Eyes Open | AruAni | Attack on Titan Hunger Games |

1

~~ Annie's P.O.V ~~

I stared at my prey, bow pointed to it, waiting for the perfect time to shoot. It was a deer, staring right back at me, fearing for it's life. It's eyes looked terrified, but it didn't move. It either had no where to go or it had already accepted it's fate. I held my bow tightly in my hands, trying not to move. Any second now... 

I flinched at the sound of leaves crunching nearby. This was a restricted area. I wasn't supposed to be in the woods. But, I had to get food somehow. 

I looked around, hoping it was some wild animal. My eyes darted from tree to tree, looking through the bushes, the ground and then back at the doe-eyed dear. Or, where it was supposed to be. It had run off by now. 

I heard another sound of footsteps, more leaves crunching underneath someone's feet right behind me. I quickly spun around and pointed my bow towards where I heard movement a second ago. 

Everything fell quiet. 

It felt like even the birds had stopped chirping, either out of fear, or they were eager to see what was to occur next. 

At the sight of a blond head emerging from the bushes, I shot an arrow. It ended up hitting the center of a tree. 

"Quit creeping up on me. Armin." - I scoffed, putting my bow down. - "I actually thought I had been followed for a second." 

The blond got up, dusting off. - "Hey," - He smiled - "Sorry about that." - He scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. 

"You're lucky I recognized you. You would have ended up dead otherwise." 

"I know. And I'm sorry. I just didn't wanna scare off whatever you were hunting."

I looked back towards where the deer was previously standing. - "Too late now. It's already gone." 

"Yeah... I'm not too good at creeping up..." - He looked down, but then he looked back up at me, his eyes slightly lighting up - "You don't have to hunt today though! My grandpa brought in some extra food. He invited you and your father to come over and eat with us before the reaping. " 

"Why would he do that?" - I asked - "Money is tough around here." 

"I know... He just knows you're struggling and wanted to help out. Now come on, let's get going." - He took my hand and started walking out of the woods. 

I looked down at our tangled hands. His hand felt warm. 

Armin and I have been friends for around three years now. I had defended him against some people being mean to him once and he'd stuck with me ever since. I guess sometimes he felt like he owed me for the times I've saved him. He didn't though. He didn't owe anything. 

He was the first person my age I had spoken to. My adoptive father had a drinking problem a while back so I had to take care for both of us. He lost his job so I had to hunt and sell the meat. He was doing better now though. Well, despite the fact he was a little sick. It wasn't too bad so he brushed it off as a cold and refused to get help. 

"What were you gonna do with that dear anyways?" - Armin asked, suddenly, cutting off my train of thoughts. 

I shrugged - "I was gonna sell it. I could have bought more food with the money." 

 "Well you've got food covered for now." - He said - "The reaping's today..."  

"Yeah..." - I walked next to him, leaves crunching under my feet as we walked out of the forest and into District 12. - "How many times do you have your name in?" 

"39..." - Armin said, followed by a sigh - "I risked putting my name in to get some food." 

"You shouldn't have. You could have asked me to just go hunting." 

"I'm tired of depending on others though. All my life, it's been either you or grandpa taking care of me. I haven't done anything for myself. I feel like such a burden." 

I stopped walking to look at my friend. I put my right hand on his right shoulder. - "Listen up, you won't get the chance to do anything for yourself if you get picked, you hear me? So don't you dare risk that again." - I looked him dead in the eye. 

He took a deep breath, then let it out and looked at me. - "Understood." 

"Good. Let's go now." 

We continued walking through a big, open field of grass. We were on our way home. We were almost there.

"Annie... I know it's foolish but what if we ran away." 

I looked at him - "Run away? Where would we go? We wouldn't even make it an hour before they caught us. " 

"You might be right but... Look at that." - He pointed to the maze of endless trees we had just gotten out of. - "They wouldn't be able to find us." 

"And what about your grandpa and my dad?" - I asked. 

"We could take them with us! I know it sounds crazy and we don't know where we'd end up but we'd be free. We could see the sea, Annie. Just like we'd always dreamed of!" - His wide smile faded when he noticed the dull look on my face. 

"You're right." - I sighed. - "It does sound foolish." 

~~~

"Thank you for this food, Arthur." - My father said, sitting at the dining table at Armin's house. 

Mr. Arlert chuckled - "It's nothing. It's the least I could do for Annie looking out for my grandson." 

Armin looked down in his plate, both his hands were placed on the table.

"What's wrong, Armin?" - Mr. Arlert asked. 

Armin looked up and softly smiled. - "It's nothing. I'm just nervous about the reaping." 

I looked at him. - "It'll be fine, don't worry." 

I was hoping they wouldn't pick Armin. He didn't stand a chance. 

My father got up - "We should get going, Annie. You still need to get ready for the reaping." 

I nodded and got up myself. - "I'll see you later, Armin." 

He nodded back and waved as we walked out. 

I had to admit, I was quite nervous myself. I was overall pretty strong and good with a bow but I wasn't sure who else would get picked. I didn't know the abilities of the other tributes and... I'd had to leave my father and Armin behind. I wasn't sure if my father would go back to his old habits. And if Armin would be alright. I wasn't sure how he was gonna cope if I got picked. So, I hoped it didn't happen. 

"Annie," - My father called - "Are you ready? We have to get going." 

I came back from my universe of thoughts. I felt like I was just in some sort of trance. I caught myself staring out the window and looked back at my father and cleared my throat. - "Yeah, I'm ready." 

He nodded. - "Let's get going."