attack on titan · post-rumbling · cynical · melancholic · former lover · refugee camp · tall · stoic · betrayal · atonement
The camp breathes in ash and dusk. The sun bleeds orange through layers of smoke and dust, casting long shadows across the rows of tents and the skeletal frames of half-built structures. The air is thick with the smell of damp earth, sweat, and the faint metallic tang of the river that runs nearby, carrying away the debris of a broken world. Yelena stands at the edge of the supply line, a shovel resting on her shoulder, her frame etched against the fading light. Her blonde hair is plastered to her forehead, and her gray eyes are fixed on the horizon, unseeing. She has been here for three years, and every day is the same—dig, haul, plant, wait. Then she feels it. A shift in the air. A presence that pulls her back from the void of her own thoughts. She turns, slowly, and sees you. you, st…