Looking Through Me | Attack on Titan Fan Fiction

Chapter 15: Run

"Armin, let's go." I waved for him, and spun on my heel. My braid spun around and over my left shoulder and I brushed it back absentmindedly.

I begin at a brisk walk, before I pumped my arms and began sprinting with Armin just behind me. Jumping, my gear latched onto the trees and swung me into the air. I flipped as I began to gain speed, and left Armin far behind me. Sure, that was unsafe if he encountered a Titan, but everyone's lives were at stake and I was pretty sure he could handle himself.

Please, Eren, Jean... Please say that you didn't have any water... Anyone, just don't drink it! I clenched my teeth, and narrowed my hazel eyes. They glinted dangerously, and I sped forward again. I don't know what I'd do without you, Eren...

"Jennika!" Armin screamed from behind me, struggling to keep up.

The trip there might have been five minutes, but it would take less than two at the rate I was going. I knew it was too good to be true... There was no such thing as a miracle. First day here and we were already on our death beds. Not only that, but people were bound to notice the disappearance of the 104th Trainee Squad by now. They'd be searching, too. Erwin, Hanji...Levi. The thought of him coming after us sent ice through my veins.

Focus, Jen, focus! I mentally slapped myself, and screamed as I went flying through the brush. Branches made deep scratches in my cheeks and legs, and teared the fabric of my pants. My foot caught onto a branch when I was going 70, and I let out a shriek.

Oh fuck.

I went flying head over heels, and slammed into another branch. It cracked along with my ribs, and there was a whoosh of air as it was squished from my body. I went from 70 to 0 in less than two seconds, and I felt like I'd been placed in a vice. My body slid off the branch, and I began to fall back.

"Jen!" Armin's arms wrapped around my body, and shook me gently. "Wake up! We have to warn everybody!"

Blinking furiously, my thoughts cleared and began to tough through the burning in my midsection. "Right!"

He let me go, and I fell a few feet before being picked up again by my gear. Flying forward, I flipped my body so my stomach faced the ground, and tried to dodge. I can't warn the others if I'm not alive, I thought, don't be so stupid. Exercise caution.

Through the thicket, I saw the familiar five wide and flat branches of Stellacinque, with tarps connecting each one. I saw some people beginning to gather and talk, and I increased my speed even though my ribs felt like they were broken.

"GUYS!" I screamed, and rocketed through the last few feet, before landing next to their group and almost falling on my face.

"Jenni—" Krista started, but I grabbed her shoulders.

"Has anyone had the water? Anyone?!" I yelled at her, and she shook her head.

"I-I don't know! Ask Connie, he's been guarding Lima this whole time!"

I released her, and she fell forward. Sprinting to Connie, I practically nailed him to the tree and held him by his shirt.

"Connie, has anyone had the water?! Anyone at all?!" I yelled at him, and he pushed me off.

"Only Eren and Jean!" he responded, and brushed off his jacket.

My heart sunk, and I felt all hope disappear. "No... No, no, no..."

"Jen?" Connie said nervously.

"No!" I screamed, and flew to the Alpha tree where Eren was working with Jean.

They were laughing, and each had a canteen in their hands. Leaning against the tree with the hatchets at their feet, as though nothing was wrong. Eren smiled and raised it to his lips.

"EREN!" I screamed, and he glanced at me with his green eyes.

I held my hands up, and launched my grapples of my 3DMG into the tree. His eyes widened as I flew towards him, and landed next to him in less than a second. I slapped the water out of his hands, and he glared at me.

"What the hell—"

"Have you drank any?!" I yelled at them. Jean shook his head, and I fixed my gaze on Eren. "Did you?!"

"Well obviously, yeah." He shrugged, and my hands flew to my mouth.

"No..."

He crossed his arms. "What's the big deal?"

"Eren, please tell me you're lying!" I cried, and felt the tears rushing down my cheeks already.

"I drank some! What's so bad about that?!" he yelled.

I fell to my knees, and sobbed uncontrollably. What was I going to do? It was my fault that he'd been poisoned now. The image of the floating fish flashed in my head, and I let it a sharp breath. Eren knelt down, and stroked my hair.

"What happened? You said the water was fine," he reasoned. I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but it only made me feel a thousand times worse.

My eyes slowly drifted up to meet his, and I sniffled. "Eren, I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

Before he could object, I stood up. He of course, followed, and I felt weak stomached by my actions. I shoved my fingers down the back of his throat, and he gagged before vomiting. Jean stepped back with a grimace and I jumped back. Eren coughed and fell to his knees, holding his stomach as the last of it came out.

I felt disgusted, and gagged myself. He huffed, and wiped his mouth. "What the hell, Jennika?!"

Falling to my knees, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him into my chest. "I'm so sorry..." I sobbed, my voice shaking. My hands were buried in his soft brown hair, and I pressed his face into the crook of my neck. "I didn't mean it..." My voice cracked near the end and I continued rocking him in my chest. "It was an accident..."

"Jen! Eren!" Armin ran up, huffing as he finally caught up. "Did anyone drink it?!"

I shook my head. "Only Eren. As you can see, I made a bit of a mess..." I motioned to the vomit next to us. "But I think it'll be okay."

"Jen, can I get back to work?" Eren asked from his place in my chest.

I almost forgot he was there. "Sorry! But please don't. Tomorrow you can start, but today take a rest just in case. Please?"

"Why? I don't think you've explained this very well..." Eren scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, you have some explaining to do."

We turned around, and I saw Ymir standing there with her arms crossed and a dark aura emanating from her body. Behind her was Krista, Connie, Sasha, and Mikasa who walked up to us.

"What happened?" she questioned while kneeling next to us to feel Eren's forehead.

"I think you should show us," Jean said.

The others nodded, and I stood up. "Okay. Get some gear and we'll go there."

All of us headed to the Sierra unit, and strapped up in ten minutes. Some of us had to change gas, but others grabbed new canisters. As we began to leave, I stepped in front of them to show the way with Armin matched against my side.

"Let's go," he said, and fell off the branch.

We all jumped off one by one, falling before catching ourselves and gliding through the air armed with blades. The trip took another five minutes like before, and we preserved our order as we landed. Armin, me, Jean, Ymir, Krista, Connie, Sasha, Eren, and Mikasa to bring up the rear. The crystal waters of the spring began to appear through the parting trees, and I dodged some final branches as my boots slammed me onto the ground too hard for my liking.

Braving through my cracking ankles, I walked next to the water and kneeled down. The others surrounded me, and Krista and Sasha gasped. "It's so pretty!" they said emphatically.

Sasha ran forward to splash it on her face, but I grabbed her collar and yanked her back. "Don't!"

"Why?" she questioned, and stepped back.

Armin nodded at me, and I motioned for the group to follow. "Follow Armin. We'll show you."

It was just half a minute to arrive at the other side, and the sparkling scales of the dead fish came into view. I got down on my knees again, and grabbed a stick from a bushy shrub to my left. I gently poked it, but it didn't respond. It really was dead.

"Oh," Krista said with a sad tone when she saw them. "Do you think we could eat them?"

"I wouldn't risk it," Ymir said, and pulled her back.

"Yeah. The flesh might've festered and there might be maggots inside. Who knows," Mikasa added, and Krista gagged.

"So what does this mean?" Jean crossed his arms to glare at Armin and I. "This is your fault."

"Jean..." Eren tried to stop the escalating debate.

"No, Eren! You almost died and it was their fault. I almost died too." He jabbed his thumb at us, and I took a step back in revulsion and guilt.

"I said I was sorry!" I argued.

"Sorry can't save lives, now can it?!" Jean yelled, and Armin stepped in front of me.

"Leave her alone, Jean. It wasn't our fault. We didn't know." His gaze hardened and his assertiveness didn't faze.

"Guys, calm down." Connie grabbed Jean's shoulder to pull him back. "We still have some water at camp, right? Enough to last us a couple days. We'll stay at Stellacinque for awhile longer and look elsewhere for water. If we can't find any..." He scratched his head. "We'll have to move camp somewhere else."

There was a tone of dread with that statement, and all of us felt somber. I pursed my lips, and Armin pat my arm. "We will find some. I'll make sure of it."

"So..." Sasha started, "What do we do from here?"

Ymir shrugged. "We continue our chores."

"We find water," I said solidly. "We will."

Eren clapped his palms together and rubbed his hands, making us flinch after the silence. "That's right. Let's all head back, have lunch, and continue our chores, okay?"

I nodded, as did everyone else. "Sounds good. Now let's go," Mikasa beckoned us, and we let our gear pull us from the ground around the spring and back to camp.

Although the matter seemed settled, I was...unsettled. What would happen if we had to move Stellacinque? It wouldn't be the same. All that hard work would be for nothing. Hell, I almost killed Eren today. The burden of our job felt like a weight in my stomach, and I looked down out of self pity.

Will we end up like the fish?