The Swords We Yield - ◈ ARMIN ARLERT X OC ◈

Chapter 5 - Lanterns

The rest of the day flew by in the blink of an eye. With all the preparations that needed to be done before we left, the planning required to minimise casualties and deal with the problem as quickly as possible. Sasha and the others had left last night after the debriefing and returned to HQ. We didn't know about the breach at the time so they had gone back to rest and begin training for the next exhibition.

I silently tack up Atlas under the dimly lit lanterns. The soft shuffling of people echo through the courtyard, we are leaving in under an hour. Nerves churn in my stomach as I weave the final belt through the buckle of Altas' head piece. Letting out a long sigh I caress his head, running my fingers through his white mane, he grunts pushing his nose into my chest.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I smile under my breath, reaching into my pocket pulling out a hand full of sugar cubes. He nibbles on them eagerly, making a smirk creep across my face. He nuzzles his head into my neck, making me laugh at the ticklish sensation of his breath against my skin.

"Your welcome," I mutter, "You should be grateful I spend half of my very small allowance on a horse every week!" I scoff, making him neigh.

"Hey." I hear someone call from behind Altas, looking over his shoulder I see Armin standing by his rear end patting his upper thigh. Atlas lets out a whine stomping his foot, nudging my hand wanting more sugar cubes.

"If you eat them all now you won't have any left for the rest of the week." I tell him, patting his nose before walking over to Armin.

"Hi." I smile, sliding my hand up Atlas' head and down his neck so I am standing opposite Armin.

"I haven't seen you since-" He trails off looking down at my hand. After my heartfelt conversation with Jacob and Gen, I had to rewrap my hand since it was covered in blood.

"Oh yeah that, it's alright now." I say quietly, holding my injured hand cautiously. I'm lucky that Hange had that stuff on hand otherwise who knows what kind of infection I could have gotten. She told me that Levi made her keep that stuff on her at times which was interesting because Jacob had told me the same thing to do the same thing, making me curious, who told him?

"Zariya?" Armin calls, dragging me out of my day dream.

"Hm?" I mutter, looking over at him.

"Ar- are you ok?" He ponders looking me in the eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I smile, patting Atlas' mane.

"Okay then," He smiles back, "Well I think we are leaving soon so I better get back to my group." Armin explains, rubbing Atlas before dropping his hand. "I'll catch up with you later, ok? And make sure you look after your hand." He warns playfully.

"Yeah don't worry I will." I can't help but grin back. Armin waves goodbye, disappearing in the crowd of scouts.

I go back to checking all of Atlas' belts making sure they are secure so I don't fall off him. I sigh, looking up from his saddle to see Rosette walking away in the opposite direction with Jean. Shit, Rosette! I completely forgot she was with me before everything went to hell! I quickly drop Altas' reins knowing he won't wander off anywhere, ducking under his head I quickly jog over to them trying to catch up.

"Hey! Rosette!" I yell, making her pivot on her feet to look back at me. A smile spreads across her face but her eyes scream with frustration.

"Hey, where the hell did you guys go!" She exclaims back, in a concerned tone. I take a final step reaching her and Jean.

"Yeah what you three back there was pretty shitty." Jean spits, looking over at Rosette, my eyebrows burrow trying to think why he is pissed.

"What?" I mutter confused tilting my head.