Princess Ackermann

IX: A Hunt In the Night

Eren and Armin crouched behind the tree as they saw a bear creeping up to the other side. Eren knew it could smell them from here, but they wore something to conceal their scent.

He bobbed his head, signaling Armin to creep up behind the tree that was near the bear. Armin followed and was nimble enough to avoid a bunch of twigs. Eren stopped for a moment, watching the bear's movements.

Let's try something different... He thought. Eren grabbed a chunk of meat, then he threw it towards the direction of the animal. The bear's senses tingled, and it inspected the meat that was thrown on the ground.

Armin looked at Eren as he crept up behind the bear slowly. He knew what his friend was gonna do, and since Armin himself thought of the plan, he knew Eren can accomplish it.

Eren managed to get behind the bear, and slowly, he drew his axe out. In a split second, the blade cut through the bear's flesh, earning a painful cry. It roared and started crawling on all fours to Eren.

Eren barely showed fear, so he climbed on the tree branch from above, and shot the bear with 2 arrows. One on the side, and on the neck. Since the animal was suffering blood loss, he got the opportunity to drag the piece of meat.

"Whew. That's that." He said.

"We do work well together!" Armin exclaimed and Eren laughed. "If not for your strength, the plan wouldn't have succeeded." Eren added, "If not for your intelligence, there wouldn't be a plan at all."

Armin and Eren clasped their hands together in a friendly way as they began tying the bear with a rope, dragging it to the house. On their way there, Eren saw something suspicious.

"Stop."

"What's wrong, Eren?" The Jäger pointed to the ground. "You see those prints?" Armin looked at the trail, and it lead to the house they were staying in. "Those prints aren't our boss's. It's someone else. We gotta be careful."

Armin looked at Eren and nodded. They walked along the path, yet the trail followed them. And as they got to their home, they saw a body lying not too far ahead. Eren frowned as he inspected the body.

He felt his heart freeze.

"Armin! Get the bear inside!" The body appeared to have scratch marks, and a bruise on the head. The body unmistakably belonged to Serhilda. "Hurry! Get it inside!" Eren ordered and Armin did as he was told.

Eren carried the limp girl inside the cabin, and laid her down on the mattress. "Is that-" Before Armin finished his sentence, he was cut off by Eren who told him, "tend to her! She was attacked by a bear!" And with that, Eren shut the door.

Armin was sweating. How did Serhilda end up here? He realized it was no time for thoughts. The Arlert immediately grabbed medicine, herbs, and some tools to patch up her wounds.

Meanwhile, outside, Eren still had his weapons intact. He was on guard in case the bear tried to surprise him. He drew his bow and arrow, obliquely right. He was ready to point it to the bear anytime.

He heard leaves rustling from behind, which made him take a sharp turn and point the arrow towards that direction. Upon turning he noticed there was nothing there. Deep down he remained wary of the looming threat.

Eren decided to grab another chunk of meat from the bear they caught earlier. After that, he used it as bait to lure the bear out. He waited for a minute for it to show up but when it did, of course, he didn't expect welcome when he came face to face with a bigger bear.

A roar was heard, which alerted Armin. The girl he was taking care of was now lying down safely on the mattress. Her wounds were cleansed and patched up. The young blonde man ran to the window where he can see Eren fighting with the bear.

It snarled at him, spraying saliva all over his face. Eren growled and ran to get a range, shooting the bear with arrows. It looked like it didn't work since it swatted them all away. And from that moment on, he lost all his arrows.

He gasped once he saw the bear running towards him with claws out, he grabbed his bolo and cut them off, earning a piercing cry and a loud whimper. He then took the advantage to sever its arm and finally slice its nape.

Armin felt the need to rush outside in the hopes of aiding his friend, but to what seemed like opportunity, the situation had gotten worse than he thought. "Eren!" He shouted. Eren's ears perked and his head shot up.

"Armin! Get back inside!"

"I can help!"

"No! Get back in! I will kill this beast in no time, trust me!" He insisted. "But-" "Go!" Eren yelled, and then suddenly, he felt himself flying backwards towards the other side.

"Eren!!" Armin exclaimed and grabbed the weapons that was still left in their stock. He saw another set of arrows, but the bow was near the bear. He couldn't bring himself to danger, but he needed to save his friend.

Armin gritted his teeth as he was in a tough position right now. The bear's attention was diverted to Eren, who was now struggling to get back up. Armin thought of his approach.

If I run straight through to grab the bow... it might hear me. But then I need to be fast too... unless... I go the other way around.

He then looked at Serhilda who was sleeping peacefully on the mattress. If he left her like this in the open, she would serve as the bear's meal in no time. The bear could easily knock down a wooden door.

This meant he'd have to serve as both Eren and Serhilda's defense. This was harder than he thought. The Arlert took a deep breath before muttering words to himself, grabbing the set of arrows and running towards the bow that was on the ground beside the bear.

As Eren tried to stand up, barely, he saw Armin running out of the cabin. "Armin! What're you- argh!" He gasped as the bear turned its attention to Armin, who was about to retrieve the bow. He came to a stop, and his eyes held fear.

No!

Armin ran back, but the bear clawed a part of his back which made him drop down to the ground, his back was now bleeding and scratch marks could easily be seen on his back. "Armin!" Eren exclaimed and ran towards the bear with his axe.

"You bastard! I will kill you!" He then ran forward and severed the leg of the bear. The animal screamed as it fell backwards. His balance almost wavered, yet it still managed to knock Eren off his feet and made him painfully land on his chest.

"N-No!" Armin exclaimed. At that time, he fought with himself to grab the bow and arrow. He needed to shoot it. Armin panted as he yelped in pain. He needed to shoot it. He needed to. They were getting themselves killed.

"Just... a little... more...!" He grunted as he reached for the bow and arrow. His fingers were able to touch the object, but his strength was failing, which made him wince. Eren felt his breathing shorten after landing on his chest. He somehow suffered an impact to the ribs.

Armin fought with his wound as he reached for the weapon. He panted as he slowly faced to the side where his back won't be affected. But while doing so, he cried in pain.

Eren tried to stand up once more, but to no avail. This is bad.

Armin eventually mustered all the strength he had left and shot the bear through the head. But he did so with missing a few shots. Heaving a tired sigh, he blacked out.