Drops of water splattered onto your forehead as you pushed through the dense jungle.
A wet leaf smacked into your face, and you could hear laughter from behind you. “Jax!”
“What? Can’t handle a bit of water?” Shoving you into a bush, Jax doubled over with laughter. “What are you? Made of sugar?”
You threw a stick at his head for the umpteenth time, which he dodged expertly.
Groaning, you shook yourself off and walked back over to the path. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Aww, you wanna leave so soon?”
You shoved him to the side, ignoring his yelling until it faded back into silence. “Hurry up, we still have to find the stupid temple.”
No reply, only rain starting to pour down on you again. “Jax?”
Looking around, you found yourself alone, next to a steep hill. That you had pushed Jax off of. “Great”
You took one step down the hill before slipping, sliding through mud, and landing on top of a purple pile.
Jax groaned underneath you and pushed you away, shooting you a glare. “Get off me.”
“Gladly”
He scoffed and stood up, dusting off his now-ripped overalls and staring down at you. “Get up.”
“Ugh,” reluctantly, you stood up and shook yourself off, getting mud on him in the process. “Come on, I think I see the temple.”
“Oh, joy.” He wiped his hand on your side and followed you over to the stone pyramid.
Centipedes scuttled away from you as you kicked the door open. “Ladies first.”
“Go [____] yourself.” He poked a stick inside before taking a step forward, slipping on a banana peel and grabbing the hem of your shirt.
A net came down from above, and you ended up pressed on top of him. “Jax!”
“Get off of me!” He flailed in what little room you had, elbowing you in the face.
Groaning, you elbowed him back and grabbed his arm as he tried to punch you. “Cut it out!”
Huffing, he set his arms back down and glared at you. You glared back. “Why didn’t you check for traps?”
“I did!”
“Not well enough.” You tried to pry the net up. “Any idea how we get out of here?”
“Uh, here, let me—” He rolled over and tried to grab the top of the net, ending up smacking his face into yours instead. “Ack! Y/N!”
“Oww… warn me next time,” you groaned, turning your head to the side and laying your head on the cold stone. “What are you even trying to do?”
“Will you just give me a second?” He sat up, pulling you up and into his lap in the process.
Vibrations ran through your body, and you looked up to find Jax gnawing through the rope until the net broke.
You stood up shakily and helped him up. “Thanks.”
“I’m more than just a pretty face, you know?”
“A pretty face?” You laughed and followed him into the temple, earning yourself a shove into the wall and a centipede in your hair.
Torches illuminated the dim corridor, not doing much good, as you could barely see two feet in front of you.
“Hey,” you elbowed him and pointed to the carvings in the wall. “Any idea what that is?”
“Is that…Caine?”
“I’m gonna choose to ignore that…” You cringed and pulled him away. “How do we even get out of here?”
“Maybe try the glowing door?” He pushed you through the doorway and onto the ledge, overlooking a lake of lava. Carefully, he walked up next to you. “That’s not good.”
“Really? I had no idea.” You rolled your eyes and jumped onto the first platform. “Come on.”
“Are you kidding? This could ruin my fur!”
“Jax!” You grabbed the strap of his overalls and pulled him next to you. “See? Was that so hard?”
“Stop grabbing me…” He brushed your hand away and looked over at the next platform, cringing before jumping over.
You followed suit, landing next to him. Lava bubbled around you, and you stepped away from the ledge. “Tch”
Groaning, you scrambled up onto the next ledge. Jax jumped up but missed, ending up hanging off the edge.
Bubbles burst underneath him, burning through his clothes and singeing his fur black. “Ow!”
“What?” You didn’t look back, already sizing up the next jump.
“My pants are burning over here!”
“Huh? Is that some sort of—” looking back, you found him grasping up at the stone ledge.
Rushing over, you scrambled to grab his hand. “Geez, are you always so sweaty?”
“Y/N!”
“Calm down, let me—”
Then he slipped and you lunged, grabbing his wrist. Jax gasped and grabbed at your arm.
Whimpering—was he whimpering? Never mind.
Grunting, you pulled him back up and wrapped your other arm around his waist. “You okay?”
“...I think so.” He mumbled, shaking as he grabbed onto your arms, “Thanks.”
“Y-yeah.” Awkwardly, you pulled him into a hug. “Sorry for not noticing.”
“It’s fine, I’m fine, everything’s fine.”
“Everything is fine,” you nodded, squeezing him before pulling away slightly. “We’re okay.”
“Okay?” Jax leaned in and you followed, kissing him gently. “More than okay.”
“Heh, I guess we are.” He grinned and kissed you again. “Maybe you're not soo bad.”
“Wow, high praise.” Wrapping your arm around his waist, you pulled him towards the exit, which had materialized behind you. “You’re pretty not bad yourself.”
Everyone stared as you walked over to the group, who were all significantly less injured. Pomni frowned. “What took you guys so long?”
“Nothing, nothing.” You let go of him and grinned. “Ready to go?”
“Uh, yeah.”
~
“How long do you think it'll take them to figure it out?” Jax laughed as you hid behind some blocks.
You shoved him before kissing his cheek. “At this rate? Not very long.”
“We’re being discreet!”
“Ah, there you are, my scrumptious sugarplums!” Caine yelled as he floated over, Bubble in tow.
You scrambled away from each other, red-faced and wide-eyed. Jax glared. “Caine!”
“It’s good to see you finally getting along! Looks like my adventure worked!”
“...What?” It was your turn to glare as Jax growled and pulled you into his side. “How about we get rid of Caine for our next adventure?”
Decided I’d spoil you guys tonight, you get a doodle dump. Feat. Hotguy, Cuteguy, and some stuff from the Tubbo and Scar streams because I watched them both in succession and I am in love.
(reblogs with tags/comments are appreciated. thankyu)
ranboo casually walking, waist-deep in lava. he’s holding an axe, resting it on his shoulder. in the other hand, he has a phone, calling tubbo. lava is dripping from his arms and yet he’s just casually going “what’s for dinner?” or “how’s michael?”
omgomgomg thinking about c!ranboo being a Cool Spy and Hiding in the Shadows in his Cool Cloak. also thinking HARD about the endersmile duo siblings au and how the cloak ranboo had on during the red banquet was c!dream’s. the same cloak c!dream used to go out in the harsh weather in, the same cloak he had on when saving c!techno from his execution, same cloak that has so, so many old bloodstains on it, a reminder of c!dream’s past mistakes
this was super fun to write :D i really love writing c!dream and c!ranboo, esp. enderwalk ranboo, so this was poggers !! their relationship is so interesting and i couldn’t resist after getting this ask through KJSBDKVBD
warnings: death mentions, prison arc, lava, mental deterioration, red banquet spoilers, blood,
Lesson 18: Take comfort in the shadows. They won’t betray you. (They’re the only ones.)
It’s an early lesson, one of the ones from a slightly more sane (if still equally paranoid) Dream. Ranboo remembers snorting at him, rolling his eyes (”dramatic,” he’d teased, and even behind the mask, he’d known his brother had been glaring at him), but writing it down faithfully anyway, a strange understanding pit in his stomach that one day this would come in useful. Most of Dream’s advice did - from the lifesaving (lesson 93: tell nobody what you have done) to the practical, every day tips he still tries to follow religiously (lesson 30: color coordinate your plans to-do lists to help with organisation). With Dream in prison, and his awake side even more paranoid about his existence, Ranboo tells himself deviating from the lessons is only going to get him hurt, or worse, killed.
Breathing in evenly, Ranboo lets the shadows soak him up as he glances down at the Red Banquet, taking note of everything going on and everyone arriving. It’s not as busy as he’d feared, which is good: it’s less people for him to keep an eye on if they start acting oddly, but the half dozen or so people that have turned up are still worries. If the Egg does anything or tampers with them, that’ll be about half the server infected - far, far too many, and enough to be a threat.
Lesson 18: Take comfort in the shadows. They won’t betray you. (They’re the only ones.)
Dream’s cloak helps keep him grounded. It can be easy for him to get distracted, distant, dancing from one thought to another and from this fear to that, but his brother’s cloak is thick and heavy on his shoulders and allows him to breathe a sigh of relief. Ranboo pulls it tighter around him, draws the hood just a little further over his eyes, buries himself deeper in it and the shadows, sticking very carefully to the edges of the room as best he can. He doesn’t want anyone to see him (and much less to be dragged down into the party’s midst): Dream may have been a paranoid ass when making his lessons, but he’s right about 18: the shadows won’t betray him, if only because they can’t. This world, whether people like to admit it or not, is Dream’s, and he’s Dream’s ally. The shadows will keep him safe. Of that, he has no doubt.
The cloak snags on a vine. Ranboo freezes, almost jumping out of his skin until he realises it’s not a person tapping his shoulders. The tension slides out of him, and he carefully extracts the sleeve from the vine, that hisses at him threateningly, but he’s more focused on the cloak. Or rather, the blood on the cloak.
...It’s not new.
Which obviously isn’t a surprise, because Dream’s been in prison for months, who the hell would be getting blood on his cloak? Ranboo is still thrown by it, staring at the blood in bemusement, and it’s then that he realizes that there’s a lot of dried blood on this cloak. Like, a lot.
Prime, has Dream killed someone in this cloak?
Ranboo blinks, shaking his head. That’s a stupid question.
Of course he has.
It had been a relatively new cloak, the first time he’d seen Dream in it. Uncharacteristically, his mask had been off when Ranboo had appeared in his base, and though Dream had slipped it very quickly back on his face, there had been tired delight on his face that had Ranboo at the time reeling in surprise.
“I made a cloak,” Dream had told him brightly, “do you like it?”
Ranboo had blinked at it. “P∷ᒷℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ || リᒷᔑℸ ̣,” he’d said, English too unfamiliar at the time.
Dream had grinned, the expression mostly hidden behind his mask, and since then, he’d taken to wearing it more and more. It makes sense that it’s covered in blood, but still weighs heavily on Ranboo’s heart, because how much of that blood is Tubbo’s?
How much of that blood is Dream’s from the final fight?
“I’ll wash it,” he murmurs, a promise to himself, to his brother, “if only because I’d rather die than wear it covered in blood again. You’re gross.”
You might still die yet, a voice in the back of his mind that sounds suspiciously like Dream whispers, don’t get cocky.
Ranboo examines the situation below again. They’re all sitting round a table giving speeches - at the mention of his brother, his heart tugs.
...He misses him.
Maybe, if this banquet actually goes well, if the two sides actually reconcile, they’ll work on letting Dream turn over a new leaf too. Maybe, if peace is resorted here, they’ll let Dream have a second chance. Maybe.
For a moment, he can’t help but feel hopeful.
Lesson 18: Take comfort in the shadows. They won’t betray you. (They’re the only ones.)
Lava begins descending from the ceiling. Ranboo jerks back, startled, and teleports a safe couple of meters away, flighty, hurt, somehow, despite expecting this.
Of course peace isn’t going to come here. Of course it’s not. He thinks of Dream, rotting in a prison cell, the original peace bringer, and his expression grows tight, hard. Peace doesn’t exist anymore. Not without consequences.
And that’s when he hears Bad talk about multiple executions.
- demonic in appearance, partially immune to lava, prone to taking baths in it (but if he's in it for too long it can cause burns)
- his horns grew in during exile out of stress, but he's always had his tail
- is missing three teeth, two of them being replaced with gold teeth during his time living with technoblade, the other as a result from his death
- has big, red wings
- wears an open back shirt for his wings to fit through
- has a green bandana tied around his left wrist
- arthritis in his hands, wears bandages to reduce swelling and cushion movement (projecting)
- SBI braid, using his long ass side bangs on right side of his head, with trinkets braided into it. a crow (phil), a crown (techno), and a.. what is that? its broken, so you can't tell.
- white streak in his hair from being revived. it doesn't go away, even if he cuts it off. it always comes back.
- fatigue and pain became chronic after exile, even more so after being revived.
- left eye covered with an eye patch
- underneath it, the eye is a pale blue color, sclera red and irritated, a permanent black eye around it
- slowly losing his hearing due to the explosions from dream blowing up his stuff
- only learned BSL because tubbo was deaf in his right ear (losing it in his left) and he wanted to be able to talk to him
- figured out a way for michael to sign with his hooves, taught him how to say "dad". tubbo cried when he saw it
