A Promise (An Attack on Titan Fanfic: Erwin Smith)

Retrieval Mission I

"The Commander is here!"

Moblit whipped his head and was hit by an immense wave of relief when he saw a group riding towards them across the top of the walls; the group of soldiers was trodding nearer and he could make out a familiar stark white horse leading them at the frontmost center, ridden by their Commander.

There were also soldiers from the Military Police, but that was the least of Moblit's concern.

The Commander.

He could never put it in words, but there was always this sense of hope that would fill him up whenever their Commander was in the scene—like a beacon of hope—that no matter how bleak and hopeless the situation was going to be, someone was there to show them the way. Like a guide.

A leader.

With mild difficulty, Moblit managed to sit up. His body was still slightly sore from the injuries he'd incurred from their previous battle, but it wasn't as bad as his squad leader's. He sent a worried frown at Hanji, who was lying by his side, unconscious with red patches all over her body from the extreme steaming heat from the colossal titan's attack from earlier's battle.

Standing up, Moblit held his arm and staggered towards Erwin, who'd just unmounted his horse.

"You made it, Commander Erwin!"

"Is the situation the same?"

"Yes sir—" he abruptly stopped when Erwin brushed past him in a brisk pace, like he was in a hurry.

Confused, Moblit turned around and followed him with his eyes, watching him walk past the line of unconscious soldiers, who were mostly veteran ranking officers who'd been within the closest range to the colossal titan's unexpected attack and thus caught the highest damage.

He quickly tottered after Erwin, wincing slightly from his injuries; the blond was marching in long strides so he had to double his pace in order to catch up.

"Apologies, sir. We were caught off guard by the enemy." He frowned when he remembered the last part of their battle. Eren had the armored titan subdued on the ground—well, they thought he did. But then the colossal had came barreling towards them from above and sent everyone flying in a heap of steam and heat. With majority of their ranking officers out of commission, they couldn't go after the kidnapped titan shifters. "Six hours had already passed since then."

When Erwin suddenly stopped walking, Moblit almost bumped into him. He followed his Commander's gaze and finally saw the woman he knew he was looking for.

Right at the end of the line of unconscious Scouts, Isanna was beside Hanji's unconscious figure; just like everyone else, she had sustained harsh burn marks, patches of red all around her face and body.

But unlike Hanji, Isanna was still very much conscious.

"Fancy seeing you, Commander," Isanna greeted with a flat voice that contradicted her words. "What took you so long?"

"My apologies," he said. "Preparations for the lifts took longer than intended."

"Well, better late than never, I guess."

"The messenger reported you were heavily injured. I expected you to be out of commission."

"Whoever said that was overreacting. Hanji's worse than me." She squinted at him. "What, you want me to be knocked out cold?"

"You misunderstood me."

Isanna looked like she had something else to say, probably a snappy comeback of some sorts, but Erwin patted her on the head and rounded his heel without a word, heading back to the rest of the soldiers.