Riding On The Wings Of Freedom
Chapter 1
"Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure."
― Stephen King
Erwin Smith would never forget it, the day he met him, or the day he first saw his wings. What began as Wings of Rebellion quickly turned to Wings of Freedom, the true meaning of the symbol they wear on their back as members of the Scouting Regiment. His, however, were different. They weren't made of fabric that lightly flowed with the breeze, or flew around vigorously in the wind. They were real, snow white, feathered wings. It was the most wonderful sight Erwin had ever seen.
The first time Erwin tried to tell him, all he did was laugh in his face.
"Yeah, right," he said. "Me? Wings? An angel? Don't make me laugh, you bastard."
He had "tsk'd" and walked away, joining his two friends, Isabelle Magnolia and Farlan Church. All Erwin could do was smile and watch them walk away together, Isabelle, Farlan, and Levi, "Humanities Strongest Soldier." Erwin could still remember the day he first met Levi…
When Erwin heard he was going to "The Underground", a place where the Government tossed the criminals and left them all to rot and die, to recruit some kids who held extensive knowledge about 3D Maneuver Gear, and actually had sets of their own, for the Scouting Regiment, he wasn't surprised. The Scouting Regiment was in extreme need of talented soldiers to help with their missions outside the walls to bring home new knowledge about the Titans, giant creatures with a thirst for Human flesh and blood, and to find a way to destroy them all. Erwin also knew that the people they were recruiting were after the documents containing information about Nicolas Lobov, a man who had been corrupting the Scouting Regiments funding for quite some time. In fact, these people were hired by Nicolas himself to retrieve the documents and to kill Erwin, Oh, yes, Erwin knew. And it made them the perfect candidates for the Scouting Regiment's forces. Erwin didn't know their identities or their faces, but he was positive he would know them when he saw them. Erwin couldn't have been more right.
Down in The Underground, things were a mess. People were starving, dying, left, right, and center. Children were crying, rats roaming the streets freely, and the smell of rotting flesh was almost unbearable to people who didn't live there. Erwin and his team walked down the streets, looking for anyone who could have been their targets. Not surprisingly to Erwin, they were quite easy to find, but they were not easy to catch.
As soon as they caught sight of the Wings Of Freedom symbols on their capes, the three targets ran away. Their use of the 3D Gear was amazing for children who lived in this place they called "home." They were not easy targets, especially the one who appeared to be their leader, the shortest one of the group no less, with piercing silvery-blue eyes and short jet black hair. He was fast and not easily outsmarted. One of Erwin's best teammates, Mike, managed to catch him off guard and hold him down, and yet he still continued to fight.
"What is your name?" Erwin asked, multiple times, even threatening him with his two friends, one girl, feisty and stubborn, and one boy, calm and collected, in order for him to answer.
"It's Levi."
He and his friends reluctantly joined the Scouting Regiment as Erwin commanded. Tra
Levi and his friends, Isabelle and Farlan, were not accepted by the Scouting Regiment right away. Most of the trainee's were jealous that they got in immediately, not knowing the truth of the matter, of course, but they quickly turned that around. They trained with the other candidates, but their skills were clearly superior to those who trained extensively day in and day out to go beyond the walls for a brief glimpse of what true freedom is like. Erwin watched them show their skills and watched the scornful stares that they received from the other candidates, and was impressed that neither of them were bothered, especially since he thought that Isabelle of all people would either be extremely bothered or just beat them all up and laugh in their faces. No, they all just kept a calm demeanor and proceeded as directed by their superiors.
Erwin watched Levi move through the forests during training with the 3D Gear and Titan killing practice. He was graceful and smooth, hacking away with precision and perfection at the fake Titans scattered throughout the training forest, almost like a blur with the speed he was moving at, but still remaining elegant and calm, even when the other candidates voiced their negative opinions about him. Levi just replied with,
"The point is to kill them all, right? I'm just doing my job."
Erwin laughed to himself, and continued to watch. And that was the first time he saw them. Those wings. Only, they were different. Levi looked at Erwin with the coldest eyes, eyes screaming that he was going to kill Erwin Smith. Yes, those wings were not quite the Wings Of Freedom, but instead they were the Wings Of Rebellion, and Erwin longed to help Levi change those wings for the good and help Levi feel true freedom. Erwin's wish was not too far out of his reach.
The first expedition outside the walls for Levi, Isabelle, and Farlan was truly a day to remember. Levi's expression when he rode outside the gates for the first time, breathing in and tasting the air beyond the walls, and seeing the sun freely for the first time, was the happiest Erwin had ever seen him, and he couldn't help but smile to himself before putting on the mask of seriousness needed to direct the Scouting Regiment to victory.
Levi made his first Titan kill that day. Him, Isabelle, and Farlan killed it calmly without faltering. Everyone thought they would be an unstoppable team, but they couldn't have been more wrong that day.
The weather began to act up, fiercely raining out of the blue so hard that no one could see their hand in front of their faces, and most importantly if a Titan was coming their way. Erwin found Levi after the tragedy struck. Levi's squad, including Isabelle and Farlan, had all been brutally killed by a group of Titans. Titans that Levi, in a blind rage, slaughtered all by himself. Levi was the only survivor. Something changed within Levi that day. He looked at Erwin with even more hatred, even going as far as knocking him off his horse and pointing his bloody blade at Erwin, saying he was going to kill him. Erwin revealed to Levi that he knew all along what they were after and what their mission was. Erwin gave the order to retreat back to the wall, and when Levi had turned to get back onto his horse, Erwin saw what he had been waiting for all this time to see. Levi's true Wings Of Freedom.
"Oi, Erwin."
Erwin looked up in surprise, shaken awake from his thoughts, to see Levi looking down at him.
"Oh, hello, Levi."
"You spaced out for a while. Are you sick or something?" Levi raised his eyebrow at Erwin.
"No, I was deep in thought. Did you need something?'
"Entertainment."
Erwin blinked. Entertainment? What was that supposed to mean? 'Excuse me?"
"I'm bored." And with that, Levi sat on Erwin's desk.
"Oh? Well, what am I supposed to do about it?"
"Entertain me."
"I'm busy."
"No, your not. You've been staring at the same document in the same spot for almost 20 minutes."
Erwin playfully waved his hand in a dismissive manner to Levi and pretended to get back to work.
"What were you thinking about?" Came Levi's voice, once again interrupting Erwin's thoughts.
"Does it matter?"
"To me, yes. I'm bored." Erwin laughed slightly at that comment. This was an often occurance whenever Levi finished all his Captain duties early and had nothing better to do. The two had become rather close in the time Levi had spent in the Scouting Regiment, surprisingly enough.
"I see," Erwin said light-heartedly. Their happy moods were interrupted when someone burst through Erwin's door in a panic.
"Commander Erwin, Captain Levi! We have a situation! Trost District is under attack, and the child from the Trainee Corps they have in charge of sealing up the hole in the wall isn't-"
"Wait, did you just say "child", sir?" Erwin asked, standing up and dropping his documents.
"Yes, Commander Erwin, sir!"
Erwin's gaze hardened. How could they intrust a task like that to a mere child in the Trainee Corps? He sighed.
"Levi, gear up. Were going to assist the situation. All of us."
"Yes, sir."
A/N: Oh, goodness, it has been a long time since I have been able to write and boy does it feel good! Yes, I absolutely love Attack On Titan, like so many do, and I am so excited to be able to post this story~ Part of it is based on the real events in Attack On Titan, and the other part is based on a RolePlay I'm in, so if something doesn't make sense, that's probably why. Because, you know, this site is called FanFiction for a reason, so I can do what I want in my own story.
Sorry for the rant, I've just been getting a lot of hate on one of my stories posted on here and it's kinda making me irritated since I did post warnings and such. Anyway, I'm excited to write this and I'm sorry it's taken so long to post something new.
Also, for anyone who is interested, my girlfriend (other owner of this account) and I will be Cosplaying Eren (Me) and Levi (Her) so if anyone wants to see photo's of our Cosplay's feel free to let us know.
~Kayla~