Beyond the Wall

The next day dawned bright and the sun was shining down, even though it was still only early. The cadets had been up since dawn, checking their gear and making sure that everything was ready. A badly maintained ODM gear could mean the difference between coming back alive or becoming titan food! Levi was walking back and forwards amongst the group; Hange right behind him. He was rechecking gear and snapping at cadets who did not meet his approval. An hour after dawn, they were all mounted and ready to go. The only sound was of the horses snorting and their bridles clanking quietly. Levi raised his arm and motioned for the group to move out. The headed towards the date and once they were clear of the wall, kicked their horses into a canter and headed out into the world beyond the wall.

They rode until noon, heading towards an area where there had been a high amount of titan activity in the past few weeks. On a hill, not far from the woods stood an old house which was used as a base by the scouts when they were out and about. It was easy to defend and much safer than risking being caught out in the open if the mission ran to a few days. The only downside, was that Levi made the cadets clean ... constantly. He argued it was good training and good for morale but you would struggle to find a cadet who agreed with him. They arrived at the house and stopped to give the horses water and to make sure they had a plan in place. Hange was adamant that she wanted two titans or at a push, one abnormal. Mikasa rolled her eyes, she had little time for collecting titans. As far as she was concerned the only good titan was a dead titan. Well except for Eren, she would die to protect him.

In the house, Levi and Hange were stood looking at maps and discussing the best way to make sure that they had as little risk to themselves as possible. From the look on Levi's face, Hange was not really bothering to much about the risk to anyone. Her passion for titans made her single minded.

"We should use the trees if we can," Levi was saying "It gives us the advantage of high ground and easy manoeuvrability with our gear. The titans don't move as fast when there are trees in the way."

Hange nodded slowly "We will need two teams. One to take it down and the other waiting to make sure it is staked down securely until we can move it back to the barracks."

Levi laughed slightly, "Yeah cos that will just be a walk in the park. Leading a bloody titan cross country!"

Hange grinned and nudged Levi, "No problem for you! You are humanities strongest remember!"

Across the room, Eren was watching them and as Hange bumped her hip against Levi, he felt something that he suddenly realised was jealousy. Mikasa had been right! He was not sure how that made him feel. He had never thought about relationships or anything before. Staying alive was always everyone's number one priority. He realised that Mikasa and Armin were looking at him.

"Oh look, he has finally accepted what we already knew, judging by the look on his face," Mikasa smirked.

Armin chuckled and sipped his drink thinking to himself, this is about to get messy!

Levi and Hange finished their conversation and Levi looked over at Eren, Mikasa and Armin.

"You three, get your gear we are going out to do some scouting." Levi said.

"What about me?" Hange asked.

"Ok fine!" Levi replied, shaking his head.

Hange smiled to herself and went to get her gear. As if she was letting him go without her!

It did not take too long for the five of them to be ready and heading into the woods. In silence they glided from tree to tree, keeping an eye out for any titans lurking in the trees. As they reached a break in the trees Levi called a halt, standing on a branch with Eren beside him. Mikasa and Armin was standing across from them with Hange slightly behind. Across the clearing, there was a group of titans. They were ambling aimlessly around, not aware of the group of scouts standing in the trees behind them. Eren moved closer to Levi, looking over his shoulder. He was so close he could smell the soap in Levi's hair. Mikasa nudged Armin who rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, they were not the only ones who had noticed. Standing a few feet behind Eren and Levi, Hange had a strange look on her face. She was staring at the back of Eren's head, squinting slightly, looking deep in thought. Levi turned around and looked weirdly at Eren.

"Do you need to stand so close?" he asked

Eren blushed and backed away, "Sorry, I was just trying to get a good look at them."

"Course he was, Mikasa muttered under her breath.

"So will any of these do?" Levi called over to Hange.

Hange barely looked at the titans, instead she turned and headed back to the base, calling out "No, I am not in the mood anymore. Let's try again tomorrow."

She disappeared through the trees leaving Levi scowling after her.

"What the hell is up with her now? Bloody weirdo," he said.

Mikasa shrugged and with a meaningful look at Eren said, "No idea, maybe she just didn't like what she saw."

Levi shook his head and started back towards the base muttering "Bloody Four Eyes" under his breath as he did. But he was also aware of something else. Eren had stood so close, it had felt strangely intimate and he could still feel the memory of Eren's breath on his neck. Levi hated physical contact but for once, he had not snapped at Eren to move. Confused as much by his own behaviour as Hange's, Levi flew through the trees. They would try again tomorrow and Hange would just have to accept whichever titan she came across. Bloody woman, she was infuriating!