Chapter Text
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Y/n had known from the moment he was born that love was… deadly, literally. Because his mother had been killed because of his birth.
Drogan of Murmoring Mountain, also known as Bluebeard, had been a foolish man. He'd grown up like any other Never, taught to be cold blooded killer and as despicable as possible, and he'd been a star student at the School for Evil. But then, the worst possible happened. He fell in love. He, like many other Nevers, craved love. The one thing these dark, unfortunate souls never seemed to get. While any Never may deny it, at the core of their goals is the cry for companionship. For love. But Nevers shouldn't act in love, that had been Bluebeard's mistake.
He'd fallen in love with an Ever girl. He'd been sweet towards her, cared for her, and loved her to hell and back. Of course he laid his Never-past behind him, trying to play the perfect husband. He married her, and he moved into a big mansion in Akgul, the richest Never kingdom, in the goal of giving his future children a bright future. So he'd been over the moon when his sweet wife bore his child. But this love all turned sour when the bundle of misery had been birthed. For the baby looked nothing at all like his parents. Not his mother. Not his father. No similarities at all. Not in eye color, not in skin color, not in face, not in body. Nothing. Bluebeard had been so enraged, so betrayed, he'd killed his own wife in a fit of rage.
Months later, it had turned out to be a mistake. Because as the baby's hair grew, it was not just any color. It was f/c colored, which was certainly not natural. The baby was clearly related to Bluebeard, and no other man. One might think Bluebeard would have been devastated at this, that he killed his wife for nothing. But this fact did no longer matter for the father, because he had rediscovered something old. His Never roots. After killing his wife, just a helpless Ever Girl, he'd gained a craving for toying and killing the hopeless and unfortunate. This is what spiraled and led to the tale of Bluebeard in the first place.
You might think this would have had a great effect on the boy, who now grew up without a mother and an absent father who was too busy marrying and killing his wives, wives who often didn't even have any idea the child existed. But this was really not much different from how many other Nevers grew up. And just like all those children, Y/n had managed surprisingly well on his own. The only noticeable thing about this child, the consequences of growing up all alone, was his face. The boy was expressionless. He didn't look bored, he didn't look sad, he didn't look angry, he didn't look happy. He looked completely neutral, but with big eyes, always curious, always taking in everything in the world. And it wasn't like this boy didn't feel emotion. Just like any other child he felt a lot, but you'd never be able to tell by his face. He was a blank slate. But why would there ever be any reason to express when you were all alone? The servants didn't even dare talk to the boy, scared the child carried the same rage as his father, which was fair because Bluebeard had a tendency to kill his servants too. He had a tutor, so he could learn to write and read and do math, but his tutor wasn't much for conversation outside of studies. He didn't even have some animal or critter to talk to. So instead he talked to himself, the best (and only) company he had, all alone inside a giant house. Most of his time would be spent reading. And despite his young age, he had a reading skill far superior than some adults’. His favorites to read were fairy tales, and his absolute favorite was Robin Hood, a man right between the line of Good and Evil. Y/n wished he could go on adventures like Robin had, instead of being cooped up in his gigantic home all the time.
But when he turned six, things had changed. For the first time in a long while, he'd actually met a person. A person who wasn't a servant that is. Well, turns out this had been Bluebeard's seventh wife, the first one who actually managed to survive him. The woman who'd assisted in the murder of his father. Though Y/n didn't care much, for he had no relationship with his father. But this woman, who's just gotten rid of the horror that was Bluebeard, would not take her chances with his spawn, even if the child's only similarity to their father seemed to be their colorful hair. And so, Y/n had been thrown out on the streets of Akgul, where he'd have to fend to himself. But even as a six year old, Y/n wasn't completely stupid. Sure, Akgul was a kingdom of riches, thanks to the diamond mines underneath the grounds of it. But Akgul was also a party town, where no one had to work. It was full of drunks and creeps at every corner. Spending just a night outside taught him as much. Luckily any creepy or drunk adults seemed to avoid him just by his face. So little Y/n did what he'd always wanted, the thing he'd craved after reading Robin Hood, he went out on his own adventure.
_
He wasn't sure how long he'd been out in the Stymph Forest, endlessly walking around, trying to find his way out to a new kingdom which he might call a home. But he just seemed to walk around in circles. He didn't have much with him, some coins he'd found in a fountain in Akgul streets, though he wasn't sure why there were so many coins in there. People must be really clumsy and drop them. Otherwise he only had a sack with a few books he had yet to read. His clothes were still intact, if a bit damn. His shoes were a bit shabby looking and muddy, no hole in them yet though. So far all he had seen were trees, rocks, shrubs, and more trees. No stymphs yet, which his books said should be in the forest, so that was a disappointment.
But for the first time, Y/n had seen something that he hadn't before in the expansive forest. A cave. So far he had to sleep under a tree, hoping it would cover him from any rain if it came. But a cave would be much better to sleep in, as long as there wasn't a bear in there that is. Then again, bears are pretty cool, so maybe it's not that bad.
The boy eagerly walked up to the cave, squinting in to try and see in the dark.
"Hello?" he said. "Any bears home?"
No answer, except his own echo. If there were any bears, they weren't very social.
"Guess I'm going in then."
As we walked into the damp cave, feeling water droplets hit his face, in the distance he saw a light.
"Wow, I didn't know bears could light fires," he said, walking towards the light without hesitation. The cave was quite long, but very big, a few spiders here and there, and even a bat, so it wasn't much different from his last home. Once he came to the end of the cave, which seemed much more dry, he saw a fire still burning, but no one there, except for a few dead bunnies and some berries. He felt his stomach roar in hunger when he saw the food.
He reached out for a few of the berries—
He was pinned against the cave wall.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" a stranger said.
Y/n looked up, seeing a much taller boy, maybe two or three years older than him. He had pale skin, black hair in spikes, and violet eyes staring him down.
"Woah, you scared me," Y/n said, though his monotone voice made it sound like a joke. He looked at the boy up and down. "Hm... You don't seem like a bear."
"What?" the boy said, scoffing. "Are you making fun of me, punk?"
"No sir," Y/n said, shaking his head.
The boy's brows furrowed, absolutely confused. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Are you dumb or just a freak?"
"I'm Y/n," he said.
The other looked at him absolutely flabbergasted. He contemplated what to do with the boy. In the end, he just pushed him away. "Whatever, freak, just get out of here."
Y/n looked at the other, tilting his head. Then he noticed the boy's hand, red and bruised.
"Oh, that must hurt," Y/n said, taking the other's hand and inspecting it. It was definitely a burn of some kind. "What did you do to get a burn like that?"
"Don't touch me, freak!" the boys said, quickly pulling away his hand. "It's none of your business."
"I can help you if you want to," Y/n said. He sat down pulling out a book from his sack, witchcraft and potions, mumbling as he flipped through the pages. "No... not that... nuhu... Aha! I found it! Here!" He held up the book, showing a few herbs. "If you crush these it'll heal your burn."
"Eh, that's all hogwash!" the other said, scoffing at it and looking away. "I already read all of it, just lies. What would a kid like you know anyway?" Y/n wasn't sure how he could have read the book however, because he hadn't even looked at anything beside the picture.
Y/n put down his sack. "I'll be back soon."
"Just go back home instead, freak!" the other yelled. "I don't want to see your face again!"
_
Ten minutes later, Y/n was back inside the cave, his tiny fists full of all the herbs he could find.
"I'm back," said Y/n, sitting down beside the fire.
The other boy shot up from his sleep, sitting up and turning around to look at the boy. "Wh— you actually came back?" he said. "How stupid are you? I told you to go your way."
"Don't have anywhere else to go," Y/n said simply, picking up a rock to crush the herbs.
"What, your parents just abandoned you or something?" the other scoffed like it was a joke.
"... Yeah," Y/n said. He bit the inside of his cheek, feeling a pit in his stomach.
"You don't seem very sad about it," the black haired boy said, raising an eyebrow. "You're just like that in your face or is it a curse or something?"
"I'm not sure I understand," Y/n said, tilting his head. He took the other's hand, carefully putting the herbs on the burns. He ripped off a part of his own shirt-sleeve, using it as a bandage.
"How can you be so stupid and smart at the same time?" the boy asked. "How do you know all this stuff anyway?"
"Reading," Y/n shrugged. "Can't you read? You seem like a big kid."
"I'm not a kid," he huffed, shoving the six year old away. "I guess you can stay here. Just stay out of my way."
"Okay," Y/n said, hugging the other, but it came off as mechanical and strange more than affectionate.
"Get off!" the other huffed. "I said stay out of my way!"
"Sorry," Y/n said, letting go and giving him a little boy. He scooted a few feet away. "This good?"
"Fine," the other sighed tiredly. He turned back to his fire, the orange light from it lighting up his face. "You were Y/n, right?"
"Mhm. That I am."
"I'm Aric."
Aric and Y/n continued to stay with each other for a few months. Aric taught Y/n a bunch of useful stuff like how to say bad words, how to hunt and snap the necks of bunnies, how to make a fire, how to make a spear from a big stick and a stone, how to cook clean water, and how to climb trees. Y/n taught Aric a few things himself, how to read, how to count, how to give people a chill with just a stare, methods on how to best kill people (books he'd found once in his father's study), and how to treat different wounds. Y/n was sure this is what was described in tales as 'friendship', two people living in harmony together and trying their best to survive. Even if Aric could be a bit strange sometimes. He was very brash, very angry, like Y/n's father had been, like he too had been heartbroken. And every time they went out hunting, every time they caught a bunny or a tiny bird, and Aric would snap its neck, like he wasn't just doing it for survival, he was doing it because he enjoyed killing, he enjoyed seeing the small animals suffer. Is this what happens when a person becomes heartbroken? Do they always become angry, do they start enjoying other's suffering, because it makes them feel better about themselves? Y/n wondered how much it hurt to feel heartbreak. Though he also wondered how it even worked for a heart to break because his books had told him you can't live without a heart. He would have to think on that one for a while.
This day, maybe four months into Y/n walking into the cave, which the boy knew because Aric would make a mark in the wall every day that went by (there were so many marks that Y/n couldn't possibly count them all), there was a terrible storm outside. Y/n was sitting inside the cave, reading after he'd been able to light up a fire. Just as a lightning strike hit somewhere in the distance, Aric limped into the cave, winching in pain, an open bite in his leg.
"What happened?" Y/n asked, putting down his book.
"Don't wanna talk about it," Aric huffed. "Just fix it, would ya?"
"Okay," said the little boy, turning pages in his book to find a cure for an animal bite. "Let's see... got that... yup... mhm... oh... oh no."
"Something wrong?" Aric asked. Considering Y/n's face always looked the same, it was very hard to ever figure out if something was bad and good.
"Don't have any mugwort," Y/n said. "But it's fine, I'll go get some. Just crush these other ones up while I'm gone and, uh..." he looked back in his book, "boil them. Yeah."
"You can't just walk out there," Aric protested. "I know you're dumb but even this is a new low. There's a bloody storm outside."
"Why is that a problem?" Y/n asked with a shrug, before turning to the cave's mouth. "I'll be back soon."
"You promise?"
Y/n turned back around, seeing Aric watching him intensely. For the first time since they'd met, Aric almost looked vulnerable.
"You promise that you'll be back soon?" he repeated.
"I promise," Y/n said, before taking it off in the rain.
It was hard to see outside, rain assaulting his face in big, hard drops. It was fairly dark out too, the only source of light whenever lightning struck. He saw another flash of light, turning in its direction. He saw a tree fall, not far from where he was. He started to breathe faster, his body gone cold, a sensation he hadn't felt before. He started running to the usual spot he would harvest mugwort, a river not too far away from the cave. But when he got there, the river didn't look like it normally did. Usually there wasn't so much water, it was a very shallow river, one which he could stand in and the water would only go up to his chest. But now it seemed to be overflowing with water, rushing fast and harshly. That was certainly a problem, Y/n realized, because the area behind the spotted tree, where the mugwort usually grew, was covered in water. The little boy walked closer. by the edge of the water, leaning over to try and see if he could find any roots in the water.
That's when another blast of light came, very bright this time, and the sound was almost instantaneous too. Then he heard a loud creaking sound. He looked back, seeing the spotted tree falling right for him. The next thing he knew, everything had turned black.
_
When Y/n woke up again, his throat felt sore, making the boy cough, water coming out. It was daylight now, the birds chirping. He looked up, and he realized he wasn't in the Stymph Forest anymore. No, this was a completely new place. He was at the edge of a river, the same river as in the forest probably, so he must have fallen in. But he had no idea which way he came from, because now the river was completely still. He looked both ways, trying to see if he could find the way he'd come from, but neither way looked quite right. That meant he had no way of finding his way back, no way back to his friend. Even if he'd promised he'd be back.
He looked around, not seeing anyone around except a lone deer eating grass. But not too far away was a dirt path, which he decided to follow. Best way to find your way, he'd learnt from Red Riding Hood, or bad things might happen. So he walked and walked again, just like had four months ago, trying to find a home again.
On his third day of walking, he finally got somewhere. A large kingdom, bustling with people and cottages and markets. And it had a gigantic castle with big, sharp spires. He found a pretty wooden sign with pretty lettering, which said:
Welcome to Foxwood
The Oldest Ever Kingdom
"Foxwood?" Y/n said, bending forward to read the sign, almost falling forward. "Wonder if there's foxes there. I've always wanted to see a fox."
Turns out there weren't any foxes in Foxwood, he noticed as he walked down the kingdom’s streets.
"I shouldn't trust names," Y/n mumbled to himself, walking past people and people and people, the streets completely crowded. "No stymphs in Stymph Forest, no foxes in Foxwood... Probably means there aren't any camels in Camelot either..."
He walked down markets, seeing people give him strange looks, no doubt because of his dirty clothes, his colorful hair, and according to Aric he also had a strange face so that was probably also a reason.
He looked through stalls and stalls, stopping in front of one selling apples. He felt his stomach growl in hunger, his body shaking in weakness.
"I'm practically ravenous it seems," he mumbled, taking in the delicious redness of the fruit, feeling his mouth water.
Y/n hadn't been able to find any good food nor animals to eat on his way here, walking three days straight without nourishment. He'd only been able to drink water thanks to the fact he'd passed a running lake on his way. He looked down into his pockets, scourging them for any of his coins, but they were empty. All his books, and it seems all his coins, are still back in Stymph Forrest.
Letting out a breath of disappointment, the boy held out his hand towards the stall a bit away, mimicking a motion of grabbing one of the tiny apples with his hand, his fist covering the stall from his eyes.
But as he moved his hand, something was off. One of the apples looked bigger now, and it kept getting bigger and bigger. Until he noticed the apple wasn't getting bigger, it was getting closer, floating towards him in the air at the speed of an arrow. Quickly he pulled away his hand to his chest in surprise, and the apple fell into the grass by his feet, unmoving. Y/n tilted his head, looking at the apple. He looked around, but no one else seemed to notice the flying apple, too busy with their own lives to notice the boy alone in the shadows of a few stalls. Again he held out his hand for the apple, mimicking grabbing it, and the apple took flight again, flying comfortably into his hand. Without a single more thought as to what had just happened, Y/n bit into the apple, feeling its juice spill down his lips. It must have been the tastiest apple he'd ever eaten, he thought, but in actuality he was just very hungry. He held out his arm again, letting a new apple fly into his hand, using his other arm to dry off his mouth. The apple flew faster this time, like now as he was sure of what he was doing, so was this new force. Y/n held up this second apple to the light, seeing the sun reflecting it, admiring his newfound power.
But this time someone else seemed to notice too.
"Hey, how did you get that?" a voice boomed. Y/n turned to its source, seeing an older man with a bushy mustache and a red apron. The man pointed right at him, pushing out of his own stall. "You thieving little rat. I don't know how it is where you come from, Never, but here people pay for their things. Someone ought to teach you a lesson. Guards! Guards!"
People were now stopping in their tracks, looking at the exchange as the appleseller came closer and closer. Through the crowds, guards shuffled through, making their way towards the scene. Just as the man was about to harshly grab Y/n's arm, the little boy spit out an apple seed, hitting the man in the eye.
"Argh!" he yelled, covering his eyes. "You brat!" He was waving his arms around wildly, and it wasn't clear if he was trying to capture or hit the boy. But Y/n was gone when the seller got his sight back, the boy running as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. He heard guards running behind, yelling at him to stop at once, but none of their words registered, all he could think about was running, adrenaline pumping through him. After a while he didn't even hear the guards anymore, but he kept and kept running. Nothing would stop him.
Except running into someone else, it seems. He collided with another like a shooting star, ending his movement abruptly and falling to the ground.
"Hey! watch where you're going," another hissed.
Y/n looked up, seeing a boy his age, maybe just a year older. His skin was milky white, his messy hair a copper color, and his eyes a piercing blue, like an ice lake. He couldn't help but admire the other and his appearance.
"You're very pretty," Y/n said without a single thought.
"Wh— are you mocking me?" the other asked, trying to understand his expression.
"No sir, I'm sorry," Y/n said, standing up. He felt a bit nervous, not sure what to do, anxiously looking around and trying to come up with the right thing to say and do. But his face was just as stone cold as always, looking more like the boy was just casually looking around. "Um..." Y/n noticed the red fruit still in his hand, he reached it out to the other. "Apple?"
The other boy looked at him up and down, he ignored the gesture, and stood up, walking away. "You're weird," he said, not even looking at Y/n, making his way to a small grove of trees.
Y/n shrugged, taking a bite of the apple, following right after the pretty boy.
The boy would glance back at him every now and then, like hoping Y/n would be gone the next time he looked. But after a while he seemed to give up, stopping and turning around to look at Y/n.
"Why are you following me?" he snapped. "I want to be alone."
"You seem... interesting..." Y/n said with a final shrug, throwing the carcass of the apple into the grove.
"Really? You think I'm interesting?"
"That's what I just said," Y/n said with a nod.
"Whatever..." the boy crossed his arms. "Guess you can stick around if you don't wanna leave me alone. But we're not friends."
"So what's your name?" Y/n asked. "I'm Y/n."
"Japeth."
Japeth and Y/n would continue to meet for weeks. Turns out when he said they weren’t friends, he didn’t mean it, or he changed his mind. Because Y/n thinks they’re friends at least, though the other boy never told him so he couldn’t be sure.
Japeth would sneak out of his house, and Y/n would either live in a hut of big sticks they made out in the woods, or he'd just walk around Foxwood at night, sleeping on a bench.Just like Aric, it had taken Japeth a bit to warm up, but it had went quicker than it had for Aric, and once Japeth liked Y/n, you could hardly believe he was the same cold person as when they'd first met. He was teasing, sneaky, and playful. Sometimes they would sneak into the markets, using Y/n's power to steal smaller things. They'd once tried to steal something bigger, an entire sword from a guard, but the sword had barely been able to move.
But one day, things had changed, for as the boys were out playing in the woods, climbing trees, someone had found them.
Two Japeths? Y/n thought, looking between the boy in the tree beside him and the one at the ground. The only difference seemed to be that the boy on the ground had green eyes instead.
"Japeth, you can't be out here," the boy at the ground scolded, hands on his hips. "Mother said we can't go outside."
"I'm not stupid Rhian, I know," Japeth snapped back. "And you're not supposed to be out here either."
"Well—" Rhian cut himself off, eyes widening once he noticed Y/n up in the tree, the f/c haired boy's legs swinging around in the air, his serene face staring down at the other. Rhian's face exploded into red. "Whoa... who's he?"
"No one you need to know," Japeth huffed. "You can go back to your little mommy that likes you so much instead. He's my friend who wants to hang out with me and not you."
"But I also wanna play with him," Rhian complained. "It's not fair!"
"Too bad cuz I don't care!" Japeth said, sticking out his tongue.
"If you don't let me play with him, I'll tell mom you sneaked out through your window," Rhian said. "And that you forced me to come along with you. And that you have a secret boyfriend."
Japeth's face exploded into the same color as his brother's, both from anger and embarrassment. "Wh— I—" Japeth looked at Y/n for a while, before groaning, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. You can play with us."
Rhian grinned, hastily climbing up the tree, sitting himself right beside Y/n, the bow sandwiched between the twins.
"I'm Rhian," the green eyed boy said, holding out his hand.
"Y/n," he answered back, shaking his hand.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Japeth snapped. "Who cares. Are we gonna play or not?"
After Rhian joined them, Japeth turned cold and annoyed again. Though now it wasn't directed at Y/n, it was directed at Rhian. But the older twin always seemed to have a way to convince his brother to do as he said, usually bribes or threats about snitching to their mother. They were quite different, Y/n realized quickly. Because if Japeth was teasing, and sneaking, Rhian was more affectionate and the type to always play fair. It would create a lot of conflicts, conflicts they tried to resolve by asking Y/n what he thought. He always tried his best to give a good answer, but most of the time he barely knew what they were even fighting about. Most of the fights were more petty than anything, like who got to hold Y/n's hand, if they should go west or east when on an adventure, if snakes or lions were better.
Yesterday's fight had been if Japeth needed to listen to Rhian when he was king. Rhian's argument was that king Japeth had to listen to him, or he'd be executed. Japeth's argument was no, because he was a villain and didn't need to listen to any king. The younger one had also pointed out that Y/n hadn't been forced to listen, but Rhian had dismissed the argument, saying that Y/n didn't need to listen because he was Robin Hood, as insisted by the straight-faced boy. After that Japeth had called it favoritism, with Rhian heavily denied. Then an entirely new fight broke out after King Rhian tried to propose to Robin Hood Y/n.
The last few weeks, the two boys would come out at the same time, joining up with Y/n at their meeting place under their climbing tree in the forest. But this time Japeth came alone. He was frowning, but he didn't look annoyed or angry. No, this was something else, something Y/n wasn't sure he'd seen before. In Japeth's eyes there were pools of water, one of his cheeks red, which he caressed slowly. He was shaking, sobbing. He sat down beside Y/n, hugging his knees. Y/n tilted his head, waiting for the copper haired boy to say something.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Japeth said, voice muffled.
Y/n wasn't even sure what it was, so he said nothing. He moved slightly closer to Japeth, putting an arm around his shoulder. The other leaned closer, resting his head on Y/n's shoulder, his sobs quieting down.
"You know, sometimes I just wanna run away…" Japeth said. "Leave this stupid place."
"Away where?" Y/n asked.
"I don't know, but somewhere far, far away from here." The pale boy took his hand, thumb caressing his knuckle. "Somewhere with you."
"Hm, okay," Y/n hummed. "Where do you wanna go? Not sure I can run too far away, think I'll get quite tired. But we could walk."
Japeth broke out into laughter, drying his tears. "Yeah, we could walk," he said. He leaned back for a while, thinking, before pointing his finger towards the west. "We could go to Sherwood Forest. It’s through Foxwood's forests to the west. You'd like to go there, wouldn't you?"
Y/n turned to look in the direction Japeth was pointing, something bubbling in his stomach. He simply nodded. But even with a stone cold face, Japeth could tell the boy was excited, simply for the way his hands were fidgeting, the way he stood straighter, his breath going faster.
"It would be perfect," Japeth said. "No one will find us in Sherwood Forest. Not mother… Not Rhian..."
"Japeth!"
Both Y/n and Japeth turned, looking down the dirt path leading up to the oak, seeing a boy running towards them.
"I can't believe you left without me," Rhian said, face covered in tears and smeared with cake. "After everything you've already done today and now you pull this."
"I don't wanna talk, Rhian," Japeth snapped. "Actually, I rather not see your face at all!"
"And you just get to hang out with Y/n without me?" Rhian snapped right back. "You're the one who should be punished! You're the one who should be left behind! You destroyed my cake!"
"I said sorry for the stupid cake!" Japeth yelled, his own eyes spilling tears now. "You should be happy you got a cake in the first place, mommy's little favorite! It's just as my birthday as it's yours!"
"You're just jealous because mother likes me more than you, because you're Evil!" Rhian huffed. "Y/n likes me more too! Right, Y/n?"
"No he doesn't!" Japeth wailed. "Right Y/n? Right?"
The kid looked between the twins, feeling quite confounded. "I... uh..."
"Rhian! Japeth!" a woman yelled in horror and anger.
The twins turned, as did Y/n, seeing a tall woman running up to them, clad in a white dress, her brown hair swaying in the wind. "Have I not told you before that you can't be outside," she scolded. "You two can't be seen! I can't believe you would disobey me like this, and on your birthday at that. After everything I've done for you two, this is how you show me respect. Japeth, did you make Rhian do this? You can't simply put yourself in danger but you have to drag your brother in it too—"
Her voice broke off when she saw Y/n. She seemed to study his face, looking at him up and down. Her face changed to a gleeful smirk. "Well, would you look at that," she said, leaning down. "How lucky I am to find you, Y/n."
"How do you know my—"
"Where's your parents?" she asked, putting on a motherly voice.
Y/n felt his body freeze, all functions breaking down. He had no idea what to do. "I uh... I... I don't have any," he managed to stutter out.
"Oh, is that the case," she said, something dark behind her eyes. "Why don't you come with us, hm? I can give you a roof over your head, food, and some clean clothes. I promise you'll be greatly taken care of."
Rhian's face lit up in excitement. "Really? Can Y/n live with us?"
"Anything for my little birthday boy," the woman mused, ruffling his hair. "This is the most valuable gift we could ever wish for."
Y/n felt that something was deeply wrong inside, but he had no idea what to do, body starting to shake as the woman reached out her hand for him, about to grab his arm—
Japeth bit his mother's arm, making her scream out in pain. Y/n reeled back in shock, body finally moving again. Finally acting. And he did the first thing he could think of. He ran. He could hear screaming behind him, running behind him, but he never dared to look back, as if his life depended on this.
He ran and ran and ran, until he wasn't sure he was in Foxwood anymore. It wasn't the same trees anymore, the forest looking older and rugged. Around were magical creatures now, zipping around in the trees, and tons and tons of different animals too.
Only when the boy had walked long enough to see a city in the trees, full of huts connected by bridges and platforms, did the boy realize where he'd ended up.
He'd run towards the west.
He walked deep into the village, looking around in wonder at a place he'd only dreamt of getting to, but here it was, in front of his very own eyes. Sherwood Forest. He spotted a house in the distance, a rusty barn located inside the trunk of a gigantic tree. On it were cartoons of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. On top of it was a wooden sign, carvings spelling out:
Marian's Arrow.
He watched people walk in and out, briefly being stopped at the door, before being let in. Though he also saw some being denied entry. He sneaked up behind a couple, shielding himself behind a woman's gigantic skirt. He glanced to the side, seeing a vulture sitting atop the door.
"Password?" the vulture asked.
"Little John," said the woman.
"You may enter," the vulture said.
The door opened, and Y/n managed to quickly sneak in before the door slammed shut.
A wave of noise crashed over him as he looked around the bustling pub. The boy saw multiple men wearing feathered brown caps, all laughing and flirting with different girls, but not a sight of Robin—
Then he heard a loud laugh from the bar. He turned his head, seeing the man himself in all his glory, showing off a sack of coins he'd managed to nap from some aristocrat back from Nottingham, his Merry Men laughing behind, Maid Marian cleaning jugs and rolling her eyes playfully. Y/n walked up to the counter, standing on his tippy toes to see over it.
"Hello!" he said.
"Well, hello there, little girl," Robin said, glancing between his men in confusion and as if this was a bit funny.
"I'm a boy, sir," Y/n corrected.
"Okay, sorry about that," Robin chuckled, taking in the kid's unemotive face. "Hello there, little guy. How exactly did you get in here?"
"Through the door?" Y/n answered.
The men burst out laughing.
"Little trickster, eh?" Robin mused. "What can I do for you then, kiddo?"
"I wanna become a Merry Man!" Y/n proclaimed. "And I'm also pretty hungry."
"Hungry?" Robin said. "Well, do you have anything to pay with?"
"Robin, you can't make the poor kid pay," Marian said. "Look at him!"
Robin turned to Marian, waving her off. "If the little rugrat managed to get in here, he'll have to pay like an adult," Robin said, before turning back to the kid. "So, you got anything?"
"I have this," Y/n said, holding up the sack of coins that had just been in Robin's hand.
"What the—" Robin looked between his hand and the kid, and his men looked just as bewildered. "How… how did you do that?"
"I don't know, I just can," Y/n shrugged, giving him the sack of coins. "Can I get food now?"
"Yeah… yeah we can fix something up for ya," said Robin, blinking at the kid. "So you wanna be a Merry Man, huh? Are you really sure your mommy and daddy would like that, kiddo? It's a tough job, you know."
"I don't have a mom or a dad," Y/n said. "So I have no real way of knowing."
Robin looked at the kid for a while, his dirty face, his ruff and uncut hair, his ragged clothes. If there was anyone who needed a Robin Hood, it was this kid. Because he looked like he'd been through more than a kid should have. But he couldn't take care of a kid! He was too busy being a legend, too busy helping the people!... But at the same time, was he really helping the people if he turned this kid down? A kid which had been able to trick even him, not to mention. Robin sighed, cursing himself for his Good morals, before giving the kid a cocksure grin. He picked up his own hat, putting it firm on the child's head.
"Well, if you can trick me, I guess you deserve a spot on the team," he said. "I'm sure we'll be able to get you a nice place to stay. Right, Marian?"
"I'm sure we will," Marian said, putting down a jug and putting a hand on Y/n's shoulder. "Come on, hun. Let's get you a warm bath and some new clothes, then we'll get you some food."
"Okay," Y/n said, following her to his new life.
But this was only the beginning of Y/n's story. The story of a legend for which tales would tell about for eons in the Woods.
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