Written: 1/4/21
Published: 1/18/21
I think I'll publish every 6 days? Unless something comes up
"Who are you?!" Petra screamed at them.
"Protect Eren!" Y/n shouted at her. "They're attacking with ODM gear!"
"Gunther..." Eren muttered.
"What do we do!?" Oluo asked. "Captain Y/n! Where do we go!?"
"We don't have time to go get the horses! Head to command at full speed! Or to any friendly forces!"
"Is that the female titan's 'rider'?" Oluo wondered aloud. "Or are there more than one of them?"
"Curse you..." Petra mumbled. "How dare you?! Come on! At the very least, we'll go down together!"
"Don't!" Y/n shouted. "We can't lose the forces we have here now!" Petra gasped. She doesn't trust..?
"The female titan?!" Eren said. "It can't be! How!? I thought it was captured..."
"The enemy must have a way to conserve strength..." Y/n deduced. A blinding light flashed behind the squad. "They're coming!" Y/n yelled. "The female titan!!"
The person inside the titan urged it to begin running towards the squad. Eren clenched his teeth and raised his hand to his mouth. "This time, I'm killing that thing!"
"You can't!" Eld shouted. "The three of us will bring down the female titan!" He said. Y/n glared at him. She opened her mouth, but Eld continued. "Eren, you keep heading towards the commander at top speed!"
"You will not! It can't be defeated right now!" Y/n said. "Come with us and cover!"
"I'll fight too!" Eren yelled.
"No, you will not, Eren!" Y/n yelled. "It's too risky to use your power!"
"Captain Y/n!" Eld shouted. "Go with Eren and protect him! We'll meet up with you later!"
Y/n tched. This was the best course of action. Petra's eyes saddened. "Eren, Y/n! Do you really have...so little faith in us?" She asked.
Tch. Y/n grabbed Eren who began riding off. "I'll trust you!" Y/n shouted at them. "Fight well!" Eren turned around and followed Y/n's lead.
"I believe my squad will be victorious!" Eren added.
The three smiled. They then turned their attention to the dangerous titan. Eld charged straight for the head, letting out a war cry of some sort. The female titan took the bait and swiped their hand at him. He quickly shot his wires behind him and pulled away and ejected his gas, creating a smokescreen. He whipped around and regrouped with the other two. Petra and Oluo sliced the titan's eyes. Y/n nodded in approval. The huge killer fell against a tree while guarding its nape.
We blinded it! It should be in the dark for a full minute! We'll stop it by then! Forget capturing it! The titan held both its hands to its nape against a tree, providing the most amount of protection possible. It's waiting for its eyes to grow back. But we don't intend to wait 'till then!
Eld tapped under his right arm. Oluo and Petra nodded. The two cut around her collarbone, na fell down. Eld sliced under its scapula. We'll slice it away until it can't raise its arms! The muscles around the shoulders! All of them! Cut them all! The trio continued to cut the blind things arms and hands. The arms finally dropped.
"Its arms dropped!" Eld said. "Now the neck! If we cut the muscles that support the head...we can get the nape!" They all approached the titan.
Like it or not, we're going to learn everything from him. I'm Eld Jinn. It's an honor to meet you and even sit with you, squad Leader Ackermann. We want to join the scouts, you see. So in the end, I guess they didn't find any soldiers who used ODM gear without authorization. Don't take it so hard. If anything, it shows you're more human than we thought. We'll meet up with you later!
Eren and Y/n looked back. Eld approached the titan, swords prepared to strike. Suddenly, one of the eyes shot open, glancing at Eld. It chomped the blond. Y/n's eyes widened. "ELD!" Petra and Y/n screamed. She bit down, the blonds head, arm, and the rest of him, falling.
The titan then moved to prepare to attack. "Wha..?!" Petra said. "How?! There's no way it can see already! It...Hasn't even been 30 seconds!" The titan then spit out the upper half of Eld's body out. Similar to Farlan. "Just one eye?!" Petra noticed. "You concentrated on the one eye so it'd heal faster?!" The titan charged towards Petra who was using the ODM gear extremely close to the ground. "How can you...do that?!"
"PETRA!! GET HIGHER, QUICK!!" Oluo and Y/n screamed. The titan took its foot back. "PETRA!! NOW!"
She was too late. The titan jumped and stomped her foot on Petra, smashing her against a tree. "Hey!" Oluo shouted. He shot his wires straight into the nape.
"OLUO, NO!" Y/n screamed.
He reeled himself in. "DIE!" He yelled. He hit the nape and his blades cracked in two. "How...?! The blade won't go through..." The titan then kicked the boy's back, breaking him in two, sending him flying over far away.
That's right. Stop complaining, Oluo. I'm Petra Ral. Nice to meet you. Captain! That was amazing! You know, you're in the scouting legion, so could you do something about that barbaric way of speaking? I think he was just surprised at how much of an idiot you are, Oluo. I wish you'd better your tongue off and died from blood loss...
Man, that old crock really annoys me. I'm Oluo Bozad. The best person in this separation. Maybe even in the history of the cadets! Such precision and skill! Man...she almost killed me... Huh? Why do I get the lecture? Captain...I'll follow your orders forever!! It's fine. Haha! It's no use, Captain Y/n! I memorized rope knots while I was still a cadet! Hahaha! I was making a first impression. Oi! Don't get her started! Don't you touch her, Eren! Captain Y/n! What do we do?!
Y/n was horrified. Her closest squad members killed. Like that. Why didn't they listen? They were like her little children. They're whole lives, raised for a wonderful future...Ended. Right here. That's it. Eren began rushing back, despite Y/n trying to stop him. "Don't, Eren!" She yelled as she followed him. She clenched her ODM device. If Eren wouldn't cooperate, she would have to do her best to take the titan down herself.
Y/n charged ahead. She tried to hit the titan. It moved its head. It raised its hand to try and hit her which Y/n quickly dodged. Y/n then shot her wires, speeding through and slicing the titans arm. It winced as it tried to head butt Y/n as she retreated for a second. She then cut the titan's legs. Then her back. Then her shoulders. Y/n caught her breath for a second. She then swung around a tree and shot her wires into the titan's eye. Unfortunately, it was the already-injured eye, but it would still help. The titan roared as it tried to swat the female Captain away. Y/n cut off one of the fingers as she ran up the arm. The beast threw its arm in the air, sending Y/n high into the air.
Eren tried to charge into the little dual between the two. Y/n's eyes widened. The titan saw him and reached out for the brunette. Y/n dove downwards and pushed Eren out of the way, getting grabbed instead. The titan was surprised, but nonetheless smashed Y/n's head on a tree. Y/n was on the brink of consciousness. It then lightly and carefully placed the captain on the branch, securing she wouldn't fall off. Ungh...It won't kill me? Y/n hazily thought. The last sight she saw was Eren gaping and raising his hand to his mouth.
Eren thought she was dead though. He gasped in horror. I wanted to believe in my comrades...and because of that, they all died. Even Captain Y/n. If I had believed in myself from the very beginning and fought...If only I had beaten this thing to a pulp form the beginning! "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" He screamed as he chomped into his hand. Light once again flashed through the huge forest.
The male roared. It shook the forest, everyone in the regiment hearing it. Eren punched the titan and tried to pin her down. The titan then punched her head, but he actually missed. The force was so strong, his fingers were damaged and gone. It tried with the other hand, getting the same result. The two had a stare down. Eren was so angry. He roared in the female titan's face, trying to have his hands recover quicker. Two Ackermanns somewhere away from the fighting beasts, heard the roar.
Eren?!
That voice...Don't tell me...
The two Ackermanns began heading towards it. While Eren was distracted by trying to focus on healing, the female titan grabbed his arm. She kicked its leg and pushed him off of her. Eren swung a fist at her but he missed and she kicked him off of her into a tree. The wood cracked and both were on their feet. Eren tried another punch, the female dodging it. Tried another time and missed, the female then sweeping his legs. They both fell. The male titan quickly swung another punch. And another. And another. The female dodged all of them and punched through the other's jaw. It glared at her and punched her in the abdomen, sending her flying. He roared in victory. He then stepped to finish her off, but she avoided and ran a couple of steps away.
The female lifted its leg. It quickly did a roundhouse kick, decapitating the male. The tree that stood in between also was sliced. Both the tree and male fell to the ground. The female strolled over to the titan body and opened its mouth. It took the body and chomped into the nape. It bit away the skin that now revealed Eren. A certain female Ackermann screamed Eren's name as she rushed towards them. She was too late however, because it bit the boy and took him into her mouth. It wiped the blood from its mouth as the two girls met eyes. The victorious titan then began rushing off. It grabbed Y/n from the branch and tossed her in its mouth as well. Mikasa's eyes widened.
"Captain Y/n... Eren... Don't go..." Mikasa mumbled.
~~~~~
Levi was heading in the direction he heard the roar. He heard no sound except the stomping of the nearby female. He saw none of his squad anywhere around. That was, until... Levi was approaching a tree. He saw a small figure hanging in the air. It was Gunther. His neck had been partially sliced as he lay there, suspended, held by the wires of the ODM gear. Levi looked away and swung passed the tree. He then came across Eld's top remains. He swooped low. He then moved on. Approaching another spot, he approached Oluo. He swung around the tree. On the other side was Petra. Her spine was probably broken and blood dripped from her forehead, nose, and mouth. Levi's expression didn't change. Y/n, if I see your body here, I will kill you. I can't lose you. You're... all I have left.
~~~~~
The female titan was running from the female Ackermann. Steam was everywhere as the female desperately tried to run and heal simultaneously. Mikasa sliced the calf muscle, causing the female to crash to the ground, careful not to bite down, as to possibly kill those inside. Mikasa dove for the nape. "Give them back!" She screamed as she hit the rock hard hands of the female. Her blades broke as she retreated for a second, now leaning against a tree."Why? My blade...won't go through... I know...They're alive!" She took out more blades. "Eren...Y/n.... They have to be alive! No matter where she goes, I'll kill her...slice up her body...and drag them out of that filthy place! I'm sorry, Eren. Y/n. Just hold on a little longer!" She said as the titan punched where she originally was. It then began fleeing again. "Wait!" Mikasa shouted.
Mikasa was about to pursue the titan again, but an arm swung under her arms, dragging her away. "I'm with you." A familiar, deep voice said. "But back off for now." Mikasa glared at Captain Levi. "We'll maintain this distance. Is it exhausted too? Doesn't look like it's moving very fast. Looks like she bit the whole next out of Eren's titan body. Is he dead? Where is Captain Y/n?" Levi interrogated. "I haven't seen her at all."
"Eren's alive. Y/n too." Mikasa answered. "I think our target is intelligent. Her objective is to kidnap Eren and Captain Y/n. If she wanted to kill either of them, the female would've just crushed Eren and definitely finished off Captain Y/n who was laying unconscious on a tree branch. But instead, she put them in her mouth and is making a retreat."
Levi flinched when he heard his sister was unconscious and that she was inside the mouth. "The objective may have been to eat them. In that case, Eren and Y/n would be in her stomach now, probably dead..."
"They're alive..." Mikasa argued.
"I hope you're right." Levi replied.
"This wouldn't have happened...in the first place if you had done a good job of protecting Eren."
Levi looked at her. The nerve of this girl. "I remember you...From court, Eren's friend, right?" Although she didn't answer, that was enough. "I see..." He then turned his attention on the target in front of them. "We'll focus on the objective. Give up on killing the female."
"How many...Of our comrades has she murdered?" Mikasa asked.
"As long as that titan has the ability to harden its skin, killing it is impossible. Trust me. We'll bet everything on the chance that Eren and Y/n are still alive... and we'll rescue them before that thing can clear the forest. I'll slash away at the titan. You draw its attention." Mikasa nodded in affirmation. "I don't know what kind of business she has with my sister... But I sure as h*** won't let her get away with her."
The black haired girl caught up with the titan. The titan glanced at her while she flew low. Suddenly, Levi flew into the corner of the titan's eye. Levi patiently waited for the Female Titan's retaliation. The time occurred and the giant swung a punch at Levi. He saw the punch and dodged, rolling while slicing. He then leaped off of the arm and plunged his blades into the eyes. He backed up for a split second and got more blades. He then sliced the obliques and down. The titan fell to the ground. Levi continued to slice her up. He attacked her right arm, which was the one guarding her nape. Mikasa saw the opening.
Mikasa swoops in, aiming for the nape. Levi noticed that was too easy. It was bait. "No!" He ordered. She already was caught in the momentum as the left hand raised to swat her. Levi zoomed in and pushed her away. He didn't land on the hand properly, so his foot injured against the pressure. Despite this, he sliced the female's jaw until it fell open. Full of saliva, it opened to reveal the wet, slimy, and unconscious pair.
Levi swiftly stepped on the teeth and grabbed the two. He put Eren under his arm and squeezed Y/n between his other arm and torso. He glanced at Mikasa. "Hey! We're getting out of here!"
"Eren...Y/n..." Mikasa happily whispered.
"They're okay! Alive, anyway...dirty, though... Forget about the titan, we're leaving." Levi told her. "Don't lose sight of our objective. Unless satisfying your own desires overrides that? We got your precious friend back, didn't we?"
While Mikasa stuttered, Levi glanced back at the titan for safety. His eyes widened. The titan was crying. The pair of Ackermanns flew through the trees towards Erwin's squad. Levi glanced at his sister. What happened to you? To our squad? I really wish I could've sliced that person to pieces... Levi angrily thought. They were approaching the command squad. They were stationary.
"Erwin!" Levi shouted. The blond glanced at the Captain.
Erwin's eyes widened slightly when he saw Y/n. Hanji gaped. Moblit and Miche's eyes also widened. "Levi!" the commander exclaimed. The pair landed on the ground. Erwin and the other three jogged to them. Erwin turned to the wagon squads. "Put these two on the wagons and let's move out."
"Wait, Erwin." Levi interrupted. "We need to..." He paused for a second. "Retrieve the bodies." He finished.
Erwin realized his squad members were missing and he made his assumptions. Erwin turned to the three. "Moblit, Hanji, Miche, go with Levi to retrieve them." The three nodded. Levi handed Y/n and Eren to Erwin who gave them to the cart drivers.
The four went back in the direction of Levi's squad members. The commander then strolled over to the cart that Y/n was placed in. He placed his hands on the edge of the wood as he examined Y/n's condition. Through all of the transparent titan saliva, he saw that she had some blood dripping from her forehead. There were extreme scrape marks coming from the wound. It was as if she had dragged into a wall headfirst.
Erwin took a rag from a cart and wet it. He then returned to Y/n. The blond took the rag and began cleaning the titan saliva off of Y/n. Wiping her face, arms, and legs. (Mind you, he was nervous around the more private areas.) He then took some gauze and wrapped her head. Erwin looked at his surroundings. No one was watching him and Levi still hadn't come back. He leaned down and kissed Y/n's cheek. He then hurriedly rushed off.
~~~~~
Levi returned with the other three, carrying the bodies of his subordinates. They wrapped them in cloth and tied them tight, placing them on the body cart. Levi approached the cart where Y/n was still unconscious in. He sighed. The short male had a few questions bothering him. How bad would he slice up the female in exchange for this? Why were you taken along with Eren by the female? How did you get clean and bandaged? Levi tched as he thinks he has a pretty good idea of the answer of question three.
Man... I'm so sleepy...My head hurts. Wait, wasn't I grabbed by the female titan? Oh right! And then she hit my head onto a tree and knocked me out or something. And then... Then what? I should wake up and find some answers. If I'm still alive, that is... Well, no harm in trying. Y/n slowly peeked her eyes open, being slightly blinded by the light. She groaned at the brightness. A figure made a sound of surprise as they blocked the light. Y/n fully opened her eyes now as she groaned. "Oh. Hi, stupid big brother." Y/n greeted.
"Tch." Levi replied. "That's the first thing you say?" I'm so glad you seem alright, though.
Y/n weakly chuckled. "It's just the facts, isn't it?" She leaned up. She held her head as it throbbed. Levi was about to push her back down. "I'm fine." She told him. He scowled but allowed her to get out of the cart. "I...Want to see them." Levi nodded and helped her out. Y/n slung her arm over his shoulder.
The pair made their way over to where several of the wrapped bodies were. Four bodies had been pulled aside because they knew who's squad they belonged to. Y/n didn't want to see their dull, empty faces. She kneeled down and opened around the chest area. She knew her teammates heights. Y/n could tell the one in front of her was Eld, him being one centimeter shorter being Gunther. She ripped off his scout badge. She then repeated this action to all of her fallen squad members.
Y/n scanned the expressions of the whole regiment. She frowned. Everyone looked like they just went through the worst expedition ever. Which, in fact, they had. The mission had failed and they had an astounding amount of casualties. Y/n felt a nudge on her arm. She looked over to see Levi in her face.
"Why don't you sing?" Levi whispered. "You stopped after Farlan and Isabel died... Sing to them."
Y/n hesitated. Singing was like a tragic reminder of Isabel. She felt bad if she continued to go happily singing when Isabel could not do so ever again. Levi saw her hesitance and gave a gentle squeeze to her shoulder. He then sat on the grass beside her and crossed his legs.
Y/n's mouth straightened. Alright. She began singing the most soothing song she knew.
Bb, D, Db, F, Ab, Gb, Fb, F, Cb, F, C, Db, Ab, Gb, Ab, F, Fb, Gb, Fb, F, Db C, Gb, F, Gb, Ab,F, Gb, Ab.... And so on. (If you guys know what song I mean, awesome!)
The broken soldiers silently listened to Y/n's voice. In normal circumstances, they would have cheered for the popular soldier. However, they just sat in silence. Erwin looked over at her and he smiled. I wish I could hear that everyday. She has such a nice voice. I wonder why she doesn't use it often? The others listened to the peaceful and beautiful tune as they relaxed for the first time that day. Everyone was very calm and their worries almost washed away.
It was so peaceful. Peaceful for the first time that day.
~~~~~
The regiment was riding back. They wanted to get into the walls as soon as possible. What would they do from here? They have countless casualties and didn't even catch the female titan. And now Eren would be handed over to the military police and killed.
They were approaching the walls, the gate rising to allow them to enter. The bells rang as the corps entered, looking quite horrified and sick. Once everyone was inside, the gate crashed back down. Y/n rode on Levi's horse. She was fine, but Levi restlessly insisted she rode.
"The survey corps is back!"
"Isn't there a lot fewer than there were this morning?"
"They made such a fuss about going out this morning... and here they are, back in time for lunch!"
"What did they even bother going out for?"
"Who knows?"
"Yeah, but... judging by their pouty looks, they at least succeeded in throwing our taxes down the drain!"
Eren tried to sit up, probably to go beat the people up. Mikasa held him down. Y/n spotted a pair of young kids who had a gleam in their eyes. It reminded her of how her and her friends looked when they dreamt of going to the surface. She was about to reminisce, but a hand came on her shoulder. She looked to see a newcomer.
It was a middle-aged or so male villager. "Captain Y/n and Levi! Ma'am! Sir! Thank you for taking good care of my daughter!" Y/n stole a glance at him. He had a cheerful expression. "I'm Petra Ral's father! There's something I want to discuss with you both before I find her..." He held up a letter. "My daughter sent me this letter, see... She wrote that you, Captain Y/n, are counting on her skill and that she's working directly under your both's command, now. She says she intends to devote herself to you both completely or something like that... well... that was her pride talking, but she doesn't understand how worried this makes me! Hahaha... I mean...um... As her father, I still think its still too early for her to get married up... She's still young, after all, and who knows what's gonna happen in the days ahead..." Furious shouting erupted from the crowd the regiment was approaching. "Oh, well I better go and find her, now."
Y/n and Levi were expressionless. They wordlessly watched him leave to find his daughter's body. What were they supposed to say? 'Oh hi! Nice to meet you, Mr. Ral! You're daughter is dead, but I hope we see you again, soon! Maybe even have lunch sometime!' No, they weren't Hanji. Come to think of it... perhaps that's Hanji's way of coping sometimes. Y/n thought about if Levi and Petra were together. She sniffled. It was amusing to think of, but she knew Petra's father was just a doting father getting ahead of himself with Levi. Hah. Petra as a sister-in-law. That's.... a laugh... She frowned.
The regiment continued to push through the town despite the angry yelling. Y/n clenched her first. Why did the expedition have to end with her squad mates of all people? Not that anyone else should've died, still. She wished she could've protected them. Oluo was like a little brother to be protected, despite his arrogant demeanor. Actually, that was the biggest factor that made him a little brother.. Eld and Gunther were like teasing big brothers. Petra, although a year or two younger and a subordinate to Y/n, was like a mother. But she can't dwell on it long. She clenched their ripped scout legion patches in her hand tightly, in fear they may be dropped and lost forever.
After the scouts settled into the stuffy walls, Y/n carried her duty as captain. Levi was busy and therefore could not do the job. The death notification to family members. It was hard seeing their faces. Eld had a sister (?) who cried profusely. Oluo had a few younger siblings who couldn't comprehend the news. Gunther had a grandpa who mourned much.
Y/n wondered who would mourn her if she died an early death. She thought of those around her. The 104th, the scouts, Levi. Everyone around her seemed to like her a lot. She clenched her fist. No more.
The vast expenditure of resources and lives in the expedition beyond the wall dealt a serious blow to the survey corps, ending their public and political support. Erwin and the other leaders were summoned to the royal capital. They were ordered to turn Eren over to the military police.