Sorry about the super late update guys. My beta reader got really sick and wasn't able to edit it, so I edited it myself. My bad if there are any mistakes, but I hope it doesn't take away from the story. You guys are super awesome, and I really wish everyone enjoys the latest chapter. Comments and criticisms are always welcome and appreciated!
Saph's PoV
"Why are you taking your shoes off?" Isabel asked me as she steadied the horse she was on top of.
Wiggling the boots off of my feet, I let out a sigh of contentment when I felt the soft grass beneath my skin. Owning shoes while I lived in Underground was a luxury that I had never been able to obtain. It still felt weird to walk around with something covering my feet as I walked around. I threw the boots and socks in a small pile beside me before I turned to address Isabel. "I'll run faster with them off."
"Still doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me!" Isabel yelled. The horse snorted as if in agreement with her statement.
Resolving to beat her and the scary horse, I dug my feet into the ground, waiting for the girl's signal with a bated breath. One of her arms raised high in the air, and she began to count down from three. Each number echoing into the silent field we were in. "3...2...1...Go!"
Pumping my arms by my side, I went straight for a sprint. Remembering to inhale through my nose and out of my mouth, my mind focused on the finish line up ahead. I wasn't going to waste the precious head start I had. My toes automatically curled as my feet hit the ground to find purchase within the muddy ground. I could deal with some dirt on them.
"Go, Isabel!" Guess five seconds had passed. The pounding of hooves was a sound that seemed to be right behind me, but I knew that I was still ahead by a margin that was growing smaller and smaller with every passing second. My legs sped up on their own accord, and I knew by how my sight was beginning to blur, that I was running at a pace few would be able to achieve.
Almost there, just a few more strides left to go. I stretched each individual limb to get maximum coverage of the ground, but it wasn't enough. All my effort to win became nothing as I watched a horse thunder past me reaching the piggy tailed girl right before me. I had failed.
Gasping for breath, it felt like ever lung was simultaneously crying out for air. My legs were trembling slightly, and I rested the palm of my hands on my knees to help steady myself. The piggy tailed girl stared at me with wonder as Isabel whooped and cheered.
"I told you that you wouldn't be able to beat me!" Isabel jeered as she got off the horse. "Now you have to admit that Big Bro isn't a bully."
Panting still, I swiped at my forehead to remove the sweat trickling down into my eyes. "We didn't agree on that. All I said is that you would have to admit that he is one, not that I would say he isn't a bully if I lost." Like I was going to admit that Levi wasn't rude to me.
Isabel gaped at me before her brow furrowed in concentration. Trying to remember back to our original conversation regarding what would happen if someone won. It was fair of me, but I was to angry to care. I shouldn't have lost that race.
While I was miffed at my loss, the girl who had helped us do it seemed to not really care. She seemed ecstatic in fact. "You're really fast. I don't think I would have believed it, if I hadn't seen-"
"What's going on here?" Flagon shouted. Narrowing my eyes, I could see that he was holding up my boots. "Is this how you treat the things the military oh so graciously gave you? I knew you grew up in the Underground, but still, I thought you would at least know how to treat your own objects right."
The piggy tailed girl seemed a bit frightened, but she did the traditional greeting and spoke without hesitation as Flagon approached the three of us across the field. "Sir! Isabel and Saph wanted to have a race to see if Saph was faster than one of the Survey Corp's horses. She almost beat the horse, Sir," she added on respectfully, awe plastered on her features.
Flagon sighed, but turned to face me. "Well did you win?"
Gritting my teeth, I shook my head no. My head bowed low so he wouldn't see my seething rage. If only I had won. Then I would have been able to shove it into his face that just because we came from the Underground, it didn't mean we were useless. Realizing that Flagon wanted a verbal answer from me, I let the tension seep out. Pouting slightly, I glanced up at him with red cheeks. "No. The horse passed me right before the finish line."
"Then you can't outrun a Titan, can you? So this has all been a gigantic waste of time? Nevermind. Get your gear on, we're going to show you four how to use the blades."
Farlan and Levi both came up behind me and Isabel. As Flagon was leading us towards the direction of the woods, Farlan boxed both of our ears. "What did I say about making a scene? Blend in."
"Wouldn't it be stranger if we acted normal? They expect us to be weird and abnormal," I snapped at him, massaging my poor ear. "Besides, Isabel and I are younger than most of these people, they want us to act like kids. It makes it seem as if we're less dangerous that way."
Farlan stared at me. "I always forget you two are of similar age. You always act so much older," he muttered under his breath.
The four of us got into the gear and began to look at the blades in our hands. Everyone eyes us, warily, as if we would start swinging it at them any moment. Looking at the length of the blade, I remembered them showing us how deep we would have to cut into the nape of the Titan's neck. I wanted to take a few experimental swings, but I doubt anyone would appreciate my efforts to learn how I should grip this long blade. Knives were my only past experience with sharp objects.
"You Bastard. What the hell do you think you're doing, holding it like that?" Flagon snorted.
My attention snapped up to Flagon reprimanding Levi for how he was holding the blade. Levi was holding the blade behind him. No one else had theirs like that.
"They weren't made to be held that way," Flagon continued, "do you want to be the first to die outside the walls?"
Levi only gave him a deriding, blank stare. "And how are you so sure that the first to die won't be you? Seems to me that the whole point is to cut the neck, so let me do it how I want to do it."
Farlan was so close to face palming himself. Apparently, none of us were good at not making a scene. Isabel was far enough away that she hadn't noticed her brother's reverse grip. If she did, I'm pretty sure she would try to copy him. Maybe I should try it? Readjusting my grip, I realized that it was uncomfortable and I just felt silly. Could it have something to do with Levi's height? Did being short mean that it was easier to hold it a different way than normal? If so I should just copy the Survey Corps, I was to tall to try and be copying Levi's way of doing things.
Lining up with the other members of the Survey Corps, I peered into the forest to see if I could find any of the wooden structures they had throughout the dense trees. Nothing. As I was concentrating on seeing if I could spot anything, I didn't notice a blonde kid with freckles stand beside me.
"You should just stand by and watch how actual Survey Corps members fight," the boy taunted jostling me in the rib with his elbow.
"I'm sure not one of you will get a single one," his buddy remarked.
Another one grabbed my shoulder with his hand, his grip was painful. "We've spent years training for this, and you guys think you can just come in? Let's show them what our hard work has done versus them lying around in the dirt while being criminals."
I shrugged off his touch just as Flagon told us to go. Instead of using my 3DMG right off the bat, I ran forward. I was aiming to be in the back of them, and I needed to see where Levi was going to head off to. My head tilted back to catch sight of him flying forward ahead of the pack. Then I sent out a line to a tree to pull myself behind him. I needed to see how his reverse grip worked out. Two wood Titans popped up that were separated with a bit of distance. Just as Levi veered to the right to get the closest one, I propelled myself towards the smaller one on the left. As I made my way over there, I watched how Levi cut the neck.
Having a good idea on what to do, I swung in an arc, and I aimed for the nape. It was a bit easier then I had imagined that it was going to be. Then again, these weren't real Titans, only dummies. Trailing behind Levi, I cut through all the ones that popped up after he had left the vicinity, and they said I wasn't even going to get one.
My skills were impressive since I had no formal training, but they were average compared to everyone else. Levi was by far, the best one out here. Even if I was able to analyze his movements, there would be no way for me to be able to copy them. His speed and flexibility were unmatched. Didn't mean I couldn't learn something by watching him.
The blonde, freckled, guy and Levi aimed for the same Titan. Curious as to how this was going to turn out, I paused on a branch to watch. For all his smack talk in the beginning, Freckles didn't even make a deep enough cut. Levi made the perfect cut and continued onwards. Isabel would have bragged right then and there. Farlan would have tried, and failed, to hide his smug grin.
I could sense Freckles anger as he sped up to race Levi to the next fake Titan. With the goal to put Levi in his place, Freckles recklessly sent out a line in Levi's direction. If Levi hadn't noticed him, they would have collided and seriously gotten hurt. "Way ahead of you," the boy screeched as he sent another hook a couple trees ahead of Levi. With him distracted by trying to beat Levi, Freckles hadn't noticed someone had accidentally gotten there blade stuck into the neck of a fake Titan.
"Watch out!" the person cried.
But it was too late, Freckles was still hurtling towards the neck, directly on the path to hitting the blade. He would either die or get injured bad. Muscles tensed accordingly, I gauged if I would be able to get to him in time. No. I wasn't close enough. The probability of getting myself hurt in the process was too high. Gripping the bark of the limb, I watched.
A blur shot forward and hit the blade, successfully cutting it out of the material. I only got a glance at Levi before I observed Freckles smacking down where the blade had been. Such incredible speed. A flame of envy rose within me. How could I be so fast on my own two feet, yet so slow on the 3DMG?
"You were just going to watch him die?" Flagon asked as he landed on the same branch I was on.
I drew in a deep breath. I didn't want to have to deal with this guy. He already made it clear that he hated our guts, but he could punish me for insubordination. "Truthfully, I didn't think there was anything I could do." I shrugged my shoulders. "Not all of us are as good as Levi is."
Flagon scrutinized me. It was the first time I felt as if he actually saw as people instead of invaders of his little group. "I can see why that bastard was the leader of your small gang."
"Well it wasn't for his friendly personality," I snipped with a blank expression. When was he going to leave? I never thought he would want to discuss us or our time in the Underground. Gotta be nice. Can't leave just because I want too.
"Just because you're skilled doesn't mean we'll trust you so easily."
I sighed, as if the thought pained me. "Guess we're going to just have to earn it," I whispered, just loud enough for his ears to catch.
Flagon didn't say anything in response, so I figured that I was allowed to leave without repercussions. I headed back to where our beds were, figuring that training was done for the day. I was glad that I hadn't gone all out. Tonight, everyone should be too tired to notice me slip out. Not knowing how long we were going to stay in the Survey Corps, I was going to use the advantages I had access to at the moment to see if I could find any leads on my brother. With my new affiliation, I could go back and forth from the Underground as much as I wanted.
"I went into his bedroom while everyone was out, but I couldn't find the documents," Farlan said as we all sat around him in our beds. Levi and Farlan both had bottom bunks, while Isabel and I each took the bunk on top of theirs. Of course Isabel had to have the bed above her Big Bro. At least I didn't have to worry about Levi trying to stab me in the back threw the mattress in the middle of the night.
Isabel was already snoring away, with her body curled up as drool began to dribble out of her mouth. Swinging my feet back and fort, I enjoyed my vantage point. Not a single Survey Corp's member was trying to interact with us. They had clearly created a distance between us that each side showed no signs of trying to remove. No one approached us, and they all avoided making eye contact with any of us. It did help make sure that nobody would hear what we were discussing.
"Did you have time to look everywhere in his room? I guess his office is the next place to look," I muttered.
"This might be harder than I thought," Farlan exhaled, "I wasn't aware of how crafty Erwin was to be."
Levi lifted his feet up and placed them on the mattress. "Doesn't matter how sneaky he is," Levi grumbled, "after we find these damn documents, I'm going to kill him." After his declaration was done, Levi turned onto his side to face away from us.
Done with the conversation, I wrapped a blanket around me. Might as well get comfortable, but not too comfortable, before I headed out. Need to pretend but couldn't actually fall asleep. I closed my eyes and focused on each presence in the building. Soon, I could hear the Survey Corp's members turning in for the night. Blankets rustled and mattresses creaked as each person began to slumber.
Having to make sure that nobody was awake, I tuned in to what was happening below me. Soft snores could be heard, and I leaned over to peek at Farlan. His mouth was wide open, and it seemed he was lost in dream world. When I checked to see if Levi was asleep, I found that he was watching me.
"Having trouble falling asleep?" I murmured, not wanting to disturb any of the other residents.
His eyes bore into me as he kept his mouth shut. Maybe Levi was sleeping with his eyes wide open. Seemed to be a creepy thing he would be capable of doing. Staring at nothing when it seemed as if he was looking at me. Not that his face had changed, it still looked was as if he was bored and mad at the same time. When Levi did open his mouth to speak, I had to remind myself to not start scrambling backwards in fright.
"You're going to hurt her," Levi darkly stated.
Blinking, I scrunched my nose at him. "Don't act like you know me. I have no reason to hurt Isabel."
"She thinks you and her are friends. You were willing to watch a boy die today instead of get yourself involved. It's not that you need a reason, you just do whatever you want no matter who it hurts," Levi snapped at me, his voice low yet just as harsh as ever.
My fingers clenched around the bedsheets. I do care who I hurt. I just don't care about the people he cares about. Levi couldn't fault me for that, he wasn't allowed to fault me for that. It's not like Levi would protect any of these people over his own friends. Instead of responding, I pulled the blanket over my head, so I couldn't see his accusing stare. The guy has to sleep at some time, and I will just wait until then to sneak out.