The Adventure on-board the Maria

Away from Titan Island

Melody and Petra ran through the ruff foliage of the forest, following the footprints the others left behind in the mud. They were mostly silent for the journey, until around halfway through when Melody tripped over again on a log. "You're quiet the damsel in distress aren't you Melody" Petra chuckled, stopping and turning around once she noticed that Melody had fallen over. She walked over and pulled Melody back onto her feet. "Come on, we shouldn't be far now" she encouraged. Melody glumly grunted a thanks. They continued moving again, deciding to walk this time, since they were both fatigued and out of breath. "Come to think of it, I think its starting to rub off on us. Yeah, we've been known for getting in trouble a lot, but not this often. First we were captured in Sina, and now this island" Petra rambled on. Melody didn't make any comment. She just continued to look down at the muddy footprints they were following. Soon, less and less plants and trees showed up, and the mud slowly began to disappear and turn into rock, then to sand, as they walked on.

Eventually they made it to the edge of the forest, and back by their cave. By now the rain had finally stopped, and the clouds had finally cleared up to reveal the stars again. Petra and Melody shivered slightly, as their wet skin, clothes and hair met the colder air, as they stepped out from the slightly warmer forest. There was something different in the air as they walked closer to the cave. The air smelt more salty. Both females almost had a heart attack when they heard a loud screech coming from up ahead of them. Look forward, they saw Hanji sprinting towards them. "The tides coming in!" the mad woman screeched, beginning to dance around the two of other women like a lunatic. "The tides coming in, we're finally free!" she repeated, before stopping and facing Petra, grabbing her by the shoulders, and shaking the poor woman eagerly. "Shorty says we have to get everything from the cave and bring it back on the ship! We're going back to sea!" Hanji squealed, before letting go of Petra and sprinting back to the cave. The two girls left behind glanced at each other, before turning and chasing after. Petra went straight into the cave after Hanji, while Melody stopped at the entrance to look out at the sea. What Hanji had said was confirmed. The tide was gradually making its way along the beach, and closer to the boat. She could see Eld, Olua, Gunther and Armin already making their way over, carrying some of their belongings.

Just as Melody was about to go back into the cave to help Hanji and Petra, she felt a presence behind. Before she could turn her head to see who it was, a hand placed itself on her shoulder. "You should go on the boat" said the voice of the person behind her. It was Levi. She could recognise his deep voice anywhere. The sound of it manage to calm and relax her in a strange way. She removed his hand from her shoulder so that she could turn around and look at him. He had his black coat, cravat and tricorn hat back on for the first time in a while. "What do you mean?" Melody inquired, wondering why he wanted her on the boat and not helping the others. "You're arms aren't very strong and are  too weak to lift anything we have, remember. We also need someone to hand down the rope to us quickly so that we can climb on after pushing the boat, before it leaves without us. I'd much prefer you on board" Levi explained. When he stopped speaking, he looked at Melody strangely. He then, out of no where reached out, and placed his hand on her head, in a gentle, reassuring way. "You did a great job back there. If it weren't for you, things would of ended badly for us. Thank you" he complimented. At those words, Melody felt her stomach fill up with butterflies, for no known reason. Her face began to warm up at the feeling. Very awkwardly, Levi removed his hand from Melody's head. "Well, uh, like I said, go on the ship. Mikasa and Eren are already there . Um.......see you later", and with that, Levi turned around and went into the cave, leaving Melody alone outside.

It took Melody a while to recover from the strange encounter. Eventually, when she did finally manage to come back to her senses, her first though was 'What was that all about?'. She shook herself slightly, and turned back towards the sea and the boat. The tide was a little closer now, and was still gaining ground. Melody decided to start making her way over to the boat. On her way there, she walked passed the boys on their way back to the cave to get more of the things to bring on the boat. When Melody got to the boat, it took her while to get onto it, but she eventually managed. When she was finally on the deck once more, she took note on how dirty it was. It had been a while since any of them had walked on board their ship, and without her or Levi constantly demanding for it to be clean, it gave it some time to develop quiet a few lairs of grime. The second thing Melody noticed, was Eren and Mikasa sat together on some crates, while Mikasa tended to Eren's injuries. Melody decided to go over and talk to them while she waited for the others to get things sorted out. It had been a while since they had a proper conversation.

"How are you Eren?" was the first thing that came out of her mouth, once she got close enough to them. "I'm fine Melody. Like I said earlier I'll be back on my feet in no..." Eren was interrupted by his own screams of pain, as Mikasa added some ointment onto the wound on his arm. "He's bluffing. He has a broken arm and leg, as well as several deep wounds" Mikasa  mumbled over his pathetic waling. Hot tears were pouring down Eren's eyes by now. Mikasa closed the bottle of ointment, and bent down to leave it in the box of medicine. She grabbed a roll of bandages while she was at it. "It will take him at least three weeks to be able to walk around again, and probably three more until he's healed enough to start working again" Mikasa informed, as she straightened herself up again and began rapping Eren's arm in white linen. "Shut up Mikasa. I'm not a baby, I'll be better way before then" Eren grumbled. Mikasa sighed, and rolled her eyes, before pausing what she was doing and flicking Eren in the forehead, who gave a very loud "OW!". Melody was distracted while this was going on, when she heard someone calling for her. She then walked back to the edge of the both, leaving the two adopted siblings to squabble.

When she reached the edge, she gave a little yelp of surprise as Levi unexpectedly jumped on board, right beside her. He then turned to her. "Be ready to get the ropes ready so that the others can climb on. We are finished packing. The ropes should be over there" he said, gesturing over to a pile of equipment that wasn't there the last time Melody had checked. He then made his way over to Mikasa and Eren to check on them. Melody took note that the others must of brought the last of everything while she was distracted talking to the other two. 'Wow, they sure were quick' she thought to herself, as she bent down and picked up the last of the rope, that they had especially saved just in case they needed it. She suddenly had to balance herself, as she felt the boat jolt suddenly, from its sturdy place on the rocks. Curiosity got the better of her, and she glanced over to look down, over the edge. Her sights laid on Hanji, Gunther, Petra, Eld, Armin and Olua, who were at the end of the boat facing the land, and pushing it, in attempts to move it, as water from the tide lapped at their ankles, getting deeper and deeper, as it began to pick up pace as it came into the shore. Melody gaped at them in amazement as the boat shifted a little more, as they continued to push it. They were incredibly strong to be able to push a boat. Of course the water already building up beneath the ship helped them a little.

Melody snapped out of her thoughts as she had to rebalance to stop herself from falling off the edge, as the boat gave another sudden movement from the others pushing it. She cursed herself for getting so easily distracted, as she began to untangle the rope quickly. Once it was loose, she looked around her to find something sturdy that she could tie the rope to. She found a pole, not to far from the edge, that looked sturdy enough. She ran over too it, as she felt the ship moving beneath her more and more. She quickly coiled the rope around the pole, making sure it had a tight knot. The sound of Hanji desperately calling out for the rope, caught her ears, and with that signal, she flung the remainder of the rope over board. Melody looked down over the edge, making sure everything went well. Hanji climbed up the rope first, followed by Pera, then Eld, then Gunther, then Olua and finally Armin. Once they were all on the deck safely, Melody hoisted the rope back up. They were now free from the rocks, and floating along in the water, sailing away from the island. Then Levi gave his first order back on board. "Right, Armin, Eld, Gunther and Hanji, get to work. The rest of you get some rest. We are going on shifts. This boat is not stopping until we can get to the nearest port, so we can get this peace of shit properly repaired".