Hidden Away [out of order]

Starts and Ends

(Want to clear up something: Dream never killed Tommy in this au, and Eret did actually adopt Fundy)

{I've changed some of the years and family around to be clear. Dream is 24, Nightmare being the same age. Like I said before, time and years are really weird in this story}

Philza and Ghostbur had been very surprised when they found out Fundy had a baby. They had said they would support him, but they weren't the best at showing it. They never visited, never asked about Zorro. At least they respected Fundy's wishes to keep Zorro a secret and didn't tell anyone. Puffy and Eret did threaten them a bit to make sure they wouldn't, but still.

The first time Ghostbur and Phil met Zorro, it had been quickly apparent that Zorro did not like his great grandfather. Phil had been given Zorro to hold, when the baby ended up scratching Phil's cheek and biting his wing. It was definitely out of character for the baby, and Fundy was quick to take him back. Eret meanwhile had been trying not to laugh.

Fundy had avoided Philza and Ghostbur since they found out, so maybe it wasn't entirely their fault they hadn't asked about Zorro. Fundy had actually not only been avoiding those two, but also Tubbo, Ranboo, Tommy, and Techno. Of course, Ranboo had been disappearing often so it was easy to avoid him. Fundy was happy with Zorro and Eret as his family, and Puffy was almost like family too.

●○■□□■○●

Tubbo was curious about where his Ranboo was disappearing to nearly every other day. Eventually, he decided to follow the enderman hybrid and find out, since asking hadn't gotten him anything but vague answers and avoidance, while he had Tommy watch Micheal. He was definitely suspicious of his platonic husband, though he was pretty sure it wasn't anything bad. Ranboo was so nice, and he didn't even seem capable of killing a fly. At least, not on purpose.

Following Ranboo proved more difficult than Tubbo expected, since the taller kept looking around to make sure no one was following him. That made Tubbo even more suspicious, since you generally don't make sure you're not being followed unless you've got something to hide. Or you're super paranoid, or you feel like you're in danger. It was sometimes pretty dangerous on the SMP, and there was that new mask guy... but that didn't explain why Ranboo would be disappearing and not tell Tubbo about it.

Tubbo followed Ranboo until they reached a mountain that had vines falling down on every side, though that seemed to be the only vegetation besides grass despite the thick forest around the mountain. He saw Ranboo walk up to a bunch of vines at the base of the mountain and push them to the sides, revealing a cave that seemed to be well furnished. Tubbo snuck up as close as he could to the cave, hiding behind a tree as Ranboo ducked inside silently. With that, Tubbo dived down so he was crouching down besides the entrance carefully peeking in through the vines that concealed him well.

Tubbo held in a gasp as he saw someone that perfectly fit the description of the new masked man. Well, almost perfectly. The man's mask was pushed to the side and you could see their face that was dusted with freckles and held a few scars. Ranboo and the man talked, and Tubbo heard Ranboo call the person "Nightmare", which the man responded to so Tubbo assumed that was his name. Tubbo watched the two talk before sitting down on the sofa, Nightmare handing Ranboo a couple of cream colored roots with reddish brown spots and stripes on them.

Ranboo ate the roots as the other man grabbed a leather bound book from the ottoman and opened it up to a book marked page. Tubbo watched and listened as they read and talked, finding it somewhat difficult to hear them and not fully understanding the story. Slowly but surely, a Tubbo found himself falling asleep as the two laughed, thudding against the soft grass and causing the other two to stop talking.