-๑-๑ ஜ ๑- Chapter 17: Protect -๑ ஜ ๑-๑-
Fast and disturbingly loud, at least to Shizuo´s ears, they dashed through the wood. Trees and bushes, dozen over dozens were rushing past their sight as the horse sped towards the wall.
So far there had been no titans in sight, or at least Shizuo hadn't seen them yet- the horse wasn't exactly quiet, it´s hooves trampling all too loudly against the ground it had to be heard from quite a distance- that was at least what the blond felt like and yet it wasn't what was disturbing him the most.
They were fast, if they continued like this they would reach the wall within an hour or maybe less- but-
This- was absolute torture for the flea. Shizuo didn't need to be a genius to notice just how quiet the raven had fallen, how quick and choked those gasps for air sounded and just how weak, weaker and weaker the grip he had on his shoulders grew by every minute that passed.
And he had no idea just how right he was.
Izaya felt so bad-
His eyes almost closed everytime that horse moved, making pain shoot through his entire body like a couple of knives that pierced him over, and over, and over again.
He felt so bad, so bad.
Only barely the raven was clinging to consciousness, drifting in and out his eyes closed only to open again a second later before another wave of pain crashed into him.
Passing out would be the most gentle option and yet he had to force his body to stay awake- if he lost it now then who knew if he would live to ever open his eyes again.
Not yet.
Not until they at least reached the wall.
He had to hold on. He had to- with all his strength- and yet he was just so frustrated, feeling his hands slip, his grasp weaken so much more he almost felt like crying out of his sheer lack of control over his body. He felt as though his body was already dying.
It was then that a hand slipped over his own, grasping the useless piece of flesh it had become.
"Hey, Izaya-" Shizu-chan suddenly said, causing the raven´s eyes he didn't notice he had closed spring open again.
"What?" eyes reflecting nothing but worry were looking at him, those brows again furrowed in the way too familiar way by now.
"I have been calling you three times," the blond announced. The sentence could be misunderstood as one of annoyance, but no it sounded way too careful and gentle to be of such a simple nature.
"Ah, you have?" Izaya mumbled, seemingly not caring about the slip up, but for a sole second the thought that he had already missed something this simple was scaring him shitless.
The soft click of a tongue followed as the blond turned his head around again now facing the direction they were heading into.
He could see it.
From afar.
So far Izaya and him were still riding within the relatively save woods, but up ahead was that enormous field that promised nothing but freely roaming titan´s and no woods or bushes to hide in.
They would spot them. The titans, Shizuo was almost positive they would. He would have to ride faster, as fast as possible to try and get to the wall before the titans got them, but imagining the possibility of Izaya passing out on their way and possibly falling of the horse-
They would have no chance. Not like this.
It was then that a soft sound coming from the raven on his back snapped the blond out of his thoughts.
"What?" he repeated softly, wondering if maybe the flea had just groaned in pain, but apparently that was not it.
Izaya's eyes had travelled to the right, he was looking into the wood, his brows furrowed just a bit.
"Stop-" he managed to get out- Shizuo´s glance flea to the right, scanning the area, thinking that maybe the flea had seen a titan-
But it seemed that was not the case.
It was quiet, still just as quiet as before.
Nevertheless he did as he was told because if he had learned one thing by now then that it was wiser to listen to what the flea had to say. Especially outside the walls.
If their whole troup had done so before they wouldn't even have ended up here in the first place.
Pulling at the ropes arranged around the horse's neck he got the animal to stop. Slowly it walked a step, two, seemingly just as agitated as the blond was.
Shizuo´s head was still turned towards their right side, trying to find out just what it was that the flea had seen. And now he did-
Just for a second he caught a glimpse.
A glimpse of a person.
But not a titan, not some kind of monster, but a human.
"Isn't that-" the words got stuck in his throat as he moved his horse into the direction of the human. A human that looked strikingly like one the newbies. He had seen them.
They hadn't been part of the set of recruits that Shizuo had partaken in, they were the new ones, the ones that were going to be trained after them.
… and probably the ones that were going to be sent out to the next mission of the survey corps.
He had seen her before.
Yes, her.
It was a girl. Black short hair and a pair of glasses resting on her nose made it pretty simply for the blond to distinguish her from all the others. She had been hanging around with her friends, some blond guy and another raven haired one.
"Sunohara Anri," the raven on his back suddenly spoke, filing the blank space in the blond´s mind with a name. "Let's follow her."
Whipping around, disbelief painted itself across the blond´s features as he looked at the flea bewildered.
"But you are-" Tight. Izaya's eyes pressed together and his hands dug into Shizuo´s shoulders as he shook his head.
"Shizu-chan I'm flattered you care this much about me," the raven heaved, "but if that woman is assembling some titans to blow wall Rose we won't have a save wall left to return to."
Silence.
The frown on Shizuo´s forehead grew only deeper as he tried to make sense of what the raven was saying.
"Assemble-"
"She is all alone," Izaya sighed with grit teeth, "not even wearing a gear what do you think she is doing here?" He was right.
Shizuo knew Izaya was right.
No matter what exactly this situation was about there was definitely something fishy about this girl. And looking at her the blond saw it now as well- the fact that she wasn't carrying any maneuver gear or titan blades was too obvious to be overlooked.
A small girl like her outside the wall like this-
"I get it," the blond mumbled gruff, and with those words he smoothly slipped off the horse- all while keeping a good grip on the flea that was sliding off all the same.
Sure he could have just used the horse to get to the girl, but seeing as it was creating way too much noise and the two of them were trying to find out just what the girl was doing as quietly and undiscovered as possible, it was wiser to leave it here.
Feeling the raven's breath against his neck Shizuo advanced.
The girl had disappeared out of his sight but he had seen what direction she had been heading into.
Step by step the two made their way forward, bushes were passed, trees as well until he caught another glimpse of her.
She was just standing there.
In front of a tree.
And suddenly she turned.
Turned around and looked right towards them.
"You-" was the only word leaving her lips as her eyes widened for the fraction of a second. There was no mistake that she recognized either the flea on his back or Shizuo himself as her voice faded out.
Not a single sound was reaching their ears- it was as though time had come to a standstill. It was unsettling to say the least. Especially considering they were in the midst of a place that was usually filled with nothing but titans roaming around and trying to eat their comrades.
Yes- titans, they were always filling these woods and they were damned because right now they were doing so as well.
Shizuo felt the flea´s weigh shift on his shoulders as the raven turned with a gasp and time seemed to slow down. Shizuo didn't even need to turn around to know that one of these monsters had sneaked up on them from behind.
His heart stopped for a second and his mind went crazy as he tried to think of an option, of a way to escape, together with the flea and without any horse or any other means of transportation that could possibly get them away from the titan fast enough. Of course there was none but in that one single instant of turning around all these possibilities just shot through his head.
He could already see it, anticipate the pictures, the crimson liquid splattering to the ground that was their blood once that titan realized food was presenting itself in front of him. But nothing of that sort happened. No- instead the blond found something rushing past his sight.
A form, huge, threatening and yet not aiming for them.
There was one more titan, coming from the direction the girl had been standing in-
Shizuo didn't know whether the titan was heading for him or not, but fact was that this second titan sent the first one tumbling across the clearing.
"I knew it." Body tense and mind pretty much stumbling in confusion the blond heard the flea speak those words, couldn't quite decipher them though. The titan, the one that had come from the girls direction, was now kneeling on the ground, its attention still on the titan it had sent flying to the ground and the blond turned his head in order to find the girl, to look for her because that small girl couldn't possibly survive alone out here. Except, she wasn't there anymore.
No girl in sight the two were alone with a new titan- a titan with black short hair and- … … wait. "there have already been rumors going around, on missions, things that the recruiters saw or thought to have seen," Izaya suddenly announced as the puzzle pieces started to put themselves together in Shizuo´s mind. That titan, looking so damn familiar to the girl he just saw- no way.
Slowly, threateningly slow the female titan rose off the ground, her glance aimed towards the two.
It was her. No mistake. The titan in front of them, a female titan wearing black short hair- this familiarity.
The initial monster that had been forced to the ground was dead. Crushed beneath the weight of this female and much bigger titan. And suddenly these eyes, these horrifying eyes were resting on Shizuo. And Shizuo felt as though he as being taken back to a time he would have rather forgotten.
That day- when the titans breached the wall- the day he had to watch his brother getting caught by one of these monsters.
That day- and those eyes. Gigantic eyes resting on no one but him.
There was a sound, so sharp, so loud, so hurtful tearing the blond´s skull as he couldn't turn his eyes away.
And suddenly the titan's hand was reaching for Izaya and Shizuo- and Shizuo´s blood just froze right then and there.
With a whelp Izaya suddenly felt the blond´s grip loosen on his body and the belt become detached as he tumbled to the ground. A sharp pain shot through his body and momentarily he wasn't able to see anything but black. He knew he had dropped to the ground, but he had no idea why nor what was going on. Opening his eyes again he saw what was happening though-
Shizu-chan. His expression was unlike anything the raven had seen so far and with the last of his broken blades he was rushing right for that titan. It didn't take the raven a second to know what the blond was trying to do- he wanted to take her down.
Instinctively the raven tried to move, his body was urging to get up, to get over and help to beat that titan because fear- nothing but fear was ruling his body at that moment. Seeing this monster close up without any means of escape or weapon to defend himself. And yet his body all too gladly reminded him of the bitter fact of just how damn damaged it already was. Hands giving out beneath something as simple as his own weight the raven found himself flat on the ground, breathing heavily, the wound in his side pounding in a way that made him feel like he was about to lose consciousness- and his legs-
He couldn't even walk-
A groan caused the raven´s eyes to snap towards the scene in front of him- Shizuo seemed to have cut one of the titan´s arms- but the woman didn't even flinch, didn't even shrug- he slayed away at her again, but from this down below, so far away from the titan's neck there was no way Shizuo was going to be able to kill her.
And suddenly there was a shadow.
Eyes covered by darkness Shizuo's gaze widened as he choked on air.
She was reaching for Izaya.-
His heart stopped- almost in slow motion he turned.
She was reaching for him.
He ran-
Her hand above Izaya.
Blades clattered to the ground.
Approaching.
A roar was on Shizuo´s lips.
Izaya.
"STOP!"
A sound so loud Izaya thought his ears were going to tear apart suddenly filled the air and he squeezed his eyes shut in response as the fingers of a titan closed around his damaged frame. Holding his breath the raven tensed, prepared himself- sure to have his guts squeezed out and his bones crushed beyond repair.
Except-
That was not what happened.
Darkness had enveloped the raven, and it took him a second to realize that the hand had surrounded him, but not killed.
He was not dead.
Eyes springing back open light filled the scenery once more- and he was facing the female titan.
…
A titan that was standing on front of him.
One arm on the ground- … wait on the-
Eyes darting downwards and back up the raven had to realize that the titan´s arm had been ripped from her shoulder and her other- was empty.
Then who had grabbed Izaya?!
The question pierced his mind and his head twisted at the speed of lightning- it was another titan that had grabbed the raven.
The titan's second arm was not far from the raven, positioned between Izaya and the female titan, almost as if it were acting as a shield-
It was huge.
Brown eyes screaming at their opponent.
Blond hair settled on his head.
No way-
Shizu-chan?!
to be continued~
Hello hello my people xD So things have been crazy these past two months, but now I am back~! And this time for real, I swear xD
And yay, what's this- Shizu-chan, a titan? -gasps- well some of you already saw this coming, but ya here we are xD Now the reallllly interesting parts of this story are going to start xD
lol sorry btw I fixed last chapters mistake xD Of course Kururi is the calm one and Mairu the hyper one x'D I keep mixing those two girl´s names up omg xD
See you again on October the 9th 2018! C:
Guest 2: hehe right? xD Shizuo was soooo fucking sweet worrying about Izaya more than about whether his past is revealed C: What did you think of the plottwist? xD was it too expected? x'DDDD
Shoba: Please don't die x'D I took ages to upload this omg I'm sowy x'D