Bruises

Chapter 6

I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin

Levi didn't dare to admit it; he had a bad feeling about this mission. He had an itch at the bottom of his stomach. He turned his head a little, taking a glimpse of Sasha, he didn't want anyone to notice he was doing this. When he spotted her he sighed, she couldn't look any more nervous.

The gates opened and they started to ride their houses outside. Sasha tried not to show her fear. Though she was excited because this was her first mission as part of the scouting legion, fear had to show up at some moment.

Sasha knew the forest pretty well, she had grown up there; it was her home. Though, she knew it was a home where she had to be extremely careful. You couldn't just go wandering around. She had always liked it and found it enjoyable to be in. But, knowing that she might not come back because of titans made it all very uneasy.

Without actually noticing it, Sasha started to get away from her group. It was inevitable for her not to get distracted at seeing all the houses that used to be there. They were all destroyed. Families used to live here, and now it's all gone, destroyed.

Maybe it was because of Sasha's extremely well developed senses that allowed to realize what was going to happen if she didn't move. Yes, her senses saved her form being eaten by a titan. She swallowed hard and pulled the rope of the horse to make it hurry the hell out of there. A titan was chasing her, fear wasn't enough to describe what she was feeling.

"Braus!" Her squad had finally spotted her "Get here as fast as you can" They were on her left only a few meters away.

Without thinking it twice she pulled the horse to the left, it obeyed her tight away making the titan crah with a tree that was in front of them.

"I made it" She whispered, every part of her body shaking. She passed her hand on her forehead to clean the little drops of sweat "I'm safe"

"Braus" The leader shouted "The signal" They were still riding at full speed.

"R-right" She still was shaking. Opening the bag she took out a gun, but her trembling made her drop it. She just raised her head with a sorry expression, the leader just shook his head.

"Now what?" A member asked.

"I think you should look at something" A girl said pointing at a titan running. A kind of titan she had never seen before.

"What the" Before the man could finish his sentence a body flew near them and fell just behind Sasha, another woman had the exact same luck. The girl turned around and saw Sasha they were extremely puzzled. It was only a matter of seconds for the squad to be eliminated.

"What do we do now?" A young man asked the leader.

"Just keep going" He was frowing. Everyone found the titan's behavior odd, starting by the it moved. And because she was just throwing people around.

"It's going to Armin's group" She mumbled to herself and panic rushed to her body. She had grown a certain affection to her comrades, just imagining that she would never see them again made her trembling return. She waited for something to happen, expected the worse.

"Green flare" She shouted to the leader as the titan ran away.

"Where are we going then?" The same young man asked.

"The forest" Replied the leader on the road ahead of him "The giant trees forest" The kept going.

What exactly was that titan? Sasha didn't now, but it was by far the scariest titan she had encountered. She didn't know exactly what was the titan really doing, but something told her it had to be with Eren. It wants to take Eren. Then it's going after the corporal. But he can't kill it no problem, can't he? Of course he can.

"Prepare to shift to your 3D gear" The leader shouted, snapping Sasha out of her thoughts. They were near the forest, other squads were already arriving. Though she couldn't see the titan any longer, she still was able to feel her violent steps.

"Why haven't they shot the black flare?" Sasha asked.

"I don't know" The leader replied with a blank expression "Shift now" Everyone did as he ordered. Everyone flew to the trees at the exact same time, each landing in a different tree.

Sasha looked around. Armin's squad was already there What a relief But there seemed to be people missing. Either some members of the squad were, or the entire squad was missing. All of this made Sasha aghast. She sat down on the tree hugging her knees, waiting for the rest of them. She wasn't able to listen the steps any longer.

Anguish started to fill up her body as nobody else was arriving. Were they lost? They had no horses? Were they dead? She tried not to think about the last one, because she knew she had the same chances as them. The sound of something crushing against a tree made her raise her head. It was Mikasa.

"Mikasa" Sasha shouted "Are there more people on the way?" She already knew the answer. Mikasa just looked at the ground and shook her head, Sasha bit her bottom lip.

"I see" She sighed.

"She's after Eren" Mikasa touched her scarf and held it tightly.

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know" They had completely lost sight of the titan.

Time passed but nothing happened. Everyone was just standing on a tree, waiting for a signal. Then she felt it again. The stomps. The titan was coming again. Sasha wasn't able say anything. It only took a few more minutes for everyone to realize that the titan was chasing them again. But no one received a signal, they didn't even open their mouths.

Everyone was standing in the trees. Just waiting for the titan to arrive. Some were holding tight to their 3D gear, as if it kept them. Sasha tirned her head to see outside the forest. That's when it happened again. She was only able to take a glimpse at the titan. It was running way too fast. Maybe some people weren't even able to see the titan because of its speed. Because they were just standing with blank expressions.

Before Sasha was able to ask her leader what would they do, a sound of similar to fireworks, hundreds of them. Followed by an immense silence. Only interrupted by her leaser's voice.

"It ends here" He didn't give any kind of order.

Every single one of them knew what had happened, and no one had ever felt this relieved before. Their sudden calm only lasted a few minutes.A high pitched scream rang in their ears. Only Sasha knew what this meant.

All of Sasha's efforts for trying to stop Mikasa from going were in vain. She had warned her about that scream, she told this was the part she had to be more careful. She took her advice but flew away.

All of their tension disappeared when they were told that the mission was over. The titan had escaped. It was finally time to go back home. Her eyes started to get watery when she heard two men saying that there were no survivors in Levi's squad.

It was dead dark outside. Only the sound of crickets could be heard. Sasha was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling, she had already an hour like this. She wondered how everyone was able to sleep after all that had happened today. She asked herself if they, when they closed their eyes the pictures of the corpses being thrown away didn't flash up to their mind? That was keeping her awake.

She rolled her body, watching the bed next to her. She had shared this room with a kind woman in her early twenties. The bed was empty now. She was tired, but unable to sleep, she needed to rest.

Remembering what her mother used to do whenever she wasn't able to sleep. She got up, put on a light sweater and went barefoot to the kitchen. A glass of milk with cinnamon always helps, tough, I might just find milk.

Right before she entered the small kitchen, she saw a dim of light coming from another room. Apparently others can't sleep either, let's see who is in here. She opened the door slowly, not making a single noise, after all, she just wanted to take a quick look. The room had a strong smell of alcohol and when she saw who it was, she understood why he couldn't sleep.

Approaching to the corporal slowly, almost in her tiptoes she spoke.

"You've been drinking, sir" It was the first thing that came to her mind.

"But aren't you smart" He drank the last sip of his glass. He raised the bottle and his eyebrows, inviting Sasha to drink something.

"No" She shook her head. She had never liked drunk people, they always creeped her a little. But she knew the corporal wasn't drunk yet.

"Drink up. You're gonna sleep right away" He poured some more whisky into the glass. And laughed bitterly.

"I'd rather not" She was suddenly feeling gloomy.

"Whatever" He drank more whisky " Then why did you come here in the middle of the night? To get a glass of milk?" He slammed the table with his fist.

"Actually" She swallowed hard "I did" The corporal laughed bitterly for the second time.

"Big news girl" Sasha wasn't liking this "You won't find a glass of milk. Things here aren't the same as they used to be back at your home. The only comfort you'll find here will make you sick" He spat it out. For a seond Sasha asked herself if this was real. Was the corporal actually telling her this?

"I don't think that's true" She said with a tiny voice.

"Well" He stood up "Tell me that when you lose your entire squad in one fucking day" He let himself fall to the chair.

"Did you really have to get drunk to let it out?" With all the nerve she had she looked at his eyes.

"No" He stood up "I didn't have to get drunk to let it out" He pushed the table aside to get near her.

"Then why are you drinking?" He got even nearer. She wasn't sure why she was actually keeping up with this.

"I don't know" She started to walk backwards to establish some distance but he kept walking towards her "I don't know, maybe because I don't want to think about this shitty day any longer" Sasha's back was now resting on the wall and he was only a few inches away form her.

"Well I think that's a lame excuse" She cursed herself in her mind.

"What?" He frowned and grabbed Sasha's right hand and started to squeeze it unconsciously.

"That you don't want to think about this day any longer, that you don't want to think about the death of your friends" He still was squeezing Sasha's hand, she knew it was impossible to free it, he really wasn't noticing what he was doing. His gray eyes were complete dark, making Sasha a little scared.

"You think so? Let me tell you, Sasha" It was the first time he said her name "After a time of seeing people die every day, you don't even know how to feel. The only thing that's left is what they meant to you. No, it's not only about bringing their bodies back so you can cry your eyes out. It's about remembering the most meaningful moments you spent with them" That's when Sasha knew it. Although the corporal was quite drunk, she knew he trusted her, or at least he felt comfortable enough with her.

He released her hand, she tanked for this since she wasn't able to hold the pain any longer. He kicked the chair next to them. This only made him swear and hit the wall with his fist, by kicking it, he had only made the pain of his leg return.

"Sir, are you okay?" Sasha asked rubbing her soared hand.

"It's nothing" He sat down "Can you bring me some water?" He was panting. Sasha obeyed him and went to get him a glass of water. When she grabbed the jar she dropped it immediately, the pain didn't allow her to move it. She knelt down to pick the broken glasses.

"Go to bed" Levi was standing in front of her "I'll pick them up"

"I can do it" She kept picking the pieces.

Levi knelt down and made her drop the pieces.

"I said I'll do it" She just nodded and started to walk back to her room.

The moonlight allowed her to see her right hand perfectly. It had only been a few minutes ago when the corporal squeezed it, but it was already filled up with bruises.

I'd like to thank you for reading. Honestly, when I posted it I expected it to go completely ignored because it's my firs story and I only used Fanfic to read, I never thought I'd post something. And I'm glad that there are some people that are actually reading this story. Also, the next chapters won't follow the original storyline, because I think that'd be going too fast.