So, I'm waiting for Aliens or Dinosaurs to start showing up with how this year has been going so far.
Chapter 4:
Sitting atop his new stallion, Levi along with his squad awaited for Shadis to give the order to move out. He's noticed that the old coot had become more nervous over the last several months, he's thrown a lot more responsibility onto Erwin too. Probably waiting for this good luck the scouts have been having to turn for the worse. If it would happen is yet to be seen. The old coot had been making a lot of bad calls recently. Was costing a lot of scouts their lives.
Despite the fewer deaths due to Kagome's influence, she was still one person and the scouts still had a death rate around twenty percent. There was only so much she could do, what ever the hell it was she was doing anyway. That was something he needed to figure out.
"How the hell do you bite your tongue when you're not even moving?"
Coming out of his thoughts, he turned his head slightly, watching as his squad laughed at Oluo. Hopefully this group would last longer than his last two. He hand picked them himself because of their skill. All of them already having a high solo or team kill count.
It also helped that they worked well together. He recently added Petra and Oluo, Eld and Gunther having been the remaining members of his previous Squad. They all did well in their training and were already working on team attacks.
"ALL SCOUTS, MOVE OUT!"
Hearing Shadis' booming voice, he encouraged his black stallion forward, trusting his squad to follow.
"You all better stay outta my way while I kill these damned Titans with our Captain." Oluo boasted.
Petra scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I think those five solo kill's you've gotten has gone to your thick skull." Gunther and Eld chuckled behind her.
"I also remember you pissing your pants while you were at it." Eld added.
"Why you son of a bit-"
Levi listened as they bantered with each other. It was a nice change compared to his previous squads, they were balls of nervous energy that jumped anytime a flare gun would go off. Gunther and Eld were the only one's that seemed to keep a cool head.
If all went the way he wanted, Kagome would be on his squad as well. He just wasn't sure when that would happen. Feeling the chilled wind hit his face, he looked up towards the sky. Autumn would be here soon, maybe before winter hits they could get her in the scouts.
Obviously Shadis and Erwin would need to approve of her, if they did, getting the documents forged wouldn't be difficult.
Levi was pulled out of this thoughts by Eld."Captain, Black smoke spotted." Looking to his right, he saw the signal. The black smoke lazily blew in the wind, it wasn't very far away. Shadis had repeatedly refused Erwin's idea of the long range scouting formation. Draw back to their current formation was that you didn't know where a Titan was until it was practically on top of your squad.
Without looking back he addressed his squad."Eld."
"Sir!?"
"I want you to confirm that Mike's squad has seen the smoke and have them pass the message along."
Nodding, Eld gave a one handed salute."Yes Sir!" Then veered off to where Mike's squad was positioned in the formation.
"Petra."
"Yes Sir?"
"Be on the look out for anymore signals, since its an abnormal it probably won't attack. Doesn't mean there aren't more of them around."
"Yes Sir!"
"What about us, Sir?" Oluo asked while looking at his surroundings.
"Be on the look out fo-" Pausing, Levi looked in the direction the black smoke was coming from.
It was Kagome. She was in that direction.
Oluo and Petra looked at him concerned. Petra spoke up. "Everything alright, Sir?" She asked timidly. She didn't know what would make him look so serious out of the blue when no danger was present.
A grunt was her answer, she could barely hear it over the sound of the horses hooves slamming into the ground.
Looking back in front of him, at least he knew the general area she was at. He wondered if the abnormal had anything to do with her. She did say that most of the titans left her alone and he remembered that in the area's he sensed her in the past there were fewer Titans from that direction.
Why he didn't notice before was beyond him.
Hearing approaching hooves, he saw that Eld had returned.
Coming up next to him, Eld steadied his horse to keep pace with Levi's. "Sir, Mike's squad has been notified about the abnormal, I also have a message from the Commander. We will be stopping within the hour to give the horses a break once we reach the main forest, given there aren't many Titans around." He explained.
Giving a nod in thanks, Levi looked ahead. "Good Work." This was good news. He would be able to see Kagome sooner than expected.
Nodding to his captain, Eld went back to his previous position next to Gunther.
Thankfully the ride the rest of the way to the forest was uneventful. Stopping his horse, Levi dismounted along with the rest of his Squad next to Erwin and Mike's squads. Patting the stallion on the neck a few times, he caught Erwin's gaze. Giving one last pat on the horses neck, he walked over to the taller male.
Once he reached the taller male, he got a thick brow raised in question.
Meeting his light blue gaze, Levi motioned for Erwin to follow him. He didn't wait for a response before he walked to a more secluded area.
Erwin watched him leave for a moment then turned back towards his squad. "Julien, I want you to watch after my horse for a moment." He said before following after the shorter male. Catching Mike's eye, he motioned for him to follow.
When they caught up to Levi, he was leaning against the trunk of a large tree. He had his arms across his chest and he was staring up into the canopy.
Erwin was the first to speak. "So how are we suppose to find this Oriental?" He asked.
Pushing himself off of the tree, Levi faced the two males."Her name is Kagome. I have a general idea where she is at. She's not far from here. Probably a five minute ride." He explained.
Raising an eyebrow, there was visible confusion on Erwin's face. "How do you know where she is?" Had Levi been meeting with her during previous expeditions?
Resisting the urge to sigh, Levi looked in the direction he knew Kagome to be in. "It sounds crazy, but I can feel where she is at."
Mike narrowed his eyes at him but he ignored it.
"How?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Levi looked back to the two. "Beats the hell out of me, I'm just as confused by it as you." He wanted to know as bad as them.
Nodding, Erwin turned back from where they came and motioned for the two to follow him."Lets get the horses and go see this Kagome. We will be here for at least an hour so the horses can rest, so we should have time."
Once they got their horses and made Shadis aware that they were going to "Scout" the area for any Titans, Erwin and Mike followed Levi to where he felt Kagome.
Levi didn't know why, but he was nervous. What would he do if this meeting went bad and Erwin wanted nothing to do with Kagome? Or if she wasn't where he thought she was? The questions were endless and it wasn't long before the three men spotted evidence of a small fire.
The closer they got, the more Levi heard Mike's nose working over time. There was no telling what the damn Bloodhounds nose was picking up.
Getting a closer look, there were four skewered fish roasting above the small fire.
Kagome and the cat weren't in sight though, Levi knew she was in the area. He could sense her almost as if she was beside him.
"Hey, Levi."
All three men jumped slightly and looked beside them.
Dark blue met cerulean. Her long wavy hair was gently blowing in the breeze and she had a small smile on her face. A movement on her shoulder indicated that the cat was perched there like before.
Taking her eye's off of Levi, she turned her gaze to the other two males with him. Tilting her head to the side, she regarded them. They had intimidating aura's, sure, but they seemed to be more curious of her than anything else.
"Who are your comrades?" She asked.
Dismounting from his horse and hitching it to a nearby tree, Levi motioned to Erwin first who was also hitching his horse. "This is Captain Erwin Smith." Then he motioned to Mike. "This is Captain Mike Zacharias." Who had already hitched his horse and was standing beside him. Levi noticed that she didn't have her bow or swords on her.
Giving a bow, Kagome greeted the two. "Its nice to meet you both." When she straightened, she was greeted with three sets of confused faces. Flushing slightly, she avoided their eyes and scratched her cheek nervously. "Ah, gom- Sorry. Do you shake hands in greeting?" She asked.
Taking pity on her, Erwin gave her a charming smile and giving a small bow to her himself, Mike following his example. "It's quite alright Miss. Kagome. We are not accustomed to the customs of Orientals." He explained, getting confused when her nose scrunched up.
Shaking her head slightly, she chalked it up to them not knowing about Japanese. "It's fine, I am actually Japanese. Don't think I've ever been called and Oriental before." She smiled slightly.
Erwin nodded stiffly. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." He apologized.
Walking up to the males, she held her hand out. "Don't worry about it. Lets try again shall we? I'm Kagome Higurashi." She then motioned to Kirara with her other hand. "This here is Kirara."
Erwin took her hand first and gave it a firm shake. "Erwin Smith." He introduced.
Giving him a full smile, she let go of his hand and repeated the process with Mike. She wasn't expecting him to lift her hand up to his nose and giving it a good long sniff.
She couldn't help it, she blushed. When he gave a small nod and smirked to himself, she was relieved that he seemed to be pleased with her scent. She didn't realize that he still had a hold of her hand until Kirara waltz down her arm and gave Mike's hand a sniff herself. She gave a soft mewl and had a happy aura around her, her tails twitched in excitement. When she turned her red eyes to Kagome, she got the idea and got a better look at Mike's aura.
It was faint, very faint, but he had just a drop of demon blood in him.
He must of felt her examining him, the hairs on his arms raised and a thin brow soon followed. He finally let go of her hand, then looked at his hand in confusion. The confusion didn't last long, the smirk was back almost immediately.
Levi then huffed. "Fucking weirdo's." What the hell did he just witness?
Erwin chuckled to himself. "Well, at least she has Mike's approval."
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Here y'all go! This chapter is a bit longer than previous one's. I am hoping to have the next chapter of The Guardian or Soul Lament out next week.
Please review, it means so much when you all do and I love reading them!
