Awakened

Chapter 17

Everything was chaotic once the messenger arrived.

He was exhausted, with bags under his eyes and blood splattering his clothes.

To say he startled the people within the walls was an understatement.

Erwin had met him, and word of the attack on the Keep spread like wildfire.

Now, Mikasa was pushing her horse to its limits. Riding it fast across the plains. The attack on the Keep wrenched her gut, flipping it endlessly. She wanted to throw up.

Eren, Armin, and Tauriel were there. They had to be alright.

They had to be.

Mikasa pushed her horse, and it pounded faster. The entire Scout Regiment was riding fast, the collective sounds of hooves slamming sounding like thunder.

The only thing on Mikasa's mind was her loved ones.

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The messenger had led them to the backup safe house of the Scout Regiment. It was four hours away from the Keep, but the messenger had said that those who escaped came here by order of Levi.

Mikasa of course questioned him endlessly about Eren, Armin, and Tauriel.

He answered that Eren helped them escape, by letting Scouts hook onto him in his Titan form and running in the direction Levi led him. Mikasa was grateful Eren didn't try to fight, like he usually did, and instead chose a way to save the most people. Apparently there was one Titan that was stronger than the rest, and Mikasa wasn't sure how she felt about Eren going up against it.

The messenger admitted that he didn't know about Armin or Tauriel, but that Levi might know.

That didn't ease her heart at all.

When they finally arrived at the safe grounds, Mikasa didn't even wait for her horse to stop to get off. She simply hopped off, and sprinted to the giant lodge.

"Mikasa!" Hange called, but she didn't look back or stop.

She bursted through the doors, startling a Scout who was walking down the hall with some salve, and one look at her had him pointing in the direction of Eren's whereabouts.

She sprinted to his room, carefully avoiding the Scouts who were coming in and out of rooms taking care of other Scouts.

A part of Mikasa's mind was shocked. The air was dead. Silent. As if the days events left everyone too traumatized to even speak.

The attack must've caught everyone off guard, and Mikasa didn't even have to wonder to know that everyone here, the ones who survived, experienced some kind of horror, whether that be through watching their friends die or by almost dying themselves.

Mikasa entered the room Eren was in, and she practically dropped to her knees at the sight of Armin by his bedside.

"You're alive," Mikasa breathed out, coming to him.

Armin smiled, getting up and meeting Mikasa's embrace. "Yeah."

Mikasa squeezed him tighter, breathing in the familiar childhood scent that was Armin, before pulling back. She looked to Eren who lay asleep, his chest rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. He still had the flesh marks of the Titan skin attachments around his eyes, but they were fading.