Val woke with a start when something hit her foot.
"Morning," Levi greeted with his stone-faced expression, standing over her. The sky was a deep orange; Val guessed the sun had just begun to rise. "We found a cart for your friend. Get him down there and we'll get moving."
She nodded and leaned forward from her seated position, wincing at the crick in her neck. Using her good hand to rub where it ached, she stretched her legs out and almost groaned at the satisfaction of relieving the tension in her muscles. Her arms weren't as achy as the night before but she could feel her legs shake as she hauled herself off the floor.
Looking up in time to see Levi fly from the edge of the floor to the forest's ground, she realised it was only her and Bertolt remaining, with Zoran still unconscious next to her. Reiner and Annie were nowhere to be seen but they wouldn't have gone far, she assumed. Likely left to find more food and water.
Bertolt perked up when he saw Val stand. "Good morning," he said genuinely, unlike the Captain. "How are you feeling?" How he looked so well-rested, Val didn't know. His hair was out of place and his clothes were crinkled but his expression showed him to be wide-awake.
"I'm good," she answered, wiping the crust from her eyes. "Are you here to help me move Zoran?"
"Right." The brunette gestured to a wide plank pulled from another hut. "I found a piece of wood we can use to move him below," he explained. "I, uh, figured we could use the hooks from our ODM gear to lower him instead of picking him up and risk hurting him further. Are you ready?"
Val, a little surprised at his eagerness, agreed and helped him do just that. Bertolt attached his hooks to the board after she positioned Zoran on top of it. It was awkward keeping the board straight as Bertolt lowered it but they managed, with Val's own hooks affixed to the bottom of the hut so she could lower herself with the plank and keep it even.
Once at the bottom, Bertolt helped her move Zoran to the cart which was cushioned by a few layers of sheets, and she took off Reiner's cloak to place under his head. The air was already becoming warm so she doubted he'd miss it for the journey.
When her hand pulsed in pain, she glanced around to see Bertolt checking his gear's gas and Levi stood on a high branch, keeping an eye on their surroundings. She could hear the gear zipping from a distance and assumed Reiner and Annie would soon return, so she flew back up to the hut and retrieved her outer-shirt. Ripping it into a long line with her teeth and good hand, she used it to wrap securely around her palm as an imitation of a bandage. Not perfect, but it would do.
Val returned to Zoran's side and sat on the edge of the cart, feet flat against the floor. Her shoes and the bottom of her pants were dirty, caked with mud and sweat. Her shirt was in better condition but she had to rub dried flakes of blood from her face and neck. Zoran's blood was still underneath her fingernails, unwilling to shift despite Val's attempts.
Zoran's shoulder and leg were in bad condition but Val was most worried about the cut on his arm. The bandage was clean of blood so she assumed Reiner changed them while she was asleep, and though he looked to be bleeding less he still lost a decent amount, enough to make his lips paler and skin more clammy than normal. He hadn't woken, barely stirred in his sleep even with all the movement. It would take the remainder of the day to arrive at the walls, not including breaks. The medical supplies wrapped in the corner of the cart gave her some comfort, but she still worried for her friend.
"Oi," Levi called. Val looked up and saw him standing a bit away, looking bored as he checked his blades. "We're leaving in five minutes. If there's anything you need to do, get it done."
You can say goodbye, she knew he meant, despite his bored tone. She almost did, even hopped off the cart to step forward, but she paused when she saw the clearing over Levi's shoulder.
What could she say? What did saying goodbye even mean?
Val ran her thumb over the ring on her index finger. The same one she tried stealing from Milan when they first met. The surface was scratched from years of wear, passed down from generations of her family, according to Milan. She'd never had children of her own and Zoran didn't like the feeling of jewelry, so it was passed down to Val.
"Am I riding my own horse?" she asked instead.
Levi watched her face for a short moment. If he sensed her line of thought, he didn't let it show. "You'll be leading us through the forest. We're unfamiliar with this area."
Val glanced at him in surprise. There must've been a lot of titans if they managed to ride so far out in unfamiliar territory. "It's a six-hour ride until we're at the forest line," she said, "and another ten until we hit the walls. It'll be nightfall when we make it. Do you have enough supplies?"
"We do," a new voice spoke up. Reiner, with Annie following close behind. Each had two sacks in their grip. "As long as we ration, we have enough for us and the horses until nightfall."
"Good." Levi nodded. "Put the supplies in the cart. Val will lead us until we reach open land, Reiner will take the horse leading the cart and Annie and I will flank you. Bertolt, you'll be holding the rear. Get moving."
They all did just that, the bags of supplies with Zoran and the rest of them with their horses. Annie threw a skin of water and wrapped up food towards Val, and she only just caught them. The blonde hummed, apparently impressed at the quick reflexes, but turned to mount her horse before Val could look at her questioningly.
Val hauled herself on the horse and realised it was the same one she rode when returning with Zoran. Though a similar brown to the others, the saddle on her back was more worn, the leather wrinkled. There was a splatter of dried blood staining the material next to her thigh, where Zoran was previously sat.
She looked back and saw the others with their own horses, seeing the one that ran after Zoran and Val next to Bertolt. It'd be useful having a spare, at least.
Leaning down to pat her own horse on the side of her neck, she thought, 'thank you for saving us', hoping the touch was enough to convey the message. The horse huffed and shook its head slightly, making Val smile.
Levi called for her to get moving and, without looking back, she tugged on the reigns.
She led them through the path her village often used for outside ventures. It would take a little bit longer to reach open land, but the alternative of travelling over bumps and jostling Zoran would only make things worse for him. Since the Corps were unfamiliar with the area, she doubted they'd notice the slight delay.
In the proceeding hours, Val became more comfortable leading the charge. She'd glance behind her to check on Zoran every now and then, only to be met with the same unconscious body. It was normal for people to sleep when injured the way he was - Val had been in the same situation a few times - but it didn't ease her worry. If he was bleeding internally, they could only wait until they reached the walls to help him.
Meeting Val's worried gaze, Reiner gave her a small nod as though to tell her it's okay. She trusted that he knew what he was doing and would tell her if Zoran was in danger, but she still felt uneasy. He was trained in healing, sure, seemingly the most skilled of them there, but he wasn't an actual medic.
After Val informed Levi they were at the halfway point through the forest, he ordered a ten-minute break. Val immediately swung her legs from the horse and landed on her achy feet, returning to the cart. Reiner apparently had the same thing in mind as he hopped over the edge to check Zoran's bandage.
She leaned her arms over the side to feel Zoran's forehead. "Is he getting worse?" she asked. He was still pale and his breathing was shallow.
"No," Reiner answered, pulling the splint holding his leg so he could feel the bone. "But he isn't getting better, either."
Val laughed at that despite the tears that pricked her eyes. She saw Reiner pause in his movements but he didn't say anything, going back to check on Zoran's injuries.
She stared at her friend's face. The curve of his lips, gentle slope of his nose, his sweat-damp hair that clung to his forehead. He's always had a baby-face, unable to grow any form of facial hair no matter how hard he tried, and it was always a point of teasing from Val. She often joked that she could grow her leg and armpit hair longer than his by a mile, something that flustered him but he never took it to heart. There was practically nothing on his upper-lip and chin, just a hint of fine hairs that everybody had.
Stupid little baby-face.
"Is he your brother?"
"Huh?" It took Val a second to realise Reiner asked her a question. "Oh. No, he's not my brother." She looked back to Zoran. "In a way, he is, I guess. It depends on your definition of family."
"What's your definition?" he asked.
Val shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I suppose… huh. I really don't see him as family, or a friend, really. It doesn't feel right calling him that. He's just… Zoran to me." She rested her chin in her palm and watched Reiner work. "I don't know how else to put it."
The blonde hummed. "That sounds nice." The words were sincere but something in Reiner's expression made it feel like it wasn't. There was something in his eyes that felt… off.
The air around them melted back into silence.
Levi was tending to the horses, feeding them as he petted their manes. They all huddled around him and it was almost comedic how small he looked next to the towering figures. Being small must have its advantages, even if he was mocked for it. He was more maneuverable, could fly through the air with a quickness and ease that Val knew she couldn't. She'd heard stories of how people underestimated him and where they ended up because of it, and Val didn't want to be wherever they were.
Bertolt and Annie were speaking a good distance away, Annie with her bored expression as she murmured and Bertolt making anxiety look confident.
Like she could sense eyes her way, the blonde woman's eyes snapped to Val's mid-sentence, though she didn't pause in her speaking. Once again Val met her gaze and didn't look away until a moment later when a quiet groan sounded from Zoran.
"Hey." Val couldn't help the smile that lit up her face seeing his eyes open lazily. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
"Not dead," he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut before reopening them. He squinted at Reiner. "Huh?"
Val leaned her head down to bring the attention back to her. "Do you remember what happened?" she asked. "About-"
"Everyone's…?" Val lowered her hand. "They're dead?" It broke her heart hearing the aching pain in his voice, the hope in his eyes that maybe he hallucinated her words. "Val?"
"They're dead," she confirmed quietly, taking hold of his hand to wrap her fingers between his. "There's nothing left."
"You can't-" He shook his head, looking more awake. "Have you… have you checked?"
"I checked." She nodded. "I promise, I counted every single body and no one's missing. Some horses might've gotten away but that's it," she told him. His hand became loose in her grip but she held on. "The Survey Corps found us. We're going back behind the walls."
Zoran paled as his lip trembled, eyes glistening. "Milan, a-and...?"
"I counted," she whispered, hating the way her voice wavered. She couldn't tell him how disfigured they all were; she couldn't let that image be his lasting thought of them.
Breathing deeply and blinking back any hint of upset, she squeezed his fingers. "Let's get some food in you, okay?" she said. "I know stale crackers are your favourite." Zoran smiled but she knew it was more for her benefit than his own. "By the way, this is Reiner." She nodded to the blonde. "There's Bertolt and Annie, you can't see them from here, and- oh- guess what?"
Zoran hummed in question, relaxing back into the cloak. He tilted his head to keep his attention on Val.
She lowered her voice considerably, glancing over her shoulder to see the black-haired man was still with the horses, a good distance away. "Levi Ackerman is here, too."
The reaction was instantaneous. His eyes widened and he looked more awake than ever. "Levi Ackerman?" he repeated. Val was glad he didn't have the energy to yell otherwise he would have. "Levi Ackerman is here?"
"Yep," she answered with a smile. "He's just like the stories, Zoran - tiny and scary. He'll probably have to stay with us when we get to the walls so you'll get to meet him. If you stay awake long enough, that is."
Zoran's expression dropped to something morose and she could see him struggling to keep his eyes open. "What's gonna happen when we get there?"
She bit the inside of her cheek. "Imprisonment, probably. For me, at least," she said honestly. "Interrogation. They'll give you time to heal though." I hope. "Send you to an actual medbay, not just Nima's little hut."
"Will they send us Underground?"
Val felt tension fill her body. "I won't let that happen," she affirmed. "They'll only throw us down there if they don't know what to do with us. I'll give them something - you're smart and we're both good fighters, okay?"
We didn't lose all of this just for everything to get worse.
"Okay," he said softly.
"Leave me to worry about it," Val told him, poking his cheek.
She glanced at Reiner who hadn't moved, and quickly realised how frozen he looked. His eyes were unusually wide, lips parted to reveal what Val could only call a panicked expression as he stared at nothing. The hand not holding the splint was clenched tight around the side of the cart, so tight his knuckles were white.
"Hey," she said softly, moving her hand to tap him lightly on the shoulder. "Reiner?"
He snapped out of whatever trance he was in upon hearing his name, lips forming a tight line as he snapped his eyes to hers. He looked scared, desperate, and Val couldn't help but lay her hand flat on his shoulder.
"Hey. What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
He pulled away abruptly and before she could so much as blink, he was off the cart and walking towards an overturned log, collapsing on top of it with his back facing them. Annie and Bertolt noticed him and glanced over in confusion, but Val looked back at Reiner before Annie's eyes could find hers.
"What happened?" Zoran asked, tired but equally as puzzled.
"No idea," Val answered. She trailed her eyes over Reiner's body, the tension in his back and shoulders and his hands in his hair. Bertolt approached him carefully, speaking in a low tone as he sat next to him.
She looked back at Zoran. "Let's get some food in you, okay?"
He was quiet as she fed him and helped raise his head so he could drink some water. She could almost feel his weariness so she let him sleep once she was sure he wouldn't throw up, her chest feeling lighter once some of the colour returned to his face.
They got moving again on Levi's command, Val once again leading the group. She tried catching Reiner's eye as she hopped on her horse but he easily side-stepped her gaze, and she had no other choice but to keep looking forward once they got moving.
The rest of the journey through the forest went by quietly, the worn path her village used letting them travel smoothly. Val had become familiar with the forest during her years in Willhelm, and she could feel a twinge in her heart knowing she'd likely never be here again.
Will I ever see the sky from outside the walls again?
She wasn't sure.
There were several titans in the forest they passed but none of them took notice of the travelling group. Val was quick to adjust their path to avoid moving any closer to them. One titan could turn into a dozen in an instance, and though she believed in all of their abilities, it wasn't a risk she was willing to take with Zoran injured. It seemed Levi didn't either, since he never protested.
They reached the forest's line five hours later when the sun was just past the midpoint in the sky. They were later than Val thought they'd be, with the horses only trotting lightly as opposed to jogging.
The open landscape felt different yet all the same when they broke through the final stretch of trees. Green grass, smatterings of bushes with titans loitering in the distance, it was the same as she remembered. But the grass was so green under the sun that it hurt her eyes, and the landscape felt stretched out. She hadn't been outside this part of the forest in a long time so her perception was likely skewed, but the difference still startled her.
"Go to the group of shrubs a couple of miles up," Levi spoke up. If it wasn't for the bareness of the land, she wouldn't have been able to see it. "We'll take another break there."
Val nodded and continued ahead, letting her horse trot a little faster as the others followed. She didn't doubt the animals were as tired as she felt, and only hoped Levi would allow them a longer rest.
It took only a half hour until they were next to the shrubs, all grouped together with a tree in the center. Val's horse was munching on the fresh food before Val could even jump off, and she looked around to see the other horses were doing the same.
She rounded Zoran's cart and held her hand against his forehead, feeling it to be hot. His cheeks were hot too, and his nose, his neck, and his skin was red-
"He's warm because of the sun," Reiner said, coming up behind her. "He's probably burned but it's not bad enough to be heatstroke." He was talking- looking at her like nothing had happened before. "I'll take some of the sheets and stretch it across the cart before we start moving again. He'll have some shade, that way."
Val nodded. "Okay," she said. If he didn't want to talk about it then Val wouldn't bring it up.
Knowing that the singular tree gave Zoran a break from the sun, she settled with her back to one of the wheels, partially hidden between the cart and bush. She unwrapped the crackers and was ecstatic to find fresh berries hidden with it.
There was some shuffling next to her, and she was surprised to see Reiner sitting a couple of feet away, against the other wheel. His knees were halfway drawn up, elbows resting on them with his hands clasped. He had that distant expression on his face again, but this time he looked more tense than scared.
His lips were pressed together and eyes unmoving. He didn't move, didn't reach for some food or water, or try to say anything. He was just sitting there, looking neither comfortable nor uncomfortable.
Val swallowed the dry crackers and took a hefty swig of her water to help it go down. Her eyes couldn't help but keep darting towards her guest as he stared ahead in his own world. She looked at the berries in her hand. A mixture of reds and purples, all freshly picked by Val herself, who had become quite adept at telling the edible and poisonous ones apart.
She glanced at Reiner who hadn't eaten since their last stop.
She looked at the berries that looked so delicious she wanted to cry.
She glanced back at Reiner's depressing face.
She looked again at the berries.
At Reiner.
At the berries.
Reiner.
Berries.
Val sighed to herself, not realising how loud it was until Reiner turned to look at her. She locked eyes with him as she held her hand out, palm flat to show the fruit.
"Here," she said, pushing her hand towards him when he didn't budge. "You can have some. They're not poisonous, I promise."
He bowed his head slightly. "Thank you," he said.
Val was a little surprised he spoke but didn't let it show, letting a smile shape her lips when he held his hand out. She poured a little over half in his palm and they both continued to eat in silence. If Reiner could feel her eyes shifting to him every minute or so, he didn't say or do anything. He was still tense but the slope of his shoulders were more relaxed.
Eventually, they finished eating and everyone made their move to get going again. Val removed a sheet from under a sleeping Zoran and with Reiner wordlessly holding one side to keep it still, she hooked the corners over the edge of the cart. It wasn't a great shader and Zoran would probably still get hot, but it was better than the bare sun hitting his skin.
Levi led the charge this time, with Reiner and Bertolt bracketing Val who was put in charge of Zoran's cart, and Annie holding the rear. The titans Val could see weren't close enough to be an immediate danger, but there were a couple in their direct path. She only hoped Levi would maneuver around them instead of fighting them head-on.
With the horses running, she knew they would get to the walls faster. She could feel her chest constrict with each mile that passed, and when the walls came into sight from the far distance, she held her breath.
For Zoran.
A/N: This is the final chapter for the Willhelm Arc! Plot's gonna get heavy, we're gonna meet some new characters, and Val is gonna fuck some shit up! Hope y'all are enjoying:)