Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Tubbo quickly pops one hand up from where he’s hiding and slaps it against the other's back, promptly taking off running not a second later. He’s fast and he knows it but the other is gaining on him still. When the fuck did he get so fast? Tubbo thinks in a blur. The footfall is almost to him, only a few feet away and he gets a sudden adrenaline rush, deciding fuck it, and changes direction straight for the woods. There’s a slightly intrigued– a little confused– sound behind him. They usually run around the town some more before he runs off to the side, taking cover in branches and bushes alike.

He manages to duck underneath a branch now, just as he sees the other boy jump to tackle him to the ground. Hears a soft oof- and a light yelp. Then, Tommy’s shouting. “Oi! Fuck you man! You can’t just run me into a fucking tree!”

“Then don’t make it so easy dick’ead!” He calls back stalling so he’s sure he is still in earshot. When Tommy’s back on his feet he’s off like a bullet. Tubbo doesn't wait when Tommy yells curses at him and tells him to wait up so I can tackle you bitch . His angry cawing dying down the further Tubbo runs.

He’s slowing to a walk when he hears the footsteps behind him pitter out against the soil. It’s gotten so quiet he couldn’t hear him walking if he had a hare’s ears. He needs to let him catch back up then. His face splits into a wide grin at that because he outran him again . And you thought he got faster, his mind cackles in delight. Then he carefully looks around, sure he’s got to be close to the Giant Oak where they can meet but when he recognizes nothing he starts to find himself himself worried.

He doesn’t usually get lost– hadn‘t even thought he went that far into the woods – but it’s clear he isn’t near where they chase each other around. Doesn’t even glimpse anything recognizable. It’s as if he just walked into another part of the forest entirely. Was on one side of the forest one second, was gone the next , and he shakes his head quickly because that doesn’t make sense. He probably just went a little further than the Giant Oak or was off a bit.  But you’ve both explored miles past that tree and you don’t recognize anything here, some thought slithers out. And it’s right. The more Tubbo thinks about it the more he realised he felt like he was being watched. He has goosebumps too, all his hair on end, and hey, when did that happen? but he can’t figure it out. Doesn’t care much to try anyways.

He’s so on edge he jumps when there’s a light crack behind him, whirling around but it’s just a grey fox, staring at him like it’s confused as to why he’s here. And it’s weird because foxes near this part of the woods are scared of humans. They’ll run at the sight of them but this one just stares like it’s a little surprised to see him standing there. Almost as if it can’t seem to understand how he is standing before it. And that’s weird, right? Seeing that much emotion on a fox's face? But… It is a fox and they’re meant to be pretty smart. Right. That must be it.

The fox seems to lose interest in him though, looking at something behind him but when he turns around there’s nothing there. His hair is still stood up. He glances around one last time, squinting a little before heading back the way he came. Or at least trying to but there's no clear path. Bushes getting in the way of his legs and there are trees he doesn’t remember being there before. He doesn't understand why he isn’t able to just walk over the bramble patches because it seems like they grow taller to stop him from leaving, causing him to plop down with a defeated sigh. It’s as if the forest itself is changing to keep him in one spot, the earth under his feet moving to hold him back. 

The fox moves through easily though, as if it’s used to this. Gives him a look way too close to human emotions filled with understanding before it climbs up a fucking tree. Looks like it’s in a hurry with the way its eyes widen over his shoulder again, seeing something that’s not there. He remembers the hunter mentioning something about that once. The old butcher’s hunter in the city saying that foxes usually climb trees to get away from predators or to find a safe place to rest. And that’s what finally gets to him because he can handle not recognizing some plants, knows he probably missed searching some land, and goosebumps could just be caused because he’s cold. But that is strange. Because foxes don’t run from nothing. Avoid trouble, dangerous things, yes, but they don’t run from open air. They don’t climb trees with a flash in their eyes, staring at something he can’t see. Maybe it’s just crazy? Seeing things that aren’t real. His brain tries to rationalize, bringing him no comfort.

And it’s then he realises what he should of as soon as he stopped walking. Before he stopped walking. The reason he has goosebumps isn’t from the slight feeling of eyes on him because that always comes with the forest. It’s the way the birds have stopped singing, are each sat completely still on branches. Their not moving except to breathe. And that’s what has his brain thinking again. Because he can handle strange foxes, brambles that don’t seem to want to let him leave again, goosebumps on his arm, but he has never, ever , heard every single fucking bird in earshot stop making any noise. 

They only ever do that when there is something dangerous and even then there are warning chirps. They just all went quiet this time. No warning, no hints, just a sudden deafening silence. And then it hits him he doesn’t know where Tommy has gone off to. Worries start to prick at his skin, but he can’t do anything because he can’t seem to get out of this patch of the woods. Left his phone in his room back at his house because he didn’t think he’d need it today. Tries getting back up since he’s still sitting on the forest floor and almost trips, sees a vine that wasn’t over his foot before. And what the fuck. No, no. What The Actual Fuck! He glances around, the fox staring down at him, and it shakes it’s head at him . Foxes usually climb trees to get away from predators or find a safe place to sleep , someone else's voice drones in his and he is panicking because what is going on, thoughts flying past too fast. Brain short-circuiting and spinning in circles, where’s Tommy? Is he okay? Why did that vine move? What is that fox? Where’s Tommy what the fuck is that vine thing why are the plants moving where’s Tommy What is that fox where’s Tommy where’s Tommy where’s Tom- snap. What was that noise? And that thought's different so he latches onto it before he can even finish registering it. Then it does and his brain catches up. He fell back on the floor at some point during his panic, just sort of sitting there in a jumbled mess. And in the short amount of time he had been lost to the world someone had walked into the area.

For a second he thinks it’s Tommy. Stops himself before he does something stupid and clingy, looking at the guy. That is when he sees a black spot of hair on the other's head. And damn this guy is tall . Has to be at least 6’6” but maybe he just looks like that because Tubbo’s sitting on the floor and he’s up there. His clothing is clean and made from some cloth. Wears a cloak like it’s Medival times and Tubbo can’t say he’s not slightly weirded by this random guy. The dude is dressed like royalty. Literally and figuratively. The cloth material is made from something rich that looks silky and the softest thing he’s ever seen and has to be expensive as fuck. The other person also has an honest-to-good crown sitting on his head.

Scratch that. He is very weirded out and his heart is hammering in his chest because that looks like a person but something feels dangerous. Risky. If he takes one wrong step or makes one wrong move he’ll go tumbling into a river he was balancing on the stones of and won’t be able to resurface.

Then he notices the slight smile on the other's lips. How unnatural it looks. How his eyes are grey like thunderstorms, lightning about to strike. How it seems clouds swirl in his eyes. Unnatural with a too-sharp smile. And for probably the 100th time that day Tubbo has one thought before his head is soothed by something he can’t explain.

What. The. Fuck.

Chapter Text

Tubbo’s head gets very fuzzy suddenly. It’s as if someone noticed how his brain was going one hundred miles a minute and decided to fix it by making it so he can’t think. His heart rate lowers significantly, going back to something semi-normal. He relaxes into the ground and feels something wrap around his ankle. Like he was going to try and get up anyway. The ground feels warm under his fingertips and he slowly registers that the other person is staring at him. Then he realizes that he’s saying something. Tubbo squints up at his moving mouth trying to figure out what he’s saying. When he picks up the words finally he sits up slightly.

“Are you still scared?” The voice asks him, and now that he’s thinking about it the voice is so loud in all this quiet. But the man’s looking at him funny again and Tubbo realizes he needs to answer the question, slowly shakes his head side-to-side sloppily. The other's eyes blink slowly at him for a moment as if trying to figure something out. Then he looks up at a tree. Wait no that’s the tree with the fox in it. The fox that was scared of nothing, ran up a tree for nothing at all. And that thought starts his heart up again, getting him back to a conscious state again from where he was almost asleep.

“Fundy did you bring him here? You aren’t supposed to mess with humans,” and maybe Tubbo bonked his head when he fell the second time. Why else would a man be talking to a fox? He had to have just hit his head when he fell. That’s the only explanation that would make sense. Or, just maybe, the other man is insane. Thinks he’s king of the woods or something. And that would explain the outfit too so Tubbos going to go with that. The other person is just some nutjob in the forest he and Tommy have never run into before. All those ideas get whipped away though when another voice, high-pitched and yipping, bites back “Of course not! The Forest won’t let him leave though. I think it wanted you to meet him or something because I watched him try to walk back. The branches kept getting in his way.” 

And that was the fox saying that. That was the fox, oh my god that was the fox saying that. Maybe he really did hit his head? Surely that’s the only explanation. No, that is the only explanation. Why else would there be a talking fox and someone dressed in a king's outfit? 

“The Forest hasn’t brought anyone in this deep in centuries. Why would it now?” “I don’t know, I can ask the ents when we get back though. They’re better at talking to the woods than me,” the honest-to-god fox responds. 

“Alright, you should start to head back. I’ll catch up in a moment. I want to ask him something first.” the man tells the fox and the fox climbs off the tree after a short dip of its head– kind of looks like a bow– and it bounds off. Tubbo is still sitting down, head spinning and when he tries to get up the vine is back. It’s wrapped tightly around his right ankle and he can’t understand how it got there. He tries to untangle it, feeling the other person watching him from over his shoulder as he struggles with the plant.

Tubbo gives up with the plant, glancing back over his shoulder when there’s some soft shuffling behind him. His brain is still trying to wrap his head around talking foxes, someone mentioning an ent , and just the general strangeness of this situation. The other person– curses he still doesn’t know what their name is, I’ll just call him K for king – speaks up.

“Can I have your name?” and all his hair raises again at that, but what’s a name gonna do? He hooks a finger over the cuff of his sweater sleeve messing with it nervously.
“Uhm, my friends call me Tubbo?” It sounds a little bit too much like a question and K seems a little annoyed at that so he rephrases his answer. “I meant, like, my nickname’s Tubbo so you can call me that if you want. What about you, what’s your name?"

“You may call me Ranboo,” K- uhh Ranboo replies, and he says it so strange. The wording is a bit unsettling but he can’t put a finger on it, looks like he is about to say something else but Tubbo beats him to it. “Nice to meet you, Ranboo! Why are you dressed like that?” Okay so maybe he didn’t need to ask that last question but he really wants to know why he’s dressed so strangely. He’s wearing a purple cape that faded into a cobalt blue with lighter colours like lilac and periwinkle as trim in the shapes of flowers and leaves. He has a Renaissance shirt on with a plum corset over top. Ranboo was also wearing Victorian-style lace-up leather boots that had a 2-inch heel and gods know where he got those from let alone how much they were or why he was wearing them in a forest. Not to mention the silver

“Wha- It looks nice. Besides, just look at what you are wearing,” Ranboo says, and Tubbo frowns down at his jeans, green shirt, and black shoes with white laces and bee pins stuck onto the sides. “Normal clothes?” and Tubbo doesn’t know what else to say. He’s not wearing anything out of the ordinary. Then he notices he messed up a button again. “Oh, wait I skipped a button again. I guess almost normal clothes then.” 

He glances back up and Ranboo’s looking at him kinda funny. Hmm. “What were you and the, uhm– fox? Yeah, fox– Talking about back there?” That’s a sentence he never thought he’d have to say outside of D&D and he is still not sure he didn’t hit his head when he fell on the floor but it doesn’t hurt and the sun isn’t hurting his eyes so he doesn’t think he has a concussion. 

“What do I get if I tell you?” That’s not exactly what he was expecting and it’s not like he has anything. Maybe he can just give him a quarter or something, starts searching his pockets for anything he may have. He ends up pulling out a Kinder Joy and a few pence. This definitely won’t work with anyone who has an ounce of self-respect. “Weren’t you talking about me anyway? I should know what you said about me.” Reasoning would work. Surely it would? But Ranboo shoots him an unimpressed look. 

“Alright, alright fine. Uhh, I have a Kinder Joy and three pence?” He is really trying here okay? He is! And it actually works a little, Ranboo perking up and walking forward, sits down next to some Alliums. Once Tubbo spots those he notices others though, all sitting in a nice circle around Ranboo. That is a very weird occurrence, something ringing in the back of his head it’s not coincidental. He ignores it– (maybe he’ll think it was idiotic in the future but it isn’t like he knew what it was at the time)– walking towards the edge and sitting down in front of him– the vine that was around his ankle must have fallen off at some point. And he hasn’t sat on the other side yet.

“I’ll give you half the stuff here now and then give you the rest once you help me understand what is going on,” Tubbo starts to open the Kinder Joy , halves it, and puts one pence on the split candy’s wrapper handing it over. “What if you meet me back here again tomorrow, and I get that.” 

There’s a quiet buzzing in the back of his brain saying not to make a deal with the royal-looking teen sitting across from him. Thoughts flying fast in the background telling him danger, predator, run, leave, dangerous but they start to blur together because his brain is getting fuzzy again. Oh, wait is someone humming? Is it the other kid sitting across from him? He can’t tell, not even sure if he wants to. He’s humming too– when did he start to do that?– trying to copy the noise and finding he can’t. The sounds are too obscure. Seems as if they're impossible to reach with the way their vocals warp into high notes one second, then low the next. The song is short anyway, ending only a few seconds after it started but his eyes are drooping slightly and Tubbo fights to muffle a yawn that came out of nowhere.

Ranboo’s giving him a funny look. Like when you see something out of place in your apartment. Something you don’t remember being there before, something you have no recollection of but there it sits. It’s a little weird because if anyone should be giving someone weird looks it should be him. 

“Deal. Okay, so first question. Why the fuck was there a talking fox?”

Chapter Text

Okay, when Tubbo asked Ran to explain to him what was going on he hadn’t expected the crazy-ass responses about fae and forest spirits. He was pretty certain that he didn’t do drugs but this was making him question that. At first, he had thought the teen sitting across from him was crazy but then he remembered the talking fox so now he wasn’t sure. Of course, him hitting his head was still viable but it didn’t hurt so that was likely not true. 

Ran was currently trying to explain to him that fundy– the fox thing– was some special type of kitsune that could change how many tails he had showing and his pelt’s colour but Tubbo was still wrapping his head around faries. 

He didn’t believe in magic. Loved the idea of it sure, but had never thought it was real. Not to mention he was still trying to figure out if Tommy was okay. He probably was just waiting at the Oak for Tubbo but there was no way to be sure.

“Uh, Tubbo are you listening? It’s going to take all day for you to stop being confused if you don’t,” Ran says, and oh right! Tubbo is supposed to be listening to them explain fae. Which he is definitely doing, mhm, most definitely. “Yep, sure thing bossman. I am definitely listening. Just uh, another question real quick? How do you know about all of this?”

Ran stills at that, glances away then back four times. “I’ve lived in here my whole life so I learn about a lot of things in the woods.” It doesn’t sound like a lie, but it also doesn’t sound like the full truth so Tubbo tries something else. “Are you a, uhm, fae? Or, a forest spirit, whatever. You’re taller than most teenagers are.”

Ran doesn’t really look like he wants to answer but he hushes out a response a moment later. “Uh yeah, something like that.” This random teen has to be the most unsure person he has ever met, and Tubbo goes to school for goodness sake. Heaven knows how many people can’t say coherent sentences to strangers there. Not to mention this man's fashion sense paired with his unsureness. But anyone would think someone dressed as a king– prince? Whatever– would be more sure of themself.

“What were you saying about the kitsune thing?”

-~=-=~-

Ran apparently knows how to get Tubbo back to The Oak, saying he needs to just walk a little to the right of where he came from. Tubbo finds it surprisingly easy to head back through the forest now. Ran had given some explanation that the forest wanted to introduce them to each other and wasn’t going to let him leave until that happened which was confusing at the time but after everything that had happened in the last hour, it wasn’t the most bizarre thing to happen. 

He wasn’t confused per se, more just mind blown and a bit dazzled because his whole view on how the world worked had sorta just been tipped off its axis. While he thought everything had to have some science behind it– he still kind of did– he had just been introduced to magic. Of course, Tubbo’s brain was still trying to think of some other reason but the only thing he could hold onto was a quote he could barely remember. Magic is just science we don’t understand yet. If he remembered correctly it was Arthur C. Clarke who had said it. He didn’t even remember who he had heard it from, but he thinks he had just been scrolling on his phone. He didn’t fully believe the quote. 

Not now at least, because after listening to Ran ramble about walking trees called ents, dryads that would hibernate during the winter, and mounds or halls and palaces they would live in that he called Sidhe. They had referred to the fae that lived there as Aos Sí saying it translated to inhabitants of the mounds. He talked of parties they would throw and how different Aos Sí would bake sweats of all kinds and gather berries and make juice, saving extra fruits to put out with the rest of the food.

-~=-=~-

Tubbo made it back to The Oak a few minutes later, taking way less time than he thought it would but he wasn’t fighting it. His brain was going a mile a minute jumping around at all the new information he had just learned. Tommy was waiting on one of the larger roots, one of the ones that was a few feet taller than both of them.

“Where’d you go? You took waayyy too long coming back here. I’ve had to entertain myself for so long. It’s been like-” Tommy pulls his phone out of his pocket, likely checking the time- “Oh shit, wait, it’s almost been an hour.” Tommy finishes pocketing his phone again. “I just got a little lost, went further than we had explored and got turned around,” Tubbo responds scabling onto the root from the part that is lower down a good few feet away, walking towards him to sit down. 

He does feel bad lying to Tommy but he knows that he would think Tubbo was crazy if he told him. Hell, he still thought he might be crazy. “Dude how long were you running for because I didn’t chase that far.” Tubbo shrugs “I got distracted cause I saw a butterfly and then there was some fox. I didn’t even realize I went out of the areas we had explored,” he huffs lightly and leans against Tommy, eyes definitely not drooping. 

“Okay, I can understand following a moth but a butterfly ? I mean come on I thought you knew better than to give in to their colourful wings.” Tommy bemoaned resting his head on top of his and wrapping his arm across his shoulder throwing the left one out, “I mean, come on . They aren’t even as fluffy as moths!” He’s saying, but Tubbo’s starting to fall asleep. Can only mumble out a soft “ Mhm, whatever you say, Tommy ,” as he slips into sleep.

-~=-=~-

Tubbo wakes up very drowsy leaning up against someone’s side. When he opens his eyes he realizes it’s Tommy. Damn it, we must have fallen asleep he thinks groaning as he sits up, rubbing crust from his eyes. He glances over at where Tommy is sleeping, glazing up and seeing the sun in the middle of the sky.

He shakes Tommy awake, glad that neither of them had fallen off the root they were on. “Tom, wake up. You're the one who brought a phone,” he mumbles shaking Tommy a little more.

“I’s not my faul’ you din’t thin’ ahead,” Tommy mumbles barely coherent against the bark, which can not be comfortable. He sighs trying to think of a way he can check the time without Tommy being a little bitch about it.

“Can you jus’ hand me your phone so I can check the time,” Tubbo tries with a yawn.

“Fiiinne,” he responds reaching into his hoodie pocket, hazardly flapping it in Tubbo’s direction until he grabs it.

12:39 p.m.

Well, fuck us then. Both of their parents didn’t want them to hang out too much without parental supervision because they were scared they would break the law and go to jail or something, so they were limited to hanging out until two without an adult present. Usually, they would peer pressure Techno into watching them but he had some summer tournament overseas that he would be at for two weeks so they couldn’t. He was on some team called Red Rabbits going up against Cyan Coyotes first. All the teams sounded like some primary school assignment where children had to come up with animals that had the same letter as a colour but the tournament was still pretty cool. 

Each team had 4 people on it with a total of 10 teams. There were a lot of “mini-games” that were played. Most people treated it like an online tournament, even if it isn’t. The premise was that the team with the most points at the end would win and get some gold coin at the end. It was very cool. Suffice to say, they would not be able to bother Techno because he had to go get a gold coin for them.

That didn't mean there wasn’t anyone they could ask to watch them though. They still had Niki as a valid option and it might be fun to make fun of Jack for a bit later since they usually watched them together. 

“Tom, we only have an hour ‘till we have to head back, you have to get up,” he tries but Tommy just groans and rolls over as if that’s gonna do anything. “Just five more minutes…” Tubbo sighs, knowing that those five more minutes would turn into twenty, if not the full hour.

Tubbo gets the greatest idea suddenly. Without warning he starts to tickle Tommy’s sides, ends up making him shriek in terror as he struggles to get away. He starts cursing up a storm when Tubbo manages to pin his hands behind him tickling relentlessly to force a laugh out of him. “Your a– fuck- ing bitch,” he manages to get out between giggles once Tubbo lays off a little, grinning sharp. This little war going on working as a great distraction from Tubbo’s slowly changing view on the world around him.

Tommy then makes the dumb decision of trying to tickle Tubbo back, but he keeps just barely staying out of reach. It is made extremely easy with how Tommy is still laughing every once in a while, making it hard for him to coordinate where to move.

They stop when they both almost fall off the side of the root after Tommy tackles Tubbo because he was fed up with not being able to reach him. Both of them are laughing too hard to even try to get up without the fear of falling backwards off the darn thing.

Once they calm down Tubbo makes a brilliant suggestion. “We should maybe stop trying to attack each other on the high-up root.”

“You think!?” Tommy half-yells back with a laugh and starts to go lower on the root. “We should head back soon so that we have time to force Niki into watching us instead of one of our parents, or could at least swing by her place and borrow some doughnuts forever,” Tommy suggests which is a very great idea. “Yeah, I’m up for robbing the bakery again.” Tommy dramatically gasps at this.

“Are you implying that we would steal? I would never, for I am the perfect and biggest man ever, and big men don’t steal Tubbo .” Tubbo scoffs at that. “Right, you’ve never taken cream puffs while Niki threatened to turn you into a pound cake because of how big of a man you truly are, of course,” he replies sarcastically.

“We have to stay on brand, and sometimes that means getting threatened a little bit!” “You are truly a menace to society Tommy Craft.” 

“I could say the same to you, Underscore,” They tease, voices light and airy as they carry through the forest as they head back to the rural town they live in.

Chapter Text

Ranboo's POV 200+ years ago:

Ranboo watched the human climb over a root sprouting a little too high out of the ground. The humans kept coming into the forest but none ever went this far in without hunting gear or to set up traps. Usually, the forest didn’t even let those ones get that far in though, made them believe they were deep just to spit them back out once they had finished what they were doing. It was a bit worrying to see this normal-looking guy walking down the forest.

Its hair was slightly green on the tips and it had some freckles over the bridge of its nose. He continued to follow it as the woods brought the human further in, branches moving out of his way before he tripped over something or moved too close to a root or thorn. 

It ends up making a strange zig-zag pathway for the human to walk down leading it right to the allium ring. That… is weird. There’s no reason for the forest to want some random human near the cross-over point so why would it lead one right to the gateway? Unless this one’s different.

Sure, the forest hasn’t brought anyone in a while but it used to all the time. Would lead humans right to the ring without a care in the world so they could gawk over the pretty flowers or show them wild blackberry bush patches so they could pick them to bring home. 

But as he watches this human it doesn’t seem at all interested in the earth around it, seems more distant like its head is in the clouds and can’t seem to get out. Ranboo decides he might as well see what this is all about, asks Hannah if the forest had any recent changes or if it would let a random human in but the dryad has no clue why it suddenly would.

“It just keeps chanting the same few words. Won’t give me any explanation when I ask,” she frowns hand still on the tree where she’s talking with a tree. “They all keep saying different, special, that something off with this one,” she finishes and seems more confused than anything else. Ranboo eyes the human through the trees. He finally decides to cross over and try to talk to it.

As soon as he has formed on the other side the human seems to come back to its senses. “Oh, hello! I am definitely a human. Hmh. Exactly like you,” the man in a green suit says and wow, Ranboo didn’t know they had gotten that weird. Then he realizes that the words shift in the air the way lies do. It was probably just that last bit, nothing to worry about. But he’s not so sure, can’t put his finger on it but something still of about the thing standing in front of him.

“Hello. May I have your name?” They try, because it’s worth a shot and most usually hand it right over into his waiting claws. 

“Uhm, no? I mean I quite like my name being mine but you can call me Charlie!” Ranboo blinks since no human has known he was trying to take their name before. Most usually got away from him taking it by giving him a nickname or not seeing him sitting in the ring. He could leave the ring if he wanted but he loved when humans assumed he couldn’t and he’d find some way to jumpscare the younger ones. 

Of course, he would trick a few of the older ones but most people assumed he took the kids. That was the wisps though, since they thought it was funny to lead them away and have a sprite replace them with changelings. Ranboo knew that scared the humans though. They didn’t seem to find half the things they did as exciting as they were. That was kind of a pity.

“Charlie, what are you doing in the woods? Most people don’t come this far into the forest,” he asks knowing if the other lies about something big he’ll be able to sink their claws into it and keep a favour from it if they play their cards right.

“Oh, I was just trying to go on a walk outside of it but the earth told me it wanted me to meet someone. Oh wait, was I supposed to ask for your name? Shoot. What was it you wanted me to call you?” Charlie asks, looking for all the world like a puppy that had been caught doing something wrong. 

“You may call me Ran,” he replies still distracted by Charlie’s answer because he knows that wasn’t a lie. Can feel it in his very being that this person was telling the truth about the earth telling him to come in here. But maybe he was just confused? Thought the wind whispered something in his ears or the trees ruffling was anything more than that. But the trees had moved to let him in, and even though no human could hear the ground speak anything else could. So maybe this human was special. Maybe this one was different and the forest brought it to him for a reason.

“Did the forest tell you why you were brought here?” no point in avoiding the question if it wouldn’t do any harm. “I thought I said it wanted me to meet someone already? Did I forget to mention that?” Charlie responds

“Oh, well yeah you said that but was there anything more specific than that? Like did the forest mention why it wanted you to meet someone in here?”

“Nope, not really! Something about me being special. I’m just happy it felt like introducing us! Us humans and everything you know?” 

“Right, it did in fact introduce us… people,” he responds because he can’t say human if he isn’t one .

“Right, us two humans who have met! Hey, did you know I have 206 bones?” and why did that sound like a lie?? He knows humans have 206 bones. Unless… “Wait, hold up. Are you even a human?” 

“Uhm.. Yes?” the other tries and holy tree spirits it’s a lie. What. The. Fuck.

“What are you?” 

“What are you?” Charlie fires back and Tree Spirits how does he answer that? “Uhm, well I’m not a human,” Ranboo tries because what else is he supposed to do. He can’t lie and he doesn’t feel like taking favors from this… person.

“Oh! A fellow slime then?? I’m so glad to see you, my slime brethren! I haven’t seen another one of my kind in… actually, I don’t know how long. It’s so nice to meet you! What’s goopin’ and gunkin’?” Charlie babbles to him, a non-stop stream of hellos and it’s been so long. 

“I’m uhh, I’m not a slime either?” Ranboo says but Charlie isn’t listening. “You don’t have to hide it from me brother slime! We both came from the mother slime so you don’t have to lie to me! Besides we both know neither of us actually have 206 bones!”

“No, I’m serious! I’m a fae, not a, uhm… slime?” Ranboo is so confused but at least the person sitting across from him isn’t one of the humans that cut down the forest.

“Oh.. well you must still relate to humans not enjoying our company and having to hide since you’re not one of them,” he says and it’s still exuberant but a bit more quiet since he’s not shouting now. “I guess, it’s a bit recent though. The change only happened… a hundred years ago? Maybe two hundred.”

“Well, that’s good enough for me! We can be the not-human duo! The odd duo… nope that name doesn’t fit. Hmm, we’ll keep it in the workshop! But we’re a duo now and until I have to leave because I’m sure I will eventually,” and Ranboo gives him a too-sharp grin. “See you tomorrow then.”

“Of course! And we can workshop the name then,” he responds then he suddenly perks up. “I think I have to go now, mother slime’s telling me times up for the day since I left a piece of myself with her to hear when I need to head back.”

“Oh, alright then. See you tomorrow!” Ranboo says and he expects Charlie to walk back home but he dissolves into the ground, leaves small bits of goop that slowly dissolve down after him. Well, guess he should tell the others he has to meet with someone tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Tubbo woke up slow, or well he tried to. It was summer, he should be able to sleep in! But, his stupid brain kept nagging him saying he needed to get up and go somewhere. He was still lying in bed groggily, trying to get his brain to shut up . But we have to leave, we’re meeting with someone today. Get up! Get up, get up, get up get up get up! Okay! Fine, I’m going, he thought back bitterly making no attempts to get up.

He could see light shining through his dorm room’s curtains but it was early morning light. It was more blue than anything else which is how he knew it was at most 9 a.m. unlike the usual 10 or 11 he usually wakes up at. It took him another fifteen minutes to get up and out of bed. When he finally decided to check his phone he groaned.

8:47 a.m.

9 unread messages

Why did the universe hate him, makin’ him wake up at eight during summer of all things? Whatever he was up now and it's not like his brain was going to let him go back to bed after whatever that was. He starts to get ready for the day, taking a quick shower then throwing on some jeans and his red flannel trying to figure out where his brain wanted him to go before he remembers that he met someone in the woods yesterday. 

Thinking back on it, Tubbo wasn’t exactly sure what had happened. One moment he was sitting on the ground with a… fox? The next there was a boy sitting next to some alliums a few feet away that had made him promise to come back. Oh, that’s what my brain is on ‘bout he realizes, still a bit tired from waking up a few moments ago.

Tubbo grabs some bread tossing it into the toaster for a few minutes as he waits for it to finish, takes some butter out of the fridge and snatches a knife from the drawer for when it finishes. When the toast finally pops out the top with a satisfying Ding! he grabs it and puts it onto a plate, already getting ready to spread butter over it. His parents won’t be getting home until 3 or 4 so he had some time.

Tubbo works on finding where he put his shoes in the small dorm room, knows he put them somewhere near the entrance but they’ve disappeared. He checks the house one more time, finding them kicked behind his bedroom door. He finishes the last two bites of toast before slipping them on, doesn’t remember a time that, uh, Ran?– Prime he hopes that was the teen’s name – said he wanted to meet, so he decides to head out now instead of later.

As he’s heading out the door he grabs his keys and phone, checking his missed messages.

Your Tommy:
6:42 Hey,hey hey! Good morning group chat! How are we all feeling???

Baldo:

6:46 Tommy go back to bed right now. it is too early to deal with this rn

Your Tommy:

6:47 But jack! Its the best time to be up. Think of the woman Jack! 

The women all wake up at this time.

Baldo:

6:58 Tommy, no one in their right mind is up at this time let alone women your age

Your Tommy:
6:57 There ARE! There are plenty of fiinnee women up right now!

Niki:
6:52 Tommy Jack’s right, almost no one is up right now.

Go back to bed your shift doesn’t start for 6 hours.

Your Tommy:

6:54 Niki, you ARE a woman. This proves my point!

Niki:

7:01 … Tommy I’m getting ready for work. Because I have a morning shift. Go back to bed.

Your Tommy:

7:03 You all sukc and are not plesent. I am going back to bed of my own accord. If Big T were here he would side with me on this one.

Tubbo sighs. He is not getting wrapped into whatever that was. But… Tommy had said he would side with him, and Tubbo definitely is not going to let that sit in the group chat untouched. Starts typing on his phone as he leaves the dorm rooms, starting the walk to the forest.

9:29 Now, I’m not saying I side with Tom (bc I don’t) but Niki

 you are technically female…

Tubbo pockets his phone since he thinks Niki's shift is about to start so she won't respond for a while. Tubbo's surprised when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket though, quickly pulls it out to check what it is. 

1 unread message

He clicks on the notification, opening the group chat to see that Niki’s responded to his text.

Niki:

9:31 Don’t encourage him, please.
It was bad enough when he tried to get a girlfriend in a foam Minecraft costume.

Your Tommy:

9:33 That was ONE time! You all are insufferable and I can not beleive you.

9:33 You spelled belIEve wrong Tom… 

You just got corrected by a dyslexic person too.
L

Your Tommy:

9:34 I hate you all and am leaving. 

Baldo:

9:35 FINALLY, anyways, why are you up Tubbo? Don’t you usually sleep in longer?

9:37 Yeah but my brain wouldn’t shut up so 

I’m just walkin over to the woods. 

Gonna meet up with someone I met 

yesterday there, think their name  was Ran?

Baldo:

9:38 Oh, cool!

Your Tommy:

9:41 Are you seriously telling me none of you would miss me??

What the hell???!!

Baldo:

9:42 Oh go back to being gone

Your Tommy:

9:43 Jack your just mad cause u peaked in middle school..

9:45 K I gtg, I’m almost to the forest, talk to you l8r

Baldo:

9:45 Alright, bye Tubbo! 

Your Tommy:

9:46 Talk w/ you later

Tubbo flicks off his phone, walking into the woods where Tommy chased him. He didn’t remember the way to the alliums exactly but surely it couldn’t be that difficult to find. He just had to follow the same path he did yesterday. Which he definitely remembered and was having no trouble at all trying to figure out. He decided to just walk in a straight line because he didn’t think he turned when running earlier.

The ring took a few minutes to find but when Tubbo did he didn’t know what to do. Ran wasn’t here yet and even though he remembered a little bit of what they talked about he still didn’t remember much. He knew Ran liked fantasy or folklore because all he could remember was them talking about different kinds of faries and what they’re called in another language.

“Oh, hey! You’re here way earlier than I thought you’d be.”

“ SHIT !” Tubbo almost jumped out of his skin. He had just looked around and didn’t see Ran anywhere! When Tubbo turned back around he was sitting behind him waving. “Oh. Ah, hey Ran,” he says with a hesitant smile still a bit spooked.

“Oh, uhm… did I scare you?” Ran asks fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve.

“Yeah, but I’m all good now, it’s fine!”

“Oh, okay! How are you aside from that?” Tubbo blinks and takes a moment to look at them. Ran was wearing clothes similar to yesterday but it had changed colour with a few different details here and there. He was still wearing the same crown as before, jewels shining in the morning sun filtering through the trees causing little coloured shadows on the forest floor.

“I’m doing alright since yesterday. You didn’t tell me when to show up, so I kinda just came early. I guess it worked out though since you’re here!” He answers finally because he doesn’t want Ran to wait too long. “How’ve you been?”

“I have been doing good. I found a snail last night!” Ran says, voice growing excited at the end. Tubbo didn’t notice before but they have pointed ears– sees them perk up as he talks– and Tubbo wonders how that works. Maybe he was one of those people who could move their ears and just wore fake ears or something. “I gave him a very dignified name because he didn’t have one yet.”

“How do you know he didn’t already have one? It could be Sir… uhm- Sir Robertington The Thirty-second of the uhm… the Shells House. Mhm,” he nods as he speaks, trying to get a little laugh from the– real might he add – name and it works a bit, Ran hiding a small giggle that slipped out with a cough.

“Sir Robertington The- The Thirty-second? What kind of name even is that?” Ran finally gets out. “I- I don’t even know what to say to that.”

It’s a good name! And most definitely the snails, which you can not convince me otherwise. If you refuse the name I will fight you,” he threatens, fully ready to tackle Ran if it came down to protect the snail’s honour. He notices Ran looking a little worried but he laughs, and they must be wearing make-up or something because Tubbo thinks he sees some glitter. Not to mention they’re a teenager without bags under their eyes. Unheard of. “Don’t worry, it’s only if you refuse to call him his proper name.” 

Tubbo’s not too surprised when Ran starts arguing over whether or not the snail's name is Sir Robertington The Thirty-second or not but they end up looking very alarmed when Tubbo tackles them because of it. He doesn’t notice the flash in his eye when he crosses or the alliums previously separating them. Does notice Ran is about to fall over though. Yelps in surprise when they do, thought they would’ve caught themself since he’s used to tackling Tommy.

“Oww,” he whines, rolling off to the side and onto the grass. “Why didn’t you catch us? Tom usually does and he looks way weaker than you.”

“Wha- I didn’t-” Ran sighs. “I didn’t think you were going to tackle me right away. Plus it’s your fault for toppling us over,” they huff out, turning to pick up the crown Tubbo only just realized fell off their head.

“I told you I would if you argued with the snail’s name. And I almost never lie,” and that was true. He was known as one of the most honest people in the friend group. When he did lie, or well, not tell the truth , he usually was just joking around with one of his friends.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what did you do once you left?”
“Oh! I went and bothered Niki and took some of her pastries with Tommy, then Tom stole his glasses. Uhh… Oh, yeah! I also bullied Tommy this morning! Here lemme show you.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, opening the group chat and pushes himself up into a sitting position.

“Here, this is where it starts.”

-~=-=~-

They spend the better part of an hour sharing things, Ran looking through text messages on Tubbo’s phone for a good 15 minutes before he runs out of texts to show him. Next, they start looking around the woods for berries or something they can save for later, Ran says something about how he doesn’t want to leave the allium patch. He ends up forcing them out to their dismay, as they grumble about how he has to leave his “precious purple things behind”.

He drags them to the Oak tree saying he remembers there being a raspberry patch somewhere nearby. Ran insists there isn’t and that they would be closer to a river or source of water. They don’t end up finding one for a while. The reason they do being because Ran got sick of not finding any near the tree and drags them to some secluded spot by a bay.

“Oh, look. Blueberry bush. And there’s blackberries there too.”  Tubbo looks to where he’s pointing. Oh. My. Prime. There is no way they found these that fast! He thinks, gawking at the bushes.

“No. Mhmn, nope. No, no, no, no no no no . No .”

“Wha- No what? What are you even no-ing?”

“I’m no-ing the legitima… li-” he huffs, but this stupid word was not going to win, he simply refused. “The le-gi-ti-macy of you finding those bushes this fast. You, like– cheated or something. I don’t know.”

“How would I cheat? They’re bushes Tubbo, it’s not like I could move them somewhere,” he questions as they start walking towards the bushes.

“I mean, I’ve only known you for a day, for all I know you could be a wizard. Or some sort of evil villain that has the power to control plants,” Ran giggles a bit, spits out a quick “evil plant powers?” before he bursts out into another set of laughter. Tubbo grins and a stupid idea overtakes anything else in his brain. “You could have used your plant powers to put spores in my brain. Make me like you or some shit. Could be why I’m here right now!”

He pokes their arm as he says it and Ran blinks in surprise. “Why would I need to make you like me?! I am a delight all on my own, thank you very much.” “Sure, Ran. You are a delight.”

“I appreciate it, and choose to ignore the fact that some of that sounded sarcastic.” And Tubbo was already grinning ear to ear, but his smile widened a bit more. “I would never use sarcasm against one of my friends! Are you implying that I would, Ran?”

“Yes.”

-~=-=~-

They walk around the forest a bit more, each holding their own small pile of berries in their hands. Tubbo plopped one in his mouth and practically melted at the flavour. The berry was amazing, especially since it wasn’t store-bought. Was picked ripe instead of early. It bursts sweet flavour in his mouth as he chews, trying to figure out what they could do now. There hadn’t been any blueberries yet since they didn’t pop up until later in the year.

What Tubbo didn’t expect was for Ran to ask a question seemingly out of the blue.

“Sooo… Can I have– like… your legal name I guess? ’Cause you said Tubbo was a nickname right?” He pops the last of the berries into his mouth before he answers.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah! Tubbo’s my nickname. My real name is Toby.” This time isn’t like the alliums. He’s staring straight at him now; sees the way his eyes flash with something, gold curling over his grey eyes for a second. A dark feeling fills his chest as if he’s done something wrong. It won’t go away no matter what he does but none of what his brain spouts at him makes any sense. Keep saying shouldn’t have said that, don’t tell them already did, shouldn’t have, nothing you can do now, get it back, get it back, get it back get it back gET IT BACK GET IT- Get what back? He shoots back trying to figure out why he’s freaking out so much. Ran’s eyes were only a trick of the light… probably. The name, your name– his name? Doesn’t matter get it BACK! Me telling him my name doesn’t make him own it, what are you going on about?

“Hey uhm, Ran?” he startsand they hum in affirmation.”Yeah?”

“Why did you want to know my name?”

“I was curious from yesterday. And it’s nice to know the names of good people like you.”

“I guess that makes sense. Thanks for telling me.” Tubbo quickly checks his phone, queasy feeling still sitting solemnly in his chest. 

1:37 p.m.

“Shoot! I have to go, but see you soon.”

“Yeah… see you soon Tubbo. Will you come visit tomorrow?”

“Sorry I can’t, I’m gonna be busy. Hopefully, I can after that though!”

“Oh, alright. Do you promise?”

“Yeah, why not? I promise. See you later!”

And with that, Tubbo heads out of the woods, heart jack-hammering in his chest with worry he can’t place a reason on. His brain eating away at him as he tries to think on why it reacted that way. Whatever, it was fine. He could just let that part of the brain do what it wanted until it figured itself out.

He walks out of the forest, worry pricking at his skin that he’s trying to ignore. Ran’s staring behind him, berries still in hand but when Tubbo glances back they're gone and it sends a shiver down his spine.

Chapter Text

Ranboo walked around, looking for Aimsey so they could tell the phouka they weren’t able to help them and the brownies the next day since Tubbo promised to meet with them. Aimsey was usually in the shape of a hare but even when they looked more human there were usually still long ears poking out of their hair in front of a hat or a puff-ball tail poking out of their trousers. They’d been looking for Aimsey for the last hour because the forest was far too large to keep track of everyone in at once. 

They asked around, ending up talking to Fundy– another phouka who was more often seen wandering the woods with a human body and fox ears and a tail with some fluff on his nose– about where they went. 

“I think they went to Na Coillte Tiubh. Last I checked they were talking about how they found a good Elderberry bush. Could be somewhere near the waterfall.”

“I appreciate you telling me this, Fundy. I’ll talk to you again sometime later.” With that, Fundy dips his head and stalks away, chirping out his own goodbye as he leaves. They walk towards the deeper area of the forest where the trunks get thick enough that some trees are almost touching, moss growing up the side of large trunks that Ranboo moves around giving the brown trunks bright pops of green. 

While it is true some trees are close together some routes have quite a bit of room, the space getting wide enough to fit at least five Fáinne Sídhe depending on the size they make the rings or if it's made up of mushrooms or some larger flower. The area he’s in isn’t that large but it has a decent amount of room and as they walk they can start to hear the waterfall. 

Rocks and boulders pop up more the closer Ranboo gets, calls out before he gets too close to the waterfall and it eats their words under its loud babbling, “Aimsey?! You over here?” There isn’t a response so they keep walking, the woods opening up into a clearing with a pool a few meters away. A few stones sit pretty in the middle of the lake, lichen growing anywhere it can reach.

Three waterfalls each slip over an edge leading into the other until the last one hits the pool at the bottom. A small light blue-green coloured head pokes out of the water, dark eyes scanning him before quickly slipping back underneath the surface. Ranboo waits a moment until the water sprite pops her head up again her green kelp-like hair falling over her shoulders. “Hello Ran! I heard you calling for Aimsey, are you looking for them?” Alyssa asks.

“Yes, but I can’t find them anywhere. Fundy told me they might be picking berries near here but I haven’t seen them anywhere yet.” Ranboo sighs trying to figure out where else elderberries would grow in this part of the woods. 

“I’m sure you’ll find them. Besides, Aimsey walked past here a while ago so they're probably still nearby,” Alyssa tells him with a smile, looking behind her and pointing. “I think she was heading that way.”

“Alyssa you’re amazing, I appreciate it!” Ranboo says, running off in the direction she pointed. 

They find Aimsey sitting on a stone next to a large bush with clumps of round berries hanging off growing in front of a large boulder. As they step closer he notices them holding some, juice staining the sides of their mouth. The trees here are thinned out a bit more, almost enough to be considered a clearing with only a few trunks here and there. Flowers poke out of the ground and in between tall stalks of grass that go up to their knees. Aimsey hadn’t seemed to notice him yet though and Ranboo suddenly got a very great, and very impulsive idea.

They move around Aimsey, making sure their backs to him and they don’t notice before silently running behind the rock. They found a good rock to climb up the boulder with, jumping the few feet it still had on him as they grabbed the ledge, pulling themself up. Grinning like a mad man they glace down at Aimsey eating the berries and called down, “ Aimsey !” 

They glance up, eyes widening as they spot him sitting on the boulder. “Ran, what are you doing up there? Get down, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

Flashing his fangs in a way to confident smile from where they stand, he calls down a light, “Aimsey, catch me!” before they’re jumping off. The boulder is a good few feet taller than him, probably around 10 feet tall so he really shouldn’t have jumped, but it’s worth it seeing the way the phouka’s eyes blow wide, watches them scramble to do something. They’re very clearly conflicted about catching him or just letting them hit the ground, knowing it won’t hurt too much. 

Luckily, the decision is made for them because gravity waits for no one, not even fae. Ranboo lands on top of them with an oof- , Aimsey making the same noise, struggling to breathe through muffled laughs and Ranboo draped over them. They attempt to shove him off, giggles slipping out where they’re trying to stifle them.

“You are an idiot Ran. I’m surprised you’ve even become a prince in the first place,” they sniff out after finally shoving him off.

“Good thing my job is literally what I did before I was crowned then, unlike the human rulers or whatever.”

“Ha! If we lived with humans and you made it that far everyone would be in trouble. You’d probably make some dumb rule on how we must all get those permanent ink things on our forehead with what we call you.” Aimsey jokes staring up at the clouds, popping some berries in their mouth which surprisingly weren’t squished.

“Most definitely, but you’d have to get it everywhere.” He says, staring up at the sky as well. “Anyway, I can’t help with how the brownies made too much food. I promised to meet with someone. Apologies for any inconvenience.”

“Oh, yeah sure! No problem, that’s just more food for me. Who’d you promise?” They question, brushing off the whole brownie issue that had popped up.

“It was some human the forest brought in, not really sure why but Fundy said something about how the woods wouldn’t let him leave until I showed up and talked to him. I think he might not realize I’m a fae though because he just handed over his name.”

“Ran, we both know almost all humans think we’re just fairytale creatures made up to scare children so they don’t go running off into the forest alone. Charlie only knew not to give up his name immediately because he’s not one of them.” Ranboo blinks, not thinking they’d bring him up but it makes sense since he’s the only human to come into the forest and know about the whole name thing for a while. Almost longer than Ranboo can even remember, and that’s saying something.

“Well, yeah. I know that. It’s just weird the forest would bring someone in that seems like everyone else out there. I think I’ll keep him anyways, just in case, but I don't see any reason to.” He sighs, because yeah, he knows it‘s more common than not for people nowadays not to know about the whole name-taking concept but the forest barely ever lets those people in. Ranboo can’t even remember the faces or names of the people the woods did allow to get that far, can’t think back on which fae they talked to or how often those people visited. Maybe they never left, are just walking around with sharp teeth and silver tounges or they're all lying decomposed under soil . The thought is hazy at best, like looking through thick fog, but it’s still there, floats lazy and thick in his mind. 

“Maybe he is special and we just can’t see it yet.” The forest seems to hum in acknowledgement at that, soft breezee trotting through leaves and making flowers dance as if the universe is telling them yes someone different something special not quite like others but they don’t notice. How would they? It’s gone as quickly as it came, the two fae sitting quiet under the forest as they miss the subtle signal from the world, leaving the two in comfortable silence questioning a boy who seems perfectly normal for a human. The universe waits to see if they’ll notice what's different about him when they don’t view him as normal anymore.

…

…

…

ᔑリ↸  ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ  ⚍リ╎⍊ᒷ∷ᓭᒷ  ᓭ╎ℸ ̣ ᓭ  ᑑ⚍ᒷᓭℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ╎リ⊣  ℸ ̣ 𝙹𝙹,

𝙹リᒷ  ⍑⚍リ↸∷ᒷ↸  ᒷ||ᒷᓭ  ꖎ𝙹𝙹ꖌ╎リ⊣  ↸𝙹∴リ  ᔑℸ ̣   ᔑ  ℸ ̣ ╎ᒲᒷꖎ╎リᒷ  リ𝙹ℸ ̣   ||ᒷℸ ̣   ᓵ𝙹ᒲ!¡ꖎᒷℸ ̣ ᒷ.

⏚⎍⏁ ⏁⊑⟒ ⌇⏁⏃⍀⌇ ☍⋏⟒⍙ ⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⍙⏃⌇, ⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⟟⌇, ⏃⋏⎅ ⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⏚⟒,

⍙⊑⟟⌰⟒ ⏁⊑⟒ ⎎⍜⍀⟒⌇⏁ ⊑⏃⎅ ⊑⟒⏃⍀⎅ ⏃⌰⌰ ⏁⊑⟒⟟⍀ ⌇⟒☊⍀⟒⏁⌇,

⏃⌇ ⏁⊑⟒⊬'⎅ ⌇⌿⟟⌰⏁ ⌿⍜⟒⏁⟟☊ ⍙⍜⍀⎅⌇ ⏁⍜ ⏁⊑⟒ ⎎⌰⍜⍜⍀⌇ ⍜⎎ ⎅⟟⍀⏁ ⏃⋏⎅ ⌇⍜⟟⌰.

ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ  ∴ᔑℸ ̣ ᓵ⍑ᒷ∷ᓭ,

ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ  ∴∷╎ℸ ̣ ᒷ∷ᓭ,

ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ  ᒲᒷᓭᓭᒷリ⊣ᒷ∷ᓭ.

Chapter Text

Tubbo woke up early again. He knows that’s probably a good thing but he doesn’t really care right now because he has decided he is mad about that. Or, grumpy is likely a better word. He just doesn’t understand why his brain insist on him waking up early! It’s actually, genuinely, really, really, fucking stupid in his opinion.

Of course he still needs needs to get up eventually but just, like- five more minutes? Like, it’s not even fair since there are others sleeping in right now. Besides, then he’ll get up and get ready and meet with Ran. Yep. Five more minutes. That’s it.

-~=-=~-

Tubbo glances up at the time seeing an hour and a half has past and groans. He is still tired as fuck but he really needs to get up now. It is currently 9:47 and he hasn’t even tried to get out of bed yet. He is so glad it’s summer break because if it wasn’t then he would be dead by now if it wasn’t. He’s just going to wait for an even number because there isn’t really a reason not to right? Nothing wrong could ever happen.

Tubbo almost falls asleep four more times within three minutes which is not very good. Pulling the covers off of himself he crawls out of bed and stumbles to his dresser to grab clothing. Once he’s changed he walks to his kitchen, grabbing some bread and shoving it into the toaster. It pops out a few minutes later and he starts eating.

Tubbo opens his phone and scrolls through Twitter for a bit before flicking off his phone and putting on his shoes. He walks out the door an starts walking.

=~-~=

“Tubbo, no- stop. We can talk about this,” Ranboo is saying slowly backing up from a very dangerous looking Tubbo who just grins like a madman. Ranboo gulps and Tubbo lunges, tackling them both to the ground.

Ranboo tries to twist away but can’t, involuntary giggles slipping out as he shakes “Tub- Tubbo- noo, sto- stop.” They try– pointlessly– to slip out of his grip again but to no avail so they decide to try another method. Twisting to face Tubbo again he starts trying to tickle him back, which he notices and tries to slap Ranboo’s hands away from him. Ranboo decides then that this is an act of war and he must win.

Trying to wriggle free again whilst still tickling Tubbo, Ranboo finally manages to slip free and crows in delight. Somehow, this does not deter Tubbo though and Ranboo decides to never say they think they can take Tubbo again. It was truly a mistake. One he is deeply sorrowful of and shall make sure to never make again. Maybe. Possibly. 

“Tubbo, look, I so, so, so , regret saying that! You could definitely beat me– a lot of people for, that matter– in a fight. Mhm, mhm. Yep.”

“Sorry, Ran. I couldn’t hear you over all this loud noise everywhere.” He sweaps a hand out towards few birds that aren’t making any chirps, all staying quiet and respectful. Ran furrows his brows in confusion. 

“There isn’t even any noise aside from you and m-” He cut off by having to dodge Tubbo trying to tackle him again. Slipping behind him quickly, they pick up the little gremlin. “Nope, not doing that again. You are degrounded. No more floors for you.”

Tubbo tries valiantly to kick him or struggle free, legs flying up and attempting to get at anything they can reach ass he shouts profanities. Ranboo chooses it’s best to hold him farther away, just in case.

They set Tubbo down when he calms down slightly quickly backing away in case he tries anything again. He doesn’t try tackling them again so that’s a win! (Ranboo is not going to mention he does try to kick them after the incident.) They spend the rest of the day running through the forest and chasing eachother. Ranboo decides he might like this human more than most of the others he’s seen, watching how he tries to climb up a tree which branches are far to high up, claiming it “challenged him”. Maybe they like this one just a bit more . 

=~-~=

Tubbo starts to walk back to his house once the sun starts to set, texting Tom on the way back and trying to decide what he wants for dinner. The visit with Ran was fun even though his brain continued to yell at him about how it was dangerous. He knew he should probably listen to his lie, instincts (?) but Tubbo didn’t notice anything strange with Ran.

They also seemed pretty friendly and promised to show him a patch of flowers next time he visited. They’d mainly messed around today, at one point chasing eachother around a small pond that was just wide enough that neither would be able to jump over. Tubbo definitely didn’t try to push Ran into it because he would never do that. Ever.

Anyway, today was fun! He finished explaining everything to Tommy around the time when he got home, opening the front door before walking in and taking off his shoes. Tubbo started to make food for himself, grabbing a ramen packet and boiling a couple eggs in a small pot. He decides to set up his laptop to watch Grey’s Anatomy while he eats. 

He should probably go shopping soon, but that was a problem for future Tubbo! And also the fact he had to go to work in about 10 hours and he knew he wasn’t falling asleep for at least another 3. He’s sure that was fine, and again! Problem for future him. Same with how his brain was certain something was weird about Ran.

He’s trying to avoid thinking about some of Ran’s weird behavior, especially since his brain gets very weird when he’s near him so watching a show seems like a great distraction! He goes to get his boiled eggs and ramen from where they had been cooking– he’d started the eggs first– and deshells the eggs after dipping them in cold water. 

Tubbo had decided to just shove boiling water and ramen in a small metal bowl since it worked just as well as a pot but what easier to clean and meant less dishes. Once he got all his food ready and added toppings he settled down on his couch and pressed play on the show. He gets up only to go to the bathroom and rinsing his dishes in the sink so he can do them in the morning before settling back down and– eventually– falling asleep.

Chapter Text

It was about three weeks since Tubbo tackled Ran. He’d been visiting the other teenager every few days, most of his other free time spent hanging out with Tommy, Jack, and Niki. He thinks his brian might finally be screwed on right since the thought of the other teen doesn’t send shivers up his spine anymore.

Tubbo had told Tommy he’d introduce him to Ran in a few days when none of them are busy with jobs or anything else. He asked Ran what his job was once and they had refused to tell him until Tubbo said what his was first. Of course, he did because Tubbo really wanted to know and it couldn’t really hurt to tell Ran he worked with electronics and mechanical pieces.

Ran simply told him that he worked to keep the deeper areas of the forest safe and healthy. It seemed cool enough and Ran loved talking about all the little animals he’s seen. At one point, on Tubbo’s eighth or ninth visit he watched a deer walk up to Ran and fucking bow. This seemed like some sort of animal hierarchy cult shit or whatever the fuck but when Tubbo was done being too confused to voice this thought Ran simply said animals held high respect for him. That probably explained why his clothing was so regal. 

It wasn’t until a month later that the tall bastard said they were a fae, which Tubbo disregarded as a joke. That was, until Ran got upset and proved it to him by straight up disappearing once they stepped back into their allium circle. That was fun. Yep.

Another thing Tubbo learned a few days after was that the talking fox “Fundy” was a real thing that actually happened. That was a very confusing week and he was still wrapping his head around it. When Ran said he helped the forest Tubbo hadn’t thought he meant he ruled it in some hierarchy that fae decided on.

It was still difficult to wrap his head around, don’t get him wrong, but after about a week and a half of seeing and noticing more and more… strange things Tubbo finally came to the conclusion he was either insane or there was a whole other world they didn’t know about living right next to them.

This all to say when he found out he gave his name to a literal fucking fae he might have freaked out a bit. Maybe. Ran had said that Tubbo would be safe when he was around though because “Something something forest brought you here something something, these words were probably important and should have been listened too more. Oops,” and Tubbo remembers something about how fairies couldn’t lie. So, this was totally fine. Mhm. 

Okay so he might still be a bit concerned about that. Anyway, it’s not like Ran had done anything with his name yet so it was fine. He didn’t exactly tell Tommy that Ran was a fae since he likely would have thought Tubbo’d gone crazy. 

What Tubbo had done instead was ask Ran if he could tell Tom that he had a thing with legal names and he should just tell him a nickname. They had agreed to that and when Tubbo brought it up with Tom he seemed fine with it. The meet up wasn’t for a few days though and Tubbo was currently sitting on the edge of the allium circle waiting for Ran to get done with what he was working on. 

They’d said it wouldn’t take too long but Tubbo had already weaved four flower crowns and was finishing the fifth one up. As soon as he'd started on the next one Ran appeared in the circle grinning with slightly pointed teeth. “Tubbo, I have something amazing to show you but only if I can get one of those!” He says making slight grabbing hands at one of the flower crowns.

“Uh, sure bossman. Why not?” Tubbo absentmindedly hands one over to Ran who’s grin widens as they sit it on their head which is missing the crown it had last time they’d used the flower circle. It’s going to take a while to show you what I want to but it’ll be worth it, I promise!”

“What are you going to show me anyways?” he asks out of curiosity but the teen simply shrugs. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

-~=-=~-

Tubbo did not expect to wait this long.

-~=-=~-

“Ran it’s been hours and while I like spending time with you the sun’s about to set and I should get back to my dorm soon.” Tubbo complains, thinking he has to remind Ran that time works a bit different for humans and they need to do other things before it gets dark usually. Ran simply shushes at Tubbo.

“We need it dark for the surprise to work. It’s almost time, don’t worry. It’ll be about one more, uhm… hour? Yeah one more hour ‘till the surprise happens.” Ran tells him as if this was planned beforehand and the flower crown was only an excuse to do this. To be fair, it probably was. Fae had some sort of debt thing going on so even if Tubbo didn’t see this as debt Ran probably would.

“Fine, I’ll stay until the sun sets. But this better be super cool.”

“It will be! Trust me you’ll love it”

“Mk, I’ll trust you on this one Bossman.”

-~=-=~-

The sun goes down and Tubbo follows Ran back to the allium circle, stopping as Ran steps inside and glances back at him. He looks up at him dubiously remembering all the times the internet had yapped about not going in circles or giving Fae names. He had already messed that up on several occasions but it wasn’t like he planned on continuing that. 

“It’s fine Tubbo. None of the fairies or creatures will hurt or trap you in the fae realm if you come through for tonight. I’ll make sure of it.” Then, almost as an afterthought they add “I won’t either, and I’ll make sure they don’t try stealing your name or anything.”

“Do you promise?”

It’s a simple question, but Tubbo knows it’s a bit more complicated for the fae than just saying yes because it would mean making a promise they could never break. 

But Ran’s speaking, making a promise despite knowing that.

It’s still carefully worded of course. Even if Tubbo and him are considered friends by most the other fae aren’t and he knows Ran might not think of them near the level of friendship since he’s been alive for so long. Tubbo at least thinks he’s been alive for a while. It’s kind of difficult to tell.

“Of course, I promise no one will try to mess with you or steal your name while in the fae realm tonight, and if they do, I’ll handle it and you’ll get back anything they may have taken from you if you ask me to. And I promise to tell you if they take anything from you that you wouldn’t notice.”

With that, Tubbo steps over the allium circle for the second time ever, and grabs Ran’s hand, letting him teleport them into the fae world. It feels a bit strange. Like he’s in freefall but also floating? He didn’t really have a good way to explain it but when they pop out of the other side of realms he stumbles. 

Of course, he expects to see something different when he comes out, but the Fae world is a wonder. Colours are everywhere . Not just blotching the earth and leaves but the air itself seems to shimmer with gold and silver from time to time. It’s subtle, but still a wonder. 

Not to mention the greens on the leaves and everything else seems brighter. The scene looks like someone took the saturation and set it as high as they could with it still being somewhat believable. 

The next thing Tubbo notices is that almost everything is slowly starting to glow as it gets darker. He watches as a leaf goes from a bright green colour to teal with a soft glow emanating from it.

“Come on Tubbo, we’re going to miss it!” Ran says, excitement barely concealed in his voice as he starts backing towards a thicker patch of trees. “Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

-~=-=~-

“Are we there yet?”

“No? It’s barely even been a  few minutes hasn’t it?”

“It’s been five.”

“Oh.”

-~=-=~-

Ran has him close his eyes before he can see the surprise. The forest had gotten pretty dence but was thinning out when he was instructed to stop looking and cover his eyes. By that point it seemed like half the things in the forest were growing aside from the bark on trees and the floor beneath their feet.

“Are we there now?”

“Okay, if you ask that again I might actually try to punt you but yes.”

“So I can open my eyes?”

“Not yet, but almost! Stay here for a bit.” Before Ran’s sentence is even finished he hears him run off. Curiosity pricks at Tubbo’s skin, and while he usually doesn’t like surprises he really wanted to know what this was and Ran wouldn’t just tell him.

He hears footsteps coming towards him from where Ran had gone off to and feels someone grab his wrist and start walking him somewhere again.
“Ran, where are we going?” He questions trying to remember the path that they had walked to get here. He can hear a river quietly babbling somewhere to his left but he can’t figure out how close it is.

“You’ll see in a moment.”

“Okay open your eyes.”

Tubbo blinks, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the now bright display before him but the lights keep dancing across his vision in tiny blurs, blues, indigos, and cornflower moving across the clearing. It doesn’t hit him immediately that they are bugs. Not until something lands on his nose.

He blinks, staring down at the firefly glowing a purplish blue instead of their its orange. It flies off his nose a moment later, getting lost in the millions of glowing insects. It’s not just the fireflies though.

There are moths with orange inner wings and black spots on their inner wings, the outer wings glowing in a striped pattern with white trailing inbetween the patches. The head is read trailing into a dark thorax and orange abdomen.They all fly around the open space, a river cutting through the edge of the forest to his left and trailing all the way to the other side. More bugs are over there, crawling over moss and glowing lichen.

Tubbo looks over at Ran, who has been standing next to him quietly as he took it all in. All sorts of insects fly around them, a few trying to land on the back of their hand.

“It’s so pretty,” he hushes, tracking a brown moth that has feathery antennae lit up.

“I know. That’s why I showed it to you.”

As they walk back tubbo notices some of the animals have patches of fur or feathers that glow as well. Long-eared owls have any parts that would be white glow a faint yellow, the pine marten they pass that watches them– well it watches Ran– has the spot on its chest that’s usually white and orange spreads teal light over bushes and leaves, the edges of its chest a light green while the inside is a deep blue.
Other animals have spots that glow too. They walk by plenty of nocturnal animals that came out later after the sun set. When they finally made it back to the ring Tubbo waved goodbye to Ran and headed home to get some rest, crashing on the couch before he had even gotten into pjs. 

Chapter Text

About a month ago

Ranboo’s point of view:

Everything in the forest was doing great today from what Ranboo could tell. Most of the fae were already done with their work for the day and the phouka and kitsune were just finishing up checking on the forest’s animals. Fundy and Aimsey were making sure they didn’t miss any since they both were the highest ranked in their groups and then were going to come back and give him the news on their food sources.

Ranboo was about to go find them since it seemed to be taking a little longer than usual but then they felt the forest shift. It happened in deeper parts of the woods every few years but this change feels different. It almost feels like- No. That can’t be it they decide because that’s only happened a few times and it's too recent for it to happen again. 

They’ll check to see if the shift was anything important but it probably wasn’t. It could have just been one of the older trees falling over into another one.

-~=-=~-

Ranboo stands inside the ring a little dumbfounded at the sight in front of them. Fundy had climbed up a tree when he’d seen them– probably trying to be at eye level– and there’s a human sitting on the ground with a vine slowly wrapping itself around his ankle. Ranboo is no expert on humans but he’s pretty sure they shouldn’t be breathing that fast. They’re trying to remember how humans calm each other down because the last thing he wants is one of them having a mental breakdown in their forest.

 It still hasn’t seen him yet so they decide to take a step closer, a small smile on his face that hopefully doesn’t look too awkward. Small sticks and leaves crunch under his shoes and he pauses as the human looks up. For a moment he looks relieved but it turns back to fear in less than a second.

Ranboo is completely out of his zone with this. Hasn’t talked to a human in a while, so he opts for the best choice he can think of right now. Instead of trying to calm down whoever this is with words he decides to just use a bit of magic. They make sure the human’s memory of this will be fuzzy, doesn’t want him running off back to its city and spreading news that there’s deeper in the woods.

“Are you still scared?” They ask since it doesn’t hurt to double-check. The boy sitting in front of him is quiet for a bit longer than what they believe is normal. He seems to realize this too and slowly shakes his head. Now that Ranboo’s thinking about it they still don’t know why he’s here. Blinking in confusion they look over at Fundy.

“Fundy did you bring him here? You aren’t supposed to mess with humans.” The anymore goes unsaid between them, both of them still remember what happened last time and no one in the forest wants a repeat.

“Of course not! The Forest won’t let him leave though. I think it wanted you to meet him or something because I watched him try to walk back. The branches kept getting in his way.” Fundy responds, glancing over at the human quickly enough that Ranboo barely notices. 

“The Forest hasn’t brought anyone in this deep in centuries. Why would it now?” Ranboo tries sending a message to one of the trees nearby but it only responds by lazily shaking its leaves, causing a few to float off.

“I don’t know, I can ask the ents when we get back though. They’re better at talking to the woods than me.”

“Alright, you should start to head back. I’ll catch up in a moment. I want to ask him something first.” Fundy starts to climb down the tree, getting halfway down before jumping the rest of the way and doing a brief bow before he bounds back to his own circle.

Ranboo watches as the person across from them as he tries to stand up, realizes there’s a vine wrapped around his ankle and struggles with it for a few moments. In the end, he doesn’t end up getting it off and ends up standing awkwardly as Ranbbo shuffles. Ranboo’s hit with a great idea then– or well, they think it’s a great idea. Since the Forest led in this human it couldn’t hurt to get his name, right?

Which is ultimately why he decides to ask for it. Which does not go as well as he hoped it would.

“Can I have your name?” They watch as the question alone seems to tip the human off. Thinks for half a second that maybe the human knows they’re a fae. It isn’t long before he answers though, messing with the cuff of his sweater sleeve as he responds a bit nervous, “Uhm, my friends call me Tubbo?”

It sounds like he’s asking a question and Ranboo’s fine with that but Tubbo hadn’t actually given him their name. It’s fine though since he can just try again. He’s about to but Tubbo repeats what he said in a voice that doesn’t sound like a question.

“I meant, like, my nickname’s Tubbo so you can call me that if you want. What about you, what’s your name?” Ranboo would have ignored the question if he could but he has a feeling that Tubbo wouldn’t answer any more of theirs if he did, and he already asked him one so it was only fair that they answer one of his. 

“You may call me Ranboo,” they’re about to ask for Tubbo’s real name but the human jumps in before he can. “Nice to meet you, Ranboo! Why are you dressed like that?” That was definitely not what they expected. Doesn’t even know how to answer that because these were pretty normal clothes the last time he checked. At least for people of high status.

“Wha- It looks nice. Besides, just look at what you are wearing,” they respond glancing down at Tubbo’s green shirt that skips a button near the bottom. “Normal clothes?” The other boy responds glancing down at his own outfit with a small frown on his face and then- “Oh, wait I skipped a button again. I guess almost normal clothes then.”

Ranboo honestly has no clue what’s so special about this boy that the forest would decide to bring him into the forest. Stares at the boy a bit lost for words because what’s he supposed to say now? He could ask the boy for his actual name but that might make him suspicious of something since they’ve stopped talking about that now. It’s not like he’s going to be leaving anytime soon either so… Ranboo doesn’t really know what else to do. The vine untangled itself a few minutes after he stopped messing with it but he doesn’t think Tubbo’s noticed that yet.

“What were you and the, uhm– fox? Yeah, fox– talking about back there?” Tubbo asks them looking out of his comfort zone as well. Ranboo doesn’t really want to talk about the s í dhe with some random person for free but the only thing that the boy could have of use is himself. Not to mention if it was really the forest that took the boy they don’t want to upset it at all by forcing Tubbo to give them his real name.

“What do I get if I tell you?” Can’t hurt much to tell one human, can it? Especially a younger one. The adults rarely took younger humans' words to heart.

“Weren’t you talking about me anyway? I should know what you said about me.” Ranboo shoots him an unimpressed look at that reasoning, can tell they both know that isn’t going to work.

“Alright, alright fine. Uhh, I have a Kinder Joy and three pence?” Ranboo perks up a bit, doesn’t really know what a Kinder Joy is but Tubbo said it in a special sort of way that people describe treasure with. He walks forward and sits down at the edge of their circle. Tubbo comes closer as well, seeming to notice that the vines stopped holding onto his leg like its life depends on it and sits down across from him.

“I’ll give you half the stuff here now and then give you the rest once you help me understand what is going on.” Ranboo’s okay with that but he doesn’t really want to have to explain it all right now. And this stuff doesn’t look like it’s worth nearly enough for information on the  He does still want all the stuff though…

“What if you meet me back here again tomorrow, and I get that.” They look across at Tubbo hopefully and then realize that he probably has his mind fighting itself with how much worry and confusion just started rolling off him. Ranboo already used some of their magic directly on them earlier and while that worked Tubbo looked half asleep. Which leads Ranboo to his next problem because he wants this to be a fair deal and if Tubbo’s half asleep he won’t be thinking straight. 

Without much other option, he starts humming. It takes a few minutes until Tubbo’s completely calmed down and Ranboo watches him stifle a yawn. Oops, must have sung a bit too much. They look at Tubbo reminded that he shouldn’t actually be this deep in the forest, and Ranboo shouldn’t be talking to him because he’s a human and now there are rules but the forest brought him here. Surely if the forest brought him here he could come back again? Ranboo only needs to keep him here long enough to figure out why Tubbo was brought here in the first place.

“Deal. Okay, so first question. Why the fuck was there a talking fox?”

So Ranboo starts explaining everything to Tubbo who looks more than confused and tries to clear up any information that needs to be for other things to make sense. He goes into more detail than he should after he remembers that he had made it so Tubbo would forget most of this anyway, or it would at least be fuzzy until he got close to the circle. So they sit there as Ranboo talks and Tubbo listens, occasionally asking questions until Tubbo finally understand most of it and leaves.

Chapter Text

200+ Years ago

Ranboo POV

-≈=-=≈-

Ranboo goes out to where he met charlie the other day. It was a bit strange to think that someone was likely going to be coming to these woods every so often, but it would be a welcome change to the boring repition that they faced every day. 

They glanced around the ring before steping through the portal and into the other realm, immediatly being greeted by a droopy green face. 

"Hello Ranboo! How are you today?" Charlie exlaimed, far too loud in the quiet of the woods.

"Hi Charlie, I'm doing alright. What about you?" Their response wasn't the most regal in the world but Charlie didn't seem to care, and as long as Ranboo wasn't out right rude none of the other fae would blink twice.

"I'm doing just fine! Mother Slime gave me a gift yesterday after I returned from my adventures!" The sentient slime immediatly pulled out his treasure. It was wrapped in cloth, covered in a green jello-like substance which seemed to absorb into it. When he opened the cloth there was a perfect piece of polished amber sitting in the center, attached to a brown string with a rose gold clasp on the other end. It was clearly a necklace but he wasn't actively wearing it or making any attempts to put it on.

"It looks very pretty, Charlie. Do you have any idea what you want to do with it?" They questioned, still staring at the beautiful gem sitting in Charlie's... hands? Hands.

"Nope! But I'll figure it out eventually! Mother slime wants me back a bit early today so I can't stay long but I'm taking suggestions for what I could do during resting season."

"Resting season?" Ranboo questions, not quiet understanding whatever... that's supposed to mean.

"You know! When all the aimals and plants decide to sleep. Resting season!"

Winter. Or fall, but Charlie was probably mainly talking about winter. 

"I mean, if it snows I hear that humans make these things... snowmen if I'm not mistaken? You could try making one of those as long as you make sure you're not going to freeze."

"Oh! Yeah, I heard about those when some hu-mans walk close by to Mother Slime. She's always complaining about how loud they are." Charlie explains, overenunciating the word human as if he was trying to remember how to say it. For all Ranboo knew he could have been.

"So, you know what you want to do then?" They grin their too-sharp teeth at Charlie who simply smiles back with a face that looks like it's melting.

"Now I do! I might still have to figure out what a snowball fight is though because I've heard hu-mans say those are fun. Also, aparently there's this new business starting up soon. It's gonna be this casino down a few miles from where Mother Slime is currently situated, so she wants me to go over there and makes friends with the old guy that will own it..." 

They both sit and talk about new things happening for a while longer. Most of it consisting of Charlie talking about the new casino since the forest barely has anything new. It probably won't have anything more interesting in it than the fae living there or Charlie for a long time, but Ranboo can find it in himself to accept that. They enjoy the stability anyways.