MIKASA, ARMIN
DAY 2
TIME: 2310 hours
The cabin was silent save for the creaking of the wood as Mikasa made her way downstairs. The door to Eren's room was closed, so with luck, whoever was up watching him most likely didn't hear the soldier travel throughout the building.
Mikasa was too exhausted to deal with her Captain reprimanding her for being up at this hour, and sighed in relief when she stalked past his room in the dark, seeing that in the shadows, his door was open. That meant he was upstairs.
On the other side of the hallway to the kitchen, the room Hange occupied was sealed shut, and a flickering candlelight streamed out from underneath her door, but she didn't open it to check who was outside. Hange was likely going over their notes- even at this time of night. Mikasa absentmindedly wondered when, if ever, the squad leader slept.
As she neared the kitchen, Mikasa noticed another glowing light emanating from the room. As she neared the source, the figure of a short blond was revealed leaning against the counter.
"Armin," Mikasa said. It was barely a whisper, but the sudden noise caused Armin to jump out of his skin. The cup in his hands sloshed water to the floor from his shock.
"Careful," Armin warned as Mikasa approached the counter. "You can't really see it… there's water on the floor."
Mikasa didn't respond, but sighed as she slumped close to Armin and pulled her scarf up to her cheeks.
Armin's eyes were unfocused as he drank the remains of his water and stared into the pitch black room. The candle in the lantern he had brought down was nothing more than a mere spark, floating in a puddle of wax. "You couldn't sleep?"
Mikasa shook her head before realising Armin couldn't see the gesture, and reluctantly resorted to words that were muffled through the fabric of her scarf. "No. I'm just a bit paranoid tonight. I can't remember Eren getting sick, ever."
Armin shrugged. Sleep had evaded him as well. "He'll be fine. There was this one time he had tonsillitis when we were eight, and it was so bad, but he still snuck out of his house to come see me. One of the town bullies messed him up pretty bad that day, too, but Eren gave him the tonsillitis and still managed to get my book back." Armin paused, noticing how he was rambling on. "My point is, he's resilient, and always has been. Eren will be fine."
Mikasa hushed Armin by slapping her hand over his mouth, and her eyes darted to the window, that while bolted shut, wasn't soundproof. Armin had the sense to keep quiet, but nevertheless raised his brows in curiosity and questioned whether Mikasa had heard anything he had just said.
After a moment, Mikasa relaxed and let her hand fall. "I'm sorry, Armin. I heard… I thought I heard something outside."
"It could have been the horses," Armin suggested. "Even though the stables are kind of far. Or an animal. Bears are abundant in forests like these inside Wall Rose."
Mikasa bit her lip and lowered her voice even more. "It sounded like voices."
"I… it is pretty late."
"I didn't imagine it, Armin," Mikasa protested, "But I guess it could be an animal."
"Trust your instincts," Armin decided, wrapping his hands around Mikasa's wrists and abandoning his cup on the counter. "If you think there's someone out there, tell Captain Levi. He might know something, or at the very least, we can check it out with him."
At the prospect of dealing with her superior, Mikasa shrunk against the counter, but let Armin pull her out of the kitchen with the diminutive flame in hand.
"Careful," Mikasa uttered, her words only reaching the ears of Armin as they rushed through the hallway. "Hange is up still. They might hear-"
Mikasa didn't get to finish her sentence as a miniscule yelp escaped Armin's mouth, and his grip disappeared from her wrist. The lantern was sent careening upwards as Armin went down, tripping over a soft bag of material that spilled onto the floor around him. It was small and granular, and a soft cloud of dust puffed up about a couple of centimetres from the ground around it.
Between reaching to catch her friend or the lantern, Mikasa made a hasty grab for the lantern after the space around them was illuminated, and she saw what exactly it was Armin had knocked over. Gunpowder now littered the floor, and what was once a giant burlap sack of the stuff was empty, its contents having been sent three doors down in both directions. There was nowhere to step on the floor without touching the stuff.
"That was loud," Armin whispered, letting out a cough as small as he dared, to add to the sounds of the silent night. The two stared at Hange's door that was next to the stairway, but it remained closed.
"It's fine," Mikasa said, holding the lantern high and helping Armin up with her free hand. "You're kind of dirty, though. Stay away from open flames for now, okay?"
Armin huffed out a giggle. "Captain Levi's not going to like this."
Despite the situation they were in, Mikasa dared to grin under her scarf at the stress that would be imposed upon their Captain at the spill.
Armin stepped onto the first step of the staircase with precision that ensured no creaks sounded as he did so. Mikasa eyed him peculiarly, and Armin held his finger to his lips.
"Step on the sides of the stairs," Armin whispered. "They don't creak. It should be quiet enough to not wake anybody."
Mikasa nodded, and grasped onto the railing as she slowly transferred her body weight onto the first step, just as Armin had. No noise emanated from her delicate footwork, and she took the next step with just as much grace.
This is easy, Armin thought coolly. Just stick to the side-
The thin veil of silence was shattered by a familiar ear-piercing crack, and Armin barely had time to interpret the situation before Mikasa wrapped her body around his and shielded him from what was to come.
EREN, LEVI
DAY 2
TIME: 2310 hours
The bread on the dresser had been cold for some time. At one point, Levi contemplated eating it, but reminded himself that even if Eren wouldn't be hungry when he awoke, he had barely eaten all day. In fact, Levi wasn't sure whether the boy had even eaten breakfast.
The pile of books on the shelf next to the bread had been thoroughly skimmed through at this point, and after the first, Levi realised that he had read the only good one this room had, and he didn't want to risk leaving the room at this hour in case he woke up his squad. It was too dark to read, anyway, which left him with nothing to do.
With a huff, Levi rose from the chair. It was no good sitting here doing nothing. He wasn't sure what time it was, thanks o the lack of a clock in the room, but it had gotten dark some time ago. It wouldn't be a surprise if it was almost midnight.
Levi sighed. It was almost midnight, and Eren still hadn't eaten. He'd been out since the late morning at training, so that had to be… at least twelve hours. And in those twelve hours, the titan shifter had managed to tangle his blankets around his body so much that it appeared as if he had gotten caught in a windstorm with them.
Levi resisted the urge to pace. It would be in both their best interests for him to try to wake up Eren now, give him the bread, switch shifts with Hange, and go to bed.
"Eren," Levi started, keeping his voice low to not wake anybody in the neighbouring rooms. He got closer to Eren, and knelt down next to the bed to speak to the back of the boy's head. "Oi. Time to get up, brat. You've got a piece of shitty bread waiting for you."
The only response Eren gave his Captain was a kick of his leg in the sheets, and turning from his side to his back in his disturbed slumber. And with just one look at Eren's face, Levi grimaced. A gleaming coat of sweat stuck the tips of his hair to his forehead, and now that his breathing wasn't stifled by the pillow, every breath seemed to rattle his chest like a rainmaker. And when Levi looked beyond Eren to the pillow's sheet, beyond the moisture of the sweat, a deeper coloured stain painted the fabric.
"Shit," Levi breathed, shaking Eren's shoulder. Against his mind's protests, Levi reached to touch the metallic-tinged substance, and his fingers came back wet. It seemed the wound on Eren's head had only recently begun to bleed again, and Levi wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing.
Probably bad. The whole point of the brat sleeping so long was so that he could garner up energy to fight whatever virus or bacteria ravaged his body, and heal. If he was still bleeding, it meant they were still at square one.
"Damn it, Jaeger," Levi cursed, yanking open the dresser drawers until he found one stocked with white linen. After wiping his hands on it to remove the blood, that even after it was gone, still felt like it lingered on the tips of his fingers, Levi ripped another sheet apart to replace the bandage that Hange had created earlier in the day.
Levi held his breath in slight disgust as he unwrapped the saturated cloth from Eren's temple, and with skilled hands, wove the new one around the exact same spot and applied a slight amount of pressure. At the firm touch, Eren kicked against the sheets once more, growing restless yet still not waking up.
"Levi," Eren muttered, and just as Levi was turning around to put away the excess sheets, he pivoted to stare at Eren.
"Took you long enough, brat," Levi sighed, moving back towards the bed.
"Levi," Eren repeated, and slurred his next sentence. "I can't find Mikasa."
"Mikasa is down the hall, shitty brat." Levi frowned when he got a closer look at Eren's face- his eyes were still closed, and he was clearly distressed. "Are you even awake?"
Eren's breathing hitched, and Levi took that as his answer.
The bathroom was across the hall. The best thing Levi could probably do right now for Eren was to get a glass of water, seeing as he hasn't had any in at least twelve hours, and was so hot he could toast bread with just a touch.
"Don't go anywhere," Levi mumbled, slowly opening the door to avoid the creak. He made sure to close it, so Eren's incoherent mumblings didn't wake anybody else. The floorboards creaked once as he crossed the hall into the bathroom, and turned on the water tap to the lowest setting to avoid noise. When the glass was full, he carefully turned it off, and made sure to avoid the creaky floorboard beneath him outside Eren's door.
Down the hall, two doors were left open. Was somebody still awake at this hour? Levi thought between reprimanding them, or returning to Eren with water, and decided the latter was the way to go. The brat was hotter than hell, and in all honesty, was starting to concern Levi. His hopes of this being a twenty-four hour fever were dimming with every sound Eren made in his sleep.
Levi's hand floated above the door handle when a much louder shout erupted from inside. Whatever dream Eren was having seemed to have escalated into a fever-induced nightmare, and if he opened the door, the interior MPs in Sina would likely wake to Eren screaming bloody murder.
Among the muffled cries, Levi did hear Mikasa's name again. Looking down the hall, he was pretty sure that her door was one of the open ones. Perhaps if she was awake already, he could bring her in to comfort Eren, and against all odds, wake him up.
Levi sighed. He could do that later. The Captain opted to swing the door open with full force this time, managing to mute the squeak of the hinges in the speed.
He let out a sigh of relief. No one had woken up. The night was still as ever. In the corner of Levi's eye, there was a miniscule movement from the bed. It shouldn't have been a big deal- perhaps it was just a reflex of Eren's. The boy had stopped screaming, after all. But as Levi watched in slow motion what was happening, his face fell slack, and the water cup slipped from his grasp, just as Eren's hand met his mouth in a move of sheer panic.
Levi paled as he stumbled back, slamming the door as a crackling yellow spark engulfed the room and wood began to split. His hands instinctively went to his sides only to meet the fabric of his pants.
Why, he thought as the roof began to cave, didn't I keep my gear on?
MIKASA, ARMIN, HANGE
DAY 2
TIME: 2320 hours
Armin had heard that crack before. Multiple times, and each time, it directly preceded Eren's transformation of becoming a titan.
Wood rained down on them harder than the bricks of Wall Maria five years ago. In the deafening wreckage, Armin could breathe nothing but dust and move none of his limbs as he was crushed underneath the weight of Mikasa.
The wood from the second floor soon stopped collapsing on the two, but when some of the dust finally cleared enough for Mikasa to look up, the staircase had been completely engulfed by what she assumed used to be the roof and walls of Eren's room.
Mikasa tried to find a steady place to step off of Armin. The only way they could go now was back down to the first floor- the stairs were completely taken out.
A shrill roar pierced Mikasa's ears- no doubt, it was Eren's titan. Why did he transform in the first place? What the hell was going on? Would the cabin even hold after being destroyed by a fifteen-metre titan?
"Armin," she said through the dust, voice scratching in her throat. Mikasa wrapped a hand around Armin's arm, which was cradling his head. "Armin! We have to get out of here!"
Adrenaline rushed through Mikasa's body as she impatiently waited for Armin to slowly gather his bearings. She was ready to go after Eren, even without ODM gear- something had to be wrong. She felt nothing but the pull of her heart towards her best friend.
"Okay, we're going," Mikasa said, pulling Armin up. He took a couple dazed steps to the bottom of the first floor before regaining his footing, and leaning against the wall.
"We need to find everyone," Armin stuttered. "We need to find Captain Levi! He needs to go after Eren! Why did he even transform?"
Mikasa threw her hands in the air as she started to turn the corner down the corridor. "I don't know why! I think the Captain was in his room! Which doesn't really put the odds in his favour!"
Armin had to jog to keep up with Mikasa's speedwalk down the hall, brushing dust and debris out of his hair as he moved "Slow down, Mikasa! Turn around so we can make a plan. You don't even have any gear."
Mikasa spun around, finally facing Armin. "Neither did Captain Levi, the last time I saw him. Listen, Armin. There's no time for a plan when Eren's in deep shit. Think and walk, all right?"
Mikasa pivoted and continued down the hallway, but Armin was rooted where he stood.
Mikasa turned again, exasperated. "Let's go!"
Armin motioned one hand to his head, and the other to his leg. "You're bleeding, Mikasa. We really have to stop."
The look of urgency melted off Mikasa's face as she raised a hand to her hairline. Sure enough, her fingertips were met with a sticky substance. Looking down, blood also seeped from the side of her shin, where a piece of wood about a centimetre thick was firmly planted.
"How are you walking right now? Sit down-"
Armin was cut off as the door directly behind Mikasa was thrown open, revealing a disheveled Hange. Their glasses were crooked, hair askew, and pencil smudges covered their hands, but they were equipped with ODM gear.
"Ah! Armin! Mikasa! What in the world is happening? I heard a titan, I know I did, and the building just shook-whew!"
Hange paused in their buzzing as they observed Mikasa. "My God, how did that happen?"
"Eren happened," Armin filled in, as Mikasa had gone silent. The adrenaline coursing through her veins had stopped abruptly as she processed the dull pain in her right leg that was beginning to throb painfully. "The stairs are out, too."
"Outside," Hange ordered, and the trio briskly headed for the doors. Hange took something out of the back of their belt, and handed it to Armin.
"A gun?"
"I'm assuming you removed all your gear in your room," Hange said, and they were right. Both Armin and Mikasa's gear had been gratefully removed just before eating supper. "I don't want you to panic. A few minutes ago, before Eren, before whatever destruction just happened upstairs, I believe I heard people moving around outside. I want you to be prepared for whatever it is. Of course, it could just be me losing it, but odds are, that's not the case. Can you handle this?"
Armin looked at Mikasa. It was clear why Hange had given the weapon to him- his friend was staring into space through Hange's entire sentences, and only blinked at the end of it. "Wait," she began. "I heard voices, too."
A ghostly look crossed Hange's face, and was replaced with one of sheer determination. "Then be ready. We've got a titan and people to look out for."
As silently as they could, Hange opened the door, and the three slipped into the chaos of the night.
JEAN, LEVI, SASHA, CONNIE
DAY 2
TIME: 2320 hours
Jean nearly dropped his blade as the wall opposite to him imploded on itself.
The sudden danger only made him grip it harder as he watched the structure fall into itself, with yellow sparks flying sporadically in the debris. And, just through the shattering of wooden planks, he could barely make out the skin of a titan, and the roar that followed as it took on its full form in place of the building.
Jean's head spun as the cabin shuddered in time with the titan hitting the ground outside. That was Eren's room. What kind of suicidal manic would just turn into a titan, in his room, in the cabin, thus destroying everything in near vicinity?
"Blockhead," Jean breathed, tightening his ODM straps. "Utter fucking blockhead."
"Jean!"
A face appeared in the doorway, and Jean turned to find a frightened looking Connie panicking in the entrance of his room.
"Connie," Jean said. "Tell me there's a good reason that Eren just turned into a titan inside."
"There's not," Sasha gasped, appearing behind Connie. "But the stairs are out. Our room was sort of destroyed, and our gear is buried- Captain Levi's up here, but he doesn't have any. We can't find Mikasa or Armin, either."
Jean tried to process all the information that Sasha had just dumped on him as Levi joined the two at the door and stared directly at Jean. "Why do you still have your gear on, brat?"
Connie turned to the Captain. "Actually, sir, Jean was just swinging around his swords for the last, like, twenty minutes since Armin left. He was roleplaying or something."
Jean's face drained of blood. "What the hell!"
Connie shrugged. "You should've closed your door, man."
Jean shook his head. "I wasn't- that's not-"
Levi shoved Connie out of the way as he entered the room. "I don't give a fuck what you do in your spare time, Kirstein. Was Armin wearing his gear when he left?"
Jean's face flushed with heat as he shook his head a second time.
"Words, Kirstein! Tell me a fucking word!"
"No, sir!"
Levi rushed over to Armin's bed, and shuffled through the contents underneath the frame. "We don't have time for me to change. Jean, can you handle Eren's titan?"
If his head was spinning before, Jean now felt like the wheel on their wagon going downhill. Not two minutes ago he had been minding his own business, and then everything had gone to shit, and now-
Levi was snapping his fingers in Jean's face. "Answer the question, shit stain! We don't have time to fuck around!"
Jean looked to Levi's hands, which were holding some of Armin's extra blades from below his bed. Instinctively, Jean picked them up with shaky hands and sheathed them to his gear. "I can handle it, sir."
Jean wasn't sure if that was true or not.
Levi was already pushing him out of the doorway, and into the hall that was missing the majority of the roof. "Then go unfuck this. I'll catch up to you once I get Arlert's gear on. Don't kill the brat, got it? Incapacitate. Do whatever you have to do to keep things under control, but don't even think about dying. Got it?"
Blood pounded in Jean's ears. "Got it."
Levi didn't waste any time, and darted back into Jean and Armin's room to equip the ODM gear. Sasha and Connie followed, leaving Jean in the desolate corridor. Above him were clouds threatening to spill rain, ensuring no moonlight would assist him on his mission.
Jean shot his wires into the remaining skeleton of the roof. Flying above the structure, he could make out Eren's titan form in between the cabin and the stables. On his right was the treeline, and his left, the cliff of the mountain they were on. It wouldn't be impossible for him to attach his wires to Eren from here, an Jean pointed his gear in that direction, but paused when spotting movement from below.
People. In ODM gear, no less, and they were surrounding Eren in a semi-circle.
Jean counted the figures. One, two, four, eight, at least. It was dark, but there were too many of them to be from his squad.
Who were they, and what the hell did they want with Eren? And why the hell did Jean have to deal with this alone?
