In all the years she spent buried beneath this island's cursed dirt. Ymir had never felt more helpless than she did right now. She couldn't help but feel as though she truly was in the company of devils as they dragged her by the chains through the busy streets, where the sky were bathing the ground in a nightmarish blood orange tint. They pelted her with rotten fruit and rocks while adopting contemptuous expressions. It was almost as if she had never left Marley.
She collapsed to the ground after tripping on the cobblestone. She gazed up at him, tall and menacing before her, as his oppressing shadow engulfed her.
He smirked vilely, relishing the evil satisfaction of watching her fight helplessly like a caged rat. Her worst dread came true because of him. The crowds had gathered on both sides of the street to watch her execution as he paraded her through this muck. He knelt beside her and yanked on the chain, then dug his nails into her shoulder and drew blood.
"Any final words, Ymir?" Floch showed some decency by asking, licking the blood off his fingers.
"Go fuck yourse- AGHHHHHh!"
She woke up pushing an agonized shriek from the back of her throat, a sharp searing pain shooting up from her leg. With her head feeling exceedingly light, and her heart pounding like a drum, she instantly realized she was tied as she frantically glanced around her. Her eyes began to tear up at the corners. She turned when she heard a sword stab into the ground next to her and saw Forster on his knees resting on the blade.
"You're awake, good."
He appeared plainly worn out from their fight, the kind of weakness where a strong wind gust could bring him down permanently. The boy was coated in dried blood and bruises, especially his left eye, reminding her of the mark she had left on him. She inwardly cursed, despite her best efforts, she was unable to shift and escape this nightmare prematurely. Ymir decided to settle for glaring daggers at him in the foolish hope that he would pass out and die.
"I'm sorry about the leg but it probably won't spell the end of the world for you, it'll come back right?"
Her heart skipped a beat. Her mind lit up as she had an epiphany, eyes wide in horror. He gave her a knowing grin in return, as her entire world collapsed around her, she was rendered speechless by the shock, preventing her from asking.
"Your expression says it all, you know? I'm well aware of your little secret."
"H-How ?!" She stumbled, an uncomfortable sinking feeling settling in her stomach.
He sighed, unable to help himself from grinning. "That is a very good question."
"Don't fuck with me!" She growled.
"Marley sent their loyal lapdogs three years ago, to visit us island devils." He began, leaving Ymir with little to do but watch in apparent confusion. "You must already be aware that everyone's memories were erased by the King of the Walls, the entire population believes that they are the last humans on earth, including the ones you slaughtered." He paused, breaking into a brief coughing fit, before he looked down at her with disdain.
"In the end, I think you were right; you and I are more alike than I originally thought. We were both dumped on this island, after all." Moments later, he broke into another coughing fit, finally releasing some of the inhaled water from earlier.
"Both... dumped on this island, are you-" Ymir stuttered, emotions bubbling inside of her.
"Well, not entirely similar, isn't that right? Warrior." Floch sneered, stepping over her ankle as she cried out in pain.
"I'm not one of them!" She cried out, as Floch stumbled backwards and nearly fell. He looked unimpressed, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, but he didn't cut her off.
"I was the same, turned against my will. It took ages, trapped within this terrible nightmare. I barely recall anything of the day I was freed, but I must have eaten one of their soldiers by pure chance because the next thing I knew, I was alone in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to me but my name. I had to work my way through a hell worse than the one I was trapped in to enter these walls." She recounted. Her eyes began to well up with tears, imploring him to believe her.
"Like I'd believe they'd let you off the hook easy after devouring their own, try better." Floch clicked his tongue, intentionally driving the girl mad.
"I'm telling you that's what happened, dammit!" She howled. Ymir sat upright with difficulty.
Floch shakily stood up and pinned her to the tree behind with his foot, causing her to wince in pain. Ymir could barely believe this was happening, she had the impression that she was trapped in a drug-induced fever dream. She wished she could pinch herself to wake up, perhaps she'd wake up to Krista at her side back in the barracks. She struggled with a tiny smile that tugged at her lips, that sounded wonderful.
Floch was inwardly satisfied, but he needed to push more, so he mocked her feeble excuse. "Tsk. So you decide to fucking join the military for what reason? Searching for yourself? Perhaps was it guilt? Or maybe sabotage?" He kept prodding relentlessly.
Ymir frowned as she averted her gaze to the grass below, she felt incredibly vulnerable in this position. She remembered swearing to never let anyone strip her of her freedom ever again, but here she was at the mercy of a lunatic. She grit her teeth in frustration before looking up to face the redheaded boy. She could visibly see the rage brewing in those amber eyes, she sucked in a breath.
"For some time, I made a living off of stealing from others. The crazy wall religion bastards always seemed to be the most loaded of the bunch, I overheard them speak about a girl they sent off to the military. She was an illegitimate child that they threatened to have killed if she didn't denounce her old life, that piqued my interest." She bitterly explained.
"Krista." Floch deduced, and Ymir raised a curious brow at him.
"...I haven't been able to prove it yet, but I'm starting to believe so.." She trailed with unease.
His eyes momentarily widened, but he kept his composure. "So you're here to protect little princess? How fucking noble, should I be clapping right now?" Floch jeered.
Ymir grit her teeth in anger as she fixed him with a glare."Fuck you, I have my reasons."
"Now would be a very good time to share them." He urged.
Ymir bit her lip, unsure of what to do. It wasn't like she wanted to tell him, but the longer this went on the more apparent it became that she had no choice. "I.. I know what It must be like for her. Her sorrows, her struggles, the way this shitty world has stacked it's decked against her favor. Your ambitions are to go poke some holes up some titans ass right? Well, mine are to see this girl pull through."
She frowned, staring up him with anger. "Because I see myself in her, I want to be there to see her come out on top. So there you go you fucking asshole. What about it now?!"
Floch looked down at her impassively, before removing his foot a moment later. He took a few steps back and began pondering his next move. Ymir grew worried and impatient, not liking the contemplative looks he gave her. She glanced down at the steaming stump that grew out of her knee, inwardly knowing it'd be hopeless since he'll likely cut it off again.
The boy sighed. He observed her with keen eyes making her feel naked underneath his gaze. He picked apart every detail on her skin and meticulously analyzed it. Eventually, he sat back down and looked up at the sky. "That's that I guess." He breathed out.
Crisis averted.
She furrowed her brows in question. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're gonna live to see another day." He met her gaze.
A silence hung over the both of them for some time, with the brunette attentively watching the boy's every move. Unsure of whether she should ask him to untie her or not, but she didn't have the guts to speak about it lest he changed his mind on a whim. He suddenly asked her something. Pulling her from her stupor, her eyes widened as pain briefly flashed through them.
"What's it like? Being a titan?"
"You wouldn't want it to happen to you that's for damn sure, death would have been preferrable to it. Sixty years of nothing, unable to even lift a finger to stop it, you're reduced to being this animal that runs off instincts, stuck in a nightmare." Ymir somberly told him, He hummed in response.
"I see, that's not comforting at all. Very well, Ymir, I believe you but you do not have my trust." The girl visibly relaxed at this.
"No! Anything but your trust! Dumbass." She quipped sarcastically.
"Do I have to remind you the position you're in?" He asked rhetorically. She quickly shook her head.
"Wait." She said. A sudden thought entered her mind.
"It makes sense now, the way you spoke yesterday about the titans and all.. so they sent you to 'paradise' too, right? How did you survive? A- Are you like me too?" She asked. No, that was a stupid question, she reasoned that if he was he'd have healed by now. His features considerably darkened, and Ymir felt her breath caught in her throat. He clenched his fists and looked visibly enraged at the memories that flooded his mind.
"I'm not a titan if that's what you're asking, we're both survivors. I lived a simple life really, until the day Marley decided to do something about it, we were all gathered there, running towards our deaths and I couldn't do a damn thing about it but watch." Floch began. Ymir's mind flashed back to that day, when the Marleyans caught her and those cultists.
Floch paused for a second, eyes cast downward with a thousand yard stare.
"They sent our group first. To run as far as possible while surrounded by titans, If there weren't so many of us running around, I doubt I would have lived." Ymir's eyes softened in understanding. "I was the sole person to survive that day, dug myself in the ground, and never moved an inch off till the screaming was all over."
"That's tough, I'm sorry."
"No need to be." He replied. "And I'm not apologizing about your leg."
Ymir grunted in response. An awkward silence hung over the two.
"If you ever wondered why I'm adamant on doing what I do, It's because of what happened that day. After having to crawl my way into these walls. I swore that I'll get my revenge on them. Someway, somehow." He continued.
"How?! Don't you see? It's pointless! You should know that!" She cried.
"You think? Look at you. You stripped them of one of their most prized possessions. Marley isn't invincible. They bleed, they hurt, they can be beaten. It sure beats lying to myself that everything will be fine living a lie behind these walls"
Ymir froze, her vow of freedom ringing loudly in her head. That was her revenge against the cultists, against Marley. Everything she had here was a far cry from the hell she endured outside, but he was right. One day, they would come knocking for her again, they already did. Her mind raced back to Krista. She liked the girl. She'd hate to see her hurt or worse.
"What happens next, then?" She dejectedly asked.
"We get out of here, Hannah's dead horse over there is bound to attract more beasts and there is no way to explain your leg that doesn't involve us being burned at the stake." Floch answered. He pointed at the sky behind him and the girl could see bits of green smoke through the foliage."I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine, keep our secrets under a tight lid if you catch my drift." He stood back up and freed her.
"...Alright, let's do that then." She spoke as she rubbed her sore wrists. He turned his back to the girl, and she could do nothing but look up at him in a new light as she made her way out of there with his help. "You know, funny enough, your hair looks less ridiculous now after everything that happened."
It was at that moment he reconsidered letting her live.
"Do you always want to live hiding behind the mask you put up for the sake of others? You're you, and there's nothing wrong with that. - Ymir 848 AD , to Historia reiss in the middle of a snowstorm
Shortly after, Floch dragged Ymir to cover among the bushes in time as he heard the horses closing in on their position. Whoever came to rescue them would have to wait until the freckled girl grew her limb back. It would be hard to explain such an anomaly to a pre-reclamation Paradisian without being hung for witchcraft by the Military police. And he didn't exactly trust the others to keep something like this secret, aside from Sandra and Gordon, maybe.
"Shit, they're gonna find your leg." Floch cursed after realization struck.
"It'll be fine." Ymir brushed it off.
Ruth's terrified shriek pierced the silence of the forest.
"Oh, I was hoping they wouldn't see that." Ymir disappointedly spoke next to him.
The boy stared at her blankly with mounting disbelief. "Sorry, next time I'll try not to forget. I would have had time to get the boot too If you hadn't decided to drag me away like a sack of potatoes." Ymir deadpanned. She held up the amputated limb to his face and then threw it off to the side, to his relief.
His head hung low, visibly relieved at her quick thinking. "You're welcome, dumbass. And you smell like shit." Ymir grumbled.
Night had nearly fallen by the time of their departure, and the brunette's physical state forced him to carry her on his back, much to his annoyance. He peeked at the side of her face as she leaned over his shoulder, it was one hell of a gamble to be in this position with her. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, ignoring the images of a slit throat floating around in his head. To his relief, Hannah's dead horse still had supplies tied to it, giving them all the tools they needed to survive the night. He intended to reach the border of the forest on foot, then call for assistance from there, by which point Ymir's handicap would no longer be an issue.
He walked through the woods, glimpsing at the brunette. Their alliance, or whatever you wanted to call it, was in a fragile state for now. Blood could spill with just a simple mistake on either side. If that happened, he'd best hope he could kill her before she could transform. He questioned his decision to keep her alive, but it wasn't like he had a choice. He didn't have the spinal fluid to take her titan, and he couldn't have pretended to not know about her ability either lest she transformed then and there to finish him off.
What a mess.
He couldn't deny that she would be a great asset for their cause, her abilities would level the playing field against the warriors. God knows Eren needs all the help he can get at this stage, he could only hope that he had convinced her to fight against Marley. He frowned as he thought more about the future, would he really continue down that same path again? His friends were alive now, and they'd be there to witness his transition into a monster, someone entirely different from the person they knew.
A thought came to mind, one that bothered him. Would they end up the same as Jean and the rest? Would they betray him and Eldia?
"Why'd we stop? You shit yourself?" Ymir's eyelid cracked open with curiousity.
"I thought you were supposed to be sleeping."
"Like hell I am, you were about to kill me not even an hour ago, dumbass." Ymir replied in an impassive tone, before yawning.
"I could say the same about you." He muttered. "Anyway, we're at the edge of the forest. How's your leg?"
She extended it for him to examine. The foot was beginning to take shape. She would need a couple of hours to fully regenerate. The brunette started pulling out a sleeping bag from her rucksack as soon as he placed her down on the ground. He went around gathering sticks, leaves, and rocks. By the time he had finished gathering everything, Ymir was about to lay down and sleep.
They both shared a look, with the boy silently asking her a question. She pushed air out of her nose and perched her healing stump over her other bent leg. "Immune to the elements, comes with the powers I'm afraid."
Well, he wasn't. Floch was eager to get some warmth before the night turned too cold, He effortlessly lit the campfire and then reached over for Hannah's bag to retrieve the medkit. The boy slowly slid his arm out of his jacket, he undid his buttons one by one and removed his shirt with great care. He took a small handheld mirror with his good arm and began assessing the damage he took.
'Yup, looks fucked.' He mentally noted his injuries.
Bruising on the left eye and neck, scratches on the face, bruising along the ribs, and a... small piece of shrapnel sticking out from his left side. 'That's what that pain was.'
Floch muttered obscenities as he carefully removed the tiny splinter and then did his best to heal the wound. The tip of his ODM blade was then heated. Before inserting the white-hot metal into the gaping wound, Floch bit down hard on the detached handguard. He struggled to hold back an anguished wail as tears escaped from his eyes. He quickly put down the sword and started applying ointment and bandages to the exposed burned flesh.
"You're a damn monster Forster, no hesitation!" Ymir whistled from the sidelines.
Floch continued quietly administering first aid while struggling mightily to get his fractured arm to move, feeling even more lethargic than before. The freckled girl moaned and crawled closer him; to her surprise, he didn't object, remaining reasonably cooperative with her. The boy had passed out by the time she had finished wrapping his arm. When she saw this, her brows wrinkled, and an idea suddenly came to her. Her gaze briefly flicked to the blade that was lying next to her before returning to the boy. She gave her next move considerable thought. She finally groaned in exasperation and dragged him closer to her side of the campfire. She assisted him in getting dressed before tucking him inside the sleeping bag.
Ymir watched over his sleeping form for some time before she sighed and turned away to keep watch of the forest.
There wasn't a second fight after that, no more trouble to avoid, no more problems to solve. Floch slept well into the morning under Ymir's watchful gaze, by which point her limb had fully grown back, she reached into the bag and pulled out the flare gun. From there, she prompty shot it up into the air and patiently waited for help to come, she hoped to leave this shitty overgrown forest as soon as possible and to put everything here behind her.
Just an hour later, Their squad was the first to arrive alongside Mylius's unit. Ymir stood by the side as Gordon and Sandra rushed towards the unconcious Floch, upon discovering his bandaged face and body, they refrained from distrubing him. Sandra walked over to her and whole heartedly thanked her for looking out for him, much to her annoyance. She did take note of the suspicious glances Gordon took at her bare foot and torn pants. inwardly grumbling at the boy who cut her leg, she momentarily entertained the thought of transforming and wiping everybody here off the face of the earth, but brushed the intrusive thought away. For now, this was Floch's problem to handle.
"So what happened back there?" Tom felt the need to ask.
The ride back home was relatively fine up until this point, Ymir hated idiots, more than that she hated idiots who asked lots of questions.
"Only Floch knows, ask him." Ymir replied, bored out of her mind.
"But you were there?" He continued badgering her.
"Tom, cut it off. She obviously doesn't want to talk about it." Gordon chastised him, his eyes lingering on the bare foot and torn pants.
"Whatever." He grumbled.
The rushing wind and the shaking of the horse he rode on woke him up, Floch opened a single eye and peered at the cadets around him. He felt brief panic at the unfamiliar surroundings and the rope tying him to something but quickly dimissed it, he felt himself leaning against someone. He made sure not to alert them, as he quietly looked around to examine his surroundings, a few moments later he willed himself back to a relatively peaceful slumber.
"...And when I was asked who would be that brave soldier, I ended up thinking... I would." - Floch Forster 850 AD, to Marlowe freudenberg, Mere minutes before rushing into certain death.
Another day on a mattress, another night spent dozing off in anticipation of sleep. The cadet tried his best to rest as he lay comfortably in bed. His ears perked as he noticed the elusive movements at the door. It was late at night, the nurse had just left, and when the door creaked and clicked open, his perceptions and heartbeats both became more acute. Floch got a bad feeling, and he questioned whether Ymir had come to tie up any loose ends. Had she reached a decision at this point? He pretended to be asleep as he grabbed for the knife on the counter and tucked it away under his blanket.
He closely observed the rhythm of the approaching footfall as they drew nearer. His relief increased as they got closer to one other. This wasn't Ymir; if it had been the jaws shifter, he wouldn't have heard the door creak or the feet shuffle across the floorboard. Instead, their steps were light and unsure. His brows wrinkled at the sight of the girl in front of him as he opened one eye and cast a quick glimpse at his visitor. Ruth D. Kline gave him a hesitant look in return and shifted in her position like a young child who had been caught in the act. He sat up, startling her.
"F-Floch! I thought you were asleep, I was about to leave..." She stammered.
"Can I help you?" He demanded.
"I came to talk."
He nodded, motioning for the seat at the side, as Ruth hastily made her way towards it.
"I-I'm glad you're doing okay, w-we were worried." She began, awkwardly attempting to ease the tension.
"Thank you, but you're not here just to talk about my health are you?"
Her eyes widened, before her gaze fell to the floor. "N-no i'm not. I wanted to thank you, to ask you something too..." She spoke meekly. Floch raised his brow questioningly. She met his gaze, taking in a deep breath. "I..." She trailed uneasily.
"I thought about what you said, at first I didn't want to... It was easier to shift the blame on you and keep up the lie, it was easier to just hate you for what you said. But after seeing what you did for Franz and Hannah, that changed, you... you actually mean the things you say." She smiled sadly, as Floch looked at her with mounting curiousity. "You were everything I wanted to be, dependable, courageous, and generally someone who looks out for others. I hated myself for being so weak, Hearing you say it after everyone else sugar-coated things for me for the longest time made me realize the truth, and I realized my feelings about you were just me desperately trying to ignore the truth." She confessed.
Floch raised a brow at her, speechless as she continued to ramble.
"I desperately tried to hide from it, because the truth hurts. I know I'm not strong, I can never be half as good as you or the other girls around here. Yeah you're right, I barely managed to scrape by-"
"Ruth-," Floch tried to interject.
"..And I always had a feeling I wouldn't last on my first day out there should things go south, However, I continued to lie to myself that everything will turn out fine. I don't think that's true anymore. You asked me back then about why I joined? It wasn't by choice, I lost my mother when Maria fell, I joined to be able to help support my father and brother."
"Okay, Ruth-," He tried again before he thought about what she said, well that's true, he remembered seeing the names of all of those who had survived, she wasn't among them.
"But it's so hard..." She burst into tears. "I don't know if I can do this. How can I help the only family I have left If I can't even pull my weight around here." She sobbed. Floch took a deep breath, before he reached out for the girl and lightly tapped on her forehead with his knuckle. She recoiled in pain and clutched the aching skin, she looked at him with bewilderment as she rubbed the soreness.
"Shut up already, so annoying. Do I look like one of your girlfriends you can dump your sob stories onto? Enough." He chastised.
"Sorry." Ruth averted her eyes, crestfallen at his words.
"If you want my help then don't expect to be coddled, you have more than enough time to turn things around. For what it's worth, know that I wasn't always like this." Floch took a deep breath and leaned into his bed, his eyes roamed towards the window and he admired the night's sky.
"What do you mean?" She puzzled.
"I know what It's like to be a coward, to be scared shitless, to the point that you can't even stand up right. I was someone who'd gladly run with his tail tucked between his legs if it meant survival, even at the expense of the others around me." He turned to look her in the eyes, noting how she clung to every word. "But you know what? That changed. Ever since I met this man." He paused for a moment, recalling the events inside his head.
"We were getting picked on mercilessly by these shitty bullies from another part of town, I was so close to giving up and running back then." He said, "But this awful man came along."
"What happened next?" Ruth questioned eagerly.
"His words ensnared me, his presence alone could convince chicken to fly and fish to swim on land." Ruth found the mental image amusing. "And for better or worse he changed me, I went from a coward to someone who charges into certain death without a second thought. Thinking back on it, that's how he wanted us to be all along."
"T-these were just bullies right?!" She stuttered with concern.
"Details, don't worry about it."
"Anyway, what I'm saying is, that nobody is perfect. Everyone gets scared, everyone fails, and there's no shame in that. It's just that others are better at hiding it. The only ones who should be ashamed are the ones who don't try, the ones who sit by the side and do nothing to turn their lives around." Floch told her. "You can do great things, Ruth. The only question is, are you just going to sit around and cry or will you take action?" He reassured her.
She contemplated for a moment, before meeting his gaze. "Will you help me?" She asked with mounting hope.
He nodded, seeing no harm in that.
"I... Thank you!" She squealed lunging at the bandaged boy.
"Get off of me!" He snapped, struggling to remove her.
"I promise I won't let you down! Goodnight!"
She quickly left, this time however there was a bounce in her steps. As the door slammed shut, he couldn't help but allow a smile to creep upon his face. He leaned back into bed and stared into the moon outside. Floch Forster chuckled and closed his eyes, he slowly drifted back into sleep. His expression suddenly soured.
He groaned, pulling the knife out after it poked his thigh.
That's chapter 4 done, Crazy how far i've come, here's to 4 more I guess.
Again I'd like to thank everyone who reached this point, I noticed there were some people who created their accounts solely to follow this story and that warms me up on the inside, I hope this was enjoyable so far. Now, to nip some stuff in the bud.
Tl;dr: I am a fan of shipping, I enjoy reading it a lot. But I'll only consider doing ships for this story If it fits into the plot and serves a purpose or whatever, thank you. :)
With that said, have a goodday/night and until next time! :)