Chapter 18: Team work
Levi, Eld, Ed and Alphonse quickly made their way out of the forest and towards the location of the red flare; within their view they caught sight of a large mass of smoke and a group of people surrounding it, once they reached the edge of the forest they swung down onto the ground and ran towards the smokes and the crowd of people circling around. They passed through the crowd of Scouts and saw Eren struggling to pull his arm out of a large skinless arm and Hange and Moblit, who was holding a smoking pistol in his hands, standing in between him and the rest of Levi squad, whose blades were drawn, looking ready to strike Eren down.
"Look… everyone just stay calm… there's no need to do anything rash." Said Hange as she stuck her hands out in front of them.
Eren stared into the faces of Petra, Gunther and Oluo, they all looked as though they wanted to kill him; there was nothing but rage in their eyes as their grip of the handles of their blades tighten.
"Like you're one to talk, Hange" replied Oluo, he sounded furious
"Hange, Moblit back away!" yelled Petra
"You better start talking now Eren!" ordered Gunther "Prove to us you aren't the enemy!"
"What the hell happened here?" said Eld to himself, stunned as he walked up to his squad members
"Hange" Levi called out "what happened?" as he, Ed and Alphonse quickly walked to towards her, also putting himself between Eren and his squad, before Hange could answer Eren began pleading to the Captain, catching his attention.
"Please sir!" he yelled "I didn't mean to transform, I don't know why it did it!" Levi looked at Eren, the sheer look of panic and fear on his face, in his gut he could tell Eren was telling the truth at this.
"Eren… its ok... I believe you." Reassured Levi, his tone of voice still both calm and intimidating
"Eren!" yelled Ed as he looked at him "Don't worry, we'll get to down from there!"
"You boys stay back too!" ordered Petra "Captain, you need to be at a safe distance, it's dangerous!"
Ed and Alphonse didn't listen, instead they tried to climb the large arm but as soon as the palms of their hands made contact with the skinless muscle the immense heat from the body burnt them; it felt as though they'd placed their hands on a burning stove, they quickly moved back waving their hands around trying to cool them off.
"Aren't you boys listening?" yelled Oluo "Stay back!"
"Look everyone just calm down." Said Levi "We'll get an explanation, but I need you to just calm down."
"You better start talking now if you want to keep on living!" threatened Gunther walking forward
"You so much as twitch and I'll cut your head off!" threaten Oluo as he took a few steps closer
Suddenly the ground beneath them shook and elevated slightly, causing the three of them to stumble backwards; They regained their composure to see Ed with his hands in the grass "Stay the hell back." He said in a threatening tone, standing his ground. Alphonse reached out and grabbed onto Eren, using him to climb up the large arm.
"C'mon pull!" he instructed to Eren as he stood behind him, his boots firmly planted in the exposed muscle and his hands wrapped tightly around Eren's wrists.
"You could be helping the enemy!" yelled Gunther
"I'm helping our friend" retorted Ed "Now back the hell off and calm down."
With the help of Alphonse, Eren was able to rip himself from the large clump of flesh, they crashed onto the ground "Ugh!" they both exclaimed, and the Titan hand started to dissolve in a thick cloud of smoke, no longer being attached to Eren. Levi then walked up to Eren as Ed was helping both him and Alphonse onto their feet. "How do you feel?" he asked
"Not...Not so good sir…" responded Eren as he looked at the dissolving Titan carcass and back to his now perfectly healed hand.
"Huh…" said Hange holding a metal spoon in her hand "well this is strange."
Night had fallen over the castle, Levi squad Ed and Alphonse waited inside the mess hall while Levi went to have a talk with Eren in the basement and Hange and Moblit went to explain to their superiors about the incident.
"So tell me if I'm missing anything" said Eld "Eren failed his experiment in the well and when you guys pulled him up to take a break he suddenly transformed his arm?"
"Yeah, that's basically what happened." said Gunther "we were right next to him while it happened, took us all by complete surprise."
"Still, it was uncalled for what you did back there, threatening to kill him when he was just as shocked as you guys." Said Ed
"What the hell do you know? you little runt." Replied Oluo dismissively
"What the hell did you just say?" responded Ed angrily leaning forward in his chair
"Watch your tone, boy" Oluo replied also leaning forward "I've killed thirty nine Titans, so you better learn some respect." A sly grin began to form on Edward's mouth.
"I've probably killed close to half that number in just one day" taunted Ed, he then felt a hand grip his shoulder from behind and pull him back onto his chair; he looked up to see Alphonse standing behind him giving him a disapproving look.
"Enough… Ed" said Alphonse
Eld walked over to the end of the table, where the two of them were sitting, and leaned forward onto it; separating the two "That enough, both of you" he turned his head to face Ed "Look Ed, when you're out on the field you have to be ready for anything; every time we go on an expedition we always run the risk of dying out there that's why we have to be quick in both our thinking and our reactions, I doubt they harbor a grudge against Eren and truth be told if I was there too instead of with you guys I would have reacted the same way as them."
Ed slumped into his chair and let out a sigh "Alright, I'm sorry I acted out."
"It's alright." Replied Gunther, just then the main door opened and in walked both Hange and Moblit, back from their meeting with the brass, Hange walked over to the group while Moblit walked to the door to the basement to inform Levi and Eren of their return, the group waited for Levi and Eren appearance before they could beginning discussing today's event's properly.
"What took you so long?" asked Levi to Hange "What'd you stop to take a shit or something?"
"Well having tense meetings with the brass can scare the feces from one's body" remarked Hange "Anyway I'll like to draw everyone's attention to this" she then placed something wrapped in a white cloth on the table and revealed it to everyone
"A tea-spoon?" asked Eren perplexed
"That's correct" said Hange "Your Titan form that had erupted into being was holding this spoon, between the index finger and thumb to be specific, and an even stranger thing is that it didn't lose its shape despite the immense heat you were giving off, is there anything you'd like to add."
"Well… I… I was bending over to pick the spoon, I was out of reach and began stretching out to reach it… and that's when I transformed."
"Hmm…. Interesting." Said Hange "I think I know why you couldn't transform in the well; "Kill the Titans" "block a cannonball" "Lift the rock" when you transformed you seemed to have a clear goal in mind, perhaps harming yourself is only a part of the reason you can transform, but the whole reason, it seems you need a clear goal in mind before taking damage to transform."
Ed and Alphonse were completely stunned at what they were hearing; Eren was able to create matter from thin air by self-inflicted damage and sheer will, this went against everything they were taught and raised to believe about the laws of Alchemy and science. Tens, if not, hundreds of questions needed to be answered; hundreds of years of scientific and Alchemic research was being torn to shreds as they were looking at the greatest exception to the rule. Eren was just as stunned as them.
"I…I… transformed… just to pick up a spoon." He stuttered
"So… From my understanding, you didn't mean to transform on purpose" said Gunther
"No, sir…" replied Eren
Gunther took a sharp intake of breath and sighed, he then looked towards Oluo and then Petra, both of them nodded to Gunther as if signalling something, the three of them slightly clenched their hands into a fist, raised it to their mouth and bit down hard.
"What the?" exclaimed Hange, shocked while Levi watched with a stone faced expression.
"Hey, what are you doing?" said Eren, perplexed by their actions while Ed and Al slightly cringed when they saw blood trickle from their mouths.
"I bet that must hurt like hell" said Eld; secretly glad he accompanied Levi to oversee the Elrics training today else he might have been in the same situation as them.
"It does" replied Gunther "Look Eren, we made a judgement call and we were wrong, seems as though what Ed said was right." Ed owns mouth formed into a sly smile at Gunther's statement "Consider this our way of apologizing, that is if you can forgive us."
"Remeber, this doesn't change anything" said Oluo "We're still going to keep you in check" he then turned to face Ed "And don't you get cocky, you little brat."
"Who you calling little?" Questioned Ed, angrily "You're only a few centimetres taller than me."
"Eren… we were scared" said Petra, remorsefully "It's no excuse and you must be disappointed in us for what happened and you have every right to be, but… we can't survive if we don't have faith in each other, we act as a group and I hope that you can count on us."
It was a long journey to the Cadet Crops training grounds; Erwin had gotten permission by Keith Shadis to use the Titan dummies for Ed and Alphonse final test with the ODM gear; they were to be put into a mock battle, the objective was to hunt down as many Titans as they could and sufficiently kill them. They were also to be assessed on their skill using the ODM gear, their situational awareness and team work. Levi, Ed and Alphonse sat on the wagon to their destination, both of them looking back on their notes for last minute revision.
"Ten centimeters across and one meter lengthwise, that's the area of their weakness." Said Ed
"I'm a bit nervous, brother" laughed Alphonse lightly
"Me too, Al" replied Ed "But we'll get past it, I know we can."
"Hey, you two" interrupted Levi "we're here, the Cadet forest training grounds, chief instructor Keith Shadis is going to be accompanying us as well as some of the cadets, so I want you on your best behavior."
"Yes, sir." Said Alphonse
As they left the wagon they were greeted by a towering bald individual with dark circles around his brown eyes, he looked to be maybe in his late forties, they didn't really know, with those wrinkles on his forehead.
"Elrics, meet Cadet Instructor and former Commander of the Scout Regiment; Keith Shadis" introduced Levi
"It's a pleasure to meet you both, you two have quite the reputation" he said, his voice sounding strict and intimidating "From what I heard you boys are skilled and intelligent but can be a loose cannon at times; shame you weren't a part of the Cadet Crops before you became Scouts, I would have been able to rectify that kind of behavior."
Ed and Alphonse looked at the man, unsure how to respond to what he said
"Heh…" said Keith "C'mon, I'll show you to your starting points
They arrived outside the edge of a forest near the training camp, Ed and Alphonse had now attached the blades from their scarab onto their handles; ready to the go ahead
"This is a combat simulation" said Levi "There are Titans shattered across the forest of an area within three miles, your objective is to dispatch the Titans; your skill with the ODM gear, your effectiveness on how to take out the Titans as well as your overall team work will be assessed by the examiners and this will go straight to me which I'll have to report back to Erwin, so try not mess this up."
"Yes, sir." Replied Alphonse
"Don't worry, we've got this." Replied Ed with a cocky smile on his face
Suddenly the sound of a pistol when off nearby
"That's the signal." yelled Levi "Now go!"
Ed and Alphonse fired the steel cables from their ODM gear and reeled themselves forward onto the trees
"I'll keep to the right, you're to the left Al, seven meter spread" said Ed
"Alright" replied Alphonse "keep your eyes open in case any of them are hiding behind the trees"
They fired off their cables again and were now soaring past the trees, keeping their eyes out for any of the dummy Titans being operated by different instructors, Ed spotted one in front of him, exposing itself from behind the trees "Found one!" he yelled firing his cables onto the branch slightly above it he reeled himself forward towards the target, angling his blades for a deep cut to the foam around the dummy Titan's neck, zooming overhead of the Titan he sliced a chunk out of the dummy Titan's nape.
Ed turned around, he was now ahead of Alphonse, he spotted a Titan hiding behind the tree, and it looked as though it was going to swing in front of Alphonse's path
"Al!" Ed yelled "One behind the tree to your left" as soon as he said that did the dummy titan swing into the direction of Alphonse path. Reacting quickly Alphonse fired his cables onto two nearby trees and quickly reeled himself upwards in a almost straight line, narrowly avoiding crashing into the dummy Titan, he spun around in the air and fired his cables into the nape just below him and reeled himself downwards to strike, he detached his cables and swung his blades and parted the foam neck in the middle, leaving a large cut and quickly fired them again to a nearby tree, before he hit the ground and reeled himself onto one of branches close by.
"Alright Al!" yelled Ed, cheering on his little brother.
Erwin sat behind his desk, finalizing the plans for the scouting expedition in a bit over a week's time when his attention was caught by someone opening his office door; it was Levi, here with the report on the Elric's progress with their ODM training, hopefully it was good news and that the Elrics had shown themselves to be proficient with the gear, else he would have to divert some Scouts to act as their protection.
"Got the progress report" said Levi handing him a folder full of papers, Erwin opened the folder and skim read though the pages "All in all I'd say those two are as ready as they can be and be relied upon in the field to not end up as the meal of the day and maybe with a little experience they might turn out to be something almost resembling skilled, that being said Keith made note specifically about their coordination; said they worked well as a unit."
Erwin smiled "Great work, perhaps when this is all over you could move into being a training instructor" he joked
"Tch, not a chance in hell" responded Levi rolling his eyes "Taking care of a bunch of brats is no picnic can't imagine doing it for a living, so how'd the graduations go?"
"Better than expected" Replied Erwin "we averaged around forty new members per division, I suspect it has something to do with Cadet Yeager and the Elrics being inducted into our ranks, we'll only have to take some of them with us for the coming expedition, that being said though we'll mostly be using recruits from the southern 104th division."
"So I'm assuming you've already finalized the plans?" Asked Levi
"Yes, however it had occurred to me that whoever is after Eren Yeager will also be likely after the Elrics as well and we need them for when we capture the enemy shifter." He then pointed into the center of the formation "so I've decided to place them here, they'll ride in one of the wagons to the forest of giants."
"And we'll ride into the trap you'll have waiting for the enemy shifter?" asked Levi
"Correct." Answered Erwin "We'll have false information about them be divulged to the cadets joining us; Eren, Edward and Alphonse being part of either of the center-guards; which ever side gets attacked then we'll be able to narrow down the search for the other enemy shifters, of course however Eren will be with you in the center-rear guard and the Elrics will be hidden in the wagons among the wagon support teams, inform them of this and the reason why however don't inform Eren of this."
"Alright" replied Levi
"Also another thing" said Erwin "Hange has informed me of a new development; it seems the walls that protect Humanity harbor a secret unknown to the rest of us, apparently the walls are made of a crystal like substance rather than brick and mortar, she'd like to investigate it and she'll need the Elric's help. So here's what will happen; you and Hange are to take the Elrics to Trost to rebuild the entrance, use that as the excuse, on your way back to our former HQ you are to take a little detour to an unoccupied part of Wall Rose."
"Got it." said Levi as he left the office.
Ed and Alphonse arrived back at the castle, it was late in the afternoon, they went into the mess hall to make themselves some food; Ed began boiling some bean soup in a metal bowl and took out two pieces of bread from the straw sack, Alphonse sat at an empty table writing down notes into a book.
"Here Al" said Ed as he placed down a plate as he placed down a bowl of bean soup and a piece of bread in front of Alphonse "Not as good as the food back home, but it'll have to do" he said as he shoveled a spoon full of bean soup into his mouth and swallowed "what I wouldn't give for some meat though."
"Yeah…" said Alphonse "Guess being a Scout doesn't come with the same perks as being State Alchemist, huh?" he joked as he tore his bread in half and dipped it into the soup
"Hey Al, what ya writing?" asked Ed looking at the small handbook
"Oh... ah… its notes about Alkhestry" replied Alphonse "I've been trying to write down everything I know about the subject, what Mei taught me and what I learnt from my own research back home, I'm hoping that by doing this I can … try and figure out where I went wrong…"
"You still hung up about Mylius' death…" said Ed
"I can't let that happen again, brother" replied Alphonse "next time I won't let my ignorance get the better of me." He then took a bite out of the soup soaked bread
"Hey…" came a voice to their left, it was Eren, he walked up to them and took a seat next to Ed "So how did the test go?" he asked
"It went well" said Alphonse "the instructor said that we were "pretty competent" in ODM gear"
"Guy was scary, remember the look he gave us Al?" asked Ed
"Yeah… had a really intense look about him" replied Alphonse
"Wait… you met Shadis?" asked Eren "he was the instructor during our three years as Cadets."
"Heh… that must have been tough." Replied Ed
"Hey, when you said that I'm you guys' friend, did you mean that?" asked Eren
"Of course" said Alphonse
"We may not have gotten off on the right foot, but we do see you as our friend Eren, we've got your back." Ed said before taking a bite out of his loaf of bread.
Eren smiled softly "Thanks, you guys."