CHAPTER 7

I woke up only a few hours later in agony. Woozy and, I touched my fingers to my stab wound and when I drew them away they were covered in sticky, red blood. A bubble of panic rose up in my throat. My sutures! They'd probably been ripped out when I had hit the ground, and the adrenaline of almost dying had kept the pain at bay.

Frantically, I unfastened my half-cloak and, used my dagger to rip it into strips. Then, ever so carefully, I began to stuff some of the cloth into the wound. I bit back a scream as I almost passed out, Shaking my head to keep myself awake.

Once I had a few bits of the fabric soaking up the blood, I took a much thicker piece and tied it around my rib-cage, holding it all in. Shaking, heaving, I laid on the ground and whimpered. Never had I wanted to be back in the fortress so badly.

"I told you it was suicide," I wheezed, cringing as I inhaled a little too deeply, "Didn't I tell you? You said I'd be fine, but here I am, dying. And after I was ordered to come back," I gave a wry smile, "Well, I guess we can't have such insubordination from a member of the Survey Corps," I said, "Levi would have a fit. Nope!" I rolled onto my hands and knees, "I'm not getting beat down again for disobeying such a simple order."

With great effort and pain, I pushed myself onto my feet and began to walk. If I continued to rest now I would loose all conviction and probably end up dead by morning. I clenched my fist. I would make it back alive.

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I trudged forward, feet heavy and stomach growling like a storm. The saliva I still had in my mouth was thick and sticky, and I tried my hardest to not think about how much I wanted water. All I had with me was what was in the canteen I had tied to my belt; all of my extra supplies-including more water-had been in the saddle-bag with Kaze.

The long grass swished to my left, and I turned to it excitedly. I checked the wind direction by throwing up a few bits of grass and, having determined that I was downwind, I began to walk towards the noise, step by silent step. Once I got close enough, I lunged with my dagger stretched out in front of me. An inhuman screech rang through the air and I picked up the lifeless body of the rabbit, its blood dripping down my hand.

It took all the willpower I had not to just rip into the flesh like a ravenous wolf and eat it raw. I impaled the body on a sharpened stick and use that to keep it off of the ground, and then got to work on building a fire. Once I had a good blaze going, I cut the rabbit meat into strips and began to cook them, eating each as they finished.

After I had filled my belly somewhat, I dared a mouthful of water. I knew that it was dangerous to take so little, but I figured it would be just as bad to not have any later if I took more now, and though I'd heard of cases where it helped people survive, I wasn't too keen on drinking my own urine.

I used the back of my hand to wipe the sweat off of my forehead. Why did I have to get lost in the middle of summer? It had to be at least 35 degrees out here, and the cloudless day certainly wasn't making it feel any cooler. Several time, I found myself reaching for my canteen, though I usually stopped myself before I opened it.

Firmly, I reminded myself of the promise I had made last night. I couldn't die-I was under orders not to. Therefore, I had to go back, and I had to make it there in one piece.

I prodded my side and cringed, scolding myself for not thinking. The cloth hadn't soaked through quite yet, and it seemed to be staying in quite nicely. As long as I didn't involuntarily try sky-diving again I figured it would hold up fairly well.

I continued my trek, too tired to even complain. It had become an unconscious, monotonous rhythm: step, step, step, step. One foot in front of the other. I followed it without thinking. There was no need to think; thought simply made everything go slower, and I didn't want that.

Step, step, step, step...

A dark, humanoid shape loomed up ahead, getting closer and closer. Once it was within a couple of kilometres, I could see the thing clearly: the female titan!

Without thinking, I dropped to the ground and nestled in the long, chaffing grass. Because of my angle I couldn't see her, though I could hear her footsteps reverberate through the ground and the still, hot air. She was getting steadily closer to where I was lying.

Suddenly, the sounds stopped. I slowly craned my neck up and saw the female titan staring down at me. Terror gripped me, and I dangled, limp and helpless, as she pinched my body between her thumb and forefinger and brought me to her widening mouth.

No, I thought desperately, please...

The titan placed me in her mouth and clamped it shut around me. The tongue underneath was wet and squishy, and it took a lot of effort to keep down my hard-earned rabbit. There was a sudden rocking motion, and the tongue flipped me to the back of her mouth. I began to slide down her throat, the slimy saliva making my body slick and gross. This was the end.

Aren't you supposed to be an assassin?

Levi's voice was so clear in my head that I glanced around, half expecting to see him trapped in here with me.

An assassin...

With a sudden surge of strength, I unsheathed my dagger and, as I fell, jammed it into the side of the throat and ripped down. The walls of the pharynx began to violently shake, and, though I couldn't hear a sound, I could only guess that the titan was screaming.

I managed to pull myself through the hole I had made before it closed and found that I was in the rib-cage. Just my luck.

Grunting with the effort, I cautiously made my way over to the spine, where I began to climb up the vertebrae. I went higher and higher, noticing with worry that my oxygen supply was running dangerously low. Just as I was about black out from lack of air, I saw something unusual right above my head. Was that...a pair of feet?

I ran out of time to think about it. Barely milliseconds before I went completely unconscious, I slashed out with my blade and made a wide slit in the neck. Sunlight filtered through, and I climbed out into the open, sucking in air like it was manna from Heaven. Now that I was out, there was only one problem left: I was 14 ½ metres up on an angry titan with no sane way to get down.

I hung with my hand on my dagger, the blade buried into her flesh. Steam from her closing wounds filled my lungs and I coughed raggedly. How was I going to get down from here? Simply dropping was not an option, not only because that would go against every instinct I possessed, but also because there was no way I could drop from this height in my condition and live. And I couldn't see anyway to climb, either,

What can I do? What can-aha!

I watched as the female titan raised a hand to swat at me, and grabbed onto her finger as it came close. She flicked her hand, and I almost flew off, wrapping my legs around it as support just in time. A few more sudden jerking motions, and I was about ready to throw up again.

Timing was everything. As her hand drew close to her head, I let go and flew, grabbing onto her hair and tying myself securely in. What happened next went exactly as I had hoped.

I had gotten myself into a position that the titan couldn't reach very easily. After swiping for me and missing a few times, she dropped to the ground near a boulder and swung her head towards it. I watched in fascination as her neck skin hardened into a crystal-like substance in preparation for the collision.

Right before she hit the rock, I cut myself loose. I slammed into the boulder anyway and got the wind knocked out of me. I fell to the ground and tried to look as dead as I could. The fact that breathing was very difficult for me at the moment helped make it all the more realistic.

Seconds passed like hours as I waited to see what the female titan would do. Either she was fooled or she simply lost interest, because after forever had gone by, heavy footsteps shook the earth and eventually faded into the distance.

I hardly dared to exhale, fearing that it would be too loud. I tentatively touched my makeshift bandage, and to my surprise it was still intact. Good. I couldn't allow it to be infected. Out of all the ways to leave this world, infected wound caused by your superior officer had to be the dumbest.

I laid where I was for a few minutes before I finally poked my head up to see if the coast was clear. With no freakish titans anywhere in sight, I stood up again and began my long trek back to the fortress.

After about an hour, I was ready to collapse and sleep in the dirt. But before I even began to sit, I realized that I could made out another silhouette barely over the crest of a small hill. It didn't look like a titan, more, this time, like a shapeless blob. It moved closer, and I realized that what I had thought was a mound without a form was really three people om horseback, each of them sporting the green half-cloak of the Survey Corps. There was a shout of surprise and I watched as Hanji galloped closer.

"Axis!" she cried, dismounting, "We thought you were dead!" She grabbed my sticky arm and paused, eyes glittering.

"Is that titan saliva?" she asked, voice getting higher with anticipation. I nodded and she whipped out a cotton swab, swiping it up and down my arm. Amused, I handed her the lock of hair I still had around my waist and she about jumped into space.

Jean and Chrysta caught up to us, bewilderment all over their faces. When I began swaying with dizziness, Jean helped me onto the back of his horse and we rode off towards the fortress. What might've taken me another hour on foot was over in half that time.

Once we set foot back in the stronghold we were greeted with shouts of joy and congratulations. I watched on, not completely registering everything that was happening. Armin greeted me with tears in his eyes, and for the first time in days I managed to smile. But I did notice something was out of place,

"Hey," I said, my quiet voice somehow cutting through the noise, "Where's Petra? She's usually with everyone. Oluo, Eld, and Gunther too."

Silence fell like a thick, suffocating fog, and everyone looked miserable. What was wrong? Surely they didn't leave the Corps? What was-

Oh, no...

Painfully, I recalled the other mission outside of mine. Could they really all have been killed? But they were some of the best! What sort pf titan had the ability to do away with every one of the most elite team of titan slayers in history?

And then, I remembered the female titan. She had been heading in that direction when we crossed paths. Could it have been her fault?

"Okay Axis," Hanji began to steer me towards the hall that would lead to the medical room, "I need to look over you and check on that wound of yours, as well as make sure everything's intact. Come with me. That's it."

I let Hanji lead me by the arm, still stunned. About halfway down the hall, Levi stepped out of a room and turned to face us. His eyes rested on me, his expression as bored as ever. The wriggly feeling in my stomach returned.

"You're back, I see," he noted, "And disgusting as anything. Take a shower." He shouldered past us and continued on his way. Hanji began tugging on my arm again and we walked into the medical examination room.

"He really was worried about you," she said as I removed my pack and laid down, "even if he refuses to show it. He worries about all of his subordinates."

I curled my lip. Why should I care whether he was worried or not? It was my business to concern myself with me, not to focus on anyone else. Whether or not someone chose to think about me was not of my interest.

"Okay, time to check o that gash of yours," Hanji lifted my shirt and narrowed her eyes at my bandage. After giving it a good look-over, she pulled away and began to prod me in other areas.

"I'll look at that again later," she promised, "But in order to stitch it up again you'll need whiskey, as I'm sure you remember from last time, and I'd like you to remain sober for the most part. I have a few questions for you. First off: that lock of hair you gave me was very blonde. The only blonde titan I have ever seen was a female that attacked us a few days ago. Is this the one you ran into?"

Yeah," I said quietly, "That's the one. She tried to eat me."

"That's weird," Hanji adjusted her glasses, "Even excluding your lack of scent, the female titan never ate anyone, just straight-up killed them. She did have Eren in her mouth at one point, but she never swallowed him. I wonder why she decided to target you? How did you escape?"

I related the whole story to her, from the moment I'd seen the it coming to the second I knew it had left. Hanji listened intently.

"A pair of feet, huh?" she said when I had finished, "We had a theory that this one was like Eren, and that all but confirms it. All we need now is to find out their identity."

She began to poke each of my ribs, and I gasped in pain. It felt like my whole body was one big bruise.

As she got to the end, she stopped short, confusion etched into her features. She poked me a few more times.

"You're missing a rib," she said, perplexed. I gave her a blank stare.

"I'm what?"

"You should have about 12 pairs of ribs, giving you 24 total," Hanji spouted off, "But you're missing one on your right side; you only have 23."

"Are you sure?" I began to poke myself as well, and for the first time noticed an empty space across from the last rib on my left. I frowned.

"Is that going to cause me problems?" I asked, brow creasing. Hanji shook her head and pushed her glasses farther up her nose.

"No," she said, "If it hasn't in the past, then it shouldn't now. It's just an anomaly, that;s all. You were probably just born that way. The only other reason I could think of why it'd be missing is if someone cut into you and snapped it off, but you don't have any sorts of scars there, so I'm going to rule that out now. Right then!"

Hanji went to the cupboard and pulled out a glass and a bottle of whiskey. She poured the drink and I downed it in two swallows. Once the alcohol took effect, she began to pull out the fabric strips out of me, and when that was done she stitched my wound closed. All I felt was a little pressure.

"Now," I got unsteadily to my feet and Hanji stabilized me quickly, "Let's get you to your room," she said, "You've got to sleep all of this liquor off. You didn't wake up with a hangover last time, so I think you'll be fine now. However, I do recommend you clean yourself off first thing in the morning."

She led me to my room where I gratefully sank into my bed. I closed my heavy eyelids for a split second to blink, but they didn't open again and I slept peacefully for the first time in what felt like forever.