Chapter 1

Sizzling…

The smoke came out of my leg as I stared at it. The brief steam giving off a refreshing heat as the snow fell in clumps. It hurt…a lot. Though, the heat was refreshing from the cold air that circulated around me.

I strained my eyes as I peered over my head. Trees were decorated with the pale snow and they surrounded me, there thick branches rendering my vision useless as I could only squint through the darkness.

My eyes followed the hill where we were hiking on. Damn, if I wasn't so distracted by Yeager preaching about the damn survey corps then maybe I would of have been paying more attention. I felt my head shake from rage as the short prick radiated in my mind.

I would not of have dosed off and slipped, fell down the whole mountain in this blizzard. Though…I could feel a chuckle empty from my throat. "At least I don't have to hear it anymore!" I yapped to myself as I triumphantly laughed.

Though, sadly…I took a deep breath as I tried to lift my leg. I could see the bones being pushed back into place. If I did not have this power than I would of have died, or worse broke my neck and be paralyzed.

Damn…I shook the thought out of my head as I saw the steam begin to lightly diminish. Remember, what father would say. I must keep on going, I must save Eldia!

Though…I got up from the snow as I wiped off the fallen snow from my pants as I stared blankly. "Eldia…what's that?" I spoke out loud. The strange word felt familiar though I just shook it off as I tightened the scarf around my neck.

We were supposed to hike up a mountain for some training exercise. Who was with me…Sasha, Connie, Armin, Jean, Mina, Thomas, Eren, and finally…who else?

I snapped my fingers as a resounding pop came. "Berthold!" the tall kid with dark black hair. Hell, that kid was tall. I groaned as my boots dug into the dirt as I began to walk down the snow ridden path.

I dug inside of my pants as I scrounged around in my pockets. A couple seconds later in my brown gloved hand I had a faint chrome box. I opened the lid revealing a pack of matches, these things were good.

Before we left on the mission, I stopped on a town near sina and bought these things. Expensive but worth every penny. I struck the match as it sparked to life, the orange hue piercing through the darkness as I tried to retrace my steps.

Knowing Eren he would probably be arguing with the rest about rescuing me. Sure, that bastard liked to preach but he liked helping everyone…I cannot hate him for that. He is a good person though I just wish…

I heard something…I twisted my head to my left as the match held steady in my hand. My other hand reaching into my belt, I heard a faint stick crack as I heard a mound of snow slowly be trampled on.

What…

Wolves, bears…anything! My eyes traced all around me as I observed the woods. Foolish, I should of have paid more attention. Pa would lose his damn mind if he knew that I got myself caught off guard so easily.

I know I am shit at odm gear, and Shaddis believes that I am a horrible soldier…If the military police had to pick between me and Armin, they would pick Armin. Though…I still want to live and being a soldier is the only choice I have.

Mid thought I was interrupted as I swiftly turned my body to the side. My eyes tracing along the snow which was falling heavier than before. Distinct snarling echoing as I twisted my body back and forth as I struggled to keep calm.

My eyes went to my leg, the steam was completely gone and if I…my eyes trained onto the hunting knife. The metallic chrome reflecting the orange hue of the match in delicate strands of light.

If I…

I dropped the match as the knife hand rested on the palm of my now empty hand. If I cut it…I glanced up towards the cliff edge. If I am lucky, I can just lie myself out of that conversation, though if I am not…

Damn, I can't think. If one of these wolves injures me too bad, I may very well die, and my regeneration won't be able to do a damn thing. So, I rested the blade as I felt the blade slowly cut into my…

"Got you!"

A girlish shriek emptied from my mouth. My left elbow in reflex slamming into the unseen sound as I felt something soft grace my elbow. "Huh?" I simply responded as something crashed into the snow.

I turned around. Connie, the little bastard was now nursing his bruised cheek as he glanced up at my towering form. "You dick!" He shouted as he threw his fist up like an angry child.

His hood was off from the sudden hit as I glanced around. "What the hell Connie!" I shouted to my comrade. I took a deep breath as I tried to calm myself down. "I fell off a cliff and you think it's alright to scare me?"

He stared blankly at me as he quickly wiped his nose. I sighed as I stuck out my right hand for him to grab, we both locked the others hand as I hoisted him up. "Sorry, me and Sasha saw that you were okay so we thought a prank would be funny." He admitted as I heard another pair of footsteps come from behind us.

"Oi, Sasha…" I called out to the frontier girl. She threw off her hood as her dark red hair flew in the wind. Her dark eyes trained on my own as she wrapped her arms around herself. "You know…I would be angry at you for going along with the shitty prank. Though, you look so beautiful right now that I just don't know how to feel."

Her face began to heat up at the flirt as I felt Connie's elbow nudged into my side. "Really…" He whispered as he glanced at Sasha. "Potato girl."

I nodded my head at him as I leaned closer to his ear. "Ay, come on she's not that bad."

His palms closed around his mouth in shock as we began to walk the rest of the way towards the mountain. Turns out everyone split up and began looking for me. Now we were planning on heading back to camp and wait for the others to give up on there search and come back.

"Henry…" Sasha's musical voice radiated in my ear as I glanced towards her. She was leading the charge up the mountain.

"Yeah, darling…" I teased as she turned around, the same red blush over her face as she walked in silence.

Connie shook his head in disapproval as he walked to my side. "Sasha don't take what Henry says to heart. Bastard is a lady killer! He says that shit to any girl that looks at him!"

"Connie that makes me sound bad." I shook off as I stared at the boy.

Though as Sasha kept on walking, I felt him nudge against my rib cage. "Ay, Henry. Seriously, I am sorry for that. I thought it was funny and roped Sasha in."

I sighed as my gloved hand went across his bald head. "It's fine…lets just go and finish this mission." I saw his face brighten up as we kept on walking.

The snow was now beginning to ease up and luckily our trio have been able to see way better. Hopefully, we can make it just in time to meet up with the other groups. If Eren met up with Mikasa that would rein him in.

It would be nice to have everyone together…

Ymir, the girl with the dark hair and the tan skin. The one that was best friends with Historia…I do not know why but there was something about her. I felt my face heat up, as my feet trudged through the snow.

Her short hair…her freckles or maybe her long legs. I do not know why…though she drives me crazy. Damn, stop thinking…complete the mission. I shook her image from my head as I continued walking. This is why I very well not make MP.

"Hey, what were you doing all that time?" Connie asked.

I shook myself from my thoughts as I went back to the boy. "Oh, that…" I began to think up a lie as I went back to the boy. "Uh…sleeping, I passed out."

It was true but also a lie. For the first time in months, I had finally achieved a falling asleep without nightmares or anything, thank the cliff for that. Though, I spent a great majority of my time just staring at my messed-up leg heal.

"That's good." He whispered under his breath as I saw his mouth tighten. "Do you want to talk about it…your nightmares?"

I took a glance towards Sasha to make sure she wasn't hearing us as I grabbed Connie's shoulders. "Connie look at me. I am completely fine; I know that I am an idiot but I am not afraid of falling asleep or having nightmares!"

He just stared at me as my words landed on deaf ears as he just stared at me. "It's fine…Henry. It sucks I know but I am here for you. The other guys do not want you sleeping in the woods or outside anymore. Hell, I don't even understand why you sleep out there."

I wanted to tell him…though, how could I? I still do not even know how to explain it. I'm a big guy but I am afraid of nightmares and getting eaten, but I still see the same thing every time…

Gunshots…blood…smoke…an injection as a horrific pain echoed from the base of my spine as I lost myself and there was just…nothing!

My teeth gnashed together as I nodded and finished speaking to Connie. Though, that was it…no more speaking for the rest of the journey as I finished this expedition. Though…this journey was far from over.

Author Note

Hello!

This is the author here with my new story. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I would greatly appreciate it if you guys would follow and review. There will be canon deviations because I don't want to tell the same story. The story will stay similar though there will be changes. Thanks for reading and hopefully you will read the next chapter. Have a good day!