Heya! This is a short collection of headcanons that I'm writing. They're all one-shots and the first one is mine, but I'm hoping the rest will be from requests...my PMs are open for requests! I would love to hear them! :)

The Beginning, The End, and Everything In-Between

Karl knew something was wrong the moment he arrived. It was different, the air tense with anticipation, as if the sky itself was holding its breath. Unconsciously, he rubbed his left forearm, a nervous habit he'd picked up in the Overworld from hanging around . . . what was his name again? His brain froze for a terrifying moment before he recalled the name. Sapnap. Silently, he walked forward, worried about his memory. How could he forget the name of his fiance?

It was a strange sight; Karl dressed in all white, the only thing showing any sort of color being his dull brown hair, too dark for the world he was in, stripped of most color. He knew he was supposed to do something . . . but what? He'd been leaving notes for himself, knowing he'd eventually travel and save himself. The problem was he didn't know when.

Karl found himself forgetting more and more recently as he travelled almost nonstop, trying to find answers. Answers for the world he was in. Answers as to why the Dream SMP was the way it was. Answers to the questions that he'd been asking himself for decades. Was it decades? Centuries? Mere days? Karl didn't know anymore. He was losing track of time.

Stumbling through the corridors of the In-Between, he laughed to himself. Well, it started as more of a chuckle of disbelief at his realization, which escalated to a laugh, and finally, an infamous "Dream tea kettle wheeze." Karl, the time-traveller, the keeper of stories and protector of the present, had lost track of time.

He'd passed at least four books by now, maybe six, all left by the omniscient god, if you will, of the In-Between. Was it a god? A demon? Who knew. All Karl knew was that if his past self didn't get to the portal in time, he was doomed to play in a loop forever. Always just two steps behind, his friends and family always just out of reach. Always just unable to be saved. That's why he had to travel, to protect them. To find the answers.

But it didn't matter. He was deteriorating, his mind and his soul crumbling slowly under the weight of the knowledge that whoever was in charge of the In-Between was always in control of him, always using him to its personal gain. His eyes struggled to stay open as he lurched to a balcony and looked over the edge. That's a big drop. If . . . if Quackity were here, he'd push me off while he laughed. It was different here though. If Karl died here, he wouldn't respawn. There was only one canon life for him.

And the universe was determined to make him spend it.

Slowly, Karl climbed up on the ledge. Looking down, his hoodie strings flapping in the light breeze that always seemed to linger here, he took a deep breath, praying to every god that he knew.

And he jumped.

Karl always believed that he had a soul and he was correct in thinking so. However, it wasn't a soul as much as it was his humanity. A soul could be mistaken as a spirit, humanity a character trait, but they go hand in hand. A spirit with a character trait. Karl's soul was nothing more than his will to survive making its way through the universe who so desperately wanted it to dissipate.

So when the warped reality of time was trying to suck him into the void, he latched onto the closest thing he could find. Which just so happened to be an enderman.

Dream XD knew something had changed the moment it happened. The very fabric of the universe shifted, and, being a god and all, they knew that something happened in their realm. Something significant. Immediately teleporting out of the End City, they went to where the portal would appear if the dragon was ever killed. Which it wouldn't be, since they protected the portal in the Overworld very well. Not to mention the dragon was a very peaceful animal and wouldn't attack anyone unless provoked.

Surely enough, right next to an obsidian pillar, they found an enderman child. Now that child didn't seem to be anything significant - after all, endermen had children all the time - but then it cried out. Like a human child.

Rolling it carefully onto its back, Dream XD jerked their hand back, inhaling sharply. This was no ordinary enderman. It was half white. And when it opened its eyes, the left one was red, on the white side, and the right side was green, where a purple enderman eye should have been.

There was a nagging feeling that they should get rid of the child, that it would bring nothing but destruction and chaos, but Dream XD ignored it, pushing away their gut feeling for the first time in centuries. Picking up the child gingerly, it immediately stopped crying and gurgled happily at seeing the smiley face mask the god was wearing, pulling at the edges. They let out a breath of disbelief; were they really about to raise an enderman hybrid? They were a god, not a parent.

But as Dream XD looked at the baby, cooing and matching light tear streaks burned into their cheeks - because of course it's allergic to water, it's half enderman - they couldn't bring themself to dispose of it.

So they raised it.

"It" turned out to be a "he," and they named him Ranboo. There were other names tried before that, one being "Mark" but it never really fit until they came up with the name "Ranboo." The child grew up learning not only enderman but also the Common Tongue of part of the Overworld that Dream XD had been watching, and a slight bit of piglin; just enough to get by in case he ever visited the Nether.

As Ranboo got older, it quickly became apparent to Dream XD that he couldn't stay in the End City, no matter how much he loved his family. He simply had to go, otherwise someone would come and wreak havoc on their realm.

So they wiped his memory. They left what he needed for survival and a couple of tips - such as he's allergic to water - and summoned the portal. It was a one-way portal and they knew that once Ranboo was through, he would never be coming back. And even though it broke their immortal heart, Dream XD pushed him through the portal and closed it immediately. Taking a deep breath, they tasted salt and realized they were crying.

I hope you make it safely, kid. I'll be watching you from the other side.