I Love You... In Every Universe (AOT Alternative Universe)

30. I'm Home

AUTHOR'S POV:

Sasha raced on her horse alongside another Scout.

"See that? It's the village!" Sasha said.

"Is that the last one?" The scout asked.

"No! My village is deep in the forest! I'll go there alone!"

"Alright! Leave this village to me!"

"Got it!"

Sasha watched him veer off to the right. She gazed intently forward.

Words echoed in her mind. "Hey! Quit it, Sasha!"
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In the woods, two log cabins behind them, Mr. Blouse yelled at his daughter.

"Sasha! You been nabbing snacks again?!" Mr. Braus yelled.

Sasha growled, ripping into the meat in her hands.

"Stop! Spit it out!" Mr. Braus said, trying to remove the meat piece from Sasha's mouth. They continued to struggle.

"Get it out of yer mouth! We fixin' to smoke that for winter, ya moron!"

The piece of meat fell from Sasha's grasp and her father stood before her, trying to keep her from grabbing it.

With a mad cry, she ducked down and pushed up her arm, shoving his face away, greedily ripping at the meat.

"You damn dumb girl! Fine!" Mr. Braus said and walked away. "Have it yer way. Dagnabbit."

Sasha ran to a tree and hid behind it, watching her father sit on the steps to one of the storage cabins.

"Sasha, have you asked yerself why the world is a-changing? Why these past few years the forest be shrinkin' and game harder to find? Have you ever thunk about it?" Mr. Braus asked.

Sasha swallowed the bite and answered, scowling.

"It's 'cause more people be comin' and taking food and game from the forest. That's why I'm hungry."

"That's true. But, hey... They lost their homes and got no place to go. They got no other choice."

"Their fault for losing it. They oughta leave ours."

Sasha's father glared and said strongly.

"Titans took it from 'em. They knocked a hole straight through Wall Maria. Where else can they go? You can feed a hell of a lot more people by clearin' the forest and plantin' grain." He said and crossed his arms, glancing at the bow and arrow placed against a tree stump. "Maybe it's time for our family to let go of the forest and give up huntin' for good. The government said they would pay us. Every horse that we raise is money in our pockets."

"You gotta be kidding! If we give up huntin', we be givin' up who we are! Why should we give a hoot about the people who make fun of our lifestyle?" Sasha demanded.

"I'll tell ya why. It's because... we're all part of the same world." Mr. Blouse said. "We humans... We've always been pack animals. Sure, we all live our different ways." He stopped, staring down. "But when space is this short, we gotta join the group and do what's best to-"

"No! I refuse! We've lived here all our lives, just like the way our ancestors taught us! We don't owe nothing to any outsiders!"

Mr. Blouse looked back at her before staring off.

"I see... So be it." He said and tilted his head toward the sky. "Ya can live here in this forest, along with the others who think the same. But, Sasha... Are ya willin' to die for that choice?"