Wings [Levi Daughter]

Chapter Forty-Five

The hooded figure stood on the tallest tree in the forest, his eye looking through the telescope to see the figures standing on the Wall, it was the Scouts – what was left of the Scouts.

Forty... forty-one... forty-two ... He sighed. He hid his telescope in his satchel and sat back down on the tree branch, he reached back inside his satchel and took out some nuts he found in the forest. He has been living off by nuts, berries, and squirrels he could find in the forest for weeks, unable to get down from where he was because of the Titans in Wall Maria. Shoving a few in his mouth, the man frowned.

Out of two hundred, only forty-two Scouts remained... he thought. And I haven't seen that fucking Commander anywhere... I guess he bit the dust too. He then saw a short figure stand. Doesn't matter, as long as I get to kill them...

~*~

"This is all of the survivors?" Hange asked.

"Yes, Commander." Iris replied.

Hange frowned at the number, she turned back to the resting recruits that survived the battle with the Beast Titan and saw the look at their faces, the faces that has gone through hell and will continue so.

"I see." Hange said.

"I'm sorry, Commander Hange..." Iris said. "I wasn't able to save any of the veterans –"

Hange placed a hand on Iris' shoulder. She gave the girl a kind smile.

"You saved the lives of these young soldiers... you did enough." Hange said. "We can't save all of them... so stop blaming yourself, alright?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"We'll proceed to Eren's cellar once Armin and Sasha regains consciousness, for now, you can rest... let the others stand watch."

Iris saluted as a reply, and then went to join Leon, Eren, Mikasa and the others, sitting by the edge of the Wall. When she sat down beside Mikasa, she sighed and hung her legs at the edge of the Wall.

"I don't think you should do that." Leon said.

"Why not? The Commander told me to rest, and I'm resting. What could possibly go wrong?" Iris said.

"I don't know, maybe the wind will blow you off the edge?"

"Then I'll use my gear to get me up here again." Iris shrugged. She went silent, her eyes fixed on the bloody battlefield where they fought the Beast Titan. She could see them again, those soldiers who were at the front line who got hit first. Those who died in the hands of the Beast Titan. "I don't think I'll ever see these fields the same again..."

"Why's that?" Jean asked.

"Even if the rain washed away the blood... even if the ground grows new grass... I will always know what happened here... and how many bodies were crushed by the boulders on this land." Iris answered. "There were so many – ow!"

Iris rubbed her head where she felt someone hit her with something, she turned to Leon and saw him with his fist.

"The hell was that for –" she told off on him.

"Captain's orders." Leon said. "He said, if you ever start saying shit, I should hit you at the head and get some sense into you."

"It's not shit –"

"Well, it's fucking up your head." He knocked on Iris' head. "It's bad enough you have an old man talking inside your head, you don't need to torture yourself about this... we know what happened... and we know that you tried your best to get there as fast as you can to save them, but we can't save everyone."