Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ranboo woke up late, surprised to see Fundy wasn’t in the room waiting for him. So, he got to his feet and made the bed. He almost slammed right into the chest of potion puffers in his groggy state. 

“Morning, Dad,” Ranboo yawned as he came out of the little storage room. 

Wilbur looked up from the stack of papers he’d been analyzing and smiled. Ranboo was still pretty new to reading fluently in a language other than Ender, but it looked like it was taxes. “Hi, Ranboo. I didn’t want to wake you, but Fundy’s already gone outside to play.”

“Thanks!” Ranboo grabbed some carrots before he left. The sun instantly warmed him as he stepped outside. It was a perfect spring day. Soft green grass that had recently sprouted, chirping birds, a slight breeze. 

Ranboo scanned the area but couldn’t see Fundy. Thinking his brother must be farther into the woods, Ranboo kept walking. He brushed his fingers over the clumps of alliums and tulips as he searched. 

“Fundy!” he called. No answer came. 

Ranboo was beginning to feel a bit worried now, but told himself he was just being anxious, per usual. He searched the surrounding area of the camarvan twice, but found no Fundy. 

Ranboo had to admit that something was definitely up. But where would Fundy have gone? They had a lovely home in the camarvan, surrounded by nothing but a peaceful forest. 

Maybe he's gone missing because of me. Ranboo’s stomach dropped as he was enveloped in icy fear. Surely the people from the experiments wouldn’t come after Fundy. . . would they? 

Either way, Ranboo had to tell his dad. He burst through the door, desperately hoping his fears wouldn’t come true. “Dad! I can’t find Fundy anywhere!” 

“What?” Wilbur stood up so fast he almost tripped over the chair.

“I- I’ve been looking for him but he isn’t anywhere nearby,” Ranboo stammered. 

“I’ll go find him. You stay here,” Wilbur said, giving Ranboo a quick pat on the shoulder. 

“Wait, let me come help you,” said Ranboo.

Wilbur hesitated. “Okay, fine. But you have to stay close to me.”

The walk to the general Dream SMP wasn’t very long. Ranboo was impressed with how massive and unique everything was. It was such a contrast to the quaint camarvan he was used to. 

Occasionally, a person would walk by and Wilbur would ask if they’d seen a fox hybrid, but to no avail. Ranboo didn’t recognize any of their faces. He wondered if in the future their family would come here more often and Ranboo could get to know the community. 

“Dad,” Ranboo tugged on the hem of Wilbur’s sleeve. “I think we should split up.”

“Absolutely not, Ranboo. I’m not letting you get lost too.” 

“But we’ll probably find him faster,” Ranboo countered. 

“Alright,” Wilbur finally gave in. “You’re a responsible lad, so I’ll trust you. But don’t talk to any strangers. Don’t touch anything, don’t lick anything. Come find me at the community house in a half hour or so.”

“Okay, Dad.” Why would I lick anything? 

Ranboo set off in the opposite direction as his father. He kept yelling Fundy’s name, but when that didn’t work he wondered if thinking like Fundy would help. 

Unfortunately, Ranboo found that difficult. Fundy was very chaotic. 

He kept searching for a few more minutes before he came across a tiny little building called The Socializing Club. 

Ranboo peered inside, shocked to actually see Fundy inspecting the place. “Fundy!” he exclaimed, running to hug his brother. Fundy squirmed in surprise but caved in and hugged him back. 

“Hi Boo,” Fundy’s words were muffled.

“Is this where you’ve been? Dad and I have been worried sick!” 

“I was just going exploring. The Socializing Club’s a nice place.”

“Who are you socializing with?”

“Uh. . . you!”

Ranboo chuckled. “Well, tell someone next time before you disappear.” 

“Yeah, you’re right- I’m just always sick of being stuck at home. I wanted to see more of the world around us! Dad’s way too overprotective to ever let us go.”

“Well, I’m sure you could talk to him about that.”

“Who are you kidding, Ranboo,” Fundy sighed. “Dad would start cooing about how I’m way too young. He never does that with you.”

While that was true, Ranboo also knew that he and Fundy were still only young kids. It made sense that their father was always so protective of them. 

“Yeah,” Ranboo agreed sympathetically. “But we should probably go find Dad now, so he doesn’t die of worry.”

“Aww man,” Fundy whined. “Why can’t we keep playing for a little bit longer? Pleaaase? You’ve gotta loosen up and stop being such a rule follower.” 

Ranboo thought about it. Of course the responsible thing to do was to head back to the community house. But on the other hand, he was very intrigued by the more populated part of the Dream SMP and wanted to explore it. “Mm, okay fine. But only for a few minutes.”

“Yay!” Fundy gleefully tugged him out the door. The two brothers ran down the Prime Path, trying to look at everything they could. 

At one point, they bumped into a masked man who was clearly on the run. “Sorry!” he apologized, adjusting his mask before darting away. He’d been holding two music discs.

Oddly enough, they soon came across two boys who weren’t much older than them. The taller one was dressed in red and white, and the other was in green. They were also in the middle of a chase- most likely after the man with the discs.

“Hey! Have you two seen a green guy? He stole my discs!” said the taller one.

“Yeah, he went that way,” Fundy pointed. Ranboo nodded in confirmation. 

The two of them thanked Fundy and Ranboo as they ran off to pursue the thief. 

“That was weird,” Ranboo observed. “I wonder why they’re so worked up about music discs.” 

Fundy shrugged. “Who knows. Probably doesn’t matter much.” 

The two hybrids soon reunited with their father at the community house. Wilbur immediately picked both of them up, his eyes practically glowing with relief. “Boys! You’re safe!”

After hugging them for a good twenty seconds, Wilbur set his sons back on the ground. “Now Fundy, where did you go off too?” 

“I’m sorry, Dad. I really wanted to explore because I was tired of never leaving our house,” Fundy apologized, his eyes on the ground. 

“And do you understand that from now on I need to be with you anytime you leave?”

“Yes.” 

“Good.” Wilbur ruffled Fundy’s fur fondly. “I’m only reluctant to let you come out here because some of the people have. . . well, violent tendencies. And as your Dad it’s my job to keep you safe, alright? Both of you.” 

“Alright,” Fundy and Ranboo echoed. 

Wilbur smiled. “Right then. Let’s head home. I’ve had enough scares for today.”

Ranboo had been teaching Fundy how to understand Ender all day. His brother was a surprisingly fast learner. They wanted to have a way to write secret messages to each other, and it was the perfect time since their father had been gone for hours. 

“You’re very good at this,” Ranboo complimented him. 

Fundy grinned and began writing something down on the page. “⟟'⎐⟒ ⌰⟒⏃⍀⋏⟒⎅ ⌰⏃⋏☌⎍⏃☌⟒⌇ ⏚⟒⎎⍜⍀⟒. ⟟ ⏃⌰⍀⟒⏃⎅⊬ ⌇⌿⟒⏃☍ ⎎⟟⌇⊑!” 

“You’ve learned languages before? And you already speak fish?” Ranboo translated. Fundy nodded giddily. “What do the fish say?” Ranboo asked. 

“⏁⊑⟒⊬ ☌⍜ ⏚⌰⎍⏚ ⏚⌰⎍⏚ ⏚⌰⎍⏚. ⌇⍜⋔⟒ ⍜⎎ ⏁⊑⟒⋔ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⌿⍜⏁⏁⊬ ⋔⍜⎍⏁⊑⌇.” 

“They go blub blub blub. Some of them have potty mouths,” Ranboo read out loud, chuckling. “There you go, Fundy! You’ve already got the hang of it!” 

“Thanks,” Fundy grinned. “This is fun.” 

“Fundy! Ranboo! Come look at what I’ve got!” Wilbur called from outside. He had finally returned home. 

Fundy and Ranboo rushed outside to see two red kayaks laid across the ground. “Woah!” Fundy yipped. Ranboo examined them curiously. 

“We can take them out to the lake,” Wilbur explained proudly. “I know you both want to get out of the house more, so I thought this would be a fun activity.” 

“Yeah yeah yeah!” Fundy hopped up and down. 

“Sounds fun!” Ranboo agreed, although he was slightly worried about going out on a lake. 

Wilbur towed one kayak along the path while Ranboo and Fundy tag teamed the other. They arrived at a pristine lake with crystal clear waters. It was private, with no other sounds apart from that of nature. Towering spruce trees lined the shore and large birds swooped up above, searching for a meal. 

“Alright,” Wilbur huffed once he’d finished setting up the kayaks. “Who wants to learn first?”

“Fundy can,” Ranboo instantly volunteered his brother. “I’d rather just stay on land for now.” 

“Are you sure, Boo?” Fundy asked. His excitement slightly faded upon realizing Ranboo was nervous. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ranboo assured him. 

After he’d put on his life jacket, Fundy climbed in to sit in front of Wilbur. “Don’t worry, bud. I know the way to paddle with the least amount of water touching you,” Wilbur told Ranboo.  

Wilbur pushed against the sand to get the kayak out into the lake and began showing Fundy how to paddle. “It’s all one smooth motion, see?” Wilbur instructed, guiding Fundy’s paws. “Left. Right. Left. Right.”

Fundy tried paddling on his own. “You’re doing wonderfully, champion,” Wilbur congratulated. Ranboo clapped Fundy on from the shore. 

“Now to turn certain directions you have to paddle against the current,” said Wilbur. Fundy picked that up pretty fast as well.  

Wilbur and Fundy kept kayaking for a few more minutes before coming back to shore. “You up for it, Ranboo?” Wilbur asked as he pushed Fundy’s kayak back out on the lake. 

Ranboo considered it. Being out on the kayak looked very relaxing. And a little water wouldn’t hurt. It was nothing compared to what he’d once endured. 

Ranboo shook away thoughts of being trapped in a tank, desperately banging on the glass to escape. He could do this. It was just an innocent and fun family activity. “Okay, I’ll give it a go,” Ranboo told his father. 

Being out on the water actually wasn’t as terrifying as Ranboo had anticipated. In fact, after he got over his fear, it was enjoyable. Wilbur taught him how to paddle without getting dripped on. After that it was smooth sailing. 

Wilbur sat on the shoreline and read a book as Fundy and Ranboo kayaked. “Race you to the other side!” Fundy grinned, already starting to furiously paddle.

“Not on my watch!” Ranboo’s longer arms made it easy to catch up. 

At one point, a small run of salmon swam right under their kayaks. Fundy and Ranboo watched them, eyes wide in wonder.

“Hi Uncle Jonah! Hi Aunt Felicity! Hi Uncle Adrian!” Fundy waved at the passing fish. 

“They aren’t actually related to you!” Wilbur called out from the beach. 

“There’s no way to prove that,” Fundy grinned. 

“I talk to endermen the same way,” Ranboo informed him.

“Really?” Fundy’s ears flicked up curiously. “What do they say?” 

“Oh most of them are jerks honestly.” Fundy laughed at that. Ranboo laughed too, although it came out as more of an echoey warble that rang across the lake like a loon. 

A little while later, Ranboo playfully splashed Fundy with water. 

“Hey!” Fundy cried, entirely offended. He couldn’t even splash Ranboo back, so then came: 

“Daaaad! Boo splashed me with his paddle!”

Wilbur looked up from his book. “Is that true, Ranboo?” 

“I- I’m sorry if I did but I don’t remember doing it.” Ranboo stuttered. 

Once it had all been sorted out, Ranboo splashed Fundy again a few minutes later, laughing very mischievously. 

“So you did remember!” Fundy scowled. “Dang, you really know how to sell it.” 

“Crippling memory loss. It’s one of my best attributes,” Ranboo giggled. “And I was doing what you wanted. Y’know, loosening up and lying to adults. Aren’t you proud?” 

“Well, yes, I definitely am. But you’re not supposed to use your skills against me!” 

“I can go tell Dad the truth if it would make you feel better,” said Ranboo, incredibly amused. 

“It would, thank you,” Fundy nodded poshly. 

They paddled their kayaks closer to shore. “Hey Dad, I wasn’t telling the truth before. I did splash Fundy,” Ranboo confessed. 

“Splash Fundy? Wait, sorry- what’re you on about?” Wilbur asked in confusion as he set his book down. 

“Hold on,” Fundy was exasperated. “Don’t tell me you actually forgot!”