The Feline Alchemist

Bramble offered a sheepish smile at his relenting, glad to be offered a reprieve. “Thank you. But I can– can say I’m, u-uh… from… from Amestris. We’re– b-bordered by D–Drachma, a-and Xing, Aerugo, n… Creta. ‘F it h–helps.” The mention of the latter country brought a sharp pang of homesickness as she remembered her adventure there with the First Lieutenant. She… did miss home from time to time.

When the hybrid looked back down she was surprised to see she was being offered a bread roll– surprised because, as far as she’d been able to tell, people rarely gave away their food at all here (with exception of when Sasha nagged them), not to mention… why? But Bramble received only an affirming gesture when she gave a confused look and so she accepted the roll with hesitance, thanking her friend politely as she did so. A yawn as she dipped the roll in her soup, followed by her drawing her cloak closer to herself while she started to eat again. The effects of blood loss were a bitch.

Amestris. Drachma. Xing. Aerugo. Creta. The lands named by Bramble were definitely foreign to Armin. He started imagining a continent with her home land in the middle, surrounded by the rest, and then the ocean beyond the bordering the countries.

Bramble nodded slowly at his amazed question of affirmation, only half understanding what he said right after. The transparency of… yeah, that was way too advanced for her to think about. All she got out of that was that she hadn’t seen any libraries because there were none. If his reaction meant anything, anyway.

“Uh… yeeeeah,” she drew out, not sure how to respond to what he was saying. Push the boundaries of livelihood… push the… make people livelier? Because– oh. That made sense. “I–I mean– it… it helps w-without the… th’imminent loomin’ d-danger of, uh… of death h–hhangin’ over yer head c-c-constantly, too.”

‘Imminent’ and ‘looming’ were already too big of words for her but she used them anyway. Illiteracy also means less introduction to new words… or understanding of them. Bramble hesitantly went back to her soup, not sure if there was anything else Armin wanted to say or not. She was too tired to carry out a conversation with someone that used words like ‘detrimental’ first thing in the morning. 

“If it were possible, I would love to visit the place you come from. What is it called? I wonder if there’s a chance of it being on the map in one of my books,” said Armin. Excited about the possibilities from the others’ world, he didn’t consider until late how draining it might be for Bramble to have this kind of conversation with him and the fatigue in her eyes. “Sorry, Bramble, I’ll just let you eat.”

Bramble hesitantly put her spoon down as well to shake the stranger’s, now known to her as Armin’s, hand, retracting her own shortly after and listening to what he had to ask. She… was certainly getting accustomed to questions about what she was at this point. It was becoming a nuisance, he was right.

“Well… yeah, there’s– ’s no titans, ‘n… w-we ain’t got th'huge wa-alls a–all around– around us. Just o-o-other countries. Um…” The chimera paused both to think and to yawn, now starting to appropriately tire since the adrenaline of lying to Moblit earlier had completely worn off by now. “W-we have a– mili–military, and.. alchemy, ’s I’m– s-sure y’ve h-h-heard aboout. ‘N… s'a li-ittle more advanced? We got… c–cars, 'n proper m-medicines, 'n… Hell, don’t thi–ink I’ve se-een a– a library since I got h-here!”

Not that she could read any of the books in them anyway. As far as she knew, her illiteracy was still unknown to her friends in this world. Bramble paused and picked up her spoon again to start eating, ears lowering only minutely. “It’s… s-safer, there. Y'ain’t gotta– fi-ight t'live.” She couldn’t think of anything else and frankly didn’t want to say anymore about Amestris and get homesick again, so the hybrid simply went back to her soup, pleased that it was mostly cooled off because of her late arrival.

Mikasa didn’t understsand. If they didn’t have to fight for their own lives there, why did Amestris still have a military? She supposed every entity had their own military. That no matter where you go, mankind never truly got along with one another. She wondered if she , as a descendent of the Ac kerman clan, would be accepted there, or if she would have to fend for herself. These thoughts she kept to herself.

Armin’s eyes widened at the mention of a library. “No way. There’s libraries in your world? That’s amazing. Here, there are a lot of books that are banned. The transparency of history and technology between civilians and the elite is so deterimental…”

He trailed off to sigh. If he weren’t a soldier, he would probably work just as hard as Major Hange to forge the bridge of information to humanity. Then again, there were repercussions to certain information, which is why a lot of what the Recon Corps pursue needs to be classified. Take Bramble for example. If everyone knew there was an alchemist like her who could help repair the walls without the use of labor and material deceit, everyone would try and pressure her to be their savior in place of Eren. Eren was contraversial. Bramble’s own existence is contraversial. Information is contraversial. Everything is contraversial yet revolutionary at the same time.

“Uh... yeeeeah,” she drew out, not sure how to respond to what he was saying. Push the boundaries of livelihood... push the... make people livelier? Because-- oh. That made sense. “I--I mean-- it... it helps w-without the... th’imminent loomin’ d-danger of, uh... of death h--hhangin’ over yer head c-c-constantly, too.”

Bramble listened to Sasha with ears perked while she ate, amused at how quick she had been to offer explanation. She would have done it herself, but… there had been no need. She didn’t mind. The hybrid looked up from her meal only to meet Mikasa’s gaze. “Sorta. Mi-ister Moblit woke m'up, ch–checked m'vitals ‘n'such. Just a… a lil wh–while ago. Been up… m–maybe… maybe 20 mi-inutes?”

Shrugging lightly, the hybrid continued her meal, however, something kept nagging at her about the others at the table. What was it? She didn’t want to look around suspiciously or anything. But to sate her sixth sense… Bramble glanced up to the one person she hadn’t identified before sitting down and noticed that it was a new face. She hadn’t seen this guy before. A blond. Unfortunately, they made eye contact, and Bramble was forced to give a small smile, a little wave, and a quiet ‘hi’.

Mikasa nodded, glad to hear that nothing was out of the ordinary with Bramble… for now.

"Well... yeah, there's-- 's no titans, 'n... w-we ain't got th'huge wa-alls a--all around-- around us. Just o-o-other countries. Um..." The chimera paused both to think and to yawn, now starting to appropriately tire since the adrenaline of lying to Moblit earlier had completely worn off by now. "W-we have a-- mili--military, and.. alchemy, 's I'm-- s-sure y've h-h-heard aboout. 'N... s'a li-ittle more advanced? We got... c--cars, 'n proper m-medicines, 'n... Hell, don't thi--ink I've se-een a-- a library since I got h-here!"

Bramble looked back down at the steel pieces curiously, already thinking of things to be done with them. The sentimentality behind the patch, however, made her look back up– sure, it wasn’t an overly sweet or praising statement, but coming from her typically stoic friend it meant the world. She thought she ‘should be recognized for her efforts’. Was she… proud of her?

The chimera actually offered Mikasa the rarity of a genuine smile. “Thank you. R-really, that.. ‘at means a lo–lot.” Bramble paused; then gently sat her gifts down on the nearby end table. She averted her eyes for a few moments before gathering as much courage as she could, pushing aside her distaste for physical contact and stepping forward to hug her friend.

“Thanks,” she murmured, but it didn’t last long. Not only was she unsure on Mikasa’s physical contact policy, but her whiskers were brushing against her and every sense urged her to back away despite her level of comfort with the soldier. The hybrid retreated from the hug and adamantly avoided eye contact while she went to examine her gifts again.

“Think I c’d s–sew ’t on?” Bramble held up the patch in question, trying to change the subject quickly to avoid embarrassing herself.

The embrace was awkward but for the sake of Christmas, Mikasa returned with a light pat on the shoulder. At least Bramble wasn’t as aggressive as Sasha when it came to physical contact. Briefly after said contact, Mikasa stepped away the same time Bramble did.

She thought about where on her attire the patch could be sewed onto. “It’s possible with a needle and thread. But I don’t know your allegiance’s uniform policies.” Mikasa hadn’t really thought that far with installment of the patch other than as a pocket reminder of their time together.

@bramble-thomas

Bramble backed up a bit as something was held out to her, an ear cocking and head tilting at what it was and the phrase to go with it. “Chr…Christmas?” she sounded out delicately, taking the box and staring at it for a moment. “Some kinda gift? D’I… o–open it now, or…”

Unfamiliar with the tradition, she waits for a nod before cautiously drawing a claw down one side of the wrapping to open it with as little mess as possible. The chimera pulled the red wrapping away and opened the box to see… a familiar symbol. That was on all of their jackets, wasn’t it?

“S’real pretty, Mikasa,” came the murmur, eyes never leaving the patch as she delicately pulled it out and admired the threadwork. “Th–thank y’. If I’d’a known I was s’posed t–t’getcha a gift, I-I would’a m-m-made somethin’, but…” Then she noticed that there were pieces of steel in the box, too, and she looked up questioningly at her friend. “S’th’metal… s-s’posed t’mean somethin’, or…? ‘N what’s th’patch… for?”

Mikasa picked up one of the steel pieces, thinking of what again was her purpose in giving it. “The metal is the same material we use for weaponry. If you want, you can use your alchemy to make it whatever you want.” She wasn’t sure what Bramble was really into, so for all she cared, Bramble could just throw it away. The steel was just something extra.

The chimera actually offered Mikasa the rarity of a genuine smile. "Thank you. R-really, that.. 'at means a lo--lot." Bramble paused; then gently sat her gifts down on the nearby end table. She averted her eyes for a few moments before gathering as much courage as she could, pushing aside her distaste for physical contact and stepping forward to hug her friend.

"Thanks," she murmured, but it didn't last long. Not only was she unsure on Mikasa's physical contact policy, but her whiskers were brushing against her and every sense urged her to back away despite her level of comfort with the soldier. The hybrid retreated from the hug and adamantly avoided eye contact while she went to examine her gifts again.

Bramble knew her heartrate was… a tad accelerated with how nervous she was about lying. But luck was on her side and Moblit seemed to notice no fault with her vitals, simply advising her to hurry to breakfast before leaving her room. She flinched at the pat to the back but was otherwise relieved at his departure, heaving a sigh before standing from the bed once more.

The hybrid was feeling better today than she had in a few weeks. Her neck burned like Hell and occasionally she would catch her hands shaking, but her mentality had improved. So after making sure she was properly preened for the day ahead, Bramble exited her room and hurried off to the cafeteria to hopefully get something to eat before they closed up for the morning.

Upon arriving, she found that Mikasa was still seated along with some other members soldiers, though it didn’t look like they had much food left at all on their plates if any. Which meant if she wanted to sit with people she knew…

Nervous about walking alone but regardless feeling up to the task today, the hybrid managed to get a good portion of food before they cleaned up and take a seat at the table her main companion was still at. “Howdy,” she offered, giving a little grin to those that looked at her upon sitting. Bramble then wasted no time in beginning to eat– it was in fact a bit cold, but it wasn’t like she minded. She had been late, after all, lucky to get anything in the first place.

“Howdy,” Connie greeted in return, unfamiliar with the word. “Is that some kind of word from the language your people speak?” This was followed by the yelp of ‘Connie!’ from Sasha, who tried explaining how it could be another variation for ‘Hello’.

Bramble’s smile turned sheepish at his mention of the time. “Uh… long, uh… long nap?” Her curiosity was piqued at his words, however, and she tilted her head in question. They were actually gonna try to find a way to get her back? They’d mentioned it but so far it had seemed unattainable. She didn’t even know how she got here in the first place.

Any curiosity was quickly snuffed out at his question– Bramble was quick to straighten her posture and look anywhere but the other soldier. She was a terrible liar. An absolutely terrible liar. Oh no. Oh geez. Oh gosh, how was she gonna…

“Um… it’s, ah… n-no. I, uh. Washed it. Y-yesterday. Before I… I u-uhh, went t–to sleep. It was a-all dirty ‘n s–s-stuff.” Should she have made eye contact? She probably should have. It was too late now, though. The chimera cleared her throat and forced herself to look back up at Moblit. “Gonna ch–check m'vitals or not?”

“I see. That’s good you’re maintaining your hygiene, Private Bramble. That way you can prevent infections.”

Allowing himself inside Bramble’s chambers, he asked for her to take a seat on the bed and pulled up a chair to start taking her vitals. From the press of his fingers to her wrist, he could tell that her heartbeat was rapid, faster than anyone else he’s examined. Probably due to her small stature. He heard nothing out of the ordinary through the stethoscope either, except for a small growl of the stomach.

The hybrid was feeling better today than she had in a few weeks. Her neck burned like Hell and occasionally she would catch her hands shaking, but her mentality had improved. So after making sure she was properly preened for the day ahead, Bramble exited her room and hurried off to the cafeteria to hopefully get something to eat before they closed up for the morning.

Upon arriving, she found that Mikasa was still seated along with some other members soldiers, though it didn't look like they had much food left at all on their plates if any. Which meant if she wanted to sit with people she knew...

Bramble awoke with a start at the voice coming through the door of her room. What did he say? Vitals check? She groaned and pushed herself up from her position in the bed, rubbing her eyes, but when she yawned she quickly closed her mouth midway through it and winced. She’d forgotten about last night. Shit, that stung something fierce! She’d have to be gentle with her neck for the next few days.

“I–I’m– yeah, I’m, uh, I’m in here, Mo-oblit, sir. H-hold on.” She delicately felt of the gauze on her neck to make sure no blood had seeped through visibly, relieved to find that none had, before stretching every area for her body save her neck and standing to open the door. It was near impossible to ignore the pain under her gauze, but it was now time to hide it as well as she could to avoid questioning.

Bramble opened her room’s door and offered the much taller soldier a nervous smile. “Uh… h–hello, Moblit, sir. Wh-whatcha need?”

“Good morning Private Bramble… although… it is almost noon.”

The research assistant beamed back at the chimera girl. He also raised the clipboard in hand to sign his purpose here.

“Like I said, I just need to check your vitals and ask you a few questions. We’re going to start developing a way to send you back home, and we don’t know how long it will take.”

Moblit tilted his head to the side as he examined the gauze over Bramble’s neck. He always thought it was a white scarf, but its not-so-white coloring looked different from the day before.

Any curiosity was quickly snuffed out at his question-- Bramble was quick to straighten her posture and look anywhere but the other soldier. She was a terrible liar. An absolutely terrible liar. Oh no. Oh geez. Oh gosh, how was she gonna...

Bramble quickly waved her friend’s help off, gesturing to the door and still avoiding eye contact. “I’ll be fi-ine. Just– t-tired, s'all. Seeya.” As rare an occasion it was, Bramble actually hurried ahead of her friend to leave, making sure that she didn’t see her going in a direction opposite of the way back to her quarters. She went to the medic ward instead, finding that it was… surprisingly empty. Shouldn’t someone have been here? It was a medical area, someone needed to be on standby.

Regardless, she wouldn’t turn down good fortune, and the hybrid slunk in to begin a quick search for whatever she would need. She tore off an appropriately sized strip of gauze from a roll the found in a cabinet, along with taking some cotton swabs and a small bottle of what she hoped was peroxide (she had to assume by smell with her illiteracy as a hindrance) and putting them into the pockets of her jacket. She could hear a medic approaching as she slipped out and was quick to make herself scarce to her room with the supplies she had acquired.

Bramble heaved an audible sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her. She didn’t like taking supplies from the people here, as stretched for resources as they seemed to be at times, but… it was better to steal a little gauze and disinfectant than to kill some much-needed soldiers as effect of a mental breakdown.

Sitting down on the edge of her bed, Bramble slowly and carefully unclipped and unwrapped the gauze from around her throat. It was getting a bit worn at this point and certainly couldn’t be healthy for her wounds. There was a large chance of it being infected– but it was okay. It wasn’t like Bramble couldn’t treat it. Upon finally getting the gauze off of her neck, she found that there was no infection at all. The wounds had mostly closed. That was good! All the better for making more. She would try to take better care of them this time.

In as much privacy as she could possibly get and hopefully not due for interruption, Bramble found relief in the feeling of her claws pressing into her own flesh, moving them slowly and deliberately– away from any major arteries– to extend the feeling as long as possible. It had been too long. Once there was almost too much blood to clean up with the supplies she’d gotten, she stopped to stem the bleeding with the disenfectant-dipped cotton and wrap them up in the gauze. Stashing the disinfectant under her bed, she found herself actually sleepy– probably from blood loss– and laid down to take a nap after all. What an eventful day.

The next morning, Mikasa knocked on Bramble’s door but there was no response. She was concerned about her friend. Her first instinct was to bust through the door but she told herself no, with Hange’s lab not too far away, there was a good chance Bramble was probably checked upon overnight and that she was just sleeping in. Mikasa walked away to join the dining hall with Sasha, Connie and Armin for breakfast.

Connie was the first to bring up Bramble’s absence. “Where’s cat girl at?”

“She has a name! Her name is Bramble. Bramble….something,” Sasha corrected, followed by a shrug. Sasha enjoyed Bramble’s company, partly because the foreign girl had an accent too and wasn’t afraid to use it when speaking. What Sasha found bewildering however was the girl’s personality, how she could go from prey to predator in a heartbeat at the sight of blood. Sasha nervously consumed her soup to try and calm herself.

“Bramble is probably resting. She had a long day yesterday,” said Mikasa.

Mikasa was never really one to gossip, or to reveal anyone’s business. But with Armin in their company, she explained to them from start to finish on how she met Bramble and what led up to her extended slumber, including the impromptu meeting last night with Commander Erwin.

“Now, Major Hange is going to focus on finding a way to send Bramble back home.” Hopefully before the expedition, Mikasa mused in an afterthought.

Armin nodded, his expression was serious. He stared down at the table as he took in all the aspects that made Bramble unique and how she needed to return to her world, along with Hange’s involvement.

“I think I know how we can take her home,” he said after a long while.

"I--I'm-- yeah, I'm, uh, I'm in here, Mo-oblit, sir. H-hold on." She delicately felt of the gauze on her neck to make sure no blood had seeped through visibly, relieved to find that none had, before stretching every area for her body save her neck and standing to open the door. It was near impossible to ignore the pain under her gauze, but it was now time to hide it as well as she could to avoid questioning.

Bramble just sat quietly, listening to others dictate her life for her. What else was new? With a verdict reached, she nodded at the words directed to her while still avoiding eye contact. She had fucked up so badly today… the hybrid honestly just wanted to sleep. For a few days, maybe. A week. A month. Or if her claws were sharp enough, possibly for a whole lot longer. No, no, she was probably still needed here… but still, if she could just get some time alone…

Did she even know where the medic ward was at? For gauze? She didn’t have her bag with her when she found her way to this new world, so her usual equipment wasn’t exactly… handy. She would have to improvise. Was it even worth the trouble? She wasn’t sure. Maybe taking the gauntlets from her suit and mauling another tree would help. If she was even allowed to be near the cursed apparel again after the day’s events.

Bramble was so busy thinking she hardly noticed everyone had stood up to leave. The chimera was quick to get out of her seat and retreat to the safe 3-foot radius of her friend, gently tugging on her sleeve to gain her attention. “Mik–kasa,” she started, voice becoming louder in the second half of her word because even she could tell how quiet she was, “I–I’m– I’m gonna go ba-ack t'my bunker ‘n just… s–s-sleep, for, uh… a while, 'n ca-ase so-omeone n-n-needs m’, n'kay?” She was also perhaps going to borrow some equipment from the nearest medical ward. Just a bit of gauze and antiseptic surely wouldn’t hurt their supply…

Mikasa for one was relieved Bramble didn’t have to fight anymore. But she couldn’t tell if Bramble shared the same sentiment. No one even bothered to ask Bramble what she wanted to do up until now. So to hear that Bramble wanted to rest wasn’t as comforting as it should have been. She worried that everybody else, including her, were too busy objectifying Bramble’s potential and its costs to a point where they’ve all forgotten Bramble was human too.

Regardless, she wouldn’t turn down good fortune, and the hybrid slunk in to begin a quick search for whatever she would need. She found a roll of gauze in a cabinet, taking it along with some cotton swabs and a small bottle of what she hoped was peroxide (she had to assume by smell with her illiteracy as a hindrance) and putting them into the pockets of her jacket. She could hear a medic approaching as she slipped out and was quick to make herself scarce to her room with the supplies she had acquired.

Bramble heaved an audible sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her. She didn’t like taking supplies from the people here, as stretched for resources as they seemed to be at times, but… it was better to steal a little gauze and disinfectant than to kill some much-needed soldiers as effect of a mental breakdown.

Sitting down on the edge of her bed, Bramble slowly and carefully unclipped and unwrapped the gauze from around her throat. It was getting a bit worn at this point and certainly couldn’t be healthy for her wounds. There was a large chance of it being infected– but it was okay. It wasn’t like Bramble couldn’t treat it. Upon finally getting the gauze off of her neck, she found that there was no infection at all. The wounds had mostly closed. That was good! All the better for making more. She would try to take better care of them this time.

Bramble’s ears pressed flat against her head in guilt at the Captain’s words before the meeting and stayed such until she was asked to speak. Her pulse quickened. Talk? In front of… all these official people? Oh geez. The chimera’s tail slowly bristled, something she was glad nobody should be able to notice. She swallowed, nodded, and adamantly avoided eye contact with everyone at the table save for a glance towards Mikasa. She was glad they were seated side by side. Bramble honestly didn’t think she’d be able to function here without her friend close-by.

“I… um…” Bramble cleared her throat and lowered her eyes to the floor, not even trying to act confident. Here went nothing.

“S–so, when… when I got to– to ki-ill the f-f-first titan, it… it started bleeding, and s-s-so-omething wasn’t ri-ight but I knew… knew what i-it wa-as….”

The chimera slowly got her way through the entire story, from starting to feel aggressive to the blur of ferality that she could only now remember, coming to her senses face-to-face with Mikasa, and finally the return back to where her suit was hurriedly exchanged for her clothes because she was starting to become hysteric with how heavy it felt and how scared she was.

“ ‘N there was, uh… a-a lo-ot o’… o’ throwin’ up ‘n cryin’ and… a-after that I ju-ust…” She shrugged half-heartedly. “No-ot sure 'f I passed out o-or w-w-went t'sleep. Wo-oke up a few h-hours ago. Now ’m here.” Bramble was about to start hyperventilating. That Captain kept giving staring at her in a way she could sense annoyance from and it both urged her to speak faster and caused her to stumble over her words more. But, alas, she had finished her testimony, quietly dropping her gaze to the table underneath her arms and waiting on someone else to finally take over speaking.

Major Hange felt guilty for not supervising Bramble earlier. Since the lab exams, alchemy for the wall and the spike suit were all her ideas, Hange knew she had to speak up. She didn’t want to for the Erwin and Levi to believe that Bramble was a failure!

“I take full responsibility for Bramble’s affliction. Nonetheless, she’s succeeded in killing titans at nearly the same rate as a veteran in the Survey Corps! Now that we know there is a feral alter ego that takes over at the sight of blood, my squad and I can do something to train Bramble from letting her become consumed by it,” Hange explained.

Levi interjected. “At what cost? We’re still learning about Yeager over here. You can’t just make time to experiment on both a titan shifter and a cat girl. Then what if the Military Police finds out about her? They’re already on our ass over Eren, they’ll put sanctions on us when they find out we have an unauthorized soldier among us too. We can’t afford that. We’re already on the clock and the clock is ticking. So in case you haven’t heard: Tick tock.”

Mikasa had her differences with the Captain, but for once she agreed with him. She rather have the Major focus on finding ways to keep Eren safe than to be spread thin making discoveries for both. Plus there was no doubt that the Survey Corps operated precariously enough as it is. Before she could second his notion, Commander Erwin spoke first.

“We have two choices to decide on. Either we continue or discontinue Private Bramble’s involvement with the Survey Corps. With that said, I think it’s fair that we vote on this matter. To those in favor of letting Private Bramble engage in combat, please raise your hand now.”

To no surprise, Major Hange was the first to raise her hand. Out of loyalty, Moblit joined in voting. When it came to the vote for the latter, everybody else but Eren voted for Bramble to discontinue fighting. And so it was decided.

Did she even know where the medic ward was at? For gauze? She didn't have her bag with her when she found her way to this new world, so her usual equipment wasn't exactly... handy. She would have to improvise. Was it even worth the trouble? She wasn't sure. Maybe taking the gauntlets from her suit and mauling another tree would help. If she was even allowed to be near the cursed apparel again after the day's events.