Yayyy new fic!
Things you should know before you read the rest of this - All the "animals" in this AU are actually half humanoid things. So whenever an animal is mentioned, you should just imagine a half human half animal.
If you cant, then just think of a human with the animals ears/horns/tail/colour pattern and you're good to go :)
Also, everyone speaks english.
Even the dogs.
Enjoy!
Watching a deer play with his friends before you shot him was the kind of feeling you get when you see a child reach out to touch a rose, not knowing the thorns that guarded it.
Levi was a hunter, he was born that way, raised that way, and it was in his blood. In this world blood was as precious as diamonds, it told you your status, your class, whether you were the prey or the predator, the hunter or the hunted. And Levi was hunting today.
He breathed in the heavy scent of the forest and lifted his rifle. There were three deer ahead. A small male with blonde hair and barely formed antler stubs, a large doe with black hair and a red scarf and another male with brown hair and two reasonably large horns. They were in a small clearing between the trees and the three seemed to be chatting happily.
What a shame.
He would take the brown haired buck, his antlers would fetch a good price as well as the strong looking hooves. Levi exhaled slowly, his breath ghosting across his knuckles, eyes traveling up and down the body facing away from him and put his finger to the trigger.
He leaned forward.
Snap!
A twig crunched under his foot and the three startled deer turned around.
Green.
All Levi could see were two sparkling green eyes. The deer he had planned on killing had turned around and seen him. He was stunned for a split second before shaking himself out of it and pulling the trigger.
Levi's hesitation had caused him to miss. Instead of instantly killing him, he shot the buck in the upper thigh. The three fled, leaping and sprinting over rocks as Levi cursed and chased after them.
The injured male wouldn't get very far and after a short search, Levi followed a trail of blood to where the three deer had hidden behind a rock.
The female jumped up and attempted to tackle Levi but was thrown to the side as the injured one yelled at her to leave him.
Levi pulled out a small pistol and aimed it at the doe, silently telling her to leave or die.
"Mikasa! Run! PLEASE!" The brown haired male begged.
The blond one seemed to bite his lip before grabbing the female and pulling her aside. They had a quick argument before the female was kicked in the leg by the injured deer and Levi fired a warning shot.
The sound of the pistol echoed in the forest for a second before the two unharmed deer sprinted off.
Turning his attention to the struggling deer on the ground, Levi pulled out a small hunting knife and grabbed one of the antlers roughly. The injured male thrashed harder, managing to hit Levi above the eyebrow and leaving a small cut. The hunter tugged hard on the antler in his gloved hand and the deer let out a pained keen.
Levi pulled him close enough so that they were chest to chest and drew up the knife so that it pressed flat against his cheek.
"Do you know how much these will fetch on the markets?" Levi said quietly, rubbing his thumb slowly against the short fur on the base of the antlers with a small smirk.
"P-Please let me go. I didn't mean to h-hit you." The young deer pleaded, staring straight into Levi's eyes.
The hunter paused, slightly taken aback by their brightness. However, he quickly composed himself and slowly turned the knife around so that the cold, sharp edge rested against the deer's cheekbone.
He could feel a shiver run through the deer as it tried to be still to keep it from digging into the skin. The buck was a pretty one, he would be a good pet for a nobleman but today, Levi was after antlers.
He moved his arm so that the knife rested against the deer's chest, ready to plunge in.
"WAIT! I-I-if you're going to kill me I want you to at least know my name." The young deer stuttered.
Levi paused before nodding.
"What is it?"
"I'm Eren Jaeger." The deer said which earned him a scoff from the hunter.
"Jaeger? As in hunter?" Levi questioned. "How ironic."
The pair were silent for a second before Levi shifted. "Well if that's all."
He raised his arm again when he was stopped with another shout from the deer.
"WAIT WAIT! What's your name?" Eren blurted out.
"Why?"
"I…. want to know the name of my killer that's all."
Why do you need that, you're going to be dead.
Levi was starting to get annoyed. He usually didn't entertain the requests of his prey.
"I'm Levi" He said.
"W-well Levi, it's… nice to meet you." Eren said with a shaky voice.
"I'm sure it is." Levi replied before pausing.
"Are you quite done?" He continued, annoyed that his kill had been delayed so much.
Eren shook his head, frantically racking his brain for ideas to stop the hunter.
He opened his mouth but was rudely stopped by a gloved hand covering it.
"Shh." Levi whispered, listening for something.
There was a dull thudding in the distance.
The hunter pulled Eren close against him and flattened his back against the rock as the thudding turned into the thunderous sound of hooves heavily beating the ground.
Upon hearing the hoof beats, Eren suddenly threw himself out of Levi's grip and used his uninjured leg to boost himself up over the rock.
"GUYS! I'M HERE!" He yelled, waving frantically before being yanked down roughly by Levi who hissed at him angrily.
"What the fuck."
Eren smiled at him. "They have come for me!"
Soon, they were surrounded by a herd of deer of various sizes. If Levi had a few more men with him, they would have made a fortune. It seemed that the "Mikasa" doe had brought their entire herd.
Levi quickly flipped Eren under him, pulled his head back by an antler and brought the sharp edge of his hunting knife to the exposed throat.
"Step closer and I'll slice his pretty little head right off." Levi hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously.
The deer hesitated, weighing the chances before the small blond one from before spoke up.
"We don't want any trouble, j-just give Eren back and we will not harm you. There's nothing to gain for yourself if you kill him anyways." His voice was clear but shaky.
Levi considered it for a second before relaxing his grip and rolling off Eren. Immediately, the one in the red scarf rushed to his side and started fussing over his leg. The rest of the herd approached him.
A tall, handsome male reached out his hand to Eren. "Look who got caught! You're lucky your pretty sister called us." He grinned at the female.
Eren slapped his hand away. "It's good to see you too horsey."
A tall blonde lifted Eren gently and draped him over a broad shoulder. Levi pushed himself to his feet, preparing to leave when the doe in the red scarf tackled him.
"You fucker. I'm going to kill you!" She hissed at him, fire practically spilling from her mouth, before raising a fist.
Levi closed his eyes and braced himself for an impact that didn't come.
Huh?
The small blond had grabbed her arm with both hands. "Mikasa, we told him we wouldn't hurt him."
The female gave a frustrated sighed and reluctantly stood up. She turned to leave but paused at the last second.
Levi looked up as the herd turned away and started to leave. His eyes locked with Eren's startling green ones before he heard a shout of "Mikasa no!"
And his vision went black.
"Levi!"
"Levi!"
He awoke to someone shaking his shoulder and a cool cloth being applied to his forehead.
"Levi! You're awake! Man I never thought I'd see the day 'humanity's strongest' was knocked out behind a rock."
Levi looked around, trying to figure out his surroundings. He was in the common room of the hunter's headquarters. Various "prizes", mostly taxidermied heads from hunts adorned the wooden walls and bearskins were laid over the red carpet. There was a fire burning in the far wall of the room and he was laying across a leather couch.
He lifted a hand to his head, feeling the dried blood crusting a shallow wound. Levi's head was throbbing and he let out a pained groan when he was pulled roughly to his feet.
"Hello to you too Hanji." He said.
The woman laughed and patted him on the back. "So what happened? Did you run into some wolves or something?"
Levi just shook his head. "Nah."
Hanji shot him a questioning look, which he ignored in favor of reaching for a glass of water.
"How long was I out?"
Hanji laughed again. "Three days! Can you believe it? If we hadn't found you, a bear or something would have gotten you."
Levi raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Bears? I thought we cleared them out a long time ago."
Hanji's eyes glinted in the firelight. "Yea but you seeeeee, Mike was out the other day chasing rabbits in the north forest and he saw three cubs and a momma bear!"
"I see. That's good then."
"Oh Erwin wanted to see you when you woke up, I think he needs you to go into town to pickup some ammo or something." She continued.
Levi nodded and straightened. "I'll go now. Did you get my gear?"
Hanji shook her head. "Not a single weapon on you."
Levi cursed. "Fuck those green eyes."
"What was that?" Hanji asked, pushing her face too close to Levi.
"Back up shitty glasses, your breath is disgusting. I'll just go buy some more in town."
"Leviiiii" She whined. "How mean!"
Their city was organized very neatly. There were mountains to the west, covered in lush forests and they were fertile hunting grounds. The hunter's village was located in the middle of the mountains and had three roads leading out of it. One of them connected to the town where the hunters would trade and sell their goods to the merchants in return for money or other necessities.
Another road led to the peasant's village where many hunters had family living there. The peasant's village was to the east where the land met the sea and it doubled as a bustling fishing port.
The last road was a small one, not marked on the maps. It led to a small gathering of wooden cabins. The slave traders. It sounded worse than it really was. The traders took live animals, and sold them to as servants, slaves and "pets" to the rich noblemen in town.
Levi never liked going into town. The merchants were greedy, the people smelled terrible and it always felt like you were being watched no matter what you did or where you went.
He walked down the main road of the town and approached a small dirty store. He pulled the dirty curtain to the side and stepped inside with a lip curl of disgust. Levi hated this store but it sold good weapons.
"Ah! Levi, welcome! Welcome!" A tall blonde man approached him. There was a dog sitting in the corner who barked at the entering man.
"Hannes. I see your stop is as much of a pigsty as ever." Levi greeted.
Hannes laughed, "It's good to see you too. Meet Markyl, I got him from the traders last week." He gestured to the dog who stood up and bowed to Levi.
"Hello Mr Levi." He said politely.
Levi nodded a greeting to the canine boy.
"I need two hunting knives, two Marlin rifles and five rounds of ammo."
Hannes raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What happened to your old guns?"
Levi let out a 'tch'. "Some brat stole them."
The other man let out a barking laugh. "Well Marlins are $850 nowadays but since you're an old friend, ill do you $800 whatdaya say?"
Levi shook his head. "$600."
"Levi! Do you know how good the trigger pull on this baby is?" Hannes said, pulling a long silver rifle off the wall and running his hands over it.
"I'll take one for $650."
"Two for $1400 and I'll throw in the ammo for free."
"Deal."
Levi paid for his goods and left the store without another word. "Pleasure doing business with you Levi!" Hannes yelled after him.
Levi returned to the headquarters and headed to Erwin's cabin. He knocked on the door and tapped his foot impatiently.
"One moment!" came a deep voice.
After a few seconds and hearing a crash come from inside, Erwin pulled open the door. His he was shirtless, his hair was a mess and he had red scratch marks stretching across his chest.
A figure appeared behind Erwin and wound its arms around his midsection. It was a greyhound and he looked angry.
"Having fun with Nile I see." Levi said.
How filthy.
Erwin scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Was there something you needed?"
Levi handed him the bags of ammunition and turned to leave when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't touch me with those fingers. I know they've been up his damn ass." Levi hissed, hitting Erwin's hand off.
Nile let out an annoyed bark but was cut off by Erwin. "Levi. The traders need three deer alive for a nobleman by next week. I was going to get Hanji but it seems she ran off to look for bears."
Levi scoffed. "Okay."
I know exactly which deer I'm getting.
Levi was happy today. It wasn't too often that one would find Levi happy but he was happy today.
He stood in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom and pulled on his green undershirt over his dog tags and buckled his belt system. It stretched across his chest and ran down his sides. Levi slid a small handgun into its holder and pulled a tight black hunting jacket on. It fit him like a glove and he stepped into a pair of tight fitting black pants.
He pulled a black cap on and slid his hands into a pair of leather fingerless gloves. Tightening the straps at the end of the gloves, he looked into the mirror and nodded at his reflection.
I'm going to get that pretty little 'Eren' today. And he is going to pay for dirtying my clothes.
He slid a rifle into a holder on his back and placed another one on the ground as he tied up his combat boots.
Slinging a bag of supplies over his shoulder, he picked up the rifle and set out for the east forest where he had spotted the green eyed deer.
After a short trek, he arrived at the rock where he was so rudely kicked in the head by the doe. It had been four days since he was last there and their tracks would have been covered up by leaf litter and washed away by morning rains.
But Levi wasn't called 'Humanity's strongest' for nothing. He set off in the direction that he had last seen the herd turn away in. There was a meadow, which was not too far away in that direction.
He climbed over rocks and made good time through the forest but upon arriving at the meadow, was greeted with a disappointing scene. It was empty.
Probably shouldn't have thought this was easy.
He wasn't disheartened however, as he walked the edges of the meadow and saw a littering of broken twigs and crushed flowers.
Bingo!
He had found a reasonably solid trail to follow. So he followed.
For two days and two nights he followed the trail. Sometimes It thinned out and Levi had to rely on pure instinct to find it again and other times it was glaringly obvious that the animals had gone that way.
It was uncommon for hunters to leave on trips alone but Levi preferred it this way. In his opinion, no one else could keep quiet enough for him to get a good shot at his prey and the meaningless chatter that came with company was more than enough for him to turn down any offers of partnership.
The only issue for him being alone was the threat of running into packs of wolves and mountain lions. The chances of lions were quite low but wolves were common in the east and although Levi was skilled, it was hard to get away from a hungry pack.
But Levi took that risk.
He was running short on supplies by the third day but that only spurred him on more. He valued a good chase more than anything in his life and his efforts were rewarded when he climbed to the top of a hill and saw a gathering of deer in a clearing in the distance.
Allowing himself a small smile, Levi made his way down the hill and approached the space. It was clear by the time he arrived but he knew that the herd was close by.
After an hour of searching, he found the herd lingering around a small stream and just as he had suspected, it was the herd with the green-eyed buck he was looking for.
He spotted the small blond from before washing himself in the shallow end of the stream and some other familiar faces but Eren was nowhere to be seen.
Cursing under his breath, Levi crouched behind a protruding rock and watched the herd.
There were fifteen adult deer and three children in the herd in total. They were covered in fur from the hips down and wore olive green vests with white fur-lined hoods.
Some of the deer had gloves and scarves but most of them just had the vests.
Levi never understood where the animals got their clothes. They just seemed to appear.
There were four stags in the group, large enough to easily tower over the hunter. They had broad shoulders and muscly arms. Levi recognized the tall blond who had carried Eren on his shoulders.
Levi couldn't do anything just yet, the stags could easily overpower him so he waited.
About an hour passed and the sun was starting to set before he saw the deer he was searching for. Eren had returned to the group with Mikasa behind him.
Isn't that sweet, I guess they're a mated pair.
The rest of the herd greeted the pair and they went about their business readying the area to settle in for the night.
Levi rested his back against the rock he was hidden behind and made himself comfortable.
He had a long wait ahead of him.
So how do you guys like this idea? :D
Leave me your thoughts in a review and i hope you liked it.