Hello people, animals... lifeforms? Regardless of what you are, thanks for actually clicking on my stupid little crackship story. This before story intro contains important material you should know before.

/!\Warning/!\

This fanfiction contains a genderbent character. In this case, it is Mikasa, or Mikase. If you don't wanna read about that, You can leave now if you wish, but I'd greatly appreciate some feedback if you decide this little crap shoot's even worth that.

Sobbing. A toned down whine was floating around that space that she occupied. Erza was hiking up an old mountain path towards the destination that her job was bringing her to. The greenery was lush on this warm morning and seemed to sparkle as the morning sun came into contact with the dew, rolling off the leaves and falling into the unkempt blades of grass that lay beneath. Twigs scattered the ground, making every other step that she took crunch with a dry protest. Wildlife was scarce as she plodded along the steep trail. She was acutely aware of the troubling noises surrounding her. She dropped the handle of the cart that held her luggage.

"Who's there?" She demanded. The pitiful sounds that were echoing around the trees came to an abrupt stop. The wind played with the leaves on bushes and trees alike. The resonance of rustling leaves filled the air, covering any small hints that she may have been able to pick up by ear. Erza narrowed her eyes. Something was out there. Human or not, it had been crying. And she was going to find out why.

"I said, who's there?!" She yelled. No indication of anything living was given. Could this thing not respond? Was it not able to speak in her tongue? Or was it afraid? Regardless of what it felt, Erza was going to at least find out what it was. The steady wind continued to tease the trees, not particularly strong, but enough to move the upper branches of the trees that towered around her. The illusion that it was silent came after several minutes of continuous rustling. Erza took on a well-honed battle stance and looked around herself. She closed her eyes and focused on the most miniscule utterances that took place in her vicinity.

A sniffle. To the right of the path, an almost inaudible action alerted Erza to the creature's position. Requiping her sword, she cautiously approached the right side of the road. As she drew closer to the location which she believed that this things was hiding at, the sniffling grew just the tiniest bit louder. This could be some wild animal with something bothering its nose. It could be one of the dragon slayers, Erza thought jokingly. But as easy as that would make this, that probably wasn't the case. All of the dragon slayers in Fairy Tail were strong proud people, they wouldn't come out here to cry. Besides, Natsu was off on a job with Gray, Laxus was hanging around on the second floor and Wendy was receiving lessons from Gajeel for the dragon's roar technique.

Upon taking another step, a dry cracking resounded throughout the trees. Erza clenched her teeth. How could she have been so careless? It might get spooked and run off! She was close enough now to peek around the bushes and tree that obscured her view of whatever this thing was. Tentatively, the queen of fairies peeked at what had enraptured her attention. The position that she held was unfortunately not a very good one, and she could only make out a portion or red fabric, along with a metallic box. What on earth is that?

Erza shuffled closer, testing how close she could get before this creature ran off. Pushing at the bushes, she got just what she wanted. What she saw was something she never wanted to see again. A boy, probably around her age, lay against the tree. Blood stains dotted his clothing from head to toe, and Erza could only hope it didn't belong to him. There were extremely thin blades scattered around him. Some were pouring from the metal boxes she had seen earlier. Two of the blades however, were attached to handles which were connected to a harness set that covered his whole body. The boxes were attached to the hips with more belts. The skirt he wore to most likely cover more belts, was ripped and matted with an unidentifiable substance. Long knee high boots covered his legs. His right ankle had been flipped backwards, the bone stretching the sickly white skin, almost piercing it, but not being kind enough to do so. His knees were drawn up to his chest, keeping the pressure off his right ankle. The boy's left arm was hanging limply next to his body, swaying ever so slightly in the breeze. A red scarf was wrapped partially around his neck, the rest of it drooping down to the forest's floor.

Erza was stunned for a moment. Who would do this, why would they do it, and where were they now? The scarlet knight swallowed hard. There was a bad vibe coming off of this boy. What could she do for him? It seemed like he wasn't just out here on a stroll, with all this… equipment, he would have had a specific goal in mind.

Unable to see his face from the angle, Erza shifted once more, lowering herself into the bush while keeping her gaze trained on the boy. When his face came into view, Erza was yet again surprised. He had a soft face with small gray eyes that were focused on the ground in front of him. His eyes were red from crying, and there were wet spots on his knees and shirt. Small streams of tears escaped those eyes, leaving trails in the dirt and blood covered skin. Jet black hair framed his face, stopping shortly below his chin. His right hand held his scarf over his mouth, muffling the sounds that leaked from it. This boy was in unimaginable pain, probably comparable to when she destroyed three hundred lightning lacrima during the Fantasia Parade.

She couldn't just leave him here, not when he was in this condition. She would help him, and figure out what had happened to this poor boy. As much as it pained her to do so, she would have to use a kind and soft voice. This boy was in no shape to be yelled at, let alone in her commanding tone of voice. Erza sighed and retreated from her position. Walking around the tree, she requiped into something less threatening than her armour.

"H-hello?" She timidly asked. A sudden scraping of metal alerted Erza to the boys' movement. She scowled. This nice girl act was more draining on her than any of her high level spells. "I-is anyone there?" She paused, "I thought I heard someone crying…" He sniffled, and a twig snapped behind the tree. Erza slowly moved around the tree. She was met with cold gray eyes that held none of the emotion that was there moments ago. Erza looked him over once, as if seeing him for the first time. "You're badly hurt!" She exclaimed. His gaze hardened and looked up to meet her own. "Please let me help you! I know a mage that's very skilled in healing." The boy tore his gaze away.

"Mage? What's a mage?" He muttered under his breath. Erza caught every word of it. She took a step back. How could this boy not know what a mage was? It was common knowledge, and everyone knew about them. He looked back at her. "Who are you, where am I, and which wall are we closest to?" Erza was stunned. How could this boy whom looked like he was collapsing from the injuries he was suffering from, just demand things with a clear and unwavering voice? And why was he talking about walls? What did that have to do with anything?

A strong gust of wind shook the trees and ripped the loosely hung scarf from his neck. The scarf travelled in the air for a moment before landing in front of Erza's feet. The boy's reaction was almost instantaneous. He jolted up on his good leg and lunged for the scarf.

Erza gasped, "How could you do that!" She exclaimed. He was shaking, one of the metal boxes had landed on his bad arm. She reached down to remove it from his arm, but the boy glared at her and practically hissed.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on that." She slowly stood up and took a few paces backwards. So, the kid was super attached to the equipment and scarf he had on, good to know. Erza had to get this boy into the guild as soon as she could humanly manage. She looked him over once more. The skin that was visible was marred with scrapes, cuts and bruises. The boy was staring at the ground before her feet. "I don't need your help. I need to help my friends." He stopped, "I… I need to save humanity." Erza saw a flicker of something in those eyes. She smiled.

"I realise that you have to help them. But before you can help them, you have to help yourself get better. You're in no condition to fight." She bent down and offered her hand to him. She was calm, composed and ready to help on the outside, but inside a hurricane of questions pelted her with no mercy. What did he mean by save humanity? What was he fighting against, and did whatever he lost to now have his friends? Erza blinked and cleared the question for the time being. "Please, let me help you, so you can help your friends." The boy grumbled and looked from his arm to his ankle.

"I don't want to say yes, but I very well may not have another person come across me in this region. I will accept your aid for the time being." Erza couldn't tell if it was from blood loss, or the very formal acceptance to her help that created the thin blush that spread across his cheeks. She grinned as he took her hand and helped him up.

"Now, how should we do this…?" Erza wondered aloud. "I could… carry you on my back." He shook his head almost as soon as the words left her lips. She raised an eyebrow, curiosity lacing her ire. Was there something that could hurt him if he was carried?

"And you are so opposed to this idea, why?" She intoned. "Are you hurt in the abdomen as well?" He shook his head and shifted his gaze to something off to the side.

"No, I only have scrapes, and a few minor puncture wounds in the stomach area. It's just…" He trailed off, obliviously not wanting to continue.

"It's just, what" Erza prompted him. Why didn't he want to say anything? Well, there's a good possibility that anyone wouldn't want to talk to someone if they were found like this.

He scowled. "I mean for one thing, a guy like me being carried by a girl like you would be a little embarrassing, and also there's the chance that you might not be able to lift me, so…" He fell silent once again after explaining himself.

Erza scoffed at the comments. "I'm much stronger than I look. I'll be able to carry you and your," She thought for a moment, "equipment easily." The boy looked like she had just confessed to eating live children after performing a vivisection on them. Uncertainty settled on his features.

"You're sure about that?" He inquired hesitantly.

Erza smiled. "Yeah I'm sure. You're going to get weird looks if you're with me anyways. I'm not just some face in the crowd, you know." His uncertainty was twisted into something akin to confusion.

He dwelled on whether or not to just accept the offer and get on my back, or think up another way to get around this. The wind swirled around them, shifting his hair ever so slightly. The grass around the two swished with a thousand whispers as their blades met one another. Somewhere on the mountain, a bird cried as it dove after its prey. Branches creaked on the tall trees surrounding the duo.

The sun was starting to warm the forest on this brisk morning and Erza had yet to even arrive at the jobs destination. She would leave him at the guild after a few hours, and go complete the quest. It was simple, really. Just kill a mountain troll that had been terrorizing a village for the past week.

Finally the boy came to a decision and agreed to ride on her back. "It's not like I want to do this, but walking would most likely ruin my ankle permanently. If that happened, the captain would murder me."

Erza crouched down in front of him, and he gently lowered himself onto her back. He grimaced as his ankle brushed her side. The equipment he wore was actually quite awkward as well, it hung on his sides' right where her arms would hold him down.

"Can you slide your legs forward a little more? The boxes are in the way." He did as instructed and draped his good arm over her shoulder. Erza snaked her hands under his legs and grabbed his knees. "Will this be alright?"

The boy nodded and gripped her shoulder. "Could you pick up my blades though?" Erza scanned the area for his fallen blades and quickly snatched them up.

"These go, in the boxes… right?" She questioned. His reply came in a well-practiced line.

"Yes, the tip of it goes on the bottom, one per slot." She carefully slid the blades into their places and slightly readjusted her grip on his legs.

"Okay, that's everything? I'm going to stand up now, so hold on tight." Feeling only his right arm squeeze her shoulder, Erza remembered his left dangling arm. "Is your arm going to be alright?" She eyed it warily, as if it could become even more broken as it was.

"I'll still it the best I can with my shoulder, but don't worry about it." This kid… has amazing resistance to pain. What he has experienced, I couldn't begin to imagine.

Erza stood slowly, expecting a great weight to rest on her back, but was greeted with something weighing akin to one of her heavier armour sets. She started with a steady pace towards her cart, watching for anything that she could step on and that could possibly throw her balance off.

Leaving the shadows of the trees, the boy winced at the harsh sunlight. While picking up the handle to her cart, the boy started to relax a little. He breathed out a couple of words, inaudible to the average person.

"Thank you." Erza smiled at this, and started down the mountain. She had secured the boy, and was getting him to medical care, but other thoughts weighed heavy on the forefront of her mind. Later, she mentally chided herself. She could ask him later.

"I'm more than happy to help you," She said. "And by the way, my name is Erza. Erza Scarlet." She felt him nod against her neck.

His grip on her shoulder gradually faded until it was just resting on the bone. His breathing evened out, and his eyes drooped shut. The boy passed out on her back on the way to the guild hall.

Okay, so I realise that this is like one of those "what the hell were they thinking" crackships, and quite honestly I don't support it wholeheartedly, but in my shipping circles, Neither Erza or Mikasa had any good potential ships. (Please don't kill me people who ship Levi/Mikasa, Mikasa/Eren, Mikasa/Annie or Erza/Jellal, Erza/Natsu, Erza/Gray). This is all for fun, and it might have mature themes later on. But judging by how slowly I write, and get anything done, plot-wise, that's not going to happen anytime soon.