In all her years spent buried in the soil of this cursed Island. Ymir had never quite felt as hopeless as she had now. The skies coated the earth in a hellish blood orange hue, and as they dragged her by the chains through the bustling streets, she couldn't help but feel that she was in the company of devils. Their miens contorted with contempt as they showered her in rock and rotten fruit. In a way, it truly felt like she never left Marley.
Her feet betrayed her. She tripped on the cobblestone beneath her and fell to the ground. His shadow quickly engulfed her, She looked up at him, tall and menacing before her. He maliciously grinned, taking sick pleasure in seeing her struggle helplessly like a cornered rat. He gave life to her greatest fear. He paraded her through this cesspool, the masses gathered on both sides of the street to witness her impending execution.
He knelt down beside her and tugged at the chain, before sinking his nails into her flesh and drawing blood.
"Any last words, Ymir?" The smug-looking Floch had the courtesy to ask before licking the blood off his fingers.
"Go fuck yourse- AGHHHHHh!"
She woke up with an anguished cry forcing its way out from the back of her throat, her head felt incredibly light as her heart thundered. A sharp throbbing pain shot from her left leg, her vision momentarily flashed with a blinding light. She frantically looked around her, quickly realizing she was tied. Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. She heard a sword stab into the dirt right next to her and turned to see Forster on his knees leaning against the blade.
"Good, you're awake." He spoke out to her. She felt enraged at the sight of him, enraged from the pain he caused her.
Floch coldly glared back at her with his good eye, the one she didn't bruise. He looked visibly weakened from their tussle, enough so that a strong gust of wind could knock him down for good. The dried blood that covered the boy served as a reminder of the mark she left on him. She cursed herself for letting her emotions get the best of her. Try as she might, she couldn't transform and end this nightmare prematurely. Ymir settled for glaring daggers at him, childishly hoping he would keel over and die.
"Apologies about the leg. I'm sure it's not the end of the world for you." He weakly let out.
Her heart skipped a beat. Something lit up inside her mind as she had an epiphany. She glanced down at her severed limb and frowned, her eyes wide as saucers as she looked back at him. He smirked, sending her a knowing look. Her world came crashing down on her at that moment. The only question she could ask herself was how, how did he know? The shock paralyzed her, preventing the girl from asking.
"Your face says it all, I'm aware of your little secret." He scoffed. She recovered enough to muster up a few words.
"H-How?! H-How do you know?!" She stuttered, the pit of her stomach fluttering nervously.
"I never imagined It would turn out like this, but I was still waiting for this day you know?" He began. "Imagine my surprise when I found out Marley sent their obedient lapdogs to visit the island devils three years ago." He went as Ymir could do ntohing but watch on with apparent confusion.
"You must know by now that the king of the walls took away everyone's memories, they seriously think they're the last people on earth. Some days I wish that were true. Say, what did you feel the day you found out that you and your friends mass slaughtered what were essentially innocent people?" Floch inquired. Ymir remained frozen, slowly making sense of what he's saying.
"Bahh, who am I kidding, like you'd care. Wasn't it enough that kept sending our people to roam around this island for eternity? Eatign our own?!" He cried out, stomping on her ankle with his foot as she winced in pain.
"Aghh! You... got it all wrong! I'm not with them-" Ymir let out as the pain shook her out of her stupor, emotions bubbling inside of her.
"Don't dare lie to me, I know what you are! You're one of them, YOU'RE A WARRIOR!" He exploded at her. Moments later, he broke into a coughing fit, releasing some of the inhaled water from earlier.
"DAMMIT! I'm not! I was sent to paradise like everyone else! It's only through damn luck I'm even alive!" She cried out
Floch looked unimpressed, wiping his mouth using his sleeve, but he didn't cut her off.
"I spent so long. Stuck inside this horrible nightmare. I can only remember so much from that day, But those warriors, I must have eaten one of them out of pure luck because the next thing I knew, I woke up in the middle of nowhere with nothing left for me but my name. I had to find my way through hell to get inside these walls." She recounted. Tears spilled out of her eyes. She desperately looked up at him, silently begging him to believe her.
"Like I'd believe they'd let you eat one of their own like that and get away with it."
"I'M TELLING YOU THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED, DAMMIT!" She howled. Ymir sat upright. Floch stood up with difficulty and pinned her to the tree behind her with his foot, The boy winced from pain in the process.
Of all the things that could have happened today, Ymir had never expected it would turn out this way. She felt stuck in some drug-fueled fever dream. Ymir wished she could pinch herself and wake up. Perhaps she'd find herself back in the barracks with Krista. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. That sounded nice.
He scoffed at her weak excuse.
"Tsk. So you go on to join the fucking military? For what? Lost something? Guilt? Sabotage?" He prodded relentlessly.
Ymir frowned as she averted her gaze to the grass below, she felt incredibly vulnerable in this position. She remembered swearing to never let anyone strip her of her freedom ever again, but here she was at the mercy of a lunatic. She grit her teeth in frustration before looking up to face the red-headed boy. She could visibly see the rage brewing in those amber eyes, she sucked in a breath.
"For some time, I made a living off of stealing from others. I snuck into a church of one of those crazy wall religion bastards since they're the most loaded of the bunch and overheard some of them talk about a girl they sent off to the military. She was an illegitimate child that they threatened to have killed if she didn't denounce her old life." She explained.
"That girl's Krista." Floch deduced.
"I'm not sure yet, maybe. Everything's leading me to think so as well."
"So you're here to protect little princess? How fucking noble, I should clap for you right now." Floch praised her in a mocking tone.
Ymir grit her teeth in anger as she burned a hole into his forehead with her glare."I felt I could relate to this girl, her hardships, her sorrows, the way the world had stacked it's deck against her favor stirred something inside of me. I saw myself in her, It reminded me of my past, how this world tried to strip me of my freedom, I wanted to join to see it for myself. I wanted to watch over her and see her come out on top, so yes, the answer is yes you damned asshole!"
Floch removed his foot off her shoulder and took a few steps back, He took some time to ponder his next move. Ymir grew worried and impatient, not liking the contemplative looks he gave her. She glanced down at the steaming stump that grew out of her knee, inwardly knowing it was hopeless since he'll likely cut it off again. The amber-eyed boy sighed. He observed her with keen eyes making her feel naked underneath his gaze. He picked apart every detail on her skin and meticulously analyzed it. Eventually, he sat back down and looked up at the sky. She noticed he did that a lot when he went deep into thought.
"What's it like? Becoming a pure titan?" He suddenly asked. Pulling her from her stupor, her eyes widened as pain briefly flashed through them.
"You wouldn't want it to happen to you that's for damn sure, death would have been preferrable to it. Sixty years of being aware of what's going on around you, yet unable to even lift a finger to stop it, you're reduced to being this animal that runs off instincts, stuck in some dreamless sleep." Ymir somberly told him. He hummed in response.
"I see. Alright, Ymir. I'll choose to believe you. Doesn't mean you have my trust." The girl visibly relaxed at this.
"No! Anything but your trust! Asshole." She quipped sarcastically.
"Do I have to remind you the position you're in?" He asked rhetorically. She quickly shook her head.
"Wait." She said. A sudden thought entered her mind.
"They sent you to paradise too, right? How did you survive? A- Are you like me too?" She asked. No, that was a stupid question, she reasoned that if he was he'd have healed by now.
His features considerably darkened, and Ymir felt her breath caught in her throat. He clenched his fists and looked visibly enraged at the memories that flooded his mind.
Sometimes in life...
"I lived a simple life really, one day Marley decided to do something about it, they gathered us all to be slaughtered on this island. Couldn't do a damn thing about it but watch." Floch began. Ymir's mind flashed back to that day, when the Marleyans caught her and the cultists.
Floch paused for a second. Perhaps the memories were too much for him to bear?
"They didn't find it amusing enough to have us all turn into mindless titans. Either that, or they didn't have enough of that serum. Either way, they split us. One-half titan, the other human." Ymir gasped in horror. "They sent our group first. To run away as far as possible, then they turned the rest. If there weren't so many of us running around, I doubt I would have lived."
It's necessary to mix a few truths in with the lies...
"I was the sole person to survive that day, dug myself in the sand, and never moved an inch off the ground till they all left."
The sand, she remembered the sand too. It was the last thing she saw from that time before being thrown into the abyss. Being dug in the ground and waiting to die, suffering all those years. This situation was absurd, but even with the current cirumstances, she could sympathize with the boy. She realized now that they shared many more things in common than she thought before. He must have felt so scared and hopeless that day, like she did.
"That's tough, sorry."
"No need to be." He replied. "And I'm not apologizing about your leg." Ymir grunted in response.
An awkward silence hung over the atmosphere.
"If you ever wondered why I'm adamant on doing what I do, It's because of what happened that day. After having to crawl my way into these walls. I swore that I'll get my revenge on them. Someway, somehow." He continued.
Otherwise.
"How?! Don't you see? It's pointless! You should know that!" She cried.
"You think? Look at you. You stripped them of one of their most prized possessions. Marley isn't invincible. They bleed, they hurt, they can be beaten. It sure beats lying to myself that everything will be fine living behind these walls"
Ymir froze, her vow of freedom ringing loudly in her head. That was her revenge against the cultists, against Marley. Everything she had here was a far cry from the hell she endured outside, but he was right. One day, they would come knocking for her again, they already did. Her mind raced back to Krista. She liked the girl. She'd hate to see her be hurt or worse.
"What happens next, then?" She dejectedly asked.
"We get out of here, Hannah's dead horse over there is bound to attract more beasts and I can't let anyone see you like this." Floch answered. He pointed at the sky behind him and the girl could see bits of green smoke in the sky through the foliage.
"I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine, keep our secrets under a tight lid if you catch my drift." He stood back up and freed her.
"...Alright, let's do that then." She spoke as she rubbed her sore wrists.
He turned his back to the girl, and she could do nothing but look up at him in a new light. From the other side, Floch could barely suppress the smirk that stretched his lips. It physically hurt him, but the pain was well worth the reward.
...How else is a man supposed to achieve great things in this world?
"Do you always want to live hiding behind the mask you put up for the sake of others? You're you, and there's nothing wrong with that. - Ymir 848 AD , to Historia reiss in the middle of a snowstorm
Shortly later, Floch dragged Ymir to cover among the bushes as he heard the horses closing in on their position. Whoever came to rescue them would have to wait until the freckled girl grew her appendage back. It would be hard to explain such an anomaly to a pre-850 paradisian without being hung for witchcraft by the Military police. And he didn't exactly trust the others to keep something like this secret, aside from Sandra and Gordon.
"Shit." Floch cursed after realization struck.
"What?" Ymir puzzled.
"The leg!" Floch hissed in a hushed tone.
"It'll be fine." Ymir brushed it off.
Ruth's terrified shriek pierced the silence of the forest.
"Oh, I was hoping they wouldn't see that." Ymir disappointedly spoke next to him.
The auburn-haired boy stared at her blankly with mounting disbelief.
"Sorry, next time I'll try not to forget. I would have had time to get the boot too If you hadn't decided to drag me away like a sack of potatoes." Ymir deadpanned. She held up the amputated limb to his face and then threw it off to the side, to his relief.
His head hung low, visibly relieved at her quick thinking.
"You're welcome would have been nice. You smell like shit." Ymir grumbled.
It took longer than expected for the group to leave, by the time they did, nightfall had set. Ymir's leg hadn't completely healed yet, so he resorted to carrying her on his back, which was rather unpleasant given the condition of his arm. She wasn't heavy enough for him to complain. In all honesty, having her on his back like this was a total gamble. She could strangle him or cut his throat at any moment, but the boy had a gut feeling things will go swimmingly. He was relieved to discover that Hannah's supplies were still intact when he looted the dead horse. The emergency medkit and tools she had in the bags proved to be handy, Including the flare gun he possessed. He would plan to go on foot to the forest's edge and signal for help, where Ymir's handicap would no longer be an issue.
Ymir took full advantage of her situation and comfortably laid her chin on his shoulder to sleep, much to his ire. He had no doubt she was still wary of him. Their truce, alliance, or whatever you'd call it, was shaky at the moment. One wrong move on either side would be enough for blood to spill again. If that were to occur, he'd better hope he could cut her down faster than she could transform. Keeping her alive proved to be the correct choice for now.
He glanced at Ymir from the corner of his eye as he trekked through the forest. If he kept going down this path, he doubted he'd ever be able to stop. The acts he would be forced to carry out, and the toll it would take on his mind and soul would be taxing. His childhood friends would have to watch him turn into a monster, someone enitrely unrecognizable from the person they once knew. He hoped they could understand him, the man prayed they wouldn't turn out like Jean and the rest.
Would they be able to take that extra step forward when the time came?
"Why did we stop?" Ymir opened a single eyelid in confusion.
"I thought my back was comfortable enough to sleep on." Floch joked half-heartedly.
"I'll choose to sleep on it. Doesn't mean you have my trust." Ymir echoed in a mocking tone.
"Touché."
"We're near the edge of the forest. How's your leg looking?" He asked.
She flexed it forward for him to inspect. The foot was starting to form. Floch estimated it would be around a couple more hours for her to regenerate to full condition. He set her down on the ground, the brunette began to unpack her backpack and pulled out a sleeping bag. Floch went around the area collecting sticks, leaves, and rocks, the trees here were too thick to cut down, and he didn't want to dull their blades chopping off chunks of wood. Around the time he finished collecting everything, Ymir had already laid down to sleep.
"Not waiting for the fire?"
"I'm above the weather."
Well, he wasn't. Floch was eager to get some warmth before the night became too cold, He effortlessly lit the campfire and then reached over for Hannah's bag to retrieve the medkit. The boy undid the belt holding up the broken appendage then slowly slid it out of his jacket, he undid his buttons one by one and removed his shirt with great care. He took a small hand mirror with his good arm and began assessing the damage he took.
'Yup looks fucked.' He mentally noted his injuries.
Bruising on the right eye and neck, scratches on the face, bruising along the ribs, and a... small piece of shrapnel sticking out from his left side. 'That's what that pain was.'
Floch cursed under his breath, he delicately removed the tiny shard then cleaned the wound to the best of his ability. He proceeded to heat the tip of his ODM blade. Floch bit hard on the separated handguard before pressing the white-hot metal into the gaping injury. Tears leaked from his eyes as he barely suppressed an agonized howl. He hastily dropped the sword and moved to cover the exposed burned flesh with bandages.
"Goddamn Forster! No hesitation!" Ymir whistled from the sidelines.
Floch said nothing as he continued to apply first aid to himself, he struggled immensely with his broken arm as he felt more sluggish than before. The freckled girl sighed and crawled her way towards him, to the brunette's amazement, he didn't protest against it, remaining relatively cooperative with her. By the time she finished wrapping his arm, the boy had fallen unconscious. She furrowed her brows at his limp form, a sudden thought popped into her mind. Her eyes snapped towards the sword lying next to her, then back to the boy. She contemplated hard about her next action. Eventually, she sighed in frustration and pulled the auburn-haired boy closer towards her side of the campfire, She helped him dress before tucking him into the sleeping bag.
"I'll stop being selfish, just this once."
There wasn't a second fight after that, no more trouble to avoid, no more problems to solve. Floch slept well into the morning under Ymir's watchful gaze, by which point her limb had fully grown back, she reached into the bag and pulled out the flare gun. From there, she prompty shot it up into the air and patiently waited for help to come, she hoped to leave this shitty overgrown forest as soon as possible and to put everything here behind her.
Just an hour later, Their squad was the first to arrive alongside Mylius's unit. Ymir stood by the side as Gordon and Sandra rushed towards the unconcious Floch, upon discovering his bandaged face and body, they refrained from distrubing him. Sandra walked over to her and whole heartedly thanked her for looking out for him, much to her annoyance. She did take note of the suspicious glances Gordon took at her bare foot and torn pants. inwardly grumbling at the boy who cut her leg, she momentarily entertained the thought of transforming and wiping everybody here off the face of the earth, but brushed the intrusive thought away. For now, this was Floch's problem to handle.
"So what happened back there?" Tom felt the need to ask.
The ride back home was relatively fine up until this point, Ymir hated idiots, more than that she hated idiots who asked lots of questions.
"Only Floch knows, ask him." Ymir replied, bored out of her mind.
"But you were there?" He continued badgering her.
"Tom, cut it off. She obviously doesn't want to talk about it." Gordon chastised him, his eyes lingering on the bare foot and torn pants.
"Whatever." He grumbled.
The rushing wind and the shaking of the horse he rode on woke him up, Floch opened a single eye and peered at the cadets around him. He felt brief panic at the unfamiliar surroundings and the rope tying him to something but quickly dimissed it, he felt himself leaning against someone. Gordon noticed his sudden shift in movement and looked back at his friend, both of them shared a look before the taller boy grinned at him.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Gordon greeted.
"Hmm." He hummed.
"Get some rest, we'll be back to camp soon."
Floch didn't complain as he drifted back into a relatively peaceful slumber.
"...And when I was asked who would be that brave soldier, I ended up thinking... I would." - Floch Forster 850 AD, to Marlowe freudenberg, Mere minutes before rushing into certain death.
Another day spent on a mattress, another night lying down waiting for sleep to claim him. The cadet comfortably laid in bed, doing his best to get some rest. His ears twitched, picking up on the faint movements coming from the entrance. The door clicked open and creaked as it did, his senses heightened, heartbeats increasing in tandem, it was late at night and the nurse left a few minutes ago. Floch had a bad feeling lingering in the back of his mind, he wondered if Ymir had come to get rid of loose ends, did she finally draw her conclusions? He reached for the knife on the counter and hid it underneath the cover of his blanket as he feigned sleep.
The footsteps drew closer, he carefully listened to their rhythm. The closer they became the bigger his relief grew. their steps were light and indecisive, this wasn't Ymir, had it been the jaws shifter he'd have never even heard the door creaking, and the feet shuffling t on the floorboard, broadcasting the act of stepping into this room as a mental challenge. He opened one eye and glanced at his visitor, he furrowed his brows at the sight of the girl before him. Ruth D. Kline looked back at him timidly, she fidgeted in her spot like a child caught in the act. He rose from the bed and startled her in the process.
"F-Floch! I thought you were asleep, I was about to leave..." She stammered.
"Couldn't sleep, Can I help you?"
"I came here to talk."
"Take a seat."
Ruth hastily makes her way to the chair next to the bed and did as told.
"I-I'm glad you're doing okay, we were all incredibly worried about you and Ymir." She began.
"Thank you, though you're not here for that are you?"
"I... I also wanted to thank you myself." She said, Floch raised his brow questioningly.
"You see... when you yelled at me in the forest back then. I...I hated you so much. It wasn't until you put your life on the line for Hannah and Franz that I began to think things through. I realized that the hatred I felt wasn't really towards you but at myself, you were everything I wanted to be, dependable, courageous, and generally someone who looks out for others. I hated myself for being so weak, Hearing you say it after everyone else sugar-coated things for me for the longest time, made me realize how bad things were, in a way you helped give that extra push for me to understand the gravity of the situation." She confessed, Tte boy stared in awe as she poured her heart out.
"I desperately tried to hide from the truth, because the truth hurts. I know I'm not strong, I can never be half as good as you or the other girls around here. Yeah, I barely managed to scrape by-"
"Ruth-," Floch interjected.
"I always had a feeling I wouldn't last on my first day out there should things go south, However, I continued to lie to myself that everything will turn out fine. I don't think that's true anymore. You asked me back then, why would I join? Not because I wanted to, my mother died just around the time we lost wall Maria, leaving behind a sickly father, younger brother, and me. I joined to help them."
"But it's so hard..." She burst into tears. "You're right, I don't know if I can do this. How can I help the only family I have left If I can't even pull my weight around here." She sobbed.
Floch scoffed, he reached out for the girl and lightly tapped on her forehead with his knuckle. She recoiled in pain and clutched the aching skin, she looked at him with bewilderment as she rubbed the soreness.
"Shut up, Do I look like one of your girlfriends you can dump your sob stories onto? Enough with that will ya?" He grumbled.
"Sorry." Ruth averted her eyes, crestfallen at his words.
"Eh, Don't be. You have more than enough time to turn things around. For what it's worth, know that I wasn't always like this." Floch took a deep breath and leaned into his bed, his eyes roamed towards the window and he admired the night's sky.
"What do you mean?" She puzzled.
"When I was younger, I used to be one shameless coward, I was somebody so selfish, they'd gladly run with their tail tucked between their legs while their friends got put in the dirt. I still vividly remember the day it all changed. There I was, with Sandra and Gordon and some other dumb kids. Lost and confused. On the other side, we were getting picked on mercilessly by these shitty bullies from another part of town, I was so close to giving up and running back then." He paused for a moment, recalling the events inside his head.
"What happened next?" Ruth questioned eagerly.
"This awful, but great man came along. His words ensnared me, his presence alone could convince chicken to fly and fish to swim on land." Ruth giggled, finding the mental image incredibly funny.
"He changed me, I went from a coward to someone who charges into certain death without a second thought. Thinking back on it, that's how he wanted us to be all along."
"T-these were just bullies right?!" She stuttered with concern.
"Details, don't worry about it."
"Anyway, what I'm saying is, that nobody is perfect. Everyone gets scared, everyone fails, and there's no shame in that. It's just that others are better at hiding it. The only ones who should be ashamed are the ones who don't try, the ones who sit by the side and do nothing to turn their lives around." Floch told her.
"You can do great things, Ruth, if you work hard and dedicate your heart to those around you I'm confident you'll be just as capable as the rest. You can be somebody that your parents and brother can be proud of." He reassured her, her face considerably lit up at the words of confidence.
"Will you help?" She asked with mounting hope.
"Is that even a question?" He chuckled.
"I... Thank you!" She squealed lunging at the bandaged boy.
"Get the hell off of me!" He snapped, struggling to remove her.
"I promise I won't let you down! Goodnight!"
She quickly left, this time however there was a bounce in her steps. As the door slammed shut, he couldn't help but allow a smile to creep upon his face. He leaned back into bed and stared into the moon outside. Floch Forster chuckled and closed his eyes, he slowly drifted back into sleep. His expression suddenly soured.
"That knife's poking my thigh." He groaned.
That's chapter 4 done, Crazy how far i've come, here's to 4 more I guess.
Again I'd like to thank everyone who reached this point, I noticed there were some people who created their accounts solely to follow this story and that warms me up on the inside, I hope this was enjoyable so far. Now, to nip some stuff in the bud.
Tl;dr: I am a fan of shipping, I enjoy reading it a lot. But I'll only consider doing ships for this story If it fits into the plot and serves a purpose or whatever, thank you. :)
With that said, have a goodday/night and until next time! :)
