boy’s throat and he stumbles away, back slamming into the wall.

“M-Ma’am! I’m sorry! I- I didn’t mean to run into you..!” He manages to stammer out, voice trembling, and tails lashing anxiously behind him. He doesn’t know why, but guilt builds in his chest at the utter heartbreak in the woman’s eyes, the sight of purple tinted tears filling her eyes causing panic to rise. “N-No! I’m sorry, please don’t cry-”

Arms wrap around him and pull him close, a large pair of wings cocooning around the boy, the hold catching him off guard and yet so comforting. There’s a moment of hesitation before he swallows thickly, arms cautiously returning the embrace.

“Ma’am..? Are you okay?”

His question seemed to snap her out of it and she quickly backed away, clearing her throat. There’s burn marks on her cheeks and he finds himself concerned, though he doesn’t have time to ask if she’s alright before she’s speaking.

“What do you remember, young one?” Her voice is strained, but it holds a layer of authority that he finds himself unable to ignore it, answering as though he were on autopilot.

“I remember my name, but that’s it. I don’t know where I am or...or who you are. I apologize…”

And on that evening, the Queen of the End’s heart shatters just like it did the day her love left.

It’s late one night when he hears the Queen speaking to one of the other knights.

“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”

“It’s better for him to not know. He’ll be happier this way.”

“How are you sure?”

“His father was, was he not?”

“With all due respect, your highness,  the prince isn’t like his father.”

“He’s never been interested in the royal duties. Allow him his freedom from it.”

“..very well, your highness.”

Ranboo doesn’t remember the conversation the next day.

“Your Highness? I was told you summoned me?” The young boy, only 12 years old for humans, is knelt before the Queen of the End, head bowed as to not meet her eyes. While most did this to show their respect, he did it to avoid discomfort for them both. Since the day she told him she was the queen and he was her knight, their relationship was odd. She quite obviously favored him over her other knights, but he never knew why and no one would tell him.

The Queen’s eyes are glued to him for a quiet moment before she smiles, gaze gentle.

“Ranboo. I heard you’re interested in the other worlds?”

Her statement catches him off guard and his head snaps upwards, their eyes briefly meeting before his gaze is flickering down slightly so that he is still look at her, but he isn’t meeting her eyes. Who had told her? He remembers speaking to his assigned teacher about it, the Enderfolk that taught him of the things that had been wiped from his minds, but he doesn’t remember much other than offhandedly mentioning it. Had they mentioned saying something to the Queen about it?

As perusal, he silently curses his bad memory for not remember.

The Queen laughs lightly, eyes amused by his shock, and she stands from her throne, stepping down so she was level with him.

“It’s alright, I’m not upset,” she hums, soothing voice relaxing his nerves. The boy sighs, shoulders slumping briefly before he’s shuffling anxiously in spot.

“I...yes, I am. My tutor told me of the other worlds and I can’t help but be curious..! I mean, there’s this one creature, I think they called it a sheep? From what I can remember, which isn’t much, so take this with a grain of salt,” he pauses with a cheeky grin, causing the Queen to let out an exasperated chuckle, “They’re supposedly very kind and have soft... wool ? I think that’s what they called it. I would love to meet one!”

Only the Queen remembers having a similar conversation with the boy when he was only 8 years old, though she doesn’t comment on it. Instead, she simply hums, wings raising slightly behind her.

“How would you feel if I gave you permission to leave the End and explore the world?"

Ranboo’s eyes widen and he can’t stop himself from beaming, eyes shining bright with excitement.

“I’d be honored!!”

Ranboo is awakened by the sound of the branch creaking, the dream leaving his grasp before he can even try to think about what it had been about, and for some reason, it feels like a part of him is missing once again. He doesn't even realize he's started crying until he feels his face burning and yet he finds himself not caring, forehead pressing to the tree.

He's so tired.

Chapter Text

When he wakes up again, he’s more aware then he had been the first time. It’s late, he can see the stars faintly through the leaves of the trees, the sound of mobs moving about beneath him making his tails twitch anciouxly. So many noises flood his senses and he cringes from them, head ducking down slightly.

The next thing he notices is a comforting warmth against his back and curled around his side-

Wait what?

Logically, Ranboo knows he probably shouldn’t jerk in reaction to the feeling of something or someone behind him, but instincts have his wings flare out, posture snapping straight. Unfortunately, however, he fails to take into account the wing that had been wrapped around him, his own draconic ones smacking the raven wings and causing both men to yelp at the sudden off-balance. It only takes seconds for them to fall to the ground, the sudden fall making any nearby animals flee in fear.

“ Shit , Ranboo, what the hell?!”

He knows he recognizes that voice, but his mind is still waking up and he can’t fit a name to it yet. Quickly scrambling up, he spins around, back and wings pressing to the tree so he could get a look at the man who had been protecting him with his body and wings.

The first thing he notices is the large pair of raven wings behind him, feathers visibly ruffled from the sudden fall and spread out. The next thing he notices is a beanie that is just barely hiding a mess of curly brown hair from the teen, a few leaves laying atop his head from the fall.

The last thing he notices are the wide, dark eyes staring him down, visible confusion mixed with an undertone of frustration shining in them.

“I..I’m sorry, but you try waking up to someone behind you that wasn’t there before..!” His words waver, he’s still tired, but he’s beginning to become more aware. Pointed ears twitch and turn towards the sounds of the forest around them, the sound of hostile mobs moving to investigate the noises able to be heard. From the corner of his eyes, he sees the man about to speak and is quick to raise a hand to his lips, cautiously shushing him. His voice drops to a low whisper and he looks to him, “Mobs are coming.”

Those words make the other man’s mouth snap shut and he quickly looks around, hand extending to allow the familiar shimmer of weapon summoning to light up the air, a diamond sword coming into existence. Good to know the other was armed. Carefully pushing himself to his feet, Ranboo holds his hand out to the other and feels him take it, swiftly pulling him to his feet so both were up and prepared.

“Want to move to the trees so we can avoid them and properly talk?” The man’s voice is so familiar and yet Ranboo’s mind is still pulling a blank on his name, though that wasn’t what he needed to focus on right now. The rattle of bones getting closer makes his wings tense and he quickly nods in agreement, gaze flickering up to the branch they had been on.

“Maybe we get on a bigger branch?” He suggests, voice cautious. It seems to amuse the other, however, a breathy laugh leaving him, and he nods, diamond sword held tight in his hands as the two move beneath the trees to find a branch.

It takes a few minutes as they have to weave between trees to avoid mobs, but they eventually find a large enough tree with plenty of large branches that would allow them both to sit comfortably on. While the raven winged man flies up to the branch with practised ease, Ranboo struggles once again, wings unfamiliar with flight. He can feel the dark eyes on him, watching as he tries to remember how it felt to fly the day prior, but he’s too focused on trying to fly up to focus on the discomfort buzzing beneath his skin.

It’s not until he hears a zombie groan behind him that his wings move properly and quickly , the jolt of anxiety he felt when he heard the mob causing his body to move on instinct. He’s lucky the other man is in the tree to grab him before he flies too high, quickly guiding him to sit on the branch with soft words being murmured.

“Hey, hey, you’re alright, calm down, the zombie can’t get you up here,” he murmurs, a hand moving between black and white wings to rub gentle circles into Ranboo’s back.

He can feel his chest heaving slightly, the nerves still burning in his veins, keeping him far too aware, prepared to flee as soon as necessary. The soft words of comfort and the hand on his back do manage to help him calm down, however, if just a little bit. He finds comfort in the presence next to him and a low sigh leaves him, trying to ignore the small part of him that tells him to lean into the other, allow those large, stunning wings to cocoon him and comfort him from the sudden anxiety.

He’s snapped out of his thoughts by the hand not on his back taking his own, multihue eyes snapping towards the other man.

“You with me, Ranboo? Phil will kill me if I manage to break you, he’s such a worried mama bird right now.” His tone is meant to be joking and yet the teen is still confused. Phil was worried? Why on earth would the man be worried? Had something happened?

He doesn’t have to try to remember for long as a chorus of voices cry out in the back of his mind.

DRAGONBOO!!!
Phil told you what you were
You flew!!!!
You ran away
He must be so worried :(
F
At least Wilbur found us!!!
Wilbrother!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WILBUR WILBUR WILBUR
How did he find you though?

Suddenly, Ranboo’s memories hit him like a train. He’d confronted Phil, asked him what he knew about his wings. Asked him if he knew what he was...and then he hinted towards him being an Ender Dragon and he ran away like a coward …

He looks to the other man, inwardly noting the concerned expression on his face at the silence coming from the Ender hybrid.

And then Wilbur had found him. How did Wilbur find him?

“Wilbur..,” he manages to croak out, a slight waver to his voice, “What are you doing here?”

The older hybrid seems to hesitate for a moment before a low sigh leaves him and he looks to the side, wings pulling in towards his back.

“I got into an argument with Dream, so I headed out here to cool off. Instead, I found you here, asleep in a tree, and, well. After helping take care of Tommy for so long, I guess my instincts kicked in.” Wilbur laughs, a light, low sound. It’s relaxing, if Ranboo was being honest with himself, and he feels his shoulders relax slightly, a soft laugh of his own bubbling up from his chest.

“Ah, well, sorry if I distracted you from your goals. I’m alright now, so you can go, I’ll be fine.” He smiles, trying to come off as comforting, but Wilbur simply quirks a brow, gaze unimpressed.

“Kid, you woke up crying just a little bit ago and then almost spiraled into a panic attack when you flew up into this tree,” he states matter-of-factly, his words making the teen duck his head down in shame. A part of him knows Wilbur is right, that he’s really not fine, and the chatter in his head certainly agrees, but he doesn’t want to worry him. Wilbur is a kind man, but he doesn’t want him fussing over him when it isn’t necessary.

He doesn’t realize he’s gotten wrapped up in his thoughts once more until he hears his friend(? are they friends?) sigh softly next to him, the warmth of a large wing encompassing him. He doesn’t mean to flinch, he really doesn’t, but he does, and suddenly the warmth is moving away, causing a light whine to rise up from the teen’s throat. 

“ Wh- ” Wilbur’s confusion breaks off into a loud bark of laughter and Ranboo can’t stop the way his face flushes a deep shade of purple, embarrassment thrumming through his veins. “ God , you sound like Tommy when he doesn’t get his way!” 

“I do not !” Ranboo can’t help but holler back, wings rising up behind him slightly in mock offense. This only makes Wilbur laugh harder, keeling over with his wings spread out behind him, the sound ringing throughout the night air. Despite himself, Ranboo can’t help but smile slightly and huff, allowing a mock pout to spread over his face as he leans into the elder hybrid’s side. “Jerk..”

Wilbur’s laughter calms into chuckles and he lets out a breathy chuckle, grinning widely. There’s no hesitation in his actions as he throws his arm around the teen’s shoulders, wing curling around him as well, holding him in place against his side.

“Sorry, sorry, you can hit me for comparing you to the gremlin later,” he teases, and Ranboo can’t help but snort quietly. If he were actually looking at him, he would have seen how Wilbur’s wings puffed up in pride for making him laugh, gaze softening slightly.

A calm silence falls over the two for a moment, the only sound being that of the world around them, mobs and animals going about their nights, unaware of the hybrids sitting above them in the trees. It’s...nice, to say the least. The only people that ever really allowed him to sit in silence with them were Phi, Technoblade, and sometimes Sam, the others more often than not wanting to do something, full of too much energy to stay still, Tommy and Tubbo especially. He never actually got to spend time like this with Wilbur before and so it feels new, foreign, and yet comforting, enveloping him in a warmth that reminds him of the cabins back home.

He doesn’t realize he’d begun to doze until he felt Wilbur bump their heads together lightly to get his attention.

“Hey, no sleeping yet, you still owe me an explanation on what you’re doing out here.”

Green and red eyes open slowly, the teen staring off into the forest for just a moment, contemplating. It would be easier to just rip the bandaid off, would it not? Logically, he knew Wilbur probably already knew, especially since he mentioned how Philza was worried, but it was clear he wanted Ranboo to tell him his side of the story. A soft sigh leaves him and he sits up slightly, hands moving to his lap so he could fidget with the edge of his sleeves.

Wilbur is patient, not rushing the teen to speak, simply offering a smile when he sees him flick his gaze towards him briefly. That one sign of encouragement is enough for Ranboo to start talking and he finds himself unable to stop.

He tells him about how he doesn’t remember much of his past. He tells him how he had seen Phil staring at his wings so often and he confronted him for it. He tells him how Philza had hesitated, didn’t want to tell him, but he pushed and so Phil caved, told him the wings he harbored were those of an Ender Dragon . How he had panicked, he was so scared to be an Ender Dragon, especially when he thinks of the fact that one of the few things he does know about Ender Dragons is that they are royals .

And he tells Wilbur how he thinks his Queen lied to him. How she had told him he was her knight and that was it. How he was probably her son and she didn’t tell him . And the worst part being he doesn’t even remember the Queen’s face, nor her voice. He doesn’t remember her smile, he doesn’t remember her touch, he barely even remembers the day she allowed him his freedom, all he remembers are her kind words, the voice echoing in a way that defied him of the resemblence to her’s.

‘ Be free, my young knight. ’

Ranboo didn’t realize he was crying until he felt Wilbur pull him towards his chest, gently tugging his head down so he could tuck it away into his shoulder, shirt soaking up the tears that were burning their way down his cheeks. A choked sob rises from his throat and he finds himself unable to stop himself as he cries out, clinging to the elder hybrid and allowing himself to mourn. 

Mourn a life he doesn’t remember and mourn a family he will never get back.

Chapter Text

Ranboo doesn’t know how long he cried for or how long Wilbur holds him, raven wings wrapped protectively around his larger form, barely able to cover the large dragon wings on his own back. All he really knows is that his face hurts and so does his throat.

His breathing has calmed (a distant voice in the back of his murmurs about how it is in sync with Wilbur’s) and he finds himself grateful for the comfort he still wasn’t accustomed to. So many people on the server have been kind to him, so many have helped him when he broke unexpectedly, and yet it still shocked him every time. He can’t help but feel even more grateful this time, however. Wilbur and him haven’t spoken too much, which was surprising to think about when he took into consideration that he lived right next to the man’s father and childhood friend, though he tried not to think about that much. It wasn’t either of their faults that they were never in the tundra at the same time, Wilbur living near the heart of the Smp while Ranboo often visited Tubbo’s home by the ocean.

He comes back to the moment at hand when he feels Wilbur’s chest vibrating against his own, the faint sound of humming echoing through the night- but wait, that was wrong, the sun was rising- air. He’s almost hesitant to move away, craving the gentle affection and comfort, but he knows he can’t be greedy, he knows he needs to free Wilbur from his bruising grasp.

So, after a moment of hesitation, he gently begins to pull back and Wilbur picks up on the sign, wings freeing him from their hold so he can lean back. A gentle hand touches his cheek and he instinctively flinches, only to quickly chase after it when he feel him pull away. The bird hybrid chuckles lightly and gently runs his thumb across his cheek beneath his eye, tracing over the already scarring tear tracks tracing down his cheeks.

“We’ll have to get you a healing pot when we get you home,” Wilbur absentmindedly hums, the smile quirking his lips upwards soft and comforting. A dry chuckle rumbles from Ranboo’s chest and he opens his eyes, not meeting the elder’s dark eyes, but doing the best he can to respectfully look at him as they speak.

“You’re not going to let me stay out here longer, are you?” He doesn’t even notice the playful lilt to his own voice, though Wilbur obviously does as he lets a bark of laughter leave him. Hand falling from his face, he raises it to his head instead, ruffling his already mussed hair. An offended squawk leaves the teen and he ducks away, a playful glare spreading across his face.

“No way, Phil will kill me if I don’t get you home soon. Come on, Tubbo and Toms are waiting for you.”

The mention of his two friends make him pause and he looks to the sky, the sun rising through the tall trees surrounding them. He supposes he should get back, those two will never let him live it down if he runs off for too long, especially now that they both know he’s used his wings for the first time since joining the server. He can already hear Tommy yelling at him for not saving his first flight to be with him and Tubbo complaining about how he wanted to be carried by Ranboo during their first flight. Another light laugh leaves him at the images and he sighs, shaking his head slightly before looking to Wilbur.

“Yeah, alright, I get it. Will you do me a favor, though?” He feels bad for asking more of Wilbur, but, well, there was predicament about their situation.

“Of course, kid, what is it?”

A moment of silence falls briefly before Ranboo awkwardly chuckles, raising his wings up behind him.

“Can you teach me how to properly use these?”

Halfway across the server, Philza Minecraft hears his communicator ding.

WilburSoot whispers to you: I got to teach Ranboo how to properly use his wings suck it
You whisper to WilburSoot: YOU SHIT

Now that he’s trying to fly while not in a panic-induced state, he’s starting to realize how hard it is.

The only times he’s been able to use his wings properly has been when he was panicking. Even when he had become aware while flying the night before, he was still panicked and was already moving on instinct, so he allowed his body to control itself more than anything, trying not to focus too hard on it less he fall from the sky and plummet to the ground. 

Luckily for him, Wilbur is a good teacher. He’s patient with him in a way a parent would be and for a moment, he wonders if he taught Fundy how to fly when he shifted to have wings. It’d make sense seeing as the shapeshifter was his son, but maybe Fundy knew how to fly without being taught? Ranboo doubted he would ever know, he didn’t want to pry into his friends’ personal lives. If they wanted him to know, they’d tell him.

A wing smacks him upside the head and he yelps, wings quickly spreading out to keep him from falling from the tree-tops.

“There’s our Boo, you spaced out there for a minute, thought I lost you again,” Wilbur lightly teases, a shit eating grin on his face.

Okay, he may be a good teacher, but he was still a shit.

Huffing, Ranboo reaches a wing out to playfully return the swat, forked tongue sticking out. The older hybrid gasps, a hand going over his heart as he allows the hit to land, easily keeping his balance as he shoots an offended look his way.

“Ranboo! How could you! I’m hurt! I’m wounded! I’ve never seen such disrespect to a mentor!” Wilbur’s voice has taken on a dramatic lilt and Ranboo can’t stop himself from laughing, the sound loud and full of life as it echoes through the open air.

“You lived with Tommy , you’ve seen way worse disrespect!”

Both fall into another fit of laughter, the teen leaning into Wilbur’s more sturdy form as they lose themselves in their joy for just a moment. It’s nice, being around the singer. Wilbur is a kind man and the way he laughs so easily, allows himself to be open with his joy, it’s contagious. It takes a moment for the two to calm before Ranboo is standing upright once more, a hand coming up to wipe away fake tears while Wilbur wipes away very real tears.

“We need to spend more time together, you’re a thrill to be around, Boo,” Wilbur grins up at the teen, raven wings puffed up with joy behind him. Ranboo can only grin in response, a purple flush flooding his cheeks as his tails whip behind him excitedly.

“You, too, Wil,” he starts, trying to ignore his embarrassment, “Now, don’t you owe me a flying lesson?”

“ Right! ”

The rest of the lesson goes off without a hitch. It’s hard to fly while calm, which should be a stupid thought to have and yet here he is. He never thought he would fly, that deep-rooted fear still clutching at his heart every time he’s even a few inches off the ground with the use of his wings, and yet Wilbur’s comforting hand on his shoulder, his encouraging words...it helps more than he thought it would.

A distant memory in the back of his mind buzzes to life, the sight of a Hawk Hybrid breaking from her restraints and taking off only to be struck down by lightning immediately enters his mind. It makes his stomach churn, it makes him feel like he’s going to vomit, and then Wilbur’s hand is on his back, soft words bringing him back down to earth, comforting him, murmuring soft reassurances. The memory is gone as soon as it came and he finds himself not even knowing why he’d begun panicking, all he knows is growing aware to Wilbur cocooned around him, promising that he would always be safe.

Allowing his heartbeat to slow and his breathing to calm, he looks to his temporary mentor and quietly asks for him to show him again. Wilbur smiles patiently and nods, freeing him from his embrace and moving back, wings stretching out on his back. They’re so big , the sunlight hitting the feathers just right and showing off that beautiful blue sheen that always caught the ender hybrid’s attention. Sometimes he wishes he had wings like that, but then his own wings would flare on his back and the voices would holler at him, scolding him for ever wishing for wings different to the ones he had, yelling at him about how incredible his own wings were. 

A part of him is grateful that the voices are some other-worldly beings that all he knows Techno and Sam both have to deal with or else he’d feel full of himself when they said those things.

His body shivers when Wilbur takes off, the gust of wind pushing itself through the suit he so often wore, weaving in between the threads making up the fabric. He watches how the feathered wings move and take mental (and physical) notes about how he’d have to take his own lack of feathers into consideration when he takes off.

Wilbur returns after showing off a bit, landing with practiced ease at his side and turning to the teen with a cheeky grin.

“You ready to try to take off properly for the first time?”

The words send a wave of dread running down his spine.

Despite all the practice, Ranboo doesn’t think he’ll ever be rid of his fear of flight. He’s seen too much, has had too many nightmares about his wings being cut off, has seen winged hybrids struck down for flying...it makes him scared each time he even takes off a little bit from the ground.

And yet when he stretches his wings out like he’d been taught, gets into stance and takes off into the sky, there’s a thrill to it. He looks at Wilbur to see him hooting with excitement from the treetops and he finds himself grinning despite the fear boiling deep in his gut, being slowly overpowered by the oh so contagious excitement of Wilbur Soot. The fear is still there, obvious,  and he thinks it always will be, but Ranboo finds himself think that it will be okay.

He may never stop being scared of flight, but as long as he has his friends with him, he thinks he’ll be alright.

He barely has time to register the raven hybrid flying at him full speed before Wilbur is slamming into him, making the two spin in the air. Laughter wheezes from the teen’s chest and he returns the embrace, allowing his wings to assist Wilbur’s in keeping the two in the air as they laugh and twirl in unison.

“You did it! I’m so fucking proud of you!”

Ranboo leans back just enough to look at Wilbur and beams, the happiest smile he’s allowed himself to show in years.

“ I did it! ”

Chapter Text

Wrapped up in the joy of his first proper take-off, the two have to land for a moment to calm themselves, laughter shaking their lanky forms. It’s been a bit since Ranboo had felt this much joy, the last time being when he and Tubbo had talked about getting platonically married. It had been a joke at first, the two saying they should get married for the tax benefits (as though their world had that) and then the next thing he knew, he was proposing. He hadn’t meant to do it, he’d been mining, Tubbo trailing after him as he worked, when he’d found a single diamond. 

The next thing he knew, he was on one knee in front of Tubbo, the words leaving his lips before he could think it through with the diamond in his hand. The shorter teen had stared at him for a moment, eyes wide in shock, before laughter burst from his chest, barreling into Ranboo with a holler of ‘yes’ on his lips.

A fond smile quirks his lips upwards without his knowledge, tails swaying happily behind him.

“Well now, looks like someone’s thinking about something good,” Wilbur teases, voice cutting through the memory (one he was so glad he hadn’t forgotten), and Ranboo laughs, face flushing.

“Yeah, I suppose you could say that,” he hums in response, noting how the older hybrid had prepared his wings for take-off and mimicking the action.

“Am I allowed to know what it is?” Wilbur asks, eyes shining with curiosity.

He hums, a playful lilt to the sound, and Wilbur whines from his side. A bark of laughter bursts from his chest and he whips a tail out to playfully smack the elder’s side, taking off before he can retaliate. “I’ll tell you if you can guess who it’s about!”

Wilbur gasps and quickly takes off after the teen, a wide grin on his face.

“You’re on, you gremlin!”

It wasn’t hard for Wilbur to guess Tubbo, it only took him a few tries to actually get the right person. It’s kind of surprising he hadn’t guessed the brunette first, but then again, he did spend a lot of time with Philza and Technoblade, so it wasn’t too surprising that he had guessed them first.

The story falls from his lips with ease, the memory glued to his mind in a way that not many memories were. He’s noticed over his time in the Smp that his memories had been getting better, but that could also be held to him having less stress to worry about. He can’t remember much of his past, but more recent things, things he wants to remember have been sticking more and he finds himself grateful for that.

He wraps up the story with the fact that they haven’t had a proper ceremony yet and Wilbur finally speaks up, visibly in shock.

“Wait, so that ‘platonic husbands’ thing wasn’t a joke?! I thought you both were just joking around!” 

Ranboo has to fly a little lower to avoid running into the man that flies in front of him, laughter bubbling from his chest at the reaction. Yeah, that’s a common reaction to their legitimate marriage. Raising a hand to the black horn curling up from his head, he brushes his fingers over the golden and black band wrapped around it, the band Tubbo had given to him to signify himself. The shorter teen has a matching one, black and white in color, on one of his own horns, the two doing that instead so they’d be harder to lose.

“Yeah, that’s what this is,” he hums, slowing his flight to allow Wilbur to move closer so he can examine the ring glinting in the sunlight.

A soft noise of awe leaves the brit, quickly followed by a low chuckle. “I can’t believe literal teenagers got married before I did..,” and then there’s a pause, “Is that even legal?”

“I don’t know, but..who cares?”

Wilbur can’t contain his laughter, plummeting slightly in the air as his arms wrap around his gut, wings subconsciously keeping him from falling. Ranboo can only laugh in response, red and green eyes rolling in amusement as he continues on, not bothering to stay in place since he knows Wilbur could easily catch up.

They’re above L’manburg when Ranboo’s wings begin to grow weaker, the muscles aching from such a long flight, the feeling similar to that of the one he felt when he’d flown out to the forest the other night. 

A low, frustrated growl rumbles from his chest and he chuffs quietly, shoulders rolling slightly. He’s not even aware of the new noise he’s made, tails flicking slightly as he begins to lower himself towards the Prime Path. Distantly, he can hear Wilbur call after him in confusion, but he needs to land, body aching too much to continue on. 

There’s a low thud as he lands on the wooden path, his weight making the wood creak beneath his feet. He rolls his shoulders once more before his wings curl against his back, taking a break from flight so he can regain his energy. Distantly in the back of his mind, a low voice that’s almost like his own murmurs, growling about home and returning back to his lands. It’s new and yet it reminds him of the last time his instincts had shown themselves, though not nearly as strong as now.

Ranboo finds himself wanting to fall into the warmth the instincts begin to cocoon him in, the voices lightly chirping in his mind, speaking up and encouraging him to stop suppressing the instincts he’d been denying for so long. The other half of him, the half that is still scared of the truth, yells at him to not succumb, to wait until he’s sure , and yet...what more proof does he need?

He’s not even aware of the man he’d been flying with approaching right away, mind hazing over with he comfort that was his draconic instincts. It takes a moment for him to notice the bird hybrid’s approaching presence and when he does, his scent is familiar, welcomed.

The voices all speak in unison when he sees the other man from the corner of his eyes.

Flock.

Wilbur lands beside him after a moment, concern evident in his gaze as he tries to look at the ender hybrid’s face.

“You okay, Boo?”

All he gets is a grunt in response and he realizes what’s happened by the glazed over, yet far too aware look in multi-color eyes.

He remembers Schlatt acting more ram-like when they were teens once he’d accepted that he was a hybrid, and it seems like that’s what was happening here. Ranboo had mentioned it during flight, that he hadn't felt this whole in a while after they spoke about his heritage, and so Wilbur should have known it was coming. Hell, even he had gone through it when his wings had come in, bird instincts a very present part of him once he realized what he was.

He feels a tail flick his leg when he’s quiet for too long and looks to the teen, surprised to see him staring back at him, pupils narrowing into thin slits.

Well, that answered that, especially if the curious growl the boy makes says anything.

He can’t help but chuckle lightly, raising an arm to slip it around the dragon’s shoulders. A brief spike of pride floods his chest he feels when Ranboo easily melts into his side and a raven wing rises to curl around him as well, protecting him from the rest of the world. It’s nice to be able to act like an older brother again, Tommy had grown stubborn over the years, not often allowing him to fuss over him like this anymore, so having Ranboo lean into his comfort, even if he seemed to be lost in his own instincts, was nice.

“Want to walk through the nether and then fly the rest of the way to your place so the others can see you show off your wings?” He asks, voice light in an attempt to get a positive response from the dragon. He instead gets an affirmative chuff, the noise low, almost animal-like, and Wilbur hums, nodding his head in agreement. “Alright, Boo, let’s go.”

The walk is nice and calm at first, Ranboo’s silence still odd, but Wilbur easily fills the air with soft humming, the noise helping keep the kid from losing himself in instincts more than he already had. It was odd, truly, as if he was witnessing the world through a lens, senses overwhelming, and yet Wilbur’s presence at his side keeps him grounded. Pointed ears twitch towards every sound, low growls leaving him when Piglins get too close, the sound a warning to the Netherfolk and seeming to be one they were far too smart to ignore.

Distantly he hears Wilbur thank him when a Piglin gets a little too close and he snaps at them in response, sharp teeth glinting in the low light of the lava and making the mob squeal in response, fleeing the opposite way.

“Maybe you should act like this every time we cross the nether,” Wilbur playfully praises, voice cutting through the fog of his mind. Ears perk at the praise, unable to pick up on the fact that it was a joke, and Ranboo can’t stop the pleased trill that rises from his throat, sharp black tail snapping out to curl around his friend’s calf. He hears the startled noise the bird hybrid makes, but doesn’t react to it, too pleased with the praise he’d been given to process the soft statement of ‘please keep that sharp end away from my veIns-’ .

A small voice in the back of his head asks when the end of his tail had gotten sharp.

They continue to walk, Wilbur’s steps far more careful now, and they’re so close to the portal that leads to the Artic when things go wrong.

Neither had noticed the Enderman that was hovering near the portal until it was too late, Wilbur’s eyes meeting the glowing eyes of the Endfolk. A moment of tense silence falls before the mob’s jaw unhinges and a low, ear piercing screech echoes through the air. 

Wilbur flinches and is instinctively reaching a hand out to summon his sword, diamond sword materializing and shit , it’s so close, he doesn’t have time, he doesn’t have time -

A louder, much more animalistic growl echoes through the air and suddenly a large figure is blocking Wilbur, draconic wings spread out before him. He hadn’t even noticed Ranboo removing himself from his side until now and suddenly he’s becoming very aware of something else about the teen.

He was much taller than he’d been only moments before. While Ranboo was normally fairly tall (6’6” was impressive), he was far taller than that now. He was even taller than the Enderman now, long tails lashing out and yet being careful of Wilbur, sharp end slicing into the pathway and leaving gouges in the obsidian ( holy shit holy shit holy SHIT Wilbur thinks he’s going to faint at the sight of that ).

And then he becomes aware of something else.

Ranboo is protecting him.

Ranboo “Pacifist” Beloved was protecting him, sharp teeth bared at the Enderman that had been about to attack him.

He’s suddenly brought back to the situation at hand when a confused, almost scared sounding warble leaves the Enderman and Ranboo growls in response, eyes glowing with an unfamiliar power. It’s almost though the two are arguing, the Enderman warbling in response, and Wilbur finds himself wondering what’s being said.

Ranboo, on the other hand, is full of rage .

“ You will never lay a hand on my flock, ” he orders, Endspeak heavy on his tongue, and yet so familiar. Instincts still flooded his system and yet the sight of one of his flock about to be hurt by one of his people had brought him to reality, if enough to protect Wilbur. The Fledgling whimpers, shrinking beneath the Prince’s Elder’s fierce gaze, confusion and fear evident in glowing purple hues.

“ But, your highness- ”

“ Do not call me that, ” Ranboo nearly roars, wings spreading out further behind him, and the Enderfolk shrinks further away, swallowing thickly. Apologies are immediately falling from them, warbles slurring together as they try to earn forgiveness from the once end prince, now a simple traveler. Ranboo growls, the sound low, reverberating through his chest, and he steps closer to the Enderman, causing their jaw to snap shut, silence falling over them.

“ I will not hesitate to kill those who bring harm to my flock. Do I make myself clear? ” He snarls, sharp teeth bared, and the Fledgling shudders, nodding quickly.

“ Of course, I will spread word right away, no one will hurt them, I promise, I promise, please, your hi- ” They flinch when the Elder snaps, quickly fixing their mistake, “ Elder , I’m sorry, please- ”

They’re rambling now and Ranboo finds himself sighing, smoke falling from his lips. Huh, he didn’t realize he’d gotten that mad...he should talk to Phil about that. The rambling Fledgling reminds him of himself for just a moment and he finds himself raising a hand, placing it on their head and making them fall silent.

“ Go home, young one. Do not tell the Queen of my presence here. ”

The Enderman stares up at him in silent awe before quickly nodding and disappearing in a swirl of purple particles, hand falling away from where their head had been to his side. It’s almost odd, how he barely feels his body begin to shrink back to it’s normal height, the only side effect truly being the ache in his bones and muscles, though it’s faint enough that he can move. Once he’s sure he’s back to his normal state, he turns to Wilbur, a worried chuff forcing its way from his chest.

He can’t stop himself from immediately looking over the older man, making sure he was safe and that he hadn’t gotten hurt, hands moving him about. The look-over pulls a startled laugh from the bird hybrid and yet he doesn’t try to stop the teen, allowing himself to be checked over before Ranboo stops with a relieved sigh, forehead falling to Wilbur’s shoulder. For a moment there, he had been worried that he hadn’t made it in time to protect the other from the swipe that had been coming down at him.

Voices in his head roar to life, however, making him very aware of the slashes across his arm, but he brushes them aside, simply relieved to have been able to keep a member of his flock safe.

Hands touch his shoulders and he jerks on instinct before he realizes who they’re connected, immediately melting into the touch. A low chuckle rumbles from the other man and one of the hands rises to his head, carding through multicolor hair.

“Thank you for that, Ranboo. You did good.”

The praise makes his draconic instincts sing , a pleased purr rising from his chest, the sound loud and making his whole body vibrate. A laugh is Wilbur’s response and he steps back, Ranboo unable to stop himself from whining at the loss of contact, but the older is quick to take his hand, offering a comforting smile.

“It’s fine, I’m not going anywhere, I just want to check your arm. I saw that Enderman hit you, I want to make sure it’s not too bad, okay?” Wilbur explains, squeezing his hand, and yet Ranboo frowns. He was fine, a simple scratch from a Fledgling of all things wouldn’t do anything to him, it would heal in no time! And yet Wilbur frowns softly in response and he feels a distraught vwoop leave him, quickly shoving his arm into the other’s hands. 

That seems to have been the right move because Wilbur immediately brightens, gaze flickering down to his arm to look at where he’d been struck. The joy immediately fades away into concern, Wilbur sucking in a sharp breath at the sight of three large claw marks going around Ranboo’s forearm, completely ruining the suit’s sleeves.

“Shit, that doesn’t look nice,” he murmurs, examining the wounds bleeding light purple blood, “Can you rip the sleeve off for me while I grab some bandages from my bag?”

Ranboo can easily do that and yet he can’t stop the frustrated whine that leaves him at the thought of ruining his suit even more. Wilbur chuckles at his reaction and goes about searching his inventory for bandages, fully aware that the teen would listen to him, not wanting to disappoint him, and Ranboo knows he knows.

The dragon lets out an annoyed growl, playfully whacking at Wilbur with his white tail, but goes about doing as he was told. Mouth opening, his jaw pops, the joints moving as though preparing themselves to unhinge, but he doesn’t do that, not this time. Sharp teeth dig into the fabric of the suit and rip, the taste of his own blood flooding his mouth from where it’d soaked into the black fabric of the suit jacket and white sleeve. He can’t stop the distressed noise that leaves him at the taste, immediately spitting it out, and he whines, free hand trying to find the steak he had in his inventory.

“Boo? Ranboo, what’s wrong?” Wilbur asks, bandage in his hand as he turns to the distraught teen. Ranboo whines in response, mouth falling open to show the purple blood staining his lips and mouth slightly. The older hybrid lets out a sympathetic sound and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a golden apple Techno had given him the other day. “Here, kid, eat this.”

Ranboo’s ears perk at the sight of the fruit and he eagerly takes the apple, sinking his sharp teeth into the golden skin. Sweetness fills his mouth, overpower the bitter taste of his blood, and he can’t stop himself from purring once more. He at least has the awareness to be slightly embarrassed this time, though he can’t bring himself to stop, too pleased with the taste to do so.

Wilbur chuckles quietly and gets to work cleaning and bandaging the wound, humming lightly to distract the teen from the pain of the process. The comforting sound and the apple in his free hand are enough to keep him from reacting too badly to the process, though he does instinctively snarl when Wilbur presses a little too hard on accident. The sound startles Wilbur, but he simply apologizes, softly comforting him when Ranboo realizes what he’d done.

By the time he’s all patched up the apple is gone, the core having been plucked from his hand so he didn’t eat it as well and chucked into the lava.

“Don’t you pout at me, young man, you shouldn’t eat apple cores,” Wilbur scolds, laughter in his voice ruining the seriousness of it. Ranboo only pouts harder, a low, frustrated chuff leaving him, and the older hybrid laughs, shaking his head.

“Alright, you’re all patched up,” he hums, finally freeing the ex-royal’s arm, “Are you ready to return to the others now?”

The mention of the others makes the dragon perk, instincts screaming at him to return to his flock, be near them, make sure they’re safe . He doesn’t even realize he’s nodding quickly, wings twitching excitedly in unison with his wagging tails. Wilbur simply laughs and nudges him towards the portal, having no trouble at all with getting him to quickly go through it.

Chapter Text

Ranboo is as patient as a young, high energy dragon that’s allowed his instincts to take over a bit can be as he waits for Wilbur to exit the portal, staring owlishly at the purple screen, watching the swirls move within it. A small part of him wants to reach out, bap at the swirls to see if he can catch them, but the logical part of his brain tells him that’s stupid, he knows he can’t touch portals like that.

Despite this, however, he reaches out, clawed fingers lightly touching the portal as well as he can, only for his hand to meet the soft fabric of a beanie.

A soft screech rises from his throat at the contact and he flings himself away from the portal, hand cradled close to his chest. Wilbur stands in front of the portal, just as startled at the sudden interaction, a hand over his own heart and chest heaving slightly from the shock of the situation. It takes both a moment to calm down, Wilbur the first to do so before he’s carefully approaching the Ender Dragon hybrid, hands held up in a surrendering motion.

“Ranboo? It’s okay, it’s just me, Wilbur. You recognize me, don’t you?” He asks softly, voice soothing, and the dragon stares at him for a moment before he slowly moves closer towards the bird hybrid. Ranboo can’t help but freeze for a moment when he reaches a hand out head level of him, but after a moment, he gently presses his head into the offered hand, a low trill rumbling from his chest when he begins petting his hair. “There’s our enderboy. Come on, we’re almost home. You think you can fly?”

Ranboo looks back at his wings, carefully stretching them into position before allowing them to tuck back against his back once more. He should be fine now, he’s had the break he needed, and so he’s about to nod when he pauses.

He should speak. He hasn’t spoken common since they were a little ways away from L’manburg and they were already in the arctic. He doesn’t want Wilbur to worry too much about whether or not he’s truly conscious of what’s going on right now. He clears his throat cautiously, the action catching Wilbur’s attention, and he opens his mouth.

“ Yes- ” No, wrong language. He clears his throat once more. “Yes..”

The older hybrid beams when he speaks, eyes shining, and he steps back to give Ranboo space, stretching his own raven wings out behind him.

“Alright then, kid, let’s go!”

Ranboo finds himself smiling slightly, a pleased hum leaving him at his flock-mate’s joy.

“O-Okay..!”

They fly slow, Wilbur wanting to help Ranboo get better control of himself before they see the others again. He gets it, they can be a bit overwhelming and he doesn’t want to be trapped in his dragon instincts when he sees them again. Especially when he saw Tommy again, he loved his friend, but he could be a bit...much and he remembers snapping at Wilbur earlier, he doesn’t want to do that to the blonde. He can still feel it buzzing beneath his skin, leaning into it only slightly so that he can be more aware of the heightened senses that his draconic half gives him.

He notices the cabins before Wilbur and perks up, tails beginning to sway excitedly behind him.

“There they are!” He exclaims, looking to the older man. Wilbur chuckles at his excitement and nods, reaching a hand out to ruffle the teen’s hair.

“Want to send a message so they get outside?”

Ranboo is quick to nod, digging his communicator out and quickly pulling up the server chat, typing away. He’s not quite familiar enough with flying to lose himself in the typing yet, so he’s still more aware of his wings moving on his back, but he tries to let himself move on instinct so he can focus on what he’s doing.

Ranboo: We’re almost home!!

TommyInnit: ABOUT TIME! HURRY THE FUCK UP!

Ranboo: We can only fly so fast, Tommy

Tubbo_: YOU’RE FLYING???? AGAIN??????

Ranboo: Yeah! Wilbur taught me!

Ph1LzA: So he told me

Technoblade: Phil has been pouting about it

Ph1LzA: TECHNO??????

Ranboo: lol f old man

Ph1LzA: RANBOO?!?!?!?!

Tubbo_: LOOOOLLLLLLLLL

TommyInnit: LOLLLL HE CALLED YOU OLD

Ph1LzA: WILBUR SOOT I KNOW YOU’RE READING THIS, STOP INFLUENCING THE KIDS

WilburSoot: Lol

Ranboo can’t stop himself from laughing at the chat, the grin spreading across his face holding a deep fondness for the others. Flock flock flock, family, they’re your flock, love the flock. He lets out a startled vwoop when he feels Wilbur nudge his side and looks over, flushing at the knowing grin on his face.

“What’s with that look, Ranboo?” He teases lightly, eyes shining with amusement. The teen lets out an affronted chuff and lashes a tail out to playfully whip his side, laughing at the startled squawk Wilbur lets out. He quickly dives down slightly to avoid any response the older man could give to the smack. “Get back here!”

The teen beams , laughter echoing through the air as he avoids Wilbur’s grasp, doing his best to duck and weave through the air. Neither even notice the rest of the flock leave the cabins, the two so caught up in their mini game of tag that Ranboo can’t stop himself from screeching when he’s barreled into from behind. 

“RANBOOB, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU FLEW WITHOUT ME,” Tommy’s voice yelled by his head, the blonde pretty much wrapping his entire body around Ranboo’s torso, wings completely limp on his back. Ranboo quickly grabs onto him, wings moving desperately to keep them in the air so that they don’t fall to the ground.

“T-Tommy! You need to fly, I’m not familiar enough with this to carry you,” he pleads, voice a tinge desperate. The younger seems to pick up on this and raises his wings, beginning to flap them to make it easier on Ranboo, though his face is still scrunched up in frustration.

“You were supposed to save your first flight for me, Big Man! What’s the big deal?” Tommy tightens his hold on Ranboo’s torso and the older wheezes slightly, a strained laugh leaving him.

“We never made that deal! And it’s not like I flew on purpose the first time!” He manages to laugh out, a hand raising to the back of his friend’s head. 

He hears another set of wings getting closer and looks up just in time to see Techno grab the back of Tommy’s shirt and pull, the movement pulling a startled squawk from the teen. Ranboo can’t stop the relieved breath he lets out when he’s freed, wings aching from keeping the two of them from plummeting for those few moments.

“Let them land, brat,” Techno murmurs, his expression annoyed despite the clear amusement in his eyes. Ranboo can only laugh as Tommy yells back at his father’s friend, a red wing smacking his face and making the piglin hybrid let out an affront huff of air through his nose, dropping the teen.

His laughter only grows when the blonde squawks once more, wings quickly flapping to keep himself from dropping on his ass, gaze immediately moving from Ranboo to focus solely on Technoblade, fury shining in his eyes as he yells. He takes advantage of the distraction to fly towards where Phil and Wilbur were now speaking, multihue eyes flickering about to try and catch sight of his best friend.

“Hey, Phil,” Ranboo speaks up, catching the crow hybrid’s attention. The warm smile he’s offered sends a pleased thrum through his veins, the voices cooing about ‘softboo’ and ‘flock’. A large wing extends and he can’t stop the squeak that leaves him when he’s pulled into a hug, hands hovering anxiously near the older man.

“You worried me, kid,” Phil murmurs, voice low for just the two of them, black wings cocooning them to keep the others out. His words make the dragon melt and he wraps his arms around the man he’s begun to view as a father figure, face pressing into the crook of his neck.

“I’m sorry..I don’t even remember why I flew off..!” His laugh is strained and Phil sighs softly, tightening his arms around the lanky teen.

“It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re safe,” he hums, a kind coo to his voice that calms the anxious boy. Ranboo smiles into the crow’s shoulder, nodding quickly and allowing himself to bask in the warmth of the elder, not bothering to move away until he’s told to. He doesn’t even know how long the two are hidden in large, black wings until he hears a familiar voice speak up from outside them, oh so familiar tone making his ears twitch.

“ Phiiiilllll , you’re being greedy! Give me my husband!” Tubbo’s voice cries out from outside the wings and the dragon laughs, allowing himself to be freed from his father’s mentor’s embrace. The cold of the arctic is immediately seeping into his skin and he finds himself wanting to hide away in the warmth again, but he doesn’t get the chance, the air being knocked out of him by Tubbo’s short form slamming into his torso. “I can’t believe you’re a dragon , that’s so cool!”

A low, sheepish chuckle rumbles from his chest and he sighs, arms slipping around Tubbo, swaying them slightly.

“ I can’t believe I’m a dragon,” he murmurs, grinning slightly when he hears Phil laugh from beside the two teens. Gaze lifting, he looks to the crow hybrid slightly, head tilting. “Did..you tell them everything ?”

“Not everything, mate, just what they needed to know. The...dragon part slipped.” Phil offers an apologetic smile and Ranboo can’t help but sigh, playfully rolling his eyes. His lips part to answer, but Wilbur speaks up before he can, throwing an arm around his father’s shoulders.

“It’s his old man brain slipping up,” he teases, earning an offended squawk from Phil.

“ Wilbur! ” He yells, swatting at the back of his son’s head and making the two teens laugh, moving away so they don’t accidentally get smacked by Wilbur’s quickly spread out wings.

Looking from them, he looks to Techno and Tommy, the two now on the ground with Techno pinning the blonde to the ground, grin vicious as he taunts him to give up. Tommy being Tommy only yells louder, trying to free himself from his pseudo-brother’s hold. He then looks to Tubbo, who has his cheek pressed into Ranboo’s chest, horn lightly digging into him, and yet he finds himself not minding the faint ache it causes.

His arms tighten around his platonic husband and a low, pleased purr rumbles from his chest, cheek resting against the top of the brunette’s head.

He’s glad to be home with his flock.

“Boo, are you purring ?”

“ Wh- N-No..!"

Chapter Text

Ranboo let's Phil take over with explaining this more clearly and properly now that he was there to give his own insight. Most of the interaction was a blur in his mind, a usual thing for negative memories, and yet the teen finds himself frustrated when he thinks about the fact that he can't help too much to explain.

He explains how he doesn't really remember his mother ( he doesn't call her that, he could never call his Queen 'mother' ) aside from her allowing him to leave the End. He doesn't even remember his home server, doesn't remember the IP, and so he doesn't know how'd he'd ever even try to return to speak to her.

He can feel his wings falling limp against his back, eyes glued to the cabin floor at the thought of it. He wanted to talk to the Queen about it, wanted to know why she had lied to him, and yet he didn't even know how to reach her. He didn't even know if she was still alive, if she was safe and keeping his- their -- HER kingdom guarded.

He's snapped out of his spiral by the feeling of two figures pressing into his sides, gaze flickering down to look to the culprits.

He's not surprised to see Tubbo pressed into his side, arms wrapped tightly around his torso with his cheek pressed into his chest. He's talking to the other person pressed into his opposite side and when he looks to see who it is, he's surprised to see Tommy leaning there, one arm crossed over his lap while his other hand is lightly touching Ranboo's leg, the touch grounding despite how faint it was.

He can't help but grin at the sight, a fond warmth flooding his chest. Of all the people he thought would try to comfort him, he never thought Tommy would be one of them, and yet here they were. He doesn't even think as he reaches a hand out, taking hold of the blonde's and allow their fingers to intertwine. 

Despite returning the gesture, Tommy still yells, profanities on his lips, and Ranboo can't stop himself from laughing, wings raising to cocoon around his friends ( his best friends , a voice in his head murmurs ), not releasing Tommy's hand even as Tubbo whines about wanting to hold his hand as well, hand snatching out to grab at Ranboo's free hand, causing Tommy to only get louder, complaining about how Tubbo 'ruined the moment', the ram hybrid simply sticking his tongue out in a mocking manner.

Ranboo can't help but fondly roll his eyes as Tommy squawks, absent-mindedly squeezing their hands as he allows them to bicker, gaze flickering to the adults in the room. Phil and Wilbur's amusement were clear while Techno's was hidden deep within ruby hues.

Despite himself, Ranboo allows himself to trill happily and ignores the embarrassment if only for the sole reason being his flock responding with their own trills, even Tubbo trying to copy the noise.

It feels nice to have a family again.

It took about a week before the others allowed Ranboo to go anywhere on his own. 

If it were anyone else, he would have been frustrated by the coddling, and yet he felt himself not minding when he thought about who was worrying over him. He understood, he had taken off in a panic not too long ago and they were worried something might trigger another panic, so they hovered. He got it .

That didn't make him any less excited when he mentioned swinging by L'manburg and the others wished him goodbye, Phil shooting a stern look towards Tommy and Tubbo when they quickly stood to follow. He's sure to at least embrace his friend and husband before he takes off, waving goodbye before fleeing from the closed cabin.

The cool air of the arctic envelopes them and he hums, eyes falling shut for a moment as he allows the wind to surround him in its cool embrace. Large wings spread out behind him and he opens his eyes, looking up to the morning sky with a smile.

He'd been practicing flying properly over the week, spending most of his times practicing with Tommy, Tubbo, and one other adults, Phil claiming that he didn't trust Tommy to not try to get him to do something stupid. While the comment made Ranboo laugh, the cardinal hybrid had yelled, offended by the accusations. 

It'd been…nice to say the least. He still had his moments, the fear of his wings being hurt for flying always making itself known in the back of his mind, but he did his best. He wanted to make his flock proud of him and if the wide grin on Phil's face after he had caught up to him during the mini race they had said anything, he was succeeding at that.

A low trill rumbles from his chest and he spreads his wings, the lessons running through his head as he mimics the actions he’s seen Phil, Wilbur, and Techno practice, a pleased thrum running through his veins when he’s thrust into the air. It’s new, flying on his own while fully aware, and yet he finds himself excited, red and green eyes flickering about before he focuses on the direction of L‘manburg, taking off that way.

The wind blowing through his hair, running across the scales of his wings, make his instincts sing and he grins slightly, sharp teeth glinting in the rising sunlight. His draconic instincts have been making themselves more known since the first time he accepted them and he finds himself not minding it, enjoying learning more about himself in a way he never really got to before.

The voices liked it, too, ( he didn’t call them Chat, that was Techno’s thing, they were just...the voices ) enjoying seeing one of their many hosts relax into his skin more than they had ever seen before. Every time he leaned into his heritage, they sang praises, and he would always, flush, murmuring to them to shut up out of embarrassment.

It’s a day like those days when it’d just be him and Wilbur, the raven hybrid encouraging Ranboo to let himself fall into his instincts, if even for just a little bit. “ You deserve it ,” he had said and his smile had Ranboo crumbling, the fondness and brotherly love breaking any argument he could even think of.

He allows himself to be enveloped in his instincts, just like he’s been told to, though he doesn’t fall into them fully like he did when he and Wilbur had been returning the first time, aware that he needs to be at least semi-here in case he sees someone. It’s nice, the way his senses seem to almost increase, ears twitching towards the sound of other flying creatures, pupils narrowing into slits as his gaze darts around.

He doesn’t know how long he flies for, he always loses time when he falls into his dragon habits. He’s usually lucky enough to have Wilbur helping him out, but he was alone this time ( maybe he should have waited, this was stupid, stupid stupid stupid- )

Person?!
Someone’s approaching!!!
Ranboo, focus!
Beloved, be on guard!
Danger?
There shouldn’t be danger here?!
Quiet

The voices snap Ranboo out of his thoughts and suddenly he’s aware of the sound of another large pair of wings joining him in the air. His gaze is immediately darting around, posture stiff and on guard, only for him to be startled by a familiar white mask staring at him, breath catching in his throat for just a moment. He’s never had a proper one-on-one conversation with Dream before now that he thinks about it. He had met the man during Bedwars and after Dream saw the state of his wings, how scared he was when he heard the macaw hybrid talk about a server for flying, he’d been invited to join.

He ended up asking for some time to decide, he wanted to talk to someone he’d formed a close relationship with to see if they thought it was a good idea.

Of course that someone was Niki Nihachu.

The two had done a few miniature events together after meeting and he found himself enjoying the woman’s company, jokingly calling her his sister, extremely pleased when she started calling him her brother in response. So, after Dream told him to take his time, he fled to her home and hid in her arms, body trembling at the thought of a world where his wings could be free, where he could be free..

“I..I got invited to a server today by someone….You..You know Dream, right?” He whimpers, voice soft and trembling. His sister nods, gaze gentle as she carefully runs her fingers through multicolor hair, doing her best to comfort the teen.

“Yeah, he’s a good guy,” she starts, pausing for a moment before continuing, “He invited me to the server, too.”

Those words make his head perk up, eyes wide, and he swallows thickly, looking down at his lap as he allows her to take one of his hands, her touch grounding through his anxiety.

“Do you think it’s safe..?”

“It’s safer than Hypixel will ever be, Ran.”

He was terrified to message Dream, to say the least. Still, he promised he would get back to him and so, with that in mind, he sent the message that led to him meeting so many incredible friends and getting to where he is, right here, right now.

And yet despite all this, he feels his anxiety skyrocket at the sight of the Admin.

“D-Dream..! It’s been a while,” he stammers out, fully aware of how his body was trembling. Dream seemed to not notice, or if he did, he was giving Ranboo the mercy of not commenting on it.

The dragon’s breath hitches when Dream flies closer, leaving just enough room between the two of them so they have room to move their wings.

“It has! I heard some things happened from Sam, are you doing alright?” The admin’s voice held a lilt of concern and Ranboo bristles slightly, tails whipping anxiously behind him. Why had Sam told Dream what happened? He would have told the man when he was ready , he still had so much he had to process before he spoke to Dream, and yet he never got to tell him himself.

He didn’t realize his energy was getting the better of him until he felt the gentle touch of Dream’s hand on his shoulder, his whole body flinching away out of instinctive fear. He may not be able to see the macaw hybrid’s face, but he could feel the shock in his gaze, even through the white mask hiding his gaze from him.

“Ranboo?”

“S-Sorry,” he manages to get out, voice choked, “Sorry, I just...wanted to tell you about everything once I was ready..” His nose scrunches and he looks in the direction of where he knew Sam’s home was, the growl rumbling from his chest not threatening and yet he hears Dream suck in a breath next to him. “Everyone is spreading things about me without giving me the chance to actually say anything..!”

Why hadn’t this upset him before? Was he overreacting? He’d been fine when Phil had told the others, but...but then was he really okay with it?

So what if his memories are bad?

So what if he doesn’t remember the specifics of the day, only the general layout he’d written in the book once he remembered?

So what if the incident had upset him?

He wasn’t a child ! He could do these things!

He should get a say in when people find out that he’s an end forsaken DRAGON !

Ranboo hadn’t even realized he’d been speaking out loud until he looked up at the older man, chest heaving and hands clenched tightly in his hands. There was more space between them now, Dream seemingly have moved back when the teen lashed out, posture slightly guarded. It takes him a moment for it to fully register it before his eyes widen and his ears fall back, wings almost coming to a halt with the urge to cocoon them around himself. It takes all of his willpower to ignore the urge to hide, though he does shrink in on himself slightly, legs pulling up to make his lanky form seem smaller.

“I-I’m sorry, Dream, I didn’t mean to yell at you, please don’t be mad at me, I’m sorry-” The apologies slipped from his lips with ease, as though he’d done this so many times before ( you have ). The voices in his head roar to life, yelling, growing defensive, and yet it only makes the teen feel himself spiral even more, the yelling picking at a memory he couldn’t pull apart. It’s only when there’s a faint yet sharp pain in his back that isn’t truly there that he snaps out of his panic, flinching harshly when he noticed that Dream had cautiously moved closer. “I’m sorry , Dream-”

“Ranboo, it’s okay,” The bird hybrid cuts in, anxious and concerned energy radiating off of the older man. The feeling was so familiar and a small voice, his own, chirps about how it reminded him of Wilbur for just a moment.

Swallowing thickly, he ducks his head down, eyes squeezing shut so he can try to calm his breathing, pretending he was back at the cabins, Phil’s kind hands gently holding Ranboo’s own to the older man’s chest so he could breathe in sync with Phil’s.

His form twitches when he feels Dream gently place a hand on his shoulder and does everything in his power not to jerk away, the sudden touch almost burning .

“Come on, Ranboo, let’s go sit down for a minute, okay? Eret won’t mind if we sit on the roof of the castle.”

His eyes crack open and he swallows thickly, hesitating for just a moment before nodding. Yeah, that sounded nice, his wings were beginning to ache from the sheer force of having to keep himself from wrapping them around himself.

Dream’s touch continues to burn as he gently leads the teen towards Eret’s castle, the two perching atop the roof of the castle once they are close to it. The sun is much higher now, the sun warming his body even more as they sit there. His eyes anxiously flicker towards Dream once he’s sure he’s sitting and, for a moment, the instincts he’d grown used to listening to sang, the urge to move closer there, and yet he ignored it.

No, Dream wasn’t Wilbur, Dream wasn’t Phil or Techno or Tommy or Tubbo or Niki. He was Dream and their bond was not strong enough for him to allow his instincts to do something as stupid as that.

And yet the urge to receive comfort, even from someone he wasn’t close to, was suffocating.

He doesn’t even realize his traitorous tail had snaked out, the white limb curling around Dream’s wrist. He feels the admin tense under the touch and he himself tenses, anxiety growing once more, only for it to dissipate at the sound of loud, amused laughter bursting from Dream’s chest.

“What are you, a cat?” He teases, voice taking on a playful lilt, and the teen’s face flushes with horror.

Oh god, how could things get any worse?

“N-No! Of course I’m not a cat! Antfrost is the cat here, not me !” He defends, wings taking advantage of their now sitting position to cocoon him away from the other ever so slightly. Dream cackles , that tea kettle wheeze that everyone knows of, and Ranboo has to pause for a moment, watching the admin laugh.

Why was he so nervous when talking to him? Look at him, he was wheezing over a stupid joke that the teen had made, he wasn’t a threat to him, and so why was he so nervous?

“Well, how do you know you’re not a cat,” Dream finally manages to get out, shoulders still shaking with humor, and Ranboo huffs, the noise distinctly animalistic.

“I’m 90% sure I’m not a cat, Dream. Sure, I may purr-”

“ You purr?! ” Dream yells, bursting into laughter once more.

Ranboo whines, face flushed from embarrassment, and his tail releases the macaw hybrid’s wrist, only to whip at him instead. This seems to only humor him even more and the teen chuffs, ears flitting back slightly against the sides of his head. Truly, this was embarrassing, and yet it was extremely relaxing at the same time. It’s nice to see the other like this, fully relaxed despite their lack of proper interactions before.

He sighs dramatically when Dream wipes away fake tears, his laughter calmed, and rolls his eyes, unable to stop the slight smile that quirks his lips upwards.

“You’re a jerk, you know that?” He murmurs, brow raising. Dream snorts, large wings stretching out slightly, and Ranboo takes a moment to admire them.

They’re huge , light green feathers fading into deeper shades of green. They’re interesting, he’d never seen macaw wings like the admin’s, and yet that’s what everyone says he insists they are. 

They’ve fallen into a relaxing silence, Dream’s gaze glued towards the light blue sky, wings staying out slightly. Ranboo tries not to think much of it, tries not to embarrass him with the thought that the admin kept his wings out so that the teen could look. Still, he finds it interesting despite himself, tails swaying slowly behind him. 

The longer he sat here next to the admin, the more relaxed he felt himself getting. His presence was relaxing, familiar almost, and it was beginning to change in the way it was familiar. It wasn’t like how he felt around Wilbur anymore, it was different, and yet he couldn’t put his finger on why . It just felt...natural, to sit here with him and simply exist.

The voices don’t hesitate to theorize, though he tries to ignore them, half the things they’re saying make no sense.

Eyes flicker towards the mask, he hums for a moment and tilts his head. 

“You know I can feel you staring at me, yeah?” Dream speaks up, making the boy jump. The admin snorts, masked gaze tilting towards him, and the teen is quick to look down, wings raising slightly.

“Sorry, it’s just that...I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without that mask,” he explains, hands moving about with his words. Dream hums, looking forward once more, and he chuckles.

“Only a few people have.” He admits, making Ranboo look to him once more, perking up.

“Really? Who?” He hadn’t even noticed the blatant curiosity seeping into his voice, but it seems to humor the older man since he hums thoughtfully.

“Sapnap and George have, though that’s understandable since we live together,” he starts, leaning back on his hands. Ranboo utters a soft ‘ uh-huh ’ to show he was listening and the elder hybrid hums, chuckling softly. “Bad and Ant saw my face next. We spent a lot of time together before, what with the manhunt series we did together.” A brief silence falls over them and Dream seems to be thinking, wings flexing with his thoughts. “I think...I think Techno is the only other person who’s seen my face?”

“Techno has?” He questions, head tilting slightly. He knew his mentor and the admin often trained together, but...well, he didn’t know why it surprised him that Techno has seen Dream’s face. It had just never crossed his mind. 

“Yeah, it’s hard to wear a mask constantly when we go all out,” he explains, chuckling lightly. Ranboo hums, nodding slightly as he looks out towards the Smp.

“I guess that makes sense.” He murmurs, nodding slightly in understanding. He got it, he’d spent a lot of time fighting before the Smp, and so he got how tiring and sweaty it could get.

“Say, Ranboo,” Dream starts, earning the teen’s attention, “You know how to fight, right?” 

Huh. That’s an odd question.

“Yes..? You should know that, you met me on Bedwars ,” Ranboo mutters, brows furrowed in clear confusion. Dream chuckles at his response, gently nudging him with his elbow, and Ranboo nudges back with a chuff.

“Not everyone who does Bedwars is a practised fighter, Ranboo,” he playfully scolds and Ranboo laughs, eyes rolling.

“I guess. Why are you asking, though?”

This makes the man pause for a second before he looks to Ranboo, expression hidden by his mask.

“I have a deal for you,” he hums, making the teen’s ears perk with excited curiosity, “If you can knock my sword out of my hand, I’ll show you my face.”

Silence falls over the two for a moment before Ranboo’s eyes widen.

A loud, choked ‘ HEH ’ leaves the ender hybrid ( the voices scream about how ‘Techno-like’ it is ), wings jolting on his back, and he quickly moves so he’s kneeling next to the admin, hands waving rapidly in front of him.

“ Woah woah woah woah woah woah ,” he stammers out, expression frantic, “What brought this on?! This is the first time we’ve properly talked!”

Dream laughs, head falling back, and Ranboo is only more confused. Sure, he was curious about Dream’s face, everyone was, but he never thought he’d get to SEE it! The admin’s laughter calms and he tilts his head towards Ranboo, amusement coming off him in waves.

“I don’t know,” he says honestly and Ranboo can only stare. “Something about you, just...I don’t know, it’s familiar. The longer we sit here, the more I feel it. I feel like I can trust you with it.”

The honest statement feels like a knife to the heart and Ranboo inhales sharply, eyes widening. Something about being told he was trusted, especially by someone like Dream , made it feel like he couldn’t breathe. People were so scared of him before, no one trusted him with things like this, and so the pure honesty in Dream’s words makes him feel like he’s drowning in an emotion he’s unfamiliar with.

He doesn’t even notice the burning running down his face until Dream quickly scrambles to a kneeling position as well, hands moving frantically to gently wipe tears from his face with his sleeves.

“H-Hey! Don’t cry, why are you crying, did I say something wrong-”

Ranboo laughs, cutting him off, and he raises a hand to rub his eyes, sniffling softly.

“I’m okay, you just...caught me off guard. Not many people trust me with important things.”

He can feel Dream’s frown through his mask.

“Well that’s not true,” he states, tone leaving no room for argument, and yet Ranboo’s insecurities scream at him to argue. His mouth opens to do so, but Dream is quick to speak up before he can, “Techno trusted you with the voices. Sure, monster mob hybrids get voices, but Techno never tells someone the extent of his unless he trusts them and he told you .”

Ranboo’s breath hitches.

“Fundy told you about his mother. Wilbur never talks about her and Fundy refrains from doing so to ease Wilbur’s pain, but he trusted you with information about her.”

He remembers that day and he wonders when Fundy told Dream about it.

“Niki calls you her brother, says she trusts you with her life , and I’d say that’s pretty important.”

He can feel his eyes burning again.

“Philza took you under his wing, quite literally, and invited you to live in the arctic with him and Techno. Sure, others are welcomed there, but it’s their place, Tommy and Wilbur live in L’manburg and Tubbo lives in Snowchester, no one else was supposed to live in that part of the arctic, especially that close to them, and yet they let you .”

His heart hurts.

“Hell, Tubbo married you, and honestly, the implications in that alone tell everyone how much he trusts you.”

A choked sound leaves him and he reaches a hand out, grabbing the front of the macaw hybrid’s hoodie. Dream stops talking, if just for a moment, and Ranboo leans down, forehead resting lightly on his shoulder as tears run down his face.

“Please stop,” he whispers, voice broken, “I don’t know how much more I can handle hearing..”

He feels Dream inhale sharply and closes his eyes, body trembling. There’s a moment of silence before he feels the admin gently wrap him in his arms, large wings cocooning around his lankier form, just big enough to even go over his wings.

“People trust you, Ranboo,” Dream starts and Ranboo sobs , “So many people trust you and you deserve to know that.”

Ranboo can only cry, tightening his hold on the hoodie as sobs shake his body. He knew, logically he knew people trusted him, and yet hearing it be told to him broke the small part of his wall he tried to keep up, the wall the threatened to fall with each kind action shown to him, the wall that he tried to keep to protect himself from being hurt.

He felt like it was breaking and yet a part of him wonders why he feels it breaking now when it’d broken so long ago.

“Sure, Dream,” he manages to get out, voice shaking with his crying, “I’ll take you up on your challenge.”

Chapter Text

It’s late, the only sound being that of the creatures of the night moving outside of the dragon’s home. He’d snatched up Tubbo and Tommy earlier that evening, declaring that he wanted to have a ‘sleep-over’ with them, claiming he missed the company after spending so much time together. Tubbo was immediately down for it, though Tommy had argued a bit, claiming he had t deal with his hotel, but after a bit of pleading from his friends, it was easy to make him cave.

Even if they had to deal with him calling Tubbo ‘clingy’ and Ranboo a ‘bitch’, they still got him to stay and that was the goal.

Ranboo is sitting on his bed, fingers running through Tubbo’s hair as the ram hybrid lays in his lap, his free arm draped lazily over Tommy’s shoulders, holding him to his side. It’s nice, having them cuddled up to him like this, and yet kind of funny. While he was used to Tubbo’s clingy nature, it had taken him a bit to get used to Tommy tucking himself away into Ranboo’s side, complaining if he didn’t drape his arm over him like he was doing at that moment.

It’s also odd for it to be so quiet , usually the other two were speaking to fill the silence, neither liking it too often, and yet they were simply allowing it this time. Maybe they were just as tired as he was, they had just spent the day mining, so maybe they were too tired to talk?

Red and green eyes slip shut for a moment and he relaxes into the bed, a light purr rumbling up from his chest, the sound mixing with the noises of the night. He doesn’t know how long they stay like that, how long the silence lasts, and for a moment he wonders if they had fallen asleep by any chance.

"Hey, I just realized somethin'." Tommy's voice breaks through the silence suddenly and Ranboo looks up, head tilting curiously, urging him to continue. "You never actually said how old you are."

This makes the dragon pause for a moment, brows furrowing, before a low chuckle rumbles from his chest. “I didn’t? I mean, I said I was older than you, but was still a minor..” He left out the ‘for humans’, he knows End time is confusing, and yet it seems his husband picks up on how he trails off, headbutting his hand lightly.

“That’s not a specific age, Big Man. We want yeaaarrrssss ,” the ram whines, dragging out the last word, and Ranboo lets out a strained laugh.

Well, he supposes there’s no way he can avoid explaining it.

“Alright, but you’re going to want to sit up for this, Bee, this might be a bit confusing.”

He can feel the nervous energy this rises in the brunette, but he listens to Ranboo’s words and sits up. Tommy looks confused, but moves to sit next to Tubbo so they’re both facing the dragon, both being mindful not to meet his eyes.

The gazes still makes his skin burn, but he ignores it.

“So, time in the End is... weird . Endfolk age differently from humans, it’s one of the few lessons I remember being taught about because I’d taken the book about it from my tutor and read it, front to back, multiple times. It fascinated me, I’d never thought there was a difference like that between our worlds, but there was.”

His head tilts back as he digs up memories he hadn’t thought about in a long time. He hadn’t needed to remember the lesson, or at least, hadn’t need to think about it, but here he was, explaining it to his best friends.

“Time moves faster in the End than it does in the Overworld and yet hybrids age at a slower rate than time moves. When I was 8 in human years, 96 years had passed in the End, but I was still only 8 years old physically due to me being a hybrid. To the Endfolk, however, I was still a Fledgling because I was under 100 years old in End years.”

He can see the gears turning in his friends’ heads before Tubbo gasped, lurching forward.

“Wait, so you’re 100 years old now?!” He yelled, voice echoing, and Ranboo laughed, quickly shaking his head, hands moving rapidly.

“Only in End years! That's not how it works for human years!” He laughs out, tails thumping against the bed in tandem.

“Then how the hell does it work?” Tommy speaks up, brows furrowed in confusion. The dragon hybrid huffs and shakes his head, an amused smirk quirking his lips upwards.

“Well, if you two would shut up , I could explain it.”

The cardinal and ram both make offended sounds, but quiet down at his look, pouts on their faces as they allow him to speak and continue. He chuckles, rolling his eyes slightly before he pokes and prods at his memories.

“One month in the Overworld equals a year in the End, but due to me being a hybrid, I still aged as though it had only been a month. So, while to Endfolk, I may be considered over hundreds of years old, I’m still only 17 years old in humans years, I have the body of a 17 year old and the mind of a 17 year old. For an enderman, I’m a young Elder, but for a human, I’m just a teenager.” He explains, wings spreading out slightly behind him as he speaks. His eyes flicker between the two and he snorts, brow quirking. "And technically, I'm still younger than Tubbo, but older than Tommy."

The other two look confused, brows furrowed as they process their friend’s words, before Tommy groans, throwing himself back on the large bed.

“This is confusing , Ran boob ,” he complains, glaring up at the ceiling. Tubbo nods rapidly in agreement, brows furrowed as he stares at the bed, expression confused.

Ranboo can only laugh, shaking his head in amusement, and he sighs, stretching his legs out to lightly kick them.

“I’m 17, guys, it’s not that hard to understand.” 

Chapter Text

He doesn’t know how long he sits there with Dream for.

Once he’d managed to calm down, he allowed the Admin to drape a wing over his shoulders and hold him against his side as the two just...talked.

About the server. Their families ( his flock is his family now ). Their friends. Ranboo tells him about how the others had helped him learn how to properly fly since he’d never done it before. Dream tells him about how Sapnap had been the one to help him learn how to fly, the blaze hybrid having grown his wings before he had and so he had more practice.

Ranboo joked about helping one another learn to be better fliers than their “teachers” ever were and laughed when Dream bragged about already being better at flying than Sapnap.

It was... nice . The fear that had been eating away at him when he had first seen the macaw hybrid had melted away into a warm familiarity that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but was too tired to care about. They simply exist together, basking in one another company, and by the time either notices how long it had been, the sun is on the horizon, the sky fading away into night.

Ranboo hums, the sound low and guttural ( a lot of his sounds have been.. off lately, he notes ), and pushes himself up with a grunt, stretching out the long limbs he’d had pulled in on himself. Dream follows, their wings bumping when they stretch them at the same time.

“Hey, watch it,” Dream jokes, lightly shoving the teen, and Ranboo laughs, shoving back just as lightly.

“I stood first, old man,” he teases and Dream squawks, mask hiding the offended look he knew was there.

“I’m 21!” He yells and Ranboo only laughs harder, hopping away when the admin playfully swats at him.

“Older than me!”

“BY FOUR YEARS!!!!”

They’d separated at the Nether Portal after a small chase, Dream giving in once Ranboo had laughed and yelled about getting home before the others sent out a search party. The teen stood atop the portal, watching as green wings stretched out and thrust the young adult into the air, carrying him in a low glide as he headed off to where he lived with his best friends. Ranboo waits until his new friend is but a speck in the distance before he drops down to the ground in front of the portal and steps through, allowing the purple sheen to engulf him.

It’s always odd, going from the cool air of the Overworld night to the boiling heat of the Nether, and yet he’s grown accustomed to the full-body shudder that comes with it every time.

His eyes take a moment to adjust to the deep reds of the Nether before he sighs, body relaxing. The piglin avoid him as he begins to walk along the path that connects the homes of the server, their grunts of caution echoing around him as they speed off when they see his tall form. For a moment, just a moment , he wonders what he had done to earn their fear, but then a familiar voice whispers of what happened when he’d fallen into the instinct run state for the first time.

You scared them.

He can hear the other voices speak up, agreeing with the first, telling him of how cool it was and how they want to see him do it again, but he ignores them, focusing on the first one. The voice is so familiar and yet he doesn’t recognize from where, the unknown voice connected to a being he doesn’t know. Possibly it’s one of the higher beings that form what was known as the Voices, but then, it didn’t sound like Fossilnet or traitorValkyrie, so who could it be?

He doesn’t have long to think about it because the sudden sound of a teleportation sounds in front of him and his gaze snaps up from the path, staring at the hidden mouth of the Enderman standing before him.

Neither speak for a moment, simply gazing at one another, before the Endfolk’s jagged mouth shows itself, the words coming out despite no visible movement of their mouth.

“ Why don’t you teleport? ” They ask, confusion lilting their voice, and Ranboo sighs. He’s been asked this many times by his people, but he’d never bothered with an answer before, simply brushing it off as a ‘I don’t feel like it’.

More often than not, they accepted this answer and left him be, but it seemed this one was new, purple eyes glued to his face as they await his response.

“ I don’t feel like it, ” He repeats, the familiar words and language falling from his lips with ease. The Enderman frowns, not seeming to like this answer, and they speak once more, taking a step towards him.

“ But would it not be easier? You’re a hybrid, you may lose your ability to do so if you don’t teleport! ”

He knew that, but the statement still made the Ender Pearl hidden deep in his body shudder at the thought. He chuckles, however, and begins walking, a hand reaching out to grab the taller being’s and tug them along. He can feel how they tense beneath his touch and he knows why, but ignores it.

He also ignores the slipped ‘ My Prince? ’, gaze focused forward.

“ Let me show you something, Elder. ” He states simply, the title for the older being falling from his lips. He could tell they were older than he would ever reach, he could see it in their eyes when he briefly looked, the scars littering their void body, the lines deep in their skin. The Elder simply lets out a soft, confused ‘ vwoop ’, but does as he said, falling after the teen as he leads them down the path.

They arrive at what he wanted to show them and he hears the Endfolk gasp softly behind him, staring at the structure.

It was the main portal that had led to the main Smp. While he had originally been walking away from it, he’d remember the build surrounding it, the beauty of the nether bricks, the way it formed an almost...home around the portal.

A place for those traveling to have a moment of peace, connecting all the paths and portals to one center point.

“ This is why I walk, Elder, ” he starts, glancing to them briefly once he releases their wrist, and they step forward. “ The Overworld beings...they made this. They made the portals, they made the paths, they made this building, all of it, by hand. Despite the dangers of the Nether, they spent days making this, and maybe some of the paths aren’t the... prettiest , ” a low chuckle leaves him as he looks towards Tommy’s path to the Arctic, “ but it is theirs. They made this despite everything and this is why I walk. To give use to their creations and see the beauty of everything they’ve put into it. ”

The Elder is silent for a moment, exploring the center for just a moment, hands lightly tracing chests and crafting tables, touching the walls of the structure. They touch the portal at the center, trace the cracks and grooves within the obsidian, and then they sigh, light amusement in the sound.

“ You are soft for the Overworld’s people, aren’t you, My Prince? ”

For once, Ranboo doesn’t correct them, simply chuckling as he looks around.

“ Only a few of them, ” he lightly jokes. This makes the Enderman laugh, the sound glitchy and yet comforting, an odd feeling of home curling within his gut.

“ You’re fond of far more than a few of them, I can tell. ” The Elder turns to him and Ranboo pauses, if just for a moment, before his expression softens.

The memories of the people in this server’s laughter runs through his head. Interactions, no matter how brief, play in his head, the memories small and broken, but there nonetheless, and he sighs, expression fond.

“ Of course I am. They’re my flock, are they not? ”

He leads the Elder, who he now knows as Imbra, through the Nether, telling them of the people of the server. It’s fun, coming up with End titles for his flock, Overworld names are hard to translate into Ender, so End titles are far easier. He’d think of proper End names for them later, but simple titles would do for now.

He tells them of Techno (the Blood Emperor), Phil (Death’s Angel), Wilbur (the Vibrant Vocalist), and Tommy (the Crimson Star), how they were some of the first to take him in. He tells them of Tubbo (the Ram Prince), who he’s bonded to.

“What does that word mean?”

“Ah, right, that’s...for Endfolk, he would be called my Bonded, I suppose, though it’s not romantic in any way.”

“Ah, I see...do you have the bands?”

He motions towards the ring around his horn and Imbra coos at the sight.

He tells them of Dream (the Admin ( he’s frustrated with himself for being unable to think of anything more creative )) and hesitates for a moment before he mentions the odd familiarity he feels towards the macaw hybrid. Imbra simply chuckles at his confusion, head shaking lightly with light amusement in their gaze. He tries to pry, tries to ask if they know something he doesn’t, but they simply brush him off, asking him to continue telling them of his flock. It takes a moment of persuasion before he caves, but he makes them promise to tell him the next time they see one another.

He’s talking about Quackity (the Loud Song) and the odd relationship they have when he realizes they’ve arrived at the portal leading to the Arctic.

“ Ah, this is the way home, ” he explains, motioning towards the spot. While this one isn’t as fancy as the center portal, it’s still nice to see how the obsidian leads from the portal and connects to the main path, the way the netherrack fades into the dark material pleasing.

Imbra hums and seems to be thinking for a moment before they place their hand on his shoulder lightly.

“ May I meet your flock? ”

He pauses for a moment, hesitation seeping its way into his bones.

“ They...won’t understand you..or, well, most of them won’t. I have been teaching Death’s Angel our language, but the others are a bit harder to get sat down and learning. ”

Imbra hums for a moment before shrugging simply.

“ You can translate, can you not? ”

The teen can only sigh, knowing full well that the Elder will follow him no matter what.

“ Very well, my Elder, I will introduce you to my flock. ”

The pleased trill that rumbles from the Elder is enough to make the dragon smile slightly and he nods for them to follow, walking through the portal.

The arctic makes him shudder for a moment, so incredibly different from the heat of the Nether, but he adjusts after a moment, exhaling slowly. Waiting patiently, red and green eyes dart around the snow covered plains and he has to pause for a moment before realization dawns on him and he yells, quickly scrambling to wipe the snow off the platform so that the Elder doesn’t burn themself.

He’s mid-wiping when the amused lilt of Imbra’s voice makes him pause.

“ What are you doing, My Prince? ”

The title makes his skin burn and yet he still stands quickly, looking around anxiously.

“ I forgot to warn you of the snow , I didn’t want it to burn you.. ” He murmurs, head ducking down. The Elder is quiet for a moment before they laugh softly and shake their head, stepping down from the landing to the snow covered ground.

“ Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt as bad as excess of the liquid ,” they explain, scaled feet lifting briefly before touching down once more, the faint sound of the snow melting and burning them still making his skin crawl.

“ Let’s...Let’s be quick then ,” he murmurs, turning and heading in the direction of the cabins.

Imbra’s laugh makes him huff, but he ignores them for just a moment, instead focusing on trying to make sure he doesn’t get them lost.

The silence is surprisingly nice, he normally finds silent walks with Endfolk anxiety inducing, but it’s nice this time. He doesn’t feel pressured to either shoo them away or order them to leave, they simply co-exist.

He sees the cabins in the distance and smile, prepared to speak, when a familiar voice echoes through the air.

“RANBOO!”

He hears Imbra let out a startled hiss next to him, but he simply sighs, allowing himself to be barreled into by two blurs.

Suddenly he’s on the ground, Tommy and Tubbo laying on top of him, Tubbo’s arms around his torso while Tommy’s hands are next to his head in the snow.

“What took you so long, Big Man?! We were worried!” Tubbo exclaims, looking up from his chest to glare at him. Tommy nods quickly in agreement and Ranboo sighs, his smile soft and amused.

“Sorry, I got distracted.” His gaze flickers briefly to the concerned Elder standing nearby, their hands hovering as if they were prepared to lift the dragon hybrid, but he simply shakes his head. “ These are the Crimson Star and the Ram Prince .”

Silence falls over the tundra for just a moment before Tommy and Tubbo roar to life, confusion and excitement a blur on their features.

“What the hell was that?!” “You can speak Endspeak?!” “That’s so fucking cool!” “Can you teach me?” “No teach me first!” “WHAT?! I’m his husband!” “So?!”

Ranboo sighs, allowing the two to bicker as he worms his way out from under them and stands, brushing the snow from his clothing.

“ Are..Are you alright? ” Imbra questions, gaze concerned, and he chuckles, waving off their concern.

“ I’m used to it. ”

“ You are?? ”

It takes a moment to calm Tubbo and Tommy, but once he does, he motions towards the Enderman next to him, smiling warmly.

“This is Imbra , they’re an Elder Enderman. I met them in the Nether and they wanted to meet all of you,” he explains, tails swaying slowly behind him. His friends can only stare for a moment before Tubbo clears his throat, gaze nervous.

“Uh, Boo, Big Man, my Beloved...What did you say their name was?”

It takes a moment for it to register in his mind before a soft ‘ Oh! ’ leaves him and he lightly smacks his forehead, shaking his head. Right. End name. What would Imbra translate to in common, though..?

He feels the Elder touch his shoulder lightly and jumps, looking up to the other.

“ You may name me in their language, if you would like? You named them in ours, so it’s only fair, no? ” They smile and he stares for a moment before chuckling lowly.

“ Yes, I suppose it is ,” he hums, shaking his head lightly. Looking back to his husband and friend, he clears his throat and tries again. “This is Indigo. They can’t understand common, but I can translate for you if you have anything you’d like to say.”

“Can you tell them they’re tall as fuck?”

“No, Tommy, I will not tell them they’re ‘tall as fuck’.”

“OH SHIT, HE CURSED, THE WORLD IS OVER-”

“I WAS QUOTING YOU!”

The low chuckle sounding behind him makes him shoot a brief glare towards Imbra and they hold their hands up, normally hidden mouth instead quirked up in a slight smirk.

“ Your flock is loud. ”

“ I’ll leave you here. ”

It takes a moment to calm Tommy and Tubbo enough to walk to the cabins, and while he has them calm enough to walk, they don’t stop asking questions the entire time. Most of them go ignored, or he brushes them off by saying he’d explain ‘later’, but they’re fairly stubborn.

He’s so close to snapping when the familiar voice of Philza calls out from the cabin.

“Boys! Leave him alone, he just got home,” he scolds, though amusement has his voice shaking lightly. His friends whine, but are pretty much forced to listen when Techno follows his friend from the cabin, expression unamused. Tommy grumbles something about it not being fair, but once Ranboo promises to spend tomorrow with them, they cave quite easily, running off to go find Wilbur, or so that’s what they said. 

He watches them run off and sighs, light and amused, before he turns to his father-figure and mentor, smiling warmly.

Phil returns the smile, expression just as warm, and he nods towards Techno’s part of the house, holding a hand out.

“Welcome home, mate. Who's your friend?”

Chapter Text

It takes a moment to get Imbra into the cabin, their lanky form barely able to fit through the door, but they manage after a moment of struggle. The shock on the Elder’s face when they saw Edward ( he’d learned that Edward’s End name was Nocte, but since he understood Common after living with the others for so long, he had picked up on his Overworld name and claimed it as his own ) sitting in his boat was certainly worth it and Ranboo was unable to keep himself from laughing as the two Elders spoke, Imbra’s tone frantic while Edward spoke calmly, fully used to being in the blood god’s home.

“ B-But...are you safe? Is it safe to be here always? ” Imbra questions once again, hands hovering near the sitting Enderman, and Edward sighs, waving their hands off.

“ I can leave whenever I want, Imbra, I am not forced to stay here at all times, ” he murmurs, beginning to grow frustrated by the other’s prying. Ranboo can pick up on the tone change, ears twitching, and he sighs, quickly moving to gently push Imbra away from the tired Elder.

“ Didn’t you want to speak with Death’s Angel? ” He questions, briefly meeting their eyes, and they pause, looking about the room to the crow hybrid and piglin hybrid.

“ I suppose… ” They murmur, the concerned lilt to their voice still there, and he sighs. “ But I hope we can speak properly later, Nocte, it’s been too long. ”

“ I don’t go by that name anymore, Imbra, but I suppose we can try to meet up later, ” Edward murmurs, waving the two off before there’s a vwoop and suddenly he’s gone, all that’s left behind being a swirl of purple particles.

He sighs quietly and looks to the others in the room, nose scrunching when he sees his mentor holding back amused chuckles.

“What’s so funny?” He snarks, black brow quirking, and Techno breaks, snorting quietly.

“Did you offend him?” The piglin hybrid asks, smirking slightly behind his hand. Ranboo sighs, head falling back, and moves towards the kitchen where the two stand. It feels wrong to have Imbra walking directly behind him, but he ignores it, they’ve been hovering close ever since Tommy and Tubbo had pulled that little stunt earlier.

“More like they were overbearing, but I’m sure you noticed, didn’t you, Phil?” He flickers his gaze towards the crow and he startles, a laugh bursting from his chest. Techno pauses for a moment, gaze flickering between his student and friend, before a low ‘ Heh? ’ rumbles from his chest.

“Sorry, I would have said something, but I remember you saying it’s rude to interrupt Elders,” he explains, smile amused. Ranboo rolls his eyes, but doesn’t bother arguing, slumping against the counter. He’s patient as Imbra moves to stand next to him, their hands held politely in front of them, looking between the dragon hybrid and the other two before looking back to Ranboo.

“ Is..the one with wings Death’s Angel? ” They ask, head tilting, and Ranboo nods.

“ Imbra, this is the Blood Emperor, ” he motions towards Techno and the piglin awkwardly raises his hand in a wave, wings pulled in close. Ranboo tries to offer a comforting smile, but his gaze doesn’t linger for long as he instead turns his head to look to Philza. “ And this is Death’s Angel. They are my...caretakers, I suppose you could call them. ”

“Death’s Angel?” Philza interrupts, brows furrowed in confusion, and Ranboo chuckles, shaking his head. “And caretakers?”

That one makes his face flush, especially when Techno looks startled by the statement, and he looks down to the ground, tails wrapping around his calves. He forgets sometimes than End terms and Overworld terms weren’t always the same, so it takes him a moment to gather his composure before he tries to explain.

“Overworld names can’t be translated into Endspeak, so you get End Titles instead, for now at least. Eventually you will be given End Names, but the titles are easier for now. And...caretakers are the Elders you live with and since, technically, you’re both older than me in Overworld terms and I live with you, you’d be assigned as my caretakers in the End.” He feels his wings curl closer to himself with the anxiety of his explanation and he hopes it made sense, hopes they understood what he was trying to lay out. He feels Imbra place a light hand on his shoulder and instinctively leans into it, eyes closing for a moment as he waits for a response from the other two, for anything .

The silence is long for a moment, suffocating, and Ranboo forces his eyes open to look at them, only to be thrown off guard by their expressions.

Techno looks embarrassed almost, head ducked down as a hand rubs the back of his neck, while Phil looks ecstatic .

Suddenly the crow hybrid is moving towards him and Ranboo stands upright, hands raising on instinct to try to cut off the embrace he knows is coming, but Phil is a stubborn man. The breath is knocked out of him as the older man hugs him tightly, wings fluffed up with joy behind him, and Ranboo’s flush only deepens, hands hovering over him awkwardly.

“Phiill…” He murmurs, trying to wiggle away, and Phil only laughs.

“I’m honored, kid, really,” he hums, freeing the teen after a moment, and Ranboo warbles nervously, looking to the side.

“It’s...It’s not a big deal...just, I,” his words trail off for a moment before he quickly shakes his head and hands, “That’s not what this is about! Imbra- Sorry, Indigo is their Overworld name, wanted to meet you and is intrigued by you, Phil, since I told them I was teaching you Endspeak.”

“What, I’m not interestin’?” Techno questions, though the teen can tell he’s joking by the look in his eyes. He laughs, shaking his head slightly, and finally manages to move away from Phil and Imbra to approach his mentor.

“Actually, I’d like to talk to you for a second while those two talk, if that’s alright..?” He smiles down at his mentor, cautious, and Techno hums, gaze flickering towards Phil. He can see the conversation they’re having through their gazes alone, but he doesn’t have a clue to what they’re communicating.

It takes a moment before Techno grunts and turns his attention back to Ranboo, nodding his head towards the door.

“Let’s go then.”

He can’t stop his smile from brightening and he grabs Techno’s wrist, rushing off towards the door, but not before he looks to the confused Elder.

“ I’ll be back, talk to Phil for a bit .” He explains, nodding towards the crow. Imbra looks between the two for a moment before looking back to Ranboo, head tilting.

“ Are you going to do something else, My Prince? ”

He feels the air leave his lungs at the title. He’d forgotten to tell them not to call him that around Phil.

Phil’s clearly surprised, brows shooting up as the words process in his head, but Ranboo doesn’t give him time to question it. He nods briskly and quickly darts out of the cabin, the snow blinding him for a brief moment, but that doesn’t stop him from scrambling to fly up to the roof of his own home, trying to hide away from the gaze he knew wasn’t on him anymore.

“Kid?” Techno calls out, quickly following after him, and he makes a strained warble, trying to be loud enough for the older man to hear him. He’s lucky for Techno’s more sensitive hearing as he turns to the sound and allows large, pink wings to spread out, flying towards his student. “Kid, what was that about?”

Ranboo curls in on himself, trying to avoid Techno’s curious gaze, and rests his chin on his knees, silent for a moment. 

“I...Techno, you know how the Ender Dragon is the queen on the End?” He asks, voice quiet. There’s a moment before Techno nods, grunting quietly to show he knew, and Ranboo sighs, eyes squeezing shut. “And I’m an Ender Dragon hybrid..?”

It takes a moment for the gears to whirl in his mentor’s head, but once it connects, he inhales sharply.

“Ranboo, you’re royalty -”

“NO!” He doesn’t mean to yell, but he can’t stop himself. He knew, he knew he was a royal, of course he knew, it made all of the sense in the world, and yet hearing someone that wasn’t and Enderman call him one made it feel more... real . His wings curl around him protectively and he swallows thickly, pressing his face into his knees. “Not anymore. I stopped being a prince when I forgot who I was...but..that doesn’t stop the Endermen from calling me it.”

Techno is quiet for a moment before he frowns, looking towards his cabin. “I guess that makes sense, but...kid..Ranboo ,” he trails off for a moment and Ranboo hesitates before he looks up to him.

“What is it?” He asks, brows furrowing. Techno seems to hesitate for a moment, looking to the side, digging his communicator out.

Why was he taking his communicator out?

“Why would the Endermen from a server you’re not from know you as their prince? Each server has it’s own queen, don’t they?”

He hates the silence that falls over them at Techno’s words, hates the tenseness of it. 

He hates the way he can feel Techno look at him, his eyes burning as though they were physically stabbing him all over, skin crawling from the feeling. 

He hates the implication behind those words. 

He hates that it made sense , why so much about this server felt safe . 

He hates the implications that this was so close to the home he wished to see sometimes.

He hates that he can never go to the End if it’s true.

He hates it. 

He hates it he hates it he hates it-

“Kid, breathe for me,” Techno’s voice snaps through his thoughts and suddenly he’s aware of the way his chest is heaving, how he can’t feel his limbs. He tries to breathe, tries to follow the order he was given, but he can’t , he can’t breathe, it’s too much, too much .

He feels like he’s going to throw up, stomach churning, and distantly he can hear Techno’s increasingly panicked voice trying to calm him, but he can’t listen. He can’t focus, all he can think about is Techno’s words, think about what they meant.

Why hadn’t he thought of it before? Why hadn’t he questioned it the first time an Enderman called him their ‘prince’?

Maybe it was because he was hoping . Hoping that they were mistaking him for another. Why would they have only just started calling him it, after all? He’d been here for a few months and the Endermen hadn’t called him it before!

But then, before, he hadn’t been showing his more draconic nature.

He feels bile rise in his throat and he can’t stop himself from keeling over, the vomit tasting like acid on his tongue.

His mind begins to feel fuzzy, he can’t feel his body, all he can feel is pain . He can’t breathe and Techno keeps looking at him, and it’s too much, it’s too much -

His jaw unhinges and suddenly whole body hurts, but he doesn’t get to question why as the world falls dark around him.

Chapter Text

The young boy has grown used to being home alone these days.

One would think that the man who made an entire server for himself and his family would actually spend time with them, but really, the boy wasn’t surprised. While he loved his father, he had grown used to him often running off to explore the world, used to not seeing him for months on end.

That’s what most gods did, after all.

When he came back, though, it was always fun! They’d play games and he’d tell him stories about the adventures he’d been on, his mother would make their favorite cake and they’d eat it together! But, well...it’s not the same as actually being raised by the man.

No, he pretty much raised himself after his mother had passed the year before.

The eight year old is in the process of making a few new notebooks, the practice of threading the pages together muscle memory at this point, when the cabin door swings open.

“Clay!” A deep voice calls out, all too familiar, and the boy smiles slightly.

“Hey, dad, welcome home,” he hums, not turning from his books to face the man. No more words are shared for a moment, the only sound in the cabin being that of his father moving about the living space, and Clay finds that he doesn’t mind. He never really did try to actively get his father to talk, he’d given up a long time ago, if he didn’t want to talk to him, he didn’t.

The silence was welcomed at this point.

He’s snapped out of his book-making by a hand touching his shoulder and he jumps, emerald hues flaring a brighter green for just a moment before he forces himself to calm. A low, amused chuckle rumbles behind him, but he ignores it for just a moment, trying to shake off the buzz of energy beneath his skin.

“Calm down, kid, it’s just me,” his father teases and he can hear the smile on his face that’s hidden by a white mask with a wide smile. He offers a dry chuckle and finally tilts his head back to look at him, ignoring the subtle shiver that always runs down his spine when he meets the eyes of his father’s mask.

“Sorry, it’s just been a bit since I’ve been around another person.” He tries to ignore the underlying bitterness in his own tone, but it seems his father picks up on it.

“Clay...I’m sorry I was gone for longer than usual this time, I didn’t intend to be gone for so long, but I got caught up in something and…” He trails off for a moment and Clay finds himself watching him, curious for this year’s excuse. 

Coming home for a month and then disappearing for a year ? 

Doing this for the past three fucking years?

Yeah, he’s looking for a very good excuse.

The god removes the mask from his face and his expression is serious, something he’s not used to seeing on his face.

“There’s someone important I’d like you to meet.”

That makes the child pause, brows raising slightly.

“Some one ? Not some thing ?”

The seriousness fades and his father smiles and now that he’s actually looking at the man, he notices something. The light that had been in his eyes had faded after his mother’s passing, but now..? Now it was back and something about that made his stomach churn uncomfortably.

“Alright, I guess...do I..need to bring a gift?” The words are heavy on his tongue, but he hides the anxiety he feels burning beneath his skin by smiling, tilting his head slightly. If this person made his father happy, then should he not be supportive?

“I suppose you could, maybe..” He looks about the cabin for a moment before his eyes land on the table behind the child. “How about one of your handmade books? I’m sure he’d like it.”

He?

He would never judge his father for his taste in partners, but it still caught him off guard, he never thought his father would date again, let alone get a boyfriend. Still, he doesn’t comment on it, simply nods and snatches up one of the finished books, fingers running across the leather cover.

While Clay wasn’t one to toot his own horn ( yes he was, but no one needed to know that ), he was impressed by his own craftsmanship. The light vines decorating the leather, a signature feather being carved into the material, are beautiful to the eyes and for a moment, he wonders if it’s an odd gift, if maybe he should grab one he hadn’t decorated. But then he thinks about it and remembers how happy his mother would get when she saw the work he put into his work, so maybe this man would be, too..?

“Why not get dressed? If we leave now, we can get there before they need to sleep.”

They?

What was he getting himself into?

Right.

Okay.

This was fucking insane .

The End Portal sitting before them makes the anxiety from before flare , churning deep in his gut and making his skin feel like it's alight with flames ( or maybe that was the lava ). He looks between the deep void of the portal and his father’s masked face a few times before he swallows thickly, hands moving to fidget in front of him.

“Do...Am I going to need to speak Endspeak..?” He asks, looking back to the void portal. He supposed that was an upside of having a god as a father, being able to understand languages he normally wouldn’t be able to, but it always made him feel off . The languages always felt odd to speak, even if he knew he would be able to speak them simply because of his heritage. It just felt wrong , like he was encroaching on another’s heritage, but if he had to, he’d speak another’s language if it was what they were comfortable with.

“Only Lierra speaks common, so you might have to when we meet Ranboo ,” his father explains, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

Lierra and Ranboo, huh? Interesting names, he supposes.

“Okay,” he murmurs, shuffling towards the portal, and his father chuckles.

“Well, go on in!”

He can’t stop the terrified yelp that bursts from his chest when he’s pushed into the void.

“I could have walked in on my own!”

Clay’s yell echoes through the void of the End, arms crossed over his chest, and his father laughs aloud.

They’d been walking for a little bit, but once they reached the edge of one of the floating islands, his father had picked him up without warning, pushing them into the air. While the boy was used to flying with his father, it was very different than when he flew with his mother.

With his mother, she had stunning wings spread out behind her, the sound of her feathers ruffling with each flap of the wings echoing through the air. It felt safe, secure, and he thrived off the feeling.

With his father, there was nothing . It was like invisible strings were pulling him through the air, ready to snap at any second and letting them drop into the void of the End, plummeting through the darkness.

Still, he never fought it because it was one of the few times the two actually held contact ( what a sad thought ).

“I don’t know, kid, you kept staring like it was going to eat you,” he teases, voice light, and the child huffs, arms crossing with a pout.

“I’ve never been in the End before…” He murmurs, head ducking down, and he feels his father chuckle, arms squeezing him close.

“Don’t worry, Clay, I won’t let anything happen to you. I never will.”

At least that was one promise Clay knew he’d always keep.

The rest of the flight is silent, the god focusing on his flight while the young boy looks around the End, taking in the sights beneath him. So many Endermen explored the floating islands, small End Villages appearing here and there while larger buildings speckled the odd colored land. He’s careful not to look at any of the Endfolks’ faces, he doesn’t want to accidentally meet their eyes and upset any of them, but he can feel them look back at them.

He understood, it wasn’t every day the End saw a god flying through the air with his demigod son, but at least none of them tried to get them to land and speak.

Clay doesn’t think he could handle speaking Endspeak just yet.

He doesn’t realize he’d zoned out until he looks up and the air leaves his lungs.

Laid out before them was a large End City, far bigger than the ones they’d seen before, Endfolk walking amongst the streets. While some of them walked amongst the streets, appearance similar to that of the ones on the Overworld, while others were dressed in what humans would call fancy clothing. Light silks draped over their long forms, hiding their bodies from the world, and he finds himself curious over whether or not they’re actually silks.

Then he looks up and he feels his stomach churn with anxiety once more when he realizes what they’re approaching.

A large End Castle towers over the godling and his father, the black and white walls of the large building intimidating in more ways than one. It was massive and he feels his heart hammer away in his chest, unable to rip his gaze away from the building as they approach it.

When they land at the entrance and he’s lowered to the ground, he can’t help but dart behind his father’s taller form, hands cautiously gripping his cloak. He can hear his father chuckle, but doesn’t focus on it, too focused on the doors towering over them.

“ Can you tell Lierra I have arrived? ” He hears his father speak in an unfamiliar language and the gears turn in his head as he realizes just what it is. The Endermen guarding the entrance warble in response, not speaking, simply nodding as one disappears in a whirl of purple particles, the other keeping their posts at the entrance.

Clay doesn’t know how long the two stand there, waiting for this ‘Lierra’ person, but then the guard that had disappeared appears again, nodding towards his father. His gaze darts anxiously between the door and his father for just a moment before there’s a low creek as the entrance to the castle slowly opens. He can’t stop the way his pointed ears twitch back anxiously, head ducking down, and he watches as a woman steps out from the castle.

She’s tall , taller than even his father, and he was really tall! Her skin is a deep black, an almost purple tint making the scales covering her skin gleam in the fire lighting the castle entrance, the large wings on her back draconic in appearance. Long, black hair falls from her head in a braid, the onyx locks reaching down to her lower back, and a small voice in the back of his head wonders if it's soft. Her gaze is stern, deep purple eyes glowing with restrained power, and he feels the anxiety only grow when those eyes flicker towards him, their gazes meeting.

Silence falls over them for a moment before her stern expression softens and she descends from the steps leading to the entrance, approaching the two of them.

“Hello, X, is this who you told me of?” Her voice has a low growl to it, the Common very clearly not something she spoke often, and yet she did so anyways.

For him.

His father chuckles and steps towards her, offering a hand that she quickly takes in her own, entwining their fingers lightly. “Yes, this is Clay, he’s my son.”

Clay’s eyes are glued to their hands for just a moment before his gaze snaps up when her shadow casts over him. He feels like he’s going to be sick , green hues wide as he stares up at her, and he finds words escaping him, he doesn’t know what to say , what to do -

“Hello, Clay, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from your father,” Lierra says, gaze gentle as she offers him a hand. He finds himself unable to speak for a moment, only able to stare up at the tall woman, before he cautiously takes her hand in his tiny one.

Her skin is hot to the touch and yet not too hot, almost like that feeling one would get when they placed their hand near a fire, but not in it.

“H-Hi, Ms. Lierra ,” he stammers out, shaking her hand anxiously. Her gaze softens even more at the sound of his broken Endspeak and she squeezes his hand gently before releasing it and standing.

“You can speak the language of my people?” She questions and he finds he can only nod, quickly hiding himself away behind his father once more.

The god laughs, shaking his head slightly as he turns his gaze back to look at his son and place a gentle hand on his head. The touch is grounding despite himself and he leans into it slightly, looking up to meet his father’s masked gaze.

“It’s okay, Clay,” he hums, gently nudging him out from behind him, “I just want you to meet someone very important and then we can go home, alright?”

Looking between his father and the castle, he’s quiet for a moment before he nods slightly, allowing his father to bring him into the open once more.

While the boy normally wouldn’t do something like this, Clay finds himself grabbing his father’s hand and holding it tight, refusing to let go of it. He can feel the surprise in the god’s gaze at the action and yet he holds his hand back, allowing him to keep himself glued close to his side. He wants to speak, wants to include himself in the conversation his father and Lierra begin to have, and yet he can’t. The nerves are too much still, he can barely even look at the woman at his father’s side, and yet he hates not being included in what they’re talking about.

He hears one of them mention something about classes and he zones back into their conversation, looking up at the two.

“ Ranboo should be wrapping up his lesson now, actually, so we could probably catch him with his tutor before he runs off to his room to find Mana, ” Lierra states, purple eyes darting around the halls of the castle, and X hums, nodding his head slightly.

“ I told him I’d be bringing someone to meet him soon, so I know that’s something he’s looking forward to. ”

Clay can only stare for a moment as the two continue to speak before his eyes narrow and he tugs on his father’s hand, gaining his attention.

“Who is Ranboo ?” He finally asks, head tilting.

It was clear now that he had gotten it very wrong back in the Overworld. He had thought this ‘he’ was a partner of some sorts, but it was clear this wasn’t right, the woman next to him was clearly the person he was in a relationship with, so who was this ‘Ranboo’ person? A friend?

His father hums and squeezes his hand gently, looking forward once more.

“You’ll find out soon, just be patient. He should be arriving any second now,” he hums, continuing to walk, and Clay can only follow. He hated surprises like this, this was very different from the types of surprises he liked, and so he looks down, staring at the ground as they walk.

His father and Lierra stop talking now, simply walking in a relaxed silence, when a small voice calls out.

“Speak of the devil-”

“ Mama! Mama! Juju told me I did really good on my writing today! ” A small child comes barreling down the hall, small arms held up in the air as he toddles along. Lierra’s expression is the most fond Clay has seen since he’s arrived and she steps forwards, scooping the small child into her arms.

“ Really? I’m so proud of you, sweetheart, ” she coos, brushing her nose against the child’s, and he giggles happily, throwing his arm around the woman’s neck.

“ I wrote a letter to Papa! ” He exclaims, beaming, and Clay hears his father chuckle next to him. Lierra keeps the boy from being able to look at the god and his son for just a moment, large wings keeping them out of view as she talks to the boy Clay assumes is her son.

“ Yeah? You can show it to him late, okay? There’s someone important we need you to meet, ” she explains, running a hand through multihue hair, and the toddler looks curious.

“ New friend? ”

“ Close ,” X speaks up, making Clay jump, and he looks up at his father briefly, only for his gaze to snap back to the child at his exclamation.

“ Papa!!! ”

What?

The child is set back down on the ground and Clay finally looks at him properly, zoning out of the conversation as he takes in his appearance. He’s small and he finds himself wondering how old he exactly is, he looks barely older than three or four, and yet he seems smarter than your average four year old. His skin is split practically down the middle, right side a deep shade of black while the left was white, the split blurring together in a deep grey-ish color. Two long, whip-like tails lash out excitedly behind him, one of each color with pointed tips.

When his gaze flickers back to his head, he notes how, oddly enough, his hair is flipped from how the colors on his skin were, the left side black while the right were white. Pointed ears twitch and turn towards every noise and the child looks so happy and…

Clay thinks he should be upset.

He thinks he should be mad, his father ran off and started another family without telling him and waited for this long to tell him about it?

And the boy seemed to love their father so much , he seemed thrilled to see him in a way Clay hadn’t felt since he was his age.

He feels like he should be mad, like he should hate him.

And yet when he finally meets the boy’s gaze, their eyes meeting for just a moment, he finds himself unable to be. Bright green and red eyes look up at him and his gaze is full of awe , like Clay was the most amazing person he’d ever seen, and his heart swells.

He zones back into the conversation to hear his father and Lierra talking amongst themselves softly.

“ What do you mean you didn’t ask him what he wanted his End Name to be? ” Lierra hisses, frustration in her gaze, and X shrugs helplessly, a hand tangled in blond hair as his mask hides his gaze.

“ It slipped my mind! ” He murmurs back helplessly, looking briefly towards his sons before looking back to his partner.

Clay stares at the two for a moment before looking back to the boy ( Ranboo, his minds supplies him ), staring for a moment before he crouches down so they could be eye-level.

“ Are you Ranboo? ” He asks, the Endspeak heavy on his tongue, and yet the way Ranboo’s eyes light up make it all the more worth it.

“ I am!!! What’s your name? Papa hasn’t told me yet, but he did say you’re my big brother!!! Are you actually my big brother??? ” Ranboo asks, head tilting, and for a moment, he can’t help but think he resembles an excited puppy. He can’t stop himself from chuckling lightly and he nods slightly, holding his hands out to the toddler.

He ignores the way his heart swells when small hands lightly smack his palms.

“ I am your brother, but I don’t have an End name yet, ” he explains, curling his hands around Ranboo’s lightly. The toddler gasps and his expression becomes almost furious , that toddler type of furious that isn’t like what an adult would experience, but just as immense.

“ That’s not good! Everyone needs an End name!! ” Then Ranboo gasps and he starts bouncing in front of the blonde, tails whipping out excitedly behind him. “ Can I name you?? ”

That makes Clay pause for a moment before he chuckles quietly, shaking his head.

“ Sure, Ranboo, you can name me. ”

Ranboo trills excitedly, bouncing in place for a moment, before he stops, pulling a hand to himself to hold his chin in thought. A part of him wonders how many people his brother ( what a weird fucking thought, he has a brother ) has seen do that action.

Distantly, he notices that his father and Ranboo’s mother have fallen silent, but he’s too focused on giving the toddler his full attention, waiting patiently. It seems to take a moment before Ranboo gasps and begins to bounce once more, tiny hand reaching out to lightly pat his cheek.

“ Big Brother Dream! Big Brother Dream!! ”

The excitement and pride in Ranboo’s gaze makes Clay melt and he can’t stop himself from smiling, gaze softening.

“ Yeah, alright, Ranboo. Big Brother Dream. ”

Clay doesn’t remember how long he spends in the End with Ranboo.

Clay doesn’t remember giving Ranboo the book.

Clay doesn’t remember going home to the Overworld.

Clay doesn’t remember leaving the server with his father for a “trip”.

Clay doesn’t remember who named him Dream.

Clay doesn’t remember when X disappeared.

Clay doesn’t remember Ranboo.

Clay doesn’t remember.

Neither does Ranboo.

Chapter Text

Most of those that live in the Dream Smp haven’t heard the sound of a distressed Ender Dragon before.

There are a few that have, some of the members have been to the End before, but not many have heard a genuinely distressed sound the ruler of the end makes.

That’s why when the sound echoes through the server lands, most are shaken to their core.

It’s such a quiet day, people are building, farming, goofing off with one another. Tommy and Tubbo are chasing after WIlbur, Sapnap is helping Bad cook for the ‘dream team’ since the demon came to visit, Niki is baking a cake for Puffy. It’s calm and it’s peaceful.

Then the sound echoes through the air.

It’s loudest in the arctic, the sound ripping through the cold, winter air. It had started low, a distressed whine, before it rose into a roar , ear splitting and bone shaking. Tommy and Tubbo pick up on the familiarity of the whine first, both immediately on guard and concerned for their friend. They’re explaining to Wilbur their concerns when the scream echoes through the air, loud and guttural, and it feels like the air is knocked from their lungs from the sound alone.

Tubbo panics, that’s his platonic partner, that’s his Boo , and he begs Wilbur to fly him back to the cabins. He does it with little argument and when they arrive, Ranboo is gone and Tubbo can’t breathe .

Sapnap and Bad are the second closest to the sound. 

They’re serving dinner when the sound rips through the silent air and Sapnap can’t stop his wings from flaring on instinct, hand twitching to summon his sword. Bad is in a similar state, gaze snapping around the room as he tries to figure out where the sound was coming from.

Then it cuts off and they look to one another, eyes wide.

“What the fuck was that?” Sap manages to get out, hands twitching with the urge to hold his blade, wings curled in against him protectively.

For once, Bad doesn’t scold him for the curse, “I have no idea.”

L’manburg is the furthest away and yet Niki hears the sound loud and clear, pausing in her whisking to look around frantically. It’s faint, clearly it isn’t close to the city, and yet she feels it deep to her core. It’s a sound she’s never heard before and yet it’s so familiar, so similar to that of the Ender Dragon and yet not .

There’s only one being in this server capable of making a noise similar to the ruler of the End’s.

“Oh Boo..”

Techno didn’t mean to make the kid panic, that was the last thing he wanted to do. He’d just been confused, he didn’t understand why the Endermen of this server would view Ranboo as their prince, and so he’d questioned it without thinking.

Then Ranboo began to spiral, he started hyperventilating and had completely zoned out and Techno couldn’t get him to calm down no matter how hard he tried. 

It only got worse the more the teen spiraled and Techno was helpless, quickly pulling up his communicator to type a message to Phil.

Technoblade: Phil, come here, hurry, the kid is freaking out

He didn’t keep the device out to wait for a message when a rather rancid smell met his sensitive nose and he quickly moved a hand to grip his cape, raising it to cover his nose. The other hand moves to rub gentle circles into the teen’s back, uncertain of what else he could possibly do to help the poor kid.

The voices are screaming , they’re furious and worried and terrified all at once, it’s almost overwhelming in a way he wasn’t used to any more, but he tries to ignore them to focus on the kid, try to calm him down the best he can. The distant sound of feathers ruffling gains his attention and he looks up to see Phil flying towards the two, a wave of relief washing over him at the sight. Philza was good at this, he was good at comfort, he could help Ranboo in a way he couldn’t-

Or at least he thought he could.

The sound of bones popping gains his attention and his gaze snaps back towards Ranboo, his stomach clenching at the sight. He’s grown taller in his distressed, back hunched in an odd way with his wings spread out behind him. His hands harbor sharp claws at the ends, the tips digging into the roof as sharp tipped tails snap out behind him, leaving grooves in the wood. Sharp horns have grown almost sharper , curling in a way that was similar to what he’s seen on the Ender Dragon’s head. ( The voices rejoice when the ring doesn’t break or fall off his horn, sticking to the tip of it that doesn’t get ruined. ) The teen’s jaw has unhinged in a way he has never seen on a humanoid figure and a part of him wants to try to get him to close his mouth, but he doesn’t get the chance to when a loud screech rips from the boy’s throat.

The sound is ear piercing and he moves away slightly, ears ringing from just the scream. It feels as though he can feel it in his bones and he can’t stop himself from closing his eyes for just a moment, just a moment .

He regrets closing his eyes.

The screeching suddenly cuts off and when Techno opens his eyes, all he can see where Ranboo had once been are a whirl of purple particles and a book laying on the roof. He can feel his heart begin pounding in his chest and he quickly looks around, eyes landing on Phil briefly to see the man kneeling on the ground, entire body trembling slightly.

“Phil-” He breathes out and after a moment, he snatches up the book before darting down to Phil’s side, hands hovering near his friend nervously. He understood, Phil wasn’t like normal bird hybrids ( he wasn’t a normal bird hybrid, the voices yell ), he was far more sensitive to things like this and so he was most likely overwhelmed by the scream. Distantly he can hear the sound of WIlbur and the kids approaching, but he’s too focused on Phil to really pay attention to what’s happening behind him.

He doesn’t realize Tubbo had even approached him until he was grabbed roughly by the ram hybrid, blue eyes wide and frantic as he grips the piglin’s cape.

“Where the hell did he go?! What happened?!” Tubbo’s yelling makes his still ringing ears ache and he raises the hand holding the book, shoving it into the teen’s chest to push him away.

“Stop yelling. I don’t know, do you think if I knew, I wouldn’t be saying something in the chat?” He hisses, crimson hues narrowing up at the boy.

It’s only now that he’s properly looking at him that he notices the clear panic on the brunette’s face and oh no, not again, not another one, he isn’t good at this-

“Tubs, can you look at me?” Phil’s voice snaps Techno from his spiral and he looks to his friend, relieved to see he’s recovered enough from the shock to function. Tubbo listens and looks to the crow hybrid, hands snatching the book from Techno so he can hold something of his platonic partner’s. “We’re going to find him, alright? You just need to calm down, okay?”

Tubbo grips the book tighter in his hands and nods shakily, shuffling towards Phil when the older man opens his arms to him. Techno can only watch as the teen collapses into the crow’s arms, trembling in the embrace as he allows himself to be comforted.

The piglin jerks at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder, wings flaring briefly, and he looks to the culprit, relaxing when his eyes meet Wilbur’s.

“We’ll find him, Tech.”

Of course the man he viewed as a brother could tell he was concerned.

Letting out a dry chuckle, he looks towards the teen being comforted by their father, Tommy’s lanky figure hovering near his best friend now in case he was needed.

“I know we will...that kid sure has a habit of pulling disappearing acts, huh?”

Wilbur laughs lightly beside him.

Ranboo doesn’t know how long he’s unaware for.

The last thing he remembers is talking to Techno on the roof and the rest of the interaction is a blur. He can’t even look to the voices for help because they’re quiet for once, almost too quiet, and it makes anxiety buzz under his skin.

He finally looks up from his lap to see where he was located and feels his breath hitch when he realizes just where he had accidentally teleported to.

The familiar atmosphere of the stronghold surrounds him, the bricks cold beneath his hands sending shivers up his arms and down his spine. He jerks his hand away from them and sits up to look around, surprised by just how far into the stronghold he had managed to get without any mobs coming for him.

Or maybe the mobs were avoiding him.

Swallowing thickly, he pushes himself to his feet and shuffles through the corridors, tails wrapped anxiously around his thighs as he steps further and further into the space. He doesn’t know where he’s going or how he knows how to get through the space ( yes you do, you do know ), but before he even realizes it, he’s in a familiar room.

He can feel the call of the End singing in his mind, overpowering the subtle whispers of the Voices, and yet it feels like his skin is burning, like fire is dancing across his skin. Ranboo knows he’s approaching the portal, knows he’s getting close to it, but doesn’t realize he’s right at the edge until a hand grips his shoulder.

He can feel his breath catch in his throat, but he turns cautiously, wings tense on his back. He feels his stomach churn when his eyes meet a familiar yet unknown mask, an X in the place of eyes with a wide D as a smile.

“There’s a rule about entering the End, Ranboo .”

The teen thinks he’s going to be sick.

Chapter Text

The masked man hovering before him is so familiar and yet Ranboo can put a finger on why , he’s trying to pry into his memories, trying to dig it out, but he’s pulling a blank. His hand on his shoulder burns and yet it causes an odd warmth to buzz beneath his skin, an energy he’s unfamiliar with.

He doesn’t like it.

The worst part is that he doesn’t have the book he’s had for years now, pockets very empty and hands twitching with the urge to hold it. He craves the comfort that it had always given him and he doesn’t have it and he hates it .

The being who stopped him from entering the portal simply watches the teen, waiting for him to say something, and it takes the dragon a moment to realize he wants a response before he forces himself to speak.

“I-I know, but..I..I need to,” he finds himself begging, gaze pleading. The masked man tilts his head, not speaking for a moment, and Ranboo takes this as a sign to keep talking. “I won’t stay long..! Only for a little bit, I won’t even try to go to any of the End Cities, I’ll stay near the portal that leads back to the Overworld, I just-”

“You still ramble, I see,” the man speaks up, cutting him off. He feels his breath hitch in his throat and curls in on himself slightly, taking a small step back away from the unknown person.

“Still..? Do I..Do I know you?” He asks, voice wavering lightly. The masked man seems to almost flinch at the question and he finds himself wanting to apologize, but refrains from doing so, simply waiting for some type of answer from the man.

Maybe if he told him how he knew him, it’d trigger his memories?

“I met you when you first entered the Overworld and helped you leave this server. Never thought my idiot son would claim it as his own and invite so many people here, let alone you, but I suppose it makes sense.”

Something about his explanation felt wrong .

“When..When you say ‘idiot son’...the person who runs this server is Dream ..? So..does that make you his dad?” A stupid question, really, he just implied that Dream was his kid, but something in Ranboo yelled at him to ask anyways.

The masked man laughs, loud and echoing, and it’s only now that Ranboo picks up on the similarities between the being in front of him and the Admin’s voices.

“He’s still going by that stupid name?” He questions and Ranboo can feel him rolling his eyes behind his mask. “Of course he is, he can’t even remember who gave him the name and yet he’s still attached to it.”

For some reason, hearing him call Dream’s name stupid causes a brief feeling of rage to flare in his chest.

“Uhm...you haven’t told me who you are..?” He manages to get out through gritted teeth, gaining the man’s attention once more.

He hums, as if contemplating whether or not he actually wants to tell the teen, before he sighs, shaking his head.

“I am XD, the god of creation, but you might know me as X ,” he introduces and something in Ranboo’s brain stirs .

X?

Why was that so familiar?

Where had he heard that from?

Where-

“Your father will be home soon, Ranboo, are you excited?” A woman’s voice is speaking and he can’t help but bounce excitedly, nodding rapidly.

“Yeah!! Is he gonna bring big brother with him?” He asks, multihue eyes sparkling, and the woman chuckles.

“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask X before he gets here.”

The voices scream .

TRAITOR
HE ABANDONED US
HATE HIM
LEAVE
UNSAFE
UNSAFE
TRAITOR
HATE
HE’S BAD
HE HURT YOU
UNSAFE
LEAVE

Ranboo’s head pounds as they yell, legs trembling from the force of the sudden raise in volume. They’d been so quiet and yet now they screamed, they yelled and cursed the god, cursed his existence, screamed at him to get away.

A pained gasp rips from his throat and he feels his legs give out as he drops to his knees, hands gripping at his hair. It’s too much, he can’t handle it, it’s too much -

“Kid..?”

Ranboo looks up at the god and tries to speak, but it’s too much and- 

His mind blanks.

Dream is trying to process what the server had heard earlier when he appears.

It’s been years since he’s seen the being who was technically his father, he disappeared after taking Dream out of the server and he hadn’t seen him since, so seeing the hovering figure appear in front of him causes anger to flare in his chest.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He hisses, eyes narrowing at the god, and he sees his ears flick towards his voice.

“Look, I know you’re mad, but now isn’t the time,” XD starts, beginning to turn towards him. Dream laughs, low and cold, and glares at his father’s back, wings flaring behind him.

“Oh really? Now isn’t the time? Then why the hell are you-” his voice dies in his throat when XD turns towards him fully, the limp form of Ranboo held in his arms, “here…”

“Look, he was in the stronghold and was staring at the portal, I approached him to get him to stay out and he passed out,” the god spoke, lowering towards the ground so that his son could take the dragon hybrid out of his arms. Ranboo is light, almost too light, and a small voice in the back of Dream’s head murmurs about how he needed to get the kid to eat more when he was around him.

“Are you sure he just ‘passed out’, or did you do something to him?” Dream finds himself snarking, holding the teen close to his chest. XD scoffs quietly and turns away from his son, ears pressing against the sides of his head.

“I just told him who I was and he freaked out,” the god explains, waving a hand dismissively. Dream scoffs, rolling his eyes behind his mask, and turns away from the god, wings wrapping protectively around the teen in his arms.

“Leave. I don’t want you here, this is my server now and you’re no longer welcomed here.”

He feels the power of the god flare behind him, rage clear in the show of power, but the macaw hybrid finds that he doesn’t care. In fact, he flares his own power, the energy buzzing under his skin, and XD growls, the sound low.

“You can’t beat me, Clay , you know that,” the god hisses, “I’m not leaving for you. I don’t want to be on this End forsaken server, it’s taken enough from me.”

“That’s on you, father . Now go .”

The presence of his father disappears and Dream feels his shoulders slump, the need to keep them up anymore fading. Turning to the teen in his arms, he sighs softly and spreads his wings, taking off into the air, heading in the direction of the arctic.

“Let’s get you home, Ran,” he murmurs, holding the poor teen close.

He wished this wasn’t the second time he’d ended up coddling the kid.

The arctic group are dressed and ready to move when Dream arrives on the bridge connecting Techno and Phil’s cabins.

“Ranboo!” Tubbo’s voice echoes through the air and he charges towards the admin, hands frantically moving to touch the dragon’s face gently. The unconscious boy doesn’t react to the touch and the ram hybrid can’t help but let out a distraught noise. 

Tommy’s quickly at his best friend’s side, staring wide-eyed at Ranboo and Dream, gaze flickering quickly between the two in visible shock. Dream supposed he understood, they had never seen him with the boy before, though he wished the subtle accusation in his eyes didn’t hurt as much as it did.

“Dream, what happened to him?” Wilbur’s voice made the macaw look up and he sighs softly, carefully pushing past the ram and cardinal to move towards Techno’s cabin. 

“Can I sit down, first? I’ve been carrying him from my place,” he murmurs, wings drooping slightly from the ache of carrying a much taller teen for that long. He may be light, but that didn’t mean Dream was used to carrying a 6’6” teenager such a long distance. Techno opens the door to the cabin and Dream can feel his eyes on him as he carries the teen into the room, hold tightening slightly at the closed off space of the cabin.

For a moment, he finds himself unsure of what to do.

He should sit, a small part of him whispers, and yet he finds himself unable. What if he comes back and takes Ranboo? He’d already had the boy, what if he decided he wanted to come back and take him away?

What if he tried to do to Ranboo what he’d done to him?

…

Why was he worried about his father abandoning Ranboo like he’d done to him?

A hand touches his shoulder and he can’t stop his wings from flaring out, a snarl on his lips as he cocoons the dragon in his hold.

“Woah, mate, it’s just me,” Phil soothes, gaze gentle as he moves to take a step back, giving the two space. Dream stares at the crow hybrid for a moment before forcing himself to relax. Right, he’s here because they care about Ranboo, they wouldn’t hurt him. “Why don’t you sit down? You look ready to collapse at any second.”

Phil motions towards the couch and the demigod’s gaze follows the action, staring at the piece of furniture for a moment before cautiously nodding. Now that he had pointed it out, he was far too aware of the ache in his body, moving on autopilot towards the couch, dropping down to finally rest his aching muscles. Ranboo’s weight in his lap is grounding and it allows his arms to rest from holding his weight, instead allowing him to rest against his chest.

He can hear someone approaching, the heavy steps hint to him that it’s most likely Techno, and yet he can’t stop the energy that hasn’t stopped buzzing beneath his skin flare, pulling the teen closer.

“ Dream ,” Techno murmurs, making him snap his masked gaze up to look at the piglin, “I’m not going to hurt either of you and even if I wanted to, you know you can’t beat me in the state you’re in. Just relax.”

“That’s not a comforting statement, Tech,” the blonde murmurs in response, head ducking as exhaustion washes over his body. He knows he’s right, however. A demigod fighting a god? That's always dangerous, but an exhausted demigod fighting a god? That's deadly.

“You know I’m right,” Techno hums, carefully sitting on the couch next to Dream. He’s tense, he can feel it in his arm pressed against his own, and yet that doesn’t stop him from carefully reaching a wing out to drape it over his shoulders. “Rest. We can talk about it in the morning.”

Dream feels anxiety spike in his core.

“ No. It’s not safe, he could get hurt, it’s-”

“We’ll protect him, Dre.” Wilbur’s voice makes him look up and he feels his breath catch in his throat at the determined look on the musician’s face, Tommy and Tubbo standing tall at his sides. Even if both were visibly concerned for their friend, they nodded along to their brother’s words, and Dream feels himself smile slightly behind his mask.

“Right..alright, got it..”

The pink wing draped over him pulls the younger demigod closer and he grunts, falling limp into Techno’s side. Ranboo’s lithe form stays pressed to his chest, the soft feeling of his breath against his neck the only thing allowing him to finally relax.

“Nothing will happen to the kid, Dream.”

He nods against his friend’s shoulder, finally allowing his eyes to close as a hand carefully takes the white hand resting on the teen’s stomach.

There’s something relaxing about feeling him grip it in return.

Chapter Text

Ranboo thinks he’s asleep and yet at the same time, it feels like he’s awake.

An odd energy buzzes under his skin and as he looks around, he finds himself in a building that’s all too familiar to the young knight. Right, these were the halls of the castle, weren’t they? It’d been so long since he’d been here, but he’d never forget the End, never forget the castle he’d spent his entire life.

Looking around the halls, he moves on autopilot as he explores the building, searching for someone he wasn’t sure about just yet, tails swaying cautiously behind him. It’s weird, he doesn’t remember how he’d gotten here. He’d seen...seen a man, he thinks. What was his name again?

He tries to listen for the voices, see if they know something, but they’re completely silent and, well, that’s not good.

His lips part to call out, see if anyone can hear him, when he sees a familiar figure walking down the hall, her light humming echoing through the air. She looks...happy, almost, gaze gentle with a soft smile quirking her lips upwards as he travels through the halls.

Long, onyx hair is pulled back in a very messy braid, it looks almost as though a child had done it, and yet she looked stunning anyways, like a proud mother flaunting her child’s work.

‘That’s because she is’ , a voice whispers and he quickly looks around, nerves buzzing with the odd energy that made his skin feel like it was alight with flames. He sees no one aside from the woman and finds himself frowning, looking back to her and parting his lips to speak when a small voice calls out.

“Mama! Look, look, my hair is in a braid like yours!” A child comes barreling through him and he shudders, a soft gasp leaving him from the feeling. He looks to the culprit and suddenly it feels like he’s been hit by a train.

A small, much younger version of himself stands there, showing off multicolor hair that’s been pulled into a slightly neater braid. The woman laughs softly and crouches down to gently brush her hand over the braid, her gaze so gentle and full of so much love .

“That’s beautiful, sweetheart. Who did it for you?” She asks, picking him up in her arms and standing upright once more.

“Papa! He asked if I wanted my hair to be pretty like yours and I said yes so he braided my hair for me!!” The younger version of himself is so happy , full of so much joy, and Ranboo feels like he’s being choked. His mother hums and begins to walk, going right past Ranboo as she goes in the opposite direction of where he’d been coming from.

“Is that so? Why don’t we go talk to him then?”

“Okay, mama!!”

Ranboo whirls around to look at them, but then he’s alone again, the hall empty once more. He feels his heart break just a little more, but something tells him he can’t stop here. He needed to continue on and so, after a moment of calming his heart, he follows in the direction his younger self and his mother had gone, once again moving on autopilot.

Multihue eyes dart around the castle as he walks, the further he goes, the more... visions pop up. Things he’d forgotten long ago show themselves in small scenes played out; moments with his mother, moments with his tutor, with his father. Moments where he was happy, moments where he cried, where he sobbed and begged why and looked broken.

Each memory is faint, he can barely hold onto it, and yet he knows it’s there and gods does he wish he had his memory book so he could write down each and every scene he’d missed oh so much.

He enters the ballroom and freezes at the sight of four figures in the middle of the room.

He can see himself and his mother, the two of them the only ones he’d seen in nearly every scene. Then there’s a man and the sight of him makes feelings of rage and longing coil in his gut, the teen unable to look away for a moment.

There he stands, an amused smirk on his face as a familiar white mask sits perched atop his head, an X and D in place of a face. Dirty blonde hair is pulled into a low ponytail and his clothing is a deep green in color, the shade unfamiliar in the End and yet it fits so nicely with the scene. His face is almost a blur, but he can see just enough of it to see bright green eyes with red pupils, a fondness in them that makes his chest ache. 

He has younger Ranboo’s tiny hands held in his own, the toddler standing on his feet as the two dance around the room, the child laughing happily while the god grins like a fool.

Next to his mother is a small boy, looking only a few years older than the toddler version of himself, and something about the figure is so familiar . He has similar blonde hair to that of the god, though it’s much shorter and more well kept than X’s. Bright green eyes watch as the god dancing with the half-breed, appearance so similar to that of the god’s that Ranboo can only assume he’s his son.

His expression is full of a fondness, amusement so obvious as he watches the two dance through the room, the light music floating casually through the air.

The boy was so familiar and yet Ranboo couldn’t put his finger on why , only able to stare at him as he spoke up to the queen.

“Do they always goof off like this?” He asks, the Endspeak sounding odd on his tongue and yet he was trying. The dragon queen laughs lightly as his words and nods slightly, placing a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“More often than not, if you can’t find them in one of the more common areas, you can find them here doing this,” she explains, eyes glued to her lover and son. The boy chuckles and shakes his head, looking back to his father and Ranboo, only for the toddler to jump away from his father and turn to the boy.

“Dream, Dream! Dance with me!!”

...what?

The boy laughs, prying himself from Lierra’s side and approaching the toddler with a small quirk of his lips.

“Alright, alright, Boo, calm down.”

Ranboo feels like he’s going to be sick.

Why was Dream in his memories? Why was he watching as he takes the younger version of himself’s hands? Why was he sweeping him into a goofy little dance that looked like something so similar to that of what a brother would do with his little sibling?

X’s laughter makes him look to the god and he can only stare as the man watches his sons dance, an arm wrapping around his mother’s shoulders.

“I’m glad they get along, I was worried Clay wouldn’t take to him since...well..”

The queen hums and leans into her lover’s side, watching her son dance through the room with Dream.

“I’m glad, too. Ranboo could really use and older brother figure.”

Ranboo feels his throat tighten and yet he can’t stop the broken sound that rises from him. Hands raising to his head, they tangle in the mess of black and white strands, holding onto them as he looks down to the ground, his entire body shaking.

This wasn’t real.

There was no way this was real.

He’d just gotten attached to Dream and so his brain was putting together a fake story for him..! Yeah, that had to be it!

But then why did everything seem so real ?

Why did it feel like he was having memories dug up from so deep in his mind?

Why?

Why?

WHY?

Ranboo collapses to his knees and punches the castle floor, a scream ripping from his throat.

“ WHAT’S THE TRUTH?! ”

A large wave of green and red energy bursts from the teen in waves and suddenly the world shatters around him.

When he opens his eyes, he’s no longer in the castle, the room dark as the void of the End and yet it’s not that. No, he knows the End’s void and this is different, this is terrifying . He lifts his gaze from the ground and looks around the area frantically, tails beginning to lash out behind him. He didn't recognize the area, there was no sign of any type of life, just him floating in the darkness with no sign of another being.

His throat is sore from screaming and yet he forces himself to part his lips, voice coming out shaky.

“Hello..?”

The sound of another person collapsing sounds behind him, a familiar grunt leaving the man, and he whirls around, heart hammering in his chest. A familiar white mask lifts from the ground and Ranboo can feel his hands begin to shake as he stares at the mask, eyes wide.

“Dream..?”

“Ranboo?” The macaw looks around the dark void before tilting his gaze back towards Ranboo, swallowing thickly with an uneasy sway from his posture. “What’s going on? I just...I just fell asleep at the cabins with Techno and the others?”

So this was a dream? But then why was the Admin here?

Swallowing thickly, he hesitates for a moment before he begins to tell the other man of what had happened. Of the scenes, the moments with his mother, the ballroom scene with XD and Dream himself. Tells them how he’d freaked out and yelled, an odd energy he’d never felt before leaving him, and then he was here.

Dream’s reactions are hidden by his mask and yet the dragon hybrid can feel the anger that begins to come from him in waves.

“XD was there? I was there..?” He asks, voice wavering slightly, and Ranboo can only nod shakily.

He scrambles back slightly when Dream pushes himself to his feet quickly and stands in the middle of the room, gaze darting around.

“Where the hell are you?!” He yells and Ranboo feels his heart rate pick up. There’s silence and a frustrated sound leaves the Admin before he raises a hand to his face and rips his mask off, revealing a much older, but still very familiar face.

Dream looks older now than he did in the scene. His eyes are an emerald green, though they don’t have the red pupil like X’s did, and there’s a large scar going over the bridge of his nose, an obvious sign of past injury. His lips are curled into an angered snarl and he whirls around to face the other way, throwing his mask to the floor, a subtle crack echoing through the air.

“Stop ignoring me, you bastard! You know what this place is, you know ! Don’t you dare act like you can’t hear me, XD!” Dream yells and an overwhelming wave of green power bursts forth from the macaw hybrid, the energy making Ranboo shudder from the pressure of it. It’s almost overwhelming, but he tries not to let it overpower him, pushing himself up into a kneeling position. 

Silence falls over the area for a moment, just a moment , before an uncomfortable wave of cold washes over the room.

“You call for me even after how you treated me earlier, brat ?” The figure of the god of creation appears in the middle of the room and Ranboo feels the air leave his lungs. XD is much larger in this space, two pairs of deep green wings expanding from his back, though they’re completely unmoving. His masked face is glued to Dream for just a moment before he seems to pick up on Ranboo’s presence and he turns to the teen, wings flaring slightly. “You’re not supposed to know how to get here.”

“What the hell did you do, father?” Dream snarls, green eyes narrowing up at the god, and XD looks back to him, scowling behind his mask.

“What do you mean?” He questions, head cocking to the side, and Dream clenches his fists at his sides.

“What did you do to Ranboo ? What did you do to me ?!”

Silence falls over the void for a moment before XD scoffs, turning his head to the side.

“Why should I tell you? Is it not better this way?” XD murmurs, voice a low grumble, and Ranboo feels his wings flare on his back.

“Is it ‘better this way’..?” The words leave the teen before he can think and he feels his body moving on its own, tails lashing out behind him.

“Ranboo?” Dream’s voice holds a concerned lilt, but the dragon hybrid ignores it, moving towards the god carefully.

He feels a low growl rumble from his chest, wings flaring out behind him, and his hands dart out, gripping the front of the cloak the god wears and jerking him down to eye level. His gaze snaps up from the ground and Dream feels the air leave his lungs when he sees bright red and green eyes glowing with unrestrained power, smoke filtering from his lips as he grips XD’s cloak in sharp claws.

“Why do YOU get a say in what’s better?! Do you have ANY idea what you’ve done to me?!” Ranboo yells, voice holding a growl to it, and XD tenses in his son’s grip. “I forgot EVERYTHING ! I forgot my MOTHER , I forgot my entire LIFE because of you! You may be my birth father, but that gives you NO RIGHT to take EVERYTHING from me!”

Fire flits passed the teen’s lips and XD quickly disappears from his grip, instead appearing beside Dream, wings flaring behind the god.

“You think I did it because I wanted to?!” XD yells, glaring at the teen when he whirls around to face the god once more. While Dream normally wouldn’t step in to defend his father, the near feral look in Ranboo’s eyes makes his wings bristle and he steps forward, standing between the two.

“Ranboo, look at me. Can you calm down? We won’t know anything if you kill him.” He hears XD scoff behind him and allows a wing to stretch out and smack into his father, earning a frustrated grunt from the man in response. Cautiously moving towards Ranboo, he holds his hands out in a passive motion. “Come on, I hate him just as much as you do, but let’s hear his explanation, okay?”

Ranboo’s eyes narrow, pupils thinned into slits, before he carefully moves towards Dream, placing his larger hands in the macaw’s. The blonde can’t stop a relieved breath from leaving him and he turns back towards his father, holding Ranboo’s hands in his own.

“You can’t leave until the one who summons you is satisfied, you know that. So talk, dad , or we’re going to be here for a long time.”

XD growls under his breath, hands clenching by his side, the knowledge that his son was right ringing true and yet being frustrating all the same. Looking between his sons, he’s fully aware he won’t be able to get out of this without speaking about it.

“ Fine , just stop being a little shit about it,” he snaps, lowering himself to the ground so he’s standing instead of floating. “Listen...Gods aren’t supposed to fall in love. We should know better, it’s idiotic for a god to love mortal because we will always outlive them, no matter what, and yet I allowed myself to fall for your mother first, Clay, and then the queen second. Both just sort of..happened, but when I met your mother, Clay, I swore to the counsel that it would be the only time I’d fall for someone outside of the gods.”

Ranboo’s ears flit at that and he scowls, head tilting.

“But you didn’t keep that promise,” he murmurs, the image of his mother briefly flickering through his mind. XD sighs, shoulders slumping slightly, and looks towards the void, unable to continue looking at his sons.

“Yeah, obviously. Clay’s mother passed and I told myself I wouldn’t love again, that she was going to be the only time. Then I entered the End of this server and..I met the queen.” X’s wings slump slightly and he shakes his head, hands moving in front of him. “I fell for her and for a while, I was able to hide it. The other gods didn’t learn of her and they didn’t learn of Ran until I..until I took Clay to see them. We’d been followed by another who was suspicious of my long periods of disappearances and they saw you both, saw that I’d started another family. A meeting was called after Clay and I returned to the Overworld and I was given two options.”

Ranboo tenses when the masked face turns back to himself and Dream, expression hidden by the white piece of wood.

“Lose my godhood or make you forget.”

A tense silence fell over the room once more, neither of the demigods sure how to react to the statement at first. Then, Ranboo lets out another breath of fire, pupils narrow slits once more as he snarls at his father.

“You chose godhood over your family?!”

“And I don’t regret it!” X yells back, green wings flaring on his back, and Ranboo is unable to stop himself from growling. “ This is my calling, not being a mortal! I was literally born to play the role I have, so of course I chose godhood!”

“Did mother mean nothing to you?!” Dream hops in, throat aching from the sudden yelling, but he can only glare back at his father, hands clenching.

“I NEVER SAID THAT!”

Silence falls once more and XD’s hands fall from their clenched positions, arms disappearing into his cloak.

“I loved both of your mothers, but being a god comes first. So I chose to keep my godhood and I made you forget me and I made Clay forget you, I didn’t know that removing myself from your memories would cause permanent memory issues.” The creation god seems genuine in that much, it seems, but Ranboo can’t stop the near suffocating rage burning in his chest.

“Why did you let my mother remember then?! Why did you let her suffer ?!” He snaps, ripping his hands away from Dream so he could take a step forward.

“I gave her a choice and that is what she chose. Look, kid , I don’t even know how the hell you started remembering, but the higher-ups can’t find out. I’m not going to make you forget again, who knows what will happen to your memory if I do, but don’t try to remember too much. Not for my sake, but for yours and for your new family’s. The gods won’t be as nice a second time around.” XD steps forward, standing directly before Ranboo. Dream steps forward as well, placing a protective arm in front of the teen, and a dry chuckle leaves him.

“As if the god of death’s literal angel and the blood god will allow anything to happen to the kid,” he snarks, pushing himself between the two. X scoffs, shaking his head slightly, and he steps back again.

“Don’t push your luck, Clay,” he snaps, wings flaring briefly before they fall limp against his back once more. “Now, are you satisfied or are you going to keep me trapped here for any longer?”

The demigods look to one another for a moment, the unease Ranboo feels when meeting someone’s eyes still there, but easier to handle in this space. He can only shrug helplessly, leaving it to the Admin to decide what to do, and Dream sighs quietly.

“Leave. I don’t want to see you again, XD.” Dream sounds tired and the god finds himself pausing for a moment before he sighs.

“If it means anything, I’m glad you remember enough to be brothers again.”

“Just leave ,” Ranboo pleads and suddenly XD is gone, leaving only the brothers left in the void. Dream turns to the teen and freezes when he turns back, tears brimming his eyes.

“Woah, hey, don’t cry-” He starts, only for his words to be cut off by the dragon prince’s lanky form slamming into his own.

What a familiar position.

“I want to go home, Dream..” Ranboo whimpers helplessly into Dream’s shoulder and the macaw hybrid frowns softly, wrapping him in his arms.

“I know, Ranboo..”

Chapter Text

A loud crack echoes through the main room of Techno’s cabin, jolting the blood god awake, wings fluffing up with the sudden awareness that washes over him. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but the warmth of Dream and Ranboo against him reminded his tired body how exhausted he was. Before he’d known it, he was dozing off, the last thing he remembers being the feeling of a blanket being draped over the three.

His body screams at him to jolt upright, look around and find the source of the noise, but then he remembers who’s sleeping on him and he growls silently. Red hues dart around the room, trying to find where the sound came from, but he sees nothing out of place, not even the others were inside, something about ‘taking guard outside’. Frowning slightly at this realization, Technoblade looks down to the man leaning against his side, only to freeze when he notices where the mask came from.

A web-like crack runs across the wooden mask perched on Dream’s face, a chip missing from the bottom right corner of it. 

The macaw hybrid hadn’t moved an inch, still in the same spot against his side with his arms wrapped protectively around the end teen. Even Ranboo was in the same position, head resting on the admin’s shoulder with his legs lightly draped over Techno’s legs. He can only stare for a moment before he raises a cautious hand to gently touch the birch mask.

How the hell did it break?

Cautiously summoning his communicator, he brings up the chat, checking to see if maybe something had happened when he was resting.

TommyInnit: WHERE DID TUBBO GO???

Ph1LzA: He went to get Enderchest for Ranboo for when he wakes up I think

TommyInnit: THAT WAS FIVE MINUTES AGO

WilburSoot:Not everyone rushes everything they do, Tomathy

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

TommyInnit: @Tubbo_

WilburSoot: If you @ Tubbo one more time I am going to throw you off the roof

TommyInnit: Jokes on you I can FLYYYYYYY

Ph1LzA: Boys please

Tubbo_: SORRY ENDERCHEST WAS SLEEPING AND I FELT BAD WAKING HER UP

Tubbo_: I’M BRINGING HER OVER NOW

The chat goes on and he can only sigh at his family’s friend’s antics, shaking his head slightly with a huff. He’s almost glad none of them are inside when a slight smirk quirks his lips upwards, gaze flickering to the door. Idiots.

Technoblade: Ranboo and Dream are still asleep

WilburSoot: Oh good, Dream seemed stressed and Ranboo looked..not good.

Technoblade: Yeah well

Technoblade: Did something happen in the house?

Ph1LzA: No? Why? What happened? Is everything okay?

WilburSoot: Do you need someone to come inside?

Tubbo_: Is Ranboo okay????

Technoblade: They’re okay, but Dream’s mask is cracked for some reason.

TommyInnit: CAN YOU SEE HIS FACE????

Technoblade: No, and even if you could, I wouldn’t tell you

His ears twitch at the sound of yelling outside and he scowls, instinctively moving his wings to curl them around the two sleeping next to him once more. The yelling quickly dies down, but he still looks down to the macaw and dragon, relieved to see they haven’t stirred much from their rest.

That is, until he sees the distraught look on Ranboo’s sleeping face.

The teen’s nose is scrunched slightly, lips pulled into a pained frown and a slight dampness visible in the corners of his eyes. A quiet curse slips past his lips and he grabs the edge of his cape to raise it to his face, gently wiping away the start of his tears in an attempt to save him from the pain of more burns. The kid’s face was scarred enough as is, he didn’t want him to gain more scars when he could have prevented it.

He’s gently dabbing away his pupil’s tears when he feels Dream stir against his side, Ranboo following not long after. He tries to pull his hand away, tries to give the boy space, but he wakes up sobbing , hands gripping at Techno’s arm and Dream’s hoodie, multihue eyes cracking open to stare up at the ceiling. 

He doesn’t know what to do now, he’s not good at being comforting when someone is awake, and yet he knows better than to pull away from someone who is clearly trying to get some type of comfort from him. Instead of moving away, he instead drops the edge of his cloak and gently cups the teen’s cheek, chest aching in an odd way when he presses into the touch. He can hear the way the tears burn his cheeks and yet it doesn’t seem to affect Ranboo too much, simply crying into the large hand against his face.

He hates the way the voices are quieter than usual, murmuring about how he’s used to it . A kid shouldn’t be used to crying and being in pain because of it.

Dream stirs once more before he jolts awake, sitting up quickly and jarring both the piglin and the ender dragon against him. He’s immediately looking around before looking down to Ranboo, breath hitching at the sight of the crying teen.

“Oh Ranboo ,” he coos softly, removing himself from Technoblade’s wing so he could wrap the teen in his arms.

Techno takes this as his sign to move away when Ranboo looks at Dream once more and only sobs harder, both hands moving to cling to the young demigod. Carefully slipping his hand from his cheek, he stands from the couch and moves to the door, not surprised when they don’t seem to realize he’s moving away. Dream is too caught up in trying to comfort the prince ( Not A Prince Not A Prince Ranboo will be mad if he finds out you think he’s a prince still RANPRINCE RANPRINCE HE’S NOT ROYAL ) and Ranboo is too distraught to notice.

He tries to ignore the mixture of blood and tears on his hand as he exits the cabin, allowing the two their privacy.

Dream is comforting him in the dark room when he jolts awake.

The memories are still fresh in his mind, the image of his mother, himself, X, Dream . The shitty explanations XD gave for doing this to him, forcing him to forget his father and brother without giving him a choice, ruining his memory for good, making his brother forget him .

He was so alone for so long and yet he could have had a family if the god just hadn’t been so obsessed with his power.

He feels someone touching his face and instincts scream at him to grab them, their touch is so gentle and he craves the comforting feeling. The hand is so warm yet so calloused, they’re the hands of a fighter, and the only person he can associate those hands to is his mentor. His face burns when his eyes open, tears falling freely, but he doesn’t care, allowing the broken sobs to fall from his lips. Distantly he can hear the voices trying to comfort him, their voices gentle and cooing, but he doesn’t care about them right now.

No, he just wants his big brother to tell him everything is going to be okay.

He feels Dream jolt awake and his unfocused gaze snaps from the ceiling towards the masked man, distantly noting the way his mask was broken in the exact same way it had been in the dream.

He can’t stop the choked sob from leaving him and he quickly latches onto the macaw hybrid when he wraps him in his arms, hands clenching his hoodie as he presses his face into his shoulder. Dream’s voice is gentle as he tries to soothe the crying teen, a hand moving to gently comb through his hair as the other rubs soothing circles between his wings, soft coos rising from his chest.

He doesn’t know how long they sit there or when Technoblade leaves the room, but he knows his body and head hurt . It feels like the nerves under his skin are burning, fire being lit under his scales. It hurts and yet he doesn’t know how to stop it, he can’t get in water to sooth it and he has nothing that can help with that sort of thing. The feeling is almost like the one he felt in the castle before he’d ended up on the ground, waves of an odd energy coming from him. 

Before he’d ended up in the void room with Dream. His brother .

“Ranboo, I need you to breathe for me, alright?” Dream murmurs, fingers gently running through knots in his sleep mussed hair. It’s only then that Ranboo realizes he’s stopped breathing and gasps in a harsh breath, chest heaving with each inhale. “There you are, good job, I got you,” his brother ( his brother ) comforts, wings wrapping protectively around him.

“It hurts..” He murmurs into his shoulder, body trembling slightly from the burning sensation. He can feel the frown on the admin’s face and he’s almost glad he wears a mask so he doesn’t have to see it when he looks up.

“What hurts, Ran?” He asks, sliding a hand from his hair to gently touch the side of his face. The touch makes him flinch briefly before he quickly chases it, pressing into the soft touch. It’s odd, feeling the glove against his skin before it ends at Dream’s fingers.

He doesn’t know how to explain it, however. How does he tell him it feels like he’s burning from the inside out? How does he explain that it feels like he was being engulfed in flames, the fire licking beneath his scales and into his nerves?

Eyes opening, he pushes himself away from the demigod slightly, missing the comfort and yet the lessened touch relieves some of the burn.

“It...Everything, it feels like there’s fire on my nerves, it’s like I stood in lava and wasn’t wearing my armor,” he murmurs, voice shaking slightly.

Dream hums softly, brows furrowing for a moment, before something akin to realization dawns on the man.

“Ranboo, XD touched you. A god and our father touched you.” He starts, gently moving the teen to the couch so he can stand. Ranboo can only whoop softly, a confused little sound, and Dream raises his hands to his head, the mask skewing on his face. “I-It’s..I don’t know how to explain it, it’s-”

A frustrated noise leaves him and he bumps the heel of his palm on his temple lightly.

“He made you forget things, right? Made you forget him, so when he touched you, maybe this is your body reacting to his power? Him touching you awakened the abilities you got from him since his active energy made contact with your dormant energy.” The admin is pacing, hands moving with his words, and Ranboo can only stare.

That...made a lot of sense. Being the son of a god, it’s not surprising that he’d have powers from it, and if he wanted Ranboo to not remember him, why not lock away his power temporarily? Then he won’t think there’s something odd about his heritage, he wouldn’t question it too much.

But then…

“Does that mean you have powers, too?” The teen questions, looking up at his brother, and Dream pauses.

“Yeah, I just..don’t use them often, not unless I really need to,” he explains, shrugging slightly and looking to Ranboo, only to freeze at the complete and utter awe in the boy’s eyes. “I’m not going to show you, not here.”

“Oh come on!” He jokingly whines and Dream laughs.

Ranboo can’t help but grin slightly despite the distress he still felt boiling in his gut. They still needed to talk, they needed to talk about a lot , but with how the admin’s mask was moved, he could see the wide grin on Dream’s face, and he feels a deep relief.

They were going to be okay.

Chapter Text

Tubbo is pacing the bridge connecting Technoblade and Philza's cabins, Enderchest held close to his chest, when the door to the piglin's home creaks open. It gives him whiplash, how quickly he turns towards his friend's puedo-brother, and yet that doesn't stop him from quickly approaching, ears twitching anxiously.

"Is he okay? Can I see him?" He asks, the words falling quickly, and Techno sighs. A hand raises and touches the teen's shoulder, lightly ushering him in the direction of a staring Tommy.

"He'll call when he's ready for someone, alright? They need some time to talk, just go stay by Tommy until he asks for someone." 

Techno's words don't answer Tubbo's first question and yet he doesn't get time to repeat it, the piglin spreading his wings and flying the short distance to Phil's side. 

Already drooping ears fall even more and he frowns, turning toward Tommy to shuffle towards his brother quietly. 

"Are you alright, Tubs? Did Techno upset you? I'll kick his arse if he did, I will," Tommy starts, red wings flaring slightly, and Tubbo can only sigh.

The avian frowns at this, threatening to fight people for him always made Tubbo laugh before and yet it did nothing to lighten his mood this time. He understood, he was worried about Ranboo, too, but sulking around wasn't going to do either of them any good. 

Gaze flickering around the large yard, he pauses when his gaze lands on a large, sleeping polar bear, the mammal resting behind the cabin. He recognizes the animal, it's Techno's pet, Steve, and so after a moment of consideration, he decides it's better than nothing. 

"Come here," he grunts, using a wing to tug the ram along, and Tubbo can't stop a startled bleat from falling from his lips.

It's really, really hard not to laugh. 

"Tommy," Tubbo starts, gaze unsure, and Tommy quickly waves it off.

"Just come on, stop complaining," he murmurs, making a beeline for Steve.

Each step closer disturbs the smooth plains of snow and Tommy can see round ears twitch from the sound of each footstep nearing the sleeping bear. Steve is a docile animal, not growling or going after anyone that isn’t an animal he considers food, so the teen isn’t too worried about approaching the polar bear. They’re getting close when he feels Tubbo jerk in his hold, a mildly distressed “ Enderchest- ” the thing that makes him turn.

He can’t stop himself from cackling at the sight before him.

Ranboo’s cat managed to worm her way from Tubbo’s arms to his shoulders instead, dark fur raised as shining purple eyes glare daggers at Steve. The polar bear doesn’t seem too phased by the cat’s actions, a low grunt the only sound leaving him before he rests his head once more.

“Tommy, stop laughing at me!” The ram hybrid whines, face flushing slightly, and Tommy can only laugh harder, keeling over. He’s fully prepared to part his lips to tease his friend when the door to Techno’s cabin creaks open for a second time that day.

Dream’s head pokes out of the building, cracked mask once again perched on his face, and he looks around the arctic cautiously before his gaze zones in on the teens.

“Ah, Tubbo, Tommy. Ranboo wants you both,” he calls out, waving them towards the cabin before disappearing inside once more.

Enderchest jumps from Tubbo’s shoulders, the golden bell on her collar jingling lightly as she bolts towards the cabin, easily sleeping through the small crack in the door Dream had left for the teens.

Tubbo and Tommy share a cautious look before starting towards the building, sticking fairly close to one another. They knew nothing would happen, Ranboo was their friend and so was Dream, but everything has been... weird over the past few days. What, with Ranboo disappearing when he grew distressed and then how Dream had acted when he appeared at the arctic commune, they had a fully valid reason to be cautious!

That’s what Tommy told himself, anyways.

Tubbo is the one who reaches for the door handle, pulling it open and allowing a wave of heat from the cabin to collide into the two. The cardinal’s wings tremble from the sudden temperature change and he can’t stop the low coo that leaves him, the urge to flee into the heat overriding his nervous energy as he quickly ducks into the cabin.

It takes Ranboo a moment to notice that his friends had entered the cabin, fond gaze focused on his cat, when Tubbo quietly clears his throat.

When the ender dragon hybrid looks up, Tubbo finds himself not thinking when he speaks up, “Boo, what happened to you? You look...different.”

Any joy that had been on Ranboo’s face falls, replaced with a sheepish expression as he looks down to the ground. His once purely red eye was now disrupted, the black pupil now a deep shade of green, its green counterpart doing something similar with a red pupil now in place of black. Once short horns are much longer now, curling slightly atop his head with the wedding ring connecting him and Tubbo having indented itself into the black horn. Feint, green lines travel down from his black horn to his jaw, fading into nothing near his jawline, red lines mirroring them on the white side. 

Even his wings were a little different, claws at the ends of then tinged deep reds and greens, the scaled wings twitching beneath Tubbo’s piercing gaze.

“It’s...a long story,” Ranboo starts, tails lashing anxiously behind him. Tubbo frowns slightly, sharing a look with Tommy, before both boys look to their friend. 

“We have time, Big Man,” Tommy speaks up, moving to sit next to their tall friend.

Ranboo can only sigh, ears drooping slightly on the sides of his head, and he looks to Dream, smiling nervously. “Might as well rip it off like a bandaid?”

“What do you mean?” The macaw hybrid frowns behind his mask, head tilting, and Ranboo breaths in carefully.

“Dream and I are brothers.”

A moment of silence falls over the room, Dream staring blankly at his brother while Tubbo and Tommy stare in shock.

And then the screaming starts.

“ Wait wait wait wait wait wait ,” Tommy stammers out, hands waving frantically, “You’re GODS, too?!”

“Well, we’re only half god,” Dream hums, waving a hand dismissively. Ranboo can’t stop himself from laughing when Tommy yells, a hand moving to grab his shoulder and hold him in place so he doesn’t launch himself at the macaw.

“THAT’S STILL A GOD, YOU IDIOT!” The blonde yells, wings flaring, and Ranboo laughs harder.

“Tommy, please,” He manages to get out, a grin spread across his face. Tommy looks to him for a moment before huffing, slumping against his side with a frustrated scowl.

“Fuckin’ stupid,” he murmurs, pressing his face into the ender dragon hybrid’s arm. Ranboo only chuckles before he turns his gaze to Tubbo, his husband oddly quiet throughout this entire conversation.

“Bee? Are you alright?” Ranboo questions, snapping the ram out of whatever trance he’d been in. Multihue eyes meet blue for a brief moment before Ranboo has to look away, eyes darting to the horns sitting atop Tubbo’s head instead.

It takes a moment for Tubbo to answer before he reaches a cautious hand out, taking hold of one of Ranboo’s gently. “I’m sorry, Ranboo..”

The apology makes the dragon tense.

“Why are you saying sorry..?” He questions, brows furrowing slightly. Tubbo frowns, hand tightening its hold on Ranboo’s, and he feels his brother and Tommy move away from his sides, allowing Tubbo to take their place in Ranboo’s space.

Ranboo almost misses the comfort of their weight against his sides.

“You had... so much taken away from you,” Tubbo starts, the hand not holding his raising to his cheek, “Your dad chose power over you and proceeded to take your brother away from you without giving you a choice. He ruined your memory-”

“It’s not that bad, Tubbo..”

“You barely remember where you are sometimes!” Tubbo doesn’t mean to raise his voice and hates the way Ranboo flinches at it, but he can’t help it. Dropping to his knees in front of his husband, he releases his hand so he can instead raise it to his face, hands gently cupping his cheeks. “My Ranboo, he took so much from you and I’m so sorry .”

Silence falls over the cabin for a moment, Ranboo staring at Tubbo’s chin for a moment, before a broken whine rises from his throat. He’d had this same conversation with Dream and yet hearing Tubbo say those words is like a stab to the heart. He doesn’t even get to feel the burn of his tears before his husband is pulling him into his embrace, pressing his face into his shoulder, and Ranboo can’t stop the cry that leaves him.

“I’m sorry,” he whimpers out, hands desperately gripping at the brunette’s coat. Tubbo simply shakes his head, fingers tangling in his hair gently as his other hand rubs soothing circles into his back.

“It’s okay, my Boo, I’m here. We’re here.”

Ranboo can't help but apologize even more.

Chapter Text

Wilbur shifts anxiously outside the cabin, the sound of a high pitched whine having brought himself as well as his father and Techno towards the building. He hadn’t seen Techno fly that fast in years and yet he understood, the sound was so similar to the noise Ranboo had made before he went missing the second time, and so he understood. He was scared he was going to disappear again.

Then Phil had looked into the house and proceeded to quickly usher the two of them back, wings spreading out in front of the entrance.

“He’s still there, but I don’t think we should go in there yet,” the crow hybrid starts, motioning his sons son and friend away from the door. Techno huffs, nose scrunching slightly as he looks towards his home, but he listens, allowing himself to be ushered down from the walkway.

“It’s my home..,” he murmurs, staring at it for a moment, but he doesn’t argue too much. Besides, even if he was acting like he just wanted into his home, Wilbur could see the truth in those crimson eyes. He wanted to see the kid, to see Ranboo , wants to make sure he was okay.

Wilbur understood. He wanted to, too.

So, that’s how they find themselves pacing outside the building, Wilbur unable to stand still as they wait for their turn to see the young dragon hybrid. He doesn’t know how long it has been, how long the three of them have been stuck outside, but he can’t help but let his mind wander.

What had happened after Ranboo disappeared? The last time the kid took off, it had been in a more literal sense, flying away from the arctic to the dark oak biome Wilbur had a habit of hiding away in when he wanted to be alone. He didn’t even know how the kid found it, it was a good hour’s flight away from the main SMP, and yet he found it with ease and rather quickly considering he’d arrive maybe forty minutes after Phil’s concern and the conversation in the chat.

What was even more concerning was the way he had hung so limply in Dream’s arms when he arrived in the arctic, not moving an inch as the Admin bustled about, trying to get him somewhere safer than outside . He didn’t stir whatsoever even as Dream sat on the couch, manhandled him about into a more comfortable position, it was almost like the kid was in a coma of sorts.

Clearly he wasn’t actually in a coma, considering he’s awake and moving now, but the way he laid limp in Dream’s arms reminded him far too much of a certain shapeshifter. Skin paler than natural, body limp, chest barely moving with each breath, it was too much, a sight too familiar, and-

Wilbur shakes his head quickly. No, now isn’t the time to be thinking of her.

He’s snapped out of his spiral of thoughts when he sees the door creak open and a wave of relief washes over the raven.

There’s no hesitation as his wings spread and he flies towards the towering teen that steps out, but Technoblade beats him to the punch, the piglin hovering mid-air around Ranboo as he looks him over for any sign of injury. The dragon hybrid lets out a low, displeased chuff as he is maneuvered about, but he doesn’t try to fight his mentor’s prying hands, allowing himself to be checked over.

Wilbur arrives at his side not long after Techno does, Philza on his heels, and the young demigod can only stand there helplessly as the three fuss over him, not stopping in their check-over until they’re 100% sure he’s not hurt in any way.

It’s Phil that points out his change of appearance and the low, frustrated growl that rumbles from Ranboo’s chest has them all pausing for a moment.

“Look, guys, I appreciate the concern, but can we go inside ? I’m tired,” he murmurs, multihue ( in even more ways now ) eyes flickering among the three adults. They all share a look before Techno moves forward, nudging Ranboo back towards the cabin, earning a startled chirp from the boy.

“Be careful with him, Tech, he’s still adjusting to some things,” Dream speaks up from a chair, lifting himself when he sees his brother stumble into the living room. Ranboo is quick to wave off his concern, wings spreading slightly to fix his balance before he speeds to Tubbo’s side, hesitating for only a moment before Tommy grips his wrist and pulls.

Startled laughter flits through the air, Ranboo’s now taller form dropping to the couch between the short teens, and he can only laugh more as he’s quickly enveloped in their warmth at his sides. Silence falls for just a moment, the only noise being the three teens murmuring among themselves as Ranboo fixes his position on the couch, wings quick to envelope his friend and husband.

Finally, once comfortable, the dragon looks up to the three who weren’t in the room for the first explanation.

“So. I’m sure you have questions,” he starts, tails twitching anxiously behind him.

“Uh... duh ? Of course we have questions, you disappeared only to be carried back by Dream, completely conked out.” Techno speaks up, tone as monotone as ever, and Ranboo can’t help but chuckle at his bluntness.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you meet your father and are overwhelmed by him,” Ranboo hums, dropping the news like it was entirely natural. Silence falls once more before Tommy bursts out laughing at his side, burying himself into the taller boy’s shoulder as he cackles. Tubbo quickly fell into laughter alongside his best friend, tucking his face away into Ranboo’s chest, and the dragon can only stare down at them, head tilted in confusion. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“That’s a worse segway into the explanation than what we got, Big Man! And ‘Dream and I are brothers’ is a pretty shitty segway!” Tommy cackles, tilting his head back slightly to look at him, and Ranboo pouts.

“I’m not good at this kind of stuff..”

“Clearly!” Tubbo laughs out, voice slightly muffled since he hadn’t pulled away from his husband’s chest just yet. Ranboo can only huff, a flush rising to his face, ears drooping slightly as his best friends laugh to their heart's content.

Dream can only stare at the three for a moment before sighing quietly, flickering his gaze towards the other adults in the room instead. Phil and Wilbur’s surprise is more obvious, both looking frantically between the dragon hybrid and the macaw hybrid, as if the exclamation that they were brothers was entirely unbelievable. He got it ( to an extent ), they didn’t look alike, but come on! They weren’t that different!

Technoblade’s shock is more subtle in the way that his wings have puffed out slightly on his back and his eyes have widened in the slightest, red hues glued to his pupil in silent surprise. The confessions raised far too many flags for the piglin’s liking, it brought far too many implications. It was bad enough that the server harbored the secret identity of those that it did, but another demigod that shouldn’t even exist ?

This wasn’t good.

“Dream. May I have a word?” Techno speaks up, low voice making the teens stop in their conversing. Instead, they look to the piglin, their curiosity evident, but he refuses to look at them. If he does, he might waver and wave Ranboo into the conversation, but he needed to talk to Dream before he did the kid. If it was how he was thinking it was, the end teen had only just discovered his other half and he needed to know just how much about his powers he knew about before brought him into the conversation.

So, he stares at Dream, gaze unwavering as the masked man stares back, neither speaking for a moment before the macaw sighs deep in his chest.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” he murmurs, pushing himself up from the couch. A pleased huff leaves the piglin through his nose and he quickly whirls on his heel, exiting the cabin with Dream not far behind him.

He walks for a little bit, putting distance between himself and those he knows have good hearing, before he whirls on the admin.

“Ranboo is your brother ?!” He hisses, wings flaring dangerously on his back, and Dream’s wings react in kind, flaring right back.

“Look, I didn’t know ! How the hell was I supposed to know when XD wiped our memories?!” The admin snaps back, hand raises to snatch his cracked mask from his face. Techno is met with a disheveled young man, the side-effects of being a god’s child already showing themselves in how he doesn’t seem to have aged past 18.

“And yet he thought it’d be smart to approach the son that didn’t know about him at all?!” Techno throws his arms up, whirling around to pace the tundra slightly, crown skewing on his head. “You do know what this means, right? If Ranboo’s powers have awakened, they’ll be able to sense another demigod in the server. They won’t be happy, Dream.”

“What am I supposed to do, Techno? Huh? Kick him out? Right after I just got him back? Take him away from all of the friends he’s made?” Dream snaps defensively, taking a step towards the blood god. The piglin doesn’t falter under the demigod’s subtle threat, crimson hues narrowing down at him slightly in a glare.

“ No , Dream, that is not what I’m saying. Do not put words into my mouth. What I’m saying is that you have to be more careful now, you have to tell Phil and I if one of the gods enter the server.” Standing straight, Technoblade’s form takes on an authoritative aura, tail lashing out behind him with a scowl. “They will try to kill him if they find out he is XD’s child. You got lucky they haven’t tried to kill you yet.”

He knew that, Dream knew that , he didn’t need the blood god shoving it down his throat. 

Still, the thought of one of the other gods trying to kill his brother after he just got him back...anger flared deep in his chest, hands clenched into fists at his sides. He just got the only family he had ( XD isn’t family, not anymore ) back and the thought of losing him was a terrifying one. 

He’d kill anyone to keep Ranboo alive.

Dream is snapped from his thoughts by a large hand grabbing his shoulder and he snaps his gaze up, meeting Techno’s gaze briefly. There is brief concern before it fades away once more when he sees the awareness in the admin's eyes instead of the blind rage that had glossed over them only moments ago.

“Stay with me, Dream, we have more to discuss.”

The two stare at one another for a moment, green hues boring into red, before the demigod deflates slightly.

“Alright, ask me what you need to know.”

Ranboo explains as much as he thinks he’s allowed to to Wilbur and Phil while the other two are gone.

It’s hard, picking at his memories to find the exacts for what had occurred before he woke up in the cabin, but he did his best. He was actually grateful to have told Tubbo and Tommy before he did the adults, the two piping up when he forgets something important to gently remind him of it before allowing him to fall back into the explanation.

By the time he’s done, everyone had grown quiet, the light humor that had flitted through the air when he’d told his best friends not there with Wilbur and Phil. His gaze is glued to the ground for a moment before he forces himself to look at the raven hybrid first.

Wilbur looks confused and yet something in his eyes was akin to understanding, an understanding that Ranboo didn’t know what to do with. It was overwhelming, the way those dark eyes stared him down, not looking away even after the teen had broken the brief eye-contact they’d held. He can feel the man’s urge to reach out and comfort him, but he was holding himself back from doing so. The dragon hybrid understood, Tubbo and Tommy were being especially tense when someone aside from Dream got too close to him at the moment.

He fidgets slightly, hands fiddling with his tie, and he looks to Phil so he can try to ignore Wilbur’s piercing gaze.

If anything, the Crow was doing worse at hiding his urge to comfort the teen, on his feet not far from the couch, fully prepared to close the distance if the boy asked for it. Phil’s gaze is gentle, a hint of pity hidden within blue eyes, and yet he finds himself not growing frustrated with the gaze this time. For once, he welcomes the poorly hidden pity, a small part of him thinking he deserves it. After everything he’d been through, he deserves the pity that was being offered to him. 

A long, black tail lashes against his side at the selfish thoughts.

The silence is tense and uncomfortable, no one knows what to say, not even Tommy, the boy who hates silence. Ranboo presses into his husband slightly, white tail curling around the ram hybrid’s torso while he tries to decide what exactly he’s supposed to do here. Does he apologize for dragging everyone into his mess? Does he ask if they want him to leave?

What’s he supposed to do?

Luckily for him, he doesn’t have to stay trapped in his thoughts for too long as the front door opens, Dream stepping through the doorway. Ranboo is half expecting Technoblade to follow him through the door, but when he doesn’t, he can’t help but be confused. What’s going on? Was Techno mad? Had he upset? What-

“Ran? Can you come with me? There’s someone you need to meet,” Dream speaks up, snapping the teen from his spiral. He had to meet someone? He’d thought he’d met everyone from the server already?

Pushing himself up from the couch, he staggers slightly when he feels his hands be grabbed by the two behind him.

“Call us if you need us, we’ll be there in a heartbeat,” Tubbo murmurs, voice soft yet determined. Tommy nods quickly in agreement and Ranboo can’t help but smile softly, slipping his wrists away so he could instead take their hands.

“I will, Bee, Toms. Thank you,” he murmurs back, voice quiet. Leaning down, he presses a gentle kiss to Tubbo’s forehead and the ram laughs lightly, a feint flush taking to his face at the gentle sign of affection.

Ranboo turns to Tommy and the cardinal’s wings puff.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Ran boob , I will kick your ass! No, fuck off, FUCK OFF --”

Pressed against the back of the couch with nowhere to go, Tommy can only sit there as Ranboo leans into his space, only for the dragon to brush their cheeks together lightly in an action similar to what Phil did when he was younger, a sign of affection common between avian hybrids in the same flock. The action catches him off guard and he freezes, staring forward silently as the older teen stands upright and moves away from them to instead approach his brother.

“I’ll see you guys when I get back.”

They’re already out the door and down the stairs when Ranboo hears Tommy loudly curse and yell from inside, pulling a low chuckle from the end teen. Yeah, he was expecting that.

The walk to...wherever Dream was taking him was relatively silent, though it wasn’t the uncomfortable kind. No, it was actually nice, simply walking alongside his brother with no obligation to fill the air with conversation. He’s fully aware his tail has raised to Dream’s wrist, the white limb wrapped loosely around it, but the macaw gave him the mercy of not commenting on it.

They’re a good ten minute walk away from the cabin when he sees Techno leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest and wings hanging low in the snow.

“Oh! Hey!” Ranboo calls out, gaining the piglin’s attention. The older man turns to the two and waves a hand in a lazy motion, not moving away from the tree so they would instead have to approach him. He’s fully prepared to reach a wing out, allow their wings to brush, but the piglin raises a hand to make him stop.

“Ranboo, did Dream tell you why you’re here?” Techno questions, standing upright from the tree. The teen falters in his steps and furrows his brows, nodding slightly with silent nerves buzzing to life beneath his skin.

“He said there’s someone I need to meet..?”

Techno shoots his brother a brief, dirty glare, but it doesn’t last long as he turns his attention back to the ender dragon hybrid. Their eyes meet for a brief moment and Ranboo feels the familiar buzz of enease under his skin, he always expects that when he makes eye contact with another.

“Ranboo, I think it’s time we formally meet,” Techno starts, causing Ranboo to freeze.

What?

Techno holds out a hand to the young demigod and he cautiously takes it, jolting at the current of energy that runs from the elder’s hand into his own, running through his body. The energy was familiar, it reminded him of the power XD had flared in the dream space and-

Wait. No .

“It’s nice to meet you, Ranboo, son of the god of creation. I am Technoblade,” Bright red eyes gleam slightly, a slight glow to them, “Though some know me as The Blood God.”

...

What the fuck?

Chapter Text

“It’s nice to meet you, Ranboo, son of the god of creation. I am Technoblade,” Bright red eyes gleam slightly, a slight glow to them, “Though some know me as The Blood God.”

...

What the fuck?

What the fuck???

“W-What?” Ranboo managed to stammer out, a nervous laugh fluttering from his chest. That didn’t make sense! While he may not know a lot of the gods, he knew about the Blood God, anyone who had once made a living at Hypixel knew of the Blood God. She was one of the strongest known gods, all who battled in the pits would pray to her before battle, requesting her blessings before throwing themself blade first into a fight.

Everyone knew she was strong.

Everyone knew she favored Technoblade.

Everyone knew he was her vessel .

So no, he couldn’t be the Blood God. It didn’t make sense .

None of this made sense! It’s bad enough that he’s still processing what he’s learned about himself, but these...these lies can’t be pushed onto him as well! Because there’s no way Technoblade is the Blood God!

Technoblade , the man who’s been mentoring him for the past four months!

Technoblade , the man who he’d begun to view as a brother ( even if he could never tell him that to his face )!

Technoblade , the man who had welcomed him into his flock with open arms, dragging him into the nest he’d created with Phil, something so sacred within flocks!

Technoblade . Was a god? The Blood God?

It can’t….it can’t be true! It can’t because if it is , Ranboo thinks he’s going to faint .

“-nboo, breathe, you’re going to pass out at this rate,” a voice cuts through his spiraling thoughts and his gaze snaps upwards from the ground, visions blurred slightly. He can just barely make out the familiar silhouette of a man in a white mask, large green wings puffed out behind him in his own panic.

He can’t see his brother’s face, but he can feel the concern radiating from him in waves, hands hovering so close and yet not close enough to touch. A choked noise rises from his throat, a high whine, and Dream steps closer, hands gently touching his arms.

He can’t stop the way he melts into his touch and keens, a broken sound, and the blonde coos quietly.

“Oh, Boo,” he murmurs, raising his wings to gently envelope the teen in an embrace. Ranboo falls into it, arms quickly going around the older man as he tries to bury himself in the embrace, having to bend down awkwardly to properly hide his face in his shoulder. Dream coos softly as he rubs circles into his back and he feels himself slowly coming down from the panic that had wrapped itself tight around his heart.

He doesn’t know how long they stand there, but once he feels calm     or at least calm as he can be right now     he pulls back from the embrace. He can feel Technoblade’s gaze on his back and, after taking in a deep breath, he turns to face him.

He doesn’t know what he was expecting to happen, but it certainly wasn’t the feeling of a hand gently cupping the back of his head and pulling him down, holding his face against a broad shoulder. He doesn’t have to bend as far when Techno embraces him, the hand on the back of his head staying there as the other wraps around his torso in a hold that’s loose enough for Ranboo to flee if he feels the need to.

“I’m sorry for dropping this on you after everything you’ve already experienced today,” Techno starts, voice slightly muffled as he presses his face into the top of his head, “but...I’m still Technoblade, yeah? This doesn’t change anything, I’m still the guy I’ve always been”

And...he’s not wrong.

It’s terrifying, being told that he’s the Blood God, but...he is still Technoblade, right? If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be trying to comfort him right now, as awkward as it is. He could have just brushed off his panic, but instead he was trying to help calm him down more, hugging him in a way he’s only done twice before today.

He was still Technoblade, Blood God or not, and Ranboo feels himself slump into the embrace, hands raising to grip his cape tightly.

“Yeah...yeah, you are,” he murmurs into his shoulder. He can feel the older man smile against his hair and finds himself smiling slightly as well, the tension lingering in his shoulders relaxing.

Right. This is Techno, his mentor, his friend, his brother . He has no reason to be scared . He’s just the Blood God- gods, Techno is the Blood God   

“Breathe, kid,” Techno hums, bumping his chin against the top of his head. He can’t stop the whine that leaves him at the action and he can feel the piglin’s chest vibrate with the chuckle that leaves him. Huffing, he squirms in the arm wrapped around him and backs away once he’s released, a hand raising to run through his hair. A small, distant part of his mind takes note of how he’s going to have to get it cut soon, it’s getting long..

His gaze flicks towards Dream when he hears him clear his throat and he can’t stop the quiet snort that leaves him at the way the macaw hybrid shuffles awkwardly where he stands.

“What? Don’t know how to handle seeing others get affection?” Techno speaks up, an amused lilt to his voice, and Dream lets out an affronted squawk.

“No..! I just...didn’t know what to do while you two had your moment..!” He stammers out, mask going skewed when he runs a hand up his face. 

Ranboo watches the two for a moment as they begin to bicker, their words light even as Dream shoves at the much taller man. A slight smile quirks his lips upwards, only for it to falter when he looks to Techno once more.

The man was a god . How has he kept this hidden for so long? The Blood God was such a known deity, one would think people would realize! On top of that, all who spoke up the Blood God called them a woman..had that just been a slip of the tongue and Techno had gone along with it?

He doesn’t realize he’s staring until Techno tenses slightly under his gaze and looks to him, raising a cautious brow. Tails fluff and his gaze darts downwards, kicking at the ground with the toe of his make-shift boots. Had he felt him staring at him? Maybe he’d seen him looking? ..maybe the voices snitched on him?

WE DID NOT!!!!!!!!
Rude! We don’t snitch!
snitchboo
Dont blame us, nerd
that’s not very pog of you, Boo

The voices come to life, the quiet murmur that he’d learned to ignore growing loud as they defend themselves. A soft groan rumbles from his chest and he raises a hand to his forehead, rubbing at it gently with a small frown, offering quiet apologies in an attempt to appease them.

It takes a moment for them to quiet and when he finally looks back to his brothers brother and mentor, he tries to ignore the concern being directed his way.

“Uhm...So, I have a question,” he starts, ignoring the way his voice wavers. Techno quirks a brow and nods for him to continue, but Ranboo finds words hard to find. What does he say ? There’s so many questions whirling in his mind, he doesn’t know which one to pick first ! “How...Just, how? Everyone always called you the Blood God’s vessel , that’s what everyone thought you were..!”

And Ranboo finds that, once he starts, it’s hard to stop.

“Were you the one everyone prayed to at the arena? Everyone always said the Blood God was a  woman, but now that I think about it, do gods even have genders? Were you ever even actually the Blood God’s vessel, or was that a rumor you just ran with? There’s so much I don’t know, there’s so much none of us know, and, and, I don’t understand ! Why now , why are you telling me now ? Why today , why after everything that’s already happened is this being dropped on me now of all times?!

Is everything going to change now? Is anything ever going to be normal again?!”

His chest heaves slightly when his words finally fall to a stop, hands trembling before him as he clutches at the edges of his own cloak. He can see Dream’s concerned frown, can see the subtle regret in Technoblade’s eyes, but he finds he doesn’t care, not at this moment. 

He just wants answers .

“That’s more than one question,” Techno starts, the joke falling flat when the teen shoots him a dirty look. “Right, right. Well..I guess I should start from the top?”

Waving for the others to follow, Techno begins to walk and Ranboo quickly falls into step behind him, tails lashing anxiously behind him. Dream walks beside him and he tries to ignore the feeling of a gloved hand touching his shoulder, eyes glued to the god’s back.

“I wasn’t always a god,” Techno starts, wings pressing closer to his back, “I was the Blood God’s vessel at one point, that wasn’t always a lie. And while gods don’t technically have genders, no, she did prefer the more feminine side of things, but that’s besides the point. I was her vessel, I was her right hand. She came to me when she needed something done and I would do it for her, whether it be communicating with mortals on her behalf or taking out those who need to be killed. I was her hand, I did as she asked. I was her warrior and in return, I had her protection.”

“Like Phil and the God of Death?” Ranboo speaks up, unconsciously cutting him off. He knew Philza had a connection to the God of Death, he knew that much was true, he’d confirmed it himself one day when he had asked him about it.

A bark of laughter leaves Techno and he glances back at the end teen, an amused smirk quirking his lips upwards. “No, Ranboo, I was not married to the Blood God like Phil is to Kristen -- that’s the God of Death by the way.”

“Phil is what ,” Ranboo stammers out, hands instinctively reaching out to tug at the edge of his mentor’s cloak. The man simply chuckles and waves a hand dismissively, slowing down so he can plant himself between the teen and his brother. Dream makes an affronted sound, but the piglin ignores it in favor of looking at his pupil.

“That’s not my story to tell, ask Phil about it later.”

Ranboo huffs quietly and crosses his arms, a tail lightly whipping at the god’s side, but accepting it nonetheless. 

Another figure bumps into his opposite side and he chirps in surprise, gaze snapping to look down, relieved that it’s his brother that has moved to his side.

“Come on, Tech, the others are going to start worrying if we don’t get back soon,” the demigod hums, raising a brow. The two rivals stare at each other for a moment before Techno sighs, looking forward once more.

“Alright, anyways,” he murmurs, shaking his head, “We had a give-take relationship and it worked for us. It was how it was for a good few years, lasted until I was 21 I think? Then, someone got greedy. A fledgling god was jealous of all the followers the Blood God had, they hated her and wanted her position, and so in an attempt to take her power, they worked with the God of Chaos to kill her.”

The words hang heavy in the air and Ranboo’s ears droop slightly, a frown tugging his lips downwards. He doesn’t get a chance to console the older man, however, as he continues, keeping his gaze glued forward.

“Little did either of the other two gods know, she had already decided that if she were to die, she would pass her powers onto me. When we had made our pact, she left out the nifty little part about how I would gain her title and powers when she passed, so I wasn’t really expecting it either.

One day, I’m a normal piglin fighting in Hypixel, the next I’m overwhelmed by her power, her memories, her everything . It was a lot , I’m sure you can understand to an extent since you only recently awakened your own powers. Imagine what you felt, but.. more .”

Techno lets out a dry laugh and rolls his shoulders, a large pink wing stretching out so he could run his fingers across the feathers. “I didn’t even have wings before I gained the Blood God title, they come with being the Blood God. They were a pain to grow in, but I luckily had Phil and Wilbur around to be there while they grew in.”

Wing dropping back to his back, he finally looks to Ranboo, expression fairly unreadable. He shrugs, a fairly dismissive thing despite the tense posture of his body.

“So yeah. That’s the gist of it,” he hums, “The rumors weren’t always wrong, but, well, people didn’t need to know she died and they especially didn’t need to know that I’d taken on her position. Being known as her vessel is fine by me and I plan on keeping it that way for as long as I can.”

Ranboo stares down at the god ( gods, his mentor is a god, he’s never going to be over that ) for a moment before a shaky breath leaves him and he looks down, tail snaking around the man’s wrist.

“So you just...became a god against your will?” He asks, voice quiet. Techno nods and his frown deepens. “Who knows?”

“I do, obviously,” Dream chimes in, his voice making the teen jump. He feels bad for forgetting he was there, but, well, he was quiet so it wasn’t really his fault. Still, he smacks the macaw’s arm when he laughs, huffing at the amused wheeze that leaves the blonde.

Techno, from his other side, sighs and shakes his head, a smile finally making its way onto his face. “Only Phil and Wil know, I don’t plan on telling Tommy or Tubbo anytime soon, it’s bad enough they know about you and Dream.”

Ranboo frowns, his stomach twisting uncomfortably at his words.

“Are..they in danger now that they know..?” The thought of his best friends being hurt because they found out about his origins makes him feel sick and he can feel his wings moving around him protectively. A hand moves between his wings and he tenses for just a moment before he recognizes the feeling of keratin covered fingertips rubbing into the tense muscles.

“They’ll be okay, I know you’ll be able to protect your charges, you’re a strong kid,” he consoles, offering a slight quirk of the lips, and Ranboo frowns.

“My charges?”

“Well, they’re under your care, aren’t they?”

The idea of the others being under his care causes an odd warmth to flood his chest and he looks down, a sheepish grin quirking his lips upwards as his face flushes. They’re his charges…he likes the sound of that..

“We will have to talk to Kristen soon, though,” Dream speaks up, and the teen looks to him. Techno sighs from his side and his hand falls from his back, leaving it feeling cold in place of his warmth.

“Yeah yeah, she won’t be happy,” Techno grunts, nudging the other two in the direction of the cabins.

“What’s wrong?” Ranboo speaks up, tails twitching nervously. Techno’s hand touches the fur at the end of the tail that’s wrapped around his wrist and grimaces slightly.

“The other gods are going to find out XD’s other child has awakened his powers and they are..not going to be happy about it,” he explains, frowning.

That makes the teen pause in his tracks, falling behind the two adults. The tail around Techno’s wrist tightens and they all fall to a stop, the other two turning towards him.

“Ranboo?” Dream steps towards the teen and Ranboo’s gaze snaps towards him, ears pressed flat against his head.

“Does that mean the gods are going to want to speak to me?” He asks, a slight waver to his voice. Techno and Dream share a look before Techno steps forward, expression stern.

“I will not let them lay a hand on you, nor speak to you without myself or Kristen present,” he swears, meeting Ranboo’s eyes, and he finds himself not minding the eye contact for once.

Taking in a deep breath, Ranboo offers a shaky smile, nodding his head. “Okay, Techno..”

The moment is cut through by Dream flying up to throw an arm around Ranboo’s shoulders, pulling the teen into his side.

“So? Today’s been eventful, hasn’t it?” He hums in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

Ranboo looks to his brother, looks to Techno, and then laughs.

“Honestly? I could really use some chorus fruit juice right about now-”

“ RANBOO!!! ”

Chapter Text

It’s been a week ( he thinks ) since they told the others about what happened with XD and things have been…calm. Too calm, if Ranboo had any say in it, but none of the others seem bothered by it ( well, aside from Technoblade, but he usually understood the paranoia of an ex-Hypixel warrior ).

It’s been five days ( he knows ) since Dream left the server, telling him that he was just getting some help in case the gods learned of his existence. Ranboo had tried to talk him into letting him go with him, the paranoia of losing the family he only just got back buzzing in his nerves, and he’d thought he’d succeeded !!... only to wake up the next morning, brother gone with a note apologizing and promising he’d be back soon ( it’s been five days ).

It’s been a long time ( he hopes ) since he’d thrown himself into sparing the way he did after that.

Now he finds himself sitting in someone’s cabin, the world around him fuzzy and distant. He doesn’t remember getting here, he doesn’t remember even leaving his own home, but he’s here now and he’s aware of that much.

He can feel gentle fingers running across his wings, tracing the scales that speckled them in an almost trance. It's relaxing, grounding, and it pulls a low, pleased croon from the teen's throat, eyes slipping shut as he allows the person to continue the calming action, tail gently thumping against the bed behind him.

"Ranboo?" Someone says his name, but it's distant, muffled, and his brows furrow. A curious trill rises from his throat and the hands on his wings pause for a moment, making him whine, immediately trying to press back into the touch. The person behind him laughs at the sudden weight of a heavy dragon flopping back against them and quickly continues to pet his wings in an attempt to ease his neediness. 

A purr rumbles from his chest and he immediately relaxes, shoulders slumping once more.

Whoever had said his name chuckles and he hears footsteps, but they're familiar and they're safe and he hums, reaching a hand out on instinct. A small hand immediately meets his, fingers intertwining, and he purrs louder, head lulling to the side.

"He's gone, mate," the person behind him states, now using both hands to sooth his wings. Ranboo slumps even more into the feeling and the person in front of him reaches their free hand out to take his other one in an attempt to keep him from squishing the person behind him.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't started petting his wings, he wouldn't be lost in dragon land, Phil," They tease and his ears twitch.

"It was an accident!" 

Phil? The name was familiar and it poked at his brain in a pleasant way, causing him to croon happily.

"Phil," He croons in broken common, causing the other two to turn their attention back to him. Normally the feeling of eyes on him makes his skin crawl and he wants to run, but they make him feel safe and he smiles lazily, squeezing the person in front of him's hands.

"Yeah, mate, I'm here," the person behind him ( Phil Phil Phil Phil Flock Safe Family Dad Safe ) hums. 

Ranboo's eyes open ( he hadn't realized he'd closed them ) and he hums, tilting his head back slightly. The world is blurry and it takes a moment for his gaze to focus, but it does and he sees the person who is holding his hands in a hold so gentle. 

Short brown hair, bright blue eyes, horns curling around ram-like ears. They're familiar and they feel like home and he trills, leaning towards them to bump his forehead against their chest.

" Home ," the endspeak rolls from his tongue with ease and Tubbo chuckles, releasing a hand to instead tangle his own in long, multicolor locks.

"What's that mean, big man?" He asks, amusement lilting his voice. Phil chuckles from behind him when the prince only purrs, pressing into his husband's touch.

"He called you 'home'," He explains. Tubbo pauses for a moment before laughing, wrapping his arms around Ranboo's head in a hug.

"Aw, Boo, I'm your home?" He teases, pressing his face between two sharp horns. Ranboo, not noticing the teasing lilt in his instinct clouded haze, simply nods and raises his arms to hug his friend's torso, pressing further into his touch.

Tubbo, seemingly not expecting him to agree, sputters for a moment and Phil cackles, finally pulling his hands to himself.

"Well, Tubbo, I'll let you help him come back to himself then since you're his home ," the blonde teases, earning an embarrassed shout from the ram hybrid.

"Fuck off!" 

Phil's laughter gets further away and Ranboo frowns into his friend's chest, pulling his head back to search for the older man. When he doesn't see him, a whine rises from his throat and he looks back to Tubbo, ears tilting downwards. The brunette frowns himself and raises a hand to Ranboo's cheek, running his thumb under his eye gently 

"It's okay, Boo, he just went downstairs," he comforts, offering a smile. The ender dragon hybrid pouts despite the comforting words, wings drooping behind him, and Tubbo sighs softly. “Alright, Ranboo, give me a second.”

The dragon hybrid tilts his head slightly, pout still visible yet curiosity visible in heterochromic eyes. Tubbo steps back and Ranboo can’t stop the startled warble that leaves him when his support is suddenly out of reach, nearly falling forward off the bed with only his wings keeping him upright. His husband laughs and he looks back to him, his pout only deepening at the clearly amused look on the brunette’s face.

“Aww, don’t look at me like that,” Tubbo teases, laughter calming into quiet giggles.

Narrowing his eyes, the dragon chuffs quietly and moves back on the bed, crossing his arms over his chest. Tubbo playfully rolls his eyes at his friend’s actions and reaches his hands out, wrapping a hand around the base of a long, black horn, thumb running across the gold and black band wrapped around it. The touch immediately has the younger melting, leaning into it with a purr, and a fond smile quirks his lips upwards.

“You’re so lost right now,” he murmurs, shaking his head. Ranboo can only trill quietly, rubbing his head against Tubbo’s hand, and the ram hybrid sighs. Digging his communicator from his pocket with his free hand, he brings up the chat and starts typing, eyes flickering between Ranboo and the device.

Tubbo_: Everyone stay out of Phil’s cabin for a bit, Ranboo is pretty out of it
WilburSoot: Is he okay?
Tubbo_: Our good old friend Philza Minecraft got him lost in dragon land
Ph1LzA: I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know it would happen!
TommyInnit: AM I ALLOWED IN?
Tubbo_: You especially need to stay out
TommyInnit: YOU BITCH

A quiet snicker leaves the brunette, and he’s preparing to put his communicator away, when a white hand reaches up and pulls his hand down. He can’t help but laugh when he notes the way Ranboo tries to look at the device, head tilting curiously as he stares at the messages. Tubbo almost offers to read it to him since it seemed as though he was struggling to understand the common, but Ranboo speaks before he can.

“Tommy.” The blonde’s name was the clearest word Ranboo had spoken in common since he started talking and it makes Tubbo pause for a moment, staring at the slouched teen.

“Do you..want Tommy?” He asks, brow raising.

Ranboo immediately starts nodding, a sharp-toothed grin spreading across his face as twin tails thump against the bed quickly. An exasperated laugh leaves the ram hybrid and he sighs, shaking his head even as he wraps an arm around his husband’s head, pulling the chat back up.

Tubbo_: Change of plans, big man, he wants you. Get up here.
TommyInnit: HA, FUCK YOU

It only takes Tommy a few minutes to burst into the room, the door slamming open causing Ranboo to jump from the bed with a low growl. Tommy throws his arms up when sharp teeth are bared in his direction, a nervous laugh rising from his throat.

“Woah, Ran boob ! It’s just me!”

Ranboo’s tails lash behind him as the new arrival’s appearance registers and, just as quickly as he lashed out, he was excited. The cardinal hybrid clearly wasn't prepared to be barreled into as a loud shout rips from his throat, Ranboo's larger form slamming into his torso and taking them both to the ground. Loud laughter bursts from Tubbo and Tommy curses, shoving at the purring dragon.

"Get off'a me, you bitch!" He yells. Ranboo whines and pushes against the hand on his face, tightening his arms around his friend's torso with a huff. The blonde groans, though it's half-hearted, and flops back on the ground, limbs starfished out as he waits to be freed. "I can't believe this."

"I can," Tubbo teases, approaching his friends and crouching next to him, "Now keep him there while I go get Michael, he should help bring him back."

Tommy immediately jolts, only to be held down by the dragon hybrid laying his full weight on him.

"Don't you dare leave me here, Tubbo!"

The ram hybrid simply grins and stands upright, walking to the door.

"Tubbo!"

Footsteps growing distant, Tommy flips off the empty space his best friend had been with a yell, unable to do anything aside from accept his fate. Meanwhile, Ranboo simply purrs contently, smiling into his friend’s chest as he basically curls up with no sign of leaving.

Blue eyes flicker down to the prince and he sighs, eyes darting around for just a moment before he tangles a hand in multicolor hair, earning a pleased trill. He supposed it wasn’t terrible ..

Bringing Michael to the cabin did, in fact, help with bringing Ranboo back to himself. Niki and Puffy ended up traveling to the arctic with Tubbo when the teen came to pick up his son, Puffy excusing it as wanting to visit their friends. 

( Tubbo quickly learned the real reason Niki went when he went upstairs to find her cooing over her adopted brother, playing with his hair as he loudly purred from all the attention he was getting from his flock. Niki was chased from the cabin, laughing all while spouting her excuses. “He never let himself touch into his instincts before, I wanted to see if it was good for him!!”

So what if she meant it, she still got a pillow to the back! )

Now Ranboo was out on the bridge, laughing as he watched his husband and best friend chase around their son through the snow, Michael’s thrilled squeals echoing through the arctic. Distantly he could hear Puffy, Niki, and Techno talking in the cabin to his right over hot coco the sheep hybrid had brought with her. It was nice, he’d been so stressed after everything began spiralling that he didn’t get to see things like this often these days. He knew it was partially his own fault, he knew the others would sweep him away into playing in the snow if it weren’t for the way he seemed scared to go outside after everything. 

If it weren’t for Michael staring up at him with his wide blue eye, pulling the best puppy face he could despite his piglin features, he’d probably still be inside.

A long ear twitches when he recognizes footsteps approaching, but doesn’t bother looking over as a familiar wing stretches over his head, guarding him from the snow. Neither say anything for a long moment, simply basking in one another’s presence, before Phil sighs softly.

“I’m sorry,” he starts, grabbing the railing. Ranboo laughs quietly, shoulders slumping slightly as he leans against the same railing.

“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong,” he returns. Phil scowls, frustrated, and Ranboo chuckles once more. “Phil, if I blamed you for anything that has happened, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“I know ,” Phil starts, voice slightly strained, “But that doesn’t change anything. So much has happened to you since that day and, I…I don’t know…”

The ender dragon hybrid looks to Phil, finally, truly looking at him, and takes him in. He looks tired, slight bags under his eyes and a frown he’s seen a lot these days etched onto his face. His gaze is distant, like he’s only half there, and it makes him frown as well. Edging closer, he leans down so he can bump his head to Phil’s, careful of his own horns as to not hit him with them.

He has to shove down a laugh at the surprised chirp the older man lets out.

“Phil,” he starts, gaining his attention, “ None of this is your fault. If anyone is to blame here, it’s XD for being a crappy father to Dream and I and wiping our memories. He’s the one who did this to us, not you.” Standing upright, he looks to the yard once more and raises a hand when he sees Phil begin to respond. “I’m not done, Mr. Minecraft.”

Phil’s nose scrunches at the old name and he snickers quietly.

“If anything, I should be thanking you.”

That seems to surprise the crow as he stands upright quickly, wing falling from above Ranboo’s head. They don’t speak for a moment, Ranboo giving him time to respond, but he only gets a small, quiet answer. “What..?”

“Well, I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Ranboo smiles, small and tired, yet so full of a subtle kind of joy Phil hadn’t been prepared for. “My memory isn’t fixed by any means, but, like…I have so much back now, so much that was just a blur in my mind that, no matter how hard I tried, I could never get a hold of. For years, I’ve been wandering with nothing to my name, just what I was told by the people around me because they were scared to give me the truth. 

No one, not even my own mother, was brave enough to tell me who I truly was. For the last seven years of my life, I’ve had nothing , just my name and a lie that I clung to like it was a lifeline, that was it. I didn’t have a family anymore and I didn’t have the truth of my origins.

Then we had that conversation and…and I started remembering . Small things, things that slipped away in the night when I would wake the next morning, but I know they were there. I felt them, so deep in my chest that it hurt, but they were there . Then XD appeared when I went near the end portal and I…I got so much of myself back. I remembered my mother, I remembered my father, even if I have a strong distaste for him-” That makes Phil laugh. “-and I remember my brother , someone I didn’t even know existed until I saw Dream in that ballroom..”

His eyes burn, but nothing falls as he looks down, squeezing the railing tight in his hands. He can feel it creak beneath the force, but he can’t find it in himself to let go, it could always be fixed later.

“I’ve gotten so much of myself back because of that conversation we had. I don’t have everything and I don’t think I will ever get everything back, but I have more than I’ve ever had for as long as I can remember..” He trails off for a moment before looking down to the blonde, letting himself smile once more. It’s sad, he knows it is, but it’s genuine all the same and he reaches a hand out, taking Phil’s hand when it’s offered to him. “Thank you, Phil. For everything you’ve done for me since I came here. You’re the closest thing I’ve had to a real dad in a very long time.”

The two are silent for a moment before Phil lets out a wet laugh and tugs the boy down, earning a startled yelp from him. Strong arms wrap around his shoulders and he stands there awkwardly for a moment before quickly returning the embrace, slumping down against the other’s shorter stature.

“Look at you, making this old man cry,” Phil jokes, voice thick with emotion. Ranboo laughs into his shoulder and tightens his arms around him.

“Don’t worry, I’m crying too,” a pause, “And so is chat.”

Phil laughs loudly against the top of his head and he grins, ignoring the burning along his cheeks as he hugs his dad close.

Things would be okay.

Chapter Text

Michael was finally asleep.

Tommy had been watching the piglin for him and Tubbo while the two went out for the night and when they returned, the toddler was hopped up on so much sugar he was sure it was unhealthy. While Tubbo beat the laughing Tommy with a pillow, Ranboo had gone to a different room to call Technoblade and ask the god if sugar was okay for baby piglins. Thankfully, it was, but they ended up having to play with Michael for a solid two hours until the kid finally began to grow tired.

The last hour had been spent sitting in the boy’s room with him, Tubbo tucking him into his side while Ranboo read a story from a book he got from Puffy. It was something about a woman who had been trapped in a tower and she had really long hair that a guy climbed to rescue her? It sounded painful in his opinion.

Michael fell asleep to it, though, and so had Tubbo, the two tucked away in the bed as they rested.

Ranboo carefully draped the blanket over his husband and son, a relieved breath falling past his lips, and stood, shuffling towards the door. He had to be quiet, both were incredibly light sleepers and he didn’t want to wake them up. He’s almost out the door when the front door slams open.

“RANBOO!!”

A cry slowly rose from Michael’s chest, the piglin toddler stirring from the loud noise, and Tubbo nearly fell from the bed, quickly trying to comfort the boy. The husbands shared a look before Ranboo stormed downstairs, walking into the main room to see Dream standing there with a wide grin.

“Ranboo! How’ve- Woah, hey, what’re you doing-” Dream stammered, stumbling as he was dragged back outside by his hood. Ranboo stayed quiet until they were both outside and once they were, he stopped dragging his brother, spinning on his heel to face him. “Ranboo-”

Dream shouldn’t be as surprised as he was by the fist connecting with the side of his face, making his head snap to the side. It wasn’t as hard as he thought it’d be, but it still hurt a bit as he raised a hand to rub at his jaw.

“ That was for waking up Michael after we just spent two hours trying to get him to sleep,” Ranboo starts and oh no-

“ This is for disappearing for a month .”

Dream tries to prepare for it, but he’s not expecting the force behind the next punch, this one sending him stumbling from the force of it. He has to stretch his jaw from the pain, jaw popping from the force, and looks to Ranboo again, frowning slightly.

He doesn’t like the distress in his brother’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Dream starts, but Ranboo shakes his head.

“ No ,” he snaps, “You don’t get to say sorry yet. You get to stand there and listen as I tell you why what you did was a dick move.”

Dream backs down at the fire in the dragon hybrid’s eyes, nodding slightly.

“ Good ,” Ranboo hisses. “Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?! You said you’d be back soon and it’s been a fucking month! You left two days after finding out we were brothers and then proceeded to stay gone for a month . I told you it was dangerous and I begged you to either find a different way to contact your ‘ help ’ or let me come with because prime, the last thing we needed was to be separated when the gods know we remember what they didn’t want us to! I don’t care if you’ve had access to your powers for longer than I have, you can’t stand up to a god ! What if they found you?! I would never know what happened to you!”

Dream’s heart aches when he notices Ranboo’s hands shaking at his sides and he reaches out, waiting for the teen to jerk away, but he doesn’t and so he takes his hands into his own. His skin is hot to the touch, but he doesn’t let go, a large wing stretching out in an attempt to make contact. The ache only grows when Ranboo doesn’t return the gesture.

“I know, Ranboo, and I’m sorry I scared you,” Dream starts, flinching at the glare he gets for talking before he was done. “ But ,” he continues, “We needed help and I didn’t want you to get hurt. You’re still learning to get control of your teleportation abilities and I wanted you to be safe. I didn’t know I was going to be for long, I definitely would have taken you with me if I had known, but I didn’t. I promise I won’t disappear for that long again, I swear on my life.”

The two brothers stare one another down for a moment, Dream’s expression pleading while Ranboo’s was a piercing glare.

After a moment, the dragon slumps and drops down so he can thump his forehead against the blonde’s shoulder. The way Dream immediately wrapped his arms around him pulls a low rumble from his chest and he returns the embrace, shaking his head.

“Don’t do that again,” he murmurs, voice slightly muffled by his shoulder. Dream nods, tightening his arms around the taller godling with a soft sight.

“I won’t, I swear.”

The brothers stand there for a long moment before the front door creaks open and Ranboo steps back, quickly approaching the source. Dream follows his brother's movement and freezes when he sees Tubbo glaring daggers in his direction, taking a small step back. While no , he wasn't scared of Tubbo in any way, he was scared of the possible scorn that his disappearance was going to get him. If even Tubbo was this upset, how were the others going to react to his month long disappearance?

His attention is pulled back to the teens when he hears them whispering.

Ranboo is nearly bent in half so he can press his forehead against his husband's, the two whispering softly to one another, words Dream can't hear. Their hands are intertwined in front of them and Tubbo is keeping himself close, a physical comfort to the ender. It’s sweet, but it also makes him worry about how often the ram hybrid had to comfort Ranboo during his month-long journey. Blue eyes crack open, briefly meeting his, and Tubbo murmurs something to the godling.

Large, draconic wings rise from Ranboo’s back and cocoon around the two, completely cutting off his view of them, and Dream can’t help but huff out a quiet laugh. He supposed he understood.

“I heard Ranboo punched you,” Techno drawled casually, stirring the potato soup he was in the process of making.

Green wings puff up and Dream shoots the god a dirty look, ducking his head down. He hadn’t known Tommy had been watching the interaction from Phil’s window, but from the sounds of it, he told everyone about what happened. While he’s not surprised, he wasn’t looking forward to the lashing he was going to get from the others once he left the arctic to catch up with everyone else.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he starts, only to be cut off by the front door opening.

“Oh I dunno, I think it’s pretty funny,” the culprit chirps, moving to Technoblade’s side. Dream huffs and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Of course you do, you’re the one who punched me.”

Ranboo looks over his shoulder with a grin, clearly pleased with himself, and Dream rolls his eyes, smiling despite himself. He was glad his brother was gaining more confidence the more time he spent with the Watsons, but gods was he getting cheeky.

“Exactly,” he hums, turning back to his mentor. Techno snorts quietly at the interaction, but doesn’t look up even as Ranboo’s taller form leans against his shoulder, chin resting on his head. It’s an endearing image, one Dream would have taken a picture of if it weren’t for the fact that Techno would kick his ass. Heterochromic eyes flicker towards the godling and Dream meets them, tilting his head slightly. “Are we going to meet this ‘help’ after dinner?” 

The admin frowns slightly and sighs, dropping a hand down to his side to fidget with his mask. Right, he needed to introduce Ranboo to him rather than let him run into him in passing while traveling the server. He knew it’d go fine, but he couldn’t help but be nervous anyways.

“Yeah, we will,” he says anyways.

Ranboo looks fully at him and nods, his smile more subtle this time and yet so bitter that it feels like a punch to the gut.

“This guy better have been worth it, Dream,” Ranboo says, spiteful.

“I promise he is,” Dream returns, hopeful.

Chapter Text

So I'mma be completely transparent with you guys.

I can't finish this fic. So much has happened and as much as I want to, I just can't. It doesn't feel good to write anymore and it just makes me sad, I can't do it. I am sorry to do this, I know I left it on a pretty big cliff hanger, but I just can't continue it.

If you guys want the general gist of where this fic was going to go, I can update this chapter and kinda give a layout of how things would go, but at this moment, I won't do that.

I am sorry for dropping this fic, it did bring me a lot of joy at one point! But not anymore. I hope you all understand.

♡Ajax (I changed my name btw aha)