Lavender Snow

Walk

Ranboo destroyed the note a day after Tommy left.

With no windows in the apartment and a fairly common power, Ranboo had no way of knowing what had happened to Tommy other than the tapped gossip in the cafeteria each morning. Some Enderians said they had heard him screaming, arguing with Fai on the bridge before heroically diving into a magical portal. Some said he had killed Fai and then himself.

Most thought it was more likely that he had been discarded.

Ranboo had wept for Tommy. He had still been weeping when he was summoned to the front lobby, despite not being fully charged.

He took his book with him, examining it in the elevator. The title was scratched out, and he had memorized the whole thing. On the front Tommy had painted in purple calligraphy Do Not Read, and on the inside cover, Mr. Boo's Memory Book. Ranboo stared at the purple ink, not caring that a few tears landed on the black leather and smudged the beautiful words.

He barely noticed the walk to the desk, the leash clipped around his collar, the stranger leading him through the streets. He did not hear the words spoken to him. He did not feel the blows directed towards his head, arm, and chest.

All that mattered was that Tommy was gone, and it was his fault.

Stupid note. Stupid book. It was probably written by some crazy Enderian to get more people discarded. Ranboo stumbled as his Elytrian began walking up steps. Tommy probably wasn't going to be discarded, they just did it because he ran off. I got him killed.

He wiped at his nose, glad that they were allowed to cry, although typically the Elytrians preferred smiles. Whoever had made the rules must have known that it was impossible for them to hide all their emotions.

Ranboo's feet hit a cold surface and he opened his eyes. The hallway here was one long stretch of mirrors on all sides. Ranboo's stomach plummeted as he realized where he was.

The Elytrian unclipped the leash and walked off. He knew Ranboo wouldn't try to run. No one ever tried to run.

The door at the end of the hallway seemed to stretch and distort as he walked slowly towards it.

A :) was engraved in the doorknob.

Ranboo took a deep breath and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

The room was pitch black, just like last time. By instinct, or perhaps by compulsion, he made his way to the center of the room. He groped around until his hands found a splintered wooden chair, and sat. Even with his long limbs, his feet barely brushed the ground.

Silence.

Ranboo tried to focus on his too-fast breaths, slowing them down. His eyes darted around, searching for any light in the dark. He swore there was something moving around in the room, something in there with him. As soon as his mind caught hold on this idea, he thought he heard panting and the click of nails against the floor. Was that his hair, tickling his neck, or the spindly legs of something crawling on his two-toned skin? Was that the sound of his own breathing, or someone else's?

He forced himself to stay still.

He wasn't even sure if his eyes were still open at this point. The darkness penetrating his eyes slunk around inside his head, filling his mind with fuzzy tension. He was floating in the void, and something cloaked in darkness was watching him. Waiting.

Finally, after hours— days? Of this torture, a lime green smile appeared on the far edge of the room, directly opposite Ranboo. It stayed in place in the darkness even when he blinked.

"Enderian 1696. Ranboo."

The voice did not belong to the unmoving smiley face.

"You were roommates with Enderian 1732, Tommy, yes? Speak."

"Yes," Ranboo said, his voice barely a whisper. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes, that's correct."

"Are you aware that 1732 has vanished?"

His breath stilled. Tommy. . . wasn't discarded? A flutter of hope stirred in his chest. "Yes."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No."

"Do you know where he is?"

". . .No."

"Do you know where he is?"

". . .No, sorry."

There was silence. The green smile shifted ever-so-slightly closer.

"You know something."

A bead of sweat dripped off of Ranboo's chin. "No."

"You know where he went."

"No."

"You know what he did."

"No."

"You know why he ran."

". . .I don't know what happened." Ran?

"You know something, dammit! Tell us!" Ranboo flinched back from the sudden volume of the voice.

"Hyphae. That's enough."

The room went still and cold as though a sudden frost had swept through it. This was the voice of his memories, his nightmares. It had been a while since he had heard it, but it was familiar nonetheless.

"But Dre—"

"Enough. I will handle this. You are dismissed."

There was a soft clicking sound, then the room was silent again. Ranboo kept his eyes trained on the smile, feeling somehow that the second rule didn't apply here.

The smile tilted slightly as it drew closer to Ranboo. Eventually it was close enough for the green light to softly illuminate a porcelain mask over the folds of a flowing robe.

"Speak."

Ranboo opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Speak."

He whimpered quietly. It was all he could do.

The smile righted itself of its tilt. "No matter. I can find him some other way."

The smile disappeared, once again plunging them into complete darkness. A hand fell heavily on his shoulder.

"You will be easy to break."