notus

Chapter 10: make my messes matter, make the chaos count

Chapter 10: make my messes matter, make the chaos count

The blue sky stretches wide before him. The Not-Prince soars above the clouds, laughing - it laughs with him. A gust of wind blows through his feathers, cheeky and playful.

Ranboo spreads his arms, sighing a simple breath of pure contentment. The sun is warm on his face, his feathers, and him.

Here, this high up - he's alive.

Then, abruptly, he stops.

Ranboo turns around. His eyebrows furrow, and his heartbeat stutters. A chill rakes down his spine.

Something...else flies with him. Wingbeats echoing his own. It hides in the clouds, teasing him with glimpses - a predator prowling behind prey, baring teeth in the dark.

Ranboo swallows. He curls his fingers to tight fists, whirling around in the air; tries, desperately, to catch sight of them as they flew-

Something clamps around his shoulders.

Ranboo screams, shoving away.

A manic breath of laughter.

"Got you!" Phil throws his head back, wheezing. "Hah! You should've seen your face, mate. My god, it was priceless-"

"I can't with you." Ranboo pushes his face into his hands, quelling his heart's panicked beating. He groans, "I can't- I'm going to elbow you again. Don't do that."

Phil chuckles. His eyes are alight with laughter, and the adrenaline of flight. "Sor-ee," he snickers, shoulders still shaking even as he tries to stifle his laughs.

And through his irritation, Ranboo can't help but smile, anyway.

They steal a few more moments in the air. To be free, to tease the idea of taking off and flying to the very edges of the world, and to dance amidst the clouds.

But eventually, they soar back down. The forest comes back into view - green treetops and melting snow. The growing smell of spring.

Ranboo bursts into laughter, swinging his arm in a massive wave.

Standing in a clearing, like small ants, he sees Tubbo eagerly wave back.

"About time!" The Goat Kid pouts, as they land. He shifts the picnic basket to one hand, just to pose dramatically with the other. "Thought you'd never get down."

But his eyes shine, and he dissolves into a beam of a bright smile; rivalling that of anything Just-Ranboo has seen.

Ranboo chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry," he shrugs, "got carried away."

"Yeah and I think Phil got carried away too," says Techno. The pig crosses his arms, eyeing the man with bemusement. "We could hear Ranboo's scream all the way down here."

Mortified, Ranboo ducks his head. Phil only bursts into a bout of screeching laughter.

"He was right there!" Phil cackles. "What did you expect me to do!"

Ranboo huffs. "Not scare me?"

"Oh pshf-" Phil waves him off, his eyes wrinkling with the strength of his smile. "You'll be fine. It's only a few years off your long lifespan."

"A few what -"

Shouting rang, further in the woods. The four glance towards it, eyebrows raised - then, to each other; speaking silently, all with a few simple bemused glances.

"No, you're not putting it correctly- Tommy it's going to sink! "

"I know what I'm doing! I'm Tommy, I'm the smartest man you'll ever meet and you'll watch as my boat survives the goddamn apocalypse-"