Chapter Text
The horses of the survey corps huffed and puffed in the early morning breeze. The gentle air ruffled the soldiers' hair playfully and carried the smell of bravery to the unknown far away lands. Their sage green capes rustled with the wind, making the wings of freedom flutter higher in the sky.
One particular soldier was inexplicably optimistic about the expedition. She felt the smell of change linger in the air around them, though for the better or worse, that was to be determined by the events of the day ahead.
She nudged her horse to move forward as the commander finished his speech. His words never failed to move her heart, reminding her why she was there in the first place, *for the future of humanity and mankind.*
No matter how silly and absurd the idea seemed to others, she knew, just like the rest of the soldiers here, that the walls could only protect humans for only so long. There would come a day when titans would eventually evade the walls and humans had to be ready for that.
The gates slowly rose, and the view of the green hills and remote trees entered her vision. The soldiers got out and began their expedition.
Everything was going smoothly. Only a few titans abeared and most of the corps were able to avoid them, losing only two men in the process. The objective of the expedition was to make a base for humans outside the walls, a small camp on the trees in a forest about 80 km away from wall Maria.
The camp was set on the trees and cadets were sent to clear out the area of any surrounding titans.
The newest member of Levi's squad, y/n, was ordered to handle the three on the south of the forest, away from everyone. She managed to take down two when the abnormal came from behind and caught her in its hold, bringing her closer to its mouth.
Inside the base, Levi was beginning to get a little bit anxious, something very out of character for him. The soldiers were told to meet at the base after clearing the area of titans and they came back by the time. Well, most of them. The new cadet of Levi's squad wasn't back yet.
"Hanji, cadet l/n isn't back yet. I'll go look for her." He said, mounting his horse.
"Levi, take some backups with you." Hanji replied.
"There's no time. I'll do just fine on my own. Follow me if I take too long"
He followed the sounds of the nearest titan towards the south and when he went there, he saw y/n in the grasp of an 8-meter titan being lifted to it's mouth.
Without thinking, levi pulled his swords and used his gears to hang on the titans chest and cut it's hand while y/n landed safely with her own gears on the ground. He quickly aimed for the titan's nape and cut it but before he could land on the ground again another titan from behind pulled his gear string and grabbed him in it's hand.
The titan squeezed Levi in it's hand hard enough to hear a crack. He felt sudden, sharp pain in the entirety of his body . Before the titan could eat Levi, y/n swiftly aimed for it's hand and then it's nape.
As the titan fell, y/n quickly ran towards Levi. Anxiety was making her heart hammer uncomfortably in her chest while she approached him. Humanity's strongest did not just die because of her, right?
He was unconscious on the ground. There was a big gash on his forehead that was bleeding a lot. Blood was pooling out underneath him, probably from the cuts and bruises. Or so she suspected.
Before she could do anything more than just taking a look at him, section commander Hanji Zoë and commander Erwin Smith headed to them on their horses along with Levi's squad.
"l/n, what happened here?!" Erwin said, getting off his horse.
"Captain saved me from a titan but another one caught him by surprise." She said, startled and anxious.
"Hanji, how is he right now?"
"Not good, he has lost a lot of blood and that gash on his forehead looks very deep. It can get infected easily. I also suspect some broken bones." Hanji replied grimly, kneeling beside Levi, "Erwin, we can't continue the expedition. He needs some serious medical attention right now and we can't bear to lose Levi. He needs surgery, stitches and blood transfusion and we can't do those outside the walls."
"Eld! Oulo! Carry your captain back to the carriages. Petra, Gunther and y/n! Protect them from the titans."
"Yes, sir!" They all yelled in unison.
When they headed back, Eld and Oulo quickly fetched Levi on a carriage.
Erwin announced that the expedition was over and they all quickly rode back to wall Maria. If only she was more careful.