Taken Away (Vindicator X Villager! Farmer! Reader)

Chapter 4 - Aaron

You sighed sadly at the small plants in front of you. You were sitting on your knees and tending to some crops.

The thing I can do best..., you thought sarcastically.

Turned out the small indoor farm the illagers had, was your your daily workplace now. So here you were, tilling the ground, planting the crops they gave you and hopefully soon harvest them. To be honest, you worked your butt off. You kept working until your back hurt and blisters appeared on your hands. You were still scared about that one evoker. What was his name? Derek? He threatened to let you starve if you didn't do enough.

The other illagers however didn't treat you too bad. Sure, you had to sleep in the dungeon, because no other room was available for you, you had to wear the same clothes every day, and the food really wasn't great. (You figured they just didn't really know how to cook, since everyone complained about it). But they didn't hit or insult you or anything. In fact, most of them minded their own business and basically ignored you. Something you were secretly grateful for.

But that didn't mean you were alone. Johnny had selected a pillager, who was guarding you the entire time, making sure you didn't run off. Johnny himself seemed to be way to busy with something else to do it himself.

The pillager was less silent and intimidating than Johnny and would sometimes even have some small talk with you.

Nonetheless you felt lonely most of the time. You missed your parents and the other friendly villagers of your village. You missed trading with them and sharing the occasional gossip. Homesickness suddenly washed over you, but you fought back the tears, not wanting to annoy your captors.

You stood up from the ground and grabbed your wooden hoe, stretching your sore back. Due to your injury, you would still feel slightly dizzy, if you moved to quickly.

Absent-mindedly you touched the new bandage around your skull, that was partially hidden under your straw hat.
You remembered well, how Johnny let you get treated for the first time.

It happened three days ago. (The bandage got renewed yesterday.) To this day you were still confused as to why Johnny would ask about your wellbeing. He killed your parents without a second thought for crying out loud! So why would he ask about an injury?

You sighed again, not knowing the answer. Maybe one day, you'll be allowed to ask him?

You grimaced at the submissive thought. This wasn't your normal way of thinking. Yet you didn't dare to disobey... It was strange.

A loud grumbling interrupted your thoughts. It took you a second to realize that is came from your belly. You were hungry already? How late was it?

You looked at the wall, where a clock was hung up in an item frame. It was almost dinner time! You didn't notice time passed so quickly.

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway. It was the pillager, who guarded you, when Johnny was busy.

"Time for dinner, it seems.", he said.

"Oh. I see.", was your only reply. You tried to smile at him, but it wouldn't quite work. You hated to admit it, but you somewhat missed Johnny. Just the slightest bit though.

You subconsciously shook your head. What was wrong with you? Shouldn't you be happy not having to see him? Maybe it was because he was the only one, you somewhat knew.

Irritated, you pushed the thought aside, brought your hoe into a chest and followed the pillager to the dining room.

That's how it always went. On set times, twice a day, the pillager escorted you to the dining room, where you were allowed to have the same meal as everyone else. At the same time. You figured that's part of their daily routine.

The dining room was a pretty big room with enough tables to fit everyone. However you weren't allowed to eat with everyone else just yet. You had your own little table in one of the corners. Like always, you sat down obediently and waited for the pillager to come to you.

When he did, he placed a bowl of soup in front of you. Then he sat down across the table with his own bowl.

You looked at him in surprise. Normally you'd have to eat alone.

The pillager noticed your stare and shrugged.
"You always look so sad. I thought some company might cheer you up?"

A bright smile spread across your face.
"Y-yes! It does! Thank you..."

He chuckled while picking up his spoon.
"It's probably very lonely for you, being the only villager. By the way, I never caught your name?"

You grabbed your spoon as well and took a mouthful of the salt-lacking soup before replying.
"I'm (Y/n). What's your name?"

"Aaron."

"Ah."

Silence settled over you two and you kept eating your meal. There wasn't much chatter in the room as well. Everyone was either busy studying some papers while eating or they simply enjoyed their meal after several hours of hard work.

Eventually, you finished your food and Aaron brought the bowls back to the kitchen, which was connected to the dining room. Then he brought you to the dungeon. Like every day. Since dinner was usually pretty late, almost no one kept working after it. Including you. Well, it's not like you had much of a choice anyway...

As you entered your 'room', you tiredly sat down on your brown mattress on the floor. Aaron stayed in the doorway.

"I guess, I'll see you tomorrow.", he said.

You looked back at him. "Really?" You asked with a slight hint of irony.

He nodded and leaned against the doorframe. "Yeah, Johnny's pretty busy with some sort of project. He doesn't have much free time lately. I hope you're fine with being stuck with me."
Aaron let out a small chuckle after his words.

You allowed yourself to smile gently. "Of course I'm fine with that. To be honest, I really like your company. You're nicer than most people here."

Aaron smiled back, although it seemed to be slightly sad. "Thank you, (Y/n)."

He looked down. "Time to rest. Tomorrow is another long day of work."

He threw you a last glance, before gently closing the door and locking it.

Once Aaron was gone, you sighed sadly and took in the boring sight of your 'room'. Plain gray cobblestone walls and floor and an iron door. The only things in here were the mattress you were sleeping on (it came with a wool blanket and a small pillow) and a cauldron.

With another sigh you took your straw hat off, put it beside your mattress and laid down, pulling the blanket over you.

You were very tired. You spent your entire day with tilling the dirt on 'your' field. Yet you couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts kept you awake.

Aaron was really nice. Maybe he wanted to be friends? Or was he just so nice, because he pitied you? And why did he smile so sadly, when you said he was nicer than most?

You didn't know.

You kept questioning things in your head, while you stared up at the stony ceiling, clutching the blanket between your hands.

Around twenty or so minutes later, footsteps sounded outside your cell. You sat up immediately. Who was that? What did they want?

The rattling of keys caused your heart to beat faster. Once again, fear took control over your actions.

You pulled your knees close to your chest and lifted the blanket high enough, so that only your eyes were peeking out of it.

The door - your door - got unlocked and slowly opened. A set of feet walked in and the door got closed again.

Afraid to see a stranger's face, you looked up.

It was Johnny.