It was too cold of a night for anyone to be outside, but dozens on recruits were spread out on the dusty desert ground. Forced out on a week-long training mission, most were fast asleep by the time the sun set, only entering the fourth day outing. The sleeping bags they were given were thin but still kept them off of the dirt, and they knew better than to complain (in front of superiors, at least). Many of them at least had people to huddle up against, the biting of the wind somewhat softened by the combined body heat. But others weren't so lucky.
Krista had shivers racking through her entire body, her blanket helping as much as if she was standing naked. Her teeth knocked together with the tremors running in her jaw, and no amount of rubbing her hands together would get the numbness out of them. At this rate, she was certain to catch a cold, and that would only drag her down with the rest of the mission. Still, she was determined to stay strong, not willing to give up so easily. It would do no good for her if she couldn't even manage to last through one cold night. But her confidence did nothing to drive the chill out of her bones. Krista flipped over on her jacket, using it as a pillow, and was greeted with the customary leather boots of the wing.
"What are you doing all the way out here, princess?" Ymir. Krista wasn't even sure if she was surprised the freckled woman had found her all the way out here, but she wasn't half displeased she had. Even though it was obvious the other had taken an almost obsessive liking to her, Krista found it sweet.
"You too good for those peasants back there?" Ymir bent down to make herself comfortable right next to the blonde woman, not even bothering to bring her own blanket. In fact, she didn't even take off any of her extra clothing, looking like she had come straight from guard duty. The dark woman leaned back on her elbows, looking down at Krista with as much expression as a wall. She swallowed.
"No, no, it's not that, I'm just… not that good of friends with all of them, that's a-"
"You?" Ymir cut off her sentence, on the verge of giggling. "Miss beauty queen? I thought you were top dog around here."
"Well, I'm not." Krista rolled onto her back, arms still raised in goosebumps as she knit them together. "Besides, I'm not even sure why they all like me so much. There are a lot of people better than me."
"Aw, come on short stuff, you're as pure as a lamb!" Ymir nudged her with an elbow good heartedly. "People like you because you're sweet and cute. They like people that can put a good spin on anything, and you're the complete package. It's no wonder you're such a hit, princess."
"…Why do you keep calling me that?" Krista murmured, eyes locked on the sky above. Stars glimmered like pinpricks of light, dim in comparison to the half-moon. It had been a while, she thought, that she had time to just look up at the night sky. Most of her days were filled with physical training or paper work, usually exhausting her enough to sleep well through the darkness. A warm bed helped too.|
"Hm." Ymir suddenly began, settling onto her back completely, shoulder to shoulder with the blonde. Surprisingly, she wasn't cold like she should have been but warm, hot even. It was a nice feeling, Krista decided. The warmth of another body.
"Maybe it's because you are?" Her calmness was suddenly shattered, and without even realizing it she had sat up, blanket falling down to her knees. Heart suddenly beating fast, she looked back at the other woman, who wore a sort of satisfied smirk.
"Oh? Was I supposed to not know?" Ymir's eyes were trained back onto the sky, ignoring Krista. "Well, princess, it isn't that hard to guess."
Panic was set into her veins, like a bucket of ice water was dumped into her blood. No one should have known; there was no one someone could. Born as the bastard child had its perks like that. Oh god, if someone else found out, and then if a certain someone found out… It would be the end of Krista Lenz.
"Why?" She forced out, staring hard at Ymir. "How do you know that?"
"Eh, let's just say priests aren't good at holding their tongues." Brown, almost black eyes landed on her own. "Don't worry, princess. I'm the only that needs to know."
Fists clenched hard at the thin blanket, Krista could only hope the woman kept her word. Anything else was out of her control by now. All of her years of changing her identity, herself, could be ruined with one slip of the tongue.
"Hey," Ymir suddenly spoke, voice dropping down to a whisper. "You trust me, don't you?"
"I don't see why I should. You could hold this over my head for who knows what, and it wouldn't even matter to you." Krista tucked her knees into her chest, and wrapped her arms around herself. It was colder, positioned like this, but for the moment she tried to focus.
"…So you want a deal?" The question was delivered right into her ear, Ymir's face closer than she had realized. When had the woman gotten up?
"What do you mean?" She asked slowly, uncertain of what could happen next. Ymir wouldn't sell her out so quickly, right?
"I mean," She swept a look over the soldiers around them, apparently making sure they were all truly asleep. Her broken off words were beginning to frustrate the other, and, as if her words could get any softer, she continued. "I mean this."
She pulled out a pocketknife from a seemingly hidden pocket and, before Krista could utter out anything, slit her palm open.
A small shriek escaped the blonde, her hand coming up to knock away the blade. "Are you insane?" She demanded, "Why would you-"
A small cloud of steam rose up from Ymir's hand, curling into the air before being blown away by the wind. Shocked, Krista found herself able to do nothing but watch as Ymir flexed her hand a few times, steam only boiling up thicker. In what felt like hours, she opened her hand, no evidence that she had just cut herself other than a pale scar already fading.
Words escaped her as she thought harder about what had just happened. She had just, regenerated, in a sense. And the only things that could do that were…
"We even now?" Ymir asked sternly. Mutely, Krista gave a nod.
"Good. Now lay back down, I'm getting chilly."