[ The Forest for the Trees ] - canonverse
The forest was as silent as the grave, the only sound the wind that howled as it ripped through the branches of the tree canopy. His men were in position, obscuring themselves within the leaves, camouflaged within their own cloaks. The tension was palpable, and Erwin’s own anxiety lay thick against his tongue.
Erwin knew without seeing that the titan was headed in their direction, an aberrant by the pace and the even determination in its stride he could hear echoing in the distance. Not far now, by the sound of it. The ground shook, and with it, the trees, and Erwin could tell it was coming from the west, by the vibration of the bough he perched on, that he could feel even through the thick rubber of his boots.
Levi alit beside him, and he made not move to regard him, only stared off to the west to anticipate the oncoming enemy. Hange arrived soon after, and Erwin nodded in consternation, ready. “Watch the western route,” he said evenly. “I want Levi’s squad attacking from the east. Stick to the formation we discussed. I want this one alive.”
Hange nodded and took off to join her squad to the south, and Levi was about to do the same when Erwin spoke. “Wait, Levi,” he intoned, frowning as he looked upon his captain. “Be as careful as you can, but don’t hesitate to take it down, if you must. There will be others, and I won’t risk more sacrifice than is necessary.” He straightened and returned his gaze to west, where the shadowed form of the titan appeared at last in the distance. “I trust your decision.”
Levi nodded once Erwin's head had turned, eyes scanning over the forest floor before following Hange's path into the depths of the trees. With careful and practiced precision, Levi allowed himself to fall from his perch high in the branches with no further words. With fingers working the handles of his unsheathed swords, a familiar and dull click sounded before the woosh of the 3DMG cords shot forth, finding anchor in the sturdy wood surrounding him, carrying him quickly and safely through the woods to regroup with his squad. ---- "Hold still." Levi's voice was quiet, the edges of his words hardened from the residual adrenaline from their mission earlier in the day. It had been a success, something to marvel at in his opinion. Hange was all the more annoying with the victory, but he was pleased to know that they finally had a subject to direct their energies towards. He could only hope the successful capture would be rewarding - every tiny bit of information they could scrape up about the titans only made their battles easier. Success, however, was far from the front of his thoughts. Though everyone had, thankfully, luckily, made it back in one piece, alive and breathing, a few injuries were in need of attention. He had dismissed his squad to celebrate the victory as they saw fit, and immediately joined Erwin in his office. Instead of tending to usual duties, assisting with paperwork, and filling the evening with general discussion about the Survey Corps' needs and trajectory, Levi had found his attentions occupied by the blood seeping through the leg of Erwin's pants. With some struggle, he had managed to convince Erwin to rest on the couch seated in his office, tucked against book shelves, and remain there with his pants rolled up to his knee to reveal the wound. One trip to visit those in charge of the medical supplies, and Levi was back, relieved and pleased to see Erwin had not attempted to leave his spot to tend to work. He couldn't imagine Erwin being any less tired than himself, and perhaps that was the key needed for Erwin to allow himself medical attention without much fuss or distraction. The thin blades of a soldier's grappling hook had grazed just beneath Erwin's knee sometime during the last struggle to capture the aberrant. The cut was slim, long, and moderately deep, but appeared clean enough without much tearing in the skin. The flesh had split notably since the initial cut - something Levi attributed to Erwin's continued physical effort after the injury was sustained. "Are there any other injuries I should tend to while I'm here?" Levi asked as he dabbed more water onto the slice, pulling away reddened cloth to look at it once more before dipping his cleaned fingers into a small jar of a thick balm, meant to keep the wound clean. He lathered a fair amount of it on as his eyes drifted up lazily to look at Erwin's face, waiting for a response.