Wind howled through the night, bearing a heavy scent that was uncertain to Eren.
He had smelt blood before, that he was confident of. He had smelt fear, and suffering, and even uncertainty itself. But on that tense breeze, for the first time, he could smell them all at once.
He was outside the old man's cabin in the woods, toasting the cold away, spread aside a gentle fire whilst Armin curled up asleep a short distance away. He had remained human for a week (a new personal best), until the scented ululation flared through his nostrils and blazed in his lungs. His eyes tore through the darkness that engulfed them both to find the hazard, and his fangs were naked past his exposed pink gums.
He was on all fours before he could care to contemplate the danger, and stood just under four feet, draped in a fur coat that reflected the brown earth beneath his paws. He snarled at the wind, and his tail raised into a curve and his shoulders hunched.
"E-Eren...?"
He glanced to his side, and caught the bright outline of Armin, staring at him widely.
His tall ears pricked, and his teeth fell back under his dark maw. With the earth pressed firm against the leathery pads of his paws, he approached him, and licked at his cheek.
Armin wiped the saliva off as best he could with his white (more so grey) sleeve, and his brows creased. "What's wrong?" He asked warily, knowing still that Eren could not answer in that outlandish form.
Eren looked away, and his ears flattened against his skull, whilst a low growl hinted at the air.
"Eren, don't go out there," Armin tried to warn.
Armin was always the intuitive one, and if he were a wolf, Eren thought he might know what the scent was. But he wasn't, and he didn't.
With a swish of his tail, he hit Armin, and darted off into the thick of the trees, where Armin knew not to follow.
The red scarf was all that remained when he turned, it was the only thing that wasn't torn (although tight around the scruff of his neck). It kept him warm after the shift, when he was human again, and sprawled out without a single item of clothing to shield himself from the harsh environs, except that scarf. It flicked against the wind, and alluded the scent of iron that insulted his nostrils.
It was a short while before he found the source of his distrust.
It was a village, there was no doubt about that. But there was something off about that particular village, there was of course the striking blood aching through his senses, but also, there was no light emitting from the buildings. No candles, no fires, no warmth, no life. His ears pricked to assemble any noises, and then a tickle of sound hinted at a whimper.
The whimper sounded outside the village, near the treeline surrounding the clearing of cottages and gardens and farmland. He padded towards the weak utter, stretching his tail out from his mass.
There it was, lying on it's side inside a large metal cage with a chain bond around it's neck. It was like him, just as big, but darker in colour, and noticeably female. Her back was turned to him, and she barely acknowledged his presence. Her ears flicked when he breathed the air, and caught whiff of a tragically wonderful scent.
He barely hesitated upon entry of the cage, despite the fact, it was a cage.
She remained still in the farthest corner from the entrance, even as he slowly inched closer with his head low to the ground. She smelled strange, he thought, the scent of blood and fear was overpowered by another element, something faintly sweet, and hinted of mint.
As he edged closer and closer, he failed to recognize caution, until the door of the cage fell behind him in a thundering clash of metal.
He lunged at the bars, and chewed the steel in a blind rush of fear. He hit his body against the bars, and copied the action on all of the sides. He failed to find a fault in the cage, he was contained perfectly with the she-wolf.
He tossed back his head and let out a loud howl, and proceeded to pace and growl, staring out into the darkness.
"We should let Dr. Hanji know," a voice said in the dark, hardly from afar.
"You sure she doesn't already know? I mean... That was really fucking loud... Nearly lost my hearing..." Another groaned.
"We'll wait until morning, then."
Morning.
He was there until morning, at the least, until he was faced with whatever fate had in store for him.
His eyes turned to the wolf chained to the cage. She was still lying there, lacking any movement but the waves of her chest. She was alive, at least. He approached with a flare of his nostrils, and his tail held high.
She glanced back at him, and let out a small whine, before her head lay back against the cold floor.
The men outside the cage discussed their turns at watch, before deciding that both of them would stay.
He snarled, and continued to pace as he was so keenly observed.
Idiot! He barked, snapping at the bars. Damn idiot!
"Lively one, eh?"
"Isn't half..."
Eren glared at the two of them, staring down his long, pulsing muzzle.
From behind him, came a faint sound from the limp body, stirring in it's misery.
What happened? He asked, but received not even an acknowledgement. He huffed, and stared out the cage into the long night.
...
"Hey! What are you doing!?"
Eren awoke near dawn, to squint at the intrusion of his bitter captivity.
"I was-" the recognition was immediate.
Armin! barked Eren, pouncing up onto the cage door where Armin was closest. From inside, he could see him standing between himself and two familiar men in shock.
"Are you one of them?! Huh?" The shorter of the two screamed.
"-No, no! I-"
"Stay back!" The man's rifle raised to his breast, and readied its aim for fire.
"Wait, just listen, please, you're misunderstood," Armin gasped, raising his hands in poor defense.
"Go get Dr. Hanji, now," the taller ordered the other.
"But,"
"Now."
He watched the man run off to the village, in search of reinforcements. His eyes never left Armin after that, who stood his ground for all his worth.
"Who are you?"
Armin's head lowered, and a glance made its way in Eren's direction. "My name is Armin Arlert, sir. I live a couple of miles away in my grandfather's old cabin."
"And why should I believe you, eh? Do you think I'm an idiot?"
"... You asked, and I answered, sir."
The man scoffed, with the gun remaining aimed straight in Armin's direction.
"Sir, if I were deceiving you in some way, we wouldn't be having this conversation. If I was really any danger to you, you would be dead already," he elaborated.
"And you just happened to stroll by here, exactly this way..."
A frown stretched across Eren's face, masked by the dark line of brown fur.
Wh-what... a still voice echoed behind him.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What's going on?"
The armed soldier halted his aim, and acknowledged his superior, "Dr. Hanji!"
"Calm down, Kirschstein, it's alright," the doctor spoke calmly, but quickly turned to the cage with wide eyes and a wide stretched smile. "Oh wow, so soon, so soon?"
"Ma'am, we thought to inform you earlier, but... Considering the time..." Said the soldier Kirschtein.
Eren stared between them, glancing briefly to Armin after every few seconds.
"Oh, no, that's quite alright. Argh! What happened to her? Did he do that to her?" She asked, running up to the cage.
"Hanji!" Another man came running up behind her, pulling her back from the bars of the cage. "It's dangerous, show more cautioun, please!"
"Oh... What if she's dying? I can't have that now, Moblit..." She pouted, taking no interest in anything else.
Eren's ears fell back and his head tilted towards the woman inspecting his companion. What the hell is this?
What's going on...? Where... Where's mama... And papa...?
Eren flinched, putting his eyes on the black wolf. You... Eren could not comprehend his next sentence.
"You, new guy," Dr Hanji spoke firmly, her gaze unwavering from the lump of black fur. "Blondie."
"Y-yes, ma'am..." Armin answered, lowering his head.
"May I ask what you're doing here? I don't recall you."
"Dr. Hanji, he came snooping around not long ago, went right up to the cage," the short, shaven soldier spoke with notable unease.
"Hmm..." She hummed.
"If I may..." Armin looked up between Hanji and Eren, "my name is Armin Arlert, I live not far from here. And in there," he pointed, "is someone I hold very dear."
"Oh, which one?" She inquired, whilst she held her chin as her head turned towards Armin's statement.
"... There brown one," he answered hesitantly, regarding the situation in full.
"Ah... Our apologies," she bowed her head briefly. "However, there's nothing much I can do about that. You see, that in there is an important specimen, and is required of our unique military branch to study, among other things."
"The Survey Corps?" He questioned.
"Pretty much, we've been given a lot of names over the years... It's pretty ridiculous if you ask me," she rolled a smile.
Eren steadied himself at last, despite his tail protruding from his rear in its' own defensive stance.
A silence filled the air, too awkward to even be considered awkward.
Hanji coughed, and scratched her head. "Are you aware of what happened to this village, Armin?"
Armin glanced around the emptiness, "it's been abandoned."
"Not quite," she hinted.
Armin frowned once he guessed she wasn't going to elaborate.
"There's blood," Eren spoke, grasping the steel flooring with his constricting fingernails. "So much blood..."
"Oh my!" Hanji exclaimed, clasping her cheeks. "He appears to have no clothes..."
Eren struggled for breath, glancing over to his lying companion.
"Eren!" Armin called, ready to race over, before a gun was once more aimed at him.
"Don't touch him!" Eren spat through his teeth, glaring at the man holding up the weapon against his friend. "I'll kill you."
"Uhuh, in your current state, I have little doubt," Hanji sniggered cheekishly.
Eren growled, staring up at her in a near plead, putting aside his arrogance for once in favour of his friend. "What the hell is this?!"
Hanji lowered herself, crouching down to become face to face with Eren. "Allow Armin over," she said.
Armin paced over beside Hanji, looking in at the cage to Eren before mouthing a question of care.
Eren nodded, and glanced to the girl next to him, still lying there, still a wolf. "What's going on here... It's not her, the blood isn't hers..."
"She can't be any older than you," Hanji noted, tilting her head. "Unfortunately, she was all that remained when we got here, such a shame, I was overly keen when I heard of a small pack living in the area."
"What do you-"
"Now, now, I've said too much I believe, I have too many questions, and so very little time for answering others," she smiled.
Ma...ma...
Eren snarled behind his curling lips, eliciting a low and dangerous noise reserved for nothing less than bitterness.
Dr. Hanji hummed quietly to herself in contemplation, and looked curiously.
A thought had struck her, so suddenly, and what a brilliant thought it was.
To her at least.
A/N: I ask that you take into consideration that this is an old project I recently undertook again, because my first draft happened to be quite entertaining. Also, this was mostly written in the 'wee hours' (between 12am and 3am) for a few nights, and I would to be excused of atrocious writing and 'plot'.