Caged Wings

CHAPTER 13

Two Days Later. . .

They had finally made it to the Antarctic kingdom. It was a shorter journey though with the horses. Why no one thought of that in the first place Niki will never know. But now here they were, unmounting and happy to be at their destination. King Philza, prince Technoblade, king Bad, king Skeppy, and prine Sapnap were waiting. Once they were all unmounted, the other royals didn’t hesitate to greet them, mostly speaking to king Eret as it had been years since any of them had been able to speak to the other. Niki walked over to Wilbur, taking Fundy from her best friend as he started to speak with the other royals. Fudy looked up at her, smiling as he reached for her pink hair. It was too short, just out of reach of the baby. “We’ll be leaving tonight. I have a feeling if we wait any longer we’ll be pushing it.” Philza tells the others, voice loud for all to hear. 

“Sounds good.” Eret spoke, Puffy coming over to his side smiling. “We should tell the others that are coming along as well. Do you have someone staying behind to watch over your kingdom?” Philza hummed, nodding as he looked behind himself towards one of the soldiers. 

“Yes, Jack will be watching over the kingdom until we get back.” The blond explains. “And you?” 

“I have a trustworthy friend watching over mine as well.” Eret says, not going into details. “We should start getting ready to leave, yes?” The others agreed, slowly breaking off. Purpled was one of the first to leave, his trusty wolf following behind him. 

+ + +

Tubbo shot another arrow, Ranboo and Karl next to him watching. “See? It’s not too hard, Ranboo! You try.” Karl suggested, pushing the teen forwards. Ranboo grabbed the bow out of Tubbo’s hand, the goat hybrid giving the other a reassuring smile as he did so. He grabbed an arrow, he copied what Tubbo had done, pulling the bow back as he aimed, ready to let go. He did, the arrow whizzing towards the target, hitting it in the middle. Karl smiled brightly, and Tubbo looked at the target in surprise. “Wow, first try!” Karl concragulated. Ranboo smiled brightly, proud of himself as well.  

“Great job Boo!” Tubbo said, tackling the other into a hug. Ranboo hugged back, smile only growing. Karl looked at the two, smiling at the cute moment. 

“Now, we should keep practicing. Then we can work on moving targets!” The two paused. 
“Moving targets? How would we do that?” Karl laughed at Ranboo’s question. 

“We’ll just strap some targets on Tubbo and make him run around while you try and shoot at him!” Both teens paled. 

“What?! What if I accidentally hit him?!” The ender hybrid squeaked out, Tubbo nodding frantically. 
“Y-Yeah! That doesn’t seem safe, Karl!” Said male rolled his eyes, still sporting a huge smile. 

“Well, I doubt we’re allowed outside right now. So, we need to work with what we got.” Tubbo gulped, looking towards the targets. 

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” A new voice said. They looked over to see a mysterious hybrid in the doorway, a wolf sitting next to them staring up at the person that was most likely it’s owner. 

“Well, that’s the only idea I can think of.” Karl tried to defend himself. 

“I still think it’s stupid.” Karl frowned. 

“Who even are you?” The brownette asked the other. One of the strangers' antennae twitched at Karls question. 

“Purpled. I’m coming with you guys on the trip.” Purpled walked deeper into the training room, Tubbo watching the man's movements carefully. Ranboo glared at the other, bringing the goat hybrid into a secure hug. If Tubbo didn’t trust this man then he wouldn’t either. 

“What's with the wolf?” Tubbo growled. The man looked down towards the wolf, who only tilted his head at the two teens with curious eyes. 

“This is Dog Champ.” He explains. “He’s my companion. I don’t go anywhere without him.” Tubbo glared at the wolf, then looked back at the man. “Oh, We’re leaving tonight by the way. So, I’d pack while you can.” Purpled told them, making his way back to the door. Ranboo looked down towards Tubbo, who was still hugging the other tightly, but he seemed aways from his body. His green eyes were glassy, a neutral expression that made the ender hybrid wonder what the other was thinking. If only he was a mind reader, maybe helping Tubbo would be easier that way. After the mysterious teen left the others began to resume what they were doing seconds later. 

Twenty-five Hours Later. . .

“Ranboo!” Karl yelled. “Aim for the high one!” Ranboo nervously did, Tubbo yelling and attempting to move out of the way. 
   
“You're trying to get him to shoot me in the face!” Tubbo yelled, a cackling Karl laughing as Ranboo let the arrow fly, and the goat hybrid yelling and trying to duck. “Karl, I hate you!” Karl just kept laughing, Ranboo worriedly looked at Tubbo, who was now getting off the ground with an arrow sticking out of the top of the target on his head. “This isn’t funny!” 
   
“This is funny for me!” The time traveler laughed out. Ranboo grabbed another arrow, making Tubbo’s head whip over to him. 
   
“Don’t. You. Dare.” The ender hybrid gave an apologetic smile, pulling the bow back to shoot the next arrow. “RANBOO NO!” 

A Half An Hour Later. . .

Ranboo had his head down, trailing behind Tubbo as he exited the medical wing with the goat hybrid. “I’m so mad at you.” Tubbo growls. Ranboo frowns, walking a bit faster to catch up with the other. He hugged the other, shoving his head into the crook of Tubbo’s neck as they walked. 
   
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think that this would have happened.” He had accidentally hit the other in the shoulder with an arrow, an area that wasn’t padded or protected. Tubbo didn’t have time to react, resulting in an arrow hanging out of his shoulder as he screamed in pain. The scene will never leave Ranboo’s mind. After that he vowed to himself to never raise a weapon to the other again. It hurt seeing the other in that state. Even Karl was freaking out, good thing he had experience as a doctor and knew what to do. They were lucky they had healing potions on hand, or tubbo may have had to sit the mission out. Tubbo’s angry demeanor slowly faded away, one of his hands reaching back to ruffle the sad hybrid's hair. 
   
“It’s ok Ranboo. I forgive you.” The taller male was relieved to hear that, smiling happily. Tubbo sighed, letting a smile also inch onto his face. “We should pack for the trip then head to the others, ok?” Ranboo nodded. “Ok.” 

A Few Hours Later. . .

Ponk made his way onto the boat, Sam next to him holding both their bags. “You know, you Egg kingdom people are op as hell.” Sam observed, making Ponk look over with a weird look as he chuckled. The two made it on the boat, making their way down to the lower deck where they would be sleeping in hammocks. 

“Yeah?” Sam nodded, a smile growing on his face. 

“What is your ability anyways?” Sam asks. Ponk pauses. The creeper hybrid sets their things down waiting for an answer. 

“It’s not all that impressive.” Ponk says. This intrigues the other. Sam waits, giving the other a reassuring look. The other smiles shyly, looking down to his feet. “Um, I have extreme agility. It comes in handy on the battlefield, but it's not flashy like most of the generals are.” 

“So? It’s still cool!” Sam assures, making the other look up with a grateful expression. Sam places his hands on the others shoulders, the creeper hybrid leaning forwards being now only inches away from Ponk’s own. The Egg general’s face grew bright, eyes ding the same. Times like these he was happy he wore a ski mask. “So what if that Ant guy can produce actual ice with just a flick of his wrist? Or that king Bad can grow nine times his usual height? Your ability is just as important as theirs is!” Ponk was happy, pride filling his soul by the others words. 

“T-Thank you, Sam.” The other nodded, moving his hands away from his shoulders. Ponk don't lie, he wished the other general hadn’t moved them away. 

“I don’t know what I just walked in on, but that was pretty gay.” The two general’s whipped their heads around to see a hysterically laughing Quackity, setting his own bag down in one of the many hammocks in the lower decks, and Charlie smiling at the other two from beside the  avian. 

“Quackity!” Sam laughed, Ponk himself smiling.