ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴇʀᴄʏ {ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ}

Slay the Beast

{Mercy's POV}

     The wind whipped my hair in a trail of fury as we rode into uncertainty. I quickly pulled it away and tied it behind me. The sun was just above the trees and ascending, and the birds above us glowed with a yellow outline from its rays.
    It was a beautiful day.
I glanced back to look at the walls I was leaving behind. They'd never looked so small.

    I slowed my horse to be in line with Armin.
    "Question: Why didn't we wait for nightfall to leave? The Titans are practically dormant at night." I asked Armin who's blond hair whipped and slashed in the wind.
    "We considered it, but most of the Titans around this area have been eliminated, so we can get some good distance in today and then worry about traveling at night later."
    I thought about what he said, and nodded my head. The best way for this mission to be a success was to carry it out as quickly as possible, and any Titans to be encountered would most likely not pose a huge threat. I made my way back to my formation position.
    Captain Levi was in front of me to my right. His short black hair swayed and jumped with the movement of his horse revealing his slick undercut with every bounce. His side profile radiated with strength and determination.
    "Remember," He bellowed to the group which snapped me out of my gaze, "We shouldn't engage with any Titans we come across unless absolutely necessary. If you stray from the formation, use your flares like you've been instructed to. Nobody die."
     "Yes sir!" We all announced in unison. I looked at every member of our squad and took it all in. Everyone's face was expressionless with focus, except for Eren's. His expression could only be described as indifferent or not amused. If anything, he seemed to care less about the whole thing. I wondered if maybe he was upset that he didn't play a key role in the formation.
      We rode for several hours before running up on a huge forest.
     Captain Levi slowed our formation to a halt as he stared up at the looming trees. I felt Armin ride up next to me.

    "If we go through the forest, our chances of stumbling on a Titan is pretty great. If one appears, we'll almost have no choice but to fight. If we go around, we'll be able to spot any Titans in the open and will have more ability to flee," He explained.
    "I see what you're saying.." I started, "But if we go around we'll make it to the other side at dusk, most likely. We'll lose several hours, and by the time we make it around our horses will surely be in need of rest and so will we. Not to mention, spotting a Titan is most likely going to happen from here on out, and if we're in the woods our ODM gear will play to our advantage."
     He stared at me in consideration, and continued his observations.
    "True, but Captain Levi said we shouldn't engage with the Titans unless absolutely necessary, and if we come across one in the forest, it'll be necessary to no matter what. If we go around we'll avoid any altercations. We may lose time, but we'll be more likely to avoid a fight if we go around," he pointed out.
     "Yeah..." I agreed and stared back to the forest in front of us. "Think of it this way, though. There's too many variables and too many possible outcomes. If we go around, we might still have to fight a Titan out in the open and we also might not even see one if we cut through the woods. We can think this over as many times as we'd like, but the truth is we don't know what waits for us either way." I turned back to face him.
     His eyes widened at my words. When it came to strategy, Armin was very well versed, even more so than I. I knew that whatever decision he came to would be the best one, but at the same time even someone like him wouldn't be able to predict the future no matter how many scenarios he played out.
     "Tell Captain Levi we should go through the forest. You're right. If we're going to have to engage with a Titan, our best bet will be where our ODM gear will be our strength." He sounded reluctant to agree with me.
     I nodded my head and moved forward to the left of Captain Levi.
    "We should move our formation through the forest. If we are to encounter a Titan, we'll have-"
    "I know," he cut me off, "I heard the entire conversation you had with Armin. I may be older than all of you, but I'm not that old."
    His eyes stayed fixated on the forest, but they were dark and far away. It all made sense in that moment. I remembered hearing about the 57th Expedition outside the walls, and about his fallen squad. The Female Titan squashed them like flies against the very trees that stood before us.
     "Captain, we can also go around.." I trailed off and he turned his head toward me.
     "If you think I'm going to get sentimental now, you're mistaken," he muttered. He must've known the reason for my back peddling. "You said it yourself. Going through will be quicker and to our advantage, so let's go."
     Before I could get another word in, he moved his horse forward and everyone followed suit. I fell back to my position and rode with my squad into the forest.
    We rode quickly and the sounds of our horses' gallops rang to the treetops. I felt uneasy. I knew going through would be our best bet, but I couldn't help but doubt myself. I wasn't sure what I'd do if I was the reason any of my comrades died.
    It made me curious about Captain Levi. Eren made the comment just the day before about the blood on Levi's hands, and Armin hinted to his supposed terrible backstory. I wondered what it was that kept him up at night, and I wondered how he could ride through the same forest where his comrades were horribly murdered.
    Whatever the reasoning, he was truthfully a strong willed soldier to be able to carry on with such a stained past, and my heart sank at the thought. I couldn't imagine losing people the way he did, but should've given it more thought before joining the Scouts. Even poor Ronnie made a point on graduation day that even the strongest soldiers fall. I knew I was strong enough to keep myself alive, but was I strong enough to keep everyone else alive, too? I should've realized that if I was strong enough to stay alive and keep fighting that it would also mean I'd have to watch many people die before me in the process, and I tried to bring myself to accept the fact.
    My heart was heavy. The faces of all of my squad members flashed before my eyes, and I couldn't help but hope that if anyone were to die it would be me over them.
   I wondered if Captain Levi felt the same way. He outlived every battle, and carried on after many of his friends had fallen.
    I glanced at the back of his head, which was the only part of him I was able to see.
      Do you ever wish it was you instead of them? I asked in my head.
    I was snapped out of my thoughts when several cracking sounds echoed in the distance.
   "Titan spotted to the right!" Commander Hange announced. "Don't engage unless he charges!" All of us moved our attention to the direction of the Titan, but before I could focus in I heard a loud snap just to my left.
     I whipped my head around.
     Standing over us was a Titan several stories tall. It's body was disproportioned, and it's eyes showed no signs of life as if it were merely a puppet. It's shaggy black hair reached its shoulders and its face was hideously contorted.
I knew they were horrible monsters with no remorse for trying to kill humanity until extinction, but I also knew that each Titan was once a member of humanity, too.
In that moment I hoped that they were too incoherent to understand their involuntary slaughters. I hoped that their mind was too far away to remember the screams of their victims and the blood they shed.
I hoped that the humanity that they held before their change was at peace.
I knew that deep down they weren't monsters. Beasts were not born into savagery, but rather created by forces beyond their control.
I quickly shook my head and realized I needed to focus on the task at hand because no matter how much I hated their predicament the Titans still had to be brought down.
    "Titan spotted to the left!" I shouted, and could see Captain Levi whip his head around out of my peripheral.
    "Don't engage unless they do!" He called. He sounded firm, but nervous. My guess was that he was worried I would jump into action as an eager graduate.
    "Yes sir!" I responded. As much as I wanted to take the bastard down, I was going to follow orders. If anyone knew what the right call was it was Captain Levi.
     We continued moving forward for an hour or so, and the Titans didn't follow us or engage.
    We finally were able to see the end of the forest where the light of the sun shone through like a beacon. It lit up the shafts of the trees, and made the underbrush glow like it was on fire. It was beautiful.
     I glanced over at Captain Levi. The sun created a golden outline around him, as if he were some sort of god.
    Suddenly, the outline disappeared and I watched him grit his teeth before shifting my focus to the path ahead.
    A Titan had emerged from the woods and was standing directly in front of the exit. It was the same Titan I saw earlier.
   "Shit!" Captain Levi shouted. "The bastard was following us after all," He muttered.
    "What do we do?" Jean called out.
    "I'll take care of 'em, because I'll be damned if I let a Titan get in my way," Levi snapped as he shoved his trigger handles into his sheath of blades.
    A terrible screech suddenly broke out from the right of our formation, and we all turned to see another Titan emerging from the woods just beside us.
    "They both must've been tailing us. Damn abnormals," I heard Captain Levi mutter before he stood atop his horse. The Titan that emerged from our right was far too close for comfort, and without hesitation Captain Levi engaged his ODM gear and flew toward it.
    I heard a grunt coming from the front of us. The Titan from earlier was about to charge. I looked over at Levi once again who was swinging around the other Titan. He slashed it's ankles, which made it stumble. He embedded his wire into its back and used the motion of the stumbling Titan to his advantage by letting it swing him upward toward its nape.
    I turned my attention back to the Titan at the front who had started sprinting toward us while I was focused on Captain Levi. He didn't give any of us clearance to engage, only himself, but I felt myself attaching a blade to my trigger handle before I even realized it.
    You're mine.
     Surely, Captain Levi could handle them both, but why let him? More Titans could emerge from the trees at any second, and I wasn't about to let him get bombarded before any of us were prepared to fight.
    I stood atop my horse and was about to trigger my steel cable to launch myself into the trees above the Titan when Armin's voice called out behind me.
    "What're you doing? Captain Levi can take care of it!" He pleaded. I couldn't tell if he was more scared of the Titan or of disobeying the Section Commander. Either way, it didn't matter.
    "I'll explain my reasoning later," I affirmed.
    My hair had fallen out of its band, and it whipped and snapped behind me as I ascended to the treetops. My core was fully engaged, and I was able to keep my balance despite not using ODM gear in a while. It was all muscle memory, and everything I'd learned in training came back to me in an instant.