Shingeki No Kyojin: Dissonance
A/N:Hope this chapter was worth the wait guys! I'm gonna start focusing on the main aspect of the story after this chapter so bear with me okay? Made some minor changes to chapter 2 as well prior to this chapters release such as revised descriptions and dialogue, nothing too major though.
Without further adieu, I present to you the third chapter. I hope you all enjoy ^^!
-Prima.
Chapter 3: Rescue and Identity
"This isn't good…" Levi held the unconscious form of Mikasa Ackerman, her face pale and covered in sweat; the white, buttoned uniform she wore soaked in a mixture of blood and rising water.
The deluge of icy liquid continued to reign down upon the two legionnaires, trees swaying side to side by the strong winds from the storm that had enveloped the gargantuan forest in its grasp.
Levi had taken off his emerald-colored cloak; a standard for every member of the legion to stay dry from the rain, in order to stop the poor girl from bleeding out. The cloak was tightly wrapped around her back and over her wound, proving to be successful in stopping the bleeding.
However, if he didn't get her to higher ground soon, she wouldn't live to see the next hour. Usually he could just hold the fellow soldier in his arms and climb to a higher point of the tree they were up against, but there was one problem.
"Why are these bastards just standing there?!" Levi questioned in his head while looking at a Titan that stood nearly as tall as the tree; its head ridiculously huge with a wide grin that presented rotting gums and crooked, yellow teeth. Another of the same height covered the other side, the head tilted to one side with an abnormally long neck that appeared to have been stretched out, its eyes focusing themselves in opposite directions with the mouth bending past a twisted nose.
"They have to be deviants…do they know we're here?" Levi knew that if he even attempted to kill both of the hulking deformities, that there was a significant chance of him failing due to the limited maneuverability with only one hook.
He looked at Mikasa and shook his head in annoyance. "You really had to cut my other wire? You fool." He thought about using her equipment but none of it was salvageable. He had found the other sheath bent in three different sections, the blades broken and the wires bisected and dangling off a tree.
He also thought about using the gear of his deceased squad, but their equipment was already sunk below the murky water. Levi thought for a moment longer before slowly getting up, looking at Mikasa with an emotionless face as he drew his blades.
The Titan with the huge head heard something bounce off the massive tower of leaf-covered wood beside it, slowly turning to see the cause. Suddenly, a lone hook was fired against its nape, the cold steel penetrating itself deep inside the flesh of the slowly turning behemoth. Levi quickly reeled himself in; the sound of steel cable grinding against the ejection-unit as he drew his blades back.
He made a clean cut, the Titan leaning towards a group of trees to its right as it fell. Levi jumped up in the air, only to feel as if his left arm had been set ablaze. He yelled out in pain before looking over, his eyes widened.
The other deviant had caught him; its mouth opening unbelievably wide. Levi hung there, unable to escape its grasp or do any damage for his blade couldn't reach. His eyes closed, blade at the ready, thinking of his helpless subordinate who was probably drowning in the rampaging flood by now.
"Looks like this is where we die, Mikasa." He began to think about his squad as the mouth came down upon him. "I'm sorry for not being able to avenge all of you…"
A plethora of crimson accompanied the rain, creating a pool of red which mixed itself with the groundwater that submerged the Titan's feet. The behemoth then proceeded to fall over, landing on a vast amount of trees that were leveled in an instant.
The Titan had released its grasp on Levi whose body was floating in the water, his left arm fractured. He didn't seem to care, doing nothing but staring up into the clouds. A familiar figure dropped onto the steaming Titan before unequipping her maneuver gear.
"Levi!" Hanji screamed, jumping into the water before making her way beside him with wide eyes. Mike Zakarius landed on the head of the Titan with Mikasa resting against his back, her arms tied around his waist.
"Hanji…?" Levi looked up at her, rain drops falling on his face.
"Hanji! We need to go now!" Mike exclaimed. Hanji took Levi into her arms and pulled him over to the Titan.
"Mike!" Hanji yelled. He nodded, extending a hand to grab Levi's arm and pull him up onto the Titan before doing the same with Hanji. She quickly re-equipped her maneuver gear just as a group of 4 through 7-meter class Titans appeared from the west.
"Let's move" Mike yelled, his grappling hooks catching hold of two trees before releasing gas to reach them. Hanji lifted Levi onto her back before doing the same, following behind Mike closely as they rushed to escape the flooded forest.
"Eren! Mikasa!"
"Mom!"
The district of Shiganshina was in flames and swarming with hundreds upon hundreds of Titans, their sadistic grins and deformed bodies striking fear into the villagers that stood before them.
Eren and Mikasa, fully equipped with the scouting legion uniform and 3D Maneuver Gear, watched as their mother was pulled out from the wreckage of their home a few blocks away.
Eren wasn't young anymore; he was ready to fight, to kill, and to cut that Titan down before it ate his mother. "Get away from her you fucker!" Eren yelled to the top of his lungs, swooping down; firing his hooks through the brick, wood, and stone of various houses that were abandoned by its inhabitants.
He got closer and closer, Mikasa trailing behind him as the Titan lifted his mother up, its grinning mouth opened wide for a feast. "I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" Eren squeezed the triggers on his hand grips as hard as he could, the gas creating a long vapor trail that Mikasa flew right through.
Eren shot his hooks out one last time, drawing his blades back for the kill. This moment would decide everything! He let out a loud scream, as if it were a war cry, about to reach the Titans' nape.
Out of nowhere, he felt a sharp pain rise through his leg, seeing himself free-falling in the air for a mere moment before eating ceramic tiles as his body rolled itself along the rooftop of a building.
Pieces of the ceramic tiles sliced through his gums and other parts of his body, but he felt pain everywhere. He spat blood; his vision blurry, suddenly seeing something crash right next to him.
He struggled to make out what it was only for his eyes to widen, tears beginning to form in his eyes. His mother's upper half lay there, blood seeping from her nose and mouth; eyes nearly rolled up into the back of her head. "Mom...? Mom?!"
He heard a crunch sound before seeing Mikasa fly by with no upper half, her legs crashing through a window nearby. "Mikasa!" Eren screamed to the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his face before beginning to choke on them. He reached his arm out, blood pouring out of his leg. The sound of heavy footsteps approached Eren while he began to think to himself.
"This wasn't supposed to happen…I was supposed to save mother…Mikasa was supposed to live…what is this…this isn't right…" Eren felt himself get pulled away from his mother.
"W-what…?" He looked behind him to see the Titan that killed his family, opening its mouth for another meal. "No! I'll fucking murder you! I'll fucking end you!" Eren still had the blade in his hand, beginning to stab at the Titans' clenched fist while screaming at the top of his lungs. His efforts proved futile, but he refused to give up; continuing to stab the Titan before it crushed his body.
Blood poured out of Eren's mouth, his back broken and bones crushed, the blade no longer in his grasp. The Titan's grin never left, digging its teeth into the broken soldier before tearing him in half.
"Noooo!"
Eren eyes shot wide open as he panted heavily, cold liquid trickling down his body. Drops of sweat formed at his chin while Eren wiped away the tears that had begun to form.
He noticed a blazing light illuminating the area around him. His wandering eyes met an active fireplace; the embers glowing hot and providing warmth even though he was on the opposite end.
He saw the small establishment was void of people and had no windows to speak of, and only one bed. There was a desk with a few rolls of parchment scattered along its dusty exterior as well as a quill and inactive lantern.
Besides that, just a few buckets and chairs lying around. Eren slowly got up, noticing his pants ended right below the knees. The ends weren't neat however, and were riddled with rip and tears and…blood stains.
He looked down at his bare feet while placing a hand against his forehead. "Did she eat my legs off?" He remembered being near a river with a large amount of steam around his lower half.
"Wait…she was injured too." Eren's eyes suddenly went wide. "Does that mean she's healed?!" He quickly looked around for a weapon he could use before she came back, searching the drawers for anything useful, but to no avail.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Eren cursed, frantically searching for something of use; looking under the fur sheets of the bed which suggested that this used to be a hunters cabin. He heard the door open slowly, the creaking sending an uneasy chill down his spine as he swallowed saliva.
Eren clenched his fists and spun around to face his captor only to immediately let his arms drop to his sides without any hint of aggression.
"W-what...?" Eren was in an uneasy state of bewilderment; his eyes fixed on the figure whose very presence shook him to the core. He saw steam rising from her torso; the shirt she wore being covered in rips and tears with a decoration of blood splattered over the original white.
He noticed the brown, leather jacket with a military police insignia adorned into the material on the shoulder and left breast. He also noticed the left sleeve was torn, seeing her arm which was completely regenerated.
Her grayish-blue eyes reflected the glowing embers of the fire crackling between them as she slowly shut the door, her eyes refusing to meet Eren's gaze. Her golden hair shined ever so bright near the fire as she leaned against the wall beside it, holding the steaming wound with her right hand; water dripping off her clothing and hair which had been soaked in the rain.
Eren was finally able to speak, his lips quivering as he said aloud the females name in confusion.
"Annie?"
It was still noon outside, a shower of rain continuing to spread itself along the open fields outside the flooding forest. The ground was nothing but mud that sunk to Hanji's boots as she trudged towards their destination with Mike who had point.
The collection of water droplets in the air had created a dense fog, if only to annoy the legionnaires due to their limited ability to see anything around them. "Mike, do you smell anything?"
"Can't smell shit." Mike responded.
"Judging from how long we've been walking, we should be there soon." Hanji thought, her uniform drenched. She was sure that water somehow managed to get into her boots since her feet were freezing.
"Agh!" My boots are supposed to be waterproof! Fuck this weather!" She screamed, grabbing her hair and pulling it in annoyance.
"Oi…keep it down." He heard Levi's annoyed voice fill her ear, his chin rested against her left shoulder, the uninjured arm wrapped tightly under her chest.
"Oh! Sorry, you want some peace and quiet right?" Hanji said with a whisper.
"That and to avoid another Titan from ruining my day." Levi retorted, his eyes half-closed and mouth dry. The fractured arm was causing him immense discomfort, unable to wrap it around Hanji; he had to try his best to keep himself supported on Hanji's back.
"I'm sorry…" Hanji spoke, almost in a whisper, causing Levi's eyes to widen a bit. "I wish I had gotten their sooner…to save both of you. I'll buy you a few drinks when we get back, alright?"
"Judging from you, it'll probably be an experimental drug that'll turn me into a Titan…" Levi said before coughing, his face paler than usual. Hanji let out a strong laugh, trying hard to hold it in.
"Nah, it'll be something to make you taller." She said in a mischievous tone.
"I hate you." Levi responded, Hanji letting a grin form across her face.
"Hanji?" Mike asked for her attention.
"What is it?" Hanji questioned, her expression filled with curiosity.
"We're here." Mike announced, staring at the halfway point with a grimace. Hanji's eyes widened, seeing nothing but blood and dismembered corpses.
"Oh no…" Hanji made her way to a cart that was toppled over, firearms, gear, and gas cylinders alike were scattered along the land with a torn open legionnaire hanging out the back.
Levi looked on from Hanji's shoulder, gritting his teeth with fierce eyes as she surveyed the scene.
"Did they get overrun?" Mike questioned, setting Mikasa down to check for medical supplies in the cart.
"Had to have been, but they must've attacked in force." Hanji responded. She thought for a moment, setting Levi down.
"The real question here is…where the rest of them?"
Levi sat there, leaned against the cart. "I need to find something for your arm." Hanji looked around in the cart for bandages and hopefully a splint. Just her luck, she found both in record time.
"Bear with me." She pleaded, taking his arm to equip the splint. He winced in pain, gripping the cart with his free hand as she tightened the splint in place. She then wrapped the bandages around the splint and his shoulder like a cast.
"There, all done." Hanji patted Levi on the head and smiled as Mike came up to her.
"I fixed up Ackerman with some of the medical supplies in the cart, she'll be fine." He dropped a few gas canisters and blades in front of Hanji. "We can replace our gas and blades, but we should do it quickly and get the hell outta here."
"Agreed." Hanji only needed to change her gas since she made Levi drop his when they neared the exit of the forest. As soon as she replaced one tank, she heard heavy footsteps in the distance.
"Shit, we have to hurry." Hanji quickly went to change her other tank, Mike already finished as he picked up Mikasa again. Hanji now focused on adding some blades to the empty blade-holders of her sheaths.
"Done!" Hanji exclaimed, grabbing Levi and hoisting him up and onto her back. She noticed footsteps in the mud leading to the west of the Karanese District. "That's where they went…but why are they trailing off the original path?" Hanji questioned.
She had no time to think and instead started to run as fast as she could down the legions trail, Mike catching up to her. Hanji looked straight ahead, ignoring the giants approaching from behind.
"You guys better be alright…" Hanji said to herself, hoping to find the Legion down the trail she followed.
MUAHAHAHAHHAH! More cliffhangers ;D! Alright guys! The cliffhangers are gonna be toned down I promise you! The wait for the next chapter shouldn't be too long, so stay vigilant fellow legionnaires!
UPDATE: I added Italics for the dream sequence to make it easier for you guys. I didn't put the update up top to avoid potential spoilers.
Review if you'd like, I always love those ^^!
I bid you all a good day/night, where ever you are!
Prima.
