Summary:
Dragoons have always been the stuff of legends—named as the Protectors of the creatures of the night. Due to the constant conflicts going on amongst the Night, no one has seen a Dragoon for hundreds of years now, with most believing them to be extinct. Until Levi and his comrades ran into three Dragoons one night, even finding his mate in one of them, thus changing the tide of the war and the fate of the world as a result.
Pairings: Levi/Eren. One-sided Erwin/Eren.
Warnings: AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Character deaths. Taller Levi. Shorter Eren.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me
Chapter One: Dragoons
Levi frowned, looking around at the carnage—along with the number of dead bodies lying all around them in this part of the forest that they are in, with blood soaking deep into the rich soil of the earth.
The dark haired man let out a disgusted sound as he eyed the blood visible on his cloak and the blades in his hands before removing a white cloth and cleaning the blood off his blades and his hands.
"Heichou?" Petra Ral approached him with a frown. The vampire glanced around at the carnage. "Don't you find it strange? Why is the Dawk faction in this part of the woods? It isn't part of their territory. Besides…"
"It seems to me like they're searching for someone or even several someones in particular." Eld Jinn added, approaching Levi, with Gunther Schultz and Oluo Bossard close behind him. All three men have blood visible on their cloaks and clothes, with Oluo yawning his head off.
Levi said nothing even as he pondered over what Eld had said.
The wars happening amongst the various factions of the creatures of the Night have been getting worse in recent years, and the humans didn't particularly keep it a secret that they blamed the creatures of the Night, and wanted them exterminated. The worst of the wars have been between the Dawk and Smith factions however—the largest of the factions belonging to the creatures of the Night.
It is only in recent years that they've discovered that the Dawk faction seemed to be searching for someone or something in particular. None of them knew what however.
"I don't know what it is that they're searching for; but whatever it is, I doubt that it'll be good news for us if they get their hands on whatever that they're searching for." Levi concluded. He then turned to face his squad. "Let's go back."
"Yes sir!"
Oluo yawned loudly once more, and Petra giggled, patting his arm. "Tired?" she asked her mate sympathetically. "Come on, a little more, and you can go to sleep."
Levi stared on impassively, trying to fight down the pangs of loneliness at seeing the two interact with each other. He had been around for a long time now—and despite his introvert personality, even he will get lonely at seeing everyone around him get together one after the other, and he had not even found his mate until now.
Mate bonding in the Dark World is a strange thing. Like how Petra was kind enough to tell Levi when she'd first met Oluo, and the mate bond simply flares between them, it is like you'll know it is them the moment that you met them. You will want to be there for them, and you get twitchy the moment they so much as go out of your sight. Especially for vampires who are pretty possessive and protective when it comes to their other halves.
Levi stiffened just then as he caught the sound of leaves and branches rustling, with faint shouts in the distance. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, and his eyes flickered around in suspicion.
"Heichou?" Gunther spoke up warily, eyes narrowed in suspicion as well, as the rest of the squad took up defensive positions.
"Something's coming!" Petra said, her grip tightening over the hilt of her sword.
"Be on your guard." Levi told his squad calmly, eyes flickering around.
Then, all five vampires caught the fresh scent of blood—though it isn't a scent that they're familiar with. It doesn't smell like a vampire's. Neither does it smell like a werewolf. And it doesn't smell like the scent of any of the other creatures of the Night that they've repeatedly run into throughout the years.
Rustle.
Then, through the trees, all five vampires caught sight of three figures decked out in black with dark cloaks over their clothes, running through the forest, looking over their shoulders every now and then.
The three of them don't look older than seventeen at best—though Levi knew from experience that the creatures of the Night don't necessarily look their age. Levi himself for one looks to be in his early twenties, but he has already been around for hundreds of years.
There were two females and one male. The tallest one is the female with dark hair, with a red scarf around her neck. The only male of the group is about a few inches shorter than she is, with golden blonde hair that reaches a little below his earlobes and blue eyes. The last female of the group had dark chocolate brown hair reaching down a little below her shoulders, and seemed to be the shortest of the three—being nearly half-a-head shorter than the other girl. She glanced through the trees at Levi with blue-green eyes, and Levi felt everything stop around him.
He felt his breath almost caught in his throat, as his gray eyes widened, seeing surprised and startled blue-green eyes—a colour of the likes that he had never seen before. He then feels…almost complete. Like there had been something missing in him that he had never noticed before, and it is now complete.
This must be…
"Who are they?" Gunther murmured, confusion visible in his eyes.
Faint shouts in the distance could be heard, and the three teens (Levi has no idea what to call them), turned their heads over their shoulders, and the dark haired girl of the group cursed to herself. "They're getting closer!"
"Eren!" The blonde called out to the brunette, panicked, and Levi filed the name away for future reference. Eren. So that's her name.
The brunette's face was pale, and by the way that she pressed her left hand against her side, Levi is ready to bet that she is injured. "Let's go!" she shouted to her two friends, tearing her eyes away from Levi's and bolting through the trees before being followed by the other two—disappearing so fast that it is almost like they were never there at all.
"What the…?" Oluo furrowed his brows. "Who are they? They don't smell like anything that I've ever smelt before—"
Levi wasn't listening anymore; he had already bolted through the trees, following the path of the three, and trying to follow their already fading scents. It is almost like the harder that Levi tried to follow their scents, the faster that it seems to disperse.
"Levi-heichou?"
"We're following them!"
Levi felt a surge of excitement rise up in him; this must be it. That brunette. She must be…
Mikasa Ackerman's eyes flickered around in suspicion, her dark eyes almost glowing ethereally in the darkness of the night, one hand over the hilt of the blade by her side. For several moments, when she could neither see nor hear anything, she finally relaxed, turning towards her two adoptive siblings.
"I think we've lost them," she said, before feeling slightly panicked as her adoptive younger sister slide down the trunk of the oak tree that she had been using to support her weight, still with her left hand pressed against her side. "Eren!"
"Eren, let me see!" Armin Arlert demanded, scrambling to Eren's side, with Mikasa on her other side. "They got you in the side, didn't they? Why aren't you healing?"
Even as he spoke, his hands glowed a soft blue as he held them over the deep gash that he could see through the slashed fabric of Eren's shirt, with warm and sticky blood seeping out through the deep gash.
After all, their kind always had remarkable healing abilities, and they could heal most injuries on their own within an hour or two.
"It's not healing!" Armin realised in horror after several moments, seeing the injury rejecting his healing power. "Mikasa, it's not healing!" He turned towards the raven-haired girl, horror all over his face, realising what this is immediately. There is only one reason why an injury like that wouldn't heal. "This must be…!"
"Unicorn blood poisoning." Mikasa growled in rage. "Their swords must be coated with unicorn blood. It's the only thing that can hurt us and prevent us from healing! Damn those bastards!"
"What should we do?" Armin asked, panicked, pressing his hand against Eren's wound, and she flinched, her breaths already coming in heavy pants, and her eyes seemed almost glazed. "And we have no idea if the others even managed to get away! How the hell did the Dawk faction even find us?"
Mikasa stiffened just then and she straightened up immediately, one hand falling to the hilt of her sword. "Someone's coming!" she said. "Come on! We have to go—"
"Wait!" A baritone voice rang out, and the five vampires that they've seen earlier appeared in front of them in a blur. The leader held out his hands, showing that he isn't holding any weapon whatsoever, and the rest of his group followed his example. "We're not here to fight!"
"Like I'll believe you!" Mikasa hissed, venom in her voice. "Do you seriously take us for fools? We've been on the run from several of your kind for days now! We never want anything to do with the stupid war that your faction had initiated with that other one! Yet because of it, we were all dragged into it anyway!"
"We only want to live our lives out in peace!" Armin nearly shrilled at them. "Why can't you just leave us be? Haven't you done enough to us?"
"Who or what are you anyway?" Oluo barked at them, his hand falling to his sword. "You don't smell like anything I know. Are you with the Dawk faction?"
"Have you gone deaf as well as blind? I've just said that we didn't have anything to do with them!" Mikasa snapped. "And that should be my question! Who are you? Are you here to kill us? Are you after Eren too? If you are, fucking say your prayers! I won't allow you to lay a single finger on her!"
Levi's eyes snapped towards Oluo as he heard the slight shift of his sword being unsheathed. "Oluo, don't—"
Whatever that he is about to say was cut off immediately as a bright flash of golden light lit up the surroundings immediately, and a dome of golden light surrounded the three teens in front of them, barricading them in.
"What is this?" Petra demanded, touching the light only to hiss as the dome burned her fingers. "A barrier?"
"H-Hallowed Wall?" Armin squeaked, his face pale. "Eren!"
The only brunette of the group was kneeling with one knee on the ground, her hand outstretched, her face pale. Levi's eyes narrowed as he saw that her breaths seemed to be coming in pants, and obviously isn't in the best of health if her pale face is of any indication.
'What is this technique?' Levi wondered. He had never seen it before, and he had seen his fair share of impressive techniques and even magic used throughout the duration of the war.
"Eren, release the barrier!" Mikasa told her sister urgently. "You're going to die at this rate, especially with your injuries if you keep this up!" Levi's eyes widened. "Hallowed Wall takes a lot of your energy and concentration! Eren!"
With a sound like shattering glass, the barrier vanished, and the brunette collapsed to the ground, falling into the arms of the blonde, and Levi's eyes twitched. He took a step forward, but the raven-haired girl stepped in front of the two, glaring at them. He could swear that she is almost glowing in anger.
"I won't let you lay a hand on Eren!" she almost growled, as her voice seemed to grow even deeper, and dark scales appeared on parts of her wrist and arms, and even on parts of her face as her eyes turned golden. A pair of black dragon wings even appeared on her back.
Levi froze. He knew what they are immediately the moment that the dark haired girl in front of him had transformed partially into her true form. All the creatures of the Night have the ability to shift between their true forms and their human forms, with their powers and abilities being much more lethal and powerful when they used them in their true forms.
Levi himself had only seen pictures of this particular form only in ancient scripts and paintings that speaks of one of the protectors of the creatures of the Night and the world. He had spent most of his time reading everything that he could get his hands on when Erwin had first saved him and his two close friends when they were young, and had taught them how to read and fight.
"W-What are they?" Oluo gasped, feeling fear—true fear for the first time in his life. On instinct alone, he stood in front of Petra, trying to shield his mate from whatever that may come.
"…The stuff of legends…" Eld whispered in awe, his eyes wide. Beside him, Gunther was also stunned into silence. Clearly, the two best friends must know what they are as well. "Oluo, you should have heard of their kind before. They're the stuff of legends! Part of a nearly extinct race—the Guardians of the Dark World, the Protectors. The Dragoons – the Dragon Shifters!"
Oluo gaped at the two males. "Are you fucking serious?"
"Mikasa, stop it!" Armin shouted to his sister, still busy tending to his younger adoptive sister's injury, and trying hard not to freak out at seeing just how out of it that she is. How long has it been since Eren had that injury? As unicorn blood is one of the few things that are lethal to them, Armin knew better than anyone else just how fast the toxic could spread in their body.
Technically speaking, their kind are considered one of the 'dark' species in the world, right alongside the vampires, the werewolves and several of the other clans that are considered 'dark'. Unicorns are one of the purest creatures in the world, and it is said to be an honour to even meet one. Hence, unicorns are almost hunted into extinction by humans throughout the centuries, as their hair, horns and blood are extremely valuable and could be used to forge powerful weapons. Unicorn blood in particular acts as a fast acting toxic for several of the dark species, and is often used by human hunters to kill vampires and several of the other creatures of the Night throughout the centuries.
"Look, we're not here to fight!" Levi tried to stop a fight from breaking out, knowing that none of them would survive if a fight did break out between them and members of a nearly extinct race. They are named the Protectors of the Dark World for a reason. "Your friend… She's injured, right?" Everyone could smell the blood in the clearing. "We have a remarkably skilled doctor in our base. We can help you."
He would rather not lose his mate—his other half whom he'd been searching for nearly all his life when he'd just met her!
Mikasa glowered at Levi, and seemed to be debating between transforming into her full form right here and now or just killing them all and be done with it. A tug at her cloak stopped her.
"Mikasa, we should ask them for help!" Armin pleaded with his sister. "Eren won't last long this way! You know how lethal unicorn blood is to us! Not even I could heal an injury like that! And who knows how long that Eren had that injury!"
Mikasa bit on her lower lip, knowing that what Armin said is true. Then, with a flash of white light, Mikasa shifted back into her human form before she glared at Levi with suspicion, not willing to trust a bunch of vampires. And with how several vampires, werewolves and who knows what else have been chasing them and some of their other friends for days now, who could blame her?
"If you hurt my sister, I'll kill you." Mikasa threatened.
Levi frowned. Usually, he would either kick down or even kill someone who dared to speak down to him like that. But in this case, he let it slide, since from the looks of things, they have been running from pursuers for days now. If he had been in their shoes, he would have been overly paranoid and defensive as well.
Hell, when Erwin had first approached him, Farlan and Isabel with Mike centuries ago, he had been suspicious too. At that point in history, the humans have been much more fanatic in hunting them down, and hence, the wars at that time were mainly pitting the creatures of the night against the humans.
"What happened to her?" Petra, the healer of their group stepped forward bravely, despite the attempts of her mate to stop her, kneeling by Eren's side, wondering if she could help. While she is skilled at combat like all members of Levi's squad, she is also a highly skilled healer.
"Unicorn blood poisoning." Armin told Petra, and her eyes widened. "We were pursued by members belonging to the Dawk faction for days now." The rest of Squad Levi were taken aback, and Levi cursed beneath his breath at that. So they aren't the only ones whom the Dawk faction was determined to take out. "We got separated from the rest of our friends when we got attacked."
"We're going to need Hanji's help on this." Petra told Levi, her eyes serious.
Not even Petra could do anything against unicorn blood poisoning as the poison spreads through the body extremely quickly. Even for a vampire—supposedly one of the most durable amongst the creatures of the Night, even they could succumb to unicorn blood poisoning within hours. The fact that a Dragoon can withstand unicorn blood poisoning for days speaks of their prowess and strength.
Levi nodded. "We're going to take you to our base," he told Mikasa. "We have a doctor there that can help."
XXXXXX
Levi closed the door to the infirmary silently, watching Mikasa and Armin sitting by Eren's bedside, holding her hand, not even taking their eyes off of her sleeping face. Bandages were visible around her forehead and neck, and even around her arms. For a moment, Levi was almost consumed by anger at those bastards who dared to attack his mate.
Lots of their own people have almost panicked when they've seen three strangers amongst their midst, but they have relented and placed down their weapons when they saw the glare on Levi's face even as he led Mikasa and Armin to the infirmary in their castle, even sending Gunther ahead to alert Hanji that they're coming. Mikasa didn't even allow any of them near her sister, and had carried her all the way to the castle.
It had taken several hours, but Hanji had managed to halt the venom coursing through Eren's body, and had drained it out. It had actually caused Eren to spasm violently several times, and it actually took Armin holding Mikasa back, or the dark haired Dragoon would have twisted Hanji's head off her shoulders.
"She's going to be fine." Hanji's voice spoke from behind Levi, and he turned only to see his friend (much as he loathed to admit it) standing behind him, cleaning the blood off her hands with a rag. "Dragoons are amongst the most powerful of the Night, according to the legends. Not even I've met one before." An almost crazed look appeared in her eyes, and Levi cringed. "By the way, Erwin wants to see you in his office."
Levi sighed; he knew that this is coming ever since he'd brought the three Dragoons into their base.
"Roger."
"I see." Erwin Smith murmured, curling his fingers before his mouth as he listened to what Levi had to tell him. "It seems like we're not the only ones that the Dawk faction wants dead. The Dragoons must be whom they've been searching for all this while."
"I'm actually surprised that they're actually still around though—the Dragoons that is." Levi grunted. "I thought that they've gone extinct ages ago since no one had seen one for centuries."
"I wonder if they'll allow me to run experiments on them?" Hanji wondered, a crazed look in her eyes, and Levi sighed.
"They're probably some of the last few survivors of the Dragoon race—the Dragon Shifters." Erwin stated, ignoring Hanji's last comment. "The few that have survived the continued assaults and hunts of their kind have all gone into hiding for survival. I'm actually surprised that there are still survivors." He admitted. "And honestly, I'm not surprised that they distrust us so much. In a way, we nearly forced their kind into extinction." He added, looking sad.
Levi frowned. "Erwin, what do you mean by that?" he demanded. Even Hanji looked interested. "What did we do? I've never read anything of this in the scrolls and history texts."
Erwin was silent for a very long time. "…I was an extremely young fledging when the last of their kind vanished and were never seen again," he said at last. "So I saw some of the horrible conflicts and battles that had happened at that time, and how both humans and the creatures of the Night hunt down the Dragoons for their own selfish purposes, and have all but nearly forced the race into extinction. To be fair, they have every right to hate us. I'm actually surprised that the Dragoons actually agreed to step into our castle."
"What did we do, Erwin?" Hanji asked carefully, for once not acting her usual crazed self. "What happened in the past?"
Erwin didn't say anything for a long time, only looking extremely guilty. Then finally, he began to tell them the most horrifying tale ever.
A/N: This must be my second or even third fantasy story for a fan fiction. I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter and story, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!