An Obscure Destiny (Band of the Hawk Insert Reader)

The Mercenary Way

~Before the story begins, I would like to state that all rights of Berserk and its characters rightfully belong to the creators of the story. I have no claim on their work and only make this story only for entertainment for those who wish to read. Again, I have no rights over Berserk and only make this story for the sheer fun of it.~

Life in the village is awful. We've struggled to grow food for everyone here for as long as I can remember. With the war raging on, we're forced to supply the armies of Midland so they can keep on fighting. What little food we have left is always taken by bandits, leaving the rest of us to starve and work ourselves to death. We're too weak to fight back against the bandits; we are left at their mercy.

Y/N: How long are we to let those bandits keep stealing our food? We're all gonna be dead by before the war ends.

Villager: Trust us, we're trying our best to get along with both Midland and the bandits, but we're going to have to stand up to the bandits if we wish to live for a bit longer.

Y/N: Yeah? Well what do we plan on doing in order to stand up to the bandits? In case you had forgotten, we're weak, starving, and have no weapons to fight them. Let's just keep on trying to survive and get through these hard times.

Villager: Right, well we actually managed to bring in some weapons and food to help us get ready for the bandits. They stop by here a couple days after the harvest is ready. All we gotta do is just gain some energy, learn a thing or two with the sword, and the bandits are long gone.

Y/N: Are you sure that's going to work? You know, I think there's more to it than-

I suddenly feel someone smack the back of my head. I yelp and rub the spot that was just hit. I turn around to see my father.

Father: You two can talk about the plan later...right now we need to focus on getting the crops ready.

I sigh a bit before I go back to work, barely managing to get anything done with the little energy I have left. We manage to finish our work for today and we all head back to our homes.

~A couple months later~

We all learned the basics of how to use our weapons. While we weren't the best with them, we had some sort of a fighting chance. We gave Midland their share of the crops and they went peacefully, just like any other time they would come to collect the food. Now, the moment we had all trained for, the time for the bandits to arrive was upon us. It was late at night; everything was calm and quiet. I look up once I hear the sounds of horses galloping.

Villager: You hear that?

Y/N: I think so...it may just be some messengers or...

Soon it became clear to me; it's the bandits. Any sense of being tired instantly left my body as I grabbed a torch and ran through the village, telling everyone to get ready. My father conceals his short sword in his clothing, along with a couple other villagers who are going to give them the rest of our harvest. I hide with  the other villagers, waiting for the signal to go in and attack. I remain silent as I hear the horses come to a stop

Bandit: Alright, you all know the drill. Give us the food and you'll all be spared. 

Bandit Leader: Actually...give us the food and a couple of your women. Us men need relieving after a hard day's work.

I growled and gripped my blade as I heard them all laugh. My father remained silent before he went to go hand the food. He then dropped it and fell to the ground.