AN: This chapter doesn't really have any warnings on it. Some will and you will find them here... This story starts 9 years before the fall of Wall Maria. I also named all of my chapters after songs (mostly done by Amalee who is a genius youtube artist) to set a mood for the chapter. There will be a lyric or two to accompany each chapter taken from the song it's named for.
I hope you enjoy this work. Feedback is very appreciated.
"If ever your world starts crashing down, that's when you'll find me." -OneRepublic
A ten year old girl stood blinking up at a horse in pure confusion.
How did I get here? she wondered, feeling a warm hand squeezing hers. She glanced over at the owner of the hand, seeing a girl with violent dark red hair and indigo eyes.
Kyori, the girl's mind supplied, my twin... And I'm Kiara. Where are we though?
"Who are you? How did you get out of the walls?" A man demanded, drawing Kiara's attention. Kiara glanced up at the man on the horse, her brow furrowing at the tone of his voice.
"I'm Kyori. This is my sister, Kiara." Kyori squeezed her hand her again, telling her to play along.
"We don't know how we got here," Kiara added, biting her lip, "but... Can you help us, sir?"
The man frowned at the two girls, covered in dirt and who knew what else. He sighed, seemingly at a loss, but picked the two girls up and placed them in front of him on his horse.
"Erwin," another man shouted, causing the two girls to look around wearily, "what's the hold up?"
"I found two children, Shadis," the man holding them yelled back.
"What?!" Another man on a horse came, looking at the twin girls closely. "How is that possible?! It's like Grisha all over again.."
"I'm not sure how it's possible... But they are so small. It seems like a miracle they haven't been eaten or crushed."
Kiara frowned faintly, wondering what he was talking about for a moment. Titans, she suddenly remembered, hugging her sister a little tighter.
"Hey, it's okay. We'll get you back to the wall and figure things out there," the other man said, noticing her discomfort.
"Don't worry, I'll keep you two safe," the man behind Kiara tried to reassure them.
Kiara nodded her head and tried to relax, knowing her sister wanted her to put up a trusting act. She let herself slump back against the man, her arms pulling her sister lean back with her.
The child was exhausted. Kiara had no idea what had happened before she had found herself face to face with the horse she was riding, but it left her bone dead tired. Her muscles were sore. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten, drank, or slept. Soon enough, the rocking of the horse's movements had the child falling asleep.
A hand shaking her woke Kiara up. She bolted upright, her hand instinctively going to the two metal disks that should have been on her back, but the hand stilled hers. "It's me," Kyori murmured.
Kiara blinked up at Kyori wearily, noting that her sister was motioning her to be quiet. Kiara took in her surroundings. She was in a dark room, lying on a sofa. The only light was coming from a couple of candles placed on a desk. She slowly stood up, tilting her head.
"Where are we?" she asked softly.
"We're in Trost. The people who rescued us are called scouts. They're soldiers, I think, anyways, they brought us to the office of one of the people who seem to be in charge. He just left now," Kyori quickly explained in a low voice, "Let's get out of here... I don't trust these people."
Kiara wanted to protest because first of all, she didn't even know what Trost was... And she had a bad feeling, like if they left, they would be in danger. Just like when titans were around. She hated having to kill them. They reminded her too much of humans.
She didn't say anything though. The man who had picked them up didn't give her a good feeling either. Something about him made her feel like he was going to take a lot from her, though she couldn't say what that was. She stood up silently and found the bag she had been wearing held out to her. Kiara slung it on over her shoulders and followed her sister to the window silently.
They were only three stories up. Kiara smiled. This was going to be easy. They had scaled taller trees when fighting titans. They climbed out of the window quickly and started climbing down the building.
Kiara paused when they reached a lit up window below them, glancing inside carefully. The man who had picked them up was inside it talking to a man behind a desk. Kiara was surprised to see that their rescuer wasn't a man, but a teenager.
Kiara quickly moved back into the shadows as the boy looked over to her. "Move, I think the guy from before saw me," she breathed, letting go of the wall to drop down the next story.
Her fingers found a crack in the wall as she fell, catching her fall a few feet from the ground. She let go again and landed on the ground softly. Kyori landed beside her a moment later.
The twins didn't stop to figure out if anyone was watching them. They stole through the night, getting as far as they could from the scouts in the building.
"Where do we go from here?" Kiara asked softly as they stole through the night.
"I'm not sure. Lets keep going North to Wall Sina. It's the furthest we can get from those monsters," Kyori said after a moment. "There are no titans in here, but I want to put as much distance between us as possible."
Kiara looked at her confused, but shrugged. "Lead the way."
Kyori grinned at her and held onto Kiara's hand, pulling her along the streets to Wall Rose. Kiara followed, making sure they weren't being pursued.
Getting through the gate in the wall was simple for the two children. No one perceived them as a threat and the people guarding the gate were lax anyways. They easily slipped by unnoticed.
Kiara blinked at the expanse of land before them. She couldn't even see the next wall that Kyori had told her about. She held onto her sister's hand as they started sprinting.
Despite the fact that they were small for their age, the two girls were fast and had a large amount of stamina. They kept off roads to avoid being seen, but it wasn't necessary. There wasn't anyone out this late.
"Kiara, do you remember anything?" Kyori asked after a few hours of silence.
Kiara blinked and frowned, looking down. "Not really... I know you're my twin. I know what titans are and that they eat us.. I know how to take them down... I know that I know how to read and write... how to play my lyre and gymnastics.. But there's no actual memories," she mumbled.
"There isn't much to remember," her sister replied quickly, sounding relieved, "In fact, I think it's best we not try to remember before we came here."
"You're talking as if you do remember," Kiara said, looking confused. When Kyori didn't answer, Kiara's mouth fell open slightly. "Kyori... Do you?"
Kyori squared her shoulders before looking her sister dead in the eyes. "No," she stated firmly.
Kiara eyed her sister suspiciously.
"Kiara, I swear that I'm going to keep you safe. That means becoming one of the people taking refuge here. That means not knowing what happened before. So, as far as we are concerned, we are two kids who have no memories. Do you understand?" Kyori asked sternly.
Kiara reluctantly nodded her head and squeezed Kyori's hand. "Fine. I trust you."
Kyori relaxed in relief and tugged her along. They made it to Wall Sina before sunrise and the guards here were just as lax as the ones from Wall Rose, probably even more so. The two girls slipped into the next city, seeing only one more gate to pass through at the other end of town.
Unfortunately, as the sun rose, there were less places to hide and people were becoming more alert. Just before they made it to the next wall, a man with a unicorn on his jacket grabbed their arms.
"You brats are filthy! Are you from the underground? Where's your citizenship identification?" The man demanded.
"Citizenship identification?" Kiara blinked, looking up at the man holding them.
"So you are from the underground." The man sneered, picking them up around the waists. The two girls immediately struggled, but the man was a lot stronger than they were.
Kiara and Kyori kicked against the man as he carried them out of the city, both girls desperately trying to get away from him.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Kyori demanded, seeing a gaping hole in the ground. Her heart sank when she realized that the man was heading right to it.
"What kind of grown ass man goes around wearing fucking unicorns? Let us go!" Kiara screamed.
The man snorted and gave them what they wanted, dropping Kyori into the hole first, quickly followed by the Kiara.
Kiara couldn't help the scream that tore its way out of her throat as she fell. She tried to find something to grab on to or at least jump off of, but there was nothing. She instinctively bent her knees, bracing herself for impact, but the hard ground never came.
Instead, a body collided with hers. She felt arms encircling her and holding her to the person's chest. Kiara clutched at her rescuer, terrified because somehow they were still in the air. She felt the person twist in the air and then a strange pulling sensation before they landed on the ground. Her head wheeled around to find her sister as she struggled out of the person's arms.
Kiara saw Kyori lying on top of a young man in a ton of water... Sewage water. Kiara wrinkled her nose before rushing to the edge of the water. "Kyori? Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine... Kiara?" Kyori's head slowly raised, turning to look behind her. When she saw her sister was safe, she collapsed back on top of the person who had saved her.
"Farlan, why did you go land in sewage?" A disgusted voice inquired from behind Kiara.
She jumped slightly, turning to look up at the man who had caught her. He couldn't have been older than sixteen, with short black hair and cold gray eyes.
"It's not like I had much time to avoid it," the other man grumbled, sitting up with Kyori tucked safely in his arms. Both of them were soaked.
The teenager who had saved Kiara looked down at her, meeting her eyes for the first time. Kiara felt something strange as they looked at each other, like something was pulling on her soul and drawing her to the boy.
"Oi, brats, who are you? Where is your family?" The boy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm Kiara... That's my sister, Kyori," Kiara answered, her mouth dry.
"I gathered that..." He had never seen twins before, but he had heard of them. The two girls were completely identical.
"Oh.. Uh, we don't actually know where our family is. I don't remember anything before they brought us here."
The boy furrowed his eyebrows. "Here as in underground?"
"No.. To these wall things."
Kyori groaned and shook her head, sliding off Farlan's lap and stumbling over to Kiara and the boy through the disgusting water. "No, don't listen to her. She must still be sleeping," Kyori gasped, holding her head. She had banged it against her rescuer's shoulder when he caught her.
Kiara blinked, looking startled. "Oh.. Right.. Sorry. That was a dream..." she mumbled, not meeting the steel eyes looking at her.
"Kiara and I were... Separated from our family. They sold us. We escaped from the people they sold us too. Then, some asshole wearing unicorns threw us down here," Kyori explained as Kiara tried to look as if this story wasn't new to her. "Kiara hit her head pretty badly and lost her memory."
The boy turned his attention to Kyori, his eyes narrowed. Kiara was certain he didn't believe Kyori's story, but the boy just nodded.
"So you aren't from down here. You'll die soon," he said bluntly. "How old are you brats anyways? Six? Seven? Too young to be cussing or to fend off the shit down here."
"We can defend ourselves!" Kiara snapped. "We aren't that weak! And we're ten!"
"You might not be weak," he acknowledged, "but disease is common here and food and clean water are scarce. It's not just people who pose a threat. Even if you could make it up to the surface, they will only toss you down here again."
Kiara and Kyori tensed. They hadn't considered disease or where they would find food down here yet.
"Levi... Are you thinking about-" Farlan asked wearily, only to have the other boy cut him off with a nod.
"What are you thinking about?" Kyori looked between the two teenagers suspiciously.
"About helping you brats out. You'll either die or get caught up in human trafficking if you are alone. Farlan and I will at least keep you clean and safe." Levi glanced between the two girls, his arms folded.
Kiara watched him for a short moment before nodding, accepting his offer. Something was telling her she could trust him.
"Kiara!" Kyori hissed, clearly not happy.
"Kyori... I think we should trust him. I don't feel like trying to live down here on our own... Besides... I have a good feeling," Kiara remarked, shrugging.
She expected her sister to argue, but instead, Kyori stayed silent for a moment, regarding her sister. Finally, Kyori reluctantly nodded. "Fine."
"We headed home then?" Farlan asked. When Levi nodded, Farlan turned to Kyori. "Mind if I carry you?"
Kyori nodded tightly and climbed onto his back before he even stooped down.
"Wow, you're a little monkey, huh?" Farlan grinned as the small girl settled on his back.
Levi scooped Kiara up into his arms again. "Wrap your arms and legs around me," he instructed, making sure she wasn't going to get injured from his gear.
Kiara hastened to obey Levi, her legs wrapping around him just below his ribs. Her hands settled on his shoulders as his arms moved under her and around her back.
"Hold on tightly. Lets go."
Kiara blinked as they were suddenly jerked up into the air, her arms tightening around Levi. She heard Kyori make a noise of surprise from somewhere behind them. "What is this?" Kiara gasped, as they were pulled forward.
"3DMG, three dimensional maneuver gear, " Levi answered. "Don't worry, you're safe. This is the fastest way to get back to our home."
Kiara buried her face in his shoulder and closed her eyes. She definitely preferred running to being thrown through the air. As far as she could tell, two cords were shooting out a thing on Levi's waist. They must have had some form of a hook on them because they grabbed onto buildings and walls and propelled them forward before being drawn back into the equipment on Levi's waist.. Just to shoot out again.
"We're almost there," Levi murmured, sensing how scared the little girl was. She was so small, he doubted that she was ten. She didn't even clear four feet. That very thing made him want to comfort the scared girl, if only a bit.
"Alright," she mumbled, holding onto him tighter.
Soon, she felt them land on the ground again. Kiara slipped out of Levi's arms, looking up at the small house they had landed in front of. This was going to be her home now.
Farlan and Kyori landed beside them soon after.
"Wait here," Levi instructed to the three people. "Farlan, you smell terrible."
Kyori rushed up to Kiara and grabbed her hand again, still suspicious of what was going on, as Farlan sighed and started taking off his gear. He knew full well Levi wasn't going to let him into the house in clothes soaked with sewage water.
Levi returned a minute later with a wet towel and began wiping the grime off the two girls' hands and feet to keep the dirtiness down to a minimum. After, he led them inside and to a bathroom. There was soap next to a tub filled with water.
"Wash up. I'll get you some clean clothes to wear until yours are washed." Levi glanced at the children. Even his clothes would be huge on them, but it was all they had right now.
Levi quickly left, letting the twins have some privacy. Kiara and Kyori slowly stripped down and got into the lukewarm water of the bath. The water smelled like rotten eggs, but it cleaned the dirt off their bodies and out of their hair. When they were finished, they found two sets of clean clothes on the floor by the door.
Kiara and Kyori looked at each other before putting on the clothes. They had to roll up the sleeves on the shirts several times and the pants wouldn't even stay up. Thankfully, the shirts fell to their ankles, so it didn't matter.
They left the bathroom then, finding Levi in the living room talking to Farlan who was standing in the front door.
"Your turn," Levi muttered, pointing to the bathroom. Farlan rolled his eyes.
"Told you my shirts would be better suited for them." Farlan walked past them, wearing only his underwear. The rest of his clothes where discarded outside, waiting to be washed or burned depending on how well he could clean them.
Levi glanced over the two kids. "The pants didn't fit."
"No. They wouldn't stay up." Kyori folded her arms haughtily.
"Thought so. That's why we settled on giving you Farlan's shirts to wear. Mine probably would have only come to your knees. I'll go out and get you clothes in your size later." Levi knelt beside the two girls. "Before that though.. How old are you, really?"
"Ten," Kiara said immediately.
Levi arched an eyebrow. "You two are very small for ten. You look more like you're around six."
"Our mom was very short," Kyori frowned, "but we really are ten."
Levi still looked skeptical, but shrugged. "I guess I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."
"It's not like you can talk. How old are you, fourteen?" Kyori sneered, looking annoyed at the comment about her height.
"I'm sixteen, actually. Farlan is a year older." Levi narrowed his eyes.
Thankfully, Farlan came out of the bathroom fully dressed and clean then, carrying two towels and a comb. Kiara was certain that if he hadn't come out at that moment, Kyori would have started a fight.
"I noticed your hair was still wet. You'll catch a cold." Farlan dropped the towels on their heads.
Levi watched the girls dry their long hair in faint amusement. This was going to take them ages with how long and thick their hair was. Both twins had waist length hair.
"I'll help you." Levi tugged Kiara to the sofa. "Kneel on the floor."
Kiara blinked up at Levi before shrugging and doing as she was told. Levi grabbed the comb from Farlan and started drying and combing Kiara's hair systematically.
"Hey.. Ah, which one are you?" Farlan asked Kyori, rubbing his head sheepishly.
"That one is Kyori," Levi said, not looking up from his task. Kyori nodded, looking surprised.
"Do you mind if I dry your hair, Kyori?" Farlan asked, trying to look friendly. After a moment, she shook her head, kneeling in front of him.
"How could you tell?" Kiara asked after a moment, relaxing against Levi's leg.
"Kyori keeps looking at me and Farlan with suspicion. You, Kiara, don't. You seem to trust me," Levi responded.
"It's not just that I trust you... I have a feeling... A good feeling. Like you're going to be.. Someone very important to me." Kiara furrowed her eyebrows, folding her hands in her lap.
Before Levi could formulate a response, Kyori groaned. "I hate your 'feelings'," she grumbled.
Kiara blinked, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"
"Your fucking intuition," Kyori snapped. She had been planning on trying to convince Kiara to leave soon. She didn't trust the two men... But if Kiara had already grown to trust them so much, it was going to be a lot harder to convince her to leave. "I guess there's no choice now... But I don't trust you guys."
"I'm sure you will eventually," Farlan responded, smiling down at her. "We have no ill intentions."
"She's going to have to learn that over time." Levi glanced over at the sulking kid. "A sense of weariness is wise down here though."
Kyori turned her attention to Levi, her lips set in a frown. Kiara blinked between the two of them. "Um, Kyori.. Lets just get along for now. These people are being very kind. I think we should be grateful."
Kyori's eye twitched, but she looked down. "I'm sorry. You're right. Thank you for taking care of us."
Levi raised an eyebrow before going back to drying Kiara's hair. Once her hair was mostly dried, he put it into a French braid, hoping to keep it out of dirt. It was the only thing he could think of to keep it mostly clean, short of cutting it. Somehow, he doubted Kiara or Kyori would appreciate getting a haircut.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" Farlan watched Levi in surprise still working on drying Kyori's hair. Levi handed him the comb.
"My mother before she was sick. She liked me to braid her hair." Levi lifted Kiara up and looked her over to make sure she was clean. The only things left dirty were her nails. He pulled a small knife out of his pocket and placed the girl in his lap. "Don't move a muscle," he warned her.
Kiara obediently sat still and let Levi dig dirt out from under her nails with the knife, her head falling on his shoulder. He cleaned out her finger nails first and then worked on her toes. By the time he was done, Farlan had finished drying Kyori's hair.
Levi looked over Kyori's nails before sighing. "Farlan. Get some water and bread while I clean Kyori's nails."
Kyori narrowed her eyes, but allowed Levi to draw her into his lap too, if just to be closer to her sister. She sat stock still as Levi cleaned under her nails.
"After you eat, I think you should rest. You both look exhausted," he observed.
"Where would we sleep?" Kyori asked, frowning.
"You can sleep in my bed. I won't be needing it. Tomorrow, we'll find you both clothes your own size and try to find you a mattress or something similar." Levi looked up as Farlan came back with bread and water.
The girls split the bread and ate it hungrily. They didn't even mind the horrible taste of the water. Levi sighed at the crumbs, but couldn't fault the girls. He doubted they even knew when the last time they had eaten was.
When they had finished, the teenager stood up, carrying both girls to his room. Kiara held onto him, but Kyori didn't.
He sat the twins down on his bed after making sure there were no crumbs on them. "Sleep or at the very least, rest. You'll be safe."
Kiara looked up at him, smiling slightly. "Thank you..." She murmured. Kyori nodded in reluctant agreement.
"Don't worry about it." Levi patted their heads, never changing his expression. "Sleep well, brats."
Kyori and Kiara crawled under the blanket as Levi left the room, sharing the pillow and facing each other.
"Kiara... Are you certain about trusting these people?" Kyori murmured softly.
"Yeah... I really think that this is important.. And I trust them. They aren't bad people... But I don't necessarily think they do good things." Kiara frowned slightly. "I definitely think that Levi meant it when he said he would give us a clean safe place to stay."
Kyori sighed and shook her head. "At least no one has tried to steal our bags. I don't fancy losing our instruments and weapons."
Kiara nodded. They couldn't replace the lyre, ocarina, or their numerous weapons even if they had been stolen. "I think we'll be safe here. Maybe we can even earn money with our music?" She suggested, humming softly.
"I doubt anyone has money to spare here," Kyori pointed out, cuddling into her sister. Kiara sighed.
"At the very least, we can keep each other entertained." She shrugged, wrapping her arms around Kyori.
Kyori hummed back, dozing off despite herself. She hadn't slept in days. Not since... Well, before they were abandoned to titan territory. She was exhausted and the safety of finally being in a home like this had that exhaustion creeping into the child's bones. Kiara wasn't much better. Even if she had finally napped after Erwin had picked them up, Kyori had seen how restless that sleep was.
"We'll talk about it more tomorrow," Kyori finally said, nuzzling into Kiara's chest with a small sigh of contentment.
Kiara nodded, holding her sister tighter. Once Kyori's breathing had evened out, she let herself relax more. She felt just as protective of Kyori as her twin felt for her, so she was glad that her sister was getting some much needed sleep.
Kiara smiled as she buried her face into the pillow. It smelled like Levi, a scent she was associating with safety and home already.
Kiara woke up the next day feeling refreshed and content. Kyori was still sleeping, so Kiara carefully got up. She left the room, wondering what time it was, and ran immediately into Farlan.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kiara mumbled, hastily, backing up a bit.
"It's fine. Kiara, right? You have the braid." Farlan grinned. "Did you sleep well?"
Kiara nodded, tilting her head. "Better than I have in a long time, I think."
Farlan blinked before frowning. "You really can't remember anything?"
"No. I know things, but I have no memories beyond..." She trailed off, rubbing her temples; trying to remember made her head hurt.
Farlan nodded after a moment and sighed. "Levi is out. He's getting things that he thinks you'll need. He'll be back soon. Are you hungry?"
Kiara hesitated before nodding. "I have to use the toilet first though."
Farlan nodded and guided her to the bathroom. When she was finished, she came out and wandered into the living room. She sat beside Farlan on the sofa, stretching like a cat.
"Here's some bread," Farlan said, handing her the food.
Kiara accepted it gratefully and ate it slowly this time.
When she was finished, she smiled up at Farlan. "Thank you.."
"Don't worry about it. You're one of us now.. By the way, what's in those bags of yours? They're really heavy."
Kiara tensed slightly before sighing. "My bag is holding my lyre and weapons."
"Weapons?"
"My chakrams, a whip, throwing knives, and my sword." Kiara shifted uncomfortably.
"Why would you need so many weapons?" Farlan asked, mouth falling open. "I've never even heard of chakrams."
"Self-defense," Kiara mumbled.
Farlan paused, before rubbing her head affectionately. "Don't worry, kid. That's your stuff. We aren't going to take it. I would rather you be armed down here anyways. Are you a good fighter?"
Kiara visibly relaxed before nodding her head. "Yes. Kyori and I have been taught how to fight since we could walk." Another thing she knew was true, despite having no actual memories.
Farlan stared at her for a moment before running his hand through his hair. "I see... Maybe you and your sister could show us your fighting skills."
"I would be okay with that. I can't say the same for Kyori, but I'll ask her." Kiara smiled weakly.
"Alright. So what is a lyre?" he asked, reclining on the sofa.
"Um. It's easier to just show you." Kiara stood up and went to her bag that was propped against the wall. She opened it and pulled out a small case.
She gently took the instrument out and turned to Farlan. "I can use it to play music." Kiara smiled and ran her fingers nimbly over the strings, producing a soft melody.
Farlan blinked at the sound, immediately straightening. He didn't speak as Kiara continued to play, both of them not noticing when the door opened. Kiara began to hum as she played, feeling comfortable and relaxed with instrument's music. She had missed playing her lyre. When the song was over, she lowered the instrument with a smile.
"Where did you learn that?" Farlan asked, waving to Levi in greeting who had come up behind Kiara.
"My parents. They taught Kyori how to play the ocarina and I learned the lyre," Kiara said, turning to look at who Farlan was waving at. Her face immediately brightened when she saw Levi.
"You're talented," Levi remarked, the barest hint of surprise on his face.
"Thank you." Kiara grinned, setting the wooden instrument down on a table.
Levi set down a bag he was holding and took the comb off the sofa where it had been left last night. "Your braid needs to be fixed."
Kiara touched her hair before sitting down in front of the couch like she had last night. Levi sat behind her and carefully took out her braid before combing it. After all the knots were out, he set it back into a braid.
Kiara hummed softly, enjoying the feeling of fingers in her hair. Her scalp was very sensitive, but Levi's fingers were gentle. Kyori came out of the room just as he was finishing, looking sleepy still.
"Do you want me to fix your hair too?" Levi asked, eyeing the mess of her hair in distaste.
Kyori hesitated, before nodding. She took Kiara's place in front of Levi as her twin climbed onto the couch. Levi paused for a moment, frowning at all of the snarls in her hair. He took his time brushing it, gently working the knots out. He put her hair into two French braids, so Farlan could identify them easier.
Kyori sat still when she was offered food by Farlan, not even nodding her head. She was so tired, she leaned against Levi's knee, despite still not trusting him.
Levi finished with her braids and stood up. "In that bag is clothes, toothbrushes, a blanket, and other shit you might need. If you think of anything else you need, let me or Farlan know. I'm still searching for a mattress for you. It might be a few more days. "
"That's okay. We can sleep on the sofa until then," Kyori said shrugging. Kiara nodded in agreement.
"I don't know how to repay your generosity," Kiara mumbled, pulling her sister up on the couch beside her.
"Stay alive." Levi walked off, looking as stoic as ever.
Kiara and Kyori looked at each other in surprise.
"Levi seems to have a soft spot for you. When he saw you two falling and heard you scream, he was off like a shot. To be honest, I couldn't believe they would just throw kids down that hole," Farlan explained, shrugging. "It's supposed to be a vent, not a place to dump people."
Kyori blinked. "Why would he have a soft spot for us?"
"He seems to have a soft spot for strays," Farlan laughed, patting their heads, "I'm a stray too."