Year 845: Two months after the fall of Shiganshina
Five days after her graduation from the Training Corps and the disbandment of the 99th Corps of Cadets, Katrine began to regret joining the Survey Corps.
After the destruction of Shiganshina and Wall Maria, the Survey Corps had effectively been castrated. Expeditions beyond Wall Maria had ceased; their missions only involved inspecting Wall Rose for breaches and stumbling upon deserted, bloodstained villages. True survey missions beyond the Walls and into the unknown had been postponed for the indefinite future.
Earlier, standing with the other Scout recruits at the Military Headquarters courtyard in Trost and staring up at the freshly minted Thirteenth Commander of the Survey Corps Erwin Smith, Katrine ran through in her mind the entire contract she'd signed, searching for the clause that prohibited desertion and the punishments that came along with it. Ten years of hard labor in the fields near Wall Maria? And then afterward felon status within the Walls? Was that worth it?
Erwin had droned on about guarding the innocent and raising up their hearts for something or other, and even worse, the cadets surrounding her were eating it up like they'd been starved for days. Protecting humanity was very noble and all, but didn't they all want to get out? This couldn't be all there was. Dying for this humanity would be a complete waste.
She'd ignored the rest of the speech, focusing instead on how the commander, in another life, would have made a fantastic dancer. Mr. Kaiser would have drowned himself drooling over making Erwin the prince in The Crane Queen. She snickered at the idea and drew a few irritated glances.
Now, Katrine sat in an overheated office facing the Commander himself, waiting for him to finish reading through her profile and get this over with. Erwin had insisted on meeting all the recruits himself, individually. Very official, very dry. As he scanned the report, Katrine pressed her crossed legs together and flexed her ankle in a circle, around and around, the silence heavier than the sandbags they'd dragged in training. It had been at least five minutes, and her ankle started burning at two.
Erwin finally spoke, not looking up from the papers. "Katrine Casimir, age twenty-five, from...Mitras." He raised his eyebrows. "That's a long way."
She shrugged. "Not that far."
"You've ranked number ten in the 99th Corps. That's impressive, congratulations."
"Thank you." A drop of sweat trailed down her back.
"At number ten, you had the option to join the Military Police in Mitras. It's quite a comfortable job. Tell me, why did you reject that?"
"Are you saying I made a bad choice?"
"No, I'm just curious."
Sure you are. "I never liked unicorns."
Erwin blinked. If he was taken aback at the answer, his face didn't reveal it. "You also could have joined the Garrison Corps. Not necessarily cushy but certainly safer. Why not that either?"
"I didn't want to spend my days chasing after stray cats." Was she really going to have to sit there sweltering while this man asked for her life story? Erwin himself seemed unbothered, not a hint of sweat on his crisp, starched shirt.
"Well then, Cadet Casimir, why did you decide to join the Survey Corps?"
She could say she wanted to kill Titans, eliminate them once and for all. She could say she wanted to protect the people inside the Walls, be a shield for humanity. If she wanted to get really poetic, she could even say that he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen and she would follow him to the end of the earth just to see him smile. Those would all be lies, and though Katrine prided herself on her ability to lie, she was curious as to how Erwin would react to the truth. Besides, she wanted to make him a little uncomfortable. He was entirely too composed and detached, used to marching through minds unimpeded.
"To get out. Everyone here's a goner, caught in a trap, mice waiting to be devoured. And really, how else am I gonna find who's outside these Walls?" She leaned forward in her chair and swung her finger in a wide circle.
His gaze met hers, and this time, he actually looked at her. Before he had a screen over his eyes, seeing her but barely registering. He did have twenty of them to meet, and with all the other things he had to deal with, he probably didn't have the brainpower. But Erwin didn't need to learn anything beyond their names, or really see them, because they'd probably be dead long before he actually needed to know them.
He leaned forward a bit. "Well, what are you intending to find outside the Walls?"
It was a gamble to tell him why. Few people dared to speculate what was beyond the Walls, and all of them just thought it would be beautiful to see the giant lake of sapphire blue water or mountains that shed their skin every year. Which was fine; that would be lovely to see, of course, but what really mattered was the civilizations, the cities, towns, villages. Other people, better people. They existed. She'd never felt so strongly about anything in her life. Because if there wasn't anything else out there, then why keep bothering?
She decided to take the risk.
"Cities. People. They're out there. Really, think about it, if we live here surrounded by three, well now two, Walls, then there are probably places out there that are similar. Maybe five walls? Seven? They say that we're the only ones left, but I don't believe it. Who could know? Who's gone out and looked, really looked, and came back to tell us that there's really no one else out there?"
Erwin was silent. His face hadn't shifted, but he was listening intently, every word registering. She kept going.
"I don't blame them for not coming out here to find us. Maybe they're worse off. But there are probably richer places too, and maybe they're across the giant lake and can't reach us, but just because no one's found anything doesn't mean no one's out there."
Still no response.
"You know, no one even knows there aren't people on the moon." Finished, Katrine leaned back in her chair, waiting for his response. Maybe if he thought she was insane, then he'd decide she was not suitable for the Scouts and send her packing. No harm done.
Instead, he laughed, loud and deep, like he hadn't heard anything so funny in years. And he didn't stop after a few moments like normal people did. He kept laughing, his head sinking down and shoulders shaking. Katrine tensed and more sweat beaded at her forehead. No, she wasn't the insane one, it was actually him.
Erwin finally stopped, nearly wheezing, and wiped a tear from his eye. He had the gall to be flushed. "I apologize, Cadet Casimir, I wasn't expecting that." He looked to the left, a strange smile on his face.
Katrine was silent, unmoving, staring at the commander as if he were going to start convulsing.
"It's just that I haven't heard anyone talk like that in a long time."
She didn't have a response ready. Her mouth dried and her fingers twitched; she had no idea what he wanted to hear. "...Right," she eventually said.
He cleared his throat, the humor gone. "But I assume you've read up on the subject. All the history books say we're the only ones left."
She scoffed. "Yeah, sure, but did the authors really go out and look themselves? Or did they just depend on what everyone else said? And what's really weird is that they only go back a hundred years. I'm sure people knew how to write back then. Sketchy, if you ask me."
He cocked his head, a thoughtful gleam appearing in his eyes. "You must read a lot, Cadet Casimir."
"Er, probably as much as anyone else."
"And have you discussed this with others?"
"Not really. Most people don't want to hear it."
He nodded. Just as suddenly as it appeared the gleam was gone and the mask dropped back down. "So you're using the Survey Corps to get a better chance at your dream?"
"If I could I'd just go myself, but I haven't heard of anyone who's made it very far outside the Walls and I don't have any good ideas myself. Though, to be honest, I was promised expeditions outside Wall Maria, but now..." She sucked in a breath between her teeth.
"You're not wrong, but there's plenty to see outside Wall Rose. Most people haven't seen what's outside their districts or towns."
"I've seen the maps. I don't think there's a secret metropolis hiding out there."
"And how do Titans fit into your plan, Cadet Casimir?"
"I haven't actually seen one in person, but I heard most of them are pretty stupid. They're like giant rats. They're nasty, but if you set a trap you're fine."
"Rats can't eat a man whole." He said it as if he'd reached the end of dictating a long grocery list. She realized he looked so young for his age because his lack of expression caused no wrinkles. Lucky bastard.
"I've seen some big as dogs, so I think they could."
"You'll see for yourself, I suppose. Well then, Cadet Casimir, this was very enlightening for me. You and your fellow graduates will be discussed amongst the section leaders and myself, and we will then determine your positions based on your particular strengths. You are dismissed." He returned to the list in front of him and crossed something out.
"It's Katrine." She was going to scream if she heard "Cadet" one more time.
He raised his head. "Excuse me?"
"It's Katrine. You people are too formal."
He chuckled softly, but not indulgently. It was just as unnatural as before. Most of the time she knew when people found her ridiculous and didn't take her seriously, but with him, she had no idea.
"Okay, Katrine, but you won't have much luck getting everyone else to comply with that."
Change always started with one person, after all. She turned to leave. When her hand was on the doorknob, he spoke again.
"Good luck tonight."
"What do you mean?" A sudden chill licked her spine, amplified by the sweat.
"Oh right, they haven't told you. Sorry, forget I said anything."
Absolutely huge, giant mistake.
Since entering the Survey Corps a year ago, Levi had yet to experience a Cadet Royale, and he was glad it was finally arriving so that people would stop talking about it.
A Cadet Royale, the others gleefully explained over dinner, was when the new recruits arrived and those graduating in the top ten were made to fight each other in some grotesque competition, with wagers cast on each contestant. The contest was decided by a lottery, where Scouts wrote their ideas on slips of paper drawn out of a bowl. He'd been told the year before there were four especially burly male cadets forced to wrench brooms out of each other's hands; it went on for hours and ended with a hotly contested disqualification. The greatest of recent note had been a blindfolded race down a hill, where one cadet broke his nose and another an arm. The soldiers who'd lived long enough to remember cackled at the memory, clutching their sides and spilling their drinks.
"This year I want it to be an eating contest over who can eat the most spiders," Eld said, sitting across from Levi.
"That's gross. They should actually fight each other, hand to hand," a woman named Tara said.
"What about with swords?" Eld asked.
"We don't want them to kill each other, idiot."
Eld turned to Levi. "What are you going to submit?"
"Knowing him, it'll be a cleaning contest," Tara said.
Levi picked up his plate and rose to leave. "Nothing. There are better things to do."
"You're missing out," Eld said. "They give us a ton of booze."
Levi really could use the time that everyone was in the courtyard watching the spectacle to clean the common rooms properly, without any interruptions. You couldn't get under the couches when asses were parked on them. But a tiny bit of curiosity nagged at him. These people had talked about it with eager intensity for the past month, and after the Titans had broken through Wall Maria and decimated Shiganshina, they needed something to look forward to.
He should be above this meaningless shit. But maybe it was something from long ago, cobweb-covered memories of watching brawls over a single coin, that made him want to see people who could never imagine it endure it for themselves.
So he wasn't surprised but a bit embarrassed to find himself squeezed between Eld and Hange with the crowd of Scouts in the courtyard, inspecting the three Cadets staring back at them, two male and one female.
It was well past sundown, and each soldier had gotten their allotted two shots of whiskey. Levi had passed his share off to Eld, to his delight. The soldiers surrounding them were flushed and loose, prone to bouts of shouting and guttural laughter. The other recruits sat in neat rows to the side, ramrod straight and silent.
"I heard the number two could kill a bear with his own hands," Eld said to the soldier beside him.
"Whatever, I've heard that before. But did you hear the number ten's from Mitras?" the other man asked.
"Yeah, a dancer! Wonder why she'd leave such an easy job for this."
"She's supposed to be good with ODM."
"Doesn't matter, can't use ODM in the Cadet Royale! She's gonna get killed. I'm betting on number two," Eld said with a hiccup.
"I'm going for eight. He looks like he's got brains."
Miche marched to the front of the crowd and the soldiers quieted. Section Leaders Weber and Hanna followed and sat at the large desk a group of them had dragged out of the officers' quarters earlier that day. They shuffled around some papers in mock officiality.
Miche cleared his throat. Despite the dim light, Levi could tell the man's face was flushed and sweaty. "Attention, soldiers! I am honored to be your head judge in tonight's Cadet Royale. Joining me as judges are Section Leaders Noah Weber and Hanna Jung. Now, for anyone who hasn't had the honor of attending before, there are only two rules. First, no interfering with procedures, and no arguing with our final decision. After interrogation, the contest will be decided, and bets will begin." He turned to the cadets. "Cadets!" he roared. "You will not speak unless spoken to! Refusal to participate will result in fifty laps and a week of latrine duty!"
The female cadet wrinkled her nose.
Miche turned to the desk and plopped into his chair, nearly falling backward. Clearing his throat, he picked up a sheet of paper. "Number two, Henry Becker, age sixteen. Step forward, please."
A muscular, tanned man of above-average height stepped forward. He had a sure smile, hands on his hips.
"You have been ranked ten out of ten on combat and sword-wielding, six on classroom abilities and planning, nine in teamwork, and seven on ODM gear. Very well rounded, a fine addition to the Survey Corps."
The soldiers behind him cheered. Henry saluted them and the cheers grew louder.
"This is ridiculous," Levi said, beginning to rise to his feet.
"Wait, man! You never hang out with us," Eld said. There was a disappointed edge to his voice like he'd expected something more from him. Levi didn't know why he would, but he felt a twinge of guilt.
"Levi, I promise this is going to make you laugh, and I'm not even sure you have the physical ability to do so," Hange said.
"Fuck off, four-eyes, I laugh all the time." Levi sat back down as if to prove a point, but tuned out the proceedings to ponder the fact that the top right window of the headquarters' second floor was still cracked, despite ten months of his steady complaints. Incompetent morons, can't possibly be that hard to fix it. He'd never repaired a window before, but he'd figure it out.
Levi weighed the pros and cons of shattering the entire window completely and replacing it from scratch when Hange bumped into him while rocking on her hands and knees like a toddler.
"Watch out, stupid."
"Sorry! I just get so excited." Hange wasn't even looking at him, just gaping with a peculiar shine in her eye.
Trying not to groan, Levi watched the number eight cadet Yan Koch return to his spot.
"Number ten, Katrine Casimir, age twenty-five. Step forward, please," Section Leader Hanna said.
The woman complied, light on her feet. She was slight and bony, a pale blonde braid hanging down her back, with a wary look and tensed muscles as if she were ready to spring away at any moment. Her lips were unnaturally red.
"Cadet Katrine, unfortunately, you have scored a two out of ten on combat and sword ability," Hanna said. "However, you have tens on both classroom abilities and ODM. Instructor Voth wrote about two pages on how he'd never seen anything like it, which for the benefit of all of us I will not read aloud, but the newly minted Instructor Shadis only wrote that your tendency to spite gravity will come back to bite you."
Katrine remained still. For some stupid reason, Levi thought of the cardinals that came around every spring, observing him with little dark eyes, only to fly away if he moved too suddenly.
"Though, you're much older than the average cadet. I have to ask, why did you wait so long to join the Training Corps?" Hanna asked.
Her shoulders sank like it was the hundredth time she'd been asked the question. "There's a mistake on the paper. I'm actually fifty-two."
Some in the crowd snorted; others shifted uncomfortably.
Miche shot to his feet and slammed a hand on the desk. "Cadet Casimir, you will only speak when asked a question!"
"I was asked a question."
A soldier behind Levi snickered. "She's got bite. How long do you give her before she gets a punch to the face?"
"Three days, tops!" Eld said, laughing.
"Miche, I get to ask the questions!" Hanna whined. She turned back to her paper. "'Cadet Casimir often does not regard critical situations with the seriousness they require and has on occasion displayed a lack of respect for authority, particularly from men,' Instructor Shadis wrote. That's...interesting. Would you agree with this assessment, Katrine?"
"Absolutely not!" She enunciated each syllable and pressed a hand to her chest. It was obviously insincere.
"That's an odd one," Eld said.
"Useless," Levi muttered.
"Seems like Voth and Shadis had a disagreement as to whether you'd even be included in the top ten." Hanna shrugged. "Guess Voth won out. But I think we should get started!" The Scouts roared their approval.
Miche proffered to the crowd a soup cauldron filled with scraps of paper, a handler displaying a slab of meat to hyenas. Weber whooped beside him, clutching Miche's bicep. Even Hange was on her feet, laughing and clapping. Levi grew concerned he would be crushed in the melee.
"Quiet!" They hushed in eager anticipation. Miche lowered the bowl and dipped a hand in, swirling it around with his eyes squeezed shut. He withdrew a slip and held it for the Scouts to see. Then, he opened it slowly as if it held something sacred. "This year's Cadet Royale is...a wrestling match, blindfolded, with hands tied behind their backs!"
The Scouts cheered and stomped their feet. Hange turned to Levi, disappointed. "I was going to make them drink a gallon of prune juice and then run ten miles."
"You're insane," he said, horrified.
"Please proceed to Corporal Sommer to place your bets!" Miche shouted.
Hange elbowed Levi. "Who're you betting on?"
"None of them, it's a waste of money."
"You're cheap. I'm betting on Katrine since no one else will."
"That's not how it works."
Hange tapped her temple. "Think about it. If she wins, then I'll make so much money!" She clasped her hands together in glee. She wore the look that meant some demented idea had infected her brain. It was possible she might start drooling.
Bets placed, the three victims were herded to the center of the courtyard, Scouts gathering to the back of the gate to make room. The squad leaders tied blindfolds on each and bound their hands. After they finished and began to walk away, Katrine shuffled to Yan and leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"No talking!" Weber shouted.
Katrine returned to her spot, nose wrinkled again.
"On my mark! Three, two, one, begin!" Miche cried.
While the two men sank into crouches, Katrine took three large steps backward. She froze, perched on her toes, waiting for the sounds of the others' footsteps. Hearing none, she dropped back to her heels and bent forward, moving her tied wrists up off her back. Twisting her shoulders, she lifted her arms up and over her head, her bound hands meeting her stomach in a fluid, effortless motion.
The Scouts, Levi included, collectively recoiled. It was like overcooked noodles flopping on a plate, bones turned to gelatin.
"That's disgusting," Eld said, gagging.
"That's incredible! I have to know how those shoulders work," Hange said.
Katrine brought her tied hands to her eyes and pushed her blindfold off, and then her wrists to her mouth and tore out the knot with her teeth. It had been less than a minute, and the other two cadets hadn't even moved.
"I knew she was smart," Hange said, beaming.
But instead of moving toward the other cadets, she turned and dashed around the building.
"Cadet! That's latrine duty if you quit!" Miche shouted after her.
"I'm not quitting!" floated from behind the supply shed. Several groans followed.
But she did return, sauntering, carrying a shovel. A few Scouts cheered while others complained to Miche.
"That's cheating! The rules say blindfolded and hands tied!"
"Unfair advantage!"
Miche frowned. "I don't know about this."
"Give her a chance, she had the biggest disadvantage from the start!" Hanna said, holding back laughter.
Katrine approached the other cadets, shovel perched on one shoulder, but stopped a safe distance away. Stabbing the point of the blade into the ground, she balanced both arms on the handle and rested her chin on them. "Yan, you're about three feet away from him and he's got his left leg forward. Remember, he's got a bad right knee," she called.
Some of the Scouts booed. Katrine raised her head and shot them a look of disdain. She lifted one arm and shook her head as if asking them, what do you expect me to do?
Levi simultaneously felt irked by her behavior and a peculiar sense of pride. Isabel would have killed to be her, having the upper hand and laughing in their faces. But no, it was wrong. The thought of the two of them in the same category gave him the same feeling as when he caught a Scout using bleach without gloves.
Yan jumped at the sound of her voice. "How'd you get behind—"
Katrine shrieked. "Look out!"
Henry barreled into Yan, knocking him to the ground. The resulting thud was hard enough for the crowd to feel and many of the Scouts winced in pain. Henry pinned Yan down and the two struggled against each other, groaning and panting. Yan squirmed under him, thrashing like a fish caught on land, eventually squeezing out of Henry's hold and clambering to his feet.
"Come here, Yan, I'll untie you!" Katrine yelled.
"Where are you?"
"Over here!" She threw her head back and slapped a hand to her forehead.
She's enjoying this, Levi realized when he caught her observing the crowd instead of the scuffle in front of her.
Tripping over his own feet, Yan stumbled to her. Silently, Katrine tossed the shovel behind her and, before untying Yan, turned him around so he was facing Henry. The larger cadet was still on the ground but crouched, ready to spring.
Untied and vision restored, Yan regarded Henry with wariness and then stared at his open hands. He appeared unsure of his own strength, or if he had the capability to attack a handicapped teammate.
Katrine moved to Yan's side and reached up to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Yan, you're strong enough to do this. You know, I heard from a vet earlier than whoever wins gets three extra meat rations."
"Really?" An addled grin broke his face. "And you won't go back on what you said?"
Katrine nodded solemnly. "Never. Remember, bad right knee."
Did she always have this planned? Levi wondered, already knowing how it was going to play out.
Yan stepped toward Henry, cautious but steady. He sneaked behind him and pounced, grabbing one arm and forcing the elbow upwards. Henry grunted and tried to swing Yan off of him, but the two fell to the ground when Yan hooked a leg around him. Despite Henry's impressive size, his disadvantage meant there was little he could do against his opponent, and Yan used his other arm to force Henry in a chokehold.
"Great job, Yan!" Katrine picked up the shovel and crept closer to them.
"Hold him down for five and he's disqualified!" Miche shouted.
Henry continued to thrash, but with his arm wrenched behind his back and Yan's foot on his right knee, he had no chance of escaping.
"That's five, Henry Becker is out!" Miche cried with an edge of disappointment. "I bet on him," he said to the other section leaders, sighing.
Yan jumped off Henry and rose to his feet. "I did it—"
Katrine swung the shovel, slamming the flat part of the blade directly into Yan's temple. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
The crowd of Scouts fell silent, a rare feat. Levi could even hear the sounds of the city in the distance. Mouths dropped open wide enough to catch flies. Eld looked dismayed. A few grumbles about cheating floated around. Levi tried not to roll his eyes. People who refused to cheat weren't trying hard enough.
"Well, uh, Cadet Casimir is the victor of this year's Cadet Royale," Miche said. He exchanged looks with the other squad leaders, brow furrowed.
Katrine planted the shovel in the ground and leaned on it, one hand on her hip. "So, what do I win?"
"Okay, if I bring my arm back like this it stops at about a thirty-degree angle from my head. But when I do it to your arm, I can get it to that thirty-degree angle but then I see your shoulder begins to rotate, and then the arm moves past that angle downwards. My shoulder rotates too but my arm won't move past that angle. Fascinating..."
Katrine sat, concentrating on the overgrown grass tickling her calves, as the tall brunette woman who'd introduced herself as Hange moved her outstretched arm back and forth over her head like a lever. Hange had spent the better part of the last hour studying her arms and shoulders, fascinated with their hypermobility.
"But your shoulder structure doesn't seem all that different from mine. When did you notice you could do this?" Hange asked.
"I don't know, it's always been like that." Katrine slouched; the exercise was strangely relaxing. Sure, Hange smelled a little and had gotten her head much too close to Katrine's armpit, but she had the curious energy of a child, and Katrine felt like her well-loved rag doll. Besides, she'd learned that Hange had three towering stacks of books in her office, so Katrine had her pick in return for participating as a test subject.
"You know, only two people bet on you, myself included, so I have more money than I even know what to do with—"
"Hange! Stables!" a voice cried.
"Coming!" Hange released Katrine's arm and ran off, turning back to wave. Katrine waved back and dropped to the ground, brushing the palms of her hands against the warm grass. Closing her eyes, she relished the sunshine on her face and the rustle of leaves in her ears. She could even hear birds singing. Singing! She'd figured the books on them were exaggerating since all she'd seen before were pigeons, but these birds were tiny, colors brilliant as gemstones, with voices warbling like violins.
Outside was beautiful, perfect. It was so detailed, but immense. Even just twenty kilometers outside of Trost, there was so much waiting to be discovered.
Shouting to her right broke the spell, boisterous Scouts yelling orders to each other and complaining about horse manure. Katrine opened her eyes into slits and curled her lip. She couldn't hear the birds anymore, and she groaned and brought the crooks of her elbows up to her eyes.
"We're finally dooone!" Katrine lifted her arms off her face to see Sara ambling toward her sunny patch, Charlotte and Larissa following. Katrine raised one arm to wave. She yawned and stretched, arching her back like a satisfied cat. Sara fell to the ground in a heap besides Katrine with a moan. Charlotte flopped behind her while Larissa swept through the grass for bugs before sitting gingerly.
Katrine had become friends with the three women not of her own volition. She'd entered the Corps with the goal of keeping her head down and mouth shut, but had violated her own rule the second day when she'd thrown hot soup on a recruit who'd decided he had the right to slide his hand down Larissa's long brown hair. After that Larissa, Charlotte, and Sara brought their plates to wherever Katrine was sitting, and who was she to tell them to leave? Besides, their chatter was soothing.
"They said we leave in two hours," Sara said. "Hope we don't see any Titans."
"You're so lucky you didn't get stable duty, Katrine," Larissa said, waving at her nose. "Those horses smell."
"The kitchens aren't any better." Katrine held up her hands. "My fingers look like prunes."
"Section Leader Miche's sniffing is driving me insane, I can't believe I got stuck with him," Charlotte said. She turned to Katrine and Sara. "You guys are lucky you got Section Leader Hanna," she said, raking both hands into her red hair and tugging.
"Just you wait, Charlotte, in a month you'll be sniffing like a dog too!" Sara exclaimed. She and Katrine rolled over, cackling.
Charlotte pointed toward the stables. "Hey, there's the commander." They sat up to look, the tall man easy to spot.
"Now that's what every man should look like." Sara fanned herself with both hands. "What a perfect specimen."
Katrine kicked her. "You're a creep."
"You don't think he's a very tall, very refreshing glass of water?" Larissa said. "I don't think he's married."
"Yeah, but he's always with that short guy," Charlotte said. "Bummer."
"That's Captain Leee-vi, Charlotte, you're so dumb!" Larissa smacked her arm.
"I mean, he's not bad looking," Sara said, finger on her lips.
"Sara, you're a good head taller than him," Larissa said. "And he's scary. Have you seen those eyes? He's seen shit."
"They really are always together," Charlotte said. "What could be so engrossing?"
"Maybe…" Katrine raised a finger. "They're fucking."
Charlotte shrieked so loudly that everyone in the yard, Erwin and Levi included, turned. Larissa pounced on her, covering her mouth with her hand, and Sara waved off the curious and irked stares. Katrine looked away pointedly and fiddled with her braid.
"Katrine, you're going to be the death of me," Charlotte said, wheezing for air. Tears leaked from her eyes.
"She'll be the death of all of us," Sara said, groaning. But Katrine had already laid back down on the grass, eyes closed.
The sole memory that flashed in her mind when Katrine watched Section Leader Hanna's head burst like a grape in the sticky hands of a toddler was that inane conversation on the grass. It felt like years ago, but only three hours later she witnessed a Titan tear Hanna into pieces and indiscriminately choke down some parts and toss others away.
Despite putting three rookies and an inexperienced section leader in what was promised to be a safe position, the pack of five Titans pounced on them with little warning. They'd been late to notice and react to the plumes of red smoke. And now, with their leader dead and surrounded by miles of open space, Katrine, Sara, and Henry urged their horses on faster.
"What are we going to do?" Sara shrieked. Katrine could see in her periphery the tears streaking away from her eyes.
"Keep running, we can't win against five!" Henry shouted.
"But they're gaining!" Sara looked back, biting down hard on her lip. She scraped tawny curls out of her eyes and left a bloody scratch on her forehead.
No, this isn't happening, I'm not dying with the rest of them as a headless corpse that no one will recognize. Katrine looked back at the Titans stomping after them, drool streaking from their cavernous mouths, and grit her teeth. No, she was going to die a wrinkled old lady, and for that matter, die basking in the sun in some paradise where it was warm and bright every day.
A new thought shoved away the irony of watching a veteran Scout be eaten only hours after she had laughed about something as ludicrous as attractive superiors. In training, the instructors always stressed going for the nape, because that killed a Titan. But instead of going for an all-or-nothing shot, couldn't one could cripple the Titan first and have relatively safer and more numerous opportunities to go for the kill? The eyes were soft and vulnerable, while the nape was protected by tough skin. Hypothetically the eyes could be cut first, and then there would be more time to slice the nape. Instructor Shadis had screamed that it was a waste of energy and gas, but really, what did he know? And besides, he'd admitted she could defy gravity.
"I have an idea!" Katrine shouted. "But you have to do what I say, and if you don't then we're all screwed!"
"What?" Henry shouted back.
"I'm not strong enough to get good cuts on their napes, but you two are. But I'm fast enough to cut their eyes. That'll make them easier targets."
"Why bother? That can't kill them! We should just keep running."
"It'll cripple them enough for you two to kill them!" Katrine dug her knees into her horse's ribs, praying for it to run faster and give her enough time to convince Henry. "And they're going to catch up sooner or later."
"That's stupid! Why don't we all just go for the napes?"
"Because you're the strongest out of our class! We need to make things easy for you to go in and kill them! Besides, if you go for one, another could see you and eat you and then we'll all be dead!"
Henry grunted, hunching forward, possibly accepting the idea. But then his brow furrowed and he whipped his head toward her. "We're in open space, there's nothing for the ODM to hold!"
"The Titans! First, the feet where it's harder to grab you, and then go up to the nape when they're blinded!"
"That's insane! That's like walking into their mouths!"
"They'll be blind! They'll be focused on the pain!"
He looked back at the Titans and shook his head. "You might be fast, Katrine, but I don't know if you're that fast."
"What, you have a better idea?" she snapped.
"Why should I trust you after what you pulled at the Royale?"
"You don't need to trust me, you just need to do what I say! I'll call out which ones I'll blind and then you go for the nape!"
"How are you so sure it's going to—"
The sudden crunch of a Titan's foot slamming into a group of trees caused him to flinch. Still gripping his reins, he threw up his hands in surrender and nodded. Katrine turned to Sara. She was still crying, but violently swiped at the tears.
"You can do it, Sara! Seriously! You were always way better than me in the training exercises. And I'm not letting you die without at least one kill to your name."
"B-but I scored a four—"
"Don't give me that bullshit, there's no logic to those scores! If you think I want anyone else with me, right here, then you are sorely mistaken!" Katrine tried to keep her voice even so she wouldn't reveal her own fear. But if these Titans had the gall to chase them, she wouldn't roll over for them to step on her.
Sara dropped her hand, revealing a pale, scared face. But there was a hint of steel in her gaze.
More, a little more. "I mean it, Sara!"
She clenched her jaw and nodded.
Katrine dropped her reins and lifted her feet to the saddle, turning herself back toward the Titans. She watched their legs barreling toward her, measuring their pace; they slammed into the ground with enough force to crush a house but moved at a regular tempo. When running at top speed, they didn't have the ability to change direction easily. As she analyzed them for the best option, she grabbed her braid and coiled it once around her neck, tucking the end into the back of her jacket. Her target was a sturdy-looking ten-meter. Aim, grapple, hit the gas.
In seconds she was at its leg but had picked the next Titan even earlier and torpedoed herself toward it, using her cables and just a bit of gas to swing in a wide arc to gain momentum. Not too much, conserve it. The Titans continued running after Sara and Henry, but also realized she had infiltrated their ranks and began to shift apart, stumbling at the interruption. She swung between them, aware of shifting legs but low enough to the ground to avoid grabby hands.
When the momentum grew so strong that the wind seared her eyes, it was time. She grappled to one Titan's ankle but instead of pointing her toes parallel to the ground, she directed them upwards. Releasing the grapple, she shot into the sky, trees and Titans falling beneath her until she was higher than they could reach, too high for anyone to seize her. The air was thin, clear, and quiet. The Titans kept running but seemed unable to raise their heads to look up at her, probably unused to using those muscles.
Gravity licked at her feet and as she drew her knees to her chest, analyzing the Titans' positions, and picked one close to Henry and Sara.
"Blonde! Seven-meter!" Katrine screamed as loudly as she could, expelling all the air in her lungs. Sucking in one huge breath, she pointed herself downward toward the Titan she'd picked and punctured its left shoulder with her grapple. Drawing her sword, she swung into its face and dragged her blade through the blue gelatinous eyes nearly as wide as she was tall.
Just as she released her grapples and flew back into the air the Titan crashed to the ground, roaring and clawing its face. Despite the shallow wound and the exertion burning in her arms, it worked. A smile forcing its way onto her face, Katrine arced toward another Titan.
"Bald, six-meter!" She grappled into its temple and slashed its eyes.
As it fell, she pointed herself upwards to repeat the process, deciding which Titan to attack next and where to go. Soaring, she watched Sara and Henry jump off their horses and grapple onto the fallen Titan, barely noticing them in its agony, and sliced its nape. It toppled, steaming.
For a brief triumphant moment she imagined that if she saw Shadis again, she would laugh in his face. Mr. Kaiser, too, for whenever he said she was slow and heavy as a cow.
Katrine aimed for the next Titan hurtling toward Sara and Henry and after blinding it, she swung to the fourth Titan. Her grapple shot ahead, but instead of puncturing the Titan's ear, it wobbled into thin air.
Shit! Just as she moved to retract it the Titan pinched the cable with a curious expression, thread in its massive fingers. A sickening tremor vibrated to her hip and throughout her body. The dream of dying old and wrinkled in some foreign land suddenly felt far away.
Without hesitation, Katrine severed the cable to free herself and hurtled over the Titan's head into the open air. Only one cable was better than being eaten. She whipped her head around, searching for that final Titan and something to attach onto before she slammed into the ground. A wet slash and the groan of a Titan forced her to turn back. Henry had grappled onto the fourth Titan while it was distracted and killed it.
"Henry, you are perfect!" she screamed, louder than the air whistling past her ears.
Henry raised his sword in victory, Titan blood steaming on his face. Behind him, Sara jumped off the corpse and pointed to the final Titan. "There, Katrine!"
The Titan was small, only four meters, one she'd purposely avoided because its small stature would make it difficult to use for momentum. However, Katrine was moving away from it and needed to turn herself around. Frantically she scanned the ground for anything to hold and found only one disappointingly thin tree.
Please hold, please hold, please hold—
Katrine shot her single grapple into the tree and swung herself around it, changing direction. The trunk bent into an unnatural curve, but it held. Streaking through the air, Katrine flew toward the smaller Titan and slit its eyes. Henry and Sara followed to finish it off.
Katrine flipped herself around and pointed her gas into her trajectory, creating resistance to slow down. She grappled onto a Titan corpse and continued to reduce speed until she hit the ground safely. The three cadets regrouped and gaped, heaving, at the five Titan corpses surrounding them. The steam and stench of blood were overwhelming, but they were alive. They'd won.
"We did it! Us, a bunch of greens! Ha!" Henry could barely breathe, both panting and laughing.
Katrine couldn't stop herself from jumping in glee. "I know! You two were brilliant!"
"Come on, we need to find the horses," Sara said, still anxious, but relief was evident in her voice.
They sprinted from the steaming corpses, Sara whistling for the horses.
"That was all you, Katrine," Henry said, clapping a hand on her shoulder.
"No, you were the ones that killed them." Katrine shook her head. She was so full of adrenaline that she wasn't even bothered by his touch.
"But it was your idea—"
Sara shrieked. "They came back! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She ran toward her brown horse and hugged its neck like she'd never been so glad to see another living creature.
Katrine mounted her own horse and pointed toward the remnants of green smoke in the sky. "Look, we need to get over there. But there might be more."
They galloped toward the smoke. Katrine anticipated more Titans, but was almost unafraid — back there, she'd felt invincible. Scanning the horizon, she rose in her saddle when she saw someone on a horse, brown hair streaming behind her. A ten-meter Titan chased her. "Is that…?"
"Larissa! Hey! Over here!" Sara shouted, waving frantically at their friend.
"No, stop! They'll come over here!" Henry said.
"We can't leave her to die!" Sara turned to Katrine, pleading. "Katrine, tell him! We have to help her!"
But Katrine was paralyzed, watching Larissa gallop away from the encroaching Titan. It was hopeless, wasn't it? The Titan was going to catch up to her faster than they could, and then they'd have jumped right back into danger. No, they needed to stay.
She'll die, and it'll be all your fault. You could have done something, and you didn't, because everyone you touch is doomed. Like before.
Her chest tightened.
It's useless, she's going to get eaten—
No, you're just a coward.
"Katrine!" Sara shrieked.
Katrine snapped back to attention. The Titan held Larissa's limp body and dangled her over its mouth. Her blood turned from icy to searing hot and prickling, full of fear and rage, mostly toward herself.
Suddenly a vivid green flash barreled into the Titan, streaking metal and blood. The Titan released a high-pitched screech, boring deep into Katrine's bones. It arched backward and raised its open hands to the sky as if lamenting its fate. Larissa's broken body tumbled to the ground and the Scout landed next to her and crouched over her as the Titan collapsed behind them.
Katrine gasped, the air tearing her lungs, not allowing herself to hope.
"It's Captain Levi, we're going to live!" Henry nudged his horse and galloped away. Katrine and Sara followed.
When they reached the fallen Titan, Levi emerged from the steam, covered in blood that was not his own. The way he walked told Katrine immediately that Larissa was dead. She only stared at the open-mouthed Titan, avoiding both Larissa's corpse and Sara's face.
"Where's your squad leader?" he asked.
"She's dead," Henry answered.
Levi nodded with no sign of shock and turned to search the sky for green smoke. He pointed to a pale green cloud floating to the east. "That way. Come on," he said, mounting his horse and wiping blood off his cloak. Suddenly he stiffened, and turned back to the three cadets, scowling as if the blood had seeped through his skin.
"Wait. If you all came from back there…" He trailed off, and his eyes narrowed. "Which one of you idiots decided that becoming a human slingshot was a good idea?"
The door to Erwin's office swung open and Henry walked out, steps deliberate as if he expected the floor to give out from under him. Katrine and Sara looked up, and Henry nodded to Sara. After turning wide-eyed to Katrine for a nod of support, she hoisted herself off the floor and walked into the office, closing the door behind her.
It had been two hours since the Scouts had made it back to the cramped fortress thirty kilometers from Trost with "minor" casualties. Katrine had bitten her tongue at the word.
"What did they say?" she hissed as Henry slid to the floor next to her. The hallway was otherwise silent.
"The expedition. They want to know how three recruits killed five Titans without a veteran," he whispered.
Katrine threw up her hands. "Why do they care? We killed them, we did our job."
"They said the method was 'unorthodox.'"
"Why does it matter?"
Henry shook his head. "I don't know. I told them it was your idea."
Katrine could have choked him. "Henry! You two killed five Titans! I just distracted them."
"I'm not going to lie to the Commander! Why are you so upset about this?"
"I don't want the attention! I don't want them looking at me!"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Then they're going to be watching me! Haven't you heard of keeping your head down?" She was raising her voice. Placing cold palms on her cheeks did little to calm her.
"I really don't see what the problem is, Katrine."
"Of course you don't." She folded her arms and purposely fixed her eyes on the office door.
The two sat in silence. Katrine strained her ears to pick up the conversation inside but only heard muffled cadences. Anxiety swelled in her stomach and she wrapped her braid around her neck, twisting it tighter until she could chew at the end of it. Who'd have thought the Scouts never tried blinding a Titan first? It's so obvious!
The door creaked open and Sara appeared, dazed, and locked puffy eyes with Katrine's. Setting her jaw, she slowly rose to her feet, muscles tensing and twitching. She dug her nails into her palms and stepped into the room, turning to close the door with as much precision as she could. Anything too quiet or too loud would show she was afraid.
Fixing her gaze on the Commander seated at his desk, Katrine counted the occupants. Four men, one woman. Bad odds. She left her hands at her sides and lowered her chin, waiting for Erwin to speak.
"Katrine, thank you for joining us. Please, sit." Erwin motioned to the chair in front of him. He had the same look on his face as before, calm and serious.
Katrine eyed the chair for a second and walked to it with a measured pace. She sat as if she were expecting a thumbtack on it.
"Cadet! You salute the Commander when addressed!" Miche said, standing behind Erwin.
Katrine smacked her right fist to her chest. "Sorry! Still new at this," she said to Erwin with a sheepish smile. His expression didn't change, though Miche scowled.
"I expect you know the reason I've summoned you here, correct?" Erwin asked.
"Yes." The smile dropped from her face.
"Please explain to me, in your own words, what happened."
"Okay, so Hanna died because we were stupid and not paying enough attention, and she tried to protect us, which to be completely honest she did not have to do, because she's way more useful than the three of us combined," Katrine rambled. "Anyway, we had five Titans chasing us, and we thought that if someone blinded the Titans first, then it'd be easier to kill them."
"Who came up with that idea?"
"Uh, Henry. Yeah, there's a reason why he was number two."
Erwin narrowed his eyes slightly, but enough for her to notice. "Katrine, both Henry and Sara said it was your idea."
"You know, it was more of a team effort." Katrine tugged at the braid still coiled around her neck. A tiny speck of crimson stained the edge of it.
"Well, then, what made you think to throw yourself thirty meters in the air?"
"To cut the Titans' eyes."
"How so?"
Katrine frowned. The man was asking far too many questions. She decided to change her tactic. "That high you gain a lot of speed going down, which gives you more force." She motioned in the air with her hands. "If you have enough force, even someone like me who's not particularly strong can do some damage. Though I didn't think I'd be able to cut deep enough in the napes, so I thought, obviously, the eyes were the safer option." She shot her hands straight up, fingers spread, mimicking a bright idea. "And Henry and Sara are much stronger than me so I wanted to give them as much breathing room as possible. So, to begin you have to—"
"How'd you know it would work?"
Okay, he's this kind of asshole. "I...didn't."
The dark-haired man at the corner of the room shifted, the floorboards creaking beneath him. She refused to let her eyes dart away from Erwin's gaze.
"I'm curious, though," Weber said, from a chair behind Katrine. "How much gas did you end up using?"
"A third."
"Shit! That's incredible. How'd you manage that?"
"Er...no offense, but you seem inefficient with the gas usage."
"So then, Katrine, what are your suggestions for improving gas conservancy?" Erwin asked. His mouth was a straight line but something in his eye hinted that he was amused.
Time to pull a page out of Mr. Kaiser's well-worn playbook. "If you point your toes, you can go anywhere."
Miche stepped forward, but Weber chuckled. Erwin held a hand up to stop him. "Doing that all on open ground is impressive, though. Veterans even have a hard time with that."
Section Leader Engel stood from where she sat at the window, her tall frame casting a long shadow. "Scouts do go for Titans' eyes, though your method is certainly new. And I don't think we've ever used it as a preventative measure." She rubbed her wrist thoughtfully. "It's an interesting strategy."
Erwin leaned back in his chair. "It certainly is."
This was going horribly wrong. She'd let her ego get the better of her when her strategy should have been to stay meek and quiet.
"It's a stupid idea, Erwin, and if you let anyone depend on this they'll get killed," the man in the corner said, flat voice cleaving the goodwill.
"Point taken, Levi," Erwin said.
Humanity's Greatest himself, hiding in a corner like some hideous spider. Even if the rumors of his strength weren't overblown, as she'd witnessed earlier, they really weren't kidding about his height. Why was he wary of a measly recruit?
"He seems to know what he's talking about." She didn't turn to address him directly.
"If you have to cut a cable to keep going, it's a shit strategy."
"Please forgive my ignorance, but isn't that why we have two?"
The floorboards creaked again, indicating he'd shifted forward, but Erwin shot him a tired look and there was an irritated sigh as he leaned back against the wall. However, she could feel his eyes drilling into the back of her skull.
"So, you wouldn't do this again?" Erwin asked.
"What I'm going to do is stay far away from Titans."
Weber barked a laugh. "Good luck with that!"
"Well, since Hanna is no longer with us, I'm going to be taking you, Sara, and Henry," Engel said. "And personally I'm pretty interested in how this works. I'm excited to work with you, Katrine." She smiled.
Katrine didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.
"I think that's all we need from you. You are dismissed." Erwin rose from his chair. Katrine stood too, unsure of what he was thinking. He looked like he had his mind on whatever was next on his list, but he wouldn't forget this.
Katrine saluted him this time, deciding not to add another demerit to the list, and pivoted on one heel and stalked toward the door. But before her hand caught the doorknob a cold gaze scraped her skin and she looked at Levi slouched in the corner, arms crossed. Before she could prevent her eyes from narrowing and lips parting, Katrine realized she recognized him.
While the rest of the Scouts devoured their dinners in the mess hall, Katrine hid in her bunk, the top one in the corner of the women's barracks, avoiding both her punishment of washing dishes for "speaking to the Commander without the proper amount of respect" and Sara's bloodshot eyes. Footsteps echoed beneath her but she remained curled in a ball under her quilt.
"Katrine? Are you awake?" It was Charlotte.
"Don't bother her, she's asleep." It was Sara's voice, strained like it took her a massive amount of effort to choke out the words.
The back of Katrine's throat tightened. She wanted to be by herself, but she'd feel even worse if she left the two of them abandoned and alone. "I'm awake. Why aren't you eating with the rest of them?" She poked her head out of her cocoon.
Sara stared out the window at the inky sky. "I can't," she muttered. Charlotte put a hand on Sara's shoulder, but she too looked ashen.
"Sara, it wasn't your fault Larissa died," Katrine said.
Sara sniffled. Tears beaded at her eyes.
"Think about it, if even Levi didn't get to her in time, then no one would."
Sara closed her eyes and gulped, a shudder running down her body, but she nodded. Resolve hardened in her green eyes.
"Can we come up?" Charlotte asked.
I don't want to talk about it. But she shifted toward the headboard and the women climbed up.
"Charlotte and I were talking earlier, and I...I feel so guilty that I wasn't looking out for Larissa. I should have seen her earlier. I should have known." Sara sounded like she wanted to whip herself with her own words.
"But how could you? She was in a different group," Katrine said.
She shook her head, hugging her knees to her chest. "I should have." The three fell silent, not meeting each other's eyes.
"Katrine, do you remember after the winter training I was so hungry I stole two loaves of bread?" Charlotte asked, a distant smile on her face. "And when Instructor Voth noticed it was gone you said you'd stolen it, and he made you chop wood outside for hours?"
"Of course I remember, it was freezing!"
Charlotte laughed, but her face turned blotchy. "You never told me why you did that."
Katrine shrugged. "I got in trouble for so much, one more thing didn't really matter."
"But you always looked out for us. And we weren't looking out for Larissa. That's why she died," Sara said. They were quiet again. Katrine fingered her threadbare blanket.
Suddenly Sara shot forward, landing on her hands and knees inches away from Katrine's face. "We have to promise each other! That we're going to look out for each other, no matter what happens here! I don't want to end up like the veterans who sit alone because all their friends are dead."
Charlotte nodded. "We're going to live, all of us, and in twenty years we can scare the recruits with horror stories. Who knows, maybe things will be better then. Besides, Katrine, you always kept an eye out for us, so we're going to do the same."
"But that—"
"No! Don't brush it off like you always do!" Sara's quick breaths brushed Katrine's cheek.
But I didn't mean to be looking out for you. That wasn't the point. Katrine grit her teeth, struggling to figure out what to say. "Look, we don't have to swear on it or anything, I—"
Sara snatched Katrine's hand. Her palm was clammy. "I'm going to make sure you live," she said, wide-eyed stare boring into her so deeply that Katrine was afraid she could read her thoughts. Katrine leaned back and looked down, but Sara turned away and gave the same look to Charlotte. Charlotte bowed her head and took Katrine's other hand and Sara's into her own.
"But..." Katrine began, but her voice faded when she met their gazes. In their eyes she saw terror, anxiety, and a desperate need for safety. I can't do this again. But she said the words. "I'll make sure you live, too."
Sara smiled, relieved. "I feel so much better," she said, flopping onto her side. "But I'm so tired!" She yawned and threw Katrine's blanket over herself.
"Me too," Charlotte said, moving up to Katrine's pillow and taking the other half of the blanket. She touched Katrine's shoulder lightly. "Thank you," she said and closed her eyes.
Katrine lay between them, hours marching by, through the end of dinner and free time and when the other female Scouts came in for bed, filling the room with chatter. Don't make promises you can't keep, telling people what to do like you're the expert on keeping people alive. She tried to distract herself by listing every plant she could think of, down the alphabet, but her thoughts kept trailing back to her cowardice, Larissa's death, and the vow she shouldn't have made.
When the moon was high above her window and she was certain the other Scouts were asleep, Katrine rose and slowly climbed out of her bunk, careful not to wake Sara and Charlotte. On the floor, she found her pack and in the weak moonlight, she searched for and found the shoes. She was out of the barracks in seconds, soundless across the wooden floors, and flew out the back door into the darkness.
Levi sat outside, night air chilling his lungs, because that girl's face refused to leave his mind. He'd known as he shot toward her that the recruit was a goner, that he wouldn't get there in time to do anything, but he'd tried anyway. He always did because maybe, that one time, his judgment could be off.
However, moving the Scouts thirty kilometers to Hast Fortress with minor casualties, especially with twenty new recruits, was a relief. Erwin's long-distance scouting formation had worked out its kinks and was beginning to run smoothly with regularity. When his squad at the front had encountered Titans, they'd avoided most and cut through others easily, but the one recruit that had been separated from her group hadn't been so lucky. An understandable mistake, but fatal. Though it was pointless, guilt gnawed at him the nights after those mistakes happened.
After the expedition, though, Levi was certain that the blonde cadet was completely deranged. Katrine, he remembered. Sure, her victory at the Royale had been entertaining, but in no way indicative of skill, and the way she'd flung herself in the air depending on a half-baked idea was insane. All three of those recruits should be grateful they weren't killed.
And Katrine wasn't grateful she lived. No, she was irritated that her self-proclaimed genius was questioned and unwilling to cooperate with Erwin. He'd considered stepping forward and kicking her in the back of the head after she'd given a snide explanation, but Erwin was curious for some reason, so he'd stayed back.
In spite of the sour taste she left in his mouth, when he found himself not thinking about the dead cadet's broken back, he saw Katrine suspended in the air, knees to her chest and bent arms floating, as if she could put one foot down and stand on the wind.
"On the 99th Corps' final exam, there was a part where they measured how far the Cadets could get through Klippe Pass on only one tank of gas. She made it the whole way with gas to spare, and no one else even made it halfway," Engel had told them in Erwin's office.
"Damn! That's at least ten kilometers!" Weber exclaimed.
Levi had no idea what they were talking about since he'd never done the training. Most of them seemed to forget that.
Despite its uniqueness, her method was still crazy. If she didn't shoot herself straight into a Titan's mouth, she'd crash so hard it'd look like one spat her out.
Levi rose to his feet and stepped off the porch onto the grass. He walked into the trees, crunching softly through the already dewy grass. It was still hot in the daytime but it was turning to that time of year when the nights grew cooler and darkness fell a little earlier. He preferred the cold air because it smelled cleaner, crisper, but he ventured outside at night in any temperature.
He stopped, enveloped by trees, the rustling leaves whispering in his ears. Dropping his head back he gazed at the sky, an inky black pricked with light, surrounding a half-full moon. Levi always made sure to take in the stars whenever the Scouts went on an expedition because it was harder to see how brilliant they were in the cities where other lights competed. He needed to get as much of it as he could, to make up for lost time, and because he knew so many people who'd died without ever seeing it.
Levi shifted suddenly, eyes narrowing. An unnatural noise came from his left, over by the training grounds, one previously disguised by the wind but now an obvious imposter. He crept through the trees until they opened into the clearing. Should've brought my gear. Lazy. The hair on the back of his neck rose when he saw a white flash and his hand shifted to the knife at his thigh.
The movement stopped and he froze, thinking whatever it was had seen him, and he dropped to the ground, peering behind a trunk, looking out at the wooden platform normally used for sparring matches.
It was her, the one from before. Katrine.
She stood motionless, with both arms high above her and wrists bent as if the weight of her hands were too much to bear. Somehow she was balanced on the tips of her toes, encased in glossy satin shoes, the slightest gust of wind enough to knock her over. Levi couldn't even tell if her chest was moving. Bathed in the weak moonlight, dressed in something white and drapey, she looked like one of the marble statues he saw outside of churches, mournful women staring at the horizon for eternity.
Katrine looked to the sky, too, eyes wide and lips slightly parted. She looked like she was peering at the moon through her fingers, almost hiding her face from it, shy. Here she was distant, dreamy, completely unlike before where she had narrowed, suspicious eyes and tense shoulders. The only reason he knew for certain she wasn't one of those statutes was the harsh slash of red at her mouth.
Suddenly she sprang away, one leg extended straight in front of her, like a doe when she noticed the Scouts' horses. She landed on the point of one foot, then the other, and her arms descended to her sides, straight out, muscles taut between her shoulders. They looked like wings, and despite her small frame, they seemed like those from a hawk, powerful and sweeping.
Katrine spun, twice, three times, one foot drifting behind the other, to some rhythm he couldn't hear or even imagine, punctuated by the scrape of her shoes and her small sharp breaths.
Levi could count all the beautiful things he'd seen on one hand, and none of those were humans. The fragrance of a good cup of tea, the sun rising over fields of snow. Not people. People were mostly incapable of doing anything beautiful because the things that benefitted them were ugly.
This, though, was unlike anything he'd ever seen or even considered someone could do. She was weightless, dancing on air, with such precision that no movement was wasted. And then it all made sense, and he could see how she'd cut through five Titans without so much as a scratch. Because while everyone else just used ODM gear to get themselves from one surface to another, Katrine used it to fly.
People liked to say that he could use the ODM to fly, but Levi didn't agree with them. He was too violent, an unstoppable bullet screaming through the air. Flying meant that you floated, gazing at the silent world beneath you, considering if it was even worth it to come back down. That was what he'd seen her do, craning his neck from the ground, covered in Titan blood.
Katrine lunged forward, shifting from delicate to forceful, and took a few quick steps. She leaped into the air, head back, one leg curled behind her. She landed on one foot without looking at the ground, arms no longer mimicking flight but protecting her chest. Her expression had changed from dazed to determined, though there was also a hint of unease, something frenzied that her feet betrayed.
Balanced on the same toe, she lifted her other leg into the air, impossibly straight, arms extended into wings again. But she tipped too far forward, tempting gravity, and collapsed out of the position onto her knees.
"Shit!"
The spell was broken. All the air in Levi's lungs rushed out at once, too loud, and he slapped a hand to his mouth. He'd tensed his muscles for however long he'd been there, he had no idea, and it felt like every one of them was vibrating.
Katrine didn't notice; she bent over her legs and slapped her thighs, huffing. She rose to her feet and peered down at the place where she'd fallen, tapped one shoe on the floor, and tested her weight on one pointed toe. She extended her leg up, searched for balance, but dropped to her feet again. A pensive noise escaped her throat and she rested both hands on her head. He'd seen that same annoyed expression from before in Erwin's office.
Katrine walked back to the center of the platform and rose to her toes. She lifted both hands again, shielding herself from the moon. The muscles in her face slackened and the spellbound look returned.
Levi remained, still crouched behind a tree, captivated. He understood now, how she not only survived the Titans but defied them, though not why she felt the need to deny it.