Chasing Eren
Rain stood silently in the tree, looking down on the two soldiers they had targeted. It seemed like everyone was looking for them. Which probably would have happened if it were possible. Most people were absolutely sure the Survey Corps were criminals now. It worried her. It worried her more that they had no idea where Eren and Historia were. Eren was such a hot head she had no idea what stupid stunt he was going to pull. An then there was her dad…
"Slowly give your gun to the person in front of you," Levi said.
Rain snapped back to reality when Levi had spoke. He and Mikasa already had captured the two soldiers. They were passing their guns to Armin. As they were bound Rain jumped down from the tree she was in.
"Private Marlowe Sanders of the Stohess Division," Levi said.
"Present."
"And Private Hitch Dreyse of the same division," Levi said.
"Present."
Rain had seen them before but never knew who they were. All she knew they were part of the military police.
"You're both graduates of the 104th trainees squad and your responsibilities are limited to Stohess. Looks like the military police are still giving new recruits their responsibilities," Levi said. "Pathetic."
"Everything's ready," Mikasa said.
"Good. There should be central military police still around the crime scene in Stohess," Levi said. "Go grab someone who looks like they're in charge back here for us to gather some intelligence."
"Understood," Mikasa and Armin said.
Rain watched the two walked away from them. She had to admit being surprise that Mikasa was still with them. She thought Mikasa would have broken off long ago to go find Eren. Most likely she was only staying around because no one knew where to even begin to look for their missing friends.
"We'll make our move once the MP's search has covered the entire limits of these mountains. Prepare the carriage for departure at any moment." Levi looked at the two prisoners. "Now. Marlowe…Hitch…it's your turn."
"You…do you have any idea how many innocent civilians your actions have killed in Stohess?!" Dreyse asked. "I don't care if you were pretending to be righteous or whatever. Your actions threw the victims and their families in to hell, you know that?"
"Of course I know that," Levi said. "We all know that."
"You…you were all part of the southern trainee squad right?" Dreyse looked at Jean. "The same as Annie Leonhart? How is your relationship with her? No. She must've not have any friends, right? That girl always with the dark expression and so nonchalant and she hated socializing with people. Even though I knew so little about her, she disappeared. After that day…she must have been maimed to the point that no one could recognize her, right?!"
"No," Levi said. "The titan confined with in the wall right now is Annie Leonhart herself. She had also been captured. That's something you new troops could never know. So unpleasant. We're just like everyone else in this world totally in the dark. Of course that doesn't include the most principal players. As for you two, stay tied up until we leave this place. We'll release you once we depart. After all, if the speed of our actions cannot match up to your running back to report all this, the any plan is meaningless."
"Annie is…" Dreyse said.
"Captain Levi…" Sanders said. "I don't think that you, the Survey Corps, were in the wrong. But did you really kill the Reeve's staff? And the civilians?"
"They were done in by the central MP. Whatever the truth is, only the victor's side of this battle can determine it," Levi said.
"Then let me give you a hand! As long as we can straighten out all the messes of this world, I'll do anything!" Sanders said. "Let me be the one to infiltrate the central MP. I can probably do a better job than any of your disguises!"
"You are joking, right?" Levi asked. "No, I can't determine whether you have enough resolve to turn your superiors into enemies. Even if you're being sincere right now, you might forget that train of thought in a second."
"I would never," Sanders said.
"Let's go. Sasha, leave them tied up over there," Levi said.
"Understood," Sasha said.
"Captain, let me do it," Jean said.
"I'll leave it to you," Levi said.
Rain dropped her eyes to the ground. Her mind a muddled mix of worry and tiredness.
"Rain?" Levi called.
"I'm fine." Rain closed her eyes.
"No, you're not," Levi said. "Don't lie to me."
Rain tilted her head back and smiled. "You'd think I'd know better by now than to lie to you. I'm just worried. And angry."
"Erwin will be fine," Levi said. "You'll be back with him in no time at all. Then you'll be able to take your frustration out on him for keeping his titan theory about youq a secret from you."
Rain nodded with a sigh. She rubbed her forehead. "I still can't believe he did that. I mean I can't but I can't. This is all just too much."
"I know." Levi checked to see if they were alone before pulling her into a kiss.
Rain leaned into him, allowing herself to forget about everything in the moment. Levi had a good habit of making everything feel right. And it worked. She felt a lot better with his lips covering hers. "Once this mess is over I expect a ton of kisses and cuddles from you."
"We'll see." Levi pulled back.
"Jerk." Rain stuck her tongue out at him. She stretched out her body. "Okay. So how long do you think it'll take for Jean to get his end finished?"
"Not long. Let's get ready to leave," Levi said.
"Right."
As Levi had said it didn't take long at all for Jean to get the information they needed from the two soldiers they had captured. Again it didn't take them long to put their plan into action and get to the place they were going. Rain stared down at the buildings before them. Lit up by the moon she saw a few people walk around before heading inside. It was suppose to be the base of the central military police. It was amazing that they had found it so quickly. She exhaled, readying herself to go after humans instead of titans. Her mind went over the plan again. They were only to disarm and maim the people inside just enough so they won't be able to follow them or get help.
"Let's go," Levi said.
Rain rushed forward to the buildings. Breaking into the door, she took off to her left. As people came into her view she sliced their weapons then their legs. The men cried at the pain as their blood splattered onto the floor and walls. She ducked behind a barrel. The building was tight for being so big. At least they had enough room to move around. If things were going as planned Levi should have their target any second now.
Footsteps came towards her. Her heart hammered. She exhaled slowly to calm it down. A shadow spilled out in front of her. A few more steps and she could attack. They came into view. She knocked the gun out of his hand before stabbing him in the knee. He went down screaming. "Sorry. I hate to do this but it's necessary."
The man cursed at her but she ignored him and moved on. Lining up with a pillar she looked around it. She could see a few of her friends sneaking around the building. Then Levi came into view. His hand was around the back of a man's neck. His eyes locked with hers. They nodded and left the building. Her heart ached a little with the knowledge that Eren and Historia weren't there.
"Everyone's okay," Levi said as they made their way through the night. "But as we suspected, the two of them aren't here. Let's move out."
Rain looked back at the building as they continued to move farther away from it. Maybe they wouldn't have been in this position if she had used her wings to follow Eren.
Reaching a safe point, or safe as could be point, Levi took the man he had and kicked him into a tree. "That's a nice mustache you have there. Where are Eren and Historia?"
"Did you kill my subordinates?" the man asked with a glare.
"Unfortunately, no one's coming for you if that's what you're really asking. It's too much of a hassle to be killing anyway. We just made sure they wouldn't be able to walk for some time. The central military won't be of much use after tonight," Levi said.
"Oh, how gallant of you. Anyone could boast of becoming heroes if they went after unarmed soldiers. But let me tell you then, in that mansion there're servants that know nothing about what's going on. And you can be sure that you've cut a few of them down unknowingly." The man shook his head.
"Ah, I see. That's an unfortunate turn of event," Levi said before kicking the guy in the mouth. A tooth fell out with a small stream of blood. Rain flinched, still not completely use to how cruel her love could be at times. "I feel really bad for them as well and hearing it from you makes me feel even worse. You should talk while you still can. Where are Eren and Historia?"
"You're wasting our time! I'm telling you whatever you've done the only thing you Survey Corps troops can do now is run around inside this wall! Roll around in the mud and struggle to live, that's all! And in all that, sacrificing your own comrades! Unless you perform, you'll be locked up and give a death sentence, that's your reality! So you can't blame the world for treating you like that based upon how you've acted! And the person to pay for it would be the top of the Survey Corps, their leader and the person that started it, Erwin Smith."
Rain sizzled with anger when the man looked at her.
"So how does it feel to have a traitor for a father?" he spat. "He's going to die for what you all have done. And he's going to let you die as well. Some love he has for you, his own daughter. He was just using you as well."
"You son of a-" Rain lunged forward.
"Rain, stop." Levi grabbed her.
"You don't know anything about my dad! You have no idea how much he's sacrificed to keep all you worthless, spoiled pinheads safe! You'll never understand real sacrifice!" Rain screamed. She kicked out her foot in hopes of knocking out some more of his teeth. But Levi pulled her back away from the man.
"Rain, calm down!" Levi said.
"But he-"
"Don't let him mess with your mind. That's all he's doing. You know Erwin's not going to die. You know Erwin has been right this whole time."
Rain's chest heaved up and down. She tried to get free of Levi's iron grip, but she was still not strong enough to do so. She sighed. Her body relaxed. Her angry died to a simmer. "Fine.
The man chuckled. "But if it's something you guys did of your own accord in exchange for that head you'd be able to save the lives of many other comrades." He brushed blood from his chin and stood up and placed his hands on Levi's shoulders. "Don't you understand, Levi? There's nothing you can do anymore. This is all there is. Save the lives of your other comrades in exchange for your own. That's it. Let me do the talking. We could work something out."
"Nah, I think I'll pass. Just tell me where Eren and Historia are," Levi said.
"So you're going to watch your comrades die as you aimlessly survive? That admirable of you."
"Well, priority is given to some more than others among the Survey Corps members," Levi said. He grabbed the man's wrist, twisted it behind his back, and shoved him against the tree. "And we are the fools that have gathered together even after acknowledging such rules. Plus, even if I were to sacrifice my own life, I don't think the monarchy would be lenient enough to let the rest escape. They're hell bent on exterminating each and every one of us. So, there. That's my answer to your previous question." He bent the man's arm even farther until a familiar snap ran into the air. "Shut up already. Tell us where they are."
Rain huffed. The man's cries were like candy to her in the moment. He was lucky all Levi did was break his arm. At this point in time she wanted to break his entire body.
The man gasped for air between his pained pants. "I don't know. I'm telling you they don't tell us much! Kenny Ackerman is a careful man!"
Rain perched up. Kenny, Levi's uncle. She looked to Levi, testing the last name in a whisper. "Ackerman."
"Ackerman?" Levi asked. "Is that his surname?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Well that explains a lot. He really wouldn't talk about anything. More so if it's something important," Levi said. "But you should have a few idea. Let's keep this up until you remember, shall we? You've got a few bones to spare, don't you?"
"You're crazy."
"I guess," Levi said.
Rain shivered in delight at the sadistic look Levi had in his eyes at that moment.
"Stop! Someone's coming from that side!" Sasha aimed her bow to the left. "Multiple targets."
Everyone ducked closer to the ground.
"I told you, Levi. It's too late. You're dead. The time for you guys to pay for what you've done had come. This will be the end of the Survey Corps."
"Will you just shut up already?" Rain hissed. "You're so annoying." She turned back to her left. Slowly shadows moved closer and closer to them. Her eyes narrowed on one in particular. For some reason that person's shape seemed oddly familiar to her. "Isn't that…?" They came closer. The shadows covering them were pushed back. "It is! It's Hange!"
"Hange?" Connie asked.
Rain jumped to her feet. She ran towards Hange. Once close enough she threw her arms around her sister. "Hange!"
"Good to see you too, Rain." Hange patted Rain's head.
"We thought you were someone else," Rain said.
"Well, it's me. And I've got good news!" Hange smiled while waving a piece of paper. The group gathered around. Rain looked over Levi's shoulder as Hange said, "And thus the Survey Corps have been exonerated and your actions deemed self-defense. The royal government and administrative districts are now under Commander in Chief Zackley's control. At present they had been so resistant to our rebellion. We're free again."
Everyone cheered.
"But that's…no way," their dear sweet hostage said.
"You guys, how did you manage to do this? What methods did you use?" Levi asked skillfully ignoring their hostage.
"It's not us that did this. The choices of one person at a time have changed this world," Hange said.
"Then we really are free," Rain said.
"Yes, my girl." Hange's smile brightened. "We are free."
"Hange, my apologizes. The three soldiers that you entrusted to me have died," Levi said.
"But you've succeed in eliminating their forces, did you?" Hange asked.
"Not all of them," Levi said. "Their boss, along with Eren and Historia, are still somewhere else. This revolution is at a standstill if we don't find them quickly."
"I know. And as for the whereabouts of Eren and Historia, we have a lead," Hange said holding up an envelope. "It's not definitely confirmed but it seems we have no choice but to place our bets on this. There, let us put and end to this battle. There's also something else you all need to know. Eren's going to be eaten."
"What?! Eren's going to be eaten?!" Rain asked. Her heart slammed against her chest.
"It's just a deduction from Reiner and Bertolt's conversation and movements in the time Eren spent with them but that might be a means of obtaining the titan power from Eren. Let's continue talking on the way," Hange said.
The group gathered up their stuff. Heading out of the forest they made their way down to a rode where Hange had wagons and horses waiting for them. They threw themselves upon the horses and took off.
"This is the report on the Reiss estate that Erwin commissioned. If indeed Eren and Historia have fallen into the hands of the Reiss family then it would be normal to think that their destination is Reiss Family Land. Survey Crops members disguised themselves as farmers and infiltrated the Riess estate to conduct this investigation. And as far as the contents of the report go about half of it was taken up but the details of a certain incident that rocked the Reiss family give years ago. The Reiss household was blessed with five children. And in addition to that, the lord of the estate had another illegitimate child with a servant. Well, that in itself isn't such a rare occurrence. Aside from that, the master of the land didn't have much of a bad reputation. The eldest daughter, Frieda in particular, had a kind personality and was well liked by everyone. She would often make her way out to the farmland to check on the welfare of the farmers on the estate. Everyone spoke of her as the pride of the estate. However, the night that Wall Maria was broken, tragedy arose. Due to an attack by bandits taking advantage of the ongoing chaos the village's only place of worship was looted, set ablaze, and ultimately completely razed. Nobody had taken noticed of when the might have snuck into the village. That night, in the church, unfortunately, the entire Reiss family was praying in the aftermath of the Wall Maria tragedy. Aside from Rob Reiss, the master of the hours, the entire family was slaughtered by the bandits. This happened several days before Historia's mother was killed by the central police. Rod Reiss planned to make contact with Historia right after losing his entire family. It must have something to do with why they want her, right?"
"Blood ties, huh. Is there something special about that bloodline?" Levi asked.
"There has to be," Rain said. "Why else would they specifically target Historia?"
"Hange, so where are the two of them?" Mikasa asked.
"Yeah, let's put that aside for now," Hange said. "What got my attention is that the church was completely destroyed. What I mean is that church wasn't made of wood but rather of stone, it was quite sturdy. Well, indeed, even stone buildings can become fragile if burned. Let's just say that these bandits just happened to have siege weaponry. Was there any need to go as far as destroying the building? If it was really banditry, they wouldn't just taken what they wanted and gotten out of there quickly. And further more only Rod Riess saw the bandits. And then he used his own finances to rebuild that church right way. But why? It'd be more inexplicable if there weren't any titans. These are just speculations on my part, but with these peculiarities alone, it would be worth use going to visit there."
"Got it," Levi said. "Let's go to that church."
"Understood," everyone said.
"We should be able to send troops over to the Reiss estate before dawn. But he's not going to wait until then, right? We have to hurry," Hange said. "Eren might get eaten."
…
"Get it? It's Kenny the Ripper," Levi said as they now rested in the wagon in front of a couple buildings. "If he's around, he will be the number one obstacle. In terms of the threat that he poses…think as if I were the enemy. No…with that weaponry he's more dangerous than I am, to some extent."
Rain rested her head on Levi's leg. He was sitting on the edge of the wagon so it made him perfect for a pillow. Her mind went over and over everything Levi had told her about his uncle. She was not looking forward to another fight with him.
"Then it's impossible for us," Sasha said.
"Waiting to rejoin with the army corps is…" Connie said.
"Absolutely impossible," Mikasa said.
"That's right. It's impossible if we wait until morning, Eren might get eaten," Connie said.
"But from what the captain said, it doesn't seem like he has no weaknesses either," Armin said.
"Are you serious, Armin?" Jean asked.
"Yeah. Even if they had training, their real battle experience didn't start until yesterday," Hange said. "But even though you lived together, you have no information about Kenny the Ripper. What's with that?"
"My bad. Yesterday was the first time I hear his full name," Levi said. He looked at Mikasa. "Kenny Ackerman…a relative of yours, perhaps?"
"According to my parents, when they were alive, father's Ackerman family had been persecuted in the cities. Mother, who was Asian, her family lost its place in the cities too because of their race. The two of them, both chased deep into the mountains at the edge of the wall, met one another and became husband and wife. Even father had no idea why the Ackerman family had been persecuted. I didn't see any signs of racial distinguishing features, like mother had in him."
"You…have you ever experienced a moment where it was like a power had awakened inside of you?" Levi asked.
"I have," Mikasa said.
"It seems Kenny Ackerman had a moment like that as well," Levi said. "At some time, in some moment, it was as if some stupendous power welled up within his body and suddenly he knew what he had to do. I, as well, had a moment like that."
"Well, there's nothing more we can do about that," Rain said. "We should get going before Eren gets eaten."
The group nodded.
"I've been thinking about the cavern layout we'll be going into," Armin then said. "And I have an idea that will give us the element of surprise."
"And what's that?" Jean asked.
"We could use some barrels of fuel," Armin said. "We'll mount some wheels on them so we can push them through the door and down the stairs. Then Sasha can light them up with fire using a flaming arrow. The explosion and smoke will taken them by surprise and give us cover."
"That might actually work," Jean said.
"We could also use our smoke signals to add more smoke in the cavern," Armin said.
"Sounds good enough to me," Connie said.
"Then hurry up and get them ready," Levi said. "We don't have all night."
Armin nodded.
After getting their plan in order and their supplies gathered, the group headed to their destination. They slipped up to the building, careful to make sure no one was outside, and went inside. Rain carefully looked over the building. It looked like any other church she had seen with its decor. And she knew looks could be deceiving. Her eyes went to Hange when she lifted up a rug.
"A hidden entrance. Eren and the enemy should both be beyond this somewhere. Hopefully the layout is as I had anticipated," Hange said.
"I hope taking a roundabout path and bringing those souvenirs along were not in vain," Levi said.
"All right, the preparations are complete," Armin said.
Rain looked at her friend then at the barrels he had mounted with wheels. "Well, at least it'll catch them off guard."
"We're very good at doing that." Armin smiled.
Rain smiled back. In the moment she felt like Eren about to do something extremely reckless.
"I see. Well then, so are you guys prepared to get your hands dirty as well?" Levi asked.
Rain was ready as she could possibly be. She readied herself, clenching her swords in her hands. Worry about Eren filled her mind. Worry about Kenny filled her mind. But worry over Levi was at the top. She knew how he felt about Kenny.
"Focus, Rain," Levi whispered in her ear. "He won't kill me. Just focus on the others. I don't want you near Kenny."
Rain nodded. "I know."
Levi and Hange kicked in the door. The wood whacked against the wall then snapped and crumbled. They jumped aside just before Connie and Armin pushed in their barrels of surprise.
Taking her cue, she rushed in with the rest of them.
Sasha aimed her flaming arrow and shot. Perfect aim as usually. The fire hit the barrels and they exploded.
Rain launched her gear. She headed off in a different direction of Mikasa and Levi. Familiar pops of their smoke guns bounced off the cave walls. Green smoke filled the cavern, giving the Survey Corps more cover and more confusion to their enemies.
"Thirty five of them! Holding up around the pillars in front of you, near the ceiling! Resume the strategy! All of the enemies!" Levi called out. "Smash them here! All units, disperse! Unite and zero in on one at a time!"
Rain exhaled. It was a lot for their little group but nothing they couldn't handle in the end, especially now that they had the element of surprise on their side.
Bursting through it she came upon her first opponent. His eyes widened in surprise. She took it and sliced him across his chest. Forcing herself not to look at him as he fell limp she moved on. She hated the thought of killing other humans like this but it had to be done. If she hesitated then she would be killed instead. And if that happened she would never hear the end of if from her dad, Levi, and Hange. She knew they would somehow gripe at her.
She swung down then up. Two people came at her. One of them lifted his gun. Instantly Rain noticed he wasn't aim at her. He was aiming at one of her gear's lines. Pushing the button the line broke free of the cavern wall a split second before the gun went off. Her line rolled back in before she shot it to another pillar. She shot up ward and over the two soldiers. Releasing her gear again she dropped down on them, causing them to lose control of their gear. Swinging back around she checked on the others. They all were still in the air and looked to be unharmed for the time being.
"Never take your eyes off the enemy!" A gun went off.
Pain shot through Rain's left arm. She swung towards the one who shot her but before she could get to him Levi swung down and with one slice the man's hand was lopped off. She smirked. "And you should never try and hurt me while Levi's around." She then turned her smirk to Levi. "Take care of yourself."
The corner of Levi's lip curl up before he launched away from her.
Rain proceeded. She sliced her way through the enemy but was suddenly halted by a familiar scream. Looking over her shoulder she saw Hange slam against a pillar before dropping down to the floor. Her heart leaped into her chest. She swirled around and went to her. She landed, placing her hand on Hange's shoulder. Blood poured from somewhere on the unconscious woman but Rain didn't want to move her in fear of hurting her worse. "Hange! Hange?!"
No answer.
"Armin! Take care of Hange! The rest, after the enemy!" Levi said. "Rain, get back up here! Now!"
Rain gritted her teeth.
Armin landed beside her. "Go on, Rain. I'll take care of Hange."
Rain exhaled. "Okay. Stop that bleeding. And make sure she's not go any other injuries."
"I know." Armin nodded. "Get going."
Rain nodded back. With one more look at Hange, she launched her gear again and took to the air. Anger burned inside of her. This whole thing could have been avoided if certain people weren't just so stupid. "This whole thing is so stupid. I should have just transformed and taken them all out at once."
"Hange will be fine," Levi said. "You know she would want you to focus on your mission. And you know you don't have enough space in here to move in your titan form."
"I know, I know," Rain said. Her titan form would have been a hindrance in this cavern. "I'm just still very frustrated with everything that's happened."
"Once this is done maybe there's something I can do to help with that," Levi said. He sent her a secretive smile. "You did want kisses and cuddles after all."
A shiver ran through her body. "Fine. Let's get this over with." A thought hit her. "Wait, what happened with Kenny? I didn't see him at all."
"That's because I made sure he was focused on me," Levi said. "I managed to wound him, but he's not dead."
"I see." Rain studied Levi before looking forward again. In the distance she could seen an opening. Most likely it led to another cavern. That had to be where Eren and Historia were. Her heart and head raced. She hoped they weren't too late. Surely they were. They hadn't yet heard the scream of a titan. The thought also worried her. Knowing Eren he would have transformed if he could. So what happened? Was he unconscious? Or was he just bound up so he couldn't transform? The second choice had to be it. It just had to be. "Come on, Eren. Just hold on a little bit longer. We're almost there. We're going to save you. You're not going to be eaten by anyone. I promise you that. We will reach you in time."
…
Author's Note: Finally. It's not the best chapter but it's done.