Sharpened (Levi X Reader)

Chapter 1 . How...?

          Levi

   It had been years since he had abandoned the stench of death, starvation, and filth. He most definitely did not miss it. Even still... his instincts and muscle memory came in almost immediately, the minute he stepped on what looked to be a decaying hand, its nearly disintegrated muscles clinging to the heel of his boot. "Tch." He let out a soft sound of dismay. That would be a bitch to clean off when he returned to the surface.

   As quickly as he could, Levi oriented himself and began heading towards the edge of the district. He clung to the shadows, as silent as he had learned to be when he was left to fend for himself. A group of children swept by, nearly bumping into him. Levi made sure to avoid being hit; not out of disgust (although that may have been a slight part of it), but because he knew how quick their hands could be in taking what they wanted. He used to be one of them, after all.

   Almost there.

   He had made good time, and by the end of the day, he had managed to reach his location. No one seemed to notice the slight man jumping from shadowed alleyway to shadowed doorway. No one would. Finally, Levi managed to find an abandoned shed near his target; its structure seemed safe, and seemed much cleaner than the many others he had searched. It's owner must have recently passed.

   After ensuring that the door could still be locked, he made quick work of cleaning the bed to the best of his ability before laying on it. Despite how much the uncleanliness of the rest of the shed irked him, he wasn't expecting to stay much longer than the week. Levi had made sure any and all entrances to the shed were within full view of the bed, and he glanced over them now. Everything seemed quiet, besides the cries of pain and hunger that could be heard a little ways down the street.

   It had been so long since he had heard such agony at the hands of anything besides titans. 

  He breathed deeply, and took the time to think on his mission. The information he had received the few nights prior to his departure was concerning, and not just because there was so little of it. It seemed that citizens throughout the three walls had been disappearing steadily; all of them were anywhere between the ages of 3 to 25, although there were a few outlying cases. The number of the missing was constantly rising, and had even began cutting into the amount of recruits the Training Corps had received this year by nearly a fourth. A devastating loss, especially to the Scouts.

   The only lead Erwin had for Levi was the fact that by the count of the missing, there was absolutely no way the operation was being run above-ground. There was nowhere to hide that amount of people, besides one area. The only location that was left untouched by the government, but for the lazy Military Police.

   Levi's past home.

   So he was sent here, to the outskirts of one of the most dangerous districts in the Underground to investigate. His orders were to find the head of the operation, and if the opportunity arose to take them out at no extra danger to his person... Well, Levi had explicit permission to make their breathing non-existent. He'd been given a month to complete his goal before Erwin would send a team to ensure Levi was fine, and to aid him should he need the extra hands. Until then, however, his ties were cut. No communication to the outside, for fear of the mission being compromised.

   Despite his pride taking a slight hit at the length of time he was given, Levi knew it was for the best. He had no idea what he was up against, how big the organization could be after being left to their own devices for nearly 2 years. There had to be some failsafe to ensure everything went as planned. He knew that Erwin always planned for every scenario, despite the absurd gambles he makes on the way.