Ariel - Sirius The Jaeger - 1215 Fanfiction

Episode 14

Our steps paused and our breaths lowered to a shallow, unrecognizable sound that could blend in with the hesitant breeze around us. The forest was empty as far as any of us could tell, and we stayed perched in our hidden positions as Willard continued on his way towards the oncoming figures. The sun lowered itself behind us, and I couldn't even guess our fate because no birds flew across the sky. Even the rabbits and squirrels knew to be quiet. 
We froze to listen, trying to even slow down our heart beats so we could hear the discussion Willard was having with the other squad of Jaegers. They might have been sent directly from headquarters, and have been told that we were a threat. 
I could only hear a few words here and there, like 'you' and 'vampire' and a small, sadistic chuckle that wasn't relaxed in the slightest. I took a moment to move, but just my head, looking up to see Philip perched in a tree, holding his cross bow at the ready. Soon the night would fall over us again, and we had to prepare for a surprise vampire attack. 
But when I turned back to look to Willard again, I realized that these men, being this close to us, wouldn't have to result to vampires. The one speaking directly to Willard pulled his hand back to reach into his belt, and I kicked off the ground before Fallon could grab me. 
His arm rose, but he didn't have time to put his finger on the trigger when I lined my blade up to his neck. 
He blinked, looking from Willard and his weapon to me, staring hard into my cold gaze. He had seemed to finally clue in that we were not the same squad that he might have been familiar with remembering. And I may be easily broken by the things my mother says to me, but I won't let any one else look down on me, or the rest of my team!
"Well, well, seems I've underestimated you." He hummed, smiling. 
I scowled, "Why don't you tell us what you're really here for instead of making small talk?"
"You'd be a fool to think that we would overlook the fact that you out of everyone would know where that arc and that boy are." He rose his brows in an expectant way, as if taunting me. 
"You're wrong. We don't know. We never have."
"Is that so?"
"If he wants you to find him, you'll find him." I growled, readjusting my grip on my sword, "Which he doesn't, so you'll be searching like dogs till the day you die."
"Miyuki's daughter? Huh."
My eyes widened and my body almost faltered completely. Did I really look just like her? Was it what I said? Or my eyes maybe? 
I clenched my teeth as he lowered his arms and took a careful step back, away from the sharp end of my blade that still hadn't left his skin. I could have killed him so easily in that second he was moving back, but I didn't. And maybe it was because of what he said and how it threw me off, but it felt more like it was because he was human like me. I was trained to kill vampires, not humans.
"Ariel." Willard called, and I relaxed my form, taking one last look at the retreating group before turning back to Willard and the others as they approached. 
"Professor," I began before he could say anything else, " Are we really going to be fighting Jaegers now? Our own kind?" 
Philip's eyes widened slightly and he scratched his head, "How are we supposed to fight them? We can't just kill them, can we?"
All of us stood around him, waiting for his next order. All we had left was Willard and his expertise, he told us where to go and when to attack, he was our leader that we trusted with our lives. If he had told me to kill that man when I had him at checkmate, I probably would have followed through. 
"I need to be alone."
"But professor!" Dorothea gasped in shock as he went to walk away, "We have to figure this out!"
"I said I need a minute! Alone! Go, all of you!"
"Professor!" Dorothea's calls were hopeless, though, and the rest of us opted to just go the opposite way. 

We eventually made it back to our hotel that Willard had scheduled for us. Though there was no sight of him having returned, we all sat together in the room Dorothea and I were to share and talked things over without him. 
Everything had been piling up on Willard's shoulders ever since we abandoned headquarters and left to pursue the protection of Yuliy and the arc. We lost so much in the last battle revolving around it, and the horrors of what would happen if the Arc was lost again and someone else got their hands on it, vampire or human, probably haunted Willard more than the rest of us. 
None of us had even taken a moment to care about how Willard felt either. Yuliy was like a son to him, that much was obvious. No one could really get through to him other than Willard, because Yuliy saw him as a father figure too. 
To be fighting along side your family on a team like this, is probably just as risky as fighting along side the one you love, I thought, looking over at Philip as he chewed away on his cake. When he noticed me staring, he swallowed and quickly offered me a piece. 
I gave him a small smile, taking the cake and munching on it. Dorothea got up and said she was going to check for Willard, for the fifth time in the last hour and a half, and the rest of us sat in silence while we waited for her return. 
She must have a lot on her back too. We always went to her when we had concerns. She was even the one leading the conversation now. But even without her, I still couldn't keep my mouth shut, because what that man said to me glued itself to my mind and wouldn't go away no matter how much I ripped at it. 
I swallowed another piece of the cake before deciding to speak up, "Earlier, that guy recognized me. He knew my mother, and if he knew her that well then she might be on his squad. What if my mother ends up involved in this? What are we gonna do? Kill each other?"
"We kill vampires only because they've caused harm to humans." Fallon replied, a frown on his face, "The Jaegers were created to protect people, not kill them. I would never kill my family no matter what they were doin'."
Philip was silent, and I glanced at him to see a solemn look in his eyes. 
"Phil?" I whispered, "What do you think I should do?"
"There has to be a way to do this without killing anyone!" He exclaimed, his hands clasped together so tight his knuckles flexed, "I don't want to watch any one die, no matter what."
I rested my hand on his back, frowning. 
Vampires were technically already dead, so killing them was nothing that had ever really scared us. But humans are alive and free, and they can have children and feel more love than a vampire ever could. And I don't know about Fallon or Dorothea or even Willard, but I knew Philip had seen enough of humans being killed, and I understand what he was feeling now. 
Even just the sure thought in my mind that said I would die so he could live, was just as horrifying as killing someone who had the same heart beat we did. More than the fact that Philip didn't want to kill, or see anyone suffer and die, he didn't want to see any of us  die. 
You're such a worry wart, Phil.

The door burst open and all of us straightened up in our seats, Fallon even stood and knocked his chair over. Dorothea stood at the door huffing for air, 
"Guys." She coughed, "Willard's gone."