Stowaway [Gillion Tidestrider x Reader]

[1] Fun Chase

Bright blue blankets the sky. Seagull calls echo through the evergreen trees, possibly already choking on whatever poor lad's lunch they stole. The smell of pumpkin bread fills the air through the bustling market crowded with every walk of life.

It's a beautiful summer day. Well, it might be beautiful for anyone else, but you don't have time to stop and take in the scenery.

After all, there are more pressing matters you have to attend to.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

You glance behind your back to see two armored men pushing past the crowd and darting toward you. Cobblestones thud under your feet as you dash through the market, bumping and apologizing to everyone you run into.

Your grip on your satchel tightens as your shoes pound heavily across the ground. Steps pounding in sync with the heartbeat in your ears.

You pushed your feet sideways, scampering and sandwiched yourself between tight walls. You leaned against the wall, your face met the roughness of the bricks. You bite your lip as the shouting continues.

"FIND THE THIEF!"

Your calves burned, knuckles white from gripping onto the satchel's strap. You felt like you couldn't go any further. Your legs are numb. It seems like you've bitten off more than you can chew.

Might as well swallow the rest.

You bare your teeth as you shuffle through the tight alleyway, pop out, and skip past a passerby which causes you to stumble, the heat rising within your legs.
The fruit basket they dropped caused the guards to falter and slip. You exhaled a heavy laugh. Suddenly, you see another guard on the trail ahead of you.

You stop in your tracks, looking left and right to see yourself cornered. The guards slowly inch towards you.

The crowd watches. Whispering among each other.

The guard chuckled "We've got you now."

Sweat rolls down your cheek.

They edge closer.

You step back. Heart pounding.

Heat sears through your body.

You tensed as your hip hit a stall's counter. They lunge toward you and you hopped onto the wooden counter, grabbing a pumpkin bread. The baker cursed at you as you stuffed the bread into your satchel before jumping onto the roof and onto the cobblestone walls.

You look down at the guards and grin "Well, ladies and gentlemen!" You declared. Trash and tomatoes are being thrown in your direction.

You flew your arms open like a showman "This has been a fun chase but like all good things; it must come to an end."

You looked around, chin pointing towards the sky as you laughed at the angry townsfolk. Through your arrogance, you didn't even notice the guards already left.

"Fare thee well, good people!" You exclaimed through the angry medley, wiping away crocodile tears before bowing deeply.

Then an arrow darted through your ear.

You didn't even feel it through the adrenaline at first, but the mere sight of red spraying made you fall back in surprise. Luckily, you landed on a wheelbarrow filled with hay. For an instant, you felt a sharp pain on the side of your head.

It was only when your hand moved on its own to put pressure on your ear, or what's left of it anyway, that you realized you were still alive.

You can hear the mob on the other side of the wall start to dissipate, but from afar you can hear the clanging of metal armor grow close. You cursed, quickly hopped off the wheelbarrow, and reduced your stature to sneak away.

You were able to catch your breath under a bridge, damp and low. Gasping short breaths, you leaned your bum against the wall. A sharp white burning pain is now present in your wound. Your adrenaline almost running low.

You look down at your satchel and open it with one hand before pulling out a golden chalice. You examined it closely in hopes that your grand escape didn't dent it. You slipped it back in when you were satisfied with its maintained quality.

"There you are." A sudden voice made itself present as a large hand grabbed you by the collar of your shirt, lifting you up inches from the ground.

You thrashed against his grip. "Let me go!" You spat.

The guard narrowed his eyes at you, teeth bare. If looks could kill then you would've been six feet under long then.

"You're a hard one to catch, mouse" He growled at you, walking off with you in his grip.

Every muscle in your body started to ache. You gritted your teeth, thrashing hard enough to be able to kick him in the groin. He promptly dropped you and you took that chance to run away.

You didn't care where your destination was, you just wanted to be able to rid of this guy.

The salty air touches your tongue and pricks at your wound as you breathe in the smell of old wood and fish. An electric pang hit behind your eyes as you slowed down when you realized you ended up at the docks, which is essentially a dead end. There's no way you can run into the sea, and if you can; you can't hold your breath for that long.

Your path is divided, you stare into the blurry view as you ponder where to go. You cast a brief look around the docks and decided to hide away in a worn-down ship with the name The Albatross etched onto the side.

It looked way too rusty to still be in commission, so you decided to nest there for the day. It's not like anyone would check on an old ship for thieves.

In the distance, you hear guards yelling at each other about your whereabouts.

For as long as you remember; you've always been on the run and when things go wrong, you've always been able to jump back up again. In your expertise though, your heists never go this wrong, ever. Even the amount of times you were almost sent to the gallows you always found a way to get yourself out of it.

Since then, you considered yourself one of the luckiest thieves on the island. Now, maybe you've pushed your luck too far, and your ear got shot off.

You scoff at the thought.

In the cellar, you leaned against the wall. Your entire body went numb. You no longer have the energy to deal with the agonizing pain in your ear. You hitched your breath and sobbed as you lay your crusty red sleeve down, blood trickling down your neck. You're exhausted and hungry, and the world is beginning to grow distant.

You stare at a blurry barrel as your eyelids grow heavy. In the darkness, you found yourself remembering the orchard trees in the countryside you had been taken to as a child. droplets of red are spotted across the hills as far as the eye can see.

Your body turns and you see a faceless woman reach down to hold your cold hand.

As soon as she touched your skin, her warm palm began to glow.