VERSAILLES // Ranboo X Reader

10

You woke up to a shout, and the clang of metal coming from outside the tent. You were on your feet in a second, grabbing your bow and quickly unwinding your wrist from where it had gotten tangled in the chain during the night - thankfully it wasn't as bad as yesterday.

At the sound of the chain clinking, Ranboo's ears twitched and he woke up as well, eyes finding yours - wide and anxious. "What's going on?"

"Don't know." You said, picking up your quiver and knocking an arrow. You paced to the front of the tent, peering through the gap between the edges of the tarp that served at the front wall. You watched Brigand swing his axe forward, an arrow glancing off the edge. Following where the projectile had come from, you caught sight of a well known banner.

Pillagers.

You burst out the front of the tent, kneeling down in a fluid motion and loosing an arrow at the pillagers' knees, causing him to buckle to the ground. Brigand glanced back in surprise, but smiled when he saw it was only you, going in for the final blow.

On the other side of the camp, Arlow was fending off two at once, keeping in constant motion so that the arrows only whizzed by them - harmless. They swung off the trees, their sword only a flash of motion as they cut at anything they could reach, slicing armor and skin alike.

You knocked another arrow and nailed one of the pillagers in the eye, sending the man crumpling to the ground. Arlow looked down at the fallen man, saw the fletching on the arrow and spun around to grin at you. "Morning Y/N!"

You laughed as you prepared another arrow. "Morning."

The last remaining pillager - now faced with all three of you - dropped his crossbow, raising his hands in surrender. "Take whatever loot you want." He said. "I'll leave, I promise."

"What did you take from us?" Arlow asked, idly twirling their sword in their hand. They sounded more serious than you had ever heard them before - this was battle Arlow then, the one who was so fierce in combat that the king had chosen them for this task.

The pillager watched the morning light glint off the blade nervously, his hands still raised. His eyes darted to one of his fallen comrades packs though, and Arlow flicked out their sword, picking it up and tossing it back to themselves. When they dumped the pack out on the ground, sure enough, some of the supplies the palace had given you fell out.

"See?" The pillager said, beginning to lower his hands. "That's all-"

"Woah now." Brigand said, lifting his axe so that the blade rested only a centimeter away from the pillager's neck. "No one said you could leave."

The pillager stared up at Brigand, distaste coming across his face. "What are you even doing here?" He spat. "You're not one of them."

Your eyes drifted to Brigand as he met the pillagers stare. He didn't move, jaw setting as his brow furrowed together. The pillager seemed emboldened by Brigand's reaction to what he said, and he laughed, leaning forward so that his skin touched the edge of the axe now, a thin line opening on his neck.

You barely heard the last word the pillager uttered - both from how close he was to Brigand and from how quietly he spoke it.

"Traitor."

Brigand only had to push forward slightly for the axe to go through the pillagers neck and for the body to tumble to the ground, dead.

You relaxed then, taking the arrow back off your bow and placing it back in your quiver, standing back up. Brigand stared down at the body of the pillager, the expression on his face unclear.

"Captain?"

Arlow slid their sword back into it's scabbard slung across their back, looking to Brigand with concern in their eyes. At the sound of their voice, Brigand shook his head, breaking out of whatever trance he had been in and wiping his axe off in the morning dew before clipping it back to his belt.

"Sorry." He said, gruff. There was a pause. "We can throw the bodies in the river - we'll keep their loot except for the banner, we won't want to be see with that."

With that, the camp broke out into motion again. You slung your bow over your shoulder, glancing behind you to beckon Ranboo forward - he had been crouched in the shadows of the tent, just watching. He stepped out into the morning light now, walking with you over to one of the bodies to heft it between you.

You carried it to the river and let it roll down the bank until it hit the water, sinking to the bottom.

"The drowned will have a feast on that." You said idly, watching the water carry the body downstream.

Ranboo hummed in agreement. The chain between you clinked together as he spoke, "You're really good with a bow."

"Thanks." You said. "That's kind of my thing."

A silence fell between you then, and you found yourself looking back up the bank to see Brigand going through the bags the pillagers had been carrying, a tense sort of look on his face. You didn't quite understand what the pillager had said, but you were sure it had something to do with Brigand being a Vindicator - most of them were allied with pillaging tribes, and here he was, fighting for the king.

"Do you think he'll be alright?"

You turned back to Ranboo to see the same worry etched across his face. "He'll be alright." You said. "He seems like a guy that doesn't let a lot get under his skin, you know?"

Ranboo hummed, but you could tell he wasn't quite convinced. Perhaps he had understood what the pillager meant more than you did then. Still, you would leave it to Brigand unless he said something first.

"C'mon." You said, starting back up the bank. "We should help the others."