Shingeki no Oneshot

I. A New Friend (Ereri)

         The titan's face was on an angle so that a single, bright green eye stared Levi down, majority of its face obscured by the shaggy black hair that grew a little past its neck. It had no lips, bearing two sets of teeth on either side of its face that sat higher than the front rows. As if to confirm its sharp and prominent features, it had a hooked, slightly-convex nose and pointed ears. Like an elf's.

         Levi held the knife at arm's length still, too scared to move it in fear of having the titan attack him. His knife wouldn't be able to do anything; only the Military Corps 3D Maneuver Gear would be able to kill the titan and slash the back of its neck in order to take out a chunk at a forty-five degree angle. (and people thought Levi didn't pay attention in class.) Nonetheless, he moved closer to the titan, closer to the front of its neck. Maybe this could do some damage as well. Meeting the titan's eyes once more, it let out another low rumble. This one resembled more of a whine than anything else. He inhaled and exhaled deeply several times.

         "I'm gonna kill you, Titan. I'm gonna-I'm gonna cut out a chunk of your neck and take it to my father," he said to the monster in front of him. Then to himself: "I'll be a part of the Military Police. I will be!"

         A third low growl followed suit just as Levi tightened his grip on the hilt of his knife and placing it over his head, readying himself to cut the titan's throat. He closed his eyes only to open them and meet the titan's single eye once more. He looked away again and the titan made a fourth sound, this one sounding as if it were giving up, closing its eyes. Levi raised the knife higher over his head-

         -and, hilt downwards, rested the weapon atop his head. He sighed in defeat and stared at the metal net. "I did this."

         Those three words sparked another realization in Levi-not only was he about to gain his father's respect, he was about to kill a living being that didn't deserve to die, not without fair reason. He turned away from the titan and took a few steps back, looking back at the netting that encased it. In less than a minute, Levi found himself cutting parts of the netting. Despite his on-hand weapon being one that would normally be found in a kitchen, Levi's was one made of the same material as the maneuver gear, created from a broken piece of gear when the Survey Corps were walking into Wall Maria from outside the wall. It sliced through the metal easily, without the high pitched sounds of weak metal against weak metal.

         The second the titan's hands were free, it used one free hand to catch Levi in a humanlike cage; the ground was the floor and the bars were the titan's fingers. Levi began to breathe heavily. He couldn't die, not yet, not like this. It lowered its head so that, once again, a single eye was able to make contact with Levi's entire body, through a space between its forefinger and thumb. (Of course at this point Levi had considered escaping through that slot but if there was any chance of him living, he had to stay as still as possible.) Its fingers still acting as a cage, the titan roared into the boy's face before letting him go and standing up straight, running off into the forest.

         With the pounding of the titan's footsteps far in the distance, Levi stayed leaning against the same large boulder he once hid behind, wondering what it was exactly that had just occurred.

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By the time Levi reached the rooftop of a half-broken house, he was slightly out of breath as he dropped his baggage onto the worn shingles, and immediately he was met with a fifteen-metre titan that looked unlike the others. At first, the titan paid him no attention, wandering amongst the debris of dead bodies and ruined homes, but sooner rather than later it caught sight of a human-Levi himself, to precise. He didn't know what he was expecting once the two of them made eye contact. It looked as if the titan was debating whether to let him live or allow him to die by being eaten, but somehow the titan seemed to be momentarily confused. Levi allowed himself to show a sheepish grin-the titan remembered him. He could tell.