Chapter 6: The Price of Fighting
Autumn was in full force. It was the most beautiful time to go on expeditions. Swinging through the myriad-colored leaves on the 3DMG was one of the most peaceful experiences a person could have, or at least that was how Amelia felt. The Survey Corps avoided doing expeditions in the winter as much as possible, it was too easy for horses to slip or carts to become lodged in snowdrifts, and the 3DMG got more temperamental in the cold, having a tendency to freeze up. That made the fall one of their busy times.
Amelia enjoyed galloping through the open country following the different smoke signals. She was positioned in the back right and slightly inside of the formation, in charge of leading one of the extra horses. She had yet to run into any titans. They were still well within territory that they had gone into before. Amelia knew that they would be reaching a town just after dusk where they would hold up for the night, resupplying with the supplies previously dropped there, and exploring new territory the next day in order to find a place to function as their next checkpoint. Those who had used any had filled up on gas and new blades at their last checkpoint around midday, but it had been dangerous to stay in one area too long while still light out or risk attracting the attention of the titans.
The sun was setting now, and Amelia took a moment to enjoy the beauty of the sky as it glowed a brilliant orange. A dark flare shot up across the sun, ruining the beauty of the scene around her. Amelia frowned, squinting into the sunlight in an attempt to see the approaching threat as she fired a black flare. Its silhouette slowly became visible as the variant approached her and Amelia urged the extra horse away, jumping onto her saddle in preparation to engage the enemy. It was going really quickly and though she could see a member of the search squad approaching, she knew she had to slow it down or it would get much further into the formation before they caught up to it.
The titan was a 15-meter class and she had never faced one this large before, she could feel herself sweat but was determined to keep the members of the Corps safe. Besides, the search squad member would be there to back her up if she could just hinder its movements. Leaping out of her saddle, Amelia shot her line into the back of the titan's upper thigh as it ran past her. It immediately felt the impact and changed direction, sending Amelia flying wildly as it swiveled in order to get a look at what had happened.
Amelia kept calm as she swung around towards the titan's front and one of its hands came flying towards her. Just like when she was learning how to walk a tightrope, Amelia knew panicking here was the worst possible reaction to a situation. Allowing herself to fall back into her harness Amelia spun and sliced through the titan's fingers, grappling onto its chest, she heard the hiss smack of another 3DMG and knew all she had to do was keep it busy for a little longer. The titan began lifting its other arm up to reach behind its back and Amelia released her line, kicking off of the titan's chest and stabbed both knives into the crook of its elbow and, giving a hard twist, she heard the crunch of ligament and bone as the titan roared in anger, its lower arm falling, hanging from the bicep by only skin and muscle.
By the time the titan turned its gaping mouth towards her, the search member had done his work, slicing through the titan's nape. Amelia jumped just before the body hit the ground, watching happily as her horse sidled up to her. All the Survey Corps horses were incredibly well trained. Looking over at the search squad, Amelia recognized the white handkerchief tied around the head of team leader Ness who gave her an appreciatory thumbs up before climbing onto his beloved horse Chalet. Amelia grinned at him, happy with herself as well; this was her third assist and she'd had one successful kill herself earlier in the summer, those weren't bad stats for a new Corps member. In fact, she probably couldn't be considered a rookie anymore. Pushing those thoughts aside, she looked around for her extra horse who had not come back.
"I saw him bolt and head deeper into the formation," Ness called to her as he turned to head back out to his position. "He probably hasn't gotten that far, better get him back."
Amelia knew that he was right, the horses were invaluable and meant the difference between life and death. As long as the horse was inside of the formation it should be safe, and Ness knew that she'd be out of her position. Besides, she had to relay to the inner formation that the variant had been successfully disposed of. Kicking her heals into her horse's sides she galloped off towards the center, following the hoof prints of her lost horse.
Levi had seen the black signal off to the right of him a few minutes ago and was tensely awaiting either the titan or a messenger saying it was dealt with. He wasn't worried, taking down a single variant should be easy, especially with his squad with him. His stomach dropped as a lone horse galloped across the plain in front of him, and Levi pushed forward in order to grab it before it got away. Had the rider been killed? Grabbing ahold of the reigns he tried to calm it, patting it gently on the neck as it breathed heavily. Looking down at the saddle he clenched his jaw, seeing Amelia's green cape stuffed into the bags hung across the horse's saddle, her name neatly hand stitched onto the inside flap.
Gritting his teeth, Levi turned into the setting sun, pulling his blades out, eyes narrowing in anger. If that titan had harmed her, he was going to tear it apart piece by piece.
"Amelia!" Petra's voice called out, seeing her approaching quickly on horseback. Levi's heart skipped a beat, she was alright.
"Captain," Amelia shouted out excitedly, waving at him from the distance. Levi found himself waving back before even consciously deciding to do so. He quickly put his hand down and wished she would just get close to them already so he could make sure she wasn't injured. She reigned in next to him, grinning idiotically.
"You found him," she grinned, and Levi cocked an eyebrow at her. "The horse, I was looking for him."
"And the titan?" Levi asked flatly. She certainly knew how to get straight to the important information he thought sarcastically. Maybe she'd ask about the weather next.
"Oh, yes!" She answered, as if she'd already forgotten. "Ness and I brought it down, no injuries, no loss of life."
Levi nodded curtly, handing the reigns over to her, their hands brushing as she grabbed them from him. Turning, she began to gallop back towards her position in the formation.
"Private!" He called after her, and she paused, turning in her saddle, the sun lighting up her hair and face. "Good work."
"Thank you, sir," she grinned proudly. Waving goodbye to Petra and the rest of his squad.
"Sir," came Gunther's voice, "We should keep moving or we'll fall behind."
"Tch, obviously," Levi answered, urging his horse back into a gallop. Turning his head into the setting sun, he watched Amelia's silhouette as it seemed to be swallowed up in the golden rays.
"Stay safe, brat," Levi muttered under his breath before turning his attention back to the south. He would see her again in a few short hours.
Amelia hadn't expected to come across a second variant on her way back to her position, especially now that the sun was completely below the horizon. There had been no signal fired and the only warning she had was the sound of heavy footsteps as it crashed through some trees in front of her. Amelia jumped from her horse, the titan smashing it under his foot and sliding past her. Whistling desperately Amelia prayed that the other horse wouldn't bolt this time, or she was dead. The titan dug its heel into the earth, opening its mouth in a gruesome hungry smile, and sprinted towards her. Amelia jumped at the last minute, grabbing ahold of the horse's saddle as it came back around for her, hanging onto the side of it, her foot in one stirrup and the blade in her left hand cut through three of the titan's huge fingers as it roared at her.
Amelia pulled herself up, sitting backwards in her saddle, trusting the horse to gallop as fast as it could away from the titan. It had recovered much fast than she'd hoped, and turning, crawled after her on all fours. The stupid fucker, she thought in annoyance, didn't it know that that put its eyes at the perfect height for her to do this? Amelia grinned tensely, waiting for it to get close enough, when it opened its gaping jaw and she could see down its throat, Amelia brought both her arms back and threw her knives into its eyes. She cursed as it twisted its head and one of the blades missed their mark. Spinning in her saddle, Amelia urged the horse on, knowing it was at its limit. Looking over her shoulder, the titan was already recovering, gaining speed again and getting close to her.
Knowing it could mean her death, Amelia jumped off of her horse as the titan leaped forward, its mouth biting down on the horse's rear end, having meant to swallow Amelia. Using her 3DMG, she swung down to the ground and began to sprint away, while the titan was confused over whether it had eaten her or not. If she could just make it to Captain Levi, she might stand a chance. She wouldn't get far on foot, and the titan noticed her before she'd made it fifty meters.
Her hopes raised as she saw two horses riding towards her. Two men she'd seen only a few times raced towards the titan, and Amelia turned, prepared to join them if she could help. As one of the men flew around the titan's face it suddenly shot out its long neck, biting down hard on the man's legs, and he screamed out in pain.
"No!" Amelia screamed, running back towards them, watching helplessly as the titan chewed on the still screaming Corpsman. The other man panicked as his companion was eaten, hitting the ground awkwardly and his knee popped out of place with a sickening crunch. He started sobbing as the titan reached for him and Amelia ran harder, tears streaming down her face, she wasn't going to make it in time. Steeling her will she knew she would try. They were both still alive.
A hand shot down and grabbed the back of her jacket, pulling her up onto a horse, and Amelia found herself deposited into the lap of Lance Corporal Levi. Amelia expected him to immediately spin around and go after the titan and stared uncomprehendingly as they kept riding farther and farther away.
"What are you doing!?" She shouted at him, her fist pounding into his chest, squirming in an attempt to get off of the horse. "We can help them!"
"They're dead already, if we don't keep up with the formation, we'll be dead too." He answered coldly, his arms locking tightly around her to keep her from falling out of the saddle. Amelia could hardly believe the words he was saying.
"They're dying and you're not going to do anyth—"
"They're dying to protect humanity, just as every soldier in this Corps is prepared to do." He cut her off, dark eyes locking with hers.
"Those are people," she sobbed in anger.
"Those are corpses." He retorted as the screams of the two men were cut off.
Amelia closed her eyes, silent tears running down her face. Levi held her tightly as they galloped away from the site, frustrated that he and his team had arrived too late to save the men. But he would not risk more lives to save people who were already gone. He had saved who he could, and he was proud of that. Even if Amelia hated him, he would not regret his decision.
Hours later they reached the checkpoint, and Amelia slid off of his horse numbly, going to find Hange. Levi stopped himself from going after her, he had to look to his own team first and report to Erwin. Besides the two casualties he had seen, they'd had twenty more and about ten injured. Mostly new recruits, but a few veterans whose losses really hurt. All in all the casualty rate so far was much less than it could have been, the fact that Amelia and Ness had brought down a 15-meter variant without injuries was an impressive feat which had spread quickly throughout the ranks.
On his way back to the central house in the village they'd holed up in for the night, Levi looked up and saw a familiar figure sitting on the roof staring up at the sky. Shooting his line, Levi landed a few meters away from her, frowning at the desolate expression on her face as she looked up at the innumerable stars splayed out across the night sky.
"Breaking curfew again Private?" He asked, and when she didn't reply he sighed.
Glancing up at the stars, Levi could still remember the wonder he'd experienced the first time he'd seen them after he'd left the Underground. A cold autumn breeze swirled around them, and Levi pulled off his cape and hung it around her shoulders. That seemed to snap her out of her reverie and her warm eyes gazed at him questioningly.
"I know you lost yours, you must be freezing."
"I can't feel anything," she responded quietly.
Levi ran a hand through his hair in frustration, sitting next to her and, to her surprise and his, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. He was surprised by how well she fit there. Though she was taller than him standing, most of her height was in her legs which meant that when they were both sitting down, his head was higher than hers. Amelia squeezed her eyes shut, and she listened to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat.
"I shouldn't have said those things earlier," Amelia began hesitantly, "I know you made the right call. I just… I thought things would be different now. What's the point in fighting the titans if we just lose our humanity in the process?"
"That's the shittiest excuse I've ever heard come out of your mouth," Levi replied abrasively, and Amelia sat back, glaring at him with fire in her eyes and opened her mouth to say something. But Levi wasn't done talking and he clapped his palm over her mouth, to stop her from speaking, her soft lips pursing against his palm in frustration. "You're a soldier now, it's time to stop being a selfish brat. It doesn't matter if we lose our humanity, it matters that we fight as hard and as long as we can so that others can keep on living. You're fighting to protect the rest of humanity, not your own damn feelings."
Levi let his hand fall away from her mouth, and Amelia stared into his dark eyes. The stars reflected off their surfaces as if the whole universe was contained in their depths. Before she thought through what she was doing, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.