Disclaimer: I do not own SnK, either the manga or the anime. All content taken from either are not mine. The original character and the plot, however, belong to me. This chapter contains elements from the SnK "No Regrets" manga.
As a refresher here are some dates before we begin:
844: Levi, Isabel, and Furlan are recruited into the Survey Corps
845: the Fall of Wall Maria
847: Eren begins training in the 104th Training Corps
850: The Battle of Trost
Since Levi is said to be either in his early or mid thirties during SnK, I am taking the liberty of putting him at 32 in the year 850. So here in the year 844 he is 26 and Maia is 23. She is 29 in the present day chapters. Just some perspective! It doesn't really matter, but I thought I would add this anyway. Enjoy chapter four. xx
Chapter Four: Isabel
A few years prior, the year 844…
"Easy, girl, easy, shhh."
The air is delightfully cool that day. A light breeze plays with the ends of Maia's hair, tied together in pigtails that trail down her front and over her chest. She is reminded of a time when all she knew was pasture after pasture, wild horses, farm animals, and a day that began before the sun rose and ended after the sun had set. Days like today brought her happiness, nostalgia, but also pain and sadness.
It was a win lose type of scenario, she supposes.
She coos some more at the horse she is currently handling, trying to calm the mare down from whatever has spooked her or, in this horse' particular case, annoyed her. Her hands are gentle with the sizable animal; she towers well over Maia who, at twenty-three, is just a slight little thing with not much height to boast at all.
After successfully penning the horse, Maia hears footsteps behind her. She turns to see a young woman, possibly younger than her own age, standing behind her. Her hands rest on her hips and she looks more than displeased to be anywhere near Maia. Red, choppy hair pulled back into two unruly stalks at the back of her head, and a set of stunning green eyes draw Maia's attention first. The girl is staring, almost glaring at Maia, assessing her. In fact, she seems to be judging her.
"Hello," Maia greets her warmly, as is her custom, and the woman instantly narrows her eyes.
"Hiya," her tone is not as nice as the word should probably sound. "I'm here to train or something. Whatever." She huffs and crosses her arms, looking around for something that Maia is unaware of. Later she will learn that the woman is always looking for her two companions.
"You must be Isabel?" Maia has been tasked by her squad leader, Flagon Turret, with teaching the three new Survey Corps recruits about how to properly ride, handle, and care for a horse. She heard from Zoe Hange, a fellow corps member who had been in her graduating class, that these three had lived in the Underground prior to being captured by Squad Leader Erwin Smith and his team.
What had it been like to grow up in a place without sunlight? Maia had spent most of her childhood outside, basking in the glow of the sun and soaking in its rays. She couldn't imagine…
"Yep, that's me." Isabel loudly pops the p at the end of yep and scans the area, totally bored.
"Well, it's wonderful to meet you. I'm Maia Beckett. Would you-" Maia stops as she watches Isabel's head cock to the side. She is looking at the horse Maia has just calmed down. A notoriously finicky horse, Breya is loyal to very few riders, and gives even fewer people little to no problems. She is headstrong and stubborn, unable to be bribed with food and wholly averse to a good wash down. The horse is also perpetually wary of strangers. If horses knew what it meant to narrow their eyes, Maia thinks Breya would do it constantly.
"That's Breya," Maia informs Isabel. "I think...I think she might be a good fit for you, actually. Would you like to meet her?"
Isabel thinks about it for a moment, is silent, then nods her head slowly, avoiding eye contact with the golden haired horse handler.
When Maia takes Breya out of her stall, the horse immediately begins to whinny and protest. She has already been out today and all the horse wants to do is eat and be left alone. Maia, however, rarely gives in to stubbornness and instead leads the horse over to Isabel. The girl from the Underground must admit that the tiny woman in front of her is strong. She is pulling the horse with no problem despite the animal's clear resistance. Isabel almost lets herself be impressed. Almost.
She is shorter than Levi by a landslide, Isabel thinks to herself. Huh. Would ya look at that?
"Now, you will be good to her," Isabel lifts her eyes to glare at Maia but sees that the small woman is actually...talking to the horse? What a weirdo. I gotta tell the guys about this.
"Have you ever ridden a horse?" Maia poses the questions kindly, but Isabel bristles nonetheless.
"Why? Because I'm Underground filth that grew up in a sewer? Is that why?"
This girl has an abrasive and explosive personality, but Maia has certainly dealt with worse. Flagon, for example, is as hard-headed as they come, and Hange, one of her closest friends, goes through emotions like they were hours of the day.
"Because you are holding the reins incorrectly."
Isabel looks down at the grip she has on the horse's, Breya's, reins. She had reached out for the dappled mare while Maia was speaking to her, noting that the woman had dropped the leather straps in favor of just knowing the horse would follow after her. What was she, some sort of horse enchanter or something? Isabel really couldn't wait to tell the guys about her day.
To her credit, Isabel manages to blush and look abashed before Maia corrects her grip, positioning her fingers with slender digits of her own. Maia's hands are deceptively strong for being so tiny. She as a whole appears strangely powerful for her size. Perhaps that is because the horses in their stalls are all looking at her reverently, even Breya, who snorts and kicks her hoof when something as harmless as a passing bee trails too close to her.
"There. This will allow you to lead her more comfortably, should you want to walk her around this enclosure. Can I help you swing up into the saddle?"
At first, Isabel is hesitant. She digs her standard issue boots into the ground as if contemplating whether to flee or not. She is wearing her ODM gear. It would be easy to just take off into the trees and not look back. Maybe she could even find the guys…
She makes the mistake of looking back at Maia and her stupidly warm face and her stupidly warm smile. Damn her. Why was she being so nice to her? Did she want something? Had she figured out their plan? No, that wasn't possible. Levi is careful. He and Furlan have iron tight resolves. They would never have let it slip. She's probably just...nice?
Could this woman really just be...nice?
"If I wanted to hurt you," Maia is right next to her and the sounds of horses behind her and of Breya to her left actually intimidate Isabel, "I would have already done so and you would have never seen it coming. So, please, let me help you onto Breya. You will feel better once you are in the saddle. It's freeing. I promise."
For some strange reason, Isabel believes that if Maia had wanted to harm her she would have done so and Isabel would have been none the wiser. This woman seems to have a lot more layers than what is presented on the outside. And she is in the Survey Corps after all. There is no telling what secrets and strategies are in her mind, what she has been taught in the rigorous military training she had gone through. All Isabel knows is what she learned down in the Underground streets, trying to survive with Levi and Furlan.
"Okay," Isabel relents, hesitantly putting one foot in a stirrup, "but if this horse throws me off, I'm punching you square in the nose."
Maia simply raises an eyebrow and, without warning, all but throws Isabel onto Breya. Briefly, Isabel is surprised and lets out an involuntary oof! followed by a small eep! when Maia clicks her tongue, causing Breya to slowly move forward. She softly but firmly instructs Isabel on how to properly hold on, how to guide Breya, and how to change her movement speeds. After a few practice laps, Isabel's confidence is high and her need to be free and feel the wind in her hair is even higher. Barely glancing back at Maia, she kicks at Breya's sides and pushes the horse into a steady gallop.
Racing across the large, fenced in enclosure, Isabel heads for the trees that dot along the posts. She gives a hyah! to Breya and then lets out a whoop! as she shoots the cables out of her ODM gear. The hooks dig into the bark of a tree ahead of them. Maia watches as Isabel flips in the air, laughing and yelling gleefully the entire time, before the redhead calls out for Breya who has not stopped her gallop. In one fluid movement, Isabel unhooks her wires from the tall tree and careens towards Breya's back. Gracefully, she lands back in the saddle and slows to a stop near Maia, who is standing with her hands on her hips, a knowing, happy look on her pretty face.
Isabel wants to be angry, to hate her and her soft looks and gentle grace, but she has just given her temporary freedom from the confines of her new Survey Corps prison. For just a few moments, flying through the air (the outside air!), Isabel felt free. Maybe Maia isn't so bad.
For someone who lives above ground.
"I thought she would like you. I'm happy I was right." Maia pats Breya's neck lovingly, which the horse responds to by nudging Maia's face with her snout.
"Living in the Underground I've gotten good with animals. The ones I have trouble with're people!" Isabel's face is flushed from the ride and acrobatics. Her face beams down at the golden haired woman. Maia thinks it makes her look younger.
"The higher-ups and the other soldiers, they all put you down because you're from the Underground. But, when I think of a world without horses, without farms and pastures, without light...It must have been hard on you, living down there, right?"
Isabel's face drops slightly and Maia almost regrets asking. She wishes to know about this tumultuous woman in front of her too badly to have chosen her words a bit more carefully. She hopes she has not scared her off, because if it came down to it, Breya would come back to Maia if Isabel chose this moment to try to escape with her.
"Yeah, I guess," she looks off into the distance before continuing, "I was born and raised underground, so for me, livin' in a trash heap was normal…"
Maia recalls the smell of her childhood home, the aromas of the food that always seemed to be stewing away over the stove, the scent of her sheets and blankets and clothes. Always clean, always fresh. She can't imagine living in trash, actual trash, for her entire life.
"I got so I thought I was gonna die there, in that trash heap, but life's a little better since Levi saved me from that." A wistful smile appears on her face and Maia thinks it suits her. Isabel should be smiling, not scowling.
"I see," Maia looks off into the distance where a stack of long logs sit next to a few boxes and storage bins. Two figures are seated on them. "Levi did that?"
"S'right!" Isabel nods with vigor, "He's the strongest ever! Even in the Underground!"
"Wow," Maia sighs, thinking to herself, and pats Breya absentmindedly. The horse makes a content snort. "Is Furlan the same?" She asks because she thinks that it is him sitting on the logs with the other Survey Corps member, Matis. The man is one she does not recognize.
"Nah," Isabel shakes her head and smiles down at Maia, happy to talk about her friends despite her earlier distrust towards the horse wrangler. She supposes it's still true, doesn't think that a few laps around an enclosure are going to win her any room in Isabel's heart, but it's a start. Maybe the distrust will end one day. Perhaps not soon, but someday. "Furlan's…"
As Isabel goes on and on about her friend, Maia can't help but think about this Levi character. From what she's heard from Hange, he is a criminal, a seasoned one at that, with a record longer than a Titan's wingspan. According to Hange, who learned this from Mike Zacharius, this Levi Ackerman did not play well with others and was a vicious brute with no regard for authority. Or maybe Mike was annoyed because the man had called him a dog. Maia can't be sure.
She does know one thing, however.
She'd like to meet him.
Levi Ackerman seems like a wild horse.
And if there is one thing Maia Beckett is good at, it's taming wild horses.
Everyone is gathered in the mess hall for evening meal. Maia sits with her squad at a long wooden table off to the left in the canteen. Flagon is going on and on about how outraged he is to be working with disgusting degenerates who haven't done half the work we have to get here.
"What? So stealing and murdering is now a prerequisite for the Survey Corps? Tch." He gives his food a nasty look, stabbing at his vegetables with unnecessary force. "Ridiculous."
"Isabel is actually quite lovely once you get to know her," Maia offers. She tears a piece off her roll and pops it into her mouth. Flagon focuses in on the movement of her lips, but continues to scowl.
"Well you would find even a Titan lovely once you got to know it, Beckett," Flagon rolls his eyes and looks to another squadmate of Maia's, one of Flagon's subordinates named Castor. He is a burly man with a close cropped buzzed hairstyle and neatly trimmed facial hair. His hair is dark and so are his eyes, but his personality is bright. Castor has a delightful sense of humor that constantly helps to boost morale when times get tough, which they do nearly every other week when in the Survey Corps, it seems.
Castor, however, is not looking at Flagon, but at Maia. Her entire squad knows her backstory, knows about her old squad, the one she was assigned when she first entered the Survey Corps. He sees her visible intake of breath, her shoulders deflate. Flagon can be callous and inappropriate at times. Sure, he is a rule follower and a military purist, but his demeanor and actions can be full of arrogance. Joking about something like that with someone like her? That is reserved for Hange, who has some strange affinity for the monsters; it shouldn't be used with her. Not with Maia.
She excuses herself from the table, golden hair swinging freely now out of the confines of her pigtails, and grabs her plate, intent on getting as far away from Flagon as possible and getting as close to the tea kettle as she could. There were very few things herbal tea could not cure, in her opinion. One of those things was unwanted memories. On her way to the large stove topped with several kettles, she sees Isabel sitting at a table with two other men. Everyone is giving them a wide berth, as if the three are carrying some sort of plague. The stigma around the Underground confuses Maia. How is it their fault they were born into darkness? Where else were they to go? How could they make a life above ground if everyone thought they were dirty street rats covered in filth?
The man to Isabel's right Maia recognizes as Furlan, the one she had spotted sitting on the logs with Matis earlier. He is handsome, Maia must admit, with his blond hair slightly unruly and grazing the tips of his ears. His eyes are wide in shape and strangely inviting for a supposed criminal. Furlan has kind eyes, innocent looking eyes. Maia wonders what he got up to in the Underground that was so bad. She supposes everyone has their secrets.
The final member of their trio is a striking man with piercing cobalt eyes. They are partially hidden under the fringe of his bangs, hanging down over his face and casting his eyes in shadows. As opposed to Isabel, with her unruly hair and wild way of wearing it, this man's hair is impeccably kept; his undercut is meticulously maintained. Like Furlan, this man is attractive as well, with a distinct air of mystery and danger surrounding him.
This must be Levi Ackerman.
Isabel spots her and stands up abruptly, causing both men to follow her gaze. Maia can feel their stares on her as she tries to look only at Isabel. The redhead gives her a wide smile but keeps her body angled slightly away from her. Maia didn't expect to earn her trust in a day.
"Maia! Heya! D'ya think we can go a'ridin' tomorrow mornin' before whatever hell they have planned for us?"
Maia smiles at her gently and nods. "Sure. I'll show you how to stable her afterward as well."
Isabel makes a triumphant noise and pumps a fist in the air. When Isabel has settled back into her seat, Maia turns to Furlan and sees him watching her with big eyes. What he is thinking she cannot guess, but she gives him a respectable half bow anyway.
"Hello," she greets him, "I believe you will be training on horseback with me tomorrow afternoon. My name is Maia Beckett. It's lovely to meet you."
"Is it?" The voice is low, emotionless, and it comes from her right. She cuts her eyes over to Levi, who has just spoken and is regarding her from underneath his hooded gaze. Maia knows he is trying to intimidate her, get her away from his friends, his people. Unlucky for him, she is not easily frightened. Not by humans, at least. She raises a single flaxen eyebrow at him and quirks one side of her lips.
"Of course it is. We're not all the same up here.." Levi's forehead crinkles, his brows draw together. A small, disgusted curl twists onto his mouth and he turns away from her, staring down into his teacup. Maia notices he has no plate in front of him, whereas Isabel and Furlan have piled theirs high with food.
"Tch. I don't care."
Maia shrugs, "Suit yourself. Furlan, Isabel, I'll see you both tomorrow. Have a great night's rest."
She can feel Levi's glare back on her as she walks towards the kettles.
Oh, yes, a wild horse indeed.
A/N: I love Isabel. Full stop. She is so complex and full of emotions and wonder. It is a joy to write her. This chapter has some borrowed scenes from the No Regrets side story manga which details Levi's first year with the Scouts. He's a slightly darker, rougher, grittier lil' gem in this era, so he'll be quite different from how he's written in this story in the present day chapters. To Maia especially. There is a scene in the NR manga with Isabel and another woman where she performs that same flip maneuver on a horse. I don't see Maia as looking like that character, but I borrowed her pigtails and some of her dialogue.
Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, and followed so far! I am encouraged by your support and elated that you're liking it! Slide some reviews in to tell me how you're feeling; I love hearing from everyone! And if you spot a mistake, let me know so I can correct it! I proof read every chapter many, many times, but sometimes I miss something anyway. Thank you so much for all of the love :)
Next chapter is back to OG Squad Levi because I can't get enough of them, and more talk about our frustratingly obstinate pair because we are gluttons for angsty romance feels, I guess? It's fine. We're fine. We'll get through it. See you then! xx