Clipped Wings

3

"Rena wake up!" Hange bursts into my room.

I rub my eyes and sit up, aches shooting through my body.

"Hange, what-"

"Wall Maria has fallen! Shigashina is in shambles! Get up!" They throw my uniform at me and slam the door as they leave.

Wall Maria has fallen... Shigashina is... I quickly throw on my uniform and pull my hair into a ponytail. I struggle to get my left boot on as I rush out of my room. It's chaos, scouts and MPs alike are running around, not sure what to do. I rush to the platform where Levi, Hange, and Erwin are standing. I salute and stay in my spot.

"Attention!" Erwin's voice booms.

The chaos comes to a halt.

"As we all know, Maria has fallen. The Military Police are currently handling the situation in Shigashina. Be prepared for the refugees that may want to flee deeper in the walls. Welcome them with open arms, Understand what they've lost," Erwin sounds sincere.

"Your Captains will brief you on the plans," Erwin looks over at me, "Captain Rena will help those who haven't been given direct orders. You're all dismissed!"

My mind is racing but I have to keep a level head. A handful of Scouts and freshly graduated recruits come to me after I'm done being briefed. We are instructed to maintain order among our ranks, make sure no one does anything stupid like steal rations or cause fights.

"Captain Rena, what about our families? A lot of us are from Maria," a new scout asks with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I know it will be agonizing, but we have to wait until we receive the population rosters from Wall Rose before we can confirm anything," I say.

I know my answer was disappointing for her to hear, but she understood. There's nothing we can do other than maintain order. Levi's squad is being sent to scout the situation in Maria and report back, absolutely no unnecessary encounters with titans. He stopped by an hour ago to tell me, but also to say he will see me in a few days. I hope that's true.

Hange's squad is also maintaining the area. I've never seen them truly worried, but the look on their face gives me a pit in my stomach. I tell my group to head to their positions after explaining how the shifts between my squad and Hange's will work. We have the first shift.

I head to my position on one of the tallest buildings in Sheena. You can see the smoke from Maria at this height. How did this happen? Why did this happen? How could this happen?

I spend my entire shift worried about what's happening in Shigashina and within Maria's walls. I worry about Levi and his squad. I hope they don't encounter any abnormals like my squad. My stomach turns at the thought of Levi's squad being ripped to shreds by titans.

Hange with perfect timing interrupts my thoughts just as they started to get darker. They relieve me of my position and tell me to get some rest. I see the worry on their face as well. They want Levi and his squad to return all in one piece as well.

Once I get to my room, I strip down and soak in a warm bath. My body is covered in bruises and cuts and it still aches to move. I have to stay strong, I can't let my fellow scouts think they can't look up to me, even if I am just above a meter and a half tall. I sink deeper into the water and try not to think about all my worries.

~~

"Come on Rena, stop screwing around," Levi says.

"I'm just trying to have some kind of fun. Cleaning the stables sucks!" I throw a brush full of horse hair at him.

He catches it, but the hairs cover his uniform and he immediately starts brushing himself off. I turn around to finish with the horse I was just brushing when Levi comes up behind me and dumps the water bucket on me.

"Hey!" I shout as he runs off.

I can't help but laugh. He's only cleaning the stables because he got mouthy with Ewrin earlier during our ODM training. He said something like, "Hsk, you know I already know how to do this. Why am I wasting my time with this?" Erwin wasn't in the mood for it and sent him down here with me. It was already my chore.

I run after him but the ground falls out from under me. The golden rays of the sun turn into the deep blue beams of a full moon. Levi stands in front of 2 graves, his head bowed in sorrow, his boots covered in blood. He looks back at me as tears fall down his cheeks, then he turns to dust.

~~

I gasp as I splash water everywhere. It's cold, I must have fallen asleep. I clean up my mess and slip into my night gown. The moon is shining through my window. I can see that the smoke is slowly clearing from Maria as rain comes crashing down. Sometimes, it feels like the world is crying with us.