Iris . Blindinnit AU [DSMP]

Begonia

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Begonia
Careful do if your allies
╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

Ranboo wakes up in the night, nostrils faintly filing of smoke. Running outside, slipping on his coat, he reaches two burnt down cottages, a broken bridge, and broken folk. Philza and Technoblade are holding each other, Phil is hyperventilating.

"Wh-What happened? Where's Tommy?" Ranboo calls out, crouching beside his mentors. They are covered in ash.

"I searched everywhere, Ranboo. I don't know where he is!" Philza cries, Technoblade allowing him to hide in his cloak. Phil doesn't even have his hat, so he assumes all of this was done while they slept. This place had never caught fire before. Ranboo had made it a safe haven, and it reeked of gunpowder.

A voice yells in him to find Tommy. Pacing the premises, Ranboo spots a set of footsteps running to and from the forest. They wore heavy military boots.

"Follow," it commands him.

He places his bare feet in this footsteps, chasing them before the ash from the fire can hide them. It follows an oddly indirect path to the nether portal. Ranboo steps inside, dizzy but overall immune to portal effects. He chases the scuffed netherack and cobble. Isn't this the way to Las Nevadas?

If Purpled was behind this when he was meant to protect Tommy, Ranboo was going to have a word. The dirt under his feet turn roughly into sand, with the trees fading out. It was.

Ranboo passes the large, lit up sign, following the path, ears twitching at conversation. There was a group of people seated inside the red and white looking shop. It smelled of burgers and grease. A bell rang as he enters.

"Tommy?" He gasped, seeing the boy passed out by the table with an empty milkshake in front of him. His head rests in his arms, back stretched and wings twitching in sleep.

Quackity hushed, his own feathers fluffed up. The little duck wings were stiff behind him. Some gooey mess of a person stared up curiously. Purpled was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you guys take him?" Ranboo hissed quietly. The slime nodded, smiling. "Why? He had two of the strongest fighters protecting him. You realise—"

"Hm?" A groggy Tommy lifts his head, eyes obscured by something green. Ranboo chokes on his words, holding back a sob.

Arms wrap around his shoulder, catching Ranboo by surprise. He thought he knew who all was there. There's a chuckle behind him, as some middle aged man with white and brown hair and a musky coat slides out from nowhere.

"We're you a friend of Tub's?" The man whispers, sending chills down Ranboo's spine. Tommy yawned, stretching.

"Goodmorning, sleepyhead. You have a visitor." Quackity pats the young boy's messed up hair.

Tommy swats away Quackity's hands, grumbling. "Whomst?"

"Tommy... Are you okay with being here?" Ranboo felt unsettled, watching how comfortable his friend had become in this desert of strange folk.

"Ranboo? What the... I..." Tommy stumbled over his words, taken by surprise. "Dream can't find me here."

That didn't make sense to Ranboo. Why, if Ranboo could find Tommy so easily, why cant Dream? He didn't want to mention how he got here, in fear of making Tommy afraid.

"Speechless, ender boy?" The strange man grinned, leaning on the booth. The slimey creature stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Dream..." Ranboo mutters under his breath.

"What?" Tommy groaned.

"Dream will kill us if he can't find you."

"So you want me to die? In place of you?" Tommy laughed, honestly feeling terrible. "You three are strong. Just fucking kill the bastard!"

"He has an empire on his side, Tommy!"

"You think I don't know that? Ranboo, you think I don't know what he can do to me? What he did to Tubbo?"

"I saw what he did! I smelt his rotting corpse! You'll never have that vision in your mind, Tommy."

"I can hear his head rolling, his bones cracking," Tommy's throat dries, "I heard him die and I was too weak to stop Dream. But you can! You can stop Dream, Ranboo. I know you can. You have to. Because I'm too weak."

Wilbur laughs, catching their attention. Quackity and Slime who were stunned into silence snapped back.

"You think you can stop him? Ranboo, are you? You'll have to go through me and a thousand other men to kill that 'god'."

Tommy chokes, slamming his fist into the table. Charlie moves out of the booth, allowing Tommy to stand up and smack Wilbur. "I'm not going back there!"

"Neither am I, kid! I can protect both of us from that hell, but in return you must agree that Dream is far too powerful to die."

"How many lives do you think he has?" Tommy growls through his teeth. Wilbur looks uncertain, not that Tommy can tell.

"Th— three?"

"Wrong!" Tommy laughs. "Wilbur, if you're on his side, I'll gladly send you back to that platform."

"To— Tommy..." Wilbur chuckles nervously, backing up into a table.

"Alright!" Quackity yells sternly. Tommy covers his ears, wincing. Quackity quickly apologises before going forth, "No fighting in my goddamn restaurant. Las Nevadas is a place of piece and if you two are going to fight about death, I'll kill you and that green shit myself."

"Yes, sir," Wilbur salutes, his boots squeaking against the tile.

Tommy breathes deeply, nodding. Ranboo looks around awkwardly, before getting a glare from Quackity.

"What business do you have in Las Nevadas?"

Ranboo shakes, offering the truth, "To take Tommy back into our care. But—"

"We will take care of him. I want you to take care of Dream, keep him from reviving anyone else."

Ranboo nods, backing out of the shop. Charlie waves goodbye.

Ranboo runs. Ranboo runs fast. All the way from Las Nevadas to his place in the snow. Technoblade and Philza have built a temporary shelter for themselves and the animals, but are no where in sight.

Ranboo calls out for them, heading to the woods. They were probably looking for Tommy like Ranboo had. He halts, hearing footsteps behind him.

"Hello, Ranboo."