Saph's Pov
We both stiffened as the sound of the door opening could be heard as we rested next to one another. Multiple clicks from guns soon followed afterwards. That sent us into a tailspin as we realized more people had come in than ever before. It did not look good. The man with the mustache and seven others followed him into the room. Each with their own gun loaded and pointed at me. They obviously knew who the weak link happened to be. I was disgusted and horrified to see them using me to control Levi again. Maybe I could tell him to run as I took all of them on. I didn't have my trusty knife or my blades with me, but I'm sure I could rip out one or two throats before I'm taken down.
"Both of you, get out of the cell. Any sudden movements and I will blow her head off." While they'd made the same threats before, the air held a new tension this time. A decision had been made even if no additional clarity had come in. Desperation clung to every action lending to the idea that they had run out of time. We were fast becoming liabilities in their eyes and they needed to get rid of us before we either escaped or the Survey Corps arrived to free us.
Despair colored their eyes and each of their fingers trembled over the trigger. The slight hovering just over the surface of such a powerful weapon made me nervous that I could be shot if one got easily spooked. My plan didn't seem the smartest in this new light. I'd only have to sneeze before I took a bullet. Levi seemed to have realized the same thing as he glowered at the men but moved obediently. If we could only just disarm them, they'd be quick to kill with the two of us on the offensive. The only reason Levi got captured in the first place was because they disarmed him greatly with some substance. That and the fight with Annie left us all exhausted. Otherwise, none of them would be able to match him or Mikasa in a fight. Hell. He'd probably be able to take them all out by himself right now if not for his injury and all their weapons targeting me.
After Levi got out of the cell, the man with the mustache lowered his gun slightly. "Put your arms behind your back, turn around, and get on your knees."
I growled low in my throat as he wrapped a rope around Levi's wrist. The shotgun shifted closer to my ear. "Shut up," I surrendered in both my speech and movements. I could only glare at the two men who'd shifted their guns to Levi after he'd moved closer to me in response to them pressing the gun closer to my head. After they bound me, we got dragged outside. The first time we'd been in the open, fresh air since the kidnapping. The rush of unfiltered sunlight hitting my eyes after so long of only the low dim of torches blinded me. Stumbling forward, I tried to recover my bearings in order to see our current situation. I needed to know how many people they had and what the plan could be. I could only assume they meant to execute us in a ditch out here. Make us dig our own graves or some shit like that.
A hand shoving me on my lower back caused me to fall forward into the grass and dirt. Landing on my knees before collapsing onto my stomach, I smelled the earthiness of the field before I saw it stretched in front of me. Tasting the dirt, I struggled to sit up even slightly without the use of my hands. Not like they let me. Towering above my fallen body as a boot came to rest on my back.
"Stay down."
My mouth let a grunt escape as the hard thud forward knocked the wind out of me. Tears creeped out of the corner of my eye as I desperately scanned for Levi. They wouldn't see me cry, they wouldn't hear me whimper. People on horses surrounded us in a circle, guns resting on each of their laps. Fuck. I could see now way out of this for the both of us. I'd have to somehow get Levi out of there even if it meant certain death for me. Finding his figure not too far away, I sighed a small amount of relief. I may have had no idea where I might be, but at least they hadn't taken Levi out of my line of sight.
The men on their horses circled around us, opening up until only Levi and I with a couple of people were left in the middle. A young blonde-haired boy, on the verge of teenagehood, stood next to the mustached man. I'd presumed him to be someone of lower status who tortured prisoners, but he seemed to be in charge. His fingers drifted over the course hair on his face as he scowled at both Levi and I. "Neither of you are aware of the true war happening. The knowledge of the people, weapons, and your own history has been erased from your collective consciousness. We are here to once again align God's weapon with a disciple. Correct the universal humanity by reckoning the world with his word."
Oh my fucking god they were crazy. Sounded like some shit the church would say. Maybe they'd be with the Church and Pastor Nick all along. Us revealing the Titans who composed the Walls must have made them decide we'd become a threat. I don't know why they wouldn't have focused on Eren then. They seem to be the one he's looking for but they never even mentioned his name. I didn't understand a word said, but it sounded like some religious shit. Those cross-wearing sermon screaming pigs had their snouts deep into the shit of the government and even Underground. Their leaders had ties to everything and lined their pockets as they used an ever more expanding network of information. What I found to be of the utmost value, information and knowledge. They were even linked to the Reiss family, but I was clueless to the extent of the relationship. However, if this did have something to do with Rod Reiss, Kenny would be here. My gut told them that they were more likely to be linked with the Titan shifters. Which meant if any of them lived here, we'd be helpless without our gear.
All I could do is look everywhere for something that could prevent what seemed to be the end for both of us. "Mmmmph," I unconsciously let out a groan as the man pressed his foot harder into my spine, the gun clicking as if to warn Levi not to move even as I struggled to breathe. I bit my tongue filling my taste buds with copper as my eyes didn't stop glimmering over all surroundings with an edge of hope. There had to be something. When I caught Levi's eyes, ours both stilled for a second.
He didn't seem intent on giving up either even though a lost expression painted both of our faces. His features softened as I tried to convey all my feelings in one moment even as I held back the tears threatening to fall.
A bright glint caught my attention after a second, leaving a shiver of terror to make my web of nerves cringe away involuntarily. Memories of Kenny filled the seeds of fear and glimpses of images flooded over me. Fractured and uneven, they crashed behind my eyes. Holding neither a secure time or place. Snatches of conversations infiltrated my ears with no clear outlet. But I knew one thing, allowing that child to be given the shot would lead to a much worse fate for Levi than death.
Waves of fear finally began to overwhelm my senses. I couldn't let them. Not him; Anybody but him. "NOOO! AHWGGHHHH!" The brightness that'd been felt accompanying the moment we'd left the dungeon rudely barged back in again to the extreme. As if lightning had struck the ground in front of us, even though the skies were a clear blue with only a few clouds dappled above us.
My entire body began to feel stretched and yanked apart. As if my skin could be extended away from my thin frame. Not only that, my insides felt as though they were slowly ballooning outwards. The scream echoing between my teeth soon morphed into an animalistic feral howl. An inhumane monstrous sound that seemed to be from the depths of hell. Ears ringing, I found myself on my feet. Stumbling around in a daze, I tried to grasp how everything suddenly existed so far below me. Instinctively, I raised my hands closer to my face to cradle my forehead. However, I paused when I recognized that Levi clutched the inside of one. Jaw dropping, I noticed that long claws had grown out of the tips of my fingers like attached knives. I'd never seen a Titan with weaponlike nails or even long limbs for that matter.
A Titan. Here I was. Like Eren. Annie. And any others who were both human and Titan. Trembling, I tried to absorb the new information just now being presented before me. I'd thought death would surely be the meal of the day, but it looked like a new course had come in. Blinking fast, I could barely process what should happen next. Seeing that Levi's mouth was moving but being unable to hear the words, I slowly brought him closer to my ear. Concern welled within me as I didn't want him to think I might hurt him for some reason. Eren lost control before but I felt fully in control of my faculties.
"Move!" he demanded. Gaining his footing to jump onto my shoulder, Levi grasped tufts of my hair by my ear in order to be heard clearly. "We need to get back to the Walls."
Looking around, I realized we'd traveled far beyond the walls. A new sight struck me dumbfounded as I stared at a large expanse of clear blue. It looked to be like water, but I'd never seen so much in one place. As far as the eye could see, it shimmered and gleaned in the light. Reflecting back the sky in all its glory.
"Start running! We don't have time to gawk."
I landed on all fours and began to sprint forward, my nails scooping into the dirt to propel me forward. Unrivaled in my speed as a human, I felt even faster in this form. My extended limbs ate up the ground with ease. Not only could I easily outpace a horse now, I bet I could beat almost any other Titan in speed. Eren, Annie, or even the Armored Titan. Only too late did I realize that I didn't know the direction of the inner wall.
"Turn around!"
Only 2 sounds seemed to be filtering into my brain at the moment, my thoughts and Levi's voice. I could only trust that he knew where to go. The long stretch of water also prevented me from running in most directions.
There lied another problem. In my frenzy, I hadn't noticed that another Titan appeared out of the rubble that I'd left the village in. An array of carnage laid out displayed before us. Both bodies and buildings were destroyed in my haste to leave. Not realizing that I'd created a vast collection of weapons, I only became conscious of my mistake when the Titan picked up a pillar of wood and threw it at me like a spear. Unsteady on only two feet, I toppled out of the way of the makeshift weapon. There could be no way for me to win this fight. Hand to hand combat had never been my forte. I also had a handicap since Levi was in such a vulnerable position. Everything felt new and strange as well in this unknown body.
Getting tangled up in the length of my own arms and legs, I felt like a newborn horse as I scrambled to get out of the way of the figure beelining for me. Both heat and the smell of flames coated the inside of my nostrils. I'd never seen a Titan half on fire before, but a lot of new things were coming to the forefront of this battle. Smoke rolled off of their black skin, cracks revealing a fiery heat within. My instincts screamed that even being touched by such a monster would be dangerous. It reminded me of the shiny cold crystal that shielded Annie's Titan when we'd attacked her with our blades. Realizing that the outstretched fingers were directly headed for the crevice of my neck that Levi rooted himself on, I righted myself to lurch forward and swiped at their arm. Blood squirted onto my face as I cut to the bone.
Screaming, the Titan smashed their hand into my cheek in a desperate attempt to push me away so I wouldn't cut the limb off.
I cried in pain as chunks of the right side of my face dripped onto the field below us. Melting off with a sickening smell of burning skin. There would be no way of me getting close to this Titan with that sort of capabilities. Armor, crystal, and fire? What other abilities existed within the secrets embedded within Titans? The heat inflicted on my face didn't let up even as I created more distance between the Titan and me. The pain, a prevalent reminder of how much in danger the two of us were in. Scooting backwards, I jumped as I realized my feet had touched water. It moved against my ankles and lapped at my skin. The Titan kept trying to push me back further and further but I denied every advance by maneuvering to the side. However, I wouldn't be able to keep this up as they herded me into a direction further away from the intended goal.
I double-checked to make sure Levi still had a hold on me and that he was seeing what I was. "We need to leave, there's another one coming over here," he shouted at me. Whirling around, I caught sight of a large hairy monstrosity approaching us. While my own limbs were longer than most, this Titan's hands dragged in the mud and grass. Fur covered most of its body, reminding me more of an animal than a nightmare resembling a human.
Snarling, I glared between the two Titans on either side of me. I'd been struggling to fight one in this new condition, there's no way I'd be able to fight off two clearly more comfortable in the suit of beasts. They also didn't have to protect anyone, unlike me. Beginning to become more and more distressed by our increasingly dire straits, I struggled to see how I could make a move to save both of us. Cautiously watching the newcomer, I kept one eye on the flaming Titan. However, it had yet to make a move since the hairy Titan arrived. With a gaping mouth and wide eyes, the Titan's expression gave away the same surprise I'd felt. Seeing this as my chance to run away uninterrupted, I slowly lowered myself onto all fours. Neither of them made a move towards me, but I still wanted to not be noticed. I quietly readied myself by gathering up all my strength and breath before dashing forward. Sprinting, I hoped to be far out of their view before either noticed my escape. I could not count on any friends or help. Stretching my arms and legs, they ate up the ground underneath me.