Categories > Anime/Manga > Attack on Titan
It was dark.
The rank stench of rotting flesh crept to every crook of the street. Puddles of murky brown sewage water sank into the ground. Above, no light was offered, despite the fact that it was day. A bone-thin figure was visible standing beside a crate. Two skeletons lay curled in a corner of the street. They were bruised and bloodied… Not skeletons… people. Two familiar, gaunt faces gazed emptily upwards. The figure took another step closer. A grin spread across its face as it raised a fist…
Isabel gasped as she startled awake from the dream. Farlan and Levi were still fast asleep in their beds. The room was dark and empty except for three rickety cots living in three of the corners. Isabel’s corner was directly across from Levi’s in the back of the room, and Farlan’s was in the front. Sweat trickled down her forehead as her eyes darted around the room. Her heart thudded in her chest as apprehension made her spine tingle. The thin woolen blanket that used to cover her was in a tangled mess on the floor, as well as her pillow. Knowing the creak from her old wooden cot would wake her comrades if she bent down to get her beddings; she lay back, shivering, on the empty mattress. In time, Isabel drifted off into an uneasy sleep…
She shot upwards once again as the same nightmare haunted her dreams. This time, Levi was woken up by the squeaky cot.
“Keep it down, would you?” he mumbled, half-asleep. “I’m tryna sleep here…”
“Sorry,” Isabel whispered as she grabbed her bedclothes from the old stone floor.
Ruefully, Isabel struggled to sleep once more.
When she awoke to the same terrifying nightmare she convinced herself to consult Levi. Farlan snored away in his corner.
“Big-bro,” Isabel hissed, “wake up! Big-bro, come on. Wake up!”
Eventually Levi raised his head and rubbed it with a hand. Blearily, he stretched and sat up.
“What now…?” he grumbled.
“I had a nightmare,” Isabel replied. It sounded stupid and childish once she said it out loud.
“We all get nightmares. Shrug it off.”
“This one came back three times, though.”
“And…?”
“It had… my dad and… my dead mom and brother in it…”
“Go to sleep for now,” Levi advised, “if it comes back again then tell me. Okay?”
Isabel nodded and turned over, facing the wall.
“You’re welcome,” Levi muttered as he did the same.
The next time she was forced awake to the same dream, both Levi and Farlan were out of their beds and, presumably, in the next room. The sound of muffled voices traveled through the walls. Sleep dragged her eyelids down, but she stood up and walked into the kitchen anyway.
“That’s weird,” Farlan remarked. “Did she tell you anything else?”
“You can ask her yourself,” Levi replied, gesturing to Isabel as she entered the room.
“Oh God, Isabel,” Farlan exclaimed as he turned to look her way, “you look like you’ve just crawled out from a puddle of sewer water!”
“Gee, thanks,” Isabel retorted half-heartedly, “everyone loves hearing that.”
“I… didn’t mean…”
“I know what you meant.”
“It doesn’t look like you got any sleep at all.”
“Yeah, no shit. That damn nightmare kept me awake half the night.”
“Levi told me. What exactly happened in your dream though?”
Hesitantly, Isabel explained her dream.
“You must have been petrified,” Farlan surmised. “I know I would have been.”
It was night once more. Three days had passed since the first occurrence of the nightmare. Isabel refused to sleep since then in fear of it returning to haunt her again. She sat awake, cross-legged, staring out a hole in the wall that could somewhat pass for a window. Her tired eyes protested as she struggled to stay awake.
“Isabel,” Levi’s groggy voice sounded from behind her. “Get some sleep.”
“I…”
“I know you’re afraid of that dumb nightmare, but it’s bad for your health at this point. Go the hell to sleep.”
“Shut up,” Isabel rasped. “If you were in my position you’d be doing the same thing.”
“No I wouldn’t be; I’d be fast asleep with my mind on other things.”
A creak sounded from the far corner as Farlan sat up as well.
“Are you still going on about that stupid nightmare?” he asked. “You do realize tomorrow we’re going on a raid, right? We can’t have you sleeping on the job.”
“Leave me here then.”
“We’re not leaving you here when we go on a raid.”
“Let’s just continue this conversation in the morning, alright?” Levi growled as he stood up and trudged over to Isabel’s cot. He pulled up an old chair and sat down.
“What are you… doing that for?” Isabel groused.
“I’m going to watch you until you go to sleep.” Levi said flatly.
“Then… we’re both going to… up all night.”
“Not unless you take your mind off the nightmare and get some rest.”
“I just… sleep… no… go away…”
“You’re so tired you can’t even form a coherent sentence. Go to sleep.”
“I can’t… when… go away Levi…”
After what seemed like hours, Levi gave a final sigh of resignation, went back to his cot, and closed his eyes.
Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep…
The phrase repeated over and over in Isabel’s head as she gazed out into the empty streets. A drunken man soon passed by, gripping a younger girl by the hair in one hand and a beer bottle in the other. The girl, who looked to be about seven, protested, kicked, hit, and even bit the man at one point. He threw her into the street and she landed with a hard thud on her side. When she got up to attempt running away, she immediately fell back down and clutched her knee. She had landed wrong on her ankle. The drunk clambered over to her and raised a fist. Isabel looked away at the last second. It’s all too familiar… She thought. She cringed as she heard a scream cut short and the shattering crash of the beer bottle being broken.
Glancing back towards Levi, she noticed he was staring at her.
“Go to sleep, Isabel.” Levi ordered.
“I can’t!” She barked louder than she had originally intended. Farlan stirred, but didn’t fully wake.
“Whatever,” Levi dismissed as he turned over again. “If I wake up tomorrow and find you still awake I’m going to come over there and drug you.”
“Yeah, right,” Isabel murmured.
Isabel turned around to see Farlan and Levi waking up again.
“You’re still awake?!” Levi growled. “It’s just a nightmare, Isabel.”
“It’s not a normal one.” She grunted.
“We’re going on our raid once we get geared up.” Farlan announced. “If I have to carry you back home, Isabel, you’re sleeping; alright?” Isabel nodded and stood.
Once out the door, all three covered their noses to a horrible odor.
“Eugh, what could that be?” Farlan hissed. A feeling of dread flooded Isabel’s conscience.
“I think I know,” Isabel whispered as she rounded a corner.
A broken beer bottle, blood, and a girl’s dead body lay half-hidden under a tarp in an alley way.
“That’s the… that’s the girl from last night…” Isabel whimpered.
“You saw her?” Farlan exclaimed.
“I did… her father was beating her… like… mine… did…” Isabel struggled to snatch words from her sluggish and grieving thoughts. Levi grabbed her arm and motioned for Farlan to follow as the trio hurried from the alleyway.
They soon slowed to a halt once they were out of vicinity of the body. Levi grabbed Isabel’s shoulders and gazed into her eyes.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Levi muttered, “but that was in the past. He’s dead now, Isabel. He won’t hurt you anymore.” Warm tears started to roll down Isabel’s cheeks.
“It just… seemed so real…” She sniveled. “He was right there… in the dream… and just last night that girl’s father…”
“It wasn’t you.”
“I know…”
“The last time you were in the literal streets was two years ago.”
“The memories still haunt me…”
“To get our minds off things,” Farlan broke in, “let’s start up that raid, shall we?”
The raid was successful. Each member ended up with a small crate of food and more money than they had made in a while.
“Isabel, please,” Farlan begged, “get some sleep. You look about to collapse!”
Dark circles resided under Isabel’s eyes, her skin was even paler than before, and her hair and clothes were ragged. She just shook her head.
“I can’t relive that, I’m sorry,” she rasped.
“If you don’t relive it then you won’t be alive for very much longer.” Farlan muttered darkly. “My sister had the same problem; insomnia. She ended up dying of exhaustion.”
“I’ll sit down, but I won’t sleep,” Isabel compromised.
“You’ll sleep. End of story.” Levi grumbled.
“To be honest, this is ridiculous! You’ve gone four days without sleep! Four days!” Farlan shouted.
“I can manage!”
“No, you can’t! You think you can, but you can’t. It’s just a fact!” Levi retorted. “I’m not going to let some shitty nightmare kill you, just like I didn’t let starvation kill you two years ago! Am I making myself clear?!”
“You’re making yourself clear as ever, but I’m not going to sleep.”
“Why the hell not?!” Farlan snarled.
“I’m not going to face that nightmare! It’s not worth it!”
“Isabel, think about this.” Farlan pleaded. “You could stay awake and not have that nightmare until you die in a week or so, or you could have that nightmare and have a full life! Is life really so unimportant that you throw a nightmare in front of it? Are we really so unimportant that you’d throw your life away just to not have a dumb nightmare?!”
“Shut up!" Isabel roared. “Listen to me, you idiots! I thought I was done with that life two years ago when I joined you! In fact, three years ago when my father died! I am not going back to it now! I will not go to sleep and wake up from it over and over again at night. I cannot go back to living in fear!”
“But you’d live in fear of a nightmare?”
“Were you even listening?!”
“Oh for God’s sake shut it, both of you!” Levi snapped. “I’m getting a migraine from this bullshit right now. Stop yelling! Isabel, I can see where you’re coming from. Farlan, I can see where you’re coming from. Isabel, go to sleep right now or I’m going to drug you. Farlan, shut up or I’m going to cut your hand with my knife. I mean it.”
Both Isabel and Farlan looked down in shame and trudged to their opposite corners of the room. Isabel curled up under her blankets, but didn’t close her eyes for even a second. Just the thought of reliving that world of fear drove her to stay awake. A hand rested on her shoulder.
“Isabel, please,” the voice belonged to Levi, “get some sleep. It’s just a nightmare.”
“I… I don’t want to see it again… I can’t see my mom and brother dead again,” Isabel’s voice broke. “I just can’t.”
“It’s not real.”
“Yes it is… I watched them starve to death.”
“The dream is not real.”
“But…”
“No buts. Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up if you start twitching.”
Aversely, Isabel closed her eyes and gave in to the dreaded slumber.
Rain pelted down from the sky and fog clouded her vision. The steady gallop of horses was deafening when mixed with the downpour. Thunderous steps shook the ground below Isabel, but she couldn’t tell from what, or from where.
Suddenly she was snapped from the scene with the smell of blood and the sound of shrieks resonating in her skull. A sob welled in Isabel’s throat as she saw her brother take in his last breath before closing his eyes.
“That’s too bad…” a gruff voice sneered. “I was hoping to see him survive.”
The tall, shadowy figure rammed a fist into Isabel’s shoulder. She fell back and was sent reeling as a boot made hard impact with her stomach. She skidded across the pavement towards two bodies. Two very familiar, skeletal bodies…
“How would you like to join us?” A kind voice broke her from the nightmarish scene.
“Wake up.”
Author's Note:
I decided to do a somewhat of a 'sequel' to Flightless Bird. Granted, this was fun to write, but I didn't come up with the idea. Thank you, crazytigerWrites, for this lovely prompt!
The rank stench of rotting flesh crept to every crook of the street. Puddles of murky brown sewage water sank into the ground. Above, no light was offered, despite the fact that it was day. A bone-thin figure was visible standing beside a crate. Two skeletons lay curled in a corner of the street. They were bruised and bloodied… Not skeletons… people. Two familiar, gaunt faces gazed emptily upwards. The figure took another step closer. A grin spread across its face as it raised a fist…
Isabel gasped as she startled awake from the dream. Farlan and Levi were still fast asleep in their beds. The room was dark and empty except for three rickety cots living in three of the corners. Isabel’s corner was directly across from Levi’s in the back of the room, and Farlan’s was in the front. Sweat trickled down her forehead as her eyes darted around the room. Her heart thudded in her chest as apprehension made her spine tingle. The thin woolen blanket that used to cover her was in a tangled mess on the floor, as well as her pillow. Knowing the creak from her old wooden cot would wake her comrades if she bent down to get her beddings; she lay back, shivering, on the empty mattress. In time, Isabel drifted off into an uneasy sleep…
She shot upwards once again as the same nightmare haunted her dreams. This time, Levi was woken up by the squeaky cot.
“Keep it down, would you?” he mumbled, half-asleep. “I’m tryna sleep here…”
“Sorry,” Isabel whispered as she grabbed her bedclothes from the old stone floor.
Ruefully, Isabel struggled to sleep once more.
When she awoke to the same terrifying nightmare she convinced herself to consult Levi. Farlan snored away in his corner.
“Big-bro,” Isabel hissed, “wake up! Big-bro, come on. Wake up!”
Eventually Levi raised his head and rubbed it with a hand. Blearily, he stretched and sat up.
“What now…?” he grumbled.
“I had a nightmare,” Isabel replied. It sounded stupid and childish once she said it out loud.
“We all get nightmares. Shrug it off.”
“This one came back three times, though.”
“And…?”
“It had… my dad and… my dead mom and brother in it…”
“Go to sleep for now,” Levi advised, “if it comes back again then tell me. Okay?”
Isabel nodded and turned over, facing the wall.
“You’re welcome,” Levi muttered as he did the same.
The next time she was forced awake to the same dream, both Levi and Farlan were out of their beds and, presumably, in the next room. The sound of muffled voices traveled through the walls. Sleep dragged her eyelids down, but she stood up and walked into the kitchen anyway.
“That’s weird,” Farlan remarked. “Did she tell you anything else?”
“You can ask her yourself,” Levi replied, gesturing to Isabel as she entered the room.
“Oh God, Isabel,” Farlan exclaimed as he turned to look her way, “you look like you’ve just crawled out from a puddle of sewer water!”
“Gee, thanks,” Isabel retorted half-heartedly, “everyone loves hearing that.”
“I… didn’t mean…”
“I know what you meant.”
“It doesn’t look like you got any sleep at all.”
“Yeah, no shit. That damn nightmare kept me awake half the night.”
“Levi told me. What exactly happened in your dream though?”
Hesitantly, Isabel explained her dream.
“You must have been petrified,” Farlan surmised. “I know I would have been.”
It was night once more. Three days had passed since the first occurrence of the nightmare. Isabel refused to sleep since then in fear of it returning to haunt her again. She sat awake, cross-legged, staring out a hole in the wall that could somewhat pass for a window. Her tired eyes protested as she struggled to stay awake.
“Isabel,” Levi’s groggy voice sounded from behind her. “Get some sleep.”
“I…”
“I know you’re afraid of that dumb nightmare, but it’s bad for your health at this point. Go the hell to sleep.”
“Shut up,” Isabel rasped. “If you were in my position you’d be doing the same thing.”
“No I wouldn’t be; I’d be fast asleep with my mind on other things.”
A creak sounded from the far corner as Farlan sat up as well.
“Are you still going on about that stupid nightmare?” he asked. “You do realize tomorrow we’re going on a raid, right? We can’t have you sleeping on the job.”
“Leave me here then.”
“We’re not leaving you here when we go on a raid.”
“Let’s just continue this conversation in the morning, alright?” Levi growled as he stood up and trudged over to Isabel’s cot. He pulled up an old chair and sat down.
“What are you… doing that for?” Isabel groused.
“I’m going to watch you until you go to sleep.” Levi said flatly.
“Then… we’re both going to… up all night.”
“Not unless you take your mind off the nightmare and get some rest.”
“I just… sleep… no… go away…”
“You’re so tired you can’t even form a coherent sentence. Go to sleep.”
“I can’t… when… go away Levi…”
After what seemed like hours, Levi gave a final sigh of resignation, went back to his cot, and closed his eyes.
Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep…
The phrase repeated over and over in Isabel’s head as she gazed out into the empty streets. A drunken man soon passed by, gripping a younger girl by the hair in one hand and a beer bottle in the other. The girl, who looked to be about seven, protested, kicked, hit, and even bit the man at one point. He threw her into the street and she landed with a hard thud on her side. When she got up to attempt running away, she immediately fell back down and clutched her knee. She had landed wrong on her ankle. The drunk clambered over to her and raised a fist. Isabel looked away at the last second. It’s all too familiar… She thought. She cringed as she heard a scream cut short and the shattering crash of the beer bottle being broken.
Glancing back towards Levi, she noticed he was staring at her.
“Go to sleep, Isabel.” Levi ordered.
“I can’t!” She barked louder than she had originally intended. Farlan stirred, but didn’t fully wake.
“Whatever,” Levi dismissed as he turned over again. “If I wake up tomorrow and find you still awake I’m going to come over there and drug you.”
“Yeah, right,” Isabel murmured.
Isabel turned around to see Farlan and Levi waking up again.
“You’re still awake?!” Levi growled. “It’s just a nightmare, Isabel.”
“It’s not a normal one.” She grunted.
“We’re going on our raid once we get geared up.” Farlan announced. “If I have to carry you back home, Isabel, you’re sleeping; alright?” Isabel nodded and stood.
Once out the door, all three covered their noses to a horrible odor.
“Eugh, what could that be?” Farlan hissed. A feeling of dread flooded Isabel’s conscience.
“I think I know,” Isabel whispered as she rounded a corner.
A broken beer bottle, blood, and a girl’s dead body lay half-hidden under a tarp in an alley way.
“That’s the… that’s the girl from last night…” Isabel whimpered.
“You saw her?” Farlan exclaimed.
“I did… her father was beating her… like… mine… did…” Isabel struggled to snatch words from her sluggish and grieving thoughts. Levi grabbed her arm and motioned for Farlan to follow as the trio hurried from the alleyway.
They soon slowed to a halt once they were out of vicinity of the body. Levi grabbed Isabel’s shoulders and gazed into her eyes.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Levi muttered, “but that was in the past. He’s dead now, Isabel. He won’t hurt you anymore.” Warm tears started to roll down Isabel’s cheeks.
“It just… seemed so real…” She sniveled. “He was right there… in the dream… and just last night that girl’s father…”
“It wasn’t you.”
“I know…”
“The last time you were in the literal streets was two years ago.”
“The memories still haunt me…”
“To get our minds off things,” Farlan broke in, “let’s start up that raid, shall we?”
The raid was successful. Each member ended up with a small crate of food and more money than they had made in a while.
“Isabel, please,” Farlan begged, “get some sleep. You look about to collapse!”
Dark circles resided under Isabel’s eyes, her skin was even paler than before, and her hair and clothes were ragged. She just shook her head.
“I can’t relive that, I’m sorry,” she rasped.
“If you don’t relive it then you won’t be alive for very much longer.” Farlan muttered darkly. “My sister had the same problem; insomnia. She ended up dying of exhaustion.”
“I’ll sit down, but I won’t sleep,” Isabel compromised.
“You’ll sleep. End of story.” Levi grumbled.
“To be honest, this is ridiculous! You’ve gone four days without sleep! Four days!” Farlan shouted.
“I can manage!”
“No, you can’t! You think you can, but you can’t. It’s just a fact!” Levi retorted. “I’m not going to let some shitty nightmare kill you, just like I didn’t let starvation kill you two years ago! Am I making myself clear?!”
“You’re making yourself clear as ever, but I’m not going to sleep.”
“Why the hell not?!” Farlan snarled.
“I’m not going to face that nightmare! It’s not worth it!”
“Isabel, think about this.” Farlan pleaded. “You could stay awake and not have that nightmare until you die in a week or so, or you could have that nightmare and have a full life! Is life really so unimportant that you throw a nightmare in front of it? Are we really so unimportant that you’d throw your life away just to not have a dumb nightmare?!”
“Shut up!" Isabel roared. “Listen to me, you idiots! I thought I was done with that life two years ago when I joined you! In fact, three years ago when my father died! I am not going back to it now! I will not go to sleep and wake up from it over and over again at night. I cannot go back to living in fear!”
“But you’d live in fear of a nightmare?”
“Were you even listening?!”
“Oh for God’s sake shut it, both of you!” Levi snapped. “I’m getting a migraine from this bullshit right now. Stop yelling! Isabel, I can see where you’re coming from. Farlan, I can see where you’re coming from. Isabel, go to sleep right now or I’m going to drug you. Farlan, shut up or I’m going to cut your hand with my knife. I mean it.”
Both Isabel and Farlan looked down in shame and trudged to their opposite corners of the room. Isabel curled up under her blankets, but didn’t close her eyes for even a second. Just the thought of reliving that world of fear drove her to stay awake. A hand rested on her shoulder.
“Isabel, please,” the voice belonged to Levi, “get some sleep. It’s just a nightmare.”
“I… I don’t want to see it again… I can’t see my mom and brother dead again,” Isabel’s voice broke. “I just can’t.”
“It’s not real.”
“Yes it is… I watched them starve to death.”
“The dream is not real.”
“But…”
“No buts. Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up if you start twitching.”
Aversely, Isabel closed her eyes and gave in to the dreaded slumber.
Rain pelted down from the sky and fog clouded her vision. The steady gallop of horses was deafening when mixed with the downpour. Thunderous steps shook the ground below Isabel, but she couldn’t tell from what, or from where.
Suddenly she was snapped from the scene with the smell of blood and the sound of shrieks resonating in her skull. A sob welled in Isabel’s throat as she saw her brother take in his last breath before closing his eyes.
“That’s too bad…” a gruff voice sneered. “I was hoping to see him survive.”
The tall, shadowy figure rammed a fist into Isabel’s shoulder. She fell back and was sent reeling as a boot made hard impact with her stomach. She skidded across the pavement towards two bodies. Two very familiar, skeletal bodies…
“How would you like to join us?” A kind voice broke her from the nightmarish scene.
“Wake up.”
Author's Note:
I decided to do a somewhat of a 'sequel' to Flightless Bird. Granted, this was fun to write, but I didn't come up with the idea. Thank you, crazytigerWrites, for this lovely prompt!
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