YOU'RE A TERRIBLE HORSE!
The expedition so far had been going better than most. It was the second day out and titan sightings were sparse. Of course, that fact alone made Levi very nervous. He was still terribly disillusioned about the Survey Corps. Though he still went out on every expedition, the man functioned on the fringes of the Regiment. Section Commander Erwin Smith's widespread scouting formation did work in keeping direct titan encounters to a minimum. Levi usually ran out around the edges of the front, eliminating any titans that may force the formation to change direction. This was the main reason the formation hadn't changed course more than three times in the last two days. The straighter we stay on course, the faster we can get our job done and get back behind wall Rose. Levi thought as he eliminated the twenty second titan that day. The formation would never know that there had been a titan anywhere near them.
Erwin, however, was very aware of what Levi was doing. He watched Levi sweep back and forth across the column, one side to other eliminating all titans he encountered. Levi frequently returned to Mike Zacharias, using the man's phenomenal sense of smell to tell him where the nearest titans were. Levi would then ride out at full gallop to eradicate the threat. Halfway through the day, he would give his own horse, Firestorm a rest and take one of the spare horses, remove the saddle and finish the day with that one. Erwin had been watching Levi closely for the past few years. Four years ago he had dragged Levi back into the Survey Corps in an official capacity, but when his two friends – no – children that he'd raised himself had been killed, Levi had again taken to working strictly on his own, and Erwin had yet to press the matter further.
Levi's disillusionment went even deeper when wall Maria was breached and the government forced over 200,000 unskilled refugees to join the scouts and sent them out to fight a battle that everyone knew couldn't be won. After less than a month of training, all 200,000 + "soldiers" rode out against the titans concentrated between walls Maria & Rose. It was whole sale slaughter. After less than a week, only 200 people remained; most of those were the seasoned soldiers. It was a thinly veiled attempt to control the population behind wall Rose.
Erwin knew that that was definitely not the time to press Levi to lead a squad of his own. It was almost time though; time to convince Levi to form a squad of his own.
They set up camp that night in the old abandon fortress near the former town of Cairne, where Levi had spent his first five years with the Corps under the command of Old Tom. It amazed Levi to see what disrepair the former Survey Corps headquarters had fallen into since it was abandoned in favor of the current Trost headquarters more than twenty years ago. The building was still very sturdy, though, so the scouts set it up as a base camp from which they would work on trying to extend the supply and travel line to one day repair the breach in wall Maria. Does anybody even realize how many soldiers are dying in order to take back Maria? Do they even care how many lives are sacrificed for the sake of humanity's continued survival? Levi wondered. He stayed by himself, away from the others, but one soldier always knew where to find him.
Zoe Hangi came into the room and sat down against the wall beside him. "You sure worked your ass off today clearing the way!" She stated. "I wish you could have left just one of them for me!" The woman suddenly began to get excited. "Did you see any abnormals? What were they like? What was the biggest one you saw today? What was the smallest? Did any of them show any signs of intelligence? What di. . . "
"Tch! For gods' sake Four Eyes! Come up for air!" Levi interrupted.
"Sorry. I get carried away."
Levi said nothing as the woman began chattering away as usual. Over the years he'd known her, the sound of her endless prattle actually became a source of comfort for him. As long as she was babbling happily along, all was right with the world; well, at least as right as an insane world such as this could be. The next morning found them sleeping together; Zoe's head on Levi's chest and his arm wrapped around her shoulders. They frequently slept together this way.
The new day brought the splitting of the Regiment into three groups to set up the supply stations along the route to wall Maria. Levi always hated it when the scouts were split up this way, because he never knew which group to follow. This time, since one group headed north, the other south and the third straight out between, he circled the middle group wide in order to keep track of all three. The concentration of human activity drew in titans like honey draws flies; only these flies swatted back!
It wasn't possible for just one man to keep track of everyone all the time. In spite of Levi's best efforts, scouts were dying. As the groups finally finished the days tasks and were headed back to the fortress, they passed through a dense oak forest that was once referred to as Moss Glen. The huge wide heavy oak branches stretched out everywhere, their bark covered in vibrant green mosses and the forest floor also coated in moss and ferns with streams bubbling through here and there. If not for the threat pursuing them, it would have been a beautiful place.
Levi was at the back, using his ODM gear to maneuver swiftly through the tangle of trees, taking out any titans that pursued them. But even as strong and fast as he was, he couldn't get all of them. An eight meter titan destroyed the rear-most wagon, sending the two scouts within it flying. Levi slew it before it even had a chance to think about eating the two injured scouts. He landed beside them. They were both hurt pretty bad from the fall. He summoned his horse, Firestorm with his usual odd warbling whistle. "Can you ride?" he asked the one scout that was still conscious.
"Yeah," the scout replied. "I think my leg is broken, though."
"Don't worry. Firestorm won't let you fall off. I need you to hang on to your partner and ride Firestorm here back to the fortress." Levi then turned to his horse. "Once you get them back to the fortress, you can come back for me."
/Are you sure you'll be okay until then?/
"Of course I will! You know me."
Once her two injured passengers were securely on her back, the large mare thundered off towards the fortress. Levi immediately took to the trees again, abandoning the overturned wagon. One had to be extra careful landing on these branches due to the thick carpet of moss that one could easily slip on. This was the cause of more than one scout losing his or her footing and being eaten by the titan they were meant to slay. Levi, on the other hand, had no such problems. He always took the environmental conditions into consideration as he fought.
He caught up to the main group to find Erwin and three others trying to fight off two aberrants at once. Shit! On goddam abnormal is bad enough, but two at once?! Levi swept in to help. The nearest one, which was also the largest at over fifteen meters tall, was so focused on the four scouts in front, it never even knew about the threat that came up behind it and struck the weak spot on the nape of its neck.
It was in that moment that a third abnormal came out of nowhere and swung at the five scouts around the other remaining titan. The scouts scattered and the abnormal's arm collided with the first titan's head, sending it backwards into a tree. The massive branches shattered under the force of the collision, and wood fragments went everywhere. As the scouts scrambled to avoid getting hit by the large flying debris, one damn near collided with Levi. He managed to avoid the scout, but was hit by a large splinter of wood. It impacted down on the outside of his right ankle, just behind the tibia bone and penetrated up into the calf muscle and poking out the other side of his leg.
Levi barely flinched, but winced slightly as the splinter (which was more like a ten centimeter thick spike) punctured his lower leg. He ricocheted off the trunk of the nearby tree with his left leg and with a short burst of gas for propulsion, he took out the still off balance abnormal with his signature spin. This time he launched off the back of the falling titan he'd just killed to attack the last one. What the fuck?! How in the hell did that damn shit get a hold of three men in just a couple of seconds?! Levi wondered, without pausing in his attack. The greedy brute had grabbed all three and shoved them all into its mouth and now their bloody remains and entrails hung from its jaws.
He slammed both of his blades into the monster's eyes, released them from the hilts, leaving them behind so the eyes couldn't heal. This was immediately followed by Erwin's enraged cry as he dropped down on the titan as it roared in pain and slew it with a powerful stroke of his blades. The dead creature shattered another branch as it went down.
With a badly damaged right leg, Levi was no longer able to steer himself properly and was hit from behind by a chunk of shattered wood. He grunted as it hit him, and though he landed on his feet, his momentum was too great. He stumbled and went tumbling across the forest floor for several meters. His gear broke away and was scattered along behind him. When he finally came to a stop, he just lay there for a moment. That has got to be the worst landing ever! He started to sit up and assess the damage.
"Levi!" Erwin landed next to the stricken scout. "How bad is it?"
Levi glared up at the man. "Bad enough. That chunk of wood goes all the way through my leg. I don't think any bones are broken. Just a few scrapes and a lot of bruises."
Erwin sighed with relief as he knelt down beside Levi to examine the injured leg. He knew that while Levi did respect him, he didn't fully trust him yet. "I'm going to pull this out; it's going to hurt."
"Fine. Just do it." Levi braced himself as Erwin took hold of the offending splinter down near the ankle. Levi flinched slightly, but made no sound as the wood was drawn carefully out of his calf, his steely eyes reflecting the pain.
"I'm sorry," Erwin said, which surprised Levi.
"Why?"
"Because I know this is painful."
"Tch!"
Erwin smiled at Levi's disapproving response. If he could do that, then he would be fine . . . provided no other titans attacked. The tall blond pulled out the large knife he always kept sheathed in his boot, and used it to cut away Levi's boot and leg straps. He also cut away the pants leg above the exit wound. Still alert to any danger that might approach, he took off his cloak and tore a long strip of cloth away. He then gently used the green cloth to temporarily bandage Levi's leg.
Levi sat silently as Erwin worked, alert to everything going on around him, listening and looking for titans. If we get caught on the ground like this . . .
Erwin finished tying the makeshift bandage on Levi's leg and stood up to look around. He began whistling for his horse. After what seemed like an eternity with no response, the man sighed and gave up. "Why aren't you summoning Firestorm?"
"I sent her back to the fortress with two of the injured. A titan toppled the wagon they were in. The horses were killed in the process, so I put them on Firestorm." Levi replied, still nervously scanning the forest for any signs of titans.
Erwin sighed, turned his back to Levi and knelt down on one knee. "Get on."
"What?!" Levi lost all control of his facial expressions to give Erwin a look of mixed horror and shock.
"I'm going to carry you," Erwin replied, looking at the stunned scout over his shoulder.
"There's no way in hell!" Levi yelled defiantly. "Just get me to the top of this tree here and I'll be fine until Storm comes back for me. You can't use your gear if you're carrying someone."
"These trees aren't tall enough for you to stay out of a fifteen meter titan's reach. I'm not leaving you here."
"If I'm up a tree, I can defend myself. Storm will be back for me soon. Just get out of here before another one of those damn monsters shows up!"
"I'm not going to argue with you, Levi," Erwin said evenly. "Now get on. That's an order."
Levi growled softly, weighing his options and seriously thinking about disobeying anyways. He hated being touched. In fact, he disliked having anyone but his closest friends anywhere within just a few feet of him. He had a thing about personal space. This is so fucking humiliating! There has got to be another way! I'm not a goddamn gunny sack! "Levi . . ."
Levi growled again, but complied with the order. Erwin's long arms wrapped around the smaller man's thighs and stood up. Levi held on to the man's shoulders as he headed through the woods in the direction of the fortress. They travelled for a while in silence. Levi was beginning to feel terribly sleepy. Dammit! Probably lost more blood than I first thought. He let his left arm drop over Erwin's shoulder to hang loosely down his chest, and rested his chin on his right hand on the other shoulder. Erwin didn't have to see Levi's face to know that there was a look of absolute disgust written all over it and it made him chuckle to think of it.
"What's so goddamn funny?" Levi growled half heartedly, too tired to put his usual bite in his voice.
"Nothing much," Erwin replied, still chuckling. "I was just picturing the disgusted look I know you have on your face right now."
"Tch!" Goddammit! If a titan comes along we're both at a huge disadvantage! He should've just left me behind. He's gonna get killed carrying me like this! Levi's scowl deepened (if that was even possible). What's worse is that if he comes carrying me in like this, I'm never gonna hear the end of it! Kill me . . . just kill me now!
Erwin began humming a song as he walked along, though it was unidentifiable since he was more than just a little off key. "Stop that moose call you damn jackass!" Levi snapped. "You think this is some goddamn walk in the park? That obnoxious racket will probably bring in every titan from miles around!"
Erwin just laughed. "You're screaming and yelling back there will probably attract far more than my 'moose call' will. Besides, that's no way to talk to a commanding officer"
"Tch! Whatever!"
The tall blond just smiled as he continued walking and they finally cleared the edge of the oak forest. Levi was so easy to tease and get a satisfying reaction from! Erwin paused at the edge of the trees to scan the horizon for titans before continuing on. Levi began to feel so drowsy that he began to doze off with his head resting on his right hand on Erwin's shoulder. It was not as uncomfortable being carried like this as he had expected. In some strange way, it's actually kind of pleasant. Maybe it's just knowing that someone cares enough to risk their own life to do this for me . . . or maybe it's just because I'm delirious from loss of blood! To be honest, I didn't take Erwin to be the sort that would risk so much for just one human. I know that he puts the good humanity as a whole above that of any one individual. I know that he will sacrifice anyone or anything to free humanity from the titan scourge. In that way, at least, we are alike. So why go to this effort for me? My life is no more important than anyone else's!
"Why?"
"Hm?"
Why are you going so far to protect my life?" Levi asked.
"Because you're the one person in this world that actually stands a chance of defeating the titans. Right now my job is support you and see to it that you fulfill your mission to erase titans from human history. Without your strength, humanity has no hope." Erwin replied.
"Tch! I'm not infallible, you know."
"That is why I'm here to support you and help in any way I can."
"Tch!"
After another long silence, just as Levi was again drifting off to sleep, a loud whinny could be heard in the distance. Levi opened his eyes and saw the fortress off near the horizon. More importantly, he could see Firestorm coming up over the rise in front of them. Hallelujah! Nobody will see me being carried like this! His elation was immediately deflated as he saw Mike and Hanji riding along just behind Firestorm. Shit! Shitshitshitshitshit!
"Erwin! Levi! Thank the gods your both okay!" Mike called out as they rode up.
"We were really worried when your horse came in without you, Erwin, but we got really scared when Firestorm showed up without either one of you!" Zoe explained. "We were just riding out to look for the two of you."
Firestorm came up to stand right beside Erwin and Levi gratefully transferred to his horse, sighing with relief as he did so.
Mike and Zoe watched with interest. "No doubt there's a harrowing tale behind all this," Mike stated.
"Oh! I can't wait to hear the details!" Zoe bubbled.
Levi groaned as he thought about the endless ribbing he was going to receive from his two best friends tonight. Mike and Zoe were never going to let him hear the end of this! He reached out a hand to Erwin. "Get on."
Erwin grinned and took Levi's hand. Though small, Levi was quite strong, and in spite of blood loss and exhaustion, was still able to help Erwin onto Firestorm's unsaddled back. As much as he hated having anyone other than his closest friends that physically close to him, it was the least he could do for Erwin in return for his kindness. He still cringed a little as Erwin grabbed hold of his waist when Firestorm took off for the fortress. Erwin could feel Levi tense up. "I'm sorry, Levi. I know you don't like being touched."
"Tch!"
After a few moments of silence (which was very unusual with Hanji around), Levi spoke up. "Don't take this the wrong way, Erwin. I'm really grateful for what you did for me, but I can now honestly say that as a mount, you leave much to be desired. Firestorm is superior in every way. In other words, Erwin, what I'm trying to say here is that you're a terrible horse!"