Almost But Not Quite Human

Snow Day (P2)

It didn't take long for a snowflake to reach the ghost boy's hand, and when it did it settled gracefully in his palm. It didn't hurt. Well, not until it melted, because then it began to sting a little so Wilbur drew his hand inside again and wiped the water off.

"So... How was it?" Phil's wings fluttered curiously, and he titled his head to the side.

"I don't actually know, because the snow was fine and then it melted and that hurt a little."

"Hmm. Do you think if you just covered all your skin it would work, because the snow wouldn't go through clothes like rain does?"

Wilbur smiled, that did sound like a plan.
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Dream was absolutely loving the new mask Wilbur made him. As the ghost boy had said, it was comfortable, easily adjustable, and who knew having your mouth uncovered would make it easier to breath?

Taking advantage of the down time while Phil was away, both teams separated to discuss strategy. Everyone on Tubbo's team was surprised by the child's judicious skills - he seems to have a real knack for preparation, plans, and tactics.

Hidden amongst the trees, Tubbo was using a stick to draw out their moves in the snow. They spoke in hushed tones about who would fight better against who, and what to expect from the other side.

All of them froze when they heard someone whisper, "Nice plan losers" and then scrambled to dodge the incoming assault of snowballs from non other than Wilbur himself. The mutated had utilised his quiet movements to spy on the team.

The battle had unofficially begun, and as the plan suggested Tubbo's group began to break off into smaller groups each with their designated targets to avoid the chaos that had spontaneously occurred. Unfortunately thier main plan was ruined now but they still had a good chance at winning.
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As Phil rose into the air, he was spotted by the other team's designated lookout George, who gave the signal to move in. They'd sent Wilbur ahead as reconnaissance and judging by the sounds of chaos in the forest his plan had been successful. George expected to be jumping a discombobulated group, but strangely the clearing was quiet. Not even Wilbur was present.

Technoblade suspected an ambush, and told the others to spread out in pairs. They couldn't target everyone individually at once, and they needed to find Wilbur. That was a poor move pig man, because as he and Ranboo moved east, Niki and Phil were right behind them.

Snap

Ranboo whirled around at the sound of a breaking twig, only to duck an incoming snowball. "Techno!" He shouted, hoping to alert his companion who nodded and scooped up some snow of his own. With unsurprising strength, the mutated hurled his projectile in the direction of the attack.

At first, there was nothing, but then a rustling in the canopy revealed a certain winged mutated. Pitching  snowballs and dodging more as they went, Techno and Ranboo decided to find some open plain to remove Phil's advantage.
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Sapnap and Tubbo were on the search. They'd seen Tommy and George break off from the rest of their group but lost them in the commotion. It was nerve wracking hunting someone you couldn't see, who may also be hunting you.

Despite their need for stealth, Sapnap decided to start up some light conversation as they walked.

"So, what's you're story bro?"

"My story?"

"Yeah, I know like nothing about you. I wanna hear the beans - if you don't mind I mean."

"Huh, okay then. Well, I found out that I was adopted like less than a week ago, that was nuts."

"Damn I wish I was adopted, my parents were real crappy." Sapnap winced, "I suppose you kinda guessed that already."

"Yeah. I know it's not my place to ask but... Do you want to talk about any of that? It seemed pretty rough in there."

"I-"

Whoosh

A snowball flew through the air dramatically, colliding with the back of Sapnap's head. He fell to the ground crying, "Avenge meeee!"

A snowball had officially claimed its first victim. Tubbo panicked, unsure of where the snowball had come from. And was taken out almost immediately.

"That was not what I expected," Said Tommy as he popped out from behind a tree, "You guys suck at this game."

"Hey!" Tubbo frowned, "You got help from Technoblade."

"Shut up man you're supposed to be dead." Tommy teased and was immediately assaulted by the brunet kicking snow at him. "Too shay."

The next the appear was George, who was also upset at the lack of action. "Sapnap stop dying and fight me" he complained.

"Ouch, too soon. Been there done that," Sapnap said as he was hauled to his feet, "I've done enough dying for one lifetime."

"True, let's just go find the others."
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Wilbur was not having a very good time playing captive. His ambush had gone horribly wrong right after Tubbo's group realised he was alone, and they quickly decided to take him hostage. Right now Dream was guarding him. "I thought you'd be off finding George, Dream. How come you're stuck babysitting?"

"What! What makes you think that?"

Wilbur laughed, "Duh, you have a massive crush on the dude, it's pretty obvious."

"I do not! And be quiet anyway, you're going alert someone to our position."

Unfortunately for Dream, he'd already done just that, because Technoblade and Ranboo happened to be passing by, followed by Philza and Niki. Once the two groups collided, it became an epic fight.

Eventually, it seemed all hope was lost for Techno's side as he and Wilbur were felled, along with Niki and Phil. Dream stood victorious among them, only to suffer a cold fate at the hands of Ranboo.

"Wait how did- I thought you were already dead!?"

"Nope" Ranboo chuckled, "No one really pays attention to me a lot so I used that to my advantage."

Niki, who was doing  a very good impression of being dead up until that point, raised her head off the ground, "Aw, that's not true Ranboo."

"Thanks Niki."

When more people appeared, Ranboo reflectively threw a snowball in their direction. "Woah hold it we're already dead it's fine." Sapnap said, arms raised in mock surrender.

"Well technically I'm not-" George tried to say, before being tackled by Nick into the snow. Muffled, he sighed "Nevermind"

"Hang on a second, does that mean I actually won something?" asked Ranboo, who was genuinely puzzled by this prospect.

"Well," Said Niki as she got up off the ground, "I think the real winner here if the person who gets hot cocoa first-" and she began sprinting for the tree house. For a moment, everyone stood still, before scrambling to chase after her, laughing the whole way.
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Idk readers I had a real struggle with writing this chapter for some reason, sorry if its not up to standard.

And hot cocoa, is that what Americans call hot chocolate? I've seen it in almost every book I read so I thought why not just write it. I'm pretty sure it's hot chocolate. And yes I know how to spell touché but in Tommy's subtitles it says Too Shay sometimes so I thought it'd be funny.

Also I've seen a lot of people adding this to Ranboo reading lists... I'm so sorry for all of you, he doesn't even appear in the first section of the book 😅.

Sincerely, some leaves in the winter wind (its not spring yet goddammit! Hang in there winter!)