"R..Reiner..?"
My voice barely came out as a whisper, which didn't make any sense, considering I had a blade beginning to slice into the side of my neck. There he was, right in front of me, pushing me down and prepared to kill me.
Until he realised who I was.
Reiner's pupils dilated further in shock, gold becoming engulfed with black. His breath hitched loudly in my ears, and suddenly I was being pushed away in a freefall. Only seconds later, time froze as I watched something enter the side of his neck, emerging from the other side, blood dancing through the air.
W..wait...no...
Levi had impaled Reiner's neck, and was charging him down the side of the wall, full force. The fury in his expression was terrifying, and so was the lack of any reservations when it came to the blond he had just ended.
At least I thought he had. Even when I was roughly jolted by an arm around my waist, I saw Reiner react. He wasn't even close to death. Just what was he? When he hit the ground, I didn't see it, as I was being carried upwards, towards the top of the wall, but I certainly heard it. I couldn't mistake the sound of a body making contact with the earth. Our landing was poorly executed, and we skidded and rolled, my face and chest taking most of it.
"(Y/N)! Your neck!" Before I could even try to sit up, my saviour was trying to look at my wound, his worry almost overwhelmingly sincere.
"J..Jean, I'm fine..!" I pulled his hand away, but kept hold of it for a few moments, catching his eye. "It's not deep enough to kill me, okay? H..he let me go when he saw my face..."
He won't kill me...
I had stopped flinching during a titan's transformation, our faces lighting up momentarily as the world turned to gold. Allowing Jean to pull me to my feet, I chose to not look over the edge just yet. I needed to compose myself first.
"Keep your eyes open!" Erwin had appeared at my other side, his hand coming to rest against my back. "We still need to find his allies!"
This time around, my entire soul seemed to attempt an escape when that loud crash sounded from behind us. My body continued the jolted wave that passed through Erwin's, and we slowly turned around.
The Beast Titan had appeared, flanked by it's own army of regular, flesh eating titans. They hadn't just been prepared. They had pushed us into a corner like prey. When it reached for something by it's side, I knew what was coming, and I seized both Erwin and Jean by the capes, trying to pull them away.
"Incoming boulder! Get down!" We didn't move in time, but it didn't matter. It hadn't been aiming for those of us on top. As the wall trembled and shook, I could hear the startled cries and panicked whinnies from below, where the newest soliders were guarding the horses.
It's trying to make sure we can't escape...
"He blocked the entrance...There's no riding through it now..." I murmured, trying to focus on the multiple, more important issues at hand as the side of my neck stung. Erwin was speaking again, but I wasn't able to focus on that. All I could do was search through my own self for some form of courage.
"Commander. He's about to climb." Levi stood behind us, voice calm, motioning to the inside of the wall. Swallowing back the urge to flee, I glanced to Jean, motioning for him to return to his post. He was reluctant, but with one final nod, he did as I had urged him to.
"Soliders! You are not yet to engage the armoured titan!" Erwin commanded, echoing throughout the area. "Maintain a safe distance!" I remained quiet as everyone chorused their understanding, still unable to bring myself to look down at the man I had once known.
You're never gonna let me have the chance to ask you, are you, Reiner..?
As I gazed out at the fur-covered beast, I noticed that by his side, down on all fours, was another odd looking specimen. Upon it's back, it carried several large crates, and I became instantly suspicious.
"They have one more intelligent titan." Erwin spoke before me, and I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that four-legged fucker..."
Again, I reacted when I heard a foreign noise, this time being a guttural roar. The Beast smashed the ground, and as the echo of his outburst faded away, the smaller titans at the front of his formation started towards the walls.
"Sir! What do we do about Reiner?! A..and Bertholdt?! He hasn't even shown up yet!" Armin asked in a panic, and I glanced to the Commander, for once wanting direction.
"I'm well aware." He responded, still staring out at the chaos outside of Shiganshina. "Dirk and Marlene squad! Join Klaus squad and protect the horses at the front gate! Levi, Hange and (Y/N) squad, I need you to take down the armoured titan! Deploy the thunder spears at your own discression! Do whatever it takes to achieve your objective! This is is our moment! The fate of human kind depends on this battle! Lay down your hearts and lives, one final time, for humanity!"
Erwin far surpassed passion, and it shook me deep within my core. If I hadn't known him on such a personal level, his willingness to send people to certain death was chilling. Even when I did know him so well, it still felt wrong. Once he was finished, I motioned for my squad to follow direction, remaining behind with Erwin and turning to face the inside of our prison.
Lay down my heart and life, huh?
My legs felt like jelly, and I slowly lowered myself to sit, the crumbling sounds of stone white noise as Reiner scaled the wall, soon to appear before me.
"I saw what happened. How he spared you." Erwin crouched beside me, almost to my level. "I was about to kill him myself...but when he threw you aside...and both Levi and your squadmate came to your rescue...I knew you were going to be in safe hands."
Managing to clear the rattle from my breath, I reached up to touch the wound Reiner had inflicted upon me, the warmth of my own blood seeming to bring me back to my senses.
"I don't think he'll kill me...He would have then and there if he was able to..." I murmured, my face joining the sting of my neck when I realised I had been scuffed up when Jean and I had landed.
"Listen, and please forgive me for this, but I believe I have a plan for us to succeed, at least with taking Reiner down..." Erwin began, and I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment to get my mind back in order.
"You want me to distract him, don't you?" He hadn't needed to finish. I had spent enough time with him to get a firm understanding of how he thought.
Smashing stone grew even closer, and Erwin nodded slowly, meeting my eyes. They were filled with such strong emotions, but they were so mixed together I couldn't even begin to interperet.
"To think, I'd ask my own daughter to be live bait? I really am a devil..." He whispered softly.
"Nah, just a man with one hell of a gambling problem." I replied, my voice holding no sign of jest, despite my poor joke. We both turned back to Shiganshina, our time quickly running out, and I swallowed. "Never thought I'd say this, but I'll lay my heart and my life down..."
"You will have to lay down your heart, but never your life. Do you understand me? You are not permitted to die today. That is an order." There it was. The slight quiver weaving in and out of his words. I had needed to hear that. He was scared, and when someone was scared, they weren't ready to let themselves die. Not without a fight.
Standing up and readying my gear, I gave him one final glance, nodding once in understanding.
"That goes for you too..." Gritting my teeth, I launched off the wall, forcing myself to keep my eyes on where I had chosen to land instead of looking down.
I was nearly blown away when that large burst of energy struck down, but I managed to keep moving, deciding to take a chance and land upon his shoulder.
"Don't mind me. Just keep doing what you're doing." I addressed him quietly, and his giant head nodded slightly, showing me he heard.
Reiner was atop the wall now, so dangerously close to Erwin, and I held my breath in wait. Eren was his main objective. If we could lure him away from the horses, we could buy time. I had to brace my legs as Eren turned and began to run, in hopes our opponent would follow. After a few long strides, I turned to check, but the armoured titan hadn't moved from his perch.
Instead, he and Erwin stared at each other, and even from so far away, I could tell the tension was horrendously thick. Gritting my teeth, I tapped Eren's jaw.
"Grab me with your hand. Hold me out to the side a bit." His eye was almost as big as I was, and he looked at me for a moment before he did what I had instructed, holding me out in plain view. Sucking in a deep, quavering breath, I mustered up all of my courage.
"REINER! HELP ME!"
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***Screencap redraws are a bitch. I had to make it so (Y/N) was sitting and Erwin was crouching because of the lack of height difference xD Erased the dude's face and popped her's in pfff.
Also, I'm spending over $100 for an illustration commission that'll come later on :') Can't say I'm not dedicated to this story.
Next Time: Lightning then the Thunder***