Memories ~ Attack on Titan

Chapter two

The day had arrived. The day of her family's first expedition. Rin's mind fluttered in and out of consciousness as she listened to the sound of Isabel getting ready. Rin groaned, slipping in and out of dream land and pulling the blankets around her body before turning to face the wall. She never was much of a morning person. Rin's mind continued to shift as she fought against the invisible forces keeping her awake. Isabel laughed, her laugh was quiet and warm, If Isabel was a color, she'd be golden like honey, sickeningly sweet. Isabel approached the mostly sleeping girl, sitting on the bed next to her and gently pushing aside the black, tangles strands that fell across the child's face. She then planted a small kiss on top of the girls head and whispered in a sweet hush,"Don't worry, I'll make sure Bro doesn't go too crazy out there." She said with a small giggle. Little did she know Rin hardly heard her, her brain refusing to stay awake any longer, a small snore came from the girls lips. She twitched her nose before falling back into her slumber.
Isabel left, walking out the door to meet the others.

3 hours later
The sun was beaming brilliantly through the thin white curtains that separated it from the sleeping girl. Rin felt the light warming her face. She slowly opened her eyes, only to quickly shut them again and aggressively rub them. I guess it was form living underground for most of her life, but Rin's eyes were exceptionally sensitive when it came to bright lights. After several minutes she forced herself into a sitting position, slumped over with her head on her knees. The only thing on her mind at the moment was how much her back ached. She stretched her arms over her head as high as she could, finally getting a louder than expected pop from her back. This helped take her mind off of it, she stared straight ahead looking for any kind of thoughts to help bring her brain into the real world again. After what felt like an eternity of sitting in silence studying the lines on the wall, she huffed and placed her pale feet onto the white tile below her. She stood up, stretching her arms once more and letting out a groan as she did so. After much thought Rin decided to go look for Hange, she walked out the door and began walking down the stone path, her feet quietly slapping against the cold stone, her white flowing night gown blew in the light summer breeze. She forgot her shoes again, she was never much of a morning person, often forgetting things like shoes due to her one minded morning brain deciding other matters were more important and things like shoes weren't even worth mentioning to the brain. About half way down the path Rin realized, Hange wasn't here, she went on that expedition.
The expedition.
How could she not remember? The more she walked and dwelled she could briefly remember Isabella voice this morning, and Rin found herself getting quite frustrated by the fact she couldn't remember what her friend had said to her. It was strange, being alone that is. She didn't spend much time dwelling on the expedition, But now that she was awake and alone she could force her brain twirl the idea around. She never worried for her father, besides titans aren't that bad, they're just big guys they run around and have big mouths. sure they try to eat you and whatever but it's not like they're hard to kill. That's what Hange said at least, not like she had ever even seen a titan or anything close. This frustrated her too, being a kid seemed like such a burden and she found herself trying to emulate the adults so maybe they'd decide she was mature. Rin sighed, all this thinking was making her hungry. She decided that she should eat breakfast, even if she would be eating alone today. She always ate with Hange and Moblit, Erwin and Levi. It wasn't like their were any other children here to keep her company. But with most of the scouts gone, the base felt like a ghost town. It held almost an eerie quality.
Rin had never seen this place so empty in fact it made her a little uneasy. Not that she thought she was in any danger or anything like that, but the isolation was enough to give her chills. She started to run down the path heading towards the dinner hall. She wasn't sure why but something in her was telling her to run. She ran until she reached the double doors, pressing her face against the small window, even the dinner hall was empty. She pushed the doors open and tiptoed inside, her footsteps echoed in the silence. There were a couple bowls of soup on the table all the way on the left side of the room. Rin picked up one and sat down her normal table, only her normal company wasn't there. She took a bite of the soup, cold.
Rin scrunched up her nose in disgust, it tasted terribly, like cold chalky potatos and gravy.
Hours had gone by and Rin was bored, so bored in fact that she went and sat in Hanges office, just zoning out and letting herself escape into thought.
The sun was setting and still none of the scouts had returned. Rin was sitting on the stone path in front of the head quarters. She was drawing on the stone with some chalk. She was never particularly close to Erwin, until the day he gifted her the chalk. Erwin always seemed so untouchable, so far away from everyone else. He felt almost as thought he was on another plane of existence. He had gifted her this box of chalk. He even let her draw on the chalk board in his office during meetings or while he was working. In Erwin's words, it would do good for her to listen in on adult conversation, it would sharpen her mind. Rin begun to adore Erwin the more time she spent around him, he reminded her of a stuffed bear, big, dark and burley but he was the most comforting person to be in proximity of. Sometimes he'd ask what she thought in terms of battle plans or new training techniques, even tho she probably wasn't of much help, he still loved hearing her ideas and seeing her thoughts develop from those of a child to something more complex. she drew this portrait of Erwins horse on his chalk board one day during a meeting. A beautiful realistic horse highlighting all its hair and muscles. A few days later Erwin gifted her a small box of chalk, "this is for you, Rin. You can draw on stone with this was well as chalk boards. go give it a try." The commander said giving the girl a small smile and pat on the head. Rin was overjoyed and immediately ran outside to test out her new present. Thoughts of Erwin made her smile, he was one of her biggest inspirations.
Suddenly Rin heard the sound of horses in the distance. All of her senses perked up as she looked in the direction of the sound. As soon as she caught sight of some men she bolted up off the ground and ran towards them. She felt her heart speed up as she got closer and noticed that this was hardly the number of people who were in the regiment. She begun looking for her father, Hange, Farlan. Her skin crawled as also looked at the bloody and beaten soldiers in front of her. She suppressed her panic through pure adrenaline as she looked for her family, reality sat in as she realized she didn't see Isabel or Farlan, or her father. No way, she thought as she pushed through the people hoping to find any familiar face. Her heart racing out of her chest.
She looked around frantically and felt a fleeting sensation of relief rush her as she caught sight of commander Erwin. She ran to him like her life depended on it, crashing into the man. Erwin looked down at the girl, when she looked to meet his eyes they were filled with sorrow and anger.
Erwin put his hand on Rin's shoulder before kneeling down in front of her. "I'm sorry, Rin." Those three words, she knew the unthinkable had happened. Her world crumbled and blurred around her. She felt weak, like she body wasn't her own anymore, she felt like an outsider looking in on the horrors that befell these men. Her skin covered with a layer of bumps. She felt worse then sick, she didn't feel alive. She felt as though she had died on that battle field not her family. A tear managed to roll its way down her cheek, and more soon followed. Suddenly all the weight of the world fell on her shoulders, like every mans death had fallen to crush her. Her skin was whiter than a ghost and her eyes were hollow, like every bit of life was drained from them in the spans of only a few seconds. With not a single thought in her head she leaned on the commander, hugging him as tightly as she could, allowing her to embrace her sorrows. Erwin didn't say a word, he didn't touch her, he just stayed there in silence letting her cry. He had been through this a million times, not that it became easier the more people you lose, but it became familiar. The commander pulled away from the girl and put a hand on her cheek, her empty eyes filled the man with something he had never felt before. He was about to say something, he wasn't sure what, words of confidence maybe, tell her that her friends sacrifices gave humanity a better chance. But he didn't have the guts to lie to her. When he touched the girls face suddenly time froze. The world as he knew it faded. The dark grass suddenly took on something else, muddy stone to be exact, he looked around and instantly recognized his surroundings, he was back in the underground. Erwin blinked, looking at his hands only to realize he was no longer holding onto the girl. He looked around, houses and vendors littered his surroundings. In the distance he heard laughing, Rin's laughing. Far off he could see her, the more he focused the more he could make it out. Isabel, Farlan, Levi and Rin. He walked closer, he felt his body heart up the closer he got. He stood next to Levi, confused and dazed he laughed, "Levi I-" but Levi couldn't hear him. No one could, he attempted to place his hand on the man's shoulder, but it fell straight through, like passing his hand through the air. Erwin scrunched his brows as he witnessed the group continue on talking and laughing. Suddenly the patch of dirt around his feet turned to grass, he looked at his surroundings and in the blink of an eye the sound of heavy rain drops filled his ears. The grassy meadows where him and Rin shared their sorrows was now being flooded with the heavy liquid. Erwin's heart raced. Was be losing his mind? No, their had to be an explanation. But Rin stood exactly as he remembered, head berried in his side, crying. Black stands of hair now wet dripping down her back. Erwin was too rational to just accept this as a trick of the mind, he had been there, where ever there was, the underground or whatever.
Another set of foot steps approached, breaking the commander from his thoughts. Rin was suddenly pulled up off the ground and away from the commander by a strong set of hands that Rin instantly recognized to be her father's. The reality of the bloody comrades surrounding the trio struck Erwin like a ton of bricks. Levi scoffed, pulling his child away from the man and pulling her into his embrace. She instantly berried her face in her father's shoulder, a sense of comfort rushing through her body. Yet with a shaking voice she was still scared to choke out the question lingering in her mind, "where is-" she was cut off by Levi, he knew his daughter well and instantly knew what she was wanting to ask , "They're gone" he said in a cold, lifeless tone. Rin began to cry again as she pulled her self closer to her father, her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. Levi hugged his daughter in silence and walked her back towards head quarters, giving Erwin another menacing glance on his way out. Erwin just stood there for a moment, Levi's annoyance was the last thing on his mind.