#mr. braus

“Just run,” she finally says to him. She grabs his hand, tugging on it so that he doesn’t fall behind. It’s the only thing they can do now.

They’ve been running for hours. The sun has long set, and they’ve finally found a place to rest. They’ve passed by many villages, sneaking around them instead of going through. Even if they’re mistaken for two lost children, it won’t be long before someone realizes that they’re escaped prisoners. The forest is the safest place for them to be right now even though they can’t see a thing in this darkness and the strange noises in the night frighten Falco, who clings to her with a grip so tight that she can’t feel her arm anymore.

“Are you sure this is the best place?” Falco asks. The way he looks around, wide-eyed and afraid, makes Gabi want to snap at him for being such a child. He’s been trained just like her. He’s a warrior, not a baby.

“It’s the only place,” Gabi tells him. She tries to yank her arm away, but he has no intention of letting go. “Hey, you’re not a kid, so stop acting like one. How would your family feel if they saw their warrior acting this way? We’ll be fine, so just follow me and I’ll get us out of here.”

She finally manages to free herself from his grip and turns around, waving her arm as if to show him that she’s fine. He gives her a tentative smile, fumbling about in the dark and making his way towards her, but there’s a loud snap at Gabi’s heel and the both of them shriek. She feels the metal, cold and sharp, snap shut right next to her feet and she dances about, startled at nearly being caught in its teeth. She stumbles backward towards Falco, the two of them with their backs against a tree. They’re no longer screaming, but they’re breathing heavily. Gabi wonders if their loud cries have captured anyone’s attention.

“What now, Gabi?” Falco whispers.

I don’t know, she wants to say, but she can’t. If he’s scared, then she has to be strong. She pulls him down so that they’re side-by-side sitting next to the tree. When nothing else snaps at them, she breathes a sigh of relief. She never realized that navigating this forest would be so dangerous. There’s no telling how many more traps lie in wait for them. It’s like they were made for them, wanting to make their escape even harder, even though Gabi knows these traps are most likely used for game. She hopes the rest of the animals in the forest are asleep as well. She doesn’t want to be eaten in the middle of the night.

“Go to sleep,” she tells him. “I’ll keep watch.”

He begins to protest, but she can tell that he’s already tired. He’s struggling to keep his eyes open and his protests are half-hearted. He’s already resting his head on her shoulder, ready to go to sleep even though they’re in enemy territory.

“You’ll wake me up so I can keep watch later, right?” he murmurs, his voice loud in the quiet of the forest.

“Sure,” she lies. It’s better if she keeps watch the entire time. He needs his rest and she doesn’t think she can sleep here. She won’t sleep until she’s back home. “Don’t worry. Just rest.”

He goes to sleep quickly after that. His gentle breathing is soothing against the sounds of the forest. Gabi tries to focus on that noise, ignoring the low hoots of the owls high up in the branches and the strange rustling in the bushes around them. She looks up at the sky where the stars shine. Back on Marley, the stars would shine brilliantly and Pieck would sometimes show them different constellations – valiant heroes, gods and goddesses, and mythical creatures drawn out in the sky. Here, the stars make no such shapes and blink out ominous messages to her that she can’t decipher. It’s better than staring out into the black space of the forest though.

She doesn’t know how long she’s been sitting there keeping watch. It could have been a few minutes or a few hours. She just knows that the night is too long and she wishes it would end soon so that Falco and she can find a way out. She doesn’t like these unfamiliar woods and its strange sounds. Wishing that the sun would rise, she curls up with her knees tucked under her chin and her eyes straight ahead.

Suddenly, she hears a noise behind her. Leaves crunch under loud footsteps that seem to echo throughout the forest. Somehow Falco is still sleeping, but Gabi begins to shake him awake.

“Falco,” she hisses. He doesn’t wake up immediately though, so she shakes him harder. It’s difficult for her to keep her voice down when she wants to scream at him so much. “Falco, we need to leave now. You need to wake up, wake up!”

“Gabi?” Falco says, confused. He seems to have forgotten where they are. He rubs at his eyes, blinking at her and wondering why she looks so panicked. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

“We have to leave,” she whispers again, pulling him up and practically dragging him behind her because he’s taking too long and the person behind them is going to catch up with them. They’re going to be caught again. She always knew they would be – their chances of escape were slim to none – but she thought they’d at least get a little further. “Falco, come on!”

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Falco says, his voice high the way it is when he’s scared. He nearly trips trying to follow her. He looks behind them and turns to Gabi, startled. “Gabi, there’s a man behind us!”

“I know,” Gabi growls, yanking his arm so that he doesn’t fall behind. “We need to hurry.”

“Hey, you kids!” the man shouts. His voice is like thunder throughout the forest and Gabi sees shadows of rabbits and squirrels scamper away. “Be careful!”

It’s a trap, it’s a trap, it’s a trap. Of course, he wants them to slow down. He wants them to lower their guard so that he can capture them, put them in chains and torture them because the devils on this island are even crueler than the ones that had come and rained hell down on Marley. There’s no way she’s going to give him a chance to catch up, so she plows straight into the darkness, determined to escape from him and the rest of this place.

It seems that she hasn’t learned her lesson from before though because she steps into something and as soon as she lifts her leg, it snaps shut behind her. Another one of those dreaded claw traps, their metal teeth nearly clamping onto her once again. It doesn’t get her in the end, but it might as well have. It startles her so much that she lets go of Falco’s hand, stumbling forward and falling onto her face. The bitter taste of grass and dirt fill her mouth and she spits it out, trying to rid herself of the taste. She didn’t think the fall was that bad, but she finds something warm and sticky dripping from her knees which she knows can only be her own blood.

“Gabi!” Falco says, rushing towards her. She wants to yell at him to forget about her, to just run, but she knows he’s too stupidly loyal to leave her. Besides, it’s too late anyway. The man has already made his way towards them, expertly navigating around the many traps. “Are you alright?”

The light of the man’s lantern illuminates the forest. Seeing the green grass – a patch of it stained red by her blood – and the trees and shrubbery around them somehow make the forest less frightening. The man leans down, kneeling next to Gabi and Falco as he inspects Gabi’s knees.

“I told you to be careful,” the man says. He has a strange accent. It’s stranger than how the other Eldians of Paradis speak, she thinks, and somehow it makes her less scared. When she looks up at him, she sees that he has a thin mustache and a small pointed beard that covers his chin. He wears a hat, one with a wide brim that covers his eyes, but he pushes it back so that the children can better see his face. He has a frown on his face and deep lines that hint that this is not an unfamiliar expression for him, but his eyes are not unkind. “The forest is dangerous at night. I thought I heard something out here, but it’s rare to have people roaming around here at this time. You’re lucky I came to find you.”

Gabi thinks it’s the opposite. They would have been fine if he didn’t come at all, but it’s not like she can run away now with her knees banged up and Falco looking so helpless beside her. The man doesn’t seem to recognize them as prisoners either, just as two lost children, so she decides to use this to her advantage.

“We ran away,” she tells the man. She wants to yank her legs away from the man, who is busy wrapping his scarf around her wounds, but she knows that she can’t afford to fight with him. She looks over at Falco briefly, giving him a look to tell him to play along. “We got into a fight with our families and decided to hide here for the night.”

“Well, this isn’t a good place for rest,” the man says. He ties up the makeshift bandage around Gabi’s knee and gives it a good pat. “And I’m not sure it’d be alright to leave you out here alone. This young girl here almost got her foot chopped off.”

“There was another one too,” Falco mumbles, looking back at where the last trap was.

“I didn’t get hurt though. It’s only because I tripped,” Gabi says. She refuses the man’s hand and gets up on her own, wincing at the sting of her wounds. She brushes herself off and looks at him, wondering if Falco and she would be able to overtake him. It might have been possible if she weren’t injured and if it weren’t so dark in these woods, but she thinks the odds are against them right now. She can only use him in whatever way she can, and she feels that he’s the sort to help out to lost kids in the woods. “We can’t go back now. It’s impossible for us.”

“It is rather late,” the man murmurs. He must think that she’s referring to a falling out she’s had with her folks, not at all suspicious of her and Falco. He rubs the back of his neck and looks at the two children. “We have a few spare rooms back at the house. You could stay there for the night, maybe have a bite to eat if you’re hungry, and I could help you return to your village tomorrow morning. How’s that sound?”

Falco opens his mouth to refuse, but Gabi knows it’s better to go with this man than to spend the rest of their night out here.

“That would be great,” Gabi says quickly.

“Follow me then. My wife’ll be angry if I don’t get home soon. Better hold onto me so I can get you both out of here with all your limbs attached.” When he stretches out his hand to her this time, Gabi takes it. “You two have any names?”

“Zofia,” Gabi says before Falco can say a word. “And that’s my friend Udo.”

“Zofia and Udo, huh,” the man murmurs. He lets go of Falco’s hand briefly to scratch his chin. “Pretty unusual names for these parts. Nice though.”

“Er, what should we call you, sir?” Falco asks nervously. Even if he doesn’t give them away with his words, Gabi’s afraid that his nerves will end up arousing suspicion and get them caught in the end.

The man doesn’t seem to notice anything though. He only smiles down at Falco and replies, “You can just call me Mr. Braus. Most young folk around here do.”

This is all wrong. She shouldn’t be walking hand-in-hand with the enemy, allowing him to take them to his house for food and a place to sleep, but they’ve run out of options. The best she can do is hold onto his hand as he leads them out of the forest, following as he leads them deeper into the house of the enemy.

The house is a small cabin in the woods; other houses sit further out, but this one is the only one with its lights on. It’s a lot smaller than Gabi thought it would be, but it’s surprisingly cozy. It looks as if it were smaller before, the second floor looking like a newer extension, but it’s nice inside. When Gabi steps into the house, she realizes how cold it was outside and shivers, happy that there’s a fire going on inside to keep warm them up. There isn’t really anything about the cabin inside, and yet she thinks it’s nice somehow. In a way, it reminds her of her own house.

The woman inside welcomes them in, introducing herself as Mrs. Braus, and scolds the children briefly for being out so late in the woods. Gabi thinks she looks familiar, although she knows she’s never met her before in her life. It’s something about the eyes, she thinks, and the color of the woman’s hair. When Gabi tries to remember, nothing comes up, so she just pushes it to the back of her mind. This isn’t the place to be remembering useless things anyway. They just need to rest here for a bit before they leave for Marley again. If they’re lucky, maybe they can get some information from these people.

They’re joined at the table by Mister and Mrs. Braus along with a young girl who Gabi suspects might be their daughter, but she doesn’t look very much like them. She has a quiet air about her and her face is long and rectangular, her hair blonde. She looks to be only a few years older than Gabi and Falco, but she doesn’t offer a name or say anything much during the dinner, so Gabi doesn’t pay that much attention to her.

While Mrs. Braus heats up the dinner on the stove, Falco keeps sniffing about. Gabi wants to punch him for acting so strangely, but Mrs. Braus only smiles at him and asks if it smells good.

“It was cooked by Nikolo, a friend of our daughter’s. He specializes in Marleyan cuisine. It’s very delicious,” the woman says. She carries the pot over to them, careful not to spill any of it, and sets it down on the table. When she opens the lid, the wondrous aromas of a seafood soup fill the room and Gabi can feel her mouth water just from the smell of it.

“Marleyan cuisine?” Falco repeats, just as surprised as Gabi is.

It doesn’t make sense that they can cook Marleyan food here on Paradis. That can only mean that they have some sort of contact from Marley that introduced them to their cuisine or even someone from Marley who cooks for them. Gabi finds the second thought even more scandalous than the first, impossible even, but Nikolo is a Marleyan name…

“Don’t worry! It’s very good,” Mr. Braus says as his daughter scoops both Falco and Gabi a bowl.

The young girl also serves the rest of the family a bowl, but it’s a lot less than she’s given the children, possibly because they had already eaten dinner.

The smell of the soup – fragrant herbs, the diced tomatoes and chopped onions, the succulent cubes of salmon and the pretty pink shrimp – is so familiar to Gabi that she begins tearing up before the bowl is even put before her. Beside her, Falco digs in so she decides to do the same, tentatively lifting her spoon to take a sip of the broth, and the taste transports her back to Marley. She remembers a better time, a better place, eating this same soup with her own family. At that time, she was sure that she would inherit the Armored Titan and help restore Marley to its former glory, stopping any threat in its path. She never would have thought she would be eating this same soup with her enemies, taking refuge in their house.

Before she knows it, she finds herself crying, her tears dripping down her cheeks and into the soup.

“What’s wrong?” Mrs. Braus asks, startled.

The daughter moves more quickly than anyone, pushing out her chair and rushing over to Gabi, a napkin in her hand. Gently, she wipes the tears away from Gabi’s face, shushing her and telling her it’s alright even though she couldn’t possibly know what’s wrong in the first place. And for some strange reason, the gesture makes Gabi cry even harder.

“Ga-Zofia,” Falco says, nearly forgetting himself. He touches her elbow lightly, his face full of concern. Seeing Gabi cry is a rare sight. She’s always so tough. If she sheds tears, then everything really is hopeless. “Zofia, what is it?”

“The food is just…it’s good,” Gabi says with a small hiccup. She takes another spoonful, this time with some fish and vegetables, and the taste of it is overwhelming. She can’t help but shed more tears. “It’s really good.”

Mr. Braus smiles from across the table. He has a faraway look in his eye like he’s remembering something. “My daughter really liked it as well. She was like you…if she ate something she enjoyed, she’d cry. She loved eating – the flavors, the aromas, the textures.”

“Was?” Falco repeats, eyebrows knitted together.

“She passed away recently,” Mr. Braus says quietly. He reaches across the table to hold his wife’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “She was a good kid. Grew up to be a good woman. Sasha, her name was.”

Sasha. Gabi feels like she should know that name, but she doesn’t know why. It’s probably nothing, she thinks. She’s just being strange after being imprisoned and spending a night in that horrible forest. That’s why she was crying and behaving so strangely. She’ll be fine in the morning.

In the end, she doesn’t say anything to them about their lost daughter. It feels wrong to comfort them. After all, she’s lost people too. It’s just the way life is. It is Falco who offers his condolences though, much to Gabi’s surprise.

“I’m sorry,” Falco mumbles. He moves his spoon around his bowl. He’s lost his appetite already. Now she thinks of it, Gabi doesn’t really feel that hungry either. “She sounds like she was a wonderful person.”

“Yeah,” Mr. Braus says softly. “She was.”

They eat the rest of their dinner in silence. While the Braus’ attempt to speak with the children, nothing is really said after they mention Sasha. After a while, they give up. It seems like they don’t seem like talking either. It’s fine. Gabi likes it better that way anyway.

They lead Gabi and Falco to separate rooms afterward. Falco begins to protest, but Gabi kicks him under the table to shut him up. It’ll only be for a little bit anyway. After everyone’s asleep, they’ll sneak away together, and she’ll get them away from this awful place.

“You can sleep in this room,” the quiet Braus daughter says. Gabi still doesn’t know her name.

It’s not a large room, but it’s so warm somehow. The bed is large, but it doesn’t look as if it’s been slept in for a while. She knows she probably shouldn’t, but she can’t help but snoop around the room. There are little trinkets on the dressing table and pictures left on the nightstand. Gabi picks one up, looking carefully at the people at the picture. When she recognizes a woman in the frame, she nearly drops the picture.

She realizes now why the name Sasha sounds so familiar to her and why the woman looks familiar to her as well. The woman in the frame, Gabi realizes, must be the daughter that Mr. Braus was talking about. She’s the spitting image of her mother – same brown hair, same heart-shaped face, same large brown eyes, and the same warm smile. The same face flashes in her mind – same face, different night. Her eyes are open in shock, her hands clutched to her side as she realizes she’s been shot and everyone rushes to her side even though it’s too late to save her. Sasha Braus. Gabi knew her. Of course, she knew her. She wishes she didn’t.

“Who is this?” Gabi asks the girl, showing her the photograph. Her hands shake, but the girl doesn’t seem to notice.

“That was my sister,” the girl says, voice quiet. She takes the photo carefully from Gabi and looks at it for a long while before setting it face-down on the dresser as if she can’t bear to look at it any longer. “She saved my life once when everyone else had left me. After that, I came to live with her and her family. She was the kindest person I had ever met.”

Gabi remembers that night on Marley, looking up in the midst of all the crumbling buildings around her and her dead comrades. There was a woman on the top of a building, her gun pointed straight at Gabi. It was the same face, her eyes fixed right on her. For some reason, Gabi knew then that the woman could have killed her in one shot if she pulled the trigger, but she never did. A man called to her then and the woman put down her weapon and followed him, giving Gabi one last lingering look.

She saved me too, Gabi thinks.

The girl heads back to her own room, lingering for a bit at the doorframe. “Turn off the light before you go to bed, alright?” she says.

“Okay,” Gabi murmurs, picking up the photo to look at it again. She’s never thought about it before then, but somehow she feels guilty.

She turns the light off as soon as the girl leaves, but she doesn’t settle into the bed. She doesn’t want to think about sleeping in the same bed as the person she killed. Instead, she sits on the chair at the woman’s old desk, looking at all the photos. There are so many photos of her smiling, surrounded by her friends and family. It was as if she were really…human. She doesn’t know why, but she ends up stuffing one of the photos into her pocket, thinking that she’ll be long gone by the time the Braus’ notice that it’s missing.

After what she thinks is a half-hour, she tiptoes into Falco’s room downstairs and shakes him awake. They’ve already been here too long and it’s about time for them to leave. Besides, she can’t stand being in this house another second.

“Falco,” she whispers. “Falco, we have to leave.”

He doesn’t wake up immediately though. He never does. He’s a heavy sleeper. Although she knows this, it makes her panic and shakes him even harder. She can hear her voice become more frantic even though she knows he’ll wake up in a little bit.

“Falco, come on, come on,” she says, her voice shaking. Tears sting at the corner of her eyes and she wipes them away hastily with the back of her hand. She throws off his blankets and shakes him like a doll, wanting to slap him for not waking up. “You have to get up we have to leave, we have to leave now. Do you hear me? We have to go!”

“Gabi?” Falco murmurs. He pries her hands off him and frowns, but he sees that she’s crying. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he asks, “Gabi, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she lies. She pulls her self away from him, getting off his bed and brushing herself off. “Get up. We need to leave now.”

“It’s still late though,” Falco says, but he reaches for his boots, lacing them up. He stumbles towards her, muttering an apology when he realizes that his footsteps are louder than they should be. “What are we even going to do?”

She takes a breath – slow, shaky, scared. She still doesn’t know what they’re going to do, but the sun will rise soon, and it won’t nearly be as dark as it was. She feels even more lost than she did when they first escaped, but they can’t stay here. She hates this place more than she hated the prison.