Chapter-9
Accident
Note: I don't own any of these characters
To Phoenix: Yeah, well Mikasa is one of the strongest humans in the series (in my opinion) so... Anyway, good to know that you enjoyed the chapter!
Eren sat at the table, not knowing what to do. It was free time and the rest of the squad members were focusing on their hobbies. This was something new to Eren.
"These guys take it too easy. We're soldiers who are supposed to fight Titans, We're not here for some sort of summer camp!"
There was another reason why he didn't feel like doing anything. It was because he was really nervous.
"Today's the day we have to stop that person from killing the Titans. I wonder how the others are so relaxed."
He sighed when he remembered how tough it had been to convince Armin about their plan. Armin had been worried that something would go wrong and wanted to tell everything to commander Erwin but Eren disagreed, because he felt that no one would buy it. So Armin had finally relented and decided to back Eren.
At the moment, He was nowhere to be seen. And Eren had almost dozed off. But then he was rudely awakened by a nasty slap on his back. It was Reiner, accompanied by Bertolt.
"What are you doing here?" Reiner asked him.
"Nothing."
Reiner frowned. "You do realize that it was a rhetorical question, don't you?"
"Err..."
Bertolt laughed, "You're not going to be doing anything useful if you just keep loafing around. Come on!"
He and Reiner dragged Eren out of the house and pulled him towards the stables.
"Wh...what are you doing?" Eren demanded.
"We're gonna teach you horse-riding!" Reiner announced.
"Oh uh... sorry, I know how to ride a horse." said Eren.
"Yeah but just knowing how to ride a horse is way different compared to actually enjoying it." Reiner explained.
"But I want to do something useful. Not waste my time!"
"You won't be" Bertolt assured him. "We're not that lucky. Most of the activities have a purpose of improving one's overall ability as a soldier."
Suddenly, something went flashing past them and the trio jumped away just in time. They gaped as they saw the horse come to a stop. Now, Eren wasn't the brightest guy when it came to horses but this one was definitely bad-ass. It had a coat with a grey tint and a powerful, but graceful body painted with black stripes which resembled lightning bolts. It was definitely different from the other horses.
"Whoah" was all Eren could say.
Ryan who was riding the horse, jumped off, made wretching sounds with his throat and grabbed his stomach.
"That's Rai." Reiner explained. "He's the fastest horse I've ever seen. He can go at least two to three times as fast as other horses"
Eren choked "Two-to-three times as fast? You're kidding me!"
Reiner shook his head. "I know it sounds dumb, but it's true. Here's the thing, it only runs at high speeds when someone's riding it."
"...and till now Ryan's the only one who's been able to push him too maximum speed without going crazy."
"Wow!" said Eren said. "I never knew something like this existed."
"Him" said Ryan as he managed to control his nausea.
"What?"
"He's not some object. He's a person." said Ryan, rubbing the horse's mane. " This horse is a person. And he's my best friend."
"A horse is your best friend?"
"Yep!" He's been with me my entire life. He's awesome!"
Eren looked at Bertolt who was shaking his head sadly.
"He's still a kid,let him be." he whispered.
Eren nodded.
Then Reiner stepped forward. "Can I try?"
Ryan grinned in a nasty manner. "Sure!"
While Reiner was riding the horse, Eren spoke with Ryan.
"So.. You're going to take him along with you to the expedition?" He asked.
Ryan shook his head, horrified at the thought. "No way!" He said. "I'd never put Rai in danger!"
Eren nodded.
Both of them turned around to see Rai galloping towards them. He wasn't slowing down.
They yelled and dived out of the way. A terrified Reiner got thrown off and landed on Eren, who was definitely not happy about it.
Rai slowed down to a trot.
Reiner finally got off Eren, then sank to the ground. "Whew... glad I'm still alive after all that."
"So am I..." Eren groaned.
It was night. Eren forced his eyes open. Keeping watch over Sonny and Bean while remaining hidden behind some trees wasn't the most comfortable job in the world. Armin had stayed back to provide an alibi for the two and Eren was a little envious about that. Ryan had already dozed off quite a few times. Eren kept hitting him on his head to make sure he was awake. It was cold. Eren and Ryan were starving but there was nothing they could do now. They were just too nervous to eat anything before this affair was handled properly.
To pass time, he started a conversation with Ryan.
Ryan had a messed-up childhood. His mother had died when he was young and his father had struggled to ensure that Ryan had a proper life. However he fell ill and died when Ryan was 12, leaving him with only one thing- his uh...horse. Eren still couldn't understand how someone could develop such a close relationship with an animal but he didn't bother Ryan about that.
Just like Eren, Ryan had wanted to join the Survey Corps and explore the world despite being kind-of timid. When he joined the 104th trainee squad, he had found it difficult to cope with the great stress but had somehow managed to become eligible and even got a place in the top 10 recruits.
Then when the Titans had invaded, Ryan had also transformed into a titan (though he had no idea how he had obtained the ability in the first place). With his help, The survey corps had managed to recover the wall and stop the Titan attack.
Ryan finished his story, then looked up at the trees.
"You know, Eren... You should tell me your story too sometime."
Eren frowned. "But I already did! What else is there for me to say?"
Ryan laughed in a manner significantly different from the one Eren was used to. It was a forced laugh and it didn't sound like Ryan was happy.
"Your real story. Don't take me for granted just because I'm such a coward. It's a bit obvious that you're hiding things from us."
Eren was silent for a moment. "When did you find out about this?" He asked.
"I just felt it. At first, I was just a bit suspicious, but later.. I realized that I was right."
He got up. "I don't really mind if you keep secrets, Eren. But you know... you can't really expect people to trust you unless you trust them too. Just tell me one thing. Why are you hiding stuff from us?"
Eren sighed. "Because... if I say everything,I'm afraid..."
"Afraid of what?" Ryan demanded.
Eren was about to speak when he saw something. His eyes widened.
Ryan noticed this and turned around. Both of them could barely see anything in the dark, but were able to distinguish the shadowy figure who had balanced herself on the branch.
'Is it her?' Ryan mouthed.
Eren nodded. Ryan put on his mask. This was a precautionary measure in case they were discovered by the other Titan shifter who would definitely try to capture Ryan. Eren didn't need one since the person probably didn't know about him.
They crept closer, and noticed that the person was making adjustments to her gear and then put a mask on her face too.
'She doesn't want to be recognized either.' Eren realized.
Then, before he could react, The person had zipped ahead.
Cursing under his breath, Ryan and Eren followed her with their 3DMG gear. She came to a stop at the edge of the forest, landed on the ground and started sprinting towards the location of the two titans.
Eren swore. This wasn't part of the plan. They were supposed to intercept the person before the titans were attacked. He was going to charge out into the open, but Ryan restrained him.
"We can't let her know we're here!" Ryan whispered urgently.
Eren gritted his teeth. The person disappeared behind the house.
"She's going to kill them!"
"I know, Eren but get a grip! We'll be found and we won't be able to stop her."
Suddenly there was a commotion near the house. Eren couldn't see anything, but he had a good idea about what was happening. He punched a tree in frustration.
And then the figure returned, moving with great speed towards the forest.
"Ryan, stay on her tail. I'll go further inside and try to intercept her directly."
Ryan nodded. He and Eren immediately sprang into action.
Ryan was hot on the killers trail. She was a tricky one though. She knew how to use her gear effectively and she kept weaving past trees and changing her course, making her a difficult target.
"I won't be able to catch her at this rate." He thought.
Then, She changed her course so that she moved behind a large tree. Ryan did the same, going around the tree.
However, when he got to the other side, He couldn't see anyone. His heart was beating hard. He immediately knew that something was wrong. He scanned the surroundings.
"Looking for me?".
Before Ryan could do any thing, he felt something sharp sink into his right shoulder. He moved away before the attacker could do something serious but he was unable to use his gear with his injured arm and he crashed hard into the ground.
For a moment, he thought that his end was near. But then his assailant seemed to reconsider the situation and disappeared once more.
And as he realized that he had failed, he blacked out.
The assailant was rushing through the woods. She gritted her teeth. Things were going really badly. She'd already taken care of the one who was tailing her, but she had a feeling that more would follow. She needed to get out of here quickly.
She was now staying close to the ground as she maneuvered past the trees with her gear. This way, it would be tougher for someone to spot her.
But then, she suddenly noticed someone in front of her. It was another person with black hair and a look of pure hatred on his face. The person drew both his swords and charged towards her. She managed to dodge them in the nick of time, by changing her course. However, the other person mirrored her movements and collided into her. Both of them crash landed a few meters away from each other. Before she could draw her swords, the person punched her hard in the face.
Eren engaged the person. He didn't give her an opportunity to try anything else as he riddled her with blows. The person took a step backward and then tried a low-kick which Eren dodged instinctively.
He then used a kick on his own. The person stepped back, avoiding the kick. They kept exchanging blows.
"This isn't good" Eren thought. Slowly, he was beginning to tire and he wasn't sure how long he could hold out.
He dropped down and tried to sweep the person off the floor with his legs, but the person jumped high.
In that instance,Eren knew that he would lose, as the person raised her foot in the air and brought it down with great force as she descended.
It landed on Eren's shoulder with a crack and his hand now hung limply by his side. He yelled in pain.
The girl was a few meters away from him.
She slowly raised her hand. There was a blinding flash as something looking like a giant hand materialised in front of Eren and slammed him into a tree.
Eren screamed in anguish as he felt almost every bone in his body break.
The person dislodged her hand from the withering remains of the giant hand which stilll pinned Eren to the tree.
She walked to a barely conscious Eren.
"I'll ... I'll kill you." He whispered to her.
She caught his chin and forced him to look at her eyes.
"This is what it means.. to fight a Titan. If you survive this... you'll be a wiser person. "
Eren gave her another stare filled with hatred. Then he passed out.
The next day,
Hanji walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.
She gave a deep sigh and turned to face the members of Eren's squad.
"How is he?" Krista asked him anxiously.
"He's not going to die..."
There was a collective sigh of relief from the group.
"But... he's suffered several deep injuries." She continued.
"But umm.. He's going to be fine , right?" asked Armin who looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears.
Hanji looked at him darkly.
"He won't recover completely from something like this..."
Mikasa banged her fist on the wall.
"Stop beating around the bush! Tell me clearly, Is there something wrong with Eren?"
Hanji took a deep breath. "He can still help us out as an assistant or something... but..."
"but what..."
"Eren can no longer work in the Survey Corps."
Armin recoiled from the shock. He looked at Ryan who also seemed dejected.
'What's going to happen now?'
FINALLY! This chapter is complete. What will happen next? What lies in store for humanity?
Anyway, just wanted to discuss a few things with you guys.
First, the... horse. Why is there a horse? (Shrugs shoulders). Does a horse really matter? (Shrugs shoulders) However for those who have read the Heroes Of Olympus series, Rai was inspired (a bit)by Arion.
Next, sorry for the delay. I don't get time with school and other stuff so I'm not able to write chapters as frequently as I'd like to.
And finally, wish you all a happy Halloween!
