Never let me go

20: The battle for Shiganshina

The battle for Shiganshina - Year 850

Anyone who has walked through the forest knows the feeling you get once you realize the world around you is alive with so much more than what you can see with your two eyes. Her footsteps thudded quietly against the soft yet compact undergrowth. The people around her all seemed to be making a conscious effort to walk quietly, careful not to disturb anything lurking in these woods. The silent trees around her and the darkness lingering in between them felt vast and imposing. If she listened intently she could make out the sound of a light breeze through the thickets, and it reminded her of the sound of air wheezing out between puckered lips; like the silent echo of a child somewhere out there in the dark, trying to learn how to whistle. The sound of a tree branch snapping underneath one of the horses' hooves made her jump, and she heard the sound of her heart thundering in her ears.

"Easy, it's just the horses" Jean hissed next to her, but her flickering heart would not relent. It beat hard and fast in her chest, calling out to her flesh to be alert, be ready. Fight. She pursed her lips, and heard those unbidden words whisper inside her mind: "It's a 'tell', everyone has them"

"I know that" she quietly snapped back at him. The look he gave her was full of concern, but he pressed his lips together and said nothing. What was there to say anyway? But he did look over his shoulder to the group behind them carrying the thunder spears. Their new weapons were able to blast through materials their blades could not pierce. She knew they were there, but did not want to look at them. She had seen what they could do. That was enough.

Perhaps sensing that she wanted to be alone, Jean went slightly ahead to bicker with Eren. She heard the group of friends talking, but their words faded into the murmur of her thoughts. She kept her eyes on the dark ground before her, each step of her feet feeling heavier than the last. The titan they came upon just sat there on its ass; its deadpan fish eyes never even moved to look at them. The titans at Utgard, now believed to be the villagers from Ragako, must have been special somehow. Further through the darkness they went at a slow, creeping pace. Every single member of the survey corps was in attendance, and for the first time in many years the people who saw them off had cheered. The success of this mission was a possibility because of Eren, but the reason anyone really dared believe it was because Commander Erwin was betting everything he had on this. He had even come along with them, despite Levi doing his best to dissuade the man. The captain hadn't said that he'd done it, but she had seen it on his face. The kind of friendship between those two had was difficult for her to understand, especially once she had learned the story behind how Levi had gone from an underground thug to humanity's strongest soldier. She thought that maybe they relied on each other in some strange way; Levi was the sword and Erwin its wielder. But it was only a theory.

She heard Mikasa say she recognized this place; that she used to come there to gather firewood. How Mikasa could recognize anything inside the darkness of this wild forest was beyond her understanding. All she saw was grass, bushes, trees and dark shapes all around her. That's when they heard the call from the front of the procession, letting them know they had reached the foot of the mountain. Just as the first trickling light of dawn became visible across the sky, they mounted up and rode hard for wall Maria, and the hole leading into Shiganshina.

The ruins of the settlement just outside of the gate stood empty, clear of titans as far as they could see. The horses thundered down the main street, stirring up a huge cloud of dust around them. As the wall came rushing on and the sound of her own heart drowned out everything else in the world, Iris's eyes darted between the people around her on their horses. Their green capes flapped in the wind, tousled strands of hair whipped around pale faces. Some soldiers sported looks of excitement, though most were grave but full of determination. Her eyes found Jean's, and as he mouthed "You ok?" to her she felt her lips tremble. Unable to force her features into a look of hardened resolve she just stared back at him, wondering if the horror showed on her face.