An edit made by yours truly, Marlett.
Request: @byleth-fe
Warnings: None
Genre: Modern AU
Word count: 1405
Gender: Female
Excuse me for the inaccuracies when it comes to paintball, if there are any. I never played it before, and from what I've read online about it, I don't want to and never will. It sounds lowkey dangerous, so no thank you.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this! It was really fun to write.
Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~
The Black Eagles had challenged the Blue Lions to a game of paintball.
The rules were simple. If one was hit by a paintball, they would be eliminated from the game. One of the teams would win if the opposite team would be entirely eliminated.
Since it was (Y/N)'s first time playing paintball, Ashe had promised her that he'd stay with her the whole time.
They were hiding in one of the highest places of the map, hiding behind walls with a few open windows here and there so they could shoot other members of the opposite team, or vice versa.
From so high up, (Y/N) was spying on the ground floor, but found no one, until her eyes fell upon the head of the opposite team. The white haired girl caught her eye, and so she waved for Ashe to come over and look.
"Hey, isn't that Edelgard?"
"Hm? Oh, it must be," Ashe muttered, as he discreetly approached the open window.
"She sure does look a bit funny- With all that protection on her."
Edelgard was completely buried in thick layers of clothes, as well as extra protection on her chest, knee caps, elbows, and head. She did look a tad bit funny dressed like this- Some would say it was even unnecessary to be dressed to this extent, but Hubert had implored her to do it.
The white haired girl spun around at the sound of a few distant giggles coming from high up, suspicious as to who it was.
"(Y/N), you should really stop laughing. She surely heard us!" Ashe semi whispered to her as a warning, as he grabbed her forearm to drag his friend to the opposite side of the tower.
"Yeah, yeah- Oh, there goes Ferdinand."
(Y/N) ran towards an open window, as she discreetly eyed the red head rich boy awkwardly standing in the middle of the area, his paintball gun held tight to his chest. He seemed rather uncomfortable, which was awfully out of character for the famous Ferdinand Von Aegir.
"Who?"
Ashe followed her to catch a glimpse at the member of the opposite team.
"Ferdinand- You know, the red head guy who keeps shouting his name. He's right there."
"We... We should probably shoot him, then, I guess," Ashe nervously stated, glancing back and forth between Ferdinand and (Y/N), "He's the weakest member of the opposite team, other than-"
"-Bernadetta," the two friends said in unison.
"Yeah, but we can't target her. Poor Bernadetta didn't even want to be here in the first place..."
They both nodded.
(Y/N) rose her gun at eye level and aimed for Ferdinand's chest.
"(Y/N), wait!"
But, it was too late, and (Y/N) had, much to Ashe's surprise, shot Ferdinand right in the chest, thus eliminating him from the match (ShE's ReAllY gOoD-).
"Yes! One down!"
"(Y/N), quick, we have to hide elsewhere!"
(Y/N) was about to reply, but Ashe was quick to get her down the tower, and lead her to one of the secluded areas of the map, behind a wall. Luckily, no member of the opposite team was there.
Well, except Bernadetta that is.
The poor girl was bundled up in a little ball in a corner, holding her gun tight against her chest.
As soon as she noticed not one, but two members of the opposite team surrounding her, Bernadetta was no less than terrified, holding onto her sweet, dear life.
Her face went pale, a high pitch shriek coming out of her, a signature move coming from the timid girl.
"Aaah! P-Please spare m-me! I-I didn't do anything wrong! Please don't kill meeee!" She cried out, shaking on the spot, putting her head between her hands.
"Sssh! Keep quiet or else someone will hear you!" (Y/N) warned, patting Bernadetta's forearm amicably, "Don't worry. We won't shoot you."
"Yeah. No worries. You're safe with us," Ashe reassured.
Bernadetta was still in a sink air state of mind, although she did seem to be a bit calmer now, as she let out a few long sighs of pure relief.
"O-Okay. Thank you..."
"So? What now, Ashe?" (Y/N) turned to Ashe, who was much more experienced when it came to paintball.
But his answer was anything but experienced.
"We... I-I'm not sure- Maybe we should try and find another member of our party- See what they're doing," he tried, taking (Y/N)'s hand in his, as he peaked from behind the wall, glancing sideways to see if there were any opposite team members in sight.
"Hum... Okay, then."
"Quick. Let's run to the other side."
After that, Ashe and (Y/N) were able to eliminate quite a few of the other players, of course, with the help of the rest of the Blue Lions.
Of course, the Blue Lions had also suffered a whole lot of losses. The only remnants on their team were Ashe and (Y/N), oddly enough.
By the near end of the game, it seemed like the only remnant of the opposite team was Hubert, who was, oddly enough, the best player in the whole game- Who would've thought? He seemed uninterested in such frivolities, and yet, when he had no choice but to participate, he had what it took to be the best at paintball. He was discreet, had incredible aim and knew how to use the map to his advantage.
Well, there was also Bernadetta, but no one had the courage to shoot her.
"Goddess, where is he..." (Y/N) muttered under her breath, as she suspiciously looked around.
"Knowing him, he's surely watching us, hiding somewhere around, following us around..."
The girl looked back at him and chuckled, "Yeah, kind of like a ghost- Ashe, behind you! Watch out!"
"What?"
As soon as Ashe turned around, he was hit in the chest with a paintball by none other than Hubert.
~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~
In the end, the Black Eagles won, with Bernadetta and Hubert being the only remnants of the winning team.
In a matter of seconds, Hubert had shot both Ashe and (Y/N), although Ashe, would had barely worn a layer of clothing, was surely going to get a bruise right on his chest, while (Y/N) who had worn a thick vest, barely got hurt at all. This was Mercedes' say in the matter, when the Blue Lions headed back to Dimitri's place.
Dimitri had let Ashe lay on his bed, and stay there as long as he needed, while (Y/N) was seated by his side, holding Ashe's hand tightly into hers.
"Damn Hubert and his discretion!" (Y/N) cursed under her breath, "I swear, I'll murder him next time we-"
"(Y/N), he only followed the rules- To hit someone with a paintball. It's just... He just happened to strike me right between my ribs..." (Hamilton reference y'all)
Literal tears began to form in the corner of the girl's eyes, when she saw Ashe trying with difficulty to hold in the pain.
"Oh, Ashe..."
(Y/N) jumped to his neck to hold him a tight embrace, which almost crushed Ashe's ribs.
"... Don't die on me!" She cried out.
"I-I'm not going to die on you, (Y/N)... It's just a bruise. But... Hum... Y-You're holding me a bit tight there..."
She immediately backed away and apologized profusely.
"Oh, sorry! I hope I didn't hurt you any further..."
Ashe's lips crisped into a thin line, because of the slight pain, "No, it's alright- I'm fine."
But his reassurance didn't seem to change the seemingly saddened expression (Y/N) bore on her face. She was saddened by the fact that Ashe got hurt so badly.
"(Y/N)... You don't have to be sad," he started softly, "Think about it this way. Besides the last... two minutes, paintball was fun, right?"
"Yeah, but..."
"It was fun. And you didn't get as hurt. To me, that's all that matters."
The grey haired boy clutched onto his friend's hand tighter.
(Y/N) sighed, still quite unsure how to feel, "Well, if you say so... Does that mean you'd be apt to participate in another paint ball match, maybe?"
"Sure," he lightly chuckled, "Although, this time, I'll make sure to wear thicker clothing... You can laugh all you want about Edelgard, but she made the right choice, equipping herself with the extra protection..."