𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 || 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

Rand al'Thor x reader

A/N: This one shot follows the premise of the TV series, not the books since I haven't read them yet. I hope y'all enjoy it all the same :)

The birds sang sweetly in the limbs of an oak tree hanging overhead, a soft breeze rustling the red and orange leaves still hanging on for dear life. A smile split my face as I trudged on, my boots crunching on twigs underfoot. This was where I belonged, I thought to myself, right here in the forest.

Not, of course, that my father would agree with that train of thought. No, I was meant to be a lady of means, of wealth, of honor. Something society could fawn over, preen as they wished, molding me into what a woman should be. Ha! Yeah, right. That was never what I wanted in life. From the moment I first held a sword at age eleven, I knew protecting people was my calling.

Probably no surprise then when later in life I became what I am today - a Warder. More or less. Except, of course, I was no man and I served no Aes Sedai. Instead, I followed where my brother, Lan, went and his own Aes Sedai. Sometimes I did miss the Borderlands though, albeit as far away from everything as they were. It was like living in the middle of nowhere. But I did miss the monotony of it all some days.

However, the White Tower had more or less become home now. As had the many woods, fields, and trickling brooks I had grown to womanhood while walking through. I had eaten exotic foods, spent the night underneath a dark dappled sky full of trillions of stars, seen Ogiers and bested Trollocs, but never in my life had I seen the likes of HIM before.

They say Aiels only reside in the Wasteland. But perhaps they were wrong. At least, that's the first thought that came to my mind when Rand al'Thor came crashing into my life. And for this upheaval, I blamed Lan. Or more specifically, his Aes Sedai.

"Are we staying here for the night?" the girl with the braided raven locks and deep caramel complexion asked Moraine as we began to bed down.

"The Trollocs are far enough west now. We should be safe here." Moraine replied before turning back to her horse as my brother unfurled a heap of blankets beside her.

I rolled my eyes at his submissive actions and when Moraine wasn't looking, he stuck out his tongue at me. Really? Was that very necessary? I thought to myself.

Turning my head to the left, my eyes locked on deep cerulean blue and I quickly glanced away. To be fair, I hadn't conversed with the boy very much. A "pass me that" or "move out of the way" here or there but never a real conversation. If I was being honest with myself - painfully honest - I would admit that the reason...was not because I disliked him. In fact, he made my heart race just a little too fast whenever he was near. Never in my life had I experienced that sensation and needless to say, I didn't particularly like the power it held over me.

Walking off in search of some much needed isolation, I let the others find their own bedding for the night. The farther I walked, the sound of the others' voices became more distant. Glancing around me, I finally found what I had been searching for. I was on the far side of the ruins now where a very large heap of leaves lie untouched. I smiled to myself. This would be perfect.

But just as I had rolled out my blanket and set down my weapons, I heard an ominously loud crunch from behind me.

A sigh escaped my lips and I shook my head in exasperation, a strand of dark hair coming undone from my bun as I did, "You could try a bit more stealth, you know. Especially considering you four are on the run from the Dark One."

"I didn't mean to- I mean, I was only trying..." Rand began and I glanced over my shoulder, arching an eyebrow at the ginger boy standing behind me, "What I'm trying to say is...would you mind some company?"

I bit my lip, not really expecting that to come out of his mouth.

"What? Your little friends won't let you join them?" I asked, finally turning around to stand and face him.

It was his turn to look uncomfortable, "No, it's just...I just needed to be alone for a while is all."

"Yeah, I know the feeling... Alright, fine. You can stay. But on one condition," I finally agreed, hands on my hips.

He arched an eyebrow, blue eyes amused, and I tamped down the small noise that threatened to spill free from my throat, "No snoring."

Rand cracked a smile before beginning to bed down and I reluctantly turned away. Night fell fairly fast then in the forest, as it always tended to away from the torches of light in town. And suddenly, I was left in the pitch-black darkness with only myself, the sounds of animals and insects all around in the woods, and the soft breaths of Rand nearby. The latter being slightly unsettling for the simple fact of how soothing it was to my ears. What a paradox that was.

My mind raced for what felt like hours before sleep finally began to pull me under. But as it were, I never reached the blessed dreamland I had hoped I would before a noise on the other side of the clearing awoke me. Someone had cried out. My eyes flew open, my head and hand snapping to attention as I immediately grasped the sword to my left. But as my eyes adjusted to reality once more, I realized it was no threat at all.

Bedded down in a heap of blankets across from me was Rand, who was no longer asleep but now sitting up, panting as if he'd been running for his life.

My eyebrows furrowed in concern despite myself, "What's wrong?"

He startled slightly at the sound of my voice in the darkness, eyes growing wide before his expression went slack, "Just a...a bad dream. It's nothing. Go back to sleep,"

I made a hum of disagreement in the back of my throat before shaking my head, "It wasn't nothing if it had you screaming like that,"

I waited but Rand said nothing so I let the subject drop, debating with myself on something before finally caving. Lifting up one side of my blanket gently in open invitation, I arched an eyebrow at him. He watched me carefully, perhaps to see if it was in jest before slowly gathering up his things and making his way over. Within minutes, Rand al'Thor was lying next to me on the ground.

"Thank you..." he whispered softly and I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach, a warm sensation running through my veins at his words.

And as the minutes ticked by, I began to realize how peaceful it was like this. Not strange, not uncomfortable, just...peaceful. Like there was a familiarity between us although I had not known him but for a few days now. And as his breathing evened out in the darkness, I finally felt myself drift off with the knowledge that something new was beginning. Whether that was a friendship or something more, it was too soon to tell.

But maybe...maybe Rand al'Thor wasn't so bad after all.