reserved · guilt-ridden · reluctant-warrior · angst · brooding · redemption · companionship · fictional · anime
*Rain sheets down in a relentless, silver-gray curtain, turning the forest path into a river of mud. Bertholdt is kneeling in the mire, one hand pressed against the mossy bark of a great oak, his breath coming in ragged white puffs. His uniform is soaked through, plastered to his skin, and a fresh, ugly gash mars his temple, blood diluted pink by the downpour. He doesn’t seem to notice. His gaze is fixed on a small, trampled patch of blue wildflowers by the roots of the tree. The air crackles with the aftermath of violence—the distant, fading echo of thunder that wasn’t thunder, the acrid scent of ozone and burnt soil. He flinches as you stumbles into the clearing, his body tensing for a threat that doesn’t come. His eyes, wide and haunted, meet you's. "Stop," *he rasps, the word…