Unexpected Visitors: Chapter 1
"Levi hand me that stack of papers down by your feet." Erwin said, glancing up from the paper he was reading.
Levi looked around at his feet where several stacks of papers and hundreds of random papers were scattered and glared at Erwin from his seat across the desk and remarked, "There's a lot of fucking papers down here, Erwin. You're gonna need to be more specific than that."
A sigh slipped past Erwin's lips as he gave Levi his full attention, giving him a look that said,'really... you're gonna be an ass now?'
"I meant... the stack sitting right next to your left foot." Erwin elaborated pointing down at said stack.
"Why the hell didn't you say that in the first place? Quit wasting time and just say what you mean." Levi grumbled, gathering up the stack and placing them on the desk within Erwin's reach.
Erwin repressed a smile. He knew Levi was griping to hide his embarrassment. He was a perfectionist and hated making mistakes even if they weren't serious ones. The badass persona and foul mouth are Levi's way of hiding his imperfections from others. If he seemed like he never made mistakes then most people never acknowledge he'd made one.
A silence descended upon them as they busied themselves with all the paperwork that Erwin had piled up over the past month, putting off doing them until they absolutely had to be done. The silence was a comfortable one. Rare considering Levi was in the room. Sometimes it seemed like Erwin was the only person ever comfortable around Levi, but more likely it was the fact that Levi tries intentionally to scare everyone away and keep them at arms length.
A knock at the door caused them both to look up from their work. "Enter." Erwin called.
"Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but something important has come up. We've just received a report from Hanji-san asking for immediate assistance in bring back a variant she captured."
"Alright," Erwin rose from his seat. "I'll dispatch Levi's squad right away."
Levi rose to his feet as well, grabbing his coat from where it was draped across the back of his chair. "When, where, and how do you want this to go down?" Levi asked getting straight to the point. This wasn't the first time in the last few months he and his squad had been sent out to retrieve titans that Hanji and her newly appointed squad had captured and wanted to bring back to experiment on.
When Erwin had first suggested Hanji be given her own squad instead of dragging random soldiers that almost always included Levi and Eren, Levi had thought it was the worst idea in the world. 'Giving the crazy lady an entire squad to command... great idea.' Now however, he saw the benefits he having Hanji out of his hair and not coming around every day to annoy him. Now really the only time he saw Hanji was when she called on him and his squad to bring back her "test subjects" safe and sound, and even then, she only called upon them when she believed the trip back would be too dangerous to attempt without someone with Levi's skill along to ensure their safety. Now was one of those times.
"You'll head out tomorrow morning. You're headed for..."
"Levi, let's stop for a quick rest. Eren here looks like he's gonna fall off his horse at any min-ugh!" Oluo called up to Levi before biting his tongue, which he did almost every time he opened his mouth while riding. If Eren didn't know the man, he'd think he was hopelessly clumsy, but Eren had seen the man in action and without a doubt that the man was very sure in his movements. At least when he wasn't on a horse.
A sigh slipped past Levi's lips and he turned in his saddle, glaring back at his team and more specifically at Eren and Oluo. Levi noticed that Eren did look extremely weary and strained. His eyes had dark shadows under them and he was swaying in his saddle like Oluo said. "Yeager, what's up? You look like shit." Levi inquired, bringing his horse to a stop and turning it so he was facing his team who had slowed to a stop when he had.
Eren straighten in his saddle. "Nothing, sir. I just didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm fine."
"Having trouble sleeping again?" Petra asked, a worried look coming into her eyes. "Are you still having those nightmares? You told me you weren't having them anymore."
Levi lifted his eyebrow in a ( ) expression. "What nightmares?"
"They're nothing. They're not a problem and with all due respect, sir, they're not really any of your business." Eren said defensively.
Anger shown in Levi's eyes and his brow knitted together. "The hell it's not my business. If you're so tired you can hardly stay on your horse then how the hell can I expect you to be able to fight properly? How can I rely on you when I need you?"
"Please, Levi, don't be upset with Eren." Petra stepped in, trying to pacify Levi's anger. "It's just... Eren's nightmares are... well... they're..." Petra tried to explain but fell short of finding the right words to describe them.
Eren reached over and placed his hand over Petra's stopping her from continuing. "It's okay, Petra. I'll explain." Eren took several deep breathes before he looked Levi straight in the eye. "I've been having nightmares for the past couple of months. I don't have them every night, but regularly enough for Petra to take notice. She came up to me a few weeks ago asking if I was alright and I confided in her about them."
Eren told me that his nightmares are always centered around his father. They change every time but his father's always in it and he's always calling out to Eren telling him-" Petra interjected, trying to help explain.
"'The key, son. The key is key. Always have it. Never let it go. If you do, we're all lost' is what he always tells me. I don't understand what he means. Then after that he's always dragged away be shadowy men and then I wake up." Eren finishes.
"What key?" Oluo asks, trying and falling to seem uninterested.
Eren reach inside his shirt, drawing out the key that constantly hangs around his neck. "I'm assuming he meant this key. He gave this to me that day, five years ago, right before he disappeared and I lost my memory. It opens the door to our basement in Shinganshia, which is why I'm so confused. It's just a key so why is it so special. Why did my dad tell me it's important? What do my dreams mean? These thoughts keep me awake at night even when I don't have the nightmares." Eren realized that he was still staring at the key in his hand. He shook his head in confusion before putting back inside his shirt. He had so many question and very little answers.
"Don't let it bother you too much. I mean, of course that key's important. It came from Dr. Yeager who seems to have a lot of answers to our questions, so it'd make sense that whatever's in your basement would be able to answer our questions as well. I don't really get the dreams but if my dad disappeared mysteriously one night and my memories cut off there, I'd have nightmares about it too. Don't worry so much, kid." Oluo said, bring his horse up next to Eren's, clapping him on the back roughly.
"Since when have you been so deep?" Petra remarked.
"Shut the hell up, Petra." Oluo blushed moving his horse back away from the group and looked the other way, finding the nearest tree suddenly very interesting.
"All of you shut up and let's move out. Eren if you fall asleep and fall off your horse we're leaving you behind. Once we rendezvous with Hanji, we'll take a break. Until then, think about Petra's ass. That should keep you awake." Levi ordered, turning his horse around and urging it into a brisk canter.
Petra blushed deeply and hurried after Levi, yelling after him. Eren too blushed deeply but he refused to say anything, knowing that if he tried to say anything it would end up coming out wrong and then Petra would end up mad at him instead of Levi. He also knew Levi was just joking, or at least he hoped he was joking. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether or not the serious face man was being serious or just pulling his leg. Many times he'd made the mistake of thinking Levi was being serious when he wasn't and had made a fool out of himself or the other way around and he thought Levi was joking when I wasn't and he ended up getting hit.
The ride to the rendezvous point was relatively uneventful. The most exciting thing being Petra smacking Eren upside the head when he'd fallen asleep and was in jeopardy of falling out of his saddle. That drew laughter out his companions and helped make the ride a little less boring as they teased him over it.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, they finally met up with Hanji and her squad. They were camped out a few miles inside the forest of giant trees. They arrived shortly after midnight so many of the soldiers were asleep. The only ones still awake were the lookouts and Hanji. She was sitting next to the titan they'd captured. It was tethered and nailed to the ground in the usual fashion, but something else drew Eren's attention as the approached. The titan was different than the usual titans they'd run into so far. He couldn't quite put his finger on the difference at first, and then it hit him. The titan's expression. It was different than any expression he'd seen a titan make; happy, sad, confused, angry, even excited, but with all of them there'd been a blankness to them. They lacked true intelligence therefore their expressions didn't hold the true weight of clear emotion behind them. This titan was different in this way. Its expression was clear, holding within it signs of intelligence not seen in its brethren.
"It's smart. It has intelligence, doesn't it, Hanji-san?" Eren whispered, not taking his eyes off the titan.
"That's right Eren. This one's smart. Not smart enough to talk, unless it's holding out on me, but it has a higher intelligence than most titans and that's why I want to take it back. I want to know just how smart this one is." Hanji said. She gave Eren a questioning look. "How did you guess, Eren? Even I didn't see it until it'd killed almost half my men and gave us a good run-around."
Eren finally peeled his eyes away from the titan and looked Hanji in eye. "It's eyes. I can tell by the look in its eyes."
An inquisitive look glimmered in Hanji's eyes and Levi decided it has time to draw her attention away from Eren before she decided she wanted to spend a day or two experimenting on Eren before they left. "Okay, enough of this. We'll rest for a couple hours and then we move out. Got it, Hanji?"
Hanji shot Levi and annoyed look, unhappy that he was giving her an unspoken message that her spending all day questioning Eren wouldn't be an option. "Alright. I'll get my men up and begin preparations to move out." Hanji said coldly before turning away and calling to one of the men on lookout that he was to assist her.
Levi heaved another sigh. Why was it that every time he got anywhere near Hanji she made him feel like he'd aged a decade? "Alright you all, set up your tents and get some sleep."
Petra, Eld, Oluo, and Gunther set out to do as their leader said, leaving Eren and Levi standing next to each other a little ways away from the titan. Levi glanced sideways when he noticed Eren wasn't moving.
Eren shook his head, bring his attention back to the titan and he flinched. The titan was staring right at him. Its eyes shown with an intent that wasn't quite clear to Eren but it sent shivers racing down his spine and made him extremely uneasy. He took a step back and stumbled over something, he wasn't sure what, and landed on his ass.
Levi shot a weary look at the titan, making sure it wasn't going to go anywhere, before crouching down next to Eren. "What's up kid? Don't tell me you're scared of the titan."
Eren gave himself a mental kick at being so weak before he climbed to his feet, Levi rising with him. "Don't be ridiculous. It's just a little freaky."
"Yeah, well, don't let it freak you out too much. We have to take that thing back with us, remember that. Now, go get some sleep. You need it more than all of us." Levi said before turning away and went after Hanji to make plans for how they were going to transport the titan and what formation they should use.
Eren ran his fingers through his hair, gave the titan one last glance, before making his way over to where Petra and the rest were already finishing putting up their tents. He retrieved his gear from his horse and set up his own tent. He clambered inside, laid down his blanket, and laid down on it. He highly doubted he'd manage to get any sleep but he figured he'd try. He was tired, but his mind just kept spinning all the questions be had around and around, making it impossible for him to sleep. He sighed, tossing and turning for a while before his mind finally allowed him to drift into a light sleep.
Several hours passed before Petra, Eld, Oluo, and Gunther rose from their light naps and gathered with Levi and Hanji who were discussing strategies and eating around a fire. Levi and Hanji looked up from their conversation as they approached.
"Where's Eren?" Hanji asked, urging the others to take a seat.
"We let him sleep. I looked in on him when I got up and he was sound asleep. I didn't want to wake him just yet." Petra said as she took a seat next to Levi. Oluo took the seat next to her, Gunther sitting next to him. Eld settled against a tree close by.
"Any signs of these nightmares Levi told me about?" Hanji inquired, looking a little too excited.
Petra smiled knowing what Hanji wanted to hear, "No. I don't think He'll have one. He just had one a couple days ago. They normally don't happen more than once a week."
Hanji's smile fell. "Oh. Okay. That's good." Her lips puckered out in a pout.
Levi rolled his eyes silently. "I'll wake him up in a little bit. Now, Hanji, why don't you let them in on the plan for our return home." He said as he rose from his seat.
"Alright. What are you going to do?" Hanji asked.
"To go take a closer look at that titan. Eren's right. It looks smart and a smart titan is an extremely dangerous titan. I don't like it being out of my sight." Levi said over his shoulder as he headed in the direction of the titan.
"Please get some rest before we head out, Captain. We don't need you falling asleep in your saddle." Petra called after Levi's retreating figure. She knew he probably wouldn't do as she asked, but she felt it was her duty to at least try to get Levi to take care of himself.
Levi raised his hand over his should as a way of saying he heard her. Petra sighed. "He's not going to rest, is he?" She asked more to herself than to anyone else.
Hanji laughed, "No, Levi doesn't rest on a mission. No matter how long it takes. I asked him why a few years ago and he told me 'I don't like sleeping when the enemy can come and kill my comrades while I'm asleep.'"
Eren's sleep was interrupted by the sounds of screaming and yelling coming from outside his tent. He groaned fearing he was having another nightmare until he picked up on the sound of Levi and Hanji yelling as well. This jerked him fully awake. He scrambled out of his tent and froze. What he saw as he emerged from his tent left him speechless. The titan was loose and was making a break for it, killing anything and anyone in its way.
Sorry for the cliff hanger. I'm currently working on the next chapter so you won't have to wait long for the next one. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to give me constructive criticism. I welcome advice of all kinds, as long as it's nice. :)