Chapter Text
The forest was for the fae, not for humans. That was the first thing the children of the village were taught as they began to explore the world.
The elders in the village were terrified of the forest. They would watch the swaying green leaves and the shifting shadows with wary gazes, as if they could feel something watching them from inside.
Tubbo’s grandmother was no different from the other elders of the village. Ever since he was young, Tubbo had been taught that the forest was no place for humans to venture. Although the moss-covered stones and gentle patches of shade might look inviting, even if you heard sweet voices in the babble of the creek and the delicate chirps of birdsong coming from the branches, a human should never step foot inside the forest. If you did, you could be stolen away by the fae, never to be seen again.
According to Tubbo’s grandmother, she had actually witnessed someone get stolen away, the lost child becoming nothing but a whisper in the trees. She told Tubbo that he had been young, and often disappeared into the forest from sunrise to sunset. The villagers assumed the child was a changeling, and tied him up to keep the boy from returning to the forest, so they could beg the fae to take him away.
A faerie appeared in the village to take him back, but he punished the village severely for their mistreatment of the boy. While the child had not been a changeling, he had been claimed by the fae nonetheless. Tubbo’s grandmother never explained what their mistreatment of him was, only that it was enough to enrage the fae. Crimson blood ran through the streets for weeks afterwards, and even now, Tubbo swore he could sometimes see dark stains buried deep within the cobblestone.
Tubbo’s grandmother had been very young at the time it happened, and was one of the few who was spared the wrath of the fae. But those who survived swore to never forget the lesson the fae had taught them, and no human being had set foot in the forest ever since.
Of course, Tubbo was certain this was all bullshit.
The myth of the lost child and the fae was nothing more than a scary story told to the children of the village to keep them from wandering off. The forest was dark, twisting, and wild animals roamed freely in its depths. It wasn’t the place for small children to explore, but not because there were magic creatures ready to steal them away. Parents simply didn’t want their child to get eaten by wolves.
Tubbo’s grandmother died when he was ten years old, and his belief in the scary story died with her. The village was small, and most families already struggled to feed their own children. No one was willing to take in the newly orphaned Tubbo, so it was decided to allow him to stay in his own home, with neighbors scheduled to check in on him throughout the week and make sure he had food.
As Tubbo got older, the visits from his neighbors became less frequent. He started a garden for himself, digging his hands into the warm, soft earth and encouraging any spare seeds he could find to bloom. The garden turned out to be his saving grace, and that spring, Tubbo didn’t have to rely on anyone to feed him. His meals were made up of dark spinach leaves and juicy red tomatoes, tangy carrots and filling potatoes.
Tubbo had always had a knack for innovation. As the dreaded ice of winter rounded the corner, Tubbo created a small structure from a wooden frame and some spare linen, sealing his precious plants away from the outside so he could continue to feed himself all winter long.
But he was alone. By the time the villagers realized Tubbo could feed himself, the visits stopped altogether. Tubbo still took odd jobs so he could continue to trade and barter with his neighbors, but he always found himself in a quiet, small cabin with only the birdsong and his plants for company.
Until Ranboo came along.
If you asked the village how Ranboo ended up in their town square, no one would be able to give you a real answer. The truth of the matter was that one day, Ranboo simply appeared in their small community. He was one of the oddest things their village had seen in a while—abnormally tall, lanky, with two different colored eyes and split hair to match. Everyone in the village was confused by his appearance, and he was just as confused in return. He had no memories of his life before appearing in the village, save for his name. Nothing about him made sense.
What to do when a strange child suddenly appears in a small village with no memory of any other home? Put him with the other strange child who lives by himself and talks to plants as if they were his friends. It’s not like there was anywhere else for him to go.
So that’s how Tubbo met Ranboo, and it was as if a fog had been lifted over his entire life. A house that had once held nothing but some rather basic furniture and mason jars of stored food came to life in the most spectacular way. Papers regularly scattered the floor, with half-remembered thoughts scrawled across their faces. A fire was always crackling like an old friend, constantly tended to by a boy who had a permanent chill in his bones. Dried flowers hung from the ceiling by twine, discarded pieces of scrap metal were shoved into corners, and finally, Tubbo considered his house a home.
Ranboo was everything Tubbo had been missing in his life. He was a listening ear for when Tubbo needed to ramble about one of his latest inventions, he was a calming presence when Tubbo became too worked up over the way the wheat farmer had ripped him off that day, and he was a hearty laugh when nothing else could make Tubbo smile.
When he first came to the village, Ranboo had no memory of how old he was, so Tubbo decided they were the same age. Now the two of them were seventeen years old, and although things weren’t always easy, their life was theirs. And Tubbo was happier than he ever thought he could be.
Until Ranboo got sick.
Ranboo had always had a more delicate constitution than other kids their age. He couldn’t run for long periods of time, Tubbo always had to carry heavy things for him, and sometimes laughing too hard was enough to send him gasping for breath. Him getting sick for a week or two at a time was nothing unusual. But this new illness was different.
It started off as a cough. Such a small thing, yet it went from an occasional cough here and there, to Ranboo coming close to passing out from coughing fits that lasted far too long to be normal. It was getting to the point where they were both losing sleep from Ranboo’s pained lungs, and the resident doctor of the village apologized when her medicines did little to ease things.
That was when Tubbo remembered something his grandmother had taught him when he was young. She told him that before the forest had become forbidden, sometimes people would venture into its depths to find herbs to help them when they were sick. Certain plants that only grew next to streams and under rocks were said to help with illnesses, so maybe if the doctor's medicines weren’t working, he could use those plants to help Ranboo.
He still had his grandmother’s plant-identification book. The pages had gone soft with time, the detailed illustrations blurring in certain spots, but still clear enough to identify which plant as what, and how exactly to use it. It would work perfectly for his needs.
It was risky, but not as risky as it could have been. There was only one person left in the village who claimed to have been there on the day of the fae’s wrath, so the rules regarding the forest weren’t enforced as strictly as they had once been. Tubbo would still have to sneak out to go there, but if he got caught, he would likely just get a slap on the wrist and nothing more.
Ranboo didn’t agree with him.
“Are you crazy?” Ranboo asked after Tubbo had explained his plan one night, excitedly bouncing up and down on his toes as he clutched his grandmother’s plant identifying book in his hands. “You know the forest is dangerous!”
“What am I in danger from? The wolves? I’m gonna go during the day, stupid,” Tubbo snorted, setting the book down on the foot of Ranboo’s bed.
Ranboo shook his head. “I’m not worried about wolves. I’m worried about faeries!”
Tubbo raised a single eyebrow at him. “Oh come on now, Boo. Don’t tell me you actually believe all that bullshit about the fae?”
“You don’t?”
Tubbo shook his head. “Of course I don’t! They just don’t want people getting lost in there.”
“But you don’t-” Ranboo was cut off by a loud cough, and Tubbo winced at the hacking as he waited for Ranboo to catch his breath. “You don’t know that for sure,” he finished, his voice a bit rougher than it had been moments before.
“Look, I’ve lived next to that forest my entire life and I’ve never seen anything in there except the occasional squirrel. Trust me, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Ranboo sighed. “I don’t want you going in there. At least not-” Another cough, and Ranboo’s knuckles turned white as he gripped his bedsheets. “Not alone.”
“Well, I can’t take you with me. I gotta sneak out there before dawn and everyone in the whole village is gonna wake up if you try to follow,” Tubbo explained, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Flushing, Ranboo ducked his eyes to the ground. “I know, and I hate it. I feel like I can’t do anything because of this stupid cough.” His voice had softened now, losing the frustrated edge that had been there earlier.
Tubbo furrowed his brows and settled on the edge of the mattress, feeling Ranboo’s outstretched legs bump against his back. “That’s why I’m doing this. I’m gonna find you these plants and they’ll make your cough go away.”
“But what if they don’t? And what if something happens to you in there?”
Ranboo’s mismatched brown and green eyes were bright with worry, and Tubbo hated making him nervous like this. But that cough clearly wasn’t going to get better on its own.
“It’s our only option at this point, so I think it’s worth a shot. And nothing’s going to happen to me. I swear.” Tubbo kept his eyes on his hands as he spoke, because direct eye contact had a tendency to make Ranboo nervous.
The hand clutching the bedsheets loosened just a bit.
“Just… be careful, okay? Watch where you’re walking and make sure you don’t step in a faerie ring.”
Huffing, Tubbo reached out to grab Ranboo’s hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“I promise I won’t step in the completely natural circle of mushrooms that forests sometimes have,” Tubbo said, giving Ranboo a cheesy grin. “Just for you, Boo.”
Ranboo rolled his eyes. “You owe me one after I did all the laundry today. It took me ages to get those grass stains out of your pants.”
“You always do the laundry for us!” Tubbo protested. “And of course I get grass stains on my pants. I have a garden!”
“Hmm, you still owe me one.”
“No I don’t!”
“Yes you do. I’m a poor sick boy and you should feel sorry for me.”
“Oh you fucking-”
The laughter from the small house echoed throughout the village, spilling out like the warm orange light of their fireplace.
And maybe if something in the forest shifted in response to the laughter, well, no one was around to see it.
The next morning, Tubbo snuck out at dawn.
The sun was just beginning to poke its face above the horizon. The sky was a soft shade of grey, streaks of pink and purple smeared across it like paint on a canvas. Boots thumped against dew-covered grass as a boy sprinted towards the forest, keeping his eyes on the morning dewdrops and not on the warm house he was leaving behind.
Tubbo had a basket in one hand, and his plant identifying book in the other. He would gather as much as he could until the sun set, then he would sneak back to his house under the cloak of night. It would be easy.
He hoped.
Soft grass changed from shades of pale green to something much darker as Tubbo neared the edge of the forest. His footsteps slowed as flowers sprung up around his feet, and when Tubbo reached the treeline, he couldn’t help but pause.
In light of the rising sun, the shadows that usually twisted between the trees like animals stalking their next meal were absent. Instead, all Tubbo could see were moss-covered trunks and a nearly forgotten path trailing deep into the trees.
It wasn’t like Tubbo was afraid of the forest. Unlike Ranboo, he definitely did not believe in faeries. In fact, he didn’t even know much about what faeries were. All he really understood was that they were immortal beings made of magic who liked to fuck people over and steal kids if they felt like it. Yeah, it didn't really sound all that realistic to Tubbo.
So he wasn’t afraid. He just… had never set foot in the forest before. And with his grandmother’s warnings ringing in his ears, it was difficult for him to convince himself to cross the threshold.
“If you enter the forest, Tubbo, I can promise you that you will never return,” his grandmother whispered in the back of his mind.
No. He was going to return because he had to go back to Ranboo. Nothing was going to trap him there.
So Tubbo took a deep breath, and stepped into the trees.
And nothing happened.
Glancing around, Tubbo waited for something. He wasn’t sure what he was waiting for. Maybe a strange wind to blow? Or someone to yell at him for stepping into the forest? He felt like there should’ve been something to signal that he’d fucked up and gone somewhere he shouldn’t have.
But there was nothing. Yellow light spilled onto the faded path in front of him, beckoning him, as if it were telling him where to go. There were no wolves, no shadows, and no fae to be seen.
Yeah, Tubbo knew that was a load of shit.
Tubbo took off onto the path with a spring in his step and a grin on his face.
The forest was actually quite beautiful, Tubbo mused as the morning sun began to rise over his head. More sunlight created dappled shadows in front of him, while birds sang in the branches above his head. Tubbo kept his eyes on the ground, focusing on matching imprints in the mossy path that had almost been lost to time. He wondered how long it had been since someone had walked this path. Probably a hundred years, give or take.
Tubbo wondered if the lost child was the last person to walk this path. While Tubbo doubted the existence of the fae, he never doubted that the lost child had been real. The child most likely wandered off into the forest one night and got himself eaten by wolves, and that was where the story had come from.
Oh god. What if Tubbo found his bones in the forest? That would be fucked up.
Suppressing a shiver at the thought, Tubbo continued along the path.
He kept an eye out for a bush with fuzzy, oval leaves and delicate white and pink flowers. Thyme was apparently a great remedy for coughs, and it could easily be made into a tea to drink. It was exactly what he needed for Ranboo, and he planned to collect as much of it as possible before the sun set.
But as he followed the path deeper into the depths of the forest, Tubbo began to grow frustrated. There were plenty of plants, sure. Clusters of bright red berries, a few white-capped mushroom heads poking up from the dirt, but he couldn’t find a plant that matched the drawing of thyme.
Glancing up at the sky, Tubbo saw the sun was nowhere near high noon, so it was still morning. At least he had plenty of time.
So he followed the path deeper, trusting that he would be able to follow it back to get home. As he walked, the forest around him seemed to wake up with the rising sun. More birdsong joined the first chirps he had heard, creating a symphony above his head that sang in time with the rustling of the leaves. He laughed when a squirrel scurried up a tree trunk right next to his head, and bit back a yelp when a small mouse ran across his feet only to leap back into the underbrush as if he wasn’t even there.
Ranboo would love this place. Maybe Tubbo could bring him there when he got better, after he had proved to Ranboo it didn’t have any fae in it. They could sit under a patch of shade, nibbling on bread and vegetables and watch the birds fly above their heads.
Tubbo was so lost in his thoughts about Ranboo that he didn’t even see the clearing until the bright sunlight made him wince.
The path led to a meadow, it seemed. The place was covered in tall grass that gently brushed Tubbo’s calves, with wildflowers dotted in between the gold and green fronds. In the meadow there was a single tree, far away from all the others that circled the empty space. Long roots spilled out from under it, twisting into the earth like an ancient creature that was waiting to be awakened. It’s heavy branches created a dark patch of shade next to its trunk, and as the morning sun made sweat bead on the back of Tubbo’s neck, he figured that would be a good place to take his break.
Tubbo was watching his feet as he walked to make sure he didn’t miss a small cluster of thyme by accident. It was then he noticed small, fat bees buzzing between the flowers, and a wide grin split his face at the sight.
He’d always loved the bees who came to pollinate his garden. Tubbo would let them crawl up his fingers, leaving out sugar water for them to snack on in case they got tired. Now Tubbo was walking extra carefully, making sure he didn’t accidentally step on a bee that was just trying to do its job.
In the end, this was his saving grace, because this was the only reason he didn’t step into the ring of mushrooms that Ranboo had warned him about the night before.
As soon as Tubbo spotted the mushrooms, he froze. He was so close to the shade that the tree provided now, but it was just out of reach behind the ring of white-capped mushrooms that surrounded its trunk.
The temptation to step inside the ring and lean against the sturdy trunk to rest his sore feet was unbelievably strong. But Tubbo had made a promise to Ranboo, hadn’t he? Even if he thought faerie rings were bullshit, Ranboo would probably give himself a stroke if he knew Tubbo entered one. Besides, he could find plenty of shade in the forest.
So he forced himself to take a step back from the ring, and turned on his heel to scurry back to the safety of the tree canopy.
But then there was a voice.
“Wait! Where are you going?”
Tubbo froze mid step, his heart leaping up to his throat. Who the hell would be in the forest? No one entered the forest. And why was the voice coming from right behind him where he’d been staring at the empty faerie ring only seconds before?
Maybe it was a hallucination. Maybe Ranboo’s paranoia was getting to him and he was just imagining things-
“Hello? Can you even hear me, dipshit?”
Well, guess Tubbo had to turn around.
It was fine. He was going to turn around and just see a guy who had been hiking through the forest just like he was, and they were going to laugh about the coincidence before going their separate ways.
When Tubbo turned to face the faerie ring though, all the laughter died in his throat as he saw the creature standing in the shade of the tree.
Tubbo’s first thought was that the boy looked like he could be the same age as him.
Tubbo’s second thought was that that thing was definitely not human, and probably wasn’t the same age as him either.
At first glance, the creature looked like a teenage boy. He was tall—taller than Tubbo, but still shorter than Ranboo—and was wearing some of the fanciest clothes Tubbo had ever seen. His waistcoat was the color of pomegranate seeds, and his jacket on top was a rich shade of blueberry. Gold rings encrusted with precious gems adorned his fingers, and as Tubbo’s eyes trailed up, he noticed a literal emerald wrapped in gold chain hanging from the boy’s ear.
Oh god, his ears.
The boy had pointed ears. Like, literal pointed ears. His hair could’ve been made out of spun gold, it was so curly and bright. But his eyes were what caught Tubbo’s attention the most. They were unnaturally bright blue, looking exactly like an azure summer sky. But it was more than that. They weren’t just the same shade of blue as the sky, but Tubbo swore he could see puffy white clouds moving across his irises as if he was literally staring into a summer sky.
The boy smiled, and his teeth were razor sharp. Something inside of Tubbo screamed.
It was his instincts. The long buried survival instincts of prey animals when they came face to face with their natural predator.
Tubbo needed to get the fuck away from this thing. That’s what his instincts were telling him.
But Tubbo couldn’t move. He felt as though his boots had sprouted roots, anchoring him to the earth so he could be swallowed up by the grass.
This had to be a fae.
Tubbo waited. He wasn’t sure if he was waiting for the faerie to speak to him or attack him, but he couldn’t do anything at that moment but wait.
Then, the fae spoke.
“Uh… are you gonna say something? Or are you just gonna stare at me like I’ve got three heads?”
And somehow that’s what broke the fear that had wrapped Tubbo’s body like a vice. Hearing this faerie say something so normal in that strange, bell-like voice of his.
“Are you a fae?” Tubbo blurted out without thinking.
The boy blinked, and the smile fell from his face as confusion took its place.
“I mean… it’s kinda fucking obvious, innit?” The boy shrugged, gesturing to himself.
Tubbo blinked. Well, yeah, he supposed it was obvious given the pointed ears and the sharp teeth. It was almost like someone had searched up how to make a costume of a faerie and-
Wait.
This had to be a prank. The boy looked so stereotypically like what you would imagine a faerie to look like, he had to be trying to play a joke on Tubbo. Maybe this was why the village had so many legends about faeries. Maybe there was some family that lived in the woods and liked to dress up as fae to fuck with people.
That made so much more sense.
Suddenly, all the fear left Tubbo’s body as he smirked at the boy.
“I mean, it’s a nice costume, I guess,” Tubbo shrugged.
The boy frowned. “What the fuck do you mean by ‘costume’?”
“I’m not stupid. I know faeries aren’t real,” Tubbo snorted, taking a step closer to the faerie ring. “Like I said, your costume is good, but I’m not gonna be tricked by it.”
“What the- you think I’m not a real fae?!” The boy demanded, narrowing his eyes at Tubbo. “Of course faeries are real!”
“Nah, I don’t think they are,” Tubbo said, now laughing at the boy’s frustration. “It’s okay, you look really good, I promise! You almost had me there for a second! I’m sure the next kid who wanders through here is gonna go crazy over your whole schtick.”
The boy’s eyes narrowed further, and those prey instincts flared up inside Tubbo again. He shoved them down, refusing to get scared because a boy in a stupid costume was glaring at him.
“You want me to prove I’m a fae?” The boy asked, something dark entering his voice.
Surely he was bullshitting?
“Yeah, okay, sure. Prove to me you’re fae,” Tubbo laughed, folding his arms over his chest.
A sharp grin spread across the boy’s face. He lifted a hand and pointed it at Tubbo, and before Tubbo could ask what he was doing, he snapped his fingers.
Then there was a blinding pain in Tubbo’s head.
Crying out, he collapsed into the flowers as he twisted his fingers into his hair. Sharp, hot pain was radiating throughout his skull, and Tubbo could barely think as he struggled to breathe. The pain was centered more near the front of his head, and as he blindly searched through his hair with his hands to figure out what the fuck was happening, his fingers hit something hard and he froze.
Tubbo could barely breathe as he felt something grow out of his head. The pain was less blinding than it had been seconds before, but his head still ached as the strange nubs rose from his skull and out of his hair.
By the time the pain faded completely, Tubbo was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding in his ears. The boy was laughing like a hyena, clutching his chest with one hand and pointing at Tubbo with the other.
“You should’ve seen your face!” The boy howled, his sky eyes scrunched up.
“What… What did you do to me?” Tubbo asked, his voice hoarse.
“See for yourself,” the boy told him. Then, he waved his hand, and a mirror appeared in front of Tubbo, just floating mid air like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Tubbo barely even acknowledged the fact that a mirror had just appeared out of thin air though when he took in his appearance.
For the most part, he looked the same. The scars on the right side of his face were a bit more prominent than normal because of how pale his skin was, but otherwise he seemed the same.
Except for the fucking goat horns.
A sharp pair of horns jutted out of his hair. His fingers trembled as he reached up to touch them, gasping when they were just as solid as they appeared in the mirror.
A wave of nausea rolled over him as he met the boy-the faerie’s eyes again.
“What the fuck did you do to me?!” Tubbo screamed, scrambling away from the edge of the faerie ring.
The mirror disappeared, and the boy’s grin only grew. “What can I say? You were being a stubborn bitch who wanted me to prove I was a fae, so I decided to give you some horns to match your stubbornness.”
“Well, take them away!” Tubbo yelled, his heart racing in his chest. How the fuck was he supposed to explain this to the village? He couldn’t hide the horns. He would have to tell them he went to the forest and got cursed by a fucking fae and of course Ranboo wasn’t going to let him live that down and the villeragers were probably going to be furious with him and- and-
“Holy shit, dude, calm down,” the fae said, eyes growing wide when Tubbo began to hyperventilate. “Don’t worry, we can work something out.”
“Can-Can we?” Tubbo asked, struggling to catch his breath.
“Yeah, of course we can!” The boy kneeled down in the faerie ring so they were at the same level since Tubbo was still on the ground. “We’ll make a deal. I take away the horns, and in exchange you give me your name.”
Tubbo’s hyperventilating got put on pause as he frowned at the fae. He wanted to know Tubbo’s name? That seemed… strangely easy.
But then again, maybe fae got lonely? No one had been in this forest for a long time, Tubbo knew that. There had to be a reason faeries could appear in faerie rings like this. Maybe they liked to talk to humans?
Well, either way, he was only telling the faerie his name, right? What was the harm in that?
“My name is Tubbo.”
The fae blinked, the smile falling from his face again. He stared at Tubbo in silence and Tubbo squirmed under his gaze, counting the seconds in his head as he waited for the fae to say something.
One second.
Two.
Three.
“You really don’t know shit about the fae, do you?” Unlike before, there was no teasing in the fae’s voice. He actually sounded… concerned?
“Um… not really,” Tubbo admitted. “I thought that was obvious.”
The faerie’s frown deepened. “Do you even know what happens when you give a fae your name?”
Tubbo shook his head. “Am I not supposed to do that?”
The faerie stared at him for a beat, before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Tubbo, what are you doing out in the forest anyway?”
“I was, uh, looking for some thyme,” he explained, noticing that the basket had been discarded in the grass during his panic.
“Thyme, okay, got it. Here’s what you’re going to do: you’re gonna leave this clearing and go down that path that way,” he said, pointing back towards the forest, “and there should be a patch of thyme next to the creek. After that, you’re gonna go home, and you’re gonna find some old books or ask someone in the village about the basic rules of the fae, and make sure you ask what happens if you give a fae your name. Then, you’re gonna come back here tomorrow, because you’re almost definitely gonna wanna talk to me when you find that out,” the fae explained, the clouds in his eyes shifting as he spoke.
“But what about the horns?” Tubbo asked, still able to feel the weight of them on his head.
The fae blinked. “Oh, shit, yeah.” He waved his hand and suddenly the weight disappeared. When Tubbo lifted his hands up to his head, all he felt was his hair, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thanks,” Tubbo muttered, running his hands through his now horn-free head. “So, um, I just go home and ask about name giving and then I come back here tomorrow?”
“Yup. I’ll see you then.”
And then, in the blink of an eye, the faerie was gone. Tubbo rubbed at his eyes a few times, wondering how the fae had done that, before resigning himself to it being magic, as stupid as that was.
Following the fae’s instructions, Tubbo found the creek without much trouble, and spotted the patch of thyme just as he had said. He collected as much as he could, and noticed the sky was already starting to grow dark overhead. That was strange. Although it hadn’t felt as though he’d been speaking to the faerie for a long time, the day was nearly finished now, and Tubbo had to rush to get back to the village.
The shadows had grown larger now, writhing in the spaces between the trees in a way that sent shivers down Tubbo’s spine. It was as if he could feel eyes boring into the back of his head, watching him, a predator lying in wait for opportunity to strike.
By the time Tubbo found the treeline again, the sky had gone completely dark. There were soft pinpricks of light in the dark void, stars twinkling in like gems above his head.
Keeping his head down, Tubbo rushed back into the village, keeping an eye out to make sure no one spotted him. As soon as he got to his front door, he darted inside, nearly slamming the door behind him before slumping against the wood in relief.
He’d made it home. Somehow, despite his encounter with the fae, he’d made it back alive.
“Tubbo?”
Ranboo’s worried voice startled Tubbo out of his relief-induced stupor. Blinking open his eyes, he found his friend curled up on their small couch in front of the fireplace, a worn book resting in his hands.
“Uh, hey Boo,” Tubbo greeted, setting down his basket of thyme and shuffling towards the couch.
“Did you find the herbs you were looking for?” Ranboo asked, glancing at the basket.
Tubbo nodded. “Yup! We can make tea out of that and it should help your cough.”
Instead of smiling at this news, Ranboo instead narrowed his eyes at Tubbo. “Did something happen? You seem off.”
Well… something definitely happened, but Tubbo wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell Ranboo about his run in with the fae.
Firstly, Ranboo would be smug as fuck knowing that he’d been right all along, and Tubbo really didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Secondly, Tubbo knew how much of a worrywart Ranboo could be, and if he found out that Tubbo had pissed off a fae, the boy would probably make himself even more sick just because of the anxiety alone. Right now, Ranboo needed all the strength he could get. He didn’t need to be worrying about Tubbo’s possible fuck up with the fae.
So instead, Tubbo schooled his expression so it was as neutral as possible, and collapsed onto the couch in a boneless heap.
“Nothing happened,” he lied, smashing his face into the cushions so Ranboo couldn’t see the way his lips twitched. “Nearly got lost, but I found my way out.”
“Oh, is there no path in there?” Ranboo asked.
“There is one, but it’s super old. You can barely see it through the bushes.” At least that part wasn’t a lie, but now Tubbo had to find a way to casually ask about the fae without invoking Ranboo’s suspicion. “But, uh, anyway, I had a bit of a random question.”
“Uh… okay, shoot?”
Tubbo made sure his face was still hidden in the couch cushions as he came up with the best way to word this. “So, like, while I was in the forest today I was thinking a lot about fae, since you’d been all paranoid last night about me running into one. And, like, I didn’t see anything weird, but I was wondering that if I were to somehow run into anything that could be a fae, if there’s anything I should know?”
His voice was strained as he stammered his way through the lie. He hoped that Ranboo didn’t notice.
“I thought you didn’t believe in the fae?” Ranboo asked, sounding confused.
“I don’t! But y’know, I also didn’t believe carrots could taste good until you started cooking them, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to learn about them just in case,” Tubbo tried, struggling to keep his voice level.
There was a beat of silence from Ranboo, and Tubbo’s heart pounded in his chest. He really didn’t want Ranboo to find out what happened. His friend was already sick enough.
“Well… I’m not an expert on fae or anything, but I’ve done some reading,” Ranboo started, and Tubbo let out a sigh of relief. “If you meet one you shouldn’t be rude to them, because they get pissed off really easily-” well, Tubbo failed step one. “You also shouldn’t thank them if they compliment you or give you a gift, because that turns it into a debt and they find that rude as well. And lastly, the most important rule is that you should never give a faerie your name.”
Tubbo’s heart dropped into his stomach.
“Um… why is that?”
“Because names hold power,” Ranboo explained. “If you give a faerie your name, you’re giving them complete and total power over you. If a faerie has someone’s name, they can whisk that person away to the Fae Court to be their slave for hundreds of years.”
Oh.
Oh that was bad.
That was really bad.
Tubbo struggled to keep the waver out of his voice. “Is, uh, is there any way for a person to get their name back from a faerie if they give it to them?”
“Well, you’d have to try and make a deal to get it back, but faerie’s are the masters of making deals and tricking people. Honestly, trying to make a deal with a faerie to get a name back might be worse than just letting the faerie own your name.”
Oh god, Tubbo really was fucked, wasn’t he?
“Good to know,” Tubbo said tightly, curling his hands into a fist. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”
When Tubbo lifted his head, he saw Ranboo giving him a concerned look. In order to avoid his suspicious gaze, Tubbo leapt to his feet again and rushed to the kitchen, grabbing his basket of thyme along the way.
“Anyway, thanks for the lesson! I wanna try making your tea now so we can see if it helps your cough,” Tubbo told him, desperate to change the subject.
Although Ranboo seemed confused by Tubbo’s behavior, another coughing fit stopped him before he could question Tubbo further about his curiosity over the fae. Tubo wouldn’t say he was glad Ranboo was coughing again, but he was grateful that it gave him the perfect opportunity to keep the subject on a different path.
The tea helped. Somewhat. It wasn’t by much, but Ranboo’s throat wasn’t as raw anymore, although his hacking continued well into the night.
✧
The next morning, Tubbo once again woke at dawn. He left Ranboo a note saying he was going to go try and find another herb for him that he’d read about in his grandmother’s book, one that might help more than the thyme had the night before. While he was planning on getting another herb for his friend though, that wasn’t the reason he was heading out into the forest so soon after yesterday.
The fae had told him to come back the next day after he learned the consequences of giving away his name. Now that Tubbo knew, he understood that he didn’t have a choice but to follow that order.
The forest welcomed him with open arms. The shadows shrunk away as the morning sun burst over the horizon, long fingers of sunlight stretching across the dirt and moss, almost as if it was reaching for Tubbo.
This time, Tubbo didn’t waste his time wandering around, searching for the licorice plant that had been sketched in his grandmother’s book. Instead, he followed the path with light steps, his heart beating faster and faster the closer he got.
His boots soon reached the edge of the treeline. Glancing up into the clearing, he spotted the fae sitting with his back against the tree, legs stretched out in front of him as he angled his face towards the morning sun. As soon as Tubbo took a step into the clearing, the fae’s eyes flickered open, revealing that summer sky gaze once more.
The fae grinned when he spotted Tubbo, but it wasn’t a friendly thing.
“Tubbo! There are you, my good man!” The fae exclaimed, pushing to his feet and spreading his arms wide. “Did you do what I told you to?”
Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Tubbo nodded. “I did. I found out what happens when you give a fae your name,” he said quietly.
“Didn’t like what you found out, eh?” The faerie asked, sounding as if he wanted to laugh, but was holding it back for Tubbo’s sake.
Gritting his teeth, Tubbo forced himself to meet the faerie’s eyes. “So what was the fucking point? Of letting me go home and learn how I’m basically gonna be your slave now? Was it just to mock me?”
The faerie blinked a few times, as if he was surprised by Tubbo’s outburst. “Uh, no. I kinda wanted you to go home because I didn’t think you’d believe me if I told you what giving your name to a faerie does to you, considering I had to give you goat horns to even prove to you I was fae.”
Well… that was fair. Tubbo didn’t trust that the fae was telling the truth, but still, he probably wouldn’t have believed the fae if he told him outright.
“Okay, well now I know. So are you going to take me away to the Fae Court now?” Tubbo asked, hating this game of walking on eggshells and just wanting to just rip the band-aid off so he could deal with the consequences of his fuck up.
The faerie stared at him for a moment, cocking his head to the side as he considered him. Then, after a few beats, he shrugged and shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think I will.”
...huh.
“What?”
“I said I’m not gonna take you to the Fae Court,” the faerie repeated, settling back down against the tree.
That didn’t make sense. According to Ranboo, this faerie now had complete power over Tubbo and could enslave him at the slightest whim. Fae were supposed to be evil, right? That’s why Ranboo had been so worried about Tubbo going into the forest. That’s why the village was so terrified of the fair folk.
“Why not?” Tubbo asked, frowning at him.
The faerie shrugged again. “To be totally honest, I just feel kinda bad for you. Like, I’ve heard of ten year olds who are able to keep up with the fae, and you just gave me your name without even thinking twice. That was just sad, man.”
Tubbo wasn’t sure if he should be offended by that or not.
“I just didn’t know the rules! I’m not stupid or anything!” Tubbo argued, scowling at the faerie.
“Eh, you kinda are,” the fae said. “What, do you want me to kidnap you or something?”
Tubbo’s eyes widened. “No! No, I’m totally fine with not being kidnapped. A-okay with that. Definitely prefer it that way.” Was the fae telling the truth? He didn’t see why the creature would lie, considering he had all the power over Tubbo and Tubbo couldn’t do anything about it.
The faerie snorted. “Consider yourself lucky that I’m the one you told your name to. I know that if you’d met anyone else in my family, you would be in the Fae Court by now.”
Tubbo nodded. “Thank-” he cut himself off, remembering Ranboo’s words from the day before about thanking fae. “I mean, uh…” he trailed off, trying to figure out a different way to word how grateful he was that the faerie was being so merciful to him.
The faerie watched as he struggled for the word, an amused grin quirking his lips. “Instead of saying thank you, it’s better to say something like, ‘I appreciate what you’ve done’ or something like that.”
Okay, that made sense.
“I appreciate your, uh, kindness… sir,” he stammered, unsure of how to refer to the fae.
“‘Sir’? Jesus christ, I’m not that old,” the faerie laughed. “You’re like, what, sixteen?”
“Seventeen,” Tubbo corrected.
“Dude, I’m basically the same age as you. At least by fae standards. So don’t call me sir. It’s fucking weird.”
Tubbo flushed at his mistake. “Sorry, uh, I just didn’t know how I should refer to you.”
“Well, you don’t need to call me sir. Obviously I’m not giving you my name, but if you want you can call me…” he trailed off, tapping his chin in thought, before his eyes lit up. “Big Man!”
“I’m not calling you Big Man,” Tubbo said immediately.
“Aw c’mon! I’m such a Big Man though, don’t you see?!” The faerie exclaimed, gesturing to himself. “I’m taller than you, that oughta count for something.”
“My roommate is taller than you though, and I don’t call him Big Man,” Tubbo deadpanned.
“Bet he’s not taller than Wi-” The faerie sharply cut himself off, slamming his mouth shut and shaking his head for a moment. “Shit, uh, I bet he’s not taller than… someone in my family.”
“And you’re making fun of me for not knowing fae rules?” Maybe Tubbo shouldn’t have been teasing the fae so much, but if he had wanted to hurt Tubbo, he could’ve done it a thousand times over by now.
“Shut the fuck up!” The faerie snapped. “Anyway, thank you for bringing up fae rules because that reminded me of something I wanted to ask you about.” He paused, settling himself back against the tree trunk so he looked completely relaxed once more. “You clearly don’t know any fae rules, and in a magic forest like this, that could get you killed. So if you want, I can do you a favor and teach you all the rules about interacting with the fae so that if you meet someone else that’s not as wonderfully kind and merciful as I am, you won’t get fucked over. How does that sound?”
Huh. The fae was offering to teach him the rules? That could be really helpful. Now that Tubbo knew that Ranboo was right and fae were, in fact, real, the last thing he wanted was to land himself in another shit out of luck situation. He’d gotten lucky with this faerie, but that didn’t mean the next one would be the same.
“Yeah, I’d appreciate that a lot, actually,” Tubbo said, smiling at the faerie.
The faerie grinned right back at him, sharp teeth on full display. “You’ve already failed your first lesson!” He said cheerfully.
Tubbo blinked. “Huh?”
“Lesson one: don’t ever accept favors from the fae. It puts you in our debt,” the faerie told him.
“Ah, fuck me!” Tubbo groaned.
The faerie laughed aloud, and Tubbo couldn’t help but notice how reminiscent the sound was to wind chimes.
Tubbo didn’t end up getting the licorice that day. He spent the rest of the day in the clearing, listening to the faerie’s advice between bouts of banter and laughter. Time dripped by like rain drops falling off a leaf, the summer sun baking against Tubbo’s back while wildflowers cradled his hands.
That night, Ranboo questioned his sun-flushed cheeks and the laughter on his tongue, but Tubbo brushed it off as having accidentally fallen asleep in a meadow. He made Ranboo more of tea made from thyme, and promised he would try harder to find the licorice tomorrow.