When he showed up at the site, he was surprised to see that the outside lands looked surprisingly normal. It resembled a bit of the area inside the world, but he had never thought the feeling would be as if he were right at home. It was going to be their first mission, and Eishi glanced around, unable to help but think that the groups being sent out were a bit small. Levi was partnered with Isabel and Farland, and he with his brother and a blonde haired girl named Petra. He noticed that she kept looking in Levi's direction, and seeming to have a curious frown upon her expression, but didn't really comment on it. Since she had joined the recon corps, Petra had become his friend in a way, even though he mostly kept his distance due to the many different views that nobles had with commoners. Sure, he had some understanding friends, but it wasn't at all as it had been when they were in training.

"Are you nervous?" He asked in a low whisper to the other.

She paused, and glanced at him. "Eh?"

He tried to do his best not to roll his eyes and gesture towards the man she had been staring at, as if she was trying to solve some kind of puzzle. In the short time here, everyone had heard of Levi, and there were already rumors that he would rise to the top of his rank in no time. "You seem a bit distracted," he said.

Petra paused, and then beamed. "A bit," she said, but to him it sounded and looked as if it were some sort of excuse.

It wasn't long before the director ordered the first expedition to begin, and in fact it interrupted Eishi's conversation, as Jake seemed intent on pointedly ignoring them during the entire time that it happened. He knew his brother was used to socializing, but his mouth was pressed into a thin line this time, gazing over into the horizon, as if waiting to spot the titans as they all stood in front of the huge gate that had been exited not so long ago.

They rode off towards the plains in the formation that had been taught during class. Eishi and the other's kept their eyes ahead of the road, and it was unusually quiet for the moment. He now knew what it felt like to have one foot out of the walls. It was weird to see so many trees in the distance, because he'd hardly thought of looking past the walls, and the few times that he chanced it was not very memorable.

"So far it looks as if things have gone as planned," said Jake, staring seriously up over at the sky. "Look, the green signal flares are rising." He reached beside him and pulled out the gun, but Eishi would notice that his grip was trembling a bit. "We better send ours up as well."

"What's the objective of this mission anyway?" asked Eishi.

Petra answered for them, as the flare shot up. "We're going to be heading into a forested area, looking for clues in the habitat to study the titans. But I heard rumors that we are going to try and capture two of them."

"..." There was silence from all three of them.

"I know I shouldn't be disappointed," said Eishi. "But I was expecting a little more blood."

"That time will come soon enough," Jake stated, his expression seeming gloomy.


Should the area be crowded with people, we will be bound to confront them sooner, we were told.

They were standing in front of a stream, and Isabel was practically beaming. "The water!" she cried, placing her hands in it. "Look, Levi. It's so clean!"

Levi turned away as Farland started to drag Isabel off. "We're not here to play games," he said, pretending to be disinterested. He then pointed over to Jake and Eishi, standing in the background, as well as Petra. "You two, what are you standing there for?" He seemed to pointedly ignore reprimanding Petra, who had already started walking off towards the trees.

"We either climb or use our arrows. I'm sure you know how to get all the way up there. Hurry up because everyone else is already halfway there."

Eishi frowned, but nodded anyway. "Right!"

The branches were huge, the oaks having reached so tall that it was almost hard to see where they ended. Eishi raised his hand and instinctively the 3d maneuver gear strings launched itself at the tree. He felt like he was flying as the hooks sank into the bark and he lifted. He ended up landing in an area away from Jake, but was able to see the other off in the distance. Still, he was nearby some of the other new recruits, who were talking a bit lightheartedly.

"Can't wait to see a titan," said one of them. "I need to practice my new moves. My sword is getting rusty." Eishi winced as he had to wonder what the other meant, seeing as he had just enlisted and was one of the new faces that he'd briefly spotted. "Too bad the more experienced guys get to play bait. We have to stand here and watch."

When a titan starts appearing, some of them will run fast. Others will walk. We basically want just one or two that seems weak.

A scream distracted him from his thoughts, and suddenly, he noticed that one of the girls had witnessed something horrific and had fallen out of the tree, to be cornered. She had apparently been standing too close and had injured herself from the fall, unable to move as her ankle was twisted and the titans nearby were starting to crawl their way over. He panicked and swung his way towards her. "Hey you. What are you doing. We were told to stay put!"

He didn't listen, but someone had already made their way up close. It was Petra, doing her best to try and fend off the beasts from preying on the girl. She maneuvered her way expertly, already taking down a few titans, but she wasn't alone. Levi and Farland were trying to help her out, blades flashing and glinting in the sun, as blood from the napes of the titan's neck would splash upon the grass. Isabel was nowhere to be found.

He started to feel numb for a second, but he jumped when there was a tap on his shoulder. Jake had landed stealthily beside him while he was watching, mouth agape, standing on a lone tree branch.

"It should be fine," he stated. "Look, Petra has already gotten her to a safe place."

He turned to smile at the other before he suddenly caught sight of a giant hand making it's way up from the branch.

The best way to handle a titan is to team up. Luckily this aberrant was only good at climbing trees.

Without noticing it, he had dashed forward and his blade jabbed into the titan's wrist. He hacked like a madman, taking a few more strikes to entirely dislocate it, hoping that it would cause the monster to fall right back. It seemed that they had encountered an aberrant. The other hand simply clung to a branch, and the ugly face staring at them seemed to be swinging upon the bars, launching itself like a monkey with it's ever present smirk as the hand stump raised, getting ready to slam into him. It was as if the beast's hand had not been dislocated at all, as if this one could not feel pain. He flung out an arrow and dodged, lifting himself backwards out of the way.

Jake had already removed himself from the previous position that he'd been standing in. His blade sliced back at the titan's neck, digging in two scars in the back. Unfortunately, it was not deep enough, and he had to jump back as the regenerated hand reached out to swat at him.

Now it was his turn, and he slammed his body into the titan from the back, driving his sword into an area close to the back of it's spine. One could say that he attempted to stab right into the sensitive area, if they were looking at it from behind. "Got you!" He cried out. "That ought to piss you off."

Jake returned to aiming at the monster's neck, and it was over. Blood flew from the air in two spurts of streams, but the other seemed to have regained his viciousness. There was no hesitance in the last slash as he spotted his brother's legs perched from behind on top near the base of the giant's neck. They both drew back, landing on an even lower branch, as the body seemed to freeze in slow motion, and then dropped from the branches it had been playing swing from.

"We have to get back up," Jake breathed out, the exertion of being flung around, using one's bodily strength and taking down a titan seeming to take it's toll on him.

Without another move, he picked up the protesting Eishi, flinging him over his shoulder and darted back up towards a higher branch. "Wait a minute. It's not like those other things down there can climb up!"

The two of them headed back from the trip, right as night fell, but Eishi could not help but feel that something was a bit off. There was no talk of having captured any titans, and as a matter of fact, there seemed to be more talk of the dead bodies that had piled up.


Erwin Smith simply escorted Levi into a room.

This was not a simple meeting between the two of them, but it really didn't take long before the other had attempted to attack him. After the death of his friends, the plan had fallen apart, which left the boy nothing left to take on but his vengeance. He'd witnessed firsthand, however, the skill that Erwin had, and it turned out to be futile. Usually, in this case, Levi could have been tried for treason, but he still had other plans for this boy.

"Are you going to speak up for yourself while I'm here?" he asked, after a steely silence had enveloped them. "You were always a pretty difficult one. I'm sure you don't want me to force it out of you again."

"..." Still nothing, but Erwin probably knew the gist of what had happened. After all, he had kept a rather close eye on the group. He sighed, and drew his blade, before pointing it at the other. "Very well. Lets have another match."

Unexpectedly, Levi started speaking up. "You knew this would happen," he accused, his eyes narrowed at the other. "We were forced into this from the beginning."

"Inevitably, this will happen to more than just them," Erwin stated. The situation could not simply be handled delicately with this boy. "Sacrifices have to be made -"

"Bullshit." It was spat out quietly but the venom did not leave the boy's tone. "We could have escaped prison. This is different."

"Sacrifices were made to atone for the crimes that you committed, Levi," Erwin said. "Did you really think we would stop once you escaped whatever cell they held you at? You have talent and I was willing to use whatever means necessary because the recon corps needs that. And I understand very well what it feels like to lose people you care about. But it will keep happening and it will not end until humanity manages to restore it's land."

He was at his breaking point, still picturing his friend's faces, all for the sake of some cause that this man he couldn't kill was willing to use him for, but the changing point came when that same hand was placed on his shoulder, and he was pulled into a hug.

It was not something he felt often in his life, as he'd naturally kept his distance until now. He stiffened up, but the usual reaction to knee the other in the gut was kept at bay from the bruises the previous struggle had gotten him. Instead, he just hissed out, but felt oddly sad. The anger that threatened to boil over him, was kept at bay by the next words.

"I know there is no reason for you to trust me," said Erwin. "But that can only come with time and practice. I have forced you into a situation where there is no room to run anymore, because I have a good feeling you will survive this. So work with me, and take vengeance for your friends. Give me the chance to show you what you can do because you have to. Their deaths will not be in vain because you can live on."