VERSAILLES // Ranboo X Reader

27

Your bow clattered to the ground as you dropped to your knees, skidding forward to where Arlow lay crumpled on the ground. The tears crowding your eyes made the stars blend together, and you tried to wipe them away only for more to claim their place. Arlow groaned, and you wound a hand into their hair, soothing as best you could. 

Arlow's eyes darted to yours and they tried for a laugh, only to cough up a bit of blood. "This hurts."

"Arlow..."

You turned your head to see Ranboo kneeling down as well, still holding the egg. Arlow's eyes locked on the object and some of the tension in their body faded away. Their eyes fluttered for a moment, and they sighed. "We got the egg."

"We did." You said. "And you were amazing-"

Arlow wasn't paying much attention though - their eyes had drifted up to the stars. "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

You fought back a sob, taking your other hand and interweaving your fingers with theirs. This was not an injury that someone could come back from. There would be no way to get Arlow stable enough to find a trained physician with what supplies you had, and even if you were, finding your way back through the stronghold would take too long. 

They were going to die here, but they weren't going to die alone. 

Ranboo went to take Arlow's other hand, but Arlow pulled it away, fumbling through their pockets again until they pulled out that little shard of End crystal that they had picked up before. Finding Ranboo's hand, they pushed the shard into his palm, and Ranboo curled his fingers around it, taking the crystal piece. 

"Find my Gemma and give that to her, will you?" Arlow asked. 

Ranboo looked down at the shard in his hand and then back up to you, sadness swimming in his eyes. 

"We're the house with the blue shutters." Arlow continued, voice weak. "It's by the shore - she always loved the shore..." They laughed a little, and more blood splattered on the ground. "Be careful by the ocean, Ranboo... wouldn't want you getting wet..."

Ranboo smiled. "I'll be careful."

Arlow's eyes slid to you then, and they leaned slightly into the touch. "Spice up my hero story when you tell it to the king, will you?" A few tears slipped from the corner of their eye. "I want people to like me when the story gets told."

You smiled down at Arlow, a few of your tear dripping onto the sliver of space between you. "How could they not, Arlow?"

Arlow hummed, closing their eyes. A few more tears managed to slip out from underneath their lashes though, rolling down the sides of their face until they hit the ground. Their breathing got a little more shallow, and your grip around their hand tightened. 

Arlow's fingers twitched in yours, and then they fell still, their body going completely slack. 

You unwound your fingers from Arlow's and laid their head back down on the ground, hands shaking. Your eyes slid from their lifeless body over to Brigand's - his ice blue eyes were locked on the sky. 

All for an egg. 

Your chest felt tight, and you wrenched your eyes away from his lifeless body, focusing on Ranboo instead. He knelt a few feet away, rolling the shard of crystal over and over in his hand. Sensing your eyes on him, he looked to you, and you couldn't hold back a sob then. 

You caved in on yourself, letting the tears stream down your face and your chest heave. In an instant, Ranboo was at your side, gentle hands circling your wrists and pulling you towards him. You all but collapsed when he wrapped an arm around you, curling so that you were completely enveloped by him. 

You had never felt more held in your life, but it was nothing against the gnawing hole in your chest. 

Ranboo's arms curled tighter around you, and he pressed his face into your shoulder - as he had done so many times before. You could tell by his uneven breathing that he was crying too, and there was a growing wet patch on your shirt from his tears. You wound your arms around his back, trying to hold him as much as he was holding you. 

You were going to have to make the journey back to the castle with two empty horses. You would bring the king his egg back and he wouldn't even blink an eye that two of his heroes were gone - that was the whole reason he had sent more than one in the first place. He would shower honors on you, but you wouldn't care because no amount if praise would bring back your dead friends. 

Brigand and his dumb egg.  

A surge of anger flared up in you and you beat a hand against Ranboo's chest, letting out another sob against his shirt. It wasn't fair that Brigand got to ruin everything like this. To think that you had actually liked him - that you had trusted him - and that he had been the one you were looking for the whole time. 

He had killed Arlow, and you still felt upset that he was dead too.

You couldn't even bring yourself to condemn the reason why he had taken the egg, because he was sort of right. Before humans, there had been a natural order of things. Pillagers would raid villages, because that was the natural order of things. The dragon had been alive. And then humans had come and stopped the raids and killed the dragon and of course the pillagers and vindicators were mad about it. 

You beat another hand against Ranboo's chest, only for him to pry your fist apart and interlace your fingers together. His exhale was shaky and you could feel his breath tickle the skin where he had pressed his face. The gnawing hole in your chest expanded, and you held him tighter. 

At least he was alive.