Rising to the Challenge
Human kind had been backed into a wall quite literally. Life within the walls had become difficult ever since the first wall was breached, the constant fear that they would come back and break through the second of the three walls kept civilians alert. The stress of overcrowding, poverty and lack of resources often caused hostility and fighting over a loaf of bread or an apple was a common sight to see. Food was scarce so rations were small; each person got a single loaf of bread about the size of a hand per day. The rest was up to wealth. Cattle and pigs could not be kept in large numbers because of the lack of space so meat was rare and a luxury. If one was caught stealing meat, that person would be punished however that never used to be the case; meat used to be available cheaply to everybody, but now it was for the rich. The titan's attack on man kind had turned life into an endless nightmare.
It all happened so suddenly; there was a blinding light, a deafening crack similar to that of a lightning strike, and a wave of searing heat. Dust and smoke that had been stirred up with the impact had cleared to reveal a colossal humanoid beast peering over the fifty metre wall. The creature resembled a human with no skin, its beady eyes cool and calculating, an unsettling glint evident as it studied the gate it had materialised before. It raised a leg and drew it back, paused, and in one swift motion, struck the gate. Boulders, lumps of rock and gate and other debris rained down upon the town, crushing many homes and people as it did so. The titans, ranging from three to fifteen metres in height, flooded in through the broken gate and began their feasting. Cries of fear and confusion filled the air, the wails of new-borns and strangled shrieks of pain rang out above all.
"To the boats!" A man screeched, "to the inner walls! Save as many people as you can and evacuate! QUICKLY!"
The terrified citizens wasted no time as they witnessed their kin being devoured in the hands of the demons. The giants had invaded Wall Maria and massacred over twenty percent of the human population in just one day. Those who had managed to flee had taken refuge within the inner walls where they now battle for survival.
The Trainee Corps galloped into the forest on horseback and among them was a boy who had lost his mother to the titans in the attack five years ago. He vowed to kill all of the wretched beasts with his own hands on that fateful day and it became his will to survive ever since. His father went missing soon after the attack. The man, a doctor, had brought the boy and his two best friends to safety, taking refuge in an old barn before taking off. He mentioned something about an important job and the Reiss family, whoever they were. Now the young man had come back to reclaim what was lost. Being on titan's territory was incredibly dangerous and required the most skilled of warriors.
Red smoke from a signal flare off to the right made him sit up, subconsciously slowing horse to a trot. The flare had come from the other side of the forest where the right flank of their formation was located.
Titans had been encountered.
The teen eased his horse into a steady canter and rode in the direction of the smoke.
"C'mon boy, let's go kill those bastards. I'm not gonna let a single one live."
The smoke from a black flare signal caught his attention.
"An abnormal?"
A second flare joined the first, purple this time. His eyes widened in horror.
"No..."
A third flare. Another purple. An icy chill travelled up his spine.
"Worse!"
He urged his mount into a full on gallop towards the right flank where the flares had come from. Where his comrades would be fighting.
A sudden explosion in front of his horse stopped him in his tracks. The frightened animal reared and thrashed wildly, throwing the boy from his back and knocking the wind out of him. The smoke drifted away and in its place was a three metre class titan. The fallen young man staggered to his feet and whistled to his horse.
"Youba!* Here!" (*Pronounced: Yoh-bah)
The dark bay swung his large body to face his human, the three metre class grabbing at his hocks, and cantered over, stopping short at his rider's side who leapt into the saddle and raced around the giant, avoiding the crushing blows that rained down on them. Horse and rider worked as one, charging towards the back of the beast before them. The human stood up in the saddle, stirrups on his toes so as to not get trapped, and drew his swords. He was stood on the saddle now, crouched low and ready to pounce. Triggers were pulled, grapple hooks were released and gas from the manoeuvre gear propelled him forward, the strenuous use of his aching muscles moving him out of the way of a large hand as it made a grab for the grapple lines. The hooks pierced the skin of the beast before it could turn, resting just above the shoulder blades.
Nearing the large creature with his swords poised to strike, he went in for the kill. In one fell swoop the blades struck, slicing a chunk of flesh from the nape of its neck while the grapple hooks were retracted. The hunk of meat was sent crashing to the ground, the titan following soon after. It landed with an earth shattering thud.
Satisfied with his work, the teen shed the dull blades and replaced them, sheathing his now sharp swords. He strolled up to his steed, placed one foot in the stirrup and swung his other leg over its back in a single fluid motion. The gelding began to prance and canter on the spot, evidently excited for a gallop.
"One down, too many more to count to go."
With that, Youba bucked and set off in an easy gallop, his rider laughing heartily at his antics.
Once he and Youba arrived to where the signals came from, he dismounted and instantly regretted the action. He was met with a chilling sight; blood was everywhere, bodies littered the forest floor and the air was eerily silent. The pungent stench of death was sweet. Sickeningly so. The atmosphere was suffocating and he soon found himself struggling to breath. A wave of nausea washed over him giving him the sudden urge to throw up.
"H-help!" A voice whimpered.
He crept towards the sound of the voice.
"Hello?"
"H-help m-me... P-plea-please!"
Beside a blood-stained tree was a horrific sight; a girl of about seventeen lay propped against a great oak. Her body was surrounded in blood, the crimson liquid pooling from her mouth. Her legs were severed at the upper thigh, presumably bitten off by a titan, the bones exposed and bathed in the coppery substance. By the way she was leaning and the sight of the crushed ribs, he could tell that her spine was broken. She was paralysed with punctured lungs and was suffering with extreme blood loss. He looked over her briefly, her tear stained face dirty, bloody and contorted in pain, eyes morose and dull. She had given up and he could understand why. She was too far away from help and would be dead by the time he got back. There was no chance for her even if the medics were here at this moment. She had lost too much blood. The bleeding was too heavy to stop anyways. The wounds were too severe to bandage, not to mention the punctured lungs and internal bleeding. She would never be the same again.
"K-kill me, I beg y-you! Kill me!"
"B-but I-"
"PLEASE!"
"H-how could I?! I'm sure we could save-"
"NO! I-I've lost t-too much blood. There's no hope fo-for me."
He stood up and reluctantly drew his sword, his hair hiding his eyes from view. Tears streamed down his face and dripped from his cheeks, cutting tracks in the dirt and blood. He bit back a sob, trembling as he tried to keep his composure, sword clamped firmly in both hands. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as if not seeing would protect him from what he was about to do. He raised the weapon, took a shaky breath and plunged the lethal blade into her chest and through her heart.
"Th-thank... you..." she breathed.
He watched, unable to move as her body became completely still, her eyes lifeless. He began to hyperventilate. Struggling to breath and shaking uncontrollably, he yanked out the offending weapon. His eyes widened and he froze, dropping his sword. It landed on a rock with a resounding clang.
He clamped his hands over his mouth and dashed over to a clump of bushes as another wave of nausea forced his mouth to open and his knees to buckle. He heaved, regurgitating the contents of his stomach, the bile burning his throat and nose and once there was nothing left, he continued to dry retch making him gag and choke on his own tongue. He attempted to spit but instead, he coughed, a string of saliva dangling from his lips. He wiped it away with his sleeve.
He slumped to the floor, sobs wracking his body, cries of anguish echoing about the forest. Grief quickly morphed into anger, blinding rage and a lust for vengeance brought him to his feet. A fire burned in his forest green orbs, still red and puffy from his sob fest. He clenched his jaw, anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach rising to the surface, a growl forming in his chest. He threw his head up and looked to the sky, a feral roar tearing past his lips voicing his pain, sorrow and desire for the blood of the titans. A powerful gust of wind tousled his dark locks, carrying his voice away with the dust and dry leaves.
"DAMN YOU! I'M GONNA KILL 'EM! I'M GONNA KILL 'EM ALL! I'LL RIP 'EM APART WITH MY BARE HANDS, JUST YOU WATCH ME"
With those words he stormed off and hauled his aching body into the saddle, determined to locate the monsters that dare to attack his comrades.
His fury ebbed away and shock took its place. He couldn't believe his eyes; bodies and blood, but not those of humans. Titans lay motionless on the ground; ten and fifteen metre class creatures had been slewn and standing amongst them were-
"Armin! Mikasa!"
He cantered over to them, jumping over the enormous corpses in his way.
"Eren!"
"What happened? Are you guys ok?" He jumped off of his mount.
"Yeah, me and Shouga* here," she gestured to her chestnut mare, "took out a load of them demons but then my last blade broke so I had to stop." (*Sh-oh-gah)
Eren studied her face and noticed a particularly large cut under her right eye, partially hidden by her raven hair. He reached out on impulse and brushed her hair aside to get a better look. He cupped her cheek gently and swiped his thumb over the wound, swiping at the crimson substance seeping from it. Her slate grey eyes, usually stoic and uncaring, widened.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"How did this happen?" He demanded. She blushed deeply and buried her nose in the scarf he gave her when they were kids, clearly embarrassed. Why she kept that old thing he didn't know but he chose not to question it.
"I uhh.. My.. My broken blade hit me when it snapped." She mumbled, ashamed. Eren didn't understand why, a battle wound was nothing to be ashamed of. He glanced over to Armin.
"What happened to you?"
Said blonde was petting his bay horse a few feet away and looked over at the question, his sky blue orbs were dull and distant as if he wasn't fully there. He had a noticeable gash on his upper arm coated in dry, crusty blood. Around his head and partially covering his left eye was a white bandage, a faint tint of red where blood was seeping through. Eren had also noticed that the smaller boy had been limping earlier and he was genuinely concerned for his childhood friend.
"Nothing," he whispered, obviously lying, "Yuuga got spooked and I slipped is all."
Mikasa's dark eyes flashed with mild anger and worry. She only had room for two in her heart and she couldn't afford to lose one, they were irreplaceable. The rest of the world could burn in hell for all she cared but she would not let Armin talk about what happened as if it was nothing.
"An abnormal clipped his horse as it ran past and made her rear up but she lost her balance and fell. She landed on him and her weight crushed his leg. He's lucky he can still walk. To make it worse, his swords and replacement blades came out of their holders in the scabbard and he fell onto them. He cut his arm up real bad, as you can see and one of the dull ones cut his face from his forehead to his ear. Just missed his eye. If that was a new blade it would have sliced right through his skull like butter. We could have lost him, Eren, he could have died!"
"Where are Commander Erwin and Corporal Levi?"
"They went to check if the left flank are still alive. We haven't heard from them since we started this expedition. They should be back any minute now."
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The thundering of hooves could be heard and the sight of the Corporal on the back of his powerful midnight black stallion followed soon after. He pulled sharply on the reins and skidded to a halt before them.
"Stand to attention, soldiers!"
"SIR, YES SIR!" They all saluted, bolt upright, chins up, right fist clenched over their chests where their hearts were located, left fist clenched firmly behind their backs. A sign of offering their hearts up to the king and their lives for humanity.
"Oi, brats! Listen up! The left flank was almost completely wiped out. Get your asses in those saddles and follow me. Commander Erwin is with the survivors. Thirty three are dead and seven are badly wounded. We need to hurry!"
"Corporal Levi!" Eren interjected.
"What is it, brat?! I swear, if this is something stupid again I will personally rearrange your anatomy."
Eren gulped nervously. He wasn't joking.
"I want to join the Survey Corps."
"... No," he deadpanned and galloped off with Mikasa and, somehow, Armin
following.
Eren mounted quickly and sped up his horse, out pacing his friends and galloping alongside the Corporal. It was difficult as the Corporal's stallion was the fastest out of all of the horses and wasn't even at full speed yet, keeping slow for the others.
"Please, sir, give me a chance. Armin and Mikasa, too. We can fight. We want to fight. I want to rip those... Things... to shreds with my bare hands for my mother. Please let us join your squad!"
"Are you prepared to die for this?"
"Absolutely."
"Are you up for the challenge?"
"No, sir, but I want this. Even if I die, sir, I want to kill the titans that tore my life apart. I will do everything in my power to be of use to you.
"I admire your honesty, boy. Very well then. Prove to me that you and your
comrades can fight and I shall consider your offer."
"Y-YES SIR! THANK YOU, SIR! YOU WON'T REGRET YOUR DECISION I PROMISE YOU,
SIR!"
"You'd better keep that promise, brat, or I'll-"
"You'll personally see to it that my legs end up where my arms should be and my sword is jammed where the sun don't shine so that I can be barbecued and served to the giants on a silver platter with a side of fries like the human shish kebab I am. I know, I know. You have anger management issues, I get it. No need to worry, sir, I may not be the best warrior, but I will rise to the challenge."
And for the first time in years, Corporal Levi laughed, a ghost of a smile on his face.