✔️ᶠʳᵉᵉᵈᵒᵐ [AOTXOC]

eight

⋆┈┈｡ﾟ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ❁ུ۪ ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ﾟ｡┈┈⋆

TW- mentions of scars
and some gore

ع˖⁺ ☁⋆ ୭ 🕊.⋆｡⋆༶⋆˙⊹
leave
/liːv/
1. go away from
2. depart from permanently
ع˖⁺ ☁⋆ ୭ 🕊.⋆｡⋆༶⋆˙⊹

Armin stepped forward, but
the girl backed away and
hid behind the tree
completely.

"For a terrifying legend, you're not that scary." Armin chuckled nervously, trying to sound confident but was only met with the sound of shuffling.

He didn't know whether it was her shyness or her unwillingness to cooperate with him at the moment. But either way, he had to reach her somehow.

A faint mumble resonated from behind the tree. "Don't get too cocky, I'm not like this to most people."

"...Why?" The blond suddenly became curious.

"I- it's a feeling." Ari answered, a little too quick for her liking, but answered nonetheless.

Pride swelled in Armin's chest. He was getting somewhere, he just needed to push her to talk more. So he quietly moved closer.

"So you can feel it too?" He asked.

Behind the tree, her heart was beating out of her chest. Her back rested against the trunk, hands either side of her gripping on the bark, eyes closed. She took a deep breath and poked her head around to look at him, but was surprisingly met with his presence just a few metres away.

She yelped and stumbled back, but Armin caught her wrist, snaking his other arm around her waist to keep her steady.

The warmth of his hand on her exposed skin was almost a foreign feeling. The gentleness of it took her way back... back to simpler times.

But either way, those simpler times caused her pain in the end.

She panicked, wriggled out of his grasp, climbing onto a higher branch to seem more superior and intimidating than she was actually feeling. No matter who Armin was, whether he had a connection to her in some way or not, he had to leave.

As she stood there, Armin took the time to observe her features. The bright sun spread out smoothly onto her body, making her eyes gleam, making her skin glow, making her hair radiant.

Her body was attacked with faded scars, some more faint than others, still seeming painful nevertheless. Most of them were covered by her hand-made clothing. Leaves were tied onto vines that made the base for the shape of her clothes, some stuck out, some were shrivelling up, some were still bright green. It was clear that she replaced the leaves as soon as they wore out.