Attack On Titan: Left Behind
Chapter 3
-Year 845 before The Fall of Wall Maria, the 2nd day of Survey Corps 29th Expedition beyond the Wall-
Early on the next day, soldiers of Survey Corps were preparing their next journey to reach the Rotwand Hill in the south. Moving at the dawn, the entire battalion went straight to the southwest, venturing on the vast open savanna field. On the right flank of enemy detection squad, the front-liner squads — which Levi led one of them —were detecting any threats from the enemies.
"Green flare confirmed!" said Michael, firing the gun flare the left direction.
"Moving to the east again? This is gonna take forever," Josef grumbled, stirring his horse to the left.
"Commander said we're gonna use the path in far west, aren't we being too far away from the main direction?" Flora presented her concern, biting her lip.
"We will head back to the route, once we sure there are no titans ahead," Rudolf tried to reassure her.
"I heard Commander and Squad Leader Erwin had a dispute last night," Josef mentioned the hearsay, "people said the two were arguing about our route."
"Really? So whose plan we apply today?" Michael asked him curiously. "I bet this is not Squad Leader Erwin's —"
"Put those allegations aside," Levi cut in pointedly, his gray eyes were scanning every nook and cranny of the rough grassland. "No matter what will happen, our job is to make sure no single damn titan break through our formation."
Everyone looked to surrounding area with alertness, not missing any suspicious movements, except the tiny cadet. Alex looked up to the sky, frowning with concern. She squinted her eyes from the bright beam of the sun but didn't take her eyes off of the blue. She became more restless when she raised her hand; her skin sensed the unpleasant feeling as the breeze blew.
"It's gonna rain," Alex stated uneasily, turning her head to Levi.
"The sky is brighter than yesterday," said Levi.
"The wind, it's blowing from the south…" she gazed again to the sky. "It's gonna rain, a very heavy one."
"Not getting enough sleep because that maniac woman made you stay up too late last night? I'm sure you're still half-asleep, rookie," Levi chided. "Stop talking nonsense."
"But —"
Her objection was interrupted by the sound of gun flares. To the right of them, red smokes spiraled up to the air.
"Rookie, fire the signal!" Levi commanded.
"Yes, sir!" Alex reached to the bag on the saddle and fired the red flare.
The upcoming red flares were fired to the air concomitantly. Finally the green smoke was fired from the center of formation, directed to the left.
"We've been changing course for thirty eight times," said Rudolf, "how long do you think we're gonna reach the forest?"
"It's still too far away," said Michael. "But my guess is we will arrive at noon."
"Stay sharp, everyone. The hardest part of this mission will begin when we enter the forest," Levi glanced to each of his subordinates with serious look, "don't make any blunders that will cost your life, or anyone's."
"Yes, sir!" all of his underlings replied in unison.
"Sir, when we reach the forest, are we gonna fight them, or keep using the avoidance tactics?" asked Alex.
"That depends on the circumstances, but my best inkling is we have to engage in battle in the end," Levi speculated with conviction. His mind traveled back to the meeting last night, about how Erwin strongly foresaw that fighting would be inevitable…
"You can't wait to show off your skills, Cadet?" said Michael, grinning at her.
"Umm… I prefer to make minimum contacts with titans, actually," Alex replied hesitantly. "But if I have to fight then —"
"Don't be a coward! I'm looking forward to see you in action!" Josef demanded with excitement in his eyes.
"Huh? Really?" Alex stared with at him, crinkling her forehead, recollecting how just yesterday this soldier mocked her.
"Everyone is talking about how you killed two deviants yesterday," Rudolf chimed in, riding his horse beside her. "We didn't see the fight, so we're expecting to witness it ourselves today."
"We're counting on you, Alex. But try to not push yourself too hard," in front of her, Flora turned her head at her and smiled.
"Yes, miss. I will do my best," Alex grasped her rein hard with sweating palms, sighing, "or not…" she added, mumbling under her breath.
It was almost noon when the main force got back to their initial route. The expedition went smoothly so far: avoidance tactics were success, not a single titan broke through the formation, and the actual time to reach the designated point was within the estimation. Although, there were some black smokes, but thanks to Erwin's superb plan of squad placement, the front liner Survey Corps soldiers were able to eliminate the threats.
Everything went according to plan, until the blue sky was covered with overcast, when they were about to enter the forest.
As the tempestuous wind blew strong from the south, the bright sky was completely changed into darkness with gloomy clouds. Full-blown bone chilling winds, sudden cloudburst and rumbling thunders were trapping them when they reached the entrance of the forest. Tall, dense trees really cut their visibility range to their surroundings.
"Sir! It is very hard to relay message!" Michael shouted. "At this rate, we will lose our track with the other squads!"
"What should we do, Captain!?" Flora piped.
"Wait until the Commander order to deploy the formation," Levi shouted, "and don't let your guard down!"
They went deeper into the forest, riding their horses through the trees and lancinating raindrops.
"Everyone, get ready to fight! There's only one target! Either we secure this ground as mankind's first stronghold beyond the wall or we are done for!" Keith's command finally soared to the air.
"Target approaching!" Erwin shouted, looking at the shadow of eighteen meters class titan ahead of them.
"Split into five groups! Now!" Keith raised his arm, gesturing the squad to deploy the formation. "The rest of the soldiers, defend the supply wagons!"
Abandoning the scouting formation, the entire brigade marching in a linear formation: the supply wagons were positioned in the middle of the alignment, while the remaining soldiers lined up on the left and right side, guarding the important materials from both sides.
"Everyone! We'll cover the right flank!" Levi commanded, spurring his black stallion faster beneath the downpour, while the rest of his squad followed him behind.
"Captain! There are titans in the left flank already!" Michael forewarned.
"Let the other squads deal with it! Our job is to secure the supply wagon at all cost!" Levi snapped briskly, glaring to him. "Don't forget it!
Levi's Squad took cover of the right flank, charging forward to defend the linear formation, while the left plank were having intense combat with many titans. As they keep moving, the shadows of titans were getting closer to them, peeking among the trees.
"Sir! Titans are approaching from the east! Coming straight to us!" Michael informed.
"Shit! Did they crush our left defense already!?" Josef shouted in disbelief.
"Captain Levi! Your order, sir!" Rudolf screamed over the sound of heavy rain.
Levi shifted his eyes to the silhouettes; it's too close to avoid them, and the supply carts were only few meters ahead. "Switch to 3DM Gear now! We're going to take them down!" he ordered immediately.
"Yes, sir!"
Levi's Squad and the rest of soldiers from the left flank squads were firing the grapple-hooks to the tall trees, assembling their combat positions, ready to assail the upcoming eight titans.
"Rookie, don't make any blunders!" Levi demanded, staring dead serious at her.
"I got it, sir!" Alex replied, already plugging her blades in to the hilts. Rain crept down her neck and chilly wind whipped her face, making her shivered. Her clutch on the hilts was loosened each time she swung her blades to the thick flesh.
The horde of titans were coming endlessly; some were slow, some were fast, and some were fierce and predatory as they attacked mercilessly once they saw humans. The soldiers of Survey Corps fought with all their power, making a supreme effort to not let any titans came closer to the formation.
Unfortunately, a sixteen meters class was breaking through them, chasing to the parade of supply wagons.
Levi widened his eyes in concern; he was too far to kill it. "Flora! Go for it!" he commanded in distress.
"I'm on it, sir!" said Flora. The black-haired soldier swung close to the ground, performing a perfect assist to cut down the achilles tendon in instant. "Rudolf! Now!" she shouted when the titan stumbled down.
As Rudolf aimed for the napes, another thirteen meters titan rushed to him and tried to grab him. He managed to cut the nape, but not killing it. "Shit! Too shallow!" he yelled in frustration.
"I'll finish it!" Alex shouted readily, blades drawn at her sides. She flung herself to the titan on the ground, cutting the nape in blink of an eye. She swiftly swayed to the thirteen meters class, maneuvering in rotational motion and landing at the nape, finishing it off with one powerful blow. Panting heavily, she landed on a branch of tree, next to Levi, swiping the titan blood from her face.
"That was a close one," said Levi in faint tone of relieved.
"You order me to fight, then I'll fight!" Alex panted, releasing her dull blades.
"Don't get too reckless and kill yourself in the process," he reprimanded. "All of you! Take care of the titans in this area! The rest on the far left are belongs to me!" he shouted, launching his hooks again between the trees and hurling away.
"Get ready on your position!" Michael cried out, taking the command. "More titans are coming for us!"
Alex squinted her eyes; he's right, seven titans were dashing to them. She reloaded her blades with numb fingers and charged forward to fight.
During the strenuous combat, it seemed like everyone was completely overwhelmed because of the bad weather: communication was almost impossible without yelling until hoarsening the vocal chords, the gun flares were useless, and the algid temperature was paralyzing them to the bone. With the vision range was severely compromised as the fog started to condense, it was very hard to detect enemies unless they were already too close.
The entire soldiers in the right flank was swerved toward the edge of the precipice — few meters away from the slippery slope — and cornered between the titans and the gorge.
Alex embedded her anchors to a tree and looked at the steep gorge; at the bottom of the narrow rocky wall, a river flowed to south with rapid stream. She lowered her blades, sheathing the sharp razors back to its scabbard and releasing them from the handgrips. Exhaling deeply, she glanced to her squadmates behind her.
Well, I guess this is the time.
Her attention was focused to the raven-haired man, at far left, who just spinning in the air in a series of brutal onslaught, severing the nape of four titans sequentially.
But, then…what about him?
Before she could decide what she would do, loud thudding noise was booming, making the ground and the trees shaking violently. A twenty meters class deviant was running fast toward them from behind, with big arms were stretched to its sides, breaking the nearby trees.
"EVERYONE! GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Michael forewarned.
All the soldiers shot their hooks to the higher branches, evading the destructive raid in mere seconds. Branches and leaves were flying everywhere, before the Deviant accidently crashed to a trunk, lost its balance and fell down, toppling few more trees. The monster finally trapped and couldn't move, buried deep beneath several trunks.
"Should we kill it!?" Josef screamed to Michael, pointing his blade to the helpless titan.
"No! Leave it! We have to move forward! We're too far behind from defending the formation!" Michael ordered, swinging forward quickly, being followed by the other soldiers.
Meanwhile, Levi had slaughtered the last titan in the left area; probably updating his solo kill counts as the highest one of the entire military branch. Thick steam from the too many carcasses blocked his vision, but he was able to trace back his direction and flew through the white steam, intending to regroup with his squad. He caught a glimpse of soldiers engaging in combat with some titans ahead of him. A split second later, he felt his heart stopped beating because of the disastrous sight before his eyes.
It was one of the most horrifying worst-case scenarios he ever witnessed in his life.
The Deviant — which was trapped beneath the trunk — finally stood back on its disproportionate feet, holding a big tree trunk over its head with both hands, aiming straight to the soldiers.
"BEHIND YOU! DODGE!" Levi shouted with the loudest voice he managed to force from his throat, firing the grapple-hooks and gliding through the trees in lightning speed.
Without further ado, the Deviant howled with rage and threw the giant trunk right at the swarm of titans, and soldiers who were fighting them. In the moment less than split seconds, many soldiers were too late to realize what was going on. Hell a lot of bloodshed burst into the rain when the bodies of soldiers got crush by the lethal collision.
"JOSEF!" Levi yelled, realizing his subordinate was trapped in titan's grasp, with the flying tree trunk was about to hit him. "Shit!"
Levi propelled himself forward and readied his blades, amputating the wrist in one slash. He pulled Josef by his cloak from the grasp, and threw him away to the ground. In the same moment, the heavy trunk, hurtling between trees, landed right on the raven-haired man and smashed him hard, sending him flying into the air.
The remaining survived soldiers were staring in horror when the humanity's strongest soldier was descending helplessly to the precipice; completely unconscious, judging from his droopy body and gore splattered from his head, moreover, he didn't show any sign of movements. He just kept falling down…squarely to the deep gorge.
"CAPTAIN LEVI!" Alex shrieked.
"Alex! Wait!" Michael called for her, but the petite girl already made her way to save the captain.
Like her body moved automatically, Alex shot her grapple-hooks toward the precipice and swung as fast as her 3DM Gear could do. Her heart sank when he saw Levi was already out of sight, falling fast to the depth.
No! He can't die! He shall not die!
Without a second thought, she dived into the gorge, launching her hooks at the steep to accelerate faster in order to reach him. Finally, her tiny hands held a grasp of him, clutching tight to his cloak. When she tried to launch the anchors to the steep, it was already too late.
Both of them hit the stream — very fast flowing river with strong current — and drowned in the depth of water.
Freezing water engulfed her as she tried to keep her head up, holding Levi. She glanced to the both sides of the river; the only possible way to get away from the river was to climb the cliff.
No… it's impossible, I can't use 3DM Gear in water…
Trapped between the strong tides and her grueling attempt to keep Levi's head above water so he could breath, there were no many things Alex could do, besides being carried away with the flowing stream. The end of the river was coming near and a plunge waterfall was greeting her few meters ahead.
"Oh no!" she bellowed the moment she fell from the waterfall, embracing Levi even tighter in her arms.
The petite soldier held her breath when the gravity pulled her down and crashed her body to another raging stream below; the momentum of the fall drowned her few meters underwater. She determined to not let go of her captain, no matter what happened, as she desperately swam to the surface and clutched Levi closely to her chest. Her head finally reached the surface; she gasped greedily, filling her lungs with air. There was large region of bedrock on both sides of the river, making it impossible for her to pull over; so, she only let out a hopeless long sigh when the flow of the stream was carrying them away.
It felt like hours had passed when the swift current finally slowed down a bit. The two soldiers were being carried away far to the downstream, and the bedrock was gone, being replaced by sandy riverbanks. Alex — with every energy left in her body — swam to the left side of the shallow slope riverbanks, carrying the unconscious man in her arms and lying him down.
"Captain Levi?" Alex called to him with shrill voice, almost crying. She checked his response, clapping his face and shaking his shoulders. The man was still unresponsive.
"No… No! You can't die! Not now…not yet!" she screamed.
Alex tilted his head, sensing the man was not breathing. She gently opened his mouth and pressed her lips against his, trying to stimulate his respiration. After few minutes performing CPR, Levi finally breathed on his own, though still unconscious. She was sighing in relieve to palpate the weak pulsating artery on his wrist.
"Oh my! He's — r-really — h-h-heavy!" she grunted while miserably dragging Levi out of the water level. "How could he is so heavy like rock? He's not much bigger than me…"
Dread slowly crept into her spine when she realized her current situation.
A new soldier who barely knew anything about the outside world, with her badly injured superior, stranded in the unknown territory where titan could jump in anytime, while the weather was still as catastrophic as before.
How bad this situation could get?
Trying to take shelter from the rain, Alex leaned exhaustedly to small tree, placing Levi's head on her lap. The high cliff surrounded them from both sides of the river. She was thinking to climb it, but quickly ruled out the idea because she couldn't maneuver with 3DM Gear while holding Levi, furthermore, she didn't know where she was supposed to go after that.
"Now…what should I do?" she bemoaned weakly, looking all around to the strange wilderness with vacant eyes.
~SnK~SnK~SnK~SnK~
-Last Night-
"So, what do you want to talk with me?" said Hange, closing the bedroom door behind her.
"You missed the meeting," said Erwin in quite sharp tone, sitting on the chair.
Hange bit her lip then gave the blond man a melancholy smile. "I'm sorry, it felt like God just bestowed a miracle to me, to finally found a listener to my experiment," she said vacantly, taking a seat beside him.
Erwin replied her sad smile with sympathetic look. "I listened to your experiment."
"Because you need the information, not because you're interested," Hange corrected, staring at him questioningly, "but you don't ask me to come just to rant about it, right? What's up?"
Erwin sighed, handing out the papers from his envelope. "Keith wanted to use the route on the southwest, the one you found."
"Since it's the only possible route we have, it's logical," said Hange, reading the meeting reports briefly.
"How different is Deviant compared to the regular titans? How dangerous they can be?" asked Erwin.
"Hmm… If we're talking about their intelligence, there isn't much wide gap between them, but in terms of threats that they pose, my assumption is they're three to four times more lethal than average titans, not to mention they have propensity to act impulsively and unforeseeable, attracted to higher concentration of people and more hostile even with minimum provocation," Hange recapitulated quickly, rolling her eyes as she spoke then staring at Erwin with more questioning look. "Why?"
"So, there isn't any way to avoid combat with them once we enter the forest…" Erwin muttered tensely, clenching his jaw. "If we try to lure them away, will it be possible?
"I don't know about that," she admitted in ruefulness. "I mean, I could only observe for three hours, and Moblit had to yank me thirty two times because I was too close to death, so I never had a chance to do the diversion experiment," she huffed, throwing the papers on the table. "How was the meeting going?"
Erwin told her about how the meeting went. When he had finished, the brunette squad leader seemed very confused then shook her head slowly, looking so disappointed and unease.
"Keith is getting old, ya know, midlife crisis could done more harm to your brain than you thought. He acted like an overprotective father. Objective thinking was not in his mind… Well, maybe the stress is taking a toll on him," Hange concluded. She didn't sound to disparage the Commander, but more solicitous about his condition. "I personally go along with your plan, perilous but more auspicious."
"I don't think his plan will work out," Erwin stated hastily. "If Deviant can be very dangerous like said, they will wipe us out in minutes if we don't retaliate."
"So, what do you want to do?" said Hange, carefully eyeing his concern expression. "I know that look in your eyes, you have another plan, right?"
"Yes, I don't know if this is gonna work, but I need your help."
Hange snorted and folded her arms. "Wow, I'm flattered. Since when do you ask me for help?"
Erwin raised his bushy eyebrow then smiled faintly in apologetic manner. "I'm sorry. After all this time, I always ordered you around —"
"That's not what I'm talking about!" Hange butt in, chuckling to see his uptight response. "Just how long we knew each other, Erwin? Don't be too formal with me. Spit it out already."
"I have a back up plan in case the mission goes awry. I must complement the cleft of failure for this plan and for that, I will need your cooperation," said Erwin in more serious gesture.
Her brown eyes suddenly widened in cautiousness. "Erwin, you're not planning to throw a rebellion against Keith's order, are you?" she asked.
"No. Insubordination is the last option I will choose," said Erwin with convincing tone of voice. "Hange, I trust you with this."
Hange nodded, straightening her back and listening attentively. Erwin started to explain his idea in length, even the little details of the execution plan and all the likelihoods that might happen.
"So, what do you say?" Erwin inquired cautiously, seeing the spectacled woman became speechless with her mouth hanging open for quite long moment. "The plan may change depend on what will happen tomorrow. I'm thinking about another way, but this is the best I could come up with."
"That's…very intense and risky. Are you sure? Are we really able to pull it out? I mean, there's no guarantee we can come back from this alive…" she said in undertone of bewilderment. "If we screw up, all will be gone…"
"Yes, there is a big probability we're all gonna die," Erwin admitted promptly. "I'll tell the others about this tomorrow. I'm sorry if this sounds too absurd and onerous, but judging the skills among our troops —"
"Relax, Erwin. It's not like I'm against it or something," Hange waved her hands. "You never changed a bit since the first time I met you."
"What do you mean by that?" said Erwin, slightly confused.
"You always take the risk, forcing everyone to go beyond the limit to do the impossible, for the greater good that people usually miss to see," she said calmly, prodding her glasses. "Like now, if I don't know you for a long time, I'll probably say you're a psycho for telling me this."
"I hope I'm not freaking you out," said Erwin, somewhat pleadingly. "To be honest, if you don't feel like it, you shouldn't agree. I'm not your superior. You have every right to object me. Besides…as you said, you may be dead tomorrow," he said quietly, his icy blue eyes staring uneasily at her.
"Do you feel bad because you will entangle and endanger your comrades into this scheme?" Hange accused, pointing his face with her index finger. "I know you always feel so bad with yourself whenever things go south."
Erwin turned his head away, averting the keen look from his comrade. "You are always so sharp, Hange," he muttered admiringly.
"Erwin, no one is ever blaming you for anything," she reassured him in serene voice. "What happened happened. It's not your fault."
"I don't think so. Since I'm the strategist, all that happened were because of me, indirectly…" he retorted bitterly, taking a deep breath, pausing for a moment. "But there's no gambles without risks," he emphasized his words with adamant resolution.
"Agreed," said Hange, tapping his shoulder as a form of encouragement. "If this is the best for Survey Corps and our survival, I'll do it tomorrow. You have my words."
"Thank you. I really appreciate it," said Erwin earnestly. "With you, Moses, Levi, and Mike, maybe somehow, we can make it through."
"Yeah, yeah, bring all the badass to the party. But…you came up with this bizarre idea, just after the meeting? Seriously?" Hange giggled in amusement.
"What about it?"
"Sometimes I ask myself, who is the real Commander here," she said, smiling brightly. "You're really gonna be a fine leader someday."
The blond man smirked. "Now you are flattering me."
~SnK~SnK~SnK~SnK~
Damn, it hurts.
His head felt like there were million hammers pounding at the same time. The harsh coldness inundated every single inch of his skin, numbing his body. He tried to move as much as he could, but the only thing he was able to do was turning his head to the left. The suffocated feeling of almost being drowned to death was burning his chest as he tried to inhale, slowly taking a deep breath.
Levi slightly opened his eyes; blurry visions were swimming in front of him. He blinked, trying to focus the crooked lines and shapes. It's dark, but he discerned a small light of fire flickering in the darkness, and the not so strange dark auburn color…
"Captain! Thank goodness you're awake!" a girl's voice screamed for him in the midst of racket sound of downpour.
The blurry images finally shaped into something recognizable; the face of his subordinate stared at him with worried. She was soaking wet, looked paler than usual, barefoot, only wearing black tank top and white pants. Kneeling beside him, she sustained his head with her hands, propping his body with her other arm when he tried to get up.
"How are you feeling?" she asked worriedly.
"Horrible…" Levi grunted, sitting up with exertion that made his head more light-headed. "Where are we?" he asked, glancing to the unfamiliar environs.
"I…don't know…" she answered with obvious anxiety slithered in her voice.
Levi finally realized, they were in some sort of a cave, not too big, but spacious enough to shelter themselves from roaring storm. The low ceiling was full of stalactites, protruding with its sharp tips. A small fire lit up in the center, irradiating shadowy corners with weak light.
Levi stood up shakily, gripping the rocky wall to support his body. "Where the hell are we!?" he asked in more upset tone, staggering to the mouth of the cave.
"Please stay still! We don't know the extent of your injuries!" Alex protested, very shocked to see him carelessly moved, quickly following and holding his hand.
"I'm fine," Levi replied briskly, looking at the rain and the raging river that almost overflowed its stream banks.
"Sir, do you remember what happened to you?"
"Josef was almost squeezed to death when that bastard threw a tree trunk…" he recalled, rubbing his temple, "then everything went black."
"And after that, you got smacked by the trunk, right on your body, fell from forty meters height, and drowned in the river," said Alex, steering him by the hand to the back of the cave. "Sir, you have to lie down… Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, but… My head is quite dizzy…" he sat on the ground, shaking his head. "And my shoulder hurts like hell," he added, wincing and gently touching his left shoulder.
"Let me examine it, sir," Alex requested with demanding tone of voice.
Levi quickly undressed: taking off his jacket, unbuckling the belts — Alex helped a lot with this since he could barely move his left arm — unbuttoning his drenched white shirt, leaving him only wearing his white pants in the end. His body covered in bruises, but the most severe part was his left shoulder because the shoulder joint distorted in an awful torsion, already swelling, and some deep cut injuries were still bleeding from his head.
"Dislocate shoulder, few lacerations on your forehead, gonna need some stitches…" she carefully examined him, opening her brown leather satchel to take a small first aid kit. "I don't have bandage. I hope you don't mind if I use the cloak, sir."
"But you're gonna need the cloak," Levi reminded.
"I'm just gonna rip small part of it. It's too big for me in the first place," she took her blades and ripped the tip of the green cloak in long pieces.
"First, I'm going to retract your shoulder. This will be hurt so much," she warned, gripping his wrist and placing her other hand on his shoulder.
"Just do it," said Levi uncaringly.
"On three. One, two, three!" she pulled the arm hard, and with the disturbing cracking noise, the bulging joint went back to its normal position.
Alex thought he would wail like banshee, or at least hiss, but Levi's impassive countenance only flinched a bit as his biggest response to the pain.
"These bruises seemed not too severe," she rubbed the bluish-red mark marks on his chest and abdomens. "Feeling any pains in other place, sir? Broken bones, maybe?"
"No, I think that's all," Levi confirmed. "How could we end up in here?"
"You were unconscious after the trunk hit you. I tried to save you, pull you from the gorge but it was too late. We fell, and the river brought us to here… Thankfully, there's a cave in this cliff," she explained while her hands steadily stitching the wounds with needle and tweezers.
"You risked your life to save me," Levi concluded. Though he did not show it, Levi felt astonishment toward her bravery. "Thank you. I owe you one," he said solemnly.
"Don't mention it, sir," said Alex, smiling at him.
Alex continued to treat his injury, wrapping the green fabric around his shoulder, but she couldn't hide her bewilderment, staring at Levi for a while as though he was the most interesting object in this world. He only passed out after being smacked with a large-ass trunk right on him, with insignificant injuries and bruises. Maybe the title humanity's strongest soldier didn't only refer to his outstanding battle skill, but also to his inhuman durability.
"You shouldn't wear this, sir, you may catch cold," she advised, taking his white shirt and jacket. At the corner of the cave, her uniform was hanged to the stalagmite. "Hopefully, these will dry fast" she said as she hanged his uniform.
"It's a damn heavy rainstorm, your hunch was right," said Levi, looking at the seemingly everlasting rain.
"It wasn't a hunch, sir. I knew it would rain soon. The wind from the south brought more humid air and the clouds were moving too fast," she specified, sitting near the fire.
"You sure know a lot," Levi commented, squinting his eyes at her.
"Well, I used to live in forest of mountain in southern of Wall Maria. Weather forecasting is necessary to survive. If it's gonna rain, I will immediately climb a tree to find shelter," she elaborated shortly.
Levi processed her words with a crinkle of suspicion on his forehead. "You lived alone in the forest? What about your parents?"
The girl quickly turned her head away from Levi, hiding her face beneath her soaked hair. "I don't want to talk about ancient history of my life," she said feebly.
"That was literally few years ago."
"I'm eighteen, Captain. That was a long time ago."
"Tch. You looked like twelve," said Levi curtly.
"Really? Thank you, sir!" said Alex, beaming at him.
Levi was bemused by her cheerful respond. "You can't tell between compliment and sarcasm?"
Her smile snagged into small pout. "Wait, that was a sarcasm?" she blinked, then her smile twitched again on her lips. "People usually say I looked like ten years old. So, twelve is good, even it's still a sarcasm, that's a progress, right? That means something to me."
"I was wrong. You do look like ten," he scoffed.
"Stop making fun of me, Captain…" she said weakly, sounded a bit sad.
They sat in silence. Levi's mind jumbled with uneasy thoughts: how could they survive this? What should he do? What happened to the others? What about the mission? Did Erwin's plan work out? He ruffled his hair in frustration, cursing under his breath then glancing to his underling. To his surprise, she looked unexpectedly relax and collected, poking the fire with a stick to keep the fire burning on.
Alex sighed out heavily when the last first danced on the twig and disappeared into thin smoke. "Oh, great…" she grumbled.
"How did you make fire?" Levi asked somewhat curious.
"I have lighters in my satchel, but there isn't many objects that can be burned to set up fire…" she said disappointedly, glancing to the cave. She scratched the stony ground in hope to find any dried leaves or driftwoods.
Now that the cave was in darkness, the only source of light was coming from the entrance of the cave. Levi watched the raindrops falling continuously, musing many thoughts randomly in his mind…
This situation reminded him about last year. It was raining too, at that time. That day, still fresh in his mind as though it just happened yesterday: between the fog, beneath the thunderous sky, among the bloodthirsty monsters…
Her scream of pure fright and terror, her last breath of air was calling for him, to come to her, to save her…
Then the scream vanished, and all that's left of her was red.
Her scream still lingered inside his head, haunting him even until today…
Though he knew he was about to die, he kept smiling to him when he saw him, raising his arm in the air…
How he always waved at him when they parted ways.
He waved his hand at him for the last time, as if he was saying the last goodbye, their final parting…
If only he didn't make that choice… If only he didn't leave them… If only he came faster…
Shit! Why am I remembering about that in a time like this!?
Trying to keep his sanity in check and maintain his levelheaded mind, Levi shifted his gaze from the rain and looked around to the dark cave. He didn't notice it at first, but eventually his eyes got used to the dimness; he saw the little girl crumpled on the ground like a ball, wrapping her arms around her body and shivering uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?" asked Levi guardedly.
"I-It's very c-c-cold," she said in a whisper that almost inaudible, her stiffening jaws making it harder for her to speak.
"Come here," said Levi.
Alex tilted her face at him, staring with wary eyes. "Why?"
"I don't want my subordinate die of hypothermia," he spoke in almost caring voice, gesturing the girl to sit beside him.
Alex just looked at him cautiously, didn't move from where she laid down.
"Don't be afraid," Levi reached out his hand to her. "You're cold, right? Sit close to me."
Still very alarmed, but Alex finally flung herself beside him, leaning on his shoulder. The sound of her chattering teeth was very loud because of the knifelike cold. Levi wrapped her right arm around her neck, shouldering her trembling body.
Alex suddenly startled, pulling herself from him and slapping his arm from her shoulder.
"What the hell!?" Levi inquired harshly, frowning with annoyance.
"Sir —" she was speechless with his unpredictable action, looking at his expressionless face with discomfort. "W-w-what are you t-trying to do?" she stuttered through her chattering teeth, seemed very agitated.
"Making you feel warm," said Levi airily, as though his intention was as clear as crystal. "Do you want it or not?"
"Oh… okay," she squeaked, patches of scarlet blooming in her pasty cheeks when Levi wrapped his arm again around her body.
"Give me your hands," he said vaguely, and Alex did it without hesitation.
Levi seized her hands, rubbing his calluses palms to her icy hands, very gentle and careful. He embraced her tighter in his arms and pulled her head closer to his chest.
"Damn it, you're so cold like ice," Levi commented when he touched her freezing face, noticing her tiny lips already turned to blue.
Alex closed her eyes and tried to stabilize her shallow breaths, burying her face on Levi's chiseled chest, feeling more comfortable with the prolonged cuddle. She could hear the sound of his heart beating rhythmically, and she found it comforting. It was very awkward for her to be hugged by a stranger, this close, moreover, her superior in command, and he was shirtless for the love of God. But somehow, his presence made the dread and shiver in her spine withered away. It was undoubtedly very strange but inexplicably very soothing at the same time.
It's…so warm…
She opened her eyes and gazed at her hands, thinking why he even bothered to do something like this. Levi still squeezed her hands, locking his fingers at the spaces between hers tightly.
How could this person be so strict and mean for a moment, and turn to be kind and caring the next time?
"Hang on," said Levi, faintly sounded like a command, "don't die in a place like this."
About half an hour had passed when Alex's shivering and shaking was finally gone. The tiny cadet felt the cutting coldness melting away and the numbness in her extremities slowly wearing off. She exhaled relievedly, sitting up straight and smiling to Levi.
"Feeling better?" asked Levi.
"Yes… Thank you very much, sir," Alex muttered gratefully. "I guess that's enough…" she shyly looked at her hands — which Levi still held — and his arm around her waist.
Levi nodded, letting her go from his embrace. Both of them sat in silence again, staring at the rain that seemed much calmer than before.
"Damn… How shitty our situation could get?" Levi grumbled.
"This is pretty bad…" Alex mumbled
Levi tilted his head slightly to Alex. "Are you scared?" he asked.
"Not really," said Alex convincingly. "At least I'm here with the best soldier of humanity, that's very reassuring."
"I'm not gonna let you die," he said, staring at her with a look that very hard to be deciphered.
"What?" said Alex, raising her eyebrow.
"I'm not gonna let you die," he repeated in a low voice, stating firmly as if it was a part of the ethic code of being soldier
Stunned, Alex looked back at him for some kind of explanation, but Levi had moved his eyes to the rain again.
He's not a bad person…but, why?
"So, Captain, what should we do now?" asked Alex, changing the subject of conversation.
"We must regroup with the other," Levi answered quickly.
"How?"
"That's what I'm thinking right now," said Levi, hoping his voice was not shaking anxiously. He tried to remain calm but the situation was clearly beyond his worst anticipation.
"But we don't even know where the others are…" Alex reminded hopelessly.
"At this rate, if the expedition went according to plan, they must be at Rotwand Hill. If we can figure out how on earth we can go to there from here, then maybe we may have a chance to survive," said Levi assertively.
"Hmm… So, to go to Rotwand Hill, we need to locate our position…" she mumbled, grabbing her satchel.
Alex opened her small satchel, pouring all the items to the ground. Levi took a brief look: lighters, her first aid kit, small knife, tiny ropes, a pouch of water, tiny telescope, and many other unidentified objects because it was too dim. Lighting the lighters, Alex finally found what she's looking for: a small steel tube. She pulled out a small piece of rolled paper from the inside, then showing it to Levi.
"Captain, take a look at this, maybe we can —"
"Whose map you stole!?" Levi snapped at her.
Alex flinched, looked very offended with his rude incrimination, frowning. "No one… I made this copy. There's a map of our expedition route in the files you gave me. I thought it would be necessary to make one," she said.
"Ho? Really? It's easier to stash one than deal with all the troubles to draw," said Levi accusingly, staring back and forth to her hurtful face and the well-drawn map.
"I'm taking an initiative. You told me to prepare myself for this expedition, I'm just following your order, sir," she persisted, referring to the utensils that scattered near her feet.
Levi received the paper with his suspicious glare still locking at her. "Is this accurate?" he asked, scanning the draw punctiliously.
"I made it in the same scale…" she muttered wryly, still looked offended.
Levi stared at the map for a moment, finally approved her craft because it looked exactly the same with the one he got from Erwin. "We started the expedition using the route on the southwest, near the gorge. The estimated time for this mission is we will pass the forest by afternoon. That means, at this rate, they already reached the hill," Levi speculated lengthy.
"But after what happened in the forest, there's also a possibility they retreat to Dieburg Fortress," Alex asserted her opinion politely. "The last thing I remember, right flank was really chaotic."
"They're at Rotwand Hill. I'm sure of it," Levi affirmed with undeterred confidence. "The mission is to build the resupply station, no matter what happened."
Alex blinked her eyes in surprise. "You really trust the Commander, don't you, Captain?"
"It's more like me putting all of my faith in Erwin," Levi clarified.
"Squad Leader Erwin?"
"Yes. All this mission plan and strategy is his responsibility. And you can bet that man's judgment in every angle. I believe he's already anticipated the worst that could happen," Levi smirked vaguely, "that man has too many mind-fucked plans under his sleeves."
"Did he also anticipate that we would be attacked simultaneously by a group of deviants, broke our formations too early and had a very bad weather?" Alex pointed out grimly. "Those were enough reasons to retreat."
"They didn't retreat," Levi insisted sharply with steely tone. "I know what kind of man he is. Giving up in the last moment is not his thing, no matter what happen."
She bit her lip, her restless face obviously showing disagreement with his judgment. But after seeing the unswerving resoluteness in his cold gray eyes, Alex finally nodded. "I'm with you, sir. Let's go to that hill," she said obediently.
"Easier said than done, rookie. We don't even know where the hell we are now," Levi grunted, gazing at the map unfocusedly.
"I believe we're at somewhere along this riverbed," said Alex, her finger pointed to the thin blue line on the map.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. There's a waterfall — wait, Titan Falls? Is it the name for the waterfall?" she said in confusion, thinking that maybe she wrote it wrong.
"That freak, Hange, found it in the previous expedition, and decided to give such a ridiculous name," Levi gibed scornfully. "So, what about it?"
"Oh… Well, we fell from it after we plunged into the river, so the current carried us to somewhere in the downstream," she explained, running her index finger on the blue line.
"I see. Meaning, the closest landmark which we can possibly reach is this waterfall…" Levi widened his eyes; an idea crossed in his mind like someone just lighting a bulb inside his head. "We need to get back to there. Once we sure we are in the right location, we will find a way to reach the hill from the waterfall. The only problem is how can we coordinate our direction."
"I have compass," she grabbed a tiny silver compass from the ground. "From the waterfall, we have to go straight to the southeast, through the forest, and go to the open terrain at the foot of the hill," Alex suggested explicitly. "How about that Captain?"
"Yeah, the forest, so we will play hide and seek with titans tonight," Levi groaned. "Sounds like a suicidal plan…but we have no choice. We'll eventually die if we stay here any longer."
"Let's get going then," she got up and reached to her half-dried cloak.
"Hold it, rookie. Wait until few hours before sunset," said Levi, grasping her wrist. "If we move before sunset, we may arrive at the waterfall just a moment before nighttime. That will be convenient."
Alex faced him with a confused look. "Why?"
Levi's expression was even more confused than hers. "Why do you ask why?"
"Because I don't understand… Why do we move before sunset? Why moving at night will be convenient?" she asked innocently.
Levi stared at her with flat expression of bafflement, wondering if his hearing was severely damaged or this childish-looking soldier really didn't know about basic survival trick against titan. "Titans can't move at night, you idiot," he scorned.
"Oh, really? That's news to me!" she exclaimed happily then frowned. "But Squad Leader Hange didn't mention it last night…"
"That's a common knowledge that even a knee would know," scoffed Levi, still baffled. "Why do you think we could sleep in Fortress at night?"
"Oh! Yes! No one did the lookout turn after eight o'clock. If titans can't move at night, no need for guarding through the night. Now I get it," she sat back beside Levi, smiling blushfully.
"You don't even know it? What an idiot… Are you really graduated at top of your class?" Levi interrogated, very suspicious that she did illicit ways to boost her rank.
"Well, class lecture about titans was not on the test, and we only had that curriculum in the first month of the first year, so… I used to skip classes because I was not interested in titans, until I saw them yesterday," she mumbled with cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
The rain finally stopped after couple hours and the afternoon sky lit up brightly. Donning with their full combat uniform, both of them went out of the cave, glancing to their surrounding cautiously. Alex filled her pouch with water, shoving it inside her satchel, while Levi meticulously inspecting the 3DM Gears to detect any malfunctions. Alex joined him later, helping with checking gas-powered mechanism.
"Seems like our gears are fine to go," said Alex, carefully examining the valve of the cylinders.
"Glad you didn't skip the basic lesson about taking care of your equipment," said Levi sardonically, fixating his gear at his waist.
"I did, sometimes," Alex admitted. "But I have a comrade who is so great in machinery. He taught me everything about the gear."
"So, are we going to the opposite direction of the current?" asked Levi.
"Yes. We're heading there," said Alex, pointing to the right direction. "Should we climb the cliff, sir?"
"No, this riverbed is safer than the ground up on the cliff."
It was supposed to be a quiet and high alert journey, because noises would attract titans, and they would be doomed if any titans hop from the cliff to this riverbanks. Between the narrow gorge, steep cliff and deep river with swift current, there would be no enough space to maneuver with 3DM Gear, so fighting would be difficult. To Levi's tremendous annoyance, the little girl was too noisy, way more noisy than fifteen Garrison canons being fired at the same time. It's finally grating on Levi's nerves after twenty minutes had passed by, she continuously jabbered overly excited utterances on everything she saw at the riverbanks.
"I never saw that kind of vegetations! I wonder if those only grow in this area."
"Purple mushrooms! These are so pretty! Could be poisonous though…"
"Wow! Look at that! Those birds never flew inside the Walls!"
"What are these flowers? It smells so nice and —"
"You barely said any words when we went out of the gate and now you can't even shut up for a minute," Levi eventually cut in when he felt his patience already on the verge of its limit, throwing a furious look at her. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"This is the outside world, Captain. You never know what you will see!" said Alex perkily, picking the red-yellowish wild flower and slipping it inside her pants pocket.
"We will see titans, ultimately," Levi replied coldly, walking faster. "Don't get too carried away."
"Oh! Berries!" she squealed with delight — seemed not listening to Levi at all — squatting near the bush and picking a handful of red-bluish colored berries from the vine.
Levi sighed peevishly and turned his heels, very annoyed to see her too far away behind him. "Keep walking!" he yelled.
"I'm right behind you, sir!" said Alex, still squatting and shoving the berries into her satchel.
"You're twenty meters behind me! Get your ass over here!" Levi shouted impatiently.
"Alright, sir! I'm sorry!" she ran to him with overjoyed expression like she didn't feel sorry at all.
"Why are you picking those wild fruits?" asked Levi, looking at small fruits in her clutch.
"Rations. We don't know how long it takes to reach Rotwand Hill, what if we get hungry?" she elucidated, trying to shove all the berries into her swollen satchel.
Levi let out a "Tch!" derisively, snorting at her simple-minded reason. "We're not here for picnic."
"But, sir, hunger is enemy number one. We can't do anything with empty stomach," she argued matter-of-factly, stowing her satchel inside her jacket. "And the second enemy is sleep deprivation."
"Whatever," said Levi exasperatedly, unwilling to debate with her any further.
Not too long after that, she walked hurriedly to edge of the riverbanks, tiptoeing in the shallow water and staring eagerly at the bunch of swimming fishes.
"Mountain trout! I never saw so many of them like this, even inside Wall Maria. This downstream is probably —"
"That's enough!" Levi hissed, grabbing her by her collar scruff, pulling her from the river. "Didn't I say don't get too carried away? Can't you just focus and do what your superior ordered you to do? Now keep walking!" he pushed her forward rather harsh.
"I'm sorry Captain. Very sorry," she said lightly, keeping up beside him with her eyes still locking to the river.
"Damn it, rookie! Do you have attention deficit disorder or what!? I gave you simple orders and the next second you ignore all of them," Levi berated her through tightly gritted teeth.
"I must admit I'm very thrilled right now, sir. It's not everyday you can take a stroll in outside wall," she shifted her eyes to the surrounding environment, beaming at Levi with her wide grin. "We are probably the first humans who ever walk on this riverbed!"
"That's maybe true, but it's not an excuse to make you behave like a freaking five years old. Learn some self-control for fuck's sake," said Levi tartly.
Alex pouted, eyeing him with disappointed look. "You're not a very cheerful one, are you, Captain?"
"No," Levi replied tersely.
"Mockingbirds!" Alex exclaimed suddenly, pointing with her finger. "So many of them… This place must be their habitat to reproduce and lay eggs in summer," she commented with amusement. Her eyes were following the movement of a brown Mockingbird, which was flying around above her head.
"Don't even think about catching one of them," Levi warned.
"I'm not sir," said Alex, but her lips pursed as she kept walking beside Levi.
She whistled a song, high pitch whistling with cheerful melody, which Levi never heard before. The bird followed her whistling, repeating after her. Then two birds, three birds, four birds, eventually, the rest of the birds in the nearby area imitated her whistle, creating a harmony of musical notes, like a symphony orchestra.
"Wow! This is amazing!" she giggled merrily.
*BAM!*
Her laughter rapidly changed into a tiny shriek of pain, after Levi blew an extremely powerful head butt to her forehead. Tumbling pathetically on the ground, Alex looked up to his superior; her teary eyes clashed with deadly look on his. Levi was standing in front of her, glaring darkly with burning murderous intent radiating from his gray eyes.
"Captain… That really… Hurts…" she grimaced, rubbing her forehead repetitively.
"Are you fucking retarded? We're in the land infested with monstrous giants, ready to devour us on sight…" Levi's words were shaking with anger. "AND YOU FUCKING MADE A NOISE LIKE THAT!?"
"I'm so sorry sir!" Alex piped, now sounded very scared. "I knew Mockingbird will respond to whistle and human voice because of their ability to mimic noise, but I didn't expect there will be so many of them like this!" she justified her action, referring to the sound of Mockingbird chirping endlessly around them.
"Enough with your stupidity! If titans come down here, I'm really gonna throw you inside their mouths!" he snarled, crouching down in front of her.
"But titans can't get to here. The cliff is too high, if they jump down —"
Levi quickly clapped his palm to her mouth, grasping her jaw firmly in anger but resisting the temptation to break her mandible bone to pieces. "One… One more word from you, and I will cut your fucking tongue off," Levi threatened, sparing another menacing glare. "Keep walking in silence with your lips sealed. One useless word from you and believe me that will be the last word that ever slip from your mouth. Is my order clear to you, annoying brat?" he whispered with venom in every syllable.
Learning the hard way that Levi was a man of his words, Alex nodded repeatedly like a bobble-head doll, standing up straight in instant and giving a shaky salute. She strode faintheartedly beside him, gulping nervously every time the raven-haired man leered at her. Her face was deathly pale, but her bright hazel eyes were still enthusiastically scanning the vicinity. There were moments when she was about to say something in impulse, but all that she let out was a horrified gasp, because Levi immediately turned to her, staring ominously with his inscrutable expression as if he was saying 'do that and you know what will happen to you'. So in the end, she spent the rest of the journey with both of her hands clamping her mouth.
Two of them continued to walk; until they heard reverberate noise of falling water broke the silence between them. They had reached the end of the riverbanks. Large region of bedrock were pounded by rampageous stream and eminently wide waterfall was surging and plunging down the high cliff far ahead of them. At this distance, it looked like silver tear dropping from the sky.
"That's the waterfall, right?" asked Levi, glancing at Alex.
The petite girl answered his question with a nod.
"To think we fell from that height, we're goddamn lucky to be alive…" Levi commented. "I think this is as far as we can go. What if we climb the cliff now?"
No answer.
"Shouldn't it be easier to reach it from the upper ground than from here?" said Levi, looking at the broken rock fragments.
Silence. Still no answer.
"Oi. Are you ignoring me now, shitty rookie?" Levi barked.
Alex jerked when he was darting an intimidating glare that could have melt titanium at her. "Is it…s-s-safe for me t-to speak n-n-now…sir?" she stammered.
"You may speak, only the things related for our survival," said Levi tiredly. "Try to control that choosey mouth and your annoying behavior."
"Alright, sir. Yes, that is the waterfall. It will be better to climb now, the bedrocks is very slippery," said Alex, already activating her gear. "We will be soaking wet again if we try to walk on it."
They launched the grapple-hooks to the rocky wall, climbing it as fast as they can. Once they reached the upper ground, Levi seemed to be more vigilant than ever; his eyes were fixating at the forest. On their far right, the treetops of the bleak forest swayed in a light breeze, giving an impression of ghostly and sinister aura. They carefully strode to the waterfall, accelerating their pace, because the sky getting darker with each minute passed by.
"It's almost sunset…" Alex said in dreamy voice, apparently talking to herself. "The book said it would happen for short moments, I better hurry if I don't want to miss it… But… From where should I…" she mumbled into her hand, looking keenly around like she was searching for some kind of buried treasure.
"You really can't shut up, noisy brat," Levi hissed, striding faster in front of her.
"I can see it from the top of the tree though, but what if titans show up? No… The forest is too dangerous… Bad idea…" she continued to self-talk in the same dreamy quality voice.
Levi turned to her, frowning. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh! That peak will be a perfect spot!" she abruptly screamed.
Before Levi had a chance to stop her, she was running frenziedly like her life was depended on it.
"Oi! Stupid brat! What did I say about self-control!?" Levi shouted.
Alex completely paid no heed to him; she kept sprinting to the edge of the high cliff, standing tall at the highest peak of the precipice then screaming in absolute exhilaration.
"Captain! Captain Levi! Look at this!"
Levi groaned, facepalming grouchily, then glaring to the shrieking girl. "WHAT NOW!?" he yelled, unleashing all of the wrath into his voice.
"Over here!" she shrieked, waving her hand in a gesture to ask him to come. "Come on! You have to see it, Captain!"
"For fuck's sake, rookie, I'm tired of your nonstop useless jabbering!" Levi scowled but eventually followed her to the peak, stomping angrily. "You fucking annoying—"
"Look!" Alex clasped his arm and pulled him quickly, pointing the view in front of their eyes, and Levi held his breath as his eyes capturing the remarkable scenery.
The sky was painted in blazing red; combination of a tinge of sun's orange and red beam at the horizon met the almost cloudless backdrop as the aftermath of the heavy rain, creating a dazzling crimson sky. A rainbow, with radiant pastel colors, softly emerged from the horizon, circling the half-rounded sun. As green as finest emerald, the dense forest spread out widely as though it was covering the earth's entire surface, with a stream of river cleaving the green with the line of sapphire. The two soldiers of Survey Corps stood silently in awe for minutes, admiring the nature's desolate beauty that no humankind ever experienced in hundred years.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Alex whispered serenely. "Do you feel it, Captain? The breeze. The air. The sunlight. It's so different from inside the wall. This is," she spread her arms and inhaled deeply, "this is the outside world… Even the sky looks brighter…"
"Yeah. Not bad at all," Levi admitted, still staring in amazement.
"That horizon seems endless…" she gasped, reaching out her hand as though she was trying to touch the sun.
"I never imagine, thinking how big the world is…" Levi muttered under his breath.
"This is…what we need to take back… The freedom…" said Alex dreamily, gazing to small clouds of bird flying into the crimson sunset.
"Right. And how about if we start to take back the freedom of humanity by regrouping with the main troops?" Levi reminded, hurriedly running down the peak. "Come on, rookie. We still have long way to go."
"Yes, sir! Right away!" she glanced to the skyline for the last time, smiling gleefully then running toward her captain.
A/N: I don't think I will find beta reader anytime soon *weep pathetically on the floor*, so I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors in this chapter, and also in the next chapters, English is not my first language... Whoever and wherever you are, thank you for reading my story! You really made my day!