The Town That Changed Everything (Ichabod X Reader)

The Tree Of The Dead

They were following Katrina and Jonathan with their horses and when they stopped a minute later, there was a large tree in front of them. No one was saying anything. They were all just sitting on their horses, looking at the tree in complete silence. "What are we looking at right now?" Asked Y/N confused and got off the horse. "The tree of the dead...He was buried here when they killed him. The Horseman." Answered Jonathan and Y/N froze. So did Ichabod, but he approached the tree and saw something strange about its bark. Y/N, Jonathan and Katrina started walking towards him, but he stopped them. "Stay where you are, do not move." He said and touched the tree.

There was blood on it which was weird for a tree, so he took an axe and started cutting it. He removed a part of the bark of the tree and then...A bunch of heads came into view. He had opened a door in the tree. Both Y/N and Ichabod almost threw up. Ichabod cleaned as much blood as he could off himself and climbed up the Horseman's grave. He dug in, and half an hour later, they could see the skeleton of the Horseman. It was already getting dark outside. "The...Skull is gone...taken. I can only see his skeleton." Said Ichabod.

"Well, that is why the Horseman returns from the grave. To take heads till his own is restored to him. It is just a theory." Added Y/N. "It's a great theory. But I think it's not just a theory. It makes sense." Said Ichabod in response. Right as he said that, Y/N noticed something strange about the place where the heads were. They were moving. The air was getting colder and colder. "Ichabod..." Said Y/N loudly.

Then, a large horse with a man on it jumped out of the place where the heads were, which was apparently a gateway between two worlds. It was the Horseman. However, he didn't do anything to the four of them. He just looked at them for a second and then rode past them, towards Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod quickly got down from the grave and got on his horse. Y/N did the same. "No, stay here!" Yelled Ichabod, but Y/N didn't listen. Ichabod sighed and started following the Horseman. So did Y/N. "You never listen to me!" He yelled at her as their horses were galloping, following the Headless Horseman. "You are safe there! You know that we are following a murdering ghost right now, right?"

"I don't want you going alone. Plus, we were both sent here, so we are both doing the job." Yelled Y/N back. Ichabod didn't reply. He just continued following the Horseman, even though he couldn't really see him.

They stopped when they got out of the woods. There, they saw the Horseman walking out of a house with a bag in his had. "Uh-oh...Looks like someone else got their head chopped off..." Mumbled Y/N. They just watched him from their horses, not knowing what to do.

Then, Brom appeared out of nowhere. He started trying to murder the Horseman, but that wouldn't really be possible now, would it? "Please stay here this time, I'll go help, Brom." Said Ichabod and got off of Gunpowder. "Be careful!" Yelled Y/N anxiously. She watched as Ichabod ran towards the house, got some type of weapon and ran towards Brom abt the Horseman. Then, she watched as the person she loved and the person Katrina loved fought the dead ghost together.

They couldn't win. They started running under the bridge, so Y/N followed, trying not to get the Horseman's attention. Suddenly, he jumped on the roof of the bridge. "Ichabod, above you!" Y/N yelled, but it was too late. The Horseman stabbed Ichabod near his shoulder with his sword and Ichabod fell to the ground, while Brom wouldn't stop trying to win the fight.

Y/N quickly ran up to Ichabod. "Oh, no...Dear Lord...Does it hurt a lot?" She asked while sitting on the ground next to him, trying to comfort him. "Yeah, I suppose it hurts a bit..." Replied Ichabod with a lot of pain in his voice. Y/N looked at the wound and said: "It's alright, you'll be-"

Suddenly they both heard something. They watched as the Horseman sliced Brom in three and his horse galloped away. Y/N did find it gross but managed to not throw up. However, Ichabod fainted, once again. "Ichabod..." Mumbled Y/N and sighed.

Y/N watched to see if the Horseman was gone, and when he finally was, she ran to Thunder and rode to the Van Tassel house. When she got there, Lady Van Tassel opened the door. "Why are you in such a rush, dear?" She asked calmly. "There is...Ichabod. He got stabbed near the shoulder by the Horseman. I can't explain everything, but please tell Baltus and the others that Ichabod is hurt and Brom is...dead. Not decapitated, just dead. Sliced in three by the horseman." Explained Y/N with a shaky voice. She was out of breath and still traumatized by what she had just witnessed.

"Oh, my...I'll get them right away!" Said Lady Van Tassel and ran into the house. Shortly after, a couple of men ran out of it and went to the bridge, where Ichabod and Brom were.