Petrichor

Chapter 18- Adalynn

"Greetings from California" Beach Bunny 

This mission was annoying. Maybe I should have stayed back. I forced myself onto this excursion, but I was starting to regret it.

"No combat," Levi had told me. "You'll record the events of the mission and nothing else." I'm not fucking incapable. He's so infuriating.

There wasn't even action to be a part of. Riding around on horses next to each other, searching for titans. The pulsating and dull pain that collected on either side of my body set as a reminder on why I had to push to be on this mission in the first place. It ached and blended into the hum of the trotting alongside me. Every breath I took stung and made me want to vomit. Which would be worse. The ground shaking by the cause of the inevitable creatures tore me back into reality.

I held tight onto Rayne, slowly craning my head. Devilish smirks met my gaze, a hoard in pursuit of us. Great. I took a shaky breath, bringing my hands cautiously to my blades.

"Adalynn, leave. Now." Levi demanded. Typically, I would ignore him. But I could hardly grip my consciousness at this point. I nod, continuing forward before sending my hooks into a crumbling building above. The landing was less than perfect as I practically ate shit.

I pushed my hands against the perimeter of the brick, eyeing my comrades as they fought. We were here to catch titans, but with a horde of roughly seven, it didn't seem likely we'd be doing that right now. My gaze shifted rapidly between each of the soldiers I'd come to know all too well. They worked with grace and precision. Each movement was a flawless, fluid add-on of the previous. It was something I strived to match when I started training with Levi. Watching Petra and Olou work together to slice the nape of a titan while simultaneously avoiding the grasp of another, smaller and pudgier one, was nearly mesmerizing. I admired their tenacity. Even if I wasn't close with all of them, let alone most, I would always respect their abilities and perseverance.

They were handling everything just fine. No need for me to intervene, to injure myself further. I turned around and walked to the other side of the building. I needed to keep myself moving, needed blood rushing through my body. As soon as I reached the other side, I heard a scream. Not entirely loud, but not quiet either, strained and almost dainty. I spun on my heel to find the source, and not to my surprise, it was Alvar. In the hands of a nine-meter, its fist curled around his smaller body. Though he stabbed at its fingers, his blades were shattered, and did little to no damage.

I didn't think before I started to sprint forward. I didn't need to think. All I needed to do was focus on saving Alvar. My foot caught the roof awkwardly, and my knee buckled. An ache immediately ran down my calf. Stop making mistakes. As soon as I was close enough I angled my hips and shot the hooks of my gear in the direction of the titan. They latched, and I pulled the trigger, shooting gas to give me a push off the roof.

I needed to get Alvar secured first. Then I could kill it. I detached my right hook from the belly of the titan and into its shoulder. It slowly followed my movements, looking up at me and reaching for the lines of my grapples as I flew over its shoulder and behind its back. My stomach whirled as I once more detached my right hook and pushed my gas. I angled my body a hundred and eighty degrees, bringing my blades down on the crease between bicep and forearm, slicing straight through. Alvar was immediately able to zip away from the scene, tumbling on the grass helplessly. A spring shot from his gear.

Shit. It's broken.

My head was pounding so vigorously I couldn't hear anything but the beating of my heart. I whipped myself back around, aiming for the nape. Just a few more seconds, then it can be over. My gear hooked onto the shoulder blade furthest from me. With a final push of my gas, I drug my swords across the thick flesh of the titan, relishing in the fact it started to fall a second later.