Chapter 4 is here, the really rookie prank on Annie but it's the reaction that counts… Right? Anyway, writing this has been both fun and the biggest burden on my life. I've gone through coffee and internet outages so barely any music. Sleep deprivation which led to several episodes of sleep paralysis which included a lot of screaming of the words 'fuck you'. So, believe me when I say writing this has been pretty damn painful. But I can use those experiences to add to my story. Now here's the next chapter.
Chapter 4: A Really Bad Plan
"Alright Eren, this is the day where we have to make our move, Shadis is in the city for some reason he never told us but the point is, we have a day off. So, we have to make it count."
"Well yeah, Reiner, I'm really concerned for our safety. What if she catches us?"
"Then we're dead. Getting eaten by titans would be considered subtle if she catches us but don't worry. She won't catch us."
"But she'll probably know it's us."
"Then we rely on Shadis to get back by the time she finds us…"
"Alright Reiner, let's just get this over with."
Reiner winked. "Trust me, this is totally worth it."
"Connie, is Sasha still on track with the plan?"
"Yeah, she managed to smuggle a bucket of water under her bunk but we have to hope she doesn't fall asleep. Otherwise the plan is fucked."
"This is gonna be so good." Reiner looked so smug, this being his idea.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, someone other than Annie might trigger the trap… And if she decides not to head outside then you can bet someone like Mikasa who gets up for an early run will get soaked."
"What are you guys talking about?" Jean had heard their conversation. Reiner snickered.
"Of course you could hear the name 'Mikasa' from just about anywhere." Jean went red.
"I was standing nearly right next to you, and why are you guys all looking at Annie? She's not that hot…" Eren whipped around, nostrils flaring. "She's hotter than you horseface."
"Whoa, chill out." Jean looked confused. "I didn't know anyone could defend Annie like that. Anyway, I wanna know what's going on. What're you all talking about."
"We're planning on pranking Annie," Bertholt said.
"Bertholt!" Everyone silently hissed at him.
"What?"
"You weren't supposed to tell him that," Reiner facepalmed.
"Ohhhh, well I'm not going to be any part of that. Unlike you lot, I like to keep my manhood unharmed and functioning."
"Jean, what the fuck?"
"I'm just saying, I want to keep the crown jewels untouched."
"Oooooook?" Connie scratched his head. "Since when did you have balls?" The moment just got too awkward and cringe for the group of boys.
"Well you better not tell anyone Jean, especially Annie."
"Oh no, I won't tell anyone, I'll be watching from afar when your asses get handed to you."
"Ok then," they just stared blankly at him.
"Whatever," he muttered and walked off.
"What a weirdo."
"I could kick his ass."
"Anyone got any food?"
"We're so retarded." Everyone looked at Bertholt on that last one. "What? I'm just stating facts."
"That doesn't mean you should Bert, the truth hurts," Reiner protested. "Anyway, now we just gotta wait. Dinner is in a few hours and we have to hope that Annie doesn't catch Sasha. She normally sleeps and wakes up around midnight but there is a chance she won't actually sleep."
"Let's just hope so we can actually make this worth it," Eren sighed.
*After Dinner*
Sasha couldn't help but feel nervous, not only was she meant to perform the hardest task but she had to do it without anyone waking up and catching her in the act. This was a prank on Annie so they had to rely heavily on luck. Rely on the thought that she would wake up before everyone else but also on the fact that she wouldn't wake up while Sasha was putting up the bucket. Annie shared the bunk with Mina which was directly above Sasha and Hannah. Everyone had just about fallen asleep but Sasha had to be sure everyone was in deep sleep. Ymir was easy to figure out, she snored quite a lot. Krista and Mikasa were twitching a bit showing they were also in a sleeping phase. That was the case with just about everyone except Annie. She had her eyes closed but was showing no signs of actually being asleep. Sasha couldn't wait any longer, she couldn't risk anyone else waking up, she had to make her move now. She quietly manoeuvred over Hannah and silently reached under the bunk to pull out the bucket of water, being as slow as possible to avoid bumping or scraping the bucket on any hard surface. Successfully grabbing the bucket, she slowly stood up.
"What are you doing?" Annie murmured. Sasha's eyes widened in fear but Annie slowly turned facing the other direction. "Why are you doing this dad?" Sasha sighed in relief before quietly creeping outside where the boys were waiting.
"Alright, I did my fucking part now it's your turn." Handing the bucket to Reiner before turning and heading back into the girl's cabin, leaving the door slightly cracked open to make it easier for the boys to get the bucket in place.
"Ok my guys, here's the plan. Eren's going to sit on Bert's shoulders since Bert is by far the tallest and Eren can get the bucket on the doorway easier," Reiner explained. Bert crouched down so Eren could get on.
"This is so gay," Eren said as he climbed on.
"You got that right," Connie snickered.
"Fuck off Connie."
"You said it."
"Shut up, both of ya's. You're gonna wake someone up," Reiner hissed. Bert stood up to his full height and Reiner reached up to hand the bucket to Eren. Eren grabbed it and balanced the bucket on top of the door which was barely opened so no one would notice but so the bucket would fall when someone opened it.
"Alright it's in place."
"Sweet, now we need to go hide and watch from a safe distance." With that Bert crouched so Eren could get off and they quietly snuck off to a nearby supply shed. The rows of sheds should provide safe cover from Annie's line of sight. Then they waited, waited for Annie to walk out and get drenched.
"I'm so sorry Annie, I'm sorry that I had to put you through this. But Grisha chose you for a reason and there's nothing I regret more than agreeing to send you away. Be strong Annie, never let anyone get close to your heart, they will only bring you pain and suffering. Once your mission is over, please, forgive me and come home."
The soldiers got out of the cart and began knocking on the door, Annie's father started weeping.
"What are you doing?" She was panicked. "Why are you doing this dad?" The soldiers came in and grabbed Annie and carried her towards the cart, her dad remained with his head in his hands, sobbing.
"Daddy! Dad!" Annie was screaming, tears streaming down her cheeks as she was taken away from her father. She shot up with a gasp, back in the girl's cabin. Raising a hand and feeling moisture, she had been crying in her sleep. Looking around to make sure no one had heard, she silently got up and headed towards the door. She needed to clear her head and head down to the lake. She rubbed at the substance the that glued her eyes shut and blurrily staggered towards the door. Was it slightly open? Probably just Sasha being careless after raiding the kitchen. She walked out the door and a cold liquid doused her as a bucket fell on her head.
"We've been waiting quite a while Reiner, maybe she won't wake up?"
"Oh she will, any minute now."
A few minutes later and the door opened, revealing a tired and drowsy Annie. Then the bucket fell, completely drenching her and landing on her head. The boys slapped their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing. Annie slowly lifted the bucket off her head and the look in those eyes were pure evil. They promised a slow and painful death. She slowly scanned the area to try and catch a culprit.
Oh shit, oh shit. The boys quickly hid behind the corner of the shed, hearts nearly beating out of her chest. Bertholt tried peaking around the corner but that caused the one fatal mistake that would only result in what could only be said as, Doomsday. Bertholt tripped and fell flat on the ground. Right in front of Annie's line of sight. Bert nervously smiled but it was too late. Annie was charging towards him. Bertholt quickly looked at his friends with sadness in his eyes and whispered "Run." Reiner, Eren and Connie took off running, Reiner looked behind him to hear a scream of rage as Bertholt was thrown into the wall next to him. "FUCK! GUYS, RUN!" and they took off weaving through the complex of sheds to try and lose their pursuer. Suddenly a mess of angry woman and blonde hair smashed right into Connie, tackling him into the wall. Eren and Reiner stumbled back as Annie beat the ever-living hell out of Connie. Connie looked at them desperately eyes saying, "Help me, please."
Reiner and Eren just slowly backed away and shook their heads. "We're sorry Connie," Reiner said as he and Eren took off running once more. "Reiner, you see what you've done!? We're dead! She's gonna kill us all!"
"She wasn't meant to find us Eren! This backfired heavily!"
They ran for ages and hid behind the corner of a far shed. "Ok, I think we lost her," Reiner huffed.
"Let's hope," Eren said, panting. Suddenly, Annie appeared around the corner and swept Reiner off his feet sending him to the ground. She grabbed his ankles and started pulling him around the corner. Reiner dug his fingers into the ground, scrabbling for an escape but his attempts were futile against the enraged Annie. He looked at Eren, eyes pleading. "EREN! HEEELP! HEEEeeeeellllp!" his screams faded as he was dragged further away. Eren ran as fast as he could, grabbed the door to one of the sheds and threw himself inside, slamming the door behind him, plunging him into darkness. He raked his hands through his hair, his comrades were gone, dragged into the fiery pits of hell and he was next. He silently cursed himself for going along with this plan, he could've been sleeping peacefully but here he was. Sitting in a pitch-black shed, fearing for his life. He immediately regretted choosing to hide in the shed, he couldn't see a thing. Annie could easily sneak up on him… She didn't need to sneak up on him. He couldn't exactly go anywhere. Minutes passed, about 15 of them. Eren thought he may have gotten away, he crept towards the door reaching for the handle when it was flung open and he was thrown to the ground. Eren scrambled backwards until he was backed against some boxes. A lantern was lit revealing the agitated and aggressive figure of Annie Leonhart. "How could you do that Eren?! Why would you be so foolish to join them and scheme against me?! I thought you were better than that!" She stalked towards him, sticking the lantern on one of the boxes and straddling his hips with his own. Eren shut his eyes, expecting the worst when a soft set of lips pressed against his. "I'm glad," she whispered.
Surprise, confusion and relief flooded through him. As she pulled away he asked. "Did you do that to the other guys as well?" Which earned a small smile.
"No, they aren't as lucky as you."
"Why?" She slapped him across the face.
"That was for helping to drench me in water." Then she kissed him again. "That was for proving to be higher than my expectations. I didn't think you would have it in you to wrong me in any way, I'm surprised you helped Reiner pull a joke against me." She chuckled and whispered in his ear. "I don't mind a bad boy."
"Well it's bad luck you're into bad boys because I'm horrible in bed ;)" (See what I did there. End me.) She laughed. It was the first time he'd seen her laugh and genuinely mean it. Not a small, amused laugh but a genuine one.
"I'm not surprised. You can still prove me wrong though Yeager," her tone softened and she bit her lip.
"Well uh, I'm apparently good at proving you wrong and beating your expectations so don't underestimate me."
"Well what are you waiting for? Prove me wrong." Eren smiled, that was all he needed to hear. He leaned in hands sliding up her hips when a force shoved him into the floor and a fist cracked into his nose, breaking it.
"Annie, what the fuck!"
"You didn't think I'd have sex with you after you dumped a bucket of water on my head did you?"
"Good point but was breaking my nose really necessary?"
"Yes, maybe next time Yeager." As she got up to leave she noticed something in the dim light. His nose was steaming, her eyes widened. He noticed too and began swatting at the steam.
"Is my nose on fucking fire?! What the fuck!" He rubbed until his nose stopped steaming and the horrible sound of his nose snapping back into place filled their ears. Annie just turned and ran out the door.
"Annie wait! I swear I have no idea what's going on!" but she ran until she was far away. It can't be. Surely my mind was playing tricks on me. How could he have the same ability? Only 4 kids left Marley…
Emotions fought for control within her. Surprise, horror, relief, excitement and sadness churned within her. He could be of her kind but what does that make him. Her enemy? Her ally? Her lover? Her bane? Did he fight for a cause? Or did he secretly stand alone and go along with the flow? She couldn't assume what he had just seen was true. She would need more evidence that he possessed qualities of a titan shifter. She couldn't tell Reiner and Bertholt just yet.
