DILAN'S P.O.V.
It was a week later, the morning of the expedition. Dilan stood up with a sigh and walked towards her window, pulling the curtains open and sitting down on her window seat with her knees drawn up to her chest. She leant her chin on them and looked out at the green hues. She hadn't felt this alone in a long time.
The past week had been nothing short of tortuous. Levi had completely shut her out. On all fronts. He didn't look at her, he didn't talk to her apart from giving commands during training and he wasn't himself. He wasn't Levi and it hurt her heart. She didn't seem to be able to catch him, ever. He locked the door on his office when he was doing paperwork, not even allowing her to help. He never visited the roof during the night and whenever Dilan built up the courage to knock on his door she was met with a stony silence. She knew he was awake; his insomnia had clearly taken a turn for the worse. That much was clear from the dark circles under his eyes but besides that they both knew he didn't sleep well before an expedition.
Dilan didn't know what to do or what had happened. She didn't think he was mad at her, even if it seemed like it. Dilan knew Levi when he was mad, and this wasn't it. No, this was a complete emotional shutdown. He hadn't cracked an expression on that stoic face since the morning he left for that early morning expedition. Not even a raised eyebrow. He was plain, bored, lifeless.
Dilan knew the expression well. She wore it for 6 months. That was the part of Levi's shut down that hurt the most. She had done it to him. She had made him feel the way she was feeling now for 6 whole fucking months. It had only been a week and Dilan felt like she was falling apart on the inside. She missed her friend. Even the thought of him never coming back to her brought tears to her eyes. She missed him so much it physically hurt, and she had to refrain from wincing. She hadn't known she had let Levi in this deep until now. Is this how best friends are supposed to feel about each other?
Dilan sighed and stood up, shaking her head. She would try her best to push the thought out of her head for today, for the mission's sake. It was a big one after all and she was nervous about it. The nightmares had been terrible, especially without Levi's support but she was more worried about him than herself. She was going to find out what happened to him in that short journey to Erwin's office. Even if she had to go straight to the blonde bastard himself.
After a shower, Dilan got dressed and grabbed her pack, going downstairs. No one else seemed to be up yet. She walked straight out of the house, intending on saddling up her horse and strapping her pack on so everything was prepared. She froze in her steps as she saw Levi alone in the stable doing exactly what she was about to. Levi noticed her too and his grey eyes flicked to hers for a fraction of a second before he went back to what he was doing like a robot. Dilan's heart lit up in a bit of hope. This was the first time they had been alone properly. Maybe this was her chance.
Dilan walked up and started on her horse, brushing him down. She swallowed down her fear and took the first step, breaking the tense silence.
"Pretty good weather." She mused, instantly regretting it.
Fucking weather, Dil?! Come on!
Levi didn't reply to that and honestly Dilan didn't blame him. She chewed at her lip thinking off what else to say. She panicked a bit seeing he was almost done. Oh, what the hell. Subtly was never her strong suit.
"Okay, enough. Fucking enough, Levi. Look at me." Dilan asked, walking over to him. Levi continued to ignore her. "Levi please." She begged, putting a hand on his shoulder. Levi took a step back, shrugging off the hand and finally meeting her eyes to glare at her. Dilan swallowed at the intimidating grey orbs. That was not her friend.
"I suggest you finish up here and get back to your duties. The scouts don't pay you to socialise with your superiors. Second in command is not a permanent position." Levi reminded coldly before walking past her. Dilan breathed out shakily as she felt the pain in her heart, and she had to blink back the tears.
She remembered every single time she had done that to him. Dismissed him with a 'fine' or a 'that's none of your business' or a 'why don't you worry about yourself'. She was horrible to him, but he never stopped trying. So, she wouldn't either. She would never stop trying to get him back. Even the thought of a world without Levi as her best friend made her want to crawl into a dark corner and cut until the pain went away. Since she couldn't do that, she would do the next best thing.
Punch something.
ELD'S P.O.V.
Eld finished tacking up his horse and was about to head back inside to cook up some breakfast even though he was certain no one was going to have the stomach to eat today when he heard the sound of punching and poorly whispered curses.
He walked towards the origin of the sound, eyes widening a fraction as he saw Dilan with a punching bag. She grunted with effort as she sent a series of punches to the thing, round house kicking several of the targets in perfect formation. It was kind of incredible to watch.
If it wasn't for the fury in her eyes and the fact that Eld was a little scared to approach her right now, her movements would be considered beautiful in their fluidity.
Still, if you dance with something as beautiful as fire, you are sure to get burned. Eld was about to learn this the hard way as he decided to intervene after seeing her knuckles were unprotected and starting to bleed under the strain.
"Dil." Eld tried, getting closer. She didn't seem to hear him, so he put a hand on her shoulder. This earnt himself a killer back slam as Dilan grabbed the hand, kneed him in the stomach and used strength that must be supernatural, considering her small frame, to flip him over her, pressing a boot to his neck.
Eld looked up at her with wide eyes making a mental note to never disturb Dilan while she was in the middle of training again.
"Sorry... but your hands... you should really cover them..." Eld explained through a wheeze. Seemed the attack had winded him, although the shoe on his throat didn't help. The blonde watched as a bit of life came back into Dilan's eyes and they softened from the hard frustration she had been sporting previously. Dilan gasped as she realised what she did and immediately got off of him to crouch down and help him sit up right.
"Eld I am so sorry. Are you hurt?" Dilan asked quickly. Eld chuckled and sat up with a hiss, smiling at her reassuringly.
"Only my pride. Are you okay?" He asked. He had noticed Dilan had been a bit off this week. She seemed upset about something. Dilan looked down at her bleeding hands.
"Oh. Yeah I'll be fine." She reassured but Eld shook his head.
"I wasn't talking about your hands. You've been distracted this week." Eld pointed out and Dilan sighed, looking away. "Want to talk about it? I've been told I'm a great listener." He smiled kindly. Dilan chuckled a bit.
"I'm sure you are. We should get back to preparing but can I take a rain check on that?" Dilan smiled. Eld nodded, a happiness filling his chest. It was at times like these he could actually see a romantic future with Dilan, and it excited him a lot. But she seemed to always disappear places and Eld didn't know where she went. He never got the time to get to know her. It was really frustrating.
"Course." Eld nodded and Dilan helped him up. "Damn, I won't be messing with you. Ever." Eld winced, holding his likely bruised stomach. Dilan cringed.
"I'm sorry." She said genuinely. Eld laughed and rolled his eyes.
"I'm fine, Dil. Relax, I'm just messing." He reassured. Dilan glared at him, punching him on the arm with a bruising force which made Eld have to fight back a yelp of pain.
"Watch ya self, cadet." She grinned before jogging back round to the house. Eld sighed. There she goes again. Disappearing. Eld shook his head of the thoughts and followed her in.
DILAN'S P.O.V.
Dilan mounted her horse and rode up to where Levi was waiting for them. She didn't attempt to talk to him this time. She wasn't giving up, but they had bigger fish to fry today, hopefully she would make it out alive and get Levi back to her. Still, her chat with Eld did well in amending her mood that had taken a swift nosedive. He reminded her she still had friends. She still had people to talk to, even if Levi was absent at the moment. She wasn't completely alone.
"Squad ready?" Levi asked in a monotoned voice. Dilan sighed.
"Yes, Captain." She replied, trying hard not to let too much depression into her voice and it ended up monotoned too. She wondered whether she'd have to wait six months like he did before she would see her friend smile again. The thought made her heart clench painfully.
Levi simply nodded in approval and they continued to wait in silence. There was a brief moment before the squad arrived where Levi glanced at her bloodied bandaged knuckles and a flash of concern passed through his eyes before he steeled them again and looked forward. Dilan knew he was still in there. He had to be.
A while later and they were lined up outside of Shiganshina with Hanji's squad who they had been training with for a while now. They knew what to do in terms of capture. Special ops were the defensive line. Hopefully everything would go as planned but the gnawing in Dilan's gut told her otherwise. Instinctively, Dilan turned to Levi and opened her mouth to confide in him like she usually did but a glance at his steeled expression gave her second thoughts. She swallowed down her words and looked forward, waiting for the order to march.
Dilan looked back at the others, observing that they seemed a little pale. Stacy looked the most nervous and was shaking slightly. Dilan decided to turn around on her horse and moved towards her.
"Hey Stace. How you doing?" Dilan smiled. Stacy breathed out shakily.
"I'm kind of dreading it." She admitted. Dilan gave her a look of understanding.
"I know, kid. But as our youngest recruit, you'll have the safest place in the formation. We'll be monitoring you the whole time, ready to jump in if something goes wrong. You're ready for this, I know you are." Dilan reassured kindly. Stacy smiled in a bit of relief before her face turned serious again and she looked around her nervously before grabbing Dilan's hand and holding it tightly.
"Whatever happens, know our time together... my time in the squad meant the world to me. It was all real, I promise." Stacy said frantically, panic in her blue eyes. Dilan blinked as Erwin started talking.
"Stacy what are you-"
"Dilan." Levi cut her off and Dilan looked to the man before back at Stacy. Still confused but refusing to show it, Dilan gave the girl a smile and squeezed her hand before letting go and re-joining Levi's side as the gates opened. Welcome to hell. Please enjoy your stay. Her brain thought with an amused chuckle.
"FORWARD!" Erwin yelled after his usual speech about saving humanity that never failed to make Dilan's eyes roll. The gate was lifted, and the scouts plunged forward with a battle cry, spilling out onto the open plains. "FAN OUT INTO THE LONG-DISTANCE SCOUTING FORMATION!" Erwin ordered and the scouts did just that. Hanji's task force rode up front, Levi squad closely behind the massive cage Hanji had created to capture her titan, ideally a 4-5 meter as Hanji loved to tell everyone.
"Fan out." Levi ordered and the squad nodded in reply. Petra and Eld took spot on the left of the massive cage, a few meters away from the task force cadets. Stacy and Gunther were on the other side. Levi was at the back and Dilan was at the front, the most dangerous parts of the formation.
Their plan consisted of riding around the dark forest into the open plains, setting up the traps and using Hanji's bait and switch method to lure a titan of choice into the cage. Levi squad would be positioned around a strict perimeter, close together while the rest of the formation created a wider perimeter. The special ops job would be to deal with any stragglers that break through the flanks.
"Isn't this exciting!" Hanji squealed, riding up to Dilan's side. Dilan chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief.
"If you call certain death exciting then yeah, I guess." Dilan replied. Hanji laughed.
"There was a time when you seemed to revel in such ideas!" She pointed out. Dilan smiled a bit, guessing that was true. She cared a lot more these days, whether she lived or died. Dilan still wasn't sure whether she was living for herself yet, but she knew she didn't want to die today. She had people to protect and she didn't want to leave Levi alone. Especially in the state he's in now. She wasn't ready to go yet.
"That was a long time ago, Hanji. I would prefer it if we didn't die today." Dilan requested with a grin. Hanji grinned back.
"I'll do my best." She chuckled. There was a moment of silence before Hanji sighed and they couldn't ignore the topic anymore. "How is he?" She asked, glancing back at their raven friend. Dilan bit at the inside of her lip.
"The same. Stone-cold. Exactly how I was 5 months ago." Dilan replied with a sigh. Hanji gave her a reassuring look.
"He'll come back to us, Dil. I'm certain of it." Hanji comforted. Dilan nodded.
"I just wish I knew what set it off. Is it crazy that I'm considering going to Erwin for some answers?" Dilan chuckled humourlessly and noticed Hanji tense slightly. She didn't reply. Dilan looked at her. "Wait... that day... you were searching for Levi like it was the end of the world. Do you... do you know something?" Dilan asked seriously, reading her friends reaction. Hanji let out a sporadic laugh.
"Me!? Of course not! Well, better get back in formation. See ya, Dil!" She said quickly before pulling her horse back. Dilan cursed under her breath. The crazy brunet knew something, and Dilan was going to find out what.
A few hours later of torturous riding and they arrived at their destination.
"Alright guys! Everyone prepare yourselves~! Let's catch a titan!" Hanji shouted in glee as her and her men started to unload the cage from the wagon and place it strategically.
They had left Erwin and the rests of the formation a while ago as they gathered themselves in the distance, creating the perimeter. The vanguard had swept the area already to the best of their ability to give the taskforce much needed time to set up.
"Lower! Lower! I don't want my poor titan to hurt his FEET!" Hanji screamed but Dilan paid her no attention, leaving the crazy woman to her preparations, Dilan rode over to where the squad had collected, refiling their gas and blades as they did deal with a few titans on the way here and they could use as much supplies as possible.
Dilan noticed Stacie's hands were shaking slightly and thought about comforting her, but it seemed someone had it covered as Gunther took her shaky hands in his and pulled her slightly away from the group before starting to talk to her. Dilan smiled, finding them rather cute.
Stacy had been doing well so far. Due to the limited amount of titans that had come at them so far, Levi hadn't given Stacy or Gunther any orders yet. Only Dilan, Petra, Eld and Levi himself had attacked on the taskforces defence.
Dilan spared her squad a glance before looking over to Levi who was slightly separated, watching Hanji's taskforce prepare. Biting her lip, she walked over and stood beside him, not saying anything. The silence was thick, but she'd bear it. At least the man hadn't turned away yet. A small smirk played on Dilan's lips when Hanji tripped over a rock and face planted.
"Tch, clumsy idiot." Levi muttered under his breath with a straight face, although Dilan could see the amusement in his eyes.
"You know how she is; I'm surprised she didn't fall on her ass on the ride over here." Dilan said with a shrug, putting her hands into her pockets. Levi scoffed and opened his mouth, but hesitation flashed in his eyes and he shut it again without saying anything, crushing Dilan's hopes. She swallowed down her disappointment and decided to try a different topic. Even talking to Levi about work would be better than not talking to Levi at all. "You think this plan of hers is going to work?" Dilan asked.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see." Levi mumbled before turning and walking back to his horse. Dilan sighed. Well, new record for time Levi allowed you to be around him. That's a win, Dil. She pointed out, hoping it would ease the sadness in her heart. Bantering with her best friend before an expedition always put her in a better mood. She knew he felt the same way. Why was he acting like this? Dilan made a mental note to torture Hanji when they got back to the walls to figure out what the fuck was going on with him.
"Dilan!" Petra called and Dilan snapped out of her thoughts, turning back to the squad who were all mounting their horses. Dilan did the same and they started riding back towards the taskforce.
"We'll split up. Teams of two. Surround the task force and use your flares if you spot smoke or a titan. Defend your flank and focus on defence, not what's going on with Hanji's squad. That is their objective, you have your own to worry about. Understand?" Levi asked, monotoned.
"Yes, sir!" Everyone replied. He nodded in approval.
"Monroe, you'll stay with me. Do not go rogue and listen to my commands precisely, got that?" Levi asked seriously and Stacy nodded. Dilan let out a small breath of relief, thankful Levi was planning on protecting their youngest member.
"Petra and Eld. Dilan and Gunther. Protect your partner's back and don't let any titans break the second perimeter. Is everyone aware of their priorities?" Levi asked and everyone nodded.
"Yes Captain!"
"Good. Let's get this shit over with." He sighed, leading his horse towards his flank, Monroe trailing behind him, sparing a goodbye glance to her comrades. Gunther looked at her with concern as Petra smiled and waved and Eld gave the kid a kind thumbs up. Dilan put a hand on Gunther's shoulders.
"Your girl is a bad-ass. She'll be fine." Dilan comforted and Gunther nodded in agreement before he fully processed Dilan's words and his face went beat read.
"M-my WHAT?!" He screeched in embarrassment. Petra and Eld burst out laughing as Gunther tried to protest but could only get out incoherent splutters.
"Oh my god, that was amazing!" Eld snorted. Petra giggled, holding a hand over her mouth.
"Thanks Gunther, I needed a laugh like that before going into battle." She teased and Gunther glared at both of them, his cheeks flushed with utter mortification.
"Shut up!" He spat. Dilan rolled her eyes.
"We should get going. Take care of yourselves and don't you dare die, or I will drag your asses back from the afterlife and kill you again myself." Dilan warned with narrowed eyes and they all gulped, nodded quickly. She chuckled and smiled. "Good. See ya!" She grinned and the others laughed at her mood swings, saying their goodbyes before turning and moving to their positions.
"D-do you think we'll all make it out of this?" Gunther asked quietly as they got to their position and looked out at the horizon for any warning flares. They were a good 15 meters away from the centre task force now. Dilan could vaguely make out the figures of Levi and the others in the distance. Dilan smiled at Gunther reassuringly.
"We'll do our best. You've got my back, though right? You'll protect me?" Dilan asked with a smile. Gunther chuckled, rolling his eyes at her sarcasm. Dilan was glad he looked a little less nervous.
"Course, partner. I'll protect both of us." He played along with a grin. Dilan laughed and nodded in approval, glancing back in Levi's direction. Stay alive you grumpy idiot.
LEVI'S P.O.V.
Levi grit his teeth as he looked in Dilan's direction. His stomach was twisting in guilt, the guilt he felt every time he blatantly ignored her or simply walked away without replying. The girl kept trying and it honestly broke his heart.
Despite what she clearly must be thinking, Levi was far, far away from a complete emotional shutdown. In fact, he had never felt more emotion in his life, he was just refusing to show it on his stoic exterior. It was the only way to survive at the moment. He just couldn't be Dilan's friend right now for many reasons. The biggest one being he didn't deserve to be her friend. He killed her brother with his foolishness, he caused her so much pain that he didn't deserve to ever look her in the eye again.
Besides that, it was physically unhealthy to allow Dilan to be around Levi right now. To his dismay, cutting was much more addictive than once thought. Dilan was right about all of it. How it helps more than anything when the pain gets to much. How it helps more than words can describe to just feel... numb. He loved it. That didn't mean he loved what he was doing to himself. He was the biggest hypocrite in the world, and he didn't want to let Dilan close enough to show her what a pathetic piece of shit he had become. She had worked so hard to get cutting out of her life. He didn't want to drag her back in. He had caused her enough pain.
That didn't mean his heart didn't lurch every time he snapped at her or ignored her. The look of hurt on her face made him feel physically ill but he had no other choice. He was doing this for her own good. One day Dilan would understand, he wasn't supposed to be in her life. It will get easier for her and she'll stop trying with him so much. She'll make different friends and be much happier without his scarred self. Yes, the thought pained him more than he would ever allow himself to express out of the confines of his private quarters, but he didn't matter. He was doing this for Dilan. He just had to remain strong.
"Captain, I-it's starting!" Stacy exclaimed and Levi blinked out of his thoughts, turning his attention to where the young girl was pointing. Indeed, the mission had started. He watched with a raised eyebrow as Hanji and Moblit raced down the alley towards the giant cage, a 3-meter titan fast on their heel. Seems as though they had found one.
"SECTION COMMANDER! I-IT'S GAINING!" Moblit cried in horror, clearly not having wanted to sign up for this. Hanji laughed manically.
"ALL APART OF THE PLAN, MY DEAR!" She grinned, ignoring everyone's terrified looks. Levi cursed as the titan suddenly jumped from its mediocre pace and started sprinting towards them. "OH SHIT!" Hanji squealed, grabbing Moblit and diving out of the way as the titan dived for them, jaw first. They were not prepared to capture an abnormal today. Levi kicked his heels into his horse, ordering Stacy to stay at her post. "I'M NOT READY TO DIE!" Hanji wailed as they barely escaped death once again. Why they were on foot was a mystery to Levi.
"OI FUCK FACE!" A familiar voice cut off Hanji's wails and the titan turned from where it was about to chomp on Hanji whole. Levi looked round the titan, rolling his eyes as Dilan was riding towards it, same as him. Dilan leapt off her saddle at the same time as him and they performed a synchronised attack without even needing to communicate. They had trained for long enough now to know each other's thought processes. Dilan went for the heel and the back of the knee, knocking it down as Levi swung around and sliced deep into the nape. Assists were easier on flat land where there are no trees to help, especially with abnormals.
That didn't mean Levi didn't give Dilan an annoyed glare for jumping in when he gave everyone strict instructions to stay to their posts. Dilan rolled her eyes at his irritation as he dropped down beside her. They met eyes for a moment and Dilan opened her mouth to say something, but Levi turned back towards the others, cutting her off before she could.
He walked with an angry purpose towards the 'taskforce' that didn't seem capable of doing anything right.
"What the FUCK was that, shitty glasses!?" Levi hissed through gritted teeth, walking towards the frazzled Hanji and Moblit, still clutching each other on the floor.
"A-a miscalculation." Hanji answered cheekily. Levi glared at her with burning annoyance and Hanji paled. Dilan clearly decided to step in before things got too heated and Levi ended up kicking her in the face. Which he may or may not have been about to do.
"Okay, the first attempt did not go down well. I thought you sent scouts to observe the titan before you started baiting it?" Dilan asked in a calm voice. Hanji sighed and Moblit helped her up. she pushed her glasses back into place.
"We did. Seems it's harder to tell if they are abnormal before human's are present." Hanji mumbled, scribbling something in her notebook. Levi pinched the brim of his nose, unbelievably frustrated.
"Hanji." Levi said in a low voice that immediately got her attention. "Men are dying out there to protect the perimeter. We can't afford to waste a single fucking second." He said seriously and Hanji looked down a bit. "Can you or can you not pull this off, I want a straight answer." Levi demanded.
"I think..." Hanji bit her lip. If they kept doing what they just did it was likely they all would die, as well as the first defence. Luckily there hadn't been any red flares yet but it's only a matter of time. "We need this Levi. We must capture a titan!" Hanji exclaimed suddenly. Levi looked at her, muttering a curse. The crazy shit wasn't entirely wrong. The only way to defeat an enemy is to find out information on them. Their weaknesses. Something he had never been able to admit to the crazy shit.
"Dilan. Your thoughts?" Levi asked, turning to the quiet, ravenette. The girl was quick. If anyone could think up a way to salvage this terrible plan it would be her. Dilan blinked.
"M-me?" She asked. Hanji gasped.
"Yes! Yes of course! Dilan you have to help us! I'll give you full control, do as you see fit!" She said desperately, gripping the younger woman's hands. "CATCH ME MY TITAN!" She begged, tears collecting in her eyes. Dilan looked to Levi and he met her gaze, nodding. He watched as determination lit in her orange eyes.
"Alright! First of all, we're fixing this shit storm of a formation. Get the fuck over here, idiots." Dilan walked towards the 'task force' that were currently cowering behind the cage. Levi suppressed a proud smirk.
"You can't hide forever, Levi." Hanji pointed out. Levi kept his face straight.
"I disagree." He said bluntly, walking away from her. Still, he had trust that the brat would make this work. She may be slightly insane, but she was the best of them in terms of strategy. Always had been. He had faith his second wouldn't let him down.
DILAN'S P.O.V.
"Understood?!" She asked the neatly arranged rows of people. Everyone saluted her and nodded.
"Yes Ma'am!" They replied with determination. She nodded in approval, liking the change in confidence. She had arranged them in lines, upon the entrance of the cage. One line's target was the heel, another the knees, another the arms, eyes and nape.
If trouble arises like last time, they were organised to face it head on and considering there were at least 5 soldiers in each line, it was unlikely all of them would miss their targets. The titan would be defeated, and Dilan and Levi wouldn't have to leave their posts again which was a good thing since Dilan didn't think the signal flares were going to stay dormant forever. Dilan walked back to Hanji and Levi, 6 of the more experienced soldiers on her heel.
"You'll try again, with bigger bait. With more humans around at the beginning it will be easier to tell if the titan is abnormal or not at first glance. You will ride on horses, not feet, splitting in two different directions at the last minute. The rest of the task force will position themselves at the back of the cage so the titan will be drawn to the bodies, and ignore your escape, entering the cage. No need to run on foot into the cage and slip through the back entrance. Sound good?" She asked, speaking logically.
Dilan wasn't sure why Hanji hadn't elected for a better plan like this in the beginning. Hanji and Moblit stared at her with wide eyes while Levi simply nodded in approval before turning on his heel, grabbing his horse and riding back to Stacy. Hanji gasped and pulled her into a hug.
"YOU SAVED MY OPERATION DILAN! YOU SAVED IT!" She wailed. Dilan rolled her eyes and pulled away.
"You got this, Hanji. Don't screw up again or Levi will likely pull the mission." Dilan warned. Levi was not one to waste lives something he deemed a lost cause. Hanji nodded seriously and started issuing orders to the group of six. Dilan nodded and grabbed her horse, riding back out to Gunther and hoping things would go more smoothly from now on.
Not 10 minutes later and her hopes were already a shitty fantasy.
It was safe to say...
Shit had hit the fan.
"GUNTHER EASE UP, IT'S RIGHT ON TOP OF YOU!" Dilan yelled while she ducked under a swinging arm.
Annoyingly, the flares came soon enough, red, black, more red and more black. It wasn't long before titans started pouring into their eyeline and they were forced to fight as they drew closer. Hanji's squad was still missing, finding the perfect titan and Dilan was worried something had happened to them. Each member of the squad was engaged in battle, desperately trying to save the 'task force' from the titan's wrath.
Luckily her and Levi's side were under a heavier attack than Petra and Eld's, they simply had to deal with a titan each so far. Dilan was confident enough in their abilities. She knew Levi would protect Stacy so all she had to do was focus her attention on the three 10-meter titans in front of her and making sure Gunther didn't get himself killed.
The latter of which was easier said than done.
"SHIT!" Gunther gasped as he barely missed a hand by an inch and lost control of his gear, smacking into the titan's leg. Dilan's eyes widened and lunged away from the titan she was dealing with, quick to incapacitate the beast moving towards the shell-shocked Gunther. She sliced the arms, throwing two blades into the creature's eyes, disorienting them. Dilan grabbed Gunther and got him a safe distance away, pushing him towards the horses.
"Retreat." She ordered with a serious face and Gunther looked at her with regret.
"B-but-"
"No buts. Let me handle them. That's a direct order." Dilan said sternly and Gunther swallowed down his words, nodding miserably and climbing onto his horse to ride back, away from danger. Dilan sighed and turned back to the beasts who were advancing on her, plugging fresh blades into her hand grips. "Alright, you bastards." She mumbled, sprinting at them.
Dilan skidded under a hand, hooking into a knee, she twisted herself around the side, using a spurt of gas to gain momentum and sliced two of them in the heel at the same time as they were coincidently, nicely aligned. Two of the creatures fell to their knees and Dilan hooked into the first one's shoulder, slicing the nape and jumping into the air as the corpse fell, swinging into the next disfigured body as its grim eyes turned to stare into her own, moaning and drooling. She grimaced, taking delight in ducking below its chin and slicing with all her muscles, around the neck and across the back of the nape.
She pushed off again, narrowly missing a jaw as it bit down on thin air. The third one seemed to be desperate for flesh. Her lips twisted in a frown at the thought.
"Fucking animals." She spat, hooking into its shoulder and twisting through the air with a scary amount of precision and technique, she spun in a circle using her reverse blades to dig into the beast's flesh. Steam erupted and a bit of blood splashed on her face as she hooked into an arm as the carcass fell, landing on the floor and moving towards Gunther who rode towards her with both their horses. Thankfully it would be a while before they had to deal with another titan.
"Woah! Dil, that was! -" Gunther started in awe, but Dilan cut him off with a glare.
"Stupid. That was plain stupid. When I tell you to do something, you fucking do it. I will not have you dying on my watch, got that?!" She said in a low tone, dangerous orange eyes glaring at him in the burning sun. Gunther gulped and paled.
"Y-yes, ma'am." He said quietly, looking at his hands. Dilan let out a breath, calming down. she raked a hand through her hair and climbed up on her horse, feeling guilty for being so strict. He was just a kid after all.
"Hey, I'm sorry for being so harsh. I guess... I'm just scared." Dilan admitted. Gunther looked at her with shock.
"But your Dilan! You're the Titan Ripper!" He protested. Dilan chuckled, looking out at the horizon.
"Everyone gets scared, Gunther. Maybe I'm not scared of those bastards but... I'm scared of the destruction they can do. When I lost my squad..." She tried to keep her voice even and Gunther looked to her with concern. "A part of me died. And I will never get that part back." She admitted, turning to look at Gunther. "But I made a vow to myself. To make different choices. So, I may snap sometimes but deep down I'm just scared. Scared of losing more people I care about. Understand?" She asked with a soft smile. Gunther smiled back, nodding.
"I'm sorry too, I'll be more careful." He promised. Dilan nodded in approval.
"We look pretty good on our end though." She noticed there weren't many coming in their direction. A few hazy figures in the distance but they would have a good 30 minutes before they arrived on the assumption that they weren't abnormals.
"AGH! COMING IN HOT!" Hanji's shrill voice yelled, and Dilan turned her head as she heard the increasing volume of galloping horses, the march followed by heavy feet that shook the earth. Dilan watched as Hanji led the charge followed by a 4 meter who was plodding hastily afterward. But its movements were predictable meaning it wasn't an abnormal.
Her orange eyes narrowed as one of the cadets on the horses started falling behind.
"Fuck." She cursed, starting to ride towards them. If they kept going, that recruit was going to end up dead.
"ARGH-SHIT!" He yelled as his horse started lagging behind and he barely managed to avoid the stomp of feet. Dilan stood up on her horse and prepared to end the beast before it could kill the boy, but a voice stopped her.
"Dilan don't!" Levi yelled sternly and Dilan faltered at the seriousness in his tone. Before she could ask why the boy was crushed and his screams ran through Dilan's ears.
She gasped, stopping her horse with a jolt as she stared down at the young boy, that she had hand-picked to undergo such a dangerous task, smeared into the grass. His body was mangled and bloodied, the pressure of the foot managed to behead him and Dilan stared into his lifeless eyes with regret. Why did she falter? She could have saved him...
"YOU KILLED MY FAMILY!" She screeched as she dealt the final deadly blow and steam exploded, the mangled titan body falling limp, surrounded by her dead friends.
"Dilan!" Gunther yelled as he rode over to her and Dilan snapped out of her memories, her breathing slightly laboured. "They did it!" He exclaimed in exasperation and Dilan blinked, refocusing she saw that the mission, indeed, had been successful.
The titan was looked up in the cage, trying and failing to get its podgy hands through the steel trap. Hanji issued the order and the taskforce started shooting wires, pinning the creature down so it couldn't move and try to escape, from there they started backing the carriage towards it. "We actually caught a titan! Who knew Hanji's crazy mission would end in such success!" Gunther said happily. Dilan swallowed. Success huh? She mused, getting off her horse and walking towards the mutilated body.
She crouched down by the lifeless head, feeling a regret in her stomach when she saw the fear in his eyes. He was scared. In his last moments. He was scared and I didn't help him. Dilan bit her lip as she gently closed his eyes. You were brave, soldier. You stood your ground. I'm sorry I didn't protect you.
"Dilan." A familiar low voice cut through her thoughts and she looked up into Levi's emotionless face, a pang of spite hitting her stomach.
"What?" She spat, annoyance clear in her tone as she stood to face him, glaring daggers. Levi stayed apathetic and it pissed her off to no end. He didn't say anything. "Why did you stop me!?" She elected to go first.
"His sacrifice was necessary in order to capture the titan." Levi said simply, crossing his arms. Dilan looked at him with disgust.
"No life lost to those beasts is necessary. The Levi I used to know agreed with me on that." She shot back, not sparing him a second glance before turning on her heel back to her horse. She could have done something. That man didn't have to die.
She knew deep down Levi was just being a good soldier, but she didn't care. She was taking her frustrations out on him and it felt nice to blame someone. Maybe that made her a bitch, but the blank bastard wasn't giving her anything to work with. Her words probably didn't even phase him.
But as Dilan mounted her horse and rode towards the centre flank, she cast a look at her friend and her eyes widened a bit at the amount of emotion in his eyes before he pushed it all away and walked towards his horse. Dilan couldn't get it. Was Levi there or not?
A while later and they were riding through the dark forest, defending the titan cart. Thankfully the trees were large enough to get the cart through, although it was taking a while longer with all the manoeuvring. Dilan couldn't deny she was getting a bit edgy. The forest always made her edgy, ever since that day. She could see it all happen again, hear it all happen. She found her thoughts once more wondering how her brother was killed. Did anyone see it? Did anyone hear his anguish? Dilan breathed out shakily, trying to rid the morbid thoughts from her head.
Dilan glanced at her teammates. She, Eld and Petra were on the right of the cart. Levi, Gunther and Stacy on the left. Hanji and the others were stationed on the cart itself, some riding the horses that pulled the heavy thing. She looked out at the trees, eyes narrowing dangerously in search for anything out of the blue. She found nothing and it struck a worry deep within.
What was that saying... the calm before the storm.
"Hey greenie, anything seem off to you?" Dilan asked Eld who was riding beside her. Eld looked at her before glancing around them. From the tension in his shoulders, Dilan knew he could feel it too. And yet he simply chuckled nervously.
"I'm sure it's fine." He shrugged. Dilan frowned, unconvinced. She glanced over to Levi and caught his eyes. They held the eye contact for a moment and Dilan was about to try to communicate with him, wanting his opinion on the matter.
He looked uneasy too. She knew her friend well enough, it didn't matter if he was out of it emotionally speaking. She knew battle Levi as well as normal Levi. And he was gripping his reigns tighter than necessary. Unfortunately, before Dilan could mention anything to her Captain the worst possible scenario happened...
...all hell broke loose.
"ARGH!" Some poor bastard screamed as an abnormal launched itself out of the bushes and swallowed a man and half a horse whole, standing up to devour the rest of its meal, showing the titan in all of its 14-meter glory.
"Shit!" Dilan cursed and stood up on her saddle ready to attack when another roar caught her attention and she snapped her head around to see three more titans of alarming height storm in from the left, starting to grab at soldiers left and right. They had stumbled into a mother fucking horde.
"FUCK! HELP!" Gunther yelled, gasping in pain as a titan grabbed him and started bringing him up to his mouth.
"GUNTHER!" Stacy screamed, launching off of her horse to help him.
"ALL UNITS FULL STEAM AHEAD, WE MUST PROTECT THE SPECIMIN!" Hanji yelled and the soldiers snapped out of their stupor, kicking their horses and charging forward, towards the end of the forest. One of the titans snapped their heads round and bounded off to follow them. Eld jumped back as the titan on the right made a grab for him.
"CAPTAIN SHOULD WE ENGAGE!" Petra asked, dodging the hand too. Dilan looked over in horror as Gunther passed out from the pain just as Levi and Stacy managed to subdue the titan and grabbed the kid. Levi put him on the back of Eld's horse before launching up to deal with the rest of them as more titans started pouring in from the sides and another one started following the cart. Dilan stood up to help but an order from Levi stopped her.
"FOLLOW THE CART, NOW. PROTECT THE TITAN AT ALL COSTS. GIN, FIND A MEDIC CART AND GET GUNTHER ATTENTION!" Levi ordered, cutting down a titan as he did so. The squad nodded.
"SIR!" They said and raced off towards the cart. Dilan hesitated.
"NOW!" Levi growled and Dilan scrunched up her nose in annoyance but slapped her horse's reins and galloped towards the cart at full speed. Unfortunately, her stubborn friend was right. Many soldiers had died to obtain that titan today. She wasn't going to let them die in vain. Levi could handle 6 titans. She needed to protect the cart. Petra and Stacy couldn't handle them by themselves.
Dilan got close enough to fly off her horse like a bullet, joining Petra in the air as Eld split off to find Gunther help.
They fought non-stop as more and more titans started joining the ruckus. It was hard to keep track of everyone but from what Dilan could tell Petra was holding herself well in battle and Dilan was proud of how hard she had worked in training to become as good as she had. To become reliable.
Thankfully they managed to get out into the fields and more squads joined the fight, with their help they managed to finish battling the titans and secure the safety of the cart and the titan inside.
Dilan sighed in relief, dropping to the floor and patting Petra on the back as she threw up from the exhaustion, adrenaline and likely fear. Dilan watched in the distance as Eld placed Gunther on a cart and he started getting tended to. But her heart dropped as she couldn't locate her last cadet.
Where the hell is Stacy!?
A/N: Yo! Expedition time! These never seem to go well for them. Wonder where Stacy is?
I know it's frustrating that Dilan and Levi hadn't talked yet but there is a method to my madness. Trust that things will work out. Sometimes they just have to get worse before they get better. Whatcha ya gonna do? The world is complicated.
\_(0~0)/
Thanks for reading! X
