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Mikasa and Eren walked along the rugged mountain pathway, lush jungle to their left and a sheer cliff to their right. To someone living in a big city on the mainland, the unforgiving terrain of Kilroy island would make for the ultimate survivalist challenge, but for the two teens, no older than fifteen, it was simply home.
Mikasa was nine years old when she had come here with her parents. They had come to work at one of the dinosaur compounds. Upon arriving, she had quickly got over being homesick. She was living around dinosaurs everyday, and had made new friends. They made her realize just how much she hadn't fit in with the people she'd previously considered friends.
She had forged true, genuine friendships here. Among her many new friends was Eren. He was born on this island and had been raised here. His mother was a paleozoologist and his father a paleoveterinarian. From the beginning, he had always been fascinated with dinosaurs. He'd wanted to work with them directly, working hands-on with the incredible creatures. From a young age, he'd started training with Levi, the chief dino handler, and started assisting him with his work, getting plenty of hands on experience.
Mikasa remembered when they'd first met. She had just arrived, feeling very shy and nervous. He had showed her some of the baby rescue dinos, and offered to take her into the enclosure for a closer look. She really wanted to, but felt too scared. Eren being too young and too thickheaded had simply insisted, dragging her along to the enclosure.
As they had stood between the inner and outer set of doors to the enclosure, Mikasa had been frozen in place, trembling in fear. Eren had noticed her shaking, and thinking that she was cold, had wrapped his scarf around her.
In that moment, all her fears melted away, she felt safe. He led her into the enclosure, going ahead and meeting all the baby raptors of various species as they ran up to greet him. He had called her over, letting her pet them and showing her where they liked to be scratched the most. She had never smiled and laughed so much before.
They had been the closest of friends ever since. Her, Eren and Armin were absolutely inseparable. They all aspired to work at the dino compound. Armin wanted to study dinosaurs, Eren to be a handler and ranger, and Mikasa to help with the care and rehabilitation of sick and injured dinosaurs.
Then, five years ago, everything went to hell. A group comprised of poachers and others with dubious goals was formed. They wreaked havoc on the island, going by the name WARRIOR. The government pulled out, leaving all the people who had worked on the island behind, knowing that they would be unwilling to abandon their life's work, and could potentially blow the secret of Kilroy island.
Abandoned on an island in the middle of the Pacific, far from any trade route and potential help, they had banded together, stronger than ever before in order to survive and fight. It was difficult, but two years later, aid arrived out of nowhere. They began receiving regular airdrops from a strange organization going by the name W.A.L.L.. With the resources they provided, they were able to continue their operation, and work against WARRIOR.
The two teenagers had come a long way from the young kids they had been five years ago. They were stronger, physically and mentally.
Eren was an experience-hardened dino ranger. His body was broad and muscled. He wore combat pants, a worn tan shirt, fingerless gloves, heavy boots and a bowie knife attatched to the back of his belt. His sleeves were rolled up and a pair of hard leather vambraces sat on his forearms. It was typical for dino handlers to wear them, as with most animal attacks, your best strategy was to use your arms to protect yourself, so dino handlers used vambraces to protect their arms. All the sratches and wear on Eren's showed that they had been put to good use.
Mikasa had also changed a lot, bearing a toned, amazonian build. She wore a pair of denim short shorts, a grey sleevless top, fingerless gloves, heavy boots and a survival knife strapped to her thigh. Her scarf, her most treasured possession, was wrapped around her neck as always.
The two were making their way back to base. They had had an encounter with WARRIOR forces and had to make a run for it. They had managed to put some distance between them and their pursuers, but unfortunately, the fuel tank of their vehicle had been punctured by bullets. Due to the fuel leakage, they hadn't been able to make it very far. Fortunately, they had managed to escape and lose them in the jungle.
They had only just been able to radio for transport, as they had been on the opposite side of the mountain. Mikasa had managed to grab their knapsack, which she had on her back, and Eren had the tranquilizer rifle slung over his shoulder.
The setting sun behind them cast an orange glow on the landscape as the two made their way along the path. From where they were, they could see much of the jungle that surrounded the mountain, and in the distance, the highest points of the compound rising above the trees.
They walked in silence, the evening air pleasantly cool. Mikasa stopped suddenly as Eren put his arm out in front of her. They stood perfectly still, Mikasa knowing to trust Eren's instinct and skill when in the wild. "What is it?" Mikasa asked, her voice as quiet as she could manage. Eren stared into the jungle to their left. Slowly, he took the tranquilizer gun from his shoulder. He cocked it.
As soon as he did, a large mass of claws and feathers burst out from the overgrowth, leaping through the air. A dineobellator. Eren shoved Mikasa back. She fell to the ground as the raptor hit Eren, who managed to block his vitals with his forearms.
Unprepared, he hadn't managed to steady himself properly and stumbled. The raptor repelled of his forearms, throwing him completely off balance. He fell back, the gun skittering away as he fell off the edge of the cliff.
"Eren!" Mikasa screamed as she scrambled to her feet. She ran for the edge of the cliff, but the dino jumped onto her back, tackling her down to the floor. It clung to the knapsack, and Mikasa quickly brought her arms up to protect her neck and head as the raptor began to bite at her.
It was definitely chipped. Dinosaurs weren't usually openly hostile towards humans, but WARRIOR would capture them en masse and implant them with chips that affected their brain function, making them unnaturally aggressive towards humans.
Mikasa shifted, managing to slip the knapsack off her back and free herself. She scrambled forward, trying to get to the gun that lay on the ground.
But the raptor was too quick, jumping onto her unprotected back. She cried out in pain as the creature's hind claws dug into her back and it's front ones into her shoulders. Dineobellator was known to have an especially strong grip, and the beast's claws dug deep into her flesh, blood soaking her shirt as it bit at her arms as she protected her neck and head.
The raptor slashed viciously at her back. She didn't want to try rolling and risk exposing her vitals. She thrashed about trying to shake the creature off, but it had her firmly in its clutches, the shaking only making her wounds worse and the pain greater.
The pain shooting through her body as the dino tore at her flesh was intense, much like the pain in her heart, thinking she had just lost the person closest to her. Tears began pouring down her cheeks as she cried out in dispair. A thought came into her mind. If she died, would all of those memories of Eren go with her? She couldn't let that happen.
She grit her teeth, her hand reached out and grabbed the biggest rock she could see. She swung it back, managing to hit the dino square on the top of the head. It bawked and flinched in surprise, but the strike hadn't been powerful enough to do any lasting damage. The raptor bit down on her arm and thrashed its head. But now Mikasa knew where its head was.
She planned to pull her arm down, hopefully giving herself a chance to grab its head. But she never got the chance, as at that moment, something big tackled the dino off her back with extreme force.
---
A muscular arm came up over the edge of the cliff, followed by the defiant youth to which it belonged. Eren had manged to grab onto the face of the cliff as he fell, saving himself and climbing back up. His eyes immediately locked onto the sight of Mikasa being brutally assaulted by a dineobellator.
His blood instantly boiling to steam, he lunged forward, charging ahead to save his precious Mikasa. He threw his full weight into the dino, his muscled shoulder hitting it hard as he tackled it to the ground.
The two rolled before coming to a stop, the more agile dino managing to end up on top of Eren as he lay on his back. He brought his forearms up, defending his face just in time as the dino bagan to slash at him. Mikasa pushed herself up, pain screaming through her body, and went for the gun as quickly as she could.
As a slash met Eren's forearm, he swept it outward, pushing the dino's arm out and delivering a powerful punch square in the center of its chest with his other fist, launching it off of him.
He scrambled to his feet as quickly as possible as the raptor recovered. Mikasa held the gun up and pointed it in the direction of the raptor, but didn't have time to line up a shot before it leapt at Eren, claws out and Jaws agape, Mikasa unable to shoot without risking hitting Eren. He met the dino with a powerful punch, sending it barreling into the ground and landing hard.
Eren reached behind him, unsheathing his bowie knife from his belt and holding it in a reverse hammer grip as the dazed raptor righted itself. It launched itself at him again, and Eren met it with a rising vertical strike, slashing it up and along its chest, the raptor shrieking in pain and alarm.
Eren pushed it back, the dino, also eager to put distance between them, pushing itself off and away from him and landing on the ground. Red was now visible on its white chest feathers, beginning to drip as the dino immediately turned and took off into the jungle.
Mikasa lowered the gun and took off towards Eren, the dino already retreating back into the forest before she had gotten a chance to take a shot. "Eren!" She cried out, running up to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and another on his chest, "Are you okay!?" she asked, looking him over in a panic.
"I'm fine," he said dismissively, "Where are you hurt?" he asked, Mikasa not noticing his worried expression or even hearing his words properly as she scanned his body for injuries. There were a few minor cuts on his abdomen from where the raptors hind claws had dug into him, but apart from that he seemed fine.
"Mikasa!" Eren said with a bit more urgency, her head snapping up to meet his gaze. She noticed the worry in his eyes. "Where are you hurt?" he asked again, his tone serious and concern plain in his voice.
Mikasa suddenly remembered her injuries, once again becoming aware of the pain radiating through her back. Eren grabbed her firmly and turned her around. Deeply concerned by what he saw.
"Sit down." he said. "Uh- o-okay..." she said, lowering herself to the ground and sitting down cross-legged. Eren ran toward where the backpack lay and picked it up. He ran back and knelt behind her, opening the backpack and rummaging around inside it anxiously.
In the rush to escape their pursuers earlier, they had forgotten to take the medkit from the vehicle. Eren knew they didn't have anything in the knapsack that could be used to help in this situation, but he searched anyway, just in case.
As expected, he was unable to find anything of use in the pack apart from a canteen of water. Saline would have been ideal, but the water was better than nothing.
He needed something to clean and dress the wounds with. Mikasa's shirt, torn to shreds, caught his attention. "Mikasa, give me your shirt." Eren said.
They both blushed as soon as he said it. His survival instincts had spoken, but his teenage awkwardness had picked up on what he'd said and its implications. His mind raced. He wanted to retract his request, but it really was necessary, and she'd have to take her shirt off in order for him to dress her wounds anyway.
Mikasa nervously removed her scarf, followed by the mess of tatters that had once been her shirt. She held it up over her shoulder for Eren, who took it from her hand, struggling with his nerves as well.
He ripped a decently sized section from the clean part of the shirt, scrunching it up before reaching for the canteen. As he did so, Mikasa realized that the back of her sports bra would get in the way. The idea made her feel even more awkward, but she knew that she had to get it out of the way.
Her face growing even redder, she lifted her arms, grabbing it and pulling it up over her head slowly, wincing at the pain. It had been slashed up, but was still structurally sound and functional. She rested her arms in her lap, the sports bra around her upper arms.
Her actions were noticed by Eren, but his discomfort with the situation and the urge to admire her bare back were dampened by the concern he felt over the deep wounds on his dear friend's back.
Having removed the cap from the canteen, he wet the rag. Slowly, with a level of tenderness and care no one would have believed him capable of, even if they had been there to witness it, Eren touched the wet cloth to one of Mikasa's wounds.
She bit her lip as she tried her best to suppress her reaction, knowing he was trying his best to be gentle, but was unable to prevent the flinching of her body in response to the pain. "Sorry," Eren said apologetically. Him apologizing was rare indeed, and the sincerity and remorse with which he said it was very uncharacteristic too.
"It's fine," She reassured him, the guilt in his voice causing her heart to tighten, "Don't worry about it. I can take it."
Gingerly, Eren continued. Wiping away at the wounds, doing his best to clean them up and wipe away the blood. Mikasa closed her eyes. It didn't hurt so much now. Her mind clouded over as she took in and relished this rare moment of tenderness from Eren.
He had always been a hard-headed brute. Had been that way since they were kids. But she knew him well. He did care for things. And if one stopped what they were doing and paid attention, really paid attention, they might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of something truly special. Proof that Eren Jeager... had a heart.
"Okay," came his uncharacteristic gentle tone, snapping her out of her daze, "That's the best I can manage for now." Mikasa actually felt disappointed. She had been enjoying being tended to by him.
He took what was left of her shirt and began ripping it up into long strips. He tied them together, forming a makeshift bandage. Carefully, he held it against her back with one hand, and started wrapping her with it using the other, covering her wounds.
He wrapped it around her side and under her arm. As he brought it around to the front, his hand accidentally bumped the bottom of her breast, causing her to let out a little squeak of surprise and both of their faces to turn a deep shade of red. "Uh-... s-sorry!" he stumbled helplessly, "I didn't mean to..." his gaze shifted off to the side vacantly. "Here," he said, holding up the strip of cloth, making sure to keep it clear of her torso, "Wrap this around your chest."
She did as he asked, wrapping the cloth around her chest and passing it under her other arm and back to him. They continued, repeating the process over and over until all the wounds on her back were covered, then moving onto her forearms and dressing the wounds there too.
"How's that?" Eren asked. "It's good." Mikasa said, looking over her shoulder and giving him a warm, tender smile that made his heart skip a beat. She pulled her sports bra back on, being careful as her wounds were still tender, and she didn't want to mess up the makeshift bandages.
The sun had disappeared, the last traces of orange just visible at the very edge of the horizon, the landscape lit up by the full moon and stars. The night air was cool and refreshing. However, as pleasant as it was, it caused Eren to worry for Mikasa, as since she was without a shirt, he was concerned that she would get cold.
He grabbed the hem of his shirt and began to pull it up. Mikasa glanced behind her, and was met with the sight of Eren's bare, muscled torso. Her head spun back around, face bright pink.
"Here," came Eren's voice from behind her. Reluctantly, Mikasa turned around. She was greeted by the sight of Eren, half naked, perfect muscles exposed, innocently holding his shirt out for her, completely oblivious to what a feast for the eyes he was.
It took Mikasa a second to snap out of her stupor and tear her eyes away from his muscular body and take the shirt from him. "Th- thank you..." she stammered awkwardly.
She pulled the shirt on, the mass of material swamping her and hanging off her extremely loosely. It was very pleasant. It had Eren's scent and was warm and cozy from his body heat. She picked her scarf back up and wrapped it around her neck as Eren stood up.
He put the backpack on, then went over to where the gun lay, picking it up and slinging it over his shoulder before returning to Mikasa.
Eren knelt down beside her, placing his hand on her knee as she made to get up. "Take it easy." he said.
She felt his strong arms scoop her up. He held her carefully, making sure to keep his arm around her lower back where she didn't have any wounds. She sincerely hoped he wouldn't notice her blush.
He carried her along the pathway down the mountain. Their transport bound to meet up with them soon.
Mikasa managed to completely forget about her wounds. Here, safe in his powerful arms, she felt like nothing else mattered. She was happy. She rested her head against his, closing her eyes and smiling contentedly.
They were around halfway down the mountain when the familiar rumble of an engine was heard. Soon the bright headlights of a ranger transport came into view up ahead.
Before long, the transport came to a stop in front of them. The door opened, and out stepped the ranger captain Levi. "I really can't leave you brats alone, can I?"