The Monster You Created

Waterfall

~Flashback~
Eryn

The forest surrounding their hidden home dances in the air as 4 children scatter towards an enormously mighty tree. Large branches above stick out with hundreds of green leafs swaying in the wind, a small bird's nest can be seen. The trunk is wider than they've ever seen. Its roots seem to stick out, Purpled trips on one of them.

Eryn sprints out to catch up with their brothers and sister, upset they had to leave without his best friend. Sapnap waits next to the ginormous tree, his arms crossed on his chest, impatiently waiting for everyone to arrive. Puffy watches from afar, near the entrance door, looking up at the birds flying over the sky.

"Sapnap says loudly to the children, "Now the rules, no kicking, no shoving, no slamming, no knocking branches onto each other- "

Purpled interrupts, "Yeah, yeah! We've climbed trees before, we're not fucking toddlers."

The guard looks at him annoyed and snaps back at him, "And it has to be pure strength, you can't use any of  your abilities to lift yourself up! Use your muscles to reach the top!" He points at the top of the vast tree with a sneering grin, with well-known knowledge that they mostly rely on their talents to traverse through obstacles. The siblings grouch and whine a bit, but don't refuse the challenge.

"What do we get as a prize if one of us wins?" Aimsey asks the guard.

"Can we see the waterfall you're always talking about!?" Tubbo lights up with the question.

The guard thought about it for a moment, shrugged and replied, "Sure, Dream probably won't mind."

In the background, Puffy shouts, "Make sure you stay on the tree, we don't want cheaters!" As a reminder.

They all back away a few feet before stancing themselves ready to climb, Eryn analyzes his kin the quickest he can.

(Purpled can't climb fast because his wings weigh him down and Ranboo won't be able to fit through the narrow spaces near the top because of their height.)

(Aimsey and Tubbo are both compact and nimble, so they can travel through little spaces easier.)

(But Tubbo's wings could also get him stuck and as with Aimsey's two fiery tails getting twisted on branches..)

Sapnap begins counting down from 5, which breaks Eryn from his thoughts.

Aimsey's burning tails swings harshly.

Boo's tail twirls nimbly but excited.

Eryn's spikes on his tail pop up and down.

Tubbo rests his wings down.

And Purpled's wings curl up closely.

5…
4…
3…
2…
1…

"GO!!"

They all dart to the tree trunk and begin to scale up and as agreed, no one uses their abilities to ascend the tree. Tubbo reaches first place with Aimsey, Ranboo and Eryn close behind. Purpled struggles shifting through the large branches, getting twigs jabbed into his angel wings and clothing. The leaves prick at everyone's skin like frostbite. Their guard and caretaker watch in awe as they mount upward, Eryn can hear them whisper to each other but unable to understand the words they speak.

"OW SHIT- " Someone yelps up ahead.

Eryn sees Aimsey stop moving as they rub their brown hair. He and Ranboo quickly use this moment to pass forward, until Ranboo also stops moving, apparently getting their ankle stuck between two branches that looked to be attempting to eat his foot. While looking down at his losing siblings, Eryn misplaces their foot and just about loses his foothold on a branch, nearly slamming his head on the branch with the bird's nest.