Blood

Her father hadn't carried her up to bed since she was a little girl, she thought as she smiled in her sleep. She'd forgotten how warm and safe she'd felt, cradled safely in his arms, her head nestled against a broad shoulder where she could hear his heartbeat. It was such a calming sound. She wondered where had she fallen asleep this time? Had she been curled up in front of the fireplace? Her mother never let her sleep there unless she was sick, but she loved feeling the soothing warmth of the hearthstones beneath her makeshift bed, almost as much as her father's warm embrace. No matter where she fell asleep the night before, her father would always find her and tuck her into her own bed. And she loved their little game, even pretending to be asleep when he lifted her up.

Something wasn't right, though.

Petra frowned. She hadn't spoken to her father in months, never mind she was all grown up now and he would've never been able to carry her like this. She couldn't hear her mother's playful whispers telling her what a naughty girl she was. The floorboards and steps of the old house weren't creaking. And what on earth was that awful smell? It was overwhelming, heavy and fetid, like the air in a butcher's shop. She forced her eyes open, and closed them immediately to block the sun in her eyes. Where am I?

"Hey." A gentle voice asked. "Are you coming around?"

And she saw the man carrying her was not her father.

"Gunther?" Petra gasped, lifting her head off his shoulder and staring at him in shock. "You're covered in blood! Are you all right?"

"What? Oh, right!" He grimaced. "Yeah, I'm all right. It's not my blood. It's not yours either."

"Then whose…." Then she remembered Captain Addario leading them into the Forest of Giant Trees, shouting orders to stay alert and-and he'd never finished his commands. A titan had stepped into their path. It was a female, a rare type hardly ever seen by humans. She was tall, at least fourteen meters, with an emaciated build, long and stringy black hair that reached her waist, and a grin that nearly split her head in two. She turned to them and took a step, green eyes gleaming in ecstasy.

Arrow reared at the sight of her, screaming in terror, eyes rolling. Then as soon as his forehooves touched the earth, he bucked and kicked until he'd rid himself of his rider and fled, galloping through the trees and disappearing instantly. Petra had gotten up and run, despite her bruises. Nothing was broken, but even so, her left leg protested violently, shooting waves of pain from her knee to her hip. She heard the yells of her comrades as she released both grapples of her gear and flew into the tree tops. Then she saw Arrow was not the only horse who'd spooked. Another one had thrown its rider, Desi Rivera, while a third Scout, Filip Aakster, was trying frantically to bring his back under control.

She watched the titaness stoop, extending a greedy hand for Rivera, her ecstatic green eyes stretching even wider. Then Petra leaped, releasing one grapple and cursing when she missed the giant's neck and hit the shoulder instead. The titaness took no notice, but her stranded comrade glanced up at her, face stricken with terror, but he had enough wit left in him to use his gear and propel himself to safety. Aakster did the same, abandoning his horse, and soared into the trees. Petra remembered the sense of vertigo she'd felt as she swung around the titaness, the momentum carrying her above and past her neck. Her cable was too long, and the arc she made was too wide. Her grapple dislodged and the titaness grinned at her.

A black flare shooting into the sky heralded the approach of two more squadmates, Achille Cornett and Gilbert Kahler. They flew past their enemy, but only Kahler made it safely into the trees. The titaness swatted Cornett, closing her fist around his head and torso. Petra felt sick as she saw his limp legs dangling before he was crushed into the titaness' mouth.

"You bitch!" Rivera had screamed as she licked her lips and set her sights on the rest of them.

Kahler led the attack then, firing a grapple straight for her face and ordering them to carve out her nape while he took her eyes. Rivera and Petra followed, her comrade racing forward in an attempt to take her neck as he passed while Petra made for one of the trees behind her. If she judged the trajectory right this time, she could ricochet off the trunk and head for the nape from directly behind. She glimpsed Kahler leaping away, shouting it was up to them now. Rivera made a cut, but it was too shallow. The titaness snarled in anger and whirled around.

"Watch out!" Kahler cried, but the monster lunged after their comrade. Two steps and her head jolted forward like a hen snatching a bug out of the air. Rivera died instantly, then Petra saw a wall a ghastly pale flesh closing around her. She grit her teeth and cleaved a blade through the titaness' palm, yet the fingers still closed around her. She remembered the steaming hot blood burning her skin as she struggled frantically against the giant's grip as it held her over a massive pair of parting white teeth.

Petra blinked. I died, right? Didn't I? If I didn't, then-And she remembered that horrifying blackness, the suffocating heat, and the broken and incomplete bodies of her comrades, Cornett and Rivera and countless others, floating and half-submerged in the thick, red blood. Their eyes stared at her, still frozen in shock and fear from their imminent despise.

Then she realized the fetid stench was coming from her own blood-soaked body.

Gunther clapped a hand over her mouth as she screamed, almost silencing her completely. "Shh! We're still in the field! A titan may hear you!" She shut up, though her breathing came in terrified, desperate gasps. "Calm down. Everything's all right. You're not injured, you're still in one piece. Count yourself lucky that monster wasn't one for chewing. It swallowed you whole."

God, oh, God! I was eaten! A titan ate me! I should be dead, I should be dead, I should be dead! How? How did I survive? My god! She bit her lip, hoping to keep herself from screaming, but she tasted titan blood (or was it human blood?) and spat it out. "Put me down, Gunther, I'm going to be sick!" He did and she crawled half a meter before vomiting violently into the grass. Her braid fell over her shoulder, so thick and heavy with blood and saliva it resembled the intestines of a deer her father had hunted for their family. Just thinking about it made her throw up again, and she hunched over herself, clutching her stomach and squeezing her eyes shut until she felt tears.

Someone, she assumed it was Gunther, knelt beside her and rubbed his hand between her shoulders, despite her uniform was completely drenched. "It's over, don't worry. It's okay, Pet. You're gonna be okay." She couldn't stop shaking. Then something twisted in her stomach and she tried retching again, but nothing came up. Gunther sat her up on the grass some distance away from the puddle of bile she'd made, and she saw there were other Scouts around them, all watching her. Captain Addario and his second-in-command, Cyril Holmwood, were there, along with the Abbing twins, Donati, Jansen, and a few others from their regiment. Kahler was there as well, but Aaskter was not.

She was supposed to be dead, she thought, staring at the ground and shaking uncontrollably. How had she survived? She'd been eaten. Devoured. That should've been the end of her life. Why hadn't she died with Rivera and Cornett? She thought back to the titaness closing her mouth and the slimy walls of that rancid tunnel constricting around her as the demon swallowed. Landing in that pool, frantically kicking her arms and legs to keep her head above the blood, drowning.

Her stomach heaved and she trembled. Gunther shouted for a medic, but his voice sounded so far away. Shadows appeared in the corners of her vision and began to close in around her, until the world went black and she slumped against the earth.

-0-0-0-

Author's Notes: There will probably be other one-shots later explaining how she survived and how she recovered from the psychological effects of this ordeal.

Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan is owned by Hajime Isayama.