the sun blazed down across the walls, many of the cadets standing atop of the wall to look over the view. it was their last night inside, before being sent off on a mission to find eren, again.
"listen, tomorrow we're headed out on a dangerous mission to retrieve the founding titan. some of us may not make it back out alive, so enjoy your time of peace while you can. rest up well, cadets." levi's eye twitched, running his thumb across the hilt of his blade. with a click of his tongue, he leapt off of the wall to go back inside. all the cadets heard was the noise of his odm gear, and he was gone.
jean stood near an empty crate, frustration arising in him. cussing to the wind, he kicked the crate and cried out in pain. "why the fuck is there bricks in this crate?" he shouted, overwhelmed. "and why do we have to constantly risk our lives for him?! how many people are going to die this time?"
everyones faces softened, watching as jean collapsed onto the ground in tears. frustration and anxiety overwhelmed him. nobody dared go talk to him, scared of his unpredictable outburst.
lark knelt down, placing her hand gently on jean's shoulder. her other softly brushed some tears off of his face, a warm smile shining. "i promise to you, i will not let any of you die." jean choked on another sob, desperately grabbing onto lark's jacket as he broke down.
"when will it end?"
"i don't know." her smile struggled to stay, "but we will get through this together."
everyone sniffled gently, the pre-mission anxiety hitting them all. no matter how many titans you've killed, how many wars you've fought, you will always be scared. it's natural.
sasha grinned, pulling out meat from her jacket just like she did years ago. "cmonnn~ lets enjoy our time! i stole some meat!" she cheered, throwing her hands up in the air excitedly.
jean laughed breathlessly, staring up at everyone who was comforting him. a smile spread across his face, though eyes still anxious.
caeley hummed to herself, dragging lark away from everyone else. "we have some stuff to attend to! see everyone tomrrow! enjoy your meat, sasha." sasha smiled, waving goodbye to the two.
the pair jumped off of the wall, the zips of their odm echoed off into the distance from everyone else. the wind thrashed violently against their faces, traveling across the city. the two arrived at their destination, the building where all three of their superiors lived. levi, hange, and erwin were close friends of theirs. the commander had grown fond of them, and trusted their abilities physically and mentally.
caeley burst through the door, announcing her arrival. the two cadets took off their jackets, placing them on a hanging rack near the door. hange excitedly greeted the two, leaping up from their seat and dashing over. "my girls!" they spoke excitedly, grabbing the two of them into a tight hug.
"hange-san!" the two cheered, hugging them back with the same excitement. their interaction triggered a tch from levi, who sat at the table drinking tea.
"aww, levi wants a hug toooo?" lark teased, stretching her arms out while walking towards him. levi's eyes widened, then they quickly narrowed to slits to warn her. "i'm sure caeley would love to hug you~" she teased again, pushing her best friend closer to the table.
erwin was at the stove, beginning to prepare dinner for everyone. lark pressed caeley further towards the table, before shuffling off into the kitchen to help erwin. walking up behind him, she slid the neck loop of an apron over him, before tying it shut in the back. erwin greeted her, as she put her own apron on to help him cook.
"i did actually want to talk to you, kohai." levi spoke, setting his tea on the table to direct his full attention to the shorter cadet. caeley sat down next to her captain, nervously fidgeting with her shirt buttons. "you know, we were suppose to train together yesterday." cae froze, looking up almost immediately. "care to explain?"
"uhm-" she stuttered to speak, failing to come up with any validating excuses to miss training with levi. "truthfully, last night the barracks got kinda crazy. jean and mikasa got in a fight about going on a mission about eren, again." she gulped, looking down at her lap for a moment. "nobody's taking this well. everyone's tired of sacrificing lives just to save him."
levi thought for a moment, picking up his teacup and sipping. looking back at the cadet, he nodded in understanding. "don't let it happen again, kohai. next time i won't take an excuse."
lark's head peaked from the kitchen, "excuse me? i invited armin over for dinner with us all.. he said he has some ideas he'd like to suggest. is that alright?" she asked softly, whilst wiping her flour-y hands on a rag.
hange nodded, winking. "of course armin can come over! i'm sure you're excited to hear his plans to save eren~!" they teased, earning a scoff from lark who looked away, biting her lips in hopes to hide her soft pink cheeks. caeley nodded as well, she enioyed listening to armin talk about his plans.
levi hummed a soft "sure, i suppose so." with that, lark threw her hands up in the air excitedly, before disappearing back into the kitchen to help erwin.
-
"eren's location is across the sea, much to our dislike. we're gonna have to take an air balloon just to be able to get there." armin's eyebrows ruffled together, his thumb placed under his slightly parted lips. "i'm concerned about that, though. we've done enough experiments to conclude it safe, but that doesn't mean that the soldiers themselves can handle air sickness."
the room was dimly lit, as everyone sat on the dinner table listening intently to armin's plans. erwin nodded, his exact same worries being spoken. lark shoved her plate away, too uneasy to eat. hange and levi stayed silent, eating slowly in the background.
"we don't have any time to train everyone on airships, plus even then some will stay airsick." cae spoke outloud, brainstorming with armin, too focused on planning than to eat.
"exactly. that's why i'm thinking we only bring a squad of people. if we just bring highly capable troops, we have a higher chance of survival than with a whole army." he spoke clearly, ocean blue eyes scanning the captain's faces across the table.
"as long as i get to go, i'm fine with whatever plan you give me." lark spoke, visibly anxious for what awaits them tomorrow. "if we're sending a single squad, send squad levi. we have probably the most experience in rescue missions. not to mention, mikasa, cae, and i are the three best warriors in the entire survey."
armin nodded in response, "that's why squad levi should go. we only need a few people. i will need you two to be the heart of our mission, though. people awaiting on the airship need protection in case of an attack, which is why mikasa needs to stay behind you two. then, the two of you can go into enemy territory and locate eren. mikasa can handle her own, and you two are even stronger when working together."
the two girls nodded, determination and anxiety sweeping their faces over. the both of them stared at the palms of their hands. it hadn't been their first rescue mission, yet it never gets easier. "i understand." cae spoke, looking up at her superiors. "can we keep a second squad on backup though? in case we do need help? have them ready at all times?"
"i can volunteer my squad," hange spoke, their eyepatch covered by bits of their long hair. "they've been trained a lot in airship malfunction protocol." armin nodded, agreeing with hange.
"the plan sounds fine to me." erwin spoke, giving armin his consent to lead this mission on his own terms. "i have full faith in you, armin. do me proud."
armin's cheeks flushed, thanking erwin for giving him authority over the rescue. "i will do my best." he spoke gently, looking over towards levi who was already getting up.
"tomorrow brings a start of a long mission. go get some rest, we head out first daylight tomorrow." his deepened voice rasped, leaving the room to head towards his own.
one by one, everyone began to leave, erwin starting to clean up the mess from dinner. he smiled softly to himself, the blonde man proud of his family. they were going to be successful. he hoped so dearly in his heart, nothing went wrong. that's all he could do, anymore. but alas, hope doesn't always transfer to reality.
