Blue Skies
By Holly-Batali
Because I have no idea what to call this. Shit title is shit.
Author's Note: Aaaaand it's time for Rivetra Week! Break out the tissues and the sad music folks. Sooo yeah, I haven't written much lately, but I'm hoping that this will help me get back in the groove! Speaking of groove, I HIGHLY recommend you read this while listening to "Something (Keeno Remix)" by Azedia.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Shingeki no Kyojin is the property of Hajime Isayama.
Day 1: Survive
Survival was the whispered prayer of the Survey Corps. It was the metallic screech of wires screaming through the air and the thud of grappling hooks anchoring in flesh or trees. It was the steady thud of hoof beats against overgrown foliage in the mad scramble to intercept or escape. It was the crackle of the fire, greedily devouring the offered fuel or wood, bodies, and life.
Survival was the guilty hope in the soul of every soldier, dedicated fully to sacrificing everything for the continuation of the human race but always praying to stay just a little longer, see one more sunrise, share one more laugh with a loved one, make just one more sweet memory for when they would be nothing but.
Blue skies, sweet with the promise of freedom, cloudless and undaunted. A cool breeze blowing petals and grass through the air. The songs of birds racing through the wide expanse, unchallenged and unrestricted, who not just survived, but lived. It was the dream of every soldier, every man and woman who bore the burden and privilege of the Wings of Freedom dreamed of the day humanity could truly live.
Petra Ral was no different. She was under no illusion that she would live a long, happy life. Those who survived the front lines, those who made it to thirty, forty (sometimes beyond) had lost their vitality, their passion, their humanity. Everything was sacrificed one way or another. It was not a life lightly chosen; Petra had a doting father, a steady life within Wall Rose, a fair future. But there was always fear. Fear that the titans would break through, that they would all die, that humanity would lose everything. More than that, there was the fear that she would never see the sky, that her life would never travel beyond the walls, that she would live and die in captivity, like a bird with clipped wings.
The soldiers that joined the Survey Corps all had the desire for freedom. It was what brought them together, what overcame the fear of death and destruction, what fueled the long hard treks and what steeled them against the distrust and hatred of the public. It was why they left the walls and many never returned. They would sacrifice for their dream; but every soldier wished to survive to be a part of it.
When the female titan came, when Gunter and Erd were gone and it was just her and Auruo, Petra knew, in every fiber of her being, that it was her time to sacrifice. As the single steaming blue eye snapped to meet her gaze, she knew that she would not see the dream for herself. Her mind, her muscles, her breathing, everything seem to freeze in that moment. She could only watch and the titan bore down on her, could only pray and scream at her body to MOVE, to attack, to dodge, to survive, whatever it took!
She thought of her father, praying for her safe return; of Eren, who had trusted them enough to speed off and rejoin their comrades; of Gunter and Erd, who had gone ahead; of Auruo, who would sacrifice next. She thought of Levi, her commander officer, fellow soldier, and friend. Levi, whom she trusted more than anyone to lead them to freedom.
She whispered her last prayer to him, to the man who could make her sacrifice mean something. Who could make all their sacrifices mean something. She prayed for freedom for the both of them, and said a hurried goodbye as the gargantuan leg swung at her, the air screaming around it.
She had served humanity for years, had sacrificed her family, her future, her peace, and now her life. She had lived longer than most, but now it was time to pay in full.