An Ackerman's Journey

Annie

849
Cadet Corps

Annie and Elias were sitting on a log on the same cliff they sat on every night. Elias dug something out of his pocket before handing it to Annie. "Hey, Annie. You dropped this earlier" He said as he gave Annie a silver ring. Her eyes shot open as she saw it and grabbed it back from him. "Thank you" She said as she put it on her index finger and played with it while it was on her finger. "Sorry but I figured you didn't want to talk to anyone after training so I waited till now" Elias said looking at the ground. Annie nodded looking over at him. "No, it's fine. Thank you for returning it."

The two stayed quiet looking over the cliff before Elias spoke up. "I wanted to ask you about the ring also. Where'd you get it from?" Annie looked back over at him before responding. "My father gave it to me before I joined the Cadet Corp. Said it was a parting gift of sorts." "And what about the hidden blade on it?" Elias asked, catching Annie off guard before he continued. "Sorry but I was curious and looked at it earlier. The only weird thing to me was the hidden blade. And the word engraved on the inside. I didn't understand what it said, it was like some other language. Mind if I ask what it was?" Annie nodded, still looking at the ring. "No, it's fine. It's...It's a fake language he used when I was younger. Said it was a way for us to bond easier. The word says 'Warrior'. He wanted me to have the ring as some sort of protection other than my fighting skills alone. He gave this to me and said to use it on anyone that tried to 'hurt his little girl' as he put it" She responded keeping her full attention on the ring.

"Surprised you haven't used it on Jaeger yet 'cause of how annoying he's been to you."

"If anything, I'm surprised Mia didn't actually kill him the other day, even if it was an accident."

"No, but she did put him on his ass and in the infirmary for the next two days. Surprised he had nothing broken." The two laughed a bit as they spoke and looked over the cliff. The two looked at each other making eye contact as they stopped laughing. "Only one more year, and you can show your dad that you're not just a soldier, but a warrior," Elias said as he looked down at Annie. Annie's face seemed to drop almost as if she was upset by what he said. "Yeah. A Warrior..."

Present

"That damned ring...shit" Elias spoke to himself as he watched Annie stomp her foot through the ground into the tunnel to the Underground. His eyes shot open as he watched. 'What is she doing? She's gonna crush them if she's not careful' He thought to himself before shouting out. "Damn it all!" He dropped off the roof he was on and engaged his gear and shot over to her. She had already stomped into the tunnel twice and was ready to do it a third time. Before she could do it Elias managed to slash the back of her knee that was on the ground making her lose balance and fall back. She looked up and saw Elias going straight for her face. She hardened one of her hands and put it up trying to catch him only for him to swing around her hand. He sheathed one of his blades and landed on her nose while holding himself up on a strand of her hair. "Annie! Tell me this is some kind of joke! Tell me you're not an enemy and this is all a big misunderstanding! Just come out of the titan and talk with us! Talk with me!" Elias shouted with a shaky voice as he was trying to hold onto any shred of hope that he wouldn't have to fight Annie.

Annie grabbed Elias off her face and pulled him away. Elias closed his eyes expecting to be crushed and tossed aside like a doll. He waited and waited for his body to be crushed in her hand but it never came. He felt his body touch hard ground and looked down to see Annie had placed him on a roof and looked at him with a frown. Annie had started to get up as the cut Elias had given her had fully healed. Elias stood up on the roof as Annie had lifted her leg again to stomp into the tunnel a third time. "Elias!" Armin shouted as he landed next to him on the roof. "Armin? You're alright? How did you-" "I used one of the holes she made to get out. Mikasa's going to use the other one. I'm guessing the only reason she didn't go after me was because you distracted her right?" Armin cut Elias off as he explained how he escaped the tunnel.