Shingeki no Kyojin with SqueezeBabe

[Levirivaille]

Levi looked at him with a slight hefty smile." Don't worry, i wont die, i need to stay here in order that you don't go looking to replace your captain with benefits." He pulled on the rest of his uniform, adjusting his cravat and walking to the door." Good.. Luck." He answered, something hovered on his lips for a moment, as if he were trying to fight the urge to tell Erwin something, but then discarded the thought and with a simple nod headed out.

 

Levi looked upon the recruit's faces before him, they were more so terrified than yesterday, what's worse was levi had just been alerted of a suicide in the 6th squad. The recruits were beginning to fall apart. This wasn't going to make it any easier on Levi to give this speech." You bunch of faithless mutts, listen up." Levi leaned to one of his hips and folded his arms." Today's journey will be dangerous yet again, make no mistake of deciding you want out now." Levi stared a few of then down." Because i'll make sure you become the titan's breakfast." Levi looked at his nails, raising his eyebrows a little." And for god sakes, check your gear before going out this time." He gave a dim expression to the girl he previously had given his gear to." I will be offering no rescue missions, no acts of kind heart or charity if a lazy brat couldn't even lsiten to this speech. It's simple, you stick to the commander's plan, you go as advised, and if you decide against our orders." Levi looked forward, his uninterestedness conveying over his face." you will die."

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin busied himself with the final preparations for the mission. There was always an air of trepidation before these sorts of things, the knowledge that you might not come back, or if you did, it wouldn't exactly be in one piece. Erwin ran a hand through his hair, this mission was an important one. Looking at it on the surface, this mission seemed like a complete waste of time, but he was always looking at the bigger picture, often planning things well into the future. His ultimate goal, and been in motion already for a number of years, and it would still be a number of years before it reached fruition. He just had to try his damnedest not to die...

 

Everyone was ready and assembled as he strode out to the courtyard. He swung himself into the saddle of his waiting horse and turned to address the recruits. His strong voice rang out over the quiet courtyard. "Listen up. The objective of this mission is to find whatever evidence we can, no matter how inconsequential it may seem. I will not lie to you, some of you will not return here. Rest assured, your sacrifice will not be in vain, and you will be remembered." Erwin looked over at the faces, some young, some old, some fresh, some weathered, and committed each one of them to memory. "For Humanity!" he roared, and wheeled his horse around, leading them out to the open ground.

[Levirivaille]

Levi stared down at his hand's on the reins, primarily, many of them wouldn't return, the outer border of the formations were particularly risk-worthy and levi sighed, kicking his horse into motion as he followed behind Erwin, from that moment on, levi's battle 'mask' appeared, ridding himself of any feelings against the others, surely this would all be towards something, Erwin had to know what.

 

Levi heard nothing but the pounding of hooves against the grass, and the clinking of the metal stirrups, everyone was either focusing, or too scared to say anything at all. Levi watched Erwin, he was the one leading this misson, he couldnt afford to take one moment to gaze at the scenery."keep up-" levi yelled back towards the trainees of the group, though they would surely die, he had to at least say he made an effort to keeo them alive.

 

Siding with Erwin, levi began murmuring back a few words of encouragement." Through all of your existence, remember you have proven yourselves as worthy to humanity, each death today will be a stepping stone to having victory against the titans someday, do not worry." Levi spotted the trailer which carried the casualties of those from the last patrol." Tsk." He noted the survey corps badge on the singular arm which hung out from under the sheets.

 

Urging his horse forwards, pulling up alongside erwin, levi looked at him." Danchō, any commands at this moment in time?" He noted the upcoming trees,perfect for titans to hide behind." Our formation wont keep if we go through there, i suspect a quarter of the right flank will be wiped out."

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin eyed off the trees in front of them, and issued the command to split. The idea was that the formation would split in half and circle around any potential hiding places - this would then at least allow them speed and maneuverability over the terrain, and potentially flush out any titans that may be lurking. If they were "normal" titans, then the horses would easily outrun them, allowing them to led to a more "scout friendly" environment, enabling them to be dispatched. Casualties would be inevitable, but Erwin was at least trying to minimise them.

[Levirivaille]

Levi let his recruits dispatch out, he let his horse rest on a higher position of the hill as they went past, trying to make sure none of them strayed away, or ran into the forest.

Levi watched with a stern cold expression as a recruit's horse bolted into the foliage, levi hesitated, but then stayed put. A few moments later, a powerful scream erupted into Levi's ears, alerting him that a titan had snatched the girl. Levi looked at the others faces as they rode by, even that mutt of a boy eren had been affected.

 

X----------------------x

 

Eren's eyes widened, moments ago he had just been discussing with the girl, they had talked of their hopes, the girl had wanted to become a captain like levi. And here eren was, watching the man she so admired, being so ignorant as to go in and save her, when he could do it. Eren knew he could've maneurvered his way through the trees, if anything they were an advantage to him, and slayed the titan. Eren felt sick, he clutched his reins as he met eyes with the captain.

 

X--------------X

" what? Eren? I said i was doing no rescue missions out of my way." Levi grumbled." Get moving or you'll be left behind." Levi kicked his horse back into a full gallop, riding alongside the formation till he reached the front again, it seemed erwin had split and gone to the other side. Levi stared across into the trees, seeing a flare go up some way back in his group.

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin heard the distant thump of flares being set off. Titans had been spotted. He gritted his teeth, they were still so far from the first village and already events were in motion. Erwin looked over his shoulder to where the flares were coming from, and fired his own flare to signal the new direction.

 

X-----X-----X-----X

 

Armin swallowed hard as the flares went off around him, and he waited for the answering flare that would tell them what direction to take. He hadn't seen the titans yet, but he was sure that they wouldn't be too far off. He didn't know what to make of Captain Levi's speech, sure, the odds of surviving in the Scouting Legion were the lowest, but as far as Armin was concerned, the Scouting Legion had the greatest tactical advantage over the other three, he just had to survive long enough. He chewed his lip, something else was going on he was sure of it, why would the Scouting Legion even bother to investigate these abandoned villages? What was Erwin hoping to find?

 

X-----X-----X-----X

 

"Titan ahead!" Jean screamed, as he pulled hard on the horses reins, willing it to dodge the massive beast. His eyes were wide with fear, and he was sure that his heart was going to burst from his chest. He was terrified, but he knew that he had to keep going. He reached for the flare that would alert the others with shaking his hands. He cursed at himself for being so frightened, but out here in the open, there was nothing he could do except run away. He looked around, the group he was with were already scattering. "No!" he yelled, but it was too late, the Titan reached down and picked someone up as they tried to gallop past. The horrifying scream was cut short. "Fuck! No! NO!" Jean screamed angrily, firing the flare, hoping that he would at least get out of this alive.

[Levirivaille]

As the formation re-grouped around the other side of the forest, levi glanced backwards, half of the group that were positioned next to him had gone, he shot a look backwards at eren." Say, eren, where's the rest of you-" levi was cut off by eren's impatient voice." O-over there!!" He spotted the flare, and the confusion of horses to the right of the formation, it was further behind, how unfortunate if the formation was trying to advance.

 

Levi watched the smoke slowly haze upwards into the clouds, what was he doing? He had made that speech of no rescue missions, but half of the recruits he had got to know where in that mess. Eren stopped beside levi's horse." Jean.."he mumbled softly, then began his horse in a decent down the hillside, towards the smoke." OI EREN." Levi's throat ached from the sheer loudness of his own booming voice." Get back into line-!" Levi threatened.' It's a damn order!". To levi's surprise there was no hesitation, no reluctant call backwards from the boy, hiis horse simply continued. Levi's eyebrow twitched, that boy's sure as hell not afraid to die.. levi 'tsked' and ushered his horse back to the formation, leaving eren, jean, and the remaining lot of soldiers to what he resolved as their doom.

 

Levi's priority was now to keep in place where the majority of missing soldiers used to be, a makeshift unit. He could see a particular titan on the horizon, he fired his flare with a simple expression." Keep calm, your horse is bred specifically to outrun them." He assured the frightened ones around him.

♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪

Eren reached jean finally." Jean!" He called out." It'll be hard in such a clear area, but, let's use our skills to use." Eren threw aside his cloak, revealing his gear equipped and ready. for humanity...

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin cursed. This was not going quite how he'd planned it. This was supposed to be a simple mission - ride to the abandoned village, try not to run into any titans and gather intelligence. There were no titans about before, and now it seemed the countryside was crawling with them. Thankfully they all seemed like regular titans, and no abnormal ones had been spotted yet, but the sheer greenness of the recruits was showing and they were getting themselves killed. It was true though, nothing could prepare you for the monstrosity and cruelty of the titans, except seeing it for yourself. The Legion was doing the best he could hope for, it wasn't an easy thing to overcome your fears. Those who could, would live.

 

X-----X-----X-----X

 

Armin crouched low over his horse as it thundered across the ground, he was hoping that he could at least make himself small and inconspicuous enough to avoid detection. If he didn't shout or make any movements, then perhaps the titan ahead would think that he was just... a funny looking horse... and leave him alone. Others didn't seem to be so lucky, attracting the titans attention. Armin squeezed his eyes shut, as horrible as it was, if the titan was occupied with the others, then it wouldn't be going after him. A tear leaked from the corner of one of his eyes, what was it that the Commander was always saying? To defeat a monster, you must become one...

[Levirivaille]

Levi slowed his horse for a moment, the units were falling prey like dominoes, his eyes caught sight of the cart he had spotted at the start of the mission, he frowned, it had now been filled to the rim with fallen recruits. And it was only the ones they could manage to pick up. The support team to the far right had been working away with what the land offered, trying to desperately keep the titans away from the formation. He noted Erwin up ahead, and swiveled his horse back around keep in place.

 

Levi loosened his reins, and stirrups, if a titan were to strike, and in the chances they were experiencing it was highly likely, he didn't want to be stuck under the horse like he had in that previous time. Watching a titan, he noticed it was trying to trap the soldier from escaping, the poor guy was running, and every time he would find a escape route, the titan placed it's hand, stopping him. Levi placed this information at the back of his head, gathering it for later. He kicked his horse once more, outrunning the titan's range.

 

------------

 

Eren let the gas fire the gear into action, pinning himself to the titan's leg, he wasn't supposed to be fighting it as such, the trainees were meant to just run away, eren didn't care, he was exterminating all of them in the long run- and this was one step closer to his goal, he co-ordinated his attack with jean, as jean distracted the titan, eren went towards it's neck, only to be caught by it's hand." Kss." He sliced through it with his blade, then managed to roughly only just manage to get it's neck. The titan fell and eren landed on his feet with a slide skid of the grass.

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin saw the walls of village in the distance. He fired off a flare to let everyone know which direction to take. when they reached those walls, they would have the advantage over the titans once more. Erwin turned in the saddle to see what was going on behind him. He could see the flare trails in the distance and the tiny forms of soldiers; they were still so far away. He shouted orders at the soldiers, with battlefield voice carrying, "GET TO THOSE WALLS NOW!!!"

 

(gomen, from my phone, will write more for Armin inna minute)

[Levirivaille]

Levi caught eyes with the commander, leading his eyes towards the walls himself, levi shouted over his shoulder," follow his lead!" Levi called, his cape wrapping around his small frame in the wind, he was thankful for the upcoming advantage and safety of those walls, a titan was fast and upcoming behind them. He fired his flare, and zig-zagged the horse in such a manor that the titan was unable to follow him, sliding into the grass, levi noted how the supply cart was also being bothered by one of the beasts." Bastards.." He acknowledged,." Let the gear go- it's slowing you down!" He ordered, advancing his horse forwards, trying to catch up to his commander.

 

-------

Eren called for his horse, swinging around the animal's neck and hopping on." Shit..." He whispered." Theyre so far away..."

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin's horse galloped along the wall, Erwin kicked feet out of the stirrups and the gas of his 3D gear hissed as the pistons fired, yanking him from the saddle and up the wall. Those around him did the same, rappelling up the wall to join him. From the top of the wall, Erwin issued his orders; half of the group was to dispatch any titans that came too close to the wall, the other half were to start searching the village. He surveyed the surrounding countryside for the telltale flare streaks, from his vantage point, he could see where the titans were, and the other soldiers were. His mouth was set in a grim line as he watched.

 

Armin stumbled slightly as he made it to the top of the wall. He watched the two groups go off, the hiss and whine of the gear in action the only sounds he could hear... they were still too far away for any screams to reach them. "S-sir?" he stammered, "do you have orders for me?" Erwin looked at Armin for a moment, his eyes calculating, he remembered that Armin had a gift for tactical thinking, the whispers in the hallways comparing him to Erwin himself. "Armin, come here, tell me what you see, tell me what you'd do differently." He listened as Armin went through the details, noting that his the assessments mirrored his own. "I-I'm not sure what I'd do different Sir, I'd have to think about it more. Hindsight gives you twenty-twenty vision they say..." Erwin gave Armin a smile. "If we survive, you're to sit in on my briefing."

[Levirivaille]

Levi, a little late, propelled himself up onto the wall, landing softly, he looked at the below village, scanning his eyes over sime of the houses." Some of them are hardly man-handled by titans." The captain spoke as he wondered over to the two of them, looking armin up and down, he hadnt payed much attention to armin before." Who's the kid-"

 

 

------------------------------

 

 

Eren finally arrived, there were a few soldiers manoeuvring about at the foot of the wall, eren went to climb up to the wall where he should've been, but a firm hand gripped itself to his shoulder." No more go up, help us with these titans.' Eren stood there for a while, maybe he should've listened to the captain, this way he would be with all his friends, or, what was left of them.

 

----------

 

Levi suddenly snapped his head up." Do you have an idea of the casualties?" Levi was impatient, his squad was small enough, he couldn't afford anymore missing soldiers.

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin turned to Levi, "This? This is Armin. He's assisting me." He pointed over to the houses. "They don't look like they've even been touched, there are no signs of titans having been through here recently, and none of those human furballs they leave lying about. So what was it that actually happened here?" He ran a hand through his hair, "we won't know the true casualties until we get back to the castle..." Erwin looked over to the the far side of the wall, in the opposite direction they had arrived, his eyes narrowed slightly. He couldn't be sure if he was seeing things or not, but it looked like there was smoke of in the distance.

 

Armin followed the commanders gaze. "S-sir?" Armin shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun. "I d-don't think it's smoke Sir, I think it's..." he squinted, "I think it's.... dust" Armin looked at the Commander, smoke would mean people, dust meant... more titans.

[Levirivaille]

Levi single-handedly snatched another captain's binoculars, waiting for his eyes to adjust, then briefly squinted in confusion." The... The far sided gates are open... How- didn't they guarantee our security on this mission, i distinctly remember a mentioning of 'all gates are shut'." Levi's mind had a hard time of finding an explanation, he looked to erwin, then armin.

 

He began to study the titans." At least two are abnormal, how... Is this logical." Levi armed himself with his blades, down below those guarding the wall also had a incoming attack of titans." We can't go back either..." Levi mumbled a few colorful words under his breath.

 

The titans were headed straight for them, as if... As if instructed .

 

A few recruits who were also due to act on manoeuvring their gear, and attacking the beasts down, tried dispatching. An odd number of them looked down in confusion, upon inspection...

 

Puncture wounds were found in their gas canisters. Levi raised a brow." What the hell is someone playing at..." The captain's first instinct was to question erwin, it made him hate himself internally to think such a thought, but, was the commander trustworthy?

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin's blood ran cold, the whole thing was a set up, which meant someone at the Capitol knew something. He didn't hesitate to give the order to retreat. Someone was going to great lengths to either wipe him out, or wipe out the entire Scouting Legion. He wondered for a moment, if that someone also knew about the castle. Was there a mole within the ranks, or just a few lucky guesses about the orders he'd received. Pixis was going to here about this when he got back, if i get back he thought grimly. He looked down at Armin and then across to Levi, he didn't miss the flash of distrust in Levi's eyes and it made his stomach turn in knots. He could make the most distasteful orders, hundreds of people could die, but as long as he achieved his objective, Levi was ok with it, he understood.

 

"Levi, protect Armin. I don't care how you do it, just get the two of you back to the castle alive" Erwin was going to need Armin's mind. He was already prioritising his members. If someone was trying to set him up, then he needed to make sure he was saving the right people. If there was going to be a mole in the Legion, then they would be among the survivors too.

 

As he guided everyone into the retreat, Erwin hung back, making sure to observe the titans for as long as he could before he started his own retreat. The soldiers scattered across the countryside, some whizzing from tree to tree until they could get to a horse, those with horses were picking comrades up to ride double, others were just running on foot. He made sure he was one of the last before taking out his purple flare and firing it high into the air. He hoped that it went high enough that it could be seen by the fort. If those behind met them along the way, then hopefully more of them would survive this... disaster

[Levirivaille]

Levi's eyes shifted a little in their sockets towards armin's blonde head, he was desperate for an answer, why would he save this kid, he wasn't much, he had to of been good at thinking, how would he of been expected to break bones?

 

Levi was hesitant, countless times he had gone along with erwin's plan, but this, like the others, didn't have an explanation, for all he knew he could've been fucking with a man trying to get rid of him. Skeptically, the small male nodded his head once." Hai... Danchō?" He had the need to emphasise the commanders affix questionably, unsurely.

 

Levi grabbed the boy's thin arm, in an instant, levi was already on his way, Armin hardly had a chance to grip hold of him and squirmed about." Say, You're eren's friend...stop struggling and kept close brat." Levi's voice mocked, letting go and hoping he had enough sense to propel himself and not fall behind. The captain's eye wandered to below him, laying in their own filth, mangled corpses with chunks missing lay beneath them, levi's gaze was almost shadowed, recognising the patches on one of their arms.

 

Armin had been keeping up, levi was almost about to snap, the boy's whimpering bottom lip as he spotted the soldiers below them made Levi frustrated." What soldier would you be if you can't get over this." Levi alerted his attention ahead, manoeuvring through the forest they had avoided before, in hope the titans in that particular area had also been ushered somewhere else. " they died for humanity....just know.. That." Levi couldn't call this factual information, this mission was a bust, the legion were if anything backwards rather than forwards, but in the way erwin worked, if he found something, it was a step in the direction of humanities' victory. Hardly today.

 

Levi despisedpointless deaths, and that's what hit him, if this was what happened.. And if erwin was responsible as he beleived, could he trust him? The captain darted in between the trees, armin was prvoing himself as a weight, eventually levi had just grabbed hold of the boy's harness and dangled him below as he continued in jis path forwards.

 

Still, levi couldn't help feel drained at the thought he might be safe, but the commander was still back there, it wasn't all endless and meaningless sex to levi, he...

 

Levi...

 

loved him.

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin slowly travelled from high point to high point. To be on the ground at this time would be a certain disadvantage. He was still keeping an eye on the titans as he slowly retreated, he was the last one left, he'd made sure all the others had gone ahead before him, even dispatching a titan that was in the way. He was tired, so terribly tired... The titans had seemed way more organised that usual, even the abnormal titans were being... methodical. They were searching for something, or someone Erwin cursed. The whole thing reeked of being set up. If he could survive long enough to find out who, and what, he was going to make them pay for it. Erwin swung himself up to the top of the tree he was in, using it as a lookout point. He fired another purple flare high into the air. From here, he was sure that they'd be able to see the flare from the castle, he'd keep setting them off until he was sure that everyone left alive was safe...

 

One of the titans turned and looked directly at him. Erwin cursed. He looked about, calculating his odds. He was fast running out of gas for travelling, and was in desperate need of a horse if he was going to make it on foot... He sized the titan up, if he could kill it, then that would buy him more time. He waited in the tree to see if the titan was going to approach him or not, if the titan was distracted by him, that would still buy everyone else more time to get away, and one less titan for them to worry about...

 

Erwin prepared himself for battle.

[Levirivaille]

Levi strained his eye to glance over his shoulder, a faint outline of a purple flare rose into the air in the distance, his body ceased to move for a moment, Erwin... armin's wailing brought him back to his order, the legion was meant to mean more than people's lives, he had been given an order. He had to stick to it, wether or not it was a mistake to his conscious.

 

Dragging the boy through the forest and out into the other side, he shielded his eyes from the sun, the hideout wasn't too far away, and soon, after moments of silence between the two, levi dropped armin in the dust by the gate wall, watching the sun start to set once more, his mind collided with his gut feeling, he was certain in such a position, that he could discard his oath to obey, and just go in and help the commander, but why wasn't he fighting against it? He didn't care for the boy, was it maybe the disheartening fact he thought erwin was playing him? How selfish of levi.

 

He wandered in, what was left of the force needed attention, extremities had been ripped off some, cuts and bruises painted other's skins. 'and this is humanities now saviours...'levi looked behind him at armin, the boy's large eyes were analysing peoples faces for his friends." If you don't mind, don't go running about in a heroic effort to try help them, i don't care if you shadow me and stick on me like a bad cold, infact, that's almost my order, but, stay close," levi went to walk away, his mind had been made up, he was going to confront the commander, question him, get every detail out of the man he could, the uneasiness he felt about Erwin needed to be cleared. It was hard to comprehend how though.

 

Levi waited. He sat daintily on the commanders makeshift desk, things became drawn out, his eyelids became droopier each minute in passing, where was he? Erwin didn't strike levi as a man who would honestly go about a suicide mission- but that's just what their job consisted of anyway didn't it?

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin was panting heavily. He'd just killed the two titans that came too close to where he was; still stuck in the tree. The abnormal titan was just... watching him. Erwin knew that the moment he went off, that the damn thing would follow him, and the last thing he wanted was to show it where the hideout was. He looked over to the west, where the sun should be setting, but the evening seemed hours away. So he was just... stuck in this tree until night fell. Once it did, he'd use the last of his gas to get down from the tree, and try make it back on foot.

 

Erwin rubbed his face, his predicament at least gave him time to think about the events of the day. He was becoming more certain that the whole thing was a set up, but the list of people who were able to engineer something like this was a very small one. It truly meant that there was no one he could trust. Unless... Erwin felt sick. His other option was that he'd been deliberately set up to take the fall. Reduced to being a scapegoat. He swallowed hard. He'd be tried for treason, executed if they thought that it was bad enough... it made him wonder what had happened for all of this to take place.

 

For now he was going to gather as much information as he could... He was sure that he could trust Hanji, there is no way that she could contain herself if she was given access to titans to the point where she could control them. She certainly wouldn't be part of the legion anymore if she was given a titan laboratory to play in. Erwin went through the list of people in his head, methodically separating those he could trust and those he couldn't. His list of trustworthy people was painfully small. He looked back over at the horizon and the impossibly slow sinking sun... Once it was dark, then he'd make a run for it.

[Levirivaille]

Levi's outer composure was still intact, he remained there, slowly listening to the tapping his boot made on the concrete, the wait game was proving to take too long, rivaille got up and decided to raid the halls, his mind oblivious to the fact he was meant to be keeping an eye on Armin.

 

His eyes suspiciously judged each and every person that walked past, this feeling he knew too well, the feeling of a hopeless search for a sure sign someone was trustworthy, the feeling of complete and utter loneliness, levi was lost. Erwin had always been a backbone for him, he'd helped him find his way up the ranks, helped him train, helped him become who he was respected as today, and he could be dead for all levi knew, maybe that's what subconsciously started his uneasy feeling.

 

Levi realised something, and it was a good way to at least try to clear erwin's name, it had just occurred to him that the man's desk was unguarded, except for armin, but what could he do anyway? Levi turned in a swift motion, heading back in the way he came, and into the room.

 

With the boy sat on the other side of the room, most likely unaware levi was about to commit a serious privacy offence against the commander, the captain began filtering through the cluttered mass of papers, emptying out the draws in search of a hidden compartment, or at least a suspicious document, to levi's relief, so far there were none, he pulled out a draw, his arms flexed as he tried to wedge it out of it's rusted hinges, at that moment a flashback of one of their nights together created a malfunction, levi dropped the draw onto his foot."shit..." He propped it up a little as he bent down to pick it up, this is why he didn't express himself, this is why it was better for him not to love. There was a huge chance he was alone again-

 

He turned on the lamp to get a better look at the papers, mainly they were just casualties and scribbled notes in erwin's neat handwriting, there was a log, but it only consisted of the previous day's happenings, he leaned forwards slightly as he found the mission outline, everything was written there, what was meant to happen anyway- pixis' name was mentioned, but a large blob of ink covered several starts to the following sentences. Hopeless.

[SqueezeBabe]

The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon, casting the world into reddish and orange hues. Finally Erwin thought. The abnormal titan was still there, staring at him. Erwin chewed his lip. If this was the same abnormal titan from before, then it would be able to move around in the dark, which made him wonder how well it could actually see in the dark, or perhaps maybe that it's sense of smell was so good that it didn't need to see him to find him. Erwin immediately ruled that out - if it could smell them, then it would have tracked him and Levi earlier. So the darkness was the only advantage he had... Erwin resolved to stay staring at the titan until it was too dark to see it.

 

Darkness fell slowly. The red and orange giving away to a bruised sky as the sun disappeared below the horizon. Erwin strained his ears in the dark, waiting for the titan to move. Hearing nothing, he cautiously climbed down the tree, too afraid that the noise of his 3D gear deploying would alert the titan. It was painstakingly slow, each noise he made nearly convinced him that the abnormal titan was about to come charging over, but he eventually made it to the bottom, landing lightly on the ground. He felt the ground shake and immediately went cold. The damn thing was just playing with him.

 

Erwin took off at a run.

[Levirivaille]

Levi sighed, his eyes fell in a heavy gaze at armin, he'd fallen asleep, nestled in the green cloack which seemed to be so big it would swallow him whole. Levi got up, his body creaked and moaned in a resistance, he wished he could just stay in the chair, and catch some shuteye himself, but the force never rested, and until Erwin returned, levi vowed to himself neither would he.

 

He proceeded to walk out slowly, finding a terrace on one of the top floors and rested his arms on the bannister."where are you.." levi's thoughts became desperate, no movement other than the gentle breeze-blown grass below was sighted by the captain, and a few restless noises inside erupted, dragging levi from his thoughts, he looked over his shoulder simply, then sudden gush of voices was just from the draft as hanji had opened the door and joined him." They're all scared you know Heichō, the commander's not returned, and they're refusing ti go in search parties, ." The woman sighed and pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose." If he's still alive, he's got little chance of returning alive."

 

Those words hit levi like a tonne of bricks, it was true, night had fallen, usually it would be in favour of his journey back- but levi had spotted abnormals, and their little intelligence on them could mean they thrived in darkness. He stared at hanji's bright eyes, she was hoping he returned as much as the captain.

[SqueezeBabe]

Erwin was staggering now. Too exhausted to care whether he lived or died. Somehow, in the dark, he'd managed to lose the titan, and himself in the process. He was sure he was heading in the right direction, but his mind was too fatigued. From being injured, and not being fully recovered, to now running for the last six hours, he'd reached his limit. There was no point in setting off a flare, there would be no way it would get seen in the darkness... There was the one bright flare that he had, but as well as alerting everyone to where he was, it would also alert the abnormal titan.. better than he just keeping walking, one foot in front of the other, until he collapsed or was killed. He looked up, sure that he could see lights off in the distance, that would mean people no matter which way you looked at it.

 

X-----X-----X-----X

 

He'd made it... Erwin couldn't believe it. He'd managed to find his way back to the castle. His feet felt like blocks of lead, his whole body weighing him down. He stumbled through the quiet courtyard until he sunk to his knees. He was utterly exhausted. Tears slowly trailed down his face. He was alive.

 

The ground rose up to meet him. The last thing he saw before the darkness claimed him was Levi's worried face.

[Levirivaille]

Levi immidiately called for a stretcher, and paramedic, that was if there were any left. He'd made it, the odds seemed to shock levi more than anyone else, he had fully accepted Erwin's death moments ago, that shocked him more than the fact he was before him, the commander was barely recognisable, but he was there, levi stared at the tears that ran down his superior's face, disbelief hit levi, this was un-natural, the whole situation had everything but regularity. Levi was feeling things in his chest. And for the first time he had seen the man before him shed tears.

 

----------------

 

Levi let the closest being to a medical staff advise him on how to care for erwin, then shut the door behind him, levi's frame paced back and forth impatiently, open your eyes.. levi thought hastily, he, himself hadn't slept in a while, and his eyes felt strained. There were a million things he wanted to accuse Erwin of, a million things too many. Even after he had found nothing infront of him to charge against the commander, mixed feelings of blame and pity were printed to erwin in levi's head.

 

He sat down in the usual chair, with the usual expression, and the usual attitude. His hand gripped to the edge of the bed.

 

Levi decided Erwin lay in that state too much.