Chapter Text
“Easy there.” A man’s voice murmurs from somewhere above him. Reiner tries to answer, but the pain is far too great. “He’s waking up, doc. How about we give him another dose?”
“N…” Reiner thinks he says no, but it may be as incomplete an answer as his thoughts. Something pricks his arm and darkness washes over his body once more, scrubbing his mind of the dark images that are trying to surface.
-
Reiner wakes in bursts of color.
Crimson red. Flashes of emerald green. Bone white. Earth brown.
The flashes don’t make much sense and each image filtering through his mind leaves him more disoriented than the last. He hears something to his right and he turns his head, groaning as he tries to peel his eyes open. “Stop moving around, idiot.” A male voice warns him. “You’re going to tear out Sasha’s stitches.”
“Sa…ha…” Reiner works his mouth open, a pathetic rasp rattling past his lips.
“Oh good, he speaks.”
“Wh…” Reiner forces his eyes open and blinks slowly at the man sitting next to him.
“Mr. Braus and Dr. Jaeger found you at the edge of the forest when we were coming back from a hunt. You were torn open by some kind of wild animal. Do you remember any of that?” The man asks, raising an eyebrow.
Reiner closes his eyes again and tries to think. Everything feels like a haze at the moment. He’s not even sure he could string together a coherent sentence if he had his wits about him. He thinks the last clear thing he might remember was a yelp and someone screaming. But is that right? Or did that come from his blood smeared dreams? He forces his eyes open again and gives a tiny shake of his head and the man sighs.
“Figures.” He drags a hand down his long face and light brown eyes flick away from Reiner. “He’s resting, Sasha.”
“I can see that. I have eyes, Jean.” A woman’s voice comes from Reiner’s other side. He doesn’t have it in him to turn his head to see her. “You’re lucky to be alive. How come you were so close to the edge of werewolf territory?” He suspects the question is directed toward him, but exhaustion has its hooks in him and he knows he’s only minutes away from slipping back under. Something about her words tugs sharply in his mind, but he can’t be bothered to try and understand why.
“He probably doesn’t remember. He needs rest.” The man beside him insists. Reiner’s eyes slide shut as he hears the woman suck air between her teeth. Rest sounds pretty damn good right about now.
“Right. Well, dad said to let you know that he’s going out in the morning to reset the traps. He’s already got a couple of guys going with him, so he said not to worry if you don’t want to leave this guy alone just yet.”
“He’s only staying here until we can find someplace else.”
“Whatever you say, Jean.” Reiner hears her footsteps and the door softly clicks shut a moment later. He doesn’t open his eyes again, but he quietly hums and feels Jean shift next to him. Jean. It’s a nice name, he thinks.
“Sorry about that. Whole town is talking about you right now. We don’t always get people out this far into the wilderness.”
“Mm.” Reiner answers. Or, at least, he thinks he does.
“Just go back to sleep.” Jean says, the chair beneath him creaking as he shifts. Reiner wants to argue, he needs to get some answers, but he’s already drifting back into the dark.
-
The next time Reiner wakes, he feels as though he’s burning alive. He jolts upright with a pained gasp, arm curling around his ribs as he tries to catch his breath. “Hey!” A voice barks from nearby. Reiner clenches his teeth, a tremor running through him, and curls his fingers down into the bed. “Lie back down, idiot. You’re not well enough to be sitting up yet.”
“Where the hell am I?” Reiner asks, slowly sinking back down until his back touches the mattress. He collapses willingly and pants, bringing his hand up to scrub over his face. Pain pulses steadily through his ribs, a painful reminder that he is alive. Distantly, he thinks it probably shouldn’t be this bad.
“Dauper.” Reiner’s blood freezes in his veins. No fucking way. “Hunting party and I found you on the verge of bleeding out at the edge of the forest. Looks like you were chewed up and spit back out.” The man tells him, approaching the bed. Reiner turns his head and watches Jean settle in the chair at his bedside. “Probably werewolves.” Sharp eyes watch him, aiming to gauge his reaction no doubt, and Reiner has a split second to make a choice.
“This far out of the tall trees?” Reiner asks, barely able to keep his voice even. “Thought they stayed in the forest.” He shifts carefully, working himself into sitting upright with his spine pressed against the headboard, His ribs throb, but it’s more important than ever to keep his wits about him.
“Interesting how you’re less concerned about the attacks. Most people would be terrified of turning into one of them.” Jean’s eyes narrow and Reiner doesn’t flinch. He can’t afford to if he wants to make it out of this alive.
“Because it’s a myth. You only get turned if you’re bitten on the night of a full moon.” Reiner lifts an eyebrow, a silent challenge, and Jean slowly relaxes back in his chair. “And maybe my memory is wrong, but I’m pretty sure the full moon was a couple of days ago.”
“Huh. So maybe you’re not a complete idiot.” Jean muses. “Where are you from? What the hell were you doing near the forest right after a full moon?” Reiner scrambles to think of nearby towns and provinces, struggling to remember any of their human names. He can taste them on the back of his tongue, the mournful song of his people with warnings attached, but it takes a moment to be able to form their names with human vowels and consonants.
“Krolva.” Reiner says after a moment. “Something spooked my horse and she took off into the forest. I jumped before she could take me to my death and I guess death came looking for me.”
“Like I said, you’re lucky to be alive.” Jean reaches for something on the bedside table and offers a waterskin to him. “Drink. It should help.”
“Thanks.” He closes trembling fingers around it and lifts it carefully to his lips. Cool water quenches the back of his throat and he swallows a few mouthfuls before handing it back. “Any sign of the wolf that did this to me?” He gestures at his bandaged torso and chest. “Or did you kill it?”
“No such luck. Beast probably left you for dead.” Jean sighs. “Krolva’s a hell of a trip from here. Especially at night.”
“Wasn’t my intention to be gone so long.” Reiner shrugs, wincing as it pulls at the stitching in his upper chest. “Think I can learn the name of my savior?”
“I’ll give you mine if you give me yours.” A smile lifts one side of Jean’s mouth and Reiner chuckles, nodding.
“Reiner Braun.”
“Jean Kirstein. Seriously, man, you’re one lucky guy. We don’t usually patrol that far out, but we caught your horse coming from the woods.” Shit. Reiner had hoped his pack would have eaten the animal, but he’s rarely so lucky. “Got her tied up in the stables for you. I’ll take you to check on her when you’re back on your feet, but Sasha’s taking good care of her.”
“Girl who stitched me up, right? I remember you talking to her.” Reiner’s brow furrows briefly. “I remember a man, I think.”
“Probably Sasha’s father, he’s the one that found you. Him and Dr. Jaeger.”
The name makes Reiner’s blood run cold. No. It can’t be possible…can it? Zeke had told him…Reiner shuts down that train of thought and forcibly unclenches his jaw. It doesn’t matter. If this Jaeger had wanted him dead, they wouldn’t have worked so hard to keep him alive. Unless they wanted to use Reiner as some kind of pawn or leverage. All the more reason to heal and get the hell out of Dauper. His senses are currently shot to hell and he’ll need full use of them to make it out alive.
“And where do you fit into this story?” Reiner asks, lifting an eyebrow as he turns his head.
“I was with them. Not the one who found you, but I helped keep you alive in the wagon until we could get you back here. As soon as we regrouped with Sasha, we had her stitch you up. She’s the best for the job aside from Dr. Jaeger himself.”
“Then I suppose I should thank you, too.” Reiner smiles faintly. “Any signs of any other werewolves?”
“No. Bastards probably watched us drag away their breakfast and they’ll probably try and kill our sheep in retaliation. Maybe a cow.” Jean scowls and Reiner resists the urge to roll his eyes. He’s never once had to kill a sheep, thank you very much.
“You ever seen a werewolf actually kill livestock?”
“No, but they do it all the same. Can’t tell you how many animals we’ve lost to them.”
“Sorry to hear that,” he murmurs earnestly. He can’t think of any of his pack who would venture this far from their forest, but his memory isn’t the best at present.
“One day we’ll kill them all.” Jean says with enough conviction that Reiner flinches. But Jean must mistake it for a grimace of pain because he sighs and gets up, rubbing his hands against his thighs. “Right. Let me get you some pain medicine and we can see about feeding you. And don’t worry about the werewolves, okay? They’re not going to get to you here. Not in Dauper.”
“I’m sure they won’t.” Reiner agrees. Because Dauper is filled to the brim with hunters and every werewolf knows to avoid the territory if they want to live. “I know hunters have their own code and all, but you seem particularly against them. Why’s that?” He asks, reaching again for the waterskin that Jean left in his limited range of motion.
“Because they killed my best friend.” Jean murmurs, something heavy clinking against the counter in the kitchen. Reiner closes his eyes at that.
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. But I’ll burn the whole goddamn forest to the ground and kill them all to avenge his death.” Jean’s vow shakes Reiner to the core and he tightens his grip on the waterskin, nodding. All the more reason for him to heal quickly and leave.