Tantamount

Tests

Song: Sigrid-Everybody knows // I Wanna be your slave-Māneskin

My hands shook as I stood outside. The cold morning provided no comfort and my thoughts wandered to dark places. Today I was going to be part of the Corps expedition. My only thoughts were to come back alive and finally get to see my family again. I brushed the horse I was assigned to and wondered how they must view everything. Taking orders, obeying while their lives were in danger. I know titans don't eat animals but they still seem to be oddly targeted according to all that Hange told me. They really be getting the raw end of the deal.

"What are you doing soldier?" The almost velvet voice reached my ears and I immediately knew who it belonged to. I peacefully continued brushing my horse.

"Good morning to you too Levi. I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep."

"Thinking about the expedition?" He leaned against the wall looking at the horizon.

I gave a small smile "Thinking about coming back." He just gave and acknowledging nod as we stood there in silence.

~~time skip~~~

Hange lead the way of her squad as the gates went up. A breeze ran through my hair making me shiver, while I was excited to see the outside I knew danger lurked around every corner. The Commander's voice vibrated through the crowd of soldiers and with a battle cry our horses galloped to the outside. For a moment the shadow of the walls engulfed us and in the blink of an eye we where outside. The sun fully shun on us and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Still not used to the sun's brightness I struggled to keep my eyes open. Sounds of hoves sounded like a chorus and I gripped my reigns tighter, silently praying I wouldn't regret any decisions i made outside these walls. From the corner of my eye, I saw the familiar raven-haired man and I felt slightly safer. SLIGHTLY. His squad was on the right of Hange's squad and I took a mental note of their position. After all, they were the special squad. Trees started to be seen at the horizon and my body relaxed, being out in the open with nothing to use our ODM gear was nerve-racking and trees provided a perfect environment to use our gear. As we neared the trees the commander and squad leaders shouted orders my tunnel vision only focused on following Hange and my senses were extra aware of our surroundings. The squads dispersed and my senses went to overdrive, eyes snapping in all directions.

Everything was quiet... too quiet. We reached the trees and Hange's voice snapped me out of my trance.

"Engage in ODM gear, kill every titan on sight." The squad nodded and I quickly patted my horse wishing him to be safe and released my hooks swinging till i landed on a tall branch. The height made my anxiety grow stronger and I started to feel slightly dizzy. I shook my head and stopped myself from looking down. 'Focus (y/n)'. Hange sneakily left and I wondered why would she leave her squad like that. Regardless I focused on the last order she left us.

I felt the branch I was on slightly vibrate causing me to immediately draw my swords looking around for the target.

Moblit looked at me "(Y/n)? What are you doing?"

Not wanting to break my concentration I just said "Titan" My eyes scanned the area searching for something big and ugly that was surely coming our way. 

Hange's squad looked at each other feeling unsure but they also drew their swords.

Three 7 meter titans appeared and my body tensed up. They looked so human-like yet I knew they were far from it.

Nifa looked at me, "Hange is not back, what do we do (y/n)."

I furrowed my brows questioning why she would ask me. I was inexperienced. But not wanting to waste any more time I answered

"Moblit, you come with me. The rest stay here and don't engage unless necessary. "

I gave Moblit a nod and he did the same, determination filling his eyes. Our gear took us through the trees and as we got closer to the titans I tried to conjure up a reasonable plan. I knew I was inexperienced and any error on my part could result in the death of my comrade.

"Moblit! I'll go for the back of their legs and arms to slow them down. You keep your distance till you see an opening, just focus on delivering the final blow. We are not taking any risks today."

He nodded and I pushed my gear to go further and faster. The Titans took notice of my presence and quickly avoided those reaching hands making cuts on them and in some cases managing to cut all the way through the arm. Then I moved to their legs making deep cuts followed by Moblit who would cut their napes as soon as they were down. We landed on nearby branches and the adrenaline in my body was almost too much to handle. 

"Let's go back to the squad shall we?"

Moblit smiled and we made our way back

"Hey, how did you know about the titans before we could even see them?

"The earth was vibrating weirdly? I know that sounds weird but hey it worked."

He laughed and we landed with Hange's squad who looked distressed. Sensing this I stepped forward

"What's wrong?"

"An abnormal made it inside the formation, the squad nearby manage to kill it but they were decimated and now more titans are coming their way."

"Dammit, where the hell is Hange?!?"

"In the message we receive, it was told you were now in charge. Hange's orders."

I ran my hands through my hair feeling exasperated "Is this some kind of sick test goddammit, Hange I'm gonna kill someone when we get back home and we are all getting back home. This some bullshit." After my rant, I let out a breath.

"Is there a chance of survivors?"

"Yes, not that many though."

I weighed our options, breaking formation was probably wrong and could do more harm than good. If this nearby squad was decimated that means they wouldn't be able to fight back and titans would make it deeper into the woods, possibly endangering more Corps. Yet no flares were signaling a retreat or to alert.

I whispered to myself "Fucking hell" I shook my head wanting to let all feelings out of this, it wasn't a time to be emotional. "You guys know each other better than I do. I need the best ones with me to get a hold of any survivors and hold any coming titans from entering the formation. Two of you would be staying here only to engage if necessary. So make the decision now, we don't have time to waste."

They all smiled looking satisfied with my answer which threw me off "Well? Let's fucking go now."

Moblit scratched the back of his head. "Well, you see..."

"(Y/N)!!!!! MY GOD YOU WERE AMAZING!!" My blood ran cold as I felt two arms hug me from behind and slightly lift me.

"Excuse me?!!! HANGE!!??"

"IT WAS A TEST AND YOU PASSED WITH ACES!!" maybe I should've been happy the situation wasn't real but, I was livid. Hange dropped me and I turned around giving her the angriest look I could muster. She smiled while scratching the back of her neck and blushing "Sorry (y/n), Erwin wanted to test you plus this will look great with the court!"

I lifted my hand signaling her to stop. "Can we leave now?"

"Yes yes, soon they will be signaling with smoke."

Soon enough the signal smoke adorned the skies and we go on our horses making our way back to the walls. Once we arrive at the HQ I went to my room and took a shower, wanting to wash away the stress of the day.