(Trigger warning for this chapter: Panic attack and mentioning effects of PTSD)
"No.", you said, crossing your arms as you looked at Jean.
"Please Y/N, I need someone on my team! Sasha grabbed Connie, Annie and Reiner and left already! I've got to get a move on!", he begged you on his knees.
"I don't want to get in the middle of whatever feud you guys have going on!", you said as you stood your ground.
"Please Y/N! I already have Armin and Marco with me. I need one more, I need you!", he grabbed a hold of your hand. "Won't you do it for you best friend?".
"That's just it! You are all my best friends! This is ridiculous!", you answered him. You took a moment to properly examine his facial expression. He already looked so defeated and pretty desperate.
'Damn you and your sympathy Y/N!'
You sighed. "Fine." His face lit up.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!", he said relieved, wrapping his arms around you, lifting you up in a hug. You let out a little laugh.
"Come on now, let's go then", you said, pushing him towards the exit.
~
You were all on horseback, riding towards the forest close to Trost.
"Alright! I can see it!, Jean called out as you got closer to a forest edge.
"Why are we going hunting again?", you asked.
"We have no choice, Y/N. We were ordered to work as a team", Armin answered you.
"By whom? Pixis? I didn't hear him say that?", you asked confused.
"He went to find us after, Y/N. Before Jean talked you into joining the team", Marco enlightened you. You nodded to show them you understood.
"I used to play in that forest often", Jean said, looking in the direction of the woods. "It's famous for being the habitat of a giant boar!".
"Yeah, I heard people all over town talking about it", you said as you remembered the poster. "Is it really as big as they say it is?", you added with a nervous undertone.
"Hmmm, I don't know, some say it's even bigger", Jean said giving you a smug face.
"Oh shut up Jean!", you rolled your eyes at him with a smirk.
'He is just trying to scare you... right?'
"If we manage to get that meat, we'll win for sure!", Jean said confidently.
"What about honing our cooking skills?", Armin asked Jean.
"Like we have time for that!", Jean replied like it was obvious.
*Thump thump thump*
You all looked to your left.
"What a coincidence!", Sasha said as the four of them rode by our side.
'Oh no, they are also going for the boar!'
You looked down feeling a little ashamed. You hope she didn't resent you for joining a team, specifically her competition. Although, come to think of it, it was her who didn't include you in the first place, so you guess she doesn't really have anything to be mad about.
"You guys... Why?", Jean almost whispered, not expecting to meet them here.
"Sasha says she got wind of some good meat.", Connie said, boasting. Of course she has, Sasha is the most skilled hunter you have ever met. Luckily for you, Sasha had spent a lot of time teaching you about hunting and how to track down your prey. Now you at least had something to contribute with to your team. Not that you stood a chance at beating the master hunter herself though.
"I won't let you have all the good meat to yourself!", Sasha said, pulling the rains, making her horse go even faster. The others followed her lead.
"Dammit!", Jean exclaimed.
"Let's go Jean, we can do this! We have the terrain advantage!", you said encouragingly.
~Cut to the four of you wandering aimlessly in the thick woods~
"Uhh, Jean... Are we lost-", you tried asking again carefully.
"No we are not!", he answered you, his voice as determined as before, his face however screamed of stress and nervousness.
"B-but I'm sure we already came this way-", you tried saying, however, you were interrupted again.
"No, we haven't!", his head turned towards you, frustrated. You were actually positive you already came this way, as you used the tracking skills to note your surroundings. You had informed the group of your acquired skills, however, as much as Marco and Armin tried to argue, Jean wouldn't let you lead.
'This man is too proud for his own good'
"Look at this damaged tree!", he said pointing at a tree broken in half, besides an even thicker one that was worn down from the Boar using it to itch itself.
"Sure, we saw one that looked similar earlier, but I'm sure we're getting close!".
Your face went completely blank. You just stared at him.
'Bitch, that is the same goddamn tree'
In the corner of your eye you saw Marco facepalm and Armin just gaped at Jean.
You looked over to you left and saw a slight light-source breaking through the dark forest branches. You didn't bother asking for permission, you simply turned around and walked towards it.
"Oi, Y/N!", you heard Jean call out. You ignored him, following you instincts.
'No way in hell I'm walking the same route one more time'
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm following her!", Marco said, hurrying to catch up with you.
"Same here", you heard Armin say, bushes rustling as he too strayed away from the patch. Jean huffed, but after a couple of seconds you heard another pair of bushes rustling. You smiled, feeling victorious.
You walked through the branches, revealing a little opening by a steep cliff. Here you had a perfect overview of the gigantic forest. At least now you had a chance to orient yourselves. The guys joined you by your side as you looked.
*Thump, Boom, Bang*
The ground shook violently, reminding you of that fateful day four years ago. You struggled to stabilize yourself as the tears started running uncontrollably down you face. Marco reached out for you, pulling you into his embrace.
"Y/N, are you okay? What's wrong?", he asked, a voice full of worry and compassion. You couldn't talk as you started hyperventilating. He helped you down to a sitting position and you placed your head between your knees, trying to control your breathing. Marco stroked your hair gently, not really knowing what to do or why you were reacting this way. Armin knew though.
"I think she is experiencing a panic attack, an effect of PTSD", he informed the others.
"PTS-What?", Jean asked, kneeling down in front of you.
"PTS-D. Stands for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. It is a psychiatric disorder that may occur if someone has experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. I imagine it's pretty obvious what event I'm referring to.", Armin explained, placing his hand on your shoulder. "The violent shaking of the ground is what triggered it. Hell, I got flashbacks too...", he said quietly.
You felt Marco's hand shake slightly. It was probably killing him not being able to directly help you when you were hurting. He has always been like this ever since you met him. You remembered when he took you to the infirmary after Annie punched you in your nose. You also remembered that one time last year where you slipped in mess hall, banging your head against the corner of a table. You got a deep gash on your forehead, to dizzy to get up by yourself. Marco offered to carry you to the infirmary. He smelled of a mix of vanilla and cinnamon that day, as your face leaned against his chest. It was comforting. He was comforting. You found yourself calming down imagining all the happy moments in your life. Memories with your friends came to mind, but mostly all your times with Marco played in the foreground. You could finally breathe normally. Although you didn't see the others, you could feel the tension around you lightening as they realized your breathing stabilized. You carefully lifted your head, to meet the faces of your worried friends.
"Damn Y/N, you look terrible", Jean said carefully, with a smug face. Marco glared at him, but you just laughed.
"Well I have a reason, what's yours?", you joked back.
You kicked his knees lightly, however hard enough to make him lose his balance, rolling over. The sight made you laugh even more. Marco placed his arm steadily around you, still nervous to let go.
"How are you doing, Armin?", you asked exhausted. He smiled at you.
"I'm fine. I wasn't during the shaking, but I am now", he reassured you.
"Now, what the hell even was that?", you asked, trying to stand up. Marco helped you.
"We truly have no clue-"
*Thump, Boom, Bang*
The ground started shaking again.
Marco took a firm grip around you, your back against his chest. He bent his head down to your ear and whispered reassuringly to you.
"It's fine, whatever it is, it's fine. We're here... I'm here". You closed your eyes and started imagining your happy memories again.
"Look, there is dust and smoke coming from the forest floor below the cliff!", Armin exclaimed. "Trees are falling in a straight line!".
You immediately started to think about the possibility that it could be a titan. That was until you heard a loud squeal. It reminded you of a pig, just ten times as strong and dark pitched.
"Hey Y/N, that sounded just like you during the opening ceremony!", Jean said eagerly, taking a spot beside you and Marco. Marco was still holding onto you tight.
"Did not!", you said
"Did so!", he answered teasingly. You just kicked his shin hard.
"ARGHH!", he yelled, lifting his leg to his chest to hold onto his ankle. He jumped around on one leg for a while.
"Sounds like Sasha and her team managed to get the boar. My god, how big even is that thing for it to shake the ground that violently!", he wondered amazed.
The shaking started again, surprisingly close to you. This time it was making its way past you.
You took a deep breath and got out of Marco's grasp.
"Okay cadets!", you said in the most 'Sadies way' you could muster. Marco and Armin looked surprised, Jean, however, grinned. "It seems like the competition haven't been able to kill the boar... yet. Let's follow it and do our best to claim it before they do! Defeat is NOT an option!", you yelled as you activated you gear, going straight in it's direction. You heard the whizzing sound of ODM gear behind you, one after the other, they caught up with you.
~
You were met with the sight of Sasha hanging onto the boar by a thread- literally. Her wires were fastened to the back of the boar as it ran away in full speed. Damn it was big! It was almost the size of your barracks! Okay that may have been an overstatement, but it truly was ginormous.
"Meat, meat, sausage, meat!", Sasha repeated as she tried to get on top of the boar while it flung her around behind it.
"It's so fast!", Armin yelled as we tried to catch up. "We'll never catch up to them!".
"Meat! Steak! Sausage!!!", Sasha repeated again, managing to crawl along its back, reaching it's head.
Armin tried to get Sasha distracted by holding some of her favourite vegetables in front of him. She completely ignored him, still chanting different ways to prepare meat.
"No good! We can't overcome the power of meat!", Armin reported. You snickered.
'Hah! Like that's something new'
"So many ways to cook them!", she screamed as she flew up in the air, shooting an arrow straight to the middle of his skull. The boar collapsed instantly.
~
They rode through town, the people cheering on as Sasha and her team presented the dead boar in their carriage.
"Behold! Colossal boar coming through!", Connie boasted, posing with it.
Sasha rode on top of it, still chanting different variants of meat.
The four of you looked from the side-lines.
"You bastards!", Jean yelled out, like they could hear him.
"Come on Jean. Let's get ourselves ready for dinner so we have the energy to start cooking afterwards! In the meantime you can figure out another dish to prepare, now that we can rule meat out of the equation", you said as you placed your hand on his shoulder in a calming manner. He looked at you and sighed, defeated.
________________________________________________
A/N:
Okay, so it looks like I managed to turn a 4 minute part of the episode into a long ass chapter, so I think I'll add another part to it lol. I just had to include many of my own ideas and descriptions, making it longer than expected.
Hopefully, you find these part's interesting and fun, if not I'm very sorry ahaha, I'm really giving that OVA episode a run for their money huh...
Anyways, see ya in pt 3! (It will be the last part of this chapter and will probably be much shorter than these two.
Have a great day!<3
~Jen