*squeals* My first, real, actual story! With a plot and everything! YAY!
This is going to be something of a romance (LeviHan and some Mikaere) fic mixed into something that explores the world and darkness of the SnK universe.
Since I'm really looking to improve my writing, I'm looking for a Beta for this fic! Preferably experienced and brutally honest. If you're interested, PLEASE don't hesitate to PM me :)
Hope you enjoy!
Levi couldn't really feel his limbs anymore. They had long since become masses of throbbing muscle as he relentlessly sped through the forest of giant trees, looking for the one person he was sure probably wouldn't be dead. Or rather, two people.
The Corporal wasn't exactly sure how everything had gone to shit so quickly. One minute, they were all in formation heading towards Wall Maria with Humanity's Last Hope in tow, and the next, Titans were flooding the area and people were disappearing by the handful. Order in the formation was no longer a priority, something that Levi, someone who was so devoted to order and authority, was hard pressed to admit to himself.
He almost wanted to punch himself when he started wishing Erwin were there. If only he hadn't lost his arm trying to retrieve the Titan brat, maybe he could have saved the stupid suicide mission and at least 20% of the Corps could have gone home. The new leader, Frederick Bales, was a good man who knew his politics and his strategizing. However, book smarts were not enough in the field, and many of the Corps members knew that.
Many people had suggested that Humanity's Strongest lead, but this had quickly been shot down, much to Levi's relief.
He wasn't sure he'd be able to lead so many people to their immanent, pathetic deaths.
A familiar, blood-curdling roar broke into Levi's grim thoughts and vibrated through his tired bones, reaching his ears as a reminder of his current goal: find Eren Jaeger and/or Hanji Zoe and retreat back to Wall Rose with said persons, or don't come back at all.
The Corporal supposed that, by the sound of that roar, half of his search was over.
Putting on an extra burst of speed, Levi remained hyper-aware of the fact that his gas was probably going to run out soon and that the supply wagon was so far gone that it was in early stages of figurative decay. This theory was slowly and surely be proven by the incessant whining of his gas containers as he blasted full-speed towards Eren's Titan form.
Along the way, Levi managed to down four 5-meter classes and five 7-meter classes, which, by some strange feeling in his gut, looked suspiciously like some of the members of the failed mission. These kills left his second-to-last pair of blades dull as river stones. Cursing under his breath, Levi let the dull pair break off and quickly reattached a new set, just in time to catch sight of Eren's 15-meter-class shell.
And also just in time for his gas to run out.
"Fuck! Not now, damn it!"
The forest floor was suddenly rushing up to meet him, and his grappling hooks weren't moving from the two huge trees that they had embedded themselves into. The only thing his controls were doing were making clicking noises like empty rifles, and Levi could still see Eren, fighting alone in the clearing just up ahead. His Titan let out another rage-filled roar.
Or, perhaps it was full of fear.
For a second, Levi didn't think anything of the fact that he was most likely plummeting to his death, and instead thought about if Hanji was still alive, because obviously Eren was.
A certain change in gravity broke Levi from his thought, making him aware that his forward momentum towards the ground was starting to slow, and Levi was then aware that he was swinging forward rather than downward. In fact, he was going up a little.
And then he was going backwards.
And then, slowly, he came to an unsteady halt about eight meters above the ground.
Looking to the sides of his gear, his slate-black eyes traveled up the two wires still connected to the trees on either side of him. A strong breeze blasted him in the face, and he started swinging a bit more on his wires.
Though he had been a part of the Survey Corps for longer than almost anybody, and was supposed to be prepared for anything, Levi had never once thought that he would end up swinging from his maneuver gear like a hanging piece of meat in the middle of a giant forest with no gas to propel himself upward and Titans threatening to break through the tree thickets at any moment.
Well, actually, he had to admit to himself that the situation might have crossed his mind when he was in private training to join the Corps.
However, he had not prepared for it, and now he was going to have to either abandon his useless gear and continue on foot, or sit in limbo hoping that the Titan brat wasn't completely out of it and would help him out, however embarrassing that would be.
Considering the fact that an eight meter drop might break one or both of his legs, which were, in fact, very useful, option one wasn't looking very good.
The Eren Titan roared once more at an oncoming wild Titan and not-so-gracefully punted the thing's whole body into the giant trees not more than twenty meters away from Levi's wire trees, crushing and toppling several of the huge plants and letting out huge billows of steam as the wild nine-meter-class tried to right itself.
Option two was officially not an option.
The Wild Titan let out a moan, it's smashed face and chest obscured by regenerative vapor. Slowly, it shakily stood, it's long, chocolate brown hair fluffing up a bit with the humid gas that surrounded it. Eren's Titan didn't make a single move, seemingly forever locked in the unique stance that Annie Leonhardt had taught him so long ago. However, for a moment, Levi could have sworn that he saw it's huge, green eyes flick straight at him before moving to the Wild Titan again - watching, waiting.
Levi had always thought that it's eyes were the most unsettling thing about Eren's Titan form. Even in a compleetely rage-fueled rampage in which the sensible Eren was nowhere to be found, those intense green eyes were just like his human form. It was as if some higher power were possessing him when he went rampant, stealing his form to fool people.
Everything was still for a while as the shifter stared down the Wild Titan, which was still regenerating. It seemed to be a sort of Aberrant, because any normal Titan would charge at an opponent no matter what state it was in.
Another powerful gust of forest air pushed through the clearing and swung Levi on his gear - Humanity's Strongest now just a spectator to a fight between monsters, his absolutely vital weapon, useless.
The steam around the Aberrant slowly lifted, and once it cleared the eyes of both shifter and Corporal faultered in confusion.
The Titan was female.
It's dark brown hair was abnormally long- reaching to the bottom of it's shoulder blades, and hung in thick, wavy sheets around it's head and narrow shoulders. Full lips and a delicate nose adorned it's slightly tan-looking face, and deep mahogany eyes stared back at Eren with lack of focus. In fact, the eyes had a sort of squinting quality to them, the long lashes almost entangling in the process.
Though the Aberrant was female, it didn't have the same deadly and cunning aura that the Female Type Titan, aka Annie Leonhardt, possessed. In fact, it was blatantly clear that this Titan was not sentient.
When it charged at Eren once more, it's steps were very unbalanced and it tripped over a large root in the ground before ever reaching the shifter, who had suddenly become rigid for some reason. As the "female" Titan grappled around on the ground to find it's way again, the shifter's eyes widened in strong emotion. Levi struggled to find out what it was. He was never good at reading people, much less Titans. If only Hanji were there, because clearly Eren was seeing something that the Corporal was not.
However, a moment passed, and Levi's observational skills were no longer tested. The green-eyed Titan was clearly in a state of horror when it's giant maw of teeth opened and struggled to get out it's words.
"Han...ji?"
Mikasa had never seen so many corpses in one place, nor so much blood in one field. It was soaking the grass, boiling in the sun, drying and crusting onto the mouths of the hordes of Titans that had, in some form, ambushed the formation.
The flies were already starting to gather, and the smell was unbearable. With every step she took, there was a squelching sound. Every once in a while, the body of a fallen horse was on it's side, a look of primal fear plastered onto it's equine features forever. Mikasa's own horse had disappeared long ago, and she wasn't betting on it's return.
The only thing she was betting on was Eren's survival. She was going to find him, no matter what. She would not be the sole survivor of the 59th expedition. She would make it home with Eren in tow.
The treeline of the giant forest was now before her, immense and towering and intimidating, and the sun hot and blistering on her back. Her hands were so sore from her death grip on her blades, and her feet were so tired of the long, paranoid walk run she had taken to get to the cover of the forest and out of the open terrain of the fields. Hot sweat coated the space between her neck and her now ratty black hair, and her eyes were fighting to stay open in the wake of an exhausting and horrific day outside of the walls.
She wanted to collapse, but a bone shattering roar, a familiar cry of agony and rage, called her into the cool and dangerous forest.
Slowly, Mikasa moved one foot after the other, until she had picked up a jog. Then, with the last of her precious gas, she launched into the cool, haunting shade of the Forest of Giant Trees. The Forest of Titans.
So...yea. This will be updated whenever I can get to it, preferably more than less.
Also, sorry for the shortness of the first chapter, but I just felt like I needed to leave it like this or it would just keep running on and on and on and on...
Don't be afraid to R&R :)