Chapter 3: Survival Games – Part 2

Large trees loomed before the dynamic duo as they began the second leg of their expedition. After a small conversation, they decided to tackle the forest and navigate it as quickly as possible to put them as close to the finishing destination as they could. It was all going well until the hairs on the back of Eren's neck started tingling as a hollow breeze rustled the leaves around them. It was extremely quiet and Eren was getting fidgety. Annie sternly grabbed his hand and whispered to him, "Hide your fear, reduce the risk of a confrontation." Her words only confirmed his suspicions, they were being watched. He glanced around and could almost swear he saw shapes moving in the shadows that turned out to be branches just swaying in the wind. She suddenly stopped him with an arm against his chest and he glanced at her questioningly. She raised a finger to her lips, motioning for him to be quiet and tapped her ear.

He listened more closely to hear a light growling around them. He slowly flitted his eyes around once more to see a pack of wolves stalking through the trees. They're hungry, food is always scarce out here and their numbers are probably still low. Right now, we look like a pretty tasty snack. White fur helped them blend in with the snow and a particularly bold wolf tried to sneak a little too close to Annie. Her knife drawn, she whirled on it and hissed in warning. The wolf snarled and backed off, but it was clear she couldn't scare them off on her own. More of them started creeping forwards, attempting to get within lunging range. Eren wasted no time mimicking Annie's actions and drew his own knife. His upper lip curled as he slightly loosened the seal on his endless supply of rage, and it radiated from him in waves. The wolves hesitated and growled at him but ultimately, their hunger was too great and with a bone shaking howl… They charged the duo. Annie jammed her back against Eren's and shouted, "Stay composed!" As the first wolf rushed her and leapt toward her upper body, she ducked down and drove her knife into its chest which put it down. Eren had done something similar and had killed one as well – two down out of the seven they saw.

The next tried to snag her right ankle but she swiftly avoided its snapping jaws and kicked it behind her, "On your left!" Eren noticed the sprawling wolf and deftly sunk his blade into its neck before scrambling back up to notice a set of jaws about to ensnare his neck. He could only stare in shock as the gaping maw rapidly approached and bit into flesh… But it wasn't his. Annie had stuck her leg out and caught its jaws at the tip of her reach just before it got to Eren. She grimaced in pain as it pulled and began shaking her leg, throwing her off balance. She hit the ground and the remaining wolves wasted no time pouncing on her as she desperately tried to defend herself. The scuffle quickly hit the edge of a steep hill, sending her and the wolves tumbling down as Eren snapped back to reality and quickly followed. Annie hit a tree at an awkward angle as she felt something break in her arm. She gasped as the wolves were unable to hold on but quickly recovered and approached her with intent to kill. She struggled to run but searing pain in her leg sent her down and she tried to crawl away as the snarling grew ever louder in her ears. Eren was powering towards her at breakneck pace, crying out when she hit the thick tree. He watched as she hit the ground and attempted to crawl away with one arm, the other cradled against her chest. The wolves rapidly gaining on her and for a split second… He saw his mother, trapped under the rubble of their house as he desperately tried to run to her. The titan picking her up, the image of Annie being mauled in front of him shattered the seal on his anger and his rage exploded.

Annie closed her eyes as the howling grew nearer, if it came to it then she would have to shift to save her own life. As she readied herself, the howling suddenly halted. She looked up to see Eren kneeling over her with a wolf's jaws wrapped around his arm with another biting into his shoulder. The raw anger and determination in his eyes blazed as he defiantly shook off the pain. "I've got your back," Annie, at least know that Dad will be on your side. I will always have your back. Her eyes widened and Eren drove his knife into the skull of the wolf on his arm before switching to a reverse grip and swinging it around to stab the wolf on his shoulder in the side, forcing it to let go. He stood up and faced the remaining wolves alone, 3 left with one being injured. He rushed them with surprising speed and within seconds, they all fell dead to the ground. They stood no chance against the green-eyed boy who made his way back to Annie and fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered. She only nodded, breathing heavily. "I froze up, this is all my fault." She didn't have the energy to talk but she tapped him to get his attention and sternly shook her head to say it wasn't. She slipped into the dark world of unconsciousness and his voice grew faint. "Annie? Fuck, stay with me, Annie!" He gripped her wrist and sighed in relief when he felt her pulse. He picked her up bridal style, keeping her arm resting against her chest and trekked up the hill towards their supplies. He would have to patch her up with whatever supplies he could fi- he lurched as his arm groaned with pain. Never mind, he would have to patch both of them up.

Annie groggily opened her eyes to see Eren digging through his pack to find some sort of bandage.
"Eren," she gasped in pain when she tried to sit up. Fuck, my regeneration's gonna kick in. She focussed all her energy into keeping her body from healing itself, but she couldn't hold it for long, Hurry, Eren.
"Hey, hey take it easy. You were only out for a few minutes."

"Please tell me we have something to cover this."

"Don't worry, we have bandages but I've gotta clean those bite wounds." He quickly took out his canteen and lightly doused the gouges in her leg. She hissed in pain as he started wrapping her leg. "Pay attention, Annie. You want to slightly tighten the bandage around the area of bleeding but not too tight so that it cuts of the circulation. Unless it's a damaged artery and the bleeding is heavy and spurting. Then you want to make it a lot tighter around that area, you want to increase the amount of wraps over the affected area too so it's harder for blood to seep through." She listened to his words and watched how he wrapped her leg; it didn't feel too tight and it was comfortable enough. After all, she wasn't too experienced in the medical area. She sighed in relief when he finished and let her regeneration work on her leg, no steam should be visible. "As for that arm, I'll have to improvise." He took out his tent and marked out a triangular shape with creases, he then cut it away with his hunting knife, which he had cleaned, before helping her sit up. "Now," he draped the fabric down from her left shoulder and carefully moved her arm towards him so he could the sheet in between her arm and her body. He then folded it upwards and draped it on her opposite shoulder before reaching around her neck and tying the corners together in a tight knot. "Now, you can let that arm rest on its own weight, I've made a makeshift sling for ya."

"Thanks, Eren. Where did you learn all this?"

"My father was a doctor," he smiled. "He showed me a few tricks," she looked at the ground.

"Hey, can you show me how to do a few things when we get back to the home base?" Eren was flabbergasted.

"Pick your jaw up and answer the question, Yeager." She spat; she wasn't used to asking for tips. He smirked at her.

"Of course, Annie. You taught me how to fight so it's only fair that I teach you a few things to do with first aid," he snickered. "Guess I can teach you something, after all."

"I'm just as surprised as you are."

"Arm in a sling and you've still got that unique sense of humour." She bopped him on the head with her good arm.

"Be grateful I have one. Be even more grateful that you get to experience it."

"Fair enough," he winced as his shoulder throbbed. "I need to fix myself up too." He retrieved more bandages to patch himself up.

"Wait, can I try?" She asked with a twinge of embarrassment, not that she'd show it. He raised a brow.

"With one good arm? Sorry Annie, not right now but you can practice all you want back at base." She nodded in understanding. He quickly bandaged his arm with practiced hands before moving to his shoulder. Rinsing it like he did with his arm, get ripped off two short lengths of the fabric and laid them on his shoulder with them overlapping over the bite wound. Fortunately, they had some tape that came with the camping equipment that he could use. If they didn't, he would just have to constantly apply pressure until it healed properly. After finishing with his medical activities, he put his jacket back on and rolled the leg of Annie's pants back down over her bandage. "Now, the most important thing is to keep warm. Cold weather will only slow down the healing and increase the risk of infection. So, let's get to the next point of shelter and I'll get us some layers. We'll have to share a tent for body heat okay?"

"Understood, doc." It was only for medical reasons after all. "But no funny moves or I will kill you."

He raised his hands in surrender, "I wouldn't dare, Miss Leonhardt," he chuckled. She sighed and rolled her eyes at his antics.

"You're insufferable."

"Handsome too?"

"Don't be silly."

"You look pretty ravishing there too, ice queen."

"Need I remind you that I can still break your nose easily, injured or not?" She snarled.

"Okay okay, I'll stop. Have mercy." She just turned on her heel and moved at a brisk pace towards their destination, leaving Eren to carry both their packs.

"Such a caring and loving soul." Eren muttered to himself. A rock to the brain indicated that she heard.

"Oi!" He held his head. "I just finished fixing myself up, please refrain from inflicting further injury!"

"Then quit being an idiot and hurry up."

"Fine," he ran to catch up and they continued towards the end of the forest.

"Finally, we made it out of these damn trees." The tree line loomed behind them now and they were in a good spot to walk straight to the outpost. It was going to be a long walk though and they'd have to find a spot to sleep for the night. Unfortunately, they couldn't find a spot that would shield them from above, so they made to make do with sitting out in the open. Luckily, the weather was fine and the chances of another snowstorm sweeping through was quite slim. Darkness was rapidly approaching and Eren quickly set up the tent without a triangular hole in it before ushering Annie inside. "I'll check your bandages in the morning but it's important you rest and keep warm so you can heal as quickly as possible." He threw whatever layers he could find on her and tucked the loose edges underneath her. "How's that?"

"Fine." But she couldn't control the slight shiver that swept through her body, she was still cold. Eren shook his head.

"Nice try," he untucked the layers before joining her and laying by her side. She stopped shivering as warmth radiated from his body. It was oddly calming, like it just felt right.

"You should be a nurse, Yeager."

"Hmph, I don't have the patience for a job like that. Besides, I've got a mission to accomplish."

"Killing all the titans?"

"Spot on. They took my mother from me; I'll never forget that. Ever since I was born, I've always hated the titans and how they restricted our freedom. The death of my mother was the last screw and I'll get my revenge on the colossal douchebag that started it all."

"You really believe you can take it down?"

"I have to, I'm dishonouring my mothers memory otherwise. I was too weak to save her, the least I can do is avenge her."

"Would she approve of what you're doing now?" He stiffened.

"She was very adamant in trying to convince me to not join the Scouts. Said I'd be fodder out there, that it's irresponsible."

"Do you think she's wrong?" He thought for a moment.

"No, looking back I wish I'd listened to her more closely. But… I never could've predicted what would happen that day. To further answer your question, she isn't wrong but there's nothing she could've said to hold me back."

"You just keep moving forwards, no matter what."

"There's a life out there for all of us, that's what I'm fighting for. Avenging my mother is one thing but I really want us to be free from this cage. So that people like you and me don't have to live in fear of the outside world." His words sent a pang through her heart, it wasn't fair on him. He didn't know that he was fighting for the people that brought this upon him. He was trying to protect people that he would never forgive without knowing it. That's just how strong his hatred was, and it made her feel a little guilty, but she had to do what she had to do. That's just the cruel truth of the world we live in. "What about your parents, Annie? I've told you a bit about mine, maybe you can give some insight on your early life. If that's alright?" Shit, I didn't think about that.

"I was raised in a small village deep in the mountains, south of Wall Maria. My mother died when I was pretty young, and my father raised me and taught me how to defend myself. When the titans attacked, my father just ran and left me behind. He abandoned me." It was a big lie, she hated it, but she couldn't reveal her true life to a boy that would inevitably hate her and use the information against her. She could see him tense with anger, to be betrayed by your own flesh and blood is a serious thing.

"So that's why you're so cold," she nodded. "I can't say I understand what you went through, it never happened to me, but I can see you're strong enough to move forwards with it."

"I'm surprised. That was a mature response, Eren."

"I have my moments."

"You sure do," she kept her face expressionless, forcing the smile away/

"You don't really like facial expressions, don't you? I don't think I've ever seen you smile once since I met you."

"There's not a lot to smile about these days," he shrugged.

"I disagree but you do you Annie," she hated to admit it but his words were kind of irritating.

"You trying to take the high ground here Eren?"

"Not at all."

"Asshole," he chuckled.

"I like to think I'm one of the very few that can get under your skin."

"You'll quickly find it'll lead to more pain rather than satisfaction if you're not careful."

"I'll take your word for it, Annie. Now, try to lay on your back only. Don't want that arm shifting around while you sleep, or you can cause further damage. Goodnight." He was about to shut his eyes when his arm was grabbed and he looked over to see her using his upper arm as a support/pillow of some kind. She shifted around to get comfy and noticed his gaping expression; he was about to say something, but she cut him off.

"Not a word, this is for heat only so do yourself a favour and don't think anything of it," he nodded and winced at the inevitable circumstances that included the blood circulation to his arm being majorly reduced. The worst part was, she seemed to know this and was relishing in his misfortune. "Goodnight, Eren," she said in a sickly-sweet tone and thus, a long night for Eren began.