Drowning in the Dark Abyss Chapter 2
The whole thing was a blur, a flurry of different swirling colors that made up no shape or form. Like mixed colors in a palette albeit dull and bleak, like a sick man's vomit. The sounds and noises she heard were without a doubt, voices of people. People who seemed to scream and shout at her but none seemed to be coherent enough to be understood. She felt drowned, suffocated by the mass of inexplicable things that surrounded her.
'Stop'
She pleaded but to no avail, the scene persisted, smothering the air out of her as she fell to her knees, ears covered.
'Stop please!'
The feeling persisted and she felt nausea overcome her, she felt so sick. Oh, won't someone come to help? Anybody…?
"Nee sama!"
From all the overwhelming irrational noises she heard came one familiar sound, one familiar voice.
"Nee sama!"
It felt far away; an echo from a distant place that is calling for her.
"Nee sama! Hurry up! Nee sama!"
Without any hesitation, she broke into a run. Mindless of where she was headed to, letting her shaking legs take her anywhere, somewhere away from that insanity.
"Nee sama! Hurry up! Hurry up, slowpoke!"
She ran faster, panting with the effort it took for her to run at full speed. Her escape long forgotten as she was finally able to lift her head and search for the source of the voice.
From afar, a silhouette of a young boy waved at her, beckoning for her to come towards him. A flood of mixed emotions filled her as she dashed towards the child. She felt glad, happy at the sight of this kid. Tears stung her eyes as she struggled to get to where the lad was. She has to get there! She has to-!
"Nee sama!"
The sudden urgency and alarm that filled his voice startled her to a stop. To her surprise, pandemonium filled her ears as a mob of panicked people brushed her aside so abruptly, air was nearly forced out her lungs.
"Help me! Nee sama!"
She struggled through the crowd, even pushing the civilians aside as she fought her way against the current to reach the end. That boy, she has to reach him! She could still hear his pleads of help and it was an enough reason for her to push through this mindless frenzy. Upon reaching the end however, the sight horrified her enough to knock the strength on her knees. A gigantic hand grabbed the boy who struggled and writhed to escape, but it was futile as the giant clamped the life out of him.
"N….. No,… Th-This…. Can't-..!"
The ground shook under her feet as the ominous feeling of death overcame her. Her breathing heavy as she tried to look up as much as her courage allowed her to. There in front of her, came the deformed face of the monstrosity that devoured the child, its face smeared with fresh blood. She felt sick when it smiled at her, bits of human flesh stuck on the gaps of its teeth, its breath reeking of death. She saw the hand reach out for her, death looming heavily upon her. Her legs suddenly felt like lead, her body refusing to move any longer as though it had already given up on the endless escape.
No!
NO! She can't die like this! She can't… She mustn't!
The hand was nearer, about to close on her.
No! She must escape! She can't die! She can't!
The vice-like grip enclosed upon her, pain shooting on every part of her body and she writhed, screamed and struggled against death.
'I shouldn't die like this! I couldn't I have to live… I have to live because…'
"Yuki…. Yuki! YUKI!"
The fair haired girl shot up awake, beads of sweat matted her face and her breathing heavy. She turned to the side to see a familiar blonde haired girl facing her as the haze dissipated.
"Are you okay?" she asked again, blue eyes laced with sisterly-like concern
"Ch-Christa?" she stammered as she pushed herself up to sit. "Wh-What happened?"
"W-Well, you were suddenly writhing and screaming so we got worried and checked on you" The pale haired girl explained as she sat at the edge of the bed.
"You were screaming so loud we thought someone trespassed our dorm. A nightmare?" Ymir asked.
The girl only nodded at this and with a sigh, she put a hand to her head.
"I'm sorry for waking you guys up and bothering your sleep…"
"N-No! Its fine.. It's almost time for us to rise anyways" Christa gave a reassuring smile at her while she waved her hands.
"Yeah. Your screaming was the best alarm clock to have us moving. You should do it more often every morning" Ymir joked, only to receive a light jab on the shoulder from the other girl.
"That wasn't a good joke, Ymir!" she scolded.
"Hey, it was a joke. No offense meant to Yuki" the brown haired girl defended as she rubbed her shoulder, complaining of her fake pain from the frail jab.
The small argument ensued until a light chuckle put them to a stop, urging them to turn to the nearly forgotten girl on the bed.
"There's no need to fuss about it, Christa. Like Ymir said, it was a joke." Yuki smiled, her expression was gentle as she stared at the two. Her usually blackish-brown eyes, lighting up into brilliant amber color.
The two was awestruck at the sight, they knew Yuki's eyes had a dazzling hidden color to it but they've never encountered it, until this day. The lustrous color it carried was akin to that of a precious gem and anyone who would have seen it would be entranced to stare for hours on end.
"We should be getting ready for today's activities. We wouldn't want instructor Shadis cursing on our tardiness" she gave one last smile before sliding off the bed, making her way towards the showers as she swiftly grabbed her towel.
"Was that really… Did she just…?" Christa stuttered, unable to even complete her words.
"She smiled…" Ymir finished for her in a daze.
This wasn't a surprise, at all. Yuki was quite the enigma for everyone in the 104th trainee's squad. If there was one person who seemed to fit as a complete human puzzle for everyone, it was Yuki. The girl managed to keep a low profile by being a mystery herself. Her personality, for example, seemed to be a mix of what is supposed to be contradictory. She was cold and yet she was also approachable, though usually soft spoken, she has the ability to raise her voice in order to dominate and take control. This antagonizing personality and her ability to keep herself in the dark is what kept her inscrutable to everyone's eyes. However, when within a secluded place with a few people to keep her company, her usual façade seems to dissipate into thin air, resulting to this light mannered girl that Ymir and Christa just witnessed themselves. It was as though she felt more at ease when in front of a smaller group, whether that had meant she trusts them or not, however, also deemed to be undetermined.
"I let my guard down a bit" Yuki mumbled as she stepped into the showers and hung the towel on a hook.
"I rarely smile with that much intensity… I might need to expect the whole thing out of their mouths and into the whole squad. Why can't you just keep your smiles to yourself Yuki?"
The girl sighed as she felt the warm water splash onto her body. The whole shower room was empty as it was a lot earlier than she thought. Typical of Christa to lie to make you feel better but then she couldn't really hate the idea of bathing alone; after all, she was the one who had the habit of basking in the silence of solitude. Her thoughts where in a whirl when she was alone and she had the habit to contemplate on them, it made her feel at ease to stay in that side of her head. This time though, she didn't feel quite comfortable with how her train of thoughts were coming to.
That dream.
It seemed familiar, it seemed like a memory… a memory she had thrown away and buried deep at the back of her mind and now has resurfaced to haunt her. She shook her head, drops of water flung into mid-air from the strands of her hair. This wasn't a memory she buried but she had to admit it wasn't worth reliving either. The chestnut haired girl gave another sigh, exasperated. She had a lot more things to tackle than one measly disturbing dream; she can have time for that later, alone. For now, it was best she focus on today's course of events. She needs to keep her grades at a good position so she wouldn't fail, she didn't need to be top, and passing was more than enough to her, after all, her choice after graduation wasn't like the blind cadets who chose to be in the impracticable Police Military. She couldn't even understand why people look up to them so much! They were useless and a bunch of prideful oafs! The girl hastily grabbed her towel, drying herself.
'I'm thinking too much. I need to lay off a bit' she thought as she covered herself with the towel. 'And my smiles don't really kill people, its high time I show a little more emotion… I guess'
~~~Time Skip~~~
As one could expect, the whole day was a matter of jotting down notes on lectures, skills training and taking in curses from the always-on-a-bad-mood Keith Shadis. Every day could be called a repetition if not maybe of the loops they used. This time, as though mentally draining the students were not enough they had focused more on combat practice and with new sparring partners. Yuki glanced over Christa; it seems she won't be seeing the kind blonde girl as her sparring partner now.
"Today, we decided that you little shits spar with the opposite gender! Understood?"
After a few minutes –that seemed like hours to everyone— the whole list of who should spar with who was given.
Eren and Annie
Mikasa and Jean
Bertholdt and Ymir
And Miyuki…?
The light brown haired girl stared at the frail boy in front of her; though her expression was blank she slightly pitied him. For someone who seemed quite timid, being in the military didn't seem to be the correct option.
'A blonde again, huh? Seriously Shadis, what is up with you for pairing me up with the flaxen haired people? Mostly, why was it always the frail ones?'
Seeing as she had no other choice, she sighed and acknowledged her sparring mate.
"Armin, correct?"
"Y-Yes" he stuttered as he looked up at her.
"Let's start now, before Shadis catches us slacking"
She threw the wooden knife at the boy and clumsily, the lad was able to catch it with a sigh.
"I permit you to attack first" she informed, her stance posing no threat or defense.
"E-Eh?.." Armin nods rather hesitantly as he grips the knife shakily with both hands and in a blink of an eye tries to attack.
Yuki's dull eyes blink momentarily into their lighter color as she immediately maneuvers herself away from the knife's trajectory and grabs the boy's hand, immediately putting it behind him to disable and disarm him as well. As soon as she got hold of the dagger she let go of him, leaving the boy to rub his shoulder, disappointed.
"Not bad, Armin. Fast but not enough." she smiled lightly, her eye color brightening slightly. "However, I have reason to believe you never experienced knife combats"
The boy simply nods at her statement and looks away as he sat, his expression sober.
"I… I'm not into violence…"
"I thought as much, but you see, Arlert. We'll need to learn to defend ourselves. I see no reason why we have to learn hand in hand combat by ourselves but… I know it can save our lives more than once to know how to defend. We don't know… when our life will be taken that is why, we must know how to protect that too" Yuki pointed out as she flipped the wooden weapon to her other hand.
With an outstretched hand, Yuki offered to help him stand up to which the boy accepted. She handed the dagger back to him and instead of being at a distance like before, stood closer to him.
"I think I should teach you a few things about using this wooden weapon before we actually engage into a spar battle."
The blonde boy blinked with askance before nodding and holding the dagger with both hands. Yuki noticed his evident shaking.
"Armin, stop shaking. Take a deep breath and calm yourself."
Armin nodded and did so, immediately calming down to which the girl praised with a smile.
"Good. Now lower your center of gravity that way you cannot easily be taken down"
Yuki instructed him fully and patiently, allowing her new partner to be able to absorb everything she was teaching him. Correcting his stance, incorporating some vital defensive knowledge like blocking and when to strike an opponent; be it defensive or offensive.
The girl didn't have a hard time as the boy slowly caught on with her words, like a docile student to a teacher. He listened and observed her attentively when teaching him. Armin felt slightly hesitant to be taught at first but as the time ticked by and as Yuki's scolding lessened, his confidence boosted albeit slightly as he mastered the various techniques. He couldn't even believe how much interest he was having when once-upon-a-time he used to see no sense with all of it. Something was compelling him to learn.
Was it Yuki's dominance over him?
Her persistence…?
Her encouraging…?
Her…..
'Maybe… it was just my eagerness' the boy thought, setting aside his train of thoughts with a light blush.
"Nice work, Armin. Your training is taking effect."
Armin looked up to see a water flask being waved in front of him.
"Th-Thanks" he stammered as he took the container, taking a small sip.
"They're at it again" Yuki sighed exasperatedly as she sat down beside him, staring at the scene a few meters away from them.
Armin followed her gaze, spotting a small crowd from afar, hooting and shouting with excitement.
"It's probably Jean and Eren again..." he muttered under his breath as he watched the sight.
"I'm not surprised at all; those two are always at it. Fighting for god knows whatever the reason is" she replied, taking a sip from her own flask.
The blonde boy nods, even he himself who is long used to Eren and his antics couldn't even figure out the cause of friction between the two. They're fights just seem to become more random with each passing day, more of like a rivalry on something farcical.
This was as normal as life can get for the military trainees. Eren and Jean's farce, even Connie and Sasha's hilarious antics were the only things that spiced up the dull stuff that filled their lives. That was one of the main reasons why everybody was urging the two into a duel until the instructor steps in to interrupt the fight.
"I wonder how much bruises and cuts they will get before Instructor Shadis comes in?" Yuki asked, her gaze was glued onto the crowd.
Armin's glance slowly turned into a stare as he observed her. She seemed to be immersed in whatever she was pondering on as her eyes reverted to their rather lazy gaze, the one you mostly see her with. Despite that fact, however, Armin found himself staring at the stunning dark mix of the black and brown color of her eye. She heard from Christa and Ymir that they turned lighter when she smiled and the boy couldn't help but imagine how that would look like.
"Uhh… Armin? What are you staring at me like that for?"
The boy's face turned red as he snapped out of his trance, his flaxen colored hair making his face turn darker shades of red.
"N-Nothing… Nothing r-really" he chuckled nervously, his gaze averted from hers.
Yuki tried to stifle her laugh but failed miserably as she burst into a fit of giggles, making the boy turn back to her.
"I was just… asking. There was no need to get flustered, Arlert" she was still suffering from the erupting giggles and the boy turned his gaze away yet again, still carrying the red hue on his face.
Noticing that she might have slightly offended him, she puts a hand to his head to ruffle the soft yellow locks with a smile.
"Sorry about that, I got a little too overboard… you just looked kind of cute when you backed off" she explained then stood up, smiling.
To Armin's surprise, her eyes turned to a lighter dazzling color akin to that of an imperial topaz. Bedazzled by its beauty as he stared nearly slack jawed at her.
"I'm going to the mess hall first. I'd rather eat bad tasting food than nothing at all"
The blonde managed a nod before watching her run off while Mikasa and Eren approached their flabbergasted friend.
"Hey Armin…? Wanna get some food?" Eren asked as he tended to a few bruises he received from both the training and the following brawl.
"Armin?" Mikasa's voice was laced with concern when the boy failed to answer.
"I…. saw something…. Beautiful" Came his late reply which sent the two other teens, shrugging in confusion.