darkwood's Bounty (lamb x reader)

painful memories

After waking from your dazed state you drop everything and charge towards the now startled lamb.

When you both fall onto the ground, you hug him as if your life depended on it. after such a long time, you had him back, you couldn't help but laugh, giddy with excitement, and for the first time in a while, you speak words that weren't just advertisement for your shop.

-"Lev! You have no idea how worried I was, when the cultist came, I wasn't there, your corpse wasn't there, I thought the worst, but you're alive, you have no idea how much I've mis-" You were interrupted as you were forcefully pushed of by Lev.

-"Hey, what giv-" then you realized

The lamb you were hugging so desperately wasn't Lev. You'd usually just feel embarrassed and immediately apologize, but this time was different, you clenched your arms as you realized...

Lev was most likely dead

You felt your heart drop, this is why you chose to forget. You felt as your throat closed up, your eyes began to water, you saw how badly your hands were shaking, you couldn't even get up, you were about to scream when suddenly-

-"I'm here" the voice that came out of the lamb felt reassuring, as they squeezed you in a tight embrace. You know what they were trying to do, they wished for you to, for at least a moment, think them as Lev, and you couldn't help but hug back, you didn't know how much you needed this.

The hug lasted long enough for you to calm down, you felt ashamed of letting yourself remember those things, but the damage was done, it was about time you came to terms with the fate of the last members of your tribe.

-"I'm very sorry for what you had to see," you picked yourself back up, straightening your posture, thankfully your tears were being obscured by your headwear."I'll be at your service once I get my bearings".

-"it's truly no issue" The lamb spoke with a genuine smile, they sat kneeling. You hadn't noticed because of the whole ordeal, but they looked to be in a horrible state. Their clothes were rags at best, they had shackles on their wrists, ankles, and neck. Their fur was messy and unkept... Yet you couldn't help being reminded of Lev.

You swallowed your grief, picked up the stuff you dropped, and headed back inside your cart. You took your sweet time to put thing in order, including your thoughts. You hadn't felt so vulnerable since the day ash covered your skies, glass was stained red, efforts were held in vain, cries became a cacophany of different voices, all screaming in anguish, the day the heads of your ch-

You froze, you thought it best to stop that train of thought

it was only natural to feel vulnerable when you saw someone who looked like the vivid imagine of your deceased love, you also closed your heart to clients, you stopped talking about personal stories and instead focused purely on different cultures, yet sometimes even that was difficult.

You were taking a bit too long, better hurry

You couldn't keep the lamb waiting, it felt wrong after what they did for you, but it's better for both of you to you put your act back on and properly greet them, just the usual stick you pulled for any other customer, but you were planning on giving them a free meal at the very least, the lamb looked famished.

Before opening the blinds of your shop counter, you took a deep breath, just the usual, you opened your eyes wide, the bags under your eyes were apparent, a shaky grin that you needed to fix appeared in your face. You took another breath and some makeup for the eye bags to quickly fix your act, convincing and inviting as always, as it should be, never faltering.

How long could you keep this up?

___________________________________________

In a swift motion you raised the blinds of your humble abode, a wide smile plastered across you face, you twirled and posed as your beautiful handcrafted robes seemingly glistening in the morning sun, the various accessories attached to these robes provided a welcoming clatter, the lamb smiled as they snickered, what a beautiful laugh, just like theirs, your heart clenched as you put aside painful memories.

-"WHAT JOY IT IS TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRAVELERS OF THESE SACRED AND ANCIENT LANDS. EVEN FROM HERE YOU CAN FEEL THE CROWNS BECKONING YOU TO KNEEL AND PRAY THO THE ONES ABOVE" You clasp your hands and shimmy to the beat of the songs played in the background of your shop, these songs come from the red blood deserts your tribe inhabited before coming to the lands of the old faith, the lamb seemed overjoyed by your display, you are doing good, almost done

You slam your forearm into the counter and put your hand into your hip, leaning over the counter to get closer to your customer as the music does out.

-"The name's Y/N, as you can see my shop is equipped with several kinds of craftsmanship, they are all made by your's truly, I can make anything you'd need for the right price, I could provide you with bedding and a warm meal for the night, or maybe even something more..." You pull out one of your pistols and slide it onto the counter, "desperate...".

After a long second of silence you quickly retrieve your gun and hide it in your robes, "haha!, I can tell your unsure of what to ask of me, so let me give you something to orient yourself with" you hand them a pamphlet filled with everything they could ask of you, at the top of it is the name of your shop

(What will be the name of your shop?)
______________
Insert name

The lamb looks rather perplexed at the pamphlet, they seem surprised at everything you could provide, they also examined it again and again, seemingly curious about the craftsmanship of the pamphlet itself. Since they seemed indecisive and , you took the opportunity to thank them and grant them something they seem to actually need

-"hey, thanks for what you did for me, I really appreciate it" your tone shifted to a softer one "tell you what, you seem in pretty bad shape, I'll get you something to eat, a shower, and some warm clothes"
You couldn't tell them, but you offered that much because they reminded you of Lev, "don't worry about the cost, this time's on me"

The lamb seemed perplexed, yet you could tell they liked the idea, they were wagging their puffy little tail the same way Lev did

-"come on in, what are you waiting for?" You opened the door as the lamb rushed in more than overjoyed, they gave you a tight squeeze and asked a simple question, "where is your bathroom?" You pointed in the direction and watched them quickly close the door behind them,
Your heart melted at their touch, why couldn't you be him?...

Now that they were out of sight, tears began to swell In your eyes, you couldn't help being reminded of him, yet you knew you had to move on, this lamb will only be here for a short time, and you saw this as a sign to gain closure and focus on your goal

Leshy's head would be your's

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Word counter: 1246
You are gonna hate me for the things I have planned