My Love Untold

The Mission

I walked down the hallway, giving my kitchen a quick glance. I felt annoyance towards my best friend for leaving the dishes for me to clean up. I let out a soft sigh, remembering that she had made me breakfast. It was only fair that I had done the dishes. My hand fell onto the handle of my blade to rest and I felt myself deflate slightly, my bad feeling going away now that I was in my gear. It was odd, but my gear had become battle armor.

I walked outside my house, locking the door behind me and made my way around to the stable. My horse was kicking up dirt, almost impatient for my arrival. She saw me and stopped, letting out a soft whinny as she made her way towards me. I smiled when we met, and I stroked her rough mane, making a mental note to brush it when I came back. I hopped up on a nearby box, feeling a small sense of insecurity at my height. Quickly swinging my leg over, I sat down nicely on the saddle I had set up the night before and gave her sides a soft kick.

I allowed my mind to wander as we made our way to the barracks. Every now and then, I would feel guilty about being given a house while other members of the military were stuck in the barracks, but Eren always helped make it clear that I had earned my house, while others haven't yet. Not very many were still stuck in the barracks, though. The only people that were still there were Erwin, Sasha, and Connie, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Sasha was only there for Connie.

My eyes drifted to the wall as I got closer to it. I felt determination well up in my chest as I thought about all the Titans that had taken up residency outside the walls. A hatred burned inside me that I didn't think would ever get extinguished. The world that had once been made for us... belonged to the beasts that didn't know how to appreciate it. I remember Eren sadly telling me of the dreams that Armin had: seeing the oceans and the long-forgotten ruins. I couldn't help but wonder how many others felt the way Armin did and were just too afraid to say anything.

The sound of my horse slowing down brought my attention back to the matter at hand: getting down. I led her into the stable where a large pile of hay stood. I pursed my lips and looked around, making sure no one was around to see before flinging myself into the hay. It wasn't as soft a landing as I had hoped, but at least it hadn't been the ground.

Soft laughter caused me to snap my head towards the entrance of the stable. Eren was trying to cover up the sound as best she could, but I could tell it was difficult.

"You look so cute down there, you know?" she said happily. I grunted before finding my way up. Sadly, it took a few tries, and I most likely looked like a beetle that had gotten stuck on it's back.

"Someone got rid of the damned box. I had to get down somehow," I murmured. Eren nodded sympathetically before smiling once again. She walked past me to tie up my horse, before saying, "You should go say good morning to Petra; she's a little anxious about today's mission." I cocked my head slightly. Petra was nervous, too?

"You aren't nervous anymore, right?" I asked her. She turned around to look at me, and she gave a reassuring smile.

"I'm all good," there was a second of silence before she added, "Now go talk to your girlfriend." I chuckled and nodded, heading towards a large group of people a little ways away. Petra was a little ways off, closer to me than the rest of them, and I jogged to reach her, placing a hand on her back when I did. She jumped slightly at my touch, and I saw a slight tear slip down her cheek.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, given as the rest of the group was still close enough to hear me if I spoke at full volume. She shook her head.

"This whole scouting mission is to find Ymir. What if we find her corpse?" I tried to answer before she cut me off, meaningfully whispering, "What if we don't find anything?" My lips formed a slight frown at the thought and I shook my head. Petra was one of our best soldiers, but she was also one of the best under pressure, making her an amazing impromptu medic. Her mind was most likely racing with ideas of what could have become of Ymir in the few days she was alone outside the walls.

"She's tough. A lot tougher than most of the people here," I said, gesturing towards the group. I felt Petra nod at my observation. "She's going to be okay when we find her. You'll only have to tend to minor bumps and bruises." I wasn't sure how she'd take my words, but I hoped It would be positive. I couldn't have her mind be elsewhere when a Titan appeared. She planted a soft kiss on my cheek before wiping her own, and I felt Eren jog up to the rest of us.

Eren called out to the team, and they snapped their attention to her, before quickly finding me. They gave me a salute and I smirked before giving it back to them. "Are we ready?" I yelled to them, causing a few in front to flinch.

Without hesitation, the group yelled back a loud, "Yes!" I nodded and led them to the wall. I smiled softly as we took off into the sky, one-by-one. I had always loved the feeling of being in the air. I heard a tree creak from pressure, and my eyes snapped over to the sound. A Titan was making his way towards us, a large annoying smile on its haunting face. My face contorted into an expression of disgust as I raced over to it. I scanned around my group for anymore Titans before I locked onto the nape of the beast's neck.

I readied my weapon, and sliced, taking a chunk of flesh out of its neck and smirked to myself as it collapsed. I fell to the ground beside it and gave myself a chance to really scan the area. A scowl appeared on my face as I realized that a horde of Titans was coming to surround me. I saw a few soldiers coming up to take them down, but there were too many for just a few people to take on, and the rest were out looking for Ymir. I grunted and took off, managing to slice up the neck of one Titan before I saw a hand reaching for me. Fortunately, I dodged before it could grab me.

Unfortunately, the hand rammed itself hard into my skull, knocking me to the side.

I heard someone call out for me, but everything was already fading out. The last thing I remembered was the feeling of being picked up and the sound of the equipment as someone took me to a secluded spot.

I woke up in the middle of the forest, my head throbbing dully. I noticed the back of Armin's head speed away from me as I regained consciousness, and I nodded to myself, trying to figure out what had happened. Deciding it was better to act rather than think, I stood slowly, nervous about the oncoming headache. I swayed slightly but quickly regained my composure. I took off into the sky once again, searching for the group of Titans that had knocked me down, but they were gone. Landing in a circle of trees, I started running through the forest, deciding to search on foot to save my fuel.

Hearing a loud shout, I abandoned the thought of conservation and immediately took off to find the source of the yell. I found Eren a little ways away stuck in the hand of a Titan. I reached for my blade, fully willing to chop through the Titan's wrist to save Eren, but as I raced towards her, I realized it was too late. I had been too far away. I saw the Titan bring Eren up to its mouth and time seemed to slow. I moved as fast as I could, but it was all for nothing as the Titan snapped its jaw around Eren's torso. I let out a blood-curdling scream as I sliced through the Titan's neck, catching what was left of Eren as her body fell.

I felt my body go numb when I landed, and my knees gave out from under me as I fell. I didn't feel the tears, but I heard my sobs. A loud crunch brought me out of my stupor and my body rose to counter the Titan that was approaching. I gave Eren's body one last look as I took off, one more time, into the sky, aiming for the Titan's weak point.