As Black as Hope
Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan.
A/N: I usually don't watch anime, but this show hit me HARD. And then the fandom set in...and this happened. Enjoy.
WARNING: This fanfic has no set time period
The sense of falling. The rush of movement. The hiss of gas escaping the tank. The cold bite of the wind, slicing across Armin's cheeks.
Vertigo.
He closed his eyes and spun in a half-circle, swallowing back a rush of nausea. Everything in his gear was functional, every little part well-oiled and running smoothly, but he still hadn't acclimated to the rushing, spinning movements expected of the soldiers during battle.
Wire cables shot and locked. Armin jerked forward, swinging down low, so low that his boots jarred against the ground. He gritted his teeth against the painful vibrations and swung up again, flinging himself into the air.
The Wall was below him; he could see the stone edge, crisscrossed with train tracks and darkened with the mass of human bodies. He set himself for landing and opened his mouth to shout a warning, but he'd managed not much more than a strangled yelp before a bug, a beetle of some sort, lodged in his throat.
He hit the ground hard and kept moving, his momentum nearly plowing him over the edge. Two strong hands gripped his shoulders and yanked him back, righting him alongside the other cadets. Armin glanced over, muttering a thank-you, and caught Mikasa's storm-grey eyes. She nodded and shifted over to his right side, blocking his stumble from the eyes of the crueler cadets. The end of her red scarf flapped in the wind, looking like a mare's tail of blood.
Wow...that's the most kindness Mikasa's ever shown to me.
Not that she was cruel, or distant or anything like that. She just wasn't the type to show much affection, usually limiting her friendship to the occasional caring word or gentle touch.
Eren...Eren's usually the one to showcase where his loyalties lie. He takes such lengths to protect me, I'm afraid I'll never pay him back... Speaking of which, where is Eren, anyways?
Armin craned his neck, peering to the left of him. Eren was standing stock-still, rigid and unmoving as a stone statue, staring out at the western horizon. Armin frowned and followed his line of sight.
"What is it, Eren?"
Mikasa's voice rang out behind Armin. He half-turned to look at her, but a smudge of dust, over to the southwestern side of the Wall, caught his attention.
His heart beat as fast as a hummingbird's wings in his throat.
Trost.
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I'll add more later.
I post this chapter in memorium to the people who lost their lives on 9/11, and, by dual nature, my one-year anniversary of joining FanFiction.
