Broken Hearts, Severed Limbs (Levi x OC x Erwin)

|38| The New Special Ops HQ

Hunting required silence and discretion. There were a number of twigs and withered leaves that had abandoned their branches, that could blow their cover. But if Nathalie had gotten good at something during her time in the Underground, it was being quiet. Although, there were no trees and no twigs and no withered leaves in the Underground. She hadn’t gone hunting before, but she trusted Sasha. Sasha was really a mastermind at spotting a creature either following its footsteps or clumsily eaten bushes, or scathed soil where usually the boars dug and dug deep trying to find roots of plants to feed on.

Nathalie had no idea how to spot a boar until today when Sasha actually showed her how to. There was always no need to go for hunting, since during the Expeditions, it was too dangerous to stray far from the squads, not to mention the titans that could sneak up on anyone who would try to catch an edible animal. The Scouts relied almost entirely on their rations during Expeditions. There was no point in hunting.

But still, Nathalie found that she actually enjoyed it. She had given Sasha a rifle, although Sasha had complained that she could hunt just as good with just a bow and arrows. Still, boars have a thick skin. An arrow wouldn’t be able to breach it as good as a bullet. But in the end, Nathalie found out that she was just worried about having Sasha get hurt. Even though, Sasha knew much more on the matter than Nathalie herself.

Now they had it cornered. The bush that they had been hiding behind was thick enough to cover them from the boar’s sight. It had been munching on the thick leaves of a plant, that Nathalie was sure Sasha had recognised. She and Sasha pointed their rifles at the creature. Nathalie couldn’t really tell what Sasha was waiting for. She looked over at the girl who was staring through the targeting lenses of her rifle. Fingers found the trigger slowly. It almost looked like she was taking her time with this.

“I shoot, you shoot?” Nathalie whispered, raising an eyebrow, but Sasha lifted her hand up urging her to keep quiet.

Nathalie did as she was asked and she waited until Sasha finally pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced straight through the boar’s eye, and eventually, its brain. The creature fell down, instantly dead. Nathalie was impressed by the precision of Sasha’s target. Her eyes widened.

“Yes!” Sasha threw a triumphant punch in the air as she jumped on her feet and approached the boar.

“Well done, Sasha!” Nathalie followed her and helped her wrap their ropes around the boar and start dragging.

It took a couple of minutes of dragging the heavy boar through the dense forest. The sounds of insects and the shrieks of wild animals. The small, satisfying sound of withering leaves, crushed beneath their feet. These were the sounds that they had focused on entirely. But Sasha finally spoke, breaking the silence.

“So… Captain-”

“What have I told you about this?”

“L- Lieutenant?”

“Aw, Sasha, no need for that,” Nathalie’s hand found Sasha’s hair, caressing slightly trying to ease the tension in the girl’s face. “‘Nathalie’ or ‘Nat’, whichever you like,” Nathalie said with a smile and Sasha returned the smile hesitantly.

“Alright, Lieut- er- I mean, Nathalie, you said you and the Captain grew up in the Underground. How was it like down there?” Sasha asked curiously.

Nathalie sighed. “Horrible. It’s not healthy staying away from sunlight for too long, you know. Sunlight provides us with a vital vitamin for our limbs that helps us walk and move,” Nathalie looked around her at the wonderful greenery. “And we didn’t have this. Trees, birds, the wind,”

Sasha sighed heavily. “I can’t imagine how that’s like. I grew up in the forests surrounding Ragako. Dad taught me all I know on hunting,”

Nathalie smiled. “Then your dad must be a great teacher. He must be proud of you,” Nathalie said and Sasha smiled.