The Female Titan
The morning was quiet, but abuzz with anxious energy from the survey corps as they mounted their horses. Winnigan lowered her hood, preparing to tail the left flank as Commander Erwin instructed. Section Commander Hange’s squad was further ahead, tasked with trailblazing the eastern end of the path as they travelled south. Winnie’s squad— as Hange had so lovingly tokened— were to watch the rear and neutralize any titans closing in from behind. From those among Winnie Squad, Winnigan recognized Connie and Bertholdt. The rest were older, 103rd squadron and above.
As they grew further and further away from Wall Rose, red flares soared through the sky.
“Mission failed already?” Connie asked uneasily.
“No,” Bertholdt reassured. “This early on in the mission, it just means there have been titans spotted.”
One of the elder scouts shouted for Winnigan to prepare a red flare, as a ten-meter suddenly charged from the tree line to their left. Winnigan’s breath hitched in her throat, this being the first time she had seen a titan since Trost. Even then, she never really got too close. However, she didn’t hesitate. This was the job she had enlisted for, there was no point in going yellow-bellied now. Especially with the special orders from Commander Erwin. Winnigan pulled a red cartridge from the front saddlebag of Dot, sliding it into the flare gun that had been entrusted to her earlier that morning. Pointing at the sky, she pulled the trigger. The cracking boom of gunfire spooked Dot, causing her to pin her ears back and buck slightly.
“Woah, girl,” Winnigan pleaded, patting Dot’s neck, heels digging into the stirrups. Luckily she had a history with Dot, so the horse eased and cantered towards the rest of the squad. Connie and Bertholdt continued ahead, the two elder scouts taking on the titan. They felled it with no issue, earning celebratory hollers from Connie and Bertholdt.
“Keep it cool,” Winnigan barked, charging between the two boys, determined on getting out of the clearing before more titans could appear. As the other scouts fell back into formation, a distant boom cracked through the air, though leagues quieter than the one Winnigan incited with her flare. To their right, black smoke rose through the air.
“Does that one mean ‘mission-failed?’” Connie cried out, exasperated.
“No, Connie,” Winnigan winced, knowing the black flare had to be Armin’s squad. “Black means abnormal.”
Connie gasped and Bertholdt dropped his gaze. Winnigan knew what he was thinking: Reiner was in that squad. Her stomach dropped at the thought of losing both Armin and Reiner on this mission.
“We need to go help!” Connie exclaimed, yanking his reins to the right.
“Connie, stop!” Bertholdt yelled, pulling his horse to circle around Connie and herd him back into formation. “We’re almost to the tree line. If they can’t handle it, someone closer can.”
Connie nodded solemnly, allowing Bertholdt to push him back into formation. Then, as the tree line was finally in tangible view, the ground shook. Birds took to the air from the tree branches, escaping something. But, what? The abnormal, already?
A toned, feminine titan entered the clearing from the direction of the black smoke. Without looking away, Winnigan felt around for the black flare tucked into her boot that Erwin had instructed to use should a titan-shifter infiltrate the ranks. Firing it into the air, she kicked Dot’s sides harshly, breaking into a full gallop. The other scouts followed behind, exclamations and obscenities filling the air.
“We’ll try to intercept it,” one of the scouts barked, the two breaking from formation to attack the abnormal from both sides. Its moves were calculated, smooth. It knew what it was doing. The way it ran mimicked years of training. Winnigan’s stomach dropped at the thought of it being another military member. It had to be, right? How else would they know about this mission?
Winnigan tried to exclaim a word of warning, but the scouts were already out of earshot. She could only watch in horror as the three of them charged ahead, as the titan covered it’s nape when one of the scouts took a swipe at it’s neck. With it’s other hand, the titan swatted the scout into the ground like a fly. He had hit the ground at full acceleration before Winnigan could even register what was happening. The other scout, attempting to fall back and circle back in, was absentmindedly kicked by the titan as it continued across the clearing. Even from that distance, Winnigan could’ve sworn she heard bones cracking.
We didn’t even know their names, Winnigan realized, nausea and guilt overtaking her. As the titan grew closer, Winnigan prepared to deploy her gear. Human under the skin or not, Winnigan would give her life before she let another titan-shifter devastate the ranks. The wind blew sideways, throwing back her hood. The titan saw this, a glint of recognition in it’s pale blue eyes. Suddenly, it changed course, headed for the center ranks.
“Fuck!” Winnigan yelled, teeth gritted. “She’s headed for Eren, we need to tail her.”
“Are you crazy?” Bertholdt barked incredulously. “Winnie, that’s a suicide mission.”
Winnigan whipped her head around to face Bertholdt, who trembled in his saddle. Connie didn’t look game, either. “I thought Eren was supposed to be on the right with Armin?” Connie asked.
“No,” Winnigan sighed, as they entered the thick forest. Their horses slowed exponentially there. “He’s with Captain Levi. They’re going to need help.”
With that, Winnigan took off for center formation, not bothering to check if Connie or Bertholdt followed. The path to the shifter was fairly simple, with fallen trees and enormous foot prints appearing in the muddy areas of the forest.
“Who the hell are we dealing with, Dot?” Winnigan asked, twirling her fingers into Dot’s mane. “It’s definitely someone we know.”
“You’re for sure she’s a shifter?” A voice called out from behind. Connie. He had followed after all. A quick sweep of their surroundings showed that Bertholdt had gone on without them. “I’m assuming it’s a she, did you see the knockers on that thing?”
Winnigan somehow found it in her to laugh and roll her eyes. “Of course you’d notice,” she quipped. “But yeah, I did.”
Hange’s secondary mission, preparing a trap for any titan shifter who infiltrated the mission, seemed to be in action. The female titan was further ahead, wrapped in the same metal wire used on the ODM grappling hooks. Soldiers surrounded her on all sides as she struggled with her restraints. As scouts swarmed from all sides to cut her down, her body hardened into a crystalline substance in the affected areas.
“What the fuck?” Winnigan heard Connie retort. Suddenly, a loud cry filled the air. The sound of falling trees and clamoring surrounded on all sides. Like a dog whistle, the female titan managed to summon the nearby titans to her aide.
“Fall back!” Erwin bellowed from somewhere. Troops didn’t hesitate to heed his orders, jumping onto their horses and following him back into the forest. From the apex of formation, he fired the final red flare.
“Mission failed?” Connie whimpered.
“Mission failed,” Winnie confirmed uneasily. She glanced back, allowing Connie to pass her and follow ahead. Where the female titan stood, Winnigan spotted Mikasa and Captain Levi fighting to retrieve something from her mouth. Eren.
Between the two Ackermans, they were able to disable the female titan long enough to rescue Eren, though not without injury. Winnigan heard the loud crack of Levi’s leg, rendering himself useless as Mikasa flew away with Eren in tow.
“Captain!” Winnigan hollered, no longer feeling threatened by the retreating titan. She extended a hand in invitation and Levi gratefully accepted, whizzing down from the tree tops to sit behind Winnigan atop of Dot. They fled the scene, catching up with the scouts who had made a quick job of collecting the dead. Among them were the remains of Levi Squad, cold and unblinking. Winnigan and Levi gaze silently as soldiers cover the corpses in canvas tarps. “Do you want to ride with them?” Winnigan asked gently, willing herself to ignore Levi’s tight grip around her waist.
Levi tsked quietly in her ear, the fringe of his hair tickling her neck as he shook his head. “I’d just be dead weight.” His breath hitched in his throat at the dark and unintended pun. “Just get us home,” he pleaded in uncharacteristic softness. He gripped her waist tighter. She freed one hand from the reins and squeezed his left hand against her abdomen, feathering her thumb over his knuckles gently. Levi didn’t retaliate, only slumping further between her shoulder blades. Winnigan could’ve sworn he had dozed off after a while, because he didn’t immediately react when the survey corps signaled titans closing in from behind.
“Captain?” Winnigan blurted desperately, charging Dot to pick up the pace. Levi sat up with a jolt, eyes scanning their surroundings. He noticed the cart of corpses falling behind the rest. “Hey,” he started, voice cracking. He cleared his throat before emphasizing: “Hey!” The scouts on the cart waited at attention for instructions. “Dump the bodies here, the cart is too heavy for the horses to keep up.”
“But—” one began to protest.
“Now!” Levi roared, his grip tensing around Winnigan. “Let them do their final duty to the cause. We’ve left more bodies behind than we can count. How are these ones special?” He bit his words, clearly not believing his own word. That was his squad. His friends.
The scouts rolled the canvas tarps out with solemn hesitance, but it gave them the relief they needed to catch up with everyone else, the straggling titans shrinking from view. As they entered back into Wall Rose, the civilians surrounded on both sides of the street. An amalgamation of cheers, curses, and questions filled the air. An older man excitedly approached Levi, introducing himself as Mr. Ral, Petra’s father. He was grateful for Levi’s watchful and caring eye, but for some reason feeling the need to insist that Petra was too young to consider marriage. “She hasn’t even lived yet,” the man explained lightheartedly. Levi’s stoic expression and silence eventually ended the man’s ramblings, his face painted with confusion.
Was Levi going to tell him? It didn’t look like it. “Petra was a valiant soldier, Mr. Ral,” Winnigan said softly as Dot kept her steady pace in the street. “She gave her heart to the cause, I consider myself blessed to have met her during my short time in the Survey Corps.”
Mr. Ral kept pace with Dot for several silent strides. “… I see,” he said blankly. “Thank you for not harboring the truth from me,” Mr. Ral sounded genuine, but his gaze shot at Levi in anguish.
Winnigan wanted to ask Levi why he allowed Mr. Ral to entertain his ramblings, as he would know more than anyone that it’s easier to just rip off the bandage. But, Levi hadn’t said a word since he ordered the disposal of Petra’s corpse. Winnigan wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be the same, had she been the one to make that call.
At base, Commander Erwin allowed the survey corps a few hours to wash, address their injuries, and process the day’s events before reports were due. Winnigan slid off of Dot with a thud once she had arrived at Dot’s designated stall, but Levi didn’t move. He eyed his leg, the ground, and then Winnigan.
“Need a hand?” She asked, extending her arms up to Levi as if he were a small child afraid to get down by himself. Levi took personal offense to this, attempting to swing his leg over the saddle with a defiant scoff.
“As if.” He bit back a cry of pain as he tried to straighten his broken appendage and brace for the impact. Winnigan raised a brow, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Wanna think about that again?” She stretched her raised arms in emphasis, allowing Levi to bite back his pride long enough to slide into her open arms. Winnigan was a few inches his superior, so she caught him with ease, his feet never touching the ground.
“Morgan. Put me down now.”
Winnigan gasped. “Oh! Right,” her hazel eyes swept the stable, looking for some sort of crutch to get him inside. “Are you opposed to hobbling around with a manure rake?”
“Vehemently,” he sighed, reaching out to wrap his arm around Winnigan’s shoulder. “Just walk slow, hopefully all of the soldiers will be inside by now.”
They hobbled together in silence, Winnigan supporting most of Levi's weight as they made their way to the infirmary. His fingers dug into her shoulder with each painful step, but she didn't mind. After everything they'd been through today, a little discomfort was nothing.
Medics were all occupied with more severe patients, ones missing limbs and losing blood. Doctors weren’t scheduled for arrival for another few days, since the expedition wasn’t supposed to last less than a day. Able-bodied soldiers were sent in search of more medical help, while some stayed behind and assisted the medics. Armin was among them, having learned to stitch wounds during their time with the training corps. That left one other anatomy familiar soldier to assist Captain Levi, Section Commander Hange. They chomped at the bit excitedly as they cleared a cot for Levi.
“Setting bones is my favorite! It’s quickly become my specialty,” they gloated, chest puffed out in pride.
“I think we both know breaking bones is your specialty,” Captain Levi gritted, pulling his lame leg onto the cot. “Just let Morgan do it. No experience is better than whatever you consider medical expertise.”
Hange scoffed. “Please, shortstack. I’ve improved so much since you broke your fibula a couple years back. Ooh, Winnie, your brother was there!”
Winnigan’s face was alight in pleasant curiosity. Levi waved his hand to dismiss the statement, but Hange swatted him. “Levi and Pietro actually rolled off the top of HQ! They landed on Miche, god was he pissed.”
Levi buried his face into a towel he snatched from the bedside, groaning loudly. “That sure put a quick end to their little escapades,” they mused. Attempting to pull down Levi’s pants to address the injury, Hange realized his leg was too swollen to work around. “Well, I’ll just have to cut these trousers. You’ve got another pair somewhere, don’t you?” Levi didn’t reply from under the towel.
“Why were you and my brother rolling around on the roof?” Winnigan asked pointedly. The towel remained silent.
“The Commander and Pietro had been fighting,” Hange explained nonchalantly, snipping away at Levi’s pants. “That was back when Levi ‘got around’ as some people put it. Levi and Pietro got a little carried away when Pietro realized Levi could keep his mind off of things.”
“You fucked my brother?” Winnigan screamed, ripping the towel off of Levi’s blood-red face.
The heads of the infirmary turned. New recruit and seasoned soldier alike spectated with an entertained curiosity.
“I did not!” Levi clarified, shooting steel-grey daggers in Hange’s direction. “We fell off the roof before anything happened. We didn’t talk much after that.”
Winnigan narrowed her eyes, sighing a discontented surrender before throwing the towel over Levi’s waist, figuring the exchange was enough embarrassment for him without adding him being in his underwear to the mix. To add insult to injury, Hange made a quiet remark about Levi’s previous encounters with another former scout as they set Levi’s broken tibia without warning. A string of curses ensued, some Winnigan realized she was unfamiliar with. Hange had other patients to see, more bones to set, so they patted Levi on the shoulder in parting. “I’m sorry about Petra, friend,” they said softly. Levi nodded.
Winnigan made quick work of collecting items to make a splint. “You and Petra were getting married?” She was surprised that her stomach churned with slight envy at the question. She prayed it didn’t show.
“No,” Levi said blandly, staring into space. “Unfortunately, she had a hard time accepting that we weren’t exclusive.” A twinge of regret in his voice mirrored his expression. “I don’t get attached.”
Those final words were heavy. He was definitely talking about more than just romantic relationships.
Erwin sauntered into the infirmary, an aura of urgency emanating from him. “Your leg is set, Levi? Good,” he patted Captain Levi in much the same way Hange just did, as well as offering Winnigan a quick smile. “Even better that you’re both here. Debriefing can wait, I have a mission for you both.”
“Commander,” Winnigan protested, motioning to Levi, who slowly swung his legs off of the cot with a wince. “He’s in no shape to be in combat, are you serious?”
“Quite,” Erwin dismissed, helping Levi to his feet. He offered him a cane from a nearby supply room. “Word was received while we were on the expedition that funding has been heavily pulled from the Survey Corps.”
Levi hissed as he adjusted himself with the new cane. “What, why?”
“Investors who are fonder of the Garrison regiment are quite unhappy that we have Cadet Jaeger,” Erwin sighed, pulling a letter from his pocket. “Word spread, and we got a new investor offering more than what the previous benefactors ever provided, but they gave us a deadline.” He handed the letter to Levi, who scoffed as he read. “They’re expecting Winnigan Morgan to meet with them at their establishment early tomorrow morning. If you leave now, you’ll have enough time to make it there.”
“Why me?” Winnigan asked, reaching for the letter. Levi waved her off with a sigh. “And why Levi? He clearly should not be travelling in his condition.”
Erwin turned to Winnigan, a faint, uncomfortable smile on his face. “The offer comes from the Morgan estate,” he explained. Winnigan paled. Her parents hated her for joining the scouts, just as much as they had hated Pietro. Why were they offering money now? “Lord Morgan requested you come to his current location urgently. Levi,” he said pointedly. “Must go, because I’m not sending you alone, and I am certainly not sending an unseasoned topsider to the Underground.”
Winnigan finally wrestled the letter from Levi, searching the page for her father’s signature. Sure enough, Lord Morgan had signed off on the message, the address of their Underground office scrawled at the bottom.
“And, Captain Levi,” Erwin added with a hearty laugh. “Be decent and put on some pants around the fairer sex, please.”