Happy Wednesday! Thank you everyone who has taken the time to review my story. Your words encourage me to continue writing this everyday and I really want to express my gratitude for your kind words! Please keep the reviews coming, as I love to hear what you all think. As a thank you, here are 2 chapters for you this week! Enjoy!
Chapter 13
Willow glances up with crossed arms over her chest as the look of dissatisfaction paints her face. She watches as Hange climbs atop the beast with wide hungry eyes as she cuts pieces of the Titan's skin off and throws it down for her poor Squad Leads to gather the chunks of flesh she drops down. Willow feels herself getting sick, watching clumps of flesh wobble in the scientist's hands as she drops them down into the metal bowls for further examination.
She turns away from the sight, looking down at the ground, waiting to upchuck as she feels herself getting warm.
"Hange!" Willow hears Levi call out to her in a stern tone. "Would you stop being so damn eccentric, you're making people sick." Willow looks up to see Levi approaching her with his signature indifference, "you look pale."
"I can slice up one of these things no problem, but when she shakes the skin like that…" She turns away from Hange when she sees she has not ceased her vile movements of the Titan's flesh.
"Disgusting," Levi agrees as he looks up at Hange with a dissatisfied wrinkle in his nose.
"I need to get some air," Willow groans with a whine in her tone. "Want to join me in the woods to work on vertical maneuvering?" she asks him, hoping that he will say yes so that she does not have to go alone.
"Beats watching this," he grunts, looking at Hange one last time with a repulsive glare.
They head to the stables and saddle up on a horse where they ride to their training grounds in the woods. Willow straps on her ODM gear tightly around her thighs and prepares herself to use it. Despite it being over a year since Levi first taught her how to use ODM gear, she finds herself still getting nervous when using the gear, having always felt safer on the ground.
Levi shoots into the tree line and Willow begins running on the ground, gathering her momentum until she shoots herself into the tree line as well. She follows behind him, watching with amazed eyes as she studies Levi's movements with vertical maneuvering. Oftentimes in the field, Willow is far too bothered by the Titans, that she does not have a moment to watch Levi and wonder at the marvel that he truly is in his element.
She watches as he jumps from each branch, fearlessly launching himself into the forest with a nerve-racking speed. He moves faster than her eyes can process, and she wonders why Erwin does not use him more against the Titans. It is clear that Levi is skilled with ODM gear—arguably better than Malik or Hal—so she doesn't understand why the Commander does not take the opportunity to leverage him against the Titan threat.
Before Willow can think any further, she feels pain from an impact, and her vision goes black momentarily. She blinks rapidly until her vision returns to see that she is on the ground holding her head, feeling a large lump growing on it. Levi is there trying desperately to suppress a laugh as he says, "are you alright?"
Willow's face flushes red as she comes to the realization of what happened. "I ran into a tree," she asks looking up at him and he cannot respond to her, looking away from her fearing that he will audibly laugh at her. "Oh geez," she releases with embarrassment crashing into her as a blush kisses her cheeks.
"You clearly weren't paying attention," Levi adds.
"I was looking at you," Willow releases before she can think not to. Levi blinks at her and she grows even redder. "Sorry, I meant I was admiring your talent…" she stops, realizing that is not much better.
Levi releases a chuckle as he pulls his hand out for her to take. "You alright to continue?" she nods, rising to her feet and nodding her head. "Want to race?" Levi asks with a devilish smile reaching his lips.
"Yeah right," Willow scoffs, "Not with you," she says with a laugh.
"Come on," he encourages her. "I will go easy on—"
Before he can finish, Willow springs into action and leaves Levi behind as she flings herself into a head start. She skillfully dodges the tress as she zips past them, grappling from one tree to the other with expert precision. She smiles to herself realizing just how much she has improved over the year, looking back not even able to imagine how terrible she once was.
Her golden hair flows naturally in the wind as she presses on her gas and propels herself faster than she has ever comfortably flown. Her heart races wildly and she feels herself getting scared a bit as the trees zip past her faster than she can register their location.
She looks back to see if Levi is following her and she cannot see him. She moves her attention forward and her heart races when she sees him suddenly in front of her and moving faster than her. She grunts, wanting to beat him in this. She presses on the gas and propels herself faster than him. He quickly shoots his grapple to the left and swings out of the way. Willow looks up to see a large tree in front of her and she smashes on the breaks of her grapples and moves her gas to push against her path. She barely misses the tree as she kicks away from it and continues her path forward, frowning at the idea that she has lost her momentum and needs to start over.
She grapples onto a large branch and launches herself into the air, flinging herself out of the woods and into the open field. She turns around as she smiles triumphantly seeing that she is out of the woods before Levi. She crashes into something hard, and she expects it to be Levi, turning towards him with a smile when she notices that it is not Levi, but an 8-meter class Titan.
Willow's heart flutters for a brief moment, shocked at the ugly sight of the Titan, but she quickly recovers and slashes its neck before the Titan can even think to swat at her.
Levi comes flying out of the tree line to see the steaming Titan before them. He doesn't seem shocked that she could handle a kill like this on her own, proud to say that Willow is one of the only Scouts that he does not have to worry about when in the midst of Titans.
"Watch out!" Willow calls out as a Titan reaches out for Levi, having hidden in the tree line. Willow jumps forward, pushing Levi away from the Titan's grasp and slashing its fingers. She digs her sword in the Titan's arm as she runs up to its shoulder, releasing her blade from its flesh and turning against the Titan with force as she slashes at its nape, killing it instantly.
The Titan goes down and Willow joins Levi on the branch he watches her from with a triumphant smile on her face. "Did I just save Humanity's Strongest Soldier?" Willow overexaggerates between breaths and Levi rolls his eyes, groaning at her words. "Oh, how the tables have turned!"
"I don't like that name," Levi deadpans as she smiles wildly at him.
"Yeah, you think I picked 'Titan Killer'? At lease Humanity's Strongest Soldier has more flare to it," she says with a wide smile that reaches her eyes. Levi watches her expression, shocked that she is this happy since he has not seen her in such a spirited mood in a such long time.
"They are calling Miche 'Humanity's Second Strongest'," Levi says looking up at her.
"Brutal," Willow releases with an exaggerated frown. "Malik is pissed he didn't get a nickname, but he won't admit it," she says plopping down on the branch to sit down, kicking her feet at the world below her. "I would call him Humanity's Grumpiest Soldier," she declares with a wide smile on her face.
Her mood is too much for him not to mention, and without thinking, Levi sits next to her and says, "You're in a good mood."
Willow looks out at the open field over the Titan steam that lifts from her victims. She shrugs, "I guess I am no longer in pain, and it's a beautiful day," she sighs feeling the soft wind blow through her hair.
Levi watches her carefully, wondering what could put her in such good spirits. She has been officially cleared for fieldwork, with an approaching mission within the week to explore more areas southwest of Wall Maria. With this mission looming in the corner, Levi believed Willow would have been in more sour spirits, but she seems at peace.
"I finally see it," she says looking out at the horizon.
"See what?" Levi asks sitting down next to her.
"The beauty," she tells him, bringing him back to his words on the roof that starry night. "It's in the trees, in the air, the clouds," she lifts her head to the sky closing her eyes and allowing the wind to blow through her golden strands. She listens to the sound of birds chirping happily to one another. Her eyes open as she looks up at the clouds that form before her. "People are dying on the field without my help," she begins with a leveled tone with no inflection in it. "If it takes me being out there to ensure the friends that I have made come back safely, then I will make peace with that." Willow looks over at Levi who watches her carefully. "If I can save but one person out there like I did you today, then was it not worth it?"
"You can save thousands," Levi says, knowing she is capable of such a thing.
"I am starting to understand," she says with brows pressed. "I will go out there and I will make sure no other Scout dies because of me. And if that means killing all Titans, then I will kill every last one of them," she promises him with a strength in her tone.
"We should head back," Levi says looking off in the horizon. "I am sure Hange has worked up an appetite prodding that beast."
"Race you home?" she asks with a devilish smile and before Levi can respond, she flings herself from the tree and heads off towards the camp.
Willow laughs triumphantly as she weaves through the trees, with Levi zipping behind her at a quickly encroaching speed. She looks back at him to brag but stops when she sees his eyes widen at the sight before him. She turns back to see a cloud of Titan steam coming from the camp. Her heart races and Levi pushes forward, using his ODM gear with a vicious speed as he leaves her behind with effortless precision. Willow pushes forward as hard as she can, desperately trying to get back to the camp as quickly as possible.
When Levi and Willow return to the camp, they find it in a state of disarray and panic. They hear Hange screaming wildly, fallen to her knees in front of a steaming pile of Titan remains. "What happened?" Levi asks trying to communicate with the hysterical scientist, but she is too inconsolable to tell Levi what has transpired.
"I am sorry, Captain!" Leo emerges from the Titan steam with wide frantic eyes looking at Hange. "You told me to stab it, I don't know what I did wrong," he releases looking down at his swords with shaking arms.
"Chikatiloni!" Hange wails in a most woeful howl that Willow would think she were dying if she didn't know any better. Willow's eyes flash over at the large Titan she once controlled over a year ago, now a pile of slowly evaporating limbs. "He was my little one for over a year! He is the reason we know so much!" she cries as she savagely slams her fists onto the ground falling to her knees.
Willow glances over at Levi with wide eyes and he returns with an impatient look. "Hange," he exhales irritated with her theatrics. "Get a hold of yourself, we will get you another Titan."
"Another Titan!" she cries with wild hate. "I was in the middle of a breakthrough!"
"What about the Abnormal?" Willow asks her, looking at the heavily restrained beast that looks back at her with a shivering glare.
"His name is Albert!" she cries madly with wide eyes. "I need a control group! I cannot accept all my discoveries based off the findings of one test subject, that is just sloppily coming to inconclusive assumptions!"
"Right, of course not," Willow mutters, looking at Levi with a pressed look in her eyes.
"What the hell is going on here?" Malik yells running from the mess hall with Derrek and Hal trailing behind him.
"Leo killed Hange's pet," Willow says with her hands on her hips.
"He was more than a pet!" Hange cries out wildly. "He was humanity's next hope into understanding these magnificent creatures!"
"Have you lost your mind, Captain!" Malik presses with spiteful venom slipping from his lips. "Get yourself together, we thought we were under attack with your frantic wailing!"
"It would be better if we were!" she cries out wildly. "I could get more test subjects that way!"
"Hange," Willow begins with a labored sigh, "I will get you another Titan. I can even get you one that looks just like this ugly thing, you won't even notice the difference," she promises her.
"Nothing can replace Chikatiloni!" she cries in the ground.
"Then we will get you a better one!" Malik spits, "Now pick yourself up and stop making a scene," he says between clenched teeth.
Malik shakes his head, looking down at Hange with distaste, never understanding what Erwin saw in the eccentric woman.
Hal looks over at Willow and Levi, noticing them in ODM gear. "Why are you two wearing gear?" he asks them with wary eyes behind thin black strands of hair.
"We went to go get some air," Willow explains, "We returned when we saw the Titan steam."
Hal looks at her with a curious glare, but Malik nods once, "Why don't you go out and get us another one of these things to shut her up?" Malik asks, "Think you two can handle that?"
"Not a problem, Sir," Willow says saluting him and he turns from her to the mess hall with Derrek quick to follow. Hal lingers for a moment, looking at Willow, seeing a flushed redness in her face with her hair tussled and his mind contemplates for a moment, but he quickly shakes the idea out of his head, swallowing the growing lump in his throat and joining his Captain.
"Any size you prefer?" Levi asks with a bored tone.
"Oh well now that you mention it," Hange begins with a completely changed tone, eyes wide with excitement. "Can you get me something in the 5-meter or less class? I would love to experiment on the stubbier ones, and it will make chopping them easier," she says with huge eyes filled with excitement at all the possibilities, while Willow feels herself getting sick again.
They turn from Hange and Willow catches Leo's face frowning at what has transpired. "Don't let her bully you into thinking this is your fault," Willow tells him with a soft smile. He frowns looking down at the ground, feeling guilty for killing the Titan. "Why don't you gear up and join us?" Willow states, "You can be a big help in corralling one of these things."
"Yes, Ma'am!" Leo says with eyes widening in excitement.
Leo quickly suits up into ODM gear, not keeping Willow or Levi waiting too long. They take their horses out to venture off deeper into the woods for a viable candidate for Hange's tortures. The group is quiet, focusing on travelling more than communicating with one another.
Levi is the first to see the Titans in the distance, spotting a group of three travelling together. "Leo, stay back and watch, we don't have the manpower to babysit you," he says looking over his shoulder in a flat tone. His eyes flash over to Willow, "I'll take over the two to the right, you can take over that ugly one on the left."
"Sir!" Willow calls out strongly, lifting herself from her horse and launching herself towards the 5-meter class on the left.
Leo watches in wonder as Willow springs effortlessly to the Titan, latching her grapples into the shoulder of the Titan. She skates on the ground as she launches herself at him, swinging herself up to its back with ease. Levi glances over noticing that she is becoming more proficient in ODM gear as the years go by.
Levi takes out the first Titan in a blink of an eye, that Leo practically misses his attack. He launches himself to the next Titan, propelling himself at its face. Levi digs his blades into the Titan's neck, swinging around to the nape and slicing the flesh with one quick motion.
Leo moves to Willow who digs her sword into the Titan's nape, taking it over with a single slice. Leo is in awe at the marvels that stand before him, honored that he is witnessing Humanity's Greatest Soldier and the Titan Killer at work.
"How did you take control with one hit?" Leo asks Willow as she commands the Titan to begin walking towards the camp. Levi takes the reins of Willow's horse and ties them to his own as they gallop next to her.
"It takes practice," Willow calls down to the boy. "It took me about a year to get it down perfectly."
"How do you know where to hit," he asks her, thinking about how he was just blindly hitting the nape of the Titan before Captain Hange began screaming at him.
"There is a lift in the nape of the neck," she informs him. "If you place your hand on your nape and pull your head down, you can feel where a section of your bone protrudes. Within that section, at the highest point is where I dig my knife in. I make sure to stop about two fists' length before the hilt of my blade. Any deeper I have noticed kills the Titan," she begins to explain, "But it is not as simple as stabbing the nape and having full control over it. You need to know where to dig around; every move of the sword controls a different movement on the Titan. Once I have those memorized, I can move the Titan the way I want them to move. Hange can tell you more about it, scientifically, though prepare yourself for a long night if you ask."
Willow abruptly stops, feeling a strange sensation overcome her body. She looks back suddenly feeling as though someone is watching her. Every hair on the back of her neck lifts as an electric feeling of foreboding consumes her body. She turns around looking off into the woods, straining her eyes to see if she can catch a glimpse of what is causing this feeling. She searches the tree line, but there is no visible threat that she can catch.
"Something wrong?" Levi asks her, noticing the edginess in Willow's stance.
"The birds stopped singing," Willow breathes almost to herself searching the forest for something, but finding nothing.
Levi places his hands on his blades, feeling the thickness in the air that Willow undoubtably feels. He stops galloping and circles his horse around Willow's Titan, shooting his head back and forth searching for something lingering in the horizon.
Willow's eyes land in a certain patch in the forest, feeling the unshakeable sensation that she is being watch by someone… or something. Her eyes strain to look into the tree line and make sense of what she is feeling, but there is nothing appearing in the horizon. She feels an irresistible force pulling her into the woods, beckoning her and pulling her towards it. She presses her Titan forward towards the tree line when Levi calls out, "Let's go," he says with a strong tone, bringing Willow from her trancelike movement.
She shakes the daze from her head and looks down at Levi who watches her with pressed brows. She can tell that he senses it too, and rather than investigating it, decides it best to return to camp. She nods once, accepting his orders and pressing the Titan towards camp. She looks back once more into the woods, swearing she saw two red beams of light staring back at her in the tree line.