Chapter Text
This was officially the last time Levi was going to agree to do a “favor” for Hange, this was probably the worst day off of his life. Hange had practically BEGGED Levi to go out and find a specific weed for her in the forest while she finished another one of her experiments for the day; apparently it was too unstable to leave unmonitored for too long. Levi only agreed to go because he didn’t want to be partly responsible for a lab explosion.
He had been wandering around deep in the forest for hours now, genuinely starting to think that Hange was just being a dick and the weed she wanted didn’t actually exist. Levi lifted his gazed to the sky, realizing that the sun was starting to set, ‘tch, I came out here right after breakfast and the day’s already practically over.’ He thought to himself. Levi sighed and stretched his back a little before turning around and deciding to head back, feeling sore from being hunched over the ground all day.
The sun had eventually set down to the horizon, painting the sky with a dark orange hue, and Levi was already tired of walking. ‘How fucking far did I walk?’ He thought, he had expected to be out of the forest by now, but all he could see in front of him was more and more trees. He continued to walk until the sun had completely vanished, but he still couldn’t see the end of the forest; and now he didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Levi stopped his pace for a moment and looked around, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness but to no avail. “Damnit”, He hissed out loud. Levi continued to walk forward slowly, taking cautious steps as he went; though he felt helpless as he blindly guided himself.
Levi’s shuffling footsteps lead him right into the grasp of an exposed root in the forest floor, latching onto him and causing the small captain to fall forward; Levi managed to get his arms out to catch himself, but he felt pain shooting up his leg before he even hit the ground. “Fuck!”, He cursed, his voice slightly muffled by the ground he now laid on. Levi slowly pulled his foot free from the root and moved to sit up, immediately pulling his right leg towards himself to cradle it against his chest. ‘Shitshitshitshitshit’ he thought as his ankle throbbed, every pulse sending shocks of pain all the way up Levi’s leg. His ankle was definitely broken or at least severely fractured.
Levi sat for a moment, fully taking in his situation. He was alone in the forest, it was completely dark, and now he could barely walk. To make matters even worse, the fall had now confused Levi’s sense of direction, and he had no idea which way to go. Panic was beginning to set in, Levi reached out in front of him for a tree to use as leverage; he slowly pulled himself up to stand and leaned against the tree, putting all of his weight on his left leg. He didn’t know what to do, he lightly tested his right leg by putting a little weight on it, but he immediately regretted it.
It was getting cold now, Levi could feel that it was starting to snow, but he was not wearing the proper clothing for a storm (since he figured he was going to be back before lunch today). Levi didn’t even bother weighing his options, his only option was to just pick a direction and keep moving, he couldn’t stay out here any longer and just hope that someone comes looking for him. With his luck, Hange probably forgot she had even sent him out.
~ ~ ~
Hange stifled a yawn as she brought her head away from her microscope, lifting her arms up in a stretch as she turned to look out the window. “Oh! Is it really nighttime already?!” She spoke through her yawn as she hopped off her work bench. ‘I guess Levi gave up on finding that weed for me huh?’ Hange thought to herself, she smiled as she took off her lab coat and headed for the door, ‘I should go bug him about it.’
Hange made her way to Levi’s room, not even bothering to knock before opening the door, “Leviiiiii what happened?” she called in a melodic voice, “Was one little plant too much to handle-”. Hange stopped as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, Levi wasn’t in there. In fact, his bed looked completely untouched from when he made it this morning; even the papers on his desk in the corner were still neatly stacked from when he had finished his paperwork the night before.
“Huh…..” Hange thought for a moment, Levi wasn’t really one for staying up late, let alone be out late. As Hange turned to leave the room, she noticed that one of Levi’s coats was missing from the hanger on the wall. “Well what the hell…..”. She left Levi’s room and only walked a few meters down the hallway, knocking on the door to Erwin’s room; she knew he would still be up working.
Hange waited, but as she expected Erwin opened the door only a few moments later, still fully dressed in his daytime clothes. “Hange?” He looked confused at the woman in front of him, “It’s very late, is there something I can help you with?”. Hange wanted to laugh at his use of the word ‘late’, considering the commander himself was still in full-out work mode, but she decided to just get right to the point.
“Yeah actually,” She spoke almost hesitantly, craning her neck to peer over Erwin’s shoulder at this desk, “Is Levi with you?”.
Erwin just continued to look confused, “No, Levi isn’t here”, he said, “I actually don’t think I’ve seen him all day.”
Hange was really beginning to worry now, did Levi even come back from looking for that weed for her? She completely forgot she was still standing in front of the commander until he spoke to her again, “Is something wrong Hange?” he asked, seeing Hange’s visible concern, “Why are you looking for Levi?”.
Hange swallowed and looked up at Erwin, now realizing what could quite possibly be happening right now, “I think we need to go look for Levi sir,” she spoke quickly, “I sent him out to look for a plant for me this morning, just after breakfast, and I’m afraid he hasn’t come back.”
Erwin’s eyes widened, he immediately walked back over to his desk and grabbed his winter jacket before following Hange out of his room and down the hallway, “Where did he go?”. The two soldiers hurried down the hallway, but Hange swerved and walked back into Levi’s room once again, “I told him to just go and look in the forest that’s attached to the training grounds.”. Hange turned into the room and grabbed the other, much heavier coat that Levi had hanging, “We need to hurry sir, or Levi’s going to freeze to death out there.”.
Hange handed the small coat to Erwin as they both headed out into the night.
~ ~ ~
The cold was beginning to get to Levi, what had started as a light snowfall had now turned into a full-blown blizzard that made the small man’s joints ache with every step. He had managed to fumble around for a stick big enough to utilize as a cane, but every light step on his right leg was still agony; but he knew he had to keep moving.
Levi’s throat and chest ached as he breathed through the pain, allowing the nights frigid air into his body. His fingers and toes had gone numb about an hour ago, and his face felt like it was covered in tiny needles. Despite being cold, his whole body now felt like it was on fire.
The pace at which Levi trudged along was only getting slower by the minute as his body felt like it was being frozen stiff, his skin almost feeling like it was made of cement and Levi now had to force himself to take each step. “Come on”, he whispered to himself, desperately willing his body to keep moving “Come on, I’ve got to be close by now, keep going”. There was no doubt that Levi was a strong man, both physically and mentally, but there was only so much a person could do against natures will. Levi pushed himself to take another step before his legs buckled underneath him, causing him to cry out as his bad ankle hit the ground once again.
Levi panted and tried to catch his breath, he could only think about getting up again and continuing to walk home, but his body would no longer respond to him. He grimaced as his whole body felt like he had been set on fire, a tear rolled out of the corner of Levi’s eye and immediately froze on his cheek. He grunted as he tried to speak again, wanting to call out to anyone who might be near by; “h-help”, he choked out, his voice was quiet and strained, the cold was now taking a tole on his vocal chords as well, “help……. Please…..”. Levi’s eyes began to feel heavy as he called out desperately to an empty forest, a whine escaped his throat as he tried to clear his throat, “he-elp me…….. Erwin…”. Levi’s eyes shut and his head fell to rest on the ground as he unwillingly succumbed to the cold.