Silver Lining | ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴɴ

Chapter 10

When I wake up the next morning, I'm in such a good mood that I almost annoy the others this time. I whistle on my way to the bathroom, I smile when I look in the mirror to braid my hair, and I take Jean's hand and swing it between us when we walk down to breakfast.

I change almost entirely the second I step into the kitchen and spot Levi against a wall, talking to Petra. His eyes snap away from her as if he felt my presence, and it's quite unnerving. But my smile comes so much more easily than I would have imagined.

"Good morning, Captain," I say.

He inclines his head just as Petra whips around to stare at me with wide eyes. So does Jean. And Eren. And Connie, and Sasha, and Historia. I sit down at the table with them and wish them a good morning, too. At first, I don't see what the problem was - Levi told me to be looser with him. But then I realize that no one, not one of the others, has ever said good morning to the captain. Only Hange has tried to be funny about it once, and he almost kicked her in the shin. So not only am I the first person to say it and mean it, but I'm also the first person to not get scolded for it.

We go into the forest very early today. It's still cool outside when we strap on our gear and saddle our horses. Captain Levi is the first on his horse, and the rest of us follow his example. Eren next to me yawns widely, and I offer him a sorry smile. He must be exhausted.

"Alright, listen up!" The captain demands our attention, and I wholeheartedly give it to him. "We're not going outside of the walls either today, but this is our last training exercise before the next scouting mission, so think of the strategy and deal with the obstacles in your way."

Each of us gives a nod to show that we understand what he's telling us. I force my brain to focus, and as soon as we ride into the forest, it's as if no other thoughts have ever been in there. We ride in formation; Levi at the center. He guides us through the forest until we get to the makeshift titans that we have to take out.

Mikasa and I are the first to lift off our horses and swing from tree to tree. We slice the fake-titan's necks and follow our horses, which are running with the rest of them. I give Mikasa a quick nod as we land in our saddles again, and she nods back.

There are more fake-titans on our way, and this time, Mikasa and I aren't alone in defeating them. Eren swings right next to us, and he and Jean make some kind of race out of this. I roll my eyes at them because we clearly have more important things to deal with than beating each other. At least I do. I know that the captain is watching us, watching me, and I want to show him how good I can be, how useful.

We continue to ride and swing through the forest, and even though I lost orientation quite a while ago, I'm pretty sure we must be on our way back. There's no way to tell the time because the trees are so dense that we can barely see the sun.

Only when we near the edge of the forest again do we see the shadows of the trees and can tell that we've been gone for hours. The castle comes into view. When we slow into a trot, I suddenly feel how tired my legs and arms are. I let go of the reigns and balance myself on my horse until it finally stops, and I hop off. Leading it to the water, I feel thirsty myself.

I sit down on the bench with Jean and Sasha and lean against the table behind us. We drink and watch our horses for a while before we bring them back to the stables.

Before we can get to talking, Gunther calls us inside. "The captain has something to say."

The three of us look at each other, then at the others, and we follow Gunther into the castle. Levi sits at the head of the table, his arms and legs crossed. Hange sits next to him on one side, a notebook opened before her, and Gunther takes a seat on the other side. Us newcomers fill the rest of the seats settle down quickly.