Silver with a Heart of Gold

Chapter 4 - Silver Steed

"All done. If any stitches come loose again - see me as soon as possible, okay?" Ailynn eyed one of her patients kindly and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. He was a soldier who had fallen during the battle a few days earlier - the same battle which lead to the demise of half of the medical team. After the expedition had ended, Ailynn had soon found out that two other medical carts had been sabotaged by titans and majority of the medics had been killed. If only those medics and nurses were trained and permitted to fight, there would still be a good number of them left.

The soldier gave her a nod and lifted himself from the stretcher in the hospital room. After giving her a friendly smile he limped out of the door and eventually out of the hospital. Ailynn began to clean up her equipment - until a sturdy knock on the door disturbed her from her doings.

"Come in." She turned to face the doorway where the knock had come from. There in the frame stood the Section Commander - towering over the entire room with his height. Thinking quickly, Ailynn performed a quick salute to acknowledge the high-ranking soldier. "Section Commander Zacharias, how can I help?"

He chuckled then gently knocked Ailynn's hand from the salute. "Please, just call me Miche. And there's no need to salute either. Only do that when there are other people around."

Ailynn nodded. The heat on her cheeks began to rise. What was he doing here? And why was he being so informal? "Apologies Sir. I uh... I mean Miche." She quickly corrected herself.

Miche grunted and lifted his nose to sniff the still air. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. You know, you're a brave nurse. One of the first that has ever had the guts to try and take down a titan. Alone. And without an order."

A bang quickly silenced him. He spun his head around to see Ailynn holding her head as if she had just knocked it on one of the shelves hanging from the wall. Either she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, or she was simply surprised by this compliment. She quickly smiled it off and scurried to various parts of the room to pack up equipment she had used throughout the day.

Miche leant awkwardly on one leg and watched the flighty nurse hobble around the medical room. Her leg seemed to be getting better, but that was not what he was paying attention to. He sniffed the air again, but this time lightly. An inviting sensation filled his nose - a scent of warm, feminine charm. Sweet yet musky - like sugar biscuits and cedar-wood. Something about this woman was different from others he had known before, but he couldn't quite put his nose on it.

"Uh, Sir? Miche? Are you okay?" Ailynn must have noticed his blank expression and odd stares so she stopped what she was doing and stood still, staring at him with her wide ocean eyes.

"Hm? Oh. Yes. Apologies, Ailynn." Miche scratched his head sheepishly. Ailynn could have sworn she could see him blush. "I was just thinking. I want to help you."

Ailynn lifted her brow. "Help me? With what, sir?"

"To prove to your uncle that you are fully capable of looking after yourself - that you can take down a titan. On your own." His eyes were hopeful. "In fact, I believe the medical officers and nurses should be permitted to fight. We've lost far too many due to their lack of knowledge and skill, and because they are too afraid to disobey orders." He was in need of a new pupil, and she was perfect. Of course he would have to train her in secret but knew that when the time came, she would be able to prove her worth to the Commander, who so happened to be a close friend of his own. Perhaps Erwin would accept the fact that he - one of the best soldiers of all regiments - trained her himself. Maybe then, the Commander would give her and the other medical scouts a chance.

Ailynn's heart skipped a beat. "Are you... are you saying that you want to train me?" No soldier had ever offered to give her more than just basic ODM and hand-to-hand training, let alone the scouting regiment's Section Commander.