Chapter 2

Willow's head smashes into the ground for what feels like the hundredth time as she is suspended upside-down in the training harness. She groans in frustration as stars circle in her vision. Levi steps forward with hands dug in his pant pockets, tilting his head to the side to see her at a better view. "See, this is why it's good to be as short as I am. Never had issues with my ODM gear," he says with a sardonic smile on his face. "The taller you are, the harder time you will have balancing your center of gravity," he says stepping away from her to join Hange as she scribbles Willow's progress—or lack thereof—in her journal.

Willow grunts as she attempts to get herself suspended right-side up again. She struggles for a moment, and Hange moves to help her, but Levi lifts his hand to stop her. He watches with a pressed look painted on his face observing the girl struggle to claw her way back to normal. She needs to be able to do it herself, and if Hange helps her, she will never get a grasp on it.

Levi sighs when he realizes that she is not getting anywhere on her own. He steps closer to her and presses the release button that detaches her belt from the wires and drops her to the ground with a loud thud. Willow grunts as her back takes the brunt of the pain.

She lays there for a moment, staring at the cloudy sky through stray golden strands of hair while Levi and Hange discuss her progress in hush tones that she can still hear. "It has been three days," Levi begins, "She is doing worse than Gunther, and that's saying something," he says with a displeased look on his face.

"Don't worry, she will get it," Hange says hopefully.

"She hasn't gotten off the training suspension in three days, she hasn't even tried using the ODM gear on a free terrain. This is impossible in a week."

"I can hear you!" Willow says brushing herself off of dirt. "I can do it," she tells them with a stern look in her eyes. "Hook me back up," she commands and Levi sighs, approaching her.

She tightens her belt as Levi stands next to her. In this proximity, Willow stands a few inches taller than Levi, with her forehead reaching the top of his head. She never considered herself very tall, being shorter than Hange herself, but compared to Levi, everyone seems to stand taller than him.

Levi takes the wires to suspend her in the air and moves to her belt. Levi sniffs, taking in a floral scent coming from the girl that reminds him of daisies and lavender, with the slight hint of dirt. Her earthy smell brings an upward grin to his face as he is reminded of the first time he ventured beyond Wall Maria. He remembered smelling daisies that warm day.

He looks up at her and his eyes meet hers seeing the fierceness in them. It's the look that he expected from her when he first saw her. He sees her getting angrier and it brings him satisfaction, knowing that he needs this from her to be a better Scout.

He clips her in and takes a step back. He cranks the lever that suspends her in the air, and she struggles to stay secured. Her body shakes and she begins to teeter. Levi rolls his eyes and turns away from her, not wanting to see her crash to the ground for the hundredth time. He hears her smash into the ground with a heavy grunt and Levi inhales deeply, feeling his patience increasingly tested.

"What am I doing wrong?" Willow asks in a woeful tone as she lies on the ground.

"Focus on your breathing," Hange tells her. "Try stabilizing yourself in the center of your body, allow your center of gravity to be distributed closest to the harness and balance yourself through your limbs."

She exhales deeply and pulls herself to her feet. She nods and Levi cranks her back up. She wobbles as she is suspended in the air. She struggles as she swings back and forth, trying to gain her balance as her arms wildly claw at the air for stability. Levi shakes his head as he sees her teeter too far to the left. He cranks her up before she can flip upside down on her head. She swings backwards and hangs suspended upside-down in the air.

Levi rolls his eyes, taking his hand off of the crank as Willow smashes to the ground. He looks at Hange with displeasure and she returns with concerned eyes. She is thinking the same thing he is: how is the girl supposed to save humanity from the Titans?

He walks away from her without helping her up or further acknowledging her, feeling drained at the idea that he needs to prepare her for ODM gear as she is no closer to mastering it. With exhaustion in his eyes, Levi heads towards the main hall as he is unable to handle any further disappointment.

The following day Levi wakes earlier than any others as he normally wakes before the sun rises. He makes his bed with obsessive precision, tucking in the sheets and sliding his hands over the sheets to iron them down to perfection. He completes his morning workout to get his heart pumping, and stretch out his sore muscles. Once he completes his routine, he bathes and readies himself to break his nightly fast.

Levi heads to the main hall to get some food, mentally preparing himself for another day of disappointing training with Willow. He crosses the courtyard to make his way to the main hall when he feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He instinctually jumps back and as he does, someone in ODM gear comes crashing where he would have stood.

His brows press together and his fist clench angrily. He takes hold of the crashed body by the back of their neck, pulling them to their feet to yell at them, when he notices it's Willow. "What are you doing in ODM gear?" he asks letting her go.

"I've been training all night," she tells him, brushing herself off. "I found this gear in the common area, and I have gotten the hang of it. Though, I haven't quite figured out how to stop," she says looking at him with wide excited eyes. Levi's eyes, on the other hand, look unenthused with her development. "I thought you would be happy to see I've progressed," she says reading his blank expression.

"Took you long enough," he tells her, moving past her and to the main hall for breakfast. "You should probably eat something."

"I don't want to throw up," she tells him as she follows behind him.

"You should also probably get some rest. Respectfully, you look like shit."

"That was rude," she tells him with pressed brows.

"That is why I said 'respectfully'," he says uninterested in their conversation.

She follows him into the main hall and decides that she should eat something, feeling herself getting weak as the smell of food fills her nostrils. She pours herself the same stew, grabs a piece of bread, and sits next to Levi as they silently eat.

Her eyes land on Levi's whose are fixated on his food, despite feeling her gaze on him. "So, now that I am able to use ODM gear, will you tell the Commander?"

"You do not know how to use ODM gear," he tells her as he sips on his morning tea, holding the cup at the brim as he tips the mug towards his lips. "You have more training to do. You will need to learn how to move freely through the trees and rooftops."

"How long will that take?" she asks with pressed brows, frowning as prominent dimples appear on her cheeks.

"Well, we only have three days left. So that is how long we have." She falls into a deep thought, and Levi's eyes finally fall on hers. She is looking down at her stew with pressed angular brows. He sees that she is conflicted about something, figuring that it is about her role with the Titans once she learns to effectively use ODM gear. Levi ponders for a moment, wondering if she will disclose her story if he asks her in this moment, but decides against it and enlists his trust in his Commander that her silence is what is best.

"You should get some rest," Levi tells her, pulling his eyes away from her as she looks up at him. "You have worked hard enough today," he says to her and he can see her tense in his peripheral, but keeps his eyes on his tea.

"Sir," she says standing up and walking from him. Levi lifts his eyes to watch her leave, taking a sip of his tea as he wonders how this small girl could possibly benefit the Scouts. He hopes that whatever hidden talent she has will turn the tides in this war, as the thought of losing more of his comrades weighs heavily in Levi's chest.

Levi is taken from his thoughts as Eld sits down to join him for an early breakfast, and he wonders how long his mind was recalling the dead. "Sir," he says strongly greeting his Lieutenant as the tall blonde takes a seat across from Levi.

"Good Morning, Eld," Levi says in his signature uninterested tone as he takes another sip of his tea.

"How is the training going with the new girl?" he asks, spooning his food into his mouth. "Any progress?"

"Some," Levi divulges to him, "Though there is much more needed."

"Do you think she will be able to turn the tide?" Eld asks and Levi thinks for a moment. "It just seems cruel to give us a taste of hope, and have it all be inefficient."

"It will not be pointless, Eld." Levi tells himself more than he tells his comrade. "Strange as his methods may be at times, Erwin knows what he is doing."

"I hope you are right, Sir," Eld says with a heavy tone. "I thought it would get easier to watch people die, but it seems to just be getting more difficult."

Before Levi can respond, the main room erupts into loud chatter as the Cadets enter with their boisterous voices. Eld nods respectfully to his Lieutenant, leaving to join the others, knowing the man to enjoy his breakfast alone.

Levi watches as the topic of gossip for the day is still the girl and how she managed to kill three Titans. Voices boom with grand expectations of retaking Wall Maria without the hundreds of thousands of causalities they have recently faced. Levi questions to himself if this will even be possible with the girl, finding her to be nothing more than a clumsy child, and not a warrior the Commander may see her as.

Levi's eyes flash to Hange's as she approaches him with a tray of food. "Hare stew two days in a row! How are we so blessed?" she exclaims with excided eyes and Levi tells her that he has already eaten. "Two bowls?" she notices the bowl Willow left behind.

"I saw Willow this morning. Forced the skinny little brat to get some food in her," he tells Hange with indifference.

"Where is she? I didn't see her in the main hall when I came in," Hange says looking around for the girl, eager to have a moment with her outside of training.

"I told her to get some rest, she was practicing with ODM gear last night," he tells her with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Without us? She could have gotten hurt," she says with wide eyes.

"Practically smeared me into the ground this morning," Levi affirms. "She was practicing all night so I told her to get some rest. She is going to be sore when she wakes up," he says with a slight chuckle in his throat.

"What do you think the Commander is going to do when we clear her?" she asks him with concerned eyes, knowing the Commander's been irrational since the failure to retake Wall Maria.

"The Commander knows what he is doing, Hange," he tells her with a stern tone and Hange nods once, not allowing her doubt of the Commander be voiced any further.

After breakfast, Levi works with Eld on his sword work, as he understands Levi's unwillingness to speak about Willow's lack of progress, and gives him a moment of time not thinking about her. It is clear that the camp has a new sense of hope reintroduced in them with the knowledge that the girl might have discovered a safer way to killing Titans. Levi only hopes this is the case, for the sake of everyone around him.

While sparring, Captain Malik approaches Levi and Eld. He stands stiffly and watches the two of them as they expertly attack and defend against one another. Malik has always been impressed by Levi's skill, as well as his ability to influence others around him, namely Eld, to become a fearless Scouts, though he will never tell the Lieutenant of his admiration towards him.

"Captain," Eld breathes heavily as he catches the Captain's glance and halts his sparing.

"Please continue," Malik states, smiling at the Scout. Eld bows his head and continues to attack Levi. "Any progress Lieutenant?" Malik asks vaguely.

"You will have to be more specific, Captain," Levi states with a step back from Eld's attack. "A lot of progress has been happening," Levi says in a snark remark.

"With training the girl on ODM gear," Malik states with gritted teeth. "I don't see you or Lieutenant Hange working with her."

"She was up all night practicing. I told her to take a rest," Levi says as Eld presses forward.

"We do not have time for rest, Lieutenant," Malik says with pressed aggravation. "We are to bring her up to speed by the end of the week.

"And she will be," Levi says pressing an attack to Eld.

"Lieutenant, I do not believe you are taking this assignment seriously," Malik says straightening himself to appear larger than he is. "Have you any idea what is at stake?"

Levi stops fighting Eld and the Scout holds his attacks as the Lieutenant gives his Captain harsh eyes. "The Commander entrusted me with the task, Captain." Levi says, approaching the man that towers over him in stature, but is still a smaller man than Levi. "If you believe you can handle the task better than I or Lieutenant Hange, you are welcome to challenge the Commander's orders to him," Levi teases and the Captain's face hardens at the Lieutenant's unwillingness to concede.

Captain Malik rolls his jaw at Levi, knowing that he will not challenge the Commander's orders. "Just keep in mind, that if she is not ready, people's lives are at risk," he says between clenched teeth.

"People lives are always at risk, Captain. Rest assured, I do not take that lightly," Levi states as he steps away from the Captain to resume his sparring session with Eld.

Captain Malik walks away from the two as they continue their fight and Levi realizes just how uneasy the camp is getting with the idea that the Commander is banking everything on that skinny little girl.

The sun begins setting when Willow finally wakes from her slumber. She stretches her limbs to every corner of her bed as her body aches with a fire that reaches every inch of her. She groans as the pain of her aching muscles registers in her mind. She looks up at the ceiling of her room, allowing her mind to wonder aimlessly as she thinks in no particular direction. She is stalling, and does not want to join the others for training. She is spent, her body is throbbing and her mind is drained. She is clearly out of shape for this rigorous training, but she cannot address these concerns or aches as all eyes are on her.

She takes a deep breath, knowing that Lieutenants Levi and Hange are undoubtably waiting for her to wake and continue her training. She only hopes that she will be as strong as everyone expects her to be.

Willow leaves the barracks and heads to the training courtyard where most of the recruits are already in the main hall for dinner. She figures the faster she straps into her equipment and gets the hang of the ODM gear, the faster she will be able to complete her training and join the rest of the Scouts as a team member.

She approaches a left over ODM gear belt and places it on. She straps it in tightly, feeling snug and safe in the equipment. She pulls on the unkept curls of her blonde hair into a messy ponytail so the strands do not fly into her face. Willow sucks in labored breath as she points her hooks into the direction for the rooftop atop the main hall. Pulling the trigger of her gear, Willow releases the grappling cable that attaches to the rooftop. She is flung to the top of the roof, painfully crashing into the roof tiles. She shakes herself off as she pulls herself to her feet.

"The brakes are on the left trigger," a voice calls out that makes Willow jump in her skin. She turns around to see that it is Lieutenants Hange and Levi who stand watching her. "The right is to release the grappling hook," Hange tells her with an amused smile on her face while Levi remains unreadable.

"Oh," Willow lets out quietly, looking down at the trigger. "I guess I never tried that," she says mostly to herself while Levi rolls his eyes at the idea that she spent all night with the gear and didn't think to press the other trigger.

"There is a training ground set up in the woods not too far from here," Levi states in a bored tone. "Let's train out there and see what you have learned."

Willow nods and they take their horses to the training arena dawned with primitive wooden titans with foam strapped to the nape of their neck. Willow swallows a growing lump in her throat at the simplified depiction of the Titans that stand before her. She remembers the day the Titans attacked her home within Wall Maria, and the terror that she and everyone felt as the foreboding creatures ate their loved ones with dead expressions.

"The nape of the neck is the only way to kill a Titan," Levi tells her as she looks up at the wooden statues. "Make sure you cut them deep enough to ensure a one hit kill."

"Unless there is another way to kill a Titan that we have not discovered yet," Hange says, wondering if the girl will divulge the secret that Erwin is determined to hold.

Both Levi and Hange wait for a moment for Willow to respond, but she keeps her eyes fixated on the statues, wondering how they could possibly train Cadets with these unrealistic depictions of the ominous Titans, knowing this will not prepare them for the horrors they are to face.

"Right, let's get started," Levi states, knowing Erwin has advised her to stay tightlipped with her knowledge, and feels the inquisition to be a waste of their time.

Levi instructs Willow to use her ODM gear to gain a vantage point as he cranks the lever to move the "Titans" in slow and inorganic movements. Willow's button nose winkles in distaste for the exercise, knowing first hand this will not prepare her for a moving Titan.

She lifts herself into a tree, but hits the breaks too hard, and misses the intended branch, falling to the one below it. Levi rolls his lidded eyes and gives Hange and unenthused look. She shrugs at him while Willow makes her way to the proper branch.

He commands her to attack and she holds onto her blades tightly. She releases her grappling hook onto the shoulder of the "Titan" and propels towards it. She lands on the back of its neck and looks at the nape. She thinks for a moment, remembering the day she took down the Titan, feeling her hands wet with its hot blood. She breaths heavily, overcome by the crashing memories of the Titan that took her family from her. She swallows hard and takes her sword, driving it into the soft foam of its nape.

She propels away from the wooden carving and down towards Levi who no longer spins the lever. "You hesitated," he scolds her. "The Titan would have grabbed you and crushed you."

"You can also propel past the Titan and swing your blades to their nape; you don't have to stab it head on," Hange says with a more constructive tone than Levi's.

"How do you do it?" Willow asks, sky blue eyes fixated her blades. "You two know these stupid carvings are nothing like the Titans," she says looking up at them. "How do you do it without fear."

"Fear slows you down," Levi states with little inflection in his voice. "If you have time to fear, you are hesitating, and if you are hesitating, you are giving the Titans a window of opportunity to kill you."

"It gets easier the more you are around them, but it's all about focus," Hange continues Levi's sentiments. "We are out there to kill Titans, and if we have anything else on our minds, we risk ourselves and the lives of others around us. You just have to remember why you are there, and what your role is in the expedition."

Levi sees the dejection in Willow's soft eyes and he exhales, changing his expression to a warmer one. "You have done it before, Willow," he tells her and she looks over to him, their eyes meeting again. "You were strong enough to focus your energy to kill one—let alone three. But it will not be as hard this time. Hange and I are here to support you."