A/N: Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great holiday. :)
silentreader: british colombian eh? cool mix...except every time i see that it makes me think of a pirate lounging on the beach drinking rum-laced coffee, lol. XD dunno why. glad u enjoyed Sierra laying the verbal smackdown on that arrogant Wallist and Jarell's overall character in general.
As for what Sierra might want out of life...well she's too busy wrapped up in her job and trust issues from her past to think that far ahead. but maybe Levi can help her, if she lets him do it.
Anyway enjoy and big hugs to everyone who's followed and supported this work from day 1! :)
Here's a super long chappie to make up for the mini unintended hiatus.
45th Recon Mission - Surface 846
Overcast skies threatened to downpour as Sierra rode Slate through a dense swath of forest they were supposed to map out for future missions. She'd seen many types of trees and vegetation over a span of 22 missions yet the Forest of Giant Trees called to something deep within her soul. So when the Scouting party was told they would begin mapping the old tourist trap, she couldn't keep the pleased smile off her face.
But right now, she was focused on her fifth target of the day, a quick-stepping 10 meter class deviant that didn't notice the human on its tail, but was heading full-speed towards the fringe of the forest. Where the rest of the Scouts were camped.
The familiar urge to see the demon's blood paint the grass a beautiful bright red overwhelmed Sierra's senses. It was times like these, when there was nothing but open sky, rustling leaves and the comforting metallic ring of her paring blades about to carve up back/neck meat that Sierra truly felt a semblance of peace. There was something oddly intimate and personal about solo kills. It delivered a twisted rush of the kind a team assist wouldn't even come close to reaching.
Blades set she hopped on top of Slate's saddle and fired her hooks, feeling the bloodlust warming her frozen heart as they found purchase on the deviant's neck.
Before the ugly bastard could react, she fired a spurt of gas that propelled her lithe, toned frame at a speed Levi would've been proud had he witnessed it, blades flashing.
The cut was small but very deep. She shot the hooks again and nimbly leapt off the falling demon's back. Another quick swing brought her boots back onto level ground.
Slate trotted up whickering at his mistress. She wasted no time remounting the dark grey stallion with a fluid sweep of her legs. Reveled in the euphoria that always accompanied a successful titan kill as she fired a green flare for the all clear.
"Guess that's it for this little sweep," she murmured. "Too bad. Ah well. It's early still, so that could change."
She galloped back to where she left Dita Ness at the treeline.
"Deets!"
The bandanna wearing outlier swung around, blowing out a relieved breath at the sound of her voice, blades at the ready.
"Sierra, thank God! How's it look?"
"Just cleared the last one."
Ness urged his horse Charlet alongside hers as they rode back. Within minutes the outlines of hastily erected shelters and tents hove into view.
A Scout came running to meet them. "Sirs, I saw the green flare go up. Is everything al-"
"That was me, kid. Tell Erwin we're good to go."
The stocky young recruit saluted and ran back the way he came. Sierra eased Slate down to a brisk trot, stomach growling. Ness chuckled quietly. His superior always worked up a voracious appetite with the extra physical and mental exertion required for a solo specialist, but stopped when she cast him a pointed stare.
"Somethin' funny, Deets?"
"No." He coughed into his sleeve, effectively cutting off his traitorous humor. "Nothing at all, sir."
All too soon, both outliers cleared the trees to a tense but relieved group of the Scouting party.
A deranged, high-pitched squeal followed by a flash of brown hair accompanied by a semi-masculine build rushed forward, as she dismounted and enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug.
"SIERRAAAAA!"
Said nineteen year old stiffened under the woman's embrace.
"Yes, I'm alive Hange. Let go. I'm starving."
She fought the urge to rub her arms as the circulation was restored. "I take it Erwin knows already?"
Hange nodded as the women made their way to the cooking fire. "Yeah. He just needed to wait until you got back. Now that the way's cleared out we'll be leaving as soon as you eat something."
She gave a noncommittal grunt as she accepted her portion of soup and bread with a field cup filled to the brim with fresh water. Waved Hange's offer to sit with her off as she walked over to park at the base of a tree mere paces from the edge of the Command tent.
Sierra paced herself with the food, trying to make it last, wiping the crumbs off her chin and letting out a hearty belch.
'Mmmm, that was a good meal.' She thought as she rinsed out her empty bowl and spoon with water from her canteen. Hardly had she reentered camp when the flap of the Command tent was thrown aside and Petral Ral appeared out of nowhere, an pensive expression on her normally cheerful face.
Sierra kept her own face closed, one of many skills she'd been forced to perfect in her time Underground.
"Got somethin' for me Ral?"
She saw the ginger steel herself, tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, then blurted it out loud enough for the entire camp to hear.
"What's it gonna take for you to act like a human being?!"
Okay. Whatever Sierra was expecting it sure as hell wasn't that. But she was still in Ripper mode and she'd be damned if she allowed this emotional outburst to go unpunished.
"I'm sorry." Her voice was a scratchy growl that promised mayhem. "But who the hell do you think you are, princess?"
That should've shut the girl up. Instead the older woman's amber eyes took on a fierce glare.
"Don't 'princess' me, Major. You've been on 22 missions and not once have I seen you shed a single tear on any of them! It's like you don't care about anything or anyone except yourself and the job-!"
'Put them tears away girl, if ya want to survive. They spoil our faces. I've been here thirty years honey, and the one thing the johns won't bang is a crier. It's one of the biggest mood killers and a very common mistake that can turn deadly. Remember that when a john beats ya.'
Anger boiled in Sierra's gut at the memory of Cherise, one of the lifer prostitutes who'd taken a shine to her and dispensed hard-won advice to protect her from the worst the brothel clientele had to offer. It flashed in her silver eyes, turning them an opaque blizzard white.
Petra found her verbal onslaught aborted as her legs were suddenly swept out from under her and felt herself falling, then felt a sharp thud as the back of her head bounced off the unyielding dirt. Stunned and hurt she slowly sat up, clutching her throbbing skull.
"Okay Ral. Ya wanna play tough. Fine. I'm only gonna spell this out once. So listen up." Petra bit her lip, trying to keep her watering eyes averted, shivering at the ice in the younger girl's voice. "I'm not yer sister and yer not my mother. I didn't join the military to make friends. The only reason I'm here is to kill titans. That's it. Nothing more nothing less." Sierra crossed her arms, eyes wintry as she stared down her nose at the shocked elite. "If you can't leave yer emotions at the gate, then don't bother coming out on any more field trips. We don't have time to entertain liabilities. The demons we fight don't give a damn about how we feel. All they care about is making us their next meal. Besides, if ya got the energy to worry over stupid things like tears, then you've got no room to complain when yer humanity gets you killed one day."
She felt a collective hushed gasp and turned to discover the whole camp had heard the entire exchange. Someone let out a strangled growl and only then did she find Oluo the Bozo standing less than ten feet from their position, fists tightly clenched, his larger frame shaking with rage. Levi, Erwin and Hange stood in the now fully opened tent flap surveying the sorry scene, Levi with mild shock, Erwin impassive as always and Hange with her mouth agape.
Suddenly Ral's punishment came to her in a flash.
"Erwin, how long's the next run?"
The blond man's lips twitched.
"Twenty miles." The vicious gleam in the girl's eye was a bit unsettling but he decided to go with it. "Why?"
"Ohhhh, Ditaaaa."
Ness cringed, swallowing hard at his superior's sing-song tone.
"Yeah boss?"
"Take Ral and put her on the right flank. She's swapping spots with me for the next run."
Petra's face went deathly white. Ness' eyes bugged out of his head. Beside him, Siss was gaping in utter disbelief.
"Hey, hey...whoa. For real?!"
She turned to face the taller man, chuckling darkly as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry Deets. Really terribly sorry, but it looks like yer pullin' guard duty on top of titan time."
Levi's eyes widened slightly as he realized the brutal nature of Sierra's 'lesson'.
"She's not your subordinate she-wolf," he said, catching Petra shooting him a desperate, panicked look. "So you've got no right to jerk her around." Unfortuntately, his attempt to shield Petra from Wolf's wrath made him the object of everyone's curious, probing stares. Levi found himself cursing internally. Bad move. 'Never show anyone special attention you idiot," he thought but when it came to Petra logic and reason went out the window.
"Sorry bastard. Yer princess needs a damn reality check. And I'm gonna give it to her."
Levi opened his mouth but snapped it shut with a warning grunt from Erwin, who then nodded to his two outliers.
Ness released an exasperated breath. Striding over to where Ral sat in the dirt he reached down and pulled her up. She swayed on her feet, all her strength sapped by the callous order.
"Let's go Ral. You better pull yer weight and not slow me and Siss down or get us killed."
He half-dragged the semi-frozen Special Ops soldier toward their horses Siss right on their heels, scowling at the petite woman's outburst against their colleague.
"You monster."
Sierra pinned a furious Oluo Bossard with an even more venomous look than she did at Ral mere seconds ago.
"Left flank, dickhead. On the double." Grumbling curses under his breath, Oluo fought back a wave of nausea as he wheeled his horse in the opposite direction his longtime crush had been sent.
A deathly silence had fallen over the temporary camp. Sierra took her time scanning faces, most couldn't endure her challenging glare. No one wanted to get singled out by the Ripper and made an example of.
Finally she put two fingers and emitted an ear-piercing whistle. Seconds after the sound died away, everyone heard hoofs clopping and then Slate trotted into view, head bobbing as he approached his mistress.
She mounted him with an effortless grace, as if she didn't send two elite soldiers to their possible deaths.
"Well then. Let's git outta here."
...
Stohess - present day
It wasn't every day Jarell Wolf was stunned speechless. Yet here he was standing in the middle of a hallway on his way to Erwin's meeting with his jaw slackened.
Said meeting had probably been adjourned if Squad Leader Zoe hadn't passed by with a lithe, severely-toned shorter woman she'd been messing around with. And he would've dismissed the incident except the girl's crown of fiery hair and cold, arctic silver eyes he'd caught a glimpse of after she ran into him that gave the tall officer pause.
She didn't recognize me. And she moves like a dancer, but she's brutal. That explained the vulgar outburst and the fact running into his chest didn't slow her down.
Her voice sounded just like...but it couldn't be-
He shook his head to clear it, forcing his foot to continue on his way and fufill his duty to the King, when every fiber of his being yelled at him to chase after the mystery woman. Not now. There was a meeting to glean from and he was already running late.
...
Hange kept glancing back over her shoulder at the juncture where they'd just left one of the hunkiest men the scientist ever laid eyes on. Having spent most of her adult life in the military she'd seen the entire gamut of body shapes, but this guy seemed a cut above most. So like the naturally curious adult child she was, Hange launched right into it.
"So...who's the stud?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, knowing her friend hated it when she did that.
Sierra didn't break her clipped strides, boots echoing off the polished floors. For the love of God Sierra, you will NOT strangle this button-pusher.
"How the hell should I know hag?"
"He couldn't stop staring at you."
She ground her teeth, blood boiling at the researcher's sly implication.
"That's cause I ran into his sorry ass and moved on. I don't know who that was and honestly, I don't care."
Frei stealthily fell back behind the two women a step to give the Major some space. Maybe I shouldn't have come. The annoyed tick in her eyebrow followed by a very dismissive cold shoulder as she passed him out of the conference room spoke volumes. She doesn't like it when someone attaches to her. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.
"Aww, but don't you wanna find out-?"
"No." Hange pouted at the clear warning in her friend's flat, dismissive tone. "There's a titan party we're missing out on. And before we get there, I want you to tell me the names of the party guests I'm gonna be fighting with."
Hange disguised her muffled laugh as a cough behind her hand before answering.
"Well, there's the Shiganshina Trio-"
"Eren, Asia and Armin. Don't gimme that look," she said in response to the taller woman's incredulous expression. "I already met them before this guy showed up."
Frei fought to keep the slight hurt from her unfeeling words cut through his frame. The fact she wasn't calling him by name was another indication the Major wasn't happy with him tagging along. It's almost like I'm a nusiance to her. Which stung a bit more than it should've. Dammit Evan, stop projecting! It's not like she's gonna give an average guy like you a second look. You've got a nice girl waiting for you back home. If I could only screw up the guts to pop the question...
His mental debate went ignored by the two women carrying on their conversation/argument.
"O-kay." Hange quickly recovered from her friend's callous remark. "Why don't we wait until we get to the room? I'm sure they'll be pleased to work with you." Just keep her attention on you Zoe. The last thing I need is the Ripper coming out...and I'm NOT cleaning up that mess. The last two unfortunate souls who'd suffered the full brunt of that special kind of sadistic, eventually succumbed to their humanity via a brutal death at the hands of the Female Titan a scant four years later. And it was the root cause of multiple verbal clashes Sierra and Levi shared. She had a feeling Levi never got over the sensation of his now deceased lover being exposed to a level of danger not within his protective reach. To an experienced outlier twenty miles was nothing. But to throw someone not trained for the vigors required for such a high risk position, it was dangerous and terrifying.
Needless to say, Petra never made the mistake of bringing up the murky subject of humanity on missions again. At least not when Sierra was present. Nor did another rude protest issue out of Oluo's mouth. Being on the fringes made them both appreciate their protected position in Levi's squad more. Four years later, Sierra's eerily prophetic warning proved all too true. Unfortunately, the 57th was when they needed her unyielding presence the most.
"Fine. But they better keep up Hange. I've got no time to babysit. Nor do you or Levi for that matter."
"Oh trust me," the scientist winked. "They're some of our finest soldiers. We got a talented batch of kids this year."
Sierra ran a hand through her messy locks, eyes sightly unfocused. I wonder who that dude was back there? Sure ain't nobody I've seen before. I'd definitely remember someone like that...arrgh! What does it matter?
"Yeah well, I'll be the judge of that."
TBC...
