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Ymir stalked silently through the Southern Cadet Corps camp. The flickering light from the standing torches scattered around lit up the area just enough to keep Ymir’s dark vision from activating, while not being bright enough for her color vision to be effective. Frustrating as fuck. But by now, Ymir was used to it.

She’d snuck around the glorified hole in the ground, carved out of rock by nature and man who knew how long ago, many times before. It wasn’t that difficult. Ymir had even been able to leave the towering cliffs surrounding it by picking the lock that held the main gate closed. When a Titan-Shifter needed meat, they needed meat. And she didn’t get it in her military rations. Luckily, the camp was surrounded by wilderness, full of game that could be hunted by anyone who knew what they were doing… especially if they had a Titan-Spirit helping them out.

But tonight’s excursion from her cabin wasn’t about finding a meal.

It was about Krista.

Ymir couldn’t hold back a quiet hiss as she thought about the previous morning. One moment, everything had been fine. The sun was just starting to turn the edge of the horizon pink through the cabin windows. Everyone was getting ready for another day of training, minus a few Cadets who had fallen mysteriously ill. Ymir told Krista she was worried that Krista would catch it, because Sasha had caught it the morning before, and she was never far from the two of them. Krista told her that she was feeling fine, a bright smile on her face. Ymir decided to trust her. She turned around so Krista could change her shirt without her girlfriend ogling her (Ymir could be considerate, when she wanted to be). And then, there was a thump. 

No, Ymir had thought. Please. No. Not her. Anyone but her.

Ymir glanced over her shoulder, just to be sure… and was greeted by a horrifying sight. 

Her girlfriend, on the ground, struggling to breathe. Sweat dripping from her skin. Violent twitches shaking her body. For the first time in sixty years, Ymir had prayed to the gods, begging them to spare the love of her life.

Krista was in the medical cabin, now.

Where Ymir wasn’t allowed to follow.

“They’re being quarantined,” explained the exhausted doctor who worked at the camp, for what was probably the millionth time. “No visitors are allowed.” She stood in the doorway, blocking Ymir from entering. Ymir was skipping lunch for the chance to see Krista.

How DARE she? Who did she think she was, to deny the Jaw Titan’s daughter the right to visit her beloved in what may be her final hours?

“I am immune to all disease,” Ymir snarled, for what was probably the millionth time. “Let me in.”

“That is not a thing. You may have gotten lucky in the past, but we can’t risk this spreading even further. Go back to the mess hall.”

“I’m being serious! I-“ am a Titan-Shifter, and the Jaw does not allow its children to get sick. “I’m not leaving without talking to her.”

“Yes, you are. Goodbye.”

With that, the doctor slammed the door in Ymir’s face. Ymir had to summon every last bit of humanity she had left to not kick down the door and tear out the doctor’s throat with her teeth.

But for Krista, she managed. 

And now, here she was. Slinking through the shadows like a cat, hoping that once again, whoever was on guard to catch Cadets breaking curfew was too tired or distracted to actually do their job.

The call of a wolf echoed through the night, followed by a chorus of howls joining it in song. The Jaw Titan heard it through Ymir’s ears.

Ignore them, it told her, without using words. We’re stronger. If they try to steal from us, we’ll bite them in half.

Ymir rolled her eyes. The wolves knew better than to hurl themselves down the massive cliffs, dig under the chain link fence, or leap over the barbed wire, only to end up trapped in a pit of soldiers with weapons and the skills to use them.

And then, she was there, at the medical cabin. It wasn’t locked. Of course, why would it be? Carefully, so so carefully, Ymir pushed open the worn wooden door. Finally, she was in a place dark enough for her dark vision to activate.

The main room of the cabin was quickly lit up in shades of grey. Ymir noticed that the candles that were supposed to be keeping the place visible for those without Titan-enhanced eyes had all burned out. A loud snore brought Ymir’s attention to the first bed closest to the door. The doctor was sitting slumped over in a chair at Marco’s bedside, clearly very deeply asleep.

At least that means she was probably working very hard…

As quietly as she could possibly manage, Ymir padded further into the room. As she passed by Marco’s bed, she heard him suddenly whimper. 

“Jean… you have… really nice legs…”

After that, he grew quiet again, save for his labored breathing. Ymir had to fight hard to hold in her laughter, while the Jaw cackled within the safety of her skull. Useless homosexual, Ymir thought, with affection. She really hoped he would make it.

A quick glance at the doctor confirmed that she was still asleep. Ymir moved in deeper. She looked over at Sasha as she passed by, noting that her sister was laid on her side, probably to keep her from choking on the drool that was practically pouring out of her open mouth. Like Marco, her eyes were closed, and she was twitching with so much force that it looked painful.

Ymir continued to the next bed. And there she was: Krista Lenz of the 104th, the most beautiful person who had ever and would ever exist. Even with her body wracked by disease, she still looked beautiful. Or maybe Ymir was more of a freak than she thought… but regardless, Ymir stepped up to her bedside right by her head and looked down at her. 

Like the other two, she was shaking. Sweat glistened on her skin and drenched the shirt someone had given her. Her breathing was weak, except for when she suddenly sucked in a breath like she’d just been starved of air. The doctor had laid her out on her back, like she’d done with Marco. A thin wool blanket covered her body up to her shoulders, which probably wasn’t helping with the sweating. Or maybe it was. Ymir wasn’t a doctor.

Ymir reached out and brushed a strand of Krista’s hair out of her face. Suddenly, Krista’s eyes snapped open. She wheezed, and Ymir could see her look around frantically, like she was trying to find something. 

Oh right, she can’t see shit!

Acting on Titan instinct instead of human logic, Ymir shoved her hand under Krista’s nose so she could recognize Ymir by scent. Miraculously, it seemed to work, as Krista relaxed.

“See? I thought you were getting better already, and I was right,” Ymir lied, trying to boost Krista’s morale.

Krista’s lips lifted up at the corners into a smile, for a moment. Ymir wasn’t sure if that was Krista being happy that Ymir was visiting her… or the sickness twisting her body.

“You’re going to be okay,” Ymir said firmly. She wasn’t sure she believed it. But it had to be true. Ymir finally found something, someone, to live for, after all these years. She couldn’t lose Krista now.

Ymir leaned down and kissed Krista’s forehead. It felt a bit warm, which was concerning, because Ymir already burned much hotter than most. Just part of the Titan-Shifter experience. “I love you,” she whispered. “You’ll be okay. Now get some rest.”

Krista’s eyes drifted shut, and she seemed to relax even further. She was still twitching, though.

“She will be okay, actually,” rasped a familiar voice, from the center of the room. Ymir nearly jumped out of her skin before she recognized who was talking.

Master, hummed the Jaw Titan.

“Oh,” she murmured. “It’s you. And how do you know that, you freak of nature?”

“Don’t worry about it,” came the response, as the person speaking strolled to stand next to Ymir.

“You said you’d keep her safe.”

“No, I said I’d keep her alive. And I will. She’ll survive this. They all will.”

Ymir clacked her teeth in annoyance. “And you’re sure of this?”

“Absolutely.”

Ymir moved her gaze to stare directly into two cat-like eyes. “Swear an oath to me that she’ll survive this.”

“Do you really not trust me?” the person asked, a sad expression appearing on their face.

Ymir barked a dry laugh. “Fuck no. I don’t trust anyone.”

A deep sigh filled the room. “That’s fair. Okay, fine. I swear by the Walls that Krista Lenz of the 104th, by that or any other name, will survive this illness.”

Ymir didn’t realize how tense her body had been until those words made all of her muscles relax with relief. “Thank you,” she breathed.

“You’re welcome, Ymir. That doctor over there is about to wake up. You should head back to bed now. There’s nothing more you can do… this will pass, and Krista will be fine.”

Ymir was quiet for a moment while she thought, looking lovingly down at her girlfriend as she slept. Finally, she let out a deep sigh of her own. “Alright. Remember to keep your promise.” With that, she began sneaking out of the medical cabin.

As she made her way out, she heard a chuckle from behind her. “I always do…”

She silently shut the door behind her. 

The journey back to her cabin seemed much shorter than the journey from it. It couldn’t have been long before she was back in her bed… the one she was supposed to share with Krista. But tonight, she felt so alone. Despite the noises of the other sleeping girls in the cabin.

Master doesn’t break promises, the Jaw Titan tried to reassure her. Your mate will recover.

I know, big guy. It still hurts like hell to know she’s suffering like that.

The Jaw did some sort of trick with Ymir’s body that made her feel like she was being hugged. And honestly? She appreciated it.

While being comforted by the only good parental figure she’d ever had, Ymir closed her eyes.

Everything would be okay.

It had to be.

In her dreams that night, as Ymir watched a chef sharpen his knife from where she stood inside a birdcage, waiting patiently for her death instead of flying out the cage’s open door (for some fucking reason), Krista’s lovely voice echoed through her mind.