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The rain cleared two hours later, and once both children were completely sure, Ranboo removed the grass block, pushing it onto its side with their feet. The block had started to get muddy anyways, so there was no way to reuse it.
Tubbo helped the skinny kid out of the burrow, smiling for no reason. They both stretched, or more rather Tubbo stretched and Ranboo copied his movements. The clouds were still in the sky, but didn't seem that rain-filled. Neither of them knew the time, not that they could tell time in the first place. But do you know who could? At least slightly? 32. Yes, she did end up inevitably following. She would do anything for this kid, she was bound to them, technically.
"Ranboo, dear, it's about 6 pm I would say?" She told them, "What time does your little friend have to go home?"
Ranboo just blinked at Tubbo, tilting their head. He was looking up at the sky, maybe looking for the sun? But it was cloudy still, so there was no sun to find. The boy with horns groaned, slumping his shoulders. "Oooh, I think I gotta go home. I'm hungry." He then turned to Ranboo, "Do Enderman eat?"
"Tubbo asked if you eat. Oh! Did we leave the golden apple by the other tree? We like, really need it just in case." One of the particles said, most of the others agreeing. Some particles were rolling in the grass for some reason, but we're learning not to question the particles anymore.
Personally, Ranboo didn't know what eating was. Did they need whatever that was? Ranboo wasn't sure. They just shrugged. And what was a golden apple? They also didn't remember what that was, but the particles seemed worried about it, so they should probably get it then. But that's later.
Tubbo finished brushing the dirt off himself, and smiled at his new friend. "I'll be over here tomorrow, will you?"
Ranboo didn't wait for a translation and nodded. They trusted Tubbo to ask them reasonable things, so their first answer would always be yes, they decided.
Tubbo smiled, "Okay, bye-bye Ranboo!"
As Tubbo ran, Ranboo smiled. They had a name! It was so cool! Maybe a nickname for the time being, but they loved it! "Ranboo." They whispered to themselves, doing a giddy little jumpy dance. The particles were also excited.
"Ranboo, huh? Nice."
"OH THANK GOD THEY HAVE A NAME NOW"
"Ranboo"
"Ranboo."
"Ranboo."
"I'm happy for you, Ranboo!"
"We're so proud of you!"
"Even I can't name myself that well."
"You're literally just a number, 82."
"Bruh-"
"Ranboob"
"NO"
"Hehehehegwhehehebehdhehwhdhe"
"What the hell?"
"Ayo we broke 33!"
"Good."
"I'm so unbelievably proud of you, Ranboo! Now are we gonna get that apple?"
"Hey, Ranboo, say 'Apple.'"
They didn't say apple. But they still smiled as the particles crowded around them, but it still didn't feel too crowded. They did a little spin, giggling happily as the particles had their attention completely devoted to Ranboo. Some had even stopped rolling in the grass, which must've taken a lot of effort on their end.
"Ranboo, you should make a house!" 21 suggested, followed up by, "HOLY SHIT 21 YOU'RE BACK?!" From 28, speeding to bump into it's companion. Oh yeah, we did get the missing ones back, not just 32. They kind of just appeared. They do that though. Ranboo hadn't been paying attention, as some particles were planning to keep reminding they who Tubbo was every 5 minutes. They acknowledged that the systems they all put together don't usually last, mostly because of Ranboo's memory. It, as you probably know, sucks.
"Can you say Tubbo?" 4, who really hadn't spoken up until now, asked. Ranboo thought hard again. "Tube?" They said. It really didn't sound right to Ranboo.
The particles, however, found it hilarious. Some straight up disintegrated instead of laughing out loud, to avoid making the kid feel bad, some gave little chuckles with a "Good try," and others just laughed at them. Ranboo wasn't really sure what to do, so they laughed awkwardly with the purple fuzzies. Said fuzzies earned glares (that be a death glare or otherwise) from 32 and a few others, though.
Another weird thing happened then. From the trees, there was a rustle. Now, there had definitely been a few like that before, they were in a forest after all, but this seemed... how would you put it... bigger. The tree branch it seemed to come from also visibly moved a lot more than one from a squirrel or bird or whatever else there was in the forested area. The particles found this particularly suspicious. If there was something watching their child, they can and would do anything to protect them. The tree had attracted Ranboo's attention, how got in a position that seemed to look like they were ready to run.
Despite knowing nothing other than Ranboo could understand them, the mysterious, tiny purple beings yelled multiple variations of "LEAVE US ALONE WHATEVER YOU ARE!" And, "SCREW OFF!" At whatever the tree was holding.
Then a chuckle came from a tree, and Ranboo was about ready to run for their live. The sound of tree bark scraping could be heard, as hands sliding down the opposite side of the tree from the other beings were visible. Ranboo's position faltering, seeming more curious about whoever this was. The particles, on the other hand, got into their improv-attack position. No one in that group actually knew how to fight, being completely honest.
"Well, you caught me." A boy, who looked about 15, walked smugly into view. He wore casual clothes; a green zip-up hoodie, light blue jeans, white tee slightly visible under the hoodie. For some reason, the boy covered his eyes with some white, possibly cardboard mask with a long smiley face on it, the top being covered by a few strands of blond hair.
He looked basic. Sorry, not the time, but it's not false.
"The names' Dream. Dream Taken." He held a hand out. "Who're you supposed to be?"
~~~~~
"Well?" Dream asked, impatiently, nodding to Ranboo to shake his hand. Cautiously, they made their way right across from Dream. "Ranboo." They muttered. Dream grabbed their hand himself and shook it.
"You'd think someone dressed all fancy would know how to shake someone's hand, Ranboo." He commented. It was true, They were wearing a white dress shirt, though it was all dirty so you could barely call it white and plain black suit pants, though they clearly weren't long enough, as you could see the bandages from when they were in the Stronghold. Ranboo gave a confused look to Dream, though, then realized something; Dream's eyes were covered.
Ranboo smiled, taking their hand back and making an eye-covering motion. They were trying to say that he was covering his eyes, and that they were happy to finally be able to look but really didn't know how to go about saying it. They just did the giddy jumps up and down, fluttering their hands happily. Dream just looked at them weird.
"You look weird for an Enderman. Act weird too." The older kid told them. Ranboo just tilted their head, waiting for a translation. Then realized the particles weren't next to them. If you're wondering how Dream knew they were an Enderman, it was mostly an assumption, but it was slightly prominent. Their skin texture could be seen as similar, and a few other physical attributes . But as he said, Ranboo looked weird for an Enderman.
It took a second for Ranboo to realize something: Where are the particles? They didn't seem to randomly float into view like usual. Frantically looking around, Dream laughed slightly. He seemed slightly confused on what the kid was doing. After a full turn around (oh hi tail), they still couldn't find the things. Dream rolled his eyes under the mask. "Can you even talk? You're not speaking, like, at all."
Ranboo momentarily turned to Dream and shrugged, clearly being focused on something else. He just stood there, bored, as the much younger kid panicked while looking for some purple things that floated around them most of the time. Dream had just come here to chill and stalk a mortal child to prank it or something, not watch it panic over nothing. It was just boring now.
You just got ungrounded, though, Dream thought, a smug smile forming on his face, Mama never specified NOT humans, did she? I can still find a way to make this entertaining.
"Oh, Ranboo!" Dream called, speaking the same language the particles spoke; Ender. Of course, Ranboo didn't know it was Ender. But it was the language they understood. That instantly got their attention. And, apparently, the particles, who had come out of hiding... kinda.
"NNNNNNOPE!"
"WHAT."
"Haha, I'm in a constant state of fear!"
"Burn the boy we only have room for one."
"I'm not touching that-that thing!"
"ARSON"
"RANBOO RUN."
"I don't like this boy."
"Yeah no shit!"
Ranboo seemed slightly terrified. Dream shouldn't know that. To the child, that was only a language to themself and the particles. Others knew it, sure, but Ranboo didn't know that. They didn't know, well, didn't remember at least, a lot of things. "Wha...?" Was all Ranboo could muster.
"Yeah yeah, Ender isn't JUST your language, you know. That's awfully selfish. You don't know what that means, though, do you?" Dream laughed at Ranboo, who looked confused at the word. Not knowing how to react to that, Ranboo awkwardly laughed slightly. This got a rise out of the particles.
"THIS MOTHER FU-" The particles didn't seem so scared of Dream anymore, going full-on attack mode on the masked boy, buzzing and crowding around his face.
"Ack!" He screeched, trying to bat the purple, buzzing creatures away, only to get laughed at by them. If 32 had hands, she would have slapped each and every other purple fuzzy who was shouting profanities at a random 15-year-old. Said 15-year-old ran into the same tree he had slid down from, cursing about how he "really needed eye-holes in the damn mask."
"Psst," 28, who was watching the attack for entertainment, whispered to Ranboo, "He just ran into a tree because he can't see. You can laugh at him now."
To be fair, Ranboo already tried to stifle a laugh when Dream ran into the tree in the first place. Of course, Ranboo did laugh, and Dream heard it. To him, that was the final straw.
Dream yelled, "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?!" Making Ranboo scrunch up their shoulders, eyes wide. The only thing that loud that Ranboo had ever heard was... uh... er, well, they didn't remember! It was all blurry, like everything else.
"I AM A GOD, YOU INSOLENT PESTS!" He continued, most of the particles being offended or backing away into a clump of themselves. Dream went on with shouting. "HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME! MY MOM IS CAPTAIN PUFFY, YOU KNOW. THATS THE LITERAL GODDESS OF CREATION! THAT MEANS I AM THE RIGHTFUL GOD OF CHAOS!"
Ranboo covered their ears part way through the yelling. It was just too loud for them. Dream was tall and scary, he may not be able to see with the cardboard mask (was it even cardboard? Not the issue) but that didn't stop how downright intimidating he was. The masked boy was also 10 years older but that was just how he chose to present himself to the child. Need I remind you that all gods are stupid shapeshifters?
"YOU KNOW WHAT?" Dream shouted at the particles, especially the ones that were still trying to buzz around his face. He snapped his fingers aggressively, making a normal-looking mason jar appear in his hand. If that isn't an extreme indicator that he, in fact, did have at least some weird powers, he wasn't sure what did. With a swift movement, Dream snatched up at least twenty particles in the jar, shutting the lid. "You all stay in here until you learn some respect to your lords!"
The particles couldn't help but laugh at Dream at first. "You know we can literally just teleport or phase out, right? You need to try harder." As 75 (it wasn't just the 10s and 20s, because that's not that possible) casually tried to phase through the container. They just smacked into the wall.
A few laughed nervously. "Heh, very funny 75! Uh, actually do it this time?" 29 loudly whispered to them. "I'm trying!" Was 75's response. This time, they tried teleporting. It didn't work, they just ran into the wall of the jar again.
Ranboo was legitimately scared, backing up a little bit. They tried to put their hands up in a somewhat fighting stance, but we're to scared Dream would do the same to them. The particles were the only things that had been with them this entire time, why would Dream snatch some away from them? It made Ranboo tear up, letting out a whimper.
"What're you gonna do, kid? Cry about it?" Dream mocked their fear, shaking the jar around as the twenty-or-so purple fuzzies freaked out, having no way to escape. Dream just laughed, using the ender child's head as an armrest as their face literally started steaming. The tears would come. It was a matter of Ranboo letting them.
The tears fell, hurting as they fell down Ranboo's face. Meaning; yes, they did let them fall. They felt so goddamn helpless. "Kid, you're overreacting." Dream told them. Was he right? They were overreacting? Right, it's just the particles, they'll have to find a way to get out, no matter how stupid the plan was!
Oh, but it was so scary, knowing the particles couldn't easily do something. A few of them tried to get in, and succeeded, but got trapped in the process. So it was a only a one-way trip.
Ranboo felt like kicking Dream until he opened the jar, but what if that wasn't right? It could result in the particles getting hurt, and that was the opposite of what Ranboo wanted to happen to them. That helpless feeling hit again, causing more tears, causing more pain.
Dream let out a bored sigh. "Listen, you're a smart kid, right?" Dream spun the jar around in his hand, "Let's make a deal. I get to keep these purple things, and you can learn things like English! Wouldn't you like that?"
Ranboo shook their head, desperately grabbing at the mason jar. About 13 more had accidentally gotten trapped in said jar when trying to save their friends. 32 tried to speak reason into the others, but she was being extremely talked over, backing down to rest on Ranboo's shoulder. Not that it would do anything to calm her down, because Ranboo was currently crying. But it was an attempt, that's for sure.
Ranboo attempted to make themself seem threatening to Dream, but there was nothing they could do. "You sure? I saw you talking to that one kid. You weren't talking though. To be honest, you seemed like you didn't like him. He might never come back here, maybe he just left you. If he somehow does, though, he'd want you to be able to talk to him." Dream offered the deal again.
"The kid is Tubbo." 32 reminded them. It was all blurry, but the name was slightly familiar. All that came into Ranboo's mind was a boy, looking over water, throwing things into said water. "Tubbo is your friend."
Dream smirked, "Do you not remember your own FRIENDS?! Man, you really need my help. Just a handshake, kid. The offer always stands, all it takes is a handshake." Dream held his hand out again as Ranboo sobbed, hearing the desperate cries from all the particles, in and out of the one-way prison of a jar.
Then Dream did the cruelest thing ever done to Ranboo; he said "Oh right, you don't know how to handshake!"
And forcefully grabbed Ranboo's hand, shaking it.
Ranboo was horrified, not only from the burning pain on their face anymore. The dropped to the ground, on hands and knees. Those particles, Ranboo's guides, their family at this point, taken away because they couldn't deny some stupid handshake.
"Oh, chill," Dream laughed carelessly, "I'll get to your end of the deal when I get home. Giving someone knowledge isn't easy, you know. Thanks again for the deal, Memory Boy."
Dream then disappeared, Particle Jar in hand, leaving "Memory Boy" to helplessly cry on the grassy forest floor.
~~~~~
Ranboo was tired. They also felt guilty. Those aren't always the best combo.
Their fingers moved slowly through the grass, as the sleepy child ran their tires hands through it. The other particles rested around their kid. It had just been a stressful end of the day, so they all just rested on the floor, despite the first being slightly muddy. Ranboo didn't care.
The particles kept them somewhat warm, though that made no sense. The particles don't do 'making sense' for no reason in particular. Of course, there weren't as many as before, but it was just enough. They were all Ranboo needed.
They never really got to realize how much they loved the particles being there. There was barely a single side conversation about fire or... whatever it was the things talked about that Ranboo had no idea of. They could only feel bad about something that they would almost completely forget in at least a few hours.
"Don't worry, Ranboo." Whispered 21. It had lost 28 to the jar, and may not let that fact go anytime soon. "We'll find a way to get our friends back."
They just let out a long sigh. Then started listening.
Not to anything in particular. Just the world. They could hear the wind blow, rustling the leaves, the occasional call of a songbird. Water splashed around in the pond thanks to the ducks, fish and turtles. It wasn't Ranboo's favorite sound, but it was better than all the screaming they had heard a few hours ago. Then, finally, there was a side conversation. Sadly, a serious one, unlike the nonsense they always enjoyed hearing. Man, did they even realize they liked hearing it? That was extremely sad.
"It was so random, though!"
"Right. Dream had to have a reason. Didn't he say he was the god of chaos?"
"More like the god of BULLYING FIVE YEAR OLDS. What was his DEAL?!"
"All they did was laugh at a genuinely funny thing, nothing to kidnap their freaking guides over."
"Literally, I don't actually see him doing damage. He's all talk."
"Not actually doing damage- bruh, did you NOT see how Ranboo react?! They have NEVER been a witness to something like that, and shouldn't at this age!"
"Back on topic everyone, (not that you're wrong), there has to be a reason. You don't kidnap things for just no reason."
"We don't have any money. I think..."
"No, I can confirm that we don't."
"Shit, we're broke."
"They're literally 5, did you have money when you were 5?"
"I was never 5, neither were you! We're infinite beings!"
"We had to be 5 at some point!"
This was slowly becoming less of a side conversation happened literally at Ranboo's feet and more of a family discussion. It hadn't escalated, though, and it was a little funny at some bits, so Ranboo wanted to keep listening, leaning forward on the ground.
"Never mind, I'm going to bed. Go find other ways to hurt this kid."
"That's not-"
"Shhh, 37. He's right. Maybe we haven't been protecting the kid enough, and we shouldn't let our undying rage get ahead of us. We can't let them get to us, though."
"Fine, only because I love you, 24."
"Oh shut up!"
"Oh come oooooonnnnn!"
"Please get a room you two."
"HAHAH!"
"That's kinda gay."
"You're literally a homosexual."
"Exactly."
"ON TOPIC, EVERYONE!"
"Sorry 32..."
"So we have come to what conclusion?"
"They're not being held for ransom!"
Ha, if you take the 'som' from 'ransom,' double the 'o,' make the 's' a 'b,' and take away the 'm,' you get Ranboo."
"...Okay?"
"Good job?"
Ranboo gigged at that. That caught the attention of the particles, who all instantly turned to them.
"Hey, Rannie!" One particle said. Ranboo didn't know anyone named "Rannie," but whatever. "Maybe you should go to sleep? You've had a busy day, you seem tired, and you can leave the talking to your favorite particles? Yeah?"
They frowned, but they were also really tired. And now, they would do anything for the particles, even if it meant not listening to their "secret" conversations.
Some of the non-involved particles, like 21, who were still resting on Ranboo had their eyes closed, so Ranboo shut theirs too. It was dark, but a nice dark.
"Okay."
Ranboo then fell asleep.
~~~~~
"Oh kid..." The masked god sighed, the weird light from the particles faded slightly, but still dimly lighting the dark, wide library.
"I'm going to find out who you are, mark my fucking words. Mama's not grounding me ever again after this, not if you tell her every sin I've made. Your blood will be enough to prove...
I am the rightful god of chaos."
-_~~~~~~~~_-
3,575 words
THE MEETUP HAPPENED, HOW WE FEELING?!