The Adventure on-board the Maria

Hunting or Hunted?

Melody lay on the stone floor of the cave, listening to the rain pattering against the top of the cave. Her eyes tried to concentrate on the buckets that were left out to gather water, but every so often, she couldn't resist the urge to turn her sights on the short male sat by the cave entrance, his form creating a shadow that loomed into the cave. Every time Melody glanced at his figure, the events that had happened prior to the rain, rushed through her mind. Her face heated up each time she recalled the moment on the rocks with Levi. They had been so close at that moment, mere inches away. The main question that went through her mind was "Was Levi really going to kiss me?". Surely he wasn't. They had literally just forgiven each other that day. They didn't even consider each other friends yet, let alone lovers. That sort of thing would of definitely been too fast. 'But he did tell you his backstory. That's probably something not a lot of people have heard. He must think you are very special' a little voice teased in the back of her head. Melody instantly shook her head at the thought. She then turned over and began glaring at the wall. By now, everyone except for her and Levi were asleep. Hanji's animal like snores and everyone else's slow breathing filled the moist air. Melody envied them for being able to get to sleep so easily. Not only were her thoughts over whelming her brain, constantly keeping her alert, but her insect sting on her arm was also beginning to itch really badly, and her body was aching all over due to both the hard floor and the hard abuse she had been through that day. So she lay there alone, drowning in her thoughts and listening to the rhythmic dripping of water from the ceiling of the cave entrance.

She turned back around to look at Levi again. She wondered how he could stay up for so long,. She had never recalled a night where he wasn't keeping guard. Each night they were on the night island, he had stayed up to keep guard. She recalled Hanji or Petra telling her that he always kept guard on the boat as well, back when she was still imprisoned, which probably meant he never slept. Melody silently pitied him for that. She went back to watching him. Due to the dim light outside, only his figure was visible. He was sat on the ground, leaning against the cave wall, one knee bent up, his arm resting on it, his sword held in his hand as he gazed outwards at the rain. He was very still, his only movement being the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. Melody gave a soft smile without even realising it as her eyelids began to droop closed. After that, she just listened to her calm surroundings. Her body began to relax more as the stressful thoughts from before, finally fade away. Her eyes shot back open as the noise of something moving outside met her ears. She sat up straight, from where she lay and glanced over to where she last saw Levi. He wasn't there! An overwhelming panic began to inflate within Melody's chest and her eyes widened, but other than that she remained calm on the outside. Slowly and quietly, she got onto her feet, and tiptoed towards the cave exit, pulling out her knife from her pocket. She peeked outside, her hair getting soaked from the rain. Looking around, she saw nothing else out of the ordinary. She stepped out fully and began making her way around the cave, to see if anything was hiding behind it. She stalked her way around, carefully observing her surroundings, in case anything were to jump out at her.

She made it to the side of the cave that was facing the forest, when she stopped. The sound of leaves moving caught her attention. She held out her knife and went into a fighting stance. The leaves continued to rustle, getting closer each time. Suddenly, a shadow jumped out of the bushes at lightening speed, grabbed onto Melody's arms and slammed her into the outside of the cave. Melody held her knife up to her attacker's neck, who returned the favour by pressing a blade of some sort, against her throat. Her silver eyes widened when they met the deep grey eyes of her attacker, whose eyes also widened as they both recognised each other. Levi pulled away from Melody, releasing her arms from his powerful grip. He glanced around him, as if making sure nobody heard or saw them. "What the fuck are you doing out here? I could of killed you" he hissed at her. "I was looking for you. I heard a noise and saw that you were gone. I was worried" Melody explained. Levi's eyes widened again for a split second, before returning to their harsh glare. "Why the fuck weren't you asleep?" he demanded. "W-well, I...." Melody began, not sure what to say, her cheeks going slightly pink, which was luckily hiden by her soaking wet hair, that was sticking to her face, thanks to the rain. "I was thinking too much to sleep" she answered semi-honestly. Levi glared at her a little longer before turning his head to observe the forest behind him, his only answer was "Tch".