"Stay with me. Come on, just a little longer."
The distant thundering of hooves across the plains stretched out between them and the safety of the walls. Shelter. Peace, if only for a little while. Home. He knew they were immeasurably close to escaping the danger lumbering along behind them and yet he was s l i p p i n g.
"Levi...c-come close. I haven't much time to te-ll y-" Pain seized his upper half, drawing tight all muscles and preventing speech for some time before he forced his jaw to unclench.
"I'm dying Levi. There is no changing that fa-act. Take...take care of the cadets. Show them...a leader they deserve. A-And..." This time, his pause is voluntary, eyes shut so tight the wrinkles stretched beyond the corners of his eyes and blossomed out across his features, displaying his age better than any number ever could.
"I am sorry. For Isabel. For Farlan. I-I don't thi-nk I'll be going to the place where they are... Maybe...this is my atonement...for all that I have done. F-For all the blood on my hands. G-Goodbye, Lance Corporal Levi. I h-ave never been more proud..of anyone...than I am y-" The toll grew too much for the commander's body to pay, and before his last words were issued his soul fled his body and his once vibrant, determined sapphires grew dull and listless, glazed over with the horrors that had befallen the tragic hero.










