I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin
A/N: I've decided to take up continuing "Change of Gait" due to the high demand, go check it out!
So long as she had the man who saved her alive, she could disregard the man who deceived her. As she sat in the cart, eyes trained on the drunk Marquis, the urge to shoot him began to overwhelm her. But she knew better, she had to keep him alive just a bit longer. They needed his resources and status to get by for the meantime.
It disgusted her that he had approached her in her sleep, she knew only by finding that her hair was pulled down; it sent a shiver down her spine at the thought of coming into contact with him. She brought her focus back to Rivaille, cradling hm and keeping him alive was her priority; she pushed away unpleasant thoughts of the past so that she could focus on what was at hand.
-...-
"Listen, Hanji-"
Sasha whirled her rifle around to aim it at Erwin.
The Commander looked down at it, then raised his hands to show he never meant offense.
"Let him talk," Hanji demanded.
Reluctantly, the brunette returned to her original target.
"What is it, Erwin?"
"I propose that you send her out to get you your Titan samples, you said you need them to cure Rivaille, right?" He entreated. "You keep the girl here as insurance, Ymir goes out to the Karanese for your lab, then comes back to the Hermiha. And if you want it sooner, give her a deadline. Nothing wrong with paying her for an errand."
The woman stood there, thinking. Eren took his time to survey the surrounding people.
He had been locked up in the cell for a short time and yet he felt that everyone had changed as though they had gone through years of hardship. It was almost foreign to speak to most of them.
Jean was the first he greeted, he hadn't differed much from the Jean he knew. They passed an insult or two when they were traveling with Isidor. Nothing new except that they had enough pressure to put aside their differences. Plus, he was grateful that he tried to rescue him from prison.
Christa and Ymir...they seemed relatively normal. He hadn't interacted with them much over the years so he couldn't sense anything wrong.
Sasha had shown the greatest shift. Usually...well, immature and playful, he didn't need to speak to her to know she had become withdrawn. It was like she had been shaken hard enough by Keith Shadis to forget who she was. A quiet Sasha, or quiet woman, irked him; she looked like she carried a burden, her tired eyes did most of the talking. Right now, as he stared at her, she had this disturbing, bloodthirsty look in her eyes, it scared him.
Armin...poor Armin, he looked like a complete mess. When he spoke, it was like he was trying to hide something, like he was guilty. He was fidgety whenever Eren addressed him, as though he were waiting to be asked a certain question. Eren surmised that if he inquired about the origins of Mikasa's injuries, it would set Armin off in a panic. As advised by Hanji, he would figure it out later.
Finally, Hanji. He always viewed her as an eccentric that was somewhat approachable. She was helpful and kind to everyone, a huge make-up for the Titan obsession she proudly displayed. As she held the qualities of a leader, it wasn't surprising that the others would follow suit. However, there was something amiss. As if Rivaille's current state had caused her to go over the edge.
Something caused everyone to snap.
Eren felt that he couldn't recognize them at all.
They all held firearms up and against one person, one of their own. If they escaped the clutches of facing persecution, it would be considered hypocritical for them to kill one another. However, it wasn't hypocritical. Ymir was holding a blade to her skin, he wasn't an idiot to guess that she would transform into a Titan. Self-harm wouldn't do any good in a hostage situation unless you weren't exactly human to begin with.
At this, he didn't say anything, not even offer protest.
Christa was within arm's reach. She had wide eyes that bore into the flames of their campfire. But he could already tell that she was silently begging Ymir to not say anything stupid or offsetting.
Hanji cocked the gun tighter. "I don't take well for strangers touching my shit."
"If it comforts you...and everyone," Erwin added,"I'll go with her."
At this, Hanji began to slowly lower her rifle. Others did the same and held them at rest.
Ymir, however, kept her blade at hand, unmoving until Christa turned to throw herself at the taller woman's leg. At that moment, she had burst into years, scared witless by the tense silence. Ymir dropped the knife to the ground and fell to her knees so that she could hold Christa, letting her burrow her tears and cries into the crook of her neck. She kissed her forehead as if making sure she was alive.
"Oh my god," Christa broke out as Ymir hand her fingers through her hair.
While he hands were gentle, her voice was not. "You're a fucking bitch, you know that."
"You're lucky I'm not like Rivaille," Hanji snorted, glowering. "I don't care how you get the samples or who you kill, I just want them. They're contained in a frigid storeroom in the back of my lab." She fumbled around in her pockets, then produced a key to toss to Erwin. "Everything's labeled, just bring the whole crate with the glass undamaged; it's labeled as 'TITAN SERUM'. I expect you both to be gone before sunrise. If you're still within my sights, the girl goes."
"Agreed," Erwin told her, catching the silver piece. "How long do we have?"
"A week."
"And how the fuck are we supposed to find you?" Ymir spat.
Hanji began to pace with her rifle resting on her shoulders. She walked about, eyes focused on her. She looked over at the horses, then at the Marquis that slept, snoring loudly against the chair he sat earlier in. With Isidor's status, Eren figured that Hanji may be planning on having more use to herself; if not, she probably would have killed him by now for insurance.
After several paces around Ymir and Christa, she reached a decision. She stopped at the fire.
"We will be going to the Hermiha District with the Marquis (Erwin ought to lead you), hold up a bit there for a few days until Mikasa can defend herself, then leave for Petra's father in the North. At least, that's what I plan for myself and Rivaille, also with Mike. I could only offer myself so far as to get you out of the Karanese, what happens after is up to all of you. You can choose to follow or go your own paths...as far as I'm concerned, I have my own life to attend to."
She turned to Tobias.
"Watch the girl," she told him, then she stormed away to the cart.
Erwin took the initiative to approach Ymir.
Before he could catch their words, Armin got Eren's attention by saying,"Let's go to sleep."
"...yeah," he said as Armin unrolled a blanket on the ground. He padded it down for Eren, then went to lay in his own. Eren placed their empty bowls by the fire so that he could have room to lay himself own. He fell to his back to gaze at the stars.
As the fire roared, he overheard the Commander speak. "...can your Titan climb?"
"It's meant for climbing," Ymir answered over Christa. "What's the use of it? We can't go over the Wall without someone shooting us down."
"Did you notice the Garrison didn't fight us? It was only the MP."
"Alright, so we're gambling that the Garrison wouldn't shoot us...much less a man following a Titan up the Wall, that surely isn't going to set off the alarms."
"You don't have to transform into a Titan if you can take a Gear with you, Jean can lend you one."
Eren was broken off from their voices when Jean, himself, came to lay by Eren's head. "This entire thing wasn't meant to happen."
"What thing?" Armin asked. He wasn't asleep. None of them were save for the Marquis and his servant. They were too tense.
"Us being hunted down, us leaving what we worked for, us...just here, right now."
"And who are you going to blame?" Eren mused. It seemed everyone had to blame someone. He didn't understand why Hanji would hold Christa as hostage.
"God," Jean replied conversationally.
"Don't you mean the gods?" Armin inquired.
"No, God, as in Him." Eren saw Jean's hand point up for a moment. "God, up in Heaven, some almighty being that has twisted plans for us. It's a family thing, I'm not really a follower and I don't go with traditions and all. I don't even understand half the stories they tell me. It's all ancient stuff too, they talk about large bodies of water called oceans, things that the government bans us from learning."
Eren propped himself on to his shoulders in disbelief. "Like things that are beyond the Walls? They have religions for that!?"
"Sorta, I mean, they talk about lakes of fire. They also got mythical creatures too, some used to actually exist. You know...there are creatures other than Titans that eat humans, like this one whale ate a man who refused to share his practice with others."
"...what's a whale?"
"I dunno, probably something as large as a Titan. Didn't you hear me? It ate a man. Lives in an ocean too."
"I'm glad something like that doesn't exist here, it's enough having Titans around," Armin said, relieved. Eren laid back down. The subject of the outside world was something that soothed both of them, it was touchy and nostalgic, something they both needed, especially Armin. By the relaxed sigh, Eren could tell that Armin had found some grasp in peace.
"Well, we don't live near an ocean," Jean reasoned. "So...you guys are into the outside world stuff, huh."
"It's what I joined the Recon Corps for at first...and to slay all the Titans," Eren mused. "I refuse to live like cattle behind a fence, waiting for the butcher to kill me when needed."
"The butcher only comes when the cattle leaves the comforts of the fence."
"...shut up. We already went over this-"
"Hey, Jean, is it?"
They looked up to see Ymir standing over them. Jean rested his head against his hands as he folded them behind himself. He stared up at her. "Yeah, that's me."
"I need to borrow-...I need to take your Gear," she blatantly told him," if you're not planning on using it. Do you know where you're going?"
Jean licked his lip, thinking about his own course of action. After a moment, he answered,"I'm staying with these people for the meantime. Maybe I'll head North as well, start anew there."
"Give me your Gear," she repeated. Neither of what Jean said required a Gear.
"Fine, it's the one on the far right. A quarter of the gas is gone so use it sparingly when you go up the Wall," he warned.
She turned away, her business done.
-...-
At the first call of a songbird, Sasha was awoken by a hand shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to remember where she was. Before her, a dying fire smoldered in the morning air, letting loose ashes that clouded her eyes temporarily. She shook both the hand and stench away and turned.
"Sasha...I need you to do me a favor," the familiar voice of Ymir came.
She sleepily stared up at her from Weiss's belly as she had used him as a pillow.
Ymir, along with Erwin as agreed to the night before, was already dressed and ready, her horse and Gear at hand. Sasha got up and rubbed her eyes to see Erwin mounting his own horse from a distance.
She stretched and yawned,"Whatever it is...I'll do my best."
-...-
By the time Mike and Petra returned, Ymir and Erwin had been long gone, leaving the camp to awoken with one person at a time.
The first person to greet the two newcomers was Mikasa.
They found her sitting in the grass by Eren's sleeping form. Petra dismounted and greeted her,"You doing alright for yourself?" The raven haired girl glanced over to her, expressionless. "See, we got Eren for you-"
"Thank you for stopping me," was all she could say with a dry voice,"I'm grateful."
Petra's eyes were wide. So the girl remembered what happened. She gave her a nod and walked her horse to where the others tied their, Mike was busy giving water to his own, his eyes tired from the night before, though he had a slight smile. Despite their situation and task at hand being grave, they took a moment for themselves; she blushed at the thought, then smiled herself.
"Mikasa's up and awake," she informed him, giving him a playful push with her shoulder, though he didn't budge much.
"Yeah, I saw," he said. He handed her the bucket so that her horse could drink as well. "Still amazes me that there weren't any patrols, nothing at all."
"They were probably pulled in for the Karanese," she surmised, she then found him leaning over her, taking in her scent. She laughed under her breath as her horse sloshed its head in the bucket, happily drinking. Once done, they turned to face the camp. Mikasa hadn't moved from her spot, so they approached her once more. She looked over and up at them.
"How long has it been?"
"Four days for you, long story short, we're no longer a part of the Recon Corps. In any case, the military, we're just by ourselves," Mike briefed her,"but our goal is to keep you safe until you can fight for yourself, we won't just leave you on your own."
Mikasa took in his words, then replied,"I can be fine on my own."
"You have an injury that sliced through your muscles, it's a miracle you're up and about right now," Petra chided her. "If you can't get on a horse at the very least, you're under our watch."
There wasn't room for argument between them, Petra went away for the cart where she found Hanji sprawled out on the floor with Rivaille resting atop of her. She reached in, taking Hanji's shoulder and shaking her gently. The woman let out a soft groan, mumbled something about,"five more minutes", then awoke with her eyes groggily staring up at Petra.
"Hm...are Ymir and Erwin gone?"
Petra looked over her shoulder. She hadn't noticed it until now, but there were two missing horses from the trees. She looked back at her. "Yeah, they're gone."
"Good," she said, relieved,"you missed a lot last night."
"Fill me in later. How's Corporal?"
Hanji brought herself to sit up, then letting down Rivaille to the floor. She examined his arm by removing the bandages; there was no bleeding but the sight was sickening. The stench of blood and flesh reached her, she covered her nose as Hanji reported,"No signs of infection, though its swollen to hell...I need to clean him up though...again. He lost more blood than Mikasa, so...I fear he might not make it for Hermiha."
Petra's heart fell at the thought. Her feelings were still there for the man, and she had tried to move on to Mike, but the sight of him brought her back to him. She reached in to run her hand through his hair, ignoring whatever Hanji thought of at this. Amazingly, Hanji allowed her to touch him, she was more than glad to do so.
"She's up right now," Petra distantly told her, entranced by his black locks.
"Who?"
"Mikasa, she's by the fire with Eren. It's alright for her to be up?"
Hanji shook her head. "Bring her back."
Petra did so. She left Hanji for Mikasa. Upon approaching her, she told her,"Hanji wants you back with her. I promise, I'll get Eren up for you."
Compliant, she got to her feet. She stumbled a bit as she grabbed a hold of her abdomen, Petra offered her a shoulder but was denied to give help, she watched her return to the cart, then turned her eyes to Eren. He was sleeping not too far from Armin and Jean, all three of them were soundly sleeping though Jean had managed to wrap his blanket into a makeshift pillow to hold to his chest.
To the right was Sasha, then Christa. Fiete had arisen as well and was busying himself with serving his master.
Tobias had gone to fetch water from the river.
She nudged Eren awake. "Hey, I got a surprise for you."
Eren rubbed his eyes and got up, curious. This prompted Armin to awaken as well; both of them went to folow Petra to the cart. From there, they were greeted by Mikasa herself. She staggered to them, then threw her arms around Eren.
"You're alive," they heard Mikasa utter.
Eren nodded, a beaming smile came across his face as he held her back. "You're alive too, both of you guys."
Petra fondly watched their reunion, though she took notice that Armin kept his distance. Sure, they were friends, but he hadn't explained his part in Mikasa's incapacitation to Eren yet. She went to him and gave him a small push with her elbow. She whispered,"Go on, you can tell him later."
He was hesitant at first. Slowly, he went to them and found himself in their embrace. It was then that tears came across his eyes.
Hanji's voice rose out from the cart as she held fresh wrappings in her hands. "As much as this reunion is heartwarming, Mikasa's now awake; you three can make a conscious decision on what you want to do after she's healed up. I'm not letting her leave my sight for another week. The fact we're out in the open like this threatens her recovery; we're limited on medication and I can no longer give any because I have to save it for Rivaille."
"That blond man told me we're no longer a part of the military, is that right?" Mikasa asked.
"True. Though you will have to be careful on where you go nowadays, I'd best avoid the Southern parts-"
"I want to go beyond the Walls," Eren said with a firm voice,"my place is out there." They grew quiet to his decision, he hastily added,"It sounds selfish, I know, but it makes the most sense."