Chapter 8: Her First Battle


"What? Eren collapsed last night!?" Heidi exclaimed when she was filled in about what she had missed the previous evening while she, Mikasa, and Hannah walked over to meet the guys before heading over to get their assignments for the day. From what Mikasa had just said, although she had never experienced such a severe reaction herself, it sounded like Eren was struggling with some sort of repressed memory problem similar to her own, because he had cried out in pain and fell unconscious right after they ran into Hannes, and he asked him if he remembered anything about his father's mysterious disappearance. "... Even though Jacob and I were both right there... I can't remember my mother's death from five years ago, either. I get really bad headaches sometimes when I feel like I'm about to remember something important... and my grandpa said that was a sign I wasn't ready for it yet. He said some things were best left forgotten, and it was my body's way of protecting myself. He said something really terrible might happen if I forced myself to remember, so he wouldn't even let Jacob talk to me about it... I think it might be the same for Eren. Something really traumatic must have happened the last time he saw his father, so he probably shouldn't try to force it, especially if his body is having such violent reactions..."

"... You may be right," Mikasa said thoughtfully, furrowing her brow slightly. That theory really worried her, though... Eren had watched a titan devour his mother, but that only made him more determined to kill them... She didn't even want to think about what could possibly be so horrible that Eren would have to block it out of his mind.

"O-Oh, look!" Hannah said cheerfully with a slightly awkward smile, trying to brighten the gloomy atmosphere. "It's Franz and the others!"

"Hey, Eren. Feeling better?" Heidi asked, greeting him with an innocent smile, as if the heavy conversation they'd just had about his mental health had never happened. "I heard you collapsed. Did Jean really hit you that hard?" she teased.

"And I heard you had too much to drink and fell asleep in public, like an old man," Eren retorted with a smirk.

"Touché," Heidi conceded, feeling a little chagrined. When he put it that way, it sounded like she was in danger of turning into her late uncle.

"Here they come!!" a man shouted excitedly further down the road. "The main unit of the Survey Corps is here!" Everyone in the road immediately moved to the side, making way for the approaching unit and their supply wagons.

"Commander Erwin!! Give those titans a real thrashing for us!!" another man shouted. The commander of the Survey Corps was calm and dignified, looking straight ahead as he led the rest of the squads on his white horse. A flash of red caught his attention out the corner of his eye. He glanced over slightly and saw Heidi. His eyes widened slightly in surprise as the memory of a certain man's face overlapped with hers in his mind. He had heard from Shadis that Odd Trumbauer's daughter had just graduated from the Training Corps. 'That red hair... could it be that girl...?' he wondered, staring at her as he passed, but Heidi was too busy being distracted by her friends to notice.

"Hey... Look!" Eren said excitedly as he pointed at a young man towards the rear of the line who had short black hair, sharp grey eyes, and an intimidating aura. "That's humanity's most powerful soldier! Captain Levi! They say he's as strong as an entire brigade!!"

'Hm... so that's the famous Captain Levi,' Heidi thought, wincing slightly as she held a hand to her forehead when she felt a sharp pain upon seeing his face. That was strange... this normally only happened when she felt like she was about to remember something, but there was no way she could have ever met someone so famous...

"..." Levi spared the group of star-struck kids a brief glance out the corner of his eye as he passed. It was initially Eren's comment that had gotten his attention, since he had been so loud, but there was something familiar about that redhead... At first he thought it might have been because she vaguely resembled Isabel since it was rare to see such deep shades of red hair, but looking closer, their faces were nothing alike. Her eyes were blue, and her hair color was too bright. "Tch. What noisy little brats..." he muttered under his breath as the crease between his perpetually furrowed brows deepened.

"Good thing those wide-eyed kids don't know what a clean freak you are..." Hange remarked with a wry smile. "They'd be in for a rude awakening..."

"Hmph," Levi couldn't care less.

"Wow, this nothing like five years ago," Heidi commented, taking noted of all the smiling faces in the crowd that had gathered to watch. "People actually seem to feel hopeful about the Survey Corps." There seemed to be more people around too, even though Trost was a border town.

"That's because everyone's cheered up since then," Hannah said. "Nothing's happened in five years. Can't exactly revert to what things were like a few years back, though."

"The wall's been reinforced quite a bit in the meantime!" Franz added. "Maybe the Colossal Titan won't show up anymore."

"Yeah," Hannah agreed with a smile. That'd be great.

"Quit sounding like such a wuss!!" Eren snapped angrily. "Stupid couple!! This is how..."

"Co-Come on... a couple..." Hannah said shyly as she held up a hand to stop him, blushing shyly as she looked away.

"Us, a matching pair..." Franz said, blushing bashfully, as he covered his mouth. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Eren!"

"..." Eren gritted his teeth in annoyance while Armin and Heidi smiled wryly in amusement. Their reactions were so in sync... Eren had hit the nail on the head. Those two were definitely a couple.

—∞—

They made it just in time for roll call. They were all assigned to cannon maintenance on the wall surrounding the town, but ended up in different groups. Heidi was with Marco, Jean, Daz, Peter... and some guy that she had never met before. Sasha was looking kind of shifty for some reason when they passed her in the hall on the way to their station, and Heidi noticed there was a bulge in her jacket.

'She's stolen food again, hasn't she...?' Heidi thought wryly, concerned for her friend's future. Well, at least she had learned enough not to try eating it out in the open... Heidi decided to just pretend she didn't see anything, hoping Sasha wouldn't get caught if she didn't call any attention to it. She saw nothing, and she knew nothing.

"By the way..." Marco said as they were worked on cleaning out a couple of the cannons on the east side of the wall together. "I heard that after the speeches you and Eren gave yesterday, more people are thinking of joining the Survey Corps," he told Heidi.

"Hmph. I guess yours was pretty eloquent..." Jean remarked with a sardonic smirk. "For the ramblings of a drunk." Daz and the other guy snickered.

"Alright, alright. I get it, already. I can't hold my liquor. Why can't you people just let it go?" Heidi deadpanned, chagrined. "Anyway, what happened to your face?" she asked Peter in an attempt to change the subject. For some reason, he had a black eye.

"What do you mean, 'what'!?" Jean asked incredulously. "You—mph!" He was cut off when Peter abruptly clapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him aside.

"Don't you dare tell her!" he hissed nervously in a low voice so she wouldn't hear. "If she finds out I tried to take advantage of her, it won't end with just a punch this time!!" Jean deadpanned. He could totally see that happening. It was a long fall from the top of this wall...

"?" Heidi said, wondering what they were whispering about.

"Nothing..." Jean answered a bit too slowly for her liking. "Forget I said anything."

"Okay...?" Heidi said dubiously, raising an eyebrow. They were definitely hiding something... Which meant that whatever had happened to Peter, he probably deserved it.

"Hey, are you done with that cannon, yet?" a member of the Garrison, who had cropped black hair and bristle on his chin, asked as he walked up to inspect their work.

"Yes, sir!" the six of them answered dutifully as they saluted their superior. It looked like they had finished just in the nick of time.

"A-Ah...!!" Daz suddenly gasped, trembling, as he dropped his rag as he and Marco stared over their shoulders with wide eyes, looking extremely pale and shocked.

"What? What are you staring at?" their superior asked, wondering what their problem was. Marco's hand shook as he raised it and pointed at something behind them. He, Heidi, Jean, and Peter all turned to see what it was and froze. Standing there, in front of the south side of the wall, directly in front of the gate, was the same 60m tall monster that she and Peter had seen five years ago just before all hell broke loose in Shiganshina.

"I-It's back..." Peter said, quivering with fear. "The Colossal Titan!!"

"Sir! What are our orders!?" Heidi asked urgently, quickly snapping out of her stupor when she realized the danger they were in.

"Th-The Colossal Titan Response Operation!!" the older soldier said, jarred back into reality by her question. "You trainees get back to HQ, now!!!" he ordered them as he started running towards the gate along the top of the wall. "Make sure they sound the alarm!!"

"Yes, sir!!" they shouted, immediately jumping off of the wall, using their 3DMG to reach their destination as quickly as possible.

CRASHHH!!

"!!" Heidi gasped as she spared a glance back over her shoulder and saw the Colossal Titan slam his hand across the top of the wall, destroying the canons. Eren, Sasha, and Connie were over there...! She furrowed her brow and gritted her teeth, but she kept going. They had either dodged, or they hadn't. Either way, worrying about it or abandoning her duty wasn't going to change that. For now, she had to report in with the others and hope Sasha and them would make it back safely.

—∞—

RINNNG! RINNNG! RINNNG!

"Unfortunately, the Survey Corps, which includes our most seasoned combatants among its members, is out on exploration duty. We stationary troops are the only ones currently repairing the walls and preparing for ambush," one of the ranking officers in charge said urgently over the sound of the town's bell as everyone scrambled to reload on gas and finished prepping their gear while the more experienced Garrison soldiers started evacuating the citizens. "You trainees have successfully graduated. That makes you full-fledge soldiers! I'm holding high hopes about your performance in this operation!" Locked and loaded, Heidi scanning the room of rushing and anxious cadets, trying to spot Sasha or Eren, and make sure they were okay. It was then that Mikasa ran past her.

"Ah, Mikasa!" Heidi called out, darting through the crowd to catch up with her. "Have you seen Eren, Sasha, or Connie!?" Mikasa shook her head, looking worried.

"It's gonna be fine, Hannah. I'll look out for you, even if it's the last thing I do," Franz promised a scared Hannah seriously as they rushed past the couple. Mikasa furrowed her brow, wishing she could find Eren, and then, she spotted him. He was with Armin, over by the gas tanks.

"Over there!" she said, pointing them out to Heidi as they picked up the pace. "Eren!"

"You okay, Armin!?" Eren asked worriedly, as if completely oblivious to the girls' arrival.

"I-I'm fine!" Armin said, even though he was visibly pale and shaking so bad that he couldn't finish fixing his gas tank properly. "I'll calm down soon enough!"

"..." the girls stared at them. Sure they were worried about Armin after seeing what a wreck he was, but to think Eren would just ignore them like that at a time like this... especially, Mikasa.

"Hey! Eren!" Heidi yelled in his ear, getting his attention.

"What!?" he demanded incredulously.

"I'm glad you're all right! What about Sasha and the others?" she asked anxiously.

"They're all fine!" he answered to her relief. "Samuel was injured, but everyone's alive."

"Hey, you, with the red hair!" a member of the Garrison shouted as he stalked over to them purposefully. "You're Heidi Trumbauer, right? There's no time to explain. I need you to come with me," he ordered, turning to walk away without waiting for her reply. They couldn't wait for her to finish being briefed with the other graduates. They needed the front guard in place, now! A bead of nervous sweat slid down the side of Heidi's face as she glanced back at her friends one last time before following him.

"Take care of yourselves!" she shouted at them as they all stared after her. All of them were equally confused by this turn of events. Why had she been singled out like that...?

"St-Still! We have an 8m high hole at the site, and it takes time to fix that sort of thing! And that big rock supposedly meant to block the entryway..." Heidi heard Armin start to ramble nervously as she left the room.

"Sir, what about the briefing?" Heidi asked as she followed the soldier who had called her out. For some reason, he was leading her away from the HQ.

"Like I said, there's no time," he told her, furrowing his brow. The rearguard had wanted the 1st in the 104th class for themselves, so now he was stuck with Miss 2nd Place. The only consolation was that she was supposedly able to adapt to a crisis faster than the rest of her class. "The drill's the same as during your training. Simply put, our job is to hold off the titans for as long as possible. I'll explain in more detail on the way, but you've been assigned to aid us in the vanguard as part of the advance team. You'll be first on the front lines." Heidi's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly steeled her nerves. "This new graduate will be joining us to fill in for Stein," he informed his squad as they joined them. "Now let's go, people! We need to be there, yesterday!!"

—∞—

Like he said, if it was the same as her training, then Heidi already knew the drill. As a member of the advanced team, it would be her job to hold off as many of the titans as she could, for as long as she could, while the rest of the vanguard and the other teams finished getting ready. The plan was simple and straightforward. She would kill as many titans as possible so Sasha and the others would have fewer to fight. So, as they rushed to the front line using their 3DMG to drastically increase their speed while running along the rooftops, she used the time to examine the backs of the new teammates that she didn't even have time to hear the names of. The men's hairstyles looked incredibly similar from the back, but they all had different hair colors, so that made them easier to identify in a flash. The only other woman in the group was tall with a strong and slender frame, and her medium-length hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had the same hair color as her late mother, strawberry-blonde.

"A deviant!" the leader shouted as a 14m-class titan came charging towards them at a run before they could join up with the other squads in the advance team. He, the flax-haired man, the strawberry-blonde woman, and Heidi all managed to dodge in time, but the brown-haired man was swatted away by the deviant's flailing hand like a fly, and the black-haired man's legs were caught in it's teeth. The brown-haired man died instantly, but the black-haired man wasn't so lucky.

"AAAAAGH!!" he screamed in agony as its gnashing teeth snapped his spine and bit him in half. The titan suddenly screeched to a halt. It turned and stared Heidi in the eye with a look that made the blood in her veins turn to ice.

'Th-This...' Heidi thought, breaking out in a cold sweat, as a special type of fear began to creep over her, the kind she hadn't felt in years. 'This... is what it feels like... to be 'prey'...!!'

"Move!!!" the squad leader yelled. "Damn!" he cursed. This was why he had been against having a rookie on his team! "Asta, cover me!" he shouted at the strawberry-blonde woman, leaping from the roof to save Heidi, when she just continued to stand there as the titan's open mouth came crashing towards her.

"!" he and the others gasped when she dodged at the last second by darting to the side and letting out a burst of gas, using her momentum to propel herself past the side of the titan's face in enough of an arc to swing around its head and fire a grappling hook into the back of its neck and reel herself in for the kill, slicing out a deep chunk of its nape, as its face crashed into the spot on the roof where she had just been standing only seconds ago. The more experienced soldiers stared at her in shock, stunned by her flawless attack. As the building collapsed in on itself from the weight of the dead titan, Heidi released the grappling hook and maneuvered herself over to a more stable location, landing next to the squad leader.

"Forgive me, sir," she said evenly, apologizing for freezing up. She looked up with grim determination burning in her blue eyes. "It won't happen again."