Summary: The escape pod makes its way to the closest hospitable planet, Ranboo and Tubbo need a plan in order to prepare for their landing. If they get caught, gods knows what will happen to Tommy in the aftermath.
SBI made it a little too late.
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Time passes on, Ranboo refusing to rest due to 2 reasons. 1: He had already been forced asleep for void knows how long, and 2: he's not comfortable with the idea of sleeping and being at his most vulnerable with a human in the same space as him.
He trusts Tubbo, he really does. But he didn't have to lock eyes with an angry human. Enderians like him are instinctively aggressive if they were to make eye contact for long periods of time with someone else. Luckily some can suppress the urges to attack with enough practice and training.
Ranboo was one of those lucky few, but he can still feel the urges. Only in certain circumstances does the urge not appear, like with family or loved ones that he cherishes.
Or, on the other side of the spectrum from family and friends, enemies that our instincts know they can't surpass in strength and the urges don't appear, in an attempt to keep the enemy calm by not attacking.
That's what happened when he locked eyes with the human. Those intense eyes that held promise of pain were enough to make him cower away and lower his eyes instinctively. Even his own instincts told him to submit. That if he picked a fight with the already on edge human he will come out more injured than the human would.
So he does not sleep, he has enough energy to keep watch on the pod and for any possible malfunctions. Tubbo has no problem sleeping near the human, even going as far as to cuddle up next to them.
At least he knew the human wasn't a threat to Tubbo, with how they both seem to latch on to each other in their sleep. It's kinda adorable. And concerning. How attached is the human exactly?
It's one thing having a true good friend, and another to have an incredibly loyal companion that would willingly kill for you. That's scary, having that much power. He wonders if Tubbo understands that.
The human shuffles a bit, pulling Tubbo closer and humming, which Tubbo sleepily responds back to.
How much time have they had together to even respond while asleep? It's definitely cute.
There's not much else to do in the small pod, he'll just keep an eye on how close they are to the planet. He thinks it's a trading planet. He'll have to wake Tubbo up and see if he can direct the pod outside the populated areas, it would be terrible for them to be in a town and reveal they have a human on board.
With that plan in mind, he stares out into the great dark abyss that is space, and hopes they make it there with no troubles.
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The pod lurches, having a mild malfunction thanks to Tubbo attempting to reroute the pod to not go to the coordinates it's been designated with. Last thing he seriously wants is Tommy to be caught and taken away to a similar place like those Dreamons.
Humans are not looked upon in space. Which is confusing. Why are those galactic groups so scared of a species that don't even travel far out in space to begin with? The literal ONLY reason they get all scared and cowering is when somebody illegally takes a human and get the consequences.
Cause, if you think about it. It's the other species faults for taking a human to begin with, it's illegal and very cruel. Cause all they want to do is discover and they don't want to communicate with humans. No! They decide 'Let's experiment with this possible sentient species', and then get all scared and confused when it backfires.
Tubbo fucking despises poachers and illegal traffickers, of species and animals. All for the name of knowledge of science or just fucking money. Fucking bullshit, cowards are what they are. They want to attempt the easy way. Which makes no sense.
What's easier? Gaining trust on a human by attempting communication and treating them like a person? OR, treat them like some lowly animal and let them associate you with harm and pain. And when they do get out, the other bastards are all 'Holy shit the human is out and is killing people' yea no SHIT, THEY WANT OUT.
He always felt like that, even more so now that he's bonded and befriended Tommy. Tubbo has first hand experience now that all it takes is to not be a threat, that humans can be capable of being gentle and protective.
It also helps to be small apparently.
He looks over at Tommy, knowing that the human will be out for a long while, with how exhausted he must be. Injuries and all. He hopes humans don't take like, a year to heal. While there is research on humans, he knows those types of research were acquired in... less than ideal ways.
He looks over at the sleeping Ranboo, he doesn't know how long it's been before waking up, but Ranboo was asleep by then. Must have kept watch, whether it was for the controls or because of Tommy he didn't know. Probably both honestly.
He hums sadly, looking at Ranboo who is in the furthest corner from Tommy. He hopes they can get along. He likes Tommy, and he knows Tommy just means well. Stars knows what he's been through, to latch on the 1st friendly alien and hold onto them like they're his lifeline.
He shuts his eyes and just, rests in silence. He doesn't fall asleep, nah, he's too rested for that. But he doesn't want to do anything in case it wakes either of the other 2. Ranboo, while he did sleep for a long while, was forced asleep.
He's never fallen asleep to spore flowers before, what does that feel like? Is it painful? Do they wake up hungry?
His eyes widen in worry. Is Ranboo hungry? He never understood how people can go into a coma for days on end and wake up alive. It's like hibernation, but not natural. Ranboo isn't made for hibernation, a lot of species aren't. Would you die to it? Do you wake up when your on the brink of starvation? How does it work?
He goes to quietly check on an emergency panel that should hopefully contain emergency packs of water and food. It creaks quietly as he pulls it open, flinching when Ranboos ears flicked his way but remained asleep.
Oh hey! There was food! Not any of the good stuff but it's food, plant variants, omnivore and carnivore food packets. Meant to be open to all types- oh hey look even minerals. At least the escape pods aren't speciests.
He puts the minerals back, takes out 1 each of the other packets. Plant for himself, meat for Ranboo, and omnivore for Tommy. Hopefully the nutrients will be enough for Tommy to start healing better.
He lays each packet near the other 2 and opens his carefully. He starts munching away slowly at his ration. Just idly watching out the window, gazing at the many thousands of stars. There's a galaxy there in the left corner, a blue comet that's zooming by, the closest sun, a planet they seem to be approaching, some pretty space dust- wait.
He looks back and sees a planet increasing in size, the planet had a pink tinge of color to it, white clouds and some spots of water.
That's the trading planet! Planet For'estrx, popular for it's many local faunas and plantation. But also quite populated in a lot of areas, meaning landing the pod without raising awareness is gonna be difficult. They'll have to ditch the pod the second they land in a forest.
He looks over at Ranboo and starts nudging him awake, he doesn't want to wake Tommy up, he really does need that rest, at least until they can get some shelter when they get on planet.
"mm... hmm? 'whut do you 'ant?" Ranboo was slowly waking up, more relaxed than he was way before.
Tubbo gets to the controls "We're heading to the trading planet now, I can see it. I'm going to try and land in one of the bigger forests and when we land we have to get Choo-mi and ditch the pod quickly" He sees Ranboos eyes quickly widen, seemingly to have forgotten about Tommy.
He jolts up, and Tubbo rolls his eyes, something he picked up from Tommy. He'd do that whenever Tubbo said 'Mommy'. Roll his eyes. Feels weird, but actually fitting. He likes it.
"Calm down Mommy is still sleeping and he wouldn't do anything" Hard claim really, he doesn't know if Tommy would behave around Ranboo, but he thinks so, their all in the same boat really.
"Just.. forgot is all.." understandable, memory issues and all. He takes control of the pod and does his best to avoid any possible transmissions that could detect the pod. But that's basically impossible to measure within the pod and the fact that those transmissions are planet wide. They'll be sensed the second they hit the atmosphere.
But it's not like they have a choice honestly, they have literally no choice, he doesn't want to risk it by going to another planet that's stars know how far! He doesn't know how much fuel this thing has. They are programmed to the nearest planet and that's it.
So they are going to have to dive for the planet, and just do everything as quickly as they can. And that means planning.
He turns to Ranboo, being as serious as his tiny body could get and look. "Ranboo, when we land, we need to grab the rations of water and food and I need you to pick up Mommy and carry him out-"
Ranboo swiftly looks at him, startled and a little panicky. "Me?! He could tear my arms off! And why do you call him that?"
"It's just easier to call him that okay!" Tubbo huffs. "but I'm serious, the police force on the planet will know our pod lands and where, we need to ditch it before they find out about the fucking human on board and stars knows what they will do with him"
Ranboo looks hesitant at first, looking over at the sleeping human. His hesitance fades away however, once he gets a good look at Tommy. He's littered with injuries and bruises. Cuts that have stopped bleeding and he just- looks exhausted even in his sleep.
A pang of sympathy is felt. Ranboo is still scared of the human, but he looks like a total mess, and very hurt. Tubbo cares about him so... Ranboo could at least make sure they all get to shelter quickly.
Looking back at Tubbo, he nods, feeling confident in his strength to carry the human. "I'll try, he's not heavy is he?"
"I have no fucking clue, he was always the one picking me up"
"wh-what?"
"I think it's a human thing to do with kids, picking them up often"
Ranboo looks over at Tommy curiously, a new light in his eyes as he peers down at the injured human. Then he looks over at Tubbo, eyes softened and more curious, with some shyness sprinkled in.
"As you're landing... want to tell me about Tommy? I feel like a 2nd perspective on him could help..?"
He received an eager smile, Tubbos wings flapping excitably.
"Oh Ranboo! It was SO COOL! Did you know that humans-" Ranboo doesn't regret asking that question, maybe the human really is alright.
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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE MISSED THEM!?"
The voice shouted, the words echoing throughout the entire ship, which has finally gone down and calmed from the chaotic release of it's animals.
"We- ack! W-we mean they left the ship! Used an escape pod! And left with our damn cargo-" the grip Techno had on the Elite dreamon was enough to cut them off.
"We don't care about your cargo! What did you do with those 2!" Wilbur was losing his patience.
So far all they got was that Ranboo had been unconscious but Tubbo was shoved in a cell with a fucking HUMAN of all creatures. The dreamons didn't know what had happened, if Tubbo escaped the cell before the human got to them or if Tubbo had to paralyze the human with a sting. They don't know anything!
The crew were already feeling on edge at the thought of Tubbo being left to die with a human, but now that they escaped? And with the human missing from the ship as well? The human is with them for some reason, the other pods are accounted for, an extra pod for the human was not released, and especially not with the other dreamons who did escape. The human is gone, whether it followed Tubbo and Ranboo or they took it with them was unknown.
Wilbur looks over at Philza. "We have to get to the nearest habitable planet, that's what all escape pods are programmed to do"
Philza nods and gestures for Techno to release the dreamon. Techno huffs and releases the dreamon, but not before knocking them out. He walks to the 2.
"We are going to report this ship correct?" Phil nods. "Of course mate, we are not just going to leave these bastards here to continue their work, make sure to aim for their engines"
The crew head out immediately, with Wilbur destroying the controls of the ship, and techno sabotages the engines so they are unable to escape galactic forces. Once they were reported they didn't bother tying the dreamons up, they were in a hurry and they wouldn't be able to call for backup or for repairs quick enough before Forces come to arrest them.
Now, they head to the closest planet nearby.
Planet For'estrx.
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Notes: Ooooooooo, Sbi made it just a little too late. ANOTHER HUNT THEY GO!