Chapter 24: Duel
They were tired. They have been fighting for over an hour now. No matter how many titans they killed, the giant bastards just kept coming. There was no end to them. Gerger swept past a running titans legs, cutting along the back of its neck with not as much ease. He was weary after all. He didn't know how much longer they could keep this up. The titan he slashed fell hard into the floor below him.
"Alright that should be it for the bigger titans!" He yelled over to his partner.
They both paused and hung from the tower. "It's a good thing we have this." The blonde captain looked up at the ancient building. "It's not everyday we get good terrain for the battlefield." sweat coated her face as she swept the back of her hand across her forehead. She panted slightly, heart a bit irregular. She too was tiring out, she was human after all. And she could use a nice hot shower.
"I second that." Gerger said, smirking at their handiwork. "I'm going to check on the rookies." He turned his head up and changed his bodies position to make his way on top of the tower. Then he froze. There was some sort of rumbling sound coming from a few distances away. The worst part was that it was dark, he could barely see. "What's that sound?" He muttered with a short breath.
His companion looked just as confused as he did. "I don't know." She replied lowly.
A sudden explosion made them turn towards the direction it came from. "What the!" They shouted with slitted eyes against the debris carried by the wind.
"The horses!" Gerger shouted. They were dead, burried under a pile of broken wood and dirt from whatever caused the event. They stared in shock, unable to see anything more than smoke rising from the spot. Two of the younger captains landed on the other roof of the tower, staring wide eyed at what had unfolded before them.
"Eh? What on earth happened?" The one with the ponytail asked in confusion. Gerger frowned, unable to come up with an explanation. He turned to them from his perch on the other roof.
"I dont kno-" He gasped. A giant slab of rock was falling headfirst into them. There was no time to shout, no time to react. It all happened so fast. Another explosion erupted into the air as the tower crumbled. Pieces of broken brick flew everywhere, and with them, the two younger captains.
"Rene! Henning!" Gerger shouted as loud as he could, worry gracing his face. He never felt so helpless, so useless. All he could do was watch as his comrades died before his eyes.
...
"What was that?" Coonie yelled, suddenly jumping up. Ymir looked down at him.
"Sounded like a boom, probably titans falling from getting killed?" She muttered, seemingly uninterested.
"But it sounded too heavy to be a titan, remember what Hanji said, titans are lighter than a feather, we wont be able to hear one if it fell." Connie argued.
Ymir frowned. "So what are you suggesting? That we go out to check what it was?" She scoffed at him. "Are you forgetting the titans that made their way inside? We have no weapons..."
Christa stood up. "It's better than just sitting around waiting for nothing."
Reiner shook his head at her. "No way it's too dangerous."
Christa sighed and bent to take off her boot. The others stared at her in curiosity as she unlaced the strings and pulled it off. "There's only one way to settle this." she spoke out plainly. "This boot will determine our fate."
They blinked and watched as she put it down and spun it. It didn't spin very well, but it was all she needed. The end of the sole stopped at Connie. "Alright?" He said in confusion.
"Connie, what do you want to do?" Christa asked him with a serious tone.
"Go check it out of course." Connie replied incredulously.
Christa nodded. "It's settled, we will go out."
"WHAT?!" Ymir and Reiner both shouted in disbelief.
"Hold on! Time out! This didn't count, i didn't know which side of the boot had to point to us, do it again!" Ymir protested quickly.
Connie's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "No way! That's entirely your fault for not asking first, now face the consequences."
"If you want I can do it again..." Christa muttered softly.
Reiner stood up, and planted a hand on her small shoulder. "There's no need, I agree that we should go, staying here will accomplish nothing."
Ymir pouted and let out a long sigh. "Fiiiine, if we die its your fault!"
"We wont, have some faith you grouchy hag" Connie said with a smirk. The brunette rolled here eyes and watched as the two males started taking down the wooden two by fours that leaned against the only doorway present in the room. Reiner went first. Despite his injury he still felt ballsy enough to lead them through the dark corridors that could possibly be infested with titans. Yet none of them protested, least of all Ymir. If Reiner wanted to die first so be it.
Christa stayed close behind Ymir while said woman stayed behind Connie. No one said anything for a while, too afraid to even breath deeply for fear that a nearby titan might hear them. Then another explosion sounded, making them all jump in shock.
"There it is again! " Connie shouted. "This one sounded closer!"
They didn't have to communicate to know what to do next. They all ran up the stairs in a rush' nearly tripping on their own feet from the andrenaline running through their veins. Connie was the first top, he sped past Reiner and into the rooftop of the old tower they occupied. Soon after, the others followed, eyes mixed in confusion when they each saw two captains sprawled on the rooftop, unconscious.
"What happened?!" Reiner shouted in confusion.
Gerger closed his eyes in mourning. "We weren't fast enough...they died instantly."
The group of teens stared. They didn't understand what had killed them. Gerger clarified it for them. "Be careful, there are giant boulders being launched our way from the walls direction."
"oh no..." Christa gasped in worry. This was seriously weird, how would boulders be making their way over the wall?
"From the direction of the wall?" Ymir asked with a frown. She was thinking the exact same thing as Christa.
Connie gasped loudly, eyes wide with knowing. "AAHH its him!" He shouted frantically. His thoughts were racing a million miles a minute and he had no idea how to express them. He waved his arms around.
"What?! What?!" Ymir shouted, clearly becoming impatient.
"The one we saw headed for the wall earlier!" He yelled at her as if she was so dumb for not being able to keep up. "That beast like titan! It's his doing!" His head snapped in the direction of the wall, attracted to the sudden rumbling erupting from the earth. "A great number of titans incoming! More than twice the count from before!"
He was right. As everyone turned, they could see a large group of titans making their way towards them. "What did you say?!" Gerger yelled, trembling. This wasn't looking so good.
His companion spoke next. "The moment they chose to show up...all this looks suspiciously like they're acting according to some kind of actual plan..."
"It almost feels like we're being toyed with..." Christa exclaimed.
Their captain took a deep, angry breath. "We have been right from the start."
...
Levi was mad...he was pissed. I thought it was kinda funny, but I didn't dare laugh for fear of meeting his dark and gloomy glare.
It was all Sasha's fault, but then again it was also his fault. He should have known better than to trust her. Especially when the words' I know a shortcut' escaped her lips. I was asleep at the time so I had no say in the situation we were in now. I had awoken to the sound of his angry voice. Apparently we were lost. Sasha had 'somehow' convinced Levi that she knew a quicker rout to our destination. Turns out she didn't and thus, here we were.
"Honestly, your giving me cancer right now." Levi grumbled.
"I'm sooooorrry!" Sasha whined.
I rubbed my head. I wished these two weren't with me, It would be so much easier to just RUN to the south walls, but I couldn't leave them behind. Levi continued to argue over my thoughts. "And what will we do if we encounter a titan with no gear to defend ourselves with?!" He snapped.
I rolled my eyes. Okay it seemed like I wasn't here...apparently. "Hellooo, how about we stop arguing and think for a minute?" I stated with ease.
They both turned to me. Levi rose an eyebrow. "Oh? You want to be the leader? Okay, lead us then." He said flatly.
I leered up at him with a frown. Was he mocking me? cause he better not be..."Fine." I stammered. I thought for a moment. I knew turning would be out of the question. Not only will I attract other titans, but I would have a very difficult time running without being worried of accidentally stepping on a poor unsuspecting person in this damn darkness. It was times like these where I wished I had some teleportation jutsu like the fourth hokage. It would make things so much easier.
"Well?" Levi said impatiently. I pouted.
There was no other choice. " I say we hole up some place and sleep it off, we can take off as soon as daylight hits tomorrow morning"
Levi blinked, face showing no emotion. "Absolutely not." He stated matter of factly.
"I agree with Sakura..." Sasha muttered wearily. I turned to her gratefully and shot her a thank you smile. I could see she was tired as well. We could all use some rest.
"Are you serious?! I'm the captai-" he stopped mid sentence, eyes wide in rememberance.
"You're not the corporal anymore, and its two against one, deal with it." I said evenly.
He groaned and shut his eyes in annoyance. "You're both giving me cancer..."
He didn't say anything more and followed reluctantly after Sasha and I into a batch of trees. Since the horses had the minimum tools for camping, only a mere sleeping mat and a thing blanket were provided. There was also a canteen on mine and we had to share it between the three.
"Aw man, not even a pillow..." I grumbled out with a frown.
Levi threw me a snotty look. "What do you expect? This wasn't supposed to be a camping trip..." then he stared at Sasha. "What are you doing?" He asked with a puzzled look.
It caught my attention. Not many things could make Levi make that kind of expression. And when i saw what she was doing... I had to ask. "Um yeah Sasha, WHAT are you doing?"
She looked up at us from her task, that is, piling some rocks in a line across the floor, separating the former corporals matt from ours. She pointed a finger in his direction. "Hes sleeping across this boarder, men get ideas in the dark!"
I burst out laughing. Not because of her comment, but because of Levi's expression. He was speechless. Without a word, he swiftly turned and tore his boots off, letting them fall on the grassy floor before crawling under his sheets into his matt. I couldn't see his expression, only the back of his head, but I was sure he was embarrassed. It seemed he didn't react to embarrassment well. I bent to tale my own boots off, being careful not to leave them in any muddy places. Crawling into my sleeping matt, I gripped the sheet close to my nose, trying my best to warm it. Sasha was already asleep it seemed, I could hear her snoring loudly. I inwardly groaned. Great, she snores, sleeping was going to be near impossible...but I had to try. I had to keep my strength up.
'This ought to be fun' I thought as I shut my eyes. I thought about how I would approach Levi when this was over. Would he reject me? Just the thought of it made me nervous. I kept plotting ways until I eventually fell into a deep sleep.
...
20 hours after the titan sighting.
The captain companion of Gerger barely managed to dodge a titans falling hand, moving out of the way just in time and watching as it slammed against the tower, causing a huge hole.
"Dammit, i'm almost out of gas..." she breathed out to herself in frustration. She wouldn't last much longer, she had to wipe out as many of them as she could. She twirled towards the titan that had attacked her and swung her sword into the back of its neck, spraying blood across the air in the process. 'Did it finish him off?' She thought as she saw him fall. Her eyes widened. Unintentionally, she had caused the titan to fall against the smaller tower supporting the bigger one. It crumbled hard, falling along with the already decaying titan.
"Shit" she swore as she hung from the taller tower. She was lucky it was still intact.
Gerger landed beside her with a huff. "Guess that's it for the convenient tower."
She nodded. "I'm almost out of gas too."
He eyed her wearily. "Same, and I'm out of blades."
She turned to him to study his gear. There was only one in his hand, and a broken one in the other. His gear was empty. "That dull one is the last one you got right?" She motioned to the good one on his hand. He nodded grimly and she turned back to the titans below her. "I wonder just how many of them we have killed so far."
"Don't know." He replied. "I didn't keep count." He took a long pause before speaking again. "All things considered, I think I did pretty well here, only...before i'm gone...I wish I could have a drink...wine or anything really." His words came out in pants, and this went unnoticed by her.
She frowned and turned to him. "Gerger..." her eyes widened when she saw a significant amount of blood trickling down the other side of his face.
"I'm sorry Nanaba...I hit my head...and I have no strength left to fight anymore."
With that, he fell, everything seemed to be in slow motion for her, she couldn't believe he would give up so easily. And she yelled for him as a titan below grabbed hold of his foot, mouth wide and ready to devour the man in seconds. Nanaba made a mad dash for her comrade. She still had time. Twirling in midair, she slashed the titans neck just before her friend entered its mouth. The titan slammed against the building, hand outstretched with Gerger and watched as he flew into the hole that had been made by the bigger titan not too long ago.
"Gerger!" She shouted. She couldn't see where he had landed inside, but at least he didn't fall into the ground below. She wouldn't be able to save him from the hungry leeches that stood in wait if he did. She flatered mid air but caught herself steadily, shooting her wires out to hang from the tower. The steam that was coming out of the tubes on her gear were disappearing. "Shit now I'm really out of gas..." She breathed. She was doomed. Titans leered at her closely. There was nothing she could do. Nanaba was going to die that night.
...
Gerger stood up shakily from the spot he was sprawled on. He lifted his head weakly, blood trailed down the side of his face as he did. He didn't remember how he got there, but he did remember that he had fallen earlier, giving himself up to the titans so they could finish him. His eyes slightly widened when he got sight of a wine bottle a few feet away from the corner of his eye. Silent tears left his eyes as he reached for it.
"Thank you...god." He whispered in joy as he opened the cap and tilted his head back to take a sip, not noticing a titans face staring from the hole on the wall. A drop fell on his chin, but that was it. The wine bottle was empty. "Huh?" He shook it, then let it fall on his side as he hung his head low.
"So cruel...not a single drop left..." Tears fell down his cheeks. The one thing he wanted before his death and he couldn't even have that. It was cruel indeed.
With a last cry of strength, he grabbed the bottle and shook it up in the air. "WHO WAS IT! WHO DRANK ALL OF IT!" He screamed with tears as a titans hand wrapped around his body and pulled him out. He too, accepted his fate without struggle.
...
Ymir, Connie, and Christa stared below with shaky postures. "Titans got them..." Christa whispered with wide eyes. They had no protection left. The blonde petite grabbed a rock and hurled it at the titans below.
Ymir intervened "Stop it Christa!" She yelled, grabbing the girl from behind her shirt. "This tower is barely intact as it is, any more and it will come crumbling down..."
Christa shook her head in denial. "Bu-but..."
"In our place...Nanaba and Gerger have..." She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to, because they could see for themselves as they stared down at the carnage. They could see and hear the screams of their captains as they were torn limb from limb by the hungry horde.
Connie fell down to sit in a fetal position and grabbed his head with both hands. "Th-this is it...all we can do now is sit and wait for the tower to crumble and them to devour us? Is that it? Is that really...it?" He grit his teeth and pounded hard on the stone under him. "Isn't there anything we can do?!" He yelled. "Shit shit shit shit!" He stopped to take a breath, and rubbed his hand gently. It hurt after the pounding. "At least I wanted for my death to have some meaning to it...some purpose, but we're all gonna be eaten without even completing our mission."
"Me too...I don't want to go down without a fight, I wish I had some sort of weapon...then we could all be fighting together." Christa spoke out evenly with determination.
Ymir's eyes widened. "Your still saying that bullshit?"
The smaller girl looked up at her in confusion. "Huh?"
Ymir frowned. "Don't you dare look at our superiors that way, they didn't die so you could think of it as a convenient way to commit suicide!"
"You're wrong! I never thought of it that way..." Christa stammered.
Ymir snorted. "You're not like Connie or any of our commanding officers, you're always thinking of some honorable way you could die so you get praised for it right?"
Christa shook her head stubbornly. "N-no it's not like that!" She yelled defensively.
Ymir grabbed both her shoulders firmly and lowered her head to the smaller girls level. "Christa, you might have forgotten something I said to you long ago but...since it's probably the end..." She squeezed her eyes shut for a minute before opening them again. "I want you to remember, try to remember what you promised me back when we were doing training, in the snowy mountains."
Christa remembered. She could recall the memory all too well. When Ymir tried to persuade her to give up on saving Dazz, a member who was freezing to death. She didn't falter in her determination to save her comrade. Even if she failed, it was worth the effort in trying. And Dazz would have died with cause. But Ymir caught her. She wasn't trying to save Dazz. She was trying to die with him, trying to die trying to save someone's life. So she could die with cause as well. Ymir made her cry that day, but she didn't hate her. Because Ymir knew about her, she knew her real identity. Christa couldn't afford to be her enemy when she knew so much. Bu then Ymir told her she joined the military for her, to find her, because they were alike. Christa was an outcast to an important family because she was born out of wedlock, and Ymir understood that. Christa wanted to be her friend then. She was certain of it. Ymir yelled at her for being weak, from wanting to die. How could she just renounce her name so easily after all? Instead of fighting back against those who forced her into it. Ymir ended up taking care of Dazz by herself while Christa waited. Christa had asked the taller woman how she let the injured man down the cliff when no rope, and Ymir promised to tell her under one condition. If she were to reveal her secret, then Christa had to take back her real birth given name and live under it.
...
Thirsty. I was incredibly thirsty. I'm not sure if I was fully awake yet, all I knew was that I needed some water into my system. Yet every time I silently urged myself to get up, I would end up not wanting to leave my warm little spot and my mind would make up a dream of me getting up and drinking water. It was weird, not to mention torture. Finally, I forced myself up and groggily slipped the sheets from my body. Shivering in the cold air with eyes closed, I tip-toed towards the tied horse by the trees and aimlessly fumbled around for the canteen. I caught hold of it and opened it slowly, tilting my head back to take the last of the remaining water inside it. With eyes still closed, I clumsily put the empty object back and made my way back to my mat, leaves crunching under my bare feet. I knelt and rolled the sheets over before throwing myself down, taking the sheets and wrapping them around me like a burrito, something I often did when half asleep.
Just as I was about to get comfortable, a voice startled me.
"What the hell are you doing in my bed?"
My eyes shot open and I sat up with such speed, it would put the fourth hokage to shame. Levi was sitting up beside me with messy dark hair and squinty eyes.
"Ahh! What are you doing in my mat!" I blurted out in embarrassment, cheeks burning hot.
"This is MY mat you bimbo." He said with a deadpan. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. He was right, I accidentally crawled into his sleeping mat.
With a face as red as a tomato, I tore myself away from his mat and ran into my own, yelling an apology without looking back. I didn't dare too see his face. What if he thought it was on purpose? This was so embarrassing...I wanted a hole to appear from the ground and swallow me up. I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.
...
The sun was rising, they could see the sky getting brighter with each second. Connie stared ahead with droopy eyes. "Looks like we get the see the dawn of our last day before dying huh..."
Ymir turned to him quickly. "Connie, let me see that knife you have."
Connie gave her a wary look but didn't ask any questions. He tossed the knife to her gently. "Here."
"Thanks." Ymir stated while patting his head.
"What do you need it for anyway?" Connie muttered, shrugging her hand off. He didn't like his head to be touched.
"Well..." Ymir paused for a moment before continuing. "For fighting."
Reiner frowned. He didn't understand why Ymir would choose to fight now, especially with a small weapon such as a knife. He had to ask. "What are you planning on doing?"
She gave a dry laugh and shot Reiner a sly smile. "I'm not so sure..." She turned to Christa again. "Christa, I have no right to tell you how to live your life, but consider it my wish." She smiled at the small girl before her. "Live your life with your head held high."
Christa stared wide eyed, finally understanding. She stood with her feet spread and arms held high in a vain attempt to stop the taller woman. "Ymir wait a second!" She screamed. Ymir didn't stop, instead she ran at full speed over Christa and hopped off the tower with knife in hand, leaving the others with disbelieving looks. They didn't see when Ymir bit herself, and they were startled when a bolt of red lighting exploded above them, hitting Ymir with such force it shook the tower. Ymir roared, but it wasn't the roar of a human. It was the roar of a titan.
...
Authors note : i'm glad you guys still held on to the story, thanks so much! I wanted to make this chapter longer but thought i would end it with ymirs transformation :p i hoped you guys liked it! Also, im writing another story, its a death note/blood plus crossover, give it a read? Haha dont worry about me abandoning the story over another, i dont mind writing two stories at once ^^ and happy fourth of july everyone!
Guest: not until much later
~blessed be