Chapter 10: The Female Titan
Disclaimer: I do not own SnK.
Ellen groggily opened his eyes as he was supported to his horse by Eld and Gunther. His body was unbearably weary, and he wanted nothing to drop off to sleep. But forcing his heavy eyelids to stay open, he scanned his surroundings, but the titan mist made everything hard to see. He could just identify the shadowy silhouettes of his Titan form and the corpse of the Female titan, along with Petra, Oluo, Gunther, Eren, Eld and the core of the Female Titan who were already mounted on their horses and was ready to go. But…where was Levi Heichou? He opened his mouth to ask, but Petra beat him to it.
"Where's Levi Heichou?" Petra wondered.
"He handed me the core and told me to go ahead…I thought he was right behind me…" Eld trailed off, glancing back. There was no sign of Heichou anywhere.
"I'll go and look for him…" Eren offered, but was rejected.
"No, Eren. We need you to stay by this core in case she somehow manages to turn into a Female Titan once more. Oluo and I will go." Petra ordered.
"Ellen can watch the core…" Eren protested, but it was futile. Petra and Oluo disappeared into the mist, while rest of the team anxiously watched over the core and waited for them to return. They didn't have to wait long. Less than five minutes they appeared, desperately dragging the blood-covered Heichou.
"Eld! Gunther! We need bandages! Levi Heichou's practically covered in blood!"
Petra yelled, struggling to pull the short, heavy male's body without causing the wound to open up furthermore, even with Oluo's help. His front shirt was soaked with blood, and even from far away, Ellen could see the drip-drip-drip of the thick, red liquid falling from his mouth. Ellen could only stare in shock. Meanwhile, Eld and Gunther efficiently moved, getting making bandages out of their shirts. The cloaks were laid out on the ground for Levi to be laid in; now closer, Ellen could make out the unevenness of breathe, the bloodless pale face yet the with the skin so cold it burned.
"Slowly, we don't want to injure him further!" Eld cautioned, biting his lips with anxiety as the injured man was carefully put onto the makeshift bed. Slowly, Petra lifted Levi's shirt, wincing every time the shirt refused to separate, causing Levi to groan in pain. At least that meant he was still alive.
Ever so carefully, they cleaned the wound and suppressed the blood pouring out of his chest. But something, something which Ellen did not understand, was wrong. He saw the expression of shock and confusion pass through the Special Operation Squad's member as they lifted the shirt; as if something that should be there wasn't. But nonetheless, they bandaged the wound tightly; trying to suppress the blood as much as possible; but it was of no use. No matter how much cloth Petra held against the wound, the blood would soak all over and they would need another bandage. And while all this was happening, Levi was growing paler and paler and his body was getting colder and colder, and by every second, his life was ebbing away. Realizing that Levi would bleed to death if they kept him here, Eld made the decision to move.
"Heichou will die if we don't get him to the infirmary. We need to find Commander Erwin!" The blonde man commanded, and the whole team nodded in agreement. Soon after, they were riding their horses at full speed toward the center. Never have the sound of hoof beat sounded so urgent; never did every jolt, stop, or bump felt so deadly. They were only a few minutes away from the center, but the minutes seemed to somehow stretch themselves out into hours. As they rode deeper into the forest, toward the center, their surrounding got quieter, too, just as if awaiting a person's death.
"Commander Erwin! Commander!" Gunther yelled at top of his lungs as soon as he spotted the tall blonde man. Strangely, the whole squad was waiting on top of the trees, but there wasn't time to think about it. They waited impatiently as the commander made his way down the trees, and Ellen had to hold out his urge to fly next to the slow man and drag him down.
"What happened?" Erwin asked when he finally reached them. He took in their battered forms, along with the tied, robed figure and injured Heichou. A look of understanding flashed in his eyes, and he called the emergency medical soldiers. Heichou was left to be tended, and the whole team was called away to speak in private with Erwin and Hange. Petra insisted to be left behind to help the medic team tend Levi.
Eld stepped up and explained what happened. However, Ellen noticed how he left out some parts-such as Ellen shifting into a titian even with Petra's pleas to trust the team. But he stayed silent, partly to exhausted to care and partly grateful for that.
"Have you seen the face of the core yet?" Erwin asked, pointing to the robed figure behind them. She hasn't spoken all this while, staying limp as if dead.
"No, we didn't get the time to. First we had to tie her up, then Petra and Oluo came back with injured Heichou…" Eld excused.
"Well, then, let's see her."
Erwin roughly pulled the girl toward him and flipped off the hood. A pair of angry, seething eyes was found, and Ellen found himself staring directly at her, thinking, no, praying that his eyes were wrong.
"Annie?" Ellen could faintly hear Eren whisper in shock. Annie, however, gave no answer, only glaring up at the Commander with eyes so full of hate, her usual mask of nonchalant gone.
"Eren, do you know her?" Erwin asked, and Eren gave him a shuddering nod.
"Y-Yes, I do, sir…She was in the 104th Trainee Squad…and she was ranked 4th in the graduation exam…"
Eren listed with an empty voice, robotically listing all the facts he knew about Annie. When he was finished, Erwin nodded in understanding and dismissed them.
"We'll be heading back to the Walls." He commanded, gesturing the soldiers to fly off the trees onto their horses. Annie was loaded into the supply wagon with Eld and Gunther to watch over her. Eren, too, was loaded into one, since he was too exhausted to ride a horse. As they set back off to the Walls, Ellen could not keep his eyes off the wagon Annie was riding in. She could not be the Female Titan. How could she have killed all the soldiers? Her comrades?
Annie…Ellen thought.
You always…had this look on your face, like you thought everyone around you was stupid and hopeless…
You always seemed…bored.
But there were times when you came alive.
…When you got to show off your hand-to-hand skills!
You said they were pointless crap that your father forced on you, but…
It never looked to me like you thought of them that way.
I remember…thinking that…you were a…
Bad liar…
What…are you…fighting for?
What cause was so important…you could kill for it?
A/N: First of all, I'm sorry that this is so short. I'll blame it on school. They give us homework, and I can only write this story in my spare time. Also, I did not write further because of the plot and I thought it would be nice to cut it right there. So, I'm sorry again. A person can write so much in a short time available.
Secondly, I'm sorry if I lack the details, and I might not write as good as other authors. This is purely lack of skill and lack of lacking somebody proofread it before I publish it. Heck, my family doesn't even know that I have this account and just thinks I write stories for fun and to pass the time. My mother often asks, "Why do you write it when you don't even show it to others?" and I answer that this is purely for my satisfaction. It is partly true, but now I write this partly for you guys too. So please review about this story. I seriously get discouraged when people don't review because I think it is because they don't like my story.
Lastly, thank you for reading this long author's note and the story which lacks many qualities. I will keep working to make Hello, Me a better story until it ends. So, please correct me on things I can improve, and so on. I guess I just feel tired with the school. ^^ Thank you!
-Tian Lee
p.s. A reader suggested that I should do an event for uploading ten chapters...but I have no idea what I should do...any ideas? I accept suggestions, ask any questions you want(except for personal ones, of course), and etc. Please participate and PM/review my story!