𝔇𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 (𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔦 𝔵 ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯)

XLVI - Bedridden

It was as though something in him...

Snapped.

***

I blinked, the simplest gesture sending a painful shock down my body from the titans grip. But as my eyes opened again, Levi had disappeared from the branch. My breathing got shallower and shallower, nearing the complete loss of breath. My vision was unfocused, one second everything is black and the next everything's a distorted green and flesh colour from the forest and surrounding titans.

It felt as though hours had passed since I had ended up in the titans grip. My lungs weren't getting anymore air as the last of it left my mouth in a raspy, shallow exhale. That's when felt myself falling, cool air bombarding my body as the titans humid grasp released from around me. I felt cold, sick and weak, no strength in my hands to pull a trigger to hook myself to a nearby tree.

I felt paralyzed from head to toe, I couldn't take a breath to fill my chest again. I was numbed with an agonizing pain, it felt as though all my organs had been crushed in the mere few seconds in the hands of death. I struggled to stay conscious as I plummeted towards the ground, eyes focusing on blood splatters shooting through the air, ears focused on the fearless grunts that escaped from Levi's mouth from all directions.

Napes fell at the hands of what seemed like nothing, the raven maneuvering through the air with such speed it was impossible to track him. Every single cut he made was so deep, some titans in my blurred peripheral vision were completely beheaded.

His tone was filled with such fury it terrified me. Everything was in slow motion, but I couldn't see Levi. It was either he really was moving too fast to see or I was just too weak to even try. The tops of the trees got farther and farther away the closer I got to hitting the ground, all up until Levi collided with me, his arms catching me with such harsh mellowness it didn't seem to hurt at all.

My eyes fell closed, unable to open themselves at this moment as I instantly curled up against Levi, grasping every human touch he had to show right now in order to erase every ounce of titan I had been affected by. A sense of relief washed over me, using all of my energy to bury the side of my face against Levi's chest as he pulled me into him even tighter.

"You're okay, Y/N, I've got you." He murmured, his breathing rugged. His grip on me was shaking, either from fear or from shock. I felt him take us upwards, towards the higher branches of the trees before all was still and he gently placed me down but he refused to let air come between his touch and mine.

"What happened?" I whisper, my tone barely audible. He hesitated, my eyes opening a little to see a look of unexplainable confusion on his face.

"I-I don't know." He murmured back. "It was... unexplainable. Like something in me just broke loose." He trailed away, looking down at me with such concern.

"Thank you." I manage to whisper, gathering more air into my lungs. Ignoring the pain that was searing me from the inside, I attempt to sit up. "The squad." I strain, face displaying visible pain. Levi looped his arms under me and pulls me to his chest, standing up with my added weight with no difficulty at all.

"Don't even try to fucking move." He snapped. "You're wounded, don't worsen what's already bad."

"My whole body hurts." I mumble to myself, subconsciously speaking my thoughts out and closing my eyes.

"I know." He whispers as he launched us off into the woods towards the west end. The wind attacked my body, Levi still holding me hard up against his body before I felt him take a deep breath.

"Hange!" He shouted, voice laced with such authority it could've overpowered Erwin's. A split second of silence was held before I heard Hange screech at the top of her lungs.