CHAPTER 14 REUNION
Into the bustling, crowded outpost of Troste, Levi and a small band of Scouts made their way through the Tudor lined streets; decorated with flags celebrating the 'king's' rule, overflowing with citizens that had come to receive the Crown's gift of extra rations.
The day was clear and bright. Warm, but not enough to make the disguises they wore conspicuous, as the small group, comforted by the throng of people, blanketed in their civilian mud-brown capes; branched off into groups of one or two, in an effort to blend in. As they browsed the sidewalk market stalls, an uncovered wagon raced through the street; its occupants grabbing the decoyed Eren and Historia, as it sped into the distance.
The rooftop Scouts; was led by Mikasa, second only to Levi in her strength and agility. Her shoulder-length, shaggy black hair, carelessly caressing her porcelain, heart-shaped face. Her grey eyes, evaluating all in an instant, as her slender, muscular frame burst into action. Using her ODM gear, she flew from rooftop to rooftop as she tailed the wagon. Finally coming to a stop atop the roof of an abandoned factory; where the wagon had charged inside the disused warehouse. Leaving her comrades, she reported to Levi and within minutes of his order, had retrieved their decoyed Eren and Historia, and captured the perpetrators.
'"It was too easy. They were amateurs", Captain Levi thought to himself, as he rejoined the rest of his Squad along the rooftops of the Troste city centre in watching, guarding, the real Eren's and Hisoria's passage through Troste; uncertainty gnawing at the back of his mind.
The Survey Corp were in place; every vantage point had been occupied, making sure that the covered wagon that was transporting the real Eren and Historia was always within view. The Squad had staked their positions well ahead of the enemy. The city was clean.
So why did he feel the unshakable sense of unease as he sat on the red-tiled rooftop with his subordinate; watching and waiting for the covered wagon to pass through town?
The wagon made its way quickly through the streets, pausing only to allow the gathered crowds to disperse.
"It's okay",his partner, reassured him. "There's nothing unusual there."
His steel, grey eyes searched the area for any hint of danger. He could see none. So he sat crouching like a cat, ready to pounce, as he waited. His small muscular frame resembled Kenny's, in miniature. For whether it was genetics or the lack of food his childhood had provided, he had never grown to the towering height of his uncle. But like his uncle, he shared the same shrewd, grey eyes and the same straight black hair. Unlike his uncle, and grandfather, he'd abandoned the long, shaggy style with which they'd worn their hair. Instead he tamed his Ackerman locks into submission with a short back-and-sides undercut; leaving the layers on top, falling gently into his eyes. His pale skin, he had inherited from his mother. And the rounded face with his strong, clean-cut, jawline, only made him look decades younger, and much softer, than he really was.
No outsider, would have taken this man, who looked like a small, innocent boy, to be the Captain of the Survey Corp; the killer of hundreds.
Humanity's greatest defender. Humanity's greatest hope.
"The Military Police wouldn't use amateurs...... But someone had...."Levi's thoughts continued, as he gazed around him, searching for the impending danger that had kept him so on edge.
"It's almost as if someone was expecting the wagon to be followed. What had he missed? WHERE had he missed?"Levi mused to himself.
Turning to his partner, Nifa, the young cadet whose delivery of Commander Erwin's note had saved them all, he asked, "You ever heard of Kenny the Ripper?"
She replied that he was an urban myth.
"No. He's not", Levi assured her. "When I was a kid, I .. lived with him..for a while.."
At this, Nifa laughed, saying that this was not the time for jokes. But Levi, lost in reverie; recalling Kenny's lesssons, ignored her.
"......When stalkin' ya target....Surroun' 'em from both sides. Get ya self a good vantage point, from high up... Make sure ya got all ya angles covered...."
Levi shuddered, as he solved the mystery.
And the faint, whisper-quiet, clang of metal reached his ears.
YOU ARE READING
TEN YEARS, The Kenny Ackerman Story BOOK TWO~ FUTURES, by Melly O'Hara
Fanfiction' Waking slowly to his lips seeking mine, aware of the fading candlelight, the warm hardness of his body, the soft caress of his hands, I curved my body toward his; accepting his passion once again, surrendering to his love, his need, his hunger..' ...
