Part 44
The Bloodborn and the Co-Ordinate, pt 2
"You bastard! I'll kill you where you stand!" Came the furious roar of Eren, using his awakened Titan abilities to send thrown Titans by Reiner back his way.
"Bertholdt!" Reiner called out subconsciously as Titans began to swarm his colossal form and Bertholdt himself could only swing his cutter in hopes it would keep the hungering Titans at bay. "I can't protect him like this!"
Reiner then emitted his own roar of anger; realising he was close to failing his mission as a Warrior. "Why did the Co-Ordinate have to fall to Eren?! Him of all people…"
Not too far away from the ensuing clash between Eren and a struggling Colossal Titan, both Erwin and Fury watched on in their own awe and yet couldn't do much to aid the boy they had all set out to retrieve, for she had her own Titans to keep at bay. Yet, the strength of Eren's will power in using this newfound skill had even managed to unbind the control Fury had on the Titans swarming her and Erwin, causing them to submit to Eren's call and even they charged towards Reiner as the Titans themselves were clinging to his giant frame of muscle and armour.
"Erwin, we have to go!" Fury insisted, bellowing a loud whistle to summon her horse as her bloodshot eyes returned back to normal, as they always did when she wasn't using what she had.
"…So this is why they wanted Eren, it would seem…" Erwin quietly speculated, clutching onto his missing arm as he was then pulled up by his collar by Fury herself, not wanting to be in this location for much longer, and she helped him up onto her horse; with her climbing on behind him.
"You're still alive. So you're still our Commander." And yet Fury's arms coiled around the tall blonde. "Take us back home, Sir!"
"Eren!" Called Sasha as she approached with Armin and Connie. Armin himself carrying a still unconscious Jean behind him on his own horse.
"Can you ride?" He asked his best friend, doing well to not allow his panic control him.
"Yeah… I think so…" Was Eren's response in quite a confused tone as he was given a spare horse; hoisting Mikasa up onto it first as she was too injured herself to take the reins of the heavy breathing animal. As Eren climbed up and into the saddle, he looked behind to see that Reiner was far too occupied with the ambush of Titans that were sent his way. "Did… I do that?!"
"Oi, shithead! Let's go already!" Came the aggressive call of Fury herself as she and Erwin joined the young soldiers
"Wait, YMIR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Then came the high-pitched panic of Krista as she was stopped by Connie from going after her closest friend.
"Let her go, man!" He told the young blonde.
"But, she'll be killed!"
"That's her decision, Krista! Let it be!" Barked Fury, eyes narrowed in her own frustration.
"No…" Krista muttered as her panics calmed. "No, not Krista. Not anymore. From now on, I'm Historia."
"Okay, great. Lovely!" Sarcasm. Of course. "Now let's go!" Fury hissed one last time.
"ALL OF YOU RETREAT!" Erwin ordered, commanding the horse forward with just his one eye. "WE HAVE EREN. RETREAT FOR THE WALLS!"
There was no questions from anybody. All who had survived followed without doubt. A small sense of hope given to them to see that their Commander had survived his own ordeal this day.
The newly named Historia gave a small glance back at Ymir in her own Titan form as she had clearly gone to aid both Reiner and Bertholdt; tearing the skin from other Titan's napes to hold them back as much as she can to allow them to escape. Historia, knowing the two of them were traitors to the rest of her friends, simply wondered if Ymir had adopted a different opinion. Or perhaps she just wanted to try and make amends… One last time.
The small party of survivors rode onwards towards the walls. Each individual shrouded in his or her own thoughts.
Not to mention the shock they endured seeing both Fury and Eren being able to control a large amount of Titans. Yet none was sure if they should be thankful or not. Fury herself still wondered if she'd ever be accepted into society. They're still struggling and fighting over Eren. Would it soon become the same with her? The Government were already asking questions about her existence.
Now Fury herself glanced over her shoulder. The image of the small village she stayed in for her 4 years out here flashed within her memories. She could so clearly see Hexis, the other villagers. Even the little boy, Isaah, who had begun to look up to Fury as a role model of sort. And yet she could only ever recall telling him to look for inspiration in someone else, for she was nothing but a walking target.
"Is this what you wanted, old man? For everyone to bear witness to this? You asked me to start putting some faith into Humanity… but I still ask; why should I when still they see a Bloodborn as a threat? And now this idiot can control the Titans too? The world is starting to get a lot bigger than I ever viewed it to be. Are you asking me to put faith into Eren?"
"Get the Commander to the hospital, now!" An instruction from a surviving Scout as they'd all finally made it back behind the walls.
And like always, the gathering crowd mocked the ideals of the Survey Corps, taking little to no interest in the injured men and women walking by them. All they spoke of was how they viewed their taxes to be a waste if all it was going towards was soldiers dying beyond the walls.
For Eren, he could only remember the day that he was also a spectator in this harsh crowd. He had no idea of how brutal and cruel it was outside the walls, yet he so willingly wanted to join the Scouts, even before the tragic death of his mother, Carla. In his young, naïve life, he never stopped to speculate the amount of death that occurred among the Survey Corps. He was brash; all he wanted to be was a hero. Now all he viewed himself as was a burden. And in his mind, he accepted that he was to blame for all the deaths today.
"You have some explaining to do, shithead…" Approached Fury after watching Erwin being taken to have his lost arm looked at by nurses.
Eren looked at the woman, his teeth soon gritting and his eyes narrowing. The boy was already on edge. "Why do you talk to me like that?!"
"E-Eren!" Mikasa called out, placing one arm on his shoulder as she saw his fist beginning to clench. Her own grey hues landed on Fury. "Leave him alone!"
"Oh don't you start…" Fury rolled her eyes. "You need to get yourself to a nurse, also. Didn't you break a finger nail, or something?"
Fury knew she had to be careful around this protective Ackerman and yet, keeping them on edge and ready seemed to be what was needed, in her eyes. Yet as much as Mikasa wanted to lash out at the smaller woman before her, she knew now wasn't the time. Jean was still knocked out, Armin was oddly quiet and Eren needed to come to terms with everything that has happened today.
"… small little witch…" Mikasa spoke under breath, groggily wiping her tiring eyes, as she did in fact need to see a nurse.
"What have I ever done to you?" Eren then asked Fury as she stood with folded arms.
"You're still so reckless. Had you not been so stupidly taken by Reiner, all of the soldiers that died today would still be alive, Eren. Hannes included!"
Eren then clutched his head. The tears began to flow from his eyes as he had hit his limit. The guilt he was already feeling was becoming too much for him to bare and Fury… Fury herself couldn't help but feel oddly sorry for him. Why was Eren reminding her of little Isaah? He was brash and terribly naïve too and yet… she came to care for the young boy. Now Fury was feeling somewhat sympathetic for Eren's sake.
"If I had… If I had tried harder to shift… Hannes… Everyone… They'd all still be here, wouldn't they?" He sobbed, hiding his face as his bottom lip trembled.
There was a small pause on Fury's part. "I can't sugar coat anything, Eren… I don't know if everyone would've survived had you shifted…" She spoke surprisingly softly. "I suppose all that matters is that you're still here. But you're going to have to be de-briefed by Hange about this new ability of yours…"
"Am I... What you are?" He asked, just simply wanting his mind to be more broaden.
"No." A simple response. "No, what you did out there was beyond anything I was doing. All I was doing was keeping Erwin, ah, the Commander safe. What you managed to do was somehow change those Titans natural behaviours and had them attack Reiner instead of us."
Fury then placed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Look. Although we lost good people today, you helped the rest of us gain that window to be here where we are now. Don't take these gentle words of mine in to believing I like you all of a sudden, however."
A small smirk appeared on Fury's lips as she parted ways with Eren. And yet Eren himself simply emitted a small chuckle to himself.
"Fury, my name's Nifa!" Approached a redheaded female. "Commander Erwin is asking for you. He's been placed in his quarters for R&R."
"Not surprising, the man lost an arm today… Nifa… how did the Commander seem to you?"
"Uh…" Nifa tapped her chin. "Conflicted, if you want honesty. Yet enlightened at the same time!"
"Yeah… that sounds like the Commander..."
Fury gave Nifa a nod to leave as her ears listened to the commotion around her. Soldiers going back to their families.
Families sobbing and wailing after being told their loved one had met death this day. Even Fury felt oddly saddened, yet her mind was mainly on Erwin.
She told the man she loved him today. But Fury had to ask herself did she mean it? Or was it just said in the heat of the moment because even she found herself to be panicking…
