Chapter 8: Stowaway (9 July 2015)

A Year later, age 8...

There was a nagging feeling in the back of Levi's mind- for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something really bad would happen today. And not the usual, "forty percent of the soldiers present in mission were killed" bad, but the "We're all gonna die!" bad. Even though all the signs showed otherwise, it still bothered him.

Call it a rare gut feeling.

Today, he and his team was guarding the trailers near the center rank- a safe place to be but dangerous nonetheless. They'd already received word that the outer ranks have sustained massive damage. Nothing ever got better for them, especially the outer ranks.

Somewhere in the distance Erwin shot a green smoke signal indicting a course change. He understood why- there was rather large forest up ahead. It was a perfect place for them to use their 3DM gear but also a death-trap for those on the ground. If they were to go through they would have to break formation which would leave them vulnerable from all sides. This wouldn't do, so instead they would maneuver around it. Sharp thinking of the man. It was one of the reasons Levi respected him.

On the other side of the forest, one could find a small town or, well, what was left of it anyway. The titans had rapidly decimated everything in sight. If they ever had the chance to retake Shiganshina and reclaim what had been demolished, it would take decades to rebuild everything. The aim today, however, was the same as the last few missions. Leave, establish a route and come back. Easier said than done. If everything was as simple as it sounded though they wouldn't be having a problem.

Not far away, another smoke signal fired. Red. Meaning the right center ranks had spotted their second titan since the last course change. With the pace they were going, they would reach the town within the next few minutes. After that, it was a full blown titan country and a straight shot to Shiganshina, if they could make it that far that is. Once the quantity supplies and men began decreasing they would be forced to turn back. Unfortunately, they were already nearing that line.

From behind him Oluo suddenly realized something. "Hey Captain. Isn't this around where you found the kid two years ago?"

"Two years! It's only been that long?" Petra exclaimed from behind him.

"Yeah I know." Gunter agreed. It's hard to think that Eren had merely been with them for such a short time. For Levi, it felt like forever. He couldn't remember waking up without Eren jumping on him as an early wake up call or walking down the hall without hearing his laughter echoing from somewhere in the castle.

"Poor Eren," she sighed "He really, really wanted to come. First, I had to convince him we were coming back and then I had to convince myself. Somehow, it was harder to convince myself…"

"Speak for yourself. Those of us who are more experienced-" Oluo started.

"Oh, don't you even start! I-"

"Stop your bickering. We need to stay vigilant." Levi scolded, looking to the skies. "The last smoke signal was far too long ago."

The team observed their surroundings to find he was right. In the time they had been arguing and talking about Eren, they had passed right by the little village and yet no smoke signals were fired. Not a good sign.

It happened with no warning.

Suddenly, a giant twelve meter titan came out of nowhere. The nearest scouts didn't have time to react. With one sweep of its giant arm both riders were sent flying. Both men were dead on impact- the cart they were pulling was just a pile of splinters now. The beast turned to them, expecting its next kill.

Before they even had a chance to do anything another two titans emerged from the nearby buildings, this time bigger. The Levi squad sprang into action. They struck down the first two with ease, leaving only one.

No one noticed the absence of Petra.

A scream attracted their attention. Somewhere along the line, Petra had been caught off guard when a ten meter had snuck up on her as she was fighting the fifteen meter. One of her blades was snapped clean in half and her 3DM gear was crushed like an ant. She was clutched gasping for air in the hand of the titan struggling for her life as it brought her closer to its mouth. They charged, preparing to separate skin from bone.

They never got the chance.

Suddenly, its flesh began to turn into steam. It fell to its knees, releasing Petra from its grasp. She let out a scream in surprise but landed on her feet anyway. Gunter rushed over to her side to get her away from the falling titan.

Levi took a step closer to its steaming corpse. It was only when the titan fell, exposing it's nape, that what had killed it became clear. Half of Petra's broken blade was lodged deep in the creature's weak spot. How did it even get there? None of them had even had the chance to get close to it! The blade had to have be thrown by someone. So they did the logical thing.

They turned around.

There on the wagon, body still poised from the position where he had thrown the blade, stood none other than Eren Ackerman. Blood was dripping from his hand where the blade had cut him when it had left his hand. Shock had completely frozen his body.

The mention of his name snapped him from his trance. "Owww! That was totally not planned!"

He grabbed onto his bleeding hand and fell to his knees. Realizing he was still staring, Levi recomposed himself, pushing his emotions of surprise and shock aside for the moment. He ran over to his brother and grabbed a bandage from the medical kit.

"Those blades are SHARP!" Eren exclaimed, the events of the previous moments all but forgotten.

Levi ignored him. "Where did you get cut?"

The stowaway held out his hand for the man to see. It was a deep cut, but it was already healing. Although he knew it would just be a scar within the hour. He bandaged it anyway. "What are you doing here Eren?"

"What do you mean? I came with you." He replied innocently. Levi gave him a look.

"Ok! OK! So I wanted to see what you guys actually do out here all the time." After a pause, he looked down at his feet for a moment. "I guess I… I just wanted to be one of you guys. To be a scout."

He sighed and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Eren. I understand that you wanted to help. But this, this is not the way. See that cart over there?"

He gestured towards the cart that the first titan hit. Eren nodded. "That could have been you. Think before you act Ackerman."

The boy sniffed and nodded. Levi sighed. "We'll talk about this later. We need to contact the others." He stood and turned to his squad, making sure they knew that the last part was directed to them.

They seemed to think about the same thing. "Our horses are all either dead or gone Sir. We won't last long without them."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "How about the flares?"

"...We have one flare left sir. The horses took off with the others." Gunter handed him the flare gun. It was a red flare. Their options weren't looking too good. The captain discussed the plan of action with his team, their voices drowning out in a haze.

Eren wasn't listening anymore. Boredom befalling him as he stared out over the open field, at the forest. Instinctively, his mind started to formulate a new course of action. No horses, no supplies, and no useful flares. Its funny, to them, the situation seemed dire, but to him; it was nothing. He knew what to do. He's done it before too much anyway...

In the meantime, Levi's horse had returned, as did Oluo's, but they were still short on horses. They were discussing their options when Levi noticed Eren's silent behavior. He stole a glance behind him and fell silent. His squad looked at his curiously due to the sudden change. Eren was completely calm, watching the birds fly by, no indication of worry or panic in his demeanor- hardly the reaction anyone in this kind of situation had.

"…Eren?"

He didn't respond.

"Eren… are you okay?"

"The forest."

"What?" His reply surprised them. What the hell was he talking about?!

"Titans can't climb trees." He said casually, as if it was common knowledge. "It's the safest place for us right now. We might find the horses there too; sometimes when they get frightened they go to the forest."

The reason for Eren's reaction then occurred to him- Eren was used to this. After all, he probably found himself in the same situation often before Levi had found him. He turned to the others. "Gunter, take the horse, alert Commander Erwin of the situation. For the time being we're heading for the forest."

The group looked at him in surprise. "Sir! Are you sure that's wise?"

He faced them. "Take one good look at Eren and tell me who knows more about how to survive out here than him."

Realization crossed their faces. The situation came into perspective. Without another word, the three scouts ran off to their respective jobs.

Sorry for the long wait guys. I've been working on the script for my manga, The Orion Project, and have been extremely busy. I hate writing beginnings. I really do, but i cant put it off any longer. DX I can have the entire plot and end and everything down and the damn beginning ends up giving me head aches. Its not even like I can skip it. And art block isn't helping either. TT

Oh well...

Originally this fanfiction and all the others where practice to keep my writing skills up. I LOVE making plots. Especially where everything always goes wrong. XD

My poor poor manga characters. They might just go over to Attack on Titan for some tea and cookies...

I'm evil.

Anyway...I hoped you liked it. I never liked this chapter. It always annoyed me. I'll hopefully update soon. School starts Wednesday TT sooo, you get it...

Please review! Oh and Happy New Years!

Until Next Time!

-Ziixx

(Updated: 6 January 2016)