Dynasty
4th Squad Leader Hange Zoë
Wall Rose – North of Trost District – 845
Old Scouting Regiment Headquarters – Officers Barracks
The ashen-black of the storm overtook the once clear atmosphere into an onward night so suddenly, regardless of what time it was nor the position of the risen sun, that no one had a chance to prepare for it. Heavy rain – thick drops of acidic water – continued to pour down in the grass and bounce off the stone paths, confining nearly everyone inside the old castle walls; unless one had a specific assignment that made them go out. But to the observer … they found that surprisingly fine to be locked in.
Eyes of the lightest brown – ones that have many times been regarded as soft warmth … or shitty as one soldier liked to remark – stared through the single window in the room. The only framed glass pane that allowed natural light in and fresh air through when opened. Beyond the glasses perched on their nose, they followed the drops of rain flowing outside the window, looking much like tears coming from their eyes – though their face was hidden behind damp hair.
Newly appointed Fourth Squad Leader Hange lowered her head, slumped herself in the uncomfortable chair and finally looked away from the window to take notice of the item in her hands.
The plain white porcelain cup of tea was mere inches before her on the desk. Searing. It absolutely had to be scorching to the tongue … right? A white rise of twisting steam rose continuously from the depths of the darkened gold liquid, almost like a strip of silk fabric – a type of fabric she had only touched between fingers once, a chance passing when she was in Mitras, the city within Wall Sina. The strong scent of a floral flower, or perhaps it was several different ones, mixed in the single brew of tea that had been brought to her just a moment ago. Though she wondered where the deliverer went. Hadn't they been just behind her shoulder a second ago?
Hange tightened her grip around the cup, bringing it ever closer, allowing the steam to disturb on her nose. Breaking apart the otherwise perfect stream, damping the tip of her much-arched nose – a feature of herself she'd never much been keen on. She focused harder. If there was steam, that would mean the tea was hot, so … why couldn't she feel it? Her palms were tucked about the outside, hugging the mug, but she couldn't feel the heat like she would any other time. Had she been out in the rain so long she had lost all sense of touch or was she still numbed in a blind emotional hurricane?
Wall Maria – Southeast of Calaneth District – 845
Halfway Through Open Field – Titan Territory
"A red flare signal from the right!"
Hange jerked her head to her right and spotted the dispersing line of red smoke. Her eyes lighting up and cheeks flushing with a grin at the knowledge that a titan was just beyond where that signal was coming forth from. She bounced in her saddle with a squeal of excitement – an action her horse was more than happy to protest with a loud snort and jerk of its head.
A loud bam of noise made her ears ring for a short second and turn her focus away from the titans sighting to the solider settling beside her. A trail of red smoke lifted from his raised arm, left behind as they pushed forward, but still reached up for the sky.
"Keep your focus, Hange. We all know of your weird obsession, but your brilliant mind is no good to us if you're dead." Harold scolded. His features sharp.
Her grin even larger, brushing off her fellow companion's worry, she waved her palms before her. "You'll get wrinkles if you keep scowling like that, Harold, of course I'm no expert in that field, although from where I'm positioned, you're already nearly halfway there." She laughed.
He shook his head and heaved a sigh, moving himself back to position behind her, away from beside.
"He is right, Hange."
Her head turned to her left. Oily and carelessly tossed in a leather band, her hair whipped around her face from the harsh wind blowing against them. Seeming to come out of nowhere, Moblit steadied his horse to run along her own. His eyes of an even lighter brown than her own caught her sight and locked them.
"You are extremely reckless, even the start of this mission you shot out passed the rest of the frontline squads shouting your excitement to greet a titan." His arm stretched out to knock his knuckles against her forehead before leaning ever so close. "Stop it. Focus on the mission, not your experiments."
Hange smacked his hand away with her own to rub the spot he just hit; her lips tucked inward from a defeated pout. "Uh, yeah, sure."
"Hey!" Elias, Fourth Squad Leader, shouted from in front of all seven of them. "We're repositioning again. Keep up."
Hange watched Moblit return to his position further away on her left. Giving the far-off smoke signal a last look, Hange pulled her reins to adjust the direction of her horse – more south-eastern than their previous adjustment. Leaning her body forward, her heels administering a hard enough kick and using her hip muscles, she silently told her horse what to do. The distant green smokes told every squad in the formation the new direction in order to avoid confrontation with as many titans as possible … much to her disheart. Hange removed greasy hair from the corner of her lips – the taste close to what dirt is – and returned her focus to the long ride ahead.
Like most scouting soldiers, Hange only knew as much detail as needed to get the motivation on and curiosity active – at least that last part for her. Elias had informed them the previous night of a new reporting of titans attacking an abandoned wheat village within Wall Maria. The titans were headed back to a place they had already destroyed. Hange had to rein in her over enjoyment, having already knocked over a pale of sliced apples and carrots in her joy – of course her horse, Italus, was not incredibly pleased with her for spilling over his nightly snack. They had been advised to be ready in the early morning to head out.
'What could possibly drive the titans back towards Wall Maria and away from the source of their instinctual blood lust … to a place they have destroyed long before?'
That thought front and center in her mind, Hange rode her horse quietly alongside her squad members towards their destination, hopeful she will find more answers about their mysterious, non-verbal friends.
Wall Maria – Southeast of Calaneth District – 845
Destroyed Farming Village – Titan Territory
Hange dismounted her horse in a clumsy, yet graceful way for her. Pulling the reins away from the horn of the brown leather saddle and rested it to slack on his neck. Italus wasn't shy to take a few steps towards the overgrown, browning grass and began chowing down like the rest of the steads of her squad members. That was when Hange looked around.
The village itself was not all that large, but then again, none of the farming villages were. Most held the main family and other homes around were for workers or extended family to help during harvest and field tending. Hange was sure this place used to be thriving with plants, life … but what she was observing now, it was quite the opposite.
A harsh gust of wind blew from behind her. The deep green of her uniform cloak wafted like a rolling flag about her upper body, ends reaching out like hands trying to grab something beyond where she stood. Her hair was forced around to brush against the curve of her ear, bangs waving like the grass before her glasses. It was like the wind was bellowing as it blew through the town. Moaning through every crack. Screams of the souls lost from the titan's attacks. Weaving through the broken walls of stone, fallen wooden beams that structured the frames, and rustling the tattered fabric curtains left barely hanging to the broken or nonexistent windows.
Hange had seen many destroyed villages over the course of months since Wall Maria had fallen – not to mention her own home being destroyed … but the effect of standing before it, seeing it clearly as day, still gave her the same pitied sadness in her stomach.
"Hange!" Her shoulders jumped at the call, breaking her focus from the scene. Her head jerked behind and up to the rooftop where Moblit was perched on the mossy chimney. "Come on, we're supposed to be keeping watch!"
Hange gave as innocent of a grin and reached her hand behind her head in guilt. "Ah, right." Reaching inside her cloak, she removed the hand grips from under her arms and pulled the trigger to release the grapple hooks. Hearing the whoosh of the piston and then the hiss of the gas as she propelled herself up and around to land just beside the chimney Moblit was knelt on. "Sorry, I was … deep in thought."
"When aren't you?" Moblit tried to joke, but when he took noticed of her steeled features – not even giving him a sideways glance – he lost the smile. "What was it?"
Hange shoved her grips to lock a pair of blades to them, ready to use in any case. "Just speculative of what could be driving the titans back here. Even with the short look and the ride in, there was nothing that stood out. This place looks to have been abandoned since it was attacked."
Moblit gave an agreeing nod. "I thought the same." From a look, Hange saw him scanning the horizon and the forest of tall trees just beyond the wooden fence line that marked the outskirt of the village and the beginning of farmland – now overgrown with weeds. "Have you … also found it strange that we haven't actually encountered a titan since that red flare signal we saw halfway back?"
Hange turned her full gaze to Moblit's, seeing the concern hidden by the wonder of the question he just rose. She had to agree. From the brief summary of the reason they needed to head out to this area was for the large number of titans, though, as she looked around, there wasn't a titan in sight. Only the looming darkness of thick blackness overhead – a storm just waiting to cry.
"Could it be … that whatever had drawn them back here is gone now?" Moblit tried to answer his own question when she failed to reply – her sight locked on the fast-approaching thunderstorm.
"Perhaps … do you think one of us should talk with Commander Erwin about this? I don't like the look of these clouds." Hange tensed every muscle in her body. Eyes widened from the sudden display of zagging brightness not but 3.2 kilometers away. The voltage end striking somewhere between the tall trees, attacking whatever it had aimed for.
Moblit had jumped off his perch on the chimney to kneel beside her – was it to shield her or her to shield himself? She took a moment to steady her breath before looking towards Moblit. His own chest heaving slightly from the sudden startle, lips parted to release the extra air. "Well … that was unexpected. Are you all right?"
Hange could only nod that she was. Turning her focus back where the strike of energy had landed. Counting in her head until the roll of thunder finally reached their ears. Both pressed their palms over their ringing drums to shield their ears as best they could until it died away.
"Hange, you should go to Erwin. He listens to you better than anyone else in the Scouts. This situation feels … off." Moblit spoke in that tone she knew all too well, he used it often enough in cadet school. He was on edge, nervous. "With that thundering storm, we won't be able to detect the titans as quick. We're not sure if they are still lingering around the area."
Hange gave a simple nod of her head, turning her body to release the grapple hooks to get back to the ground, but before either could turn their body around fully, Elias was flying towards them with his XO just beside him.
"Moblit! Hange!" He called out in a voice much gruffer than the norm. They could hear the hiss of the gas when he boosted himself faster, landing with a clack on the shingled roof before them.
"Section Commander." They both spoke with a nod.
"Commander Erwin wants to see you Hange." His grey eyes locked to her. Brows furrowed in an emotion quite unclear.
"I … of course." She lifted her right arm, fingers already balled, ready to place over her heart in salute.
But before she could even, another flash of lightning struck. Much closer than before that it created a vibration enough to make the four of them struggle to gain their balance. The ear ringing pound of thunder came even before the flashing stopped. Hange was grabbed around her waist when she started to tumble downward off the roof top from the earth shaking, though the body beside her was struggling themselves to stay upright.
When the world fell quiet, everyone was allowed to straighten their spine just in time for the rain to pour. Their clothing was drenched in seconds. Hange glanced towards the sky above. Clouds of near black and grey have devoured the bright blue, suffocating the suns bright, warming rays of shine. The rain was loud, not nearly as deafening as the thunder, but enough that they couldn't hear anything but that. Their sight was restricted from the rise of steam lifting from the hot ground. The drops are thick, slightly hurting when broken upon her hair or shoulders. Hange lowered her head, bringing her blades up to watch the raindrops disperse on the silver surface with a tinging sound.
Hange was only allowed to take a deep breath before another strike of lightning and thunder occurred. This time everyone was still braced upon the roof, so the vibration didn't have much of an impact. Just as the crackling thunder began to disperse, a loud snap of wood splintering exploded just beside the farmhouse they stood on. The silo of grain was destroyed in the blink of an eye. Small things of spoiled grain tossed in every direction, hitting against their bodies as all four were flung from the roof from the strength of the blast.
"Hange!" A voice called out near her, but with all the other noise it was hard to make out who it belonged to.
She was falling through the air quick but was able to press the trigger for her grapple hooks just as fast since she had been holding them the whole time. She couldn't see where they latched, but she didn't much care since it cushioned her fall on the ground – even if she still had the breath knocked out of her. The splash of mud flew out and on her body upon impact. Spots of wet dirt splattered on her goggles, her cheeks, and most definitely in her already dirty hair. Too focused on her own descent and collision, Hange hadn't known where the others landed until she got herself to her knees to glance around.
She spotted Moblit not a few centimeters from her right, holding the side of his head and sitting up, but where the Section Commander and XO landed, it was unclear. The pounding rain, the rising steam from the ground, made it impossible to see farther than a meter passed where they rested.
"AH! No, please!" A voice screamed in utter desperation. The sound that sends a shudder down one's spine. A sound made when there is no other option … when you have nothing left to lose.
Hange and Moblit whipped their heads around and up to the source of the screaming. What they saw was horrifying. Climbed halfway over the roof of the farmhouse they had all been stood upon just seconds ago was a titan. The pounding of Hange's heart left her conflicted – was it from fear or excitement at the sight?
The way the creature was positioned on the shingled roof – arms bent at the elbows to brace itself, one leg bent at the knee and pressed over the center line where each slope met – made it harder to determine what size class, though she guessed it was between 6 to 7 meters in length. It had a full head of dirty-blonde hair that brushed over its ears. An ear-to-ear grin that would seem pleasant in greeting but in truth was a smile that would send heart stopping dread into any human's heart.
But … the titan was not the single factor that made them freeze on the spot in horror. It was the person who had done the screaming. Clutched in the titans large but skinny hand was their section commanders XO, Joel. Lower body trapped between the Titans teeth, hand pressed against its upper lip in a last desperate attempt to free himself. Hange could hear the bones of Joel's legs being crushed while he screamed in pain from the titan finally clenching down.
She couldn't help herself, Hange wrapped her fingers around the grips of her blades until her fingers ached, brows furrowed in anger. With her bottom lip between her teeth, she got ready to pull the trigger for her hooks.
"Hange!" Her shoulders were grabbed and forced to turn away from their comrade as he was fighting to free himself from the titan's mouth – a beast taking its time to chew the man's legs. "Don't be stupid!" Moblit shouted to be heard over the rain pouring down while he started to pull her away. "We can't fight this thing in this weather, we can barely see it and we don't know how many more are around!"
Hange grew angrier at her friend. "We can't just leave him like-"
"Don't argue with me!" He shouted over her, cutting off her reply. "Let's go!"
"No, I can save him!" Hange used every ounce of strength she had to twist her shaking body to face the titan again. She was successful, but Moblit – taller and more muscled than she – came up behind her to wrap his arms under hers and grabbed her wrists with his hands, locking her fingers from being able to flex. "Moblit, let go! I can save-"
"No, Hange, there is nothing we can do! His legs are crushed, even if we could free him, we'd have to carry his body back!" Moblit cried in her ear. "We would be sitting ducks to any other titans around!"
"What about our section commander?! We need to find him before he's-"
Moblit – trembling like her from the freezing rain – began to pull her body backwards, putting as much distance as he could between the titan and themselves before it put its interest on them. "Hange, we have a duty to uphold! You took the oath just as I! We need to get out of here and report to Commander Erwin about what's happened!"
Hange continued to struggle against Moblit's grip, turning her head to glare at her friend over her shoulder. "Isn't it our duty to fight them?! Protect our fellow members?! Protect humanity!"
"Yes … and I'm protecting a fellow member right now! An elite one! One I wish would stop fighting me and just listen for once in her life!" Moblit argued back.
Hange narrowed her brows, creating wrinkles around the corners of her eyes and bridge of her nose. Having enough of Moblit's easy ability to run away, she lifted her mud-covered boot, bent her knee and sent her heel into his leg. He gave a grunted shout in her ear causing them to ring more than they already were, but her attack made him release her from the locked grip enough she could move her fingers. Pulling the trigger and releasing the grapple hooks. They flew free from her hips, able to see them fly high until disappearing in the steaming rain, unknown where they anchor but she felt the tug on the wire.
"Hange, don't!" Moblit cried out just behind her, grabbing over her shoulders to push against her chest and press himself to her back.
Hange managed to press the trigger again to propel herself in the air towards the titan – where she suspected their section commander was as well – but she was unprepared from Moblit's weight. Her balance was thrown off and instead of going up, they were both flung forward into the ground.
"Ah!"
With no time to catch herself, Hange landed torso first in a large mud puddle. Breathing in a chunk of the earth in her mouth, feeling it cover her teeth and on her tongue. She jerked her head up for a gasp of fresh air. Moblit pushed himself from her back almost instantly, taking hold of her upper arms to help her sit up on her knees and free of the mud. She felt a rush of frustration course beneath her skin as she coughed out dirty water. Hange elbowed and scrambled away from him in an ungraceful flap of her arms. Hange fell forwards.
She had taken a sharp breath in the moment her eyes landed on a familiar face … a face half eaten off in a crescent shape, dried blood staining the remaining skin and the grass where the lifeless body of her section commander had been placed.
Hange was only allowed to cover her scream with a hand before Moblit yanked her up by her arms, flinging her body over his shoulder and being roughly bounced against muscle and bone while he ran further away from the titan clamping down and swallowing the XO.
Wall Rose – North of Trost District – 845
Old Scouting Regiment Headquarters – Officers Barracks
Hange was startled from her thoughts by a long dormant roll of thunder – one that rattled the glass of her window – causing her to stand from her chair faster than normal, hearing the backrest meet the wood of the floor, and the cup of tea she had just been holding to spill over the surface of her desk. Watching the slightly darker liquid rush to the left until it found the edge and drip in a near constant stream down into a larging puddle near her foot. Even with the rain tapping loud against her window, Hange heard the drip, drip, drip of the tea landing in the gather on the floor. Watching it break through, creating ripple after ripple, expanding the puddle with every drop. With another flash of lightning to make her focus, she bent down on her knees – white trousers soiled with dried mud – with a cloth from her desk drawer to clear the mess of tea she made.
It was a welcome distraction, dabbing up a simple mess like she was to get her mind off what had been haunting it for hours now. The sight of her section commander – body nearly half torn apart, blood and insides oozing into the grass – and the echoing screams of Joel as he was being eaten alive wouldn't go away until then. Her hands clenched in tight fists while she rested her weight on the desk. Having cleared the stream on the surface and up righted the cup again, Hange was finally able to breathe a sigh at the silence in her head.
There was an echoing beyond her door, a sort of light thumping – a sound made from the sole of their boots on the wooden floor. Hange turned her body halfway towards the door that wasn't fully closed – the latch pressed to the chipping doorframe and a sliver of a crack between.
"Captain Levi," the familiar voice of Moblit Berner spoke as the steps receded on the other side, "how is … is Hange in there? I couldn't find her in the-"
"She's in there." The crisp, dull tone of Levi interrupted.
Hange found herself surprised. The entire ride back to Wall Rose, through Trost, and along the nearly abandoned road to headquarters, Hange had remained quiet, sulking, and distant. She hadn't even remembered getting back to her room, but during that entire jolting ride on horseback she had known someone was watching her close by. It wasn't a completely unusual thing, she knew Moblit was one to always watch close eye on her – keeping her alive when she shot after a titan in rage – but Levi … Levi watched her in almost every instance they were in proximity. She wasn't so dense to not have noticed his eyes shooting in her direction and remaining on her form until he could no longer see her. Even having that knowledge present, she hadn't been aware he never left after bringing her the tea without a word uttered after their return.
"Moblit." Levi's voice was authoritative enough to make even Hange freeze her thoughts and look towards him – even if she had to guess since the door was between them. "She should be left to rest on her own. She's … witnessed enough to make her head spin today."
Hange noticed the doorknob move from someone beginning to turn it. "Commander Erwin wants to go over the, the um, events from the scouting mission from our squad."
Hange heard the familiar humph of Levi when something displeased him … which was usually a lot of things. "The commanders lap dog now? Or is this just an excuse to be near her?"
"Commander Erwin has given me the position of Section Commander Hange's XO-"
Hange felt the breath go in, but it stuck in her throat at hearing what Moblit just said. Her XO? Her XO. Erwin filled the position of Joel already, not even twenty-four hours had passed, and the position was stepped into by someone else's shoes. Just … like she now filled the shoes of her previous section commander.
"Hange, you'll be taking command of Fourth Squad," Erwin had said to her as they had finally reached the stables – half climbed off her horse – as if it were an inarguable law of nature and not something she was allowed to have negative feelings about. "I'll be appointing you a new XO as well, but in the meantime get dried, I'll be calling for you to make some sense of what happened."
And that was fair enough, insofar as it went with the Commander. Making sense of the titan's, being Erwin's brain, was Hange's job, and the events of the day were unusual enough to be worth studying. But wasn't she allowed to take a breath at least, and come to terms with what had happened? The Regiment had to continue of course, there was no doubt about that, but Erwin's apparent belief that human beings were like clogs to machinery who had to be replaced in the correct place to work properly again was hard for her to stomach. Was this how things would always be under his command? Ever onward with no time to grieve or comprehend the loss of friends, classmates?
"My congratulations," Levi's expressionless voice interrupted her thoughts, bringing forth the conversation between the two soldiers once again, "but I repeat that she needs to be left in peace for a moment. I'll answer to Erwin if anyone has to."
"But, sir, my orders are …"
"Superseded," said Levi bluntly – like he had a reputation for when conversations grew unwanted. "You can go, Moblit."
"But … the commander-"
"Tell Erwin that she's in conference with me. Tell him that she's struggling in the bathroom. I don't care what you say." The doorknob, which had stopped turning, rattled from someone withdrawing their hand – or it being forcibly removed.
"I … how long will that be?" Moblit asked, hearing the subtle irritation Hange knew how to detect – he had used it with her more times than worth counting. "If the commander asks, of course."
"As long as it takes her," said Levi. "Now, leave us. Report back to Erwin and then you should see to your squad. They need to be noted on their new leaders taking charge."
Hange visibly flinched. Her foot taking a step back to bump against the fallen chair. New leaders. And how easy it was to imagine that being said again so soon, when the wheel turned again of new vacancies were created. Moblit and she have replaced the leadership position of Fourth Squadron, but now their previous positions needed replacing. Hange knew Erwin would move people up from the smaller forces under her command to fill them. The remorseless grind of erosion, the ceaseless war with an inhuman enemy. Was it ever going to end? And if it wasn't, why keep rushing into it so blindly?
Her heart raced. Her mind swam. Hange could feel the sweat surfacing on her palms.
She looked out of the window and into the surrounding trees beyond. The glass fogged over from the different temperatures fighting against the other, but she could see the fury of the storm was passing and the rain had lifted. She crossed the room and walked towards it, deciding to do one last thing for herself before taking her place in Erwin's machine.
She climbed onto the desk, feeling the legs wobble with unsteadiness from her weight, Hange reached for the latch that locked her window and quickly yanked it up. The hinges squeaked in a desperate cry to be oiled. The freshness of air that rain brought brushed over her face, waving through her damp tangled hair around her ears, and Hange breathed in every bit through her nose. Hearing boots approaching her door, Hange grabbed for her hang grips beneath her arms, pressing the triggers to release the grapple-hooks with a hiss of gas that hooked across into a branch and pulled her when she jumped from the window.
"Four-eyes!" She heard the shout of her dear friend. Jerking her head around, she sees Levi halfway out her window, hand grips already obtainable and hooks pulling him into the moderate rainfall. "Damn it, shit-glasses, come back!"
Even with the raindrops splattering before her glasses, she still saw Levi land briefly on the first tree then take flight again. The rush of flight did nothing to drown out his voice that called to her. Any hope she might have had of leaving him behind quickly faded as she saw him flying at full speed towards her. How much gas does he have left? She knew none of them had replenished since the fight back in the farming settlement, so he had to be low and yet he was flying as fast as he could. How did he know? Did he hear her ODM gear, or was it from his natural tracking instincts polished in the gloom of the under-ground city? Either way, she had little illusion about her ability to outperform or outfox him. He wasn't called humanities strongest soldier for nothing.
"You don't have to do that, Levi!" She shouted back before facing forward and shooting for another tree.
"I'm not letting you go out here alone!" He called, jumping off another tree.
Hange landed hard, catching her breath before launching off again. "I'll be fine!"
"The hell you will! Nobody should be wandering by themselves, especially in this weather!" Levi shouted – his voice much closer than before.
A low-hanging branch struck Hange across the face as she flew through it, the wet leaves smearing water across the lenses and the branches edge cutting her cheek. Half-blinded, she landed awkwardly in the twist of the next tree, boots slipping on the moss growing along the damp bark. She scrabbled for a moment on it before Levi landed almost on top of her, wrapping an arm around her and jumping to lift them both onto the twisted groove.
"Like I said," Levi let her go once he deemed their safety.
"Argh!" Hange let loose that strange sound from her throat when she stumbled backwards from the uneven surface of the branch after Levi released her, though she ended up leaned against the trunk – no fear of sudden fall through the air thanks to her friend. Hange, breath heavier and legs shaking from more than the cold rain, fell to her knees. Dropping her hand grips to brace herself on her palms. "You … didn't have to chase after me," she shook her head before wiping her glasses on the damp cloak – not much improvement but she could see better than before.
Hange turned her head to the side, looking more to the drops of rain sliding down her cloak from her shoulder. What was she supposed to do now? Her plans to fly off in search of freedom, of letting all her emotion out, were blown away in the wind that whistled around their ears because Levi had gone after her. They sat there together for the longest moment. Hange with her far-off eyes, teeth chewing her lip and Levi with his calm features. Remaining quiet, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain against the trees leaves, how it sounded louder than the fall itself from the cocoon of brown and green surrounding them. With her mind slipping blank, her emotions going numb first before the tips of her fingers buried in the moss commenced to follow.
"Yeah, I did." Levi lowered himself to squat down, careful to avoid getting his clothing dirty, and looked at her with eyes holding that expression of boredom.
"So, tell me, four-eyes," Levi spoke, "you decided on a stroll to refresh yourself?"
Her numbing fingers curled, feeling the moss blunder under her fingernails. "Well … the room felt suffocating."
Levi scoffed. "Tsk, you're supposed to be a squad leader now, right? How much of a role model are you going to be to the recruits if you're jumping out of windows and soaking yourself in the rain?"
There was that word again, that title. Squad leader. Fourth squad leader. Her shoulders tensed. "Squad leader. Section commander … yes … I guess I am a squad leader now, huh." She didn't pose it as asking a question to Levi, more telling herself of the reality. It sounded strange to her, how empty and void it expressed. "But …"
Hange looked towards Levi again, lifting her eyes to stare at the patch on his jacket because she wasn't brave enough to see his eyes yet. Watching it waver in the breeze around his slim torso. "But what?"
She lifted her eyes at the sound of his softer voice, still mellow in tone, but laxer than it was, and looked over his features carefully. Starting from the curve of his chin to the wet strands of hair brushing his forehead. A single drop of water slipped from the tip of a strand to fall somewhere on the large branch beneath them. He was waiting for her to speak, eyes watching her with a softness of patience he had adapted over a course of time. They hadn't known each other for a year yet, it was close, but from the first time she met him with his two friends all those months ago, she had felt a special connection to the small captain. A connection that strengthened after his first venture beyond the wall – a mission that cost him the lives of those two closest to him – when she stayed with him all that night. Taking his angry shouts, curses for her to leave him, and breaking every cup of tea she poured him, but Hange never set foot outside the room – not even letting the other two recruits enter for their safety. She had sat on the hard wooden floor, leaned against the door, after he gave up and sat in silence on his bed until the first light of dawn. It was that moment all those months ago that bound them together as dearest friends, companions, but to anyone who saw them together would think Hange was a leech he was unable to shake off. Hange always had Levi to fall back on. Telling him her story and both her hatred and fascination with the titans, the reason why she joined the Scout Regiment. Levi was there to listen to her ramble about theories until the wee hours of the morning. And after a few weeks, Levi had come to realise he could rely on her the same. Whether it was just a quiet moment drinking tea without a word or a comfort when he dealt with the struggle of deaths cost he could have saved when they ventured out. They leaned on each other because of the trust between them which allowed them to let their guards down. To cry and display weaknesses. And only then, did they finally seek the desire to feel something besides death.
"Four-eyes."
With a deep sigh, she lifted herself to rest on her heels, balled hands placed just above her knees to steady herself.
"Don't hide from me now ..." Was that a plea in his voice, or was she mishearing things now because she was struck with grief?
"Some days, it's hard to see, and others … it's as clear as water. We are all part of a machine, Levi each of us a piece that fits perfectly in place to make it all work. We have a job, a role to follow, and we follow that role without a thought further because we're fighting for the great of humanity. When one of us falls, the piece must be replaced in order for the machine to function, and the rest track up until every place is filled. There is an order to all of this. One man falls ... another takes over. Making up the ranks of the Survey Corps shows just how long you've survived, doesn't it?"
Levi stared at her with the same expression, eyes erased and impossible to read, but his brow lowered during her speech. "Yes … that's right."
"In other words, we have these positions thanks to the deaths of many of our fellow soldiers. When I act as a squad leader … I'll be thinking of these things. Of all the faces of those who have lost their lives to a foe we may never eradicate. Thinking of what I could possibly do better to keep those I'm supposed to lead alive."
"Aren't you being awfully emotional."
Hange yanked her head up at the blunt statement. She lifted her lips slightly from an exhale of air. "Yeah … maybe a little. But I can't help thinking this way when it's the exact way things are done. To Erwin, we are soldiers at the ready to take down the next titan, which I have no problem, but what he fails to see is that we have emotions. At times, our humanity is called to question, but …"
A sudden flash of her section commander's half eaten, bloodied body fills her head. Staring in shock at his eyes – cold and empty. Her heart tightened beneath her breast and her fingers gripped her trousers in their clenching hold.
"… it is always there when we lose someone we are close to. Being part of a squad, you become like a family. A bond of trust is formed, and when you lose someone … you mourn them. You feel these things."
Levi was studying her eyes closely. As she sat there before him, she could feel her bottom lip give the tiniest tremble with the rush of emotions beating against the dam. Behind her glasses, tears built against her lashes until one slipped off and down her cheek. She hoped Levi wouldn't notice it – think it was nothing but a raindrop – but when he lifted his hand to interrupt its path and brush it away, she knew he was aware of how she was feeling.
"…that's true." Levi whispered, his hot breath teasing the tip of her nose.
Hange wondered if he had always been that close, or had he moved while she rambled on. "Huh?"
"As veterans, we stand on top of the mortalities of many others. We all need to get it together, so that we can prove that all their casualties and our endurance were not unnecessary for the future."
Levi's thumb began to stroke along the bone of her cheek, running over the fresh split of her skin, causing her to shiver. "I may be the brains behind Erwin's procedures, but I will never understand his reason for making me section commander of fourth squad." She dropped her eyes. "I'm not a leader, Levi I'm a scientist. I can't even keep up with myself most of the time, how am I supposed to keep up with the others? How can I be the right fit to replace Elias?"
"Is that what's really bothering you, or is this the feelings you have about his death?"
Hange let herself slump. Head dropping as much as Levi's hand would let her. "Do you have any idea what it's like to watch the people you've trained with, eaten with, fought with, just suddenly … stop being there? Become nonexistent before your very eyes? I couldn't do anything, Levi. I wanted to, but my feet wouldn't move at first. I watched that titans jaw chew Joel's legs. I wanted to help him, but Moblit refused to let me. I felt angry. At the time I couldn't pinpoint what I was angry at. Was it the titan? Was it Moblit?" Hange could feel the tears fall freely beneath her glasses, tickling down her cheeks to drop off her jaw. "The entire ride back, all I could hear were Joel's screams, all I could see were my section commander's lifeless eyes. Staring at me, screaming at me … both blaming me for hesitating, for not being strong enough to fight. How am I supposed to do this? Am I meant to switch off my feelings, harden my humanity? Do what you did and switch myself into an emotionless weapon?"
Levi's other hand slipped around to take the nape of her neck, fingers pulling against the tangled mess of hair that had fallen from her ponytail and closed the distance between their lips. Hange was taken off her guard at the sudden, unexpected contact, letting a muffled gasp vibrate her throat. With eyes wide, she lifts her hands to press the heel of her palms against his shoulders, pushing Levi's body back enough to break their lips. She stared at him confused while he stared in return with a softer look than he'd had before.
"Levi … what are you-?"
His hand slipped further into her hair, drawing them closer again. "I'm showing you, shit-glasses." He replied like it should have been obvious to her from the start. Hange felt her shoulders tense when he leaned forward to bury his nose in her neck – just below her ear. "Because I do know what it's like to lose those closest to you."
Hange felt Levi move to take the lobe of her ear in his mouth, between his teeth to give a harsh nip he knew would cause her to jump. A sharp gasp left her lips at the action, her head to fall back and present her upper body by lifting higher on her knees.
"L-Levi!" Hange gasped when his hands moved to lift the brown wrap around her hips, unbuckling the belt to loosen the harness.
She didn't move to stop him, and that seemed only to encourage him to keep going. Levi's hands grabbed her hips tightly, using his strength to pull her closer to his chest, using his knee to spread her legs, and encouraged her to fall on her back. With his hand holding the back of her hair again to guide her, Hange felt herself suddenly laid on the branch – trapped between Levi's body. His lips assaulted her neck down to her shoulder, pulling her boots off her legs as he did so, setting them aside somewhere behind him.
She couldn't help the loud moans, desperate breaths at the affection he was giving her. "Levi .."
After her boots were removed, she felt Levi pull the straps from the arch of her feet to loosen the thigh straps, moving quickly to unbuckle the thigh fastenings on the left, letting them thunk against the branch beneath her before he worked the right undone. This gave Levi the freedom to grab her trousers from around her hips and yank them down quickly to her knees.
The dark-haired captain muffled her near scream of surprise with his lips, slithering his tongue in her mouth to secure control over her. Even though they were quite a ways from headquarters, he seemed to still have that habit of making sure she wasn't heard by others. She knew her pleasure was his alone to hear, and he made that clear with the bite to where her neck met her shoulder. Using one hand, Levi started to unbutton her blouse, kissing the newly exposed kiss until the strap across her chest prevented him from going further.
Hange was left a panting, moaning mess beneath him. Rolling her body under his lips, his hands while he firmly, harshly touched her. Arching her back when his teeth grazed over her upper chest, causing her to shiver, gripping his damp hair between her fingers. When her nails scratched along his scalp, Levi released a growl and returned the favor by trailing his other hand up the inside of her thigh, over her underwear to cup between her legs. No doubt feeling the heat over the surface that was damp with her growing arousal.
"Hange." He whispered while he brushed his fingertips along her secret. Teasing the ache with simple strokes. "Forget for a moment."
Hange lifted her head, opened her eyes to glance at Levi down her body with understanding. His face might not tell her much, but the way his eyes shone at her told her the meaning. This was how he'd help her get through it. By making her feel alive when she was surrounded by death. She nodded her head.
Levi kissed down her torso, her stomach as he started to peel off her underwear to meet her trousers bunched around her knees. Hange moved her fingers in his hair. He was not taking his time with what he wanted, not by the way his touches left tingling marks on her skin. Swaying her body, Levi lifted onto his knees to position himself between her legs, firmly grabbing her ankles to part her legs enough to dip his head between them and reveal her every vulnerable secret – resting the bend of her knees on his shoulders.
Hange inhaled sharply when Levi used his mouth and teeth on the inside of her thigh, sucking hard where her thigh met her hip. Her head knocking against the solid wood when his warm mouth finally placed an open liped kiss over her sex. Moving his lips higher up, just above the apex, allowed his hand back between her legs, giving his thumb access to press between her glistening folds. Hange lifted her hips from the branch from the stimulating heat he brought forth when it moved to slip inside her warm entrance.
Levi growled at that, unaware she has practically put herself on full display to his eyes. Pushing his thumb in as far as it could and beginning to move it in and out – making sure to touch every inch of her walls – lowering his mouth to dip his tongue between her petals. Slipping up to the sensitive bundle placed at her apex.
Hange couldn't help with the way her body reacted. Her hips rocked against Levi's tongue, his thumb moving inside her. Her back arched, pushing her shoulders into the wood, as she moaned his name. She felt his free hand wrap around under her thigh to hold her hips still, keeping her where he wanted her. Levi pressed closer, moving his tongue in search of that sweet bundle that drove her wild. Letting him know with a breathless gasp that he found it, Levi closed his lips around it, sucking it into his hot mouth and allowing his tongue to massage the bud in more direct attention. Hange nearly jumped off the branch, but Levi's firm grip on her hip and his weight kept her in place. A prisoner to his assaulting pleasure. Completely held and unable to do anything, Hange surrenders herself over to him. Rolling her head around with endless gasps and moans, body shaking with the intense pleasure swimming around inside her.
For a brief moment, Levi slipped his thumb free from her walls, causing her to whimper in protest, but she was rewarded with two of his fingers replacing what was removed. Hange nearly screamed from the intimate touch, feeling them dive deeper and curling to stroke that secret spot only the way he knew how. His fingers dug harder into her hip at her cry. Hange was floating, her body heating with rushes of desire beneath her skin.
"Let go, Hange, give it to me." Levi spoke with rushed breath, demanding, lowering his tongue back to circle in her folds.
"L-Levi!" She lifted her head to look at him between her legs.
"Right now." His mouth closes on her to allow his tongue and fingers to speak for him, working her urgently, firmly, quickly.
Hange's body shook with the pleasure threading on release. Digging her nails into the moss growing on the branch. Her heart racing, pounding beneath her breast until all her control was gone. With her eyes closed, Hange's body moves against his mouth while the pulsing waves of her climax take her to highs she hardly reaches. Levi uses his tongue to draw out her pleasure as long as he could, slowing his movements but still firmly stroking her. Her pleasure came hard and quick, leaving her feeling hot atop the tree branch. Legs shaking, only remaining up thanks to his shoulders, and every muscle went slack. Every inch of her left limp.
Her head felt lightened from the waves of pleasure she had finally been able to release. Every strain, every apprehension she had been harboring disappeared as she laid limp on the mossy branch. Heavy breaths falling free of her parted lips, Hange lifted a hand to push her hair out of her eyes and looked towards Levi. The shorter captain was standing near her feet, using a white cloth to wipe his mouth and the two fingers he had used between her thighs. A blush creeping hotter on her cheeks, she turned her eyes away when he caught her gaze.
"Don't just sit there." He spoke in that familiar monotone again. "Here, clean yourself and fix your trousers." He held out that cloth he had used.
She sat up to take it and began to clear the arousal. Doing the best she could without a proper bowl of water and soap. Hange dropped the cloth after she got to her feet and reached down to grab her white trousers from around her knees, tucking her yellow blouse into the waistband, before finally fixing the brown wrap-cloth and the straps around her thighs and securing the belt lock. Hange reached about the harness to readjust the straps on her calves to make sure she could move correctly.
"I know you feel overwhelmed, Hange." Levi's sudden voice caught her attention from pulling her boots back over her legs, snapping her head up – not from the fact he sounded somewhat sincere, but from the use of her actual name. "You smile, you laugh, you act crazy to fool everybody … but not me. I know what's behind those eyes. You don't have to hide yourself away, you don't need to switch off your emotions, harden who you are, because you think it will make you fit in place better. When you're acting as section commander – remembering all the ones before you, hearing the world calling your name for the sake of humanity … every time you bleed for reaching greatness, relentless you'll survive, Hange. You are an unstoppable force. Never stop feeling what you do, because the moment you cross that line, you will never be the same."
Hange lowered her eyes, staring more to his feet with a quiet sigh. "I see …" She muttered.
She felt her chin lifted from his thumb and forefinger taking hold. "When you hear yourself begging for you to fight, hearing those before you, pick yourself up and regard. You want to know why?" She opened her mouth to answer, but thunder interrupted, and Levi didn't wait. "Legends never die … and you are surely a legend, Hange."
Levi released her chin, moving towards the edge of the branch with his grips in hand. Hange turned herself to look at the back of his damp hair – watching the breeze sway it gently to the right, feeling it wave through the heavy fabric of her cloak.
"We need to head back shit-glasses, Erwin is waiting for you." He gave a slight glance back at her before sending his hooks out in a hiss of pressured air and jumping from the branch to fly through the trees.
"…Right," Hange muttered, grabbing her grips that dangled at her feet, ready to push the triggers until she stopped. A stronger brush of wind hit her face, almost urging her to turn around. Gazing beyond in the forest, Hange felt a presence of familiarity – like from people she knew. The wind blew from behind her back, rushing passed into the forest of cluttered trees to rustle the leaves – almost calling out. "Legends never die …"
Atop Wall Maria – 850
Shiganshina District
The afternoonwas scorching with the sun at its peak, heating the flesh of her nape exposed to its rays from her slumped position. Sat atop a spare crate near the inner edge of Wall Maria, Hange took in a deep breath of air after an unknown period from the last exhale. The scent of smoke, blood, and sweat wafted through until she could nearly taste on her tongue what she was smelling. She sat up with a cough to keep from gagging over the unpleasant smells around her. This gave her a chance to look around at the demolished district closer than when they had arrived. She spotted the remaining members of the survey corps zipping around the town in search of anything still viable, keeping themselves busy until Armin awoke – who was laid atop the wall with Eren watching over him – and giving Hange time alone to figure out their next move.
She knew the whole plan behind getting to Shiganshina was to gain access to the Yeager basement and unlock the secrets hidden within, but never in her mind did she expect to face all that they did … nor the events that led to choosing who got the serum. And now … there were only nine remaining members of the survey corps. Herself, Floch, and Levi's squad. Everyone else laid dead in the grass beyond the Shiganshina wall from the Beast Titan's bombardment of crushed rocks. Even … Commander Erwin was lost to them, succumbed to his injuries shortly after Levi chose to save Armin with the injection, now left to rest in one of the abandoned homes with a sheet draped over him. Hange curled her fingers against her knees at the fresh memory of putting her commander to eternal rest. At least Levi and her could give him that … she couldn't say the same for Moblit.
She had spent the better part of the morning looking for his body, near the wellspring that he had shoved her down to protect her for the blast of Bertolt's change. She remembered watching Bertolt fly up, knowing he was about to transform, and the last thing Moblit said from behind her.
"Hange, look out!"
Feeling his hand shove into the middle of her back hard enough to knock her from her current path, and down into the opening of the stone well. Flipping over in time to watch as the aftershock of the blast tore apart buildings and debris clatter against Moblit before the left side of her goggles cracked – fragments damaging her eye. By the time she managed to emerge from the watery depth, the area was laid to waste in smoke, fire, and ash. There was no Moblit. Another farewell she had to give to someone who has been with her since cadet school.
Hange sighed, relaxing her grip on her knees to stop her nails from cutting her skin.
'Honestly, you should be used to it by now.' She scolded herself, lifting her head to glance out over the ruins of Shiganshina District. 'Wasn't it you who had pleaded to Mikasa to understand? Telling her the reality of having to eventually let go of everyone you've ever met?'
A soft brush of wind teased through her dirty bangs. The strands touching over the fresh bandage she had changed when she perched herself up here – since her wounds continued to bleed after Levi helped to clean them.
'I know that's tough to accept. It's tough for me too.' Hange stood up from the crate, reaching for her hand grips, and walked to the edge of the inner wall. 'It's hard to stay sane living like this. I should know. It hurts, Elisa. It hurts, Moblit. It really hurts, Erwin. But … even with the hurt, I – all of us just have to keep pushing forward.' With an intake of breath, Hange lifted her foot and stepped off the edge of the wall. 'For the sake of all humanity.'
The familiar, sudden rush of falling freely made her stomach flop into her chest and her head to spin. Hange adjusted her body from falling feet first, to placing her back towards the ground far below. The air around her – although having been nearly still before – now roared passed her ears. Smacking into her back harshly, slithering over her stained cloak to flap the ends in echoing snaps. It was strange, despite the heat the wind was chilly against the back of her neck, making her shiver. Hange lived for this feeling. Feeling weightless. Carefree. Like nothing mattered anymore. Opening her eye, she gazed at the clouds high above with a parted mouth, reaching her right arm up to try touching them. The gleaming sun reflected off the blade she held up. Suddenly, things felt empty. Did anything matter anymore? Nearly everyone was dead. Their leader, their symbol of hope was dead. What difference would it make if she just let herself continue to fall? What was one more?
"It's your turn."
The sudden voice shook Hange's focus. With a gasp at how clear it sounded – like they were right next to her – she squeezed her triggers, sending out her hooks to anchor in the wall. She swung her body towards the solid wall, pressing the sole of her boots to slow her descend until she was left perched on the side. Staring in no particular direction, nor zooned on a certain object, Hange listened.
"There's an order to these things. Perhaps it's the law of human nature. When one's time is over, another must take on the role that they used to play. And thus, the world can never be cleansed of it." The watery, pitied brown eyes of Sannes clouded her hazy sight. "Best of luck, Hange."
Her grip tightened around the swords in her palms until her fingers ached to stopped. She remembered that night vividly. The torture. The confession. The … future promotion.
"Hange, leave town at once."
"Huh? What are you planning to do?" She remembered feeling so confused at his sudden request. Run away? When had the scouts ever been told to run and hide from an enemy?
As calmly as always, Erwin spoke in his deep tone. "I need to be the face of the Scout Regiment. I trust you to act at your own discretion. Also, I've chosen the Scouts' next leader." The way he looked at her in that moment, just before speaking their name, she knew he was as serious as usual. "And it's you. Zoë Hange."
"Tsk. Erwin." Hange muttered with a smirk. "And I thought making me Section Commander of fourth squad was foolish … then you go and do that." Hange pressed the trigger to release her hooks from the wall, pushing off the solid surface at the same time to fling herself towards the housing below. Falling freely again, waiting for the right moment to catch herself before smacking to the ground. The hiss of air sounded when her hooks shot out to anchor in the closest house still standing. Her boots planted to the side of the house near a broken window. "Making me the next Commander." Hange suddenly let out a dry chuckle. "Yep. That's you all over, Erwin."
The loud, echoing sound of a flare gun shooting off made her glance up towards the wall. A green trail of smoke – already dispersing – lifted towards the sky from atop the wall near where Armin and Sasha were left to rest after the fight. She had instructed Levi to release a signal when the boy awoke … and it looks like it was time. Her time to take her first act as Commander to what their next step was.