Drowning in the Dark Abyss Chapter 3
The rays of the moon reached into the dim room, illuminating a small part of it from the windows. The whole room had been silent, except for the few audible snores that came from the sleeping male trainees. All had been asleep, too tired from today's antics and training. This was the only time when they could ease their sore bodies and rest from the endless training of yesterday and the upcoming ones of tomorrow.
Despite the calm and sleep inviting aura of the room, a certain boy found it hard to sleep, even for just a wink. He tossed and turned around his bed, however sleep just seemed to evade him, robbing him of his right to rest for the night. His flaxen hair was now a mess as he faced the ceiling with a disgruntled look.
Armin has never been this restless. If there was one person who would almost hit the sack immediately when night fell, it was him. This night, however, proved to be an exception he would never have considered, he had already finished the book he had borrowed from the library in his attempts to tire himself out. To no avail, sleep seemed persistent enough to dodge him tonight. He sighed, blowing off a few strands of his fringes. It was bothersome and yet somehow, he would just feel like welcoming it as an old guest within his head.
The truth was that every time the boy attempted to close his eyes, a pair of glimmering topaz-like eyes would stare back at him, accompanied by a dazzling smile that belonged to an equally bedazzling girl with light brown flowing hair and graceful movements as she ran off. At this time, the young man would immediately shot up, awake and blushing as sleep once again shirked out of his grip, sniggering.
Giving up on any final attempts, he resolved to just take a midnight stroll around the grounds, opting for wherever his subconscious may prefer to take him. Slowly, he slipped out of the covers, feeling for his slippers and coat in the dark. Careful that he doesn't alert any of the boy's deep slumber, he walked away from the dorm, his light footfalls barely making a sound. The cool night breeze welcomed him as he closed the door after him.
The surroundings was as clear as day, the moon's silver rays provided him with enough light to traverse whichever path he chooses to take. Armin, wrapped his coat around his body as he looked around, searching for a place to stay until sleep comes over. He found himself eyeing the small shack from afar, the place he knew best would relax him in any time of the day.
'The library'
The blonde boy hesitated, however, with a shake of his head. This was no time to be in that place and besides there was no reason for anyone to be within the library at such an hour.
One more problem;
IT WAS LOCKED!
His blue eyes then locked onto another place, somewhere everyone knew very well.
'The Mess Hall?'
Armin cringed at the thought. He wasn't the kind of person to lurk around the place, maybe Sasha would but definitely not him. Besides, the place looked eerily perfect for a murder case or to catch ghosts in their midnight stroll. Who then would be in their right minds would dare to even go there?! The boy shook his head in distaste, there wasn't anywhere to go. The training grounds for the soldiers was much too small and was far too isolated to have anywhere to stroll on a sleepless nights. The boy sighed; there was no way he could get rid of the haunting of that pretty faced gir-.
"Armin?"
The flaxen-haired boy blinked at the sound of his name. Then, mentally he facepalmed himself, he wasn't even closing his eyes yet and here he is still thinking of her?! What was wrong with him!
"Armin…"
'Focus Armin' he scolded himself, distracting himself from his so-called 'thoughts'. He should better keep himself from getting distracted or an instruc—
A light tap on his shoulder made him jump in surprise, his heart racing in his chest.
'Am I in trouble now?!'
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Yuki sat up on her bunk, restless and irked as she sighed exasperatedly. She had been trying to catch some sleep only to end up in a futile game of tag with her elusive adversary. Giving up on the thought, she silently slipped off her bed and crept out of her barracks.
Air... She needed some air and it surely wasn't the stale air within this silent shack.
The moon sure was beautiful tonight and its rays illuminated enough light to guide her around the place. The girl would have normally preferred to read a book during a sleepless night, today however, was an exception. She couldn't risk waking up the girls just to have them pester her over and over again and end up sleepless with her comrades dragged along the whole night! It seemed after her unprecedented smile this morning towards Christa and Ymir, the whole of girl's barracks had their own attempts on trying to make her smile. Surprisingly, even the ever-so-stoic Mikasa had her own attempts of frivolous acts just for the sake of her rare smile.
Did she really smile so rarely that after one heedless act of smiling; they suddenly felt determined to see it themselves? Yuki could only shake her head at the answer.
With a deep breath, she finally inhaled the cool fresh evening air. She felt her lungs relax at the newfound oxygen.
It has been a while since she last snuck out for fresh air. Last time, she was almost caught dead by Shadis that she had to cease her leisure night walks to keep her out of suspicion. Fortunately, not an utter was told about the topic though Yuki felt as though the instructor knew something about it.
Shrugging the nudging feeling away, she cautiously paced about the training grounds, heedful of any movement. It may be the middle of the night but you never know where a hidden instructor maybe lurking to catch some rule-breaking cadets. Upon turning to a corner, a lone silhouette came to view, emerging from the darkness as the girl hid from sight to assess the figure from afar.
Too short to be an instructor and too lean to be considered a threat, she noted mentally as she kept her gaze locked on the dark figure.
Slowly, the person moved towards the elucidating light of the moon and a head of bright yellow erupted from within the shadows. Relief somehow flooded her senses at the sight, she knew only of one person with that height and hair, in fact, she knew him only now.
Seeing her caution dissipate, she –with astounding silence- approached the idle boy. After all, the lone cadet may as well have the same directive as her as he seemed to be assessing some places around the place.
"Armin?" she called out, to her surprise though, the boy seemingly dismissed her voice with a shake of his head.
"Armin…" still no response, not a turn of his gaze or head was given to her direction.
Mentally exasperated and determined to make her presence known, she tapped his shoulder only to feel him jump in surprise. His face as he turned her exhibited fear, enough to make him pale and teary-eyed. Yuki had to keep herself from chuckling at the sight. How the heck could he look so damn adorable and yet hilarious at the same time?
"You look like you saw a ghost, Arlert." She smirked, finally regaining composure.
"Y-Yuki!" despite his apparent shock, his frame relaxed immediately. "I – I was just afraid the instructor caught me" he smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck accompanied by a small chuckle.
"I doubt the instructors would bother to do a patrol walk this late an hour but we do have every reason to be cautious. This is a rule-breaking feat"
A moment of silence ensued between them followed by a simultaneous sigh.
"Can't sleep?"
The boy only nodded. "Y-You too?"
With another sigh, she gave a nod of her own as she stared out into the deep forest a few feet away from them.
"Mind if we took a walk somewhere?"
"J-Just us?!"
Yuki blinked both at his question and reaction, a brow raised as she failed to notice the pink tinge on his cheeks.
"Obviously, unless you plan to wake Jaeger up to tag along with us which of course, I don't mind."
"No, no… I… I was just…" Armin dismissed his thoughts with another shake of his head, he seemed uncomfortable but perhaps, he was just restless as well. "Where do we go?"
Yuki scanned the grounds with keen observation before answering.
"The library is with no doubt closed at this hour and though the mess hall is still probably open, it isn't a place I'm willing to acquaint myself with… Do you mind if we took a walk in the woods?" she suggested as her eyes fell upon the dense forest, her stare somehow, longing.
"The woods?... Why there?"
A gentle smile graced her features as she turned to him.
"I just happen to know a great place to spend my time in there"