AN:

Follow and Review!


Chapter 3: The Escape

In the streets of Verask, the darkness of the night can be seen slowly filtering away, giving way to the rising sun as the sky gains a hue of orange. People move out of their houses with backpacks and carts loaded with items, with some starting to congregate at the entrance, seemingly waiting for something.

A few streets away sits an empty house, doors locked and windows boarded the house seems to be abandoned like the rest. Looking deeper into the basement, a boy, hidden by furniture and cloth can be seen rising from his slumber. Sighing as he rubs his eyes, Eirlet turns to look out the window, noticing the time he shakes the last of the night's cobwebs off as he stands. Starting to stretch, the very same he was taught by his family, he plans out his day.

'Alright, by now a majority of the district have most likely left but because of the late announcement, there's still going to be some stragglers that the last of the soldiers are going to escort. I roughly have an hour before they leave, plenty of time to head out… and nab some benefits. After that, I'll hide out in… Stohess, should be safe enough there.'

Finishing up his stretches after a few more minutes he starts to gather what he'll be needing for the trip. Which isn't much-considering everything he needs is in his bag and with no one coming down to the basement anytime soon so there's no need to clean up after himself.

Picking up his bag and leaving the corner he's called home for a year he crosses the basement floor, heading towards the stairs that lead into the house. Silently climbing the old steps he reaches the top, listening closely to any sound from beyond the door. He had woken up sometime in the night from the noise of the previous occupants leaving the house but he still waited a few minutes to make sure nothing was in the house.

Confirming that he doesn't hear anything he places his hand on the knob, twisting and pushing forward… which doesn't budge. Confused Eirlet pushes harder, trying to move the old door but it doesn't move. Seeing no keyhole in the handle he determines that the door is probably locked from the other side. Cursing to himself he tries to think of a way to get inside, coming up with two plans. First is that he can go around and come in from the outside, and although pretty low, there would be a chance someone could see him enter and he doesn't want to deal with some petty justice right now. Now the second plan makes a lot of noise but with how quick everyone wants to leave it won't be out of place for large noises to come from a house.

Choosing the obvious plan he nods to himself, placing his backpack at the bottom of the steps he plants a foot securely to the top step while bracing his hands on the railing and wall. Taking a deep breath he quickly raises his foot and -BANG- kicks the door right beside the doorknob with as much force as his small body can output. Grunting from the exertion he lowers his foot and looks at the door that now has a small foot-shaped dent left on it.

Over the next few minutes he keeps trying to kick the door open, the door dangerously creaking with every kick. Panting he gathers his strength one final time before he again kicks the door with more force than his previous attempts.

CRACK

Which finally breaks the door open, it violently swinging outwards, but the railing he's been bracing himself onto also breaks, dropping to the floor and pulling him from the wall as well, leaving him to his doom of falling down the stairs, 'Shiiiiit.' Which he did.

"Agh!" "GhhA!" "Oof!"

Grunting in pain as he tumbles down the stairs, he rolls to a stop on the ground beside his bag. Staying still for a few seconds he starts groaning in pain, trying to make sense of what just happened.

SLAM

Groggily lifting his head he looks towards the top of the steps and sees that the door had swung back inwards, slamming into the wall he was bracing against and coming off its hinges, launching itself down the steps and intending on crushing his prone body at the bottom.

BANG BANG BANG

Eirlet's eyes widen as he sees the door slamming its way down the steps, closer to his bruised body at the bottom. Not wanting to become ground meat he quickly rolls to the side, grabbing his bag as he does and gets clear of the landing zone.

BANG

The heavy door slams into the ground, sending a tremor through it and covering the area with dust from its landing. Coughing while waving the dust away from him he slowly stands up, stretching his body and wincing at the movement. 'Guess a couple of more bruises are added to the list,' he glumly thinks. Securing his bag he once again climbs the stairs, skipping steps and avoiding holes the door left behind from its descent. Passing through the broken door frame he enters what seems to be the dining room with the kitchen conjoined with it, looking at the kitchen with a glint in his eyes Eirlet immediately bounds past the table and enters his heaven.

Quickly rummaging through the cabinets and pantry, he grabs whatever food he can find from bread to jams and quickly fills a platter with food before digging in. Having eaten mainly bread over the years with the sparse meat he savours the delicious food. Once he's eaten his fill he takes a minute to sit back and wonder how his life has come to this point, how just a normal meal makes him so happy. A house on fire quickly comes to the forefront of his mind.

'Yeah… that's why,' sourly thinking to himself.

With his mood somewhat dampened he looks around and finds a bucket half-filled with water which he takes a few gulps of before filling a canteen for the coming travel to Stohess. Remembering his journey he goes back to his plate, packing any food that he left, keeping it as rations for later. Packing his supplies he turns to the front of the house where he sees knocked over furniture from the owner's rush to leave. Looking to the side there are another set of stairs that take him to the upper floor with three doors leading to different rooms in the small hallway. Climbing to the top he looks up, taking note of some sort of square piece distinctly separate from the rest of the ceiling.

'Well that must be the entrance to the attic, I'll check that after searching these rooms.'

The first room he comes across looks to be a girl's room, he can see some dresses thrown around the room from hasty packing. Moving swiftly across the room towards the dresser he opens the drawers, searching for any small valuables he could take to sell later. Not finding anything that would have any significant worth to it he dejectedly sighs, closing the drawers and leaving the room.

Moving to the next room he can also tell it's a boy's because pants and shirts were haphazardly thrown around so he unceremoniously steps in. Checking the size of the clothes, he guesses that the boy is slightly older than him as the clothes are a bit bigger than his current ones. But knowing he won't find clothes to his exact size anytime soon he quickly gathers two similar outfits to keep and wear.

Stripping his current attire off he wears the slightly baggy clothes, compromising of a grey tunic underneath a black wool overcoat, grey pants held up by a dark green belt along with a pair of used brown boots. Content with his new clothes he discards his previous dirty clothing and replaces it with the other outfit in his bag. Getting up he searches the rest of the room just like the last for anything else he'll want to keep, also gaining nothing from the endeavour. 'The kids probably have fewer valuables than their parents so they probably were able to take everything. I'll just have to see if there's anything the parents left behind.' He thinks as he enters the largest room on the upper floor.

Looking around he can tell the adults were quick to move with clothes and other knick-knacks thrown around. Sifting around the objects and drawers he only finds two things that could be worth something, a single earring and a thin necklace which he happily packs away. Although not finding anything else he's fine with something that could get him some more meals without having to steal or beg.

Heading back to the hallway he knows it's time to head to the hatch to the attic… which is on the ceiling that's double his height. 'Fucking 11-year-old body. C'mon god! I know I'll be tall, just look at Dad and Kaide so why can't I get my fucking size now!' He curses in his head.

Knowing what he needs to do he heads back downstairs, grabbing a broomstick and a chair from the kitchen before bringing them back up. Placing the chair at the top of the steps he climbs on and pushes the hatch above him up with the broom. Grunting from the exertion he slowly starts to lift the heavy hatch, spending a few seconds lifting it until he does a final push and it suddenly opens up fully, revealing the dim interior of the floor above.

Dropping the broom to the side he judges the distance between him and the ledge, nodding to himself before jumping off the chair, grabbing the edge and hanging from it. Pulling himself up the hole, a small room is revealed filled with again, old furniture just like in the basement.

'Man these guys were shit at spring cleaning,' he huffs a laugh as he takes in the room.

Looking around he can see a few interesting things, namely a stand with three sheathed blades gathering cobwebs and an old chest lying to the side. Taking an immediate interest in the weapons just like any other kid he goes over and looks them over. Getting excited at the prospect of getting a real sword he takes one off the shelf and unsheathes it, expecting a gleaming sword he's quickly disappointed as what's revealed is a dull and corroded blade missing half its length. Disappointed he resheathes the blade and puts it back on while grabbing the other blade which reveals a blade even worse than the last.

Hoping for a miracle though not expecting much he grabs the last blade which is noticeably smaller than the rest. Deftly pulling out the blade he's greeted by a hunting knife, one that is visually in much better condition than the rest but still covered in rust and grime. Looking at the blade he can tell that after some cleaning and maintenance the blade can be put to use again, something he sorely needs as no shops would sell a knife to a boy his age, much less a beggar. Content with his find he sheathes the knife and tucks it away into his bag, planning on cleaning it on his journey.

With the weapons out of the way he turns his head to the chest, walking towards the heavy old chest he unlatches the bindings closing the lid before throwing it open. A movement he regrets as he starts coughing and waving his hand around, trying to disperse the dust that jumped from the chest.

'At this rate I'll probably cough my lungs out before I even leave the house.'

Clearing the air he peers into the chest, one that's occupied by a variety of old clothing with holes in them, seemingly from the dead moths littered around. Disgusted but knowing there could be something worth it inside he puts on a pair of old leather gloves and hesitantly starts picking and throwing the clothes far away from him. Continuing to dig deeper he nears the bottom of the box before he comes across a small box wrapped in moulted paper which he takes out. Ripping the wrapping paper off, a brown box is revealed, one in pretty good condition considering it's been in the chest for who knows how long.

Flipping the small latch he opens the lid, revealing the contents, an old roughed-up journal and a circular metal object. Taking interest in the smaller object he picks it up and wipes some of the grime off, showing off dull silver beneath the layer and feeling an engraving under his covered thumb. Intrigued he uses his glove to wipe off the rest of the grime, revealing the entirety of the engraving which spells out a name, 'V. Dreyer. They must be the owner of the items from the chest,' Eirlet deduces.

Running his fingers to the top he starts to fiddle with a protruding end, twisting it to see if it does anything but to no avail. But as soon as he pushes down on it like a button a soft sound is heard -Click- and he feels something press into his hand holding the object. Curious, he flips it around where he can see the metal face has popped off and is hanging from a hinge, revealing the true purpose of the object.

Now understanding what the object he's holding is he gains an astonished look because what's revealed is a compass with a glass face and thin brass needles against a white background with each cardinal direction labelled. A compass. The reason Eirlet is surprised is that, although a simple tool, a basic compass costs one silver while something of the quality he holds would cost at least three silver. If it was a few years ago back when he was with his family this would have been something affordable, albeit a bit expensive. But now he struggles to steal or beg enough copper for four loaves of bread, much less saving 100 copper coins for something that's not even a necessity.

'I'm fucking keeping this shit, no way in hell I'm letting this puppy leave me,' he gazes at his compass with glee.

Placing the compass back into the box carefully he picks up the journal he had initially dismissed as nothing important but with such an expensive item besides it, he wants to see who the previous owner really was. So he opens the journal to the first page where a name is written.

'Viktoria Dreyer. That must be her full name.'

Looking inside many pages are either ripped out or incomprehensible due to the fading of the ink. Quickly skimming through a few pages he sees very few entries that he can somewhat read.

811/07/21

...training started, there's about 200 of us, it's been hell so far… eople quit already, they couldn't handle the grill down of the instructor… We got to test our aptitude for the ODM's on the swings, I got third but I was moving a lot while the other two were similar to me. A few people couldn't even stay upright for a fe…

814/04/12

We're on our way to Karanes for graduation. A little more than half of us are left, most left about a year ago with some dying in between. A lot of them are going for the Garrison, though I can't exactly blame them. I and Myan are joining the Scouts, the only way we'll win is fighting back which is exactly wha...

814/07/06

This is going to be our first expedition, after additional training, we finally get to secure a base for humanity. Both me and Mya… but I know we'll survive and win. We have to.

814/07/26

We failed. We got overwhelmed before we even got halfway to our destination. A lot of squads died, half of my friends didn't come back. Myan. She got crushed with her horse on our way back, I trie… we had to leave a lot of our comrades behind.

815/09/13

This is going to be my fourth expedition, the fourth time I'm going to see my friends sacrificed for the future. I've become a squad leader now, the commander saw my determination and skills and deemed me worthy, worthy to have more responsibility for people who are going to die. I have no idea ho…

816/01/18

I'm submitting my resignation today. Many of the people I knew when I first came are either dead or crippled, I'm one of the last that was stupid enough to stay her… we can't win against the titans, they're bigger and stronger than us, without the walls we would have long since been exterminated. I've seen the bottles by the commander's office, I don't know how much longer he can…

'That was… surprising, I thought she would be some small merchant or something, not someone who's been a Scout and lived afterwards. Though she's probably dead after so long, forgotten by her family.' Eirlet sadly thinks to himself as he skims through a few more entries, 'Don't worry though, I won't forget you, probably wouldn't even if I wanted to cause your name is on the back of the compass.'

Putting the journal away to read later he looks through the small window, the sun is higher than it was when he woke up, he can see the last of the citizens moving towards the gate. Knowing he's taken some time looting -ahem- 'requisitioning' supplies, he leaves the attic, grabbing his bag before leaving through the backdoor after checking if it's clear. Walking to the gate he glances around at the people around him, many of them he can see are nervous and fearful. 'They're probably right to be nervous, we're one of the last to leave the district so although low, we still have a small chance of meeting a titan.' He glumly thinks as he follows the street until he comes across an open area, one which holds more than a hundred people with carts and horses being lined up by the few soldiers left.

"All right all horses move ahead of us! All carts are to be in a single file line while everyone else walks beside them! This is the last caravan leaving before we close the gate permanently!" A soldier says on top of the gate, his words moving the citizens into action as everyone starts filtering through the gate. A Garrison soldier leads the group while two stay on the flanks with one for the rear as he closes the gate after them.

Walking with the caravan near the front he looks back as the gate for Verask closes for potentially the final time with some sadness in his eyes. Although he doesn't have many good memories of the district it was the first big city he's ever been in and was considered his 'home' for the past three years.

Clank Clank Thump

Turning back he looks ahead, knowing that his time in Verask is over and now he needs to start scavenging again in Wall Rose. 'Scavenging. I've been a lowlife for the past three years, the lowest of the low. Even when humanity is in danger of extinction again by the titans they aren't even the least of my worries, they are,' Eirlet's eyes gain a dangerous glint to them as he remembers his enemy. Other humans. The ones that he took an oath to kill them all.

As Eirlet trudges past a family of four the adults ignore him as they worriedly converse between themselves while two kids around the same age as him talk to each other.

"Hey, hey, look at that guy, he looks so weird."

"I know right, he looks so edgy."

Spending the rest of the day travelling west towards Karanes the sun soon starts to set. The soldiers reluctantly stop and have everyone start to set up camp, although they could travel through the night it would be difficult to do so with all the people that are walking with the horses needing rest as well.

As a group of people start setting up a campfire near the edge of the forest Eirlet sets himself up against a tree nearby. Getting his dinner out he looks around and can see everyone quietly eating underneath the dark sky, the facts setting in that after 100 years titans have breached the wall, that they could be mercilessly eaten at any time. Eating his food in peace, Eirlet thinks about what's happened in the past day, 'Titans… Dad talked about them, that they killed off a majority of humanity and us in the Walls are all that's left. If the Walls fall then there's truly no hope in us surviving, if I can get some supplies and stay hidden I might be able to survive for a while if it happens. Though, I'm not putting much hope into that plan, what's the point in surviving if I'm the only one left? All that'll do is prolong the inevitable for a few years. Better to die killing than die begging.'

Looking around he can see a few people crying while being comforted by some people, those that have already fallen to despair, knowing that if Maria has fallen, what's stopping the remaining to follow in its wake? Bringing his calm gaze away from the despairing crowd he finishes his dinner and brings out the old Scout's journal. Opening the book he starts reading through the entries he skipped over before, both to entertain himself and see if there's anything important that he can learn. He immerses himself in the reading, trying to read as much as he can with the time he has.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

In a clearing a covered carriage can be seen rolling along a path, two men sitting on the front talking to each other as they guide the horses. Both of them are middle-aged and dressed like farmers, seemingly delivering crates of goods that can be seen from behind. In the carriage itself, just as it can be seen from the outside the place is filled with crates of vegetables. Although in one corner, hidden by the stacks of crates a deathly pale boy is laying on the floor, covered by blankets.

The boy's chest rhythmically rises and falls with his breathing, his eyes, although closed, movement can be seen from them, showing he's awake. 'Wha… where… where am I? What's going on?' His eyes flutter open, softly groaning in pain from the bright light he shuts them again. Trying again he slowly opens his eyes, squinting as he tries to adjust to the light he can finally see where he is. With a confused expression, he looks at all the crates stacked around him and the cloth of the carriage above him, filtering the sunlight. Feeling vibrations underneath him his sleep-ridden mind gains an understanding of where he is, a guess that confirms itself when he hears the trotting of a horse from and the voices of two men beyond a stack of crates behind him.

"...how do we even know the kid will survive? He'll just be a problem if he doesn't and we're in Stohess." A deep voice says.

A lighter voice responds to the question, "Don't worry man, the kid was tough enough to survive till we got him and I stitched him up real good."

"Would anyone even buy him? He's injured and shit."

"So? Even if he doesn't sell we'll throw him into the Pit, brat can get us some change at least."

The boy's eyes widen as he listens to the conversation of his 'saviours', 'What. The. Fuck! They're gonna sell me! What!? How!? They can't do that! Shit!' His breathing starts to speed up, growing erratic as the boy panics, 'Igottagetoutofhere,Igottagetoutofhere,Igottagetoutofhere!' In his panic, the boy doesn't notice the bandages that wrap around his arms and trail up his chest and neck. Something that turns into a problem as he tries to push himself off his back, barely getting a foot off the floor before his arms give out on him.

Thump

Landing harshly on the floor, tears glimmer in the boy's eyes as blistering pain travels from his back and around his torso.

"What was that?" The boy quickly covers his mouth, muffling his cry of pain.

"Probably something falling from a crate. Told you you did a shit job of packing."

"Man, fuck you!" As the men bicker between themselves the boy calms down from the panic of being found awake.

'That was too close. I need to calm down and figure out what the hell happened to me and what I have to do,' wiping his tears of pain the boy tries to calm himself.

Once he's somewhat collected he tries to recall the last thing he remembers, 'We had a training day. I got to try Dad's bow and had a picnic after. Once we were done it was late so we cleaned up, ate dinner and slept. Then we…' Bowing his head, Eirlet's lip starts quivering as he remembers what happened to his family.

'Ahh damn. Sorry kid but your Dad did good work on me so you'll have to deal with it,' tears fall from his face.

'They're dead. They died. They killed them. I… I promised. I promised I would kill them and that's what I'll do.' Reaching his hand to his chest he grabs the pendant his father gave him, the last gift he'll ever get from him. Sniffling he rubs the pendant one last time before lowering it to his chest. Noticing the bandages wrapped around his torso he pulls aside the blanket covering him, looking over the wrappings that covered nearly every portion of his body. Patting down his body he winces at the pain stemming from everywhere he touched, 'Damn, my body won't be able to do much as I am right now. I don't even know how I survived... that… fall.'

'Well no matter, you'll be dead either way.' With a horrified look in his eyes, he quickly brings his hands up to his neck and feels around the bandages that are wrapped around it. Running his fingers across where he got slashed he can feel some ridges under his touch.

'The guy said he stitched me up,' absently touching his neck he gains a dark look, 'When I get my hands on that hat fucker I'm gonna murder him,' With dark thoughts stewing in his head he remembers the situation he's currently in, 'Alright, two guys outside, male and probably thugs who are taking me to Stohess to sell me but fuck that. I'm injured, and weak, probably from losing so much blood, probably won't be able to run or fight them straight up. They'll be keeping an eye on me at all times and I can't move from here because of the crates blocking me, moving them will make too much noise. My best option would be to surprise them and take them out, but what can I use as a weapon?'

With some sort of plan in his head, he slowly gets up once again and leans against the wall, looking around at the goods inside the crates as he does, 'Vegetables, vegetables, more vegetables. Fuck. There's nothing good here,' he thinks as he takes a bite out of a carrot. Looking around he sees that some of the crates are old, the wood loose from its nails. A shimmer enters Eirlet's eyes as he figures out his plan of action.

Hearing the men talking to one another and not paying much attention inside the carriage he starts quietly shuffling to a crate in the middle of a stack that looks to be breaking apart. Grabbing a small plank of wood that's loose he stuffs the blanket he had around it, muffling the sound and starts shimmying the plank from its nails, pulling it out as quietly as he can he looks at his 'weapon' of choice. The plank was able to break from one end but the other stayed stuck to the crate, so when he broke it off it became pointed and sharp.

Leaning against a stack of crates he starts to shake, 'Oh, fuck me. I gotta kill them. I've already killed before, I've killed plenty of animals during my hunts so why am I shaking right now?' Clenching his fists he takes in shaky deep breathes, 'Ok. Ok, I can do this. Just gotta think of them as a hunt. Their prey. They act as wolves, trying to hurt my fami- Me. So I'm going to hunt them to protect me… Yeah… Protect and hunt.'

With a determined look in his eyes he pushes against the crates he was leaning on, not making them topple over but it does drop some vegetables from the top and makes a lot of noise.

SCRAPE Thud Thud Thud

"What the fuck?" Outside the two men become confused at the noise coming from behind them. Stopping the carriage they look back and see that some vegetables had fallen from the carriage. Seeing this, the leaner of the two smacks the head of the larger man sitting beside him and starts yelling.

"See what you did! The shit fell out of the crates 'cause of you!"

"Man! I've been doing this for years, I never mess shit up like this!"

"Well you did now! You're the one who loaded the crates so you go fix it." Grumbling profanities under his breath the man gets up from his seat and heads towards the back.

"Check on the brat while you're back there! I don't want him to die just yet!" The lean man yells from the front

Putting the vegetables back the larger man frowns at this "I don't know shit about taking care of someone, why don't you do it?"

"Just check if he's awake and if he's bleeding through the bandages, it shouldn't but just to be sure, you can at least change them if they are."

"Fine. I don't get paid enough to deal with that little shit," mumbling the last part under his breath the man starts unloading a few stacks of crates, revealing a pale boy covered in a blanket. Moving inside the man kneels beside the boy, taking note of his slightly rosy face, "Oi Fern! The kid looks a bit better than before!"

"Good, he's healing up nicely then. Take a look at his bandages then let's head out."

Grabbing the blanket, the man opens it up, revealing the boy's bandaged body, and a piece of wood in his hands, "Wha-" The man barely gets a breath out before the boy's blue eyes snap open, startling the man, making him miss the pointed wood rushing to his neck.

Schlunk

One which entered through the bottom of his jaw and stabbed straight to his brain, instantly killing him.

Drip Drip Drip

The man's face becomes slack, eyes wide in surprise, mouth hanging open where the wood inside him becomes visible. The blood from the fatal wound slowly runs down Eirlet's arm and colours it crimson. Eyes hard, Eirlet doesn't react to what he just did, instead attentively listens to his surroundings and hears no reaction from Fern outside, indicating he didn't notice his comrade's demise. Using his free hand he grabs the dead body held above him, using whatever strength he can muster he lowers the body on top of him, getting even more blood on him but letting him silently drop the heavy body. Removing his hands he shuffles himself out from under it, showing streaks of blood on his face and the bandages covering him.

'Fuck. Better hope I don't get an infection or something.' He thinks to himself before patting down the dead thug, leaving the sack on him for now. Feeling something hard on its waist he rolls up the shirt, revealing a small sheathed knife which he grabs. Knowing he's been lucky so far he gets up as quietly as he can, leaning heavily on the walls for support as he limps to the back of the carriage. Sitting down on the edge he drops to the ground, instantly using his training to dampen his presence. Looking around he can see that they are currently in a vast plain, sparse trees around and zero buildings as far as he can see, 'Good thing I didn't try running, they would've found me in no time.'

Walking down the left side of the carriage where he heard Fern's voice he can see a bit of the man's body lazily sitting. Getting closer to the man Eirlet tenses his body in preparation, hand tightening on the knife in his left hand. When he's about halfway to his prey, Fern suddenly gets up and steps down from the front, "Why the fuck is it taking so long to check the kiiiiiiid?" Looking straight ahead with a dumbfounded look, all the man sees is the kid he picked up to sell a step away from him, dripping with blood and holding a knife in his hand. Both of them freeze, staring at each other before Eirlet takes advantage of the moment and leaps towards the man knife first towards his chest. Eyes wide he tries to move away from the nightmare coming at him but with his late reaction he doesn't escape the knife that enters his abdomen.

Schlunk

Both bodies crumple to the ground from the impact, Eirlet landing on top of Fern with a knife stuck in his abdomen. The horse pulling the carriage neighs in fright at the startling noise and confrontation, galloping away from the pile of bodies beside it, making some crates topple out along with the corpse of Eirlet's first kill.

Startled from the fall Eirlet tries getting up to deal the finishing blow but the next thing he feels is a heavy weight hitting his head before blacking out, this time waking up facing the sky with stars in his vision and for some reason not on top of the slaver. "Ohshitohshitohshitfuckfuckfuck! AAgH! This fucking hurts!" Groaning from the throbbing stemming from his head he looks to his right to the origin of the voice. He can see a man that was currently trying to crawl on his side towards him, a knife stuck in his stomach with one hand trying to stem the bleeding. Noticing him awake the man's panic and fear get replaced with anger as he venomously yells, "You fucking piece of shit! I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch! C'mere!" He starts crawling towards Eirlet with new vigour.

Noticing how far the man launched him when he most likely punched him in his panic Eirlet tries to get up with a dizzy head and weak arms. Hearing the man getting closer Eirlet starts to panic because he knows he's no match for the man in his current state, even with him injured. Getting up to one knee he's about to fully stand but he feels something slick grab his ankle with a steel grip, pulling him back to a knee. Looking back he can see the man grabbed his ankle and was pulling them closer together with a furious expression, "Get over here!" Getting pulled back down Eirlet tries to use his other leg to kick the man which doesn't do much in his weakened state. The man then starts using Eirlet's body to climb up on top of him before he grabs him by his hair and slams him down face first.

CRACK

"PatTU GaAAHA," Eirlet starts tearing up as he gasps for air, spitting blood that flows from his burning nose. Laughing the man painfully grinds Eirlet's head into the dirt, "How does that feel huh!? You want some more!? I'm gonna make you regret living you bastard!"

From the corner of his eye and through his tears Eirlet can see the black handle of the blade still buried in his assailant's stomach. Extending his arm painfully behind him he tries to reach for the handle, his fingers an inch away from touching it before his head is yanked back up and slammed again into the ground.

BAM

Grunting in pain from being forced to eat dirt, Eirlet groggily tries to reach for the blade again coming closer than before. And when his head is pulled back for another slam, Eirlet with newfound vigour pushes his body further back, letting his hand wrap around the handle. By now Fer has already figured out what Eirlet was going to do so with panic he tries to grab the wrist of his arm but is too late. Bringing his body weight down to the ground Eirlet uses the momentum to pull the blade harshly from the body.

Schluck

"AcKKGAH," the older man splutters in pain as he feels the blade ripping from his stomach, letting go of the boy beneath him and falling to his side, desperately grabbing his stomach.

Eirlet tries to get up on his knees, blinking the blurriness in his eyes away. Taking ragged breaths from his mouth he positions himself above the man, raising the knife with both hands high above him, plunging the knife straight down towards the chest of the prone man. Fer with panic and fear in his eyes gazes at the bloody child above him, bringing the knife that was in him moments ago towards him, to end him. Adrenaline coursing through him he leaves his wound and grabs Eirlet's hands, stopping it. Although bigger and stronger, Fer has a deep stab wound and with the time it's been bleeding out and his exertion he barely has enough energy to stay awake, needing to end the confrontation quickly.

With death spectating the match the knife shakingly gets locked between the two. Fer with his developed body starts to slowly push the knife, turning it as he does towards Eirlet himself. Knowing he would lose in a contest of strength even when Fer is critically wounded Eirlet takes advantage of the situation. Moving his body above the knife he pushes with more force downwards, still not strong enough but enough to pressure Fer. With both of their bodies so close, Eirlet quickly knees Fer in the side, not hitting his wound but enough to make Fer grunt and weaken his arms in pain, stopping the knife from moving further. Taking advantage of the pause, Eirlet pushes the leg planted on the ground down, letting his other knee rise above his prey's abdomen, one that quickly slams down, "Oof!" Eyes bulging Fer blanks as he registers the immense pain stemming from his stomach, completely losing feeling in his arms, letting the knife he desperately held above him fall to his chest.

Schlunk

"GuHhRK," Head down, Eirlet gasps for breath as he hears the sound of the knife entering and the subsequent gargling from the mouth of the man. Eyes wide in fear he coughs out blood, his lung punctured by the blade, nicking his heart in the process. Eirlet peers down at the dying man, the two meet eyes, one pleading and begging, the other stone-cold but slightly shaking. He starts to choke on his blood, his breathing slowing down and his eyes roll back before he exhales one final time. All movement from him ceases within a minute. Eirlet stays on top of the corpse for a few minutes, catching his breath and gazing upon his dead enemy in the ensuing eerie silence, watching the blood pooling around him.

Drip Drip Drip

Using the body as support Eirlet staggers up, taking stock of the situation he's in. In the distance he can see the carriage galloping away at high speeds, kicking crates and fruits everywhere from its precarious speed. Around him are broken crates with vegetables spilling everywhere on the road along with two bloody corpses. Breathing out he stumbles to the first corpse, falling harshly to his knees as he digs through the sack wrapped around the torso. Peering inside, he can see various things such as bandages, a canteen, snacks and some personal objects. He struggles as he tries to pull the sack free, adrenaline still running through his body letting him pull the sack free and sling it over his shoulder. Taking care not to look at either of the corpses' faces, Eirlet starts to limp down the road, following the trail the horse left behind for him.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

'Walking… for an hour… wasn't a good idea,' is the thought going through Eirlet's head as he crawls towards a creek he found after branching off from the road to a forest. With sweat glistening on his bandaged face from the setting sun he pants, using his hands to scoop out water from which he takes heavy drinks from. Bringing a hand to his nose he pulls out two bandages stuck in his nose, dried blood at the end but none following. Scooping a few more times he starts to clean himself from the sweat and dried blood on him, earlier he had used some of the canteen's water to get rid of the majority of it and rewrap his bandages but his clothes and hair weren't a priority. Taking relief at the cold sensation of water trickling down his hair and back Eirlet takes a deep sigh as he gazes into the water, a dishevelled brown-haired boy with bandages to his neck.

Drip Drip Drip

The water ripples, distorting the image as droplets of tears fall from his face, sniffing he tries to wipe back the tears that won't stop. 'I had to do it right? They would've sold or killed me! I wouldn't be able to follow Mom's wish! Then why?! Why after knowing that am I crying?!' As the sun sets on the horizon all one can hear from the forest is the sobs of a boy, a boy who has killed, a boy who is now a killer.