The next three weeks had consisted of relentless training and preparations for the 57th exterior expedition. You had trained with the new recruits but mostly with the special operation squad, practicing advanced manoeuvres. As the day came closer, the atmosphere became tenser. No matter how many times the veterans had ventured out, even they dreaded the sight's they would see once passing those walls. The newest recruits were stressed out of their minds, remembering their last encounter with the titans. You however were more stressed about the safety of your friends rather than meeting a titan yourself. You could never live with yourself if Marco actually got eaten this time, the same with the rest of your group.
You and Marco had spent as much alone time as you could seeing the days were filled to the brim with training and other military duties. To prevent your growing relationship from becoming an obstacle rather than something enjoyable, you had decided to take it as it went, not labelling it- yet. The weight of the exterior mission was very much carried by the both of you, and you knew you had to focus on getting stronger so you could come back to each other.
It was a nice, sunny day; perfect for relaxing outside, but that was far from what you were doing today. All the scouts were lined up and ready to leave the walled city of Calaneth and venture out into the unknown. Well, unknown for you as you have never properly been outside the walls. Although you technically have when you were younger and lived in Shiganshina by Wall Maria, you could not properly remember what it looked like out there. You felt excited and nervous to see the sight of what was taken from humanity.
As you waited for Erwin to officially start the mission you thought back to your evening with Marco yesterday. Both knowing this morning would be hectic you made sure to see each other the night before to be able to send each other off properly.
~Flashback~
"Hey Marco", you smiled as you found him standing leaning against the wall of the castle. His face lit up the moment he saw you, however a little hint of sadness could be spotted in his eyes. The two of you walked over to the backside of HQ, knowing you would be completely alone there. He immediately pulled you into his embrace, holding you close like only someone who were about to lose someone could. It was comforting but sad.
You pushed him against the wall using your body and moved you face towards his, quickly connecting your lips. He seemed surprised at first, but hurriedly brought his hands down to your waist, moving his thumbs to caress your middle. You ran your fingers through his hair, amazed by its softness.
"Marco, please come back to me", you whispered, breaking the kiss. He leaned his forehead against yours, looking at you with eyes full of love and longing.
"I will do everything and more to make sure I do", he assured you with a smile. "As long as you promise the same though", he added with a wink. You giggled slightly and nodded gently.
"Of course, it will take a lot to break me you know. I'm too stubborn to die", you said with a chuckle. He joined in, but you could see he flinched at the mention of you and death in the same sentence. He probably got a pretty gruesome image in his head as you said that. Hell, you still can't forget the sight of Marco in that titan's grasp; his arm almost gnawed right off. Just like that. You shivered at the memory.
"Are you cold?", Marco asked and immediately took off his cloak to drape it over your shoulders.
"Oh, I just remembered something sad, but it's okay", you quickly excused yourself. "Thank you though", you added and beamed up at him. He got his usual look of admiration at the sight of you.
"You truly are so beautiful", he said sincerely, his eyes looking like he was in a trance. "Always have been", he then added, his voice airy. You felt your face heat up and hid it in his chest. He laughed a little at your modesty, wrapping his arms around you. "I'll tell you that as many times as I need for you to take it with pride", he teased, kissing the top of your head. You giggled wrapping your arms around him as well.
~Current time~
"Y/N, Eren, make sure to stay close and trust your instincts. But most importantly, listen to what I say. We don't engage in combat unless we absolutely have to", Levi informed the two of you. You nodded in response. You were positioned closest to Levi for now, almost right beside him, but you would switch positions after a while once you went outside the walls.
The gate started to open, and you tightened your grip on your horse's reins.
"Advance!", you heard Erwin's voice yell out all the way from the front, and you all set off. "We will now begin the 57th expedition beyond the walls! Onward!", he yelled again as you rode through the gate.
You were met with the sight of a town in ruin. You passed broken down buildings with holes from cannon fire as well as titan attacks. From afar you could spot the support team already engaged with a titan.
'I thought we would at least get a bit further out before coming across any titans...'
"Sir can my classmates beat the titans?", you heard Eren ask Oruo hesitantly.
"Uh, you guys have been training for a month, I should sure hope so", he answered Eren, confused as to why he would even ask. Once reaching the open field beyond the town you noticed the people around your squad started to spread out. Erwin must have ordered for the long-range scouting formation to start. Now your friends would be separated slightly. Even if they are in the same part of the formation, they won't be close to each other, which made you nervous.
'I trust in my friends'
You had been riding for a while now, noticing both red and green flares being sent up occasionally.
"Smoke round.. green. Oruo, you send the signal", Levi ordered. You had switched places with Oruo for now, riding alongside Eren. Oruo sent up a green flare.
'As long as we don't run into any abnormal titans I'm sure my friends are fine'
"Reporting!", a messenger soldier called out as he closed inn on you. "Message to pass along! Right flank recon has been destroyed!", he informed you exhausted.
'The entire right flank?!'
You felt the colour fade away from your face as you frantically tried to remember where your friends were positioned. You know Marco is with Sasha. Jean, Armin and Reiner should be in the same area and Connie you believe is with Mikasa. You couldn't really recall if Bertholdt, Ymir and Crista were in the same group or not. Though you knew who were with whom, you couldn't for the life of you remember their position.
"Our recon system is partially inoperative. Pass it on, to the left!", he further informed.
"Petra, you heard him. Go.", Levi told her, and she immediately left to convey the message. With this you took over her spot at Eren's left as Oruo went back to his old spot at Eren's right. Eren was to be surronded and protected by the squad at all times.
"Y/N... I think Armin and them is there", Eren almost whispered to you, troubled. You looked at him dumbfounded.
"I think we just have to believe they are okay for now. They should still be in position, near the centre", you answered him, only half-believing what you were telling him. You just refused to believe they were gone. They couldn't be.
"Yeah... The titans can't have made it this far, right?", he responded, thinking out loud.
A row of black flares grabbed your attention.
"Abnormals?", you exclaimed shocked. "How did they get this close without anyone noticing?".
"Y/N, you fire it!", Levi suddenly ordered you, and you quickly took to your flare gun, sending coal black smoke high up in the sky.
"What a mess... We let it penetrate so deep into our formation...", Levi muttered to himself.
'Damn it, it's closing in'
Looking ahead you could notice something else also closing in. You were all headed straight towards a giant forest in the middle of the vast field, and by the looks of it the trees also seemed to be gigantic.
~Marco POV~
"Excuse me sir... The centre row appears to be entering the forest, but wouldn't the rest of us collide with the forest?", Sasha asked our squad leader. I was wondering the same thing. Although this is my first ever mission, I can already tell this whole situation is out of the ordinary.
"We're going around", he simply answered her before increasing his speed, not giving her much else to work with.
"Oh. Yes sir!". Sasha slowed her horse down a bit so she could ride alongside me.
"Do you also feel like somethings up?", she asked quietly, not wanting the squad leader hearing her question his authority.
"Yeah, I have a bad feeling", I answered truthfully. "I just hope everyone is okay...".
"Same here. It's difficult to focus when you don't know how everyone else is doing...", she confessed, looking down at her reins.
"Oi! Stop here!", our leader called out, bringing his horse to a halt. We instantly stopped as well, more confused than ever. "Tie your horses here and gather up", he said as he got of his horse. Me and Sasha along with the few other new recruits in our group did the same, intently listening for further instructions.
"We are preparing to launch a counter attack at the moment. Draw your blades, and wait above the trees", he ordered. We looked at him baffled, all thinking the same thing.
"A counterattack? Exactly what are we attacking?", I asked. The others seemed relieved that someone dared air out the question on everyone's mind.
"Classified information kids. Just wait above the trees and stop any titans approaching this forest at any cost!", he ordered. No one moved, which seemed to tick him off. "Just follow your orders! Go!", he yelled, making us all jump a little. I sighed and activated my gear, running up along the thick tree trunk hearing the whizzing sounds of the others doing the same.
We stood on the thick branches for long while, nothing really happening. Sasha had given up standing a long time ago, now sitting down leaning her head against my legs.
"I don't understand what we are doing. Wasn't our original mission to stock supplies and map out a part of the way to Shiganshina?", I wondered out loud, kind of asking Sasha however mostly stating in confusion.
Mikasa and Connie had joined our group, all of us staring ahead, looking for something none of us knew what was. We could hear Jean's stressed and concerned voice complaining from a couple of trees down. I just hope none of the higher up's hear him, I'm afraid they'll react the same way they did towards Daz in Trost. Jean isn't just scared for his own life like Daz, he is just concerned for everyone when he feels like what we are doing isn't doing anything good. He feels like we are wasting our time here, which I can't blame him for thinking. We have done nothing but watch the forest edge for what must be over an hour at this point.
"Five meter class incoming!", we heard one of the squad-leaders yell, and low and behold, a little to my left it came running. I'll never get used to the way they move. There is something so uncanny in the way they twist and bend as they run.
"Sasha", I moved my leg a little to get her out of her trance. "Five meter, to the left!", I informed her, and she quickly turned her attention to it.
"Erwin better have a good reason for this...", Sasha said quietly while eyeing the titan's every move.
~Normal POV~
"Captain Levi!", Eren called out. You noticed droplets of sweat excessively trip down from his forehead. He must be stressed out of his mind. You can't lie and say you don't feel stressed as well, the forest was never even mentioned once in the plan, and you guys had been over every single detail of it multiple times.
"What?", Levi answered in a tired manner.
"Well... We're in the middle of the woods! If the centre enters alone, we won't know if titans are approaching!", Eren said, his voice confirming his stressed state.
'That's true... There is no way we can see any flares beside us through this thick forest'
"It seems something is approaching us from the right... How are we supposed to dodge the titans or protect our carts?", he further asked, his questions increasing your stress level as they made your mind wander in all different directions.
"Don't go on and on about the obvious... We can't do all that anymore, that's true...", Levi answered, his attention focused ahead of him.
"Then why?", Eren asked again, Levi's answer not giving him any kind of solace.
"Look around you Eren... Look at all these big-ass trees. It's the perfect environment for ODM gear", he told him as Eren looked up. "Try to use that tiny brain of yours. If you don't want to die; think.", he stated plainly.
"Y-yes sir!", Eren answered him, and you could see he felt stupid for asking now. You nudged him lightly on his shoulder and smiled as he abruptly turned to you.
"It'll be fine, we'll watch out for each other", you said quietly so only he could hear. He looked at you for a moment, like he was examining every feature of your face just like you did with Marco in Trost. He then gave you a small smile and a single nod, finding a bit more solace in your words than Levi's. The relaxed expression suddenly turned terrified as he looked past you and you turned to see what lead to his sudden change. He was looking at Petra, then the rest of the squad around the two of you. They looked completely out of it, all bearing the same look of confusion and tension. The comfort you took from assuming they all knew what you were up against disappeared instantly as you eyed them. You couldn't even be sure Levi knows anything as he didn't let any emotion show.
'What a mess'
~Marco POV~
Small whimpering sounds could be heard from Sasha as she down on all fours looked down over the edge of the branch. There must me over twenty titans clawing and reaching for us below this tree alone.
"How did we go from no titans to fifty titans in just ten minutes", she asked stressed. Her arms were shaking, the right one suddenly giving in, making her upper body fall limp over the edge.
"Sasha!", I called out, throwing myself flat on top of her to prevent her lower half from sliding forwards, sending her plummeting down to the sea of titans. "Connie, Mikasa, help her!", I yelled, not daring to move a muscle. I could feel her sliding more and more towards the edge, my weight not being enough to withhold the weight of her upper body dangling. The smooth bark of the branch didn't help much either. She was screaming in terror as she was face to face with the titans all the way down on the ground, reaching for her like their life depended on it.
Connie and Mikasa hurried to my side, Mikasa reaching out for Sasha as Connie held onto her tight to prevent her from falling as well. Together we slowly but surely hoisted her up and placed her safely in the middle of the branch, nowhere near the edges. She cried as she hugged Mikasa.
"Thank you Marco", she said distraught as she looked up at me.
"You shouldn't apologise, just be more careful", I said sincerely, sighing relieved as the adrenaline faded away.
We continued on watching them for a long while as they tried to reach us. I internally thanked whoever or whatever created this forest with trees high enough to be out of their range.
A black flare was suddenly fired from within the forest, close to where the centre row is currently. Although the formation plan I received suggested different, I had already figured out that Y/N and the Levi squad must have been placed there. That is the safest spot in the formation. Or is supposed to be the safest spot anyways, that black flare disproves that assumption at the moment.
"A black flare? Did an abnormal manage to get past us unnoticed?", Connie asked. Sweat started piling up by my hairline as my gut feeling convinced me more and more that Y/N was in fact in the line of danger.
"Guys, I think that's where Y/N and Eren is", I said weakly, my face becoming paler as I looked at my friends.
~Normal POV~
"A black flare?", you said as you observed the smoke dispersed in the air behind you.
"It's coming directly from behind us!", Eld said tense as everyone looked in that direction. "Whatever was coming towards us from the right is near!".
"Draw your blades!", Levi ordered as he grabbed a hold of his. Your heart increased the beat as the situation became more and more intense. "If we see it, it'll only be for a second...". You all grabbed a hold of the handles, ready to draw the blades out on a seconds notice. The suspense was high as all you could do was wait for the inevitable encounter with whatever wiped out the entire right flank. You and Eren both looked behind you, watching one of the soldiers assigned to protect your squad. You didn't even have time to blink before he was ghastly smacked against a trunk by the mysterious killer. Your jaw dropped at the sight of it. It was fast. Very fast.
"Go! Keep moving!", Levi yelled out. The titan picked up her speed and made a sideways jump over you, reaching out for Eren, however just missing him by an inch. None of you managed to scream, only small sounds of fear left your throat. The titan quickly got to moving again, staring obsessively at Eren.
"It's fast!" Gunther exclaimed. "In these trees, there is no way to foresee and evade its attacks!".
"It'll catch us!", Oruo screamed.
"Captain! Let's switch to Maneuver Gear!", Petra yelled out. "Captain!". Levi looked back at all of your desperate faces.
'Dammit, why isn't he saying anything?!'
"Reinforcements from the rear!", Petra yelled out, as you spotted two soldiers closing in behind the female titan. Just as easily and quickly as she squished the first soldier, she wiped them both out in one swift movement. The blood and remains of one of them now smeared across a tree trunk. You felt sick to the stomach.
"Captain! Your orders?!", Petra now shrieked terrified. You felt pale as your body started to numb from the fear.
'Please Levi, tell me you know what to do'
"Let's just go for it!", Oruo yelled out, tired of Levi's constant silence. "This is dangerous! We should kill it!". Levi still didn't say a word. You couldn't even see his face as he still looked straight ahead. This stressed everyone out even more.
"Captain! Please!", you finally spoke out, your tone revealing just how terrified you were.
"At this rate, it will catch up with us!", Eld yelled. You turned your gaze back around, seeing just how close she was getting.
'I can't die like this. Not by being crushed and smeared across the ground like I was nothing in the first place. I can't do that to Marco'
"Captain! Your orders!", Eren pleaded. Levi turned slightly.
"Everyone, cover your ears", he simply said. You didn't really understand what he was possibly planning but you all complied. Levi held up his flare gun, but what he shot out was no normal flare. The screeching sound was almost drilling itself into your ears, even when you did everything physically possible to cover your ears fully.
'Wtf was that?!'
Everyone whimpered in pain of the ringing sound.
"A noise grenade?", Eren exclaimed as you all let your hands fall down from your ears. There was still a slight ringing in them causing some discomfort for you, but you guess that is better than being dead. The female titan seemed to be affected by the noise, slowing down the tiniest bit, which was just enough for you to ride a safe distance away.
"What is your job? To just let yourself be swayed by whatever you're feeling at the moment? No. No it's not", Levi told all of you. "Our squad's job is to keep the brat from getting a single scratch on him. Even if it costs us our lives", Levi added. You could see the others cower a bit, embarrassed that they lost their cool in such a crucial moment. Hell, you did too, you're no better. You cowered as well.
'Fuck, okay Y/N. You have to stop losing your cool. Nothing good comes out of you not being focused, you know that...'
"We keep going on our horses, got it?".
"Roger, Captain!", Petra quickly agreed. You could see she wanted to make up for her moment of weakness.
"Keep going? For how long?", Eren asked suddenly. "And it's right on top of us...". He looked back at her, prompting you to do the same.
"Not again", you said weakly as you watched two more soldiers try and take her on. "They shouldn't have to die like this...".
"The reinforcements! If we don't help them, they'll be wiped out again!", Eren exclaimed.
"Eren! Y/N! Eyes on the road!", Gunther ordered.
"But sir", you started, Eren stuttering sounds of protest as well.
"Keep your pace up! You guys have to go full speed!", Eld yelled.
"But, sir...", Eren tried continuing where you got interrupted. "If the Levi Squad doesn't defeat it, who will?!", Eren asked him desperately. The jarring sound of one of the soldiers being crushed as he screamed in agony rung out, causing you to whimper. Eren looked at you and you could see him breathing heavier at the state of you from the corner of your eyes.
"Another one is dead...", he cried out. "And maybe we could have saved him!". No one responded, but you could see they were troubled. It felt absolutely awful not to be able to help. To just sit and watch as someone fights an impossible fight for the sake of protecting you and your squad.
"One is still fighting... We could still make it!", Eren encouraged loudly.
"Eren! Eyes back on the road! Keep going!", Petra said firmly.
"Are you telling me to look away? To abandon my comrades and run?!", Eren asked astounded. This made him angry. You knew he couldn't walk away from a fight, he has never been able to. Not when someone innocent is in danger. No matter how admirable it was it always ended with him needing to be saved out of the situation, which gave you a bad feeling about this whole thing.
'God, I hope he doesn't do anything irrational again'
"Yes, that's right! Obey the Captain's orders!", Petra answered him as firm as ever.
Eren looked bewildered for a second, before he got a look of realization. He quickly placed his blades back in the holsters and brought his hand up you his face. Your eyes widened.
"Eren...", you almost whispered. "Don't..."
__________________________________
A/N:
And we're once again joining the action as the 57th exterior mission has started! This took a little while to write as there is so much going on hahah. I hope you guys enjoyed the different POV's in this chapter:)
Stay tuned for my next update! Have a great day!<3
~Jen