ᵒᵖʰᵉˡⁱᵃ AOT

showdown *chapter seven*

The day of the expedition finally came. Cerah looked around at the people surrounding them in Shiganshina, a city inside Wall Maria. She noticed some faces of disapproval among most of the crowd. Maybe they disapproved of this expedition, maybe they found out that there were 'criminals' among the Scouts. She wasn't sure, but she looked away and to the left side of the area.

Nearby, she saw a young boy standing on top of a couple of crates, a wide smile on his face as he looked at the rows and rows of Scouts in front of him. His eyes landed on Cerah and his eyes brightened even more, waving his tiny hand to her.

Cerah smiled back, waving to him and the grin on his face never left as he looked back to the others. Cerah has never seen a young child this happy in her entire life. She wondered why he was like that.

Did he have more faith in the Scouts than the people did? Probably.

Either way, this was a serious mission, she thought to herself, tightening her grip on her horse's reins and looking forward at the other Scouts in front of her. Today was the day. It would determine fate for the rest of her life. Was she another animal going into the slaughterhouse? Most definitely.

But would she make it out alive? That is where she really wished she believed in fate. The gates to Wall Maria opened suddenly, startling her from her thoughts and she looked back, seeing Levi, Farlan, and Isabel positioned behind her.

"You better not be quivering, Cerah." Farlan stated with a smirk, Cerah smirking back and rolling her eyes. "As if. It looks like you're quivering to the bone there yourself, old man."

"What kind of Titans do you think we'll see?! Whatever it is, we'll take 'em!" Isabel exclaimed, Cerah nodding back to her and soon, the troops started taking off. With one last sharp exhale, Cerah took off with them.

"YOU GOT THIS, GUYS!" She heard, turning her head over back to the crowd on her left and saw it was the young boy again. His forest green eyes lit up with hope and his grin stayed strong on his face. She doesn't know why, but as she looked at the boy again, she felt something. Like she's seen him before even though they've never met. It was strange. But her head turned back forward and she had just reached the gate entrance when she took in a sharp inhale.

The small tunnel had darkened her vision for a moment, but as soon as she was outside the gate, her eyes adjusted quickly and she found herself staring up at the sky. The sun was high in the blue cloudy sky, its rays striking her warmly on the face and her eyes widened at the sight of hundreds of birds flying in the air, all in groups, some by themselves. The sight before her was exquisite. It felt like a dream.

It ALL felt like a dream.

Her sightseeing was unfortunately interrupted by the clapping of horse hooves coming up beside her and she brought her attention back down, seeing the squad leader Cerah and the others were assigned to come up to the front of the formation.

"What do you think, kid? Nice sight, huh?!" Cerah heard, looking over and seeing another squad next to them and Cerah smiled slightly when she recognized two of its members.

Hange Zoë and Moblit Berner.

"It is! I've always read about this, but..its nothing like the real thing!" Cerah called back, smiling up at the sky. A call from the front of the formation was heard before a green flare was shot into the air, indicating the beginning of the mission.

"Good luck out there, Cerah!" Cerah heard Hange say, looking over and seeing Hange wave to her before taking off down a different path. That's right, Erwin's plan was to have the squads split to avoid major casualties to the formation during the expedition. Smart, but also idiotic. The front of Cerah's squad had began breaking off in the other direction and Cerah quickly followed, watching as Erwin and the other Scouts continued straight.

"Stay in formation. If you spot Titans farther away, you will shoot up a green flare. That will let the others behind us know to move our way past them. Got it?" The squad leader asked Cerah, the girl nodding and taking the flare gun from him. She luckily had an extra green smoke can because she had only received two. And she knew they would need more than that.

"How you holding up, Cerah?!" She heard Levi ask, looking back at him. "Just peachy."

"Well, no chickening out now. We're here. So stay focused and stay cautious." The squad leader stated harshly, Cerah turning back and glaring at him from behind. Though she didn't say anything else and concentrated on the road.

They continued on the road for another fifteen or so minutes before Cerah spotted the first group of Titans ahead.

"I see about four Large Titans!" She called to the squad leader, the man in front of her taking notice and nodding. "Confirmed. Shoot the flare."

"Sir! We have a large Titan emerging from the woods!" Another call came and the man turned his head, seeing another Titan speed walking towards them. Cerah's eyes widened at the sight. This was an Abnormal, Titans that don't move like normal ones. And it's eyes were trained on the supply wagon they had with them.

"There's no way we can move past this one. We'll just have to-eh?" The squad leader began, turning to look back at the Titan, only to find Cerah climbing up on her horse. "Oi, cadet! Get down from there!"

"Levi, I'm gonna need help here!" Cerah called, ignoring the squad leader. Using the ODM gear, Cerah anchored herself onto one of the tall trees nearby and stayed there, grabbing the attention of the Abnormal Titan in the process.

"Levi, you and I will go for the legs! Isabel and Farlan, you go for the arms first. Without its arms, it won't grab us!" Cerah stated, moving quickly when the Titan went to grab her.

"Good plan!"

"You got it!" Farlan and Isabel joined in on the assault and brought their blades back, slashing the Titan's arms from behind and clinging themselves to the trees in front of them, watching the Titan stumble back.

"NOW!" Cerah called, both her and Levi flying down and slashing the Titan at the knees. The legs didn't cut off completely, but was enough for the Titan to fall forward on its way down. Cerah, with quick instinct, flung around, her blades at the ready and with all her strength, swung them, cutting clean through the nape.

"WHOO! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Isabel screamed, cheering as she watched the Titan below them begin to dissolve. "Great job, guys. That was a tough one."

"It was. But we did it." Cerah replied to Levi, a smile planted on her face. Though it quickly changed to disgust as she looked down at herself, seeing the Titan blood all on her. "Ugh! Gross!"

"Relax, it'll be gone soon. Titan blood dissolves quickly, right?" Isabel asked, Farlan nodding, though that didn't satisfy Cerah. She still took the green cloak around her and wiped her hands on it. "We better get moving before we hear it from that asshole of a squad leader."

"That's something we all can agree on."