┌──❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚─┐
PARADIS YEAR 850
BATTLE OF TROST CONT.
└───❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚┘
You walked along the top of the wall, nodding towards the soldiers that passed by. Soon the battle between humanity and titans would continue, as Eren attempted to seal the hole.
You noticed the boy muttering to himself as you continued to walk before he placed his arm out to stop you, "Where'd you disappear to?"
"Was catching up with everyone", You shrugged innocently—The lies rolled off your tongue with ease.
He let out a low hum, "I was surprised to see you back up here. Figured you would be leading the squads down below".
"Apparently I'm going to join the elite squad", You muttered, shrugging slightly, "I guess in case I have to save your sorry ass" you finished with a grin.
"Right", He chuckled lightly, "Mikasa's being sent to the decoy squad."
"I figured they would have her join the elite with me, considering she's the top in our class", You added as the two of you walked over to Mikasa and Armin.
You couldn't help but notice her grim expression as she stood between the two of you. It wasn't hard to see that something was bothering her, and if you had to take a guess you'd place your bets on it being about Eren.
Your suspicions were confirmed when she began pulling at the hem of her scarf nervously, "Eren. I really think I should...".
"Don't even think of coming with me", He interrupted making you raise your eyebrows at his tone, "They assigned you to the decoy squad."
"But I can't leave you all alone! It'll happen again if... ", She stuttered out with pleading eyes.
She was scared. Scared of losing him again. scared that he wouldn't get a third chance at life. It was a valid fear, as hours ago she had been under the impression that he was dead.
You knew she didn't want to have to go through that again.
"Enough, already! I told you before! I'm not your little brother or your kid!", He yelled out before a higher ranking officer came over to interrupt his outburst.
"Ackermann. Join the elite squad that'll protect Jaeger. We'll need your skills", They announced before running off.
"You've got to be kidding", Eren muttered in defeat.
"Well now that that's all figured out we should probably go", You muttered nodding towards the retreating figure, "See you, Armin. Don't die on me", You called out as you passed him.
"Mm. You too", He smiled sending you a wave as you ran behind the rest of the squad.
"We're almost to the shortest route to the rock", A squad member informed as you continued to run along the rooftops.
"I don't see any Titans in the area. Their decoy tactic must be working", You added as you scanned the scene to see empty streets.
"Listen! All we have to do is lure them into a corner of town! Avoid any unnecessary fighting", She announced as the rest of the squad nodded along.
"Just so you're aware, Jaeger... More than just a few soldiers will likely die during this operation. All for you. Our colleagues, our seniors, and our juniors. They're prepared to die, of course. They're soldiers. But, they aren't faceless pawns", She continued sending him a look.
Why the hell see is she saying this all now? Its not like it will help anything. If anything it will just make the boy more of a nervous wreck then he already is.
He sent you a look as you sent him a small nod of support, "Yeah, I know", He muttered continuing to follow after the group with a determined look on his face.
• • • • • •
"Steady! Not yet! Almost...!", Your squad leader drew out as you all prepared to get into position, "Break away!", he called out as the titan brought its fist to the roof completely obliterating it into pieces.
You kept running along side Eren and Mikasa as you made your way to the bolder that Eren would need to use to close the hole in the wall.
You felt your heart pounding with anticipation as you flew from the buildings getting closer and closer to the objective.
You felt yourself flying in the air as you slid past the towering structures all around you. The breeze from the wind hitting your face, as you swung from tower to tower.
You grunted as you tried using your momentum to save up some gas just in case of getting stuck in a similar situation like earlier. You felt yourself dip low to the ground as you kept your body upright watching Eren and Mikasa from above as they flew fast along the city streets.
You flung yourself up doing a quick spiral as you turned your body in the other direction to help you balance yourself. You watched as Eren brought himself in the air using a move you taught him before a bright light shined in the distance as he transformed into his titan.
A large explosion came from the area he was in before he let out a loud shriek shaking the surrounding houses.
You and Mikasa stood on a rooftop watching as he prepared to pick up the large boulder, "Granted in terms of proportion its not easy to see how he'll lift it, But in terms of sheer will, he's got this. I know he does", Mikasa muttered confidently.
"I don't doubt that", You nodded looking back over at him.
He slowly turned his body towards the two of you with a fierce look in his eyes, almost like he was in some sort of trance, "Eren?", Mikasa called out before he quickly brought his fist to the wall the two of your were on.
Letting out small shrieks you both felt the wall cave in below you as you reached out to grabbed a hold of Mikasa. Bringing her closer to your side you watched a large piece of debris make its way towards her.
You used your strength to fling her to the other side of the roof, before using your gear to fly back to a safer spot. Unfortunately your foot was slammed into a large rock as you let out a low hiss from the pain.
The rest of the squad looked on in fear as they watched you stand in front of him as your blades were drawn as a precaution in case things went south.
Unlike what everyone else probably believed right now, Eren was no threat to any of these people. His display at this moment was not helping his case, but you weren't scared of him.
It was normal that he would be like this, considering the fact that he has no prior experience to honing his titan ability.
You remembered how it was for the other shifters when they first got their titans. They were erratic and irritated beyond belief. Wanting to destroy everything in their wake.
Which is why they trained and were overseen by men and women that knew how to control them. Unlike Eren, who two hours ago had no idea he possessed the ability to shift into the very monster he declared to kill.
So you stayed put, thinking of a way to get him to snap out of this trance like state he was in.
Unfortunately that gave Eren the perfect opportunity to strike again as he lifted his fist once more to bring it down on you.
"Hey watch out", Your squad captain called out as you jumped up to his face holding onto his hair for support.
"Eren, c'mon! You have to seal the hole with that rock!", You yelled out trying to get his attention.
"The operation's a failure. I knew there was no "secret weapon", Someone muttered from your group.
Mikasa shouted out once she stabilized herself on the roof, "Eren! You're human! Snap the hell out of it! You're..!"
"Dodge!", The captain shouted at you as Eren went to attack again bringing his fist straight towards his head as you jumped off.
"What the hell?! He's just a regular, dumb Titan!", Someone shouted as you all watched Eren sit in a crouched position on the floor as his body tried to regenerate his now missing hand.
"Captain Ian! Two Titans approaching from ahead! A 10-meter one and a 6-meter one! One 12-meter Titan is closing in from the rear!"
"We have to withdraw! There's no way that kid's sealing the hole!", He announced, "We have no choice but to leave him here."
Mikasa's head whipped around as she sent all of them an icy glare. You knew the last thing she would do was leave him to fend for himself.
The captain looked away from her gaze as he stood deep in thought. Was he really debating on whether to stay in order to save him?
"Hey! This is no time to hesitate! Make the call!"
"Ian! It isn't your fault! This whole mission was a long shot to begin with!"
"We all understand! It was worth a shot, and we did the best that we could! So our teams are going back up the wall now!", A man shouted as Mikasa brought her blades up to attack him before you jumped in to save her from the punishment she would face.
"Wait! Wait. Calm down", You ordered placing your arm in front of her as the captain sent the both of you a look before letting out a deep sigh.
"Rico Team, take out the 12-meter one to the rear! Mitabi Team and my team will deal with the two ahead!", The captain announced as everyone looked at him with wide eyes at his orders.
"What?!", they gasped in shock that he wasn't ordering them to retreat. I guess Mikasa's stare really did spook him into submission.
"I was the one put in charge! Do as you're ordered! We can't leave Jaeger defenseless!", He shouted out, "Change of plans! We're to defend Jaeger from the other Titans until we can recover him! He holds a precious chance for humanity."
"Hundreds of people have died in this mission alone for that failure of a human weapon! Yet you want to recover him and go through this same thing all over again?!"
"We have to keep trying, no matter how many people die", You argued, taken back by your own tone.
The most important thing was to keep Eren safe—Even if it was for selfish reasons of your own it didn't matter. Not only had you made a promise to Reiner, but Mikasa as well.
"We knew the risks going into it. Don't act like you didn't sign yourself a death sentence the minute you decided to stay", You continued lowering your voice slightly.
"You might not care if you die here, but not all of us are on some crazy suicide mission! Ive got a family to go back to", A member cried out as your eyes widened.
"This is our job! We signed up to be soldiers. Did you just not expect to ever run into a titan until today? Im not going to sit here and listen to you cry about not wanting to fulfill your duties", You started.
"Your not the only one scared out of your mind right now. But those who have risked their lives today deserve more than having us retreat like a bunch of cowards".
"If you want to do that, then by all means go ahead and hop on one of those ships that are taking the citizens to safety, but I'm not going anywhere", You ended as everyone remained quiet, thinking over your words.
You glanced over at your squad captain as his face held a deep frown. He was having an internal battle with himself before letting out a deep sigh.
"...Like she said, our job now is to keep the others off him till he can be recovered. Whether we like it or not he's still our last best chance", He grunted as you all glanced over at Erens titan that remained still.
"We're not about to abandon him. We are expendable...he isn't...he can't just be replaced."
"Please don't tell me about our last best chance. He's a failure countless of soldiers died because of! Just look at him Ian. Are you saying you want more of us to die because of that", A soldier argued.
"That's right", the captain muttered darkly, "Down to the last man! If that's what it takes so be it!"
"Ian you can't be serious", Rico called out.
"what other hope against the titans do we have? You know something that I don't", He questioned as his face held a look of frustration.
"This is it! this is all we got and you damn well know it! I am making a judgement call here, if you have a better plan then speak up".
"If your asking me how else we'll defeat the titans, obviously I have no idea", She sighed.
"See. that's why we can't afford to beat a retreat. not just yet. We may not know what else is in there, but there's hope. As long a that's the case, then I'm going to fight to the bitter end", He concluded.
"If we're going to do something, then we've got to do it now before more titans come our way", You spoke as they all nodded along.
"Ill take my group to fight off the ten meter titans", Rico informed before walking off.
You stood along side the captain, Mikasa and a few other soldiers in your squad waiting on your next set of orders.
"Thank you captain. That was brave", Mikasa muttered suddenly.
"No, it wasn't. There's no thanks needed. The fact of the matter is I was petrified of the mess you were about to get into", He admitted as she looked down in shame as you squeezed her hand in comfort.
"Now both of you", He looked over, "Make good use of that inborn skill."
You both nodded curtly at his order, "Go save the man you love", He added giving Mikasa a knowing look making you look away as you smirked at her slight embarrassment.
"It's not like that", She rushed out as the captain ran in the opposite direction leaving the two of you alone.
You sent her a look as she let out a low huff of denial, making you chuckle quietly. Suddenly
a loud noise from beside you caused you both to turn your heads to see Eren.
He now stood with steam coming from his injured hands. You noticed that they had yet to heal themselves.
But it made since considering the boy had taken major damage from his earlier attack, his stamina as a new shifter was low.
You looked over to see Mikasa watching him with a slight frown of curiosity on her face. She must have noticed the same thing as she glanced at his injured body.
"So how should we go about this" you questioned taking her out of her daydream as she sent you a small shrug.
"Im not sure, but we need to be careful...He might try another attack if we get too close", She muttered as you nodded lightly looking back at Eren.
In the distance you heard a small voice calling out your name as you looked up to see a familiar blonde running along the rooftops.
Armin? What's he doing here?
"Guys! What's going on", He called out panting as he looked down to see Erens titan remain still.
"He just went crazy...Almost crushed us and now he's just standing. His body isn't regenerating, most likely from overworking himself during his initial attacks", You answered.
"Eren", He started stepping closer , "Come on what are you doing? You've got to wake up", He tried to call out to the boys unresponsive body.
"We've tried to talk with him...But he just remains the same", Mikasa muttered as Armin sent her a worried look.
"We need to shift the objective now. If he won't get up then we need to do something about the titans that will soon invade this area", You added.
"The last thing we need is for the other squads to be overwhelmed when we don't show up with Eren. So we should focus on helping them take down any titans that sneak through the cracks", You ended before hearing footsteps make their way from behind you.
"Guys", a soldier called out, "It's a thirteen meter! And it looks like it's about to pounce on Jeager", He finished causing you and Mikasa to equip your gear.
"We've got four more coming through the gate! We are losing soldiers at a fleeting rate", The soldier announced again, causing Mikasa to gasp.
"You head for the titan after Eren, i'll worry about the four other titans alright", You ordered trying to walk away until she grabbed a hold of your arm.
You looked up sending her a questioning glance as she slowly let go of you, looking down in thought, "Are you sure you'll be able to handle it?"
You let out a breathy laugh, "Of course I will. I did come second in our class y'know", You joked, "Plus i've got experience.... With the Scouts and everything", You falter, fixing your mistake before she noticed.
She let out a reluctant sigh, slowly toying with her scarf, "Don't worry about me. Focus on helping Eren", You pushed, before running off.
You swung from the rooftop as your gear lunched itself into the towers beside you. In the distance you saw the sun began to set.
If you weren't so busy trying to survive then you'd have thought it was beautiful. The orange hue casted itself along the horizon as it peaked right away the wall.
Something about it reminded you of Marley. And even though you had bitter feelings towards your home country, you couldn't argue that the sky held most of the beauty that nation had to offer.
You and Kai would always sneak along the rooftop of the Webers to enjoy the sun setting along the horizon of the ocean.
Neither of you ever spoke, but no words were needed during those times. Weirdly enough it seemed like you could sense what the other was thinking without having to utter a sound.
It was peaceful—All of your worries and problems just seemed to fade away on that rooftop.
But everything was different now. The rooftop you had learned to love would forever be a memory to you.
A sudden sinking feeling made its way to your stomach snapping you out of your thoughts as you looked up ahead to see a large titan running through the street.
You brought your blade up slicing along its arm till you twirled up its limb and to the back of its neck.
You let out a low grunt as you continued on your way swinging from side to side as you dodged attacks, before taking down the remaining bodies.
You stood exhausted, as your arms remained at your side before looking in the distance to see Armin standing on top of Erens Titan.
His blades were drawn as if he were going to slice at his nape. Your eyes widened in fear, wondering what the blonde was doing.
Is he going to kill him? Before you could give it a second thought you took off once more towards the boy.
"Armin! What are you doing", You called out as he looked over at you.
"Getting him out of there. When Eren first emerged from this form, it was from the weak spot. I don't know, but something tells me thats a big part of the picture", he answered bringing his blades up before slicing them against the back of Erens neck.
Mikasa let out a loud shriek as Armins blade was stabbed straight into the skin causing blood to fling all around from the damage done.
Erens body shot up, as his titan let out a loud screech. His body began to twist around in pain as Armin tried to stay put.
"Stop it! You'll get yourself killed", You heard Mikasa warn as she watched the boy hold on for dear life.
"Im fine! just do what you can to keep the rest at bay", He shouted back, "Trust me, there are tons of other people you should be worried about! Now, both of you leave Eren to me and go do what you do best."
"What is he talking about", She muttered quietly.
"I think he means we should go kick some titan ass", You chuckled as she sent you a panicked look, "Armin's got this...I trust that he can find a way to bring Eren back."
"...Fine", She whispered, "Lets go", She nodded as the two of you made your way to your squad.
You continued to run on rooftops watching as soldiers were ripped away and devoured by titans that flooded the area. You watched as Captain Ian came through taking down a beast that was about to eat a member of your squad.
Both you and Mikasa moved in their direction to help out, "Ive got this captain", Mikasa shouted, "Ill help team Mitabi", She finished before bringing her blades to a titans neck.
"Ill go off and help other squads", You said before taking off.
You weren't sure where you were headed, but figured it would be best to go towards the area that was swarmed with the most titans.
You could feel your body begin to waver from all of your fighting, but you didn't let it get to you as you continued to push on.
Soon you heard familiar voices in the distance, making you run towards the yelling to find Jean, Marco, and Connie along the street with a titan between the three of them.
These idiots! Are they crazy?
"Get up the wall", You heard Jean shout at your friends before he ran the opposite direction, making the titan chase after him.
You looked over to see Connie and Marco make their way up the wall as you met them along the building, "Hey, what are you doing over here", They questioned once they noticed you.
"Figured you'd need some backup", You shrugged walking over to them and brining them into a quick hug.
"No kidding, its getting crazy out here...What happened with the plan? I thought Eren was supposed to close the opening", He questioned as the three of you made your way to a safety area.
"Didn't go as planned, he got put into some trance like state...And his body isn't regenerating", You answered with a sigh.
"Shit. That doesn't sound good", He muttered as you used your gear to scale the side of the wall.
"It wasn't, but Armin's in the process of snapping him out of it", You added before looking over to see Annie standing beside you. Just great.
"Where's Jean", Marco questioned Annie as the three of you looked down along the city to see him still running from a titan.
"What the hell is he doing?", You asked watching his retreating body make its way through the street.
"Why isn't he using his gear", Connie asked before his face fell into a look of horror, "....Hang on! Don't tell me its not working!"
"I'm going down there", You muttered suddenly before Annie stopped you.
"Its dangerous", She warned sending you a look as you turned away.
"Its dangerous everywhere...Plus what kind of solider would I be if I left my comrade hanging", You subtly spit out before jumping off the wall. You just prayed you'd make it to him in time.
Just wait for me Jean, ill be there soon.
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Journal Entry #17
Jean Kirstein is an idiot. If he keeps trying to be a hero we all know he isn't, then he'll end up as titan food any day now.
Which would suck. I think I would miss seeing the idiots face in the dining hall. Or the way his face grows red when I say something to embarrass him....
What is it about him that makes me miss him when he isn't around? Times like these are when I need you the most. You always had an answer to every problem.
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Another chapter done!!! I really hope you guys enjoyed. Don't forget to vote and comment! I love getting feedback ♡