Time (Dream smp)

3

Philza woke up to grass tickling his nose, which confused him as there wasn't much grass in the Arctic where he lived. Perhaps Ranboo was placing grass again?

Phil stretched his wings, feeling the slight ache that never went away after shielding Wilbur from the L'manburg explosions. The TNT had damaged his left wing. His flight feathers never grew back in after the burns healed, leaving only the small, grey down feathers.

"Phil?"

Philza looked up to see Tubbo placing torches around old cobblestone walls.

"Tubbo?" Phil sat up slowly, "why are you-? Where are we?"

Tubbo shrugged and placed a torch next to Phil, lighting up the area, "No idea. BadBoyHalo and Skeppy were here when I woke up, but they went off somewhere, so now it's just Wilbur, Tommy, Ranboo and us."

"Wil is here?" Phil asked quietly.

Tubbo nodded over to the far corner, only lit by the light of the full moon. Phil turned to see the back of the long brown trenchcoat that his son wore. It was silent for a long moment.

"Phil-"

"Tubbo-"

The two chuckled at their simultaneous speech.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you go first." Tubbo said after he stopped laughing.

"No, it's fine. You go first." Phil insisted.

"Oh, well..." Tubbo sat down across from the other, "I was just going to say I'm sorry. For, you know, putting you on house arrest and hunting Techno... And stuff..."

Phil chuckled, then sighed, his wings drooping slightly, "I'm sorry too. I've done some things I'm not proud of."

Tubbo shrugged and looked away, "yeah, well, the past is in the past."

Phil smiled, "when did you become so mature?"

"I think it was somewhere between getting executed by Technoblade and becoming a father." Tubbo said.

Phil laughed, his feathers fluffing up in his amusement. Tubbo laughed as well, their laughter filling the night silence and covering the sound of mobs outside the walls. Phil looked up at the galaxies of stars and sighed.

"I remember when Wil and I found you in a box on the side of the road." Phil said quietly.

"Wait, Wilbur was there as well?" Tubbo looked at Phil.

"Oh, yeah." Phil said, "He was the one who found you first."

Tubbo looked at the ground again, "can you...can you tell me the whole story? I've never really heard it before..."

Phil smiled softly, "Sure Tubbo."

"It was a pretty normal day. Techno had been banned from going to the Nether cause he kept wandering away from me and trying to collect Wither skulls. I had some extra gold and was planning on doing some Piglin trades to use some up.

"At the time, Wil hadn't been to the Nether. He had been begging me to take him for years, but as you probably remember, he wasn't much of a fighter back then. I didn't think it was safe for him, and someone had to watch Tommy.

"But Wilbur was insistent that day. He said Techno could watch Tommy, and that did not go well!" Phil laughed, "But I complied. Techno stayed home with Tommy while Wil and I went out to the Nether."

"However, on our way to the portal, Wil stopped and ran off to the side. He dragged this old box out from some berry bushes and called me over. 'Dad! Dad!' he said, 'theres a kid in here!'

"I walked over and sure enough, you were fast asleep in the box with a high fever. There wasn't any note we could find. Wil wanted to name you Tubbox, but when we got you home Tommy could only say 'Tubbo'. I guess the name just kind of stuck." Philza said, finishing the story.

Tubbo was quiet, keeping his gaze at the ground, "so there was nothing about where I came from?"

Phil shrugged, "We didn't really bother searching. By the time you were heathy again, you had already become part of our family."

Tubbo smiled lightly, "Thanks Phil."

Phil smiled and stood up, ruffling Tubbo's hair, "no problem, you deserve to know. I'm going to go try and find Techno. Be safe."

Tubbo nodded as Phil walked off and disappeared behind the cobblestone. It was quiet again. The night was nearing the end, the moon sinking lower behind the walls.

"There was a note."

Tubbo jumped at the sudden voice.

Wilbur didn't move as he spoke again, "it was smudged from water damage and dirt. At the time I thought it was indecipherable, so I hid it. And then when you got along so well with Tommy... I didn't want to ruin everything. I burned the note."

"Was there anything on the note?" Tubbo asked.

Wilbur paused for a moment, "Just some smudges."

"Oh. Okay." Tubbo nodded.

Wilbur sighed and sat up, giving Tubbo a small smile, "it appears we have no food. I wonder if Techno has any potatoes he'd be willing to part with. Do you know where he is?"

Tubbo shook his head, "no idea."

"Oh well." Wilbur sighed, standing up, "I'll be back soon with food for you, Tommy, and... Whoever the tall one is..."

Tubbo looked over to his two sleeping friends, "You mean Ranboo?"

"Is that his name?" Wilbur shrugged and climbed through a hole in the wall, "huh, well I'll bring back supplies for everyone, don't worry."

"Um, okay." Tubbo nodded.

Tubbo sighed and looked over at his platonic husband. He smiled when he realized Ranboo was reaching toward Tommy, as if he was trying to protect him.

"Oh, have you seen Fundy by the way?" Wilbur asked popping his head in again, "I haven't visited my son in a while."

"No, I haven't-" Tubbo jumped up suddenly, "Oh my god, Michael!"

"Michael?" Wilbur questioned.

Tubbo ran over to Ranboo and began trying to shake him awake, "Ranboo! Ranboo wake up! We need to find Michael! Ranboo!"

The half enderman's tail curled around Tubbo's wrist as he curled up tighter. Tubbo sighed through gritted teeth and grabbed Ranboo's jacket.

"Wake UP!" Tubbo yelled, throwing him in a nearby puddle.

Ranboo jolted awake the moment he touched the water. For a moment Tubbo swore Ranboo's eyes went purple, but he brushed it off quickly.

"Ranboo!" Tubbo gasped, hugging the taller boy.

"T-tubbo!?" Ranboo jumped.

Tubbo pulled away and held Ranboo's shoulders, "We have to find Michael!"

"Michael? What's wrong with Michael!?" Ranboo asked with increasing panic, "where are we!?"

"I don't know! But we have to find Michael!" Tubbo yelled.

"Um, pardon me," Wilbur stepped in, "but who is Michael?"