Ender | Ranboo Adoption SBI (discontinued)

Chapter 2

And then the nightmares came.

Ranboo was standing in the middle of a barren landscape, dotted with tall, dark figures and surrounded by a black void, without a single star to light the terrain. And yet somehow, the blackness didn't feel menacing. He felt at peace.

But then the void started enclosing on him, and the figures vanished in puffs of purple smoke, and he tried to escape but the void was getting closer, growing ever closer, until it swallowed him whole and he was gasping for breath and-

And he woke up, still panting for breath and clutching at his chest. Slowly, he calmed his breathing. In and out. In and out. It was just a dream. Just another dream.

He fumbled for the clock on his bedside table and checked the time. 06:45. He still had fifteen more minutes before he needed to get up and pack away his things, but he knew there was no point trying to go back to sleep after his nightmare. Nobody had ever explained it clearly to him, but he guessed that these nightmares were something most hybrids shared.

Most of the time, he just tried to forget he was a hybrid. He supposedly had 'powers', sure, but nobody had taught him how to use them safely, or even how to use them at all. The other hybrids seemed to use them instinctively, but he had only a vague idea of what he could do, and he had no clue how to do it.

The 7:00 bell rang and he blinked and stood up, turning on the light and reaching for his bag of belongings that he'd packed last night. He was waiting for it, but the sharp knock on the door still came as a surprise, and he shrank back into the room as the looming figure of the guard entered.

Silently, the guard grabbed Ranboo by the arm and dragged him through the long empty corridors for what felt like forever until finally they went through one last door and then Ranboo was outside the facility for the first time in years. The sunlight was blinding and he squinted, just about making out the outlines of trees on the horizon.

Ranboo grinned, taking in the outside world, barely able to absorb it all, until the cold touch of the guard's hand on Ranboo's shoulder brought him back to reality. He stopped smiling and looked at the ground, but the slap he was waiting for never came. Instead, the guard led him to a car and opened the door for Ranboo, being much gentler than he would normally be.

Nervously, Ranboo looked into the car, almost jumping out of his skin when he realised there was another person in the other back seat, a boy about his age. He had blonde hair and was wearing a white t-shirt with red accents, and he was fiddling with two small discs in his lap. As Ranboo stepped in, the boy looked up and grinned at Ranboo.

"Ayyyy! Ranboo! Ma friend!" he yelled excitedly. Ranboo flinched at the loud noise and he heard Phil sigh from the front seat.

"Tommy, I know you're excited, but a little quieter please?"

"Right! Sorry! Sorry Ranboo! Hey, who's your favourite woman by the way?"

"Tommy, you can't keep asking people that."

"I can and I will!"

Confused, Ranboo rummaged in his bag for the notebook and pen Phil had given him yesterday and wrote strange question.

"It is not a strange question! It is a perfectly reasonable question and you are ignoring it!"
I haven't met many women

"Oh come on, you must have met-"

"Tommy, just leave him alone please." Phil called from the front seat

"I was only asking!"

The rest of the drive passed by in a blur of questions, because Tommy was incredibly curious about his new brother. Ranboo answered most of them, but some he left unanswered, and he realised that despite appearances, Tommy knew when to back off when someone was uncomfortable. He grew quite used to the mindless chatter and was glad that he didn't have to contribute too much to the conversation.

Eventually, the car started to slow and Phil pulled up by a cosy-looking house, with a small, slightly overgrown garden filled with flowers and weeds in equal measure. Ranboo got out of the car and almost ran over to sit by the flowerbeds, gazing in awe at the beautiful colours. Phil laughed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on inside, Wilbur will give you a tour."

As he said that, Ranboo noticed that there was a tall figure standing by the door with fluffy brown hair, dressed in a comfy-looking yellow jumper and beanie. The figure walked up to him and Ranboo saw that his image shimmered slightly in the sun, as if he wasn't entirely solid.

"Hey, you must be Ranboo," the spectral figure said, smiling at him. "I'm Wilbur, but you can just call me Will if you want, everyone does. Shall I show you around?"

Ranboo nodded so Wilbur led him into the house, past some open doors and up some stairs. "This is your bedroom here, on the right," he said, pushing open a door. "It's quite small, sorry about that, and you'll have to share a bathroom with Tommy, which will be a nightmare to be frank, but hopefully you like it."

It was quite a small room, simply furnished with a bed, wardrobe, bedside table and a table and chair, but it had a large window looking out onto the garden and he could hear birds twittering and Tommy's laugh echoing up from the kitchen. Wilbur looked at him anxiously, waiting for a response.

Ranboo got out his notepad and wrote simply it's beautiful. thank you. Wilbur smiled in relief and showed him around the rest of the house. Phil was cooking in the kitchen and Tommy was sitting at the kitchen table, on the phone to a friend. Wilbur left Ranboo there and went to get his guitar, and he played to them all until lunch was ready.

As they sat down to lunch, Ranboo realised something. where's your other son? he asked Phil, as he was sure that Phil had mentioned someone else when he was telling Ranboo about his sons. The smile slipped from Phil's face and the friendly chatter around the table died down.

"Um, he doesn't really like meeting new people that much," Phil replied, visibly uncomfortable. "Don't worry, it's not your fault!" he added as Ranboo looked down. "He doesn't normally come down for meals anyway."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments until Wilbur changed the subject and the conversation grew lively again, but Ranboo still felt a little bad that he had touched on an obviously sensitive topic, and he was very curious about this mysterious figure. Phil had mentioned his name, hadn't he? Technoblade, or something like that? A boar hybrid?

Ranboo shook his head. It was none of his business what secrets this family had, and they wouldn't want him poking his nose in. He'd just keep his head down, and if the topic was raised again, then that was when he'd ask, no sooner.

But if an opportunity arose to find out more about the mysterious hybrid, he wouldn't say no.