Unexpected Visitors: Chapter 2
"Yeager! Get your head out of your ass and get after that titan!" Levi yelled before flying off after the titan that was quickly escaping through the woods, leaving Eren kneeling half in, half out of his tent in shock.
"Eren! Quickly! Before it gets too far away!" Hanji raced to Eren's side, grabbing his arm and hauling him to his feet.
Hanji's word spurred Eren into action. He brought his hand up to his mouth and bit hard enough to break skin. The whole time the only thought that ran through his head was that he needed to catch the titan, he needed to catch the titan, he needed to catch the titan.
Hanji scrambled back as Eren was surrounded by a violent explosion of smoke and steam. It clouded he vision making it near impossible to see as Eren transformed into a titan. She knew when the transformation was over by sudden shaking of the ground as Eren took off running and the dissipation of the steam as it flowed after Eren.
He weaved between the giant trees, running as fast as he could after the distant thumping he could hear coming from in front of him. The only thought on his mind was catching up to that titan and taking it down. A tiny voice whispered that he had to be careful not to hurt all the little humans flying around everywhere. He heeded that voice only because it would make Levi angry at him if he accidentally stepped on one of the soldiers that were flying close to his feet.
Petra, Eld, Oluo, Gunther, Hanji, and several soldiers that were slow to take off were following close behind Eren. Gunther was flying the highest so he was first to notice they were getting closer to a large patch of light that signaled they were nearing some kind of opening in the trees.
Bright light assaulted Eren's eyes as he exited the forest and entered a large clearing. There he saw Levi and three other soldiers fighting the titan. Its Achilles tendon had been cut by, Eren assumed, Levi, making it impossible for it to run. Eren charged across the clearing just as the titan swung out, crushing one of the soldiers against a tree, leaving a bloody smudge behind. He shouldered the titan against another tree before it could swing at Levi and the other two soldiers.
They crashed into the tree, toppling it over with a snap. With a smash they landed on the ground, Eren on top of the titan. He swung out at its head, aiming to incapacitate it but missed and his hand hit the ground, causing huge clumps of dirt and debris to fly everywhere and a large amount of skin to peel off of Eren's knuckles, leaving the bones and tendons exposed. It immediately began to smoke as Eren's body worked to repair the damage.
The titan swung up hitting Eren square in the jaw causing him to fly backwards. Eren landed a few yards away sprawled out on his stomach. His jaw was steaming as well now and he could feel his jaw bone reknitting back together and the skin reform around it. Eren rolled onto his back, quickly climbing to his feet as the titan came at him again. This time it was holding the fallen tree they'd knocked over. The titan swung the tree at Eren's neck but he ducked out of the way before it connected which caused the titan to continue to spin around due to momentum.
That small window of opportunity was all Eren needed. He kicked the titan in the back of the knee and swung again at the titan's head. This time the blow landed. The titan hit the ground with a bone jarring thud and didn't move.
"All soldiers who are still able to move get the spikes and ropes! We don't have long before that titan's up and moving again!" Hanji ordered as she landed next to the unconscious titan.
"Hanji-san you shouldn't stand so close to that titan. As you said, we don't know when it might move again." One of the soldiers said as he hurried to tie down the titan's right wrist.
"I'm not going to leave its side until we have him safely back at H.Q." Hanji said, crossing her arms in stubborn defiance.
"Well then, hurry up the hell up and get that thing secure!" Levi yelled as he headed over to where Eren knelling.
Eren had fallen to his knees once he'd ascertained that the titan wasn't a threat anymore and he'd completed his mission. Steam was slowly rolling off of him in waves. Levi climbed up to Eren's neck and stabbed one of his swords in deep enough to cut through the skin but he was careful not to penetrate too deep and hit Eren. He slashed sideways cutting away flesh to reveal the unconscious Eren inside.
Most of Eren's arms and legs were still fused with his titan body, but Levi could see that it was slowly separating from Eren and in a minute it would totally release him. Levi grabbed Eren's shoulders and pulled. There was the sound of tearing and Eren was jerked loose.
"How is he, Levi?" Hanji called as she plunged a stake through the titan's hand, nailing it to the ground.
"The usual. High fever, unconscious, strange pattern around his eyes. He'll be just fine." Levi answered back. He adjusted his hold on Eren so he could rap his arm around his waist and grab a strap around his waist. When he was certain he had a good hold of Eren and he wasn't going to drop him he shot out one of his grappling hooks, shooting it into Eren's dissipating shoulder. He jumped and shimmied down to the ground and lowered down Eren to the ground.
"Levi, I'm pretty sure we've got this covered, why don't you take Eren back to camp." Hanji said as she gave a few of the soldiers near her some orders.
Levi nodded, hefted Eren up onto his back, and started walking back towards the camp, grumbling something about why he was the one that had to take care of the brat. They'd covered quite a lot of distance in pursuit of the titan which meant it'd be a long walk back. Eren wasn't terribly heavy and Levi wondered if the brat was eating properly. This kid of the key to humanities survival but he was so thin it was kind of hard to imagine that he could become a nine foot titan just by biting his hand.
The ground was relatively smooth and made traveling simple. Levi transitioned from a brisk walk to an easy jog and the distance easily flew by. Half way to camp Levi felt Eren stirring on his back.
"Sleeping beauty awake yet?" He asked.
Eren groaned and Levi took that as a yes. He slowed back to a walk before coming to a complete stop and lowered Eren to the ground. Eren wasn't really ready to stand yet so he let Levi lower his but to the ground and then crossed his legs. His head hurt like he was suffering from the flu and he was so tired it was hard to keep his eyes open but he had to know what happened. The last thing he remembered was Hanji telling him to head after the titan and then the next thing he knew he was waking up on Levi's back.
"What happened? How did the titan get free? What happened after I became a titan? Did we manage to capture it again?" Eren shot out rapid fire question, hardly bothering to breath.
"Hang on a second, brat. One question at a time. Yes, we managed to recapture the titan. The titan was smarter than we thought. It actually figured out how to work loose the ropes binding it to the ground. That's how it got free. And as for what happened while you were a titan, well, you didn't hurt anybody, if that's what you want to know." Levi answered Eren's questions, counting off the questions on his fingers as he answered them.
Eren sighed, infinitely glad that they'd managed to get the titan back and even happier that he hadn't hurt anyone by accident. He attempted to rise to his feet but his legs were still wobbly and he fell back onto his butt. "Looks like I'm not walking for a little longer. You should head back and help, Captain. I'll be fine. I'll head back to camp once my feet will stay under me."
"Not a chance, kid. You're my responsibility so I'm not letting you out of my sight." Levi growled as he sat on the ground in front of Eren and crossed his legs. "We'll both just wait 'till you're legs stop quaking in fear."
"I'm not scared! It's exhaustion!" Eren shot back, feeling extremely embarrassed.
Levi's lips quirked up in a slight smile and Eren realized that Levi was just pulling his leg. Before he could chew him out for doing so his attention was drawn to the forest. There was something there. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that was there but it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.
"What's up? You see som-" Levi started to ask.
"Hey, Eren, Levi! There you are. I have a few questions to ask Eren while the experience is still fresh on his mind." Hanji interrupted. She'd headed after them with her gear once she was one-hundred percent sure the titan wasn't going anywhere this time.
Eren hardly noticed her arrival. His attention was completely attuned to the thing in the forest. It was calling to him. He had to go to it. Had to see what it was. He rose to his feet shakily but this time his legs held and he started stumbling towards the thing,
"Oi! Yeager! Where the hell are you going?! The camps back that way!" Levi yelled hurrying to catch up to Eren. Hanji followed close behind. Something wasn't right. There was something about the way Eren was acting that made her worry. He'd never ignore Levi. No matter what, he'd always answer if Levi asked him a question but this time he didn't even seem to hear him.
"Levi, wait. Something's not right with Eren." Hanji said stopping Levi as he reached out to grab Eren's arm and stop him.
"So you just want to let him go when he's not acting right?! Just how stupid are you?!" Levi snapped, jerking away from Hanji and reaching for Eren again. If the kid wasn't acting right, then that was even more of a reason to take him back to camp and wait for him to snap out of it.
Hanji grabbed Levi again, squeezing this time to communicate that she needed him to listen. "Just wait, Levi! If there's something out there that can affect Eren in this way then I- no we- need to know what it is. Let's just follow and see what happens. If it gets dangerous you can step in and take Eren back, but who knows when this could happen again, if ever. This may be our only chance." Hanji implored with her eyes, begging Levi to go along with her plan.
Levi sighed and looked at Eren as he stumbled though the forest. It was obvious that he was in some kind of trance and -though he hated to admit it- Hanji was right. This may be their only chance to find out if there was something out in the world that had an effect on titans besides killing them. "Alright. But at the first sign of trouble we're out of here and back at camp or so help me Hanji I'll shove my foot up your ass so far-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it. Come on. Eren's getting farther away." Hanji interrupted, not really caring what Levi said anymore since he gave his consent.
Hanji jogged off after Eren and Levi followed close on her heels cursing as he did so. They followed Eren for quite a while and it was starting to seem like he was just walking around with no destination. Levi was about ready to tell Hanji that this was a waste of time and that they should just drag Eren back, because there's nothing out here, when Eren abruptly stopped. Hanji and Levi stopped behind him, scanning the forest for signs of life. Other than the sound of birds singing and the skittering of small creatures there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Why'd he stop?" Hanji whispered, half afraid that if they made any loud noises it would wake Eren from whatever trance he was on and they'd find out they just walked for several hours all for nothing.
"How the hell should I know? He's the one that stopped and you're the titan expert. You tell me." Levi snapped loudly, apparently not scared of waking Eren.
"Shhhh." Hanji slapped her hand across Levi's mouth. "Do you want to wake Eren up?"
Levi jerked Hanji's hand away from his mouth and gave her a seething glare. "Like I give a damn. We just walked for hours. If there's anything out here, it better not try running or I fucking kill it."
Hanji sighed. Sometimes Levi had absolutely no fines. He'd try to solve the problem with violence, assuming everything could be solved with a good punch to the head or kick to the stomach. This time though, Hanji got the distinct impression that whatever was affecting Eren wasn't something that could be handled with violence.
"Do you feel that?" Hanji asked as the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end and a cold chill slid down her spine.
"You mean that feeling that something's out there watching us and it's causing the hair all over your body to stand on end?" Levi asked, placing his hand on this sheathed sword, feeling a little better knowing he could pull it out at anytime and then whatever was out there would be done for.
"Yeah, that. What is that? It's strange I wonder where it's coming- AAHHHHHHHH!" Hanji wondered out loud more to herself than Levi when suddenly the ground underneath her feet disappeared and she was falling.
"The HELLLLLLLLLL?!" The sound of Levi screaming next to her reassured her that she wasn't going crazy, but it also scared her because they were really falling and she had no idea where they were falling to.
The world turned black and the only sensation of that of falling, and falling, and falling. On, and on, and on. Never ending...
Thank you for your patients in waiting for the next chapter. I'll get started on the third chapter shortly and we'll finally get to meet the NCIS cast! Can't wait to write it. Feel free to leave a comment and point out any mistakes I may have made. It'd be a great help. Hope you enjoyed. :)