She awoke to darkness so complete, Petra wondered if she had been blinded. The blackness slowly, softly begin to melt away the longer her eyes were open, a beam of moonlight weakly illuminating what appeared to be stalactites above her. It must be an overcast night, or perhaps a new moon, but she can tell that the mouth of the cave is nearby. Its subtle but there's a slight color variation where the rock formation gives way to the tree line, the branches outlined in watery starlight.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Petra winced. The words echoed in the silence, without so much as a whisper of a breeze to soften the edges.
She prepared to sit up, bunching her core muscles for the action, intending to survey her surrounds, or move if the situation warranted it.
Nothing happened.
She tried again, putting more force into the movement, but she remained horizontal.
What the hell? She couldn't move. Why couldn't she move? Her arms felt weak and her shoulders sore, and she belatedly realized that she couldn't feel anything south of her belly button.
Panic settled in with a fine sheen of sweat as she struggled not to hyperventilate, resisting the urge to cry out.
What happened? Where is she? Where is Captain Levi—Aururo, Eld, Gunther? Eren?
As if their names unlocked a floodgate, it all came rushing back and a drawn out cry of rage erupted from her throat.
Gunther, his neck sliced, dangling limp from his 3DM gear. The female titan, spitting Eld's torso from between bloody lips. The sickening crunch of her own body launched into the base of a tree, an impossible snap from the curve of her spine, and darkness descended upon her.
Her sustained scream withered into a wail of grief.
Where is Auruo, her sole remaining teammate? If she's alive, surely he is too. Auruo with his cocky grin and aloof attitude over his solo kill count, but his eyes were gentle as he looked upon those he cared for when he thought they weren't looking. They had been in the same cadet core. He was the only classmate to surpass her, claiming that coveted number one slot in the graduation class, while she snagged the second.
Petra has never known the military, the Scouts, without Auruo in it.
She forced herself into silence, clamping her jaws closed upon her cry, splitting her lip open in the process. She is a soldier. There will be a time to pay her respects to the dead later. Surely Eld and Gunther would understand that—wouldn't they?
The hot spill of blood on her chin made her realize just how cold she was. The weather was beginning to turn, the previously stagnant air stirred the leaves littering the cave floor. Autumn was well on its way. A streak of lightning brilliantly rivaled daylight for a moment before abandoning her to the night once more.
He must have gotten her to safety, carried her to this cave, and gone to find Captain Levi, to regroup. Eren would be with him, safe and sound if a little put out with Auruo's overbearing temperament. Yes, that's it. They would stroll through the cave entrance any minute now to help her along, all the while making shitty jokes about her injury that would still, somehow, impossibly, make her laugh. They would all go home and—
"Ah, you've finally regained consciousness," said a voice from the front of the cave.
Her head snapped to the right, following the sound, eyes narrowing in an attempt to locate the figure in the gloom.
"I wondered if you would," the voice continued, "or if my gamble had fallen to the wayside. Annie wasn't exactly gentle with her handling of you."
It was a man, but it was not Auruo, or Captain Levi, or even Eren. "Who are you? Who is Annie?" her voice was reduced to nothing more than a harsh croak. "What squad are you in?"
Thunder followed the lightning. Petra felt the earth beneath her tremble. The man laughed. "Oh, my dear. I am not a soldier."
Confusion contorted her features and she attempted to sit up once more. Again, she failed, and her head flopped back against the cushion of her cloak in defeat. Dizziness fogged her conscious and threatened to tug her back into oblivion. She felt emotionally drained, weighed down by the remembrance of the loss of the majority of her squad. Her very soul clamored for a moment, just a small moment, for the world to stop. So she could grieve. So she could set aside her strength and bravery to mourn, before picking the mantle back up, resolved to honor and carry their memory with her. "Not a soldier?" she asked. "But civilians don't go outside the wall. It isn't safe."
He took a step closer and Petra was gradually able to make out his features as her vision blurred. He wore glasses that reflected the little light that permeated the cave, had a scraggily beard, and fair hair. She had never seen him before, Petra was certain of it, but the intensity in his eyes tickled her memory.
The corners of his mouth turned up in a small grin. It was the last thing she saw, but his words still echoed in her mind. "You may call me Zeke. I am a warrior. And as I am, so shall you be."