Levi had no idea what Erwin had planned.
But whatever it was, it didn't seem to be a joke.
Levi brought his team with him to the forest of ridiculously large trees. While he didn't mind the side trip, he did wonder what Erwin was looking for in the forest. He didn't tell him. He just told him to look for anything strange. Survey grunt work, Levi thought to himself. But what bothered him was why did he insist that Levi's group be the one to go?
In his group, he had four of the most skilled soldiers. Petra Rall, a small petite female with light brown hair, scored the highest over-all amount of Titan Kills. Oluo, an older male with a blonde mohawk, had the highest number of solo kills. The blonde long haired Eld was known for having the highest number of assists. The balding brown-haired Gunther on the other hand was known to be able to flex in any situation.
And with them was a special one: Eren.
Levi recalled the day Eren was first assigned to his team. Eren Jeager recently graduated and moved to Legion after being tried by the court. Levi recalled what their problem with him was. It was an unknown power. Nobody had ever seen that kind of power before. Not even the high commanders or the supreme commander in all their tenure had seen someone with that kind of power.
But whatever it was, the court then deemed him useful and let him stay with the Legion.
A few days later, Erwin gave him a mission: go survey the forest of ridiculously large trees and train Eren. His eyes furrowed at the memory. Why in the world would he need to train Eren again? Then again, he bit his lower lip in thought.
"Corporal Levi!" He heard someone call him.
Levi looked up to see Petra pointing at something hanging from the tree. Her face paled at the sight and when he looked up, he could see why.
On the branches, he found a titan skeleton limply dangling on one of the branches. He blinked in surprise; when did Titans learn how to climb? Most of all, when did they learn how to get that high? He looked around the place and looked at the trees. Did they learn how to scale the trees? If so, how did Titans evolve so fast?
He took another step forward when he saw something wet drip right in front of him. A large splash of water hit the ground and hissed into steam. He stopped in his tracks and looked up only to see another Titan in the air. It gave him a hearty grin before dropping down with its mouth open.
"Everyone, get out!" He fired his hooks onto the trees.
The moment he gave the command, all soldiers flew straight up into the air. Eren followed Levi with Petra, Oluo, and Eld on the other side.
"What's going on!?" Eld gawked at the sight of the Titan. "When did they learn how to fly!?"
Gunther shook his head. "It's not flying. More like climbing!"
Once the Titan hit the ground, Levi quickly leaped forward with his blades out. As he closed in, something slipped by. A shadow with thin sword that cleaved right through its nape. The shadow darted back but this time, the sword had been split into two: a dagger and a saber. The shadow spun and cleaved off the rest before bouncing off the Titan and hid among the trees.
"What the," he muttered to himself before stopping himself midway. He looked around and then up. "Where did that come from?"
Suddenly, he heard something whistle. His eyes widened as he swung out of the way and it hit the branch where Eren stood. Eren yelped and staggered back at the sight. Now, he was just as confused as the others were: what weapon was that? It had a long shaft with a pointed tip. The tip was decorated ornately with a cross. Suddenly, he heard a loud explosion. He whipped his head to where Petra was standing where she was now hanging in the air instead of on a branch.
Petra shivered. "Heichou, what's going on!?"
He didn't know how to answer her. After all, he was also facing weapons he had never seen before. How could that one shadow have four weapons and still move fast? Another Titan suddenly fell from the sky when he noticed a small black dot on its nape. After five seconds, a concussive blast tore through the nape and sent the Titan crashing on the ground. He searched the area until he heard a voice.
"They look harmless," a small voice chuckled. "Maybe I should have saved the round for another time."
"You might want to watch where you point that thing," another deeper voice said. "That has biotic technology in it. If one of them gets hit, we're dead."
"How is that our problem?" A prouder and more passionate voice scoffed.
"We don't want to kill them, you idiot," the small voice snapped.
"You wanna have a go at it, you midget?"
"Oh fuck off, chicken wings!"
Levi blinked. There were three voices!? There might be more, Levi looked around. He searched the treetops only to find two more Titans crashing past them but with two other shadows. One had the saber and dagger and the other one had a great sword but wielded it as if it were just a toothpick! As the titans plummeted, the two shadows sprung up and lunged straight for him. Levi quickly jumped out of the way as the great sword nearly cleaved him in half.
"Tch!" Levi leapt to another branch.
However, the shadow accompanying the one wielding a great sword joined its two weapons into one large sword before diving straight for him. Levi quickly brought up his blades to deflect the attack. He staggered back a little when Oluo suddenly dove in.
"Back off!" He threw himself forward with his blades preparing to slice him in half.
Before he could cleave the other male in half, the one with the great sword parried his blow. Levi watched in awe as the sword flicked Oluo away as if he were nothing but a fly. He turned to Eren, Eld, and Gunther who appeared to be dodging flying shots. He didn't hear any explosions. Instead, he heard soft whistles which snipped the strings of their 3D maneuver gear! Levi's eyes widened as Eld and Gunther began plummeting to the ground.
"Eld, Gunther!" Petra and Oluo rushed to save their falling comrades.
Levi recalled the path of the shot and flew straight towards it. There, he found someone in a camouflage hood and a long-barreled gun. It looked like their rifles back in the city save for the extra weight on top and an extra barrel attached to the original one. The stock looked a different material from wood and its wielder was someone who was even smaller than he was!
"Shit!" He heard the shooter say as he dove in with his blades.
Levi nearly cleaved him in half only for another figure to drag him out of the way. Much to his surprise, he saw them also flying straight up in the air but with no 3D maneuver gear. Both figures landed on the other side allowing the shooter to take another shot. Levi quickly leapt away and circled around again to get close until he heard someone yell.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE! THEY'VE HAD ENOUGH!"
Levi saw the shooter lower his gun and decided to land on the branch across the two figures. He looked at his team and how pale they were. He couldn't blame them. How could these people fight Titans without the gear? Most of all, they were using smaller weapons. Yet, these weapons were more efficient than the ones they had.
"Who are you?" Levi glared at the hooded figures.
"I'll do you one better." The smaller figure scoffed. "What are you?"
Suddenly, the other figure hit the smaller one on the head. "If you're setting me up for "why are you" then, you may as well shut up."
"Tch. Spoilsport."
Levi shook his head. "You're definitely humans. But you're not from here, are you?"
The taller hooded figure shrugged. "What gave it away?"
"Your weapons, the fighting style you all used. It's not something we've seen in the walled city."
"Wait, there's a city in this place?"
"So, it seems," another voice cut into the conversation.
Levi looked up and saw another hooded figure land near them. Once it did, it then removed its hood to reveal a pale skinned male with bright red hair. He also had bright icy blue eyes that could either mesmerize or tear someone's soul apart.
"These guys are probably the scouts." The red-haired male pointed at their cloaks and then turned to the other figures. "Hoods off. These guys are not hostiles. And even if they were, we could chop 'em up."
Levi frowned but also felt a slight chill in the young male's words. There was no conscience, no mercy, but it was oozing with confidence that it could. The only time he had felt that kind of fear was years ago. And for someone like him to say that while eliciting that reaction, it meant business. As the hoods came off, he saw four different figures each with a prominent feature.
The one wielding a great sword was a tall and built blonde male. He had a prominent forehead and high bridged nose. He reminded Levi of one of the other recruits that he saw. Save that this one was taller, bigger, and possibly faster.
The smaller figure or the one Levi identified as the shooter removed his hood to reveal black hair. It wasn't entirely jet black; it still had a slight tinge of purple. His most prominent feature however was his rather large nose. The one standing to him had thistle colored hair that it almost turned silver. He had a cocky grin and gleaming storm grey eyes. The last figure was slightly shorter than the red head, but he had slate hair with black strands under. But the most prominent feature was his blood red eyes.
The five boys all had one thing in common.
They were deadly.
And they weren't afraid to show it.
Are they the ones Erwin found, Levi thought. He shook his head. "What are you doing here in the forest?"
The thistle haired one scowled. "Why should we answer you? We should be asking what you're doing in our territory?"
"Our territory? You're not even from the island!"
"I don't see your name in this forest."
"I don't see yours either!"
"Bryan, enough." The blonde male flicked the head of the thistle haired male. "We're here to make peace. Not to send their heads on a pike."
Levi looked at the thistle haired one. "Bryan?"
"Yes, I have a damn name, midget." Bryan folded his arms with a disgruntled snort. "Thanks for telling them my name, Spencer."
Spencer shrugged. "It's only common courtesy we know who we're dealing with." He then turned to Levi. "You must be the corporal they call Levi."
Levi's eyes flashed. "How do you know my name?"
"Heard it from one of your squad members who panicked. The girl I think was it?"
Levi turned to Petra and then to Spencer. "You weren't within hearing distance."
"I don't need to be." He hiked a thumb to both Bryan and the two-toned haired male. "Bryan and Kai have the sharpest senses in the team. They can hear things a mile away."
Levi turned to the one Spencer called Kai, realizing he was referring to the one with red eyes. A chill ran down his spine just staring at him for too long and the red head stood in front of him.
"Sorry, I don't like being ignored. The name's Tala Valkov. I'm the leader of this bunch." The red head smirked. "So, I'm guessing you're not here just for a regular patrol. You're here for a search."
Levi glowered. "You don't know that."
"Oh but I do. Why else would they send out a squadron of a small size? If it were a big size, it's an escort. A small size, it's a search. But you all don't look like newbies. You all have the fighter's eyes."
"The fighter's eyes?"
"A person who has been into battle and survived gets them." Tala shrugged. He then hiked his thumb over. "Or, that's what Kai says but he's always into this Psychology stuff."
Levi turned to Kai who had not said a word during the entire exchange. "He doesn't talk?"
"Oh, I do. I just choose my moments very carefully." Kai walked towards the trunk and leaned against it with his arms folded. "Next question, what do you want?"
Levi looked at the five males and then looked at his own teammates. Eren had been biting his lower lip and sweating; Petra and the others tensed up with their hands near their weapons. Erwin didn't give them any information to work with, the corporal thought. However, he remembered what Erwin told him before he left.
Levi was sitting in the middle of an empty classroom, looking at the crude drawing he made of Eren's titan form. It was the first time ever for humanity to see something like that. A human being able to turn into a Titan and fight against them. He clasped his hands together and looked at the sketch again. The dim lights from the sunset lit up the chalkboard of the multiple weak points the team had plotted to subdue Eren. As far as he was concerned, Eren still lacked the proper control over it. But the longer he stared at the sketch, the more questions rose up in his mind.
How did Eren get that kind of power?
That kind of power was never available back then.
And most of all, why only now?
Suddenly, a voice cut through his thoughts. "Levi."
Levi looked up to see the blonde commander of the Scouting Legion, Erwin. "Commander Erwin."
Erwin then turned to the drawing on the board. "I see you've made a subdue plan. As expected of Humanity's Strongest."
"Don't get on that bandwagon, Erwin. I don't even know how I got that stupid title."
"You did what you had to do as a soldier: you fought."
"Don't get philosophical on me. If you have something to say, spit it out."
Erwin chuckled and handed him an envelope. He raised an eyebrow at the blonde commander.
"You might want to check this out." Erwin gestured him to open the envelope. "There's something that this country doesn't want to see."
"If it's some bullshit about another world then, no shit they don't want to see it." Levi let out a disgruntled snort and opened the envelope.
Once he opened the envelope, he saw reports. Reports that the titan population had visible decreased in one of the forests. The forest with ridiculously large trees, he thought and looked at the map. Levi then turned to the other paper where there were records of the recent releases of the scouts. All of them had the same report: no hostiles in the area, no titans. He then raised an eyebrow and looked up at Erwin.
"You think there's something there." Levi handed him back the reports. "Some titan killing machines?"
"Perhaps not machines, even possible allies." Erwin took back the report and the envelope, tucking both away. "Take your team and head into the forest. Eren needs training."
Levi nodded. "He does. And you want him to fight against unknown identities?"
"The best way for him to learn how to fight is for him to fight other creatures."
He must've known. Levi looked up to the five males that stood before them. "The commander is looking for you."
Tala raised an eyebrow. "The commander?"
The other members of his squad gawked at him. "Corporal?"
Levi bit his lower lip. Did Erwin know it was these people? Did he really want to trust outsiders? On sight, Levi could tell that these people were trained to fight. They weren't just trained to fight titans but humans too. Their movements were too refined for them to be just newbies either. Their movements were smooth and their shooter just figured out how they managed to fly. They didn't stumble; they knew who to target. They were a squadron by themselves!
"You want us to fight for you." Tala's words cut through the silence when he folded his arms. "You want us to be part of the army so you can take out these titans."
Levi nodded. "You'll have a better place to stay instead of the trees."
"Sure, but we'll be taking orders from someone who's too chicken to come out and play."
"Commander Erwin isn't chicken!" Eren glared at him. "He didn't feel the need to go out because he knew Levi could handle it!"
"Or he figured your lives weren't that important so he threw you out," Bryan added with a chuckle. "Sound like a couple of blind sheep if you ask me."
Tala shook his head. "Well, we can give it a shot. I'm starting to get tired of eating berries and plants. I'm a wolf not a vegan."
"True," Ian snickered. "Bryan's been losing more brain cells ever since he started eating all veggies and less meat."
"Oh shut up, as if you got any smarter!" Bryan scoffed and folded his arms.
Kai nodded. "We at least will get more materials rather than just sitting out here. We can't keep staying out here."
"I agree, we don't have enough materials to handle sickness if it hits us." Spencer sheathed his great sword. "I'll go get our things."
Levi saw Tala nodded as Spencer jumped up to the higher branches. He then extended his hand to Tala. "Levi."
The red-haired male returned the gesture. "Tala. The small one's Ian, guy with red eyes is Kai, angry guy is Bryan, and the big blonde is Spencer."
"Alright. We'll guide you to the city."
Tala nodded and whistled to the other three. Ian jumped up to one of the higher branches. Kai and Bryan descended to the ground where the horses were waiting. Levi turned to Tala who kept his cloak on. He remembered not seeing him draw out any weapons or fighting any of the soldiers. It was just the four males. However, a chill ran down his spine as he recalled how the four males fought. If Tala was their leader, it meant either two things: he was either the smart one or the most skilled among the five.
"Before we head to the city, I would like to clarify a few things," Tala added. He raised his finger. "One, we take no orders."
"There will be times you have to," Levi rebuked.
"Only when it will suit our interests."
"Fine."
"Second, you will not split us up. Ever."
Levi raised an eyebrow.
"Unless you want Armageddon to happen then, do yourselves a favor and don't mingle in our group dynamics too much."
"Done."
"And finally, we want access to the whole city."
Levi shrugged. "Can't give you that. But we can make the process easier."
Tala nodded. "Good enough. There's someone we've been trying to smoke out for a few days."
"Who would that be?"
"That's classified."
"Really now?"
"It's none of your business."
Bryan scoffed. "If you two are done playing sticks and stones then, we better go." He pointed past the trees. "Sun's going down and we're going to lose our window."
