Chapter 8
Willow's eyes shoot open when she hears a war cry coming from above. It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight, but when it does, she sees the Titan that was approaching them falling to the ground with a thunderous crash that shakes the earth. She shields her eyes as dirt and leaves come flying in her direction from the force of the Titan dropped less than a dozen yards from her.
Her eyes wildly search for understanding as to what just happened, seeing a deep slash in the Titan's nape. She swallows hard as she lifts herself to her feet, approaching the dead Titan. She looks over to see the silhouette of a Scout zipping down from where they took down the Titan. She lifts her shaking hand to the sky to cover the sun from her gaze, in hopes to get a better look of who saved them.
The Scout comes zipping down landing on the ground with effortless ease. He begins approaching Willow and that is when she realizes that it is Lieutenant Levi. He walks over to her and she begins moving towards him, striding quickly. Before he can say a word to her, she musters all her remaining strength and slaps him as hard as she can across the face. She is furious with him. After all the nights they spent speaking to one another and promising her that she was safe around him, he sat back and allowed this to happen to Oruo and watched as she came to terms with her death. She trusted him and expected more from him.
Levi takes a step back as the tips of his fingers brush his reddening cheek with amplified eyes. "Where the fuck were you?" Willow spits with venom in her tone before he can even ask what the slap was for. "We gave off the smoke signal at least an hour ago signaling Titans and none of you showed!" she yells with all her strength to appear bigger than him. "Is that what this whole training was about?" she asks him, not allowing him to get in a word. "Put us in a compromising situation with the Titans and see how it all plays out? Were you just going to leave him here to die?" she asks, throwing her hand in Oruo's direction, not expecting an answer from him as she does not give him a moment to speak. "Is he weak to you, not good enough for the Scouts so you sift through the weaklings here, that way you don't have to clean up the mess?" Willow yells with such force, feeling her abs clench in anger. "I bet you were all getting your rocks off, watching us panic from the tree lines!"
Levi looks at her preparing himself to say something to her when Willow feels her knees buckle. She sees her surroundings tilt and she begins to fall backwards. Levi jumps instantly to her aid and catches her in his arms before she can fall to the ground. He cradles her face, looking down at her and seeing just how pale she has become. Levi tugs on her shirt, untucking the bottom of it from her pants. He unbuttons the bottom few buttons to reveal her skin just above her navel. Looking back at him is dark purple and blue bruising covering her abdomen. Levi swallows the growing lump in his throat seeing the undoubtable evidence that she has been bleeding internally for who knows how long.
He looks onto her pale face as her harsh features fall and soften her expression. "You fucking idiot," Levi scoffs as he grabs hold of the signal gun and shoots off a purple smoke signal, being the only signal indicating immediate extraction needed.
Four Days pass and Willow finally groans as she comes to consciousness, regaining feeling of her aching body. Her eyes take a moment to open, as if they were sewn shut. When she manages to pry open her eyes her vision blurs and she groans at the blinding sunlight shining in the room. She moves her hand to her eyes and rubs the sleep from them. She hears shuffling to her right and looks over to see someone sitting in the chair next to her. She moans as her head moves, feeling as though her head is a bag of sand, with every grain that moves stabbing into her skull.
Her brows come together when her eyes register the person sitting in the chair next to her. She questions for a moment, wondering if she is seeing him correctly, expecting anyone else in the room before him.
"You're awake," Oruo says as his face turns upward with relief.
She releases a built-up breath, gathering her strength to speak, "Where?" is all she manages though.
"We're in the infirmary," he tells her and she looks over at him, noticing a cast on his left leg and a sling around his right arm, with superficial scars and bruising covering his face. "You have been out for…" He thinks for a moment, conflicted to answer, but says it anyway, "Four days." Willow groans at this information, slowly lifting herself into a seated position. "You shouldn't be moving!" he calls out in worry as he lifts himself from his chair and reaches out to her. "You should be getting some rest."
"I have had plenty," Willow exhales as she groans in pain, feeling every nerve in her body burst.
He watches her as she swings her legs over the bed. She places her toes down on the cold floor, not allowing herself to lift off the bed just yet, knowing that she will just fall if she attempts to shift her weight to her legs for the first time in days.
"You saved me," Oruo says looking down at the ground, unable to reach her eyes as he slumps back into the chair. "Everyone was so quick to leave me out there, but you stayed with me," he breathes as his lifting brows form prominent wrinkles on his forehead at the vision of his life ending in that field crosses his mind.
"It was nothing…" she says lingering on her words.
"It wasn't nothing," he returns sternly with a shake of the head. He looks up at her with bloodshot eyes as tears threaten to breach the barricade of his lashes. "I wouldn't have done the same for you," his voice cracks as he shakes his head, ashamed of his own words.
"I know," Willow says with a rasp in her voice. "I was just dead weight to you guys," she quotes him.
His eyes widen at his words thrown back at him. "You heard me?" Willow nods and his tears break the barricade of his lashes, falling freely down his cheeks as he can no longer control his emotions. "And you still stayed with me," he scoffs with a sob in his tone. "Why?"
Willow thinks for a moment, wondering why she truly stayed with him when she knew they were going to die. Her mind goes back to the moment she realized she could have used her ODM gear and left him there to die, but didn't. "Because no one deserves to be abandoned like that," she tells him simply, knowing that despite her staying to save her sister, she still died, but because she didn't leave her behind, she saved countless others from death.
This comment breaks Oruo's composure and he releases the building sob in his throat as tears stream down his cheeks. He curls into himself, running his fingers through his hair as his body shakes with sobs. "I don't deserve your kindness," he tells her, "I don't deserve to be in the Scouts. I don't deserve my life," he says with a heavy moan.
Willow's eyes grow dark, and she lifts herself from the bed. She approaches Oruo and grabs his chin with pitiful force. "Don't you dare devalue your life," she threatens him with clenched teeth. "I didn't risk my damn life for you to question your own," she says looking down on him. She turns away from him and takes hold of the bed, balancing herself as her legs shake at the weight of her.
Oruo watches her wince in pain as she leans against the bed. He sees the pain that she is in and the pain she placed herself in to save his life, and he is overcome with emotions. "I love you!" Oruo declares to her with watery eyes, lifting from his chair and towering over her as he stands next to her. "I love you and I will do anything for you!" he asserts with happiness flowing through him.
Willow glances over at him with skeptical brows pressed together, knowing this declaration of love to be an irrational reaction to her saving his life. "No, you don't," she states.
"Yes!" he announces loudly as he takes hold of her hand, "Let me marry you and take care of you and—"
"No thank you," Willow says with a groan as her body aches while she pulls her hand gently away from him. She looks down, shielding the small smile on her lips from him.
Oruo's brows press together, "Well what can I do to thank you for what you have done for me?" he asks her, lost in his emotions.
Willow lifts her head towards him and with a frown on her face she says, "Kill as many Titans as you can." Oruo's eyes widen at the intent in her eyes, knowing that she wants nothing more than to see him excel in the field. She pulls her eyes from him and looks down, noticing the foreign clothes she has been placed in, "And get me some fresh clothes," she commands him.
Willow slowly gets ready, still feeling stiff and sore from her wounds. She looks at herself in the mirror to see that she has bruises and scratches all over her body and face, with a prominent black eye on her left bloodshot eye. Her lip is busted, scratches paint her jaw and cheeks, and she has a huge gash bandaged up to her scalp.
She turns from the sight and gets dressed, heading from the infirmary to the mess hall where a few Cadets gather and speak amongst themselves. Her eyes land on her team as they speak with one another. Petra's eyes widen at the sight of her, shocked at seeing what she believed to be a dead woman. She swallows hard and smiles at the girl with a respectful gesture that Willow does not return.
She walks past the mess hall where she sees a group of people gathered down the hall in her path. She considers taking another route to avoid the group but figures she can walk past them without their notice. When she approaches the group, she notices Captain Malik and Lieutenant Levi with a man and woman that she does not recognize.
Captain Malik's attention turns from the conversation, his eyes scanning her up and down, noting the poor condition she is in. Spotting his turn in attention, Levi and the two others turn towards her. Captain Malik clears his throat. "Miche, Nanaba, this is Willow Frye. Willow, this is Section Commander Miche and his Squad Leader Nanaba."
Willow straightens her back and forces a painful salute, recognizing Miche's name and his role in communicating her skills with the powers at play to gather more funding for the Scouts.
"Pleasure to meet you," she waits for his salute, but the man instead leans in and audibly sniffs at her, causing her to lower her salute and lift her brows together to show her clear discomfort at the gesture.
"Don't mind him," Nanaba says with a cheery disposition. "Miche has a keen nose with an extraordinary ability to determine one's characteristics," she informs her, "He can also smell Titans from vast distances to adequately prepare us for battle."
Willow watches as Miche mulls over her scent for a moment before he announces, "Daisies, with a hint of lavender and a subtle touch of berries," he says pursing his lips. "Influences of dirt and iron layering across your floral and earthy scent."
"Probably the Titan blood, I haven't showered in days," Willow mumbles with a subtle snideness in her tone that only Malik and Levi catch.
"I have heard about your work with the Titans. I am very impressed," he tells her plainly. "I hope to see it myself soon."
"No doubt," Malik says with a straightening back. "It's a sight to see to say the least."
Willow tightens her fists on each side of her, feeling herself getting hot at the idea that she is just a show to them. Willow feels his gaze on her and looks over at Levi where he notices that her bruising has lightened a bit. "You're looking better," Levi states in a matter-of-fact tone.
"No thanks to any of you," she states gritting her teeth and the others tense at her tone.
Levi released a humored scoff. "You're alive thanks to me," he corrects her. "You were a damned fool to go into those woods knowing that you were bleeding internally."
Willow rolls her jaw in anger, "You are the fools for sending us out there like lambs to the slaughter. Don't you want any of us alive to fight against the Titans?" she snarls at them.
"Doesn't really do us much good if they cry and soil themselves at the sight of them," Levi says with a bored tone at the conversation. "Or die from internal bleeding," he adds offhandedly.
Miche watches as Willow grows in frustration at Levi's frankness towards her concerns. He can practically smell her scent change as the rage fills her body. He can tell that she would like to say more to the Scout, but with her jaw tensed shut, she remains quiet, knowing not to speak her mind in the presence of such high-ranking officers. She already disrespected Levi's authority by slapping him in the heat of her rage, and will not allow her lack of control over her emotions to take control of her again.
Levi releases an exasperated sigh, seeing the hate building inside Willow. "No Cadet was killed in the excursion," he informs her. "Thanks to you," he adds before she can make an offhanded comment of her own.
She takes in a breath, allowing herself to calm down with the knowledge that no one was killed, and the Elites were actually watching after them. She bows her head begrudgingly in respect, pushing past them as she walks away from them. Levi looks back at her empathizing with the pain she is feeling but hopes that she can come to terms with why they have this process when choosing their teams.
Levi turns from Malik and the others as he joins his squad. Levi finds Hange who sits eating her porridge with a few of the Cadets that she is looking to add to her new squad. She smiles up at him and he returns with his signature indifference. He sits down next to her and watches as the Cadets speak with one another.
Hange turns to Levi, noticing that he does not have food in front of him. "No food?" she notes.
"I don't have much of an appetite," Levi states with no variation in his tone.
Hange shrugs and continues to eat from her own bowl. "Have you decided on who you will have on your team?" Hange asks with a spoonful of porridge practically falling out of her mouth.
Levi winces at her lack of table manners. "Yes, I think I have everyone sorted out," he tells her looking down at the swirls of the wood on the table. He traces them with his finger as he thinks of how he will tell her his most controversial pick. After a moment, he figures he will just be out with it, hoping that she did not chose the same. "I want Willow…" he declares, hanging on the words.
She turns to him with pressed brows and glowing eyes behind her frames. "Willow? But she scored the lowest of everyone," she states. "And she never completed the final tasks since she's been on bed rest."
"I only mention it because I want to confirm you will not take her," Levi says eyes still following the swirls of the wood. "Malik has not added a new recruit in his Squad in five years, so I am not worried about him, and Derrek confirmed with me that his eyes are not set on her. So, I just ask if you would be willing to pass on her so I can take her?"
"What makes you want her so much?"
Levi's eyes flash over to Hange's "She's angry and she is passionate," he tells her with lidded eyes. "She reminds me of… me," he admits, remembering just how angry and driven he was when he first joined the Scouts.
"Well, you will have no issues with me," she tells him with a smile on her face. "No offense, but I don't think any of us really wanted her," she adds bluntly.
Levi nods once, sitting with Hange until their dinner time is finished and they all meet in the training grounds where they are to select their squad.
Levi wrings his hands in anticipation, speculating how Willow will take him as her commanding officer over someone like Hange who has been more welcoming towards her. He will have to make it clear to her that he did not recruit her for her Titan puppeteering, and rather the fire in her eyes that he needs to willingly charge into battle. He figures that she will be a great juxtaposition from the others that he has chosen, that seem to be more willing to stand by and wait for his command.
The Scouts line up preparing for the higher-ranking officers to choose their teams so they can begin their training and excursions beyond the wall. Willow stands with the others figuring that her poor score in the field and her four-day bed rest will render her Kitchen Duty until enough of the Scouts die and she can join a squad. She finds herself thinking negatively about the whole operation of the Scouts, feeling it to be disorganized and chaotic as they desperately throw bodies at the Titan threat.
She crosses her arms over her chest as she waits for the officers to announce their teams. Oruo finds her and stands next to her, towering over her in this close proximity. "Whose team do you think you will be chosen for?" Oruo asks as he turns towards the stage.
"Kitchen Duty," Willow releases and Petra lets out an involuntary laugh as she approaches them. She bites her lip and looks away from Willow as she looks back at the snickering girl.
"Nah," Oruo grunts, "The Titan ability and what you did on the field will at least get someone like Hange or Levi's attention," he says hopefully. "I hear Derrek likes to recruit a lot of people, so you might have a shot there. But Malik keeps his team impossible to join; must be why he has never had a casualty on his team," he tells her, and she looks up at Oruo with shocked eyes. "Yeah," Oruo says reading her expression as her eyes transfer over to Malik. "Hal was his first and only recruit for a while, then Colin and Laura joined together a while back. He hasn't added anyone on his team since, resulting in him never having a casualty on his team. Same went for Commander Erwin's Squad before he became a Commander."
"What team do you want to be under?" Willow asks him, eyes still fixated on the people on stage.
Oruo shrugs, "Before I wasn't willing to accept anyone less than Derrek. Now I'll be lucky if I get Kitchen Duty," he says readjusting his slinged arm.
Willow frowns at the man's sadness in his tone, knowing very well that he wanted to be a part of the upper Elites, but figures that he will have his chance soon enough.
After a moment of waiting for everyone to line up, Commander Erwin steps forward, announcing the process of Squad selection. He informs the crowd that the highest-ranking officer will have first pick and will simply say the names of the Cadets they wish to recruit. The named Cadets will then make their way to the bottom of the stage and wait for their teams to be dismissed. This process will continue until the last ranking officer has chosen. Once all the teams have chosen, any remaining Cadets will be given their duties among the quarters for support. Willow swallows as she thinks about what duties she will have to do, knowing that she will not be chosen for any of the teams.
Erwin steps back and Malik steps forward. Levi glances over at Captain Malik, waiting for his signature shake of the head to indicate that he will not be choosing anyone this year and to step back. But the blonde Captain does not shake his head and he does not step back, instead Malik clears his throat and says, "Willow Frye." His voice carries across the crowd and everyone turns their heads to her.
She looks up at the Captain with wide incredulous eyes, wondering if she heard him correctly. Oruo presses his hand to her back and pushes her to take a step forward. She swallows hard, taking her shaking steps toward the stage. Her blue eyes reach Hal's, who stands at the foot of the stage waiting for her to join him with the rest of his squad. He nods once at her affirming that she did in fact hear them correctly.
Willow watches as Malik takes a step back and shakes his head, indicating she is his one and only choice. Her eyes transfer over to Levi who looks at the ground with a clenched jaw and tight fists. Willow tunes out the remaining decisions, feeling a growing lump in her throat as she thinks about how from this day forward, she is an Elite Soldier.
End of Part 1