Chapter Text
He wakes up to the gentle lull of the waters flowing throughout the river, the smooth rush of liquid like a cold carress on his cheeks. Pebbles dig uncomfortably on his back, with their jagged sides seemingly intent on leaving their bite on his skin, but he supposes that is nothing compared to the searing pain throbbing on his leg, demanding attention. His eyelids feel heavy with the weight of the world instead of just his lashes, but he tries to blink the exhaustion away. Afraid that if his eyes remain closed, they shall remain so permanently.
His vision is blurry, like his irises have been covered with film. But light penetrates anyway, and he guesses he could only be looking at the moon. Albeit slowly, he manages to lift up a hand. His fingers eclipse the glowing orb, as they twitch. He snarls. Remembers how they once gripped blades so firm, so certain, that his weapons have become an extension of his arm. How with a flick, grown men twice his size would cower in fear at his command.
But now they shake, perhaps from the cold seeping through his bones; perhaps the years of war have finally taken its toll, and his body is now just a remnant of the onslaught. Another life to burry.
Except no one’s around to even dig him a grave. No one around to know he’s finally, finally dead.
No one around for him to see If anyone will bother to weep for his loss.
The moon will be the only witness to his final breath, and he thinks that may not be so bad. A soldier rarely has the luxury to spend the last moments of their life in peace and quiet. Not with all the bloodshed, and the chaos, and the giant monsters who have a knack for human flesh.
He supposes dying here is a kindness, instead of in between the teeth of a titan, like the fate so many of his comrades had. Sure, he’d never know if it’s possible to rid the world of those monstrosities outside the walls. He’d never see the day those walls actually fall. He’d never see what actually lies beyond them. What life is like outside of everything he’s ever known. If the sun shined differently without the confines of a cage.
If all the suffering had been worth it in the end.
His breath hitches, and his chest clenches at a painful beat. The air feels ragged as it enters his lungs, as if parts of it got lost along the way down. His mind drifts, and he sees flashes of Isabel and Farlan, and suddenly everything hurts tenfold.
But then he thinks it’s okay. It’s okay to open Pandora’s Box. To take these skeletons out of his closet, and finally lay them to rest. After everything, at least, he hopes he’s allowed to follow where they are.
Ah, hope. What a dangerous thing to feel when you already have one foot on the grave, lest a treacherous part of him dares to slice off that foot, just to say that death has no claim on him yet.
But a part of him is also tired. His shoulders have been burdened with the weight of the dead for the longest time. Would it really be so bad to put them down now?
His eyes grow heavy, like all the years of sleep he never got had finally caught up to him. And so he permits the exhaustion to settle in. His body is a house, and now his soul is moving out.
He flicks the lights off. Locks the door.
And finally, he leaves.
The wind blows and whispers, ‘Here lies Humanity’s Strongest. May he rest in peace.’
Except he doesn’t.
Levi startles awake, panting heavily, pain shooting throughout his limbs. He frantically eyes the unfamiliar surroundings; his instincts on overdrive, as he tries to detect any possible threat. His hands immediately fly down to his hips on impulse, hovering where his blades ought to be.
He takes a deep breath, willing himself to calm down when he realized he was alone. He appears to be in some sort of cave, except this one looks obviously lived in, with all the litter scattered around.
He was lying on a tattered cloth, woven leaves serving as his makeshift blanket, and he shudders at the thought of the dirt he’s accumulated from sleeping on the ground. His skin itches from the rough texture of the leaves, and he throws them off to the side. He’s left only in his boxers, which was understandable since his clothes were probably drenched lying on that river for who knows how long. Still, he won’t hesitate to cut someone’s head off if he’s actually just been in the hands of a pervert. His ire dies down a bit when he sees foreign plants plastered around his inflamed skin, which he guesses was some sort of medication.
He grits his teeth as he tries to stand, only to land back on his ass, aggravating his wounds further. One or two of his ribs are probably broken, he hopes he doesn’t have a concussion, but it seems his leg had suffered the most damage. He supposes he should be thankful it’s still attached, given that it had been seconds away from becoming a titan’s chew toy, but still. Of all things he could have possibly injured, it just had to be what he needed to get the hell out of this place.
He feels a headache coming, and he groans. He was supposed to be dead, goddammit.
Levi spots his gear, as well as his boots thrown haphazarldy in a corner. Careful not to put too much strain on his leg, he crawls slowly to where a small knife is strapped on the side of his boot. It doesn’t take a genius to know that he sure as hell did not sleep-dragged himself all the way here, not when he had been borderline delirious. But who in their right mind would be living outside the walls? More importantly, how could they?
Fuck. Was it actually possible? It must be, with the torch precariously hanging on the cave wall, the amateurly built wooden table with roots tied taut to support its joints, the assortment of trinkets, of different colored stones piled on it. All of this a sign of life.
His grip tightens on the handle of his knife. The one who took him here probably didn’t think he was worth killing, considering they actually took the time to bandage him up, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
He hears a rustle outside the cave, footsteps coming closer, and closer. He grows rigid for a split second, before hurrying back to his “bed”, and schools his features to appear as if he never woke.
He feels the presence of another body as it enters the cave. He tenses as they approach, crossing over to him in feather-quiet steps, careful not to disrupt the slumber he’s put on for a show. The stranger kneels beside him, and it takes everything in Levi to stay still, as they hover. A hand presses on his forehead, checking the state of his temperature.
That second of disregard for his awareness was all he needed to catch his captor by surprise, grabbing the hand placed on his skin to twist their arm behind their back. They let out a startled yelp, and Levi tastes blood when he bites inside his cheek, as his body protests in pain at the sudden movement.
Levi ignores what feels like flames licking the inside of his leg, swiflty maneuvering their position in order to shift his strength up his torso to keep the stranger tackled face down to the ground. Levi moves his good knee to grind down what he now sees is a boy’s back. In quick observation, he reckons he has a couple of years over the kid, and guesses him to be at least in his late teens.
Keeping a hand firmly locked on the boy’s wrists, the other positions the knife on the boy’s throat, and if Levi accidentally draws blood because the fucker couldn’t keep still, then he really couldn’t be blamed, could he?
“Who are you? Where the fuck in the world are we?!” Levi growls. This was the temperament that made legions fall to their knees—why Erwin and Hange were the only two people who could look him in the eye, because nobody else had the courage to dare and do so.
The boy squirms, unintelligible cries spilling from his mouth. Levi clicked his tongue in frustration, flipping his hostage over so he was straddling him between his legs, thinking that he may not get any answers if he continued grinding his face to the ground. The blade remains close to the boy’s throat, however.
“Listen here, you piece of shit. If you don’t give me answers, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m going to shove this knife so far up your ass, you’re going to vomit it back up.” Levi hisses as he threateningly twirls the knife between his fingers. The body beneath him trembles in fear, allowing Levi to finally get a good look.
The first thing he notices is the poor excuse of a bird’s nest resting on top of the boy’s head. There’s a stray leaf caught in the messy, brown strands, and Levi wonders when he last washed it; his mouth twists in disgust. He was wearing an even filthier shirt, with a couple of holes that looked like they came from being snagged on branches. It was also a couple of sizes too big, but though he appeared slim, there was an evident bulge of muscle in his arms.
Then there were the eyes. They were the color of fresh water reflecting the first hint of morning sun. Blues, and greens mixed in harmony, like heaven and earth holding hands. If only they weren’t clouded in fear, and glinting with unshed tears, perhaps the image of Levi reflected on them would have been more serene.
“P-please.” The boy whimpers. “N-no hurt. Please.”
Levi’s hold slightly loosens as he heard the stunted speech.
“I h-help. Leg i-is blood. I saw. No h-hurt you.” He continues to babble brokenly, a hiccup slipping his lips every now and then, as he was full on crying now. More concerned about getting snot on his skin, rather than the kid being an actual threat, Levi slowly gets off of him, blades still at the ready in case the brat tries anything funny. The brunet’s cries quiets down into sobs, as he gingerly rubs his wrists, making Levi feel like he just kicked a puppy. Tch, what a pain.
Levi stares him down for a good minute, gauging the situation, while the boy refuses to meet his gaze, seemingly intent on focusing on the loose thread of his shirt that he’s been anxiously thumbing on.
“Look, kid,” Levi sighs, running a hand through his hair. “As long as you don’t pull anything, I won’t hurt you. But should you even think of doing anything weird, I’ll slit your throat faster than you can blink. Understood?” The boy bites on his lip, but nods, otherwise.
“Good. Now, do you think you can answer some questions for me?”
Another nod.
“Alright. So.” Levi pauses, and does another quick scan of the cave. “Where the fuck are we?”
“U-uhm. Cave.”
Levi slams his knife down the ground, making the boy flinch, as if he expected for the blade to slice off a part of him. “Do you think I’m an idiot? Of course, we’re in a fucking cave! What I’m asking is how far we are from the Wall? You do know what the Wall is, don’t you? Those big ass slabs of concrete?”
It takes a few seconds, but the words seemed to have sink, and the boy’s face lights up. “T-the big—“ His hands make excited gestures, signing large squares in the air. He grins when Levi dips his chin in affirmation.
“T-today we are, uhm, very away?” His eyebrows meet in a frown, unsure of his words. “B-but I—way! Way I can, uhm..”
Levi waves a hand, signalling him to stop. He would have said ‘don’t hurt yourself’ but he’s not that kind of an asshole, so he keeps the snark between his teeth. “You can show me the way, is that it?”
The boy bobs his head enthusiastically.
“Alright, let’s get going then.”
Levi makes a move to stand up, leaning his weight on his good leg. The regret of violently jostling it earlier almost makes him fall over as the pressure reawakens the pain, but much like everything he’s been through in his life, he soldiers on. The walls may have been a cage, but it has tea and proper plumbing, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get his well-deserved bath after the hell of the last twenty-four hours.
“N-no.” The boy says softly, Levi falters, almost thinks he misheard.
“No?” He questions, with an eyebrow raised.
The boy shakes his head.
Irritated, Levi twirls the knife on his hand threateningly. A persisting habit awoken by the stranger in front of him, it seems. The boy slightly pulls back at the sight of the blade, but steels himself with resolve. He meets Levi’s scowl with a frown of his own, shaking his head in defiance once again.
“That was an order, not a request, you shitty brat. If you don’t want me to make titan fodder out of you, you best get your ass up or I swear—“
“Hurt!” The boy cuts him off with a frustrated yell, gesturing to Levi’s leg. “B-blood stop. But blood again, i-if you go.” He continues more softly, though the frown doesn’t leave his face as if Levi’s injury had personally offended him.
Levi clears his throat, the hostility stirring inside his chest gradually calming down, realizing that the kid’s disobedience stemmed from worry, rather than plain refusal. “Worry about yourself. You don’t know who the fuck you’re talking to.”
Levi hates the title, but he wasn’t hailed as Humanity’s Strongest if a broken leg was all it took to immobilize him. He’s survived on worst.
The boy remains unmoving, staring at him with big, wide eyes. He meets his stare with the most deadpan expression he could muster, but the boy’s stubborness rivals the hardness of the Walls, making Levi run a hand on his face in defeat.
“Fine, fine.” He flicks his wrist in surrender. “But the second I heal, we’re leaving, you hear me?” Levi says, stressing his point with the raise of a finger. Fuck. He’s really talking to a puppy here, isn’t he? The boy, seemingly content with winning the argument, moves to help Levi lie back down. Levi tries to wave him away, elbows him on the ribs when the kid got too close, but the brunet was nothing if not insistent, so with a roll of his eyes, Levi lets him sit him back down the ground, much to his chagrin.
“If you’re done playing nurse, get me my clothes, why don’t you?” Levi huffs, scratching at his irritated skin. He notices dirt under his fingernails, and he furiously tries to pick them out as the kid stood up to cater to his command.
The boy returns with his uniform, the fabric still warm from the heat of the sun. It carries the smell of tree bark, but no longer of sweat, at least. And though some of his blood still stains, it no longer looks like it’s been used to wipe off a murder.
He doesn’t put everything on, deciding it to be too much of a hassle. He settles for his undershirt, and the kid helps him put on his trousers. He winces at the torn pant leg.
Once he’s clothed again, and settled, the boy remains dutifully by his side, carefully dabbing his middle finger on the medicinal plants wrapped around Levi’s injury, checking if it’s already time to have them replaced.
“Oi, kid.” He looks up questioningly, as Levi swats away his ministrations. “You got a name?”
The boy tilts his head to the side.
Levi thinks maybe if he sighs deep enough he’ll die.
“A name. Something people call you with. Then again, there isn’t really anyone here to call you anything, is there?” He muses. The boy only looks at him expectantly as he continues to talk. “I’m Levi.”
The brunet bites his lip in thought. “Ri-ribai,” he says softly, testing the weight of the name on his tongue. A hesitant carress of syllables, though they still snag on his teeth on their way out.
Levi snorts as the kid butchers his name. “It’s Levi, you idiot. Le-vi. Say it again, go on.”
The kid purses his lip, annoyed at his inability to get it correctly the first time. “Li-Levi?” Levi gives him an encouraging nod. Well, as encouraging as a small nudge of a chin could be.
“Levi!” The kid exclaims happily.
“Hm. Good job, kid.” Levi’s lip curls up slightly in amusement, and the boy preens at the compliment. He smiles like he has never known sadness, and Levi wonders how it feels to be familiar with mirth that way. To treat happiness as a friend who wouldn’t stab you in the back with your own knife. He repeats Levi’s name over, and over like a mantra. Testing different lilts, dropping the letters in altered dips, as if there was more to it than an identity.
Levi flicks him on the forehead to get him to stop, and the boy glares at him as he rubs the reddening spot. “You sure you don’t remember your name? I can’t keep calling you ‘kid’ it’s annoying.”
Levi wasn’t met with a response, only a sag of the boy’s shoulders.
“You know what, whatever. From now on your name is Kid. We have more important shit to deal with, anyway.” Perhaps it wasn’t Levi’s brightest idea, but he wasn’t exactly what you’d call creative, and Kid just may be the stupidest name ever, but the brunet has the stained-glass of a church with the light of the setting sun passing through for eyes, and he’s looking at Levi like he’s holy, so it couldn’t be that bad.
“Now that that’s settled, tell me, how long have you been out here?”
Kid hesitates, anxiously gnawing on his lip. Levi finds that he does that a lot, it’s a wonder they’re still in tact.
“Long time. N-not know why. Just that I is here. Always.” Kid averts his gaze, and Levi mourns the loss of color, as if the curtains in his eyes have once again been drawn.
“I figured as much. But then again, you know how to talk. You seem decent enough to know basic social graces. You’ve been here since you can remember, but you can’t have been here your whole life.”
“T-the pictures in my head. They are like, inside smoke? They are there, but I—I cannot see.” Kid murmurs dejectedly, rubbing on the smudge of dirt staining the back of his hand, as if he were afraid that if he looked up, Levi would level him with disappointment.
He’s confused, sure. Who the hell would dump a kid all the way out the Wall with no way to fend for himself? It was hard enough to survive in the wilderness alone, but with Titans raging around, it was next to impossible. The Scout Regiment could barely last a day, and they were all soldiers who spent years honing their bodies into arsenals. Kid was all long, clumsy limbs, and if Levi wanted, breaking his bone would be no different than snapping a twig.
It wasn’t likely that he was left here in recent years. Otherwise, his speech wouldn’t have been so stunted. Kid has the language capacity of a literal child, and Levi guesses he was brought out here when he was one.
An image of a small, brunet boy wandering around the forest, alone, with death lurking around the corner, flashes through Levi’s mind, and his chest flows with white-hot rage, he feels like he’s drowning, and burning at the same time.
This naïve, innocent child who comes to the rescue of random strangers, with no second thought—even when said stranger repays him with threats, and a knife to the throat. Someone who treats a poorly thought out, monosyllabic name like a treasure he has finally earthed, and no gold could ever compare. Someone so untainted, he can look at Levi, and see someone worth saving.
This kid who was left for dead was the reason Levi was alive.
Levi feels a hand pressed gently on his chest, breaking his train of thought.
“Levi is okay?”
No, Levi is not fucking okay. He wants to slam someone’s head against a wall.
But he says none of that. Instead, Levi breathes deeply through his nose, thinking that scaring the kid wouldn’t get him the answers he need.
“How did you survive? There are titans everywhere. Hell, I don’t even know why there isn’t one eating us right now.”
“We are away. Not many in this place. And Sun will hide soon. Titans do not like dark. Makes them s-sleep. Some awake, but, uhm, eye is not good? I go out then. Look for food. If smell like animal, h-hard to know if—“ Kid falters, and makes gestures toward his body.
“If you’re a human.” Levi continues for him, and Kid nods enthusiastically. “Huh. So, what, you just douse yourself with animal blood and prance around like you’re on a fucking stroll?”
“Titans not hurt animals. Use blood, and t-the smell, it—“ Kid slaps his palms together, having no words for a better explanation.
“It mixes together. It confuses them.” Levi says in realization. He feels awed for a minute, until he thinks about how filthy that method was, and his thrill dies down to displeasure.
“When alone. Works very much.” Kid confirms.
Levi hums in agreement. It would be a more effective method when used in small recon missions, and if push comes to shove, which always fucking does, Kid is proof of its efficiency for stealth. It might give someone enough time to camoflauge themself, and escape.
“That’s—actually not a bad idea. Glad you’re not just a brat after all.” Levi smirks, and Kid pouts at him petulantly.
Levi points his chin to Kid’s shirt. “How about clothing? Don’t tell me you’ve been wearing that since you’ve been here? I touched that, you fucker.” He growls.
Kid shakes his head, and stands up to retrieve a dirty satchel sitting pitifully in a corner. He hands it to Levi, who hesitantly takes it from him, eyeing the filth in blatant disgust.
Levi takes the contents out of the bag. A couple of shirts, trousers. Some with holes, some with questionable stains that Levi would rather not think about. A few pens whose ink have all dried. A small notebook with the pages stuck together, and turning brown with age. Nothing written on it except what seems to be a grocery list, which makes Levi shoot a confused look at Kid, who only shrugs in response. There are oddly-shaped rocks, a shoelace, and a small dagger.
Levi freezes when he unfolds what he thought was a blanket, only to be met with the insignia of the Scout Regiment. The blue and white of the wings faded with time, the fabric no longer a vibrant forest green. His hand trembles, crumpling the cloth as his fingers close into a fist. Ice travels from the soles of his feet to his scalp, and he feels cold with indignation.
“Where the fuck did you get this?” Levi seethes, making Kid flinch.
“I-I found them.” Kid murmurs with his head down. He yelps when Levi grabs him by the shirt, yanking him angrily.
“You found their dead bodies, and thought it was alright to steal what little they had left, as if those motherfucking Titans haven’t done enough damage already?! Were you going to do the same to me too, if I turned out dead—is that it, you bastard?!” And Levi knows it’s ridiculous to direct such resentment to someone who was just trying to survive. People do horrible things when they’re desperate. He, of all people, should know. But when he thinks about the cloak belonging to someone who could have been under his command, his responsibility—another body among a sea of others who he had led to their deaths—bile rises to his throat, and he tries to swallow it back down the way he swallows his guilt.
Kid grips the hand fisted on his shirt, and snarls back. “Not steal!” He rips the satchel off Levi’s lap, and slams it to the ground, the contents spilling haphzardly. “These—I find! From forest. Left behind!”
Levi’s grip loosens, but the tremor still does not leave his hold. “B-but bodies.” The words make Kid’s breath hitch. “Bodies, I bury. Try to bury who I-I find. So Titans—so they do not take anymore.”
And so, Levi lets go. Rests the back of his head on the cave wall, and closes his eyes. His ears ring, like all his blood has shifted to his brain, and he feels so dizzy he wants to laugh. Because of course. Of fucking course, this kid with his heart so golden he might as well kick the Sun out of its job, would go burying the dead he owed nothing to, and allow them to die with as much decency he could provide, even if doing so, he risks joining them down the grave.
And Levi feels relieved—feels it wash over him like the gentle drizzle of summer rain—that life has not made this kid cruel. This kid who was still holding his hand, as if he were afraid that if he let go, Levi would disappear somewhere he cannot follow. His lips are bitten bloody, and his eyes are in the middle of a storm. And what a shame that was because they were so beautiful when he was happy, like the earth on the first day of spring.
Levi lifts a hand, ruffles his hair gently, and says, “Thank you, Kid.”
And then, Kid smiles. A soft curve lift of his lips.
The clouds part. The Sun peeks.
And Levi finally sees daylight.