As the Crow Flies

Healing with Honey

"You coming Ranboo?" Tommy called from the ladder. It was late at night and Tommy and Ranboo's first prison watch had come to an end.

"Yeah I'll be down in a bit." He said and watched as Tommy climb down the ladder.

He turned back to face the prison. It was such a giant dark place. The fact that it held the most dangerous and powerful man on the server made it all the more intimidating. Ranboo leaned forward on the railing.

"What are you planning?" He said to himself. There was no response, obviously. But a part of him still wondered about what Dream had said to him when he visited.

"You are Dream."

Ranboo's heart stopped. The voice he just heard was too clear to have been a memory. He froze and listened intently to the dead air around him.

"Ranboo." The voice whispered and Ranboo felt something brush against his shoulder. He spun around and locked both hands on the railing behind him. His heart was beating rapidly and he felt out of breath. There was no one behind him.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten." The voice said. Ranboo shook his head and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"No. You're not real. You're just in my head." Ranboo heard a sinister laugh in response.

"Am I?" Ranboo tried to walk away, but he was forced back into one of the tower's pillars. He felt his throat collapse and he struggled to catch even a single breath. Then, Dream's whisper came into his left ear.

"Maybe you just need help jogging your memory." Ranboo felt something like a cold hand press up against his forehead. His mind instantly went black, dark, and cold. "You knew Tommy was visiting. You followed him to the prison. You laid that tnt. Rows, and rows, and rows of the stuff. You lit that shit and got Tommy locked in. You helped kill him Ranboo. Thank god I had the ability to revive him." Ranboo tried his best to free himself, but he couldn't seem to move. It felt like someone was poking around his mind. Violating his thoughts, dreams, and anxieties.

"I've spent a long time in that prison and it's funny what torture has taught me about pain." Ranboo felt like his mind had been infested with dozens of little bugs, pinching at every little crack and crevice. His ears started to pop as pain and pressure took over his brain.

"It can be very effective for getting what you want." Dream dug even deeper into his mind. "And I want those memories Ranboo. I want full control."

"Ranboo?"

A familiar voice pulled Ranboo back to earth. He felt the evil presence flee from his mind and his vision suddenly came back to him.

His view was all sky. He'd forgotten how bright the moon and stars could shine. He looked to his right and saw the prison in the distance. Dream was still locked up and Ranboo was still on top of the tower, sitting up against one of the pillars. Then he spotted Tubbo peeking up from the ladder.

"Looks like you zoned out there for a minute big man." Ranboo felt his eyes begin to water. He looked down at his hands. They were shaking. "You ok?" Tubbo asked. Ranboo couldn't hold it together anymore. He pulled his hands up to his mouth to help keep down the sob that was rising in him.

"Hey." Tubbo climbed up onto the tower and rushed over to sit next to Ranboo. Ranboo felt Tubbo's hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong?" Ranboo flinched as acid tears streamed down his cheeks and dripped onto his hands. He couldn't keep it in anymore. He couldn't keep struggling alone. He needed to tell someone, anyone. And Tubbo was right here.

Ranboo took in a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts before speaking.

"There's something I've been keeping from you." His voice was weak. He waited for Tubbo to say something, but the boy remained silent. "So umm, there's this thing that I do sometimes where I can't seem to control or remember what I do." Ranboo took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice from shaking.

"What do you mean?" Tubbo asked. Ranboo thought about how he could explain it without coming off too alarming.

"It's kind of like sleepwalking. Only, I end up doing things that I wouldn't have done otherwise if I'd been awake." Tubbo's brow furrowed. 

"What kind of things?" Ranboo didn't want to frighten Tubbo, but he didn't want to lie either. He turned to look at Tubbo and felt his eyes beginning to welt with tears again.

"Bad things. Like, really really bad things." Ranboo waited for Tubbo's response, but Tubbo remained silent. His expression was unreadable, then he looked down and began searching his bag. After a bit of rummaging, Tubbo pulled out a little bottle of golden liquid and opened it. A sweet scent flooded Ranboo's senses.

"What is that?" He asked. Tubbo poured some of the liquid onto a cloth and scooted closer to Ranboo.

"It's honey and some other stuff. It's supposed to help with your tears." He reached up and held Ranboo's face in one of his hands as he dabbled the honey soaked cloth into the scars of his cheeks. Ranboo felt the heated pain of his tears lessen. The sweet scent of honey helped calm his nerves.

After Tubbo finished, he closed the bottle and stuffed it in his bag along with the rag.

"Thanks for that." Ranboo said.

"Sure." Tubbo smiled. "And thank you for opening up to me Ranboo." Tubbo stood up from his seat and lent out a hand to Ranboo. "Come on, we can figure this out together."