So this chapter is long as shit, but that's kind of all it has going on for it. There's no Anie/Eren interaction, cuz this chapter is where Annie chases after the scouts to capture Eren. Subsequently they don't get a chance to talk or anything, so just a heads-up before you jump down my throat or anything.
Also a big shoutout to xdmath for promoting this fic on tumblr and for being A+ loyal to this fic since day 1. Also, I've finished my EreAnnie fanart and that's what you see as the new icon for this fanfiction. So yeah.
Chapter 9:
Annie stood atop the wall, watching the Scouts depart, their horses kicking up a storm of dirt behind them. She knew Eren was in that group somewhere, and that she had to under any circumstances, bring him back home with her. Failure was not an option.
She waited until they had ventured out of sight, and then leaped off the wall. She fired off the cables of her gear-or rather, Marco's gear, which she had recovered sometime after, and hooked onto a pair of two trees to slow her descent, and when her inertia transferred and spun her in a arc, she released and flung forward.
It was the first time since training that she had used 3DM gear in a forest. It brought back memories of her and Eren sneaking off into the treeline for some time away, or the deerskin blanket he gave to her, that she left back in her room. She would return for it, one day.
That's far enough, Annie thought. Nobody should see me transform.
She couldn't flick the blade of her ring out while using the maneuver gear, so she brought her hand up to her mouth. She bit down, and tasted iron as she broke spin.
Recover Eren. She thought in her mind. The combination of visualizing her goal and self-harm initiated the transformation. A lightning bolt struck Annie, and she could feel the electricity course through her, numbing her body. Warmth flooded her and she felt the flesh materializing and fusing to her body. She could feel herself lifting up off the ground, and opened her eyes.
Except, they weren't her eyes anymore. They were her titan's eyes.
Annie started running towards the group. "Follow the plan." She thought.
Her titan body could push itself much farther than her actual body could. Annie was grateful for that, because she didn't think her actual body could run for so long at this pressure. She noticed a couple of titans begin to notice her and start following her.
Good, Annie thought, just like that.
More titans began noticing as Annie made her way across the plains towards the Survey Corps. The idea was actually suggested by Reiner. Mass a group of titans to follow her, and the Scouts would have their hands busy dealing with them, taking a lot of the pressure off Annie and freeing her up to take Eren.
A red smoke flare went up to her right. It had begun. Annie changed direction and headed over to where the flare came from. Two scouts on horseback came into view. There was very little to grab onto with maneuver gear hooks, and both Annie and her targets knew it. Annie realized that the titans were no longer following her. They must have gone for easier, smaller prey.
First, get in between them. Annie thought. If I can do that, they'll get scared. Sloppy. They should be easy to pass afterwards. Annie sprinted forwards, and stomped her foot in between the two riders, separating them.
Annie felt a prick, and then a tugging at the flesh on the nape of her titan's neck. Dammit. They're going on the offensive.
A cry rang out as a Scout drew towards Annie. Annie reached up and snatched him out of the air not a meter and a half from her neck. Anger flooded her system. I didn't want to have to kill any of you, she thought ferociously, but if you try to stop me from getting to him, I have no problem slaughtering every last one of you. She squeezed his body, and could feel bones crushing as he went limp. Another scout had hooked on. Annie grabbed the wire and flung his body into the ground, pulverizing him.
She stopped for a second, realization ebbing into her consciousness. I just killed two human beings... A small part of her thought. The bigger part of her snapped back, Worry about that later. You have a job to do. Besides... You aren't like these people.
Annie spotted another rider and barreled towards it. He was a carrying the reins of another horse, and as Annie approached, it released said horse. Annie looked down. Somebody she knew? She jumped, placing both feet on either side of the rider and causing the ground to shake violently. The rider was flung off his horse and hit the ground.
Check if it's Eren... Annie thought. She knelt down behind the still figure and lifted it 's hood. She peered under and recognized the blonde boy. Oh. She thought, It's just Armin. Weak, intelligent, cowardly Armin... Should I kill him? She toyed with the idea in her head. No. Eren would never forgive me if I killed his best friend.
Annie stood up and left him. Without a rider, he was as good as dead. Another titan would be along soon enough, Annie thought, and ran on.
After a couple minutes of running, Annie glanced back, completely on a whim. Just in time, however, to see three hooded figures chasing her. She stopped and turned, and felt a 3DM hook glance off of her achilles tendon. She swung her hand back, creating a gust of wind and blowing off the hood of one of the riders. A swing of her other arm knocked the horse out from under another and sent him crashing into the ground.
She knelt down. He was bloodied and bruised, but there was no mistaking him. It was Armin. How did he catch up? Did the other two bring him a new horse? It didn't matter. He had tried to get in the way of her getting to Eren. I'll kill him... She thought. But before she could act, a she felt tugging on the right side of her back. She turned and saw the other rider, Jean, probably, and turned. She swung out her hand to grab him. Jean ducked and evaded the hand, however. Annie had forgotten that Jean was the best 3DM user in their class. He could turn on a coin. Annie saw him swing behind her and knew what he was going to do next.
Bringing a hand up to her nape to protect her human body, Annie felt another hook connect with her back. She clenched her fist. Sorry, Jean. She thought, But you're going to die now.
"Jean!" Armin's voice called out from beneath him. "Don't let that suicidal bastard have died for nothing!"
What? Annie thought, faltering. Eren isn't dead. He couldn't be dead, could he? Doubt clouded Annie's mind. Did Armin figure out that I'm looking for him? Is he just trying to confuse me?
"She did it! She's the one who killed him! She led the titans to the right wing, where he was, and now the right flank has been crushed!"
No, Annie thought, That can't be true. He would have transformed, I would have seen the lightning bolt... Right?
"He's dead, all thanks to her! I saw his body stuck to the bottom of her foot, she killed him!"
Now that can't possibly be true. Annie thought, I didn't step on anybody, and I didn't even touch the flank. He's trying to confuse me.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Reiner to her right, blades cocked back and ready to swing. She gave a dry smile. It was a pretty good farce. If Annie didn't know any better, she would have thought that he actually was trying to kill her.
Annie brought her hand up and snatched Reiner out of the air. She could feel him using his blade to etch into her titan's hand. She pretended to squeeze, and Reiner pretended to writhe in pain. Reiner finished carving his message and slashed off two of Annie's fingertips, freeing himself from her grasp and swinging back down to the ground.
Annie looked at the carving Reiner had left in her hand. It was a crudely drawn map of the formation, with an x marking the center rear. That's where Eren would be.
Annie stood up and ran in the direction of her lover. I'm coming, Eren.
Eren rode on. He had trained in horseback riding with the cadets, but he had never gotten adjusted to the bouncing of horse's run. His rear end was pretty sore by the end of it. He wondered how the others were doing. Mikasa, Armin, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, Bertholdt, Christa, hell, he even wondered if Jean was doing alright. Sure they had their share of disagreements, but he was still a comrade, and to some degree, however slight, a friend. Besides, Jean had become a different person since Trost. More reliable, more dependable, more selfless. Maybe it had to do with Marco's death, but Jean seemed to have realized how selfish he was being and had dedicated his life to a cause greater than himself. Whatever the reason was, Eren was grateful that horse-boy had finally pulled his swollen head out of his ass.
A messenger rode up next to them. "Sir," the man said, "message from the front lines. The right flank has been wiped out by a titan ambush. All relay activity is spotty and unreliable on that side."
Eren's heart crawled up into his throat. That's where most of his friends were positioned. Did they make it out okay?
"Black smoke. Eren, fire off the signal." Levi called over the sound of the wind whipping past them.
Eren looked up and saw the trail of black vapor writhing to their right. "Yes sir." He replied, loading his flare gun with a black round. He raised it, pointing it skywards, and relayed the message, sending his own snake of black vapor up.
This is bad. Eren thought, I'm glad Annie is safe in the interior.
As they galloped on, a forest came into view directly ahead of them.
"Captain Levi!" Eren shouted, "Which way are we going?"
"Forward." Levi replied simply. Eren was bewildered. Wouldn't that take them directly into the forest? It was impossible to maintain a formation in there. The left flank, and what remained of the right, would have to break off and go around the forest.
"Are you sure?" Eren replied.
"Yes." Levi called out, "Now shut up."
Eren closed his mouth and did his best not to let his mind dwell on it, but as they entered the forest and the trees obscured their vision of any threats, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on.
"Sir," he called out after a few minutes of riding through the forest.
"What?" Levi answered, annoyed.
"What are we doing here? This forest is reducing our visibility, we won't see a titan until it's right in front of us. We have no reinforcements. What are we supposed to do if the titan that took out the right flank shows up?"
"Shut up and let it go already." Levi snapped, still not turning around. "Look at all these big ass trees. We can easily use our maneuver gear here. Calm down and use your head. If a threat shows up, we'll deal with it."
Confusion took Eren's mind. He looked around at his squadmates, all of whom looked just as unsure and scared as he felt. Did none of them know what was going on? What they were doing? Did Levi himself even know?
A black smoke round went off behind them. The titan was fast approaching. Eren's squad members expressed themselves.
"It's right behind us!" Gunther exclaimed.
"It's been on our tail ever since we came into the forest." Eld muttered.
Levi spoke up. "Blades out, now." He called, as he drew the swords from his gear. "It'll be quick. Be ready."
Eren turned and saw a scout using his maneuver gear, fling about ten meters off the ground. And then, faster than he appeared, a fleshy hand materialized from behind the trees and smacked the soldier out of the air. The rest of the body followed, a large, female body that was lean, deadly, icy.
Panic rang through Eren like a bell.
"Move it!" Levi shouted. And suddenly, the titan was behind them. Eren could feel it reaching out, missing his cloak by mere inches. His heart raced like an olympic athlete.
"Shit! It's here!" Oluo called out.
"How are we supposed to perform evasive action here?" Gunther demanded.
"Captain, can we use our 3DM gear?" Petra pleaded. "Levi, please!"
More scouts appeared behind the female titan, swinging from the trees with their gear. One shot a hook out at the titan's neck, and the titan dodged and yanked the line down, slamming the scout into a nearby tree, painting the bark a deep, red hue. It grabbed the line on the other scout's gear and yanked him back, snatching him midair and crushing him, allowing his limp, lifeless body to fall to the ground.
Eren could only watch in horror as all of this happened around him. This titan, slaughtering his comrades with brutal efficiency, forcing her way to them.
"Captain!" Petra screamed, "Orders, please!"
"It's dangerous!" Oluo agreed, "We need to take it out, now!"
Eld drew his blade. "I'll cut that bitch into thin red ribbons!" He snarled. "Just give the order, sir!"
Erd's determination broke Eren's panic, and Eren was reminded of why he joined. Titan slaying was his business, it was all of their business. You stupid idiot, he thought, you're chasing the best titan killers mankind has to offer.
He turned to Levi, who was still riding on. Had he even looked back?
The rest of the squad was screaming. "Captain!" "Orders, sir, please!" "We need to kill it now!" "It's gaining on us!" "Please, orders!"
"Squad," Levi spoke, finally, "cover your ears, now."
The rest of the squad looked at him, unsure if they had heard him right. "You wanted an order, didn't you?" He stated more than asked. He loaded a shell into his flare pistol, but it didn't look like a smoke flare. Eren covered his ears like he was told, and was grateful, because it was not a smoke round Levi fired off. It was a sound grenade. A hideous metallic ringing pierced the forest like a knife. Levi turned around.
"What's our objective as soldiers? Is it to act on our whims, trusting our own judgment rather than that of our superiors? No, our job is to keep this brat alive. We keep moving forward."
"But for how long?" Eren implored, "We can't run from her for much longer."
A pair of scouts appeared, chasing the female titan. "No!" Eren screamed. "They keep trying to kill her! If we don't do something, they're all going to die!"
"Shut up, Eren. Keep moving forward." Eld ordered.
"They need out help!" Eren argued. He turned in time to see the female titan splatter one of the scouts to a tree. "Another one just died! Goddammit you guys, he didn't have to die! Come on, we can still save the other one!"
"Follow orders, Eren! Stay the course!"
Eren couldn't believe this. After all of the needless death happening behind them, for his sake, Eren was the only one who felt remotely obligated to kill the titan behind them. At this rate, she would kill everyone on the expedition. That couldn't happen, Eren promised Annie he would return. He wasn't going to break that promise. Did none of them else care that all of their comrades were dying? "Are you guys fucking out of your minds?! If we don't kill it, who will?!"
"Shut up, Eren!" Oluo screamed.
Fine. Eren said, sheathing his sword in his gear, I don't need you guys to help me kill her. I can do it on my own. Eren brought up his hand to his mouth and prepared to bite. I'll kill it, and make it back to Annie, safe and sound.
"Eren, NO!" Petra screamed. "Don't do it!"
"Go ahead if you want." Levi's overruled Petra. "Make your choice, and live with the consequences. If you want to fight her, I'll help, and the rest of the squad will too. Decide but do it now."
Eren toyed with the idea. Could he? With the entire squad, and his titan form, it would probably be more than easy... But what if it wasn't? What if it killed all of them anyways? He would never see her face again... Annie.
He saw the bite mark on Petra's hand. Thought of Annie. Thought of all he stood to lose. And then he put his hand down and gripped the reins again. "Okay, fine! I'm with you!"
Eren turned and looked up. He saw her face, the titan's face, and something struck him as familiar. What was it?
Rapid fire hookshot broke his concentration as hundreds of cables latched onto the titan, immobilizing her. "They're going to take her alive?" Eren wondered, "Was that the mission objective?"
It didn't matter. All Eren knew was that his decision had paid off. He was going to see Annie again, real soon.
Helpless. That's how Annie felt, unable to move from the cables. A setback at the least, failure at the worst.
She heard the sound of 3DM gear, and felt a pair of feet on her head. "Hey." He sneered, "We know you're in there. Why don't you come on out? It'll be a lot easier on all of us."
Annie wanted desperately to smash this jackass against the ground and grind him to a bloody pulp. She channelled all of her frustration onto him and tried to move her arm, to no avail.
"If you're thinking of moving, or escaping, don't. You'll just tire yourself out." He continued, "What you should think about are the good men and women you killed today. And for what? Your own, selfish reasons? Or do you just enjoy it? If you do, I suppose we have that in common. I like killing titans, you like killing people."
No, Annie thought, that's not why I did it... I just wanted him to be safe. I want to take him back home with me, where we can be away from everything. Even if he hates me for it.
"You know, one of our members has a strange fixation with the titans. Unlike the rest of us, she's absolutely in lvoe with them and wants to study them at any cost. Do you mind if we cut off your arms and legs to give to her as specimens?"
Good luck trying. Annie thought, Your blades won't break through my skin when I harden it.
"I'm not talking about your titan's limbs, of course. I mean your human limbs. They'll just grow back anways."
No, Annie thought, you won't get the chance.
With that, Annie let out an inhuman shriek. Birds flew off the branches of the trees, creating a loud rustle throughout the forest, but apart from that, silence. Annie wondered briefly if she had failed. Were any other titans within earshot?
Yes. Loud footsteps rumbled through the forest. Annie braced herself as a swathe of titans broke through the treeline and swarmed. The scouts tried desperately to hold them off, and Annie grinned as the titans ignored them and lumbered towards her.
"Hey," said the voice on top of her head, "what, you called friends?"
That's right. Annie thought, Now get the hell off me.
The man obliged, jumping off Annie and killing a titan. But there were way too many. They swarmed, ignoring he humans and lumbering for Annie. They began to sink their teeth into her flesh. Annie felt each bite on her titan's self. She closed her eyes and separated her consciousness from her titan to her human body.
Flesh tore off of the titan's neck and Annie could see outside. She jumped and fired hooks onto a tree, reeling herself in. She turned to see that the scouts had left. But they hadn't all taken their gear with them. Annie grabbed a green cloak, embroidered with the Wings of Freedom, and donned it. In the same tree, she found a flare gun and a bag of flares. Whoever left this stuff must have been in a hurry. She loaded a green flare and fired it. A few seconds passed, but another plume of green smoke shot up, not too far away.
"Eren, I promise I'll keep you safe." Annie said, engaging her gear and speeding off into direction of the smoke, "Whatever it takes!"
She had never gone so fast on 3DM gear before. Annie's sense of determination was reignited, and she hurled between the trees recklessly, almost without regard for her own life. She saw a figure speeding by. Annie drew her blade and slashed, and kept going. She could see Eren and the rest of his squad now. She saw the confusion and remorse in his eyes, not understanding why this was happening.
Guilt. But it was for Eren's sake, she reminded herself. She was doing this for him, for the only person that she had ever felt any affection towards in her life.
Get Eren, Annie thought as she dug her teeth into her hand.
And then she was a titan again, lumbering for Eren. She was far too concentrated on her objective to make out what they said, but Eren and his squad exchanged words, and then Eren took off without them, while they remained. And from the look of things, it was about to get bloody.
So be it. One of the scouts charged her, and when Annie reached out to grab him, he changed directions, avoiding her grasp. Annie widened her eyes as the other two flew straight at her face. She felt a searing pain in her eyes, and then she couldn't see anything.
Annie backed up, grabbing her nape with her hand to protect it. The humans slashed away at her arms, and Annie knew what they were doing. They were going to hack away at her shoulders until she couldn't keep her arms up.
She focused on regaining her sight. She didn't need both eyes, just one, so she channeled all of her energy into a single eye. The scouts hacked at her relentlessly. Annie could feel her arm about to drop. She needed to get her sight back. Almost there...
Her arms dropped, and Annie opened her right eye just in time to see a flutter of movement. Without the use of her arms, Annie did the only thing she could. She bit down.
Blood poured into her titan's mouth and she spat it, and the body, out. Even in titan form, the thought of eating people wasn't very satisfactory to Annie. Another scout was flying low. Almost too easy. Annie ran, leaped, and crushed the scout with her foot against a tree. More movement... Annie saw it happen just in time, and hardened the skin on her nape, forming the crystal right as the metal blade connected. The blade snapped, and she turned to see its owner, and kicked in into another tree.
She could see Eren turn around and head towards her, and was for a second, regretful at the lives she had just taken.
Eren, she thought, I did it for you... I'll explain it all later, but I promise, I was only thinking about keeping you safe...
Annie watched as Eren brought his wrist up to his mouth and bit down. A flash of lightning, searing heat, a cloud of steam, and suddenly, Eren wasn't Eren anymore. He was a fifteen-meter slaughtering machine, capable of destruction beyond human comprehension.
Annie watches Eren's fist as he lumbers towards her, arm locked back and ready to punch. She sidesteps his uppercut and delivers a swift kick to his stomach. Eren grabs her foot and launches her backwards and to the ground. Annie felt a surge of pride-it was a move she had taught him.
Eren, Annie thought to herself, I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you.
Eren threw a flurry of punches at Annie's head. Annie ducked and evaded punch after punch, but one connected and sent her to the ground again. She got up and turned the other direction, backing off to try to regain control of the situation. She didn't want to hurt him, but he didn't know it was her, and had no reason to hold back.
More punches, more dodging, more being sent to the ground. This time though, Eren pinned her down so she couldn't get back up and brought up his left fist, ready to pound Annie's face into the ground. He swung downward, and Annie moved her head to the left just in time. Bone broke through muscle and tore into the air as Eren's fist plowed into the ground, more than his titan's body could handle. He reared his right hand back.
Eren, please... Annie tried to convey with her one good eye, It's me...
Roaring, Eren drove his right fist into the ground and Annie shifted her head again to avoid a potential incapacitation blow. He sat up on top of her, screaming, while smoke billowed from his broken hands.
Eren, stop... It's me... It's Annie, your Annie. I don't want to hurt you.
Eren didn't read the message though. He stared at her in blinding rage.
You killed them all! Eren thought. I should have fought back when I had the chance... When I had the first urge to kill you I should have listened to it. We had the whole squad, and Captain Levi too. We would have won! We would have killed you! But now, they're all dead! Grief and anger melded into one as Eren fixated on the monster underneath him. Because of you!"
Eren leaned in close, snarling. His nose was an inch away from the female titan's, and he tried to speak. Your fault! You hear me? His titan couldn't form the words though, and it came out as primal, guttural rumbling and screaming. Once my hands heal, I'm going to rip to you to tiny pieces!
The titan grabbed onto his hand and wrapped its leg around Eren. It slid out from under him and Eren tried to swing his fist at it. She closed the distance and grabbed onto him, locked her leg back, and hit him with a kick that smashed him into a tree thirty meters away.
Eren got up and let anger be his guide. Fuck technique, to hell with form. He didn't care about that, all he cared about was sending this bitch to hell.
Jab, cross, hook. The female titan dodged all of them. That's all she was doing, dodging and escaping holds. Stop holding back, Eren thought, try to kill me like you killed all of my friends! Fight me, you stupid animal!
She fell to the ground and Eren screamed at her, readying his fist for another punch. He swung, and she jumped out of the way again. Stop running away! Eren demanded. Fight back, you god damn monster!
As if reading his thoughts, Eren saw a glint, a reflection of light, shine off of her hand, and she punched his jaw. Yes. Eren thought, Just like that! He swung his own fist into the titan's gut, sending her into the air and crashing back down. He ran towards her and shot forward with his knee, but she dodged again, and Eren hit the tree she was resting against.
He stopped to catch her breath for a second and turned to fight.
Focus, Eren. He told himself. Think about this. Just like Annie showed you. Hands up, guarding either side of your face. Legs wide, but not too wide. Eren took the fighting stance he had learned from Annie.
What? What was that?
Was she... Copying him?
Eren was too busy staring to notice the foot swinging at him until it had sheared his titan's head clean off.
I left the nape intact. Annie thought. I did it. Eren, I'm sorry, but this was for your own good. Walking over to where the titan's carcass lay, Annie opened her mouth wide. It wasn't going to be comfortable, or dignifying, but she needed to be able to use both hands while she was fighting. She bit down, shearing off the entire nape of Eren's titan. out sprung a completely intact Eren, still fused from the waist down. That was okay. Annie spit out the flesh in her mouth and bit down into Eren's titan again, being careful not to hurt Eren. She tore him out of the titan's body and sucked him into her mouth.
Annie took off again, but she didn't get very far before hearing the whirring and hissing of maneuver gear. Someone had followed her.
"Give him back!" Annie recognized Mikasa's voice. Pain in her right cheek as Mikasa dragged her blades along them, and then on her thigh, and then the other thigh. Annie reached out to grab her but she evaded, and slashed Annie's nose.
"Give him back!" Mikasa screamed. Annie felt the blades tear away at the back of her knee, and she fell to the floor on three out of four limbs, with her left hand protecting her weak spot.
Annie hardened the skin on her hand as Mikasa hacked at them, and used the precious time to recover. There is a reason Mikasa graduated at the top of their class, and it wasn't because she did obscene things to get there like Hitch did.
Annie turned and slammed her free hand into the tree where Mikasa was perched, but a second too late. She had already jumped off. No matter. Annie's leg had healed, and she got up to run again.
It's hard to gauge how far you run when you're fourteen meters high. A kilometer? Two? Hell, ten? Maybe I lost them, Annie thought after awhile.
Hissing around her feet. Annie saw a figure hovering in front of her. Had Mikasa come back? More hissing above her head. Yes, Mikasa had come back, and she had brought company with her. Was that captain Levi?
God dammit. Mikasa on her own was bad enough. Annie wasn't sure if she could handle both of them.
Author's note: I've been thinking about this for awhile, but here's what I've decided that I'll do. This fic itself will continue to follow the events of the anime/manga, that is, they'll go back to stohess and try to trick annie, and annie will try to capture eren again, et cetera, however I will also write another fic in which Annie succeeds in capturing Eren and bringing him back to her village, cuz I REALLY wanna see how that plays out. This second concept will begin right where this chapter leaves off. So yeah, I'm going to be writing out two separate timelines. The link for the other fic is here: s/11852312/1/Ruin-Me and as of now I've already published the first chapter.
