𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑯𝑨𝑴𝑴𝑬𝑹 | a. arlert

001 | introduction

[year 845]

the air was icy, nipping at your face as you ran through the streets of liberio, eventually reaching the large crowd which had formed at the port. you began to shove through the mass of people, catching sight of the sea of red armbands which seemed to engulf you.

colourful flags filled the sky, emphasising how important this day was for the whole of marley; the land where you grew up, but knew you didn't belong in.

"annie!" you cried, finally reaching the front of the crowd and catching sight of the back of your blonde friend's head.

annie's usually stiff face morphed into one of delight as she noticed you, and she let out a joy-filled laugh at the sight of your windswept hair strewn over your face. not wanting to waste a moment of the precious time you had left with her, you ran in her direction, outstretching your arms as the distance between the two of you began to close.

"y/n!" she shouted as you collided with her, locking your arms around her so tightly it was obvious she was struggling to breathe.

"i'm going to miss you so much!" you mumbled into her shoulder. "promise me we'll see each other again, after all of this is over?"

annie's arms tightened around your waist, pulling the two of you even closer together. "of course." she laughed, otherwise she was bound to cry. "i promise you."

"we promise too y/n." reiner said, interrupting your conversation as he, bertholdt and marcel walked over.

you let go of annie, turning around to see the three boys staring at the two of you, proud smiles plastered across their lips. subconsciously fiddling with the hem of your warriors uniform, you examined the expressions of pride covering their faces, realising just how envious you were of them.

'what would it take for me to be in their place?' you wondered. 'just how much work will i have to put in to finally be able to escape marley?'

the sensation of eyes burning into you pulled you from your thoughts, and you ran up and hugged them all, saying goodbye. pausing at reiner, you leaned forward, whispering into his ear: "i'm counting on you."

maybe it was your tone of voice, or the dark look in your eyes which caused him to step back, the epitome of fear plastered across his face for only a moment, before he seemed to snap back to reality.

a deep blush now covered reiner's cheeks, and he nodded. "you can count on me, y/n. i promise you i'll keep annie and the others safe."

you watched as the four of them walked away, their silhouettes fading into the sunlight as they clambered aboard the boat.

shielding your face from the sunlight, you gave one last smile to annie who was waving as the boat slowly departed from the shore.

-

almost immediately the crowd died down, citizens were forced away by marlean soldiers threatening to 'send them to paradis' if they disobeyed.

you took this as a sign to leave, and began idly walking, your mind preoccupied by thoughts of your friends.

"hey, you there." a stern voice yelled from the distance. brushing it off, you continued walking, heading towards the carriage which was waiting for you.

the footsteps behind you suddenly quickened, and before you had any idea that was happening, a hand latched firmly onto your shoulder, forcing you to a stop.

looking up, you realised that it was a solider who had grabbed you. "where's your armband kid?" he asked, a disgusted sneer on his lips.

surely enough, the red armband you were forced to wear was no longer on your uniform. it must have fallen off when you were with annie and the others.

instead of answering, you turned away, glancing in the direction of the carriage your brother was waiting in.

"are you deaf or something?" the solider asked again, beginning to shake you with the hand that was still gripping onto your blazer.

the carriage door opened and willy tybur, your brother, stepped out. you watched as he patted down his trousers before beginning to walk towards you, seething with anger.

the two of you didn't look alike, to be honest you didn't really look like any of you family members, leading you to often wonder whether you were adopted.

" get your hands off her." willy said, reaching you and grabbing hold of the soldier's arm. the unpleasant feeling of being pulled on was finally gone, and you stood trying to get rid of the aching pain which was coming from your arm as you watched your brother yell at the solider.

"mr tybur." the man started, "i'm so-"

"cut the crap." willy interrupted. "just know if i ever catch you talking to my sister like that again there will be trouble to pay."

the solider saluted as willy dismissed him, and walked off, no doubt looking for another eldian to terrorise.

"i told you not to wander off y/n." willy spoke. "I know you're only 11 but the soldiers here are ruthless, they'll do anything for an excuse to spill eldian blood."

"sorry!" you laughed, embracing him tightly as the two of you wandered back towards the waiting carriage.

-
the remainder of the day you spent daydreaming, thinking about how the others were doing.

although you were still jealous, you now felt relieved too. none of the others felt the same way about those from paradis as you did.

all that the warrior candidates were taught to feel towards the paradis eldians was hatred, that they were to blame for the way those in marley were treated.

you still weren't sure what to believe, all that you wanted was to discover the truth, and you would do anything for that to be possible. even if it meant deceiving those you cared about.

what you really longed for was to visit paradis, and be able to find out the truth of the world for yourself one day.