The Swords We Yield - ◈ ARMIN ARLERT X OC ◈

Chapter 8 - Indigo

We rode for hours on end through the darkness, we had been out for most of the night and had found nothing. Relief bubbled in my stomach, but my gut kept telling me we weren't in the clear yet. Eventually the night began to bleed into the morning, I keep my eyes on the walls as they get closer and closer. Looking up to the indigo coloured sky, I let out a long sigh of exhaustion, the clouds painting themselves across the sky in abundance like flowers covering a field.

"Ahead!" I hear someone yell from the front of the crowd, jolting me awake from my sleepy, unaware state.

"What's going on?" Gen mumbles beside me, rubbing her eyes, nodding her head in the direction of the voice.

"I- I don't know-" I trail off as she drops her head onto my shoulder restlessly. I stand up in the stirrups trying to get a better view of what's ahead of us, when I see it, them. A sharp breath escapes my mouth as I hear Gen groan next to me pulling me back down.

"Stop moving! You're my pillow." She mutters resting her head comfortably on my shoulder.

"Gen, get up! Something is obviously going on!" I exclaim, looking around me to see scouts speeding forward on their horses from behind us, fiddling with their ODM gear, obviously preparing for something.

"Gen!" I yell, fumbling with my reins to try to keep up with the others.
"Nighty, night." She whispers chipperly again, nuzzling her head into my neck.

"Hey! You guys know what's going on?" Jacob calls, falling back in line with mine and Gen's horses. Relief settles on my shoulders, good, I can pass Gen off to Jacob and work out what the hell is going on.

"Take Gen!" I shout, shoving her off me, towards Jacob. Her body weightlessly flops into his arms as he secures his arms around her waist, stopping her from falling off her horse.

"Zar, what's going on?" Jacob yells over the echo of horses galloping and shouts of other restless scouts.

"No time to explain! Just stay alive!" I grunt back at him, as I regrip the reins, adjusting my feet in the stirrups and taking off in the same direction as the other scouts.

I hear my heart thumping in my temple as I push Atlas to run as fast as he can, looking ahead I see an abandoned castle being swarmed by a large group of titans.

"Shit", I mutter under my breath, staring at the eerie sight. I hear scouts yelling in front of me saying something about the castle. They say that it is in fact the Castle Utgard and that there are scouts hiding within its cover. Connecting the dots I realise that Sasha and the others are most likely stranded within the castle empty handed, without ODM gear.

"Zariya?" Someone calls from beside me making me jump in my skin, I look over to see Armin's familiar blue eyes hiding behind his blonde hair.

"Armin?" I question, suddenly aware that he is on a horse, and not riding on the back of the carriage anymore.

"Do you know what's going on?" I call him over the other noises filling the air.

"I'm pretty sure I know just as much as you!" He says back to me in a wary tone, he looks past me with wide eyes, suddenly his body freezes.

"What!?" I exclaim looking over my shoulder, past the castle to the wall, up, up up, the wall sits an animal like titan, crouches over the edge. I feel my heart beat stop for a brief moment as we stare at it in awe and horror, what the hell is that thing? Just as I'm about to ask out loud, Hange gallops past us on her horse, "Hange!" I yell, pushing Atlas to match Hange's speed. Armin does the same as we catch up to Hange eventually galloping in line with her.

"What is that thing?" I yell over the obnoxiously loud galloping. Hange looks over her shoulder briefly back at Armin and I before responding.

"I have no idea what that is! Maybe an evolved titan of some sort?" She ponders more to herself than anyone else.

"Either way that is not our biggest priority right now! Our comrades are risking their lives over there and it is our responsibility to help them!" She states in a stern tone, she looks back again before standing up in her stirrups with one hand in the air. "Disperse and canvas the area, the rest of you follow me to where the titans are gathering and cut them down!" She announces to the surrounding scouts pointing ahead towards the titan infested castle.

"Got it!" Moblit says behind us.

I look over to Armin, he stares straight ahead to the castle hiding in the shadows of sunrise. Something speeds past us catching my attention. As I turn to see who it is, I watch Eren speed towards the castle on his horse.

"Wait! You're not a part of the offensives!" Hange yells at him but he doesn't slow down.

"For goodness sake!" Armin mutters beside me, shaking his head.

"Hange what about-" I begin before she cuts me off.

"No! You and Armin are not a part of this, you're just newbies, don't forget that!" She states, taking off with Adam, Moblit and the rest of her squad.

My shoulders sag as they leave us, "Just great." I mutter to myself as I watch Eren approach a titan from behind.

"DIE!" He screams, flying down to its nape going for the kill. One swift movement is all it takes as the titan comes crashing down to the ground. I want that to be me. I think to myself, desperate for some action.

"Hey, it's ok, you will have your time to show off your skills soon, I know it!" Armin reassures me, nudging my shoulder. I give him a small smile, but deep inside I know that Hange is right, we are just newbies, it won't be our time for a while.

Once we reach the castle, all the titans have been taken out. I quickly dismount Atlas, and run to the others, climbing my way through the rubble of what was once a castle. I run as swiftly as I can, but misstep falling to the ground.

"Ah!" I yelp. However, Armin's hand wraps around my forearm as an attempt to hold me up.

"Oh on!" He calls beside me, tripping over his own two feet. As we both tumble to the ground, I land on top of Armin amongst the rubble. I quickly roll myself off him, falling next to him with a soft laugh. That must have been entertaining for everyone else around us.

"Sorry! I tried to help you, but it just made it worse!" He apologises beside me with a laugh, I can't help but laugh in response. I feel an uncomfortable stinging on my ear, I quickly touch it before realising its bleeding, I must have grazed it when I fell over.

Armin pulls himself up, dusting himself off before offering me his hand. I willingly take it, letting him help me up, I quickly cover my ear with my hair so he doesn't see the graze.

"What happened?" He asks me, with a tilted head.

"Oh nothing, it's fine!" I smile. He swiftly moves my hair over my shoulder, looking at the graze.

"You're hurt!" He whines, dropping his hand annoyed. "Why do you always get hurt when you're with me, it's as if I'm a bad luck charm for you or something!" He laughs jokingly, but I know he genuinely thinks that is the case.

"Armin, don't be silly! It was just an accident, you are not a bad luck charm, don't think that!" I tell him, grabbing his wrist as he is about to walk away. He turns around to face me with frustrated eyes, "Armin you're not a bad luck charm." I tell him quietly.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't like seeing you hurt and it always seems to happen when we are together..." He trails off looking at the ground, "That's all." He looks at me again with those sky blue eyes of his. I smile in response, holding his eye contact for a moment longer.

"Come on, let's get to the others." I say calmly, nodding my head in the direction of everyone else. Armin grins before walking off, only then I realise my hand is still securely wrapped around his wrist. I quickly let go, before catching up beside him.