AOT: Insight

Rivers of red

"Eren?" the soft voice spoke up as he followed Armin outside.

Levi said he would give them a tour of the compound. Armin accepted, Eren just shrugged. Armin was the one who needed to know their surroundings. That was how he figured out their escape plan. Did Eren want to escape from here? He wasn't sure. Sighing he shoved his hands deep into his pants pockets. That was when he heard his name.

Looking up he saw Historia walking toward him. She wore a blue sundress. It brought out her eyes. He smiled at her. She looked like some kind of flower, he thought.

"Hey, Hissy!" He giggled waving to her. She waved back with an exasperated eye roll.

"How was the first night?" she asked. Eren flinched back. His hand going to his throat.

"That bad?" she asked. But he saw it.

"You heard?" he asked.

"Yes. We had to settle the other girls down, after." She muttered.

"Sorry." He looked away as red blossomed on his cheeks.

"Don't be!" she laid a hand on his arm.

"It isn't your fault. What your parents did to you..." She shook her head.

"It would traumatized anyone." She added.

"Can I hug you?" he asked in a small voice. She laughed.

"I told you, you don't have to ask." She raised her arms as he bent down.

He pulled her into him. She smelled like happiness. It was what he always felt around her. Burying his face in her neck, he breathed in the scent. She laughed again as she tightened her arms around him. Eren liked to imagine that this was how a mother should hug their child, not like what he had...

"Hey stop molesting my girl!" Ymir swatted him across the back. They separated each giggling a little

"Ymir, Eren can hug me whenever he wants." Historia grinned as she slipped her arm through the taller girls.

"I guess there are worst men." Ymir rolled her eyes looking away.

Her face changed then. It took on a more intense look. She peered up at the hills surrounding the Ackerman estate. Shifting back she pulled Historia with her. Hissing out she asked if anyone else saw something. Eren glanced toward where she had looked. He didn't see anything but there was a pit forming in his stomach. He turned.

Armin was on one side of the lawn. He was chatting with Erwin about something. Levi was on the other. The short male looked pissed as he glared at his uncle laying on the ground. This was bad. He needed to do something! His body froze up. He saw that long ago image flash in his mind as he looked at the current Levi.

Could he face watching Levi die a second time? A cold sweat broke out over his body. What about Armin? Could he handle life without the teen? He knew the answer to that. It was as if his body already knew what his mind took so long to figure out.

"Levi, get down!" Eren yelled as he ran for the small male.

Armin's face twisted around to look at him. Eren saw his eyes widened. "On the hill..." Eren was yelling out directions to Levi even as he tackled Armin to the ground.

In a sweeping motion, he managed to get the small blond behind a row of hedges. Armin clung to his arm as they watched Erwin pull out his gun. He ducked down beside them as he spoke into his wrist watch.

Eren couldn't breathe. He gazed across the field as Levi hunkered down behind Kenny. The elder male passed a shinny metallic object to the smaller one. Levi's cold grey eyes flashed to where Eren sat trembling.