Leave Us Out
"I can see light!" The ecstatic voice of Rosie perked up, her arm flinging over Martyn's shoulder to point towards the tiny amber dot in the far distance.
"Let's speed things up!" The older male's attitude finally perked and he kicked his horse into a faster pace, eager to reach the base.
"Veer right!" Elle called instead, steering her horse to move adjacent from the light and keeping the little amber glow to their left instead.
"What, why?" Martyn looked back and forth a few times before pulling his reins so his horse would follow the rest of the group.
None of the younger troops questioned a word that came from either Niki or Elle. Their instructions so far had led them free of titans and they were not about to risk their safety by charging head on in excitement to reach the base.
"We might not be the only ones attracted by the light!" Elle clarified, her eyes squinting to see as a cloud glided over the moon, robbing them of it's guiding glow.
"So we ride around all night?" He frowned, bringing his horse up closer to Elle while she rolled her eyes skywards.
"We do what we have to!" She shot back, throwing him a quick frown over her shoulder before the light of the moon finally came back to them, bathing the open plain in it's silver light and giving them the first clear view of the compound.
The base was an old stone mill, the walls were high enough to keep most titans at bay, but they needed a constant look out for any larger or abnormal titans that could risk the integrity of the stone barrier. "The east side of the wall is the strongest because its the main mill building so it's more structurally sound, and it also has protection from the river, which is both wide and fast!" Elle stated as she pointed towards the base they could now see with the help of the moon's light and their vantage point uphill. "The north side is where they have the light." She then pointed towards the little amber glow that started to flicker as the tree tops from the forest started to cover it as they made their way down hill.
"They also have a massive forest on the north side, which we are avoiding for obvious reasons!" Niki spoke up, casting a vicious look back at Martyn.
"What?" Rosie gasped with shock. "I didn't even notice the forest!" She frowned, watching as the trees grew taller as they kept their course down the steady hill and their little hopeful glow of amber disappeared from sight. "If we would have kept going straight we would have lost the light completely!" She realised.
"And gone straight into a dark forest!" Elle nodded, her eyes leaving the compound on their left to check the open area on their right- all was clear so far thankfully.
"Doesn't the forest give our gear the advantage?" The injured teen spoke up, holding onto Elle to keep himself in rhythm with her riding so he didn't bounce about in the saddle and put her off- especially as he was also strapped to her.
"In the day time it would, but it'd be near impossible to get through at night, that forest is incredibly dense so we'd have little moonlight, and it was hard enough navigating through that cluster of trees we were stuck in earlier if you remember!" She threw a quick glance over her shoulder at him, seeing as he nodded in both remembrance and understanding.
"You both know so much!" Another feminine voice spoke up, impressed with her elders guidance so far.
'Only because Niki obsessively stalks the Commander!' Elle thought with a quirk of an eye brow as she glanced at her friend, but she couldn't complain. The little extra details they acquired only helped their survival. "It comes with practice." She played off the comment before she held up a hand and slowed her horse, signalling the others to do so also.
Elle waited as the group gathered closer, all eyes eager and impatient. Their young nerves were frayed to no end and knowing they were so close to base was making them physically shake with anticipation. "Alright," She started once she had their attention, pointing towards the west wall. "We're going to ride in at an angle, so should anything happen we'll have a quick pull away on the horses." She stated, ignoring the bobs of the various heads listening. "If all goes smoothly, when you reach the wall, dismount on the curve and let the horses keep running while you get your asses over the wall, any questions?" she gave a quick look around and all shook their head for no.
"I'll be leading, so get your asses in line." Niki spoke up, lifting her arm in the air to indicate to herself. "Martyn, will follow up next and after him leave a two horse gap so we can be sure both idiots get off the horse safely!" she jabbed a thumb at Martyn and Rosie on their shared mount.
"Also, one last thing!" Elle looked about their little group of survivors. "We are not dealing with any reports when we get back." She motioned to herself and Niki. "So once we are over that wall we were never with you, tell the story as it is but leave us out of it, alright?" She looked at each face with a smile asking for a favour and watched as they gave confused, reluctant nods to show they would respect the odd request. "Great, I'll bring up the rear!" She then nodded, giving a small smile to Niki who in turn rolled her eyes before kicking her horse on, Martyn quickly following before the rest fell in line.
The horses hooves thundered as loud as their hearts in the few minutes it took them to approach. Each rider watched the person in front with baited breath to see if they'd make it or not, but after seeing how easy Niki made it look they instantly felt they could do it too. The way Niki swooped towards the wall in a clean curve before standing on the saddle and jumping free of her horse just as it came close to the wall was completely fluid. The rider and mount moved away from one another naturally; the horse continuing to stride on and away from the wall while she shot her wires into the stone and used the momentum of her dismount to swing herself up and over the wall.
Martyn and Rosie's dismount was different, the elder male had to take an earlier jump as they neared the wall on their curved path while Rosie took a later dismount just as the horse moved away from it, but still both where successful and both further encouraged the others till it came to just Elle and her injured party. "You ready for this?" She called.
"Y-yeah," Came his stuttered reply but he had no time to think other wise as she'd already counted them in to get dismount ready before flinging them both off the horse.
Elle cringed as they swung with more speed than the others, the pair flinging over the wall and landing heavily in a heap with matching shouts of pain.
"Time to split!" Niki chirped, giving no moments rest as she came over and made quick work of unstrapping the injured cadet from her friend and leaving him to be tended to by the others while she yanked Elle up and off.
"Good effort everyone!" Elle spoke quietly, giving a tight grin as she backed away with Niki, both hoping to become invisible as they spotted the look out's rushing over before anyone else did.
"Shit, we made it!" One of the other youngsters gawked, looking about the group with a stunned face of awe before sharing a matching look with the person closest and wrapping them up in a hug.
"Hey?" A new voice called, it was one of the few scouts on look out as he came rushing over, "The hell did you all come from?" The man asked, his tone groggy and eyes blurry with fatigue, seeming unsure if he was really seeing the group or dreaming them, but none answered as Martyn sat with the injured teen while Rosie joined the other two in their celebratory hug, the three jumping up and down in glee.
"Can I get a medic over here?" Martyn instead clipped at the look out, before casting a quick look around and realising only then that their group of survivors were two members short.
"That's disgusting." Niki grumbled from where she stood, leaning next to a supply wagon, gear abandoned at her feet and arms crossed as she watched the rest of the group celebrate their survival.
With a look of interest Elle peered up from the strap she was unbuckling to look at Niki before following her line of sight and giving a light laugh at the scene. "No, it's cute!" She smiled, wiggling her hips to slip her self out of her harness and carefully lowing her gear to the floor before stepping out.
The pair remained where they were for a moment as they watched the happy group calm, waiting in the dark as others were called over and soon a small scene gathered as some came to help and others came to be nosy. "Don't get attached." Niki huffed, looking towards her friend with a knowing look.
"To what?" She frowned, opening her arms to show herself at a loss.
"The idea of being a hero!" The auburn haired woman clarified and instantly her friend rolled her eyes with a groan.
"We're not heroes, Niki, nor will we ever be." She shook her head with a tired huff. "If I can help someone then I will, if someone asks for my help then I'll try, but I can clearly see when and if it's worth the effort, so don't worry!" She shook her head. "There is nothing more too it than that." With that she bent and hauled her gear up, ready to vanish back into the ranks.
"Commander!" A voice called in a surprised greeting and both women looked at each other, surprise coming to Elle's face first before she saw Niki's knowing look.
"You liar!" She hissed with a shake of her head, but honestly she shouldn't have been shocked that she lied about Erwin's involvement, but the scouting party wasn't a large one, it was supposed to be a quick titan capture and it wasn't often Erwin joined on such ventures, so that raised questions in it's self.
"You didn't guess when Hange wasn't coming?" She scoffed in response. "Who else was going to cover?" She shrugged.
"Not Erwin?" Elle fired back with a frown.
"Oh come on, it could be worse!" Niki grinned, also gathering her gear before Martyn's voice carried over to them on the night air was he was confronted with his superiors, stumbling into a salute and grappling for his greeting.
"Ca-Capander- I-I mean, C-Commander, Captain!" he righted himself after managing to mash both their titles together, unknowing that Elle had turned back to shoot Niki another look of fury but judging by her perky eyed surprise she didn't know the Captain was present either.
"The Captain?" She questioned in a hissed whisper, while Niki's lips formed a tight 'O' hoping to keep the shocked look on her face but it was starting to turn more to amusement.
"I did say it could be worse!" She then lifted her shoulders in a shrug with a grin.
"It's bad enough I have to keep an eye out for titans out there!" She nodded towards the wall. "Now I have to keep an eye out for the Captain in here." She huffed.
"You know, you've never told me why you avoid the Captain?" Niki then perked with interest, taking in her friend's face as she looked to her.
"Because he's terrifying?" Elle offered with a raise of her brows and shake of her head- she'd heard and knew as much as the next person what the Captain was like- but it wasn't her reason, in fact that was another thing she didn't have an answer too.