- BEEDUO

THE CRYSTAL POND

"Dude, you're super muddy now—" Ranboo said, reaching their arms out to grab the zombie piglin. Micheal was coated in a layer of thick mud that had been here after the short storm that'd just passed. He was wearing an oversized t-shirt, granted to him by Tubbo, and some black shorts.

"Let's get you all cleaned up." Ranboo spoke, picking their son up and holding him pretty far away from themself. As they looked around for a Nether portal, Micheal spoke piglin nonsense to them. "That's not what I wanted to hear, young man." Ranboo sighed, hearing the news that most portals around were broken. "I'll find one. I wish I was panicking so I could teleport," They laughed. "Anyways, I think I see one!" Ranboo ran over to the West, ducking under tree branches and jumping over bushes. They sidestepped around lava pits, pranced around in flowers, ran around water and puddles, and just barely made leaps over ravines.

As they approached the standing portal, Wilbur fazed through and stepped down right in front of them.

"Ah! Fancy seeing you here, Ranboo. And Micheal, too? What a combo!" Wilbur hacked and coughed in an attempt to laugh manically.

"A combo? What's . . . What's that supposed to mean?" Ranboo knew what he meant, and wasn't going to let it happen. "Oh, y'know, a combo canon-kill! And oh, Micheal wouldn't come back . . . How tragic!" Wilbur mocked with a manic grin.

"Just let us through, Wil. You do know I can torture you with all of my forty lives, right?" Ranboo taunted, drawing their maxed out sword. A totem glowed in their enderchest, awaiting its use. "It'd be pathetic if you died and never came back. Not like anyone would mind," They trailed off with Micheal cowered behind their lanky legs. "What a shame that'd be." Ranboo smiled with sympathetic brows.

Wilbur scowled, and grit his teeth which only tore apart his cig. "Filthy bastard. Why hasn't anyone killed you?" He spat. "Maybe because I'm bearable. I don't know, just a guess." Ranboo replied. Wilbur shot them a snarky smirk. "So Tubbo doesn't actually find doing your little memory games annoying? Tommy doesn't wish you were different, and not some dipshit who can't fend for himself? Niki doesn't actually wish you were more like Tubbo, Tommy, Jack, and literally anybody else? That's new knowledge. Hmm." Wilbur finished, a satisfied smile sat on his face. Ranboo let out a low growl (grrr bark bark woof grr) and tried tried their best not to draw the sword once more. Micheal whimpered, and they quickly picked him up to comfort him. "Just let us go through. I've heard it all before; It doesn't phase me. I won't hesitate to burn you to fucking ashes like a pile of dry twigs." Ranboo growled, looking straight into Wilbur's eyes. There was a tad of hesitation them, and a little bit of fear. "Catch you later then." He grumbled as he fumbled for a cigarette. "Hey—give me one of those." Ranboo demanded. Wilbur looked up, tilting his head. "You—" He tried to say, put the other just snatched the pack from him and took one. When they returned it to his hands, they went through the portal.

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This odd encounter wasn't surprising at all for Ranboo, but it was still—well—odd. As they cleaned Micheal up, Tubbo walked in the bathroom and leaned on the door frame. "I could've washed him so you didn't have to wear those thick, rubber gloves," He spoke with a soft smile. "Well, I could've taken him to the Nether to get a lava-bath, but I'm sure he'd burn. Plus, I feel bad for you having to do this stuff all the time." They replied, scrubbing Micheal with a green sponge. He was covered head-to-toe with bubbles, and bubbles even came out of his snout.

"I don't mind much, big man. Honestly, I enjoy doing these things with him. It's good bonding time." Tubbo spoke, arms and legs crossed. Ranboo hummed in response. "Oh hey, I heard there was a 'crystal pond' somewhere out near a woodland mansion. Kinda wanted to check it out." Tubbo spoke, walking over to help dry the zombie piglin off. Ranboo nodded with a smile as they wrapped Micheal up burrito-style.

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"So, here it is." Tubbo stood in awe of the crystalline waters. You could see the bottom very clearly, even though it was fairly deep. Ranboo watched as the sunlight danced along the surface and watched fish of various blues play a game of tag. "Whoa." They said, bending down to take a closer look. "I wish I could swim in here. The trees part just perfectly around the pond to where it's nearly perfect," Ranboo said solemnly. The flowers around them seemed to grow by the minute, and rabbits hopped around in the wooded bush. "Oh, I'm sorry." Tubbo mumbled, forgetting they couldn't touch water. He slowly sat beside the taller, gazing around their facial features. Micheal played with a wolf not too far away, yet they still felt like it was just them. Bee and Boo.

After a hot second of admiring the pristine waters, the trio left hand-in-hand. "That was pretty," Ranboo said quietly. "What was that, Boo?" Tubbo asked, ears twitching to the sounds of nature. "Nothing." Ranboo sighed, dissatisfaction plastered onto their face. I wish I could've felt the water, they thought with a frown. "Hey, we'll- we'll find a way for you to get in. Trust me," Tubbo reassured them, squeezing their hand ever so slightly. "But when—and how—will that happen?" Ranboo said with a sarcastic chuckle. "Water resistance potions?" Tubbo reasoned.

"Okay," they let out a genuine laugh. "Sure, Tubs."

ello m8
so sorry for the late update, i mightve forgotten that people actually read this
anyways,
hope you have a great day/night/whatever time it is :)