I look down at my hands, loosening my death grip on the reigns a bit. Erwin is shouting over the angry crowd in an attempt to hype us up. Despite the comments and vulgar language being thrown at us from the surrounding citizens, he's doing a good job.
I glance at Levi to my left; his eyes are fixated on the large concrete gate in front of us. I start to grow impatient waiting for it to open, sometimes it took hours for the titans to clear long enough to allow the Survey Corps out, and even then, the gate drops dangerously fast to ensure that no titan gets inside.
I quickly glance at Eren behind me; he, too, stares at the gate, anxiously waiting for it to open. I manage to catch his attention and shoot him a quick reassuring smile. He tries to return the favor, but it seems more strained than usual.
The low grumbling of the ground below us returns my attention to the slowly rising gate. I get ready to move forward, awaiting Erwin's command.
Following his word, the commander leads us through the raised gate and outside the safety of our walls. I hear the stone door crash into the ground behind us, separating us from home.
My eyes trail across our surroundings; what the titans did to Wall Maria. The wreckage is devastating; buildings are smashed to dust; blood splatters the few standing corners; few mangled bodies still lay around the shattered ground.
A distant shout comes from the back and I catch a red flare out the corner of my eye, signaling a titan is nearby. I take a quick glance back and watch a soldier take it down swiftly.
I return my attention to the front, weaving my horse around any rubble in our way. Multiple flares have gone off since the first one, but Erwin continues to go straight. The main goal is to make it out of the city, then break into the new formation, constructed to move around approaching titans, avoiding as much contact as possible.
The familiar grass field begins to come into view and the frontmost soldiers begin to break into formation on Erwin's command.
The purpose of this mission is to "track and report" as Levi had put it, though we don't have a set target to track, unless titans in general is specific enough.
A group of red flares catches my attention and I turn my head to see a 15-meter running to the rear right flank.
"Alice, eyes ahead!"
I return my attention to the front at Levi's order, watching Erwin set off a green flare pointing to the left, and we follow it away from the approaching titan.
After countless hours of bounding through the lengthy field and dodging titans, we regroup at an abandoned barn next to a large forest.
Erwin paces, reciting his mental notes while Hange jots them down, "20 total titans encountered, 8 of them abnormals, 15 dead..."
I sit next to Eren on the floor, pulling my knees into my chest.
"This almost seems like a dream, don't you think?"
Eren gives me a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I feel like at any moment I'll wake up back home, and everything, the Survey Corps, our training, will be a dream. And none of it happened."
He nods and we share a small moment of comfortable silence.
"I almost wish all this was a dream, and I'll wake up and see my mom in the kitchen cooking while dad is getting ready for work."
"I used to think that all the time after we moved to the surface." I say with a sigh, more to myself than Eren, but his gaze still catches the corner of my eye.
I look down at the ground, following the cracks in the wooden floor up and down. How would my life be if Levi never joined the Survey Corps? I doubt it would be nearly as good as we have it now.
I straighten my legs out a bit and let my hands hang at my sides, I hear Eren shifting his position a bit as well.
"Hey, guys."
Eren removes his hand from mine. Weird, I hadn't realized he'd taken it.
Armin and Mikasa sit down across from us, a far away look in their eyes, almost as if they're barely there.
"Hi." Eren replies to them shortly, while I merely nod in response, still deep in thought.
"Did you ever think we'd get this far?" Armin asks no one in particular, leaning back on his hands and turning his attention to the breaking ceiling.
I look down at my hand and shake my head, "Never in a million years."
A/N
Sorry about the short chapter, I'm trying to limit the amount of crazy long chapters in this one.
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The End (Crimson Roses) (AOT Eren x OC)
Fanfiction[Title in the works] Everyone knows the story of Captain Levi; Humanity's Strongest Soldier, but what they don't know is the story of his little sister, Elizabeth. This story takes place during the start of the 104th Training Corps. I will be (mostl...
