To train with Levi meant putting up with all the quirks his mind contained, and working with all the surprises thrown in your way. It meant waking up before the sun even rose, and pushing yourself past whatever internal conflict you may be having to soar through the air and have any miniscule flaws pointed out until they were worked to perfection. It meant taking even the sliver of fight in you and molding it into your entire being, turning your small, insignificant self into a hope for humanity.
This is what Cassidy had caused herself to become a part of. As she walked in silence with Levi to wherever it was they were headed she felt a wave of nausea wash over her from head to toe, and she stopped abruptly behind him. "What is it?" Levi spoke without turning to face her, his senses were so acute from the years as a captain that it could impress anyone. She clutched her stomach with one hand, and held out the other to catch herself from further injuring herself, but it wasn't the best idea because when her hand colided with the ground she realized much too late that it was her previously fractured hand. Levi pivotted on his foot quickly when she let out a cry of pain, while removing the weight from her hand, causing the rest of her body to come in contact with the ground. The previously emotionless face of Levi washed over with shock for a quick moment, and returned back to his casual expression.
He kneeled in front of her body, which clearly reflected the pained state she was in while she held her arm close and protectively to her chest. By the time she was starting to get back up, she was back on her knees vomiting from the combination of the nausea and excruciating pain she had just experienced. Levi closed the gap between them and held his hand on her back for a moment before steadily rubbing circles while her body heaved with a force of rejection. He kept himself in a position that he was protected from any fluids that were leaving her body, but made sure that she was alright.
"L-levi," Cassidy spoke with a breathless voice, before her body heaved with force once more, "you don't have to-" she caught a breath, but began coughing, "I'll be alright." Levi stared at the girl questioningly, wondering why she stated something that was clearly a lie. As he stared at her more he noticed she began crying, and realized exactly what it was.
"She doesn't want someone to see her in such a sorry state,"he mumbled absentmindedly. Her head shot up and an emotion was displayed across her face, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. She turned away and he could see her chest rise and fall rhythmically, she's crying, he thought, but why? She can't help force herself to not be sick. His hand moved back to her spine, and he rubbed up and down slowly. Distress, that's what it was.
"So much for training today, let's go to Hanji," he spoke, getting up and offering a hand to Cassidy. She did not take it though, and pushed herself up, walking in the oppsite direction of Hanji's office. "Huh?" Levi breathed and tried to think what she was doing. "Hanji's office is-"
"We're training today," Cassidy stated, her pace not faltering. Levi clicked his tongue, but sped his pace up to lead her to where they would be training for the day. Once he was in front of her Cassidy began to slow down, using as little energy as possible for the moment, she needed to at least try to prove herself worthy of Levi's presence. The previous wave of nausea was replaced with one of satisfaction, this is for Jean. She smiled lightly to herself as she picked back up her pace. Soon they reached the end of the hallway and Levi pushed open the double doors leading outside. It was where they had always trained, nothing seemed different.
Levi didn't stop though, he continued walking out to somewhere Cassidy had never been. She looked around slowly, taking in the sight of an unknown place. There were so many trees she began to feel light headed as much too recent memories flooded back to her. She felt her knees give out, and she clung to Levi for a moment, and unknown to her, he gave an uncomfortable face. "W-what?" Levi spoke, startled, there was nothing her could do but grab her and keep her from falling to the ground, and as he did so his light skin flamed up to a red color for a moment, but he regained him composure before Cassidy could come to her senses.
The only thing that was passing through his mind for a few split seconds, though, was how light she was in his grasp, how his hands touched her back in a protective way, and he cursed at himself internally for those thoughts. It made him uncomfortable to be even touching someone younger than him, so he placed her on the ground lightly, and sat in a criss-cross position in front of where she lie. He exhaled heavily and put his chin in his palms. He was flustered with himself at the moment, and just took a few moments to just think. He didn't get to think very long thought because Cassidy began stirring, and shot up, causing Levi to jump to his feet. He wasn't very precise with his landing and he began to stumble, hobbling back on one foot until he completely landed flat on his back.
He drew in air sharply as he felt the wind knocked out of him, his landing was not light, and he felt no need to get up just yet. "C-captain?" Cassidy mumbled, feeling herself starting to focus on the world. She looked over at Levi lying on the ground, and her murky thoughts turned to panic, and she forced herself over to his body, "Captain Levi! Are you alright? Oh no-" her startled words were cut off by Levi letting out a groan, and she sighed in relief. She was still unsure what happened to him, so she hovered her face over his and tried to see if there was any blood coming from his head, which there wasn't. Confused, she backed up and sat with her knees in front of her. "Hm, captain?" She spoke lightly.
"Nnn-Cassidy," he groaned, painfully lifting himself from his lying position on the ground. "Okay let's get to-nnng- let's get to work," Levi spoke gasping for breath in the middle of his sentence. Damn I hit a lot harder than I thought, I ought to take at least a minute to rest, he spoke in his head but shook the thought off as soon as it came, no I'm alright now, I just needed that gasp of breath, I'm good now. As the pair walked to a supply room and geared themselves up, Levi began to feel the air come back to his body regularily, and circulate in rhythm through his lungs once more.
The light shone through the sliver of glass that they called a window, creating a dim illumination that still managed to make Levi's sleek hair shine, and his eyes have a sparkle in them, despite his regular coldness towards others. Cassidy couldn't help but be entranced with the beauty of his feautures, his jaw was tense, and his skin a flawless light color that contrasted heavily with his dark hair. When he placed the cape around his shoulders and pulled up his hood the way the shadows casted on his face was almost a work of art, not only was he an elite soldier, but he was an elite human being altogether.
Her eyes traced the outline of his face while he held a blade in his hand, checking if it were sharp or not. His finger grazed the thinnest part of it, and where it had come in contact, a small line of blood started to form. He completely ignored the thin streak of blood, now trickling down to his fingertip and gathering into a small drop. He pulled his hood back down and looked over at Cassidy, who had been taking in his every detail that she hadn't seen before to such an extent it was rather unsettling, but, to be fair, she had always been too intimidated to observe him for more than a glance. Even in previous conversations with him she had never managed to meet his gaze, yet, it wasn't like that was an unusual thing, many of the soldiers feared the superior male.
As soon as his eyes locked with hers though, she quickly glanced away, "I-I'm sorry captain," she spoke nervously. She had been caught in the act, and was at loss for words. When he didn't respond, she looked back up, and Levi was still looking at her. "Captain Levi?" She questioned, he gaze not faltering in the slightest. His face no longer held a stern look, and she couldn't help but savoring this moment as much as possible. They just sat there in the dim morning light for a little while, looking at each other, not speaking, but maybe trying to string together words to say to the other.
Levi blinked a few times rapidly, and then backed away a bit, grabbing the blades he had examined, and sheathing them. He pushed past her and spoke in his monotone voice once more, "let's begin our training." He tried to put his thoughts together, wondering what exactly that was considered back there. We were just examining each other, I was taking note of her stature and visible strength, he assured himself in his mind, I was just also taking note of the way looking into her eyes was like running through the forest, or how she is one of the only people I actually have to look down to, he made mental notes, chuckling almost silently at the latter.
"Alright," Cassy said in a soft-spoken voice, snapping out of her thoughts and scuttling up behind him, following his trail. They walked for at least a mile in complete silence, and then suddenly Levi shot up into one of the trees that was approaching them, she followed him quickly, and they paused on a rather small tree branch. It began wobbling and Levi shot ahead again, propelling himself with an impressive force. She once again followed, finding no time for any fault.
When she landed on the next branch it appeared to be more sturdy, and Levi got slightly closer to her, looking into her eyes. He extended one arm in the direction they were heading, and pulled the trigger with his cut finger, he inched just a bit closer, "keep up," he spoke sternly, before shooting ahead once more.
The following kept up for a little while longer, and when they stopped, Cassidy looked around. They were high above the ground, in even taller trees than those they swung in during the expedition. On the ground there sat figures around eight meters tall, they resembled that of a titan in some senses, it was like the model titans they had been training with, but more accurate in the sense that each was different, if you looked closely. Whether it be different positioning, or different heights. Some were outliers in the general eight meter ranging, some much taller, but others much shorter.
"This is where my squad trains on certain days, it gives more of an actual idea of what it's like, being out there, and gives the chance to study ways of attack when the titan isn't in a neccessarily 'normal' position. My squad must be prepared as much as possible, because when there is fleeting hope, they are the ones who shine in and pull it out," Levi spoke looking off into the distance, sometimes pausing and looking around at the titans, and other times staring at the different trees. There was a sense of pride when he spoke the words 'my squad', whether the pride be in himself, or in his squad was uncertain to Cassidy, but she could sense that some was there. "Anyways," he paused, "let's get going," and with that he shot forward, quickly closing the distance between himself and the model titans. He landed on one of their hands and began running, arms behind him, hands readied on his sheathed blades. Before he even reached the shoulder he pushed himself into the air, adding force to the blow that was about to come. When his blades struck the titan it was quick and clean, and it was almost as if it had never happened.
Levi stared at where Cassidy still stood, looking expectant. When she stopped staring at the piece of material that had landed heavily on the ground she glanced at him, and quickly began working her way through the models with Levi. At one point Levi told her to meet him on the ground, and she obeyed, landing lightly on her feet. "Now titans won't always be in a closed space, other times they will be in an open space while we're making our way to a destination. I am sure you already know this, but the regular groups are not trained seperately on this skill, this is where you will prove to me that you deserve to be on my squad." He spoke turning away and extending his arms, but before the triggers were pulled, he added one slight remark, "don't disappoint me."
Levi was gone as fast as he said that, and Cassidy wasn't far behind, working her way up the body of a titan, trying to make quick moves, showing that if this were real she would not be disappointing anybody. She brought her blades down on the neck of one titan, then another, and worked her way through the rest with Levi by her side, sometimes assisting in a kill, to make it seem more realistic. By the time all of the necks had been cut into Cassidy's breath was ragged and unsteady, while Levi's was just heavier in the slightest. Humanity's strongest soldier, she said to herself examining the way he was barely worn out, even after a day of grueling training.
They baoth walked out of the forest and it was growing dark, the moon starting to show an outline in the sky. They stopped and put away their equipment, and Cassidy's mind wandered to that moment they shared there. Well was it even considered a moment? She spoke in her head, pushing away the thought. They took care of the equipment speedily and were on their way back to their rooms, they walked in silence, it was uneasy for her but she couldn't tell if it was the same for Levi. As they entered the building leading to their rooms they stopped for a moment, and just looked at each other once more. What is it about them? They both thought.
Oh well it's not like it matters, I'm just taking interest in a soldier that could potentially be a part of my squad, of course I'm going to be examining them thoroughly, I want to be sure I'm making the right choice, Levi assured himself once more. After a minute they looked away and Levi began walking again. They then approached her room, "goodnight Captain Levi," Cassidy spoke, opening her door lightly. Levi nodded to her, and turned away, she was entering her room when his voice abruptly stopped her.
"Welcome to my squad Cassidy," he paused, "and goodnight."
If anyone even reads this fanfiction I'm sorry if this is shit, honestly. Also chapters might take a little more time because school is starting back up. *Sigh* If you did read this, thank you, honestly, I appreciate it with all my heart. I write because I enjoy writing, even if it's not very good.
Have a lovely day
xoxo -Amber
