Chapter Twenty-Eight
A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. I don't think I was happy with the last chapter and was afraid to start the next one. I'm hoping this is good because the third season is gonna be a little tricky. But I'm excited!
Disclaimer: Attack on Titan does not belong to me, I only own Emalina and any other OC's. The new story picture does not belong to me; I hold no Copyright and found the picture through Google Images.
~ oOo ~
EMALINA
Under the cover of darkness, we escaped, yet again.
Trekking into the night, we made for the direction of Stohess; Hange and Moblit left us as they returned to Trost to complete their own battles. Connie, Mikasa, Sasha, Armin, Jean, myself and Levi all moved under the starry sky. No one spoke, no words were expressed as we left other than to keep an eye and an ear out for anything out of the ordinary. My gun was slung over my shoulder as I held Jean's hand tightly within mine. After the whole ordeal earlier and the type of day we've had, I was glad he was to remain by my side.
What a day it had been. First I was captured with Jean while we pretended to be Historia and Eren; then we were taken to a random warehouse where I was sexually assaulted; and then later this night we had to suffer through the torture of the man who could finally give us some answers. To which we received exactly the intel we needed. Unfortunately, it wasn't what we wanted to hear.
However, the information we received did give us the ability to understand what was happening within our government and what they were going to do with Eren. We had to act quickly. But first, we needed supplies and more information, thus why we were traveling in the darkness. We had to reach Stohess by morning for supplies and new intel. Levi wanted to know exactly what the government thought of the Scouts and what they were planning on doing with us.
Tugging on Jean's hand, the man crept closer to my side, his hand letting mine go as it curved over my shoulder. "It's going to be ok," he leaned down to whisper into my ear.
"I know it will be," I said slowly. My thoughts were still stuck on what happened in the warehouse. At times I couldn't stop my brain from reimagining the scenario. The creeper's hands were all over me, his lips finding their way down my neck until his fingers found their way down towards my…
Vigorously shaking my head, I snapped myself away at such memories. Because that's all it was now - just a memory and that's all it would remain.
"I need you to listen to me. What happened this afternoon is not your fault and I am so unbelievably proud of you for being so goddamn strong, I will always be here by your side. What happened today does not change the fact that I love you and only you."
Jean's words from merely an hour prior entered my ears. I held what he said dearly to my heart because it was I needed to hear. In the long run, I…hope he's right. Because his words gave me hope, and in this moment right now, I needed hope to hold on to.
Sorry Eren. I'm hoping you'll be alright too…but I have a lot of other matters on my brain besides rescuing you.
"Alright," I could hear my brother from up front call out to the rest behind him. "We'll stop here for the night. Connie, Sasha, I want you two to get a fire started."
"Yes sir!" They said. Both disappeared into the woods surroundings us as Armin and Mikasa dropped their packs and sat on the ground, waiting for more orders.
Pulling the guns strap off my shoulder, I held the weapon in my hands, scanning my vision as far as I could see in the darkness, wishing, hoping their wasn't anyone to disturb us this night. Jean dropped his pack then took mine and pilled them together. Clasping his arm over my shoulder, he stood beside me as I continue to scan our surroundings. When I felt safe and could hear nothing, besides Sasha and Connie returning with wood, only then did I drop the gun and exhale.
Once the fire was set ablaze, everyone gathered around, some were talking amongst themselves, but most of my friends, my brother included, remained quiet. Beside me, Jean was in a conversation with Connie across the fire; I wasn't sure what they were speaking about because I could only focus on myself. I had been selfish the last few hours in doing so when I should be paying more attention on the mission at hand. Staring down at my hand, I curled the fingers into a tight fist, watching as I clenched and unclenched the muscles.
I know something horrible happened to me today…but I can't let that be the forefront of my mind right now, I thought. I need to be present for those around me, and for Eren and Historia if we were going to rescue them.
"Hey Connie…?" I called out to my bald friend.
Drifting his attention from Jean to me, my friend was all smiles. "What's up Ema?"
"I…" Curling into Jean's side, I felt his hand on my lower back, rubbing circles into my shirt. "I'm sorry about earlier this evening. I d-didn't mean to yell at you."
"Oh, that? Pssh, forget it I'm not worried!" His bright smile was contagious as I could feel the corners of my lips lift upward.
"Wha? Really…?"
"Yep!" Connie held up his thumb in my direction as I weakly copied the same movement, a smile still falling on my lips. I had felt guilty for the past hour because of the way I snapped at my friend. Connie didn't deserve that, he had no idea what had happened to me early this morning. "But I was wondering…" Connie's voice caught me off guard as I dropped my hand. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Um, well you see…" He curled his legs against himself as he stared into the fire. "I've been wondering, and I'm sorry for asking, b-but…what's it like, now that you're a titan?"
The other conversations fell silent at Connie's question; even my brother turned his head.
Jean turned his head towards me as well, tightening his hold on my hand. All heads switched from Connie to me also as I sighed. "Have you asked Eren the same question as well? I mean, he became a titan before me."
"No, I haven't…" Connie admitted.
"That's ok, I was just curious. Why ask me though?"
"Mainly because you're here and he isn't," he offered, counting off on his fingers. "But…you were also turned against your will because of what Bertholdt did to you. How does that feel?"
Sasha slapped Connie upside the head. "Hey! Don't be so blunt with your questions!"
Holding my hands up, Sasha noticed and stopped. "No, it's alright Sasha, really." Taking a deep breath, I stared long and hard at my friend. "I'll be honest, it sucks." I snickered at my own comment. "I mean come on, you even said it yourself, I was turned against my will. I'm a titan now and I have to live with that for the rest of my life."
Armin entered the conversation. "But what's it like?" He reiterated Connie's original question.
"I…" Glancing down at my hands, I clenched my free one, but admired the one holding Jean's hand. Never would I tired of such a sight.
"You know you don't have to answer them, right?" Jean leaned closer to whisper into my ear.
I nodded. "You're right…but I think it'll help me by talking about it." His thumb rubbed over my skin, and that was all I needed to know that he agreed with my answer. First looking towards Connie, I moved my attention to Armin. "It's a lot," I first started. "And it's different. I'm a huge, large titan."
"Don't forget the fact that you're blue," Jean added.
"Yes. Apparently I have blue colored skin whereas Eren does not." Turning towards Jean, I asked, "What else is different about me?"
"For starters you have sharp canine teeth and then you have what looks like hardened skin on your elbows and knees. Very unlike Eren."
"I wonder why the two of you are so different," Sasha asked, leaning on her elbows.
"I mean, look at all the other titans. The Colossal, Armored and Female titans are all very different and I think it's based on their skills." I shrugged. "Who knows. All I know is that I'm blue and I think that's kinda cool. But back to your questions…I don't really know how to answer, if I'm being honest." I scratched my cheek. "It's difficult to describe. I'm fast, I'm tall…I felt really agile and strong. But, there is one thing I remember. Armin, you might remember this too."
"You mean when you came to rescue Jean and I from that titan?" He asked as I nodded. "Yeah that was weird…All you did was scream and the titan ran off."
"Exactly."
"Maybe…" Sasha turned from the fire to me. "Maybe that's one of your abilities!"
I shrugged. "Maybe, who knows? Unless I test my titan form out, we'll never know what I can do."
Silence befell everybody. Mikasa and Levi had been quiet the entire time as Sasha, Connie and Armin stared amongst each other. Jean, having remained by my side, squeezed my hand. He was the only one who knew what I was going through without having to fully understand. He just…Jean just got it.
Leaning into his frame, I smiled, leaning upward to drop a kiss against his cheek.
"Alright, I think it's time you all hit the hay," my brother called out as he stared into the fire. "Tonight, Emalina and I will take the first watch. Then I want Jean and Armin after that." The two males nodded as I stood, Jean following behind me. The others gathered their items and laid down near the fire, almost all of them immediately asleep; after the day we've had, I expected nothing less.
Tightly hugging Jean, I felt his lips upon my forehead. ""Be safe tonight, alright?"
"I've got Levi with me. Nothing's going to happen, I promise."
"Good, that's all I need to hear." Gently kissing my lips, Jean knew there wasn't much he could do with my brother nearby so he stepped back and secured his pack as a pillow by the fire. Taking hold of my gun, I stepped around the light to sit besides my brother. Hoisting the contraption in my arms, I sat cross-legged on the ground, ready to jump into action if anyone dared tress upon our small camp.
I kept my sight on Jean the entire time until I knew he was asleep. Once he and our friends were long into the world of slumber did I relax a little against the pack. Levi had walked around the perimeter to secure our safety before he returned, capturing the seat beside me as he held his own gun as well. We fell into a comfortable silence, the only sound was the crisp burning of the fire and the gentleness of the wind through the trees.
"You and Jean seem to be doing ok."
Levi was the first to break the silence as I stared at him through my peripherals. "We are," I said, leaning closer towards my brother. We hadn't really had a moment to talk since we had to evacuate our hideout the day prior. "There's been…some tension for the last several days, but I think that's mainly due to my part rather than his."
"And why would you think that?"
Why was it so much easier to speak with Levi than Jean sometimes? "…because I turned into a titan."
Levi angled his head towards me. "I'll ask again: why would you think that?"
I scoffed, casting my head away. I knew the answer and Levi was searching for it. Teeth clenched together, I wasn't angry at Levi, no. I was angry at myself. "I thought he was going to leave me."
"Just because you were forced into a titan?" I nodded. Levi slapped me upside the head as I groaned, grasping the location on my skull. "You're such a dumbass," he said.
"Excuse me?!" I couldn't believe him!
Ruffling my hair, Levi smiled in my direction. "Like I said, you're a dumbass. Jean wouldn't leave you for such a stupid reason as that. Besides, this was forced upon you and he can't fault you for that. Even if he did, I'd beat the crap out of him on leaving you in such a way."
A chuckle escaped my lips. Leave to my brother to get me to laugh when I was feeling down; he and Jean were similar in that aspect, and sometimes, I was thankful for that. "I mean…can you blame me for thinking such thoughts?"
"I…" Levi seemed quick to answer until he faltered, thinking of what to say rather than just blurting it out. "I guess I can't, no. Still though, why would you think that Emalina? I know Jean cares for you deeply."
"He does, and I love him too. It's just…this power was thrusted upon me without my consent, I just thought…he wouldn't want to be with a titan. I thought he'd see me differently."
"Does he see Eren differently because of his titan?"
"W-Well, no. But Jean and Eren aren't exactly buddy-buddy either; Jean could care less what happens to him."
"We're not talking about Eren, we're talking about you. Do you still think Jean is going to leave you?"
"N-Not anymore…"
"Good. Keep such stupid thoughts out of your head."
We fell into another silence again. I turned my head, swiveling around to watch the trees surrounding our location. We were hidden away in the woods, but who knows where the Military Police were at. We were criminals - apparently - and were wanted by the government for having done something. There could be anybody out there searching for us.
I scooted closer to my brother, needing his protection. Hell, I could protect myself, but the thought there was someone out there searching for us still scared me. Glancing across the fire, I watched Jean's figure as his chest moved up and down. He was in a deep sleep and I was thankful. He and everyone deserved it. I, on the other hand, was probably tired but wasn't feeling it in the moment.
Snapping my head towards the trees ahead of me, I jumped to my feet, ears at attention as I pointed my gun towards the trees. Levi was on his feet in an instant as well, eyes penetrating the woods surrounding us until he fell on the location I was facing.
"What do you hear?"
"Footsteps. Nearing our location rather quickly." Holding the gun close to my face, I neared it towards my eye. Breathing deeply, I was ready to shoot at whoever came through the trees, if necessary. I was ready to protect my friends, my brother and Jean. No one would get past me. I would keep the Scouts alive.
The foot steps grew quicker just as my breathing began to labor. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of my face as I held the gun steady. Beside me, Levi slowly lifted his gun, both of us prepared for the worst. What we didn't expect?
Was for a deer to caress through the trees and into the firelight.
Gasping, I slowly lowered my gun, in awe of such beauty. Levi remained still as I cautiously made my way over, hand outstretched to rub the beautiful creatures head. "What'd you think you're doing?" Levi snapped quietly at me as I left his side. "It could be dangerous!"
"It's just a deer!" I hissed.
Still moving forward, the deer hadn't moved from its spot, deciding its location was perfect to do nothing but graze. As I made my way to stand in front of it, the creature tilted its head upward as my fingers touched the tip of its head, slowly raking my fingers down to scratch behind its ear. The deer was a doe, a female, and I had to wonder if she had a mate or any babies nearby.
The deer angled its head to lick my fingers made me squeal as it tickled. Squeal turning into a chuckle, I stepped backwards as another appeared through the woods. This time, it was a buck, the male as it licked the side of the doe's head. I cooed at the sight. Shaking my head, I knew they needed to be on their way so I walked around to their backsides and gently edged their behinds in the direction opposite of our clearing. After a few attempts, both deers left, leaving me to reclaim my seat beside Levi.
"That was stupid of you," he said.
I huffed. "Tch, and why? They were harmless!"
"You don't know what kind of diseases they were carrying."
Glancing at my brother, I ran a finger down the length of his arm, feeling the man shiver beneath my touch. "What, scared I might give you something?"
He winced as if in physical pain. Laughing into the night, I withdrew my hand, replacing it to hold the gun in my lap. "Disgusting," my brother muttered. After a moment of silence, Levi rotated his entire body and stared at me. Acknowledging him through my peripheral, I remained facing forward, until several minutes have passed when he didn't say anything other than stare.
"What is it?" I finally caved and asked.
Levi was quick with his answer. "What happened this afternoon?"
I cast my head aside. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
He grasped the top of my head, forcing me to turn towards his direction. "Bullshit," he stated. "You know exactly what I am asking. Now tell me; what exactly happened?" Shaking until his grasp was released, I exhaled, not wanting to have this conversation, especially with my brother. Even then, I didn't want to relive what I experienced. "They did something to you…didn't they."
I nodded, knowing Levi knew. Of course he knew; my brother somehow knew everything. "Yes," I held my head in shame.
No. Not shame!
Instead, I lifted my head towards the moonlit sky, remembering Jean's words: I was not fault, I was not at fault.
"Do you…want to talk about it?" Levi offered. I shook my head. I didn't want him to know the details; hell, I didn't want to know the details. Taking hold of my shoulder, Levi pulled me against his chest, holding my close as he ran fingers up and down my spine. Dropping the gun in my lap, I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him just as close. I didn't know I still needed comfort for this. Granted it had only been about twelve hours or so since the incident, but still. I thought I had pushed it to the recesses of my mind by now.
"It's ok to let go, you know," Levi offered. "I won't think of you any different for needing to cry, if you must."
"No," I muffled into my brother's neck. "I won't." Pulling away, I still swiped at my eye as there were tears forming in the corners, but I didn't want them to fall. "What's happened has happened and…I want it to remain in the past."
Holding me by the shoulders, Levi stared long and hard into my eyes. Blinking, I did the same, wondering what he was searching for. "Are you sure?" He asked.
Nodding, I slumped against my pack, holding the gun tightly against my chest. "Yeah, I'm sure," I said softly.
~ oOo ~
JEAN
During the night I was awoken by Emalina to let me know it was my time to watch over the camp with Armin. We stayed on opposite sides of the fire, my position besides Emalina as I wanted, no, needed to stay beside her. This wasn't anything new. It's just…since this afternoon, I know she'd been raging within herself about what happened and I wanted her to know that I would always remain by her side. Regardless of what they did for it didn't matter to me.
Armin and I remained in the same position until the morning sun began to rise. We waited until the sun was higher in the sky before waking Levi and the others up from their slumber. Emalina was the last to be awoken as she had watch duty throughout the night, I wanted her to get some sleep. Maybe I was biased or just trying to be a decent boyfriend, but I thought she deserved it the most.
Once everyone was awake, Levi began discussing the itinerary for the day, and it was to go as follows: we were to get supplies from the closest city then go from there depending on what was happening inside the walls.
"I must stay here at camp. My face is to recognizable as I'm too well known. Connie and Sasha will stay here, along with Emalina."
This came as a shock to my girlfriend who nearly spit out her morning drink. "The hell?! Why do I have to stay here? Won't it be more beneficial if I go inside the city as well?"
"No, it won't," her brother replied flatly. "Because of me, you're just as known and because you have a history with the Scouts as well. They know what you'll look like if they've questioned any of the Garrisons from Trost."
Emalina rolled her eyes. "…well fuck," she muttered.
Levi lifted his gaze towards me. "That leaves Jean, Armin and Mikasa to head inside the wall and retrieve supplies. Be on the lookout for anything suspicious the Military Police may be doing and try to gain as much intel as you can."
"Sir!" The three of us said. Before we left, we were also instructed to equip our ODM gear incase of any emergencies. We would make a faster escape through the city than the MP's as they would likely lose us in the crowd.
I'm still thankful I refused to join such a useless regiment.
Without further ado, we left the campsite and made our way towards the entrance into the city. Being part of the inner region, it was bustling with people left and right. Military Police were scattered everywhere so we held tightly to the capes wrapped over our shoulders. I wore my hat as a disguise; they might recognize me, they might not, but I didn't want to risk any chances.
Also…Emalina liked the hat on me too, so that's a plus.
First we obtained the supplies we needed. We refused to split up, all going into the same store to retrieve what we needed before moving on to the next. It was difficult to be in the stores and not make any sudden movements as that would jingle our equipment, possibly giving off who we actually were. Thankfully, we didn't run into any such problems. By the time we had purchased everything we needed, we were making our way through the main courtyard in the city near the shopping district when a storm of Military Police came running through, only a few stopping with their hands full of flyers.
"The Scout Regiment has murdered a civilian!" One of the MP's called out into the crowd, holding up one of the flyers into the air. "Some of them have evaded capture. These people are dangerous! If you spot any of the people on these posters, report them immediately!"
Armin quickly made his way up to one of the MP's and asked for a flyer; he was handed two. Making his way back towards us, we made for the gate of the city when I heard more people talking about the Scouts.
"I told you, didn't I? These are the same bastards that unleashed a titan here. Destroyed half the town!"
"Hmph, I bet they're planning on using that freak show Jaeger to wipe us all out."
I found the conversation too funny. Pulling my hat down over my eyes, we moved past them towards the gate. One aspect of these flyers that didn't make any sense were the facts. In the entire time the Scouts had been active, have they ever hurt or cause harm to any civilians? So why would the public believe that now? It was false media at its best.
Once outside the city, we trekked as best we could towards the forest, as not to gain any followers who might be persecutors. Handing me the flyers, I laughed, considering one held a very pitiful image of Levi whilst the other actually had a decent drawing of Emalina on it, though not perfect, to say the least. I was surprised they actually knew about her. But the Captain had been right. She'd been involved with the regiment longer than any of us. Word would have eventually also gotten around that the great Levi had claimed some family.
By the time we made it back to the campsite, it was almost nearing midday. Making our way into the clearing, I was surprised to find both Sasha and Emalina holding their guns pointed in our direction.
"Woah, calm down you two!" Armin said, swiping at his forehead.
"Sorry!" Sasha said, dropping the weapon to her lap. "We heard footsteps and didn't know who it could be."
Ruffling Emalina's hair as I walked past, I called out towards Levi. "Captain, we bought the supplies." Dropping them near the fire, I took my seat besides Emalina who quickly leaned in to grant me a swift kiss.
Armin walked straight towards the Captain. "The MP's were handing out these flyers." He handed the one of the Captain to him as I gave Emalina hers. "If this is true, the Scouts will be disbanded. They say they'll be hunting for us in the mountains tonight. They're also posting guards on all the vital roads, no one can get through without a pass!"
Levi remained silent for some time, gazing at the flyer in his hand. As he did that, I watched Emalina as she stared at hers. "This looks nothing like me!" She claimed. "First off, my hair isn't that short anymore and…grrr," she shoved the paper in my face. "They just can't get my nose right!"
Laughing into my hand, I couldn't resist the chuckling. She had made a fair point. Whoever they had spoken to to receive their intel clearly hadn't seen Emalina in quite some time. "Maybe this'll help disguise you. They'll be looking for a woman with shorter hair and a bigger nose."
"Ah! So you agree!"
"I do. Although I see the resemblance, it looks nothing like you."
Staring intently at it, Emalina soon smiled as she carefully folded the flyer into a small square shape and tucked it inside her pants pocket. "I'm keeping this," she eagerly claimed.
This only had me smiling even more. "And why is that?"
"Oh come on! Yeah we're kinda being hunted right now, but how many times can you say your face was on a wanted poster?" She had me there.
"So Captain," Armin stole our attention as we glanced up towards him as he stared at Levi. "…what now?"
"We need to hurry and find Eren!" Mikasa stated.
"He'll be fine," Levi claimed. "They're taking him on a wagon. That gives us one day before they reach Reis' Estate. And we need every second we can to come up with a plan."
Beside me, Emalina jerked. Reaching for her gun, she swiveled in her seat to face the direction I had come from earlier. Glancing across at Sasha, our female friend must've heard the same thing that we couldn't. "Levi! I hear footsteps!" She muttered loudly.
"Sounds like they're approaching from that direction," Sasha pointed in the same direction Emalina was facing. They stared at one another and nodded. "We probably have a few minutes, if that."
Everyone stood to their feet, guns aiming in the same course. "Alright, this is what we'll do. Armin, I want you by the river with your back towards them. The rest of us will keep ourselves hidden in the trees while Emalina and I attack whoever is coming. Sasha, Ema, how many people?"
"Two," they said in unison.
"Perfect. That'll be easy. Take to your stations, now!"
Armin stayed on the ground whereas everyone else used their ODM to fly into the trees, finding a perch to sit on as we waited. Emalina and Levi chose a location closer to Armin so they would have clear access to our perpetrators. It was only a minute after we grasped our bearings did we hear the crunching of footsteps against the dirt.
"Don't you think they have us spread out a little too much?"
"We're more likely to find them if we're not in the same area."
"But why'd I have to get paired up with you of all people?"
Rolling my eyes at the conversation below me, I couldn't believe that these were the two they would send after us. Withholding a chuckle, because for some reason I found the situation to be hilarious, I listened in on the rest of what they were saying.
"Anyway, doesn't this seem odd to you? Why would the Scouts murder a civilian and run for the hills? This is the same group of soldiers who consistently risk their lives for the sake of humanity."
"Give me a break. Did you forget? Think about what they did to Stohess, the way they turned it into a battlefield. How many dead bodies do you think we carried?"
"But in doing so, the Scouts also uncovered a titan in hiding, and took it prisoner. I highly doubt that the Military Police could have done that. How is disbanding the Scouts what's best for humanity?"
"Be quiet!"
Oh, she must hear Armin by the river. From my location, I could see the two behind me, so they were probably a few hundred feet from Armin's spot. As they neared Armin, they held their guns higher and higher, probably assuming they had found a member of the Scouts.
"Don't move!" The male suddenly called out. "Turn around slowly." Armin stood to his feet and did as instructed, not once did he glance upwards to where we were hidden in the trees. "You must be a Scout. Not a sound, you hear me? Don't say a word. Now listen and do exactly as I instruct you."
He wasn't given the chance to speak any further. Levi gave the signal towards Emalina and they jumped from their positions, swords out as they landed directly behind the both of them. Holding the swords up to their necks, Levi was the first to speak as we all watched from up above.
"That's the way," Levi said. "Now hand your guns to the one in front."
Having done so, Armin then copied what he had said with his own words. "Don't say a word, right?" Peering upwards, Levi then gave us our signal as we fell from the trees and landed on the sand.
With the rope we had purchased, Emalina and I tied their hands together so they couldn't go anywhere. The other four walked around the surrounding area to see if there were anymore Military Police following their trail. Having the two remain standing we then removed everything off of them; their cloaks and ODM gear all fell towards the ground. I focused on the male whereas Emalina took care of them female. Going through the males cloak did I find a folded piece of paper.
"Captain!" Walking over towards Levi who was sitting on a rock, I handed it to him, explaining who I found it off of. Taking the paper, he stood from his seat, making way towards the two individuals.
"So, you're Stohess District Military Police. Private Marlowe Freudenberg. Same assignment, Private Hitch Drase. We need to dispose of you."
The female, Hitch, tensed and sat up straighter as I watched her. "B-Because of what you did…! Stohess was a graveyard; over a hundred people were killed!"
"Huh?" It was funny; the Captain hadn't been paying any attention to her.
"You bastards! I bet you all think you're some kind of heroes of justice, but you're not! You dropped dozens of innocent families straight into hell on that mission of yours!" Beside me, Emalina was shaking. Grasping her shoulder, I needed the woman to calm down before she regretted anything she might plan to do.
"Hmm, yeah, we did." Levi didn't seem to care; he, and the rest of us, were already over what he had to do last week.
Still though, it didn't seem as if Hitch had had enough to say, so she turned her attention towards us. "Hey you! You're from the Southern Cadet Corp, right? So you trained with Annie Leonhart. Were you a friend of hers? No…she wouldn't have made friends there either. She's too gloomy and unapproachable for that. She was just afraid of people like some scared little kid. Now I'll never get the chance to learn anything about her. She's officially listed as missing, you know why?!"
Leaning forward on her elbows, Emalina said, "Enlighten us, please."
"It's because one of your titans turned her into an ugly red stain on the street!" Hitch screamed.
Levi considered her response before stating his own. "Actually - "
"Ha! You honestly think Annie was killed during the attack?!" Laughing, Emalina stood and I knew her lid had just been cracked.
Dropping my head into my hand I muttered, "Oh no." I knew full well what was about to happen.
Standing before the two Privates, Emalina dropped to her knees, scowling in their direction. "Do you really wanna know what happened to your precious, gloomy Annie?"
Hitch nodded furiously. "Tell me!"
"Alright, it's your funeral. Annie Leonhart isn't missing because she's the titan we were after." Both her and Marlowe gasped as I merely watched the entire scene. I knew Emalina and what she was doing. She was furious for the way Hitch acted and the comments she made about having to clean up the dead back in Stohess. "So if you really wanna blame someone for those ugly red stains you had to clean up, I'd blame her."
Hitch gasped again. "How dare you…!"
"No, how dare you!" Grasping her collar, Emalina held the woman in a vice grip. "Don't you sit there and patronize us about death! We're the fucking Scouts! We've seen death more than we'd like, we know what its smell. Other than what happened, do you? Have you had to leave them behind because your carts were full of the dead? Or, or maybe you had to leave them behind because they were bit into mere pieces! So don't sit there and think you know what death is like; because you don't. Come find me when a titan has eaten your parents, then we'll have a real conversation." Emalina shoved Hitch back against the ground as she stood up.
I could see Hitch and Marlowe's faces turn green at the description.
"God damnit, this makes me sick," Levi stated, hearing his sword above his shoulder. "Nobody knows a thing about this world. Not us or anyone else, except for the bastards at the center of it all. We're letting you go," he dropped his sword as he stared at the two. I stood up from my seated position I pulled Emalina back towards me. She was stiff and I could still sense the rage coming off of her in waves.
"But we need to give ourselves a head start on you." Levi said, turning to stare into the forest. I followed his line of sight and wondered where we were to go after this. How could we trust that these two individuals wouldn't run back to where they came from and blab on us?
"Hey, Captain Levi!" Marlowe suddenly spoke as he twisted around to face the man. "Please, let me join in your cause! I believe the Military Police are in the wrong here. If there's any way that I can fight this world's injustice, then that's what I want to do!"
"Easy, calm down," Levi stated lackadaisically.
"I swear I won't let you down sir!"
"No. I have no way of knowing if you have enough resolve to make an enemy of the state. Let's go," he called out to all of us. "Take them deeper int the woods and tie them up, Sasha."
"Sir!" She exclaimed.
Mikasa and Armin walked on through the trees passed us, but as Levi passed by me, I called out to him. "Hey, Captain. Why don't you let me do it instead?" Emalina tensed at my side at the sudden change in my demeanor for I was outright asking the Captain to take part in something on my own.
Levi merely turned his head around to stare at me. His glance moved to his sister by my side then back towards me. "Knock yourself out," he said as he kept on walking.
Sasha appeared by my side and nodded following the others. I gripped Emalina's hand then quickly kissed her cheek. "I'll be back."
"Don't get hurt," she replied smiling.
"No promises." She chuckled as I reached down to grab the ropes holding the two Privates hostage.
As the others moved west, we trailed east, deeper into the mountains as the Captain stated. They were silent, not even speaking to one another as they thought I was leading them to a desolate place. Oh if they only knew the plan I had in store for them. We trekked through the woods for about ten minutes before I said, "Alright, this is it."
"We'll forget everything we saw here," Marlowe offered, looking at the ground. I snickered; how cute.
"I know you will, because both of you are about to die!" I pulled my knife out and held it tightly in my fingers.
"Agh! No!" Hitch clamped onto Marlowe as he continued with," He-He said to let us go!"
"The Captain might be a big softie, but I'm not! I'm ready to do what needs to be done."
"You'll have to believe us! We won't betray you. We know you're fighting to protect humanity! Right?! Tell him Hitch!" She aggressively nodded her head.
"As if I'd take your word for it. I can't trust you, not with that hair. Who in their right mind would get a bowl cut on purpose? So how can I trust a single word you say?!" Twisting the knife until I held it in a stabbing position, I lunged forward, only for my foot to catch in the grass as I fell flat to my face, the sword slipping from my grip and landed in front of me.
"Run Hitch, I'll cover you!" Marlowe yelled as the female ran off into the woods.
Running towards the man, I slammed one arm into his holding the knife and lifted them upwards as I used my other hand to hold a stick I found up against the man's chin, hoping he'd think it was a true gun. "What do you think will kill faster? That knife or the gun at your chin? Feel like trying your luck? Come on, let's race!"
"Please!" Marlowe pleaded. "We're on the same side here!"
"What the hell would anyone believe you want to join the Scouts?" I asked. "My comrades are getting rounded up like criminals as we speak. What makes you think we can win?"
It took Marlowe a moment to answer. "Because…you haven't quit. Despite the odds, the Scouts are still fighting." My face fell at his words. He was right though, we hadn't and we would never give up. "I made a mistake when I chose my regiment. But you're a Scout. You chose to risk your lives for others. So I'll trust you." He then tossed the knife away behind me.
My face fell even more. I sighed, smiling, content with the information I heard. It was then something hard bashed into my head, and I was flung some feet away from our position. All I could hear was Hitch screaming as Marlowe intervened. "Stop! He was just trying to test us!"
"…huh?"
Laying on the ground, my head was pounding. I unclenched my fist, releasing the stick I held as I considered what I was to say.
"Are you crazy? Even with my hands bound I still could've taken a swing at you with that knife and did some real damage," Marlowe said. "How did you know I wouldn't do it?"
"Don't ask me how…" my voice was raspy from the hit and landed hard against the ground. "But you remind me of this annoying guy; an idiot."
"Makes me wonder…is he one of the fools Annie told me about?"
My eyes snapped open at that. So she had talked about us? And who was 'us' she had discussed? "Couldn't say," was my reply as I slowly struggled to sit up. "All of us were fools." Glancing upward, Marlowe had stuck his hands out for me to take; I grasped them and he helped me stand to me feet. "Luckily for me, you're just as dumb. Marlowe, I think you've proved your dedication. This should be enough to convince Captain Levi. We'll be counting on you from here on out." It was then I used the knife to cut the ropes binding their hands together. Having them follow me back towards our original location, I was shocked to find Emalina still sitting in her same position on the same rock as when I left her.
Upon hearing our footsteps, Emalina lifted her head and smiled when she saw me. "Hey you made it back safely!"
I smirked while rolling my eyes. "You didn't think I'd come back?"
"Nah, I thought you'd be lost to the woods forever." Stepping by her side, I kissed the side of her head as she lifted her vision to stare at Marlowe and Hitch. "So…did your plan work?"
I nodded, not even questioning how she knew what I had planned to do. My woman was just that smart and I loved it. "I don't know about Hitch, but Marlowe proved his worth to the Scouts."
"I mean, he's the one claiming in wanting to join the Scouts anyways, right?"
I nodded once more. And with that, Emalina led the way to where the others were. Once there, Levi raised an eyebrow in my direction as I explained everything to him. Seeming perfectly fine with the outcome, Levi called over for Marlowe and they had a conversation about the checkpoints the Military Police had scattered across the area. Marlowe then gave the location of the checkpoint that he believed had the least amount of MO's guarding.
With this information, we were off. The location was farther than expected and it took us until sunset to find what we were looking for. Getting as close as we could, we all stared off into the distance, counting how many MP's we could see and what their positions were.
"Far as I know, this is the least manned checkpoint in the region," Marlowe whispered.
"Good," Levi answered. "We'll handle things from here. Get back to your squad before they're suspicious."
"Right!"
"…Marlowe, Hitch." The two MP's stopped and turned around to face the Captain. "We're grateful."
"Sir!" They saluted, and then they were off.
As they left, Levi turned back towards the checkpoint, the frown evident upon his face. "Alright. This time, we're picking the fight. Emalina." His sister walked over and knelt by his side. "Should we do things the safe way, or the fun way?"
She grinned devilishly. "The fun way."
"Heh, good choice." Glancing at the other Scouts, he then said, "You heard her."
Having grabbed the wagon from last night, we attached Freyja to the main harness and secured our positions. I would take the reins, Sasha would have her arrows with Connie his swords behind me, as Emalina, Armin and Mikasa would wait inside the wagon. The plan was to burst through the front gate, catching all the MP's by surprise and attack them with all our angered might.
Which is exactly what we did.
Screaming at the top of our lungs, I pushed Freyja with all her might to run as fast as she possibly could. Those inside the wagon jumped as soon as we drove inside. I watched Emalina pummel a guy in the nose just as hew feet touched the ground. Pulling her steed to a stop, we all jumped ship and attacked whoever was near. Because we caught all of the MP's off guard, they didn't have their equipment with them so we were able to threaten them with our swords.
All in all, the ordeal probably took maybe ten minutes to clear out the checkpoint. Levi followed in behind us and told us to wait atop the hill for him, as he was going to be searching the bodies. Following his instructions, we waited patiently for the man to return with Emalina and myself holding our guns in position. Half-in-hour passed by before we heard a sudden movement in the grass. The two of us shot our guns in that direction, ready for another fight if there had been a member of the Military Police that we missed.
"Stand down." It was merely Levi, and he was dragging something heavy behind him.
"Captain?" Armin questioned, glancing between Levi and the man he brought. I, too, did the same notion, curious as to see why he was brought here.
Levi threw the man to the ground who simply stayed there. "He's with the Interior Police. And I've got questions for him. Let's move."
~ oOo ~
I'd love to hear some feedback. What did you think? Was it what you were hoping? What do you want to see in the future or what do you think will happen to Jean and Emalina?