Rain continued to pour down, the grass beginning to wilt beneath the intense shower of water that apparently showed no sign of clearing up. Through the heavy cascade of rain, part of the scout regiment rode, clustered in a tight group, with Captain Levi leading them. The man's hood moved back and forth with the constant jerking of the horse beneath him, fat droplets of water trickling down his face. He turned his head over his shoulder and called out to the rest of the group "Less than a mile now! Stay close!" For there had been a wave of titans spotted and part of the regiment had been pulled away from their prior mission in order to settle this.
A few more minutes of riding steadily forwards and through the thick mist created by the torrential rain, dark shapes began to emerge in the distance, shifting shadows that morphed this way and that, growing ever taller as the group approached. Levi suddenly tugged at the reins of his horse, the animal clumsily skidding to a halt in the sopping mud. He turned back to the group. "There they are. Now, prepare yourselves to attack. We can't be sure how many are out there-in this weather its impossible to tell." he said, pulling down his hood. "Hanje, Krista, tackle the left. Jean, Ymir, tackle the right."
"Can't I stay with Krista?" Ymir interjected.
"No." Levi responded curtly, turning his horse back around. "Now go. Eren, you'll take the middle with me. Everyone meet on the other side-good luck." The man dug the heels of his boots into the horse's side, spurring it onwards. Everyone else obeyed Levi's command and followed their given route. Eren, with slight hesitation, followed the captain, leading his horse straight ahead. He rode close behind Levi and stayed silent, craning his neck up as the sketchy silhouettes before them soon shifted nearer and nearer. Eventually a huge arm cut through the sheet of rain, sweeping recklessly through the air.
"Captain!" Eren cried, out of instinct. Levi nimbly veered his horse away, the blow avoiding him by a mile. He pulled back in line again and exchanged glances with Eren.
"Leave the horses now! They've seen us-so we have to fight!" he called, springing from the saddle and into the air, disappearing through the thick mist. Eren watched, frozen for a moment, before regaining his senses and leaping from the horse, using the gear to propel him upwards, cutting through the heavy rain. He used his hands as shields against the rain that pounded against his face. As he passed through the air, he caught glimpses of titans falling to the ground one by one, the small silhouettes of his other comrades zipping back and forth. He latched onto a tall, dark haired titan which glared back at him with a venomous look. Eren used his purchase on the titan's chest to swing round and run up its back, slashing its nape. The titan fell limp and dropped to the ground. Eren rolled off the creature and onto the floor. He lifted his head, his face dripping with mud and looked up in horror, to find another titan towering over him, a sickening grin on it's face. The boy edged backwards in fear, his legs too numb from the fall to even stand. Levi meanwhile, who had successfully slaughtered a handful of titans, caught glimpse of the scene below and with a gasp, rushed over with a propel of his gear. He slid in front of Eren, scooping him up with one hand and flew with him through the air, Eren tightly under the other's arm. Levi placed Eren on a high branch of a tree, out of harms way.
"Stay there and don't try to get down." he said coldly, leaping back down and latching onto another titan. Upon killing that titan, Levi caught sight of Hanje. The woman turned her head and nimbly made her way over.
"I don't understand! There's so many of them! How are we going to get rid of them all!"
"I don't know. We'll just have to persevere until every last one of these bastards are finished."
"Where's Eren?"
"He got hurt and I can't risk his life in the hands of these titans. So I got him to safety." he explained bluntly, before disappearing off into the rain. After what seemed like hours, Levi found himself at a loss-the wave of titans were showing no sign of slowing down. It was as if they were spawning infinitely! He decided, at this rate, they would never accomplish anything and someone would inevitably get hurt. And so, stopping on one of the tree branches, he clumsily fired a flare with wet and numb hands. Red smoke drifted into the air. A few minutes later and the rest of the squad arrived at the tree. "We're going to need to come up with a new strategy. There's too many of them and at this rate we'll never get all of th-" He suddenly stopped, scanning the small group before him. "Wait...where's Jean!" he cried. He looked off ahead, only to find, to his horror, Jean, helpless in a titan's grasp. He leaped down from the tree and fired his gear, propelling himself forwards. He latched the gear to the titan's face and slashed its wrists, slicing them clean off. Jean fell to the ground and sprinted quickly away, rejoining the others in the tree. All looked on as Levi's gear came loose from the titan's faces he made to swing round and cut its nape. The man let out a grunt and fell to the ground with a hard thud. He winced in pain and lay sprawled in the mud. God dammit. The rain must have made his gear slip from its position. His back fizzed with pain, his whole chest tightening. This was it. He was going to die. He watched through narrowed eyes, clenching his teeth, as the titan hungrily leaned closer to pluck him from the floor. A giant hand reached out. Just then, a figure emerged from nowhere and stood in front of Levi. Eren turned his head, a sad and fading glint in his eye, a small smile on his face. "Forgive me." Levi's eyes widened in horror as the titan grabbed Eren instead. As the creature brought Eren to its mouth, all sense returned to the man and he stumbled to his feet and leapt into the air, slashing its nape with a desperate and faltered cry. The titan fell to the ground and Levi tumbled to the floor with it. He quickly lifted his head and struggled to standing, rushing round to find Eren lying lifelessly on the ground, still clasped like a prize in the titan's decomposing hand. A small pool of blood surrounded the boy from underneath. The man stumbled back, almost choking and clasped a hand to his mouth. What had he done...
End of Chapter 1
A/N: And there you have it! Chapter 1~Any feedback is much appreciated! Stay tuned for the next chapter, coming soon!