CHAPTER 2
Levi's POV
I was seriously pissed off. Erwin had just deposited yet another stack of paperwork atop my desk – right next to the three others. I had been sitting at that god-forsaken desk for four hours filling out form after form, page after page, and I had had it up to a certain height far past my head.
"Commander," I groaned and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms, "I'm going for a walk."
"Don't take too long, Levi," he told me. I left.
When I was safely into the forest surrounding HQ, I breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against a tree. I despised paperwork. After running a hand through my hair I drew the swords on my 3DMG and squeezed the motion triggers. Sailing through the air, I felt at peace.
That is, until I saw something dark crumpled on the forest floor.
I cautiously swung down to examine the object, soon realizing it was a person collapsed on the ground. Noiselessly, I landed beside them and sheathed my swords before I knelt down. It was then that I recognized the figure as that of a young woman, several scrapes marring her pale skin. She was dressed rather oddly – loose-fitting black workpants and a baggy black shirt with a hood sewn to the back. Long strands of dark hair, tangled with forest debris, stuck out from their bun at odd angles. I placed my hand uselessly against her forehead. There was a reason they didn't train me as a doctor.
"Oi," I said, lightly slapping her in a weak attempt to rouse her. "Are you alright?"
I knew it was a stupid question, but, fortunately, nobody was present (or conscious) to hear it. She still refused to wake, and I couldn't just leave her to die in the middle of the forest, so I gently lifted her in my arms and began to carry her back to HQ.
She, however, had other plans.
When we were halfway through the forest on the way back to the castle her eyelids began to flutter.
"Gnh," (or something along those lines) she groaned and tried to open her eyes.
"Don't," I told her. "You look like you took a pretty bad fall. You need your rest." She complied and leaned her head back against my chest. Then her eyes flew open.
"What the absolute hell!?" she yelled and leapt from my grasp, landing on her back and righting herself.
"Calm down," I said. "You've fallen from one of these trees. You're probably a bit foggy right now-"
"Don't!" she yelled at me, face flushed, feet in a defensive stance. I took a hesitant step forward, but she matched my by stepping back. "Don't come any closer!"
"I'm just trying to get you somewhere where you can get medical attention," I said coolly and took another step closer.
"I said not to come any closer!" growled the girl as her eyes narrowed menacingly. Even to me, she looked threatening.
"And what do you plan to do if I disregard that?" I asked her disparagingly.
"Honestly," she answered with a nervous laugh, "run as fast as I can."
She tore off in a gallop. I drew my swords and cast a grappling hook into a nearby tree, rocketing forward as I swung on my 3DMG wires. She was surprisingly fast, even for someone of her small size; I had no problem overtaking her, however. I landed directly in front of her.
"Miss me?" I sneered and grabbed her wrists.
"Not particularly," she grunted and kneed me in the groin. When I doubled over from the pain in my balls she took the opportunity to plant a kick in my skull, sending me crashing into a tree. Ignoring the shooting pains in my abdomen and back, I hauled myself to my feet and stared at her.
"That," I panted and clawed at my stomach, "was a dirty trick."
"Thank you for that enlightening piece of information," she deadpanned. She made no effort to run after seeing the speed with which I moved with the assistance of my 3DMG; instead, she opted to assume a defensive stance and stand her ground.
This isn't going to be as easy as I thought.
"Listen," I tried to reason with her. "All I was-"
"No, you listen to me, Creep," she spat. "I have no interest in being kidnapped. I just want to go home, wherever the hell that its."
"I'm not trying to kidnap you."
"That's what they all say. And you know what happens to the stupid girls who believe them? They end up being made into fucking candles!"
"Will you just listen!?" She shifted her stance slightly, never tearing her gaze from me.
"I'm listening," she said warily.
"Okay," I began. "I was just taking a walk, and I found you lying in the middle of the forest, so I decided to take you back to the infirmary at HQ."
"HQ?" she asked and cocked her head ever so slightly. "The headquarters of what organization?"
"The Survey Corps."
Her eyes widened to an almost comical size, then narrowed once more.
"I'm not stupid, you Creep," growled the girl. "The Survey Corps is –"
She was interrupted by the sound of leaves crunching under a newcomer's feet.
"Levi!" Commander Erwin called from behind me. "I thought I told you to take a short walk." He stopped upon noticing the girl before me. "Do we have an intruder, Corporal?"
"I'm not sure, Commander," I answered without tearing my eyes away from her. She looked, wide-eyed, from me to Erwin and back again.
"Erwin?" she whispered with an astonished tone. "Levi?"
"That would be 'Corporal' to you," I corrected her harshly. Her mouth opened and closed uselessly for a moment before she was finally able to speak.
"Oh, I'm in deep shit now."
She hit the ground running back into the forest.
"What was that?" Erwin asked me. I shook my head and readied my swords.
"If I knew I'd tell you. But be careful with that one," I warned. "She's not weak." We both shot off into the woods on our 3DMG in pursuit of the girl, who we found to be leaping from tree to tree in an effort to conserve precious energy. Commander Erwin and I looked at each other.
How could anyone get into a tree that quickly?
As if just to confuse us, she suddenly leapt from the branch on which she stood and landed in a shoulder roll on the ground.
"Just give up!" Commander Erwin called down to her.
"Don't give away our position," I said.
"Are you giving your superior orders now?"
Looking back down to the girl racing below I steadied myself and shot a wire to a branch about five meters in front of me. She looked back up at us, then at the place where my hook gripped the tree. Suddenly I was falling. The sturdy branch to which I was attached had spontaneously snapped from the trunk and was plummeting to the ground below, taking me down with it. I hurriedly withdrew my grappling hook and shot it into the nearest tree to steady myself.
"God!" I heard Erwin yell behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I realized he had had a similar experience. I looked back to the girl; she had turned and was running backwards so as to gauge our reactions. While she still looked scared, she also looked relieved that we had been able to save ourselves. She whipped around and accelerated. In a futile effort to capture her my superior officer shot a wire into a tree near the girl and swept down to grab her. As if predicting his actions she shot her leg up to connect with his face. She winced as he cried out in pain, seemingly distracted.
Here's my chance.
Taking advantage of her momentary distraction I swung down and grabbed her around the middle.
"LET ME GO, YOU BASTARD" she demanded as she squirmed in my grasp.
"Tch. Such a filthy mouth."
Within an hour she was chained to a wall in the basement with a bloodied face. She, however, seemed unperturbed, still making wise-cracks between blows.
"Nice place you got here," she groaned. "I'm guessing you keep the candle-making equipment locked away somewhere?" I brought my foot to the crown of her head and pressed her head to the floor.
"I have the capability to end you right here and now."
"You won't," she observed. I pressed my food harder into her skull.
"And how," I leaned down to her level, "do you know that?"
"Because that takes all the fun out of it, doesn't it?" I pressed harder, then released her head from under my boot. "Plus," she added, "I'm just too fun to kill." Her eyes wandered to the amused faces of her guards. I looked to them as well.
"Well," I demanded of them. "Is she too fun to kill?" They shared a nervous glance before the taller of the two answered.
"She is quite amusing, sir," he said. The chained girl flashed an infuriating smirk my way, for which she was rewarded with a swift kick to the shoulder.
"Jeez, Corporal," she mocked. "Don't you think that's a rather harsh punishment for a facial expression? I glared at her. "See, if I had made that expression I would be bleeding even more. The hypocrisy is palpable."
"Do you ever shut up?" I sighed and massaged the space between my eyebrows.
"Occasionally," she quipped. "Talking is a side effect of my allergy to assholes."
"Would you give me some straight answers if it were just me here with you?" I asked finally.
"Perhaps. It really depends on the questions you ask."
"Out," I ordered the guards. Anything to get this over with. They complied and left the basement. "Now, I want you to answer me truthfully. No half-truths. No leaving anything out."
"Okay," she sighed dramatically. "Well, it all started when I was born to two wonderful people-"
"Not that much of everything," I said abrasively. "Let's just start with your age. You can't be eighteen." She snickered at the ground.
"You're right. I'm not eighteen," said the girl. "I'm twenty."
"Bullshit."
"I'm not bullshitting you. I'm twenty."
"Continuing," I sighed. She couldn't be twenty. "Where are you from?" She bristled slightly at the mention of her home.
"The deepest pits of hell," she said lowly. "When I get back I'll say hello to my Spanish teacher for you."
"Straight answers, girl!" I commanded her. Her expression never changed.
"I'm from outside the walls," the girl answered slowly.
People live outside the walls?
"Is there a colony there?" I asked, trying to sound disinterested. She gave a shaky laugh and nodded.
"I guess you could say that."
"Where is it located?" She seemed very hesitant to answer. "We won't pulverize your colony, if that's why you're so worried."
"It's not that, it's just..." she trailed.
"Spit it out, girl."
"Fine!" she quipped. "I don't know where it is. I fell out of a tree in my colony and blacked out, then woke up here."
"Hm."
The Scouts have mapped thirty miles from the walls with no sign of a colony. If she's telling the truth she couldn't have simply wandered off; someone must have purposefully deposited her here.
"Do you have any family that might be looking for you?" She shook her head. "Then what are you called?"
She lowered her face and didn't answer.
"I said," I growled and yanked her head up by her hair, bringing her face inches from mine, "what are you called?"
Despite how she had held out during her torture session, I expected her to whimper in pain and stutter out an answer, all while looking at me with terrified and teary eyes. Instead she locked her jaw and glared at me with eyes harder than steel.
"If you won't tell me that then tell me where you learned to fight," I demanded.
"I've been in plenty of fights, Corporal," she sneered. "I can take care of myself."
"And what about Titans? What do you do then?"
"I have my ways," she growled lowly. "Unchain me and I might give you a demonstration."
"I am not an idiot, little girl," I snarled. Before I could continue there was a knock at the dungeon door. "What is it?"
"Commander Erwin wishes to speak with you, sir!" a voice came through the door. I dropped the girl's hair and stood abruptly.
"Tell the commander I will be with him shortly," I said without taking my eyes from the bloody mess before me.
"You tend to do everything shortly," she chuckled to herself, earning her another swift kick in the shoulder blades.
"Do you have a death wish?" She laughed again.
"Something like that."
Turning sharply away from her, I strode to the door and grabbed the handle.
"Oh, and Corporal?" she called from behind me.
"What?" I asked gruffly.
"Sleep tight," she chuckled again. I slammed the door and left.
That girl was going to break if it was the last thing either of us did.