Chapter Text
It was late October, almost November, and while everyone was excited for Halloween, I was the odd one out. It wasn’t my favorite holiday, but all my friends loved it, so I normally got dragged into it, somehow. Today was one of those days where I couldn’t stand hanging out with them, so I’d opted out and decided a walk would be great; even though it meant I was skipping out on lunch and my fifth and sixth blocks for the day. I’d most likely get in trouble from my adoptive sister when I get home, but it was a Friday so I’d have the weekend to come up with a good excuse to give to my teachers on why I’d missed their classes.
I’d decided to walk down to one of the more remote beaches on the island, which wasn’t one of my brightest ideas. Normally people would be at even the most remote beaches on our island, but, like I said earlier, it was almost November. The wind was ice, the sea always seemed pissed off, and, even worse, November seas held some of the most dangerous creatures humans knew about. Especially since they just loved the small island my friends and I called home. That and most of them had a thing for human flesh and blood, most ate our bones too.
Even knowing this, I still went to a remote beach on the North side of the island; it was only a twenty minute walk from my school, but the climb down to the beach from the top of the sea cliff was a killer. Luckily, there was a small path carved into the cliff face for stupid people like myself. It was one of the beaches my friends and I frequently went to all year due to how remote it was and the fact that most people didn’t know where it was. The path in the cliff face was well hidden, so most people figured the beach was only reachable from the sea.
Once I reached the bottom, I pulled of my shoes and socks. The grainy sand felt nice against my chilled feet; the only problem to taking off foot protection on the beach. I inhaled deeply; the scent of cold salt water, drying seaweed, fresh ocean air and other ocean related things filled my lungs. I sighed happily and took off my backpack before running my hand through my messy, dark brown hair. I knew both Mikasa and Armin would bitch about me coming to this spot alone when they found out, but I could care less about that.
The ocean seemed relatively safe for being late October and I felt confident that I was entirely alone on the beach. I turned to look out at the ocean; the sky was still a light blue and the waves had turned a greyish blue color in the late afternoon. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but the sun wasn’t harsh, instead it felt welcoming and gentle. I knew I could spend hours out here just looking out at the horizon, but I’d piss off my sister more than was necessary.
I walked towards the lulling waves, keeping my eyes open and on the water the entire time, not trusting them. I wasn’t just looking out at the ocean waves, but I was also listening to them, which would tell me if there was anything abnormal out of my eyesight. For now, the sea made the same whooshing sounds as it rushed up the sand and then fell back towards the horizon.
This was a quiet area, so I wasn’t too concerned with running into the flesh eating monsters that called this sea their home throughout November and the early part of December. It wasn’t uncommon to find them during the late part of October either since it was cold enough most years.
I stepped into the rushing waters, shivering slightly at their icy touch. I walked forward, slowly leaning down and pulling my pant legs up until they were at my knees. The water pulled at my legs as the waves rushed forward and fell back again. I stopped once the waters were half way past my calves. I’d be able to get away quickly if one of those things showed up and tried to eat me.
I sighed heavily and turned to walk down the short length of the beach, wondering what I could do for the next hour and a half. It was slightly boring without everyone around, but also extremely peaceful; even if I was worried about getting eaten by one of the Capaill Uisce that swam in the water this time of the year.
I’d come here because I’d wanted to be alone in that peaceful atmosphere; Mikasa was starting to get annoying when she clung to me; Jean couldn’t keep his mouth shut for more than five seconds; and all my teachers had it out for me and wanted me to fail. Okay, so maybe they didn’t want me to fail exactly, but they made sure to make me seem stupid enough in class. Armin would always sigh when I got caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to and Jean would mock me continuously until I’d snap and get into a fist fight with him.
Today had been one of those really bad days with Jean annoying the shit out of me on purpose, so I’d left to avoid him. Not only would he be there at lunch, but he was also in my fifth and sixth blocks.
A loud splash caught my attention, dragging me out of my thoughts. I jumped at the noise and turned towards it at the same time. I took a slow step in the direction of the beach. Nothing; there was nothing but rolling waves and a few crashing ones. Another splash sounded further down the beach and I was able to catch a small black gleam out of the corner of my eye. It looked slightly like the fins on a fish, but I wasn’t sure about that. Again, there was a splash, this one louder and closer to me. I looked again and saw a black fin disappear under a crashing wave.
Wait a minute, I thought quickly, that wave's way too close! And so it was. I found myself forced down into the sand as the wave rushed past me. I was able to gasp in enough air before it plowed me over as if I were just a little rock. My head burst through the top of the sea foam as most of it rushed back out towards the main body of water. I coughed and hacked up salt water.
Groaning, I slowly sat up, completely soaked and chilled to the bone. I heard a splash and then a small snicker. I looked over to my left quickly to see who was making fun of me. It only slightly registered in my mind that I had been the only one out here for a while, but I was too concerned with trying to find the asshole who was laughing at me. My eyes scanned the water, but found no one there. Strange, thought I heard someone laughing at me. I began to stand slowly when I heard that snicker again, this time it was much closer and directly behind me.
I spun around quickly, falling over in the process and found myself staring at a bizarre, yet beautiful creature. It looked human at first, but the longer I looked at it, the more I realized it was anything but human. Its blue grey eyes were angular and surrounded by tiny, dull black scales that ended in that weird wing shaped style of eyeliner Annie was very fond of. Its skin was pale and its hair was black and cut short. It was then that I noticed its ears were a strange mix of fin and scale, they were even pierced multiple times with small silver rings and studs.
It grinned at me ever so slightly and began to lean forward. Its lips sealed tightly shut. I leaned back and only ended up falling into deeper water. I heard that same splashing noise from behind the creature and found it had a long, serpent like black tail that ended in a dark grey fin. I swallowed. I can’t believe this, I thought. Armin would love to see this, but no one’s going to believe a word I say. I looked back at the creatures face, it looked amused.
“Uh, hi?” I offered but it only stared blankly at me. “I’m Eren.”
The creature cocked its head to the side before it moved closer to me. “Levi,” it responded and leaned closer to me before it stopped when it saw my legs. I followed its eyes and then realized that was its name. I looked back at his face and noticed how amused he looked, at least I thought it was male, and I think it looked amused at something. I sighed and noted the three dark gills on it’s neck, which were ringed in black scales like his eyes and tail. There was a slight blue tint to the scales as well that only really showed up when the few rays of sunlight hit them.
I only slightly registered the fact that the sun was setting and continued to look at the creature Levi. I had no clue how dangerous he was, but he couldn't be that bad if he hadn't attacked me yet, or eaten me.
Shakily, I managed sit up and collect me legs underneath me. The creature pulled back a bit at my sudden movement before leaning in again. Maybe he’s curious? I thought as I stood up, water running off of my clothes in tiny rivulets. Great, I’m cold, wet, and Mikasa is going to slay me when I get home. I sighed heavily and jumped when I felt something touch my leg. I looked down and sighed slightly when I noticed it was only Levi being curious. I also noted that his chest was bare and flat, not to mention he had really nice muscles. I shook my head quickly at the thought and wondered why he was so amused with my legs.
I felt weighted down in my now wet jacket and the sea breeze was chilling me to the bone. I slowly started to walk away from the curious creature, trying not to spook or frighten it away. Levi grabbed my leg tightly and pulled it towards him, causing me to fall flat on my ass in the knee deep water. I struggled to reach the surface and when I finally did I coughed and hacked out the water that had managed to get into my lungs. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at the creature, who was still holding my leg in a death grip.
“Ow,” I said and glared at him intensely. He didn’t seem to notice, but just kept staring at my leg. I sighed and attempted to kick my leg free from his grasp. The only response I got was his grip tightening around my ankle and a new look of curiosity painted on his face. I felt a shiver run through my body as goosebumps appeared on my bare leg. “Seriously, let go already!” I yelled at him and tried to pull my leg away from him.
I felt anger start to rise inside me. I yelped as he pulled my leg behind his shoulder and the anger quickly left me. I managed to somehow keep my balance and not fall back into the sea water again. Levi made a snickering noise at me. I glared at him after wiping the water from my eyes. “What?” I snarled.
He slowly peeled his lips back before opening his mouth. My eyes went went wide. Shit! He had teeth, and by teeth I mean he had razor sharp ones that looked like a shark's. Before I could move, he’d nipped my leg just above where he was holding it. I yelped again, not from pain or anything, but just out of surprise. It actually hadn’t hurt that bad, but then he did it again, this time a little further up my leg.
“Ow!” I yelled. I somehow managed to sit up enough to slap him across the face. That last bite had stung slightly when he had sunk his teeth into my flesh. He grinned suddenly, showing off those creepy teeth again. “You’re really creepy you know that? And that last bite hurt.” I glare at him. He happily flicked his tail about in the rising water. “Let go, I have to leave.” I said and went to pry his fingers from their spot on my leg. I noted that the first bite he’d given me had only left a small mark while the second one had already started to bleed. I let out a frustrated groan and pulled at his fingers.
“Let go of me already!” I said and looked at him. He was frowning and his tail had stopped flicking. His grip was tight and I couldn't pry him off of me. “What? I’ll be back here, just not today . . . maybe tomorrow.” I muttered quietly, feeling a bit bad for him. I felt his grip loosen then and he flicked his tail in what I could only guess was a pleased motion. He released my leg then, his long, black claws lightly scraped against my skin causing me to shiver slightly; he grinned at the motion. I was about to move away from him when he leaned towards me and opened his mouth. I thought he was going to bite my face, but instead he licked me. He licked my face with his long blue-black tongue and then made a quick get away into the darkening sea.
I sat there for a few more minutes before I had managed to stand up again, the saltwater bit at the bite marks Levi had given me. I slowly made my out of the sea and heard a familiar splash and snicker. I turned to look over my shoulder and saw Levi before he plunged back into the water, his sleek black tail flicking as it disappeared into the rolling waves that had turned a deep grey. I huffed before walking to my stuff. I didn’t even bother putting my shoes on at that point and just started walking up the narrow path way, my bag slung over my shoulders and my shoes in my hands with my socks stuffed into them.
I'd unrolled my jeans so they covered the bite marks Levi had left. The cool stone of the cliff froze my feet even more than they already were, if that was even possible. I headed down a different path after reaching the top of the sea cliff that lead almost directly to my home.
I groaned inwardly at the thought of going home. Even though my parents weren’t there, I still had to face a pissed off Mikasa when I got back. Even if we weren’t related by blood, I still considered her to be my sister; although she was slightly obsessed with guarding me after our mother died three years ago. I exhaled slowly, hoping that Armin was at our house, that way, I wouldn’t get yelled at too much by her. Maybe Annie would be there too and could distract Mikasa and let me sneak in. That wasn’t likely though and I silently cursed myself for even thinking of such a thing. Even if she was there, she’d probably lecture me too or just ignore me completely.
I attempted to brush the wet hair from my face and absentmindedly rubbed at the spit Levi left on my cheek. I silently wondered if I would be able to see him again. I doubted he'd ever show himself around Armin and everyone else, but it was worth a shot to see if he was curious with the others. I quietly hoped he was only curious about me, though.