Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock,

The long hand of the clock ticked over a space, another minute gone.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock,

Ranboo sighed and rolled over in his bed. The clock kept ticking, like it always did. He was tired of lying around. He was tired of doing nothing. He was tired .

Tick, tock, tick, tock,

Ranboo’s eyes slipped shut.

  Brring!

Ranboo opened his eyes. The clock rang out quietly, signaling the start of another hour, or rather the end of the last one. It sounded oh so loud in his ears. He slowly turned over, glancing over at the clock hanging on the wall opposite of his bed. He noticed along with the clock hand being stationed on 5, that the sun was no longer shining in through his windows, though it would be again soon.

The boy sighed, rolling onto his back to stare at his dull white ceiling, lit up only by the light creeping in from the hall.

Tick, tock, tick,

Ranboo got up. 

He dropped his legs off the bed, feet touching the ground and tingling at the contact with the fluffy carpet. He hadn’t been out of bed in a while. 

The boy forced his weight off the bed, gripping the side of the end table as the world swayed around him. He didn’t want to sit around anymore. He wanted to do something. He wanted to be alive .

Ranboo moved his hand up to the wall, using it to keep him steady as he slowly made his way to the door. He pulled open the door, soft light pooling in from the hall and lighting up the front of his room. It was only a lamp. The rest of the hall was relatively dark. 

The boy walked past it, making his way down to the stairs. He paused at the mirror hanging on the wall, turning to see his own purple eyes glowing softly back at him. He blinked and kept walking. 

Ranboo made it to the stairs, looking down them with a grimace. He grasped onto the railing and carefully lowered himself down the first step. Then the next. Then the next. The world swayed again for a moment, but before he knew it he was on the ground floor. 

The boy took a deep breath, leaning against the post at the end of the steps, inhaling and exhaling as he looked around the room he hadn’t been in in so long. The sun was beginning to rise outside, soft orange light bathing the room in a glow and casting shadows behind the flower vases. Had it really taken him so long to get down here?

Ranboo shakily let go of the post, making his way slowly towards the door. It had been so long since he’d been outside. He loved it, the fresh air, the clouds, fog, the moon, all the flowers . He missed the garden, he used to go out there all the time, he didn’t know why he stopped.

He reached out, finding his hand shaking less as he grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. The boy winced, holding an arm up over his eyes as sunlight flooded his face. He slowly lowered his arm, letting out a gasp as his eyes widened at the sight of what was once his garden. Lilac color flowers sprawled across the land for as far as the eye could see, and Ranboo’s house was merely an island within the sea of petals.

Chapter Text

Ranboo absently stepped forward, bare feet sinking into the soft petals all around. He took another step, and another, then suddenly there was nothing beneath the flowers anymore and he fell. Everything fell.

The boy shrieked, tumbling down past the petals as everything above gave way. His fear turned to awe as he watched every little flower fall down around him like raindrops in the storms he’d watch from his window. Beautiful, lilac colored rain lit up by the bright shine of the sun, it was mesmerizing enough to distract him from the fact that he was falling.

The realization hit him like a punch to the gut and he frantically maneuvered around to see what he’d be falling onto. 

Water.

Ranboo hated water. 

The boy gasped, hitting the water with a loud splash and falling deep beneath the surface. It was so dark, and it was so cold. Yet it burned, feeling like millions of tiny needles driving into his skin all at once. He kept sinking, and sinking, and sinking, then all of a sudden he was falling again. The water remained stagnant above him as he plummeted to the ground below, freezing and soaked from the water.

What was going on ?

Everything was dark. Ranboo didn’t know why, but it was. He didn’t remember what happened after he fell. The boy forced his eyes open, met with the sight of the stars. Ranboo blinked slowly, forcing himself to sit up. He blinked lazily, yawning and stretching out before taking in his surroundings. It was very empty. A vast expanse of nothing besides pale beige stone.

He looked down at himself, more surprised by the bed of flowers he was sitting in than the fact that his limbs were longer and shaded black. He pushed himself to his feet, brushing flower petals off his clothes and looking around again. There really was nothing out there. 

So, having nothing else to do, Ranboo walked.

And walked.

And walked.

And walked.

At one point he had closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them he was on the ground again, in another bed or flowers. He pushed himself back to his feet, looking around in confusion. Had he gone back? Or was this another pile or flowers? Ranboo walked. 

And walked. 

And walked.

Then he blinked, and he was on the ground again. Ranboo inhaled sharply, quickly getting to his feet and nearly falling over as he looked around frantically. Ranboo ran. 

And ran. 

And ran.

Then he blinked. He was on the ground again. Ranboo screamed. And Ranboo ran.

Again. He was laying in flowers. Ranboo ran .

He fell to the ground, tripping over his own feet in his rush to get away , only to open his eyes to the sky again. Ranboo screamed, curling in on himself and gripping his hair. What if he was here forever? Would he ever get away? Could he get away?

Ranboo’s body shook as he pulled in desperate shaky breaths, trying to think of a way out. He was now realizing just how windy it was here; harsh and cold against any exposed skin and so loud .

Then it stopped.

“ There you are! Damn, I’ve been looking for you everywhere,”

Ranboo slowly removed his hands from his hair, turning to see a tall blond boy leaning over him.

“Hi,” He grinned.

Ranboo blinked. The boy was still there, and had sharp teeth and a devil horn headband to boot. Odd style choice, in Ranboo’s opinion. “Hello?”

“Ah, so you do speak. Come on, get off the ground. I doubt you wanna stick around here any longer, yeh?” He said, grabbing Ranboo’s wrist and pulling him up with a grunt.

“Wha- We can leave? How?! I’ve been trying to find a way out of here for- for… I don’t know, but I think it’s been a while?” Ranboo trailed off, looking around for any sign of the sun or moon to tell the time, but there were only stars. 

“You’re doin’ it all wrong, stupid. Tell me, where do you want to go?” The blond asked, leaning up on his tiptoes to try and match Ranboo’s oddly tall height. 

“I… I dunno. I want to go away from here,” Ranboo answered. Then he got smacked in the head. “Ow! What was that for?!”

“You need to figure out where you want to go! You can’t just not wanna be here , idiot, c’mon!”

Ranboo sighed, rubbing his head. Where did he want to go? “... Well, I’ve always wanted to walk through a forest,” He decided, glancing back at the boy.

The blond grinned, wide and sharp, “There you go,” And trees began to shoot up from the ground.

Chapter Text

Oh the forest was beautiful . Ranboo had never truly been to one. Once, when his parents and him had headed up to some lodge and waterpark for vacation, they had driven through a forest. But that was on a road, with the trees and wildlife far out of reach. Here he was a part of it .

“Heh, enjoying yourself?” The blond boy asked with a snort.

Ranboo turned to him, eyes wide and full of awe, “Yes. This is amazing,”

“Well that’s good, hope you’re having fun. But come on, we can walk through the woods on the way to our next destination,” He said, waving a hand as he began wandering off in a random direction.

Ranboo blinked in confusion and followed, “Where is our next destination? And come to think of it, who are you ?”

The blond chuckled, “I’m Tommy, and I’ll be your new best friend for the duration of this trip. Don’t do anything to make me regret saying that. After all, I am older and thus responsible for you,”

Ranboo scoffed, a smile spreading across his lips, “No way you’re older than me. You look like, twelve,”

Tommy gasped, turning around to face him with a look on his face like he’d just been told the most vile insult in his life, “I am way older than you! I’m probably like, hundreds of years older! Ha! You’re so young that- that you’re probably born in the future! Yeah! You don’t even exist yet, not even as a baby! Your parents haven’t even made you yet! And I am so much older than you that I’m an adult man. The biggest man!”

Ranboo grinned, “So what you’re saying is that you’re old ?”

Tommy froze, brain doing a mental backflip as he processed what was said. Ranboo could practically hear the broken fax machine sound effect. “... HEY-!”

Ranboo burst out laughing and took off through the trees, a furious blond boy hot on his tail. Ranboo weaved around the large trunks and around bushes, damp grass and ferns tickling his legs and feet. The wind in his face and the smell of the woods made him feel alive . But that was all brought to a quick stop when he noticed the chunk of forest in front of him was considerably darker despite being just the same as everywhere else.

He slowed to a stop, feeling slightly uneasy by the darkness, but he was roughly shoved out of his confusion when Tommy crashed into him from behind. “HA! Gotcha!”

Ranboo was sent to the ground with a thud and the weight of a noodly blond boy on his back was less than pleasant, but he had more important things to worry about. “Why’s it so… dark, up ahead?” He asked quietly, as if something would hear him.

Tommy looked up, wiggling off of Ranboo and getting to his feet, “Huh, dunno. Probably nothing important though. Everywhere has to have a dark place, just like in the furthest reaches of your mind, oOoO,” He said eerily, a wide grin on his face as he walked backward into the darker woods.

Ranboo sighed and rolled his eyes, reluctantly following after him. The forest didn’t seem all that different, though it got considerably colder upon entering the darker area. He trailed along as Tommy skipped ahead, rambling nonsense that the taller didn’t care to listen to. 

It was still rather peaceful, despite the chilling temperature and gloomy atmosphere. But there was something off . Ranboo couldn’t figure out what it was. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary. Honestly, nothing was really making any noise at all, beside Tommy and their steps crunching pine needles beneath them. It was deathly quiet.

Ranboo paused, a chill running down his spine accompanied by the nauseating sense that something was watching him. He turned to his left, eyes widening as he locked eyes with a tall, lanky, stark white being, lips stretched wide in a toothy smile and eyes of pure darkness staring back at him. 

The boy’s breathing sped up, coming in as fearful wheezes. Tommy seemed to have noticed that Ranboo was no longer behind him, because after a moment there was a hand grabbing onto his. “Ignore that…” He mumbled quietly, sounding more sad and calming than worried. “Just ignore it, it’s fine,” He assured, gently pulling Ranboo along through the trees.

Ranboo stared at the thing for as long as it was in his line of sight, trembling slightly and not daring to blink. When he finally did, the trees were gone, and they were in a town. It was dark, moon shining overhead and bright white street lights flickering along the street. Whatever it was, though, was gone.

Chapter Text

Ranboo shook off the sickly feeling that had taken over him after seeing the thing , and instead tried to focus on exploring the town with Tommy. Everything was abandoned, completely empty, but by now Ranboo had chosen to ignore the oddness of these places. 

Tommy led him to a skate park, which just so happened to have two skateboards sitting along by the ramps. One red one that Ranboo was pretty sure said BAKER on it and was, frankly, a bit small, then another black and white checkered one. 

The blond ran over and immediately tripped down into the bowl. He emerged, missing a tooth and holding it up like a trophy, “MY FIRST SCAR !”

“I don’t think that counts as a scar-” Ranboo pointed out, only to have the tooth chucked at him. Disgusting . 

“Watch, I’m the best skater in the world. I am epic .” He declared, getting on his board. And by ‘getting on his board’ Ranboo didn’t mean standing on it, no, Tommy sat down and started scooting himself along with his feet. Then he got too close to the bowl again and started rolling down it, and the utter fear on his face was enough to make Ranboo double over and laugh like he hadn’t in years.

He expected to see Tommy glaring at him when he managed to catch his breath, and he was, but there seemed to be a smile underneath that, like he knew Ranboo hadn’t laughed in a while and was glad to see it. 

“Well if you’re so great why don’t you try?!” Tommy exclaimed, grabbing his board and climbing out of the bowl.

Ranboo chuckled, “I never said I was great, but I’ll try,”

Ranboo was not great, but he was a lot better than Tommy. It was pretty fun too, and he was really starting to get the hang of it when Tommy declared that they needed, quote , ‘sustenance’!

He led Ranboo down the street but quickly got distracted by something, staring off with a confused expression on his face, which Ranboo would like to note was leaning more towards eyebrows-furrowed-contemplation than innocent-childlike-confusion. Then, of course to make things even weirder, Tommy disappeared. He just seemed to evaporate, wisps of what he was blown away in the wind.

Ranboo stood there, dumbfounded, and completely alone . Again. And without the loud and boisterous blond around keeping him company, the dark street with its flickering lights and empty buildings suddenly seemed a lot more frightening. 

Slowly, he pushed himself forward, thinking it was better to keep moving than to stand silently in the street. Each step of his bare feet against the asphalt sounded terribly alike to a clock ticking. 

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock,

He inhaled deeply, looking down at himself to see a dull blue nightdress and sickly pale legs and feet. He blinked, and his skin was dark again. 

He kept walking.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock,

A light flickered out behind him.

Tick, tock, tick, tock,

The only light left on was above him.

Ranboo raked in a stuttering breath. The shadows seemed to stretch and warp in the corners and alleys, stretching out across the street for him -

“Oi! Ranboy!”

The lights flickered back on one by one, illuminating Tommy’s path as he walked along beneath them, as if he was the one restoring their light, “What’re you doing?” He asked loudly, despite not being too far away at this point.

Ranboo’s breathing had calmed, and he blinked a few times to assure himself that the boy was there. And he was, as well as another short boy who was clinging to the red pointed tail that Ranboo had somehow missed when taking in Tommy’s features. At least, he didn’t remember it being there. Maybe it was new? Nothing made sense here.

“This is Tubso,” Tommy introduced, gesturing grandly to the shorter blond. 

The boy glared at him, “It’s Tubbo ,”

“Yes yes, whatever you say,” Tommy huffed, waving a dismissive hand, “And this, my good pal, is Rainbow. I’m taking him to Pixie Hollow,” Tommy said seriously, hands on his hips.

Ranboo stared at him, making almost the same face Tommy had earlier before he disappeared, “ What ?”

“Your name is Rainbow ?” Tubbo asked, mirroring his expression.

“Ah- No- Uhm, my name is Ranboo. Sorry, he’s… weird. I’m honestly not sure where the Pixie Hollow thing came from at all,” Ranboo clarified, glancing at Tommy in mild concern.

The blond scoffed. “ Because , look, Tubbo is clearly Tinkerbell, look at his blond hair! His big blue eyes! His odd choice of mostly green clothing!”

Ranboo tilted his head, confusion increasing, “If he’s Tinkerbell, why are you taking me to Pixie Hollow?”

Tommy faltered, finger raised in mid air as his brain rebooted again. Ranboo was mentally playing “ The number you have dialed is no longer in service, please check the number and try again, ” because that frankly seemed like the only sentence to fit the situation. Finally, Tommy spoke again.

“I dunno, you can’t be Terence so you’re some dumb human who needs to be taught to believe ,” He said dramatically as he arched his hands out above him, annoyance underlining his tone.

Ranboo blinked, “Who the hell is Terence?”

Tommy looked appalled . “Haven’t you ever watched the Tinkerbell movies?”

Ranboo shook his head.

Another gasp from the blond, “You heathen ! Can you believe this, Tubbo?” He exclaimed, turning to the shorter.

Tubbo shrugged, “I’ve only seen the second Peter Pan,”

Tommy clasped two hands over his heart, gasping so dramatically that Ranboo thought his lungs might explode from too much air, “You’re both despicable! But Tubbo , I trusted you! Only watching the sequel?! You disgust me ,” He huffed, turning back to Ranboo, “You can be Terence now, since obviously you’re meant for Mr. Tinkerbell over here, you miscreants ,”

“Wait, so are Terence and Tinkerbell dating or something?” Tubbo asked.

Tommy wailed and sunk to the ground.

Chapter Text

Ranboo, Tommy, and Tubbo all walked inside the building Tommy had led them to. He said they needed to ‘hurry up and get their sustenance’, like he hadn’t been the one to throw them off course in the first place. 

But instead of taking them to a cafe or restaurant, even a bar or something, Tommy just waltzed on up into some random house. And sure, there wasn’t exactly anyone around, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be ! Maybe the entire town just went on vacation or something, or temporarily evacuated for some reason. So, they were stealing from the fridge then, apparently. 

“What do you want?” Tommy asked, pulling open the door of a refrigerator that was just loaded with fresh food of all kinds. 

“Uhhh,” What did Ranboo want? So far, most of what had been happening was based heavily on what he wanted, at least since he had met Tommy, the weirdo. “Is there any kiwis?” He’d always wanted to try kiwi. Didn’t know why he never did.

“Oo, gettin’ fancy,” Tommy chuckled, “But yes, we have kiwi, mango, papaya, watermelon, honeydew, pears-”

“ Damn ,” Tubbo muttered, “Is there anything that fridge doesn’t have?”

“Hm, crackers. There’s no crackers in here,” Tommy nods solemnly, “But I bet there’s some in the pantry!”

Tubbo snickered. “Can I have some honeydew then?”

Tommy sighed, rolling his eyes and grabbing a tub of kiwis and a honeydew, “Green green green. What’s next? You gonna ask for some lettuce? Maybe a green smoothie? How ‘bout broccoli? Or some of those weird green spiraly noodles that come in the boxes of normal and red ones? Hmmmm ?”

Ranboo laughed. “No, just kiwis, thanks,”

“Yeah, and my honeydew,” Tubbo added seriously, giving him a nod.

Tommy set the fruit down on the table and then found a large knife, something he should never have access to, before bringing it down rapidly into the honeydew and slicing it in two, effectively getting juice all over the place. “Eat, my friends. Devour the green ,”

Tubbo snorted, slipping the knife out of Tommy’s hand and cutting his melon into smaller halves so he could eat. Ranboo realized, after a moment, that he had stopped, knife frozen in front of it as he stared absently at the blade.

“Tubbo? Are you okay?” He asked softly.

Tubbo blinked, shaking his head and sparing one last glance at the knife before setting it down, “Ye-yeah. Sorry, just… thought I saw something,” He mumbled. “Hey Tommy?”

“Yesh?” Tommy sputtered, raising his head from where he was digging into a juicy mango. 

“What is this place…?”

The blond blinked, tilting his head, “A house,”

“No, I mean- This entire place. When you found me I was in a wide, empty field of just, endless grass. Then you took my hand and somehow we walked here after five minutes.”

Tommy shrugged, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just here to be your friend, I don’t know specifics, man,”

Ranboo nodded along, also intrigued by what Tommy was saying. He bit into his kiwi, surprised to find it tasted a little bit like grapes, at least in his opinion. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to see- “Oh fuck yeah,” He chuckled, setting his fruit aside and getting up from the small table. 

“What-?” Tubbo began, only to burst into giggles upon seeing what caught Ranboo’s attention. “Why is that here?!”

“I dunno, but I like it,” The taller replied, grabbing the large shark plushie and plopping it down in his chair, “Ha, but why does he look so- so-”

“He looks like a middle aged man working nine to five,” Tommy finished, “Poor shark needs a drink,”

Tubbo snorted, nearly choking on some honeydew, “Yeah, that expression on his face really fits that,”

“Let’s get him a drink then,” Ranboo stated, walking over to the fridge and pulling it open, shocked to find it was now filled with drinks of all sorts, from alcohol to pineapple juice, chocolate milk to juice pouches, and anything in between. He grabbed the chocolate milk.

“Here,” Tubbo said, slamming down an empty bottle on the table. “For his usual,” He grinned.

Ranboo rolled his eyes, smile wide on his face as he filled the bottle with chocolate milk and passed it over to the stuffed shark. “There, now he’s good,”

“Yeah,” Tommy nodded, snapping a picture of the scene with a camera that he had never shown before. “Now let’s go! Tubbo, where do you want to go?” He asked eagerly.

“Eesh,” Ranboo muttered, leaning down to Tubbo’s ear and whispering, “Be specific about where you really want to go, otherwise he gets all pissy,”

“I do not!” Tommy denied, “I’m just trying to make sure you guys fully enjoy yourselves here!”

Tubbo chuckled, “I guess… I wanna go to a lake,”

Tommy grinned, wide and toothy and slightly unnerving, “Right oh,”

And he walked outside.

Ranboo and Tubbo exchanged a glance, before they too exited the house. 

Chapter Text

The door closed behind them and the house was gone, replaced by rolling hills covered in soft grass, mountains far behind them framing the scene. Tubbo stared wide eyed at the lake in front of them as Tommy not-so-gracefully jumped into the water. 

Ranboo looked down at the shorter blond, surprised to find that he wasn’t so blond anymore. “You’re hair’s brown,” He noted, tilting his head to the side in fascinated confusion.

Tubbo glanced up at him, raising a hand to his head, “Huh?” He mumbled, pulling a strand down in front of his eyes, “Huh, that it is. Do you know why?”

Ranboo shook his head, but Tommy crawled onto the bank and shook hair out of his face, answering for him, “Well, have you ever wanted your hair brown, Tubs?”

“Well, yeah. I’ve always wanted to dye it, just never got the chance.” Tubbo answered thoughtfully.

“Is there also a reason that you’ve got tiny horns sticking out of your head and your feet are starting to look like hooves?” Ranboo asked, gesturing to the features.

Tubbo’s face scrunched up in thought, “Hm. Well, I have wanted to go to a ren faire dressed as a satyr ever since my older sister went with her friends, but again-”

“Never got the chance,” Ranboo finished, understanding. “I get it. Sometimes you just don’t have the time to do the things you want to, then all of a sudden something comes up and you can’t anymore,”

“Can you two stop being deep and sad and come swim with me?!” Tommy shrieked, falling backwards into the water again.

Ranboo hummed, smiling slightly as he made his way over beside the water’s edge with Tubbo. He paused, staring down at his reflection blankly. Dull green eyes stared back at him, strained and red in a way that contrasted with his pale face. Ranboo blinked, and soft purple eyes were gazing back again, skin dark and speckled. 

“You good?” Tubbo asked quietly from beside him, grabbing his hand to get his attention. 

Ranboo nodded and sat down, stretching out in the sandy dirt. “Yeah. I’m fine. How ‘bout you?”

Tubbo shrugged, “As fine as I can be. I’m gonna be honest, I still don’t know what’s going on,” He admitted, picking at the dirt and drawing little bees.

“Yeah, I kinda just feel the way you do in dreams, but with a little more awareness, y’know? Like, everything’s weird and wrong, but does that really matter if we’re here right now? I say we enjoy it,”

“Hm,” Tubbo hummed in reply, resting his head against Ranboo’s shoulder only to wince and pull away, raising a hand up to his face.

“You alright?” The taller asked, wondering if he’d hurt him somehow.

Tubbo prodded at his cheek for a moment before laying his head back where it had been. “Yeah, just kinda burned for a second, I dunno, sorry,”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not a big deal. Plus, you’re the one who got hurt,” Ranboo pointed out.

“Ughhhhh, Tinkerbell and Terence, stop being lame !” Tommy shouted, hands cupped around his mouth as he floated in the water.

Ranboo grinned, getting up and running out to the water, quickly followed by a wild Tubbo laughing maniacally, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE STARTED, TOMMY!”

The blond shrieked and failed at his attempt to paddle away, swiftly drug back through the water by the two.

_____________________________

Ranboo sighed, staring up at the night sky as he lay in the grass, arms folded behind his head. He didn’t feel tired. Normally he did, all the time honestly, but not now. Energy thrummed under his chest, through his limbs to the tips of his fingers. He didn’t want to sleep and waste the wonderful view of stars he so rarely saw. Out here, wherever they were, there was no light pollution.

The star directly above him was suddenly too bright. Large, white, blinding. He held and arm over his face, grimacing at the brightness and hoping it would go away. He didn’t like it. It made him feel cold.

Thankfully, it didn’t stay, but when the light faded he found that he was no longer laying in the grass with Tubbo and Tommy. He was laying in the grass, alone.

Ranboo sat up, tensing upon the sight of the thing beside him. He’d nearly forgotten about it, with all that had been going on, but now it was back and staring him right in the face again. It was less wispy now, seeming to be more real and bigger . 

The boy blinked, wind blowing his hair across his face. What was it? Being this close to it made him feel so tired, fatigue settling into his bones like an old friend.

“What are you?” He whispered, not really expecting an answer. The thing just tilted its head, forever smiling that wide grin, unchanging. It blinked its dark eyes, and that seemed to be the only answer Ranboo was going to get. 

He sighed, laying back down in the grass with a yawn. His head lolled to the side, he found it harder to keep looking straight up now. Darkness creeped in along the edges of his vision and the thing stood up and walked away, sparing him one last glance before it was gone and Ranboo slipped into unconsciousness. 

Chapter Text

“RANBOY!”

Ranboo didn’t have it in him to flinch, just peeled his eyes open and glanced over to the source of the voice: Tommy. “Wha’?” He mumbled in question, slightly surprised to see he was no longer laying in the grass beside Tubbo.

He sat up, blinking in the bright light as he looked around the sunlit hilltop. Tubbo was sitting on a swing, staring off in the distance as Tommy laid up against the very tree that it hung from.

“Glad you’re up. This is our last stop before the end,” Tommy said, sticking his tongue out as he kicked his legs against the bark.

“Oh yeah?” Ranboo asked, smiling softly at the place, “Did Tubbo-”

“Yeah, Tubbo picked it out,” The blond cut him off, nodding and banging his head against the ground in the process.

“Hm,” Ranboo hummed to himself, settling down in the grass beside the swing. “What’re you thinking about, Tubbo?” He asked curiously, glancing up at the boy.

Tubbo finally blinked, tearing his eyes from the valley in the distance. “Uhm, nothin’ really… Just confused I guess. M’tired,” He admitted, resting his head against the rope on his side.

Ranboo nodded, looking out over the valley that seemed to glow in the sunset. “Yeah, me too,” He sighed.

It was quiet for a long time after that, them just sitting there with the slight breeze blowing the leaves and grass around. The peace was interrupted by Tommy whispering behind them, “You know what would be a great way to finish this day off with?”

Ranboo doubted that meant anything good, and Tubbo grinned, “What?”

“Rolling down this massive fuckin’ hill, that’s what,” The blond smiled devilishly. 

Ranboo was right. That wasn’t anything good. Despite his fears though, he found himself standing on the edge beside Tubbo, looking down at the valley in a mix of fear and excitement. This was hardly a hill, more like an evenly descending mountain, and he doubted that any normal person would die or be seriously injured if attempting this, but he pushed those worries aside, telling himself Nothing else has made sense thus far, what’s the harm? And he and Tubbo sat down, ready to roll, when Tommy went flying past them, curling up into a ball and tumbling down to the valley in a warbled bunch of screams.

“Well,” Ranboo said, face contorted into a look that said “that was incredibly stupid”. “Shall we?”

Tubbo nodded seriously, “I think we shall,”

And they rolled. 

_____________________________

Ranboo opened his eyes after reaching the bottom of the valley, head still spinning around in a nauseating way. But instead of grasses and rivers and wildflowers, Ranboo’s eyes focussed in one the seemingly endless expanse of chrysanthemum flowers. He turned to Tommy and Tubbo in confusion. “Where are we now?”

Tommy smiled slightly, wind blowing his hair as he let out a small sigh, “The end. You ready?” He asked, turning to face them.

Tubbo frowned, fidgeting with his sleeve, “Ready for what Tommy…?”

The blond just chuckled, “You’ll see, Tubs.” 

Tubbo slowly got to his feet, followed after by Ranboo. Tommy led them through the flowers, to know where in particular, apparently, as there wasn’t anything besides chrysanthemums anywhere as far as the eye could see. 

At one point, Ranboo looked to his side, inhaling sharply after seeing the thing walking beside him.

“T-Tommy, what is that?” Tubbo choked out, tugging on the blond’s sleeve.

Tommy hummed softly, “Ignore it. It’s not important,” Was all he said, but Tubbo stayed closer to him after that.

It was so quiet, but for some reason, even with everything happening, even with the fun ending, even with the thing beside him, Ranboo felt at peace. The flowers around him brushing softly against his legs, stars shining over them more beautifully than he’d ever seen before. Ranboo didn’t have it in him to be sad. It had been great, while it lasted.

“We’re here…” Tommy whispered, and Ranboo turned to look forward again. Before them were two men: One with deep brown hair, red tinted glasses set upon the bridge of his nose. And one with soft blond hair pulled back in a braid, cool blue eyes watching them along with a warm smile.

“Who’re they?” Tubbo whispered, hiding behind Tommy’s back. 

Ranboo noticed that the shorter boy wasn’t different anymore, except he was. His blond hair and human legs were back, but his skin was burnt and slightly smoldering, bone even showing in some spots on his right side.

The brunet looked down at himself, seeing a dull blue nightdress, thin and pale arms and legs. Ranboo understood now. He turned to look at Tommy, rising sun framing his head as if it were a halo. He looked sad.

“Hey kids,” The blond man spoke, pulling Ranboo’s attention away from Tommy. “You guys ready to go?” He asked, giving them a smile.

Tubbo sniffled, burying his face in the back of Tommy’s shirt. Ranboo took his hand, not at all put off by his appearance, though the blond seemed surprised by his. “C’mon Tubbo, we’ll be alright,”

Tubbo nodded slowly, wiping his eyes and turning to the two men before glancing back at Tommy, “Thank you, Tommy… I had fun,” He whispered.

The taller boy grinned, giving him a thumbs up, “Fun’s my middle name,” He chuckled. “See you guys later,”

Ranboo nodded, walking along with Tubbo towards the men. “We’re ready,” He stated steadily.

The brunet chuckled, and the blond smiled, “Let’s go, kids,”