Brienne of Tarth x Fem Reader
Summary: You’re an orphan and been shunned by your community, now stealing to survive. Going between villages, you come across Brienne in the woods, choosing the wrong person to steal from. Catching you trying to take food from her pack, the knight gives her a thrashing with the flat of her sword, comforting her afterwards. Requested by Reddragon30000
Warnings: theft, dead bodies, survival
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Life has always been hard for you. You lived a relatively normal life up until the age of fourteen. It wasn’t the most luxurious lifestyle but as the child of parents that worked in the stables life couldn’t be too harsh. You had food, water and a warm place to sleep. However, that all changed in one night.
Your village was raided in the middle of the night. Your parents tried to fight off the raiders but got themself killed in the process. You woke up the next morning completely unharmed but your village was deserted. You immediately went to look for your parents but to your horror you found their bodies hanging outside the entrance of the village.
You were completely alone and didn’t know what to do. You were fourteen years old and your parents worked in the stables. You had know idea how to hunt, how to cook, you didn’t even know how to fight. How on earth were you going to survive?
You managed to last six months at your village on the food that the raiders didn’t find. It hurt knowing you were the only one left. You would walk past the houses where your friends used to live half expecting them to run out and meet you. However every time you walked past you were greeted by silence. The pain you felt for the loss of your friends and family was unimaginable.
In the first week you cut your parents bodies down from where they were hanging and buried them together near your house. It wasn’t the most beautiful send off but it was the least you could do for the people that raised you. You loved them so much and you still cry yourself to sleep every night at the thought that they are never coming back.
After you almost ran out of food you decided that in order to survive you needed to keep moving. You knew there was another small town about a day's walk away. This needed to be your next stop knowing that if you didn’t make a move that day then you would end up starving to death. You manage to raid one of the houses finding a dagger. You had no idea how to use it but it would definitely come in handy in certain situations.
After a day of travelling and using the last of your food you arrived at the nearby town. You somehow manage to last a year in that town. You were a hard honest worker. On your first day in the town you found the local tavern. You begged the bloke that owned it for a job explaining that you didn’t need pay, just food and maybe somewhere to sleep as you explained what happened at your village.
He felt sorry for you saying he would pay you in food and a place to sleep each night and that is exactly what he did for the next year. You couldn't complain. You loved your job. You enjoyed the people you worked with and you loved seeing all the travellers that stopped by the tavern each day. The stories you heard were so fascinating. However like before it only took one night for it all to be turned upside down.
You had been crushing on one of the people in the town and you finally wanted to make a move with them. However, unlike most, your crush had been on an older woman. The town you had been staying in for the past year was very religious and believed that if a woman laid with another woman you were going against god.
That night you had both gotten too loud and the owner of the tavern caught you both as naked as the day you were born pleasuring one another. He screamed at you both, threatening you that if you didn’t get out of his tavern and leave that instant he would have you hung. At that you grabbed everything you had and left that night never once looking back.
How could life treat you so poorly? You had your real family taken from you and your new family kicked you out for you just being who you really were. Your life as a criminal started that day. With no place to go and no food to eat you had to steal in order to survive. It was the last thing you wanted to do as your parents always told you stealing was wrong but you didn’t have much of a choice.
Over the course of another year you went from village to village stealing. At first it was just food. No one would notice the odd pie or loaf of bread missing but the more you stole the better you got at it. In the first couple of months you had a tendency of getting caught but you always managed to guilt trip them into giving it to you.
However recently you have started to steal bigger items and money. You didn’t really need the money as you stole everything you needed but the urge to just steal became greater and greater hence why you started to steal things with higher value.
You had just left one of the villages you had just stolen from. You managed to steal yourself a couple of pies, a loaf of bread and you even managed to steal yourself some ale. You also managed to steal some small bags of money and managed to upgrade your dagger to a small sword.
You were now a day’s walk away from the village you had just stolen from and you couldn’t have been happier. You had food, drinks and money. This would quite easily last you until you came across the next town or village. As you were always on the move you didn’t have any friends so you spent half the time talking away to yourself. To be honest you preferred your own company.
As you were walking through the forest one evening you noticed there was a small fire off in the distance with a load of belongings. You decided to sneak up on the small camp to see if anyone was about. If they had food you were going to steal it. You darted between the trees using them for cover so you wouldn’t be caught by the residence of the camp.
When you reached the final tree that got you closest to the camp you had a real good look to see if anyone was about. As you eyed up the camp you could see some dead rabbits that needed to be skinned as well as some water. You took one last glance around and couldn’t see anyone in sight. Maybe the camp had been deserted.
You ran over to the food and started putting it in your satchel so you could have it another day. You decided to push your luck and rummage through the rest of the belongings to see if they had anything of value you could take. However you didn’t hear the owner of the camp you were currently raiding return back. It wasn’t until you heard the sliding of metal did you suddenly turn around.
Before you could even think the flat part of their sword collided with your hand. You immediately pulled your hand away bringing it close to your body to see if it was ok. The red mark it left was prominent and it stung like hell. You whimpered at the pain.
“And what the hell do you think you're doing?” a stern female voice asked. You looked up at the tall woman in front of you. “I’m sorry I haven’t eaten in days. I thought this camp was deserted. I just need food” you faked sobbed knowing that this always made them feel bad for you.
“Don’t pull that card with me y/n” she said looking pretty pissed off. You froze. How did she know your name? The woman saw the sudden panic on your face. “I take it you haven’t seen the wanted poster?. You’re wanted for theft y/n, so there is no point in playing that card with me because we all know what you have been stealing over this past year” she said walking closer to you and grabbing your wrist.
“I’m Ser Brienne of Tarth and you will be coming with me. I’m taking you so you can be rightly punished” she said then picking up a rope that was laying near her feet but just as she was about to tie you up you suddenly started to fight her grip she had on you. “Please wait, Brienne, I can explain. Please hear me out before you decide what to do with me” you begged the older woman.
“Fine, you can explain yourself but I'm still tying you up. If and I mean if by the end of your story I feel like you have explained your actions I may consider untying you” she said wrapping the rope around your wrists. You sighed but if this had to be done then it had to be done.
“I was fourteen when my story started. My life turned upside down in one night. I slept through it all but my village was raided one night. My parents tried to fight them off but they lost their lives trying to protect me. I lived on my own in my village for six months feeding on what the raiders didn’t find. I had to bury my parents…” you hadn’t spoken about this in such a long time you forgot how much it hurt. You unknowingly started sobbing bringing your knees to your body trying to comfort yourself.
With one deep breath you continued. “After I ran out of food I walked to the next town. I managed to get work in a tavern getting paid in food and a warm room to sleep in. I had found my new family. I lasted a year there before I got caught having a sex with an older woman. I was banished instantly. I was fifteen years old. I didn’t know what to do. I needed food to survive and all I could do was steal. I didn’t want to. My parents always told me how wrong it was but I got so desperate. It started with just food and water but I got good at it and loved the rush it gave me.”
You sighed. “This is all I've known for the past couple years. I’m sixteen now. I still have my whole life ahead of me. I know my actions were wrong but if I hadn’t have done this I would have been dead a year or so ago. I don’t expect you to change your mind but I appreciate you listening.”
Before you knew it you were crying again. All this pain. All this pretending that everything was fine finally came a reality. Brienne untied you and wrapped her arms around your frail frame. You froze at the sudden contact but finally relaxed into her grasp. “Hey it’s ok. You’re ok. I’ve got you now” she said to you.
You looked up to meet Brienne’s gaze “what do you mean?” you asked. “I mean you’re coming with me. I could really do with a little partner in crime so to speak. You say you love the rush it gives you so I reckon you will love my adventures. I will teach you how to fight, how to hunt and how to use that sword because we both know that it is just for show” she said, laughing a little.
You giggled slightly “Thank you Brienne but what about the fact I’m wanted?” you asked. She smiled at you. “You're not y/n.” Shock filled your face. “What do you mean I’m not? You said there were posters”
“Well I lied. I think I might have stopped in the tavern that you used to work at. I overheard some men talking about a young girl called y/n who used to work there but has now started a life of crime. When I saw you trying to steal my stuff I could quite easily assume that was you” she said smirking at you. “So do you want to come on this journey with me then?” she asked with a gentle smile plastered on her face.
“I would love too” you said as you continued to sit in the Knight’s lap never wanting to leave from her safe grasp. Who would’ve known this woman would be the only person you needed for the rest of your life.
