I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin
Deliverance
Ymir lives by herself. Left with a large sum of money, she whittles it away on drinks and spends her days shooting at nothing. At first glance, she seems to just be a lonely person but before Krista could pull away, she finds herself entrapped in her world. MODERN AU.
There was a book she read in her youth.
Something about a guy returning to his homeland or whatever. He falls in love with this girl, and then meets some tragic end in their relationship.
How did the girl's prayer go again?
'O send me a...' a what?
Whatever. It was from a while ago. No use in remembering quotes nowadays.
-...-
Ymir gilded by the strangers in the market with one hand carrying a glass jug of vodka while the other holding her phone. She received a missed call from a random number but the area code was from the mainland, oddly enough when she tried to answer it a minute ago the line went dead. She brought the bottle onto the counter and pocketed her phone so that she could pay for her drink.
The mother behind her had a child, she was giving Ymir a disapproving look but the brunette rolled her eyes, gave the cash, and took her jug back.
"Thanks for coming by," said the young, blonde man at the counter.
She breezed out of the market's double doors and was bathed in the warm light of the summer day. She crossed the parking lot, uncaring for the car that nearly struck her even as the driver slammed on its breaks to bring a strident screech to her ears.
Her truck was just another row passed the first one.
She strode to it and went into the driver's seat- her vodka sat in the passenger's seat. Just as she was about to close the door, she brought out her phone and looked down at the missed call. Five minutes passed. She decided to call the number back- impatiently she waited until the line of the other end picked up.
A soft, feminine voice answered,"Hello?"
"Yeah, just calling back. Were you the one that called?" She gruffly asked. This better not be a prank caller. She reached over to the console to pop the lid open, inside were several empty packs- she reached aimlessly until she found a half empty one to pull out a cigarette. Biting it between her teeth, she lit it and proceeded to smoke.
"Yes, is this Ymir?"
Ymir reclined in her seat. "Uh-huh."
"I'm calling about the job, I saw your advertisement on the paper."
"You got experience?"
There was a moment of hesitation before she answered,"Yes."
She took a drag.
"Will you come by ferry?"
"Yes. Actually, I...uh, I'm on my way, just fifteen minutes away from the docks," she said. "I hope it won't be so much of a trouble for you to get me when I arrive...otherwise, I'll use a taxi-"
"No, no, I'll pick you up." Ymir chewed at the butt, she always hated late notices but she desperately needed this person. The taxi wouldn't be able to drive so far out to where she lived, she would have to get this person herself. "No taxis run through here."
"I'm so sorry to inconvenience you."
She dismissed the apology with,"I'll be waiting," and then hung up.
She dumped the ashes, slammed her door, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot despite early hitting a pedestrian. The poor man shouted at her even as she went into the street of the quiet town. His yells echoed down the lane but she ignored him while throwing out the rest of her cigarette through the open window. Her foot pressed the gas and her truck rumbled down the road.
In the large basin of water to her left, she could see the ferry coming close from a distance
She parked at the designated lot outside of the pier. She took her pack, shoved it into her back pocket, and then got out of her vehicle to survey the area. Today's weather was clear with not a single cloud in the sky; the sun was beating down on her. The tank-top she wore wasn't good enough for her, she reached back in, grabbed a plaited shirt, and wore it, she went to a shaded spot under a building nearby.
She waited and watched the ferry, it was moving slow but steady. Her foot tapped against a railing that she used to lean against by her elbows, it would take another ten minutes before the arrival came. During this, a familiar voice came about.
"Ymir! Been a while since I seen you out in town!" It was Sasha, the local hunter- she was well known, along with her father, for catching game here and there. The pair always won the hunting competition every year. When not hunting, the woman was the owner of the same market Ymir walked out of. If she wasn't mistaken, wasn't Sasha supposed to go to the national championships for shooting?
Ymir stared at her for a moment, then turned away to focus on the ferry.
"C'mon, don't be so sour-"
"Came here to get a drink," Ymir huskily muttered.
"Well, coming to the docks will only get you fish oil and tourists, not drinks," Sasha joked, she too leaned against the railing. She was always high-spirited, however, she grew quiet and softly told her,"Look, about the-"
"It was bound to happen anyway. Just keep quiet about it. You've been doing well so far."
Her face grew pale but she quickly collected herself. "So...what're you really doing out here?"
Ymir roughly sighed, her patience already gone passed its limit. The woman wouldn't leave her alone until she had her fill of answers. "I'm getting a new one."
"Already?" Sasha asked, her brow lifted up a bit in shock.
"Do I look fit to be on my own?"
Sasha murmured something, at this Ymir extended her hand to grasp at her shoulder.
"What was that-?"
A strident horn blew.
The ferry had arrived and was tying itself to the dock by the yardmen. Sasha gave a shrug and wandered away, her second answer having been drowned out by the blaring horn. Ymir had to bring her attention to the people disembarking from the ship; the vehicles were unloaded first before the passengers. She went back to leaning against the railing and waited.
Soon, those without their cars were given their chance to leave. In total, there were about two dozen people. Out of most, she saw familial units, several tourists, and others who were the local townspeople. She scanned every person, she was looking for anyone who didn't fit the usual sights she used to seeing. A little bit after the last person disembarked, she finally saw her.
A young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, came stumbling over the small bridge.
She was short, perhaps about chest height for Ymir. Her long, blond hair was loose, her bangs covered her eyes but, when swept from constant movement, the curtains revealed eyes that were bluer than the skies above- they were the kind that would make anyone stare for a bit too long. The clothes on her back were modest and certainly noticeable from the average, or at least what Ymir considered average.
They were clean and new, not ragged or spent. They fitted onto her petite form rather nicely but they were simple. They were traveling clothes, nothing special. At least she didn't wear make-up, she wasn't the materialistic kind of person.
Her lithe body was hauling the luggage she carried, she looked like she could barely carry anything, given her small stature. She watched her struggle in amusement until she finally reached the solid floor of the dock. The girl wiped her brow, clearly she never done this sort of labor in her life before (or it could be that it was summer); she looked clueless of where she was as though she embarked on the wrong ferry to the wrong town.
"She's the one," Ymir murmured to herself, she peeled herself from the railing and approached her when her back was to her. "You the one who called?"
She yelped at the sudden question, she was nervous about something but she quickly gathered her wits, collected herself, and answered with her own question,"Are you Ymir?"
Ymir tried not to laugh. Did the girl not read the job description? If this was all the stupid advertisement can fetch for her, she may as well take her. She glanced around, she was hoping for someone else to appear since this was a beautiful prank. Since she was the last person to leave the ferry, there was no one else to pick from. She shook her head and wiped her mouth to clean off her a smile.
"That's me alright."
Despite the clean look, the girl didn't look like she had money. For all she could guess, the blond may have packed her entire life into her luggage. Even if she may have never worked a day in her life, there was something admirable in runaways to Ymir; those who took a chance at having a new life, those were the kind she held in good regard. Something about those who take second chances had been a fixation for her; it all started with this girl in book she read once...
The girl placed her luggage down so that she could reach into her back pocket. Her hands padded one side, then went to the other to produce a paper that had Ymir's advertisement, it was solid proof. "I saw this in a shop nearby. Do I have to-"
"As long as you can work, you're hired," Ymir said, she waved away the flyer and motioned for the girl to come. "You can do all what that paper says, right?"
"Yes!" She had the spirit to do it.
"We'll see about that," Ymir murmured under her breath. She led her to the pick-up, then took her luggage to put it in the bed of the truck. "Take the passenger, don't mind the vodka."
She looked a bit hesitant but she seated herself properly with the glass jug at the floor. Ymir went in. As she started the engine, she looked on to her, asking,"What's your name?" It would have been appropriate to ask what the girl wanted to be called. "Well?"
The girl looked thoughtful for a moment, as though trying to deliberate on such a complex decision. By the time the engine roared to life, she answered,"Krista, my name's Krista Lenz."
It sounded unreal but at the same time it fitted her. She brought her attention to the road and pulled out of the lot for the street. "As you know, you're going to be living with me for this, I live too far for you to commute back and forth and I'm definitely not going to wake up every morning or evening to drive for you. I have enough rooms, you can take your pick except for the master's bedroom and mine."
"So you're just...hiring without interviewing me?" Krista asked timidly. "Letting me into your house without knowing who I am?"
Ymir gave a half-shrug. "Why not?"
"Isn't that how jobs work? Applicant comes in, you talk to them, decide if they're good enough- and you're letting a stranger stay with you-"
Oh god, she was the type to question things.
"The fact that you went out this far means you're willing to take this up. It's good enough for me."
Krista quieted herself. That assertive statement was enough to silence her for the rest of the ride, either that or something else was on her mind. Ymir turned on the radio to make up for the stillness in the air.
Connie's station was on, he wasn't speaking but he had music playing.
The town's buildings faded into small lots, then to the occasional houses and trailers before finally blending into the evergreen forest. The black road and faded yellow lines were the only break in the scene, leaves kicked up behind the pick-up, and the sun broke through the canopies above. Parallel to the road on Krista's side was the glimmering lake that spanned as far as the eye can see.
Jet-skiers broke the waves and left white plumes behind them, others were swimming and soaking in the sun- summer was here. In the course of a month, school would resume and the activities in the quiet river would cease.
"You going to school?" Ymir asked after a while, she made turn at the fifth mile to enter the forest. She had to ask, the woman looked quite young.
"No, actually, I can't afford to."
"...I can't pay you well enough to send you to school."
"I just need a home," she hastily said.
Ymir shrugged- she was right, this girl was a runaway. For now, she could keep her until she needed to deliberate on either returning or staying. Hopefully, by then, Ymir would have found a new replacement or the girl would decide to stay. "If you can work, it's fine by me for you to stay. You'd have to stay anyway- like I said, no cabs run through here and I'm not driving you back and forth."
The last part was accentuated when she drove further. The trees were endless and there seemed to be no way to reach another being in there. Between trees were more trees, shrubbery, and other forest life, but behind all that was darkness. The canopy above them thickened as the evergreens became coniferous with branches that reached out. Krista looked a tad bit worried, but she tried to hide it by going on with the conversation.
"How much would you pay?"
"Anything, really. Like you need, I can give you a home and pay for all the necessities in life since you'll be living with me, and give you a pay for working," Ymir explained.
"Perfect."
As much as she questioned Ymir earlier on her choice of employment, she had no questions for anything offered to her. Maybe if she offered her a gun, the girl would gladly take it to shoot herself- she made a mental note to not let the girl anywhere near the safe.
Her home was that of a manor. It was a large one that dated back to being one of the oldest within the area, perhaps even predating the town itself. With only two floors and an attic, the home was once designated for a large family, along with the extended family. However, the numbers dwindled until one remained. Ymir took to living on the second floor in one of the Northern rooms to face the main road.
Everything in the home, other than two drawing rooms, a study room, another office room, the kitchen, and finally the living room, was left unused. The tract of land was in a sadder state than the unused rooms- vast parts were cleared at one point to make room for arenas but now they were being reclaimed by the land. About fifty paces from the front door of the home, a barn in poor condition used to stable the family's horses back when the land had seen better days.
Fences, buildings, and other wooden things were rotting. Should she had enough money, she would make the repairs but none came to visit, none came to gawk at the sad state, none came to judge her home. Even if she had the funds, she lacked the care to clean this up.
She pulled into the gravel driveway and parked by the front door.
Krista hopped out to examine her surroundings.
"Do you live with anyone?"
"Just myself," Ymir said, she got out to get the luggage. She placed it on the ground and then rounded by her to get her vodka.
A/N: I want to play with the relationship between Ymir and Krista, I want to play with their development. The environment in this story is heavily influenced by Alan Wake; for those unfamiliar, think of the Pacific Northwest.