The new and improved chapter 1! Yay!

As for those who are reading this for the first time, a few things you might want to know:

-This story can be found in BOTH Shingeki no Kyojin and Attack on Titan Archives that's why there are two of them. (One being titled 'I will carry you home' and the other 'Roads Untraveled'.)

-This is an AU story with a rather strong AU. It will become clear later on in future chapters when the plot starts waking up

-I am not a native English speaker so please excuse my mistakes. I mostly earned English through books and TV. (I'm South-African)

-Levi and Eren are brothers in this fic.

-Yes both can get a bit OC because of changes in mental states, such as Eren being friendlier because of Petra's influence, his more easy going nature due to not having to bear things like his mother's death or having killed three men, his fearlessness towards titans (explained later) as well as some other things.

-Eren is an Ackerman so he happens to have Ackerman skills to go with it (with the help of Levi of course.)

-I have edited this story more than a couple of times so unfortunately its not at all as it used to be.

-This story exists out of three arcs this one being the first, though I'm not sure if I'm going to post the rest since I've lost some interest in the show over time. Maybe it will start up again when I watch the second season...dunno depends on you guys and my determination to actually finish my first multi-chapter fic. Review me to let me know if you want more.

-I have a chapter explaining Farlan and Isabel's part in this AU though I'm not going to post it since its uncompleted. They wont show up in this fic but they are alive. IF you want me to post the chapter tell me and I'll finish it.

That is about all I can think of right now. Please Review!

I hope you enjoy the fic!

Disclaimer: If I owned SNK/AOT I would have made this happen or made an extra series where this happened.

Chapter 1: Missing (20 June 2015)

"Anything?"

"No sir. No sign of Captain Levi anywhere."

He nodded. "Alright keep looking. Your dismissed"

"Yes sir." The soldier saluted his ranking officer and walked off. Commander Erwin Smith couldn't help but sigh at his current predicament.

Captain Levi was nowhere to be found.

Three hours had passed since Levi had broken off from their squad to take down an abnormal and he still hasn't returned. Three hours is a long time, even for Levi. The commander groaned and looked to their temporary resting point. The bodies were already starting to stack up and the amount of injured scouts weren't exactly spectacular either. With the added problem of one of his most trusted and loyal subordinates being missing as well only adding to the pile. So far no one outside of the search and rescue squad knew officially about Levi's disappearance, however it was clear that quite a few have started to notice the captain's absence. It was likely that most of the soldiers had simply assumed that he had sent Levi off to relay some information. Those whom where close enough to have heard his orders though knew better. Even if he had sent Levi back to Trost, he would have returned by now...

He groaned and made a mental note to resurrect the man from the dead and kill him all over again if he had gotten himself killed out there. And an added note to kill the man anyway if he had made him worry unnecessarily.

...Levi. Were the hell are you?

-xXx-

Meanwhile...

"So do you guys think the Captain is okay?" Gunter asked concerned, breaking the others from their worry induced state. No one wanted to think about it, but with every passing moment it became more likely that the Captain wasn't coming back. The situation had them all rattled. After all he was no ordinary soldier. They had noticed his failure to return shortly after he failed to rejoin the group after five minutes. They were getting worried.

And they weren't the only ones. The others have noticed as well, eventually, and the tension was growing by the minute...

"I'm sure he's fine." Petra insured him. "The Captain has fought plenty of titans. He's fine.." Although she was trying to be hopeful, Petra couldn't help but doubt her own words. The chances of anyone surviving, even the Captain, this long, alone is slim. "D-Do you think something happened to him? I mean, he's been gone quite awhile now."

The Latino man looked down. "I don't really know. I mean..." He groaned and laid his head in his hands. None of them wanted to think what Levi's disappearance implicated. The blond woman placed a hand on his shoulder simpiteticly.

"Don't worry. We're all a bit taken aback by the situation. I mean we've all known him for quite a few years now. Not nearly as long as the Commander, but long enough. We've lived together, fought together even cleaned together in Levi's case."

He snickered at that. The man's obsessive behavior towards cleaning was plainly obvious to everyone who knew him. And the team often joked about it when he wasn't around. "What I mean is it's only natural for us to start to feel like friends and I think, in the deepest darkest corners of his mind, he thinks so too."

He smiled weakly. "I'm still worried about him though."

Petra was about to reply when Oluo's obnoxious voice interrupted her. "Geez you guys are being so melodramatic."

"Oh, Shut up Oluo!" Petra snapped. "Some people actually care about the Captain here, unlike you."

She fumed. She was not going to take this shit from him now. He can pretend to be the Captain all he wants, but not now. Not when Captain Levi was still out there, possibly hurt, injured, or worse. She expected another snarky comment, but instead Oluo's face turned from his usual smug expression to a worried one as he dropped his act. He knew she was right so instead he sighed and sat down next to the angry blond. "Look. I'm worried too, but I have faith that where ever the Captain is, he's got it under control. No one can take down that short little bastard. Especially the Titans. He'd just slip right through their fingers."

His fellow colleges couldn't help but snort at that.

"Better not let the Captain hear you say that."Gunter joked.

"Look. If the Captain couldn't make it to old age, what chance do we have?" Oluo stood up looking at his colleges. "I can't let myself believe that he's dead. We can't be thinking about this right now. Having a clouded mind is not going to help the situation. We have to stay focused at the task at hand. Until then we have to stay sharp, after that we can worry all we want. We're not out of the woods yet." And with that he left to tend to his horse.

Even though Oluo's head was sometimes bigger than his brain, he really made sense some times.

Petra hated that.

But he was right. After a long silence, pondering the dark blond haired man's words, Gunter sighed in defeat. "Damn. I hate it when he's right." He stood helping her up.

She nodded in agreement. He bid her farewell walked over to the direction Hange and Eld stood, busy tending to the wounded. She brushed herself off and left to find something to do. The Captain's fine. They just have to have faith.

-xXx-

Erwin's thoughts were interrupted when one of the subordinates tasked with finding the bodies of their fallen comrades came running. "Commander Erwin-" The scout heaved catching his breath first. "Sir we found something."

"What is it? Did you find him?" He did his best to hide his hopeful tone, but clearly he didn't try good enough. The soldier's head bowed in disappointment. "No...I'm sorry sir. We didn't."

At the news his heart sank once again, the feeling of dread inching back into his heart. He swallowed his fear. "What about a body? Anything?"

"Uh no sir, but we did find something...else. It was some kind of severed appendage, presumably a leg, found underneath a collapsed building. The rock it was under was too heavy to move so we couldn't make out much more about it, but with its size and the amount of blood found at the scene..It couldn't have been anything else than that of a small child..."

Confusion crept onto the man's face as he regarded the information. "...A child?"

"Yes sir. It still looked fresh as if it had been severed mere hours ago. But what would a child be doing out here? There's no way anyone can survive out here that long. Much less a child." Erwin frowned. He was right. This new information was indeed perplexing "Where did you find this?"

"In a wrecked building sir, not far from where the first black smoke signals was fired. Near Blackwood forest."

The man furrowed his brow in thought. That was where Levi broke off to fight the titan. First Levi disappears and then the fresh remains of what seemed to be a child has been found? The mission had been quite the mystery since the start. Surely Levi couldn't just have turned back, could he? If he had there had to be some valid reason for him to abandon protocol. Levi was never one to abandon his comrades. And then there was the child. How the hell would a child find its way out here?! There's no way one could just have snuck out of the gates when no one was looking. The chance of him being a survivor of the breach two years ago even less so. With both mysteries on his mind the commander turned back to the obediently waiting scout. "Tell the men to finish up. We leave for Wall Rose in ten minutes."

The man responded with a salute, running off in the direction of the other scouts, barking orders. Maybe just maybe he was right and Levi was back there waiting for them. He tried to lock away in his confusion and worry for the moment. He had to concentrate on his men for now. Within minutes the remaining men had packed up and started on their way. All of them eager to return home, but equally conflicted about returning when their fallen comrades never could. All while pondering the new mysteries on their path.

Don't worry not all the chapters are this terribly SHORT! XD

Until Next Time!

-Ziixx

(updated: 21 November 2015)