𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐄'𝐒 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋.ʜᴀɴᴊɪ ᴢᴏᴇ̈

『35』Gone

Sunday, June 30, 850 at 12:11

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It was as soon as you disappeared out of his sight that Levi knew that something would go horribly wrong. Although he didn't express it, he had gained that uncomfortable swirl of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach as he filled his gas tanks up and renewed his blades -making sure that they were properly secured in his holsters and hooked up before he gave a curt nod to the soldier manning the station, soon after heading off. His steely blue eyes remained focused, observant and taking in everything he could around him -the last yell that came from who he believed to be Eren was a good minute or two ago, and the corporal knew very well that that probably meant one of three things; one, nothing had happened and it was simply an abnormal, two, it had been Eren and you and the rest of the Special Operations Squad stopped whatever threat there was, or three, his squad was unable to stop the threat and said threat had either killed or kidnapped the young shifter.

He was hoping for the first option, but his subconscious wouldn't let him believe it -solely based on the fact that Erwin had instructed you and him to refuel your supplies, the unusual command not going over the male's head as he remained suspicious.

Many times in the man's life had he been on the battlefield, and even more times had he seen people he had known be torn apart -he had come to learn that it was even worse when you didn't see them in their final moments, only to find out in safety that they had been practically mauled to death.

So for one to say that he was unfamiliar with the subject of death would be a blatant lie.

Yet as he manoeuvered himself past the stilled, hanging body of Gunther, he couldn't help the way he smally tensed up, eyes partially staring out in a dread that no one would be able to pick up on -even if there were living people nearby to see said sight. The man had picked up the uncanny ability to mask his emotions due to these scenarios, after all. So as he passed by Eld's body further down the trail -his body laying face up on the ground, eyes uselessly staring forwards in a steady hold that seemed, if his amber spheres were working, it would have been obscured by the blood that coated his entire face thickly- his face remained almost perfectly neutral, and if one were to see him at that moment, they would even dare to say that he was unaffected by what he had just seen. Looking to the ground told him that the footfalls that had imprinted themselves into the ground took him on a curve that offshooted from the main body, and when he followed it he immediately knew that he had gone in the correct direction.

He couldn't help the way he slowed down when he reached Oluo and Petra, the two of them not too far off from each other in their resting places. The once arrogant teen who had copied the corporal for the longest time remained motionless as he sprawled himself upon the ground, and the strawberry blonde who said teen adored so much had her neck craned in a way that was impossible for any living human being -something Levi could easily tell even through the extra green cape that covered her body, the only way he knew it was her being the fact that when he grabbed the hand that belonged to the corpse, it was cold. Not enough time had passed for it to have been you, it would have still been warm. He continued his way further along the trail, hues of a greyed blue searching for the last two members of his squad -and it was only when he entered an opening, where it looked like a struggle occurred, and saw your body that he knew Eren was in immense danger. Unlike he had with Oluo and Petra, he didn't stop to observe the last member of his squad that he had hopes of being alive -seeing in a quick glance the way your body was spread out in a pile of greenery with splotches of red all over your torso was enough to tell him that you had achieved the same fate as the other four members. He knew that the rest of his squad had been dead by the time you arrived given that you no longer wore your hood, which he assumed you had given to Petra -meaning that your last moments surely were filled with sadness, grief and -if he still knew you well enough from before you were a captain- rage.