Chapter 14:
Hey! Was pretty quick with this update compared to my others ones huh XD? Anywho~ this chapter was interesting~. Considering Catori is in charge of her own squad and all the other factors of being in an expedition, I found it interesting to write~. And yes we're finally getting to the action~! Weeellll hope you liked the chapter! (again sorry for any spelling errors~ I'm terrible~) Reviewing and favoriting is appreciated! ^-^
Clenching the reins on my horse I gritted my teeth.
No….NO NO….it' can't be…
I was just informed that the right flank region was wiped out because of a mass amount of titans.
But how and why? There shouldn't have been that many….especially in that region in this time of year. This doesn't make sense…
Taking a few deep breaths I tried to calm myself down. It was so early in the game to lose that many people. We were only an hour in from leaving the walls. I knew since the message was being passed on I had to continue it, but I couldn't leave my formation so I knew I had to send one of my squad members. As hesitant as I was to part with one of my four team members I knew I had to.
"Carol pass the message on!" I called back to one of members on my squad.
"Yes Squad Leader!" she yelled out heading off to inform the next group on the left.
"Be careful, come back safe!"
"I will!"
Letting out a shaky breath I watched her head off.
Be safe Carol…..
This is bad. This is really, really bad. We've never had this many casualties this early on. I tried to be optimistic, but how could I when so many have died?
Out of the corner of my eye I saw something in the sky.
Black smoke? How did an aberrant get in?!
"Roy fire one!" I called back.
With a stern nod, he went to load his smoke flare. Narrowing my eyes I looked off to the side where the streams of black smoke where coming from.
How close is the titan? Is it a threat or just a fast titan passing through?
Either way my gut told me otherwise.
I got a bad feeling about this….
*****line break****
We ended up reaching a giant forest without encountering the aberrant. Despite it appearing to not be a threat anymore I still couldn't shake that horrible feeling that resided in the pit of my stomach. But there was still a different problem at hand: why in the world were we passing through the forest?!
This wasn't part of the plan? Did I miss something? No….no something's up.
"Catori, why are we entering the forest?" Kiwi questioned.
Licking my dry lips I shook my head, "I don't know. But if that's what Erwin wants us to do, then that's what we're gunna do. Hope blondey knowns what he's doing…."
Upon entering the forest I saw Erwin not too far ahead.
What is he doing?
"I'm gunna to talk to him, stay with the others" I said over to Roy.
"Yes, squad leader!"
He's never gunna stop calling me that, huh?
Quickly speeding up ahead, it didn't take me long to get close to Erwin.
"ERWIN!" I shouted trying to get his attention.
Turning his head back he saw me, and signaled for the others to keep going ahead. He slowed his horse down to a trot and waited for me.
"Erwin, what's going on? This wasn't part of the—"
"It's a good thing you're here. You'll head up with us where Hanji is setting up. After you reach there I'll give you further instructions."
"What?"
He already started to ride on ahead.
"Set up what? Erwin!?"
What the flip is he talking about? And what is Hanji setting up.
I was so confused. What was I not in on, and why wasn't I in on it?
Oh gosh…..this is just like last time…..EREN.
"Squad Leader Catori!"
"Huh?"
Looking over I saw the others had caught up to me.
"What did he say?"
"We are to follow him up ahead to where Hanji is setting up."
"Setting up what?"
"That I do not know, but I don't have a good feeling about this."
Following Erwin deeper into the forest, he took a slight turn where I saw Hanji and others setting up some large wooden boxes.
What are those? They're fairly big…and why are there holes in them?
Coming to a stop I got off my horse and ran up to Hanji.
Hopefully she can give me a straight answer to what is going on.
"We're pretty much done Erwin. All we got to do is get in those trees and wait! This is so exciting!"
"What's so exciting?" I questioned crossing my arms.
She only has that look in her eyes when titans are involved.
What are we doing, catching a titan? But wasn't the whole point of this expedition was to get to Eren's basement?
"You'll see~."
"Hanji," I stated in a sterner tone.
"What. The. Flip. Is. Going. On? I was not informed about this. I'm a squad leader too am I not?" I questioned getting more offended by the second.
She put on a straight face a glanced towards Erwin.
"It's Eren isn't it?" I hissed through clenched teeth. "What did you two do!? Or should I say THREE."
"Catori calm down, he's going to be fine."
"Fine from what? What danger is Eren in?! And what in titan's name are these things?!" I growled motioning a hand towards the large boxes.
"Why, why was I not told of this? What's with of the secrets?..."
"Because you would not have stood for it. You have a good heart Catori but sometimes it over shadows what needs to be done. Now I need you to calm down."
Taking in a deep breath I clenched my fists until my knuckles were white.
"What do you need me for, Commander?" I inquired in a monotone voice.
"I need you to—"
The sound of a smoke flare caught our attention. It was black.
"It's that isn't it…that's what we're catching…but—"
"Catori I need you to head back and find Levi's squad."
"Huh?"
"I only need you there to make sure they make it here ok. Once you get close, circle around back to this spot behind the wooden boxes. Do not fly straight through. Now Hurry."
"Gotcha."
"What about us commander?" Roy interjected.
"You all are to stay here with me. Find a place up in the trees and wait for further instructions."
"Understood," Roy replied getting off his horse.
Giving a final look back to my team and my sister I smiled.
"Stay safe ok?"
"We will, we're not useless without you, ya know," Dan (one of my squad members) chimed heading up into the trees with his gear.
"I know," I replied back, quickly heading towards my horse.
"Catori," Erwin said before I could mount it.
"What?"
"You won't need your horse."
My eyes widened at what he implied.
"Understood," I breathed, taking out my swords, giving him a stern nod.
Running between the trees I quickly headed off to find Levi's squad. Zipping through the trees I went as fast as I could. Cold sweat dripped down my back as worst case scenarios flew threw my head.
I'm coming Eren. I'm coming. Just hang in there.
It was only a few seconds until I heard booming. Loud booming.
Oh my gosh…is that—
"CATORI!"
Quickly looking down I saw Levi and by his expression he was not too happy to see me.
"STAY BACK!"
What?! Why?
But then again from the looks of this titan, it appeared a lot different than the others. The way it ran, the way it moved…this was not just a aberrant .
Flinging myself farther back I rounded around the female titan to behind.
"Catori, it's intelligent!" Eren screeched from down below.
Just then Levi shot his flare gun and it made an ear piercing sound. Wincing at the loud noise, I tried to devise how to slow down the female titan.
If it's intelligent what do I do? Wait….then it's like the ones that breached the walls…is it a shifter?
Two reinforcements then came in from behind.
They don't know!
One flung itself forward, about to attack from the front, but I zipped past grabbing his ankle pulling him away. Thankfully I did. He was just seconds apart from having himself squished on a tree by her hand.
"STAY OUT OF THE WAY! YOU CAN'T ATTACK THIS ONE LIKE OTHER TITANS." I shouted at the man.
From down below I could hear Eren yelling.
"Are you telling me to look away!? To abandon my comrades and run?!"
"Yes that's right. Obey the Captains orders," Petra replied.
They must have been ordered to keep going ahead on horseback. That must have been their plan. Eren was bait….All I have to do now is make sure these reinforcements don't do anything stupid till we get there.
Trying to keep up with the group and avoid the female titan was proving rather difficult.
"UH HEY GUYS! SHE'S SPEEDING UP BACK HERE!" I called out zipping through the trees.
Wait, we're getting close to those wooden boxes Hanji was setting up. I gotta get out of range.
"PULL BACK!" I called to the other soldiers who were in the air with me.
"YOU HEARD ME, PULL BACK! WE GO AROUND. FOLLOW ME."
They didn't seem too keen on the idea but followed my orders. Soon after I flung into the branches of the trees, all hell broke loose.
"FIRE!"
A bunch of bangs and explosions happened at once. Metal arrows, attached to metal ropes were being shot from right and left, piercing the female titan. More and more kept firing. I was surprised at how many there were. Around 50 rounds had to have been shot and the titan was completely immobilized. Levi and his team kept on going down the trail. They must be going to hide Eren.
Flying up to a higher branch, I landed near Erwin.
"Well I see why you didn't tell me about his now," I said looking down at the female titan.
"You think she's a shifter?"
"Yes."
I nodded in agreement. Hearing a zipping sound I saw Levi was heading towards us.
"Decided to join the party?" I said putting my hands on my hips.
Ignoring my comment he looked down at the titan, "Looks like it stopped moving."
"Do duh Sherlock," I said rolling my eyes.
And as usual that resulted in him giving me a side glare.
"You did a good job in leading it here Levi." Erwin said still looking at the female titan down below.
"Some men in the rearguard squads died buying us the time we needed. She was able to save two of them though," Levi informed Erwin jutting finger at me. "We couldn't have done it without them."
"Wait so you mean, there were others before I came?" I questioned.
"Yes."
Gritting my teeth I glared at my feet.
I wasn't quick enough…
"Because of them we'll be able to see what's inside this thing," Levi continued.
"Then let's tear it open," I growled, voice laced with anger
Whoever this is, is gunna pay for what they did.
There was a moment of silence before Levi coolly said.
"I hope they haven't pissed themselves."
Yeaaah sorry had to leave it somewhere~. But the next chapter has plenty of action~ I swear~...well it should XD. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do from here but I think I have a pretty good idea~. So yeah thanks for reading! And as always any comments and suggestion are welcome and appreciated! So as always~ C U IN THE NEXT UPDATE~
Cly**** (and co-host Sebastian...man keep on forgetting to put this here XD)
Cly: WHOOO GOT A REVIEW!
Sebastion: Calm yourself...
Cly: NEVAH
****shoutouts****
amerdism: Thanks so much! ^0^ And yes you will see soon~~...hopefully XD