The River
I wake the next morning from the hot sun that's beating down through the canopy of the trees. I look to my right and I see a strange looking bird staring at me. But the more I stare at it the stranger it looks. I finally realize that it's not a bird at all but a camera. The Game-makers have hidden cameras all over the arena in order to broadcast every little thing that happens in the Games.
"We need to find water," Eren says when we make it safely to the ground and I agree. I'm already starting to feel dehydrated from this heat and there must be a river or pond somewhere. But I'm weary, because I feel like that's where everyone is going to be and I don't want to run into Annie and the other two. But the more we walk, the thirstier we get and I know we can't ignore this thirst for much longer.
"It's so hot, Mikasa," remarks Eren, "We need water."
I look up at the cloudless sky and shield my eyes from the sun. My sweat is already making my clothes cling uncomfortably to my body and I know that sweating this much will only dehydrate us faster. But how do we find a source of water in this huge arena?
We decide to keep walking west and hope that we run into something. But as the sun rises higher in the sky, the temperature also continues to climb. Eren had already shed his sweatshirt and black undershirt and I also take off my zip-up, leaving only my black tank top on. The person that designed our outfits made a poor choice to make our shirts black. We try to stay in the shade as much as possible but it only provides little help against this heat.
Eventually, Eren collapses and falls to the ground. "I can't do it, Mikasa," he cries, "I can't take this heat any longer. We have to stop and rest."
I turn around and rush back to his side. "We can't stop, Eren. This heat will only get worse and we'll soon be dehydrated and disoriented." Then I suddenly hear it; the faint trickling of a stream or river. "Do you hear it? There's a river close by! We are almost there," I say excitedly and help Eren to his feet.
We only have to travel for a short distance until we came to the river. From where we stand, the river starts to flow downwards over a rocky bottom and a few yards down is a small waterfall. It is probably only twenty feet across and three or four feet deep. But the current looks strong and fast.
I'm too thirsty to check our surroundings and we both wade knee deep into the water. Eren dunks his head under and then cups his hands to drink. I pull out the canteen and start filling it up when I suddenly hear a scream. I swiftly look up and Eren looks around too. I look back down at the canteen but I see that the water around us is turning red and that's when the cannon went off. We look up river and see Annie and the young girl from Four floating down towards us with her throat slit.
"We need to get out of here! Annie's probably already spotted us!" I cry urgently to Eren. But before I can even move someone grabs me from behind and I feel a strong arm wrap around my neck.
"You're not going anywhere!" I hear Reiner sneer behind me.
"RUN, EREN!" I shout.
Eren turns and see's that Reiner has me but instead of running away, he pulls out the knife I gave him and runs at Reiner. But before he can get to us Bertholdt charges in and tackles the knife out of Eren's hand and wraps a long arm around Eren's neck and holds him tight. "Dammit! Let her go Reiner or I swear on all the hells!" Eren roars.
Reiner laughs. "You'll what, Eren? Haunt me from your grave? You're in no position to be making threats right now."
My mind is racing and I struggle against Reiner but he is too strong. It's not going to end this way! I keep telling myself. It can't! I think back to all the times Eren and Reiner practiced together. How Reiner was always happy to help Eren or anyone else that needed it. I think of Bertholdt and how quiet he always was but kind. I would often notice him going over to talk to the young girl from Four whenever she was alone. How can these Games change these people so much? I know that deep down they are still those people that I met back at the Palace, but right now their only thought is to kill.
"Bertholdt, let Eren go. I'm the bigger threat; I'm the one you're after. If you don't let him go, I swear on all the hells that I'll make sure your deaths are slow and painful," I demand.
Bertholdt looks nervous and sweaty but he just shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Mikasa. I can't!"
"That was easier than I thought," Annie says as she walks towards us; a long dagger in her hand which is covered with the girl from Four's blood. "Now which one do I kill first?" she adds looking between the two of us. She walks up to me and places the dagger against my cheekbone. "Should it be you? Since you're already so willing to die? Or should I make you watch as I kill your precious boyfriend that you swore to protect?"
"Annie, you don't have to do this!" Eren cries, "Who is the real enemy?"
Annie whirls on him, "It's too late for that!" she belts, "we're already part of their stupid plans and I promised my father that I would return to him!"
"We don't have to fight each other!" Eren insists.
"I'm sorry, Eren," Annie says and she raises her dagger. But before she can do anything something whizzes by my ear and I feel Reiner jerk and scream in pain. I look over and see a small knife sticking out of the shoulder of the arm that's holding me. He doesn't let go but it loosens his arm just enough and I'm able to reach up and grab the back of Reiner's shirt and flip him over my shoulder. Eren attempts to head-butt Bertholdt with the back of his head but Bertholdt is too tall and Eren only is able to hit his mouth. But it does enough damage and Bertholdt lets go to cup his bleeding mouth.
Another knife goes zooming by and only misses Annie by a hair, so she, Reiner, and Bertholdt decide to flee and they all run and jump down the small waterfall. I look up the river and I see Christa and Ymir standing a little off shore. Christa. The girl who wanted to be friends with everyone, is throwing knifes at us. I hardly have time to even react to that and it looks like she's about to throw another knife but suddenly there's an arrow sticking out of her chest and she falls into the water.
"CHRISTA!" Ymir screams and she picks up the petite blonde and bolts with her back into the woods and only moments later I hear a cannon blast.
I look to the other side of the river and see Connie and Sasha. Sasha has a bow in her hands and Connie is gesturing to us to follow them. I hesitate but Eren quickly runs after them and I follow. By now the whole river has turned the color red.
We follow them quite a ways into the woods until we reach a small valley. At the bottom of the valley a small shelter is built out of pine branches and moss. It's completely camouflaged if you were looking down from the top of the valley. I hand Eren back his shirt and zip-up that I had stored in my bag and he slips them back on.
"You guys can stay here tonight with us," Sasha says, "but I think tomorrow we should split up. Being in too big of group can get too conspicuous."
"Why?" I ask but Sasha just looks at me confused, so I continue, "Why would you save us back at the river? And why are you letting us stay with you now? The whole point of the Games is to kill each other."
Sasha just hugs her arms and shrugs. "My family has always taught me never to kill for sport. We must always respect nature and the creatures that live in it. And killing in these Games just doesn't feel right. It's like it goes against the laws of nature."
"You killed Christa, back at the river," I remind her.
"I killed her because she was a threat and a danger to you. The same way I would have killed a charging bear," Sasha argues.
"How do you know we're not a threat or a danger to you? We could kill you both right in your sleep and that would be two less Players to worry about," I threaten.
"Because I can just tell," she explains, ''neither of you are a threat."
"Sasha has good instincts," Connie finally speaks up, "she's the only reason I'm still alive."
"Well, thank you for everything. We really appreciate it," I respond smiling.
Sasha smiles back and goes over to a large pile of rocks and pulls out a dead rabbit. "Are you guys hungry?" she asks. I didn't even realize how hungry I was until my stomach started to growl loudly at the sight of the rabbit. We hadn't eaten all day today and most of yesterday.
"Did you catch that yourself?" Eren asks in awe.
"Of course I did!" Sasha answers.
"You're not going to cook it are you?" I say. "People could see the flames and the smoke."
"Come over here and look," Sasha replies gesturing to the pile of rocks. So Eren and I go over to see what she's talking about. And in her pile of rocks is a small cave and in the cave is a small fire pit that Sasha must have already built. It's a perfect place to hide fire and smoke.
"This is brilliant," Eren tells Sasha.
"Hey, I helped!" Connie remarks, "I am a genius after all."
Sasha just laughs and says, "Connie and I will go get some wood for the fire. You two stay here and watch camp." And they both head out of the valley.
"Mikasa, you're bleeding!" Eren says alarmed and gently touches the spot on my cheek right bellow my eye.
"Oh, it must've been when Annie cut me with her dagger," I remark.
"Does it hurt?" he asks concerned.
"No," I answer. Eren's hand is still on my cheek and he's leaning in so close to examine it that I can see he has very light freckles on his nose that I've never noticed before. He's leaning in so close that his breath tickles my neck and I shiver. As if he's finally aware of our proximity, he clears his throat and leans back and suddenly goes very red.
"I lost my knife," he states looking at the ground. And as if they heard him, a small parachute with a container floats down and lands a few feet from us. We both just stand there and stare at it, too stunned to know what to do.
"Wow, you guys already have Sponsors!" Connie exclaims as he and Sasha both make their way back down with their arms full of small branches.
Eren goes over to it first and then I go to look at it too. He picks up the small container and reads the tag attached to it, "To Eren, don't even think about losing this one." He opens the container and inside is a knife like the one he just lost. But this one looks sharper and deadlier and it's twice the size as his last knife. "Oh, there's another container in here," and he picks up a tiny container and reads, "P.s. Don't let that get infected, brats. –Levi."
He frowns and opens the container and inside is a small tube of ointment. "It must be for your cut," Eren says.
I scowl, "I don't need it."
"Yes you do! Otherwise it will get infected," Eren argues. "Here, I'll put it on so hold still."
I can only hope that in this diming light Eren doesn't see me blushing from embarrassment as he rubs the ointment onto my cut. And I swear that somehow I will kill Levi for this.