FIGHT! -- Anna OVA

She didn't really know why they were all the way back over here again, tbh, but for plot's sake. She was ready to screw everything up. Again.

Yeah, she just felt like getting away for a while. She had asked the lovely, young, ready to be roleplayed Nilgün to deliver the message that she was going away for a few days to Pebble, Levi, Armin, and their colossi, seeing that she knew that they would probably keep her behind.

She didn't really know why she wanted to revisit the cave system where she had met Adam, and after all this time, going in there still creeped her out. Perhaps it was just for fresh, salt-less air? Nostalgia? Maybe just quiet time alone. Nevertheless, she was ready to return, when another idea slipped into her head, fueled by the subject of nostalgia. It had been fifteen long years since they had been arrested and tried, and part of her wondered how similar or different the world was back behind the walls. Her home.. Was it still there? She wondered about Matthew and Anja—how they were doing (sorry, Bjorn). The one thing that stuck in her mind was her son. Did somebody take him in? Was he hurt? Shunned because of her? Perhaps that was what turned her around and drove her on forwards.

The girl was moving by foot, giving Jean a break as he walked beside her along with Adam, currently the size of a normal deer. Eh, she had grown to love the stag. Her steps lightened as she began to recognize her surrounds, and eventually she burst forwards into the small clearing where she had set up camp. The place itself looked almost identical, except years forward in time. Cobwebs lines the inside of the hut, and wood was eaten by bugs and termites. The stuff inside, practically ravaged by the former, along with mice, rats, and other animals. She didn't spend too long here just yet, but rather made her way over to the stream to allow the two (three?) of them to drink. In that dead silance was when her head shot up and she spit the water out of her mouth, dropping the canteen in which she was simultaneously filling with water. A rustle in the undergrowth caught her attention, followed by more and more. She wasn't alone.

The girl jumped to her feet, Jean lifting his head up anxiously. She whistled to him lightly to follow, and she carefully and quietly zoned into the direction of the noise, but she jumped back as soon as she saw a flash fly by. She knew what that was. Cursing, she quickly and immediately mounted Jean, Adam following.

"crapcrapcrapcrap..!" She whispered under her breath, pelting through the trees with practiced perfection, every dip and root in the ground coming back to her. Even after all this time, she knew this trail like the back of her hand. The wind howled in her ears, but even without the help of sound, flashes in the trees let her know that she was being followed. "Son of a squab!"

She couldn't get caught, she couldn't get caught! Her heart grew heavy in her throat, pounding. Nonono! She pulled the hood of the robe over her head (because oh look, of everything, she happened to be wearing the robe. Not the uniform, tho) just to help with being seen and recognized. Grunting, she prepared herself, and turned her attention to Adam, speaking to him telepathically, 'Jean! Make sure he keeps going!' Doff, what you doing?

She took a leap of faith, grappling to the nearest tree branch and off of Jean. If they had somehow managed not to notice that she was wearing gear, they would be looking for her on the ground and not up in the trees. Nevertheless, if they did.. Well, she was good as dead. Teeth bared in concentration, she swung from branch to branch, reaching higher into the sky. Wow, Doff, like a boss.

Yeah, she wasn't a boss, so she had to screw up. Just as she was readying herself, the girl slipped, the hook missing the branch she was aiming for, leaving her free-falling through the air, an involuntary scream erupting out of her mouth. She managed to retract it and hit a new target before she became a pancake on the ground, but this just resulted in her being able to move forward a couple more branches before she once again lost her concentration and slipped from the branch, hitting the ground (which was only about seven feet away), skidding and rolling until she came to a painful stop from the trunk of a tree, followed by a Doff screech of fear, frustration, and pain. Damg it!

//hawk, I got carried away
I saw this in my head as I typed
She was actually going strong
Going badass until she slipped
Like, omg, reallysuperundoffworthy badass
After that, normal Doff kicked in and she failed
Whoops

She shot up into a sitting position, sucking in deep, painful breaths through her teeth as she wrapped her arms around her leg. She whispered more and more silent curses under her breath. She could hear them, and there was no use even trying to flee now. Crimson welled up on her legs from where she had skinned them. Even as the group emerged from the undergrowth before her, she kept her head down and eyes closed, unwilling to even acknowledge that they were there through anything other than her random, Doff noises. 'Isabel..?' She didn't look up, and she only partially pulled her lips back into what resembled a small snarl. Don't give them what they want.

Her whole body shook, and tears began to well in the corners of her eyes. She sucked in, head immediately flying up at what words came back. The voice, she knew it. "What, did you think I was dead?" She shot back, voice resembling that of a snarl. "Yeah, I was told I was good at that!" Of course the outburst was fear. Of course Bjron was here! Why would he be he- oh. A whimper escaped her mouth as she scanned the entire crowd before her. It was everybody..! Everybody was here! Matthew and Anja and-

No, there was no way. This was a trick, it wasn't real, it couldn't be..! Her eyes caught on one person in particular, a cry of horror escaping her lips. Darragh! He was alive, how, he couldn't be?? "There's.. There's no way! You..!" She stumbled, pointing directly at Darragh. "You were dead! she kILLED YOU! This is a trick! I'm not falling for it.. I wON'T!" High pitched squeal, much ?

She stumbled backwards on her butt, trying to painfully use her arms and legs to back up away from them all. Her eyes flashed , and her voice went uncommonly and dangerously low. "Stay away from me, I swear.."

If she wasn't so scared, she would of felt horrible after talking to Dar like that. Even now he was still trying to help her. All these years later.. All after that. She shrunk backwards a bit as he sat across from her, still unable to take in the fact that he was even alive still. She shifted, pulling her leg closer to her and wiping the tears that slid down her cheeks off. His poor face.. His eye..! She hated to imagine what sort of scars remained under the shirt. "I- I'm—" she began, only to be cut off by over excited siblings.

"No! I'm not going to fall for your tricks!" She suddenly screamed, whipping her head to look, making eye contact with Anja, especially. She shakily rose to her feet, leaning against the trunk of the tree for support. "You..! You're trying to fool me! You think I'm gonna tell you everything just because I know you? So you can find them and kill them like the cold-blooded murders you are?" Okay, Doff, slow down. That's why you got tried in the first place, so no hypocrisy. "Well you're getting nothing from me! They can be alive or dead; you'll never know!"

She than turned her attention to the young one who spoke, but she sad naught and just fixed a hard glare on him. There was something about him that she recognized, but she couldn't think of it due to the countless other thoughts and possibilities running through her head. "I'm suprised they didn't preach it."

Her focus went two ways as she noticed Dar writing something in the dirt, and she read it as he wrote, letting Irvan's voice ring empty in her head. She whispered each word out load, confused at to where he was getting at. 'He looks just like his...' And as he wrote out the final word, that's when it hit her. Her heart rate increased in mere moments, and she literally quit breathing out of shock. It all made sense: his hair, his voice, his eyes! It struck her like lightning. Like she found the missing piece of the puzzle, and every other piece just fell smack dab into place. She couldn't believe it! She couldn't unseen it from her mind.

Her muscles immediacy tensed up, and her jaw hung slack as she stumbled for words. Just for something to say. She didn't know what to do—she couldn't think! She sucked in a huge mouthful of air upon realizing she was holding her breath. She fumbled with her mouth for a while, trying to at least form some words on her tongue. There was only one thing that she could get herself to say, and a single, voice-cracked word sounded through the air.

" A-Armin." It wasn't a question; she already knew. What she wanted from him—her son—was a conformation. Some sort of recognition. She doubted it.

Adam shows up like, "I DON'T THINK SO, BRUH"

If this was their son, how did he get so tall? Meh, now wasn't the time to think about that. There were more important matters to deal with. She flinched back, biting on her lip. She coughed-laughed, swiveling her attention to the strawberry blonde. "Seriously?" She scoffed, but they weren't kidding. "Look, look, look, guys.." She stammered, taking a few steps backwards. "Let's just head our separate ways and pretend this didn't happen. You forget, I forget, I never come back. Nope, never, zip." This was what she was worried about. Her voice darkened as she progressed forwards, although being Doff, she was still jumpy. "Do you think I care what the law says? There's no way, I mean no absolute way in hawk I'm going with you—let alone volunteeringly turn myself in."

She herself didn't stand a chance, and she knew that, and they certainly knew that. " what do you make me out to be? An idiot?" Yes, just that, Doff

//sorry this took so long
Fake sleeping is a thing

Typical.. She should of expected it, she guessed. I mean, she understood their point, but that didn't have to mean that she had to agree with it. She remained silent, holding eye contact before the blonde's sudden movement towards her shot her attention away and to him. Immedietly, her hand shot to the handle of one of her blades, and she held it there as she watched her son go timberrrrrr. Unlike the others, she didn't snicker, but was rather irritated as well. It was probably better now than if Dar hadn't tripped him, but still. She shot forward a few steps, much to her own suprise as she calmly held out her hand to help him up. What was it.. Motherly instinct? Her eyes focused on him, dazed but still full of pride and awe. She held it for what felt like eternity, but eventually she just offered him a small, half smile before backing up and returning her attention to the true matter at hand.

"Look, nobody has to die." She reasoned, brows furrowing. "It's been fifteen years; I'm sure we're not their top priority, either. It's not like it's days after, right?" But you know what? Her eyes darted from the handcuffs to her son, and back to Anna. "Fine, you know what..?" She muttered, allowing her shoulders to sag. "I want to talk to my son, and than we'll go." She didn't beg, she didn't plead. She was sounded.. Defeated. "I didn't want it to come down to this , but it's for the best, I assume.." half truths, half truths, eeeeee. "I promise."

"You weren't there. Rumors fly around, truths get twisted. Nobody knows exactly what happend, and nobody would understand why any of it happened. Nobody except the two of us." And by the two of them, her and Pebble. "And Darragh.. I'm sorry." She muttered, genuine regret in her voice. "I just stood there while all this happened. I didn't do a thing to help you."

Her attention wavered, taken aback by his words. She expected it, but it still hurt like daggers stabbing into her heart. "I would change your use of vocabulary. A squab is more like it." She spoke, a dry chuckle rasping in her throat as she settled herself down, squatting and sitting on the roots of the nearest tree, plucking a small flower from the ground and fiddling with it in her hands. "Your real name is Armin, and I, Isabella Käufer, am your mother, and your father is Armin Arlert. You were born outside of the walls, not too far from here in the hut next to the river. You weren't even six months old when I returned with you back over the walls, and a few weeks later, I killed a man and nearly another. My friend and I were set to be hanged, but your father and a friend busted me out. Fifteen years, and here I am." She somehow managed to get that out pretty smoothly, wow. She looked up at the ground to meet him. "I don't expect you to forgive me or understand, but I guess it would be best for you to hear it from me myself. Hawk, I'm not even going to be here anymore in a short while. I don't care what you think of me.. I just want you to know that I do and always will love you."