"There's a plan, right? Tell me right now you got a plan in there cause I've got nothing, " I mumbled aggressively while hurrying my steps, matching Willy's as we rushed into Liberio's streets. Swaths of horns roared behind as boats docked in and out of the port behind us. Through the path that we followed, hordes of people flocked throughout the lanes as they all poured out the ship.
I glanced up and frowned. The skies being ash gray and the wet bits of droplets splashing onto my face only caused me to tug on WIlly harder, trying to get us out before it would start pouring.
"Sorry" " Excuse me" "Coming Through" were all excuses I murmured while we shoved our way through the crowds. I didn't need to turn around to see the pair of eyes latched onto the back of our heads.
A sigh of frustration could be heard from Willy's side as his eyes kept scanning our surroundings, "Dammit… let's stick to blending with the crowd. Maybe we can try and lose them in the denser spots."
I glanced up for a second and tightened my lips, "If we're going to lose them, it better be quick. I doubt the crowds are going to be this large with those drops picking up speed."
I ignored the string of curses Willy muttered under his breath.
Although, If we weren't rushing for our lives at that moment, I would've paid more attention to the kind of looks people slung at us. The raised eyebrows and the murmurs thrown in our direction didn't give me a good feeling. Seeing this, I made a mental note about it since right now, all that matters was getting out of here that wasn't inside a casket.
"And there aren't any guards around this side of town?! Where's this district's defense lines?" Willy seethed, tightening his hold on my hand which caused a wince through me.
"I doubt there's any funds for that type of protection on this side of town." I mouthed while keeping my teeth still.
Although, a stream of funds could really help clean this place up…
The buildings around us seemed like they had seen better days. Bricks were misaligned through the walls with questionable stains markings them. The windows were either smashed or boarded throughout the whole street. Taking one good look at this only brought faint memories that made me shudder. I shook off the feeling once I heard the faint cries in the distance, reminding me just how screwed we were.
"Move! Get out of the way!" One of the two men yelled while moving through the sea of people.
Turning to Willy with a panicked expression, I asked him, "T-There has to be some…place-! There, come on!"
For what was only a few feet away, I pointed through the crowds and into an opening between two run-down buildings. The buildings themselves had missing bricks and a couple of broken windows, but it was the only spot that was realistically close by. My only hope was that I'm not leading us to some dead end. Part of me was saying this was a bad idea, but right now my fight or flight was screaming to fly high.
Tugging on Willy's hand, I broke us into a breakneck dash towards the alley entrance. Their cries turned faints as the distance passed. Through my blind sprint, I failed to see the behemoth of a blonde soldier walking towards us.
Thud!
"Oomph! What the hell-! No…no…NO! Do you have any idea what was in that folder kid!?" The man raged while scrambling on the pavement to collect his papers. He proceeded to ring out a string of slurs once the water began kicking in. Instinctively, I leaned down to help him only to get pulled away by Willy.
"Argh-! "I hissed while sucking the air through my teeth, the bruise on that shoulder would need to wait.
"I-I have somewhere to be, sorry!"
I couldn't get a good look at his face but that voice…where have I heard it before? "At least help me pick all this up-! What the hell?!"
Thud!
Fuck, they're catching up, aren't they?
We pivoted around the corner. For a second, I hunched over to the side of a wall, heaving into my lungs. From behind, I heard Willy speak up through his light panting, "We don't have much time to spare, I think this leads out to the streets, come on, I doubt the crowds will last much longer."
Tilting my head up, my nose scrunched in disgust once I consciously registered the smell. Scattered around in every direction were cardboard boxes. The pathway of the alley itself stretched for a couple of feet until it was met with an exit that led into another street in the town. My eyes landed on the large industrial-steel dumpster sitting in the side of the alley.
"Hey…stop. Alright hear me out, it's too obvious if we keep running. At this rate, they'll catch up to us, but they're in such a hurry that they won't waste time checking this random bin," I gestured towards the wretched steel bin.
Immediately as I finished, a wrattle came from behind the dumpster. With a coarse groan soon following, a frail middle-aged man crawled out, ragged drapes all over with tears from head to toe. His eyes were ridden with deep circles embedded into his skin. His body was practically all bones. When our eyes made contact, a shiver ran down my spine. Those cold, lifeless eyes unnerved me for a reason that I couldn't put my finger on.
Once we got a full view of the man, both of us tensed up with varying facial reactions. WIlly shriveled in disgust while I stared at him in pity.
"No, we aren't doing something like that. Sorry to bother you, sir, uhm…please if you may, we were never her-!" He crossed his arms, staring into me.
Just as I was about to protest, we both whipped our heads in the direction we entered. Forcing my body to move,I clamped Willy's mouth tightly and turned to the homeless man with my index finger over my mouth, staring at him in desperation.
"-I think they turned in this direction, " asked a man with a deep baritone voice.
"You sure? I'm pretty sure there's another alleyway right down the road?" spoke an equally masculine voice. This one is much lighter in pitch.
"It has to be this one, they left our sights too quickly when we bumped into that blondie."
We hunched under a couple of the stacked boxes in the alley. "M-Mister, please we're begging you. These guys out there, they're following us right now and we don't know what they'll do to us. Please…only for a few minutes," I begged in a low tone while clamping both my hands together. During that, I frequently turned my head behind my shoulder, trying to focus on their rushing footsteps. I turned back to the man with a look of desperation
By this point, Willy had given up on running and joined me in begging the man for a chance of shelter.
The ragged man's face pursed his lips for a second before he flicked his head back at the box behind the dumpster. He narrowed his eyes at both of us before sighing to himself while slowly moving out of our way.
Once inside, I swallowed hard and released a haggard breath before scrambling myself into a comfortable position inside. We both had to curl our bodies inwardly in order to fit inside the tight space. My breath hitched as I heard the trailer's voices almost next to me.
My body began shaking while Willy held a finger up to his mouth, looking at me with his jaw clenched. Sweat slowly dripped from my forehead while I honed in on what the two were saying.
The deeper voice gruffed, "They couldn't have gone far. The main streets are their only options from here. Let's hurry Ivan, before it becomes our heads."
"Finn, wait...you see that guy over there, he looks like he's seen something alright." We both froze hearing that. My breathing slowed down while my pupils dilated. I could hear the pulsing of my heart drum faster. "Hey, you! You've seen two brats running around here? Yeigh high? The taller one had some long blonde locks and the smaller one had some matte black hair."
"...mm"
Some rustling and a metallic click could be heard. Then a sharp raspy gasp was made from who I could guess was coming from the homeless man. That sharp click though…that sounds as if a barrel was being pulled back. They wouldn't be pulling a gun on him…would they?
I pushed down the urge to gulp fearing that possibility.
"Ivan, put that thing down before you point it at the wrong person. Here, lemme show you how it's done. These types of people answer only one thing." I made out another bit of rustling, but this time, in the sound of a million bits of metal hitting each other. A distinct clinking sound could be made. Those could be anything honestly, but with our protector being homeless…money?
"Ehehe, no need to be shy. Go on, feel it. It's the real deal and all of it could belong to you, " The man with a deeper voice persisted. "I just need to know which way they went," he finished with a sharp undertone. His patience was probably running thin by now.
The accent was too distinct to be the other guy. If that's the case, then this guy's probably that Finn fellow, that is…if that's his real name.
"It doesn't look like he knows anything. Dammit! They're probably out by now. We should've kept chasing them, it's not like there's any other exit leading to that damn train station around here," spoke the other man, Ivan, if my guess about the other man was correct.
I could hear one of their footsteps getting closer and farther repeatedly, probably pacing around.
"I'll take the fall for this one, but we should probably remove the bits of evidence. So you do the honors," suggested Finn.
"Two weeks of trailing their backs, rummaging scraps back in Kappstaad, only to come out like this? Honestly-! We're never going to hear the end of it if we even survive in one piece. Lorelei's going to have our head, you know that right."
The same metallic click was made again. It had to be some firearm with that type of snap. An immediate whimper was made following that sound.
"Look, you just leave it all to me. We'll find another opening eventually. Capeesh?" Someone clicked their tongue and incomprehensible murmuring was made. " How about this, you get cleanup duty here and I'll do all the talking with them."
A gurgled raspy voice spoke up, my heart only began pulsing harder, only matching my brain's throbs as I tried to think of what to do next. "...H-Hold-d on-n"
Willy's eyes widen while gritting his teeth in silence. His face looked at me with anger as he mouthed "I told you so."
"...And you only decided to help now? It's kind of late for that bub…" He paused, and the alley remained silent for a minute. My hands clenched around the handle of my weapon during that. Finn, after releasing a sigh continued, "Good thing for you, I'm a man of my word. Here, take it. You've got a five-second head start to get out of my sight. The clock starts now."
The sound of scrambling and shuffling could be heard the moment Finn finished his sentence. Boxes and cans are being tripped and thrown around. The shuffling of those tiny metallic clinks was made again only, they became more distant as the footsteps of the homeless man fainted away.
"We're not going to actually chase him right?" asked Ivan.
Finn chuckled, "No, but those two, they couldn't have gone far if we're to believe that guy. They've never been here before, so I doubt they know any of the routes. Plus, look over there, everyone's gone inside by now with that storm coming in. By the way, take this. I brought a spare in case there was a bit of water."
Wait…what?
"Let's cut them off at the district entrance, they're trying to get on the train to the capital so why don't we wait for them in the only exit they can take?"
I gaped in joy, realizing what the homeless man had done just now. Turning to Willy, I tilted my head in confusion seeing his cold rage not dissipate for a second. His eyes never once left the side of the box where the sounds came.
Once I could confirm their footsteps were beyond my range, I signaled to Willy with a few hand motions and we both counted down slowly.
Once he reached zero on his fingers, we quietly and carefully crawled out the box. Both of us made sure to check both sides of the alley only to find it empty sans the homeless man. Which confused me, didn't they say that he had to leave or else?
I lightly dusted myself while approaching the hunched-over man, "Thank you, sir, I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"...Don't, no-" He paused, stopping himself before narrowing his eyes at us. "You two...you're not from around these parts are you?"
"E-Excuse me?"
"...your clothes. They're too spotless and look a-at the material. No eldian around here has that kind of money…well not every eldian. Who are you two?"
"We-!" Willy immediately jumped in and clamped my mouth just like I had done to him earlier.
"We're new here, recently got redistricted to Liberio from one of the other colonies. Thanks again for everything sir, we'll now get out of your way." He forcefully said, turning to me with his teeth remaining still, "Let's go before they decide to backtrack."
My head dropped in defeat with that remark. As we walked away, turned back to wave at the man only for him to look in the other direction and lightly mutter something I could barely hear, "-don't deserve your thanks."
I tilted my head in confusion before getting tugged by Willy. We walked back through the street that we entered. I placed my hand over my chest, practically feeling the earthquake that spasmed throughout my body from that.
"That felt too close for comfort."
"Part of me feels that it was too easy, but we're not out of the clear yet. Sure, they're off us at the moment, but how're we getting out of this place now? We need to figure out some plan to get them off that exit."
"Yeah, no kid-!"
"Wha-!," A hand that moved too fast for me to react covered my mouth and slammed me into the wall. Once I recoiled from that shove, I opened my eyes to get a full view of our assailant. Imagine my surprise once it clicked that it was one of our chasers.
His black buttoned vest along with the silken bowler was unmistakable. I glanced down at the hand covering my mouth and attempted to bite it only, he was prepared for that. The attacker slammed me headfirst into the brick wall kicking Willy's legs, effectively forcing him to hunch onto the ground.
"And that's how you catch rats. Let them think they're safe before caging them," The assailant who was gripping on my skull gloated, his deeper voice meaning that he was probably Finn. He chuckled while looking at me, "You two gave us quite the run."
Another voice spoke as footsteps echoed throughout the alley. The second voice from earlier now was being given shape. "I really wasn't expecting this much cardio for a mission like this."
Ivan, seeing as how this one was the higher-pitched voice, reached into his coat and pulled two cloth rags. He first approached Willy and tightly wrapped it around his mouth while Willy rampaged like a beast through the man's grip.
Slowly, I steadied my breath. My eyes darted to find something…anything to get me out of this.
"Hey, don't give me that look, it's nothing personal. Want to blame someone, blame your last name." I whipped my head upwards, staring at the man with bulged eyes. "What? You thought that was a secret? No, at least not to us."
Finn moved a lock of his dirty blonde hair from his face while kneeling down to my level. He lightly dusted his coat as he spoke, "Let me tell you in on a little secret kid. You see, we're everywhere and thanks to you two, we can really start doing our job now."
From the corner of my eyes, I saw Willy's subtle movements. His fingers were slowly moving to his waist as he wiggled through the cloth bindings they had wrapped around his wrist. Ideas flew through my mind hearing that.
…Yeah, that could work.
I started rampaging through the cloth gag on my mouth, smashing my body through Ivan's grasp. Effectively trying to keep their undivided attention onto my form while Willy did his magic.
"Argh! Dammit, stay still will you!" cried the man behind me. In response, I rocked my head backward and felt a rough crack. I felt a smash drip of fluid on the backside of my neck after doing that and a string of slurs soon followed.
"Enough from the fucking hellspawn! Let's just get this over with Finn! These two are more trouble than they're worth!" He raged to his partner. He sharply turned his head towards me while nursing the bloodied nose, "And I want to start with this rat right here!"
"Alright, fine. Although, if we're doing that, then we should at least let the kid give a final goodbye to his brother or something. We gotta show them some manners." Finn remarked as he removed the cloth gag from my mouth. "Go on kid, say any final words you got. I'm nice like that ya know."
I gurgled saliva on the pavement while hunching over. I pulled my head up and met both of them in the eye, barely managing to rasp out a word, "...Why?"
He brought a hand over his ear, inching closer. "Why what? You need to bit more specific than that"
My voice slowly returned to normal as I found the strength to speak much more clearly, "Why all this? The chase, the stakeout, the deception. Why go through all this trouble just for our heads? What's the end goal with both of us out of the equation?"
"Normally, I wouldn't do this, but since you're about to be martyred, why not," Finn shrugged his shoulders while smirking devilishly at me.
"What more is there to tell you, kid? It's simple, we're janitors and our job is to make sure the streets are clean. Except…there's only one issue." He pointed at both Willy and me. "The largest rats infesting the streets won't come out unless you're gone. So, we're doing just that, lighting some smoke under their ass."
"That's a bloody revolution that you're insinuating?! You'll be burning the very nation you love doing this!"
My eye moved slightly to the right, checking up on Willy's methodical process. His hand was nearly at the handle.
Just…a few more seconds is all he needs.
He snorted, tilting his chin upwards. "What would you understand, brat? You don't know a thing or two of what we've had to go through because of you rats."
I lowered my head while muttering in a low tone, "I-I see…then it's a shame…that you won't get to ever see those clean streets."
They both leaned in with their eyebrows furrowed. Finn asked me while crouching back down to my level, "What was that ki-!"
Finn's mouth gaped, his breath turning into an infrequent mess while he looked down to see the blood trailing down his jacket. His fear-ridden eyes looked over to me one last time before they rolled backward.
"Lucas, run!" Willy commanded swiftly while removing his blade dredged in the assailant's chest and allowing the body to collapse. He himself towards the other individual-Ivan, in a swift motion, bared his teeth at him, "Can't say this one isn't personal now."
My eyes widened hearing the distinct sound of a pistol reloading.
"YOU BASTARD!" Ivan roared, aiming his gun directly at Willy. In that split second, I rang my body around the grip from his other hand and used the momentum to sway his aim. Thankfully it had been enough to cause him to drop the firearm from the lack of balance.
Ivan, angry and desperate now, swiveled his body and slammed his left leg onto my chest. The air in my lungs flew out with my body being sent flying to the wall. I groaned upon impact, feeling the cracks on my spine while my lungs could barely contain any air. The pain was quickly coursing through me as I struggled to push myself back up.
Thankfully, I had made the right opening that Willy needed. Using that split second, Willy got close enough with his blade in hand and proceeded to keep the man at bay. He focused on the assailant's crucial limbs, focusing on effective slices. Carefully, he thrust his blade forward and would gradually back away from any thrown jabs.
I curled my fingers inward while slowly picking myself up, the bones of my spines already cracking as I straightened myself, yet, thankfully, the adrenaline was doing its work and for the most part, the pain felt numb. I glanced back at the fight and realized one crucial detail both Willy and I overlooked.
These men they sent weren't simply skilled at tracking us, but they were skilled at fighting us.
Even with his rage, Ivan had morphed that anger into controlled madness. His wet slick black hair mopped through his face as he blocked Willy's stabs by snapping at his wrists. Effectively keeping a distance his own safe distance from Willy while returning blows of his own that matched the tempo of the stabs. He was essentially a beast that had been ripped from his leash.
There has to be something I can do…anything! After desperately darting back and forth from the fight between the two, my eyes landed on Finn's corpse or what was attached to his holster. A pistol was tightly wrapped in his stained black pants.
Sucking in the air through my teeth, I hobbled using the little energy I had left and made my way to the corpse. Each step I took was my body screeching at me to lie down. It's as if a million little blades were jabbing at my lungs for every ounce of air that entered my body.
Glancing back at the fight, the obvious signs of exhaustion were beginning to show on Willy's face. The small pants, the subtle but noticeable shakes on his grip with his weapon. He quickly wiped the dry bits of blood from the corner of his mouth before charging back at Ivan again. His body stood like a rock as it endured a flurry of punches, slowly being pushed onto the defensive as he was now frequently backing up closer to a wall.
I gritted my teeth and dredged faster after seeing what happened next. Willy, seeing an opening in Ivan's form, lifted his knee and rounded his blade from the left, the only issue was that…Ivan had seen this coming and maneuvered his body back. He grabbed Willy's wrist and tightly squeezed them until he forced Willy to drop the weapon onto the ground, after which, he proceeded to slam Willy onto the brick wall of the alley.
Shivers ran down my spines as the raging beast's eyes moved in my direction for a split second. His teeth were now bared with a primal scowl spread across his face. He winded a punch into Willy's torse, forcing him to crumble by the wall, and immediately turned his wrath onto my direction.
By now, I was only a foot away from the corpse. Forcing my body to act, I slammed onto the ground next to the dead kidnapper and clawed off the weapon attached to his holster. The footsteps were getting increasingly louder while I fumbled with the pistol in my hands. Never once did I learn how to properly wield one of these.
Come on…come on! WHY WON'T IT COME OUT DAMMIT! My body strained while I pulled with all my might on the corpse's holster.
"YOU DEMON SPAWNS! I'LL TAKE DOWN ONE OF YOU EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"
Everything happened so fast, that one could blink and it would be over. In one moment, the pistol was tightly fastened to the holster. In one moment, the attacker was only a few feet away from unleashing his fury. One moment Willy was on the floor panting.
And then it all happened.
A blade flew through the alley, whistling across the air until a blood-curdling scream was released. Ivan collapsed onto the concrete pavement, curling himself around his bloodied leg with a knife drenched deep. Looking farther back, Willy had pushed himself up, a broken smirk written on his face.
"Like you said…nothing p-personal…" he muttered while coughing blotches of blood.
With that added second, I ripped the pistol out and immediately turned to our attack. Fear was written all over his face, his bulging eyes and quivering lips. His body shook until it morphed into one of agony and anger.
"Y-YOU THINK KILLING US WILL YOU KEEP SAFE?! THERE'S MORE OF U-!"
With all my might, I squeezed the trigger.
Oh lovely, some rain after today's training. I sighed in frustration, mulling myself back to the barracks. Offhandedly, I stared off at the interior walls of Liberio.
Hopefully, dads still awake tonight. The cake should be ready by now. That cost me a few months worth, but…it's not like I spent all that much in the first place. A smile slowly formed on my face only for me to shake it off with the thunder booming through the sky.
My eyes darted throughout the barracks only to leave me in disappointment at the lack of an umbrella. I scratched the side of my head, a little perplexed at how none of them had one either. After mulling for a minute, my gaze landed on the vacant bunk bed that belonged to a certain blonde.
"...Maybe he has one over at the lab? Or even a spare poncho would do, " I muttered, quickly turning my feet and making way towards the research wing.
"Besides, it's not like he's going to be anywhere else besides the lab if he isn't training. It's all titans that he thinks about. That...and because the timer is almost upon Mr. Ksaver." I frowned remembering that last key detail.
Death was something all of us cadets had to accept. It was part of the job description, but still…the idea still sent shivers down my spine.
After a few minutes of walking through the base, I tilted my head in confusion with the dim lighting of the lab. "Weird, he's usually in here by this hour. Did he have something to do today?"
I poked my head through the door, taking a quick peek to see if at least Mr. Ksaver was still in tonight. "Hello? Zeke? Mr. Ksaver? Huh…I guess they both left early tonight"
My eyes lit up seeing the furled-up umbrella by Zeke's main desk. As I grabbed the clothed cone, by the corner of my eye I noticed some papers sprawled out over his steel desk. The curious part of me picked up one of the papers and made a quick glance over them.
My face scrunched as I read further into the contents of the paper, or at least what I could make out of it.
Every one of Nine's powers was derived from the Founder Ymir's original titan. Of the seven titans that Marley possesses, the Female Titan is the most perplexing...Further studies are required before requesting the necessary approvals to conduct testing…signs of adaptation occurred from the samples…The Tybur Families generous donation…
Just as my eyes were slowly moving towards the middle of the page, a boom shook the room, knocking me out of my stupor and having me tense up. The lights of the lab swung across the ceiling from their wire. Once I heard the rain outside begin picking up its aggression, I sighed in relief while placing a hand over my chest, realizing that howl was merely more thunder. "Relax Pieck, this isn't a battlefield."
I glanced one last time at the sheet Zeke had left on his desk before shaking my head. Seems like he's finally taking a shot at the mystery behind the female titan. Although, I'm not sure how Talia will respond to having her titan being tested…then again, if he gets the authorization it's not like we have a choice.
But what was that about the Tybur family? If that paper is related to titan research then maybe it's to do with their Warhammer Titan, after all, he did mention some generous donations. Although, what do they have to gain from that? What is Zeke even testing that requires authorization?
My mind continued wandering through the contents of that sheet until I reached the front entrance of the base. Once I unfurled the umbrella, I made quick work of reaching the internment zone's entrance.
As I approached the gate, two officers guarding the entrance looked over in my direction and smiled. "Ah Pieck, coming in for the night? Go right on in." I nodded to the guards at the entrance only to halt my steps.
"By any chance, did either of you see Zeke entering earlier?"
"Zeke? Hmm….now that you think about it...yeah, I saw him earlier today. He went in looking like he was in a hurry. You need him for something?"
"No no, I was just curious because usually, he's over at base by this time. Thank you both." I waved to both of them before hurrying my way through the district.
"Anytime brat, see you around." The other guard responded before leaning back under his shade with a mug.
While making my way through the district, I looked over at a shop that had a clock on display, which sent panic through my body realizing the time. Seeing the clock nearly hit nine o clock, I picked up my speed towards the bakery near the edge of town. "How did I let the ti-!"
My eyes widened hearing a whip-like crack blast through the town. "That sound…that wasn't lightning…that had to have been a gunshot," I muttered while breaking in speed towards the origin of the sound. My gaze landed on the alleyway between two rundown homes that belonged to recently arrived refugees.
How does someone even smuggle a weapon inside here?!
I slowly crept closer to the alley while the sky poured vigorously onto the cover. While inching closer to the entrance of the alley, two males rushed through causing me to back up and fumble.
"S-Sorry!" cried the smaller male, about my height. Quickly he rebounded from our bump and dashed through the streets with his assailant.
The taller male, long-blonde haired yelled through the rain towards the smaller one while grabbing his arm. "Hurry up!"
I reached to grab the smaller male's leg, but my hands had no grip due to the rain, and he managed to slip through my grasp. As he turned around in fear, I got a rough glimpse of his face. His face was slightly bruised up and bits of…dry blood covered the corners of his mouth. He swung his black hair from his eyes while our gazes made contact. Those emerald green eyes, they screamed fear, but why? He let out a short gasp upon seeing me only to turn around and keep pace with his assailant.
I sighed in contempt while picking myself up and grabbing the umbrella. I shook my head for a bit to rinse out some of the water that had now soaked through me. Looking back in the alley, I gasped seeing two older men, dressed in black laying on the stone pavement. Not seeing their chest rise up, my lips tightening, already knowing their fate. I gagged slightly seeing the knife embedded into one of the men's legs, practically drizzling out a river of blood.
"I should leave this to the guards," I mulled over while scanning the environment. Trash cans were knocked sideways and boxes were scattered around the path.
Just as I was about to walk away, my sights landed on a small dry bag laid under the small cover of the buildings. "I should probably hand this to the officers, mayb-?!" My mouth gaped seeing the contents of the bag.
The amount of money in coins held inside the bag! With how much these coins were worth, it could practically last for three years…or even pay some of dad's debt. Just as I was about to shut the bag, I noticed the thin sketchbook tucked by the side of the bag. Just as I was about to open it, I heard a faint but distinct sound of footsteps crashing against water getting closer. I looked down at the bag with conflict. Once the footsteps got louder, I tightened my grip around the strap and wrapped the bag around my shoulder.
Turning the corner, I looked back at the bloodied corpse with the face of that guy flashing through my head one last time and rushed away from the path.
Well, here's the march update chapter. On one hand, I posted before it could become April, and yet, on the other hand, it's still been slightly more than a month…yeah I need to fix that.
Slightly shorter chapter than what I normally write for this, but I preferred having just these few scenes over what I had planned which have been moved to other chapters. I'm still a bit lukewarm about how my first fight scene turned out but do let me know how yall thought of it. The Pieck scene took me a couple of tries when trying to figure out her character voice.
Thanks again to Chifle for always letting me bounce ideas off of you. Hope you're enjoying that bone-dry cereal while reading this chapter. Also thank you to my beta even if you take as much time to read this chapter as I do to write it lmao.
If you wanna talk more in-depth with me, the easiest way is through discord. I usually hang out on a fanfiction server, The Fanfiction Treehouse.
discord (d o t) gg / 9XG3U7a