"Don't be a moron, Erwin. I'm really hoping that bespectacled idiot stuffed her precious titan shit into my ears, because I don't want to believe what I'm hearing. This is possibly your worst idea to date," Levi scoffed.
He sat, silently seething, in the chair across from the Commander's desk. Half hidden beneath raven bangs, his slate eyes shot Erwin a reproachful look.
Erwin regarded Levi coolly from the other side of the desk. He had known his inferior officer for a number of years now and placed an incredible amount of trust in the man. In his eyes, Levi was the only one suited for the task at hand. Erwin expected Levi to obey the orders, but he knew Levi's submission would not be achieved easily this time.
Erwin began to wonder at what point in their working relationship he had grown so lax to allow Levi to talk back to him. A small frown etched itself into his chiseled face; he couldn't recall. By this point, of course, Erwin had grown accustomed to Levi's quarrelling. Levi was the only one allowed to question his orders. Often times Erwin sought out Levi's shrewd judgment on military strategies and commands, and he valued the Corporal's honest opinion. This was not one of those times. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of annoyance as he saw anger briefly flash through Levi's eyes, soiling his usually disinterested expression.
"The next expedition is in a month's time. Our recruits currently lack in both quantity and skill, drastically reducing our chance for successful completion," Erwin explained calmly. He challenged Levi's unblinking gaze, refusing to let his eyebrows budge even a centimeter. He was not going to back down this time.
"And what makes you so sure a couple of thieving brats are going to increase our survival rate? They haven't even seen those giant dickless horrors with their own eyes, which are probably clouded over with smog and grime from living underground." Levi almost shuddered, suppressing the sudden urge to clean something.
"Have you forgotten that humanity's strongest soldier was once one of those thieving brats?" Erwin posed to his irritated comrade. "You are a testament that they can be of immense assistance to the legion."
Levi rolled his eyes in response, an annoyed "tch" sounding from his mouth. "Have you forgotten that my two companions fell in the line of duty on their first mission? We never received proper military training, and they weren't prepared for the colossal douchebags waiting for them outside the walls."
Erwin's placid features twitched slightly. He knew this question was coming from the start, but that didn't make it any easier to address.
"The Recon Corps has grown and learned from their unfortunate deaths," Erwin started. "I thought you of all people would understand. That you would want to offer these new delinquents a chance at a better life and a purpose worth fighting for. It's what she would have wanted. It's what she did want."
Levi slammed his fist violently against the hard wood surface of Erwin's desk. A once neat stack of papers fluttered through the air and the grating 'clank' of a quill hitting the ground rang through the room. Erwin sat unmoving during Levi's outburst.
"Is that what they are to you? Shitty specs of data for that constipated four eyes to study? If you're going to allow history to repeat itself, then you haven't learned a damn thing," Levi spat, propelling himself from the chair and into an intimidating standing position. He turned his back on Erwin, striding toward the door.
"Levi," Erwin said sharply, causing him to halt abruptly in the doorway. "I like to believe I have indeed learned something from the death of your friends. That is exactly why the responsibility to train the new recruits will fall on your shoulders directly. This is not up for debate. It's an order. You leave for Sina tomorrow, and I expect you to return with both of them."
Levi stormed out of the Commander's office without sparing his superior another glance. He knew damn well his emotions had gotten the best of him, and he cursed himself for it. But how could Erwin be so stupid? The old man had to be smoking some serious titan fumes or something. No matter what Levi thought, Erwin was still his superior when it came down to it, and he would have to comply with the Commander's fucking shitty excuse for a plan.
The Corporal held back a growl as painful, repressed memories of Isabel Magnolia and Farlan Church flooded his thoughts. Part of him had never forgiven himself for his arrogant decision to leave them behind as titan fodder, or Erwin for putting his friends in that position in the first place. If the deaths of Isabel and Farlan had taught Levi anything, it was that he had allowed himself to get much too close. Despite their lack of blood ties, he had considered the twosome his siblings. He suffered for it after their passing, resigning never to allow himself the comfort of human companionship again.
Levi's racing train of thoughts came to a screeching halt as he collided with something very solid and very stationary. He steadied himself, eyeing the culprit that dared to stand in his path.
"Watch it, you suicidal monster of epic proportion," Levi snapped at a rather startled Eren. "What the hell are you doing in the hallway looking like you need to take a titan-sized shit?"
Eren's eyes widened into saucers. "S-sorry sir! I was just…" but his voice trailed off as he felt the increasing heat of Levi's infuriated gaze. His mouth gaped stupidly, searching for words and finding none.
A mop of shiny black hair stepped out from behind Eren, its owner shooting Levi an odious look. The corners of her lips turned downward into a scowl as she observed the unusually distracted Corporal.
"It's not his fault," Mikasa said defensively. "If you where paying attention where those stubby legs of yours were carrying you, you wouldn't have run into him."
If possible, Eren's gaping mouth widened even further. "Mikasa!" he exclaimed.
Eren wasn't shocked Mikasa would speak to Levi that way. After watching Levi smash Eren's face into an unrecognizable pulp and knock out some teeth in the process at his military trial, she harbored an unforgivable grudge toward the small-statured man. In Levi's defense and Hange's pure delight, the teeth did grow back. But that still didn't earn him any respect from Mikasa.
Levi rolled his eyes as he brushed imaginary dust from his emerald cloak. "I don't have the time or patience to deal with you lovesick brats. Get out of my sight before I shove broomsticks up your tight assholes and make you clean the entire castle."
Mikasa looked like she wanted to continue hurling insults at her superior, but there was no way in hell Eren was going to let her do that, especially if it meant extra cleaning duties. Somehow she always managed to get both of them in trouble when she talked back to Levi. If anything, Eren was annoyed at her overbearing habit to protect him. It was just a verbal beating from Levi, something pretty much all the cadets suffered on a daily basis, the amount of expletives varying depending on how much they happened to piss him off.
Eren grabbed Mikasa's wrist, yanking her down the hallway in the opposite direction of Levi. "Sorry, Heichou! It won't happen again! I'll watch where I'm going!" Eren called behind him.
"What the hell, Mikasa?" he demanded once they were out of Levi's earshot. "Do you want me to die a slow, soapy death? I'm gonna have to clean the castle forever if you don't quit it." He released his grip on her wrist, shoving her away.
"Of course I don't," she said, stating the obvious. "But it was his fault. Someone needs to put the midget bastard in his place."
"It's not going to be you!" Eren retorted. "He'll slice you in two before you can bat an eye."
Mikasa seemed amused, like she would have welcomed the challenge. But the moment was fleeting, and annoyance flashed in her eyes. "Why can't you just accept that I'm trying to stick up for you? You won't even do it for yourself. It's pathetic. I'll never understand why you idolize him."
"Whatever, can you just drop it Mikasa?" Eren asked in utter exasperation. It was worthless arguing with her when she was so headstrong, and Eren was becoming more aggravated by the second.
"Hey, what do you think is wrong with him?" he pondered after a moment. "He never gives us the chance to escape punishment…"
Mikasa just shrugged her shoulders. "Who cares? What isn't wrong with him?"
"Bloody hell, this is disgusting," Levi muttered as he groped through the darkness.
He never thought he would return to the dank, shitty place he used to call home. The strong, earthy smell invading his senses did nothing to ease him. Levi walked through the underground city, hiding his face from the view of strangers beneath his cloak. He passed rows of decaying buildings with broken windows and crumbling walls.
Levi could feel suspicious eyes boring into the back of his cloak, and he really hoped he wouldn't have to pick a fight. He could win, no question, but he didn't want to cause more of a scene than necessary. He knew better than anyone how guarded the inhabitants of the underground could be.
Fucking filthy. He frowned as his boots treaded through an ambiguous brown substance that smelled suspiciously like shit.
Levi's ears perked up suddenly. He stilled at the familiar whizzing sound of maneuvering gear. His eyes darted around, searching for the source.
"Wheee! Catch me if you can!" a cheery feminine voice called. A flash of long, white-blonde hair fluttered through the darkness, curls bouncing wildly.
Perfect pearly teeth flashed into a dazzling smile. "You can be so immature sometimes, you brat," her companion responded, rolling his eyes.
She pouted. "So you'll do it, right? Or are you scared I'm too fast for you?"
"Who would be scared of losing to an idiot girl like you? I'll catch you in no time, dumbass."
He grappled onto a nearby building, whizzing speedily through the air in her direction. What he hadn't expected was to crash into her stagnant body. He should have known something was wrong when she didn't respond to his insult. He desperately shot his grappling hooks at the cavernous ceiling, latching onto a sturdy-looking stalactite.
"What the hell, Addie? You didn't even put up a chase," he muttered.
"Shh. Did you hear that, Fern?" she whispered, clutching her side he had just smashed into, hard.
The two hung a few inches away from each other midair, barely daring to breathe. Fern strained his ears, taking note of every passing sound. Disbelief flickered in his eyes, a look he shared with his partner. He definitely heard what she just heard. The sound was barely audible, but it was distinct to their ears. They listened to the clang of grappling hooks fastening onto passing buildings, the noise intensifying each time. The soft 'swoosh' of a cloak flapping echoed through the air as a figure soared toward them at an alarming rate.
"Someone else is here," Fern gulped, lowering his gaze to scan his peripheries. Whoever it was possessed enough skill to avoid his acute eyes.
"Thanks, genius," Addie said sarcastically, swatting his forehead. But the anxious look on her face didn't escape him; he saw through her joking immediately. "Nobody else uses 3DMG down here. Who do you think it is? The police?"
Fern shook his head firmly. "They wouldn't remove their asses from the comfort of their golden chamber pots for filth like us. There!" he shouted suddenly.
The shadow of a figure cloaked in green was a mere 10 meters away from them, hurtling their way with breakneck speed.
"The fuck? Scouting Legion," he hissed, quickly noting the emblem adorning the cloak. "Go!"
Fern grasped the handgrips of his 3DMG frantically, shooting his wires this way and that. The currents of air their movements created waved his shoulder-length burgundy locks wildly, partially obscuring his vision. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder to see Addie trailing close behind him. She followed Fern above tall buildings, through narrow alleyways, and even in between the paths of frightened people.
"We're not losing him!" she called desperately, glancing at the flash of green that was still hot on their trail.
He let out a low growl. "We have to split up!" he insisted. "I'll meet you back at home. Don't go there until you're sure you've lost this persistent bastard."
"No!" she screeched above the wind. "I'm staying with you!"
"You are fucking not," he retorted, thrusting her in the other direction. "I better not hear you behind me!"
The lines of her face furrowed angrily, but there was no point following Fern now, seeing as he had already changed her course. She travelled further, reaching the outskirts of the city where buildings were nowhere near as dense.
Oh shit, she breathed. Soon she would have nothing to grapple onto.
With one perfected motion, she fluidly aimed her cables behind her shoulder, fastening her hooks onto the roof of a building a few meters away. She vaulted herself backward, twirling madly in the air to achieve greater speed. To her horror, she watched as the emerald-cloaked man emulated her technique flawlessly. She was never formally trained with a 3DMG, and she knew the military would not have taught cadets her peculiar methods. Could it be…? She pried her eyes away from the figure and surveyed her options for possible escape routes.
It was now or never. Taking a crazy gamble Fern would have deemed idiotic, Addie lowered herself down to the first floor of the building before curling herself into a tight ball and driving her body through the window. The sharp sounds of breaking glass and traumatized screams filled the air of what she could now see was a bar. But she paid them no mind as she crashed through the window at the other end of the room.
Her face was sticky with blood and a couple glass shards had wedged themselves painfully into her right cheek. Addie panicked when the blood coagulated, matting her hair in front of her eyes and obstructing her vision fully. She flailed her arms in attempt to yank her hair out of her face so she could figure out where to turn next. Her efforts were futile.
The breath was knocked out of her as she hurtled into a brick wall. Time stood still and Addie seemed to float there before plummeting to the ground in a limp heap, followed by the clanking of gears. She groaned, forcing herself onto all fours with great effort. Addie stalled there for a moment to catch her breath before raising herself upward. She finally brushed the tangled mess of hair out of her eyes to examine her surroundings.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck and more fuck. She seemed to have lost her pursuer, but her 3DMG was broken. She had to find Fern, and fast. Adding to her terrible luck was the fact that her feeble, injured body stood at the dead end of a dark alley.
"You have got to be kidding me," she croaked.
"Nope," a listless voice responded as Addie was cast into the firm grip of the very pursuer she thought she had finally managed to evade.
She couldn't see him; her back was pressed firmly against his chest. His left arm pinned her against him by her collarbone, and his right drew his steely blade to her neck. She quivered, wondering if she was about to breathe her last breath as the sharp edge of his blade teased her skin.
She heard the scuffle of footsteps as Fern landed gingerly in a crouching position a few feet away from them. He sprang to his feet, brandishing twin blades. His jade eyes narrowed into thin slits, glaring above her head at her captor. She had never seen him look so livid.
"Let her go," Fern snarled, baring his teeth.
A few seconds of silence passed between the three of them.
"I don't like getting my blades dirty," her captor said mildly. "But if you make a move I will gut this inept fuck and feed her innards to a titan." He tightened his grip on the blade pressed against her neck, severing her skin. A few crimson droplets of blood dribbled down her porcelain throat.
Addie felt tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes. She wanted to cry, and not just because she thought she was about to meet her death. She wanted to cry for so many reasons. She would never forget the bored sound of his voice laced with more curses than ever appropriate.
"It's okay, Fern," she said quietly, her voice trembling. "He won't hurt me. Will you, Levi?"
Heheheh. This serves as sort of a test chapter, if you will. Hopefully I will continue this story and write longer chapters in the future. Let me know what you think! I hope you like it, because I already started an outline for a flashback chapter! Wahoo.