𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑯𝑨𝑴𝑴𝑬𝑹 | a. arlert

003 | land of the devils

the rocking of the boat had sent you off to sleep not long after you set sail for paradis. although the wooden deck wasn't the comfiest place to lay down on, with how exhausted you were, just about any surface would do.

you dreamt about being reunited with annie, the picture of her in your head was as clear as day. in your mind she hadn't grown much, although her features had matured and she was a lot gloomier, but she still smiled for you.

the two of you were sat in a meadow, filled with the most beautiful flowers, along with reiner, bertholdt and marcel. they were telling you about their time in paradis, all whilst you listened eagerly, not being able to stop smiling.

it was only a dream, but you would do anything to experience it just once.

the temporary bliss that accompanied your dream vanished when the boat suddenly collided with something, jolting you awake.

looking around with wide eyes, you soon realised that you had reached land and the boat had hit an area of large rocks.

sitting up, you rubbed your eyes with your palms, trying to wake up a little. it didn't take you long to notice that pieck was staring at you, an amused look on her face from just witnessing you scrambling around.

"we're here." she laughed, standing up and extending an arm out to help you up. "zeke's already gone up ahead."

the two of you stepped out of the boat and dragged it to the shore, concealing it between a group of rocks where it wouldn't be found. you were stood on a small beach, directly below a cliff. from where you were standing, the ground above you seemed to be dominated by trees, most likely spanning out into fields.

as you headed away from the beach, you realised just how different this place was to marley. instead of buildings filling your vision, bright green grass stretched as far as the eye could see, along with countless tall trees, casting dark shadows across the greenery.

the change of scenery was refreshing, you knew you were going to like it here.

-

the sky was now pitch black, the afternoon having been spent trekking across countless fields and the occasional stream. the three of you had walked quite a distance, but the veil of darkness which surrounded you made it impossible to walk any farther safely.

you were stood still, eyes contently fixed on pieck who was crouched down in the damp grass, examining it.

"this looks like a good place to camp!" she yelled. "although it's a bit muddy."

"it will do for tonight." zeke sighed, walking over to her side. "we'll stay here until nightfall tomorrow, that way we can hopefully travel without running into any titans."

you began to walk over to them, lugging your heavy bag on your shoulder and grasping onto a yellow lamp. dumping the bag onto the grass, you knelt down, looking through the pile of poles and fabric which would assemble the tent.

"aren't there any instructions for this thing?" you groaned, scratching your head as you tried to figure out how all of the pieces fit together.

pieck elbowed you gently, before waving a sheet of paper in front of your face.

"looking for this?" she laughed, taunting you with it.

snatching the paper out of her hand, you slumped to the ground, eyebrows furrowed as you read through the small print.

"i think it goes something like this." you stated, grabbing a few of the poles and beginning to assemble them together. there was silence for a while as the two of you fumbled around with the tent, expressions the most serious they had been in a long time.