Chapter Text
They should have seen it coming, for it was clear that, even though not to Titans, they were still pray.
Encountering a starving bear that had just woken up after hibernation was their worst mistake.
(Y/n) had gotten the larger part, and Levi could only stay by her side after the hungry beast had ran off after something else.
The bear had been merciless. Flesh has been torn away, and blood was pouring out free, soaking the soil below Levi's hooves.
He felt useless. He hated that feeling with a passion. He also hated not having been able to predict this. It had been his idea to go for a run after all.
It had made (Y/n) so happy, to prance around with him, jumping on the puddles of melting snow, and sniffing every flower that bloomed in her way.
Spring made her extremely happy.
And now she was dying.
Levi took a deep breath and ignored the sharp pain in his side as he lay down next to her, and leaned his head gently on her shoulder.
Her breathing was ragged and he could feel the tremor of her tore muscles. She tried to look at him but the pain made her let out a yelp and her head hit the ground again.
Levi stretched out and pressed his nose to her cheek. He was in an uncomfortable position, but damn hell if he wouldn't be with her in her last moments.
Back when they were both human, he failed to be with her, and she had died alone; quick and painlessly, but alone. Now, on the contrary, he was with her, just like she had been when the human called Levi died. But she was scared, confused, and in the worst pain imaginable.
Her breathing became more labored, and a garbled whimper left her lips - he could only imagine it had been his name what came out.
Levi pressed himself against her - one last hug.
"I love you, princess;" he cursed himself by the tremor in his voice, and his vision went blurry by unshed tears.
But the words had been out just in time. The tremor stopped, and the breathing ceased.
(Y/n) was gone. Again.
And to be honest, he didn't know if they would be given another chance. Second chances are given; third chances? Who knows.
This time - unlike when he was human and lost his (Y/n), his princess, for the first time - he allowed himself to mourn.
A man and his eldest son were after the trail of a bear that had stolen a sheep. There was a trail of prints, both of the bear and at least two horses. And blood of an open wound.
As they arrived to a clearing, the wrenching cry of a horse was heard, and they peered in to see if the bear was there. Although there was no bear, they caught the sight of a wounded black horse laying down next to another horse, unmoving, probably dead given the injuries and the blood.
They walked closer, arms on the ready just in case the bear came back for it's food. But there was only a visibly sad horse mourning a friend.
"The bear'll come back," the older man said, briefly glancing at the black horse.
Levi looked up and knew what the man meant. It would be pointless to stay here. He needed to get away as far as possible, find a way to heal, and survive. But, how? It's not as if he could go back to the city and request a doctor to heal him; he wasn't a human, he was a wounded horse that would probably end up in a slaughterhouse.
But, would that really matter? Did he want to keep on living without (Y/n)?
As he kept on thinking, he raised to his feet, the cramping ache surrounding him. He looked down at his hooves, they were bloodied and sore.
He decided not to think much about what would the future bring. He would accept anything that came to him.
And with that in mind, he started walking.
The younger man looked at the black horse with amazed eyes, and stood still until the animal came to him, it's head low in a submissive pose. His hand stretched out and caressed the horse's forehead, and a small smile stretched his lips.
"... Alright, buddy, I'm taking you with me," the man assured the horse, and with a rope he had hanging from his waist he prepared a noose, securing it around the horse's neck.
The walk back to the farm was quiet, at least from Levi's side. The young man was claiming proudly his first capture of a wild horse, while the older one laughed out, saying it didn't count if the horse had offered itself to him.
Levi only listened, putting one foot on front of the other and using the loud voices to drown away the images of blood, grim and dead. And (e/c) eyes looking at him in terror and pain.