Shorter Than Me

18 Levi

I'm surprised to see Guiin walk into the dining hall for breakfast. She pauses to look around, then walks to where the rest of my squad is sitting. I can tell they're asking where she was and she responds.

"Levi, your missing squad member is back!" Hanji says to me. "Where was she?"

"I don't know."

"Was she on some special secret mission? You should have told me!"

"Hanji, you can't keep a secret. No one would tell you anything," someone else points out.

"That's because everyone deserves to know," Hanji states. Sometimes she acts like an idiot. She acts like an idiot a lot.

***

Commander Erwin announces a new kind of practice the Scouts will be doing. 3DMG Capture the Flag. The Commander and I will be the referees because he's the Commander and my team would definitely win. The two captains of each team are Guiin and Ackerman. I'm guessing they're both too skilled to be on the same team. They split the Scouting Legion in half, taking turns picking people. Ackerman chooses Jaeger first and Guiin gets Arlert, who is the better choice. I'm surprised Guiin doesn't almost immediately choose her friend Atkins, but as far as I've seen, they haven't been with each other for a while. Maybe they're not friends any more. Guiin winds up with him anyway, being forced to choose between him and a few others who aren't as skilled. A few jokes are made at the last one to get picked, Idriar, but he doesn't look extremely offended. He'll live.

Then again, probably not.

We make our way into the forest. The Commander hands Ackerman and Guiin the flags, just two pieces of cloth colored blue and red. Then he outlines the rules.

"No blades. The jail is a hundred feet from the middle line. If you get to your opponent's jail without being tagged, everyone inside but you gets a free walk back. You can't get the flag after being freed from jail." He ties a bright yellow piece of cloth to a tree next to him and then moves far away. He ties another yellow cloth to another tree. Then he comes back and continues. "I expect you all to be responsible. This isn't about winning. It's practice. Don't cheat. Don't hurt each other. The first team to get the opponent's flag across the middle line wins. Red over there, blue over there." He points to the left and then the right. "Levi, I want you to watch the blue team, Guiin's team. And think on what we talked about the other night." He moves past me and follows the red team. I go to follow Guiin. I'm going to watch her closely.

She helps organize everyone into defense and offense. They hide the flag in a tree, clearly in plain sight, but not super noticeable because it's in a shadow. Others are scattered loosely around it so as not to arouse suspicion from a fleeing opponent. She consults Arlert with everything- which is a good choice. She knows she's not the best person to organize everyone, so she found someone who is. They all take their positions and discuss various strategies: charging in at once, sneaking in a few people at a time, or just waiting for everyone on the other team to be tagged. That's not going to happen. Ackerman isn't that stupid.

The Commander bows a whistle for everyone to start and the red team immediately goes forward. Seven of them go up while seven go down and they speed forward using the gas. Much of the blue team chases after them, leaving a large section of the border open. About fifteen Scouts race forward through this gap and swarm past the line. Some of the blue team's offense races past the line as well and I see Guiin among them. I follow at a higher altitude. Three of the red team chases them, but they're not fast enough to catch most of them. One of the blue team is sent to the ground, leaving four. They reach the defense and split up to look for the flag.

3D Capture the Flag is hard to write!! Especially from the eyes of someone not playing it!! In case you forgot (like I did while reading this), Ecyn's team is blue.

I don't see the flag. Most of the red team seems to be angled with their backs toward one specific section, but I still can't find it. Guiin seems to notice everyone's position as well, but she gets tagged eventually because of the numbers. I follow her to the jail, still in the air. There are maybe ten people in the jail right now. They stand together and talk, looking bored. Guiin glances up and looks at me. Maybe she's confused that I'm staying here where nothing is happening. She turns away eventually. After less than a minute, someone whizzes from the back and frees them all. They race back to their side and I follow them.

Guiin turns around and whizzes close to the ground. She outruns anyone who saw her in a few seconds. When she's out of sight, she lands on the ground and starts running. She glances up at me and looks surprised that I'm following her. When she reaches where all the people are guarding the flag, she hides behind a tree. I hide as well so they don't think someone's here because of me.

I don't see what Guiin sees, but she runs forward to a small tree and reaches beneath it. Then she turns and bolts back, clutching a red piece of cloth in her hand. It's not long before she jumps up and uses the maneuver gear to go faster. What seems like the whole team is chasing her but she's too far ahead. She's going to win.

She does.

"So what do you think?" Commander Erwin asks me.

"My feelings are the same as they were last night," I say.

He nods slowly. "Alright. I'll go talk to her." He moves away.